Chapter 237
Chapter 237
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 237
Chapter Title: 69. The Pack Chasing the Dawn (1)
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Watching the main body, which had looked down on me so arrogantly moments ago, now fawning desperately out of hunger—it was enough to draw a hollow laugh from me.
It was absurd.
But the doubt outweighed even that.
"Just who the hell are you?"
The entity that had firmly taken over my main body while I was away—its true nature was beyond even my wildest guesses.
Woooong.
The main body ignored my question entirely, whining incessantly as if it didn't give a damn.
Now it was even drooling cold air, looking just like a beggar who'd starved for four days straight, salivating uncontrollably before a lavish feast.
Parrr.
Meanwhile, Dalgarim trembled and wailed nonstop.
Ziiiing.
Its sword cry was so pathetic and plaintive that it stirred pity in anyone who heard it.
Of course, to me, it was utterly ridiculous.
For a monster that had sustained itself on the blood of the innocent and bulked up its frame.
"No need to make such a fuss now. You've done plenty of that yourself up till this point."
The only difference was that this time, it was the one being eaten instead of doing the eating—but that wasn't my problem.
I snorted and brought the main body toward Dalgarim.
Ziiiiiiing!
Dalgarim began wailing like mad.
I flinched and halted my hand at the sight.
I'd only glimpsed those memories beyond the seal I hadn't even known existed because of Dalgarim. Letting it become the main body's meal felt like a waste somehow.
If any remnants of the seal lingered in my body, Dalgarim might prove useful in removing them.
I quietly set the main body down and pondered seriously.
My eyes scanned my body.
Where to stab for a clean finish without lingering effects.
Arm, leg, belly, chest.
I prodded Dalgarim this way and that. Given its massive size, even a shallow thrust would likely leave little of me behind.
"Your Highness. I've brought a change of clothes..."
Just then, a familiar voice rang out.
With my back to the door, I turned only my head to spot the speaker.
"Y-Your Highness? What are you doing right now..."
A maid from the 1st Prince Palace stared at me, her face drained of color.
Only then did I realize how my current appearance could be so easily misunderstood.
"Oh. Don't get the wrong idea. This isn't self-harm or anything like..."
I lowered Dalgarim and turned to face her.
Her gaze fixed on my face and chest, her complexion turning deathly pale.
Unable to fathom why, I followed her eyes to my own chest.
"Ah..."
The front of my shirt was soaked crimson from the blood I'd spilled breaking the seal through sheer force of will.
"This isn't a sword wound. I just vomited a bit of blood..."
"Kyaaaaah!"
Before I could finish, the maid screamed.
"What's with the sudden scream?!"
"It's where His Highness is!"
Chaos erupted outside the door.
"Your Highness! What happened..."
Kals burst in.
"Y-Your Highness has..."
The maid pointed a trembling finger at my blood-soaked chest.
"He's committing self-harm!"
Kals's eyes bulged as he alternated glances between me and Dalgarim.
"Wicked demonic sword! How dare you beguile His Highness!"
Kals charged straight at me without warning.
Crash!
The royal knights, arriving late, joined in.
"What the hell! Let go! I'm fine!"
I bellowed, but no one listened.
"Shut your trap, wicked demonic sword!"
**
It was quite some time after the commotion had died down.
"I'm so sorry, Your Highness. I misunderstood..."
The maid bowed repeatedly in apology.
"No worries. Just get out."
"Truly, my deepest apologies."
She bowed once more and fled the room.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Kals, standing a step back, cleared his throat awkwardly before speaking.
"I did. Several times, even. But no one listened."
I grumbled in response, and Kals explained the urgency he'd felt, as if making excuses.
He'd rushed in at the sudden uproar to find me drenched in blood, gripping a demonic sword. At my feet, the royal family's treasured blade was leaking cold air and wailing loudly—leaving no room for other thoughts.
"Given the precedent, I could only assume Your Highness had been ensnared by the wicked demonic sword."
The precedent was surely the Third Prince, devoured by my main body.
It wasn't an incomprehensible excuse.
So, I felt a twinge of guilt.
Seeing Kals before me, eyes swollen purple from my earlier outburst, I wondered if I'd gone a bit overboard.
But the guilt wasn't deep.
I was just as much of a mess as he was.
The royal knights had pinned me mercilessly, tearing my clothes and leaving my hair disheveled.
Already exhausted from breaking the seal, the scuffle with them had doubled my fatigue.
"More importantly, what was that blood?"
"I had a minor revelation. But the damn thing came at a high price."
I couldn't exactly say I'd viewed my past life's memories, so I brushed it off vaguely. Kals's eyes gleamed as he looked at me.
"How much stronger do you plan to become here..."
"Not that kind of revelation. Anyway, whatever."
I replied indifferently. Just then, the maid returned.
"Your Highness. I've brought clothes to change into."
"Thanks."
As she helped me change, I let out a belated sigh of relief.
"At least the fuss didn't get too big. If it reached His Majesty or anyone else..."
Mid-sentence, I paused and glanced at Kals.
His expression looked awkward.
"Well, His Majesty strictly ordered that any incident involving Your Highness, no matter how trivial, be reported immediately..."
