Chapter 88: Large-Scale Raid "The Wrath of Ciel"

Large-Scale Raid "The Wrath of Ciel"

At five-thirty in the morning, the sky over Berren City was just beginning to be tinged with deep blue.

A carriage bearing the emblem of the Church of the Savior Goddess sped towards the Knight’s Bridge District.

Soon, the carriage stopped in front of the estate at Number 15, Sir’s Bridge District.

Two figures dressed in plain black robes, their faces obscured by hoods, hopped down from the driver’s seat. One quickly moved to the carriage door and opened it, while the other ran towards the estate gate.

“High Priest, please be careful.”

Inside the carriage, a woman wearing robes with white adornments, clearly of a higher rank than the first two, jumped down.

Almost the instant she landed, a figure clad in silver-white armor emerged from the estate gate.

Each step the armored figure took produced the clang of metal plates, drawing the attention of the three people outside the estate.

“High Priest Uris.”

A metallic buzzing sound emanated from within the armor. The armored figure looked at Uris and asked, “May I ask what the matter is?”

This armored figure was Nia.

At this moment, Nia felt a sense of foreboding.

The acting High Priest of Berren City visiting Miss Avena at such an hour definitely couldn’t be good news.

Nia’s intuition told her this was likely related to Miss Ciel running off earlier. After all, Miss Ciel’s state at that time seemed very wrong... almost like she was under the influence of a freshly consumed potion.

“I need to see Miss Roswell. Please inform her, Your Excellency.” Uris removed her mask, faced Nia, and said sternly, “This is a very important matter... concerning the unauthorized circulation of the ‘Judicator’ potion.”

In truth, Uris had no intention of pursuing the matter of the leaked “Judicator” potion. But she had to use it now to ensure she could see Avena as quickly as possible.

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She needed Avena’s help to capture the Ciel who was on the verge of losing control... Uris had no confidence she could accomplish this task alone.

Getting Avena to agree was primarily a means to secure the assistance of the third-tier “Crown Guard” before her. That was Uris’s true objective.

She was gambling.

Gambling on Ciel’s importance in Avena’s heart.

As expected, upon hearing Uris mention the “Judicator” potion, Nia fell silent for a moment.

After about three seconds, Nia slowly spoke, “I am unaware of any matter concerning a ‘Judicator’ potion. But if you wish to see Miss Avena, you may come in. She happens to be awake.”

Nia opened the estate’s iron gate and stepped aside, creating an opening.

Awake? At this hour?

Although surprised, Uris signaled her Ascetics to wait outside and followed Nia alone.

Since the reception hall was still under repair, Uris was led to the first-floor study used for receiving guests. After waiting for about five minutes, Avena hurried into the study and sat down on the single sofa opposite Uris. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

“Miss Roswell, greetings.” Uris nodded slightly to Avena. “We’ve met before. My name is Uris.”

“Mm.” Avena responded expressionlessly, though inwardly she felt anxious.

She had heard from Nia that High Priest Uris’s visit was related to Ciel.

Recalling Ciel’s strange behavior earlier, Avena felt a pang of regret.

She should have had Nia restrain Ciel and kept talking to her until she returned to normal.

But now, Avena didn’t know what exactly had happened to Ciel.

“Let’s dispense with the pleasantries, Miss Roswell. To put it briefly, I am here regarding Miss Ciel,” Uris said. “You know her, correct?”

“Yes.” Avena nodded slightly. “She is my friend.”

“She’s suffering from potion backlash. The assimilation is severe,” Uris looked at Avena, her expression serious. “I need your help. Please ask Her Excellency ‘Crown Guard’ to assist me in restraining her.”

“Potion out of control?” Avena could no longer maintain her blank expression. Just as I thought, she lamented inwardly.

Avena’s worst fears had materialized.

Ciel, who had been examined multiple times and confirmed to be an ordinary person, had suddenly become a transcendent with a drastically changed personality.

If only I were a “Psychologist”...

A “Listener” had no way to treat mental instability caused by potions. Perhaps she should accelerate her own Reconstitution Ritual.

“You don’t seem surprised?” Uris asked, apparently sensing Avena’s reaction.

“No, I suspected as much,” Avena nodded, took a deep breath, and continued, “She woke up this morning and had somehow become an ‘Avenger.’ She must have drunk the potion sometime yesterday afternoon after returning from Deton Manor.”

