398 The Different Sophia (1/2)

”Did… Did you kill him?” Sophia asked with her voice trembling. It was her first time seeing someone that she knew die right in front of her. The bloody scene and the disgusting smell were poking at her nerves. In her expectation, as this was just a competition, no one should be killed in this underground palace.

Lucien was already used to this. Pretending that he did not want to see the body, Lucien looked up at the ceiling of the underground palace. He wondered if the teleportation magic circles were still working after the strange change happened to this place. Having no idea whether the change was normal or someone did something to the palace on purpose, Lucien decided to be more cautious. However, on the other hand, if the magic field covering the palace had changed, probably now the duke and the counts on the outside were not able to observe them anymore.

If that was true, it would be a piece of good news for Lucien. When no one was watching, Lucien could completely reveal his power. Then it would be much easier for him to find the secret chamber to carry out the magic rite.

However, what concerned him was the fact that he still had no idea where the gold knight and Metatron were. Before figuring this out, Lucien still had to be very cautious and stay with Sophia.

Duda kneeled down with his hands on the ground, murmuring in great fear, ”I… I didn't mean to kill… kill him. He was… standing there still, doing nothing! He just wouldn't go! I don't know why! This wasn't my fault! Not my fault!”

Duda went hysterical, shouting and yelling.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, that was the term that rose in Lucien's mind. It was Duda's first time killing a person without any mental preparation, a person that actually he knew in person.

”Calm down, Duda. Calm down. This isn't your fault. The magic circles in this palace have gone wrong,” Lucien tried to comfort Duda in a quite professional manner. Lucien had been reading some psychology books to cope with the possible mental side effects left by using Transformation Mask

His deep and soft voice also calmed Sophia down. She was quite surprised that Beaulac could remain so calm when facing death and such unknown changes directly.

”He's right. It's not your fault,” agreed Sophia, ”…It was the magic circles…”

Like a drowning man clutching at a straw, Duda hurriedly nodded, ”That's right! That's right! Something went wrong with the magic circles.”

Seeing that Duda had calmed down a bit, Lucien took out his pocket watch and said to him, ”Can you tell us what just happened?”

Eager to get rid of the horrible feeling of guilt, Duda told the complete story to them.

After entering the underground palace, when Duda was trying to find Arthen and his helpers, he went right into another young noble. The two enthusiastic young men immediately started their fight.

For the first time, the fight was not a performance, not a test. It was real. And there were no mentors watching them. Duda got more and more excited, and the hiding beast in his heart came out. After several rounds of combat, Duda knocked off the young noble's sword. And seizing the great opportunity, Duda used all of his power to hack at his enemy's neck. It was an all-out hack, as Duda knew that before a participant was severely hurt in this underground palace, the person would be sent out to receive immediate medical treatment through the magic circles.

However, the warm blood that burst out from the young man's neck greatly shocked Duda. Duda could never forget the desperate look on that person's face. And when the young noble's body collapsed to the ground, the look remained unchanged.

Based on Duda's account, Lucien confirmed the time. The moment when Lucien sensed the difference in this underground palace was the time when the magic circle failed to work.

”At that time, you told me that someone was watching us,” said Sophia in a low voice, in case Duda heard their conversation.

Lucien nodded, ”My blood power enables me to sense some upcoming dangers. Maybe because the power is related to astrology.”

Sophia did not see any problems in Beaulac's explanation, and she said using the tone of a delicate and charming little girl, ”I did not expect this at all… Beaulac, who did this? What's that person's plan?”