Stia (Part 1)

About half an hour had passed since the two of them left.

On the desolate Black Cave Plains, right at the entrance of the cavern where Liao Ji and Irin had just emerged, a violent distortion of space suddenly occurred.

The scenery surrounding the entrance seemed to be stained with an eerie dark red. This dark red flowed through the air like liquid, and it was becoming incredibly viscous at an extremely rapid speed.

There was only one type of power capable of producing such an effect.

Corrupt Calamity.

Moreover, judging by the intensity, the concentration of Corrupt Calamity was by no means low; it was at least a "B-level" contamination or higher.

Finally, when the entire area was completely shrouded in dark red, the spatial fluctuations seemed to reach their peak. The next second, the viscous dark red liquid solidified completely, taking the form of three human figures.

They wore religious attire dominated by a holy, milky white color. However, the headscarves that completely covered their long hair, as well as the stockings wrapping their thighs—visible through the slits on both sides of their dress hems—were all pure black.

Each of the three had a cross pendant on their chest, and combined with their highly iconic attire, it was not difficult to determine their identities.

Church nuns.

The tallest nun leading them had a silk scarf tied over her eyes, but at this moment, faint traces of blood were seeping out from the inside of the scarf.

She seemed to be severely exhausted. As soon as she solidified, she knelt on one knee, gasping for air. From the skin exposed outside her nun's habit, one could see dark red patterns symbolizing "Corrupt Calamity," similar to those Irin had.

Without a doubt, this nun was also a Corrupted.

Given the anomaly that had just occurred here and the trio's sudden appearance out of thin air, it was easy to deduce that they had used a "teleportation" type ability or a Corrupt Calamity artifact, and the distance traveled was certainly not short.

However, unlike Irin.

After channeling her Corrupt Calamity power, the dark red patterns on the nun's body now covered almost her entire frame. Like the roots of an old tree deep underground, they spread and extended without restraint, as if greedily draining the nutrients from this body, making her appearance look exceptionally terrifying.

Fortunately, at this moment, the crosses on the nuns' chests began to flicker with a pure white light. Under this white light, the dark red patterns crawling over the nun's body gradually receded, eventually sinking entirely into her body and disappearing completely.

"Archbishop Maria!" the two nuns following behind hurried forward to support her.

The blindfolded nun named "Maria" waved her hand to signal she was fine, then slowly stood up. She scanned the area they were in, eventually locking her gaze onto the cavern entrance, her chest cross flickering abnormally.

"Let's go. The location guided by the Goddess is down here."

Maria took the lead and stepped into the cavern, while the two nuns behind her exchanged glances, both seeing confusion and bewilderment in each other's eyes.

After all.

They had gone to such great lengths, even going so far as to use an "A-level" Corrupt Calamity artifact sealed in the deepest underground Confession Room of the Church, only to end up in such a desolate wilderness?

But strange as they felt inside, they dared not show the slightest negligence or slack. They immediately quickened their pace, following behind Archbishop Maria with nervous and uneasy hearts.

There was only one reason.

This was the guidance of the Goddess!

One had to know that ever since Stia, the Goddess who single-handedly founded the Holy Kingdom and the Church, announced her entry into the "Confession Room" three hundred years ago, their Goddess had rarely appeared in the world. Later on, even news of her became increasingly scarce, which had once caused them, her loyal followers, great concern.

Now that the Goddess had taken the initiative to contact them and even issued a holy guidance mission, how could they not be excited and invigorated? Even the Chief Archbishop, Maria, had come out in person.

If the Goddess's message hadn't specifically emphasized that this operation must start immediately and be kept at the highest level of secrecy, they believed the Church's Crusaders would have completely surrounded the entire Black Cave Plains in less than half a day.

The journey was silent as the three nuns walked through the dim, winding cavern tunnels. They needed neither torches nor maps; the holy crosses flickering on their chests were their best illumination and guidance.

Finally.

"This is it." Archbishop Maria, leading the way, stopped.

It was evident that even this tall, blindfolded nun was slightly nervous at this moment. The light from the cross on her chest was flickering at its maximum intensity, even faintly vibrating toward a certain spot ahead.

And there.

Following her gaze, it was a large hole where the ground had collapsed.

When the three of them cautiously arrived at the edge of the hole, the first thing they sensed was a thick, burning smell wafting up from below.

