I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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Episode 163, Chapter 45: The Tower of Causality (3)

In First Prince Rubrious's office at Baeksung Palace,

Rubrious sat with a cold expression, facing a man in the uniform of an Order of Light inquisitor who bowed his head.

"The results?"

"...We couldn't find anything."

"Hmm..."

Rubrious tapped the armrest with his finger, letting out a dissatisfied sound.

It had been over a week since the attack.

Immediately afterward, they had mobilized the Order's inquisitors and shadows to track down the attackers, but they hadn't made any progress.

"No traces at all?"

"No. Nothing remained at all."

The inquisitor shook his head again as he answered.

"Demonic energy is an evil power that doesn't mix with anything else. So once it's exposed, it's easy to track... But we couldn't detect any demonic energy at all. It seems they've thoroughly covered their tracks."

The rhythm of the First Prince's finger tapping increased.

'Should I give up the pursuit?'

The inquisitor before him was the head of an organization ranked in the top three within the entire Order for tracking and exterminating impurities.

He was particularly renowned as the best in tracking demons.

If someone like him said this, it was right to consider the pursuit impossible.

'Plus, there are many restrictions since we need to keep this quiet and covert.'

It was a frustrating situation in many ways.

But in the end, Rubrious didn't tell him to stop the pursuit.

His anger from when they were attacked hadn't subsided yet.

Moreover, he instinctively realized that they needed to succeed in this matter to root out the demons hiding within the empire.

'Should I borrow Ozlima's power? No, not there yet.'

According to Zion, demons were likely hiding in the Ozlima family too, and if they cooperated, there was a risk of their information leaking.

'Where on earth has Zion disappeared to again in this situation?'

As Rubrious thought about his half-brother who had vanished from the imperial palace without a trace a few days ago,

"Your Highness Rubrious!"

The voice of a servant outside was heard.

"What is it?"

"Someone from Prince Zion's side has arrived."

"What?"

The First Prince's eyes filled with questions.

How could Zion, who wasn't in the imperial palace now, send someone?

"Let them in for now."

CLUNK!

As Rubrious gave permission, the office door opened.

And a woman entered.

Black hair like ebony and red eyes like rubies.

"Hello!"

It was Liushina Bloodwalker.

* * *

If you thought about it a little, it wasn't such a difficult story.

The words the Trial Helper had said as soon as they entered the second floor's trial.

-Work together with other participants to defeat two boss monsters.

-The types of monsters are random.

-Points will be awarded differentially based on contribution and ability to handle special situations.

And the most important last words.

-The trial will begin immediately.

The crucial clue was already in these words.

The trial on the second floor was to kill boss monsters.

And saying the trial would begin immediately meant that the situation to kill such monsters would be created right away.

Yet the fact that only participants were in this cavern meant only one thing.

'It means there's a boss monster disguised as a participant.'

Though commonly lumped together as beasts or monsters, the types of monsters existing on the continent were too diverse to count, and their abilities varied greatly.

So there could certainly be monsters that could disguise themselves as humans, like demons.

Once Zion had figured that out, his next task was to identify which one was the disguised monster while the others fought for dominance.

'It seems the creator of this trial wants us to figure it out through the monster's uniquely different behavior or thought patterns compared to humans, but...'

Zion had another method that didn't consume as much time as that.

It was the Trial Helper.

Every person who entered the tower was assigned a Trial Helper.

But there was no way a helper would be assigned to a monster pretending to be human.

In other words, the one without a Trial Helper was the monster.

Ordinary people had no way of noticing this, but Zion did.

'The frost spirit.'

Perhaps because they were both artificially created spirits rather than naturally occurring ones?

The frost spirit had been sensitive to the Trial Helpers from the moment they entered the Tower of Causality, allowing Zion to detect their presence.

And what he discovered through this was, SLASH!

The Earth God priestess Dayla, who Zion had just split with Gigaperses.

THUD!

Dayla's corpse, split exactly in two, fell to the ground.

A moment of silence passed as people tried to understand the incomprehensible sight before them.

Then,

"What... What the fuck are you doing, you crazy bastard!"

Deshawn, who had been standing right next to Dayla, cursed as he distanced himself from Zion.

At the same time, tremendous magical power began to pour out from his entire body, which was now in a highly defensive stance.

The others were no different.

SHING!

The fairy swordswoman pointed her long sword at Zion, while Rain pulled out the spear from her back.

Among them, Rain, who had known Zion from before, showed even greater bewilderment than the others.

'Why would he suddenly do this!'

It was a completely unexpected action.

Had he really gone mad, as that muscular sorcerer said?

Just then,

"Tough one. I split it in half intending to kill it in one go."

Zion's voice came out as if clicking his tongue, still looking at Dayla's split corpse, seemingly oblivious to the others' wariness.

At those incomprehensible words, doubt flickered in the others' eyes.

CRUNCH!

With a bizarre sound, the corpse that had been split in two began to merge and bubble up, transforming into a different shape.

A new head, arms, and legs sprouted.

When all the changes were complete, a muscular man stood there with a blank expression, completely different from the priestess Dayla.

"That, that's!"

Deshawn's voice rang out in shock.

"A Doppelganger! Why is a Doppelganger here!"

A top-tier monster rarely found in the remote areas of the south where he operated.

Doppelgangers normally have no differences from humans, but they emit a unique energy during the very brief moment when they change form.

Deshawn, who had once lost his entire party to this monster, could recognize that energy instantly.

