I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

187 - The Floating City (4)

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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In the desert region of the demon realm's northwest...

"Why the hell are humans here...!"

"That's rich coming from demons who've invaded the empire," Rain replied with a slight smile as she thrust her spear through the demon's core.

Unlike in the empire, demon corpses didn't vanish when they died.

"We need to dispose of them all. We can't let anyone know we're here," Turzan said gruffly as he crushed two demons' heads with a single punch beside Rain.

Just then, "Look! Look over there! One's getting away!" Elysis called out urgently, pointing at a demon fleeing with its back turned.

The demon had already shrunk to a mere dot in the distance.

"It's fine. I've already taken care of it," Tirian replied calmly, watching the same spot as Elysis.

In that moment, BOOM!

Something transparent fell from above, completely obliterating the fleeing demon without leaving a trace.

"Not bad, magician. You'd be perfect if you fixed that showboating and laziness," Rain whistled appreciatively.

"It's Tirian, not magician. And this laziness is my greatest charm," Tirian replied shamelessly.

Claire smiled faintly as she watched her companions. Though some awkwardness remained, they were getting along faster than she'd expected.

'I honestly didn't think we'd come together this quickly.'

Even when asking Prince Zion for help, Claire had been skeptical. After all, both Tirian Prieharden and Elysis Desire had rejected her before.

But Prince Zion had effortlessly brought them both into her party with just a single message, making all her previous struggles seem pointless.

'Truly unfathomable...'

His goals, his power, his true identity - all mysteries.

"Hey Claire, are you sure it's okay to leave the floating city situation just to Prince Zion? From what you said, it could be difficult..." Rain approached with concern in her voice.

Though she'd witnessed Prince Zion's overwhelming power at both the Tower of Causality and the Plant, she still had reason to worry.

'The enemies there are that powerful.'

The Seven Heavens.

This term referred to the seven strongest beings in the world. However, the Seven Heavens originally consisted only of humans and similar races like elves and giants who had proven themselves worthy.

This meant there were Heaven-class beings not counted among the Seven Heavens, and the floating city was the most likely place to find such individuals.

'Especially the first and second ranked in the floating city...'

Beings they'd have to confront directly to prevent the city's fall.

They were existences who had transcended even heaven itself, seeking opportunities to break free from the cycle of reincarnation.

The decisive reason why the floating city had maintained its autonomy from the empire.

So even with Prince Zion, it was hard to feel at ease.

'Unless the Heaven Destroyer I saw in Lezero helps...'

Claire quickly shook that thought away. It was a pointless assumption.

"We'll just have to trust him," the hero replied to Rain as she began walking slowly.

At the edge of her vision, their destination - the Tomb of Lament - was gradually coming into view.

The world seemed to have ended.

A field of vision filled with darkness as if the sun had vanished, mountains of corpses piled high as far as the eye could see.

The poisonous decay flowing from these mountains of corpses distorted the air and space itself, causing the world to crumble.

Then...

-I should have been your despair.

A 'being' spoke these words from the center of the accumulated mountains.

-No, I should have been this world's despair.

True to these words, the demonic energy flowing from the 'being' was transcendent enough to bring despair to the world, each word shaking the very structure of reality, yet the 'being's' condition didn't look good.

-So why.

Its body was already too battered to fight, its very foundation of existence wavering.

-So why did you become my despair?

As it spoke these words, a single man stood silently before the 'being'.

Wearing a black uniform that seemed to absorb all light, contrasting with snow-white skin.

The man, who seemed to not belong to this world, looked down at the 'being' with languid eyes, emanating an ominous and alien presence. Though no energy flowed from him, the 'being's' eyes trembled endlessly as it gazed at him.

It knew that the darkness covering not just its vision but the entire world belonged to this man.

This world's fate had been decided as destruction, and the 'being' was meant to be that fate's executor.

Yet this man's existence went beyond disturbing that fate - he was destroying it entirely.

Incomprehensible.

The 'being' was certain this word existed purely to describe this man.

