THE VILLAIN'S POV

Chapter 401: The Shadow and the Puppet

Sansa vs. Adriana — or more accurately, Beatrice’s puppet.

The battle had reached its climax.

After unlocking her version of Seris’s armor, Sansa quickly realized she couldn’t sustain it for long. Unlike Seris’s composed ice, her shadows were chaotic — far stronger, but far more draining. The sheer consumption of stamina forced the princess to make one thing clear: she had to end the fight now.

But Beatrice wasn’t about to give her that chance.

The witch kept her trapped, bombarding her from all directions with blades, spears, and spells — never leaving the slightest opening.

”You’re about to lose... my dearest friend,”

Beatrice sneered, unleashing another ruthless barrage.

In response, Sansa wrapped her shadowy wings around herself, forming a cocoon that held off Beatrice’s onslaught.

The defense held, but barely. Her stamina was running dry ... and it was only a matter of time before the barrier cracked.

Realizing this, Sansa’s mind raced, analyzing every possible move.

Beatrice was smart. She kept her distance at all times, never letting anyone get close. Even with the boost from her armor, Sansa’s enhanced speed and power weren’t enough to close the gap so easily.

”I need a way to erase that distance...”

Under the pitch-black sky, the battlefield was lit only by Beatrice’s magical cannons — and in that moment, Sansa remembered something crucial:

In the darkness... her shadows were at their peak.

Recalling her berserk battle against Frey Starlight and Oliver Khan, she swirled her shadows around her and dove toward the ground at full speed.

”Trying to flee? And where do you think you’re going?”

Beatrice laughed, redirecting her projectiles downward.

Sansa continued her dive — exposing herself to attacks from above — until she vanished into the earth, swallowed by shadow.

Beatrice blinked.

”Her presence... it’s completely gone.”

Irritated, she scanned the battlefield. Sansa’s aura had disappeared without a trace.

Then her voice echoed from the void:

”This is a gift from the demons you worship so faithfully.”

”As long as there’s darkness... I can move freely through this battlefield!”

Beatrice’s eyes widened as she felt a presence — this time directly above her.

Sansa had reappeared, crouched in the shadows of a high ridge above the gate.

Without hesitation, a colossal hand of darkness formed around her arm. She hurled it down toward Beatrice, aiming to crush her.

”Annoying trick...”

With a flick of her staff, Beatrice conjured a massive shield above her head. The hand slammed down with brutal force — but her barrier held firm.

”Your cheap tricks won’t work on me.”

But as she spoke...

Every cannon and weapon she had summoned was suddenly shattered — one by one — by shadowy blades erupting from every corner of the darkness.

As long as shadows existed...

Sansa could strike from anywhere.

It was the same terrifying power that once shook even the highest Imperial generals.

Beatrice recognized it instantly.

”A knockoff of the Shadow King’s power... how pathetic.”

”And this silly imitation will be your downfall!”

Sansa surged forward, forming another colossal hand — this time around her left arm.

She combined both hands into a massive spiraling drill of shadows and launched it downward. The drill spun violently, breaking through Beatrice’s barrier with sheer force.

”I was closer to you than anyone else. I was your only real friend... and yet I failed to see what you were hiding behind that shy, innocent face.”

As the drill spun, more and more shadowy blades erupted across the battlefield — Sansa pressing harder.

She had always prided herself on her ability to read people better than anyone else. But with Adriana, she had failed.

If she had realized sooner, maybe they could’ve prevented the catastrophe that followed.

But she hadn’t. Despite distrusting nearly everyone...

She let her guard down for the one girl who had pretended to be meek and kind.

And now... she was paying the price.

”It’s too late to undo what’s been done ... but I will kill you here and now!”

Gathering every last ounce of strength, Sansa surged forward to finish it — to carve through Adriana’s defenses and end her.

But Beatrice had one more card to play.

With a whisper of magic, a radiant circle of light wrapped around her like armor ... a divine shield that stopped every last blade of shadow cold.

”Your powers are truly formidable. After all, they’re derived from the Shadow of the King... but ...”

With a wicked grin, Beatrice raised her right index finger toward the sky.

”Your shadows are far too weak, Sansa. You can’t even wield your own power properly. How disgraceful.”

A small ember of flame appeared at the tip of her finger. Within seconds, it grew into a blazing miniature sun that illuminated the battlefield with violent brilliance.

”Burn them for me.”

The searing light drove away all the shadows that blanketed the battlefield.

”If this were truly the King’s Shadow, a paltry light like this wouldn’t erase it. But you... you’re just a cheap imitation, Sansa. Kihihihi.”

The comparison itself was unfair.

The true King’s Shadow required the power of the Lord of Light himself to be countered — not the might of a mere puppet.

The gap was immense.

Now, with all the darkness wiped away, Beatrice pointed her hand directly at Sansa.

”Goodbye.”

She unleashed a beam of devastating aura that swallowed Sansa whole, tearing through the ground beneath her with explosive force.

It was overwhelming ... and Beatrice was certain it would be enough.

But the truth quickly proved otherwise.

She only realized something was wrong when a sword made of shadow pierced through her abdomen ... Sansa had reappeared within the very beam meant to destroy her, having withstood its force using what remained of her armor.

