The Echo of a Princess

Sovenia’s grand scheme to exploit the foolish dog was proceeding smoothly.

The two continued their advance through the Demon Queen’s Palace, encountering two battles along the way.

The first involved an ambush by three demon leopards; Sovenia, having an intimate understanding of their habits, provided an early warning.

Wawalde summoned clones to control the battlefield, allowing her to seize the opportunity and slay the pack leader.

The second encounter was with a patrol of demon warriors, a modest group of average strength, whom the pair dispatched with practiced coordination.

Through these two skirmishes, Sovenia finally acquired a card that piqued her interest:

[Shield of Fortitude] – Cost 1.

Its effect allowed her to discard a card from her hand to gain double defense.

She mused that, theoretically, given enough activation time, this card could consistently enhance her strength by allowing her to continuously play core cards.

Afterward.

Leveraging her familiarity with the Demon Queen’s Palace layout, Sovenia successfully scouted ahead, discovering a Chosen One resting in a room with two subordinates.

As enemies, Chosen Ones were notoriously troublesome.

They were individuals handpicked by deities, endowed with power far beyond the grasp of mortals.

Having once been a Chosen One herself, Sovenia understood their might, yet she knew with even greater certainty that the human hero before her had long since surpassed the very concept of divine grace.

She and Wawalde devised a surprise attack plan, and the battle concluded at a moderate pace, yet perfectly timed.

Wawalde’s Sacred Slash dealt a devastating blow to the Chosen One, and Sovenia delivered the finishing strike, eliminating them.

The two subordinates were swiftly dispatched amidst the chaos as well.

Sovenia stepped onto the corpse of the armored Chosen One, assessing her spoils.

A gold card enemy meant the chance to draw a gold card.

In her mind’s eye, she reviewed the three options, all rather mediocre defensive cards, none of which pleased her.

‘Break apart,’ she thought, her voice chillingly calm within her mind.

The gold card disintegrated into pure energy, flowing into the Blazing Gold Forging Hammer in her backpack, recharging it once more.

Presented with another upgrade opportunity, she decided to conserve her mental effort and simply upgrade [Blazing Strike +2].

Just then, Wawalde’s voice reached her.

Sovenia’s heart gave a sudden lurch; she looked over to find Wawalde interrogating a dying demon warrior.

Her mind raced, piecing together the fragmented information she had just overheard: “Elf Princess.”

The phrase sent a chill through her heart.

As Jimi the Cruel, the First Heavenly King, she had never once heard of such a prisoner within the palace.

Was this a secret pawn the Demon Queen had hidden from everyone? Or had it only occurred after Jimi the Cruel’s own betrayal?

Either possibility spelled immense uncertainty.

She desperately hoped there wasn’t actually an Elf Princess in the Demon Queen’s Palace.

The demon warrior coughed up a mouthful of blood, weakly gasping, “I… I heard… the Demon Queen did indeed imprison an Elf Princess… and plans… plans to sacrifice her to the Four Gods…”

His voice grew fainter and fainter: “In… in the depths of the dungeon… but now… now she should…”

Before he could finish, he drew his last breath.

Wawalde stood up and turned to Sovenia, his emerald eyes filled with concern.

“Miss Sovenia, do you recall anything? About your time in captivity?”

Sovenia felt her throat go dry.

Striving to maintain a composed facade, she shook her head:

“The past is the past, I don’t know anything… Our priority now is to escape the Demon Queen’s Palace.”

“You’re right,” Wawalde nodded.

“Let us continue our advance.”

Sovenia led the way, her mind calculating the worst-case scenario.

If a genuine princess were to suddenly appear, weeping and throwing herself into the foolish dog’s arms, that scene would be nothing short of classic.

Wouldn’t she, the imposter, have to perform a “head flying and landing” act right then and there?

She had to find a way to resolve this problem before encountering the real Elf Princess.

Or… kill the true Elf Princess?

No, that was too risky.

Her current strength was insufficient to pull off such a feat in front of Wawalde.

