The air was heavy with frost, the cold as sharp as a torturer's blade.
The Queen approached with slow, deliberate steps. Her gaze was locked onto Lunethia like a predator's sight, and the frost dagger in her hand shimmered with a murderous glint. Every footfall sounded like the ticking countdown of a reaper's clock.
"Stop... RIGHT THERE!! We aren't finished yet!!"
Rhine's roar shook the cavern.
Impaled against the stone wall, his body erupted in a violent surge of flames. He was forcibly burning his own life force to melt the two ice swords piercing through his torso. The fire swirled like a raging tide; he looked like a human torch, his entire frame trembling under the strain.
However—
The ice swords showed no sign of melting.
The Queen let out a cold snort, her tone detached and cruel. "The legendary Divine Sun-Flame does indeed possess the trait of being inextinguishable."
She continued her march, not even bothering to glance back at him. "But your current strength—it is all being spent just to keep your physical body from failing."
"How much focus do you have left to break free?"
The rest of the group remained paralyzed by the Forbidden Hex. Their souls felt as though they had been nailed to their flesh; they were forced to watch the impending execution, unable to even twitch a finger in protest.
In the midst of this despair—
Karl suddenly laughed.
"You are currently trapped within the Pent-Elemental Mana Void..."
His voice was calm, yet it carried a razor-sharp edge. "And you just sacrificed your own arm to force that Forbidden Hex."
"Right now—your mana reserves must be completely hollowed out, aren't they?"
The Queen's pace faltered for a fraction of a second.
But she did not stop.
"Even so," she said frostily. "The moment Lunethia dies, this array will collapse of its own accord."
Her voice remained flat, devoid of emotion. "And at that moment—you all will still be nothing more than corpses."
"That doesn't matter," Karl replied softly.
His tone was tranquil, yet it felt like a cold blade pressed against a throat.
"As long as you cannot stop me—in this exact heartbeat—that will be enough."
Before the words had even finished echoing—
He made a sharp motion with his hand.
His entire being transformed into a burst of starlight, tearing itself away from his physical shell!
A streak of brilliant, flowing light lunged straight for the Queen!
The Queen whipped her head around, her killing intent surging. "An ambush without cover? What exactly do you think that Astral Form of yours can accomplish!?"
"I'm not here to hurt you," Karl said with a faint, knowing smile.
"I'm just here... to deliver this."
In the split second the Queen hesitated, the star-like silhouette closed the distance. At the very last heartbeat, it came to a sudden halt and rapidly retreated.
It was only then—
That she sensed it.
A crystal ring had, at some unknown point, quietly drifted to her side. Her attention had been entirely consumed by the blinding starlight of Karl's soul.
The ring had been there all along.
The Queen's pupils contracted, finally revealing a flicker of genuine terror. "This is... Ceresta's—"
Within the cell, Lunethia—who had been on the verge of despair—seized this singular thread of hope. She bit her lower lip, marshaling every ounce of her strength to scream those two words:
"— Explode!"
The next instant—
BOOM!!!!
Thunder and flame erupted simultaneously!
The violent energy sealed within the ring released all at once, like a collapsing star. The terrifying shockwave tore through the cramped space of the dungeon with apocalyptic force.
The Queen's expression twisted in horror. She desperately funneled the very last of her internal mana to manifest a defensive barrier—
But the price was visible ruin.
Her once raven-black hair turned silver-white in a single breath. Her skin cracked and withered like dying wood, and her life-fire plummeted toward extinction.
The world went silent.
A pillar of searing white light tore through the ceiling of the dungeon, piercing the heart of the night sky!
The entire Royal Capital shook at that moment. Commoners looked up in awe at the brilliance tearing through the darkness; some fell to their knees in terror, others closed their eyes in prayer, as if a god had unleashed its divine wrath.
A long time passed.
The light eventually dissipated.
The shattered ceiling allowed the moonlight to pour down like water, illuminating the charred ruins below.
Inside the dungeon—
Everything was a wreck.
