EWOWMAIBTYPF Chapter 179

Chapter 179

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“Adriana?”

“I’m just going to the bathroom for a bit.”

I hurriedly stood up.

The moment my much-celebrated friend actually won, I left my seat—no wonder my parents looked bewildered.

But I couldn’t help it.

My heart pounded wildly at the deafening cheers and applause that filled the stadium.

Was this what it felt like to be struck in the back of the head with a massive iron club?

I’d always known my life was marked by tragedy. And yet, I was surprised at just how shocked I was. I let out a hollow laugh.

A moment ago, I had unexpectedly seen Master, and that alone had thrown me completely off balance.

⟨Lia, are you happy in this life?⟩

Even though I had only seen the movement of his lips from afar, his words rang in my ears as if he had whispered them right beside me.

I had always suspected that Master might be a demon, yet I’d never been certain. No, I had chosen not to be.

I kept denying it, over and over again.

But the moment he mentioned the new life that only Raizel knew about, I could no longer deny it.

‘How did he know? Was he really connected to my return?’

Then why had he left me alone all this time?

And why was he showing up only now?

My mind was suddenly tangled in chaos. I tried desperately to stay rational, but it wasn’t easy.

I felt bad for Jack, but I could hardly concentrate on the match.

As I watched, half out of my mind, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a strange sense of déjà vu.

Every time Jack’s silver blade sliced through the air, it felt as if something sharp was piercing straight into my chest.

And finally, in the moment of Jack’s final strike…

“…!”

I squeezed my eyes shut without realizing it.

My whole body trembled as if I were struck with chills, and intense fear darkened my vision.

It was the forgotten fear of death.

‘Jack… it was you.’

I just knew, instinctively.

Or perhaps I had always known, deep down in my subconscious.

Jack or Allen… One of them might have killed me. But the past was the past, and I had tried to bury it.

I hadn’t wanted to think about it at all.

After all, my death—whether it had been Jade’s scheme or Master’s plan—was ultimately caused by my infiltration into the House of Elard.

‘I really didn’t want to know…’

When I slowly opened my eyes, Jack, who had just claimed victory, was offering his hand to his opponent.

Amid the crowd chanting ‘Jack Sedian,’ someone’s shout suddenly pierced my ears.

‘That’s right, I remember now.’

Just like Allen, who was called ‘Guardian of Justice,’ Jack also had a nickname people called him by.

Perhaps I had suppressed it unconsciously, or maybe I had just forgotten.

It was the glorious title he’d earned after ruthlessly wiping out enemies on the battlefield.

‘…The Iron-Blooded Judge.’

As the name surfaced in my mind, I couldn’t stay still any longer.

Determined to leave the stadium, I turned my back on my parents and walked out, trying to collect myself.

‘It was for the mission, but still… I was the one who secretly infiltrated the Duke’s house.’

What’s more, I had tried to use an unknown powder, which could easily be misunderstood as an attack on the young duke.

At that moment, Lucio had let his guard down in an uncharacteristically careless way, so the situation must have looked even more dangerous.

‘Of course, it would’ve been better if it had ended with just a warning or restraint…’

Yes, if only that had happened.

‘If Jack hadn’t killed me…’

I stopped walking and shook my head.

‘I can’t blame him. It was all my fault.’

I had no desire to resent Jack.

But the thought that I had unknowingly stood on his judgment seat and died—that was something I couldn’t accept.

Just then, I felt a scorching gaze near my cheek.

As I slowly turned, trembling, my eyes met Jack’s. His gray hair fluttered in the wind, now that he’d taken off his helmet.

He must have been happy about winning, his usually stoic eyes softened into a smile. I wanted to wave back at that bright smile, but my body wouldn’t move.

In the end, I lowered my head in defeat, unable to overcome the devastation inside me.

That’s when it happened.

“Groooaaaargh!”

A bizarre, inhuman scream erupted, louder than anything I had ever heard.

Startled, I looked up to see dark clouds rapidly gathering in the once-clear sky, plunging the world into sudden darkness, while the ground beneath us began to shake with terrifying force.

“Wh-What is that…?!”

Someone shouted, pointing to the sky, and everyone’s eyes turned in unison.

I turned my head as well—and froze on the spot.

