Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Who Is This Deculein?

The girl in my vision had black hair and brown eyes.

She couldn’t have been older than five. And she was resisting. Thrashing against the hands holding her down with everything her small body could manage.

They forced her mouth open. A vial of blood was pressed between her lips. She gagged. Choked. Tried to spit it out.

They made her swallow every drop.

The reaction was instant.

Her body seized. The mana around her erupted in a wave of terrifying black. But it wasn’t attacking outward. It was attacking her. Her own mana was burning her body from the inside.

Then a man spoke. Calm. Measured.

“The vessel isn’t prepared yet. Block her mana core before we lose it.”

I looked at him. His face carried nothing. No panic. No guilt. Not a shred of emotion while watching a child get torn apart from within.

And something in my gut told me he was her father.

My eyes drifted back to the girl. Black hair soaked with sweat. Brown eyes that weren’t brown anymore.

They were red. It reminded of a girl I know and even my mind was telling it was her.

Aria Halloway.

The vision shattered. Reality slammed back into place. The arena. The crowd. The clash of mana in the air.

The synchronization had fed me more of Deculein’s memories. Maybe he had seen this too. Witnessed it firsthand.

But before I could think further, the real Aria was already in motion.

She charged at Angelica with fury pouring out of every step. Their swords collided.

CLANG.

Mana signatures erupted on impact. With every strike, two opposing forces evaporated into the air. Black against gold. Darkness crashing into divinity.

Aria’s energy had shifted. That dark red from before was gone. Pure black mana bled from her blade and body like something inside her had finally cracked open.

And maybe that was my fault.

My buff amplified her by 1.5 times. But if what was hiding underneath was already something monstrous, then all I did was kick the cage door open.

She was a guinea pig. A vessel for whatever those bastards were cooking. And now the thing they’d shoved into that little girl was leaking out.

I smiled. ’Fuck them both, Aria.’

I started casting. Pointed at Angelica and fired my debuff.

Even before my spell she was already suffering. Aria’s sudden brutality had her shivering with every block. The vibration of each impact was visible from where I stood.

Now it was worse. Each blow pushed her further back. The pain carved itself into her expression. Her arms trembled under the force.

CRACKOOM.

Charlotte intervened. Bolts of lightning crashed between the two fighters, the explosion forcing them apart.

Aria dropped to one knee. She wasn’t in good shape. Bruises across her skin. Hair a mess. Face smeared with dirt.

But all of it was somehow making her more beautiful.

’Why am I noticing this right now? Lock in.’

The opponents didn’t wait.

“Charlotte. Now.” Angelica’s voice was sharp. “We’re ending this.”

She raised her sword and a massive blast of holy magic fired from its tip. Aimed straight at Aria.

FWOOOM.

Aria was ready. A void-like shield wrapped around her the second the attack arrived. It barely left a dent. And behind the fading blast, Angelica was already charging.

But Aria had her in sight.

Four shadowy chains erupted from the ground. Alive. Writhing. Each one lunging at Angelica from a different angle.

She dodged the first. Cut through the second and third.

The fourth snagged her leg from behind.

Aria smiled. Her hand raised for the finishing blow.

Then she caught a small movement below her feet.

The air turned heavy around her. A low humming filled her ears. Her boots were stuck to the ground. When she looked down, an electric circle was etched beneath her, current flowing through it in a closed loop.

She formed a quick shield around her forearm and looked at the sky.

Her panic was justified.

KRAKOOM.

Lightning fell from above. Not a bolt. A broad pillar of it. As if the heavens themselves decided to punish Aria Halloway for every crime attached to her name.

She couldn’t dodge. Couldn’t move. Had to take every bit of it.

The shield on her forearm shattered the instant it touched.

BOOOOM.

When the light faded, Aria lay on the ground. Completely done. Her breathing was so heavy each one sounded like it could be her last.

A medical staff member rushed from the sidelines. Then stopped dead in his tracks.

Because Aria was clenching her fist.

The dark red mana around her was shifting. Deepening. Turning pure black.

She didn’t stand up the way a human would.

Her body lifted on its own. Hovering. When she stopped rising, her feet hung a few inches above the ground.

Her face carried nothing. Not the rage from before. Not the hissing. Not the hatred. Just empty eyes staring at her two opponents.

Then above her head, they materialized.

Hundreds of them. Cannonball-sized spheres of pitch black mana.

She threw them all at once.

Angelica and Charlotte scrambled. Dodging. Blocking. Deflecting. But the barrage was endless. Explosions tore through the arena one after another, pushing both of them back with visible pain.

I wasn’t watching them.

My focus was on Aria.

Her skin was burning. Cracks of dark light crawling along her arms and neck. The same reaction from the vision. The same thing that happened when they forced that blood down her throat as a child.

Then the notification appeared.

[Due to Player Eren significantly altering the story toward a catastrophic outcome, Villainess Aria’s Awakening has been triggered]

[If the villainess is not calmed immediately, the time until calamity will be reduced exponentially]

’You want me to stop her?’

’Are you fucking stupid? Don’t you see she’s completely out of control right now? And even if she was in her right mind, she’d kill me first if I tried putting some sense into her.’

But then I sighed. Let the frustration drain out.

A grin crept across my face.

I kicked the flat of my axe blade resting on the ground. The handle flipped upward and I caught it clean.

“Alright then. Let’s try some talk no jutsu first.” I rested the axe on my shoulder.

“And if that doesn’t work… lights out no jutsu.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep