Chapter 114: Great! Respected! Omniscient Mother Goddess!

Great! Respected! Omniscient Mother Goddess!

“Gasp... Gasp... Gasp...”

Heavy breathing echoed in the underground sanctuary.

On the ground less than four meters from Ciel, “Favored” Lucy supported her body and slowly sat up, panting heavily nearby, like a wounded beast.

Ciel could sense the complex and volatile negative emotions in her mind. These negative emotions indirectly affected Ciel, forcing her to take two steps back, trying to distance herself from Lucy’s influence.

Click—

While retreating, Ciel’s boot accidentally stepped on a piece of rubble.

This subtle sound immediately affected Lucy, who was in an unknown state at the moment. She abruptly turned her head towards Ciel.

At this moment, the wounds on Lucy’s face throbbed again and again. Countless indescribable foreign objects continuously burrowed into her cheeks through the cracks on her face. The three purple pupils in her yellowish-green right eye trembled constantly, staring straight at Ciel.

A sense of crisis surged in Ciel’s heart. A faint spiritual alarm also buzzed in her mind. Instantly, four black shadows emerged from the shadow beneath her, blocking Ciel’s front.

“Gasp... ha...”

Lucy forcefully raised her head, her chest heaving violently, but her gasping gradually weakened.

The indescribable objects on her face accelerated their burrowing into her cheeks. After two minutes, Lucy, drenched in sweat, let out a long sigh and lowered her head again.

Lucy’s body swayed slightly. Then, she supported herself on the floor with her hands, slowly stood up, and turned towards Ciel.

The various anomalies on her face had now disappeared, leaving only several dark cracks that seemed bottomless, and the right eye with three pupils.

Her left eye was completely bloodshot, the black pupil in the center no longer moving, appearing completely useless.

“Thank you...” Lucy looked towards Ciel and expressed her thanks, but her voice was extremely hoarse.

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She walked towards Ciel step by step. Ciel warily moved aside. Judging by Lucy’s direction, she was heading towards the sealed artifact coin.

Ciel didn’t speak to interrupt Lucy’s actions. She needed to understand the coin’s function and side effects. If necessary, she could kill Lucy while she was extremely weak and take the coin before the simulation ended; the system would tell Ciel the answer.

Under Ciel’s watch, Lucy staggered to the front of the coin. When she saw the coin’s orientation, she finally lost control of her body, knelt before the coin, and laughed miserably.

Only after laughing until she lost all strength did Lucy lean back against a large rock, reach out to pick up the coin, look towards Ciel, and weakly ask, “Judicator... Your Excellency, is there anything else you want to ask...”

“I want to know the source of the misfortune upon you.” Ciel said directly.

“You are a ‘Favored’; these misfortunes happening to you are unusual.”

“Indeed unusual...” Lucy tilted her head back, resting it against the large rock. “But I don’t know the specific source of the misfortune either.”

After a moment of silence, Lucy continued, “I’m accustomed to using various methods to divine my fortune before doing anything, then acting according to the results.”

“Over a month ago, I received the mission to investigate in Berren City. Before starting, I performed divination. The result was... extreme danger, and a small probability of immense gain.”

High risk, high reward... Even after advancing to “Favored,” does one still maintain a gambler’s mindset? Or is it just Lucy? Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

“But after arriving here, I noticed something wasn’t right...” Lucy closed her right eye, calmed the dizziness in her head, then reopened her eye and said, “It seems everything I do here is bound to fail. It’s even more absurd than when I drank the ‘Misfortune Bringer’ potion.”

“But slowly, through fortune divination, I discovered a pattern...”

A pattern?

Ciel’s interest perked up slightly.

Just moments ago, Ciel had also deduced a partial pattern to her own misfortune; a large part stemmed from “contacting the transcendent.”

“This pattern is ‘mission’.” Lucy raised her hand, patted the stone floor beside her, and said:

“My mission here was to investigate the case of the cultists in this manor...”

“But whenever I do anything that deviates from the ‘investigation,’ diverging from the mission objective, misfortune arrives as expected. Even leaving Deton Manor doesn’t work.”

So... this was why Lucy stayed at Deton Manor investigating repeatedly?

This pattern... or rather, this “rule” of not being able to leave Deton Manor, who set it? What kind of existence could impose such a “rule” on a third-tier “Favored”?

“Can this rule explain the source of all the misfortune upon you?” Ciel asked, pressing further.

Hearing Ciel’s question, Lucy looked up in astonishment, gazing towards Ciel’s position, murmuring, “How do you...”

