My Slain Dragon Bride

Chapter 235. Noblesse Class

The golden scale pierced into his flesh, and red blood flowed.

But that lasted only for a moment. The golden scale, which had been a foreign object, soon settled into his palm, and golden light poured out from within it.

The light, which had spread widely, radiated from his hand like a guiding light, illuminating the surroundings.

No, piercing through would have been a more accurate expression.

The light was that intense.

At the very moment that the dazzling light illuminated the path ahead, something astonishing happened.

The corridor that had been connected to endless darkness began to tremble.

The unnecessarily elongated tiles compressed, the darkness gradually faded, and the castle returned to its original size.

"So this is the power of a dragon."

King Hudret smiled and asked the Mage,

"How about now? Have we entered another space?"

"No. The true form of this castle has appeared!"

The searching Mage’s face brightened.

"And... I’m certain. I can clearly sense where the magic that is distorting space was activated!"

"Is that so?"

"Yes. If we attack that location, the castle will return to normal."

King Hudret stroked his chin.

Then he said,

"What if we leave that place alone?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean we should leave that sustaining point alone and go somewhere else first."

"But then the others will still be trapped in the space, won’t they?"

"You really are slow. You should understand when I give you a hint."

"Ah."

This was a joint operation, but at the same time, it was also a competition for priority.

When they had the advantage, was there really any reason to release the others?

"Let’s move. While we have the time, we might be able to slit the throat of the King of Heinkel."

"Yes!"

King Hudret once again took the lead and advanced.

***

Meanwhile, after leaving the bedroom, Ferda was also wandering through Heinkel’s domain.

He had once risen to the position of Grand Mage, but now, naturally, he was nothing more than a Fifth-Circle Mage.

With his abilities alone, he could not escape this place.

Of course, that did not mean it was impossible.

The space had been made incredibly vast, but it was not infinite. Therefore, there had to be an endpoint.

’To get out... at least a week?’

After finishing his calculations, Ferda came to a conclusion.

’It would be better to hope that someone else destroys it.’

Ferda could not possibly be the only one trapped here, and countless armies from various kingdoms would eventually be deployed.

The problem was what would happen if there were many others who thought the same way he did.

It was like a poker table filled with beginners.

They would bluff as much as they could, hoping only that nobody would call their bluff.

Ferda continued walking through the silent corridor.

Fanatics, the Demon Race, Ghoul Monsters, beast monsters...

Various groups attempted to attack Ferda, but all of them were eliminated.

Fighting alone was something he was far too accustomed to.

’My strength is gradually running out.’

Would he really be able to pour out everything he had when the time came to stand before the King of Heinkel?

That question stirred up Ferda’s anxiety.

Then, something entered Ferda’s field of vision.

Unlike the reckless monsters, it was moving extremely slowly.

Something was struggling to crawl toward him.

It was the middle-aged man Ferda had seen during the meeting held by the allied forces.

He was the king of some kingdom.

"P-please save me... me... quickly..."

He was wearing magnificent armor, yet his mouth was filled with bright-red blood as he desperately clung to the last shred of hope.

Even then, he could not bring himself to abandon his authority as a king.

"Don’t just stand there staring... do something... I said do something... I can’t feel my legs...!"

Perhaps he did not realize that his entire lower body had been blown away.

The only mercy Ferda could offer him was death.

But there was no time for even that.

A sword flew through the air and pierced his upper body, ending his life instantly.

The sword was extremely high-quality and bore a pattern similar to the one on the back of the dead king.

’Could it be...?’

Ferda raised his head and looked down the corridor.

Fortunately, the tragedy of a Knight killing the king had not occurred.

Instead, what entered his sight was the aftermath of a one-sided massacre committed by some entity.

There were roughly twenty dead Knights.

Since they had been selected to protect the king, they had undoubtedly been among the finest warriors of their kingdom.

Something that could wipe out the kingdom’s elite forces was nothing short of a monstrous beast.

The Aura it gave off was unmistakably that of at least a Noblesse Class member of the Demon Race.

With that thought, Ferda immediately began preparing his magic.

He needed to bring it down in a single strike with overwhelming firepower, and to do that, he needed to prepare beforehand.

His eyes, capable of seeing through the darkness, examined its form.

And at the very moment certain information was driven into his mind, Ferda could not hide his astonishment.

"Second Prince?"

The Second Prince, Ureas Arken.

Even as he called him that, Ferda wondered whether it was really Ureas himself.

Horns grew haphazardly across his face, covering it like roots that had burst through his flesh. Because of them, only a quarter of his original facial features remained.

