The Six Hundred Twenty-Fourth Knowledge Realm
Within the massive body of the Mirror Moon Statue, a delicately balanced structure made up of nested circles, the serene Goddess Statue stood as ever. Before the statue, the old ritual site had been cleared away, and a new ritual setup completed.
In the fragrant space filled with incense, a huge and intricate magical array was drawn on the floor. Dressed in a black-and-white formal gown and a lady’s small hat, Doro sat at the center of the array, where the Eye of “Enlightenment” was opened, transforming herself into its pupil. Around her, at the edges of the array, six items were now placed.
The first was a deep blue, sparkling gemstone, known as the Deep Blue Heart, a divine blessing object of the domain of the “Cup.” Previously held by the Abyss Cult, it had been stolen by Doro and Neve’s joint efforts against a thief named K.
The second was a plain metal weight known as the Weighing Code, a divine blessing object of the domain of the “Stone.” Once held by the White Stone Craftsmen Guild, Doro had rented it at a heavy price.
The third was a delicately crafted spherical incense burner named the Phantom Scales, a divine blessing object of the domain of the “Shadow.” It originally belonged to the Butterfly God’s faith but was taken by the Black Dream Hunter Group; Doro had helped the Butterfly God’s believers reclaim it.
The fourth was an old piece of fabric filled with scripture, named the Holy Relic Scroll, a divine blessing object of the “Lamp,” belonging to the Radiant Church. Vania had been entrusted with its care due to her merits.
The fifth was a wine cup carved with a skeleton, known as the Phantom Pulling Lamp, a divine blessing object of the domain of “Silence.” Originally a burial item belonging to Rahman, the founding king of Adus, it had been given to Doro by Rahman himself.
Lastly, there was an ordinary book with a heavy cover, an extraordinary item previously used by Doro, called the Navigation of the Literary Sea. Just moments ago, through the ceremony in the name of Akasha, she had blessed the Navigation of the Literary Sea as a divine blessing object, thus making it her own.
Now, Doro had placed all six types of divine blessing objects required for the promotion ritual in their designated positions. She quietly closed her eyes, beginning to slowly operate her spirituality according to the method learned from the Enlightenment Mark Temple.
Then, under an invisible force, the six divine blessing objects surrounding Doro began to levitate automatically, each emitting a different colored glimmer. In this glow, Doro’s promotion ritual officially began.
‘Knowledge realm is boundless, sea of awareness is infinite. All beings are lost, and so am I…
‘Every principle is not a principle, every form is not a form. The six paths are void, cause and effect are also fallacies. The mysteries still remain as mere illusions… Wisdom and malice cannot know, deep thinking cannot comprehend. To achieve the wisdom of the sages, do not seek divine revelations, but seek to resolve the divine…’
As she silently recited the incantation in her mind, Doro’s ritual continued to operate. In a daze, her mind and consciousness seemed to detach from the realm of reality, plunging into the depths of the world.
…
Just as Doro was undergoing her promotion, outside in the midst of the promotion, a battle among the Red Tier warriors was still raging on Twinkling Star Lake.
Beside the lake, atop a once-fully intact hill, amidst the scorching meteor crater, Francesco, clad in full armor, stood at the edge of the crater, gazing at the expansive surface of Twinkling Star Lake through his obscured helmet.
At first, Francesco’s gaze fixed upon the tallest and most eye-catching Mirror Moon Statue on the lake, but after just two seconds, his sight shifted to the more distant shore of Twinkling Star Lake, where Gethsmoor was struggling to stand up.
After confirming Gethsmoor’s condition, Francesco did not pause any longer. He straightened his body and activated his spirituality.
As intense spirituality enveloped Francesco’s entire body, thick smoke began to billow from the gaps in his heavy armor. His body ignited beneath the armor, flames erupted from the joints of the armor, and fire sprouted from the openings in front of his helmet.
Next, the flames inside Francesco’s armor began to expand, pushing the armor’s components apart, causing him to grow even taller. Francesco transformed his body into a being of flames while the armor retained its form, resulting in a figure resembling a fiery humanoid bound by floating shards of armor.
