My Ultimate OP System: Summoning All Dragons, Gods, Heroes & Villains

Audrey froze in shock. For a moment, she genuinely had no response.

"Answer me." He demanded.

She then turned her head slightly toward Esmeray. "Leave us."

Esmeray inclined her head and stepped out, closing the door behind her.

Audrey faced him again. "Alistair... I don’t know where you’re getting this from, or who is feeding you these lies, but there’s nothing like that."

Alistair stared at for a minute, then began pacing about with clenched fists. He opened his mouth to speak, then stopped.

The images wouldn’t leave. They kept replaying with precise detail.

There was this scene in particular where Anton’s finger rubbed across the scar along her lower abdomen.

Alistair stopped and turned to her slowly.

"Unless someone has seen you bare before... those scenes in my head don’t just appear like that, not with that level of detail." His voice tightened. "I saw his hands run over the birth scar on your belly."

Alistair knew how some of Merlin’s magic worked, especially when it came to finding out about people.

There was no way he could fabricate something like that with such accuracy, not without knowing it existed.

Audrey’s expression faltered for the briefest moment, but she held herself together.

"Alistair, you’re confused," she said, softer now. "Just calm down."

She reached for his hand, but he pulled away instantly. There was this growing irritation on his face.

"Confused?" he repeated, pacing again. Then he stopped, turning back sharply. "Audrey... is the child you’re carrying mine?"

Lady Desdemona was caught off guard once more. But her composure returned almost immediately. "Where are you getting all this from?"

"Answer the fucking question!" he snapped. "Is the child mine?"

Her expression hardened slightly. "You’re embarrassing yourself, Alistair. Of course it is. What is this nonsense tonight?"

Before anything else could be said, Anton’s voice came from the doorway.

"What’s going on?"

Audrey turned immediately, startled by his sudden presence, about to send him away—

But it was too late.

Alistair’s rage climaxed all of a sudden when he saw him. "You bastard! You’ve been sleeping with my wife."

He moved his hand forward, borrowing one of Merlin’s spells. A bluish aura surged, seizing one of the chairs in the room and hurling it toward Anton.

Anton’s eyes widened as he ducked, the chair smashing past him and splintering on the wall.

"Alistair!" Audrey shouted.

Anton readjusted himself. "Your wife?" he scoffed. "You’re not even married yet, and I was there before you. She is meant to be mine."

He had assumed the cat was already out of the bag, and there was no need hiding it any longer.

"Shut up, Anton!" Audrey snapped.

Alistair laughed dryly, then motioned his hand again as two more objects lifted into the air around him, caught in the same bluish aura.

"I let you slide the first time," Anton said, raising his own hand as he prepared to retaliate.

"Enough both of you!" Audrey’s voice rang out.

And with it, her time zone spread. The space around them slowed, then seized. Both Alistair and the objects stopped entirely, looking like they had been paused.

While Anton felt his body turning heavy and sluggish.

The difference in how it affected them came down to their disparity in level; Anton was Grand Class, while Alistair, as a summoner, was only at SS-tier.

"Just stop it," she said again as she dropped the time zone.

Alistair’s voice came immediately, in disbelief. "You’d use your power on me?"

She exhaled, forcing control back into her tone. "Fine. Maybe... maybe there used to be something between me and Anton. A long time ago. But there is nothing between us now. He’s just an acquaintance."

Anton let out a short, disbelieving laugh, shaking his head. "This is unbelievable."

He turned, walked out, and with a snap of his fingers, vanished.

Audrey barely spared it a glance. Her focus stayed on Alistair.

"Whoever is feeding you this is using my past," she said. "I should have told you, yes. But there is nothing happening now. Nothing."

But Alistair was no longer truly listening.

Merlin’s voice filled the space in his mind, steady and relentless.

[You see it now. She only says this because her true lover had admitted it. At first, she called you confused and embarrassing. You are being played]

[I want to believe there’s some level of common sense in you]

[If there is, do not overreact. If you do, she may used her power again. But listen to me carefully...]

Audrey’s voice faded into the background for Alistair, even though it seemed like he was listening.

She was done talking, then a long pause followed.

He sighed and turned around, then she asked quietly, "Are you okay?"

Alistair turned back. "No... I’m not. But..." He forced a breath. "It’s fine, it’s fine, I hear you.... You swear It’s all in the past?"

"Yes," she said quickly. "It’s in the past. There is nothing between us. And this child, is yours."

He nodded faintly. "Just give me a minute. I’ll come back down, and we can continue."

Audrey stepped closer, studying him for a moment, then leaned in and pressed a light kiss to his cheek.

"Okay. I’ll be waiting downstairs."

She left.

—

Esmeray met her partway through the corridor. "My lady. Mister Anton has left."

Audrey cursed under her breath, rubbing her temple. "I’ll deal with him later."

—

Moments later, Alistair walked back down. He crossed the corridor where the journalists were waiting and gave them a faint smile.

"I’m sorry about that. I just needed a minute. I’m ready now."

They reset the recording and the presenter faced the camera again.

"We apologize for the interruption. Prince Alistair is ready to continue."

Alistair sat and looked into the lens. Then briefly... at Audrey.

"The citizens of Gritnia," he began calmly. "There is something you need to know. Audrey Desdemona has orchestrated a plan to take down the King. It is built on lies and propaganda—"

"Stop!" Esmeray acted instantly. Near-invisible threads lashed out from a magic circle she formed, striking the recording device and knocking it aside before the broadcast could continue.

Audrey was frozen for a split second, unable to get past the shock that riddled her composure.

Then Alistair’s voice came again. "You fucking—"

It cut off as his body slowly turned to stone, then burst apart into a scatter of blue butterflies that later dissolved into specks of mana.

That had been an illusion of Alistair.

The real one had never come back downstairs and was already gone from her house.

——

About thirty minutes later...

The reporters were gone with their equipments that had been cleared out in haste. Even Leona, after noticing the disturbance, had slipped away through a different exit without drawing attention.

At this time, Audrey was shouting and pacing about in her living room. She had lost it, throwing different vases and objects across the room.

"Why?" she yelled. "Why is it always like this?"

She dragged a hand through her hair, breathing uneven.

"Every time I get this close, this close, something always ruins it. Every single time!"

Another crash echoed through the room.

Suddenly, Anton appeared behind her. She stopped for a moment, as if the anger had stalled.

"I thought you left," she said in a lower voice as she turned around.

"I did," Anton replied calmly. "Then I realized I’ve got more balls than your prince." His gaze moved briefly around the room. "Whose presence I can’t sense here anymore."

Her jaw tightened. "He’s ruined my plans!... everything I set up..."

She stepped closer without realizing it, as if trying to warm up to him.

Anton didn’t react to the distance. He simply said, "Audrey... enough."

She looked up at him.

"Enough with the scheming," he continued. "You’re a Grand Caster. One of the strongest in the Western continent. If you want the throne, you don’t need all of this."

His voice didn’t rise, but there was this firmness in it. "You can take it all by yourself."

Audrey held his gaze, her breathing slowly evening out as the words settled.

Then she nodded. "You’re right."

Something about her demeanor had suddenly changed.

"There’s no need for any of this anymore."

She brushed a hand beneath her eyes, wiping away the smudged shadows left behind by her angry tears.

"We go to the palace," she said. "Tonight, I end this myself."

Anton watched her for a second, then smiled. "Good girl."