“I haven’t seen her perform any Reconstitution Ritual these past few days. She seemed very calm, showing no animosity towards anyone... It’s alright. We can go find her now, arrange the ‘Avenger’ ritual for her. There’s still a chance.”

Avena stood up abruptly as she spoke.

She was genuinely getting anxious.

“‘Avenger’?” Uris’s mouth slowly fell open. Realization dawned. “Wait, are you saying she drank the ‘Avenger’ potion yesterday without performing any ritual?”

“Yes, before I left her room yesterday, there was no trace of potion aura on her...” Avena started to say more, wondering where Ciel got so many “Avenger” potions, but stopped herself, remembering she was talking to someone from the Church of the Savior Goddess.

Soon, Avena realized Uris remained seated, showing no intention of standing up.

“What’s wrong? High Priest.” Avena urged, “Where is she now? We need to hurry.”

“No, please let me process this.” Uris raised a hand, interrupting Avena. “First, answer me: did you give her the ‘Judicator’ potion?”

“No, the ‘Judicator’ potion I have is purely for collection. I haven’t given it to anyone,” Avena replied without hesitation.

She wasn’t worried about herself, but she feared Ciel might face investigation and interrogation from the Church of the Savior Goddess.

“Miss Ciel... didn’t drink the ‘Avenger’ potion,” Uris knew she wouldn’t get a straight answer this way, so she stated directly, “Just moments ago, she drank the ‘Judicator’ potion.”

Avena: “I know she drank a po— what did you say?! What potion?!”

“I think we need to call for more backup, Miss Roswell.”

-

Noisy... so noisy...

Ciel descended the stairs step by step, rubbing her temples.

“Why didn’t I notice the people at Deton Manor were this noisy before... Does Uris live in this kind of environment every day?” Ciel muttered to herself.

She thought about the blind Uris, enduring this kind of black noise torture daily. How could she possibly endure it without going mad?

Ciel now felt that Uris’s habit of pinching her face wasn’t so strange after all. Under such circumstances, one needed some peculiar hobbies to avoid breaking down.

Fortunately, it wasn’t as noisy now.

Ciel glanced back.

Behind her, four black shadows each carried two corpses, two in each hand. Including Kitty’s headless corpse, there were eight bodies in total.

Not all of them were cultists; some were just “Gamblers” who happened to be gambling at Deton Manor and unfortunately ran into Ciel.

It wasn’t that Ciel wanted to kill them, they were just too loud. If they had maintained their composure and politely stepped aside for Ciel, perhaps this wouldn’t have happened.

Anyway, it’s just a simulation... might as well use their bodies for experiments.

If Ciel managed to deal with the Divine Advent Church in reality, it could be considered saving their lives. Consider this their payment for helping Ciel with her experiments in the simulation.

Step by step, she reached the basement level and stood before the vault door.

The once tidy vault was now in disarray. The attendants and maids at the entrance were dead, blood and low-tier materials scattered everywhere.

After receiving the retreat signal, some cultists had raided the vault and made off with the valuables.

“Such quick hands...” Ciel frowned slightly. She stepped over the bodies near the entrance and walked into the vault. As she passed the gleaming, polished steel gate, she saw her reflection.

The hem of her black maid dress was torn in several places. She stood barefoot amidst the corpses, her white apron splattered with blood. Not just her legs, but her hands and face were also stained with blood from unknown sources.

What a mess...

Ciel rubbed at the blood on her face, found it wouldn’t come off easily, and gave up.

Ignoring her current appearance, she directed the black shadows to arrange the transcendent corpses neatly and began searching for low-tier materials.

The transcendent cultist who looted the vault knew what they were doing, taking almost all the second-tier potions and valuable materials, which Ciel found slightly regrettable.

But she wasn’t too bothered. Her purpose here was simply to find some low-tier materials for testing.

Now that she had the low-tier materials, it was time to try 【Spiritual Summoning】.

Under Ciel’s command, the black shadows dispersed to gather the scattered materials. One shadow went to the vault’s steel gate, dragged the ordinary human corpses outside, piled them up, then closed and locked the gate to prevent anyone from disturbing Ciel’s ritual.

Perhaps because the gate was closed, being alone in this confined environment seemed to slightly lessen the noise in Ciel’s head. At least now she could clearly hear sounds within a five-meter radius.

