At night, intense fighting continued in Adria's cathedral plaza. Members of the Corpse-Sand Society who had come to commit theft were locked in fierce battle with the official Beyonders stationed here. Amidst this chaos, a man from the Corpse-Sand Society successfully slipped into the Pure Flow Cathedral and swiftly made his way to the Crown Chamber, where he could obtain what his society had long desired.
In the spacious Crown Chamber, the young Corpse-Sand Society member moved briskly back and forth, his eyes carefully scanning rows of glass display cases. He examined each exquisite item displayed inside, reading the paper labels attached to the cabinets. The young man needed to find the name of a particular donor from this information.
"Hashid… Sheikh… Karim… Ebony… Got it…"
Suddenly, as if he had found his target, the young man halted beside a display case. After repeatedly confirming the donor's name on the label, he immediately punched the glass cabinet. The glass shattered loudly, and without hesitation, he took out a necklace from inside and put it into a cloth bag he carried.
The young man continued his search through the Crown Chamber, seeking another display case with items donated by "Ebony." Soon, he found another cabinet containing a chalice bearing the same donor’s name. Without hesitation, he smashed the glass again and placed the chalice into his bag.
As the young man was about to continue searching for more of Ebony’s donations, a sudden noise echoed from above.
"Who's down there?"
Startled by this voice, the young man looked up in surprise. Atop the Crown Chamber, two armed figures dressed in uniforms stood on the small platform originally used to display the Crown of Emmanuel. They were members of the Deep Concealment Guards responsible for closely guarding the Crown of Emmanuel. After the fighting began in the plaza, they had lowered the curtain from the cathedral's attic, blocking the Crown’s radiant glow and sealing off direct rooftop access to the platform. Facing the young intruder from below, they raised their rifles.
Realizing people were above him and seeing the gun barrels pointed his way, the young man immediately dashed aside. Gunfire resounded through the hall, bullets racing toward him. Due to his wolf spirit’s heightened senses, he dodged the incoming projectiles.
The squad members continued firing downward, bullets shattering countless display cases in the hall. Gradually, the young man was driven toward a dark corner, unaware that a pair of eyes watched him from within that darkness.
As the young man approached the corner, a shadow swiftly lunged from behind, attacking him. Possessing the keen senses of a wolf, he perceived the threat and dodged a sharp slash from a dagger just in time. Turning to face his assailant, he stared in astonishment.
The attacker was a slender, hooded woman wearing a tight-fitting black suit. Her striking figure and cat-like vertical pupils, clearly inhuman, stared intensely into his eyes. Realizing her nature, he gasped.
"Another… Soulbinder?!"
Ignoring his shock, the cat-eyed woman immediately launched another rapid strike. The young man swiftly stepped back, drawing a short knife from his waist to meet the assault.
Holding his blade tightly, the young man watched intently as the woman surged forward again with remarkable agility, wielding her dagger. The young man parried the attack, weapons clashing sharply.
At that moment, a sudden sharp pain shot through his hand gripping the iron handle of his knife, startling him into dropping it and stumbling back, shivering.
Simultaneously, another shot rang out from above, a bullet piercing the stunned young man’s chest. Eyes wide open, he collapsed to the ground.
Seeing him fall, the masked woman lowered her dagger and approached the young man's body. After confirming he was truly dead, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Miss Dorothy’s support always puts one at ease…"
Nephthys murmured quietly, then looked up toward the platform above. The two Deep Concealment Guards members there smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.
"Hurry, we don’t have much time," said one of the squad members.
Earlier, both of these squad members had already been ambushed and incapacitated by Nephthys. Now, they were merely living marionettes manipulated by Dorothy.
Acknowledging their urgency, Nephthys nodded, leaned down to pick up the young man’s bag, and transferred its contents to her own. Holding two bags, she turned her attention back to the display cases.
Immediately, Nephthys began doing exactly what the deceased young man had been doing moments before—quickly scanning each display case, breaking the glass whenever she saw Ebony’s name, and swiftly collecting the items. Within minutes, the entire Crown Chamber was thoroughly searched, and all donations from Ebony were in her possession.
