OHNIR - Chapter 114
Chapter 114: The End Game
The war was nearing its end, and the deployment of the magic circle within Seaside Town had also reached its final stages.
From south to north, from east to west, a massive Gathering Magic Circle was gradually taking shape beneath the town. It incorporated the Condensation Spell from the Goddess of Light, and every carved line pulsed with faint magic power—once the core of the circle was in place, it would unleash its full potential to “gather divine power.”
But before placing the core in the town square, Kelusta had to complete the deployment of the final edge of the Gathering Magic Circle on the western coast.
“Why do I feel a bit cold today?”
Kelusta shivered as the chilly sea breeze hit her, blinking. Even the lazy morning drowsiness was frozen away.
Gloria wasn’t as sensitive to the cold as she was, but she also felt the lower temperature by the sea compared to in town.
She hesitated for a moment. “Perhaps it’s a late spring cold snap?”
“Seaside Town has never had a late spring cold snap…” Kelusta mumbled, but she seemed to reluctantly accept the explanation.
After all, the sky was overcast with no sunlight at all. The beach and the sea couldn’t radiate warmth, so it wasn’t too strange for it to be a little colder.
“Time to work, temporary host,” the System said enthusiastically. “Move around a bit, and you won’t be cold anymore!”
Kelusta rolled her eyes, rubbed her arms vigorously, and walked straight to the area the System had indicated.
Her task was to help the System clear the area of all miscellaneous objects, including shells and weeds, that could interfere with the placement of the magic circle, ensuring it could be deployed smoothly and function properly.
Usually, when on land, she could chat with Gloria while using magic to splash some water around and get the job done sloppily. But today on the beach, it was clear she had to do it by hand and couldn't stick to her usual lazy methods.
“Why didn’t I buy a cleaning magic circle?”
Squatting on the ground with her hand in the sand, trying to pull out a weed that had spread from nearby, Kelusta said resentfully, “This is like mandatory environmental work—I’ve never even weeded Dad’s vineyard!”
“…I heard from Mr. Sogeta that it’s because you’d eat all the newly grown grapes, which is why he refused to let you help.” Gloria bent down, picked up a still-intact murex shell, tapped it lightly with her fingertip, and casually exposed her little girlfriend.
Kelusta’s expression stiffened slightly. Huffily, she yanked a whole clump of weeds out of the sand. “I did not!—I didn’t eat the sour ones!”
Gloria raised an eyebrow and nodded with a smile. “Of course, my dear. You’re always so clever, in every respect.”
…That didn’t sound like a compliment.
The brown-haired girl puffed out her cheeks and viciously dug her hand into the fine, cool golden sand beneath her.
Gloria, for her part, didn’t put on the airs of a noble lady. She also squatted down beside Kelusta, her slender fingertips picking out the small, sharp shell fragments first. She even turned slightly to shield the other girl from the sea breeze blowing from behind.
Dry, fine sand flowed through their fingers, with only a grain or two lingering reluctantly in their palms. The two worked in tacit understanding, each at their own task. For a time, there was silence, with only the sound of the rolling waves providing a rhythmic accompaniment to the peaceful moment.
“That’s about enough, temporary host.”
After an unknown amount of time, the System finally allowed the two girls to pause their work after a thorough scan.
Kelusta said, “Oh,” tossed the debris in her hand into the distance, and turned to the silver-haired girl with a grin. “Alright, all done.”
Gloria dusted the loose sand from her hands and unhurriedly held up half a golden butterfly shell she had prepared earlier, comparing it to Kelusta’s eyes. She smiled. “It’s the color of your eyes.”
Kelusta took it and looked at it for a moment, then suddenly seemed to remember something. She looked up and asked curiously, “When we made the Ocean Oath as children, a shell was washed into my hand by the waves… I remember its color was just like your eyes.”
Gloria seemed not to have expected her to bring this up and was momentarily taken aback.
“I even suspected it was a ‘gift from the ocean’,” Kelusta said, fiddling with the golden butterfly shell. She asked casually, “Where did you put it?”
“…”
Not expecting to be met with silence, Kelusta blinked, looked up at Gloria’s somewhat strange expression, and asked suspiciously, “You didn’t throw it away, did you?”
“How could I?” Gloria gave a helpless smile and sighed softly. “It’s a secret for now—but I can promise you’ll know where it is before long.”
Kelusta’s gaze grew even more suspicious.
But before she could start digging for answers, the long-waiting System quickly interrupted what looked to be a never-ending topic. “Alright, temporary host, you can talk about love tokens when you get back. Let’s get down to business first.”
“…Oh.”
