I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

Chapter 113: Ascalon (8)

TL/Editor: Rungir

Schedule: none

Illustrations: none

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Zion's Black Starlight, converging into a single point, shattered Kreon's bladed pillar and went further, blowing away half of the demon's upper body.

"Aaargh!"

A colossal scream erupted from Kreon, teetering on the brink of death from his grievous injury. His eyes twisted in pain and astonishment. He couldn't understand how his bladed pillar, infused with all his demonic energy, had been so easily destroyed.

But Kreon's thoughts were cut short.

With a step forward, Zion closed the distance between them. "You're quite tenacious."

Smirking, Zion swung his sword, Eclaxia, right up close to Kreon.

"Damn it!"

Kreon, cursing, used his newly regenerated hand to block Zion's sword strike. However, with a slicing sound, Zion's sword, now doubly overlaid with Black Light, severed Kreon's arm once again.

Not stopping there, Zion pressed in closer, relentlessly driving his sword strikes one after another.

There was no interruption in Zion's movements. Each motion flowed into the next like water, striking at every important point on the demon's body. His swordplay, unbound by form yet seizing control and rhythm, was utterly selfish.

That's why, until now, none of Zion's opponents, including Kreon, had ever been able to turn the tide of battle once it was lost.

'I'm going to die.'

That thought filled the demon's eyes, overwhelmed with a single emotion: fear of the opponent before him. The idea of fighting Zion had vanished from his mind, replaced only by the desperate need to escape this situation.

Then, in a moment of respite,

'That's...'

Kreon, barely holding off the attacks, noticed a movement behind Zion. One of the higher demons of the Ascalon family, hiding in the shadows, was quietly approaching Zion from behind.

'This is my chance!'

Kreon, his eyes shining silently, pretended to be unaware and deliberately exposed a critical weak spot to Zion.

Without a moment's hesitation, Zion lunged at the revealed vulnerability.josei

At that instant,

"Fool, you've fallen for it!"

Kreon let out a scornful shout.

Simultaneously, another high-ranking demon, who had stealthily approached right behind Zion, revealed its true form and swung its forelimb.

If Zion didn't retract his ongoing strike, his head would be crushed instantly. But turning to defend would leave him exposed to Kreon, a dilemma of attack and defense.

Crackling again!

But Zion, without hesitation, drove Eclaxia into Kreon's important spot. Even as agonizing pain flooded in, the joy in Kreon's eyes only intensified.

If things continued this way, Zion Agnes' head would undoubtedly be shattered to pieces.

Had Kreon chosen to take at least one down with him?

But his moment of elation quickly vanished into nothingness.

"Who exactly is caught by whom?"

A cold voice flowed from Zion's lips. Along with it, a shattering sound!

The head of another demon, charging from behind, disappeared, obliterated by a rushing silver flash.

Then, emerging from behind the collapsing higher demon, was Lucas Ascalon.

"Are you alright, Your Highness Zion?"

From the beginning, Lucas had been focusing his senses on Zion, allowing him to react immediately to the movements of the demon approaching from behind.

"Ah..."

Kreon's eyes, filled with the last remnants of hope, now drowned in despair. The last thing reflected in those eyes was an explosive surge of alien darkness, accompanied by a twisted smile from Zion.

Kreon's body, caught in the explosion of the Black Starlight, turned to ash without a trace.

After completely finishing off Kreon, Lucas approached Zion again and asked once more.

"Your Highness, are you alright?"

"The other demons?"

"Excuse me?"

Lucas's eyes filled with confusion at Zion's question. He couldn't understand why Zion was asking about the demon he had just beheaded.

But then, suddenly,

"Aaaaargh!"

With a monstrous scream, the higher demon lying on the ground regenerated its head in an instant and started dashing away madly.

As expected, a higher demon with a life force tougher than a cockroach couldn't possibly die from a mere beheading.

Had it realized there was no chance of winning?

The demon's form dashed towards the entrance of the grand hall, seemingly trying to escape.

"That won't do."

Watching the scene with calm eyes, Zion extended his right hand. In that moment, a crackling sound!

Agdvar, the spear stuck in the center of the battlefield, transcended space to be grasped in Zion's hand.

The Black Starlight began to converge around the spear, amplifying endlessly.

Together with this, the spearhead of Agdvar, now dyed even blacker, targeted the escaping demon's heart and was pulled towards it.

And finally, as the concentration of Black Starlight peaked, Zion's right arm holding the spear was pulled back to its limit, and then, whoosh!

The spear vanished from Zion's outstretched hand.

Agdvar reappeared, piercing precisely through the demon's heart.

A moment later,

-----------------!

A line was drawn from Zion's hand to the spear.

Then, following that line, a massive shockwave erupted, tearing apart everything it touched.

Unable to withstand its power, the demon's body exploded.

And then, silence followed.

The overwhelming spectacle momentarily brought the entire clash happening in the Grand Sword Hall to a stop.

In the now eerily silent hall, Zion let out a faint smile.

'It's about to end soon.'

The number of monsters had significantly decreased compared to a moment ago. The end of the battle was now in sight.

---

---

Chungseong Palace, one of the five palaces surrounding Baeksung Palace.

In the highest office of Chungseong Palace, Princess Diana frowned, as if something was not to her liking.

"Zion..."

The cause was, of course, Zion. Her half-brother, the youngest but far from the least of them.

