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Chapter 318: August 5, 2024In "I Became the First Prince"

The Great Darkness that was cut by the light scattered and disappeared seemingly without a trace, but some of it survived in the shadows of the world.

Back then, the Shadow was more like a tiny creature that moved on instinct.

The first emotion the Shadow felt was hunger.

Fortunately, the world was full of things to fill its empty stomach.

The Shadow ate everything it could get its hands on without even knowing what those things were.

As it was mindlessly filling its hunger, something changed.

Sorrow.

The Shadow, anxious about satisfying its hunger, realized the identity of the food it had been eating for the first time.

And also realized that the last trace of the Darkness in this world was itself.

This was the moment the insignificant Shadow became sentient.

And its power also became incomparably stronger than before.

The Shadow began to fill its stomach again.

Among the things it ate, there were various others beside the usual sorrow.

Anger, hatred.

Greed, envy.

As the Shadow ate all kinds of things, it became increasingly intelligent.

Now the Shadow was no longer a small creature that filled its stomach with whatever it could get its hands on.

The Shadow was given the means to discern the quality of its food and the intelligence to eat and enjoy it.

As it grew, the Shadow became more vicious and greedy.

And, also bolder.

The Shadow no longer hunted in hiding.

It revealed itself and devoured its prey without leaving a trace.

Blood and flesh. Even the soul, it ate everything.

The taste was so good that the Shadow completely forgot one important fact.

That Dawn which had extinguished the Great Darkness still remained in this world.

By the time it realized, Dawn was just around the corner.

In the face of that brilliant light, the power and abilities that the Shadow had accumulated over the years seemed so insignificant.

Its body was torn into a thousand pieces.

In the midst of the unfamiliar pain, the Shadow felt fear for the first time.

So it ran and barely managed to escape.

But the fear did not go away.

The Shadow was constantly afraid, not knowing when Dawn would come again.

Time passed.

The fear of extinction, which seemed unforgettable, eventually faded.

The hunt began once more.

The Shadow, having faced near-extinction, became more cunning and secretive than before.

Instead of violently devouring its prey, it slowly devoured their souls.

And then, at some point, it naturally gained some new abilities.

The ability to steal the lives of others by devouring their souls and to take their empty bodies. The Shadow called it “Plunder.”

The Shadow used its power of Plunder to infiltrate a group.

It slowly devoured the soul of the best one, ultimately taking their life.

While living other people’s lives, the Shadow came to understand its prey better.

And it realized one interesting thing.

The fact that its prey were afraid and jealous of Dawn.

To be precise, what they feared and envied was the great power of Dawn.

It was truly funny.

Dawn cared for them and loved them so much, but they didn’t know this.

A cruel plan emerged in the Shadow’s mind.

The Shadow began to increase its numbers.

Those who opposed it were condemned and driven out, and those who were inadequate had their lives taken away.

So when the remaining prey who had survived the Darkness began to treat it like a king.

It started taking action.

Revenge wasn’t difficult.

It was enough to simply stir up the feelings of fear and jealousy among the prey.

With just that, people feared and hated Dawn as if he were an enemy threatening them.

Eventually, they even formed a group and attacked Dawn without it even ordering them to do so.

Dawn chose to retreat instead of to fight them.

It was funny.

He had all the power in the world, yet he ran away from the weak.

The Shadow laughed at Dawn.

Meanwhile, it moved its prey to push Dawn into a corner.

So that there would be no room to retreat, so that he could not run away.

Thus, at last, Dawn was driven to the ends of the earth.

The insignificant ones threw stones at Dawn.

They who had once resisted the Great Darkness together with Dawn were now stabbing him with a knife.

The whole world poured out hatred onto Dawn.

Red blood spurt from his head where he had been hit by a rock.

His body was covered in blood after he had been stabbed with a knife by his colleague.

The soul of Dawn, once strong, was torn to shreds when met with the world’s hatred.

Even in tatters, the spirit of Dawn shone brightly.

The Shadow felt an unbearable hunger.

There was no reason to hesitate any longer.

Dawn was wounded and weaker than ever.

Right now, it could devour as many shining souls of Dawn as it wished.

The Shadow approached quietly and dug into Dawn’s body.

His resistance was extremely weak.

Dawn was tired and defenseless.

So the Shadow settled into Dawn.

* * *

The man, trying to wipe away the blood that came out with a cough, lowered his hand.

His whole body was already covered in blood.

Wiping off some now would not make a difference.

So instead of doing that, the man asked.

“Why?”

There was no answer.

“Why…?”

The man raised his voice again.

Looking at the ones who surrounded him.

The giant whose eyes met his took a step forward.

‘I knew it! I knew from the beginning that you could do it! Good job, you punk!’

‘I expected it, but I didn’t know you would catch up so quickly? Huh, you transcended with such difficulty, so why are you acting so sullen? Cheer up, kid, I’m really proud of you.’

The giant who had been happier than anyone else when he transcended. The giant now glared with his mouth twisted and eyes filled with hatred and jealousy.

“You should have been a little less greedy. Wouldn’t it have been better if you had shared it with me a long time ago?”

“B-because of that power?”

When the man asked in disbelief, the giant’s face distorted like an evil spirit.

“‘That power’? You don’t seem to care about it much. Then all the more reason you should have shared it.”

Even when faced with those hateful eyes, the man remained desperate.

“I told you that I would tell you everything when the time came. It’s not perfect yet.”

“When the hell? When the hell would that be, now that this damn night is over?”

“If I told you before its complete, it would only end up hurting…”

“Excuses. From the beginning, you never had any intention of sharing it.”

The giant spat and closed his mouth.

The man who had been blankly staring at the giant gritted his teeth and turned his head.

‘This is something you shouldn’t even be able to dream of wielding. So take good care of it.’

‘Tch. You messed it up again. I thought it’d last a while this time. What? You’re sorry? If you know you’re sorry, then be more careful. If you keep fighting like that, even ten lives wouldn’t be enough for you.’

The dwarf who had made the first sword he ever held, who had grumbled whenever his sword and armor were broken in the fierce battles but had always given him newer items. The dwarf looked at him with a complicated expression and then slowly averted his eyes.

The man looked around again.

‘I like you.’

‘When the war is over, do you want to come to my village? If you’re with me, they would all welcome you.’

The elf who had once shyly held his hand and whispered sweet nothings to him was now staring at him with an emotionless face like he was a small pebble.

In addition.

“You, you’re really a monster.”

The archer, who had always talked about how he would start an orchard after the war and let people taste the most delicious fruit in the world, raised his bow.

“Your thoughts and values are too dangerous. You don’t even have that awareness, so I’ve always been afraid of your actions.”

The wizard, who had listened to the stories of his former world more attentively than anyone else and had often said he wanted to go there, quietly gathered light at his fingertips.

“You should have just let me die. Then I wouldn’t have had to live such a miserable life.

The young soldier, who had often bragged about writing his story into a book one day, gripped his spear with his one remaining hand.

Those he had loved and cherished with all his heart, those he had considered to be family, they all glared at him with eyes filled with fear and hatred.

“Ah…”

The man staggered backwards.

“Let me ask you one last time. Do you plan on passing on your power?”

Looking at the man, the giant said.

The man did not answer.

He just stood there with his head down in a daze.

“Well, not that I didn’t expect it.”

The giant clicked his tongue and pointed his huge sword at the man.

Kwaaah.

A tremendous amount of energy flowed from the giant’s body.

But that was only the beginning.

An energy comparable to the giant’s rose around the man.

The giant glanced back, took a step forward, and opened his mouth.

“So you should die now…”

“… That’s right.”

“What?”

The giant frowned at the man’s weak voice.

“You guys!”

The man raised his head.

“You brought me here!”

The man’s face was deeply distorted.

“I didn’t even ask for it! You were the ones who summoned me! The power you fear was all given to me by you!”

The world began to shake at the man’s scream.

At the same time, an overwhelming momentum that seemed to engulf the entire world emerged.

거한의 기세가 갈기갈기 둘러싸고 있던 이들의 그것과는 비교조차 되지 않는 강대한 존재감이었다.

It was a powerful presence incomparable to those of the people surrounding him.

“If it’s going to be like this, then I’d rather!”

The man cried.

“Rather!”

His wailing voice died down.

“… Rather.”

And he repeated once more, sobbing.

“… You didn’t bring me here in the first place.”

The man’s head dropped.

His broken shoulders trembled.

“Fire!”

The giant, overwhelmed by the man’s momentum, shouted as if convulsing.

Shaaaa!

An arrow of light shot by the archer raced towards the man.

The giant’s slash came down on the man’s head.

The elf’s sword swept across the man’s waist.

A burst of light released by the wizard roared.

The spear thrust by the young soldier pierced at the man’s neck.

Suddenly.

When the man raised his head again.

“Gwaaaaahhhh!“

A scream burst from the man’s mouth.

And a brilliant light emerged from his body.

The archer’s arrow was caught in the light and disappeared without a trace. The giant’s strike bounced off with a crash. The fairy’s sword was shattered with a bang. The light cast by the wizard disappeared without a trace. The young soldier’s spear melted from the tip.

The man raised his sword.

