Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls-Chapter 172: May the gods have mercy on the Prince.

Kael stood in the center of the training platform, his heart still beating like a drum after the release test. Sweat trickled gently down the side of his face, but not from exhaustion - but from the intensity of the control.

He wasn't tired. He was surprised.

"That was... just a fraction?" he thought, looking down at his hands. "I let go of just one part, and almost brought down the whole tower."

He took a step forward, and the ground reacted with a faint glow beneath his feet. The rune below him lit up not out of command, but out of recognition. The barriers were still active, whispering an ancient magic that dampened any imbalance.

Closing his eyes, Kael took a deep breath and began to meditate. His body felt different now - not only stronger, but also more... vast. As if there was more space inside him than there ever should have been. An ocean. No, an ocean of mana.

"Concentrate..." he muttered to himself.

He expanded his perception, a thread of mana slowly emerging from his core, like a magical probe. The energy snaked through the environment, touching the barriers, touching the walls of the room, and then...

It moved on.

It passed through the runes, penetrated the tower's hidden corridors, slid through magical mirrors and crossed smaller dimensional portals. Kael's mana traveled like silent lightning, flowing through every structure connected to the Scarlet Tower.

The next thing Kael knew, his mana had reached the outer limits of the witches' capital.

'What the fuck...!!!' He opened his eyes wide.

From the highest point of the tower, he could feel every enchanted building, every magical soul in the surrounding area. It was as if he could see the entire city with his eyes closed - not with ordinary sight, but with the spiritual touch of mana.

Hundreds of thousands of magic points were vibrating gently, like flames. Some larger, some weaker, some attached to buildings, some moving - the witches, the guards, the apprentices and the masters.

Kael could feel them all. He felt their hearts. Their energies. Their fears.

The city... pulsed with magic. But none of them could compare to the constant pressure inside him.

"What am I now...?" he thought, slowly stretching out his arms.

He channeled a little more mana, causing its flow to become denser - and as he did so, the sky over the capital trembled slightly. Magical clouds began to form, attracted by the invisible pressure radiating from the tower.

Down below, some witches stopped what they were doing. Others looked up at the sky, feeling a sudden weight on their shoulders. The principal of the Scarlet Tower raised her head from her grimoire, frowning.

In the war room, a crystal ball shook slightly, signaling mass arcane distortion.

Kael didn't notice immediately - he was too wrapped up in his own discovery. When he opened his eyes, he saw that particles of mana had condensed around him like stars - or golden dust in a windless sky.

"This... is beyond ordinary control," he muttered. 'Was I that strong?... why the fuck did I get so strong?!'

The voice echoed through the runes, and a soft light answered. The barriers were almost at the limit of containment, even without him releasing everything. Just by existing there, his presence caused chain reactions.

He took a deep breath and brought everything back. Like last time, Sis obeyed. But there was something else now - a new sensation. It wasn't just power. It was right. His body accepted that mana as if it were tailor-made for him.

His body had matured. So had his core.

But true power came from the harmony between the two.

A soft knock on the barrier caught his attention. He deactivated the seal with a gesture, and the woman in black armor - the same one who had greeted him - entered with silent steps.

"The entire capital felt it, Your Majesty," she said seriously. "The flow of leylines has been altered. Some buildings have registered magical oscillation. The younger witches are in forced rest because of the pressure."

Kael lowered his eyes, embarrassed. "I didn't mean to..."

"We know that." She interrupted him gently. "But be careful from now on. Your mana exceeds the limits of containment that the barriers can withstand. If you wish, you can influence the climate of the entire city. Or cause magical collapses. With one wrong thought... well, I think you get the idea. Be careful, please."

Kael remained silent. This was no longer just a question of strength. It was responsibility.

"Is there anything I can do to stop this? I don't want to accidentally cause a cataclysm," he asked at last.

The woman nodded, pulling a small metal box from a compartment at her waist. She opened it, revealing three rings forged from dark red crystal, inscribed with spiral runes.