"Cough... cough..."
Though still bound in place by the remnants of the hex, the group had been slammed against the stone walls by the aftershock of the blast, leaving them battered and bloodied.
The violent surge of energy did more than just shatter the architecture; it forcibly disrupted the Pent-Elemental Mana Void and dissolved the Forbidden Hex.
Chakra—at long last—began to flow once more.
"Curse you..."
The Queen stood in the center of the ruins.
Her body was charred, and her once-regal hair drifted in the wind like withered silver silk. Every drop of color had vanished from her visage, her skin now as dry and cracked as the bark of an ancient, dying tree.
Yet—
Within her eyes, a cold and stubborn killing intent still flickered.
She wheezed, her voice a low, raspy shadow of its former self. "I only had time... to direct the blast upward..."
"My life force... has reached its absolute limit..."
In a corner, Rena remained curled up, clutching her head and coughing violently. "Cough... that old hag... is truly insane..."
Gerald struggled to roll over, his voice deep and fragile. "Stop talking..."
"First... we must restore our Chakra..."
"I... I can't keep going..." Owen lay nearby, his chest heaving. His massive hammer had been thrown from his grip, rolling away into the debris of a distant wall.
Karl leaned against a shattered stone pillar, a weak, mocking smile playing on his lips. "Well, Witch... was that explosion... to your satisfaction?"
At the heart of the blast—
Gareth had shielded Milia with his own body. His back was a gruesome sight, his flesh torn and scorched, yet he grit his teeth and refused to fall.
"Gareth!"
Milia cried out in shock, her hands trembling as she gripped his shoulders. "Are you alright!?"
He opened his mouth to respond but could find no words; he simply gave a slow, pained nod of his head.
The air was thick with the scent of ozone, scorched earth, and impending death. Everyone understood the stakes: if the Queen could still channel natural forces to regenerate now that the array was gone, everything they had sacrificed would be for nothing.
However—
The Queen did not cast a spell.
Nor did she launch another attack.
She simply took one step, then another, resuming her march toward Lunethia.
Unwilling to concede, reluctant to let go, and devoid of regret. She grit her teeth, dragging her collapsing form forward as if she were in a personal war against her own physical limits.
She moved with a singular purpose—to complete the final execution.
The Queen's footsteps were so heavy it seemed she might collapse at any moment.
Yet, the sight of her approach allowed no one to breathe a sigh of relief.
Lunethia looked up at her, tears welling in her eyes. Because the brunt of the explosion had been directed upward, she had escaped without serious physical injury—but her heart felt as though it had been pierced by shards of ice.
The person standing before her... was this her mother, or a demon?
Why—even at this point, even at the edge of death—was she so hell-bent on killing her?
The Queen slowly raised her trembling right hand. The frost blade glinted with a bone-chilling light under the moon's gaze.
"Lunethia..."
Her voice was raspy and low, like the wind crawling out from the deepest depths of an abyss. "Let it all... come to an end..."
In the heartbeat before the dagger could touch her throat—a white shadow suddenly flashed!
"Snap!"
The white rabbit lunged from Lunethia's arms, its teeth sinking deep into the Queen's wrist!
The Queen gasped, letting out a low, guttural snarl. "You—!?"
In the next instant, realization seemed to strike her like a physical blow. Her pupils contracted sharply. "So... it was you all along!"
She flipped her wrist, reversing her grip on the frost blade—and stabbed downward without a second of hesitation!
"Psh—!"
"MISTER RABBIT!!" Lunethia screamed in agony.
The blade sank deep into the rabbit's small body.
However—
It did not let go.
Clamping its teeth onto her wrist, the rabbit thrashed its body with the last of its strength, desperate to force the Queen's lethal aim off-course. Even if it was only for a single heartbeat—it would stand in her way.
The Queen grit her teeth and cursed, her voice tinged with madness. "So... you were the one constantly interfering with me..."
Her fingers were losing their strength; her body was completely spent, a lamp without oil. Yet she pushed on, trying to tear this nuisance away from her.
