Read Novel Full Chapter 588: The god’s decision
Chapter 588: The god’s decision
Silence.
A silence so complete that it felt unnatural.
The Grand Arena, which had been filled with the voices of hundreds of thousands only moments ago, had fallen into a stillness that seemed to consume the world itself.
Lucas’s body hung limp in Khan’s grasp.
There was no movement.
No resistance.
No breath that anyone could see.
The only sound was the faint whistle of the wind passing through the shattered arena.
No one wanted to believe what they had witnessed.
No one wanted to accept it.
Yet before the eyes of the ancient laws…
Before the sacred Trial by Combat…
The outcome appeared to have been decided.
The gods had rendered a cruel judgment.
Khan…
Had survived.
Lucas…
Had fallen.
Why?
No one knew.
Lucas had dominated nearly the entire duel.
He had overwhelmed Khan.
He had stood on the verge of victory.
Then, in a single unforeseen moment, everything had changed.
The corruption.
The relentless assault.
The final, brutal twist of Khan’s hands.
No one understood why fate had unfolded this way.
The arena remained frozen.
Then the first sob broke the silence.
Lira.
“No…”
Her voice trembled before breaking completely.
“No… no…”
Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face as she stumbled forward until she reached the barrier surrounding the battlefield.
She pounded against it with both hands.
“Xavier!”
Her scream echoed throughout the arena.
“Xavier!”
Again.
Again.
Again.
The barrier remained unmoving.
Selene collapsed where she stood.
Her entire body shook with grief.
She covered her face with trembling hands, but it did nothing to stop the sobs escaping her.
She couldn’t even force herself to look at the arena anymore.
Princess Nyx stood completely still.
Her eyes remained fixed on Lucas’s motionless form.
Tears silently rolled down her cheeks.
She whispered his name.
Once.
Then again.
Each time quieter than the last.
Henrietta’s knees finally gave way.
She fell heavily to the floor.
Her fists struck the stone beneath her over and over.
“No…”
She shook her head violently.
“He promised…”
Her voice cracked.
“He promised…”
Even the Ice Belle, whose composure had seemed unbreakable through countless battles, remained motionless.
Her breathing had become uneven.
Her icy blue eyes never left Lucas.
For a long moment, nothing happened.
Then…
One solitary tear escaped.
It traced silently down her cheek.
She made no attempt to wipe it away.
High above them, the Empress stood frozen.
The trembling in her hands had become impossible to hide.
She stared at Lucas.
Waiting.
Praying.
Hoping.
Anything.
Some sign.
Some movement.
Anything at all.
But there was nothing.
She closed her eyes.
The bond.
The m connection she had always felt with him…
The one that had grown stronger through every intimacy and battle they had fought together…
Every conversation…
Every shared burden…
It was gone.
Completely gone.
She could no longer sense him.
The absence struck her harder than any blade ever could.
A quiet whimper escaped her lips.
Barely audible.
Then another.
Tears flowed freely down her face.
She made no effort to hide them.
Her shoulders trembled.
For all her strength…
For all her dignity…
For all her years upon the throne…
In that moment, she looked like a woman who had lost someone precious beyond words.
Below her, the girls experienced the same horrifying realization.
One after another…
The familiar connection they had always felt with Lucas simply…
Vanished.
It wasn’t fading.
It wasn’t weakening.
It was simply…
Gone.
Lira’s eyes widened with terror.
She stopped pounding on the barrier.
Her hands slowly fell to her sides.
“No…”
she whispered.
Her voice was hollow.
“I… I can’t feel him…”
Selene looked up through tear-filled eyes.
Her expression shattered.
“I can’t either…”
Princess Nyx closed her eyes desperately, reaching inward as though refusing to believe what her senses were telling her.
Nothing.
Only emptiness.
Henrietta’s breathing hitched.
“No…”
She shook her head violently.
“No…”
The Ice Belle remained utterly still.
She already knew.
She had felt the moment it happened.
The silence where Lucas’s presence had always been.
A silence that could not be mistaken.
Across the battlefield, Khan released Lucas’s body.
It fell heavily onto the broken stone without moving.
Without a sound.
The champion of Lechia lay motionless in the center of the arena.
