Chapter 1 Unprecedented Downpour

Torrential rain poured down, engulfing the entirety of Pland in an unprecedented downpour.

It was as if the sea was inverted, with the endless ocean abyss overlooking the earth from the sky. It was as if the world was falling into a deep abyss. Ink-black clouds hung high in the sky like iron blocks, and endless rain washed over Pland's ancient clock towers, high-rise buildings, walls, and rugged coast. Ceaseless waves surged from the sea, seeming to form a siege, sealing off the entire city-state from all directions.

Even the most oblivious person could sense an eerie atmosphere from this abnormal heavy rain. Citizens scurried home, doors and windows tightly shut. The homeless on the streets rushed into the nearest shelter or relief center, or at the very least, into the entrances of sewers or pipe exchange stations – places where gas lamps and sacred steam provided a basic sense of security on this rainy day.

Heidi braved the wind and rain to reach the cathedral square. Perhaps it was the goddess's protection, but the rain around the cathedral was slightly less intense than elsewhere. However, this slight decrease in intensity did not make Heidi feel relieved; instead, it made her even more worried.

The fact that the rain was lighter at the cathedral indicated that this downpour was indeed related to supernatural forces.

The cathedral guards opened the gates, and Heidi rushed out of the car and into the sacred triple-spired gate. In just a few steps, she was soaked to the bone by the icy rain.

But she had no time to worry about that, because the moment she entered the cathedral, she felt the agitated atmosphere in the surrounding air. It was her spiritual sense warning her, reminding her that an invisible "conflict" was gradually unfolding, centered here.

A silent monk received her, and at her strong request, the monk informed Bishop Valentine, who was praying in the main hall of the sanctuary. Heidi waited anxiously for three minutes before finally seeing the venerable old man appear before her.

She noticed that the bishop was wearing a full set of ceremonial vestments, with a heavy triple crown placed squarely on his head. He held a long scepter and wore the *Storm Codex*, decorated with silver and gems, at his waist.

This was by no means ordinary attire, but rather the regalia worn only during extremely important ceremonies. These heavy and ornate garments were a burden, enough to tire a strong adult during walking, but Valentine strode with steady and dignified steps. His eyes seemed to hold wind and thunder, and his aura was transcendent and full of holiness. Those sacred elements briefly stripped the old man of his mortal identity, transforming him into a symbolic shell. He came before Heidi and looked solemnly at the "spiritual therapist" who had come to visit the cathedral in this foul weather. "Child, what has happened?"

"I… I need sanctuary, the highest level of sanctuary!" Heidi replied immediately. Recalling her father's particularly serious reminder before he left, she said with an extremely solemn expression, "I want the entire Storm Cathedral to be on alert, to protect me—to protect the child of Pland's most outstanding historian."

"Pland's most outstanding historian…" Bishop Valentine quietly gazed into Heidi's eyes, his pupils seeming to contain a constantly jumping bolt of lightning. Then he closed his eyes slightly and nodded gently. "I have received your request, child. The cathedral will provide sanctuary. You are safe."

"Thank you very much," Heidi took a deep breath, her eyes not leaving the old man. Seeing Valentine's attire, she knew that the cathedral had seemed to enter a "state of war" before her arrival. "May I ask… what exactly is happening?"

"It is war," Valentine said calmly. "Someone has declared war on Pland. A storm not blessed by the goddess has descended on Pland. This is the signal of war, but it was not until your arrival that I finally knew who the opponent in this war is."

"Declared war?!" Heidi stammered. "Who is the enemy? Where are they?"

Valentine quietly stared at Heidi, and after a long time, he said softly, "It is Pland—

"A Pland that has already been annihilated in history."

A thunderclap exploded, and the entire cathedral seemed to be shaken violently. Heidi was startled, and she looked up in horror at the glass windows that were still creaking in the aftershocks of the thunder, and at the heavy chandelier swaying back and forth above her head. In this shaking and swaying, she suddenly felt a slight

tremor—a tremor different from thunder.

It was the roar of a large number of steam walkers gathering in the square, the rumble of Guardian Army steam tanks driving out of the garage.

Heidi turned her head in fear, looking at Bishop Valentine, who stood quietly before the goddess's statue like a reef in the sea, and spoke quickly, "Are the enemies coming?!"

