Chapter 108: The Former Candidate Saintess

The Former Candidate Saintess

Amy sat in place, her mind replaying the words Ciel had just spoken.

A vast new world slowly unfolded in her thoughts.

Amy usually enjoyed shopping and outings with friends during her leisure time. Her favorite activity was visiting small shops recommended by friends to experience mediumship or divination.

Although it never yielded results, she enjoyed these activities immensely, falling for a different trick each week.

But she never expected that after choosing to go to Deton Manor with her father this morning, she would truly become connected to such extraordinary powers.

No payment required, no lengthy incantations, no mystical positioning, no boring meditation that made one want to sleep—just sitting there, magical power manifested before her eyes.

This time it’s real!

Amy turned her head towards Ciel, gradually understanding.

No wonder Ciel acted so mysteriously aloof at the academy. It turned out she had long been part of a world she herself could never have touched...

And now, such a world was laid out before Amy.

Ciel even asked if she accepted or refused?

Amy was curious, could anyone truly utter the word refuse?

“Are you all... those... transcendents?” Amy’s gaze swept over Avena, Adele, and Nia, finally resting on Avena.

Intuition told her that this esteemed Miss Roswell was likely the leader of this small group.

Unfortunately, Amy guessed wrong.

Under Amy’s gaze, Avena turned her head somewhat stiffly towards Ciel, passing the question to her.

This work is hosted on mananovel.com

Avena was truly unaccustomed to being stared at so intensely by strangers, especially semi-acquaintances whom she couldn’t just dismiss with a cold glance.

“Yes, they are all transcendents.” Ciel replied on Avena’s behalf.

“You still have plenty of time to consider; this matter isn’t urgent.”

“I’m willing. I want to understand.” Amy nodded hastily, afraid the offer would be withdrawn if she delayed her acceptance.

She finally understood now why Ciel had sent her away earlier. For such important matters, they indeed needed some internal discussion.

Ciel nodded gently, then looked towards Avena and Nia.

When it came to teaching others about transcendent powers and becoming a transcendent, Ciel was practically clueless.

Because she herself was only half-baked, with a partial understanding of the transcendent world.

Moreover, Ciel’s experiences were slightly extreme and generally not applicable to others.

If she were to teach someone, who knows what kind of monster she might create. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

Seeing Ciel’s pleading gaze, Avena sighed inwardly, looked at Amy, and said, “If you are free tonight, you can come to my house for dinner together.”

“We can discuss the details then.”

Before discussing, Avena had to confirm the situation with Ciel.

Ciel definitely wouldn’t tell an ordinary person about transcendents without reason, unless this person wasn’t ordinary at all.

Avena mentally apologized for her earlier assumption—she had indeed misjudged. This girl named Amy might truly harbor a significant secret.

After all, she was connected to Ciel; this secret certainly wouldn’t be boring. Avena had experienced this firsthand.

“Okay, see you tonight then!” Amy nodded. Then, as if remembering something, she looked at the group and asked, “By the way, I have one more question...”

“Am I... considered a member of your organization now?” Amy looked at Avena, then at Ciel, her eyes full of expectation.

Organization? What organization?

A question mark simultaneously appeared above the heads of Avena, Adele, and Ciel.

After telling Amy they would discuss it tonight, Ciel left Amy’s house with Avena and Adele.

As for the three potion bottles, leaving them with Amy wasn’t safe, so Ciel temporarily kept them for her.

Before leaving, Baron Hastings, having regained consciousness, came out to greet Avena. After all, he was the master of the house; it would be impolite not to receive guests from the Roswell family.

Ciel also had them check Baron Hastings’ condition. Finding nothing major besides some mental weakness, they chose not to use transcendent abilities for healing, letting him recover on his own.

Avena’s home wasn’t far. After boarding the rented carriage, they arrived at the entrance of Avena’s estate in less than seven minutes.

The Deton Manor incident was over, but Avena still had many things to attend to.

After confirming with Ciel that the cultists planted around her were all dead, Avena had Nia use the warhorse to relay messages to the butler, arranging for the staff to return to work.

After all, the large hole in her reception hall had been there for days, and the stored food had almost all spoiled. It was time for the servants to return.

After arranging these miscellaneous tasks, Avena brought Ciel and Adele to the study and began their discussion.

“What happened to her, Ciel?” Avena looked at Ciel and asked, “Did something unexpected happen to her at Deton Manor?”

“Yes.” Ciel nodded. These matters didn’t need to be concealed from Avena and Adele, and Ciel also needed their help.

“Do you remember about the spiritual being?” Ciel looked at Avena.

“I remember.” Avena nodded.

This was a major event orchestrated by the organization behind Ciel. For transcendents, it was definitely a catastrophe.

As for the specific casualties at the manor, they would have to wait for further intelligence.

Timing-wise, interested organizations should be preparing to investigate soon.

Adele also nodded along beside them.

“Amy encountered that spiritual being.” Ciel chose her words carefully, then continued, “She seems to have been mistaken by that spiritual being for the Saintess of the Divine Advent Church...”

“Saintess?” Avena immediately grasped the key point and asked, “That summoned spiritual being was...”

“Perhaps because the sacrifices all bore the cultist insignia, the ritual specifically summoned a divine servant of the Divine Advent Church.”

“Divine servant...” Hearing this, not only Avena but even Nia felt a chill down her spine, a sense of lingering fear.

Fortunately, they hadn’t stayed there too long, otherwise, something might have really happened.

And... the organization behind Ciel was a bit too bold.

Sacrificing cultists to summon the servant of an evil god? Who were the real cultists here?

