〈 Chapter 153 〉 Siege (2)
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‘So this is the White Tower…’
Elsie opened the hidden door in the white spire and stepped inside.
What was revealed was a staircase, also entirely white.
Not just the stairs—both the walls and the ceiling were blanketed in white.
‘This isn’t a place I want to stay in for long.’
A space filled with nothing but white—it felt like her sanity could slip away at any moment.
This was an area exclusively accessed by the White Knights, where they spent much of their time.
How on earth do they manage to keep their sanity in a place like this?
As those thoughts crossed her mind, she continued down the staircase, eventually uncovering an open room.
Sure enough, the room was also completely filled with white.
And within it, White Knights draped in white robes were bustling around.
‘The White Knights.’
They were masters of healing magic, honed to its utmost limits.
Five hundred years ago, when fighting the Chaos Beasts, they had supported the Enemy Knights with their healing magic until the very end.
Surely their skills must have advanced even further since then.
‘But…’
For some reason, they were currently concealing the 72nd Demon King.
Unlike five hundred years ago, they had become a threat to the Leim Kingdom.
‘But… let’s just pass through for now.’
The 72nd Demon King was deep within the White Tower, in the most profound depths.
If she engaged with every single White Knight, the 30-minute limit of the Awakening Pill would expire before she knew it.
Just as she thought that and stepped into the room, everyone inside turned to face Elsie, who was using Optical Modulation.
Elsie couldn’t help but freeze at their sudden attention.
“Princess?”
They clearly recognized Elsie.
“It’s really the princess.”
“Why is the real princess here?”
They began to gather around her with synchronized steps.
It was as if they knew exactly where she was, moving closer with precision.
Thus, Elsie was compelled to speak.
“Can you see me?”
To that question, they replied.
“We cannot see you, but we can feel you.”
“Feel me?”
“Yes, there is an authority flowing in the blood of the true Leim Royal Family that cannot be completely hidden, even if you try.”
She had indeed felt that to some degree herself.
That’s exactly why she had been trying to hide that authority even more.
However, she didn’t know that it was something inherited through the blood of the Leim Royal Family.
“But…”
There was one exception she had recently sensed.
“What about that thing the Fake Princess had?”
The pressure exuded by the Fake Princess was definitely different from her own, but it was similar enough to confuse those who didn’t know any better.
At her question, the White Knights chuckled.
Their laughter could be unsettling depending on the person.
“Thank you for praising our work.”
“Work? What do you mean by evaluation?”
“Perhaps the authority it carries felt similar to the princess’s?”
At that, Elsie shook her head and said.
“No, it felt different to me. The public might be confused, though.”
For some reason, the more she spoke with them, the more she felt the chills rising.
She wanted to finish the conversation as quickly as possible.
But the ones before her began to chatter even more freely.
“Indeed, the genuine one sees the fake as just that.”
“What was lacking?”
“There’s no need to be too disappointed. Let’s confirm the differences once more.”
Elusive as a riddle, their conversation made no sense to her.
However, she couldn’t afford to linger in such talks.
“Move aside.”
With communication failing utterly, she had no choice but to issue a command.
“It is the princess’s command. If you don’t move, I will kill you all.”
Only then did they start to step back in front of her.
Yet their murmurs did not stop.
“Certainly, it’s different from the fake.”
“How can we make this authority more similar?”
They continued mumbling as they followed after Elsie.
When she reached the door that seemed to lead downwards, those who had been quietly following suddenly began to block her path one by one.
“What are you doing?”
To them, Elsie spoke again as if granting mercy.
“I think you’ve forgotten, so let me repeat. If you don’t step aside, I will kill you.”
However, they stood firm, blocking the door without moving an inch.
Elsie had no choice but to ask.
“What on earth is the problem?”
They replied.
“If you go down there, our precious works are down that way.”
“Works?”
Thinking back, they had referred to something as works earlier.
“Are you talking about the Fake Princess?”
“That’s one of them.”
They had openly admitted that it was a fake.
That made it hard for Elsie to comprehend them.
“But why are you blocking me? I am the real princess!”
“Because you are indeed the real one.”
For some reason, that sounded like they valued the fake more than the real.
“What does that even mean?”
In response to Elsie’s question, one of them asked back.
“Have you ever heard of alchemy?”
She had heard of it.
“Isn’t it about turning non-gold into gold?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Now, if you made gold from something that wasn’t gold, would it be exactly the same as the gold that was originally gold?”
It wasn’t that hard of a question.
“If what you’ve made is truly gold, then it should be the same.”
“Correct. But would the significance of that gold be the same?”
Ordinary people would likely say yes.
But they shook their heads.
