Episode 181
Dolores lunged at Felix, her hands tightening around his throat.
“Cough…!”
Felix, unable to resist, collapsed, struggling weakly against her relentless grip.
“I devoted sixteen years of my life to you, and you betray me over a few words?!”
“S-sob…”
“I shouldn’t have loved you, Felix Heilan! I thought you were different, different from the other Heilan men…!”
Tears streamed down Dolores’s ashen face. Felix, his hands trembling, weakly grasped her wrists.
His pleading gaze, as if he had something important to say, made Dolores hesitate, her grip loosening.
But his words, gasped out with his dying breath, were…
“If you hadn’t lied to me…”
Snap.
Dolores’s last shred of sanity snapped.
A hollow laugh escaped her lips, the absurdity of the situation overwhelming her.
“I… endured all that… for this…?”
Tears streamed down her face.
She had sacrificed so much. And for what? To be betrayed like this?
Dolores slowly turned to Elonia, her voice hollow, devoid of emotion.
“Chelon Heilan.”
“…What?”
“You know I was once in the same position as you, right?”
Elonia, unsure of her intentions, but her guard still up, nodded slowly. Dolores chuckled dryly.
“Then what do you think I’ll do to him?”
“…What?”
Elonia was taken aback.
Was she asking for permission to kill Felix? Just as Elonia was about to reply,
“Your Highness, we have to stop Dolores…!”
Lucius understood Dolores’s intentions.
But it was too late.
“Aaaah!”
A scream, filled with agony, ripped through the air. Elonia stared in disbelief.
Dolores’s mist was attacking Felix.
‘No, it’s not an attack, it’s more like…’
She had seen this before.
When she was ten, Alexia had been dragged away and killed by the knights, her body placed on an altar, and then…
“Ugh…!”
Elonia quickly covered her mouth, but the scene wouldn’t leave her mind.
A powerful storm erupted around Dolores.
“N-no…!”
Lucius quickly shielded Elonia with his body. Elonia finally understood what was happening, but she couldn’t do anything.
“Ugh…!”
The storm engulfed them. Even with Lucius’s protection, the wind was fierce, a cold, biting wind that tore at her skin.
“L-Lucius…!”
Elonia, afraid Lucius would be hurt protecting her, tried to push him away, but he held firm, his strength surprising.
“Gasp…!”
The storm subsided.
Elonia, her vision clearing, stared in horror at Felix, who lay on the floor, his body withered and shrunken, as if all his life force had been drained.
And Dolores…
“Haah… I should have sacrificed him sooner. Then I would have gained more faith.”
Dolores was smiling.
A triumphant smile, as if she had just broken free from the heaviest burden.
She brushed her hair back and looked at Elonia.
“The answer was, even if I’m alone, I’ll be fine if I sacrifice Felix.”
Elonia’s mind couldn’t process the sudden turn of events.
Hadn’t they been madly in love? Elonia and Lucius had planned to weaken them by turning them against each other.
Elonia, forcing herself to remain calm, said sarcastically,
“…You’re surprisingly pragmatic.”
“I can’t throw away my life for an ungrateful bastard, not after coming this far.”
Dolores then turned to Lucius, who looked even more exhausted now, having shielded Elonia from the storm.
She admired his loyalty, then chuckled dryly.
“Well, Apostle, my love has failed again. Now show me how great your love is.”
“P-Philia?”
Artius couldn’t believe his eyes.
He had been questioning Ricardo about his presence when something fell from the sky. It was Philemon.
‘Is it another phantom?’
No, she seemed too real. And unlike the phantom earlier, she wasn’t attacking him. She was looking at him with an expression of disbelief, just like him.
“Artius… you can see me?”
“Y-yes…”
Philemon’s mind raced.
He hadn’t been able to see her when she embraced him earlier. Only Lucius, an apostle, and Tristan, who had transcended humanity, could see her. So why now?
‘Why can he see me?’
She found the answer instantly.
“…Tristan!”
Just as she shouted, her gaze fixed on the spire,
A powerful storm, strong enough to tear the spire apart, erupted.
Philemon, watching in despair, murmured,
“Tristan… he’s finally become a god…”
“Is that all you’ve got? You can’t even handle this?”
“L-Lucius!”
Dolores relentlessly targeted Lucius. Or rather, it wasn’t even a proper attack.
Even Lucius, wielding the Calamity God’s power, was no match for Dolores, who had just become a god.
“Ugh…!”
Dolores simply stood there, her mere presence enough to make Lucius collapse, groaning in pain. Dolores sighed condescendingly.
“Haah… If I had known I could subdue you so easily, I would have abandoned love long ago.”
Dolores shook her head.
She had considered making him her first apostle, since he had awakened the power she once wielded.
“You’re pathetic. Just like before.”
She truly pitied him, this boy who couldn’t even seize the opportunities presented to him. If she had been born a man, with such opportunities, she would have lived a much better life.
