Prince Lutz Diamond Latias was glowing.

His whole body radiated bright light as if he was the sun. Anyone facing him had to cover their eyes.

When the radiance subsumed, the room was full of collapsed enemies. Only the prince and a woman behind him were still standing.

“Paula, you can open your eyes now.”

“Yes.”

The woman’s full name was Pulamela but the prince called her Paula. They had known each other since they were children. What greeted her eyes was a magnificent sight. It was as if the enemies were charred in a great fire. This was the true power of the 11th Prince.

“As expected, the Empire stationed their elites to guard the power sources,” Lutz inhaled and exhaled in a long interval. His body was sweating.

In hindsight, the prince was tired after using his abilities but Pulamela knew better. The burn mark on the prince’s face... Using the day affinity took a high mental toll on the prince because the aftermath always reminded him of the terrible day when he got that scar.

The day affinity the prince had was the second rare affinity after his diamond. For obvious reasons, he rarely did the former these days but the power was undeniable.

He used light-based attacks just now but there was a difference between day and light affinities. Day Pathseekers had their abilities strengthened during the time of day and peaked at noon. Oppositely, when night fell, they became significantly weaker.

Light Pathseekers were more constant. While the two affinities were similarly stronger when the sun was out, Day Pathseekers’s multiplier was much stronger to compensate for the similarly huge time constraints.

Currently, it was daytime. Despite the blizzard surrounding the flying fort and the dark clouds above hiding the sun from view, the sun still bathed the world with its radiance.

Since Prince Lutz possessed another affinity, he had no problem fighting after sunset. The variant of the earth affinity was similarly stronger than the more mainstream kind but also more specialized.

Even when they did not actively use their abilities, those with day affinity had all their abilities passively strengthened. The diamond Artes the prince used during the day were stronger than normal.

The Sun Prince, Pulamela thought. She always believed the man before her was the most fitting for the throne.

The prince created a sword of diamond in the air and sent it to the glowing pillar that was the power source, destroying it. After a while, the diamond that was created by Victa would return to mana and vanish, unlike a true physical diamond.

“That takes care of that.”

“Splendidly done, my prince,” Pulamela slightly bowed. “I sensed the power source numbers were dwindling. The strategy is working. Battles are all over the place.”

“As expected of you, Paula. The enemy's jamming reduced the range of my sensing abilities to a portion.”

“I’m happy to serve. What do you plan to do next, Prince?”

“It’s just us now. No need to be so formal.”

“Very well, Lu.” Lutz made a small smile. “We’ll go to the next nearest power source while assisting those we meet along the way.”

“We won't be going to the central keep? But then the prestige will go to the two with dragons...” Pulamela frowned. “They might need backup, considering the strongest opposition will most likely be there.”

“There will be enough people going there, thinking your line of thought. But saving our comrades is no less important, no?”

“As you wish, my prince.” Pulamela didn't object. “Let’s hope we meet the other two of our team.”

“This is one of those times where I’m grateful to have you at my side.”

Pulamela smiled. “Follow me, prince. Fortune is the strongest this way.”

***

“Trash, trash, trash!”

With each swing of his sword, Prince Vadym killed a man.

Kill, kill, kill.

It was as if he was feasting on death. The people behind him looked unnerved. There were three people. One was the Prince's own team member and the other was from another strike team’s pair. Prince Vadym met them at the second power source location he discovered. Like the first, he made short work of the ‘elite’ defenders of that place.

“Make way for the prince, trash! I need somewhere to be!”

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Vadym was making his way to the center keep, mowing down the Empire’s soldiers and whatever they threw at him with ease. The shadow itself moved to slash, pierce, and crush Vadym’s enemies.

He left no bodies or blood in his wake. His shadows ate those as if it was a living beast. One of the strike team, a Grand Prix contestant, fainted looking at the gruesome scene before she was carried by her pair. Vadym cared not. He was already being generous, letting the two follow because they were his fellow countrymen.

“Hm?”

Vadym made a slight direction change, going to an unassuming empty corner. He slashed it with his sword.

“Show yourself!”

“Hiiii! Mercy! Mercy, great lord!”

A woman appeared. The prince’s sword slash was an inch away from her head.

“Fade in Shadow Arte. Now what are you assassins doing here?” Vadym scoffed and asked the woman at bladepoint.

***

Croix and Falmerion carved a blazing trail forward.

Compared to the little powerless kid that Viers met three years ago, Croix had grown by leaps and bounds. His time learning from his loyal knight Alfred, his aunt Grace White the Countess of Stormberg, and his teachers at Sinclair Academy sculpted the prince into a brave young man.

