Chapter 305
Chapter 305
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 305
Chapter Title: The Owner of the Incarnation (3)
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As Shirone burst into laughter, Zion's face flushed.
To be looked down upon and mocked by a mere commoner. It was the most humiliating experience of his life.
Shirone shook his head, the trace of a smile still on his face.
“Is that so? A lot of time must have passed. Do you truly know nothing?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Therase has no sons. She only gives birth to daughters. You are nothing but a shell of Therase.”
Zion's face went blank.
No sons? What does that mean? Only daughters? Then who am I? And is there such a thing as a child without parents?
Zion's face twisted like that of a wounded beast.
“Shut up! How would someone like you know that? You're insane. You've been devoured by that monster and lost your mind! Who do you think you are to speak of my mother so carelessly?”
“Didn't Therase tell you? You must be a truly pathetic one. She's the type to treat even non-children well if they're competent. I guess you weren't even worth that.”
“When did you ever meet my mother!”
Zion lost his senses and charged.
He had lived his entire life with the pride of being Therase's son. But a shell?
No, it's the ramblings of a madman. There's no way a lowly commoner like him could have ever met Therase, the empress of the continent.
“I am royalty! Not someone a bastard like you can treat so lightly!”
The moment the gauntlet's blade lunged for Shirone's neck, a Photon Cannon struck Zion in the abdomen.
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Zion flew ten meters and crashed into a sack of flour.
“Gack! Gack!”
The sack tore open, and flour cascaded over Zion like a waterfall.
His face, caked in flour and blood, looked like a clown's.
Armand relayed. Combat ineffective.
It was the only piece of information Zion could agree with.
Shirone walked over, a Photon Cannon floating above his palm.
“Humans love that sort of thing. Kings, bloodlines, lineage, family. But the Therase you believe in and follow told me this.”
Zion struggled to lift his head. He watched as the photon floating above Shirone's palm vibrated and grew larger.
Shirone spoke, mimicking Therase's tone.
“‘Royalty is but a lineage of blood passed down by humans. However…’”
Shirone's Photon Cannon grew even stronger.
Half out of his mind, Zion seemed oblivious to the fact that the magic was meant to attack him, his dazed eyes captivated by the light.
Shirone grinned, holding the Photon Cannon.
“‘Talent is a gift from the heavens.’”
The Photon Cannon fell in a brutal arc. Tears streamed down Zion's face as he stared blankly at the trajectory of light.
A powerful impact shook the food pantry. Buried in Armand's fibers, the Photon Cannon crushed Zion's abdomen until his organs ruptured, then vanished after expending all its power.
The flour spread out in a ring, shrouding the area in a thick fog.
Amy and Reina tapped their feet nervously, peering into the white smoke. A shadow appeared, and then Shirone emerged.
Amy couldn't bring herself to speak.
Even if that boy was Shirone, the aura emanating from him was as perilous and unstable as a ticking time bomb.
“I'm going to the surface. You two need to run as fast and as far as you can. I'll handle things here.”
Her anxiety became reality.
Run fast and far. Those were words one would only say in the face of a natural disaster like a typhoon or an earthquake.
“What on earth are you planning to do? Whoever you are, you need to treat your injuries first. That body belongs to Shirone!”
“I am Shirone.”
Shirone threw his head back to look at the ceiling. His cold gaze slowly lowered to Amy.
“Are you disappointed?”
Amy was breathless, unable to say a word.
Shirone fortified his mind with immense rage. The sound of capillaries bursting could be heard eerily beneath his skin.
He cast a laser, and a flash of light the thickness of a log shot up to the ceiling. Thermal energy accumulated rapidly, and the ceiling began to shake.
“Shirone! Wait…!”
“It's dangerous! We have to run!”
Reina grabbed Amy's wrist and ran for the exit.
Just as they left the food pantry, a deafening explosion erupted from where Shirone was.
Thrown to the ground by the shockwave, the two turned their heads while still lying down. A massive rock had fallen, blocking the entrance to the food pantry.
***
The music of the court musicians turned dissonant.
A tremor shook the Grand Hall, and women screamed and collapsed. The men, too, looked around with terrified expressions.
“An earthquake? But Kazra isn't in an orogenic belt, is it?”
“Everyone, get down! Get under the tables!”
At the guards' shouts, the nobles crawled under the tables. Those who got there first fought with latecomers for space. It was like watching a bullfight.
The tremor lasted for about a minute before it stopped.
The nobles, having regained their composure, crawled out from under the tables with awkward expressions.
Orkampf and Eliza, helped up by the Royal Guard, were also pale.
There were no recorded earthquakes in Kazra's history. A sense of foreboding crossed Orkampf's mind.
The northern side of the Grand Hall exploded with a bang. Bricks flew everywhere, and thick smoke filled the air.
A few of the more faint-hearted nobles lost their minds. They collapsed to the floor, flailing their arms and legs meaninglessly.
The first to grasp the situation were the royal castle guards and the nobles' personal bodyguards.
Realizing it wasn't a natural disaster, the Royal Guard surrounded the king and queen, and the personal bodyguards closed in around the nobles.
“An attack? What's going on?”
The guards searched for the Captain of the Guard, Ritney Walker. He had been there just a moment ago but was now nowhere to be seen.
The chain of command fell into chaos.
If it were terrorists from an enemy nation, they would need to raise the security level to its highest. But there were too many complications to make that decision without an order from a superior.
For a short while, nothing happened.
