Chapter 176
Chapter 176
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 176
Chapter Title: The Princess's Puppet Show
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Of course, none of the three believed a word of the princess's nonsense.
Evan knew that cultists were habitual liars.
Karon had a temperament that refused to trust the enemy's words at face value.
And Seren... it was simply a gut feeling.
Naturally, Princess Perist showed no concern whether they believed her or not.
Instead, she sipped her tea with her signature graceful poise. Seren found the way she slightly crooked her pinky finger utterly obnoxious...
Clink.
The moment the princess set down her teacup, the battle erupted without warning.
With a metallic grind, the walls on either side flipped open, unleashing hundreds of puppets.
They didn't panic.
The three young leaders instantly spread out to secure distance from one another before diving into their respective fights.
"......"
The princess watched the battle with keen interest.
Rather than huddling together upon sensing the enemy, they scattered. It was an admission that they didn't know each other well enough for coordinated attacks.
In that case, fighting from positions where they wouldn't get in each other's way was the best approach.
"......"
But best wasn't the same as optimal.
Naturally, facing enemies swarming from all sides alone versus handling them as three was worlds apart.
The princess's eyes took in all three battlefields at once.
Karon Woodjack. Wields multiple weapons. Possesses the sharpest insight. Even surrounded on all sides by puppets, he occasionally glances this way. Proof of his wide field of vision.
Evan Helvin. Master of solid fundamentals. He's a young leader by nature, but suspected to possess talent still in development. His swordsmanship and movements are straightforward, yet correspondingly sturdy. Types like this often become warriors with no weaknesses once they fully mature.
Seren Goodspring. Bears multiple blessings and seems to have contracted with a divine beast as well. She wields the tricky three-swords technique with proficiency, occasionally infusing it with chill.
'And all three have aces up their sleeves.'
The princess smiled silently.
This opponent was proving entertaining, as expected.
They weren't fully grown yet—and that was precisely what made them fun to face. They'd probably advance another step or two in this very battlefield.
Princess Perist.
Preferred her steaks medium-rare and savored the tart freshness of unripe fruit. Because standardized flavors and textures hid delightful surprises.
Full ripeness was boring.
The peak of taste was inevitably followed only by decline.
"Hmm-hmm..."
The princess suddenly began humming, then tapped the air with her fingers as if playing an invisible piano.
Under the blood-red lighting, it made her look like a madwoman.
Yet, perhaps because she was royalty.
There was an odd elegance to her gestures.
And indeed, from that moment, piano music began drifting in from somewhere...
That was also when order emerged in the puppets' previously chaotic movements.
Among the three young leaders, Karon was the first to notice.
Watching the madwoman dancing under the moonlight, Karon thought.
No matter how many times he saw it, it was the same.
'The princess's physical abilities are abysmal.'
In other words, Karon could kill her if two conditions were met.
Distance of three steps or less.
And a single breath's leeway.
"......"
Karon's eyes darkened.
He felt he was the only one here who could pull it off. The other two probably lacked killing experience.
'Still a long way off.'
If three steps was too far, five would do.
Even if it strained him, hurling his sword would pierce the princess's throat clean through.
In fact, Karon was subtly closing the gap one step at a time without drawing notice.
And the madwoman feigning leisure while tapping invisible keys hadn't noticed his quiet, steady advance.
Lost in complacency, no doubt.
'That my brother is dead?'
Not even a scoff escaped him.
Karon Woodjack.
Hadn't simply submitted to Ruan's violence. It wasn't pain or fear of torment that made him call him brother.
To begin with, he'd never met anyone else with such tolerance for pain.
- You learned all wrong.
- Seems your father saw you as a replacement.
- Is living like a puppet really that fun?
Since birth.
His father had always loomed in a corner of Karon's mind. Even attending the training camp had been at his command. Afterward, he'd been ordered to return immediately.
Yet now Karon was at the academy.
Defying his father's words for the first time in his life.
In that moment, what filled Karon's head wasn't fear or dread, but exhilaration.
A freedom like strolling through the skies.
He hadn't realized how joyful it could be to think and judge for himself.
Only then did he understand.
His anger at Ruan's words wasn't because they'd insulted his father. They'd struck every nerve dead center.
'He could've ignored me.'
He could've pretended not to see who Karon really was.
Ruan hadn't.
He'd gone to the trouble of correcting him personally. Ruan's violence had been brutal, but now Karon wondered: hadn't those fists shattered not just his body, but the chains binding his mind as well?
He was truly grateful for that effort.
'No way he's dead. You idiot woman.'
She might've been born with status and looks, but brains were another story.
With a sneer, Karon took another step forward...
"......"
Seren quietly admired the princess's tactics.
'Did she study military strategy?'
She commanded her puppet soldiers with perfect discipline.
Of course, maneuvering mindless, fearless toy soldiers was far easier than real humans...
Even accounting for that, it was extraordinary.
'The puppets' formations are getting annoying.'
