I really didn't want to burn it.

Page 125

"Hey, Li Ang."

When Nero saw her man enter, she was overjoyed. Ignoring the fact that there were other people around, she went straight up and stroked Li Ang's cheek.

"Soon you'll be mine. Is there anything you want to say?"

"Congratulations? But the competition isn't completely over yet."

Leon responded to Nero verbally, but his eyes darted around.

"It'll be over soon, there's only one last match left," Nero said, somewhat unconvinced.

"Perhaps... What about Mr. Lanc?"

To avoid the name Romulus causing a sensation and controversy in Rome, the patriarch did not use his real name when registering for office, but instead used his rank.

The above are the reasons Li Ang imagined for the Divine Ancestor when he saw him refer to himself as "Lanc".

Looking back now, I realize that I thought he recognized the true name of the ancestor of the gods, but in reality, Romulus could have easily used the names of other Roman heroes to conceal it.

Of course, this argument has the suspicion of being a thief who suspects his neighbor of stealing his axe, and even Li Ang himself hopes that he is wrong.

"You're asking about Lanc? He's already on the field."

Unaware of the seriousness of the problem, Nero replied nonchalantly.

"That gladiator really loves Rome. He keeps talking about Rome. He must be a patriotic citizen! With such a loyal gladiator, I am indeed a good emperor."

While Nero was still indulging in self-pity, Leon had already rushed to the viewing platform in the lounge.

"what happened?"

Seeing that Li Ang's expression was off, Chloris quickly asked in a low voice.

"I'm not sure yet. I hope I'm just overthinking it," Li Ang replied. "If anything goes wrong, I'll leave those girls in your care."

"Those few? Which ones?"

"Of course, it's Nero, DD, and Ritsuka."

"Oh ho~ I thought I'd have to take care of those twins too," Chloris said coldly.

Which pair of twins?

Whether he didn't understand or was just asking the question he already knew the answer to, Li Ang looked at Chloris with a blank expression.

"Just pretend."

"I……"

boom!

The explosion that occurred on the field forced Li Ang to shift his attention back to the stadium.

Then he saw it—

Endless black mud.

"Holy crap! How did this thing appear?!"

On the field, Gao Wen looked at his opponent with a similar gaze to Li Ang.

Black, mud-like substances kept bubbling up from under the opponent's feet.

"What kind of monster are you?!"

Gawain didn't know what this thing was, but he could tell from his senses that it was no good.

Romulus laughed coldly, raising his hands and shouting with a smug look on his face.

"This is the future of humanity! This is the future of the world! This is the future of Rome!"

"Come, let everything become Rome! Including you... Become Rome!"

With Romulus's roar, the black sludge rushed directly towards Gawain.

M78 Nebula 756365104

PS1: I finally managed to finish updating before 1 a.m.

I'm completely exhausted after running around all day. _(:з」∠)_

Luckily, I'm free tomorrow morning, so I can sleep until noon.

So... goodnight everyone. (?3[▓▓])

M78 Nebula 756365104

PS2: A little something extra for a friend's book, "The Unsung Heroes of Arknights"

Arknights fanfiction; those interested can take a look.

Chapter 106 Romulus: Let's all become Rome!

Faced with the surging black mud, Gao Wen cut it in half with a single sword stroke.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Romulus remained unmoved by Gawain's accusations, and even laughed.

"Hahaha~ Come on, you too can become Rome!"

"Rome, Rome, you're so damn annoying!"

Gawain charged toward Romulus, carefully dodging the black mud that was attacking him, and slashed at Romulus's head with his sword.

"Go to hell!"

However, the scene that Gawain had envisioned—where he beheaded Romulus—did not occur.

The Roman god blocked Gawain's attack with his forearm.

"...Armor?"

To Gawain's astonishment, a suit of armor so dark it was almost black spread from where he had struck Romulus's body.

The brief moment of shock put Gawain in danger. Several strands of black mud, like whips, bound Gawain's limbs and quickly spread, attempting to envelop him.

"Magic... damn it..."

Gawain had no chance to resist before he was swallowed up by the black mud and turned into a constantly writhing black cocoon.

"Alright, let's turn it into Rome."

Romulus slowly opened his eyes; what should have been red eyes had turned into inhuman golden crosses.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

"Hey! Am I dreaming?!"

Seeing everything that happened on the field, Li Ang's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Li Ang was very familiar with the armor Romulus was wearing. The heavy armor covering his entire body, the large wings spreading behind him, and the magical particles emanating from his feet—aside from the color and some other details, this armor was exactly like the Romulus Li Ang remembered.

"What's with this plot where a Gold Saint turns into a Specter?! Does Hades even control Rome?!"

Li Ang ran around the field, roaring in frustration.

That's right, in Li Ang's eyes, this Romulus is simply a Gold Saint wearing a Surplice instead of his Saint Cloth.

"Why would a Grand Servant be corrupted by the evil of this world? This is so illogical!"

The concept of Type-Moon is inherently unscientific.

The elegy system explained to its host.

"Of course I know magic isn't science; it's just a metaphor!"

[The host remains stubbornly defiant. Moreover, this divine ancestor's behavior is perfectly logical; the host has simply been deceived by appearances.]

"What's scientific about this?! I've never even heard of a Grand Tier being contaminated by black mud!"

[Because that's not a Grand rank at all. If the host had carefully read the card description for "Romulus = Quirinus," they would know that while a Grand rank card cannot be summoned, it's not impossible to abandon the Grand rank.]

[Ah, I forgot that the host didn't draw that Gold Saint. In that case, not watching the commentary is forgivable.]

Li Ang gritted his teeth, making a clicking sound: "I, Divine Ancestor 0 Treasure, am truly sorry!"

This system really knows how to make itself angry in all sorts of ways.

“But even if the Golden God Ancestor is not a Grand God, he should not be so easily corrupted.”

The system only stated that he wasn't a crown-level being; who said he was corrupted?

"what?"

That was not the evil of this world, and he was no longer the ancestor of the gods!

"You mean..."

Li Ang stopped in his tracks and carefully observed Romulus in the center of the arena.

Sure enough, the other person's eyes, when they opened again, were a shape that Li Ang recognized very well.

[Host, this is a form of possession.]

"Demon God Pillar..."

Li Ang murmured as the railing he was gripping with both hands was twisted into a pretzel.

"The Demon God Pillar has colluded with the evil of this world? Is this some kind of hellish difficulty dungeon I'm facing?"

[The black mud was merely his way of polluting the world with his magic, but the system believed that this mud was not much better than the evils of this world.]

Li Ang had already figured it out without needing the system's explanation.

Gawain, who had just been eaten by the black mud, has been regurgitated by it.

However, Gawain's blackened armor and platinum-gold hair felt very familiar to Li Ang.

[Should this form be called "Darkened Gawain" or "Gawain.Alt"?]

"Anything is fine! It doesn't matter at all!"

Li Ang disregarded everything else and jumped onto the field to stop Romulus.

But some people acted even faster than Li Ang.

"Gao Wenqing!"

Artoria led her knights into the arena.

Things have developed to this point, so let's not even talk about the competition anymore; anyone with eyes can see the problem.

"Gao Wenqing, are you alright?"

Seeing Gawain lying on the ground, Artoria quickly went to help him up.