“For the alchemist who made it, it would certainly be different—between what was gold from the start and what was turned into gold.”
Elsie began to grasp them slowly.
“To us, the fake is more precious than the real.”
But grasping and understanding were two different matters.
“You all are insane.”
She should have known it from the moment she saw their eyes.
Not a trace of life, dull and glazed over.
It was beyond the realm of normalcy.
And she was beginning to anticipate the deeds they had committed.
No more conversation was necessary.
That was a truth both she and they understood.
Thus, Elsie drew her sword.
And she started to slash down the advancing White Knights one by one.
She aimed for their vital points, but soon the floor began to seep with their blood.
At first, Elsie had thought that this show of threat would make them retreat, but no one backed down.
“Please stop.”
She tried reasoning with them, but they endlessly pressed towards her.
Despite her using Optical Modulation so they couldn’t see her clearly, their singular obsession was to interrupt her.
In the midst of it all, Elsie swung her sword, cutting down those who tried to get too close.
However…
‘Why aren’t their numbers decreasing?’
The moment that question arose, a scene flashed before her eyes.
It was one of them, recklessly treating their own injuries using light magic.
The wounds weren’t properly healed, leaving them jagged, and their movements appeared uncomfortable.
Regardless, after they treated the wounds, they charged at Elsie once more.
With a look that seemed to feel no pain, Elsie gritted her teeth.
She realized she couldn’t continue like this.
Time was limited, and she absolutely had to subdue the 72nd Demon King before it was too late.
“I didn’t want to do this either…”
In an instant, the poison lurking in her eyes stirred.
And her swordplay became far bolder than before.
She stopped focusing on avoiding vital points.
The strength she had grown from the Awakening Pill was more than enough to shatter bones and flesh in one blow.
The air filled with screams that could rip through the eardrums.
The white room was dyed in a deep crimson.
The White Knights, attempting to gather themselves even after having their insides forcibly pushed together, rushed at her again.
For a brief moment, she felt her sanity might evaporate in the massacre.
But Elsie kept swinging her sword.
At one point, she was covered in blood, but there would be no one there to wipe away her gore.
She just kept cutting down everyone who rushed at her until she could push forward.
As she swung her sword in a trance-like state, Elsie suddenly realized something.
She could finally move forward.
Still, there was one that lay on the floor, half its head lopped off, desperately trying to recover its legs.
She ignored it and pressed onward.
The room, now covered in blood and flesh.
Whenever someone tried to grab her ankle, she cut off their wrist and moved forward.
Then she opened the door leading downwards.
Again, there were white stairs.
As she descended the white stairs, she finally uncovered their “works.”
“Indeed…”
What lay behind the bars was far from anything human.
In a way, they resembled Chaos Beasts.
Or perhaps they might have been artificially creating Chaos Beasts.
It would make sense as peculiar vacuum tubes held something that looked like chaos throughout various spots in the room.
“Princess?”
“It’s really the princess.”
Their reaction was the same as up above.
Even their gazes mirrored those beforehand.
So what Elsie needed to do was clear.
Silently, she aimed her sword at them.
There was no time for delays.
If they blocked her, she would simply cut them down.
The malice in her eyes caused even the crazed ones present to freeze momentarily.
But that was only for a moment; they soon charged at Elsie.
And she slashed through them as she advanced.
Elsie’s steps forward never faltered once.
However, this time, due to their relentless nature, she only reached the other door after clearing them all.
On the other side of this door, the 72nd Demon King awaited.
She opened the door and took one last glance behind her.
In there was a sea of blood in the white room, and inside the cages were the test subjects.
Each seemed to have a number assigned to them.
‘Those test subjects…’
Would they want to live in such a manner?
Even simply staying still seemed torturous; the room filled with agonizing noises from the White Knights.
‘Then wouldn’t it be better to let them die comfortably?’
She entertained that thought for a moment but decided to consider it later.
First, she had to handle the 72nd Demon King.
The effect of the Awakening Pill, too, would soon fade.
The 72nd Demon King might succeed in their awakening at any moment.
So she absolutely needed to hurry.
‘The 72nd Demon King.’
In fact, she already knew the identity of the 72nd Demon King.
They had exchanged words while facing each other directly before.
And at that time, she had even been defeated by them.
Finally descending the remaining stairs, she reached yet another stark white room.
At its center stood a powerful magical barrier protecting the Barrier Stone of the Leim Kingdom, with a blonde woman standing before it.
Her hair was as dry as if it had seen no water, and her skin was pale.
She opened her mouth as if she had known Elsie would come.
“Hello, real one.”
The Fake Princess.
She was none other than the 72nd Demon King.
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