5 episodes
3 Hunting Night (1)
Grego’s body drooping with his head stuck to the floor.
Shion’s gaze turned to Arto, who was right next to him.
Both were said to be the children of nobles with high stature enough to be able to enter the Imperial Castle, but there was no hesitation in Zion’s movements.
From coercive remarks to threatening behavior.
Because it was over there that provided the excuse in the first place.
“ Well, what… … !”
Arto stuttered with a bewildered expression as if he had not expected Shion’s actions like that.
Artaud could not comprehend the process from when Grego’s hand had just been stretched until his head was slammed to the floor.
So Arto’s new model moved backwards, but Shion’s movement was much faster than that.
Whoo!
Arto’s necklace, which sensed the owner’s danger as if it were an artifact, lit up, and in an instant, Arto’s whole body was covered with a blue shield.
Even after seeing that, the speed at which Zion’s hand was raised did not decrease at all.
Rather, it was faster.
self-
Something softly young black in Shion’s fingertips.
The moment when Shion’s hand and Arto’s shield collided.
“… … !”
Arto’s shield was destroyed as it was.
It was neither broken nor pierced.
It was literally annihilation.
As if it didn’t exist in the first place.
Then, Arto and Priscilla’s eyes, watching the scene, expand to the point where they can’t grow bigger.
With him, Zion’s hand grabbed Arto’s head and slammed it against the wall.
Quazy!
Arto’s body was drooping and drooping, just like his colleague Grego.
“ Take it.”
Shion, who looked at Arto and Grego for a moment, opened his mouth to Priscilla, who was standing there.
“I kept it hidden.”
With those words, Zion moved as if there was no more business.
Priscilla, who had been staring blankly at Shion’s back so far, came to her senses and shouted.
“ Wait, wait!”
Shion turned her head with an annoyed expression on her face, and Priscilla, who had already approached her, opened her mouth to Shion.
“ I want to stay here for a while, okay?”
The two already stretched out over there look like they don’t even care.
Her eyes were shining with deep curiosity and interest.
“ As you know, there are a lot of things that need to be prepared in order to break up the marriage.”
“ No… … .”
Just looking at it was an excuse, and it would have been bothersome if I gave it to him, so Shion, who was about to refuse, stopped talking.
Together with him, a young child in Zion’s eyes.
Hopefully, Priscilla might find it worthwhile.
A rare trait possessed by Priscilla, who made her the ‘misfortune princess’ in the novel.
Using that characteristic, it seemed possible to reveal the ‘true enemy’ hidden within this palace.
“ Do whatever you want.”
Acceptance flowing from Zion’s mouth.
Such Shion’s eyes were looking at Priscilla’s dark red eyes.
Priscilla, who had a surprised expression on her face for a moment, did not know that she would allow it so gently, then opened her mouth.
“… … like. I will take care of you.”
* * *
“ Ha… … .”
Priscilla sighed as she walked down the hallway of Chimseonggung Palace.
It has already been three days since she stayed in this palace.
He was not dissatisfied with staying in the palace as he intended, but the problem was that he had never seen the face of Prince Zion.
Prince Zion’s job was to go to his bedroom and sleep after staying in the private gym all day as if he were a madman in any kind of training.
Even three o’clock three meals a day was enough to cook in it.
Naturally, Prince Zion did not let her into the gymnasium or bedroom.
“ If that’s the case, why did I tell you to stay? … .”
Since it was Priscilla who was interested in the changed Prince of Zion and offered to stay here, he had no choice but to be frustrated.
However, it was the knights and servants who worked at Chimseonggung that were successful.
The ignorance and contempt they had seen in their eyes when referring to Prince Zion from ancient times.
Those two emotions disappeared without a trace.
And what filled that void was the fear of Zion.
Only Fredo, who served Zion closest to him, had no such fear.
‘ What happened?’
When asked about him, he kept his mouth shut and didn’t say anything.
It’s as if you’re going to lose your life the moment you speak.
‘ And then there was the power… … .’
The power of Prince Zion, which he showed against Grego and Arto a few days ago, was also at a level that completely denied the public’s evaluation, but the power he used drew attention.
The moment it touched, something black destroyed Arto’s shield.
It was a power he had never seen before, even as an excellent wizard, Priscilla.
‘ I really don’t know.’
Not long ago, I thought I knew everything about Prince Zion.
It’s because we’ve seen each other regularly since childhood.
But now I knew nothing.
“ Hello, Priscilla-sama.”
Thinking like that, Fredo the Nogisa walked over to her, shaking her head slightly, and spoke to her.
“ Hello, I can’t.”
“ Yes?”
Fredo gave a puzzled expression to Priscilla’s blunt answer.
“ Do you know that Prince Fredo’s sire has changed?”
“ Yes.”
“ What the hell happened?”
“ That… … .”
At that question, Fredo had a troubled expression on his face.
