Chapter 89: Attack On Emerald Grove City – Slaying The Traitor [2]

Louis rushed to catch him as he collapsed, but Stella reacted instantly. She conjured a hand of blood light and seized Zorba before Louis could touch him directly.

“Prince Louis, be careful—he’s being parasitized by the Grievance! The Gardener likely wants you to make contact! I’ll contain him in this capsule of light!” Stella said urgently. “And—Ah!”

Before Louis could respond, Zorba’s zombies turned against them. Hecatoncheires roared and fired hundreds of golden spikes wreathed in ghostly energy. Stella hastily raised a barrier for herself while Stone tanked the barrage with his hardened body, the spikes ricocheting off his armor and skin.

“Goddamn it! I had no idea he would get targeted!” Eduard cursed. “Just what did he see inside that castle?!”

“Whatever it was, it invades the mind instantly!” Stone growled. “Should we just blast the whole place with a combined attack?!”

“The Gardener has likely descended most of his Consciousness into the Vessels inside the castle,” Eduard deduced. His hands transformed into long mechanical fingers that tapped rapidly into the mechanized wood—now resembling steel—and reshaped it into several gigantic cannons fashioned from TVs and refrigerators. They fired freezing beams, turning the zombies into frozen statues. “Haaa… That was tiring. Come on, let’s keep moving.”

“He can do that?!” Mirai stared in shock at Eduard’s casual display.

“He’s strong enough to venture alone into the Dimensional Labyrinth for a reason,” Louis said with a faint smile. Despite how much he sometimes disliked his uncle’s demeanor, he still admired his power. “Let’s move!”

“Ah, yes!” Mirai nodded. She had reverted to her human form after “overheating”—the berserk state that left her dizzy or occasionally unconscious. Thanks to training with Louis, she now avoided full collapse and only felt weakened and disoriented for a minute or two.

Louis cast one last glance at Zorba, now overtaken by the Gardener. The Entities no longer targeted him; he was considered one of the Grievance’s “flowers” and left alone. Stella kept him safely contained within her Dome of Blood Light.

As they approached the castle, the truth of what Zorba had witnessed became clear. Inside the throne room, a grotesque mass of pulsating red flesh fused with plants covered the floor, ceiling, and walls. Countless bodies fused together writhed in agony while red eyes opened within blooming roses.

The instant eye contact was made; a powerful Cognitive Hazard Wave assaulted their minds. But Eduard and Stella had anticipated it. Agent Radiohead hurled several Junk Cubes to the ground; they merged with other VPI equipment and transformed into tall radio towers that pierced the ceiling.

The towers emitted potent radio waves that disrupted the Cognitive Hazard Wave, freeing everyone from the Gardener’s influence before they could be transformed like Zorba.

“Eduard, you saved us!” Stone gasped. “Damn it, is this Grievance desperate?! I’ve never seen one use tactics like this!”

“It’s certainly smarter than the others!” Louis said. “Careful—they’re coming!”

As he warned them, the pulsating walls, ceiling, and floor shuddered. Countless tentacles formed from the fused bodies of nobles rushed forward, entwined with plants, roses, and eyes.

Each tentacle was thick, long, and powerful. They swept the ground, knocking everyone off balance and destroying Eduard’s radio towers. But Stella was ready. She conjured a Spiritual Halo of Blood Light above their heads—a protective spell against mental assaults.

“That should do it—attack without fear of mind control!” she declared. A pair of blood-red angelic wings—distinct from her vampiric ones—sprouted from her back. Eyes opened along them, charging Holy Light and Blood Magic before firing dozens of tracking beams. The tentacles and eyes tried to evade, but the beams pursued relentlessly, detonating in consecutive explosions.

“Louis, Mirai—find the Main Vessel! Verdant must be here somewhere!” Stone shouted as he charged forward, seizing two massive tentacles with his bare hands and ripping them apart. Explosive golden blood coated his armor and skin, leaving only minor bruises.

“Louis! He’s over there!” Althea’s voice rang from the ceiling. A small tree sprouted from the floor, blooming a white flower that gave birth to a tiny green fairy. “Over there! I’ll guide you!”

Althea held back the Gardener while simultaneously aiding them. Louis and Mirai could scarcely imagine how exhausting that must be. She was undeniably a powerhouse and the linchpin of this mission—alongside Elias, who continued rampaging outside, shaking the ground with devastating punches and kicks.

The deeper Louis advanced, the stronger the Corrupted Grievance’s Consciousness pressed against his mind. He resisted fiercely, enveloping his body in the Spiral of the Ashen Wyrm’s Aura and exuding a faint Fantasy Heart Domain. Ashes drifted from the ceiling; wherever he stepped, Ashen Frost slowly spread.

In this environment, pushing himself to the limit until blood trickled from his nose and eyes, Louis began further evolving his Fantasy Heart and the power of his Spiral. The Gravewalker and Devil Incarnation guarded their backs relentlessly, slashing apart incoming tentacles and writhing vine masses. The Necromancer hurled Ghostly Flames by sacrificing Enslaved Souls, while the Pugilist’s headless torso swung enormous steel fists at anything that drew near.

“Amazing, Louis—you can wield three Incarnations at once! That is exceptionally rare!” Althea found a moment to praise him.

“Two are only fragments,” Louis sighed. “But I’ve trained them to obey my commands and perform a wide range of tasks…! Ah, wait—is that it?!”

At the center of the throne room stood a tall altar open to the sky. The crumbling Emerald Moon—now reduced to half its size—gazed directly down upon it. The Gardener’s presence was strongest here.

RUMBLE!

The ground shook violently. Dozens of tentacles lined with eyes erupted, firing beams of corrupt Fantasium. Louis and Mirai dodged swiftly and fused fully with their Incarnations, realizing restraint was no longer viable.

“It’s protecting the altar! It HAS to be there!” Louis said.

“Yeah!” Mirai nodded. “Althea! Can you handle them?”

“I…! I’m already stretched so thin dealing with everything at once—”

“That’s something I’m in charge of!” a familiar voice rang out from behind.

Louis’s uncle stepped forward. His body transformed—TVs, computers, and radios sprouted across him, turning him into a colossal mass of electronics. Deadly radio waves, beams of light, and freezing winds erupted outward, halting the Gardener single-handedly. “Louis, you’re a brilliant child. Do what you must! We’ll hold here!”

“Uncle…! Thank you! Mirai, come on!”

Louis grabbed Mirai’s hand and pulled her forward. Althea guided them, controlling purified wood to form large wooden golems that shielded their ascent up the stairs.

The Protagonist and the Mid-game Villain charged together. A spear of light thrust forward, impaling monstrous vines and tentacles, while fiery demonic claws slashed and tore them apart, reducing them to ashes.

“Almost there!” Althea groaned, exhaustion mounting as she refused to release her sealing gear. “Slay the Vessel and it will be over!”

Louis and Mirai roared in unison. They reached the altar—a pillar of green stone entwined with vines and red roses. From it emerged the slender, middle-aged form of an elf, his skin hardening into the pillar itself. His eyes slowly opened as though awakening from a long dream.

“Y-You…! W-Why are you here?! Prince Louis Drakeheart!”

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