Foreboding Storm - Chapter 154

“Bai Lan, watch out!”

Princess Qamari raised her sword and charged at the snow beast. Fast and with white fur hard as steel, the Snow Eel was the most slippery beast she’d ever met.

“Princess, below you!”

Bai Lan’s voice had barely resounded when Princess Qamari found herself surrounded front and below. She slashed at the beast in front with her sword and pierced her trident at the beast lunging from below.

Roar!

Cling!

Boom!

Princess Qamari easily severed the head of the leaping Snow Eel. But the silver trident wasn’t as powerful as the golden sword. The resulting force of the clash sent her sailing through the air. With a loud bang, she crashed onto the ground.

“Princess, are you okay?” Bai Lan stabbed and kicked away her own opponent before dashing to the princess’s side.

“I’m fine. We only need to cross this obstacle to reach the teleportation portal.” Pushing herself to her feet, Princess Qamari tightened her grip on the golden sword and silver trident to confront the Snow Eels.

Goodness! When we first journeyed to the Amayan Empire, the process was easy and simple without the slightest hinder.

But now why was it so hard?

Princess Qamari never thought it would be this difficult to return to the Amayan Empire.

Because of the Dark Moon’s ascension, the ordinary wild beasts rose to level 2 magical beasts. If it was only three or four of them, she would’ve easily sorted the lot.

Unfortunately, there was a horde of them.

“Bai Lan, let’s clear them in one shot and race to the teleportation portal.” She had to at least leave the Iris realm.

“Sounds good to me!”

Princess Qamari and Bai Lan exchanged a glance and raced towards the horde of snow beasts. Fast, swift, and furious, their attacks ran down like drips of rain and gusts of wind, quick and endless.

After half a day of endless slaughter, the white snow of the Ice Land Mountains was dyed red as beast corpses littered the ground.

“Le…Let’s go.” Tired and exhausted, the girls were close to collapsing. But they knew they couldn’t stay for long. The strong smell of blood would draw other herbivorous animals.

“We need to find shelter as well.”

The ascent of the Dark Moon wasn’t a joking matter. The mutated wild beasts were strong enough proof.

The two fused their elemental energy on the soles of their feet and raced into the distance.

As their speed increased, howling wind and fierce gales of snow blew in their face. Princess Qamari felt her eyes sting, and her nose run, but they didn’t stop.

A while later, they arrived at the ancient stone platform.

“We’re finally here.” Her body wasn’t used to the cold, so she began to feel weak and lethargic. Her head spun and she felt like puking.

“Princess, are you ok?” Bail Lan immediately sensed her unstable state of mind.

“I’m fine. Let’s activate the portal.”

Without hesitation, they climbed onto the Stone Platform, exchanged a look, and poured their magic.

*

Crown Prince Lail stepped out of the Southern Wild Marshes into a land engulfed in shrieks of madness.

“Kill him!”

“Watch out! It’s a flying magical beast!”

Roar!

“Ahhhhh!”

Fire and blood drifted through the air and cloaked the once ethereal and peaceful lands of the Amayan Empire in a thick stench of death. Magical beasts above and below stomped and crushed the armored soldiers like hordes of fleas.

The land that was once known as the City of Light, was shrouded in a thick, grey smoke of darkness and despair.

“What in the heavens is going on here!?”

Stunned out of his mind, the Crown Prince stood frozen in horror and shock.

“You civilians, get out of here! If you’re seeking death, do it somewhere else. Don’t let your corpses hinder our path!” A frustrated shout rang out from the distance startling the Crown Prince to his senses.

“Da**! I need to go! You guys look after yourselves!” Throwing the decisive shout over his shoulder Crown Prince Lail was just about to dash forward when a hand gripped his sleeve.

A dark frown immediately covered his impeccable features, and the Crown Prince lifted his hand to glare at the owner of the hand.

“Didn’t I tell you not to ever touch me?” He frostily hissed.

“I…I’m sorry. I was just worried about you.” Aarya Quime’s eyes filled with tears of grievance and she lowered her hand to wrung her sleeve.

“Crown Prince Lail, can you not go? I don’t feel secure here.” She delicately asked.

“If you don’t feel secure, then go and find shelter. Don’t expect me to babysit you.” With a cold snort, he turned his head to leave.

“I’m your wife. I’m your responsibility. Are you really going to leave me alone here and leave? In this strange environment?”

Crown Prince Lail gritted his teeth and hesitated for a split second. But when a shrill cry of pain resounded from the front, he swung his spear and ran into the melee.

With ferocious and boundless fury, he slashed and stabbed, every one of his strikes drawing blood and reaping lives. Seeing his unstoppable charge, the beasts were enraged. They ignored the measly humans and charged towards the black-robed man.

“Roar!”

“Yah!”

The man and beasts charge forth and clashed midway.

Boom!

A powerful shockwave spread from their rebounding force and created a huge gulf in the center of the bloody field. Dust and debris rose, and by the time they settled, Crown Prince Lail’s form was exposed.

Clothed in black robes with his long black hair flowing behind him, the young man gave off a majestic presence that made the armored soldiers stare in awe.

“Who is he? I’ve never seen as a powerful individual in the Amaya Empire before?”

“Me neither. I don’t think even Prince Noore is as powerful as him.”

“Prince Noore? This young man defeated a pack of magical beasts with a single strike. Is Prince Noore capable of such feat?”

With that, a deafening silence enveloped the originally chaotic battlefield. The armored men looked at each other in confusion, not able to make heads or tails of this new powerful individual’s identity.

Then from the masses of confused soldiers, a large man garbed in black armor stepped out and doubtfully called out.

“Crown Prince Lail?”

The address was faint, the questioning tone of the speaker lacking confidence. But Crown Prince Lail found the voice familiar and turned.

