East Tivian, in the basement of the Boyle family mansion.
In the secret chamber where the Charm Control Scepter was hidden, just as Naifnis was about to inject the Spirituality of 'Qi' into the scepter to reactivate it, a terrifying, withered mummy's phantom suddenly appeared with an ear-piercing shriek. Simultaneously, a powerful curse targeted Naifnis.
Affected by the curse, Naifnis immediately went limp and collapsed. The process of injecting Spirituality into the scepter was forcibly interrupted. She lay on the ground, her face pale, her body completely unable to move, and her consciousness nearly dissipating. Nu Nuo Te, seeing this, was greatly alarmed.
"Miss... You detestable evil spirit!!"
Gritting his teeth, Nu Nuo Te took out a Symbol from his person, placed it on his palm, and activated it. After burning, the Symbol left a'Silence' mark with closed eyes on Nu Nuo Te's palm.
"Spirit Expulsion Symbol... Get out of here, evil spirit!" Roaring, Nu Nuo Te rushed towards the mummy's phantom, pressing the hand with the mark towards the phantom. However, it was completely useless; Nu Nuo Te passed directly through the phantom, just like the small knife he had thrown earlier.
"Evil spirit? Show some respect, mortal!"
With a sharp reprimand, the phantom glared at Nu Nuo Te with eyes glowing with green ghostly fire. Instantly, a weak sense of powerlessness crept over Nu Nuo Te's entire body. The already aged butler stumbled under this feeling of weakness, almost falling. He could only lean weakly against the wall to barely stay upright, but he began to gasp for air in large gulps.
Looking at the old man leaning against the wall and gasping, the ghostly fire in the mummy phantom's eyes showed no emotion. It spoke in a cold mutter.
"A mortal of such age, yet not immediately losing his life? Hmph... So he is not related by blood to Davis Boyle, just someone close? And also a Seer, able to adapt slightly."
After muttering, the mummy phantom looked back at Naifnis, who was lying before the scepter, and continued to speak.
"Among the blood descendants of Davis Boyle, there is actually one who possesses 'Qi' and is surprisingly enlightened. However, the surprise ends here. It's a pity, I could have slowly tortured your whole family..."
Saying this, the mummy phantom seemed to intensify the curse on Naifnis. Naifnis, lying on the ground, felt even more uncomfortable, her vision began to blur, and her consciousness became more scattered. Upon seeing Naifnis's threat, it seemed to want to curse her to death on the spot.
The mummy increased the intensity of the curse on Naifnis. The curse, originating from the bloodline, caused Naifnis's life to rapidly ebb away. Just as her consciousness was about to completely dissipate and she was about to lose all ability to act, a surge of power flowed into her body, allowing her to regain her spirits just as she was about to lose consciousness.
'This, this is... Miss Dorothy?'
Naifnis, half-conscious, opened her eyes slightly. She knew clearly where the power supporting her now came from; it was Dorothy from afar.
...
At this moment, in her study in Green Shade Town, Dorothy was frowning deeply, her expression serious. She was currently connected to Naifnis's sight and hearing through an information channel. She was extraordinarily aware of the situation in the basement secret chamber of the Boyle mansion and was surprised by the sudden appearance of the mummy phantom.
'A mummy-like phantom? It feels like an evil spirit, but it also doesn't seem to be. That black old butler clearly used a Symbol to deal with spirits, but it had no effect on it at all. It feels more like something within a projection...'
Dorothy thought to herself. From her observation, the mummy phantom seemed more like a manifestation of curse power. The source of this curse might be an ancient undead being in an ancient tomb beneath the sands of North Africa, and the phantom appearing in the secret chamber seemed more like a hallucination it created using curse power.
'If that's the case, then the true form of this undead seems very powerful. It's cursing the Boyle family from North Africa, thousands of kilometers away, and can even use the curse to perceive the situation of the cursed person. After seeing Naifnis about to use 'Qi' to reactivate the scepter and defend against the curse, it immediately focused the curse on Naifnis. This level of control... is somewhat terrifying...'
Dorothy thought this. The scenes just now directly highlighted the power of the true mummy in Dorothy's eyes: an extremely long cursing distance, the ability to spread the curse from the initial target along the bloodline and even the relationship network to others, and even the ability to perceive the surroundings of the cursed person and adjust the target and intensity of the curse in time.
