I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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Ahmad stared at the spot where Zion had vanished without a trace, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"Prince Zion!"

The event was so sudden that even he couldn't properly react. Though his eyes trembled as he instinctively realized this was far beyond mere spatial transfer, Ahmad couldn't dwell on it any longer.

The shadow that covered the entire battlefield was rising upward, taking form. It commanded the attention of every mage present, including himself.

The mere sight of it pressed down on their spirits with an overwhelming presence. Finally, two dark pupils within the shadow, now perfectly shaped like a dragon, looked down upon the Light Watchers.

Founder of the floating city and leader of the Shadow Nest. Moreover, he was ranked second in the city's magical hierarchy, ruling as an undisputed sovereign.

"You should be proud of yourselves. You've succeeded in drawing me out," he said with arrogant contemplation as shadows began extending from his entire body toward the Light Watchers and imperial mages.

"Deploy light magic to counter the shadow's erosion! Focus all attacks on that evil dragon!" Ackendelt shouted desperately.

Though Prince Zion's sudden disappearance was a massive variable that could derail their entire plan, they couldn't just stand still. That would mean instant annihilation by this absolute being.

The Light Watchers' light formation activated, pushing back the approaching shadows. The battlefield grew even brighter.

Through the center of this illuminated battlefield, a path of flames so white they appeared transparent cut through.

King-Slayer's Wrath.

One of Ahmad Ozlima's strongest spells since reaching the peak of level 9. This transcendent technique that embodied the very concept of "burning" shot straight toward Stigma.

Ahmad knew well. Though he was revered as the pinnacle of human mages, he fell short in both class and level compared to dragons, the originators of magic - especially this ancient dragon who had lived countless years.

Therefore, he needed no probing attacks. From the start, he unleashed his strongest magic.

When Ahmad's flames finally engulfed Shadow Dragon Stigma-

The entire field of vision turned white-hot.

In a world turned silent as even the air that carried sound burned away, the impact spread infinitely. Everything touched by this aftermath instantly ignited, leaving only white flame ash.

Perhaps this was what the world of Loki, the mythical God of Fire, looked like.

Even as vision slowly returned, the mages' eyes remained fixed on the overwhelming sight.

"So this is the Magician of Contempt..." Ackendelt whispered in unconscious admiration.

Hope began flickering in his eyes - but only for a moment.

"Not bad magic. For a human," a chilling voice emerged from the remaining white-hot remnants.

"...!"

As Ackendelt's face hardened, tens of thousands of spears erupted from the shadow covering the battlefield, piercing through the Light Watchers' mages.

Ahmad and other high-ranking mages quickly deployed defensive magic to block the spears. But not all were so capable.

"Gu-guh!"

Those who couldn't react in time or whose defenses proved too weak found countless shadow spears impaling their bodies.

The death toll from this single attack reached a quarter of their total forces.

"Ah..."

Perhaps only now did they truly grasp the difference in power. Despair began creeping into the other Watchers' eyes as they witnessed the scene.

"Now you show the expression I wanted to see."

Satisfied with their looks, Stigma's pitch-black shadows, formed from the fusion of authority and dragon speech, began consuming all visible space.

An overwhelming power that deepened despair and erased hope.

Then the one-sided battle began.

"Aaagh!"

"Kuaaagh!"

Endless screams rang out as the Light Watchers' numbers rapidly dwindled. Their attacks were completely blocked by the shadow wall that isolated space itself, while the dragon's magic proved lethal without exception.

"How are we supposed to fight something like that..."

In truth, their current forces never stood a chance against this shadow dragon. From the start, only Light Dragon Obergia could face Stigma in this floating city.

They had only attempted this operation because Prince Zion said it was possible - but now Prince Zion was gone.

"Your Highness... where did you go?" Ahmad's hand trembled as he struggled to hold on.

"You wait for one who cannot return," Stigma said with a twisted smile at Ahmad's whispered words.

The dragon had good reason to say this. He had banished Zion Agnes to imaginary space - a realm of unknown and denial from which none but immortal divine beings could escape.

Though it had cost him great power and some of his limited remaining lifespan to send Zion Agnes there, Stigma didn't regret his decision. Or rather, he'd had no time to consider it.

'That darkness emanating from Zion Agnes.'

The moment he recognized that alien yet somehow familiar darkness, the dragon had instinctively uttered the words of banishment.

