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Secret at the Church is the 68th main quest in Crimson Desert, part of Chapter 5 (Guest Unbidden), sub-chapter Black and White. The quest takes place in and around the Church of West Demeniss at Byron Estate. It contains two puzzles: the Strongbox in the church cellar, and the Pillar of Radiance disk rotation puzzle outside. Both must be solved to progress the story.

Quest Overview

Full Walkthrough

Step 1: Visit the Orphanage

Head to the orphanage in West Demeniss. Go to the small house in the northern section of the courtyard, the one that faces a flower garden. Interact with the door to trigger a cutscene: a woman inside gives you information about the church's hidden relic and points you toward the cellar beneath the building left of the church.

After the cutscene, speak with Abbess Marina. She will hand you the key needed to enter the locked shack beside the church.

Step 2: Defeat the Crowcaller

Travel to the Church of West Demeniss. When you arrive, you will encounter the Crowcaller and his guards. Engage them in combat. The Crowcaller will retreat after taking enough damage, so you do not need to defeat him completely at this stage. Clear enough of his forces to proceed into the church area.

Step 3: Access the Church Cellar

With the key from Abbess Marina, unlock the door of the small shack to the left of the main church building. Inside, descend the ladder into the underground cellar. The Strongbox puzzle sits on the altar at the bottom.

Puzzle 1: Strongbox

Overview

The Strongbox sits on the altar in the church cellar. It has four cube-shaped buttons arranged at the corners of the box. The goal is to press all four buttons down at the same time by following a specific sequence. Pressing a button can toggle or reset other buttons, so order matters.

Button Layout

Solution Sequence

Press the four corner buttons in this exact order:

1. Bottom Right (BR)

2. Top Left (TL)

3. Bottom Left (BL)

4. Top Right (TR)

When all four buttons are down simultaneously, the Strongbox unlocks. Open it to retrieve the Dagger of Radiance.

Tips for the Strongbox

• If you press a button out of order and the sequence breaks, step back and allow the buttons to reset, then start again from step 1.

• Watch each button carefully: a button that stays visibly depressed is locked in; one that pops back up means the sequence has reset.

• The underlying mechanic is that all four buttons must be held down at once. The sequence above achieves this by locking each button in turn without releasing the previous ones.

Puzzle 2: Pillar of Radiance

Overview

The Pillar of Radiance stands outside, between the church and the orphanage. After retrieving the Dagger of Radiance from the Strongbox, return to this pillar. Hold L1 (LB on Xbox) to inspect the pillar, then press Square (X on Xbox) to insert the dagger into the slot on the pedestal.

Inserting the dagger activates a hidden mechanism and reveals a disk rotation puzzle built into the pillar face. The puzzle consists of three concentric rotating rings. Your goal is to rotate them so that all the segments align to form a complete Eye symbol.

Controls

Solution

The three rings start misaligned. Only the outermost ring and the second outer ring need to be moved. The innermost ring is already in the correct position from the start, so do not rotate it.

1. Select the outermost ring using the D-Pad or thumbstick.

2. Rotate it until the segment lines up and the ring illuminates, indicating it has locked into place.

3. Select the second outer ring.

4. Rotate it until its segments align with the locked outer ring and it also illuminates and locks.

5. Leave the innermost ring as-is. Once the first two rings are locked, the full Eye symbol will be visible.

Each ring clicks and lights up when it reaches the correct position. You do not need to memorize a specific number of rotations: just rotate slowly and watch for the ring to lock with a visual highlight. Once all three layers display the complete Eye, the pillar mechanism activates.

Tips for the Pillar Puzzle

• Rotate one ring at a time and wait for the lock feedback before moving to the next ring.

• If a ring does not seem to lock, try rotating it in the opposite direction.

• The puzzle is not timed. Take your time aligning each ring.

• The Eye symbol becomes clearly recognizable once the outer ring is correct; use that visual confirmation before adjusting the second ring.

After Completing Both Puzzles

With the Pillar of Radiance fully activated, the ground shakes and the Spire of Soaring (also called the Spire of Ascent) awakens, unlocking the path to pursue the White Crow and the Crowcaller. The quest concludes and transitions automatically into the next main quest, Toward the Nest (Quest 69).

Completing Toward the Nest awards the following gear:

Quest Objectives Summary

Related Quests

Secret at the Church is preceded by Bloodwind and directly leads into Toward the Nest. Both puzzles in this quest are part of the main story's Chapter 5 progression and cannot be skipped.