Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 527 Confession
Ophelia slowly withdrew her gaze, calmly placed the blueprints back on the table, leaned back in her chair, and said leisurely, "So, you revealed these things to me to threaten me?"

Yuno calmly picked up the tea from the table, raised a cup in a gesture of greeting to Katepera, took a sip, and smiled, "Of course not. In this world, no one is qualified to threaten the legendary Queen of Death. I was merely showing you a mutually beneficial direction for cooperation, as long as you—"

Before he could finish speaking, Yuno, who had been keeping a close watchful eye on Katpela, saw no unusual movement from her, but her mental senses suddenly went into overdrive, sending out a frantic warning!

In an instant, a vast and icy pressure, like a gigantic hand covering his head, suddenly pressed down on the back of Yuno's neck, slamming him to the ground like an ant!

boom!
His elbow shattered the tabletop, his heavy body crushed the chair, and his knees smashed into the floor, creating deep craters. Then, the giant hand pressed his head down and slammed it into the floor tiles—

The warm, wet touch splashed onto my cheeks, followed by a numbing sensation and a burning sting.

Yuno knew that was the feeling from the severe blow to his forehead and the crack in his skull. The tea he had just drunk was choking him, and a convulsion, even more terrifying than suffocation, gripped his heart tightly!

He had carefully studied the woman's past experiences and thoroughly analyzed the interests of both parties in this matter. He finally chose this moment as the time for the showdown, and even a second before, he was secretly circulating his divine power to prepare for defense.
Theoretically speaking, this decision was flawless.

But he never expected that this woman was a complete madwoman, a fucking utter madwoman!

boom!
Katpera approached Yuno and stomped his head heavily into the pit. Her beautiful and charming face was cold and calm, as if she were crushing a disgusting worm that happened to appear at her feet with her boot.

"Cough, cough, Your Majesty, spare me! It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding—"

Yuno, enduring excruciating pain, coughed up the tea he had swallowed and desperately protested, "Your Majesty could kill me with a flick of your finger. Even if I had a hundred thousand times the audacity to threaten Your Majesty, I should have conspired with Charlegios beforehand and made preparations for escape. How could I possibly dare to act so presumptuously before you in my true form?"

"Oh, you've certainly reminded me. These days, there are countless clumsy attempts to imitate my tricks, and it's hard to say you won't do the same, will you?"

Yuno stared wide-eyed, about to continue his defense, when he felt a sharp and violent mental force penetrate straight into his brain from the back of his head, as if a sharp blade was about to cleave his soul open!

If one were in Katpela's mental vision, one would see a bizarre yet magnificent scene.

A beam of soul light, interwoven with gold and fiery red, floated from the back of Yuno's head into the air, dispersing into countless branch-like filaments that extended and explored the void in all directions. Around the filaments, black and red flames, like a prison, suppressed all the strange phenomena within, as if any slight abnormality would be crushed into dust.

"The Golden Priest has fused with the power of the Evil Flame, so his soul should indeed be this color. Hmm, the soul tether can't find a target, and it doesn't seem like there's a separate, independent soul fragment."

She looked down at Yuno, who was bearing immense pressure and on the verge of collapse, with astonishment. "So, you actually dare to threaten me with your true form without any backup plan?"

After thinking for a moment, she withdrew some of her imposing aura, giving Yuno a moment to catch her breath and reply.

“Your Majesty, I have already explained myself clearly. I have neither the courage nor the ability to threaten Your Majesty. I brought these things out only to cooperate with you and share the legacy of the Giants’ Court.”

"Ahem, after the mass defection of the Reder branch temple back then, I sensed that you had planted a mole within the Flame Sanctuary. When chaos broke out in the North, with various forces mixed together and harboring ulterior motives, it took me a long time, along with some fortuitous coincidences, to discover that you were hiding within the royal court under the identity of the progenitor Ophelia."

"With Your Majesty's dignity, you are willing to lie in wait for several years in a false body and be driven by a mere false king. There is only one possible thing you are after—this runic treasure left by Saint Hethenes three thousand years ago when he cut off the ley lines of the furnace for the royal court of later generations."

"With my abilities and resources, even if I gained a slight advantage, I wouldn't be able to absorb such a powerful force capable of recreating a god. On the contrary, with Your Majesty's abilities, if you could access the core of the earth's veins, you could naturally take whatever you wanted from this power. But without my help, Your Majesty would inevitably waste a lot of time searching for the entrance."

“Oh?” Katopella’s lips twitched slightly, revealing a cold smile. “You also saw the 30,000 giants outside the tent. With just a thought from me, they are all puppets that I can control. If I kill you, I can find the entrance just as quickly.”

Yuno shook his head with difficulty, swallowed a mouthful of blood, and said with a bitter smile, "Why does Your Majesty have to test me? The Fourth Legion has been confronting Oreg here for a long time. If the entrance were so easy to find, why have we come up empty-handed so far?"

"I have served as a Flame Martial Arts Master, a Templar Knight, a Bishop, the head of the Watchers, and an Archbishop. I have spent half my life in the Northern Territory to find a crack in the earth's veins, which I gradually expanded into this secret passage that allows two-way passage. I have been waiting for a powerful enough partner, and for this reason, I have made all the necessary preparations to prevent any problems from arising. Even though my life and death are now in the hands of Your Majesty, I still have that much confidence."

