Chương 20: The art of war

In the cold night, Ophelia hovered high in the sky. A frightening pair of shears gleamed in her hands. The Shears of Heaven and Hell didn't have much of a description, but they were a Level 1000 artifact all the same. Their job was to cut. And they would cut anything in their path. Ophelia's [Observe] had been running passively since she had arrived. Without any effort, the weapon's hidden effect blossomed in her mind.

[Shears of Heaven and Hell] Set Bonus (1/1): Base Intellect increased by 10 Per Kill (Permanent, Exclusive) Kills: 9678001 Wait. Wasn't that a lot of Intellect? There was also a modifier on her battle robes… She pulled up her stats. Intellect: 153, 183, 612 Um… Again, Ophelia wasn't very good at math, but wasn't that a lot? And apparently the weapon's power scaled infinitely based on her kill count?

It was a good thing (or maybe not) that Lady Vyx had killed a lot because Ophelia certainly didn't have the guts to go on a slaughtering spree just to scale up her weapon. Regardless… Over a hundred and fifty million Intellect definitely had to be OP! She glanced down at the duke, only to see him staring up at her in utter shock. His ice blue eyes were so wide that she could see whites around them.

"Is that… an Extreme Weapon? Where the hell did you get a Spatial-Series Extreme Weapon??"

"Get out of the way, Spellblade," said Ophelia with a smirk.

"Let an Archmage show you how it's done." Dietfried grunted, the Level 1000 Berserker's claw strike pushing him back. The shock on the duke's face smoothed out as though it never existed.

"Quit it with the jokes, Vyx. If I laugh, I might spit out my cigar." Ophelia's brow twitched. Who did he think she was? Lady Vyx had been an Archmage - one of only five in the entire world. A spatial Archmage as well. How dare he try to farm "cool" points while she was in the vicinity? As though she wasn't the coolest character? Well, she knew a thing or two about theatrics. Two could play at that game. Ophelia channeled her magic through the shears.

She had always considered her spatial magic as cold - but that wasn't really the right word. No, it was more accurate to call it hollow. It was devoid of the flavor of the elements, of anything but the purest concept of space. The shears thrummed with tightly controlled, precise power. She couldn't think of a better power to counter the Beast King - a person of chaotic and uncontrollable strength. Ophelia threw the shears forward.

They stopped a few feet in front of her, floating in the air, radiating a presence of immense emptiness. Like they were a hole in this world given form." [Cut]!" An imperceptibly thin white line - stark in color - ran through the battlefield. The duke cursed and hopped back at the last second as the line crossed through the Beast King - and the end of his cigar. The ashy tip fell to the snow, flaring orange briefly before guttering out. A primeval groaning echoed through the north as the land split in half.

To Ophelia's surprise, the Beast King didn't die. Strangely, he was barely hurt. The line had been so thin, so precise, that the man's torso easily healed around it, as though it had never happened. He didn't even seem to realize he'd been cut. What? The land began to split as the two halves slid against each other. The duke plunged his icy sword into the crack, brilliant blue magic coursing through the fissure, freezing the shifting land in place.

"Hey!" yelled Dietfried.

"I'm running my capstone ability, and I had you extend the rift for a reason! When Level 1000s fight everyone else gets hurt! I'm trying to keep the casualties to a minimum!" Ophelia glanced at the second battlefield beyond the rift, where the beastmen were fighting the duke's clones. They had stopped battling for a second, trying to scramble and keep their footing as the snowy landscape shifted beneath their feet. A few higher level combatants took advantage of the wide-spread chaos to launch their attacks.

Anger flared in her chest. What was the duke talking about? No one had even died yet! So what if the battlefield changed slightly? They were all class users! If they couldn't handle a little disruption, then what kind of warriors were they? The duke shook his head.

"Just keep trying your best to support me, like you always do. I'm sorry for getting frustrated - I know it's been a while since we've fought together. If you can throw out a shield or two here and there, I should be able to solo him. Let me handle this." Yeah right!

"I have things to do tonight, Dietfried," said Ophelia.

"I only agreed to come because I thought it would be a quick fight. I didn't think you would be struggling this hard against a mere Berserker." Dietfried ducked under the Beast King's swiping paw.

"Stand back. I'm executing Battleplan 90210," said Ophelia.

"--what?" asked Dietfried, leaping backwards.