Making a displeased face, Kelusta turned back to the patch of beach they had just cleaned. She raised her hand familiarly and waved it slowly in the air.
A dazzling light emanated from the surging magic power, twinkling like starlight between her fingers. Kelusta closed her eyes, and as if her arm were being controlled by some mysterious force, she carefully drew the magic circle in mid-air, following the image projected by the System and tracing every runic spell from the Goddess Clara.
After some time, she opened her eyes and looked with satisfaction at the translucent magic circle floating in mid-air. She shamelessly boasted to the System, “Look how well I drew it. I really inherited my mother’s talent for painting!”
“…”
The System couldn’t even be bothered to remind her that sixty percent of the difficult parts of the drawing process were completed by it controlling her arm.
It just calmly said, turning a deaf ear, “Yes, you’re amazing… Now please withdraw your magic power. I’m preparing for deployment.”
Sensing its perfunctory tone, Kelusta rolled her eyes and was about to lower her still-raised arm—
“Who’s there? Come out!”
A very familiar girlish voice came from behind, tinged with a faint, cold anger. Kelusta froze for a moment, then quickly turned her head, just in time to see Gloria staring intently at a large tree not far from the beach, her right hand raised high, already in a preparatory attack stance.
—Light magic did have some attack spells, like light arrows, but they weren’t particularly effective.
Kelusta’s heart tightened. Fortunately, the magic circle was already formed. She quickly lowered her hands, mentally telling the System to deploy it on its own, and hurried to Gloria’s side. Together, they stared at the large, dark green tree with a thick trunk, easily big enough to hide an adult.
“…”
After a long moment, a faint, almost imperceptible sigh sounded from nearby. Under their watchful eyes, the pale purple hem of a skirt, edged with magnificent gold thread, suddenly fluttered out from behind the tree.
A cluster of lifelike irises was embroidered on it.
Her Majesty the Queen of Nobili calmly stepped out from her hiding place. She quietly looked back at Gloria, who had instantly furrowed her brow. She seemed completely unconcerned about being discovered, instead giving the other a soft, ambiguous laugh.
“Rest assured, my lady, it is only me.” Starangui said gently. “The ice on the sea’s surface won’t last long, and the constantly crashing waves are endlessly annoying… The army cannot take this shortcut, so only I could come to visit alone—please don’t mind my solitary presence.”
…No wonder. So that was the real reason the temperature by the sea was so low.
Kelusta’s pounding heart finally slowed a little. She didn’t think Starangui was lying: freezing the sea surface with ice magic to reach Seaside Town was already incredibly difficult. Moreover, there were troops stationed at the end of the city wall near the coast. No matter how powerful Starangui’s magic was, she couldn’t have used this method to sneak more people into their territory.
But if she was alone… why was she wasting time here instead of heading into town?
The brown-haired girl pressed her lips together, watching the intruder warily, but unexpectedly, the other woman paid her no attention at all.
Because her gaze was fixed firmly on Gloria, her expression full of gentleness and delight—as if she were looking at a rare treasure, almost unwilling to even blink.
It was as if she had gone to all this trouble to get in for the sole, terrifyingly obsessive purpose of “getting a look at her.”
Kelusta frowned in discomfort and subconsciously reached out to take Gloria’s hand. Gloria immediately withdrew her wary gaze from Starangui and looked at the girl beside her with a hint of concern, curling her fingers to give her hand a firm, reassuring squeeze.
Receiving the response, Kelusta took a deep breath and finally suppressed the churning discomfort in her heart.
At the same time, as Gloria’s gaze shifted, Starangui’s gentle face twisted for an instant. She finally deigned to look Kelusta in the eye—although the look was excessively ferocious, at least she was no longer staring at Gloria like a snake, right?
Kelusta sneered inwardly and moved even closer to Gloria, pressing the issue.
The latter frowned, pulled her girlfriend closer, and positioned her behind herself. Only then did she raise her eyes to look at Starangui again, offering a smile devoid of any emotion. She said flatly, “What is your purpose in coming to Seaside Town, Your Majesty?”
Starangui opened her mouth, about to say something, when a thick black mist, like swirling smoke, suddenly appeared behind her. A female voice emerged from it, cutting off her unspoken words—
“That’s Clara’s spell!”
The soul of the Goddess of Deceit shrieked hysterically at the already inscribed magic circle. “Go stop her! Don’t let her get the Holy Force Source before I do!—”
As Kelusta’s eyes widened in alarm, ready to defend against an imminent attack, she was surprised to find… Starangui didn’t seem to have any intention of moving.
Apparently, Persedoro was just as astonished as she was.
