The world is a vast emptiness. There is no air, no life, no light.
It feels as if I have entered the world after death once more.
Why 'once more'?
For Ophelia, she is someone who has already died once. It was several years ago, when a singularity appeared in the past, and all members of Team A entered the Spiritron Coffins for Spiritron transfer... an explosion occurred.
Inside the Spiritron Coffins, in a state neither alive nor dead, they fell into the abyss of death. The feeling back then was just like now.
Have I died again?
Memories from before losing consciousness surfaced in her mind. It was Li Mo who had struck her down. It seems his stated goal of targeting the legacy of the Norse Age of Gods was false. Ah, surely the Captain would have known that message was fake.
The Captain, Kirschtaria.
He is someone Ophelia admires. She once thought this feeling was liking, but that cunning Eastern mage once asked: is that really love?
Thus, love was corrected to admiration. Perhaps, only on the day she could stand proudly by the Captain's side would she revisit what that feeling truly was.
Unfortunately, that should be impossible now.
The Captain surely wouldn't save her a second time.
Ophelia possesses Mystic Eyes. Within Team A, aside from Kirschtaria himself, she is the only one who knows the information that the reason Team A members could be revived was entirely due to Kirschtaria's words.
Having been saved once, it's hard not to wish for a second salvation...
Light?
Why is there light?
Suddenly, within the complete darkness of the void, a light appeared. Immediately after, Ophelia felt her vision begin to return to normal. Blue, monotonous walls appeared before her eyes. She recognized this place; how could she forget the appearance of the palace where Scathach-Skadi resides?
For the better part of a year, she had often come here. She was naturally accustomed to it. Then she saw Li Mo and Scathach-Skadi conversing there.
She tried moving her fingers; she could still twitch them. But her arms couldn't muster any strength. Her hands were resting at her sides. Looking down, she saw blue ropes binding her—that was Scathach-Skadi's power.
Her slight movements did not affect the conversation between the two. Ophelia listened intently.
"Sigurd is locked in the dungeon. He doesn't seem interested in resisting at all; instead, he seems resigned to his fate. I found it strange, so I didn't kill him," Li Mo spoke.
Scathach-Skadi, sensing Ophelia had awakened, understood why Li Mo had suddenly changed his topic.
Starting to lie again, is he?
She truly didn't know why he insisted on deceiving Ophelia. Having come this far, wouldn't it be better to just speak frankly with Ophelia directly?
Never mind.
Compared to Ophelia, Skadi favored Li Mo more. Because he had brought hope to the Norse Lostbelt. Perhaps the Valkyries didn't know, perhaps the humans didn't know, but as a goddess, Skadi had genuinely seen hope. It wasn't empty talk; it was a hope that could truly be realized.
She would just play along with him.
The following dialogue was practically Li Mo's solo performance.
"Your Majesty, I plan to use Command Spells against Sigurd. Regarding the Command Spells on Ophelia's hand, they are different from the Command Spells I've encountered before. One can tell they are from the same system. But the cost of using these Command Spells is the user's own death... no, perhaps they should be called Greater Command Spells."
"Your acting still needs work," Ophelia suddenly interjected.
Watching Li Mo's solo act, she keenly sensed something was off. After some thought, she spoke directly.
He was acting.
Ophelia was no fool. Based on the available information, she judged that Skadi was on Li Mo's side. What could have prompted such a situation to arise?
"You already know about Sigurd's condition, don't you?"
"Congratulations, Ophelia, you guessed it. The fact that Surtr's soul is hidden within Sigurd's Saint Graph has already been made known to Her Majesty."
So it was...
Ophelia knew very well that the only reason that could make the Queen stand on the opposite side was this. The Norse Lostbelt had no enemies. Excluding the harsh natural environment and insufficient living space, there was no scheming, no life-and-death struggles here.
Only Surtr. The sole enemy.
Skadi asked, "Ophelia, regarding Surtr, do you have anything to explain?"
When she first learned of this, Skadi was furious. Her first instinct was to seize Surtr, who was wearing Sigurd's Saint Graph, and Ophelia. It was Li Mo who stopped her.
Now, having calmed down, she wanted to know why. Ophelia had come with an attitude of cooperation, so why would she summon the Lostbelt's most malevolent enemy?
"I did not intend to summon Surtr," Ophelia said. "This was an exception."
After performing the Heroic Spirit Summoning, she had initially believed it to be Sigurd. It was only in later conversations that she learned Surtr of the Lostbelt, leveraging a 'fateful encounter' with her, had infiltrated Sigurd's Saint Graph. And had taken over his Saint Graph.
Li Mo said, "We know it was an accident. If it weren't, Surtr wouldn't be trapped within Sigurd's body. And that binding force... are the Command Spells, right?"
"Did your Mystic Eyes see that?"
"Not my Mystic Eyes. It's because I am very familiar with Command Spells... I forgot to tell you, didn't I? After the Fifth Holy Grail War in a parallel world, I directly disassembled the Greater Grail. I reverse-engineered how those three families of the past had constructed the Holy Grail system. Furthermore, the Matou family became history by my hand."
He said this.
The Fifth Holy Grail War was his beginning. It was in Fuyuki City that his power began to rapidly increase.
"You have deeply studied Command Spells?"
"You could say that. Additionally, you have a Command Spell on your body. Let's tentatively call it a Greater Command Spell. That thing is quite mysterious. It actually requires the user's life as the price. However, I assume you want to use the Greater Command Spell to influence Surtr?"
Li Mo spoke.
Using known information to pose as something he had researched himself to tell others gave a sense of intellectual superiority.
Not that he was any less capable himself.
"You need me to use the Greater Command Spell? No, you want to deal with Surtr?"
"That's right, my dear Miss Ophelia. Mine and Her Majesty's goal is to kill Surtr. As for the Greater Command Spell? When did you get the illusion that using the Greater Command Spell would require yours?"
"You!"
As a prisoner, Ophelia knew her life was in the other party's hands. She retorted, "Do you think I would easily go to my death?"
"Who said anything about sending dear Miss Ophelia to her death? To use the Greater Command Spell, you would merely be the medium. Perhaps I cannot decipher the true nature of the Greater Command Spell, but deceiving its activation conditions is more than sufficient. Don't worry, I will pay the price."
At most, it would be life force. Li Mo refused to believe a Greater Command Spell could drain him to death.
"Secondly, your Mystic Eyes have been sealed by me. Your treatment from now on will be quite good, I apologize in advance. After Surtr is killed, all these restrictions will be lifted for you," Li Mo said to Ophelia.
The Crypter remained silent. For now, she could only move her fingers. What resistance could she offer? She could only place her hopes in Koyanskaya.
But Koyanskaya and Li Mo were in close contact...
All she could do was wait.
They stopped paying attention to Ophelia's situation.
Skadi asked, "How many days of research do you need?"
Li Mo answered, "Three days."
This was three days for researching the Greater Command Spell.
Skadi nodded. "Very well. Three days is enough time to complete the preparations for the Bifrost. You only need to buy a few minutes, correct?"
"Yes," Li Mo nodded.