The Wastrel Prince Becomes Ruthless Chapter 65
Yuwon rushed toward the enemies and scattered his daggers.
Swoosh―!
The daggers, dyed in an ink-black hue, let out a sharp sound as they tore through the air.
It was on a completely different level from when Yuwon held the White Dragon Sword and swung it himself. Using the darkness as camouflage, the daggers silently aimed for the enemies’ hearts.
“Be careful!”
“Eek―!”
Blocking daggers barely visible in the dark was never an easy task.
Especially since the one throwing them was Yuwon, it was even more difficult.
Clang―! Clang clang!
But the enemies were no pushovers either. The sound of metal clashing echoed several times, and the daggers Yuwon had thrown were knocked away helplessly. The assassins moved as though sharing a single body and blocked Yuwon’s attacks.
“I’ve never heard of black-colored mana before… I didn’t expect it to be this troublesome to deal with. Don’t try to follow the daggers with your eyes; look at the direction of their release. If you try to follow them with your eyes, you’ll die.”
“Yes!”
The one who seemed to be the leader among the enemies pinpointed the exact method to counter Yuwon’s daggers. Yuwon’s sharp gaze fixed on him.
‘Annoying bastard. I need to kill him first.’
The others were troublesome too, but the one issuing commands was the core.
Yuwon pulled out new daggers from the leather guards on his thigh and chest. This time, two in each hand.
A total of four.
There was no need to grow impatient just because his attacks were blocked.
The daggers that had been tightly hidden in his subspace pouch until now were more than enough to kill the enemies standing before him.
‘I figured I’d need them someday… preparation never betrays.’
The enemies, certain that reinforcements would soon arrive, didn’t move rashly even when Yuwon halted his attacks.
The initiative remained with Yuwon.
“For assassins, you seem incapable of finishing a job with your own hands and are waiting for reinforcements to come. How pathetic. Is that what you were taught?”
Yuwon had not been taught so weakly. Once a target was decided, he removed it by any means necessary.
That was the lesson Yuwon had learned in his previous life.
“If you didn’t have the confidence to face me with your own strength, then you shouldn’t have accepted the request. And if it wasn’t a simple request but an order you couldn’t refuse, then you should have fought from the beginning with your hidden trump card. Am I wrong?”
He wasn’t speaking to hear an answer. Yuwon, who had stopped briefly, vanished as though he had lied. His attack began anew.
Pak―! Papapap―!
Yuwon flicked his hands quickly and scattered the daggers.
The blackened blades flew in timed succession, aiming for the enemies’ throats.
At first, there were four.
The assassins, paired in twos to strengthen their defense, seemed accustomed to Yuwon’s attacks now and blocked them without difficulty.
Each person only needed to block one, so it was not hard.
Then eight again.
Clang! Clang―!
All four assassins calmly raised their swords and deflected the incoming daggers.
As if sensing something ominous, the expressions of the assassins hidden under their masks hardened uniformly.
‘Don’t tell me the next is…!’
Unpleasant premonitions were always cruelly accurate. Yuwon’s hand moved too fast to see as he released 16 daggers.
At first, they had only needed to block one per person; now it had increased to four per person.
Clang―! Clang clang clang!
Thud―!
“…!”
Behind the familiar sound of swords deflecting daggers came a different sound.
The sound of a sharpened dagger piercing flesh. One of the assassins, the weakest among them, finally allowed an attack to land.
“Keuhhuk―!”
Unfortunately, this time it didn’t end with simply gouging out a wound. He had blocked the first three perfectly, but the last dagger lodged itself in a fatal spot.
“Well then, why don’t you try gouging out your own heart?”
Yuwon’s low, emotionless voice sounded like the song of the grim reaper to the one who heard it.
Thud―
It didn’t take even ten seconds for the assassin with a pierced heart to collapse.
The flesh around his chest had already rotten black from poison and was completely dead.
“Now there are three left. From here on, it will be even harder for you to block.”
Yuwon’s calm words were no different from a death sentence. His voice thundered in the ears of the remaining assassins.
Then, in Yuwon’s hands appeared weapons different from the daggers until now.
Extremely thin needles, fine as ox hair, named Omochim.
When Yuwon had been spending time in the Capital before the subjugation mission, he had tormented Bernid to have them specially crafted.
