Not even Lyse could hold her own against that many soldiers at once, and destroying the stones didn’t immediately dispel the effects of the mind control. The enthralled knights would certainly kill her in their confusion. There was also a psychological aspect to the plan too. Once they came to their senses and realized what they’d done, they would either take their own lives or fly into a blind rage and destroy everything around them. Sidis could foresee this danger and knew he needed to put a preemptive stop to it.
For now, he watched helplessly as Seren set him down on the ground and moved to the center of the rather spacious room, where he put his hands on a black boulder.
What is he up to?
Sidis wanted to take advantage of the situation and flee, but Caldo suddenly began scolding Seren loudly.
“You worthless bastard! Your own parents didn’t even love you! They told you that you were a monster, but you don’t seem to get it! The beasts you bring killed my fiancée! You’re trash! Absolutely worthless! And yet here I am, keeping scum like you alive! You should be grateful, you mongrel!”
Sidis grimaced at the onslaught of abuse.
“Yes... I’m a monster... I’m worthless...” Seren lifelessly fell to his knees, and all of a sudden, pale green sparks floated up from the boulder.
“What in the...” Sidis muttered unwittingly. Did Seren create that?
As Sidis was grappling with his shock, the particles of green light coalesced into a thin beam. With a cracking sound, black rocks spread out from the boulder.
“Repent! Embrace your guilt! Your pain is nothing but a fraction of what my fiancée suffered!” Prince Caldo raged, and more black stone came out from the boulder.
It crept along the ground and nearly reached Sidis. He grunted in exertion, but he could still barely move.
“Good, good! More! We’ll throw them in here and turn them into mincemeat! It won’t be long before they all turn into dogs because of the light anyway!” Caldo guffawed and left the room in great satisfaction.
Sidis finally found strength enough to stand up shakily. Escape was no longer an option, however. He had to find a way to stop Seren. Snuffing out the green light would prevent more canine transformations. It would also allow Lyse and her soldiers to escape before they fell to the power of suggestion.
Or could I just destroy the whole damn room?
Collapsing the place would prevent Lyse and party from entering it at all. It likely wouldn’t harm anyone in the vicinity either—but alas, Sidis was powerless.
Why can’t I cast magic?! Is it just more complex spells?
While in animal form, Sidis was unable to cast advanced magic. However, even his simple sleep spell wasn’t working on Seren. In fact, it only made matters worse.
“I’m a monster...” Seren whimpered.
“Damn it all.”
Sidis had to pull out all the stops. He expected his magic would still work by touch, so he snuck up behind Seren and tried knocking him out with another spell. But Seren was rather resistant to his magic, and the effect was mild at best. He began nodding off as if he were very tired, but his eyes were still wide open.
“If only I weren’t around...” Seren mumbled sleepily.
Finally, Sidis swatted at Seren’s head with his front paw...and he tumbled over.
“Just like that, huh?” Sidis remarked to himself. That was one problem down, but he soon realized he had another on his hands. “It’s not stopping!”
Seren was no longer in physical contact with the boulder, yet the green light remained, steadily forming pillars around it. This was bad—bad enough that Sidis knew he needed to warn Lyse and the others. He dashed out of the stone-filled room and raced up the stairs.
“At this rate, the rock’s going to smother me too!”
Black stones were sprouting from the walls and ceiling. They’d already encroached as far as the corridor directly above Seren. There, Sidis spotted the door cracked open with a hand frozen to it. One of the guards must have been caught unawares and petrified. Sidis used the power of the Light within him to blast apart the rock in an attempt to get through the door, but it was no use—the stones generated too quickly and pillars rose to fill in the gap before he could step through it. The other end of the hall was getting narrower and narrower too.
“Guess I’ve no choice but to convince Seren to put a stop to this madness.”
Sidis needed to return to the room to awaken Seren but realized that a talking dog wouldn’t be persuasive at all. Sidis thus reverted to his human form and stripped the unconscious guard. It took time to chip away the rock and he found the clothes to be ill-fitting, but they were better than nothing. He hurried back down the stairs and found the hall even rockier, but fortunately, a narrow path remained to Seren.
“Seren! Wake up!” screamed Sidis, but it did little to rouse him.
He then grabbed the Alstran and shook him to no avail. Sidis resorted to slapping Seren across the face, which finally caused him to stir.
“You’re the prince... Miss Lyse’s betrothed, aren’t you? Wait, what happened to her dog?!” exclaimed Seren, searching his surroundings as he came to.
Of course, Sidis kept silent; he was happy for Seren to be ignorant about the dog’s true identity. However, noticing that the dog wasn’t around anymore, Seren fell into a bout of self-disparaging laughter.
“So you’ve set the little guy free. Did your people swoop in already? I suppose you’re here to arrest me.”
“That’s the plan. But first things first—stop the light,” Sidis ordered.
“Now why would I do that?” Seren chuckled. “If things are this bad already, I might as well trap you here with me. Let me atone for my sins.” The instant those words left Seren’s mouth, stone pillars bristled at Sidis’s back. “Sorry for all this. Let’s make it a double suicide.”
As sincerely sorrowful as Seren was, Sidis would refuse him—still, Seren wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“I’ve already made up my mind, though I do feel sorry for Miss Lyse...” He paused before continuing, “Short as it may have been, you must’ve been happy while you had a fiancée.”
“We just got engaged! How could I possibly be content already?!” Sidis rebuked him harshly. He and Lyse had only just had their engagement ceremony. They’d yet to have the wedding he’d been dreaming of for the past hundred years. He’d yet to see her wear the beautiful wedding dress he designed for her. He’d yet to have enough of holding her hand and seeing her blush. “I’ll have you know that I’ve been dreaming of spending every living moment with her for the longest time. And I’m planning on giving her flowers and going on trips with her on the weekends, since she’d hate it if it were every single day. The emperor has even granted us some time for a honeymoon after our wedding, so we’re going to stay in our room for at least a whole month.”