Meanwhile, the marionette squad members above also remained busy, closely observing the luxurious crown suspended on display, radiating an otherworldly glow.
While Nephthys was busy down below, quickly gathering all of Ebony’s donated items, the marionette squad members on the platform manipulated the mechanisms, carefully removing the Crown of Emmanuel from its suspended base. They then used a light-blocking cloth—originally kept nearby specifically for covering the crown—to drape over the now-empty mounting, creating the illusion that the Crown of Emmanuel was still there, only hidden under the cloth.
Next, one of the marionette squad members used a small piece of the same fabric to wrap the still-glowing Crown of Emmanuel, sealing off the light it naturally emitted.
By the time the marionette squad members were almost finished with their tasks, Nephthys had already collected all of Ebony’s donated artifacts into a single bag. Her work was not yet done, however. After gathering up Ebony’s items, she took out the bag originally belonging to the young man from the Corpse-Sand Society and headed to an adjacent exhibition hall. There, she freely smashed more display cases—ones not associated with Ebony—and filled the Corpse-Sand Society’s bag with a variety of other exhibits. In a short time, she had half a bag’s worth of assorted valuables that had nothing to do with Ebony.
Returning swiftly to the Crown Chamber, Nephthys then caught the Crown of Emmanuel as the marionette squad member on the platform tossed it down. She unhesitatingly slipped it into the Corpse-Sand Society’s bag, placing it at the very bottom.
Once she had safely stowed the Crown of Emmanuel, Nephthys went over to the young man’s corpse, set his original bag by his side, and even placed his hand around the bag’s opening. At that point, one of the marionette squad members climbed down a ladder and stumbled to the young man’s body, where he dropped his rifle and collapsed as well, reverting to an unconscious state—making it appear as though they had perished together.
With that done, the remaining marionette squad member above gave Nephthys a salute and a smile. Nephthys nodded in acknowledgment, then left the Crown Chamber with her collection of Ebony’s donations, found a hidden exit from the Pure Flow Cathedral, and quickly fled the scene. Meanwhile, the last marionette squad member still on the platform collapsed on the spot, also reverting to an unmoving, near-deathlike state.
Matters inside the Pure Flow Cathedral were, for the moment, settled. Outside, however, the intense melee continued at the cathedral entrance. Elite members of the Corpse-Sand Society clashed violently with Adria’s official Beyonders. White Ash-rank combatants engaged in fierce confrontations in the cathedral plaza.
Razor-sharp water arrows punched through sturdy bodies. Keen claws tore apart solid armor. Skilled sword arts deflected high-speed bullets. Phantom-like spirits possessed the bodies of devout clergymen…
Amid this chaos, a sudden upheaval occurred at the entrance of the Pure Flow Cathedral. High on the cracked steps, where Antonio and Garib had earlier faced off and then vanished, an unusual phenomenon abruptly took place.
A streak of greenish-blue light appeared out of nowhere above the steps, accompanied by eerie wails. When the light flickered out, a massive figure dripping with blood materialized.
Its tattered wings, bent claws, and blood-soaked mane were covered in gaping wounds… Now perched on the steps, the lion-headed, eagle-winged Garib was weakly propping himself up, breathing heavily with blood streaming down. Far more haggard than when he’d first disappeared, he was clearly in dire straits after his battle with Antonio in the Netherworld.
Even though Garib and Antonio were both Crimson-rank Beyonders, their strengths were not equal. Garib had only recently used a trove of resources left by the Corpse-Sand Society’s Azam, along with additional support from the Dark Gold Society, to ascend to Crimson rank. His ascension ritual had taken place just two months earlier, leaving him with shallow foundations.
Antonio, on the other hand, had reached Crimson rank nearly a hundred years ago. Not only had he fully mastered his abilities, but he also possessed far more powerful mystical items and deeper reserves of power than Garib did. Thus, the battles in the Netherworld had left Garib at a serious disadvantage, inflicting numerous injuries.
