The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 178

Chapter 178: The Mirage’s Oath (2)

If one were to see Princess Elena without the perception interference, the first thought that would come to mind is “beautiful.”

Even Cain, who had seen countless beauties both in his previous life and in this one, would immediately choose her if asked to name the most beautiful woman.

‘She’s almost suspiciously beautiful.’

Cain narrows his eyes.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-geong━!

Elena’s punches become more refined.

At first, she was just a baby, swinging her fists as if she had just been born into the world. The second time, she was a young child who had learned what to hit.

The third time, she was a boy who had gained strength, and the fourth time, she was a young man who had also acquired skill.

Just as a human grows as long as they are alive, even without anyone’s teaching, so did Elena’s fists.

Her only teacher was herself.

Swish━!

She retreated in a flash from the pincer attack coming from both sides.

Blue and red flower petals of the water lily scattered into the air following her steps.

Thud━.

And both fists clenched tight.

She smashed the heads of the dungeon monsters that had jumped at her from both sides with her fists.

‘A beauty so bizarre and a talent that far surpasses it.’

Cain thought of Abel.

He had always thought that Abel was the one with the most overwhelming talent.

But at this moment, that conviction wavers.

If Abel developed infinitely with his momentary flashes of talent, Elena was a beast that was brilliant all year round. And Cain was merely witnessing the beast’s first punch.

What does it mean for a single woman to unify the vast Kreuz Empire?

Cain had only read about it in the newspapers from the Great Wall, but as he watched the Iron-Blooded Princess walk her path, he thought it was similar to his own.

That’s why he paid more attention.

A lonely road.

But a road followed by countless people.

A path of blood forged through fighting and struggling.

A life of fighting because one must fight, and killing because one must kill.

At first, the newspaper articles he read were just to control the support coming to the Great Wall, but at some point, he began to cheer for the Iron-Blooded Princess.

And now, the Princess is right before his eyes.

He didn’t know yet if this Elena was the Iron-Blooded Elena, but one thing was certain: she had the talent to be worthy of the title ‘Iron-Blooded’.

The instinct to fight for survival.

The beast’s senses to bite and tear.

The human conviction to never back down.

If all of humanity’s small talents were gathered and put into one body, it would be the 13th Princess, Elena.

“Huuuh━.”

A flower garden splattered with green blood.

She wiped her blood-stained face with both hands. However, her face only became dirtier with the blood and flesh stuck to her hands.

Chuck━.

Unable to bear the sight any longer, Cain took out a handkerchief from his pocket and tossed it to her.

She caught it without looking and smiled brightly.

“T, The hero’s manners are quite good.”

“Are you stuttering on purpose?”

Cain asked, tilting his head.

At the same time, it seems this room has been cleared as both the sky and the flower garden scatter into green dust.

The traces of the monsters that had soiled Elena also disappeared, and all that remained were a few drops of her sweat and Cain’s clean handkerchief.

“I started doing it on purpose at first. My mother told me to never stand out. She said I have to be a little foolish so that everyone can underestimate me and I can survive.”

Although there was no more blood, as if she wanted to erase the past, Elena wiped her hands and face with Cain’s handkerchief.

Then, she put it in her pocket.

“I’ll wash this and return it to you later.”

“The acting foolish part too?”

Elena smiled bitterly.

A smile born from worry.

Should she tell a pleasant lie, or tell the truth even if it’s unpleasant to hear?

She looked down at her hand, where the feeling of the handkerchief still lingered, and shook her head.

“The stuttering was a bit of an act, but the rest is pretty much like me. No, it’s exactly the same.”

Cain responded to her bitter smile with a light laugh.

“Just a difference in whether you have power or not.”

Elena’s eyes widened.

Even if it’s the same action, it looks different when a princess does it compared to when a powerful princess does it.

He thought she might think he was hiding something and deceiving her, just like what Elena had experienced so far, but he was different.

“Take a deep breath. This is the second room.”

Cain didn’t care what she was, what she did, or whether she was pretty or not.

He was just curious if she was indeed the Iron-Blooded Princess.

‘The Iron-Blooded Princess’s face was disfigured by burns, and no one knew her true identity or which princess she was. I wonder how that happened.’

Cain hoped the reason was related to this ‘Märchen Group Suicide Case’.

Because if it was, then at least he could save her.

Rumble━.

The world changes.

It was clearly an endless field of flowers just a moment ago, but now a cave appears.

No, to be precise, a pitch-black pit trap of unknown depth, created by humans, was opening its maw.

“This is the first room that first-year cadets have to go through in their final exams.”

Elena, who was familiar with how the exams were conducted, even though this was her first time in a dungeon, pointed inside and said.

“The academy’s instructors have set up traps inside that are almost non-lethal, and if you get through them and reach the other side, you pass.”

“……It doesn’t seem easy for a first-year to pass.”

Just passing by the traps is easy.

The problem is the darkness.

Even Cain’s vision couldn’t penetrate the darkness created by the dungeon, clearly an intentional obstruction.

Elena also looked at the place.

“I know there are usually torches, but there aren’t any.”

“That Procell must have messed with it.”

However, there’s no way he could completely ignore the rules of the dungeon.

He increased the number of monsters in the first room and removed the light in the trap room as obstacles.

Swoosh━.

Cain drew his holy sword.

[‘Summer’ says the sunlight it creates is a thousand times better than those measly torches.]

The faintly shining golden light instantly brightens the surroundings.

No matter how much the dungeon and the devils try to block the path with darkness, they cannot overcome the light of the holy sword.

The darkness that had obscured their vision instantly dispersed.

“Let’s go.”

Cain said to Elena, holding the holy sword.

“…….”

She didn’t answer.

