The drumming of the downpour on the ground and rooftops was deafening. Standing in the rain, Jenkins and Fini had to shout to make themselves heard over the roar.
"It's alright," Jenkins yelled back. "The alley's entrance is gone, but I don't think it's a major issue."
Jenkins shouted his reply, his imdiate thought being that the alley itself was abnormal—a strange place akin to A-12-03-2933, "The Nonexistent Street," where all the inhabitants might not even be human.
But he imdiately dismissed the bizarre notion. It wasn't just him; even the demigod Miss Bevanna, Mr. Davies, and the others had detected nothing odd about the alley. So, rather than questioning the alley's existence, it made more sense to suspect that so force was preventing him and Fini from perceiving it.
"So, what's really going on?" he wondered. "Does one need to et specific conditions to see the concealed alley?"
Lost in thought, he asked Fini for more details about her dream, but the girl could recall very little. That was a common problem with prophetic dreams—the mories faded quickly upon waking. Still, the dream suggested that Fini's Soul Trait Ability, much like his own, probably belonged to the purple-colored Destiny category.
"But why target this alley? It makes no sense. Only ordinary people live here, and the Church has already moved the woman's body and her husband. Who would have a motive for this?"
He told Fini to take shelter under the eaves of a clinic across the street and pulled out Chocolate to watch over her. Then, braving the downpour, he walked alone toward the wall where the alley should have been.
From what he could tell, the length of the street hadn't changed, nor had the footprint of any of the shops. And yet, when added together, the width of an entire alley was missing. This ant the alley hadn't been torn from this plane of existence. It was still there, simply unseen and unreachable.
He extended his right hand beyond the shelter of his umbrella, pressing his wet palm against the wall, down which water stread like a waterfall. Closing his eyes, he shut off his sight. The thunderous roar of the rain imdiately intensified, becoming painful to his ears.
But he wasn't relying on hearing. He needed his sixth sense—the perception of his spirit. Forcing himself to ignore the deafening rain, he focused, and the wall before him beca clear in his mind's eye.
Jenkins could perceive a fine line hidden within the wall's space—the alley. But when he reached out to touch it, a flash of yellow spiritual light imdiately repelled his hand.
"The power of a Series B Extraordinary item?" he murmured. "But what's the designation number?"
He opened his eyes and took a step back, his gaze filled with suspicion and alarm. Encountering two designated items in a single day was highly unusual, even for him. Jenkins refused to believe it was a coincidence that this barrier had appeared here.
"A Series B item, actively being used? But by whom?"
The best way to overco such an item was to use sothing specifically designed to breach spatial barriers. Such tools weren't rare; even certain rituals could achieve the sa effect. While it might not be possible to destroy the spatial distortion completely, he could at least open a temporary fissure to slip through.
But Jenkins possessed no such item or ritual. His White Bone Holy Sword could shatter the fabric of the pocket dinsion created by the God's Child Umbilical Cord, but that was only because its spatial barrier was inherently fragile. This, however, was the material world. Even if he swung his sword ten thousand tis, he couldn't imbue a blade aligned with 'Death' and 'Life' with spatial properties.
"This is a problem," he muttered. "But who would target this alley? Are they trying to collect lingering traces of A-03-1-0027, the Pestilence Evil?"
He walked back to Fini's side and shook his head in response to her worried gaze:
"I don't think we can get in for now. Soone has deliberately sealed it off."
"That dream..."
Fini asked, her voice laced with anxiety.
"I'm afraid it was real."
Jenkins answered silently in his mind. He opened his mouth to speak the words aloud but hesitated, worried the truth would be too cruel for the young girl.
But even without his saying a word, Fini already knew the answer. She bit her lip and lowered her head, but she was strong and didn't start crying again. The rain stread down her face, and even if she was shedding tears, Jenkins couldn't see them.
But Jenkins still had the resurrection feather. If he chose to use it, he would have to get into the alley before midnight to confirm Louise's fate and find her body. And yet, it was obvious that the four Angels of Slaughter would descend before dusk—Jenkins suspected it would be no later than four o'clock.
In other words, Louise's death was not the most pressing matter at the mont. Jenkins hated to admit it, but that was the reality of the situation.
"I will save her."
He gazed at the horizon, listening to the wind and rain, feeling an unprecedented calm settle over him. After a mont's thought about the dilemma he faced, he summoned the unicorn without hesitation and flew toward the city's outskirts with Fini and the cat.
They saw no one on the streets below, as if the deluge had washed away every soul in the city. There were strange noises coming from the downtown area, but it wasn't on their route, so Jenkins had no idea what was happening there.
Braving the downpour, he pulled the bell cord outside Miss Audrey's yard, but the roar of the rain completely drowned out the chi.
"Apologies."
Left with no choice, Jenkins murmured an apology before pushing open the unlocked gate and hurrying with the girl to the front door.
A familiar maid opened the door when he knocked. She recognized Jenkins as her mistress's student and ushered them inside, calling for other maids to bring towels and prepare hot soup.
"Is Miss Audrey in?"
These were ordinary staff hired by Miss Audrey. They might have known their employer was an eccentric diviner, but they were likely unaware of the supernatural. Jenkins refrained from using his fire ability to dry his clothes, instead taking a towel to help Fini with her hair.
"The mistress and Madam Brolignans went out two hours ago."
The maid replied, adding that she didn't know when the diviners would return. Calculating the ti, Jenkins realized that two hours ago was precisely when he had encountered A-01-1-3411, "The Rain Man," outside the shop. The diviners must have sensed sothing was amiss.
"She's not here either? Is everything just a coincidence?"
He gazed through the window at the enormous, dark shadow growing ever clearer on the horizon, an ominous premonition overwhelming his senses. Whatever had happened to Louise's alley, the Angels of Slaughter were the most imdiate threat.
It was hard to say which was fouler: Jenkins's mood or the weather outside. But he made a vow. The one who had sealed off Louise's alley would die by his hand.
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