I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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A heavy silence fell over the scene as everyone tried to process what was happening.

Then-

"Those fucking demon bastards dared to come here!"

"None of you will leave this place alive!"

Starting with a few individuals, most of the martial artists surrounding the training ground began charging toward the Beast King's forces.

Making a pact with demons - no, anything related to the demon realm was absolutely forbidden in the Beast Sea, even more so than in the capital Hubris.

During the First Great War, the demon realm had unleashed countless schemes to destroy the Beast Sea, which had the strongest military might among the Three External Worlds. The number of beast-kin sacrificed could have filled an entire sea.

"Your Majesty Wolbyeokcheon! You've crossed a line that cannot be uncrossed!"

BOOM!

Moreover, this command had come from none other than Prince Zion Agnes. Though isolated, they still had eyes and ears to know the empire's political climate.

They knew the man who had just commanded them was essentially emperor already, merely awaiting his coronation ceremony.

"To think that man was the Zion Agnes..."

As the training ground erupted into a battlefield, Crown Prince Wolhaun muttered blankly while staring at Zion standing at its center.

That distinctive deep gray hair.

And now she clearly recognized that pitch-black sword that was practically his symbol.

There was no room for doubt about his identity.

'Looking back, there were many clues about his identity from the beginning...'

That uniquely languid demeanor.

How he naturally spoke down even to her, a member of the Myowol clan.

His overwhelming power that defied measurement, and how that woman who called herself a hero had addressed him as "master of the world."

She simply hadn't connected the dots because the thought of the empire's future emperor coming alone to the Beast Sea without even attendants had seemed impossible. Ř₳Ꞑổ𐌱ЕṢ

"Your Highness, what are your orders!"

Amid the chaos, Hwagangjin called out to the Crown Prince, who had yet to move with the other rebels.

After closing her eyes briefly as if collecting her thoughts, Wolhaun spoke in a firm voice:

"By Prince Zion Agnes's command, the resistance forces shall exterminate all demons before us."

As if they had been waiting for those words-

ROAR!

The resistance fighters immediately charged forward to join the battle.

The tide of battle began tilting decidedly in one direction.

Of course, it favored the combined forces of the resistance and spectators rather than the Beast King's army.

Though their raw military strength was roughly equal, the resistance had complete moral authority, creating an insurmountable difference in morale.

Additionally, even the Beast King's forces were thrown into disarray upon discovering demons in their ranks, with some even defecting to the resistance's side.

And-

"Why..."

Wolbyeokcheon watched the increasingly one-sided battle with trembling eyes.

"Why is that man here?"

Now he understood the source of that overwhelming power displayed during Moon King's Battle.

It made sense, given the reports that Zion had already reached the peak of power and even defeated an Archdemon.

The problem was that Zion Agnes's mere presence had completely derailed Wolbyeokcheon's plans.

'At this rate, not only will we lose this battle, but I might even lose the throne.'

Normally he could argue this was an internal Beast Sea matter and exclude Prince Zion from the conflict, but now that his demon ties had been exposed, he'd lost that justification.

Among his remaining options, only one variable was significant enough to completely overturn the current situation.

'Though the research isn't fully complete, I have no choice but to try it.'

With that thought, Wolbyeokcheon rose from his seat and began quietly slipping away from the great training ground.

'Finally making your move?'

Watching Wolbyeokcheon's movements, Zion smiled slightly and spoke to the Crown Prince who had approached:

"I leave this to you."

"...Where are you going?"

Wolhaun asked Zion with awkward formality.

"There's something I need to finish."

With those words, Zion turned and-

Swish-

His form vanished without a trace.

---

Inside the massive research facility on the lowest level beneath Moon King Palace.

An intense battle raged.

BOOM!

Thousands of demonic energy tendrils burst from Damodeus, filling the space as they shot toward the hero's party.

Elysis's holy shield, wrapped in Tirian's gravity magic, blocked them all.

"We need to stay close and fight!"

Rain and Claire shot through the opening, instantly flanking Damodeus and swinging their weapons simultaneously.

CRASH!

The impact shattered every piece of research equipment except the central test tube.

"Ugh!"

Unable to fully block their attacks, Damodeus was knocked backward - where Turzan appeared above him, drawing in a deep breath before swinging his power-condensed fist.

BOOM!

The impact drove Damodeus into the floor.

"Kuh!"

Dark red blood leaked from his mouth along with a pained groan.

The reason Damodeus - the strongest of the Five Great Demon Generals and nearly unmatched in the demon realm except for the Four Great Demons - was being overwhelmed was simple.

The hero's party's strength far exceeded his expectations.

Through countless battles in both the demon realm and Beast Sea, along with their innate destinies, Claire and her companions had grown incomparably stronger than before.

Moreover, their devastating defeat at the border had only accelerated that growth.

CRACKLE!

Rain's lightning-wrapped spear caused Damodeus to stagger off-balance.

"Time to end this."

Just as Claire raised the divine sword Gram to deliver the final blow-

"The situation doesn't look good here either."

A low voice spoke as-

CRASH!

Someone broke through the ceiling and dropped straight toward her.

CLANG!

Claire pulled back her sword to block the attack from above.

"You..."

Her eyebrows twitched as she recognized who had matched blades with her.

