He arrived at Lakefront Manor.

After a short wait, Zorn boarded the steam car.

Zorn recalled that it was a near-scrape with this very steam car that had led him down the trail of clues starting with Isabelle, which ultimately led to Francis.

A few days ago, when Zorn had contacted Francis using his Spiritual Realm, Francis had told him that some rather powerful Transcendents were investigating something near the Old Town District.

Zorn figured it was most likely related to the Sun Church.

After all, once Francis had demonstrated a technique as formidable as the "Evil Spirit Calamity," he was not only targeted by the Holy Fierce Sun Church but was also inevitably sought by the Sun Church.

Francis was the prime candidate for the Sun Church’s grand ritual, the [Crying Blood Sun].

The Sun Church still wanted to find him and make him the sacrifice to ignite the ritual.

Inside the steam car, Zorn met Lady Sun.

She wore a white, wind-proof ladies’ long robe, her demeanor elegant and natural. However, she seemed lost in thought; even when Zorn got into the car, she didn’t look over at him immediately.

Isabelle was sitting in the passenger seat.

The driver was the man known as the [Reflected Man].

The car started moving.

After they had been on the road for some time, Lady Sun finally adjusted her posture and looked at Zorn.

"Have you seen this morning’s special edition newspaper?"

"I happened to see it as I was getting on the carriage, so I bought a copy."

"Then... what are your thoughts?"

After a moment of thought, Zorn slowly began to explain.

"For the past few decades, the Saintisman Empire has been growing stronger by the day. There are traces of Upper Rankers behind this."

"That Cardinal is most likely contaminated by one of those mysterious Upper Rankers."

"Of course, I have no way of knowing the specific details."

"But..."

Zorn paused, then continued.

"The very top Transcendents of the Holy Fierce Sun no longer believe in the Holy Fierce Sun itself. They’ve started to pledge allegiance to the Upper Rankers and are willing to accept their contamination."

"As for the others... it goes without saying."

"The number of people with truly devout Faith, who are willing to sacrifice themselves to resist the falling dusk, is probably few and far between."

"When the [Crying Blood Sun] rises, the effect will likely be even better than imagined."

Hearing this, Lady Sun smiled faintly.

"Your insight is quite keen, Mr. Zorn."

"Then do you know where that contaminated Cardinal of the Holy Fierce Sun Church, Chuckman Blaze, is heading now?"

Zorn’s eyes narrowed slightly as he said thoughtfully,

"Don’t tell me he’s heading for our Ogrande City!"

Lady Sun nodded.

"I’m afraid... it’s just as you’ve said, Mr. Zorn."

"That terrifying, contaminated Bishop is currently on his way to our Ogrande City."

"According to my informants,"

"The steam train carrying Cardinal Chuckman Blaze, who wields a terrifying, formless power, has also been saturated and contaminated by a bizarre force."

"So far, there have been incidents of this strange train stopping at stations in at least seven different locations."

"Ordinary people, completely unaware, board the contaminated steam train for a part of their journey. When they disembark, they seem perfectly fine."

"But within the next hour to half a day, they rapidly age, wither, and die!"

"Furthermore, the direction of these strange train incidents—this trail of contamination—is entirely along the steam railway tracks leading to Ogrande City."

"Even though Saintisman has already set up blockades and even severed the phantom railway line,"

"it has done nothing to stop the advance of the contaminated steam train."

"Based on its current progress, the contamination will spread to Ogrande City in a week at most."

At this point, Lady Sun looked at Zorn and said,

"For Transcendents like us, who are hidden beneath the surface, we naturally don’t have to worry too much about this invasive contamination from Cardinal Chuckman Blaze."

"But for you, Mr. Zorn—for you official Transcendents—"

"I’m afraid you’ll be quite busy fighting this terrifying contamination and invasive calamity for some time."

Zorn chuckled softly.

"Ogrande City is teeming with powerful individuals. I’m just a Level 4 Fighting Master."

"There will naturally be powerful experts to handle these troubles. It’s highly unlikely I’ll need to worry about it."

Zorn seemed quite unconcerned.

As the tide of the steam age surged, more and more calamities would erupt across the Holy Land Continent.

The [Upper Rankers] possessed terrifying and dreadful power.

Most of them were formless beings.

Corporeal ones were not unheard of, but merely seeing one required a price. Losing one’s eyes was often the simplest of costs.

The [Upper Rankers] simply lived within the domains that nourished them.

Even Divine Spirits would not provoke these [Upper Rankers] lightly. After all, the calamities they could unleash had been proven many times throughout thousands of years of history.

Every contact meant that the humans and other intelligent species living on this land would bear the price.

Aside from the fanatical Evil God Organizations, some Conspiracy Theorists, the ambitious, or those with other dreadful aims,

even Evil Gods would not provoke these beings lightly. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

But with the surging tide of the steam age,

more and more Transcendents were being born, and the number of powerful individuals would only continue to grow.

In the future, it was inevitable that more and more Transcendents would seek to draw resources from the [Upper Rankers].