Chapter 243: Flesh Golems

Jon's expression changed subtly. Hearing all that Grimhilde had endured made him uncomfortable.

"Don't pity me," Grimhilde said with a sigh, her gaze drifting toward the barred window. "This was my choice. Once everything is finished, I can finally reunite with them."

"Everything? What exactly are you planning?" Jon asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.

Grimhilde hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Fine. I'll tell you, but only if you agree to one condition."

"Which is?"

"The research I'm doing has reached a bottleneck. That black stone you hold might be the key to breaking through it. If you allow me to study it, I'll tell you everything."

"Deal," Jon replied without hesitation. He was not worried about backing out later if things went wrong.

"But aren't all black stones the same? You already have one. What makes mine so special?" Jon asked.

Grimhilde scoffed. "Do you really think Snow White would hand over the real one? The stone she gave me was a replica, weakened by duplication magic. It has only a fraction of the original's power. It was her insurance in case I tried anything foolish."

"Which is why I need the original, yours, to complete my research."

"So what's your plan then?" Jon asked.

Grimhilde let out a dark chuckle. "Snow wants me to develop a spell that can instantly kill a witch. She thinks I'm a coward, desperate to live. But all I'm doing is pretending to comply while secretly working on something else."

Jon raised a brow. "A reverse curse?"

"Not quite. I'm researching how to make witches stronger—so strong they no longer fear iron or anti-magic curses. If I succeed, that damn queen will no longer be our oppressor."

Jon's mind wandered to the countless witches who had been hunted across this kingdom. At first, he'd thought it was due to some grand justification. But now he realized it was all because of a vain, twisted woman masquerading as a queen. So many innocent lives wasted.

"How long will your research take?" Jon asked.

Grimhilde considered. "If you give me your stone, maybe two months. But that's just an estimate. Research rarely goes as planned."

Jon crossed his arms. "To be honest, I have a plan too. My goal is the same: eliminate Snow. But mine takes two days."

Grimhilde's crimson eyes narrowed. "What kind of plan?"

"Simple. March into the palace and kill her."

She looked furious. "I'm not in the mood for jokes."

"Do I seem like someone who jokes?" Jon said flatly. "Let me break it down for you. Your plan takes at least a month. Then there's the rollout, the witch uprising, a full-blown war. That's a lot of innocent casualties. Not to mention, King Kirk is already waging wars across the continent. The surrounding nations are on edge. If they attack during your rebellion, things will spiral."

"So here's a better option: give me two days. I'll kill the queen and expose her true form to the world. Once people see what she really is, her influence will collapse."

Grimhilde glared. "If you're that strong, why are you locked up here in the first place?"

Jon smirked. "Come with me. Break out of here and see for yourself. Maybe then you'll believe me."

Grimhilde paused. "Assuming you're strong enough, why include me at all? You don't need me to kill her."

"You're right. But after I deal with her, I've got bigger plans, and your research could be useful."

Jon turned to leave but added, "Once this is over, I'll get you a real lab, better equipment, materials, and a proper environment. Just promise me you'll finish developing a way for witches to resist iron."

Without waiting for a response, he stepped toward the massive iron door. Placing his hand against it, a surge of heat ignited, and the door melted into a stream of glowing iron.

Grimhilde's eyes widened in disbelief. Even in her monstrous, more powerful form, she could never break that door. It was sealed with the strongest anti-magic runes in the tower.

"How… How did you do that? If you're this strong, how did you even get captured?!"

Jon shrugged. "Long story. I was just curious about what was hidden in this tower."

As he stepped through the melted frame, a guard caught sight of the destroyed wall and panicked. "The prisoner has escaped! Sound the alarm!"

The soldier yanked a lever, opening a side gate. Dozens of guards rushed forward.

"Back in your cell, scum!" the lead guard barked.

But the words died in their throats as Grimhilde emerged behind Jon, a three-meter-tall monstrous figure, her insectoid limbs glistening under the dim torchlight.

Terror struck the soldiers. They turned to flee, but Grimhilde's mantis-like claws extended with inhuman speed, slicing through the guards in a blink. Blood and severed limbs painted the corridor.

***

"Wait, Jon!"

