Vanna stood quietly in front of the stairs leading to the underground sanctuary, looking at the black door that had just been restored in front of everyone.

Three hours ago, she led the team to this deserted church and saw warm and bright lights inside, the main hall was operating as usual, nuns were praying quietly, and the pulpit was clean and tidy.

Two hours ago, she got rid of the nun who was obviously not right, and led the guards to find this underground temple. After opening the door of the temple, she saw the truth inside - a dark underground space, a sword-wielding nun who seemed to have died in battle not long ago, traces of battles all over the basement, and invaders who disappeared without a trace.

Two minutes ago, she completed a detailed investigation of the underground sanctuary, and together with her subordinates, brought the nun's body out of the underground sanctuary, preparing to send it to the Central Cathedral for autopsy and burial.

Then, the body of the nun that was taken outside the church turned into ashes that drifted away in the wind in full view of everyone. The basement door that had been violently pried open two hours ago was restored to its original state in the blink of an eye. It now stood quietly at the end of the stairs, as if mocking the explorers standing on the stairs.

"Inquisitor..." A short-bearded Guardian warrior approached Vanna and said in a low voice, "There seems to be some kind of closed loop of time and space here..."

Vanna nodded slightly and said nothing.

What emerged in her mind was the horrifying dream of last night and "Captain Duncan" who invaded and polluted her dream.

The words of the ghost captain in the dream echoed in her mind: "...If you really care about the safety of the city-state, you might as well go to the sixth block and take a look at the small church...

"I look forward to what you discover there..."

Is this what the "Captain Duncan" wanted me to see? A closed space and time, a small church polluted and isolated by some unknown force, a nun who died fighting a mysterious invader? Why did he let himself see this? What does everything here mean?

Vanna frowned tightly. When she set out this morning, her mind was still full of thoughts about the Lost Hometown and the conspiracy of the ghost captain. She was wondering whether the other party had directed her to this small church in order to corrupt and attack her as an inquisitor in some way. But now, she suddenly doubted her initial judgment.

Could it be that... the ghost captain really just wanted to provide me with a clue? Like a warm-hearted passerby... reporting the heresy in the city-state to me?

This thought popped up in Vanna's mind - not long ago, she had said the same thing to Bishop Valentine in a joking tone, but now she couldn't help but go over this joke, which was so absurd to the level of the subspace, in her mind again.

The next second, the young judge shuddered and his expression froze.

I actually thought that the ghost captain was harmless. This must be the effect of his mental pollution! I can't keep thinking about it...

"Inquisitor?" The subordinate's voice came from the side again, waking Vanna from her distraction. The short-bearded guard had a worried expression on his face. "Did you... hear or see anything?"

"...No, I'm clear-headed." Vanna shook her head and said to the subordinate who looked quite reliable. She knew that this subordinate had contact with Bishop Valentine before setting out, and now he was probably responsible for "supervising" her superior. She had no complaints about this - after all, she had been contaminated by Captain Duncan, and it was normal for her to go on a mission in shackles at this time.

"The time and space here have been reset. Should we go down and take another look?" the subordinate asked again.

Fanna hesitated for a moment, then turned around and asked, "What is the 'nun' in the main hall doing?"

"She is still praying," a guard who had just returned from the main hall said immediately, "It seems that any of our activities outside the main hall will not attract her attention."

"Well," Vanna nodded gently, her eyes fell on the door at the end of the stairs, and she bit her lip after a long time, "Go down again."

She led the guards to the entrance of the underground sanctuary again, stepped forward to push the door, and once again felt the familiar resistance - the door was blocked on the other side by the body of the nun.

Last time, she had her men use a crowbar to pry open the door hinges, opening the passage while trying not to damage the runes on the door.

This time, she put her hand on the door panel, took a deep breath, suddenly clenched her hand into a fist, and knocked on the door very quickly.

Within one hundredth of a second, the entire door vibrated in a way that was imperceptible to human senses, and then the sturdy door suddenly shattered into endless dust. Wood chips and metal dust fluttered down, but were repelled and blown away by the aura surrounding Vanna.

The nun's body fell behind the door, with no additional damage other than the original injuries on her body.

It was not until this time that the guards at the scene heard a very low humming sound. This low humming sound seemed to penetrate into the human brain, permeating the air and then dissipating in the blink of an eye.

The warriors cast awe-inspiring glances at the young inquisitor, but Vanna was used to such looks. She carried her sword on her back, took the lantern from her waist with her left hand, and stepped forward after the door was shattered.

The glow of the lantern once again illuminated this dark underground space. The scene was exactly the same as what I saw when I first came in. As expected, time and space here had returned to the starting point.

After another careful investigation, Vanna and the soldiers returned to the nun who had died in the battle.

Not long ago, Vanna had tried to bring the nun's body out of the underground church, but now she has realized that this body may have become a part of the "loop closure" like the mutated time and space here, and can no longer leave this place.

Quietly staring at the nun's bloodstained face, Fanna pondered for an unknown period of time before she suddenly whispered, "...Are you still fighting in this cyclical space-time..."

There was a brief silence in the underground sanctuary until a guard's voice suddenly broke the silence: "Inquisitor, what do you think... is she fighting against?"

Fanna thought quietly for a long time before she raised her head thoughtfully and analyzed the existing intelligence line by line:

“The underground sanctuary is an excellent sealing environment. Once the gate is closed, it becomes a prison;

“The whereabouts of the cathedral’s defenders are unknown, but they apparently did not participate in the fighting in the underground sanctuary;

“The nun locked herself in here and came in armed, which means she foresaw a fight before entering here;

"There are no traces of intruders here, and considering that the space-time here is a closed structure, the intruder should be constantly circulating here. Even if the intruder runs fast, he or she will not have time to erase all clues the moment we open the door..."

The guards nearby listened to the leader's analysis, and one of them suddenly realized, "The clergy will only actively seal themselves off and prepare for the 'final battle' like this under one situation..."

"Yes, there is only one situation," Vanna said softly, and slowly stood up, "When the priest finds that a warp gate is about to open in his soul."

"Subspace invasion!" A guard exclaimed in a low voice, "She is fighting here... is her own shadow?! But... but how is this possible, this is a church, and..."

"And no one has received any alarm from this church," Vanna spoke in a deep voice before her subordinates finished speaking. She certainly knew how many things were wrong here. "A priest who is completely contaminated by the warp will become a carrier and open a door to the warp in his soul, but usually this takes a process, especially in an environment like a church. No matter how urgent the situation is, the guards here should have the opportunity to sound the alarm. But now it seems that the contamination suffered by this nun has progressed very quickly... so quickly that she only has time to grab a long sword and lock herself here..."

She paused for a moment, then added thoughtfully, "...it is also possible that the alarm was sounded, but due to the interference of the warp, the alarm failed to reach outside the church."

"...But this is not a ship sailing on the sea," the guardian warrior next to him muttered in disbelief, "This is land, and the church is under large-scale protection. How could the power of the warp corrupt a priest so quickly and cut off the external communication of the entire area?"

"You're right. This is wrong. Everything here is wrong, but what's even more wrong is..." Vanna said softly. She looked around the underground temple. The light of the lantern illuminated the dark walls and pillars. There seemed to be countless sinister secrets hidden in the light and shadow. "If the warp has contaminated this place, where is it now?"