Chapter 162: Sister, I think I’m becoming obsessed with him (4k)
Present World, Arcane Tower.
Within the water screen of the Nightworld livestream, the Light of Destruction incinerated everything.
Even the originally empty and shadowy grand hall was illuminated by the surging brilliance.
The open space beside the Epoch Tombstone fell into complete silence; even the usually boisterous Dean Silver was uncharacteristically quiet.
Together with the rcury incarnation carrying Ophelia’s will, she stared blankly at the water screen of the livestream, at that world-destroying aurora released by the "Sky-Piercing Sword".
“Do you see it, Your Highness the Second Princess… this is his brilliance.”
The scorching brilliance reflected in the ruby-like beast pupils of the little snow ferret.
At this mont, Dean Silver had shed much of her usual playful and frivolous deanor. In her eyes shimred a solemnity, as if beholding sothing tragically majestic.
“So, even after witnessing that light, you still cannot acknowledge him?”
Listening to Dean Silver’s words, the rcury incarnation of Ophelia was slightly stunned.
Her gaze, which had been fixed on the livestream water screen, remained dazed for a long ti before she finally lowered her head, as if avoiding sothing.
Lines of computational and analytical runes erged in the void beside her, slowly rotating, analyzing the vast experintal data and intelligence relayed by the terminal of the "Sky-Piercing Sword Prototype".
“This was indeed a remarkably successful experint.”
“The first deploynt of the ‘Forbidden Catalogue 0-13: Sky-Piercing Sword Prototype’ produced power beyond imagination… Although the target was rely a Fertility Half‑Body constructed around a divine relic, this incarnation possessed the genuine Legendary level.”
“We have confird the complete disappearance of the life aura and magical fluctuations of that Fertility Half‑Body.”
“The first real combat deploynt of the ‘Sky-Piercing Sword’ successfully killed a Legendary-tier enemy. This marks a milestone in the forbidden weapon developnt of the entire chanist field.”
After a brief mont, the analytical runes in Ophelia’s eyes ceased spinning.
Her beautiful eyes glimred slightly, and she softly said, “Of course, this isn’t entirely due to my abilities as a chanist and inventor.”
“‘Infinite Blade · True Na Liberation’—this is my royal sister’s exclusive Nightblade ability. Yet to think that Rast could also wield it.”
“And by channeling it through the ‘Sky-Piercing Sword’ which bears the traits of Crest Equipnt, the amplification effect was not inferior in the slightest to when my sister uses it… If not for the enhancent from the True Na Liberation, that Legendary-tier incarnation would not have been so easily annihilated by the Sky-Piercing Sword.”
“Clearly, Rast registered his Nightblade as ‘Copy Eye’ at the Obelisk… but now it seems that this Nightblade, which can even perfectly replicate my sister’s True Na Liberation, is far from sothing as simple as ‘Copy Eye’.”
Ophelia’s brisk voice paused slightly: “In any case, the first combat test of the Sky-Piercing Sword Prototype concluded perfectly. I’m quite satisfied with that…”
However, in the very next mont—
This light-hearted attempt to brush things off and avoid the issue was rcilessly interrupted by Dean Silver.
“You know very well… that’s not what I was asking.”
“The brilliance I referred to is not the ‘Sky-Piercing Sword’, nor the True Na Liberation, nor even that so-called ‘Copy Eye’ he used to fool this ferret—”
“But rather, the light that originates from the deepest part of his ntal image.”
Dean Silver continued to gaze long and hard at the livestream water screen that had been swallowed by torrents of brilliance, now devoid of any discernible image.
“You heard it too, little princess.”
“At the top of the Sky-Piercing Tower—his conversation with that old Gravekeeper nad Noah, and the clash that followed with the Remnant of the Death God that escaped from Little Shiya.”
Her words drifted into the wind swirling around the Epoch Tombstone: “Three hundred years of repetitive ti, a day that can never move forward, and a life that persists like machinery…”
“His Spiritual World, broken and desolate, barren and empty—it is so heartbreaking, too painful to witness…”
“But it is exactly because of this that the burden Rast bears shines so brightly.”
