I'm Trapped Inside a Prince as the Most Powerful Entity-Chapter 55: Flight and a Hidden Entrance

Adam, still in Eric’s body, stood before the crowd of grateful, newly freed prisoners in the deserted Old Market district. He looked at their hopeful, awestruck faces.

"I know," Adam began, his voice surprisingly gentle for the being who had just caused so much destruction, "that all of you have been through a very difficult and painful time. I cannot truly understand the depth of the pain you are feeling right now." He paused, his empty white eyes sweeping over their faces.

"But I hope that you will all find strength. You have endured so much to survive this long. I hope that you will all find success and happiness in your futures, and that you can eventually put this terrible experience behind you, like a bad dream."

He didn’t wait for their reactions, for their further thanks or questions. He simply turned and started walking away, heading back towards the alleyway from which they had first emerged. Lucas, the newly appointed mayor, quickly moved to follow him.

"Your Highness!" Lucas called out, hurrying to catch up. "What about these people?" He gestured towards the freed prisoners.

Adam glanced back at Lucas. "See to them," he commanded curtly. "Get them to their homes, or to a safe place. And identify any city guards who were involved in this... corruption. Punish them accordingly." He didn’t elaborate on the punishment, leaving it to Lucas’s discretion, or perhaps, assuming Lucas understood the severity required.

Lucas nodded, understanding the order. But another, more pressing question was on his mind. "Your Highness," he asked, concern in his voice, "are you... are you planning to travel to the Roland Kingdom on foot?" He looked worried. "It’s a long and dangerous journey, especially now."

Alina, who had been standing quietly nearby, also looked at Adam, a similar question in her eyes. She, too, wondered how Eric planned to reach the neighboring, hostile kingdom so quickly, especially if he was taking her along.

Adam stopped at the mouth of the alleyway. He turned to face them both, a faint, almost imperceptible smile touching his lips. "Who said anything about walking?" he asked. "And I am not going alone." His empty white eyes flickered towards Alina. "She is coming with me." He paused, then added casually, "We will fly there."

Both Lucas and Alina stared at him, their eyes wide with astonishment. Fly? Did he mean on horseback? Or... did he mean actually fly through the air?

Alina found her voice first. "Fly?" she squeaked, looking completely bewildered. "I... I don’t know about you, Your Highness, but I certainly can’t fly!" She waved her hands in front of her as if to demonstrate her lack of wings.

Adam didn’t respond to her protest. He simply walked over to her. Before Alina could react or pull away, he reached out with one arm and swiftly, firmly, wrapped it around her waist. He pulled her tightly against his side, holding her securely. Alina gasped, completely surprised by the sudden, close contact. She found herself pressed against him, her feet almost lifting off the ground.

"Hold on tight," Adam commanded, his voice devoid of any emotion other than practicality. "Unless you wish to fall."

And before Lucas or the stunned Alina could say another word, Adam pushed off the ground with his legs. Not a jump, but a powerful, explosive launch.

WHOOSH!

They shot upwards into the sky like a rocket, a blur of motion. The ground, the alley, the astonished faces of Lucas and the freed prisoners, all rushed away beneath them with incredible speed.

Alina, caught completely off guard, let out a terrified scream as the wind roared past her ears and the world tilted crazily. She instinctively closed her eyes tight and wrapped both her arms around Adam’s neck, clinging on for dear life.

The crowd below gasped collectively, pointing upwards in utter amazement as they watched the ’Third Prince’ and the girl shoot straight up into the air, ascending rapidly until they were just a speck against the afternoon sky. This display of power was even more incredible than anything they had witnessed in the Syndicate’s base.

Adam leveled out his ascent high above the city, then turned, orienting himself towards the distant Roland Kingdom. He began to fly forward at an incredible speed, the wind whipping past them, tearing at their clothes. Alina was still screaming, her eyes squeezed shut, her face buried against Adam’s shoulder.

Her continued screaming, however, was beginning to annoy Adam. He was trying to concentrate, to navigate. He tilted his head down slightly towards her ear, raising his voice to be heard over the wind. "Alina!" he shouted. "Be quiet! Or I will drop you!"

His threat, though likely not serious, had the desired effect. Alina’s screaming instantly cut off. She went completely silent, though she was still trembling.

Slowly, cautiously, she cracked one eye open, then the other. She realized she was still clinging tightly to Adam’s neck, her arms wrapped around him like a vise.

She could feel the wind rushing past, could see the ground far, far below. A wave of embarrassment washed over her. She quickly looked away from Adam, her face turning bright red, and stared out at the passing clouds, though her grip on him didn’t loosen one bit.

Adam paid no attention to her embarrassment or her death grip on his neck. He was focused on their destination. ’System,’ he thought, communicating internally. ’Pinpoint the exact location of the Spider Syndicate’s hidden base in the Roland Kingdom. Give me a direct heading.’

[System]: Acknowledged, Adam. Calculating optimal flight path to previously acquired coordinates within Roland Kingdom territory. Visual overlay and directional guidance initiating now.

