Holding the dagger in his hand, the sleeves of his stola would rip as a dense network of sword intents emerged from the sword. No matter how skilled Ovid is, the sword spirit would inevitably accidentally release out some sword intent. Ovid gazed at Margrethe and saw that although her eyes were closed, she should actually be awake right now.
Margrethe was completely covered in blood, even her colourful tunic was not spared. Sitting on the harvested fields, her face was abnormally pale, her thin brows were furrowed together so tightly that it seemed to be one. She had expended her lifespan to transform into her true form, not to mention that she had suffered heavy injuries from the sword spirit.
She gazed at Ovid, her eyes peering as if trying to shine a light on all his secrets. Yet in the end, she still could not make any sense of this. Why did he have so much mana? And how why did it suddenly turn so cold? But strangest of all, how could a sword spirit appear so abruptly on this commonplace sword? Even if it was Cai Hua that had defeated her, she would not accept it, so how could Margrethe, the proud and divine phoenix, accept that Ovid had overpowered her?
Her thoughts were countless, but the mental capacity of saints is quite extraordinary, so all these questions had appeared in a brief moment.
Clearing her mind, Margrethe wiped away the blood at the corner of her lips with the back of her hand. She lifted her head up in a proud manner and said, “Humph, even if you defeat me, but next incarnation won’t knowledge you at all.”
Ovid thought, what kind of reason would I need your next incarnations’ acknowledgement? In the end, he couldn’t come up with a response, perhaps because his mind was over exhausted. The sword in his hand trembled impatiently as if replying for him.
“There’s no need to hurry,” Margrethe said, “I’m going to die soon anyway.”
Ovid did not understand why she said these words. Was she hoping for him to pity her in the last moment of her life and let her go? Margrethe saw that his expression was full of confusion. She said full of resentment, “Could it be that you don’t know about the ritual surrounding the first blood?”
Ovid looked at Margrethe and noticed there was a faint hint of red between her brows. Although the two had been targeting that spot of their respective opponent, neither the sword or the finger had actually ever touched it. By that logic, the red scar should be the result of something earlier?
For phoenix’s, the person consuming their first blood would be the one responsible for their reincarnation. In another word, they would become something like a blood relative to the newborn phoenix.
For it to be consumed by a woman, it was extremely humiliating but still bearable.
But for it the person to be a man - based on phoenix traditions - it was tantamount to choosing the person as her husband.
The proudest phoenix could naturally not accept this. Even Alexander didn’t manage to consume her first blood back in the days. The only right thing to do in her eyes is to kill Ovid and seize her first blood back for herself.
“Without knowing a thing, you went ahead and drank my first blood. I don’t know what to say anymore aside from that you’re a very stupid and shameless person,” Margrethe looked at him, her expression full of pity, though it was not certain if it was toward Ovid for being so stupid or herself for burning her lifespan.
Ovid had only been called an idiot by one person through the entirety of his two lives, and that person was his mother. Today he was once again called a fool by Margrethe. Ovid respected, perhaps even worshipped his mother, so he chose not to refute Margrethe’s statement.
Margrethe was a person infinitely prideful, arrogant to her bones. Even when her former incarnation had been humiliated by Alexander, she never once showed any pity towards herself. Now, she began to weep.
Her sorrowful cries were very miserable, hearing it makes one heartbroken and wish to cry as well. She was like a small child who spent five days crafting a clay model only for it to drop and shatter into a million pieces. “After coming out of the forest, after fighting so hard, even shortening my lifespan to transform into my true form, you tell me now it was meaningless? You men are all truly shameless bastards.”
Ovid silently gazed at Margrethe and felt some sympathy. This is partially his fault and partially Cai Hua’s. Since he was the one responsible, he struggled for a long time before coming to an answer, “How about after you reincarnate… we forget about this matter entire and pretend nothing happened?”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Ovid’s speech was a little slurred, but it was still capable of making others grow speechless and cough out blood.
His speech was slurred because he realised; if Margrethe and Ulrika were not the world’s representatives, then he had been wasting his time. The threat of his existence as a foreigner was still very real, and he had completely exhausted himself fighting an unnecessary battle.
However, fate is truly something wondrous. During the battle with Margrethe, he had actually unknowingly advanced his mother’s plot. By now, that foreign force using his heart as a bridge to cross worlds is about to spill over. If Margrethe did not appear and force Ovid to push himself beyond his limits, the foreign force may have taken years to appear.
