The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

My bad habit came out again.

I don’t know why I want to annoy people who are sincere whenever I see them.

Although their directions of sincerity were different, both Rotulus and Amelie were sincere.

If the Mercenary King sincerely carried out his duties based on the absolute criteria of money and job performance, Amelie was sincere in her own justice and faith.

Since neither of them genuinely belonged to Arcana out of loyalty to the boss called the “Elder” but for their own purposes, I had no desire to genuinely fight them.

Of course, I wasn’t soft enough to show mercy if the other party genuinely antagonized me.

I was too weak for that.

They say forgiveness is the virtue of the strong, don’t they?

Perhaps that’s why forgiveness was a word that didn’t suit me.

Half-hearted feelings invite bloodshed.

It was more comfortable to thoroughly trample them and pull out their teeth so they could never bare them again.

I wanted to tease them a bit more, but given the situation, I decided to do it next time and left the Saint and the Mercenary King behind, moving to the next constellation area.

Passing from the Corona Borealis area to the Aquila area, I threw the scabbard to Anastasia.

“That cursed sword is a bit special, so don’t devour it right away and keep it in a safe place. If you put it in the scabbard, it will quiet down without having to suppress it.”

Devamberve’s cursed sword ‘Horns of a Hundred Demons’ was a sword that granted strong power but was also strong-willed and difficult to handle.

That’s why even Devamberve suppressed the power of the cursed sword normally by making a scabbard by carving a branch of the World Tree.

“Ah, please return the scabbard later. I have separate uses for it.”

World Tree branches had endless uses.

Especially if sold to fairies, you could suck them dry to the bone.

Anastasia, who received the scabbard, nodded while storing the cursed sword.

“Understood.”

By the way, I changed bus drivers faster than I thought.

If it had gone according to my expectations, the Izel Expedition Team would have moved together for about two or three areas before meeting the Sword Demon.

I decided to slightly change my plans.

Well, it was fine since joining the Izel Expedition Team was improvised anyway.

“Now, let’s take a shortcut.”

The structure of the Labyrinth of Constellations was such that the connections between areas were like branches spreading out, so to move to an area where branches weren’t connected, one had to go back and move through a connected branch.

The entrance had few spreading branches and many connections here and there, so it wasn’t difficult to move horizontally without going back.

However, the deeper one went, it was no ordinary effort to go back and forth between constellation areas located at the ends of branches.

But there was a way to reduce that effort, which was the ‘Alpha Site’ hidden in the constellation areas.

In the case of certain constellations, the Alpha Sites were connected to each other, allowing for quick horizontal movement in the spider web-like structured labyrinth.

The Alpha Site hidden in the Aquila area was Altair.

From now on, we will ride the ‘Summer Triangle’ of the unexplored area Altair and pass through Deneb and Vega to head towards the Lyra constellation.

********

Amelie clenched her fists as she watched Yuan’s back heading to the next area.

“We were fooled.”

“Yeah, we were fooled.”

Rotulus also puffed up his feathers as if resentful.

She wanted to scream in anger to vent her frustration, but there were too many eyes, so she had no choice but to endure it inwardly.

Amelie felt so powerless that she had to let him go even after being greatly betrayed.

“It’s infuriating. We can’t chase after him and have a battle even now, right?”

“We would all die to the Sword Demon.”

At Rotulus’s declaration, Amelie grumbled.

“But you’re the great Mercenary King.”

“That Mercenary King title only applies when I have my subordinates who are like my hands and feet. Alone, I’m just another transcendent. Swordsmen like me are a dime a dozen around the world.”

Those who had established their own mental image and entered the realm of transcendents were not very common.

In a small country, even one transcendent was considered a blessing.

However, that didn’t mean they were extremely rare either.

Just counting the transcendents not affiliated with any country, there were more than ten.

As Rotulus had a broad perspective, he knew that fact better than anyone, so he could be humble.

“The holy knights and priests here are not lacking at all compared to Rotulus’s subordinates. I rather take pride in them being superior.”

“But they are not my subordinates. If they can’t read my eye signals and hand gestures without me having to say it, no matter how strong they are, they will only be a hindrance.”

Moreover, even if the holy knights worked well with him and could fight on par with the Sword Demon, she wasn’t the only problem.

While Rotulus and the holy knights were caught by the Sword Demon, the moment Precia and Dailhorg killed all the combat priests and joined the Sword Demon, annihilation would be instantaneous.

Although Precia thoroughly concealed herself, Dailhorg unhesitatingly revealed himself as a transcendent, so he caught Rotulus’s attention.

At Rotulus’s words, Amelie let out a small sigh and abandoned her lingering attachment.

“It can’t be helped. I wanted to catch him somehow, beat him up, and then put him to work, but I have no choice but to give up.”

Amelie acknowledged and coveted Yuan’s skill but decided to give up.

Although she was greatly betrayed, being able to scam to that extent was also an ability.

If she wanted to utilize that ability, she could use it endlessly.

Still, since she knew his name and face, she decided to wait for another opportunity.

She failed to notice that both the name and face were fake.

“For now, the mission takes priority. Especially this time, the mission is for my sake as well.”

