I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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At "Fresh Wind," a mint tea specialty shop near the World Tree's Cradle, Diana and several fairies had rented the entire building and sat on the second floor waiting for Zion to emerge from the forbidden area.

"He said he's looking for something..." Diana muttered softly after taking a sip of premium mint coffee.

"What could he possibly be searching for in the Cradle?"

She'd been thinking about it since Zion entered but couldn't come up with anything.

The Cradle was forbidden because it contained the World Tree, and there was no connection between Zion and the World Tree.

'Is he after a World Tree branch or leaf? But he could just request those without entering... what else could be worth taking... wait.'

An item suddenly occurred to Diana.

'The Eternal Emperor's proof!'

The ring left by the Eternal Emperor as proof of dominating the Fairy Forest.

As the Eternal Emperor's successor, Zion might try to claim that ring.

'The question is why he'd suddenly seek the proof at this time...'

He wouldn't target it simply because it was the Eternal Emperor's possession.

'Ah, this is difficult.'

Diana sighed softly as her thoughts hit another wall despite guessing the item.

If Zion was the problem, Diana could firmly say this was the most unsolvable puzzle she'd encountered in her life.

'No, unsolvable isn't right - completely incomprehensible is more accurate.'

Shaking her head slightly with this thought, Diana turned toward Liushina happily drinking mint tea at the opposite table.

"There's something I'd like to ask."

"What is it? I'm in a good mood, so I'll answer pretty much anything!"

At the witch's incredibly cheerful words, Diana got straight to the point:

"How much do you know about Zion?"

In truth, waiting for Zion was just an excuse - this was Diana's real purpose for being here.

This blood magic user named Rina had been Zion's close aide since his change, so she should know more about him than anyone.

Therefore, Diana intended to get information about Zion here.

But Liushina's answer wasn't very satisfying.

"I don't know much either. Master's never talked about himself."

"Ah..."

As disappointment crossed Diana's face, Liushina continued:

"Though I do know one thing - he's ridiculously strong. And this isn't all his power. Oh, guess that's two things?"

"This isn't all his power?"

Diana's eyes wavered, perhaps recalling Zion's overwhelming power when facing the blood dragon yesterday.

That alone was easily top three among all beings she knew.

Yet that wasn't even his full power.

"Then how strong is he really?"

"Huh? Don't you already know?"

"What do you mean..."

"He killed one of the Archdemons at the border before. Master actually did that alone. Though the world thinks everyone worked together."

"...!"

Diana's wavering eyes widened as far as they could go.

"How is that possi-"

Just as her trembling voice began to flow-

"!!!!!!"

Diana suddenly stopped and whirled her gaze.

No, not just her - everyone there turned their heads in the same direction.

Their gazes pointed toward the Cradle's entrance where Zion had entered.

A transcendent presence beyond overwhelming - beyond proper comprehension - froze their bodies.

Like being completely constricted by a massive snake.

Then-

"Y-Your Highness Diana!"

A fairy knight rushed up to the second floor with an urgent shout.

"W-we're under attack! Right now...!"

Just as the knight was about to continue-

"This is getting interesting," Liushina smiled eerily and-

FLASH!

A streak of light starting behind the knight whited out everyone's vision and completely blew away the entire building.

Zion knew what this phenomenon meant.

He'd experienced it before - no, several times.

'When a divine being or equivalent descends to the world.'

Indeed, the owner of the voice appearing before Zion possessed matching status.

A beautiful woman with grass-green hair and eyes that evoked nature itself.

Zion could easily guess her identity.

'Akenidia.'

God of nature and spirits.

Given her appearance, aura, and location, she couldn't be any other deity.

'She called me contractor - must be one of the deities I contracted with in the past.'

As Zion thought this watching Akenidia approach with a smile as fresh as her voice-

"I really wanted to see you again," the goddess spoke again.

Her voice overflowed with joy, as if proving her words true.

"You seem quite glad to see me. Did we have a connection in the past?"

Zion asked curiously at this goodwill unseen in previous meetings with Luminous and Loki.

Akenidia smiled more deeply and answered:

"Of course. Though you don't remember, you once helped me tremendously."

Though unintentional - gained while subjugating the demon realm - the goddess hadn't forgotten that help.