The entire Grand Arena looked on in stunned disbelief.
No one cheered.
No one celebrated.
Even those who had once supported Khan stood in horrified silence.
The cost of the gods’ judgment felt almost impossible to bear.
And beneath the weight of that crushing silence, an entire kingdom began to mourn the man they believed had given his life for them.
The silence lingered over the Grand Arena like a funeral shroud.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
The champion of Lechia lay motionless upon the fractured stone, while thousands of spectators struggled to comprehend what had unfolded before their eyes.
Then…
Khan laughed.
It began as a quiet chuckle.
Low.
Broken.
Before growing louder.
And louder.
Until it echoed throughout the entire arena.
His bloodied face twisted into a triumphant grin as he slowly spread his arms.
“So…”
he rasped, his voice carrying across the deathly still battlefield.
“This is your hero?”
No one answered.
Khan looked toward the stands where the citizens sat frozen in disbelief.
“Look at him.”
He pointed toward Lucas’s unmoving body.
“The mighty champion of Lechia.”
“The man you believed would deliver justice.”
He laughed again.
“And now he’s nothing more than a corpse.”
The crowd answered with furious boos.
The hatred directed toward Khan had never been greater.
“Monster!”
“Traitor!”
“You don’t deserve to live!”
The insults poured down from every corner of the arena.
Khan merely smiled.
His gaze shifted toward the royal platform.
Toward the Empress.
“Mother…”
His voice dripped with mockery.
“It seems your champion wasn’t enough.”
He slowly bowed with exaggerated politeness.
“The gods have spoken.”
He straightened again.
“You condemned your own son…”
“…and still lost.”
The Empress did not respond.
She remained standing, tears staining her face as she stared at the battlefield below.
Khan turned toward the five women.
His smile widened even further.
“What happened?”
“I thought he promised to win.”
His words were cruel.
Calculated.
Designed to wound.
He laughed as he looked at their grief-stricken faces.
“Perhaps promises mean very little when you’re lying dead.”
Lira broke down into uncontrollable sobs.
Selene buried her face in her trembling hands.
Princess Nyx stared at Khan with tears in her eyes and undisguised hatred.
Henrietta looked as though she wanted nothing more than to charge onto the battlefield, restrained only by those around her.
The Ice Belle never looked at Khan.
Her gaze remained fixed on Lucas.
Her fists were clenched so tightly that her blood slowly trickled from her palms.
Khan scoffed.
“Cry all you want.”
“It changes nothing.”
“The gods chose me.”
He slowly spread his arms once more, turning in a slow circle so the entire arena could see him.
“They favored me.”
“They judged me worthy.”
His laughter echoed once again.
High above the battlefield, the chief judicial elder remained motionless.
His shoulders seemed heavier than they had ever been.
Every instinct within him rebelled against what he was about to do.
But the ancient laws were clear.
The Trial by Combat existed so that the outcome would be accepted as the judgment of the gods, whatever that outcome might be.
His duty was not to decide.
Only to proclaim.
He slowly stepped forward to the edge of the royal platform.
The arena gradually fell silent.
Every face turned toward him.
The elder closed his eyes briefly before opening the official scroll.
His voice, usually steady and commanding, carried an unmistakable sadness.
“By the ancient laws of Lechia…”
He paused.
The words seemed difficult to speak.
“…the Trial by Combat has reached its conclusion.”
Silence.
“The appointed champion of the Empire has fallen.”
Another long pause followed.
Many spectators lowered their heads.
Others wept openly.
The elder drew a slow breath.
“Therefore…”
“…the court recognizes the judgment rendered under the sacred rite.”
His hands tightened around the scroll.
“The gods have favored Khan.”
A wave of anguish spread through the arena.
Some people cried out in disbelief.
Others simply stood frozen.
The elder forced himself to continue.
“According to the ancient statutes of Lechia…”
“…Khan is hereby released from the sentence previously imposed.”
His voice grew quieter.
“He is recognized…”
“…as a free man.”
The words echoed through the Grand Arena.
No applause followed.
No celebration.
Only grief.
Only disbelief.
Only the crushing weight of a judgment that almost no one present could bring themselves to accept.