Phew~ Finally done!

  Jin set down the last of the weathered documents and rubbed his temples, pressing hard enough to feel bone beneath skin. His eyes burned from almost an hour of just scanning cryptic text as the Narrator parsed meanings hidden in layers of cult bullshit. His skill was running analysis nonstop, but even a super amazing skill had its costs.

  His head felt stuffed with cotton soaked in acid.

  I need an actual active healing skill… Let’s hope the rings we would be cracking next would have some skill imprint cores.

  Reyana looked up from her neatly organized piles of documents, each stack categorized by content and threat level. Exhaustion showed in the way her shoulders sagged forward and the dark circles beneath her eyes that hadn't been there yesterday.

  "That the last of them?" Her voice was hoarse from too little sleep.

  "Yup," Jin said. He leaned back in the creaking chair, let his head tip backward until he was staring at the safe house basement ceiling. "My skill is still compiling everything, but we're almost done."

  Reyana made a noise somewhere between acknowledgment and complaint. She straightened a few more scrolls into alignment, then muttered under her breath, "Find me a skill like that, okay? Speed-reading encoded cult bullshit sounds real useful right about now."

  Jin lowered his head enough to look at her sidelong, one corner of his mouth lifting. "You'd need a couple of free marked slots to get started with something similar. Maybe three or four, depending on how you build it. And the mental strain isn't exactly fun."

  "I have all but one free slot, Tch." Reyana clicked her tongue, rolling her eyes. "One. And I'm saving it for something that won't get me killed."

  "That’s a pity," Jin said, smirk widening into something more genuine. "Though if you die from boredom reading this crap, does it count?"

  "Shut up." But there was no heat in it. Reyana stood, stretched with her arms over her head until her spine popped audibly. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “Got it! Maybe get Joe here as well. We need to get started with the crackdown on the cultist rings.”

  “Hmm, will do.” Reyana nodded as she stepped out of the room.

  “Okay… she got all the docs nicely stacked… and all sorted.” Jin could see the organizational logic in how she'd arranged everything—logistics separate from ritual components, personnel records away from encoded communications.

  Jin yawned.

  Even after being knocked unconscious for almost 15 hours… I’m still sleepy.

  ? Compilation complete. ?

  The Narrator's presence pulsed once in his awareness, signaling completion. Information flooded into his mind in organized packets, categorized and cross-referenced automatically.

  ? Analysis summary: ?

  The Narrator's voice manifested as usual, cold and clinical. Jin had gotten used to it somewhat, but sometimes the sheer inhumanity of it still unsettled him. It was like having a supercomputer sharing headspace with his consciousness, running calculations and drawing conclusions without ever caring about the results.

  I wonder if there comes a scenario where it deems me to be not important…

  Jin shivered at the thought, shaking his head and focusing on the result.

  ? Seventy-three percent of recovered documents contain logistical data. Supply chain records, patrol schedules, cult hierarchy rosters. Standard operational intelligence. Moderate practical value. ?

  ? Twelve percent consists of ritual procedures, alchemical blueprints, and instructional materials. Low to mid-complexity procedures. One-verse sorcery tomes, alchemical potion recipes, essence refinement protocols. High practical value for resource acquisition and skill development. ?

  ? Fifteen percent flagged as high-priority intelligence. Breakdown follows: ?

  Jin straightened in his chair, attention sharpening. This was the important part. He focused on the mental readout as the Narrator parsed through encoded fragments and reconstructed meanings from partial data.

  ???

  Decoded Fragment - Outpost Network:

  "Fourteen pillars stand watch over the city's veins. Each marks a node where the blood flows deepest. When the Convergence aligns, the pillars will channel the flow upward, feeding the Grand Working. Vienna is not the battlefield—it is the altar."

  ???