Without it, Akenidia herself would no longer have influence in this world.

Zion subtly increased the distance as the goddess continued approaching despite being close enough, and spoke:

"Have you descended this time to repay that?"

"No, I already repaid that sufficiently then."

"Then what's your purpose?"

Normally, deities required enormous causality to descend to the mortal realm.

She must have important business to appear directly despite that cost.

But Akenidia's next answer defied Zion's expectations:

"Nothing in particular. As I just said, I simply wanted to see you."

The goddess moved slightly closer to Zion and spoke in a subtle tone:

"And shouldn't you, the Eternal Emperor, have business rather than me?"

"...Me?"

"As you likely noticed from my first words, I'm one of the deities who contracted with you. And I still have some causality remaining."

Zion's eyes took on strange light as he grasped her words' hidden meaning.

Information about the contracts he hadn't heard when meeting Luminous and Loki before.

No, more precisely - he might learn from this deity before him why he had proposed such contracts to the gods.

Apparently Akenidia still felt deep gratitude toward Zion and arranged this meeting to repay it.

"Since you insist, I'll ask. What was the contract I made with you gods in the past?"

"'Going straight to the point hasn't changed at all,'" the goddess muttered before slowly speaking:

"Hmm... I'll tell you as much as I can within my available causality. First, you know you came to this era because of your contract with us, and that you proposed the contract?"

Zion nodded.

"You made that proposal because of that 'power' you possess."

"You mean the Black Star Force?"

"Yes. The authority to return everything to void - a power that shouldn't exist here..."

Akenidia briefly watched the six black stars swirling in Zion's eyes with an almost terrified expression before continuing:

"Did you know? Those stars you possess. They're actually both shackles and keys."

"Shackles and keys?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Yes. Have you ever wondered why you alone in this world - no, this universe - can use that power?"

Zion nodded again.

He'd thought about it countless times before but never found a proper answer.

There was no one to ask, and not even similar cases existed.

"The reason is simple. You and that power are the same being. In other words, it's not that you possess the power - you are the power itself."

At that moment, Zion's eyebrow twitched.

Not from surprise at hearing this for the first time.

Because he realized what Akenidia meant by shackles and keys.

"...So saying I mastered the power was wrong."

"Correct. Your authority of denial. It was complete from the start. Just restricted."

And the Black Star Force was both the shackles imposing those restrictions and the keys releasing them.

In other words, the Black Star Force wasn't about accumulating power but rather gradually releasing restrictions on power he originally possessed.

"Your past self knew this. You were the one who told me about this in the first place."

After watching Akenidia speak these words for a moment, Zion asked her again:

"Then why do I have these restrictions?"

"Even I don't know that... but I can guess."

The goddess closed her eyes briefly as if recalling something, then continued:

"I once overheard higher gods discussing you. They said you were a being from ...... So it might be related to that."

Static interrupted Akenidia's words.

Having experienced this during his conversation with Loki before, Zion knew this phenomenon was causality-based locking.

'Then it must be the same word as then...'

Zion instinctively felt the locked word was related to the term "outside" he had heard from the Light Dragon in the floating city.

'The concerns I apparently had then were likely related to this too.'

After thinking about this briefly, Zion looked at Akenidia again and spoke:

"Then I made that proposal to you gods because of the restrictions."

Otherwise, there would be no reason to bring this up now.

"Yes, your understanding is quick as ever."

The goddess snapped her fingers.

"Actually, since your past self wasn't the type to explain reasons, we only guessed rather than knew for certain."

"..."

Zion thought this guess was probably correct.

He had achieved eight stars in the Black Star Force.

His past self hadn't found reason to go beyond that, but his thinking might have changed later.

'So in the end, I couldn't breakthrough and made contracts with the gods.'

How powerful must that final restriction have been for even his past self to fail to break through?

Or perhaps it wasn't due to restrictions at all, and other reasons existed.

There was only one way to guess that.

Having finished this thought, Zion looked at Akenidia again.

"Let me ask one final thing."

"Of course, ask anything."

"What did my past self demand in exchange for contracting with the gods?"

One of the most fundamental questions, and one that might answer many of Zion's current doubts.

"That was..."

The goddess's lips slowly began to move.