Chapter 173

Chapter 173

After leaving the energy tower, I was somewhat surprised by the scene in front of me.

There is a large gap in the Crystal Troops that were originally defending outside the tower, and the area directly facing the tower entrance has been partially breached by Shadows.

The crystalline forces on the other sides had also been cut down significantly from before.

I focused my mind, and my perception range expanded dramatically.

When I'd been clearing the energy tower earlier, only the first two floors had been swept through with my abilities at full power.

After that, considering the scale of the Shadow, I'd pulled back to my normal state to conserve energy.

I only concentrated on doing a quick scan at the end of each floor, just to make sure nothing slipped through and attacked the two of them above.

Now, with a full bird's-eye view, I could see that the crystalline forces had been reduced to less than a tenth of what we'd brought out.

And most of them had been cut off from each other — small groups of crystalline soldiers fighting on their own around whatever patches of light remained.

Like isolated islands in the Shadow.

Without my real-time command, the forces couldn't be balanced or repositioned. The crystalline defense was no longer a solid wall.

The Shadow had concentrated its forces and punched through the line.

I'd half-expected the crystalline troops below to have been completely wiped out.

I didn't expect to come out to this.

 

Looking at it this way, the Shadow didn't seem to be acting blindly at all — it seemed to have a clear purpose.

I suddenly thought back to what I'd seen at the front line earlier: after the Shadow poured out of the pit, it hadn't scattered in all directions as I'd expected.

Instead, every last one of them had charged straight at the crystalline troops.

The crystalline soldiers obviously weren't their actual target.

Which meant their real target was...

"The Sunsteal Runic Array... or rather, the core of the Sunsteal Runic Array that still hasn't been corrupted — the Eldest Princess?"

I took a few seconds to sort through the information, then quickly worked out my plan.

I pulled out my mechanical mask and put it on, then sent out commands to all the crystalline units.

I called every remaining crystalline soldier in the area to rally at the base of the tower and form a defensive line against the Shadow.

If anything in the Shadow appeared that posed a serious threat to the line, I'd step in personally and cut it down.

Since I had no idea how long the two princesses would need, my goal from the start was clear: buy as much time as possible.

With the crystalline troops helping hold the line, I could save a lot of my own strength and energy.

"Lucky. Things are much better than I thought."

Once the defensive line was back in place, I finally let out a breath.

I'd already mentally prepared myself to fight every last creature the Shadow could throw at me, alone, until the end.

Good thing I'd cleared the energy tower and come down as fast as I did — the remaining crystalline forces were still a decent number.

I swung my blade and cut down a skull creature from a distance, then swept my gaze around.

No immediate high-threat targets for now.

Only then did I have a moment to take a proper look at the so-called "Knight's Blade" in my hand.

Once I pulled back all my power, the white light on the blade faded completely inward, and its true form gradually came into view.

In terms of shape, it was a very common curved blade style.

If I remembered right, it was the kind of saber used by nomadic cavalry — typically carried by light horsemen.

The dramatic curve was perfectly suited for slashing at high speed.

Even without swinging it yourself, you could just fix it to the side of a horse and ride at full gallop — the speed and arc alone would do terrifying damage.

Nomadic peoples had once used blades like this to unite the entire Eurasian continent, cutting down infantry from every nation across the world like harvesting wheat.

But this blade was a little different from the cavalry sabers I remembered.

The grip was designed for two hands, with a bit of extra room to spare.

Unlike the one-handed swing of a light cavalryman, this was clearly a two-handed weapon.

With a blade, the more force you put behind it the more damage it does — using both hands not only hits harder, it gives you more control too.

"A high-speed curved blade for infantry, huh..."

I nodded slightly. I was starting to understand why it was designed this way.

Looking further, the snow-white metal of the blade gleamed brightly.

The guard was a pale gold metal — I hadn't noticed before, washed out as it was by the white glow, I'd thought it was white.

The handle was light gray, wrapped in some kind of plant fiber I couldn't identify.

Without any power flowing through it, the blade actually looked pretty understated.

Almost plain, even.

Toss it in among a bunch of decorative collector's blades from my past life, and it probably wouldn't turn a single head.

No scabbard either — maybe the Eldest Princess hadn't had time to make one.

I had no idea how to put it away.

Hard to believe that just yesterday, this blade was a key sitting in my pants pocket.

"What?"

Right as I thought of that key, the blade in my hand vanished instantly.

I startled, feeling something in my hand.

I raised my right hand and opened it — a brass key.

The brass dormitory key from Green Vine College was as familiar to me as anything.

"It... changed back?"

Could it change back into...

The moment that thought crossed my mind, the key in my hand shifted back into the form of the Hornet drone.

"So it really does change based on what I'm thinking?"

 

"No, the Runic Array enhancement can only go this far." The Eldest Princess shook her head, her expression firm.

The Youngest Princess pushed back stubbornly. "I can still handle it. This is nowhere near my limit."

"I'll say it again — no." The Eldest Princess's tone left no room for argument.

"Push it any further and your body won't hold up."

"But the Knight is down there holding off the Shadow alone. I want to clear the corruption here as fast as possible."

"Then you should listen to me even more. Don't push yourself. If you can't take it and lose consciousness, we'll have no way to purify the Shadow at all."

"...Fine."

After the brief back-and-forth, the two reached an agreement and finished the final adjustments to the Runic Array enhancement.

The Youngest Princess stepped into the Runic Array and took her position. Once she was sure everything was right, she gave the Eldest Princess a nod.

The Eldest Princess spoke the incantation. "Activate."

A faint glow flickered from the Runic Array, and then the Youngest Princess felt as though her body had been pushed into a barrel filled with water — a subtle pressure closing in on her from every direction.

She adjusted to it for a moment, then opened her mouth and began to sing.

The flowing melody drifted through the crystal lake, passing through layer after layer of the murky crystalline surface, seeping deep into the complex Runic Array woven within.

The Eldest Princess watched, and for a moment her mind went somewhere else.

"My sister..."

There was a time when she had sat in the audience, beside their father, listening to that golden-robed figure on the stage sing.

"She really... looks just like her."

If only she could hear her sister's voice one more time like this.

But this wasn't her.

The Eldest Princess came back to herself and let out a quiet sigh.

The last image she had of her sister, the one that had stayed with her all this time, was a pair of eyes filled with hatred.