The nobles tried not to lose their dignity. Hiding their true feelings, they peered into the hole in the floor.
But when a figure shot up from it, they fell on their behinds as if they'd forgotten all about their composure.
“Is that… Shirone?”
Orkampf muttered with a puzzled expression.
The one who had appeared after wrecking the Grand Hall was none other than Shirone.
He remembered seeing him dancing with Reina just an hour ago. So why was he doing this?
“Shirone, what is the meaning of this?”
The Royal Guard blocked Orkampf's path.
“Your Majesty, do not approach. Something is wrong.”
Even to Orkampf, Shirone certainly looked different from an hour ago. The change in his eye color alone made him seem like a different person, but the most jarring thing was his expression.
Shirone didn't make such emotional faces. The boy who had always maintained a calm poker face in any situation was now grimacing in pain.
“Castles these days are quite durable. Humans have developed quite a bit.”
A Royal Guard drew his sword and approached.
“Sir Shirone, the use of magic within the castle is strictly forbid—!”
Without even looking back, Shirone fired a Photon Cannon.
The Royal Guard threw himself aside, rolling on the floor as he landed. A barrage of Photon Cannons pursued him, scraping across the marble floor.
“From now on, no one speaks without my permission. I will be the judge.”
The previous attack proved that Shirone was serious. If the Royal Guard's reaction had been even a fraction of a second slower, he would have been caught in the Photon Cannon's barrage and torn limb from limb.
In an instant, the air in the Grand Hall turned cold. The nobles exchanged wary glances, their faces filled with incomprehension.
For the past few days, their assessment of Shirone had been that of a herbivore. A docile and honest boy, easy prey to be used.
But the feeling emanating from Shirone now was so ferocious that even the nobles, who had seen and experienced everything, found it savage.
The guards waited for the vice-captain's orders in the absence of the missing Walker. But a man who had always stayed out of the line of responsibility couldn't possibly make such a momentous decision.
“Vice-Captain, what should we do? Please give us your orders!”
The vice-captain's eyes darted around nervously.
The main forces were stationed outside the inner castle, so it would take time for them to arrive even if contacted. It was abnormal for an incident to break out in the Grand Hall, the heart of the castle, in the first place.
“Vice-Captain! Your orders! Should we activate the magic control device?”
The vice-captain's face twisted.
“You think it's that easy, you idiot!”
The magic control device disrupts a mage's concentration. But its effects didn't discriminate between friend and foe. If it were activated, their own mages would also be rendered helpless.
*Damn it, what do I do? Should I activate the device? But to neutralize all our mages just to catch one person? If this goes wrong, I'll have to take the fall. No, where the hell did that Walker guy disappear to?*
Since it concerned the king's safety, he had to consider every possible variable before making a decision.
But crushed by the pressure, the vice-captain's thoughts eventually devolved into escaping reality and blaming Walker.
“The control device is a last resort. Why not leave this to us instead?”
The vice-captain turned his head as if he'd just met his savior. Aimar Bosun, the head of Kazra's magic department, was walking over.
“Ah, are you sure you can handle it?”
“My department has been closely monitoring Shirone's movements. It seems he has finally shown his true colors. However, we are more than capable of subduing him ourselves. With the permission of the head of security, may we use magic?”
“Of course. If you would be so kind…”
It was far better for two to share the responsibility than for him to shoulder it alone. Besides, Bosun was incredibly influential in the royal castle, so he wouldn't feign ignorance even if things went wrong.
Bosun gave a disingenuous smile and walked toward Shirone. Then, one by one, his subordinates emerged from the crowd of nobles and followed him.
“I will stand by your side, sir.”
The spot next to Bosun was taken by his closest aide, Mito Ekkasi.
He was short, only 153 centimeters tall, with a childlike face, puffy eyelids, and sharp, slanted eyes.
Having roamed countless battlefields since childhood, he was a rising star in Kazra's magic department, having reached the rank of official Grade 6 at the age of twenty-three.
Of course, extreme geniuses like Olifer Shina, who reached official Grade 6 at the age of twenty, also existed in the world. But such people appeared perhaps once a decade in an entire kingdom, so someone like Ekkasi was more than worthy of being called the future of Kazra.
“An unexpected boon, sir.”
“Hmm, unexpected events are often the ones that lead to disaster. But this time, I suppose you're right.”
Casting magic in the royal presence was a grave crime. Moreover, Shirone had attacked a Royal Guard and uttered treasonous words, essentially branding himself for execution.
“Well, well, what has the first prince candidate so angry?”
Shirone glared coldly at Bosun.
Just an hour ago, he had wanted to punch the man in the jaw. But now, he didn't feel that at all. He just wanted to kill him.
“So it's you. The one who's driving me mad.”
Faced with a killing intent so pure it hardly seemed human, Bosun's heart began to race.
But he didn't back down in the slightest. Turning his chin slightly, he spoke to a Royal Guard.
“Escort His Majesty to safety. I will handle this.”
“Understood. Your Majesty, this way.”
Orkampf shook off the Royal Guard's hand.
He didn't know why Shirone had changed so drastically, but if he left, Bosun would find a way to kill Shirone. If that happened, he would have no choice but to hand over his position to Therase's faction.
“Who said anything about fleeing? Who, exactly, is your king?”
“Ah, my apologies!”
Sensing his mistake, the Royal Guard knelt. In the heat of the moment, he had simply followed Bosun's words.
Of course, under different circumstances, it would have been overlooked. But considering Bosun was part of Therase's faction, it had indeed been a reckless move.