Episode 79: Lucia Everlast's Sincerity

The first chapter of Kyler's potion began just before the midterm evaluation.

I couldn't have imagined that a potion leak before the midterm evaluation would lead to an incident during the evaluation, especially considering it had only been two weeks into the new semester.

"The changed future even altered the scenario itself."

In the game, no matter how much I tried to change the future, the main plot remained unchanged. I overlooked the fact that reality was different.

"What changed were the tournament results and the unexpected exchange event. I didn't think the butterfly effect would be so unpredictable."

Kyler's disciple, Guardian Pell, gambles away all his belongings and sells Kyler's potion under the alias Antonio. Of course, if it were an ordinary potion, it would be considered a petty theft. But the problem is that the potion he leaked was not ordinary.

As I watched Grace's shoulders swell and his appearance grotesquely transform, I clicked my tongue.

"Perhaps other students who took the potion are emerging in various places as well."

"If the future has changed, then everyone who bought the potion must have changed too."

First, I had to deal with Grace, who consumed the dark magic potion. There was no other way.

"Adrias Cromwell! Come at me! Are you scared?"

Other students, unsure of what to do, watched Grace's bizarre transformation.

"Well, it's better this way. He was just a stumbling block for Keshurn."

"At least now we can handle it legally."

I wanted to end it before people could fully grasp the situation, but Grace's defense proved to be tougher than I expected.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! You're jumping like a grasshopper!"

"Noisy."

I put aside magic for a moment and prepared my transforming sword. The feeling of resilience I had experienced when I launched Windblade earlier was quite sturdy.

"I'll pierce through."

Sharp and focused.

As mana gathered in my sword, it became thinner and converged in a single point.

"And rotate."

With a spin, I thrust the sword from the end.

"It won't work!"

Kwagagagak!

With a tremendous noise, mana fragments scattered in all directions.

The fragments caused some wounds as they hit me, but I paid them no mind.

"Grace, you were too arrogant."

My sword gradually made holes in Grace's mana shield.

The bewildered Grace roared with his transformed thick arms and activated a new magic.

"Die, die! Die!"

Mana arrows were fired from close range.

But I had already predicted it and evaded to the side, preparing a new sword.

"I've had enough."

Heavier, even heavier.

The changed mana gathered on my sword with overwhelming mass.

I swung the colossal Greyclaw with both hands, top to bottom.

Quaaang!

With a massive roar, the mana shield shattered.

But my sword, which lost its destructive power breaking the mana shield, was stopped by Grace's thick arms.

"Uwaaak!"

As his sturdy arms began to convulse, Grace stepped back, pretending to be hurt.

Following his movements, I attempted to attack again, but suddenly, Grace began to act strangely.

"Huh? Your Highness?"

After grabbing the student he had used to shield himself, Grace inflated his huge arm and squeezed, crushing the student in his hand.

Crunch.

A surreal silence enveloped the party hall at the grotesque sight, followed by screams.

"Ah! I-it's murder!"

"Ahh..."

"Kyaaah!"

Although chaos erupted around me, I paid no attention. Instead, I focused on the scene where Grace devoured the student he had killed.

"That creature has finally emerged."

He will gradually lose his sanity and eventually forget who he was.

I felt a bit sorry for the student who died trying to stop me, but thanks to him, I now had a reason to kill Grace.

But his transformation didn't end there.

As time passed, he would likely deviate further from his human form.

Late in realizing that Grace was not in a normal state, the students began to be cautious around him.

"Grr, grr."

With blood around his mouth, Grace tossed the corpse he had been holding and smiled.

His appearance was no longer recognizable as human.

Swoosh.

Pshoo!

Suddenly, someone rushed toward Grace.

"Vivian."

Her black sword easily cut through Grace's thick arm and passed through.

"Aaah!"

I could feel the difference in Vivian's sword skills from before. In the past, she would swing her sword instinctively without thinking, but now, she was in control, wielding her sword according to her intention.

I joined in the attack.

Kwaaang!

Pshoo.

Vivian and I, as if dancing together, swung our swords at Grace.

Grace, in his irrational state, simply swung his grotesquely transformed arms without any coherent plan, unable to put up any resistance and died.

"Step back!"

Dienne's cry was heard.

As Vivian and I retreated, Dienne unleashed the metal magic she had prepared for a long time.

"Iron Impale."

Giant steel spikes emerged from the ground and pierced through Grace.

As expected, the firepower could rival advanced magic.

"Wait, advanced magic?"

When did she become proficient in advanced magic?

Dienne's growth rate seemed to be accelerating at an alarming rate. She might even create original magic before graduating, which was a scary thought.

"Urgh, ugh."

Grace couldn't even properly utter a word, bleeding profusely, and died.

