Will of a Prince

Chapter 195: The End Draws Near

Jacob exploded forward, breaking the pristine granite underneath him. He tore through Slimo’s noose, setting him free. Even when he was losing control, he didn’t seem to lose sight of his true desire: keeping Slimo safe. He grabbed hold of him and attempted to dash out of the jury room.

However, familiar ethereal shackles sprouted from the ground and wrapped themselves around his armor. Jacob bit and gnawed at them, trying his best to eat them as they continued holding him back. Slimo began pleading with Jacob while stuck in his grasp.

"Jacob! Snap out of it!"

Jacob didn’t listen. The shackles couldn’t handle the strain much longer. Small cracks began to appear that made a small warping sound with each second. The royal guard was too afraid to approach seeing what had happened to one of their comrades. Luckily, Lidia was able to break free from the people and run towards Jacob.

"I’m coming Jacob! Just try to control yourself!"

A dark aura began to slowly envelope his body. Slimo could feel its cold embrace begin to wrap around the lower half of his body. Jacob was transforming.

"Hurry, Lidia! Who knows what’s going to happen if he completes this!"

Lidia jumped forward and held out her cuffed hands. Instinvly thinking it was an attack, Jacob chomped clean through the cuffs. Upon immediately regaining her powers, she put her hands on Jacob’s eyes and yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Release!"

A radiant light exploded from her palms, enveloping Jacob’s body whole. The darkness that was enveloping him had slowly begun to dissipate. Once it was all gone, Jacob closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber.

With a deep sigh of relief, Lidia fell on the floor and grabbed her head.

"Two releases in one day. I think I need a nap."

Suddenly, a low, old voice rang across the room.

"I see. So, it appears our allies have been lying to us this whole time. This war must end as soon as possible."

The King of Paria Empire, Pelo Kin, had spoken across the hall while looking at his dead judge on her podium somberly.

"She was a good lady, you know? She didn’t even want to sentence you to death. Perhaps, we’ve been chasing the wrong monster this whole time."

He looked at Jacob who laid in his arms.

"He’s marked, isn’t he?"

Slimo’s heart dropped and he choked on air. Pelo looked over at Maria.

"So is that woman over there. Did you know about that?"

Slimo couldn’t find the words to speak. He tried talking, but all that came out of his mouth were weird sounds. Lidia decided to speak for him.

"Yes. We knew."

Pelo looked at Lidia with a peaceful expression.

"That was quite some power you showed me. Care to explain how you got it?"

It was Lidia’s turn to act surprised.

’Why does it seem he knows everything about us? Is this really Slimo’s dad? Does he know the true origin of these powers? He looks too nice to be a king!’

"I... It was given to me."

Pelo looked at Lidia curiously then continued.

"Ah, it was given to you. So, you didn’t steal it?"

"I didn’t steal anything."

Pelo laughed lightly.

"Apologies, it’s just that you happen to possess an extraordinarily rare power there. That must mean you know of its nature considering how you healed your friend here."

He leaned in close and whispered in her ear.

"The Great Serpent knows of your deeds. I can feel him moving in your veins."

Lidia pushed him away and backed up.

"Get away, you creep!"

An audible gasp echoed from the spectators. Pelo simply raised his hands in the air.

"My, this is quite the woman you got yourself, Slimo. She reminds me of your mom in some ways... not the good ways, that is."

Slimo appeared to snap back to reality hearing the insult thrown at his girlfriend.

"What did you say about her?"

"Nothing at all. I didn’t mean to cause trouble. There’s something urgent we need to talk about. Bring the boy and the girl with us. You-... uh... Miss?"

"Lidia."

"Right, Lizzia. Follow me as fast as you can. I’ve decided I will not kill either of you today. Guards, release their friends but do not allow them to eavesdrop on us."

The guards hesitantly uncuffed everyone and let them go. Maria ran over to Jacob, running her fingers through his hair to make sure he was okay.

