novelraw Chapter 100: No Escape
Chapter 100: No Escape
Monar lay hidden in the small tower of one of the nearest houses. A triangular roof covered him, along with narrow gray walls and columns. Kneeling over a magic circle, he opened his eyes, his expression slightly troubled.
"Damn it... We’re trapped," he whispered.
A soft green breeze manifested beside Monar’s ear, and he glanced to the side.
"That’s a possibility, but the four of us couldn’t..."
Behind the dark elf, Azel observed the capital with his hawk-like eyes. Within the darkest parts of the city, he could make out hundreds of silhouettes moving back and forth among the shadows.
He frowned when he heard Monar speaking to himself.
"Did you find anything?"
Monar shook his head.
"There’s no way to escape this place. Even though I spent hours expanding the little mana I had left, I found that the city is surrounded by a massive tornado made of the curse of ash. You can’t see it from here, but you don’t need to see it to know it’s there."
"..."
"We’re in the eye of the tornado—possibly the only safe place in all of Axorhibis."
"Won’t the anti-curse shields work?" Azel asked, his tone filled with concern.
The dark elf shook his head again, regretful.
"The tornado is a high-level ancient spell; it completely surpasses my capabilities. Maybe, with the help of the Lord of Green, I could protect us for a few minutes, but... I couldn’t see the end of the tornado, so I’m not sure a few minutes would be enough to cross it before the ash turns us into statues."
Azel’s breathing trembled. He slid down to the ground, scraping his back against the wall.
Monar looked at him, sensing his companion’s sorrow.
"Don’t worry, Azel. We’ll find a way to escape and become the first to survive Axorhibis. We’ll finally reach Rank SS. What do you think?"
"I’m not sure I deserve something like that, Monar. All I do is shoot glowing arrows and wind bullets. My strongest arrow doesn’t work against specters, and I always make bad decisions. Unlike you, who’s a great mage, I’m nobody. I don’t even deserve to be Rank S."
"That’s not—"
"Even the Ashen Kid has proven to be far more useful than me. He’s the only one, aside from you, who has the magic needed to kill specters."
Monar reflected for a moment.
"I’m not going to say you’re wrong, because you’re not. To be honest, it would’ve been better to bring Mountain instead of you. He would’ve been much more useful in the battle against the dragon."
"I knew it, I—"
"But we brought you here because you’re useful too. Are you really going to deny what you just saw? Those hundreds of monsters hiding everywhere? If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have found a safe place to rest, and we’d probably still be running around aimlessly."
Azel closed his eyes. Clearly, he didn’t want his friend’s pity—but Monar wasn’t saying this out of pity. It was the truth.
"You and I are the ones who fight at range. Let’s keep it that way and let Monar and Mitsuki handle the front line. We’ll protect them."
Bringing a hand to his eyes, Azel let out a long, tired sigh.
"You really... are an old man who talks a lot of nonsense."
Monar laughed.
"There’s the Azel I know. It’s stressful seeing you so down, you know? Being depressed doesn’t suit you. Leave that to Marco—he’s the only one who actually has the right to feel that way."
"Marco... He stayed downstairs to watch over the Ashen Kid. Don’t you think something bad might happen? He’s not exactly fond of him. You know, because Ashen is friends with the Princess and the Witch."
"Nothing will happen. At most, Mitsuki will confront him about what Marco did that day at the guild. I’m sure Marco will give him a whole speech about why he hates nobles."
"Well, I’d hate nobles too if I had lived through what Marco did."
"That’s why none of us will blame him for it. Not every child survives slavery..."
***
Mitsuki lay on the bed, staring at the dusty ceiling in silence.
’I said what I thought without hesitating...’
He smiled, proud of himself.
’I never would’ve believed I was capable of doing something like that. It feels good to say what you think when you want to, no matter how hard it is to resist the urge to run away right after.’
This was a sign of his personal growth after accepting being the Herald. Now that he could clearly say what he thought, confronting those who had looked down on him, he felt like he could face Ellegaard and tell him how strong he had become.
For now, there was something else to think about.
"That’s right..."
The system. He rolled up the sleeve of his coat to look at the tattoo—it was still the same—then looked back at the ceiling, closing his eyes.
The messages appeared.
[ You have received rewards. ]
[ You have leveled up. ]
’First, the rewards.’
[ You have obtained the following skills:
Electrokinesis Lv. 1
Precise Aim Lv. 1
Premonition. ]
Mitsuki’s eyes snapped open.
’Wow... The things I could do with these abilities don’t even make sense. Now that I’m starting to get good stuff, I hope the next one is just as good...’
[ You have obtained the following items:
Nuria Dragon Fang
Spectral Scale. ]
There was a brief silence.
’I think... this isn’t very useful. At least not for now. I mean, since this is a fantasy world, someone could probably make me a weapon with these materials. I expected more, but I won’t complain.’
[ ❖ Name: Mitsuki Kirishima.
❖ Level: 16
❖ XP: 530 / 850
❖ Sanity:
50%
❖ Physical State: Mild Exhaustion.
❖ HP / MP / Stamina:
300 / 120 / 70
❖ Strength / Agility / Intelligence:
60 / 50 / 120
❖ Titles: King of the Void, Master of Cinder, Prince of Misfortune, Poisoned Cake, Herald of the Unnameable, Lover of Flowers Among Blood.
❖ Skills: Pro Gamer, Insomnia, Sarcasm... ]
’The difference between my stats, skills, and titles compared to when I started is huge. I’ve progressed a lot in almost two months. It’s amazing how strong I’ve become. If I keep this up, I’ll really become unstoppable.’
Unfortunately... would he even make it out of this place alive? If he knew what Monar had seen, all his hopes would collapse instantly.