I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

180 - The Six Claws (6)

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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Episode 180, Chapter 46: The Six Claws (6)

In the mansion of the Wellington family, minor nobility of the capital:

"Don't let a single one live! Destroy everything!"

Screech!

Slash!

Swordsmen from the Ascalon family cut down the charging demonic creatures as they advanced.

Behind them, mages from the Ozlima family provided support and long-range attacks.

The reason for this battle within the mansion was simple.

The Wellington family, the mansion's owners, were actually a demon realm cover identity to operate the 'Plant'.

"Huh, how could something like this exist in the heart of the capital..."

Groud, the acting head of the Ozlima family, muttered in disbelief as he stood slightly apart from the battle.

His eyes were fixed on the Plant's interior walls.

Countless blood vessels, as if the structure itself was a living being, stretched from the walls to the ceiling.

These vessels, disgusting to look at, pulsated endlessly, spewing out an overwhelming amount of demonic energy.

Additionally, human-shaped imprints were scattered across the walls.

Groud strongly felt that these weren't mere imprints, but the result of actual human sacrifices.

"You look like you had no idea," Ludwig, the head of the Ascalon family, said as he approached Groud.

Though still not in peak condition, Ludwig had joined this operation to lend his strength.

"I knew the demon realm had agents operating within the empire, but... I never imagined it was to this extent," Groud replied, his gaze still fixed on the Plant.

However,

"You know what? This is just the tip of the iceberg," Ludwig continued.

"......"

Groud couldn't respond to the Sword King's words.

In the past, he might have scoffed, saying it was nonsense. But now, he genuinely believed it could be true.

After all, even his father, the head of the Ozlima family, lay unconscious due to the demon realm's actions.

At this point, it seemed possible that not just the capital, but the entire empire could be on the verge of collapse.

"Then... has Prince Zion been fighting against these things all this time?" Groud asked.

"I think you already know the answer to that without me telling you."

"......"

Groud fell silent again at those words.

His eyes now held a complex light.

---

In the western outskirts of the capital:

"We're too late," the silver-haired woman muttered, looking at the half-destroyed Plant that now exposed its innards.

Inside the completely shattered Plant, countless demonic creature corpses were turning to dust and disappearing, evidence of the fierce battle that had taken place.

"They've all left. But judging by the corpses not having completely disappeared yet, it wasn't too long ago. However..."

As he spoke, Turzan walked past the woman towards the Plant, his expression surprised.

"What kind of beings fought here? The traces left behind are far from ordinary..."

"You're right. It's as if two 'Heavens' clashed," Rain chimed in, shaking her head in disbelief beside him.

She then turned to the woman and asked, "What are we going to do?"

"We should go see whoever created these traces," the woman replied, turning her head.

Her gaze fell on the Plant in the eastern outskirts, directly opposite to where they were.

---

Liam hadn't done anything in particular.

As if it was always meant to be this way, Muspelheim's flames naturally flowed from him towards the source of the voice.

Step.

A man slowly revealed himself, his entire body wrapped in those flames.

"Prince... Zion?" Liam said.

It was indeed Zion.

"Looks like I'm not too late," Zion said, checking on Liam and Tirian, who was still barely breathing.

He then turned his gaze to the massive ice spear embedded in the center of the Plant.

Earlier, seeing the situation turning dire, he had hastily used the Frost Queen's authority to freeze the air above the Plant and drop it. Fortunately, it seemed to have worked well.

Just then,

"What's this? I was about to go looking for you, but you came here on your own?" a cheerful voice reached their ears.

As cracks spread like a spider web across the entire ice spear, crack!

It shattered, and Hiseller walked out from inside.

"Did my feelings somehow reach you? I'm touched," the demon said.

Hiseller's condition looked surprisingly fine.

It seemed he had used some trick to defend himself just before the ice spear struck.

"You moved like a rat when I wasn't around," Zion said, looking at Hiseller with languid eyes.

"Oh, that battle before? I'm telling you, I didn't move, they came to me. I suffered because of it too. But..."

Hiseller's eyes sank slightly as he shrugged and answered.

"You being here now means Keria, who went to the other side, has been dealt with, right?"

"Was that bandage demon's name Keria? Then yes, that's right."

"Kihi, kihihihihi!"

Suddenly, the demon burst into laughter.

Despite being told his comrade had died, Hiseller's laughing face looked insane. But he was genuinely happy.

Keria's death meant one thing.

It meant that Zion Agnes, standing before him, was that much stronger.

For Hiseller, fighting an opponent strong enough to make his heart race was far more important than protecting a comrade's life or the Plant.

"Hearing that makes me..."

Hiseller's form, having stopped laughing,

"Unable to hold back anymore!"

Boom!

He instantly folded space and shot towards Zion.

Despite hearing that another Six Claw like himself had died, there was no fear or hesitation in Hiseller's eyes.

While he enjoyed the tension of battle itself, Hiseller's strength was also in the upper ranks among the Claws, unlike Keria who had been at the bottom.

So even though Zion wore an armor of flames that looked like a mythical-grade artifact, Hiseller thought he stood a chance.

But Hiseller's thoughts,

"You should have held back," Zion said.

The moment Hiseller reached Zion, they were immediately overturned.

Screech!

