Read Novel Full Chapter 331: Webbed Fate
Chapter 331: Webbed Fate
‘Pitiful man…’
Vale did not envy the caged man before him. What Vale had said, he said with purpose. “That’s not to my displeasure, but yours.”
Shaking his head, Vale left the captured Celestian behind, allowing Sandra to interrogate him as she liked.
Mias would get his turn after.
***
Vale craned his neck to the side, looking at the makeshift ‘hospital area’ on Floor Two.
“How is she doing?”
Naiad, relaxing in the shade, looked over at her visitor.
“As far as I can tell, she’s perfectly healthy.”
“Do you know how to wake her up?”
“That is… a bit of a mystery to me.”
‘Hmm…’
Vale scratched his cheek while looking down at the sleeping beauty. The cat with a tranquil expression on her face as she blissfully snoozed.
Naiad’s emerald eyes narrowed as she studied Vale’s scowl.
“That expression… it doesn’t suit you. Is there something weighing on your mind?”
Vale lifted his chin, looking far off in the distance toward Toy, who was jumping around from tree to tree and chucking throwing knives at makeshift targets.
“If Awilix is still asleep, then that means it’s the result of a Trait or Aspect, not the poison alone.”
“That is the conclusion I have drawn as well. However… your essence seems to be in great turmoil… This tempest raging within goes way beyond worry for Awilix.”
Growing a dim smile, Vale cast his gaze back toward Naiad. Naiad, whose eyes were absent of their typical lust, replaced by a tinge of unease and worry.
“I won’t deny my mind has been a bit bogged recently…”
“Would you like to talk about it? I may not be able to mend in the typical manner, but I have spent the better portion of my recent years as a mediator for countless troubles.”
“Uh… didn’t you live in some remote corner of the ocean? Were there many other nymphs with you?”
“Other nymphs? Nay. I mostly helped the local fish sort out their differences.”
‘…’
Fish? Was Vale really going to confide in the fish whisperer?
For some reason, Naiad’s proclamation made a dull smile etch itself across his face.
“Thank you for the offer, Naiad, but I’ll be fine. Besides… I feel like what I face is an obstacle I must overcome by myself.”
“If that is your will… But do keep in mind, I can be of service in other manners.”
Vale was readily aware of what those ‘other manners’ were. But, quite frankly, he wasn’t exactly in the mood to ponder it.
“I will.”
Turning around, Vale left the two behind and marched off into the forest. Eventually, he sat at the base of a tree and looked far off into the unclaimed areas lined with crystal obelisks.
A wry laugh escaped from his lips.
‘It was that obvious?’
His mental unrest from going along with Mias’ plan, the looming threat of Diligence’s prophecy, the sheer diminutiveness of his existence when compared to those like Grady or Rivania…
‘This sucks.’
Vale quite liked his life as the Master of Lust.
He had also decided to do whatever it took to defend that life. Not to mention his lack of desire to return home.
‘But I can still recognize it…’
“Lust, you are one insidious bastard.”
Being able to remember and pin that truth was a small solace Vale desperately gripped onto. Though, it was also clear that, somewhere along the way, that statement had lost some of its fervor.
He spoke it less out of anger or annoyance, but in calm, submissive recognition.
Vale shook his head, then summoned his Legion page.
♥︎♥︎♥︎
Champions:
[Salome] [Ximena] [Mias] [Awilix] [Naiad]
♡♡♡
Workers: [230]
Warriors: [105]
Archers: [74]
Mages: [2]
♡♡♡
Affiliated:
[Toy] [Sivian]
♥︎♥︎♥︎
Despite more having died than ever before, his forces had only increased.
‘Right, right…’
Numbers. They were just numbers.
Vale’s eyes focused on Sivian’s name, calling up her page.
♥︎♥︎♥︎
Name: [Sivian]
Title: [—]
Aspect: [Caustic]
Class: [Mutant]
Core Rank: [Emergent] – (200/200)
Loyalty: [85/100]
Traits: [Projectile Venom] [Blood Bane]
♥︎♥︎♥︎
’75…’
Her Loyalty had increased manyfold recently. To the point where he was approaching being able to evolve her into a Champion.
‘Then…’
When that slot opened up, Vale had a choice to make. Well, more so, he’d already made his choice.
While he could try to Charm someone/something from Level 12, he still didn’t want to challenge a Level in his current situation, meaning his other option was to Charm a native of Pandora. An idea his mind had initially rebelled against; however, he remembered his words from reading Charm for the first time, which had become something of a mantra to him.
‘If I want to live, being idle is not the path to salvation. I’d be dumb not to use every ability at my disposal, no matter how nefarious they may be.’
As for who that native would be…
There were a few experimental choices. At the forefront of his mind was another Dungeon Master.
‘If it is possible… what the hell would come of it?’
Would their dungeon collapse? Would he become a proxy master of their dungeon? What of their Legion?
While such deliberations seemed only answerable in the distant future, Vale didn’t intend on making these answers wait. For if the Charmed retained their Dungeon and their Legion, the tide of war would shift dramatically.
It all sounded implausible, and almost like a joke. But…
[World Without Witness] could be used once an opportunity was made. The only concern was creating that possibility.
Vale hadn’t exactly broached Mias with this idea, but he was sure the smoky Reaper had at least considered it.
As for whom his target would be…
‘Those damn spiders.’
The same ones he suspected had reduced Awilix to her catatonic state. For, as far as he knew, their Master, Arachne, was one of the few who were humanoid and appeared to be a woman. And, from Mias’ objective description, she appeared to be quite pleasant on the eyes.
Looking up, Vale stared at the canopy of leaves that blocked out the artificial sun.
‘What an ironic web I’ve been trapped in.’