Chapter 85: Watch, This Is How to Use the Princess!
"Roar!"
With a beast-like roar from the prince, the syringe clattered to the ground. Xia Feng's sharp eyes caught the black vertical pupil symbol θ engraved on the syringe's handle—the unmistakable emblem of the sinister cult, the Burning Heaven Temple.
A low, ominous hum filled the air as dark purple flames erupted around the prince's body. A vertical fissure split open between his brows, pulsing like a grotesque, unopened eye.
Xia Feng didn't wait. In a blur of motion, he closed the distance, striking while the prince was still mid-transformation. Only a fool would let their enemy finish powering up.
Hiss—
The prince stood frozen, his body rigid, yet when Xia Feng's blade sliced toward his neck, it barely grazed the skin, leaving only a thin trail of blood. The sword shuddered violently, as if repelled by an unseen force, and Xia Feng was flung backward by the recoil.
The prince's head lolled unnaturally, bones cracking as he grinned, his voice dripping with malice.
"Ten seconds, boy. Just ten more seconds! Your death is coming!"
Xia Feng's gaze flicked to the prince's shadow. Motionless. If he activated Shadow of the Blood Beast now, he could end this.
"Master, please use me."
A soft, alluring voice snapped him from his thoughts. He turned to see the barefoot woman in the phoenix-patterned skirt staring at him intently, her large eyes solemn.
Right. Her.
As Xia Feng placed a hand atop her head, her form dissolved into crimson light, reshaping into a slender, scarlet blade. Intricate blood-red patterns coiled along its length, pulsing with eerie energy.
Gripping the sleek black hilt, Xia Feng shot forward again, his figure cutting a blazing red arc through the hollow hall.
"Master, excessive consumption of evil energy risks madness. Please exercise restraint."
The princess's voice echoed in his mind, grave yet melodic. Xia Feng smirked. "Relax. Your master's will is unbreakable—I could do this ten thousand times!"
In an instant, he was upon the prince once more, the blood sword raised high. The surrounding evil energy surged violently, spiraling into a vortex that funneled into the blade.
The prince's pupils constricted, his smirk faltering for a split second as he recognized the weapon.
The princess's blade?!
Annoyance flared, but his sneer returned. He wasn't worried.
The potion he'd injected—a forbidden elixir from the Burning Heaven Temple—had cost him his sanity and lifespan in exchange for a temporary surge in spiritual pressure and an ability called Joyful Eyes.
Once it activated, Xia Feng would die.
For these ten seconds of transformation, his defenses were absolute. The only risk? A 15% chance of a pathological side effect. But he refused to believe he'd be that unlucky.
His thoughts raced—until Xia Feng's voice snapped him back.
"Watch, this is how to use the princess!"
The prince's eyes widened. "?!"
The blade came down—but again, only a shallow cut split his forehead. Blood trickled into his bulging, bloodshot eyes.
A beat of silence.
Then the prince's grin stretched ear to ear, ghoulish. "That's it?"
Two seconds left.
Xia Feng blinked—then froze as the prince's expression twisted. His bulging eyes shrank to pinpricks, hands flying to his forehead as he staggered back, face draining of color.
"W-what?!"
Blood gushed from his mouth. He collapsed to his knees, clawing at his chest with a guttural scream. "AHHH—!"
Xia Feng sidestepped the splatter, tilting his head. "Well? Do you get it now? This is how the princess is used."
The prince's jet-black hair bleached white in seconds. Wrinkles carved into his face, skin sagging like rotten fruit. His screams turned to wet, choking gasps as his body withered into a hunched, skeletal figure.
"Ugh… gh—" A gnarled, skeletal hand reached weakly for the blade.
Xia Feng spun it away, watching coldly as understanding dawned.
So the evolution failed. This is the princess's power?
Convert evil energy into misfortune—then inflict it upon the target through even the slightest wound.
Absolutely terrifying.
The only catch? The misfortune's potency scaled with the wielder's spiritual pressure.
Level 1: 10% increased chance of calamity.
Level 2: 20%.
Level 3: 30%.
"AHHH—!" The prince writhed, his voice a ruined rasp as he glared up with milky, hate-filled eyes. "You… bastard!"
The prince couldn't comprehend it. When Xia Feng wielded the princess earlier, he had absorbed an overwhelming surge of evil energy—enough to drive any man to madness, to twist his body into ruin.
Yet Xia Feng stood unaffected.
Meanwhile, the prince's own body had betrayed him. Just as victory was within reach, the potion's curse had ravaged him. His organs failed, his soul fractured, his spiritual pressure shattered. In an instant, he was reduced to a broken husk.
Xia Feng flicked a blade into his palm and crouched beside the withering prince.
"W-what are you doing?!"
The prince's composure shattered. His lips trembled, his eyes wild with terror. "Don't kill me! I'll give you anything—anything!"
Never had he imagined he'd fall to this boy.
Xia Feng had climbed from the first level to the second, then the third—stealing even his princess along the way. Faced with such absurdity, any sane man would have fled.
But the prince had been arrogant. Certain of victory, he'd stayed. Now, regret choked him.
"Xia Feng! Spare me, please!"
The blade hovered closer. The prince's noble demeanor crumbled into groveling desperation. A pitiful grin split his face. "I'll be your dog! Money, power, women—name it, it's yours!"
His voice turned shrill. "The princess too! Take her! Use her however you want!"
The blade paused.
The prince's breath hitched. For a heartbeat, hope flickered—until he glimpsed the cold fury in Xia Feng's eyes. His gratitude died in his throat.
Because Xia Feng wasn't looking at him anymore.
Li Hongdou stood silently beside them. Wordlessly, Xia Feng pressed the blade into her small, shaking hands.
Her face was calm. Though her fingers trembled around the hilt, her resolve didn't waver. She knelt, gripped the blade tight, and—
"NO!!"
—plunged it down.
The scream cut off. The prince lay still, eyes bulging, the blade's crimson handle jutting from his forehead.
...
One Minute Earlier
When the princess first opened her eyes, a pillar of golden light erupted from the earth, piercing the night sky. The blood moon dimmed before its radiance.
Across the battlefield in the Xuanwu Domain, fighters on both sides froze. The Holy Department's forces exchanged uneasy glances. The Xuanwu Bureau Chief's expression darkened.
Bailong glared at the distant glow, teeth gritted. "I told you that brat couldn't be trusted! And you still—!"
Zhao Jie wiped blood from his mouth and grinned.
"Director Xuanwu… looks like you've lost."
(End of Chapter)