  The Narrator's analysis overlaid the cryptic text with its assessment:

  ? Fourteen cult outposts mapped to ritualistic locations throughout Vienna. Geographic positioning suggests ley line convergence points. Purpose: Essence siphoning network designed to fuel large-scale working. Current status: Thirteen active outposts remaining after recent operations. One’s core structure was partially destroyed by Salvatore. ?

  ? Cult will prioritize rebuilding and setting up that outpost back up. ?

  “Okay, that’s a good start. The more time I get, the more my little virus would gain access.”

  ???

  Decoded Fragment - Force Composition:

  "Fourteen of the Blood Mother's Favored walk Vienna's streets. Each carries their blessings, each wields authority over the lesser swarm. Among them, two stand highest—Hands of divine will, architects of the final symphony."

  ???

  ? Fourteen ORDER IV cultists confirmed within the enemy’s forces. Designation: 'Favored.' Blessed by their deities. Two ORDER V operatives identified as 'Hands'—proxies with divine authority. ?

  Jin's stomach went cold. “Holy… that’s some serious power. And are those monsters like Velakin and that blessed abomination are also there, no?”

  ? Yes ?

  Hufff… Fuck…

  ???

  Decoded Fragment - Hierarchy Structure:

  "The Chosen One sits above all, touched by the gaze of those Beyond. Beneath him, the Hierarch guides the faithful. Below the Hierarch, the Hands extend reach into flesh and shadow. The Favored serve as fingers upon those hands, and the Blessed are the tools they wield."

  ???

  ? Cult hierarchy pyramid structure: ?

  ? Apex: Chosen One. Designation unknown. Presumed ORDER VI minimum classification. Direct contact with extra-dimensional entities confirmed through contextual references. ?

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  ? Command: Hierarch. ORDER ???. Primary operational authority. ?

  ? Executive: Two Hands. ORDER V each. Names: Hand Vella (cult designation: The Fleshcrafter), Hand unknown (references suggest shadow or stealth specialization). Direct implementation of strategic objectives. ?

  ? Operations: Fourteen Favored. ORDER IV each. Field commanders and elite combatants. One confirmed dead, Salvatore killed one. ?

  Hmm? When? Did he mention?

  ? Negative, there's an ORDER IV, underlord ranker corpse in the corpse ring.?

  In the what? Corpse ring!

  ? Yes. Your teammates, at your request, filled one of the rings with all the corpses. ?

  Jin just chuckled, too stunned to say anything on the topic.

  ? Estimated three hundred Blessed operatives. ORDER II through ORDER III. Standard combat forces and ritual specialists. ?

  ? Support: Unknown number of rank-and-file cultists. Non-combatants, logistics personnel, and corrupted civilians. Minimal individual threat but numerically significant. ?

  ???

  Decoded Fragment—The Bleeding Threshold

  " We are not a place, but passage. Not door, but wound. When Vienna's essence flows deep enough, the wound opens. What lies beyond will step through, and the city will become the first dominion of the New Order."

  — Direct words of the Hierarch

  ???

  Jin's breath caught. He read the passage again, then a third time, each word landing heavier than the last.

  Fuck, that’s Sangvath Anor… that’s their motto, I remember that from the last volumes.

  ? Updated. ?

  ? "Sangvath Anor" is identified as the main enemy designation for the dimensional breach event. Purpose: Facilitate entity incursion from external plane into material reality. Vienna designated as primary anchor point for breach. Estimated timeline for sufficient essence accumulation: twenty-four days. After the breach threshold is reached, invasion commences. ?

  Around three weeks then…

  ???

  Decoded Fragment, a journal entry regarding The Chosen One:

  "I have seen them. Stood in their presence. The Chosen One has many shapes and forms. Their existence scares me more than eternal doom. He is not one of us. He never was. We are simply the hands that build his throne."

  ???

  A shapeshifter?

  ? Among other things, yes. ?

  Reyana's voice cut through the fog in his head as she appeared with a steaming mug. "Here."

  Jin blinked up at her, brain still processing information overload. The smell hit him first—actual coffee, not the instant garbage they'd been surviving on. "That coffee?"

