Fantasy Realm – Infinite Worlds Adventure-Chapter 295: The Coven’s Surprise

“Are you threatening me?” Alex snaps back, staring down the group of women behind him with an aggressive glare.

Dear Soulmate, are you willing to act for Princess Jewel today? Please entertain her more!

Wait and see, Jewel… since I have free reign and I’ve been holding back lately, I’ll go crazy today. This is a situation where we’re doomed to fail anyway—so I can take risks!

Princess Jewel will protect her Soulmate.

The women look momentarily taken aback. One of them even mutters under her breath, “I can’t believe this arrogant newbie…”

“Whatever, let’s go,” Alex says, ignoring them completely as he walks straight up to the Coven’s guildhouse.

“You?! Where do you think you’re going?!” one of the women shouts behind him.

He doesn’t respond.

Alex knocks on the door, then tries to open it anyway—only to find it locked.

The women catch up and smugly comment, “You can’t just barge in, are you stupid?”

“We’re here for a meeting with the Matron. Please guide us to her or refuse. I’ll gladly leave, but you’ll be responsible for explaining our absence.” Alex’s tone is sharp and confident.

“That won’t be necessary,” says a calm voice from inside.

The door creaks open.

Standing there is a woman who could only be described as graceful and intimidating. She looks to be in her early forties, tall, pale, with a mature charm that makes her seem more elegant than threatening.

“Please, step inside. I’ve been expecting you,” she says.

Alex nods, meeting her eyes. “Thank you. Don’t mind if we do.”

“Matron! You don’t need to do this. Let us open the door! This is beneath you!” a much younger girl yells, running toward the entrance—only to trip and land face-first on the floor.

“It’s fine… please get up and—wait, let me just…” The Matron pulls out a tissue and gently wipes the girl’s nose, which is bleeding slightly. “Take care of yourself. Also, call Avni. She should be present.”

With that, she turns back to the group. “Follow me,” she says, leading them inside.

They’re brought to a small but functional meeting room with around twenty seats surrounding a long table. Alex, Tereza, Menchi, and Rishi take one side, while the Matron sits opposite.

Just as they settle in, the door bursts open.

“It’s them! They killed Roja! I’LL KILL THEM!” a woman shrieks, storming in with a wicked-looking kris already drawn.

“Alex, I told you to deal with this, but I can’t,” Rishi says flatly. “If people like this are part of the discussion, we might as well leave.”

“Avni,” the Matron says calmly. “I explained the situation to you. You promised me something. I’ll give you one chance—decide. Either stay and follow the rules, or leave. Both are acceptable.”

“…Sorry,” Avni mumbles, reluctantly sitting down beside her guild leader.

“Avni was Roja’s best friend,” the Matron explains. “She granted her the invitation to enter the Realm. She feels responsible, and she’s still grieving. Please excuse her behavior.”

“No problem,” Alex replies, voice steady. “Truthfully, it’s a tragedy what happened. Let me begin by expressing my condolences. But don’t expect us to grovel. We had a very detailed, very fair contract before that mission began. Roja and Perlah died because of their own weakness, their bad luck—or rather, the extreme difficulty of that mission. I’ll gladly answer any questions, but if this is a shakedown or a threat, you’ll find out exactly why I was called the scourge of Tutorial Realm Section 4.”

❤️ So forceful! Soulmate is so cute!

Jewel, this is serious. Please, stop with the commentary for a while, okay?

Hehe~ Dearest Soulmate, one look at these players should’ve been enough. Don’t you realize it yet?

Realize what?!

Hehe, it’s fine if Soulmate doesn’t. Just enjoy the show.

Jewel! Tell me—I need every advantage I can get!

They are weak. Terribly so. Maybe their level is higher than ours for now, but their strength doesn’t match their experience. They don’t even understand their own limits. Please enjoy yourself, Soulmate. Entertain Jewel ❤️

…Okay. Thanks for the input.

Alex closes his eyes for a second.

Jewel isn’t just a pet—her intellect and perspective might actually surpass mine. I trust her completely. She’d never lie to me or let me walk into danger blindly. If she says they’re weak… then they probably are. That actually makes a lot of sense. Their whole mission is “protecting each other.” They’re probably bottom-feeders. That means I can play this much more aggressively than I originally planned.

“Well,” the Matron says, tone cooling. “This isn’t the attitude I expected. Are you sure this is the path you wish to walk?”

“Cut the bullshit. What do you want from us? If you’re gonna speak in riddles, we’re leaving right now,” Alex says flatly.

“Interesting… You seem to think you’re safe in the Realm. There are multiple ways to target other players. I tell you this in good faith. You may wish to rethink your behavior.”

“No. You may want to rethink yours. You’ll regret the day you picked a fight with me. And if there are ways to target players here, I suggest you start being careful.”

“Is this delusion? Madness?” the Matron asks, visibly thrown off by his confident tone.

“Matron! I can’t tolerate this!” Avni hisses.

“And who the hell are you supposed to be? Roja was a traitorous snake who abandoned her own team—Patricia and Eirini—once things got serious. You want to discuss her death or not? Because we’re actually very busy.”

The Matron sighs and pulls a contract from her inventory.

“Your overconfidence is startling. Please, tell us everything. But before you do, sign this contract. It will prevent you from lying while you’re in this room.”

Alex takes the document and scans it.

“Nah. Modify it. I’ll agree—but it only activates when I raise my right hand.”

“YOU!” Avni screams. “Are you insane?!”

“Modify it or we’re walking out,” Alex replies coldly.

