Chapter 192: The Southern Continent
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 192: The Southern Continent
The moment I saw Ophelia's signature on the letter, memories I had once dismissed came rushing back as if on rewind.
Given that all the memories involved her letters, it was clear they had been sent periodically.
That letters were exchanged so regularly from the Eastern Continent—a month's voyage across the sea—was proof that, contrary to what Ophelia had said, their relationship was anything but casual.
‘She’d lied to me.’
At the very least, Vivian Luna had clearly considered Ophelia more than a mere acquaintance.
After sorting through the memories, I opened my eyes. Ophelia was looking right up at me.
She looked exactly the same as she had before I'd drifted through my past.
I had reviewed nearly a decade of my life, yet it seemed only an instant had passed in reality.
When our eyes met, Ophelia’s eyes crinkled into a smile. It was an affectionate look, the kind one might give a young nephew.
I wasn't fooled. The newly unsealed memories helped me see through her lies.
“You helped Vivian try to erase my very existence, yet you show up before me acting as if you know nothing. I can't decide if that's shameless or just arrogant.”
“…I don't understand what you mean.”
Ophelia looked bewildered, unaware that her reaction only fueled my suspicions. The surprise attack had been worth it.
Step. Step.
I closed the distance, my footsteps deliberately loud. When we were close enough for our breaths to mingle, Ophelia flinched and took half a step back.
Her eyelids trembled slightly. She must have sensed the change in my demeanor.
“Vivian—my mother—tried to overwrite my body with a soul from another world to defy fate. Did you know that?”
Ophelia's gaze darted across my face and body.
It was the look of a gambler trying to read an opponent's hand. She seemed to assume I was just bluffing.
“Did something like that really happen?”
She replied, her tone much calmer than before. She intended to keep lying, oblivious to the fact that my question was a trap.
I curled my lips into a twisted smile.
“There's no way you didn't know. Vivian did that long after she left home, which means it was an act beyond her own power.”
It meant she had help. And that someone could only have been Ophelia.
After all, the only person Vivian Luna, the seer of the future, could have asked for help from was Ophelia, who has existed since time immemorial.
Her lips trembled. She seemed to have finally realized it was a trap. Swallowing hard, she forced an awkward smile.
“Don't misunderstand. I only became aware of the King's emergence after you conquered the Northern Continent and Vivian contacted me again after a long silence.”
As I stared her down, she quickly continued.
“It's true that I told her how, but I never expected she would use it on you. I simply thought Vivian was merely curious about the kings of the past and their fates.”
“But when you became aware of my existence, you must have considered that Vivian might have used the method you taught her.”
I could almost hear Vivian Luna's voice echoing in my ears, vowing to find a way to change her fate.
Ophelia, who had corresponded with her for so long, couldn't possibly have been unaware of her determination. And yet, she had said nothing to me about it.
Just as she had downplayed Vivian's importance, calling her just one of many star witches she had known, she had cleverly revealed only what was convenient for her and hidden the rest.
“Human memory has its limits, dear. Especially for someone like me, who has existed since time immemorial, there are bound to be gaps.”
A long way of saying she forgot. But I suppose that's how excuses work. I scoffed.
“And that wasn't the first or last time you helped Vivian Luna, was it?”
“What…”
Ophelia fell silent. A clear sign she wouldn't fall into another trap.
“It was with your help that Vivian made me unable to have children, wasn't it?”
“…!”
Ophelia's eyes went wide. Her reaction was answer enough.
Just before she ran away from home, the only way Vivian could fight fate was by manipulating my memories.
It must have been to hide her own existence and protect Aenya from me. And indeed, didn't Aenya and I grow up more like strangers than siblings?
The crucial point was that such a trick wouldn't have worked unless I had unconsciously consented.
Because a witch's powers don't work on me, the King, who inherited their blood.
“In other words, what blocked my ability to have children wasn't a witch's power. And you must have been the one who taught her how. If you knew a mystical method for overwriting my body with a soul from another world, sealing my fertility must have been simple for you.”
Ophelia was hiding too much. For all I knew, she could have been conspiring with Vivian Luna right up until the moment she appeared before me.
“Is that true?”
Eleanor clenched her fists and glared at Ophelia. The other women reacted the same way.
Isabel had been the most vocal about wanting my child, but the other women were surely no less eager.
They had simply refrained from mentioning it out of consideration for me, believing I was the source of the problem.
“Why even ask? Look at her face, she's been caught red-handed.”
Aenya sneered at Ophelia, though her eyes held no mirth.
“You surrendered so meekly, without a hint of resistance, to hide the fact that you conspired with Vivian to harm me. Am I wrong?”
She probably does believe that fate is inescapable. That's why she tried to hide a truth that would obviously cause problems after she surrendered to me.
Silence fell. The atmosphere grew heavy. After a long moment, Ophelia let out a breath she had been holding and looked me straight in the eye.
“…I don't understand why you're cornering me like this. As I said, by standing before you alone, I am no different from a beast baring its belly. Surely you know that.”
“The problem is that the moment I turn my back, that same beast might forget it ever bared its belly and sink its sharp teeth into the back of my head.”
She was the type to betray you at any moment. And if she did, there was no telling what kind of damage she would inflict.
