I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

188 - The Floating City (5)

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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The connection with Light Dragon Obergia wasn't particularly significant.

Long ago, when Zion unified the world as the Black Star Emperor and established the great Agnes Empire, several ancient dragons known for possessing even greater authority among dragonkind sought him out.

These ancient dragons, claiming to be protectors of the world's fate and order, insisted that Zion's establishment of the Agnes Empire violated world order and demanded he dismantle it.

Zion refused, and the resulting clash was inevitable.

Of course, the clash ended in Zion's victory, and the ancient dragons swore never to interfere with the empire again, each making an individual contract.

One of those ancient dragons was Light Dragon Obergia, now standing before Zion.

'I knew he'd retired as a guardian, but I never expected him to establish the floating city.'

Even bad connections were still connections.

Still, Zion felt pleased to see a familiar face after so long.

Though he couldn't say how the other party felt.

Meanwhile...

-Could it be...

Obergia's eyes had grown wider than ever as he stared at Zion.

It was his first time being so shocked in an immeasurable span of time he couldn't even remember.

-Black Star Emperor?

The dragon's voice trembled.

Obergia knew how nonsensical his current thoughts were.

Black Star Emperor Aurellion Khan Agnes.

The being whose mere name still sent shivers through his entire body had long since passed from this world.

'But those eyes!'

No, the moment he saw the black stars rising and swirling in those languid eyes, the dragon involuntarily thought of Aurellion.

Similar to but fundamentally different from the Agnes family's Heaven Opposing Power.

Eyes and power that only the Eternal Emperor could possess in this world.

-Impossible. How...

Even as he shook his head, Obergia knew the black stars rising in Zion's eyes were real.

It was a power no one could imitate, one he had personally witnessed and experienced hundreds of years ago.

After staring at Zion with trembling eyes for some time, the dragon's voice carried those same emotions:

-Are you truly the Black Star Emperor?

Obergia deliberately avoided using the term "Eternal Emperor."

That title had only been given after Aurellion's death.

"You should know. In this world, only I can use the Black Star."

-Ooh...!

An impassioned exclamation burst from the dragon's mouth at Zion's affirming response.

-Yes, there were many strange things indeed. One as powerful as you couldn't have suddenly met death like that. What exactly happened?

That question contained countless implications.

What had he been doing for hundreds of years after faking his death, and why had he never shown himself openly?

Why did he now inhabit the body of his descendant Zion Agnes rather than his original body, and why reveal his identity at this time?

However...

"I don't see any reason to tell you that much."

Zion didn't answer those questions.

There was no need to, and he didn't fully understand everything himself.

-True, you were always one who asked rather than answered.

Nodding as if he'd expected this response, the dragon set aside his other questions and asked again with even greater gravity:

-But answer me this one thing, Emperor. What is your purpose in coming here?

This had been his greatest concern since realizing Zion Agnes was the Eternal Emperor.

The Eternal Emperor that Obergia remembered from the past was a tyrant who couldn't be satisfied until everything in sight was in his grasp.

"Given how readily I accepted your invitation, you must have some idea? And I already mentioned it earlier."

Upon entering the cavern, Zion's first words had been about the city's fall.

-Fortunately, it seems our interests align.

Obergia felt inwardly relieved at these words.

Though terrifying as an enemy, the man before him was incredibly reliable as an ally.

After briefly falling silent as if considering where to begin, the dragon slowly addressed Zion:

-The reason Stigma and I created this floating city was singular - to break free from the 'cycle of reincarnation' that trapped us in mortality.

Light Dragon Obergia and Shadow Dragon Stigma had known.

That their seemingly endless lifespans were nearly at their end.

To transcend this fate, they chose to break free from the cycle of reincarnation.

But even their seemingly infinite abilities proved insufficient, which led them to create their final solution: the floating city Adegrifa.

-Have you heard of collective intelligence? It literally means multiple beings sharing intelligence to far surpass a single being's intellectual capacity. That's why we brought numerous magicians to the floating city and passed on all our magical knowledge and wisdom. We thought the collective intelligence of world-class magicians would elevate our magic to even greater heights.

