Chapter 172

Chapter 172

Youngest Princess quickly asked, "What's the plan? Actually, just tell me what to do."

"Your singing can purify the corruption in the magic circuit."

Eldest Princess closed her eyes briefly and spoke a short string of syllables: "Float."

The silver puppet in the crystal lake below rose into the air.

Then she continued, "I can set up a Runic Array to extend the range of your singing. That way, we can purify the corruption at the core of the Runic Array first."

"How large a range? Can it purify the entire castle at once?" I asked quickly.

"No. The Sunsteal Runic Array has already been corrupted, so the power I can draw on is very limited."

As the Eldest Princess spoke, she used the puppet to quickly set up a Runic Array around the Youngest Princess, then turned to her and said:

"Come to where my real body is. I need to check your mana compatibility first so I can set up a blessing Runic Array that works better for you."

"Oh!"

Youngest Princess pattered over.

Eldest Princess tilted her head slightly and smiled.

"Hold still. This won't take long."

Youngest Princess straightened up at those words and stood completely still, looking up at Eldest Princess.

"What is it?"

Eldest Princess lowered her head, and the two faces slowly drew closer together.

Youngest Princess's face turned bright red as she watched the other's face approach, too afraid to move a muscle.

Then their foreheads touched.

Eldest Princess murmured a soft string of syllables.

Just then, a monster's shriek rang out from the crystal lake below, pulling my attention away.

Several Shadow creatures had appeared around the teleportation Runic Array and were screaming toward the platform.

More and more monsters kept appearing around the array.

Had the defensive line below already been broken?

I gripped the weapon I'd just gotten, a cruel smile spreading across my face.

I swung it up, hoisted the curved blade over my shoulder, and said without looking back, "Keep going! I'll handle these things!"

Then I leaped lightly and charged toward the monsters.

As I moved, the curved blade in my hand gradually filled with white light.

I swung it once, and a massive white magical glow swept through in an instant.

The monsters shrieked and dissolved into mist.

After landing, I looked up to see Shadow creatures still pouring out of the Runic Array in a steady stream.

I glanced back toward the platform and hesitated, wondering whether I should push into the Runic Array.

"Knight, setting up a Runic Array requires a quiet environment. After you just purified the surface corruption, the Sunsteal Runic Array won't generate any more monsters."

The Eldest Princess's voice reached my ears through magic:

"Please hold them off at the energy tower below. We need a little more time up here."

"Got it!"

I tightened my grip on the curved blade and charged straight for the teleportation array.

Eldest Princess's voice followed behind me:

"Remember to hold the teleportation array below, and keep the communication stone I gave you. I'll call you back when we need you."

"Sure!"

I trailed a long streak of light and dove into the teleportation array, disappearing into the crystal lake.

Eldest Princess turned back to Youngest Princess.

"The check is done. Now I'll prepare the blessing Runic Array to purify the corruption here. Feel free to ask if you have any questions."

"Purify this place first. Everything else can wait until it's over. Just tell me what I need to do."

"Alright......"

Eldest Princess hesitated for a moment, then quickly got to work on the Runic Array.

Both of them had a lot of questions right now, but clearly, this wasn't the time.

As the Eldest Princess set up the Runic Array, she explained quickly:

"Your compatibility with magic is very low. This blessing spell might make you a little uncomfortable."

"I'll be fine. Please go ahead."

"Okay."

Youngest Princess watched Eldest Princess with some surprise — she was controlling the puppet with one hand and rattling on about the principles behind the Runic Array at the same time.

She... was actually a chatterbox?

The knight had never mentioned that!

After listening to those complicated explanations for a while, the Youngest Princess was starting to feel dizzy.

She held back as long as she could, then finally couldn't stop herself from cutting Eldest Princess off.

"Please, stop. I... I really can't follow any of this......"

"Sorry......"

---

I came through the teleportation Runic Array and appeared inside the energy tower.

Sure enough, every crystal guardian that had been left behind to hold the formation was dead.

A flood of Shadow creatures was pouring out of the stairwell and rushing down the corridor toward me.

I smiled a strange little smile, drew my blade, and charged straight at them.

I'd just gotten this blade, and I'd already been dying to try it out.

"Come on! Let me test this thing!"

I focused, taking in everything in the energy tower at a glance.

I tossed aside the standard-issue curved blade in my left hand and gripped the new one with both hands.

I pushed off the ground to build speed, shifted my grip, and swung in a wide horizontal slash.

A blinding white magical glow drove forward in a straight line.

Every Shadow creature that grazed along the way turned to black liquid, which evaporated quickly in the air.

I pushed faster.

Trailing a long streak of white blade-light, I shot through the corridor like a great white dragon.

Everywhere I passed, the Shadow creatures melted away like ice under a blazing sun.

Walls. Stairs. Ceiling.

The white dragon kicked off surfaces in every direction, leaping and lunging without pause.

Like a real dragon, flying free through the air.

I sprinted and cut my way through.

With everything wide open, I had the whole energy tower in my sights.

Nothing got past me.

I swept through the Shadow creatures one by one.

Then, around a corner ahead, a fused-arm monster appeared.

A mass of arms contracted toward its right side, and its right half slowly compressed into a sphere.

Then it locked onto my direction and adjusted the opening of the arm-sphere toward me.

I completely ignored the incoming shockwave and charged straight at it head-on.

I couldn't help the excited grin that spread across my face.

Oh, so you're the one who chased me through the dungeon earlier?

Take this.

Die.

A massive white magical glow came crashing straight down.

The monster's arms went slack. The shockwave hadn't even formed at the opening before the glow tore through it head-on.

Then through the sphere of arms. Then the glow split the entire monster clean in two.

The two halves turned to black liquid in the air, then were purified and vanished before they hit the ground.

The monster that had nearly cornered us before went down like a weed, cut down with a single casual swing mid-charge.

In my mind's eye, every creature on this floor was gone.

I kept my speed and flew down the stairs.

The whole floor had taken maybe ten seconds to clear.

Then I kept going, floor by floor, sweeping down through the energy tower.

This tower had been taken over by the Shadow, then stormed by the crystal guardian army, then invaded again by Shadow creatures after we reached the Sunsteal Runic Array.

And now it was my turn to clean it out.

I had no idea whether the tower would go back to normal once the Sunsteal Runic Array was repaired.