Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 70: Amid the Frenzy (3)
Screams and trembling surrounded Emily. Rising from the floor, she stared soullessly at the scene.
Sticky strands grotesquely pulled Dylan Agreas Ziemeld’s severed hand back into place. Everyone watched transfixed; no one looked at Emily anymore.
She had craved attention and praise. Now a mask she never recognized had been stripped away beneath disappointed and contemptuous eyes—only for every gaze to move to Agreas and forget her entirely.
Relief at becoming invisible made her shudder.
—How could someone like me receive special treatment from the Goddess? It was never real.
She had believed herself special for no reason and become intoxicated. Now each recognition of her folly tortured her further.
“…Immortality may not be so bad.”
A smooth voice murmured from among the high nobles or wealthy commoners. Despite the crowd’s fear, some found the idea attractive.
Every hair on Emily’s body rose. Earlier, she might have rejoiced at living forever in youth and beauty. Now she recoiled.
—Forever? Will I remain forever a fool and fraud?
Despair clarified her thoughts. Blind self-confidence had flown away, leaving calm recognition of the empty life awaiting her.
If this state lasted forever, how would others treat her? The thought alone terrified her.
Agreas still appeared handsome beneath his serene smile, but his regenerating arm was a grotesque abnormality that inspired profound revulsion.
Immortality couldn’t be so simple. Perhaps she distrusted it because she finally knew Agreas had used her.
Terrible cold held her motionless. She knew neither what to do nor who might conveniently save her. Elliot and the knights would never treat her as before.
Only then did Emily remember Elliot swallowed by the Undead Mud.
—I truly think only of myself.
She had believed herself in love with him. Recognition of her true thoughts felt like falling into an abyss.
Amid shock, terror, and a trace of vulgar excitement, someone seized her shoulder. Marianne stood above her without her usual smile, face frozen.
“Marianne? What else are you going to do to me?”
There was no reply to the words she managed to weakly speak.
◆◆◆
The court sorcerer maintaining the VIP barrier stared in confusion. He had believed he was replacing clergy for the large extermination, but the event bore no resemblance to the plan.
A sorcerer’s physical barrier was limited by finite magical energy.
A cracking sound like breaking glass rang out. The Undead Mud overflowing from the arena was about to shatter the barrier.
“The barrier can’t hold much longer!”
The magician shouted, and Agreas turned around with a beaming smile.
“It’s all right. That’s the primordial sea from which a new world will arise. Even if it swallows you, you won’t die. It’ll resemble returning to your mother’s womb.”
The insane words chilled the sorcerer.
The distant barrier broke with a crack. Screams rose as the remaining barriers failed in succession and a hideous dark-red wave spread. This was no new world, but hell.
“Now begins the beautiful world of immortality!”
Agreas spread his nearly restored arms like a prophet receiving revelation and laughed.
The final barrier shattered, and viscous Undead Mud flooded the VIP seats.
The chancellor shielded the king with his body. In an instant, slime trapped half of him. The Royal Guards’ weapons smoked and melted, leaving everyone helpless.
In the distance, an unfamiliar group entered through the southern gate.
A strange wagon and a dozen mounted Black Knights led soldiers bearing House Beresford’s shield.
“That’s…!”
“…Could it be, Lionel…?”
The king raised his head. A familiar face led the Black Knights. His voice clung to that slender hope with deep regret.
Agreas recognized Lionel and his handsome face twisted.
“Now? What can you possibly do?”
Ridicule filled his voice.
The chancellor swallowed anger and self-loathing and clung to the final hope before him.
◆◆◆
Dolph and Sydney sat on the driver’s bench as the wagon passed through the arena’s southern gate. Both surveyed the horror with serious expressions and folded arms.
“This is bad. We intended to circle around secretly, but emerged in the center.”
“Any entrance would look the same. This is terrible.”
Gilbert peered through the roof hatch and smiled helplessly at the old men’s oddly relaxed voices. Flora beside him stared in shock.
“You two stay hidden until we understand the situation.”
“This situation, the whole thing, this is all the Undead Slime, right. ……?”
At the front, Lionel reined in his horse. Slime oozing over the ground had touched its feet, and white smoke rose beneath the animal.
“Pull the horses back! This is iron-eating slime—it’s consuming their shoes.”
At Lionel’s order, the mounted group dismounted and led the horses rearward.
“What a troublesome creature. Now, what shall we do?”
Dolph stroked his beard and surveyed the arena.