The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch

Chapter 296: Subverting the World (2 in 1)

The Pure White Armor and the winged shadow stood tall behind Ciel, their simulated Other Side auras surging toward the "God of the Dead Star."To any Transcendent with knowledge of the Other Side, the aura Ciel currently simulated—nearly identical to the original—was enough to cause extreme mental explosions in their brains.

But the "God of the Dead Star" before her seemed entirely unaffected. Ciel’s illusion, much like her earlier attempt to flee, was almost useless against Him.

"This… is what makes me certain…" The God of the Dead Star slowly raised His right hand, pointing parched fingers at Ciel. "Your path… does not come from the underground… neither from the 'Cocoon of Light' or Moros… nor from other Transformed or Ascended Ones."

"My firelight attracts things from the darkness… and draws the greed of other Transformed Ones… That is why, at first, I mistook you for another divine envoy…"

Listening to the God of the Dead Star’s account, Ciel roughly pieced together the cause and effect of her arrival.

From Heini’s perspective, ever since she was corrupted by the system and broke away from her original faith a year ago, her way of thinking had diverged from that of the other villagers.

In her eyes, a terrifying evil god controlled everyone. Every so often, people were seized as materials for blood sacrifices, and the mentally unstable divine envoys committed every manner of evil. Heini had hidden her fear all along.

Only when Flower, who was close to her, was about to be taken for sacrifice did Heini urgently summon Ciel, hoping to save her.

To the God of the Dead Star, however, He had braved the risk of corruption to defeat the maddened Transformed Ones with the remains of the 'Cocoon of Light,' establishing this safe zone to shelter humanity.

Yet He and His envoys were mentally unstable, and their abilities were related to cannibalism… It was impossible not to cause fear in ordinary people.

Heini’s fear came from a lack of faith; Flower’s fear came from the instinct of death; the envoys’ fear came from Ciel; and the villagers’ fear mostly came from the darkness…

It was no wonder that upon her descent, Ciel had instantly felt so much head-splitting fear.

However… for Ciel, this was a good thing.

Newly arrived in the Old Days, Ciel had worried about an "instant death" at the gate, which would waste her chance at an Old Days simulation.

But now it seemed the God of the Dead Star before her posed no threat; He simply did not want her to become one of those maddened creatures wandering in the dark.

Ciel waved her hand, and the phantoms and bloody vortices behind her dissipated.

She could sense that she seemed unable to use Spiritual Summoning here; she could not call things from the Other Side.

If she truly wanted the help of those Other Side creatures, it seemed she would have to rely on the system’s 【Companion】 feature.

"I have answered so much… I also wish to ask a question…" the God of the Dead Star said slowly. He looked at Ciel and asked, "Are you… from the surface?"

"I am not sure," Ciel answered truthfully.

Was the Old Days just a deeper level of the underground?

Certainly not.

How could the mere crust of the earth prevent maddened gods and Ascended Ones from exerting influence on the surface?

Thus, Ciel was also curious about the God of the Dead Star’s definition of the "surface."

"Not… from there?" The God of the Dead Star shook His head. He spoke: "Before Moros fell into madness… He was obsessed with exploring existences above the Abyssal Ruins… He even briefly connected to the surface… but from that moment on, His mind was no longer stable…"

Over the following period, Ciel asked the God of the Dead Star many things, and He answered every one of her questions, giving Ciel a deeper understanding of the Abyssal Ruins.

Among the languages the system had infused into Ciel, the Abyssal Language was only one set. As for the other languages, the God of the Dead Star indicated He had never heard them.

This proved that in the Old Days, there existed other domains besides the Abyssal Ruins, places that likely existed above the underground.

Regarding the matter of faith, the God of the Dead Star’s answer was somewhat unexpected.

To create a path, one needed an existence like the "Cocoon of Light"… which is to say, a "Uniqueness."

By absorbing the power of a "Uniqueness" to evolve oneself, a "God" would leave Their own unique mark upon it. They could then absorb faith through these marks, and the believers would receive the "God’s" grace, gaining abilities. This process was known as creating a path.

It appeared to be a symbiotic state between a Transcendent and a "Uniqueness."

The "Uniqueness" helped the Transcendent absorb faith and granted them power, while the Transcendent in turn fed that power back to the believers, creating more followers and faith, which cycled back to the Transcendent and the "Uniqueness."

The God of the Dead Star had obtained power from a small fragment of the "Cocoon of Light," creating His own path, which He called "Candlelight."

Moros’s original path was called "Light," while the maddened followers who had fallen into darkness had mutated abilities known as "Darkness."

However…

If the Old Days took place during the Chaos Era, Ciel had never heard of the "Light" or "Darkness" paths.

Not just the names—Ciel had never even seen the abilities themselves, nor had she seen any description of Moros or the "Cocoon of Light" in any church records.

If the Abyssal Ruins truly existed in the Chaos Era, then it was a completely forgotten world buried underground. From the birth of its civilization to its extinction, it remained unnoticed and unrecorded.

It was a completely lost civilization…

Ciel’s brow furrowed slightly.

For Ciel, this was not a good thing.

The system had explicitly stated that any of her actions in the Old Days would affect reality.

If the Old Days existed in the Chaos Era, and there had been a round of information cleansing during the transition to the Holy War Era, then even if she turned the Abyssal Ruins upside down, reality might not be affected at all.

Perhaps only by "piercing through the sky" could she know if her actions in the Old Days would affect the historical records of reality.

It seemed the system had dropped her into a "tutorial," but in truth, it had dropped her into a dead end.

The night was filled with maddened Transformed and Ascended Ones, and a deranged evil god might come knocking at any time. Various creatures had been slaughtered nearly to extinction. Even if she gathered faith, she could only collect a tiny amount, far from enough to confront Moros in the darkness.