How did this red-haired girl before her know instantly that the “misfortune rule” upon her wasn’t just one?

Even a “Missionary” or “Radiance Bishop” couldn’t possibly deduce that there was more than one “misfortune rule” just from these few words and her emotions, right? Because every sentence she spoke was the truth.

Lucy propped herself up with her hands, sitting slightly straighter, looking somewhat more formal.

She looked towards Ciel and said, “Your Excellency Judicator, allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Lucy Silva, third-tier ‘Favored,’ senior dispatched commissioner of the Deton Group. May I know your name?”

Why do all these third-tier transcendents like adding such long prefixes when introducing themselves?

“Ciel.” Ciel spoke, but the next moment, she suddenly realized something and closed her mouth.

This simulation, she had already revealed her name to two transcendents of third-tier or higher.

Meaning, she had already made substantial contact with two third-tier transcendents, even letting them know her.

This definitely counted as “contacting the transcendent.”

Was the “misfortune rule” inherited by her simulated “Judicator” save file?

“Cannot contact transcendents” was a rule Ciel deduced not long ago as potentially causing her misfortune. But before deducing this, Ciel had already contacted two third-tier transcendents.

If the simulated “misfortune rule” was inherited by her “Judicator” save file, did that mean... a greater misfortune was currently brewing...

“Ciel...” Lucy, still unaware, nodded slowly and said, “Good name... May I call you Miss Ciel directly...”

“Lucy...” Ciel interrupted Lucy’s words, looked at her, and said, “The ‘misfortune rule’ on you seems to be on me as well.”

Lucy: “?”

-

Lucy’s mind didn’t process it immediately. She looked confusedly towards Ciel. After quite a while, she finally understood.

No wonder... Ciel knew instantly that the “misfortune rule” wasn’t just one.

Wasn’t she the only one suffering interference from the “misfortune rule”?

“Miss Ciel... your ‘misfortune rule’... what is it?” Lucy asked cautiously.

“Cannot contact transcendents,” Ciel stated calmly. “Contacting transcendents of third-tier or higher will result in life-threatening misfortune.”

Lucy: “...”

Lucy carefully recalled.

She herself seemed to be third-tier.

In Deton Manor, there seemed to be ten or twenty transcendents.

Professor Ashford who came just now was also third-tier...

Lucy’s previously relaxed mood immediately tensed up again.

She shrank back, but behind her was stone with no room to retreat. She looked at Ciel before her and said tremblingly, “Miss Ciel... can we talk next time?”

“Why don’t you head back first? Lucy will definitely visit another day... send someone to deliver a thank-you gift...”

Lucy seemed to think of something. She raised her hand, pointed to the coin lying nearby, and said, “If you don’t mind, that ‘Strong Luck Coin,’ I can lend it to you.”

“Its effect is, when tossed landing on the angel side, it converts part of the misfortune into good luck. If it lands on the reverse side, it doubles your misfortune... The side effect is that it can only, and must, be tossed twice daily. Even if not tossed, it will automatically toss itself twice at the final deadline each day, with the result taking effect on the holder the next day, even if not carried.”

“If you encounter a situation you absolutely cannot resolve, you can try tossing this... Don’t come over ahhhhh!!!”

Just as Ciel took a step towards the coin, Lucy shrank back as if seeing some creature from the Other Side, completely lacking the awareness of a third-tier “Favored.”

Strong Luck Coin... Did Lucy name it herself? The effect didn’t sound very lucky.

A finger made of black shadow emerged from the coin’s shadow, grasped the coin, and dragged it directly into the shadow.

The next moment, a black shadow emerged from behind Ciel, handing the coin to her.

Holding the warm coin, which felt as if a heart was beating within it, Ciel looked towards Lucy and said, “If there’s a chance, I will come find you again for more information. Thank you for the sealed artifact.”

After speaking, Ciel turned and left.

If what Lucy said was true, then her simulated self could only stay for 24 hours, making it possible not to use this coin at all.

If misfortune truly struck suddenly, having this coin would give Ciel an additional countermeasure against misfortune.

As for why Lucy lent this coin to Ciel so easily, she could guess some reasons...

Besides fearing her own misfortune might affect Lucy, it was also possible that, in Lucy’s view, Ciel wouldn’t survive the day. Perhaps Lucy could retrieve the coin after Ciel died, possibly even before the day was over.

Ciel tucked the coin into her pocket, glanced back at Lucy behind her, then walked straight towards the secret passage, leaving Deton Manor.

