Western Addus – Karnak Once a peaceful mining town, Karnak was now engulfed in smoke and gunfire. After Revolutionary Army soldiers breached the city, firefights broke out across the urban landscape—street battles had begun in earnest. However, the combat was not especially fierce. As Shadi had predicted, following Shihab’s death in the royal mausoleum at the hands of Mohn, the Savior’s Advent Sect forces in Karnak had abruptly lost their central command. With tens of thousands of troops thrown into chaos mid-battle, they were completely unprepared to resist Shadi’s assault. After the collapse of the outer defenses and the elimination of half their forces, Shadi didn’t pause; he pressed the offensive without rest. The speed of the attack left the disorganized defenders no time to establish street-fighting positions. As Revolutionary troops stormed the city, panic and confusion reigned among the defenders, who quickly collapsed under the onslaught. In short, the battle for Karnak was entirely one-sided. With virtually no effective resistance, the Revolutionary Army swept through the city. Massive surrenders followed. Only a few blocks in the city center still saw stubborn pockets of resistance. The battle for Karnak was all but decided. While his troops pushed through the city with overwhelming momentum, Shadi stood at the city’s edge, accompanied by a few aides, grimly observing the scene before him. What he saw was a grotesque and bloody sight: a massive Silence ritual array drawn across the ground, splattered with dried blood. Several corpses lay within it, their hands bound behind their backs. Around the array’s edge were more bodies, piled high in makeshift mounds. The total number of dead easily exceeded a hundred. Corpses on a battlefield weren’t unusual. What mattered was their attire—all of them were dressed as ordinary civilians. These were clearly Karnak’s original residents. During the period when the Savior’s Advent Sect and Nether Coffin Order held the city, they appeared to have been gathered here for mass execution. “General, this is the ritual massacre site we just uncovered. According to reports, we’ve now found four such sites around Karnak. All were used for Silence rituals. It seems this is where the enemy created their undead forces. Those undead we encountered outside the city likely came from these rituals… and the materials they used appear to be the people of Karnak…” Adan, standing beside Shadi, delivered the latest report. Shadi remained silent. He swept his heavy gaze over the bloodstained ritual array, quickly estimating the total number of corpses across the four sites. Comparing that with the scale of undead forces they had encountered, he realized a chilling truth: the entire population of Karnak—never large to begin with—had most likely been slaughtered. Up to this point, the Revolutionary Army hadn’t encountered a single instance of the Savior’s Advent Sect using civilians as hostages to stall their advance. Nor had they seen any civilians at all. Now Shadi’s unease solidified into certainty. “Once the fighting’s over, launch a city-wide search for survivors and protect them. Guard all prisoners strictly. Preserve all evidence and prepare for post-war tribunals.” “Yes, sir.” With a heavy tone, Shadi gave his orders. Adan gave a curt reply and immediately left to carry them out. Shadi remained in place, staring at the piles of corpses, speechless—until the voice of Setut spoke from within him. “What, shaken already? Haven’t you seen scenes like this plenty of times before?” Shadi fell silent for a moment. Then, with a quiet sigh, he replied. “A massacre of over ten thousand… This is a first, even for me. And in the past, the dead were usually outsiders, people unrelated to me. But now, these are… Addus’s people. Of course it hits differently. Besides, I’m not shaken, just lamenting the methods of these cults.” “Heh… if ten thousand shakes you, then you’ve seen far too little of the world. To Beyonders—those wielding mystical power and immersed in forbidden knowledge—ordinary people are hard to empathize with. In eras without strong order to suppress them, mortals are no more than livestock and materials. Whether it’s ten thousand, a million, or ten million—it’s all the same. If they want, they’ll take lives without blinking. History’s full of such eras. Count yourself lucky to live in this one, boy.” Setut spoke coolly. After listening, Shadi blinked, then chuckled bitterly. “So what, I’m supposed to thank those zealots on Holy Mount?” “More or less. They’re the torchbearers of this age. At least they’ve built a world where some semblance of order suppresses chaos. I know their methods irritate you, but I guarantee you this: if the Radiance Church ever collapses, what follows will be far worse. You wouldn’t like what comes next.” Setut’s voice carried a rare seriousness. Shadi was about to respond when a soldier came running from the distance, panting and shouting. “Huff… General! There’s something strange happening in the north! Please come see!” “Something strange…?” A flicker of doubt passed through Shadi’s eyes. He followed the soldier up to the rooftop of a nearby building. From there, he looked north and froze at what he saw. Over the mountain range to the north of Karnak, a yellow-brown storm was roaring and howling. Dust and sand spiraled violently, engulfing the mountains in a deafening storm. A