"Thud."
Finally, the white rabbit could endure no more. It fell to the ground alongside the frost dagger, its breathing weak and shallow.
Yet, it still struggled to lift its head one last time to look at Lunethia.
In those small eyes, there was no fear.
There was only—gentleness and the silent promise of protection.
The Queen gasped for air, her chest heaving with a rattling sound.
She slowly opened her palm and leaned down with agonizing difficulty, her fingers clawing toward the fallen frost dagger.
Lunethia's tears flowed like a torrential spring, her voice trembling until it shattered. "Please... I beg you... don't kill him..."
"Please... don't kill Mister Rabbit..."
However—
The Queen gave no response.
She kept her head bowed as cold sweat dripped from her chin. Gritting her teeth, she continued to reach out, her hand inching toward the blade.
At that exact moment—
"DONG—!"
"DONG—!"
The heavy, ancient toll of a bell suddenly erupted. Like the verdict of a cosmic judge, the sound echoed from the heart of the Royal Capital, reverberating through the dungeon in layer upon layer of somber sound.
Simultaneously—
A towering figure burst through the dungeon entrance.
General Helan.
The moment he stepped inside, his gaze swept across the battlefield with tactical precision.
Rhine, impaled and pinned to the stone wall—
The others, scattered across the floor, battered and bloodied—
He took it all in within a single heartbeat.
"Your Highness!" Helan cried out in shock, charging immediately toward Rhine.
He reached out to grasp the two ice swords, but he froze before applying any force. He didn't dare pull them out. He knew all too well that a sudden extraction would likely trigger a fatal hemorrhage.
"Cough... cough..."
Rhine's face was deathly pale and his breath was shallow, yet he forced himself to speak. "Don't... worry about me..."
His eyes remained locked onto the silhouette ahead, his voice hoarse but resolute. "Quickly... kill her..."
With a shaking hand, Rhine pointed toward the Queen, who remained kneeling before Lunethia like a broken doll.
A surge of killing intent erupted in Helan's eyes. He raised his greatsword and let out a roar of fury. "Witch—PREPARE TO DIE!"
However—
The Queen seemed to have no strength left to resist.
She kept her head lowered, her voice fractured like a half-remembered nightmare. "It's too late... the time has come... Have I... failed...?"
Helan's brow furrowed in confusion. "What are you babbling about? You—"
"Everything... is already over..." the Queen murmured, appearing to sink into some inescapable destiny. "We... have lost..."
"Enough of your nonsense!"
Helan roared, his blade descending with a thunderous, wind-splitting force!
"——Stop."
A soft, gentle voice. Yet, in an instant, it resonated within the very souls of everyone present.
General Helan's movements came to a jarring halt. His hand remained suspended in mid-air, unable to descend even a fraction of an inch further.
It wasn't just his hand. His body, his breath, and even his very will—everything felt bound by an invisible force, trapped within a heavy, suffocating mire.
He whipped his head around, his pupils contracting in shock.
The girl who should have been shackled to the cross—Lunethia.
She was now standing there, perfectly still. A smile of almost holy serenity played upon her lips. It was a smile that commanded involuntary reverence... and even terror. It was not the expression of a prisoner.
In the next heartbeat—
The chains binding her body quietly disintegrated. Without a sound, they turned into a cloud of iron filings, scattering and vanishing into the air.
Lunethia's body began to drift upward, as if gravity itself no longer held any sway over her.
Within the void—
A massive silver mirror materialized. The surface rippled like water, sending out layer upon layer of shimmering waves. She walked toward the mirror, one step at a time, her expression calm and her eyes as clear as they had been at the very beginning.
She reached out a hand. Her voice was as light as a passing breeze—
"Come back."
"SHATTER!!"
The mirror's surface suddenly exploded! Amidst the scattering shards of light, a blurred, spectral image of the Queen slowly emerged from the glass. The shadow looked like a soul that had been sealed away for an eternity.
