Free Web NovelLiselotte moved.
She thrust both hands forward suddenly.
Several cracks burst open on the gray sand.
Slender, pale vines reached out from the cracks.
These vines were completely different from the ones she had summoned in reality before.
There was no emerald green color, no burgeoning vitality.
They were grayish-white, like withered branches that had been drained of all moisture.
The surfaces were covered with a layer of fine fuzz, looking like some kind of fungus that had grown in the dark for too long.
But they were still vines.
They could still entwine, pierce, and strangle.
In this dead space, this was the limit of what she could manage.
The vines lunged toward the tall woman like snakes.
From the left, from the right, and from beneath the ground.
Attacking from three directions simultaneously.
The female knight did not dodge.
She didn't even raise her hand.
She just stood there, watching the vines pounce toward her.
The eyes behind the helmet's slit were as calm as if watching a boring performance.
The vines wrapped around her arms.
Wrapped around her waist.
Wrapped around her neck.
The grayish-white withered branches tightened against her exposed skin, leaving shallow marks.
Liselotte's eyes narrowed slightly.
She gave a slight flick of her finger.
The fuzz on the vines began to tremble.
That seemingly harmless fine fuzz was actually one of the Path of the Empress's most insidious weapons.
They would pierce the skin, spread along the blood vessels, and drain vitality.
In reality, anyone pierced by this fuzz would turn into a dried corpse within minutes.
But the female knight merely looked down at the vines wrapped around her.
Then, she smiled.
It was a condescending smile tinged with a bit of pity.
Like an adult watching a child try to attack them with a wooden sword.
"Is that it?"
Her voice came from within the helmet, deep and raspy.
Then, she moved.
There were no complex movements, just a simple expansion.
Her muscles swelled in an instant.
Those already astonishingly thick muscle fibers seemed to be injected with some kind of power, bulging one by one.
Biceps, deltoids, trapezius, latissimus dorsi.
Every muscle throbbed frantically beneath her skin.
It was as if countless snakes were slithering through her body.
The vines wrapped around her made an overburdened creaking sound.
The grayish-white withered branches were stretched thinner and thinner.
And then—
They snapped.
Like snapping lute strings.
Fragments flew in all directions.
Liselotte's expression changed.
She took a step back and thrust both hands forward again.
More vines surged from the ground.
This time there were over a dozen.
Thicker, denser, and more frantic.
They were like a pack of hungry pythons, lunging at the female knight from every angle.
The female knight still didn't dodge.
She simply raised her right hand.
Clenched it into a fist.
And gave a light swing at the air in front of her.
The moment the fist fell, the air itself seemed to be shattered.
A visible shockwave spread forward from her fist.
Like a transparent wall, it pushed outward with her at the center.
The vines lunging at her trembled violently within the shockwave.
Then, they were crushed as if by an invisible giant hand.
Grayish-white debris danced in the air like an eerie snowstorm.
Damn it, this really is a fight I can't win; the gap is too large.
In that case, there's only one last move.
Liselotte stepped back and then slammed both hands onto the ground.
The gray sand vibrated violently under her palms, and a rich green light surged from her body.
That was vitality.
Her own vitality.
It was her own life essence, accumulated over long years as a Wayfarer of the Path of the Empress.
Even though she was currently in a soul state, this vitality still accompanied her.
The green light seeped into the ground.
Seeping into that gray, dead sand that resembled bone ash.
This time, what appeared were not vines, but roots.
Massive, thick things like the root system of an ancient tree.
They bored out from beneath the sand and grew frantically in the air. freewebnσvel.cѳm
Twisting, entwining, and interlacing.
They wrapped her entire being inside.
Layer upon layer, airtight.
From the outside, it looked like a giant cocoon woven from withered wood.
The female knight raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
She raised her fist.
And smashed it toward the cocoon.
Boom—!
The fist slammed into the root system, producing a dull, thunderous roar.
A section of the cocoon's surface dented inward.
Several thinner roots snapped, debris flying.
But the cocoon did not break.
The female knight's eyes narrowed slightly.
She swung her fist again.
This time with even greater force.
Boom—!
Another thunderous roar.
A crack appeared on the surface of the cocoon.
More roots snapped.
But the cocoon still didn't break.
Because as it was being damaged, new roots were growing from the inside to fill the gaps.
Liselotte was using her own vitality to constantly repair the cocoon.
The female knight stopped her attack.
She watched the self-repairing cocoon, silent for a few seconds.
"A bit interesting,"
she said.
"So, how long do you plan to hide inside?"
Inside the cocoon, Liselotte did not answer.
She was rapidly consuming her own vitality.
With every repair, her soul became a degree more transparent.
She knew she couldn't hold out for long.
But she didn't need to hold out for long.
She only needed to hold out until—
After a few more attacks, outside the cocoon, the female knight seemed to lose her patience.
"Fine. Originally, I wanted to take my time playing with you,"
she said.
"But my dear Highness is about to arrive, and I can't have you here spoiling the mood.
"So I'll just have to help you out."
She took a few steps back.
Then, her body began to undergo a change.
Those already incredible muscles swelled once more.
But this time, the magnitude of expansion far exceeded before.
Her height increased.
Her shoulder width increased.
Her entire being was like a rising mountain peak.
A crimson light radiated from her body.
That was the power of the Path of the Tower.
The power of destruction.
She was gathering strength.
Inside the cocoon, Liselotte felt that ever-strengthening sense of pressure.