After elementalization, Francesco immediately shot a jet of flame downward. He transformed into a pillar of fire, soaring upward toward the direction where Gethsmoor was located on the opposite side of the lake. On the clock tower of the Mirror Moon Statue, Audric watched the fire streak across the lake’s surface and could not help but exclaim.
“Is that the Flame Saint from Prit? Looks like it’s Francesco from Tivyán. I didn’t expect that strong reinforcement that girl mentioned would actually be him. Quite formidable indeed; I wonder if he was invited or tricked into joining… likely the latter…”
With a faint smile, Audric remarked. Francesco’s appearance undoubtedly relieved him; his remaining spirituality was running low, and he could not hold Gethsmoor back for much longer. Now that a Flame Saint had joined the battle, the situation was somewhat stabilized.
With this thought, Audric adjusted his hat and began to move the Mirror Moon Statue to follow Francesco’s lead.
Meanwhile, Gethsmoor, chanting prayers in her heart, was momentarily stunned upon witnessing the rapidly approaching and enlarging fireball. She immediately evaded with high speed. Shortly after she dodged, the fireball that Francesco transformed into struck the spot Gethsmoor had just vacated, triggering a massive explosion.
“Boom!”
In a blast comparable to a heavy cannon, Gethsmoor, who had just managed to evade, was caught in the shockwave, her bl**d mist armor shattered. The engulfing flames severely burned her skin, causing her to fly several times before crashing into a rock, where she stopped, violently coughing up bl**d.
Relying on her bl**d spear, Gethsmoor stood up again. She pulled out two large syringes filled with bright red liquid, injecting one into her arm, gritting her teeth to heal her burns rapidly, while the other was smashed onto her bl**d spear, allowing the liquid to merge into the firearm. Almost immediately, her bl**d mist armor was fully restored, and Gethsmoor focused intently on the spot Francesco had struck, holding her spear alertly.
Through the dispersing smoke, a fireball suddenly shot through, rushing towards Gethsmoor. She deftly sidestepped it, but the fireball struck the rock not far behind her, causing another severe explosion. Gethsmoor staggered several steps from the impact of the explosion, and as this happened, a pillar of fire shot upwards into the sky from the cloud of smoke. Upon closer inspection, it was a burning flame knight—Francesco, suspended in mid-air, was continuously gathering fireballs in his left hand to hurl at Gethsmoor.
Faced with the barrage of fireballs, Gethsmoor struggled to dodge continuously. Although the fireballs were not particularly fast, nowhere near the wind blades created by the Mirror Moon Statue earlier, they could explode. Even when they didn’t hit Gethsmoor directly, they would quickly detonate upon hitting the ground, and the wide-spreading flames and shockwaves from the explosions were difficult for Gethsmoor to evade entirely, and she was bound to be affected.
As the explosions continued, Gethsmoor was engulfed by the shockwaves and flames from all directions. While her agile dodging prevented fatal hits, the continuous onslaught limited her range of movement. After Francesco used a four-fireball combo to lock down Gethsmoor’s movement, he dove down directly, raising his fiery longsword to slash at her, launching himself swiftly toward her.
Witnessing this, Gethsmoor summoned a multitude of bl**d mist blades to strike the diving flame knight, but those blades evaporated upon contact with Francesco’s fiery form.
The fire-elemental Francesco was not only able to evaporate Gethsmoor’s bl**d mist directly, but he was also fully immune to the pain inflicted by Gethsmoor’s abilities. As a being of flame, Francesco was incapable of feeling biological pain.
Easily breaking through Gethsmoor’s bl**d blade barrage, Francesco charged right in front of her. The fiery longsword nearly cleaved down onto her forehead. Despite Gethsmoor’s desperate evasion, she narrowly avoided being cleaved in two. The flame sword that was originally aimed at her head swept past her cheek, continuing downward to sever her arm. Amidst the scent of burning flesh, Gethsmoor cried out in pain.