“Fine. This won’t change a thing.” The Matron swiftly alters the contract and hands it back.

Alex signs it—and then begins to slowly raise his right hand.

“Explain. Everything. How you met up with her, how the mission went, and how she died,” the Matron commands.

“I don’t like your tone,” Alex mutters, “but sure, where do I start, huh?”

Alex briefly summarizes his first encounter with Roja—her abandoning Eirini and Patricia, the invitation he eventually accepted, their negotiations, and the beginning of their mission in the new world.

“Getting a little thirsty, can I have some water?”

“Continue!!” Avni screams.

“Geez… how rude. Fine.” Alex takes out a bottle of water from his inventory and drinks it, calm and unbothered.

“So, we were exploring the forest. During our encounter with the Corrupted Thornbacks and their Matriarch, Roja and Perlah more or less decided to just watch before eventually staying behind. Frankly, even during earlier battles, they were barely helpful—they were simply awful fighters. I have no doubt I could take out ten people of their strength-level.”

“Oops,” Alex adds, flashing a fake-apologetic look at his teammates. “Shouldn’t reveal too much. My bad.”

Tereza and Menchi grin.

“This can’t be… HE MUST BE LYING!” Avni yells, staring at Alex’s raised right hand.

“No… he isn’t,” the Matron says, clearly surprised. “This is… quite unexpected. So, what happened next?”

“Look, I’m not blaming Roja and Perlah for letting us fight alone. It was their right, as outlined in the contract. Their lives were in danger, and they chose not to take that risk. We decided to take it, which is why we were rewarded, while they got significantly less. I felt somewhat betrayed, but this is the reality of the Realm. Anyway, after the battle, they returned to us and we continued the exploration together.”

He continues, “We explored the cave system beneath the outpost. Eventually, we found a hidden tunnel and encountered more Thornbacks. I went in first—I’m decent in a defensive role—and when I got ambushed, I screamed for help. Rishi and Tereza came immediately.”

“And Roja and Perlah?” the Matron asks.

“They fled. Betrayed us,” Alex answers. “Though… I suppose it’s not quite betrayal, since the contract arguably gave them the right to retreat. Still—”

“I can’t believe it…” Avni whispers, defeated.

“Long story short, they fled. From what we could tell, they were ambushed by hidden Thornbacks outside the tunnel. We left shortly after that.”

“You didn’t search for them?” the Matron asks, her tone tightening.

“No, we didn’t,” Alex answers without hesitation. “At that point, I considered them traitors. I would have refused to cooperate with them further, aside from the bare minimum outlined in our contract.”

His right hand is still raised.

“I see…” the Matron replies quietly. “But I feel there’s more. What haven’t you told us?”

“Quite a lot. What do you want to know?” Alex replies evenly.

“Do you know how they died? Did you see it?”

“I don’t know how they died. And I didn’t see them die,” Alex answers, eyes calm. His hand remains raised.

Hehe… I could take a good guess though,but I don’t know the details. I can only assume, so technically I’m not lying!

The Matron sighs. “I see… one more question. If you wanted to… could you have saved them?”

“Huh? Why are you asking that?!” Tereza interrupts, clearly annoyed. “Didn’t you hear what he just said?!”

“I know what he said,” the Matron replies, “but I also know when someone is hiding something. Don’t think I haven’t done this dozens of times before.”

“I could have tried to save them,” Alex says, completely honest. “I decided against it. Frankly, I didn’t want to risk—no… more honestly? I didn’t want to inconvenience myself. I wasn’t willing to potentially lose out just to help a pair of traitors.”

“Inconvenience yourself?! HOW DARE YOU?!” Avni screams, her voice cracking as tears well in her eyes.

“Any more questions?” Alex asks coldly.

“No excuse for letting them die? Even if you had a reasonable chance to save them?” the Matron presses.

“Ever heard the German phrase ‘Wie man in den Wald hineinruft, so schallt es heraus’?” Alex says calmly. “Roughly translated: ‘The way you shout into the forest is the way it echoes back at you.’ Or in plain English: What goes around, comes around. I wouldn’t even lift a finger for people who stabbed us in the back twice. I sure as hell wouldn’t risk my life—or my rewards—for them.”

“I see…” The Matron leans back, her expression unreadable. “Then how do you plan on compensating us for their loss?”

“How about… I don’t hold a grudge against any of your members?” Alex offers, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Is this a joke?” she asks, eyes narrowing.

“No. It’s a threat,” Alex replies, voice hardening. “Next time I run into one of your ‘cute little Coven members,’ I’ll annihilate them on the spot if you don’t accept my generous offer of simply forgetting what happened.”

“I see…” she says again, her tone now cold. “You may end up regretting this. You can leave.”

“We’ll see. If you ever approach us again, you, or better yet, every single one of your guildmates will regret it. That young girl you wiped the nose of so lovingly? She seems like she’s barely level 5 as well. I could kill her with my bare hands in seconds. My hand is still up—so you know I’m not lying.”

“I won’t go out of my way to interact with you again. This is your last chance: Forget we exist, and we’ll do the same. Goodbye.”

Alex stands, and the rest of the group silently follows him.

The Matron says nothing, but is visibly shaken as they walk out.

Outside the Coven guildhouse, dozens of faces stare at them through the dusty windows.

Alex doesn’t glance back.

“Did I go too far?” he asks, once they’ve left the grounds.

❤️ No

“Nope,” Tereza and Menchi say in perfect sync, sounding ecstatic. Tereza is unable to contain herself, even shaking slightly as she kisses Alex.

Rishi even chuckles, obviously in a good mood.