  "Yup." She set it down in front of him.

  "Nice. You're a lifesaver." Jin grabbed the mug with both hands, brought it to his lips without checking the temperature first because exhaustion made people stupid, and immediately regretted it. "Shit—" He stuck his tongue out, fanning his mouth.

  Reyana snorted. "Smooth."

  "Shut up." Jin set the mug down, still grimacing. His tongue felt scalded but functional. Worth it for caffeine. He'd drink lava if it kept him conscious at this point.

  Reyana settled into the chair across from him, her own mug in hand. She looked as tired as he felt—dark circles, hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. "Joe said he'd be down in a minute. So..." She blew on her coffee, took a careful sip. "What did we get?"

  "A lot." Jin's voice came out rougher than he intended. He cleared his throat, tried again. "Most of it's useless logistics crap, but there's important stuff buried in there."

  "How important?" Reyana leaned forward, exhaustion falling away as curiosity bloomed.

  "Fairly important." Jin met her eyes. “Gimme a second to figure out how to say it without sounding insane."

  Jin ran a hand through his hair, buying himself a second. "So here’s all the important info: We have at least fourteen ORDER IV cultists confirmed. Two ORDER V called Hands. Something at the top that's at least ORDER VI and maybe higher."

  "Order V? That’s a Lord ranker…" Reyana repeated, voice flat. "Oh, shit."

  "Yeah." Jin's jaw worked. "I figure we leave those for Joe and Salvatore. That's their weight class, not ours."

  Reyana was silent for several long seconds, then nodded. "Yeah. Probably for the best." She set her mug down, leaned back. "Still leaves a lot of Underlords running around, though."

  "Yeah, it does." Jin rubbed his temple. "I'm gonna need to hit ORDER III fast if I want any chance of fighting ORDER IV entities without getting flattened. Hell, I barely made it through Vellakin, and that was with backup and favorable terrain."

  "Jin." Reyana exhaled slowly through her nose, studied him with an expression he couldn't quite read. "You know… you're scary."

  Jin blinked at her. "Heh? I’m what? I’m fairly handsome, I can bet on that, dunno about this scary part."

  “Seriously… Anyway, my dad told me something once. Said to always keep an eye on people who step away from the known paths and blaze their own trail. Those are the dangerous ones." She gestured at him with her mug. "You went from ORDER zero to ORDER II in what, a couple of days? With enough achievements, have a mantle manifestation already. That's not normal. That's... yeah. Scary."

  Jin felt heat creep up his neck. Compliments always made him awkward, especially when they came from people whose opinions he actually cared about. And Reyana isn't just anyone, but she is Salvatore’s daughter, a possible Order VI entity. "I'm just... surviving. Doing what needs doing."

  "Don't sell yourself short, okay?" Reyana's voice softened. "I still need you around to keep harvesting death essence for me, after all."

  "Right." Jin snorted, tension breaking. "Just when I thought you were so pure… You turn out to be materialistic."

  "I'm a girl." Reyana shrugged, grinning. "We're allowed to be practical about these things."

  They both laughed, the sound genuine and needed after hours of grim work.

  “That was a good one, can’t argue with that.” Jin nodded with a smile.

  “I know, right? Where’s Joe? I’ll go get him,” Reyana said, pushing back her chair and rising to her feet.

  Time for the rings and harvest?

  Jin’s eyes drifted to the spatial ring sitting on the table corner—the one which Salvatore had filled with corpses during the raid. Bodies waiting to be processed. Power waiting to be harvested.

  "There's one more thing," Jin said before Reyana could leave. She paused, hand on the doorframe. "I think I can transfer the information directly to you. Like the full information packet."

  Reyana turned back, eyebrow raised. "Transfer how?"

  "Harvest." Jin stood, moving around the table toward her. "I think it's possible to use my chains as a transmission medium. Dump the whole intelligence package straight into your head so you've got the same information I do."

