Chapter 80 Honor
Red, bloodshot eyes stared into his, paralyzing him in place as the figure got up from the ground.
The black hair growing all over Laravel's body was sharp and spiky. Seeing it tear apart the royal robe made of precious materials with ease, Daneel regained his senses and knew he had to run. Even Laravel's face had become completely covered by the black hair, making it so that this being was completely unrecognizable from the prince before. Only the teeth which were growing into fangs were visible along with the terrifying eyes which were filled with the desire to kill.
In a swift motion, the figure rose up and ran towards him.
SSCCCRRRRR
Its body was still growing, and its nails had grown to become blades which were at least half a foot long. The sound the nails made as they dragged across the ground sent shivers down Daneel's mind.
Luckily, he was a mage. The speed of the being already exceeded that of an Eminent Human Fighter, so Daneel would have stood no chance if he had to rely on his body.
Teleporting to the other end of the room, Daneel first conjured a block of ice in its path making it stumble and fall.
Before it could get up, he tried to encase its legs in a cube of earth.
Alas, all he could control at one time was a globe of earth the size of his head. As the figure stood up and started chasing him again, Daneel wondered what to do.
The ways forward and behind were blocked. Daneel did not want to take the chance of being trapped in whatever danger he felt from the entrance to the palace. He had asked the system to analyze it, but the response had been that it was too complex to analyze without experiencing it. As for teleporting in directly, the system had warned that there were countermeasures in place for such intruders although it could not completely tell what those were.
At least, he now knew that the system would be able to analyze the formation if he entered the palace. But first, he needed to contain the threat in front of him and find a way to enter the palace without being harmed.
After all, this was still his ally. It would be best to use non lethal means and knock him out before looking for ways to cure him in the future.
After reaching a staggering height of 8 foot, the being finally stopped growing. Its abnormally long nails looked sharp enough to pierce right through Daneel , and in the small domed room, he was finding it more and more difficult to keep dodging.
Just as Daneel was going to use a system modified spell, small rocks around him started to float into the air.
"Magic?! This thing is controlling elements!", he realized, seeing the myriad pieces of rock start to shoot towards him along with the charging giant which was getting more and more frustrated by this ant who kept teleporting around the room.
Lightning, wind, fire, ice, earth;whatever spell Daneel used was simply stopped by the bristling black hair. At this point, he understood that he had a glaring weakness: all the spells he had could either tickle a powerful being like this or kill it directly. He had almost nothing in between which could subdue or knock out this thing.
"Do I really need to kill it?", he thought, panicking as the space he could dodge in kept decreasing more and more. Besides, the being also seemed to be getting more and more adept at using magic.
"System, how do I stop this thing?"
[Would host like a lethal or non-lethal approach?]
"Non-lethal!"
[The existence that host has encountered is the result of a mutation in the mageroot. Direct impact at the mageroot might have some effect.]
So the mageroot was behind all this. Looking up, Daneel saw a a block of rock half his size which shook each time the giant thundered across the ground.
It had already collided with the walls multiple times, further degrading the integrity of the room. With one more push, it seemed that the rock would fall down.
Teleporting to a corner of the room so that the giant would have to pass under the rock when it charged, Daneel ordered the system to conjure earth above the block and push it down just as the giant came under it. Because the underside of the block was not visible to him, he could only ask the system to do so.
Just as he expected, the giant turned around again and charged. Rage had completely consumed it, and it did not seem to learn from its actions no matter how many times it failed.
CRACK
As the rock hit its head, the giant skidded to a halt on the floor.
Silence finally came to the room which had been resounding with the THUDs of the giant's steps till now.
Daneel cautiously approached, noticing that blood was flowing from a glaring wound above its forehead. It seemed that although the rock didn't hit the mageroot directly, it had still done its job.
"Da.... Daneel.."
Hearing the feeble voice, Daneel ran to the giant's side.
Its expression had changed and the rage that had been consuming it seemed to have receded. Although the face was still covered in hair, Daneel could now see a semblance of the person this thing had been before.
There seemed to be some kind of struggle going on, as two completely different expressions fought to take control. One was the fury that Daneel had seen till now.
The other was one of concentration which made Daneel believe that it was probably Laravel somehow fighting back against whatever was happening to him.
"Take me.... to the door.."
Hearing the words Laravel sputtered out with great effort, Daneel immediately obliged and dragged the giant body towards the door which was nearby. Thankfully, because he had advanced to the stage of a 4th Grade Human Fighter, pulling a body weighing what felt like 250 Kg wasn't too hard.
As soon as Laravel's body reached the door, he raised a quivering hand to his face and dipped his finger in the blood that was flowing out after taking care not to pierce himself using the blade-like nails.
On the wall beside the door, he wrote the same symbol that had opened the passageway in the first place.
"It's taking control. Daneel, kill me. This change is irreversible .... and I do not want to live like this. I can feel what is inside me. If it completely takes over.... you will not even be able to touch it. And I will be gone anyway. Please, Daneel. Do it."
Each word needed to be forced out in the brief moments of time that Laravel took back ground from whatever was attacking his consciousness.
"System, is it true? It can't be reversed?"
[Affirmative. The mageroot, and thus the body, has been irrevocably changed. According to the data collected, the body is using vitality to burn the lifespan of the original person. It will not live longer than one month.]
How could a father do this to his own son? Daneel felt even more sickened by the King who had let his kin train using this technique.
Looking into Laravel's struggling eyes, Daneel saw what it meant to stick to one's ideals. Yes, the ideals had been flawed. But the determination to stick to them even if death came in the way made Daneel admire this man and wish that things hadn't turned out this way.
As the expression of fury started staying for longer and longer intervals, Daneel realized that he had no more time to hesitate.
Such a man did not deserve to have his body possessed. That would simply sully his honor and the deeds he had done.
Realizing this, Daneel made his decision.
As a compressed needle of fire appeared in the air, Laravel's eyes widened realizing that the mysterious master was Daneel himself.
"Remember.... our agreement. Do it.", he gasped out, closing his eyes and waiting for the blissful release of death. His mind hurt so much, and there was something ferocious inside that wanted to devour his consciousness whole and take over his body. One last feeling of triumph passed through Laravel's mind, knowing that what it wanted would not come to be.
"The Noble name of the Lanthanore Family will be passed down through history. Many will admire the mighty Kings who built such a great Kingdom, and many will marvel at the character of one prince who gave everything up to keep his head high. Goodbye, Laravel."
As a smile appeared on his face from hearing Daneel's words, the needle entered his forehead.
Instead of agony, the face only relaxed into one of comfort.
The needle penetrated the mageroot before piercing into the brain. As the body in front of him became still, Daneel bent forward and closed Laravel's eyes, marveling at the peaceful expression of contentment on his face.
Tears came from his eyes as he realized that he had actually killed someone with his own hands. Even worse, it had been an ally.
Yet, there was no time to cry. The thunderous sounds from above ground seemed to growing in intensity and frequency, making Daneel stand up and put all his feelings aside for now.
Looking at Laravel one last time, he etched his face into his memory before walking through the door that lead to the palace.