Viers also gave him some bonuses, such as the tamer techniques from the underwater kingdom. Once, some poor sod tried to bind Viers’ clone that was in his orca monster form. He faked obedience and went to have an adventure under the sea for a few months.

Things happened, and Viers got many good things from that place.

One of those things was the tamer techniques. The merpeople there specialized in bonding aquatic monsters that fought alongside them in battle. Viers soul-searched his way to the best version of their techniques and added it to his vast knowledge and gave it to Croix. This happened when he was in the Academy.

Croix saw Falmerion not as a pet, a mount, or a tool to fight but as a priceless friend. This showed in the direction Croix took as a Pathseeker. He would not set loose Falmerion on his enemies like he was a fire-breathing monster, no. They would fight together, not relying on the dragon entirely.

And so Croix and Falmerion shared a special bond. Croix drew strength from Falmerion and gave the young drake strength in return.

This opened unique doors in Croix’s Path of Power. Even though he already had Fire 5 affinity, his fire burned hotter than normal.

Croix burned elemental attacks, armored soldiers, and melted stone walls. The Empire’s soldiers, even their Level 3s, were like straw men before Croix, easily combustible.

“Falmerion, fire over there! Focus your fire for wall breach.”

The dragon, still far from his maximum potential, did as he was instructed. A minor power source three thick walls away was destroyed in a short while.

“Good job,” Croix gave Falmerion a chuck of monster meat which he ate happily.

Croix was heeding Sword Saint Fleur’s words and going to the central keep as direct as he could but there was no harm in destroying the power sources he encountered along the way to help the other teams.

Suddenly, Croix felt a pang of danger. He swung his red sword, given by Duke Lucan, to burn the poison darts coming his way. Seeing the attack fail, the assailant closed the distance.

“An assassin? Haven't met you for a while.”

Sword and twin daggers clashed. The other party wasn't wearing the Harkelan army uniform.

Why is he here? For me?

Something clicked. Perhaps the assassin wasn't specifically coming for him. Most of the Grand Prix contestants were important people. There might be many that had a price on their head like himself. Were they waiting for a chance during Round 3 or were they hired by the Harkelans? Were the Empire working with assassins? Croix doubted anyone would give him an answer.

With the wealth of battle experience, he had told Croix that the other guy was the same Level 3 peak but was older and had more experience. Croix could tell from the way he moved.

But Croix had no fear. Once, an assassin almost caused his death during the trip to Sinclair Academy.

Falmerion let out a fire at the assassin which he expertly evaded. At this moment, Croix plunged his sword into the fire and altered it in the direction of the assassin, engulfing him in flames. The silent killer couldn't stay silent after that. It wasn't enough to kill the enemy but the damage was pretty big. The destructive power of dragon fire was without question.

“I’m not the same as I once was,” Croix made a stable stance. “This will be the end of your killing record.”

***

The numbers of the power sources were quickly dwindling and the flying fort had shown signs of instability.

Everywhere, all over the third flying fortress over the skies of Gryphon’s Reach, the strike team of the Latias Kingdom’s most talented youths decimated their opponents.

This was false.

“Alright. You passed.”

A young man with ominous red eyes said to the struggling youth in front of him.

From the state of the room, it was clear there was an intense battle here. The crumbling walls, the fissures on the floor, and the bodies on the floor. Other than these two, the rest were dead.

“The hell... You're talking about...”

The struggling youth was Leth Silveray. He led his group to the best 16 of the Grand Prix of Latias before the tournament was going off rails because of the invasion.

He looked like he just had the most intense fight of his life. His eyes were filled with anger even though his sight was blurry from exhaustion. The hole in his chest made breathing or speaking difficult, yet he was still standing.

On the other hand, the guy with the Red Eyes didn't even have a speck of dust in his body.

“You got potential. I’ve decided I won't kill you,” Red Eyes said with a lighthearted smile.

“You motherfucker...” Leth wanted to slug him in the face but even a step forward was a tall order for the current him.

“Good hatred. You can call me Red Eyes. Member of the Warbringers. I’ll await the day you come to take revenge. See ya, my man.”

Red Eyes sunk into the pool of blood around his feet. Leth couldn't stop him even if he wanted to. After that, there was only one person in the room full of corpses.

Most were Harkelan soldiers but there were three that were not.

Leth’s group. What was left of them, anyway. Red Eyes didn't kill them with their bodies intact. The fact that they were beautiful girls didn't seem to matter.

Leth saw the remains of his loved ones in silence. The fresh memories of how Red Eyes killed them in front of his eyes and he couldn't do anything to stop it was an inexplicable torture. The scream of anguish came out from his mouth but it originated from his soul.

Red Eyes didn't hear it. He was already looking at his next prey. He was in a good mood. He was able to find someone good enough to let live. Usually, he didn't find any.