"Where is the Crown Prince?!" The Emperor shouted out loudly while rushing back into the sacred hall of the Royal Palace.
His hair was disheveled, and his silver armor was still dirty from the mud and blood that had splashed on it a while ago. His eyes were filled with rage and worry as he took a look left and right to see if everything had just been a stupid prank.
However, seeing the grave expression on the faces of the servants, and the tears in the eyes of the Empress, he could tell that the stupid prank was nothing but reality.
Four weeks had passed since he first heard that the Crown Prince disappeared just like that. The Emperor retreated with his army immediately and he returned to the Capital of the Lacardian Empyrean Void while telling the strongest Creatoran to follow him.
Tens of thousands of Creatoran searched the entire capital in the hope to find the Crown Prince somewhere, but there was no sign. Not even the millions of civilians who had been willing to join the search found a clue.
The entire capital turned into a pool of chaos and everyone fell into a state of unease.
It was abnormal for the Crown Prince to disappear just like that, for several weeks at that. Nial Lacardian was known as a bright kid who treated everyone the same. He was loved by the servants with whom he always played when they had some time to spar, the librarian who had grown accustomed to the Crown Prince's appearance in the Royal Library where he spent entire days studying the history of the Lacardian Empyrean Void, and the guards, who had accepted little Nial as a cadet.
Nial may be extremely young, but everyone felt that he was quite responsible. He wouldn't run away just like that.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHowever, there were no traces of his whereabouts. There was not a single mana fluctuation in his room, and neither had there been a sign of abduction.
So…where could he be if he didn't run away and he wasn't kidnapped? Nobody in the capital found him. That simply meant there weren't too many possibilities left.
"Mikael believes that our little baby entered the Monster Dimension…" The Empress cried out, pressing her head against the Emperor's shoulder.
She couldn't care less about her image right now, forget about the dirt and dried blood that smudged the Emperor's armor.
"The Monster Dimension? But, Nial knows that he shouldn't enter the Monster Dimension until he was trained we–....wait…you mean that he already finished his awakening?! Nial is only four!"
The Emperor's eyes widened in shock. His rage dispersed, replaced by an increasing sense of worry. The Monster Dimension was extremely dangerous and considering that Nial disappeared just like that, it was very unlikely that he prepared himself for these dangers.
In fact, even if he were to prepare himself, it was not as if a four-year-old could easily survive in the Monster Dimension.
"I know, Darling…but what if the Monster Dimension urged him inside? He is just a kid…He would never be able to resist the urge to enter the Monster Dimension. Darling…why did our kid have to be so curious about everything? For the first time…" The Empress' words turned into a cascade. Words spurted out of her mouth just like the tears that poured down her cheeks like a waterfall.
The Emperor had never seen his wife like this, and he was at a loss as well.
'He was urged inside the Monster Dimension? Awakened at the age of four, and urged… As long as he survives, he will be even stronger than the Primordial Ancestor! No…he has to survive!'
The Emperor hugged the Empress while gritting his teeth. Worry gleamed in his eyes but there was nothing they could do to help.
Even if their son was in the Monster Dimension, it was way too vast to search for him. It would be easier to find a needle in a warehouse filled with hay.
As the Empress continued to cry, imagining the worst possible fate his little cute baby could have encountered, the Emperor's train of thought was caught between worrying for his son, and a tinge of excitement.
It was unheard of for a four-year-old child to activate their Mana Core, let alone that someone below the age of ten would be urged to enter the Monster Dimension.
That meant some sort of powerful existence was trying to create a relationship with him. The only issue was the question of whether Nial would be able to establish a Soul Link with a powerful monster.
The Soul Strength Amplification was likely to tear Nial apart, preventing most monsters from considering establishing a contract.
While the Emperor and the Empress faced the biggest crisis over the last centuries, a maid rushed inside the royal hall. She was puffing heavily and seemed to be out of breath.
At first, the guards intended to restrict the maid's entrance but they quickly realized that it was the personal maid of the Crown Prince. A glimmer of hope emerged in the eyes of the guards as they halted in their tracks, tightly clenching the
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"MYLADYY!!!"
Startled by the sudden noise that rang through the entire royal hall, the Empress and the Emperor turned to the young maid.
They immediately recognized her. The Empress, unladylike, rushed to the Maid, while tears were still trickling down her cheeks.
"He came back! The Crown Prince is back!!" The Maid exclaimed, her eyes also teary. "The Crown Prince reappeared out of thin air. He is not slee—..."
The Maid was not even able to continue speaking as the Empress and the Emperor disappeared at the same time.
A shockwave spread through the entire room, causing the walls of the royal hall to shake subtly.
The Emperor and the Empress require only seconds to reach the Crown Prince's chamber. Dozens of medics were already standing around the king-sized bed, taking measurements to reassure that everything was fine with the Crown Prince.
"Ohhh my little baby!!" The Empress screamed out loudly, rushing to her little body.
Nial was extremely skinny right now, but he didn't seem hurt. A subtle smile blossomed on his lips while his right hand lay on his chest.
"He is malnourished and it looks like he sustained his life with the use of the mana in the Monster Dimension. However, he is not injured, and it looks like his Familiar didn't tear damage anything. Though, that was to be expected since his Familiar is a…" One of the Medic said, only to realize that the Emperor stood next to him all of a sudden.
The Emperor ignored the medic and looked at his son's right hand, where one could see a…
"...A Goldscale Serpent?"