A series of deafening, majestic chimes suddenly echoed inside Solomon’s head. The blue projection flared with a golden banner.

[BloodKnight has issued a live challenge!]

[BloodKnight: Defeat the S-Rank Undead Paladin. Reward: 10x Diamond Crowns (50,000 Points).]

The rest of the chat immediately followed suit, entirely ignoring the fact that they were watching an impending execution.

[GoonLord: I will gift 5x Golden Thrones if you guys survive!]

[LazyCat: 10x Platinum Shields! DO IT FOR THE LORE!]

[User12: I am throwing in my entire points balance. 5x Silver Swords!]

[ThrillSeeker: Witnessing history! 3x Diamond Crowns from me!]

Solomon stared at the staggering amount of wealth flashing across his vision. He slowly turned his head to the bronze drone hovering near his shoulder.

"You guys are really not beating the Princess’s allegations from earlier, you know that right, chat?" Solomon muttered. "She called you bloodthirsty voyeurs who pay for our deaths, and your immediate response is to throw a small fortune at a literal suicide mission. Your live challenges feels more like a death penalty, chat."

He shifted his gaze to Lune. The Princess gripped her silver rapier so tightly her knuckles were turning white under her gauntlets.

"Do not look at me like that!" Lune snapped, her voice trembling slightly. "I had absolutely no idea an anomaly of this magnitude would be waiting inside a beginner’s chamber!" She took a panicked step backward. "We need to run away. Immediately."

Solomon lazily pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the massive, completely sealed stone doors behind them. "Be my guest. Let me know how trying to open those goes for you."

Lune looked at the immovable rock, her emerald eyes darting frantically around the enclosed arena. The Paladin drew its executioner’s sword. The sheer hum of the corrupted mana radiating from the white blade made the air in the room feel suffocatingly heavy.

Lune swallowed hard and raised her rapier. "Maybe... maybe if we combine our attacks perfectly, we can defeat it."

Solomon stared at her, utterly deadpan. "I need you to take a serious reality check right now. You literally told me a while ago to step back because a basic, rusted knight was too much for me to handle. Now you want to fight an S-Rank Paladin? A creature historically known for absolute peak power and transcendent swordsmanship? The power scaling is trash here, you know that?"

"I know exactly what a Paladin is!" Lune fired back, her voice raising in desperation. "I am a Princess, remember? The Lumiere Dynasty has its own Paladin serving the royal family! I know how terrifying they are!"

She kept her eyes locked on the towering, pristine monster. "They are literal Swordmasters. They have mastered every single conceivable sword technique and secret art in existence. They do not just swing a weapon, they control the entire battlefield with their blade alone. The aura of their strikes can cut through solid magic. It is a known fact across the continent that absolutely no one can defeat a Paladin in close combat. Only another true Swordmaster can even hope to stand on equal ground with one!"

Solomon let out a long, exhausted sigh and shifted the rusted greatsword onto his shoulder.

"Well," Solomon said flatly, "the last time I checked, I was definitely not a Swordmaster. And unless you have been hiding a few secret arts under that silver armor of yours, neither are you."

Lune took a deep breath, forcing her trembling hands to steady as she raised her silver rapier.

"There is no other choice but to fight it," Lune said, her voice regaining a fraction of its usual royal authority. "And if we are smart about this, we might actually have a chance to win."

Solomon looked at her as if she had just lost her mind. "A chance?"

"Listen to me," Lune urged, her emerald eyes locked on the Paladin’s slow, menacing approach. "The system might classify its raw threat level as S-Rank, but it is absolutely not a true S-Rank entity. It is an undead. It is a corrupted husk."

She took a slow step to the side, beginning to circle the arena. "It is a widely known fact among high-tier adventurers that an undead creature is at least ten times weaker than its living, peak self. That undead knight we fought in the corridor? In life, it was likely an A-Rank threat. But as a rotting corpse, its actual combat output was barely B-Rank. If this Paladin was an S-Rank in life, its decayed state restricts it to roughly an A-Rank level of power."

[GamerGuy: wait... she is actually doing the math.]

[LazyCat: the classic undead debuff. she is right!]

[NewbHunter: A-Rank is still terrifying but it’s not literal death like S-Rank!]

"There is absolutely zero proof of that," Solomon argued, keeping his heavy greatsword raised. "That is just a theory. You are gambling our lives on a technicality."

"It is not just a theory, it is logical deduction!" Lune snapped back. "Think about it. What is the fundamental difference between a standard Knight and a Paladin? It is their absolute mastery over mana and aura. A living Paladin can project their aura outward, weaponizing the very air around them."

She pointed the tip of her rapier toward the towering monster. "But look at it! The undead knight from before couldn’t project mana openly or coat its weapon in an aura. It could only use its corrupted core internally to stabilize its balance and enhance its raw strength. The exact same principle has to apply to this Paladin. It cannot use the secret sword arts or the aura strikes that made it invincible in life. It is just a massive, incredibly strong brawler with good muscle memory!"

The chat immediately began to echo her sentiments, the original viewers jumping in to back up her tactical assessment.

[User12: OG follower here, and I actually agree with the Princess. the lore checks out.]

[Skeptic: she has a solid point. if it can’t use aura, it’s just a really big guy with a sword.]

[OldTimer: no magic makes it a physical fight. you guys excel at physical fights.]

[GoonLord: MY WIFE IS A TACTICAL GENIUS!]

"And there is one more thing," Lune added, her confidence visibly returning. She gestured with her free hand to the massive, cavernous room around them. "We fought that knight in a claustrophobic, narrow corridor. We kept tripping over each other and couldn’t utilize our footwork. But here? We have an entire boss chamber to ourselves."

The Undead Paladin stopped in the center of the arena. It slowly raised its executioner’s sword with both hands, the heavy steel gleaming under the crystal lights.

"We can move freely," Lune stated, dropping into a flawless fencing stance. "We can actually utilize a proper two-versus-one strategy without getting in each other’s way. We can actually do this."

Solomon gripped the hilt of his iron sword given by the academy. He looked at the massive open space, then at the boss, and finally at the floating blue screen filled with millions of points worth of live challenges.

"An A-Rank brawler with no magic," Solomon muttered, rolling his shoulders to relieve the tension. He let out a sharp exhale and dropped into a low, aggressive stance. "Fine. Let’s see if your royal education actually holds up in reality."