HP: The Arcane Thief
chapter-226

When they leaders almost couldn't wait any longer, the General finally allowed for questions.

"General… Uh, I would like to know, where has the Crown Prince been this whole time?"

"Yeah, and why did we never know about his existence?"

"Also, how did he get so skilled? Was he trained in secrecy?"

As soon as the General allowed for it, questions began pouring in since everyone had been bursting with doubts and curiosity this whole time.

The General raised his hand to stop the tide before there were too many questions to answer.

"To answer your questions, first off, we were not aware of the Crown Prince's existence. The Kraken seemed to have found out first and sent two of their Overseers for him, which he managed to defeat on his own."

"Also, we do not know how he got so skilled. He grew up in an orphanage in the outer world and attended the local academy with no help from us. So there is a possibility that he's self-taught."

The answers caught everyone off-guard. They had been thinking that the Crown Prince had been secretly trained this whole time as a secret weapon against the Organisation. But that does not seem to be the case.

"The Crown Prince, living in an outer world orphanage?!"

"Preposterous!"

"How could this be?!"

Instead, they heard the most offensive news ever. Those with the Royal Bloodline, and even the direct bloodline of other Septises are given the best treatment from birth. So, it was really quite a shock to know that the Crown Prince, the direct heir to the throne, grew up in that kind of environment.

And of course, it is not clear what they'll do when they find out further details of the Crown Prince's childhood.

"Then, how did he get here?

"And what was his purpose for coming?"

"Did he want the throne? If so, then why did he not reveal his identity?"

The next round of questions arrived before without delay.

"He got here through the Royal Token. I suppose the Princess might have left him one. As for his purpose… it would seem that he wanted to heal his hand."

"Heal… Heals his hand?"

"That's it?"

"Can the people of outer world not even regrow a limb? This has to be an excuse."

"Yes, I think so too. He must have wanted the throne, right? His birthright."

"If that was the case then why didn't he reveal his identity? We'd have forced him to take it even if he didn't want it."

"Actually, he wanted to reattach it, not regrow. His arm, I mean." It was not the General who said that, but Artis, the head of Sanitorium. "There's a difference. And given the importance, it might really be his real purpose for coming here. Not the throne."

After videos of Axel's trial and the Biopark incident had gone algal, he had gotten this information from a five star Mender.

Usually, he would just keep the information confidential, but now with the Crown Prince already gone, there was no point keeping it.

"Regrowing instead of reattaching, what is the difference?" Asked one of the leaders in confusion.

"A big one."

Astris logged into the Sanitorium server and pulled out the information of Axel's procedure.

"Just look at the parameters," he said, showing them Axel's stats. But of course, most of the members had no idea what they were seeing. So, Astris gave them a glimpse.

"To put it in simple terms, if there was a relic for hands, the enhancement... would be equivalent to what his hands can already reach without any external factor," he said, illiciting gasps from all around.

"Those hands are the most important reason why he was able to go toe to toe with Aslot in close combat with ordinary knives without getting them broken in one blow. If he just regrew his hand, all the time and effort he spent training them to this degree would have been wasted. So, I really think this had a huge part in why he arrived here."

It took a while for everyone to digest that. Thinking about the fight, they recalled how the knives kept flashing dazzlingly, taking on the Royal Relic, and released how that was possible.

"So, he came here to get his hand healed, and he kept his identity a secret?" Asked the Royal Academy Principal, who had been silent this whole time, to which the General nodded.

"So, I take it that in everyone's eyes, he was just an extraordinary prodigy who had come from the outer world, just like the shinobies? No one was aware of the fact that he was strong enough to easily defeat relic wielders?"

"Indeed."

"Then why, prey tell, was such a bright prodigy sent so deep into the Trench? I was already against him completely skipping the Academy Education, but then also skipping the procedure of training and experience requirements for deep trench exploration standards… Why?!"

It was only then everyone came out of their regrets and remembered: The Fight happened in the deeper layers of the Trench. Somewhere where someone with Axel's official qualification should not even be present.

Meaning, this whole tragedy could have been avoided, and… meaning that the Crown Prince could have been still alive.

"Yes, what WAS he doing there? Not even the shallows, but directly in the Gravitational Layer?"

"He could have been still alive..."

Everyone began to question the situation now. It's like watching your treasure getting robbed and then releasing that the treasure had been taken out of the vault and put in the middle of the thieves den before it was stolen.

The General let out a sigh, wondering how to even answer that.

That's… because of a series of unfortunate events." Said the General as he explained what happened.

When the general was done, everyone felt extremely frustrated.

"Kyrin! It's her again!" Said the Flame head.

"What was she thinking? Taking completely new recruits into the Trench?" Exclaimed the Wind Head.

Everyone was outraged.

This was not a small matter. This was the death of their best chance at peace.

Even if some one them might not give a shit about Axel, they sure want Kraken gone, whose ultimate goal is the destruction of the whole Kingdom.

And Kyrin had the most fault in the matter. Had she not been so reckless and hadn't broken rules, none of this would have happened.

Of course everyone was angry at her.

But, at this moment, Princess Antilla, who had been quiet this whole time staring down woodenly, finally raised her head. "Kyrin is not the one to blame." She stated, finally breaking her silence.

When thinking about it, it really isn't Kyrin's fault. From the Space Turbulence to Space Whales, things happened in a way that no one could have predicted.

"Those to blame are still down there in the Trench."

Aside from Axel's terrible luck, the blame can only be put on Aslot, who stopped at nothing to destroy the Crown Prince, even sacrificing himself, and on the Organisation, which corrupted the Royal Relic and helped Aslot regain his power.

