Side Story Chapter 130

Who could have imagined that such a vast space lay below the Palace?

“Oh...” Kireua’s jaw dropped to the floor. “Oh, wow. If I find treasure, too, I think it might really be a dragon’s lair...”

-It’s right over there, Kireua!

Kireua instantly closed his mouth when Coal popped up in front of him. Coal looked a lot different than before. In the past, Coal had resembled a small cotton ball, but it was now running around adorably with its longer arms and new legs

“You look...” Kireua trailed off.

-I became bigger, right? Hehe.

Coal struck a pompous pose and then jumped into the ocean of gold coins in front of it and went swimming.

Indeed, it was a cornucopia of gold.

“...I guess His Majesty is just like any head of the household, huh?” Kireua muttered to himself.

-Huh? What are you talking about?

“I heard that every head needs a secret fund that their significant other isn’t aware of. Dignity comes from money, and all that,” Kireua explained.

When he thought about his memories of the Emperor of Avalon, Kireua honestly couldn’t imagine that side of him, but why else would the Emperor of Avalon need to stash away this much treasure? Besides, the Queen Consorts would have just told him to do what he wanted to do. Ah, Queen Consort Icarus was an exception.

“Aside from those piles of gold, every single one of those antiques looks expensive. And those weapons in the corner must be artifacts... Oh... Isn’t that one of Hertonia’s Five Fine Swords?”

One of the items caught Kireua’s attention; a beautiful, sleek longsword with a white hilt. Kireua instantly recognized the small hammer symbol at the end of the hilt as that of Hertonia, the finest blacksmith of the continent.

“Can I... keep this?” Kireua swallowed. Before he was a prince, he was a martial artist and a knight, meaning he also adored quality weapons, just like any other. However, he couldn’t take things without permission, much less from the Emperor of Avalon...

“...But why isn’t His Majesty saying anything?” Kireua considered sitting down and waiting for his father’s next message, but with the clock ticking, he didn’t stop for long.

-Kireua! Here! Here!

Coal finished swimming(?) and jumped up and down, pointing at a long path leading into the depths of the cavernous space.

The place was structured just like the dragon lairs that Kireua had read about in the books. In human terms, there was a small empty area that was like a reception room, and a big lair where the dragon actually lived further inside.

Kireua tilted his head. “If this is just the entrance, what in the world is in there?”

Kireua followed Coal down the path. Before long, the light orbs embedded in the walls were replaced by pitch-black darkness, but that wasn’t a problem for a man who was as skilled as Kireua. Ever since he had learned the mana optical enhancement technique, he could feel everything around him.

“...Huh?” Kireua flinched right after he focused his mana into his eyes. He stopped, his skin suddenly breaking into a cold sweat, and his eyes stung so bad that it felt like they were going to pop out. Every instinct he had was screaming that he had to run away.

-Wowwwwwwwww!

-...Who are you?

-Who? I’m Coal!

-Coal?

The danger Kireua sensed came from something enormous deep inside the cavern. The mysterious entity could even recognize Coal, which was surprising because the only person who had ever recognized Coal was the Emperor of Avalon.

-An unfathomable amount of pure demonic power and the energy of dominance...

-Kireua! Come here quickly! There’s someone great over here!

-I see. You’re from the Seven Evil Sins' powers, the core of the Demon Kings’ powers and Roots of All Evil that all demons have coveted for time immemorial, but you aren’t

just

one of the powers.

Kireua wanted to shout at Coal to

please,

shut up

as loud as he could.

-...Is the human behind you the owner of these three Evil Sins’ powers?

Kireua gasped, and he was dragged deeper in.

“What in the world...!” Kireua gritted his teeth. He was sure that he wasn’t being controlled by magic, because he hadn’t detected the slightest quiver of mana. However, he sucked in as surely as if hundreds of people were pulling him. As far as Kireua knew, there was only one entity that could achieve what they wanted by will alone.

Suddenly, the darkness was erased by blindingly bright light.

“Urgh...!” Kireua frowned.

When he managed to open his eyes again, he couldn’t believe what they saw.

