I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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As the brilliant light that had enveloped the world faded away, the shadow sky that had threatened to devour everything was gone. All that remained was the pitch-black night sky visible through the gaping ceiling, and beneath the streaming moonlight, the Shadow King slowly dissipating.

"I..." Stigma slowly spoke, looking at Zion whose eyes had returned to their usual gray after expending all authority through that final strike.

"Have I lost again?"

His voice carried nothing but emptiness. The spark of life in his eyes had completely extinguished. Having consumed most of his lifespan with his previous attack, the remnants of Zion's light had shattered what little remained.

"Though I devoted everything to surpassing you for hundreds of years... in the end, I couldn't achieve it."

"You know what?" Zion smiled as he watched Stigma. "Even if you devoted not hundreds, but thousands or tens of thousands of years, you could never surpass me."

This wasn't arrogance or speculation. It was certainty - the absolute conviction of an emperor who had devoured the world and precisely understood a dragon's level and limitations.

Stigma's eyes wavered with emotion at Zion's words, but he dissipated without responding.

Then silence fell over the cavern.

Everyone - the Light Watchers, imperial forces, and even the Shadow Nest mages - stared at Zion wordlessly.

"He really defeated Stigma..." Ackendelt's trembling voice expressed what everyone felt.

Though they had believed Zion when he said he had a way to handle Stigma and followed his plan, none had imagined that method would involve direct confrontation. Let alone that he would actually succeed in destroying the dragon.

While both the darkness and Obergia's power Zion had used were questionable, Stigma's death was so shocking that nothing else registered.

'Even for a direct descendant of Agnes known as monsters, this level is...'

Just as Ackendelt tried to steady his trembling body-

"You can handle the cleanup yourselves," Zion turned and addressed him.

With the Shadow Dragon's death, the nest's mages had lost both their strength and will to fight, making Zion's further involvement unnecessary. In truth, he couldn't fight right now anyway due to the recoil from using both the Light Dragon's power and Eclipse.

"Eliminate the remaining forces!"

At Zion's words, Ackendelt finally snapped out of his daze and shouted.

The final battle began.

"Don't stop! Today we must erase every shadow from this world!"

BOOM!

"AAAAAGH!"

As Zion had predicted, the battle became completely one-sided in favor of the Light Watchers.

Meanwhile, Ahmad, who was helping eliminate the nest's mages, couldn't fully focus on the battle.

His distraction stemmed from Prince Zion - specifically, from a single word Stigma had shouted during their battle.

'The Shadow Dragon definitely called Prince Zion the Eternal Emperor.'

He hadn't been able to dwell on it during the urgent situation, but now it seemed incredibly strange. Even though Prince Zion was the Eternal Emperor's descendant, that cry had been completely out of place. ℝΆＮŏ𝖇Ë𝒮

'I can't understand what that cry meant.'

The only possible connection he could think of was Prince Zion's unique darkness, but even that was mere speculation without evidence.

'Prince Zion... what exactly are you hiding?'

Ahmad's eyes sank deep in thought as he watched Zion's retreating back leave the cavern.

* * *

After the battle ended, in the ruins of the Shadow Nest where no one remained-

"What an interesting fellow."

A girl appeared, muttering to herself.

She wore an elaborate dress with crimson lace trim, her lips stained purple.

Her eyes slowly traced the remnants of Zion and Stigma's battle. Though she had rushed here immediately upon detecting her target, everything had already ended. Now she could only gauge the level of combat from these traces.

"How can one person use such opposing powers? And both at such mastery."

Deep curiosity and interest filled her eyes as she examined the aftermath.

Her target, of course, was the victorious Zion.

"Zion Agnes, was it?"

She recalled his figure leaving the cavern just as she had arrived.

"I'd like to observe him more closely..."

The girl furrowed her brows in thought.

After contemplating for a while-

"Ah, that'll work!"

Her voice rang out cheerfully as she finally hit upon an idea.

* * *

Though the floating city was a magical holy land, it wasn't devoid of leisure spots. In fact, it had unique facilities that took advantage of being suspended in the sky, offering experiences unavailable elsewhere.

The "Sky Café" where Zion now sat was one such place.

All its walls were magically treated to be transparent, offering vast views of clouds that truly made one feel they were above the sky.

"How is it? The 'Cloud Coffee' you're drinking is our finest specialty product, available only here."

Obergia, who had transformed into a middle-aged man with blonde hair, smiled gently as he asked Zion, who quietly set down his cup.

Having learned of Zion's great fondness for coffee, Obergia had brought him here immediately after the Shadow Nest situation was resolved. Though he could barely move, making this effort showed his gratitude to Zion for preventing the city's fall.

