Chapter 30 - Reflections of Weakness
Reflections of Weakness
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Translator: Dusky90
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Reflections of Weakness
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Otto had once made the following request to Ego when he left for a major city in the north.¹
“Could you fetch me a bunch of metal mirrors?”
When the curious Camille asked.
“Why do you need metal mirrors, Your Highness?”
“I’ve got a use for them early next year. You’ll understand when the time comes.”
Metal mirrors.
They were the key to defeating Angeles with ease.
In other words, Otto had begun preparing to face her nearly two months in advance.
“G-Get rid of it… Take it away now!!!”
Angeles recoiled in torment the moment she saw her own image reflected from every direction.
'It must be unbearable for her.'
Otto regarded her suffering with an icy, controlled smile.
During his days playing [Territory War], Otto found himself repeatedly brought to his knees before Angeles.
Her strength as a dark sorceress was so overwhelming that no tactic he attempted could take her down.
It was only after roughly five hundred battles against her that…
*Smash!*
Otto discovered that Angeles would always target and shatter anything reflective—glass, mirrors, anything that showed her own reflection—before focusing on him.
'Why? Why is she smashing mirrors before even attacking me?'
So he started investigating, and eventually uncovered the method to counter her.
Angeles’s weakness was none other than seeing her true form herself.
* * *
“Mirrors! Miiirrorrs! I have to destroy them! All of them!”
Angeles thrashed like a deranged person, fixated solely on breaking every mirror in sight.
She was so overwhelmed she couldn’t even spare a thought for Otto, the real threat.
- What is that hideous creature doing?
The soul of Kairos, dwelling within the mace, asked Otto.
'Can’t you tell just by looking? She’s trying to break the mirrors.'
- Yes, but why is she trying to destroy them?
‘Guess she can’t stand her own reflection.’
- Hm?
‘I mean, I wouldn’t want to see that either.’
- Indeed. Of all the monsters I’ve encountered, that one is the most grotesque.
Angeles’s real form was monstrously hideous.
She looked as if she weighed at least 150 kilos, all in lumps of flesh.
Her breasts sagged nearly to her hips.
She was balding, her nose was upturned, her eyes were tiny like buttonholes, and her mouth was split nearly to her ears.
To make things worse, her skin was oozing with yellow pus mixed with blood, dripping everywhere.
- But if she’s a monster, shouldn’t she just not care about her appearance? Why is she acting like that when it doesn’t suit her at all?
‘Ah, that.’
Otto replied to Kairos’s question.
‘She’s a severe appearance-obsessed maniac.’
- Hm?
‘Let me explain….’
Otto began telling Kairos the background story behind Angeles.
Angeles had been born extremely unattractive, and it left her with a deep, lifelong insecurity about her looks.
But because her talent for magic was outstanding, she eventually met a mentor who recognized her ability and led her into the world of magic.
Once she began learning, she quickly stood out and grew into a highly skilled mage.
Once she had acquired sufficient mastery, Angeles immediately devoted herself to reconstructing her appearance.
At the beginning, it worked fairly well.
Using magic combined with surgical alterations, she succeeded in making her appearance somewhat attractive.
But Angeles refused to stop.
“I have to be even prettier… even more…”
Angeles grew increasingly fixated on perfecting her appearance.
It wasn’t long before that fixation twisted into full-blown madness.
In her quest to reshape herself, she even delved into vile dark magic and grotesque experiments on humans.
But when anything is pushed too far, the outcome is never good.
Because of the side effects of dark magic, Angeles transformed into the grotesque, hideous monster she is now.
“I’ll kill them… all of them…”
After her complete corruption, she slaughtered her teacher and all the students she had once studied magic with, then fled into the western forest near the Lota territory.
- Tsk tsk. Such talent wasted, and she threw her own life away. Truly foolish.
‘Anyway, I need to deal with her, so help me out.’
- And when will you let me pass on? Being stuck inside this thing is getting tiresome.
‘I’ll release you within six months.’
- Very well.
A surge of power erupted from the mace, flooding Otto’s body with strength.
‘I’m going.’
He rushed at Angeles without hesitation, wildly swinging the mace.
“You bastard!”
Angeles seemed ready to strike back at Otto but instantly lost focus the moment she saw her reflection in a mirror.
“I’m hideous! Too hideous! No! This isn’t me!”
Even mid-attack, she kept diverting her attention to smash the mirrors.
Her pathological obsession and self-hatred were so severe that she couldn’t think straight, even in a life-or-death situation.
*Thud!* *Whack!*
Because of her distraction, Otto could pummel Angeles mercilessly, treating her like a sandbag.
The mirrored chamber he had constructed functioned perfectly as a cage that bound her in place.
*Thud!* *Whack!*
“Gaaah! You damn— no! The mirror! I have to break the mirror!”
*Smack!*
“You cursed bastard! I’ll tear you ap— no! That isn’t what I look like!”
*Whack!*
“You… you wretch… p-please, remove the mirrors! I beg you!”
A short while later.
*Thump!*
At last, Angeles collapsed.
“Mirror… the mirror… I have to break… the mirror….”
Even with her skull half smashed and death moments away, Angeles could think only of the reflection in front of her.
“Tsk, tsk.”
Otto clicked his tongue, regarding her with cold, disdainful pity.
“Even with the situation this bad, she’s still like that. That’s the only reason this fight is so easy.”
Outside this mirror room, Angeles would have been someone he could never hope to defeat.
Not even the strength granted by Kairos’s spirit inside the mace would have made victory possible.
It was pure luck that he knew her fatal weakness.
- Put an end to that hideous creature. I can’t tolerate the sight any longer.
“I was planning to.”
Otto brought his mace down on Angeles without a hint of hesitation.
“Ghk!”
