Chapter 192

Chapter 192

I Proposed While Drunk and Now the Princesses are Obsessed.

Episode 192: Steeplechasing, Double-dealing, And Unfair Trade (14)

Just before the duel to the death.

Swaaash!

Rain poured heavily, and thunder rolled occasionally. They said the Purple Tower’s domain considered such weather the most blessed—was it truly just a coincidence?

Jaekiel quietly sank into thought.

‘I have to decide the order for the duels.’

Coincidentally, the Purple Tower side had already sent their preferred duel order to Jaekiel.

The first opponent was Herta. She was set to face Jaekiel.

Seina snorted as if in disbelief.

“…How childish and pathetic. Isn’t this basically a plan to hide behind Herta? They’re hoping she’ll win so everyone else can walk free.”

Anes, standing beside her, also nodded.

“I don’t believe you’ll lose to anyone anyway, Auditor, but I still think this order is problematic. You should change it.”

After all, this was merely their proposed order—the final decision rested solely with Jaekiel. So he didn’t deliberate long.

‘Let’s punish the worst one first.’

He swapped Zeta into the first match.

Mocking the Imperial Tower wasn’t a crime that could be repaid with mere death—only the most miserable end would be fitting.

After correcting the order, he headed toward the duel grounds under the dreary weather. It had been agreed that the duel would take place at the Purple Tower’s arena.

Step, step.

He arrived shortly after.

They said the arena could hold an enormous number of spectators, and it wasn’t a lie. The moment he arrived, a tremendous uproar assaulted his ears.

“Even with this terrible weather, so many still came?”

“You know how horrible the Purple Tower’s deeds were. The Imperial Tower fighting them in a duel to the death? Of course people came.”

“That’s true. But it bothers me it’s a duel, not an execution. What if something disastrous happens?”

“Exactly. Isn’t a thunderstorm considered an auspicious sign by the Purple Tower? Something unexpected might happen.”

If anything, it was a boom time for the Purple Tower’s “banquet”—so many spectators had gathered.

According to Anes’s report, crowds had flocked from all directions, regardless of tower affiliation or social status. Thinking about it, it was only natural.

A duel to the death.

Today, one side—the Purple Tower or the Imperial Tower—must die.

This was not a spectacle anyone could afford to miss.

“Master.”

Seina quietly called Jaekiel—it was time to begin the duel.

Jaekiel quietly nodded.

He emptied his mind.

‘Judge the Purple Tower. Save Akne.’

He discarded all other distractions, keeping only those two thoughts—fully preparing to become his enemy’s death god.

And at last…

Jaekiel and Zeta stood facing each other in the arena.

Kwoooong!

The thunder roared loudly, but it couldn’t drown out the crowd’s cries—the crowd was that massive.

“The Purple Tower must not perish like this! Please!”

“This is our last chance in the duel! Focus!”

“There are still fools shamelessly cheering for the Purple Tower? No different from cultists. Kill them all!”

Shouts erupted from all sides—but aside from a few fanatics, most of the crowd supported the Imperial Tower.

At last, they had undeniable justification.

“…”

Jaekiel quietly observed the scene.

The pouring rain.

The thunder roaring at the world.

The crowd filling his entire field of vision.

…He realized anew how far he had come. He had finally reached a point where he could draw a crowd of this size.

He couldn’t stop. He wanted to work even harder.

“How convenient—even the weather’s on my side.”

Zeta’s sneer broke Jaekiel’s train of thought.

Crackle. Golden lightning began to sprout from Zeta’s hand. It was fitting for someone considered an elite.

Jaekiel carefully gauged the power Zeta was about to unleash. He couldn’t afford to miscalculate. Zeta deserved to suffer long before dying.

“So, we start in one minute?”

It was at the moment Zeta muttered that…

Whoooosh.

Something burst into the center of the arena at impossible speed—a brilliant golden flash.

Zeta’s own lightning was said to be golden, but compared to this new radiance, it seemed almost rusted.

In that instant, Jaekiel realized what it was.

‘Herta?’

Herta was gripping golden lightning like a longsword in one hand—and moving at terrifying speed.

Was this an ambush?

It was an ambush—but the target was not what one would expect.

‘She’s not aiming for me.’

Crackling!

She looked more like a magic swordsman than a magician. Herta’s movements were too fast for the naked eye to follow.

Only when Herta raised her hand high did panic finally flicker across Zeta’s face.

“Herta, you…?”

Maybe it was pure instinct, but a flash of fear crossed the face of the usually arrogant Zeta.

For a moment, he didn’t seem like Zeta at all—the man who had flaunted himself so arrogantly was now trembling pitifully before death.

Boom!

As Herta’s arm moved, thunder exploded. Her sword—the lightning blade—struck at the speed of a thunderbolt.