“W-Woah.”

He was even more stunned than when he had entered. Thrill and excitement overwhelmed him.

“An... undead legion?”

The twelve black knights lined up in the front of him were the legendary death knights. Behind them, hundreds of headless dullahans, high-ranking undead, quietly knelt. Further still, the space was packed with endless ranks of stalwart skeletons.

More concerningly, however, was that all twelve death knights’ eyes shone with red light, advertising their hostility to the uninvited guests.

The dullahans stood up one after another, and the skeletons picked up their neatly organized weapons.

The continent had once condemned Avalon as the Demonic Empire because the late Duke Agnus, a leading member of the country’s aristocratic faction, and previous emperor, Marcus, had both lost their bodies to the Demon Spirit.

Of course, Kireua cursed at those people whenever he met one. Avalon was also a victim. If the current Emperor of Avalon hadn’t annihilated the Demon Spirit, their countries would have been the next victims, but after seeing the undead legion, Kireua had to accept their criticism.

“This is... what His Majesty prepared?” he blankly murmured.

Everything added up. The Emperor had said that Kireua and the others would be able to overcome the current crisis without major issues once Kireua located what the Emperor had prepared; however, everyone in the world would criticize Kireua for it. Now he understood exactly what his father had meant by that: if he brought an undead legion to battle, it would hardly be a surprise if rumors spread that the Second Prince of Avalon was a demon.

-You somewhat resemble someone I know.

-Not just anyone can enter this area of the underground...

Kireua still hadn’t met the owner of the voice probing him. Nevertheless, he was quite calm; the Emperor of Avalon wouldn’t have sent his own son here to die.

“M-My name is Kireua Sanders.”

-A Sanders?

“Joshua Sanders, His Majesty, the Emperor of Avalon, is my father.”

-...I see... Although I somewhat expected that.

“Pardon me, but may I ask who you are?”

A long, pregnant silence fell.

Unaware of the current situation, Coal was running around and examining the undead. Although Kireua wanted to scold it, now wasn’t the time. No good would come out of getting on this mysterious entity’s nerves.

‘Please stay still!’

Kireua silently screamed.

In the innermost part of the space, a colossal mass of darkness undulated like a moving castle. Kireua had never witnessed darkness stretching inside darkness.

When he realized what he was looking at, he stumbled backward.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

“A d-dragon...!”

Dragons were the greatest creatures in the Human Realm—the race of magic. But the dragon before Kireua was a black dragon, the rarest of its species. The dragon scanned Kireua with its yellow eyes.

‘But I hear that dragons went extinct... Did that Bel man lie?’

Kireua wondered.

Bel, the Battle God of the Hubalt Empire, had said that all of the dragons in the world had died to his hands. Although Kireua hadn’t believed Bel at first, he had to admit that there was quite a bit of credibility to the statement later. Otherwise, dragons would have already taken action against the demons running wild in the Demon Realm.

-I am Crevasse, the last surviving dragon on the continent.

“Crevasse...!”

Naturally, Kireua knew of Crevasse, the Evil Dragon, and had heard about his history with the Emperor of Avalon. Krevas had been hiding in such a place? However, the shocking revelation hadn’t even begun yet.

-It seems your father wants to also turn his own child into a dragon knight.

“Pardon? A d-dragon knight?”

-It’s a promise—no, an Eternal Vow.

An Eternal Vow was a promise made by great beings—must be upheld lest their lives be forfeit. The moment they failed to fulfill the vow, the dragons’ hearts would shatter and they would be wiped from existence.

“What in the world did His Majesty do for you...?”

-...That is none of your business. The only thing you have to know is that if you are willing, I will try my best to assist you.

“A dragon helping me...”

-All the undead you see before you are yours to command as well.

Kireua took a look at the legion of undead and the dragon, and shivered.

“They’re... all mine?” he whispered.

-Yes.

“Even you, Sir Crevasse.”

-...Such is my vow.

Kireua’s fists clenched.

“It doesn’t matter if they’re demons or archangels,” he shouted, suddenly quite fearless. “Come at us!”