Chapter 112: Raven: Rows of Private Island Villas are Waving at Me
As Cocolia's aggressive decrees were implemented, Bronya's influence within the Silvermane Guards grew larger and larger.
During this time, she had carefully studied the history of Belobog, including the past Supreme Guardians. She was particularly impressed by one puppet Supreme Guardian who had been propped up by a powerful noble.
Cocolia, who had cooperated with and was deeply connected to the Stellaron, was clearly not 'weak.' Among all the Supreme Guardians in Belobog's history, she was one of the more powerful ones. After taking power, she had reclaimed many rights from the nobles.
Some of the old noble families had long been dissatisfied, but due to Cocolia's authority and methods, they didn't dare show any dissent. But with the next Supreme Guardian actively approaching them, some opportunists and ambitious individuals began to get ideas.
In their eyes, the young and inexperienced Bronya was much easier to deal with than Cocolia! Overthrowing Cocolia was in the interest of the noble faction. The power vacuum during the transition of leadership was full of opportunities. Even if they couldn't repeat the 'Fool's' incident of the past, the nobles' situation would be much better.
Therefore, the various noble factions, each with their own ulterior motives, sided with Bronya.
With that, the 'feasting' phase was complete. The next step was the 'beheading.'
The Silvermane Guards under her command alone were not enough to pressure the nobles. Silverwing's own physical abilities, combined with Little Duckie's assassin skills, could work, but it was not appropriate for Bronya to do it herself. The most convenient person for the job was undoubtedly Raven. However, although she had learned many assassin techniques from Little Duckie, the time had been too short, and she still couldn't kill without leaving a trace and disappear without a fuss. If she tried to infiltrate, it would probably end up as a brute-force infiltration where no one discovered her—but that would create too much of a commotion and would inevitably attract Cocolia's attention.
Achieving a silent, traceless result was also simple.
Belobog City, atop a certain tall building.
Adorned with crimson decorations, the raven-feather-like hem of her clothes swayed in the night wind, revealing the graceful body wrapped in a raven-feather leather suit.
At a certain moment, the gray-haired beauty looked up, revealing serpentine eyes. The rose-red irises were so magnificent in the dark night, captivating the soul.
"Well then, I'm counting on you, my other self!"
A smile touched the corner of her lips, dotted with a beauty mark, and Midnight Absinthe activated auto-battle. Her consciousness skillfully sank into the background of her body. She felt her body being taken over by another consciousness.
The next second, her body jolted, and Raven leaped back from the edge of the building's roof.
"What's going on?"
Midnight Absinthe could feel all her body's muscles tense up. Raven pulled three black feathers from her waist, held them between her fingers, and assumed a combat stance, warily scanning her surroundings.
A mental illusion? Teleportation? But who has this kind of ability? And would use it on me?
The sudden change of scenery caught Raven off guard. The vigilance on her pretty face was soon replaced by astonishment and shock. A piece of information suddenly appeared in the depths of her mind, telling her of her current situation.
"P-parallel world!?" Raven couldn't help but exclaim.
Directly inputting basic information to the substitute AI was a small optimization added to the system during its last code tinkering.
[That's about the gist of it.]
The voice that suddenly sounded in her mind was very familiar; after all, it was Raven's own voice.
"You are!"
Her stern tone gradually turned to uncertain suspicion as Raven processed the information in her mind. "The... me... from a parallel world?"
[If my ability didn't malfunction, the one controlling my body now should be another 'Natasha Cioara.' Or perhaps, that's not your name?]
Raven's brow furrowed slightly. With her psychological fortitude, she quickly calmed down. She surveyed the unfamiliar city before her, took a leap, jumped across the rooftops, and then landed on a roof with glass.
Pulling down her hood, Raven stared blankly at her reflection in the glass. Gray hair, red eyes, a beauty mark... It wasn't just that she looked like her; it was her!
"An ability that can summon the consciousness of your parallel self?"
It was simply incredible! However, Raven still believed it, because the proof was right in front of her. A city surrounded by ice and snow, like the Siberian tundra on Earth, but at a glance, the city had many strange and unfamiliar facilities, such as the orange, warm-glowing furnaces at the entrance of every household, which seemed to be heating equipment. Who puts their heating equipment outdoors?
Afterward, listening to her parallel self's explanation, Raven quickly leaped and sped across the rooftops. The moment she left the city district, she was completely convinced. Even the Siberian tundra couldn't be this cold! Humans simply couldn't survive in this kind of extreme low-temperature environment!
The shivering Raven flew back into the city at top speed, listening to her parallel self explain the situation on this planet. Apocalypse, Eternal Freeze, Stellaron, Belobog... The amount of information contained in these words was enormous, but Miss Raven, the highly professional mercenary, remained calm and absorbed it all.
