Chapter 302: Companion Contract (4 in 1) |
"I will find you in the dream… and be there with you."
These words from Avena continued to echo in Ciel's mind.
By now, Ciel had returned home. She used [Omniscient] to contact Tara, who had been praying to her incessantly, and guided both Tara and Percy—who had also been searching for her—back to her side.
It was nearly half-past six in the morning when Tara, with faint dark circles under her eyes, arrived at the villa in a hurry with Percy.
On the way to the study, Tara kept her lips pressed in a tight line. Not until she opened the door and saw the silhouette of the red-haired girl did her stoic expression finally break.
"Lady Ciel! You've returned!" The moment Tara saw Ciel in the study, her expression became visibly emotional, her cheeks flushing as her blood surged.
"I'm sorry. I left without explaining things clearly, leaving all of you to search for me." After the incident with Avena, Ciel realized how much her sudden disappearance worried those around her.
One only had to look at the dark circles under Tara's eyes to know; she had likely stayed up all night searching until now.
"You do not need to apologize to anyone, Lady Ciel!" Tara spoke hurriedly. "Your servant was merely praying to you. This is something I do every day, nothing out of the ordinary…"
Percy, standing to the side, stole a glance at Tara upon hearing those words.
Yesterday, after Lady Ciel vanished, she had watched firsthand as Lady Tara went from calmly comforting everyone to praying peacefully, and then to pacing anxiously—eventually running around like a headless chicken in her frantic search for Ciel, before finally wandering the streets as if she had lost her very soul…
Though they had been apart for less than a day in reality, Tara's mental journey during those dozen or so hours made it seem as though Ciel had been gone for over a decade.
This was likely because Tara's prayers had once again gone unanswered… and the manner of Ciel's disappearance made it hard not to wonder if her physical body had simply ceased to exist in this world…
"I might have to leave again in a moment... I need you all to ensure that Cora does not appear anywhere near this house," Ciel said, looking at Tara and Percy.
Ciel had to enter the Old Days once more... and this time, the issue of Sadhana had to be resolved.
Her prolonged survival in the Old Days last time had cost her over a dozen hours in reality. The next time she returned, she would likely find herself dangerously close to her fated death…
Although she had gained experience from the previous trip, that experience was largely limited to the Abyssal Ruins... and that was far from enough.
The entire Abyssal Ruins was a negligible corner compared to the rest of the Old Days. Ciel had yet to see the world above the ground...
Ciel had to establish a large organization with sufficient influence on the surface. This reach would need to penetrate the barrier between the Chaos Era and the Holy War Era, yet it had to be carefully controlled to avoid causing too great an impact…
If the influence was too powerful and she inadvertently created a war-loving, mighty organization, the history of the Holy War Era might be drastically rewritten...
The Church of the Savior Goddess might not emerge as the victor of the Holy War, and such an organization would surely cause even more deaths. Under the flapping of the butterfly's wings, reality could undergo a cataclysmic change.
That wouldn't stop Sadhana, who had been in the Other Side since the Holy War Era, but it might cause the people she was familiar with in reality to simply vanish... and that was something Ciel could not accept.
A reclusive organization that maintained a principle of non-interference—this was Ciel's most basic vision and requirement for it.
Secondly, the organization had to record as many events as possible, and it needed a fundamental set of rules to restrain its individual members…
Because in the memories from those past prayers, the people from the unknown organization Heini left behind had already begun to include those who maliciously tampered with history—which was the origin of the "Fabricator" path.
Lost in thought, Ciel began drafting the guidelines and core rules for the organization in a notebook on the desk.
As she wrote, she encountered a problem.
After the Holy War Era, all churches lost the ability to direct their prayers toward the gods of their respective paths. For those living in the late Holy War and Holy Eras, this was entirely normal.
But unanswered prayers were highly unusual in the Old Days… From the moment Ciel left the Old Days until she awoke in the Holy Era, her believers' prayers had received absolutely no response from her.
This was very likely one of the reasons why Heini had been unable to expand the organization in the Old Days. After all, who would want to join an organization whose "God" never responded?
Soon, two solutions formed in Ciel’s mind.
One was to find a Proxy; the other was to twist the "God" of the church into a symbol.
Ciel drew both inspirations from the religions of reality.
For the Divine Advent Church, Sadhana was the Proxy. For the Church of the God of Order, the church's deity had been twisted into a specific symbol and ideology.
