In front of the statue of the Storm Goddess, Gomona, the blessed candlelight burned steadily, illuminated by the divine light pouring down from the dome. The bishop of the city, Valentin, dressed in a pitch-black robe, seemed to be bathed in divine grace. He raised his head in the light, quietly gazing into the unwavering gray eyes of Vanna.
His words seemed to carry a certain magic, and Vanna faintly heard the gentle sound of ocean waves in her mind, followed by a thunderous roar. With the help of an external force, the goddess's power finally broke through the veil that had been blocking her heart.
Vanna suddenly gasped, as if she had just emerged from deep water, her chest heaving violently, her heart pounding. The weight of the divine gaze pressed down on her, and in a half-dazed state, she heard Valentin's voice continue to reach her ears:
"The existence of the Lost Country has historical records. The prophetic dreams you experienced are also objective facts. Given these two points, your normal reaction should be to first assume that there is a threat and then seek a solution. However, just now, you subconsciously questioned whether the Lost Country truly exists, indicating that you are avoiding the message that the prophetic dreams are trying to convey."
"Judge, your subconscious denial of the Lost Country's existence is evidence of its real presence. It seems that it is indeed approaching the realm of civilization."
Vanna felt a thin layer of sweat forming on her forehead, but the "veil" that had always blocked her from the goddess seemed to have vanished, which eased her mind. The bishop's words made her realize what was happening:
Unknowingly, she had already been affected by the Lost Country!
This was a characteristic of many terrifying anomalies: they caused confusion in the minds of those who encountered them, leading to subconscious neglect and denial, resulting in an increasing influence without the victim even realizing it!
This subconscious neglect and denial were instinctive reactions of intelligent beings to protect themselves, a way to avoid danger. But when dealing with anomalies, this instinct could become a source of carelessness, ultimately leading to becoming an unwitting victim of these phenomena!
As a judge who often dealt with extraordinary powers, Vanna was well aware of this knowledge, but she never thought she would fall into such a "psychological trap" herself—her strong willpower had seemingly had no effect at all.
"I don't know when I was affected," she said frankly. In front of the bishop, who was also a devout believer, she did not shy away from exposing her weakness—being influenced by anomalies or phenomena was a perfectly normal situation; shame and concealment would not help, "After waking from the prophetic dream, I came straight here without talking to anyone or touching any books or artifacts. I thought I had not been exposed to outside influences during this process."
"But you did indeed show deliberate avoidance of the prophetic dream just now... so the influence must have occurred earlier," the bishop focused intently on Vanna's face, as if observing her eye movements and breath fluctuations. "Have you come into contact with anything abnormal recently? That might be the 'pollution' from the Lost Country, which left an anchor point in your subconscious."
"Recently..." Vanna frowned, suddenly recalling the "sacrifice" that had collapsed at the site of the Black Sun ritual, the green flames that flickered in its eyes, and her own severed finger.
Her eyes widened as she stared at the bishop: "The day before yesterday, I led a team to clean up the Black Sun ritual site in the sewers. Did I report any unnamed pollution at the scene after returning? Did I report the presence of a polluted 'sacrifice'?"
The bishop shook his head: "...No, you went straight back after sending those cultists to the church."
Vanna felt a chill in her heart: "Did any of the others who participated in the operation report anything about this?"
"There have been no reports—every case file only recorded matters related to the Dark Sun heresy."
Under the statue of the goddess, the bishop looked at Vanna, and Vanna looked back at him.
"It seems we have pinpointed the initial 'landing' time of the pollution," the bishop let out a gentle breath, his expression still calm, but his eyes seemed to brew with strong power like a storm approaching. "In the name of our Lord Gomona, Judge, is your memory of that night still clear and complete?"
Vanna took a deep breath: "In the name of our Lord Gomona, I remember all the details of that night."
The bishop nodded, turned, and lit a special incense. As he placed the bronze incense burner at the foot of the statue, he spoke steadily, "What happened then?"
So, Vanna revealed everything that happened in her memory at the sewer ritual site—she did not leave out any details. With the aid of the sacred incense, her memory and thoughts became clearer than ever, and the experiences of that night felt as vivid as if they were happening again...
She still remembered the moment the sacrifice suddenly opened its eyes, the green flames dancing in its eye sockets, and how the flames had touched her finger, but she had decisively executed purification. On the way back to the church, she silently told herself that the pollution had been completely purified, that the pollution had been completely purified, that the pollution had been completely purified...
She had been murmuring this phrase all the way, and all the guardians walking with her were murmuring it too!
No one thought there was anything wrong with that!
Now that she thought back, it was a terrifying and eerie scene—under the desolate night, the church's guardian team passed through the silent streets, each person continuously whispering the same sentence until they returned to the church.
And during this process, they still believed they were acting normally: guarding the captured heretics, cleaning up the polluted ritual site, escorting the cultists back...
"...The spirit flame falling on the soul means that the physical purification from severed limbs is ineffective. What you received was merely a deceptive comfort—the correct approach is to immediately ignite incense, sprinkle holy oil on the ground to set up a temporary holy ground, and then use a prayer ritual to call upon the goddess's power for 'spiritual' purification."
"...This is my fault," Vanna said heavily, "I should have been more vigilant and alert."
"It was a mistake, but not an error," the old man shook his head. "You have great power, but as a judge, you lack a bit of experience. Fortunately, you have now shaken off the influence, which indicates that the 'pollution' left on that sacrifice was not too strong. It only interfered with you on a psychological level... Through the incense ritual just now, I can roughly gauge its strength."
He paused, as if weighing something: "The guardians who acted with you at that time should have been less affected. They were just standing around you, and their influence should quickly fade with the prayers in the church.
"Overall, while the pollution you faced was dangerous and strange, since the source has been cut off, the subsequent effects are not terrifying. Based on your performance and the incense feedback just now, even if you hadn't come today, you would have sensed something was off in a few days."
"More importantly, we need to worry about the future."
"The future..." Vanna repeated the bishop's last word, her expression slowly becoming serious.
Yes, the future; this matter was not over yet.
The images revealed by the prophetic dream were a warning from the goddess—what she was currently facing was likely just the prelude to a storm.
"The Lost Country has not appeared in the eyes of the civilized world for many years. Many people believe it has returned to the subspace, becoming part of the many shadows in the depths of the world, but it seems that Captain Duncan still clings to the real world."
Bishop Valentin spoke slowly, turning to gaze at the statue of the Storm Goddess.
"A century ago, the Lost Country fell into the depths of subspace. Although there is no clear evidence, many eyewitness reports mentioned that a great storm was lingering in the nearby waters at that time, and the ship's fall was influenced by the storm to some extent...
"Storms are the authority of our Lord."
Vanna frowned: "Do you think Captain Duncan wants to... take revenge on the gods?"
"It's hard to say—even if a ghost returns from subspace, seeking revenge on the gods is unimaginable. The gods reside in the divine realm, which is hidden above reality, and everything in the world only falls from the upper layers of the world downwards. I've never heard of anyone being able to travel in reverse to a 'divine realm' that is higher than reality...
"But if Captain Duncan is looking to take revenge on our Lord's representatives in the world... the possibility is quite high.
"The Holy Storm Cathedral patrols the world on the boundless sea, mostly sailing in hidden routes, where no one can find its trace. In contrast... the city of Plande is the largest faith anchor for the Storm Goddess in the world, aside from the Storm Cathedral... and it is an accessible faith anchor for everyone.
"From this perspective, it makes sense that the vengeful spirit chose to land in Plande."
(End of Chapter)