F-Rank Puppeteer!! But I'll be Queen, and I'm not a narcissist!!!!!-Chapter 225: Frenzied Combat
"...Urgh." I’m tossed into the cell without any care, my back hitting the wall as they grab my hands and shackle them to a chain, forcing my arms to stay raised.
"..." I watch the metal door slam shut, left here, trapped in this uncomfortable, shackled position. But I don’t have to wait long, because a few minutes later, that girl who said her name was Crimson appears.
Accompanied by two armored guards, I look at her with an empty gaze. I don’t know who this person is, but her plan was brilliant, though I don’t know what she gained by framing me for a crime I didn’t commit.
"Well, well, well... looks like you’re behaving yourself. But let’s get to the point. The letter you tried to send to Esther was intercepted. She won’t know a thing and she won’t come to save you."
"By tomorrow morning, everyone in the kingdom will know of your crime," Crimson says with a devilish smile as I bite my lip.
"D-Did you do something to Eve?"
"No, it wouldn’t make sense to hurt your servants. We just stopped the letter from arriving. But what really matters now is your punishment for your crime." She picks up a bucket of water and throws it on me. The cold water soaks my dress as my tail flicks with discomfort.
"..."
"It seems Esther trained you well. Many would have tried to protest their innocence, but you just accepted it. That’s earned you a lighter punishment. A real shame."
"Why... did you choose me?" When I ask this, she just gives a suspicious little smile.
"I have no idea what you’re talking about, criminal."
"..."
"Urgh!" She punches me in the stomach, making me gasp for air.
"I’ll be participating in your torture for the first few hours. After that, the soldiers will take over. But don’t worry, no one’s going to rape you or break you beyond the limit. After all, you are Esther’s wife." She says, picking up a whip with a steel tip.
"..." I just swallow my tears. I won’t give that satisfaction to this manipulative bitch who fooled everyone.
"HMM!!" I stifle my scream when she whips my thigh. An immediate welt rises as blood trickles from the wound where the dress tore. It hurts, but it’s bearable thanks to the 95% pain reduction I have.
"Do you know when Esther is coming back? In about 3 months, more or less the length of your punishment. Until then, all information will be kept from her and her troops. I’ve already dealt with her servants, too."
"Esther will be so busy she won’t notice anything or have time to contact you." Crimson delivers another lash. I feel the whip curling around my waist and marking my back, forcing tears to flow despite my attempts to hold them back.
But the pain of the whips is nothing compared to the pain of being betrayed by someone I trusted.
’I-Just have to endure...’ I’m not going to die, and any wound can be fixed by rebuilding myself. I take a deep breath, controlling the Hikishin within my body to help me withstand the pain.
"GAHHH!" I scream in pain when she whips my arm, the steel tip making a painful wound. But ever since I regained all my memories, the pain has become much less intense. The bullying I suffered in this castle was worse than these lashes.
...
...
...
I run quickly after Evelyn-sama. I had been sending the letter as she asked me to do, after which I was heading to the castle until she sent me information.
And with the information she sent me, I know she was unjustly imprisoned. So I try to go as fast as possible to get to her, but as I reach the castle gate, I see Syl’Vyr and Faye.
"..." I stop running, and Syl’Vyr notices me, freezing. We stare at each other for what feels like an eternity.
"YOU TRAITOR!!" I lunge at her with all my speed, drawing my sword. Before I can hit her, Faye steps in front, using her magic to defend her from the blow. I jump back, knowing how her barrier ability works, so I avoid hitting it in the first second, saving my strength to break it with a single strike.
"Eve, I..."
"I’M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU SHITTY TRAITOR!!" I scream at her, coating my sword with plasma. I jump again in a fast advance against Faye. The purple lightning momentarily turns black and red, and when the attack lands, it’s a critical hit that explodes Faye’s barrier.
"!!!" Syl’Vyr grabs Faye and they dodge as black and red lightning spreads, blasting holes in the ground and making the air so hot the castle gate slightly melts.
"..." Syl’Vyr uses earth magic to propel herself upward while Faye beats her wings.
"I WON’T LET YOU GET AWAY!" I stomp the ground hard to create a solid stance. The ground cracks as I grip the hilt of my sword tightly and launch it, coating the blade with plasma lightning.
