At the geographical center of the Southern Continent, on the mountain ridge that ran across the continent along the boundary between the Star Plateau and the Harvest Plain, Angel stepped out of the Mirror World.
At the thousand-meter-high summit, fierce winds blew and the temperature plunged, but her black dress remained entirely unaffected by the environment. It clung tightly to her body, outlining a beauty that could make all things fall at her feet.
She surveyed her surroundings, letting her gaze linger briefly on the mist-shrouded Harvest Plain and the vast, barren expanses of the Star Plateau, then took a palm-sized Brass Compass from her clothes and began adjusting it with her head lowered.
This was a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact provided by the Church of Steam, one absent from its numbering system. Under normal circumstances, it could point its user toward whatever they desired most deeply and vibrate at varying frequencies according to the distance, ensuring they could locate it precisely.
During its use, however, the Church of Steam had discovered a problem. What a holder insisted was their "greatest desire" was not necessarily what they truly wanted. Some test subjects were not even certain what they needed most, causing the compass to mislead them into dangerous places.
Furthermore, the Brass Compass's negative effect would make its user unknowingly fall in love with someone they should not love, along with an urge to unleash their inner desires upon that person. Even a Saint could hardly resist it for long.
Angel suspected that this Sealed Artifact was a relic left behind by a Saint who had been corrupted, lost control, and died. Given the lack of detail in the Church of Steam's internal records, the corruption had most likely come from an Outer Deity, such as the Mother Tree of