I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

165 - The Tower of Causality (5)

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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Episode 165, Chapter 45: The Tower of Causality (5)

In a bedroom of a massive mansion in the heart of Hubris, the imperial capital, Serkia lay in bed. She was one of the Five Great Demon Generals, also known as the Half-Demon General.

The reason for her presence here was simple. This mansion was one of the demon realm's hideouts, prepared for emergencies.

After their recent attack on Prince Zion, the imperial eyes and the Order of Light's inquisitors had been hunting them. This mansion was where they'd come to escape that pursuit.

Who would have imagined that the very targets they were desperately searching for were hiding in plain sight, in a mansion right in the middle of the capital?

While that was certainly a good thing,

"Ugh!"

Serkia's condition, as she lay in bed, was far from good.

She could barely move due to the critical injury she'd sustained when Zion's spear had pierced her heart during their last encounter.

To make matters worse, the Black Star that had entered her body when the spear struck was constantly burning away her demonic energy, further deteriorating her condition.

Just then, click!

The bedroom door opened, and a man with snake-like slit eyes and two horns entered.

It was Hiseller, one of the 'Six Claws' of the demon realm.

"How are you feeling? Any better?" Hiseller asked as he slowly approached the bed.

Serkia knew that his question wasn't born from genuine concern for her wellbeing.

To him, she was nothing more than a disposable tool with little value.

Frankly, he wouldn't bat an eye even if she died right now.

"...It's a bit better," she replied.

"Oh? That's good."

In reality, Serkia's condition was visibly poor, so much so that anyone paying attention could tell her answer was a lie. But Hiseller either didn't notice or didn't care as he brushed it off lightly.

"Have you figured out where Zion Agnes is? You said he wasn't in the imperial palace last time, right?"

"Not yet. We have many constraints as we need to avoid their eyes."

"I want to meet him again so badly..." Hiseller muttered, his face showing dissatisfaction with her answer.

Ever since their intense first encounter, Hiseller's mind had been filled with thoughts of Zion.

He was the one who had made Hiseller's heart race again, something that hadn't happened since he became one of the 'Six Claws'.

That's why he was so eager to tear Zion's limbs apart, rip out his heart, and devour it right before his eyes.

"Besides, it's so boring just sitting around like this... Ah!"

As Hiseller muttered with boredom in his eyes, he suddenly snapped his fingers as if he'd thought of something.

"That blonde guy who was with Zion Agnes when we attacked."

"You mean First Prince Rubrious?"

"Yeah, that First Prince guy. Didn't you say he was looking for us too?"

"That's right."

"Hmm..."

After tapping his fingers on the nearby windowsill for a moment, the demon asked a question.

"How strong is that guy?"

* * *

After completing the second floor's trial, the door to the third floor's trial didn't open immediately.

'The trial for the third floor is being prepared. Please wait for a moment.'

With this message from the Trial Helper, the Yeonokrang's corpse completely vanished.

Zion knew why the third floor's trial wasn't opening right away.

'All participants need to gather for the third floor's trial.'

They'd have to wait here until all the participants, collectively known as the '4th Generation', either cleared or failed the second floor's trial.

Just then,

"It's been a while."

A voice came from beside him.

Zion turned his head to see Rain, who had approached him, unlike the other participants who were just staring at him with complex expressions without coming closer.

She had wanted to talk to him earlier but hadn't found the opportunity until now.

"You remember me, right?"

"I remember your name, at least."

In truth, Zion knew most of the information about her, but he didn't say so. There was no need to arouse unnecessary suspicion.

"You seem very different from when I last saw you."

"So do you."

Zion replied briefly to Rain's words.

And he meant it.

'So she really is one of the hero's companions?'

When he first met Rain, her level was just that of someone famous in a local area.

But judging from the power she displayed in the recent battle with the Yeonokrang and the aura she was emanating now, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that her current level was just below the 'Seven Heavens'.

It was an unbelievable growth.

Probably because she was the first to awaken and had been by the hero's side for a long time, sharing in her destiny.