Leaning against a slightly warmer wall with a Geomarrow heating pipe, Raven reached up and pulled her hood lower, her body and tone relaxing. She asked with great interest, "'Me' from this world... what is your identity? What role do you play in all this? And why did you use your ability to find me?"
[I am not the 'Natasha Cioara' of this world. Like you, I come from a parallel world. Or something like it.]
"What do you mean, something like it?"
[The city I used to live in was called Skyfall City. It was enveloped by a light screen, and almost no one ever left the inside of the screen. So, I can't be sure if it was a parallel world.]
"Is that so..." Raven was thoughtful.
[I used to run a restaurant called Raven's and adopted a little brat. We ran the restaurant together. Later, for reasons I don't know, I accidentally came to this world.]
Midnight Absinthe's relaxed, casual tone echoed clearly in their mental link. In that instant, Raven sensed a gentle nostalgia, mixed with a hint of sadness, as if she didn't know if she would ever see the person she missed again.
Hearing Midnight Absinthe talk about adopting a child, Raven immediately perked up. As expected of me, or rather, it's just like me. Her parallel self was even similar in that she had adopted a child. She could completely put herself in her 'parallel self's' shoes. Just thinking about it, if she were the one who had accidentally come to this world, she definitely wouldn't be able to rest easy about the children she was taking care of.
"And then?" Raven didn't doubt her. Everything Midnight Absinthe said was the truth. In a bubble universe in the sea of quanta called Skyfall City, there really was a restaurant owner named Natasha.
[When in Rome, do as the Romans do. On my journey to find a way back, I met some companions. Our journey was blocked by the Stellaron...]
The experienced Raven was not as easily fooled as Little Duckie, who had a fatal weakness in 'Seele.' But as a maturing Masked Fool, Midnight Absinthe's skill of 'inducing' and 'lying' with the truth was becoming more and more proficient. With her Persona Mask on, she could even deceive herself, let alone a mere raven.
"Emmm..."
After listening to Midnight Absinthe's answer, Raven rested her chin on her hand and pondered for a moment. "So, you want to overthrow the ruler here, support the next successor, and you called me here because you want me to help you assassinate the nobles?"
[That's right.]
"Why don't you do it yourself?"
[Do you expect a former restaurant owner to be able to perfectly execute an assassination mission?]
"...I understand."
Raven understood everything. She stood in the shadows on top of a building, looking down at Belobog, her eyes narrowed.
"What will you do if I refuse to help?"
From her 'self's' explanation, Raven knew that only when this 'self' deactivated the ability could she return to her own body.
[I'll do nothing. I'll let you go back. But let me make it clear beforehand, I haven't fully mastered this strange ability that appeared out of nowhere. Therefore, I might call you over at any time.]
Raven's brow twitched. She could hear the sincerity in those words. Her parallel self wasn't lying, and there was no reason to deceive her.
"Alright, it's not impossible to help you." After all, it was her parallel self. For that reason alone, Raven didn't mind lending a hand.
[Don't worry, I won't make you work for free.] Midnight Absinthe didn't think she could command Raven at will just because they were parallel counterparts. [This is a mutually beneficial cooperation.]
"Mutually beneficial?" Raven rested her elbow on her beautiful leg and asked doubtfully. What could the other party give her?
[My other self, are you short on money?]
If you want a mercenary to work hard, money is, of course, the fastest way!
The light, cheerful, and slightly smiling words made Raven stand up straight.
"Yes, very short!!"
Miss Raven, the mercenary, was very pragmatic. She simply wanted to earn money, buy a villa on a private island, and start a wonderful, happy life.
As if thinking of something, Raven's eyes suddenly shone with an intense light. "Can your ability... transmit items across parallel worlds?" If I could sell things from this world in my own world, I could definitely get a very good price, right?
[Sorry, I can't transmit items.]
Midnight Absinthe's words shattered Raven's dream of being an interdimensional merchant.
[But your memories won't be forgotten.]
"Memories? You mean..." Raven vaguely realized what she was getting at.
[This world has countless civilizations from the interstellar era, with innumerable classic cultural works such as novels, music, and movies. Find a planet with a similar cultural background, and bring these things back to your world...]
Raven's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
[Not just these, but also the technology of the interstellar era. You can memorize it, find talented people in your world to reproduce the technology. A breakthrough in one field, or the industrial value brought by emerging technology... billions would be an understatement, right?]
Raven's eyes turned red.
Swoosh!
A black shadow leaped up from the top of the building.
"You are me, and I am you. All this talk of 'helping' is too formal."
Raven spoke righteously, as if to say, 'We are one, inseparable. Your enemies are my enemies. If I don't kill them, I won't be able to sleep at night!'
"Who are we killing?"
"How many?"
"Any requests for the method of death?"
"Do you need the bodies intact?"
Raven saw rows of private island villas waving at her.
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on Patreon. with 50 advanced chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/Leanzin