Nighttime over the vast desert of Busalet. A battle that should have already ended had reignited due to an unforeseen event—and was only growing more intense. “What in the world… happened over there!?” At the edge of the ancient city of Bastis, in a large oasis, Nephthys, dressed in a long robe, stood atop a small hill. Her expression was grim as she looked out over the sprawling camp where countless people had collapsed, crying out in pain. Recalling how the rumblings and explosions from the distant desert—thought to have ceased—had suddenly erupted again, she couldn’t help but worry about the battle far away. “Is Miss Dorothy’s side… not going well?” Nephthys murmured anxiously as she gazed into the distance. … 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺 In the desert far from Bastis, Amuyaba, after receiving a mysterious external power, had erupted from the brink of death and rapidly transformed into a colossal, terrifying beast. Flooded with an overwhelming supply of spirituality, the rapidly evolving Amuyaba released a vast amount of green rust bacteria fog from her body into the land around her. The dense bacterial mist spread outward with her at the center, quickly covering the terrain for kilometers in every direction, forming a thick fog hundreds of meters deep. Her grotesque insectile body hid within it—continuing to grow and using the mist both to shield herself from Ivy’s constant bombardment from above and to launch counterattacks. Suspended three thousand meters in the sky, the Holy Steel Vessel Ivy continually rained down firepower into the center of the fog using various weapon systems. But this time, Amuyaba had released a mist that was tens of times denser and more expansive than before. As a result, Ivy's immensely powerful physical rounds were once again rendered ineffective—she had to rely on energy shells, which were not strong enough to deal a killing blow. And since this new mist came directly from Amuyaba’s body, not from insects carrying it, Dorothy’s spiritual threads could no longer suppress its spread. Now bloated to enormous size, Amuyaba had lost her earlier agility and could no longer move swiftly. She hunkered down within the mist, enduring Ivy’s bombardment. But her size had become so massive that she couldn’t be destroyed in one strike—and her terrifying regeneration rate meant Ivy’s energy firepower could only slow her growth, not stop her. Amid continuous bombardment, countless beams drilled into the green fog from the airborne iron warship. Guided by the biosensor, they struck the massive, bloated insect body within—splattering thick fluids. The human-faced abomination shrieked and writhed, laying eggs while shooting hardened projectiles from numerous bodily orifices. The eggs hatched into two kinds of spawn: some became bloating flying bomb bugs carrying bacterial sacs and wings, flying out of the mist toward Ivy; others became beetle-like creatures with keratin launchers, firing spiked projectiles skyward using pure muscle force. Though Ivy’s close-in defense systems successfully intercepted the swarms and projectiles, the sheer scale of Amuyaba’s continuous spawning was growing. With time, the pressure on Ivy’s defenses would mount. “This thing… its spirituality is just endless. I can’t suppress its growth completely. If this goes on, the situation will spiral out of control...” Suspended midair, Ivy’s projection spoke with a grim tone. She and Amuyaba were now locked in a stalemate—while Ivy still held the upper hand in firepower, the tides could easily turn as long as Amuyaba’s spiritual reinforcement continued. “Amuyaba’s spiritual source is all the infected with the Withering Plague across Busalet. The purpose of this plague must’ve been to harvest spirituality on a mass scale from ordinary people. The worsening symptoms we’re seeing in the plague patients at Bastis must mean Amuyaba is drawing even more power from them.” Not far from Ivy’s projection, one of Dorothy’s floating corpse marionettes explained. Hearing this, Ivy’s expression grew even more serious. “In that case, this monster effectively has a spiritual reserve made up of millions of people. There's no way we can outlast it by brute force.” “Exactly. If we want to destroy her, we’ll have to eliminate the Withering Plague first.” Dorothy’s marionette responded gravely. After that, silence fell between her and Ivy—an oppressive silence born of bitter realization. Their original goal in confronting Amuyaba had been to capture her and extract information about how to cure the Withering Plague. But now it was clear: to defeat Amuyaba, they had to first resolve the plague. The situation had turned completely upside down—leaving both of them in a tight bind. “Is there… anything else your side can do? This land was once the heart of the First Dynasty. Surely your legacy of ancient power has