Chapter 175
Chapter 175
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: Play (5)
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"...Huh."
Lana tilted her head and opened her mouth.
"Mr. Dawood, doesn't your condition seem a bit... off, somehow?"
"..."
He wholeheartedly agreed with that assessment.
Eliya gave a wry smile as she gazed at Dawood, who stood blankly beside her.
Thanks to Sullivan and Fainol, they'd managed to retrieve Dawood before Atalante smashed the heads of those vessels of demons. But ever since then, he was almost always in this state.
Staring off into space, as if his mind had completely checked out.
At this rate, there was no way they'd see anything good in the second trial.
"..."
Eliya let out a sigh and turned her eyes to the massive barrier spread out around them.
Compared to the impressive artificial dungeon shown at Elpante, this one was just a hugely sturdy and enormous hemispherical barrier in scale—but that very simplicity made it all the more terrifying.
It meant there was something in there that had to be "contained."
If the first trial had been intended to test the candidates' boldness and courage, then the second was meant to gauge their patience, planning, and quick thinking, or so they'd said.
And the result of that was...
'...Survive barehanded among the beasts.'
Eliya recalled the trial format and sighed again.
They were shoving the candidates into the beast spawn zones scattered near the Crucible of Struggle, completely unarmed, and telling them to survive for two days inside.
While also enraging the beasts to make them far more aggressive than usual.
At this point, any sane person wouldn't dream of assigning such a task to humans who hadn't even reached adulthood yet—but that just meant the weight of the hero title was equally heavy.
And then there was the added problem.
"Eliya and Mr. Dawood took first place in combined scores from the last trial, so you'll probably face some vicious checks from the other candidates. You okay with that?"
"No way I'd be okay with it."
Eliya glanced around as she said that.
The eyes of the other candidates who would soon enter that hemispherical barrier alongside them were far from friendly.
And then.
"..."
In the "viewing stands" set up in the sky above, the Imperial Emperor, the Utad chieftain of the tribal alliance, and the Luminol Archbishop of the Holy Kingdom sat side by side, just as before.
The problem was the last one.
He was glaring at Dawood like he was an arch-nemesis.
'...I get it.'
Eliya wiped cold sweat from her brow as she muttered that inwardly.
Considering what this man had done to Lana, who was standing right next to her in the previous trial, it would be weirder if a father didn't react like that.
It'd be a relief if he didn't pull any overt tricks against them in this trial.
"...Hope nothing happens."
No sooner had she muttered that than Lana whipped her head around to look at Eliya.
"Huh, Eliya."
"Yes?"
"Actually, nothing might've happened, but now that you said it, something definitely will."
"..."
What the hell?
Eliya narrowed her eyes and glared at Lana.
"...Spare me the ominous jokes."
"Not a joke."
Lana grinned, a smile that didn't match her words at all.
"You know, I've always been told I have good instincts."
"..."
"If I'm certain of something, you can take it as gospel!"
Please.
She wished Lana wouldn't deliver such foreboding, meaningful lines with a smile like that.
'...Seriously.'
Eliya glanced at Dawood, still blankly staring off, and sighed inwardly.
'When are you coming back, Teacher?'
It was starting to feel dangerous.
The sense that if he didn't snap out of it soon, things would go south.
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[System Message]
[ This is the most critical phase of the 'Sweet Play' event. ]
[ Prevent any tragedy from befalling the target 'Yuria'! ]
He let out a chuckle at the popup window.
It felt like someone yelling right in his ear.
Like the white devil screaming, 'You know I brought her here for this? Get your act together!'
"...His Holiness is arriving."
Yuria spotted the descending lift above the mansion and murmured as much.
Her face held the composed expression she always tried so hard to maintain, but her hands trembled pitifully.
No matter how steely her resolve or mature she acted, she was still a child. She couldn't possibly have perfect self-control.
And right beside her.
He stared blankly into empty space.
"But... what exactly has the butler been doing since earlier?"
"Checking the time, Miss."
"...?"
Yuria's face took on an expression that seemed to say, "If you're checking the time, just look at a clock—why like that?"
But what he was checking were the numbers next to the 'system window.'
Not the time flowing inside here, but how much time had passed "outside."
'...The second trial should be starting around now.'
Considering all the conditions, it was about time for Eliya to be forced into the second trial.
"..."
Which meant there was a very clear reason for him to get out of here fast.
He had no idea what might happen to her side in the second trial, but strictly speaking, the main quest was on Eliya's end. That made it the highest priority.
"..."
Of course, that didn't mean he'd slack off on this quest.
He just had his own circumstances.
He'd use a pretty unconventional method, though.
"Butler."