As Jon and Grimhilde continued their prison break, Grimhilde suddenly spoke up. "This tower holds countless witches. We can't just abandon them!"

Jon nodded. "Of course. And the dark creatures locked away here too. We'll rescue them all—but not now. There are too many to move at once. We have to kill Queen Snow first. Then we can come back for them."

"No!" Grimhilde rejected his plan outright. "You don't understand. That damned queen used their lives to threaten me. If she finds out I've escaped, she'll execute them immediately!"

Jon frowned. "But we can't get that many people out at once. I can barely manage the portals for more than a few seconds, and definitely not for hundreds of prisoners."

"It doesn't matter. I have a magical artifact that can open a gate big enough to send them all to safety!" Grimhilde replied.

"A magical artifact?" Jon asked.

"Yes, one I forged myself. It's bound to me alone. Snow probably feared its power and sealed it inside the tower."

Jon couldn't help but comment, "If she knew you were here, why keep it in the same place? Wouldn't it be safer somewhere else?"

Grimhilde explained, "The tower is laced with extremely powerful binding sigils. Creating a fortress like this took enormous resources. I doubt the queen had the means to build another just for the artifact."

"Alright. But what exactly is this item?" Jon pressed.

Grimhilde simply gave him a haunting smile. "You'll see soon enough."

The tower had nine levels, each more saturated with magical restrictions than the last. But thanks to the horrific experiments Grimhilde had conducted on herself, she could now resist iron's anti-magic properties. With her immense physical strength and restored magical abilities, she didn't even need Jon's help to crush the guards.

On their way up, they freed many witches and cursed beings.

Initially terrified of Grimhilde's monstrous form, the other prisoners slowly changed their views after seeing her instinctively shield them during battles.

"We're on the seventh floor. I can feel it, I'm close to my artifact!" Grimhilde rasped. "Once I have it, no one will be able to stop me."

At that moment, one of the freed prisoners, a pale, gaunt man with fangs, suddenly warned them. "Careful. My cellmate, a werewolf, was taken to this floor and never came back."

His voice was hoarse and hollow. His name was Hicks—a vampire.

In most movies, vampires come in two forms: terrifying ghouls like Hicks, or the charming, handsome variety from Twilight. In this world, both types existed.

Ironically, it was the beautiful ones who drank the most human blood, making their skin flush and their appearance more alluring. Meanwhile, vampires like Hicks abstained or fed on animals, giving them their ghastly pallor and monstrous look. Yet, it was they who clung to their humanity the most.

"So what's on this floor?" Jon muttered.

The moment they stepped in, a cold, damp air pressed in around them. Each cell was sealed behind thick stone walls, not even leaving a slot for communication—unlike Grimhilde's, which had at least a small window.

Suddenly, two guards rushed in, spotting the escapees.

Jon now had dozens in his group. The two guards didn't stand a chance.

"Crap! They're escaping. We can't stop them!" one guard panicked.

"Calm down. We don't have to. Let the queen's pets handle it!" the other laughed darkly. He pulled a lever on the wall. "Let's give our guests a warm welcome!"

As the mechanism activated, massive stone doors began to creak open.

And out came the "prisoners".

Gigantic constructs of meat and sinew, flesh golems, stomped forward.

These grotesque monstrosities had clearly been assembled from the body parts of former inmates: witches, werewolves, vampires. Queen Snow's sorcerers had chopped their bodies into pieces and magically stitched them into these horrifying puppets.

"No...!" Hicks' usually grim face twisted in despair and rage. "Voss... you were turned into this?!"

Even Grimhilde, usually unreadable, looked shaken. Among these flesh golems were clearly parts of witches she had known.

"Damn monsters!" she roared.

But she didn't let her emotions take over. She still didn't fully trust Jon's power, so she made a tactical decision.

"Witches, fall back! You can't cast magic here. Werewolves, vampires, bearfolk, you're up front. Break their line!"

The crowd roared in response and charged alongside Grimhilde toward the meat giants.

Meanwhile, Jon stood off to the side, arms crossed.

He was curious to see what these people were capable of. It would determine the course of his future plans.

"Kill them all!" Hicks bellowed, leading the charge. Despite his wiry frame, his power was terrifying. Fueled by grief and fury, he leapt onto one of the golems and tore it apart with pure force.