As if a crack had torn open the sky, monsters were pouring out of thin air.

Eyes glowing with a chilling red light. Thick legs and razor-sharp claws. Massive, overwhelming figures.

The moment I saw them, I recognized them instantly.

They were the servants of demons from ancient times, creatures that had claimed countless lives.

“D-Demons!”

Their appearance was like something straight out of the murals in the temple. Others also seemed to realize what they were and screamed in horror.

“Kyaaaah!”

The stadium, which had moments before been filled with celebration, turned into chaos in an instant.

Hundreds of monsters were now pouring from the sky, blackening the heavens.

At that moment, Master’s face surfaced in my mind.

‘Don’t tell me… is this the reason he appeared now?’

“Skreeeaaach!”

As a terrible sense of dread washed over me, I stood frozen. Then, with a bone-chilling shriek, the world flipped upside down.

Someone dashed from behind, grabbed me tightly as if shielding me, and we rolled across the ground.

Within the firm embrace, I smelled a familiar mint scent.

As the same time, my dazed head, as heavy as waterlogged cotton, slowly began to clear.

“Are you okay?”

Lucio looked down at me with a grave expression.

I nodded dumbly and turned my head. The spot where I had just been standing was now completely crushed by a monster.

The shock snapped me back to reality. I quickly scanned my surroundings.

People were fleeing in panic from the sudden appearance of the monsters.

In the chaos, I saw my father casting a large-scale protective spell, and the Duke of Elard and Allen fighting the monsters with swords.

I was relieved to see that my mother, the duchess, Diana, and my grandfather were all unharmed, but the situation was far from good.

The knights in the stadium tried to fight instead of flee, but their attacks had no effect on the monsters.

Of course. Physical weapons like swords and arrows couldn’t harm these creatures.

‘Only attacks based on mana—like aura or magic—can hurt them…’

“Skraaagh!”

At that moment, I heard a monster scream in agony.

I turned to see Jack’s sword glowing with a clear aura as it pierced straight through a monster’s body.

Seeing the creature writhe in pain, other knights who could wield aura seemed to realize the same and began infusing mana into their blades. Meanwhile, the magic swordsmen and mages from the Belus faction in the general stands began to launch their own attacks.

My father, too, was maintaining the shield with one hand while drawing a complex magic circle with the other.

From the white frost blooming at his fingertips, it seemed he was preparing ice magic. But there wasn’t enough time to stop the constant rush of monsters from the sky.

Screams echoed as people tripped and tumbled in their desperate rush to escape, hell itself had descended.

I glared at the monster letting out a ferocious roar and quickly stood up.

Reality kept crashing down on me like blows to the head, but this was no time to stay stunned.

“Lia!”

Lucio, still shielding me from the fleeing crowd, grabbed my arm and called urgently.

He now held a sword, when had he gotten it?

He was smart enough to know that normal attacks wouldn’t work. He must have decided to reveal the power he had kept hidden, realizing the urgency.

‘In the past, he never revealed it until the end…’

The faint guilt I had been feeling now flared like oil to a flame. Without another thought, I raised my hand and shouted.

 

***

 

“Everyone, get down!”

In the hellscape the arena had become, a slender yet commanding voice rang out.

As if enchanted by that voice, those paralyzed with fear dropped to the ground in unison, covering their heads.

Screeeech—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ground shook with deafening noise and an unbelievable sight unfolded.

“F-Fire! It’s fire!”

Had the end of the world finally come?

As if monsters bursting from the sky weren’t enough, now massive fireballs were raining from above.

Their flames were so powerful it felt like they could engulf not just the stadium, but the entire world.

Their bodies froze with primal fear. But, astonishingly, not a single spark landed on the earth or people—it struck only the monsters, with perfect precision.

The monsters let out agonized cries, shaking the very earth beneath them, and began to collapse like sandcastles before a wave. Within seconds, they burned so fiercely that their forms could no longer be distinguished.

As the stunned onlookers stared as black smoke billowed into the air.

And a moment later, as the smoke cleared, the place once teeming with monsters now held only a handful of ashes.

The people, their faces blank with disbelief at the surreal scene, all slowly turned in unison toward a single figure.

It was a woman with soft pink hair, her hand raised toward the sky, as if sealing the rift where the monsters had emerged.