Chapter 2008: Chapter 2008

While Jenkins was talking with his family, a knock sounded at the door. A priest from the Church entered and informed him that Miss Bevanna had something urgent to discuss.

"I'll bet it's a problem that only I can solve," Jenkins remarked to Alexia before he left. She rose onto her toes, and he bent slightly as she kissed his cheek. Briny followed suit with a kiss of her own, and a blushing Dolores did the same. Even Julia gave him a peck on the cheek.

"There's no need for all this," he chuckled. "I'll be back soon." Then he followed the priest out of the room.

Just as he had predicted, an unforeseen complication had indeed arisen. The Church had gathered and analyzed the locations of all the incidents that had plagued the city that day, only to discover that they were not randomly distributed but deliberately arranged.

It didn't take long for them to reach a further conclusion: all of today's accidents were part of a single, massive ritual. By cross-referencing the geography of Nolan City with the types of incidents and casualty figures at each location, the Church deduced that the ritual's primary purpose was "sacrifice."

In other words, the Treehouse and the Gear Artisans' Association had issued a task to every cultist in Nolan. Their actions, and the consequences thereof, were a collective offering to some unknown entity.

That unknown entity, of course, was the Difference Engine buried deep underground.

Thanks to the abnormal flow of spirit, the Church had used a ritual to pinpoint the Difference Engine's current location: deep in the earth, directly beneath the black metal tower. Jenkins hadn't bothered to commit the exact depth to memory; it was an unreachable location anyway.

Jenkins had been summoned because Magic Miss's order, followers of the God of Rituals, had helped the Church locate the key nodes of the grand ritual. By destroying those nodes, the ritual itself would be rendered ineffective, no matter what other chaos unfolded in Nolan. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel•fire.net

"Speaking of mental energy, could it be... that?"

"Yes," Bevanna confirmed. "We also suspect it's the masterless mental energy gathered in dreams by the tobacco smokers. But regardless, destroying those nodes is the priority right now. This is the location you need to handle."

Miss Bevanna handed Jenkins a parchment map. It had been waterproofed, so he wouldn't have to worry about the ink running in the downpour outside.

"You're responsible for these five," she explained. "Touching them should be enough to destroy them. If all goes smoothly, you'll be back in half an hour."

Considering Jenkins was the only Saint who couldn't fly, the five locations assigned to him were all quite close to the church.

"No problem," Jenkins said. "Is anyone coming with me?"

"Do you need someone to go with you?" she asked, a slight arch to her brow.

"No," he replied. "I think my cat will be company enough."

"Alright then. Be careful out there, and come back soon."

Jenkins nodded, but just as he was about to leave, he asked another question.

"Why didn't the Church insist on sending someone with me this time?"

"It was Papa Oliver," Bevanna said. "He believes you can stand on your own two feet now."

Jenkins asked no more questions. He found an umbrella and headed out into the rain alone.

The rain was still falling, and it had grown even heavier than when he and Papa Oliver had walked to the church that morning. While this wasn't traditionally Nolan's rainy season, such downpours weren't uncommon, fueled by the moisture carried in by the ocean monsoons.

Although the priority was destroying the hidden ritual nodes, the Church didn't expect the Saints to face any resistance from the cultists. The Church's demigods had mobilized in full force, determined to make it clear just who was in charge of Nolan today.

Besides, if the cultists did show themselves to the Saints, it would be all the better. Each Saint possessed power that surpassed that of an ordinary human demigod.

The so-called ritual nodes were not physical objects visible to the naked eye. They were areas where spirit had concentrated, created by the flow of energy within the ritual's foundational array. Such nodes didn't exist in smaller rituals; the concept only applied to a massive ceremony one, which was intrinsically tied to the city's geography.

On the surface, these areas appeared perfectly normal; their locations could only be calculated through the ritual's own esoteric principles. It was a feat only the followers of the God of Rituals could accomplish. Without their help, the Church would have likely been forced to deal with the incidents one by one, a far less efficient approach.

The first node was located in an alley. With no one around, Jenkins walked straight in. His special sight did indeed perceive an anomaly in the area's spiritual aura, but it was incredibly subtle. If its location hadn't already been pointed out, he would have struggled to notice it.

He folded the map and tucked it into his pocket, then tried to sense the spirit that had gathered due to the ongoing ritual. This kind of spirit couldn't be absorbed by Enchanters. The accumulation of one's own spirit was a personal process, because spirit was far more complex than simple energy.

He couldn't absorb it, but he could feel it. Or rather, he was supposed to. Jenkins couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary, so he gave up after a brief attempt. Following Miss Bevanna's instructions, he located the spot where the spiritual aura was most potent and reached out with his own mind to touch it.

It was like touching a detonating steam bomb. A powerful repulsive force made Jenkins instinctively take a step back, though in reality, nothing had happened. The phantom sound of an explosion lingered in his ears, but the only real sound was the drumming of the rain.

Only a slight drop in the air temperature proved that he had indeed disrupted the strange environment with his mental power. The spirit in the area no longer coalesced in its prescribed pattern, but dispersed naturally into the surroundings, causing the shift in temperature.

At the same time, Jenkins caught the scent of smoke on the air. It wasn't the usual smell of Nolan's atmosphere, but the distinct aroma of burning tobacco.

"Could it really be that mental energy?" Jenkins wondered. Seeing his work was done here, he turned and headed for the second location.

The second location was a little trickier, situated inside a street-facing apartment. Jenkins had to resort to some clever maneuvering, slipping in through a second-floor window and leaving just as quietly after dealing with the node.

The third node was in the middle of a major street, and the fourth was inside an illicit bar tucked away in an alley, one that didn't open during the day. Dealing with both was simple enough; Jenkins encountered no trouble worth mentioning.

By the time he set off for the fifth location, only thirteen minutes had passed since he'd left the church. At this pace, he would likely be back ahead of schedule. The air outside was cold and damp—truly miserable weather for a walk.