Martial Era: Starting With The Strongest Talent

Chapter 247 247: Manipulator

What she needed was the annihilation effect, the flawed, unstable aspect of Orion that everyone else considered a failure. Like chemotherapy targeting cancer, it had to destroy the corrupted part of her soul without collapsing everything else.

Too much power, and her entire soul would shatter.

Too little, and the mutation would survive.

There was no margin for error.

That was where Ivy came in.

Using Simulate, combined with all the data she had gathered from Remedy's soul and Orion's output, Ivy had calculated the exact threshold required. Not an estimate. Not a guess.

A precise value.

Perfectly balanced.

It was something no one else could have done. Not even entire teams of top-tier artisans. Only Ivy, with her obsession and her evolved talent, could reach that level of control.

And because of that, Remedy was alive.

Cornelia stepped closer, her gaze moving between them with clear interest. "You two are something else," she said, voice calm but heavy. "I never knew people from the core region had this level of control and talent."

Ivy frowned slightly, caught off guard by the assumption, while Remedy straightened beside her.

"We're not from the core region," Remedy replied without hesitation, her tone steady despite everything she had just survived.

Cornelia blinked once, clearly surprised. "You're not?" she asked, her composure cracking just a little. Ivy nodded to confirm it, watching the woman's reaction closely, already sensing the shift in atmosphere.

Cornelia studied them more carefully now, her eyes narrowing as if trying to see through them.

"Then… don't tell me you're from the northern continent?" she pressed, her voice lowering with suspicion.

Ivy hesitated for a split second, confused by the jump in logic, but Remedy answered cleanly.

"No. We're from a mid-tier region. Tristan, to be precise." Her voice carried quiet confidence, leaving no room for doubt.

"What!?" Cornelia's voice echoed sharply through the chamber, the shock no longer hidden. Even as a Monarch, she had seen countless prodigies, yet nothing like what stood in front of her now.

Her thoughts raced. Since when did mid-tier regions start producing monsters like this? Everything she had witnessed, precision, control, that near-impossible balance, even advancing her domain none of it matched what she knew about such regions.

Ivy caught every flicker of that disbelief and almost smiled.

I wonder how she would react if she knew about Adam… The thought alone was enough to make her head ache. Even now, Ivy couldn't fully process how someone like him came from a low-tier region.

A place where even survival against monsters was uncertain… and yet Adam stood above all logic. Ivy shut the thought down quickly. Thinking too deeply about it always felt like chasing something that didn't make sense.

Cornelia exhaled slowly, regaining control of herself. Then her eyes sharpened again, this time with intent. "If that's the case," she said, voice firm, "why don't you come work for me? I guarantee the benefits will be substantial."

The offer hung in the air, heavy and tempting, but Ivy didn't respond immediately. Instead, she turned slightly toward Remedy, silently asking for her decision. After everything they had just risked, the answer mattered more than anything.

Remedy didn't hesitate. She met Cornelia's gaze directly, her expression calm but firm.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice steady despite the pressure. "We can't accept your offer."

Cornelia's lips curved slightly, though her eyes remained sharp.

"I expected that," she admitted, taking another step closer. "But what if I told you the benefits would go far beyond anything you've seen?"

Remedy shook her head before she could finish. "It's not about the benefits," she said quietly, her tone shifting. Cornelia paused, clearly caught off guard by the response, her confidence slipping for the first time.

"The truth is…" Remedy continued, exhaling softly as if preparing herself. "I wasn't completely honest with you." The words landed heavier than any refusal and instantly changed the atmosphere between them.

Cornelia frowned, then waved a hand dismissively.

"That's hardly an issue," she said. "Competence outweighs small lies, and the two of you have proven more than enough." Her voice was calm, but her eyes stayed locked on Remedy.

"You don't understand," Remedy replied, her tone firm now. Before Ivy could react, she reached into her storage and pulled out a small flash drive, holding it up between them without hesitation.

Ivy's vision almost went dark for a second. What is she doing? This wasn't part of any plan.

Cornelia's expression froze the moment she saw it. For a brief second, pure shock flashed across her face before it hardened into something colder.

"Where did you get that?" she asked, her voice dropping dangerously low.

Remedy didn't even try to soften it.

"We got it from your lover."

The reaction was instant. A suffocating killing intent exploded from Cornelia, pressing down on the room like a crushing weight.

"You helped me advance my domain," she said slowly, her voice filled with restrained fury. "That's the only reason you're still alive."

Ivy swallowed hard, her body locking under the pressure, every instinct screaming danger. But Remedy didn't move. She stood there, meeting Cornelia's rage head-on, fully aware of what she had just done.

"But now," Cornelia continued, her eyes glowing with killing intent, "you'll need to give me a very good reason not to change my mind." The threat was absolute, leaving no room for mistakes.

Remedy took a slow breath, her thoughts steady despite the danger. I expected this, she admitted to herself. After everything… I deserve at least this much.

Remedy stood under the crushing killing intent, her body steady even as the air grew heavier. She knew this moment had been coming. Not just because of the flash drive, but because of something deeper, something ingrained in her.

Remedy had a problem, and it wasn't just her damaged soul. It was a habit, a trait carved into her after countless regressions. A way of thinking that had slowly replaced who she used to be.

In her first cycle, she had been naive. She trusted easily, believed in others, followed the flow without questioning too much. But that version of her didn't survive long. Each regression stripped something away. Each failure forced her to adapt. Over time, that innocent version of her disappeared, replaced by something colder and far more dangerous.

Manipulation became her weapon and she learned to read people, guide them, use them if necessary. Every choice became calculated, every word placed with intent.

At first, it worked. She survived longer, achieved more, pushed further than before. But it came at a cost she didn't fully understand until it was too late.

Her comrades began to drift away. She didn't notice at first, too focused on her goals, too convinced that results justified everything she did.

By the time she realized it, she was already alone. Surrounded by allies, yet completely isolated.

And in one of those cycles… It ended.

Adam had killed her.