Nurturing a Proxy or creating a symbol… both afforded a higher chance of believers remaining loyal to the organization or religion even when the deity did not respond.
As for how to implement these two plans specifically... she would have to see the state of the surface world above the Abyssal Ruins. Specific problems required specific analysis.
While Ciel was writing rapidly, a sudden shift in her mind made her stop her pen immediately.
One of the flame altars in her mind went out; a corrupted believer had stopped praying.
Meanwhile, the remaining flame altar, whose red light had been weak, turned silver and began to burn fiercely…
When the silver light had appeared previously, the system required Ciel to respond within ten minutes, or else there was no telling when the next opportunity would be.
When she had responded to the red light before, Ciel had seen Heini hiding in the wardrobe, praying to her. If she failed to respond to this altar now, Heini might very well be executed as a heretic by an ignorant divine envoy.
If Heini died and the corrupted believer was gone, leaving only a rune stone, Ciel would effectively lose that altar.
Even if someone in the Abyssal Ruins was lucky enough to obtain the rune stone, they wouldn't know how to use the incantations to point their prayers toward Ciel.
Given an infinite amount of time, it was technically possible someone might accidentally stumble upon the right incantation to summon Ciel... but that was impossible, because that was the Abyssal Ruins.
If Ciel didn't go there, the civilization of the Abyssal Ruins would be buried directly underground. Not a single person would ever know of that lost, entombed civilization.
In other words, if Ciel hadn't responded last time, that rune stone would likely never have lit up again.
She had to respond... within ten minutes...
Ciel took a deep breath, slowly closed her eyes, and inquired internally.
"System?" Ciel called out in her mind.
「What is it, my dear host ^^_」
Ciel ignored the system's overly familiar term of endearment and asked directly: "What are the conditions for a Companion?"
Yes... Ciel planned to use a feature the system had mentioned before: "Companion."
This trip to the Old Days was highly likely Ciel’s last chance. If she failed to achieve anything this time, she would have to perform Future Days simulations in reality and use "crude methods" to combat Sadhana in the Other Side...
Sadhana could even hunt down the Grim Worm; Ciel did not believe she could escape. Therefore, this time, she had to go All in, like a "Gambler."
With the presence of a Companion, Ciel would clearly have a better time in the Old Days.
「Before the host enters the Old Days, simply sign a Companion Contract with them ^^」
「If there is a valid contract in the Old Days the host enters, the host can activate it, allowing the companion to clear Their memories and descend into the Old Days—it's just that They cannot act entirely as They please」
「Oh, by the way, if the host wishes to sign contracts, it would be best to do so with more candidates. Otherwise, there might be a situation where not a single valid contract exists in the Old Days ^^」
"Not a single contract will take effect? What do you mean?" Ciel pressed.
「In essence, the Companion Contract allows an Ascended One to return to Their original body in the Old Days… If Their physical vessel is already dead or not yet born in the Old Days where the host is, the contract naturally won't take effect」
Allowing an Ascended One, that is, an Ascender, to return to Their original body…
This sentence from the system confirmed one of Ciel's conjectures…
That is, the Ascenders in the Other Side originally lived in the real world… They lived during the Old Days, which was the Chaos Era.
And whatever cataclysm occurred between the Chaos Era and the Holy War Era caused Them to be "exiled" into the Other Side, leading to the loss of contact with the gods of all paths.
Yes, Ciel used the derogatory term "exiled."
Because Ciel had been to the Other Side, and she didn't consider being locked in that place of madness to be "ascending."
Just what kind of power could cause all Ascenders to be sealed in the Other Side… and the more powerful They were, the harder it was to break free…
Ciel had no time to ponder this now. She had to try and quickly sign Companion Contracts with the Grim Worm or the Pure White Knight.
She had only met the Grim Worm and the Pure White Knight a few times; their relationship wasn't particularly deep… Ciel wasn't certain if They would be willing to enter such a contract with her.
Furthermore, after signing the contract, the Grim Worm and Pure White Knight would have portions of Their memories sealed upon going to the Old Days. With such a side effect, Ciel felt the likelihood of Them agreeing was very low.
But she still had to try, and quickly.
Ciel searched her mind, locating the flame that symbolized Little Left.
