[Vol. 7] Chapter 274: Agent of Fate
"Ahhh, no need to go to so much trouble. Just protect the city, don’t worry too much about me~"
"Understood."
Waving her hand casually behind her, the priestess felt the presence of everyone else quickly retreating. She finally let out a small sigh of relief and focused her attention again on the figure floating in mid-air. A red-haired, silver-eyed girl, surrounded by an invisible pressure that pushed everything away from her, like a holy being descending from the heavens.
Carinvega Frederick.
Just as Violet had expected and hoped, she had somehow returned to life from death, and appeared with a new, never-before-seen power and form. But clearly, the person floating there now was not the same girl people once knew as the [Empire’s Two-Colored Lotus].
Her once mismatched silver and brown eyes had turned into pure, glowing silver, with no pupils at all, shining with a divine light and holy pressure too intense for normal people to look at. Her red hair, which had previously only reached her waist, had now grown even longer, flowing upward on its own as if moved by an unseen wind. The ends now reached almost to her calves.
The uniform she used to wear, the standard outfit for female students of the Frederick Royal Academy, had already been damaged during the earlier events. After Carinvega's "return from the dead," the sudden surge of power caused the rest of it to completely disintegrate into dust, revealing her bare, smooth, curvy body underneath.
But despite being exposed, her figure didn’t give off any seductive feeling. Surrounded by a glowing halo and an aura that felt mysterious and sacred, her body seemed more like a distant, untouchable vision than anything human. Even knowing she was now unclothed, most people wouldn’t feel any kind of lust toward her.
Because she was no longer part of this world. A being that should not be stained by any worldly thoughts or desires. Only Violet and Lucine, who had stepped into her domain, could realize that within this hundred-meter area around her, even the air and magic itself had been completely removed. It was a space of total and absolute purity. A true emptiness.
Though her earlier actions hadn’t seemed friendly, Violet could roughly guess the truth, everything she had done up until now, including casually "killing" the girl who tried to talk to her, [Flying Flower Sword], wasn’t done out of good or evil, kindness or cruelty. It wasn’t even really a choice. It was just a natural reaction, like breathing.
Just like how a planet naturally gives off gravity, or how the intense light and heat of a star will automatically burn away anything that dares to get close. These are not things that happen by choice, but by rules.
The best proof of this was the fact that even though Violet had clearly attacked just moments ago, Carinvega had not fought back at all.
Because she didn’t have any thoughts of good or evil, no emotions like a normal living being. Even if she was attacked, she wouldn’t feel anger. Unless something specific triggered a set rule, she wouldn’t respond. Compared to the “gods” Violet had learned about, she was more like a machine, something otherworldly that acted purely based on rules, without thought or feeling.
If anything, she was more similar to the [Heart of Creation] deep in the [Morst Underground Labyrinth], though that one had experienced more things, and so seemed slightly more "aware" or "lively."
[How should I put this… It really wasn't easy to finally meet you. But it looks like you still don’t understand what’s going on, huh? Is it because you were in some kind of sleep while inside Carinvega’s body?]
This wasn’t spoken aloud, it was a message directly sent through divine will, traveling across the vacuum of space with no sound. Finally, the being reacted. She turned her head and looked straight at Violet, those silver eyes glowing with a light as vast as the universe itself.
Violet quietly accepted this gaze, even though it was the kind of pressure that could instantly destroy any normal human being below the level of legendary. The weight of time and fate itself seemed to bear down on her, but all it caused was a faint, invisible ripple in the air. The white priest’s robe and a golden glow that lit up around her naturally blocked the gaze, keeping her thoughts hidden.
Still, Carinvega showed no sign of surprise. She didn’t have such emotions, or maybe the situation simply wasn’t shocking enough to register.
Without any change in her blank expression, she sent out a simple question.
[Are you the one... who's been interfering with fate?]
Clap clap clap clap clap~
To anyone else, this might have sounded strange. But Violet, the one being questioned, understood it right away, and even looked a little pleased as she gently clapped her hands in response.
[You’ve got sharp eyes, to figure out I’m the one working behind the scenes just from that… Saying I’m messing with fate is a bit much though. I’m just using some special methods to guide things in the direction I want. Fate… do you really think your version of it is the only correct one? You're not the Main Character here.]
[As for why I’m doing this, the reason is actually pretty simple. Just like right now, I wanted to see you with my own eyes. I wanted to understand what this so-called [Wheel of Fate] really is, and also figure out why you’re inside Carinvega’s body… Is that answer good enough for you?]
[......]
“Carinvega” didn’t answer right away. She quietly lowered her head, as if searching, checking, or reading something in the invisible air around her. After a short pause, she looked back into the priestess’ silver-blue eyes. The pressure in her glowing silver gaze seemed to grow even stronger.
[You’ve used an outside force to hide your own fate. That breaks the rules. Even ‘gods’ aren’t allowed to fully escape fate. If they could, the world would lose its order and balance.]
The black-haired girl just gave a casual smile, clearly unfazed by the hint of danger in the other’s words.
[So you’re saying I’m breaking the rules… But what about you? You’re the high and mighty [Wheel of Fate], something even gods can’t reach. So why have you fallen to the human world and chosen to live inside a mortal who should have nothing to do with you? Are you really supposed to exist like this? If even [Fate] itself is breaking its own rules, then isn’t it possible that others might escape its control too?]
[…I am not the [Wheel of Fate]. If you must call me something, you may call me the [Agent of Fate].]
Hearing that, the priest girl blinked in surprise, then nodded as if she’d figured something out.
[I see… So you’re like those things called the [Emperor Lion Beast], right? The Lionblood Frederick family… No wonder. Still, even with that explanation, it’s definitely not normal for you to end up inside Carinvega’s body. Tell me, what’s the real story behind this?]
Even when asked so directly, “Carinvega” stayed calm and gave a flat refusal.
[No living being has the right to interfere with fate. Especially not you, a rule-breaking existence who’s hidden her own fate.]
“…Hah.”
Feeling the absolute certainty in the other’s response, the priestess let out a breath. Her expression slowly turned a bit annoyed.