"It's quite good."

Zion nodded in response.

Such praise from Zion, who had incredibly strict standards for coffee, was extremely rare - almost unprecedented.

"Haha, I thought you'd like it. I was certain you would."

Obergia let out a hearty laugh before continuing with a more serious expression.

"Now then, shall we hear what you want?"

The man before him never acted without reason. His proactive involvement in handling this incident surely meant he wanted something.

Even if Zion didn't want anything, Obergia planned to force a reward into his hands. Thanks to him, they had not only prevented the city's fall but also completely uprooted Stigma and the Shadow Nest that had threatened the floating city for hundreds of years.

Though it had greatly reduced his lifespan and authority, Obergia felt no regret - it was like finally pulling a long-aching tooth.

"I want this entire city to be mine."

Zion replied without hesitation to the dragon's question.

It was an outrageous statement that only Zion could make.

From the start, Zion had planned to acquire the floating city through this journey. With its concentration of top-tier mages, it would surely prove helpful in the coming great war. It would also significantly influence his path to the throne.

"As I expected."

Obergia nodded as if he'd known this would be the request.

After briefly closing his eyes to gather his thoughts, the Light Dragon spoke:

"If it's you, Aurellion, I don't mind being under your authority."

In truth, he had been worried about what would happen to the floating city after his death. The balance of power would surely be disrupted, making it difficult to maintain autonomy as they had.

Perhaps it would be better to seek Zion's protection from now. Though he was overwhelming despair as an enemy, being within his shelter would provide the strongest possible protection.

"I can't give you a definitive answer since it's not my decision alone, but I'll propose it to the mayor and city council."

Zion knew these words were essentially acceptance. Obergia's influence in the floating city was nearly absolute.

"Additionally, we'll participate in the 'World Conference' from now on. Will that suffice?"

"It's enough."

Obergia's expression lightened at Zion's response, and he changed the subject.

"I'm glad it's sufficient. By the way, are you sure it's alright not to attend the rest of the exchange conference? The mages who were present seem quite eager to see you again after the Shadow Nest incident. They also wanted to ask about your 'spatial distortion through gravity magic' technique."

Zion slightly shook his head at this.

Ahmad was handling things well enough without him, and more importantly, he no longer had any reason to attend the conference.

"Rather, there's something I want to ask."

"Ask anything. I'll answer whatever I know."

"You must know that when I was Aurellion, I already fought one war with the demon realm?"

The Light Dragon quietly nodded at Zion's words.

"Of course. Though it wasn't called the demon realm back then... I was one of those who helped erase that fact from the empire's history."

"...You erased history?"

"Yes. Don't you remember? It was at your direct request."

Of course he wouldn't remember.

That event must have happened after Zion had entered this body.

"Why?"

Obergia shrugged at the question.

"Shouldn't you know better? You weren't the type to explain your reasons when giving orders."

"..."

Zion had no response since this was true.

After a moment of silence, he asked what he had originally intended to ask the Light Dragon.

"Then let me ask something else. Do you remember anything notable about what I said or did back then?"

He was looking for clues about why he had acted as he had in the scene from his recent dream.

"Hmm... not actions, but you seemed to be troubled by something back then."

"Troubled?"

"Yes, troubled. Though it wasn't visible on the surface - this is purely my intuition. Perhaps you should take it with a grain of salt."

But Zion didn't dismiss these words.

The intuition of an ancient dragon who had lived nearly ten thousand years wasn't something to be taken lightly.

'What could I have been troubled about?'

He couldn't guess.

Before entering this body, Zion hadn't had any particular concerns. There had only been emptiness from having nothing left to achieve, and the boredom that came with it.

'Then it must have developed after I entered this body...'

Zion instinctively felt these troubles had influenced his contract with the gods and the scene from his dream.

'Even so, there's no way to know for certain now...'

"You seem troubled even now."

Obergia slowly spoke as he watched Zion lift his cup, lost in thought.

"Somehow I feel these troubles relate to yourself... perhaps this might help."

Zion looked at him questioningly.

The Light Dragon met his gaze with knowing eyes and continued:

"Not long after your reported death, I happened to have a conversation with a certain deity. Naturally, talk turned to you, and the deity used a particular word to describe you."

Though it had been said in passing and seemed unremarkable in meaning, the word had strangely stuck in the dragon's mind for hundreds of years.

His intuition whispered that it would help the current Zion.

"What was it?"

Zion prompted him to continue.

"Outside."

The single word finally left Obergia's lips.

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