The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 112 Magic Sword Forte (14) - Decoy Hunt Sky Academy. This monstrous educational institution, known for the fact that beating down a single monster is more effective for growth than listening to a professor's careful guidance, has various types of 'dungeons' befitting that reputation. Underground passages teeming with slimes and tentacles. Forests where various mutated flora and fauna jump out. Libraries lined with man-eating books, and so on. It was impossible to argue which dungeon among them was the best or most dangerous. Because each student's evaluation was different. However, everyone could give the same answer to the question of which was the 'oldest dungeon.', because this was a matter with objective criteria. The Tower. Sky Academy, which already exists at dizzying heights in the sky by its very existence. The 'tallest' building and dungeon even within that academy. However, despite such symbolism, the Tower wasn't a very popular dungeon among students, and when asked why, students answered as follows. -First of all, it's too tall. When will we ever climb all 100 floors? -Usually when you reach floors 1 to 10 and then escape, shouldn't they at least create a teleportation gate or something so you can continue from the 10th floor next time? But this makes you go round and round from the 1st floor every time you climb. -There are terribly many traps and tricks, and monsters come out in various mixed combinations, making it hard to prepare countermeasures. -On top of that, the internal structure keeps changing. Well, it's not such a drastic change that information sharing becomes meaningless, but it's annoying anyway. -There's no proper food supply, no certain safe zones, and it's the worst that if a crisis occurs midway, you have to go back down floor by floor to the 1st floor. Even worse, monsters are newly replenished when you return. -When you reach the 100th floor, the point rewards that come in aren't bad... but is it worth struggling desperately to climb up through all that hardship? Well? There were various evaluations from students regarding the Tower, but their essence was one. The rewards don't match the effort. That was quite an alien characteristic in Sky Academy, which obsesses over giving 'rewards' persistently even for the smallest actions. There were cases of clueless freshmen challenging the Tower, but even they would usually move to a more cost-effective dungeon after adapting to the academy to some extent. The Tower thus became a place untouched by human footsteps. On the 100th floor, which almost no one had reached, a man stood leaning his back against the wall. "......" He was a man with blurred features. His appearance with such remarkably faint presence was more reminiscent of a ghost than a person. He maintained silence while looking at the stairs leading from the 99th to 100th floor, clearly appearing as if waiting for someone. -Thud. Perhaps that waiting had meaning. Finally, someone revealed themselves through the stairs. It was a young man with blonde hair and blue eyes, possessing very handsome looks, and a girl with black hair and golden eyes, giving a cute impression. "Whew. Oh." Had the process of climbing up here been quite arduous? The young man who let out a deep sigh trembled slightly when he saw the man who had been waiting. But that was only for a moment. The young man greeted the man with a bright smile. "I am Kailron, contractor of Lady Divana." The man who had been staring at the hand Kailron extended for a handshake soon spat out bluntly. "What kind of game is this, Divana." At having his greeting ignored, Kailron's face stiffened slightly. His mouth opened as if conveying someone else's words. "《—'Sidor.' What do you mean, what kind of game?》" The third demon called Sidor answered. "Why did you leave the contractor's self-consciousness? Don't create unnecessary variables." Flinch. Even while trembling at Sidor's shocking statement, Kailron didn't stop speaking. More precisely, he didn't stop conveying Divana's words that he heard in his ears. "《How ridiculous. Aren't you the stupid one? If you devour the contractor's consciousness like that and move directly yourself, the risk of being caught by the System would be great.》" "Don't treat me the same as a jack-of-all-trades failure like you. There's no chance of being caught to this extent." "《This bastard really, want to have a go? Huh?》" "If you intend to disrupt our lord's grand plan with personal emotions, I'll gladly oblige you." "《Ah, sure. How excellent. Anyway, I have my own methods, so don't interfere.》 ...That's all. Lord Sidor. I understand what you're concerned about, but please rest assured that what you're worried about won't happen. I've made up my mind to become one with Lady Divana." Sidor didn't answer. His blurred features were rigidly hardened like a doll, but somehow it felt like mockery to Kailron. The demon Sidor's gaze turned to beside the young man. Toward the girl with long black hair tied back. A descendant who inherited the Hero's blood. The key to making their operation succeed. Fina Valestia. "......" Fina's condition was clearly abnormal at a glance. Her golden eyes were locked in a murky state, having lost their vitality, and even as Kailron and Sidor exchanged suspicious conversation beside her, she only silently kept her place like a doll, showing no reaction whatsoever. "Is she bewitched?" "Yes. Since it is difficult for Lady Divana to use her power directly, I have been accumulating mana little by little. She would follow an order to die right now without a word of complaint." "What's her combat ability?" "I think she's at least 5th rank." "Good. Since that