I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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What Girard held out to Zion was a single orb.

A small orb about the size of a thumb joint.

Zion's eyes gleamed because of the blue flame burning inside this orb.

He knew what that flame meant.

'A spirit horse.'

Though he didn't know why Girard had it, this was definitely a spirit horse.

"This contains a spirit horse riding formation. I happened to obtain it when visiting the Beast Sea about ten years ago. Though it's single-use, it should be enough to get Your Highness there."

With these words, Girard unhesitatingly crushed the orb in his hand.

Then-

WHOOSH!

The blue flame inside escaped and began amplifying at terrifying speed, taking the form of a horse.

The surrounding space rippled simultaneously.

"Usage is simple. Just mount the spirit horse and imagine your destination. Though there is one problem..."

Girard muttered this while watching the spirit horse, which had appeared holding its head high with an extremely noble bearing and scanning its surroundings.

"Spirit horses are inherently very prideful and selective about people. They won't even let most people approach. Though the riding formation should weaken this tendency, you should still be careful... Huh?"

The commander's eyes suddenly widened in surprise.

The spirit horse had been holding its head up as if reaching for the sky while looking down at everyone.

SWOOSH-

Yet as soon as Zion approached, it lowered its head and immediately offered its back.

As if submitting.

"Well..."

As Girard sighed in amazement, Zion mounted the spirit horse and quietly spoke while passing by him.

"I'm going ahead."

"Master, take me too! Let me ride!"

Though Liushina shouted while approaching, Zion shook his head and looked toward the border's outer region where he needed to go.

"Spirit horses are single-rider only."

With these words, as Zion firmly gripped the reins-

FLASH!

With madly amplifying blue flames, his form and the spirit horse vanished from that spot.

RUMBLE!

Space itself screamed and trembled merely from his presence.

The moment Evelyn saw this man looking down at everything with arrogant eyes from his ornate palanquin, she knew.

'A being who has already transcended mortal bounds.'

Her legs trembled involuntarily and strength left her sword hand.

Strongest knight of the empire?

Heaven beyond Heaven?

Such titles held no meaning in this moment.

To this man, Evelyn herself was just another mortal being like the soldiers around her.

It felt like facing a myth.

'I can't win.'

No, she couldn't even properly fight.

Battle required some degree of comparable status.

The princess's eyes darkened as resignation immediately set in.

Until now, she had never encountered an enemy overwhelmingly stronger than herself.

Therefore, she didn't know how to handle such an opponent, making this all the more hopeless.

"At least you know your place. Good."

Ogrit, Archdemon of Pride, murmured in his still emotionless voice while looking down at Evelyn.

Simultaneously, a single finger extended from the palanquin.

"Since you've spared me trouble, I'll specially grant you a painless death by my own hand."

With these words, the world around his fingertip began contracting to form a sphere.

RUMBLE!

Space rippled and shattered.

The instantly completed sphere of demonic energy erased air resistance itself as it shot toward Evelyn.

Just as despair deepened in her eyes watching this-

'...A back?'

BOOM!

A massive back blocked her view.

A gigantic back like a wall of muscle.

"Hup!"

The giant, owner of this back, planted both feet in the ground and extended his firmly gripped shield toward the descending sphere.

Brilliant holy power from Luminus and gravity distortion formations covered his shield at that moment.

CRASH!

The resulting shockwave from their clash spread beyond the battlefield to the entire border outer region.

Trees uprooted and rocks floated into the air.

In this scene like a natural disaster-

CRACK!

A lightning bolt carrying destructive energy struck down toward the Archdemon of Pride.

BOOM!

A storm of silver light blades followed, swallowing even the palanquin whole.

As the aftermath made the surrounding air ripple again-

"Fortunately we weren't too late."

With these quiet words, a woman landed beside her.

"You are..."

"Prince Zion sent us."

The woman answering Evelyn had silver-shining hair.

Hero Claire Frosimar.

This was her identity.

"Zion? How did he know..."

"Let's discuss that later."

Claire's eyes were fixed not on Evelyn but her own storm of light blades.

Or more precisely, on the being within them.

"The situation isn't over yet."

At that moment-

"The insects have multiplied."

With this quiet voice-

WHOOSH!

All attacks created by the hero party instantly vanished.

"Dancing around without knowing your place. How annoying."

And Ogrit emerged, looking down at everyone with slightly irritated eyes.

His appearance was completely unchanged, without even a scratch.

"Surely... you don't intend to face that monster."

"That's why we came."

Claire answered Evelyn's horrified question in a firm voice.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

Claire also knew.

Just how unimaginably powerful this "Pride" before them was.

Even she, who had grown tremendously in the demon realm, couldn't control her body's trembling.

The pressure radiating from his very existence made it difficult to move even a finger or take a single breath.

Clearly an opponent they couldn't face.

But they also couldn't not face him.

If even she gave up...

'This world will never find salvation.'

Brilliant light filled the hero's reopening eyes.

From before regression until now.

Claire had faced countless stronger enemies and never once given up.

Even in crises that seemed about to collapse at any moment, she kept her eyes wide open, looking beyond to the possibility of victory.

Indomitable.

The reason Frosimar was chosen as hero and her greatest talent.

