Chapter 119: Avena’s Soul Healing Therapy

Avena’s Soul Healing Therapy

“Not enough.”

In the dark alley, a police officer weighed the cloth bag full of silver shillings in his hand and said, “Don’t you know what kind of commotion you caused just now? Get lost, get lost, I can’t take this money.”

“Hey! Bert!” A man took two steps forward and lowered his voice, “What I gave before wasn’t just this!”

“Back off, kid.” The police officer drew the baton from his waist, pressing it against the other man’s chest. “You screwed everything up. You’re out, understand?”

“Fuck.” The man cursed under his breath, then raised his hand intending to take back the money bag, but his outstretched hand was quickly blocked by the baton.

He raised his head angrily towards the police officer named Bert and said furiously, “You said you couldn’t handle this, Bert, what do you mean by this?”

Bert swung the money bag in his hand and said with a smile, “This is just enough for me to pretend I didn’t see you, letting go of this chance for merit...”

Bert’s words made the man in front flush with anger, but the man just stared furiously at Bert for several seconds before turning and running into the dark alley.

Only after the man’s footsteps faded did Bert sneer, take the money bag, and turn towards the street.

A thin police officer, who had taken off his helmet and was fanning himself, saw Bert, held his black steel helmet, spat the chewing tobacco from his mouth onto the ground, and said in a low voice, “All clear, sir.”

Bert glanced left and right, grabbed a handful of silver coins from the money bag, put them directly into the young man’s steel helmet, then patted his shoulder, “Continue patrolling, rendezvous later.”

“Yes, sir.” The young man turned and left, while Bert weighed the money bag in his hand again, a smile appearing on his face.

Since the Blackwater Gang leader Solari died, most of the Blackwater Gang’s network had fractured. The profits that could be squeezed from them had increased.

However, these days were coming to an end soon... The Blackwater Gang had started thinking about selling arms, and without Solari’s protective umbrella, this gang would likely be completely destroyed and replaced by another gang within a month.

Before they died, better squeeze out as much as possible.

Bert walked down the street, swinging the baton back and forth in his hand, humming a tune, seemingly in a good mood.

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But soon, his steps halted. He raised the lantern in his hand and looked ahead.

In his line of sight, not far away, a beautiful young woman was staggering forward, her steps unsteady, looking extremely drunk.

Oh?

Appearing in Clock Tower Alley at this hour could only mean she was a poor resident of Clock Tower Alley.

As long as he could ask for her address, Bert could roughly guess her identity and situation.

“Miss, need help?” He grinned and quickened his pace forward, but just as he reached the young woman, his smiling expression turned into fear.

The young woman slowly looked up, gazing at the empty night sky.

The next second, a strange flintlock pistol abruptly appeared in the young woman’s hand. She aimed it directly at the sky and pulled the trigger.

Bang—!

The loud gunshot made Bert jump. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

How does she have a gun?! What is she shooting at the sky for?!

Taking advantage of the flintlock’s slow reload, Bert immediately dropped the kerosene lamp in his hand, raised a silver whistle to his lips with his left hand, and raised the baton high with his right.

Tweet tweet—

The high-pitched police whistle sounded, warning the other party while calling for backup. Simultaneously, he raised the baton high, about to knock the gun from the other party’s hand.

But the next second, the red-eyed young woman looked towards Bert. Her expression was indifferent. She mechanically raised the firearm in her right hand, aimed it at Bert’s chest, and pulled the trigger directly.

Bang—!

A blood-red Roland flower bloomed on Bert’s chest.

Invisible flames also ignited on the young woman’s body. Her dress dissipated, replaced by a black church long robe. Half her hair was burned away by the invisible flames, becoming slightly curly.

The police whistle broke the night’s silence. More police officers were rushing towards this direction.

...

“Ha... ha...”

At this moment, Ciel, having returned to the “Judicator” form, was running rapidly through the alleyways.

Although the thick bloody mist obscured her vision, by sticking close to the walls, she could still roughly determine her current location based on the building facades and the floor.

Ciel now realized something was slightly amiss.

The layout and streets closely resembling Clock Tower Alley, the utterly defenseless fleshy monsters, and the desperate cries that echoed in her mind earlier.

