The Grand Prince of House Hybern

<Episode 2>

 

“He won’t last long.”

As the calm voice of Yukain, a royal knight of the Hybern family, rang out, Kazen bit his lip with a dark look on his face.

Soon his burning eyes turned to the bed.

Ruin was lying there unable to regain consciousness with his entire chest bandaged.

‘How….’

To have the sensitivity to detect mana stones in the bloodstream of the body, one must be a high-ranking knight of at least 7 stars.

However, Ruin was just a sickly boy who did not even have the capabilities of a trainee knight, let alone a 7-star knight.

“Matriarch. Now you must make a decision.”

“Stop it.”

“Kazen!”

Intense fighting spirit burned like an active volcano throughout the body of Royal Knight Yukain.

After deciding to become a royal knight of the Hybern family, Yukain had never called the head of the family by his name due to personal feelings.

Kazen was staring at Yukain with a somewhat bewildered expression, knowing better than anyone else his upright and loyal mentality.

“Can’t you see that! Kazen!”

What Yukain’s gaze was pointing at was the Bloodstream Mana Stone that Ruin was still holding tightly in his hand.

“The grand prince cut off his entire blood vessels! Do you really not know what that means!”

Hidden among the thin threads hanging from the Bloodstream Mana Stone was a gold string with a complex magic circuit drawn on it.

The end of the gold string was strongly attached to Ruin’s thick blood vessels.

Since it was a medium that was connected to the magical power, if it was forcibly removed, all the magical power of the Bloodstream Mana Stone would inevitably be scattered.

“If he had just removed it, there would have been a glimmer of hope for the grand prince! But the grand prince cut out his entire blood vessels to protect the remaining mana of the Bloodstream Mana Stone!”

To recreate the forbidden ancient procedure of Bloodstream Mana Stone, a huge amount of mana was needed.

That absolute amount was enough to take away all the skills of Kazen, who was called the standard bearer of the kingdom.

In order to return his father’s precious mana, Ruin even cut off his own blood vessels.

“He is a true knight who is not afraid of death, and he has done an earnest filial piety wishing for his father to die! Do not ignore the grand prince’s heart, Kazen!”

There wasn’t much time.

If he delayed any longer, he would lose all of the remaining mana in the Bloodstream Mana Stone.

Even at this moment, the Bloodstream Mana Stone was gradually losing its shine due to the mana flowing out.

“Kazen!”

Although his lifelong friend was stubbornly demanding a decision, Kazen was having trouble making a decision.

“If I take the mana now, that ugly brat will never have another chance.”

Even if he took back the mana remaining in the Bloodstream Mana Stone, he could only achieve half of his peak previous prowess.

And even if he could obtain all his powers at their peak level, trading his son’s life was unthinkable to Kazen.

“Ha…….”

Kazen looks at the dying Ruin again with sorrowful feelings.

The so-called ‘Curse of the House of Hybern’, in which life force was slowly depleted from the moment of its manifestation, was a cursed disease of the family that appeared randomly over a long period of generations.

“Don’t you already know that there is no hope even if the old men of the Magic Tower come running right now!”

When the curse of the Hybern family, which had been silent for hundreds of years, appeared in Ruin, Kazen took the magic diagram of the Bloodstream Mana Stone that had been passed down in the family for a long time in his hand and headed towards the kingdom’s Magic Tower.

Even though all the high-ranking magicians, led by the elders, worked together, it was only after three long years that the ancient Bloodstream Mana Stone was finally recreated.

“His entire artery was severed! I don’t know how he is still breathing right now, but can he endure that long time again!”

The artery had already been cut, making it impossible to reconnect the Bloodstream Mana Stone to Ruin’s body.

Rationally, it was clearly best to take the mana from the Bloodstream Mana Stone.

But no matter what he said, Kazen did not waver.

A messenger has already been sent to the Magic Tower. He would forever stand here like a stone statue, waiting for news to come from the Magic Tower.

In the end, Yukain made a decision.

Schwing-

The direction of Yukain’s terrifying blade was not towards Kazen.

Crack-

It split something in an exact diagonal manner with a light cracking sound.

It was none other than the ‘Vision of Jericho’, an illusionary artifact that hid Kazen’s weakened skills.

“Yu, Yukain! What are you doing?”

Although he was shaking as he was grabbed by the collar, Yukain’s eyes were calm and showed no signs of agitation.

Yukain presented his long sword with a calm expression, following the manners of a knight.

“If you call me out for showing disrespect, I am ready to repay you with my death, Monarch.”

“You… you ****!”

Kazen trembled with anger.

His eyes were constantly shaking as he looked at the split artifact.

The artifact ‘Vision of Jericho’ was destroyed.

It was like announcing to the entire kingdom that Kazen that the standard-bearer of Lemadel and the head of the Hybern family, was in a situation where he could not recover.

A serious issue that could not only unsettle the aristocratic society but also completely change the power structure of the kingdom.

There would be chaos that could not even be compared to the rumor about the cursed grand prince’s appearance.

Now Kazen had no choice.

Because without the Vision of Jericho, his many activities as the head of the family were meaningless.