Step by step, the shadow approached, finally transforming into a streak of flowing light that merged into Lunethia's body.
The surroundings fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone held their breath; even their pain was momentarily forgotten. They could do nothing but stare, eyes wide, at the young girl floating in mid-air.
An otherworldly aura was radiating from her—a presence so foreign and vast that it felt entirely alien to the world they knew.
Rhine clenched his fists. The Divine Flame within him grew restless, flickering with an instinctive warning. He didn't know if the person standing before them was still Lunethia or something else entirely.
The only thing he could do was desperately try to recover his strength.
The rest of the party remained silent as well. Chakra quietly circulated within their bodies, but no one dared to make a move.
Only Helan, standing the closest, could feel it with such jarring clarity.
The intuition forged through years of bloody warfare screamed a frantic warning in his mind. The "her" standing before them was no longer the Lunethia of moments ago. Her very existence had become something that inspired an primal, instinctive dread.
It wasn't a sense of killing intent. It was a cold shudder emanating from the very depths of the soul.
At the exact moment the spectral image fully merged with her—the girl slowly opened her eyes.
Before she had closed them, her irises were a clear, deep blue. But now, they had transformed into an eerie, supernatural amber-red.
She looked down, gazing at the kneeling Queen. A slow, meaningful smile curved upon her lips.
"I..." she spoke softly. "Am back."
"WITCH!! What have you done to Lunethia!?" Rhine roared and staggered forward a step.
The girl floating in mid-air turned her head slowly, her black hair swaying like silk. Within those eyes reflected a light that was utterly foreign, yet hauntingly familiar. She looked at Rhine and smiled.
"Oh?"
Her tone was gentle, tinged with a hint of curiosity. "A descendant of the Sun God..."
Her gaze shifted slightly, landing on Karl, who was still struggling to recover. "And another... one with the radiance of the stars hidden within his soul."
She tilted her head slightly. "You are of the Starlight God's bloodline, aren't you?"
The voice was as warm as a summer breeze, yet it sent an icy chill down everyone's spine.
"LUNETHIA!" Rhine refused to give up, his voice thick with desperation and unease. "What is happening to you!?"
The girl did not answer. She slowly averted her gaze, looking once more at the Queen kneeling on the floor. Her tone was light, yet carried an indescribable weight.
"What is the matter? I have returned—won't you even welcome me?"
The Queen remained motionless, her head bowed as if she heard nothing at all. She slowly closed her eyes, remaining as silent as a stone.
"Heh... hehe..."
A soft giggle escaped the girl's lips. It was a gentle sound, yet it carried a predatory, dangerous undertone.
"Ten years, hasn't it?"
She leaned down slightly, her deep, amber-red gaze boring into the kneeling figure. "Did you truly believe—did you really think you would succeed?"
Her tone remained soft, but it was now laced with a thin, mocking layer of ridicule.
Rhine staggered forward another step, his voice trembling with a mix of fury and fear. "LUNETHIA!! Who are you—"
"Quiet."
The girl turned her head slowly. Her gaze was as cold and sharp as a blade, carrying an absolute, unquestionable authority.
"I am speaking with my dear sister. You... will be silent."
She made a slight flicking motion with her finger. A faint, glowing rune manifested over Rhine's mouth like a padlock, sealing his voice. He could only let out low, muffled grunts; though his rage simmered in his chest, it could no longer be shaped into words.
"You are not Lunethia," Gerald said, slowly forcing himself to stand. His gaze was steady and razor-sharp. "Who—exactly—are you?"
The girl blinked, appearing momentarily stunned by his interruption, before a look of genuine curiosity crossed her face.
"Oh?" She tilted her head, peering at him as if examining a strange specimen. "And who were you again? Hmm... I feel like... I have a lingering impression..."
She pressed a hand to her temple, seemingly sifting through a vast, ancient library of memories. Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
"Ah, that's right."
"I almost forgot about you."
Before the words had even faded, she flicked her wrist. A soft, irresistible light shot out, sinking into the body of the fallen white rabbit.