Nevertheless, because the Netherworld is the home ground of Silence Beyonders, Garib had employed his advantage not primarily for combat, but to hasten his own escape from that realm. The strategy paid off: despite being outmatched in direct confrontation, he still returned to the physical world slightly ahead of Antonio—just as he had warned Antonio he would.
Garib’s goal was straightforward: steal Azam’s donated artifacts from the Pure Flow Cathedral. Although Antonio’s arrival had been a complete surprise, Garib only needed to trap him for a while to seize what he needed and flee.
Moments after reappearing in the world, Garib caught his breath a few times, then stood and charged straight at the cathedral’s main entrance, ramming it open with his immense strength. Once inside, he made for the Crown Chamber. Following his subordinates’ map, he bulldozed through several walls to reach it, only to freeze in shock at the scene within.
The Crown Chamber lay strewn with smashed display cases, many of its treasures missing. In one corner lay the corpse of a young man, one of Garib’s trusted subordinates, with the body of a Deep Concealment squad member sprawled not far away.
Taking it all in, Garib calmly surveyed his surroundings. He noticed that the shattered display cases bore labels with “Ebony” as the donor, precisely the items he was seeking. It appeared the young man had been gunned down, likely by the nearby squad member whose weapon lay on the floor. More crucially, Garib spotted a bag still clutched in his fallen comrade’s hand.
Garib’s eyes lit up at once. He rushed over, picked up the bag, and opened it to reveal an assortment of miscellaneous antiques and artifacts.
As Garib glanced back and forth between the bag’s contents and the many broken display cases bearing Ebony’s name, he experienced a sudden moment of clarity. In his mind’s eye, he could picture his loyal subordinate breaking past the official Beyonders’ defenses at great risk, acquiring the crucial items inside the cathedral, then being pursued by the Deep Concealment Guards and ultimately killed here.
“Good lad…I’ll remember you.”
Murmuring over his fallen subordinate’s body, Garib scanned the area once more. Convinced that everything from Ebony’s display cases was gone, he hoisted the bag and dashed out of the church. Spreading his wings, he flew into the sky above the ongoing battlefield below and roared.
“The mission is complete! Withdraw!”
Without glancing back, Garib headed for the coastline. Once at the shore, he canceled the spirit possession granting him his current form, reverting to a Hydromancer-plus-shark-soul configuration. Restored to his sharkman appearance, he leapt into the sea and began swimming at high speed, hoping to put as much distance as possible between himself and Antonio—still trapped in the Netherworld—before the latter could emerge. If he could escape Antonio’s detection range, he would be safe!
Although the process was full of twists and turns with unexpected occurrences, the ultimate goal was still achieved!
With that, Garib gave everything he had, swimming swiftly underwater like an arrow shooting off into the distance.
…
Returning our view to the cathedral plaza, as time passed, the cracked steps flickered once more with a bluish-green glow. When the light vanished, Antonio’s figure reappeared.
He was still dressed in his bishop’s robes, though the once-splendid garment was now damaged in many places. The hat he’d worn was missing, and his previously ruddy face was now ashen. His expression was grim, but despite his disheveled state, at least he bore no obvious wounds.
“I’m very sorry, Your Excellency. We failed in our duty to guard the Crown of Emmanuel and let it be stolen!”
The moment Antonio reappeared, Paul and Oliver—who had been guarding the area—bowed their heads and apologized loudly. Around them were several official Beyonders sporting injuries and low morale, with heavily wounded individuals lying nearby, along with the bodies of multiple Corpse-Sand Society members who had failed to escape.
Antonio fell silent upon hearing this news. After a brief pause, he sighed.
“Sigh… Let it go. It’s not your fault. I miscalculated the situation. I never would’ve expected those thieves to have someone at the Crimson rank…”
Antonio spoke in a somewhat dispirited tone. Hearing this, Oliver could not help but be moved. He immediately stepped forward and said.
“Your Excellency Antonio, this may not be over yet! I just confirmed that, although the Crown of Emmanuel was stolen, the deep-engraved Beacon Sigil on it is still active! Those people never wiped out the sigil! Your Excellency, you can still use it to track them!”
“What…”
Antonio and Paul both showed expressions of surprise at Oliver’s words.