Even if the higher-ups of the Divine Advent Church came to investigate directly, they would likely be utterly bewildered. No wonder Ciel was so confident earlier that the cultists wouldn’t investigate them anymore.

-

“That spiritual being, how did you deal with it?” Avena pressed further. “After summoning it, did you kill it directly? Or destroy the formation after summoning?”

If a divine servant were released, the entire Berren City would likely suffer; no one could escape.

It was an uncontrollable, extremely dangerous factor.

Since no danger had occurred so far, it meant the spiritual being should have been dealt with or sent back to the Other Side. But for safety’s sake, Avena decided to ask Ciel anyway.

She wanted a definite answer.

“It’s... still alive.” Ciel shook her head and said, “I can’t really say if its current state is considered alive or dead...”

“It mistook Amy, who saw it, for the Saintess, and directly sealed itself onto Amy’s back,” Ciel took out the black leather pouch and said, “These three potion bottles were left for Amy by that spiritual being.”

Avena had been wondering earlier why Ciel directly produced three potion bottles, and a direct line from “Ascetic” all the way to “Radiance Bishop” at that.

But judging by the color, these turbid potions didn’t seem refined from primary materials, but rather directly created from the flesh and bones of transcendents.

Drinking potions with unknown formulas would definitely cause problems, differing only in severity.

“It sealed itself... onto that girl’s back?” Nia, who had been standing silently behind Avena, finally couldn’t help but speak, asking doubtfully, “Why didn’t I sense any presence of an Other Side creature...”

Nia had the most authority on this point. If an Other Side creature appeared, Nia would definitely be the most sensitive and most affected.

Even Nia couldn’t sense the slightest presence. No seal could achieve that.

“I’ve confirmed it; the seal is indeed on her back,” Ciel shook her head and said, “Moreover, this spiritual being sealed on her back has already killed people.”

Then, Ciel recounted what Amy described about the robbers being instantly torn to shreds, explaining that the sealed spiritual being could passively sense danger directed at Amy and kill those who posed a threat to her.

After hearing this, Avena lowered her head in thought. After a while, she looked up at Ciel and asked, “What do you think? Could she be the ‘Saintess’?”

“I don’t know.” Ciel answered honestly. “But given her situation, I can guarantee that even if she went to the Church of the Savior Goddess, she would be treated as a Saint or Saintess.”

“Regarding ‘Saintesses,’ I have heard one theory.” Avena said, “I once heard that perhaps no religious group truly has a ‘Saintess’ in the doctrinal sense.”

“They are just very special, rare individuals capable of resisting most pollution from the Other Side. Churches can rely on them to try exploring and communicating with the ‘Other Side’.”

Hearing this, Ciel looked at Avena, somewhat surprised, and asked, “Are you saying ‘Saintesses’ don’t actually correspond to any specific path, but are rather a kind of human resource that can be competed for?”

“That could be one interpretation.” Avena nodded and said, “But this is just speculation. After all, the number of existing ‘Saintesses’ and ‘Saints’ is scarce, and each is heavily protected by their respective organizations. It’s practically impossible for them to be snatched away by others, unless that religious group is annihilated.”

“Holy wars occurred frequently two or three hundred years ago, but such events have been almost non-existent in the last two centuries. Records of holy wars are also extremely rare.”

At this point, Nia spoke again, adding, “Besides communicating with the gods of those churches or attempting to communicate with other old gods, the main purpose of ‘Saintesses’ is to obtain the Reconstitution Rituals for those missing paths.”

“If they can obtain the initial potion formula or Reconstitution Ritual from Other Side creatures, they can deduce the Reconstitution Ritual and potion formula for that path through reverse engineering or experimentation.”

Nia seemed particularly familiar with this information, knowing even more than Avena.

Hearing this information, Ciel nodded slightly, already convinced by this explanation internally.

They hadn’t experienced it, so they could only speculate.

But Ciel had experienced it firsthand.

She herself, due to suspected ability to communicate with the Other Side, had been mistaken for a Saintess multiple times by both the Church of the Savior Goddess and the Divine Advent Church.

Especially High Priestess Uris, in almost every simulation, tried various means to bring Ciel back to the Ansu Holy See.

The three fell silent, each pondering different issues. At this moment, Adele, who had been quiet, unusually spoke up.

“So what do you plan to do?” Adele looked at Ciel and Avena, asking, “Amy’s specialty will definitely make her a treasure contested by different religious groups and forces...”

Adele raised a point Ciel had also considered. If they kept Amy close, endless troubles would surely follow.

If left unattended, Amy would definitely be found by the Divine Advent Church.

By the “most loyal follower” mentioned by the divine servant.

What if they took her to a relatively peaceful and safe organization or church, letting the people there protect her? For Ciel, this seemed like the best solution.

“How about... sending her to the Redemption Society?” Adele suggested softly. “It’s full of doctors who heal the sick and save lives—excluding Sherlon—if the Redemption Society had a Saintess, it should be better for ordinary people than other churches obtaining one, right?”

Although she had left the Redemption Society, Adele didn’t seem to think poorly of her former employer, putting in a good word for them.

Avena: “No.”

Nia: “No.”

Avena and Nia spoke almost simultaneously, rejecting Adele’s proposal.

“She cannot be sent away.” Nia shook her head. After a moment of silence, she said, “I was previously... a candidate Saintess for the Church of the God of Order.”

“I know very well what happens after being chosen.”

Nia’s entire suit of armor hummed faintly. The bone-deep fear and pain seemed to resurface in her mind once more.