Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 175

<175>

Kwang! Kwang! Kwaaaang!

Despite being outnumbered, our forces were fighting fiercely in the long-range artillery battle, relying on the superior performance of their magic cannons.

The Black Wyvern was no exception.

It had disabled two enemy small airships, forcing them to retreat from the battlefield.

It was a bit disappointing that they weren’t shot down, but in the current situation, shooting down enemy airships was virtually impossible.

The Arya airships could simply slip away from the battlefield once their magic shields ran out of power.

‘Unlike us.’

I glanced at the screen showing the Golden Dragon’s situation. The magic shield, which should have been transparent, was rippling and visible to the eye.

This was a phenomenon that occurred just before the power failed completely.

It was clear that maintaining the magic shield until we reached the target, the Midra Triangle, was impossible.

And that concern soon became a reality.

“Communication from the Golden Dragon! They need to deactivate the magic shield to maintain their current speed!”

The breathless report from the communications officer.

It wasn’t an incomprehensible choice.

There was a reason for the classifications of small, medium, and large airships. Naturally, the performance of the magic cannons mounted on each airship was also on a different level.

If the Golden Dragon slowed down, the Arya’s large airships would catch up and fire their magic cannons.

“Huh? What’s that?”

“Who is it? …Queen Mother?”

“Why is the First Queen Mother there!”

The situation room personnel discovered Reina ascending to the observation deck. And soon, something shocking happened.

A world made of swords of light was overlaid onto reality.

“Th-that’s!”

“Imaginary Domain! [A localized reality warped by powerful magic users]”

“The First Queen Mother was an 8-star knight!”

Guardian Sword Formation.

Swish – Kwang!

Swish – Kwaaaang!

The swords of light intercepted the magic cannon shells attacking the Golden Dragon.

As long as Reina’s will to protect people was not broken, no one could harm those under her protection in that domain.

I looked at the course and estimated our current position.

‘About 10 minutes.’

The estimated time to reach the Midra Triangle.

‘It’s going to be close.’

The construction of an Imaginary Domain consumes an enormous amount of mana. Reina’s Guardian Sword Formation was focused on protecting someone, so the time to maintain the domain was a bit longer, but she would have already consumed a considerable amount of mana before we joined.

And there was an even bigger problem.

“Lichd Pross has come out on the deck!”

The enemy also had an 8-star powerhouse.

Moreover, a mage with far greater strategic value in aerial combat than knights.

The observer displayed the screen.

The Arya flagship gradually zoomed in, and Lichd, looking down at the Golden Dragon with arrogant eyes from the deck, was visible.

The easiest way to break through an Imaginary Domain is to counter it with another Imaginary Domain. Unless one side is overwhelmingly superior in terms of star rank, the existing Imaginary Domain collapses.

Two Imaginary Domains cannot exist in the same space. It’s like a natural law, like water flowing from top to bottom.

Fortunately, Lichd couldn’t use that method in the current situation. Although mages’ Imaginary Domains tend to be more extensive than knights’, the distance was too great.

The Imaginary Domain he wielded wouldn’t be able to encroach on Reina’s Guardian Sword Formation.

So, what could Lichd do in this situation?

There were various options, but it seemed likely that he would bombard the Golden Dragon with high-level magic to collapse Reina’s Imaginary Domain as quickly as possible.

It wasn’t a very efficient method, but it had the most visual impact. It was the most suitable for boosting the morale of his allies and showcasing his own majesty.

“Julian, I’m going out on deck.”

What he overlooked was that Reina wasn’t the only new 8-star powerhouse in the Lionel Kingdom.

***

Lichd gazed at the Golden Dragon from the deck. It was flying peacefully, surrounded by Reina’s Imaginary Domain.

A foreign space like a black spot on a blank white canvas.

Lichd pondered for a moment.

What magic should he start with? What would be the most spectacular way to announce his direct intervention?

‘That would be the best.’

[Frost Dragon’s Breath]

An 8-star magic inspired by the breath of the White Dragon, a 9-star divine beast of the Western Continent. The illusion of the Frost Dragon that appears upon activation is a masterpiece.

It was his first time using it in actual combat, so he was slightly excited.

Lichd’s third eye, which observed mana, flashed, and a high-dimensional formula began to be designed and constructed in his mind.

After a while.

Gooooo,

A storm of magic arose around Lichd.

The illusion of a giant Frost Dragon crouching on the deck where he stood appeared.

Its majesty was such that the airships of both Arya and Lionel, which had been engaged in fierce artillery fire, temporarily stopped fighting and focused on it.

Lichd, who had finished constructing the formula, pointed at the Golden Dragon with a bitter smile on his face.

Kuaaaaaaaa!

With a roar that echoed across the battlefield, the Frost Dragon unleashed its breath of destruction.

Kwagwagwagwagwagwa── Puddeudeuk!!

Everything in the space where the breath passed froze.

The captain of the Golden Dragon, watching the scene, closed his eyes without realizing it. It was an instinctive action, like closing your eyelids when a fist flies at your face.

As a 6-star mage, he understood that even an 8-star magic wouldn’t collapse Reina’s Imaginary Domain in one go.

But a thought crossed his mind.

‘What if attacks like that continue two or three more times?’

The captain’s expression was about to harden.

Pweeeyooo─

A whistling sound echoed, and the surrounding air, which had been so cold it felt like it would freeze, became warm.

“A, a phoenix?”

A giant phoenix was cleaving through the Frost Dragon’s breath and flying towards the Arya flagship.

