Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 28

28.

Among Ken’s various plans, retreating to the palace was one possibility.

However, Ken considered that possibility unlikely.

I agreed with Ken’s assessment. While they were bold enough to send assassins to the Crown Prince’s palace, attacking in broad daylight on a main street was a different matter entirely.

But Chen was far bolder than I’d imagined. No, he was insane. Only a madman would dare to launch such a large-scale attack on the Crown Prince.

I bit my lip as I channeled the Chains of Wind.

Was it because my anger resonated with Sylph?

The mana flowing through my body intensified, and the blades created by Sylph became incomparably sharper than before.

The wind tore through the enemies, spraying blood with every pass.

I felt another wave of nausea. I wasn’t directly wielding a sword and cutting through the flesh of the enemies, but my power was severing their limbs, even taking their lives.

The shock of the first real battle far exceeded my expectations, and I felt my vision blurring.

“Your Highness! Get a grip!”

Ken’s voice snapped me awake. Kill or be killed. The undeniable reality stripped away even the slightest guilt and hesitation that remained in me as a modern person.

‘I have to create distance from the assassins somehow.’

“Gnome!”

I called out to Gnome loudly.

Even though the skill wasn’t unlocked, I felt a strong urge to ask Gnome for help at that moment.

“Gnome, can you shake the ground?”

Gnome nodded as if it were obvious.

“Go into the middle of them and shake the ground violently.”

I made a more precise request, and Gnome disappeared in an instant.

It seemed to have burrowed into the ground.

Would a simple request be enough? A sense of unease washed over me belatedly, but Gnome quickly emerged from the ground in the middle of the assassins, as if to reassure me.

Soon, it began to shake the ground.

Gnome, having absorbed more than half of my remaining mana, went beyond simply shaking the ground and created a large sinkhole in the middle of the road.

The enemies’ formation was temporarily disrupted, and we were able to create some distance more quickly.

My mind raced as the crisis unfolded.

“Soris, go and request help from the nobles right now!”

At my words, Soris and some of the guild members hurried away.

Ken didn’t object to my suggestion and swung his sword even more fiercely.

The distance and time secured thanks to Gnome were invaluable.

I recovered mana through the Breath of Wind in a short moment and was able to use the skill once again.

The moment the enemies jumped over the hole, they naturally became vulnerable in the air.

Not missing the opportunity, Sylph launched sharp blades from the air.

Swish-!

By the time the sound of human body parts being severed no longer felt repulsive, the distance to the enemies had once again narrowed.

‘The Imperial Palace is still more than two hours away.’

I doubted whether I could kill all the enemies in that time. No, before that, there was no way to confirm if the enemies I saw now were all of them.

In other words, my life was in danger until I returned to the Imperial Palace.

“The nobles will be here soon,” Ken said, retreating.

I nodded as well.

“Yes. They wouldn’t be foolish enough to refuse my direct request.”

It was an incident where the Crown Prince was attacked in broad daylight.

Even if I died on the spot and Chen took the Crown Prince’s seat, they couldn’t refuse my request for aid.

By the time the number of enemies had noticeably decreased, I had reached the limit of recovering mana with the Breath of Wind.

“How far back have we retreated from the midpoint?”

Ken replied briefly to my question.

“We haven’t retreated much. The attack was so fierce that we couldn’t escape quickly.”

The distance to the enemies was too close to turn around and run without engaging.

Ken continued, swinging his sword.

“Your Highness!”

“I’m fine.”

Three of the Shadow Walk guild members, whose names I didn’t even know, had died.

They had all been disguised as servants and maids, but they had no choice but to reveal their skills after the enemies’ attack began.

I was much more heartbroken that they had lost their lives than that their disguised identities had been exposed.

At that moment, a shout came from behind.

The expressions of Ken, myself, and the Shadow Walk guild members hardened.

It wasn’t the knights of the nobles we were waiting for, or the soldiers of the Imperial Palace.

They were people wearing the same clothes and masks as the enemies.

There seemed to be at least several dozen of them.

We could no longer retreat and were forced to stop in our tracks.

Ken smiled bitterly.

“Your Highness, it seems you’ll have to hold on a bit longer.”

Despite the desperate situation, I didn’t panic.

Rather, I felt my mind calming down.

Secretly summoning Sylph, I cast Chains of Wind towards the nearest enemy.

Swish-!

The man, who had been careless because he saw his comrades coming to support them from the rear, was instantly decapitated.

The man’s blood splattered directly onto my face.

The bitter smell of blood stung my nose.

And a familiar system voice echoed in my ears.

-You have leveled up.

-The extreme situation has presented a path to a higher realm.

Due to the level-up reward, the mana in the Mana Hole was instantly filled.

-You have become a Low-Grade Spiritalist.

-The number of spirits you can additionally contract with has increased.

I had escaped the lowest grade.

I murmured quietly.

“In accordance with the Primordial Covenant…”

It was a gamble based on my talent and past experiences.

I summoned the Fire Spirit.

* * *

Flames that seemed to burn the world filled the streets.

-Ho, so you’re the one I’ve only heard rumors about?

The Highest-Grade Fire Spirit, Ifrit, had a different reaction from the other Highest-Grade Spirits.

Mana had already bottomed out the moment Ifrit was summoned, and it was hard to even stand, but I desperately bit my lip.

