After the bewildered "Ophis" called Cid "Daddy," the world suddenly went silent. Cid and Asia stared at each other, both frozen in place.
"E-Eh?!"
Asia cried out in shock and instinctively took two steps back, her gaze darting between Ophis and Cid. The light in her eyes wavered; she opened her mouth, closed it again, and for a while had no idea what to say. In the end, all she could do was look at Cid with teary eyes.
"First, she is not my child. Second, I don't know why she's calling me Daddy either..."
Just from the look in Asia's eyes, Cid could more or less guess what she was thinking. He immediately waved his hand with a look of disgust, making it clear this had nothing to do with him.
"Then what is this?"
"As for how all this happened, I think it would be best for the person involved to explain it herself..."
Cid spoke meaningfully, then turned his gaze to Ophis, who looked completely calm, as if she had no idea what had just happened.
"Mm..."
Following Cid's gaze, Asia also looked toward Ophis, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"...Mommy?"
As if affected by the atmosphere, the "Ophis" who had called Cid "Daddy" also turned to look at Ophis. After a brief silence, she hesitantly called her "Mommy."
"..."
Ophis blinked when she was called. Her violet-jade eyes fell on the other her, who looked exactly the same. She seemed just as puzzled, tilted her head, and finally looked at Cid.
"Cid, half of my power was separated. That dragon made me weaker, and made that part of my power turn into another me. But it's fine..."
"Ophis-chan's power got weaker?! Isn't that really bad?"
When Ophis said being weakened was fine, Asia was the one who grew anxious instead. She still knew how many people outside wanted Ophis dead. Now that Ophis had been weakened, even Asia could tell that something was wrong.
"No. Even weakened, the current me is still two levels stronger than the Super Devils at their peak."
"?"
Surprised by Ophis's words, Asia turned her gaze toward Cid, wanting to know whether Ophis was telling the truth. Cid only nodded.
To Cid, someone with line of sight and someone without it were two completely different things. If someone had no line of sight, he could walk over and kill them without them even noticing. If they did have line of sight, then they were still capable of being called the strongest in the world, excluding him from the equation.
And although Ophis said she had grown weaker, and although in his perception she was indeed infinitely close to an ordinary person, she was still only close. Ophis could still effortlessly kill those without line of sight. At most, it would just take a little more time.
"!!!"
After receiving Cid's confirmation, Asia was even more shocked. If what Ophis said was true, then Ophis with only half her power was still two levels stronger than the current world's publicly recognized top fifteen. In that case, Ophis at full power...
Thinking of that, Asia's throat shifted. She suddenly felt that the information she usually heard might not necessarily be true...
"But why is she calling me Daddy and calling you Mommy, Ophis?"
Asia's mind had stopped working, but Cid's had not. He was very curious why this newborn Ophis was calling him Daddy.
"This... maybe because she has some of my memories. But they probably aren't complete..."
Ophis sounded uncertain, as if she did not quite understand what was going on either. Cid, however, felt that was probably the answer. After all, if this were an imprinting effect, then the one "Ophis" called Mommy should have been Asia.
"In that case, Ophis, what do you plan to do with the Ophis who split off from you?"
Cid rubbed his chin. Now that they had figured out the reason, they needed to discuss how to deal with this newborn Ophis. After all, the newborn Ophis was still looking at him and Ophis with a confused yet expectant expression.
"..."
Hearing Cid's words, Ophis fell silent for a moment and looked at the "Ophis" who was exactly like her. Meeting the other girl's expectant gaze, she tilted her head and spoke cutely.
"I will merge with her again and take back the power I lost."
"!!!"
The moment those words came out, Cid felt something appear behind him. He turned back and saw the newborn Ophis huddled behind him, expressionlessly peeking out at the Ophis who said she wanted to merge with her.
"Daddy, save me!"
Sensing Cid's gaze, the newborn Ophis raised her head. Her eyes were full of fear, and there was a trace of pleading in the way she looked at Cid.
