The Crown Prince In Hiding

A ”dense ironstone armor” encased its entire head and chest, resembling the helmet of a primeval knight forged from the earth of an ancient world.

”Before the universe even knew the word dragon, and before giant land animals rose to rule the world...”

Thomasin ran her fingers across the stony plates along its jaw.

”The oceans nearly four hundred million years ago, during the period we call the Devonian. This was the apex predator at the very top of the food chain.”

Dunkleosteus

”And it had no teeth.”

Dan narrowed his eyes and followed the direction of her finger, discovering the astonishing truth behind her words.

This creature did not have individual teeth set apart from one another. Instead, its upper and lower jaws were extensions of the bony plates of its head, meeting perfectly to form edges that were razor-sharp and densely packed, like the blades of hydraulic shears.

The bones of its jaws had been honed by a lifetime of enduring repeated biting forces, eventually becoming natural blades capable of crushing the stone armor and shells of creatures from its era in a single bite. Its crushing power was several times greater than that of modern crocodiles, and it could open its massive jaws in just one-fiftieth of a second, generating an enormous suction force that pulled everything in the ocean straight into its bony blades.

”But all we know about it is its head... Everything else remains a mystery.”

For more than a hundred years, as its fossils had been unearthed all over the world, researchers had found only its petrified head and chest armor. The rest of its body, from its torso to its tail, had vanished into the passage of time. The lower portion of its body had not been made of solid bone, but rather cartilage, much like a shark’s, which gradually dissolved into the marine sediments over millions of years.

”Its head looks like Roma’s, doesn’t it?”

Dan walked over and tapped the solid stone plates. He studied them for a moment before turning to Thomasin.

”This structure is exactly the same as Roma’s... He has thick armor covering his head and skull, although he has teeth.”

”Convergent evolution,” Thomasin replied.

”When faced with the same challenges, different organisms can arrive at similar solutions. Or it could simply be a coincidence.”

”What does Professor Pi’erre have to say about it?”

”He’s coordinating with the Luminus authorities,” Thomasin explained.

The young man nodded in acknowledgment and walked around the back of the gigantic stone formation, inspecting the excavation site with Nora and Rafinya following behind him.

” Mr. Fury, it’s enormous. Moving it won’t be easy.”

”Don’t get ahead of yourself. We should be asking whether we’ll even receive permission to move it in the first place.”

Rafinya retorted to Princess Nora.

Just then—

The sound of a cavalry force approaching came from the distance.

Rafinya turned to look... and froze.

”...This is bad...”

”? ”

” Mr. Fury... that’s my father.”

With construction at a standstill, there was no way the incident could have escaped the attention of the ruler of the North, General Shearer Saint Pauli.

And Rafinya’s elder brother had come along as well.

The general had personally arrived at the troubled site, accompanied by Luminus officials dressed in black and white and more than a dozen subordinate soldiers.

This forced Thomasin and Dan to step away from the specimen, as outsiders with no legal authority or rights over Luminus’s territory.

Military Camp

Dan Burn and Thomasin Mayfield sat inside the tent of a high-ranking general. Before them stood a cup of dark brown tea, along with General Shearer himself.

Rafinya stood with her brothers on the general’s side, maintaining a composed demeanor.

He showed no particular hostility toward them, but neither did he appear especially welcoming. He glanced toward the ancient specimen outside before turning his attention to Dan.

”I remember what you said quite clearly.”

He began.

”It seems that thing has drawn you here... along with your organization.”

Sharp and perceptive, just as one would expect of a high-ranking general.

”But... this is Luminus territory.”

”We’re well aware of that, sir.”

International law clearly stipulated that fossils discovered beneath a country’s soil were considered the property and cultural heritage of that country.

”But General Shearer, what has happened here is incredibly important to the advancement of our current knowledge.”

”Unfortunately, Dan, I have no authority to make that decision.”

He explained.

”The central authorities’ regulations are explicit. Regardless of what happens to the creature preserved in that rock, Luminus will handle it ourselves. We won’t allow outside organizations to interfere.”

”The paleontological organization is an independent organization that isn’t affiliated with any country, sir.”

”That isn’t how the Church sees it.”

Shearer Saint Pauli’s eyes remained fixed on Dan, unblinking.

”We’ll handle this in our own way. I’m sorry, but your trip here has been in vain.”

Thomasin looked at Dan anxiously.

The young man fell silent.

”Then could we at least document it from every angle?”

”As for that...”

General Shearer turned to look outside for a moment.

He carefully reviewed the regulations issued by the central authorities and found that there was no rule prohibiting the documentation of the specimen, whether by drawing it on paper or by placing paper against its surface to produce a carbon print.

”I suppose that should be allowed.”

Partly because Dan was a young man for whom Shearer had secretly developed a degree of admiration, and partly because he was his daughter’s friend.

”In that case, I grant you permission.”

”Will they destroy it, Mr. Fury?”

”There’s no way to know.”

Dan answered Princess Nora while using the camera hanging around his neck to photograph Specimen No. 3 from every angle.

”We’ll have to hope Professor Pi’erre can pull some strings.”

”Will that work? Luminus has made its rejection of evolutionary theory very clear.”

”It’s all we can do.”

Dan replied as the camera’s shutter clicked rhythmically.

”Their enemy is one they cannot defeat... I know very well that they’re denying it right now.”

Suddenly...

Dan froze.

He stood staring at the photograph that had just emerged from his film camera.

His eyes darted between the image and the specimen before him.

” Mr. Fury?”

”Wait a moment...”

Rafinya, who had been watching him, seemed to read his mind. She nudged Thomasin and pointed toward Dan.

Thomasin hurried over to him.

”Your Highness?”

”Senior Thomasin... do you see this?”

Dan handed her the photograph.

”I was taking pictures to preserve every detail so we could analyze it back at the laboratory, but... I found something inside its mouth.”

What Dan was referring to was a cluster of black dots on the jaw of Specimen No. 3.

At a glance, the cluster of dark spots looked like nothing more than fossil erosion marks.

Each black dot was roughly the size of an orange seed.

But when they examined it closely...

They were not spots at all.

They were specimens of another organism attached to the jaw of the Dunkleosteus.

Tiny black organisms with sharp, spiny protrusions, now turned to limestone.

Clusters of something bearing the distinctive characteristics of Diablo Organisms.

And that day marked yet another upheaval in the field of paleontology...

It was confirmed with 100% certainty that Diablo Organisms had existed since the Cambrian explosion.

The fossil they had discovered captured evidence of Diablo Organisms behaving like parasites, embedding themselves in the jawbone of a Dunkleosteus.

And when paleontologists examined the specimen under high-powered magnification, they discovered a fish fin, so thin that it was almost as fine as a strand of hair, protruding from the body of the Diablo Organism.

It measured just one-hundredth the width of a human hair.

This meant that the fossil had captured a moment in time when a Diablo Organism was actively evolving.