"I don’t trust you. You just put a noose around my neck, you’ve sent dozens of assassins after me, and you expect us to follow you? Have you officially gone senile?"

A long sigh escaped Pelo’s lips.

"Son, as heartbroken I am about your brothers passing, and as much as I want to get my revenge on you, there is something that is more urgent than my personal grudge. This boy showed me that just now."

Slimo began to sweat. Slimo’s father had been trying to kill him for multiple years. For him to be willing to so much as hold a conversation with him was mad.

’What could Jacob have showed him? Was there something we missed in the fight? Did he do something different that we didn’t see before? And how did he know they were marked?’

Everyone walked into a small library with a warm fireplace crackling by some bookshelves. Pelo stared into the fire for a few moments. His short grey hair was curved back and his royal clothes looked oversized for him, as if he had shrunk in recent years.

"Do you know what he is?"

A silence fell over all of them. Jacob moaned and tried opening his eyes. He could hear a small conversation being held, but he decided to keep still and listen as best he could.

"What do you mean? He’s Jacob. What’s more there to him?"

"Wrong. You’re not telling me something, Slimo. I’ve known that tone in your voice since you were five. You know what he’s capable of, his destiny, don’t you? Both of you do I bet. Am I wrong?"

Lidia and Slimo remained silent. Maria looked at Lidia, slightly confused. Pelo turned around and walked over to a chair before sitting down.

"The end times draw close, Slimo. I thought I could delay just a bit longer by forming an alliance, but it seems I was wrong."

"How do you know? What makes you so sure?"

Pelo refused to look at anyone. He kept his head down and put his hands together.

"Are you aware of why this continent began to wage war on itself?"

Slimo nodded his head.

"It was because we craved power. Both of you wanted the others territory and the only way to get it was through conflict."

"You are half-right."

Slimo’s heart skipped a beat.

"What half am I missing?"

"You’ve seen corruption, Slimo. That boy is corrupted, that girl is corrupted, and there’s no doubt you’ve seen corrupted beasts in your time. Lizzia also seems to have the power to cure it or at least stave it for a while."

Slimo thought back to the time-leviathan, but another revelation appeared in his brain the moment he did. The worm leviathan, the first massive creature they had ever faced, was also corrupted. It was so obvious looking back at it with the information he knew now, but what was a corrupted being doing inside of a random mountain in the west? That was something Slimo couldn’t figure out.

"I have. What about it?"

"Corruption has already been in our world since the fall of Zalo, all those years ago. The three continents formed a pack to stave it as much as we could. However, with that pact, three clans were created. There were those who wanted to abuse the corruptions power, those who wanted to prevent it from spreading because they felt it was a dark evil, and those who wanted to create a balance of the two in the world. What I’m getting at here is the corruption has far surpassed what anyone else has been capable of. It has come to our shores, sprouted itself in our lands, and begun to take root in our ecosystem."

"So that’s why we need the power? To help defeat this corruption for good?"

"Exactly. The Monlo Empire is trying to do the same. I do not blame them for being so frantic about the situation."

"Why can’t you two fight together? Surely, we could make another pact that spreads across the three continents, right?"

"That is not possible anymore."

Slimo felt a small anger well in his gut.

"What? Why not? You’re telling me that you can’t put your ego aside for once in your life and join someone’s side in fighting a greater evil?"

"It’s not that simple."

"How? Help me understand how it’s not that simple. If the Monlo Empire doesn’t want an alliance, let’s just make one overseas!!"

Pelo’s voice started to grow.

"We can’t!"

"Why?!"

"Because the other two continents are dead!"

Slimo’s face dropped. He slowly relaxed his shoulders and tried to catch himself on some furniture. Lidia caught him before he fell.

"D-Dead? What do you mean dead?"

Pelo looked into the fire wistfully.

"The corruption got to them. We’re the only humans left alive on this earth. Everyone else, everything else has been corrupted."

He looked back at Slimo angrily.

"And no thanks to you, I lost one of my best driving forces to stop it from reaching our walls."