If she couldn't even get past Moros, she shouldn't bother thinking about piercing the sky to see what lay outside.

She would be trapped in the Abyssal Ruins like a bird in a cage… while in the real world outside, Sadhana still threatened her life…

She didn't have this much time to waste here…

Furthermore, if they stayed in the Abyssal Ruins, Heini would eventually die here, and the altar and believer would also be buried in this sunken underground world.

"I can help you," Ciel said, looking up at the God of the Dead Star.

"Aside from my corpse and their lives… you may take anything else…" The God of the Dead Star looked down at Ciel.

He did not dare hope that Ciel would protect the people here; He was simply gambling.

If He went mad, the people here would die anyway. If He were killed by the other party, the people might die, but they might also live a bit longer by relying on His corpse.

At this moment, the God of the Dead Star also wanted to know what this divine envoy truly wanted.

"What tier is Moros?" Ciel asked the God of the Dead Star directly.

The God of the Dead Star: "..."

"Fourfold Transformation, fourfold Ascension, right?" Ciel explained, seemingly concerned He wouldn't understand. "At what stage is Moros?"

The God of the Dead Star before her only possessed strength below Tier 3, yet He could rely on a "Uniqueness" to resist the Transformed and Ascended Ones here for so long… This made Ciel curious about Moros's actual tier.

If the tier was at the absolute peak, Ciel would admit defeat and act as if this altar didn't exist.

But if it was only Tier 5 or Tier 6…

She would have to use her wits.

"Fourfold Transformation… fourfold… Ascension?" the God of the Dead Star murmured, the candlelight in His eyes flickering, reflecting His internal turmoil. "So it is fourfold…"

So it is fourfold?

Did the God of the Dead Star, and the Transcendents here, not know how many layers existed between Transformed and Ascended Ones?

"Do you not know these things?" Ciel asked in confusion. "Then how did you advance before?"

"By swallowing the flesh and blood refined from those maddened ones… and then relying on faith to stabilize the spirit… until the body’s transformation is complete, reaching Ascension…" the God of the Dead Star said. "My flesh and blood have been completely converted; I should be considered an Ascended One…"

Listening to the God of the Dead Star, Ciel’s brow furrowed.

They… had absolutely no concept of tier divisions. Advancement relied entirely on forcibly swallowing flesh and blood containing chaotic potion components, then using the faith of believers to stabilize their minds.

Compared to the reality Ciel lived in, the advancement method in the Abyssal Ruins… could be described as incredibly primitive. The entire Abyssal Ruins were like headless flies bumping around; asking about their tiers seemed meaningless.

Moros had once briefly connected to the surface, and then His mind began to deteriorate.

Was it because He knew He was destined to fail, and that the final end for Him and all His believers was madness, so He simply went insane and tore open the "Cocoon of Light"?

What did He see on the surface?

"Who created terms like 'Transformed One' and 'Ascended One'?" Ciel asked the God of the Dead Star directly.

"Those were terms transmitted back by Moros after He connected to the surface…" the God of the Dead Star answered.

Ciel felt her deduction was approaching the truth.

There was a ninety percent chance that whatever was above ground was the Chaos Era!

The Abyssal Ruins were merely a lost, unrecorded civilization within the Chaos Era.

And she could only spread her altar and believers if she pierced through the sky of the Abyssal Ruins…

"I would like to take the liberty of asking…" The God of the Dead Star had a faint premonition. He looked at Ciel and whispered, "What… does Your Excellency intend to do?"

His carefully lowered voice, the excitement He could barely hide, and the shift in His tone to a respectful honorific all showed it—He was anticipating something He Himself dared not believe.

"By what means did Moros connect to the surface?" Ciel did not answer the God of the Dead Star’s question; instead, she countered with her own.

She wanted to know how Moros had connected to the surface…

The candlelight in the God of the Dead Star’s eyes flickered. He could not help but rise directly to His feet, trailing the branch-like "hair" behind Him as He walked toward Ciel.

If there was anything in the dark Abyssal Ruins that represented hope more than light, it was the world above the dome of the Abyssal Ruins…

"Does Your Excellency… want to connect to the world above the dome?" The God of the Dead Star’s voice trembled. His previously weak aura suddenly became full of vigor.

"If you can provide some information."

A faint smile appeared on Ciel’s face.

The "Subverter" potion was still surging within her body.

Overturning a dome that covered a lost world, breaking the eternal darkness looming over a civilization?

What could be more "subversive" than that?

"I know a little…"

"It is on the Mountains of Eternal Silence where Moros, the Throat of Eternal Silence, resides. At the summit of the main peak, Grieving Peak, it is said that place connects to the world outside…"

"How do I get there?" Ciel pressed.

"Extinguish the light in the darkness. In the eternal gloom, the direction from which the whispers come to Your Excellency… is the Mountains of Eternal Silence." The God of the Dead Star’s chest heaved.

He did not know whether to feel sorrow or joy, or if He regretted not meeting Ciel sooner. Various complex emotions intertwined, making it difficult for Him to calm Himself.

Ultimately, He composed Himself. He knelt on one knee before Ciel, head bowed, and spoke:

"My corpse must remain in the village to burn, and the envoys must stay here to resist the things in the darkness…"

"If Your Excellency has no other questions, You may proceed…"

Ciel looked up at the hideous God of the Dead Star kneeling before her. After a moment of thought, she said slowly:

"I will give you the slowest way to die…"

"I hope that before you perish, you will see me subvert all of this…"

The only way to preserve the altar and the believers was to break the black shroud covering the sky and let whatever light might exist outside shine in.

The "Subverter" potion receded rapidly within Ciel’s body, and the power of the "Source of Cholera" began to emerge.