She looked at the cave, its entrance illuminated, with a contemplative expression for a moment before turning to Cain and saying,

“I want to try it on my own.”

“You want to clear this without the holy sword’s light?”

“I know logically I can’t, but somehow I feel like I can do it.”

Elena’s violet eyes met Cain’s, unwavering and vivid.

Cain averted his gaze and turned to the cave, its entrance illuminated.

‘If it’s just this much, an A-rank mercenary or a regular member of the Ethelred Knights could do it, but…….’

The problem was whether the princess, who had just started throwing punches, could achieve that standard.

Tap, tap━.

Cain chuckled and lightly tapped ‘Summer’.

[‘Summer’ says that woman might be able to do it.]

At the same time, the light faded, and darkness, like the surface of the night sea, surged and enveloped the cave.

Cain casually clasped his hands behind his back and gestured towards the cave with his chin.

“If it seems dangerous, I’ll intervene.”

“Yes!”

Elena smiled brightly.

At that moment, Cain realized that Elena resembled him.

More precisely, his past self.

When he was the Lord East of the Great Wall.

Rather than the happiness between people.

He saw his past self, who used to smile in the midst of the tension that could only be felt in life-or-death situations, overlapping with Elena.

🔹🔹🔹

Shhhhhhh━!

White powder falls from the ceiling above where Elena stands.

Rumble━.

The ground beneath her feet collapses in an instant.

If she panics and breathes, she’ll inhale poison, and if she stops, she’ll fall and be pierced by the sharp spears gleaming below.

A life-or-death situation.

“……!”

Cain’s eyes widened as he saw how she reacted.

‘Normally, you’d strike down with your weapon or jump to the other side in one go…….’

Wheeew━.

Elena shifted her weight to her back foot, which was planted firmly on the ground, and pulled her body back.

It seemed natural, but in reality, pulling your body back by putting force on your back foot after taking a step forward is a feat close to impossible.

‘She may not look it, but her physical abilities are enough to beat most knights.’

Beauty is a form of bait.

Cain watched the explosive talent hidden within her.

Moreover, the problem was the darkness.

Only a small area around Cain was visible thanks to ‘Summer’s light, but Elena was navigating through a place where she couldn’t see an inch ahead, relying solely on her other senses.

Tat-tat-tat━.

Elena lightly stepped on the wall and moved to the next one.

She deflected the sharp daggers that shot out the moment she touched the wall, navigating the traps solely by sound.

Cain followed behind her, easily crossing the floor traps.

“Cain-nim.”

Elena, who had been silently crossing the traps, called out to him.

“Yes.”

“By any chance, did you come from the future?”

“……!”

Her unexpected but pointed question left Cain speechless for a moment.

“Or does the holy sword really show the future?”

“Is it because of Mauve?”

In the repeating ‘night’ of the entrance ceremony, Cain’s retained memories could be attributed to him being a hero.

However, knowing that Procell and Mauve, who hadn’t even met yet, would form a contract in the future, and then seeking him out and capturing him in advance, was definitely something Elena could be suspicious of.

“Yes. When I first asked, I thought he might be an acquaintance you only knew by name, but it seemed like you asked about Cadet Mauve in order to find this place.”

The future warrior, Turtle Mauve.

The present academy cadet, Mauve.

The regret that the same person, both as one, had poured out so earnestly had remained as a burden on his heart, prompting him to act.

Cain shrugged casually.

“Something like that.”

“Then do you perhaps know my future too?”

Elena asked, continuing to move forward.

Cain, caught off guard by her question, remained silent for a moment, and she continued.

“I told you my mother was a slave, right? To be precise, she was a member of a demi-human race captured by the Imperial Palace.”

“……!”

While elves and dwarves still existed, most demi-human races had long been extinct since the ‘Holy War’ between the Empire and the Holy See.

Even their names and cultures were lost to time.

“His Majesty the Emperor took a demi-human woman as a slave in the Imperial Palace, and then one day, he slept with her, and I was born.”

“You don’t look like you have mixed blood.”

“Even when my mother was first captured, there was a lot of controversy at the magic tower. No matter how you looked at her, she was an ordinary human woman, but her mana signature was that of a demi-human.”

Cain stroked his chin.

He was quite knowledgeable about demi-humans, but such a case was rare. The closest example he could think of was the fairy race.

“And after I was born, the Imperial Palace, unable to figure out what kind of demi-human my mother was, abandoned us. Or rather, they ‘distributed’ us.”

The ‘distribution’ of Kreuz.

The Empire had many princesses.

Which meant there were many mothers as well.

The Kreuz Imperial family valued bloodlines that inherited their abilities, so they had as many children as possible and only accepted the talented ones into the Imperial family.

The remaining mothers and children were passed on to influential noble families.

It wasn’t a bad deal for the nobles, as having the Emperor’s woman as their own meant they were that much closer to the Imperial family, and from the perspective of the Imperial family, it was an efficient way to manage their bloodline.

This process was what the Kreuz Empire called ‘distribution.’

“My mother never told me what race she was, even until the very end. But when she died, her body disappeared and turned into a tree, so…….”

“A Dryad.”

A quiet demi-human race belonging to the fairy race, their true nature and ecology largely unknown.

“Yes. And that mother of mine, like a prophecy, told me something that I’m curious if it’s true.”

Elena’s face was only faintly visible.

However, Cain felt like he knew what expression she was making.

“What did she say?”

“She told me never to get married, no matter what. She said the world would be ruined on the day I get married.”

“…….”

At that moment, Cain was convinced.

“Cain-nim, you know the future, so I want to ask. Is it true?”

The Elena before his eyes was indeed the Iron-Blooded Princess who was supposed to marry the hero, Abel.

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