"What exactly is going on?"
Haida looked around and realized she was probably the only one truly clueless about the current situation.
"Oh, Sister Haida, it's not hard to explain…"
"Sister, it's quite easy to understand…"
Fran stopped mid-sentence. She heard someone interrupting, which was quite impolite.
From the shadows beside the throne, a "Dr. Fran" with an appearance identical to her own stepped out with light footsteps.
However, when Haida looked in that direction, she saw nothing. It seemed that person existed only in Fran's eyes.
"Well then, you explain it."
Fran shot an annoyed glance at the version of herself who had emerged from the throne's shadows, then began the explanation. Though the words still came from her mouth, it sounded as if another person in the distance was speaking…
"After ascending to a higher being, Yvonne's divinity almost overwhelmed and erased her self. And a deity can possess multiple pasts… So my initial treatment plan was to collect for Yvonne all the various 'endings' that could consolidate her humanity."
"Last time, what I did was almost perfect, but an unforeseen complication occurred… And I hadn't specifically collected the Frenzied Flame back then, so you got lucky."
The Fran from the past gave a light hum, then resumed her account.
"Also, the Pale Mist operates under a rule for the Lands Between. 'I cannot take anything away from the Lands Between until the treatment is fully complete.' This causes my memory of each visit to be concealed… leaving only the basic knowledge I had beforehand."
"So that's why you left clues with the Mimic Tear and Goldmask?"
Haida finally pieced together the entire cause and effect and thread of the event. She instantly felt a wave of relief; the puzzle that had long perplexed her finally had an answer.
Fran, however, frowned, overruling her own previous response.
"Objection! Since you and I are on different threads of fate, everything should restart upon my arrival. There shouldn't be any traces. How did you leave clues?"
"The world restarts, but I do not. I just need to rig things on myself… The Mimic Tear, upon mimicking me, would read a specific strand of thought. Goldmask, upon seeing me, would comprehend the essence of the Golden Order. Their subsequent reactions in the moment are the best warnings for you."
"And Ranni has already become a deity, while the Dragonlord inherently exists within a temporal rift."
The Fran from the past gave a light laugh, appreciating the future self's clearly displeased expression with amusement.
"The Mimic Tear first mentioned the four endings: 'Duskborn (Death)', 'Despair (Curse)', 'Order (Decay)', and 'Frenzied Flame.' At that point, you probably determined the ending you were working towards was either 'Perfect Order' or 'Stars.' Then, after Goldmask crushed the Great Rune, you knew… you were on the path of Stars."
"Now, all six fates have been collected. Dear Yvonne, have you found the 'humanity' you need within them?"
The speech rhythms of the present and past Fran gradually synchronized, finally merging into one.
Yvonne upon the throne shimmered with faint starlight. She looked at the two, and also at her consort.
The eternal, detached expression surrounding her melted away like snow. Then a clear, faint smile quietly appeared at the corner of her lips, cool tear tracks following its path.
"Yes, I feel it… the vivid emotions of when I was human. Those times belonging to a nameless Tarnished. Thank you… Dr. Fran."
[The 'Severe Personality Dissolution' of the 'Tarnished' Yvonne has been cured. This quarter's Interdimensional House Call is completed. Completion Grade: Apollyon (Abyss). Your next Interdimensional House Call will trigger at the end of next quarter.]
[This Session's Payment: Unknown Biological Material x1, Unknown Biological Technology x1. (Flawless Quality. Unappraised)]
---
Norlington, Sated Club.
Haida distinctly felt those lingering pale mists envelop her, but the dense fog, thick enough to almost drip, lasted only a moment before gradually dissipating without a trace.
She looked around somewhat confusedly, only seeing the familiar dim corridor and a pleasantly surprised Vivian.
"Team Leader Haida, you're finally back! Support is arriving soon… Do you know what these five minutes you were missing were like for me?"
Vivian approached Haida, eager yet with a hint of pitifulness, nearly giving her a hug.
"Perhaps there was an issue with the mist Dr. Fran uses for passage… but it quickly returned to normal."
Haida was also somewhat surprised by the earlier anomaly of the pale mist.
And… though the mist lasted only an extremely brief instant, she, wrapped within it, experienced a profound sense of duration. As if, in a gap her consciousness didn't perceive, she had lived through a span of forgotten time.
"Huff… Aah!"
Hoven, the "Suffer-Walker" twisted into a heap on the ground, tremblingly stood up.
While Vivian waited for Sister Haida, he had completely lost his human consciousness, turning into a monster. But a cultist without a self couldn't complete the near-ascension 'Sacred Spawn' transformation, as he was unqualified sacrificial livestock. Thus, he could only degenerate into some kind of lesser evil spawn.