-How regrettable. Had I been given just a bit more time, the fate of destruction would have fully ripened...

As it uttered these words filled with deep despair and regret while watching the man slowly approach...

"Hey."

The man, now right before the 'being',

"That fate of destruction you mention... when exactly was it supposed to ripen?"

Asked with an incredibly ominous smile.

"...Was that a dream?"

These were Zion's first words as he woke to the morning sunlight.

A rare dream - no, perhaps his first real one.

But Zion knew what he'd just dreamed wasn't merely a dream.

'It seems this was something that happened after I inhabited this body...'

The reason for thinking this was simple.

One of the two beings in the dream had been himself, before possessing Zion Agnes's body.

Moreover, having no memory of that scene made it easy to determine it had happened in the past, after his possession.

Perhaps he could glimpse these memories now that his Black Star Force had reached higher levels?

He couldn't know the exact reason.

However, something else troubled Zion more.

'I'm certain I meant to let that one live.'

It was Zion's nature to completely uproot any who bared their fangs at him.

So why had he said those words?

Had he also been in a desperate situation, though it hadn't appeared so outwardly?

Or had there been another reason?

'I can't tell.'

As Zion was about to set aside these thoughts, having no way to learn more currently...

"Prince Zion, are you awake?"

Ackendelt's voice came from outside the bedroom.

"Enter."

Zion replied as he rose from the bed.

As the half-dragon entered, Zion immediately asked:

"What brings you here?"

Even with last night's attack, there was no reason for the floating city's vice-mayor to visit this early after everything had been cleanly resolved.

Except for one thing.

"...Your Highness, might you know about the light and shadow that exist in the floating city?"

After briefly regarding Zion with complex eyes, Ackendelt got straight to the point.

"If I didn't know, I wouldn't have sent that signal yesterday."

'As expected...' After closing his mouth once more to gather his thoughts at Zion's answer, the vice-mayor continued.

"As you've likely guessed, I belong to one of the two organizations - the Light Watchers. And those who attacked you yesterday were the Shadow Nest."

"And?"

"We'd like to invite Your Highness to join the Light Watchers. Will you accept?"

Zion smiled inwardly at Ackendelt's words.

Finally, the place he wanted had reached out to make contact.

"Lead the way."

There was no reason to refuse.

"Then we'll depart immediately. Please don't resist the power."

After Zion finished preparing, Ackendelt approached his side.

Instead of leading him outside the mansion, he positioned himself beside Zion, an action that seemed incomprehensible until its purpose became clear.

-???????

Ackendelt chanted a spell impossible to pronounce with human vocal cords.

In that moment...

WHOOSH!

A large magic circle densely packed with incredibly complex characters appeared beneath their feet, and FWOOSH!

Their forms vanished from that spot.

Along with this, light flickered before Zion's eyes.

After some time had passed...

When Zion's vision returned with the fading light, the scene before him was completely different.

An interior resembling a temple.

Numerous beings bustled about, attending to their duties.

Though these beings varied in race and appearance - beast-men, fairies, goblins, and more - they shared one commonality:

They all wore white robes embroidered with golden cloud patterns.

As their gazes began focusing on the newly appeared Zion...

"The Light Watchers have no separate entrance for secrecy. Thus, entry is only possible through spatial transfer using special incantations. This way."

Ackendelt began leading Zion somewhere.

"Normally we'd conduct a simple verification before taking you to the reception room, but someone wishes to meet Your Highness, so I'll guide you there first."

Though brief, these words contained much information.

That someone wanted to meet Zion, and that person held high enough position to ignore the Light Watchers' procedures.

And Zion knew there could only be one such being.

"Is the one who wants to meet me the leader of this place?"

"...Yes."

Ackendelt nodded with surprise. He hadn't expected Zion to deduce this immediately.

"In fact, it was they who requested Your Highness be invited here."

Originally, even with Zion's signal, such quick contact hadn't been planned.

But when the Light Watchers' leader personally decided to meet him, the other watchers had no choice but to comply.

'What could they be thinking...'

