Chapter 185
"You flew really far.""Who knew humans could be launched that far?"
Nel's Gold Smash exploded against Ares, creating an impact sound that didn't seem humanly possible, reverberating through the coliseum.
Just because the Duel Pieces ensured safety didn't mean such a noise should be allowed.
But was it overkill?
"Ah, he's getting up.""Tch, couldn't finish him off after all.""Liberta!?"
I hadn't expected that. I'd held a faint hope that some mishap might have taken Ares out, but it seemed even Nel's Gold Smash couldn't breach a god's defenses.
Amina, who had clicked her tongue in frustration beside me, gave me a disapproving look but then turned her gaze toward Ares, who had been blown to the far edge of the arena.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!?"
From the opposite spectator seats, Bonbon screamed, clutching his head, but I couldn't care less.
"The winner is Nel!!"
With the referee's declaration, the surrounding soldiers applauded, praising Nel.
Nel waved back at the cheers, but...
"......"
Was it really going to end this easily?
Winning was good, but something felt off—it was too anticlimactic.
Staring at where Ares had been blown away, all I saw was him slowly pulling himself up from the wall, checking his body for injuries.
That Jester of Mad Revelry?
Would he really let things end like this?
The outcome was decided. All that remained was the enforcement of the oath sworn to the Duel God.
Yet, an uneasy feeling gnawed at me.
Had I overlooked something?
Had the Jester of Mad Revelry's skills deviated from the original story?
Or was he genuinely uninterested, content to let this be the end?
Neither explanation felt right.
Or... was Ares not actually the Jester of Mad Revelry?
Sensing the stark contrast between the winner's and loser's sides, I glanced around subtly.
The soldiers had relaxed slightly, as if they believed it was over and they could soon return.
"Prepare to withdraw!!"
But the captain's sharp command snapped them back to attention, and they swiftly moved to escort the Duke and Lady Esmeralda.
Breaking through this security would be impossible.
Just as I thought that—
Bang.
A dry, explosive sound rang out.
Like a gunshot. Guns did exist in FBO, though they were rare and difficult to handle.
For a brief moment, panic surged—had Ares—?
I tore my gaze from Ares to search for the source of the sound.
The soldiers also looked around, some even shielding the Duke and his daughter with their bodies.
But the attack wasn't aimed here?
Nothing happened. To trace the source of this unease, I checked the opposite side—but over there, the commotion wasn't about the noise.
Bonbon was in a frenzy, screaming, and the soldiers were too busy restraining him to pay attention to anything else.
"Hey... Ares is gone.""!?"
If the threat wasn't from the opponent, then—
The moment Amina pointed out Ares' absence from where he had just been, I sprinted toward the Duke and his daughter.
The guards were vigilant, fully alert.
A simple distraction wouldn’t be enough to break through.
But exploiting the blind spots in their awareness was exactly what the Jester of Mad Revelry excelled at.
The reason I had entrusted the duel to Nel was so I could stay mobile for emergencies.
To him, the duel’s outcome must have been irrelevant.
He was the type to go to any lengths to cause trouble for those he fixated on.
The stronger his obsession, the more extreme his methods became.
I didn’t know his goal, but I could guess the worst-case scenario.
How he did it, I had no idea.
But the adventurer Ares, who had been in the coliseum moments ago, was now above the Duke.
"Perish, evil!!"
The sheer audacity.
If he was trying to overturn the duel’s result, shouldn’t divine punishment strike him down?
But then again, the duelists were merely proxies.
If the earlier oath was about Bonbon and Pink-Hair being exiled and the harbor rights transferring to the Edelgard family, would violating it still count as breaking the oath?
God, isn’t that a little too lenient?
The guards had been watching their surroundings, but the overhead blind spot had been neglected.
Only when Ares raised his sword and shouted did the soldiers react, rushing to shield the Duke and his daughter—
"Don’t ruin a perfectly good ending."
But I was faster.
Using Sky Step, I lunged at Ares and deflected his sword with my scythe-spear.
A midair clash.
I blocked his strike, but Ares landed gracefully, unfazed, as soldiers surrounded him.
"What is the meaning of this?"
The immediate danger had passed.
The Duke glared from behind the soldiers, but Ares put on a serious face and retorted:
"Nothing complicated! I lost the duel, but I won’t overlook evil like you! That’s all!"
"Evil?"
What was this guy even talking about?
Realizing this was an act, I exhaled slowly, suppressing my presence.
"Yes! You used your authority to suppress Gunns’ will and obstruct their love! If not for your meddling, they could have been happy!"
Ugh, listening to this was infuriating.
Japan had idiots like this too—people who lashed out based on emotion rather than reason.
"They looked happy, so why interfere?"
Defending the one who cheated first? The Jester of Mad Revelry really had it rough.
"...Hah. Talking is pointless. Soldiers, this man attempted to take my life. I don’t care if he lives or dies."