The goddess’s soul froze for a moment, then roared at her believer, “What are you standing there for! Are you going to give up the throne and power you’ve always wanted, and this Silentdis you’ve been obsessed with—?!”
As soon as the words fell, Gloria, hearing herself described in such a way, immediately showed a look of discomfort.
“I hadn’t expected that you would still harbor such thoughts that should not exist in the first place.”
The deep blue eyes emotionlessly sized up the silent Starangui. The silver-haired girl said calmly, “I recall having emphasized the word ‘impossible’ to you countless times.”
“…”
Starangui did not answer.
The young queen stood in the shadow cast by the trees, her eyes lowered deeply as if she were afraid to meet the other’s gaze.
After a long while, once Persedoro seemed to have no energy left to scream and scold, she slowly blinked and asked in a voice so soft it seemed it could be blown away by the sea breeze, “My lady, if I atone now, can I receive your forgiveness?”
“…Is this your new trick, Your Majesty?”
This time, Gloria enunciated the title clearly and heavily, filled with obvious sarcasm. “Are you about to lose the war, and so you’re rushing to surrender?—I must commend you, this is truly in line with your style.”
Starangui lowered her gaze, noncommittal, and sighed heavily.
“I only ever wanted you…”
She finally looked up, a gentle smile on her face that was utterly chilling. Her pale purple eyes were filled with an irresolvable black mist, like a great net trying to completely envelop the prey she had targeted. “I just wanted to fulfill my ‘desire’—what’s wrong with that?”
Gloria replied coldly, “It was wrong from the very beginning.”
She couldn’t help but tighten her grip on Kelusta’s fingers in her palm. Lowering her gaze, she said without hesitation, “There has only ever been one person I love, from beginning to end. It has nothing to do with time or sequence, and there has never been room for anyone else to interfere.”
“She is my only wife.” Gloria turned her head and gave a faint smile to Kelusta, who was staring at her blankly.
“Until I meet death, until I lie in my grave—there is only room for her by my side.”
“…”
In this rather inappropriate situation, Kelusta, caught off guard by the confession, couldn’t help but blush.
When it came to sweet talk, Gloria was simply outstanding.
While she was still dealing with this sweet little embarrassment, Starangui’s face had already turned as deathly pale as the first handful of snow on a northern mountain.
The latter bit her lower lip, staring intently at the silver-haired girl with gentle eyes who was brushing stray hair from Kelusta’s forehead. The jealousy in her eyes was almost tangible.
“—My princess.”
At that moment, the cloud of smoke that was Persedoro suddenly descended onto Starangui’s shoulder. In a terrifyingly soft voice, she whispered in the other’s ear like a venomous snake hissing and flicking its tongue, “You can’t give her up. You’ve always wanted her… Good girl, my dear Queen, listen to me—as long as you can destroy their magic circle and stop them from getting the Holy Force Source, then I can guarantee that Gloria Silentdis will be yours in the end…”
The seductive voice entered her ears, stirring the desire in her heart bit by bit.
Starangui’s pupils dilated for a moment, and she almost uncontrollably took a step forward—but when Gloria instantly fixed her gaze on her again, once more assuming a wary attack stance, the former snapped back to her senses. Her eyes, like pale purple iris petals, shifted and refocused on the other’s expressionless face.
“…What she can do, I clearly can do as well.”
Starangui took a deep breath, as if she couldn’t hear the Goddess of Deceit’s frantic urging in her ear, and asked resolutely, “But why—why, my lady, can you not see everything I have done for you?”
“Everything you have done for me?” Gloria raised an eyebrow, a faint, sarcastic sneer on her lips. “I must remind you, Your Majesty, that everything you have done has never been for me, but for yourself.”
Starangui’s fingers, hanging at her side, suddenly clenched.
“Besides, my wife has no obligation to do anything for me,” Gloria continued flatly. “She only needs to do one thing—‘be loved by me.’ That is enough.”
The damp sea breeze struck the blonde girl’s face, stinging her cheeks like an invisible blade. Even her breath felt terrifyingly cold.
“…I understand.”
She blinked slowly, like a lifeless puppet, and put on a perfect but false smile. She asked softly, “So, our cooperation has come to an end. You no longer need me, is that right?”
Gloria frowned, subconsciously shielding Kelusta behind her again, before saying in a cold voice, “Our cooperation ended the moment you decided to rebel and usurp the throne.”
“…”
After receiving the answer, Starangui lowered her eyes and gave a slight curtsy, performing a perfectly standard bow to Gloria even in this situation.
