"But unfortunately, that plan isn't feasible. None of the future reflections shown by the Temporal Banyan contain 'Fog Street Clinic'. Even if someone sharing my name exists, they wouldn't have the ability to help us."
"I see."
Haida didn't feel discouraged; it was, after all, just a passing thought.
Through conversation, rest, and psychological adjustment, Haida's body and mind had gradually acclimated to reality. Fran then began directing her Head Nurse, preparing to officially commence this house call.
"Don't worry, I can roughly locate my limbs. It won't be too troublesome to find them. The first one is the right arm, near the base of the Sun-Forging Spire."
Right arm? This made Haida think of Fran's form in the dream... a hand detached from a body.
"Dr. Fran... [Construct Dream Slumber] trapped both of us, but why was I whole, while you were only a hand?"
As she spoke, Haida picked up the lampshade, brushed the sand off her clothes, and re-entered the towering, majestic Sun-Forging Spire.
"The target of this first-category ritual was you and you alone. But it inadvertently captured something, and that something happened to be made from a memory I had detached."
"Therefore, I could appear in your dream in an incomplete form."
Haida thought for a moment, then had an answer. "That tome, the Aphoristic Silence?"
"Exactly. By the way, the religious tomes displayed on my bookshelf are all made through secondary processing of my own memories, to control potential memetic hazards."
Simultaneously, the reason that all secret cults ceased to exist in the mental world constructed by [Construct Dream Slumber], and the many obvious flaws and clues were visible... was also because Fran's memories inversely contaminated the ritual, greatly reducing its stability.
Haida, carrying Fran, walked through the Sun-Forging Spire's deep, sand-filled corridors, heading straight towards the depths of the tower's base.
"There's one more question."
"Go ahead." Fran appeared exceptionally patient and accommodating.
After all, speaking was one of the few means she had to interact with the outside world now; if she didn't chat with Haida, there wasn't much else to do.
"Why was the doctor who resembled you in appearance in the dream called 'Flamel'?"
"Oh, that's a long story..."
Just as Fran was contemplating how to explain this, a figure lunged at Haida from a blind spot around the corner.
His form was gaunt and emaciated, but his movements were incredibly fast.
Haida's expression sharpened. As the other was about to reach her, she punched through his chest.
"Not alive..."
Haida felt no life force from the other, and the impact felt strange—no solid sensation of flesh and blood, more like a hard, desiccated corpse.
"Visibility is a bit low. Let me turn on the light for you."
Fran then activated [Drive Away Dust and Filth]. As the spherical field's faint light brightened, the intruder's features became clear.
His aged, desiccated face was covered in proliferating tumors. His eye sockets were pitch black, the eyeballs long gone. In the punctured chest, one could see countless crimson crystal masses clinging to various alchemical organs.
This face was strangely familiar... Haida scrutinized it for a moment, finally identifying his identity with difficulty.
"Falling Sun Rider Anderson of the Sun-Forgers Cult?"
"That's him, alright." Fran concurred.
"His body's alchemical organs are so resilient; they haven't failed even after all these years. I'd really like to take them apart and look..."
She sighed regretfully, then turned her gaze to Haida.
"Dr. Fran, how can I assist... please tell me."
Although Haida had a vague idea of what Fran wanted, she asked for specifics out of thoroughness.
"Open my medical case. Use lancet number 07 to open his chest and abdominal cavity. I want to see how much the Sun-Forgers' technology advanced from development to destruction..."
"I'll try."
Haida took out the lancet ground from Philosopher's Stone, cut through the desiccated skin and muscle from his clavicle, continuing downward until all organs were clearly visible.
Although she wasn't very familiar with dissection procedures and standards, cutting open a human body was certainly no challenge for her.
"The bones have been replaced with some base metal. The abdominal cavity is almost entirely filled with artificial products... And there's no alchemical furnace core. Energy supply relies on the Philosopher's Stone attached internally."
"The technology has indeed advanced considerably, but the construction is crude, like a discarded, defective product."
Fran quickly lost interest in Anderson's withered remains. The two then continued deeper down the corridor.
Anderson's appearance indicated other threats might still exist within this tower, adding an extra layer of vigilance to Haida, who was already constantly observing her surroundings.
Meanwhile, Fran was pondering a contradiction in Anderson's condition.
"Philosopher's Stone can only be refined from living beings, and the production process is complex and precise. Using this stuff to power a defective product seems a bit too extravagant, doesn't it?"
"Hmm... I have an unpleasant conjecture."
She then called to the cautiously advancing nun. "Sister Haida, please open the lampshade for me."
"Alright."
As the transparent lampshade was opened, Fran deactivated [Drive Away Dust and Filth].
Dust particles dispersed in the air rushed back in. She flared her nostrils slightly, took a few light sniffs, and an understanding expression appeared between her brows.
"As I thought..."
"The endless expanse of crimson sand outside the Sun-Forging Spire is all powdered Philosopher's Stone."
Haida's brows furrowed tightly.
Philosopher's Stone, requiring the fusion and refinement of the lives and souls of dozens, even hundreds, to form a single piece, was now ground into powder covering nearly the entire East District of Norlington... What in the world happened in the following hundred years?
"No helping it, better keep [Drive Away Dust and Filth] active. Inhaling too much Philosopher's Stone powder might cause symptoms similar to silicosis."
Soon, under Fran's guidance, Haida arrived at the base of the Sun-Forging Spire.
On a ritual cabinet used for ceremonies here lay a pristine white arm, with black suture lines circling the skin... it was Fran's right arm.
But on the empty altar before the cabinet, a familiar figure stood with arms extravagantly spread wide, as if lifting some invisible object high above its head. It resembled an ancient statue buried in the dust of history.
The person wore crude armor and a bucket-shaped iron helmet. The sun pattern painted on his chest had faded and disappeared under the grinding passage of time...
His identity was now obvious—"Corona Rider" Solm.
Solm saw Haida approaching slowly. His statue-like body began to tremble slightly.
"Sister, pray before the sun altar, right here. Thus, you shall comprehend her radiance and glory..."
He then laughed uncontrollably, his broken, hoarse laughter brimming with the purest satisfaction.
"Ha... I found it! I found it, my sun... Ah... I am the sun!"
---
Solm still maintained his sun-worshipping pose, arms held high at a slant. The elbow position was extremely precise, not a hint of bending.
The mottled rust on his armor rapidly flaked off, to the point where cracks appeared in the armor itself. Revealed within the broken gaps was a dazzling, blazing light.
The surrounding temperature skyrocketed. The originally dark, deep tower base was instantly filled with the glorious light of the sun.
Living corpses in the corners covered in tumorous Philosopher's Stone, segmented insects hidden beneath the drifting sand, and alchemical byproducts writhing like sludge... all filthy, hidden things were revealed, showing their true forms.
"I finally found it, finally obtained it, the sun sought for countless ages... It is myself..."
While Solm was still chanting his incantation-like mutterings, Haida had already drawn the power sword "Nirvana" and charged forward.
The power sword's blade was aimed directly at the sun knight's head, spine, and heart... even for a non-human, these were the most vital spots.
The lamp containing Fran was placed to the side, away from the combat zone. To avoid it being buried by stirred-up sand, Haida even placed the medical case underneath it.
"Ah, so warm..."
The sharp wind from the whistling blade swept past his ear, but Solm remained intoxicated by his own grand, fanatical emotions.
Just as Haida's sword was about to cleave his body diagonally, a ring of light erupted around him, deflecting the blade by half an inch.
Part of Solm's helmet was severed and fell to the ground, along with his entire left arm, shoulder blade, and collarbone.
Seeing the streamer-like corona light swirling around Solm's severed arm, Fran opened her eyes wide with some excitement.
"Oh, I understand now what principle the structural optimization of those alchemical organs was based on..."
"The reason those not-so-precise alchemical organs could last so many years without failing was that they referenced Sigrid's bodily structure... The Sun-Forgers Cult completed the mass production and application of this technology before their destruction."
Haida, who had retreated to her original position, brushed off the smoke and scorching heat on her. After listening to Fran's explanation, she began to reassess Solm.
"The organs inside him are similar to those on Anderson, but much more advanced."
"Naturally, Sister Haida. The things on him are more advanced by more than just a bit..."
Fran's amber eyes curved into a shallow arc; she had already discerned Solm's secret.
"Solm has completed the alchemical program that Sigrid once underwent, achieving a transformation of life form. And... he carries a familiar aura. There might be an unexpected surprise, I suppose?"
Solm murmured ancient, esoteric prayers in a low voice, thrusting his other intact hand into the wound of his severed arm.
"Beautiful, magnificent, rose-pink auroras dominate the firmament. Dawn and nightfall shall never come; the hour, the moment, stagnates at noon..."
His armored fingers suddenly exerted force, slowly pulling out a sword of unbearable, blinding radiance from the corona-like wound.
Fran was already intimately familiar with the longsword's style; after all, no one in the world knew the maid's body better than she...
This sword was the [False Sun], transformed from Sigrid.
"Oh, entering the second phase so quickly... seems to be the low-health, high-damage type."
Under the intense direct light, Fran had to squint.
Haida bit her lip lightly and, ignoring the smoldering smoke on her nun's robe, once again wielded her sword and struck at Solm.
Heat conduction takes time; she needed to attack as aggressively as possible, to destroy his form before this Corona Rider fully unleashed his power.
"Secrets-Hunter, I shall embrace you, and share this endless light and heat with you. Bathe in incandescence, then sprout forth..."
Solm raised his remaining arm, slashing out with a sword light carrying molten fire and scorching wind, like auroral feathers twisting and swirling under a solar storm.
Vmm—Vmm!
For some reason, Haida felt the power sword in her hand tremble violently, like a heartbeat, strong and powerful.
The cold, deep blade pierced through the curtain of flames and, in passing, pierced Solm's chest, pinning him to the altar behind.
At that moment, the fiery light surrounding him erupted once more.
The hilt was held by no one, so no one was injured.
After throwing the power sword with all her might, Haida concealed her form. Only after Solm's full-force counterattack ended... did she approach him again.
"Mr. Solm... rest in peace."
Haida retrieved the thick, heavy ash-covered tome, Aphoristic Silence, from a pouch on her thigh. Then, she drove its sturdy corner guard into his forehead.
Solm's skull fractured and collapsed, massive fissures spreading from his forehead all across his body.
"Long-absent darkness... my sun... has set..."
The light dimmed; the blazing flames quietly extinguished.
Haida picked up the straight sword still shimmering with light from the ground. An intense, scalding heat immediately transmitted from her palm.
"...Sigrid?"
However, before she could fully grasp it, the sword began to disintegrate and crumble into dust.
After a moment of silence, Haida covered the ashes left from the burning of both their remains with rose-red sand. She planted the hilt of the [False Sun] upright upon it, as a tombstone for this simple grave.
"Dr. Fran, your arm."
She took Fran's right arm from the altar, about to hand it to her, but suddenly realized the doctor's current state might not be very convenient for receiving an arm...
"Ahem." Fran gave Haida a look.
"Help me put it away. Hmm... hanging it on oneself might be a bit conspicuous, might scare others. Putting it in the medical case is fine."
"Alright."
Haida didn't doubt for a second whether this seemingly small medical case could hold an entire arm, for she had seen Fran take the power sword out of it before...
"Where do we go next?"
After safely storing the arm, she immediately inquired about the next plan.
"We'll go in order to the White Cup ruins in the South District, the Lamp Moth's secret realm in the West District, and finally to the Secrets-Hunter headquarters in the city center... The patient for this house call is there."
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(T/N: It's always the sun worshippers that are corrupted.)
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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