"What the hell is that…!"
As I muttered, hollowed out, at the scene on the screen, Han Jewoon's easy voice came through the door.
[How's that? A little shocked? Nothing dangerous, just an artifact swapping out the face, so don't fuss.]
Maybe he'd seen straight through the unease that kept my eyes locked on the screen even after that.
A voice edged with laughter landed a quiet, pointed line.
[Junhyeok. You look at the little ones like they're too fragile.]
"What…?"
[Back when they were being abused at the institute, sure, they needed your help. Not anymore. They aren't fragile little things who only get protected one way.]
"…"
The words had barely landed when the MC's shout on the monitor rocked the Colosseum.
[Now, ladies and gentlemen! The one setting foot on Icarus's blood-red sands tonight is none other than our returning Emperor!!]
Paat—!
A savage pin spot pierced the darkness and lit the fake Chae Junhyeok standing dead center on the sand.
[Not a scrap of mana in him — a non-Awakened — but here he graces us in person for your sake! Will His Imperial Majesty leap past his limits and even bring an Awakened down!!]
At the fever pitch of the crazed crowd, the MC swung a hand toward the other side.
[The honor of facing the Emperor tonight goes to…! A B-rank ice-ability user who lost both legs in a Dungeon!!]
Screeeeech— clang!
The iron gates ground open with a metallic squeal and today's opponent, in a wheelchair, rolled into view.
Whrrr, whrrr.
The man came in on the sound of the wheels, eyes flashing hatred and murderous intent at the fake Chae Junhyeok.
[Now, everyone — place your bets, and place them big! A bloody, savage fight, starting right now!!]
Ching—!!
At the peak of that greedy, howling fever, a sharp ringing tone announced the start of the fight.
"You'll set us free? Ha! I don't trust some shallow whim of yours."
The ice user in the wheelchair ground out the words through his teeth.
Then his eyes flicked up to Oh Taejin in the VIP box, and something like deep despair crossed them.
"But one thing's certain — if I lose here, my mana gets ripped straight out of me. Rather than dying a dog's death like that… I'll tear you apart and live! Curse yourself for your arrogance!!"
With that desperate cry, he thrust both hands forward, rough.
Kagagagak—!
In an instant, the sand floor iced over into a white glacier.
Along with a skin-crawling burst of splintering, house-sized ice spears reared up out of the air and came pouring down on the fake Chae Junhyeok like a downpour.
Careful—!
Just as I was about to let out a reflexive shout —
Instead of dodging, Chae Junhyeok charged headlong, straight into the enormous ice spears.
Kwaaaaaang—!!
An eardrum-splitting shockwave rang out, and thick vapor swallowed the arena.
Through the crowd holding its breath as one, a straight-backed silhouette slowly emerged as the mist thinned.
At Chae Junhyeok's feet, the razor-sharp ice spears had melted down into pools, and around his body, a savage red mana rippled like heat haze.
The kinetic energy of the ice spears — and even the heat energy holding them frozen — all of it drained clean and converted into his own power.
…Yul!
Cha Yul, wearing my face, kicked off the ground and shot forward.
A fist glowing red with condensed energy hammered brutally into the thick barrier of ice.
Perrrrng—!!
The wall shattered like a pane of glass, shards spraying in every direction.
"Y-you're insane…! What kind of artifact is that!"
The ice user rolled his wheelchair back, aghast.
"Like hell I'm losing to some non-Awakened…! Freeze!!"
He wrung the last of his mana out and shaped a massive glacial tidal wave that would sweep the whole arena.
An overwhelming wall of ice, cresting like it would engulf everything.
But Cha Yul was one beat faster.
He fired up the boot artifact — [Skyward Leap].
Paaat—!
Like a launched shell, Cha Yul's body rocketed up dozens of meters into the air.
Hundreds of stunned faces snapped up as one, tracking him toward the ceiling.
Cha Yul soared until he nearly touched the dizzying vault of the Colosseum's roof.
For that single suspended moment, he flipped himself gracefully in midair and lined himself up straight down at the ground.
The massive energy he'd stripped off his opponent, the potential energy of dozens of meters up, gravitational acceleration, and his own red mana on top of it all.
All of it, compressed to the very limit — Cha Yul's body became a huge red meteor and drove straight down into the dead center of the ice tidal wave.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang—!!!!!