All of this inevitably led Ciel to a terrifying thought.

She was indeed no longer in the Other Side... The place she was currently in was reality.

This wasn’t some terrifying barrier created by transcendent abilities. In fact, nothing around her had changed. The only thing that changed might be her own distorted mental state after entering the Other Side.

Meaning, what Ciel killed just now likely wasn’t some fleshy monster... just an ordinary person.

Fortunately, this was just a simulation. No matter how many she killed, it wouldn’t affect reality.

But her current mental state deeply worried Ciel.

Initially, Ciel only wanted to escape from Hugh, but unexpectedly, Little Left dragged her directly into the Other Side.

Although Little Left consciously shielded Ciel’s sight and hearing, her spirit still suffered severe contamination.

Unlucky, unlucky, unlucky.

The misfortune wasn’t over yet!

But why? Her mental state had already affected what she saw and heard, yet she could still maintain rational thought?

Was it the function of 【Calm Mind】?

No... If 【Calm Mind】 could work, her simulated self in the first deep simulation wouldn’t have gone mad directly.

Ciel could only follow her vague memory, using the gravel-paved ground as reference, running away from Clock Tower Alley.

-

The road layout hadn’t changed, but the streetlights were noticeably more numerous. Ciel wanted to identify her current location from the street signs, but found she couldn’t read the words on them at all.

In her eyes, the words on the street signs looked like they had been run through an AI, completely distorted and rearranged into shapes Ciel couldn’t comprehend.

Fortunately, the gradual appearance of glass display windows allowed Ciel to roughly determine that she had reached the area connecting the Gem District and Clock Tower Alley, the location of large jewelry processing factories.

As long as she kept running straight along the road, she could pass through the Gem District and reach A...

Ciel’s thoughts stalled slightly.

No...

Without the cultist mindset of the “Gambler” save file, Ciel would no longer limit her potential help to the divine servant.

Seeking help from the divine servant might not necessarily cure her current state. The most likely outcome was that it would help her kill everyone daring to investigate her.

To completely eliminate her current state, Ciel could only think of one person.

Avena.

Avena’s path itself excelled at healing mental and spiritual bodies. Moreover, she possessed many special items made from transcendent characteristics. Perhaps something among them could help her.

Unavoidably, seeking Avena might cause her to be affected by the misfortune.

But Ciel still decided to find Avena.

Because she was unwilling to accept this.

She spent 100 Fate Points. For a normal simulation, that could fund ten attempts.

Such a costly investigation opportunity, and now she had only touched the barest surface of the matter, plus that giant beast circling in the air, likely related to the misfortune.

Right now, Ciel had likely killed several patrolling police officers who looked like fleshy monsters. The rodent skulls they held, capable of emitting shrieks, were probably just police whistles.

Causing such a huge commotion near Clock Tower Alley, the Church of the Savior Goddess would definitely investigate upon seeing those blooming wounds.

In her current state, it was difficult to continue the investigation. She had to get Avena to help her heal somewhat, and ideally, eliminate the impact Ciel had caused.

If Avena in the Future Days simulation was harmed because of this, she would find ways to compensate for the guilt after returning to reality...

Soon, Ciel confirmed her goal, following the stone-paved road, running all the way towards Sir’s Bridge District.

While running, Ciel occasionally looked up. That long-haired monstrous raven still circled above her head. The bloody mist couldn’t obscure its figure, yet Ciel had no way to deal with it.

Deadly Blood Roland’s attacks couldn’t hit it. The black shadow’s attack range couldn’t reach it. It just circled unscrupulously above Ciel’s head, seemingly waiting for the next opportunity to strike.

At least from Ciel’s observation, she didn’t sense any intelligence from the giant raven. It also didn’t seem to care that Ciel could see it. Perhaps it was merely a projection of something.

Soon, Ciel ran to Sir’s Bridge District, reaching the outer perimeter of Avena’s residence. She leaped directly over the fence and ran towards the inside of the house.

That Ciel managed to run here successfully could only be attributed to the era’s underdeveloped communication and significant information lag.

Perhaps the personnel at Clock Tower church had only just learned about the strange shooting incident near Clock Tower Alley and hadn’t even started investigating yet.