“Neither ti nor fate can conceal that light.”
Dean Silver curled a small dried fish with her fluffy tail and lightly tossed it into her mouth.
Back then, at the temporary outpost outside the historical echo of Deep Blue Port—
She had received a request from Shiltina, and with the intent of brushing it off casually, ca to assist in assessing Rast’s psychological profile and danger potential… yet, it was through a chance encounter that she caught a glimpse of a corner of the Spiritual World of this human boy nad Rast.
And so, all that followed between human and ferret began from that mont.
If not for that mont when Dean Silver inadvertently glimpsed the heavenly light, so dazzling, radiant, and beyond words—
With Dean Silver’s status, how could she have willingly remained by the side of an ordinary freshman, allowing herself to be teased and toyed with like a true pet?
“Upon those frail shoulders of his… rests the curse spanning generations since the Age of Gods, the weight of an entire era and civilization.”
“This way of living is destined to be mistaken—abandoning the weaknesses of humanity, and never learning to cherish or care for oneself…”
“Turning his spirit into gears, treating life as machinery, using the ideal of the Shoreguards as the steam engine driving those chanical parts—falling into this so-called ‘ideal’, an endless curse, will only end with one result: one day, that overly lofty and unrealistic ideal will reduce him to ashes.”
“Steel weathers with ti, gears halt from rust, and the burning steam engine, too, will one day extinguish, becoming embers still clutching a dream.”
“However, before that blazing fuel is exhausted… no one can deny the radiance that illuminated the night.”
Dean Silver yawned, swished her fluffy snow-white tail, and turned her gaze toward Ophelia.
“In truth, from the beginning, you’ve always been clearly aware of this, haven’t you?”
“You, being the only publicly acknowledged heir of that old man Allen, have lived since birth under the expectations of your parents, your family, the royal house, and all the citizens of the Empire.”
The little snow ferret lazily rolled over the picnic cloth: “To et those expectations, you donned the mask nad ‘Second Princess’, learned to beco flawless, to embody the image longed for by the people…”
“You lived like a ‘mirror’, a mirror so clear and pristine, perfectly reflecting the souls of others.”
“Raised from childhood under countless gazes—be they kind or malicious—you saw the ugliness of human nature clearly. And it is precisely because of your mastery over human nature that you beca, at such a young age, a terrifying presence feared even by the grand nobles of the Imperial Capital.”
“But also because you lived your whole life in a dark forest without light, knowing the ugliness of humanity, understanding the inner world of darkness thoroughly… that you long all the more for the pure and shining side of humanity.”
Dean Silver blinked her eyes: “Your near-pathological obsession with your royal sister, with Little Tina, is also due to this, isn’t it?”
“That unwavering ideal in her heart, untouched by any external force—that’s exactly what you lack and yearn for.”
“And now, you’ve seen it too… the brilliance of that young man’s soul, the fire of ideals—light that is in no way inferior to Little Tina’s.”
Its voice, soft and ghostly, drifted through the vast Arcane Tower: “If I recall correctly, the reason you created this whole livestream setup… was under the pretense of assessing whether that guy was qualified to beco your brother-in-law.”
“So, what now?”
“Does the current Rast pass your test? Is he qualified to be your brother-in-law?”
...
With Dean Silver’s words fading,
The vast Arcane Tower fell into a mont of silence.
After a long while, Ophelia’s clear and pleasant voice finally erged.
“You really don’t miss anything, do you, little snow ferret?”
“So, after all, you’ve just been pretending to be silly and spoiled all this ti, maliciously acting cute… Those words just now didn’t sound like sothing a lazy ferret waiting to die would say.”
Beside Ophelia’s rcury incarnation, the parsing and computational runes silently faded away.
“As for your question… is there even a need to ask? Of course he passed, without a doubt.”