The curse itself was not terrifying; what was terrifying was a curse that could be freely controlled and even used to obtain information. Dorothy had reason to believe that the ancient undead releasing the curse was a very powerful Extraordinary being.
"How did Naifnis's Grandpa provoke something like this!?"
After analyzing, Dorothy blurted this out directly, instantly becoming interested in Naifnis's Grandpa, the Davis Boyle mentioned by the mummy. What exactly did he do in North Africa back then to make this ancient undead, who knows how old, so angry that it directly cursed his entire family?
'But the top priority now is to save Naifnis. She's currently holding on to the curse only by relying on the Raw Consumption Symbol, but she can't keep consuming like this. Something must be done.'
Dorothy thought this. The reason Naifnis had not been killed by the curse was entirely because Dorothy had transmitted the Raw Consumption Symbol's buff to her through the spiritual threads connected by the puppet mark on her. By relying on the power of the 'Cup', Naifnis's physique was temporarily strengthened, preventing her from being directly overwhelmed by the curse, but she was still suppressed and unable to move.
In fact, resolving the crisis was simple: just let Naifnis touch the scepter on the stone seat, continue to inject 'Qi' into it, and reactivate the scepter. Once the scepter was activated, its ability to resist curses would return, and the undead's curse would naturally disappear.
But the problem was, this required Naifnis to touch the scepter again. Naifnis was currently in a state where she was barely alive relying on Raw Consumption and completely unable to move. The old butler on the other side was also struggling to protect himself and couldn't reach the scepter at all.
The effect of this curse from'Silence' was to make Naifnis's body tissues and various organs become sluggish, slowing or even stopping their function, leading to death. Naifnis was currently barely maintaining low vital signs by relying on Raw Consumption; other activities were suppressed. Under the curse's suppression, Dorothy couldn't even use the spiritual threads to manipulate Naifnis's body.
'Hiss... I have to find a way to reactivate the scepter, but Naifnis is completely immobilized and can't provide 'Qi'. Should I go to her house myself right now? Naifnis's house is in the East City, and it's at least several hours by car from here. Vanya is in the Church District in the North City, and the journey there won't be much shorter. I don't know if Naifnis can hold on during this time.'
Facing the current situation, Dorothy began to urgently think of countermeasures. After organizing her thoughts, she focused on how to make Naifnis move again.
'Naifnis's movement is suppressed by the curse, even a puppet can't lift her. She's surviving with Raw Consumption... To make her move again, besides Raw Consumption... she needs some assistance...'
Dorothy thought this. Suddenly, she recalled what the mummy had said to the old butler just now, and a thought flashed through her mind.
"When that old butler was cursed by that dried corpse just now... that dried corpse seemed to say that if the old butler wasn't unrelated by blood to Naifnis's Grandpa and was also a Seer, at his age he should have died right there. According to its statement... Seers seem to have a certain degree of adaptability to curses.'
Dorothy thought this. She knew what a "Seer" referred to: it was the name for the Student stage of the'Silence' path. According to the mummy, Extraordinary beings of'Silence' seem to have a certain degree of adaptability to curses of'Silence'.
So, what would happen if Naifnis were to advance to Seer right now?"
Dorothy thought this and immediately realized it seemed feasible. First, the floor of this secret chamber itself had a'Silence' magic circle built into it, which could be used as an advancement circle.
Then, Dorothy recalled the secret transmission she had shown Naifnis and found that her only two copies of the'Silence' secret transmission, "Floren's Dirge" and the Shaman knowledge from the New World book, were both listed.
Although Dorothy didn't have physical copies of these two secret transmissions, because they were very short, Dorothy had copied them down. "Floren's Dirge" was just a few poems, and the New World Shaman knowledge was a few lines carved on a piece of bark, which could be read quickly. Dorothy copied them down along with other short secret transmissions like "Lamb Song" in a few strokes, and then gave them to Naifnis along with some other not-so-long secret transmissions, with the goal of having her finish reading them faster to accumulate Spirituality.
Naifnis had now completely finished reading "Floren's Prayer" and the Shaman knowledge, accumulating a total of 7 points of'Silence'. If she could get one more point of'Silence', she would meet the requirements for the advancement ritual.
But... where could she get'Silence' at this time? Dorothy's'Silence' secret transmissions were these two at most, there couldn't be more.
'Hiss... It really won't work? Is this wave going to make me use Mad Banquet? This is my last Mad Banquet, and this thing consumes 5 points of 'Cup' in one go... Do I really have to waste such a precious Symbol and so much Spirituality here?'
