Chapter 26: Monster

“It’s over now. So... will you answer my questions?” Aria pointed her sword directly at Kaelen's throat, her head held low.

The arena fell dead silent, the crowd thoroughly confused. Nothing major had seemed to happen during the match, but seeing Kaelen's defeated, broken expression, it was undeniable that something extraordinary had occurred down on the sand—even if they hadn't been able to see it.

“Did she win?”

“It seems like it.”

“Well, after all, no one can match how strong she is.”

“I’m just happy that monster lost.”

“Yeah, how shameless can that monster be, using the same relic on Aria-sama?”

Monster... monster... monster...

The word echoed again and again in Kaelen's mind like a maddening chant. He snapped. His bangs cast a dark shadow over his eyes as he ground his teeth until they nearly cracked.

“That’s enough…” he muttered.

“Hmm..?”

Swinging his arm to swat at her blade, Kaelen broke into a desperate sprint toward the audience stands. His voice, initially a ragged whisper, rose into a furious scream with every step.

“Monster… monster, you said, huh?!” he shrieked, his eyes bloodshot. “DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO THE REAL MONSTER IS?! HUH?!”

The crowd recoiled in shock as he roared at them. Their whispers ceased entirely, and he pushed forward, pointing back at the center of the arena.

“THE VERY PERSON YOU WORSHIP—A WOMAN WHO EMERGED OUT OF NOWHERE AND WAS HANDED THE TITLE OF SWORD SAINT… DO YOU EVEN HAVE A SINGLE CLUE WHAT SHE WAS BEFORE THAT?!”

Aria remained completely still, making no move to stop him from shouting.

Kaelen’s hands began to shake violently. He stared down at his bloodstained palms.

“She is the monster, not I….” Flashes of his wife and daughter's smiling faces crashed through his mind as he broke down completely. “She snatched my treasure from me… my wife… my daughter… People kept screaming, pleading for their lives, but she remained cold! She didn't feel their fear, their fright, or their screams at all!”

He dropped heavily to his knees, burying his face in his hands as tears spilled through the gaps in his fingers.

“Why… why did you have to do this to us…? We didn’t even do anything to you…”

Royal guards came running, seizing Kaelen by the arms to drag him toward the arena exit. One of the guards paused beside Aria—who stood frozen without expression—and bowed deeply. “Aria-sama, we need to…”

Hushed murmurs of doubt began to ripple through the stands, filling the stadium with unsettling chatter.

“Gray…..” The word slipped from her lips in a faint whisper.

“I know it’s a sin to doubt her, but… doesn’t what he said sound like the truth?”

“What are you saying?! Don't fall for it! He’s just trying to ruin Aria-sama's image!”

“But if I remember correctly, no one actually knows how Aria-sama became the Sword Saint.”

“Hey! Stop saying that….”

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it too. We never heard of her until the rulers of the kingdoms suddenly granted her that title.”

White… Gray… Gray…. Gray…. White… she muttered under her breath, her eyes losing their focus.

“What is happening…?” Rikka's voice trembled as she looked around at the spectators turning on each other. She turned frantically to Celestia. “Celestia-sama, we need to clarify that Aria-sama is nothing like the monster that guy claimed she is!”

Celestia didn't respond, her eyes locked tightly on the distant figure of the Sword Saint.

“Celestia-sama…?”

The things he said… I don't even know why my parents brought her to the royal castle in the first place. I never questioned it before. Celestia shook her head violently, muttering, “What the hell am I thinking?! Whatever her past was, she could never do something like that now!”

She looked around the panic-stricken stands. “Why are people even starting to doubt her…?”

Her breath hitched as a recent conversation with Shawn echoed in her mind:

“Now do you understand? The image of Aria changes when I just point those things out.”

Meanwhile, in the medical room...

Flashes of his brutal match against Zenjo raced through Shawn's mind before his eyes fluttered open. Staring up at an unfamiliar stone ceiling, he grunted and slowly forced himself upright, leaning heavily against a nearby side table.

“Huh… where am I…?” He tried to swing his legs over the edge of the bed, but sharp agony flared through his muscles. Damn it! What the hell is this pain for…? Ah, right. I definitely overdid it.

He took a tentative step forward, only for his knees to give out completely.

“That won’t do…” he growled through gritted teeth. “I have the finals tomorrow, and then…”

The muffled roar of the crowd drifted into the quiet room. He hadn't realized that time had passed and the tournament had moved on without him.

