Chapter 116:Hero
Meanwhile, in small villages on the border of the kingdom, everyone looked up in surprise at the sudden appearance of the magic spell etched in their faces.
The war with the beasts had ravaged the lands and left them nothing but blood-soiled. What remained were dead bodies and the broken survivors of the horrors that were the beast tide.
A three-year-old child too innocent to be tainted by the filth around him pointed to the sky and shook his mother for attention.
"What’s that?"
His mother smiled and picked him up.
"That must be the good magicians saving us from the beasts."
The child smiled happily. He looked up at the spell then lay on his mother’s chest.
"I also want to be a...."
At that moment everyone in the village fell. A few moments later, different colored tendrils rose up from their bodies and were sucked in by the spell above them.
This happened to every border village in the kingdom as their souls were sucked away, killed to feed the spell. The spell moved inland as death started to take over the kingdom much worse than the beast tide they had just survived.
...
On the battlefield, Donovan looked up at the magic circle above him with neutrality. He had expected his master to build it but this was beyond what he had imagined.
He couldn’t see the end.
Above it, he could see Lucian floating on the spell standing quietly but anyone who has had contact with magic would know what that meant.
"What in the world?"
He muttered in confusion.
At the corner of his eye, he noticed a body sink into the ground, then another. Some time had passed since Lucian began his casting but every living creature seemed to have been forced to a halt.
The dragon he had been fighting, barely surviving, was also affected by the raging pressure that was pouring down from the spell.
Donovan felt as though he was being sucked into an endless vortex but his body made him feel grounded.
Around him, weaker beasts had started to fall and only high-level beasts above Class II were left grasping in panic.
No humans were affected by the spell.
"What are you even doing master?"
Donovan mummbled to himself as he tried to figure out what was going on while inching further away from the dragon.
...
My body felt like it was tearing apart...No my body was tearing apart literally.
Despite the help from Athena the pain was still bone-tearing,it felt as though something had entered under my skin and something was gnawing on it.
This went on for a few moments before I felt a small crack inside my soul then my mana pool suddenly deepened and expanded exponentially.
A large rush of mana drained from my soul and poured into my fully enlarged mana lake.
The size had gone from that of a pool to that of a large lake. Air filled my lungs as I took in a deep satisfied breath while my body adapted to the new power.
SOVEREIGN
I had broken through the mortal constraint and become a sovereign. Laughter spilled out, then was followed by another.
The power in my body was unimaginable, I felt it. I could crush a 24th star with a finger.
’I can now experiment on much stronger beings than mere slaves’
The fact that my field of study had been expanded had become much clearer. I had planned to leave this kingdom and now, I really have nothing to worry about except if it were another sovereign.
’How many souls were needed?’
I wondered to myself. I had been in too much pain to keep track of everything while in excruciating pain.
As if answering my question, a warm feeling different from the first one flowed into my heart, and then a number appeared clearly inside my thoughts.
My eyes widened in shock.
"That is a lot."
I whispered to myself. My unbelieving eyes moved back to the numbers then I looked at my mana pool. A smile graced my face as a thought filtered into my mind.
’This worked out better than I thought it would’
2,300,442 souls.
That was the number of souls of different strengths that had taken to force my soul to grow and expand. I clenched my hand feeling in exhilaration the power the souls had given me.
"Don’t attempt this spell again, the corruption will affect your mentality. "
Athena as though she had read my mind said. But the contract prevented us from peeking into the other person’s mind.
"My mind is already affected, there isn’t much to be corrupted. "
I dismissed her worry. Though I never planned on using it often, I was eventually going to use it when I needed to harvest souls especially since Jeneviv can’t do it on a large scale like today.
I looked down at the battlefield my eyes meeting the now scared dragons.
I smiled in glee and circulated my mana.
A beam of ice large enough for everyone in the capital to see shot out from the spell and skewered the panicked fire dragon killing it in an instant. I was followed by another smaller one, killing the other surviving beasts that had not been killed by the spell.
There was a silence, so strong that it felt suffocating as everyone witnessed the miracle in front of them.
As I started to descend while making sure everyone in the capital knew I was the one who killed the dragon, cheers erupted at my sight.
I landed softly on the capital walls and looked down on the soldiers who didn’t seem to know how to react.
[Transmit]
The transmit magic spell would allow everyone alive in the kingdom to hear me.
What I was about to do was crazy but it had to be done.
I prepared myself internally and started my speech.
"People of Thessryn, hear my words.
As many of you already know, I am Lucian Bloodmoor, the slayer of the Disaster Dragon and the hand that broke the Beast Tide. Yet today I do not stand before you as a hero, but as a man burdened with grief." My expression changed just enough for the soldiers beside me to also be affected by my supposed grief.
"First, allow me to offer my deepest apologies.
The kingdom has suffered greatly under the claws of this vile calamity. Too many lives have been lost, families shattered, and homes turned to ash. I regret with all my heart that I arrived later than fate demanded of me.
But take solace in this: the beasts that ravaged our lands have been slain.
Though my power was greatly diminished and my strength pushed to its limits, I cast the spell many of you witnessed and eradicated every last creature that threatened our kingdom.
The danger has passed.
And yet... my heart is not at peace.
While the people of Thessryn fought, bled, and died to protect their homes, there were those within the palace who saw this tragedy not as a moment for unity, but as an opportunity for ambition.
It pains me to speak such words.
The Seventh Prince, the youngest son of the royal family, fell prey to the temptation of power. In the midst of our kingdom’s suffering, he chose to grasp for authority together with the very figures we once revered most dearly, the Saint and the Saintess.
I know these are difficult words to hear.
Many of you have placed your faith in them and faith is not easily shaken. But the spirits of the soldiers and believers who perished on this battlefield cannot find rest if the truth is buried. Their sacrifice demands justice for those whose ambitions delayed our struggle and cost us countless lives.
Still, I do not wish for despair to consume our people.
Instead, I promise restoration.
To every household that suffered loss, relief in food and copper will be distributed according to the severity of the disaster.
Those whose homes were destroyed will see new houses raised in their place.
And because this month has brought nothing but sorrow to our people, all citizens of Thessryn shall be exempt from rent and taxes for three months.
The Bloodmoor family will bear this burden ourselves. We will see to it that our people are cared for, that our streets are rebuilt, and that no child goes hungry.
You have suffered enough.
From this day forward, let Thessryn begin to heal."
I felt good about the speech. It was powerful enough that I felt like crying. The soldiers beside me were crying and I could feel their pitiful eyes looking at me as if I were their only hope.
’Let’s see my prince how you handle a very angry public’
Since the Crown Prince seemed to enjoy, destroying his enemies’ socials, I wanted to see how well he would fare.
Below people had started to gather as they chanted my name, after all, I saved the kingdom from the big bad dragon.
’Haa.. It’s good to have power, I need more of it’