Dorothy thought with considerable hesitation and difficulty, but at this moment, she was not the only one struggling.
...
In the basement secret chamber of the Boyle mansion, Naifnis still lay on the ground, her eyes wide open, her body unable to move. The curse suppressing her had deprived her of all ability to act, she couldn't even speak.
However, under the 'Cup' power of Raw Consumption, Naifnis's life was still being maintained at a low level. Her heart was still beating, her breathing hadn't stopped, and the curse power seemed unable to kill Naifnis further.
And this made the mummy phantom feel somewhat impatient.
"Why... why, as a blood relative of Davis Boyle... as an ordinary mortal, why are you not yet dead?"
Floating beside Naifnis, the mummy phantom spoke slowly. Even its strange voice couldn't help but show displeasure at this moment.
Clearly, Naifnis, who could only move her eyes now, could not answer any of the mummy phantom's questions. After floating around Naifnis in a circle, it continued to speak.
"It seems... you have some interesting secrets about you, little Boyle... With the power I have recovered now... I can't kill you directly, but it doesn't matter. Being able to project my voice and shadow here, I have more than just this method."
Floating, the mummy phantom said this. What was here now was just a phantom voice and shadow. Besides guiding the curse already inscribed in the Boyle bloodline and transmitting information, it should not be able to perform other direct interference.
However, in this world, much information itself carries enough powerful influence. Since the mummy phantom could transmit information, it could also transmit this influence.
"Be filled with gratitude, my preaching is not something any mortal is fortunate enough to hear."
Finally stating, the mummy phantom opened its mouth like a declaration, and then awkward syllables came out of its mouth, echoing in the small secret chamber.
"Ah... Great Judge of Heaven... please forgive our sins... Degradation is for continuation... Betrayal is for loyalty... Although we have fallen from the 'Qi' of living souls to the'Silence' of dead souls... our kingdom will ultimately be restored underground..."
The awkward and dry voice echoed in the secret chamber. The mummy's spirit was like singing a poem, and every byte of this poem carried malicious toxicity. Nu Nuo Te, who was leaning against the wall and struggling to breathe, immediately covered his ears with his weak hands upon seeing this and looked with difficulty at Naifnis, who was completely unable to move nearby.
"Hmm... Cover your ears, don't listen... Miss..."
Nu Nuo Te weakly shouted. As an Extraordinary himself, he understood very well what the mummy phantom was chanting at this moment: it was a secret transmission, forbidden knowledge with malicious toxins!
After realizing that its curse could not kill Naifnis for a while, the mummy phantom, whose true body was in an ancient tomb in North Africa, chose to directly chant the ancient secret transmission here, wanting to harm Naifnis with the powerful Spirit Sight contained within it.
Covering his ears, Nu Nuo Te shouted desperately at Naifnis, but his weak voice was completely suppressed by the mummy spirit's chanting. The ancient syllables still entered Naifnis's ears without any hindrance, one after another. The information containing severe poison was recorded by Naifnis's still clear consciousness.
Thus, the mummy phantom chanted the poem with high Spirit Sight, watching Naifnis lying on the ground and helplessly listening to these verses word by word. It chanted to its heart's content, quietly waiting for Naifnis to mutate due to the Spirit Sight.
And poor Naifnis could only lie on the ground, unable to move even an inch of her body. At this moment, she could only passively listen to this malicious poem, unable to say anything, unable to do anything... she couldn't even celebrate by covering her belly and laughing heartily.
...
"Damn... What you lack is what you get... Spirituality can even be delivered right to your doorstep..."
At this moment, Dorothy sat in the study of Number 17 Green Shade Town, saying this while helping Naifnis extract the Spirit Sight. And the Spirituality she extracted, needless to say, was definitely the Spirituality of'Silence'. She was originally worried about how to gather 10 points of'Silence' for Naifnis to upgrade, but she didn't expect that mummy would directly provide help in a time of need and start chanting the secret transmission.
Although Dorothy didn't understand what the mummy was thinking at first, she immediately took action and extracted the ingested Spirit Sight for Naifnis.
Under Dorothy's operation, Naifnis, lying on the ground, gained Spirituality while listening to the secret transmission. The Spirit Sight of this undead poem was indeed very toxic, as the mummy said. Naifnis's'Silence' Spirituality quickly increased to the 10 points required for advancement.