Chapter 398: You Really Are Arrogant, Aren't You (5K Subscriptions Please)

"Ophelia~"

"Shut up!"

After being called by name by Herbert, Ophelia's reaction was quite flustered.

She could no longer maintain the mysterious, imposing air she had shown before the Bishop of Rusty Nails, and glared at Herbert.

"Don't call me that!"

In her fury, Ophelia's long hair trembled all over, suddenly throwing off her hood, writhing like dozens of wild serpents.

Although those bundled strands of hair did not actually make any sound, Herbert still faintly heard some hissing at his ears.

Hsss—Hah!

Mm, looks like she was hissing.

Still, although the attitude of the one opposite did not look all that friendly, Herbert's reaction was unusually calm.

Not only was he unafraid, he even took a step forward.

"Oh, they really do move!"

Herbert gazed at the writhing snake-hair with the curiosity of a child, even wanting to raise his hand and touch it… and then got whipped by one of the strands.

Whoosh—

Before the snake-hair could hit him, Herbert decisively withdrew his finger, pretended nothing had happened, and naturally clasped his hands behind his back.

With his hands behind his back, he looked at the Bishop of Ashes before him and said with a smile: "Haha, you really are called that."

"Ophelia, what a nice name."

"You…" Seeing Herbert so calm, Ophelia couldn't keep hissing any longer.

The whole scene made it look as if she were the petty one.

"Tch!"

She glared fiercely at Herbert.

She wasn't some little girl who'd get angry and shy just because someone called her name — she wasn't that fragile.

It was just that the unexpected turn of events had caught her completely off guard.

"…"

Ophelia was silent for a while, the strands on her head slowly settling down. She looked at Herbert with a complicated gaze and snorted:

"Hmph, I thought you would avoid this topic."

Ophelia had assumed Herbert would deliberately sidestep the subject, pretending he knew nothing about the "dream" and dragging things out with her.

She hadn't expected him to come right out and choose to self-destruct.

This left her — who had already steeled herself and prepared to spar verbally — unable to hold it together on the spot.

Why don't you play by the rules!

Don't you have any sense of chemistry?

In response, Herbert merely shrugged and said calmly: "Rather, why should I deliberately avoid it?"

"I don't seem to have any reason to hide this, do I? I don't think I've done anything out of line."

Nothing out of line?

Ophelia couldn't help but roll her eyes, wanting to loudly retort.

Didn't you trick me!

And what about all that 'I let you down, I did something wrong to you' — wasn't that all you said yourself!!?

"…"

Of course, although she thought this in her heart, Ophelia didn't actually voice her complaints.

The reason was simple.

How embarrassing!

If she said it out loud, wouldn't that be indirectly admitting she'd been tricked?

Ophelia wasn't someone with an overinflated sense of pride, but she wasn't willing to admit her own miscalculation on something like this.

Besides, for some reason, when facing this guy before her, she especially didn't want to admit her failure, didn't want to be a step beneath him.

In the end, all her anger could only helplessly gather into a single snort, neither light nor heavy.

"Hmph!"

Seeing her reaction, Herbert chuckled to himself.

"Hehe."

He knew he had passed the test — the small offense against her in the dream had been successfully turned over.

He didn't keep pressing the matter, gave up pressing his advantage — time to quit while he was ahead; if he said any more, he really might get hit.

Although he had now successfully stepped into Legend, before an Epic-level powerhouse, he still wasn't all that impressive.

He took the initiative to change the subject, his smile fading a little as he quietly stared at Ophelia and asked: "Madam, since I have already passed the final test, have I become a 【Secret Keeper】?"

Seeing Herbert grow serious, Ophelia had no choice but to rein in her last bit of dissatisfaction, frowning as she fell into thought.

After a moment, she quietly nodded.

"…Yes."

Ophelia said softly, in a voice tinged with helplessness and melancholy:

"The moment you broke free from the Illusion of 【Silence and Cacophony】 and woke up, you had already become a true Secret Keeper."

No matter how much she wished Herbert wouldn't wade into these troubled waters, no matter how much she wished he wouldn't walk the same fate as her own.

But a ritual was a ritual, and rules were rules.

From the moment Herbert passed the ritual's test, he had already received the world's recognition and become one of them.

This is an unchangeable fact.

She looked at the youth before her with a complicated gaze, momentarily dazed.

Herbert was unlike every Secret-keeper she had ever known.

He was not so taciturn, nor did he carry the stiff, wooden air of the other Secret-keepers — his whole being was brimming with vivid, living vitality.

Like a youthful, spirited boy, naive and ignorant, full of curiosity about the world.

But Ofidia knew clearly that this was nothing more than surface appearance.

Herbert might still be a youth, but he was never naive, nor an ignorant child.

He was clever — shrewd, even, would not be too strong a word.

He was mature — seasoned, even, would not be out of place.

This was a youth whose harmless exterior concealed a stark, almost opposite, inner truth.

Herbert truly was outstanding, worthy of the hopes others placed in him.

