Chapter 895 STRAIGHT PUNCH
"ARE YOU feeling better now?" Nikolai asked his Soul Beasts. "Can you tell what's currently happening in the Cage?"
His Soul Beasts were still in their human forms.
Fortunately, they stopped squirming in pain. When the Soul Beasts came to be, they immediately stood up properly in front of Nikolai.
"The attacks have stopped, Master," the Azure Dragon said. "We just feel a little cold now."
"It seems like Prince Nero froze the Cage with his ice," the White Tiger added. "But we can assure you that Prince Nero is safe, Master."
"We should be worried about the other Soul Beasts," the Black Tortoise said in a trembling voice. "I can't feel their presence now…"
The other Soul Beasts fell silent, obviously worried about what the Black Tortoise said.
Nikolai, on the other hand, massaged his temples.
[Nero, what have you done?]
***
NERO SAW it.
He saw the de Moonasterion bastard smile– and it was a smile that said he had succeeded.
Of course, he had always known that the entire thing was a trap.
He could see how his parents, William, and the late Empress Juliet were put in a dangerous situation while they were in the Cage.
[They probably freed the Soul Beasts the way Dahlia wants to free them right now.]
Nero instinctively knew it wasn't the correct way.
He just knew.
And he was right.
"Look carefully and don't miss a thing, Dahlia," Nero said, crossing his arms over his chest while watching the de Moonasterion bastard chant some stupid spell. "You have to learn why you shouldn't trust a de Moonasterio– not even me or Neoma."
Dahlia knitted her eyebrows. "What–"
The Black Witch wasn't able to finish her sentence when the "door" finally opened.
All of a sudden, the water in the lake disappeared– not even a drop was left as a trace.
Then a warp hole that looked like a black hole occupied the space that the water in the lake had vacated.
Dahlia looked pleased.
[She probably thinks it's the way out of here. Well, it's indeed an exit. But she shouldn't get her hopes up too much.]
But, seriously, how could someone be so na?ve?
"Did you not see it, Dahlia?" Nero asked while looking at the Calamity in front of them, laughing because his theory was proven correct by Dahlia's naivety. "That de Moonasterion smiled earlier– and it was a triumphant smile."
Dahlia looked confused as if she didn't really know what he was talking about.
[Seriously. How did Dahlia survive this long? The world is a cold, cruel place. She should learn to toughen up.]
"It's a trap, Dahlia," Nero said bluntly. "Opening the Cage isn't the right answer to free the Soul Beasts. If my hunch is correct, then I believe opening the Cage would actually unleash the Third Calamity to the world."
"What?" Dahlia asked, even more confused now. "If you have deducted that much, then why didn't you tell me that opening the Cage is actually freeing the Third Calamity? Why didn't you tell me instead of letting me make a mistake?"
"As I said, I don't know what the Third Calamity is," he said, shrugging. "I want to see it what it is, so I let the de Moonasterion do what he wants."
Now the Black Witch looked mad. "Prince Nero, haven't you heard the phrase 'prevention is better than cure?'"
"Oh, I have. So what? I can deal with the consequences."
"You…"
"You're speaking informally again, Dahlia."
"How do you expect me to respect you at a time like this?!"
Huh?
Nero was stunned when Dahlia, the meek and crybaby Black Witch, suddenly raised her voice at her while speaking informally.
It was so out of her character to do that.
Dahlia's trembling voice and teary eyes weren't caused by fear– it was caused by anger this time.
[And she's angry… with me?]
"Why are you getting mad at me?" Nero asked curiously. In fact, he was quite fascinated to see a scary look on Dahlia's face instead of her usual timid look. "What did I do wrong? There's no other way to find out what the Third Calamity is except to ask that bastard to unleash it."
Dahlia shut her eyes tight while clenching her hands. Then she opened her now glowing eyes and glared at Nero. "I apologize in advance, Prince Nero. You may punish me as you deem fit later."
"What– argh!"
Nero wasn't able to finish what he was saying because Dahlia punched him in the face.
He was supposed to have a sturdy body because he was a de Moonasterio.
But when Dahlia's fist connected with the bridge of his nose, it broke.
CRACK.
That was the sound of bones breaking.
Yes, his nose was broken by the Black Witch's punch, but it came with a price.
Dahlia's fingers broke as well, and the pain was clear in her eyes.
