Chapter 681
In the old days... had I already looked back on time? With my fourth-tier abilities, enhanced by the "Uniqueness" of the pocket watch, I must have been an Ascendant back then...
Xia'er raised her hand to her forehead, the memories that had just been unlocked in her mind were overwhelming, making it hard for her to fully accept them at that moment.
But... even through those fragmented pieces, Xia'er could sense that in the old days, she had lived a carefree, peaceful, and beautiful life.
She had countless companions, including a girl with a vague silhouette, filled with a mix of urgency and anger, who cared for her, as well as her own research and hobbies...
Yet, the God of Existence seemed to have destroyed it all...
The timeline that could have continued peacefully had become fragmented due to that great catastrophe and countless cycles of retrospection.
The repeated cycles of the old days, the separated Otherworld, the future drained of extraordinary power... everything began with that catastrophe orchestrated by the God of Existence.
Xia'er slowly lifted her gaze to the figure of Salas before her.
“(Spirit Language) Salas, rise...”
At that moment, Salas, who was half-kneeling on the ground, slowly looked up at the girl with dark blue hair and a clouded expression.
For a brief moment, she felt a familiar "power" emanating from the girl before her.
The power known as obsession.
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Chapter 348: Dying Isn’t So Easy
“Lady Witch...”
At this moment, Salas looked at the girl before her, and a string that had been tightly wound in her mind seemed to loosen slightly.
“Did I do it...? Everything I could do...” Salas's lips parted slightly, her breath barely a whisper. “I can...”
Rest...?
The last words went unspoken as Salas's breath suddenly weakened.
All the accumulated mental pollution and pressure surged into Salas's mind in that instant, completely overwhelming her spirit.
Salas's face twisted slightly, silver cracks spreading from her eye sockets downward, as if they were going to tear her face apart.
“You did it...”
Xia'er spoke slowly, extending her right hand. The silver dial of the pocket watch appeared in her right pupil. With the existence of the pocket watch, her abilities related to "Uniqueness" were not limited by any archives.
Buzz.
A brief humming sound rang out, and everything before Xia'er came to a standstill.
The raven flying through the night froze mid-air, the curtains behind her ceased to flutter. Xia'er looked at the silver cracks on Salas's face that had stopped spreading and took a deep breath.
Just like when she had gained the paths of the "Recorder" and "Fictioner," upon touching Salas, she had also acquired the path abilities from her.
Perhaps due to the interruption of memories, Xia'er had not gained powers beyond the fourth tier... but she was certain that she now possessed this power.
The pocket watch represented "Uniqueness." With the powers of the first to fourth tiers in her hands, Xia'er could now be directly referred to as an "Ascendant"...
Or by another name from the old days—"Symbiote."
But unlike a Symbiote, Xia'er did not require any faith as a driving force; instead, she completely merged the pocket watch with herself—no, it should be said that she had unlocked the power within her spirit.
And the one who had fully merged the pocket watch with herself was none other than the pure white armor from the Otherworld.
There was no time to ponder the connections between these matters; Xia'er now faced a pressing issue.
Salas, during her long journey through time, clearly knew a lot about the minions...
But now, Salas's spirit was on the brink of collapse. If she restored the flow of time, Salas would be directly backlashed by the magic and power within her.
If she allowed that backlash to happen, this Salas, filled with knowledge and memories, would face true death.
If it were someone else dying, Xia'er could return to the past to find them, but with Salas, it was not so certain.
The minions of the God of Existence were hunting Salas, and the places she had been might have had their existence erased. For Xia'er to search for her would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
That device...
Xia'er recalled a creation from the pure white armor, that metallic sphere-like "Restoration Pod."
Reimedais was currently resting there; perhaps that "Restoration Pod" could also help Salas.
She had to take her to the Otherworld.
Xia'er wasn't entirely sure why Salas had refrained from going to the Otherworld before, but now, if she wanted to save Salas and help her evade the minions' pursuit, the only option left was to head to the Otherworld.
Xia'er reached out, placing her right hand on Salas's shoulder.
Buzz—
“Countdown - 19:18:11”
“Countdown - 19:15:57”
The buzzing sound rang out again as Xia'er directly "erased" nearly three minutes of time—this was the time needed to bring Salas to the Otherworld node.
At the entrance of the Otherworld node, Xia'er contacted Xiao Zuo through the 【All-Knowing】, and once she confirmed that Xiao Zuo was waiting at the entrance, she gently pushed the frozen Salas into the Otherworld.
The Otherworld node opened like a hungry wolf encountering fresh meat, unfolding a gaping maw of crimson light that swallowed Salas whole.
Only when the shattered shield-shaped Otherworld node closed again did Xia'er lower her hands.
Time began to flow once more.
But the moment time started to flow, Xia'er felt an inexplicable sense of danger.
【Keen】 was alerting her that someone was watching her, even though she was alone in the sealed underground of the Order of the God of Order.
Without hesitation, the hour hand in Xia'er’s right eye froze again, and her mental energy began to drain rapidly, like a bottle of water that had cracked open.
Xia'er turned, directing her gaze toward the source of the gaze that 【Keen】 had sensed.
It was a shadow beneath the spiral staircase. The blood-red light of the Otherworld node illuminated some areas, but it was still clear that there was nothing but stone bricks in the shadow.
The golden gears in Xia'er’s left eye began to turn, and the unique skills of the system began to exceed their limits, unleashing even greater power.
Limit Break: Keen.
The veins at Xia'er’s temples bulged slightly, silver cracks coursing through them.
Under the ultimate perception of Limit Break: Keen, the shadow at the bottom of the staircase, which had been staring at Xia'er, gradually came into view.
It was a tall figure clad in a black robe, standing in the shadow at the bottom of the stairs, calmly gazing in Xia'er’s direction, seemingly unaware that danger was approaching.
Xia'er flipped her right hand, silver light flickering, as a constantly twisting cube hovered in her palm.
“The Armory of the Mastermind Sage.”
The deadly Blood Roland had been destroyed beyond use, and the only weapon Xia'er could draw now was from the “Armory of the Mastermind Sage.”
She could extract a weapon perfectly suited to her current archive, which was the “Coroner.”
With a thought, the armory in her right hand began to twist and change.
The originally stacked illusory cubes began to disassemble and extend...
A bone saw made of vertebrae appeared in Xia'er’s hand, its handle covered in sharp spikes; just gripping it would cause those spikes to pierce her skin.
At the junction between the handle and the bone saw, a purple magical eye moved its vertical pupil, fixated on Xia'er’s right hand, as if waiting for her to grasp it.
Time was still rapidly slipping away, and Xia'er had no time to hesitate. She closed her fingers around the bone saw.
The bone spikes pierced through Xia'er’s palm, blood seeping into the bone saw, instantly staining its once pure white surface with crimson patterns.
In that moment of grasping it, Xia'er understood how to use this weapon.
The golden gears in Xia'er’s left eye turned slightly.
Limit Break.
Silver cracks instantly spread across the bone saw, completely covering the original blood-red patterns with silver. Xia'er strolled confidently toward the figure, raising the bone saw high and swinging it forward.
Crack!
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