Chapter 79: Lucia Everlast's Sincerity
The first chapter, the beginning of Kyle's potion, took place right before the midterm evaluation.
The incident during the midterm evaluation, caused by the leaked potion, was originally part of the story, but I never thought it would happen at this point, just two weeks into the new semester.
'The changed future has altered the entire scenario.'
In the game, no matter how much I tried to change the future, the main framework remained the same. That was the limitation of the game, and I overlooked the fact that reality is different.
'What has changed are the results of the tournament and the unexpected cultural exchange event. I thought it wouldn't change much, but I couldn't predict the butterfly effect.'
Kyle's disciple, Guardian Pell, gambles away all his possessions and starts selling Kyle's potion under the alias of Antonio.
Of course, if it were an ordinary potion, it would be dismissed as a minor theft. But the problem is that the potion he leaked is far from ordinary.
Watching Grace's shoulders swelling and his appearance becoming deformed, Adrias clicked his tongue.
By now, there are probably other students in different places who have consumed the potion and are experiencing similar effects.
'If the future has changed, then the people who bought the potion must have changed too.'
First and foremost, I had to deal with Grace, who was right in front of me.
As I watched Grace, whose shoulders were swelling and whose appearance was becoming deformed, I bit my tongue.
By now, there were probably students in other places experiencing the same effects from the potion.
"Adrias Cromwell! Come at me! Are you scared?"
The students, except for me, watched in uncertain expressions as Grace transformed into something grotesque.
It was better this way. He was already an obstacle for Keshurn.
'It gives me a legal way to deal with him.'
At this moment, I rushed towards Grace without hesitation.
"Hahaha! You're charging at me like a wild bee!"
"Noisy."
I put magic aside and prepared my transforming sword.
When I had released the gust of wind earlier, I felt its solid defense.
'Break through.'
Sharp and precise.
The mana gathered in the sword thinned out and concentrated at one point.
'And spin.'
The tip of the sword rotated and I thrust it forward.
'It won't go through!'
Qua-ga-ga-gak!
With a tremendous noise, mana fragments scattered in all directions.
The fragments struck me and left wounds, but I ignored them.
"Grace, you were too arrogant."
My sword began to create small openings in Grace's mana shield.
Grace, bewildered, activated a new spell with his deformed arms.
"Die!"
An arrow made of mana, triggered at close range, was unleashed.
However, anticipating it, I dodged to the side and prepared another sword.
'Now that I'm pushed to my limits...'
Heavier, even heavier.
The mana, transformed into a changed temperament, rested on my sword with overwhelming mass.
I grasped the massive greatsword, Galakshur, with both hands and swung it from top to bottom.
Kwaang!
With a tremendous roar, the mana shield shattered.
However, my sword, which had lost its destructive power by breaking the mana shield, was blocked by Grace's thick arm.
"Aaaah!"
Grace, taken aback by the resistance of my solid strike on his arm, retreated while complaining.
As I chased after him, ready to continue my attack, a student from Mirko Academy jumped out and blocked my path.
Even though their appearance had changed, they didn't know that Grace had consumed a potion related to dark magic. Naturally, they would try to stop me.
I had planned to finish it when people were still unaware of the situation, but Grace's defense turned out to be stronger than I had anticipated.
"No matter how much Grace tries to provoke you, that doesn't justify what you were about to do! Are you in your right mind, trying to kill our prince from the Kingdom of Mayern?"
I had intended to kill him first and then make my excuses, but how should I handle this?
As we momentarily stood facing each other, Grace suddenly started exhibiting bizarre behavior.
"Huh? Your Highness?"
Grace, using his swollen arm to grab the student who had protected him, squeezed tightly until he burst.
Crack.
A surreal atmosphere briefly enveloped the banquet hall, followed by screams.
"Ah! It's, it's murder!"
"Ah...!"
"Kyaaah!"
The surroundings were engulfed in chaos, but Grace seemed unfazed, taking the dead student he had killed and starting to devour them.
The shocking sight caused a second wave of panic among the students.
"He's become a monster."
Gradually losing their sanity, they would eventually forget who they once were.
While I felt sorry for the student who died while trying to stop me, it gave me the justification to kill Grace.
His physical transformation was not the end.
As time passed, he would deviate further from human form.
The students, finally realizing that Grace was abnormal, began to be cautious around him.
"Grrr, keok."
With blood smeared around his mouth, Grace threw away the corpse he had been holding and smiled.
His appearance could no longer be considered human.
Swish.
Thud!
Suddenly, someone charged at Grace.
"Vivianne."
She effortlessly sliced through Grace's hardened arm with her black sword and passed by.
"Ouch!"
Once again, I felt that Vivianne's swordsmanship had improved since the last time.
Before, it had felt instinctual, swinging her sword without thought. But now, she controlled her sword with intent.
Joining in after Vivianne's attack, I struck.
Crack!
Phew.
Vivianne and I danced around each other, brushing past one another as we swung our swords at Grace.
Grace, who had lost his sanity, swung his grotesque and distorted arm without any semblance of strategy or resistance, and eventually met his demise.
"Move aside!"
Dianne's voice rang out.
As Vivianne and I retreated, Dianne unleashed a metal magic she had been preparing for a while.
"Iron Impale."
Giant steel spikes erupted from the ground, impaling Grace.
Indeed, the firepower of advanced magic was unmatched.
'Wait a minute. Advanced magic?'
When did she become skilled in advanced magic?
Dianne's growth seemed to be accelerating at a rapid pace. It was almost terrifying to think that she might create her own original magic before graduation.
"Gruh, urgh."
Grace couldn't even properly utter a word as he bled to death.