She wasn’t the only one troubled by a “misfortune rule”; “Favored” Lucy was also bound by some “misfortune rule,” restricting her to Deton Manor.

What Ciel wanted to know most now was when this “misfortune rule” locked onto her.

What were the specific contents of her own rule? If all rules were understood, what would happen if she acted strictly according to the rules?

Besides herself and Lucy, who else encountered this “misfortune rule”? If so, were they still alive?

Ciel had to find answers to all these questions, especially the first one: when did the rule lock onto her.

If she hadn’t been locked onto in reality yet, Ciel could find a way to avoid the lock, solving the problem at its root.

Late at night, walking on the path down Creek Hill, Ciel moved cautiously, observing her surroundings for potential misfortune while contemplating the contents of the rule upon her.

Lucy’s “misfortune rule” required her to be engaged in her mission. Even if the mission was completed, she had to remain at Deton Manor to investigate according to the mission’s content. Currently, that seemed to be the only rule Lucy knew.

As for Ciel’s rules, one was likely “cannot contact transcendents,” and another might be not being allowed to leave Berren City beyond a certain distance.

Perhaps coming to Creek Hill already counted as violating the rules.

Misfortune didn’t strike immediately. If she was still bound by the rules, the next misfortune might be more severe than she imagined... Ciel had to be fully prepared.

There was still plenty of time left in the simulation; she didn’t want to die prematurely before knowing the truth.

Moreover, she had to return to Berren City because Ciel didn’t know if the misfortune would continuously stack if she remained outside Berren City.

Ciel hurried towards Berren City.

...

Berren City, Sir’s Bridge District No. 15, Avena’s residence.

In Avena’s room on the third floor, Avena was currently tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep.

It was already approaching one in the morning. Normally, Avena would have fallen asleep around ten or eleven, but today something seemed to be troubling her, making her restless in bed.

Perhaps it was the thought that she would never see Ciel in Berren City again, only able to communicate through letters, that caused Avena’s distress.

But sending Ciel to Ansu was already the last resort.

As for Avena returning to Ansu as well... she wasn’t ready to face her family yet.

Avena’s chest felt heavy all day. This feeling might persist until she received a letter from Ciel confirming her safety.

“Sigh...” Avena sighed, got out of bed, put on soft slippers, and walked towards the desk.

Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, she might as well write some more letters to acquaintances in Ansu, asking them to look after Ciel.

After some thought, several names quickly came to mind. She picked up her pen and began writing on the letter paper.

-

“Click—”

In the room, the door to the maid’s quarters opened. “Crown Guard” Nia walked out and headed straight for the main door.

This movement made Avena stop writing. She looked back towards Nia and asked curiously, “What is it?”

“A transcendent is approaching, milady,” Nia opened the door and said, “I’ll go check.”

“Mm.” Hearing it was a transcendent, Avena lost interest; it couldn’t possibly be Ciel.

Now, she somewhat missed the Ciel from a month ago, who often came to her with big news.

But who would visit her so late?

Adele? No, she should have been asleep long ago. Anything major would have to wait until tomorrow.

Everyone who should have visited her had already visited...

For some reason, Avena felt a faint sense of foreboding, which made her mood even more troubled. Her hand holding the pen couldn’t descend again.

Adele had already advanced to second-tier relying on the antidote and her own talent, but Avena was still stuck at first-tier “Listener,” unable to complete the “Psychiatrist” Reconstitution Ritual.

She previously held no strong attachment to advancing, but now she worried about being left far behind by her friends, returning to a state of solitude.

Click—

The door opened again. Avena collected her thoughts, resumed writing on the letter paper, asking as she wrote, “Who is it?”

“It’s... someone from the police investigation department, milady.” The metallic buzzing sound came from within the armor, but Nia’s tone held noticeable hesitation.

Avena keenly sensed this, stopped her pen, tidied her nightgown, stood up, looked towards Nia, and said, “A transcendent case? They can’t solve it themselves?”

Recently, many people from different organizations had gathered in Berren City, even attracting a batch of transcendents drawn by rumors seeking opportunities, leading to frequent transcendent cases within the city, making the entire city much more chaotic than before.

So Avena subconsciously assumed another transcendent incident had occurred, requiring her assistance in the investigation.

Avena had no intention of sleeping now; finding a case to solve might just induce some drowsiness.

When Avena had almost reached the dressing room without receiving Nia’s reply, she looked back puzzledly, only to see Nia standing still, looking at her.

“No... milady...” Nia’s voice came through the metal slits. “It’s... it’s...”