idiot Balzares lost contact, we needed someone to play the decoy role. I can leave it to her." Sidor's dry, emotionless eyes pierced through Kailron. "Divana's contractor. Command the Hero's descendant. Tell her to destroy the seal, then fight those who come here until the moment she dies." Kailron showed a momentarily troubled expression, but soon nodded his head. "Miss Fina. After destroying the seal, please fight all those who come here." Fina quietly nodded with a vacant expression. "...Yes. Lord Kailron." "Is this sufficient?" Sidor didn't answer. Perhaps that itself was the answer. Kailron shrugged his shoulders, then asked Sidor. "By the way, Lord Sidor, are you moving the contractor's body directly? Then what about the contractor?" "Why are you curious about that?" "Aren't we colleagues who will work together from now on? I'm curious out of fellow feeling." "Ha." A cold sneer appeared on Sidor's lips. "This foolish contractor has already offered everything of himself to me. What's here is merely an empty shell. In that sense, you're lucky. You ended up with a half-baked one like Divana." "Hey, don't be like that. I heard that among demons, there are some who were once human. If I become one too, wouldn't I become a comrade to you as well, Lord Sidor?" "What nonsensical chatter." "Tsk. Yes, yes. I understand. So, where is the seal? If we need to defeat the 100th floor boss, please wait a bit. I'm exhausted from using up my strength climbing up here." "There's no need for that. I already defeated that stupid puppet long ago." As Sidor moved forward and opened the door to the boss room, something like armor fragments scattered and strewn across the floor was revealed. Through information he heard from his seniors, Kailron could recognize that it was the boss 'Silver Knight' that guarded the top of this tower. Gulp. Kailron unconsciously swallowed his saliva. According to what he knew, the Silver Knight was a boss that required a party including 'at least' a 5th rank party member attacking as a group to barely have a chance of winning. The fact that such an opponent was so mercilessly defeated without being able to put up much resistance was proof that Sidor's abilities were extraordinary. Moreover, the abilities he would display while prepared to be caught by the System would be even higher. Thinking about what he had to do from now on against such a being made him feel dizzy, but Kailron tried hard to steel his mind. 'For Lady Divana...!' "It's over here. Command her to cut down this statue here." What Sidor pointed to while saying this was a large stone mass in the innermost part of the boss room. A statue of a stubborn old man, dressed in a large staff and wide robes. Who would have realized that this statue, known merely as one of the background elements of the boss room, was a 'seal' hiding something? Considering there were no particular rules or restrictions from the academy level to come here, there was a high possibility that even the professors didn't know of its existence. "What exactly is that statue sealing? Have you discovered anything?" "I said cut it. Can't you hear?" Sidor's already faint presence became even fainter. Understanding that this was Sidor's version of 'battle preparation,' Kailron closed his eyes tightly and commanded. "Miss Fina, begin!" "Yes. Lord Kailron." With an expressionless face showing no emotion and a flat voice, Fina raised her sword. The beautiful blade of the two-handed sword was revealed, and a clear Sword Force bloomed above it. The incarnation of light that seemed capable of cutting through anything was struck down with full force. Not toward the statue, but toward Sidor. Swoosh!! Even if it was the shell of one who had given everything to a demon, the blood that flowed out was unmistakably red. "Wh-what...!" Sidor's eyes widened in shock as his chest was deeply cut. It wasn't that he had been completely off guard. If Kailron had swung a sword in the same situation, Sidor would have reacted without concern and subdued him without injury. However, doing the same against Fina was impossible. Because Fina, receiving the full backup of Magic Sword Forte, had already completely reached the realm of 6th Rank, at least in term of raw power. Unlike just moments ago, Fina's eyes held clear will rather than being doll-like and vacant. And Kailron's somehow awkward behavior. It didn't take long for Sidor to fully grasp the situation. "Divana!! How dare you, how dare you betray our lord!!" Divana didn't answer. Whether by choice or force, since she had already switched sides, she knew well that taking a half-hearted attitude would be the worst thing to do. Following Divana's intentions, Kailron fled toward the dungeon stairs. Because he had been instructed to do so. Kwaaaaa! Then, vivid black aura overflowed. Utterly hard, firm, and merciless. The aura possessed by 'Forte' as a Magic Sword. The assassin-style Sidor tried somehow to hide himself or escape from Fina's sight, but Fina, supported by Forte, shattered all his struggles and pressed Sidor hard. Immediately after the dagger and two-handed sword clashed, Sidor's right arm was severed. The moment the shadow that tried to grab Fina's ankle was cut away, blood spurted from both of Sidor's legs. Perhaps he thought the situation was unfavorable as it was. Sidor's physical body itself crumbled, and his shadow scattered throughout the room. Finally abandoning the human shell he wore, he began to exert his full power as a demon. 《Contractor.》 "Yes, Sir Magic Sword." Fina raised her sword. In the pitch-black aura, something blue appeared for just a brief moment before disappearing. The next moment. A haze of fluttering flower petals filled the entire boss room.