Chapter 86: I, Ciel, Your Judge

I, Ciel, Your Judge

“No... Impossible...”

Kitty coughed up a mouthful of black blood. The white shadow behind her emerged and merged with her body.

The gaping hole in her chest shimmered with white light, temporarily stopping the bleeding.

But even so, she could feel her life force draining away—her heart had been completely crushed.

The illusory heart provided by the white shadow could only delay her death; her real heart was beyond repair.

“Left half a life,” Uris turned her head towards Ciel and said.

“Thanks.” Ciel nodded slightly towards Uris, then stepped past her.

Two white shadows moved simultaneously with Ciel, placing their hands on her shoulders protectively, guarding against any dying counterattack.

Ciel’s own black shadow moved ahead of her, stopping before Kitty.

“Church of the Savior... Inquisition... Urgh!!!”

Two white shadows supported Kitty as she stood. Her black chip mask had long fallen off. As she looked past the black shadow towards the girl, a spiritual alarm screamed in her mind.

How is that possible?! That’s something only Bishops possess!

Kitty quickly looked down, a white shadow shielding her. Large beads of sweat streamed down her cheeks.

What the hell is going on!!!

How did the people from the Church of the Savior find her! Even the Inquisition was deployed!

This meant the Inquisition must have received information at least two days ago and rushed to Berren City!

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In other words, her every move these past few days had been completely monitored?!

“Impossible... Impossible...” Kitty trembled, muttering.

An overwhelming sense of defeat washed over her like a tsunami, a pain far exceeding the physical agony in her chest, worse than death itself.

“Curious?” Ciel stopped less than three meters from Kitty, smiling. “Curious how I knew about Sherlon? Curious how I knew about the sealed artifact information? Or curious how I found you?”

Ciel’s words were like sharp thorns, stabbing repeatedly at Kitty’s non-existent heart.

“You... Who are you?” Kitty dared only stare at the girl’s feet. Her only impression of the girl before her was a fleeting glimpse of red hair.

No matter how hard she wracked her brain, Kitty had no memory of this person—she had never seen her before.

“Your Excellency, she’s fading,” Uris couldn’t help but remind her from behind.

If Ciel didn’t drink the potion and kill her now, and if Kitty committed suicide, all their efforts would be wasted.

Kitty might even deliberately wait until Ciel drank the potion before killing herself, trying to ensure Ciel was consumed by the potion’s power. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

The “Judicator” potion formula and Reconstitution Ritual weren’t exclusive to the Church of the Savior Goddess; the Divine Advent Church, having split off, naturally possessed copies.

Once Kitty recognized the “Judicator” potion, she might very well try to drag Ciel down with her in her final moments.

Uris’s idea was simple: let Ciel kill her directly and then drink the potion. Ciel’s ability to handle Other Side items without losing her mind indicated exceptional spiritual resilience.

Even if this crude ritual failed after Ciel drank the potion, she wouldn’t be completely assimilated immediately.

Uris would have plenty of time to use this as a pretext to bring Ciel to the Holy See, have the Inquisition help complete the ritual, and personally baptize Ciel into the Church of the Savior Goddess.

Even if Ciel belonged to another organization, it didn’t matter. Many members of the Church of the Savior Goddess maintained other identities; their priority simply shifted to the church.

Following the church’s doctrines was inherently good, reducing suffering in the world. Uris saw no flaw in her thinking.

“High Priest, do you have any healing potions?” Ciel turned back and asked Uris.

“I do, but...” Uris was puzzled. She took out a vial of emerald green liquid and tossed it towards Ciel.

Ciel caught the potion. The vibrant green liquid inside was clearly the work of Uris’s sister, Adele.

Ciel tossed the potion forward. It landed on the carpet, rolled to Kitty’s feet, its surface stained with Kitty’s blood.

“Drink it,” Ciel said with a smile. “Drink it, and I’ll tell you the answers to your questions.”

“Cough, cough...” Kitty’s chest heaved violently as she stared intently at the bloodstained potion on the floor.

Even Uris, standing behind Ciel, frowned slightly upon hearing Ciel’s words.

What is Ciel thinking?

That cultist would obviously never drink the potion; her desire for death was clear.

But to Uris’s surprise, Kitty reached out, grabbed the potion, uncorked it, and drank it down in one gulp.

As the potion entered her stomach, an unnatural flush spread across Kitty’s pale face. The potion would prolong her life—and her suffering—for a little while longer.

But her death was inevitable.

“Mother Goddess above...” Kitty prayed silently.

She could have embraced the Mother Goddess immediately, but she didn’t.

Because she needed more information from the girl opposite her.

Kitty’s blood was already seeping into the floor tiles below.

Eventually, even a single drop, passed through an insider or an investigating Bishop to the higher echelons of the Divine Advent Church, would allow them to use the residual information in the blood to learn everything that happened here.

With that information, the higher-ups could identify the culprit who ruined the plan and avenge her.

The blood seeping into the stone slabs had already activated the ritual she had prepared... Soon, the other Divine Advent transcendents in Deton Manor would receive the information and evacuate quickly with the exposed intel.

All Kitty had to do now was extract more information from her opponent before she died.

Did they think a surprise attack could kill me so easily?

Impossible.

Even with unforeseen complications, she still had a deadly backup plan.

She would witness the blasphemer before her being torn limb from limb from the heavens, alongside the Mother Goddess.

When this sinner’s soul was drawn into the Mother Goddess’s heaven, she would petition the Mother Goddess to hand the soul over to her.

Then, she would properly educate this sinner with slender calves and perfectly petite feet, making her taste a fate worse than death!

Ciel, standing not far from Kitty, wasn’t surprised to see her drink the potion.

