The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 77

Following the open secret passage downwards, the smell of blood grew stronger.

In the sanctuary below, they saw several different kinds of corpses. These bodies had their heads or hearts crushed by some blunt object, a very different, less painful method of death.

“These are the cultists I dealt with.” Uris paused for a moment, then pointed towards another secret passage. “That way leads up to where Ciel was before.”

“Ugh—” Behind them, a first-tier transcendent, likely unused to seeing dead bodies, vomited at the sight of the carnage.

The continuous trail of blood and corpses cast a shadow over everyone’s hearts. Tension spread through the group.

Many “Ascetics” might not have even fought an ordinary person since completing their Reconstitution Ritual, let alone faced such a terrifying second-tier entity.

Following the passage Uris indicated, the group cautiously advanced upwards. Soon, a row of shattered bookshelves appeared before them.

Peering through the gaps in the bookshelves, they saw a lavish office. On the office’s red carpet, a dark red bloodstain was particularly conspicuous, mixed with bits of brain matter.

“This is…” Avena frowned, looking at the blood trail leading towards the door.

“It’s the corpse of that cultist ‘Missionary’,” Uris confirmed. “I don’t sense Ciel’s presence.”

“Sis… the body was dragged away,” Adele peeked out and whispered a reminder.

“Dragged away?” Uris’s heart sank slightly.

Transcendents assimilated by their potions develop an unusual craving for spiritual materials and other transcendents.

They continuously consume these materials or corpses, especially those of similar paths, to accelerate their own potion assimilation until their sanity is completely annihilated.

“Nia.”

“Yes, Milady.”

From here, Uris no longer needed to lead the way.

Nia followed the blood trail outside, with Avena and Uris close behind.

Adele hesitated for a second, then shut her eyes tightly and ran after them.

Can’t fall behind… can’t fall behind… Adele kept reminding herself.

In situations like this, falling behind was the worst thing to do. In knight novels, those who cleverly tried to escape alone always got several pages dedicated to describing their gruesome deaths.

Just as they exited the small study-turned-office, they saw that the blood trail had doubled.

Following the trail, two became four… soon, the bloodstains merged into a solid path, making it impossible to distinguish individual trails.

“It’s all transcendent blood…” Adele commented. Dealing with blood daily, she wasn’t surprised by this material.

Just how many had been killed?

Following the blood trail downstairs, the group stopped outside the steel gate of the underground exchange area.

The previously open gate was now shut tight. Corpses were piled outside like cargo.

The putrid stench of blood assaulted their nostrils. Avena pressed her lips together tightly. After a moment, she said, “Nia, open the door.”

Whether Ciel had been assimilated or not, having killed so many people, she would definitely be taken in for investigation by the Church of the Savior Goddess…

“Ciel… is inside…” Uris seemed to sense something and spoke, her voice trembling slightly.

Nia slowly stepped forward, raised the silver-white shield in her right hand, and slammed it against the steel gate.

Boom—!

The thick gate buckled inwards dramatically. The gate mechanism embedded in the wall warped under the impact, causing exaggerated cracks to appear in the surrounding fired concrete and brickwork. The chandelier overhead swayed, dislodging debris, like an earthquake.

Nia retracted her shield, gathered her strength, and punched forward with the silver shield.

Boom—!

The gate was instantly blasted inwards, kicking up a cloud of dust.

As the dust settled, the scene inside left everyone stunned.

The once spacious and luxurious exchange area had been cleared into numerous circular zones. Within each zone lay shriveled, horrifying corpses or materials burned to ash. Eerie sacrificial ritual arrays were etched onto the floor with blood.

And in the deepest part of the exchange area, a petite figure with red hair, barefoot and wearing a torn black maid dress, stood with her back to them, facing a massive array on the wall, her hands outstretched.

The girl’s body was almost devoid of color. Countless fine blood threads emerged from all over her body, converging onto the sacrificial array on the wall before her.

Poof—

The headless female corpse hanging upside down before the array burst into flames.

As it burned, the entire blood array pulsed with an eerie crimson light. A vortex composed of blood mist formed before the array.

One, two… massive tentacles, a meter in diameter and trailing hooked chains, emerged from the vortex. The tentacles writhed, tearing at the blood mist vortex, as if something even more terrifying was trying to break through from within.

Voom—!

Almost everyone present felt a terrifying buzzing in their minds. Spiritual alarms screamed wildly in their heads.

As the tentacles tore wider, a horrifying, tooth-filled maw emerged from within, but became stuck in the blood mist vortex, unable to push further out.

“Gurgle… gurgle…”

Sounds like bursting blood blisters in a boiling swamp of gore and flesh rumbled from the giant mouth, seemingly communicating something with the girl whose back was turned to them.

The purple eyes circling the lipless maw swiveled, individually fixing upon each person standing at the entrance, unleashing unrestrained madness and killing intent.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

At this moment, the first-tier transcendents, whether “Missionaries,” “Physicians,” or “Detectives,” were overwhelmed by extreme fear. They screamed and cried, turning to flee.

It was a primal tremor before the ancient unknown, a terror potent enough to shatter faith.

The Sacrificial Saint’s Relic on Avena’s chest blazed brightly. Adele downed three potion vials in one go. Uris’s white shadows instantly shielded the four of them. Even Nia, the third-tier “Crown Guard,” lowered her stance slightly, adopting her highest level of alertness.

And the girl with her back to them, seemingly disturbed by something, painfully raised her left hand to clutch the left side of her hair and slowly turned her head.

Her bloodstained, pale face showed hints of pain and displeasure. Her crimson eyes swept casually over the four who remained.

“So noisy…” A hoarse, sickly voice came from the girl’s lips.

The sound struck their ears like a heavy hammer, causing their hearts and breaths to momentarily cease.

Nia’s gaze was fixed on the terrifying maw behind the girl. The whispers in her mind intensified under the stare of the eyes surrounding the maw.

It was like countless tormented souls screaming and wailing in her ears.

Weren’t they supposed to be dealing with an out-of-control second-tier transcendent?

What were these sacrificial rituals?! And what was that thing behind her?!

“Milady, something’s wrong! We might have to leave!!!” Nia determined almost instantly that she couldn’t protect Lady Avena in a fight against whatever was before them.

Something was terribly wrong. They had to retreat!