His skin had turned black, while a stark white light reflected from his pupils like those of a beast in the dead of night, creating an eerie appearance.

Ureas had already been a large man, but his body had swollen even further, making him an enormous two-meter-and-fifty-centimeter-tall figure.

His golden armor was tattered and torn.

’Demonification?’

But if that were the case, he should have had red eyes like the other members of the Demon Race.

’Then... a curse?’

What kind of curse could cause someone to take on such an appearance?

Ferda tried to think, but he had no time for that.

—Ferda...

Ureas’s eyes pierced through the darkness and stared directly at Ferda.

The emotions boiling up from within him erupted.

—FerdAAA!!

With a beast-like roar, his figure lunged toward Ferda.

He shot forward like an arrow released from a powerful bow, slashing directly toward Ferda’s waist.

Half of Ferda’s body was blown away.

Splat!

The sound was like a mass of paint being thrown against a wall.

The wall, which should have been stained with blood and flesh, was smeared as though black paint had been splashed across it.

Then the black mark moved rapidly, heading somewhere.

As though being unable to resist gravity was the destiny of humanity, the shadow returned to its master.

Ferda did not miss the opportunity.

"Lightning Spear."

A Fourth-Tier Offensive Spell.

Red lightning shot straight toward Ureas.

Crack!

The red lightning tore through the Demon’s skin and blew away Ureas’s shoulder.

Ureas clutched his wound and screamed.

—Aaaaaah!! Ferda! You bastard!! How dare you! You attacked me!

He raised his eyes, revealing sharp, beast-like teeth.

He had not lost his reason and gone berserk.

He was simply as unintelligent as he had always been.

"Second Prince, are you still in your right mind?"

Ferda tried talking to him first.

Ureas shouted at the top of his lungs.

—You shall wash away the insolence of attacking me with your blood!

"Calm down, Second Prince. We still have a common enemy."

—Shut up! Do you think I’ll listen to anything you say?! You demonic bastard who intends to take everything away from me!!

A scream of hatred, blindly spewed forth without restraint.

Ferda no longer wanted to endure that hatred, so he cast a calming spell and fired it into Ureas’s head.

’Strange.’

The magic Ferda had used was supposed to suppress Bloodlust and restore a narrowed field of vision to normal.

He felt the spell penetrate Ureas’s head and was certain it had worked.

Yet there was no trace of reason in Ureas’s eyes.

Why?

But the surprises did not end there.

While Ureas was breathing heavily, his severed left arm was regenerating.

’Something even most members of the Demon Race can’t recover from...’

Had Ureas become a Demon of Noblesse Class or higher?

By using that black blood?

The last thing Ferda had seen through Director Linne’s laboratory sample was the unstable Bouncer.

It was hard to believe that he had evolved this much in the time Ferda had not seen him.

"Second Prince, come to your senses. You are the Second Prince of the Arken Empire, someone who could reign as the next Emperor. You must not allow the Demon Race to steal your mind—"

—Shut up, you inferior piece of trash!

Ureas’s roar drowned out Ferda’s words.

—I should have killed you the first time I saw you. From the moment my sister was looking at you! I should have smashed you to pieces! I curse my own stupidity for failing to do so!

His anger would not stop.

Ferda quickly assessed the situation.

Conversation was useless.

That left only force.

He would have to sever Ureas’s limbs to incapacitate him, or suppress his heart and leave him half-dead.

Ferda prepared a Magic Circle.

Ureas, having suffered a lethal attack, had no intention of simply taking it.

Naturally, he charged toward Ferda.

But his body suddenly leaned forward and crashed face-first onto the floor.

—What?! What is stopping me?!

Beneath his feet was a shadow darker than the darkness itself.

The dense shadow possessed tremendous power, and even the strengthened Ureas could not easily shake it off.

Ferda’s shadow grew even darker before taking the form of a slime and swallowing Ureas.

—Damn it! Damn it!! Ferdaaaa!!!

The spell Ferda was preparing was Lightning Cluster.

It was a firepower-focused spell that fired a powerful cluster of lightning, tearing the entire body apart.

Even an experienced Mage would have difficulty responding to it, and Ureas might not survive.

Ferda did not care.

If he held back, Ferda himself would be in danger.

Then it happened.

As he prepared his spell, Ferda sensed something strange.

The masses of shadow surrounding Ureas possessed all their senses, as though they were parts of Ferda’s own body.

And through those senses, Ferda felt an intense heat that he had never felt from Ureas’s body before.

Before he could even finish wondering whether it might be an illusion, a scorching heat that seemed capable of melting everything overwhelmed Ferda.

"Ugh...!"

