The Greatest Warrior of All Time Returns-Chapter 397

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Chapter 397

Marian Desibilt the succubus, Ashuria, and I decided to spend about a day each investigating Prince Paris in our own ways.

Of course, during that process, Marian’s curiosity about the human world kicked in.

She wandered around the city marketplace here and there, got caught by me, and nearly had a heart attack—but all things considered, the tailing itself went smoothly.

“If we’re just talking about the conclusion, there’s really nothing there. He’s just… a genuinely decent guy.”

Unlike Prince Dorn Lu Pascalia, there’s nothing hidden beneath the surface.

In my judgment, he’s simply an honest, somewhat naïve human.

By my standards, he’s also rather frail, which doesn’t exactly sit well with me.

“I checked through dreams as well, but I didn’t gain anything noteworthy either. It was the same when I gathered information through personal contacts.”

Marian and I turned our gazes toward Ashuria.

She yawned and replied in an indifferent tone.

“Nothing special at the academy either. Other than the fact that women flock to him.”

“…Women flock to him?”

“Yeah. Professor. How should I put it? He doesn’t intend it, but through a series of coincidental accidents, he keeps getting involved with women, and those situations often spiral into major incidents.”

Ironically, Ashuria had brought back the most substantial information.

“Here. What I promised you.”

Ashuria’s eyes sparkled at once.

I’d planned to give it to her someday anyway, and I’d also created it to help refine her magic more efficiently.

It was a book I had prepared.

Since I intended to raise her into a mage capable of protecting Cascadia while she remained here, I had been investing quite heavily in her.

Ashuria herself showed no interest in going elsewhere; she had already signed the contract Melissa handed her without hesitation.

After returning to Cascadia without any major gains, I quietly retrieved the necklace I had sealed away in subspace at R'lyeh’s mansion.

—So you’re finally willing to talk?

“Cut the bullshit and let’s get to the deal. What do you want?”

—What I desire… is for my seal to be—

“That’s not cost-effective.”

—Then there is no deal.

“Then there’s no deal.”

From the start, he was in a position where he lacked nothing.

And I had to firmly maintain the stance that I, too, lacked nothing.

In the closed world, the version of me who would slaughter all of humanity just to kill an Outer God would certainly have clashed violently with him.

Releasing his seal was absolutely off the table as a bargaining chip.

After sealing the necklace back into subspace, I stretched briefly, my expression complicated.

Uuung… uung….

At that moment, the communication artifact I’d given Luna began to vibrate.

—Leon?

“Yeah. I got it.”

—The investigation might take longer than expected. It’ll take a few days, so don’t wait.

“Longer?”

—Even Diablo doesn’t know the details, so I’m planning to explore places that might hold related information.

I narrowed my eyes at Luna’s decision.

“If that’s the case, I’ll do it.”

—No. I’ve been lacking exercise lately.

She pinched nonexistent belly fat with a strange expression.

Was that really the reason?

She was an Archangel—her body wouldn’t even change in the first place.

“Fine. Just don’t do anything dangerous.”

—I’ll be back soon. I love you.

“Love you too.”

I chuckled and cut the connection, only to hear another voice.

—How fascinating. That beings called Archangels possess egos.

“……”

This bastard again.

Is the seal meaningless now?

Ignoring my wounded pride, Lucifer spoke to me as if bypassing the seal entirely.

I had clearly shoved him into subspace.

“If you keep this up, I’ll have no choice but to dispose of this necklace.”

—Don’t do that. After being sealed for so long, I’m curious about how the world has changed. And in the end, you’ll have no choice but to come looking for me. At your current level, Yog is far beyond you.

After some hesitation, I asked bluntly.

“But you have an ego too, don’t you?”

—Of course. Since we’ve formed this connection, I’ll tell you something interesting. When the Lord God first created me, He allowed me to possess an ego.

At that moment, I understood why the current Archangels lacked egos.

“So it was because of you. That’s why Archangels were later created without egos.”

If he was the sole Archangel of the previous generation, one step above the current ones, it made sense.

—Created without egos, huh. Khahaha! And what difference does that make? Truly, the Lord God’s consistency—unchanged then and now—is worthy of worship.

His mocking laughter carried a subtle shift in atmosphere.

—Very well. Since You told me something worthwhile, I’ll return the favor. Are you curious about that one?

“You’re willing to tell me?”

—Consider it a service. For some reason, you seem oddly compatible with me….

That was absolutely not the case.

Still, there was no reason to refuse free information.

