Chapter 361: I... Will Die in Front of You?

When he opened his eyes again, the familiar hum of alchemical instruments rushed back into his ears.

Ansu stood in the main hall of the underground laboratory. Before him, busy researchers and apprentices bustled back and forth, filling the room with a lively, bustling atmosphere.

It was a world apart from the blood-scented, dead silence at the end of the simulation.

He took a deep breath. He couldn't shake the illusion that her warm blood was still lingering on his fingertips and cheeks...

【Reality】

【Radiant Calendar, October 15, 625, 16:40】

【Rating: D】

【Reward: 8 Points】

【Remaining Points: 241】

Staring at his dwindling points, Ansu furrowed his brows tightly.

This was an unprecedented crisis, and it was the first time he truly felt that he was running dangerously low on points...

Seeing him standing frozen in place with a terribly grim expression, Celia, who had just finished checking the experimental data, quickly walked over and raised an eyebrow. “What's wrong?”

“Could it be...” She suddenly thought of something. “Did you foresee something again? Did the experiment go poorly?”

Ansu said nothing, merely staring intently at her face.

The living, slightly confused, and perfectly intact Miss Witch.

The image of her disintegrating into a spray of flesh and blood in the simulation still swirled in his mind. Her death had been so effortless, so completely defenseless... wiped out in the blink of an eye.

This false god—he had truly underestimated Him.

He had previously thought that since the God of Clamor and Filth was a sealed deity, His power would be roughly on par with the God of Slaughter, who was, after all, the main culprit behind the Demon Calamity War.

But this simulation had slapped him hard in the face.

Just what kind of existence... are we facing right now?

If this thing fully revived, the disaster it would cause would likely be far more terrifying than the previous Demon Calamity War.

Looking at the deeply concerned eyes right in front of him, Ansu chose not to hide anything.

At this stage, their information sharing had to be precise.

Thus, he detailed every single event of the simulation without omitting a thing:

From Professor Duncan being the first to succumb and die, to the consecutive failures of both Feign Death and Soul Separation, all the way to the final moment where she died right before his eyes...

Celia listened in a daze, her fingers tightening slightly. “I... will die right in front of you?”

Without even having the time to say a proper goodbye?

Ansu nodded, a bitter smile playing on his lips.

He found it hard to imagine what kind of emotions Celia had harbored when she looked at him at the end of the simulation. Even now, he couldn't forget that gaze.

There was deep affection, regret, and reluctance to let go... That gaze felt engraved into the depths of his memory, impossible to erase.

Celia fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly squeezed his hand, smiling as she comforted him instead.

“Then that's perfect. Let's make up for 'my' regret right now~”

Stealing a quick glance at the busy researchers around them, she dragged Ansu to a corner of the corridor and stared at him intently.

Then, her flawless, stunning face drew closer to his.

“Ansu, I will always, always... love you.”

With those words, she gently pressed her lips against his, giving him a playful wink afterward.

“There, no more regrets~”

Ansu looked at her helplessly and couldn't help but chuckle. “You can still laugh at a time like this? Aren't you afraid of dying?”

“Nope!” She shook her head, hooking her finger with his and swinging it affectionately. “As long as you're here, I'm not afraid.”

Ansu's gaze grew even gentler as he softly replied, “Okay.”

“And you said...” Celia's eyes sparkled as if she had suddenly remembered something. “The method you mentioned that I thought of at the end—even though the structure wasn't fully developed, the direction is definitely viable. See? Haven't we found a glimmer of hope?”

Ansu nodded in thought. Thanks to the 【Mind Palace】, he had memorized every single word of the manuscripts Celia had frantically calculated in her final moments.

Right now, it was as if he had gained nearly four days' worth of research out of thin air. As long as he continued to develop this direction, their efficiency would more than double.

“Come on, let's head to the laboratory right now!” He took Celia's hand and led her toward her lab.

“Mhm~” Celia followed obediently.

On the way, Celia tilted her head to look at him, her eyes suddenly sparkling with curiosity.

“Ansu, your foresight... This is the first time I've known it could be so detailed, as if you really went to the future and experienced it yourself.”

It was completely different from the vague prophetic dreams she had imagined before. It was amazing...

But if that was the case...

Ansu had actually been lying to her before, hadn't he?

Ansu nodded, offering a vague explanation. “Yeah, compared to before, the details I can foresee are indeed becoming clearer and clearer.”

“Oh—?” Celia narrowed her eyes, letting out a long, knowing drawl before continuing to guess.

“Is Ansu keeping a lot of secrets from me?”

She giggigled, her tone carrying a hint of playful probing. “If you can use this ability to repeatedly simulate the future, then many of your previous foresightful decisions weren't intuition at all. You just trial-and-errored them in advance, right?”

Ansu didn't deny it and nodded again.

Celia's eyes brightened, a slight smile playing on her lips as she continued to coax him:

“If that's how you deal with enemies, what about me? Back when I was the evil witch forcing you around, did you also simulate our experiences many times in advance?”

Ansu paused in his tracks.

She kept talking to herself, her tone filled with curiosity. “It's actually quite interesting to think about. Under different circumstances, maybe I would make different choices and walk toward different futures...”

“Ansu, was there ever a particularly evil and terrifying version of me? Or any especially bad endings?”

Ansu finally couldn't help but say, “Way too many...”

“Ah? There really are?” Celia's eyes widened slightly.

“But we really don't have time to talk about this right now...” Ansu interrupted hastily as they arrived at the laboratory door. “The urgent priority is to further develop the plan you came up with at the end. We don't have much time left.”

The timeline of deaths from the simulation was clearly engraved in his mind.

Professor Duncan would die on the morning of the fifth day.

Elder Barnes and the other three elders would die at noon on the same day.

And Celia would die in the early hours of the morning on the sixth day.

As for himself...

Ansu pondered. Until the very end of the simulation, the curse on his body had been continuously worsening, yet it had never reached the final stage.

He hadn't reached his own death. Perhaps his onset took longer, or perhaps there was another reason...

But regardless of whether he would be fine, Celia absolutely could not die.

Saving her was saving himself, and saving everyone else.

Ansu had to find that path of survival before death descended.

...