"Do you think it's true?"
"What?"
They left the tree-like structure. As guests, they were free to remain in the settlent of the Church of the Vine.
They made their way toward the only beautiful building in the settlent, the True Library, passing through it to reach the Church of Distortion on the other side.
"His kindness, and His power."
Katerina whispered as she climbed the library steps.
"Don't answer with vague words like 'maybe' or 'perhaps'."
"Yes."
Katerina was still doubtful and didn't grasp the Eternal Drear's experience, but Lu Li knew full well about his long dreams.
Now, every ti he fell asleep, the ti that passed was asured in hundreds of millions of years.
That vast expanse of ti had allowed the Eternal Drear to live through enough stories, just as he had said. His body was still that of a fragile human, but his consciousness had long since evolved into that of a higher being.
"Seeing the future..."
Katerina almost wanted to run back and ask about her own future, even knowing that revealing the answer would alter that very future.
Prusius remained silent; his mood had been heavy since leaving the Eternal Drear, a mixture of anxiety and guilt.
Returning to the hushed True Library, Lu Li closed the main door and headed for the secret passage on the other side.
Lu Li had been here before; the dark, urine-soaked alley behind the secret door was gone, and the original buildings of the district had been demolished. However, the new constructions were sturdier and more beautiful than the slum-like hovels on the other side.
They stretched in an arc along the settlent's defensive wall, with only the northwestern corner cleared for a plot of farmland.
A large square paved with blue flagstones remained in the center of the settlent, as if the houses were encircling a central church.
The church's sharp spire seed to pierce the clouds; atop it stood a ghostly, translucent amber statue, reminiscent of Belfast's forr grandest cathedral, the Kel'thas Cathedral. But this one was even more magnificent and mysterious.
The appearance of figures at the church's exit drew the attention of the settlent's inhabitants; a silhouette with octopus-like tentacles slithered out from beneath a black cloak.
"Your auras are unfamiliar... Where do you co from?"
The cultist knew they hadn't co from the other side.
"We ca from the outside, and we have questions. The Eternal Drear said we would find answers here," Lu Li said.
"The Eternal Drear... the prophet, then... Follow ."
The cultist moved its nurous tentacles and led them toward the central church, which was encircled by the other buildings.
Katerina's frown gradually deepened; as she delved further into the settlent, she saw skeletons hanging under the eaves of the houses along the way. There were skeletons of anomalies, and also human ones...
This place was cleaner than the Church of the Vine, but it seed to harbor a greater chaos.
Climbing the steps and entering the church of the Church of Distortion, they found that dozens of candles were not enough to properly illuminate the hall, forcing visitors to focus more on the stained-glass windows that let in light from outside. They depicted ghostly, beautiful silhouettes, gazing down with compassion on everyone in the hall.
Katerina's brow furrowed even more; she recognized the horrifyingly familiar objects—candles made from fat rendered from living beings.
No one did such things in the Wastelands, not even the aristocrats. It was partly due to the cost, but also due to their sinister nature.
A figure was lounging lazily in a high, throne-like chair in the hall. The cloak had slipped from her head, revealing soft, wavy flaxen hair and a beautiful face.
A diamond-shaped crystal was embedded in her forehead, and her bright eyes shone like jewels in the dim light, watching the newcors. The graceful silhouette under the cloak leaned lazily against the chair, revealing a sliver of smooth, white shin.
"Saintess, the prophet instructed these lost sheep to co to our Lord."
The cultist who had led Lu Li bowed to the woman in the chair; nurous suckers were visible from beneath its raised cloak.
"He wants these strangers to et my sister? Wait a mont... it's you," the lazily reclining Saintess leaned forward, her luminous eyes peering intently at the tall figure.
Black hair, black eyes, a black cloak accentuating a tall fra—everything was just as it had been...
"You know ?"
A low, indistinct laugh echoed through the empty cathedral, and the Saintess leaned back in her chair again.
"Let's pretend we don't. What is your purpose here?"
"To find a person," After a brief pause, Lu Li corrected himself: "To find traces of an evil spirit nad the Shadow Maiden."
"Why should I help you?"
The unique construction of the church made the Saintess's voice sound like a prophecy, echoing throughout the hall.
"The Eternal Drear said you could help us," Lu Li replied.
"But we are equals, not his subordinates. He cannot command us," The flippant and casual tone was ill-suited to the Saintess of a church.
Lu Li fell silent, trying to rember which of his acquaintances the Saintess could be.
To his sorrow or fortune, Lu Li, who had few acquaintances, didn't have to search his mory for long. He couldn't place her face among those he knew, but fortunately, the mories stirred by the True Library reminded him of a long-past episode:
Back when Belfast was not yet destroyed, the True Library had been taken over by an anomaly called the 'Library Spirit,' forcing an ergency evacuation. Lu Li had escaped through the secret door, and after leaving the alley reeking of urine, he was accosted by a woman of the night. Lu Li had used her persistence to ward off other won, successfully leaving the street while she, in the process, had twisted her ankle.
That was why the Eternal Drear had said Lu Li would et an acquaintance here.
The woman from his mories, who wore only a red dress in the rainy season, her face garishly painted and doused in cheap perfu, gradually rged with the image of the Saintess before him.
She, like Lu Li, had not been touched by ti.
"I rember now," Lu Li said.
"An equivalent exchange."
Almost as soon as Lu Li finished speaking, the Saintess leaned forward, her hands gripping the armrests of her chair, as if afraid Lu Li would say sothing more:
"Do sothing for the Church of Distortion, and I will give you the answer you seek."
Lu Li remained silent, but the Saintess grew impatient.
"If that old prophet sent you to , it ans I can solve your problems," Dangerous emotions flared in Helena's eyes.
"Will you do it or not?"
Her past added a certain ambiguity to her words, or perhaps that ambiguity was brought in from the outside.
"I am the Saintess of the Church of Distortion. You are insulting a ssenger of the divine!"
The Saintess's soft whisper made the church tremble; a massive, brilliant eye, like a lighthouse beam, materialized in the air, bizarre shadows erupted from the alluringly burning candles, and countless thick tentacles slithered out from under the cloaks of the nearby cultists.
Lu Li calmly raised his head and t the nacing gaze from the chair:
"I haven't said anything."
"Mr. Lu Li, say sothing nice," a trembling Prusius whispered, sidling up to Lu Li.
"Why?"
"Complint this Saintess, or she'll give us the most troubleso task! She might even kill us!"
"We are only human. Our abilities are limited," Lu Li said to those eyes.
After a short silence, Helena gave a slight wave of her hand.
"There is one task that would certainly suit you."
The whisper faded, the massive eye vanished, the candles, resuming their normal glow, swayed gently, and the cultists who had bared their claws once again hid them beneath their cloaks.
It was as if nothing had happened.
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