In a villa by the Moonflow River in the western suburbs of Tivian. Inside a secret chamber, Smith stands before an altar made of blood-red bones, conversing with a mass of flesh that has formed eyes, ears, and a mouth. He is reporting to his superior, who is somewhere unknown, about Vania. "The situation is roughly as I’ve described, Elder Duval. I’ve already debated with that nun about the faith of the Holy Mother and the Mother of Chalice. For a Radiance Church follower, her reaction was quite abnormal. She tried to conflate the Holy Mother with the Mother of Chalice, which is clearly the result of being influenced by ’The True Red Holy Mother’. Additionally, there’s a high chance she might replace Cork in overseeing the Historical Scripture Department, making her a valuable target for development. Therefore, I request that you provide us with some suitable mystical texts for her to read, to deepen her cognitive poisoning and corruption." Finally, Smith reports to the flesh ear in the altar, then stands respectfully, waiting for a response. After a moment, the mouth in the altar slowly opens and responds in a hoarse voice. "Your suggestion is sound... If that nun can gain access to the library in the future, she would indeed be worth developing... However, I need to discuss the matter of providing mystical texts with others before I can give you an answer. Suitable texts for corruption are scarce in Tivian right now. I will contact you again soon..." After the mouth in the altar finishes speaking, the eyes, ears, and mouth all dissolve back into writhing flesh, and the chamber falls silent once more. The cognitive poison in mystical texts has the ability to corrupt the mind. Various secret societies often use suitable mystical texts to corrupt valuable targets. However, not all mystical texts are suitable for this purpose. Some texts have too strong a cognitive poison, risking causing the target to lose control. Others are too explicit, making the target immediately wary and resistant. Good texts for corruption have mild cognitive poison and subtle content, appearing harmless at first glance, like poison mixed into cigarettes or drinks, leading the target unknowingly into danger... These are the kinds of texts suitable for corruption. Compared to other mystical texts, such texts are relatively rare. At least, Smith doesn’t have any. To further corrupt Vania, Smith can only rely on his superiors to provide such texts. Seeing the altar return to normal, Smith doesn’t continue to stand and wait. Instead, he exits the chamber and sits in a chair outside, preparing to wait patiently. However, at this moment, his expression suddenly changes, and his brow furrows. At this moment, Smith feels the Shadow spirituality within him being rapidly drained. He knows this sensation well—it means he is being detected by a Lantern-path Beyonder ability. Standing up abruptly, Smith frowns deeply. At first, he tries to resist the detection using his own spirituality, but he quickly realizes that his Shadow is no match for this detection. It’s being drained too quickly, and soon a significant portion is gone. “This rate of drain... This detection is impossible to resist... It must be someone from the church! Either a Red-rank Lantern Beyonder or a high-level detection item! Something far stronger than the Illuminating Beacon!’” Clenching his fists, Smith’s expression turns grim as he realizes the severity of the situation. He immediately stops using Shadow to resist the detection. He knows that if the other party is a Red-rank Lantern or wields a high-level detection item, no amount of Shadow will be enough to resist. Continuing this covert battle will only result in his Shadow being completely drained, leaving him exposed and forced to fight without any Shadow spirituality, putting him at a severe disadvantage. Therefore, after weighing his options, Smith decides to stop resisting the detection immediately, allowing the other party to discover him and conserve his spirituality for the upcoming battle. After stopping the spiritual resistance, Smith begins preparing for combat, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth in anger. “Why? Why is someone conducting such intense mystical detection nearby? How did the church find this place? What went wrong to lead them here?” Smith’s anger burns as he quickly narrows down the source of the problem. “It’s that nun! It has to be that damned nun! She deceived us! She must have used some method to secretly inform the church, exposing our location! She tricked all of us! She was treacherous from the start!” Smith’s thoughts are filled with rage, and his killing intent surges. His claws begin to grow, and black fur spreads across his body. However, his anger isn’t directed at the unknown enemy outside the villa but at Vania. "You little bitch... How dare you deceive me... I’ll kill you first!" With his claws fully extended, Smith is about to follow Vania’s scent to find her when he suddenly smells a scorching heat rapidly descending from above the villa, heading