"So. You've already sent word to His Majesty?"
Kals nodded at my words.
"Damn it all! Hurry and dress me!"
I urged the maid. If the King saw me like this, there'd be no escaping the lecture.
"His Majesty has arrived!"
But it was too late.
"What is this commotion..."
The King strode in, froze at the sight of me, and stood rigid.
He usually moved at a leisurely pace, so why the rush today of all days?
I scowled at Kals.
"What in the world is this disgraceful state?!"
The King bellowed.
"I know your passion for the sword is no ordinary thing, but you are the Crown Prince of the kingdom first and foremost, before any knight."
"Your Majesty, it's not like that..."
"Blindly charging ahead gets you there fast, but not far. You must learn to pause, look around, and take stock when needed. If you can't stop yourself, then I will make you."
I endured a lengthy lecture from the King afterward.
"Do not leave your palace until you're fully recovered. Focus on resting so those who worry for you can find peace again."
Whether it was house arrest or bed rest, the ambiguous royal decree came on top.
After unleashing his storm of scolding, the King suddenly looked at me and added belatedly,
"At least you're unharmed. That's a relief."
His gentle tone and expression embarrassed me to no end, so I glared at Kals instead.
"I'd stay longer, but I'm in the midst of talks with the envoys. Take care of yourself."
The King departed.
Kals, who'd been cursing me out the whole time, left the room too.
"At least they didn't confiscate Dalgarim. Small mercies."
I decided to think positively.
Separately, my enthusiasm to use Dalgarim to purge any lingering seals from my body had vanished.
During my duel with the Nightmare Knight, Mort de Mort, I'd taken dozens of sword wounds, some fatally deep.
If Dalgarim could have removed them, it would have done so long ago.
"This is the end of the line for you."
I raised Dalgarim over the main body to sheath it.
Kyaaaaah!
Dalgarim screamed.
Crack.
The main body's pale cold mist engulfed Dalgarim, larger than its own form.
Dalgarim thrashed, spewing strands of dark red bloodlust.
But from the start, an insurmountable gulf in power separated Dalgarim and the main body.
The resistance ended futilely, and Dalgarim froze solid in short order.
The main body's meal began.
It devoured Dalgarim excruciatingly slowly.
As if savoring centuries of accumulated energy, at a torturously languid pace.
"Bon appétit."
I smiled contentedly at the sight.
It felt oddly like raising a child.
Whether this temperamental beast that spewed cold air at every chance, threatening to turn the world into an icy hell, truly qualified as a child was debatable. But the main body, like a kid rationing a sweet candy, spent hours consuming Dalgarim with obsessive slowness.
Eventually, it even withdrew the cold binding Dalgarim, eating it alive.
Ziiiing.
The demonic sword, centuries old, groaned in agony.
The main body devoured even that without leaving a scrap.
By the time the feast ended, Dalgarim was worth less than scrap metal.
Not even the blade's steel remained, crumbling to dust without a trace.
Woooong.
The main body hummed in satisfaction.
I stared at it blankly before picking it up.
The sword cry cut off abruptly.
The main body feigned innocence, as if nothing had happened.
I was dumbfounded, at a loss for words.
To think it would act this way after I'd filled its belly.
"If you're stuffed to satisfaction, time to pay up."
Only after I'd unusually patiently coaxed it did a reaction stir at my fingertips.
At first, faint as dipping a hand in a stream.
But as time passed, the stream swelled to a winding river, then a massive wave.
Then, like a tsunami, it surged up and swept through my entire body.
My depleted energy refilled in an instant.
Not content, the main body's power continued filling every corner of me.
A colossal sense of fullness drew an involuntary gasp. My mind soared endlessly, verging on ecstasy.
At this rate, I'd soon recover the realm I'd once achieved—my heart pounded with anticipation.
It was an illusion.
My elevated spirit plummeted sharply. The vitality filling me drained away, replaced by hollow loss.
"Ah..."
I sighed unwittingly.
The main body shuddered.
I glared at it.
Woooong.
As if mocking me, it hummed delightedly.
It seemed to strut that this was all a lowly demonic sword could offer—or beg to stuff its belly more for the real deal.
I could only laugh in disbelief.
"Well, it's not nothing."
I gauged the mana within me.
An outrageous volume circulated ceaselessly, too vast even for a master's vessel. My mana heart, at capacity, writhed without pause.
A sign it would expand beyond its limit once more.
When the mana heart's throes ceased, my heart would emerge larger and stronger.
Payment enough for the meal.
Moreover, this was the first time the entity that had always rejected me sharing even a portion of its power—a milestone worth far more.
The first step is always hardest; the rest comes easier.
"Soon, I'll stuff you till you burst."
The Empire's paladins and knights would make a fine meal. Once sated, it would reveal its true worth to me.
Woooong.
The main body hummed.
To me, it sounded like pleading for the war to start soon.
"Quit whining. It's a war we'll fight whether we like it or not."
Even as I spoke, it kept mewling.
As if responding to its cries, a majestic aura rose from afar.
A lofty discipline befitting an army on the march.
I leaned out the window, tracing the aura's source.
It churned from the throne room, where the King and envoys gathered.