some way to turn this around?” Ivy asked Dorothy’s marionette with a solemn expression. As someone who lacked any means of curing a plague, she could only place her hopes on the mysterious and ancient Revelation inheritance. Hearing Ivy’s words, Dorothy fell silent for a moment longer—then finally had her marionette speak again, slowly. “There is one possible method… but the risk is high.” “Risk? Are you proposing some kind of dangerous operation?” Ivy asked curiously. But Dorothy’s marionette shook its head slightly. “No… The one facing the risk isn’t us. It’s Vania.” “Sister Vania…?” Ivy looked surprised—then quickly followed up. “What kind of risk? What would you need Sister Vania to do in order to resolve this?” “An experiment. We’d need Vania to participate in a trial. If it succeeds, everything we’re facing now could be resolved. But the experiment carries inherent risks. Perhaps… you might have a way to reduce that risk.” Dorothy explained, then had her marionette begin describing the contents of the experiment. The more Ivy listened, the more grave her expression became. “This kind of experiment… The risks are completely unmanageable. No. I can’t allow Sister Vania to take part. My mission is to ensure she completes her advancement. If that fails here in Busalet, we can move to another place. There’s no need for her to risk herself like this.” Ivy rejected the idea sternly. Dorothy, through her marionette, nodded in agreement. “You’re right, Sister Ivy. Vania is also an important friend to us. We had no intention of forcing her into danger. We only mentioned the experiment to see if you might have a way to support or mitigate the risk. Since you don’t, we’ll drop it.” Dorothy had hoped Ivy might possess some unique tool or method to reduce the dangers of the procedure—but lacking that, the plan would have to be shelved for now. Given the current situation, Dorothy decided to temporarily abandon the struggle for Busalet against the Longevity Church. She planned to have Ivy and Vania retreat, while she would remain behind, entering the Pseudo-History World alone to hide and devote herself to researching a method to find Heopolis. After all, the Longevity Church didn’t know the location of the Pseudo-History World, so staying there alone would be safe. Facing Amuyaba, who now possessed the added spirituality of millions, Dorothy had begun devising a safe retreat plan. But just then, from aboard the airborne steel warship, Vania suddenly spoke up. “Please wait! Sister Ivy, Envoy of the Divine Mentor… please wait! I am willing to undergo the experiment!” Dorothy and Ivy both heard her, and they each looked surprised. “Sister Vania… how did you hear our conversation?” Dorothy asked through one of her marionettes. She was certain she hadn’t transmitted the details of the experiment to Vania via the data channel. “Ah… I’m sorry for overhearing. It wasn’t intentional. The blessing the Divine Mentor gave me is very powerful, and paired with Sister Ivy’s sanctuary, it’s hard not to pick up on certain things…” Vania responded with clear apology in her tone. To aid her battlefield perception, Dorothy had allocated a significant portion of her computational power to Vania. Through Ivy’s sanctuary, Vania could scan all lifeforms within dozens of kilometers, and Dorothy’s processing power allowed her to monitor them in fine detail—from humans and animals down to insects and bacteria. This synergy between Ivy’s sanctuary and Dorothy’s computing power even enabled Vania to lip-read Dorothy’s corpse marionette and deduce the spoken content through computational analysis—effortlessly, and almost unconsciously. “Sister Vania, you said you want to proceed with the experiment?” Floating nearby, Ivy asked directly, and Vania answered with certainty. “Yes, Sister Ivy. I truly wish to conduct the experiment. We may be able to run away, but the millions here in Busalet suffering from the Withering Plague cannot. I can’t just abandon them!” Dorothy’s marionette interjected, concerned. “Sister Vania… Your advancement doesn’t have to happen in Busalet. There are people in need everywhere. You can hold your ritual elsewhere—there’s no need to take such a risk here.” “That may be true… But if I can’t save the people right in front of me, how could I go elsewhere and face others in need?” Vania said seriously. At this moment, she could genuinely feel the pain of the countless people suffering in Bastis. She had already been forced to give up saving hundreds or even thousands before, but to abandon millions—she couldn’t do it. “Sister Vania, understand that you don’t need to risk yourself to reach Crimson-rank…” Ivy tried again. But Vania remained unmoved. “Sister Ivy… I walk the Holy Mother Path, the path of salvation. Salvation isn’t a means to advancement—it is the goal. If I turn away from the chance to save a million people, then