Urban Plundering: I Corrupted The System!-Chapter 489: The Death Of Tessa Wilder

The moment had arrived with all the ceremony that money could buy, and power could orchestrate. Tessa descended the grand staircase with the measured grace of someone walking to her own execution, each step echoing through the ballroom like a countdown to cosmic disaster.

The crowd parted before her like expensive water, five hundred pairs of eyes tracking her movement toward the small stage where Aleric waited with the confidence of someone who thought he’d already won the game.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer’s voice carried across the ballroom with practiced authority, "we gather tonight to witness the exchange of engagement rings between these two remarkable young people, uniting not just hearts but the legacies of two of our most distinguished families."

Applause rippled through the crowd, polite but enthusiastic, the sound of powerful people celebrating what they thought was a simple marriage alliance.

Tessa reached the stage, her expression serene and beautiful and hiding enough murderous intent to concern small armies. Aleric extended his hand to help her up the small steps, his smile radiating triumph.

She stepped back smoothly, avoiding his touch with such visible disgust that the entire ballroom couldn’t miss it. The movement was graceful but unmistakably repulsed, like someone dodging contact with something contaminated.

A ripple of murmurs went through the crowd, though everyone pretended not to notice the obvious rejection while barely containing their snickers.

"You look radiant," Aleric said, his voice carrying that particular blend of charm and arrogance, though his smile had grown slightly strained.

"Don’t," Tessa replied quietly, her voice carrying enough ice to freeze solar systems. "It’s not your place to compliment me."

The ballroom went dead silent for a heartbeat before conversations resumed with forced brightness, everyone playing along with the charade while exchanging meaningful glances. The rejection was so complete, so publicly humiliating, that even the most diplomatic guests couldn’t hide their amusement.

Aleric’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, fury building behind his practiced smile like pressure behind a dam. But he maintained his composure, though his hands clenched briefly at his sides.

The announcer, professional to the core, gestured toward a small table where two ring boxes waited. "The rings, symbolic of eternal commitment and the binding of two great houses."

This was it. The moment she’d been waiting for. As soon as they were close enough, as soon as his guard was down, she was going to kill him with her bare hands and damn the consequences.

Aleric reached for the first ring box, his smile growing more forced by the second. "Tessa, despite your... nervousness, I think we should—"

That’s when she moved.

Her hand shot out toward his throat with Immortal Tier speed, fingers positioned to crush his windpipe before he could draw another breath. Murder gleamed in her expression as she prepared to end this charade permanently.

The pressure descended like the weight of collapsing galaxies.

It was almost visible—a distortion in the air itself that made reality ripple like water disturbed by cosmic stones. The force wasn’t directed at the crowd, but they could feel it anyway, a crushing sensation that made breathing feel like lifting mountains and standing feel like defying fundamental laws of physics.

Tessa crashed to her knees with a sound that cracked the stage’s polished wood, though the entity was careful not to truly harm her. The pressure was overwhelming but controlled, pinning her without breaking her.

"What—" she gasped, shock and surprise replacing her murderous intent as she struggled against forces that made her Immortal Tier powers feel like party tricks.

Aleric stumbled backward, fear flickering across his features even as his smile remained plastered in place. "I... you didn’t think I’d be unprotected, did you?" he said, though his voice carried more nervousness than confidence.

The ballroom erupted in confused murmurs and gasps as five hundred of the world’s most powerful people tried to process what they were witnessing. But their confusion was nothing compared to the terror that descended when the presence made itself known.

The presence manifested like darkness given consciousness and malevolent intent. It didn’t appear so much as impose itself upon reality, a cosmic force that existed beyond human comprehension pressing into the space between dimensions. Its form was incomprehensible—shifting shadows that might have been tentacles or wings or simply the absence of light made manifest, eyes that burned like dying stars, a presence that made the air itself recoil.

The ballroom erupted in terrified gasps as five hundred of the world’s most powerful people felt their understanding of reality crumble like cheap foundation.

Whisper materialized beside Tessa in an instant, her form shifting from shadow to solid as she took a protective stance, though even she trembled before whatever was manifesting in the ballroom.

A chuckle echoed through the space, carrying amusement that felt like fingernails on cosmic blackboards. "How hilarious," the presence said, its voice coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. "I didn’t expect you Tessa to be this stubborn. As expected of the Prince’s woman—she’s as stubborn as him."

Aleric stumbled backward, relief flooding his features. "I told you I was protected," he said, though his voice carried more nervousness than confidence. "You can’t just—"

Aleric’s smile widened, his confidence returning as he straightened his jacket. "See? Even my supporter recognizes—" freeωebnovēl.c૦m

"I’d rather die than marry this disgusting piece of shit instead of my man," Tessa snarled from her knees, her voice carrying enough venom to poison small galaxies.

The presence seemed to nod, its attention shifting with approval. "Indeed. I too would never settle for garbage like him instead of the Prince."

Aleric’s face went through several colors before settling on purple with rage. "What did you just say? Aren’t you, my supporter? You’re supposed to—"

A sound rippled through the space—not quite laughter, but cosmic amusement that felt like galaxies grinding against each other. "Look at this pathetic worm," the entity said, its voice coming from everywhere and nowhere at once, the words carrying enough contempt to wither planets. "This sniveling little insect actually thinks he matters."

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