NOVEL NEXT 182. Heavy Heart
"No, no no—don't you dare, stay with me!" With a desperate breath, Ravenna flung open the Reputation System interface..
Without hesitation, Ravenna selected Major Heal and Nullify Minor Poison (Others), dumping the points instantly.
She clutched Marie tightly and waited: prayed. "Come on… come on…"
[ Notification ]
Major Heal Failed
Nullify Minor Poison Failed
Error: Divine Interference Detected. Source: Unrecognized Celestial Energy Signature.
Ravenna's heart plummeted. "What?!" she gasped. "No—no no no, this isn't happening!"
She clutched Marie's shoulders as the Saint's glow faded further. Her body trembled beneath Ravenna's grip, blood trailing down the side of her neck in dark rivers.
The world blurred at the edges from the emotion choking Ravenna's chest. Her mind raced, cycling through every spell, every command, every item the Reputation System or her own memories had ever given her.
"Divine… interference?" she whispered, her brow furrowed with a sudden flash of insight. Her eyes darted to the ring on her hand, the Second Odyssey Ring.
It was one of the divine relics from the Solious Church, it was also used to find and identify saints in each era. "It's made to react to Saintess.."
Her hand moved on instinct. Ravenna slipped the ring from her finger and gripped Marie's limp wrist. "This ring has healing properties, right?" Ravenna murmured under her breath, her voice cracking. "Please… please work…"
She carefully, almost reverently, slid the ring onto Marie's index finger.
Marie was still struggling, blood bubbling with every breath she tried to take. Her eyes, once sharp and full of fire, were now glassy, unfocused. But even in that pain, she held Ravenna's hand, her fingers twitching with effort.
A single tear slipped down Ravenna's cheek. "Don't die… I still need you."
The moment the ring clicked into place, a wave of divine energy exploded outward.
It started as a pulse, a whisper of golden light that flared from the ring like a heartbeat. Then, in an instant, it became a blinding storm of power. The tower was engulfed first, the very stones humming with celestial resonance.
Then the wall. Then the southern port. Then the entire coastline.
Stolen novel; please report.
Kim Island became light so bright that the fog just faded away in an instant.
A shockwave of divine brilliance erupted from the tower's peak, expanding like a dome in every direction. The sky shimmered. The ocean reflected it. The very air seemed to vibrate as though the heavens had just acknowledged something sacred.
Knights paused mid-swing. Mages faltered in their chants. Even the enemies stopped to look up in confusion and awe.
In the trenches, Hughes stared wide-eyed as the radiance swept over them. "What… is this?" he whispered.
On the battlefield, Dame Aisha shielded her eyes from the radiant wave that engulfed the coast. The light was searing, divine, and unmistakable. "That's the Saintess's divine power…" she whispered, her voice trembling with awe.
But at the same moment, Ravenna's world went dark.
The brilliance that had erupted from Marie's body vanished all at once from her perception. It didn't fade, it was ripped away, leaving behind an infinite void.
She couldn't hear. She couldn't feel. Only a low, endless ringing remained in her ears, like the echo of a static struck in the soul.
Her eyes snapped open, but nothing greeted her. No ceiling. No floor. No sky. No horizon.
Just void.
A world without form. "What the hell…" she whispered.
She stood completely still, the crushing silence almost unbearable. There were no walls, no light source, yet she could feel how vast it was. This wasn't a dream, nor the mortal world. Ravenna knew divine space when she felt it.
"Herptian! Did you summon me to your castle again or what?" she shouted, her voice oddly sharp in the otherwise deafening silence.
With no answer, she began walking. Her steps made no sound. There was no wind, no pressure underfoot: just motion without proof. It could've been minutes. It could've been hours. There was no telling. Time had unraveled.
"Am I even moving?" She began to question everything, her path, her sense of space, the very mechanics of her own perception.
A flicker of hope sparked in her chest as she tried to summon the one thing that had never failed her before.
She called up the Reputation System.
[ Cannot be activated … Attempting to retry… ]
[ Cannot be activated … Attempting to retry… ]
[ Cannot be activated … Attempting to retry… ]
That same message blinked in front of her, over and over, flickering like a dying signal on a broken smartphone.
"Tch." Ravenna clicked her tongue in frustration, dismissing it with a wave. "Seriously?"
She tried again. And again. Still nothing.
"Where is Marie? What's happening on the battlefield? Is everyone okay?"
Her breath grew shorter. Her chest tightened. "Is anyone there?!" she shouted into the void, her voice cracking with desperation. "If you're a god or some cosmic force or whatever, this is so unfair! At least tell me something!"
The silence that followed made her feel smaller than ever. Alone, adrift in the void, swallowed by a space too massive for comprehension.
Then: she felt it. A shift in pressure.
A presence. Right next to her.
Her body moved before her thoughts could catch up, spinning around with a dagger pulled instinctively from her boot.
And then she froze.
There, casually seated at a sleek modern office desk, was a woman. She sat with her legs crossed, pen in hand, as if she were reading over a report. Her short black hair framed her face perfectly, and she wore a charcoal blazer over a crisp white blouse.
Something about her was achingly familiar.
The bored, calculating eyes. The small frown of irritation. The exact office uniform Ravenna was very familiar with.
Ravenna's dagger loosened in her grip.
"…Joy?" she breathed, stunned and confused.
The woman at the desk finally looked up from her paperwork and met Ravenna's gaze directly, her lips curling into something between exhaustion and smug recognition.
"Well. Took you long enough."