Chapter 103: Your Majesty, No! (6k)
“d*mn underage mental health protection regulations!”
Ophelia gritted her silver teeth, clenched her small fists, and slammed them down hard.
In mid-air, the flowing undying metal converged into a shape like a cloud, soft and light like cotton, gently catching Ophelia’s descending fist.
Clearly, the rune intelligence controlling the undying metal had long been accustomed to Ophelia’s actions… Following the preset program, it naturally became a small toy for the master to vent her frustrations.
“If I had known, I would have never directly copied the generic circuit.”
Ophelia was so angry her teeth ached.
Kate received the spatial core from the secret organization “Bronze Rose” quite late, and by the time it was delivered to Ophelia, Rast was already preparing to enter the Echoes of the Era.
Thus, the time available for Ophelia to make the Projection Crystal was very short, resembling a writer rushing to submit before a deadline.
In order to save time, she directly copied the widely circulated generic control program from the Empire into the built-in rune circuit of the Projection Crystal.
For a qualified mechanic, the copy-and-paste approach was nothing unusual.
However, she did not expect to be caught off guard at a critical moment because she forgot to delete the legal restriction clause in the generic circuit.
“Did you show me a mosaic after I took off my pants?”
Isn’t this the same as interrupting the climax of a story with a “To be continued, please look forward to it” line?
“You think a measly eighteen-plus restriction could stop me?”
“If I could be blocked by such childish things, then I wouldn’t deserve the name Ophelia von Freesberg.”
In Ophelia’s wine-red eyes, silver data streams flowed rapidly.
Her mental power surged up the passage that connected the Night World and the real world, much like a hacker breaching a server, directly hacking into the rune circuit and swiftly modifying the restriction clauses.
After a dozen seconds, the flowing silver light vanished from Ophelia’s eyes.
She raised the tall glass handed to her respectfully by the mercury hand beside her and took a savage gulp of the rose-red liquid within.
Hmm, because Ophelia was underage, although the glass looked like red wine, she was actually drinking grape juice dyed with food coloring.
“Done.”
On the light screen, the hazy distorted color blocks vanished, revealing a clear image once more.
……
“Take it off.”
Looking at the ice blue letters that appeared in mid-air, Rast’s heart slightly tightened.
He did not expect this queen of the Netherworld, Helen, to be even more thirsty or perhaps more uninhibited than he imagined.
He slowly removed his servant gloves while contemplating a countermeasure in his mind.
This wasn’t because Rast himself had any resistance to the idea of undressing, but rather because he was currently in female disguise, and removing too many clothes might expose his disguise.
If the speculation put forth by the Shadow Servant was true, then this queen of the Netherworld might have a somewhat problematic s*xual orientation, extremely loathing men…
The outcome of revealing his male disguise would naturally be obvious.
Even with half a year of preparation, Rast had completely absorbed the extraordinary knowledge that Cecil had gifted to him, and his tier had already been raised to the peak of the Third Tier.
He was not far from breaking into the Fourth Tier; perhaps he merely needed an opportunity to complete the promotion.
However, facing this mistress of Paradise, Rast still felt immense pressure.
No wonder she commanded the power of the God of d*ath and had the legendary might in her own domain as the queen of the Netherworld.
If she truly harbored ill intent towards him, then it wouldn’t matter whether he was Second Tier or Fourth Tier; the outcome would remain unchanged.
The servant’s gloves came off, followed by the top hat and long boots…
And afterward, only the court gown remained.
Once the court gown was removed, his male disguise would likely be exposed.
But as a newly appointed servant, Rast naturally did not have the right to defy Her Majesty the Queen’s wishes.
With a snap.
As the last item of clothing was shed, that starry court gown fell to the ground, exposing his bare upper body.
Rast’s muscles tensed slightly as he fixed his gaze on Helen’s exquisite face, which was akin to Akshia’s, preparing himself for any sudden confrontation.
He and the Shadow Servant had thought up an emergency evacuation plan in case of his identity being exposed, and Rast had also carried extraordinary items for cover.
However, all of this was merely contingency; no plan could guarantee he could escape from the hands of a legendary figure that harbored ill intent.
But at that moment, Rast saw Helen step lightly to his side.