"?!"
Cid felt that his expression must look very strange right now, but seeing Ophis No. 1 approach Ophis No. 2 with a blank face, he still reached out and pulled Ophis back.
"Cid, why are you helping her?"
He stopped her easily, but Ophis's expression changed as well. Her dreamlike dark purple eyes widened as she looked at Cid, as if she had been deeply wronged. Even after being stripped of half her power, her expression had barely changed, yet now there was a clear emotional shift.
What are you trying to do now?
Sensing that the atmosphere was off, Cid secretly complained in his heart, but he still kept a smile on his face and thought over everything that had happened.
"Calm down, Ophis-chan. No matter what, she still has half of your Infinity..."
"No need to worry, Cid. She doesn't have all of my memories..."
Ophis looked coldly at her other self, her gaze as if she were looking at a dead person. At the same time, she took a few steps back, trying to go around Cid.
"Although it is a little troublesome that she has some of my memories, I will win."
You're doing this crap again?
"Smack!"
Cid placed both hands on Ophis's shoulders, stopping Ophis just as she was about to grab Ophis No. 2, and spoke solemnly.
"Ophis-chan, you've misunderstood me..."
Ophis swayed in Cid's grip and began to struggle, but Cid held her firmly, giving Ophis No. 1 no chance to slip past.
"Cid, let go of me."
Let go now and wait for you to get cut in half again?
To be honest, in Cid's eyes, Ophis was already guaranteed to lose. She had the strongest buff on her and had raised so many flags. If she did not die, who would?
That was why Cid disliked the title of strongest in the world. A title like that carried plenty of weight, but in most stories, it was just a death flag.
"I'm not saying I'm worried Ophis-chan can't beat her..."
Cid did not directly say that Ophis might not be able to win. He was afraid Ophis would get provoked like some third-rate villain, shout that it was impossible, charge in, and then hand herself over for nothing.
"What I mean is, Ophis No. 2 split off from you, after all. She just called you Mommy, so she is your daughter."
"You know what they say: even a wild beast protects its own young. Think about it. She came from you, shares your power, and even called you Mommy... "
Honestly, although Cid was trying to persuade her like this, he had no confidence at all that his words would stop Ophis. After all, even he felt that what he was saying had a bit of moral blackmail to it.
"...Daughter?"
Who would have thought that Ophis really would stop struggling? She narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at Ophis No. 2, who was hiding timidly behind Cid with a blank expression, her thoughts unknown.
"Mommy?"
At that moment, Ophis No. 2, hiding behind Cid, looked at the thinking Ophis. After hesitating for a moment, she tentatively called out "Mommy."
Although her real age was only a few minutes, Ophis No. 2 had inherited part of Ophis's memories and power, so she could clearly feel that just now, Ophis had definitely been thinking about killing her.
By contrast, in Ophis No. 2's eyes, Cid stopping Ophis meant that he was helping her. Now that she saw Ophis hesitate a little after hearing Cid's words, and the sense of danger around her had vanished, she called out without hesitation.
As for resisting? You could not expect a little girl who had only been born a few minutes ago and inherited only part of the memories to grow enough to oppose a Dragon God who had lived for thousands of years.
"...Daughter?"
"Mommy."
Ophis stared expressionlessly at Ophis No. 2, but Cid believed that Ophis No. 1's heart must be extremely complicated right now. After all, who could handle suddenly gaining a daughter out of nowhere?
"...You are my daughter?"
"Mm."
She was very hesitant. Even after things had reached this point, Ophis still did not know how to face this daughter who had suddenly appeared.
"...Mm!"
After a moment of silence, Ophis seemed to suddenly think of something. She opened her eyes and looked at Ophis No. 2, her dreamlike dark purple eyes filled with seriousness.
"What do you think of a red, big, red dragon?"
A red, big, red dragon? What is that supposed to be?
