Chapter 132: Ophelia: My Brother-in-Law is Here, I Need to Run (Two-in-One)
In the present world, Tower of Secrets, Hall of Era.
Ophelia’s delicate porcelain-like face slightly furrowed her brows.
Her wine-red eyes looked down at a woman in heavy armor, kneeling on one knee before her.
“At the moment you are about to discover key clues about the ‘Graveminder,’ Ingrid appears and strikes at you…”
“Kate, can you confirm this information?”
As the second princess of the Granwill Empire, Ophelia was certainly no stranger to Ingrid.
Coming from a remote village on the outskirts of the empire, a place that wasn’t even named on most maps, she barely scraped by the entrance examinations to Starry University using the empire’s standard civil education materials.
Then, among a majority of students who were nobility… whether it was natural talent, education from a young age, or the supply of extraordinary resources, all surpassed her own at Starry University, relying on being rated as the most mediocre Night Blade “Shadow Iron” by the Ruins Institute—
In four years, through hundreds of strategies concerning historical echoes and countless times fighting while severely injured, she climbed from the lowest rank of the Obelisk to the second seat at the Round Table.
And such a record continued after Ingrid graduated from Starry University and joined the military.
Factions sprang up within the Granwill Imperial Army, and every senior position was firmly controlled by the royal family, great nobles, and many powers, making it extremely difficult for ordinary people to rise.
However, Ingrid had forcefully broken through this tacit rule.
In less than ten years, relying on military achievements and feats that far surpassed those of her peers, she ascended to the position of Director of the Supervisory Bureau of the Department of Land and Order with an impeccable stature.
This legendary background raised suspicions among many who speculated if Ingrid was secretly trained by the royal family as a weapon to eliminate other great nobles…
Ophelia chuckled lightly, “But who would have thought that the secret weapon in their eyes would instead strike at us first?”
As the second princess, she naturally knew that Ingrid’s rise had nothing to do with the royal family.
“The opponent’s aura was well hidden, and after striking successfully, they left immediately without giving me the chance to use a relic to detect the soul’s aura and identify their identity.”
“Therefore, Your Highness, I cannot ascertain…”
Kate shook her head.
“However—”
She leaned down, looking at the straight punctured opening in her heavy armor.
“A sixth-tier extraordinary being able to penetrate my defenses in one blow… in the Granwill Empire, there can’t be more than five.”
“Moreover, in a previous joint operation of the military, I fought alongside Ingrid.”
“That violent, self-destructive strategy of injuring eight hundred while harming the enemy a thousand… no, it was injuring eight hundred while harming the enemy a thousand, aside from the barbarians of the Northern Region, I’ve only witnessed that in Ingrid.”
A look of memory and a hint of imperceptible awe flashed in Kate’s eyes.
“To make a comparison, Ingrid is like a bloodthirsty wolf.”
“Even knowing there’s an absolute gap in strength and knowing she cannot win, she would certainly bite off a piece of flesh from her opponent before d*ath.”
Listening to Kate’s account, Ophelia’s delicate brows furrowed even tighter.
No one knew whether there were still legends in the present world. Even if there were, they had long since vanished and would not easily intervene in the disputes between countries.
In such circumstances, a sixth-tier peak represents the strongest combat power that various countries can mobilize under normal conditions.
Therefore, in this environment, Ingrid’s defection is exceedingly terrifying… she is not only a sixth-tier extraordinary being but also held a senior position in the military.
Although Ingrid had never actively allied with any faction during her rise, her current position undoubtedly indicated that there were relative admirers of Ingrid among the military’s upper echelons, including some powerful figures.
Even to this day, Ingrid’s existence itself has become a flag, capable of representing a significant portion of the military’s neutral officials from commoner backgrounds who have not sided with the nobility or royal family.
Although these commoner military officials have always maintained neutrality and have low visibility, their roots among the lower-ranking officers cannot be underestimated.