"These are channeling inhibitors. They're different from seals or limiting bracelets. They don't suppress your power, they just redirect it. A path to learning - not imprisonment."

She held out the larger one to him. "Wear it while you train. Learn to dose your presence. There is power in subtle control, not just in explosion."

Kael took the ring and slid it on his finger. At the same moment, he felt as if his mana was being compressed - not painfully, but firmly. As if a second magical skin were enveloping him. The runes on the platform reacted with relief. The air circulated normally again.

"Thank you," he said.

The woman smiled. For the first time, there was pride in her gaze.

"Take care, Your Majesty," she said, bowing respectfully before turning to leave the hall.

But as soon as she crossed the mana doors and entered the hallway of the Scarlet Tower, her countenance hardened. The mask of professionalism slipped for just a second.

"He broke half of the city's power limiters... with an incomplete release..." he thought, pressing his lips together. "There are so many magical messages on the communicator that it feels like we've been attacked by an entire army."

She activated the small crystal communicator attached to the bracelet and saw the flood of notifications. Arcane fluctuation alarms. Saturation reports on the leylines. Urgent communications from outlying towers.

He sighed deeply, pressing two fingers to his temple. "What kind of monster have you created...? Your Highness?"

It was then that one of his subordinates rushed up to him, her eyes slightly wide, her steps hurried but silent, as she was trained to do.

"Captain, please. We have a request from the Queen," she said, bowing respectfully, her voice firm.

The captain raised an eyebrow. "What kind of request?"

The soldier hesitated. From that alone, the captain knew it wasn't something trivial. "His Majesty... requests that the Prince be taken to Exelia for training."

Silence.

The captain's expression faded. First in shock. Then in denial. "...Did you say Exelia?" her voice came out low, almost scratchy. "Exelia Virell?"

The subordinate swallowed and nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Direct order. In writing and sealed. She's on her way to the east wing as we speak."

The captain stood motionless for a few seconds, as if time around her had frozen. Then she snorted, lowering her eyes and letting out a nervous, almost hysterical laugh.

"Hah... Hahah... Of course. Why not?" he muttered, laughing humorlessly. "The Queen has gone mad for good."

She turned sharply, her eyes as hard as obsidian blades. "Exelia Virell... Second in command of the Arcane Kingdom. Direct disciple of the Witch Queen. Absolute commander of the Magic Knights. Councilor of the Realm and something... that even oracles don't like to name."

She started walking down the corridor, the sound of her magic boots echoing more loudly than it should have. Her subordinate followed close behind, trying to keep up. "The woman who defeated three demon lords in the Border War, single-handedly. The one who destroyed the fortress of Val'them with a twenty-second forbidden ritual. The same Exelia who tore out the tongue of the Elven emissary for addressing the Queen without kneeling...

She stopped abruptly, staring at the wall in front of her as if she wanted to run through it with restrained anger.

"And now she's going to train the Prince?"

"The Queen believes he needs someone capable of... contain him, if necessary."

"Contain him?" the captain repeated, almost spitting out the word. "Exelia doesn't 'contain'. She breaks. She molds with blood. She takes people apart to rebuild them from scratch. Have you ever seen her own knights? Those damn monsters proudly call her 'Master of Pain'!"

She rubbed her face, exhausted. "If Exelia trains the Prince... he'll either become the most dangerous being this kingdom has ever seen... or we'll have to rewrite the war treaties to protect him from himself."

The subordinate hesitated, trembling as she listened... in fact, she was one of the new recruits who was just an errand girl. She didn't even know who this Exelia was."Should I cancel the summons?"

The captain stared at her as if she had asked if they should defy a god.

"You want to go against the Queen? You?" she said, with a crooked smile. "Not me."

"Then... what shall we do?"

The captain sighed again, pulling out her magic identification necklace with a tired gesture.

"We'll prepare the hidden chamber training hall. And send a warning to all the sentries on the east side: when Exelia arrives, let no one - no one - try to approach her." He paused, then muttered disdainfully: "May the gods have mercy on the Prince."