Exiled Prince: I'm the Unexpected Extra in the Novel-Chapter 152: The Clash of Princes [2]

The darkness of the night was shaken by a roar that tore through the sky.

When Aethrax Emberion, Prince of the Undying Fire, screamed, his voice left a harsh echo in the air.

His eyes were bloodshot; the fire circulating in his veins darkened his gaze.

The crimson, rippling aura wrapping his body expanded like a supernova ready to explode.

The air around him bent under this intense heat and pressure, reality changing shape like melting glass.

Despite this, Cassian, the target of this rage, watched his prey indifferently.

His black eyes showed neither fear, nor anger, nor a sign of hatred while looking at Aethrax.

There was only ice-cold disdain and absolute indifference, the kind a god might feel while looking at an insect.

This look was driving Aethrax mad.

Aethrax grasped the hilt of the massive, sword-like staff on his back with his only remaining hand.

The moment his fingers touched the metal, the runes on the staff shone with a blinding light.

However, Cassian didn’t wait.

Flapping his dragon-skin wings hard, he lunged forward at a speed breaking the sound barrier.

He was so fast that he had disappeared into the night before his afterimage even faded.

Just as Aethrax was about to unleash the destructive flames from his staff, he was startled by his target vanishing like a ghost.

His eyes scanned the surroundings madly, but he couldn’t even sense Cassian’s aura.

"Where did you run, you damn coward?!" he shouted. His voice echoed in the mountains.

To avoid a surprise attack or invisible claws, he switched to an instinctive defense.

Spinning his staff like a propeller, he spewed out all the mana in his body.

Chaotic and irregular waves of flames gushed out from around Aethrax.

He was like a small, crimson sun hanging in the sky, incinerating everything approaching, even the air, into ash.

Fire tornadoes descended to the earth, scorching enough to instantly evaporate the snow and vitrify the soil beneath.

Below, the witches who were about to be caught in the middle of this hell were terrified.

The massive, four-armed monster leaped with agile movement over the burning ground.

With his massive hands, he began to grab the witches on the ground like dolls.

First, he grabbed Olivia and Eula.

The girls squealed in panic as they were lifted in the grip of the hard and large hands.

Then he reached for Lilith.

Lilith allowed the monster to take her calmly, as if riding a palanquin, without breaking the satisfied smile on her face.

But when it came to Cordelia, things changed.

When Zagna’s hand reached for her, Cordelia did not pull back.

She fixed her blue eyes on the white line of light on the monster’s faceless visage.

In her gaze, there was an ancient threat too big to fit in her small body.

"If you touch me, I will kill you."

Zagna paused for a moment.

Still, he did not disobey the order, nor did he touch Cordelia.

He tensed his massive leg muscles to carry the other witches to a safe distance and leaped like a cannonball away from the scene, to a hill where the flames couldn’t reach.

As for Cordelia, after looking at Aethrax in the sky one last time, she followed Zagna on her own.

In the sky, Aethrax was on the verge of madness as he turned his surroundings into a hellscape. His eyes were red, his breathing ragged. He was looking left and right, searching for that blackness.

"Prince of Nothingness!"

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" roared Aethrax. He stoked his flames even more, turning his defense into an impenetrable wall.

And just at that moment, Aethrax felt a cold, sharp pain in his chest.

He lowered his gaze slowly, trembling.

While blood gushed from his mouth like a gutter, his eyes widened as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.

His chest had been pierced. And there was a clawed hand covered in black scales extending outward from inside his chest.

And in the palm of that hand stood a still-beating, burning organ.

His own heart.

The impenetrable flame barrier around Aethrax, the chaotic energy, began to fluctuate and fade.

He turned his head back with an impossible effort.

The Prince of Nothingness was standing right in the center of the hell he created, in the heart of the flames.

But the flames had no effect on him.

It was as if the fire retreated in fear of his presence, not daring to touch his skin.

The dark armor of the Sovereign Form turned all kinds of magic into nothingness.

Cassian pulled his hand back without breaking the indifferent expression on his face.

His clawed fingers slipped out of Aethrax’s rib cage with a wet sound.

He looked at the heart in his palm, and then at Aethrax, who was still trying to hang in the air, swaying on that thin line between life and death.