"Kyaaah—!"
The whole Colosseum lurched wildly like an earthquake had hit, and shrieking, panicked screams from the crowd tore out on every side.
"W-what happened!"
"Who won?!"
Panicked spectators craned their necks, jostling one another toward the dust-shrouded arena.
Soon the thick veils of sand and ice dust began to lift, and the middle of the deep crater came into view.
With the shattered wheelchair and the crumpled ice user at his feet, Chae Junhyeok was slowly getting to his own.
A one-sided massacre — start to finish, ten minutes flat.
A stunned hush fell over the arena like ice water dumped on it.
The audience, who'd naturally expected an Awakened's steamroll, stood frozen, jaws hanging open at the sight in front of them.
Cha Yul looked down at the ice user, expression flat, and brushed the dust off the hem of the coat.
Then, slow, he lifted his head — and his gaze went to the VVIP terrace at the crown of the Colosseum.
Up there, jaw hanging like the rest of them, sat a completely frozen Oh Taejin.
"I won, so keep your word."
At the cool voice, Oh Taejin flinched, twisted his face into a knot, and reluctantly wove the sign with his hands.
"Guh—!"
Sprawled on the ground, the ice user let out a short groan.
Tuk—! Along with the sound of skin splitting, the red jewel that had been embedded in his stomach dropped onto the sand.
The instant the jewel came free, something incredible happened.
The ice user's skin — corpse-grey a moment ago — flooded with vivid color in a heartbeat.
Panting to catch his breath, he looked back and forth between his stomach, the jewel rolling on the ground, and Chae Junhyeok, as if he couldn't believe any of it.
"Wh… why…!"
The Awakened's voice shook, fine and rapid, as if an earthquake were running through it.
His eyes were a tangle of things — the ecstasy of a man let out of hell, wild confusion over what came next, and both awe and resentment aimed at the Chae Junhyeok in front of him.
"You played with us like toys, ran us at each other… why the hell would you let us go now!"
"…"
"Some cheap little show of mercy at this point? Wake up! We're never going to forget what you did to us!"
At the venom pouring out of him, Cha Yul furrowed his brow for a moment.
He looked genuinely stumped for an answer.
"Uh… hm…"
After a long pause of thinking it over, he let out a small sigh — as if he wasn't sure himself — and tossed off a dry line.
"…What changes if you know the reason now? Does something in the past un-happen?"
"What…?"
"I can't explain why that guy… why I did what I did either. But the point is you're alive right now, isn't it?"
Crunch—!
Cha Yul brought his shoe down mercilessly on the red jewel rolling on the sand and ground it to powder.
Then he turned away without a shred of hesitation.
"Don't get stuck on some reason from the past. Think about how you're going to live from here on. That's what I did."
The instant I heard that quiet line, it hit me.
That wasn't Chae Junhyeok's line.
It was the honest truth of a kid who'd stood up out of a hell of a past — Cha Yul himself.
A thing only someone who'd been through the bottom could say.
Maybe that weight — that honesty — landed with the man in the arena the same way.
Watching the whole thing through the huge monitor, I saw it, clean and clear.
The thing that had been strung tight around the man's body snapped, in a single moment, with an almost audible tuk.
Whether it was the bone-deep malice he'd been carrying or the venom that had kept him hanging on through a wretched life, I couldn't tell.
But there was no mistaking it — the weight that had been crushing his shoulders was gone, gone so fully it looked strangely light.
Thump.
The ice user's head sank slowly toward the sand, buckling as if he were collapsing.
Almost like a deep bow, offered to the one who'd saved him.
But the Emperor didn't spare a glance back.
He only walked forward.
At that, the Colosseum — silent as the grave a moment ago — erupted like a volcano into a thunderous roar.
"Woaaaaaaaaaaah—!!!!"
"Emperor! Emperor! Emperor!!"
Frenzied cheering ripped through the stands and shook the arena like an earthquake.
Overwhelming wealth, the muscle to wield it, and on top of it all a heavy, cool line — meaning still a mystery — dropped at the perfect moment!
At an Emperor's return this straight out of a novel, the crowd absolutely lost their minds.
"Emperor!!! Emperor!!! Emperor!!!!"
Click.
The massive screen cut out on the crazed image.
I stared, hollowed out, at the blackened panel.
