Chapter 496: Entering the Dungeon
Jonas wasn’t sure what he’d expected when Stanley released the hold he had over everyone, or at least most of them. Though, Jonas wasn’t completely sure why he hadn’t been taken over completely like Elwin had. All he could think of was that he’d gotten a little suspicious of Stanley back when he’d likely used that same ability when it came to deciding on the means to attack the stellar bear.
Not that it had kept him completely free, as he found himself in a bit of a stupor, where he couldn’t form coherent thoughts. Especially when it came to trying to get out of that predicament.
When it came to defending Elin, he had to assume it was more instinctual to do so than a conscious thought. That was the only explanation he had of how he’d been able to move so quickly to block Elwin’s strike. A strike Elwin now seemed mortified about.
Not that Jonas was confident they should just let him off the hook about, since it seemed a bit of a waste to just let it go like that. To relinquish such a hold over him when he’d been such a pain for a good amount of the time, seemed almost a shame to do so. Especially when Jonas had a feeling they’d ben able to milk that fact for a while and keep Elwin from getting overbearing on his opinion again.
Assuming they weren’t able to return to their own worlds when they brought Blot into the dungeon. Or wherever inside the dungeon they needed to take him.
Jonas glanced at Stanely where Elwin was tying him up, as well as gagging him so he couldn’t speak. Jonas had a feeling the effort was pointless, but he supposed that it at least made Elwin feel better. An effort that Jonas thought was completely unnecessary, given the fact that Stanely had released his hold on them because his own survival mattered more to him than any symbolic stand or win.
"Hey, should we let Stanley and his group join us as we enter the dungeon?" Elmo asked suddenly, drawing everyone’s attention to him. "I mean, wouldn’t that be better than just making them all sit outside like this?"
Jonas was so surprised that he couldn’t even form a proper response. At least not before Sonya beat him to it.
"Are you kidding me!? Not only did he try to have Harold kill us, but then he tried using his abilities to control us into handing Blot over," Sonya snapped, her tone more incredulous than angry. Though, Elmo seemed to react the same way, looking like he realized he’d really stepped where he shouldn’t have, but couldn’t think of how to back out of it.
"Well... it’s just... I mean..." Elmo stammered, looking around with panic-stricken eyes for some kind of help from a source that wasn’t likely to appear.