Ch. 21
Chapter 21: The Mysterious Witch Organization Behind the Scenes
Seeing Li Kainan, who had fallen into the Illusion Magic, finally break into a genuine smile on his face—as though he had completely sunk into it with no way out.
Witch Gaeli couldn't help but let out a cold laugh, saying:
"Within the Illusion Magic, you have now become Princess Elora……"
Witch Agatha, upon hearing this, also spoke with a mocking tone:
"To think that a knight of such formidable strength and unwavering will could not resist Princess Elora's beauty……"
The 2 witches clearly harbored jealousy toward Princess Elora, and so, in a rare moment, they found themselves in complete agreement.
"Hmph, men are all the same……"
"Exactly, how utterly shallow!"
And having convinced herself that she could take Li Kainan's life with a mere raise of her hand, the vicious and venomous look on Witch Agatha's face dissolved, and she once again became benevolent and magnanimous.
In that case, merciful and compassionate as I am, I shall forgive your transgressions and generously permit you to die within such a beautiful dream!
The golden radiance that surrounded her grew ever more dazzling, until she seemed like a goddess descending upon the mortal world, inspiring an urge to kneel and worship……
……
Within the illusion, the "Princess Elora" of peerless beauty walked up before Li Kainan, her form radiating a soft and hazy glow that compelled one to fall to their knees at the hem of her gown.
Li Kainan looked at the peerless beauty before him, who was gazing at him with an expression of admiration, and said with a serious expression:
"I have been waiting for you for a very long time!"
Belle, standing nearby, widened her eyes and immediately grew flustered.
Could it be that the husband she deeply loved was about to be taken away by Princess Elora?
Yet before she could dwell on that thought, in the very next moment, Li Kainan—clad in his magnificent ducal ceremonial attire and carrying no blade of any kind—suddenly pressed his right hand to his waist and made the motion of drawing a sword and swinging it.
Into Li Kainan's hand, which had been completely empty just a moment before, a magnificent Knight's Sword suddenly appeared, its blade gleaming with a piercing sharpness.
And the "Princess Elora" before him—scalding blood suddenly burst from her body, and she collapsed with a dazed expression on her face……
Li Kainan had the Eye of Insight, and he knew that the person before him was not Princess Elora at all!
What hovered above her head was a name displayed in red text—【Agatha】.
Green represented Friendly Units, so red naturally represented enemy units!
Keeping a cold and watchful eye from within the illusion while maintaining his clarity of mind at all times—it was only now that Li Kainan had finally waited for the person pulling the strings behind the scenes to reveal themselves!
But for some reason, even after Li Kainan had slain this individual, the illusion still had not disappeared.
The nobles at the banquet seemed as though they had not witnessed that shocking scene at all, and continued to play their music and dance.
At this moment, only Belle and Prince Adam stared at Li Kainan in shock and bewilderment as he struck out boldly against the "Princess Elora."
And the queen sitting behind the king let out a terrified scream at that very moment.
Li Kainan's head snapped up sharply, and above the queen's head there also appeared a red name—【Gaeli】.
No wonder the illusion hadn't disappeared—there was an accomplice all along!
Li Kainan reached again toward his waist, which had been completely empty, and conjured a Knight's Battle Axe from thin air, then hurled it with full force.
The Knight's Battle Axe carried a terrifying gust of wind with it, and in the blink of an eye it had already smashed into that "queen's" chest, pinning her straight to the ground!
The queen stared in shock at the axe that had pierced clean through her chest, and without managing to utter a single word, she was completely extinguished.
And with the queen's death, the wondrous illusion of the grand royal ball before him lost its magical sustenance and finally dissipated entirely……
……
Within the castle hall, Li Kainan's eyes snapped open and he scanned his surroundings.
A witch who had been struck across the chest by a sword lay on the ground, completely lifeless.
The golden radiance that had surrounded her body gradually dimmed, and her formerly slender figure rapidly shriveled, transforming into an old, ugly, and wizened witch.
The other, younger witch had been pinned to the ground by the longsword Li Kainan had hurled, and she too was dead!
Belle, Prince Adam, and the servants of the castle who lay on the ground slowly opened their eyes, sitting up with dazed and disoriented expressions on their faces.
Clearly, they were unable to fully pull themselves free from that wondrous dream world just yet……
Li Kainan pulled Prince Adam over and pointed at the 2 witches, asking:
"Do you recognize anyone here?"
Prince Adam was still somewhat dazed, but upon seeing the ugly, wizened old witch lying on the ground, he instinctively recoiled in shock.
He would never forget this old witch for as long as he lived!
Back when he had been hosting a banquet, this old witch had somehow broken her way in.
Even after he had already instructed someone to escort her to lodgings in the neighboring town, she still berated him for not knowing compassion, and then suddenly transformed and cast a spell to turn him into a monster……
"She is the witch who placed a curse on me!" Prince Adam said through gritted teeth.
Though his temper was not particularly good, as long as he was not under the influence of his beast nature, he was not a cruel or brutal person.
Yet even so, upon seeing this witch's corpse now, he still couldn't suppress the urge to draw his sword and run it through her a few more times!
For these past 10 years he had been forced to wear this hideous beast appearance, implicating his loyal attendants and servants, who lost their human forms and were turned into various pieces of furniture.
He had even been made to blame all of it on himself—that he was a selfish, cold-hearted man devoid of compassion, and so he had brought this punishment upon himself.
Not only had he been forced to endure the torment of having become a beast, but he had also suffered day and night from the confusion and bewilderment, the guilt and remorse that weighed upon his heart……
Seeing this, Li Kainan couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder in consolation.
Then Li Kainan crouched down and began searching the 2 witches' bodies for spoils.
Witches, by their very nature, inevitably possessed all manner of strange and unpredictable methods—even in death, they might have left behind contingencies.
But since Li Kainan carried【Evil-Breaking Force】on his person, he wasn't overly concerned about those sinister and wicked evil methods.
Nothing particularly valuable turned up—just some money and miscellaneous trinkets.
The only thing worth noting was that both of them carried the same emblem.
The design on the emblem was a black crow with yellow pupils.
Well, one look and you could tell it was the symbol of some kind of mysterious organization.
Li Kainan wasn't the least bit surprised—after all, having connected the many clues together, he had long since formed a theory in his mind.
Behind all of this, there was clearly a witch faction at work against the Kingdom of Cape!
Whether it was the magic cast upon Princess Elora back then, or turning Prince Adam into a beast—at its core, it was all aimed at the royal bloodline of Cape.
Right, Belle had mentioned it before as well.
Over these past 10 years, anyone who sought to claim the throne had either been defeated and killed, died of illness, or met their end through various accidents.
The Cape throne had even come to be called the "Cursed Crown"—and in all likelihood, these witches operating behind the scenes had their hands in that as well!
This was plainly an attempt to throw the realm into chaos……
Li Kainan picked up the emblem and examined it for a moment, then turned to Belle to ask whether she had ever seen this style of emblem before.
Belle shook her head, indicating she had not, and that she would need to go back and look through her books to investigate.
And it was at that very moment that Li Kainan was suddenly struck by a feeling, and his head snapped sharply upward.
There, perched high on the crossbeam of the castle hall, was a large crow—identical to the emblem's design, with those eerily yellow pupils—staring down at Li Kainan from above……