Maria took the lead and jumped down without hesitation.

She hadn't attained the position of Archbishop solely through faith, but also through her absolute strength as a powerful Corrupted.

As soon as she landed, Maria frowned at the chaotic scene, which resembled the aftermath of a fire.

Structurally, this place looked like a secret chamber, but unfortunately, everything inside had been mostly burned to a crisp, making it difficult to obtain any useful information.

Maria lightly wiped the embers on the wall with her finger. Judging by the temperature, the fire in this secret chamber must have been extinguished not long ago. As for the cause of the fire.

"Archbishop, there are many corpses over here!" The two accompanying nuns also jumped down easily; judging by their movements, they were undoubtedly Corrupted as well.

The three discovered quite a few corpses burned beyond recognition. Although they were unrecognizable, based on the general outlines, it could be inferred that they were humans and Kobolds.

With this, the outline of the entire incident became clear.

It was likely a human expedition team that had luckily discovered this underground secret chamber. Unfortunately, before they could retreat, they were attacked by the native monsters of the cavern, the Kobolds. Judging by the final result.

It was highly probable that this expedition team and the monsters had fought to the death, but they were ultimately wiped out, and the sparks from the battle ignited the secret chamber, resulting in the scene before them.

Then, the reason why the Goddess would guide them to rush here so anxiously.

A fire could cover up many traces, but it could not cover up the faint lingering aura of Corrupt Calamity in the air—a fact Maria had sensed the moment she jumped down.

Therefore.

Could this secret chamber not be an ordinary treasure vault of the Great Emperor, but rather the legendary, truly valuable inheritance?

Maria thought of this, and the two nuns behind her felt the same.

The three of them immediately exchanged glances, their hearts pounding violently within their chests.

Everything was explained now.

Indeed, in this world, only that "Great Emperor" could make their Holy Maiden attach such importance to this place, right?

"Archbishop, what should we do now?"

"Do not be impatient, continue to scout," Maria said while continuing to walk deeper into the secret chamber.

But to her surprise, before she could finish her sentence, as she moved, a seemingly unremarkable stone coffin appeared in her field of vision.

In an instant, the church cross hanging on Maria's chest seemed to be struck by some intense stimulus, suddenly erupting with a brilliant white light as bright as day.

Along with it came a terrifying aura that made one's heart tremble.

Under the shocked and dazed expressions of the three nuns, just as the three of them had appeared out of thin air on the Black Cave Plains, a hazy, holy figure was now rapidly condensing within the secret chamber before them, beneath the brilliant white light.

Although it was only a blurred silhouette of light.

One could still make out long, ocean-blue hair cascading down, appearing and disappearing beneath the hood of a one-piece robe. A shirt with a crossed neckline wrapped around her heavy, rounded breasts, while an elegant holy ribbon perfectly cinched her slender waist. The form-fitting ceremonial dress was also split from the center to the sides, revealing long, straight legs wrapped in pure white silk stockings.

It was not hard to see that the design of the church's nun habits was completely modeled after this dreamlike figure.

The white light finally began to fade, but Maria's entire body was already soaked in sweat.

With an excited and trembling gaze, she didn't even dare to look directly at the figure. The three nuns had already lowered their heads respectfully, and even though it was only a peripheral glance, Archbishop Maria still couldn't help but keep peeking at this brand-new figure in the secret chamber.

A rounded forehead, long eyelashes, clear and bright sea-blue eyes, and a swan-like white neck.

Flawless features brought about a heart-stirring beauty, and a small, upturned nose paired with cherry-like, slightly pursed lips gave her a sense of loveliness alongside her stunning appearance.

Even though Maria was a woman herself, her cheeks were burning, and her eyes were filled with infatuation.

After all, that was the most perfect person in the world in her heart, and the only unchanging faith of her life.

Their Holy Maiden.

Stia.

"Ho-Holy..." Maria's voice was already stuttering from nervousness and excitement.

She never dreamed that the Holy Maiden would personally descend here; although it was only a light avatar, this was still the first time in a hundred years.

However.

This dreamlike light avatar of Stia did not respond to the three most loyal nun believers behind her.

Or rather.

In the eyes of this phantom of the Holy Maiden at this moment, in her entire world, there was only one thing left.

The stone coffin.