Chapter 358

BOOMMMM!

"What's going on? Why is the tower shaking like-!" Prince Leo started to ask out loud over the sounds of the explosions being set off outside the magic tower.

They could hear the vague sounds of the pirates arguing amongst themselves outside. It seemed the pirates had broken down into a fight with one another. A few of them had lost their minds in anger and began attacking the others.

Sebastian knew without investigating what had happened and said, "Their minds were affected by the water. They have began to fight amongst themselves because they can no longer contain their emotions when they get angry. Some of them are probably even hallucinating and have no idea what they are really doing right now."

"The dark mana infecting the land has affected their minds." Ashley muttered as he prepared himself to protect his master in case a bigger problem arose.

"What are we going to do about Captain Cory?" Prince Leo asked Vorbuk as he understood what the prince meant. Making a promise to Captain Cory and abandoning him now could come back to haunt them in the future. Cory was a pirate and therefore lived his life going against the kings. If they wronged him right now he could turn on them much easier in the future.

Vorbuk spoke with a feint sigh, "I have no intention of abandoning him with his men going crazy."

"How are we supposed to help without a light mana user here? We did not bring anyone who could handle a situation like cursed land." Prince Leo muttered under his breath as he tried to help think of a solution to the situation they were in.

Sebastian's eyes flickered with a golden light that no one seemed to notice. There was a slight reaction from the prince as he felt like he had seen the light but he took it as if he had imagined things momentarily.

[ Mission Accepted: Stop the curse plaguing Captain Cory's Pirates ]

Is this the time for that? If you aren't going to be more helpful why bother talking to me? Vorbuk wanted to nag the voice in his head.

[ There is one among you who can be of help. ]

"Who?" Vorbuk muttered the word out loud to the god's voice in his head.

The others all turned and looked at Vorbuk talking to himself.

Prince Leo asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Vorbuk replied instantly when he realized the others were watching him with confused expressions. The only one who seemed hardly affected by him talking to himself was Sebastian.

[ Light mana is not the only way to fend off against the dark mana plaguing their minds. ]

What do you mean? Vorbuk thought about it carefully.

[ There is another who can aid against such a situation. ]

You really have no intention of giving me the answer yourself? Vorbuk disliked the mind games the god enjoyed playing against him. It felt like he was being toyed with.

[ ... Are you really going to try and save General Vulen? ]

The god's voice seemed hesitant to show its curiosity at the beast's decision to consider helping an enemy.

Vorbuk thought carefully to himself before saying, "Where is Leah?"

"She is sleeping in one of the merchant carts." Ashley replied instantly to his master's question about the child. He knew the child was important to his master and had made sure the child could rest comfortably while they were inside the magic tower during the night.

Vorbuk ordered, "Ashley, go and bring the child to me quickly but do not frighten her."

Ashley flinched and thought to himself. What does master take me as to think I would scare the child?? But anyways...

"Master, what about you?" Ashley asked.

SCRRRRREEEEEEE!

"What is that-?!" They were all startled by the sudden screeching that echoed throughout the territory.

The four of them quickly ran to the window closest to them. After spending hours searching through the magic tower during the night they had found themselves on one of the floors midway up. They could hear the shouts from the pirates coming through the broken window but it would take time to make their way down if they took the stairs.

As Vorbuk's gaze wandered to find the source of the screeching he noticed it.

"That's a griffin!" Prince Leo shouted out beside Vorbuk when he noticed the beast hovering in the air above the group of pirates that had lost their minds.

The pirates were not in their right minds to fend off or flee from the beast. Instead they were busy fighting amongst themselves while also trying to escape the clutches of the giant beast as it repeatedly dove down at them with its claws.

"No," Ashley spoke up to correct the prince's judgement on the beast, "That is a Nightshade Griffin."

"What is a Nightshade Griffin?" Vorbuk asked out loud as Prince Leo was intrigued to hear the explanation as well. They both knew about griffins but neither of them had heard of the Nightshade Griffin as the species were much more rare.

Ashley explained the Nightshade Griffin from what he remembered about the beast, "They are a species of griffin but at the same time they are much different from normal griffins."

"The Nightshade Griffins are intelligent and fierce when they feel someone is invading their territory. They release a type of mana in battle that gives of an effect like a strong narcotic. It can render you unable to move and in many cases it has been known to completely render you unconscious. Hence why they earned the name Nightshade Griffin like the narcotic plant, Nightshade."

Vorbuk found the abilities of the Nightshade Griffin to be intriguing to him.

Why is he here though? Vorbuk thought to himself while saying, "Perhaps he made a nest in the magic tower. Doesn't he remind you of someone we know very well?"

"What do you mean?" Prince Leo asked before taking a closer look at the Nightshade Griffin.

The Nightshade Griffin was a mixture of black and silver feathered. It had sparkling pink jeweled eyes along with pink talons on its front feet and a pink beak. From a closer look one could tell that the beast was not normal.

Prince Leo thought out loud, "Was that beast used in the experiments here?"

Ashley responded, "Most likely that is the reason it took nest here and never wandered to a new place."

"The mana here has likely affected the beast as it grew here. It could be difficult to handle." Sebastian said to Vorbuk while ignoring everyone else.

"Ah, must we kill it?" Vorbuk's words sounded like a sudden pout.

"Master?" Ashley was annoyed already.

"What?" Sebastian was curious what he wanted to ask.

"Don't tell me-!" Prince Leo felt worried.

Vorbuk could feel how heavy the air got after his question but he only added on, "Have you never wondered what it would be like to have a griffin as a palace pet?"

"That is nothing close to a dog or cat! How are we suppose to tame a creature of that level? I am still unsure how we are going to manage to kill it before it kills every pirate down there." Prince Leo could already feel how difficult this would become.

Ashley was worried about his master's safety and simply said, "Master, I will kill the beast."