Even now, Little Left was still calling out to her incessantly: "Lord Ciel… Lord Ciel." These were some of the few words it had learned, and it knew the name referred to her.
"Little Left," Ciel called out, attempting to communicate with it.
...
Meanwhile, within the ancient castle of the Other Side.
The Pure White Armored Knight sat in the main hall of the castle, tinkering with a piece of precision machinery. It looked much like a semi-circular brass chamber, though its purpose was unknown.
The Grim Worm was currently lying on a mass of dark green brain matter that resembled a flower bed by the castle gates; it seemed this slimy, damp environment made it feel more comfortable.
Suddenly, the Pure White Armor looked up at Little Left, who was pacing back and forth near the entrance.
At this moment, Little Left's hanging chains rattled as it excitedly quickened its pace, as if it had received some kind of response.
"Little Left?" A mechanical, vibrating hum sounded from within the Pure White Armor. At Their voice, Little Left stopped its excited pacing and immediately raised its steel fingers, the compound eyes within the gaps of its armor looking toward the knight.
Little Left turned, wanting to run, but the voice emanating from the pendant it wore made it stop. Reluctantly, it scurried toward the Pure White Armor and handed over the necklace.
Is it that Lord?
The Pure White Armor's hand trembled slightly. A large amount of white steam hissed from the gaps in Their armor before They reached out to take the pendant.
"Hello?" The Pure White Armor's voice sounded somewhat uncertain.
The runes on the pendant emitted a red glow, and Ciel’s voice reached Their mind.
After listening for a while, the Pure White Armor, which had been sitting, suddenly stood up. The parts in Their hands scattered across the floor, mixing together, yet They made no move to bend down and retrieve them.
"Fine…"
"The memories of Other Side creatures are inherently fragmented…"
"I am willing…"
"Fine…"
The steam from Their body billowed violently, yet Their voice grew increasingly calm, as if intense emotions were surging within Them.
The white armor on the back of Their hand was rapidly being corroded, a silver rune etching itself onto the white metal.
"Understood…"
They slowly raised Their hand, handing the pendant back to Little Left.
After Little Left took the pendant and listened for a while, it began to scurry toward the gate once more, hopping and crawling. Soon, it reached the side of the dormant Grim Worm and lightly touched the green "brain-bed" with its sharp claws.
The Pure White Armor remained standing in place, dazed, as complex thoughts began to surge wildly in Their mind.
Return to… the past…
Their hands slowly clenched, trembling uncontrollably.
"Is there food…?"
"Fine."
The phantom voice of the Grim Worm outside was barely audible, but those sounds no longer reached the mind of the Pure White Armor.
...
The contracts had all been signed…
Ciel slowly opened her eyes.
The process of signing the contracts had been surprisingly easy.
Upon hearing that They could return to the Old Days of the past, the Pure White Knight had seemed exceptionally agitated. The flame in Ciel's mind symbolizing the Pure White Knight had even begun to flicker violently, yet They still agreed.
As for the Grim Worm, it had actually only asked if there would be food; if so, it would sign… It seemed its head was filled with nothing but Ciel's blood, which to it was the ultimate delicacy.
Ciel had not signed a contract with Little Left for two reasons.
On one hand, to have a Companion descend into the Old Days, she had to spend 100 Fate Points… Spending 100 Fate Points to summon Little Left was not a viable plan for her.
On the other hand, Little Left was a monster born within the Other Side, unlike the Grim Worm and the Pure White Armor, which had existed since the Old Days. Making it a Companion wouldn't yield any useful information or intelligence.
Having secured the Companion Contracts with the two familiar entities from the Other Side, Ciel wasted no more time.
The altar could go out at any moment; she had to respond…
Ciel looked toward Tara and Percy and said, "Tara, remember what I said earlier."
"Yes, Lady Ciel. Tara will obey all your decrees." Tara heard the solemnity in Ciel's tone and immediately lowered her head in response.
Having received Tara's reply, Ciel focused all her attention on the burning altar in her mind…
The painful flames enveloped her once more, the soul-searing fire igniting her until she was completely consumed…
...
"…"
"(Ansu) You are the manifestation of the future's phantom illusion… the echo of the empire of the old days…"
"(Ansu) With my blood sacrifice…"
"(Ansu) I beseech You to descend here…"
"…"
In a dark dungeon, a figure covered in scars held a shimmering rune stone, praying over and over again.
