Chapter 131: The 27th Floor: Sacred Beast
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 131: The 27th Floor: Sacred Beast
Once the situation had calmed down a little, I spoke first to the dazed Crown Prince.
"You must proceed with the second test."
"Ah... the s-second... right... there was a second test... ah."
The Crown Prince seemed to have lost his mind a little.
He could only nod his head unconsciously.
Kesira was smiling, finding this situation more entertaining than any book, while Elina's expression soured as if she'd swallowed something foul.
She had a rough idea of what had happened.
That Kalisha had tamed the horse she had failed to.
The announcer, noticing Elina's mood, stood frozen. Someone then came, dragged the announcer away, and snatched the voice-amplifying magic tool from his hands.
This was contingency plan #33: if the announcer arbitrarily halted the proceedings, he would be forcibly replaced.
"Serves that bastard right!"
"I don't know who that is, but good job! Just get on with it!"
"This is it!"
The crowd's fervent cheers ensured the change happened smoothly, with no one voicing any complaints. Only Elina's eyebrow twitched.
What can you possibly do now?
For her, just standing here must be a humiliation, a torment. She probably wanted to run home this very instant.
But with Kesira standing her ground, she couldn't just flee on her own. People would assume she was forfeiting the competition for Crown Princess.
"Alright! This is Bell, here to ensure fair proceedings! First, please bring in the horse that was in His Highness the Crown Prince's possession! And please, clear a path in the center!"
"What? Just a horse?"
"I don't know. I heard it's a big horse with horns."
Having been raised quietly within the Imperial Palace, many had yet to see the Bicorn.
And now, they were about to.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud...!!!
The ground vibrated as it galloped from a distance.
Before the advent of modern tanks, the heavy cavalry of old served as tanks on the battlefield.
And now, they were witnessing the sheer presence of a colossal warhorse.
"What the, why is it so big...?"
The Bicorn charged forward without slowing down.
"Kyaaaaaah!!!"
"Uh... uh oh... stop!"
People who hadn't cleared the path yet screamed in fear.
But, thump!
The Bicorn leaped dozens of meters into the air, soaring right over them.
KRAAASH!!!
It landed on the platform in front of the plant, kicking up a cloud of dust with a tremendous roar.
"What, did it just fly?"
"Crazy... that's no ordinary horse!"
"Wow, now that's a grand entrance."
As the dust slowly settled, they got a clear look at the horse for this test.
A massive body.
Red eyes and dark hide.
A flowing gray mane.
And two horns.
Its magnificent form was revealed to all!
Its mere appearance exuded an intimidating pressure that overwhelmed everyone.
Heeeeeigh!!!
It let out a roar.
The new announcer seized the moment of focused attention and quickly began the proceedings.
"Behold! The legendary horse that has been awaiting its master in the Imperial Palace! Will the candidates for Crown Princess be able to tame it? We shall begin right now! First up is, of course, Lady Elina Luminous! Please welcome her with a round of applause!"
Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap
The audience applauded with fervent anticipation.
This completely ruined Elina's plan. She had worn a beautiful dress, intending to simply declare that she couldn't tame the horse and be done with it.
Now, all eyes were on her, a heavy, burdensome gaze.
"If she doesn't ride it, she's not qualified to be Crown Princess. Some people would kill for a chance to ride it."
"Nah, surely she wouldn't be so insincere as to not even try?"
"Grk..."
Should she risk humiliation by trying, or face their disappointment by refusing?
Both options were terrible, but calculating the final vote share, she figured it would be more advantageous to at least show some willingness.
In truth, the Bicorn doesn't thrash about too violently when someone it dislikes gets on.
It simply sways its back, signaling for them to get off. It only gets more aggressive if they refuse to listen and cling on, but it doesn't intentionally injure them.
Elina finally took off her shoes and, with the help of her escort knight Barkan, climbed onto the Bicorn's back.
She planned to get off immediately after a little swaying. Having failed in her forceful attempt a few days ago, she mounted it cautiously, but...
Heeigh!!
Contrary to her expectation of a gentle sway, the Bicorn bucked violently, throwing her off.
"Kyaaaaaah!!!"
Elina went flying through the air.
It was a perilous situation.
Fortunately, her escort knight Barkan rushed over and caught her, but due to his smaller frame and the abrupt catch, they both tumbled to the ground.