“Crown Prince!”

“That’s the Crown Prince! The Crown Prince is back!”

“It’s really the Crown Prince!”

The silent atmosphere was instantly broken by the deafening cheers of the black-armored soldiers as cries of excitement, joy, and exclamations reverberated.

“The Crown Prince, the Sovereign of Death is back!”

“Hahaha…magical beasts? Our Crown Prince was able to solve a horde of them with ease!”

“I want to see how they’ll attack us now!”

“Crown Prince! Crown Prince!”

Under the dawn of the setting sun, on the southern outskirts of the Imperial Capital, news of the Crown Prince of the Amayan Empire, Crown Prince Lail’s return, spread back to the Imperial Palace.

*

“What did you say? Crown Prince Lail is back?” Regent Prince Kreme Amhei lowered the parchment in his hand and coldly stared down at the trembling attendant.

“Yes, Regent Prince. He is on the southern outskirts of the Empire.”

“Is the girl with him?” He leaned back in his seat and calmly asked.

That was all he cared about. In the past year, he used every method at his personal, dark magic, and tracing tools to find the girl’s whereabouts.

But no matter how deep he dug, he couldn’t find a sniff.

What’s more, the Dark Jinn he’d made a deal with had yet to make an appearance or give him the good news he desired.

With every path blocked and no new lead to follow, Kreme Amhei, the Regent Prince of the Amayan Empire who even changed his own fate, was forced to step back.

If the boy came back with the girl, then it was fine. But if he returned alone…

“The girl? The Crown Princess Consort? The report had no mention of the girl, Regent Prince.” The servant confusedly replied.

Why did the Regent Prince care for that backwater princess more than the Crown Prince?

Was it really just because of the dowry?

His eyes span in thought, but not a word passed his lips.

“I get it. You may leave.”

“Yes, Regent Prince.” Getting to his feet, the attendant slowly backed out of the hall and turned, his steps hurried and flustered, as he left the Regent Prince’s Study Hall.

“Back? I’m afraid there’s no longer anything for him to return to.” A cold smile spread across the Regent Prince’s face as he lifted the parchment he’d been holding.

On there, in large black words, was the ministers’ request to install Prince Noore as the new Crown Prince of the Amayan Empire.

*

“Crown Prince Lail is back?” In one of the mansions of West Inner city’s Everlasting Mansion, the princess of the Ahankar Empire, Princess Sera paused in the middle of applying her make-up.

He’s back after a year of absence?

Where did he disappear to? The heart of realms?

As a practitioner of elemental wind magic, even though her talent was low, only red level of the seven levels, she had enough information to make a conjecture on the Crown Prince’s disappearance.

“From the rumors circulating in the Imperial City, the Crown Prince appeared like a sovereign of death and rescued the trapped soldiers from the magical beasts’ claws.”

Princess Sera’s eyes narrowed and a strange light flashed in their grey depths.

If he is the royal magician we came to seek, then his disappearance would make sense. He must have entered a magic academy to learn how to harness his heritage ability.

Her heart raced and she lifted her head to hold the gaze of the maid in the mirror.

“Is his Crown Princess Consort with him?”

“Huh? That…there’s actually no news about the Crown Princess Consort. Maybe she isn’t back?” The maid didn’t know how to address her princess anymore.

In the span of one year, the young and innocent Princess Sera that had entered the Amayan Empire with her had disappeared. In its place, was a stranger that had her face, but she had none of the familiarity she’d come to know.

‘Is it the riches here that changed her?’

The maid wondered despondently.

She couldn’t be blamed for wondering as such. In the past year, Princess Sera had gone from wanting to seduce Prince Noore to constantly dining with the Young Masters of the prominent families of the empire.

Her original goal of infiltrating the imperial family and uncovering the identity of the royal magician was completely thrown out of her mind.

And whenever the maid brought up any topic of returning to the Ahankar Empire, she was silenced with a single, cold glare.

Princess Sera caught the flickering emotions in the maid’s eyes in the mirror. Her heart instantly filled with displeasure and disgust.

Just a lousy maid that didn’t know what was good for her. And yet, she dares to judge me? If I still didn’t have uses for her, then I would’ve remained her of her place!

“I’m sure you wondered why I was silent these past few months. You probably had many questions and inquiries about my intense interaction with the young masters.” The maid’s eyes widen in shock.

The Princess noticed?

“Your highness, I…”

“No need to explain yourself. I understand. But the reason why I didn’t say anything at that time was because I wasn’t certain of my guess.”

“Guess?”

Giving a low, sorrowful sigh, Princess Sera lifted her head to reveal her sad eyes.

“I wasn’t confident, but I had a vague suspicion that Crown Prince Lail was the royal magician we came for. But since he disappeared before I could find evidence, I had no choice but to interact with the Young Masters. This was to give the Regent Prince the impression that I was too taken with the beauty of the Amayan Empire to leave. That way, we’ll have a reason to stay longer.”

“Ah! Princess, you mean, you purposely acted that way so we could stay in the Amayan Empire until the Crown Prince returned?” As if having finally seen the light, the maid’s eyes filled with unshed tears and she unhesitantly knelt at her princess’s feet.

“Princess, I misunderstood you. Please forgive me.”

“Hahaha…silly girl, why would I blame you? I still need your help to get Crown Prince Lail on our side.” The princess laughed good-naturally, causing the other to bow her head in shame.

She hated herself for doubting her princess’s intentions. After all, she was the only Princess of the Ahankar empire. If not her, who else would worry about their empire?

Princess Sera’s eyes flashed when she saw the maid’s attitude.

With a bright smile on her lips, she went back to finish her make-up.

That’s right. I still need her help to secure the Crown Prince’s affection and become the Crown Princess Consort of the Amayan Empire!