“Don’t tell me he’s going to subjugate the monster?”
“It’s right before the competition ends… so who is the winner?”
People looked at each other, murmuring. Because they were inside the safe zone, they didn’t feel a great sense of crisis.
The emperor leaned forward as he furrowed his eyebrows. In his eyes, there was a sense of relief that his son, Paris, was out of danger. But there was also a sense of displeasure that Paris’ victory became unclear.
In the midst of the uproar, Petra’s eyes were only directed at Caelion, who was running across the hunting ground relentlessly. Apollonia was watching Petra attentively.
Thud-!
Growl-!
With one arrow stuck in the middle of Jackalope’s forehead, Caelion eventually ran out of arrows.
“Uwah! The monster stopped moving!”
“The arrows landed on its head, of course, it would fall!”
“Well, then the winner is…”
They waited for the monster to collapse. Even if the arrows weren’t deeply embedded, no monsters were able to withstand getting hit several times on its weak spot, not to mention, it was hit by special arrows with the blood of monsters. If it was a normal monster, it would have died long ago.
Auuuuuuuuuu-!
But Jackalope was extraordinary, to begin with. Far from falling, it was howling even stronger than before. At last, the monster found Caelion staring at him with an empty quiver.
Growl-!
The monster rushed toward Caelion without stumbling. Caelion, who already fled from the hunting ground and stood in front of the podium, also did not back down.
“That’s weird. Is it normal for such a creature to be able to withstand that?” the emperor asked.
The royal attendant mumbled. “Th-that’s not an ordinary monster…”
“What do you mean?”
“Special arrows are coated with the blood of the monsters. It’s a way to attack another monster using the power of the dead one. But Jackalope is a giant monster who consumes smaller monsters…”
“So what’s going to happen?”
“Those arrows will be no different from regular arrows in front of Jackalope. No, it’s actually empowering Jackalope. The only way to kill it is by using a great weapon or magic. But the arrow couldn’t possibly…”
The Emperor’s eyes gleamed. Until a while ago, he was visibly annoyed because Paris’ performance would be overshadowed by this.
Apollonia was familiar with that expression. He looked like that each time he wanted to kill people. He must have wanted to get rid of Caelion now without dirtying his hands.
“We need to send the knights to help the little grand duke, Your Majesty. Otherwise…”
“We can’t do that until the competition is over. Do you think it’ll be fair for the little grand duke if we take away his chance to win?”
The emperor’s words made the Grand Duchess tremble even more. “Oh, no, Cael..”
Now the distance between the monster and Caelion was only about two meters. The spectators only saw the back of the giant Jackalope and its flailing tail, but they weren’t able to see Caelion’s movement.
Growl-!
Caelion pulled out his sword when the monster charged at him.
Growl-!
Haak-!
The two ran toward each other at the same time.
Clang-!
His black sword was broken at once by the monster’s huge paw.
“Argh!”
“Little grand duke!”
Caelion fell to the ground with his broken sword. Just by looking at his trembling shoulders, it was clear that he had no strength left to get back to his feet. The other participants, including Eckart, ran to the area, but no one could help him right away.
Apollonia clenched her fists. She looked around, but Uriel was nowhere to be seen. Because Caelion acted so abruptly, it was possible that Uriel was unable to keep up with him.
‘If that child dies like this…’
Dozens of thoughts ran through her mind.
Was Caelion her future competitor? Or would he become her ally? Would she be able to control him even after he gained power?
But in the midst of her many calculations, the boy’s voice pierced her heart.
“Please save me, sister.”
Desperate, tearful eyes.
She returned to reality. He didn’t lose the flame in his eyes even in the face of death. He faced Jackalope with a determined look, as if he would leave his life in the hand of fate. He didn’t have a proper weapon on his hand, and the monster was approaching.
“Is this the end…?” The emperor murmured quietly.
Only Apollonia was able to hear.
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