A brilliant energy gathered at its tip.

Wuuuuu.

The sky cried.

Kwaaaah.

The ground was turned upside down.

Above this turbulent world.

Kwaaaah.

A brilliant golden light poured down.

Light swept across the world.

Wheeuu.

And the world came crashing down with a bang.

* * *

“Ah…. Ah…”

The giant fell flat on his butt.

The man looked down at the giant and spoke coldly.

“There will be no second time.”

The man looked around.

Those who met his dry gaze flinched and backed away.

The man turned around.

And then started walking somewhere.

Treading through the ruins that had been reduced to rubble when he had fought the tens of thousands of soldiers surrounding him.

Thud.

The man suddenly stopped walking.

A sword was protruding from his chest.

The man looked back.

The elf, faced with his empty eyes, took a step back hesitantly.

The man turned back.

And then he walked and walked and disappeared beyond the horizon.

* * *

The Shadow watched everything.

Eating away all the anger, sorrow, and despair that Dawn felt.

It was a delicacy that the Shadow would never be able to have again.

Nevertheless, the Shadow was not satisfied.

Dawn had the power to destroy the whole world.

He also had the ability to make those who betrayed him pay a heavy price.

But Dawn swallowed all of his anger.

Instead of burning the world, he chose to leave on his own.

Since the Shadow had already become one with his body, it knew what Dawn was thinking.

Dawn still loved them even after things had gotten to this point.

He pitied the giant who had coveted his power, and forgave the elf who had stabbed him in the back. He also understood the wizard who had brought him into this world without his permission. He even felt sorry for the archer and the soldier.

They were emotions that the Shadow couldn’t understand, and thoughts it didn’t want to understand.

It didn’t like it.

The Shadow felt uneasy for some reason.

It was strangely angry at Dawn’s foolishness at being taken advantage of without knowing how to retaliate.

The Shadow could not tell whether that brief moment had taken such a hold on its soul that it had become attuned to Dawn’s emotions, or whether it simply did not like the stupidly good-natured behavior of Dawn.

Either way, that wasn’t important.

They were going to pay the price. The Shadow would make it that way.

The Shadow whispered to the Dawn.

You stood against the Great Darkness for the sake of the world, and this is all you got in return.

Look at what you’ve become now, after giving your life to fight for the powerless.

If the world won’t repay you, then you need to take what you deserve.

It whispered incessantly, awakening the anger that had lay dormant in a corner of Dawn’s heart.

It took quite a while.

Even though Dawn’s soul was completely battered, it remained strong and did not easily succumb to its temptations.

The Shadow did not give up and continued to shake Dawn.

Even the once strong soul began to slowly crack.

Dawn became aware of the presence of the Darkness sprouting within him.

He also realized that the Darkness was growing and that one day it would consume him.

And, the day he became consumed by anger and hatred, he would destroy the world.

Dawn isolated himself at the edge of the snowy north.

There, he fought against the Darkness which had taken root within him.

But it was a fight where the ending had already been decided.

The betrayal of those he loved had already left him in deep despair.

He was too tired to fight against the Shadow which had grown so much over the years.

The flesh that had been stabbed by the elf’s poisoned sword was also rotting from the inside.

It was only a matter of time before the Shadow’s wish would come true.

That should be the case. That should have been the case.

But it wasn’t.

“You are the last Darkness left in this world.”

Dawn knew exactly what the Darkness which had been growing within him was.

It couldn’t figure out when he had first noticed it.

But it knew one thing for sure. That Dawn was willing to embrace the Darkness within himself and bring everything to an end.

[W-wait a minute!]

The Shadow, belatedly realizing this, cried out.

But Dawn didn’t hesitate.

Bam.

Taking the sword which the elf had stabbed him in the back with, he thrust it into his own heart.

* * *

Badum.

His heart suddenly pounded.

The pain was so vivid that the Emperor, who had been lost in thought, frowned for a moment.

It took a long time before the throbbing pain went away.

The emperor stared blankly at his chest, then raised his head again and looked somewhere far away.

He muttered softly with his mouth.

「Morning shines through the Darkness torn by Dawn’s light.」

A myth remembered by no one except him.

「The fleeting Dusk bows out before the brilliant sun. 」

The song left in this world by a man who had bloomed and fallen with the dawn.

「Day or night, it has no place to stay.」

The last words of a knight who had been used and betrayed, who had ended up carrying everything by himself, and had died alone in an unknown place.

「Dawn wanders alone on the horizon.」

The first martial poem.

note: if you haven’t noticed already, all official character settings have been fully translated. the remaining ones were Agnes, Queen Margarita, and Carls

until the next time