Chapter 220

〈Chapter 220〉 Part 1, Chapter 10, Section 23

At that moment, the Royal Palace of London, England.

When Phoenix lit the mint candle…

An unexpected Mint Chocolate craze was sweeping through the royal kitchen as well.

“Is it not ready yet?”

The blonde maiden tapping her foot impatiently urged the chefs on. The US-made Mint Chocolate they had urgently procured had already disappeared seven boxes worth.

“I’m hungry for mint too.”

“…I apologize. This dish was made too long ago.”

The head chef bowed deeply in apology. Though he had received a knighthood for his culinary skills alone, the person before him was one of the powers behind the throne of the royal family. There was no choice but to prepare what was asked.

“Princess… please consider your dignity…”

The maid clinging to the blonde princess’ side scanned the kitchen with a troubled expression. Even though she usually acted willfully, the current behavior of the golden-haired princess was verging on excessive.

“Her Majesty the Queen might worry. Eating too many desserts will affect…”

“Not just me. All these desserts are for…”

The princess, perched atop the table, stroked the back of a black cat that had buried its face in a bowl.

“For this child here.”

Meow!

The cat lifted its head and meowed in response. How happily it devoured the melted mint chocolate – its whiskers were covered in it.

“Oh dear. Let me wipe you off.”

The princess took out a handkerchief to clean the cat’s whiskers, but the cat, its green eyes gleaming mischievously, flicked its tongue.

Snap!

In an instant, the cat licked off the ice cream from its face. The princess chuckled helplessly and patted the cat’s head.

“Truly something I’ll live to see. A cat following humans so obediently…”

“…”

The maid seriously debated whether to speak up or not. After all, there’s no such thing as a cat that can eat chocolate in this world.

However, it had been twenty years since the princess found and raised this cat from Northern Europe. The old feline, equivalent to a human hundred years old, clung to the princess like a bodyguard.

“Hem. So when is Sir Gawein coming back?”

The princess asked with regal authority about the Round Table knight.

Sending one of the Round Table knights and national hero to buy mere Mint Chocolate ice cream was practically tyranny, yet the very person who joyfully accepted and followed the order has not returned yet.

“He’ll be arriving soon. Princess, please go back to your chambers…”

Ding.

An alarm sounded from the smartwatch on the princess’s wrist. Her eyes widened as she looked around, then answered the call against an empty wall background.

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

[Aranel? Your Majesty? Aren’t you in your room?]

“…Yes, Mother.”

The princess Aranel nervously twisted her hands together as she spoke in an overly sweet tone. Those around her held their breath.

[You know, even when there’s no one else around, we can speak casually. Understand?]

“Yes…”

Even as others nearby held their breath and snickered, Aranel couldn’t bring herself to admit where she was. Attacking the kitchen out of craving for Mint Chocolate wasn’t something she wanted the queen to hear about.

[Even royal family members need to take breaks from wearing their tiaras sometimes… Though Princess, isn’t the kitchen inappropriate?]

“…”

Aranel squeezed her eyes shut and confessed immediately.

“…I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

[There’s chocolate on your mouth. And now there’s an urgent situation, so tidy yourself up and return to your post quickly.]

“Post…?”

[A Korean SS-Rank Villain <Phoenix> is committing atrocities that enrage heaven and earth.]

Meow?

The cat that had been munching on Mint Chocolate raised its head. Aranel gasped at the video feed sent by her mother.

“What…this is absurd!”

In the video…

The monstrous figure in black armor was setting fire to the Mint Chocolate ice cream.

“This…!”

“We must eliminate this fiend to restore sanity.”

“???”

A completely unfamiliar voice echoed. Aranel scanned the kitchen staff, but none of them had made that voice.

“Ack, ‘Knight Kartshi’?!”

The black cat leapt out the window opened for ventilation. Aranel tried to follow it in panic, but first she needed to return to where she was supposed to be.