Perhaps thinking that the exchange of greetings was over,

"Actually, there's something I want to ask you," Rain said, her voice taking on a more serious tone after a moment of silence.

"What is it?"

"The witch of the Black Forest."

Her face turned cold as she spoke.

In truth, she had a mountain of questions for the man before her, from how he had become so strong to what his true identity was. But among all those, the incident in the Black Forest took top priority, no matter what anyone else might say.

"Back then, I lost consciousness while fighting the witch. But I remember you stepping in front of me just before I blacked out. What happened after that?"

"You're asking because you want to know the witch's whereabouts, right?"

"...That's right."

Rain nodded, her eyes wavering at his words that seemed to see right through her.

"I'm curious about something. Why are you trying to find out the witch's whereabouts?"

Zion asked, looking directly into her eyes.

"Because I have to kill her."

Her answer came without a hint of hesitation.

"Why?"

"You must know. That bitch killed all my friends."

Just recalling it made anger rise through her cold reason.

Of course, even if she met the witch now, there was no guarantee that Rain herself would win.

In fact, she couldn't even put up a fight the last time they met.

But even so, she couldn't just sit still.

It felt like this maddening anger would only subside if she killed that witch.

At that moment,

"How pathetic."

A cold voice flowed from Zion's mouth as he looked at Rain for a moment.

"...What?"

"I said, how pathetic."

"What the hell are you...!"

Before Rain's furious cry, her face contorted like a demon's, could be completed,

"Let me ask you one thing."

Zion spoke again.

"Did the witch really kill your comrades?"

"...!"

"You can't answer, can you? Because it wasn't the witch who killed your comrades, but your friends who betrayed you after falling into the Purification Cult."

It was an obvious fact, and one that Rain had been turning a blind eye to until now.

"But Rian was killed by...!"

"If she hadn't been killed by the witch then, you would have executed her with your own hands."

"......"

"You just needed someone to vent your anger on, boiling over from loss and failure. The witch of the Black Forest just happened to be the most suitable target."

His words were scathing and direct.

And at the same time, they were words that only Zion, who knew the full context of the situation, could say.

"No... If the witch hadn't existed in the first place, there wouldn't have been a Purification Cult, and then none of this would have..."

Rain muttered, trying to deny Zion's words.

Zion didn't respond to that.

There was no need to refute it; she herself knew best that what she was saying now was just an excuse.

'Until now, that anger has probably been her biggest driving force, but...'

It was time to set things right.

There might come a time when Rain and Liushina would have to fight together.

If she was still like this then, it would be very troublesome.

Just then,

'Moving to the third floor's trial.'

The Trial Helper's voice rang in their ears.

Along with it, swish-

The darkness that they had seen when first entering the tower began to envelop the bodies of Zion and the others in the cavern.

"I hope you're not so pathetic the next time I see you."

Zion said in an indifferent tone towards Rain, who still wore a dazed expression.

As Zion's voice ended, whoosh!

The people's forms completely vanished from that spot.

* * *

'Your current rank is 1st.'

'As a privilege for being in 1st place, you can choose your starting position for the third floor's trial. Would you like to do so?'

This was the Trial Helper's voice in Zion's ear just before they moved to the next location.

"Yes."

Zion nodded and accepted immediately, as if he had been waiting for this, even before the explanation of the third floor's trial began.

In fact, he had been waiting.

This privilege was a necessary device to quickly satisfy the second condition for reaching the 'secret trial'.

"I'll choose the position based on people, not terrain."

As soon as a certain name flowed from Zion's mouth following those words, swish-

The darkness enveloping his surroundings lifted, and his vision returned.

What Zion saw then were grass and trees filling his surroundings as if in a mountain, and numerous other participants looking around, trying to grasp the situation.

'They sent me to the right place.'

Zion smirked slightly as he spotted a certain group among them.

'You have entered the third floor's trial.'

The Trial Helper's explanation began.

'Acquire the Life Jade.'

'Participants who acquire five or more Life Jades gain the minimum qualification to proceed to the next trial.'