what use is my advancement?” Hearing these words, Ivy fell silent, then sighed lightly. Dorothy, startled, sent a private message via the data channel. “Vania… are you serious? The risks here aren’t a joke.” “Don’t worry, Miss Dorothea. I know what I’m doing. Things have reached this point—I won’t turn my back on the people who need saving.” Vania replied resolutely. Then Ivy finally spoke up again. “I understand. Since this is your choice, Sister Vania, I won’t stop you. In my storerooms, there are emergency life-support devices, rare mystical medicines, and even a portable altar that can serve as a mobile sanctuary-grade ritual site. Take them all—they’ll greatly help with the experiment.” Dorothy, surprised, had her marionette ask. “Medicines… life support… a portable sanctuary? These things could drastically reduce the experiment’s risk. Why didn’t you mention them earlier?” “Because we didn’t fully trust each other. I wasn’t comfortable handing Sister Vania over. But now that she’s made her decision, I won’t hold back. Hurry—I’ll hold this thing off while you prepare.” Ivy glanced at Dorothy’s marionette. Dorothy, not taking offense, quickly responded. “Understood. I promise I won’t take long.” … After finishing coordination with Ivy, Dorothy immediately began the operation. Ivy lowered the ship’s altitude, allowing several of Dorothy’s marionettes to fly aboard. Guided by Ivy, they found the life-support units, medicines, and portable altar, and gathered all materials into the grand chapel. Then, Dorothy had Vania temporarily halt her battlefield sensing and come to the material storage site. She had her marionettes touch Vania and all the supplies, then suspended them in midair together. Finally, from afar, Dorothy’s true body opened her magic box, pulled out a page of false historical manuscript, and wrote upon it. At the moment she put pen to paper, Dorothy herself, her distant marionettes, the supplies, and Vania all vanished instantly—destination unknown. “Gone... So many secrets in this Revelation Path…” Ivy muttered as she watched them disappear from inside her own ship. She scanned briefly, but could not trace where they had gone. She returned her full attention to Amuyaba and resumed pouring firepower into the land below. … Using a False History manuscript page hidden inside her marionette, Dorothy transported herself, Vania, and all of Ivy’s gifted supplies into a Pseudo-Historical World of her own creation. Then, by rewriting the narrative, she moved the timeline three years into the past within that world. In the year 1358 of the virtual Atia Dynasty timeline, Dorothy and Vania appeared in a much larger version of the Bastis oasis than in the real world. There, they saw a peaceful and harmonious community. “This is… Bastis? It’s nothing like before… It’s even more beautiful… People are living peacefully… Is this real?” Standing on a hilltop, Vania gazed at the open gates of Bastis, watching people coming and going, and marveled aloud. Beside her, Dorothy calmly replied. “This is a Bastis that doesn’t exist in true history. It’s both real and unreal—but for us here and now, it’s real enough… Let’s conduct the experiment here.” “Right. Then there’s no time to waste. Sister Ivy is still buying us time out there!” Vania said urgently. But Dorothy only smiled and waved her hand. “Relax. In here, we have all the time we need. Don’t worry about that steel nun. Let’s go rest in town first. We can hire help after.” With that, Dorothy left a marionette to handle the materials, then led the still-curious Vania toward the distant city of Bastis. … After arriving in the pseudo-history world, Dorothy began implementing her plan immediately following a short rest. She hired a group of locals and, together with her corpse marionettes, renovated a purchased property in a remote valley near Bastis. She then transported the supplies brought from the real world to this location and used them to construct a laboratory. Inside the lab, Dorothy used the altar provided by Ivy to set up a Lantern Path Temple-Grade ritual site. After more than a month of work, everything was finally ready. Amid the windblown valley, within a secluded stone building, a clean and orderly room filled with strange instruments awaited. Dorothy brought Vania into the ritual site and took out a syringe. “Alright, Vania. Our preparations are nearly complete. Are you ready?” Dorothy asked, her tone serious. Vania nodded firmly. “Yes! I’m ready. Let’s begin, Miss Dorothea.” Dorothy gave her the syringe. Vania accepted it, took a deep breath, rolled up her sleeve, and injected the contents into her arm—then withdrew the needle. After setting the syringe aside, Vania sat cross-legged in the center of the ritual circle. Once linked to the ritual field, she closed her eyes and began examining her internal state. She quickly detected the