Chapter 52: Attack(5)

Lance came to a halt and looked at Luke, who was smirking at him, but he didn't care about that. What Luke had just said was the one thing that is currently on his mind right now.

'I can't let you die, your highness.'

Lance somehow felt a weird feeling inside of him. What Luke had just said sounded foreign to him. He can understand, but at the same time, he can't. He then suddenly remembered a time when he was still a young boy. Almost all the nobles were mocking him that day.

'So you are the powerless crown prince?'

'How pitiful. Even though you are the crown prince, the king and queen obviously don't care about you.'

Even though he was clearly being picked on, the knights around him didn't even bat an eye or didn't even move an inch. He even almost died when his brothers 'accidentally' dropped a pot on top of Lance's head. But not even a doctor came to check him out.

It's quite understandable, though. Who would want to protect or defend a powerless crown prince? Even if a meteorite hit him, instead of being sad, they would celebrate his death.

That's why he learned to fight back. Taking advantage of the nobles' weaknesses, he always had a retort for those who were assholes to him and learned to develop a greasy tongue to praise other nobles from other kingdoms to gain support. Even though he now has people in his faction, even when he and Noah are calling each other brothers, there is clearly no strong bond between them. He was clearly alone.

And now a random jerk has entered his life.

At first, he thought that Luke was a typical villain that had suddenly barged into his life to ruin him. But when he himself said that he would not let him die, he said that when he was clearly suffering and coughing up blood. He felt his sincerity in those words.

Lance closed his eyes shut. He felt an unexplainable feeling surging up inside him. He then opened them up and smirked at Luke.

"Look who's talking. The man who is coughing up blood and shaking says that he'll not let me die? How cute. And by the way, what's up with those wings? And is that an aura?"

Lance then pointed to Luke's wings and his sword, which had a purple aura around it. He then saw Luke frowning and spoke back.

"It's just your imagination, your highness."

"Ho? Still denying it?"

"You must be having a hallucination. I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"... Are you sure? You showed up with wings and an aura and now you are denying it?"

"I have no other choice, okay?"

Boom!

They both turned their heads and saw Liam fighting against the black monster. It seems like Liam is doing a good job of holding the black monster back. Luke then put his hands on the sides of his mouth and shouted at Liam.

"Liam! Can you beat that bastard for me please?!"

It seems like Liam heard him because Liam dashed forward towards the black monster and punched it in the face. Luke smiled proudly and gave a thumbs up to Liam. He then saw Liam smiling brightly back at him. Lance looked at the two casual dudes with disbelief.

"Aren't you supposed to go there and defeat that?"

"Your highness, I may not look like it, but my body hurts like hell and needs time to recover a bit."

Lance flinched and looked closely at Luke's body. He could now properly see Luke's shaking body. He then frowned.

"Hey, if the damage is that bad, you should get inside here and heal up."

"No need."

"What?"

Luke didn't answer and flew towards the black monster.

"Hey! You idiot! You're still not fully healed!"

Luke ignored the crown prince's yelling and simply positioned himself. He then shouted at Liam, who was looking at him.

"Liam!"

Liam nodded and also attacked the black monster. The black monster was confused for a moment by the two attacking him at the same time, but he quickly regained his sharpness. But that moment of confusion is all they need.

Slash! Slash!

"Roaaaar!"

The monster's giant arm was cut at the same time. The monster started to roar in pain but stopped when he saw Luke and Liam shooting down at him from the sky. And before it could even dodge...

Stab! Stab!

Luke and Liam managed to stab the monster's eyes. The monster roared loudly and backed off while his cut-off arm and eyes were still bleeding. He then heard Nash's urgent voice.

· Luke! I got a feeling that it might explode! I could feel mana condensing inside the monster!

Luke flinched and looked at the monster. He knew it, something was odd about this monster from the very beginning. From its smaller-than-normal height to the mana condensing within the monster. This is not the exact monster he read about. Luke frowned and shouted urgently.

"Liam! Run!"

Liam came to a halt and stared at Luke with shock. Luke just frowned at him. He then saw Julius and Lina flying towards him. Now that he knew that the monster would explode, unlike in the novel, he could just run away, but what about the other group members coming this way?

'I can't let Liam die. He has a vital role in the future war. I can't let Lina and Julius die either. I don't want their parents to hunt me down to the ends of the earth.'

Luke gritted his teeth.

'Fuck, there is no time!'

Luke flew towards the monster and grew his wings. The wings grew up to ten meters and let the wings cover him and the monster. He then heard Nash's confident but worried voice.

