章節 100: The Completely Broken Girl

"Who are you?" Ayanokouji's eyes were fixed on the girl who suddenly appeared before him, causing the girl to be startled and take a step back. "I've never seen you before."

"Strangely, it didn't work? There's someone like that, how is it possible?" The girl was wearing a very plain white dress, with a green cloak trailing on the ground.

Her face was very ordinary, but her expression was full of fear and panic. Tears were almost spilling from her eyes: "Please, please don't hurt me, I... I'm Carmilla... Witch of Lust."

"Witch of Lust Carmilla? Why are you here?"

Ayanokouji observed her carefully. This should have been the scene where Echidna was testing him, but why would Carmilla appear here?

What did Carmilla mean when she said it didn't work?

And the scenery around them began to tear apart.

"Echidna should have explained it to you!" Carmilla's body gradually became blurry as she finished speaking.

The figure and appearance of Carmilla in Ayanokouji's eyes seemed to change, as if she was becoming someone else—but this change was brief, as Carmilla's body disappeared entirely.

The false ruins suddenly collapsed, and in an instant, Ayanokouji found himself back in the familiar green courtyard.

"Welcome back, this time I've added a lot of weeds to the garden for you." Echidna sat in the pavilion, staring at him with very ambiguous eyes.

"Why did the Witch of Lust appear in the trial?"

Ayanokouji slowly walked toward Echidna and sat down. His face showed no emotional change from what had just happened.

"Although I'm dead, because I gathered the souls and lifetime traces of the five Witches: Lust, Wrath, Sloth, Gluttony, and Pride during my life, I can summon them in the Dream City."

'Can other witches be summoned? Is this summoning done unilaterally?'

Ayanokouji noticed that Echidna did not mention the Witch of Envy, but considering that Echidna might be hostile toward Satella, he chose not to mention this for now.

"I was worried that your heart would break during the trial, so I asked Carmilla to come and comfort you, but it seems that wasn't necessary." Echidna said with a smile.

"What is her power?" Ayanokouji asked.

"Faceless Bride, people will see her as someone they care about, and they won't be able to look away from her. They might even forget to breathe. Even if they're about to be killed, they won't move." Echidna smiled and said, "But Ayanokouji, you're truly a man without emotions. No one cares about you."

"Instead of being comforted, I actually wanted to use this ability to see who I cared about." Ayanokouji said expressionlessly. He remembered something had changed before Carmilla disappeared.

No, it couldn't be, it was probably just a trick of the light.

"Ah, you're right!" Echidna stuck out her tongue playfully, "But this is the first time Carmilla's power has failed. Congratulations, you managed to pass the trial. I didn't expect that after seeing so many 'things that shouldn't exist in the present,' you would still be so calm. If you were an ordinary person, you would have fainted long ago."

"Because you also said that they shouldn't exist." Ayanokouji replied calmly.

"Have you never considered that they might happen in a parallel world?" Echidna leaned forward, her upper body almost touching the table, her eyes full of curiosity. "Then perhaps it has already happened."

"Does it have anything to do with me now? Even if I wanted to change something, I couldn't." Ayanokouji always appeared indifferent.

"As expected, only you could say something like that." Echidna continued to smile, "It only took three lives to get here and complete so many plans. I'm afraid no one else could have done it in less."

An ordinary person would have fainted and given up long ago. Even someone with extremely strong willpower would still need a mountain of death to climb here.

"I'm just an ordinary person."

"Are you really humble or extremely arrogant?" Echidna squinted her eyes slightly, and the scene from her black-hole-like eyes seemed to try to pry open Ayanokouji's heart, "You must have many things you desire as well. Just ask, as a reward for passing the second round of trials, go ahead and ask a little and listen."

"Why has Emilia become like this?"

"That person's spirit must have collapsed. Her heart must be hollow." Echidna frowned, without the slightest bit of disgust in her eyes.

"Even if you see a past you don't want to see again, you shouldn't be able to do this."

"That's right, because it's not that Emilia saw memories she didn't want to see again, but because she didn't have the option to 'remember' at all—her memories were sealed, and she would naturally have psychological disturbances when faced with memories that didn't exist at all." A smile reappeared on Echidna's face, seeming to feel happy about Emilia's collapse.

"Are they sealed? Is there a way to unblock them?"

"Why should I tell you?" Echidna rubbed her lips as she spoke.

"If it's a puzzle with no clues, it's meaningless." Ayanokouji said, trying to take advantage of Echidna's thirst for knowledge.

"Oh? You're a bit arrogant. If I didn't know better, I might think you were the Sin Archbishop of Pride."

"Rather than seeing the inevitable failure, you should be more interested in the choices I make."

"Interesting!" The corners of Echidna's mouth lifted more noticeably, "Are you trying to seduce my desire? However, I also hoped you would come to talk to me like this, and I also think so. It's too boring, so I gave you a little reminder during your trial——"

"Puck?" Ayanokouji recalled the content of the previous trial.

