The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#247 Chapter ?????? Mogers (17) - The Black Beast Once the madness began to spread, it was like a catastrophe. The beast pack continued their slaughter, driven mad by appetite and violent impulses, while the castle town's soldiers, intoxicated by sloth and indulgence, could not properly respond to this. Occasionally, when circumstances aligned favorably or those with superior abilities succeeded in exterminating beasts, the result was worse than being devoured. Because the moment those intoxicated by the scent of blood and magic emanating from the dead beast corpses touched that flesh and blood to their lips, new beasts were born. "What on earth..." The Belastok who had spent the night unable to sleep properly due to their vigilance against Raslro turned pale at the scene unfolding before their eyes. They were the marginalized class and the ruled class of the castle town. They hated the castle town people who despised and tormented them, and had cursed them inwardly to just collapse more than once or twice. However, the scene unfolding before their eyes was so far beyond measure that even they were terrified rather than feeling satisfied. Beasts ate people. People ate beasts. People became beasts. A world swaying dizzily. The way of beasts where one eats or is eaten. -GWRRRRRR!! While the Belastok stood dazed, a brown wolf charged at them, aiming for their throats. "Ugh!?" The targeted man, Belastok hunter Bart, tried to dodge a step too late, but before that, a sling stone from the side struck the wolf's head. -KIRRK!? The wolf lost its balance and was thrown to the ground. Mogers, who had approached at some point, struck the wolf's head with all his might using a stick. Two successive impacts. The wolf with its skull crushed went limp, and blood flowed from its mouth. The moment he saw that blood, Mogers felt a momentarily dizzying impulse. It was a craving to immediately tear apart that meat and quench his thirst with blood. When he applied magic to block his sense of smell and protect his mind, only then did the surging madness subside. Mogers asked Bart. "Are you alright?" "Th-thank you. I survived thanks to you." "No, I'm asking about your mental state, not your body. Like those people over there, don't you feel an appetite when you see wolf corpses?" At Mogers' question, Bart was horrified and waved his hands frantically. "No, absolutely not! I don't have even a speck of appetite!! Why would anyone eat such things!!" Looking around at the other Belastok, they had similar reactions. 'Do they have some resistance because they are descendants of the goddess?' Mogers examined the wolf corpse at his feet. The size of that wolf, which had probably been one of the castle town's residents, was somewhat larger than an ordinary wolf, but not at the level of the massive monsters that Raslro's group had transformed into. Perhaps the Belastok, instead of strongly resisting the magic of the demon that caused this situation, might show much higher potential once they are corrupted. That's why they deliberately performed complicated procedures and even rituals to induce the Belastok to voluntarily become beasts. In any case, it was a good thing for now. Dealing with this situation alone wasn't easy even for Mogers. Mogers pointed to a nearby warehouse and said. "Take supplies from there and build a defensive line centered around the residential area. Even though the wolves are strong, skilled hunters like you should be able to hold out." Vanya, who was beside Bart, asked. "What are you going to do?" "I need to prevent the situation from getting any worse." Mogers didn't explain the specific method. There wasn't enough time for that. However, he did offer some light advice. "If any castle town residents who are still safe request help, I'd recommend accepting it. Whether from a moral standpoint or for future benefit, that would be rational." "Understood. We won't take the initiative, but if they come seeking refuge, we'll accept them." "...Tsk, I doubt they'll know gratitude even if we do that." Unlike Bart who readily agreed, Vanya grumbled somewhat, but she didn't reject Mogers' proposal. It was because the scene before their eyes was so horrific that even their long-accumulated resentment was set aside for now. Beside him as he gripped his stick and prepared to move forward, Morana stood alongside. "I am the professor's guide. Wherever you go, I will go with you." Mogers smiled bitterly. "If you put it that way, I can't stop you." Leaving the residential area behind, the two began racing through the castle town. Wolves thirsting for blood from all over the city tried to block the path of the two, but before their swinging sticks and poleaxes, even briefly hindering them was impossible. Morana asked. "Where are you trying to go?" "I want to go to the place where Vestania, goddess of the hearth, is enshrined. Built when this city still functioned as a city of faith and the front line, before it became so ruined." Mogers recalled Vestania's emblem at Bone Fragment Outpost. If such a facility utilizing Divine Power existed even at a mere outpost, then naturally something even greater should exist in the home base of the castle town. After thinking for a moment, Morana answered. "I've heard there's a temple somewhere in the main castle for that." "It seems you don't know the specific location." "I'm sorry." "No, it's fine. Even knowing roughly is enough." Morana, who had to be careful even when walking normally through the city, couldn't have freely wandered around the main castle where Count Palatine and other high-ranking officials stayed. Understanding her circumstances, Mogers increased their speed of movement instead of reproaching Morana. Anyway, once they got nearby, wouldn't some clue become visible? And Mogers' prediction was correct. "Don't give up!! If you don't want to become someone's meal, move somehow!!" Inside the main castle. Because they discovered a group of soldiers who had made the dining hall their base and were holding out against the beast pack. Near the already broken door, the corpses of beasts that had died pierced by spears and swords while forcibly attempting to invade were piled up, yet the soldiers showed no gluttony