Chapter 351: You Are Just a Spirit

Chapter 351: You Are Just a Spirit

“Ah!”

In the instant the chandelier fell, the Substitute yanked Lise back. The square chandelier in the hallway crashed to the ground in front of Lise, and shards of glass cut her little foot encased in white stockings.

Ignoring the small injury, Lise anxiously looked at the Substitute. “Are you okay?”

Unlike her, the Substitute would immediately dissipate with even minor damage. If the current Lise was a helpless doll, then the Substitute was a true bubble.

The Substitute didn’t respond, simply carrying Lise over the shattered glass, silently and loyally fleeing down the corridor.

Behind them, the aloof Black Knight pursued their backs at a leisurely pace.

Clad in dense scale armor, with an ebony helmet extending into a plume of raven feathers, the Black Knight’s dark silver steel boots made a muffled thud on the carpet, moving like a stroke of ink on parchment.

It wasn’t particularly tall, nor was it especially burly even with the armor, but its silent oppression was enough to leave all prey gasping for breath. It wielded no weapon, holding only a black-silver-covered book-the Gospel Book.

As the Substitute and Lise passed by a window, the Black Knight lightly flicked its fingers, shattering the glass into countless fragments. If not for the Substitute’s timely dive forward with Lise, they would have been showered with glass shards.

The 13th time.

This was the 13th time Lise had encountered such an ‘accident.’

The moment Lise saw the Black Knight in her bedroom, the Substitute had immediately scooped her up and rushed out. Surprisingly, the Black Knight did not attack right away, even allowing them to run a few more steps, as if a doctor assessing a patient’s condition.

When they had fled a certain distance, and Lise nearly thought the Black Knight had entered the wrong room, the ‘accidents’ began.

Falling chandeliers, exploding fire extinguishers, shattering windows, crumbling plaster, splintering doors... The building, home to the core members of the Senhaeser family, suddenly turned into a danger zone, filled with startling surprises at every corner.

Just now, when Lise tried to run towards the stairwell fire exit, she watched in disbelief as the solid, thick wall collapsed into rubble, blocking the fire exit and turning it into the biggest fire hazard. Compared to the fire exit, the elevator shaft fared slightly better—it merely started smoking and prematurely retired.

Clearly, the Black Knight did not intend to kill her, but neither did it intend to let her escape this floor. Lise had two choices: hide in another room and play hide-and-seek with the Black Knight, or jump out of the window.

Not to mention, the Black Knight had just demonstrated its exceptional hide-and-seek skills. Lise had experienced what it was like to play hide-and-seek with someone holding the Gospel Book a few days ago—Ashe was terribly unfair, using Gospel points to cheat even in a game with children.

Lise didn’t know what to do now. Although she wanted to discuss it with her sisters, they hadn’t appeared in the mirror when the Black Knight showed up; at that moment, the Little Witch understood what her sisters meant.

If she guessed correctly, this Black Knight was after her sisters, and they couldn’t show up easily!

Now it was her turn to protect her sisters!

“Why are you chasing me!?” Lise climbed onto the Substitute’s shoulder and shouted at the Black Knight, “I don’t even know you, and I haven’t done anything wrong, so why are you doing this?”

However, it wasn’t entirely unscathed.

Drops of blood fell onto its face, mingling with the dust to form a dirty, sticky mixture. It turned its head upward to see a small, delicate figure.

Lise had spread her arms to shield the Substitute. A stone larger than her had struck her back. Her head seemed to have been injured, as red droplets slid down by gravity, carving a path through the dusty white hair, soaking her delicate brows, and falling onto the Substitute’s face like dewdrops. Her knees were slightly bent, her white stockings torn and tattered, with rust-colored stains spreading from the wounds, resembling roses blooming in the snow.

This fragile and seemingly breakable crystal child now stood like an unyielding fortress, bearing all the damage alone to protect a bubble.

“Take me away,” she said.

The Substitute immediately hugged Lise and fled, narrowly avoiding the secondary collapse of debris. Lise clung tightly to the Substitute, glaring at the Black Knight with hatred.

“You actually don’t feel any pain. With your current injuries, you should have passed out.”

Hatred overwhelmed rational thought at that moment. Lise screamed, “Die, die, die! I’m not afraid of you! I won’t pass out! Waaa, I’ll call Dad to come and kill you!”

The Black Knight ignored Lise, continuing to speak methodically, “Originally, I was just suspicious, but now I’m almost certain. Your so-called pain is just a sensation you’ve imagined. Hormones and neurons can’t truly affect you.”

“Why aren’t you affected by the white mist? Because you can’t imagine the effects of withdrawal symptoms.”

“Why don’t you pass out from severe injuries? Because you don’t want to.”

“As long as you don’t care or think about it, nothing exists.”

For some reason, listening to the Black Knight’s meticulous analysis of her situation, an indescribable panic surged within Lise. She resisted the urge to take out her hand mirror, gripping the Substitute’s neck so tightly that her nails nearly pierced its skin, as if fearing that the Black Knight’s next words would strip her of everything.

“What... exactly are you trying to say?!”

Crash!

Another window shattered nearby, and the Substitute hugged Lise, dodging the shower of glass shards.

In the chaotic rain curtain of fragments, Lise saw the Black Knight write something in the Gospel Book. The speaker above echoed a cold declaration:

“You are not the master of this body, so this body cannot affect you.”

“You are not even human.”

“You are merely a spirit.”