Ignis carried Celia in her arms all the way to the sunlit quiet room in the convent, placing her gently on the wooden bed.
Having finally brought the girl back safely, Ignis let out a soft sigh. Just as she was about to turn and leave, she felt a tug on her arm.
Looking down, she saw a pale, delicate little hand lightly grasping her sleeve.
The girl was still fast asleep, curled up with a pale face, occasionally murmuring in her sleep.
“It's so dark here, so cold...”
“Sister Ignis, I'm scared...”
Seeing this, Ignis sighed softly. With an expressionless face, she gently pried her arm from the girl's tight grasp, placed the girl's hand back down, and pushed open the door to walk out.
When she returned, she had a wool blanket in her hand.
Unfolding the blanket, she draped it over the girl.
Noticing the girl's complexion seemed slightly off, she reached out, intending to feel her forehead, but stopped halfway.
A moment later, only a faint trace of cold lingered in the air.
The Saintess of the Church of Life shouldn't have such a weak constitution. Under my deliberate control, she shouldn't get a fever from that bit of chill on Lightless Street.
With that thought, Ignis brought in a cup of hot water from outside and placed it on the nearby wooden table, leaving two pieces of rye bread beside it.
Having finished all of this, her gaze fell upon the red rose on the windowsill, next to which lay the book she had been studying earlier, 《Introduction to Elements》.
Picking up the book, she pushed open the door once more.
Creak, thud!
After waiting another fifteen minutes without hearing any further sound, Celia feigned turning over, squinting her eyes to steal a glance through a tiny crack.
No one was there! Hehe!
Confirming that Ignis had truly left, she immediately threw off the blanket, sat up, and jogged over to the window to look outside.
Right then, a few pigeons flew in from the distance, carrying a clay pot.
Celia threw open the window, took the clay pot, and sat back down on the bed, eagerly opening the Notes of Destiny.
Clear words began to manifest on the pages:
“Urn of Dread. Its function is to accumulate the fear of a designated target. Once filled, it can drag the target into an illusion, amplifying their fear and forcing them to relive it repeatedly. Sacrificing it will grant you 70 spirituality points. Would you like to sacrifice it?”
Hmm, it's pretty much as I expected.
But only seventy points? She recalled that the lantern had given her one hundred and ten spirituality points.
Maybe because its activation conditions are more demanding. By comparison, that lantern was much harder to guard against; just a single glance would quickly plunge someone into madness.
It's a pity that lantern was lost when I was fleeing from Ignis's pursuit. Otherwise, it might have been of great use later on...
“Sacrifice,” Celia whispered.
“Sacrifice successful. Your current spirituality points: 285.”
Phew... My spirituality points have increased quite a bit. I can afford to ask a few more questions now.
Writing that letter to Ignis earlier had served two purposes. First, she wanted Ignis's help to eliminate that man of the Hermit pathway; her clone was still asleep, and she truly had no way to deal with the man's undying nature. Second, she wanted to put Ignis on high alert so that she would increase her protection over her, guarding against any potential attacks from that bizarre figure.
During the time Ignis was bringing her back, she had already secretly sent a pigeon to observe the man, confirming that he was thoroughly dead.
Strangely, however, the man did not exhibit his undying nature this time.
Was it because Ignis's abilities could bypass this undying nature, or did the man only acquire that trait after she had returned from Lightless Street in the previous loop?
She should ask the Notes of Destiny. However, based on its previous response, questions regarding the undying nature consumed a significant amount of spirituality points. Thus, she rephrased her query:
“I want to know if the man obtained certain abilities after I left Lightless Street.”
“I cannot answer this question.”
Unable to answer again? Celia frowned. Is it because of how I phrased it, or is it truly impossible to answer?
Well, regardless, that man is definitely dead now, so I don't need to worry too much about him.
With that in mind, she temporarily abandoned her inquiries regarding the man's undying nature and shifted her focus elsewhere.
The most important thing now was still that bizarre figure who had appeared before her death in the previous loop. His goal was undoubtedly to kill her—there was no mistake about that, as she had already verified it through the Notes of Destiny.
And since she had previously learned from Ignis that the Abyssal Order's target was also her, she suspected that the figure was highly likely a member of the Abyssal Order.
But what rank of Beyonder was he? Celia vaguely remembered seeing some strange black smoke and dark-patterned scales on his body before she died.
“Black smoke, dark-patterned scales... which rank of the Demon pathway do these abilities belong to?” Celia asked, intentionally combining the two clues into one question.
“These belong to Rank Two of the Demon pathway. Consumed 15 spirituality points.”
Which means the culprit really is from the Abyssal Order...
Wait... Celia suddenly noticed something strange. A piece of common knowledge like this had actually consumed fifteen points...
Could the consumption of spirituality points actually be related to the target's rank? The higher the target's rank, the more points questions related to them would consume...
Looking at it this way, her previous question about the undying nature had consumed one hundred points, suggesting that the mysterious figure who had granted the man that trait must be someone of immense significance.
Are they Rank Three, Rank Four, or perhaps even a Rank Five Beyonder?
Sigh, I just hope that person isn't after me. After all, I can't possibly be some sort of disaster magnet. The original owner of this body was probably just an ordinary Saintess...
“Where is that person from the Abyssal Order right now?” Putting aside the matter of the mysterious figure, Celia returned to the main topic and asked.
“The slums. Consumed 15 spirituality points. Current balance: 265.”
That's still a very broad area...
“Where exactly?”
Celia didn't care that the Notes of Destiny was always feeding her information like squeezing toothpaste; she felt that the more specific the details, the better.
However, the book did not respond.
“Hello? Are you still there? Are you there?” Celia tapped the book repeatedly, asking over and over.
There was still no reply on the page.
Tsk, the time limit must be up. I can't ask any more questions.
Never mind, at least I have a general direction now.
Although she couldn't pinpoint the enemy's identity for now, she knew that as long as she kept investigating, she would eventually trace the clues back to them!
The slums.
She needed to avoid the attack of that Rank Two from the Abyssal Order, and the benefit of staying at the convent was that she would have Ignis's protection. After what had happened, she didn't dare to risk going out again for the time being. She would leave the investigation to her clone once it woke up.
Rate on N.U.