But perhaps receiving the knowledge of dragons, called the originators of magic, had been too overwhelming?

In the end, their plan went awry.

-Of course, there was meaningful progress that continues even now, but it fell far short of freeing us from our bonds.

This led both dragons to despair, with Stigma's despair proving particularly extreme.

Extreme enough to completely overturn his existing values.

-With his values twisted by despair, Stigma had a thought.

All the magicians existing in the floating city they had created.

If he consumed all their fates, couldn't he possibly free at least his own fate from its bonds?

-The Shadow Nest was created to realize this demonic idea, gathering his followers. That's why Stigma now aims to crash this city onto the empire's capital.

"And the Light Watchers you created exist to prevent this."

-Precisely.

"I think I understand how things work now... So what's the current situation? I'd like to hear what you've figured out about this incident."

Zion interrupted the dragon's explanation to ask.

-...Nothing. In fact, we only discovered the Shadow Nest's plan to crash the city three days ago.

Obergia replied with a darkened expression.

This might make the Light Watchers seem incompetent, but if that were true, they wouldn't have stopped the Shadow Nest's previous plans.

Therefore, this case showed just how thorough the Shadow Nest's movements had been.

'The city falls in two days. It's too late to investigate or start anything new now.'

That left only one option.

"We'll have to infiltrate the Shadow Nest's headquarters and wipe them out before then."

With no one left to execute it, the plan would naturally fail.

-That's not as simple as you think.

Obergia replied with troubled eyes, understanding Zion's words.

-Like the Light Watchers, the Shadow Nest's headquarters is thoroughly hidden. No, it might not be an exaggeration to say it's twice as difficult to find as this place. It's concealed by a 'veil' - even my 'Celestial Dragon Vision' hasn't found a trace of it until now.

Finding such a headquarters within two days was nearly impossible.

-And even if we found the headquarters, the Shadow Dragon himself would block our path. Even for you, it seems difficult to face him now when you haven't regained your original power. Normally I would face him, but...

He couldn't.

Obergia's lifespan had nearly reached its end, leaving him barely able to move.

Another reason he had specifically called Zion here.

But despite the dragon's despairing words...

"It doesn't matter."

Zion's calm expression remained unchanged.

Everything fell within his expectations.

"If one assumption proves correct, facing the Shadow Dragon is entirely possible."

-One... assumption?

At Obergia's question, Zion smiled slightly and continued:

"Yes. And finding the Shadow's location is simple too. We'll make them guide us there directly."

-Make them guide us? What do you mean?

The dragon's eyes filled with question at these continued cryptic words.

"Who has the Light Watchers identified as being with the Shadow?"

Zion asked coldly while meeting the dragon's eyes.

In the deepest special prison within the floating city hall's underground...

Two guards with clearly exceptional skills stood vigilantly watching all directions in front of a prison specially warded to prevent magic use.

There was a reason for such strict security at this special prison.

The prisoner inside was the only survivor among the Shadow Nest assassins who had attacked Prince Zion last night.

More accurately, the one Prince Zion had deliberately left alive.

The captured assassin was not just the mastermind behind this assassination attempt but potentially the only link to the Shadow Nest, naturally requiring thorough security.

Not even casual conversation passed between the two guards because of this.

After some time had passed...

"Hm?"

One guard's eyes showed confusion.

He saw a middle-aged man with a long beard approaching them.

The guard knew this man's identity.

"Lord Gaspel?"

Gaspel.

A magician ranked 11th in the city's magical hierarchy and one of the most powerful figures within city hall.

"What brings you here?"

But since there was no reason for him to visit this special prison now, the question naturally left the guard's lips.

"Just have some business to attend to."

Gaspel replied casually while continuing to walk toward the prison.

"Please stop and explain your business first."

Just as the guard raised his hand to stop him, sensing something oddly out of place...

"That would be inconvenient. The situation is rather urgent."