"Undying fire..." said Cassian, his voice coming out with a metallic echo. "A complete disappointment."

And ruthlessly, he squeezed the heart in his hand.

POP!

The heart burst like a blood balloon. Hot blood and tissue fragments splattered onto Aethrax’s shocked face.

The light in Aethrax’s eyes faded. The mana wrapping his body dispersed, the flames died out.

And that mighty Prince fell from the sky towards the ground like a bird with broken wings.

THUD!

The dwarf’s body crashed hard into the mud soaked with melted snow.

His blood was spreading rapidly in the mud, evaporating.

Cassian descended to the ground, gliding as light as a feather.

Tilting his head to the side, he stood at the head of Aethrax’s corpse, or rather, the massive sword-like staff standing next to it.

He fixed his crimson eyes on the staff.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked in a cold, commanding tone.

For a few seconds, nothing happened.

Only silence and the crackling of the trees continuing to burn around were heard.

And the sound of blood pouring from Aethrax’s shattered chest...

Then, a sound tearing the silence was heard.

"Ahahahah..."

This voice was coming from neither the lifeless corpse nor Cassian.

The voice was coming from the pile of metal on the ground, the sword-like staff.

"AHAHAHAHAHAH!"

The laughter grew, taking on a maniacal state.

This voice coming from inside the metal was like a chorus of thousands, not just one person.

And the staff began to change.

The metal melted, twisted, and took on the form of flesh.

First muscular arms extended, then legs... While the dwarf corpse on the ground turned into a pile of dust and scattered in the wind, the staff grew gradually, took shape, and suddenly assumed a human form.

He transformed into a perfect and handsome man, red-haired, over two meters tall, broad-shouldered, every muscle looking as if carved by a sculptor.

The man combed his long red hair falling on his forehead back with his hand. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

On his face, contrary to his previous dwarf form, there was a noble and arrogant smile.

His body was covered with the same fiery aura, but the power this time... was at least ten times more than before.

His pressure made even Cassian’s skin in Sovereign Form tingle.

It was as if a god had descended to the mortal realm.

He looked at Cassian with his eyes burning like fire and smiled.

"You..." he said, his voice deep and smooth. "You really are a Prince!"

Cassian didn’t answer.

Suddenly he vanished from where he stood and appeared behind Aethrax at a speed invisible to the eye.

His clawed hand extended like a spear towards the man’s newly formed heart.

However, this time, his hand couldn’t reach its target.

SMACK!

Cassian’s wrist was stopped by Aethrax’s hand before it could reach him.

Aethrax hadn’t even turned around. He had just reached his arm back and caught Cassian’s deadly attack like catching a fly.

He turned his head slowly to the back.

"You are really fast, rookie,"

"But..."

Aethrax suddenly squeezed Cassian’s arm that he had caught.

His fingers buried into Cassian’s black, armored skin.

CRACK! CRUNCH!

Cassian’s arm shattered inside Aethrax’s palm, his bones breaking, his flesh crushing.

Cassian didn’t hesitate.

He cut off his own arm at the elbow and jumped back, escaping Aethrax’s grip.

The severed arm remaining in Aethrax’s hand was instantly covered in black flames.

BOOM!

The severed arm exploded violently right in front of Aethrax’s face. Black smoke and chaos energy swallowed the man.

When Cassian landed on the ground, his severed arm had already begun to grow thanks to his [Unique Regeneration] skill.

Bones knit together, muscles wove, and within seconds a new arm formed.

When the smoke dispersed, Aethrax walked out from within the smoke.

There wasn’t even a scratch on his face. Only the hand with which he caught Cassian’s arm was slightly charred, the skin a bit abraded. That was all.

He shook off the soot on his hand.

"This ability of yours..." he said, a hunger mixed with appreciation in his eyes.

"Is really too dangerous. Regeneration, chaos, speed... Too perfect for a mortal."

He took a step towards Cassian.

"Tell me, rookie... How long can you maintain this form?"

He drew a circle in the air with his finger.

"3 minutes? 5 minutes? Or is it 10 minutes? I can see how that form consumes your body, how it gnaws at your soul."

Aethrax released his mana. The surroundings were covered with a sea of fire visible from miles away. Snow, soil, stone... everything was melting.

