The night before the battle festival, Torina gave Milora two special pieces of advice before bed:
“There are two things you must remember.
First, if the opponent uses an unavoidable and overwhelming area attack, dig into the ground.”
“Uh, that sounds so lame.”
“It is lame, but it can save your life.”
“Are you sure…?”
“Very sure.”
As someone who has read the original work, Torina knows the author loves using a particular trope—”digging into the ground to avoid AOE.”
Villain unleashes a massive attack → Protagonist digs into the ground to avoid it → Villain thinks the Protagonist is dead → Villain celebrates → Protagonist emerges from the ground and ambushes → Villain is caught off guard and defeated.
It’s a trope similar to Lelouch’s universal floor-flipping tactic.
What? You ask why the Protagonist can instantly burrow into the ground? Why can’t the villain make the ground explode deeper and more thoroughly? Don’t mind those details; just know that the Protagonist outsmarts the boss!
—————————
Thus, with the guidance of a master, Milora successfully dodged the big move and completed the counterattack in the most unexpected (and seemingly genuine) way!
“You let your guard down, Wilt!”
“Tch!!!”
The giant sword, wrapped in gravity waves, swung towards Anna-veil’s head, but Anna-veil wasn’t one to be trifled with! Her left hand burst with dazzling starlight, breaking free from the gravity’s hold, grabbing her spear to clash with the giant sword!
The silver-white light of the star runes and the purple-black light of the gravity runes collided at close range, erupting in a piercing shriek that could tear eardrums! Both were sent flying, rolling to the ground!
Milora, ignoring the burns on her skin and the pain from the impact, picked up her swords to charge again—only to freeze, pointing at her opponent in shock:
“Hey, you… your body? Your face? You…”
“…Huh?”
Anna-veil, just getting up from the ground, also realized something was wrong.
Why was Milora reacting like this? Why did the whole place go silent? Why were the spectators looking at her as if they’d seen a ghost?
She touched her hair—
“Eh?”
It was loose, wavy curls.
Touched her cheek—
“Eh??”
It was smooth skin, well-cared for at great expense.
Touched her chest—
“Eh???”
It was second only to Torina’s ample bosom.
Touched her butt—
“Eh????”
It was as full and appealing as a ripe peach.
Anna-veil was completely dumbfounded.
The special impact from the clash of stars and gravity had nullified the disguise magic of her false identity, even stripping away the special makeup.
Milora stared at Anna-veil, speaking in disbelief—
“Wilt—you’re actually a cross-dressing Anna-veil? A pervert!!!!”
“What pervert, I’m Anna-veil!?”
“Eh?”
“Ah…”
“……”
“……”
“No, no, I’m Wilt! I really am a cross-dresser! I’m not Anna-veil! I’m Wilt! I just wanted to become a girl, so I had surgery!!!”
“Uh, no, no, looking closely, you really are Anna-veil…”
“………..”
Milora was dumbfounded.
Anna-veil couldn’t say anything but babble.
The audience was in an uproar.
“Wilt is a woman!?”
“Isn’t this the eldest daughter of the Alphares family??”
“Cross-dressing? Fake identity!?”
“Wilt is Anna-veil!”
“It’s the principle of return!!”
“What about the bets placed on Wilt? Are they still valid??”
“Are they messing with us!?”
“So the final fiancé candidates are all women???”
“Are you kidding me? All the brother-in-law candidates are women… What’s happening to this world…” Morai nearly fainted from anger.
“Mm, hm, hm! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!” Seeing the situation exposed, the Alphares family knew they were in big trouble, and Rei was so anxious he let out an unbearable scream.
“Eh? So the contestant is actually Anna-veil?” Patty tilted her head cutely.
“Quite surprising.” Torina shrugged.
“Did you suspect it all along, Captain? But didn’t report it?”
“Who knows~”
“Eh~~ Did you hope she’d be exposed in public, forcing her into a corner? Captain, you’re so bad!”
“I just wanted to see clearly…”
Torina narrowed her eyes slightly, leaning against the railing, coldly watching the bewildered Anna-veil on the field.
Undoubtedly, regardless of the starting point, “betraying without a word, hiding the truth, stealing the star runes, causing trouble in the competition, intending to make her a tool for marriage” were all facts, and to Torina, they were shameful acts of betrayal.
Torina hates traitors.
Such things, once they happen, can break her tolerance threshold.
But before severely punishing Anna-veil, Torina wanted to understand why she betrayed.
And people are most likely to reveal their true feelings when in a desperate situation.
(Let me hear your reasons, you fool, don’t tell me you were just blinded by the system…)
On the stage—
【Damn it, how did it come to this! But there’s still a chance! Anna-veil, do as I say—】
The system kept chattering, but Anna-veil, completely in chaos, had no mind to listen.
It’s over.
It’s all over.
Exposing her identity in public, she would inevitably lose Torina’s trust, Morai would surely be furious, and her family would become the target of public criticism.
Why did it turn out like this?
“Why…?” Milora asked in confusion.
At first, her tone was weak.
But it quickly filled with anger.
“Why? What are you doing, Anna-veil!? You’ve been hiding from us all along?”
“………..” Anna-veil remained silent.
“Why do this? You know Torina hates family-arranged marriages, right? Or did you want an extra contestant to ensure victory?”
“………..”
“But the key isn’t the number of people, it’s whether there’s family interference! If I, a commoner, don’t win, she’ll still have to marry, winning is meaningless! You’re just making things difficult for Torina!!”
“Shut…”
“Hmm? What do you want to say? Say it!”
“Shut up!!! Stop acting all innocent!!!”
Anna-veil suddenly exploded, her emotions out of control, shouting over Milora! But Milora wasn’t intimidated, immediately retorting!
“Tell me to shut up? Why? You’re the one who got the star runes, aren’t you?”
“That thing isn’t the point! The point is… you… you! Ever since you came, Torina’s been revolving around you! Helping you, accompanying you, pampering you, her mind full of you!!!”
“Huh? So what…?”
“It was—I who came first!!!!”
“…Huh?”
“I was the one who fell for her first! I could abandon my family, abandon my studies to play adventure group with her, I could roll in the dirty dungeon mud for her, I could fight disgusting monsters for her, I gave so much for her, but she never noticed my feelings! Why? Why can you get what I can’t? Do you know how envious I am of you!!!!”
“…………..Huh?”
Coming out in public…?
