Chapter 15: You’re So Beautiful!

“What should I do with you? Everyone is watching you. My heart has been restless; now, I am beyond cure.”

Princess Lillian was having a dream.

Time felt very long in that dream.

Everyone was looking at Lord Atiste.

Lillian felt very uneasy.

She felt like she cared far too much.

But she didn’t know what to do.

The more she chased after Lord Atiste, the further away he became.

‘Is it true? Am I really going crazy because of him?’

She wasn’t originally this kind of person.

He had turned her into someone strange.

‘It is the first time I have ever been like this. No matter how I try to deny it…’

Eileen watched Lillian, who was currently sleepwalking and performing a bizarre dance.

She couldn’t help but speak up.

“What kind of strange dance are you doing?”

Lillian performed a sharp turn, followed by three consecutive Iron Mountain Leans, singing as she danced, “Ji Ni Tai Mei! Baby!”

For some reason, Eileen felt as if she were being influenced by a peculiar summons.

She actually began to follow Lillian’s movements and sang along, “Ji ni is truly too beautiful?”

“Ji Ni Tai Mei!”

“The way you walk toward me makes me so restless!”

“I’ve never had this feeling…”

“Gua — “

Eileen forcibly broke free from the control of the strange dance and song.

Relying on her powerful willpower, she shook off the Ji Ni Tai Mei Special Attack and landed a punch squarely on Lillian’s face, knocking her to the ground.

Lillian clutched her stinging face, her eyes glazed with confusion.

She scanned her surroundings until her gaze locked onto Eileen.

“What… what happened to me?”

“I unsealed you from the crystal, but instead of waking up immediately, you started singing strange songs and dancing weirdly. You even infected me.”

“So… my face hurts because you hit me?”

Eileen answered patiently, “That is correct.”

Lillian scrambled to her feet and brushed the dust off her clothes.

At this moment, she didn’t care about maintaining her poise.

She clenched her fists, preparing to strike back.

Eileen stopped her.

“I advise you not to do that, because Master does not allow me to hurt you.”

Lillian grinned.

“Then that is even better! I can beat you up as much as I want!”

Eileen’s face darkened.

She shook her head and said, “I thought the Princess of the Muse Kingdom would be a refined person, but it turns out you are just a brat.”

Lillian didn’t care about any of that.

She was no longer some princess; she was now Atiste’s number one loyal believer!

“Take this!”

Lillian mustered all her strength.

She had never felt as free as she did now!

She was free to throw punches, free to dance, free to sing, free to take revenge, and free to worship Lord Atiste!

This punch contained the intense emotions of her being reborn.

These powerful feelings concentrated in her fist as she swung at Eileen’s pretty face!

Eileen immediately sensed the massive amount of energy contained within the strike.

She hadn’t intended to dodge, but now she found she had to catch the blow with her hand.

Eileen raised her hand and easily caught Lillian’s fist.

“Too weak. Your punch cannot cause me even the slightest bit of damage.”

Eileen gently lowered Lillian’s hand.

Her Master had instructed her not to hurt Lillian.

She continued, “If you truly have too much energy and nowhere to vent it, I can take you to Master’s Cultivation Space. You can exert yourself to your heart’s content there.”

Lillian perked up at the suggestion.

However, she momentarily regained her princess-like poise and said in a flat tone, “Thank you. You are a powerful person. Please lead the way.”

In reality, her inner thoughts were: ‘It is the place where Lord Atiste cultivates! It will have his traces, his sweat, his scent, his energy… I can’t think about it anymore! I’ll faint! I’ll die of happiness!’

Watching Lillian’s hypocritical behavior, Eileen felt a physical wave of disgust.

‘How can someone be so fake?’

No, Lillian was no longer a person; she was merely an “object.”

The Master called her a “work of art,” but in Eileen’s eyes, she was nothing more than a vessel named Lillian.

Sooner or later, she would be consumed by the Crystal of Myriad Splendor, and even her soul would cease to exist.

“Follow me. I will take you to a suitable place for cultivation.”

***

Atiste lay in his room.

The bed was very soft, largely recreating the bed he had on Earth.

He liked this bed very much, to the point that he had placed a “permanent” protection on it.

Indeed, his power was that great.

Objects he touched could become “eternal” just like him.

But at the same time, they could lose that “eternity” depending on his mood.

Atiste did not consider himself a “god,” even though no one in this world could match him.

The world itself was cyclical; the world itself was alive.

Atiste had simply obtained power that was even stronger than the world itself.

The side effects of this power — such as being “invincible,” “immortal,” and “indestructible” — were merely the laws by which the world operated.

The scars on his body didn’t really matter.

…Did they really not matter?

If these wounds could indeed be healed by power, they should have disappeared long ago.

But the scars left by the Black Lightning strikes still remained.

Even the Full Recovery Art could not heal them.

This could only mean one thing.

That Black Lightning was not a power belonging to this world.

Yet, the vessel named Lillian was clearly a product of this world.

‘Was the problem with the Crystal of Myriad Splendor?’

The answer Atiste arrived at in his heart was “no.”

[System Notification]

[Issuing next task]

[Pillage the Village]

[Target location has been released]

Atiste nonchalantly opened the System interface.

The village shown on the System map was an unknown location in the north.

He didn’t understand what could possibly be there.

Having survived in this world for 500 years, he knew that he could not control the changes of the world.

Who knew that the Hero would be resurrected 500 years later?

This also meant that the Demon King might be planning a comeback.

Therefore, there had to be a catch to this task given by the System.

‘It is probably another task from 500 years ago.’

[System Error *&%&… Timeline &% Error… Task Location…]

[Repairing…]

[Repair Progress: 50%]

[Repair… Failed… &*&… *%]

[Task Details: Thor Village in the north, a Dwarf gathering place, the forging site of the Holy Sword]

[Task Objective: Destroy the village and seize the raw materials for the Holy Sword]

[Task Reward: 3 Random Teleportation Cards]

Atiste remained silent.

Random Teleportation Cards?

If such a thing had appeared 500 years ago, it might have been useful.

But for the current Atiste, they weren’t exactly useless — they were completely worthless.

Atiste was considering whether or not to do the task.

[System Warning]

[If the host refuses to execute the task, this System will self-destruct]

He had finally wanted to get a good night’s sleep so he could see if that “work of art” would show any new changes tomorrow, but then this damn System pulled this stunt on him?

Atiste couldn’t help but curse, “To hell with you!”