"Oh..."
"How vulgar."
"My, my..."
"To fall in such a disgraceful manner... tsk tsk."
"Ahem, for a candidate for Crown Princess to be rolling around with another man and showing her undergarments..."
The hem of her dress had ridden up, revealing a glimpse of her panties. She was in a rather humiliating position, her upper body down and her lower body up. Only a moment later did she realize what had happened.
"Urk...! Let go of me, you idiot!"
She shoved Barkan, who was beneath her to cushion her fall, and scrambled to her feet.
Her beautiful dress was now covered in dust, and her makeup and hair were a mess.
Given her naturally slender frame, she now somewhat resembled the plant she had brought.
She glared at the Crown Prince, her eyes screaming, 'What are you doing, not taking care of your fiancée?' The Crown Prince, who had been half in a daze, snapped back to his senses at the sight of Elina's resentful gaze.
"Ah, Elina! I'm sorry, I..."
"Hmph, forget it!"
Elina vented her frustration on the stupefied Crown Prince before turning away. Watching her, the Crown Prince zoned out once more.
She can't fall apart this early...
And so, Elina's turn ended in ridicule, and it was Kesira's turn.
"I can't ride horses~"
She passed her turn with that simple statement, and then it was my turn.
Elina shot me a look that said, 'I should have done that!', but the color of the panties she'd already shown couldn't be changed.
"And now for our final candidate! The truth always prevails! Having broken through all sorts of slander, will she be able to tame the legendary steed?"
Finally hearing a proper introduction, I stood before the Bicorn.
'You ready?'
'Of course!'
After communicating with just a look, I once again leaped high without anyone's help and landed on the horse's back.
I looked Elina, who was praying for me to fall, straight in the eye as I successfully mounted the Bicorn without any trouble.
"Ooooh!!!"
"She did it! The master of the great steed was decided from the start!"
"But what's the criteria? Does it choose those who don't lie?"
"Does this mean Kalisha gets the full 20%?"
"This competition is going to tip the scales of the whole contest."
Elina's grand ambitions were on the verge of being shattered by a single competition.
"Th-this can't be..."
She couldn't believe it.
How hard had she worked, a mere daughter of a count from a humble rural region?
She had gathered allies, practiced her crying and smiling acts, and while maintaining a pristine image on the outside, she had ceaselessly engaged in murder, fabrication, incitement, and slander behind the scenes.
All the while, she wore the mask of a pure, innocent girl every day, pretending to know nothing.
'How did it come to this?'
No, there was still a chance.
The nobles were still on her side.
Even if today's events spread, the non-hereditary nobles would likely be split fifty-fifty.
That meant the deciding factor would be the Crown Prince's 20% stake.
No, if she could just secure at least 10%, she still had a fighting chance.
"This is unfair!!!"
Having finished her rapid calculations, Elina stepped forward, shouting.
"I've never even ridden a horse before, so how am I supposed to tame one? This test was designed to be overwhelmingly advantageous for one side! I cannot accept this!"
'What is that bitch talking about... she's the one who set this up, and now she's complaining?'
The audience's reaction was lukewarm.
They just saw it as a loser's excuse.
But in the end, the decision once again rested with the Crown Prince.
He could, for instance, say, "Hmm, that's right. The second trial was unfair. It shall be nullified!"
If he did, he'd get torn to shreds by the public, but it wouldn't change his authority over his 20% stake.
So, while Elina appeared to be addressing the crowd, she was really speaking to the Crown Prince.
'You take the heat for me.'
However, the Crown Prince, who would have readily sacrificed himself in the past, now hesitated.
The shocks of the day had made him a bit of a coward.
"I, I..."
"Tsk... In the first place, how can taming some stupid horse be a measure of one's qualification to be Crown Princess! Does this make any sense to you?"
She had a point.
That's what I'd wanted to say a week ago, but regardless, it was time for me to intervene!
#2: How to respond when Elina starts her desperate tantrum and insults my horse!
"Did you just dare to call him 'some stupid horse'?!"
I guided the massive steed toward Elina.
"Eek!! A-are you threatening me right now! Assaulting a candidate for Crown Princess is..."
"No! I'm going to show you. I'll show you just what kind of horse you've disdained!"
The crowd murmured in confusion at my words.
