Chapter 332: Breaking Point (II)

Eifrith stepped through the front door, beckoning Uhtred inside with a gentle wave of her hand. The situation felt strangely weird, but Uhtred clenched his jaw and followed her into the house anyway. He owed it to himself to hear her out, especially after she had intervened to stop him at the Stele.

Minutes later, Uhtred realized he couldn’t have been more wrong.

He sat frozen on a plush couch, the most flabbergasted, appalled expression plastered across his face. It felt as though his brain had short-circuited several times in the span of a single minute.

Upon stepping inside, Eifrith had finally pulled down her hood, revealing a face more breathtakingly beautiful than any Uhtred had ever seen. He had to admit he was momentarily struck by her looks, but his appreciation lasted only a fraction of a second before he shifted back to business.

Naturally, he had asked what she wanted. Her next words utterly stunned him:

"I want you to be my mate," she had declared smoothly.

She then proceeded to list the endless benefits of accepting her offer — she spoke of the royal care he would receive, how she wouldn’t allow other Highborn Elves to look down on him, and the vast resources and growth potential that would open up to him the moment the five-year buffer period of worlds in their universe expired.

At the end of her speech, she looked at him with eager, expectant eyes, as though everything she had just said was completely logical.

Uhtred, still standing at that point, slumped into the seat closest to him, grabbing his head between his hands. His expression flickered between shock, confusion, disbelief, among other flabbergasted expressions.

"Have I stumbled into some kind of multiverse of madness?" he muttered to himself, still struggling to believe this was truly Eifrith’s motive.

He looked up at her slowly, a chaotic storm of emotions warring on his face. "So you’re telling me that all the way from the last city, all you wanted to tell me was... this? That I should become your mate?"

Eifrith nodded, her confidence faltering slightly as she caught the dark, unpleasant flickers across Uhtred’s face. This wasn’t going according to what she had expected.

"Why do you hesitate? Is this not an incredible blessing for you?" she asked, genuine confusion lacing her voice.

"A blessing for me— Wait." Uhtred froze as another realization struck him. "Back at the Stele... did you stop me because I was in actual danger, or just for this?"

Despite the rising rage brimming inside him, his voice remained eerily calm. Eifrith, completely blind to the danger, pressed on.

"You would have been caught with such a direct method and registered alongside the regulars, anyway," she said, her tone dripping with casual condescension. "It is common knowledge to avoid exte—"

The words she was about to speak were cut short abruptly — at the intervention of the System, no doubt. She’d likely received the same warning Uhtred had also received when he was about to speak words that would imply Tower secrets.

But Uhtred easily pieced together the rest of her sentence:

It’s common knowledge to avoid "external help?" Something along those lines, for sure...

Still, though, that deduction did nothing to quell the fury boiling in his chest. Yes, Eifrith had likely prevented him from taking a step that would tie him to the ruling powers, which in turn would tie him tightly to the main scenario, further limiting his chances of reaching the sub-scenario...

But her motive for helping him wasn’t for some grand reason. She wasn’t offering vital intel or strategic insight for the Scenario or the Champion Competition. She had interfered simply to corner him and demand he become her mate.

This level of delusion, of self-absorption... to waste his time so uselessly, thinking he’d immediately jump at the offer to become the pet of some "superior" elf...

As if that excused all the trouble she and her actual mate, Elion Silverwood, had caused him from the previous city until now. He could have been actively competing alongside the other Champions by now, but he’d been dragged through endless detours because of her unhinged machinations.

"Hmm..." Uhtred hummed quietly from his seat, his leg bouncing rapidly as he fought to keep his rage under control. He let out a long, slow sigh and offered a tight, forced smile.

"Alright. Wait right here. I’ll be back with my answer."

He didn’t explode or go berserk in the room. Instead, he channeled that cold, furious energy outward as he walked out of the house and headed straight back toward the city square.

He started at a brisk walk, then transitioned into a heavy jog, accelerating with every step.

Local pedestrians and merchants began shouting curses as he tore through the streets, disrupting traffic. But every single one of them clamped their mouths shut the moment the unrestrained pressure of Uhtred’s aura washed over them.

He didn’t slow down. The moment the grand city center came into view, he activated Slipstream Stride.

Several figures reacted instantly, locking onto his charging figure. They burst into action trying to stop him, their heavy Nascent Realm auras flaring.

More than ten figures converged toward his figure in that instant.

"Who goes there!"

"Seeking death!"

"Declare your identity!"

But Uhtred wasn’t listening, his eyes were locked onto the Stele behind them. He allowed them to converge on him, then with a furious burst, he charged past them with the full might of Slipstream Stride.

He was done with the schemes. He was done trying to play it subtle. He was done being pulled around by the nose by arrogant highborns. If the Stele was watched, if a trap was waiting for him, he would simply smash his way through it.

Sometimes brute force and decisiveness was all that was needed. If he’d done that from the start, perhaps he wouldn’t have ended up here, led by the machinations of a fucking delusional elf!

Bypassing the guards entirely, he slammed his palm flat against the ancient surface of the Stele.

Instantly, a glowing interface materialized before his eyes: