A Farewell to the Past

"Tsk tsk tsk, outsider, in your eyes, am I some reckless brute? I've long been accustomed to waiting for my opportunity. Thousands of years of dormancy have led to this flight. Shouldn't I choose a day without Storm to spread my wings?"

Nidhogg spread its wings, Surtr beneath it changed colors like a colorful light, with frost and lava splashing everywhere. It charged towards Bai Mo like a wild beast that had lost control.

"Oh, Ophelia! Where is she?!"

The wounded creature suddenly erupted, causing Bai Mo's brow to twitch. The Nidhogg's Bite on its body seemed to be burning. Judging from its appearance, it was clear that it was going to fight to the death. The figures of the Oga War God and Bai Mo overlapped. Even injured, this creature was still a powerful being with the strength of 970,000 horses.

Clearly, that attack had injured Surtr's soul, and now he was completely suppressing Fenrir, Odin, and even Landao Tianwu Primordial Spirit with his obsession with Ophelia.

In this situation, rationality is clearly out of the question.

In that instant of the battle, with a snap, Bai Mo's body was instantly cleaved into five pieces. Nidhogg flew past like lightning, his 990,000 sharp claws tearing him apart in an instant.

It wasn't over yet. The evil dragon soared into the sky, surrounded by immense lightning, and fell like a falling star, causing the entire Northern Europe continent to cave in under its power.

"Is it dead?" Nidhogg narrowed his eyes. The dazed Surtr also attacked it, but unlike Bai Mo, the difference between 990,000 and 970,000 horses was too great. Without a special move like Avici Uninterrupted, his attack could not pose a great threat to it.

Besides, even Laevateinn has been lost, so there's no need to worry about it anymore.

Compared to Surtr, Bai Mo, who possessed the power of the Avici Uninterrupted, naturally aroused Nidhogg's greater apprehension. Activating his senses, he instantly detected Bai Mo's presence in the distant Iron Forest.

"Found you!"

The evil dragon opened its massive maw, unleashing raging flames that intensified until they transformed into an unbearable beam of light. Its breath swept across the land, seemingly cleaving the entire continent in two, and the Iron Forest that had brought a sense of Bai Mo was reduced to ashes.

Looking at the dark forest, Nidhogg narrowed his eyes, then seemed to sense something and turned to attack in the opposite direction.

You guessed wrong.

Behind him, like wild geese flying in a storm, Bai Mo swiftly approached Nidhogg. His hands flashed through the air, creating afterimages. Even the mountain range beneath Nidhogg's feet was torn apart like cakes by the Avici Uninterrupted.

"You sacrificed 80% of your body as a smokescreen to buy time for your brain and heart to regenerate? But with your 820,000 horsepower, how many times can you do that?"

Nidhogg remained calm and immediately flapped its wings, taking flight.

The cunning fellow, despite possessing immense power, still used his lightning speed to choose to let Bai Mo fight Surtr, only attacking when Bai Mo revealed an opening, thus maximizing his own safety.

At the same time, one doesn't have to face that troublesome Avici Uninterrupted.

Seeing Surtr charging at him again in a frenzy, Bai Mo sighed deeply, his expression extremely solemn. Facing these two troublesome individuals, just as Surtr roared and charged forward once more, Bai Mo froze, looked up, and his gaze met someone's.

Just like when I was sealed away, I saw that one ray of light shining through.

Ophelia stood beside the Electric Eye, the Mystic Eyes of Postponement watching Surtr.

"How is this possible? How could someone emerge from despair? No, the effect is still working... this is an illusion?"

Nidhogg's eyes narrowed as he glanced around. This time, however, there seemed to be a hint of panic in his eyes. But then, as if confirming that he was safe, he slowly exhaled.

During this time, Surtr completely abandoned Bai Mo and rushed towards Ophelia.

"Come back, come back to me. With you by my side, I can raise my sword again. Come here, Ophelia!"

Surtr roared, a powerful shockwave whipping Ophelia's long hair aside. Then, he realized that his control over Ophelia seemed to be blocked. He tried to use his Magnetic Field Power to force Ophelia's mind to shift and come to his side.

But nothing could be sensed. Blood was streaming down the girl's face, and her golden hair on her forehead was torn, revealing raw, bloody flesh. Beneath that scalp was a sophisticated instrument, clearly just recently installed.

"That won't do. Although I've never been in a relationship either, your approach of immediately trying to manipulate women is absolutely despicable, just like my old geezer."

"Heh, I can't fucking stand it."

As he repaired the wounds on his scalp, Electric Eye chuckled intermittently. He removed his brain computer and assembled it into Ophelia's body; now, Surtr could no longer control her mind through Magnetic Field Power.

Ophelia tossed her hair aside, Mystic Eyes of Postponement shone brightly—something she had obtained when she first arrived in Northern Europe —her connection with Surtr.

She took a deep breath and almost gritted her teeth as she said, "I... I've had enough!"

Ophelia?

"Shut up, don't call me by my name... Sometimes, I really hate myself. When I'm being manipulated by you, I can't even muster a little resistance, just like I used to do when I was with my parents."

But... you've gone too far."

Ophelia's Mystic Eyes slowly emitted a faint light. In Chaldea, Dr. Roman looked at Ophelia with a complex expression.

"What's wrong, Romani?"

"Ophelia, she's a girl with some psychological issues. Although she always pretends to be a good student, she's the kind of person who will grit her teeth and agree to even requests that are disadvantageous to her."

"People-pleasing personality?"

"... Yes, I guess the body she went to Jormungandr with Bai Mo before, no, even just stepping out of that barrier must have been terrible for her. Even if it was sealed, Surtr was still in the sky."

But when faced with Skadi's request, she did not refuse, nor did she choose to adopt Bai Mo's suggestion to temporarily remove the Mystic Eyes, even though she had already abandoned her position Crypter.

Perhaps when she was being coerced by Surtr, she didn't even have the thought of refusing...

Roman, the Chaldea psychologist, sighed as he watched Ophelia walk out. Looking at this frail yet strong woman, Roman felt both joy and sadness.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen." Da Vinci patted him on the shoulder, seemingly to encourage him.

Ophelia raised her Mystic Eyes, her only connection to Surtr, a connection whose value, from Magecraft perspective, far exceeded the Mystic Eyes themselves. Magic shone brightly, and Surtr sensed it; at that moment, Ophelia had already raised her sword against him.

She had never been able to refuse others, but in Surtr's hands, even that right was taken away. For the first time, Ophelia felt her own insignificance, confronting and hating her past self.

A strange voice echoed in her mind, asking her:

"Are you sure? If that happens, you'll definitely lose your Mystic Eyes, and you might even die."

"I know, it's okay if the Mystic Eyes is destroyed, but... I never want to go back to the way things were before, back to being someone powerless, someone who didn't even have the right to refuse."

Not being able to refuse is different from being deprived of the right to refuse. But thanks to this, she truly understood her past self and made up her mind to say goodbye to her past self.

Electric Eye at the girl who stood up and resisted, he seemed to see the boy who had once been determined to betray the organization when he was young.

In the past, when facing the powerful Landao Tianwu, I respected and admired him. But in the end, I still chose to be true to myself.

"No matter how much you say, people's ultimate desire is for themselves. No matter how lofty or brilliant other ideologies may be, they should never allow them to suppress or control their lives."

Because that would make you very unhappy, so... just go for it, little girl.

The Mystic Eyes of Postponement shone brightly, and Surtr felt a needle-like pain, accompanied by an eerie blur. Nidhogg spread his wings, trying to prevent this useful henchman from being harmed, but Bai Mo and the two War God blocked his way.