Episode 48

The members of the Terium royal family took their seats one by one.

Among them, I spotted Theodore.

He sat beside his mother, Empress Freya. Opposite them were the Empress and Crown Prince.

‘Wow.’

The Crown Prince’s name was Lucion von Terium.

My first impression of Lucion was that his appearance was striking.

He had the same red hair as Theodore but with notably crimson eyes.

While Theodore had a delicate beauty, Lucion possessed a masculine handsomeness.

In the original story, Lucion was the final male lead, outlasting many others, only to tragically die at the hands of a rampaging Ludwig.

‘And he’s my favorite.’

Lucion was endlessly kind to Jenna. While other male leads showed obsessive and twisted love, the Crown Prince was pure and sunny.

It was his kind and warm demeanor that captivated me and made it impossible to put down the novel.

But seeing my favorite character in person…

‘I don’t feel much.’

Perhaps because he hadn’t met Jenna yet, Lucion wore a perpetually bored expression.

The tender, warm demeanor I had liked so much was nowhere to be seen.

At that moment, an attendant loudly announced.

“The Emperor will now give his opening speech.”

There was a loudspeaker floating above the arena, making his voice clear even from a distance.

“Thank you all for coming to celebrate my birthday.”

The Emperor stood and laughed heartily.

“This year’s gladiatorial tournament has attracted many exceptionally skilled participants, so I have high expectations.”

With a nod from him, an attendant raised a velvet cushion high.

A large gem, visible even from afar, was placed on it.

“That’s…!”

Someone recognized it and gasped.

“This is the ‘Tear of the Sun.'”

‘Tear of the Sun.’

Every citizen of the empire had heard of it.

The Terium royal family had five jewels passed down since the first Emperor: the Tear of the Sun, the Tear of the Moon, the Tear of the Wind, the Tear of the Earth, and the Tear of the Water.

These jewels were priceless royal treasures.

The gem on the velvet cushion sparkled like solidified gold in the sunlight, and people stared at it in awe.

“The winner of this tournament will receive the ‘Tear of the Sun.'”

The Emperor’s words caused a ripple of shock.

I knew this from the original story.

The ‘Tear of the Sun’ would eventually return to the royal family.

Peter, the tournament winner, received the jewel but presented it to the Crown Prince, the only person who believed in him.

Peter hadn’t participated for wealth or fame.

‘Would Peter make the same choice if I were the one who believed in him?’

I didn’t need the ‘Tear of the Sun,’ just the enormous prize money.

The royals also filled out their papers, writing their bets and predictions for the winner, and handed them to the attendants.

The scoreboard listed the thirty gladiators, with the number of bets placed on each.

Under Peter’s name was the number one.

That was me.

I swallowed hard, watching the scoreboard.

Would Lucion make the same choice as in the original?

If he chose Peter and Peter won, I would have to share the prize money with him.

In the original, Lucion chose Peter out of pity because no one else had.

That simple, unassuming decision was typical of Lucion.

‘But this time, I’ve chosen him. And I’ve bet a significant amount.’

The scoreboard updated to include the royal family’s bets.

“…….”

Peter’s name still had the number one beneath it.

Lucion had chosen someone else.

‘Great.’

Just before the tournament began, the scoreboard displayed the names of those who placed bets.

While dozens of names were listed under the Dekian gladiators, only one name was under Peter’s.

People glanced and snickered at me.

I ignored them and focused on the tournament that was about to start.

“Now, let the 19th Terium Gladiatorial Tournament begin!”

With the attendant’s loud voice, the iron gates of the arena opened, and the earsplitting roars of monsters echoed.

Screeeeech-!

The monsters emerged.

The stands were protected by a sturdy barrier, so there was no danger of monster attacks, but some spectators still looked fearful.

A loud trumpet sounded, and the gladiators engaged the monsters in their own ways.

Since the last person standing was the winner, those who were quick-footed used fleeing as a strategy, while the strong cleared space by taking down weaker foes.

As the number of monsters increased and their danger escalated, some participants began to drop out early.

A monster lunged at a man who had already fallen and was in tatters, and he immediately vanished from the arena through teleportation magic.

“Damn…”

“He was just a big brute.”

Those who bet on him expressed their disappointment.

Among them, I focused on one person.

Peter dodged the monsters attacking him with nimble movements.

In a split second, he moved so fast he was almost invisible.

Confident in his skill, I let a smirk spread across my face.

* * *

As time passed, the murmurs among the crowd grew louder and louder.

People began to doubt their eyes.

And for good reason….

“How is that guy still standing?”

The scrawny man who couldn’t even use one arm was still standing.

Monsters attacked him from all sides, but he evaded them with unbelievable speed and slashed down those that lunged at him.

A faint blue aura flickered from his sword.

The arena was filled with knights and swordsmen who gasped at the sight.

“A sword aura! That’s impossible!”

Peter wielded a dilapidated sword that looked ready to break, yet he swung it with the power of a sword aura.

In that moment, everyone thought the same thing.

‘We were deceived.’

They had been completely fooled by appearances.

The burly, hulking men had already been eliminated and were no longer in the arena.

Peter, a mere mercenary from the countryside, was not a renowned swordsman.

No one had ever heard of him. They had judged him solely by his appearance.

No one expected him to win.

Except for one person.

Now, only Peter and one other swordsman remained in the arena.

Peter still showed no signs of fatigue, and there wasn’t a scratch on him.

In contrast, the other swordsman, a giant over two meters tall named Phet, was on the verge of collapse, covered in wounds.

The crowd now turned their gaze to one young girl.

Sierra Drenihan sat calmly among the founding families’ reserved seats, watching the match with unreadable eyes.

Her name was the only one listed under Peter’s on the scoreboard.

In contrast, Phet’s name had many noble names under it.

In the center of the scoreboard was the total amount of money bet on this historic match.

“How much is that…?”

“The payout will be astronomical.”

The amount was equivalent to the assets of some of the wealthiest individuals.

If Peter won, an astronomical sum would end up in the young lady’s pocket.

People stared at Sierra in disbelief.

What did she see in Peter to bet on him?

Did she know he could use a sword aura?

Regardless of the reasons, the outcome was all that mattered.

Screeeeech-!

As the tournament neared its end, the most dangerous monster from the royal dungeon entered the arena.

It was a creature so formidable that no ordinary person could face it.

Its ominous red eyes glowed as it entered. Phet collapsed to his knees, his legs giving out instinctively.

Peter, on the other hand, readied his stance and pointed his sword at the monster.

At that moment, the monster ignored the swordsmen and suddenly charged towards the audience.

“Ahhh!”

“Oh my God! Why is it coming this way?”

Boom! Boom!

The monster rammed into the barrier that protected the audience with a fierce momentum.

The previously invisible barrier glowed blue with each hit, holding the monster back.

Even with the barrier, people were in a panic, gripped by primal fear.

Then.

Crack-.

Incredibly, cracks began to form on part of the barrier.