The Mythical Path of a Princess from a Destroyed Kingdom

The bodies of the soldiers who died there all withered, and their life force turned into a crimson mist that swirled around Maginus's body, pouring into the wound in her heart.

The girl's body gradually withered, her life force surged to the wound, and her once chubby face became skin close to her cheekbones, losing its former beauty and tenderness. Her hair and eye color changed in the same way as in the dream.

The magical equipment he carried was slowly destroyed, merging with the magic power within his body and flowing into his life force towards his heart. Some of it covered his entire body to prevent his soul from leaving. Everything was striving to fill the void and ensure his survival.

In addition, the price of resurrection is also being paid: the girl's original memories are disappearing, her knowledge of magic is reduced to common sense, and her methods of use are completely erased.

After an unknown amount of time, the hole in her heart was repaired, the lost blood was replenished, and her heart finally started beating again. The girl lying on the ground twitched her fingers slightly and fully woke up from the nightmare.

Maginot opened her eyes in confusion and looked around. She couldn't remember what she had experienced in her dream, but she had vivid memories of everything before her death.

"I-am I still alive?"

She spoke in a hoarse voice, the joy of surviving lasting only a few seconds before turning into overwhelming resentment. The scene of Susan stabbing her replayed in her mind again and again. Maginos wanted to scream but forcibly held back.

The scarlet girl looked up at the entrance to the tomb, her weak fists waving in the air, but then suddenly stopped midway, staring blankly at her no longer beautiful hands.

Is this really my own hand?

Her skin clung tightly to her bones, devoid of any flesh, and her joints were clearly visible. Maginos opened her mouth slightly, her eyes filled with disbelief. She instinctively wanted to cast a spell to see exactly what she looked like.

The result shocked her even more. No matter how hard she tried to recall, she couldn't remember any spellcasting methods, not even ritual spells that didn't require magic, and her magical equipment had also become ineffective...

"Is this the price of resurrection?"

The girl muttered to herself, but the sound behind her snapped her back to reality. She looked back in alarm and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the longsword fall to the ground. At the same time, she realized something.

Regardless of how she survived, this place is not safe to stay. I must leave as soon as possible, and I can think about everything else only after I can guarantee my safety.

With great difficulty, Maginus stood up and walked towards the secret passage, but her foot caught on the hilt of her sword and she fell down again. She looked at the protector who had tripped her, and the familiar weapon made the girl feel sad and resentful again.

Magenus wiped hard at the corners of her eyes, which were unable to shed tears. She did not refrain from using the weapon that the protector had used to kill her, even though it was the one that the traitor had used.

The girl struggled to pick up the longsword, found an ordinary scabbard, and inserted it into it, intending to take it with her. She was no longer able to cast spells, so this magical weapon might save her life in a critical moment.

Chapter 21 I Am Not Me

Suppressing her nausea and disgust for the sword's owner, Maginus gripped the hilt tightly and smiled sadly:

“Beauty protector, from now on I will have to protect myself. We have a deep friendship, and since your master no longer needs you, from today onwards you will be my sword.”

I wonder how my father and the others are doing; it must have just been a dream.

Fragments of memories other than those from her dreams were flowing into her mind as she remained awake longer, and Maginus comforted herself with words, giving herself false hope.

She stepped toward the secret passage, but her dirty dress made her stop again, and memories of discussing bard stories with other young ladies flooded her mind.

They're clearly running away, so why are they wearing skirts? That's strange.

I think I forgot simply because I was afraid.

Looking at the long dress her mother had carefully chosen for her, the girl put down her sword and stretched out her trembling hand to tear the dress apart with reluctance, her gaze turning to the soldiers lying on the ground.

A halfling soldier caught her attention. Maginos went over and stripped off his armor, clothes, and even boots. She put them on despite feeling nauseous, even though her skin was completely numb. The psychological effect still made her feel extremely itchy.

Picking up two standard-issue daggers, adjusting to the slightly oversized clothes, and glancing back at the soldiers who were still protecting her until the very end, the girl bowed to them, habitually wiping her eyes, and then picked up her longsword again and walked towards the wall.