"I only have one purpose now: Revenge. I want to return Aslot and the Kraken every bit of pain Axel had to go through. And I... will stop at nothing to achieve it." She said, her eyes ice cold.

"Make no mistake. This is my personal vendetta, not the Royal Will. There is no obligations for others to follow. But I will see this through to the end."

Antilla was done now. She was done being passive, she was done being patient, she was done being safe, and she was done making every decision in her life for the sake of the kingdom.

When she was young, she witnessed the death of Royal Mother and Royal Father getting crippled. After that, her sister took over, and Antilla grew extremely dependent on her.

But then, her sister also left the Kingdom. Leaving Antilla to handle the Kingdom all alone.

Antilla tried her best to keep the Kingdom stable while helping Royal Father, whose pains had further increased and whose health had further deteriorated. All in the hope, that her sister would return soon.

But then, she received the news of her death.

Antilla was crushed by then. It was very difficult for Antilla to recover from that. But still, she did. Because the Kingdom needed her. And her sister wouldn't have wanted her efforts to be wasted like that.

So, since then, she has been somehow managing, trying to passively defend the Kingdom to protect the long legacy.

She didn't accept it, but she has been unconsciously hoping for a miracle. With no acknowledgement from the Royal Throne, the Royal Trident gone, and the Kingdom so weakened, there was little she could do but be on the defensive.

That went on for years.

But then, the miracle actually happened. Her sister, whom she dearly missed, actually had a son. A son who reminded so much of her sister, whether it terms of reliability, talent, or confidence that it filled her with joy from deep within.

The happiness was short-lived, though. And the fall was like heaven to hell.

Witnessing the brutal and horrific murder of her thirteen year old boy, something broke inside Antilla.

Now, She. Doesn't. Care. She no longer has it in her to care. All she wants is to wage war and have revenge for Axel, the last family member she lost.

And if Antilla knows anything about her Royal Sister, she would want the same, the Kingdom be damned.

Antilla looked around at the table. "I know that we've been passive this whole time in the war, focusing on reinforcing the seal first. But that is getting us nowhere and leaving us exposed to attacks from the Squids. Therefore, I propose applying a more aggressive strategy on defeating the Kraken. I will only proceed with those who agree. Your choice is completely voluntary."

There was silence in the meeting room as everyone exchanged glances. But then Ender just nodded his head.

"I'm with Antilla. This guy not only saved me, but also ended that bastard Tronis. So, I am definitely all for revenge."

"So am I," said Sylthia, who had been silent the whole time. She didn't provide any reasons, only keeping them in her heart.

"It's nothing compared to the Kingdom's loss, but I have also lost my son." said the Flame Elder, fire burning in his eyes. Among the two Kingdom's relics that were found at the site, one of them belonged to the Flame Septis. "Kraken must burn for this."

In the Relic Wielder Division's fight against Aslot, his son was the first one Aslot used the Royal Curse on, since, having the power of fire, his son posed the most significant threat to Aslot.

Though his son had managed to escape at the time, but since his Relic was with Aslot, it is safe to conclude that Aslot hunted him down later on and the wielder is no longer alive. The Flame Septis will not let this drift by.

The Principal of Royal Academy sighed. "I will ask you all to reconsider. We currently neither have the Royal Trident, nor the Royal Throne. We can't tread this war recklessly," he said, stopping the domino effect.

"And to think we had almost regained both the relics…" said the Commander-in-chief bitterly.

The Royal Trident, giving the Wielder the ability to harness the power of the sea itself, is the most powerful attacking relic. And the Royal Throne, giving the wielder complete control over the Kingdom's ancient defense system, is the most powerful defensive weapon.

And they could have actually regained both since there was such a capable Royal Prince alive this whole time, who almost defeated Aslot.

But the Principal has a point. The reality is that, right now, the Kingdom has neither of the Relics which have kept Kraken at bay throughout these millenia. the Royal Trident is with Aslot and the Royal Throne is empty, no longer acknowledging neither the King nor Antilla, going into complete shut-down.

So, this is really not the time to be reckless like they could be a few decades back. There's a high chance they might actually lose if they made a wrong move.

That's why, even though everyone was frustrated and wanted to join the Princess, they hesitated.

At this moment, the Lightning Septis Head shook his head. "To be honest, I would have tried to oppose rushing into revenge irrationally as well, but… the Crown Prince has actually made this idea feasible."

"Indeed." Agreed the Wind Head. "Three overseers are down, and Aslot is extremely weakened at the moment. So, no matter what, this really is the best window of opportunity we have, before Aslot regains his power and the Kraken replaces the Overseers. At least the Royal Trident and Throne won't be used by the enemy."

"The Wind Head is right. Even since we don't have the Royal Relic, at least Aslot also can't use it for the time being. As for the Royal Throne, it's a pity that we almost regained it, but since we don't have it, our defense is currently at its weakest. I also believe that attacking would be our best move now." Said the General.

"Let's also not forget the fact that he prevented the Biopark incident, killed three overseers, and saved the Kingdom by sacrificing his life against Aslot. We owe it to him to fight," said Lady Garmos.

"I have been onboard since the moment I saw that Glorious fight," said the Commander-in-chief. "Compared to what HE went through, and overcame, our troubles are worth nothing."

One by one, the leaders expressed their support over aggressively attacking the Kraken. And thus, on 10/13/5335 of the Atlantean calendar, the War between Kingdoms and Kraken entered the large-scale mobilization stage.

Around the same time, in the Royal Sanitorium, Akiko, who had been unconscious this whole time, jerked awake as the lights dimmed.

In the darkness, only a pair of eyes could be seen, having red pupils with black rings around them.

And they were hungry for revenge.