Chapter 32: Elf Princess?

Sovinia’s grand plan to exploit the Vicious Dog was proceeding smoothly.

The two continued advancing through the Demon Castle, encountering two battles along the way.

The first was an ambush by three demon leopards.

Sovinia recognized their habits and issued an early warning.

Wohard summoned his Divided Self to control the battlefield, giving her the opening to kill the pack leader.

The second was a patrol of Demon Warriors—neither too many nor too strong.

They worked together seamlessly and eliminated them.

In these two battles, Sovinia finally found a card she liked:

[Shield of Fortitude]—Cost: 1.

Effect: Discard one card from your hand to gain double Defense.

She thought that, theoretically, as long as she had enough time to activate it, this card could steadily make her stronger by letting her keep playing Core Cards.

Afterward.

Leveraging her familiarity with the Demon Castle’s layout, Sovinia successfully scouted a Chosen One resting in a room ahead with two subordinates.

Chosen Ones were troublesome as enemies.

They were selected by the gods and granted power beyond mortal reach.

Sovinia had been a Chosen One herself; she knew their strength.

But she also knew that the human Hero before her had long surpassed the scope of divine favor.

She and Wohard devised a surprise attack plan.

The battle ended at a moderate pace—neither too fast nor too slow, just right.

Wohard’s Holy Slash heavily wounded the Chosen One, and Sovinia finished him off with a follow-up strike.

The two subordinates were quickly dealt with in the chaos.

Sovinia stepped onto the corpse of the armored Chosen One and checked her spoils.

A Gold Card enemy meant she could draw a Gold Card.

In her mind, she reviewed three options—all mediocre defensive cards.

None satisfied her.

“Break,” she said coldly in her heart.

The Gold Card turned into pure energy that flowed into the Blazing Forgehammer in her bag, recharging it fully.

She had another upgrade opportunity.

And she planned to save mental effort and directly upgrade Scorching Strike+2.

Just then, Wohard’s voice reached her.

Sovinia’s heart leaped.

She looked over to see Wohard interrogating a dying Demon Warrior.

Her mind raced, piecing together the fragments she’d caught.

“Elf Princess.”

The word sent a chill down her spine.

When she’d been the First Heavenly King, she’d never heard of such a prisoner in the castle.

Was it a secret pawn the Queen of Demons had hidden from everyone?

Or something that happened after Kimi’s betrayal?

Either way, it meant enormous instability.

The Demon Castle better not actually have an Elf Princess.

The Demon Warrior coughed up blood and said weakly, “I… I’ve heard… the Lord Demon King really did imprison an Elf Princess… and plans… plans to sacrifice her to the Four Gods…”

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

Before he could finish, he breathed his last.

Wohard stood up and turned to Sovinia, concern in his emerald eyes.

“Miss Sovinia, do you remember anything? About your imprisonment?”

Sovinia’s throat felt dry.

She forced herself to stay calm and shook her head.

“The past is the past. I don’t know… What matters now is escaping the Demon Castle.”

“You’re right.”

Wohard nodded.

“Let’s keep moving.”

Sovinia led the way, calculating the worst-case scenario.

If a genuine princess suddenly appeared and threw herself, crying, into the Vicious Dog’s arms, that scene would be too classic.

Wouldn’t she, the fake, have to perform an instant “head-flying-and-landing” routine again?

She had to solve this problem before meeting the real Elf Princess.

Or… kill the real Elf Princess?

No, too risky.

Her current strength wasn’t enough to pull that off in front of Wohard.

The best plan was still to find her own head as soon as possible and restore her true form.

Then she wouldn’t need to maintain this damned disguise anymore.

She couldn’t possibly be unlucky enough to run into the real Elf Princess along the way, could she?

The two continued along the corridor.

In the distance, the clashing of weapons and the roars of monsters echoed.

The “Promotion Movement” inside the Demon Castle was still in full swing.

Just then, a burst of lecherous laughter came from ahead.

Sovinia immediately grabbed Wohard’s arm and pulled him behind a collapsed stone pillar, hiding in the shadows.

She cautiously peered out to see four scantily clad Goblins passing by—hulking brutes.

One of them, with eight-pack abs, chuckled.

“Hehehe, I heard the dungeon where the Elf Princess was held is broken!”

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

“We need to use ‘connection’ to take her elf power! Hehehe!”

“Connection! Connection! Hahaha!”

The four Goblins laughed obscenely as they walked further away and disappeared around a corner.

Sovinia stared after them, murder flashing in her eyes.

She recognized those Goblins.

They were tools the Queen of Demons used specifically to torture prisoners.

Back when she was Kimi, the Queen often threatened to have these disgusting things “entertain” disobedient subordinates, and even forced her to watch as they used “connection” to drain those subordinates’ power.

The Goblins’ laughter echoed in Sovinia’s ears.

Before her eyes flashed the image of them using “knives” to open up and connect to a two-and-a-half-meter-tall strongman.

Kill them, kill them, kill them… Ah, no, no—what if they run into the real Elf Princess?

“We should follow them,” said Wohard.

“They didn’t see us.”

“Why follow those Goblins?”

Sovinia asked.

“Because they’re going to hurt innocent people.”

“The princess is at your side.”

It was the first time Sovinia had lied outright by claiming to be the princess.

“You’re right,” said Wohard.

“But killing them is just a matter of convenience.”

Sovinia thought it over.

The Goblins’ laughter echoed in her long ears.

She tightened her grip on her sword hilt.

