Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 177

177

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Etrem.

A dragon with eight heads residing in the Arya Archipelago.

Etrem was originally a mutant snake born in the Demon Realm located in the southeast of the Hamel Empire. There was a reason why Etrem left his homeland and settled in the Arya Archipelago.

Etrem, who had grown stronger on the outskirts of the Demon Realm, challenged the master of the Demon Realm, the Human-faced Centipede, but unfortunately, he was defeated and barely escaped with his life.

The first place Etrem settled after escaping was a small mountain where a slash-and-burn village had just been established. There, Etrem came to be worshiped by the slash-and-burn farmers.

It was truly a coincidence.

He had only eaten a bear because he was hungry, but that bear had eaten several residents of the slash-and-burn village.

That was how Etrem acquired ‘Intelligence’.

Having gained intelligence, Etrem gradually increased the number of those who worshiped him, centered around the slash-and-burn village.

Along the way, he brutally dismembered the Human-faced Centipede, who had driven him to the brink of death in the past, chewing and swallowing it without leaving a single bone fragment.

Etrem’s name gradually spread throughout the southeastern part of the Hamel Empire.

However.

There was a being who did not look kindly on this. It was Aurelis, the Golden Dragon, the master of the great river that ran through the imperial capital of the Hamel Empire.

Those who worshiped Etrem began to be massacred by the Imperial Knights.

Feeling a threat to his life, Etrem promised himself a better future and fled again, vowing to grind Aurelis’s bones and drink them someday, just like the Human-faced Centipede.

Eastward, eastward.

But there was no paradise in the place he fled to.

A monster no less than Aurelis had already established its territory.

The half-demon Barisada.

He stepped into her territory and incurred her wrath, resulting in seven of his eight heads being cut off.

At that time, the only surviving third head, Sapian, vividly remembered the fear of death he felt, even now that he had acquired divinity.

Sapian pondered over and over.

Where should I go?

Then, the place where he built a new nest was the current Arya Archipelago.

It was the best choice.

About 400 years ago, the Age of Exploration opened as world powers advanced into the sea, and the island nation of Arya Kingdom achieved remarkable prosperity.

Thanks to this, Etrem, who was worshiped as a god by the residents of the Arya Archipelago, was able to reach the point of acquiring divinity.

If he could just gain a little more strength, he felt like he could grind and drink the Hamel Empire’s greedy dragon, Aurelis.

To do that, he had to devour the Lionel Kingdom first, which would be the stepping stone…

“Kuaaaaaaa!!”

“Kuaaaaaa-”

“Kua······.”

Etrem’s heads, which had been roaring pleasantly, began to stop one by one.

It was because of the storm of mana that had arisen around Evan. The immense presence within it was something that no human could ever contain.

After a while, the storm of mana gradually subsided, and Evan, smiling at the center of it, revealed himself.

No, it was Evan, but not Evan.

The figure of a woman, so beautiful it was almost cruel, overlapped with him. It was a sense of incongruity as if two people existed in the same space.

Sapian, the third head of Etrem, who had captured the woman’s appearance in his eyes, froze like a stone.

‘Wh- Why is that bitch here!!’

「Hehe, can’t you recognize me? I clearly let you go after you cried and begged, promising never to show your face in front of me again.」

‘I have to run away!’

‘Why is this guy acting like this?’

‘That face… I remember seeing it. Yes, it’s her. Barisada. The one who temporarily put us to sleep in the past…’

The other heads ignored Sapian’s warning to run away and began to chatter on their own.

Sapian knew very well why the six heads, excluding him, were so carefree.

‘Hehe, put to sleep my ass. Do you really need to sugarcoat the word ‘dead’ like that?’

‘I thought it was strange when I heard that he died at the hands of Lionel’s founding king, but I guess he didn’t just die.’

The newly grown heads only receive the core memories left by the heads before they were cut off, as if they had lived the life of another person in a dream.

