The Sinners' Queen 271 Bathory 4

It was hard to be overwhelmed by the load of information entering her ears. Her brain had the capacity to accept and store them. But her heart was having a hard time doing the same. The woman mentioned nature power. If prediction was defined as clairvoyance, she could somehow relate it to power to glimpse through time, particularly in the future.

What about Freezing? A power to command water and ice? Or also related to time, freezing it in order to do something unimaginable?

She inhaled to clear her mind. 

'In reality, it's not the time to ponder about it since all of us, in the end, are hosts who depend so much on the system and the system-given abilities to accomplish our goals.' 

Reminded of this, despite being told so many new things, she never forgot what she traded for these pieces of information.

"Let me express my deep grat.i.tude to Your Ladys.h.i.+p for educating me about this world. As a sign of my sincerity, please tell me what you want me to promise you."

The red-dressed n.o.ble lady raised a hand and showed her her palm which looked so smooth and befitting of a queen. "Don't be in such a hurry, little lady. Let me tell you more."

Since the other said so, Sofony was more than willing to listen. 

"It's a little too soon for you to know, but information is power, so why not?" After a soft peal of laughter, the woman gently placed her cup of tea down and leaned her back against the soft cus.h.i.+on.

With her legs crossed, she smiled and continued, "I've mentioned about nature power to you. That's actually the main difference between a Level 8 and a Level 9. A level 8 was just a regular immoral host like you. They have abilities and items. But so what? Do you know? In front of a Level 9, even those indestructible barriers are nothing? Do you also know that no matter how high you raise your Curse Ability, while it would have a good effect on a Level 8, it's nothing but a stupid chanting before a Level 9?"

"...Mind attacks, physical stats, hexes, anything below Level 9 is child's play, so to say. It's hard to enumerate so I just summarized it like that. Once you get to that level, you'll understand. But all in all, this is the reason why the cute geezer of this empire is so indignant but couldn't do anything against this region's real king. He knew even if he pushed those ants under him to work so hard and then sacrificed themselves just so he could further advance, it will be nothing in front of that person."

The only 'man' in the place sweated buckets. Only now did 'he' finally realize why he was given away that easily by the old leader. There was just no choice nor way to fight back!

'Ants?' The term did not escape Sofony's hearing.

When the other woman said it, the look on her face was so nonchalant even though Sofony was sure among those ants were several Level 5 and perhaps even Level 6 system users. Does it mean she was also an ant? She badly wanted to laugh. 

Three years ago, she also met someone at the same level as Bathory. That time, was she an ant too in that fat doctor's eyes?

If so, then it's perfectly justified why she got separated from Gio and had to endure those torturous years. Because she was an ant. Even now, she was. 

Weirdly, Sofony didn't give Bathory a self-deprecating laugh or smile. After donning a serious expression, she asked, "You called me The Princess of the East. You can predict the future. Does it mean you saw me being addressed like that or being in a situation which earned me the right to be called that?"

"Haha, I supposed you guessed because I told you in our eyes those at Level 8 and below are ants."

Sofony didn't hesitate to answer. "Yes. I also didn't forget you told me I will be a future colleague."

The Countess laughed, "Even now, you are a princess of the east. Actually I've already given you so many clues about it. Anyway, let's move to the next one. The highest that could be reached is Level 10 and those who managed to do so are real monsters. Not only are they awarded strength capable of creating and destroying realms in this world, they are also awarded a certain number of wishes. Those wishes are what drove people like us to survive and reach the top. While the system is the embodiment of mystery and could let us wield power and be superior to everyone else, those wishes are what truly embodied the impossible. Go back in time, revive a whole clan, or destroy the whole planet... Name it all, dear."

Great longing was in the red-haired lady's eyes. Bathory's beautiful features that usually made her appear confident and regal had rare gentleness on them. That look of yearning spoke so much of her whole immoral journey.

'This n.o.blewoman failed to level up to that point, either due to lack of time or lack of luck and talent.'

Sofony suspected it was shown on purpose to make her realize what the promise would be all about. 

And then she and the other audience in the place came up with a conclusion. The short-haired woman repeatedly blinked at the Countess. Shock was written all over her face. 

The question that popped up in her head made her hold her breath for so long, 'If it's really a wish and there's a limited number provided per successful immoral host, does it mean she simply saw me reaching that level hence she wanted to secure one of it? Is that really what her Prediction made her see?'

A minute later, she told herself, 'd.a.m.n! This sounded so unfair!'

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