Chapter 622 : Face the Stellar Furnace Directly
Chapter 622: Face the Stellar Furnace Directly
The priests of the Silent Sanctum were mostly stubborn in temperament. Good was good; if it was not good, they might refrain from saying it outright, but it was difficult to make them offer praise against their conscience.
After walking half a circle through Castel Cathedral, even someone as steady in conduct as Helena found herself unable to speak a word of admiration.
The robed clerics merely nodded to one another in greeting, without any solemn ritual. Believers chatted enthusiastically in the main hall, showing not the slightest reverence for the cathedral itself.
Those towering Banshees simply walked along the corridors without offering bows or hymns of praise, as if they were no different from mortals.
The surrounding walls, the hall, and the connecting corridors bore no intricate decorative designs. There were not even inscriptions from the Holy Text carved into the stone, nor statues or paintings of sages and saints within the cathedral.
Instead, across the ceiling and along the walls ran numerous pipes of varying thicknesses. There was not the faintest sense of sanctity about them, and it was unclear what purpose they served.
Simply put, this place hardly resembled a cathedral.
Helena sighed inwardly.
If it had been entrusted to her, she certainly would not have designed it this way.
If the Church’s teachings were not inscribed throughout the cathedral, how could believers memorize the Holy Text? If the cathedral were not imbued with sanctity through decoration, how could people feel reverence?
If none of that existed… then what would gather the believers together? Those pipes? Those machines?
“Everyone, please follow me to visit the Stellar Furnace,” Nini’s voice sounded from the side.
Only then did Helena rouse herself somewhat. Stellar Furnace—she had heard that term many times. Presumably, this must be the one thing in the cathedral worthy of pride.
And yet, in a cathedral, the most praiseworthy thing was a furnace… This—
She shook her head, suppressing the involuntary disdain rising in her heart, reminding herself to remain humble and sincere. They were merely guests.
Upon entering the central courtyard, Helena’s eyes immediately brightened.
The main hall of Castel Cathedral was unremarkable, but this courtyard was far more impressive.
Castel Cathedral was built in a typical fortress style: tall buildings formed a perimeter wall, while the center was hollowed out.
Like a bundle of timber tightly bound together, with several beams removed from the middle.
That hollowed section was the courtyard.
Spiral staircases wound upward around it, connecting every floor. Sunlight poured down from above, and the elegant geometric angles lent it a sense of clean beauty.
Countless pipes snaked upward from underground, then extended into every part of the cathedral.
Between the floors, vertical shafts connected above and below. Inside them, box-like compartments continuously rotated up and down. Occasionally, someone would step in at just the right moment and quickly be carried several floors away by the transmission mechanism.
The Paternoster Elevator—previously installed only in the Banshees’ underground area—had now been added in several units within the cathedral to facilitate movement through the courtyard.
The principle behind the elevator was simple. The priests of the Silent Sanctum understood it after watching for a short while. Even the most obstinate Burial Ones could not help but marvel at the ingenuity of the design.
It seemed Castel did have the capability to create refined designs. But why were they unwilling to apply such thought to proper religious purposes, instead using it all on machines and devices?
Helena felt a trace of regret.
“We’ve installed multiple elevators here mainly because the underground portion of the courtyard is quite extensive. Moving up and down was inconvenient, so we’ll take the elevator down.”
As Nini led the members of the Sanctum forward, she explained, “Originally, this courtyard was open. But later, too many people developed Castel Syndrome. When they looked directly at the Stellar Furnace from here, they would easily suffer an episode. Someone once fell in because of it. If the Banshee on duty hadn’t caught him in time, he would’ve ended up contributing his light and heat to Castel.”
“So after that, a locking mechanical structure was installed over this area.”
Nini stepped into the courtyard and lightly tapped the ground with the tip of her tail. A dull metallic clang echoed.
“This floor can open. Normally it only opens when airships take off, or when the Stellar Furnace requires maintenance and lifting… Hmm?”
Nini paused suddenly, then smiled.
“Everyone, just now Lord Hughes personally granted permission for me to open the cover plate to facilitate your visit!”
She looked toward the surrounding control mechanisms. Before she could even speak, a Banshee eager for spectacle had already rushed over to activate it.
The Banshees pulled down the Metal Lever. Gears clicked as they meshed, and with a shrill mechanical screech, a narrow seam suddenly appeared across the courtyard floor.
The Burial Ones of the Silent Sanctum stepped closer in curiosity. To their surprise, the underground portion of the cathedral was quite… deep. In terms of height alone, it even seemed to exceed the aboveground structure.
What lay below that justified such depth?
With a tremendous roar, the courtyard floor first sank slightly, then from hidden grooves in the ground, rotated outward like petals, retreating to the sides.
The Steam Engine roared, and it felt as if the entire cathedral trembled faintly.
The first thing that came into view was a dense network of massive pipes.
They had seen many of these pipes throughout the cathedral—in corridors and halls alike—yet had never known their purpose.
Now, seeing them converge and descend underground, the Burial Ones began to form a faint conjecture.
The underground space was somewhat dim; sunlight from the courtyard above could not penetrate here. Yet below, there seemed to be an immense light source, casting the surrounding walls in an orange-red glow.
The air grew hot.
The stifling, dry heat unique to a furnace surged upward in a wave. The sudden rush of heat made the priests catch their breath and instinctively step back.
By stepping back, much of the view below was obscured. Yet they seemed… to sense something.
Thump.
Like a heartbeat, a powerful rhythm swept across all the priests of the Silent Sanctum. Their bodies remained steady, but in that instant, it felt as though their souls had endured a storm.
There was something enormous below.
Yes—enormous. That was their only sensation.
Surely that existence possessed other notable features, but all they could perceive was its enormity. Like a towering mountain—it had cliffs, waterfalls, and deep valleys, yet one could see only the sheer rock face directly ahead.
A realization dawned upon the priests of the Sanctum. Perhaps it was not that the existence was too enormous—but that they themselves were too small.
Yet they were priests of the Silent Sanctum—Transcendents above the mortal realm, Burial Ones who had pierced the High Wall of Reality with their will and touched the Sea of Unawareness.
What kind of existence could be so immense that they could not even perceive its full form?
Helena shuddered in shock, a chill running through her heart. She turned her head instinctively.
As expected—her Anchor Point was gone.
The moment she realized this, she was already lost.