She knew the cocoon absolutely would not be able to block the next strike.
But this was exactly what she wanted.
She quietly adjusted her position within the cocoon.
Adjusting to a precise angle.
Come on.
Hit me.
Hit me with your strongest strike.
The female knight's charge was complete.
Her body had expanded to twice its original size.
Like a war statue cast from flesh and blood.
She raised her right fist.
Crimson light was entwined around her fist.
As if she were holding a miniature sun.
"Goodbye, little bug."
The fist fell.
This time, there were no fancy techniques.
Only pure, overwhelming, destructive power.
The cocoon was pierced through in an instant.
Those layered root systems were torn apart like they were made of paper.
Fragments danced in the air like a blizzard of withered leaves.
And Liselotte, under the impact of this power, was sent flying.
To be more accurate, she was launched out.
Her body traced a straight arc through the air.
The speed was so fast she couldn't even see her surroundings clearly.
Only the whistling wind screamed in her ears.
She slammed into the stands.
The stone stands.
Hard, cold, and completely inelastic stone.
Her back slammed heavily onto the stone steps, then she bounced, slammed down again, and bounced again.
Like a ball thrown with great force.
Finally, she came to a stop on the thirty-seventh row of the stands.
Her entire skeletal frame was creaking.
Pain.
Intense pain.
Even in a soul state, an impact of this degree still brought about severe agony.
The backlash from burning her vitality also surged up at this moment.
Her soul form had already become semi-transparent.
But Liselotte didn't make a sound.
She didn't even frown.
Because she was smiling.
On the edge of her vision.
Less than ten meters above where she lay.
The crack was right there.
The crack leading to the outside world.
Her exit.
You've been fooled! X&@ Knight! This is exactly her escape route!
You lost the battle of wits against me, Liselotte!
Everything was within the plan.
As mentioned before, on this battlefield that was extremely disadvantageous to her, facing a ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) high-sequence Destroyer in their prime.
It was completely impossible for her to win in a head-on battle.
She wasn't one to seek out her own death.
So she chose another path.
She intentionally exposed her position.
Intentionally launched those attacks that were destined to fail.
Intentionally wrapped herself in a cocoon, making the opponent think she was making a final stand like a trapped beast.
Then, intentionally adjusted herself to the correct angle when that punch arrived.
She needed to be sent flying.
She needed to use the opponent's power to send herself near that crack.
She had flown such a great distance that even the female knight opposite her couldn't possibly reach her side instantly.
She was betting on the opponent's contempt.
Betting on the winner's nonchalance toward the loser.
And she had won the bet.
Liselotte forced herself to crawl up.
Her soul form had become very blurred.
That punch just now, combined with the consumption of burning her vitality earlier, had caused more damage to her than she had anticipated.
But it didn't matter.
As long as she could escape, it was all worth it.
She began to climb upward.
One step, two steps, three steps.
With every step she climbed, her body became a degree more transparent.
But she didn't care.
The crack was right before her eyes.
Ten meters.
Seven meters.
Five meters.
She heard footsteps behind her.
The female knight seemed to have noticed something was wrong.
And began to walk this way.
But it was already too late.
Three meters.
Two meters.
One meter.
Liselotte lunged toward the crack.
Her fingers touched the edge of the crack.
Cold and rough, as if touching the boundary of the world.
She used the last of her strength to squeeze herself inside.
The crack was narrow.
So narrow it almost crushed her soul.
But she didn't care.
She desperately burrowed forward.
Forward.
Forward.
Forward.
Then, she passed through.
It was light!
There was sunlight!
True, warm, golden sunlight.
She had succeeded!
Liselotte tumbled out from the crack.
Her soul form was tattered and broken.
But she was laughing.
Laughing so hard she almost shed tears.
She had succeeded!
She had escaped!
That damn arena, that damn female knight, and those damn Paranov Guard Knights.
She had left them all behind!
Now, she only needed to—
She raised her head.
The smile froze on her face.
She saw a sea of flowers.
Multicolored flowers swayed gently in the breeze.
Red ones, white ones, purple ones, yellow ones.
They covered her entire field of vision.
At the end of the sea of flowers were rolling green hills.
Sunlight poured down from the azure sky.
Warm, bright, and vitality-filled sunlight.
And less than three meters in front of her. freewebnσvel.cøm
Stood a young girl.
The girl wore a dignified and elegant court dress.
White silk, exquisite lace, and a skirt embroidered with intricate patterns.
The lower edge of the skirt was stained with some mud, but this did not diminish her temperament in the slightest.
Her hair was very long, a mix of silver and dark red, falling to her waist.
The tips of her hair fluttered gently in the breeze.
Her eyes were crimson.
Deep and calm, like charcoal that had been burning for a long time.
The girl was looking at her.
Her face wore a complex expression that was quite difficult to describe.
And behind the girl.
Stood a squad of knights.
Wearing the exact same attire as the woman in the arena.
Black iron helmets, bare upper bodies, with only loincloths for covering.
Every one of them was muscular and covered in scars.
Every one of them radiated a suffocating pressure.
They were also looking at Liselotte with very complex gazes.
Liselotte's mind went blank.
She...
Didn't she...
Escape...?
Where is this?
"Hello."
The girl spoke.
Her voice was very light and soft.
Carrying a warmth that was inexplicably reassuring.
"Let's reintroduce ourselves. My name is Pavela von Schwartz."
"Welcome to my Mental Space."