Her lips were parched and cracked, her teeth loose or missing due to malnutrition. She used almost the last of her strength to pray to the "Evil God" that had corrupted her.
This was the last thing she could do.
"You're mad! You pray to an outer god! Do you want us to die even faster?!"
An angry figure approached but was separated by iron bars—a man whose face was so sunken it was almost skeletal. He reached out to snatch the rune stone from the woman's hand, but his fingers clawed at empty air.
"We can't let him… inherit the authority of the God of Death anymore…"
The woman struggled to stand, saying, "Get away… Galvin…"
"Lunatic!" The man backed away, cursing, "You're all damn lunatics!"
The man hurried to the iron gate and began to hammer frantically on it, shouting, "Overseer!!! Someone here is trying to summon an evil god!!! Overseer!!! I'm reporting it!!! Let me out!!!"
The woman slowly raised her hand, doing her best to squeeze a bit more blood from her wrist, smearing it onto the already stained rune stone.
The effort brought on waves of dizziness once more, but soon she felt her body go numb—her limbs were gradually growing cold, and she couldn't even manage the simple act of lifting her arm.
But just then, the silver rune on the black stone before her began to shine with a brilliant light.
"Damn it!!! You actually succeeded! Damn it!!! Let me out quickly!!! Overseer!!! Overseer!!! Why did you lock me up with a lunatic?!"
"I never betrayed the God of Death! I was subjected to a disgusting deception! Overseer!!!"
The man sensed the movement behind him. He began to shake the iron door even more violently, creating a massive noise that echoed hollowly through the deep, dark dungeon.
Watching the rune stone in front of her ignite with silver fire, the woman’s deep brown pupils began to lose focus.
Did I succeed...?
But... was doing this... truly right?
The expression on the woman’s face was one of pain. Even she seemed to regret this choice made out of desperation.
Whoosh—
Silver fire erupted before her, illuminating nearly the entire cell.
The silhouette of a young girl slowly emerged from the silver flames.
The woman's vision had already begun to blur. She used the last of her strength to reach out toward the fire and said, "I beg You… save… my… family…"
"I am willing to offer... my... life and soul as a... sacrifice..."
However, before she could finish, she lost all strength and fell unconscious.
Meanwhile, Ciel, having just emerged from the flames, remained in a state of daze after regaining her physical senses.
The agony of being burned by those silver flames, the loneliness of being in the endless darkness... no matter how many times she experienced it, Ciel would never get used to it...
The clanging of iron bars right by her ear, the woman's weak plea before her, the man's desperate cries behind her… all these noises made Ciel’s temples throb with pain.
But she still did her best to match a familiar language in her mind, corresponding it with the languages she had been infused with.
These infused languages weren't something Ciel could call upon at will like the Old Ansu or Pharosian she had learned herself; instead, it was more like "loading a language pack." Ciel had to adapt slowly over a period of time.
Finally, Ciel matched the language in her mind with the words around her, understanding the meaning behind them.
Nostorian... translated into Ansu as "Dirge Language."
Unlike the R'lyehian of the Abyssal Ruins, this language seemed to be divided into two sets of pronunciations… Ciel didn't yet understand the difference between them.
The silver flames had dissipated. Ciel slowly lowered her head, looking at the young woman who had fainted on the ground, clutching the rune stone.
She appeared to be in her early twenties. Her hands and face were covered in strange tattoos, and her hair was entirely gone, revealing a terrifying, scabbed scar on the top of her head… she looked like a corpse that had long since died.
As Ciel looked down from the woman’s head, her brow furrowed slightly.
This woman… the clothes and flesh on her chest had long since decayed, revealing a large area of bleak white bone, with no internal organs left inside.
Yet Ciel could clearly sense that the other party was still alive… it was the same sensation she felt when seeing Nia, as if she had been deeply eroded by a potion.
Was she the one who had summoned her? But her presence was incredibly weak, as if she were on the very verge of death.
However...
Ciel slowly turned her head, looking at the man who was still making a great racket.
Noticing her gaze, the man scrambled to the corner of the cell, lowering his head in terror, seemingly not daring to meet her eyes at all.
Ciel saw that this man's hands were almost completely rotten, the flesh hanging from the bones and emitting a foul odor… She even saw a maggot wriggling in the decaying flesh.
