"Spending so much money... Thankfully, the operation was successful and we managed to loot some things. Otherwise, this would have been a huge loss..." Sitting at her desk in her study, Dorothy couldn’t help but sigh as she looked at the calculated cash expenditure. She couldn’t help but reflect on how warfare is essentially a battle of logistics. Without a solid foundation, fighting a Beyonder battle would be impossible. After summarizing the cash expenditure, Dorothy moved on to tallying up her spirituality consumption. Since her promotion, her Revelation pool had increased to around 10 points. Although she had consumed a significant amount of Revelation during this operation, it hadn’t exceeded her limit. Besides Revelation, she had also consumed 3 points of Chalice spirituality, mainly for controlling Vania and Claudius through marionette manipulation, as well as overloading her abilities to increase the number of marionettes she could control. Finally, she had spent 1 point of Shadow to activate the Lightness Sigil for Vania. Subtracting her previous reserves, Dorothy’s remaining spirituality was: - Chalice: 4 - Stone: 7 - Shadow: 2 - Lantern: 1 - Silence: 1 - Revelation: 1 As for sigils, Dorothy had used one Banquet Sigil for Vania during this operation. She only had two of these sigils, making them quite precious. Additionally, she had used one Lightness Sigil. "I’m really running low on resources... Let’s see what we’ve gained. Hopefully, it’ll make up for all the expenses." After reviewing her expenditures, Dorothy immediately turned her attention to the spoils of this operation. The first thing she looked at was the cash. This time, she had looted 400 pounds in cash. Adding this to her previous reserves, she now had a total of 650 pounds. Seeing the thick stack of money on her desk, Dorothy felt a sense of relief. Next were the spirituality reserves. This time, Dorothy had gained quite a few reserves: a syringe containing 3 points of Chalice, two silver coins with 2 points of Shadow, a stone fragment with 1 point of Revelation, and 4 gold coins with Lantern spirituality, which she had extracted from the Illuminating Beacon. Combined with her previous reserves, Dorothy now had: - Chalice: 3 - Stone: 1 - Shadow: 2 - Lantern: 4 - Revelation: 1 “Not bad. These spirituality reserves were mainly obtained by dismantling the warning measures set up by those guys. They really put in a lot of effort to prevent anyone from interfering with their ritual. Unfortunately for them, it was all for nothing." Looking at the sorted spirituality reserves, Dorothy couldn’t help but lamenting. Then, she focused her attention on one of the Lantern reserves. From a spiritual perspective, this reserve didn’t seem to be full, it had slight loss. “Is it because the lantern that contained this reserve was left on for too long, causing noticeable loss? Well, that works out. I can use this for something else.” With that thought, Dorothy took out the partially depleted reserve and placed it on a white cloth with a magic circle drawn on it, which she had spread out on her desk. She then took out a few sigils from her magic box. These sigils were ones Dorothy had looted from Claudius. Since she didn’t recognize them, she decided to use the partially depleted Lantern reserve to identify them. Identifying sigils consumes less spirituality than identifying mystical items—about 1 point of Lantern can identify three different types of sigils. After consuming the partially depleted Lantern reserve, Dorothy successfully identified the two types of sigils she had looted from Claudius. The first was a combination of Chalice and Shadow sigil called Blood Mist Sigil. It could consume both types of spirituality to release a toxic gas. The more spirituality consumed, the more gas it could produce, with no upper limit. She had one of these. The second was a Shadow Blade Sigil. It could consume 2 points of Shadow to add a shadow enchantment to a weapon. If the user already had the ability to enchant with shadow, they could consume 4 points of Shadow to further enhance the enchantment. She had three of these. “These sigils... One was used by that bald vampire to release poison, and the other was what he was planning to use for a final showdown. I didn’t expect there to be leftovers.” Thinking this, Dorothy sorted all her sigils together. She now had several Devouring Sigils (physical enhancement), 1 Feast Sigil (physical enhancement), 2 Lantern Illumination Sigils (lighting), 1 Clairvoyance Sigil (mystical detection), 1 Spirit Sealing Sigil (spirit sealing), 2 Silent Sigils (sound suppression), 1 Poison Mist Sigil (poison creation) and 3 Shadow Blade Sigils (shadow enchantment). After sorting the sigils, Dorothy turned her attention to the mystical items she had acquired. She had already figured out the general use of the smoke bomb-like test tubes, so she focused on the pendant. Dorothy picked up the pendant and a Lantern spirituality reserve coin. Soon, she obtained the relevant information. This was a Lantern mystical item. [Vision Pendant] [When activated by consuming Lantern spirituality, it generates an intense sense of presence and attraction, causing people within its range to involuntarily focus their attention on it. The level of concentration also increases. The range and intensity of the effect depend on the amount of Lantern spirituality injected, but the maximum range does not exceed a radius of 500 meters.] 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖 “This pendant creates a strong attraction, making people unable to help but focus their attention on it. No wonder Vania’s attention was immediately drawn to it. This is practically a professional auxiliary tool for hypnosis.” Looking at the white, ring-shaped pendant on the cloth, Dorothy thought to herself. With this item assisting hypnosis, there would be no need to worry about someone deliberately avoiding the hypnotist’s gaze. As long as the subject’s gaze meets the hypnotist’s, and they are in a state of heightened concentration, hypnosis can easily succeed. “However... to achieve the best outcome, one must know how to hypnotize. Hypnosis is an inherent skill of vampires, which I unfortunately don’t possess. So, this item can only be used to divert attention in my hands. Its usefulness is somewhat limited.” Looking at the pendant on the cloth, Dorothy felt a bit regretful. She quickly put it away and moved on to sorting the next item—the mystical texts. Dorothy placed the two mystical texts she had acquired in front of her and picked up one to read. The title of this text was "The Queen’s Procession: Annotations." “The Queen’s Procession? Isn’t this the story-based