Chapter 160

Chapter 160

I quickly covered my own mouth and reached out to steady the Youngest Princess, who was about to fall.

I was just about to ask if she was okay when she grabbed my mask with both hands, her face white with fear.

That's when it hit me. I shut my mouth and fumbled around, trying to get the mask off.

Once I had it in my hand, I finally got a good look at the metal mask — or maybe I should call it a mask-shaped speaker.

The outside was a fine, smooth grid of black metal bars. Through the narrow vertical gaps, I could make out layers of some unknown material inside.

Flipping it over, the inside was lined with a soft, fabric-like material. Honestly, it had felt pretty comfortable when I put it on, and the breathability was surprisingly good.

It didn't affect my breathing at all — it was like wearing nothing.

"This is... really something."

I looked up at the two of them. The Youngest Princess and the old servant had both recovered.

"Hey! You!" The Youngest Princess rushed over and stood on her tiptoes to pinch my cheek.

I just laughed and dodged out of the way.

"Get back here!"

"Hahaha!"

The old servant watched the two of them mess around with a helpless look, then let out a deliberate cough to signal it was time to move on.

......

"Up ahead is the third level," the old servant said as they walked. She glanced at the Youngest Princess, then hesitated before explaining, "This level was originally used to store food."

"But then the civil war broke out, and after that, the Sunsteal Runic Array went out of control. One disaster after another. The population of the Salt and Gold Kingdom dropped sharply, and the food stockpiled here gradually lost its purpose."

The old servant let out a quiet sigh. "Later on... after the Purifiers were dealt with, they were stored here in large numbers, too. So this area was expanded."

The heavy door swung open, and a wave of cold air hit them head-on.

"Stay close. The deeper you go, the colder it gets." The old servant led the way with a light-conjuring spell, and the two followed behind.

Rows of fruit and meat stretched out before them. The Youngest Princess grabbed a piece of fruit and started eating.

Come to think of it, it had been a while since lunch. They were getting hungry.

The other two helped themselves to something as well, eating while they walked.

"These aren't expired, are they?" I noticed there were even canned meats — the kind you'd see as military supplies.

"You're asking about spoilage?"

The old servant turned to explain:

"No need to worry. The entire storage area runs a constant time-dilation spell. Nothing here will ever spoil."

"Time dilation? Wait — don't tell me a few days have already passed outside while we've just been walking around in here!"

"Ha, don't worry. That kind of magic can't be applied to living things. It only works on stored goods."

The old servant smiled. "If it worked on people, too, wouldn't that just be immortality?"

I gave her a sideways glance. That was a strange thing to hear from someone who had already lived for over a hundred years.

They kept moving, and eventually reached the area where the crystallized people — the Purifiers — were kept.

"We're here," the old servant said quietly. "This is where the Purifiers are stored."

Row after row of stands held crystallized figures in varying degrees of crystallization.

The stands were packed tight, perfectly ordered, stretching all the way to the edge of sight.

How many people were there? Tens of thousands? A hundred thousand? More?

I didn't want to guess.

The Youngest Princess wore the same stunned expression I did. She forced the words out: "How many people... are in here?"

"Two million four hundred thousand in total. Of those, roughly one million seven hundred thousand are Purifiers capable of combat." The old servant's voice was calm and level. Her face was hidden in the shadows beneath the light.

The sheer number left them both speechless.

"So... all of these people are the so-called rebels?" The Youngest Princess's voice had an unsteady edge to it.

"Yes."

"These old people, these women, these children — they're all so-called rebels?"

"Yes."

"These people in worn-out clothes, thin as bones — they're rebels too?"

"Yes."

"If all of them are rebels, then what does that make you?"

"......"

The Youngest Princess grabbed the old servant by the collar and yanked her close, eyes blazing with a fury that looked ready to consume the frail, hunched figure in front of her:

"Huh? What are you, people? Devils? Demons?"

The old servant turned her eyes away and said nothing.

The Youngest Princess's clenched fist came down hard across the old servant's face.

A dull grunt — the old servant hit the ground. The Youngest Princess was about to follow up with more when I stepped in and held her back.

"Easy, Youngest Princess."

"If hitting me helps you get it out, that's fine." The old servant lay still on the floor. "But I hope once you've let it out, you'll still be willing to save the Queen."

Looking at the old woman on the ground — no legs, one arm — the Youngest Princess finally let the fight drain out of her.

After a while, they steadied themselves.

The Youngest Princess stood to one side, arms crossed, silent.

The old servant came over and spoke:

"Knight, I'm about to cast the spell to break the seal. Are you ready?"

"Of course,"

I said quietly, putting the metal mask back on.

The old servant sat upright in her wheelchair and raised the short staff in her hand.

A series of notes with a strange, lilting rhythm began to sound. The staff gradually gave off a soft white glow.

This chant lasted longer than the others. As I watched, large numbers of syllables resolved into meanings I could understand.

"Rank ascending... target expanded... area of effect... range expanded..."

"...Unseal!"

The staff blazed with a blinding light that swallowed everything in sight.