An unidentified monster appeared in the theater.
Some of the audience screamed and fled, while others calmly assessed their surroundings to understand the situation.
The monster, resembling a woman, scanned the audience gathered below the stage with a single glance and swung her hand.
Her hand shattered the stage floor, sending countless wooden fragments flying toward the seats.
“Aaaaah!”
The monster began destroying the stage and theater, letting out a noise that could be a scream or a roar.
Powerful energy and darkness radiated outward from the stage.
Broken pieces of stone flew menacingly toward the audience.
Anyone hit by the stones would surely be harmed, but fortunately, that didn’t happen.
Crash!
The fragments flung by the monster were stopped by a protective barrier someone had deployed.
“I don’t know where this monster came from, but it seems like you’ve come to the wrong place.”
A member of the audience calmly rose from her seat.
She brushed dust off her shoulder with a handkerchief.
“This is Arcana Academy, where the empire’s finest talents gather. On top of that, it’s the Lumen Festival, a time when the continent’s most skilled individuals gather.
A monster attack during such an occasion?”
“Graaah!”
“So noisy. Monster, don’t you realize it yet? No one left here is afraid of you.”
Her words were true.
While some had fled to avoid the monster, the majority remained seated, unfazed by the chaos.
They were either students of Arcana or guests.
Everyone here was remarkably skilled.
No one in this place feared the monster.
“I was thoroughly enjoying Kalian’s play, but this interruption is unacceptable. You’ll need to die as quickly as possible.”
She spoke leisurely.
Then, one by one, other members of the audience began standing up as well.
In any normal situation, they would have screamed and fled, but now, they looked ready to take down the monster on the spot.
From behind the stage, I clicked my tongue as I watched this unfold.
Like the audience, the theater staff were also flustered by the situation.
The play was effectively ruined at this point.
Serena, in particular, clutched her head and cried out.
“This is going to make the audience demand ticket refunds, meow!”
“Is that really important right now?”
“Of course, it’s important, meow! Having this happen during the most crucial first performance… It means day one revenue is zero, meow!”
“There’s a monster right there! Isn’t that the bigger problem?”
“Money is scarier than monsters, meow…!”
This isn’t going to work; she’s impossible to reason with.
“Kalian, come here.”
“Why?”
Kalian was about to rush onto the stage when he turned his head at my call.
“What are you planning to do there?”
“I need to kill that monster as quickly as possible. While the play is ruined, other people could get hurt.”
“You can’t kill it.”
“Why not?”
“Because that monster is Evelyn.”
I whispered softly so only Kalian could hear.
His eyes widened in shock at my words.
He stared at me, as if to confirm whether I was serious.
“For some reason, Evelyn has lost her senses and is rampaging. So, killing her isn’t the solution. We need another way.”
“Then what should I do? Is there a way to save Evelyn?”
“I have an idea.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
“It’s simple… you just continue the play.”
“…Huh?”
He tilted his head in confusion at my words.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said. You, no, all of us, continue the play. And we make everyone believe this is all just part of the performance.”
“That’s ridiculous. How could that even work?”
“Do you not want to save Evelyn?”
“No, I do. Fine. Just tell me exactly what I need to do.”
After explaining the plan to Kalian, I called for Serena.
Serena shook her head after hearing my plan.
“Meow… Pretend the monster’s appearance was part of the plan? Are you out of your mind? There’s no way that’ll work, meow.”
“Kalian can handle the monster anyway. Besides, I have a few good solutions up my sleeve, so don’t worry.”
“Meow… fine, I’ll inform the staff to go along with it. But remember, meow, if the lie gets exposed…”
“Don’t worry. It’ll all work out. And don’t stress about ticket refunds either.”
“The tickets aren’t the problem, meow. What matters is bringing Evelyn back safely, meow.”
“That’s not something you need to worry about either.”
Convinced by my persuasion, Serena gathered the cast and crew and instructed them to make the current chaos appear as part of the play.
Though some seemed slightly bewildered, a few nodded, saying it sounded like an interesting experiment.
“Alright then, let’s do this.”
I went up to the stage with Kalian.
On the stage, the corrupted Evelyn was still locked in combat with the audience.
At first, it looked like the group of audience members was overpowering Evelyn, but her power gradually surpassed theirs.
“I didn’t think it’d be this difficult… Truly a monster,” muttered the first audience member who had stepped up.
The protective barrier she had deployed began to crack.
If the barrier that had been shielding the audience were to collapse, utter chaos would break out.
But just before the barrier shattered, the dark energy unleashed by the monster was eradicated by a pure white force.
“Monster, cease your futile efforts.”
I shouted, standing beside Kalian, who radiated the pure white energy.
I continued my act confidently, addressing the audience.
“You may have come here to disrupt my friend’s love, but such actions will never drive them apart.”
“Graaaaah!”
“The bond of fate only grows stronger when tested. And here stands my friend, the greatest knight, to put an end to your rampage!”
The attention of both Evelyn and the audience shifted toward me.