This time it’s not a critical hit, so the lightning is purple, but the blade is thrown with such speed it slices off one of Faye’s wings, causing her to start falling with Syl’Vyr. My sword also lands near them.
I dash forward rapidly, passing through the trees around the castle and reaching them. Before they can recover, I kick Syl’Vyr in the face, breaking her nose, and grab my sword.
She finally decides to take it seriously, seeing I’m going to kill her, and grabs her staff. Using wind magic, I move my sword in multiple slashes, using the plasma to "cut" the wind, leaving purple trails floating in the air, a strange smell left behind by the electricity.
"E-Eve, we’re friends. Why are you doing this?" Faye says, getting up while using healing magic to stop the bleeding from her wing.
"Friends? Hahaha, what a joke! You’re both traitors!! You turned against Evelyn-sama!!" I charge lightning into my sword. Because of my increased strength and the first critical hit, the sword’s blade has started to overheat, becoming less rigid.
If I continue, the sword will break. But I don’t care about breaking this sword if I can kill these two traitors.
"[Great Water Wall]." Syl’Vyr uses magic, creating a massive wall of water. Immediately, she swings her staff and the wall advances toward me, but the plasma is so hot my strike turns the impacted area into steam.
"[Instant Freeze]."
"!!?" The water freezes solid. The heat, the steam, and now the ice cause the blade to suffer thermal shock, cracking and almost shattering completely. The blade becomes so fragile it’s rendered useless.
"Listen, Eve, I-I know I might have made the wrong choice... but I..." She tries to make excuses, but I drop the sword and lunge, coating my fist with plasma. She barely dodges, but before she can use magic, I punch the ground.
Another critical hit occurs, causing black lightning to explode the ground into thousands of shards. I get the opening to kill her, to blow her head off with a punch. It would be easy, but before I can do it, Faye uses debuff magic on me.
Because I’m so close, numerous negative effects hit me. I feel a blow to my head and the sound of stone breaking. Before I can strike, I’m immobilized by stone magic, which pins me in place.
"Eve..."
"Shut up!! Shut up!! Shut up! I don’t want to hear the excuses of a traitor!" I coat my leg with plasma energy and stomp against the restraint, but just these few attacks have already been exhausting.
Because I’m attacking with everything I have, my control over magic has worsened. And because of the new ability I unlocked thanks to Evelyn, all my energy expenditure is three times greater for everything I do.
I thought three times wasn’t a big deal, but it seems three times is an absurd cost. I pant, tired, almost collapsing. Faye’s debuff is much stronger than I expected.
"Aaahhh." I let out a pained sound as Syl’Vyr fires a concentrated bullet of air into my stomach, throwing me to the ground. Without the sword to channel the energy, I received the full impact of the kick and punch I delivered, so my hand hurts as if it’s broken.
"Sorry, Eve... I... I made my choice... and Faye did too... we’re truly sorry..."
"[Ballistic Explosion]." She uses magic that makes the ground beneath me explode, violently throwing me against a tree. I fall, sliding down the tree back-first until I hit the ground.
"..." Syl’Vyr approaches, staring at me in silence. Her tail and ears are drooping low.
"I’m leaving with Faye... I hope maybe one day we can... forget all this and talk again... But Eve, I want more from my life than to be someone’s old toy... I’m truly sorry..." Syl’Vyr starts to leave with Faye by her side while I’m too tired to chase them.
I drag myself over to my sword, looking at that damned cowardly traitor who turned her back on me. With what little strength I have left, I coat the blade with lightning—so much that the air around it starts to burn my clothes and skin.
The strike turns critical, making the lightning so dark red the area seems to darken. I hurl it at Syl’Vyr, who tries to defend herself upon sensing the magic, but has one of her arms completely torn off by the blade. The heat makes her arm practically irrecoverable, even with magic.
And without Evelyn-sama to fix her body, she’ll never have that right arm healed properly, even with Faye’s healing. Faye desperately starts to carry Syl’Vyr away, while I’ve lost my sword, which shattered, and I didn’t even manage to kill those traitors. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
’Sorry, Evelyn-sama... I failed to kill her...’ I close my eyes, too tired to start a pursuit after the two. I lost this fight. This time, Syl’Vyr defeated me. But if I ever meet her again, I’ll definitely kill her.