"If that's the case, why didn't you say so earlier, and why are you only confessing to me now?"

“I am waiting—” Yuno kowtowed to the ground, trembling as he prostrated himself, “waiting until His Majesty is certain that he cannot find the entrance to the ley lines on his own, and waiting until His Majesty travels to the frozen lake to seek the assistance of Prince Lucia Sanks.”

“If the core of the ley lines shows any unusual activity, Chareleus will surely become alert. He now possesses the strength of a monarch. Your Majesty may be able to face him alone without worry, but if I wish to protect myself in this chaos, I can only hope that both Your Majesty and Prince Lucia are present. Only then will Chareleus temporarily set aside a petty thief like me who attempted to steal the power of the Forge, and choose to confront his true enemy.” “Heh, quite honest, and somewhat clever. So, the two First Generations who perished near the 9th Temporary Outpost were also your doing?”

"Yes, there is a divine seal left by Saint Hethenes within the ley lines. Although it is not as strong as the Jedi Seal, it still requires the blood of the First Generation as a sacrifice to be broken."

"My subordinate Olivia is also trapped down there by you?"

"Your Majesty, rest assured, Bishop Olivia is safe. I have tried to communicate with her, but unfortunately she does not trust me. She is currently leading her subordinates in a standoff with my men in the underworld."

After a moment's consideration, Katpera gave Yuno a deep look, then withdrew his oppressive aura. Yuno immediately collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath like a dead fish.

"One last question: where is Osarion, the former Warden of the North?"

"He was my initial partner—" Yuno seemed to have nothing to hide when faced with this question. "The reason why the naval base was so slow to react in the early stages of the Northern Rebellion was because he and I had agreed to wait for the giants to rise. If nothing unexpected had happened, he should be sharing the power of the furnace with me in the core of the ley lines now."

"But his strength was too weak, while his ambition was too strong. He recruited the defeated army in the name of the Holy Temple and the Garrison and asked for help from Sol City, trying to gather manpower. I originally thought that he was just preparing to resist the Royal Court after seizing the ley line runes, but later I found out that he wanted to pin all the blame for the fall of the North on me, use the remaining forces to fight me, and then take over the runes for himself."

“I certainly can’t keep such a fool alive. Fortunately, he and his loyal followers did not die in vain. The depths of the ley lines are extremely dangerous. They paved a barely viable path with their lives. Now I offer this path with both hands, only asking that Your Majesty and Prince Lucia’s power help me to hold off Carelius, and then pick up their leftovers, so that I can take another step on the road that I have already reached the end.”

At this point, Katpera finally smiled with interest and said, "Aren't you afraid that we'll do what Ossarion did and then kill you afterward?"

“Of course I’m afraid,” Yuno’s breathing finally calmed down, and he said honestly, “But more than fear, I understand that cooperating with His Majesty is my only chance. And after this matter, with my years of understanding and control over the North, I can still help Prince Lucia rule the North. Even if that prince cherishes his reputation and is unwilling to use a wolf with such ambitions who wreaks havoc on the region, just the precious time I have saved for you two will not be enough for you to kill me.”

"After all, for His Highness Lucia, Radagan, who resides in the center of the world and has been waiting to strike, is his true enemy, rather than a giant false king who is causing trouble in the North. As for Your Majesty, although Queen Marika has temporarily retreated behind the scenes, she is still the target you fear and truly want to take revenge on, right?"

Upon hearing this, Katpela remained unmoved, merely chuckled lightly, and said calmly, "In the end, the chaos in the North was caused by you. Lucia Sanx is a stubborn and obstinate man; it's already a stroke of luck that you weren't killed. Don't harbor any delusions of being valued in the new dynasty. As for my affairs, I don't need an ant to worry about them."

Yuno was still shaken by the near-crushing experience. He took a deep breath and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty."

“Go down—” Katpela waved her hand, “Prepare your teleportation array. When the time is right, I will introduce you to him.”

"Yes."

Watching Yuno's figure disappear outside the tent, Katpela lightly tapped the table with her pale fingertips, her gaze deep and unfathomable.

Most people in the world today are as mediocre as ants, but there are always a few who struggle and try to transcend the mundane. While most of them are fools like Segnis, Milea, and Ossarion, there are also occasionally a few who seem a little smarter.

This former Third Seat of the Flame Archbishop might be one of them.

She didn't care whether there was any falsehood in his "confession" just now. Just as Yuno called himself a "wolf in sheep's clothing," he was not a loyal minister or general who stirred up this turmoil by taking advantage of the resurgence of the Giants' Court. If Lucia were here, Yuno would probably be smashed into a pile of minced meat the moment they met.

This is probably why Yuno didn't respond for a long time when Lucia sent people to search for the garrison and the remnants of the Holy Temple. He is a smart man who knows when and to whom to reveal his identity in order to seek cooperation.

For such an ambitious person, it would be truly foolish not to hold back a few trump cards.

But he was right about one thing: she and Lucia could disregard a teleportation array and an entrance that allowed them to quickly enter the depths of the earth's veins, but they could not disregard this crucial strategic time.

The war in the North has dragged on for months. If it continues, Rdagon's backup plan will cause Lucia a lot of trouble, and for her...
Across the command tent, her dark, night-like eyes gazed at the golden giant tree in the distance. Just as Yuno had said, her true target for revenge had always been only one, and she only had one chance.

She can't miss it.

(End of this chapter)