"A Doppelganger... a monster? Tell me that from the start!"

Rain and the fairy swordswoman finally grasped the situation, pointing their weapons towards the Doppelganger.

At that moment, WHOOSH!

With a sound of air bursting, the Doppelganger vanished from its spot.

It reappeared right in front of Deshawn.

Doppelgangers perfectly replicate the abilities of creatures they've killed.

And this time, the ability the Doppelganger had replicated was that of a supreme martial artist who had once dominated an era.

BOOM!

A terrifying shockwave erupted as the Doppelganger's fist shot forward.

"Kuhek!"

Despite reacting in that brief moment and spreading several layers of protective barriers, Deshawn's form was sent flying backward.

The Doppelganger immediately followed to finish off the sorcerer.

But its form didn't reach Deshawn.

Before that,

"Where do you think you're going!"

Rain's spear and the fairy's sword swung from both sides, precisely aiming for important points.

CLANG!

Just before their attacks could land, the Doppelganger spun its body in midair like a top, deflecting them, and blade-like energy burst from its entire body.

CRACKLE!

'It's stronger than I thought!'

Rain's eyes wavered as she retreated backward, deflecting those energies.

She hadn't expected a monster from just the second floor's trial to possess this level of power.

'Even if the monster's level somewhat reflects the participants' power...'

Still, there was a huge difference from what she had heard from the hero.

In truth, she could still kill it, but the problem was that it might take time.

'We need to break through quickly.'

If they took too long here, the score they could receive would naturally be lower.

CRACKLE!

As Rain grew impatient, even stronger thunder energy burst from her entire body, beginning to engulf the surroundings.

CRUNCH!

The Doppelganger's body, which had been charging at her and the fairy swordswoman, bent at an angle impossible for humans, then, WHOOSH!

It shot off in a completely different direction.

The speed was so incredible that even Rain momentarily lost track of it.

The Doppelganger was heading towards Deshawn, who had just begun to recover.

"...!"

The sorcerer's eyes widened, unable to react properly, seemingly not yet fully recovered from the shock of the earlier clash.

'It's too late!'

Rain's eyes filled with urgency as she gave chase.

"Kihihihi!"

Just as the Doppelganger's fist, finally letting out a maniacal laugh, was about to shatter Deshawn's head,

"Let's finish this quickly and move on."

A languid voice completely out of place in the situation.

"Kihi...?"

As the Doppelganger's eyes filled with confusion at that voice, a vertical line was drawn from the crown of its head to its groin, then, SLASH!

It split in two once again.

Behind it stood Zion, holding a black chain in one hand with an indifferent expression.

Immediately after, with a rattling sound, Zion's extended chain pierced into the Doppelganger's split body.

BOOM!

Then, causing a terrifying explosion, it began to tear apart the Doppelganger's flesh, leaving no trace.

He had completely uprooted it to prevent regeneration like before.

"How could it be so easy..."

As a dazed voice flowed from the fairy swordswoman's mouth at that sight,

-You have defeated the 'Copycat Lord'. For swift elimination, you are awarded 2 additional points.

The Trial Helper's voice rang in everyone's ears.

-You have perfectly handled the special situation. You are awarded 10 additional points.

And another voice that only Zion could hear.

It seemed the "special situation" mentioned at the beginning wasn't the conflict between people, but the Doppelganger that had disguised itself and snuck in as a participant.

'That was really dangerous.'

Rain swallowed hard as she looked at where the Doppelganger's corpse had been after the situation ended.

If they had entered that boss room without realizing a monster was mixed in among the participants, they might have been wiped out by attacks from behind.

'It probably disguised itself as a priestess aiming for that too.'

Usually, a priest's position during battle was at the very back.

Stroking her nape, which felt chilling just thinking about it, Rain looked at Zion Harness, who had resolved this entire situation.

"How on earth..."

How on earth had he figured it out?

Even Rain, who knew something about this Tower of Causality, hadn't realized the priestess was a Doppelganger, let alone think there might be a monster mixed in among them.

"......"

The others seemed to share her thoughts, looking at Zion with shaking eyes.

An unbelievable level of deduction and judgment.

'And the decisiveness to execute it in an instant.'

If it had been her, even if she had figured out the priestess was a monster, could she have killed it without hesitation like that?

She probably wouldn't have been able to act properly until she was certain.

But what surprised Rain most was none other than Zion Harness's power.

'To deal with a Doppelganger that briefly fought three people simultaneously so easily...'

Even if it was a surprise attack, it was absolutely impossible without a certain level of skill backing it up.

A level of power that instinctively aroused wariness.

Even when she first saw him, this man's power and abilities were impressive, but it was incomparable to what she saw now.

'Moreover, his aura has completely changed.'

The Zion Harness from before felt like an observer who didn't step forward but watched from behind, while the current one had grasped the situation itself and was leading it.

What on earth had happened in this short time, not even a year?

'Or perhaps...'

Was this his true form, and back then he had been hiding this appearance?

A suffocating pressure that could be felt even though he was just standing there without saying anything.

Because of this, in the silent cavern, people's gazes naturally focused on Zion.

They looked as if they were waiting for instructions.

How much time had passed like this?

"We're going in right away."

Zion, who had been briefly looking at where the Doppelganger had disappeared, turned towards the boss room on one side with those words.

People began to follow behind Zion as if entranced.

Unlike before, there was no dissatisfaction in their eyes.

---

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