I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

238 - Diversion (2)

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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Inside one of the Beast Sea's other strategic points, Mihae Island, flames rose from within the Beast King's branch headquarters.

"Just who... who are you to be this strong..."

At the center of this chaos, Claire Flosimar watched with indifferent eyes as the branch head breathed his last, unable to finish speaking.

Though she normally disliked killing, knowing the Beast King's forces had allied with demons meant her strikes showed no mercy.

'The others should be wrapping up at their locations by now.'

'Truly impressive.'n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

She wasn't amazed by the strategy itself - any reasonably intelligent person could devise this kind of diversion tactic.

What impressed her was Zion's judgment.

'He precisely calculated the remaining forces at each Beast King stronghold and matched them perfectly with exactly the right attacking forces, without a single error.'

The ultimate in efficiency.

This operation would have been impossible without perfectly understanding both friendly and enemy capabilities.

The depth of calculation required to measure and coordinate all of this sent chills down her spine.

Claire knew well that this wasn't something that could be done just by thinking it through. It required countless experiences and highly refined instincts to even attempt.

In the past, she would have been shocked wondering how a 21-year-old prince could manage such a feat. But not anymore.

'...The Eternal Emperor.'

She knew Zion Agnes was the reincarnation of Eternal Emperor Aurelion Khan Agnes.

Nothing that being did could surprise her anymore.

It felt like she had glimpsed a fraction of the true nature of the emperor who had once devoured the entire world.

Just then-

"Thank you for your help," the resistance commander who had attacked this location approached and bowed to Claire.

Perhaps due to her performance in battle, his eyes shone with admiration.

"It was nothing," Claire replied briefly.

The commander raised his head with an expression mixing urgency and apology before speaking:

"I hate to ask this right after battle, but could you possibly go to where our Crown Prince is? No matter how I look at it, the forces stationed there seem far too few. Your presence would be an enormous help."

"There's no need to worry about that location," the hero shook her head at the commander's words.

"The strongest force is already there."

In her mind, she pictured Zion's face with those languid eyes.

How much time had passed in that frozen silence?

"A mage... the enemy has a mage!"

The first to regain their senses, a lion beast-kin from the Beast King's forces, let out a loud shout.

"Th-the sea is frozen! The ships can't move!"

Bewildered voices burst from nearby martial artists.

True to their words, the ships floating on the frozen sea couldn't move even an inch, as if anchored in place.

They could no longer approach the Crown Prince's ship.

As confusion spread across the Beast King's martial artists' faces-

"Don't panic!"

Sahyeoldo, the snake beast-kin beside the lion beast-kin, shouted next.

"All forces, disembark and charge toward the Crown Prince's ship across the ice!"

TAP TAP TAP!

With those words, he leaped from his ship first and began sprinting swiftly across the frozen sea.

'This works out even better,' Sahyeoldo thought, unlike the other martial artists.

Though the ships couldn't move, that didn't mean they couldn't reach the Crown Prince.

They could simply advance across the ice.

Moreover, with the naval battle becoming more like a land battle, their superior numbers gave them an even greater advantage.

'The mage who froze this entire sea is concerning, but...'

Magic of this scale would require significant time to use again.

Sahyeoldo calculated they just needed to reach the Crown Prince's ship and engage in close combat before then.

"Follow Lord Sahyeoldo!"

As if understanding his thinking, the other 'Twelve Seas' members began leading their forces in pursuit.

The distance closed rapidly.

"Th-the enemy is charging!"

One of the Crown Prince's martial artists who had finally come to his senses shouted urgently as he watched the Beast King's forces sprinting across the ice at incredible speed.

The Crown Prince and others who had been staring at Zion with blank expressions muttering "How is this possible..." also began registering the situation.

"If they come like this... freezing the ships was pointless!"

"Damn it! Everyone protect the Crown Prince!"

Hwagangjin cursed briefly before gathering his energy and leaping down below the ship.

He chose to make the sea surface the battlefield, knowing combat on the ship would endanger the Crown Prince's life.

Understanding his intent, the other martial artists began jumping down after him.

"So it comes to this after all."

The Crown Prince muttered while watching the scene with a hardened expression.

Her eyes caught Zion slipping to the back behind the descending martial artists.

Had he exhausted all his power creating that miraculous scene earlier?

Faint disappointment flickered in the Crown Prince's eyes.

But she quickly shook her head to dismiss it.

'Right, I've already received tremendous help - wanting more would be greedy.'

Rather than feeling disappointed, now was the time to do her best with the conditions at hand.

Meanwhile-

"Hahaha! Have you all chosen your place to die!"

Sa Gun-hyeok, the lion beast-kin who had already closed the distance, roared out.

His eyes brimmed with confidence, as if his earlier panic had been a lie.

This was inevitable.

The resistance forces numbered only 300 elites, and even their skill level was child's play compared to his side's top martial artists.

"Don't retreat an inch! Today we die here protecting Crown Prince Haun!"

The resistance martial artists knew this fact well too.

Their eyes already held the acceptance of death.

"Let's see if your skills match that courage!"

With those words, Sa Gun-hyeok, who had reached them first, swung his blade filled with tremendous martial energy at a fox beast-kin before him.

'I'll finish this one with this strike and clear a path.'

It was a mighty blow that could easily split a large building in half.

But-

BOOM!

Sa Gun-hyeok's thoughts went no further.

CRACK!

The fox beast-kin's raised sword.

It had completely blocked his strike.

"You... blocked this?"

Shock filled Sa Gun-hyeok's voice at this completely unexpected situation.

