I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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Episode 168, Chapter 45: The Tower of Causality (8)

In the heart of Hubris, the imperial capital, stood a massive mansion.

"So... you're saying those bastards are inside?"

A man in a deep hood spoke, his voice laced with disbelief as he stared at the mansion.

"Yep! I'm certain!"

It was Liushina.

"Hmm..."

The man's skeptical hum was accompanied by a glimpse of golden hair peeking from beneath his hood.

Rubrious Agnes.

That was the man's name.

An unlikely pair.

The reason he was out here with Liushina, away from the imperial palace, was simple.

It was because of the demons who had attacked him and Zion earlier.

'I know where they are.'

Those were the first words Liushina had blurted out when she barged into Rubrious's office a few days ago.

These were the same demons that had eluded even his extensive network of informants and inquisitors.

Normally, he would have dismissed her claim outright and punished her for insulting the royal family. But her status as Zion's closest confidant lent a shred of credibility to her words.

Given the dire situation, Rubrious had decided to follow her here on the off chance she was right.

'The demons we couldn't find no matter what are right in the middle of the capital?'

Honestly, he still didn't fully trust her, but it was worth checking out.

"Alright, I'll send someone to verify and we'll return later," Rubrious said, turning away.

"Huh? We're not going in now?" Liushina asked.

"I'm not doing anything that foolish."

There was no need to rush into the mansion recklessly.

He had snuck out with just Liushina and a few attendants to avoid drawing attention.

It wasn't that he lacked confidence in facing the demons.

Rather, barging in now risked letting them escape.

It would be better to confirm their presence, surround the area thoroughly, and then move in.

"By the way, why are you speaking to me so casually?" Rubrious asked.

"What? Is that not allowed?" Liushina replied.

"I am royalty, you know."

"My master's royalty too, and I speak casually to him."

Liushina tilted her head slightly as she spoke.

"......"

Rubrious was eyeing her warily when suddenly, clank!

The mansion's tightly closed front gate swung wide open.

Beyond it, an unmistakable aura began to seep out.

It was undoubtedly demonic energy.

"Looks like... they know we're here," the witch said with a grin, looking at the open entrance.

This was more than just awareness.

It was a provocation.

The demons inside were daring them to enter if they had the guts.

"Oho."

A smile similar to Liushina's slowly spread across Rubrious's face as he let out an impressed sound.

"With such a warm welcome, how can we refuse to enter?"

With those low words, the First Prince began moving towards the open gate.

* * *

The secret trial 'History of Destruction'.

This trial was unlike any other, incredibly special.

Or rather, it would be more accurate to call it peculiar.

For starters, only one person could take the trial, and the conditions were exceptionally strict.

The reason was simple.

'The deity who created this trial is an odd one.'

Unlike the other gods and ancient dragons, the god who made the secret trial was skeptical of the Eternal Tower itself, which was designed to reward many.

This god wanted all rewards to be concentrated on a single, supreme individual. So, without involving themselves in any other trials, they used all their causality to create this single 'secret trial'.

That's why the conditions were so complex.

'Well, the last condition has a slightly different reason...'

The final condition for accessing the secret trial was the 'Fragment of the Frost Queen's Authority'.

The god who created the trial had set this condition because of a deep connection with the Frost Queen in the past.

It had nothing to do with the trial itself, but given the god's eccentric nature, it made sense.

Just then,

"You have entered the secret trial."

As the Trial Helper's voice rang out, whoosh!

Something began to unfold before Zion's eyes, which had seen nothing until now.

They were scenes.

Scenes from countless historical moments recorded in the world itself.

While these scenes varied in time and place, they shared one common thread.

They all depicted moments rushing towards destruction.

"Become a historical figure and prevent the destruction."

"The level of reward will be determined by the difficulty of the destruction you prevent."

"Please select one of the histories before you."

As the Trial Helper explained, the secret trial involved choosing and averting one of the world's histories of destruction.

It was truly a brutal trial.

After all, these histories of destruction were compilations of humanity's most extreme crises.

'Where is it?'

Zion's eyes darted quickly over the histories, searching for something specific.

"I'll go with this one."

His eyes lit up as he pointed to one history and addressed the Trial Helper.

"The history you've chosen, 'The Gorge of the End', is the highest difficulty destruction and virtually impossible to resolve. Are you sure about this decision?"

The Helper asked Zion.

Its tone was thoroughly mechanical, but somehow it seemed to hope Zion would choose something else.

"Yes."

But Zion nodded without a hint of hesitation.

The reward for the secret trial was determined by the difficulty of the chosen history.

To obtain the highest grade reward, a divine artifact, he needed to select the most challenging history of destruction.

"...Selection complete. The trial will now begin."