Li Zhan had said that Ovid’s fate was too perfect. From his encounter with Anna to learning Glafx’s technique, it was as though everything in Ovid’s life had been laid out and he was walking this path.
Perhaps Ovid wasn’t aware of this scheme, or perhaps he had refused to acknowledge it, regardless, the plot of his mother had been laid out from the very beginning.
This was truly frightening,
---
Because of that, if you and I want to live, Ovid must first die.
Both Anna and Julia are integrated into the world. They can live for as long as the world exists, yet their death is too connected with the destruction of this world. While no one is certain of the reason behind Ovid’s existence, his potential as a threat that ends the world is simply too great.
After hearing Julia’s words, Anna fell silent for a very long time.
This was the reasoning behind her adoption and also the path to true eternity.
She had to ponder this for a while. At the same time, she had to silently calculate and plan.
Back in her minor realm, Ovid had called Julia a bad person while Anna had said that Julia is a good sister.
In the end, it seemed that both of them were right.
In truth, humans and all living things are arbitrary by nature. Only the natural world can be just to all things.
Anna was extremely familiar with human nature, and even more so with her sister. There was no doubt she had predicted this before coming to the palace.
She was not here to do all that was possible to convince Julia and leave everything to fate.
From the very beginning, she was not one to believe in fate.
She had been calculating ever since her conversation with Li Zhan to now, before Julia.
She was attempting to change fate, divert destiny from its course and prevent the natural world from acting, but she was too young, too naive.
Although Anna had made countless plans, all of them relied on the basis that Julia would at least stay neutral. But now, the only factor she could truly rely on has actually become the main perpetrator for Ovid’s death.
With that link in her plans broken, Anna was rapidly weaving another course of action.
Julia returned to her chair and once more fondled her armest, her authoritative aura causing the simple wooden chair to appear like the most magnificent of thrones.
“Fate is something only a few understand, and even fewer can interfere with. Even the natural world dare not touch it too much, so how can you change it?”
Julia suddenly rested her hand on the armrest, casting a simple glance at Anna, she seemed to have seen through all her thoughts.
Anna responded, “If a person is sick, they would go to a doctor.”
Julia rebuked, “Right now you can’t even afford the cost to see a doctor. How can you pay for another’s expenditures?”
Anna’s face was somewhat pale as she understood the meaning behind Julia’s words.
“The beings you are competing with are far stronger than even saints. They can change the course of fate itself - heal the dead and change night into day. No matter how you scheme, it is still nothing infront of their absolute power.”
Julia gazed at Anna and said, “You have forgotten that you are merely a deacon.”
Anna realises she has indeed forgotten her true stature.
She believed that though she was weak herself, there was no qualms in borrowing another’s strength. Yet humans are unreliable creatures. At moments of crisis, the only person one can rely on is themself.
“Sister, you are capable of changing fate as well,” Anna gazed at Julia, her voice becoming somewhat clear and cold.
Julia replied, “Your tongue has always been very sweet, but in this matter, it is impossible to sway my position.”
Anna smiled as she said, “I am saying a few words, sister is reading too much into it.”
“I raised you. I know what you are thinking.” Julia’s voice bore down like a mountain, “I have no reason to save her (him) and countless to kill her (him).”
Julia raised her hand and looked at her fingertips. On it was a small bubble, and just like the one surrounding the city, it was perfect and contained the world.
Soon after, her lips curved into a derisive smile.
“You have been exiled for so many years. So what if you reached even greater heights and separated yourself from this world. For the sake of some strange ideas, you decided to give up everything and fight against the world.”
These words were obviously not aimed at Anna, but Julia purposefully spoke so that she can hear.
“The heavens are lofty. To fly as high as the heavens, you need to be equally aloof. But now that you have spoiled yourself and attached petty emotions to a descendant, how can you be exalted?”
Julia turned and looked at Anna.
Anna had never before been taught by Julia, everything she learnt was either from the old ladies at the market or Irene.
Yet this teaching was more important than all her lessons with Irene or anyone else combined.
Most people in this scenario would cry out in joy to listen to such a lecture, yet Anna was showing an extremely strange expression on her face.
She understood why Julia was telling her this.
“Your attachment towards this world, from the plants to the animals is far greater than mine. I hope that in the future, you will at least be equal to or exceed me. But with your current path, you will not even progress past deaconhood.”
Julia looked into her eyes and said, “Your current mistake, these threads of affection must be cut off. All things in the world are equal, you cannot prize one over a million others.”
When Anna heard this final line, her body went cold. Even though she had already known Julia’s thought, those words were still terrifying.