Chapter 16
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Miracle
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“How did a guy who should be rotting in a dungeon crawl his way into the Oath Room?”
She strode right up to the screen. Helena's face filled the view in stark close-up, revealing the furrow between her brows and even her trembling eyelashes.
“Duke Karls, was it you scheming with him? Daring to deceive me and spirit away the emperor?”
The crystal orb's surface vibrated from Helena's shout. But I didn't flinch. No, I actually crooked the corner of my mouth upward. What mattered right now was that her gaze was locked entirely on me.
I deliberately rattled the iron chains and leaned my face close to the orb.
“Hello, Your Majesty. Long time no see. You've gotten even prettier in just a few days? That angry face of yours is downright sexy.”
Fusion Skill Activated: Persuasion (Lv.1) + Magic Power Amplification
Target: Helena Roselia
Effect: Synchronizes with the target's heightened emotional frequency to amplify message delivery.
My magic flowed into the orb, becoming an invisible wave that tapped at Helena's mind.
“Shut your filthy mouth!”
Helena gripped her sword hilt and yelled.
“I'm mobilizing the army right now. I'll have your head and hang it from the castle walls.”
“Calm down. Calm down.”
I licked my lips with my tongue. Even that simple motion carried the power of Persuasion, drawing her gaze. Her eyes followed my lips—an instinctive reaction she couldn't escape, even laced with disgust.
“Remember, Helena? What I showed you in the conference room a few days ago.”
“I'll kill you!”
“Your expression back then was priceless. I can still see it vividly when I close my eyes. That flushed face as you stared at my thick, impressive cock.”
Helena's face flushed crimson, as if it might burst. She drew her sword as if to slash the screen. But I didn't stop. Instead, I lowered my voice to a secretive whisper.
“Want me to show you again? This time, the chained-up version. Wouldn't it be thrilling to see the bound emperor thrashing and begging? If you want, I could drop my pants right now.”
I made a show of moving my bound hands toward my waist. Clank. The chains rang out loudly.
“Don't you dare, you perverted freak!”
Helena screamed and tried to cover the screen with her hand. Her breathing grew ragged. Rage, shame, and an inexplicable strange heat were throwing her into confusion.
I caught a glimpse of people around Helena looking flustered. She seemed even more urgent.
That was my opening. I wiped the playful smirk from my face and fixed her with a cool, serious stare.
“Just kidding.”
My voice resonated heavily through the orb's magic amplification.
“Helena. Halt the army.”
“What?”
Helena lowered her hand and blankly echoed me. The guy spewing obscenities had suddenly turned dead serious, short-circuiting her thoughts for a moment.
“Stop the attack right now and hold position outside Argent's gates for one day. That's my condition for lifting this forced summons.”
“Ha! Don't make me laugh. You think I'll obey you? I can just cut this connection and march!”
“You can't.”
I stated it flatly.
“This is the oath of the previous emperors. Until I release it, you can't move a single step from this screen. If you can't go command your troops, they'll mill about in confusion and melt against Argent's defenses. Want to watch your precious Red Thorn Knights die like dogs without their commander?”
I seized the moment to attempt suggestion.
'Helena, you want this too. Ending it like this would be no fun.'
My magic rode the orb's waves into her subconscious.
'Just killing me would be too boring. You want to look into my eyes, hear my voice, and crush me slowly. Just the two of us. Somewhere no one interrupts.'
I planted images. Me and Helena alone in a red tent. Her holding a whip, looking down at me. Or me groveling at her feet, begging.
Scenes tailored to stoke her sadism and desire for conquest, woven from threads of magic and sent to her.
'You need a condition. Your own condition.'
Helena bit her lip. Her hand gripped and released her sword hilt repeatedly.
Her reason screamed to ignore it, but her instincts found a strange allure in my proposal.
One day's delay. It bruised her pride, but it could also be prep time for the 'perfect revenge' she craved.
Besides, my voice whispered in her mind.
'Meet me alone. Make me use honorifics. No Duke Karls, no soldiers. Just you and me on our stage.'
Helena's expression twisted subtly. She glared at me, breathing heavily.
“Fine.”
She spat it out.
“One day. Exactly one.”
She held up a single finger.
“I'll hold the army until tomorrow morning. But I have a condition too.”
Her gaze flicked to Duke Karls behind me, then back.
“Solo meeting.”
Strength entered her voice. The seed of suggestion I'd planted was sprouting.
“Duke Karls is out. Just you and me on video again. No other rats interfering. We settle this alone. And you'll use honorifics with me. Got it?”
A faint smile crept across my lips. She was hooked.
“Deal.”
I agreed instantly.
“Then the deal is struck, Your Majesty.”
I switched to honorifics right away.
