Chapter 142: Obtaining 'Uniqueness' and Other Side Contamination

Obtaining 'Uniqueness' and Other Side Contamination

Several memory fragments of the Other Side flashed through Ciel’s mind.

Those were her few memories of the Other Side.

Also experienced by her simulated self venturing into the Other Side.

The purpose then was to find the sealed artifact whose name she only learned later—”Death Omen’s Gaze.”

In those few memory fragments of the Other Side, Ciel roughly witnessed the changes in the Other Side, but her spirit collapsed back then just after confirming the sealed artifact’s coordinates.

Even later, when her real self entered the simulation, she was affected by those fragments.

So Ciel’s purpose at this moment was very clear.

After entering the Other Side, use all means to dismantle the “Contaminated Fate Renegade’s Touch” in the fastest time possible and extract the Uniqueness.

Even if she died, she couldn’t die in the Other Side, couldn’t let her real self remain in the Other Side upon arrival.

Seemingly understanding Ciel’s thoughts.

After dragging Ciel into the Other Side, Little Left directly climbed onto her back. As soon as Ciel’s spirit showed problems, it would drag Ciel back to reality.

Like being strapped with a safety harness during bungee jumping.

The moment she was completely dragged into the Other Side, the surrounding buildings collapsed instantly, and the world before her eyes was enveloped in a gradually thickening mist.

Ciel had no time to pay attention to the changing scenery around her. While she could still think, she quickly scanned her surroundings, searching for the possible location of the quill pen.

Soon, a silver-white light mixed with fluorescent blue appeared in Ciel’s vision.

It’s the quill pen sealed artifact!

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At this moment, it had transformed into the form of a raven, just slightly different from the form Ciel had seen before.

The raven shadow in the Other Side seemed to have reverted everything to the most primitive raven form, but one of its pupils showed an abnormal silver-white color.

It was a tiny, silver gear, almost only a quarter the size of a fingernail.

That’s it.

“Little Left!” Ciel quickly issued a command in her mind.

Instantly, Ciel felt the heavy weight on her back disappear. A swift figure parted the mist, rushing straight towards the raven still standing blankly not far ahead.

Little Left, back in the Other Side, was like returning home. Outside, Ciel’s eyes could still track Little Left’s position somewhat. But in the Other Side, Little Left was as fast as teleportation.

Almost in the blink of an eye, Little Left clamped the quill pen sealed artifact with four fingers and rushed directly before Ciel.

Looking at the raven fixed before her, Ciel didn’t hesitate at all, reaching directly towards the raven’s eyeball.

Just then, the originally concrete raven before Ciel twisted. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

Its pupil containing the silver gear seemed like a monster filled with tentacles. Countless tentacles spurted out from its pupil, almost bursting the raven’s head.

And the number of these gushing flesh tentacles instantly exceeded the raven’s own body size, still continuously gushing outwards.

Ciel’s right hand paused for a moment, but quickly, she reacted, directly plunging her hand into the mass of tentacles. Even as those tentacles drilled into the muscles through the skin of her hand, Ciel didn’t retreat in the slightest.

This is fake... This is fake...

Everything I see is not real...

An unbearable sharp pain shot through Ciel’s right arm, as if all the nerves in her arm snapped inch by inch. She could no longer feel the existence of her right hand.

Those tentacles broke through Ciel’s arm, drilling straight up her shoulder towards her neck. If they touched her spine, Ciel would probably be paralyzed instantly.

Pain pierced deep into the marrow, striking the soul. Ciel’s vision began to develop double images. Between the blurred sights, she seemed to see not a pile of indescribable tentacles and a raven whose form couldn’t be seen...

But her sister.

That illusory figure just squatted before her, somewhat curiously watching her current actions.

Ah!!!!

Ciel couldn’t make a sound, but her heart was already screaming. She used all her body’s strength, ignoring the continuously upward-creeping tentacles, lunged forward directly, her right hand continuing forward with the momentum!

Her right hand finally regained a trace of sensation.

In a pile of sticky tentacles, she touched a hard yet warm object.

Crack—

Ignoring that her fingers were already completely twisted and broken, Ciel clenched her fist as best she could, clamping the hard object in her palm, and forcefully pulled back.

Splat—

A crisp sound echoed. The tentacles before Ciel, almost covering the entire ground, receded towards the center at an extremely fast speed, like a tide composed of tentacles.

The tentacle tide continuously surged towards the center, finally converging into a tiny point—the raven’s bloody eye socket.

