The Puppet Princess and Dolce's Fairy Tale Book
The princess's body soared into the sky. And beside that princess, a massive fairy tale book drew near. It looked like the princess was commanding the book, but the truth was the exact opposite. The true core was the giant fairy tale book itself, with the princess nothing more than a marionette dancing to its whims. The final boss possessing her body, Dolce's Fairy Tale Book, radiated a potent, menacing aura that clashed wildly with any notion of a fairy tale. It was a terrifying power worthy of a dungeon's ultimate guardian. Naturally, Dolce's Fairy Tale Book was the trickiest foe in the entire Fairy Tale Dungeon. Of course, "tricky" didn't mean invincible.
"Grow, my garden!"
The princess placed her hand on the book and cried out in a clear voice. It was like chanting a magic spell. In this dungeon, the words of the princess under the fairy tale book's control carried a mysterious power akin to a spirit word. With her incantation, the little garden trees that had formed the maze garden's walls began sprouting wildly. Trees that had only reached my chest exploded upward like Amazon rainforest giants, stretching dozens of meters tall. Thick branches wove between them, forming an impenetrable maze wall. The princess rose with the growing trees. In her own domain—this dungeon—flight without wings was child's play for Dolce's magic book. She was the very picture of a fairy-tale princess under an enchantment.
Looking down on us from above, the princess brought her hand to the book once more. Her green eyes sparkled coldly.
"My soldiers! Seize these repulsive adults who invade the fairy tale kingdom!"
The fairy tale book, sealed tight with locks, sprang open. Its pages were blank—pure white nothingness. From that empty tome, trump cards rained down like a storm. The falling cards were ordinary playing-card size at first. But upon hitting the ground, they spun wildly, growing larger as arms and legs sprouted from them.
"What the heck are those!?"
Sera, her tail bristling as she warily slashed at the card barrage with her sharp claws, yelped in surprise. The trump cards grew limbs, and spears like those wielded by toy soldiers thrust up from the earth. It was straight out of an animated fairy tale.
In an instant, we were surrounded by trump soldiers.
"Annoying small fry. Sera!"
"Got it!"
Sera blurred into motion like a lightning bolt. A trump soldier's combat prowess was, at best, on par with a vice captain. They were just fodder summoned by the dungeon boss—nothing more, nothing less. Sera tore into them at blinding speed. Among my women, no one rivaled her in raw velocity. Each flash of her claws bisected a soldier clutching its tiny spear. Her onslaught, powered by strength and speed these mobs couldn't withstand, wiped out hordes in a single pass. Pitiful things, born only to die in the blink of an eye—not even mayflies.
Realizing they'd be picked off one by one if separated, the trump soldiers began clumping together. But that was the worst mistake they could make.
"Fire Blast."
I unleashed a storm of flames on the conveniently packed mob. They incinerated as neatly as paper cards. Whoosh-crack-boom! Their mass pyre was fleeting. The spears they held couldn't graze a single hair on Sera's head, and my fiery tempest became an inescapable cataclysm that engulfed them wholesale. Clumped or scattered, they died all the same. Trump soldiers were utterly impotent minions.
"Eeee! Adults just don't fit in our beautiful fairy tale kingdom!"
"Fairy tale toy soldiers are no match for us. Come down here!"
"You idiot...!"
The princess flipped the pages of her massive fairy tale book. No matter how many she turned, they were all blank, yet she inspected each one as if reading words or pictures. Then her hand paused on a particular page.
"If trump soldiers won't do, how about this!?"
A brilliant light leaked from Dolce's Fairy Tale Book. It illuminated the maze's garden trees encircling us. Suddenly, the rose vines adorning them surged forward at tremendous speed. The roses stretched thorny tendrils toward Sera and me like they had minds of their own. Those thorn-studded vines were torture whips in all but name. They lunged with eerie precision. Getting hit would shred us to rags.
Sera dodged with acrobatic flair, her agile body twisting like a performer. The vines moved like tentacle creatures, but they couldn't touch her. I incinerated the ones coming my way with Fire Control.
"Master! Like that forest earlier, let's just burn the whole garden down!"
"Got it. Fire Blast!"
A condensed orb of flame formed above my hand—a volatile explosive packed with fiery might.
"Wind Control!"
A massive airflow swirled around me, directed east to west. I conjured two more Fire Blasts. Fire plus wind equals inferno. Not just any blaze, but a monstrous wildfire that could devour forests or mountains in moments.
"Untangling complex mazes isn't my hobby. To me, this crap's just highly flammable kindling!"
The compressed fire orbs rode the gale and slammed into the garden trees.
"Water Wall!"
I threw up a sturdy barrier of water around Sera and me to block the flames and shockwave. The orbs detonated like bombs, birthing a scorching vortex that devoured the surrounding trees. The ravenous fire fiend spread with predatory speed, as if possessed by a vicious will. The bizarre maze garden was ablaze in seconds.
Watching it burn, the princess bit her lip.
