Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha! - P.M.U Chapter 277: Mission Type, Conquest (3) (Part 2)

Within the palace, the Crown Prince sat on the throne, his chin resting lazily on his hand.

Our eyes met.

“Isn’t it laughable?”

His voice, though soft, resonated clearly as if he were whispering in my ear.

“All this… just to live a few decades longer. Even if you stop this particular disaster, the end result is the same—you’ll all eventually end up in your graves. Humanity, too, will one day disappear. It’s inevitable.”

“… …”

I said nothing, watching him carefully.

“I didn’t understand that before,” he continued. “I wasted my time on meaningless endeavors. I cried in despair, spilled blood to rise again, only to repeat it over and over. I don’t even know how many times anymore.”

The Crown Prince smiled gently.

“My beloved sister, Pria.”

“…Brother.”

“Let me give you a peaceful life.”

His tone was calm, almost tender.

“No longer will you need to fight,” he added.

“You were just a little girl who used to run to me for comfort, weren’t you?”

I turned slowly toward Pria.

Her hands trembled.

“Brother… weren’t you fighting for the Empire and its people?” she asked quietly, her voice barely holding steady.

“At one time, I thought so too.”

“What do you mean?”

“I believed I was fighting for the greater good—for Townia, for His Majesty the Emperor, and for the poor people of the land. But that was an illusion.”

“… …”

“The truth is, the Empire was irrelevant to me. So were the people. How could I possibly love millions of faceless souls I couldn’t even see with my own eyes?”

Pria clenched her fists tightly.

“The Saintess, the Beast King, and even the leaders of the four great families—we all used each other. They sought their wealth and power, while I pursued a single purpose. It was the same even when I became a vessel. Had I not possessed unique abilities, they wouldn’t have followed me.”

The Crown Prince closed his eyes, ending his words with a faint smile.

“Priaea,” I called out.

The giant’s body was nearly completely out of the portal now.

“…Understood.”

Pria’s resolve hardened as she nodded.

I flared my wings and soared upward, extending my left hand.

A crimson bolt of lightning shot out, ensnaring the flying monsters that had been closing in on us. With a clench of my hand, their bodies crumpled into compact masses of flesh and bone before plummeting to the ground.

Finally, the giant’s feet emerged from the portal.

It was massive—over 50 meters tall, like a living skyscraper. The black giant’s titanic body slowly began to descend.

I gripped Bifrost tightly and shot forward like an arrow.

Dozens of tendrils erupted from the giant’s skin, writhing toward me.

I slashed with my sword, cutting through them relentlessly. The blade of Bifrost carved a path straight through the oncoming tentacles.

“Now!” I shouted.

Pria raised her sword of light high and swung downward.

The golden blade extended outward, slicing cleanly through the giant’s forehead without meeting any resistance. It was as though its skin had been made of soft tofu.

BOOM!

There was no sound. Just light.

In a single strike, it surged upward, cleaving through the giant from head to toe.

[‘Chaos Core’ has returned to its boundary!]

With that one blow, the boss monster—nearly at level 300—vanished.

Particles of light scattered into the air.

The massive body of the giant disintegrated into a cloud of shimmering light particles, scattering across the battlefield.

I descended slowly, still holding Pria.

It was finally over.

The falling debris from the shattered portal evaporated into dust, vanishing entirely. Meanwhile, the monsters battling the heroes on the ground froze mid-action. Their bodies collapsed into dark sludge, flowing away through the city’s drainage systems.

“Is it… over?”

Pria’s voice was trembling, her disbelief mirroring my own.

“We’ve stopped the first wave,” I replied, my tone calm but cautious.

The portal remained open, but for now, the city had a reprieve. At least the immediate threat was gone.

I flapped my wings and gently descended, landing in the palace courtyard.

Thud.

My boots sank slightly into the soil of a flowerbed as I touched down. Pria followed shortly after, stumbling slightly as she set foot on the ground.

“Han!”

Jenna came running toward us, her face pale and her leather armor smeared with blood and soot. She had clearly been through her own grueling battles.

Behind her, Velkist approached with measured steps, his expression calm but tinged with exhaustion.

Reaching into my inventory, I pulled out a recovery potion and drained it in one go.

Glug-glug.

I took a moment to survey my surroundings.

The city beyond the palace walls was engulfed in flames. Streets and buildings burned in an infernal blaze, casting an eerie orange glow over the area. Heroes stumbled back toward the palace, some dragging injured comrades while others carried the bodies of the fallen.

“Tch. Still as weak as ever.”

A familiar voice rang out.

A young man clad in jet-black armor stepped forward—Halkion Syraos, now in his humanoid form.

“Watch your mouth, you arrogant wretch,” growled a fiery red-haired girl—Schutenberg, also in her human form.

It seemed their clash had ended in a temporary truce.

Halkion turned toward the palace and raised his spear, pointing it directly at the prince.

“You’ll be dead before the next descent begins. Count on it.”

The prince remained seated on the throne, resting his chin lazily on his hand, as if entirely unconcerned.

“Han, I can no longer intervene directly. While I can keep the other two ancient beings from interfering, you must deal with him yourself.”

“I already know,” I replied, gripping Bifrost firmly.

This floor—the 80th floor—wouldn’t end until the prince was defeated. That much was clear.

“Prepare for battle.”

Clink.

Weapons were drawn, their sharp edges glinting ominously in the firelight. All the heroes around me raised their arms, pointing them at the prince.

The faintest hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

“So, you’ve managed to stop the first wave.”

“Stop it? Hah!”

Schutenberg clicked her tongue in frustration, her fiery red hair swaying as she strode toward the prince with anger written across her face.

“Why didn’t you do anything? If you had stepped in, things would’ve been different! Were you just trying to look important while we fought?!”

“Disappointing,” another voice chimed in.

A crimson-haired boy—Lantia—stepped forward, his expression cold.

“Are you reneging on our pact, Phrios? We lent you our strength to break the cycle. Wasting the first opportunity like this goes against everything we agreed upon.”

“A pact…” the prince murmured, his tone indifferent.

“You swore to grant us libration,” Lantia pressed, his voice rising slightly.
“But the actions you just took are a betrayal of that promise.”

“There’s still another chance! If you want to avoid death, you’d better do it right this time! We’ll lend you our power again—just finish it once and for all!”

Schlk.

A wet, slicing sound echoed through the courtyard.

“…Huh?”

Lantia froze mid-sentence, his eyes wide with shock.

The prince’s bandaged hand was buried deep in Lantia’s chest, having pierced straight through his ribcage.

Splurt.

As the prince withdrew his hand, something wet and glistening dangled from his fingers—a heart, still beating faintly.

“You…”

Lantia let out a strangled gasp.

Crunch!

With an almost casual motion, the prince crushed the heart in his hand.

Lantia crumpled to the ground like a broken doll, his life extinguished in an instant.

Schutenberg stumbled back, her expression one of pure disbelief.

“What… have you done?” she choked out.

The prince didn’t answer.

He raised his hand again.

Boom!

A sharp explosion echoed as Schutenberg’s body crumpled to the ground, her head severed cleanly from her shoulders.

Her bloodied corpse lay lifeless, sprawled across the dirt.

With calm precision, the prince shook off the blood on his hand, as if it were nothing more than an inconvenience.

“This,” he said, his voice unwavering, “is liberation.”

Hyung_Otaku

I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!

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