Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 133

133

Austin’s focus gradually blurred, and her eyes closed. For a while, nothing happened. Just when I thought it might end like that.

Screech—Flash!

The door guarded by the Guardian opened slightly, and an enormous radiance instantly filled the chamber.

-You, child, who called me, who was forgotten.

A man, yet a woman.

A child, yet an old man.

It was the voice of a god.

I was sure I was hearing it for the first time, but I had a sense of déjà vu, as if I had heard it somewhere before.

-The chain of reincarnation will be broken, and you may spend countless eons in torment. Even so, will you give your king a chance?

Austin, who seemed to have stopped breathing, slightly opened her eyes and twitched her lips. She clearly seemed to be saying ‘Yes.’

Then, her body slumped.

-Your intent is clear. But unfortunately, my diminished power and the karma you have accumulated are far from enough to grant your king a new opportunity.

A moment of silence.

Soon, the voice of the god echoed.

-Now, at this moment, I will ask those who are about to enter the path of reincarnation again.

Swish—

Countless streams of light flew from somewhere, filling the chamber.

‘Fireflies?’

No!

How could I mistake them for mere fireflies?

They were the souls of the people of the kingdom who fought their last battle against the invasion of the Hamel Empire.

A soldier whose lower body was crushed under the foot of a Titan.

A mage who collapsed from mana backflow.

A knight whose neck was severed by an enemy sword.

A woman struck by an arrow in the forehead.

A child crushed under a collapsed fortress wall.
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The god asked those who had been with the Lionel Kingdom until the very end.

-Will you give your king a chance? The chain of reincarnation will be broken. If things go wrong, you may suffer for countless eons.

The souls trembled.

It was clearly fear.

Frankly, I didn’t quite grasp what it meant to have the chain of reincarnation broken and suffer for countless eons.

However, those who had lost their flesh and become souls seemed to understand clearly what those words meant.

Then, someone’s soul spoke.

-Who are you?

-I am the one who has existed in this land since ancient times. Your parent and child. The one who looks back, walks the path, and gazes into the distance.

-······ You make the word ‘god’ sound so difficult. But what kind of opportunity are you giving His Majesty the King?

The flippant tone was somehow familiar.

That soul was definitely Alfonso.

-He will be given new choices.

-Can the broken chain of reincarnation never be restored?

-On the day the king passes the given trials, the broken chain of reincarnation will return to its original state.

-······ Very well! I will trust His Majesty. Please give our king a chance.

Alfonso’s soul, having said that, was sucked into the door guarded by the Guardian.

That was the beginning.

-I will trust His Majesty the King.

-Give His Majesty the King another chance.

-To His Majesty······.
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The souls of those who had defended the kingdom with me until the very end were sucked into the massive door one by one, and soon rushed in like a huge torrent.

I opened my eyes wide and captured them in my mind.

My shoulders grew heavy with their decision to give me a chance, even at the cost of mortgaging their afterlife.

All I had done was fail to protect the kingdom and fall with them.

At some point, not a single soul remained in the chamber, and the voice of the god was heard from beyond the massive door.

-The king is the parent of all people. You must fulfill their promise on their behalf.

He was clearly aware that I was here.

Just as I was about to open my mouth and ask a question.

Flash!

The eyes of my flesh opened, and the sensation of freely roaming the void in soul form vanished at once.

“Ah······.”

I let out a sigh of regret and briefly reflected on the scene I had just witnessed.

“······ So that’s what it was······.”

I came to understand some of the things I had only vaguely guessed at.

Why was I able to utilize the ‘System,’ which bent and even shattered the laws of the world, and why was there no significant backlash even when I changed the present based on the memories of the ‘future’?

It must have been what the people who believed in me had already paid for.

I couldn’t help but think so.

Of course, questions still remained.

According to what I saw in the ‘future,’ Danar was a god who had nothing to do with the ‘System’ I was using.