Nia fell silent. After quite a while, she continued, “Berren and Southeast Railway Company, steam train number 3472, experienced an unexplained explosion and derailment en route to Oggsve...”

“Currently, missing persons 34, deaths 291. Police forces from Berren City and surrounding areas are still being dispatched towards the railway...”

“That ‘Detective’ came to report this matter to you...”

Hearing Nia’s words, Avena felt dizzy. She blinked, took a deep breath, and said, “Number 3472, isn’t that...”

“Yes, it’s the one Miss Ciel and her sister took.” Nia nodded slowly.

Avena controlled her facial expression, subconsciously raising her left hand to cover her mouth, but her fingers only touched her lips before moving down to her chin, as if contemplating. But before her left hand touched her chin, it rose again wanting to adjust glasses, only to find empty air.

She wasn’t wearing glasses now.

Finally, she supported her left elbow with her right hand, her left fist pressed against her upper lip. After a moment, she looked up towards Nia and asked, “Did they find Ciel?”

Although Avena tried hard to maintain composure, anyone could hear the uncontrollable tremor in her voice.

It was she who suggested Ciel leave Berren City for Ansu...

For a moment, Avena felt as if her vision was shrouded in black mist. Even with Nia standing before her, it was as if she saw nothing. She wasn’t even sure what Nia said afterwards, or if she spoke at all.

“Let’s go to the railway tracks.” Avena looked up, about to walk out of the room, but was held back by Nia’s hand on her shoulder.

“Change your clothes first, milady.” Nia practically half-pushed Avena into the dressing room.

Nia’s heart was also heavy at this moment.

Although she hadn’t interacted much with Ciel, she could sense Ciel was a good person, very generous towards friends. Knowing she carried inexplicable misfortune, Ciel would reduce the frequency of meeting friends to avoid them being accidentally harmed by the misfortune.

But now, the misfortune on Ciel had become increasingly intense. Some disasters encountered had reached a level where even Nia couldn’t guarantee protecting Avena completely.

For example, this train explosion and derailment... If Nia and Avena were also on the train, Nia might be unharmed, but she couldn’t guarantee protecting Avena at the moment of explosion.

Ciel was extremely dangerous now.

Even if she survived this steam train incident, the danger upon her remained. The danger brought by this misfortune could even greatly affect Avena.

She knew telling Milady Avena about this would make her rush to find Ciel regardless of everything, but Nia still revealed the matter... Sometimes, concealment causes greater harm and leads to broken trust between herself and Milady.

Having chosen to reveal the truth now, she could only brace herself fully to deal with this matter.

Unlike Avena, Ciel, having already entered Berren City, had already found her target for causing trouble.

...

Berren City, Gem District, Opal Street No. 132 entrance.

A red-haired girl stopped at the entrance of this residential building and raised her hand to knock on the door.

After knocking, Ciel took two steps back, waiting for a response from inside, her thoughts wandering.

If her deduced “misfortune rule” was true, she had consecutively met two third-tier individuals today and stayed outside the city at Creek Hill for some time.

Under these circumstances, if the misfortune was still locked onto her, she was almost certainly dead. The only means of survival was the “Strong Luck Coin” in her hand.

Still locked on, then she must toss the “Strong Luck Coin”; if the lock disappeared due to the save file, the investigation must continue.

Anyway, the conditions for misfortune accumulating on her were already numerous. It was either death or tossing the coin. Might as well investigate a few more people before the misfortune arrived.

-

The next target Ciel selected was that Divine Advent Church Archbishop, Tara, who was hiding in the Gem District.

Her knowledge was vast; perhaps she knew something. The simulated Ciel just hadn’t contacted this Archbishop much due to the survival task, avoiding detection that might implicate herself and deviate the simulation process.

Moreover, Tara was from the Divine Advent Church. Even if misfortune struck and affected Archbishop Tara, Ciel wouldn’t feel any guilt.

Consider it eliminating a public menace.

Ciel waited at the door for a short while. Soon, footsteps sounded from inside.

But as the footsteps approached the door, they suddenly stopped.

Immediately after, a white shadow shot out fiercely from the door crack, lunging towards Ciel.

A black shadow leaped up directly from beneath Ciel, wielding a burning handaxe, chopping directly at the white shadow, but the white shadow caught the axe handle directly with its bare hand.

“Heretical mongrel... You dare investigate me!” The door was pushed open violently. A petite girl with waist-length, ink-green curly hair glared fiercely at the uninvited guest at the door, muttering curses under her breath.