  "That sounds deeply uncomfortable."

  "Probably will be.” Jin stopped a few feet away, giving her space to decide. "But it'll be fast, and then you can brief the others with full context."

  Reyana considered for maybe three seconds, then shrugged and held out her hand. "Don't bite."

  Jin scoffed. "Wasn't planning on it."

  The Harvest chains manifested around him as thin tendrils of silver. They wrapped around Reyana's outstretched hand, gentle despite their nature, cool against her skin but not painful.

  "Ready?" Jin asked.

  "Do it."

  Narrator?

  ? Initiating transfer. Compressing data packet. Transmission in three... two... one... ?

  The chains pulsed once, bright and sudden. Jin felt the information flow through them like electricity. He saw her eyes go wide, her hand tightened around his wrist hard enough to hurt.

  Everything going well?

  ? Yes. ?

  The transfer lasted maybe five seconds, and the chains withdrew, dissipating back into nothing.

  Reyana gasped and pulled back, both hands flying to her head. "Fuck. That... that hurt."

  "Yeah, sorry about that. It’s my first time doing this." Jin watched her carefully, ready to catch her if she stumbled. "You okay?"

  "Give me a second." Reyana stayed bent over. After maybe ten seconds, she straightened, still pale but looking much better. "I've got it. It’s a mess, but the important bits are there." She looked at Jin, "We're so screwed."

  "We’ll manage." Jin couldn't disagree with that assessment. "But at least now we know one more way to use my mantle effectively… I need to do some tests and figure out the extent of this transfer. Like, can I pass on my techniques? experience?"

  Reyana nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, that would be a game changer. And again, don’t overexert yourself. You need rest.”

  "I know." Then she was gone, footsteps echoing up the stairs.

  “Phew, that went well.” Jin stood alone, surrounded by piles of cult documents and stacks of looted spatial rings. Overhead, he heard muffled voices as Reyana found Joe and Salvatore.

  “Yup, gonna leave the ‘briefing others’ part to her.”

  Jin sighed and picked up one of the cultist spatial rings. These things were locked, sealed with essence-keyed enchantments that required either the original owner's signature or enough skill to crack the protections. He set the ring back down and headed for the stairs just as Joe's voice called down from above.

  "Heard we've got a pile of locked cultist rings!" Joe's head appeared over the railing, grinning like this was fun instead of work. "Want help cracking them?"

  "Yeah," Jin called back. "There are like twenty-something of them. Gonna take forever to break manually."

  “I’m leaving the rings here. I’ll be in the next room.”

  “Okay!”

  ???

  Jin picked up the corpse-filled spatial ring, hefted its weight, and moved to a cleared section of the basement away from the document piles. The concrete floor was stained and cracked, but clean enough. He set the ring down, stepped back, and took a breath to center himself.

  The Eternal Sovereign breathing pattern came automatically now, refined through constant practice.

  Essence flowed through channels in his body with the rhythm of his breath, cold and steady, priming his system for what came next.

  Alright, narrator, let’s do this!

  Jin channeled essence into the spatial ring. The first corpse manifested on the concrete floor in front of him—a cultist, Order II, judging by the residual corruption burns still glowing faintly on exposed skin. Dead for hours, but essence signatures hadn't fully dissipated yet. The body was in bad shape, torn apart by what looked like Salvatore's work, probably.

  The chains coiled closer, sensing prey. Jin could feel their anticipation through his connection to them, that alien hunger that was part of the Harvest skill's nature. He exhaled slowly, focused his will, and gave the mental command.

  "Let the Harvest begin!"

  ~~~

  PS: Psst~ Psst~ Going back to 5-4 chapter drops, extra content and sneak peaks into more things at Patreon! It would be awesome if you guys, you know... and once I'm back at a decent backlog I'll go 5ch/week here as well.

  Bonus chapters drop when I hit the goal!

  ? ? ?

  ?^>?<^ ?