While Evelyn, having lost her reason, couldn’t help it, the audience wore expressions that clearly said,
“What kind of nonsense is this?”
Rather than aiding the fight against the monster, here I was, showing up out of nowhere, spouting ridiculous lines.
Ignoring their reactions, I pointed at the supporting actor, who was standing idly.
It was the shady man who had appeared right before Evelyn burst through the ceiling, trying to come between Kalian and Elia.
“You there… Do you think you’ll get away with this? Your plan to kill her will never succeed!”
“Heh… How unfortunate for my scheme to be exposed. But no matter. After all, I have this monster under my control!”
Following Serena’s instructions, the actor carried on with the play, fully committing to his role as the sinister assassin sent to kill Elia.
“Graaaaah!”
The corrupted Evelyn let out a cry as the actor pointed at her, almost as if she was responding to his command.
Though it was a mere coincidence, the scene made it look as though the actor truly controlled the monster.
“…Huh?”
Reactions began to stir among the audience.
The combatants who had been fighting moments ago settled their mana and shifted their focus to the stage.
“What’s going on here?”
“Judging by the looks of it, the monster seems to have appeared to kill the heroine.”
“No, I mean… are you saying the monster is actually part of the play? It didn’t just show up out of nowhere?”
The audience, confused, started exchanging opinions.
One member of the audience exclaimed in admiration.
“Ah, I get it now! This is an interactive play!”
“Interactive play? What’s that?”
“It’s a type of performance where the audience gets a more immersive experience by participating directly!”
“But we were actually in danger!”
“Come on, this is Arcana.
How could anyone truly threaten the students and nobles here?”
Of course, that was complete nonsense.
The whole “interactive play” idea was a term I made up on the spot.
Taking advantage of the confusion, I discreetly deployed Elia’s puppets throughout the audience.
Elia controlled the puppets, subtly guiding public opinion so people would believe this was all part of the play.
The effect was remarkable.
“Really…? Now that I think about it, it is a bit strange that those two appeared just as the barrier was about to collapse.”
“I had already guessed this was just a play. If you think about it, the answer becomes clear.”
“The person who planned this play is truly a genius. To think we’ve been dancing in the palm of their hand all along… Strangely, it feels satisfying.”
One by one, the audience was swept up by the narrative, beginning to believe this was, indeed, part of the performance.
Those who had been thrilled by the combat were now excited in a different way, watching a play unlike anything they had ever seen before.
This wasn’t some cheap play with a poorly crafted villain and a lack of real stakes.
Here, a real monster had appeared, and if things went wrong, even the protagonist could die—possibly the audience, too.
Unaware of the deeper scheme, Kalian glanced at the audience and muttered,
“This is actually working…?”
“See? Told you it would,” I replied.
The audience had settled back into their seats, now fully engrossed in the performance.
Even among them was the Demon King, who fidgeted in her seat with excitement, her eyes sparkling like a galaxy.
I felt a bit guilty; this was her first-ever play, and I seemed to have planted some very strange ideas in her head.
Oh well, not my fault. Moving on.
With the stage set, Kalian launched into his performance.
“Monster, you were once an ordinary person, were you not? But you have been corrupted by the hands of a wicked soul.”
“Graaaaah!”
Even as the frenzied Evelyn lunged at him, Kalian did not break character.
“I sense sorrow and pain in your cries. You came to disrupt our love, yet I cannot help but feel pity for you.”
“Graaaaah!”
“I shall purify you. I will sever the chain of malice that binds you and help you regain your true self.”
A white light enveloped Kalian’s sword.
Evelyn’s current state was a result of the darkness twisting her from within.
Though the culprit behind this remained a mystery, saving her would take more than brute force.
I lent Kalian the power of purification and quietly stepped back to stay out of sight.
“Take this!”
At last, Kalian struck.
Unlike physical power, purification didn’t destroy anything, so the stage and theater remained intact.
Instead, the radiant white energy filled the theater with a brilliant glow.
When the light subsided, the darkness that had enveloped the monster began to crumble, revealing Evelyn within.
Before the audience could see her fully, I quickly wrapped her in my cloak and held her close.
In my arms, Evelyn opened her eyes faintly.
“Wade…?”
“Go ahead and rest a little more if you’re tired.”
“Why am I… in your arms…?”
Weakened from the aftermath of her distorted mana, Evelyn succumbed to her exhaustion and drifted back to sleep.
She had likely been drained both physically and mentally.
Is the situation finally under control?
“Ooooh!”
Clap clap clap!
Cheers and applause erupted from the audience.
But just as we were about to boldly transition to the next scene—
Bam!
The doors to the theater slammed open, and someone stepped in.
“Enough with this farce.”
It was Gerold, the commander of the Imperial Knights, leading his troops as they stormed into the theater.
(Meanwhile, snippets of text and confused chatter fill the scene in the background, as if breaking the fourth wall.)
“Today’s trending work.”
“The final chapter is up.”
“What the hell…?”
“…Popular war-strategy story…”
“…Magic Academy survival…”
“Is this an eroge?!”
“…Why am I alone…”
“Who’s this author…?”