“No! It’s the 8-star magic [Phoenix’s Glide]! I’ve seen the Tower Lord of the Red Tower demonstrate it!”

A communications officer who had studied at the Red Tower identified it.

“That can’t be! Fran-nim is definitely…”

“Who is it? Who used that magic? N-no way!”

The eyes of the Golden Dragon crew all turned to the screen showing the Black Wyvern.

The observer, with a sense of occasion, zoomed in on the deck of the Black Wyvern.

There was Evan.

Their king, like Lichd, was creating a storm of magic, glaring at the Frost Dragon’s form that the man had summoned.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

“His Majesty the King used it!”

“When did His Majesty reach the realm of 8-stars!”

A pleasant shock that tingled the back of their heads.

Hope that they could return home safely sprouted in everyone’s minds.

Meanwhile.

Lichd doubted reality.

‘Following the First Queen Mother, the King has also reached the realm of 8-stars?’

It was an unimaginable situation.

The moment proved that the choice to take the hand of the Arya’s king and eliminate Fran and the First Queen Mother was the right one.

No, that was wrong.

Fran and the First Queen Mother weren’t the problem.

Evan Lionel, he was the biggest threat.

An unprecedented 8-star magic swordsman since the dawn of civilization. And he was only 19 years old. It was a talent that made one doubt whether he was even human.

If only a little more time passed, the Arya Kingdom would have to lie flat and breathe like a defeated dog while Evan was alive.

Perhaps the Arya Kingdom would be reduced to a nation that once existed in history.

A cold murderous intent flickered in Lichd’s eyes.

‘Today, I will kill him without fail.’

***

[Frost Dragon’s Breath]

[Echo of the Ice Storm]

[Horowitz’s Ice Spear]

.

.

.

Lichd’s attacks, specializing in frost magic, poured down relentlessly. Each time, I defended with magic that could offset them.

I came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to overwhelm Lichd with pure magic combat. I regretted neglecting training with this kind of magic combat in mind.

‘Close the distance?’

My greatest weapon is magic swordsmanship.

Secret Art, Opening the Sky.

If I approached with the Black Wyvern and Lichd came within that range…

Ah, that wouldn’t work.

Approaching was a problem, but even if I approached, there was a problem. The magic shield possessed by the Arya flagship was a variable.

I wasn’t sure if I could destroy the large airship’s magic shield and inflict fatal damage on Lichd at the same time.

And…

I glanced at the Golden Dragon.

It wasn’t the time to take risks.

If the Golden Dragon was shot down while I was focused on dealing with Lichd, it wouldn’t be a victory even if I won.

First of all, it was a priority to arrive safely at the Midra Triangle.

There were two reasons why I was heading there.

One, creating a variable.

Just like when I escaped from the Jo Bayley pirates. In order to defeat an opponent that is difficult to beat head-on, you have to utilize the terrain.

The difference from that time was that there was no information about the turbulent currents of the Midra Triangle, which devoured many airships in the early days of air route development.

So, there was an unavoidable sense of unease.

Perhaps I was voluntarily sticking my head into a tiger’s den to avoid the wolf called the Arya army.

What eased that anxiety was the second reason.

-「Go to the Midra Triangle.」

It was Barisada’s advice.

It was shortly after the airship fleet took off. She whispered to me while I was planning the strategy after joining Julian and the Golden Dragon.

Her voice, echoing in my head, was different from usual.

Joy? Regret? Disappointment?

I felt her subtle emotions, which I couldn’t explain.

Kieeeeeee!

With a chilling sound, the spirits of extreme cold, as if rising from an ice hell, began to scream and reveal themselves, piercing through dimensions.

‘The Frost Legion, huh…’

I cleared my mind again and recalled the magic to counter it.

If they were spirits from the hell of extreme cold, then spirits from the hell of fire would be the ones to deal with them.

As long as I had [Barisada], which amplified mana, there was no way I couldn’t block Lichd’s magic.

“Thank you, Barisada.”

I expressed my gratitude quietly and began designing the formula for [Flame Legion].

There was no answer from her.

***

Half-demon.

A word that always followed Barisada when people referred to her. As the word implies, she has demon blood flowing through her veins.

Children who heard the legend of the founding king of Lionel and the story of [Barisada] would ask adults.

-Then is Barisada’s dad a demon, or is her mom a demon?

No one can answer.

Then the children ask again.

-Then if one of her parents is a demon, what is the other one?

Again, no one knows.

And the second question is the same for Barisada.

She accurately remembers that her father was a demon. Moreover, not just any demon, but one of the 72 demon lords.

But she doesn’t know about her mother.

To be exact, she knew but forgot.

It was an incomprehensible thing, but she didn’t find that fact strange. She just thought she had forgotten, and no other thoughts came to mind.

As if it should be that way.

Around last winter.

Barisada ‘recognized’ that it was wrong.

But that was the end of it.

No matter how much she searched her memory and racked her brain, she couldn’t recall what the root that made up half of her was.

‘Midra Triangle. I have to go there.’

She looked in the direction of the Arya flagship.

A very long time ago, a mutant snake with eight heads that fled to the archipelago to avoid her. She felt the presence of the one who dreamed of ascending to divinity by gaining divinity.

She was pouring all her senses into that side.

Not yet, not yet.

Keep still.

That stupid snake might commit the foolish act of stepping forward himself, even if it meant being bound to the ground for countless eons.

Then…

She would obviously lose the only conversational partner who turned the pages of romance novels for her, one chapter at a time, thirty minutes a day.

Barisada didn’t know why it was the Midra Triangle. However, she was certain that going there would save Evan and solve the questions she had.