Chapter 87: "Judicator" Ciel and Zero-Pound Shopping

"Judicator" Ciel and Zero-Pound Shopping

Behind the figure engulfed in black flames, another figure trembled slightly.

It was Uris, also a “Missionary” like Kitty.

Was this the same organized, seemingly reliable girl from before?

Uris didn’t notice her feet had subconsciously taken half a step back.

Just moments ago, she had felt a fear she hadn’t experienced in a long time...

Yes, deep within her heart, she felt a gut-wrenching terror.

The sensation left her limbs stiff, like a fawn encountering its natural predator.

Though she couldn’t see the scene before her, the emotions Uris felt were almost identical to Kitty’s.

Ciel’s calm tone, the information revealed round after round, the casual recounting of the cultist massacre... even just the description was enough to make one feel nauseated.

Could this person truly be a Saintess?

Even Kitty, the cultist “Missionary,” had nearly been driven mad by her demonic words.

Thinking back to how Ciel had instantly killed the guards at the entrance moments before, without a hint of hesitation...

Though faint, Uris had clearly sensed it – the emotion Ciel revealed while killing was relief and enjoyment...

As if she had been suppressing an urge to kill all along.

Should I... really take her back to the Holy See?

No...

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Do I even have the ability to take her back to the Holy See?

Until she tossed the recovery potion to Ciel, Uris had felt she was in control.

But now, that confidence was gone.

Uris looked up, facing Ciel.

Although she couldn’t see what was happening in front of her, she could sense a powerful spiritual flame burning there. She could clearly feel the violent potion energy catalyzing an even more violent emotional entity, growing stronger bit by bit.

Did I... create a monster?

Why did Ciel’s Reconstitution Ritual feedback become so exaggerated after killing just a few people? Even killing a second-tier “Missionary” shouldn’t cause such fluctuations.

There were only two possibilities.

Ciel had completed this kind of Reconstitution Ritual more than once—meaning she had killed many more people this way.

Or, Ciel truly was the chosen Saintess, the chosen Saintess of the “Avenger” path. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

Uris directed her white shadow to slowly move away from the burning spiritual flame. She clenched her fists, a drop of sweat trickling down her temple.

Which possibility was it?

Should I... disrupt this ritual?

Before it’s fully completed...

Ultimately, reason overcame fear. Uris’s clenched fists slowly relaxed.

Completing the Reconstitution Ritual multiple times beyond requirement?

Impossible.

Ciel hadn’t possessed the potion and ritual for long. She couldn’t have known the details of the “Judicator” ritual beforehand.

Back at the inn, Ciel had even asked her how to complete the ritual with a higher success rate, proving this was her first time attempting the “Judicator” ritual.

Furthermore, Uris had only witnessed such powerful ritual effects twice before.

Once was when guarding the Saintess as she drank the “Ascetic” potion. The other time was when an almost 90-year-old priest drank the “Ascetic” potion.

The Saintess, naturally, completed rituals with an ease others couldn’t hope to match—the Goddess practically spoon-fed her power.

As for the 90-year-old priest, he had spent nearly his entire life diligently repeating the “Ascetic” ritual on the frontier, constantly undergoing hardships, helping others bear their pain. Only when he was on his deathbed, persuaded by the Holy See, did he finally drink the “Ascetic” potion, creating a phenomenon akin to a miracle.

If quantified and applied to the opposing “Avenger” path, assuming Ciel wasn’t the Saintess, she would have had to kill at least tens of thousands of people in accordance with her conviction through the ritual...

How was that possible? How old was she? Even killing 3 people a day would take 10 years. Did she start killing as soon as she could walk?

Uris slowly let out a breath.

She had convinced herself.

Ciel was the Saintess.

She had to persuade her, as much as possible, to join the Church of the Savior Goddess.

Otherwise, with Ciel’s abilities left unchecked, Uris truly couldn’t fathom what kind of disaster she might cause in the future.

Unlike Uris, whose mind was racing through frantic internal debates, Ciel was currently struggling within a burning space.

Before her eyes, the corpse, brain matter, carpet, lavish decorations... everything was consumed by black flames.

Her clothes disintegrated in the fire, the bandages on her hands turning to ash along with them, revealing the unhealed burns beneath.

Her already burned arms now spontaneously ignited under the stimulation of the black flames. The black blood oozing from the reopened wounds acted like an accelerant, fueling the flames to burn even brighter.

This felt completely different from becoming an “Avenger.”

Previously, in the sea of fire, the physical pain and burning had almost drowned out the chaotic whispers and extraneous thoughts in her mind, leaving only the burning flame of vengeance within and without.