“Die...” Just as she raised her hand towards Ciel, and the three white shadows behind her were about to charge, aided by the moonlight, the ink-green-haired girl saw the visitor at the door clearly.

That person, although wearing the damned Judicator’s Court long robes, but...

Before Ciel, the white shadow that caught the axe flickered instantly. The next second, the ink-green-haired girl’s figure solidified before Ciel, knelt down with a thud, and directly hugged Ciel’s thigh.

“Mother...” The girl was about to shout something, but her mouth was quickly covered by a black shadow. Ciel raised her hand, grabbed the collar of the girl’s pajamas, dragged her into the house, and a black shadow closed the wooden door.

Ciel held the girl like a chick, put her down in the living room, looked down at her, and said, “Quiet.”

Only after seeing the girl nod did Ciel control the black shadow to remove its fist from her mouth.

Divine Advent Church, Archbishop Tara, divine rank higher than Bishop Braque, yet acted extremely erratically, completely clueless about hiding herself.

She seemed to have always been doing research within the secret Holy See of the Divine Advent Church. When going out, she was always accompanied by numerous plainclothes guards, almost never considering any concealment matters.

Ciel had learned previously that this Archbishop Tara, who looked younger than herself, was actually thirty-six years old. It was unknown what encounter or transcendent illness kept her in a loli appearance.

At this moment, Tara knelt on the floor, looking up blankly at Ciel’s face and the black shadow behind her. After a while, tears actually streamed down.

“Mother Goddess... So you went to retrieve your own power? No wonder you didn’t visit Tara these days. Oh Mother Goddess, I am willing to offer everything...” Tara sobbed, actually starting to kowtow before Ciel, muttering half-understandable prayers.

No wonder the simulated Ciel wrote in the notebook that communicating and conversing with Tara was completely impossible. She was a thorough, most extreme, most fanatical cultist.

If not for the reaction of the sealed divine servant on Amy’s back towards Ciel, Tara might have already killed Ciel and forcibly kidnapped Amy back to the secret Holy See of the Divine Advent Church.

“Shut up.” Tara’s rambling annoyed Ciel. She directly interrupted Tara’s speech, looked at her, and asked, “I need to ask you some things. You just need to answer my questions, no need to say anything beyond the questions.”

“As you command, Great, Respected, Omniscient Mother Goddess.” Tara knelt upright on the wooden floor, straightened her slender waist, and looked up piously at Ciel.

Ciel was about to ask her question directly, but upon hearing Tara’s final “Omniscient Mother Goddess,” Ciel closed her mouth.

If she really asked questions, even with Tara’s fanaticism and piety, she would likely notice some issues.

Fanaticism and piety could cover some irrationality, but Ciel couldn’t let Tara become suspicious, otherwise, she would lose an asset and an intelligence network from within the Divine Advent Church.

Ciel changed her line of questioning.

“You said you became an Archbishop with the strength of a ‘Missionary’ relying on knowledge?” Ciel looked at Tara and asked.

“Yes, beloved Mother Goddess.” Tara lowered her eyes and said, “But compared to your knowledge reserves, vast as the starry ocean, the knowledge in my mind is merely half a grain of sand in the sea... Thank you, Mother Goddess, for speaking to this lowly servant in a language your humble servant can understand. Grateful...”

“Then let me test you.” Ciel’s mind quickly spun. “Within this star system, on this planet, if a person suffers misfortune as punishment for violating ‘rules,’ what might they have encountered?”

“It must be violating the doctrines of the Divine Advent Church, defying the grace of the Mother Goddess! Only then would they suffer Your punishment! Mother Goddess above, misfortune will surely follow him for life!” Tara stated firmly.

Ciel: “...”

Is communication even possible?

“Do you know what happened in this city?” Ciel decided to take a detour.

“I know, Mother Goddess,” Tara slowly said. “At Deton Manor, they gloriously sacrificed themselves, summoned the divine servant, awakened part of Your memory... Unfortunately, the forces there are chaotic; we couldn’t hold funerals or recite eulogies for those brothers and sisters...”

“Deton Group, that ‘Favored’ named Lucy Silva, do you know her?” Ciel continued asking.

“Of course, Mother Goddess. She is a key target of our attention, though we haven’t found an opportunity to preach our faith in the Mother Goddess to her.” Tara looked up at Ciel and continued:

“But recently, she seems to have encountered some trouble. Perhaps we can take this opportunity to make her mend her ways, abandon victory and defeat and so-called destiny, and embrace faith.”

Tara actually seems to know something?