Chapter : 118
Amidst anxiety and concern, Theo and Liriope’s wedding began.
Although both of them had continued to harbor suspicions about the movements of the dark mage, the moment they stepped onto the wedding stage side by side, their unease vanished, replaced only by happy smiles.
Liriope could not stop smiling brightly at Theo, and Theo, in turn, could not hide the loving expression on his face directed at her.
Despite the past troubles in the Melzevian territory, the sky, the guests, and even the sunlight were all shining brightly on Theo and Liriope, making this truly a perfect and joyful wedding.
“The union of the Artein and Steila families will surely strengthen the Empire once more…”
Listening to the Emperor’s congratulatory speech, Liriope once again felt the presence of Theo standing beside her.
They were really getting married.
And not just anyone—they were marrying the male lead from the original story.
The surreal reality made Liriope’s lips twitch uncontrollably.
It was then.
She felt a strangely unpleasant, chilling sensation behind her.
Without realizing it, Liriope turned her head toward the source of the feeling.
First, her eyes fell on the guests attentively listening to the Emperor’s speech.
At the edges behind and to the sides were the wedding staff, bodyguards from various families, and attendants.
“Am I just too nervous?”
Liriope let out a short sigh, thinking she was worrying unnecessarily, and tried to turn her head away.
If only it weren’t for the black shapes faintly looming near the entrance.
Her eyes naturally narrowed at the shadowy figures stretching faintly at the entrance.
Liriope squinted for a long moment to identify them, and as the shapes became clearer, her eyes gradually widened.
Her heart sank as the figures became increasingly distinct.
A dark mage cloaked in a thick gray robe stood there, and beside him, a massive figure with horns protruding from both sides of its forehead.
And around them, dozens of invisible evil spirits floated in the air.
Before Liriope could even grab Theo’s arm to pull him away, the horned giant charged forward.
Instinctively, Liriope realized that this giant was the God of Death.
The description of the God of Death in the original story matched perfectly with the massive figure flying toward her.
Two grotesque horns protruding from either side of the forehead, a face twisted along the boundary of the nose and mouth, and long, sharp, claw-like hands.
Seeing the God of Death flying terrifyingly toward Theo, claws raised, Liriope instinctively stepped in front of him to protect him.
And at that moment, a sharp claw pierced Liriope’s heart.
Theo was shocked at Liriope’s sudden push to block the attack, and then his face stiffened as he saw the God of Death, invisible until now, fully revealed before everyone because the claw had pierced her heart.
Thanks to Lirix, who had made it possible for Liriope to see spirits, the claw piercing her heart caused the God of Death and his invisible minions to become visible to everyone.
“Kyaaah!!”
“M-Monster!”
The wedding quickly descended into chaos, and Theo’s face went pale as he realized that the God of Death had pierced Liriope’s heart.
“Liri!”
“Liriope!”
“C-cough!”
Theo and Kadin called out to Liriope simultaneously, and she vomited blood.
Her instincts compelled her to hold onto the claw embedded in her heart, preventing it from being removed, even as her consciousness began to fade at the thought that the invisible evil spirits and the God of Death were now visible to everyone.
‘I need to buy time at least until Rose arrives!’
But before she could even grasp the claw with her own hands, her vision flickered, and she lost consciousness, collapsing.
Perhaps a divine intervention answered Liriope’s wish.
The God of Death tried to remove the claw that had pierced her heart, but for some reason, it would not budge.
“Liriope!”
The Duke, sitting below the stage, finally noticed Liriope and ran toward her, his face pale.
Gray, shocked by the sudden turn of events, widened his eyes and attacked the invisible spirits following the Duke.
The God of Death struggled, trying to fend off Theo and Kadin, who attacked while holding the claw embedded in Liriope’s heart.
To make matters worse, Theo’s hand tightly gripping the claw made it even harder for the God of Death to move.
The dark mage tried to interfere with Theo and Kadin using black magic, but with Liriope revealing even the black magic, it was of little help.