After that brief exchange, the Duke concluded further dialogue was useless and ordered the soldiers to overwhelm Ares with numbers.
Attempting to assassinate a noble lord? No excuse or pretty words would spare him from execution.
"Wait! Running away!?""......"
The Duke and his daughter retreated to safety under heavy guard.
Ares called it cowardly, but they ignored him and left.
"Charge!!!"
At the captain’s command, the soldiers rushed Ares.
Their plan was to encircle him with spears and finish him off in one strike.
Individually, these trained soldiers were no match for whoever was inside Ares.
But with coordination and their prepared equipment, they could definitely take him down.
"Damn it! Fight fair!!"
What was this weird feeling?
This was too stupidly straightforward.
That guy should have been more cunning.
This reckless, emotionally driven approach was too sloppy.
I watched as Ares was cornered, desperately deflecting spears and using magic to try and chase the Duke.
"Liberta! I’ll sing!""Yeah, please do."
Amina’s song bolstered the soldiers’ morale, adding to the pressure.
For just a moment, Ares’ attention flickered toward her—and in that split second, a soldier stabbed his spear into Ares’ arm.
"Guh—!?"
Blood spilled as Ares slashed the spear away with his other hand, but bit by bit, he was being pushed back.
There was no chance of a comeback.
At least, that’s how it seemed.
Wound after wound—arm, leg, stomach, shoulder.
Each strike was shallow, but the bleeding added up, slowing him down.
I didn’t get it.
Really didn’t get it.
Would the Jester of Mad Revelry really go down this easily?
Had he actually just been some random NPC I didn’t know?
An indescribable unease made it impossible to look away.
"...Can’t look away?"
Why couldn’t I look away?
The discomfort grew, but a single question pierced through it, slightly clearing my revulsion.
This feeling—I knew it.
"Is this a Hate Skill!?"
Unlike Amina’s charm-based attention draw, this was a pressure-like effect forcing focus onto him.
In the game, it forcibly locked your gaze, making it hard to target other units.
The soldiers’ hyper-focus on Ares matched that effect.
But the Jester of Mad Revelry shouldn’t have this skill.
And why use hate manipulation now?
"This is bad."
The answer came instantly.
He wanted to pin us—no, the guards—here.
"Move!!"
But why? If his target was the Duke, keeping the guards here while the Duke was present made no sense—
Unless this Ares was a fake.
A gut feeling, but with near certainty, I stepped forward.
Despite the blood, Ares’ movements weren’t slowing.
The soldiers, unaware of the strangeness, kept attacking relentlessly.
"Headhunt!!"
I leapt into the air with Sky Step and swung my Magic-Edge scythe at Ares’ neck with lethal intent.
Normally, this would end it.
A clean decapitation, severing life itself.
"Tch, just as I thought!"
But even without a head, Ares’ body kept moving.
"W-What the hell!? His head’s gone!?"
The soldiers recoiled in shock.
"It’s a Flesh Golem! Aim for the heart! That’ll stop it!"
Flesh Golems—also called Decoy Golems in FBO—were infamous among golem types for being unplayable.
Why? Because their construction required human corpses.
Ethically, even in a game, letting players create such things was a no-go.
You’d think they’d be undead, but these were golems made with corpse parts, remotely controlled.
Combined with a Hate Skill, they were the ultimate decoys.
Had it been swapped out since the duel?
No, a golem couldn’t have sworn the oath to the god.
Then it must have happened when he was blown away.
Wait—I’d only looked away at the gunshot-like sound.
Had he switched places in that instant?
The soldiers stabbed at the headless "Ares," but Flesh Golems didn’t rely on sight—they used their core to perceive.
If the Jester of Mad Revelry was still controlling it remotely, he’d make one last desperate move.
"You think I’ll let you self-destruct!?"
A sudden surge of mana—the precursor to a golem’s explosion.
The soldiers wouldn’t escape in time.
So I had to act.
Using a new skill.
Focus. A mistake here means everyone gets blown up.
I inhaled sharply, held my breath, and dashed toward the still-thrashing Flesh Golem.
"Heart Strike."
A skill I’d acquired specifically for monsters that didn’t die from decapitation—like golems.
The target area was tiny. Miss, and the recast time would make a second attempt impossible.
Even in this extreme situation, I drove the spear’s tip straight into the heart.
"Got it."
The golem jerked—then froze.
Its arms went limp as it shut down completely.
"Tch, so that’s it!?"
Confirming its deactivation, I spotted a talisman hidden in the golem’s cloak and immediately broke into a run.
"Amina! Get Claudiá! Ingrid, with me!""O-Okay!""Understood."
Not a second to waste.
Did you enjoy it?
If so, I’m glad.
And thank you for pointing out the typos.
If you’d like, I’d appreciate bookmarks and ratings too.