Chapter 85: Embraced by a Maiden… Then Killed!
The young girl in hunting attire’s smile was faint, but after Roger had watched her face, devoid of emotion and filled with a murderous intent so profound that her eyes no longer held any light, as if intent on taking the world with her, this slight smile almost made him cry.
It hurt so much, it truly hurt to be killed by you…
Oh no, it’s great to see the Empress not yet broken!
As a player, delving into this new layer of Eris Demon Worm’s construction gave him a sense of familiarity, even the illusion that he could utilize the so-called Save and Load Method.
However, the saving and loading were not under his control, so he had to seize this opportunity to bring the Empress of Eternal Night back to the Main Plane in one go.
Fortunately, the Azurevine Empire was stable at this time, and the little princess Octavia was well cared for by her family, having experienced almost no darkness.
She could have anything she wanted, excel at anything she did, and was completely unaware of jealousy; a true social butterfly.
At just sixteen years old, she was already a Archmage, her power far surpassing her peers.
This strength also made her very confident. She saw through the Fourth Prince’s disguise, but since he showed no hostility and even evoked a strange sense of familiarity, Octavia wasn’t worried about danger and was merely curious about who he was.
She thought, was this one of her best friends showing off her newly acquired Yi Rong magic?
Roger marveled at the Empress of Eternal Night’s keen and calm reaction.
If she had screamed “Assassin!” or even more drastically, ended him with a single finger,
it would not only have wasted time but also rendered his previous death in vain.
After taking over the lost soul, if he died, he would have to wait for the next world reset to have another chance to approach the Empress of Eternal Night.
And even then, he might not be able to secure such a favorable identity.
After a moment’s thought, Roger decided to get straight to the point and tell the truth:
“I am Roger Charles…”
“Impossible, I’ve met Anjie’s brother. He couldn’t even get the Feather Fall spell down after an afternoon of practice; he’s so stupid, he absolutely couldn’t achieve this level of Yi Rong!”
Octavia interrupted him, her face clearly showing “Friend, please be a little more believable.”
However, there was an investigatory smile in her eyes, not one of accusation or impatience. Instead, she became even more curious about Roger’s identity.
The Empress of Eternal Night at this period, like happy young people in the world, had so much time that she didn’t know how to spend it.
In other words, she was an entertainment-seeking bored individual.
She was open to adding some excitement and novelty to her life.
Roger felt a bit awkward being called out, but then he thought, Roger Charles was a good-for-nothing, what does that have to do with me, Roger?
I’m a transcender with a cheat code, I’ve been low-key for ten years, and I’m invincible in this world!
He took a deep breath and maintained a solemn tone, “I am Roger from the true timeline, and you are Octavia Shirley, lost in the river of time. Now, I am your Wall Breaker. Your Majesty, please return to the Main Plane with me!”
Octavia retorted in a tone of “This is too, too, too far-fetched,” “Your Majesty? Don’t tell me I become an Empress later?”
“Not exactly.”
“You scared me to death.”
“You are the Empress of Eternal Night who founded the Azurevine Empire, the human most wanted dead by the gods in this World.”
“Meow?”
Roger didn’t give her a chance to retort, “You can try to prophesy my fate, or the fate of the ‘Empress of Eternal Night,’ and the result will always be blank.”
Out of curiosity, Octavia did as he said.
The result was, naturally, a blank.
This was because one target was protected by the system, and the other was protected by herself.
A mere Archmage could not prophesy beyond the Legendary realm.
Octavia was somewhat forced to believe the truth of Roger’s words, but she still couldn’t understand it at all: “How could I be named Eternal Night? I would definitely be the Sunshine Empress… No, being an Empress is too tiring. Isn’t it better to just be a little princess?”
Roger sighed silently.
The young Empress of Eternal Night was indeed a slacker princess, content to live in the moment and be a nobody.
Her beautiful face was filled with innocence and joy. She found the idea of her future self being an Empress cool, without understanding the burden it carried.
Thinking of the despairing young girl on the city walls and the Empress on the throne, whose emotions were unreadable and whose schemes were as deep as the abyss, Roger found himself unable to voice the words he had prepared.
To help her resolve her inner demons was, in fact, to prematurely end her current moment of happiness and return all those pains and responsibilities to her.
Even if this was a illusion constructed by the Eris Demon Worm, to little Octavia, this was reality.
