Despair

"….."

Lucian was now observing Valentina and the five shadow figures that she had summoned.

"ROARR!" The shadow tyrannosaurus jumped down to the lower floor and rushed toward the portal. Suddenly, the size of its head increased, and it swallowed the portal along with the monsters. "ROOAR!"

The adventurers were shocked by the appearance of the tyrannosaurus, and even more when they saw it swallow the other monsters as if they were mere chickens. The monsters that gave them hard time were now being massacred at their turn.

"What is that? It's eating the monsters!"

"Is that a dinosaur?"

The adventurers looked at this scene with mixed feelings. Fear. Shock. Awe.

The shadow grizzly was the second to move. With its hands, it grabbed a monster and tore its apart with sheer physical strength. It looked like a muscular giant rather than a grizzly. "ROAAR!"

Of course, the monsters attacked the shadow grizzly but it didn't even feel anything. It was useless to heat a shadow.

The shadow of a man wrapped in a cloak of shadow and holding a harp was the third one to move. He played a melody. A melody that humans couldn't hear. A melody that only had a meaning in the darkness. But then, every single shadow inside the building began to extend and grabbed the monsters like spider webs.

After that, the Tyrannosaurus continued to swallow the monsters. The grizzly tore the apart. And the musician restrained them.

"Mmm~ I guess, this is it. Pretty easy. Not thrilling at all." Valentina said, not in the least surprised by the result.

Solomon squinted his eyes as he looked at Valentina. Rezalea did the same. Many things still needed to be done, but because of Valentina, the portal was taken care of. In other words, the crisis was practically resolved.

"Don't just stand there! Take care of the remaining monsters while they are still immobile!" George immediately issued orders, knowing that Valentina might change her mind. As the commander of the Red Lily, he felt a little bit frustrated, but such feelings weren't of any importance to what he needed to do.

Valentina, this woman was incredible. And that was how it should be, Lucian thought.

Still, this was the result of a coincidence. This power wasn't something that Valentina obtained because she wanted it, or because she knew how to obtain it. It was a coincidence. And therefore, a curse. Whether she wanted it or not, she had this power, and she needed to pay the price for having it.

"Magnifique! Splendide! This kind of beauty can be only the work of my soul mate! Valentina, you are a merveille!"

Lucian squinted his eyes. He had observed Christophe as he did with everyone else. But he was quite surprised that Valentina had a connection with him. It was quite interesting.

From their appearance alone, they were the complete opposite of each other. But their power also was in a way… Well, to put it simply, Cristophe was flashy, and his power was also flashy.

"Swoosh!" Raging blue flames swallowed the monster that rushed at Christophe. "Brûle! Damned creatures! Your bones will make beautiful flames!"

It was flashy, indeed, nothing but flashy flames, but left nothing else behind but ashes. Simple but effective. That was the power of the man called Christophe.

"You are pretty violent, comrade! What should I call you? I like violent people! Violence is beautiful." Yvanski approached Christophe. Both of them didn't wear cloth on the upper part of their body. Yvanski aside, Christophe's fame came directly from within his body so it destroyed his clothes when he used them.

"You are the mad berserker Yvanski. For me, the only beautiful thing in this world is my soul mate, Valentina! But I don't dislike people who can appreciate the beauty of the world!"

Both men held hands, looking satisfied with this newly found friendship(?).

"Indeed! Indeed! I am glad that I met you! Let's talk about the beauty of violence!"

"Yes, let's talk about the beauty of Valentina!"

"Hahahaha!"

"Hahahaha!"

Valentina felt goosebumps all of sudden. "C-choupyu?"

The mere intervention of Valentina changed the outcome of this tragedy, Lucian thought. It was not something surprising. Among all of them, she was the only one who had managed to reach the next step, even if it was just a coincidence.

The adventurers and the knights would be able to turn things around at this rate. Lucian continued to observe.

"Hmph…" Manou and her companions, who continued to fight without caring about anyone else.

"Treat the injured! We will take care of the rest!" Caesar and his followers, who were core members of the adventurers' guild.

"Let me help with the healing!" Rezalea who used her power to help the injured knights by controlling plants that produced regenerative gas.

"Evacuate the injured people. I am fine. That should be the priority." Solomon, who didn't let any trace of fear show on his face.

"Don't let your guard down! Kill them all!" George who was fulfilling his duties.

"..." Rita. The little girl.

Relics. Authority. This power was more complex than what humans thought.

That was why this outcome was disappointing. But this was also something Lucian had expected. He knew that humans would fail to realize the truth even if it were to be shoved right in their faces. Humans never truly understood their weaknesses. They were the victim of it, but they never understood why.

Lucian's meeting with Rita. The appearance of the dragon. The interference of the merchant. Solomon's decision to gather all of the strongest adventurers in a single place. Everything might have been a coincidence. But it might also be something that was set up by someone else. Either way, it didn't matter.

Everything would go the way Lucian wanted it, and he would reach his goal even if he had to tame the chaotic beast called fate itself.

And for the sake of overturning the inevitable, to accomplish the impossible, humans had to understand, even if they were to take one step beyond the gate of death…

They had to understand that their suffering, their fear, and their misery were nothing compared to what was beyond the Abyss.

Lucian extended his hand and attracted every last bit of neutral particles in the surrounding toward him, including what was inside the body of those who were present there. And, as a consequence, no one could use their battle aura or their relics.

In other words, everyone, even Valentina, had become completely powerless. The shadow figures that she had summoned vanished.

No matter what happened, it was inevitable that this would happen. This step was crucial.

This despair.

"I believe in all of you," Lucian said with a serene smile.

"WHY DID YOU HIT ME? IT HURTS!"

"I CAN'T FORGIVE YOU! WHY ARE YOU SO CRUEL!"

The monsters went on a rampage once again, but this time, there was nothing to be done. Or so it seemed…