Brunhild acted as if she hadn't heard. With a slight adjustment to her facial expression, her sincere, relieved smile became a meticulously practiced, professional one. Her beauty remained peerless as ever.
"Rather than make a meaningless appearance in person, I'd much prefer to have a few words with you."
So what exactly was she here for? Was she an enemy or not? Gongsun Qing stared at Brunhild's projection, baffled and unsure what expression to make.
Could this really be what the Dragon King was like? She hesitated for a moment, then put away her spirit sword and glanced at King Slien, who was crouched with his head in his hands, trying to pass himself off as a piece of furniture.
...Well, Dragon Kings weren't all cut from the same cloth, after all.
Brunhild seemed to have completely blocked out the memory of using her mind to direct her spirit-armored puppets in an attack. She also entirely ignored the fact that Feifei had taken control of those alchemical weapons. Calm and composed, she greeted them. "Long time no see, my dear Lianqing, my one and only acknowledged soulmate. And Feina, it's been ages... Hey, hey, Miss Feina, you know this won't work on me. This is only a projection of my will. You can use it to take control of those spirit-armored puppets, but you don't actually think you can hurt my real body, do you?"
"I know. I just want to take a few more swings at you." Feifei bared her teeth in a sunny smile, then withdrew her sword from the still-beleaguered projection.
"Heh. You must be Miss Gongsun Qing, heir to the Count of Yongdi. I don't believe we've met before?"
"I'm no longer—"
Brunhild cut her off in a steady voice. "That's right, you're no longer the