A Wall Breaker was truly heartless and cruel!
To Roger’s surprise, after muttering to herself, Octavia said to him,
“Mr. Wall Breaker, although I can’t understand why my future self will become an Empress. But an Imperial Empress splitting off a phantom me must have encountered a very dangerous, very powerful, and very incredible enemy. You coming to save me must have also involved great risk, and you are striving for a better ending, right? Okay, your expression has already told me I’ve guessed correctly… So, take me back to the future!”
She was far too intelligent!
Roger was amazed by Octavia’s deduction.
He had prepared so many arguments to persuade her to believe him and understand the current situation.
Instead, she had guessed most of the current predicament using her limited information.
Could such an intelligent little princess have become a green-skinned monster later due to her strength making her too lazy to think, resulting in a decline in intelligence?
Roger calmed his shocked state. It was good that the little princess was smart; it would save him a lot of talking.
He stood up and looked seriously at Octavia in her hunting attire, “So, Your Majesty, are you ready to face the cruel reality?”
Octavia Shirley, the Azurevine little princess from this core inner demon domain, stood up. She tilted her chin up and met his gaze, her expression proud and confident, “Of course. Don’t underestimate an Empress’s determination to pursue a perfect ending. Please begin, Mr. Wall Breaker!”
A perfect ending?
Roger looked at her with pity. He really wanted to tell her that she no longer had a perfect ending.
Your loneliness is merely you doing your utmost to avoid total defeat on the path of a solitary monarch.
But do not fear the loneliness, for this time, I will accompany you to face the end!
In the next instant, Roger’s tone of voice suddenly changed.
Slowly, elegantly, and with a hint of cynicism, he said, “Then please kill me with your own hands, little sister. This is my wish, a request I will never regret.”
While taking over the identity of this lost soul, the Eris Demon Worm had also infused him with the Empress of Eternal Night’s memories related to the Fourth Prince.
As long as he followed those memories, Roger might not be the historical Fourth Prince, but he would certainly be the Fourth Prince in the Empress of Eternal Night’s memory, without any flaws.
Indeed, Octavia looked at Roger, more shocked than when she heard she would be an Empress later:
“What a perfect portrayal, I can’t find any flaws! But why this strange request to kill you… Oh no, it can’t be like this!”
She suddenly clutched her chest, feeling as if her heart was being bitten and torn by a hellhound.
Only now did the confident little Octavia realize that the reality she had to face was cruelly beyond her wildest imagination.
Even though she was prepared to pay any price, the shore she yearned for no longer existed in this World.
She realized that if Mr. Wall Breaker represented reality and asked her to kill her Fourth Brother to break the illusion, it could only mean one thing:
She had actually killed her Fourth Brother.
Although she couldn’t imagine, or rather, dared not imagine, under what circumstances she would make such a terrible decision, Octavia’s voice suddenly became weak, “I’m sorry, Mr. Wall Breaker, I regret it. This is not the kind of devastating ending I wanted…”
“You said you wanted me to see your determination, little Ao,”
Roger continued to speak in the Fourth Prince’s tone. He took out the dagger he carried and offered one end of the hilt to Octavia, “I am also very sorry, but some things only you can do. This is a fate you cannot escape.”
At this time, Octavia was still a flower in a greenhouse. Seeing the dagger, she instinctively took a step back, as if it were a venomous snake ready to strike.
She pleaded, “Fourth Brother, you know me. I’m just a princess who lives day by day. The throne belongs to Eldest Brother, glory to Second Brother, wisdom to Third Brother. Fourth Brother, we should just be happy hunting, playing, attending balls, and being useless. Or we could not be princes and princesses and run away to a faraway place, right?”
When had that peerless Empress ever indulged anyone like this?
It was evident that her relationship with the Fourth Prince was truly good.
Roger couldn’t help but feel saddened by her.
He suddenly thought of himself during the Blood Night of Audo, perhaps he had said similar words to the Empress?
The cycle of fate, he never imagined that one day he would be the one guiding the little princess who didn’t become an Empress.
So, what she said to him back then might have been her explanation to herself when facing this fate?
He showed a look of recollection and said gravely, “Little Ao, I know there aren’t many things you truly care about, and your desired life is not complicated. But there is no other choice. There are always greedy beings in this World who will shatter even the last bit of happiness of a small person, constantly pushing your bottom line, forcing you to compromise, until you have nowhere left to retreat… Now, it’s time to make a choice!”