"Irrigate, partake, cleanse, shed, endure myriad sufferings, dissolve for the Holy Cup… Aah, aah…"
Hoven deliriously muttered, mechanically repeating the ascetic's doctrines. But even that became intermittent under the wash of ultimate pleasure; he could barely maintain his own body.
But just before complete collapse, pale nerves condensed into bone in his hands. A sharp bone spear with the sound of piercing air was hurled at Haida.
"Watch out, Team Leader Haida!"
Vivian caught Hoven's intent to attack. While calling out the warning, she was already raising her gun to fire.
Though he had sunk to a lesser evil spawn and was on the verge of collapse, Hoven's physical strength remained at the High Priest level. This strike could still be fatal if it hit.
Haida didn't evade. She reached out nonchalantly and grasped the spear's shaft. With unparalleled fluidity, she dissipated its force, smoothly reversed it in one motion, and hurled the spear back.
The bone spear pierced through Hoven's chest with such force that his entire body shattered into pieces.
"Hmm…"
Vivian silently watched this scene of violent beauty, suddenly feeling her earlier warning was somewhat superfluous.
Haida's expression was also somewhat odd.
Though she didn't feel a substantial increase in strength, her adaptability to the modification procedures and muscle reactions seemed to have improved by several levels.
"Sister Haida, Agent Vivian, are you both alright? Any injuries? Where is the High Priest-level 'Suffer-Walker's' other half?"
Clement, the leader of the support team, quickly observed the two's condition. After confirming no obvious external wounds, he inquired about the details.
"Where that fellow is now… that's a bit hard to explain. Well, these lumps still wriggling on the ground are him."
Vivian let out a light sigh and began the routine debriefing. As a Confidential Division agent, this was her forte.
Anyway, it was alright. At least Haida wasn't missing… She wouldn't have to face Supervisor Alwin empty-handed and suffer interrogation.
Clement looked around, noticing the sporadically writhing white nerves in the shadows. His expression instantly turned vigilant.
"This… I understand. And the contracted doctor? Why isn't she here? Was she… lost in combat?"
As he asked, he already signaled the support team behind him to begin setting up the third-class ritual [Dissolve the Blasphemous]. It was a slow-acting, simple ritual; even a single person could perform it easily with prepared materials. Generally used for neutralizing contaminated byproducts after contact operations with evil spawn.
"She left after assisting us in eliminating the Sufferer High Priest."
Haida concisely reported Fran's whereabouts, then her expression changed, vaguely remembering Fran saying before leaving, "the attack has only just begun." But that was said just minutes ago; the memory should be clear. This inexplicable sense of disorientation… where did it come from?
"Mr. Clement, did the heretics only appear at the Sated Club?"
"Not at all." Clement's tone was grave as he explained.
"Norlington's Central Museum and the Secrets-Hunter Order's headquarters were also assaulted. Though we were in a heightened alert period and our losses weren't severe… their onslaught was ferocious, as if they completely didn't care about expending their rank-and-file believers."
"Sister Haida, you've just been through a High Priest-level contact operation. What's your stamina and supply consumption like? Do you need additional rest?"
Haida shook her head slightly, declining his offer.
"Not needed. Please allow me to proceed to the combat zone as quickly as possible."
"Understood. Part of our support will remain here to ensure the ritual completely neutralizes the Sated Club area. Sister Haida's team will return with me to reinforce the headquarters."
"..."
Vivian silently watched as this team leader, who had just dealt with a High Priest, pulled her into the next battlefield without batting an eye. And it seemed no one cared that her actual job was intelligence…
She pursed her lips slightly, remembering the strangely gratified yet pitying expressions her seniors in the Confidential Division had when they learned she'd been assigned to the Burial Court.
Oh well. She was just clinging to Sister Haida's coattails anyway… and occasionally to Dr. Fran's. It didn't matter.
---
Secrets-Hunter Order Headquarters.
"Such high combat losses, such reckless tactics… truly irritating. What are these flesh-worshipping heretics planning?"
Supervisor Alwin stood on the headquarters tower's observation deck, gazing gravely at those evil spawn writhing with tentacles assaulting the outer defenses. The evil spirit-infested blood and flesh were quickly turned into pools of pulp under the roar of firearms. The entire defensive line was like a giant meat grinder.
But the evil spawn converted from rank-and-file believers kept pouring out from the shadows, endlessly like tides.
"These maniacs have invested ten, no, at least twenty years of accumulation… Yet so far, they haven't even touched the outer defenses. This is pure waste… What is their intent?"
"Each wave of evil spawn isn't large, but they can maintain continuous assault and blockade. They're using dribble tactics in a siege? What's wrong with them?"