With these words, Gaspel lightly waved his hand.

In that moment...

CRACK!

Something black extended from the guards' shadows, instantly wrapped around their necks, and snapped them.

The guards died without even screaming.

"So they imprisoned him here instead of their headquarters to prevent revealing the Light Watchers' location? Thanks to that, this will be easier than expected."

Gaspel muttered calmly as he passed between the guards' corpses.

He had only one reason for doing this.

His hidden identity as a member of the Shadow Nest.

'I hadn't planned to move this quickly, but...'

Gaspel recalled the secret conversation between Ackendelt and someone else that he had accidentally overheard in the vice-mayor's office earlier.

'They clearly mentioned using some special magic that could extract memories from our captured assassin.'

Actually, Gaspel didn't know if such magic really existed.

He'd never seen it before.

But if the Light Watchers had somehow developed such magic and used it on the captured assassin, there was a risk their headquarters could be exposed.

Therefore, he'd decided the assassin needed to be eliminated first.

'This will reveal my identity, but that hardly matters.'

This city would be destroyed in two days anyway.

Until then, minimizing variables was most important.

CRASH!

With that thought, Gaspel instantly broke through the thick iron door and saw the assassin fixed to a steel chair in the center of the prison, restrained at the arms, legs, and mouth.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

The assassin reacted upon seeing Gaspel, perhaps recognizing a fellow organization member.

"You seem pleased to see a fellow shadow. Unfortunately, I'm not here to rescue you."

Evil mana rose from Gaspel's hands as he approached the assassin, apparently unaffected by the magic barrier.

"Our nest isn't merciful enough to take back someone who failed their mission."

"Mmph! MMPH!!"

Despite these words, the assassin continued trying to convey something to Gaspel, making muffled cries through their sealed mouth.

The assassin's eyes were fixed on the faintly rippling darkness behind Gaspel, but he failed to notice this.

He thought it was just the final struggle of someone facing death.

"Farewell then."

CRUNCH!

Just as Gaspel easily ended the assassin's life with magic, WEEEEEE!

A loud alarm began ringing from above.

Simultaneously, he sensed the busy movement of city hall's magicians.

"Better hurry."

They had clearly discovered the scene he'd left on his way here, so Gaspel muttered this and immediately began chanting.

Though he would certainly be caught if he took the single path from the underground prison to the surface, his expression remained completely at ease.

From the start, Gaspel had no intention of escaping through normal means.

WHOOSH!

As his spell completed, his shadow rippled and formed a passage.

A passage leading directly to the Shadow Nest.

Like the Light Watchers, the Shadow Nest's headquarters could only be entered through spatial transfer.

Of course, there was no worry about being tracked.

This spatial magic leading to the Shadow Nest was a spell personally designed by Shadow Dragon Stigma, the nest's leader and co-creator of the floating city.

"Don't resent me too much. Soon all the city's magicians will join you."

After muttering these final words to the assassin's corpse, Gaspel unhesitatingly pushed himself into the opened passage.

His vision began to distort and invert.

'Not a bad success.'

Just as Gaspel smiled slightly while looking at the Shadow Nest's interior appearing through his returning vision...

"Lord Gaspel, did your business go we-!!"

A black fairy who had been welcoming him nearby suddenly cut off their words and widened their eyes as if seeing something impossible.

"The passage! Behind you!"

Along with this came their urgent cry.

"What are you suddenly-!"

As Gaspel turned his head with a sense of unease, a strange sight met his eyes.

The shadow passage he had just used.

The passage that should have vanished the moment he arrived at the nest remained open.

CREAK!

As if forcibly fixed open, the passage remained stuck at about the size of an adult's fist, refusing to close further.

But what truly froze the breath of both the black fairy and Gaspel was something else.

A single eye gazing at them from the other side of the passage.

That deep gray eye rippled ominously, like a predator eyeing its prey.

Just as Gaspel's body involuntarily froze, overwhelmed by the eeriness emanating from it...

"Found you."

The eye's owner began reaching through to force the passage wider.

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