THE USELESS PRINCE-Chapter 43: Suffering

Van paused for a moment without saying anything. Even though both sides were covered by shadows, Ash could still tell that he was angry.

A clear disappointed sigh echoed in the quiet darkness.

"Sigh... What a pity, Your Highness, I really hoped that you would agree. I had actually believed that you would let me do that..."

"Ha, of course not. Are you stupid enough to think that I would agree?"

Ash had already prepared himself to summon the Sword of Dawn if Van intended to approach and harm him and Canis.

Only when he was extremely close to him would Ash have the courage to use the Sword of Dawn.

If Van was far away, all he could do was slash the ground like when he fought Lucian, and just like that time, this place would be heavily destroyed.

But whether Van would be knocked unconscious like Lucian was still an unanswered question.

He was strong, much stronger than Lucian now, so there was a high chance that he would survive that blow.

But on the other hand, after Ash had delivered that blow, he would definitely be severely injured and at worst, unconscious.

If that really happened, Canis would be left alone with that psychopath. And who knew what he would do to both of them when Ash woke up?

But unfortunately, Van only felt disappointed, not angry to the point of almost losing himself.

He gently opened the bars of the woman’s cell next to him, entered, and dragged her deeper into the darkness, until her screams could no longer be heard.

"No...no...no...no!" Her screams gradually became softer and finally stopped.

Ash and Canis were stunned, both of them wearing horrified expressions.

He didn’t even dare to imagine what Van would do to that girl because it was truly too horrible. Could it be that that woman had been through such torture for years?

How could she still be alive?

Why hadn’t she committed suicide yet? Was it because she couldn’t?

A series of questions continuously appeared in Ash’s mind, but all of them quickly disappeared when Dragon Slayer tugged on his sleeve.

"Hey Ash... what should we do?"

Ash hesitated for a moment before replying:

"Do you remember the attack I used to defeat Lucian in the battle that day? This time I will use that attack again to get us out of here."

A ray of hope suddenly lit up in Canis’s eyes, and even Ash, who was blinded by the darkness, could see it very clearly.

But...there was a problem.

"Listen Canis, I can’t use that attack yet, I have to wait until the time is right."

"What do you mean?"

"After using that attack, I will definitely be greatly damaged, and there’s no guarantee that that psychopath will fall unconscious. So I can only use that attack when he’s not around."

The entire conversation between Ash and Dragon Slayer was said in the lowest possible tone to avoid being heard by Van.

***

A while later, after having enjoyed torturing the woman, Van finally returned with a much better mood. But the woman...

...Completely silent, as if she was dead. Only a few groans could escape her mouth.

"Hey Prince, I’ve returned! What do you think of what I just said? Do you feel like agreeing?"

Ash didn’t pay any attention to Van’s question.

"Hey psycho, how come you couldn’t be found by the Academy’s instructors?"

"Hmm? Oh right, I think when I found you, you were staring at my house, right? How did you see it? So weird..."

What a psycho, suddenly asking a question that he should have known the answer to.

"How strange, I clearly have a barrier surrounding this area, right?"

’Barrier?’ At this moment, Ash seemed to have realized something.

In False Horizon, there weren’t many Relics called barriers, but they all had one thing in common, which was that they could be easily destroyed if subjected to a huge sound wave.

Thinking about this, Ash slowly turned towards Canis with an incredulous expression.

How much of a coincidence could this be?

But in the end, it wasn’t Dragon Slayer’s fault, so there was no reason for Ash to blame him.

"Hey, psychopath, isn’t this a serious problem? Your barrier has been destroyed, and the Academy’s lecturers will be here soon!"

"Oh shit! You’re right, Prince!"

"Then shouldn’t you go fix that damn barrier?"

Ash’s only goal was to make Van leave this place as soon as possible.

And since he was a fucking psychopath, it would be even easier.

"Oh my god! If that’s the case, then that’s unacceptable! Thank you for reminding me, Prince!" After saying that, he really ran away.

And as he left, the woman’s weak and hoarse voice rang out from the cell next door:

"...What are you two up to?"

"We’re going to escape from this place." Ash said firmly.

"Ha!? Escape from this damned place? If you can, then try it. I’ve given up after being tortured so much..."

"We’ll do it." Ash’s voice was as firm as before, and it seemed to have moved the girl a little.

"Really?"

In this place filled with only darkness, no matter who it was, they would definitely be shaken if even the slightest glimmer of hope appeared.

"Yes."

"...Then you have about an hour..."

"Excuse me?"

"Every time he leaves here, no matter what, he only comes back an hour later. And since this place is very soundproof and deep underground, no matter what happens, he won’t know."

"How did you know those things? I thought..."

"Because I always hoped this day would come, Your Highness."

***

[Energy: 532/1000]

Ash could only perform five more slashes using Sword of Dawn, but this was already more than enough for him to get out of here.

He slowly walked towards the wall opposite the iron bars, closed his eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and mentally prepared himself to take the massive damage from this Relic.

Just like last time, tiny golden specks appeared from nowhere, dancing happily around the blade.

And then, he slashed, slightly upwards.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l