The pressure from their well-organized formations was intense, and on top of that, she'd positioned some to strike at vulnerabilities independently.
If all this was the princess's mercenary skill, it was serious.
It meant she was manipulating each puppet individually, not as a unit.
Seren couldn't easily imagine it.
How finely must one's thought processes be divided, how vast the battlefield awareness, to make that possible?
'Of course, it's feasible because there are only three opponents...'
She sensed tactical genius, yet something felt off.
The princess's tactics carried the seasoned polish of a veteran general who'd fought dozens of wars.
Seren pondered the reason but found no answer.
One thing was clear, though.
'I have to take down the princess.'
The thought made her chest tighten uncomfortably. It was ridiculous.
Surely she hadn't come to see Princess Perist as a real friend?
Seren sneered and thrust her three swords.
Slash!
Nearby, swinging his sword, Evan suddenly thought.
'Am I the most vulnerable?'
A quick glance around made it obvious.
The puppets encircling Evan were inferior both in number and quality.
It marked him as the least guarded target among the three.
'Young Leader Evan' felt humiliated... while 'Vice Cult Leader Evan' saw opportunity.
Which to prioritize?
After agonizing, Evan leaned toward the latter.
Pride was vital to a man, but now wasn't the time.
'Only one thing matters.'
Soon, an opening would come. Young Leader Evan couldn't seize it.
But Vice Cult Leader Evan could.
No, he didn't even need to wait.
Using the evil instrument writhing inside him right now would kill or subdue the princess.
The [Memory of Evil] told him.
She bore imperial blood, but a cultist was a cultist, even if the Demon King had descended. Her vessel differed from his, born as the cult leader's successor.
Moreover, the evil aura from the princess wasn't particularly intense.
She clearly controlled the puppets, yet her prowess as a cultist seemed modest.
Perhaps the imperial blood caused rejection?
Evan knew little of imperial cultists, so he couldn't say for sure.
'The problem is...'
Using the evil instrument here would expose him inescapably to Karon and Seren.
That was why he hesitated.
Even killing the princess meant nothing if his cultist identity was revealed.
Evan was currently adrift in identity... unwilling to abandon either hero or cult.
Karon and Seren.
He acknowledged that something like camaraderie was budding amid this life-or-death struggle.
But asked if he fully trusted them? He couldn't nod easily.
That was the truth.
Truth be told, even if his close friend Karis were here, Evan would hesitate to use it.
Absurd, really.
The only one Evan could truly trust now was Ruan Bednicker.
'Is this right?'
That only the blood of Bednicker—who reigned as family head and supreme demon hunter—could be relied upon.
But that guy knew Evan was vice cult leader yet kept silent.
'...What to do.'
For the first time since awakening as vice cult leader, Evan felt profound turmoil.
Amid it, Vice Cult Leader Evan kept whispering.
Think simply.
Kill the princess, and Karon and Seren too.
Murder and erase evidence. Perfect crime. Nice, right?
'...Shut up.'
Evan muttered inwardly.
* * *
A blessing activating so suddenly?
I was inwardly startled but soon carefully surveyed my surroundings.
'Something... feels off.'
I'd only experienced this blessing's power once before...
Yet I was convinced this situation was anything but normal.
The unidentified voice cutting out sporadically.
The surroundings still pitch-black, with strange mist drifting leisurely from somewhere.
Jingle.
Amid it all, only the bell's chime rang clearly in my ears.
I knew what sound this was.
The iron chain held by Thousand Killer, the bell at its tip.
Among the warriors I'd met, Thousand Killer had the faintest human presence.
Even face-to-face sometimes, rather than a person's aura, it felt like gazing at a serene lake—pure clarity.
One day, when I voiced discomfort at that, Thousand Killer chuckled lowly and attached a bell to the chain's end.
It was consideration for me, though it oddly felt like a bell on a cat's collar.
Jingle.
In any case, in this sightless place, it was like a guiding beacon.
I slowly headed toward the bell's sound...
And soon arrived at an even stranger spot.
A signpost stood in the darkness.
"...Huh."
This damn signpost never appeared without trouble following.
Anyway, the signpost pointed both ways with arrows.
A fork in the road?
Jingle.
The bell came from the left.
Glancing there, the faintly rippling mist coalesced in midair, clumsily forming the shape of Spirit Mountain.
A hazy figure stood atop the rocky peak. Clearly the bell's source.
I reflexively started toward it but suddenly halted.
If left was Spirit Mountain, then right?
Mist soon took form there too.
Like indistinct objects reflected on rippling water...
Soon, familiar faces appeared there as well. The young leaders, locked in fierce combat.
Already facing the princess?
Frankly, it didn't look good. Not hopeless, but slim odds.
"...Ah."
I suddenly grasped the situation.
I hadn't regressed yet.
To be precise, I was at the cusp of regression.
Going left would take me to Spirit Mountain for regression...
Going right would return me to the original timeline.
"......"
At this sudden crossroads of choice, I fell silent for a long while.