The Protagonists of Romance Fantasy Novels Have Escaped

102 – 102. Rampage (2)

The reason the tyranny’s calamity had failed to resurrect was because of Edanant.

Ludmila’s mental fortitude, which had been precariously wavering like a sandcastle before the waves, solidified the moment she fell into Edanant’s embrace. As a result, the red dragon lost its chance for resurrection.

This cannot end in failure.

She attempted to consume once more, but all efforts returned in vain.

The tyranny’s calamity, watching Ludmila’s progress with a sense of despair, unexpectedly seized an opportunity. The moment Edanant was reported to have gone far away with the Second Saint, Ludmila’s reason began to waver once again, just as it had when resurrection was imminent.

Isn’t it ironic?

It was Edanant who thwarted the resurrection, and it was also Edanant who incited it.

Like a double-edged sword.

For the heart directed towards reason is an emotion that encompasses both hope and despair.

“Eda, Nante…! Edanant!”

Ludmila, having swiftly crossed from the Imperial Capital to the Hoenberg Marquessate, took precarious steps as she repeated the name of the man she loved.

The situation was tense.

The fuse was about to explode.

Her eyes, stained as dark as pitch, and her eerily glowing red pupils testified to that.

– Take it away. Seize everything you desire!

The image of Edanant and Jeblinne, who had whispered love to each other and then departed, flashed through her mind like a fleeting lantern. At the same time, a voice urging tyranny echoed.

Again.

The voice she had experienced then returned once more.

With at least a shred of reason remaining, Ludmila swallowed her breath and suppressed the resurrection of tyranny. It was out of fear that if she could not stifle the resurrection, a calamity akin to a natural disaster might pour forth.

“Princess Ludmila…?”

“…….”

At that moment.

A girl with flowing silver hair approached.

The saint, dressed in pure white robes, was undoubtedly Jeblinne. Upon seeing Jeblinne, Ludmila’s red eyes gleamed more fiercely as she revealed her murderous intent.

“Jeblinne…! Where is Edanant?”

Jeblinne arrived at the scene, witnessing a swirling, dark vortex that seemed ready to engulf the Marquisate of Hoenberk at any moment.

She beheld the pure white saint.

At that moment, the vortex that had been sweeping through the surroundings transformed into an even more ferocious tempest.

Jeblinne’s reckless approach to the scene acted as a catalyst for the resurgence of tyranny. The moment Ludmila’s gaze met that of her rival, she clenched her fists, grinding her teeth.

“How dare you elope with Edanant! Those so-called saints are always coveting someone else’s fiancé! Just like the Second Saint Beatrice, who ran away with the hero!”

“What on earth are you talking about…?”

“Don’t play dumb! You ran away with Edanant!”

“…….”

What does that even mean?

I have no idea what she’s talking about.

Could it be that Ludmila discovered Edanant’s collusion with the Apostles of the Calamity God? Jeblinne, anxiously observing Ludmila’s reaction, could not hide her bewilderment.

“This is truly absurd. To turn everything into chaos over a trivial misunderstanding.”

“Trivial…?”

The red dragon and the white dragon had always been bitter enemies.

There was no room for compromise.

Only struggle and animosity existed.

Though there had been times when they had cooperated to aid Edanant, the essence remained unchanged. Jeblinne glared at her rival, revealing the contempt that arose from her instincts.

“I’ve disliked you from the very beginning. It’s infuriating to see a fierce, boar-like woman, a spinster who can’t even get married, constantly trying to curry favor with Edanant.”

“In the end, Edanant chose me. The First Saint, not you. It’s laughable to see you flailing about, unwilling to accept defeat. Am I wrong?”

White lightning struck down in unison.

In response, blackened flames surged up like pillars of fire.

Lightning and flames.

The divine essences of the white dragon and the red dragon clashed in stark contrast.

The atmosphere trembled as an unprecedented natural disaster shook the ground. The aftermath, originating from the almost ghost town-like Countship of Hilidar, soon reached the Hoenberk family.

‘Until Edanant cleans up the scene… I need to buy some time. Ugh, I detest playing such a reckless role. I’ll be billing you for every bit of this later, Edan.’

The Seven Kingdoms.

Guardians of the Baltaria Empire.

Ludmila, shrouded in black flames, resembled an incarnation of nightmares.

Witnessing Ludmila’s imposing figure as she slowly stepped forward, exhaling fire, Jeblinne was taken aback but did not retreat. It was for Edanant, who had hosted the meeting of the Apostles.

* * *

That is not a red dragon.

Something was different.

It had transformed into an alien form never seen before.

A deity of disaster.

It was close to a terror that threatened humanity.