"Show us?"
"What, here? Isn't it too cramped?"
Ignoring Elina, I started riding toward Necroumbra.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!!!
'I'll show you a real spectacle!'
"Hey, over there!"
"It's dangerous..."
It was a stunt we had practiced only once.
Rustle, rustle...!
Just in time, the Bicorn began to gallop up the haphazardly hanging plant vines.
Thwip! Thwip-thwip!!
Two vines extended from Necroumbra to a distant building, creating a path in mid-air.
"No way..."
"No, that's too dangerous!"
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!
The Bicorn ran along the plant vines. And at an incredible speed!
To anyone watching from below, it would look as if the Bicorn were running across the sky as it sprinted along the thin vines.
The vines connected the surrounding buildings in a circle, and the horse ran round and round in the air as if it were circling the heavens.
"Ooooh!!!"
"How is that possible!"
"Can a horse that heavy really do that?"
But this was just the beginning.
"Now, let's fly!"
With my command, the Bicorn, having built up enough speed, leaped high into the sky.
Then, the Bicorn's right horn turned white.
[Windstorm]
It cast the skill.
Ruuuumble...!!!
Instantly creating an updraft, we soared into the sky!
As the Bicorn pawed at the air, it looked as if it were truly running across the heavens.
A horse running through the sky.
The jaws of the audience dropped at the incredible sight.
"Holy shit... it's flying?"
"How in the world?"
"It wasn't just a big horse?"
If I was going to do this, I had to do it right.
I had to make it clear that this wasn't just a strong, fine horse, but a divine beast.
HEEEEEEIIIIIIIGH!!!!
The Bicorn's powerful roar echoed from the sky, and everyone on the ground heard its cry.
Now, everyone in the imperial capital was looking up at us.
The audience, too, realized something extraordinary was happening.
'Right, if you're going to make a scene, make it a big one!'
Just in case we triggered the automatic anti-air defense magic, I had already informed the Emperor.
We climbed higher and higher.
We were so high now that from the ground, our figures were just small specks.
But it would be a shame to be known as merely a flying horse.
So, I had prepared a grand finale.
I materialized my spear and took a throwing stance.
'Combine the skills.'
I applied a technique I learned from Irene's secret manual.
I stacked all my buffs to the fifth level and reinforced my body with divine power.
'I'm starting to understand. The essence of Karios Deirn's javelin throw is connected to the essence of Irene's secret manual.'
The same javelin technique that had pierced the eye of a giant cyclops on the 17th floor.
[Sky Breaker]
As I thought of using the skill, energy gathered in the spear with incredible ease.
Normally, it was a simple skill that consumed 200 divine power, but now, I poured all my remaining buffed divine power into it until it felt like it would burst!
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
All my strength and divine power converged in the muscles of my arm.
The spear vibrated as if it would shatter, overflowing with divine power.
The moment I threw it, the divine power behind it exploded like a rocket engine, launching it at super-high speed.
SHWAAAAAAAK!!!
And one more thing—the Bicorn's skill.
"Show them your power."
The Bicorn's other horn turned golden as an immense amount of mana gathered.
A level 55 lightning strike fell from the sky at maximum power.
[Lightning Strike]
CRACKLE!!
The spear rising from below and the lightning bolt falling from above met.
The two immense forces collided in mid-air.
─────FLASH!!!
A blinding shockwave erupted.
The ground was illuminated as if two suns had appeared in the sky.
Everyone on the ground instinctively shielded their eyes from the intense light.
A moment later, as they squinted to see what had happened...
KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-BOOOOOM!!!!
A sky-tearing roar, accompanied by a fierce gale, swept through the area.
Terrified by the sound of the heavens collapsing, people ducked for cover, lowering their stances to avoid being blown away.
Some trembled and prayed to the heavens, others simply fled.
Everyone was terrified by the unbelievable sight, like a divine punishment.
And as the aftershock subsided, they looked up at the sky again.
The clouds had been pierced through, leaving a donut-shaped hole, and in the center of it were me and the Bicorn, descending leisurely.
"It... pierced the sky!"
"And that's just a horse?"
"What am I even looking at?"
"Forget the horse... is that even human?"
"Barthion Crawford... he raised one hell of a daughter."
Not just the audience, but every single person in the imperial capital witnessed this legendary spectacle.