‘On the surface, anyway.’

There might be a connection.

The login screen of the system that had appeared since birth.

I still vividly remembered the message I saw the moment I became aware of my past life and entered my ID and password there.

-Connecting to the Arcana System.

The owner of the library where the memories of the past, present, and future were stored, the goddess of knowledge, Arcana. I clearly had a memory of hearing about her from my nanny.

I had been thinking of visiting the Order of Arcana whenever I had the chance.

But I couldn’t put it into practice.

Because I was busy?

No.

Even after I was able to operate my personal airship, the Black Wyvern, I could have made time, even if it was a bit far.

The real problem was······.

-Arcana? Was there such a god?

-Arcana? I’ve never heard of her.

-Aren’t you mistaken for another god?

-There is no god named Arcana registered in the Pantheon [a collection of all recognized gods].

The god Arcana did not exist.

At the time, I felt like I was possessed by a ghost. I wondered if there was something wrong with my memory in the process of becoming aware of my past life.

The fragments I already had and the newly acquired fragments floated aimlessly in my head.

Past life, regression.

The Rosa System.

The goddess of knowledge, Arcana.

Past, present, future.

Danar.

The forgotten guardian deity of Lionel.

I paused for a moment.

‘Forgotten?’

Yes.

The common point between Arcana and Danar.

Both were forgotten from everyone’s memory.

Danar said that he had existed in this land since ancient times.

As Austin of the ‘future’ had said, it was more reasonable to see him as the god of the ‘Lion’ tribe, which made up 99% of the people of the Lionel Kingdom, rather than the guardian deity of Lionel.

Even before the founding of the Lionel Kingdom, there were Lion tribe states.

The Hayeon Kingdom, a vassal state of the Hamel Empire.

The Makera Kingdom.

The Four Kingdoms Period.
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Going back that far, the Lion tribe originated from the legendary Roa Kingdom, which had been at the forefront of driving out the demons who raised humans.

‘Honestly, I didn’t understand it.’

The archipelago of the Arya Kingdom, which was just an empty, uninhabited island inhabited only by monkeys until the Four Kingdoms Period.

Even the ‘Jin’ tribe, which branched off from the Lion tribe and settled there, had an indigenous god called Etrim, who was comparable to a lower god.

But there is no god of the Lion tribe, which existed from the beginning of civilization?

Could it be that Arcana, the goddess who governed the past, present, and future and loved knowledge, was the god worshiped by the Lion tribe?

‘That doesn’t make sense.’

There is no guarantee that a god has only one name. It is not uncommon for gods to be called by different names in different regions of the same country. Arcana and Danar may be the same god.

Could it be that Arcana, who had fallen into ruin while granting me the ‘System’ for some reason, had completely erased her existence from the world by making me ‘regress’ again?

Of course, it’s just speculation.

But it was clear that it could explain quite a few things.

The most certain thing is.

“Danar’s servant. Do you know a god named Arcana?”

I’ll just ask directly.

The answer came immediately.

“That is a question I cannot answer.”

Not ‘I don’t know,’ but ‘I cannot answer’?

To me, that Guardian’s words sounded like my reasoning was largely correct. Well, I heard what I wanted to believe.

“Successor, you have already seen and heard everything I can convey. Now is the time to answer. Will you undergo the promised trial?”

“Do I have to undergo the trial right now?”

The trial that Austin had failed in the ‘future.’

I had no clue what it would entail.

Suddenly, I didn’t think it would help even if I knew the content of the trial she had undergone.

It was a trial related to the broken chains of reincarnation of the souls of the lost kingdom, whose numbers were impossible to count.

It would be strange if the same trial were given.

If possible, I wanted to take on the challenge when I was confident that I could pass the trial in any situation. At least when I had regained the power of the ‘future.’

“······.”

The Guardian remained silent.

‘A checkmate, huh?’

If I postponed the trial right now, the souls of the lost kingdom who had mortgaged their afterlife might never be saved.

