Chapter 181: CH 152: LEAVING (2)

Even though so many events had transpired in the recent, turbulent times, humans were still beings who always forget things— whether it be trivial or important— in haste.

An understandable notion, really— for humans are ephemeral beings.

They were beings with the lowest lifespan in this fantasy world filled with different races— a concrete indicator of their ephemeral existence, and as such, had far more to accomplish in an extremely short span of time.

Thus, they didn't have the leisure nor the time, to recall, to remember, to store most of the memories and events that transpired throughout their existence on this plane, the only exception being events of extreme significance.

On this day, or rather this night, the festival that had been temporarily halted, because of the previous events, had resumed at full tempo and wherever the eyes would wonder, one would see the bustling crowds of a variety of people, elderly and children alike, dancing, laughing, singing, mingling and playing around.

Sharing their happiness, their sorrows, their stories with each other.

One of the causes— for this festive atmosphere permeating through the entirety of the kingdom even after the previous crisis, other than the forgetful nature of humanity— was that the damage on civilians and overall infrastructure had been extremely low.

In fact, if not for Nihil’s grand entrance— her Fallen Paradise overlapping and isolating the city from the world— a great part of the civilians would not have even known that something had happened before news of it circulated in the next morning.

The second and ideally the main cause for this joyous mood would be the knowledge that the crown prince would enter the Astral realm today.

For humans, this day marked something extremely important.

It could even be said that this day marked the foundation, the integrity, the standing as well as set the future course of the kingdom of humanity and the human race as a whole.

Since the times of the second King, Pluto the peaceful King, there was one extremely significant thing that had been made clear. 

Every time the crown prince or princess came back from the Astral dimension, an incredible surge of power and a staggering increase in skills would follow along with them as well.

In this world where everything was governed by the notion of Might Makes Right, what the commoners truly needed wasn’t a kind and benevolent ruler, but a ruler with an incredible amount of power— near the peak of the mortal world— strong enough to give them the protection they sought. 

A weak ruler would inevitably mean a weak country and a weak country sadly meant that it would be bullied by everyone surrounding it, while its population would be hunted and treated as slaves.

This was the harsh, yet true reality of this unfair world.

Of course, if the King was both strong and kind, then he would be seen as the perfect ruler in the eyes of commoners.

They really were selfish beings who wanted everything without giving anything in return. Such was the hypocrisy of the masses.

---

[Church of Castitas]

Sitting in a secret room of the church, Sol absentmindedly observed the people below, a bit taken aback by the scenery before his eyes.

Currently, the church was almost full to the brim, as children of age, roughly 15 years old, were being tested openly in front of their peers and relatives. 

After the conclusion of the test, some would go away with dejected faces while others would adorn large smiles instead. 

The hall they were presently using reminded Sol of the halls belonging to a catholic cathedral, the only exception being the fact that it was at least a hundred times wider than the ones he had seen in his original world.

Today was an annual event for everyone in Lustburg. A national event of sorts that was being held in all the big territories of the kingdom where the church had its branches.

It was the greatest occasion possible for commoner children to separate themselves from the masses and get a chance to be sponsored by rich merchants or nobles.

If they had a high enough Capacity[1] to form a contract with a B rank or at least a C rank magical being, then it wasn’t impossible for them to be chosen and thus change their lackluster destiny into one of fortune and expectations.

Sadly, reality was a cruel mistress.

The chances to awaken with at least 10 Capacity Points were no more than 10%. 

As for the chances of getting a Capacity Point high enough to contract with an S rank being, which was a staggering 100 CP, was the extremely miniscule probability of 0.0001%. 

Even the worst RNG and gacha games would not give such a despair-inducing low rate.

Sadly, it wasn't a game but reality— an incredibly shitty one.

What made capacity so important was the innate difference between a Tier 3 creature and a Tier 2 or a Tier 1 magical being.

The chasm separating each tier was so insane that it was mind numbing. And the chasm would only increase exponentially with each decrease in tier.

Moreover, the gap separating tier 2 and tier 1 was so insane that it would not be wrong to say that it was akin to the difference between heaven and earth. 

Tier 3 went from rank E to C and the beings of this tier were able to use mana from their birth thanks to having their mana veins open. But that was all there was to them. 

In a way, aside from being able to use mana as soon as they were born, the sole difference between Tier 3 magical beings and Humans was the contrast in their physical capabilities.

However, Tier 2 magical beings, which consisted of the ranks B and A, could awaken their horns, a type of energy construct, and had a higher chance to awaken a special type of magic or unique magic in short.

Sol could distinctly remember his fight against Setsuna even to this day. The moment she used her horns, it was like he was facing a completely different being. 

It was a complete intrinsic transformation of her abilities and skills.

Furthermore, she had access to three natural elements— namely wind, water and lightning— a perk of her being a mutated variant of her species. 

Although, from what she displayed and he knew, it seemed that her control over the elements of water and wind was lackluster compared to the instinctive, almost godlike, control she had over the lightning element.

What made tier 2 magical beings really important, however, was the fact that they had extremely high chances of entering the Duke realm and this, more than anything, was an attractive notion.

