Ding
[Trait (Royalty) has evolved into (True Royalty).]
[True Royalty: You have the blood of royals flowing through your veins. You can control your emotions to a certain degree and strive to uphold both your dignity and that of your nation when facing others. You understand how to rule and lead people. You are a righteous person who punishes evil and helps the innocent to the best of your abilities and circumstances.]
[(True Royalty) is interacting with the Everhart Royal Bloodline.]
Ding
[Host has acquired [Bloodline Skill: Everhart's Heightened Senses].]
[Bloodline Skill: Everhart's Heightened Senses]: This skill sharpens all six senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and instinct) to the highest level your body can handle when confronting an opponent.
Special Effect: Due to the trait (True Royalty), if the Host is fighting to save someone he believes to be innocent, all of the Host's stats will be enhanced by +10.]
I took a brief look at the new skill I had acquired from my trait's evolution before standing up, bracing myself for what could very well be my first battle where my life was truly on the line.
"All knights, halt!" I shouted, making my voice as deep and commanding as possible while raising the royal emblem high into the air. "I, Aiden Von Everhart, Prince of this Kingdom, hereby command you in the name of the crown to cease your actions immediately—or face the consequences."
At my command, the knights and soldiers stopped in their tracks, turning toward me.
'I'm glad they lis—' I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking I had managed to stop the massacre. But before I could figure out my next move, I realized that while they had indeed ceased slaughtering civilians, they were now heading straight for me instead.
"Did you not hear me? I am Aiden von Everhart—" I repeated, but my words only seemed to spur them on further. Their fierce charge left me with no doubt—my very existence was the reason behind this invasion.
As they closed in, I turned and sprinted into a narrow alleyway, hoping to separate them. There were simply too many knights to handle alone. I twisted and turned through the maze-like streets, making sharp turns whenever I could, until I finally found myself at a dead end. When I turned back, only one knight had managed to keep up with me.
'So it's come to this…' I thought, turning to face the lone knight who had tracked me so relentlessly.
"Phew~" I exhaled deeply, trying to calm my nerves as I took a battle stance. My knees trembled slightly from the fear of fighting with my life at stake. "...Why are you doing this?" I asked, hoping for an answer.
[Bloodline Skill: Everhart's Heightened Senses activated. All of the Host's senses have been enhanced to the maximum that the host's body can handle.]
[Conditions met to access the Special Effect. All of the Host's stats have been increased by +10 temporarily.]
"Hnnghh..." The knight only growled in response. Without a word, he swung his sword at me. I barely dodged by tilting my body left and countered with a punch to his stomach, making him stagger slightly.
'Why isn't he responding? He's fighting like a mindless beast…' I thought while dodging each of his strikes. Even with my enhanced stats and sharpened senses, I was nowhere near his level in pure combat experience. The only reason I could evade him at all was that he relied solely on brute force, with no technique behind his swings.
"Why did you betray the kingdom you serve?" I tried asking once more, but received the same silence.
[Host, I think he is under a soul control spell, and a very strong one at that.]
'Soul... Control Spell?'
[Yes. A soul control spell is an incredibly rare and difficult magic that allows the caster to completely control another person's thoughts and actions by capturing their soul. It's likely that all of these guilty knights have had their souls taken.]
'So what now? Am I just supposed to keep dodging until one of us collapses?'
[Well, you don't have any useful skills, nor have you awakened yet, so I guess it's the latter.]
'If you're going to be helpful, then at least be fully useful for once—!!' I yelled at Char in my mind while launching a full-force kick at the knight, forcing him to stumble backward.
"Hrrgh..." The knight groaned, dropping his sword and clutching his stomach where I had struck him.
'Right now… he's no different from a wild beast, is he?' I thought, feeling a pang of pity. Just yesterday, he had been a knight serving the kingdom, and now he didn't even have the free will to move on his own.
[Host, 'monster' would be a more fitting word than 'beast.']
'Monster? What do you mean by that—?' Before I could finish my thought, I saw a chilling blue light glow from the knight's hand. Almost instantly, an icicle spear shot toward me at an incredible speed.
The icicle spear formed out of nowhere, catching me off guard for just a moment—long enough for it to slip past my defenses.
'Is this the end?' I braced myself for impact, expecting at least a serious injury, if not death. But as soon as the icicle spear made contact with my body, it shimmered and dissolved into a fading light, vanishing into nothingness.
'Huh… Huh??? That magic spell just vanished into thin air, didn't it?' I stared in disbelief at what had just happened.
[Why are you acting so surprised, host? I already explained that any type of water or wind magic cannot harm you due to the Blessings of Sovereigns.]
'Yeah, you told me, but this is the first time I've actually seen it in action.' Until now, I had only known that I possessed some special blessings, but witnessing one take effect in reality far exceeded my expectations. Not only had the icicle spear vanished, but I had also felt a surge of cool energy revitalizing my stamina.
"Hrrgh... HAAAAAAA!!!!!" The knight suddenly clutched his head and screamed as if he were on the verge of going berserk. But before anything could escalate further, the light in his eyes flickered out, and he collapsed to the ground—as if he had never truly been alive in the first place.
I quickly rushed to his body, checking for injuries or signs of life. To my shock, there wasn't a single wound on him. As I struggled to comprehend what had just happened, the sound of slow, deliberate footsteps echoed through the eerie alleyway.
CLACK.
CLACK.
CLACK.
"I only commanded this one to confirm whether you were truly the prince, but alas, he lost the last remnants of his control… so I had to kill him. I trust Your Highness won't hold this humble priest accountable for that?"
A figure emerged from the shadows, dressed in pure white priestly robes. My blood ran cold when I saw his face.
It was none other than Pope Eugene—the very man who had named me at birth. But what terrified me was the emptiness in his eyes as he spoke of murder and mind control as if they were mere trivialities.
There was no kindness, no purity in his gaze—only a raging fire of vengeance and betrayal. In that moment, he looked less like a holy man and more like the devil himself.