despite having the corpses right beside them. Only after smashing the beast pack that filled the corridor and facing the soldiers could Mogers understand why they hadn't fallen to the magic of madness. A violent stench that instinctively made one want to vomit. As if they had dumped and poured garbage bins over themselves, the soldiers' bodies and clothing were covered with all kinds of debris and sticky liquids. "Clever. Indeed, in this state, there's no way anyone would feel like eating anything." No matter how exquisite a feast was before their eyes, there was no way appetite would arise when they had bathed themselves in food waste. It was an extremely primitive countermeasure, but precisely because of that, it was very effective against this magic that stirred biological 'instincts.' "A-are you Count Palatine's guest?" Seeing Mogers and Morana who had suddenly appeared and smashed the wolves, a man who appeared to be a commander widened his eyes. Fortunately, he seemed to be someone she knew, as Morana spoke to him. "Centurion Hoffman. The entire castle town is currently being devastated. This situation is believed to be caused by a demon, and we need the power of goddess Vestania to defeat that demon. Do you have any idea where we might find it?" "This hell is happening not just in the main castle but throughout the entire castle town? And a demon?" "I understand you're confused, but we don't have time." Hoffman still looked confused, but his survival instincts and quick thinking hadn't disappeared, as he soon spoke with a sigh. "If you go further down the back road from Training Ground 2, there's a building that's goddess Vestania's temple. But I don't know if the interior is intact. I haven't seen those priests properly managing it." "Thank you for the answer. ...Professor." "Yes, let's go. Oh, and while holding out here isn't bad, there's a temporary defense line formed in the Belastok residential area, so I'd recommend joining there. If you fight together with your fellow countrymen, the survivors in the city will feel more comfortable requesting help." Hoffman had the expression of wanting to ask many things, but seeing the corpses of the beasts that Mogers and Morana had defeated, he soon nodded bitterly. "I'd like to say that protecting the city is our role, but looking at your abilities, we'd probably just get in the way." "Do your best with what you can." "Please." At Mogers' words, Hoffman agreed strongly and left leading his soldiers. "Haha. Even in a place that seems full of waste, there are surprisingly talented people." "The training ground is this way. Let's hurry, Professor." "Right." How long had they been running following Morana's guidance? The two finally found an old-fashioned stone building. Unlike the other buildings of the main castle that had been renovated many times and possessed splendor, this place abandoned in a somewhat remote location had moss growing on various parts of its walls and even small cracks were visible, showing poor maintenance as Hoffman had said. On the large metal door at the front, there were drawings of a shield symbolizing Ostern and a hearth symbolizing Vestania respectively, but not only were the pictures all faded and blurred, even the chains and locks sealing the door were heavily rusted, making it obvious that the key couldn't function properly. "I don't like committing sacrilege when I'm about to request the goddess's help, but it can't be helped." As if determined to finish the job cleanly, Mogers handed the lamp he had been carrying to Morana, then struck the padlock entangled in the iron chains with the wider and longer end of the stick in his hand. Clank, clank, crack! After breaking the padlock and untangling the chains, the metal door opened with a creaking sound. Stuffy and humid air. It was already a dark night, but the darkness inside the temple felt so dense it seemed to reject even the lamplight. Mogers took out spare lamps and candles from the bag he was carrying, lit them, and installed them throughout the temple. While carefully examining the statues and hearths placed throughout with Count Palatine's manuscript in hand, Mogers soon brightened his face as if he had realized how to use them. "Good, originally it's used by priests or holy knights who infuse Divine Power, but there's a method for ordinary people to use in emergencies. If you light the hearths according to a specific pattern─" Morana couldn't hear Mogers' words to the end. The scent of beast wafting around her nose. Growling that tickled her ears. Morana tried to respond to the surprise attack, but the enemy's charge that sent her flying was faster. Thud! Her small, frail body hit the wall and then fell to the floor, but Morana felt no pain. Because her bodily sensations had already gone wrong during the first collision. Struggling to move her trembling body, Morana stared at the enemy. A beast was there. The fur that had once been silver was dyed black. Its height, which had been about an adult man's chest level, had grown more than twice as large, now enough to look down on humans. Leftover meat scraps fell from the black beast's mouth. The blood-soaked fur and skin fragments clearly revealed what the beast had devoured. By devouring humans, the beast had filled its belly. By devouring beasts, humans became beasts. Then what had a beast that devoured beasts become? -■■■■■.... Growling leaked from the mouth of the being that had once been called Raslro. The sound coming from the enormously enlarged body felt more like the howl of an unidentifiable monster rather than a beast. Every time the beast moved, the candles and lamps spread on the floor, and the temple's structures were easily broken. When Mogers shouted something and provoked the beast, the beast became excited and charged at him. Mogers lured the beast as it was and threw himself outside the temple. 'I need to move.' As long as Mogers is held up by that black beast, the ritual to borrow the goddess's power cannot be performed. Since Morana doesn't know how to perform the ritual on his behalf, she must confront that black beast in place of Mogers and buy him time to act. Thinking this, Morana tried to get up somehow, but her limbs only trembled. 'Professor....' Morana lost consciousness like that.