Hela

The figure was tall and slender, her face veiled in black gauze and dressed in a simple nun's habit without a single ornament.

Yet with just one glance, everyone could sense that there was something unusual about her.

Gaia and Erwin barely managed to keep their expressions under control. Zoe, meanwhile, sharply sucked in a breath, her face filled with shock.

The wind lifted a corner of the veil, revealing a dense structure of gears beneath it, along with tiny connecting rods and all manner of pipes.

The woman's eyes suddenly trembled as she fixed her gaze on Zoe. Like rotating mechanical lenses, her pupils adjusted slightly, rapidly enlarging and shrinking.

There was an indescribably inhuman quality to her.

She looked human, yet not quite. Her appearance stood balanced on a line—below it lay cold machinery, while above it was a human shell hastily draped over a precise machine. Rather than offering reassurance, it stirred some primal fear deep within their bodies.

The wind gradually weakened, and the black veil fell back into place. Her face full of intricate gears was once again hidden behind it. Only then did the group shudder and come back to their senses.

"Welcome to Rhine. I am Hela, Grand Mechanist of the Mechanical Cathedral. You may call me Hela."

Gears turned, air flowed through mechanical filters, setting the reeds in her throat vibrating. Yet the voice that emerged was that of a gentle woman, without the slightest hint of machinery.

The surrounding soldiers simultaneously struck the butts of their halberds against the ground. Fine stone slabs clashed with refined steel, producing a crisp ring that lent the introduction an air of hostility.

Erwin swallowed but said nothing. He shifted to the side, revealing the two people behind him.

He was a military officer. In