foreign substance now flowing through her bloodstream—a microscopic virus. Seeing the virus, Vania activated her abilities, using the powerful immune system inherent to a Beyonder on the Redemption Path, and issued a command: do not attack the invaders. She allowed the virus to freely replicate inside her. Within days, the virus spread throughout her entire body with little resistance. Even as a Chalice auxiliary Beyonder, Vania began to show clear symptoms: weakness, fatigue, pain… These were unmistakably the symptoms of the Withering Plague. What she had injected into herself—was the virus itself. Vania had intentionally infected herself, making her a patient of the disease she sought to defeat. “Huff… huff… huff…” Sitting inside the ritual field, sweating profusely, Vania endured the physical agony and labored to catch her breath. In front of her stood Dorothy, her expression serious but concerned. “Are you alright, Vania?” “I’m fine… everything’s going as expected. We can begin the first round of immune response.” Vania closed her eyes and began formally activating her immune powers to kill off the plague virus that had taken root throughout her body. As she did, her body temperature rose, her symptoms worsened, and she developed nausea as well. Despite extreme discomfort, she continued the internal battle—and after an extended struggle, she succeeded in completely eliminating the virus within her. “Huff… huff… Miss Dorothea, did they change?” Vania asked breathlessly, sweat streaming down her face. Dorothy—now wearing a white lab coat—sat at a nearby table, peering through a Church-grade optical microscope at a petri dish. “They did. Your immune response triggered another structural shift in the linked bacteria. Their resistance has increased again…” Wearing glasses, Dorothy continued observing and explained as she looked at the weakened Vania. Hearing this, Vania gave a faint smile. “That’s good… change means progress.” “Well done, Vania. That’s enough for today. Get some rest. We’ll begin the next round after a few days.” “Alright…” … In the days that followed, Dorothy and Vania repeated this cycle: injecting Vania with Withering Plague virus, allowing it to spread, then having her suppress and destroy it through immune activation. Although the plague virus had already become highly immune-resistant—even strong enough to challenge most White Ash-rank Beyonders of the Redemption Path—Vania was still able to cope. Thanks to her partially completed advancement, Vania was already a powerful White Ash-rank Redemption Path Beyonder. With her ability to directly manipulate her own body’s immune system—and with the support of the temple-grade ritual site—she could still effectively eliminate the virus after repeated infections. Each round of infection tempered the virus, making it tougher and more resilient. Its resistance to mystical immunity—and even to microbial competition—grew stronger and stronger, until eventually even Vania struggled to suppress it. At that point, Dorothy introduced new external bacteria into Vania’s body. These strains—discovered in Jemal’s laboratory—came from various natural environments and shared one common trait: they were extremely aggressive, and fiercely attacked one another. Vania injected these foreign microbes and, using her control over her body, directed and enhanced them to battle the Withering Plague virus. Those external bacteria that didn’t engage in combat were eliminated by her immune system. These outsiders served as mercenaries, waging war against the Withering Plague virus within her. In turn, the virus adapted, learning from each conflict and evolving to counter these new microbial threats. Thus, within this pseudo-history world, the virus that Dorothy had brought in entered a cycle of endless competition, facing enemy after enemy at the microscopic level. Through each battle, the Withering Plague followed its foundational blueprint—evolving through natural selection. It grew more formidable, capable of resisting both mystical immunity and foreign microbial threats. Its evolution… seemed unstoppable. But evolution—always comes at a price. In gaining something new, something is always lost. Just like how the whale, once a land-dwelling creature, evolved its limbs into fins and entered the sea—only to lose its ability to walk on land. Evolution is never free. Every lifeform's path of advancement has its limits. This applies to macro-organisms—and even more so to microbes. A microbe’s form is simple. When it evolves a new structure to fulfill a function, other functions and structures are often sacrificed. The more that function grows—becoming more powerful, more complex—the more structural space it consumes, leaving less and less for everything else. If a person equips weapons on all their limbs… and holds blades in their mouth—how are they supposed to eat?