Though he may have deserved it, I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him. He probably didn't know the potion he consumed would cause such a transformation.

With Grace dealt with, I couldn't feel relieved. As you saw, Grace, a magician, was able to withstand mine and Vivian's swords despite his deformed body. If a knight had consumed this potion...

"The outside must be in chaos now."

The only thing that came to mind was to protect Serena, Chris, and Lucia.

As long as they were safe, I didn't care about anything else. However, a strange conflict arose within me.

"I don't know who Guardian sold the potion to, so I don't know where to start stopping this."

Should I head to the Knight Department to help the two, who are only in their first year? Or should I go to help Lucia, who might be alone in her research lab?

While I was pondering, Dienne and other students approached me.

They looked at me with nervous eyes as they watched Grace, who was persistently clinging to life.

"What on earth is going on? Is this monster really Prince Grace?"

"Is he dead? Is he alive? What should we do?"

Ignoring their anxious muttering, I stepped back slightly.

In the end, my choice leaned toward Lucia.

"Lucia is weak right now. She has talent, but she's not strong because she's lazy. Moreover, she might be in her research lab, unaware of the chaos outside."

As I was organizing my thoughts, Vivian approached me.

"Adrias, what are you thinking about?"

"Vivian."

Yes, it was Vivian.

My soulmate.

"Vivian, I have a favor to ask."

Ding-ding. Ding-ding.

Lucia Everlast, with tired eyes, started organizing the materials she was researching when the alarm announcing the end of working hours went off. She rubbed her eyes and began tidying up.

When Adrias first informed her of this research, she felt like she had seen a ray of light. She thought it might bring answers to her cure, which had shown little progress so far.

However, after several months, the research seemed to be losing its momentum, and she was starting to feel drained.

"When Adrias was by my side, it felt like something was visible."

Should she ask for help again?

Lately, Lucia had been relying on Adrias more and more, and it made her doubt her own abilities.

"Is it all meaningless? Am I destined to die?"

As she started feeling more and more doubtful, she found it challenging to even erase such feelings through sleep.

"Just give up."

In retrospect, her current research seemed like a hopeless torture. Even if the research was completed, there was no guarantee it would become her cure.

Slap!

Lucia slapped herself hard on the cheeks.

Her cheeks turned red, but she shook her head and said, "Let's get some rest."

After finishing the cleanup in the shared laboratory, she heard a strange noise from outside the building.

"A person...?"

What she had thought was a person had four arms and was incredibly large, almost reaching three meters.

"Arudejanyamijaereubakyachi..."

The creature was standing alone in the open space of the research building, muttering strange words. Some students had gathered around and were taking pictures with their tablets.

"Hey, what is that? Is it dangerous?"

"Did the monster they were raising escape by mistake? But it's the first time I've seen this kind of monster."

As the students were in shock and unable to respond, the creature suddenly looked up and stared at them.

Its forehead had eyes that extended like long slits, and its mouth reached its ears, causing fear in those who saw it.

"I found... you."

Wiiiiing.

Lucia heard the sound of mana gathering and saw the creature starting to use magic.

"Magic?"

Kwagagakang!

In an instant, mana arranged in a row transformed into magic and attacked the students.

The overwhelming speed caught one student directly.

"Aaah!"

"What, what is that?"

The startled students couldn't respond, and the monster's magic struck again.

Thump! Kwajijik!

However, this time, someone blocked the magic.

When the students turned to look, they saw Lucia holding up a defensive magic and calmly taking out her staff.

"Don't just stand there, run away!"

Evaluating the power of the attack with the defense magic she had used before, Lucia realized that the creature was beyond what ordinary students could handle.

The monster, which had been using magic until now, suddenly charged towards Lucia.

She was slightly surprised, but she calmly used magic.

Pabababak!

The arrows of magic hit the monster but just bounced off without penetrating it.

"Ah...!"

Lucia quickly rolled away from the monster's attack, but the huge body and four arms still chased after her.

In a hurry, she erected a mana barrier to defend herself, but then the monster's magic activated.

"Melting. Dying."

An enormous heat started boiling around Lucia and the creature.

The surrounding ground started melting, and even Lucia, inside her barrier, found it hard to breathe.

"Is this the end...?"

Was she going to die like this?

Yeah. Maybe it was her destiny to die.

...

...

...

No, she wanted to live.

She didn't want to die.

"I want to live...!"

Kwaaaang!

Suddenly, a booming sound echoed, and tears welled up in Lucia's wide-open eyes.

She could see the creature that had been using an overpowering heat magic earlier, rolling far away on the ground.

"Sorry for being late."

She heard a familiar voice.

And she could see the shadow standing before her.

A black-stained, old sword, and a robe that was always the same dull color.

Though it was his back, she could even see his seaweed-like hair.

"Senior Adrias."