'After a certain time has passed, additional points will be awarded differentially to the top twenty participants who have acquired the most Life Jades.'

'Life Jades exist in ruins hidden throughout the third floor.'

'Participants are basically given one Life Jade.'

As soon as the helper's explanation ended, pop!

The number 1 appeared above the heads of Zion and the others.

It probably indicated the number of Life Jades they possessed.

'Is it starting right away?'

Zion thought, still fixing his gaze in one direction.

The nature of the third floor's trial was completely different from the second floor.

While the second floor emphasized solidarity and cooperation, the third floor encouraged competition between participants from the start.

The transcendents who created the third floor's trial, unlike those who created the previous two trials, wanted to concentrate the trial's rewards on a superior few rather than all participants.

Therefore, it was right to consider it inevitable that a large number of participants would be eliminated in this trial.

Just then,

"It seems that finding ruins to obtain these Life Jades is important for this trial. How about we cooperate with the people here?"

A knight carrying a huge sword on his back stepped forward and spoke up among the people who were sizing each other up and trying to grasp the situation.

"If we work together with this many people, we should be able to meet the conditions quickly."

He thought that this trial, like the second floor, could be easily cleared if they cooperated with each other.

Just by looking, it was clear that the third floor was very wide, and there would likely be many hidden ruins.

If they didn't get greedy for additional points, it wouldn't be impossible for everyone here to advance.

But there was one thing.

The knight had made a mistake.

He assumed that everyone else thought the same way he did.

"Is there really a need to go looking for ruins?"

An oddly excited voice came from behind, followed by a squelch!

A thin blade pierced through the knight's chest and protruded from the front.

"When there are Life Jades scattered right in front of us."

The one holding the blade was a man with a skull tattoo on his neck, its eye sockets burning with blue ghostly fire.

"Ugh, urk!"

The knight's breath stopped as he looked alternately at the sword protruding from his chest and the man, with eyes that couldn't understand what was happening.

Pop!

With that, the number 1 floating above the man who had killed the knight changed to 2.

The eyes of the people watching this sudden situation wavered.

As a cruel smile spread across the face of the man who saw the changed number, swish swish swish!

"Aaargh!"

Dozens of people with the same skull tattoo moved simultaneously, starting to indiscriminately slaughter the other participants around them.

"The, the Murder Legion!"

Cries of shock erupted from the mouths of some people who recognized what that skull tattoo meant.

The Murder Legion, Murderless - it was a criminal organization derived from the now-defunct Slaughter Cult, infamous throughout the empire for its unimaginable cruelty and madness.

Their movements were elusive, and their military power was so tremendous that one of the 'Twelve Seas' was their leader, making them a group that even the empire was struggling to deal with.

"Why are they all here together...!"

"Ru, run away!"

Seeing the criminal organization that had appeared in full force from the start, people began to scatter and flee in all directions, too afraid to even think of resisting.

"Where do you think you're running?"

Swish swish swish!

"Aaaagh!"

The Murder Legion continued their slaughter, chasing after the fleeing people.

"I don't understand why we need to look for ruins when there's such an easy method... Hm?"

One of the Murder Legion members spotted a man who, unlike the others, remained standing in place without fleeing.

Had he not grasped the situation yet?

Or was he too terrified to move?

"Kihihi!"

Either way, it didn't matter, so the member let out a maniacal laugh and charged straight towards the man.

The man didn't move even as the member reached right in front of him.

"Since you didn't run away, I'll kill you painlessly."

Finally, the member swung his weapon at the man without hesitation.

But that attack never reached the man.

"That's kind of you."

Along with a low voice, an alien darkness erupted from the man, crunch!

It completely swallowed his entire body before the attack could land.

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

"...?"

Hearing the eerie sound coming from there, the Murder Legion members who had paused their slaughter turned their heads towards where the man was.

"I agree with what you said."

As the man, Zion, smiled ominously at them,

"That there's no need to look for ruins."

The darkness that had swallowed the member began to spread in all directions, starting to consume the entire surrounding space.

---

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