'I... blocked it?'

The fox beast-kin who had blocked it felt the same.

Even as he raised his sword to defend, he knew he could never block this strike.

Yet despite preparing to die while attempting to block it, the situation had taken an utterly unexpected turn.

SCREECH!

A bone-chilling dissonance reached their ears.

In that moment-

"Huh?"

The fox beast-kin's body moved on its own against his will, swinging his sword at Sa Gun-hyeok.

A sharp strike that targeted Sa Gun-hyeok's opening with perfect precision.

"What!"

Though shocked by this high-level swordplay that the fox beast-kin before him should never have been capable of, Sa Gun-hyeok quickly withdrew his blade to defend.

But in that moment-

SCREECH!

As if they had been waiting for this, two more resistance fighters rushed in from both sides at terrifying speed, launching sword strikes along with another bone-chilling dissonance.

SLASH!

"Argh!"

Their perfect combination created a long gash across Sa Gun-hyeok's flank.

"What is this..."

But the eyes of the martial artists who had inflicted that wound were filled with the same confusion as the fox beast-kin.

These movements hadn't been their will.

And this phenomenon-

SCREECH!

Was occurring across the entire battlefield.

"M-my body's moving on its own...!"

The 300 resistance fighters.

No, precisely speaking, all of the Crown Prince's martial artists except Hwagangjin had their bodies moving against their will, unleashing endless attacks at the Beast King's forces.

Even stranger was that each of these attacks far surpassed what they should have been capable of.

Moreover, from their weapons-

WHOOSH!

CRACK!

Flames and frost that had nothing to do with their martial arts flickered.

A phenomenon that defied all common sense and understanding.

And because of this phenomenon-

"Why are these bastards so stro- ARGH!"

The mere 300 resistance fighters began slowly but surely pushing back the Beast King's forces.

"This is...!"

Jang Maldong, who had been watching this unbelievable scene with wide eyes, suddenly seemed to realize something and whipped his head toward where Zion had retreated to.

An astonishing sight met his eyes.

Black threads.

Thousands of black threads so thin they could barely be seen without focusing one's sight stretched from Zion's fingers to the resistance fighters.

He had seen this scene when Celphia fought the pirates, but the scale now was incomparably greater.

"To think this was possible with not just one but many..."

"What do you mean?" the Crown Prince, who had been watching the battlefield with clenched fists, asked the raccoon beast-kin after hearing his dazed muttering.

Jang Maldong answered in a trembling voice:

"Remember what that man Zion said earlier about taking a supporting role in this battle... It seems those weren't empty words."

Though he wasn't sure if this could be called mere support.

"What?"

As confusion deepened in the Crown Prince's eyes at these cryptic words-

'Perhaps 300 was too many?'

Zion thought this while pulling the Soul Extinction threads tighter as he coordinated the resistance fighters.

Controlling hundreds of people, not just one or two.

For an ordinary person, controlling even ten would be enough to make their head explode from the complexity and difficulty. But for Zion, whose cognitive abilities had increased dramatically after reaching seven stars in Black Star Force, it was entirely possible.

'Though not easy.'

There was a reason Zion chose to participate in battle this way despite being able to fight directly.

He was currently hiding his identity, and using Black Star Force freely might expose him.

Unlike before, his power was quite well known now and easily recognizable.

'Besides, the real battle hasn't even begun.'

Zion planned to escalate things further, so it was better not to reveal himself now.

Even so, he could handle a battlefield of this scale sufficiently.

In fact, the 300 martial artists under Zion's control were steadily gaining the upper hand.

And this sight-

"We're... being pushed back?"

Created bewilderment in Sahyeoldo's eyes.

Ten thousand.

They had nearly ten thousand fighters.

Each one considered elite even among their forces.

Yet these martial artists were being pushed back by mere hundreds of enemies.

An utterly unbelievable scene.

Even the 'Twelve Seas' members including himself couldn't properly exert their strength.

'This can't be, how could we possibly be... hm?'

As Sahyeoldo's wavering eyes swept across the battlefield, he caught sight of Zion controlling the martial artists from behind.

"That's..."

His eyes lit up as if realizing something while studying that figure intently.

"The mage... that first mage is pulling tricks! Eliminate the mage!"

A sharp cry burst from Sahyeoldo's lips!

After instantly cutting down the resistance fighter he had been facing, he began charging madly toward Zion.

Perhaps having the same thought-

"Where do you think you're playing your dog tricks! Mage!"

Almost simultaneously, the lion beast-kin's form also shot toward Zion.

The nearby Beast King's martial artists began following the two 'Twelve Seas' members.

Nearly dozens in number.

"Stop them!"

Though Hwagangjin shouted urgently at this sudden movement, Sahyeoldo and the others had already closed in on Zion.

'A mage should be weak in close combat. Even if he's prepared, it's impossible to block this many attacking simultaneously.'

With this thought and a cold smile, Sahyeoldo concentrated all his power into his fully drawn curved blade.

SCREECH!

'I'll kill him in one strike!'

His blade swung toward Zion without hesitation.

Just as the lion beast-kin and other martial artists who had caught up prepared to unleash their attacks-

"There's one thing you're mistaken about."

A voice reached their ears.

Their eyes filled with question at this voice holding a calm utterly unsuited to the urgent situation.

As they caught sight of the smile forming on Zion's lips-

"I'm not a mage."

The moment those ominous words were spoken-

SCREECH!

Along with another spine-chilling dissonance, countless lines began tracing across the bodies of all the martial artists who had been about to strike Zion.