A faint, almost invisible overlay appeared in Adam’s field of vision, highlighting the distant terrain and marking a direct course towards the hidden headquarters.

They flew for what felt like a long time, but was likely less than an hour, covering an immense distance at Adam’s superhuman speed. Soon, Adam saw the border between their own kingdom and the Roland Kingdom approaching below.

There was no great wall marking the boundary here, just a change in the landscape, perhaps different farming patterns, and a series of fortified watchtowers and small military outposts strung out along the frontier. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

He saw soldiers in Roland’s distinctive red and gold armor patrolling the ground. There were also mages visible in some of the towers, their robes identifying them as part of Roland’s border defense.

As Adam and Alina shot across the border high above, one of the mages in a watchtower below suddenly looked up, his head snapping towards them as if he had sensed something. Adam was already miles past him, a rapidly diminishing speck in the sky, but the mage clearly felt the passage of a powerful, unidentified flying object.

The mage frowned, staring into the sky. He turned to another mage standing beside him on the tower platform. "Did you feel that?" he asked, his voice filled with concern.

The other mage nodded slowly, also looking up. "Yes," he replied. "Something... powerful. Moving very fast. Heading deeper into Roland territory. I couldn’t get a clear lock on what it was."

"We need to report this immediately," the first mage said urgently. He turned and hurried inside the watchtower, towards a magical communication device. He placed his hand on the glowing crystal of the device. "Border Sector Four reporting!" he said into the device.

"Unidentified flying object detected crossing the southern border at high altitude, high speed. Unknown nature, but energy signature was significant. Last confirmed heading was towards the southwest, in the direction of the Whisperwood Forest. Requesting immediate alert to central command."

The message was relayed through the Roland Kingdom’s military communication network, quickly reaching the desks of important government officials in the capital. And from there, it wasn’t long before the Royal Family themselves were informed of the strange, unidentified intrusion into their airspace.

Unaware of the alert they had triggered, Adam and Alina continued their flight. After a few more minutes, Adam began to descend. They landed softly in a dense, secluded part of a large forest – the Whisperwood Forest, as it happened – not too far from where Bryan, Billy, and Malkor had emerged from their teleportation crystal earlier.

As their feet touched the forest floor, Adam released his hold on Alina. "We have arrived," he stated simply.

Alina, whose entire flight had been spent staring determinedly away from Adam with a bright red face, quickly stumbled a few steps away from him, her legs feeling wobbly. She was still clutching her arms around herself, her heart pounding, her face flushed. The flight had been terrifying, embarrassing, and utterly unbelievable.

Adam looked at her, noticing her flustered state. "You seem... agitated," he observed, a hint of something almost like amusement in his tone. "Did you not enjoy the flight?"

Alina, still feeling nervous and flustered, and perhaps a little annoyed by his nonchalant question after practically kidnapping her into the sky, glared at him. Her cheeks were still bright red, but her earlier fear was momentarily replaced by indignation.

"I don’t fly every day, you know!" she snapped back, louder than she intended. "How am I supposed to know if I enjoyed it or not?!"

A very faint smile actually touched Adam’s lips for a fleeting second. It was a rare sight. But before he could say anything more, or before Alina could react to his momentary smile, the System Window suddenly appeared in front of him.

[System]: Master Adam, a cautionary note. The extended period of direct control over Host Eric’s body is approaching critical tolerance limits. Continued exertion at this level risks permanent physiological damage to the host vessel. System integrity may also be compromised.

The faint smile instantly vanished from Adam’s face, replaced by his usual cold, focused expression. Alina, who had actually seen that fleeting smile and had felt a tiny, surprising flicker of warmth inside her, immediately felt a chill as she saw his expression change so abruptly. Before she could ask what was wrong, Adam turned away from her.

"We don’t have much time," he said curtly, his voice all business again. "Let’s go."

He started walking deeper into the forest. Alina hesitated for only a second, then hurried after him, her own curiosity and worry about her parents overriding her residual fear and embarrassment.

They walked for only a few minutes, Adam seeming to know exactly where he was going, before they arrived at a familiar-looking cluster of three massive, ancient oak trees, identical to the ones Billy had approached earlier.

Alina looked around the dense, silent forest, a puzzled expression on her face. "Are you sure this is it?" she asked, sounding doubtful. "The Spider Syndicate’s main base? It just looks like... woods."

Adam didn’t answer. "I am certain," he stated flatly. "In fact," he added, stopping in front of the middle oak tree, "I have already found the entrance."

Alina looked around again, confused. "Entrance? But... I don’t see anything."

Adam simply reached out and placed his hand flat against the trunk of the middle oak tree. The moment his palm made contact, a bright blue light, like a network of glowing veins, flashed across the surface of all three trees.

The light pulsed once, then the trees themselves seemed to shimmer and dissolve, not into nothingness, but into a swirling mist that then solidified into the image of a large, moss-covered boulder.

And in the center of the boulder, a dark, sloping passageway leading down into the earth was now clearly visible. It was the hidden entrance to the Spider Syndicate’s main headquarters.