massive sand tornado—like a wall of wind and grit rising from earth to sky—was pressing straight toward tiny Karnak. It looked like the end of the world. “What… what is that?! How could such a massive sandstorm appear out of nowhere? There was no sign of this before!” Shadi stared in shock. From within him, Setut’s tone turned sharp. “Watch closely, boy. That’s no natural sandstorm. There’s something mystical at work here.” “Mystical? What kind of power can cause something like this? Is it… that person you mentioned earlier?” Shadi asked bluntly. But Setut denied it. “No. That presence has already vanished. This… this is something different. It feels like a spirit-type… and one that’s been modified.” “A spirit-type… sandstorm?” Shadi’s confusion deepened. Just then, the sandstorm began to change. On the towering wall of sand and wind, a giant human face began to emerge. It turned its gaze south, toward the city of Karnak, and opened its mouth to shout. “Sha… di… Usurper!” Seeing the colossal face emerge from the sandstorm, Shadi stood dumbfounded for a moment before murmuring. “…Diedin…” “Snap out of it, boy! Your would-be avenger’s on the way—if you don’t want to die, get ready now!” Setut shouted. Hearing this, Shadi furrowed his brows and clenched his fists with grave determination. … Elsewhere, within the royal mausoleum of Death Eagle Valley, Dorothy and Nephthys had just successfully learned the truth about the undead Diedin from Mohn. After listening to Mohn’s explanation, both Dorothy and Nephthys were filled with astonishment. “Artificial Wild Spirit… So even beings like Lord Soulwhisker can be artificially created? That’s incredible…” Nephthys muttered in surprise within the mausoleum. On the other side, Dorothy also spoke in disbelief. “The Nether Coffin Order… they’re conducting research like this? Wild spirits bound to national territories… If that research is ever completed, that’d be disastrous…” Now that she understood the true nature of Diedin’s spirit, Dorothy’s expression grew grim. She had seen what region-bound wild spirits were capable of. The lizard-like wild spirit summoned by Chabakunka had already been difficult enough to deal with—despite being a native New Continent spirit, its capabilities were still limited in Addus. But now, Diedin, a being capable of treating the entirety of Aldus as its domain, had suddenly emerged. Dorothy truly didn’t know how to deal with something like that. “This Diedin spirit… the sandstorm outside is growing stronger and stronger… I feel like I’m no longer capable of handling it. But the Goblet of Nether Guidance is still on him. I can’t just ignore this—how annoying…” Scratching her head, Dorothy thought with visible frustration. The current Diedin was already transforming into a conscious, large-scale natural disaster, clearly beyond her ability to respond. Against such a vast disparity in power, her usual schemes and tricks were meaningless. “Dealing with a sandstorm… no matter how I think about it, I can’t come up with a solution…” While observing the now absurdly massive sandstorm surrounding Diedin via her avian corpse marionettes, Dorothy’s thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice echoing in her mind. “O Great Aka, please relay to the Scholar that I’ve deciphered the meaning of the ritual array she inquired about—I wish to speak with her…” Hearing the voice belonging to Sadroya, Dorothy paused slightly and responded through the consulting channel. “This is the Scholar. You’ve figured out the meaning of that ritual array?” “Yes. Through on-site analysis and reviewing some of the mystical texts I brought from the Nether Coffin Order, I’ve largely understood its function and principles. It’s a modified soul-binding array that requires multiple Beyonders to operate. Its purpose is to constrain and control souls—twisting their will. Even when inactive, it still suppresses spiritual entities.” Sadroya’s voice echoed in Dorothy’s mind. Hearing this, Dorothy’s expression grew sharp. She replied through the channel. “Twisting a soul’s will… So this array forms the basis for a powerful soul-control ritual?” “Exactly. Moreover, this ritual differs greatly from common ones with similar effects. It incorporates numerous Chalice elements to strengthen the causal links derived from bloodline. The array dramatically enhances bloodline as a medium—it essentially turns familial ties into shackles. The ritual performer can use this blood shackle to control an extremely powerful target soul.” As Sadroya’s voice continued to echo, Dorothy seemed to understand something. She quickly asked. “So a descendant could use this ritual to forcibly twist and control the soul of an ancestor?” “In theory… yes, as long as the bloodline is pure enough and there are enough ritual participants sharing that lineage, it’s entirely possible.” Sadroya responded without hesitation. Hearing this, Dorothy glanced toward the dark sepulcher not far away. Now she finally understood how the last few generations of the Addus royal line had passed their “trials.” As descendants, this method was… rather ‘filially manipulative’, to say the least. “Then Sadroya, if I want to awaken a soul that has been subjected to this ritual multiple times and is still being suppressed by it—would that be dangerous?” “Yes. Extremely dangerous. If you awaken the soul without using the proper ritual and without the