City of Sin Book 9, Chapter 18

Alter World
Once everything was handled, Richard headed to the communication hall under his castle to contact Saint Martin.
“My Dear Richard, it has been so long!” Martin was full of warmth as always, “But I know it can’t be anything good if you’re looking for me. Tell me, what is it this time?”
"I need information on the alter world,” Richard said directly.
“The… alter world…” Martin’s smile froze, “Do you really think I’m omniscient?”
“Don’t you always find surprises in your treasury?”
“Bah, those are surprises that can be found! You realise I have my faith, I cannot go against it! I believe in the light of the surface, I won’t touch anything related to the dark side of the world. The Church does not have any secrets relating to it either!”
Richard was disappointed for a moment. Martin had become an emergency solver for him in recent years, and if even he didn’t know the only option left would be the Millennial Empire. Seeing his expression, the divine child calmed down, “Why are you asking about the alter world so suddenly? It is only a legend from what I know, there isn’t any evidence to prove its existence.”
“How about the fact that I touched its borders only a few days ago? My teacher has gone missing there, but the channel she used to enter has been sealed shut. I want to find another path.”
“Are you crazy? We’re all beings of light, going to the alter world will be like a water elemental entering a plane of fire! You won’t even be guaranteed to enter, forget surviving!”
“Then find me a solution,” Richard didn’t seem to be bothered by his caution.
“How can I think of a solution for that?” Martin fumed, starting to pace around.
“I’ll owe you a favour?”
“Ugh, the alter world will be a one-way trip, how would a favour be of any damn use? You already owe me more than enough!”
Richard had to suppress a sigh at the poorly-veiled concern, but he managed to stay calm as he looked at Martin. The holy child walked around in place for a while before coming to a decision, “Alright, I’ll help, but don’t get your hopes too high. There are some scattered records about the alter world in the Millennial Empire, it’s best you check there. I heard that the elven empire also organised a large investigation when they were still in power, so you might get some answers in Lithgalen. But you should know that those high elves are lunatics, they attack first and ask questions later.”
"Lithgalen, huh… Alright, I understand."
Martin’s eyes blazed with rage, his voice almost turning into a howl, “Was my intention not clear enough? I meant the Millennial Empire, not Lithgalen! You won’t get any information from the elves, they don’t need anything you can give them!”
“I’ll make them need it,” Richard replied, “But yes, I promise to try the Millennial Empire first. If I get my answer there, I won’t head to Lithgalen.”
Martin’s expression improved, but he still snorted, “What else? Looks like you’re not done yet.”
“Mm, I want to move up my challenge to the pope.”
"You actual… Did you really just go insane or something? Did your empress fill you with chaos?” Martin stared at him with suspicion.
Richard shook his head, “I just want to solve my troubles before I leave. Challenging the pope will help me test some conjectures.”
“But I don’t think there’s a need to challenge him. It isn’t even clear whether the old man is really an enemy or an ally. I’d rather not make that choice for him unless necessary. Besides, he’s very dangerous.”
Richard furrowed his brows, "So am I."
Martin spread his arms helplessly, "Okay, then how about this: I’ll arrange for a meeting between you two. No need to fight if a chat is enough."
“Hmm… Alright.”
“Sigh. I know you just defeated Apeiron, but just because your abilities counter hers doesn’t mean you can suppress others too. I feel like the Pope will suppress you instead. Meet him and talk to him, then we’ll know. Besides, you already have a lot of troubles. You should prepare more and make fewer enemies.”
Richard nodded, cutting off communications. As the magic circle slowly dimmed, he stood there lost in thought. He had felt Intuition kicking in when Martin said his last sentence, feeling like he would soon meet inescapable danger that would force him to port to the Darkness. Flowsand had previously specified that he had to defeat the Pope of the Church of Glory before entering the Darkness, but now it seemed like there was more to it than someone who had escaped the Darkness himself. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to know until he actually engaged in battle.
He continued to think silently as he returned to his study, unable to reconcile himself with the idea. Eventually, he decided to head to the Mage Association; with the imperial palace destroyed in his battle with Apeiron, this tower now contained the best library in the entire Alliance.
Chairman Thor generously agreed to his request and opened up even his personal library, but he obviously had a ‘small’ request of his own. He wished to purchase a grade 5 Mana Armament, and his offer was quite reasonable. While Richard would earn a great deal more if he auctioned the rune off, Thor agreed to wait an entire year for delivery.
Richard spent a full day in the library, browsing through almost all of the volumes at least once. Records of the alter world were few and far between, and the passages that did exist were quite vague. The more he read about them, the more he felt like it was all just fantasy and not experience. By the time he left, he was completely disappointed. This meant the entire Sacred Alliance was unlikely to have any relevant information.
Once he was back in his study, his gaze landed on a map of the Millennial Empire; it seemed like he had to make a trip there after all. They had likely inherited elven research on the alter world, giving them at least some relevant records.
However, he first had an attending mage send an announcement throughout Norland: the Archeron Family was looking for a magical fleet that could cross the great oceans to reach Lithgalen, and the fleet required at least five warships for a total sum of around ten top-tier offerings. He would prefer directly buying prepared ships, but he could also agree to a custom build. Were he unable to get anything useful from the Millennial Empire, he was prepared to head to Lithgalen and seek out the descendants of the high elves.
Once everything related to the purchase of the fleet was out, he entered the astral library and continued to read through the volumes. Knowing that the primal celestials were at least on par with the elven empire if not better, he first flew around and examined the sealed books to see if he could find anything.
He eventually came across a stone filled with mysterious carvings, the language on it condensed chaotic tongue. The surface implied it was a record of investigations into the alter world, but he found it difficult to be pleased. This rock was on the fifth level of protection in the library, second only to that one sphere of light. This was two levels higher than what even Sharon herself could manage, and she had a full five-level advantage over him!
The fourth level of books required one to be at level 30, while the fifth needed at least level 33. If one needed to be level 33 for the primal celestials to consider them capable of investigating the alter world…
……
When Richard eventually left the library, all of his anxiety had vanished and was replaced with absolute cold reason. He now knew how much danger to expect from the alter world, and that he wouldn’t be able to save Sharon if he entered it with his current power. In fact, it was all too likely that he would end up throwing his own life away, which made no sense. He would have to look for a safe entrance and raise his strength to at least an acceptable level before entering.
His only hope now was that the scene that the old dragon had shown him was accurate, and that Sharon was simply deep asleep floating in the void, not killed or destroyed.