It was indeed possible for the flesh of a living person to rot, but it was unlikely to decay in such large patches… these were entirely a dead man’s hands.
Yet the person across from her was indeed still alive, just without breath…
Then what was keeping them alive?
Ciel formulated her words in her mind for a moment, looked at the man who was still conscious, and said, "What happened to her?"
She pointed toward the woman, asking the man opposite her.
Ciel also realized that she seemed to be inside a prison cell. The iron bars weren't anything special; she felt that even without switching save files, she could twist these seemingly decaying bars apart.
Hearing Ciel speak a language he could understand, and finding that his brain didn't experience the stabbing pain of madness at the sound of her voice, he was rather surprised and stole a glance across the room.
"By the God of Death..." the man murmured. This was the first time in his long life that he had seen someone who was not blessed by the God of Death.
Living flesh... so delicious...
His pupils began to fill with blood and pus. Madness instantly consumed what remained of his sanity. He lunged toward Ciel as if he hadn't seen the iron bars at all!
Bang!
His head slammed hard into the iron bars. Foul-smelling blood splattered, and fragments of skull and brain matter flowed down the metal. Yet he continued to strike them relentlessly.
His raspy growls also switched to the second set of pronunciations of the Dirge Language, whose meaning Ciel hadn't previously understood. It sounded sharp and ear-piercing; just listening to it caused waves of mental pain.
"BLOOD!!! GIVE ME BLOOD!!!"
Bang——!
Bang——!
The man struck the iron bars frantically, his facial bones completely shattered, yet he did not stop…
Ciel watched as the prisoner, completely consumed by madness, continuously slammed against the metal until only the lower half of his head remained. His vocal organs were completely destroyed as well, leaving him able only to let out a meaningless "hissing" sound.
His movements began to gradually slow down. Thick, viscous black-red blood flowed down his body. Finally, he collapsed slowly into a pool of blood, his hands still reaching in her direction…
Ciel merely watched the scene before her calmly, making no move, lost in quiet thought.
A piece of good news, and a piece of bad news.
The good news was that she wasn't in the Abyssal Ruins this time; she was likely on the surface.
The bad news was that the "people" on the surface would go mad immediately upon seeing her.
Her blood seemed to possess a lethal attraction for them…
Blood, is it...
Ciel looked at the unconscious woman who had summoned her.
With a flash of silver light, she produced "Deadly Blood Roland" and used the edge to cut a small wound on her wrist.
Blood flowed down the sharp blade of the weapon. Ciel pressed the tip to the woman's lips, watching her own blood flow along the steel and into her mouth.
One drop… two…
Not until the third drop of blood dripped into her mouth did the figure before Ciel begin to change.
Her hollow, cavity-like body began to repair itself rapidly. Lungs, heart, blood vessels, hair… everything was regenerating frantically and swiftly, just like a high-tier of the "Physician" path.
The decayed body blossomed with new flesh once more, and skin as smooth as a baby's began to sprout. The woman's spirit also seemed to be recovering at high speed.
As if sensing something, she snapped her eyes open and instinctively stuck out her tongue, beginning to lick along the blade of the blood-stained weapon.
Even having a piece of her tongue sliced off by the sharp edge did not stop her licking.
Just what kind of path is this…
Ciel looked at this bizarre yet strangely familiar unknown ability. A silver light flashed, and the blood-stained Blood Roland vanished.
The "Physician" potion within her began to surge as well. The wound on her wrist felt itchy as it rapidly repaired itself and scabbed over.
The woman before her looked as if she had lost her soul, still instinctively licking her lips, but gradually, she seemed to regain consciousness.
She slowly raised her hand to look at the rune stone in her palm. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she snapped her head up and saw Ciel across from her.
The woman's eyes widened. A terrifying impulse and a thirst for blood surged into her mind, but soon, a conviction suppressed them completely.
Sensing her body repairing itself and the power within gradually beginning to emerge, the woman quickly dropped to her knees, prostrating herself before Ciel. She spoke: "I thank You, Great Outer God… Ruler of the Empire of Old Days…"
Anyone can speak words of flattery to a deity, and the woman was no exception. A long string of titles was immediately modified and put to use.
"What is your name?" Ciel cut off the woman's seemingly endless honorifics and asked, "Where is this? And what was your purpose in summoning me?"
She still preferred to be direct; it saved time and effort.