Sol's perception of normalcy had been skewed from his birth. 

Because of the fact that he had been surrounded by a bunch of powerful beings, beings near the very peak of this world, for as long as he could remember, Sol had grown somewhat used to it, but in reality, reaching the Duke realm was already enough to become renowned in the world as a powerhouse.

Since obtaining a tier 2 being meant high chances of obtaining a Duke Class powerhouse, the nobles, the crown, or the church would do anything to snatch such a prize.

Though generally, such talented people were already scions of powerful noble families, like Athena of the Highlands Duke family.

As for S rank magical beings, or Tier 1 creatures? They were at a completely different level, so much so that they were practically assured to reach the level of Duke at their maturity, with a high chance of entering the King realm if they trained to reach their utmost capacity.

While he did not know the capacity of his predecessors, apart from his father Mars, he knew that there never had been a King or Queen with less than two or more companions of at least A or B class. 

Which would mean that all the previous Kings or Queens had at least more than 100 Capacity points.

His father, Mars, in particular had a ridiculous capacity of 350, while in his own case, he had broken that record and reached an unprecedented incredulous capacity of 500.

Once again, there was only a 0.0001% chance to reach 100 capacity points.

Every time Sol thought about how low the chances of ‘simply’ reaching 100 capacity points were, he couldn’t even begin to fathom how low the chances were to reach beyond it could be, and could only laugh at how much rigged the game was for the royal family.

Sol was the ninth King. This meant that an almost impossible odd repeated itself nine times consecutively, without fail.

If this wasn’t a rigged game, then he couldn't even imagine what was.

'Once is happenstance. Twice is a coincidence. Thrice is enemy action – though in this case, it's the goddesses' action.'

He chuckled inwardly, at that thought. 

This world was truly an unfair place.

Of course, he wasn’t sanctimonious enough to cry injustice and ask for equal rights. This rigged game had favored him. So why should he complain? That would be the height of retardation.

Not only was he an S class hybrid magical being, but he could also form a contract with many beings that had a high chance of becoming Kings or Dukes.

What’s more, since he was a dimensional mage— with the unique Mirror Dimension that practically covered the entire world and maybe… more— as long as he did not die, he was assured of becoming a Demi-god.

Moreover, there was a high chance for him to become the strongest Demi-god of this plane, and maybe even surpass that shackle.

He was a future king, a future powerhouse, and was surrounded by a plethora of beautiful and powerful women who were practically crazy for him, literally and figuratively...

‘Man, my life is beautiful.’ Sol thought with a blissful sigh.

However, this was also the reason why, in the deepest part of his heart— Sol felt incredibly afraid.

His life was the very definition of Utopia, albeit with its minor sets of problems. And he knew more than anyone else that the notion of Utopia was nothing more than a blissful lie.

Since he had everything from the start, it meant that he had only things to lose. He did not wish for his life to become a tragedy.

“-ness...Your highness.”

“Humm?”

He was brought out from his depressing brooding, by a voice he did not recognize at first, but then looking at the owner of said voice, he was able to recall who he was.

Focusing on the armored man kneeling in front of him, he asked in a quizzical tone, 

“What is the matter---White Knight?” 

The man standing in front of him— or rather the young man, as Sol knew that he was not that much older than him— was the white knight, someone he should have fought before fighting Setsuna back then in the coliseum.

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The elite forces of the church were called the paladins. Their mission was to protect the assortment of different priestesses of the church they served, when they went out of the capital to accomplish miracles and the like.

The title of White Knight was given to the most talented of all the Paladins present in a church and his mission was to protect the Holy Daughter and if necessary, serve as a meat shield for the Supreme Daughter.

Of course, in the current generation, the situation of this knight of the church of Castitas was quite awkward. 

After all, there was no Holy Daughter for him to protect and as for serving as a shield for the Supreme Daughter. He would not even last 3 seconds against a King Realm powerhouse as he was now.

When they had first met this evening, Sol had been ready for some hostility being projected towards him. After all, he remembered that the white knight had somewhat of a crush on Camelia since she was the one who saved him when he was a kid.

But none of the sort happened. Which was weird.

This could only mean that either this man was able to hide all his negative feelings behind a perfect mask, or he was genuinely regretful of his mistakes. 

Another possibility was that Camelia had used her power to brainwash him, but she had assured him repeatedly that she only activated her control on people who showed signs of betrayal.

Even though Sol did not quite believe Camelia as much as he did in the past, he did not wish to reach the level of degradation in their relationship where he doubted all her words. 

As such, he chose to believe in her words this time. If it turned out to be a breach of his trust again…he honestly didn't know what to do.

The white knight on the other hand was looking at the young prince, and the future king of Lustburg, and he had to admit that he was quite surprised to see the changes Sol had forgone.

‘How did he grow so much in such little time?’ He wondered in shock and curiosity.

Even though Camelia had bound and gagged him back then[2], he had still been present in the coliseum and had observed his fight with the wolf girl, currently standing in silence behind the prince.