When your worthy rival suddenly employs extremely idiotic tactics, you should consider if they have other intentions. Like in Go, if your opponent's first move is placed at tengen, they might be cheating…
"Can't reach Ahern either. Where has that obsessive gone at such a critical time…"
"Caw!"
A clear, bright crow's cry sounded, followed by a crow landing slowly on Alwin's curled, thick index finger.
"A Confidential Division crow. A message from Vivian… 'Encountered Dr. Fran and half a Sufferer High Priest at Sated Club. Sufferer deceased, Fran departed, no casualties on our side.'"
Alwin's furrowed brows relaxed slightly. Good news. But the situation was still unclear.
"With that doctor present, this result isn't surprising. It's just… can the Red Cup even afford to sacrifice a High Priest?"
---
Norlington Central Museum.
Professor Terence looked at the near-insane evil spawn, his gaze cold and slightly puzzled. These terrifying abominations were now biting and tearing each other indiscriminately, the scene utterly chaotic.
"They organized an assault but have no semblance of an offensive system, and the leader hasn't appeared… Probably specifically here to die."
"Child, what do you think the mastermind's intent is?"
Beside him, Child hid in the shadows by the window, holding a sniper rifle unusually large, focusing entirely on searching for a leader-type figure in the combat zone.
"Teacher, if I had to guess… could this be a 'sacrifice'?"
Child moved his eye from the scope, responding to Terence with a somewhat unsure guess.
"That is indeed a possibility. But if this truly is a sacrificial ritual… the scale is simply too large. And where exactly have they inscribed the ritual array?"
Terence also leaned towards Child's intuitive answer.
But the problem was… this process didn't match any known large-scale second-class rituals. If this guess was true, the Red Cup cultists were likely performing a lost 'first-class ritual'.
That represented the ritual contained forbidden divinity, meaning that upon completion, irresistible power would descend.
Amidst the slaughter, crimson blood mixed with bone fragments and jelly-like organ pieces slowly flowed into the black sewers, streams like silk, gurgling endlessly.
---
Fog Street Clinic.
Compared to the tense standoffs elsewhere, this small clinic, still lit with warm yellow light at midnight, was as tranquil and peaceful as ever.
Fran, content and comfortable after her bath, put on a fresh physician's coat and strolled in the living room. Her pale, frost-like ear feathers were damply clinging to her hair, but seemed recently towel-dried.
"Raining? Norlington isn't coastal. Early July and such cold rain… quite rare."
Thread-like, intertwining murky fog spread outside the window. Under the downpour, it was like the sky had inverted. Black clouds hung heavily as if about to collapse.
Fran gently closed her eyes, quietly listening to the howling storm, expression unusually relaxed. What could be better than wrapping oneself in a blanket and turning into a Kirby-esque blob on a day with torrential rain outside? This was the purest enjoyment…
"Let's unpack the payment from the last house call before bed. 'Flawless' quality material and technology… what will they be like?"
[Mechanized Biology (From the Necrons)]
[Quality: Flawless]
[Effect: Your 'Mechanical Prosthetics Technology (10.1%)' will be consolidated into 'Mechanized Biology.' After conversion, Parsing Rate is 7.1%. Upon mastering the techniques within the manual, '40k Medicine' increases by 3%, 'Mechanized Biology' increases by 10%.]
[Note: "So afraid of the Old Ones, they just dumped all points into tech."]
This "technical manual" was a small holographic projection device. It had multiple interfaces, apparently for information transfer… Though Fran also wanted to experience the feeling of being filled with knowledge directly, she didn't like installing brain-machine interfaces in herself, so she had to pass.
"Finally get an Apollyon-grade completion task, and the flawless quality tech turns out to be from the skellingtons…"
Fran sighed, lightly covering the spot over her heart, feeling a somewhat blissful annoyance.
Though she was very interested in the knowledge within this manual, Necron technology possessed unparalleled complexity, and its entire theoretical basis was purely physical, making the obscurity increase almost exponentially. Even parsing a tiny fraction of the data would cost her a great deal of healthy hair.
This reminded her of the good old days spent deciphering Khaines's "Essentialism" tome with immense effort, truly sigh-inducing…
+++
(T/N: Elden Ring arc speedrun complete. Next is an arc likely inspired by Lord of Mysteries' Tingen True Creator Spawn arc.)
T/N: Hey readers~! New Translator here! Before I say anything, I'd first like to thank the original author for creating this wonderful story. Without them, I wouldn't have the chance to share this adventure with you. I hope my translation does justice to their work, and that together, we can enjoy this story.
With that said, I'm happy to let you know I'll be uploading daily chapters. And for those who wish to support my work and gain early access, I've set up a Patreon where advanced chapters will be available.
[email protected]/PeakTL