Buzz—

A pale blue honeycomb barrier materialized not far in front of Ciel, causing her to slow her steps.

This was Nia’s barrier.

Seeing this barrier, Ciel’s suspended heart relaxed slightly.

With Nia around, if danger arose, she could likely escape with Avena. At least Avena’s safety could be somewhat ensured.

In Ciel’s eyes, a suit of silver-white armor leaped down from the window, landing steadily at the entrance without making much noise, as if the heavy armor were made of paper.

Seeing the silver-white armor, Ciel breathed a sigh of relief.

This meant she hadn’t gone to the wrong place.

It was hard to imagine, this suit of armor was the most normal thing Ciel had seen since entering the city.

The buzzing sound of vibrating metal friction came from the gaps in Nia’s armor, but it only sounded harsh to Ciel, completely unable to discern any words from the metallic sound.

“Nia?” Ciel tried calling out, but found Nia had already reached for the sword and shield on her back.

It seemed not only could Ciel not understand what the other party said, but even her own words couldn’t be accurately conveyed, not even just calling a name.

Ciel didn’t even need to try writing. She could guarantee that anything she wrote would appear as meaningless gibberish to others, possibly even negatively affecting Nia’s fragile spirit.

After thinking it over, Ciel couldn’t come up with any effective communication method and had to resort to basics.

She raised her hand, pointed to her own head, then shook her head.

Then, her right hand rose at a forty-five-degree angle, pointing towards Avena’s room, followed by tapping her own temple again with her index finger.

My mind has problems, need Avena’s help to heal—this was the meaning Ciel wanted to convey.

This obvious gesture was clearly understood by Nia, but perhaps as a precaution, Nia’s right hand began to glow red, the silver armor on her hand starting to melt and reshape.

Soon, two pairs of silver, shiny handcuffs connected by chains appeared in Nia’s hand.

Nia tossed the manufactured silver handcuffs to Ciel, who caught them with her hand.

Ciel understood Nia’s meaning. Nia sensed something was wrong with her and decided to impose some restrictions, preventing Ciel from suddenly attacking and injuring someone, leaving Nia unable to protect Avena in time.

Ciel didn’t dawdle. She directly put the handcuffs on her wrists. As for the other pair of silver handcuffs, Ciel thought for a moment, bent down, and locked her own ankles as well.

These silver handcuffs were exceptionally hard. Breaking them through brute force wouldn’t be easy, but they had no ability to suppress transcendent powers. As long as Ciel wanted, the black shadow could emerge from her reflection.

Guarded, but not fully guarded.

-

Nia beckoned to Ciel, leading her directly into the house.

The servants were all asleep now. Only a few gas lamps remained lit inside the estate.

But Ciel could barely see what was in front of her now. Even the points of light from the gas lamps, under the shroud of bloody mist, looked like scarlet ghost eyes staring at her from the depths of the fog.

The mist before Ciel was even thicker now, reaching a point where it somewhat affected her breathing—it might sound unbelievable, but Ciel even felt a sensation akin to drowning, as if blood had completely blocked her lungs.

Fortunately, Nia’s armor glowed faintly, preventing Ciel from completely losing her direction.

Following Nia ahead, Ciel stumbled up the stairs, the chains in her hands clinking crisply against each other.

Only when Nia stopped before a dilapidated, decaying wooden door did Ciel realize this was Avena’s room.

This time... should be around three or four in the morning...

Nia slowly pushed open the door. Ciel seemed to think of something, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

Now, anything Ciel saw would undergo bizarre transformations. Both people and objects lost their original appearance in her eyes.

Realizing this, Ciel really didn’t want to see people she knew turn into some kind of monster in her eyes.

Ciel walked forward a few steps with her eyes closed, stopping only when she stepped onto the soft wool carpet.

Beside her ears, gurgling, obscure language sounded continuously. It seemed Nia was communicating something with Avena.

After about ten seconds, Ciel felt her hand, hanging down in front of her, being taken by a soft hand, leading her forward.

Soft... hand?

A trace of doubt arose in Ciel’s heart.

The monsters she saw earlier didn’t even have the concept of “hands.” Most were just jumbled insect limbs or tentacles, with some withered bones at most.

Could it be they just looked different, but felt the same?

