Chapter 169

Chapter 169

"A knight and my little sister? How utterly unoriginal." Eldest Princess's voice grew cold.

What was she talking about? I was confused.

"Too bad you not only got his clothes wrong, but you've also dragged back someone who's long been dead."

A rapid string of syllables rang out — "Pierce!"

Youngest Princess and I quickly dove to opposite sides.

A magic spear blasted into the ground where we'd just been standing, sending shards of crystal flying through the air.

Seeing us dodge out of the way, Eldest Princess paused for a moment, then let out a short, almost amused laugh.

"So you're finally resorting to force? What a shame... You think these two puppets are any match for me?"

I tightened my grip on my weapon, focused my eyes on Eldest Princess, and shouted while bracing for her next attack:

"Eldest Princess! Calm down! It's me — it's Charles!"

"The knight is long gone!"

Eldest Princess's cold voice rang out. Then she opened her mouth slightly.

A flood of complex syllables wove together, as if a dozen voices were chanting at breakneck speed all at once. Layer upon layer of spells stacked on top of each other, and a new piece of magic rapidly took shape.

Countless magic spears gathered in midair, all pointing their tips at the two of us from every direction.

Danger. Danger. Danger.

My instincts were screaming. My skin crawled.

"What the hell? Are you telling me a mad witch can pull off magic like this?"

Youngest Princess's voice was shaking too.

 

Just as the magic spears were about to fire, Eldest Princess let out a weak, ragged cough — and the spears began to crack apart in midair, dissolving into tiny points of light and vanishing.

Was the danger gone?

I stared at Eldest Princess, dazed.

She was hunched over in pain, the rapid stream of syllables breaking apart into one weak cough after another.

"Are you okay—" I started moving toward her to check on her.

Eldest Princess lifted her head. Her eyes locked onto me, filled with pure killing intent.

I froze instinctively and stopped mid-step.

"Isn't this what you wanted — for me to draw this blade?"

"The blade? Wait — first tell me why it's sticking out of your chest."

"Try me, and you'll find out. Try me, and you'll understand what a knight's blade really is!"

Eldest Princess laughed with a kind of wild, unhinged energy. "Don't think just because I burned through a massive amount of magic dealing with that ugly knight, you've got the upper hand now...

Let me show you what this blade — the one made to cut you down — can really do!"

The eldest princess controlled the puppet's hand to grip the handle, then slowly pulled the blade out of her chest, inch by inch.

The blade was pure white, like fresh snow in winter. Tiny points of white light dripped from its edge.

A sudden gust of wind sent the Youngest Princess and me flying down into the crystal lake below.

I adjusted my body and landed. When I looked up, the puppet carrying the blade had already touched down not far ahead.

The puppet turned with the blade in hand and gave it a casual flick. White light scattered across the ground.

The crystal floor, which had been murky and dark, was restored to a clear, vivid blue.

A silver dress. A blade glowing white. A delicate feathered mask.

In the dim crystal lake, the silver puppet holding the blade looked like a fairy untouched by the mortal world, shining with pure white light under the stars.

"Wait, hold on — why are we suddenly in a boss fight?"

I stared at the approaching puppet, jaw dropped. All that was missing was a long boss health bar across the screen.

The Salt Witch!

"Hey, knight — what's going on?"

The youngest princess looked completely lost.

"Don't ask me!"

I was just as confused.

But the elegant silver puppet in the distance had no interest in our noise. She charged straight at us, blade drawn.

I locked my eyes on her movements and sidestepped the sweeping strike.

A white magical glow sliced vertically through the air all the way into the distance.

Wherever the light passed, the murky, dark crystal lake was restored to a vivid blue.

The black lake was left with a clean, sharp cut running through it.

"Didn't you say she was easy to talk to?" Youngest Princess called out anxiously from the other side. "What is happening right now?"

"Stop talking, you're breaking my focus!"

I dodged another slash. With attacks this powerful, I didn't dare try to block with my blade.

I kept moving, trying to stay one step ahead of the puppet, and shouted over to Youngest Princess: "Get back and start singing! She might be under the Shadow's influence!"

"Got it!" Youngest Princess ran back and started singing.

I dodged another strike through the rising music.

The whole scene made me want to say — great, now we've even got boss music. That's just perfect.

The situation made no sense, but...

Either way, this was just a puppet being controlled by the Eldest Princess. It didn't matter if I broke it.

Once I beat it, I could go confront Eldest Princess directly and find out what was going on.

I cleared my head and threw myself into the fight.

A few exchanges in...

Something felt off — it seemed like she didn't really know how to use this blade.

The puppet's intentions were way too obvious with every swing. Once I focused, every move was easy to read and easy to dodge.

And whenever I slipped in a strike during the gaps between her swings, she'd fall into a complete panic.

Stay focused. Dodge. Strike. My body was reacting before my mind even caught up.

After just a short while, I was handling her attacks with ease.

I even had enough breathing room to pick apart the gaps in her technique and predict what she'd do next.

I stepped back to avoid one strike and watched the puppet flail after missing, then frantically swing the blade back at me in a clumsy backhand. My eye twitched.

She said she was going to show me what this blade could do — but she clearly had no idea how to use it.

What kind of damage could wild, sloppy swings like this actually do?

In just this short exchange, the crystals around us had completely returned to their vivid blue. The dark corruption had been almost entirely purified.

I dodged another strike and watched with a blank expression as the puppet swung too hard — and cut herself.

Then she got stuck.

The blade lodged in the puppet's own joint and got stuck.

Damn it.

Whatever atmosphere the boss fight had built up was completely gone.

I was speechless.

I stepped in quickly, grabbed the blade from her hand, and pulled it free.

And then Eldest Princess froze.

The puppet stood there staring blankly at me, holding two blades.

"This is..."

I stared at the blade in my hand, eyes wide.

A feeling unlike anything I'd ever felt before washed over me.

My senses expanded. And expanded. And expanded again.

The whole world seemed to come into sharp focus.

It was as if I'd always been experiencing the world through a layer of cloth.

Until I held this blade.

And that cloth was torn away.

I remembered the first time I ever entered the dream — I had become "Donald" and picked up an ornate sword. That sword had given me powerful swordsmanship and a cold, detached mind.

This blade gave me the same feeling.