And Ciel’s right hand, already showing bone, held a crushed eyeball. In the bloody palm, a silver precision gear lay quietly in her hand.

Ciel’s consciousness began to drift. She looked around somewhat blankly. Through the mist, she could still tell this was an unfinished factory area, but in the depths of the mist, countless shadows surged within.

Their silhouettes were twisted, deformed, indescribable. Their whispers exploded in Ciel’s mind like violent ravings. Ciel knelt on the spot like a soulless puppet, letting those shadows wrapped in mosaic-like thick fog approach her.

“Hiss—”

A sound like a snake flicking its tongue echoed beside Ciel’s ear, allowing her to regain a slight bit of sanity.

Her eyeballs moved. She saw the terrifying left hand perched beside her, anxiously hissing with its back towards her, seemingly dispelling the approaching shadows.

“Uniqueness”... cannot be taken outside... will be discovered...

Then how...

Ciel’s thinking began to lag; she had no more strength for further thought.

She raised her hand, using a creature’s instinctive action—swallowing—directly swallowed the precision gear into her stomach.

Buzz—

A terrifying buzzing exploded in Ciel’s mind.

The system panel before her seemed to glitch, stacking layer upon layer before her eyes, almost blocking out all mist and vision. For a moment, Ciel’s vision was filled only with silver-white.

“Little Left...”

As her consciousness was about to disperse, Ciel silently chanted a name in her heart.

The left hand, having received permission, quickly grabbed the back collar of Ciel’s clothes, directly dragging Ciel towards the continuously shrinking blood-red vortex, instantly throwing Ciel out of the Other Side.

The moment Ciel was completely thrown out of the Other Side, the blood-red vortex dissipated at that moment.

-

“Young Mistress, do we need to go over this early?”

Nia, who had been following behind Avena, couldn’t help but ask, “Your appointment with Miss Ciel is at five, right? It’s only half past three now...”

“Punctuality is a noble virtue.”

Avena, walking ahead, didn’t turn back, just replied faintly, “I’m just coming early to look around.”

What’s there to look around in factories... Which factory are you planning to buy again?

Nia buried this sentence in her heart; she knew she couldn’t persuade this Young Mistress.

Ever since completing the Reconstitution Ritual, the Young Mistress had been unusually excited, seemingly eager to see Ciel quickly and show off.

Like a girl wanting to show off her new doll to her friend.

Although Avena appeared indifferent on her face, these psychological activities couldn’t deceive Nia, who watched her grow up.

For a moment, Nia felt somewhat emotional.

Miss Avena had no close friends since childhood, developing her current rather solitary and quiet personality. Now having friends to share with was quite good.

Just that Ciel... her background was somewhat mysterious, held many cards, and her attitude towards the Young Mistress was unknown. This worried Nia slightly.

Although she didn’t even have a partner, Avena was like half a granddaughter in her eyes. Nia naturally didn’t want Avena to suffer in interpersonal relationships.

“Right.”

Avena, walking ahead, remembered something, turned back to look at Nia, and said, “Nia, wait for me nearby. I’ll go alone—Ciel still has the curse on her. It’s better if you don’t get too close.”

“...Alright.”

Nia nodded.

Nia had already arranged for detectives to deploy defenses nearby, and this was the territory of the Church of the Savior Goddess; there shouldn’t be any major problems.

Most importantly, so many cultists had been slaughtered; cultists probably wouldn’t dare cause trouble for a short time, and that Ciel seemed quite capable of dealing with cultists. The Young Mistress’s safety shouldn’t be too much of a concern.

When the factory under construction came into view, Nia stopped, leaped onto the roof of another factory, leaned against the chimney, and watched the Young Mistress walking on the muddy ground.

But soon, her gaze shifted towards the factory, her brow slightly furrowed.

Just now, a subtle spiritual alarm sounded in her mind. It flashed rather quickly; if not for her exceptionally sensitive perception, she might have missed it.

There... what happened?

Clouds of doubt gathered in Nia’s heart. That trace of spiritual alarm always made her uneasy, but thinking of Avena who had already advanced, Nia suppressed her worries slightly. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

The Young Mistress had successfully advanced to “Psychologist,” and the quality of the Reconstitution Ritual was high; her self-protection ability had significantly improved.

Mental attacks basically couldn’t harm the Young Mistress at all. Physical attacks couldn’t break the Young Mistress’s protective transcendent items in a short time either, at least enough to hold on until she arrived.

She couldn’t protect the Young Mistress forever.

