Chapter 2104: Chapter 2104

"Miss Audrey, I'll explain everything when this is over."

After Miss Broniaons's cryptic words, Jenkins spoke to his teacher.

He then hesitated, not taking the next step, which prompted Miss Broniaons to ask again:

"What are you hesitating for?"

"I don't know how I should face her."

Miss Audrey noticed the feminine pronoun.

After speaking, Jenkins didn't wait for another word from Miss Broniaons. He took a deep breath, bent down, and placed the musical score—the one the Music Cult had "lent" him when he left the church—into the second circle.

Once again, golden light shot toward the heavens, forming a second pillar of luminescence.

"You have inscribed the second mark," Miss Broniaons murmured softly. "It represents an unbreakable bond."

Jenkins stood frozen with indecision. He fully understood what was happening and what was about to happen. He knew what he had to do, yet he was filled with conflict at this crucial moment.

But thankfully, he wasn't the sort of person to be paralyzed by indecisiveness at a critical juncture. He knew what must be done.

"Finney," he began, "in a moment, I need you and Louise to help me with something. It might be harmful to you..."

Finney lifted her head and replied with a smile:

"You've always been the one helping us. Now, it's our turn to help you."

Jenkins nodded. As golden light swirled around his soul, the greatcoat bestowed by the Sage materialized on his form. The coat should have been on his physical body, back in the Mysterious Realm, but because a Bestowal is linked to the soul, he could summon it even now.

He reached into a large inner pocket and pulled out an old notebook. It was meticulously preserved, yet still showed the signs of frequent use.

He had kept the notebook in his coat pocket, but it was an ordinary object. Logically, it shouldn't have appeared along with the coat, yet here it was, materializing as if it were perfectly natural.

Jenkins understood why. The notebook and the coat had both originally belonged to the same person.

Staring at the divination notebook in his hands, Jenkins stood lost in thought for several seconds. Finally, he slowly walked to the third circle on the ground, bent down, and very carefully placed the notebook upon it.

"You have inscribed the third mark," Broniaons's voice intoned. "It represents the beginning, which is also the ultimate destiny."

A third pillar of light ascended into the sky.

Jenkins took a few steps forward, entering the area within the equilateral triangle formed by the three circles. Finney and Louise, holding hands, joined him in the center of the three offerings.

The golden light converged upon the three of them.

Finney held Louise's hand, and Louise held Finney's. Jenkins simply watched them.

Jenkins, Finney, and Louise murmured in unison.

Of the three, Jenkins was in his spiritual form, and Louise was an angel; both of their current states could be described as an "Energy Shell." Under the influence of the golden radiance, Finney's body began to emanate a golden light of its own, allowing her to meet the condition as well.

The savior, the saved, and the redeemer whispered as one.

With a light laugh, Louise raised her hand and removed the golden halo that had manifested above her head, placing it upon Finney's. The angel's form gradually merged with that of the mortal girl. Finney's appearance didn't change, except for her eyes, which now held the same mismatched purple and gold irises as Louise.

At that moment, Finney successfully advanced to become a Level 1 Enchanter. As a Level 0, she had one empty bubble, and advancing to Level 1 granted another, for a total of two. But at the very instant of her promotion, through her contact with the essence of an angel, a brand-new ability emerged: [Angel's Halo].

The god, the angel, and the human whispered together.

All three knew of the ability [Our God is Here], but none had ever formally learned it. Yet now, as the golden light gathered, intricate lines were etched into the air, constructing a learning ritual out of thin air that materialized around Finney.

Finney's final ability bubble automatically popped out, and [Our God is Here] was swiftly slotted into it.

A sound like a tolling bell seemed to emerge from the distant horizon, yet it also felt like wind chimes whispering next to one's ear. Trying to place it, one might think it was the sound of someone gently shaking a silver bell.

The golden light now completely engulfed the two figures at the center of the ritual array. From the edge of the clearing, Miss Audrey and Miss Broniaons could barely make out Jenkins reaching out and taking Finney's hand.

The small figure grew taller, aging within the light.

A pillar of golden light descended from the sky, piercing the dark clouds and even the branches of the giant tree. The vibration of energy and the thrum of spirit created an auditory illusion in their ears, akin to the ringing of bells.

As the golden light gradually contracted inward, Miss Audrey heard the sound of a children's choir. Their voices were clear and harmonious, seeming to soar straight to the heavens.

Miss Audrey understood now, though a part of her wished she didn't.

She watched the golden light fade, revealing Jenkins, his soul now tinged with an unusual golden sheen. He was looking with a complicated expression at Finney, whose body seemed to have aged several years.

"No, that's not Finney."

The thought struck her, and obeying her instincts, she lowered her head, no longer trying to gaze upon a scene she was not meant to witness.

Jenkins, however, lowered his gaze to look at the girl whose hand he held. Finney seemed to have grown in that pillar of golden light; it no longer felt right to call her a "little girl."

A thousand words seemed to rush to his lips, but when the moment came, he didn't know which ones to say.

"I told you I would be waiting for you at the end."

The voice of the Sage, Oviya, was gentle, just as it had been all those years ago. She stood face-to-face with Jenkins, her right hand held in his, her tender gaze fixed upon him.

That tender gaze was so familiar, only this time it wasn't coming from some unknown height above, not from a distant call, but from right in front of him. Orıginal content can be found at novel•fire.net

The young woman smiled softly:

"It's been so many years. I knew we would meet again one day."

Jenkins felt no sense of awe in that moment. The young woman before him didn't feel like a god; she was still the same girl from that snowy winter years ago, in the woods outside Black Town, who had pushed open a wooden door to complain at him for touching the yard's fence.