The Last Monarch : Unlimited Regeneration-Chapter 62: Road to the Capital (Part 11)

"You’re an idiot."

Tamae was startled by the insult that came from Alvaric. She wanted to be angry at being insulted, but Alvaric gently patted her head. That surprised her even more, but this time in a more positive way.

Tamae let out a weak chuckle. "At least I’m still alive, right?"

Alvaric sighed. He snapped his fingers. The blood scattered around them flowed toward the ceiling, slicing through the thick webs that suspended the tiny bodies of the village children.

One by one, they fell. Alvaric snapped his fingers again. The blood transformed into a wide platform—supporting the village children. Slowly, it descended. And only when it was very close to the ground were the children lowered.

Tamae walked toward the children. She glanced at Alvaric.

"Just do it!" he replied.

Tamae nodded. She stood up, picked up her sword, and started with one of the children. Tamae cut through the spiderweb covering the child in front of her. After some difficult effort, she finally succeeded. But what she saw shocked her.

A rotten smell burst out. Maggots crawled out from within. The child’s body was decomposed. There was almost nothing left to recognize.

Tamae immediately turned her face away. "This is really bad."

She stood and stepped back. Alvaric saw this and immediately used his power. He covered the child’s body once more—but this time, with his own blood.

"Thank you."

Tamae continued opening the others. Some of the children were still alive, but others were not. Some had already turned into skeletons, others were still warm because they had only died a few hours ago, and some had half their bodies missing.

Tamae, seeing all of it, could only remain silent. She said nothing, her chest aching.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course."

Tamae stared at a small child without a head. His neck was torn off, eaten by the giant spider earlier. Others—only half a body, with missing legs and abdomen—clearly devoured as well. Alvaric covered them one by one. Only those who had died. The living ones would be taken with them properly.

Silence enveloped the cave. Tamae bit her lip. Her hands trembled, holding back her emotions, but she couldn’t let them out. The spider was already defeated. Dead.

"Are we done?" Alvaric asked.

Tamae was carrying three children. Alvaric did the same. Two more were floating, carried on solidified blood platforms. A total of eight children survived. Nineteen children were killed. And these were just the children.

Those abducted weren’t just children; there were many adults too. But all of them were already dead, turned into skeletons. At first, the ones taken were adults, but for some reason, that shifted to children.

This raised a question in Alvaric’s mind, but he dismissed it. It had nothing to do with him. Whatever the reason, he didn’t care.

"Let’s go," Tamae said.

Alvaric nodded and started walking. Tamae followed behind him. Their steps were slow but steady. This time, Alvaric kept glancing back, worried that what had happened before would happen again.

"There’s no mist."

As they finally exited the cave, the fog had suddenly disappeared. Everything looked clearer. Daylight was beginning to break. It meant the sun was about to rise. Alvaric was relieved, believing his mission should be complete, but he was puzzled why the notification hadn’t appeared yet.

"Did I not complete my mission?" he complained.

***

They had begun their journey back, bringing the children to the village. It took a long time, but they succeeded. The remaining villagers who were still awake rushed out, shouting, crying as they saw their children. At the same time, the sun began to rise.

The children were laid down in the village square. Let the villagers choose which ones were their family members. Alvaric and Tamae just watched. In silence.

TING—!

A notification appeared before Alvaric’s eyes.

[Mission Complete]

[Rewards Obtained: 7,500 EXP, 1,000 Evolution Points, and Title ’Protector Who Lurks in Darkness’ earned.]

Alvaric fell silent. He stared at the notification for a moment. His eyes were expressionless. After a few minutes, he tilted his head slightly.

"Oh right. The mission was supposed to be to defeat the Shadow Stalker, so why did I still get the reward?"

Alvaric remembered when he had the mission to kill the Queen Ant Bee. He hadn’t killed the Queen himself, but when she died, the mission was marked complete, and he still received the reward. At the time, Alvaric thought it was just a bug or some error.

But after seeing the same thing happen again, he was sure that the missions he received didn’t necessarily have to be completed by him. Alvaric nodded, intrigued, but there was one more thing that puzzled him. freeweɓnovel-cøm

"A ’Protector’ title, huh?" he could only smile.

Tamae looked around at the surviving children. "You really are their protector."

Alvaric was startled by Tamae’s words. He patted her shoulder. "You can see this screen?"

Tamae frowned. "Huh? Screen? What are you talking about?"

Alvaric felt a bit disappointed. He thought someone was finally able to see his system interface. He took a breath and exhaled slowly. Then he smiled warmly at Tamae again. Just a smile.

It made Tamae frown. "What’s wrong with you?"

Alvaric didn’t answer. He stepped toward a quieter part of the village. As the sun rose higher, its warmth touched Alvaric’s cheek. He smiled in relief.

"It’s nothing."

Tamae was even more confused. She shrugged. Then returned her gaze to the villagers who were celebrating.

Not long after, they all approached Tamae and Alvaric. They bowed deeply. They gave their thanks.

Some of them had lost family members, but just being able to see their bodies again—that was enough for them.

"What can we do for you, sir and miss?" one of them asked.

"Stay alive," Alvaric answered.

The villagers and Tamae were stunned. Dozens of eyes turned to Alvaric because of his unexpected answer.

They smiled with relief. "Thank you, sir! You are like a god to us," one of them said.

The others nodded. They agreed. Alvaric didn’t care much about that. He simply didn’t like death—that’s why he said what he did.

Even when he killed the giant spider, his chest still felt heavy. Not out of pity for the spider—but because every time he saw death, it reminded him of Niva.

"We’ll stay alive. We promise!" they said in unison.

Alvaric raised his hand. A second later, a huge piece of meat appeared in his grasp. It was almost four times bigger than himself.

"Can any of you cook?" Alvaric asked.

One of the villagers stepped forward. "I can."

"Then, I’ll leave it to you."

***

That night, they had a great feast. The most delicious meal the villagers had ever tasted. Some even cried, overwhelmed by the chance to eat real, savory meat again.

Alvaric just sat silently. He ate as usual.

Tamae, beside him, smiled. "He’s not as terrifying as we thought."

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