novelraw Chapter 153 : Chapter 153
Chapter 153 : Chapter 153
Chapter 153: The Dethroned Prince (5)
Elaine seemed to want to drink, but Ellen didn't come.
It was because Harad refused.
I wasn't exactly in the mood for a drink.
It was the same reason I woke up late in the morning.
My body felt sluggish. My insides felt even heavier, as if all the blood vessels in my body had become as heavy as stone.
It was the aftereffect of searing Bahav Enverque's heart. White Flames. That 5th Rank fire was still too much for me.
“It is stifling.”
A 3rd Rank mimicking a 4th Rank and a 4th Rank mimicking a 5th Rank are strictly different.
There might be Mages capable of the former, but not the latter.
If I hadn't regressed, even Harad would have found it impossible.
‘The 6th Rank must be even more distant.’
It was a realm I couldn't reach even in my past life.
But I had to reach it.
Not to overcome predation, but to triumph over the Otherworld.
‘Maybe not.’
Perhaps I didn't need to become a 6th Rank.
Because unlike in the past life, Elaine was becoming stronger rapidly.
Given enough time and opportunity, Elaine could easily defeat the Otherworld.
At least Harad thought so.
It wasn't simple faith, but certainty through experience.
‘I don’t like it.’
Harad frowned as he imagined Elaine standing alone on the battlefield.
I didn't want to dump everything on Elaine.
Not for her sake. Harad wanted to stand side by side with that Grand Duke. It was clearly personal interest and greed.
I had failed in my past life.
I became a 5th Rank, but in the end, I was a burden.
Elaine yielded the Stone of Regression. If Harad had been more outstanding, that wouldn't have happened.
‘They say the mind weakens when you are sick.’
Harad felt agitated.
It was self-reproach regarding his past life.
Harad rose from the bed.
I needed to go outside to cool my head and heart.
The door to the next room was slightly open. It was Elaine's room, but there was no one inside.
“Diligent only at times like this.”
She must have entered the Imperial Palace while I was oversleeping.
Because of Bahav Enverque.
Curiosity about the Imperial Family had arisen because of that Dethroned Prince.
Harad left the inn alone. The winter in Enverna was lukewarm. Winter was already lingering at its end.
“The North is better.”
There is no end to winter there.
There is no place like the North to cool one's heart. The cool North and the refreshing boundary are missed more often than expected.
‘Duke would be the opposite.’
That young glacier would probably like the desert.
Harad gave a few coins to the innkeeper in the yard and drew water from the well. It had thin ice on it, but after dousing myself about five times, my head finally felt a bit clearer.
“Now I feel alive.”
Leaving behind the innkeeper's gaze that looked at me as if I were a madman, Harad moved his steps.
Water dripped along his steps.
The traces became thinner, and by the time he arrived at the Gelk underpass, they were completely gone.
Harad swept back his dried hair and went down under the underpass.
Bahav Enverque was sleeping on rags, snoring.
“Aren't you cold?”
The rags only served as a bed.
Bahav was sleeping rough without covering himself with anything.
“A madman cannot distinguish the world.”
It meant he was enduring the cold.
“Weren't you sleeping?”
“How can I in this weather!”
Bahav, who spoke while snoring, opened his eyes wide.
Like this, he was always pretending to be mad.
“You snore all night pretending to sleep. Then where do you sleep?”
“Usually I sleep next to where I shit. After eating and drinking everything.”
“Money?”
“I don’t have to pay, because I am an Enverque.”
Although dethroned, Bahav was still an Enverque.
At least to the petit bourgeois. There was no business owner bold enough to demand money from a mad scoundrel.
‘He said he was robbed of everything in the past.’
Under the underpass, Bahav's home was shabby.
He was robbed on purpose. Or maybe he threw it away somewhere himself.
“You are indeed less mad.”
“Brains of Serzila. Thanks to you, Harad.”
Bahav grinned, revealing yellow teeth.
That too is deception.
Bahav seemed less mad than expected.
But to the unknowing eye, he was a total madman.
“Impressive.”
So Harad was impressed.
Unlike Elaine, Bahav was sincere in his acting at every moment.
“Where is the next Tyrant?”
“She went to the Imperial Palace.”
“Peace will come to the common people now that the Tyrant is gone.”
Bahav giggled looking at Harad who was left alone.
“What did Serzila promise?”
“Hmm?”
“In my view, you are a big shot. A big shot unsuited for Serzila.”
“Overestimation.”
Bahav was rating Harad higher than Elaine.
“It was that kind of curse.”
The Church and the Emperor no longer monitored Bahav.
Bahav’s acting skills were one thing, but it meant they trusted the curse more than that.
“As far as I know, there was no solution.”
“Did you look into the curse?”
“Because I was the Crown Prince.”
“That’s even stranger.”
“I will answer, because I was the dethroned Crown Prince.”
It must mean he was in no position to be picky.
No wonder he had no prejudice against Mages.
