Archon was watching over Lea as she slept, because he felt a bit guilty for issuing the command to coerce her into the world of mysticism while cking preparation.

  Due to her being a target of Akasha Monodrama, he finds that she would be the perfect bait. Yet he almost risked a girl who was grieving's life and even risked the entire city.

  Yet with this mistake, there were things to learn. The first is that the terrorists wanted her alive; she served some purpose in their twisted schemes. The second being the power of Veil, such terrifying illusions are hard to break within a tense situation and could've wiped the city off the map. And finally, the unknown mud that was found where Lea was knocked out.

  In the past week, the Research Department of the Church of Sacrifice had shared results about their discovery. It contains a high concentration of corruptive substance that can only be produced using a high-level Pathstrider of Corruption, perhaps even a Seventh Step Pathstrider.

  Because of Lea, the churches in the Renlou Empire, as well as the government, were able to assess the danger level of Akasha Monodrama more accurately.

  As he was keeping a watch on her condition, breathing faintly but steadily, Owen - the captain of the Abyssal Hunter, Ein Branch - came in.

  "Bishop Rudiger, several sigils are missing, including mine.", he reported with a serious gaze.

  The Bishop nodded, "I will contact the headquarters."

  He felt like something was going to happen. Quickly, he swiped his finger downward in the air, creating a translucent screen.

  Unlike other Bishops who worked their way up, he was recruited by the Holy See itself. He was formerly an adventurer, walking the Path of Tribution with support from Creation and Legacy.

  Out of all Paths, people say Tribution is the most dangerous since fate throws obstacles at you at every waking moment. But he is different, reading a page from the Secret of Life, he gets to know a powerful combination, that is of Tribution and Creation— what The Heretic calls Pyer. Legacy is a nice bonus to it, too.

  He used Apprasial, gained from the combination of all three Paths, to see Lea's status...

  Archon grimaced, seeing the affliction [Corrupted] being permanent, and her stats were not good... except for Spirituality, which was higher than the average person. Bishop Rudiger silently prayed to The Three Rings for her safety.

  And he left, leaving her to rest on her own. He has more important things to do, after all.

  =0=0=

  "Spirituality?", Lea widens her eyes.

  She was in an empty part of the library, facing Lady Keter.

  "Yes. There are three general categories of Attributes. Material, Astral, and Immaterial. Malediction belongs to the Immaterial, which grants an emergency attack - the st resort - calls Spirit Rampage.", the Lady spoke as she pyed with the rge compass on her hip, tapping it several times, "It is quite easy to do once you know about it, yet many people don't realize this ability."

  With a smile, Lady Keter pointed her left index finger at Lea, "Just exhale strongly and time it with your heartbeat."

  That simple? Lea was a bit skeptical, but she tried anyway. Taking in a deep breath, she focused on her beating heart... sensing the rhythms in her chest.

  Bathum— Bathum— Bathum— Ba—

  She exhaled sharply. Lea widened her eyes as something escaped for her. In an instant, a gust of wind burst out from her, accompanied by wailings and curses. She dropped to her knees, exhausted.

  No wonder this is a st resort attack; it only leaves her with enough strength to run away. Even that is difficult.

  "You got that quickly.", Lady Keter praised her, "The higher your Step is, the stronger it will become. Quite simple and easy to understand, right?"

  Lea nodded, feeling a little lightheaded after using Spiritual Rampage... yet she stood up regardless. Her fear of Akasha Monodrama turned into fuel for the fire in her heart, to one day surpass and kill that woman.

  "Next up is martial arts.", Lady Keter stated, snapping her finger to summon a cane, "Your build is more suited for something light, perhaps a rapier."

  "Why not a gun, Lady Keter?", although it would be expensive, Lea thinks she can convince the church to give her a license and a revolver.

  Lady Keter just stares at her, "It's a common trope that guns are useless, unless it's a stressful situation. Plus, guns are pretty loud. For someone who needs to act like a vilin, you don't want to attract attention to yourself, do you?"