Theo, unaware that his hand holding the God of Death’s claw was bleeding profusely, fought desperately while keeping his grip on the claw in Liriope’s heart.
“The faint ones are black magic! Avoid them! Captain of the Guard! Contact Lady Rosearin immediately and start a blood transfusion!”
Kadin shouted, helping Theo fight the God of Death, and the Captain of the Guard quickly turned his attention.
The guests had already scattered, hiding under chairs or running for their lives.
Some nobles, using elemental abilities, were fighting the invisible monsters.
Despite having one hand pinned to Liriope’s heart, the God of Death fought skillfully.
Though it had not been long since its seal was lifted, and the Empress’s wish had not yet been fulfilled, the God of Death could withstand attacks from the Empire’s strongest—Theo, Kadin, Gray, the Duke, and several bodyguards—without so much as a scratch.
The Duke, seeing the claw in Liriope’s heart and Theo’s blood dripping from his hand, watched as her white dress became stained red with both her blood and Theo’s.
“Liriope!”
The Duke’s face was full of sorrow as he attacked the God of Death with his elemental magic.
Hearing the news that the dark mage and invisible spirits had appeared at the wedding, Rosearin began running frantically.
She could not open a portal directly in front of the venue, so she had to run for about two minutes from nearby.
Ignoring the fact that her shoes had come off, she arrived at the venue, embracing Liriope while witnessing Theo fighting unfamiliar evil spirits and the dark mage strangling him from behind. She dashed forward.
As she grabbed the black smoke choking Theo, it dissolved into the air.
The dark mage froze and stepped back two steps at the sight of Rosearin.
“Cough, cough!”
Theo, coughing from the sudden air while fighting the God of Death to protect Liriope, glanced to see Kadin struggling with black magic binding his ankle. Rosearin quickly neutralized the magic.
With his leg free, Kadin ran closer to Theo, supporting him in battle against the God of Death.
Rosearin looked at Liriope, who had lost consciousness and was vomiting blood, and at the claw embedded in her heart, held tightly by Theo.
‘It won’t come out!’
If it were anyone else, Theo wouldn’t have stayed like this. She bit her lower lip at the sight of others bound by black magic below the stage.
She swiftly swung her arm toward Kadin’s sword.
Her arm was deeply cut by the blade.
Before Kadin could call out, Rosearin scattered her blood under the stage.
“Your Highness! Raise the wind!”
Kadin immediately understood and used wind magic to carry the sacred blood to those whose hands or feet were bound by black magic.
The blood, imbued with holy power, easily destroyed the black magic, allowing them to fight the invisible spirits.
The dark mage gritted his teeth, watching the God of Death struggle against a few nobles and realizing that the sudden intervention might cause him to fail.
Unable to act, his face twisted with frustration.
‘This cannot end like this!’
The dark mage concluded that the God of Death’s inability to fully use its power was because the Empress’s wish, sacrificed through a noble soul, had not been fulfilled.
‘Yes! If only I kill the Duke…!’
With that thought, the dark mage drew the sword hidden under his cloak and charged toward Theo, thinking he could cut his throat now.
By this time, some time had passed since he had embraced unconscious Liriope, his hands dripping with blood.
A normal person would have lost consciousness from blood loss by now.
‘Anyway, holding a dead lady’s body must be restricting me.’
The dark mage quickly ran onto the stage, raising his sword to strike Theo’s neck.
At that moment.
The God of Death opened its mouth, revealing its blurred, horrifying face, and swallowed the dark mage whole in an instant.
Theo, Kadin, the Duke, and Gray’s eyes widened in shock.
Satisfied with the black magic radiating around the God of Death, it swung its long, sharp claws again.
Having been summoned by feeding it a non-human soul, the God of Death had no human reason or restraint.
The dark mage had made a fatal mistake from the very beginning.
Because of that initial error, his wish went unfulfilled, and he was devoured by the very God of Death he had summoned.