Bahav seemed to know a Mage.
“Aren't Mages sons of bitches?”
“My luck isn't good enough to be angry at something I haven't experienced.”
“You were cursed.”
“That was the intention of the Emperor and the Church. That young head was merely a tool.”
Bahav Enverque only believed what he had experienced.
“I like Mages.”
“Because I stopped the curse?”
“That’s a big part. But not just because of that.”
Bahav giggled.
“Because the Emperor and the Church hate them.”
* * *
“A Mage’s value is not limited to Magic. I covet the human called you.”
Now that the Tyrant was gone, Bahav was drooling.
“Do you have any intention of becoming the teacher of the next Emperor?”
“Overestimation.”
“But if I evaluated so, it is the truth.”
Bahav was arrogant like a former Crown Prince.
“Whatever Serzila promised, I will give double.”
“I think I won't be able to receive anything.”
Bahav of the past life disappeared without a rumor.
It meant revenge eventually failed.
I don't know how it will turn out in this life where the curse was lifted, but well. Still, it didn't seem possible.
“Bullshit!”
Bahav shouted as if having a seizure.
“I will become a dog butcher!”
He was confident in his revenge.
“Not if things continue like this.”
Harad spoke briefly.
It was because of the constraints of regression, and there seemed to be nothing more to say.
Bahav's eyes twinkled like light.
Harad saw clarity, not madness, there.
“I will keep that in mind.”
Bahav seemed to have grasped something he had missed.
At least Harad felt so.
Born and raised as a ruler, Bahav Enverque was different from Elaine.
If Elaine was simply arrogant, Bahav was smartly arrogant.
‘And he’s supposed to be mad.’
Harad became curious about the days when Bahav wasn't mad.
“Brains Harad.”
Suddenly Bahav called out.
“What is your Rank?”
“4th Rank... for now, think of it as 3rd Rank.”
The aftereffects still remained.
“It is my fault. I won't count this as one of the three wishes.”
Suddenly, Bahav rushed like lightning, grabbed the back of Harad's head, and threw him toward the ground.
‘Sensitive.’
Harad fell forward without resisting.
Something passed over his head. Falling gaze, something pierced the ground and soared like a spear.
It pierced through Bahav's palm that had suddenly popped out and stopped. The ground being stepped on bulged. Bahav pushed the side of Harad's head with his foot.
‘Excellent response too.’
As he rolled, a tree was standing where he had been standing.
It was a sharp tree like a spear, without leaves or branches.
Bahav threw Harad, who had just stood up, under the underpass.
As he entered under the underpass, the attack stopped.
Probably because he disappeared from view.
The Mage who implemented the tree is above the underpass.
“It is the Otherworld.”
Harad’s eyes widened.
Not because he was attacked by a Mage of the Otherworld.
He already knew that those guys had infiltrated the continent.
‘I knew it.’
Bahav was aware of that fact.
“It is the bitch who was monitoring me.”
“Didn't you say there was no one monitoring you?”
“I said the Otherworld.”
Bahav said again.
It meant the Otherworld was not a land where humans lived.
“That is correct.”
Harad agreed.
“It must be the curse, not me. She thinks so.”
“That is probably correct.”
Mage of the curse.
That bitch is bound to the Forbidden Ground of the Church.
In the past life, the Otherworld must have helped her escape.
The curse placed on Bahav would act as a significant clue to such Otherworld.
“That sword, please.”
Bahav reached out his hand looking at the sword hanging on Harad's waist.
It was Patern, the heirloom sword of Serzila.
“This won't do. It's Serzila's heirloom.”
“Why is an heirloom... Serzila treats you generously.”
Bahav licked his lips.
Soon he looked at Harad.
“I covet you even more. Do you have any other weapons?”
“I do. I don't know if you can use it though.”
Harad waved his hand lightly.
A sword materialized by fire appeared in his hand. It was the exact same shape as Patern.
“Is this okay?”
“As a spear. About my height.”
The sword of fire wavered and was shaped into the form of a spear.
“Thicker.”
Harad slowly increased the thickness of the spear.
When it became thick enough to be barely grasped by one hand. Bahav snatched the spear of fire. Sizzle! Smoke rose as the hand holding the spear cooked.
“Perfect.”
Bahav laughed as his hand was being seared.
At that moment, a figure jumped down under the underpass.
Simultaneously with landing on the ground, it fell backward with a hole in its head.
“Again.”
Bahav, who had thrown the spear, held out his melting palm.
Harad made the exact same spear of fire in his hand. Simultaneously, more figures fell under the underpass. This time there were three.
The fired spear of fire suddenly soared and burned the blocking tree.
A new spear of fire was implemented in his hand as soon as Bahav finished throwing. Sizzle! Bahav smiled grossed out at the hot sensation in his hand.
The arc stretched long. Bahav's roughly stretched figure rammed the burning tree with his shoulder.
The burning tree fell toward the three Mages. Flames and the tree obscured the vision, and Bahav dashed out through the flames.
