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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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‘So this is the White Tower…’
Elsie opened the hidden door in the white spire and stepped inside.
A white staircase stretched before her.
Not just the stairs, but the walls and ceiling were also entirely white.
‘Not a place I want to stay long.’
In a space filled with only white, she felt like she would lose her mind.
This was a space where only the White Knights were allowed, where they spent most of their time.
How could they maintain their sanity in such a place?
As she descended the stairs, a spacious room came into view.
It was also entirely white.
White Knights in white robes moved about the room.
‘The White Knights.’
Those who honed their healing magic using light to the utmost limit.
Even 500 years ago, during the war against the Chaos Beasts, they supported the knights with their healing magic until the very end.
So, their skills must have improved even further now.
‘But…’
For some reason, they were now hiding the 72nd Demon Lord.
Unlike 500 years ago, they had become a threat to the Lodreim kingdom.
‘But… let’s just pass through.’
The 72nd Demon Lord was in the deepest part of the White Tower.
If she dealt with each White Knight individually, the 30-minute time limit of the Awakening Pills would quickly run out.
Just as she entered the room, everyone inside turned their heads towards Elsie, who was using Optical Camouflage.
Elsie froze.
“Your Highness?”
They clearly recognized her.
“It’s the real princess.”
“Why is the real princess here?”
They began to slowly gather around Elsie with measured steps.
As if they could see her, they converged precisely.
Elsie had no choice but to speak.
“Can you see me?”
They replied,
“We cannot see you. We can only sense you.”
“Sense me?”
“Yes, the blood of the true Lame royal family carries an undeniable authority, no matter how much you try to hide it.”
She had sensed that herself to some extent.
That was why she tried to hide that authority.
But she didn’t know it was inherited through the royal bloodline.
“But…”
There was one recent exception.
“What was that the fake princess had?”
The pressure emanating from the fake princess.
It was definitely different from her own, but similar enough to confuse those who didn’t know.
The White Knights chuckled at her question.
It was a laughter that could be perceived as creepy, depending on the person.
“We are grateful that you think so highly of our creation.”
“Creation? No, what do you mean by creation?”
“Didn’t the authority she possessed feel similar to Your Highness’s?”
Elsie shook her head.
“No, it felt different to me. Perhaps the general public wouldn’t be able to tell.”
For some reason, the more she talked to them, the more creeped out she felt.
So, she intended to end the conversation as quickly as possible.
But they only rambled on even more.
“As expected, the real one can see through the fake.”
“Where did we fall short?”
“There’s no need to be disappointed. Let’s examine the differences once more.”
Incomprehensible conversations.
But she didn’t have time for this.
“Step aside.”
Since communication was impossible, she had no choice but to give an order.
“This is a royal command. If you don’t move, I’ll kill you all.”
They finally began to step aside.
But their muttering didn’t stop.
“She’s definitely different from the fake.”
“How can we replicate this authority more accurately?”
They muttered and followed Elsie as she moved forward.
When she reached a door that seemed to lead downstairs, they began to block the door, one by one.
“What are you doing?”
Elsie spoke again, as if offering them one last chance,
“I’ll say it again since you seem to have forgotten. If you don’t move, I’ll kill you.”
But they remained motionless, blocking the door.
Elsie had no choice but to ask,
“What’s the problem?”
They replied,
“Our precious creations are down there.”
“Creations?”
She remembered they had mentioned “creations” before.
“Are you talking about the fake princess?”
“She’s one of them.”
They themselves acknowledged that the fake princess was fake.
So Elsie couldn’t understand them.
“Then why are you stopping me? I’m the real princess.”
“Because you are the real one.”
Somehow, it sounded like they valued the fake more than the real.
“What does that even mean?”
One of them asked Elsie in return,
“Have you ever heard of alchemy?”
She had.
“Isn’t it about creating gold from something that isn’t gold?”
“Yes, that’s right. Then if you create gold from something that isn’t gold, is it completely the same as naturally occurring gold?”
It wasn’t a difficult question.
“If what you created is truly gold, then it should be the same.”
“Exactly. But is the meaning behind that gold also the same?”
The meaning behind gold.
Most people would say it’s the same.
But they shook their heads.
“It would be different for the alchemist who created it. Between naturally occurring gold and gold created from something else.”