But at this point, one thing genuinely bothered me.

“What do you actually want?”

—To break my seal and leave.

“And then what?”

—Must I explain even that?

Figures.

He wasn’t going to make it easy.

Considering Lispa’s case, he was surely planning to oppose the Lord God as well.

The difference was that if this one were released, the consequences would be unimaginably horrific.

“So. What is it about him?”

—Are you aware that certain actions can become engraved upon the soul?

“Engraved actions? What kind of banshee nonsense is that?”

—If I told you everything, riddles would lose their charm. Here’s a hint: because of an action engraved upon his soul, he cannot live as an ordinary person.

“Stop dancing around it and get to the point.”

—From what I see, one of your blood relatives seems to have formed a connection with him.

“That’s right. Some people said something felt off, but I can’t bring myself to tear things apart based on mere suspicion.”

—Khaha, not a bad judgment. A mark of sin doesn’t fade so easily.

When Lucifer first saw Prince Paris’s image, he had clearly reacted with discomfort.

How he perceived the world through a necklace was a mystery in itself.

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t let it continue….”

—Not only your blood relative, but you and your entire family face ruin because of him.

Frankly, his credibility was questionable.

—Hard to believe, I’m sure. But the fate engraved upon his soul is to destroy every woman who stands beside him.

I stared at the necklace, speechless.

“That’s your conclusion?”

—Didn’t you ask me for the conclusion?

“You skipped too much in between. It’s harder to understand this way. I didn’t sense any curse on him.”

—If you’re truly curious… hmm… I don’t know if anything still remains, but I recommend investigating the ancient kingdom of Proi.

How something like that could apply to a human, what actions could cause it, and by what path such ruin was foretold—

With everything between cut out and only the conclusion presented, my head throbbed.

He offered no further explanation, laughing softly before falling silent.

* * *

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After my conversation with Lucifer, I searched through every history section in Cascadia’s library.

But there was no mention of a nation called Proi.

The best approach would be to ask long-lived beings—Luna, Lispa, or Diablo.

But none of them had lived normal lives.

Two had been sealed, and while Diablo had lived long, he hadn’t been on the continent of Lazarus for that long.

“What are you looking for so intensely?”

“History books. Have you heard of a kingdom called Proi?”

“Proi? No. First time hearing it.”

I watched her indifferent back as she slid a book back into the shelf.

“Melissa.”

“What.”

“You don’t regret it, right?”

“I don’t. He’s a good person. He does cause strange misunderstandings sometimes, though.”

I closed my eyes, thought for a moment, then nodded.

“I need to meet Lady Aurora.”

“For business?”

“No. I’ll place a request with Lavren. Something came up.”

The wealthiest family on the Lazarus continent.

If anyone had connections to ancient artifacts, it would be them.

Fortunately, Aurora Lavren—the talented daughter of Lavren, one of the continent’s Thirteen Great Houses and its wealthiest—was currently trading with Cascadia.

“Proi… the kingdom?”

“Yes. Since even Melissa doesn’t know it, I assumed it’s not a commonly recorded historical state.”

“Proi… Proi…. Ah. I remember now.”

With her black bobbed hair and sly smile, she clapped her hands lightly.

“You’ll honor our deal properly, right, Young Master?”

“What do you want?”

“The potion you recently developed. Increase the supply and establish an official distribution route—”

“That’s not possible. I don’t know what you heard from the stars, but that’s not something to release lightly.”

Hair-loss medicine was fine, but the elixir was reserved exclusively for the stars by family decision.

It took too long to produce and could easily trigger war.

“Hmmm… You’re unusually firm today. That’s new. Well, it’s a shame, but it can’t be helped. Then increase the hair-loss medicine supply.”

“That’s easy. Now please continue.”

“I’ve heard the name Proi while at the family estate. Lavren sponsors archaeologists who study extremely ancient ruins. There’s a book transcribing the inscriptions from mural walls there. Most of it is untranslatable, but a few characters were successfully deciphered.”

The Kingdom of Proi.

An ancient fortress state from a distant era, now so erased that even its traces were hard to find.

“So it isn’t completely untranslatable?”

“Of course not. Do you think I’d bargain without any information?”

Even just revealing Proi’s existence would have justified the price already paid, yet Aurora spared no effort.

“If you want, I can obtain the translated portions. I can’t guarantee their accuracy, though.”

The murals apparently belonged not to Proi itself, but to a neighboring state.

History, written by victors, was unlikely to be impartial.

“How long will it take?”