mystical text Thorn Velvet used to control the students? The cognitive poison in it made the students worship him. So, there’s actually an annotated version of this…” Looking at the mystical text in her hands, Dorothy thought to herself. She then began to read further into the content. "The Queen’s Procession: Annotations" was a commentary on the original "The Queen’s Procession". The author, based on their own understanding, explained many ambiguous parts of the original novel and shared their own thoughts and feelings. These feelings mostly praised the lifestyle of ants, suggesting that human society should learn from them. Additionally, according to the annotator, Dorothy learned that "The Queen’s Procession" was actually a series of books, with each book focusing on a different caste within the insect society. These books, from lowest to highest, were: - "The Worker’s Chapter" - "The Soldier’s Chapter" - "The General’s Chapter" - "The King’s Chapter" - "The Queen’s Chapter" According to the annotator, the purpose of "The Queen’s Procession" series was to transform human society into something resembling an insect colony. Each book in the series correspond a specific caste. Those who read "The Worker’s Chapter" would naturally develop faith for those who had read "The Soldier’s Chapter" and above. Similarly, those who read "The Soldier’s Chapter" would worship those who had read "The General’s Chapter", and so on. The higher the caste, the more severe the worship. It was said that the final "Queen" could command all those below her. “So, Thorn Velvet had the students read ‘The Worker’s Chapter’, while he and that guy named Avery had read ‘The Soldier’s Chapter’. That’s why the students continued to worship Avery even after Thorn Velvet’s death.” “Following this logic, that bald vampire probably read ‘The General’s Chapter’. The entire Eight-Spired Nest might be maintained through the effects of the ‘The Queen’s Procession’ series. This series was truly created to renovate human society.” “Heh, other mystical texts carry mystical knowledge and produce cognitive poison as a byproduct. The knowledge is the main focus, and the cognitive poison is just an annoying side effect. But with ‘The Queen’s Procession’, it’s the opposite. The effects of the cognitive poison are the main focus, and the stories in the text are just bonus. The creator wanted the effects of the cognitive poison.” After finishing the mystical text, Dorothy thought to herself. By now, she had a rough idea of how the Eight-Spired Nest operated. Closing the mystical text and setting it aside, Dorothy began to read the second text, titled "The Whip." "The Whip" was an autobiographical mystical text. It told the story of a prison guard’s growth experience. At the beginning, the protagonist, a somewhat cowardly newcomer, started working at a prison through family connections. On his first day, he was so terrified by the sight of tortured prisoners that he wet his pants, earning him the ridicule of his colleagues. That was until he met a talking spider deep within the prison. Later, under the spider’s instigation, the protagonist became a torturer who took pleasure in hearing the screams of prisoners. The blood on his whip never dried, and he found joy in torture. He subjected every prisoner in the jail to torture, regardless of whether their crimes were severe or minor. Eventually, he even turned his attention to his colleagues. “This one seems to have some connection to the Shadow path’s Torture and Fear Accumulation Method. It seems like ‘torture’ and ‘fear’ are somehow related to the spider deity and Shadow spirituality.” After finishing the mystical text, Dorothy stored it away and began extracting spirituality. From the two mystical texts, "The Queen’s Procession: Annotations" provided 3 points of Shadow and 2 points of Revelation, while "The Whip" provided 2 points of Shadow and 1 point of Revelation. In addition to these, Dorothy also extracted spirituality from the mystical text about vampires she had bought from Beverly, gaining 2 points of Shadow, 1 point of Chalice, and 1 point of Revelation. Adding these to her current reserves, Dorothy’s spirituality was now: - Chalice: 5 - Stone: 7 - Shadow: 9 - Lantern: 1 - Silence: 1 - Revelation: 5 “Wow, my Shadow reserves have shot up. It’s true that you gain what you rob. Back when I robbed the Eucharist, my Chalice reserves were almost overflowing.” Looking at her current spirituality reserves, Dorothy complained to herself. She wondered if she should diversify her targets in the future, robbing different types of secret societies to maintain a balanced "diet" and healthy growth. "Phew... Anyway, I’ve finally finished sorting everything. I’m exhausted... I’ll give some things to Vania tomorrow. For now, I need to sleep..." Looking out the window at the moon hanging high in the sky, Dorothy stretched and yawned. She then packed everything into her magic box and turned off the lights to sleep. … The next morning, King’s Campus, Royal Crown University. As the sun rose, students moved through the campus as usual, heading to their classes. However, some keen students noticed that there were many police officers stationed around the school, and several entrance had been blocked off. Curious students asked the officers what had happened, but the police replied that they could not disclose any information. The police’s secrecy sparked the students’ interest, and they began fierce discussion what might have happened the previous night. By mid-morning, several versions of the story were already circulating. Since several students were absent from class that morning, most of the rumors involved various murder cases. In reality, most of the police officers didn’t know what had happened either, as they were only responsible for peripheral alert. Deep underground in the school, another organization was handling the investigation. In the ritual chamber on the second level of the underground ruins, a group of Hunters in black coats were conducting their investigation. They were scattered throughout the chamber, searching for clues. A man in his thirties or forties, with shoulder-length, messy yellow hair and a stubbly chin, stood in front of the desecrated altar, hands in his coat pockets, silently staring at the spider-headed humanoid statue. He seemed lost in thought. At that moment, a Hunter hurried over and saluted the man respectfully before speaking. "Sir Edmund, we’ve received word from Compassion Angel Hospital. Although many of the students who were admitted appeared fine, upon further examination, it has been confirmed that they have suffered varying degrees of cognitive poison contamination."