"What is Battleplan 90210??" The battleplan, of course, where Ophelia takes the spotlight! [Spatial Realm] Blinding white threads cascaded around her fingers, weaving into shape. The power was amplified by her Shears of Heaven and Hell. She didn't let the sphere expand in size, but concentrated the power, keeping it a smaller, much stronger bubble. Ophelia threw the forming spatial realm at the Beast King.

"Vyx!" the duke cried out. Not in irritation, this time, but in alarm. Even though the Beast King was fast, he was also massive, which made him an easy target. The spatial realm slammed into the man, consuming him. His body flickered in and out of reality as the threads weaved around him. The Berserker roared, slashing his claws at the white threads. A spray of cuts criss-crossed against his arms as he attempted to break free. For the first time, it seemed, the Beast King began to feel a very real sense of danger.

The animal fury in his yellow eyes was replaced with an all-consuming wrath as the Beast King's Level 1000 capstone ability activated: [Blood Feud]. It wasn't a simple enrage ability like [Primal Wrath] --no, it was worse. Any vestige of humanity vanished from the Beast King's appearance. White fur covered every inch of his skin, and his hands and feet fully formed into large polar bear paws.

The white threads of her spatial realm ripped apart as his height shot up into the sky, tall as a skyscraper, blotting out the auroras above. Wow. Big boy. [Cut]! [Cut]! [Cut]! Three razor sharp lines sliced the air, through the Beast King. Ophelia had aimed the spell horizontally, away from the rift. The lines slashed through the monstrosity's two arms and a leg, but to her dismay, he healed so quickly that he seemed to heal around the spatial line as it was cutting through him.

"Careful! There's an outpost twenty miles that way!" said the duke. Three giant ice mirrors appeared in front of the spatial lines, redirecting them so they shot into the sky, cutting through the clouds. Funny - now he was the one supporting her. Ophelia decided to try something new. Her shears released another deadly spatial line at the Beast King's shoulder, but this time, Ophelia reinforced it with another spell - [Expand]. The cut shot through the Beast King's shoulder cap.

This time, when his body tried to heal, the space between the arm and the shoulder was thinner than a hair but infinitely far apart. The tendons reached like invasive vines, blood coursing with purpose, but the arm and the shoulder simply could not find each other. The massive polar bear arm fell to the ground in slow motion. Ophelia felt a rush of dopamine. She'd done it - she had landed an actual blow against the Beast King. Far more impactful than anything the Duke of the North had done!

She warped the arm into the rift before it could crush them.

"Spatial magic has no weakness. It can only be overpowered - and I happen to be at Level 1000!" she gloated at the duke. Dietfried glared up at her icily.

"As though a few spells can match the power of a blade! You want to fight? Fine. Watch and learn!" A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. A trail of icy blue swordlight wound up the Beast King as Dietfried ran up its body.

"The sword is a purely offensive weapon made for killing," said the duke.

"When it comes to battle, conceptually, nothing else can match it."

"Hilarious. If you were so confident in your philosophy, then why are you a Spellblade, not a Warrior?"

"Simple," responded the duke.

"I use magic to buff my strikes. The only thing magic is good for is support and utility!" As he said that, he slashed his sword Ice across the Beast King's throat." [Frostbite]!" he bit out. The wound immediately froze, impeding the healing factor from being able to kick in. Ophelia stared at him. Why hadn't he used that from the start? She used a stronger [Observe] on him. The answer was immediate. The Duke of the North's mana pool was pretty small. Just that one [Frostbite] had reduced it by eighty percent.

For her to cast a similar spell, the cost would've been negligible. Likely, her passive mana regen would've refilled her pool before she had even noticed. Just went to show how much better her build was than his. The Beast King coughed, pawing at his throat as if to claw the frostbitten flesh out of his body. Ophelia took his hesitance to [Cut] through the rest of his neck, following it up with an [Expand]. The massive polar bear head tumbled from the sky.

Suddenly, her vision swam a little, and she put her hand to her forehead. Weird - what was that? Her stat screen popped up in front of her. Oh. She only had 60% of her mana left. Ophelia warped the head, setting it down on the ground. If the head had crashed into the landscape, it would've been as if a meteor had descended from space, causing untold damage. The yellow eyes blinked at her - pupils constricting. The black snout rolled back in discomfort.

"He's still alive?" questioned Ophelia in frustration. The massive, headless body stomped forward, the blood appearing as black as oil against the white fur. The landscape trembled wildly as it moved towards them. Ophelia had the sinking feeling that if it could get its paws back on its head, it would be able to reattach it without any issues. As if she would let that happen. [Spatial Realm] Threads of spatial magic wove around the polar bear head.

