hotmtlnovel Chapter 290.1: Grim Worm, Pure White Armor, and Sadhana
Chapter 290.1: Grim Worm, Pure White Armor, and Sadhana
"Lady Ciel, you're back."Shortly after Ciel opened her eyes, Tara stepped forward and said with her head bowed, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Not for now."
Ciel shook her head.
She closed her eyes, sensing her current mental state for a moment.
Fortunately, her mental depletion was not significant, and the Other Side pollution Sadhana had brought upon her was not severe either.
The red light in her mind began to flicker again. Upon opening the link, she heard Little Left’s voice constantly calling out to her, roughly once every ten seconds—very diligent, and showing no signs of fatigue.
Matters in reality could not be delayed. The proposal to postpone the repeal of the Corn Laws needed to be pushed through to delay Imogen's arrival in Ansu.
On the other hand, Ciel had to maintain the constant accompaniment of Tier 4 transcendents to avoid giving Cora an opening to strike.
Perhaps now... secretly leaving the city would be a good choice for Ciel.
Vanishing from everyone's sight and maintaining spatial distance from Imogen and Cora.
However, doing so might actually be more dangerous… Once outside Ansu City, transcendents would have fewer reservations about using their abilities and Sealed Artifacts, capable of striking with full force.
To verify exactly how much time she truly had left for rest, Ciel directly opened the system interface and looked at the Future Days simulation screen.
This was using the system to predict her future situation.
If she were to die in three days, she would be unable to simulate to the fourth day. She only needed to treat the Future Days simulation as her final deadline for rest.
To avoid failing to save the potions in a Future Days simulation, Ciel's best bet was to enter a Past Days simulation. In the already determined Past Days, she could digest the potions properly.
「Future Days: 3 Days (Holy Year 741, July 28th, 4:00 PM) (Cost: 10 Fate Points)」
「Past Days: 1h (Holy Year 741, July 25th, 12:17 PM) (Cost: 10 Fate Points)」
Three days from now and one hour ago...
Although she didn't know if this was a fated death, Ciel would treat these three days as her final three days.
As for the Past Days simulation set at one hour ago, it was just about the time Ciel and Adele went together to find Professor Ashford.
The moment she saw this time, the tension in Ciel's heart eased slightly.
Three days for rest was more than enough for Ciel.
Ciel opened her eyes, stood up, and turned around, finding Tara and Percy still watching her, their eyes filled with a hint of expectation, as if waiting for her to say something.
It seemed that as soon as she woke up, Tara had stepped forward to ask if she needed help...
Soon, Ciel realized what they might be expecting.
They were likely anticipating news regarding the church merger…
The church merger could still proceed. Although the Ascender Sadhana existed, She had no way to affect reality and could only watch helplessly as she took both denominations and their believers for herself.
Her only countermeasure was to have Cora come and self-destruct near her, and She only had a few seconds of manifestation time. After a few seconds, Cora would be completely drained dry, and a few seconds certainly wouldn't be enough to kill Ciel.
As long as Ciel was able to activate the pocket watch, she could endure those few seconds no matter what.
However, Ciel's only concern was whether these Other Side creatures had other means to interfere with reality...
Connection points like "Other Side Nodes" were surely not possessed by the Church of the God of Order alone. Ciel could not afford to be completely complacent.
But if she could give Cora some interference in her judgment, Ciel was more than willing to do so.
"In two days, I will give you a complete plan," Ciel said, looking at the two of them, "regarding the church merger."
"Yes, Lady Ciel!" Tara's tone grew excited, as if she had correctly guessed what Ciel was going to say.
"Yes." Percy also lowered her head. She didn't mind waiting two days; it was a good chance to see what Ciel could actually pull off.
"By the way," Ciel looked at Tara and said, "do you know where I can get books on Old Ansu? Preferably related to the transcendent."
Ciel had previously obtained a collection of Old Ansu books from Avena's teacher, but those were mostly research documents on humanities, religion, and history. Transcendent materials were extremely scarce, and she could only make conjectures through certain descriptions.
Though she didn't know the connection between the Old Days and Old Ansu, Ciel still wanted to acquire more knowledge as a precaution.
"I am very sorry... Lady Ciel," Tara said, her voice tinged with guilt, "most of the Old Ansu literature and materials are collected by the Church of the Savior Goddess. The Divine Advent Church only has a small number of transcriptions."
"Oh..." Ciel nodded slightly.
It seemed there was yet another reason for the church merger.
There was also the matter of the Knight's reconstitution ritual...
The things the Pure White Knight gave her were actually not difficult. Tier 1 'Knight' did not exceed Ciel's expectations, having several methods of reconstitution.
"Honor," "Atonement," and "Duel"—all three paths could complete the perfect reconstitution of a Tier 1 "Knight."
However, these three shared a common ground: they were all linked to "Knightly Virtues." Assassinating a corrupt judge who exploited the people counted as "Honor," and a wicked person's sudden realization leading them to kill an equally wicked colleague counted as "Atonement."
A duel was even simpler: directly initiating a 1v1 life-and-death duel with an "evil person" of Tier 1 or below. Killing the opponent would count as completing the reconstitution ritual.
If she killed a Tier 1, it would be a perfect reconstitution... However, Ciel didn't need a perfect reconstitution; she just needed it to be savable.
In other words... Ciel could find ordinary people for a "righteous" one-on-one duel, which could also count as completing the ritual.
This was far too simple. She just needed to wander around the gang-infested areas of the Saint Cathedral District for a few rounds, and she would eventually complete the ritual.
One more thing: Ciel needed to collect the potion materials for the "Knight" potion and give them to Adele to prepare for her.
Ciel returned to her desk, took out two sheets of stationery, and began writing.
One was for Avena, very brief, telling her that she would visit her home tonight.
The other was for Adele, with the required potion materials and preparation methods attached. She also tucked her Deton employee card into the letter; it held over three thousand pounds, which Adele could use as she pleased, and if any materials were still missing, Adele was to write back to her.
Currently, it was best for Ciel to avoid excessive contact with Lucy, as Cora would certainly have her eyes on Lucy's movements.
After having the maid send out the two letters, Ciel directly called for Tara and Percy, preparing to head out.
"Lady Ciel, what are we going to do now?" Tara had no questions, but Percy directly asked Ciel.
She wanted to confirm if Ciel's actions would involve any danger.
"Complete a Tier 1 reconstitution ritual." There was nothing to hide, so Ciel replied directly.
"Which path?" Percy pressed, "I can arrange it for you."
"'Knight'." Ciel shook her head and said, "This must be done on my own."
"'Knight'..."
Percy repeated softly, subconsciously looking down at Tara. Tara's eyes were similarly filled with confusion.
To put it politely—was "Knight" even one of the sixteen paths?