“You already know how many are coming next without me saying it, right?”
When Yuwon flicked his hand again, 32 Omochim scattered from it.
Tiny, thin needles impossible to track with the eyes—each carrying lethal poison—flew forth.
This wasn’t something one could deflect one by one. The remaining three assassins gave up on blocking individually and instead ignited all the mana in their bodies to form mana shields with their swords.
Clang―! Clang clang clang!
‘They’re not ordinary.’
Sword-shields, which theoretically existed but were rarely used due to their absurd mana consumption, were now being displayed before Yuwon by mere assassins.
‘Maybe they’re elite assassins… or not mere assassins at all. No need to rush. Just stay tense until the end.’
Once he subdued them all and interrogated their leader, he would know. Everything had gone smoothly so far; there was no need to hurry.
Yuwon calmly prepared his next attack. It should have been 64 this time, but Yuwon skipped one step.
“For you to block even this much. Impressive. Let’s see if you can block this too.”
The tips of Yuwon’s fingers glowed. Tangible mana—no, inner force—wavered like black flames.
From Yuwon’s hands, well over a hundred thin needles burst forth, each infused with black inner force as they rained down upon the enemies.
The secret technique of the Tang Clan, said to have been lost—Mantianhuayu—was reproduced here in a distant otherworldly land.
“This is insane…!”
The assassins were barely holding on even now, and suddenly the sky seemed to collapse upon them.
‘We can’t block this…!’
Irresistible. Even after decades of living by the sword, they had never felt such intense fear of death. Faced with Yuwon’s unreal attack, they gave up resisting and stood blankly, accepting the approaching death.
Pak― Papapapap―!
Black rain poured down. In a night sky that held not a single raindrop, an unexpected downpour fell.
At the same time, on the outer walls of the fortress, a blood-soaked battle was in full swing.
“Loose―! Shoot them all dead!”
Chwarrrrk―!
Following the commander’s orders, the loosed arrows traced parabolic arcs across the sky. Their target was the endless horde of beasts rushing in.
Pak―! Papapapak―!
Arrows fed with oil and fire rained toward the beasts. Some flying beasts caught in mid-air by the blind shots fell.
Crash―!
A chilling sound rang out, and blood and flesh splattered through the air. Whether they fell or were crushed, they all became mere chunks of meat.
The fire arrows that reached the ground without being intercepted by airborne beasts ignited multiple points within the enemy ranks.
Kruwoooohk!
The unlucky beasts were hit squarely by the oil-soaked fire arrows. Seized by the agony of being burned alive, they shrieked and thrashed violently.
The flames, thrilled by the reaction of those beasts, spread even larger, burning the creatures and sending up acrid smoke. Beneath the ramparts, it was no different from a hell on earth.
Blood splattered everywhere, and shrieks of agony that twisted the body in pain never ceased on the battlefield. Even if one briefly averted their gaze from the brutal, merciless scene, it was useless.
Whenever they turned their eyes away, the stench of burning flesh—which they could never grow used to—filled the air. There was nowhere to run.
What unfolded was a scene too horrific for the subjugation soldiers, who had only just entered their second battle in life, to endure.
A few occasionally looked away, but unlike before, no one was retching.
‘This is no game. If we falter here, the ones who won’t escape death aren’t those beasts—but us!’
Every subjugation soldier clenched their teeth with the same thought, nocking arrows onto bowstrings and readying their magic.
Though their real combat experience was lacking, the subjugation soldiers’ individual prowess far surpassed that of ordinary soldiers.
Once they fulfilled their roles, dealing with the beasts became far easier than relying solely on the Valaris regular army.
“Prepare for magical bombardment—!”
As the archers retreated in unison to nock their arrows again, the magicians who had already prepared offensive spells stepped forward to take their place.
Bernid, the Third Prince, who had been entrusted with directing the magicians, raised his voice.
“Fire—!”
Boom—! Crash—!
At Bernid’s command, the condensed mana gathered on the magicians’ fingertips rained down upon the battlefield.
Fireballs poured onto the already ravaged land burned by flaming arrows, and flames roared upward in bursts.
Whoooosh—
Blades of wind swept through the enemy, slicing off the beasts’ limbs with sharp cuts, and that very wind fanned the fire, making the blaze grow even fiercer.
