I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel - Chapter 15

“Damn it… Hart!”

Kwagwagwagwang!

Ragno screamed as the mass of evil resentments spewed out by the giant monstrum in front of him flowed diagonally.

A while ago, two people, including Hart, were caught in a twist in the forest, and the monstrum attacked them shortly after, so he couldn’t even go find them.

“And, of all people, it was that half-baked fellow who fell with him.”

“Hey, aren’t you going to focus?” Kayla yelled at Ragno, who was complaining about Zion while unfolding magic in quick succession.

Puhwahahahak!

Her flame was unrivalled, and according to public opinion, she was on par with the other Chilgeols with only her pyrokinesis ability. A bright red flame burned the monstrum as well as all the evil resentments in the vicinity.

This power was different from the pyrokinesis that she had just used a while ago. In addition, the flame from her hand once more stretched out like a whip and began to clamp down on the monstrum’s entire body.

Keuwaaaaa!

A monstrum, with a painful scream, tore through the chain of flames. However, the subjugation squad would leave it as it is.

The scarred woman, who reached the back of the monstrum in an instant with a unique movement handed down only to elves, thrust her sword at an odd angle.

Puuk!

A sword that penetrates deeper into the skin and is harder than steel appears to be its weakness. Meanwhile, Rian and the middle-aged knight, who were standing next to Rain and Kayla, rushed at it at the same time as if they had planned it.

“Heuk!”

Clatter!

With their weapons, they each cut through one of the monstrum’s legs. As a result, the monstrum shifted backwards, unable to find its centre of gravity and its vision shifted upwards.

Crack?

Suddenly, Rain jumped into the air.

Pajik, pajijijijik!

Rain aimed at the monstrum while launching the spear of the thunderbolt, which emits a deep blue and incandescent light.

Dragon Lightning.

Then the moment when Rain’s arm, holding the spear, shoots forward.

Jjojojojojojojok!

A ray of lightning struck from the sky.

A thunderbolt blows the monstrum’s head off and hits the floor without any resistance, as if piercing a sheet of paper.

Flop!

After that, the body of the monstrum, whose head had disappeared, collapsed to the floor, making a heavy sound. Rain, who got off next to the body of such a monstrum, paused for a moment in silence, as if organising her thoughts.

“It’s nothing but annoying.”

Pook!

Meanwhile, Ragno approached Rain’s side and kicked the body as if venting his rage before looking at her.

“What are you gonna do? Are you going to go find it?”

His words didn’t mention anything, but everyone here could understand them.

Rain shakes her head quietly at him.

“…No, I’ll keep going inside.”

Her fists clenched after she said those words. She naturally wanted to go look for them, but wandering through the forest looking for the different people was like dying together. We can only hope to survive until we meet again.

And if that guy and Hart are together… they may not die.

Rain thought as she recalled the image of Zion swallowing the explosion of the resentments at once. He seemed like he wanted to hide it, and she didn’t ask about it because she was already conscious that there was a traitor around her. Rain assumed that Zion’s power was counterpart to the resentments.

“…I see. I got it.”

Knowing how difficult the decision was, the others did not contradict Rain’s words and began to form a formation while adjusting their bodies that had been disrupted by the battle. Rain looked at the group with distraught eyes.

I don’t think there’s a traitor among them.

Since the last terrorist attack in the Lord’s castle, doubts about the people surrounding her have risen. But Rain had suppressed the doubt. Rian was a family-like figure who had been with her since she was three years old, while Hart, Ragno, and Kayla had been her best friends since they were very young.

I just couldn’t believe that they had betrayed me.

But still there’s a possibility.

With such determination, Rain carried her heavy steps towards the pitch black forest.

* * *

The second son of the Sidmael family, one of the leading supernovas in the northern region of the Empire, was like the Dranil family, a lordly family that controlled the North. That was the qualifier that preceded the Chilgeol-Hart in front of him. But there was one thing missing here. He was the chief executive of the Purification cult that serves the ‘evil’ of the Black Forest. That was Hart’s identity, unknown to the world.

“How… no.”

Hart’s sharp but soft atmosphere became gloomy. Hart never denied being a Purist.

But the moment he looked into Zion’s eyes, he knew he wasn’t just convinced, but he had already known about it from the start.

“Who else knows about this?”

It was not important how he knew, so he changed the question.

“It’s just me.”

Zion opened his mouth looking into Hart’s eyes with his particular languid eyes.

“… Really? Are you being sharp? Or just stupid?”

Despite his identity being revealed, Hart still walked leisurely. It took a sharp mind to figure out who he was when no one else could. But it was very stupid to say that in a place where there were only the two of them.

“You didn’t think I’d kill you? Or don’t say that…”

An absurd smile appeared on Hart’s lips.

“Did you think you could escape me?”

Hart had never considered confronting him in the first place. Despite the question, Zion remained silent, but Hart approached Zion slowly and continued to speak.

“You know what? The ‘that’ we serve wasn’t called evil in the first place.”

