The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 78

The giant maw, originally stuck halfway out of the blood mist vortex, completely gave up trying to emerge. It retracted its mouth, leaving only a small portion of the outer skin with eyeballs to observe. The remaining space was now densely covered with tentacles.

“Clang—!”

With the others fleeing, the whispers in Ciel’s mind and ears subsided slightly. She faintly heard the clang of metal on metal, a sound so loud it made the entire ground vibrate.

Through the gaps between the writhing tentacles, Ciel saw Nia at the entrance, a golden honeycomb-patterned light barrier shimmering before her. Each hexagonal segment had small gaps between them, yet they firmly protected Nia and Avena behind her.

The seemingly terrifying tentacles and barbed spikes had no effect on Nia’s shield.

Numerous tentacles covered the shield. Although they couldn’t penetrate it, the suckers continuously secreted green slime, which flowed down through the gaps in the light barrier, coating the entire shield.

Uris, feeling the terrifying spiritual alarm in her mind, instinctively gathered all her white shadows before her, severing the incoming tentacles. Purple blood splattered from the severed ends, nearly drenching her.

Adele’s situation was more direct. The single white shadow Uris had left couldn’t determine the attack direction because the alarm sounded from all sides—tentacles had already surrounded Adele.

As a result, the defenseless first-tier Adele was instantly ensnared by four tentacles and pulled back.

“Wuwuwu.” Adele was bound by the tentacles, dangling beside Ciel.

Taking advantage of this moment, Ciel turned to the few eyes remaining in the blood mist vortex behind her, glared fiercely, and mentally roared, “Stop attacking!”

Ciel couldn’t issue complex commands. Through previous experiments, she knew spiritual beings likely couldn’t understand intricate instructions.

The purple, malevolent pupils swiveled, then slowly retracted the tentacles, arranging the remaining ones along the edge of the blood mist vortex.

At this time, the blood mist vortex began to shrink, apparently reaching its time limit.

Having dealt with the spiritual being’s attack, Ciel felt the intensifying whispers pounding her head, causing excruciating pain. She turned to look at Adele, still suspended in mid-air by several tentacles.

“Don’t cry!” Ciel placed her right index finger to her lips. She tried her best to sound calm, but her tone still carried a distinct threat.

Hearing Ciel speak, Adele froze for a moment, then quickly clamped her mouth shut, though tears still streamed down her face when she blinked.

“Put her down.” Ciel waved her hand, instructing the tentacles to release Adele.

Standing where she was, Adele looked at Ciel, her legs feeling somewhat weak, but she still didn’t dare run away, afraid of being caught again.

“Adele? Adele, where are you?!”

“Milady, are you alright?”

“I… I’m fine…”

Ciel glanced towards the entrance. It was chaos over there; she couldn’t hear what they were saying.

She turned back to Adele beside her and asked, “Why did you all come here?”

This time, Ciel speaking directly finally brought Adele gradually back to her senses.

After confirming she wasn’t hallucinating, Adele sniffled and asked, “Ciel… you… you’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

Ciel frowned and said, “I just can’t hear you guys very well now, Uris was the same earlier, she ran off for no reason.”

“…Huh?”

Adele blinked, stunned, murmuring, “They said you drank a first-tier potion and a second-tier potion within 24 hours… and went mad…”

“My ‘Avenger’ potion wasn’t consumed within 24 hours.” Ciel shook her head. “I just have hidden methods, you misunderstood.”

Adele: “Huh?”

Adele: “Then… what about that monster?”

Adele could sense that Ciel was currently rational and capable of coherent communication, but she still couldn’t comprehend the evil sacrificial arrays Ciel had set up or the terrifying monsters she had summoned… These were clearly the methods of a cult.

“Some cultists were performing a sacrificial ritual here before fleeing. When I regained consciousness, I happened to come over and deal with it,” Ciel casually made something up, then mentally commanded the spiritual being to return.

As the tentacles retracted, the blood mist vortex slowly shrank until it vanished completely.

Even the purple blood, slime, and severed limbs left behind by the tentacles began to disintegrate, dissolving into faint blue motes of light.

Adele clearly believed Ciel’s explanation, her tearful face clearing up. The whispers in Ciel’s mind immediately lessened considerably.

However, the whispers emanating from the entrance continued to assault Ciel’s brain.

“Help me explain to them,” Ciel said to Adele. “Also, tell them my head is full of chaotic noise right now. If they maintain their fearful emotions, the whispers will only get worse.”

“Mm-hmm.” Adele nodded vigorously and ran towards the entrance.

At the entrance, once the purple blood and slime disappeared, the group reorganized themselves, watching Ciel warily.

Except for the unharmed “Crown Guard” Nia, Uris and Avena’s clothes had large holes corroded through them, barely covering essential parts of their bodies.

They were stunned to see Adele running towards them unharmed.

Only after Adele relayed Ciel’s words did Avena and Uris look towards Ciel with suspicion.

Ciel’s explanation was full of holes… but for now, they could confirm that Ciel hadn’t been assimilated by the potion and still retained her sanity.

As their mindset shifted, the ringing in Ciel’s ears gradually subsided. The dizziness from massive blood loss hit her fully at this moment, making her sway unsteadily.

Noticing Ciel’s unstable condition, Adele and Avena rushed towards her, with Uris and Nia following closely behind.

Just as Ciel’s legs gave out and she uncontrollably pitched forward, Avena stepped forward and caught her. Together with Adele, they gently lowered Ciel, letting her head rest on Avena’s now bare thigh.

“Hang in there, Ciel.” Adele had been panicked earlier, but now that she was calm, she could immediately recognize Ciel’s state of extreme blood loss.

She quickly took out a vial of deep green potion, shook it slightly, uncorked it, and held it to Ciel’s lips.

Already severely thirsty from blood loss, Ciel took the bottle and drank it all down.

As the cool potion entered her mouth, warmth began to spread from where the liquid flowed, restoring feeling to Ciel’s cold, numb limbs.

But the soft surface her head rested on, combined with her exhaustion, brought waves of overwhelming sleepiness crashing over Ciel.