I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him, even though he brought this upon himself. He probably didn't know that the potion he had consumed would lead to such a transformation.
With Grace taken care of, I couldn't completely relax.
As seen with Grace, even though he was a mage, his transformed body was able to withstand the blows from my and Vivianne's swords.
If a knight had consumed this potion?
'Things must be chaotic outside already.'
The immediate thoughts that came to mind were Serena, Chris, and Lucia. I needed to make sure they were safe.
But a strange conflict arose within me.
'I don't know who Guardian sold the potion to, so I don't know where to start protecting.'
Should I go to the Knight Division to assist the two who are only first-year students?
Or should I go help Lucia, who might be locked up in her research lab all alone?
While pondering my decision, the students approached, with Dianne at the forefront.
They sent trembling gazes towards the dying Grace.
"What on earth happened? Is this monster really Prince Grace?"
"Is he dead? Is he alive? What should we do?"
As they murmured anxiously, I stepped back slightly, leaving them behind.
After weighing my options, I leaned towards helping Lucia.
'Lucia is weak right now. She has talent, but she neglects her efforts, so she isn't strong. Plus, she might be unaware of the chaos happening outside if she's stuck in her research lab.'
Leaving the questioning students behind, I made my decision.
"Adrias. What are you thinking?"
"Vivianne."
Right, Vivianne was there with me.
My soulmate.
"Vivianne, I have a favor to ask."
.
.
.
.
Ring-ring, ring-ring.
Lucia Everlast, her eyes heavy with sleep, began to organize the materials she had been researching when the alarm notifying the end of the session sounded.
When Adrias first informed her of this research, it felt as if she had seen a ray of light. She thought she might find answers for her stagnant treatment.
But now, after several months without any progress, her strength was slowly waning.
'When Adrias was by my side, it felt like something was visible.'
Should I ask for his help once again?
Lately, she had found herself leaning on Adrias, feeling doubts about her own abilities. It had been days filled with increasing pessimism.
'Is everything pointless? Am I destined to die?'
Once doubt crept in, she descended into an endless spiral of negativity.
She didn't want to feel these emotions and had been trying to erase them through sleep, but even that seemed to have reached its limit.
'Should I just give up?'
Smack!
Lucia forcefully slapped her own cheeks with both hands.
Her cheeks swelled up, but she raised her head and spoke.
'Let's just go to sleep.'
After tidying up the communal research lab and stepping outside, she heard a strange noise.
Following the noise, she saw someone with a grotesque appearance.
'A person...?'
That person had four arms and was abnormally large, almost reaching three meters in height.
"Aruejanya mijaereuba kachichi..."
They stood alone in the courtyard, bowing their head and making strange sounds. Several students had gathered around them, taking pictures with their tablets.
"Hey, what is that? Isn't it dangerous?"
"Did a monster that was being kept captive escape by accident? But I've never seen a monster like that before."
At that moment, the person who had been murmuring suddenly raised their head and looked at the students.
Aside from their two eyes, their forehead had long, torn-like eyes, and their mouth extended to their ears, causing fear to rise within.
"I found you."
Whiiing.
As the sound of mana condensing echoed, the creature began to use magic.
'Magic?'
Crack!
In an instant, the lined up mana transformed into magic and overwhelmed the students.
Caught off guard by the overwhelming speed, one student was directly hit.
"Aaah!"
"What, what is that?"
The bewildered students couldn't respond, and once again, the creature's magic flew towards them.
Thud! Clang!
However, this time the magic was blocked by someone.
As the students turned their gaze, Lucia, who had erected a defensive barrier, was slowly drawing her staff from her embrace.
"Don't just stand there, run away!"
Lucia, who had estimated the opponent's level based on the impact of her previous defensive barrier, realized that this creature was too much for ordinary students to handle.
As the creature launched another barrage of magic, Lucia defended once again and shouted.
"Run away quickly! Go and call the professors or contact someone!"
"Oh, okay!"
As the students fled, Lucia, who finally let out a sigh, looked at the creature with a cold expression.
'I don't particularly want to be a hero, but I guess there's no other choice.'
Rationally judging the situation, she realized that she was the only one who seemed capable of stopping the creature.
However, even she hadn't expected one thing.
"Capture. Kill."
The creature, who had been using magic, suddenly rushed towards Lucia.
She never expected that they would engage in hand-to-hand combat, so although she was slightly taken aback, she calmly used magic.
Pabababak!
Arrows of magic struck the creature.
Literally, they struck without piercing.
"Ah..."
Lucia desperately rolled her body to avoid the creature's attack, but its massive size and four arms chased after her.
Urgently, she expanded her barrier with mana and managed to block the creature's grasp before it could reach her. However, the creature's magic was activated once again.
"Melt. Kill."
Tremendous heat began to surge around Lucia and the creature.
The ground around them started to melt, and even Lucia, who was hiding within the barrier, began to struggle for breath.
'Oxygen...'
Am I going to die like this?
'Indeed. If it was my destiny to die anyway, there would be nothing more to ask for than to save others and die.'
Of course, it's a bit regrettable to die without knowing the true identity of this creature that suddenly appeared.
...
...
...
... No.
Actually, I want to live.
I don't want to die.
"I want to live...!"
Kuwaah!
At the sudden loud noise, tears welled up in Lucia's eyes and they widened in surprise.
The source of the loud noise was the creature that had been using tremendous heat magic in front of her.
And now, that creature was lying on the ground in a crumpled heap, far away from her.
"I'm sorry for being late."
A familiar voice reached her ears.
And she could see the shadow standing before her.
A worn-out black sword and, as always, a plain-colored robe.
Even from the back, she recognized the wavy seaweed-like hair.
"Senior Adrias."
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