“Let’s go.”

So they followed.

The Goblins hadn’t gone far.

The plates of Wohard’s armor made a faint, rhythmic metallic rasping with each step, as clear as a death knell in the silent corridor.

Just as he was about to step around the corner—

The scantily clad Goblins shouted, “Who’s there? Come out! We have the Lord Demon King’s protection! We’re not participating in the Demon Ascension Ritual—it’s humans! Intruders!”

The two burst out from cover simultaneously.

Wohard took the lead, wielding the Demonic Greatsword.

With a flash of light, he instantly slew two Goblins.

Sovinia was not to be outdone; the Moonlight Blade in her hand traced a silver arc and split open another’s head.

The last Goblin screamed in terror and tried to flee.

Wohard ran it through from behind.

The battle ended quickly.

The four Goblins’ corpses lay scattered across the floor, green blood staining the stone tiles.

Sovinia didn’t stop.

She walked to one of the Goblin corpses, raised the Moonlight Blade high, and brought it down hard.

The sound of steel cutting through flesh and crushing bone—squelch, crunch—rang out.

She repeated the motion, putting all her strength into each swing.

The obscene laughter that had been echoing in her ears gradually dissolved into the thudding sound of the blade chopping meat.

Sovinia panted slightly.

The tip of the Moonlight Blade dripped a single drop of thick green blood with a drip.

At last, the world was quiet.

But it wasn’t enough.

The twisted face of that eight-pack-abs Goblin was branded onto her retina like a Soul Imprint, overlaying with the face of the Queen of Demons from her memory—that cruel smile.

Another disgusting “viewing session.”

‘All Things Unpredictable.’

She chanted in her mind, and cards turned in the depths of her soul.

Luck was on her side.

[Scorching Strike +3] answered the call.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she swung her sword in a backhand arc.

Scorching mana flowed through the blade, erupting into blazing flames that instantly consumed the Goblin’s face and head, reducing both to charcoal.

The clinging illusion before her eyes finally shattered along with the stench of burning.

“Miss Sovinia…”

A voice sounded from behind.

Sovinia’s body reacted faster than her mind.

She spun around, the bloodstained sword tip pointing directly at the source.

Only when the tip was nearly touching the speaker’s chest did she see that it wasn’t the Queen of Demons—it was Wohard’s stupid face.

“…It’s over now.”

The Hero looked at the blood on her sword and the killing intent on her face, clumsily searching for words.

“These filthy things can never harm anyone again. I’ve heard that a woman’s worth and nobility come from her soul, nothing else.”

Sovinia’s eye twitched involuntarily.

What nonsense was this stupid dog spouting?

She just wanted to tell him that her own backside was perfectly intact, and that she hadn’t been the target of that “humiliation session” back then.

She had just been an unlucky bystander forced to watch.

But she couldn’t say any of that.

She looked up and met Wohard’s emerald eyes—clear as a mountain lake—filled with sincere and foolish sympathy.

Heaven Above, Four Gods above, she really was in a pickle now—having to swallow her grievances in silence.

Patience, patience.

The Cold-hearted One Kimi, First Heavenly King.

One and a half days.

Yes, at most a day and a half, and she would feed the Vicious Dog poison, then stab him viciously in the back.

One extra stab for good measure.

Sovinia stepped back, annoyed by the way she had to look up at Wohard.

She said,

“Thank you so much for your concern. This virgin realizes that chastity is truly an external thing. Alright, let’s keep moving toward the Demon Castle’s exit. I estimate it’ll take us a day and a half at most to fight our way out…”

The moment Sovinia finished speaking—

From deep within the passage, a woman’s cry for help drifted faintly.

“Help! Is anyone there? Save me!”

The voice sounded young, likely a girl’s, echoing through the empty corridor.

Immediately after came a burst of even more lecherous, more frantic Goblin laughter.

“Cry, cry all you want! No matter how much you scream, your elf power is ours!”

“Line up, brothers! I’m first!”

“No, no, no—me first…”

“There’s a survivor!”

He immediately turned toward the direction of the voice, his emerald eyes blazing with a knight’s fire.

“Miss Sovinia, wait here. I’ll be right back!”

Sovinia’s heart sank.

It seemed the situation she dreaded most had come to pass.

There really was an Elf Princess in the Demon Castle?

How had she not known before?

Well, as a general under the Queen of Demons, there were plenty of things in the castle she wasn’t familiar with.

Sovinia quickly grabbed Wohard’s hand and caught his thoughts—all urgency, all desire to save.

“Wait,” Sovinia said.

“It could be a trap. Don’t you think it’s too convenient?”

If there was an Elf Princess, might as well let her die there.

Wohard asked, “You know the demon race well. Do you think it could be a trap?”

“Yes,” said Sovinia.

“It could even be a Mimic.”

“A Mimic?”

“These days, many Mimics transform into beautiful girls to lure fools into taking the bait.”

Wohard nodded.

“I remember my oath. We should still…”

The Goblins’ malicious laughter grew louder:

“Line up? What are you lining up for? She’s got enough holes up top for all of us!”

“Aren’t there five of us? Four more are coming.”

“Don’t we have knives?”

“Hahaha, the elf power—mine!”

Wohard said, “At least let’s take a careful look.”

With that, he pulled his hand out of Sovinia’s grip.

It was the first time he had done so.

Before, it had always been Sovinia who let go first.

Sovinia quickly gripped her sword and followed Wohard’s steps.