Chapter 63: December 13, 837 A.C.
"Hmm..."
Sylvia first pondered for a moment, considering whether she should reveal her true identity to her.
Perhaps it wouldn't be impossible?
After voluntarily signing that contract, her fate was already bound to Sylvia's. Knowing her identity might help involve her in the subsequent work plans.
After all, as her attendant for a period of time, it would be difficult for this former Ulpus noblewoman not to notice something.
Thinking of this, she patted the armrest of the chair and spoke in a somewhat playful tone:
"This is a natural cave beneath the outskirts of the City of Vekonte, modified and built into a stronghold by a group of cultists."
"Cultists?"
Adela repeated the term, and a name began to echo in her mind—
King of Loathing and Hatred.
After all, in the Kingdom of Savia, this evil god was the most active.
Combined with what she had just experienced, she now suspected that her falling into this stronghold was arranged by that evil god.
Noticing her thoughts through her movements and subtle expressions, Sylvia smiled and shook her head:
"You’re mistaken."
"The cultists who built this place do not worship Hethorik, but another..."
She paused, adjusted her slightly embarrassed mood, and continued:
"Great One."
"Another Great One?"
Adela very cooperatively showed a confused expression.
Seeing this, Sylvia’s smile deepened:
"That’s right."
"Have you ever heard of Outer Gods?"
Instead of directly mentioning Silquaya the Faceless, she asked a question.
A sense of foreboding rose in Adela’s heart, but she still nodded:
"I’ve heard of them."
"They are gods beyond this world, foreign deities filled with malice toward this land."
"They are usually classified as evil gods, not only because of their stance but also due to their level of danger."
"Outer Gods cannot truly descend into our world, only portions of their power or their followers can descend upon the earth. Therefore, even though they exist alongside the True Gods, they don’t pose too great a threat to us."
Listening to her, Sylvia was a little surprised.
"You know quite a lot."
She indeed knew much, but clearly not everything. Otherwise, just from my divinity and the fact that my spiritual color is Starlight, she could have deduced certain issues.
Not discovering any signs that Adela had connected her to the Outer Gods through her expressions and every subtle detail, Sylvia silently commented in her heart.
"Of course."
At this moment, Adela proudly puffed out her chest:
"Our family has had close cooperation with the Church of Industry and Machinery since before the industrial revolution began."
"It’s said that during the liquidation of family assets, a blueprint was found in the family treasury, confirmed to be a design draft for a weapon mounted on a war golem."
"This proves that our family was involved in the construction of the war golems!"
"Oh?"
Sylvia was rather surprised:
"Isn’t your family a follower of Radiance?"
"Follower of Radiance? No, we have always been devout followers of the God of Industry and Machinery."
Adela denied with a puzzled expression.
At this moment, Sylvia realized she might have made a mistake.
Because of the Radiance amulet she carried and that necklace, she had mistakenly assumed their family were followers of Radiance.
As for why these items appeared in their possession, that was easy to explain.
In both mythological records and church documents, the Lord of Radiance and the God of Industry and Machinery were described as the closest allies. This relationship extended to their churches as well.
Thus, followers of Radiance would occasionally use the creations of Machinery, while followers of Machinery would also carry some Radiant charms.
Letting out a light chuckle, the gray-haired puppet did not dwell too much on this topic, and instead continued with what she had just started:
"Since you know, that makes things much easier."
"The cultists here worship an Outer God—"
"The Great One who roams the starry sky, Silquaya the Faceless."
"And just over half a month ago, this group of fanatical cultists held a grand and complex ritual here."
At this moment, Adela opened her mouth slightly, then gave an awkward smile:
"Um... why don’t we leave here first?"
"As far as I know, places involved in rituals related to Outer Gods often hold some unexpected dangers."
"You might be fine, but I could very likely be polluted without even realizing it."
In response, Sylvia maintained her raised smile, not addressing Adela’s request, and continued speaking on her own:
"They used a large quantity of spiritual materials to fill the entire staircase."
"They spoke in extremely bizarre tones, chanting the name of that being, expressing their utmost reverence for Him."
"Patterns drawn in blood crisscrossed the entire hall, and at each intersection stood a believer."
"At the climax of the ritual, they plunged sharp daggers into their own hearts, slowly collapsing with fanatical expressions."
"Even in death, their eyeballs remained fixed on the chair at the top of the stairs."
"No, not a chair. To them, it was a divine throne."
Watching the puppet calmly recounting every detail of the ritual with a smile, Adela’s smile became increasingly forced:
"You… you seem to have witnessed such a ritual before."
Seeing this, Sylvia’s smile grew even deeper:
"Are you getting scared again?"
She ignored the topic Adela had thrown out in fear and self-deception, instead teasing her with this remark, then continued speaking in a relaxed tone:
"They eventually attracted the attention of that Great One, successfully drawing His gaze."
"Not only that, the ritual they performed also seemed to be correct. They managed to briefly open a crack in the world’s barrier, allowing that Great One to do more than merely cast His gaze—"
"These fanatical followers tried to channel their master’s power into reality."
At this point, Sylvia suddenly paused, and the smile on her face became even more pronounced.
Together with her inhuman features and the dark red bloodstains scattered around, the top of the stairs at this moment formed an extremely terrifying scene.
Adela swallowed hard and asked in a trembling voice:
"And then?"
She now had a suspicion, but she didn’t want to admit it.
Seeing this, Sylvia slightly raised her head, looking up toward the ceiling of the hall, her tone filled with reminiscence:
"They succeeded."
"And Silquaya the Faceless’s servant descended upon this land."
"Hmm... can you guess what kind of physical vessel these cultists prepared for their master’s emissary?"
Saying this, she began gently stroking the armrest of the chair, while Adela’s face turned as pale as when she confronted an evil god in the Manifest Realm:
"I-I don’t know."
Her laugh was dry, and her voice trembled heavily.
"Can’t guess?"
With her spirituality slightly recovered, Sylvia stood up from the chair, the black cloak covering her body shrouding her entirely in dense shadows.
As she slowly walked down step by step, her ethereal and melodious voice echoed:
"A puppet."
"A puppet from the Kingdom of Ulpus."
"A puppet crafted by Lady Camonel Tuya in her later years."
"A puppet named... Sylvia."
As her echoing words finished, the vast and dark underground hall fell silent.
At this moment, aside from the rhythmic footsteps descending the stairs, there were only the sounds of heavy breathing.
And as everyone knew, puppets did not need to breathe.