Ferda quickly severed his consciousness.

But the magic he had been Incanting continued, and eventually, a Magic Circle condensed in Ferda’s hand and took shape.

"Lightning Cluster."

At first, it flew forward like the Lightning Spear before it.

But the moment it approached its target, its outer surface began to open like a flower.

Dozens of strands of lightning burst outward.

The cluster of lightning accurately tore apart the masses of shadow and ravaged everything inside.

It was a merciless attack that made no distinction between head or heart.

An attack that left the survival of its target entirely to the heavens.

But even that now seemed arrogant.

The scorching heat Ferda had felt through the shadow was telling him so.

Whatever was inside that shadow, Ureas had become something far beyond Ferda’s imagination.

At that moment, a bright-red light leaked out from the mass of shadow.

The light gradually caused the shadow to heat up.

Once it became completely red-hot, something tore through it and burst out from within.

—Aaaaaah!!!

A roar that seemed to tear through the air.

When Ferda saw its form, he was utterly shocked.

Ureas had always been a pure physical fighter, using Mana only through the Aura of a Knight.

And when his form had completely changed, his Aura had disappeared.

Yet he was using magic now.

His previously empty eyes were burning fiercely, while flames erupted from every joint of his body, blazing intensely.

The light was so powerful that all the shadows Ferda had extended lost their strength.

—Shadow...! So it was shadow, Ferda! You were a Black Mage! A filthy Black Mage! Kahahahahaha!

Ureas burst into exaggerated laughter as though he had caught Ferda red-handed.

—You acted all noble and pretended to be so impressive, but in the end, you’re nothing more than one of those fallen humans!

"I don’t know what you’re so proud of, considering you’ve fallen prey to the temptation of the Demon Race."

Ferda spat out the words with deep disgust.

But Ureas wore an unabashed expression.

—The temptation of the Demon Race? Do you really think I would fall for such a lowly illusion?

"You can say that even after looking at your own face?"

—My face?

Ureas touched his own face.

From his chin all the way up to the grotesque horns.

He seemed to be fully aware of what he looked like.

—Isn’t it exceedingly noble?

Joy blossomed across the quarter of his face that remained.

"Are you proud of that hideous appearance?"

—You think it’s ugly? No. This is the natural appearance of one who is destined to rule!

He boldly spat out such absurd words.

—Now that I think about it, it was strange all along. It was strange that I looked like the other humans. How could we, who look down upon tens of millions, possibly be called humans beneath the heavens?!

His voice was filled with excitement.

It was impossible to tell whether the voice was one of ecstasy or anguish.

—The Arken bloodline is Golden Blood! Gold flows through our bodies! Look!

He eventually began mutilating himself.

He tore open his own chest and spilled out what was inside.

Had it been a human body, blood would have flowed.

But what poured from Ureas’s body was bright-red lava.

The lava did not cool and instead emitted an intense, vicious heat.

—I have the right to rule! I have the right to conquer! I have the right to love Olivia!! You, a human intoxicated by Black Magic, have no right to be loved by that girl!

Boom! Boom!

He stomped his feet, producing threatening sounds.

Ferda remembered what Olivia had said.

Ureas looked at Olivia while projecting his own mother onto her.

Now that Ferda saw him like this, it was far beyond that.

Even Ferda, who had nothing to do with the madness Ureas was displaying, felt sympathy for Olivia.

But if it had originated from such a misconception, perhaps there was a way to resolve it.

Ferda cautiously reached toward that opening.

"You’re suffering from severe delusions, Second Prince. I have never once thought of taking the Princess for myself. If you want, I can swear to that right here."

Ferda could give her up.

They had never been lovers in the first place, and she likely had no feelings for him either.

—Even if that’s true for you, do you think Olivia feels the same way?

"What do you mean?"

—How can you not know? Olivia loves you!

At this point, Ferda wondered what kind of utter nonsense Ureas was spouting.

"Second Prince, come to your senses. What you saw was nothing."

—No! It wasn’t an illusion! That was the undeniable truth!

"That was an illusion created by a creature called Trauma. It simply forces things you would never normally think about into your mind and makes them appear real. Open your eyes."

—You call it an illusion? Then why does my sister have your handkerchief?!

"That’s ridiculous..."

Ferda could not continue speaking.

A memory suddenly surfaced in his mind.

He remembered the time he had been alone with Olivia, when she had spilled her tea and Ferda had given her his handkerchief.

Before Ferda could say another word, Ureas began convulsing and screamed.

—Why?! Why does she smile when looking at your lowly handkerchief?!

Read more Chapters here - Apexnovelhub.com