Nia raised her hand, looking at the silver-glowing gauntlet on her hand, falling into silence.

Reflected in the armor, besides the gloomy weather, was also an overwhelming mist.

...

Avena walked briskly to the factory entrance.

She stopped at the entrance, looking into the pitch-black interior, somewhat curiously observing the surroundings.

The sky was gloomy, and there were no lighting fixtures inside the factory. Coupled with the roof’s cover, almost half of the factory interior was shrouded in shadow.

To be safe, Avena took out a thin glass tube from the handbag she carried. Inside the tube was a black solution.

She held the glass tube, slightly warming the solution inside with her palm’s heat, then gently shook it. Faint warm yellow fluorescence emitted from within, gradually becoming hot and bright.

Holding the thin wooden handle at the stopper, Avena walked into the factory carrying the tube lamp.

Why did Ciel want to meet here?

Makes it seem like some kind of... gang transaction point.

The light tube in Avena’s hand dispersed some of the darkness. As she continued deeper, a figure kneeling in the corner, head lowered, caught Avena’s attention.

This is...

Seeing the familiar hair color, Avena quickened her pace, almost running to the figure’s side by the end.

“Ciel?!”

The light tube was thrown aside by Avena. She knelt before Ciel, reached out with both hands, and directly cupped Ciel’s cheeks.

No external injuries, but...

So hot...

At this moment, Ciel’s eyes stared straight ahead—her gaze seemed to penetrate through herself, looking towards somewhere far away. And Ciel’s mouth was softly and rapidly muttering something.

Her forehead was already flushed red. Avena reached out to wipe it and could feel Ciel’s scorching skin, as if her brain was about to burn up.

“What are you saying?”

Avena wanted to lean closer to listen to Ciel’s words, but when her ear caught those chaotic and rapid words, a spiritual alarm abruptly sounded in her mind.

The piercing alarm, like a banshee’s shriek, seemed to be screaming, telling Avena to stay away, not to listen.

Startled by this shriek, Avena subconsciously stepped back, falling onto the ground. She looked at Ciel, who was like a soulless puppet at this moment, and quickly calmed down.

What is this situation?

Ciel’s current state, rather than being brainwashed, seemed more like being... contaminated?

In this situation, she couldn’t rashly help, but had to think of a way, couldn’t just do nothing...

Avena quickly picked up the lighting she dropped earlier and began rapidly observing Ciel’s surroundings.

Soon, she saw a corpse lying on the ground, dressed lavishly—the corpse was broken in half at the waist, corpse blood scattered everywhere, and the corpse itself was extremely dry, muscles showing a purplish-blue color, clearly dead for some time.

These clothes... weren’t they made by the tailor I recommended? She remembered a few days ago, Ciel did take her family crest to retrieve a female thief...

However, there was no longer any transcendent aura on the corpse.

Avena’s gaze continued searching; she didn’t miss any detail.

Soon, her gaze stopped on a notebook.

-

It was Ciel’s notebook and pen.

She quickly walked over, bent down to pick up the notebook and pen, walked before Ciel, and quickly opened it.

There should be something useful recorded in the notebook...

But when Avena fully opened the notebook, she was completely stunned.

Written on it were some square characters she couldn’t understand at all, different from any foreign language she had learned... This seemed like a rather ancient language.

But from the elegant handwriting, Avena could accurately recognize this was Ciel’s notes—after all, she had been corresponding with Ciel these past few days.

Avena placed the notebook and pen aside. Ignoring the dust on the ground, she knelt directly before Ciel, reached out, and took her hands.

Wait... Ciel...

A faint light flickered in Avena’s dark purple pupils. Avena held her breath, focusing all her attention on Ciel’s soulless eyes.

...

This is... what?

Ciel looked at the patches of silver-white light before her, lost in thought.

Did I come out of the Other Side?

But where is this place?

System space?

Before Ciel’s eyes, silver-white frames continued to pop up.

Inside these frames, where system text used to display for communication, were now filled with characters unfamiliar to Ciel.

She tentatively turned her head, only to find such frames piled up everywhere. No matter where she looked, there were heaps of system frames.

“Really bugged?”

Ciel tentatively spoke, but heard no reply—at this moment, she couldn’t even open the system interface. This was the first time Ciel encountered this situation.

Unsure how long this situation lasted, the frames finally stopped increasing.

Slowly, the system interfaces stacked before Ciel dissipated block by block. After a long time, Ciel finally saw something other than the system interfaces.

Before her was a tiny gear.