"Haven’t you figured it out yet?"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. The night Prince Zion was in Chimseong Palace, he eliminated all eyes on him..."

"I'm not blaming you. Given who we're dealing with, it can't be helped."

Diana had asked Lloyd about the events of the night when the celestial sea of stars lit up the imperial sky, streaming from Chimseong Palace.

'Something definitely changed that night.'

She knew that the events of that night were related to Utekan. Otherwise, the red-eyed woman under Zion wouldn’t have been targeting Utekan’s secret forces.

But beyond that, she could not discern anything else, as if someone was deliberately obstructing her.

"Ugh... this is frustrating."

The most frustrating part for Diana was not just the inability to uncover the events of that night, but also the fact that Zion and his forces were growing much faster than she had anticipated.

Given that Zion was now visiting the Ascalon family, it seemed only a matter of time before he secured their support.

"We need to keep him in check somehow."

Although she had cooperated with Enoch, it was nothing more than a temporary alliance. As rivals for the throne, they were destined to bring each other down.

'And if...'

If Zion indeed had harnessed the power of the Eternal Emperor, as Diana suspected, he would be her most formidable competitor.

Then,

"Princess Diana."

Lloyd spoke in a soft voice, calling her attention.

She paused and looked at him.

"The most important sense for a person, and indeed for an organization, is sight. Without sight, movement becomes difficult."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Yes. How about targeting Prince Zion's eyes?"

'Eyes,' meaning the information network.

"But we haven’t properly identified Zion’s eyes."

"There are two main parts to Prince Zion's eyes. We haven't identified one, but we have some leads on the other."

"Where is that?"

Princess Diana asked, her eyes gleaming coldly as she turned to Lloyd.

"It's called the Eye of the Moon."

Lloyd answered in a cold voice.

---

---

In the reception room of Cheongeomdang within the Ascalon family's compound.

There sat Zion, Sword King Ludwig, and Lucas.

"The cleanup in the Grand Sword Hall has just been completed."

Ludwig spoke first, looking at Zion lifting a cup of coffee.

The battle that ensued after the moment of silence had been one-sided, just as Zion had predicted. After all, one of the leading higher demons had fled and been disgracefully defeated, so the morale of the monsters had plummeted.

And the anger-fueled morale of the people was beyond words.

However,

"I never imagined that so many monsters had infiltrated the family."

Ludwig's face darkened as he spoke. Losing a fifth of the family's members in one blow was a hard pill to swallow.

They were monsters and needed to be cut out, but the bitterness remained.

'Most of the survivors are still in a state of panic...'

It seemed it would take a considerable amount of time for them to return to normal. All he could do was hope that this ordeal would make them stronger in the future.

"But how did Your Highness know about all of this?"

Ludwig's eyes, full of curiosity, were fixed on Zion Agnes.

From healing his body to meeting the Black Dragon Kalonix and obtaining the Dragon Explosion Spear, to revealing the monsters' true nature and the immense power he had just displayed, every bit was astonishing.

It even made the rumors seem understated.

Zion, putting down his cup, slowly began to speak.

"Think about it. If even Ascalon has been engulfed by this demonic magic, wouldn't the imperial city be affected even more?"

"The imperial city is already...!"

"It's much worse there."

At Zion's words, the Sword King let out a breath of astonishment.

How deeply had the forces of demonic magic infiltrated the empire, and since when had Prince Zion been fighting this incredible battle alone?

"..."

After a moment of wavering, Ludwig, as if making a decision, slowly bowed his head.

"From now on, the Ascalon family will follow Prince Zion Agnes with our lives, no matter what."

It was almost a vow. This wasn't just because of Zion's potential as the next emperor. It was a belief in the need to lift the empire back from its fall due to demonic magic. That conviction was evident in the Sword King's eyes.

This was coupled with gratitude to Zion for rescuing the Ascalon family from the brink.

"Oh, and I will keep my promise."

With that, Ludwig gestured towards Lucas at his side.

Upon hearing this, Lucas stood up and bowed towards Zion.

"I formally greet you, Your Highness Zion! I am Lucas Ascalon, the 22nd head of the Twilight Sword Faction, and I will be serving you from now on!"

The Twilight Sword Faction.

The most powerful force among the shadows of the Ascalon family.

Lucas Ascalon was the leader of this group.

"I look forward to working with you!"

Perhaps he was deeply impressed by Zion's prowess in the recent duel and the events in the Grand Sword Hall. There was no hesitation in Lucas's eyes as he spoke; instead, there was eagerness.

"The pleasure is mine."

Zion, responding with a slight smile to Lucas's enthusiastic proclamation, turned back to Ludwig and asked,

"I assume the events that occurred here today haven't leaked outside yet?"

"Yes, Your Highness. I've made sure our people are tight-lipped and have put several layers of security in place to prevent any information from slipping out."

Ludwig knew.

He knew how dangerous it would be for this information to be released prematurely. The empire would undoubtedly be plunged into massive chaos, and the demons lurking in every corner would stir up more strife from the shadows.

However, Zion's next words caught him off guard.

"Let that information leak out, just a little bit."

"Excuse me?"

Ludwig asked, his voice filled with confusion.

"We need to lure out a big rat."

Zion responded with a sly smile.

In Zion's relaxed eyes, a flicker of darkness shimmered.

It was time to sow the seeds to capture the Fourth Prince, Utekan.