EnCoffin Me Chapter 78 (Part 2)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 78.2
As the princess approached the castle, countless paper figures whirled and danced in the massive ballroom on the first floor, uttering refined words whose meanings were far more vicious than those of the guards in the garden. Words like ‘sl*t,' ‘wh*re,' ‘shameless,’ and ‘frivolous and lowly’ were all rephrased elegantly, flying menacingly throughout the hall. The nobles laughed, reveling in the joy of humiliating a dignified person who had fallen from grace.
The princess silenced them one by one. Finally, with a swing of his sickle, he shattered the magical phonograph that constantly played music. Several torn pages fluttered down.
【The first time I saw him, he pretended to be a human noble. He asked me to dance, and his hand was so warm.】
【On the terrace, he seemed to try to scare me by spreading his black wings.】
【I thought he was the God of Death. I said so foolishly, but he smiled at me.】
【No, I'm not the God of Death. I am a dragon.】
【That's what he told me, and our souls resonated.】
The ballroom was silent. The black-haired, red-eyed princess tossed his hair and carried the sickle up to the second floor. The live comments gradually quieted as the story recorded on those torn pages made many feel uneasy.
【I've got Xixi Cat in my eyes. Combined with the dungeon starting point, I smell the scent of knives hoo】
(T/N: knives — slang for emotional pain/angst)
【Go, Princess Xixi! Defeat them and go with the dragon!】
【Charge, charge, charge!】
The maid's quarters on the second floor were the center of gossip and also a true test of movement and stealth skills. At least that's what Alexio thought. The story pages were scattered throughout the rooms, increasing the player's workload. Despite Alexio's agility and alertness, he was nearly ambushed several times. He felt the game's difficulty was really high, not once considering that his approach might be wrong.
【When I was little, the gentle head maid would tell me all kinds of stories. How the dragon plundered kingdoms to gather treasures, then the hero would jump out with his sword to fight the dragon. The head maid said Rhine was that hero, chosen by the holy sword, and I should choose him too.】
【I find it a bit… hard to imagine…】
【Sorry, I just can't picture what it would be like to live as husband and wife with Rhine. He's a good person, really, it's me who's the problem…】
【But I am a princess, and princesses are supposed to marry heroes.】
【I'm happy to marry Rhine… I guess…】
Princess Xixi found a hidden mechanism on the bookshelf and immediately sensed something was there. In the princess' narrative, characters often appeared later as monsters. Since the clawing head maid was already torn to pieces, there had to be a hidden boss.
The story that had imposed a rigid fate on the princess' life.
A secret door opened, revealing a floating book that suddenly shot out magical beams when touched by light. Princess Xixi tore it apart, keeping only the hard cover to fan himself. With a piece of cardboard in one hand and the sickle in the other, he headed to the third floor to continue cutting down enemies.
The third floor's recreational lounge held memories of the princess' childhood spent with the hero Rhine. From the words left behind, it was clear that not only the princess, but perhaps the hero's feelings toward her were more deep friendship than love. Yet, the legend dictated otherwise. The hero gradually stopped questioning it and naturally believed he was meant to marry the princess.
【He doesn't truly love the princess. Or rather, he only loves the idea of ‘the princess.’】
【Agree with the comment above. Arranged marriages ruin lives.】
【Judging by the records from the lower floors, the hero probably ended up feeling betrayed. I bet he's the final boss.】
【But who could possibly defeat Princess Xixi?】
【Exactly!】
At that time, Alexio didn't realize that his hardcore style of clearing the game had already made the livestream go viral. More and more people joined in, discussing the story of the princess and the dragon. Most saw the game as an adventure featuring Princess Xixi. No matter how tough the monsters, none could escape his sickle.
【Cat carrying sickle.jpg】
【Let's see who dares to defy Princess Xixi! Heads will roll off!】
【I really love Xixi's look here. He's not a princess anymore, but a vengeful witch! So cool!】
This message flashed across the screen and briefly caught the attention of the lich, whose dark eyes burned quietly with soul flames. She stared at the screen without any expression. Zhen had been watching her for a while and noticed that Lucy's mood seemed off. Despite Alexi's gameplay and the lively comments, the lich showed no sign of amusement.
“Lucy, are you feeling down today?”
The lich gently shook her head.
“No, I'm not. I just realized something.”
“What is it?”