Ludmila, enveloped in a dark, shadowy divinity, reminded one of Edanant, who had brought forth the calamity of war. Especially her eyes, stained black, and the flames as dark as an abyss spoke volumes.

‘Could it be the calamity of innocence? No, everything except the calamity of war must have vanished from the world.’

Death had fallen to the saintly party.

And tyranny and famine had been reduced to distant relics that no one remembered.

What on earth is this?

The divinity writhing before her was undoubtedly the ‘calamity of innocence.’

Could it be that there exists a calamity unknown to the world…?

Jebeline, observing Ludmila’s transformation, had to set aside her thoughts. For the pitch-black flames surged like a massive wave, sweeping across the ground.

─────!!

────────!!!

The aftermath of the clash between lightning and flames swept through the surroundings.

Then, Ludmila, with flames swirling around her hands, kicked off the ground and reached Jebeline’s side. It seemed she intended to find Edanant after knocking her down in one blow.

“…Hmph, I knew it would come to this.”

Jebeline extended her hand.

In response, a bright flash revealed the Scepter of the White Night.

She had drawn forth the sacred artifact of the Holy Kingdom.

Jebeline raised the Scepter of the White Night, aiming it at Ludmila, who was closing the distance like a gun being readied.

“Ugh!”

Sensing the crisis, Ludmila raised her hands.

At that moment, a barrage of overlapping beams shot forth from the Scepter of the White Night with fierce intensity.

It was like the moment when she had struck down a colossal monster in a single blow in the Kingdom of Boemon. Struck directly by the divine power of the Earth Mother, Ludmila swallowed her breath and swung her hands.

Szzzzzzzz!!

She tore through the beams.

Like a ferocious beast, she countered the attack solely with brute force.

Seeing Ludmila’s reckless state, where reason seemed utterly absent, Jebeline gripped the Scepter of the White Night with both hands and readied herself. Ludmila’s condition, lost in madness, was more serious than she had anticipated.

“You’ve really lost it. Can a spinster’s hysteria become this serious? When I return to the Holy Kingdom, I’ll have to keep an eye on all the spinsters of the continent.”

A ferocity that sweeps away all surrounding things.

A relentless pressure, spreading through the ceaselessly emitted malice and oppressive force.

It was just proven with a single strike.

That was undoubtedly the innocent calamity of Edanant’s divinity.

I don’t know the detailed reasons.

What mattered now was that tyranny, transcending hundreds of years, existed right before my eyes.

“For the happy future of me and Edan, just give up and fall.”

“First Saint. I will kill you here.”

A bloody battle among rivals surrounding a single man.

A conflict born from a small misunderstanding had shaken the Marquisate of Hoenberg.

No matter who wins, the outcome would be catastrophic.

But as long as a victor could be determined, it didn’t matter.

The princess of the Empire, who summoned flames and lightning, and the saint of the Holy Kingdom glared at each other, preparing for the final blow. It was to ultimately claim the wedding ring of the Hoenberg family along with Edanant.

“Stop.”

Just as the fight was reaching its climax,

A man clad in black armor stretched out his hands, restraining Ludmila and Javelin.

“What on earth… is happening, Ludmila?”

The red dragon of the Empire had fallen to the apostle of the calamity god.

Facing the corrupted form of Ludmila, Edanant swallowed his breath and opened his mouth. The divinity, spewing forth like flames that burn the mountains and rivers, was surely the innocent calamity.

Why on earth,

he faced Ludmila, harboring the same question as the saint.

But he did not back down.

Even if she had fallen to the apostle of the calamity god, Ludmila was still Ludmila. Edanant reached out his hand toward the woman he loved, trying to pull her into his embrace, just like when they kissed together on the terrace.

“I’m here, so it’s alright.”

“Shut up, you damn libertine. You’ve been two-timing me and the saint all along. No, if you include Liza, it’s a three-timer! Your indecisive view on love is the cause of this!”

Huh.

Something feels off.

Normally, Ludmila would have blushed and forgiven anything.

But even as he reached out a hand and sweetly whispered love, only malice returned.

Ludmila unleashed her maximum firepower, teetering on the brink of her limits. Pillars of flame, stained black, soared into the air, creating a disaster of fiery devastation.

“Because of you, because of you…!”

Swoosh—.

Wings of a dragon, formed from flames, spread out behind her.

But that wasn’t all.

Ludmila’s red eyes sharpened, transforming more and more like a dragon’s.

“After promising to marry me…! You run away in the night with the saint of the Holy Kingdom?”

The karma of having toyed with both the princess and the saint had now escalated to a life-threatening level.

I might die.

I might die at Ludmila’s hands.

Edanant swallowed hard, facing the embodiment of jealousy that had become Ludmila.