"The enemies have already come," Valentine said softly. Amid the constant noise of thunder, his soft whisper still fell clearly into Heidi's ears. "They arrived many years ago…"

…

The greatsword crashed down, and the rubble blocking the way was blown away like dust. Vanna crossed a collapsed and dilapidated road, seeing the houses in front of her collapsing like wax statues in a fire. Hot and heavy ash covered the road like snow, and the remaining sparks danced and scattered in the ash and ruins. There were also suspicious humanoid things slowly squirming in the hot ash, a gruesome sight to behold, their forms eerie and miserable.

Vanna controlled herself not to pay too much attention to those wriggling humanoid ashes.

She knew that those were the citizens of Pland, everyone she knew, protected, and loved. They had died in this fire that would burn down the entire city-state, and no one in the entire city-state had survived.

They died in this period of history, but were molded by the immortal flames into these terrifying and tragic phantoms.

These sights were interfering with her emotions and judgment.

The young Inquisitor pursed her dry, pale lips, feeling her respiratory tract being slowly scorched in the ash-filled environment, feeling the loss of her physical strength, and reminding herself again—

All of this did not happen, and will not happen.

She raised her head and looked to the end of the street.

Between the wriggling ashes and the dancing sparks, occasionally a ghostly green flame could be seen flashing past. It was the mark left in this erroneous history by a certain terrifying ghost captain—the ghost captain's position in this incident was strangely unclear. Vanna could not see through the other party's purpose at all, only knowing that the other party's power had somehow mixed into the back of this curtain, and was spreading throughout this destroyed Pland, and faintly resisted the power that distorted history…. And at the end of her line of sight was the end of her journey, one of the "goals" she had set for herself in this destroyed Pland.

A small church, still maintaining its main structure in the fire, stood quietly at the end of the street.

She had walked on foot across half the city-state, and had come to that small church in Sixth District.

Strictly speaking, she had fought her way through half the city-state.

Vanna advanced with her sword, overcoming all obstacles. The door of the small church had collapsed, and a long hall illuminated by the lingering fire was faintly presented before her.

There were no warm, bright lights in the long hall, no neat and sacred prayer platform, and no young nuns praying peacefully.

Vanna went directly over this ruin, came to the side and rear of the main hall, and found the staircase that sloped down to the underground.

A dark wooden door stood quietly at the end of the stairs.

Vanna breathed softly, easing the pain and fatigue in her joints, and then descended the steps—

The rotary machine gun that had been removed from the walker had long been scrapped and discarded along the way. Now, all she had in her hand was the greatsword that had accompanied her for many years, loyal and reliable.

She came to the door with her sword and gently pushed it with her hand.

The door was locked, but only with a latch. There was no one holding it from the other side.

Faintly, she could still feel the breath of the other side of the door fluctuating, and there was a sound.

Vanna exerted force in her hand, and the fragile door lock did not last more than half a second in her hand. With a cracking sound of metal tearing, she pushed open the door of the underground sanctuary.

An astonished and nervous young voice came from the other side of the door: "Don't open the door!!"

At the same time as this voice sounded, there seemed to be a faint noise mixed inside it.

"Your junior," Vanna pushed open the door, the greatsword sparking on the ground as she stepped into it, the tenacious lantern at her waist still emitting light, illuminating the underground sanctuary that had fallen into darkness, "Your battle sister."

The sanctuary was illuminated by a faint light.

A nun holding a long sword stood cautiously at the foot of the goddess statue, watching Vanna, who had pushed open the door, with full alertness - she was wearing a nun's robe from 1885, and her face was still very young.

In the year she died in battle, she was about the same age as Vanna.

Vanna looked at the fully alert nun opposite her and sighed softly.

As she had imagined, only within this polluted and distorted curtain could she step into this closed underground sanctuary before the nun died in battle—the brief moment before the nun's death in battle was part of the historical pollution.

The small church in the Sixth District was the first distortion point.

The young Inquisitor had finally investigated the most critical information, but… how should she report all this next?

"Sister?" The nun holding the long sword adapted to the sudden appearance of light, and seemed to realize only now that the fire in the entire underground sanctuary had been extinguished, and she did not know when she had been standing in darkness, and at her feet, something in the depths of darkness seemed to be ready to move. She raised her head and looked at the tall woman in the faint light, and finally saw the Storm Church's emblem on the other's armor and greatsword. "Are you sent by the cathedral? Leave quickly! The pollution here is out of control, while I still have…"

Vanna shook her head and slowly stepped forward: "I'm here to help you."

96.

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