I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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In the Abyss, the deepest part of the demon realm.

The deep voice knelt on one knee, head bowed, before the black palace at its very center.

There was a reason this being, one of the Four Great Demons, showed such extreme deference.

Their king resided within that palace.

Their king who had entered the Abyss's palace long ago for 'preparation' and never shown themselves since.

However-

"My King."

Despite repeated calls, no answer came from within the palace.

How many times had this happened now?

These calls going unanswered.

Sometimes the deep voice wondered:

Perhaps their king had no real interest in destroying this world and dyeing it with evil?

Perhaps the king had already abandoned them long ago?

Though they knew such thoughts were baseless speculation, anxiety still crept in whenever no response came.

"...Then I shall return another time."

Just as the deep voice finished these final words and turned to leave-

-So it has finally appeared.

A voice filled with strange anticipation flowed from within the palace.

* * *

"...do?"

Pride's eyes filled with question as he stood frozen with hand outstretched.

Time had definitely stopped for a moment.

"...What did you just do?"

Ogrit watched Zion, who was now standing, as he voiced this question.

Something felt wrong.

The Heat Heaven Armor covering his entire body.

The spirit horse he had been riding.

The divine sword glowing in his right hand.

All had vanished, leaving him standing bare.

Though his appearance suggested he had given up the fight, Ogrit felt more intense unease than ever before.

'Why...?'

Why did he feel such anxiety when he was the one who had unleashed his power?

A very strange situation.

But Ogrit shook off this unease.

In this world, none could defeat him except the King.

RUMBLE!

Massive soul power began gathering at Pride's fingertip pointing at Zion's heart, converting into demonic energy.

"I'll end this in one..."

Just as these cold words began leaving Ogrit's lips-

SPLAT!

Without warning.

Without any power manifesting.

As if it were simply meant to be.

Pride's entire raised arm vanished.

His gathered demonic energy scattered, losing its focus point.

"...Huh?"

As this idiotic question left Ogrit's lips, still unable to process what had happened- CRASH!

His vision twisted with a tremendous impact.

Pride's form plowed endlessly inward, completely shattering one of the remaining rocky mountains.

"What is this!!"

Only after being driven almost to the mountain's core did Pride finally grasp the situation, warping the entire surrounding space to shake off Zion's hand gripping his head.

Apparently deeming this insufficient, tens of thousands of spectral knights appeared around him, driving their spears toward Zion.

Then Zion slightly raised his other hand that wasn't gripping Pride's head and gently clenched it.

In that moment-

ROAR!

The flying spears and the spectral knights wielding them all vanished completely.

As Pride's eyes widened at this incomprehensible sight- BOOM!

Consecutive Black Star shockwaves erupted from Zion's hand still gripping his head.

Pride's form began plunging endlessly downward through the ground.

"Kuh... AAAAAH!"

Only after permanently sacrificing some of his souls did Ogrit finally break free, desperately creating distance from Zion.

His body was completely mangled from that brief clash.

Though Pride normally despised even a speck of dust on his body, he had no luxury to care about such things now.

"I'll crush you in an instant!"

RUMBLE!

As this declaration burst from Pride's twisted face, the surrounding world completely distorted, revealing an army of hundreds of thousands of specters within.

Then they charged, treading through the air.

The scene resembled mythical heavenly armies descending to punish the mortal world.

"Ah...!"

Despairing voices left the watching people's mouths as this wave of calamity unlike anything in the mortal world filled their entire vision, but-

The actual target, Zion, remained perfectly calm.

His Dark Eye, completely awakened upon regaining his power.

That Dark Eye was processing all information about the approaching spectral army and the world, calculating the optimal situation to his advantage.

'Seems my power hasn't fully returned... but this should be enough.'

With this thought, Zion's hand extended slightly forward.

Flow.

Fate, air, life - everything in the world possessed 'flow,' and when that flow stopped, its subject would vanish.

Then what would happen if that flow didn't just stop, but disappeared entirely?

SWOOSH-

Like forcibly severing something.

Zion's extended hand slowly drew downward from top to bottom.

Flow Denial.

One of Zion's highest-grade denials, alongside Concept Denial which became possible when Black Star Force reached eight stars.

Finally, as Zion's hand completed its downward stroke-

Thud.

There was no explosion.

No light, no sound.

Only silence existed.

But the result transcended even imagination.

As if they had never existed at all.

The hundreds of thousands of spectral troops charging at Zion vanished without trace.

"H-how...!"

As Pride's eyes trembled uncontrollably upon witnessing his complete authority vanish with a single gesture-

Zion gripped the empty air before him as if grabbing something and pulled back.

WHOOSH!

Pride's vision reversed as Zion appeared directly before him.

Zion hadn't moved.

After denying all distance between them, he had pulled Pride and the surrounding space itself toward him.

BOOM!

The Emperor's strike landed on the Archdemon before he could react.

"Is... is that really Zion?"

