NOVEL NEXT Chapter 308 A Trap?
Elric's expression hardened as the implications sank in. "Wait… then using this biochemical agent won't just destroy the land. Wouldn't it actually create the perfect nursery for demons to spawn and thrive?" His voice bristled with alarm as the pieces fell into place. "This isn't just about turning a territory barren; it could become a breeding ground for demons."
"Don't you think this is just a little too perfect, too coincidental?" Addison suddenly spoke, her tone low as her gaze dropped into deep thought. "First the locust swarm, and now this biochemical agent… doesn't it feel like the faction behind this has been aiming for this outcome from the very beginning?"
Her eyes narrowed as the thought deepened. "Then… does that mean Leon already knew? Or was he merely being used to deliver this agent to us?" she murmured, her words heavy with suspicion.
When her voice faded, silence fell over the room. Everyone's faces darkened, the weight of her question pressing down on them, most of all the Alpha King, whose expression grew stormy.
"This is not looking good," Elric muttered, brushing his beard with a trembling hand. Even he, who was usually composed, couldn't hide the nervous edge creeping into his voice.
"Investigate…" the Alpha King growled, his clenched jaw trembling with stormy anger. Just the thought of some hidden faction plotting to trap them made his blood boil. And who else could it be but the very same faction that once tried to abduct Addison?
The ones who seemed determined to drag them all into hell, for what purpose, he could no longer grasp.
He had thought he already understood their enemies, that he had unraveled their schemes. Yet each time, they threw another curveball, forcing him to rewrite everything he believed about the faction lurking in the shadows.
It was as if they had been silently guiding him and his people toward the edge of a cliff, step by step, without anyone realizing it.
They had always believed they were making progress, that their struggles, their sacrifices, and their defenses at least gave them a measure of protection. But if Addison's words were true, then all of it was nothing more than a cruel joke.
In the eyes of their enemies, hadn't they just been clowns, flailing desperately while being led by the nose? No matter what moves they made, the outcome had already been decided… and it was always the same.
Seeing her father's face harden with anger, Addison hurried to soothe him. "Father, please, don't let this eat at your health. What I suggested was only a possibility. If our enemies truly set this trap, they wouldn't be limited to one method; whether they sent the biochemical or not, they'd find other ways to sow chaos."
"Right now, we need to follow the leads. If Leon and the Tigren Clan are working with them, we'll confront the whole lot together. If Leon was only used to deliver the agent, then we trace it back and find out when this plan began and who's behind it."
"Let them enjoy their victory for a short while, make them think they've won. We'll follow the trail while they're distracted, then hit them when we find them. But we must be careful: we don't even know who we can trust. As for Leon…" she paused, the doubt clear on her face; she didn't yet know what to make of him.
"Anyway, Royal Alchemist Malveric — you said you're missing a key ingredient for the treatment formula?" Addison steered the conversation, mindful of the heavy mood in the room.
Continuing to dwell on the mystery would only inflame her father's anger, and they were already knee-deep in crisis. For now, she would focus on solving the immediate problem; the hunt for the mastermind could wait.
Her father could handle inquiries from the Royal Capital about the biochemical while she chased clues here in the West.
"R-Right, Princess…" Malveric cleared his dry throat, trying to steady himself. What he had just heard was so shocking that he nearly forgot what he'd been about to say; it felt like knowledge he shouldn't even be privy to.
"As I mentioned earlier, I planned to use Holy Water in the treatment formula to counter the Corrupted Energy within the biochemical agent. But its potency isn't enough to handle such malevolent energy."
"What I truly need is purification energy from a light-attribute mana stone, or anything imbued with the light attribute, to amplify the formula's effectiveness. Of course… everyone here knows how rare such stones are, especially those of the light attribute." Malveric ended with a defeated smile, while Addison's brow twitched.
Now that she heard this, a chilling thought struck Addison.
Hadn't she just come out of the Forbidden Forest, where the dark and light fairies were imprisoned? Could it be that the people conspiring against her and her family had orchestrated it all, forcing her into the forest with no choice but to fight her way out?
They hadn't been forced into the Forbidden Forest merely to be killed or to release the dark fairies. No, perhaps the true purpose all along was to make Addison kill the light fairy with her own hands.
And maybe releasing the dark fairies and the Night Walkers had only been a bonus to them, a twisted freebie meant to rub salt into the wound. Even if she survived, wouldn't the knowledge that she had slain the last light fairy with her own hands be yet another cruel way to break her, this time, not physically, but mentally?
To make her feel the agony of destroying their last hope with her own hands?
'These people are truly vicious, masters at breaking their enemies from the inside out, letting them collapse under the weight of their own despair so the fight becomes that much easier.'
The thought alone sent a shiver down Addison's spine. Such a scheme was too thorough, too meticulous. If this was truly their plan, then their enemies must have been weaving it for years before finally setting it in motion.
Each plot was interconnected, one seamlessly taking the place of another if it failed, and every single one was cruel enough to cripple the werewolf kingdom.
It seemed Addison wasn't the only one who had pieced things together—her father's expression showed he was thinking along the same lines. Thankfully, he didn't know what had truly happened in the forbidden forest, or else he might have flipped the entire table in fury.
His thoughts, however, left him so distracted that he forgot to bring up Claire. Instead, the father and daughter shifted the conversation toward Addison's earlier idea: allowing the other packs to reclaim more land and begin farming.
Addison even shared a new proposal with the researchers, while Elric is by her side, after all, the researcher needs to work with the mage tower on this idea, to design a device that could aid with planting and harvesting.
That way, the packs wouldn't have to pour all their energy into farming while neglecting the growth of their warriors.
From there, their discussion circled back to the crisis of the biochemical threat. But unlike before, Addison no longer felt the same heavy dread. After all, wasn't the light fairy now with her?