Ch.331Chapter 331 – The Princess’s Shadow (3)

“I’ll turn you into a lump of meat, Beatrice!!”

The king shouted as he swung his sword.

Perhaps due to the enhancement drug, his veins were writhing frighteningly.

No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t a healthy drug.

And it seemed to come with a considerable price.

-Whoosh!!

Beatrice twisted her body to avoid the sword flying toward her.

And before she could properly switch to offense, the king continued his attacks.

“No matter what you’re planning!”

The king shouted.

“If I stay close and don’t give you time, that’s all it takes!!”

“You’ve properly learned how to deal with a mage, I see.”

Beatrice muttered as she dodged the sword once more.

In reality, most mages needed casting time to use powerful magic.

So when fighting a mage, staying close and not giving them time to cast was somewhat common knowledge.

“Yes, widely known common sense.”

Beatrice said, narrowing her eyes.

“But a mage should know how to break common sense, shouldn’t they?”

As soon as she finished speaking, something emerged from the ground.

The iron chains Beatrice always carried were breaking through the earth.

The chains wrapped around the sword Beatrice had dodged like a snake, then began spreading everywhere like a spider web, binding it.

“…My sword…!”

“It’s too good a sword for someone like you to use.”

After saying that, Beatrice laughed mockingly and said,

“What? Can’t kill one woman without a sword?”

“…Don’t get cocky!”

The king immediately clenched his fist and swung.

Like the sword strike earlier, his fist cut through the air with a terrifying sound.

And Beatrice narrowly avoided that fist.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit boring if you’re too one-dimensional?”

Immediately, the king felt an impact on his knee.

It was because Beatrice had kicked his knee while dodging his punch.

As the king lost his balance and knelt down, Beatrice clenched her fist.

She threw her punch straight at the king’s abdomen.

-Boom!

With a terrifying impact, the king’s body was pushed back again.

But this time, he didn’t fly away.

“You think I’ll fall for that again!”

He ignored the pain and spread his arms to embrace Beatrice.

It was a faster movement than expected, and Beatrice seemed unable to counter it properly, barely managing to wedge her arms in.

While exerting force to prevent the king’s arms from embracing her further, Beatrice said,

“You could just say yes if you like me. You would have refused anyway, but there’s such a thing as manners.”

The king didn’t answer Beatrice’s words.

Instead, he sneered and said,

“That damn Dragon Scale or whatever won’t stop you from being crushed to death…!”

Soon the king shouted as if he had won.

“I’ll crush you like this…!”

“How about watching out for the ceiling instead?”

Ceiling? It was a moment when the king was briefly confused.

Immediately, Beatrice and the king’s bodies rapidly rose into the air and charged straight toward the ceiling.

“What is this…!”

“I do prefer taller men, but someone who grew taller by taking drugs like you isn’t my type.”

Beatrice continued calmly.

“And actually, I prefer younger men. Let’s hit your head and figure out your place, old man.”

Before the king could say anything, his head collided with the ceiling.

More precisely, it was a hexagonal object spread across the ceiling.

The king smashed his head into the Dragon Scale she had summoned earlier and momentarily lost consciousness.

Even so, he quickly regained his senses, grabbed Beatrice whom he had inadvertently released from the impact, and threw her toward the ground.

“Reverse Gravity.”

When he landed on the ground, he saw Beatrice calmly using magic to land on the ground.

And she looked at the king and said,

“Seems like you’ve got nothing but brute strength.”

The king silently took out the drug he had used earlier.

Seeing him inject that drug into his body again, Beatrice nodded slightly.

“Yes. You have nowhere else to turn, do you?”

“Shut up.”

The king said so, but he couldn’t hide the sweat flowing on his forehead.

And Beatrice, seeing this, grinned and then.

Soon spoke with a cold face.

“Then it’s my turn.”

The moment Beatrice said that.

Suddenly her figure disappeared.

“Where did she…”

“Beside you.”

With those words, Beatrice’s kick struck the king’s waist.

And after the king was thrown against the wall and slightly bounced back, his body floated in the air again.

‘Is it that magic from before…!’

The king was struggling to break free from the magic.

And toward him, Beatrice was running along the wall.

By the time the king barely broke free from the magic, Beatrice had climbed the wall to almost the same position as the king.

She kicked off the ground and grabbed the king.

Then she changed her position in mid-air, using her body to restrain the king so he couldn’t move easily.

The next moment, the king’s head was smashed straight into the ground.

“Cough!”

The king felt another impact to his head.

And Beatrice reached out toward him.

“If you can’t get up, let me help you.”

The king’s body was pulled in again by the gravity generated in her hand.

And Beatrice threw the king’s body again and stretched out her hand.

Soon arrows poured out from her shadow and flew toward the king.

“Cowardly… using magic…!”

“If a mage using magic is cowardly, isn’t a warrior using their body also cowardly?”

Beatrice said as she moved her hand once.

Ice pillars rose from the ground, lifting the king, and ice pillars descended from the ceiling.

And the king was caught precisely between those two ice pillars, taking the impact.

“Ugh!”

“Well, I’m using both my own mana and temporarily borrowing some from nature.”

Beatrice said coldly.

“Handling magic is my strength. Calculating how to move that mana, crafting formulas, and casting them at the right moment is purely a power I’ve gained through my own efforts.”

Beatrice pointed at the king with her finger.