…That's our kid?
I'd known in my head the kids were strong.
But… not on this order of scale.
"You get it now?"
Han Jewoon, who'd slipped into the room at some point, spoke with a small laugh.
"Sure, the opponent's body wasn't in one piece, but your little ones have already grown well enough to chew through your average adult Awakened. So drop the pointless worrying and start trusting the kids."
That's how it went from then on.
Every evening, at a set time, the monitor flicked on without fail, and inside it, the kids — wearing Chae Junhyeok's face — fought, live.
Watching every fight with my heart in my throat, I picked up on the fact that the Chae Junhyeok stepping into the arena was actually three different people.
The savage Chae Junhyeok who unleashed energy absorption and release, sending every attack straight back as a counter.
The tactical Chae Junhyeok who threw up precise barriers, sealing off the enemy's escape routes and toying with them through pinpoint tactics.
And the quiet, merciless Chae Junhyeok who worked with shadows and choked the life out of enemies in a single strike.
The crowd, worked up over a new, magnetic Emperor every night, went past frenzy and started showing something more like religious devotion.
"Non-Awakened, my ass? At that level, might as well be Awakened!"
"With artifacts that good, it's gotta be A-rank at minimum… no, has to be multiple S-ranks in play!"
"Idiot, no matter how great your artifacts are, doesn't mean squat if the guy using them is dumb! Look at those perfect moves. The Emperor's own combat sense is off the charts!"
"Hey, hurry up and put money on him too! I'm all in on the Emperor tonight, every last won!!"
Amid the raging fever, as Chae Junhyeok's stock kept climbing, Oh Taejin's face rotted like a sewer at the same rate.
That bastard… he's not going to renege out of spite, is he?
But contrary to my worry, Oh Taejin dutifully destroyed the gladiators' jewels every time.
Whether it was some out-of-character commitment to his word or a fresh scheme brewing underneath, I couldn't tell.
There was another odd thing — the losing gladiators' reactions.
Men who'd been spitting curses and pouring off killing intent at the start of every fight, once their jewels shattered, all crumpled down in tears and pressed their foreheads to the sand.
Every time I saw it, my conscience pricked as if by a needle.
They were locked in that place because of Chae Junhyeok in the first place… must have been hell as a slave…
Even so, the ones who threw my thoughts into the worst tangle were, without question, the kids.
I understood, painfully well, why they were on that sand wearing my face.
How they'd found out was another question, but they'd stepped in for me to keep me from fighting myself.
Kids who, at our first meeting, had hated Chae Junhyeok enough to kill — those same kids were now willingly putting their lives on the line for him.
My chest caved in and, at the same time, swelled fit to burst with how proud of them I was.
But… in the end, I had to leave.
For the kids to have a real future, being without me was far, far better.
While every kind of tangled feeling churned inside me, I set down the remote and turned my head.
At some point Han Jewoon had wandered into the room too; he sat beside me munching popcorn, watching live, easy as could be.
"Han Jewoon."
"Hm? What? Want some popcorn?"
"I won't try to stop the kids fighting anymore, so let me out."
At the serious ask, he stopped mid-chew and studied me closely.
"Why bother? If you're not going to stop them anyway, you can just watch from here, comfortable."
"There are only two fights left. For the last one at least, I want to be there in person to see the kids fight."
He held my steady look for a long moment, then let out a small laugh and nodded.
"Well, if that's how it is, can't be helped. On one condition, though."
"Condition?"
"Yeah. Agree to my condition and I'll let you out immediately."
The tone was playful; the look in his eyes was anything but a joke. I nodded without a word.
Only then did a satisfied smile cross his face; he flicked his fingers lightly.
"Good. My condition is…"
The following evening.
At last, my ten-day island stretch over, I was back to breathing Icarus's decadent air.
I pulled the huge cloak Han Jewoon had given me low over my face, hiding it completely, and carefully slipped into the Colosseum's waiting room just before the eleventh fight was set to start.
My heart was pounding out of my chest.
Who's going out today? Sea-ah? Yul?
I drew a deep breath, then turned the door handle with a quiet click and stepped inside without giving myself away.
"……!"
Even braced for it, my heart felt like it had stopped.
If you ever came face to face with your doppelgänger, maybe this was what it would feel like.
In the stifling silence, two identical pairs of eyes met.
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