The next heartbeat, the rabbit's small frame began to hover. Light swirled around it like a cocoon. The sound of bones snapping and reshaping—crack, crack—echoed with ear-piercing clarity through the silent dungeon.
The creature's form rapidly expanded, elongating and restructuring itself. Moments later, a towering figure slammed heavily onto the ground.
It was a man of massive, muscular proportions.
Except—
His head remained that of a soft, snow-white rabbit.
"MY QUEEN!!" The rabbit-headed man collapsed to his knees instantly, his voice trembling with overwhelming emotion. "Your servant... your servant thought his end had truly come!"
The shift in power is now absolute. The girl who looked like Lunethia has transformed the battlefield into her personal theater, turning a terrifying monster into a loyal, albeit physically mismatched, servant.
Here is the translation and refinement for Chapter 46(9):
Chapter 46(9): The Silence of the Audience
The girl—or rather, "She"—smiled faintly and gave a small, approving nod.
"Your loyalty is noted."
"Even if you had truly perished... I would have been willing to bring you back."
The rabbit-headed man was overcome with emotion, hurriedly patting down his newly reclaimed body. Chest, arms, muscles—every inch was brimming with raw power.
However—
When his hands reached his head, his movements faltered.
"Um... My Queen..."
He spoke hesitantly, "Your servant's head... does it not... feel a bit strange?"
The girl blinked, then playfully stuck out her tongue.
"Oh? Does it?"
She gave a light giggle, her tone carrying a dash of nonchalant charm. "Terribly sorry... I've somewhat forgotten what your original face looked like."
She tilted her head, appearing to reflect seriously for a fleeting second. "But—"
"Isn't being a white rabbit quite adorable?"
The rabbit-headed man froze. For a brief moment, a complex light flickered in his eyes.
But it vanished instantly. He snapped his body straight, his voice booming and resolute:
"Your servant—is eternally grateful to the Queen for this new life!!"
The girl nodded with satisfaction before turning around. Her gaze swept over the crowd in the dungeon, taking in their varying expressions—confusion, shock, fury, and fear.
Finally, her eyes landed on the original Queen, who remained silent with her eyes closed.
Slowly, the girl spread her arms wide. Her smile grew more radiant, like a lead actress standing center stage.
"Very well."
"It has been ten years since I last had a proper conversation with anyone."
Her voice was lighthearted and cheerful. "Since that is the case—"
"Allow me to tell you all a story."
"Thea..."
Rena's voice trembled slightly, filled with an unavoidable sorrow and disbelief. "You..."
"Be quiet."
The girl's eyes turned cold as ice. She flicked her finger.
"When someone is telling a story—listening in silence is the only polite thing to do."
The next instant—
An invisible force surged out like a tidal wave, sweeping across the room. It sealed the voices of everyone present.
The dungeon plunged into a sudden, absolute dead silence. You could have heard a pin drop.
Then—
She snapped her fingers with effortless elegance.
"Snap."
The crisp sound rang out with startling clarity in the oppressive silence.
Within the void—
An exquisite round table materialized out of thin air, covered in a tablecloth of finely embroidered lace. Upon it sat a plate of strawberries, ruby-red and glistening, atop a delicate cake, alongside a cup of black tea that sent wisps of fragrant steam into the air.
Immediately after, a high-backed chair slowly manifested.
She took her seat composedly.
Under the collective, paralyzed gaze of the group, she lifted the teacup and gently blew away the rising steam.
Her smile—
Was like a rose in full bloom.
Beautiful.
Yet lethal.
"Fortunately..." she murmured softly.
"Confections kept within a Spatial Pocket do not spoil."
She blinked playfully. Her tone was whimsical, yet it carried a hidden, razor-sharp edge.
"I haven't eaten a thing in ten years."
"So—let us have a story while I dine."
She leaned forward slightly, her gaze sweeping over every person in the room.
"You all..."
"Must listen very, very carefully."