Reborn as the Foolish Prince

Darius carefully placed both Lucien and the driver in a safe spot, ensuring they wouldn't be caught in the battle. The Gravhorns had now launched their attack, putting Lucien's army in a tight spot. Darius analyzed their current circumstances, trying to determine the best course of action as their captain.

If he fought the Brutefang, it could leave Lucien defenseless, and Lucien's safety was his top priority. But if he simply let everything be, many of his soldiers were bound to lose their lives on the spot. Just as he was deep in thought, Lucien suddenly reached out to him, his expression profound and serious.

"Captain Darius, go if you must."

Darius wore a perplexed expression; he remembered how scared Lucien had been earlier. Yet, even in this dire situation, Lucien was prioritizing others over himself.

"Your Highness, you know I can't do that."

Lucien turned his eyes toward the battlefield. There, he saw his soldiers struggling to fight back, clearly outnumbered. Despite being outnumbered, they managed to hold their ground, but humans were naturally weaker in terms of stamina than monsters. They were bound to lose momentum later on.

They only had 30 extremely skilled soldiers with them. The Brutefang remained idle, scanning its surroundings, seemingly searching for the strongest opponent.

"I know my father's orders are absolute, but we can't afford to let anyone die. These people are not mere numbers or puppets. They are people with families and friends waiting for them at home. Besides, we need their support if we want to win against the Gravhorns. Only you can break the balance on this battlefield. As the Crown Prince of Eldoria, I order you to protect our people and eliminate the enemies."

Lucien spoke in a serious tone, deeply startling Darius. In the end, he could only agree to Lucien's command.

"Your Highness, please stay safe no matter what," Darius said with a deep expression. He deeply wanted to help his soldiers, his people, as the Captain of the Royal Guard Army, but orders were absolute. And since he was being ordered to eliminate his enemies, he had another objective to achieve.

Before Darius could leave, however, Lucien took out his Magical Storage, retrieving a book with a unique pattern on its cover.

"If you are really that worried about me, then see for yourself if I am capable of protecting myself or not."

Lucien then took out a shard of mirror and placed it in front of the book, whispering something to it as if speaking directly to it. He spoke in a low tone, just loud enough for the book to hear.

Lucien had experimented with Sage on the capabilities of the Mirror of Change. Sage had tried different forms, which wasn't too difficult for him, as he technically possessed more mana than an average person and an insanely high IQ. The Mirror of Change not only altered one's physical appearance but also allowed the user to copy the abilities of the transformed entity.

The only problem was that it required intense focus and a significant amount of mana; however, that wasn't an issue for Sage.

As Lucien whispered to the book, mist suddenly began to emanate from the mirror, engulfing the mysterious book. The mist grew so large that Darius and the driver were utterly speechless at whatever Lucien was doing. Even some of the Gravhorns were distracted, including some of Lucien's soldiers.

"Your Highness! What is that?!" Darius asked, surprised. Meanwhile, the driver was seemingly speechless and simply trembling, as he had been since earlier.

Soon after, the mist grew even larger and began to slowly dissipate. What came next almost made Darius's jaw drop, and the driver was close to collapsing.

"Your Highness, since when did you learn to summon?!"

What stood before them was a colossal, nightmarish polar bear creature. Its thick white fur bristled around jagged, bone-like spikes protruding from its back, and its mindless eyes glowed with raw, untamed ferocity. It was a Frostspine Behemoth.

The sudden appearance of the mist and the Frostspine Behemoth caught the attention of the Brutefang, making it growl like a maniac. It then leaped towards them, its weapon aimed at the Frostspine Behemoth. However, before it could get any closer, Darius suddenly appeared before it, a red hue emanating from his arm as he punched the Brutefang in the abdomen. The Brutefang then flew off, crashing through trees.

Lucien was shocked by how easily Darius seemed to punch someone so large. The Frostspine Behemoth, meanwhile, appeared shy and scared, as if it had been exposed naked on a stage. Sage wasn't expecting to use this technique so early, and he hadn't had much time to practice. He had experimented with the form for a while, but he was still far from mastering it.

Sage glared at Lucien with a menacing look, but Lucien simply shrugged him off with a smile. Meanwhile, Darius turned his head towards Lucien.

"Your Highness, I'll take care of everything. It won't be long." Darius said, walking towards where the terrifying monster had flown. Lucien's opinion of him had risen significantly.

Lucien turned his head to Sage. "What the hell are you doing?! At least act tough to scare them off! They'll start coming after us like this."

Sage's expression became ugly. Before he could retort, several Gravhorns were already advancing towards them. While there were only three of them, their size was still not to be underestimated.

Sage was utterly terrified, but in the end, he had no choice but to try and put up a fight. As he waited for them to get close enough, he let out a terrifying growl that seemed to make everyone cower before him. It was the best he could do with this form, for now, at least.

As he let out his terrifying growl, the Gravhorns advancing towards them seemed momentarily stunned. The driver, who had been unconscious since earlier, remained unaware of the current happenings. He would probably pass out again if he saw a Frostspine Behemoth in front of him.

The Gravhorns were stunned for a while, but not for long. In fact, it seemed Sage's growl had only attracted more Gravhorns to their location. Sage, by now, was unsure of what to do; he had never fought before, after all. Meanwhile, Lucien was just a few distances away from Sage, hiding behind the large creature in front of him.

"Sage, do something! Try using your sharp claws or something! You never know unless you try!"

Sage turned his head towards him. "Easy for you to say! Even just maintaining the form is already complicated enough!"

Lucien furrowed his brows. "Aren't you supposed to be an Einstein-level genius?"

Sage had a confused look on his face. "What the hell is even that?!"

Before they could continue their conversation, however, a group of Gravhorns had already begun to launch an attack towards the towering bear-like creature.