Angeles gave a shrill scream, then collapsed limply.
She never moved again.
[Notification: 'Witch Angeles' has been defeated!]
A glowing system prompt appeared before him.
*Beep!*
Otto’s body began to glow gold as the force flowed into him.
[Notification: The 'Utterly pathetic man' curse has been removed!]
The curse dissolved.
[Notification: Level returning to normal!]
[Notification: Level 1 achieved!]
The level that had been locked at -99 finally returned to normal.
And that wasn’t the only change.
[Notification: Gained 350,000 experience points!]
Once the curse was removed, experience finally began to register properly, even from powerful enemies he defeated.
[Notification: Level up!]
[Notification: Reached Level 2!]
(omitted)
[Notification: Level up!]
[Notification: Level 30 reached!]
Thanks to the experience gained from defeating Angeles, Otto skyrocketed from Level 1 to Level 30.
At long last, he shed the miserable status of a Level -99 character with zero growth potential and could finally stand on his own two feet.
‘At last, I can start living like an actual person.’
A faint smile curved Otto’s lips.
Though he hadn’t awakened yet and thus hadn’t gained dramatic power, the mere possibility of growth was more than enough to satisfy him.
* * *
Kairos was the first to notice Otto’s change.
- You… are different now.
‘Hm?’
- Were you under a curse?
‘Oh? You can sense that?’
- What do you take Me for. My eye for things outstrips anyone’s.
As expected, the instincts of an emperor who once conquered a third of the continent haven’t dulled.
- But you are still trash.
‘What, punk?’
- It’s fortunate you’ve grown at all, yet a flea remains a flea no matter how high it leaps. From the start, you cared more for ruling than for strength….
‘Shut up!’
Otto snapped at Kairos in his mind and then walked toward Angeles’s corpse.
A single red orb was floating above Angeles’s corpse.
[Orb of Hatred]
It was an orb possessed by Angeles, a powerful dark mage and witch.
It’s unknown what the item is used for.
Type: Gem (orb)
Grade: Unique
Durability: Infinite (∞)
Special note: You might uncover information about this orb if you dig through ancient literature.
With this, Otto had gathered all the materials required for his awakening, the [Orb of Destruction], the [Orb of Fear], and the [Orb of Hatred].
‘The materials are all here. So all that’s left is to head to the Sanctuary.’
The three orbs function as keys that open a special location known as the [Sanctuary].
By using them to unlock the [Sanctuary] and claim the ancient powers hidden inside, Otto de Scuderia could transform into a fearsome powerhouse.
Of course, that process will by no means be smooth.
* * *
“Congratulations on your victory.”
“Congratulations on your victory.”
“Congratulations on your victory.”
When Otto stepped out of the mirror chamber, Camille and the knights dropped to one knee before him.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“I definitely worked for it. You need a strong stomach to handle something that disgusting. Ugh.”
Otto pointed at Angeles’s corpse, his expression twisting in revulsion.
“True, you’d definitely need a strong stomach.”
“Exactly~.”
“Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to kiss a monster like that.”
“What?!”
“I could never do it. Absolutely not.”
Camille shuddered as though the very thought was horrifying.
“Mm! You have quite a strong stomach!”
At that moment, Olive, who had come to spectate, offered Otto a sort of compliment.
“By the way, is this really your type?”
“Huh…?”
“I’ve clearly seen you biting, sucking, and fooling around with that monster nonstop for the past month.”
“…I didn’t enjoy any of that.”
“I shall respect your perverse taste.”
Olive wasn’t the only one who had come to spectate.
“No wonder you showed such brilliant insight. So you’ve got these twisted preferences. Well, geniuses often do have a darker side inside them.”
Archduke Wazir appeared and casually threw out a comment toward Otto.
“P-Perverse tastes?! What does that even mean! Huh?!”
“Keulkkeulkkeul! Even if it was for the operation, to be kissing such a gruesome monster day and night. You’re truly something! If it were me, I couldn’t even begin to attempt it.”
“Is that… a compliment?”
“Of course it is! Hohoho! Your stomach is truly remarkable! Hohoho!”
"....."
“With a stomach that strong, you could probably even eat poop, right?”
“No way!”
Otto shouted at the top of his lungs.
“I’m not some stray mutt! Why would you say I’d eat poop! Huh?”
“Why are you getting angry? It’s a compliment! A compliment!”
“Just curse me out instead.”
“Shall I?”
“…Forget it.”
Otto trembled with anger at Archduke Wazir’s mockery.
He’d carried out the mission with what could almost be called self-sacrifice, yet all he got in return was ridicule….
‘Just wait. I’ll make them….’
At that moment.
“Your Highness.”
Camille walked up to Otto with a gentle smile.
“You really did a wonderful job.”
“Hm?”
“You succeeded in avenging your parents.”
“Ah.”
Otto then understood that slaying Angeles meant something deeply personal to Camille as well.
For Camille, Lord Orix, Otto’s father, had been like a father to him too.
Strictly speaking, this was no different from Camille’s revenge rather than Otto’s.
“It took a long time… but we finally succeeded in avenging them. And the curse is gone.”
“I’m sure those who passed away would be pleased.”
“I really hope so.”
Otto said that and decided to give Camille a small gift.
“Knight Camille. No, Elder Brother Camille.”
“Huh…?”
“I’m going to hold a memorial rite to honor and comfort my father and mother. A ceremony to soothe their spirits. I plan to offer Angeles’s head as the offering.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“I want you to attend the memorial rite.”
“Of cou….”
“Light the incense with me.”
“Huh…?”
“I’m saying we should light the incense together.”
“T-that means…”
Camille jerked in surprise.
In this world, sharing incense meant being accepted as part of one’s [Family].
** ** **
TL/N:
1. Ref to Ch 22