“Besides—”
Ophelia sighed softly: “Even if I believe he passed, what difference does it make?”
“If my royal sister were soone who would change her decision based on others’ opinions, switch out the person she had chosen, then she would no longer be my royal sister.”
The girl’s soft whisper rang like wind chis, echoing through the entire Arcane Tower.
“Well then, the test data for the ‘Sky-Piercing Sword’ has also been completely recorded… and the matters on the Nightworld side seem to have co to a close.”
“As for the follow-up tasks, I’ll leave those to you, Dean Ferret.”
The mont these words fell, the liquid rcury forming the girl’s figure quietly dissolved… turning into countless silver-white tallic particles and scattering away.
Such a hasty departure—just like… forcibly trying to conceal sothing.
...
In the Imperial Capital, several hundred kiloters away from the Arcane Tower, within a quiet but heavily guarded courtyard—
A girl with chestnut-brown mid-length hair, wearing a Western-style dress and possessing a doll-like delicate face, opened her eyes as if waking from a deep dream.
She gazed at the scrolls of royal affairs laid out on the long table and the gentle radiance cast by the Magitech Lamp. Only after a long while did a glimr return to her wine-red eyes.
“Your Highness Ophelia… your consciousness has finally returned from the rcury incarnation.”
“This is the information that ca in while you were attending to matters at the Arcane Tower.”
Behind her, a woman clad in heavy armor and wielding a sword and shield spoke respectfully, presenting a docunt.
However, imdiately after—
Kate, donned in full plate armor, suddenly froze.
In the dim light of the Magitech Lamp, she clearly saw that on the fair and charming face of her monarch—Second Princess Ophelia—there now appeared an unnatural blush, as if she were drunk.
It stood out like a burning cloud in the twilight.
“Your Highness, you…”
Kate’s right hand, still holding the docunt, hung awkwardly mid-air.
As Ophelia’s strongest subordinate, her most loyal sword and shield… Kate had followed Ophelia for many years.
In her mory, Ophelia had always maintained the image of a “flawless princess”—whether facing royal elders or high-ranking nobles and officials who held sway over the court, she remained as composed and graceful as a young swan.
This was the first ti Kate had seen Ophelia in such a discomposed state… and it was all because she had sent her rcury incarnation on a brief trip to the Arcane Tower.
Just as this thought surfaced—
In the next mont, Kate heard that normally serene and lodious voice, like wind chis in the night, now carrying ripples of emotion.
“More than just passing my test…”
Ophelia twirled a strand of her hair with her slender fingers, her gaze lowered. Upon her porcelain-doll-like face crept an unnatural flush.
For the first ti since pledging her loyalty—
Kate felt that the one before her was no longer the composed and elegant perfect princess who remained unfazed even before lords and nobles—
But a love-struck girl enchanted by the fluttering of butterflies.
“Sister…”
“I think I’m becoming obsessed with him.”
...
Arcane Tower, Epoch Hall.
Dean Silver lay sprawled on a picnic cloth cluttered with all kinds of snacks and Happy Water, swishing her tail with so reluctance as she watched the silver-white rcury particles gradually fade and vanish.
“Sigh, what a shy little one.”
“But considering she’s only thirteen or fourteen, it’s not fair to be too hard on her…”
“These hazy, shy, and naive emotions in a young girl’s heart—they’re quite useful to .”
Muttering to herself, Dean Silver lazily flopped back onto the picnic mat, casting her gaze once more toward the central projection screen in the hall.
The Sky-Piercing Sword had already been unleashed, and Akxia had safely withdrawn.
Next, once Rast also completed his withdrawal, this Nightworld operation could be declared a complete success.
However—
Just as Dean Silver yawned and prepared to tidy up the ss on her picnic cloth—
The next mont, her gaze toward the screen suddenly shifted subtly.
“There’s still another expert?”
“Tsk tsk—”
“Little Tina, Little Shiya, and a certain not-so-honest Second Princess classmate…”
“Looks like your competition isn’t limited to just among yourselves.”
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