“What’s that sound…? I need to…”

Using the wall for balance, Shawn dragged himself forward, stumbling slowly toward the arena corridors. Reaching the upper concourse, he looked out across the stadium, watching the spectators arguing and casting doubtful glances down at Aria.

His eyes drifted to the center of the ring where she stood alone. Shawn ground his teeth, anger flaring in his chest as he heard the crowd turning against her.

“I have to…!” He started limping down the steps toward the battlefield.

Down on the sand, the guard standing beside Aria broke the tense silence. “Aria-sama… forgive me for asking… but is it true? Were you… slaughtering people?”

“Didn't I tell you before, my precious daughter… A.R.I.A, or should I say Aria?”

A voice whispered directly behind her ear. When she turned, no one was there, but it was a voice she knew all too well—the voice that had haunted her childhood. Her father.

“I told you before… ordinary people are not worthy of a divine being like you. No matter what you do for them, the second a tiny speck of doubt emerges, they will completely forget your kindness and point fingers at your past.”

“You… you are wrong! I… I—” Aria's voice broke, trembling with rare distress.

“Haha…” He chuckled softly in her mind. “Still denying that I was right all along? You know that I was the only one who truly understood you, who cared for you… the only one who loved you.”

Thump.

An empty tin can bounced off Aria's head and clattered onto the dirt. She stared down at it, stunned.

“HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” someone in the stands screamed in rage at the spectator who had thrown it.

“I… what did I do wrong?! I just…” The culprit hesitated, cowering as angry spectators lunged toward him, sparking a chaotic brawl in the lower bleachers.

Marvin immediately mobilized his knights, rushing into the stands to quell the commotion.

“What’s happening…? Now do you get it…? They are just…”

“I……”

Aria's head throbbed violently as buried memories resurfaced—the horrors of war, the deafening screams, the desperate pleas, and the suffocating stench of fresh blood.

Her grip failed. Her sword slipped from her hand, clattering loudly against the stone.

“Aria-sama!” Rikka gasped, clutching the railing.

“Come on, Aria…” Celestia muttered, her heart pounding in her chest.

The cruel whispers of the crowd washed over her, repeating like an endless wave. Her senses dulled, her voice breaking into a fragile whisper as her silver hair fell forward to cover her face.

“What… should I do… Father?”

Dark, chaotic mana began to seep from her body, wrapping around her like a suffocating shroud.

Suddenly, a hand plunged directly through the dark aura.

Aria gasped as someone reached out and firmly grabbed her head. She lifted her face, sensing a warm, brilliant golden mana washing over her skin.

“Shawn…?”

“What the hell are you doing?!” Shawn shouted, his face strained from pain, yet his eyes burning with absolute conviction. “If you start doubting yourself, of course they’re going to start doubting you! Just be the person they want, and they’ll believe in you again!”

“Become the person they want…?”

“No—what I mean is…” Shawn corrected himself, offering a stubborn grin. “Just be the person you want them to see, and everything will be fine.”

The dark shroud vanished. Aria blinked, her mind clearing as she regained her composure. She nodded firmly.

Turning back toward the crowd, she took a deep, steady breath.

“Everyone…” she began, her clear voice carrying across the silent arena. “I know there are many doubts and questions you want to ask me. But I just want to say… there are many things I wish to share with you. Please… I ask for your patience. I will answer every question, but there is a more important matter I need to attend to right now.”

She placed a hand over her chest and bowed deeply to the audience.

The entire stadium stood frozen in absolute shock.

“Aria-sama…”

“Don’t worry, Aria-sama… we will wait for you!”

“Yes! We believe there must be a reason for everything!”

“We will always support you, Sword Saint!”

Gradually, the hushed skepticism dissolved into thunderous cheers as the spectators, one by one, raised their fists and began chanting her name with renewed fervor.

“Aria-sama… thank goodness,” Rikka breathed, sagging against the railing in relief.

Up in the royal box, Celestia’s eyes drifted to Shawn. A warm smile curled on her lips. “Rikka, let’s go. We have to throw a massive feast for the Sword Saint and her attendant.”

“Huh? Yes!” Rikka beamed, hurrying after her.

On the arena floor, a bright smile returned to Aria's face as she turned to walk back toward Shawn. But after taking only a few steps, her boot caught on the hilt of her discarded sword, sending her stumbling forward.

Thud!

“ARIA-SAMA!” the crowd screamed in panicked unison.

She planted face-first into the dirt. Without hesitation, she pushed her face up from the sand and gave Shawn a firm thumbs-up, a tiny stream of blood leaking from her nose.

Shawn chuckled, raising his hand to give her a thumbs-up in return.