"Come on out. You still have to complete an Ascension Quest before you can advance to the Thirteenth Rank," Vanessa said.
"What? That's impossible. There is no true thirteenth-"
"That's what the Lord said."
That single sentence from Vanessa made Victoria freeze up completely.
It took her a long while to recover, and she stammered, "Wh-what do you mean? Did that sacrificial ritual just now succeed, and I survived-I mean, can the Lord accept offerings in [Nameless Justice]'s place?"
"Victoria, here in this Courtyard, you'd best set aside the rules you memorized before. There's only one law you need to obey here-whatever the Lord says goes."
Vanessa said this without the slightest hesitation.
Victoria instinctively wanted to object. How could one person have the final say over the rules of this world?
But then she remembered all the bizarre things about the Communion-never mind.
She tried to think it through seriously along the lines Vanessa had laid out. "So you mean-I can undergo another Ascension and reach the true Thirteenth Rank?"
"That's right. Haven't you heard of it before?"
Victoria shook her head. Never mind hearing about Ascension Quests; until now, she had always thought the Twelfth Rank was the ceiling, and that beyond it, one could only strive to become an Immortal equivalent to the Thirteenth Rank. She had never heard of actually advancing to it.
"Wh-what offering should I present? What preparations should I make?"
"I don't know."
Victoria: "???"
Elliot sighed. The Difference Engine was good in every way, except that it provided too little information.
They didn't even know what the Ascension Quest was now. This might really prove quite troublesome.
If they had to figure it out entirely by trial and error, who knew how long it would take?
Immortals-Ascension-hmm?
Elliot suddenly froze.
He seemed