With her fair fingers, she gently caressed Rast’s flat abdomen.
Did she discover his male disguise and want to k*ll him?
Such thoughts fleetingly crossed Rast’s mind.
Because immediately afterward, he saw the curiosity flickering in those violet eyes.
Her slender, pale fingers brushed over his abdomen, moving up to caress his chest, then to his neck and head.
The chill of her fingertips swept across Rast’s cheek, bringing a slightly ticklish sensation.
Rast felt Helen’s movement pause for a moment.
Suddenly, she extended her hand, pinching Rast’s cheek as if playing with a doll.
This action seemed to contain some kind of significance.
In an instant, Rast felt an inexplicable force wash away his disguise, reverting back to his original appearance.
After doing all this, Helen finally withdrew her hand.
She stepped back, tilting her head to gaze at Rast, who had transformed back from a disguised girl to a boy.
It seemed she was comparing him to some image in her mind, and after a long time, a flicker of satisfaction finally shone in her violet eyes.
Ice blue runes appeared in the air: “Now, you look pleasing to the eye.”
What does “look pleasing to the eye” mean now?
So, it turns out you aren’t a girl who likes women and longs to roll and gasp with girls…
But a straight girl with a normal s*xual orientation?
Then who am I causing such a fuss, disguising myself as a girl for?
Rast couldn’t help but recall the Shadow Servant’s figure; this fellow seemed diligent with thick eyebrows and big eyes but unexpectedly turned out to be a hidden pitfall.
The real reason is probably that you just perceive people through your orange eyes, right?
Just as this thought flitted through his mind.
Rast suddenly saw the girl with ice blue hair in front of him, as if she had finally finished dressing her doll to her liking… she gazed at him, and her lips moved slightly.
Then, the world froze.
No longer were there the ice blue words appearing in mid-air, as a clear voice echoed in the stagnant air.
It was a girl speaking, using the language of an ancient era.
Rast had heard this term before, from Akshia.
It meant: “d*ath.”
The air around him gradually cooled, and a cold sensation enveloped him.
Rast knew what this sensation signified; Akshia had said similar words to him before when “d*ath’s Messenger” was targeting the curse that clung to him.
She had invoked the Night Blade to help free his curse.
But this moment was different.
Rast could clearly feel that the target of this deathly decree…
Was himself.
Does Helen want to k*ll him?
Why? Is it still because of his previous male disguise?
But from the look in her eyes, Rast felt not the slightest sign of furious betrayal… in her violet eyes, there was unmistakably a glimmer of delight akin to a child who had long coveted a toy.
Rast wanted to speak, but the temperature of d*ath already enveloped him like eternal frost.
Every inch of his flesh and organs cried out in absolute zero temperatures.
Not only his vocal organs but even the ripples of his thoughts were frozen in the cold.
This was a deprivation of life, the word spirit of d*ath… yet for some unknown reason, it had been directly imposed upon him shortly after meeting Helen.
His vision gradually darkened; the shadow of d*ath loomed over him, and life was flowing from his body.
Rast was quite familiar with this sensation of impending d*ath; he had experienced it countless times in the cycle of Deep Blue Harbor.
However, at that time, Rast seemed to be determined by the Night World as part of the echoes of history, enabling him to d*e and resurrect in Deep Blue Harbor, reloading…
But having escaped that infinite cycle and becoming recognized as a Night Traveler by the Night World, he should have also lost the ability to reload.
He wasn’t sure about this guess, but after painstakingly liberating himself from the repetitive cycle of the same day, he would never actively plunge himself back into that endless hell.
Yet at this moment, he felt as if he were being forced to verify that guess.
Just then, however, Rast felt a pale light suddenly enveloping him.
The icy chill of d*ath was dispelled, and the flow of life briefly came to a halt.
“Silence Disqualified: Withering Pebble”
The original Night Blade text he had copied from Professor Barbarossa, who guarded the Tower of Secrets.
Since opening his bond with Professor Barbarossa, the original text of “Silence Disqualified: Withering Pebble” had long occupied a position among the original texts in the Fool’s Library.
Similar to the Fantasy Killer, this original text allowed everything Rast’s body came into contact with to become ineffective.