Ciel couldn’t resist squeezing the warm palm holding hers. It indeed felt like a human hand.

Led by Avena, Ciel sat down by the bed, gently pushed by a soft force to lie down slowly.

Perhaps because she had closed her eyes and no longer saw the bloody mist, Ciel’s heart gradually calmed down.

She could feel a pair of hands stroking her eyes. When Ciel felt the warmth before her eyes, a white light tore through the darkness.

“Ciel?” A familiar call finally allowed Ciel to let down her guard. She slowly opened her eyes.

Before her was a grey-white world. A naked, pale blue illusory figure stood before Ciel, waving a hand in front of her eyes.

This was Avena’s phantom image.

“What happened, Ciel?” Avena’s calm voice sounded. She looked at Ciel and asked, “Why is your spirit...”

My spirit?

Ciel looked down, slowly raising her hands.

In the grey-white world, Ciel saw herself also sitting naked on a ground composed of darkness, but her phantom image wasn’t pale blue; instead, it flickered constantly.

With each flicker, the color of Ciel’s phantom image changed. Each flicker also caused some mutation in Ciel’s body, pink tentacles emerging from under her skin or thin insect wings tearing out from her back.

These changes continuously caused stabbing pain in Ciel’s spirit.

“Can you tell me what exactly happened these days?” Avena looked at Ciel, her voice gradually softening. “And those strange... misfortunes?”

Unsure if it was due to Avena’s transcendent ability or her own fragile mental state at the moment, Ciel couldn’t suppress the urge to confide, beginning to tell Avena about the events after the train explosion.

The bizarre rules of not contacting transcendents, not leaving Berren City...

Impersonating the Judicator’s Court, investigating the misfortune, Lucy Silva trapped in Deton Manor, Oppold forced to abandon all his glory and wealth...

The consecutive misfortunes, the “Strong Luck Coin” landing reverse twice, the pursuing Church of the Savior Goddess “Radiance Bishop” Hugh, the short-distance travel through the Other Side...

While recounting all this, Ciel’s spirit and consciousness were in a normal state. She deliberately omitted parts about the system and the stopwatch, recounting everything that happened today that could be told.

With each event Ciel recounted, she felt her mental stress visibly easing. Even the constant stabbing pain had transformed into a barely perceptible dull ache.

After finishing everything, Ciel felt a cool sensation spread from her brain throughout her body, like having a basin of ice water poured over her head on a hot summer day. Ciel instantly felt immense pressure relief, her thoughts becoming active again.

Is this the soul healing ability of a “Listener”...

She hadn’t felt much when unconscious before, just felt very comfortable. But now it seemed this was the correct way to use the “Listener” ability.

At this moment, Avena, sitting opposite Ciel, listened to Ciel’s account, her mood sinking bit by bit.

In just one day, Ciel had experienced so much... even becoming a second-tier “Judicator” without Avena knowing.

Regarding this point, Avena wasn’t actually too surprised. After all, Ciel’s “Judicator” potion was given to Ciel by Avena herself. The only surprise was how deeply Ciel had hidden it.

It was just that what Ciel experienced a few hours ago was too much, making it difficult even for Avena to digest this vast amount of information in a short time.

Ciel held too many secrets. Even after revealing so much information, Avena could still sense many secrets hidden within Ciel.

But now wasn’t the time for Avena to ponder these things. She temporarily set aside the slight doubts in her heart, looked at Ciel before her, slowly approached her, extended her arms, and gently embraced Ciel’s shoulders.

“You’ve already done very well... Next, you just need a good sleep...”

“You are lying on the grassland, the cliff is to your right...”

“But you accidentally slipped and fell down, below is a pool of water...”

“You woke up startled...”

Under the inducement of Avena’s ethereal, distant voice, Ciel began to feel an intense sensation of falling, followed by incredibly realistic drowning and suffocation, as if everything she said truly happened.

Ciel struggled awake, pushed herself up from the copper bathtub beneath her, breaking the water surface abruptly, panting heavily.

She quickly scanned her surroundings, saw Avena watching her nearby, and also noticed where she was currently.

This was Avena’s bathroom, and she herself had been undressed and placed inside the bathtub.

Spirit... recovered?