A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 210

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The one who appeared leading countless soldiers was none other than Crown Prince Edsen.
“Attack!”
At Crown Prince Edsen’s resolute command, all those who had been wavering gripped their swords anew. Their blades turned toward Prince Abihel and the members of the Eba Cult.
“These are the ones I saw at the Hunting Grounds before.”
Crown Prince Edsen approached Ludvil’s side and clicked his tongue lightly. So it truly was Empress Javela who had sent that group after him back then.
“It’s the Eba Cult.”
“What?”
“I’ll explain later.”
Leaving Crown Prince Edsen to demand further explanation, Ludvil dashed forward with speed. Crown Prince Edsen himself hurled his body toward the enemy.
“There’s no end to them.”
No matter how many fell, there seemed to be no end in sight.
Just as before, just as at the Hunting Grounds, these beings who knew no pain wore down the soldiers’ spirits.
“Aaaagh!”
“What—what is this!”
Moreover, some incomprehensible black liquid enveloped the soldiers, plunging them into chaos.
“Getting caught in that makes things difficult. Your vital energy gets drained away completely.”
At that moment, an unfamiliar voice reached his ears.
Crown Prince Edsen turned his head urgently and saw a man smiling faintly—entirely out of place with the situation.
“We must kill those first.”
Jainer, recalling what he himself had endured before, pointed with his hand toward those performing sorcery from one side.
In a flash.
Countless figures hidden in the darkness emerged and instantly severed the sorcerers’ necks.
From that point on, they moved with stealth, targeting only the enemy’s vital points.
“You are….”
At Crown Prince Edsen’s bewildered gaze, Jainer’s smile deepened.
“Camilla’s brother.”
A tremendous boom!
Could he have heard that sound even from such a distance?
Ludvil, in the midst of fierce combat, sent his enemies flying with a single blow and fixed a sharp gaze upon Jainer.
Jainer, meeting that stare, shrugged his shoulders.
“Of course, it doesn’t seem like anyone acknowledges it.”
With those words, he too joined the fray. At the sight of him instantly severing an enemy’s neck, Crown Prince Edsen let out a hollow laugh.
Camilla—where on earth did she pick up someone like that?
A rush of heat!
Crown Prince Edsen turned at the sensation of intense warmth and smiled as he saw a massive bird soaring through the air.
“It’s finally arrived.”
It was the Jebillen Household’s Shinsu. The divine beast flew toward the endless tide of Eba Cult members and unleashed a torrent of flame.
Before even a scream could escape, everything in that place turned to ash and vanished.
Yet that was not the end. The shadows of the enemies writhed as if alive, then consumed them entirely.
In an instant, the surroundings were swallowed by darkness. In that space consumed by shadow, not a single living creature remained.
Soon, a massive black wolf leisurely emerged into view.
[A thunderous howl!]
King had already leaped onto the Battlefield, tearing apart the remaining traces of sorcery.
“You are unharmed, Your Highness.”
Three Dukes approached Crown Prince Edsen and checked on his condition.
At their arrival, Edsen’s smile deepened. Why did they feel so reassuring today?
“Let us finish this quickly.”
“Understood.”
Four swords were drawn simultaneously.
* * *
“This person.”
“Tch, tch! The Eba God will never forgive you…!”
“Silence.”
“Kyaaaah!”
A sharp slash.
“You dare speak of forgiveness while living in a stolen body?”
While fierce combat raged outside, Camilla was equally busy within the Imperial Palace.
She and Arsian were hunting down the Eba Cult members already scattered throughout the Palace.
Some fled and were captured, spouting nonsense as they attacked.
“P-please, it wasn’t me!”
“The Sword of Judgment will arrive soon. Hold out until then.”
“Ugh… uaaaah! Die!”
Others denied everything until the very end, then revealed their true nature.
Those whose bodies had been stolen long ago decayed and vanished instantly upon death, while those recently possessed—like Empress Javela—revealed their rotting forms, reeking of putrefaction.
“Eek!”
“W-wait, Ann was with the Eba Cult?”
Those who had been uncertain at first gradually began to accept the situation as they witnessed such horrors.
And shortly after.
“Prince Abihel… no, the Church Leader of the Eba Cult is dead!”
The long-awaited news arrived. Word quickly spread that Crown Prince Edsen had slain Prince Abihel.
“Sigh.”
I finally lowered the Guardian Sword I had been gripping tightly without realizing it.
Had I been tense all this time? My hand holding the sword tingled.
‘Is he finally dead?’
For one who had lived so long, his death was strangely anticlimactic. But with three Dukes and even Shinsu involved, he had no choice.
‘Yes, it’s finally over.’
I exhaled another short breath, watching Arsian restrain a fleeing Eba Cult member.
‘But….’
What is this unease?
Despite hearing that Prince Abihel—no, the Church Leader of the Eba Cult inhabiting his body—was dead, something felt strangely off.
