The next day…
Prince Vritra was in his chambers, staring at his reflection in the full-length mirror. But this time, it wasn't to admire his own beauty──he wanted to test something else. He glanced over his shoulder at the young lady standing behind him.
It was his loyal secretary, Ghislaine Lumont.
"Oh Ghislaine~ come help me test something."
The white-haired young woman blinked a few times and pointed at herself.
"M-, Me, Young Master?"
She knew she was the only one in the room, but whenever he made a request like this, it usually didn't end well.
Prince Vritra gave her a teasing smile.
"Well, I don't see Neron here, so of course I mean you."
Ghislaine sighed and slouched her shoulders.
"Okay, fine… just please, don't blow me up again."
"Oh, quite the contrary."
"Hm?" Ghislaine tilted her head.
Prince Vritra smirked. "You'll be trying to blow me up…"
"Eh?"
Without much thought, Vritra held out his palm and created a semi-translucent dark orb that quickly expanded to fill the entire chamber. Suddenly, Ghislaine found herself standing in a vast, empty space with only Vritra beside her.
"W-, Woah! What just happened?!"
She exclaimed and widened her eye with amazement as she looked around in shock.
Vritra sighed and lowered his head, slightly exasperated by her over-the-top reaction.
"This is obviously [Spatial Magic]. The one I just used is a type-4 phenomenon called [Warped Horizon].
"Inside this dome, space is stretched and expanded up to a 150-meter radius. Objects and entities like us appear smaller from the outside due to the spatial distortion.
"But from within, everything looks normal, though distances are deceptive, allowing me, the caster, to manipulate spatial perception of others."
As she listened to her young master explain, Ghislaine couldn't help but make small noises of awe, as if she had never seen [Spatial Magic] before.
Vritra raised an eyebrow.
"You're acting like you've never seen [Spatial Magic] before. I know I don't use it often, but Neron's used it enough times for you to have a decent understanding of how it works."
He wasn't entirely against the idea of Ghislaine being amazed just because he had used a type-4 phenomenon so casually.
After all, it wasn't the first time his subordinates exaggerated their reactions to highlight his greatness. But if they were in battle and she reacted like this to a type-4 phenomenon, it would be embarrassing, making it seem like such a low-level spell was a milestone for him.
"Well, actually…"
Ghislaine put a hand on her small, smooth chin and hummed thoughtfully.
"I mean, yeah, I've seen that old fart Neron use [Spatial Magic] plenty of times, but he mostly uses it for boring stuff like pulling out some cake he stored for you in his pocket dimension or something."
Not wanting to continue a pointless conversation, Vritra waved his hand casually and dismissively, then walked a good 20 meters away from her.
"Alright, ready yourself, Ghislaine…"
"F-, For what, Young Master?!"
"As I've said before, you're going to try and blow me up."
The dark prince explained that he wanted to test his [Imperial Black Dragon Combat Ring], so he needed her to hit him with her most powerful magic phenomenon.
『Mhm, yes. It's quite necessary.』
Being cautious, Vritra preferred to understand the strengths and weaknesses of his items before facing any real battles.
『I can't be out there fighting some random, unknown side character and not able to use my items properly. My enemy better hope they don't share the same name as that bitch boss of mine. What I'd do to that woman if she were in this world… tch, I'm not above being petty.』
He could barely hide his irritated face.
...
After giving Ghislaine a clear and simple explanation, she positioned herself 20 meters away, ready for the signal from her precious young master.
"My prince, are you ready?!"
Ghislaine was already holding out both her hands.
The man in question held out his right hand, manifesting the ancient combat ring on his finger.
The ring was pitch-black, emanating a powerful dark aura, with a red gemstone set on top. Upon closer inspection, dragon-like patterns could be seen engraved around the band.
"Oho~? It's a perfect fit…"
Vritra spoke with a cheeky smile.
『So, get this - just like how power systems work, people in this world have fleshly body energy and our spiritual body energy. When these two concepts come together mana will be produced.
『Now, when I first landed in this new world, I was down and out for a whole month thanks to mana disease. My spirit and my body weren't exactly on the same page, leading to a lovely combo of non-stop puking, tummy troubles, and killer headaches.
『And guess what? Lilith decided she was gonna be my personal nurse through it all. But get this, only after I was all better did she spill the beans that she'd been slipping her own special touch into my meds and meals.
Sigh~
『I can't stand that woman…』
Prince Vritra blinked several times and realized he'd completely missed the point of his thoughts.
It's one reason he avoided thinking about his fiancée──she always left him mentally drained because of her crazy obsession with him. Clearly, she was drawn to him because of his wicked reputation.
Lilith wasn't interested in looks; she was only attracted to a man with a black heart.
In other words, Vritra.
『After syncing my spiritual power with my new fleshly body power, everything got a lot easier. Now, if I concentrate hard enough, it feels very natural, like I've always been a magical being. I can sense the range of my spells, their strengths and weaknesses, and even my mana limit.
『The [Imperial Black Dragon Combat Ring] is designed to enhance physical power, which means it gives me access to something called [Combat Aura].
『This special technique, used by swordsmen, boosts their physical abilities to the extreme. Because of it, they can cut through things that normally can't be cut and survive things that shouldn't be survivable.
『While I'm more focused on magic than physical combat, this ring seems to give me a significant advantage in this area.』
The dark prince nodded with a smug face.
"Alright, Ghislaine!"
With a wave of his hand, dark energy swirled around Vritra for a moment, and then he was cloaked in [Imperial Dragon Combat Aura].
After that, the dark energy vanished.
This was normal, as [Combat Aura] shouldn't be seen with the naked eye. If it were visible, it means it isn't dense enough, making it much easier for an opponent to find weak spots and achieve a flawless victory.
"I'll use a type-4 phenomenon, Young Master!"
It was the strongest spell in her arsenal.
Ghislaine held out both hands and focused her mana.
… Huuuuu
Soon, hydrogen gathered at a point and formed a wind-like sphere. Then, with a burst of mana, she unleashed a massive eruption of blue-hot flames.
kraaa────KOOOOOOOM!
The entire warped space trembled as a massive, streaming wave of flame surged towards Vritra. The flames were so intense and powerful that they completely overshadowed him.
This was type-4 phenomenon [Scorch Cannon!]
However, as soon as the attack came, Vritra darted toward the wave of flames like a bullet piercing glass. In both cases, the obstacle was shattered.
BOOOOOOM!!
The flames scattered into flakes of fire, and Vritra appeared unscathed on the other side of the attack.
"Heh, this ring is quite powerful…"
With his Fiendcelestial strength, Vritra was confident that very few people could actually hurt him, much less kill him.
"TH-, THAT…!"
Ghislaine put both hands on her red cheeks, her eye wide as she stared at the graceful presence of her beloved prince.
"THAT WAS AMAZING, MY PRINCE!"
Her cheeks became even more red.
Vritra simply smiled. "What else did you expect?"
knock! KNOCK!
Two moderately loud knocks sounded on the doors of Prince Vritra's chambers.
Standing outside and waiting for a response was the beautiful Princess Luciana. She held a tray of delicious treats and wore a small, uneasy look on her pretty, moon-shaped face.
『This will be my first time speaking to him…』
What will the dark prince do? She could only wonder.
━ ━ ━ ━
(T/N): There will be second chapter today.