[Princess. Return to your post immediately.]

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

[What should we say now?]

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

Aranel sighed inwardly at her unpredictable mother’s words as she stood up.

“Esquire of Round Table Knight <Gawein>, Aranel Elizabeth Mary. …I shall resume my duties as <Princess>.”

Below the screen, the princess’s hands gripping her skirt had gone pale.

* * *

“It’s already in chaos. What a mess.”

I looked down at the gathered people in the square below, raising the ice cream container higher. The smoke rising from the melting Mint Chocolate filled the square with shock and fear.

“Just in case anyone doesn’t know what this is.”

To help those who might not recognize the contents, I kindly set blue flames beside Big Ben.

Because of the time difference, the sun hadn’t fully set yet, but high above the London evening sky hung a large message written in blue flames.

I HATE THIS MINT

“Though I don’t really hate it…”

For the sake of luring in someone who goes crazy for Mint Chocolate, there’s no choice. Since I don’t know where Penril of Gale is right now.

“Maybe I should’ve started with Scandinavia.”

I came to the most familiar country first to find cities to burn Mint Candles. After all, this place is home to not only one of the (Original) strongest members of the Round Table, but also another heroine.

“Who would’ve thought Gawein would be doing this here?”

I looked down at Gawein climbing to a building rooftop to calm the crowd’s confusion. He shouted at me like a professional negotiator dealing with terrorists.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but come down immediately! That’s no place for you to be!”

“Just happened to find a high spot. Turns out it’s not that high.”

I yelled back loud enough for everyone below to hear. My proclamation amplified by magic was more than enough to infuriate the gathered Londoners.

“Are you dissing Big Ben?!”

“Of course, it’s 150 years old!”

Having their pride touched, the people started getting angry. Among them, some cautiously muttered in agreement with me.

“How bad could the Mint Chocolate have been to protest all the way to England…”

“Who is this person? Who gave this ruffian Mint Chocolate as a gift?”

As expected, the public misunderstands my protest according to my plan.

– Villain Phoenix, having received Mint Chocolate as a gift, flies all the way to Europe to protest by burning Mint Chocolate.

The first city I came to is Britain, which appeared several times in the original work. I plan to travel through various cities, burning Mint Chocolate to draw out Penril.

“The Mint Chocolate is melting nicely.”

The melting Mint Chocolate scattered into the air with the wind. If it’s asleep, it should wake up smelling it mixed with the wind, and if watching from somewhere, it should charge at me with fiery eyes.

“I’ll keep going until you show up. Time is plenty anyway.”

If Penril doesn’t appear, I’ll continue protesting until I melt all the Mint Chocolate in this world. Ignoring the noisy Gawein below, I checked the remaining amount of melting ice cream.

“Ah, already half is gone?”

Even trying to melt it slowly by lowering the flame temperature as much as possible, it’s starting to melt faster than expected. I scanned the ground for places to replenish Mint Chocolate.

“If it’s not enough, I’ll have to go down and buy another one-”

Suddenly.

The wind carrying the smoke stopped.

“…Hm.”

I couldn’t help but smile seeing the enemy appearing earlier than expected. People really shouldn’t procrastinate.

“Come on out!”

I threw the entire Mint Chocolate container high into the sky and burned it. Already a menacing wind full of killing intent was swirling around me.

Click.

Exactly at 6 o’clock when the hour and minute hands align.

A whirlwind began swirling at the spire of the clock tower.

* * *

Princess Aranel, the British princess and heroine <Princess>, hurried to the square. There, Sir Gawein was already evacuating citizens.

“Sir Gawein!”

“Princess!”

Gawein held his sword with a more tense expression than usual. He was anxiously guarding against any impact from the battle causing Big Ben to collapse.

“What’s going on?!”

“…I don’t know.”

Gawein truly wanted to understand the intention of this phoenix. There was no prophecy whatsoever about Phoenix occupying the top of Big Ben and causing Mint Chocolate terrorism.