She turned her gaze towards Elonia, who was trying to help Lucius up, and remarked,
“Oh, Princess Elonia. You’re holding up well. I’m quite proud of you.”
“Ha.”
Elonia almost cursed aloud.
Proud? What had she done to deserve her pride? Elonia gritted her teeth, annoyed.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Are you my mother? Did you raise me?”
“Not your mother, but perhaps an ancestor? Well, I have no living descendants.”
Dolores chuckled.
“You’ve grown so much. I’m proud of you, fellow abandoned royalty of Heilan.”
She wasn’t lying. She had felt resentment earlier, but not anymore. She genuinely admired Elonia.
Elonia’s hand, gripping her sword, trembled.
She wanted to silence her, but Dolores was a god now.
Humans couldn’t defy gods.
Dolores was only being lenient because she felt a sense of kinship with Elonia.
Having been betrayed by Felix, she saw Elonia as her only ally now.
‘Seriously? I have to feel camaraderie with this bastard?’
Dolores, sensing Elonia’s thoughts, which were written all over her face, shrugged and scoffed.
“You better be nice to me. I might spare the others, even if I have to eliminate that weak apostle. That would be a truly noble act, wouldn’t it, a shining example for a princess?”
“…!”
“Or perhaps choosing a single life is also a valid option. The beauty of love lies in its ability to make even the most intelligent people make foolish decisions. Just like I did.”
Dolores laughed, her voice filled with self-deprecating humor.
Elonia, though infuriated by her every word and gesture, couldn’t deny the truth.
Lucius was the only one who could potentially defeat Dolores, and he was already at his limit.
It would be the pragmatic choice, the logical choice, to abandon Lucius and side with Dolores, to save Ravanta.
‘But I can’t betray him, not after he protected me…!’
And Elonia didn’t want to lose Lucius.
Why? She didn’t know.
She just didn’t. Just as she was struggling, her hands sweating,
“…!”
Lucius’s hand reached out and grasped hers tightly.
A reassuring grip, filled with an almost reckless confidence.
Elonia’s eyes widened. Lucius, his face pale and drawn, smiled at her.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness.”
Don’t worry? About what? And then she realized.
Lucius had a tendency to disregard his own life for her sake.
And it wasn’t just about repaying a debt. She knew that now.
His actions could only be explained by the word Dolores had been mocking.
‘The emotion that clouds judgment… that makes people foolish…’
Love.
The realization made her blood run cold, and she shouted,
“No! Don’t do anything reckless, Lucius!”
“Oh? Finally made up your mind?”
Dolores, overhearing her desperate plea, smirked. Lucius shook his head, and Tristan’s face contorted in annoyance.
“…You’re persistent, I’ll give you that.”
“Ugh…!”
“Lucius!”
Dolores unleashed another surge of power, suppressing Lucius. Elonia’s voice, hoarse from shouting, pleaded with her.
“Stop it, Dolores! Please!”
Lucius gently squeezed her hand, as if reassuring her. He still hadn’t lost his smile.
‘Why is he smiling…?!’
Why was he smiling when she was suffering, unable to do anything to protect him?!
Tears welled up in Elonia’s eyes and dripped onto Lucius’s hand. Lucius looked up at her, his eyes wide with surprise, and at that moment, Elonia collapsed against him.
“Your Highness…?”
Lucius was flustered. He was startled by her sudden weight against him, by the warmth of her body, but there was another reason.
‘I’ve worried Her Highness countless times.’
But he had no intention of dying here. He had made preparations long ago to ensure Elonia wouldn’t let him die.
‘She seems to have forgotten.’
It was understandable. She probably hadn’t believed his plan would actually work. Lucius, feeling a pang of guilt, gently patted her back.
And he whispered in her ear, his voice hoarse and strained,
“Your Highness, Madicte is the God of Abundance.”
“…What?”
What was he talking about? Elonia, more confused than angry, lifted her head.
Lucius grinned, reminding her of something she had forgotten.
“Isn’t that why we asked Valerian for his help?”
“…!”
Elonia finally remembered.
She had made the request herself, but she hadn’t truly believed it would work.
A god could only be defeated by another god.
When Tristan tried to gather faith in Ravanta, Elonia had used Madicte to interfere.
Ravanta’s faith was weak, so even the High Priest couldn’t hear Madicte’s voice.
But if a god was born in the land Madicte ruled…
‘Perhaps we can ask for Madicte’s help…!’
It was a childish hope, a desperate wish. But Lucius’s unwavering gaze made her believe.
Elonia, her resolve hardening, stood up.
Dolores, fortunately, still seemed reluctant to harm her.
Elonia held out her hand towards Dolores. Dolores, her voice condescending, asked,
“What is it?”
Nothing had changed. It was still a battle against time.
But this time, it wasn’t about who could kill the other faster.
“I have a proposition for you, Dolores.”
Elonia just had to buy time.