“It's strange. Alexi hasn't laughed even once.”
“That…”
“He used to be so happy when playing games.”
“……”
The black-haired, red-eyed princess carried his sickle as he walked alone through the vast, empty castle. The castle's layout was quite peculiar. A massive spiral staircase dominated the central area. Players had to fully explore each floor and obtain the key before they could ascend to the next level. By now, Alexio had reached the fourth floor, where the king and queen's chambers were located. Upon seeing the princess, two elaborately dressed paper figures immediately met her with scorn and contempt.
【You've brought shame upon us!】
【Why can't you think more about the entire kingdom?】
【I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but…】
The scattered pages carried the princess' sorrowful voice.
【But I've already awakened. After meeting him, I can no longer return to the life arranged for me as a princess.】
【Father, Mother, can we sit down and talk?】
But the furious king and queen refused to listen to a single word. Without hesitation, they raised their weapons against their once dearly beloved daughter. Alexio felt a slight heaviness in his body, a debuff called ‘Princess's Guilt’ that lowered his abilities by about twenty percent. He remained composed, even expressionless, and his first attack was directed at the queen!
Healing skills were just too much trouble.
Actually, following the normal walkthrough, the entire game originally had no boss battles. All levels could be completed through various tactics. At the king and queen's floor, the player simply needed to wear the wedding dress representing compromise, then obtain the princess' childhood necklace from the lounge. These two items symbolized the princess' temporary surrender. The king and queen would then allow the princess to pass to the Hall of Judgment on the next floor.
But Alexio refused to compromise.
He hadn't smiled once the entire time, because for him who knew everything, this was no longer just a game. At this moment, it felt as if he was fighting for an old friend. He silently watched it all, understanding the princess' past struggles. Although he often complained about the dragon showing off their love in front of him, he truly wished his friend happiness, even if…
This was just a virtual game, a virtual sweet dream.
So he chose to wield the sickle and rebel on behalf of his friends. He was strong enough, tough enough. He would break every cage and never compromise, determined to bring a good ending to his old friends.
This was the only thing he could do.
The princess, with black hair and red eyes, sickle in hand and skirt billowing, severed the king's legs and the queen's arms.
Alexio popped a candy in his mouth to restore health. He didn't kill the king and queen, knowing the princess wouldn't have done that. Stepping over the two paper figures crawling on the floor, he kept a cold expression and ascended the spiral staircase to the next level.
The Hall of Judgment.
The place was lavish, all objects shimmering with a sense of justice and holiness. Beneath the sacred judgment seat, one paper figure wore a priest's robe, the other a chief justice's robe. Although their hushed conversation should have been inaudible, Alexio carefully sneaked closer.
“I truly wish to execute that kingdom's disgrace. I can't stand her for even a second!” the chief judge said. “Just thinking she's been near the evil dragon, I feel defiled even being in the same space as her.”
“Please hold your patience for now. After we finish slaying the dragon, it won't be too late for you to act,” the priest replied with a faint smile. “Although our Holy Temple is a new organization, we've mobilized all our forces. With your kingdom's hero wielding the holy sword, we can use the princess as a hostage to control the dragon.
“All preparations are in place. The kingdom's famed sea of flowers will become the dragon's burial ground.”
The chief judge's brows gradually relaxed.
“As agreed previously, our kingdom wants a share of both the dragon bones and dragon blood. And the Holy Temple should rightfully grant us at least three pieces of dragon scale armors. After all, without the princess as a hostage, even if you tried for hundreds more years, you wouldn't be able to slay the dragon.”
“Of course that's not a problem. What the Holy Temple wants is just to share the glory of slaying the dragon equally with your kingdom's hero.”
The audience was exploding with outrage.
【Ugh! What a despicable face! Such despicable and vile creatures!】
【Is the dragon okay?! Ahhh! What if the princess reaches the top floor only to watch the dragon get slaughtered in the sea of flowers?! That's way too tragic!】
【Sister above, go check it out! There's a livestream from the dragon's perspective next door… oh my god!】
【History Book! History Book has the dragon's role! Wow! He's so shiny… uh, I mean his scales.】
The silver dragon soared across the land, gradually seeing the sea of flowers ahead and the castle above it. Lucius' depressed mood finally eased. He hadn't expected the dragon to be just a tool, only flying through. He figured once he flew to Alexio's side, the game would have been cleared. So what was the point of him participating in this livestream? Still, on the way, Lucius caught some rumors.
It seemed an undercurrent was stirring to slay the dragon. He grew more alert and glanced at his energy bar.
Good. Ten dragon breaths to annihilate the kingdom — the safest option.
He had to admit, in some ways, his thinking was surprisingly similar to Alexio's.
Meanwhile, Alexio was locked in a tough battle. Although his initial ambush had reduced the priest's health by a third, the situation was still grim. Why attack the Holy Temple first? Simply because he hated them. The priest and the chief judge were a warrior and a support. The priest's buffs were especially numerous, driving him nearly crazy. Gritting his teeth, Alexio retreated a bit and watched helplessly as the priest restored his health completely. He decided it was time to eat some candies to heal.
Alexio's hand froze as he reached for a candy. He glanced at his nearly empty health bar and recalled how he had deliberately weakened his attacks earlier.
The princess was a hostage…
Changing his approach, he pressed on with critically low health and forcibly killed the priest. The chief judge, finally feeling his life truly threatened, no longer held back. But without those buffs, Alexio could easily defeat him by popping a candy.
At last, the princess reached the castle's top floor. An endless breeze of light embraced him, and Alexio caught the scent of flowers. He looked back at the spiral staircase swallowed by darkness, then turned forward again. In the boundless light, the silver dragon spread its wings and flew toward him.
The princess didn't immediately reach out to the dragon. Instead, he turned and plunging his scythe deep into the chest of a paper figure climbing up the stairs. The paper figure wore the hero's cape. After taking a direct hit, it stumbled backward. Alexio glanced at its seemingly endless health bar and knew this wasn't someone to fight head-on.
The reason he could spot another paper figure was simple. Everyone mentioned in the princess' narrative would appear as a paper monster, and that naturally included the dragon-slaying hero. Alexio recognized him, that tragic chosen one of the holy sword. He pitied him but hated him even more.
He tilted the scythe, the paper figure dangling from it, a bewildered and indignant expression appearing on its faceless countenance.
“You've been deceived by the dragon! You've forgotten your mission and forgotten my love for you!”
The scythe tilted even more sharply as the black-haired, red-eyed princess remained expressionless.
“That wasn't love.”
“No! No! Please listen to me! It was the dragon who misled you!”
“I don't want to hear it.” Alexio was about to let go when suddenly he remembered something and gave his first faint, ironic smile since entering the game.
“I almost forgot, this thing should be yours. After all, this is all you truly love.”
His hand reached above his head and took the princess' silver crown from her black hair. The paper hero saw the crown and realized what was about to happen. He shook his head slowly.
“No… no… please, leave it on your head… you can't… you can't!”
Alexio tossed the crown down the spiral staircase. The paper figure screamed in pain, pulled himself off the scythe, and fell after the crown. The sound of the crown hitting the stairs echoed in the darkness until all sounds stopped.
The princess' long black hair lost its crown and fell completely loose. Alexio held the hair with one hand and casually dropped the scythe as well. Just as he turned, the saint, in the form of a silver dragon, suddenly embraced him. Alexio's cheek rested on the other's shoulder, and in that moment, he saw the dragon-like fin on the saint's ear.
He slowly lowered his eyes, not struggling, merely leaning there.
Above the brilliant sea of flowers, flames spread. The Holy Temple and kingdom's arrangements burned to ashes under the dragon's breath. It was a perfect ending. But Alexio knew, just as Pupil said, this was only a sweet dream.
He suddenly felt the urge to tell the lunatic something.
“She actually… never really escaped… She died in the dungeon, accepted the lich's phylactery, and became the new lich.
“And before she died, right there in that brilliant sea of flowers… the Holy Temple and the kingdom were dividing the dragon's skin and bones.”
He slowly lifted his head. In the game, he was the princess who brought ruin to the kingdom. In reality, he was an avenger shedding blood and tears.
“I… confronted the Holy Temple and the kingdom, retrieved the dragon's corpse, and sent it back to the dragon tomb in time and space. That's where he truly belongs.”
He didn't need to say anything more because even the lunatic understood—
The heavily damaged Holy Temple noticed this powerful third-generation vampire. On the destined hunter's list, Alexio's name stood at the top.
It was the end of a tragic love, and the beginning of a new encounter.