Above the central hall of the Clock Tower Church, a deeply scarlet “eyeball” hung in mid-air.
Dozens of blood threads, like tentacles twisting, connected to the dozens of transcendents below, draining their life energy while suspending them in mid-air. This appeared extremely eerie against the backdrop of the church’s holy murals and statues.
A young girl with scarlet long hair stood before that “eyeball” where a vortex echoed. An empty potion bottle slipped from her hand, falling to the ground with a crisp sound.
This crisp sound somewhat awakened the slender figure with dark green long hair kneeling at the foot of the holy platform behind the young girl.
The Ciel before Tara’s eyes had begun to appear as a double image. A tremendous buzzing echoed in her mind. Only by focusing all her attention on Ciel could Tara barely resist the terrifying roars and wails in her mind.
Even the Mother Goddess’s whispers could no longer drown out this insane roaring.
Mother Goddess… Did you leave me here to witness this moment…
The sense of loss from not being able to sacrifice herself for the Mother Goddess slowly faded from Tara’s mind. She was prepared to offer no resistance, no matter what came from behind the “door,” and began slowly releasing her mental defenses.
The potion’s whispers continuously impacted her spirit, and the sense of unfamiliarity brought by the door to the Other Side before her also made Ciel feel a terror originating from within…
This feeling was like when she personally entered the door to the Other Side before: wailing, roaring. The feeling of being shrouded in mist inside the Other Side surged into Ciel’s mind again.
Moreover, this time, there was also the potion’s interference, forcing her to fight against two kinds of whispers simultaneously.
Ciel’s thinking began to slow down. The only possibility she could think of was that she summoned the wrong thing…
If she had personally presided over the summoning ritual, then according to the description of 【Spiritual Summoning】, she would definitely attract a being from the Other Side who was benevolent or interested in her. There were no accidents in multiple attempts before.
But this time, the one dominating the summoning, reciting the incantations in reality, was the Keyman. And the blood used to draw the blood array wasn’t purely Ciel’s blood. Her blood accounted for a very small proportion within it, just enough to allow communication with the Other Side to proceed smoothly.
Moreover, the sacrifices this time were basically all people from the Church of the Savior Goddess and the Divine Advent Church. They all shared a common characteristic: faith in the same deity.
If following the previous normal development, with Ciel reciting the ritual incantations and using only Ciel’s blood, given the sacrifice of so many Tier 3 and Tier 2 transcendents, it was undoubtedly possible to summon a being far exceeding a divine servant.
But this ritual was not pure. It only relied on sheer quantity for forceful summoning. Who knew what changes might occur?
Furthermore, according to the logic of summoning from the Other Side, the Other Side beings attracted by the sacrifice might not necessarily be due to a sense of kinship. They might also approach due to a desire to devour or hatred.
When Ciel obtained Uniqueness before, she felt it. Some shadows that were originally somewhat friendly towards her, after Uniqueness appeared, all transformed into a desire to devour, almost driving her mad.
Ciel’s heart began to struggle for a moment.
Should she gamble that the being that emerged was friendly towards her?
Or should she leave first, at least preserving the Tier 3 “Subverter” save file?
“Subverter,” like “Plague Doctor,” was a type that required drinking the potion first and then completing the ritual.
Under normal circumstances now, as long as an Other Side being appeared in Berren City, she could definitely digest the “Subverter” potion.
The digestion progress might not be enough, but it would definitely meet the minimum standard for becoming a “Subverter.” If the subsequent Other Side being could cause greater destruction, Ciel’s potion digestion extent and progress would be faster.
After struggling for just a moment, Ciel made a decision.
Even in a simulation, interacting with the Other Side was not something to gamble with casually. This would also affect her spirit, especially since her spirit hadn’t fully recovered yet and she was only barely able to appear normal with Avena’s help.
Where there’s life, there’s hope.
Ciel quickly turned around, charging towards Tara. She abruptly grabbed the collar of Tara, whose eyes were starting to lose focus, and said, “Quick! Take me to Sir’s Bridge District! As fast as possible!”
Suddenly lifted, Tara’s mind reeled. Seeing Ciel before her, before even considering what Ciel’s words meant, Tara’s body began moving directly.
She directly raised her hand, placing it on Ciel’s arm. The shadow beneath her twisted, splitting into a white figure that sped past the blood eye in mid-air and drilled out of the church.
The next moment, Tara’s figure disappeared from the spot, leaving only a white afterimage.
And from the shadow beneath Ciel’s feet, a white shadow arm directly reached out, grabbed Ciel’s arm, and dragged her into the shadows below. Ciel’s body was directly pulled, piercing through the ground and falling into her own shadow.
The lingering white afterimage of Tara stuck to the ground. It took hold of Ciel’s shadow on the ground, dragging her and charging out of the church.
However, this ability could only be maintained for a short time after rushing out of the church. Ciel’s shadow began to waver. Tara’s white shadow quickly reached into Ciel’s shadow, pulling Ciel out.
The carriage outside was still parked in place, but it had become dilapidated at some point, as if corroded. Even the stone bricks laid at the church entrance showed severe signs of erosion. It seemed one could crumble the stone bricks like tofu dregs with just a gentle squeeze.
The police officers were already lying on the ground. Many had shot themselves. From the expressions on their bodies, it was clear they had suffered immense pain before dying.
Tara’s gaze quickly locked onto the horse twitching on the ground. The white shadow floated along the ground towards the horse that was not yet dead. Directly, a white scythe blade appeared in the hand of the white shadow on the ground. The white shadow directly swung the scythe blade towards the horse’s shadow.
The hooked chain plunged deeply into the horse’s shadow, dragging the shadow out directly. The horse, which had been twitching, instantly stopped moving and died.
Tara’s white shadow helped Ciel up. The shadow horse, which had been corrupted by the white shadow, charged towards Tara. Two white shadows held Ciel and Tara respectively, throwing them onto the shadow horse’s back. Then, the shadow horse bolted, galloping towards the city’s outskirts.
Ciel had used this method when she was “Judicator” before, so she wasn’t surprised. As they gradually moved away from the Clock Tower Church, the roaring in Ciel’s mind also began to show signs of diminishing.
Good thing. Almost played myself out.