"Don't worry! I'll protect you!"

Instantly, Luke saw five layers of a transparent shield covering him and his wings inside. He then covered his ears and eyes when he saw a blinding light slowly enveloping the monster. After a few seconds, a deafening explosion covered the entire plaza.

BOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!!

Liam, Julius, and Lina flew away from the strong winds coming from inside the wings. They then covered their ears and eyes. Nobles, commoners, and knights all did the same thing. The impact is so strong that they have to lay down or else they will be taken away from the strong winds.

After a few seconds, the wind and sound slowly disappeared and they all let go of their ears and opened their eyes. Everything is covered in dust and their ears are ringing. They then all flinched when they saw the destroyed plaza and buildings around it. They also saw huge white wings interlocking each other in the middle. It does not seem to have even a scratch on it.

They then all flinched when the large wings opened wide and saw the small body where the large wings were attached. They couldn't see the black monster any longer; it had vanished. The noble's knees trembled as he realized this. The strength of the explosion was strong enough to completely destroy a large and buff black monster.

Lance looked at the bloodied body of the owner of the wings as the wing size returned to normal. There is blood all over his body. Lance then shouted.

"LUKE!"

Luke didn't hear him and slowly fell into the air. Thankfully, Liam caught Luke's falling body before it could even hit the ground. Liam then slowly put Luke's unconscious body down on the ground. He looked at Luke with dark eyes. He then clenched his fist.

'If only I listened to him when he told me to run... This wouldn't have happened.'

Liam clenched his teeth and hands. He blamed himself. He ought to have done better. He should've finished the black monster while he still could.

"Brother Luke!"

"Luke!"

Julius and Lina ran towards where Luke was currently lying and gasped when they saw Luke's terrible condition.

"Oh god..."

"H-he is alright right?"

Liam's face turned darker. The two noticed his expression and clenched their fists. They then heard Noah running towards them.

"Luke!"

Noah's eyes widened and he stopped running. He felt like the whole world had just stopped as he looked at Luke's pale and bloody face. He then clenched his face and mumbled in a dark and menacing tone. His eyes were filled with rage.

"Dark Eye..."

With those words, Liam, Julius, and Lina's faces darkened as well. That's right, if they hadn't appeared, none of this would have happened. None of this would have been possible without them.

"Cough!"

They all then flinched when they heard Luke's small cough. They then all rushed towards him with worried faces.

"Brother Luke!"

"Hey! Are you okay?!"

"Hey, wake up!"

"Please stay with us!"

Julius then immediately stepped forward and started healing Luke. Light covered Luke's whole body and his injuries started to heal faster. Julius could only heal outer injuries, unlike Selena, who could heal internal injuries, but he hoped that this could help him, even a little bit. His face then brightened when he saw Luke slightly opening his eyes.

"Brother Luke!"

"Ugghh...."

Luke groaned and tried to slowly stand up. He still didn't deactivate his wings, so the wings dragged behind him as he sat up. Luke then turned his head to assess the situation, noticing Liam's and the others' conditions. His face turned serious and asked.

"Are you guys okay?"

The group stopped moving while looking at him with disbelief. Luke then heard Nash's angry voice.

· You idiot! You should worry about yourself! Not us! You almost died!

Luke was shocked for a moment before saying his thoughts out loud.

"...I almost died?"

The group stiffened up at his words. They then saw Luke's shaking body, struggling to stand up. The recoil of the explosion that hit his body took was so large that he could still feel it in his body. They then all worriedly supported him. Liam supported his back and asked nervously.

"Brother Luke, are you okay? Is something wrong?"

Luke didn't answer. He was lost in thought.

'Shit, I almost died? If I died, then I'll use [Ten Phoenix, Ten lives]? I never expected that I'd really need that power someday. I just thought that it would be safe to prepare a safety net in case things went wrong, but I almost used it? Wow.'

Liam stared at Luke's shaking body. He then made a guilty face.

'Almost dying after sacrificing himself must've left a huge scar on him...'

Luke didn't know what Liam was thinking about and was just swallowed by his thoughts. Luke is currently amazed at his past self for wanting to get the power to cheat death on a whim. He then shrugged off his thoughts and asked another question.

"What about the citizens? Are they alright?"

It would be unfortunate if something happened to them. What if they suddenly blamed me for their near-death experience?

Luke frowned at those thoughts, not noticing his group's frowning stares at him.

'Brother Luke, even though he almost died, he still cares for the people.'