The best course of action remained to quickly locate her own head, restore her true form, and then she would no longer need to maintain this damnable disguise.

Surely she wouldn’t be so unlucky as to stumble upon the true Elf Princess along the way?

****

The two continued along the corridor, the distant sounds of clashing weapons and monstrous roars echoing towards them.

Within the Demon Queen’s Palace, the “promotion movement” was still in full swing.

Just then, a lewd cackle drifted from ahead.

Sovenia immediately grabbed Wawalde’s arm, pulling him behind a fallen stone pillar, where they concealed themselves in the shadows.

Cautiously, she peered out, spotting four burly Goblins, scantily clad, walking past.

One of the muscular, eight-packed Goblins chuckled, “Hehehe, I heard the dungeon where the Elf Princess was held got damaged!”

“Yeah, yeah, the Elf Princess inside got out!” another chimed in.

“We’re going to take the Elf Princess’s power by ‘connecting’ with her! Hehehe!”

“Connect! Connect! Hahaha!”

The four Goblins walked away, their lewd cackles echoing, until they vanished around the corridor’s bend.

Sovenia stared at their retreating figures, a flash of murderous intent in her eyes.

She recognized these Goblins; they were tools specifically employed by the Demon Queen to torment prisoners.

Back when she was Jimi the Cruel, the Demon Queen often threatened to have these disgusting creatures “entertain” disobedient subordinates, even forcing her to watch as they “connected” to strip them of their power.

The Goblins’ cackles echoed in Sovenia’s ears, and a vivid image flashed before her eyes: them using a “knife” to open up and “connect” with a two-and-a-half-meter tall strongman.

‘Kill them, kill them, kill them… No, no, no, what if I run into the real Elf Princess?’

“We should follow them,” Wawalde suggested.

“They haven’t noticed us.”

Sovenia replied, “Why follow those Goblins?”

“Because they are going to harm innocent people.”

“The princess is right beside you,” Sovenia stated, uttering for the first time the lie that she herself was the princess.

Wawalde said, “You are right, but dispatching them would merely be a matter of convenience for us.”

Sovenia pondered this.

The Goblins’ laughter still reverberated in her long ears; she tightened her grip on her sword hilt and declared, “Let’s go then.”

And so, they followed.

The Goblins hadn’t gone far.

The plates of Wawalde’s armor produced a faint, rhythmic rasp with his steps, a sound that echoed through the dead silent corridor as clearly as a death knell.

Just as he was about to round the corner—

The scantily clad Goblins ahead immediately shrieked, “Who’s there? Come out! We have the Demon Queen’s protection, and we’re not participating in the demon ascension ritual—It’s a human! An intruder!”

Both of them burst from behind their cover simultaneously.

Wawalde charged forth, his demonic greatsword flashing, instantly cleaving two Goblins.

Sovenia, not to be outdone, carved a silver arc with her Moonlit Blade, splitting the head of another.

The last Goblin shrieked in terror, attempting to flee.

Wawalde pierced its back with a single sword thrust.

The battle ended swiftly; the four Goblin corpses lay strewn across the ground, their green blood staining the flagstones crimson.

Sovenia did not stop.

She walked to one of the Goblin corpses, raising her Moonlit Blade high before bringing it down with brutal force.

The dull thud of the blade slicing through flesh and shattering bone resounded with gruesome splatters.

She repeated the action, putting her full strength into each swing.

Only then did the lewd cackles that echoed in her ears gradually dissipate amidst the sounds of the keen blade mincing flesh.

Sovenia breathed shallowly, the tip of her Moonlit Blade dripping a viscous drop of green blood with a soft ‘drip.’

The world, at last, grew quiet.

But it wasn’t enough.

The distorted face of the eight-packed Goblin was seared onto her retina like a brand, overlapping with the cruel, smiling visage of the Demon Queen from the depths of her memory.

It was that disgusting “observation session” all over again.

‘All things are impermanent,’ she murmured to herself, as a card stirred within the depths of her soul.