Beast King Wolbyeokcheon.

The man who should have been at the great training ground had appeared here.

TAP!

After lightly jumping back to land beside Damodeus, Wolbyeokcheon spoke:

"Damodeus, we're doing it now."

"The situation outside must be bad too. Are you sure? The research isn't complete yet."

"We don't have time to wait. And all the basic connections are done, so it should be fine."

"...Very well."

At Wolbyeokcheon's words, Damodeus snapped his fingers.

FLASH!

A chilling light erupted from the magical formations beneath the still-intact facility floor.

Perhaps sensing the ominous nature of that light through instinct-

"No!"

Without a word, Claire and her entire party shot toward Wolbyeokcheon.

But-

"You're too late."

CRUNCH!

With those words, the Beast King unhesitatingly thrust his hand into his own chest and crushed his heart.

SLASH!

The hero party's weapons pierced Wolbyeokcheon's body a moment later, but he had already stopped breathing.

THUD.

His corpse collapsed lifelessly to the floor.

Despite one of their main enemies taking his own life, their sense of dread only grew stronger.

Then-

"...This looks bad."

Rain's voice was grim as she stared at something.

Her gaze was fixed on the test tube in the center of the research facility.

More precisely, on the first Beast King's body slowly opening its eyes inside.

CRACK!

As the test tube shattered to powder-

"This power is overwhelming."

The first Beast King - no, Wolbyeokcheon who had obtained his body - emerged and stared at the hero's party with blood-red eyes while muttering softly.

RUMBLE!

The party's legs sank into the floor from the tremendous pressure emanating from the king.

'I didn't think the transfer could be done so easily...'

Claire's eyes darkened.

Soul Transfer.

A technique only those of the Moon Cat clan with the same blood as the first Beast King could perform. Before the regression, Wolbyeokcheon had used this to obtain the first Beast King's body, then handed the entire Beast Sea to the demon realm and ascended as a new Archdemon.

It had been possible because his soul became half-demon the moment the transfer completed.

'He's beyond our ability to handle now... but the transfer just finished and the technique was incomplete, so he shouldn't be fully adapted to the body yet. We need to end this now.'

Just as Claire gripped Gram tightly with that thought-

As if sensing her intentions-

"You'll make a good first test subject."

WHOOSH!

Wolbyeokcheon's form vanished and reappeared directly in front of Claire.

His fist shot toward her head before the aftermath of his movement even manifested.

In that moment-

"This...!"

Time seemed to slow infinitely for Claire and everyone around her as they failed to react to his unimaginable speed.

No, time hadn't actually slowed.

One of Claire's survival authorities had activated in the face of mortal danger, dramatically boosting her perception and thought processing.

But the authority must have been incomplete, as her physical abilities remained unchanged - she couldn't move a finger as she watched the approaching fist.

She saw her companions just beginning to turn their heads in response.

'No...!'

Her eyes filled with despair as she watched Wolbyeokcheon's space-shattering fist reach point-blank range.

In that instant-

"I've been waiting to see when you'd make the transfer."

Along with that voice in her ear, an incomprehensible sight unfolded before her eyes.

In the nearly frozen time created by her infinitely accelerated perception, a single man was calmly walking from the entrance.

A man with deep gray hair and languid eyes.

He walked until he reached directly in front of Claire, then threw a punch toward Wolbyeokcheon.

BOOM!

As her perception returned to normal, Wolbyeokcheon's form was sent flying backward at imperceptible speed to crash into the wall.

"P-Prince Zion."

Claire called out his name in a trembling voice, unable to believe what she had just witnessed.

"Handle that demon."

Zion instructed the hero's party without taking his eyes off the wall where Wolbyeokcheon had crashed.

"You!"

Wolbyeokcheon pulled himself from the wall and glared at Zion while shouting.

"How long have you been following me!"

There was no other way he could have arrived so quickly.

"You were running around like a rabbit with its tail on fire - I couldn't help but follow."

"You bastard, I'll tear you apart..."

Wolbyeokcheon muttered through gritted teeth before calming himself and taking a stance.

"Right, no need to waste anger on someone about to die. Whatever your intentions... the situation is very different from before."

Perhaps deciding further conversation was pointless-

WHOOSH!

With those final words, Wolbyeokcheon's form shot toward Zion at easily twice his previous speed.

'I'll crush you with overwhelming power.'

Though he knew roughly how strong Zion Agnes was from the many rumors, Wolbyeokcheon remained confident.

He could feel it.

Though incomplete, his current self, having obtained the first Beast King's body and martial arts, had transcended mortality.

Reaching Zion in an instant while shattering time itself, Wolbyeokcheon immediately unleashed his fully charged fist like a cannon.

In response, Zion simply extended his own hand.

'How foolish.'

Derision filled Wolbyeokcheon's eyes at the sight.

The first Beast King, called the strongest among all beast-kin in history, possessed no special abilities or authorities.

The reason he was strongest was his physical abilities, which could be called an authority in themselves.

Therefore, blocking his strike head-on with bare hands should be impossible even for the Heaven beyond Heaven, considered among the highest of the Seven Heavens.

His smile deepened as their fists finally met.

In that moment-

---!

With a sound too massive for human ears to process, Wolbyeokcheon's form once again vanished as it was sent flying.

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