The artifact Amelie and Rotulus were after was one that any priest who used divine power would covet.

Not only was there no one in Arcana who could use it as well as her, but according to the prophecy of ‘Arcana 10, Wheel of Fortune’, ‘divine power’ was needed to obtain the artifact.

That’s why she, a Saint under various political constraints, moved directly.

At Amelie’s words, Rotulus stroked under his beak and pondered for a moment.

“But the Sword Demon and that scammer are uncontrollable variables.”

At Rotulus’s point, Amelie was puzzled.

“That’s true, but will they affect us in this vast labyrinth?”

“I have a bad feeling. That scammer somehow manipulated the Earth Domination to secure a permit. Yet he approached us and said to move together, then betrayed us.”

At those words, Amelie also nodded and pondered seriously.

“He didn’t just want to come comfortably… right?”

“Aside from the Sword Demon, I couldn’t point it out, but twenty people moved together in addition to the six. Since he had more companions, there must have been a purpose for squeezing in between us.”

In his view, Yuan was not someone who moved without reason.

Although he showed a playful face and behavior throughout, he felt a hidden creepiness within it.

“Don’t tell me… you mean to say that his words about doing it for my sake were actually true?”

When Amelie asked with a frown, Rotulus shook his head.

“I don’t believe such flattery either. I just thought that perhaps it might be true that he tried to send us out of the ruins.”

Amelie’s mind was filled with the question ‘why?’ at Rotulus’s opinion.

“…Could it be to keep us in check because we have the same goal?”

At Amelie’s hypothesis, Rotulus shrugged his shoulders.

“No way. Only a very few, including us, know about the exact goal. There can be no information leak.”

“But the Wheel of Fortune isn’t the only prophet. They might have foreseen the same goal. This operation was originally scheduled to be executed much later.”

Someone might have foreseen that the goal was being targeted, so the execution was moved up.

Amelie’s guess was surprisingly on point.

The prophecy wars between prophets were extremely rare, but when they occurred, they could shake destiny.

Rotulus wasn’t convinced by her guess, but he didn’t completely deny it either.

“It may or may not be. It is right to examine all matters from multiple angles, so don’t be fixated on one thought. However, I don’t think there could be another star reader besides the Wheel of Fortune.”

It wasn’t that there was no one in this world who could make prophecies without being a star reader.

Both Rotulus and Amelie knew that there was a prophet among the apostles of the Dawn Star Domination who had made a contract with the demon of prophecy.

“That’s true. Then we should think about how to deal with it first, putting aside the other party’s modus operandi. …But is there an answer when the Sword Demon is on the other side?”

At Amelie’s question, Rotulus stroked his beak and answered.

“It’s not that there isn’t. Where the Sword Demon is, the Sword Fairy is always there too.”

“Ah, come to think of it, there was talk of a woman presumed to be the Sword Fairy entering the Labyrinth of Constellations without a permit. Even putting aside negotiating with the Sword Fairy and receiving help, how do you know where she is in this vast ruin to find her?”

At her question, Rotulus smiled meaningfully.

“Finding the Sword Fairy will be easier than you think. Moreover, if there is only the Sword Fairy, it wouldn’t be impossible to chase after that scammer either.”

Amelie had no choice but to tilt her head, not understanding Rotulus’s words.

At that moment, Delevhem, the deputy leader of the Izel Expedition Team, carefully spoke to Amelie.

“Excuse me, we would like to offer our help, if that’s alright with you?”

It was an extremely polite and courteous question for offering help rather than receiving it.

At Delevhem’s question, Amelie momentarily felt suspicion, but upon reflection, they were truly in need of help.

In order to break through the dangerous labyrinth, they had brought more combat personnel than non-combat personnel necessary for labyrinth exploration, so they needed experts.

And above all, they had no food.

Amelie responded to Delevhem’s proposal with a skillful false smile.

“Oh my, we should have asked first. Thank you.”

Although it bothered her that Yuan had whispered with Delevhem before leaving, she wasn’t in a position to be picky.

At Amelie’s answer, Delevhem took out the celestial timepiece, a magic tool that read the mana of the ruins, checked the constellations, and said,

“Not at all. Wouldn’t helping the Saint be the greatest honor? By the way, the constellations are about to make a big move, so it’s dangerous to move. Let’s rest comfortably in the safe zone.”

In the end, she had to drink from the poisoned chalice.

***********

The Alpha Sites hidden even within the constellation areas were extremely rugged environments, befitting hidden stages concealed in the areas.

“They swarm like crazy.”

Jade clicked his tongue as he swept up the mana crystals left behind by the bizarre birds falling from the sky with magic.

Unlike the huge red-feathered eagles that appeared in Antares, the Alpha Site of the Aquila constellation, this time, as it was Deneb, the Alpha Site of the Cygnus constellation, huge white-feathered swans were flying around.

“My Lord! Look at this. Each mana crystal is the size of a fist.”

The mana crystals that could be obtained at the entrance of the labyrinth were the size of millet, but as expected of a hidden stage, it boasted crazy difficulty and crazy rewards.

I exclaimed in admiration as I held the mana crystal Abassael handed me up to the sunlight.

“Whoa~! This is why I ride the bus.”