A teardrop fell on the soil where the beach ended, splashing insignificantly before vanishing without a trace.
From Kelusta’s perspective, she could clearly see two tear tracks on Starangui’s pale skin. The mad queen still wore that smile, like a frozen portrait, evoking an indescribable emotion in everyone who saw her.
A mix of pity and a scalp-tingling creepiness.
Just as Kelusta turned her head, hesitating, wanting to warn Gloria to be wary of the other’s emotional fluctuations, a piercing scream suddenly came from that direction, scaring her unspoken words right back down her throat—
“What are you doing?… No, no, put it down! Put it down now!”
The Goddess of Deceit had lost too much power and had to remain in her soul form.
Therefore, when Starangui drew a sharp dagger and pointed it at her own chest, she was powerless to materialize a physical—or even a translucent spiritual—body to stop her.
“Starangui, my dear, calm down,” Persedoro said hurriedly, her voice filled with a tension and fear anyone could hear. “You haven’t achieved all your goals yet, my princess. Now is not the time to give up—”
“Now is precisely the time to give up.”
Starangui’s fingertips gently caressed the patterned hilt of the dagger. She raised her eyes, her voice terrifyingly cold, yet her face still held that eerie smile.
“I am no longer needed by her,” she said gently. “Useless trash should naturally be destroyed. Is there a problem with that?”
The Goddess of Deceit’s soul form stiffened. She shrieked, “You lunatic!”
“Yes, I am.” Starangui’s smile widened slightly, as if she were very pleased with this assessment. She said cheerfully, “I want to see if the death of a lunatic can truly destroy a god.”
Kelusta clearly heard Persedoro gasp.
The cloud of smoke flickered aimlessly in mid-air twice, like a lost crow, before suddenly seeming to remember something and rushing toward Kelusta and Gloria—though she was immediately intercepted a few meters away by a light magic barrier Gloria quickly erected, she still tried desperately to persuade them, “I can help you get what you want, everything!”
“It’s clear your divine power has been greatly diminished,” Gloria said flatly. “‘Temptation’ is one of the innate powers of the Goddess of Deceit. At your peak, you probably only needed to crook your finger for someone to become your eternally loyal believer.”
She seemed to deliberately emphasize the phrase “eternally loyal,” causing the black mist to twist as if it had exploded.
When the sole believer no longer possesses ‘desire,’ the power of the Goddess of Deceit will cease to exist.
Starangui was a complete lunatic. She was indifferent to everyone’s life, including the people of Seaside Town, the former king who had always trusted his daughter, and even herself.
—Just as she had unhesitatingly abandoned the army that had fought for her for so long upon learning her side had no chance of winning; when she understood that she would never be needed by Gloria again, she would just as decisively abandon her own life.
Nearby, Starangui stared at the black mist and let out a somewhat neurotic laugh.
“If you were still as powerful as before, perhaps I would have genuinely believed in you, my dear goddess.” The blonde girl giggled, her expression flamboyant, but her eyes were as terrifyingly calm as a pool of stagnant water.
“We were merely using each other,” Starangui said. “You used me to prolong your pathetic existence; I used you to achieve my ends by any means… The control was never solely in your hands, and when I want to call it quits, what makes you so sure you can continue this transaction?”
As her voice fell, she tilted her head back, completely ignoring the Goddess of Deceit who was preparing to lunge at her viciously. After taking one last deep look at Gloria, she raised her hands high and unhesitatingly plunged the razor-sharp dagger into her own heart!
“Ah—”
As blood gushed out, Persedoro let out a blood-curdling scream, as if someone had branded her very soul with a hot iron. A “sizzling” sound, like something burning, came from the black mist, enough to make one’s skin crawl.
One wore an eerie smile, a dagger plunged to the hilt in her chest, blood pouring out unceasingly; the other was wailing in an agonized voice, which Kelusta, with her rather good empathy, heard with perfect clarity.
Her mind was buzzing, and her vision was filled with crimson. The negative effects of a god’s fall affected everyone. Only after Gloria cast several purification spells did the intense discomfort Kelusta felt begin to subside.
A long time passed. Only after the black mist had slowly dissipated before them and Starangui had finally stopped breathing did Gloria withdraw the defensive magic. She glanced emotionlessly at the cold corpse of the former queen, whose eyes were still fixed on her.
“…Persedoro probably never imagined she would make such a critical misjudgment in ‘choosing a believer’.”
The silver-haired girl said flatly, “She only thought the venomous snake’s greed was endless, but she didn’t know it was a complete and utter lunatic all along—Starangui has always been ruthless to everyone, and that ‘everyone’ naturally included herself.”
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