Unlike Vivian, whose ability to see my future was limited, Ophelia's methods weren't a witch's power, which made her far more dangerous.
My assessment of her threat level had been skyrocketing ever since I recovered my memories.
Ophelia furrowed her elegant brow.
“So, you refuse to accept my surrender? I urge you not to lose sight of the forest for the trees.”
Ophelia's demeanor shifted. The gentle air of a family matriarch vanished, replaced by an aura as sharp as an ice pick.
Before I could even give a signal, Aenya sensed the change and moved the other women back.
I placed my hand on the sword at my waist.
“How arrogant. That must be why you came to me alone, even after conspiring with Vivian to harm me twice. Ophelia, you called Vivian arrogant, but from where I stand, you're no different.”
“…What do you intend to do with me?”
“They say an immortal witch neither ages nor dies, correct? But… there are fates worse than death.”
Ophelia's face grew pale. She looked like she knew from experience.
Well, everyone has a first time. In her youth, she must have been nothing more than a powerless woman…
“The Eastern Continent won't stand idly by.”
She must have left orders to declare war if she didn't return. Of course. She must have had an ace up her sleeve to come here alone so recklessly.
I curled my lips.
“That's what I'm hoping for.”
“What…!”
“I doubt the nobles of the Eastern Continent can unite to attack me once their leader is gone. And even if they do, without a wild card like a witch in their midst, they won't be a difficult opponent.”
The Eastern Continent, under Ophelia's long rule, had seen no major wars. There was no way they could stop my army, which had been hardened by countless battles.
Besides, with their most important figure in my hands, they'd be starting a war at a huge disadvantage.
Furthermore, a group that loses its leader is bound to falter. One major defeat, and they would surely begin to collapse from within.
“…You're serious.”
Ophelia spread her arms slightly. A curved sword, its blade shimmering with a brilliant, wavy pattern, was suddenly in her hand.
It was a sword I knew.
“Damascus.”
The legendary sword from the East, said to slice through steel plate as if it were tofu. But I had Trollsverd, a blade second to none in durability.
“Are you planning to resist?”
“A foolish question. You're the one who's left me no other choice.”
Ophelia aimed her sword at me and continued.
“You called me arrogant? It's true. But with centuries of life behind me, I've earned that right…”
The moment her eyes flashed, Ophelia rushed at me with footwork as light as a feather.
The sword she'd drawn back shot toward my chest in the blink of an eye.
‘So fast…!’
The Damascus was a sword as light as a feather. Yet its sturdiness was comparable to Trollsverd, and its sharpness was second to none.
It was every bit the top-tier legendary sword from the game.
My Trollsverd, on the other hand, was a long blade, two or three spans longer than a longsword.
Even with my monstrous strength, I couldn't match the Damascus for speed. All I could do was drag my sword into its path.
The Damascus scraped against the flat of my sword, making a nerve-grating sound. Beyond the scattering sparks, I could see Ophelia's slightly widened eyes.
“A fine sword!”
She took a diagonal step forward—footwork meant to block my counterattack and open a new line of attack.
The Damascus swung wide, spun once behind her head, and shot toward me again, propelled by centrifugal force. It was aimed at my neck.
I twisted away desperately, remembering to throw my head back.
But the feather-light Ophelia moved at full speed even in my slowed perception. The Damascus grazed my neck.
“Hn…”
I thought I'd dodged it completely, but my skin split open and blood sprayed. The sharpness of the Damascus was far greater than I remembered from the game.
In that brief moment, Ophelia had already created distance and reset her stance. She aimed her sword at me and smiled.
“Did it never occur to you? The reason I came before you alone is because I have the ability to escape any situation.”
She was an old monster who had lived for centuries. Even if she'd only trained casually, the sheer length of time would put her far beyond any mortal. Of course, I already knew that.
“Still arrogant.”
Ophelia frowned. A moment later, her expression shifted to one of shock.
“What—!”
Her gaze was on the wound on my neck. No, on what had been a wound.
My high Stamina stat had healed the shallow cut in the blink of an eye. It was on par with a troll's regeneration.
After settling matters in the Western Continent, my Stamina stat had risen by another point, thanks to two months of hard work satisfying my seven women.
“You don't have time to be distracted.”
I didn't miss the opening her shock provided. Pouring all my strength into my sword, I unleashed a simple diagonal slash from high right to low left.
But the result was anything but simple. The very air in the sword's path seemed to collapse. A massive current of air formed with a sound like an explosion.
Even before the blade reached her, Ophelia's black hair whipped about wildly.
“You insane—!”
Ophelia had no choice but to recognize the monstrous power behind the swing.
Her face went pale as she hastily relaxed her body, trying to ride the massive current of force instead of resisting it, hoping to deflect its power.
The problem was that even the diminished force, technically deflected, was more than she could handle.
The moment our swords met, sparks flew in every direction like fireworks, accompanied by the sound of an explosion.
“Aargh—!”
Simultaneously, Ophelia was thrown backward. She only stopped when her back slammed into the wall, and she immediately crumpled to her knees. The wall she had hit was spiderwebbed with cracks.
“How…!”
As Ophelia staggered to her feet, she stared at me in disbelief, her pupils trembling.
Readjusting my grip on my sword, I walked toward her.
“The previous kings weren't like this, were they?”