Even with the cake placed in front of her, Ai’er had no appetite.
The person she liked was fighting on the front lines, yet she could only wait here, unable to do anything.
And all this despite being someone with the System attached to her…
“How can this girl be as useless as a vase, unable to do anything~”
“No!”
‘I am not a vase! If anything, I should be a titanium alloy vase! The kind that hurts when you hit someone with it!’
She patted her face and decided to do whatever she could.
If Elena needed to deal with the Monster Tide…
At that moment, Ai’er thought of a certain brown-haired Saintess whose smile always carried a hint of playfulness.
Before the Duchy was established, the Holy Church had helped the Empire resist the Monster Tide and Leviathan.
“If I go find Tina now… will it still be in time?”
The Teleportation Circle Elena had set up could be activated by pouring Mana into it.
But leaving aside why the Monster Tide had come early again, even if she immediately went to find Tina, could she bring reinforcements from the Holy Church before Leviathan arrived?
“Now is not the time to hesitate!”
With only 7.5 System Points left, she couldn’t exchange for any high-level Magic.
So what she could do was go beg for help!
A-at worst, she would bruise her forehead from kowtowing QAQ… She refused to believe she couldn’t find someone!
[Don’t rush, little one.]
[What your Witch is about to face isn’t the Monster Tide at all.]
At the moment those words fell, Ai’er froze in place.
But it wasn’t because the Black God had suddenly spoken to her through the System, nor because of that “isn’t the Monster Tide at all”—
A figure draped in a black robe appeared before Ai’er.
A black robe…
It seemed like a long time ago, and yet not so long ago.
A severed arm, the attacked carriage…
That was the trigger for her third Transmigration, and the closest she had come to death since becoming “Ai’er.”
“Apostle of the Evil God?!”
The black-robed person snapped their fingers.
The next instant, everything around Ai’er lost its color, turning into black and white.
Along with the color, sound also disappeared.
No matter how the silver-haired girl squeezed her throat, she couldn’t make a sound.
[Relax, little one.]
“And please don’t be tense, Lady Agent.”
[He is not your enemy.]
“I am not your enemy.”
Like a double act, the voices of the black-robed person and the System echoed in Ai’er’s mind simultaneously.
But Ai’er couldn’t make a sound.
The next moment, she looked at the cake on the table.
The plate under the cake was made of ceramic.
But just as Ai’er reached out her hand toward the plate, a black tentacle suddenly appeared out of nowhere, fixing her outstretched hand in place.
“Lady Agent, please calm down. Since you clearly have something to say, let it be like this.”
As the black-robed person raised their hand, transparent ripples spread outward like bubbles.
“The Sound Barrier is set up, but at this rate, Miss Elena will soon notice.
So, Lady Agent, if you have something to say—”
“There’s an assassin! QAQ!!!!”
At that moment, Ai’er mustered all her strength—
And shouted.
Who knew if this so-called Sound Barrier was real or fake?! The important thing was to let the mansion know it had been invaded!
The System said he wasn’t an enemy—sure, this was definitely proof that the Black God was the Evil God!
Someone who covers your mouth so you can’t speak the moment they arrive and starts playing bondage games with you—how could that be a good person?! QAQ!!
So she shouted with all her might, her voice even cracking a little.
Even Ai’er herself hadn’t expected she could make such a piercing shriek.
This cry even made the black-robed person temporarily cover their ears and frown.
Eh, did it work? O.O?
“Tch… Have you had a good shout, madam?”
“N-no, not yet… Can I shout again?”
Then the black-robed person lowered their raised hand, and the Sound Barrier was immediately replaced by another field.
Now Ai’er couldn’t speak again.
[Why don’t you listen to what this person has to say?]
Pfft! Listen to him? Listen to him preach Evil God ideology?
As long as she could stall for time with this nonsensical commotion, she refused to believe the people in the mansion wouldn’t notice something was wrong here!
If I can’t speak, I’ll smash the plate! I’ll, I’ll hit the wall! I’ll! I… QAQ what else can I do? Help me think, System! QAQ!
If you have to deduct System Points, go ahead… No! The first time has to be reserved for Elena! QAQ! I can’t—
“…You can hear the Divine Oracle of the Black God, can’t you?”
In her panic, Ai’er froze at this moment.
“I know you can hear the Black God’s Divine Oracle, and perhaps at this moment you can hear the Black God’s voice—because of this.”
As the black-robed person spoke, they took out a crystal stone that looked like obsidian.
Just by glancing at this pitch-black crystal, Ai’er found it hard to look away.
It was as if this black stone contained an Abyss.
An Abyss that made one want to keep staring…
‘System, w-what is this?’
“What mission the Black God has bestowed upon you, we have no way of knowing. But according to the High Priest’s Prophecy, you will need this crystal—a crystal that has been passed down for hundreds of years since the first High Priest.”
[Heh… A thing like this actually exists in the world?]
The Black God in the System seemed to be laughing.
After speaking, the black-robed person placed the crystal on the floor not far from Ai’er, then retreated to a slightly farther position.
“I have come to disturb you today precisely to hand this item to you, Lady Agent, as per the Prophecy.
Furthermore, if you need anything else, please come to the tavern in the city center. The devout followers of the Black God will guide you.”
Wait—!
Ai’er opened her mouth, but couldn’t make a sound, couldn’t stop the person from vanishing before her eyes as if evaporating.
Then everything returned to normal.
The black-and-white world gradually regained its color, and the only trace left by the black-robed person was the pitch-black crystal on the floor, like a fragment of the Abyss.
“Ah~ ah… I can speak again.”
So the silver-haired girl walked toward the black crystal, but even standing in front of it, she didn’t dare reach out to touch it.
That black-robed person had kept calling her Agent…
And said she could hear the Black God’s Divine Oracle…
Did that mean someone knew about the System? And what about that High Priest’s Prophecy… what was all this?
“System, you said earlier that this Monster Tide is fake?”
[A god has no need to deceive mortals.]
[If you don’t believe me, try standing by the window and looking toward the northeast—that’s the direction of the coastline.]
Standing on the second-floor window sill, facing the direction the System mentioned, she saw several troops gradually marching toward the city.
[What you see is the Duchy’s army.]
[If the Monster Tide you mentioned were still ongoing, would the army be marching into the city so orderly and leisurely?]
“…System, what did that person mean by ‘Agent’?”
[You know the answer already.]
Carrying out the System’s tasks meant carrying out the Black God’s tasks, achieving the Black God’s goals—
And achieving the Black God’s goals made her the Black God’s Agent.
“System, do you remember what I told you before?”
[You want to help Elena realize her wish, and I need you to absorb Elena’s Mana—this was originally something that couldn’t be completed immediately.]
[But it’s different now.]
The Black God in the System seemed to still be laughing.
At that moment, Ai’er had an illusion—
As if this invisible god was staring at the pitch-black crystal in her hand.
[Take hold of the crystal in your hand, little one.]
[The wish you want to fulfill can be realized immediately as long as this thing exists—]
[That Witch’s wish doesn’t need her to complete it herself.]
[Give this thing to your beloved Miss Witch, little one. And then—]
The next instant, after the System finished the rest of its words, Ai’er froze, staring at that line of text in her vision.
The crystal slipped from the girl’s hand, landing on the carpet with a soundless echo…
[Give the crystal to your beloved Miss Witch, and then—]
[You can become the new Witch in her place.]