Chapter 182: Alone with the Demon Queen?
Ryan stood there observing Ophelia for a moment without saying a word. In the end, despite having a relic that prevented forced transportation through portals. Somehow, it had been nullified.
"What is wrong, Ryan? Did I perhaps surprise you?" The Demon Queen commented with a markedly sarcastic and defiant tone, spinning the thin metallic bracelet once again with the index finger of her right hand.
Tling.
The sound of metal cracking echoed across the mountain. The bracelet she was spinning lost all of its magical glow and abruptly shattered into useless pieces, falling right at her feet.
"Just as I thought, it was an artifact that could only be used once. What a pity." Ophelia sighed, looking at the remains on the ground.
"So that really was what nullified the effect of my relic." Ryan murmured, watching as the metallic dust of the bracelet dispersed.
"So you had noticed it then?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmph, it wasn’t that difficult to figure out either." Ryan commented, downplaying the matter and turning around casually.
Upon taking his eyes off the queen, his gaze immediately scanned their new surroundings.
They were standing at the peak of a rocky, green mountain, looking out over a vast and unfamiliar city that stretched majestically across the valley below.
The strong sunlight beat down on them, revealing a tropical, warm, and highly pleasant climate; a geographical contrast that was vastly different from Demon King Rigal’s snowy lands.
"Anyway, why did you bring me to this specific place?" Ryan asked with curiosity as he continued to observe the city.
"I usually come to this place in Ivis’s company." Ophelia responded, taking a step toward the edge to look at the city.
"Sometimes it is simply exhausting having to deal with the politics and the heavy responsibilities of the kingdom all the time."
’Is that an excuse to be irresponsible?’ Ryan thought, coldly evaluating her attitude.
’Although, I would say that I understand that situation perfectly well.’
"Did you perhaps want to stay down there with all that annoying noise from my subordinates?" Ophelia replied, looking at him over her shoulder.
"I think all that theater in the throne room was somewhat unnecessary in the first place." Ryan said, crossing his arms.
"You could have stopped your subordinates with a single order and spared us all of that, couldn’t you?"
Ryan let out a light sigh of annoyance and looked directly at her.
"Were you perhaps intending to test my skills? I told you back in the dungeon, didn’t I?"
Ophelia made a gesture of attention, tilting her head a little to listen to him.
"Don’t expect too much from me, Ophelia. I am just a human who reached the S-rank very recently." Ryan added, maintaining his usual deceptive facade to minimize his threat level.
"Ha, ha, ha." Ophelia let out a clean, crystalline laugh that echoed across the mountain.
"Stop playing around with me, Ryan. No matter how much you try to suppress your magical energy, to my senses you are a completely open book. From the very instant you set foot on the carpet of my castle, I realized it."
She closed the distance abruptly, stepping closer to him. She stared intently into his eyes, with a mixture of fascinated curiosity and a clear, frontal accusation.
"You are abysmally stronger than you were a mere three days ago. It is complete madness." Ophelia dictated, scrutinizing the human’s face in search of answers.
"I have no records of any human or hero in history capable of achieving a leap in physical and magical attributes of this magnitude in such a short amount of time."
She turned around slowly, ending up with her back to him. The warm mountain wind lightly tossed the Demon Queen’s long, silky white hair, as well as the elegant dark fabric of her ostentatious dress.
"Perhaps I should start to worry a little bit about you?" She murmured in a low tone, almost like a veiled warning.
Ryan did not respond to the provocation. He knew that verbally confirming his advancement and the breakthrough of his stats would only put her more on the defensive, and silence was his absolute best tool at that moment.
Just a couple of meters away from where they were standing, integrated with the mountain’s nature, there was what appeared to be a rustic wooden cabin, completely open on the sides.
Its thick structural pillars and the leafy branches of a nearby tree prevented him from clearly seeing the interior from Ryan’s current position.
’Considering how quickly she analyzed the increase in my attributes without even clashing weapons, perhaps that is the question I should be asking myself about her.’
Ryan thought to himself, maintaining his expressionless face while assimilating the Demon Queen’s sharp level of perception.
"Come, let us go inside there." Ophelia pointed out, immediately resuming her relaxed attitude and walking in the direction of the cabin.
Ryan followed her, keeping a couple of steps behind. As they approached the structure, when he was already close enough, his ears immediately caught a constant sound.
It was the sound of a subtle and steady breathing that clearly came from the interior of the cabin. Even though nothing could be seen inside just yet.
Ophelia entered first, stepping firmly onto the wooden floor.
Smack!
"What are you doing sleeping here? I told you clearly that I would come with someone important today. Wake up already."
Ophelia said in a scolding and authoritative tone, forcefully kicking the leg of a long wooden bench attached to the cabin’s structure that served as a seat.
"Huh? What is going on...?" a soft and evidently sleepy voice mumbled.
When Ryan crossed the threshold and fully entered the cabin. He noticed the movement on the bench located at one of the far ends.
Slowly rising from the wood was a young woman of unusual appearance and exotic beauty. She had hair of a very striking pink shade, cut right at shoulder length.
As she sat up and rubbed her eyes with evident heaviness, Ryan focused his attention on a very distinctive detail on her face: a single, sharp bone horn protruding right in the middle of her forehead.
Ryan rapidly scanned the shape of her body, and the particular mana signature she was emitting.
’A dragon?’