From a distance far enough to withstand the aftermath, Second Princess Evelyn's voice dripped with disbelief as she watched the battle between these two transcendent beings.

Yes, she had known.

That perhaps Zion was her equal or even stronger.

But this was beyond that level.

Like watching an immortal from myth who had transcended mortal limits.

"What's happened... Zion."

As Evelyn muttered these words, face mixed with confusion and shock-

"...Heaven Destroyer."

Claire's eyes held incomparably greater shock than the Second Princess's.

"Prince Zion was... the Heaven Destroyer."

There was no doubt.

No other being in the world could possess such power.

As the puzzle pieces connected in her mind, endless chills rose!

The mythical scene she had witnessed in the City of Light, Lezero, was being recreated here.

Even Claire herself, having achieved tremendous growth and regaining her past power, could barely perceive their movements - such was the unfathomable gap in their battle.

Then a question arose in Claire's blank mind as she watched:

'Prince Zion definitely used Chronos's Five Questions earlier.'

She knew this because she had used it herself before regression.

The jewel that had shattered from Prince Zion's bracelet moments ago.

That jewel was certainly one of Chronos's Questions.

'Then this current power must also have been obtained through Chronos's Questions...'

Honestly, it made no sense.

While 'Chronos's Five Questions' was certainly a powerful divine artifact that had helped Claire greatly before regression-

It absolutely wasn't an artifact that could create non-existent power.

Borrowing one's own or another's prime.

That was the artifact's ability.

'Which means he either originally possessed this power or at least directly witnessed a being with such power...'

Neither made sense.

No, they couldn't make sense.

Not even the slightest possibility existed for either.

A completely incomprehensible situation.

'Just who are you, Zion...'

As the hero's eyes trembled endlessly watching Zion-

'How, how...!'

Pride's eyes also trembled uncontrollably as he faced Zion.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

He couldn't regain his senses.

The continuous transcendent strikes and his complete inability to properly react or defend against them.

'We clearly possess the same status!'

During battle, Ogrit had realized Prince Zion before him held the same demigod status as himself.

Though he couldn't understand how Zion possessed such power, nothing else could explain the current situation.

But even so, questions remained.

There shouldn't be such an overwhelming difference between equal demigods.

'Then why...!'

Unlike ordinary combat, battles between beings who had transcended the cycle of reincarnation and fate were decided by clashes between their symbolic qualities and concepts.

Ogrit's qualities were pride and collective.

Yet his authority manifested from these qualities was being torn apart like paper by Zion Agnes's mere gestures.

'That level of authority means he's already...'

Divine status.

It wouldn't be wrong to call it that.

Just what was happening?

Nothing made sense.

Even stranger was how that ominous darkness Zion Agnes wielded felt somehow familiar.

Despite never having seen it before.

But Ogrit could think no further.

CRASH!

His regeneration, already consuming souls, couldn't keep up with his body's rate of destruction.

If the battle continued like this, his defeat was certain.

'I cannot...!'

He absolutely could not allow that.

ROAR!

Something like transparent mist began endlessly pouring from Pride's entire body as he permanently consumed hundreds of thousands of souls to create an opening.

They were souls.

No, masses of souls.

Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands...

The souls of his people who had devoted their lives to him when he was king.

RUMBLE!

Finally, as half the souls within Pride emerged, they began forming an infinite spectral army beyond counting.

A sea of specters stretching beyond sight to the horizon.

The watching people's mouths fell open unconsciously at this scene that transcended even the word overwhelming.

Pride turned to Zion with a satisfied expression as he viewed this sight and his army.

"Now what will you do, descendant of Agnes? Can you handle an army of this scale?"

Even a demigod couldn't possibly handle ten million souls alone.

This was therefore Pride's full battle formation.

The Archdemon smiled at Zion as if shaking off his earlier sense of defeat and despair.

His spectral army slowly began moving in response to his will.

Then-

"Those words."

Zion, who had been quietly observing the army, grinned back at Ogrit.

"I should be saying them to you."

Whether the opponent's numbers were hundreds of thousands or even more.

That wasn't particularly important to Zion.

He could simply cut them all down.

But now he didn't even need to do that.

Just as millions of troops had served him in his past as Emperor-

Armies that served him existed in this era too.

"...What?"

As if Pride's question were a signal-

RUMBLE!

A new army began appearing beyond Ogrit's forces.

The Five Great Military Units, called the empire's strongest armies.

That was their identity.

And as if that weren't the end-

SCREECH!

With bone-chilling cries, the Evil Hand army led by the Witch of a Thousand Killings appeared from the opposite direction, followed by the Border Corps.

ROAR!

Moreover, countless monsters began gradually revealing their outlines from the north.

This was the monster army led by Horrible.

Then-

"Your Highness Zion."

Border Corps Commander Girard walked forward from the perfectly assembled armies and bowed his head.

"Your armies have arrived, Your Highness."

With his words, all the armies began paying respect to their ruler.