The Prince Wants to Retire

---

Chapter 48: The Unification of the West Continent! Next is the East Continent?

From the moment the empire’s capital was besieged, the war was a victory for the empire.

Yet, they granted the Southern Kingdoms the ‘right to surrender’ to maintain a shred of honor.

But even that was humiliating.

Even if they wanted to resist until the very end, there was no justification in this situation. It was then that Duke Pires conveyed the message from the empire to King Roteon.

“The citizens have turned their backs, and the nobles are starting to fracture.”

King Roteon’s words rendered Duke Pires speechless.

All he could do was wait for his lord to make a decision.

They could seek help from an unknown force, but that was a relationship where such expectations were unrealistic.

They used Roteon, and Roteon only used them in return.

Thus, Roteon had nothing left.

“…Do I have any choices left?”

He asked the three most trusted ministers before him.

The trade king, Marquis Wilsingham, the head of the government, Marquis Delonde, and Roteon’s sword, Duke Pires.

None of these three could respond to the king’s words.

After a long silence, Duke Pires spoke gravely.

“If you wish to fight until the end, the God will stand by you.”

At Duke Pires’s words, Marquis Wilsingham and Marquis Delonde bowed their heads.

However, aside from these three and their followers, the other nobles had long since left the palace and returned to their estates.

They were already considering bailing out if things got dicey.

Betraying the citizens and uniting with the nobles.

But now, those nobles were fracturing? That meant it was practically all over.

The state was effectively finished. The only question was whether to maintain the royal family’s honor or to surrender gracefully to the empire and protect their precious lives.

“What’s the point of holding out?”

King Roteon said with a bitter expression, and the three nobles silently bowed their heads.

“…We shall accept the empire’s proposal.”

His reign was about to end the history of the kingdom. Duke Pires knew better than anyone how humiliating this decision was for proud King Roteon, and he bit his lips.

Initially, upon hearing the empire’s proposal, he had gathered troops to make a last-stand resistance.

But Duke Pires changed his mind after a report from a lieutenant.

“Your Highness, the troops have started to defect.”

“How dare they! Defecting in a state of war? Arrest them all!”

“…”

At Duke Pires’s command, the lieutenant knelt silently.

“Are you disobeying orders?”

“They’re merely going back to their families.”

“What?”

Duke Pires asked, and the lieutenant bowed his head as he spoke.

“Among the protesters heading to the capital are the families of the soldiers.”

Duke Pires fell silent at the lieutenant’s words.

“If this continues, they will have to slay their families.”

Looking at the lieutenant who reported with his life on the line, Duke Pires could not utter a word.

Unable to tell him to slay his family, the duke turned away from the lieutenant and went to find the king.

Ultimately, he had no choice but to urge the king to end the kingdom’s history.

Meanwhile, Talos made a different decision.

He requested support from Roman.

If they could just hold out for a few more days, the ship carrying Roman’s Master would arrive at Talos’s port.

Once they came to the capital, they could hold on.

With this calculation in mind, he crammed all his forces into the capital with the determination to endure.

However, the consequences of that judgment were disastrous.

*

“Relay the order to blockade Talos.”

“Yes!”

As Kariel issued the command to the Minister of Military, the Southern Army and Eastern Army began to move.

Having lost faith in the surrendering Roteon until the very end, they bound him up through Iron and the Western Army and funneled all available power into Talos.

Though the three armies gathered at Talos, Kariel was not satisfied.

The empire’s current mobilization capacity does not only count the soldiers.

“Your Majesty! Perhaps you should reconsider…”

“Isn’t it just about protecting myself?”

At Kariel’s words, the Imperial Palace Knights sighed.

Thus, Kariel entrusted the forces that surrounded Roteon to the Western Army, and scraped together even the troops there to head to Talos.

To thwart Roman’s intentions of secretly sending reinforcements via the sea, he personally marched towards Talos.

In the end, a large portion of the Imperial Palace Knights and the Imperial Guard, including Glen, accompanied him to protect the emperor.

Perhaps because the empire’s main forces had gathered?

The criminal organizations causing havoc in Talos vanished, and the noble armies that were suppressing the citizens with a handful of knights also disappeared entirely.

What remained was just the army gathered in the heart of Talos.

“I greet Your Majesty!”

“I greet Your Majesty!”

Duke Devir, Duke Achelio, and other major commanders bowed their heads.

“We’ve received intelligence that reinforcements have been sent secretly from Roman. They are expected to arrive within three days at the latest.”

At Kariel’s words, all the commanders nodded gravely.

“How long do you think it will take to capture that place?”

The Southern Commander fell silent, unable to answer Kariel’s question.

“Most of them are rabble, so we can finish within a day.”

Hearing the Southern Commander’s reply, Kariel contemplated momentarily before nodding.

“Show them the difference in strength. Forcing them to surrender with overwhelming disparity doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”

“Yes! Your Majesty.”

At Kariel’s orders, all the commanders bowed and took their leave.

Though he wished to obliterate them entirely, he knew that saving even a little more manpower would ease the upcoming war.

Especially regarding the presence of masters and high-ranking knights.

