NOVEL WEB Chapter 300: The Ophelia Conundrum
She was familiar with the cat. The guardian would not normally interfere with mortal lives, and yet she chose the boy.
But the more important thing was that whatever was inside him—or growing inside him—was a force that could bypass her senses.
She knew it was there, yet at the same time, she could not perceive it, which, if anything, fascinated her.
A ripple in still water she could not track, even while staring directly at it.
It made the boy worth paying attention to.
A rare anomaly. A wrinkle in the weave she did not place herself.
The droplet of blood fell slowly from the tube, and the moment it touched, a stirring reaction took place.
The white page, which was blank initially, started to fill with various strange characters. They were not of the common language but rather strange and complex runes.
Those runes were etched into the pages as if someone had carved them into it like a rock being carved.
Ophelia's expression did not change in the slightest as she read the lines. Those eye-number runes felt as natural as her own handwriting to her.
"Demon lands, huh," she muttered to herself.
"Did he teleport there?" she wondered, as countless possible scenarios flashed through her mind.
Her thoughts were clean, fast—each one slotting into place like glass cogs in a cold machine.
She could easily deduce what might have happened now that she knew his location.
He went to the city, got involved with heretics, managed to subdue them, found an artifact or talisman that had the teleportation rune inscribed onto it, which he intentionally activated.
Intentionally, because that boy was not naive enough to touch or activate unknown materials to risk his life.
That's why she was certain that what he did was intentional. He deliberately went to the demon lands.
Although, she could not understand—why would he make such a move?
From any perspective, it was an extremely risky action that could threaten his life itself.
She had already calculated most of the possible scenarios for him, and most of them ended with ugly consequences.
Unless, of course, she took into account the power hidden within him.
Ophelia could tell that he was alive. She could feel the link to all her kin born from her blood.
No matter what, earlier she did not care whether he lived or not, but now that he had roused her interest, she wanted him to live until she could unveil everything she wanted for herself.
Interest, in her case, was rarely a mercy. It was just the pause before dissection.
She just could not understand his logic behind leaving human territories.
How could she know that Oliver did it on a whim?
Ophelia, someone who always made thoroughly calculated and rational decisions without any emotions, would never be able to understand why Oliver did what he did.
After all, he just acted upon his emotions—something she had long buried.
Emotions were a language she no longer spoke. Just the memory of sound with no meaning.
So it was naturally difficult for her to deduce this situation.
Ophelia pondered about him and his situation in the demon lands.
It was strange.
The last time, she had adjusted his destiny, but it was completely out of scope for him to be in the demon lands.
She glanced at the air above her, silently thinking.
"Is fate trying to adjust it back?" she tilted her head robotically, still glancing at nothing. It was almost as if she could see something there.
"Indeed, it's back to being the chaotic state it used to be in."
Ophelia extended her hand forth, her slender fingers pointed toward the roof as she made a subtle click.
Click!
The soft click resonated across the hall.
Threads of silver power extended from the tips of her fingers, extending into the air before disappearing in between.
She was clearly not playing in the same dimension.
The threads did not shimmer—they whispered, pulsed like nerves, and disappeared into the weave of unseen law.
Her eyes were calm and interested.
This time, she was not gentle. She was going to force Oliver's destiny to be shaped into the way she wanted it to be.
Earlier, she had simply made a few adjustments, but this time, she was going to forcibly hold it as per her choice and plans.
The silver threads stopped as Ophelia looked at her work.
She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again.
"Now let's see how it will act."
She said in a chilling tone.
This time, she did not care whether he was in the demon lands or not. With her adjusting his destiny again, he was bound to return to the clan no matter what.
She simply had to wait and observe.
And waiting, she had mastered—like steel mastered stillness.
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Oliver opened his eyes, and the world felt anew to him. His perception of the world had changed after the taboo-indulging experience earlier.
He could see his surroundings from a new perspective. With dark espera now flowing through his veins, he could see how waves of espera and dark espera existed in the atmosphere.
Non-integrable, yet in the same place—the different energy particles of espera and dark espera were clustered, yet they were separated, not merging with each other, forming a strict untouchable relation.
It was like watching oil and water float in air—two realities coexisting, unwilling to touch.
Now he could see how rich the environment was—filled with abundant dark espera, suitable for demonic lifeforms.
The quantity of pure espera was minimal, barely noticeable among the darkness.
"I can feel the shift in my body…"
He murmured softly. The effect of consuming the heart of the demonic serpent was apparent.
His blood was somehow different than before.
"Does it now contain the properties of poison?"
He made a guess. That was the most logical explanation he could form.
And…
There was something else too…
Something had changed at the very core.
The subtle feeling spreading through his body was oddly refreshing.
It didn't feel wrong. That was the most unsettling part.
"Haha…" He laughed wryly.
"Am I even a human anymore?"
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