novelraw Chapter 101: The Only Alternative
Chapter 101: The Only Alternative
After reviewing everything related to the system, Mitsuki approached the ruined door of the room and peeked out to see if Marco was nearby. Even though he had managed to face him before, now he felt pathetically afraid.
’Where is he?’
There was no trace of Blondie. Though, at this moment, that didn’t really matter. He shook his head, tired, and moved forward. As he stepped outside the house, making sure no hidden monsters were watching him, he looked toward one of the nearby buildings.
Up there, in one of the towers, Monar and Azel stood silently, gazing over the capital. Their expressions were troubled—they looked somewhat lost.
’They’ve probably already discovered something, but it doesn’t seem to be anything good.’
Staying here wouldn’t solve anything. It was best to ask, so he used Ash Propulsion to appear beside the duo.
"Any news?"
Azel sighed.
"Hey, Ashen."
"There is, but I don’t think it’s good," Monar said, pointing toward the horizon. "On the other side of the city—surrounding the entire city—there’s a tornado made of the curse of ash. If we try to cross it, our shields won’t hold, and we’ll turn into statues."
"Oh... I see."
Mitsuki looked in that direction. The future seemed bleak.
’I thought that if we kept going straight, eventually we’d find a way out, but this isn’t like Holylight.’
They needed to think of alternatives.
"Isn’t there a way to cross above the tornado? Maybe there’s a way to pass through it without taking damage."
Monar shook his head with regret.
"I’ve thought of every possibility, and in all of them, I’m the only one who survives."
"Monar’s lucky to have the Lord of Green on his side," Azel added. "But we’re just ordinary humans. If we had divine protection at the same time, that would be ideal, but..."
Monar continued.
"The Lord of Green doesn’t wish to grant his power to others. He’s quite a selfish being who can’t afford to hand out his miracles so easily."
"The Lord of Green? Is that the god the dragon mentioned?"
Mitsuki frowned slightly, thinking.
’To be honest, what happened back then was incredible. If it weren’t for that supposed god, we would’ve all died fighting the dragon.’
"That’s right," Monar nodded. "He granted me his blessings at that moment, and I shared that power with all of you. But since we already used that card, the Lord of Green expects us to handle things on our own from now on—until he feels like helping us again."
Azel stood up and frowned as he looked toward the shadows of the city.
"Maybe he thinks escaping this place is something we can handle ourselves."
"I’m not sure. One thing we definitely can’t do is fight the monsters while hoping to escape without knowing anything," Mitsuki added. "We should analyze their attack patterns, the routes most commonly used by the ash beasts, and a possible escape route."
Waving his staff in circles, Monar nodded.
"Yes, we’ve been thinking about that, but what we discovered turned out to be our only alternative."
Bright green particles formed and floated before Monar, eventually taking the shape of the distant castle. At the center of that castle, one particle shone intensely, like the core of something special.
"There’s a source generating all these evils. The tornado, the beasts, the deadly environment, the heavy feeling twisting in our hearts—none of it is anything more than the result of an intense concentration of the curse resting at the center of the castle."
’The castle... Could the screams we heard when we arrived be related to that?’
It had to be. After all, if there was something in that castle, it was surely a monster similar to the Master of Cinder—and if so, that monster would be the origin of the tragedy in this kingdom.
In hindsight, when the Master of Cinder died, the kingdom of Holylight was freed from the curse. What said the same couldn’t happen here?
Monar continued.
"If we find a way to neutralize that core, we can disperse the tornado and weaken the monsters."
"Are you saying the only way to survive is to free this kingdom from the curse? That’s suicide," Marco said, climbing up the tower.
Mitsuki glanced at him; they exchanged complicated looks for a second, but then turned their attention back to Monar, who answered without hesitation, his tone serious.
"They’ll kill us anyway if we don’t do something. It’s the only alternative. Azel and I have already thought of everything we could do, but we couldn’t come up with anything else. Unless you have a good idea that lets us avoid a confrontation, there’s nothing more we can do."
Marco thought for a moment. He looked toward the horizon in search of inspiration, but in the end, nothing came to mind.
"See? If you thought of something, we’ve already thought of it twice. For now, it’s best to rest through the night and head to the castle early tomorrow. Once we’re there, we can figure out how to break the curse."
’If we don’t do something, we’ll die anyway... This doesn’t look good. If we go to the castle, what will we find inside? I hope it’s something much weaker than the Master of Cinder—or at least that there’s a way to defeat it without having to fight.’
While Azel and Marco’s voices rose in discussion, Mitsuki stared at the castle with distant eyes. A creeping fear began to take root in his mind as he realized there was no escape this time. There were no mysterious forces to help him survive, and he didn’t have any overpowered abilities to rely on.
Whatever was about to happen, there was nothing he could expect but tragedy.
’No matter what I do, where I go, or how I act, misfortune will always follow me. Is this the stupid joke behind the title of Prince of Misfortune? Will unpredictable things always happen to me no matter what?’
That title had been clear about its effect. It was only a matter of time before Mitsuki realized what it truly meant to be the Prince of Misfortune.
No... worse than that—what it meant to be the Herald of the Unnameable.