As those thoughts crossed his mind, Yuria tugged at his sleeve to get his attention.
Ahead of them, the Pontiff was stepping out of the lift.
The outfit was different, but he'd recognize that detestable face anywhere. No forgetting it.
"..."
He also carefully eyed the sword wrapped in sealing orbs in both the Pontiff's hands.
The Severer.
The sword Yuria would carry on her from here on.
Even buried under that many sealing orbs, an ominous aura hit him at a glance.
Yuria flinched and trembled at the sight too, but...
"...I'll be back."
She quickly plastered on a pitifully forced smile.
It was clearly a voice she'd squeezed out while barely suppressing her fear.
She knew holding that thing would bring her harm—that's what prompted the reaction.
"..."
From here on, it was territory he knew.
Yuria would take the Severer as the Pontiff led her, then be forced to slaughter everyone in the mansion.
An event that would leave her with deep trauma.
In other words.
An event he had to block with all his might, right here and now.
"..."
Normally, he'd never even attempt it.
Especially with the white devil piling on restrictions like "don't break character."
The aftermath would be... a gamble, to put it mildly.
But he'd probably pull it off somehow. When had he ever failed at something he put his mind to?
'...Alright.'
He reviewed the means to make it happen.
He'd been saving something just for this moment.
[ Using 'Skill Copy Ticket'! ]
[ You can copy 1 skill from the target 'Yuria'! ]
It didn't take long to find the skill he was after.
[System Message]
[ Copying skill: 'Curse of Severance'! ]
[ Attacks all within three paces without distinguishing friend from foe! ]
[ Effect activates upon gripping the target 'Severer'! ]
That's the one.
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"Have you been well, Yuria?"
The Pontiff, now right in front of her, said that, and Yuria flinched.
As always, his voice was polite, courteous, and disarmingly gentle.
Some might say it suited the man at the pinnacle of all saints.
To Yuria, though, it was nothing more or less than the hiss of a snake.
"Today is the day your glorious ascension is fated, Yuria."
The Pontiff smiled faintly as he extended something to her.
A long sword.
Nearly as tall as her petite frame.
"Care to take hold of it? It's prepared just for you."
"...Y-Your Holiness..."
Yuria opened her mouth in a trembling voice.
"...Do I... have to?"
Truth be told, she didn't want to.
It looked painful. Scary.
The moment she grabbed it, something horrific would surely happen.
That's what her words conveyed.
"...Yuria."
But at the sound of the Pontiff's voice, her body jerked again.
His demeanor remained gentle.
But those eyes looking down at her.
Eyes that seemed utterly devoid of malice.
Were a cold, piercing gaze that cut into the skin.
A pressure implying her "reason for existing" was this alone—don't deny it.
"Do you intend to shirk the duty bestowed upon you?"
"..."
"Have you forgotten it was the Church that fed and raised you?"
"..."
"Do you plan to become a bad child who betrays that grace?"
"...N-No..."
As she trembled and answered, the Pontiff smiled benevolently once more.
"That's what I wanted to hear, Yuria. As expected, you're a good girl."
"..."
Yuria squeezed her eyes shut as the sword was extended before her again.
'...Butler.'
She didn't know why he came to mind.
Strangely, in this terrifying, trembling moment, the name that surfaced first as her greatest support wasn't even her sister's.
"..."
But still.
The conclusion here was already set in stone.
No one could help her.
She had no choice but to submit to the tragedy about to unfold.
Yuria reached out a trembling hand toward the sword.
"...?"
However.
Before Yuria could grasp it.
Footsteps approached right beside her.
"...Butler?"
At the sight of the man who drew near, Yuria reflexively voiced her confusion.
"What are you...?"
Before she could finish her proper question, his hand seized the hilt of the Severer from the Pontiff's grasp.
Then, the "curse" within the sword coursed up through Dawood's body.
An ancient malediction, aged over centuries, eroded him.
Normally, a human invaded by such a curse would go mad from the agony and drop dead on the spot without issue.
But instead, Dawood casually drew the sword.
As if he'd been handed down the experience of someone who'd handled such curses countless times before.
And then.
"Yap."
With a whoosh.
He swung it at the Pontiff.
The Severer's blade sliced cleanly across his neck.
A motion as smooth as cutting water.
Roll.
The Pontiff's head tumbled across the floor with a pathetic thud.
"..."
"..."
"..."
As blood fountained out in a spray around them.
Silence fell.
Silence.
More silence.
Silence continued.
"...Hm."
As everyone stared dumbfounded at the scene, the man who'd created it spoke in a bored tone.
"A play needs a twist, after all."
And with that.
Hell unfolded around them.
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