Reaching the edge of the wall, Maginus raised her longsword to touch the torch on the wall, then stood on tiptoe and swung it forcefully to the other side, triggering the mechanism and causing the wall to move with a sound.

She glanced warily at the exit, and after confirming that no one was coming, she entered the secret passage. She pressed a button on the other side to close the secret passage door and proceeded along the wall into the pitch-black passage.

After walking less than 300 meters, Maginus was panting and wanted to sit down. Having just been resurrected, her muscles had no strength at all, and her stomach was telling her that she was hungry.

Thinking about her current situation, she forced herself to stand up and, driven by the will to survive, pushed herself to her limits.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, she finally reached the end of the secret passage. When she opened the door, a stench hit her, almost knocking her to the ground.

Entering the filthy, foul-smelling sewers, Maginus reduced her breathing, carefully walking along the edge, trying not to think about what she was stepping on, and praying in her heart that everyone would be safe.

A gentle breeze brushed her face, growing stronger as Maginus moved forward. She followed the wind, praying she wouldn't encounter any monsters in the sewers. After walking for some time, she finally saw the sewer's exit and the moonlight shining in from it.

Clutching her longsword tightly, Maginus cautiously stepped out, one hand gripping the hilt, ready to draw it at any moment. She glanced around to make sure no one was lying in ambush.

The sewer outlet connects to a vast mass grave, with one tomb after another standing before her. The girl pats the hilt of her sword and looks into the distance, where the filthy houses she once saw in paintings come into view.

Is that... a slum?

Too weak to speak, Maginot opened her mouth slightly. The fear in her heart could not suppress the exhaustion in her body. She sat down directly on the mass grave, recalling what Inser had told her. It seemed to be a very scary place, with many things like human traffickers and gangs.

What should she do next? Go find Inser or hide here?

Without much hesitation, the image of Susan, the traitor, flashed through the girl's mind. With a ferocious expression and her right hand touching her heart, she made her decision: to hide in the slums and slowly gather information.

She dared not trust anyone other than her family anymore. If Susan could betray her, then it was not impossible for Insai Junyang Yiling 1 Qi Shi Qia Jiu Jiu Er to do the same.

However, before going there, I need to bury the protector first. She is too conspicuous, and I don't have the strength to wield her. Two standard daggers will suffice for now.

Smelling the stench of the corpse emanating from who-knows-where, Maginos, having recovered, got up and began digging a small pit, making it as deep as possible, before burying the protector of the flower in the ground.

Having memorized its location, the girl looked around again and was startled when she spotted some wriggling shadows in the distance. She lowered her body and made her way through the weeds toward the slums.

On her way forward, she stopped again, touching her head in pain as her long, scarlet hair got caught in the weeds and pulled at her scalp.

Sensing that her long hair would bring her trouble, Maginos dug a pit for herself, placing a dagger on her prized hair but hesitating to strike, as the image of the person who combed her hair kept appearing in her memories.

Thinking of the skirt and everything she had done since then, in order to survive, the girl gritted her teeth and cut off her hair and threw it into the pit. She even went so far as to leave herself with only a stub of hair.

As she continued forward, waves of weakness washed over her. Maginot walked out of the mass grave and came to the dilapidated houses. When she saw the full picture of the slum, she realized that the painting she had seen had even been beautified.

Swallowing hard, Maginus glanced at her filthy clothes and walked into the slums, keeping a watchful eye on the emaciated poor people around her. But instead of greedy looks, they cast disgust and contempt at her.

Why are they looking at me like that?

A sense of doubt arose in Maginot's mind. Suddenly, a tremendous force shoved her aside. A burly man brushed past her, knocking her to the ground, and then left after merely glancing at her, muttering a curse:

"If you're starving, hurry to the border area to get food. Those soldiers who have invaded are distributing rations, you ugly monsters."

Is "ugly monster" referring to me? What exactly is my current state?

Maginos stared wide-eyed, bracing her fingers against the wall. As her eyes gradually adjusted to the moonlight, she saw a ditch in the shadows. The girl, who had been mentally prepared, walked there and looked down. She was even startled by her current appearance and instinctively leaned back.

That monster... was me?

Looking down into the ditch again, what came into view was a withered, emaciated "skeleton," with short, red hair, bulging eyes, pale skin clinging to the bones, and deathly white lips...