Half of her shadow armor had already disintegrated. Her body was bloodied and broken.

Yet she had finally closed the distance.

Her blade now embedded deep within Beatrice’s stomach.

”I finally reached you...”

Sansa gasped for breath, face to face with the witch, her shadow blade lodged deep.

It should have been a critical strike — fatal, even.

But Beatrice showed no pain. She smiled.

”Well done, Sansa.”

Genuinely praising her, the witch raised her hand once more ... and fired another devastating beam of aura at point-blank range, blasting Sansa violently toward the ground.

Screaming in pain, the princess crashed, her body breaking on impact. Her shadows dispersed completely.

She lay on the ground — bleeding, heaving — as Beatrice slowly pulled the shadow blade from her stomach.

”What a pity. But this body... isn’t like the others.”

Despite the red blood it spilled, Adriana’s body was nothing but a vessel — a puppet.

It couldn’t be killed by a wound like that.

And that realization dawned on Sansa... far too late.

As she struggled on the ground, Beatrice descended slowly from the sky. The artificial sun above faded, restoring the battlefield to its natural darkness.

”You fought well, Sansa. I didn’t expect you to land a hit at all. A shame it ends here.”

Raising her finger again, Beatrice summoned fire once more, surrounding herself with a corona of destruction ... ready to erase Sansa once and for all.

”You were nothing more than a defective product of an experimental demon seed. You failed your mission... and clung to life by stealing power from demons. A failed experiment like you should’ve died long ago.”

Preparing to unleash the final blow, Beatrice smiled cruelly.

”I’ll clean up this filth myself.”

Faced with the power poised to end her existence, Sansa slowly closed her eyes.

She spoke her last words quietly.

”Yes... I should have died a long time ago.”

Since the day she was kidnapped in the distant past...

Since the fight against Oliver and Frey...

”But I survived. And I’ll keep surviving.”

At that moment — just before Beatrice could unleash her final attack — blood splattered once again.

Dozens of shadow tendrils erupted from Beatrice’s own shadow, piercing through her and lifting her violently into the air.

Sansa, barely able to stand, rose to her feet — panting — as she gazed at Adriana’s impaled body.

”At last... I’ve weakened you enough.”

She spoke with difficulty, her words heavy, as Beatrice stared down at her in disbelief.

”How?!” she cried.

”How did you place your shadows there?!”

It didn’t make sense.

Sansa had exhausted her strength. Beatrice had been far too vigilant to let her plant shadows inside her without noticing.

And yet...

The princess smiled faintly.

”I have a wretched brother... who never stopped trying to sink his filthy hands into my life. He sent pawns after me one by one... until I saw everyone around me as a potential enemy.”

Since childhood, Sansa had learned to distrust everyone who got too close ... all because of Aegon, who had tried to kill her more than once.

So ever since she gained the power of shadows — and since the incident where Veyrith attacked her long ago — she had developed a secret technique:

Sansa hid portions of her power in the shadows of those closest to her. Not just to harm them... but to protect them as well.

”I planted my shadows inside your shadow a long time ago...”

”Though I never expected I’d end up using them against you... Adriana.”

Suspended in the sky, her body pierced by dozens of shadowy spikes, Beatrice nodded with a smile.

”I see... So that’s why I didn’t sense them until the end. You hid them long ago. Clever move.”

Despite the gaping wounds tearing through her puppet’s flesh, she spoke with nonchalance .. as if pain were beneath her.

Seeing this, Sansa instinctively became wary. Beatrice, meanwhile, sighed in mild annoyance.

”Ah, dear me... I really need to stop lowering my guard the moment I think the battle’s over. That’s the second time this happened to my precious doll.”

Beatrice’s casual remark triggered something in Sansa’s mind.

”Dolls?” she asked with a frown.

The witch simply returned to her usual smile.

”This body’s done for. It’s going to die soon. Let’s call it a draw... Sansa.”

”What are you talking about? And what do you mean by ’dolls’?”

Sansa pressed for answers, but Beatrice ignored her, chuckling wickedly instead.

At that moment — right in front of the gate — the ground beneath Sansa’s feet suddenly lit up.

Beatrice had activated one of the magical traps she had set earlier in the battlefield, along with the Red Gate trap.

Seeing the light, Sansa immediately tried to flee.

But it was too late.

”I’m sorry, Sansa. But you weren’t the only one who saved their trump card for the end.”

As Beatrice spoke...

A thin beam of light emerged from thin air.

A simple pillar of light .. yet it pierced straight through Sansa’s chest without mercy, leaving a gaping, bloody hole over twenty centimeters wide.

The beam shot through her entire body, exiting her back and leaving an empty cavity that revealed the sky beyond.

Sansa’s eyes lost their spark almost instantly. Blood poured endlessly from the wound as her body crumpled to the ground.

At the same time, Adriana’s body also collapsed ... the shadows that sustained her puppet vanishing along with Sansa’s fading life.

Their lifeless bodies lay side by side, both staring blankly at the empty night sky, their blood pooling beneath them.

It was the final note in a brutal battle ... between a cunning witch and a princess who fought until the very end.

Sansa Valerion vs Adriana.

This round ended in a draw .. and the death of both.