It was an almost instinctive reaction. Even now he couldn't understand why he had reacted that way, regardless of Zion being the Eternal Emperor's descendant.

'No matter. I'll never see him again anyway.'

With that thought, Stigma gathered all shadows in the cavern before him. He decided to finish this quickly, as preparations were still needed to make the floating city fall.

"Ah..."

The mages' eyes, including Ackendelt's, began dying as they felt the overwhelming authority of the gathering shadows.

Death they could neither avoid nor block approached.

"Yes, those eyes."

Feeling ecstasy at the mages' expressions due to his twisted values, Stigma smiled deeply and launched the completed wave of authority toward them.

A transcendent technique predetermined to hit from the moment of its creation.

"Is this the end?" Ahmad's voice carried despair as he watched the wave.

Just as the shadow wave reached them, about to devour all the mages-

A small space distortion appeared between them and the wave.

Space opened in a circle around this distortion.

In that moment, the shadow wave began being sucked completely into this circle, as if the technique had never been cast.

Stigma's attack vanished instantly.

"That...!!!!"

The dragon's eyes filled with deep shock at this incomprehensible phenomenon. Beyond the opened space was clearly the imaginary space where he had just banished Zion Agnes.

"Could it be..."

As his eyes trembled at the possibility forming in his mind-

"Should I start with saying thanks first?"

An impossible voice rang out.

As Stigma quickly turned his head toward the voice, feeling an ominous drop in the world's brightness-

Even faster, a strike fell from above, instantly shattering the shadow barrier and hitting the dragon.

The tremendous impact drove Stigma's head into the floor.

Before he could pull his head out-

"They say it's better to give thanks multiple times, right?" Zion appeared right above the dragon's embedded head and raised one leg, then brought it crashing down.

The impact wave defied imagination as Stigma's head was driven further underground.

As Zion raised his leg again, still unsatisfied-

Thousands of shadows rose and transformed into blades, flying at him.

Zion lowered his leg and lightly swung Eclaxia, which he had drawn at some point.

But the result was far from light.

Every shadow blade touched by the Light-Extinguishing Sword's trajectory vanished without a trace.

Not merely cut - completely annihilated.

"How did you escape from there?!" Stigma pulled his head out during the opening and glared at Zion, grinding out the words.

He simply couldn't understand.

"It just let me out on its own."

"...What?"

Though Stigma's eyes filled with question at Zion's response, the dragon couldn't think about it further.

Zion had already reached right in front of him and was bringing down his raised sword vertically.

The dragon's massive form vanished from that spot, instinctively sensing he couldn't take that sword head-on.

Zion's sword cut through the empty air where Stigma had been a paper's width away.

A black line formed along the sword's trajectory, erasing everything it touched - including air and space itself.

'That's not Heaven's Opposition.'

Though chilled by this unbelievable sight, Stigma analyzed it coldly and immediately unleashed dragon speech.

"Sink into despair."

His dragon speech instantly eroded and reversed the world's structure.

The distortion from this reversal transformed into waves of shadow that crashed toward Zion from all directions.

Similar to before, but several times stronger.

Yet Zion's eyes showed neither fear nor confusion as he watched the approaching waves - only joy.

This was a chance to test the new level of Black Star Force he had just reached.

Black Star Force Six Stars.

There were only two differences between six stars and the previous level:

The range and intensity of the denial authority that was the source of Black Star Force.

The purpose of six stars was to maximize both.

Annihilation Step.

With an incredibly heavy step forward-

A single wave spread out.

The moment it met the shadow waves crashing in from all directions-

They vanished silently.

No sound.

No explosion.

The shadow waves simply ceased to exist, as if they had never been part of the world.

!!!!!!

All watching were dumbfounded by this sight that went beyond unbelievable to nearly incomprehensible.

"That power! What is that power?!" Stigma nearly screamed at Zion, feeling the alien nature of the power and an increasingly ominous familiarity.

Meanwhile-

"Yet Obergia recognized me instantly. You're duller than I expected."

Zion instantly reached the dragon, negating the distance between them, and smiled as he spoke these words.

"...What?"

A scene from the past began slowly overlapping in Stigma's mind.

'You're duller than I expected.'

In that scene too, the one before him had smiled and said exactly the same words.

And that person was...

"ETERNAL EMPEROR!" The dragon's cry burst forth, filled with immense rage.

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