straight for him. "What is that..." Smith’s eyes widen, and he quickly dodges to the side. In the next moment, a loud explosion rocks the villa. Boom!! The ceiling above Smith shatters, and amidst the flying debris and dust, a blazing flame crashes down, landing where Smith had just been standing. The flames explode outward, igniting curtains, carpets, and furniture. Smith shields himself with his arms, and the flames singe the black fur on his hands, but he quickly extinguishes them by rubbing against the wall. After the flames subside, the area where the fire struck is in complete disarray. Amidst the cracked and sunken floor and the scattered flames, a figure in white armor slowly rises from the smoke. He raises a burning sword and points it at Smith, his voice muffled by his helmet. "Not bad reflexes, wolf. Let’s see if you can dodge after I burn your nose off!" The knight, Anrecius, who has stormed the enemy’s stronghold, declares arrogantly to Smith. Seeing the knight, Smith grits his teeth and mutters. "Holy War Knight..." As he speaks, Smith’s body begins to expand, his fangs grow longer, and his black fur becomes denser. Facing a powerful enemy, he begins his transformation into a werewolf. With his plan to kill the nun before the battle interrupted, Smith doesn’t give up. Under his control, the Beastkin imprisoned in the villa’s basement burst out of their cells and rush toward Smith’s location to aid him in battle. At the same time, three of the Beastkin break away from the group and charge toward Vania’s location. The Beastkin, created by the werewolf’s venom, possess physical strength comparable to a Black-rank Beastman Beyonder. Sending three of them to kill a Black Earth-rank Healing Prayer Priest like Vania should, in theory, be an easy task. As his body continues to expand, Smith bares his fangs at Anrecius. At this moment, he is fully prepared for battle. … Meanwhile, in the forest outside the villa, Dorothy, who is using her corpse marionettes to monitor the situation, sees the fireball crash into the villa and can’t help but exclaim. "Damn it! They just charged right in! Is this how you rescue hostages?! Aren’t you afraid they’ll kill her?!" Dorothy is shocked by the church knight’s reckless charge into the enemy’s stronghold. Given the Serenity Bureau’s usual tactics, they should have used their wind-controlling abilities to mask their scent and infiltrate quietly. But the church knight’s direct assault is something she never expected. This is a hostage situation! And the hostage is one of their own! Dorothy can see that the White-rank Hunter captain, still in the air, is in a state of panic, hastily landing to direct his subordinates to coordinate an attack on the villa. It’s clear that even he didn’t anticipate the church knight’s sudden charge. "Sigh... It seems that for the church, eliminating the cultists here is the top priority. The safety of the hostage is secondary... With this move, Vania is in serious danger..." Dorothy murmurs to herself, then begins to take action to warn Vania. … Inside the villa, Vania, who had been nervously praying, suddenly feels the entire building shake as a loud explosion echoes from outside. Startled, she jumps to her feet, her face filled with panic as she looks around. "W-what’s going on? What happened?!" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞 Vania is flustered, but at this moment, she feels a slight sting on her chest. The marionette mark hidden under her clothes begins to react. Realizing this, Vania’s brow furrows. “This is... Miss Dorothy’s signal!” Vania thinks to herself. According to their earlier agreement, this signal means it’s time to act. Upon receiving the signal, Vania can start planning her escape. “That explosion just now... It seems the church and the Hunters have begun their attack... If I want to escape, now’s the time!” With this thought, Vania immediately moves to the door and opens it. Seeing that the guards outside have been distracted by the commotion, she breathes a sigh of relief. Just as Vania is about to leave, a loud noise comes from the corridor to her side. She turns her head and sees several black-furred, grotesque, fanged, and clawed monsters rushing toward her. Vania recognizes these creatures—they are the monsters controlled by Smith, the same ones that kidnapped her. Clearly, they are here with malicious intent. "Roar!!" Howling, the three Beastkin charge wildly down the corridor toward Vania. Startled, Vania turns and runs in the opposite direction. “Ahhh! They’re after me! What’s wrong with these monsters?!” Running down the long corridor, Vania desperately tries to escape the Beastkin, who are hot on her heels. Their eyes are filled with hunger, as they have been ordered to devour the nun. The Beastkin possess the physical abilities of Black-rank Beastman Beyonder, equivalent to second-stage Chalice and first-stage Shadow. As a Healing Prayer Priest, Vania is second-stage Lantern and first-stage Chalice, so her physical abilities are no match for the Beastkin. There’s