Perhaps that’s why the personality of the newly grown heads often changes completely from before.

‘There’s nothing to be afraid of. We’re not who we were back then, and Barisada isn’t who she was either.’

Sapian sighed.

The others had clearly forgotten what kind of being Barisada was. What kind of being is a half-demon who has survived since ancient times?

「Hmm. I’d like to share some old stories for the first time in a while, but I don’t have much time.」

Barisada smacked her lips as if she was disappointed.

‘Hehe, everyone, just stay still. I’ll chew that bitch up and eat her.’

The second head, which had control of the body, warned the other heads before spreading its wings wide.

“Kuaaaaaaaaaa!”

「How annoying.」

Barisada frowned and put strength into the hand holding the sword.

***

Etrem, with its wings spread, was larger than a large airship.

Watching the guy roaring and flying towards me made me feel like a mantis standing in front of a car rushing at full speed.

I focused all my attention to not miss a single move of Barisada, who was controlling the body.

Strength enters the hand holding [Barisada].

At the same time, the nine stars in my heart begin to shine one by one.

One, two, three… eight.

I’m used to this much.

Although Barisada handles mana through the heart and I handle it through the core, the core is no different.

The core is the amplification of magical power through the resonance of stars.

It is a rare opportunity, as she said, that will never come again, to experience the mana operation of a 9-star knight directly with my body.

Finally, the ninth star begins to shine, and the eight stars begin to orbit around it.

‘Ah!’

Common sense was turned upside down.

It’s not the amplification of magical power through the resonance of stars?

The ninth star was not just a simple star. It was the sun. A solar system that sprinkles the light of life on the heart, her microcosm, existed.

Life blooms from the eight stars rotating around the sun, and mana springs forth like an inexhaustible spring.

How could I have forgotten the existence of the sun, which blooms life on the surrounding stars, while expressing the place where mana is contained as a ‘microcosm’!

Whoosh—

Barisada swung her sword.

A simple horizontal slash without any skill.

The result was amazing.

Slash— Splaaaaat!

One of Etrem’s heads, the most hideous and loudest, fell off and a fountain of blood spurted out.

A moment of silence.

“Kuaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Kuaaaaaa!!”

“Kuaaaa!!”

Etrem, whose fluttering wings drooped like a doll with its strings cut. The guy lost his balance and was swept away by the strong turbulence, flailing.

It seemed that the head that had just fallen was the one that had been in charge of the body.

Flash!

Barisada kicked off the deck and rushed towards the falling Etrem.

She flew freely through the sky, manipulating the air currents using magic.

Barisada put strength into the hand holding the sword again.

To be honest, I didn’t understand the first horizontal slash.

Aura? Mental landscape? I couldn’t understand why one of Etrem’s heads fell off with her simple swing.

Whoosh—

She swung her sword again.

A diagonal slash that doesn’t contain any special skill either.

Slash— Splaaaaat!

Yet Etrem lost another head without even resisting.

I realized what I hadn’t seen at first.

‘She’s not using magic to swing the sword.’

Then where is the vast amount of mana pouring out of her heart going?

“Kuaaaaaaaaaa!!”

Etrem’s heads, having lost two heads and now with five remaining, roared all at once.

The space that had been dyed black around Etrem soon shrank. I could clearly feel that the guy was embarrassed.

Now I knew where Barisada’s vast mana was being used. And why Etrem was being beaten without being able to use any power.

‘This entire place was Barisada’s territory! When did it happen?’

Before I knew it, the surrounding area was covered in her territory.

What kind of extraordinary law is at work here? What is certain is that what Barisada wants to cut will definitely be cut.

Slash— Splaaaaat!

“Kuaaaaaaaaaa!”

I had no idea that her territory would be spread out. Because the surroundings were indistinguishable from reality.

Is this kind of scenery Barisada’s mental landscape itself?

‘No!’