At this moment, Maginus herself was exactly like the undead creature she had read about in the book, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to the princess from before.

With her hands braced against the edge of the ditch, Maginot lowered her head. Others could not see her expression, but they could see drops of liquid sliding down her face.

Chapter 22 Fall

Three days after the palace burned down.

The morning sun shines on the streets. At the border between the civilian district and the slums, a large number of soldiers maintain order, and some food stalls are set up to help the poor.

There are two kinds of food: one is black bread mixed with sawdust and mainly made of wheat with the bran not removed; the other is a thick barley porridge, which occasionally contains wild grass or barley roots.

The soldiers seemed indifferent, and the poor did not dare to cause trouble in front of the guards. They lined up obediently, and after receiving their food, they went to the side, ate quietly, and returned to where they were supposed to go.

"Sigh... how did we suddenly get transferred here?"

"Of course it's because the Imperius royal family fell and the leadership changed. Who would dare to give us ordinary soldiers, who originally stood on Prince Kadenor's side, important positions? Luckily, we weren't high-ranking enough. You know, even now, we don't know where my captain is."

Two soldiers stood by a food stall, exchanging not-so-secret information. Over the past three days, the change of leadership had not affected the lives of ordinary people, and even the lower-ranking soldiers were not greatly impacted.

Perhaps there are still loyalists of the previous royal family hidden deep within the capital, but that has nothing to do with them. Life goes on as usual. The advantage of not letting a large army rush in is that the original order does not need to be disrupted again.

Apart from those who, in the eyes of the Allied forces, "should die," everyone else was safe and sound. They even had the leisure to provide relief to the people and offer more favorable conditions to wealthy merchants and nobles, thus ensuring greater stability in the capital.

At least for now, how much of the conditions given to nobles and wealthy merchants are actually designed to exploit the future populace...? In any case, the nobles don't care and are even happy to see it happen.

This measure was indeed very effective. The Imperius royal family was reduced to only two children living abroad and was effectively defunct. Even the once loyal family was now wavering, or at least on the surface.

Because they really don't need to speak up for a few dead people and families that are now in the past.

"Speaking of which, is it really true that the entire royal family is dead?"

One soldier asked curiously, while another unfolded the two portraits the new captain had given him. They depicted a handsome red-haired boy and a beautiful red-haired girl, clearly Walker and Maginus.

"Look, only these two princes and princesses are still on the run. I reckon they'll be found and arrested soon. Everyone else, including the king, seems to be dead. They say their bodies are about to be hung at the execution ground."

No sooner had the soldier finished speaking than the person in charge of distributing the food shouted, "Hey, if you don't want to eat, then don't eat!"

The soldiers looked over there, and a wooden bowl lying on the ground caught their attention. To be honest, they had their own ideas. What if they encountered a princess or prince fleeing from disaster?

Unfortunately, they immediately lost interest when they saw the person serving the porridge. He was a commoner who clearly hadn't eaten anything decent in a long time. Judging from his bony frame, it was obvious that he had no relation to a prince or princess whatsoever.

Speaking of which, that princess is apparently a spellcaster. If she could shapeshift, she wouldn't have kept a head of red short hair.

……

"I'm sorry, I don't know who I ran into."

Maginot bowed her head and apologized to the benefactors. At this moment, she was no longer a princess at all. Covered in filth, she had no trace of arrogance. She picked up the wooden bowl and drank the rest of the barley porridge in one gulp. Then, she took the black bread and went to the side to eat it silently.

It's not true... it's not true...

Recalling what the soldiers had said, Maggie Nuyi Lingshan told herself it was all a lie and prayed that they were just repeating hearsay.

After leaving the cemetery, the exiled girl wandered through the slums, unable to sleep all night. Hungry, she learned at dawn that people were giving alms to the poor on the streets. Hunger overwhelmed all fear, and she queued up to receive her first serving of barley porridge and black bread.

It was her first time eating such coarse food, but she didn't feel disgusted by either of them. Instead, she swallowed them in large gulps. One of the helpers, seeing this, immediately told her not to eat so fast, saying that her body couldn't take it.