Aethrax spread his arms wide with an arrogant smile.

"Unlike you..."

His eyes shone, emitting crimson lights.

"My flames continue to burn forever."

Cassian gave no reaction standing in the middle of this hell surrounding him.

He just tilted his head slightly to the side, his black horns shining in the light of the flames.

"How pathetic..." he whispered.

And the two of them lunged at each other at the same time.

One like a black lightning bolt, the other like a crimson meteor.

Their fists collided in the air, right in the middle.

BOOOOM!

The shockwave created by the impact deepened the crater on the ground, shook the surrounding mountains, and uprooted hundred-year-old trees.

The balance of power was broken.

Cassian’s arm exploded, shattering under that enormous pressure.

But Aethrax’s fist didn’t stop. Piercing through Cassian’s defense, it advanced directly towards his face.

Cassian increased the speed of his [Storm Heart].

He tilted his head to the side with a millimetric movement.

Aethrax’s flaming fist passed by his ear, burning the air.

Cassian wanted to jump back and escape immediately.

However, Aethrax, with superhuman reflex, caught Cassian by the foot in the air with his free hand.

"Gotcha!"

Aethrax lifted Cassian into the air like a rag and swung him towards the ground on his back with all his might.

However... Nothing hit the ground.

Aethrax looked at his hand in surprise.

In his hand stood Cassian’s severed foot covered in black scales. But the rest of his body was gone.

"Huh?"

When he raised his head, he saw Cassian floating in the air ten meters away from him.

He was completely intact. His severed arm, his severed foot... All had regenerated.

Cassian pointed his single hand towards him.

A black hole in front of his hand had begun to grow by swallowing the flames.

Aethrax threw the severed foot in his hand aside and smiled, showing his teeth.

"Nice!"

The black hole in Cassian’s palm exploded.

Pure darkness advanced towards Aethrax.

Aethrax swung his hand.

His flames rushed to stop the chaos.

While flames and chaos tried to push each other, to swallow each other in the air, the sky split in two.

Cassian disappeared from sight once again.

Cassian appeared at the nape of Aethrax’s neck with a condensed sword made of chaos flames in his hand.

He brought the sword down to stab into the man’s heart.

However, Aethrax threw his hand back without even looking behind him, as if he had eyes in the back of his neck.

And he caught Cassian right by the neck.

The fingers squeezing the armored neck of the Sovereign Form crushed the skin like bending steel.

"You’re starting to get annoying, rookie," said Aethrax, his voice wheezing.

Swinging his arm, he brought Cassian, whom he held by the neck, in front of him and slammed him onto the molten rocks.

WHAM!

The ground shook when Cassian’s back hit the ground. Aethrax buried Cassian’s face into the soil with his hand and applied pressure.

Aethrax applied enormous force to the skull in his palm.

Cassian’s head was crushed and shattered.

Blood and brain fragments scattered around.

Aethrax smiled triumphantly.

But at that moment...

He was startled by a cold sensation burying into his flesh, tearing through his throat from the left side of his neck.

A sword.

Aethrax, eyes widening, looked at the corpse with the crushed head he held in his hand.

The corpse had turned into black smoke and started to disperse.

He snarled, vomiting blood.

He swung his hand behind him in panic to catch the person holding the sword.

But Cassian had already evaded his hand, disappearing with the sword in his neck.

Aethrax grabbed the sword made of chaos flames stuck in his neck with his hand.

"Hrrgg..."

The sword was destroying his cells, preventing his healing.

He pulled out the sword in one move and threw it aside.

Blood was flowing from the slit in his neck.

Aethrax put his hand over his wound. Intense flames coming out of his palm cauterized his wound. The smell of burnt flesh spread, but the bleeding stopped.

"You will..." said Aethrax, his voice becoming hoarse. "Pay for this!"

He roared and lunged at Cassian.

When he arrived right in front of Cassian, he threw a punch towards his stomach.

Cassian didn’t dodge. He didn’t retreat. On the contrary, he accepted the blow.

The moment the punch reached Cassian’s stomach, Cassian’s body lost its solid form.

It turned into black smoke.

Aethrax’s fist passed right through the smoke.

Aethrax stumbled forward with the effect of the wasted force and looked at the empty air in surprise.

"Wher-?"

BOOM!