It was just that they were superior to others and therefore used powers that were incomprehensible at our level.

However, foolish people defined ‘That’ as evil and struck into this forest, just because they used a power that was incomprehensible.

Zion knew that the words were not true.

The guy they support has built such a bad reputation, but they didn’t even know if they really believed that way.

“We are waiting. One day ‘that’ will break the seal and purify me and this world.”

Shring–

Hart’s twin swords, with their slightly curved ends, gently pulled out of their scabbard.

“Our purification cult is all about trampling and killing insects like you who get in our way.”

There were no more words to say. Hart, who had lightly kicked the ground with his toes, vanished from the spot and reappeared before Zion’s eyes with that last word.

Then–

Seugagagagak!

Countless silvery flashes appeared. Hart’s nickname was the Lightning Sword. A nickname given to someone who wields a sword so swiftly that the other party remains stunned after seeing it.

The moment the silver flash is struck, the opponent’s neck has already fallen and the battle ends. And that rule was not violated this time. No, it was still perfect. His characteristic Dash, which exploded with mana in an instant from his head to his toes, was more satisfying than usual. The slash that swung at Zion, who stood still as if he couldn’t even recognise his movement, was very neat.

But why?

How? Why?

Slash!

Hart couldn’t understand why his one arm was flying in the air.

Tuk!

Hart’s right arm, which was still holding the sword, rolled on the ground. The situation was completely unexpected.

“This…”

As Hart stares blankly at his fallen arm, Zion’s low voice enters his ear.

“You made two mistakes.”

The moment he involuntarily turned his back towards Zion, Hart finally realised.

“First, you thought I was weaker than you.”

Why didn’t he notice it earlier? Those foggy eyes that look foolish at first glance.

“Secondly, you didn’t put all your strength into the fight with me from the beginning.”

That those eyes were actually the boredom of those who looked down on everything from a high place.

Tramp, tramp.

The Astral Darkness begins to swing in Zion’s eyes as he slowly walks toward Hart.

It was true that Zion couldn’t guarantee the victory with Chilgeol, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t win. And even more so if the opponent had let his guard down in this way.

“This…”

Hart’s body trembled unconsciously in the ominous darkness that flowed from Zion.

“…This fucking guy!”

Finally, Hart, who could not overcome such pressure, rushed first towards Zion.

He could not escape. Hart’s intuition told him so, and there was only one option.

Paang!

As the air bursts, Hart’s rushes towards Zion even faster than before.

Kiiiing!

He now only has one sword left, but it is so sharp that it can even cut through space. Then it turned into a flash as he closed in on Zion.

The Moonlight.

A technique that can only be used by the heirs of the family clan, was a secret of the twin sword art that came down from the Sidmael family, who were said to have cut out the moon in the distant past.

If it is…

Critical situations make people grow up. The Moonlight, which unfolded more perfectly than any devastating attack he had ever waged before, brought a glimmer of hope to Hart’s desperate face.

But–

“You made one more mistake.”

Zion’s hand slowly stretches towards the flash.

Mukyeom (Flame Inkling).

The darkness that flowed from Zion’s hand began to burn like fire, and the moment it reached Hart’s sword, it began to eat all the moonlight formed.

“!!!!!!!”

Hart’s eyes were filled with surprise at the unfathomable sight.

Tuung!

Soon after, Zion, who lightly struck Hart’s sword, which became ordinary steel, quickly dug into his arms.

“You should have run away by now.”

And the blow that followed. Zion’s opposite hand, which had been pulled in advance, destroys Hart’s heart at once.

Kwajik!

“Ah…”

Hart looked at his pierced chest and spits out. He slowly begins to fall down. It was already a match in which the outcome was determined the moment one of his arms flew off. There was a limit to the double-sword technique with one hand, and Zion would not have missed the loophole no matter how far the attack power had increased beyond the original level.

“Cough! Kuhuhu… I’ve been tricked.”

Hart, who felt the slowly approaching death and vomited blood, smiled in vain and looked down at Zion.

“But… you can’t stop us. It’s already…”

“There’s one more person?”

“…!”

Hart’s eyes were shaken by Zion’s voice in a languid tone.

“I already know.”

“How…!”

Kwajik!

Zion smashes Hart’s head before he can finish his words, as if he doesn’t need to hear them. There was no excitement in Zion’s eyes when he looked at Hart’s corpse for a while. Zion, who finished one of the Chilgeol and the executive of the purification cultist, raised his head and looked up.

I need to move fast.

Reflected through the evil resentments surrounding the Black Forest, Zion’s vision is a sky that has set in the night. By now, Rain would be closer to the heart of the forest. But there was something Rain had to do before facing ‘evil’.

Was it this way?

Zion, who had set his direction based on the contents of the chronicle and the sky he had just seen, began to move.

The Grey Swamp.

This is where Zion is heading now, to the place where the forest’s only ‘real’ seal is hidden. The place where the hero and the ‘evil’ first confronted each other in the distant past. And it was where the key was that would allow Zion to welcome a new subordinate.