Of course, this was merely Barbarossa’s Night Blade, so it couldn’t truly erase all extraordinary powers like the Fantasy Killer… when the mystical status touched was greater than that of the holder of the “Withering Pebble,” the Night Blade effect would greatly weaken.
But even so, when the word spirit of d*ath acted upon Rast, “Silence Disqualified” had still taken effect.
Although it was merely a short-term weakening, since Helen’s tier far surpassed Rast’s, the original effect of “Silence Disqualified: Withering Pebble” was reduced from “ineffective” to “weakened.”
Yet Rast seized the fleeting opportunity to delay the d*ath decree.
Expressing it with words seemed too slow; he directly initiated “Whispers Under the Moonlight.”
“Your Majesty, no!”
……
On the other side.
Upon perceiving that inexplicable voice echoing in her mind, the girl with ice blue hair noticeably froze for a moment.
She tilted her head in confusion, a few strands of hair falling beside her cheek.
“Why?”
Perhaps due to her unfamiliarity with directly communicating through thoughts, the floating letters appeared in mid-air.
“Why refuse the blessing?”
Even so, the ice blue color in her eyes gradually dissipated.
Rast felt he could finally breathe.
That life-depriving word spirit was retracted by its owner.
The bone-chilling coldness shrouded in d*ath vanished, and the darkness in his field of vision was expelled by light.
The flickering flame of life, akin to a candle in the wind, no longer swayed, and vitality no longer flowed from his body.
Simultaneously, as he looked at the faint blue words.
Information about Paradise flooded into his mind, and he finally understood the actions of this queen of the Netherworld.
Paradise—
This small country situated in the extreme northern realm of the continent was called “Paradise” precisely because it was isolated from the world.
The plague of the Iron Cross, the desolate Beast Tide, the Cult Organization, and even the pollution of the Evil God… all had nothing to do with Paradise.
In this respect, Paradise seemed to be even more stable than the cities sheltered by the Guardian’s Tower.
Because the former’s security relied merely on the deterrent effect of having a legendary figure stationed at the Guardian headquarters… Should the Guardian Organization ever decline or relocate its headquarters, that protection and deterrence over the surrounding city-states would naturally cease to exist.
Paradise, however, was different; it did not possess the same powerful deterrent as the Guardian headquarters… yet it had still never been disturbed by cults, the Iron Cross, or the Beast Tide.
It was a realm utterly independent from the world.
Just like Rast’s past life’s Peach Blossom Spring, isolated from the war, calamity, and disasters of the outside world.
Precisely because of this, those displaced people who could not seek shelter at the Guardian headquarters regarded Paradise as their last refuge and harbor.
Countless people came from the outside, entering this small country they referred to as Paradise, hoping to become the lucky ones chosen and blessed by the queen of Paradise, receiving the baptism of blessing and truly becoming a member, independent from the disasters and turmoil of the outer world.
Including Rast, who disguised himself to mingle into Paradise, using the identity of a refugee fleeing to Paradise because of the Beast Tide and Iron Cross.
However.
Such an other-worldly, isolated status came at a price.
What they called Paradise was, in fact, a realm of the dead and souls.
And what it meant to become the chosen lucky one and receive blessings—
Was merely transforming into a soul stripped of destiny, truly merging into the Netherworld, becoming a member of the Underworld.
Because they lost their vitality and became dead and soulless, neither the Iron Cross nor the Beast Tide had any interest in them.
After all, whether it was the Iron Cross or the Beast Tide, what they desired to torment were living, breathing beings, not the dead souls.
Thus, even cults and evil gods had never turned their gaze toward Paradise.
Because a group of souls who had lost their future and all possibilities… held no value as sacrifices or fallen believers to the evil gods and cults.
To some extent, the forms of existence of Paradise and the Night World were somewhat similar.
This was a kingdom of the dead, where souls and ancient phantoms wandered, belonging only to the dead.
For countless centuries, this realm of the Netherworld had existed in this form.
It was only over a hundred years ago, with the outbreak of the Great Cataclysm…
Countless displaced people regarded this as a sanctuary, flooding into Paradise, yet they had not yet received the blessings, not yet truly becoming a part of the Netherworld.
Thus, this realm of the dead gained a glimmer of life.
This Netherworld could have continued eternally…
If only the source of this Netherworld, that relic of the God of d*ath, had not been targeted by the Gravekeeper.
