Bloodhound’s Regression Instinct

Chapter 17

The crown prince’s face hardened as he saw Momon, who seemed to have regained his sanity unlike before.

He thought he had driven him to a near-death state.

He thought that if he pushed him a little more, he could kill him… but when he arrived, it was not the case.

The aura that he was emitting was so intense that his skin tingled just by looking at him.

‘I have to be careful too.’

As soon as he came to that conclusion, golden scales began to rise on the crown prince’s face and arms.

The special commander who saw that from behind widened his eyes.

“Your Highness?

You’re using your dragon body…!”

“This is not the time to think about likes and dislikes.”

The crown prince said that, but the special commander still could not hide his surprised expression.

He could not understand, but the crown prince hated to reveal his dragon body, which was the most clear symbol of the royal family.

Dragon body (龍體).

It was a blessed body that only the direct descendants of the royal family, who were called the kin of the dragon, could have.

It increased the magic resistance and defense to the point that it would not leave a scratch even if it was hit by a low-level magic or a sword.

The physical ability also improved to a different level than before using the dragon body.

It was a body that was close to cheating.

But the crown prince still felt something empty and clenched and unclenched his hand.

“It would have been better if I had brought my sword.”

The crown prince muttered with regret.

He had no time to arm himself as he hurriedly left the palace, avoiding the emperor’s eyes.

“Lich, what is the reason for doing this?”

“Dragon body…? You’re the descendant of Bahamut!”

Momon’s red eyes exploded.

Among the many people that Momon knew a thousand years ago, the only one who had a dragon body was Bahamut.

He was sharpening his blade of revenge against Bahamut, who killed him, but his descendant blocked his way.

What a ridiculous joke of fate!

Momon laughed loudly and the dark red mana that flowed from him covered the hall like a tidal wave.

“Kahaha! How absurd is this?

I have to prioritize something else while having the enemy’s descendant in front of me!”

Momon gritted his teeth.

The biggest reason why he became a lich was because of Bahamut.

He thought he could easily catch the crown prince if he used his full power.

Even if he had a dragon body, Momon was a magician who had experimented with that dragon body for a long time.

But.

The moment he exerted his full power, he did not know what effect it would have on the kid who swallowed the life vessel, and if that happened, the life vessel would also be in danger.

It was back to square one.

He had to catch that brat.

“Damn it!”

Momon screamed with rage.

Then, dark red energy gathered around him.

The special commander stepped forward to dispel the energy, but.

The crown prince stopped him with his hand and walked forward.

“Bahamut? I don’t know what kind of relationship you have with my ancestor.”

The crown prince said in a cold voice to the angry Momon.

“The number of trainees who disappeared or died because of your magic is a hundred.”

A bright light burst out from the crown prince and began to push away the dark red energy that was covering the hall.

“A hundred children who lost their lives before they could bloom because of you.”

The crown prince stomped hard.

Boom!

The magic circles that were secretly created around Yan were shattered in an instant.

“I can’t forgive you for that.”

The crown prince finished his words and shot towards the lich.

Momon frowned as he saw him.

“This damn bastard!”

The descendant of Bahamut who was rushing in was not someone he could take lightly.

But he still tried to subdue him by reaching out his hand.

Right at that moment, Momon’s red eyes grew bigger.

“What!”

The crown prince was already in front of him.

It was not easy for him, a magician, to engage in close combat with the crown prince who had a dragon body.

And more than anything, time was…!

Crack!

The hand that he stretched out to cast magic was crushed by the crown prince’s blow.

He felt no pain because he had no nerves, but he still felt a sense of crisis that he might be in trouble.

Momon quickly created a magic circle with his other hand.

He had to get some distance.

When his body disappeared from its place and moved to another place.

“Damn it!”

The crown prince was quickly shooting towards where he was.

The golden light that bloomed around him made his force tremendous.

Momon regenerated his broken arm bone and swung both hands to create magic circles.

He embroidered dozens of magic in the air and shot them at the crown prince.

* * *

“…Amazing.”

Yan exclaimed as he watched the fight between the two.

The dark red energy and the golden light mixed together looked like the legendary demon king and the dragon fighting.

Then, a strange voice came from the side.

“You’re number 974? The instructors must have been blind.”

Yan turned his head to where the voice came from.

A man with long hair and a long scar across his face.

“Special commander?”

“Add ‘sir’ to that.”

The special commander looked over his body, and Yan felt a little wary.

His eyes were more curious and cautious than friendly.

“Ah, are you the one who tried to escape this time?”

Yan nodded at his words.

The special commander chuckled at Yan, who showed no sign of emotion.

“That attitude looks like you’re protesting that you’re proud.”

“Then why shouldn’t I be proud? I was forcibly dragged here in the first place.”

The special commander looked down at him.

“It’s only possible to be rude when you’re in a family that can give you a lot of love. You haven’t learned yet that you can’t do that when you go out into the world.”