It floated in the vast expanse of silver-white space, just quietly revolving.

Only then did Ciel realize the system frames didn’t disappear into thin air but were absorbed into that gear.

Only after all the frames were absorbed did the gear gradually stop revolving.

A new system interface appeared before Ciel.

【Nice view?】

Unsure why, Ciel seemed to sense the system’s resentment from this sentence.

“Did you malfunction?” Ciel asked somewhat curiously.

【...】

【Sigh...】

For some reason, after sending a series of ellipses, the system finally sent a sighing tone word.

“Why sigh?”

【Just thinking about having to do these things again makes me feel bad】

“What did you do?”

【Helped you seal away all the knowledge and will within the “Uniqueness”】

“Seal away... then it’s useless, right?”

【So, do you want me to seal them away, or do you want to go crazy yourself?】

【Haha, managed to make a pun out of that too, pinned ^^】

Seeing the familiar annoying system expression, Ciel finally relaxed slightly.

Looks like the system didn’t bug out, still fine.

【Next time you don’t have to swallow it, just stuff it in the stopwatch】

【Oops, oh no~ I can’t hold on much longer~ Can’t continue shielding you from contamination ^_^】

As the system’s last communication interface disappeared, the silver light before Ciel rapidly dissipated.

This was definitely intentional by the system—

Only this thought flashed through Ciel’s mind before she quickly tensed her spirit, preparing to face the possible “contamination” or “whispers.”

But what Ciel didn’t expect was that the mental impact she imagined didn’t arrive.

Feeling the recovery of control over her body, Ciel slowly opened her eyes.

Opening her eyes, she saw her mangled right hand.

All the skin from the palm to the arm of her right hand had been torn open. In some places, only the skin connected some flesh. Even the muscles themselves had started turning somewhat purple.

In the crevices between skin and muscle, some tentacles still writhed, as if they were inherently part of her hand, already fused with her flesh.

Looking along her palm, she saw another pair of fair hands, currently tightly gripping her own hands.

Continuing to look up, Avena, wearing glasses and kneeling before her, appeared in Ciel’s vision.

Avena was currently holding Ciel’s hands, eyes tightly shut. Her face showed slight pain, her forehead covered in fine sweat.

Is Avena bearing this for me?

This would greatly impact Avena’s spirit... And Ciel had to know the extent of her own spiritual contamination without Avena’s help.

“Avena...” Ciel spoke, calling Avena’s name.

Avena, hearing Ciel’s words at this moment, abruptly opened her eyes. Her dark purple pupils trembled slightly, seemingly still shaken from seeing something.

Ciel slowly withdrew her hands from Avena’s grasp, but Avena’s hands seemed to exert some force, not wanting Ciel’s hands to leave.

However, Avena’s strength was still too weak compared to Ciel’s. Ciel’s current physical strength, enhanced by 【Dexterity】, wasn’t something a non-combat path Avena could contend with.

“It’s alright now, Avena.” After withdrawing her hands, Ciel looked at the somewhat shaken Avena, reached out her left hand, slowly put it around her shoulder, embraced her, and said, “It’s over.”

After leaving the influence of Avena’s ability, Ciel’s vision began to show slight double images and hallucinations. The originally dark factory seemed shrouded in mist again. frёewebnoѵēl.com

The warm yellow light emitted by the liquid in the light tube dispersed part of the darkness, but in the faint mist-shrouded darkness untouched by the light, something seemed to be rustling and whispering, luring Ciel closer.

“Ci... Ciel... I... I saw...” Avena’s chin rested on Ciel’s shoulder, stammering, “Why you too...”

Avena’s somewhat chaotic spirit clearly hadn’t completely stabilized yet. Ciel didn’t speak, just gently patted Avena’s back with her left palm.

Under Ciel’s gentle touch, Avena’s rapidly beating heart finally slowed down gradually, her body no longer trembling.

At this moment, Avena seemed to realize their current posture was slightly ambiguous, but after hesitating for a moment, Avena still slowly reached out her hands and hugged Ciel’s back.

-

The liquid in the light tube gradually cooled down, the light also gradually dissipating. The two just hugged each other in the dim factory, quietly feeling each other’s body temperature.

Neither seemed to want to break the current tranquility.

But after a while, when darkness completely encroached, the rustling whispers in the dark started making Ciel’s brain throb. She slowly said, “Avena... can you turn on the light?”

At this moment, Avena in the darkness slowly pushed Ciel away, walked to the light tube that was almost completely dark, picked up the finger-long glass rod, and pressed it against Ciel’s forehead.