Kariel wanted to end the war while preserving as much of Talos’s main force as possible, aiming to subjugate Talos through sheer overwhelming power.

The start began with the masters.

“I’ll go first.”

Saying that, Duke Devir drew his sword and thrust it into the air.

At that moment, a massive aura burst forth like a flash, striking the fortress’s ramparts.

However, it was hardly a surprise that the fortress, concentrated with all of Talos’s strength, would not easily fall to just one master. Predictably, this time, Achelio’s gigantic sword struck the barrier.

When the combined forces of two masters attacked, cracks began to form in the barrier, and a swarm of airships appeared in the sky.

“Block them! We cannot allow them to reach here!”

Marquis Alkan immediately issued a counter command.

Yet, only Talos’s elite troops responded to the call.

Most of the noble armies were still in chaos.

At that moment, cutting through the two masters’ attacks, a streak of light passed by.

Bang!

As the sound of shattering glass echoed, the barrier broke, and stepping forward with a swinging blade was Duke Cletta.

As he slashed the flash with an aura blade forged with all his strength, the space began to distort and engulf the surroundings.

But perhaps due to its incompleteness, as Duke Cletta cut through with full force, the distorting space reverted to its original state, disappearing with a burst of air.

“Cough!”

“Your Highness?”

Duke Cletta coughed dryly, staggering.

The fact that he, celebrated as the Southern First Sword and acknowledged to be one tier above Duke Pires, was reeling from the attack of a rookie who had just graduated to master status shook Marquis Altan to the core.

Especially since it was a decisive blow that had breached the barrier.

“…What a monster.”

Duke Cletta gazed at his trembling arm with fear.

He confirmed that the unusual strength he felt was genuine.

“Your Highness! Another one comes!”

As yet another grotesque attack surged towards him, Duke Cletta formed an aura blade in response.

But the empire had two more masters.

To block the flashes and great aura blades, the knight orders and mage orders sprang into action.

Naturally, the barrier could not be restored, and bombardments began from above as the airships that penetrated over the fortress started dropping bombs directed at the magical weapons inside.

Along with the appearances of the Shadows and special forces descending into the inner fortress, chaos erupted in the capital of Talos in an instant.

And that was not the end of it. Now, the imperial knights began to move.

The Eastern Knights, known for their toughness.

The elite of the Central Knight Order.

The feral Southern Knight Order.

The three knight orders charged towards the fortress in unison.

Knights surged forth, binding their magic together, charging like spears towards the city gate, or climbing from all directions to scale the fortress.

Meanwhile, the imperial troops began to move in earnest.

From the very start, they were intent on an all-out war. No matter what strategy the opponent held, it was a show of overwhelming confidence that they could simply barrel through.

As the special forces and knights boasted by each army started rampaging, the hastily gathered Talos army floundered in confusion.

As a result, even the elite forces began to waver.

“Dammit…”

Marquis Altan bit his lips and exerted all his strength to resist, but it was futile.

The gap in strength was too vast.

Even fighting around the fortress, a few more hours was about all they could hold.

Just then, as Marquis Altan trembled with a sense of powerlessness and drew his sword, it happened.

“Everyone surrender! Do so, and I shall spare your lives!”

The emperor stood in sight of the enemy’s city gates, protected by the palace knights.

“I promise. Those brought into war due to the wrong orders of the King of Talos will all be pardoned under my command. So surrender.”

As Kariel spoke, he manifested his power.

The massive summoned creatures, which had swept away the demon dragons, emerged, eliciting blank stares from everyone.

“By surrendering, you will be accepted as citizens of the empire. But! If you resist until the end… then it will signify your intention to remain Talos citizens.”

With that, Kariel revealed his killing intent.

“I, too, have made the determination to erase Talos’s trace from this continent entirely. In that case, for everyone who resists, I shall eradicate their families and relatives down to the last three generations, leaving no traces of Talos on this continent.”

Hearing the chilling words from Kariel, Talos’s soldiers began to look apprehensive.

At that moment, Marquis Altan shouted.

“Do not step back! You are proud soldiers of Talos!”

However, it was already too late. One by one, the Talos soldiers started to lower their weapons.

They had no justification in the first place.

They had suppressed revolutionary forces while the commoners suffered under the class system.

In such a situation, who would show loyalty to those huddling in the capital, having united with the nobles to save themselves?

Perhaps the nobles might have, but the soldiers certainly did not.

“Will you resist?”

At Duke Achelio’s question, Duke Cletta bit his lips.

By now, three masters had surrounded Duke Cletta.

How long could one possibly last against such odds?

‘It may be meaningless, but for His Highness’s escape time…’

While thinking thus, as Duke Cletta attempted to conjure an aura blade to buy even a little time, it was then.

“Your Highness!”

Turning back at Marquis Altan’s shout, Duke Cletta saw their lord making his way out of the royal palace, plodding towards the fortress’s city gate.

Everyone fell silent, gazing at the figure of King Talos.

With a half-destroyed city gate, he stood alone in front of the emperor. At that moment, Kariel quietly asked him.

“Will you surrender?”

King Talos, gazing vacantly at Kariel’s question, silently knelt before him.