The gentle, loving Priest knelt on the ground, cradling the pitiable one's head, erasing his pain and despair, allowing him to cross the harsh winter and die happily in the warm spring.
What a warm, what a sacred scene.
It might have been even warmer if this head hadn't been personally plucked off by the Priest.
The black cat Samuel watched the entire process from not far away, raising a paw to lick the fur on it.
At some unknown moment, the Priest's clothing over his chest had come undone, revealing the seemingly unremarkable smooth skin and firm muscles beneath.
*Riiip.*
A faint tearing sound rang out.
The area around the Priest's chest tore open vertically, revealing a circular door.
The head in his embrace shifted, the boy looking curiously inside that door.
Even though he was just a head now, this boy was actually still alive.
The boy didn't even notice his own abnormality, didn't realize he was now just a head. He simply looked curiously inside that door.
Then, he met the gaze of several pairs of eyes.
The space inside that door was much larger than it appeared from the outside. Judging by the Priest's physique alone, the internal space shouldn't be much bigger than a washbasin.
But that wasn't the case. Through the circular door frame, one could see countless human faces on the other side of the door, merging, overlapping, and intertwining with each other, chaotic yet orderly, stretching beyond sight at a single glance.
Those faces had complete features, their expressions either calm, gentle, happy, or smiling.
The boy felt as if he were standing in a warm garden, with angels whose faces were unclear reaching out their hands to him.
He tentatively reached out a hand in response...
This was probably his imagined hand, since he wasn't aware he had lost his body.
The Priest's arms tightened inward, sending the head into the door on his chest. The wings formed of intertwined semi-transparent arms also tightened inward, wrapping the Priest and the boy's head tightly together.
The boy threw himself into the embrace of the angels. At this moment, he finally ascended to Heaven.
*Creeeak.*
The sound of a skull being squeezed came, and the door slowly closed, the skin on his chest returning to normal.
Even though he had stuffed an entire head into his chest, the Priest didn't even have the slightest bulge beneath his skin.
He maintained the hugging posture, kneeling on the ground, eyes closed, his expression peaceful and serene.
"You never have to be afraid again, child," the Priest spoke, his voice still mixed with countless overlapping sounds. "Your wish, I will fulfill it for you. The sins you committed in this life, they all belong to me now. I will repay them for you."
Yes, sins.
Most children living in the slums had to learn to fight by age three and learn to steal by age five.
Undoubtedly, a boy who had managed to survive alone to this age was already a seasoned thief and liar.
But, for some unknown standard, this Priest was willing to come and take this boy "to Heaven," and not seek out others.
This time, Samuel heard clearly. The boy's voice also appeared among the mixed sounds in the Priest's speech.
Standing up, he re-fastened his clothes and straightened the hem of his wide clerical robe.
When the Priest stood up, the entire interior of the bridge arch looked as if it had been abandoned for decades or even a century, overgrown with all kinds of flowers and grass, almost obscuring the original appearance of the bridge arch.
Before the Priest, the boy's headless corpse began to sprout greenery and flowers. These plants gradually merged with the grass beneath the boy, burying his body in this flower-filled meadow.
"Child, you see, Heaven does not only exist there, but also in reality," the Priest gently stroked his chest with one hand, his speech still mixed with the boy's own voice. "Flowers and grass bury your past, and you can nourish their growth. Mutual help and reciprocation without ulterior motives, this is the extension of Heaven in reality."
"This is its Heaven, named [Continuity]."
"May you attain eternal happiness in Heaven."
The boy's voice sank within the mixed sounds. Though Samuel's keen hearing could still pick it out with careful effort, it was no longer prominent at all.
After finishing all this, the Priest finally turned around to look at the black cat Samuel who had been observing from the roof of a low house not far behind him.
"Good morning, sir," the Priest greeted with a smile.
His voice no longer carried excessive mixed sounds, returning to simply a pleasant, half-male, half-female blended tone.
"Meow," the black cat Samuel meowed in response.
"My name is Ethen Avalon. If you are interested in our doctrine, you can find me at any Continuity church. I would be very willing to preach to you."
"Your current situation..." He paused for a moment.
"The Continuity church in Reins is on Althern Street," he gently preached to a cat. "I will welcome your arrival at any time."
"Then, I also wish you a wonderful morning," at this point, his phrasing took a turn. "Oh, for you, I should wish you a sufficiently interesting morning."
With that, Ethen finally turned and disappeared into the streets of the slums.
Streams of smoothly written black text appeared in the black cat Samuel's vision.
This was the perspective from his main body flipping through the travel manual.
The images from the two perspectives completely overlapped. Watching the book while observing the events below was something Samuel could now do with ease.
[Madman File: 001.]
[Name: Ethen Avalon.]
[Appearance: Externally appears as a green-haired clergyman around 25 years old, wearing a crown-shaped wreath woven from vines and flowers on his head.]
[Law Tendency: Nature.]
[Description: Superficially gentle, and indeed genuinely a good person at heart. However, he does not seem to consider humans superior to plants and animals. Possesses the ability to devour others' souls. Suspected of harboring a literal ecosystem within his body. Low external pollution level, belongs to the rare type of madman who consults others' opinions (questionable). Suspected of possessing mental interference abilities. This person seems to possess strong altruistic ideals. After devouring a soul, he actively takes on all sins committed by the devoured soul and repays them through some unknown method. Specific repayment method unknown.]