"Vyx," panted Dietfried, clouds of fog forming in front of his mouth. His perfect blue hair had been mussed out of its hairstyle, sticking to his forehead.

"Can you do that [Cut]/[Expand] combo again?"

"Of course I can." He gave her a calculating look.

"You don't need to keep [Expand] going for long - just give me one second of time. That's all I need." Ophelia gritted her teeth and nodded. As much as she wanted to show up the duke, almost half of her mana pool had evaporated from her current attacks. She sent out her [Cut]/[Expand] combo attack, the thin line slashing across the polar bear's remaining arm. The duke leaped up into the air. In comparison to the massive beast, his form seemed smaller than an ant. He leveled a kick at the Beast King's arm.

A deafening boom sounded, waves of force rippling through the air. Ophelia's hair blew away from her face. The arm of the Beast King went flying across the battlefield. She quickly warped it into the rift before it could crash land somewhere. Ophelia tried to remember how high-level Berserkers were killed. Usually, severing the head was enough. In the story, Wolfgang Aethelfrid was just a footnote. He must've died early, on off-screen. Thankfully, she didn't need to know his weakness. She had her S-Rank [Observe].

[Berserker - Level 1000] Text flew through her mind as she skimmed. His tragic backstory, his decades as a warlord, his lucky opportunity… A Berserker fights with their heart, not their mind. Their strength comes from their desire to surpass all others. Ophelia's eyes widened. The heart. It wasn't enough to behead the Berserker - they needed to destroy his heart. But how?

They had destroyed the Berserker's head, so he couldn't see their incoming moves (or bite them) and they had cut off his limbs so he couldn't defend himself. But even now she could see the stumps roiling with viscera, trying to heal and form new parts— A strange feeling blossomed in her mind. A surety that she could kill him. That she knew how.

"Stay back," Ophelia called out to the duke, who looked prepared to launch another attack.

"Let me try something." The duke looked ready to argue, but upon seeing the look on her face, he paused. An equation appeared in her mind's eye. It was notable because it didn't quickly solve itself - it grew and grew, shifting, changing. Giant curly brackets appeared, hundreds of numbers and symbols writ within, and as they continually changed, more and more numbers surfaced until her mind was full with flashing digits. Come on, brain, Ophelia urged herself, gritting her teeth. Math faster.

She pushed the magic flowing through her to the limit. The temperature of the battlefield plummeted. The scent of ozone, snow, and blood vanished, and the sound of weapons clashing seemed to disappear into nothing. A hollow buzzing filled the air that could be felt in the gums. A numbness. The numbers slowed, easing slightly. With more power, a solution was reached. Ophelia felt it as the equation in her mind resolved. She wasn't sure what her magic was about to do. But by the sudden drop in the atmosphere…

Something unprecedented was about to happen. Her Shears of Heaven and Earth exploded with power. Threads began to weave around the weapon, but they weren't blinding white. The strings were a deep, all-consuming pitch-black. A spatial realm was forming. With the shears as its power source. The spatial realm spun like a centrifuge, dark as the void. It flattened into a thin disc, eating the very air around it. Cutting black winds lashed across the battlefield.

Ophelia heaved her magic and launched the modified spatial realm at the Beast King and it flew faster than a missile. It hit the Beast King's chest, tearing into his flesh and ribs like they didn't exist, but instead of exiting through his back, it continued to spin and revolve in the Beast King's chest. The next moment, the spatial realm began to dissipate, taking the concept of regeneration along with it. The Beast King had a massive hole in his chest that everyone could see through.

Ophelia's blood raced through her body, breath coming out of her in rapid pants. Would it be enough? She didn't have much mana left. Less than twenty percent. Then, like a huge, collapsing tower, the Beast King began to fall.

"Watch out!" snarled Dietfried." [Graveyard of Fallen Swords]!" A field of massive swords sprouted from the ground like a spike trap, impaling the Beast King's torso, catching it.

"Since when could you do that?" asked Dietfried faintly.

"Don't tell me all those thousands of times you saw me get stabbed, or had my leg chopped off, or was in the process of getting digested, you could've pulled off something like that!?"

"It's a recent development," said Ophelia smugly. From Dietfried's demeanour, it was clear that Lady Vyx had been keeping her true power level close to her chest. She could imagine Lady Vyx standing in the back, letting others do the dangerous work of fighting on the front lines, while she occasionally blessed them with a buff or a portal from time to time.

"What was your plan for killing the Beast King, anyway? Once he transformed, it would've been nearly impossible."