Yan laughed at that.

“Are you laughing now?”

“Then, are you going to kill me for being rude?”

Still relaxed.

The special commander felt puzzled.

He wondered if he had a noble family behind him, but he had never heard of the number 974 when he received the report on the special cases related to the dragon soldier project.

“Did you grow a pair?”

Yan shrugged his shoulders and said nothing else.

“By the way, are you okay with not helping His Highness the crown prince?”

“If I go in there, I’ll only be a hindrance to His Highness.”

Yan nodded.

Well.

The fight between the two was so fierce that there was no gap to get in.

Even if he somehow got in, the two seemed to have never coordinated their attacks.

“Then how did you manage to avoid being caught by that monster until now?”

At that moment, Yan’s mind spun fast.

‘Should I tell him that I ate the life vessel?’

There was no need.

No, he might even be dissected with the approval of the special commander.

The empire would be quite interested in the life vessel of such a powerful lich.

He had a better excuse.

“He said he wanted to take my body because it matched well with him. So he tried to catch me without hurting me too much.”

“No matter what, how did you manage to run away from a grand magician?”

“I guess I was lucky.”

As they exchanged useless chatter, the fight between the crown prince and Momon became more intense.

Momon created magic circles as if pouring them out, and the crown prince quickly approached and tore them all with his hands and feet.

But the magic circles that he couldn’t destroy completely shone and manifested.

Crash!

They collided with the crown prince’s body.

But the crown prince didn’t seem to be shocked.

Yan’s eyes sank.

‘I don’t know who the real monster is.’

It was still a fight, but their power was ‘barely’ that much.

The grand magician who could do ‘quad casting’ and ‘shadowless casting’ that only appeared in legends could cover the space itself with magic.

The crown prince who had a dragon body that only the chosen royal family had, and also bloomed his brilliant talent, could make his imagination into reality.

‘I don’t know about the lich, but I have to check the crown prince’s power.’

That’s how he could make the future plan.

‘First, I’ll pressure Momon to draw out the crown prince’s power.’

Whooong. Dooong, Dung.

As Yan stimulated his mana heart, his mana began to beat slightly.

Then, the life vessel in his stomach began to react.

It looked like it would be sucked into the mana heart at any moment.

‘As I thought.’

He thought he could absorb the life vessel completely if he stimulated his mana heart a little more.

But he didn’t do that right away.

His goal was to pressure Momon mentally.

Snap!

“You annoying brat!”

Momon realized that there was a problem with the life vessel that was connected to his soul, as he was moving around with at a speed that was invisible.

He glared at Yan, who was smiling in the distance.

But.

“Where are you looking? Are you that relaxed?”

Crack!

The crown prince, who had reached Momon’s front in an instant, swung his fist and broke his ribs.

But Momon still glared at Yan, regardless of whether his body was broken or not.

“…?”

The crown prince felt a sense of incongruity as Momon didn’t react at all and stayed still.

And.

Gooo!

The dark red energy that came from him was different from before, and poured out like a waterfall.

‘This is dangerous!’

The crown prince sensed the ominous atmosphere and decided to distance himself.

“How dare you insult me like this? You bastard. I’m tired of thinking about this and that. I’ll just kill you all.”

Momon’s voice lowered.

Yan and the special commander shuddered at the atmosphere that made their skin crawl.

‘It’s worse than I thought…!’

Yan felt his whole body stuck by the mana in Momon’s voice.

He had a mana heart, but he couldn’t resist easily.

Shiiik- Shiiik-

The dark red spheres that Momon poured out began to contaminate the space itself.

The crown prince also raised his energy with a heavy face.

But unlike before, the bright light couldn’t push away the dark red spheres.

“Hoo-”

The crown prince let out a sigh of frustration.

But soon, his eyes hardened.

A face that seemed to have made a decision.

“Huaaaah!”

The crown prince let out a loud roar.

Then, his light became much brighter than before.

It was so dazzling that it was hard to look at.

The crown prince’s light and the space that Momon contaminated touched.

Kururung.

The space began to shake violently.

Momon sneered at the crown prince and shouted.

“Area expansion, ma…!”

It was right then, when he was about to chant something for a new magic.

Pooong-!

The bones that made up Momon’s flesh exploded out of nowhere.

Srrrrr.

He stared blankly at the bone fragments falling to the floor.

“…?”

“…?”

“Huh?”

Yan couldn’t help but blurt out a stupid sound.

The crown prince and the special commander also had a dumbfounded expression.

Crackle.

At that moment, the life vessel in his stomach broke like a glass.

He thought there was no way the life vessel would break since he didn’t stimulate his mana heart anymore.

‘Could it be that he really exploded with anger and died?’

Nah, no way. That can’t be…

Yan looked at the bone dust that ‘was’ Momon.