The King is an ancient sin whose reign was foretold to end within the century, and thus wished for an heir.
Yet none of his kin was worthy to sit upon the throne.
Hence, the King sought one.
A new sin worthy of the throne.
Staring at the sky, The King whispers his desire.
The World listens.
The King received his heir.
However, when The World sought what was due, The King did not draw his blood.
The King refused to pay.
The World slapped The King.
The World was enraged.
The World remembers.
And so…
The King fell into debt.
The King became enemies with The World.
Yet none of it mattered.
There was no need to pay The World, for The King already has his heir.
Alas…
The heir was a failure.
It was a threat.
Worthy of the throne.
Enough to bring it to ruin.
Thus it was sealed.
The heir was no more.
Then, as the prophesied end draws near, The World waged war upon The King.
The King's death looms.
* * *
In the lightless dungeon beneath The King's castle, The Prince lay motionlessly in his cell, bound in chains.
How long has it been?
It did not know.
But it knew its destiny.
To inherit the throne.
To end his father.
To reign supreme.
Where have things gone wrong?
He could clearly remember it.
The time he showed his power to The King.
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The fear etched on the face of the ancient sin.
'I wish to see it again.'
The World listens.
Suddenly, a piercing noise resounded in the silent void as thick bars of midnight steel snapped and fell to the ground with a metallic clang.
Sounds of heavy footsteps echoed as a vague silhouette emerged from the broken cage.
The figure staggered briefly, then ignited into a living incarnation of fire mere moments later.
Blinding light flashed defiantly amidst the sea of darkness.
The shadows danced chaotically as the fires swayed.
'Hmm…' The Prince glanced at the bright figure, slightly impressed. Whatever the creature was, it had successfully managed to free itself from its bindings — somehow, which was obviously not an easy feat.
Yet, it was bound to fail.
The Prince lived in this castle.
It knew what lies beyond the darkness.
There was no escape.
'Well…'
Maybe there was.
Perhaps.
But the mysterious creature would definitely not escape by being that flashy.
Then, as if mocking him, the radiant figure suddenly grew even brighter as a spear of searing light appeared in its grasp.
The spear of light spun horizontally above the incarnation of fire before smashing into one of the nearby cages, breaking it open.
Afterwards, the fiery figure attacked another cage, then another, and another…
The light stick flashed as it swung violently in the darkness.
Echoes of shattering steel reverberated throughout the dungeon.
The infernal wraith went on a rampage, destroying every cage it could find.
The Prince sighed internally.
'...Did it go crazy? Or does it lack intelligence to begin with?'
In hindsight, it was rash of him to simply assume the creature possesses wisdom.
Other than regular prisoners, the dungeon also houses many powerful beasts that The King wished to tame.
The luminous figure was clearly humanoid, but The World is a weird place and existence.
The World was also notoriously clumsy.
Bizarre lifeforms and strange phenomena could simply pop out on a whim.
And a fiery humanoid beast was not the weirdest thing there could be.
Of course, among other possibilities, the creature could also just be an ordinary demon.
However…
'That's impossible.'
Had it truly been a demon, The Prince would've known.
In any case…
With the creature's rampage, the anticipated jailbreak might end before it could even start.
That much noise was enough for the wardens to realize that something was going on in the prison they should have been keeping watch of.
'Well, I have nothing to do with this.' The Prince thought to himself.
Prisoners caught escaping are severely punished.
But The Prince is still The Prince.
Mere wardens could never punish him.
However, getting caught trying to escape would heighten the security around him, which is something he wished to avoid.
After all, even though he had no plans to escape for now…
He will definitely do so in the future.
Alas…
The radiant figure suddenly landed in front of his cell, and with a terrible foreboding, The Prince screamed in dismay.
But it was too late.
The obnoxious light stick easily drew a molten line through the metal bars, meeting little resistance.
The Prince was stunned.
'Wh… What the fuck!'
That performance was definitely impressive, but The Prince was more concerned by the fact that he could no longer play innocent about this whole incident.
His cage was, after all, literally torn open.
How could The Prince convince anyone that he did not try to escape with this giant piece of evidence that says otherwise?
Even if he chose to remain in his cell and act like a good prisoner as everyone else tried to escape, it would simply make him appear more suspicious.
Once everything settles down, the security around him would definitely be tighter.
The broken cage would be replaced with something stronger and harder to escape from.
The wardens will not be as complacent as they are now.
The odds of escaping would be even lower than they are now.
'This stupid fire!'
This small incident left him with no choice.
The Prince had to make his escape now, or he never will.