“Not long. A few days at most, if I ask the family for just the relevant sections.”

“Then please do.”

Aurora rose, smiling with satisfaction.

“Well, if we’re done here, I’ll go see Melissa. We need to negotiate the increased supply of hair-loss medicine.”

“Of course.”

She waved lightly and departed.

Two days later, Aurora kept her promise.

She sent me a small book—apparently a full transcription of the translated ancient texts.

Normally, external distribution of such material would be strictly forbidden.

Yet for someone who largely operated outside the family while leading the Planetaria Trading Company, her influence within Lavren felt immense.

Even Melissa didn’t know much about her.

She hadn’t even known Aurora was Aurora Lavren.

“The Kingdom of Proi….”

I opened the book.

The sole surviving record bore the title:

The Foolish Prince’s Love and Escape

It referenced the youngest prince of ancient Proi—Pyris Proi.

The introduction alone was striking:

This record is left for posterity, detailing without a single falsehood the downfall of a nation caused by one foolish prince.

The story was simple.

Pyris Proi, famed as the most handsome man in the world, visited a powerful neighboring kingdom as part of a diplomatic mission to secure a military alliance.

There, he fell in love at first sight with the king’s queen—and eloped with her.

Unbelievably, after fleeing, he returned openly to Proi with her.

Predictably, the enraged great kingdom annulled the alliance, declared war, destroyed Proi, and abducted all its women, condemning them to horrific lives.

By modern standards, the aftermath was unthinkable—but this was ancient history.

Worse still, the text described how Pyris repeatedly reached for women he desired, convinced of his own righteousness, dragging their lives into ruin without ever taking responsibility.

“Isn’t this guy just insane?”

He was the very definition of a self-righteous, hypocritical libertine.

Lucifer’s words echoed in my mind.

‘Fated to destroy every woman beside him.’

“Lucifer.”

—Now you want my opinion?

“No. This isn’t a curse. How could something like this even apply to a human?”

—Khaha. Isn’t it amusing? Foolish men like that are common enough. Why do you think only he ended up like this?

“Why?”

—Why should I tell you that?

Son of a bitch.

Ignoring his silence, I thought.

Ultimately, Pyris Proi and Prince Paris were the same soul across reincarnations.

After wandering the Underworld for ages, that soul reincarnated—still bearing the engraving that drew women to him, inevitably leading them, their families, and everything around them to ruin.

The difference now was that to marry Melissa, he’d have to become a live-in son-in-law of Cascadia.

And even if such power existed, I wouldn’t be careless enough to let Melissa be destroyed.

Yet judging from past patterns, even after joining the family, he’d continue to be unintentionally entangled with countless women.

Melissa, unable to blame him due to lack of intent, would suffer in silence.

And I refuse to watch that happen.

Either remove the engraving from his soul—

Or remove him.

I drew a clear line with every woman who confessed feelings for me, precisely because Luna stood beside me.

Lispa Eldé kept insisting about what might happen in a hundred or two hundred years, but I’d never betray Luna.

—Aren’t you curious? Why don’t you ask more?

“You said you wouldn’t tell me.”

—Giving up that easily isn’t attractive.

“You’re seriously insane.”

The necklace hummed softly.

—Let me tell you one more thing. Many humans possess engravings upon their souls.

—Those who spent their lives protecting others instinctively live similar lives again. There are many variations.

—Some, without realizing it, are led down paths of evil. Most humans lack such engravings—but many live unaware of the ones they carry.

A tag that subtly guides the course of one’s life.

—In that man’s case, his fate is simply to become entangled in women and bring ruin upon his partner—without ever intending to.

A word surfaced naturally in my mind.

It was something humans often said.

‘This is no different from what humans call fate.’

Yes.

Fate.

And Prince Paris’s case was unusually extreme.

I knew the present prince wasn’t the same person as that ancient madman.

But a soul’s fate-line tends to repeat itself.

—Why do you think this doesn’t concern you?

“What?”

—I don’t know how you did it, but you look like someone who struggled desperately and failed over and over. You didn’t really believe you were free from fate, did you?

A chill ran through my body.

—Soul engravings are fascinating. Without intent or malice, they shape circumstances to reach the same outcome. You’re no exception.

“There is a way to cut it, isn’t there?”

—Not by yourself.

No.

If something exists, a solution must exist.

If there’s a cause, there is always a result.

Even if not a single answer—there will be an answer.

Thanks to Prince Paris, I had stumbled upon an unexpected truth.

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