There was only one option given.

“I will, accept the trial.”

At the same moment I uttered those words.

Crack- Cracking! Clang!

The Guardian’s mental realm shattered.

“What, what!”

“Your Majesty! Are you alright!”

Fran, an 8-star mage, and Gallard, a 7-star knight, seemed to have noticed the anomaly that had occurred to me.

The rest of the group looked bewildered, so I guessed that the time I was trapped in the Guardian’s mental realm was only a fleeting moment.

Then.

Clunk, Rattle.

“Oh! That’s the Guardian!”

“It suddenly collapsed!”

“Everyone, don’t move!”

The Guardian crumbled as if the being filling the armor had evaporated.

The group was clearly flustered by the incomprehensible phenomenon. I slowly walked towards the scattered armor.

“Your Majesty!”

“You mustn’t move rashly!”

After giving a rough hand signal that I was okay, I picked up the Guardian’s helmet that was lying on the ground.

It was empty.

I looked around at other places, and the situation was the same. As I was rummaging through the Guardian’s armor like that, the group hurriedly approached.

“Your Majesty, are you alright?”

“What’s going on······.”

“Clearly, it seemed like the Guardian had unfolded a mental realm······ What happened?”

Fran tilted her head.

Just as I was about to open my mouth to answer, I felt like someone was staring at me intently.

A familiar sensation.

It was a word that shouldn’t be uttered.

Sometimes I want to commit it and see what kind of reaction follows. I should have tried it when I had nothing to lose.

Now that I have a lot to lose, I can’t bring myself to do it. I put on a seemingly apologetic expression and opened my mouth.

“It’s a secret.”

“Is it a word we shouldn’t hear?”

“Well, yeah.”

Fran frowned.

“So what do we do now?”

I scratched my head.

The Guardian, who was supposed to give me a trial, suddenly collapsed as if he had fulfilled his duty. I was just as bewildered.

“First of all······ let’s take this Guardian’s armor and weapons. As Fran said, isn’t it incredibly valuable in itself?”

We were talking about that when······.

“Oh! Look at this. The gauntlet has changed to fit my hand perfectly.”

“What did you say?”

Fran’s eyes widened.

She approached Alfonso, who was wearing the Guardian’s gauntlet.

“Such sophisticated shape-shifting magic is cast on it? Without magic circles or magic stones? How is this possible?”

I was personally curious as well.

However, my interest in the Guardian’s armaments could be resolved after returning to the palace.

“Fran. I understand your feelings, but let’s study it thoroughly after returning to the palace. I think it’s more important to go inside there now.”

Fran coughed and nodded at my words, pointing to the massive iron gate.

“But, it won’t open?”

Alfonso, wearing the Guardian’s gauntlets on both hands, tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Get out of the way.”

For some reason, I felt like it would open if I opened it.

I put my hand on the iron gate.

Squeak- Squeak—

Without much effort, the iron gate opened with a rough metallic sound. The interior that the massive door had been hiding was revealed.

“Ah! That’s!”

“A golden hourglass?”

“A lion?”

On the altar were a human-sized golden hourglass and a huge lion statue guarding it.

“Oh! The lion has six legs? Fran, have you ever heard of a lion with six legs?”

“Never.”

“What about Austin? You read a lot of books too, right?”

“I’ve never heard of it either.”

Alfonso looked at me.

I didn’t know either. I just shrugged my shoulders.

It seemed that the hourglass was the relic of this ruin.

What kind of relic is it?

No, before that.

‘What is the trial anyway?’

Thinking that, I habitually touched the hourglass with my ghost hand.

I was going to check the information.

Flash—!

‘!!!’

The light that burst out from the golden hourglass.

It was blinding for a moment.

“Ugh!”

“What!”

Even I couldn’t help but be flustered this time.

The ghost hand, which could only interact with the system window. The first object that reacted to it appeared.