“Why reject it?”
“You could be safe only this way.”
“Stay here, forever by my side, protecting you.”
Helen gazed at Rast’s face, her violet eyes filled with confusion.
Since her birth, she had always resided within this palace.
Using her own power to bestow blessings upon her subjects.
Letting them endure the baptism of d*ath’s power, thereby transforming from fragile, vulnerable living forms into immortal beings.
And this eternity—
Was her kindness and gentleness as a queen.
That was why Helen wanted to use her power to bless Rast as well.
Because in her eyes, Rast’s current state was far too fragile.
Like a delicate piece of art.
Even without external forces touching it, simply with the passage of time, such a flesh-and-bl**d body would gradually age, becoming an unimaginably grotesque form.
And only with her strength could she allow him to transform into the embodiment of a dead person, so Rast could truly be safe, always by her side.
Just like those servants and other subjects she had previously blessed in this country.
Helen didn’t understand why, upon seeing the face of this boy before her, the thought of protecting him instinctively surfaced in her mind.
But for this queen of the Netherworld, the best way to protect someone was, of course, to turn them into an eternally immortal being and keep them by her side forever.
To put it in Rast’s world’s terms, it would be—
“A meticulously cherished figure.”
Rast was not clear about what kind of life experience this queen of the Netherworld, who bore a striking resemblance to Akshia in both looks and powers, had undergone to cultivate such a twisted worldview.
But.
“No, Your Majesty.”
Rast looked pale, lingering on the edge of d*ath, a residue of being stripped of life by the word spirit.
But his voice was exceptionally firm: “I once thought—”
“Endless time, being able to maintain the most beautiful form for eternity, was heaven’s greatest blessing.”
“But it’s not like that.”
Rast shook his head slightly.
A smile surfaced on his pale face: “Birth, growth—”
“Then decline, grow old, and move toward d*ath… experiencing joy and sorrow, love and hatred, this is the unique beauty of humans, a lifeform with a brief existence.”
“It is precisely because people age, and because people d*e, that humanity becomes so endearing, so noble.”
He looked seriously into the eyes of the girl with ice blue hair.
“The laughter of a young child showing off their awards to their parents on the way home from school.”
“The anxiousness and worry while waiting for news of one’s wife and child outside the delivery room.”
“When old age arrives, being unable to walk, sitting in a wheelchair, and sharing a smile with one’s partner while watching the sunset and the falling leaves.”
“Those are experiences only fragile and short-lived humans can understand…”
“Things that those eternally immortal, exalted beings will never understand or empathize with.”
Rast paused: “And the eternal blessing bestowed by Your Majesty can freeze life in its most beautiful moment.”
“But in my view, that’s merely a butterfly specimen curated in a museum.”
“Exquisite, beautiful, yet cold and stiff, unworthy of being compared to its airborne relatives.”
……
Listening to Rast’s words.
The queen with ice blue hair, her violet eyes slightly fixated.
As the queen of the Netherworld, everyone around—be they servants or subjects… were all extremely respectful towards her.
For the first time in her life, she heard someone rebuking her.
This unfamiliar feeling left Helen slightly stunned, but at the same time, her attention was unconsciously drawn to Rast’s words.
The ice blue writing appeared with some hesitation: “Unique to humans, beautiful?”
She instinctively turned around to glance at the few fairy tale books that she had carefully hidden behind her throne.
Those old volumes were stacked in a corner, unassuming.
Despite having flipped through them many times, Helen still left a crease on the fairy tale book when she was interrupted by a servant earlier.
“Mm.”
Rast nodded, gazing beyond the palace—
At that unchanging cityscape enveloped in the sunset.
“Your Majesty, this world does not consist only of this royal city and the palace within it.”
“There are many beautiful things waiting for you to experience.”
“Such as the magnificent sea, the forests beneath the sunset…”
“Such as the endless fields of gold, or the marvelous academy with talking silver weasels and gorillas wearing golden-framed glasses…”
“And then there’s…”
He hesitated for a moment.
“The moment a boy encounters a girl and then falls in love.”
In the still of the sunset.
This queen with ice blue hair, a flicker of light suddenly sparkled in her grayish eyes.
(End of chapter)