The king’s body, which had been caught between the ice, shot up to the ceiling again and fell down.

And his body was impaled on stone spikes that had emerged below.

“Aaaaargh!!”

Looking at the king whose body was impaled by spikes all over, Beatrice said,

“Not like that power you obtained through drugs.”

“Are you mocking me…!”

“At least your brain still understands sarcasm.”

After saying that, Beatrice gathered mana in her hand.

As blue mana gathered with slight sparks, the king’s eyes widened.

And he immediately shouted.

“W-wait. Wait, listen to me!”

“Bark.”

Beatrice, who had come right up to him, looked down at the king.

And the king immediately shouted.

“Y-you can’t kill me like this. I am the king of this country…!”

“Someone who deserves to reclaim your position will get it, so it doesn’t matter.”

Beatrice said coldly.

The king immediately shouted.

“Then, alright. If you let me go, and if you join hands with me, vast wealth…”

“Since you have no one to rely on, you’re trying to buy mercy from your niece with money?”

Once again, Beatrice said coldly.

The king shouted again.

“K-killing me is something neither your mother nor your father would want.”

“Why?”

Beatrice quietly asked.

The king desperately shouted.

“Because I am their blood…!”

The king shouted.

“I am of the same blood as you, of the Firenze royal family. Think of blood ties! You, who seek revenge for your family, should not stain your hands with family blood!”

The king shouted.

And Beatrice.

Slowly dispelled the mana she had gathered in her hand.

And the king smiled and said.

“I knew you’d understand, niece…!”

The king shouted as if he had been saved.

“So…”

“‘Blood ties are useless. Only power is justice.'”

Beatrice smiled at the dumbfounded king and said.

“That’s what you said to me. You were so excited that you don’t even remember when you said it?”

“…Wait.”

“Did you think you wouldn’t be included in that?”

Beatrice glared at the king and said.

“Did you spout such words without being prepared for it to happen to you?”

“W-wait…!”

Mana erupted from Beatrice.

Blue energy poured out as if it could be grasped by hand.

Only then did the king understand one thing.

“Don’t tell me, you’ve been toying with me from the beginning…!”

“Of course. A mage has no reason to show all their cards from the start. Saving one’s hand is the formula for a mage’s victory.”

While emitting mana, Beatrice grinned.

“Of course, I went easy on you at first because you wouldn’t understand the difference in our levels if I crushed you right away.”

“Y-you…!”

The king struggled to shout, but he was already intimidated by Beatrice’s mana.

With this much power, she could have finished him with one blow from the beginning.

The king understood that fact.

“Well then.”

Beatrice slowly approached the king.

With each step she took, the king unconsciously backed away.

“I would have preferred not to see your head and just blow it up.”

“W-wait….”

“But I’m different from you.”

For a moment, flames flickered in Beatrice’s eyes.

“I’ll show you the power of the royal family that you sought.”

Beatrice stretched out her hand.

The mana she had briefly dispelled quickly returned to her hand.

“‘In the name of Princess…, I declare.'”

With Beatrice’s words, a black magic circle appeared.

Seeing the magic circle bound by chains, the king shouted.

“That’s…!”

“‘Hound of the shadows, guardian of the royal family. In accordance with the sacred contract, respond to the call of the chosen one with the chains of promise, and rise breaking your long seal.'”

Gradually, the chains of the magic circle were released.

The king’s eyes began to widen.

And Beatrice’s summoning spell was completed.

“‘Tear apart the enemies of the royal family.'”

A massive magical hound with fur that seemed to ripple like black shadows emerged from the magic circle.

And Beatrice spoke its name.

“‘Garum.'”

“The guardian of the royal family didn’t respond to summons because you had contracted with it…!”

The king shouted in astonishment.

And he shouted as if denying reality.

“Besides, that contract, your name. No, it can’t be. Are you saying you survived? Are you saying you’re going to kill me?”

“Yes.”

Beatrice said quietly.

The king shouted.

“You were a good child…! The kindest…!”

“That child died that day.”

Beatrice looked down at the king and said.

“When you massacred your blood relatives, the good child who lost her loved ones burned herself with vengeance.”

-Grrrrrr.

The magical hound began grinding its teeth.

As the king’s eyes trembled, Beatrice quietly said.

“After burning like that… I went astray, lived recklessly, got blood on my hands. After rampaging for a while, thanks to some overly kind guy, I realized what a terrible piece of trash I’d become, and came here.”

“You…”

“I am Beatrice.”

Beatrice said quietly.

“The shadow of the princess born from the shadow of the royal family.”

As soon as her words ended, Garum lunged at the king.

Unable to even scream, the king struggled and then stopped.

Beatrice watched it with empty eyes.

“Finally, one is done.”

Beatrice said, closing her eyes.

“Finally, I’ve finished one.”

A mixture of relief and emptiness created a small droplet at the corner of her eye.

After standing there blankly for a while, she finally calmed down and said quietly.

“…Let’s go back, Garum.”

She said, wiping away the droplet slightly.

She thought he would surely be angry since she had caused too much trouble this time.

Still, she wanted to return to his side.

She wanted to rest by his side, who worried about her, and sort out her feelings.

“Let’s go back to him.”

Because that was where she could rest.

Because only by his side could she finally rest.

Thinking that she must thank him for becoming a place for her to return to.

Beatrice quietly turned around.