Ifrit seemed to have lost interest in me and looked around.

-Quite audacious, aren’t you? Trying to escape a crisis with just a summon, even though you don’t have the power to make a contract with me?

Even without explaining the situation, Ifrit accurately understood it. Spirits share my consciousness, so it was no different even for Ifrit.

He knew the situation as well as my intentions, as if he had entered and exited my head.

Ifrit lightly stretched out his hand.

It was just a simple gesture, but I ended up collapsing. As if squeezing the moisture out of dry laundry, Ifrit sucked up every last drop of mana.

-The talent ‘Ruler of Flames’ has been added.

-You have leveled up.

-The path of the Great Spiritalist has been opened.

-Bonus stats have been awarded.

Ifrit exclaimed in admiration. As I leveled up, mana was instantly filled and sucked into Ifrit.

Ifrit smiled and said.

“Indeed.”

It was my first time hearing the voice of a spirit, so I felt dazed. The eyes of my companions, who could only swallow their saliva and watch, and the enemies, who had retreated from the explosive flames Ifrit was emitting, also wavered.

“For the day we meet again, I’ll grant you this much favor.”

Ifrit quietly waved his outstretched hand.

Gooooooo-!

A curtain of fire spread across the street.

“Kuaaaaaaak!”

Starting with one scream, the enemies’ screams soon echoed loudly.

Ifrit directly conveyed his will to my consciousness.

-I will continue to watch whether you are truly the master of the legend that comes with the Primordial Covenant.

With those words, Ifrit disappeared.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the still-raging flames as I breathed heavily.

“Y-Your Highness…”

I finally came to my senses at Ken’s voice.

“Are you alright?”

“Are you alright, Your Highness?”

“I’m fine. I’m just a little dizzy from using too much mana.”

At that moment, shouts came from afar.

“Waaaaaaa!”

Soris was the first to appear.

“Your Highness!”

Behind Soris were hundreds of knights I had never seen before and soldiers wearing armor with the emblem of the Capital Defense Force.

I said to Ken with a hollow laugh.

“They’re finally here.”

In the meantime, all the flames had died down.

The enemies couldn’t escape. Some of those who tried to escape had their entire bodies charred and were dead with their backs turned.

It was a truly gruesome sight, and I could feel how strong Ifrit was.

He had incinerated dozens of assassins with just a wave of his hand.

‘The power of a Highest-Grade Spirit’s skill is unimaginable.’

I shook my head and got up with Ken’s support.

“I guess it’s better to return to the palace?”

“Yes. I don’t think there will be any more attacks. It would be good if there were survivors… but first, we should gather the bodies with their help and start moving in earnest.”

There are many eyes watching.

There were countless people who witnessed the battle that took place in broad daylight on the main street.

In addition, the fact that I summoned Ifrit would likely be known soon.

The plan had been twisted, but I tried to think positively.

“Let’s go back to the Imperial Palace for now.”

The captain of the Capital Defense Force approached me, knelt on one knee, and bowed his head.

“Crown Prince, I am Marshall, the captain of the Capital Defense Force.”

I had no particular feelings for Marshall, but Marshall seemed to feel differently.

“I never imagined that such a terrible thing would happen while Your Highness was traveling. It’s all my fault.”

Hearing the name of Marshall, the captain of the Capital Defense Force, I vaguely remembered something about him.

‘Ted’s loyalist.’

To be precise, he was a loyalist of the Aetran family. [Ted is the Crown Prince’s younger brother. The Aetran family is Ted’s maternal family.]

My younger brother Ted’s maternal family, the Aetran family, had extended its reach to several organizations in the Imperial Palace, including the Capital Defense Force.

For now, I replied normally.

“I will return to the palace.”

“I will escort you.”

I didn’t bother to refuse.

Escorted by the soldiers of the Capital Defense Force, as well as those who appeared to be knights from some noble families, I turned my steps back to the Imperial Palace with my companions.

“We will take care of the bodies…”

I cut off Marshall’s words.

“I plan to collect and investigate the bodies separately.”

There was nothing to salvage from the bodies of those killed by Ifrit’s power, but it was different for the enemies killed by our group.

‘Even one clue will do.’

Marshall was Ted’s subordinate. Since he was someone I couldn’t trust, I wasn’t going to hand over the bodies of the criminals either.

Ken stepped forward.

“We will move the bodies separately and investigate them.”

“Yes. I will follow Your Highness’s orders. I will investigate the incident with the lives and honor of the Capital Defense Force at stake.”

I didn’t trust Marshall’s words, but there was no need to express it directly.

So I nodded lightly.

“Do so. Let’s go.”

The road back to the Imperial Palace was quite anticipated.

The news had probably already reached the Imperial Palace.

An unprecedented incident had occurred since the founding of the Empire. The attack on the Crown Prince was something that could never be taken lightly, no matter how insignificant I was.

“Ken.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I guess we’ll have to revise the plan.”

Ken smiled.

“That’s right. They attacked Your Highness in the middle of the main street in broad daylight, and Your Highness… summoned the Highest-Grade Spirit for the first time since His Majesty.”

A considerable aftermath was expected, and it was clear that it would have a significant impact on my future actions.

My head was in turmoil, but strangely, my steps back to the palace felt lighter.