“Not yet, not yet! Pour out your mana and annihilate them! If any of you still have strength left after the battle, I’ll personally burn you alive!”
The Third Prince did not act only with words.
He unleashed his specialty lightning-type magic toward the beasts that had survived the magical bombardment and were approaching the ramparts.
Crackle, crack-crackle—!
Sparks scattered wildly from the Third Prince’s hands.
Blue electric currents shot out from his fingertips like lightning, enveloping the enemies and burning them from within.
Flash—!
A massive beast struck squarely by his attack collapsed on the spot, crashing backward and crushing the beasts that followed.
There was nothing left to see after that.
Those crushed by the giant beast turned into nothing but strands of dried jerky.
Bernid, pleased with his personal achievement, stepped back for a moment.
“Terrien, I’ll need one more round of cover. Long-preparation spells aren’t my taste, but on a battlefield like this, a single large strike is better than flinging fireballs nonstop.”
Terrien, standing in for Yuwon who was currently away, was fighting at Bernid’s side.
“Yes, do not worry. I will cover you.”
“Good, I’ll rely on you without hesitation.”
Kkieeehk—!
As expected, a bird-like beast shot toward Bernid, who was gathering mana in an undefended state, its talons bared like well-sharpened blades.
Bernid noticed the attack but did not so much as blink, focusing solely on gathering mana. And just when the creature had approached close enough—
“You dare!”
Slash—!
Terrien’s sword split the creature cleanly from top to bottom.
Only a few drops of blood splattered onto Bernid.
Terrien, who felled the beast with a single strike, shifted his gaze to detect new threats as he observed the flow of battle.
‘…The beasts’ corpses are piling up at a frightening rate, yet our casualties are minimal. They’re fighting far better than expected.’
The beasts were being torn apart, while allied losses were exceedingly rare. It should have been good news, yet he could not relax.
Why were their numbers not decreasing…?’
From atop the ramparts, Terrien could see it clearly—an unending line of beasts stretching all the way to the distant horizon.
The battle could not be going more favorably, yet anxiety only tightened within him.
He feared that the allies’ stamina might run dry long before they could defeat all those enemies.
“Your Highness… where are you right now….”
Number 5 fled from Yuwon as fast as his legs could carry him. It was a desperate struggle to survive.
‘To think Numbers 1 through 4 were all subdued… that Fifth Prince is no human. Someone like us can’t face him. Only that person can confront him…!’
The only one he could rely on was ‘that person’, who had originally been designated to face Yuwon for this mission.
‘The Fifth Prince unleashed that much mana—he can’t possibly be in perfect condition. I must deliver this news to that person immediately…!’
Though the weakest in combat strength among his companions, Number 5 surpassed them all in stealth and swiftness. He had been excluded from combat from the start. If his comrades failed, it was his role to report what had happened.
Number 5 ran so hard it felt like his feet might tear off, determined to fulfill his mission. Then—
Srrk—
Something fell from the empty air and blocked his path.
“…!”
“Number 5. Why are you here? What of the mission?”
A chilling, eerie voice—like a fog given human speech.
As far as Number 5 knew, there was only one person with such a voice.
“Th-they’re all dead except for me! Before you arrived, Numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 were supposed to hold down the target and I was to report the situation, but they were all killed.”
“I see.”
“Yes, I will guide you right away. Though he bears no injuries, the target must be exhausted after such a battle. If you go now—”
The man cut Number 5 off.
“No injuries?”
“Yes, that’s right. He may not have external wounds, but I’m certain the target must be exhausted—”
“I’m relieved His Highness is safe. I was worried I might be late because of… annoying matters, but I’m truly relieved.”
At the man’s words, Number 5’s hair stood on end.
“Wh-what did you just say…?”
Thud—!
“Gah—!”
Number 5 could not finish his sentence.
Instead, he simply stared in disbelief at the dagger buried in his own heart.
“Wh… why…?”
“I am merely honoring the oath I’ve staked my entire life on.”
“Kh—! Tr… traitor…!”
The shape of the dagger lodged in his heart caught his fading gaze.
From hilt to blade, its deformed size—barely the length of a palm—looked strangely familiar.
‘Th-this…!’
It was identical to the dagger Yuwon used.