From what he had observed from the fight, he was sure that if he fought with his partner, his contracted magical beast, he would win without much problem.

But right now, things were vastly different,

*Gulp*

‘We would lose if we fought him now.’

He did not know why, but he could feel a certain ‘weight’ that the prince had been lacking in the past. A regal aura of authority or power or a powerful mix of both. At the same time, he felt as if he was standing in front of a dangerous beast rather than a simple human being.

This wasn’t all, after the prince formed his own contract, the difference in power between them would become much wider.

A bitter taste spread in his mouth at the realization that his years of training were nothing in front of such monstrous talent, truly the world was incredibly unfair. 

However, at the same time, he felt immense joy.

Joy at the reality of having a powerful ruler to serve, and joy at the fact that the woman he respected and loved more than anything in the world was not wrong in her choice.

Even though he had a crush on Camelia in the past, he knew for a fact that he could never walk alongside her. 

The prince on the other hand could. 

Sol could protect her while he could not.

Sol could make her face lit up in joy at the mere mention of his name, while he couldn’t even make her smile.

Finally, the most important point was that Camelia loved Sol, not him.

This was more than enough for the white knight to give up on his impossible notion of love.

All he wished for was her happiness.

Everything he had was thanks to her, and he would never forget her grace.

He knew that he was but a simpleton, but for him Camelia was his everything, the goddess he worshipped. 

Bowing his head deeper in respect, he answered the question to the prince…to his future King,

“Her grace told me to warn you that your turn would soon come. After all the nobles of age get tested, it would be your turn to show your capacity to the world.”

“...Is that so?” Sol asked rhetorically.

Being a King was no different from being the brightest star in a sky filled with numerous stars. 

If you did not show yourself, if you did not appear grand like a star shining high in the sky, brighter than any other stars and illuminate the land with your luster, people would not give you the respect they ought to.

Even though Sol already knew his Capacity, he needed to show it to the world. 

To show to both the commoners, nobles, and foreigners alike that the prince was different from the masses, that his talents knew no bounds, that he was the only one fit to be king.

For royalty, being humble meant being weak. Nothing more, nothing less.

And in this cruel world, weakness was the only thing that couldn't exist.

Standing up, he elegantly flipped the black cape behind him and began to slowly walk away.

“Well then, the show shall go on. As they say.” He muttered as he slowly walked towards his destination.

All the feelings of fear and stress and worries marring his face vanished without a trace.

A ruler should never show his weak exterior to the masses, the exception being the necessary occasions which compelled him to do so to gain the affection of the populace.

-----

In the assembly hall, after the nobles’ children were tested, the mood was at an all time high.

The reason being the fact that there were some surprisingly good results this year as three individuals with CP between 30 and 50 had been discovered which was joyous news for the kingdom.

The nobles were already noting the name of the three lucky guys, even though they knew that those three would most likely join the paladins or the black knights.

Standing on the podium, the priestesses that had been doing the testing, took a step back and let a long golden-haired woman take their places.

She wore a long pure white robe that hid all her voluptuous features and her face was hidden behind a white veil.

Yet no one could confuse her for anyone else.

The moment she entered, even without an announcement, all the people present, be it commoners or high nobles felt as if their heart was being cleansed by the purity of her holy grace. 

It was as if they were standing in front of an existence that was simply too beautiful to look at, simply too pure to be sullied, only to be revered with all their beings.

But before they could even compose themselves, to get back their bearings, a second announcement caused their hearts to drum in excitement and anticipation.

“His highness, the legitimate crown prince of Lustburg, Sol Dragona Luxuria is entering! May his light shine upon the Kingdom!!!”

The large doors opened wide while all the murmurs and noises vanished completely, making way for an all encompassing silence.

Then, the silence was replaced by the clear sounds of slow and steady steps.

Each step reverberated throughout the quiet church making everyone aware of the regal, mighty presence of the individual slowly ushering them with his royal presence.

Finally, once Sol appeared in front of their vision— clad in gold and white, donning the insignia of the royal family and the aura of absolute authority— Camelia’s beautiful, holy voice resonated throughout the church and in every individuals heart like a command, 

“Kneel in front of the crown prince and salute his arrival.”

Then, like a low ebbing wave in the sea, all the people present, irrespective of their position, irrespective of their standings, kneeled and chanted in unison in a reverent tone, 

“““Welcome! Your Highness!”””

Their booming voice echoed in the church and beyond, their reverent tone welcomed their future king and ruler. 

----

[1]: 

----- 3rd tier

E = 10 CP

D = 20 CP

C = 30 CP

------ 2nd tier

B = 50 CP

A = 70 CP

------ 1st tier

S = 100 CP

[2]:

(AN: The tiers were first explained by Medea in CH 25. While for the probabilities of awakening Capacity, it was done in CH 12. Setsuna and Sol used their horns in CH 54. Hahaha. Man what an epic scene. Though I feel like I went a little overboard. Man, topping this scene for his true coronation, when he will finally go from His highness to His Majesty will be difficult. But I believe I can do it.)

(EN: Hire me and you'll get all the help you could ever want.)

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