In order to answer the question, we have to talk about the attack on Chimseonggung Palace and the execution of the traitors, because Zion ordered Hamgu about it.
Priscilla nodded knowingly at Fredo’s reaction, the same as the other knights and servants, and changed the question.
“ By the way, what the hell is Lord Zion doing? Since I haven’t been able to see your face once since I stayed in the palace… … .”
“ Haha, Your Majesty is busy these days. Ah, right now, you are with the knights at the dance hall outside the palace, so would you like to go see them… … .”
“ Let’s go now.”
Before Fredo could finish speaking, Priscilla was already moving.
Perhaps she didn’t want to miss the precious opportunity, so her steps almost ran.
how far did you walk
As Priscilla opened the door of Chimseonggung as if spurred, Sion with the knights from the outside dance hall came in.
The appearance of Zion as if he was instructing the knights.
“ Sion.”
Priscilla, who approached Shion at once, sang with a recalled voice.
Shion looks at her as if what’s going on with him.
“ What are you going to do?”
“… … .”
“ Why don’t you show your face once? Are you sure you’re avoiding me? If that’s the case, the reason I told you to stay at the palace… … .”
“ Once.”
Sion’s cold voice interrupted Priscilla’s words as soon as she saw them.
“ Be careful.”
Shion’s still eyes that harmonize with him look at Priscilla.
“ It’s about not crossing the line.”
“… … .”
It was a warning.
A warning that from now on there will be nothing to look at.
It was a very quiet voice, but Priscilla was able to fully understand the meaning behind it.
“ I never told you to stay here.”
Priscilla had her mouth shut, and after looking at it for a moment, Shion slowly opened her mouth again.
“ It just didn’t stop you from staying. And am I obligated to see your face?”
I thought so.
From the beginning, Zion had never asked Priscilla to stay here.
She just said she would stay.
“… … None. I know.”
After answering him with a gloomy expression, Shion looked at Priscilla’s back as she moved away.
I had a job for her, but not now.
Because there was something I had to finish first.
“ We’re going to double the number of night guards over the next week.”
Shion turned his head toward the knights again and opened his mouth.
“ The patrol team will also be changed from a two-person team to a three-person team, and all knights will have iron plates on their necks and hearts.”
“ Yes!”
There were doubts in the eyes of the knights at the unknown words, but no one asked the reason.
I was given instructions and just followed them.
‘ At least three days.’
With those words, Shion turned around and estimated the time in her head.
Contrary to Zion’s expectations, those who ordered the recent attack did not come to check Zion’s condition, nor did they use any other measures.
Strangely unresponsive.
And there was only one meaning.
* * *
As for why the moon in the sky is getting redder, some wizards have said:
It is said that the moon is originally the pupil through which God looks at us, and that it is slowly becoming bloodshot to look at without closing his eyes.
Therefore, it is said that a lunar eclipse is a time when God closes his eyes and rests for a while.
‘ Anyone can see it, but… … .’
4 thought so and looked at the sky where even the moon had lost its light.
There was no disagreement that the story was bullshit, but No. 4 liked the night of the lunar eclipse.
It felt like all the light had disappeared and the darkness that remained was wrapped around me.
In addition, the success rate of what he is doing has also increased.
‘ Is that there?’
With that in mind, No. 4 looked at the palace that was emitting a soft light in front of it.
Chimseong Palace.
Tonight, No. 4, it was a place where he had a target he had to kill.
‘ I’m sure he’ll try to assassinate inside the imperial palace.’
4 was aware that it was in the Imperial Palace, the heart of Agnes Empire.
The client did not know.
However, even though it was out of town, it was possible to know that the person who made this quest was in a very high place in No. 4 just by allowing him to do activities inside the Imperial Castle like this.
‘ I already said that I failed once.’
I didn’t know why it failed.
Not a single assassin who was sent in did not return.
Therefore, the assassination corps, to which the 4th belonged, was putting in an excessive amount of power this time.
Power enough to erase any noble family without a trace.
It also meant that he was looking into the eyes of the client.
“ Before the sun rises, all life in the palace is erased.”
The new model No. 4 began to move in the dark, chanting a little at the assassins standing quietly behind him.
The assassins quickly follow him.
Dozens of legs move, but no sound comes out.
Slap, Slap!
With an extremely suppressed cutting sound, the heads of the knights guarding the main gate of the palace fell from their torso.
The assassins enter the palace without hesitation, passing the fallen corpses.
Soon after, the lights in the palace started to go out slowly from where the assassins entered.
“… … .”
The top floor of such a castle palace.
From there, Sion was looking at the palace with languid eyes, where the lights were gradually disappearing.
The second raid is scheduled, and the enemies are much stronger than before.
But they weren’t hunting tonight.
self-
It was Zion, himself who was hunting.
Zion’s eyes follow the disappearing lights.
Soon afterward, such a new form of Zion began to melt into the darkness.