Octavia retreated step by step, her small face pale and bloodless, “Mr. Wall Breaker, I don’t know how to choose…”
But Roger pressed forward, giving her no possibility of escape.
With a thump, little Ao’s back hit the wall.
Roger leaned on the wall, in a pose similar to a “wall slam,” looking down at her.
In terms of presence, Roger had completely overwhelmed the little princess of this period.
His expression was sorrowful and compassionate, his voice as light as the April breeze, as soft as a lover’s whisper,
“Then Fourth Brother will choose for you. Come, kill me.”
But the cruelty of fate, even when presented with the gentlest gesture and fully prepared, was still more terrifying than any demon.
Her head shook like a rattle, and she shrieked, “Fourth Brother, you must make me destroy my current happiness with my own hands?”
The young girl’s delicate shoulders trembled. Her beautiful face showed sorrow, anger, and even despair.
As smart as she was, how could she not know what was real and what was illusion?
However, being forced to the brink by fate and choosing that path required different courage and determination than actively choosing it.
She felt suffocated with sadness, as if to loudly condemn the unfairness of fate.
But she couldn’t make a sound. Complaining to Roger was useless, for she was but a tragic phantom. No matter how much anger she felt, she couldn’t change the position of a pawn that had already been set.
Roger looked at her pain and helplessness, vaguely sensing what he should do at this moment.
But… that was the Empress of Eternal Night?!
When she wakes up and knows what she did, she’ll surely be angry!
However, she might not remember everything that happened in the inner demon domain, right?
Yes, she definitely won’t remember everything!
With so many layers of domains and altered memories, she surely couldn’t remember every single detail.
So, even if he did something disrespectful, it would be the Fourth Prince who did it.
Your Majesty, it’s not me, Roger, being disrespectful and committing the sin of arrogance. I am helping you!
With that resolve, Roger opened his arms and gently pulled the trembling Octavia into his embrace.
Her slender body stiffened instantly, then softened, leaning her full weight against him. She whispered dreamily, “Mr. Wall Breaker, I will have so many nightmares.”
Even the invincible Empress was once a maiden who needed care.
Roger gently stroked her hair, “Perhaps this reality itself is a nightmare woven by the gods for all beings. Now, only you can break this nightmare. I know you didn’t want to wear the crown, but you bore its weight. I cannot change any of this. I only hope you always remember one thing: you are not destroying your own life with your own hands. You are walking towards a future that everyone accepts, carrying everyone’s hope.”
“Everyone… accepts it?” Octavia looked up, her sealed memories loosening slightly. A sadness and longing she didn’t yet understand flowed through her heart.
This was the second time Roger had seen the Empress of Eternal Night so helpless, needing affirmation from others to sustain herself.
On the city walls, he was powerless. This time, he could hold her tightly and offer her support with his warmth.
He felt as if the Fourth Prince within him had come alive, speaking through his lips to bid a final farewell to his beloved little sister:
“As long as it’s your choice, everyone will unconditionally accept it. Because what everyone hopes to see most is not the eternal existence of the Azurevine Empire, not the Empress’s invincibility, not enemies bowing in submission, but our Little Ao being happy and living the life she wants…
Even if this appearance is different from her original intention, who says the original intention is always the best? A change in intention doesn’t necessarily mean degradation; it can also mean you’ve grown, matured, seen further, and found and embarked on the path that belongs only to you, your Hero’s Road.”
He placed the dagger into Octavia’s hand.
This time, she didn’t dodge; she grasped it.
Her hand trembled, but she still held the gleaming blade towards the World.
Some people are born to be heroes, even if a gentle present conceals their sharpness.
Octavia closed her eyes and uttered a short incantation. A magical light flared on the dagger.
“Fourth Brother, death is only a moment, it won’t hurt.”
“I know.”
Roger reached out and covered her cold little hand.
Their hands supported each other, together grasping the dagger, no longer trembling.
Octavia murmured softly, “Is this the reality we inevitably must face?”
Roger stated firmly, “This is also the last salvation of this World.”
She opened her eyes, and together they exerted force. The dagger pierced her chest, sinking into her heart.
The inner demon domain, straddling reality and illusion, the eternal song of suffering, had its rhythm disrupted, and a widening crack appeared.