Only the part involving Puck gave him a strong sense of disobedience. Echidna should have calculated the future based on memories, so how did she know the content of Puck's contract and have the power to destroy the world?

There was only one possibility, Echidna had known all this for a long time.

"Bingo!"

Echidna once again said a word that shouldn't belong to this world, "Puck is the key for Emilia to unlock her memories, but how to summon Puck? That's your problem."

'Summon out?' Ayanokouji paid attention to her words. Did this mean that Puck was actually still inside the crystal?

It seemed that he had to find a way to summon Puck as soon as possible.

"You must be thinking of how to summon Puck now."

Echidna once again guessed his thoughts, but Ayanokouji wasn't surprised that she could read his mind.

"What does it mean?"

"That person's collapse is irreversible. She's like trash, completely 'broken.'"

"What does it mean?"

"You'll understand." Echidna didn't say much, "Lack of confidence, lack of someone to talk to, combined with immense mental pressure, will only lead to this outcome."

"Then why did Roswaal make it snow?" Ayanokouji continued to ask.

"He did have other goals, but there's no point in telling you." Echidna's smile became clearer, "Any more questions? It's not impossible to meet other witches. This is a rare opportunity."

"No need." Ayanokouji refused immediately.

In this spiritual world, it was clear that Echidna held the dominant power. Other witches had no influence on her. Time continued to pass in the village, and it would be troublesome if Garfiel returned early.

"Really? That's a very fitting answer for your style." Echidna squinted her eyes slightly, "You're too perfect, and you won't do anything pointless."

"That doesn't sound like a compliment."

"That's also true." Echidna replied.

At this moment, Ayanokouji felt the ground shake. He immediately knew that someone outside was trying to wake him up. Had something happened outside the ruins?

"It seems you're going to leave." There was a hint of reluctance in Echidna's eyes. "Besides, I'll tell you a secret: you are no longer qualified to participate in the trial. I won't let you complete all the trials quickly, that would be meaningless."

"As expected." Ayanokouji shook his head.

"Consider it the price you pay for writing insults to me with secret words on the white paper."

"This is just your excuse. Even if that hadn't happened, you would have taken away my qualification." Ayanokouji said, "But how did you break it?"

"Because we are very much alike—" Echidna said with a smile, "Of course, there is no other choice. I'm very bored in the Dream City. I tried all possible permutations and combinations to come to this conclusion..."

However, before Echidna could finish speaking, a great force tore the space apart, and Ayanokouji was also pulled out.

"I really wanted to chat with you for a while. It's rare to meet a 'kindred spirit.'" Echidna said with a smile, "But I also know that Carmilla's power wasn't completely ineffective."

"Things that are too perfect aren't quite interesting, but things that are somewhat incomplete are better."

"But this time, you are destined to fail, Ayanokouji. You've underestimated the impact of emotions on others."

The scene shifted, and Ayanokouji slowly opened his eyes, his consciousness returning to the real world.

Before he could assess his surroundings, the first thing he saw was a beautiful and gentle face.

Emilia.

At this moment, Emilia had a smile on her face, and her eyes were focused on him, but her gaze was very empty.

"Emilia?" Ayanokouji looked at the girl in front of him in confusion.

Emilia's expression was slightly strange, very different from someone who had previously failed a trial.

Could it be that her trial was successful?

No, Echidna had already said that Emilia's trial could not possibly succeed, and she wouldn't lie about something so trivial.

At that moment, Ayanokouji remembered what Echidna had said to him before he returned to the real world.

Emilia was broken.

Ayanokouji realized that he was still lying down, with his head resting on Emilia's lap. The direct contact with her skin gave him a warm feeling.

"You've finally woken up, Ayanokouji-sama!" Emilia said with a smile. "Why are you here?"

"I was worried about your safety, Emilia, so I forced my way into the trial grounds. As a result, because I wasn't qualified for the trial, I passed out from the pain." Ayanokouji said, still hiding the fact that he had the qualifications for the trial, but after leaving here, he should have truly lost his qualifications.

He looked at Emilia's face. Although it was filled with a smile, it was like a mask. Even Ayanokouji couldn't see through her inner thoughts.

He couldn't predict Emilia's potential actions at this moment, which indicated a danger in her heart.

His hand involuntarily moved towards the dagger hanging at his waist. Since resolving the Elsa incident during the second regression, he had been carrying the dagger for self-defense.

'At such close range, even Emilia shouldn't be able to react.' Ayanokouji thought to himself. He knew where to strike Emilia with the dagger, but he was also slightly concerned about what he would do if Puck went on a rampage after Emilia died.

Though it would be unfortunate to sacrifice a chess piece he had carefully cultivated, if Emilia made any abnormal moves at this moment, Ayanokouji would have to take action, and the issue with Puck could only be considered later.