The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch
Chapter 164 - Mouth-Chewed Coffee (1/3)

This plan is worth a try, and Ciel can completely try it once through simulation beforehand to see the effect.

As for the candidates for overloading 【Nemesis】, Ciel has quite a few.

Of course, the most similar situation to the Keyman is definitely Tier 3 “Crown Guard” Nia. If she experiments on her, she will certainly get the most similar result.

However, in that case, the real Nia might experience mental instability upon seeing her again... And experimenting with terrifying things on people around her is not Ciel’s character.

Needed transcendents whose location is known, and they must be Tier 3, and also someone she had instilled fear in or directly killed in the simulation...

Two names of unfortunate individuals appeared in Ciel’s mind.

Tier 3 “Fate Holder” Lucy, Tier 3 “Crown Guard” Oppold.

These two are also Ciel’s “old acquaintances.” Although they don’t know Ciel in reality, in the simulation, they have been tricked and killed by Ciel many times, perfectly meeting the prerequisites for “Nemesis” to activate.

If it still doesn’t work, she could also supplement it with the ability from the “Subverter” save file...

After becoming a Tier 3 “Subverter” in the simulation, Ciel naturally gained all the basic abilities and usage methods of a “Subverter.”

After becoming a Tier 3 “Subverter,” the abilities of her previous Tier 1 “Instigator” and Tier 2 “Dream Thief” had undergone a qualitative improvement.

When she was still Tier 1, Ciel needed to supplement her ability to communicate verbally to control ordinary people or transcendents with slightly weaker mental states using the “Instigator’s” ability.

One could say that whatever Ciel said would directly affect how effective her ability was.

But after advancing to “Subverter,” she didn’t even need to speak. With just a simple glance, or passing by someone, she could unconsciously influence a person’s thoughts and way of thinking, and even modify and distort their common sense.

Even a transcendent, if not carrying any special sealed artifacts, would not be able to detect their subconscious being modified in a short period of time.

And the “Subverter’s” own new ability also somewhat subverted Ciel’s understanding of this path.

Besides the original consciousness manipulation, becoming a “Subverter” also gave Ciel the ability to blur the boundary between dreams and reality.

This wasn’t modifying physical laws, but using constructs from dreams in reality to cause damage to others’ spirits.

This point directly caused a qualitative change between Tier 2 and Tier 3 of the “Instigator” path, giving them a means to directly damage spirits—you know, a Tier 2 “Dream Thief” needed to rely on the “Blood Painter’s” ability to kill in a dream.

Ciel could take out and fire a gun from a distorted dream, and the bullet fired could actually cause damage to the affected person—but this was limited.

That is, this ability could only be used on living beings with thinking ability, and the number of people it could affect at once wouldn’t be too many.

Even if Ciel simulated a nuclear explosion, this nuclear explosion would only be seen by the people affected by Ciel’s ability and would cause them damage. Moreover, the damage would be weakened as Ciel moved further away from the target.

Furthermore, the target had to be informed beforehand what a “nuclear bomb” was, so they would have a clear impression of it in their mind. Only after they completely believed in the damage a “nuclear bomb” could cause could it truly inflict spiritual damage on them.

For example, distorting a dream and taking out an AK in reality, Ciel would have to fire a shot at a construct, letting the target see the bullet’s initial velocity, the sound, the terrifying damage after hitting the construct. Only then, when she fired next time, could she cause damage to the target.

Otherwise, with just an appearance and a “bang” sound, the “bullet” fired might make the target believe it couldn’t even pierce skin. In this situation, it couldn’t cause any spiritual damage to the target. This was the biggest drawback.

The “Subverter’s” ability was never suitable for direct combat, but it was definitely effective for ambushing people from behind, allowing the target to die inexplicably.

This ability, combined with the “Dream Thief’s” own abilities, if a perfect plan was made beforehand, could even make the target fall into a situation similar to a triple or even quadruple dream, making them completely unable to distinguish between virtual and reality—this was the true use of this ability.

No wonder the Keyman never showed their true face. A “Subverter” whose identity was known had already lost 90%.

Compared to the simple and crude abilities of a “Crown Guard,” the “Subverter’s” abilities were complex and required various cooperations.

Without spiritual power and talent, even if others obtained the “Subverter’s” abilities, they might only be able to exert less than one-tenth of their power.

The upper limit was extremely high, and the lower limit was also extremely low. Before each use of the ability, careful planning of tricks was necessary. Every battle was a meticulously crafted perfect deception.

From Ciel’s current perspective, she felt a headache just by looking at the “Subverter’s” abilities. If she had a choice, she would definitely choose to use more stable abilities from other paths.

But if she used the “Subverter” save file, her simulated self under the influence of the “Subverter” potion would definitely find it very interesting, and then immediately begin choosing victims.

Moreover... Ciel suspected that the “Subverter’s” ability could actually affect her in reality.

Tier 2 “Dream Thief” Ciel could counter the opponent completely, because in a dream, Ciel couldn’t normally call out the system panel.

As long as she called out the system, by whether the panel appeared or not, she could determine if it was reality or a dream.

But if it were a “Subverter,” directly blurring the boundary between dreams and reality...