He pierced the shoulder of the Mage on the right with the spear. He bit off the neck of the Mage who had gathered both hands to catch the falling tree.
Bahav rotated to the left with the neck in his mouth. The spear tore through the pierced shoulder and popped out. The body of the Mage whose neck was bitten dangled and was dragged along.
The freed spear of fire pierced the side of the left Mage. Sizzle. The inside cooked simultaneously with being pierced.
“Kuh-ha!”
Bahav roared, spitting out the corpse of the Mage whose neck was torn off. He spat a handful of flesh lumped in his mouth onto the face of the Mage whose shoulder was torn.
When the Mage, hit by blood and flesh, squeezed his eyes shut, the spear of fire pierced his heart.
With his foot, he trampled and severed the remaining half of the Mage's neck.
‘Like a beast.’
I had somewhat expected Bahav's strength.
Didn't Elaine get surprised while blocking him last night?
But I didn't know he would be a guy who fights like that.
Bahav was not noble like any other Enverque.
‘He’s a madman to anyone's eyes.’
He killed four. All were men.
‘Bahav said it was a bitch.’
There is one more.
Bahav raised his head.
I couldn't see what he was looking at. Unlike Bahav, Harad was still right under the underpass.
However, Harad felt Magical Energy.
A Mage bitch is standing on the railing of the underpass.
“Ee-hya!”
Bahav jumped up with a strange scream.
And then he crashed. Bam! Bahav's body slammed into the ground.
Instead of a spear of fire, a tree was held in his hand.
It looked like the tree had sealed the fire.
‘Tough.’
Even while wrapping the fire, the tree didn't burn.
‘And damp.’
Fire doesn't catch on a lively tree as well as one might think.
Crucially, it was a greater Magic than the spear of fire.
A woman in a dress landed on the ground. At the same time, Bahav jumped back and widened the distance. It was towards Harad.
“Spear?”
Harad asked as if it was someone else's business.
Bahav looked at Harad for a moment and nodded. Sizzle! The re-implemented spear of fire cooked Bahav's palms.
“I can't catch her alone.”
Bahav had a ferocious spirit, but his voice was calm.
“Help, Harad.”
“I am helping.”
“Not the spear!”
Bahav was colorful.
While being arrogant and beast-like, he accurately grasped his own capability.
“Hmm.”
Instead of answering, Harad observed the woman in the dress.
She looked to be over thirty, and she was looking down at the four dead Mages, not us. Saliva dripped from her mouth.
‘Anyone can see she is from the Otherworld.’
High Rank and even predation addiction.
It was definitely a Mage of the Otherworld.
“What a waste.”
The woman wiped her drool with both hands. Then she walked leisurely and tapped the corpses. Crunch! The corpse touched by her foot spat out a heart.
The woman collected the hearts with her hands and scattered them here and there. It was a sight like a farmer sowing seeds, and it was indeed so. The hearts sprouted.
“Help, Harad!”
Seeing that, Bahav urged.
He seemed to feel ominousness from the woman drooling over corpses.
“I am a Mage.”
Harad wiped his spit secretly and said.
That was the reason he relied on Bahav until now.
Although it is the northern district abandoned in the capital, the capital is still the capital. If I were a Mage, I had to be cautious.
My face is already known to the Church.
If Harad gets caught, Serzila would be in trouble too.
Just implementing a spear with fire was already a big risk.
“That bitch is!”
That Otherworld Mage was in the same situation.
“That bitch uses it just fine!”
“My point exactly. Is that allowed?”
The woman openly implemented Magic.
The four who died earlier did too. Harad found that point quite strange.
Even though the Imperial Capital is not a place where that is allowed.
‘Is there something like concealment Magic cast? If so, I would feel it.’
There is no sense of incongruity.
It didn't seem like any measures were taken.
“What nerve.”
Harad muttered like talking to himself.
I said it's allowed! Bahav shouted from the side like a madman. Then the woman turned her gaze toward this side.
“Are you Red Tower?”
The woman spoke informally right away.
It must be confidence in her Rank.
The status of her affiliated Magic Tower didn't seem low.
“Oh. How did you know?”
“You didn't wipe your spit properly.”
The woman kindly pointed out the corner of Harad's mouth.
“Predation is often seen even among the ignorant.”
“Usable fire is rare, isn't it. Even more so on the continent.”
“Indeed.”
There is no sun in the sky of the Otherworld.
Fire is born more on the continent than in the Otherworld.
But the place holding more fire might be the Otherworld.
Because the Church is particularly picky about Fire Mages. Most Fire Mages born on the continent die before they grow.
“You haven't been down long, have you? Nice to meet you. The Red Tower is hard to meet even in Paradise.”
The woman said with a smile.
This was another interesting story. Harad smiled along.
“Nice to meet you too. I am Harad, 3rd Rank of the Red Tower.”
“Wh, what...?”
Bahav’s jaw dropped.