Quickly, the liquid inside melted again, and with Avena’s gentle shaking, light once again dispersed the darkness.

“Is it... over?” Avena asked softly.

“Yes, that curse sealed artifact has been destroyed by me, forever left in the ‘Other Side’.” Ciel nodded and said.

Ciel seemed to remember something, asking, “You said ‘you too?’ just now...”

While speaking, Ciel changed her posture, holding the light rod, shaking it occasionally, while leaning against the wall.

Avena, disregarding the dirt on the ground and dust on the wall, sat beside Ciel, their shoulders pressed tightly together.

“Nia’s situation is very similar to yours.” Avena hugged her knees, half her face almost buried in her knees.

“Other Side contamination.”

Other Side contamination?

Expected.

However, this level basically wouldn’t affect Ciel much—but for a short time, she definitely couldn’t use 【Spiritual Summoning】 or enter the Other Side again.

This point must be written in the notebook later.

She picked up the nearby notebook and pen with her left hand. When Ciel raised her right hand, she saw again her strange and terrifying right hand, resembling a mutation.

Ciel really wanted to ignore the existence of this right hand, but when she held the pen, the trembling of her right hand made it almost impossible for her to write.

When Ciel finally put pen to paper, she found that the characters she wrote, even she herself didn’t recognize, as if all the fonts in her mind were jumbled together.

Finally, she gave up writing herself. She handed the notebook and pen to Avena sitting on her left with her left hand, and said, “Can you do me a favor?”

“Hm?” Avena took the notebook somewhat puzzledly and asked, “These... I can’t write them.”

“It’s fine, just write in Ansu script.” Ciel said, “I’ll say one sentence, you write one sentence.”

Just like that, Ciel said one sentence, Avena wrote one sentence, recording everything that happened just now—excluding “Uniqueness” and the system—in the notebook.

“Who is this for?” Avena noticed the writing seemed like it was for someone else, not recorded for memory reinforcement.

“People from the organization.” Ciel replied.

That organization again...

Avena’s hand holding the pen tightened slightly.

Making Ciel torture her spirit like this, no matter how secretive this organization was, it successfully aroused Avena’s desire to investigate.

Avena would find the person who gave Ciel the task and teach them a harsh lesson.

“Congratulations,” Ciel looked at the somewhat absentminded Avena and said, “Second tier?”

“Mm.” Avena nodded.

“You didn’t encounter any danger just now, right?” Ciel continued asking.

Although this plan succeeded, if the price was damage to Avena’s spirit or spiritual body, Ciel would have to consider changing the plan slightly.

“No.” Avena shook her head, “I was just scared.”

Ciel: “Scared?”

Avena: “Scared you would become like Nia.”

Ciel: “Become... a monster?”

Avena: “Might leave me at any time.”

“Is my condition very dangerous?” Ciel pressed.

If her mental state was really on the verge of collapse, Ciel would have to consider changing plans, possibly even discarding “Uniqueness” in extreme situations, just to avoid going mad herself.

Ciel hadn’t yet experienced the benefits of obtaining “Uniqueness,” but she didn’t think anything was more important than her own life.

“No, your condition is much lighter.” Avena shook her head.

“As long as I’m alive, your mental condition won’t worsen, can recover slowly.”

“Provided that,” Avena emphasized, “you can’t be too far from me. If it worsens and I’m not around, treatment will be more troublesome.”

“Help me write one more sentence.” Ciel said.

Avena picked up the notebook and pen, asking, “What?”

“After the task is completed, I cannot leave Avena too far, best to stay by her side at all times.”

Avena’s pen paused slightly, then she still wrote it down in Ansu script.

“Did Nia come with you?” Ciel asked.

“Yes.” Avena nodded.

“Can you go wait for me with Nia first? I’ll be there shortly.”

“But...”

“It’s fine, won’t take long.”

“...Okay.” Avena obediently stood up, left the light tube behind, and walked towards the factory entrance. When she reached the entrance, she looked back at Ciel once, saw Ciel raise her left hand and waved at her.

After Avena left the factory and completely disappeared from sight, Ciel supported herself against the wall and slowly stood up.

Her real self couldn’t experience her current feelings. She had to make a detailed assessment of her own body.

Ciel glanced at the time, still two and a half hours until her real self arrived... The unconscious period was indeed quite long.

What happened next couldn’t be heard by Avena, especially details about the system. She had to write it down herself for her real self—even if it meant drawing, she had to draw everything out.