Unknowingly, Ciel had spent the entire night delving through the vast amount of information. Only when the first light of dawn began to break did she finally put down her pen.
Her hands were already stained with a significant amount of black ink, and the papers she had written on were scattered across the floor. The area around the desk was essentially covered in her manuscripts; there was hardly a place to step.
At this point, there were less than six hours left before the return to reality.
After nearly a night of organizing, the vast amount of information hadn't given Ciel much of a sense of security. Instead, it began to leave her a bit bewildered.
"Huuu..."
Ciel exhaled softly and stood up, the papers on her lap scattering across the floor as she rose. She stepped across the manuscripts on the ground with bare feet.
The sound of bare feet on paper caused the drowsy Tara to snap her head up. She looked toward Ciel and hurried forward, picking up Ciel’s indoor shoes and half-squatting at her feet to place them before her.
"Thank you."
After putting on her shoes, Ciel pressed her hand to her abdon and looked at the standing Tara, smiling. "Could you help get sothing to eat?"
"Yes, Lady Ciel!"
Tara obeyed the command and quickly left the study. Ciel, anwhile, walked to the window, drew the curtains, and looked at the scenery outside.
Morning in Ansu was shrouded in mist. Pedestrians were already starting to walk the hazy streets. Ciel simply watched the passing crowd, thinking quietly.
Ciel didn't know if unlocking the Old Days was a one-ti event. She prepared with the mindset of wanting to be as ready as possible, but unfortunately, most of her preparations seed to be in vain.
She didn't want to waste this hard-won opportunity for an Old Days simulation. After all, it was her capital against Sadhana and, so far, the only solution.
If she didn't attempt the Old Days, Ciel would have to try to speedrun a single path to Tier 4 or even Tier 5, allowing herself to transcend the transcendent and beco an Ascender... to face Sadhana with her own raw strength.
But Ciel believed this path was a dead end.
She could indeed integrate "Uniqueness" more easily than others—in fact, she already had—and she had a ready-made formula for potions and reconstitution rituals from Tier 1 "Knight" to Tier 5 "Dominion" before her. If she wanted, she could certainly succeed after a few simulations.
However, rationality and intuition told Ciel that there must be a reason why no Ascenders had appeared for so many years.
Rushing to beco an Ascender might instead be dangerous.
Ciel closed her eyes, sensing the two red lights in her mind and the murmurs within them.
It was Little Left from the Other Side and Tara from reality praying to her.
As expected, Tara was just like Little Left. After receiving the faceless goddess statue, she began "harassing" Ciel incessantly, wanting to pray every few minutes.
Ciel slowly opened her eyes, ignoring the red light in her mind.
If the Old Days were indeed the Chaos Era, it ant that Ascenders existed there, and true gods existed… It was truly hard to say which was more dangerous—the Old Days, or Sadhana in the Other Side.
But to seek the truth and resolve the crisis, Ciel had to go to the Old Days.
Perhaps the system's initial promise—creating her own path in the Old Days—would be the ans to solve everything.
At this point, she could only trust the system once more.
After eating a simple al, Ciel found Avena. The remaining ti in the simulation was largely spent under Avena's ntal healing. This was to maintain her ntal energy and prevent further depletion.
When the system's final countdown ended, silver light flashed before Ciel's eyes, and she arrived once more in that familiar silver-white space.
「No. 16: "Knight" Ciel」
All 16 save slots were filled with different paths. Ciel had finally collected all 16.
The silver space dissipated rapidly before her, and her consciousness was pulled back to reality...
…
「Reality」
「Holy Year 741, July 26, 4:00 PM」
「Evaluation: Good, faster than I imagined」
「16 paths, you have finally finished collecting them... Are you ready?」
「Accept it; this is well-deserved based on your performance.」
「Reward: Unlock 【Old Days】 Access」
「Fate Points: 374」
Ciel slowly opened her eyes, the faint minty fragrance lingering at her nose.
She looked at the system panel before her and took a deep breath.
This was unprecedented; the system didn't even give Ciel a single Fate Point in the settlent screen. The only reward was unlocking Old Days access.
Ciel directly opened the system panel and clicked into the simulation interface.
「Future Days: 2 Days (Holy Year 741, July 28, 4:00 PM) (Cost: 10 Fate Points)」
「Past Days: 51 Days (Holy Year 741, June 16, 11:55 AM) (Cost: 100 Fate Points)」
「Old Days: ***, *** Day (???) (Available Activations: 1)」
The Future Days simulation was still July 28, 4:00 PM...
This was no ordinary Future Days simulation.
This was the ti of her fated death.
Sadhana would break through the Other Side gate and face her within the next two days...
For so reason, after learning that this was the ti of her fated death, Ciel’s heart grew calm instead.
"Can you tell about the Old Days now?" Ciel asked the system without a ripple in her heart.
「You can try unlocking the Old Days directly ^^_」
Ciel was silent.
「Unlocking the Old Days is not a one-ti event like Future or Past Days; it directly grants you access... Theoretically, as long as it is utilized, you can keep the Old Days open indefinitely」
Ciel’s silence seed to put pressure on the system. A long explanation surfaced before Ciel, without even the addition of those strange smirking emojis.
"Activate."
Although the system never seed particularly reliable, it wouldn't be perfunctory or deceptive regarding serious matters, so Ciel focused her mind directly on the Old Days simulation.
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