But now, she only felt a pain as if her very soul were being incinerated.

Whispers, even stronger than the pain, bombarded her mind. Black flames seemed to merge with her flesh, constantly destroying and reforging her body.

Amidst the black flames, a spray of blood erupted from her side waist. Black blood burst forth, like tormented spirits desperate to escape their prison, burning as they tore out of Ciel’s body.

Rip—

Parts of her body continuously exploded. Black shadows formed from black blood waved their arms, trying to claw their way out from within her. The intense pain brought Ciel a moment of clarity.

What... is happening...

Ciel forced herself to look down. She saw an arm made of burning black blood struggling to emerge from her lower abdomen, waving towards her chest.

The direction the arm was pointing...

System!!!

Ciel screamed inwardly with all her might. The 【Other Side Page】 pinned to her chest vanished with a flash of silver light, recalled into her inventory.

Instantly, the pressure in Ciel’s mind lessened dramatically. The black arms flailing wildly all over her body seemed to lose their target, beginning to sway erratically.

Get... back... inside...

Ciel struggled to lift her arm and pressed down on the black arm protruding from her abdomen, forcing it back inside inch by inch.

Boom—

The moment the arm was forced back, black flames erupted from her abdomen, sealing the wound, reconstructing her flesh and blood.

Go back...

Boom—

Boom—

Mechanically, Ciel pushed the arms back one by one. Each time an arm was forced back into her body, a powerful explosion of black fire erupted.

Gradually, Ciel’s strength dwindled. She no longer had the energy to lift her arms.

Thud—

Ciel collapsed directly to her knees within the black fire, her head drooping low, as her consciousness gradually began to fade.

-

The potion, mixed with flesh and blood, transformed into black arms that sprouted from her neck and back, making her look like a humanoid figure burdened with countless withered, grotesque branches.

“Ciel...”

An ethereal call echoed in Ciel’s mind. The voice sounded like her own, but indistinct amidst the illusion.

The call struck Ciel’s spirit like lightning, activating 【Calm Mind】. Her eyes snapped open, and she gasped for breath.

Black Shadow!!!

Ciel could no longer make a sound, but her mental cry seemed effective.

From the black “mire” on the ground, four burning black shadows slowly rose. These equally naked shadows had forms and appearances almost identical to Ciel’s.

They took a synchronized step forward, knelt beside Ciel, and slowly extended their arms, embracing her at the center.

Boom—!

A fierce gust of air exploded outwards from Ciel. The cocoon-like black flames were instantly shattered, dissipating into infinite fire carried away by the wind.

Color returned to Ciel’s vision. She saw everything around her as it was before being consumed by the black fire.

Her chest burned intensely hot. Looking down, she saw a scar-like mark burned onto her chest, resembling some kind of script. She could also see brain matter and blood clinging to her knees and legs.

Strength rapidly returned to her body, but the ringing in her mind hadn’t diminished much. The buzzing overwhelmed her ears, preventing her from hearing anything else.

Strangely though... she didn’t feel much pain—compared to the whispers before.

The chaotic voices in her head were in some unknown language. Except for certain specific words that caused a sharp pang in her brain, the rest was just like black noise filled with screams and oppression.

Ciel slowly looked up. Suddenly, her brow furrowed slightly.

She... seemed to sense the source of these screams, this black noise.

Ciel slowly reached out. The kneeling black shadows supported her arms and body, helping her stand. Blood and brain matter dripped from her knees and hands.

The four burning black shadows turned slowly with Ciel, looking towards the source of the black noise.

It was Uris, behind the broken desk.

At this moment, Uris’s chest heaved violently. Her gray-white pupils stared blankly towards Ciel, her face filled with terror.

Her mouth opened, seemingly saying something, but Ciel couldn’t hear her words at all.

“Uris...” Ciel reached out her right hand towards Uris. She was incredibly thirsty, her voice hoarse, wanting only to ask Uris for a dose of Adele’s special potion.

She had never craved that mint-scented potion so intensely.

But to Ciel’s surprise, the moment she spoke, Uris’s figure flickered and, in the blink of an eye, was replaced by an illusory white shadow.

And that replaced shadow only existed for less than a second before being swiftly sucked away, dragged into the passage behind it, vanishing without a trace.

Just borrowing another recovery potion, was it really necessary to run?

Ciel frowned slightly.

However, after Uris’s figure disappeared, the oppressive screams in Ciel’s ears lessened somewhat. She could now hear faint sounds.

Did I... just sense Uris’s emotions?

Do I also have the ability to perceive emotions now?