Facing the Flame Saint, even with her bl**d mist armor, Gethsmoor found it nearly impossible to resist. Among all extraordinary paths, the path of the Holy Son could be said to be the most effective counter against Gethsmoor in direct combat, rendering her almost helpless against him.
With her left arm severed, Gethsmoor’s painful scream lasted less than a second before she gritted her teeth to suppress it. She glared at her falling left arm, which then twisted and transformed into a massive bat, opening its mouth wide towards Francesco, emitting a sharp high-pitched sound. The high-frequency sound waves destabilized the flames building up around Francesco’s body, affecting his aim for Gethsmoor’s follow-up strike, causing his second sword strike to miss.
Noticing this, Francesco punched through the bat, incinerating it instantly, causing it to burst into a cloud of bl**d mist that obscured his vision. Seizing this opportunity, Gethsmoor immediately fled skyward. When Francesco evaporated the surrounding bl**d mist, he looked up only to see Gethsmoor already flying away.
At that moment, a fierce wind swept up from the shore, and a violent tornado suddenly formed. The tornado sucked up the blazing fire ignited by Francesco’s attacks and spread it widely into the sky, encapsulating Gethsmoor, who had just escaped. The firestorm seared Gethsmoor once more, prompting another pained scream as her flying speed slowed significantly.
Seeing this, Audric abruptly halted the formation of the tornado and commanded the Mirror Moon Statue to deliver a powerful punch straight down at Gethsmoor. She was struck in mid-air by the massive fist, crashing down fiercely and creating a large crater, shattering her bl**d mist armor into fragments.
“Ugh… cough cough cough…”
In the crater, Gethsmoor used her remaining right hand to support her bl**d spear, coughing up bl**d heavily to stand. However, the current situation did not allow her even a moment’s respite, for above her in the night, the flame knight loomed, pointing his fiery longsword at her.
“Be purified!”
Accompanied by an inhumanly deep voice, the fiery longsword in Francesco’s hand unleashed a brilliant column of high-temperature flames directly toward Gethsmoor below. Faced with this fire attack, Gethsmoor, suffering injuries and unable to recover in time, could only weakly evade as she gathered all her bl**d mist armor to form a shield, placing it before her.
The dazzling column of flames struck down, fully engulfing Gethsmoor’s body. In an instant, the bl**d mist shield in her hands began to be consumed by the searing fire, rapidly vaporizing in the high temperature as the ground beneath her turned red and even began to submerge into molten lava.
“Gethsmoor… are you not done yet? I can’t hold on much longer…”
While utilizing the bl**d mist shield to block the flames, Gethsmoor heard a faint, almost imperceptible voice. Gritting her teeth, she shouted back.
“Shut up! Just hold on for one last moment; it’ll be over soon!”
With that, Gethsmoor braced the shield against the flames while closing her eyes, completing her final prayer in her heart.
When Gethsmoor opened her eyes again, she found three pupils had appeared in the whites of each of her eyes. At this moment, her gaze contained a total of eight pupils, creating a rather eerie and frightening sight.
In the sky, Francesco continued to unleash flames, relentlessly scorching the earth, seemingly attempting to completely burn and purify Gethsmoor.
Despite ongoing blasts, the intensity of his flames remained unwavering. The ground around the center of the flame’s point of origin was cracking and melting from the heat, the area consumed by flames turned a bright red, and just as Francesco prepared to continue this unending assault to utterly incinerate the cultist, an unexpected turn of events occurred.
Pain, sharp pain, and intense agony suddenly jolted Francesco from his demeanor. As a being of flame, he should have completely ignored the pain associated with a biological form, yet at this moment, it felt as though he had been pierced by sharp spikes; a sudden and overwhelming pain spread throughout his mind, and that stabbing sensation originated from the very pillar of fire he had been continuously unleashing—essentially part of his extended body.
“Ugh!”
Caught off guard by the sudden excruciating pain, Francesco stumbled, the fire pillar he had maintained immediately dissipated. The intense pain almost caused him to plummet from the sky, but he managed to maintain his position through sheer willpower. Once Francesco resisted the pain and regained his composure, he looked upon the area he had attacked, only to behold a shocking scene.