  It was quite reasonable, the tter part, not the first part. Lea doesn't know what kind of trope the Lady was talking about.

  Reluctantly, Lea accepted her words, "So what kind of sword suits me?"

  "Something long, and easily concealed.", her eyes scan Lea from top to bottom, "A parasol as a rapier sheath would suit you best, with both look and aura."

  But before Lea could get a word in, her vision began to blur.

  "Well, that's it for now, wake up and do your advancement ritual.", the Lady smiled, touching Lea's chest with the end of her cane— then she pushed her—

  "Aaah!!", Lea screamed as she got up from the bed.

  Her eyes darted around. She was in the medical bay of the church, clean, white, with a lot of towels in one corner. She looked at her body, and some faint cracks were on her arms, running all the way up to her neck.

  Touching these scars, then don't feel real, more likely is symbolic of the corruption she was force-fed. Thinking back on that moment, a shiver went down her spine.

  With no one around, she got off the bed with some difficulty. Lea picked up her broken emblem and the newly appointed one, drawing three circles on her chest and silently praying to The Three Rings.

  With her clothes on the cabinet beside the bed, she quickly changed from her hospital gown. Looking at the cracks on her hands, Lea frowned slightly.

  She will need something to cover them up.

  Taking in a deep breath, she walked out of the empty medical bay. Her mind is still exhausted after performing the Spiritual Rampage; she just wants to go home and rest.

  Yet... everything was quiet; she could not sense any human presence, none at all.

  She leaned against a wall, feeling anxious. But more than that, she was getting fed up with being thrown into power struggles she honestly had nothing to do with.

  "Why is my life so messed up!!", she screamed out loud in frustration, gritting her teeth over her own fate.

  =0=0=

  "Huh?", Bishop Rudiger turned around, hearing a scream from somewhere in the cathedral.

  In a hidden room, the Bishop was looking over a crystal ball, a communication device, to discuss things with the other Bishops.

  He even activates one of the statues of The Three Rings, creating another dimension for privacy. But someone else was here...

  "Bishop Rudiger, what's wrong?", a sultry female voice came from the crystal ball.

  "There may be someone, or something..."

  Order is one of the best Paths to control an area; the statues depicting a God of Order are very powerful in this regard. They are at least on the level of the Fifth Step despite being objects, which is why nobody suspects a thing during a Pathstrider battle at night, due to a Command with the statues as proxy.

  So someone capable of entering this pce... would be at least a Fifth Step Pathstrider or higher.

  This is bad... Bishop Rudiger rubbed his beard. Someone at that level could destroy Ein or at least cause major harm to the city.

  "If I don't return after fifteen minutes, consider me dead and send someone to evacuate the city...", he spoke with a grave tone, standing up from the chair.

  Being a former adventurer, he had yet to lose his edge, always prepared for any situation.

  For a moment, he thought that Tribution was giving him another Trial. But he soon dismissed that thought; he would've felt his next hunt.

  And in the empty space— he walked around cautiously, using Legacy to map out the entire alternative dimension— and he found someone, and he was surprised to see Lea wandering around.

  He was curious as to why she was here. He suspected it was because of Akasha Monodrama.

  With a few twists and turns, he found Lea being cautious of everything. Bishop Rudiger called out to her.

  "Miss Darkwill, you shouldn't be here.", he said with a half-joking tone.

  Lea gnced at him; her intense gaze made him flinch a bit due to the sheer hostility coming from them. Malediction was a retively new Path that the church just acquired, so he wasn't familiar with it.

  "Bishop Rudiger?", Lea widens her eyes, "Where is this?"

  "This is...", he stopped himself, "You don't need to know, but I'll get you out of here..."

  Time was running out, so he had to report back quickly.

  "Just wait a moment, I have something important to do.", he urgently ran away, leaving Lea with no expnation

  She just stares into empty space. And... she felt her Second Step ritual progress...