Honestly, Ackendelt wasn't pleased about bringing Prince Zion into the Light Watchers.

Partly because Prince Zion was imperial royalty, but more because of what he'd witnessed during last night's attack.

The ominous and cruel display Prince Zion had shown while dealing with the Shadow Nest's assassins.

That image remained vivid in his mind, refusing to fade.

Though the attack remained secret from the public, Ackendelt was certain people would fear Prince Zion even more if they knew.

Just as he did now.

'It's been a while.'

Following behind Ackendelt, this was Zion's thought.

In truth, Zion had a connection to the Light Watchers' leader.

A connection from his original body, not his current one.

'Before, I thought the chronicle's author had just used an existing being as inspiration...'

Now knowing some truth, Zion recognized they were the same being.

Meanwhile...

"From here, Your Highness must enter alone."

Ackendelt stopped before an enormous door, easily ten times larger than normal, and addressed Zion.

A door that seemed designed for something other than human use.

Without hesitation, Zion pushed the door.

Creeak-

Despite its size, the door opened incredibly easily, seemingly enchanted.

What met Zion's eyes beyond the opened door was a massive cavern.

A cavern so vast it made the entrance look relatively small.

Its appearance was more unique and mysterious than any cavern Zion had ever seen.

Though clearly enclosed, the cavern's ceiling somehow showed the entire transparent sky.

Moreover, despite the sun shining in that sky, countless stars twinkled brilliantly.

Clearly, various transcendent magics were at work here to read the heavenly energy.

Then...

-This world rushes toward destruction.

The cavern's master slowly addressed Zion.

-Because of this, the world's fate grows increasingly unstable and the human empire slowly crumbles. Now that destruction's impact reaches even here, the floating city.

The master, whose enormous body made even the massive cavern seem small, faced Zion with vertically slit pupils while coiled up.

Those eyes held authority and mystical energy whose depths even the current Zion couldn't fathom.

The surrounding world endlessly distorted and reformed under their influence.

-Thus, I cannot leave this place. The moment I look away, I would lose sight of heaven's flow. Please understand why I had to summon you here.

Light Dragon Obergia.

Leader of the Light Watchers and one of the two dragons who created the floating city.

An ancient dragon among the top five longest-living of dragons, considered the world's strongest and wisest beings, and ranked first in the city's magical hierarchy.

Meeting the great dragon's gaze directly, Zion smiled slightly and spoke:

"Oh? If you've been watching constantly, you must know this city will fall in two days."

-...!

Obergia's massive pupils trembled.

He hadn't expected Prince Zion to know this fact that he himself had only recently discovered by combining various information including celestial readings.

How had Prince Zion, who had no connection to the city, figured this out?

-...You truly are an unfathomable one.

The ancient dragon spoke these first words before continuing.

-Though I'm deeply curious how you learned this fact and knew the Watchers' signal... I invited you here to learn something else. So I should ask about that first.

After briefly gathering his thoughts in silence, Obergia's next question was incredibly shocking.

-You who carry Agnes blood. How can you use the power of eternity?

Having watched Zion's proxy battle from start to finish, the light dragon was certain.

The darkness that had flickered faintly around Zion's body, negating every spell the opposing mage cast.

That darkness was definitely the Eternal Emperor's power.

There was no possibility he had seen wrong or was mistaken.

Such an ominous and alien darkness existed nowhere else in the world except in the Eternal Emperor's power.

However, one problem remained.

'The Eternal Emperor's power absolutely cannot be inherited.'

This applied even to the Agnes bloodline.

That's why they had created the Heaven Opposing Power as a substitute.

So naturally, questions and bewilderment arose when a royal suddenly appeared using the Eternal Emperor's power after hundreds of years.

Then...

"I thought someone like you might be able to recognize it."

A low voice flowed from Zion's lips.

-...What do you mean?

The dragon's eyes filled with question at these words that neither answered his question nor made any clear sense.

"Think carefully."

As Zion faced Obergia,

"About who I am."

Black stars began rising one by one in his curved eyes.

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