*
This was a balcony on the roof of the Imperial Palace.
The Emperor, having been told by Kalisha that she would put on an interesting show in the sky, was watching the plaza with his Prime Minister.
They stared blankly as a massive explosion occurred in the air, and were then hit by the gale.
"That crazy girl... she didn't say she was going to do that... Like father, like daughter, ho ho..."
"Urk, Your Majesty! It's dangerous, please step inside."
"No, Prime Minister. Don't you feel anything, watching that?"
"Pardon?"
This was the same young, handsome, and competent Prime Minister who had planned the two-week commoner experience program.
"Do you still think Elina is more suited to be Crown Princess than Kalisha?"
"......"
"You hesitate. Normally, you would have loudly proclaimed that only Elina was suitable."
"N-no, Your Majesty..."
The Emperor, who had been watching Kalisha descend gracefully in the distance, had a brilliant idea, his eyes flashing.
"After the final four-week period, there was a two-day final verification period, correct?"
"Yes..."
"I shall handle that myself. Prepare accordingly."
"You yourself, Your Majesty?"
"Yes. And I trust you won't secretly relay this information to Elina, Prime Minister."
"......"
The Emperor spoke as if he knew this had been the Prime Minister's habit all along. The Prime Minister didn't make any excuses and simply bowed his head.
In truth, the Prime Minister himself had been wavering recently.
During the commoner experience program, he had commissioned a third party to supervise the group that was supervising the supervisors.
A triple-layered supervision.
With his almost paranoid disposition, he couldn't rest easy by just hiring local supervisors for such an important matter.
Unfortunately, the village where Kalisha had stayed was wiped out by a giant ogre, so he received no report from there. But he had received a definitive report from Elina's location.
[Report]
- Day 1.
It appears the supervisor and the supervisor's supervisor have both been bought off. They seem enchanted by something, not money. An incomprehensible power seems to be at work.
- Day 2.
I should be omitting the interim report, but something is suspicious, so I am reporting early. I will go see her myself tomorrow.
But that wasn't the problem.
- Day 3.
I have misunderstood everything until now. All previous reports were false. I simply misunderstood that they were on good terms with the supervisors.
Suddenly, from the third day, the content of the report changed completely, as if the writer had been bewitched.
After that, all the reports were filled with nothing but praise for Elina.
'Enchanted by an incomprehensible power... Come to think of it, how is a mere count's daughter vying for the position of Crown Princess? Why are there so many men following her?'
The Prime Minister felt a strange sense of unease.
It felt as if the story was about him...
*
KRAAASH!!!
The Bicorn and I landed with immense force.
The people no longer saw me as a candidate for Crown Princess to be judged. They could only stare with gazes full of awe and shock.
"Well? What do you think? Does this still look like 'some stupid horse' to you?"
Elina was too stunned to speak.
But I still had more to say to her.
'Now, it begins.'
There was a reason I had built up my credibility with the Saintess's endorsement from the start and performed that crazy stunt in the sky with the Bicorn.
It was all to increase the credibility of my words.
It's a basic human instinct.
People naturally accept the words of those stronger than themselves.
It was one of the methods Baek Do-hyeon used to use when conning people.
I shouted in a loud, confident voice.
"Everyone! As you have seen with your own eyes, this is no ordinary horse. This is a mythical divine beast from the legends of old. This is a Unicorn!!"
From now on, if I say the Bicorn is a Unicorn, it's a Unicorn.
I had confirmed that there were no legends about Bicorns in this world. Moreover, Unicorns only existed in oral folklore, so no one had ever seen a real one.
"What? A Unicorn?"
"What's that?"
"It's that legendary horse that only allows virgins to ride it!"
"Ooooh! Right, I heard it only lets pure virgins ride... it?"
"Huh? Wait a minute, then..."
"What?"
"Hold on."
And right here, we have a filthy non-virgin who was rejected by the Unicorn!
All eyes turned to her.
No one said a word, but they all looked at Elina with the same thought.
Don't tell me you're a filthy non-virgin?
Were you deceiving us?
"D-don't lie!!! This is a fraud!"
Elina, no, the non-virgin, tried her best to argue, but the people no longer paid any mind to the words of a filthy non-virgin.
This non-virgin has a nasty temper, too!
That was the only thought in their minds as they glared at her.