The lightning sword slashed in a horizontal arc, neatly severing Zeta’s neck.

There was no spray of blood—the severed neck had been instantly cauterized by the thunderous strike.

Thunk!

The sound of Zeta’s terrified face hitting the ground echoed loudly.

The lightning sword that had wrapped around Herta’s hand disappeared without a sound. It had all happened in an instant.

And just as the rain stopped, an eerie silence fell.

“Regrettably, the first participant, Zeta, is now unable to join the duel due to his death.”

The golden woman parted her full lips to speak.

“It’s now my turn, Auditor.”

The next Master of the Purple Tower, Herta.

The woman had slain her own brother and now volunteered to take the first match.

In an instant, the surroundings were thrown into chaos.

.

.

.

.

.

The spectators couldn’t snap out of their confusion.

“The next Master… killed her own brother?”

“What in the world is the reason?”

“Did she betray the Purple Tower? No, that can’t be…”

When one reached a certain realm of magic, even their hearing sharpened. Jaekiel and Herta were no exception.

“An elite of the Purple Tower died so pathetically?”

“Was he even truly an elite? The gap is ridiculous…”

“So what exactly is happening?”

As the confusion among the crowd only grew, Jaekiel likewise stayed silent—he still couldn’t fully grasp Herta’s intent.

But then…

Herta slowly shook her head.

Only then did Jaekiel look closely at the next Purple Tower Master’s expression.

It was an unfamiliar situation, and an unfamiliar face.

“Auditor, and everyone gathered here—there’s no need to be alarmed. A clean and proper duel to the death will proceed without trouble.”

Her voice was imbued with mana—meaning her words carried clearly to the entire audience.

Jaekiel narrowed his brow as he replied.

“…What exactly are you trying to pull?”

At that, Herta dispersed the mana in her voice—making it a conversation just between the two of them.

“I wanted to at least preserve my blood relative’s body.

The woman continued calmly.

“You need not doubt me. If I intended to attack you, Auditor, I would have done so much earlier—during my visit to the Imperial Tower.”

Jaekiel understood her intent.

But that didn’t mean his anger disappeared.

Zeta had been a criminal Jaekiel needed to personally condemn, and yet he had died so meaninglessly.

“You just committed a serious crime. Are you aware?”

“I know. That’s why I won’t avoid the duel. Though my life is lowly, I intend to atone for my sin by dying before everyone’s eyes.”

“…You’re entering the duel intending to die?”

Jaekiel’s voice was thick with displeasure.

“Now you’re acting righteous? You asked to be first, didn’t you? You intended to defeat me and save the other Purple Tower magicians.”

“Mm, I understand why you would think that. But I had to take the first spot, no matter what.”

Jaekiel still couldn’t fully grasp her words.

“The idea that defeating you would save the Purple Tower was wrong from the start. It would only have delayed our collapse, not saved us.”

“Explain it so I can understand.”

“Today, my death will be the rebirth of the Purple Tower.”

Suddenly, Herta smiled.

“I will throw away my life to save and preserve the Purple Tower. That is the conclusion I reached, and my duty as the future Tower Master.”

Crackle. Golden lightning sparked in her hand.

“Lightning is a very rare element. It leaves a historic, brilliant mark for just a brief moment, then disappears. That’s what makes it so alluring.”

“The current Purple Tower is nothing like that.”

“You see correctly. No lightning remains to brighten the world—only thunder making noise. That’s the current state of the Purple Tower.”

Herta continued speaking, still smiling.

“A sky filled only with clouds and noise—of course the world does not welcome it. That’s why I, as the next Tower Master, will become the lightning.”

Jaekiel quietly bit down on a piece of Sun Grass.

Before he realized it, he was fully focused on their conversation.

“Then in the end, aren’t you saying you’ll fight with everything you have? It sounds like you want to win.”

“No.”

Herta slowly shook her head.

“For lightning to strike with all its might, it needs a sky to receive it. And fortunately, Auditor, you are clearly stronger than I am.”

She compared herself to the lightning, and Jaekiel to the sky.

She was asking him, now…

Could he truly kill her with all his might?

“As a Purple Tower elite and as the next Tower Master, I failed my duties. I apologize for burdening the Imperial Tower and the world.”

With full courtesy, Herta asked Jaekiel…

“So please, Auditor.”

The woman began to raise her golden energy.

“Today, truly…”

Under the clearing sky, with bright weather, her brilliance was vividly visible to all.

“May I die… as a radiant thunderbolt?”

Jaekiel slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again.

Herta’s words resonated with a deep impact.

After a long while, he asked only one thing.

“Don’t you want to live?”

Then something astonishing happened.

Herta finally smiled—brightly, dazzlingly.

“…What lightning ever thinks about living?”