Elsie felt like she was beginning to understand them.
“To us, the fake is more precious than the real.”
But understanding and comprehension were different things.
“You’re insane.”
She should have known from the moment she saw their eyes.
Dull, lifeless eyes.
They couldn’t possibly belong to sane individuals.
And she began to guess what they had done.
Further conversation was unnecessary.
Both she and they knew this.
So, Elsie drew her sword.
And she began to cut down the White Knights who rushed at her, one by one.
She tried to avoid vital points, but the floor was quickly stained crimson.
Initially, she thought they would retreat after this display of force, but none of them did.
“Please stop.”
She pleaded, but they kept coming at her endlessly.
Even though they couldn’t properly see her due to the Optical Camouflage, they rushed at her with the sole intention of stopping her.
Elsie swung her sword, cutting down those who tried to get close.
But…
‘Why aren’t their numbers decreasing?’
Just then, she caught a glimpse of something.
A White Knight frantically healing his wounds with light magic.
The wounds were crudely healed, and his movements seemed awkward.
But as soon as he healed his wounds, he rushed at Elsie again.
Seeing them seemingly impervious to pain, Elsie gritted her teeth.
She couldn’t continue like this.
Time was limited, and she had to subdue the 72nd Demon Lord before he awakened.
“I… didn’t want to do this.”
The venom in her eyes flickered.
And her sword dance became even more ferocious.
She no longer focused on avoiding vital points.
Her strength, enhanced by the Awakening Pills, was enough to shatter bones and flesh in a single strike.
Eardrum-piercing screams filled the air.
Crimson blood stained the white room.
The White Knights frantically picked up their spilled organs, reattached their flesh, and rushed back at her.
In this gruesome scene, where a moment of distraction could lead to the loss of her sanity, Elsie continued to swing her sword.
At some point, she was covered in blood, but there was no one here to clean her.
She simply cut down everyone who approached, until she could move forward.
Elsie, swinging her sword in a trance, finally realized.
That she could move forward now.
There was still a knight on the floor, his neck half-severed, wriggling as if trying to regenerate his legs, but she ignored him and moved on.
The white room, now a sea of blood and gore.
Whenever a hand reached out to grab her ankle, she cut it off and moved forward.
And she opened the door leading downstairs.
Another white staircase.
Descending the stairs, she finally saw their creations.
“As expected…”
The creatures in the cages could hardly be called human.
They were similar to Chaos Beasts.
Or perhaps they were artificially creating Chaos Beasts.
There were things that looked like chaos inside special vacuum tubes placed around the room.
“Your Highness?”
“It’s the real princess.”
The reactions of the knights here were the same as those upstairs.
Even their eyes were the same.
Then Elsie’s course of action was clear.
She silently pointed her sword at them.
There was no time to waste.
If they blocked her path, she would simply cut them down and move on.
The venom in her eyes momentarily froze even the madmen present.
But only for a moment. They began to rush towards Elsie.
And Elsie cut them down and moved forward.
Her footsteps never stopped.
But once again, due to their relentless attacks, she only reached the door on the other side after cutting them all down.
The 72nd Demon Lord would likely be below this door.
She opened the door and looked back one last time.
The white room had become a sea of blood, and the test subjects were trapped in cages.
Each test subject seemed to have a number.
‘Those test subjects…’
Would they want to live like that?
The room, now free from the White Knights, was filled with the moans of the test subjects, as if simply existing was painful.
‘Wouldn’t it be better to just kill them?’
The thought briefly crossed her mind, but she decided to worry about it later.
The 72nd Demon Lord was her priority.
The 30-minute effect of the Awakening Pills would soon wear off.
She didn’t know when the 72nd Demon Lord would awaken.
So, she had to hurry.
‘The 72nd Demon Lord.’
Actually, she already knew the 72nd Demon Lord’s identity.
They had even met face-to-face and spoken.
And she had even lost to her back then.
Finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, she arrived at another white room.
In the center was a powerful magic barrier protecting the Lodreim kingdom’s barrier stone, and a blonde woman stood before it.
Faded blonde hair and pale skin.
As if she knew Elsie was coming, she spoke,
“Hello, real one.”
The fake princess.
She was the 72nd Demon Lord.
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