"Are you crazy?!" Nero yelled worriedly. It didn't matter that his nose was broken. He had fast healing abilities anyway. De Moonasterios could heal minor injuries such as a broken nose. "Why would you punch me without covering your fist with Mana? Now your fingers are broken!"
"Don't pretend that you care about me, Prince Nero," Dahlia said, scoffing, as she poured a vial of healing potion on her injured hand. "And will you pull yourself together and start acting like an adult? Is it that difficult to tell me WHY I was wrong? If you explained it to me better, then I wouldn't have insisted on trusting that de Moonasterion bastard."
Huh?
Dahlia cursed, and she sounded natural doing so.
Hmm.
The Black Witch was clearly pissed off.
[Her tone when cursing sounds a bit adorable.]
"Why are you smiling like that, Prince Nero?" Dahlia complained, her eyebrows furrowed deeply. "I'm serious."
Hmm?
Nero automatically covered his mouth with his hand.
[I'm smiling…?]
"Do I need to punch you again for you to take my words seriously, huh?" Dahlia continued with her rant. "Now I know why Princess Neoma often uses violence instead of words– some people really have it coming."
Pfft.
[I take it back– Dahlia is definitely not a pushover.]
Nero removed his hand from his face, then he raised it with his palm facing Dahlia. But the target was actually the person behind the Black Witch. "Zeru, Sev, come out."
The ice phoenix and the ice wolf came out, immediately charging towards the de Moonasterion bastard's direction.
But only Sev attacked the enemy directly.
Zeru flew over the de Moonasterion bastard's head and went straight to the lake.
"Freeze it," Nero ordered the ice phoenix. "Freeze the gate."
***
RUTO ignored Callisto de Luca when a black hole suddenly appeared in the space between him and the demigod.
He had already seen it once, so he immediately recognized it.
[It's the gate needed to "free" the Soul Beasts, but it's actually a trap.]
Tsk.
[Did Prince Nero fail?]
To be honest, Ruto had let Prince Nero go to the Cage with Dahlia because he was confident that the Crown Prince would easily see through the lies created by the fake Nero Roseheart.
[After all, Prince Nero doesn't have a heart for other people.]
"It seems like our dear Crown Prince has failed, huh?" Callisto de Luca said, laughing while watching the black hole slowly open its "mouth." "Or did he let his guard down because the Black Witch is with him?"
Ruto didn't have the luxury to worry about that since the Third Calamity was coming.
He was about to force the gate to close when, suddenly, ice began to quickly freeze the black hole– forcing the gate's "mouth" to shut again.
Ah, so Prince Nero didn't fall into the trap.
[As expected of the heartless Heart Pillar.]
Callisto de Luca clicked his tongue when he also realized that Prince Nero was doing well on the test. "Is it because he's a male Roseheart?"
"No, it's simply because Prince Nero is a cold-hearted bastard," Ruto said bluntly. "A trial that tests one's heart won't move the Crown Prince."
Callisto de Luca laughed while nodding his head in agreement.
Ruto was about to attack while the demigod was distracted, but stopped when he heard a static in his head.
It was then followed by Gin's loud voice ringing in his ears.
<"Commander Ruto, please open up a portal for us– I have Princess Hanna with me now!">
Ah, the Crown Princess was coming.
***
NOTE: Hi. Sorry for the inconsistent updates this week. I was just stressed out these days. I don't really want to say this, but I'm kinda down because I haven't been earning from Webnovel for a few months already. Hahahuhu. But I'm still here because I like writing and I don't want to leave you hanging.
Anyway, right now, I'm using more of my free time to focus on work since Christmas is coming, and Christmas is kind of a big deal here. As the breadwinner of the fam, I have to prepare for it. So, I'm sorry for the inconsistent updates. But I'll try harder to update daily again (hopefully).
AND I HAVE A REQUEST. If you can, please consider subscribing to my privileged chapters and unlock them with coins. Please consider this as an early Christmas gift to this broke writer of yours. Hehehuhuhu. Plus, Royal Secret is already ending. The advanced chapters are exciting, so you won't regret it. Please, please, please. Subscribe if you can. *sobs harder in broke*
But what actually makes me sadder is the fact that only one or two readers leave comments. Most of the time, one of them is only asking for updates. I appreciate it, but it would be nice if you could leave some encouraging comments, too. T_T
I'm sorry for the long rant. Here's a mass release as an apology. :'>
And I'm feeling better now.
Thank you for waiting. :)
---sola_cola
***
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