"You think I'll let you ruin my beautiful garden!? Dream on!"
She rapidly flipped through Dolce's Fairy Tale Book and stopped on a page. Touching the cover unleashed a waterfall from the book. The cascading torrent hammered the garden like a localized deluge, extinguishing my flames. The rose vines kept hounding us relentlessly. Sera, deftly evading, got snagged at the ankle by one vine shooting like an arrow. Her balance crumbled.
"Tch!"
As she fell, Sera braced with her left hand. Thorns dug into her ankle. She severed the vine with her claws, but blood dripped from the wound. I hit her with Light Cure.
"Sorry, Master."
"No worries. Focus on the fight."
Ten thorny vines assailed us at once. I could only cover five. I unleashed Fire Wall to torch the ones from the right.
"Shadow Step!"
Sera hurled herself at the vines from the left. They targeted her body parts like living predators. But Sera was faster, lighter. Black footprints marked where she stepped. Ducking, twisting, contorting, somersaulting—she flowed past the onslaught trying to bind her. Each evasion left black gashes on the vines. Shadow Step guaranteed a 100% counter on successful dodges. She milked the skill for all it was worth.
"Wolf Fang Fist Style, Chapter One!"
Sera crouched low, baring her fangs, claws extended. It resembled a KHC straight punch but distinct—the beastkin martial art Wolf Fang Fist Style, legendarily created by wolfkin. She bent her knees, then exploded forward off the ground.
"Crescent Cut!"
Dark crimson mana cloaked her claws, like her killing intent made manifest. Those blood-soaked talons gleamed like a blood moon sickle. Countless vines lashed out to seize her, but Sera swept both arms wide, slicing them all away.
Shred-shred-shred-shred!
Ten crescent blades erupted from her fingertips, arcing through the air like boomerangs to shred the garden trees. Rose-infested trees toppled with thunderous crashes. Maze walls crumbled, panic flickering across the princess's face.
"Eeeeek! We're not done yet!"
She flipped the page again.
"Sleep! Sleep forever!"
"Using witchy tricks through a princess puppet? Is this a grim fairy tale or what?"
My taunt made her stomp in fury.
"Shut up! I'm only using this to clean out filth like you! My fairy tale must never end!"
White powder burst from Dolce's Fairy Tale Book—one of its patterns, sleep dust. The ominous cloud engulfed us, but I blew it back with Wind Control.
"Eeek!"
As her own powder boomeranged, she frantically sucked it back into the book. It was a double-edged curse. Realizing I'd nullified her attack in three seconds flat, she flushed with humiliation. Hysterically, she flipped pages.
"The fairy tale won't end! It can't end! Never!"
This time, a dragon emerged from the book. The classic fairy-tale monster that kidnaps princesses only to get slain by a prince. The Fairy Tale Dungeon's version was a nerfed shadow of a real dragon, but it was one of Dolce's Fairy Tale Book's two trump cards. No room for complacency.
"I'll handle it!"
Sera said, lightly stepping on the pursuing vines like stepping stones. They grew furiously to bind her, but she danced across them, launching toward the princess floating lazily in the sky.
"Wh-what!?"
Her own attack backfiring to aid Sera, the princess hurriedly turned the page. Light poured from the blank book, and the chasing vines withered away.
"Sera! Don't stop! Wind Cannon!"
I fired a compressed wind shell at the airborne Sera. Maxed for propulsion rather than raw damage—it was pure support. Sera rode it smoothly. The princess's summoned red dragon flapped its thin wings and inhaled deeply. Its signature breath attack. Even nerfed, that was no joke.
"Sera!"
"Wolf Fang Fist Style, Chapter Two!"
Sera showed no fear facing the prepping dragon.
"Half Moon Cut!"
Crimson mana surged into her right hand. Her body spun 360 degrees clockwise. The rotation fueled the mana into a ferocious crescendo. As she gritted her teeth and thrust her arm, the dragon's breath roared forth.
"Grraaaaaargh!"
Scorching flames belched from its maw—power rivaling, perhaps surpassing, my Fire Blast. Sera hurled her right hand's payload: a perfect half-moon mana blade. The dragon's blistering breath, like a forge's blaze, clashed with Sera's blood-red mana, infused with vengeful spirits. The two titanic forces wrestled to devour each other.
The clash resolved swiftly. Sera's blade cleaved the breath in two and surged onward, speed barely diminished.
"Grraaaaaargh!"
The dragon poured out more, but too late. The blood-moon sickle parted its assault like the Red Sea, then pierced the inferno to bisect the dragon's face from top to bottom. The fire drake lost its head; its massive body plummeted. Sera was the dragon-slaying knight of legend. In a true fairy tale, she'd have claimed the princess as prize.
"Masteeeeer!"
Sera fell toward the ground.
"Air Pocket!"
I conjured a cushy air cushion. Sera landed softly. For a cat beastkin, it was easier than breathing.
"Th-this... this can't be real!"
The princess gaped in horror. But the fight was far from over.