Chapter 8
Sylvia's Letter of Notification
Outside the manor, a figure stepped out from shadows as dark as black gauze, clutching the thick neck of a plump crow in her hand.
"An emissary of the God of Death?"
"A crow that heralds death?"
Under the moonlight, Sylvia lowered her head, her gaze toward the other filled with mockery.
"Squawk!"
The plump crow let out a disgruntled cry.
But with that single caw, everything around them began to lose its color in an instant.
As the illusory sound of flowing water echoed through reality, pale hands reached out one by one from the void, grasping toward the puppet girl standing in place.
However, those phantom hands passed straight through Sylvia's body, as if she herself were never truly there.
The Authority of Sloth!
At this moment, she had already entered an untouchable state. Simple attacks could no longer affect her.
"Squawk!"
The plump crow cried out again, but the sound was abruptly cut off as Sylvia’s other hand pinched its beak shut.
"Stop bringing death into reality."
"Remember, this is a residential area."
Upon hearing her words, the plump crow’s eyes swiveled once, and the chilling aura that had just emerged slowly dissipated.
Seeing this, Sylvia let go of its beak and said with a smile:
"Trust me, I mean no harm."
"And now, I have some good news for you—"
"I accept your deal."
"A mutually beneficial matter like this, I have no reason to refuse."
As her words fell, the crow’s struggling began to ease. A few seconds later, it spoke faintly:
"Very well, then could you please release my neck?"
"Such behavior is rather impolite."
"Fine."
With that, Sylvia released her right hand, its jointed fingers clearly segmented at the knuckles.
At the same time, the plump crow did not flap its wings, yet hovered eerily in midair.
"Ahem."
The plump crow cleared its throat, but the resulting noise caused Sylvia’s brow to furrow gradually.
Only after it stopped producing that unpleasant sound did she speak:
"You don't seem hostile toward me."
At that moment, the plump crow appeared to freeze for a second before letting out an awkward chuckle:
"So you’ve figured it out… I’m not in great shape right now…"
"No, you tried to pretend earlier."
"Your reaction to the Outer God’s apostle did not match your disguise."
Sylvia's gaze pierced the crow like steel needles, causing it to squirm uneasily.
"I hope you can be more honest, while we are still partners."
The puppet girl's words carried a clear tone of threat.
"Squawk."
The plump crow flapped its wings as if resigned, then said:
"I’ve glimpsed the real you—no, the real 'You'."
With that, its wings drooped as it continued to hover eerily in midair.
"Oh?"
Though Sylvia showed a trace of surprise and wore a half-smiling expression again, in truth, waves had already begun to surge in her heart:
Wait a minute, what did it mean by "glimpsed the real me"? It figured out I'm not just some apostle?
Did it also see the flaw that I can’t replenish myself or maintain sustained power?
It probably didn’t, or it wouldn’t be acting so meek.
Still, better to remain cautious.
At that moment, fearing the other party might be displeased, the plump crow added another explanation:
"You... are a Great One, one who walks alongside the River of the Dead."
"How did you figure it out?"
Sylvia calmed herself, then asked in a low voice.
"The divinity in your soul is too pure, without a single impurity."
"You see, the divinity in apostles more or less always contains impurities."
"For instance, in my case, the black mist residing within my divinity is an impurity."
"But I saw none of that in yours."
"I've dealt with apostles of Outer Gods before—their divinity also carried impurities."
"In your case, I’ve only ever seen such purity in the God of Death."
Hearing this, Sylvia nodded thoughtfully.
"Very well. Understood."
So I really need to be careful when dealing with creatures like this. If I draw the attention of those True Gods, it would be disastrous… Hm?
In an instant, her gaze turned razor sharp, startling the plump crow.
"W-What is it?"
"My existence—did you report it to that God of Death you worship?"
"No! Absolutely not!"
The plump crow beat its wings against its chest, yet Sylvia’s face turned rather intriguing.
Damn it, did I really just see a flattering expression on a bird's face?
"Seems like your faith isn’t exactly loyal."
It’s not like I had time!
The plump crow grumbled inwardly but said nothing, only staring eagerly at the Outer God before it.
Seeing that it didn’t answer, Sylvia began replaying its actions from the moment she first encountered the crow.
Indeed, there had been nothing suspicious—no prayers, no rituals.
In this world, even for apostles, contacting a god required following certain ceremonial procedures.
Even the simplest ritual—prayer—required one to speak aloud; silent recitation in one’s mind had no effect.
Good. Then the next step is to restrain it, keep this crow from secretly praying.
At this thought, she cast a rather malicious glance at the crow, which made the plump bird shiver.
The next second, Sylvia slowly raised her left hand. A sheet of starlight-woven paper emerged upon it—
It was a contract, inscribed with a single clause written in extremely abstract script.
Then, her right hand shot out, grabbed the crow by the neck, and with a loud "bang", slammed its head onto the paper.
"Squawk!"
Caught off guard, the plump crow let out a shrill cry, while the paper of woven starlight sank directly into its soul.
In that instant, the clause forbidding disclosure of "Sylvia’s" identity transformed into chains of starlight, piercing through the crow’s soul—already marred with cracks—and fused into it.
"What did you do to me?!"
The crow cried out in despair, as a chilling, deathly sensation surged over it once again.
But the next second, its voice caught mid-sentence.
"A clause?"
At that moment, it realized the contract forced upon it wasn’t actually unacceptable?
"Correct."
Sylvia nodded.
This was a contingency she had prepared long ago in case her identity was ever exposed—a spell she devised using divine authority, which she had named "Sylvia’s Letter of Notification".
Its specific effect was to forcibly make the target accept any clause she proposed.
In her hands, this spell possessed a divine-level essence, and an apostolic-level effect…
Not that she wanted to rely on it, but her current upper limit was just that.
Besides, when used on someone of similar rank, the spell still had many constraints—the most important being that it could not violate the target’s core bottom line.
Of course, if she were dealing with ordinary mortals instead of apostles, she could really make this ability shine.
And there was another reason why she had succeeded: the other party’s condition was extremely poor—terrible, in fact.
If that hadn’t been the case, she might have had to expend even more effort.
But from the fact that it could accept such a clause, it was also clear that this creature was definitely not a "good bird."
After all, apostles of Outer Gods who walked the earth posed a tremendous threat to this world. And as an apostle of a True God, this kind of occurrence didn’t even violate its bottom line?
At that thought, the corners of Sylvia’s mouth gradually curled up.
"Very well. To prevent you from finding some way to break the contract elsewhere, from now on, you will stay by my side."
"Hmm, raising a pet crow doesn’t sound so bad?"
Like hell it doesn’t!
The plump crow cursed silently in its heart but didn’t dare to utter a single sound.