no way she can outrun them. As the Beastkin close in, one of them leaps forward, pouncing at Vania from behind. Vania’s heart leaps into her throat. “Lord... save me!” At this moment, an eagle’s cry echoes through the corridor. An eagle, seemingly out of nowhere, flies down the hallway. In its talons, it carries a slender sword, its tip adorned with a large red gemstone. The eagle flies to Vania and drops the sword. Seeing the sword falling toward her, Vania’s eyes widen, and she instinctively reaches out to catch it mid-air. The moment her hand grips the hilt, the panic on her face vanishes, replaced by a calm, almost cold expression. The Beastkin can sense the sudden change in Vania’s aura. The fear they had detected earlier is gone, replaced by a dangerous, sharp killing intent. With a calm expression, Vania closes her eyes and perceives her surroundings, sensing the creatures behind her. Then... she tightens her grip on the sword, turns, and slashes with a flash of cold light. The blade cuts through flesh, and the black beast pouncing at her is decapitated before it can react, its head falling to the ground with wide, shocked eyes. In a shocking counterattack, Vania, wielding the sword, takes advantage of the Beastkin’s carelessness and kills one of them in a single strike. The remaining two Beastkin immediately halt, their expressions turning wary as they bare their fangs and growl at Vania. The first Beastkin was killed due to its overconfidence, but the remaining two, having witnessed their companion’s death, now take Vania seriously. They drop to all fours, snarling and drooling as they prepare to attack Vania simultaneously. Vania raises her sword to meet them head-on. For a moment, claws and sword clash, howls and the clang of metal fill the air. Without the element of surprise, the two Beastkin are much harder to deal with. Their strength is immense, and their movements are agile. Under their relentless assault, Vania relies on her Insight to dodge and evade. Although the Beastkin’s physical abilities surpass Vania’s, their attacks are instinctual and lack any technique. With her Insight, Vania can see through all their movements, allowing her to dodge and counterattack in the gaps. However, being surrounded by two Beastkin limits Vania’s movements. Her counterattacks are unable to strike vital points, leaving only superficial wounds on the Beastkin. These injuries, while causing them to bleed profusely, are not fatal. For creatures of Chalice, such wounds are insignificant and far from incapacitating. The battle continues. Although Vania’s Insight and swordsmanship allow her to inflict numerous wounds on the Beastkin, the powerful regenerative abilities of Chalice mean these injuries don’t hinder their movements. As long as Vania can’t deliver a fatal blow to both Beastkin, the fight will become a battle of endurance and stamina—a contest Vania, with only auxiliary Chalice abilities, cannot win. This is largely due to the limitations of a healer pathway. The ability to heal oneself and others is of little use in a fierce one-on-one battle! In such a close-quarters fight, the Sunlight Spear, with its long wind-up time, is unusable. Therefore, if Vania wants to win, she must find another way. And indeed, she has one... "Lord... grant me guidance..." With her eyes closed, Vania murmurs a prayer. In the midst of the battle, her left hand, which isn’t holding the sword, begins to glow with a soft orange light—the same light that appears when a Healing Prayer Priest uses their healing abilities. This light can heal wounds and alleviate pain. Vania activates her Healing Prayer Priest ability, but she herself is unharmed. This ability isn’t meant for her—it’s meant for her enemies. Seizing an opportunity, Vania reaches out with her glowing left hand and touches the arm of one of the Beastkin. Instantly, the numerous small wounds on the Beastkin’s arm begin to heal. The wounds close, and the bleeding stops. The Beastkin, seeing this, is momentarily stunned. Even as a beast, it is surprised that the human it is fighting would heal it. Is she crazy?! However, this surprise doesn’t last long. The Beastkin soon feels something wrong. The wounds that were supposed to heal now begin to throb with intense pain, far worse than when they were open. The healed areas start to swell unnaturally, and the pain spreads rapidly beneath the skin. The "healed" Beastkin howls in agony, its eyes bloodshot. Seeing this, Vania breathes a sigh of relief. “It worked... Just as Miss Dorothy once theorized, the healing abilities granted by Aka can be used like this…” “They can be used... for misguided healing…” Vania thinks to herself. She had just used her ability to perform a misguided healing on the Beastkin. By deliberately misaligning tissues and connecting blood vessels incorrectly, she caused massive internal bleeding, blood clots, and even reverse blood flow, turning external wounds into severe internal injuries that continue to worsen! This is the Healing Prayer Priest’s ability applied in combat!