Her luck held; [Blazing Strike +3] answered her call.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she backhanded with her sword, and searing demonic energy coursed through the blade, erupting into scorching flames that instantly consumed that face along with its entire head, reducing it to cinders.

The lingering hallucination before her finally shattered, dissolving with the acrid stench of burning flesh.

“Miss Sovenia…”

A voice sounded behind her.

Sovenia’s body reacted faster than her mind; she spun around abruptly, her blood-stained sword tip pointing directly at the source of the sound.

Only when the sword tip was nearly touching his chest did she clearly see it wasn’t the Demon Queen, but Wawalde’s foolish face.

“…It’s all over now,” the hero said, clumsily forming his words as he gazed at the blood on her sword and the murderous aura on her face.

“These vile creatures can no longer harm anyone.

I have heard that a woman’s worth and nobility stem from her soul, and from nothing else.”

Sovenia’s eye twitched involuntarily.

What nonsense was this foolish dog spouting?

She longed to tell him that her… *dignity* remained intact, and that she hadn’t been the main target of that “humiliation session” back then.

She had merely been an unlucky bystander, forced to watch.

But she could say nothing.

She looked up, meeting Wawalde’s emerald eyes, clear as mountain lakes, overflowing with sincere, yet foolish, sympathy.

By the Highest Heavens, by the Four Gods, she truly felt like a mute who had eaten bitter coptis, unable to voice her suffering.

Patience, patience, Jimi the Cruel, First Heavenly King.

A day and a half, yes, at most a day and a half, and she would poison the foolish dog, stab him fiercely in the back.

A bonus stab for good measure, perhaps.

Sovenia took a few steps back; the posture of looking up at Wawalde made her quite uncomfortable.

She said:

“Thank you so much for your concern.

You’ve truly enlightened this virgin that chastity is but an external thing.

Now, let us continue our journey towards the Demon Queen’s Palace exit.

I estimate a day and a half should be enough for us to reach it…”

No sooner had Sovenia’s words faded than—

From the depths of the passage, a woman’s faint cry for help echoed.

“Help! Is anyone there? Save me!”

The voice sounded young, unmistakably that of a maiden, reverberating through the empty corridor.

Immediately following, a chorus of even more rampant and dense Goblin cackles erupted.

“Scream, scream! No matter how much you scream, your elven power will still be ours!”

“Line up, brothers, I’m first!”

“No, no, no, I’m first…”

“There’s still a survivor!” He instantly turned towards the direction of the sound, the flame of a knight burning in his emerald eyes.

“Miss Sovenia, wait for me here; I’ll be back shortly!”

Sovenia’s heart sank.

It seemed her most dreaded scenario had come to pass.

Was there truly an Elf Princess in the Demon Queen’s Palace?

How had she never known this before?

Well, as a general under the Demon Queen, there were indeed many things within the Demon Queen’s Palace she wasn’t privy to.

Sovenia hastily grabbed Wawalde’s hand, hearing his inner thoughts filled with nothing but anxious urgency to save.

“Wait,” Sovenia said.

“It could be a trap.

Don’t you think it’s too coincidental?”

If there was an Elf Princess, she could just die there for all Sovenia cared.

Wawalde asked, “You understand demons; do you think it could be a trap?”

Sovenia replied, “Yes, it could even be a mimic.”

“A mimic?”

“Many mimics now transform into beautiful maidens to lure in fools.”

Wawalde nodded.

“I remember my oath, we still…”

The Goblins’ lewd snickers grew even louder:

“Line up? Why line up? The opening above, it’s enough for us to use!”

“Aren’t there five of us? And four more are coming later!”

“Don’t we have knives in our hands?”

“Hahaha, Elven power, here I come!”

Wawalde said, “At the very least, we should go and investigate cautiously.”

With that, he withdrew his hand from Sovenia’s grasp.

This was the first time he had done so; previously, Sovenia had always been the one to let go.

Sovenia quickly gripped her sword and followed Wawalde’s hurried pace.