But Ofidia still shook her head helplessly, feeling a touch of ruefulness.

He was suited to become the future leader of the monastery, not a Secret-keeper who would spend his life guarding hidden truths.

In the end, Ofidia could not hold back. She gazed at him and said with a sigh, "Herbert… you know perfectly well what this will mean."

You will walk a lonely road.

"I know. I have always known."

Facing the Ashen Bishop's look of pity, Herbert gently shook his head. "Ofidia, you need not feel regret on my behalf. This is the path I chose for myself."

"As for the so-called 'price' it demands — I understood it in the past, I understand it now, and my thinking will not change in the future."

Herbert has never needed anyone's pity.

He did not need it in the past, and he will need it even less in the future.

If anything, it has always been the proud Herbert pitying others — when has anyone ever been in a position to pity him?

"And now, there is only one thing I wish to confirm with you."

Herbert fixed his gaze on Ofidia and asked in a low voice:

"Since I have already become a Secret-keeper, then, as I am now, have I earned the right to share the burden you carry?"

Have I earned the right to stand at your side?

"Share my burden?"

The Ashen Bishop was briefly dazed, and asked almost reflexively, "So, is that truly the reason you wanted to become a Secret-keeper?"

"Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't — interpret it however you like." The newly minted Secret-keeper replied with calm indifference.

"…"

Although Herbert had insisted on this before, Ofidia instinctively still felt it was nothing more than a joke.

Because of that, she even gave Herbert a difficult trial, without any expectation that he could actually pass it.

She was silent for a moment, then shook her head and said, "I need to explain — although you say you wish to share my burden, what I carry is not a burden."

"It is a mission."

Hum—

The instant she spoke, every tome within the entire demiplane trembled at once.

Those hidden truths, silent for countless ages, sensed it and stirred awake, raising their own voices.

She lifted her head, her gaze resolute, and said in a low, firm voice, "No matter how outsiders choose to name them — call them knowledge, call them secrets, even call them curses… none of that can obscure one fact: this is the mission passed down by the Secret-keepers of countless generations."

"We gather these hidden truths and guard them — not for ourselves, but so that they will not be destroyed by the gods, and so that mortal beings may come to know this knowledge as well."

"This is the mission the Secret-keepers have borne since the very moment of their inception."

The Secret-keepers are not merely an organization of collectors; from the very beginning, they were born to defy the gods.

Ever since the gods came into being, the deities have held dominion over everything.

Sky, land, sea… all of matter has been carved up and claimed by the gods.

After They had already ruled over every material thing in the mortal realm, these greedy beings even sought to lay hold of mortal thought as well.

The gods branded mortal minds, shackled them, and harvested their faith.

Countless ages have passed, yet everything in the mortal realm remains much as it was back then, with little progress.

Are mortals simply too foolish?

No.

It is because the gods hold everything in their grasp.

They have kept mortal development in check, holding the world's progress within a controllable range.

Not too low, not too high.

If it falls too low, They send down divine grace to help them develop.

If it rises too high, They send down divine punishment to destroy their efforts.

Any act that affects Their rule is regarded as sacrilege.

In the most frenzied era, the possession of knowledge was deemed an unforgivable capital crime!

Although later, as some new gods of mortal origin rose to prominence, the gods' oppression of the mortal realm gradually eased, in the broad strokes nothing truly changed.

And so the birth of the Secret-keeper organization is tied to all of this — their task is to guard knowledge, to keep it from being destroyed by the gods.

All along, Ofidia has held to this conviction, and taken pride in it.

Therefore, upon facing the "pity" Herbert displayed, although she understood his thinking, she still showed her displeasure.

This was not only to prove her own resolve, but also on behalf of every generation of Secret-keepers who had held fast before her.

And faced with the wrath of the entire demiplane, Herbert's reaction remained calm, his expression utterly unchanged.

"You've misunderstood. I don't mean to look down on the Keepers."

He shook his head and said calmly, "But whether it's a mission, a duty, or even so-called fate, they're all the same in essence."

"No matter how many ways you phrase it, this isn't something that should be borne by one person alone."

Herbert had never denied the Keepers' achievements, nor had he looked down on their ideas.

On the contrary, he deeply respected these people's courage—they had the resolve to face the gods head-on.

But that didn't mean he would belittle the pressure these people bore, or ignore the heart and soul they poured out.

Pain is pain. Pressure is pressure.

No matter how much you say, no matter how noble the reason, it can't cover up that hardship.

"I respect the courage of those who came before, and I also ache for what they gave—and these two things don't conflict."

"There may be such a thing as a savior in this world, but a true savior shouldn't be just one person."

In a world where supernatural power exists, the energy of an individual is magnified infinitely, enough to pull off earth-shaking feats.

But even so, one person saving the world is still far too difficult.

It's simply too exhausting.

Did everyone else die?

Why must the 'savior' bear it all alone?

Herbert stared at Ophidia and said seriously, "You're not a savior, and you certainly shouldn't be enduring all this by yourself."