Before Cid could react, Ophis No. 2 heard Ophis No. 1's words and seemed to have some kind of switch flipped. Her eyes filled with seriousness as she nodded in a hurry, even raising her fist as if cheering herself on.
"Great Red, defeat!"
Her voice was weak and carried not the slightest emotion. Cid found it pretty fake, but Ophis did not think so.
Ophis's eyes lit up. She looked at the other herself in front of her, and a hint of approval appeared in her gaze. She stepped forward, hugged Ophis No. 2, nuzzled her cheek affectionately, then opened her little mouth and said,
"Mm. Daughter. Together, defeat Great Red!"
The same weak voice, the same complete lack of emotion. Cid really could not understand how these two little ones had confirmed their feelings for each other through just these two simple lines. Was this some kind of Ophis-only language?
Turning his head and secretly complaining in his heart, Cid had the feeling he had accidentally created an incredible pair.
At this point, something must be stated solemnly. Ophis's power was not unrecoverable. That was simply how the power of Infinity worked.
Maybe after Ophis split in half, her upper limit was also divided in half, but the original upper limit still existed. On top of that, Ophis still had the memory of her original share of power.
In other words, as long as Ophis spent a few decades or a century, the power that belonged to her would naturally grow back. If she trained during that time, it would be even faster... Wait a minute!
Cid realized something was wrong and looked in shock at the two little ones still playing and hugging in front of him.
With the two little ones' shared goal, combined with Ophis's trait of regaining her power after being separated for a period of time, could Ophis be planning to use this method to mass-produce Infinite Dragon Gods and gang up on Great Red until he died?!
Cid's Adam's apple bobbed. He did not think too much about it and simply observed a moment of silence for Great Red. Even if Ophis had not thought of this method yet, just the two little ones as they were now would still be enough to cause Great Red no small amount of trouble.
"Daddy, you come too. Defeat Great Red."
Just as Cid was silently mourning for Great Red, Ophis No. 2 ran up to him, threw herself into his arms like she was acting spoiled, and nuzzled his cheek to show her closeness.
"Mm. Cid, together, defeat Great Red!"
The tense atmosphere from just moments ago vanished in an instant. Ophis looked at Ophis No. 2 encouragingly, a trace of expectation in her eyes, clearly hoping this cheap daughter of hers could pull Cid into her camp.
"Me? I'll pass. I remember telling you earlier, Ophis, that I'm still too weak. Compared to you two, I'm just an ordinary person. How could I possibly help you two defeat Great Red?"
"Ah, of course, if you plan to gang up on Great Red, feel free to call me. I can watch from the side."
Cid spoke with a smile. He admitted that he was a petty person. If they could force Great Red out and beat him up, he had no objection at all. He could even switch identities and join in.
"No. Cid can become very strong..."
But the reason he had used to persuade Ophis not long ago did not work now. Ophis shook her head and looked at Cid expectantly.
"Cid, very strong. I couldn't move just now."
"Hiss!"
Cid's expression changed and returned to normal in an instant, too fast for anyone to see. He took a deep breath and placed his hand on Ophis's shoulder.
"No. Just now, Ophis, you weren't using any strength."
"But just now..."
"You weren't using any strength!"
"But..."
Cid stared straight at Ophis. Feeling Cid's gaze, Ophis opened her mouth, then closed it again.
"Um, Cid-san, Ophis-chan, since this Ophis is Ophis-chan's daughter, what name do you plan to give her?"
Sensing that the atmosphere was gradually growing tense, Asia hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over and change the topic.
"Mm... This. Cid, you name her."
Ophis did not want to think about something as complicated as naming, so she handed the naming opportunity to Cid. Cid looked at Ophis, who was watching him expectantly, thought for a moment, and said,
"Let's call her Ophis Beta."
"As expected of Cid. Then she will be called..."
"Cid-san, Ophis-chan, no matter what, you can't give her that name. That doesn't count as a name at all."
As Asia retorted, an astonishing disturbance came from outside. The alternate dimension... had been breached.
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