necessary bloodline medium, the soul might suffer damage from the flawed ritual and immediately go insane—attacking all nearby living beings.” “Then… what if I destroy the array before awakening the soul?” “If you dismantle the array using the correct procedure, the soul will be freed from the ritual’s influence and can be awakened normally. However, due to the repeated distortions it suffered, its condition will likely be very unstable—there’s still a high risk of insanity or abnormal behavior. If the soul is particularly strong, it might eventually recover with time.” In the face of Dorothy’s string of questions, Sadroya answered promptly and clearly. By now, Dorothy had already flown to the entrance of the sepulcher. Gazing toward the stone sarcophagus within, she asked. “What if I want the soul to awaken normally without going berserk the moment it wakes up?” “Then… you’d need to prepare a method of appeasement. If you have an item or ability capable of soothing souls, it should help calm the agitated spirit.” Hearing Sadroya’s reply, Dorothy silently stared at the massive stone coffin before her. After a moment of reflection, she murmured. “Maybe the key to fixing what the descendants broke… really does lie with the ancestor after all…” With that thought, Dorothy opened her information channel again—this time not to contact Sadroya, but Kapak. … New Continent, Tupa Tribe Encampment, Inside the Shaman Tent. Karpak was still seated within the great shaman tent, eyes closed in meditation under Uta’s guidance. Suddenly, he once again heard a voice in his mind. Opening his eyes, he turned to glance at Uta, who was leisurely puffing on his pipe. “Master Uta… A follower of the Scholar under Aka has asked me to relay a question: can you assist them in performing a soul-soothing ritual from afar right now?” Hearing Kapak’s words, the elder shaman Uta fell into silence. After exhaling several smoke rings, he replied calmly. “That’s not something I can’t do. But it would require me to project my soul out of my body. You would need to assist with the spirit-calling and guide my soul over to them. So long as they’ve prepared a suitable vessel on their end, it should be possible.” “However, this sort of living-soul projection carries some risks for me. I wonder if those on the other side can offer compensation worthy of such a risk… If it’s just common material goods, I might have to charge more than usual. After all, at this point, our tribe isn’t really in need of mundane resources anymore.” Uta said all this quietly to Kapak, still smoking leisurely, his posture clearly indicating: cheap services end here—get ready for a price hike. Hearing this, Kapak quickly opened the information channel to deliver the message. It didn’t take long before he received a response. “Master Uta, the Scholar says they are currently engaged in battle with one of the Desecrators of the Shamanic Spirit Sect—the Grand Shaman Chabakunka. The two sides are at a critical stalemate.” “What? Chabakunka? The Grand Shaman of the Withered Sand Plains in the Central Great Wastelands? That traitor shaman turned desecrator is him…? He’s one of the elders of the Spirit Sect!” Uta’s eyes widened in shock. While he had known that the Scholar’s side was clashing with members of the Spirit Sect, he hadn’t expected their opponent to be such a major figure. “That’s right. According to the Scholar, Chabakunka is incredibly powerful; even their strongest fighters are having trouble with him. They now need to awaken an ancient undead as reinforcement. If they succeed, they could severely wound Chabakunka—that great defector who betrayed the old ways! But the catch is, that ancient undead has issues. It must be soothed during the awakening ritual.” Karpak continued explaining. Uta, hearing this, looked somewhat incredulous as he asked. “Able to severely wound that defector…? Are you certain?” “Master Uta, I believe it’s true. The Scholar has never lied to us—not once. Every promise he’s made, he has kept. We should continue placing our trust in him.” Karpak spoke earnestly. Uta frowned, puffed on his pipe twice, and slowly exhaled a stream of smoke before answering. “If it’s really possible to strike a heavy blow against a defector… that would be a great boon—not just for us, but for all tribes who still faithfully follow the ancient path. Such a victory would be truly inspiring news.” That said, Uta had already made up his mind to travel spiritually to the distant location and help perform the soul-soothing rite. But now came a problem—how could he possibly demand a higher price when the other side was operating under the noble banner of defeating a great traitor? Forget raising the price—under such righteous circumstances, he’d be too ashamed to ask for compensation at all. If they actually succeeded in striking down the great defector, the entire Shamanic Spirit Sect might end up owing Aka’s followers a great debt. He recalled how the favor Tupa owed in Tivian had only just been repaid, and now it seemed another favor was already taking shape. “Just finished paying the last debt, and here comes another,” he thought. Uta’s heart wavered slightly for a moment—but only for a moment. He soon gave his answer. “Tell the Scholar… I’m ready for the spirit-calling.” Despite all his considerations, there was no way Uta would ever pass up a chance to deliver a heavy blow to the great defector.