As the Trial Helper's slightly dimmed voice faded, whoosh!

Zion felt as if someone had grabbed his head and yanked it upward, his consciousness beginning to shift elsewhere.

Space twisted and his vision flickered endlessly.

How long did this state last?

At some point, Zion's vision suddenly cleared.

Simultaneously, boom!

As if he had just emerged from underwater, all the surrounding sounds flooded into Zion's ears at once.

"Hold them back somehow! Hold them back!"

Aaargh!

"These fucking monster bastards! Urgh!"

Crunch!

Screams of desperation, inhuman howls, and countless explosions filled the air.

The scene that unfolded before him could only be described as hell.

Screech!

In the distance, a wave of monsters filled the entire horizon, endlessly surging forward.

Knights and soldiers engaged in a desperate battle against these monsters, blocking a narrow gorge.

Heads were bitten off, limbs torn away, and spilled entrails stained the ground red.

Yet despite this, the soldiers didn't retreat an inch, desperately holding back the advancing wave.

At that moment,

"You have entered 'The Gorge of the End'."

The Trial Helper's voice began to speak in Zion's ear as he watched this scene.

"You have inhabited the body of 'Nadir Chrosicle', a companion of the first hero."

"During this trial, you can use Nadir Chrosicle's abilities and skills."

"Currently, the 'Dragon of the End', a top executive of the Demon King's forces, is moving to break through the gorge with its subordinates."

"Hold back the wave of destruction until reinforcements arrive."

The Battle of the Gorge of the End.

This was a history Zion knew as well.

It occurred during the First Human-Demon War hundreds of years ago.

The Dragon of the End, one of the Four Great Demons at the time, had led all its forces in a secret attack on this gorge, a strategic stronghold.

Humanity, caught off guard by this attack, couldn't muster a proper response. Nadir Chrosicle, who happened to be guarding this place, had to face the Dragon of the End with only a few thousand troops.

Naturally, Nadir couldn't stop the Dragon of the End, and he, along with all his forces, were annihilated.

It was the worst defeat of the First Human-Demon War.

'This definitely qualifies as the highest difficulty.'

It was certainly dire enough for the Trial Helper to ask him to reconsider.

The situation seemed so hopeless that there appeared to be no way to prevent it.

Just then,

"Lord Nadir! Please give us instructions on what to do!"

A blood-covered knight, seemingly an adjutant, rushed towards Zion and shouted urgently.

His face was extremely dark, as if he sensed this battle would end in their defeat.

Yet the knight's eyes held a desperate will to defend this place somehow, showing the strength of his spirit.

But,

"...?"

The knight's eyes soon filled with confusion.

Suddenly, his superior Nadir had started jumping lightly in place, shaking out his limbs.

As if trying to adapt to an unfamiliar body.

"Lord... Nadir?"

As the adjutant called out once more, Zion stopped jumping and drew the sword at his waist.

"No, we're not going to defend this place anymore."

His voice was calm.

"...What? What do you mean?!"

The adjutant's face contorted in shock at these unexpected words.

"Surely you're not suggesting we abandon this place?"

That was impossible.

Numerous cities lay beyond this gorge.

Abandoning it would mean the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people living in those cities.

Zion didn't respond to the adjutant's words. Instead, he slowly pulled back the drawn sword.

At that moment, whoosh!

All the surrounding air began to burn white-hot, as if incandescent, and was sucked towards Zion's sword.

Rumble!

Space contracted and the earth trembled.

The sword, having absorbed the pure white air, began to vibrate violently as if wailing.

The overwhelming power emanating from it momentarily stopped the surrounding battle.

Zion knew.

His Black Star Force was a power engraved on his soul.

So while its magnitude might change with different bodies, using it wouldn't be a problem.

Then what if...

What would happen if he used the Black Star Force in the body of a being who had reached humanity's peak, rather than the frail body of Zion Agnes?

Here was the answer.

Nadir Chrosicle.

A companion of the world's first hero and a knight once called the strongest in the world.

As if a drop of black ink had fallen...

Pitch-black darkness began to spread across the entire blade that had been glowing white-hot.

Grind!

The sword vibrated even more violently, as if screaming, and the surrounding space began to crumble, unable to withstand its power.

Gripping the sword tighter, Zion looked at a being far away at the end of the wave of destruction.

A black dragon overlooking the battlefield, exuding an unimaginable aura and overwhelming presence in all directions.

The Dragon of the End, Apocalypsia.

"Now I'm going to strike the Dragon of the End."

Zion's cold eyes fixed on the dragon as these low words left his mouth.

Swish-

The moment Zion's sword, now cloaked in perfect darkness, swung downward.

The wave of monsters covering the world, and everything including that wave.

-----------------!

Began to split in two.

---

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