NOVEL NEXT Chapter 145: Spoken
"Child?" I was stunned.
The words from Linus made us fall silent for a moment. To think a child was also affected by the Kaoslith… But something didn't feel right. Before I could say anything...
Cluck cluck!
My heart nearly jumped out of my ribcage as Plump suddenly leapt into the ship.
"You stupid chicken! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Bob was also clearly startled.
Plump didn't react to our anger and just began pecking at the wooden floor for no reason I could understand.
I turned to Linus. "But if I recall correctly, you said it takes years for Kaoslith to grow. But this child..."
I stepped closer to the Kaoslith and saw a frozen child in a horrifying state, his body overtaken by countless crystal growths, even his eyes had been consumed. Poor kid… he must've suffered terribly.
"...he looks like he's only six or seven years old," I finished, stepping back, I could not bear to look at the poor soul any longer.
"So you noticed that too," Linus replied. "Yes, this Kaoslith seems different from the usual ones. I can deduce two possible conclusions.
First, this kid was still growing and had less mana than usual. That's probably why the number of monsters around here is lower than what we encountered in Lily Town. Kaosliths consume the innate mana of their hosts to grow, and in this case, the Kaoslith didn't benefit much from the child."
"And the second possibility," he continued, "is that this kid was only recently infected, maybe less than a year ago and the Kaoslith hasn't had time to fully consume him yet."
Me and Bob looked at each other. This Kaoslith issue was really getting out of control.
"Then how do we destroy it? I don't think we have an ancient weapon lying around here," Bob said.
"Using an Ancient Tower is the easy way. But… there's actually another way. A harder one."
"And what is that?" I asked. This thing needed to be destroyed, now or never.
"We kill the one who activated this Kaoslith," Linus said.
"What? You mean someone is controlling this Kaoslith? Even the one in Lily Town?" I clenched my fist. I was furious, someone was deliberately activating this disaster and taking the lives of hundreds of people.
Linus nodded. "That's likely. And that someone must be nearby, within this town. They need to maintain the link between the Kaoslith and the caster."
"If that's the case, then what are we waiting for?" Bob was already fired up.
"Cynthia, the lady just now, seemed to know the location of the caster. She was heading straight toward the perpetrator," I said.
We didn't waste another second. We made our move and followed the direction Cynthia had taken.
---
Cain finally arrived at the south shelter.
The shelter was a large hall, usually used by the town to hold events or ceremonies. Now, it was packed with hundreds of people who had managed to flee from the monsters.
Cain gently put Michael down, then sat. He had been running and walking non-stop since yesterday.
"Michael! Lorient! Chester!"
Suddenly, he heard a woman's voice calling out the children's names.
A middle-aged woman in a nurse's uniform came rushing over and hugged the kids tightly.
"You know these children?" Cain asked, holding a cup of water.
The nurse looked at Cain. "Yes, they were under Linda's care. Speaking of Linda… where is she?" She looked around, searching for Linda's presence.
"I'm really sorry," Cain said, lowering his gaze. His hair fell over his forehead.
"Aunty Lin… she, she's dead. A monster killed her," Lorient said through tears.
The children burst into tears. The nurse covered her mouth, her face stricken with disbelief. Then, she pulled them all into a hug, tears streaming down her cheeks. The kids must have been deeply traumatized.
"It's okay, dears. You're safe now. I'll take care of you." She looked at Cain.
"Thank you, sir, for bringing them back safely."
Cain just gave a quiet nod.
The nurse led the children away, guiding them to join the other kids leaving Cain sitting alone.
He looked around. Most of the people here were women, elderly, and children. The adults wore expressions of despair and gloom, while the children played happily among themselves, unaware of the disaster unfolding outside these walls.
As he continued observing the shelter, a sudden commotion erupted near the entrance of the hall.
"Princess Reika is here!"
"Princess! Thank you for coming!"
All the people began moving, gathering at the entrance. Cain also started walking, curious to see what was happening.
From the crowd, a beautiful blonde lady was seen smiling as she greeted and spoke with the victims. Behind her were her bodyguards, keeping close, followed by a group of guards carrying supplies on their shoulders.
So this is Princess Reika? She looks beautiful, Cain thought. It was his first time seeing Princess Reika up close. Until now, he had only heard about her or seen her from afar.
The princess made her way to the center of the hall. The guards quickly formed a circle around her, preventing people from getting too close. Cain managed to slip into the front line.
"I am truly saddened right now," Reika said, her voice calm and heartfelt. "Seeing the people of this town losing their loved ones, their homes. What happened today will forever be remembered as a dark day in our history."
All around the hall, people began to cry.
"However, we must not give up. If we give in to despair, then we let those responsible for this tragedy win. That's why, don't look down. Keep looking forward. Grow stronger. Because we will not fall easily, and we will keep fighting."
The mood in the hall lifted. People started to cheer, hope returning to their eyes.
'She's really using her ability well .' Githa, who stood beside Reika, thought.
To influence emotion and spirit like that… It's truly a powerful gift of the Spoken class.