The entanglements involved are too great—if not resolved properly, it could very well lead to turmoil throughout the empire…
And those great nobles coveting the authority of the royal family, as well as the nations eyeing the Granwill Empire from beyond its borders, would not miss such an opportunity.
“However, what is even more concerning is…”
“Despite going through great pains to reach the current position.”
“Why would Ingrid rather risk exposure of her identity and abandon everything she has accumulated in the empire… and strike at Kate?”
Ophelia spoke with a murmuring voice.
Behind her, on the dark undead metal, various analytical formulas appeared.
All information about Ingrid was retrieved from Ophelia’s database as a mechanic and then analyzed.
From the currently known information, the simplest inference… is that Ingrid was cultivated by the “Graveminder,” a spy sent to infiltrate the empire.
However—Ophelia vaguely felt that this was not the correct answer.
Not only because Ingrid’s background does not match this speculation, but if one wanted to cultivate a spy to infiltrate the upper echelons of the empire, it would be far easier to select from those fence-sitting nobles within the empire than to choose a commoner from a remote area and have them climb step by step to their current position.
Also because Ophelia learned through the live broadcast of the projection crystal that there was more detailed information about the “Graveminder” in the echoes of history from the Sixth Epoch.
She had a faint sense that this secret organization, which spanned across the tides of history and multiple civilizations’ epochs, must have some deeper purpose… and would not merely focus on internal disputes of a single country, which does not align with the perspectives exhibited by the “Graveminder” in the echoes of the era.
Streams of data composed of 0s and 1s turned into dark electric arcs in Ophelia’s eyes.
Then, the filtered information slowly displayed in her vision.
The electric arcs in Ophelia’s wine-red eyes danced as she swiftly browsed through the files regarding Ingrid—
Moments later.
Her gaze fixed on a certain part of Ingrid’s file, on two lines of concise text.
[In the year 989 of the Summer Flower Calendar, in the northern region of the Golden Deer Territory, a total of seven border villages including Robert Village and Moncarl Town were engulfed and destroyed by an unknown disaster.]
[Preliminary investigations suggest this phenomenon resembles the collapse of an undiscovered entrance to the Night World, resulting in the onset of a dusk calamity.]
Currently, it is the year 994 of the Summer Flower Calendar, and the year 989 of the Summer Flower Calendar was exactly five years ago.
Robert Village, located in the northern region of the Golden Deer Territory, happened to be Ingrid’s hometown.
Ten years ago, she stepped out from this remote border village into the bustling imperial capital filled with lights and began her legendary career at Starry University.
Initially, most of the maps of the empire did not even record the name “Robert Village,” having only a small mark.
However, later, due to Ingrid’s achievements in Starry University and the imperial capital, almost all maps of the empire marked the name of this small village in honor of Ingrid’s hometown.
Only—
In the year 989 of the Summer Flower Calendar, just as Ingrid graduated ranked second at the Obelisk from Starry University and joined the imperial military brimming with dreams, just as she started from the position of a mid-level officer and began her ascent…
Her hometown, for some unknown reason, was annihilated in a mysteriously descending dusk calamity.
To this day, the origins of this dusk calamity appear vague and unresolved, attributed merely to the overly concealed entrance to a Night World that was not discovered until it completely collapsed and triggered the onset of the dusk calamity that the Night Travelers failed to detect.
“So, Ingrid…”
“Is your targeting of Kate related to this incident from five years ago?”
“Does this dusk calamity have a connection to the Graveminder?”
Ophelia stared at the information in the file, uttering her thoughts aloud.
“But no matter what your reasons are—”
“Since you dared to take action against my people, choosing to assist the Graveminder, positioning yourself against the empire, against me and my elder sister…”
“Then, I believe you should be prepared to face the corresponding consequences.”
The calmness that had originally filled Ophelia’s wine-red eyes was gone.
In its place was a sharp cold light, chilling to the bone, reminiscent of the eternal frost atop the Summit of the Snow Mountain.