“Really don’t know. Surely a phoenix wouldn’t cause such terrorism just because it dislikes Mint Chocolate, right?”

If that were the case, Gawein might have to reconsider his relationship with Phoenix and the Blue Wind Sect.

Disliking Mint Chocolate aside, the act of terrifying citizens for such trivial reasons is terrorism and evil deeds that harm peace.

“Then, Sir Gawein.”

Aranel pointed at another monster fighting <Phoenix>.

“Does this situation where what seems to be an ally is fighting give you any clues?”

“…None at all.”

Gawein sincerely wondered.

“Why fly all the way from the other side of the Earth to cause chaos fighting in the sky?!”

Gawein felt wrongfully aggrieved. Even he, once called the strongest man alive, couldn’t reach the two fighting in the air.

Ultimately, all Gawein could do was evacuate people.

“Wow, airborne UFC!”

“Where did another superhuman ability user come from…?”

“It’s not time to watch! Everyone, evacuate!! Please!!”

It seems the evacuation will be delayed a bit. Watching the showdown between two SS-Rank villains.

***

No one could intervene. Phoenix soared through the air with flaming wings, while the monster attacking Phoenix dashed through the sky chasing after.

“Where are you going!”

Phoenix shot a Flame Sphere at the pursuing monster. The house-sized Flame Sphere was large enough to engulf the monster and fell faster than the monster’s running speed.

BOOM!

Just before hitting the Flame Sphere, the monster slightly tilted its foot to kick the air. The Flame Sphere passed by, missing the monster.

“Guess this level of speed won’t cut it.”

Phoenix spread both arms wide. The Flaming Wings expanded as if covering the entire sky. The monster charging up from below under the sunset slowed down slightly.

“Then let’s step up the speed.”

Phoenix forcefully swung down the raised hand. Simultaneously, blue feathers began fluttering from the wings into the air. The fluttering feathers ignited into blue flame hawks.

“Like playing with bullet hell games?”

Phoenix flicked the lowered finger. At the same time, hundreds of hawk swarms flapped their wings and flew toward the monster.

The monster stopped mid-air and kicked the air strongly.

Whooosh!!

A giant tornado erupted from the monster. The flame hawks flying toward the front were shredded by the gale winds and disappeared.

“But what about the sides?”

Phoenix swirled the finger, spreading the hawks to the left and right. The flame hawk swarm scattering in arcs quickly reached near the monster.

Fwoosh.

Each hawk’s body began to boil, transforming into hawk-shaped bombs. The monster scanned the explosion impacts blocking its left and right.

Squeak.

The monster powerfully kicked forward and stepped back greatly. The sparks from the explosion splashed onto the monster, but it continuously kicked forward to create wind barriers.

Bang! KABOOM!

After kicking away the last exploding hawk, the monster performed a backflip in the air and hovered. The phoenix with small wings unfolded behind descended vertically gracefully to meet the monster’s gaze.

“Thought I’d drop by for a visit, but the hospitality is lacking.”

“This body has no reason to welcome unpermitted visitors to my territory.”

The monster raised its hand and clenched it into a fist. An intense emerald magical wind surged around the fist, swirling around the surrounding area.

The two monsters faced each other within the cyclone barrier. After glaring at each other in beast form for a while, Phoenix was the first to cancel the transformation.

“…The eternal sun hanging in the blue sky. The leader of Dark Legion, Blazing Phoenix.”

“Hmm… Is this strange feeling just this body’s illusion?”

A green wind swept from the monster’s body. Similar to Phoenix, the monster transformed into human form.

“The godly wolf that tears apart the world, the first seat of Dark Legion, Penril of Gale.”

The green-haired green-eyed girl introducing herself as Penril of Gale straightened the hem of her maid dress while perking up her cat ears.

“First meeting in twenty years!”

“…”

Phoenix’s expression was sour.