He even said rather bluntly, "In my view, this is nothing more than a chain you've bound around yourself with your own hands."

"You know this in your heart, but you pretend you don't… No—you do know, and you're even proud of it."

Pfft.

He couldn't help but snort, and teased with a playful tone, "So, you think you're some tragic hero from an epic novel? That you have to carry all this alone? That only you can shoulder everything?"

"If it hurts, why not ask someone else for help?"

"You…"

Herbert stepped forward, fixed his gaze on the increasingly silent Ophidia, and said slowly, "How arrogant!"

!!!

Crack!

The rune-covered serpent tail behind Ophidia slammed heavily against the ground, cracking the hard floor of the demiplane with massive fissures.

The tremendous shockwave from the impact even made the entire demiplane tremble.

Anger.

Under Herbert's deliberate 'provocation,' Ophidia had been successfully roused to fury.

But even in such a violent rage, she still maintained her reason and did not lose control.

"You… what would you even know?"

Ophidia propped herself up with her serpent tail, lowered her head from her lofty height, and looked down at that ignorant and rude boy.

She was furious—because Herbert knew nothing, yet dared to spout off here.

"What happened back then? What did we go through? You know nothing!"

Do you know the pressure we bore back then? Do you have any idea what we faced?

No!

Herbert's words might sound like they stood on the moral high ground, but in essence they were just easy talk from someone who wasn't in the thick of it.

But facing the approaching pressure and the wild flames of fury, even the faint trace of killing intent, Herbert remained calm.

He took another step forward, almost pressing right up against her, and said in a low voice:

"Yes, you're right. I don't know anything. What I've said is nothing more than an outsider's irresponsible, reckless judgment."

"But! I know there's no such thing as a taken-for-granted sacrifice in this world."

He reached up in a reversal of roles, grabbed Ophidia by the collar, and said in a low, commanding voice, "Whether willing or unwilling, no one should ever be sacrificed!"

"Don't you understand that!?"

"Back then—did they truly give you their blessing to sacrifice yourself?"

!!!

Herbert's words jolted Ophidia's mind, and her thoughts instantly flew back to that moment from years ago.

Even after countless ages, those people's final words still echoed in her ears.

"Child, don't do this!"

"Ophidia, no—"

"Silly child, don't be so reckless!"

"You don't have to bear all this alone!!!"

At that time, she had hesitated too, but in the end she went against their wishes and chose to shoulder all of their missions by herself.

Perhaps, just as Herbert had said… this was arrogance.

Believing you can carry everything, shoulder everything—was that not also a form of arrogance?

And just as Ophidia was sinking into painful memories, Herbert suddenly laughed.

He released his grip on her collar, and instead gently wrapped his arms around Ophidia's waist, saying softly:

"And also…"

"I don't plan to stay in the dark forever either. If you're willing to tell me, I'm willing to listen."

"You don't have to bear all this alone."

!!!

In an instant, Ofidiah's anger vanished.

Without a trace.

Different times, different places, different people, yet they spoke similar words.

They urged her not to bear everything alone, that she need not bear everything alone.

The former no longer had the ability to share her burden, but the latter had already made their own effort.

I am willing to share it with you.

"..."

Her body trembled, her arms dropped weakly, then slowly and unnaturally rose again.

Ofidiah hesitated for a moment, but ultimately gently hugged him back.

Feeling the warmth coming from Herbert, she slowly closed her eyes...

How long had it been since she last felt such warmth?

So long that she had already forgotten that a human body could be this warm.

The two held each other quietly, neither speaking again, feeling each other's breath and heartbeat.

After who knows how long, Ofidiah finally spoke first, murmuring in a voice like sleep-talking: "Herbert, you really are arrogant..."

Herbert said Ofidiah was arrogant, but in truth, no one's arrogance could compare to his.

To this, Herbert laughed lightly and calmly admitted it.

"Yes, I know, and I've never denied it."

So what if I'm arrogant?

Anyone object?

"Although some say arrogant people will eventually taste their own loneliness, I don't think that's right."

"I'm not lonely, am I?"

"You will walk alongside me."

Herbert laughed, winked at Ofidiah who hadn't yet reacted, and teased: "As my only colleague, you wouldn't abandon this rookie Keeper of Secrets, would you?"

"You wouldn't be that heartless, would you?"

Ofidiah laughed upon hearing this, shook her head and said: "Hehe, you... hmm?"

Just as Herbert hadn't yet reacted, he suddenly felt his vision go black.

"Hmm?"

"Your Grace the Warden, I've come to find Herbert, he... hmm?"

Bishop Rusty Nail bowed, then blinked as he looked at the empty demiplane, blinking in some confusion.

Hiss... where's Herbert?

I clearly saw him walk in?

Where is he?

Ofidiah: "..."

That's right.

Where's Herbert?

"... Speaking of which, is there really nowhere else to hide around here?"

Herbert pursed his lips, then turned to look at the snake tail beside him and shook his head again.

"Mm, I think this place is pretty nice."

(End of this chapter)