The Author's Playground
Chapter 46: Betrayal (1)

Chapter 46: Betrayal (1)

"Lucian, don’t you notice? The bracelet was broken..."

Lucian’s breath caught. His gaze snapped down to his wrist, where the golden bracelet, their lifeline—was shattered into nothing.

"Then that means..." His voice turned hoarse. "We die if we get killed here."

Victoria swallowed hard, her hands trembling as she clutched at her own wrist as if trying to piece together what was already gone. "T-then... we can’t leave, either?"

Elijah’s expression remained stoic, looking at the two with pure confusion.

"Why are you exaggerating it? It wasn’t even that bad."

"None of us have teleportation abilities," he added flatly. "If we want to get out of here, we either need to escape that thing— or maybe defeat it and walk back in our previous path."

He gestured toward the monster looming in the distance.

Victoria’s breath hitched. "W-what? No!" Panicking. "Can we even defeat that thing?"

Lucian clenched his jaw.

Looking back at Elijah, something seems wrong.

"Huh? Why not?" Elijah’s tone was oddly casual as if he were discussing the weather. "You’ve taken down a Rank A... maybe even an S Nightmare before. What’s stopping you now?"

Victoria stared at him in disbelief. For a moment, she forgot how to breathe.

There was nothing in Elijah’s eyes. No fear, no anger. Just... confusion. Like he couldn’t understand why they were hesitating.

Now she thinks about it... she once simply thought how Elijah was like an odd pea she could not comprehend.

He appears to be wise, mischievous and eccentric.

But on second thought, all those confident... his composure... his smile...

He’s a damn psychopath.

Who perhaps never cared about anyone’s life.

"H-how could you say that?" Her voice wavered, barely holding back the scream rising in her chest. "It just killed someone! This isn’t a game, Elijah. This isn’t—"

Something changed in his expression.

His expression turned into a smile.

"What’s wrong... you’ve already defeated one before... it’s even a ’real deal’ Princess."

"Ah... I get it now," he murmured.

A chill ran down Victoria’s spine.

"You don’t understand, everything." Elijah’s voice was soft, but it carried the weight of something inevitable. "The moment you stepped onto the battlefield, death was always an option. It was always there, waiting. You just never thought it’d come for you."

Silence.

A suffocating, unbearable silence.

"...Do you really think you’ll make it out alive easily?"

"What...?" Victoria’s breath caught in her throat.

Elijah exhaled, almost amused. "I see. You need to experience it firsthand, don’t you?"

Before they could respond, the entire cave began to shake violently.

Lucian’s eyes widened. "The ceremony is ending—we have to get out now before we’re trapped!"

Without hesitation, he grabbed Victoria’s wrist, ready to run. But just as they turned—

BAM!

The deafening crack of stone shattered through the cave.

Elijah swung the hammer of Quasolium with brutal force, slamming it into the cave wall. A fissure tore through the rock, collapsing it in an instant.

Dust and debris clouded the air.

When it cleared, Victoria and Lucian stood frozen on one side with the ghoul monster—cut off from Elijah and Quasolium on the other.

Victoria’s expression turned into hatred.

"ELIJAH, YOU BASTARD!!" Victoria’s screamed. She pounded against the barrier of rubble, but it wouldn’t budge.

Elijah simply smiled, stepping back into the shadows, before his figure was obscured completely by the falling rocks.

"Do your best to survive, Princess."

****

’Crash! Crack... Click...’

Victoria’s fingers burned as she clawed at the rubble, jagged stones slicing into her skin. The cold, unyielding rock drank her blood, staining the debris a deep red.

"Victoria... you can stop now..."

"NO!" she snapped, her voice shaking with fury and desperation. Tears blurred her vision, slipping down her cheeks as she dug harder. "I need to get to that damn bastard!"

"How dare he—how dare he...!!"

Lucian remained silent, watching her shoulders tremble.

"I should’ve never trusted him in the first place!" she choked out.

Lucian reached out, his hands gently wrapping around her arms. "Victoria, that’s enough."

She flinched, trying to pull away, her hand still reaching forward—toward the other side.

Toward him.

That smiling, betraying bastard.

She needed to know.

Had Elijah truly betrayed her? Or... was there something else?

Lucian exhaled, tightening his grip. "You’re right—we’ll get him. But first..."

He turned his gaze forward.

"We need to deal with that."

Victoria followed his line of sight, her breath catching.

A grotesque, ghoul-like creature, its flesh shifting like liquid, hunched over what was left of Astra’s body.

For a long moment, she said nothing.

Then, she closed her eyes. Breathed.

When she spoke, her voice was steady.

"I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing a dead body..." she admitted. "Maybe Elijah was right. I kept thinking everything would be fine. I never truly considered death when I enrolled here."

She opened her eyes, wiping the last of her tears away. Resolve hardened in her chest.

"But I won’t be swayed by his words anymore."

She turned to Lucian. "Can we kill it?"

Lucian’s grip on his sword tightened, ice crackled from its blade.

"...I’m confident we can."

Then upon hearing his answer, Victoria, stood slightly behind him, conjured whirling gusts of wind around her hands, prepared to strike.

"A-rank nightmare ’ghoul’ they had weak senses but strong sense against danger and bloodlust."

The ghoul let out an ear-piercing shriek before lunging.

"We will win."

They reacted instantly, dashing forward to intercept.

Lucian swung in a sharp arc, icy energy surging forth as he aimed for the creature’s torso.

But the ghoul twisted unnaturally, dodging the blow with terrifying speed. Its elongated arm lashed out, claws aiming for Lucian’s throat.

"I’ll cover!" Victoria’s voice rang as sudden burst of air slammed between Lucian and the ghoul, knocking the monster back just enough for Lucian to regain his footing.

He pivoted, exhaling sharply before driving his sword forward once more.

Frost bloomed across the ghoul’s arm as his blade met its target, but instead of recoiling, the monster screeched, not moving.

"Victoria!!"

The air crackled, condensing into a razor-sharp spear of wind.

Victoria launched it with a flick of her fingers, the lance piercing through the ghoul’s shoulder. The monster roared in agony, as its form wavered as if struggling to keep itself together.

"Get out you damn monster, I need to see someone!"

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