Then why were Uris’s emotions filled with such bizarre howls and bone-deep fear?

Did her potion go out of control?

A black shadow handed Ciel a clean handkerchief it had found. Ciel took it and wiped the brain matter and blood from her hands.

But she couldn’t wipe it completely clean; some bloodstains remained.

Ciel turned to look where Kitty had fallen. Her head was still in the same crushed state as when Ciel had stomped on it. Even the carpet was soaked in blood.

It seemed the black flames during the Reconstitution Ritual didn’t affect the outside world.

But her own clothes had been burned away... that puzzled Ciel slightly.

With a thought from Ciel, the four black shadows dashed off in different directions, disappearing from the office.

Soon, one of the black shadows returned, holding a clean maid’s dress.

It was clearly the dress worn by the red chip mask maids at Deton Manor. Ciel had seen it many times. This one seemed new, just slightly too large for Ciel.

Her own clothes inexplicably burned away, Ciel could only use this dress to cover herself.

After changing into the black and white maid dress, lacking suitable shoes, Ciel had to go barefoot for now, though it didn’t significantly hinder her movement.

There’s still time left... should I try 【Spiritual Summoning】?

Ciel looked at Kitty’s crushed corpse, contemplating.

Something was already forming within Kitty’s shattered skull, seemingly potion materials separating from her body.

Materials or potions extracted from others carried the original owner’s mental contamination. Ciel had no way to purify them, so taking them was useless.

Even if she took them, Ciel wouldn’t spend Fate Points to redeem doubly contaminated materials.

It wasn’t worth it for Ciel.

Using the flesh or potion materials of a second-tier transcendent for sacrifice... seemed a bit too risky.

She had just managed to advance “Avenger” Ciel to “Judicator” Ciel. She didn’t want to go through that again, nor experience that kind of pain again.

If possible, she wanted to pass the remaining 24 hours peacefully and save this file.

However, Ciel still felt uncertain about using her second-tier abilities.

The voices in her head were too numerous and chaotic, making it difficult to focus and determine which fragmented knowledge represented her abilities and which were just useless whispers.

At least, she couldn’t reliably distinguish them now.

If she successfully saved this file, Ciel would consider upgrading 【Calm Mind】 again after exiting, just in case.

Of course, that was assuming the upgrade wouldn’t deplete all her 【Fate Points】.

Ciel’s gaze shifted away from Kitty’s corpse.

Kitty’s body couldn’t be used for sacrifice yet, but she could take it with her.

Ciel planned to sacrifice some low-tier materials first to see what would happen.

And Deton Manor was certainly not lacking in low-tier materials.

With all the cultist management dead, weren’t the items in the underground exchange free for the taking?

Time for some zero-pound shopping.

A black shadow dressed in a black maid outfit handed Kitty’s black chip mask to Ciel. Ciel took it and put it on.

Mask donned, Ciel stepped onto the bloodstained carpet and walked towards the door.

Behind her, the black shadows dragged Kitty’s corpse and carried her potion materials, following Ciel.

Drip, drip—

Ciel’s footsteps left bloody prints on the wooden corridor floor. Soon, the fresh prints faded, the residual blood mixing with dust, hardening on the soles of her feet.

The sensation made Ciel uncomfortable. She frowned, wondering if there was anything she could use to wash her feet.

But... she knew how to get to the underground sanctuary stairs; there was only one spiral staircase.

But how to get from the third floor of this manor down to the first? Where were the stairs?

Unsurprisingly, Ciel was lost again in the vast manor.

Just as Ciel considered sending out her shadows to scout, she heard urgent, heavy footsteps approaching from the corner ahead.

A maid? A gambler? Or one of those dealers?

As the footsteps drew nearer, the whispers in Ciel’s mind grew louder and clearer.

She could feel the shock and grief radiating from the chaotic language.

The moment the figure rounded the corner, these sounds instantly transformed into screams and terror.

“Lady Kitty!!!”

A portly, greasy middle-aged man instantly fell to his knees, staring in horror and grief at the terrifying masked girl before him.

And at the headless female corpse being dragged behind the girl, leaving a trail of blood.

He didn’t recognize the strange, barefoot girl before him, but she seemed to recognize him.

“Marcello... right... you’re still alive here...”

“Where are the others? Marcello...”

“Where are they?”

Kneeling on the ground, Marcello felt nothing around him, yet a searing pain suddenly erupted from his neck, accompanied by frantic spiritual alarms blaring in his mind.

Beside his shadow, unnoticed until now, stood the shadow of a girl. It held a black, burning hand axe, pressing it against the neck of his shadow.