Amidst the brightly red earth, a slender and tall figure stood there. Gethsmoor, pale and bare above the waist, only had a tattered burnt skirt hanging from her body and was there standingly staring, her eight pupils wide open, fixated on Francesco.
At this moment, Gethsmoor’s once severed left arm had already healed. Moreover, now there were two pairs of arms sprouting from both her upper and lower arms, making a total of six arms, each wielding uniquely styled bl**d mist weapons. With a crazed grin, she looked up at the flaming knight in the sky.
“Ahhhh!!! Burn! Burn! Why aren’t you burning anymore!? Wasn’t the temperature high just a moment ago? Why don’t you continue to burn? Are you afraid of pain?!”
Mocking the flame knight in the sky, Gethsmoor taunted, while Francesco, observing the scene below, responded in a heavy voice.
“Despicable cultist… what did you just do?!”
“What did I do? Nothing much… Just made some things that know no pain feel what pain is. Enjoy it well… This is the gift of the Deep Web Queen. Before her… even fire will sense the intricacies of pain…”
In response to Francesco’s query, Gethsmoor replied sarcastically. Meanwhile, Audric up above on the Mirror Moon Statue frowned upon seeing this scene.
“Enforcing the concept of pain upon that which is devoid of it… Is this the divine enchantment granted by the Lady of Pain?
“That woman… has already begun her initial apostolic transformation. This is a complete mess,” Audric sighed deeply, feeling a growing sense of unease regarding the state of affairs.
‘The gaze of the Lady of Pain seems to truly be focusing over here, are you not done yet?’
…
In the midst of the ritual, Doro’s consciousness thoroughly detached from her body and delved into the inner depths of the world. She felt herself departing from reality, drifting through a vibrant and phantasmagorical realm, penetrating another invisible barrier, and plunging deeper and deeper into the world’s interior.
During this process, countless shadows, a multitude of things, a variety of paths manifested before Doro’s eyes, but she paid them no heed, instead persevering with her will, following an unseen guide as she descended until, after breaching another barrier, she arrived at a peculiar domain.
Color, temperature, time, space… At this moment, Doro realized she could not perceive any such scales. Vision, smell, hearing… her usual senses failed to let her feel the surroundings.
This place was so abstract, counterintuitive, and damningly non-physical that Doro found it impossible to describe the scene of this space using any language. She could only rely on instinct to sense everything around her, and all that existed were torrents of information—boundless, oceanic, and exceedingly complex information.
Ignoring the senses of hearing and touch, only thought and imagination remained. Though not a single leaf or blade of grass could be seen, countless trees were conceptualized, all sensory channels were rendered unnecessary; here, one could think broadly, comprehending vast amounts of information. This marvelous state momentarily entranced Doro.
To facilitate her understanding, she translated her perceptions into visual representations within her consciousness. After adjusting herself, she could finally “see” the “appearance” of this space.
Words, symbols, numbers… countless carriers and symbols of query converged into rivers of flowing currents, surging unstoppably through the void. Pictures, scores, articles… fragments of information piled up like an ocean, spreading into the boundless distance. Doro herself was also represented as a figurative form constructed by intricate cross-linked text, suspended above this “sea.”
Looking around curiously, Doro surveyed her surroundings until she spotted an immense object deep within the vast sea of queries.
A corpse… it was a gigantic, floating, decaying skeleton, constructed from profound and mysterious runes. Most of it lay submerged beneath the “water,” with a minor part floating above. The flesh had rotted, and large sections of the skeleton emerged, its size so overwhelming that one could neither discern what sort of creature it belonged to nor whether it was human or animal.
Doro observed that from that corrupting, gigantic skeleton, a “black” decay of “dirty bl**d” flowed continuously outward, infecting the surrounding query sea in large swathes, staining it a murky “black.”
Upon witnessing this scene, Doro was momentarily taken aback, and soon felt a sharp splitting headache, as if her consciousness might explode.