'He is such a good person.'

'He is so good that he even willingly sacrificed himself for the people.'

'Maybe I should also follow him other than brother Nash.'

Luke didn't know what they were thinking about and flinched when he heard Nash's frustrated voice.

· You stupidly good da-! You stupid! Why don't you think for yourself instead?!

Luke frowned.

'But I am thinking for myself though.'

Luke sighed and stood up. He then heard Liam's worried voice again.

"Are you okay now, brother? Does anything hurt?"

"No, I am totally fine."

Liam frowned while looking at Luke's bloody face and clothes. Luke didn't notice him and saw the nobles and other citizens walking out of the palace. They were all looking at him. He then saw Lance running towards him with an extremely worried face. Once Lance arrived in front of him, he immediately asked Lance.

"Your highness, why are they all looking at me like that?"

Lance looked at Luke's clueless face in disbelief. He then pointed at the white wings dragging behind Luke.

"If you have those wings, you will surely garner a lot of attention."

"Ah!"

Luke hurriedly deactivated his wings. His wings then slowly turned to white dust and completely disappeared in the air. He then smiled at the crown prince.

"That's better now, right? I shouldn't garner attention now."

"You banana- sigh, I give up."

Lance sighed and his shoulders dropped. Luke looked at Lance with confusion before whispering something in his ears.

"Your highness, give me compensation money. I heard I almost died."

"You! Haaa! Fine!"

Luke smiled brightly and Lance just frowned at him. Lance then looked at Noah and Noah nodded as he immediately understood what Lance's glance meant. Noah looked at the dazed knights who were looking at Luke and shouted.

"All knights! Stand in line!"

"Yes, sir!"

The knights then stood side by side while holding their swords up in the air. They then created a path in front of Luke. Luke frowned and took a step back.

"Uh, your highness. The battle has just ended and now you want to walk back to the castle in a very dramatic way?"

Lance frowned at Luke in disbelief.

"Shut up. This is not for me, but for you."

"....Excuse me?"

Noah then butted in.

"You heard him."

Luke sighed and hid behind Liam. He then talked in a very serious voice.

"Liam, Lina, and Julius should be the ones to walk in there. They are the true heroes."

"....Brother."

Luke heard Liam calling out to him, but he just ignored him and pushed him into the path made by the knights. Luke also pushed Lina and Julius in. They all hesitantly walked forward while glancing back at Luke. Luke just smiled and waved at them.

'Yes, get all the attention so that the people will forget about me.'

Luke then walked behind the three beside Lance. Luke then flinched when he heard some mumbling from the citizens around him.

"Hero..."

"He saved all of us..."

"Look how bloodied he is."

Luke looked around and realized who the citizens had just called a hero. It's Liam. He then nodded as if he agreed.

"That's true, Liam is really a hero. He is completely covered in blood to protect all the citizens. Hmm, hmm, truly worthy of the title of hero."

Lance heard his mumblings and looked at Luke with disbelief. Even the people around him all looked at him in disbelief. Lance just facepalmed.

'This guy... I'm not sure if he's just ignoring the fact that he's the hero everyone's talking about, or if he's too stupid to notice.'

Lance just sighed. He then looked at Luke smiling at someone. He noticed who he was smiling at and unknowingly smiled back. They are both smiling at the third prince who is looking at them with a dark and stupefied face. Luke then spoke in a very exaggerated manner.

"I am deeply sorry for what occurred. Such a thing happened on the most sacred day of your life that only happens once a year. This heart of mine is shattered on your behalf."

Lance suppressed his laughter and also looked at his third brother with a very sad face.

"He is right brother, but don't you worry! We will surely capture those bastards who did this to your special day and punish them accordingly!"

Luke and Lance looked at each other and formed serious and determined faces. But inside those determined faces was loud laughter and snickering. They're obviously screwing up the third prince.

The people around them looked at the crown prince and the kingdom's hero with admiration and determination. They believed the two men's words were sincere. Determination and strength started to fuel inside them.

'That is right! As long as we have the crown prince and the courageous hero, we can catch those bastards in no time!'

'Such sincere words. He is truly the epitome of a hero.'

Liam, Julius, Noah, and Lina all smiled at the two men consoling the third prince. They then all nodded as if they agreed with their words.

"Oh! Such a young and courageous hero!"

Luke flinched and saw the king walking towards him. Luke thought that the king was looking at Liam, but the king was clearly looking at him. Luke's mind started to process quickly and he resorted to one method to avoid the king.

"Ugh!"