What just happened?

With a thunderous noise, the world turned upside down.

No, it wasn't the world that had flipped.

Hiseller's entire body had been flipped over.

The moment the demon realized this, whoosh!

Flames, similar yet completely different from what Liam had used earlier, formed into a massive axe and struck Hiseller's body.

Boom!

Along with the shockwave that erupted from the impact, Hiseller's form was sent flying at an imperceptible speed.

'What the hell...'

Dismay filled Hiseller's eyes at the impact that left him dazed, despite having negated most of it using 'Distance Isolation', one of his space-manipulating authorities.

He couldn't properly comprehend the two attacks that had just occurred.

Before Hiseller's body could even touch the ground, boom!

Using Muspelheim's flames erupting from below as propulsion, Zion's form shot forward, instantly reaching right in front of the demon.

'More flames!'

Seeing the bright red flames gathering and amplifying in Zion's fist, Hiseller quickly changed the surrounding space to have heat-resistant properties.

But Zion's next attack wasn't flames.

Crack!

It was cold energy.

And it was a cold so intense it could freeze even space itself.

Zion's Eclaxia, imbued with this cold energy, instantly split through Hiseller's spatial defense barrier, leaving a deep gash on his body.

As if that wasn't enough, the Frost Queen's cold energy penetrated through the wound, starting to freeze the demon's insides.

"Kugh!"

Though groaning from the intense pain, Hiseller managed to drive five claws created from his condensed authority into Zion's body.

But, whoosh!

Zion blocked these claws simply by concentrating flames at the impact points. He then grabbed Hiseller's head and, crunch!

Slammed it into the ground.

Hiseller's head was driven into the floor without even a proper chance to resist.

Then, as Zion gripped the demon's head, all the surrounding flames were sucked into his hand, causing a massive explosion.

Boom!

Unable to withstand this, a huge crater formed at that spot.

-You can handle two divine artifacts simultaneously without your mind collapsing.

As Zion stared blankly at the crater where Hiseller had been driven, the spirit's voice, tinged with surprise, echoed in his mind.

-Are you really a mortal?

Even Magnus Flare, the first-generation hero once called the strongest, had struggled to handle two divine artifacts at once.

Yet Zion was wielding these artifacts so comfortably.

Thus, the spirit, unaware of Zion's true identity, couldn't help but be amazed.

At that moment,

"Aaaaargh!"

With a scream erupting from the bottom of the crater, boom!

Hiseller shot out at incredible speed.

His face was contorted with shame at having been driven head-first into the ground, and bewilderment at not being able to properly perceive that attack.

"Just what are you...!"

Before Hiseller could finish his sentence,

"What about you?" Zion said, suddenly appearing in front of him with a mocking grin.

"...!"

As Hiseller's eyes widened in shock, unable to see how Zion had moved, screech!

Zion's fist, wrapped in Loki's flames, plunged into the demon's stomach.

Hiseller's form vanished from that spot, and boom!

A massive explosion erupted from a building beyond the Plant.

Belatedly, a single line was drawn from where Hiseller had been to the explosion site.

Along this line, the air burned and space distorted.

"Kugh!"

Hiseller, genuinely groaning from the pain as if his solar plexus had been pierced, struggled to his feet and stretched his hand towards Zion.

As his authority spread out, the surrounding space seemed to scream, and boom boom boom!

Tens of thousands of bullets began to rain down like a storm.

It was an all-directional attack aimed at sealing off Zion's movements.

"I'll riddle your entire body with holes!"

The power of each of these bullets was comparable to a full-force strike from a high-ranking demon.

Moreover, the wide range covering almost the entire Plant made it seem impossible to even think about dodging.

Seeing this, the onlookers couldn't help but cry out,

"Prince Zion! It's dangerous!"

But faced with this calamity-like attack, Zion's eyes remained as calm as the surface of a lake.

As if it had nothing to do with him at all.

"Can you handle it?" Zion asked softly.

-Of course. What do you take me for?

The Queen answered immediately.

Meanwhile, the wave of bullets had finally reached Zion, about to engulf him.

Whoom!

Eclaxia, now dyed blue, extended forward and made a single point in the air.

A ripple spread out from that point.

Though this ripple seemed insignificant compared to the wave of bullets,

Its effect was anything but insignificant.

The Frozen Queen's Authority.

Crack crack crack!

Tens of thousands of bullets that touched the spreading ripple froze in place, along with the space around them.

This was an authority on a completely different level from the freezing he had used against Keria earlier.

"!!!!!!!"

Hiseller's eyes widened as far as they could go at this sight that defied his common sense.

Through those eyes, he saw Zion approaching, passing through the frozen bullets.

"How...!"

Snapping back to his senses, Hiseller hastily opened a spatial rift and threw himself inside, trying to create distance.

Though he usually preferred close combat, he decided this was necessary, believing he had no chance at victory otherwise.

'I'll respond only from long range until I figure out how to break that power.'

But Hiseller's plan was shattered before it could last even a moment.

"I told you," a chilling voice came from behind Hiseller the instant he emerged from the spatial rift.

"You should have held back."

"You son of a-"

Before Hiseller could fully turn his head, his face a mix of shock and confusion, crunch!

Zion's descending slash struck the demon's body.

---

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