I don’t know why, but it seemed like she was concealing her mental landscape and only bringing out its effects.

How is this possible?

What’s even more surprising is that Etrem, who had gained divinity, was struggling to unfold his mental landscape, but it was all in vain.

The common sense is that when mental landscapes are manifested at the same time, one side must be overwhelmingly superior in order to erase the other’s mental landscape.

Does that mean Barisada is that strong?

This… leaves some questions.

Slash— Splaaaaat!

“Barisadaaaaaaaa!!”

Etrem had only three heads left.

One of the guy’s heads, which only knew how to scream, cried out Barisada’s name.

Slash— Splaaaaat!

But that was the last word of that head.

Now Etrem has only two heads.

Etrem desperately began to back away.

Slash— Splaaaaat!

Now only one.

It was the head that had been holding back from the beginning.

When I thought that Etrem might be annihilated today if things went well, Barisada returned to the Black Wyvern’s deck.

Etrem, bleeding profusely from his severed head, was just leaving the Midra Triangle.

It seemed to be the end here.

A deep regret remained.

「Was it helpful?」

“Thank you.”

「You’re going to read me romance novels for 3 hours every day for the next month.」

A hollow laugh came out at Barisada’s joke that didn’t fit the situation.

「Does it sound like a joke? I’m serious.」

“…I’ll see how I can arrange it.”

For the time being, I thought I could ask Alfonso to read romance novels nearby while I was working.

Then, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

I had been recuperating for months just from using demon subjugation. But this time, Barisada directly descended into my body. I couldn’t even begin to guess how severe the aftereffects would be.

I cautiously opened my mouth.

“Um… am I going to live?”

「Maybe? Well, I’m sorry, but I’ll go back to the sword now. Oh, and it’s best to get out of the Midra Triangle as soon as possible. There’s a guy living in the center who eats even gods.」

I could feel Barisada, who was dwelling in my body, disappearing in real time.

The advice she left behind was useless.

Immediately after she completely returned to the sword, I lost consciousness.

***

“Your Majesty has collapsed!”

“A stretcher! Bring a stretcher!”

“Medic! Medic!”

Evan collapsed on the deck like a kite with its string cut, and the crew of the Black Wyvern were in chaos.

Evan faced Etrem with incomprehensible force. Anyone could see that he was burning his life.

In the midst of all this.

Only one person on the Black Wyvern.

Julien was looking at the Arya airship fleet, not Evan.

‘His Majesty will be fine.’

It was blind faith.

It was Evan who had saved him from his doomed fate. There was no way he would meet a futile death in a place like this.

‘What I need to do in this situation is…’

A retreat without casualties.

That was it.

The worst crisis had passed, but the Arya airship fleet still overwhelmed the Lionel Kingdom’s forces.

Julien’s mind became complicated.

Soon, he looked sharply at the captain.

“Captain, we must turn and charge towards the enemy flagship!”

“What are you talking about, Baron Julien!”

“This is the Midra Triangle, where communication and observation are not properly carried out. Neither the enemy nor our allies will have properly grasped the situation. They won’t know that His Majesty has collapsed.”

The captain understood Julien’s words.

“Are you saying we should make the opponent run away instead? By bluffing?”

“That’s right. It would be good if it succeeds, and if it fails, we can just re-enter the Midra Triangle as originally planned.”

It was a gamble worth trying, with nothing to lose.

“Helmsman!”

“The Black Wyvern is turning!”

The helmsman, who had been listening to the two’s conversation, shouted loudly and turned the ship’s direction 180 degrees.

As if responding to this, the Lionel Kingdom’s airships turned their direction all at once. They thought the time for a counterattack had come.

If our allies were deceived, there was no way the Arya Kingdom wouldn’t be deceived.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

Arya’s Prime Minister, Lihid Pross, missed the perfect opportunity to annihilate the King and Queen of the Lionel Kingdom and the airship fleet.