The orb's light gradually dimmed. Helena still looked unsatisfied, but she no longer swung her sword or shouted.
She shot me one last warning glare as the screen went dark.
Pop.
The connection cut. Silence returned to the Oath Room. The orb's hum ceased.
Only then did I exhale the breath I'd held. My legs buckled, strength draining away.
The chains suddenly felt twice as heavy. Exhaustion from squeezing out every drop of magic crashed over me like a tsunami.
“Batanias.”
Duke Karls's voice came from behind. His usually icy tone held a faint but unmistakable tremor.
“What the hell was that?”
He stared down at me, hand on his sword sheath. He hadn't heard the specifics of the suggestion I'd sent to Helena.
But the outcome—her halting the advance and demanding a solo meeting—must have shocked him.
Whew, success. I slumped to the floor, lifting my chained wrists and forcing the tension from my voice.
“What else? The miracle you wanted.”
Clank.
The heavy lock of the Oath Room chains clicked open, slicing through the underground dungeon's silence.
The massive chains that had crushed my neck and waist were gone, but the cold basic shackles on my wrists and ankles still bit into my skin.
The guards withdrew, and heavy silence settled over the torch-lit corridor where shadows danced.
I leaned against the wall and slowly exhaled. The outing to the palace top and the mental duel with Helena across the orb.
As that brief but intense tension released, fatigue washed over me like the tide, leaving my muscles languid. The musty mold smell and damp floor felt almost cozy, like home.
[Alert: Astonishing Reversal]
[Achievement Unlocked: Twisting the Fates of Thousands with a Silver Tongue.]
[Description: Through rhetoric, deception, and aptly fused magic alone—without physical force—you've delayed an imminent war by 24 hours. Perhaps you could stop it entirely. By your words, thousands from Duke Karls's territory and Roselia's soldiers were pulled back from death's door.]
[Rating: Persuasion bordering on the miraculous.]
Each glowing word seared into my mind. This was on a whole different scale from saving just Lucas. Beyond mere good lying or luck—it was a system-recognized achievement.
The following reward message made my eyes widen.
[Reward: Special Ability Growth]
Persuasion (Lv.1) → Persuasion (Lv.2)
[Details: The persuasive power in your words is enhanced. You can cover logical flaws with emotion or bypass unconscious defenses to build trust. Low chance to induce temporary confusion or curiosity even in hostile targets.]
“Ha.”
A smile of relief spread across my lips. Level 2. Just one number change, yet my tongue tingled, and my throat itched with a strange sensation.
My mind cleared, tangled thoughts neatly sorting themselves.
This was a weapon.
In this cramped, filthy dungeon without magic or power, my one sharpest blade. The force that halted Helena's army was now permanently etched into my body.
'Delayed the war by a day.'
Modest for saving thousands, but to me now, it was a priceless lifeline.
But how effective would it be? The 'low probability' in the description nagged at me. The Oath Room had Fusion and the orb's amplification, but raw against foes? Uncertain.
I looked up through the bars.
Patrol Captain Adella was there.
She leaned against the opposite wall, arms crossed. Her helmet was still tucked at her side, sweat-dried hair slightly tousled.
Torchlight flickered orange over her silver breastplate, casting deep shadows on the scarred left side of her face.
Her eyes were on the floor, but I could feel every nerve attuned to my cell. That complex look when I'd been chained and dragged out earlier.
And now, seeing me return alive—relief mixed with subtle suspicion.
'Adella.'
She was the perfect test subject. We shared a near-accomplice secret (the naked inspection), she owed me her life (Lucas and her own poisoning), yet as jailer, she had to stay vigilant—a contradictory position.
Her white skin, firm abs, and the soft inner thighs hidden under that breastplate flashed vividly in memory.
Her body seemed tough, but I'd witnessed her fragile inner self crumble at my words.
With Level 2 persuasion...
Could I pierce that sturdy armor shell again? Not just strip her clothes, but tear down the walls of wariness deep in her heart, make her fully trust me?
Adella looked up. Our eyes met. Her brown gaze stared straight without wavering.
“What're you staring at?”
She asked gruffly. Her tone had edge, but none of the old cold disgust. Instead, curiosity about what happened at the palace top seeped through.
I tapped the bars with my fingers. Wet my lips with my tongue. The urge to test my new power bubbled up.
Not grand lies or threats—just in casual, everyday talk, could I toy with her emotions?
She was exhausted now. All-night watch, poison incident, looming war fear—body and mind at their limit.
If I stripped that armor and soothed her with warm words, or eased tension with a cheeky joke—what would she do?
I shifted my posture and opened my mouth toward her. My voice flowed softly through the damp air.
“Just... You look cool in the armor, but naked was way more impressive. Can't stop thinking about it.”