"Let me ask you one thing first," said Dietfried, turning to face her. He looked very serious.

"Did something happen to your memory?" Ophelia paused. She supposed she should've never expected to be able to hide things forever. She needed some excuse as to why she was so different. Good thing she had one.

"I suppose you were bound to find out eventually," she drawled, putting her shears back in her case.

"During the war, I was struck with a strange, incurable poison. I spent the last few decades recovering. Unfortunately, I find some of my memories hard to recall as a result." Dietrich looked at her for a long while before turning away to bring out another cigar. He bent his neck, cupping his hand over the tip as he lit it.

"Since you're being honest with me for the first time in your life, I suppose I can reciprocate." He lifted Ice, the hilt in one gloved hand, the blade resting across the other.

"This is actually Glaes'r, one of the seven divine blades." Ophelia was not impressed.

"I know." Dietfried snorted.

"Your [Observe], right? Should've known. Anyway, Glaes'r has an instakill effect. She can kill anything once she strikes it a thousand times. Forget a Level 1000 - even a Divine would be helpless, if I can manage the required number of hits." He paused.

"I'm sure a lot of my wins looked like I got lucky after struggling for hours... in reality, it was simply inevitable." Ophelia concentrated her [Observe] on Ice, realizing he spoke the truth. Interesting. For some reason she'd thought Glaes'r's ability gave its wielder the supreme confidence to peacock in front of an Archmage, but perhaps she was mistaken. Another thing occurred to her. Surely, since Dietfried had so much battle experience with Lady Vyx, surely the woman should've realized the truth about Ice?

And she'd never said a word. Not only that, it seemed like Dietfried might be ignorant as to just how powerful Lady Vyx's [Observe] was. Ophelia's eyes narrowed in thought. Lady Vyx had hidden herself so deeply, even from her own supposed allies. Hiding the true power of her [Observe], her Extreme Weapon, her poison issue, even some of her mage capabilities... For some reason, Lady Vyx wanted to come across as more non-threatening.

"Can I keep the body?" asked Ophelia, pointing at the Beast King.

"He'll make a nice fur coat."

"I'll send you some of it." Ophelia hummed.

"I have something else to ask you."

"... Go on," he said warily.

"My apprentice is a Spellblade, like you. Do you have any advice I can pass on to her?"

"A Spellblade? Send her to Snowreach. I'll teach her myself." What is it with everyone wanting my apprentice?!

"Not happening. I don't want her picking up your bad habits," said Ophelia coldly, crossing her arms. As she spoke, she pushed [Observe] as far as she could, until the duke's entire skill tree was revealed. She shamelessly memorized everything. This was the other reason why she had leaped at the opportunity to meet the duke - to get more information for Rin. The man didn't seem to notice, puffing on his cigar.

"Subclasses are more important for Spellblades than for most other classes. Some subclasses are mostly martial with a bit of magic splashed in, others rely heavily on magic and use the sword more like a focus." He paused.

"Obviously, you should choose the subclass that best aligns with your apprentice's Natal Skill." Ophelia paused, thinking.

"Which subclass works best with a scaling Natal Skill?"

"A scaling Natal Skill?" Dietfried said in disbelief.

"Send her to me. Seriously." She glowered at him.

"Fine." He tilted his head back, staring up at the green and purple auroras.

"You probably want to aim for the Blademaster subclass. It's normally considered a mid-tier Spellblade class, but if your apprentice has a scaling Natal Skill, it could be uniquely powerful. A Blademaster's weapon scales their own stats - if a Level 1000 Blademaster picked up a regular old kitchen knife, in their hands, it would instantly turn into a Level 1000 weapon." That wasn't a bad option. In the future, Rin would break past the Level 1000 cap, ascending to the heights of Divines.

One of her issues in the story had been the lack of appropriate weapons as she became more and more powerful.

"Are you sure—""She's starting at the academy next week," interrupted Ophelia.

"Bianca would never forgive me if I took her out now."

"The Royal Mage Academy?" the duke asked disdainfully, rolling his eyes.

"How coincidental. My nephew is starting there this semester too."

"You have a nephew?" The duke nodded solemnly.

"My brother's family is a real piece of work. Friendly warning, I wouldn't get entangled with them, if I were you." He puffed on his cigar.

"After that woman I'm forced to call a sister-in-law didn't get the apartment she wanted in Rosenarte, I was terrified that she'd move back to the palace out of spite. Luckily, that didn't come to pass…"

"Apartment?" Ophelia's eyes narrowed.

"What apartment?"