In the end, Kazen could not ignore the decision of his old friend who even disregarded his life.

“I hope he survives, Yukain.”

Kazen glared at Yukain for a long time with burning eyes.

He soon managed to suppress his emotions, took the Bloodstream Mana Stone that Rain was holding in his hand, and walked away from the confinement area.

Yukain looked at his broad back and smiled bitterly.

“I thought I was really going to die.”

Seeing Kazen, burning with anger again, was truly a welcome thrill for Yukain.

 

***

 

Inside the dark confinement area.

A faint purple energy was rising from the top of Ruin’s head, who was lying down like a corpse.

The purple energy soon turned blood-red and, surprisingly, began to take on a certain shape.

That being, stained with dark red blood, was shaking with an extremely cruel and horrifying expression that was so grotesque that it could not have been thought of as something from this world.

<This crazy guy…!>

Until now, no Bern **** had ever done something so crazy like cutting open his own heart and pull out the mana stone from his bloodstream.

The feeling of desolation as the pleasure of gluttony, which he had planned to enjoy for a long time, disappeared in an instant, was indescribably miserable.

It was not possible to immediately change the host to another Bern.

Even though he was called a demon lord, he couldn’t ignore the ‘Oath of beings’.

The host was rapidly dying as he bled out.

<I can’t help it.>

Unfortunately, this was it for now.

Since time was infinite for him anyway, all he had to do was follow his oath and descend again in the distant future.

But then…

-Gyropel.

He heard an infinitely cold voice.

It was clearly the will conveyed from the soul of the madman host lying there.

<You know me?>

He was more dumbfounded now than when he ripped out his own heart.

A name of fear that even the cruel demons of the Demon World were afraid to speak of rashly.

It was the first time in thousands of years that another being mentioned his true name.

Above all, humans can never know, or have a way of knowing, his true name.

<It is impossible. How can an insignificant human dare to say my true name?>

Regardless of knowing this one’s true name, the very act of a human being saying this one’s own name was a foolish act of self-harm.

It should elicit an electrifying fear that the weak human mind couldnot bear.

However, that crazy host was speaking even more clearly, even though it was normal for his mind to collapse just by calling his name.

-You idiot.

At that moment, Gyrobel doubted the human language system he knew.

However, no matter how much he checked his knowledge, the word used by the sick and limp body, was a human swear word.

But he maintained his composure .

If he was at the point of losing his composure due to the provocation of an ordinary human being, he wouldn’t even be called a demon lord.

<Crazy guy. Are you laughing at this powerful being and calling me an idiot?>

-Aha. A coward who runs away all his life because he is scared of ‘Mudra’.

<What, what did you say!>

The Great Demon Lord Mudra.

In the hierarchy of the demon world, he was was a demon lord of the same rank as himself, but he had an additional description of great at the beginning of his true name.

<How dare you! Is it possible for a mere mortal to despise this demon?>

-Haha! Ask the opposite. Who was the one who lost his body to a mortal a long time ago?

<Huh!>

-What kind of devil are you, to become obsessed with such matters, sneaking into that family like a rat, and taking revenge by sucking the life force of their descendants for thousands of years? Just a demon……No, that’s too much to call you. As expected, a monster fits your likes better.

<Kaaaa!>

The cursed blood-red energy rose violently and enveloped the entire area.

But Ruin….

Even in a situation where he was practically a corpse that could not move, he did not forget to laugh at Gyrobel.

-Ah, I have to die now. I’m leaving after having a good time.

Gyrobel, the absolute ruler of the demon world who was aloof in any situation, lost his sense of reason just like that.

Even when his true demon body was torn away by the Great Demon Lord Mudra, it didn’t affect him to this extent.

<You ****! How dare you die like this!>

The pure magical power of a demon lord, a power that could not even be compared to a human’s life force, enveloped Ruin’s body.

But no matter how overpowered he was, reviving a human life was against the law of providence.

Gyrobel was only able to restore Ruin’s damaged body after mobilizing his true magic to the limit of his ability.

<I will make you experience eons of pain! You will regret living and breathing for eternity!>

Ruin slowly opened his eyes.

Gyrobel felt a strange sense of forbidding as his expressions and gestures were so calm, as if he had gone through this numerous times before.

<Are you saying you don’t care about this demon’s promise?>

Ah.

What was hovering around Ruin’s lips was not ridicule, but joy.

At first, they were hostile and vengeful toward each other.

But at the last moment.

He was his soul mate who sacrificed everything and died for him.

<Why are you crying all of a sudden?>

His Infinitely gloomy tears was followed by a bright smile.

Ruin slowly got up and stood face to face with the descending body of Gyrobel, gleaming with blood.

“What are you doing? Since you used that much true magic power, it must have attracted enough attention in the world.”

<What are you talking about!>

“Aren’t you coming in? Other than the host’s soul, where else can you hide now? Aren’t you afraid of the Oath of beings?”

Gyrobel was completely speechless.

There was something Ruin didn’t do before, but really wanted to try.

Suddenly!

The blood-red expression on Gyrobel’s face became grotesquely distorted.

“Nice to meet you, Demon. I really missed you.”