Maginot didn't feel anything wrong with her abdomen, but to ensure she wouldn't be discovered, she followed the advice and imitated the beggars and poor people around her.

On her first day in the slums, Maginot, having recovered slightly, began to walk through the alleyways, her dagger tucked in her trousers so she could reach it at any moment. What she saw had a profound impact on her, leaving her in a daze all day.

"Intimate exchanges" between two or more people, wanton beatings of the weak, gang fights, corpses being carelessly dumped on the ground and then disposed of in mass graves by street administrators...

She saw a lot, but there was nothing in her stomach to vomit. She saw a lot of Maginos, who benefited from her ugly body that had hardly any flesh on it. Everyone who noticed her had no interest in her, since even her clothes were tattered.

The next day, unable to bear it any longer, she gripped a dagger and huddled in an alley. There were other beggars like her around. When night fell, she would open her eyes whenever anyone around her made a move. Her monstrous appearance even scared away many beggars who were interested in her clothes.

This is Maginus's third day. She is racking her brains trying to figure out how to replenish her nutrition. Her minimum goal is to be able to move normally again. Since she has lost her spellcasting ability, she can only start with melee combat.

Fortunately, she was very obedient. She had been learning swordsmanship before Teacher Santi came, and now she was just picking it up again.

However, the conversation between the two soldiers completely disrupted Maginos's thoughts. Deceiving herself, she recalled the horribly murdered family members and ultimately decided to go to the execution ground to see if her parents were there, even if she was captured.

It must be fake... It must be fake...

Maginus's lips trembled, but no one paid any attention to the little beggar.

……

As afternoon approached, Maginus, who had just received another meal of charity, noticed many people heading towards a certain place. She peered over to a little beggar beside her and asked, "What are they going to do?"

The hoarse voice startled the little beggar, who looked at the girl with disdain: "Don't you know? The king and his entire family's corpses have already been displayed."

The clean wooden bowl fell to the ground again. Maginos stood up and ran towards the crowd, following them to the execution ground, her hands clenched in hope that there was no body on it, that the body was just a fake.

Following the crowd to the so-called execution ground, the once spacious square had somehow become a huge platform. Maginus looked up through the gaps in the crowd and finally saw what she didn't want to see.

Chapter 23 Shattering Illusions, Desperate Reality

Ahhh... Ahhhhh

The girl, her pupils constricted, sat down on the ground. She didn't feel anything when someone stepped on her fingers. She just stared blankly at the sky visible through the gaps in the crowd, her mouth wide open but unable to make a sound.

On one of the pillars there, several heads hung and rotated, their wide eyes seemingly looking at Maginus and trying to convey something.

It's true, he's dead.

Looking at the familiar faces of her father, mother, brother, and sister, Maginos's repaired heart ached once again, even more than when it had been exposed. She raised her numb hands, one to cover her heart and the other to cover her mouth to prevent herself from crying out.

Helpless, she could only lower her head and suppress her despair, clutching the skin around her heart to ease her grief with real pain. She slowly got up and walked away from the crowd, refusing to listen to any sound or look at anything.

Hiding in the alley, Maginos covered her mouth and gasped for breath, tears falling again, her body limp on the ground, unable to move.

What will she do in the future? Who can she rely on?

No one can be trusted, and everyone who could be trusted is dead. Is she left to figure out how to survive all by herself?

The desperate girl sat motionless on the ground. Suddenly, a noise outside made her instinctively turn around and look at the execution ground. The shouts of the enemy in the distance rekindled her hope: "Wokri, you can't escape!"

An explosion caused by magic occurred at the execution ground, and the crowd of onlookers scattered in all directions, creating chaos at the scene.

Brother Wang!

Maginos took a step forward, wanting to see if her brother was really there, but stopped again and retreated into the alley, clenching her fists to suppress her longing for her only living relative.

She couldn't go and cause trouble, as this was very likely an enemy's scheme, and she couldn't die with her brother.

If even her last remaining relative were to die, she truly wouldn't know what to do. But if it really were the last person to die...

Taking a deep breath to ease her inner pain, the girl looked back again at the family members who seemed to be watching her. Despair and sorrow were turning into endless hatred, and the handsome man and Susan's face appeared in her mind.

Kill them! Kill them!