However, if someone approached, the black noise would intensify, rendering her deaf again.

Ciel hoped the entity summoned by 【Spiritual Summoning】 could help solve this problem.

Otherwise, whenever Ciel used this save file in the future, she would have to avoid crowds and constantly endure the torment of whispers and noise, which was far worse than physical burns.

Soon, Ciel selected a spiritual material.

It was a finger bone, likely from a first-tier transcendent. It had been carelessly discarded on the floor, and Ciel could sense very little spiritual energy from it.

Something like this was perfect for a first attempt.

A black shadow cleared a circular area on the floor, cutting away the carpet and revealing the smooth marble beneath.

Ciel stood within the cleared space, slowly closing her eyes, clutching the finger bone in her hand.

Fortunately, unlike the knowledge that came with potions, Ciel didn’t need to understand the system’s skills. She only needed to think the command silently to use them, and she naturally knew how.

“Spiritual Summoning.” Ciel thought the command.

She released the finger bone from her right hand, letting gravity pull it downwards.

“*.” Ciel’s lips moved, uttering a syllable she herself had never heard before.

As the sound left her mouth, the falling finger bone abruptly halted, defying gravity to hover beside her.

Beside Ciel’s shadow, another half-shadow split off. This black shadow held a hand axe, slowly raised it beside Ciel’s shadow’s finger, and made a light cut.

A slit suddenly appeared on Ciel’s right hand. Droplets of blood, like beads on a string, were pulled from the wound, forming thin, crimson threads in the air.

These blood threads began to coalesce above Ciel’s head, rapidly forming an irregular, eerie pattern in the air. As the finger bone floated before Ciel, the formation solidified and plunged towards the ground.

Sizzle—

Blue spiritual flames erupted around the finger bone in front of Ciel. Engulfed in fire, the bone quickly eroded, becoming pitted and charred, until only a misshapen black fragment fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

The transcendent trait contained within the finger bone had been completely consumed, sacrificed to an unknown entity from the Other Side.

At this moment, the blood array around Ciel began to boil. Red mist rose, continuously coalescing before her.

Ciel opened her eyes, watching nervously.

She had glimpsed fragments of the Other Side before and had been affected, nearly losing control. If not for “Radiance Bishop” Hugh, she would have died upon entering that simulation.

The blood mist swirled before her, gradually forming a small blood vortex about 15 centimeters in radius.

As Ciel watched, a hand slowly emerged through the blood vortex and landed with a soft ‘plop’ in front of her.

It was a severed right hand, the size of a child’s, consisting only of the palm and a short section of the forearm. It had seven finger joints, one of which, a bone finger, felt vaguely familiar to Ciel.

It looked like the one she had just sacrificed.

The hand propped itself up on its finger joints, like an insect, and crawled towards Ciel.

How disgusting...

Watching the spider-like hand crawl towards her, Ciel instinctively took a step back. But the next second, the hand seemed to sense something, abruptly flinging its fingers wide and vanishing from sight.

Before Ciel could react, the hand-spider reappeared before her, seemingly having dropped something off.

Then, engulfed in spiritual flames, the hand-spider burned away completely, leaving behind only a low-tier spiritual material it had brought.

Ciel: “...”

Huh?

That’s it?

Its... purpose is just fetching things?

And it only fetched one thing before leaving?

She felt an unfamiliar word imprint itself onto her mind. She couldn’t read it or understand it, but Ciel sensed that if she sacrificed another finger bone with transcendent traits and uttered this word using the system, she could summon it again.

Ciel began to grasp the pattern of 【Spiritual Summoning】.

The most important thing now was to understand the rules and find spiritual beings that could actually help her.

Ciel’s gaze fell upon the row of transcendent corpses.

This time, she decided to sacrifice the body of a first-tier “Gambler” to see what would happen.

The area where Ciel stood had been corroded by the blood array and couldn’t be used again. She sent out her black shadows to clear another space.

Fortunately, there was plenty of room here, and the walls could also accommodate blood arrays. By the time she used up these materials, she would likely have utilized the entire space.

Ciel was preparing for the next 【Spiritual Summoning】 ritual, unaware that Uris, who had fled, had already assembled an elite team of transcendents, equipped with ample potions and rare sealed artifacts, and was heading towards Deton Manor.