'Only one chance.'

Just this one chance while Pride underestimated them and wasn't using his full power.

As if her will transmitted to the others-

WHOOSH!

Her companions began moving simultaneously without a word.

ROAR!

Turzan unleashed a mighty roar and charged right before Pride with a single leap.

The giant's strike shot forth, adding speed and rotational force to the explosive power bursting from his muscles.

Like precisely turning gears, Elysis's holy magic manifested at the perfect timing, imbuing the giant's fist.

The result of countless battles fought together.

But-

SCREECH!

The giant's fist that could shatter a small mountain was blocked by Pride's single finger, unable to advance further.

Thousands of black spheres appeared in the rippling space from this impact.

Just as these spheres radiating terrifying demonic energy that made one sick just looking at them were about to all shoot at Turzan- CRACK!

With a lightning bolt, Rain appeared from behind and drove her spear, wrapped in hundreds of lightning strands, into Ogrit.

Without even looking back, Pride created a single barrier that completely annihilated the incoming lightning strands.

Though her attack hadn't caused any damage, the light in Rain's eyes hadn't dimmed.

It had been meant to buy time for Turzan to withdraw from the start.

CRASH!

The spheres belatedly reached where Turzan had been, causing massive explosions.

Without time to breathe, Turzan broke through the explosion's aftermath to charge at Ogrit once more.

Just before the giant's form reached right before the Archdemon- Makesia's Gravity Step.

RUMBLE!

As Tirian's spell struck, Ogrit's palanquin shook for the first time.

Having fully heard from Claire about their opponent before coming here, he had deployed his best formation from the start.

As Pride's body was perfectly fixed by gravity suddenly increasing hundredfold- BOOM!

Turzan drove in a strike using all his power.

The resulting shockwave was comparable to before.

SLASH!

Rain's spear strike, having gathered lightning again, additionally pierced through.

'Still slightly lacking.'

Claire's eyes grew cold as she waited for something without participating in the battle.

The single chance she had thought of.

The opening to perfectly utilize that one chance hadn't appeared yet.

'If it would just show a little more...'

As the situation grew increasingly precarious, she gripped her sword handle tighter.

ROAR!

With a sound like a lion's roar, brilliant starlight beginning from the ground shot toward where Ogrit was.

Evelyn had finally overcome her shock and joined the battle.

"I'm deeply ashamed of myself for giving up without even fighting."

With these words, the Lion Princess charged right before the Archdemon and swung her sword vertically, containing seven stars.

FLASH!

The world turned completely white from the strongest knight's sword strike containing all her power.

And within this-

'Now.'

Having spotted the perfect opening, Claire finally drew her sword.

Sun Sword Gram.

The divine artifact obtained from the demon realm this time, once wielded by the one called history's strongest swordsman, the Divine Blade.

As this Gram was completely drawn from its scabbard-

---!

From one edge of vision to the other.

No, a single golden line drawn across the world itself split Pride's body.

Light incomparably more intense than anything before covered everything.

Eyes about to lose focus and ears already unable to hear.

'It landed perfectly.'

Claire thought this while collapsing in place after using all her power in that single strike.

Even thinking again, it was a perfectly executed sword strike without even a hair's breadth of error.

'This much should...'

Just as she began to smile slightly while feeling her vision gradually return-

"Ah, so you're that hero."

A voice that shouldn't have reached anyone's ears there was heard.

As people's eyes began trembling-

SCREECH!

A shockwave bursting at terrifying speed from the light's center sent the entire hero party flying.

The companions were flung back without even proper reaction, crashing through dozens of rocks before hitting the ground.

Their bodies didn't even twitch, as if they had lost consciousness.

But Claire couldn't help them even seeing this.

"Guh!"

Her throat was already caught in Ogrit's hand that had appeared right before her.

"That was a good attempt."

Though he had clearly taken her final sword strike head-on, not even the smallest wound existed on the Archdemon's body as he spoke these words.

"You nearly managed to scratch me."

Faint anger filled Pride's eyes.

"Now you'll pay the price even in death."

With these words, his hand gripping Claire's throat began tightening.

"Guh, gurk!"

Her breath choked off and vision dimmed.

For the first time, despair began filling the hero's eyes.

Strong.

He was too strong.

The Archdemon of Pride was incomparably stronger than before regression.

'Again, like this...'

She had tried and tried to avoid repeating what happened before regression.

Even knowing she would fail, she had struggled endlessly hoping for that one miracle that might come someday.

But despite trying so hard.

Despite struggling so much.

In the end, no miracle came this time either.

'Just once...'

Just once.

If miracles truly existed in this world.

'Save me...'

Just as she reached out one last time with this wish toward something that couldn't be grasped-

It happened in an instant.

Ogrit gripping her throat vanished from that spot.

Then-

CRASH!

With a tremendous explosion, the Archdemon's form appeared pathetically embedded after piercing through dozens of rocky mountains.

Following this-

BOOM!

Hundreds of shockwaves burst from the sky opposite Pride!

And in her increasingly distant vision,

The hero finally saw him.

Right before her.

WHOOSH-

A knight looking down at her while mounted on a horse burning with blue flames, his entire body clad in the Heat Heaven Armor.