“Mobilize all our operatives within the military and the Administrative Bureau to thoroughly investigate everything about Director Ingrid of the Supervisory Bureau, and restart the investigation into the dusk calamity in the northern region of the Golden Deer Territory from five years ago.”
“Additionally, conduct a thorough investigation into everything related to the ‘Graveminder’ organization within the empire, especially those great nobles… There must be individuals among the nobles in the imperial capital who are aware of the existence of the Graveminder, and there may even be covert communications.”
“My elder sister once told me, if you find a cockroach on the floor, it indicates hundreds or thousands of cockroaches have already nested in your home…”
Ophelia lowered her gaze, observing Kate, who was kneeling on one knee: “If there truly exist forces colluding with the Graveminder in the imperial capital, then they must have intertwined roots, secretly constructing an immensely vast power network capable of overturning the entire empire.”
“Investigate thoroughly and uproot this entire power network.”
“No matter which duke family may be implicated, or what level of backing they have.”
Her voice was calm yet felt like a thousand-year cold pool, chilling to the bone.
“If any impediments arise…”
“Kate, you should understand what to do.”
Listening to the cold voice beside her ear, and witnessing the chilling light in Ophelia’s eyes, Kate kneeling on one knee felt a chill in her heart.
As the most loyal subordinate of the second princess, who regarded Ophelia as her sword and shield, this was not the first time Kate had witnessed such a look from Ophelia.
In the past, every time the second princess revealed such an expression, it indicated that a powerful minister or great noble would soon lose their head.
Though she appeared to be merely thirteen or fourteen years old, a doll-like innocent girl.
Everyone in the imperial capital knew that this little swan-like second princess had gained her fearsome reputation not merely due to her royal status but through the cold and bloody means she had carved out.
Her ability to silence the younglings of noble families… was no mere joke.
Kate maintained her kneeling posture and respectfully spoke.
“Your command is my duty, Princess Ophelia.”
…
“Um, um, well…”
However, just at this moment.
A somewhat untimely voice broke the chilling silence in the Hall of Era.
Mr. Silver wagged its tail, speaking somewhat weakly: “Although Little Princess, I can’t interfere with which great noble’s clan you want to annihilate…”
“However, I must remind you of something.”
It pointed with its fluffy white tail to the center of the hall not far away, where the Era Tombstone majestically stood.
At this moment, the originally silent Era Stone Tablet began to quietly swirl with wisps of thin night color.
Gradually becoming dense, almost turning tangible.
“If I’m not mistaken, it should be Rast who has successfully completed the historical echoes and is preparing to exit the Night World.”
“Given this momentum, within a few minutes at most, Rast will emerge from the Night World.”
“So, Hiltina, do you want to meet your brother-in-law in advance?”
Hearing Mr. Silver’s words, Ophelia looked at the ever-thickening night color, her exquisite doll-like face slightly froze.
The cold, stern, and murderous aura that was reminiscent of eternal frost immediately dissipated.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Little Ferret.”
“That guy Rast hasn’t completely passed my assessment yet.”
“To become my sister’s husband… is not something that can be determined by merely one live broadcast from the Night World.”
Despite saying that, Ophelia’s voice clearly carried a hint of panic.
“I can’t meet him now. If Rast finds out I sneaked over to spy on him, and then tells my sister…”
Ophelia’s rising panic was quite evident.
“Kate, let’s go.”
She uttered in urgent tones.
In the next moment, the surging liquid undead metal suddenly expanded.
Wrapping Ophelia’s figure, along with Kate, who was still somewhat puzzled, within it.
“Little Ferret, the next part is up to you.”
“If Rast discovers that I had been here earlier…”
“I think you should understand the consequences.”
As the pitch-black color dissipated.
Ophelia’s figure had already vanished from the Hall of Era.
Only a ferret remained, staring blankly at the dissipating darkness.
Clearly, it was your own idea, so why did you collapse and slip away when it came time for the fight?
(End of this chapter)