From reading the cultists’ spirituality journals in the previous simulation, she knew these transcendent cultists were instructed to leave as much information as possible for those who came after, especially in dire situations.

Even when Ciel had blown off half of Kitty’s face with a gunshot in the last simulation, Kitty had desperately tried to leave a message.

This proved that as long as Ciel offered information, Kitty wouldn’t readily seek death.

And reality confirmed Ciel’s guess.

Not only did Kitty not seek death, she drank the potion, enduring agony just to live a moment longer for information.

Unfortunately for Kitty, her information would never get out.

Because this was merely Ciel’s simulated future.

The reality Kitty hoped for was a fantasy she could never reach.

“Your plan was quite good. No one would suspect you hiding in Deton Manor outside the city. It allowed you to contact other transcendents without encountering the Church of the Savior Goddess.” Ciel squinted at Kitty, continuing, “Turning the already unstable Sherlon was the masterstroke. Who would have thought his weak virus could be so effective, or that a sealed artifact could be used to detonate it.”

“Even if investigated later, the Church of the Savior Goddess would have difficulty tracing it back to you. If Sherlon’s ritual succeeded, you’d baptize a third-tier transcendent into a cultist. If it failed, his madness would take all the blame.”

With every sentence Ciel spoke, the pain in Kitty’s chest seemed to intensify.

Recounting her entire plan aloud as “praise” was like slapping her face repeatedly.

But Kitty kept her head bowed, showing no further emotion.

So what if the initial plan was exposed?

Perhaps Sherlon was exposed early and tortured for information... That didn’t mean her plan was flawed.

Her plan was perfect; only the executor failed. The girl before her merely got lucky and learned about her plan... She couldn’t possibly know what Kitty was thinking.

Thump—

Suddenly, an empty potion vial dropped into Kitty’s line of sight, landing with a muffled thud on the carpet.

A potion? She drank the potion directly?

She’s clearly an “Avenger” from the Inquisition. The potion she just drank could only be “Judicator”... Judging me? With your strength?

No one can shake my faith in the Mother Goddess.

I am the Mother Goddess’s finest “Missionary,” having guided countless brothers and sisters with pure faith.

You want to judge me?

Then prepare to go mad yourself.

Kitty remained expressionless. She desperately wanted to look up but feared going insane from directly viewing something from that other world.

She didn’t fear death, nor the Mother Goddess’s whispers. She only worried about not leaving enough information before dying, buying time for the others to escape.

She wanted her death to be valuable—to the Divine Advent Church, to the Mother Goddess.

“You want to leave more information so your Bishop can investigate and kill me later, right?” Ciel’s hoarse voice came from above Kitty’s head, causing her faint breathing to hitch.

“You must be very confident in your arrangements right now, aren’t you?” Ciel’s breathing grew heavier. The unhealed burns on her hand reopened, staining the white bandages on her arm red again.

Waves of whispers from the potion crashed against Ciel’s sanity. The fire in her chest felt like a bomb about to detonate. The black shadow beside Ciel was already burning entirely, like the bomb’s fuse.

Even so, a smile remained on Ciel’s face. She continued unhurriedly:

“Are you trying to buy time for the other cultists to escape?”

“Aibai... that young man was quite clever. He said he was grateful to Sister Kitty for giving him a second chance at life, even though both his hands were severed, forcing him to gouge out his own eyes by hitting the corner of a table.”

“Marcello, a greasy middle-aged gambling addict. Who would have thought his spirituality journal was filled entirely with your name? Even in death, he begged the Mother Goddess to protect you.”

“...My favorite was the one named Georgine. Her journal was also filled with adoration for you... After all, it was something you wanted to see.”

“Do you know what she said before she died?”

“She told me, ‘Thank you, Your Excellency Bishop, I can finally escape the nightmare’.”

“Who was that ‘nightmare’? Was it you, Kitty, indulging in power, fantasizing about others liking you?”

“By the way... your white shadow is still present. You can tell if I’m telling the truth or lies, right?”

As Ciel listed the names one by one, like reading from a menu, Kitty’s face grew uglier with each name.

When she finally heard the name “Georgine,” Kitty could no longer maintain her forced composure.

All dead?!

The foundation she had painstakingly built in Berren City for so long! All killed?!

Are you even from the Church of the Savior Goddess?!!

The white shadow beside Kitty flickered erratically. The immense mental shock made it nearly impossible for her to stay conscious.

“Don’t get agitated. Losing your head is normal. Just hold on a little longer.”

“Listen carefully to every word I say next.”

Ciel’s voice sounded again. The blood flowing from her wounds had gradually turned from dark red to black, pooling on the carpet like boiling tar.

“Guess who gave me these spirituality journals?” Ciel took a step forward, grinning. “It was you, Kitty.”

“You gave me my potion. You helped me complete my Reconstitution Ritual. You showed me those spirituality journals because you mistook me for a Bishop.”

“It was you who ruined everything.”

“Right now, you’re just dreaming, fantasizing that your subordinates can escape, fantasizing that the message can get out.”

“But you... half your face was already blown off by my shot, lying dying in the underground sanctuary...”

“You ruined everything. You brought shame upon the Mother Goddess.”

“Tell me, isn’t every word I speak the truth?”

Ciel staggered towards Kitty, grabbed her hair, and forced her head up bit by bit.

“Do you know why you’re going to die?” Ciel looked into Kitty’s vacant, unfocused eyes and said slowly:

“Because your plan... disturbed my normal life...”

“Remember this name. Ciel.”

“My name.”

“Your judge.”

Ciel released her grip. Kitty’s head slumped lifelessly. Her white shadow could no longer support her body, and she collapsed at Ciel’s feet.

And Ciel, slowly raising her right leg, stomped down with a savage grin.

Brains splattered.

Black flames erupted around Ciel, engulfing her completely.