‘I feel like I’m missing something crucial…!’
My steps came to an abrupt halt.
“Ah.”
Only then did I realize why I had been plagued by this nagging unease.
Prince Abihel, whom I had glimpsed briefly upon arriving here.
“The soul…”
The dead soul…
“There was only one.”
Whoooong!
In that instant, the Guardian’s Sword I had set upon the ground cried out.
[Camilla! Be careful…!]
Simultaneously, Zeno’s urgent voice reached my ears.
But before I could react, an incomprehensible force seized me violently.
Something like black liquid writhed ceaselessly, constricting around me. It was on an entirely different level from the power the sorcerer under Daniel’s command had displayed before.
“Camilla!”
Arsian rushed toward me with desperate speed.
“Do not move.”
“…!”
In that moment, a figure emerged silently from behind me. He gripped my throat as though he could snap it at any instant, his gaze fixed upon Arsian.
At that look alone, Arsian’s attempt to channel his mana froze entirely.
“You…”
Recognizing him, I let out a hollow laugh.
A familiar face. Someone I encountered every time I met Crown Prince Edsen.
‘Attendant Bell.’
The man who had served as Crown Prince Edsen’s hands and feet clicked his tongue repeatedly.
Only then could I see the countless spirits gathered around him.
Those who had been bound to Emperor Faybler until recently were now attached to Attendant Bell.
‘It was not Prince Abihel.’
The one who had seized Emperor Faybler’s body was neither Edsen nor Abihel.
‘Then… why?’
Why would he take the body of an attendant when princes were available?
“The Mirror of Truth, you say.”
He regarded me with what seemed like fascination.
“I killed them all before they could even be born.”
“Release her at once!”
Arsian reacted first to that command.
“Did I not tell you not to move?”
Bell stopped him as he took a step forward.
His grip on my throat tightened further. Blood trickled down my neck as his nails dug in.
At the sight, Arsian’s jaw clenched with barely restrained fury.
Whoosh!
“Arsian!”
Bell moved his hand with a contemptuous gesture, and the black liquid sharpened into a blade, piercing straight through Arsian’s abdomen.
“D-Drop your hand this instant.”
Even as I collapsed to the ground, I made no effort to conceal my killing intent. My gaze alone could have slain a man a thousand times over.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. The Mirror of Truth must not exist in this world.”
He clicked his tongue lightly. I had never anticipated my plans would crumble so utterly.
The moment I heard that Daniel had fallen to the hands of the Three Dukes, I sensed everything had gone awry.
The Three Dukes already knew of the Eba Cult and my existence—and they would soon discover me as well.
“After waiting so long.”
I had endured, waiting for the day the Eba Cult could openly reclaim its place in the world, but it seemed I would need to remain hidden a while longer.
I acted immediately. I decided to abandon Emperor Faybler—the body I had been using all this time.
If the Three Dukes knew of the eternal life the Church pursued, they would surely suspect the two princes first upon the Emperor’s death.
‘And I deliberately framed Crown Prince Edsen.’
So that everyone would be certain Prince Abihel was my new vessel.
I had actually placed one of my Church members into that child’s body and stolen it for myself.
‘And when that child dies…’
I never believed my followers, with their still-insufficient power, could overcome the Three Dukes and Shinsu.
Once Prince Abihel was dead and the Imperial Palace stabilized again…
‘That was when I intended to seize Crown Prince Edsen’s body.’
Then I could hide quietly and cultivate my strength for a time. Time had always been meaningless to me. What difficulty was there in beginning anew?
Time was always insignificant to me. What hardship was a fresh start?
“But…”
This child was the problem.
“I never imagined you would be the Mirror of Truth.”
How could I have foreseen that Camilla, this child, would be the Mirror of Truth?
As long as she existed, all my plans would turn to ash. No matter what body I seized, she would find me again.
“A-Arsian.”
Camilla’s eyes trembled ceaselessly. She barely suppressed a scream at the sight of him bleeding.
[Camilla!]
[What is this?! We can’t get close at all!]
Zeno and Arena were equally panicked. The black liquid surrounding Camilla made it impossible to approach her.
“Child, this is not the time to worry about others—!”
Crack!
Attendant Bell’s face—or rather, Emperor Faybler’s face—hardened rapidly as he tightened his grip on Camilla.
Someone had severed his arm.
“Cough!”
“Are you unharmed?”
It was Dorman. He shielded Camilla and retreated backward.
But the black liquid coiled around them both once more.
“Tsk, there are far too many interruptions.”
Attendant Bell clicked his tongue lightly, his expression utterly unmoved even as he regarded his severed arm.
But that was hardly surprising—the black liquid swiftly converged upon him, and in an instant, his arm was whole once more.
“Damn it.”
Camilla let out a dry cough before muttering a quiet curse.
Her gaze immediately fixed upon Arsian, and her anxiety began to mount with each passing moment.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————