The Prince Wants to Retire

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The Crown Prince Wishes to Retire

50. The Formation of the Human Alliance! (3)

The alliance formed by Kariel and the leaders of the Eastern Continent nations stirred excitement throughout the Eastern Continent.

It was surely moving to see two continents’ leaders, who had long harbored animosities, come together to hold a meeting and agree to confront a common enemy.

Yet, the confusion arose from the fact that the common enemy was none other than Roman, who had been reigning as the leader of the Eastern Continent for ages.

With the unified state of the Western Continent and nearly half of the Eastern Continent now allied, the remaining countries were in a panic. The nations of the Central Region faced sharp internal conflicts over the situation.

“Join the Human Alliance!”

“Do it!”

Protests erupted across the Central Region, excluding Roman’s territory.

People insisted on joining the Human Alliance before they became enemies of humanity and were forced into war.

However, the kings who had already made contracts with the demons wouldn’t easily consent to this.

If it had just been the kings, they might have committed treason to join the Human Alliance. But since high nobles were also contracted with the demons, they turned a deaf ear to the citizens’ demands.

Some nations even resorted to forcefully suppressing the protesting citizens.

In retaliation, the protesters fought back even more fiercely.

What began as peaceful protests transformed into a full-blown resistance.

And it was right then that Ignit moved.

“Are you saying the Empire will help us?”

“Yes. Since you have begun fighting for humanity, it is only natural for the Human Alliance to offer support.”

The resistance forces of a small nation on the Eastern Continent wore perplexed expressions at the proposal from the Shadow of the Empire.

“What do you mean…?”

“Evidence that your king made a contract with the demons.”

Upon hearing the shadow’s words, the leader of the resistance took a look at the provided documents and began to tremble.

Honestly, they harbored suspicions.

Most people in the Eastern Continent believed that the Central Region had colluded with the demons. But now that vague suspicions had transformed into a stark reality, rage bubbled within.

“Are the other nations the same?”

“Likely.”

The leader of the resistance grit his teeth at the shadow’s words.

“Why hasn’t the Human Alliance announced such facts?”

Truthfully, it wouldn’t have mattered if Ignit announced it.

But that would diminish the impact. What mattered most was that the resistance forces of each nation would spread the news, causing their citizens to rally even more strongly against the traitors.

This would plunge the Central Region of the Eastern Continent into chaos, allowing the Empire to strike against Roman.

It was the perfect plan.

“Because we hope your nation will navigate this crisis on its own.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Of course, we will provide assistance. But His Majesty the Emperor believes that the sovereignty of one’s nation holds value only when they have overcome the crisis themselves.”

When it was revealed that it was Kariel’s will, the leader of the resistance’s eyes widened as he stared blankly at the shadow.

Simply relying on another nation had no significance.

If they truly wanted to liberate their nation from a corrupt king, they had to rise up themselves.

“Please convey my gratitude to His Majesty.”

As the leader of the resistance bowed his head and spoke, the shadow also nodded respectfully and said one last thing.

“Support supplies will arrive secretly at this base over the next two weeks.”

“Understood.”

“May you achieve your intentions…”

The shadow said this before disappearing from view.

*

After staring blankly at the spot where the shadow had been for a moment, the leader of the resistance finally took action.

They understood the necessity of overthrowing the current king to ensure the survival of their nation with its long history.

This reasoning had been established.

The reason most citizens, despite being confused, had hesitated to join the resistance was that their king’s choices might have been for the good of the country, compounded by a long history of collaboration with Roman.

However, as the announcement from the resistance forces erupted, the situation began to change.

“That’s a relief.”

Kariel smiled upon hearing the report from the shadow.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too late for a resistance to emerge, allowing Kariel to secure a space to act.

“If we had been even a bit later, it would have been challenging to manage this level of chaos.”

In agreement with Talion’s words, Kariel nodded.

From the perspective of the Imperial bureaucrats, they intended to take things slow and subtly implement operations against the Central powers of the Eastern Continent.

They had a history of failing when they rushed in with funds unprepared.

But Kariel pushed forward urgently.

And now, that decision was confirmed by the latest report.

“We need to act decisively before the demons make their move.”

“Yes.”

Talion bowed his head in response to Kariel’s orders.

While the bureaucrats prioritized stability, Kariel recognized the need to act more swiftly after grasping the overall flow of the reports.

“Roman doesn’t seem to be acting like the Emperor I remember.”

Kariel nodded slightly to Talion’s words.

In his previous life, the very person who tormented him was the current Roman Emperor.

A man intelligent enough to rival the Pope was now so helpless?

Then it must mean he had another agenda in play.

“Perhaps he’s plotting something bigger…”

“A bigger plot, you say?”

Kariel nodded slightly at Talion’s question.

If the Roman Emperor he knew were in this situation, he wouldn’t just sit idly by. Why was he stepping back and leaving everything to the demons?

That implied he must have a grander design in mind.

“From the Roman Emperor’s perspective, this current issue must seem trivial.”

“Even with their nation’s fate at stake?”

Kariel chuckled at Talion’s remark.

“The fate of a nation… Perhaps it could be more than that.”

“…What do you mean?”

“The certainty of survival if we strike with full force. The confidence in that is why he can afford to sit back.”

Talion tilted his head, clearly confused by Kariel’s words.

“We need to bolster the defenses on the stronghold.”

“That could create a security gap.”

“That’s a risk we have to take.”

Saying this, Kariel took out a notebook from his drawer and started jotting down the plans he had devised.

“In two weeks, we will launch a full-scale assault.”

“Isn’t that a bit rushed? I think it might be wise to let the Central Region of the Eastern Continent mature a bit more. Furthermore, there’s chaos within Roman’s own territory.”

Talion’s point was valid.

From the surface situation, everything was excessively favorable for Ignit.

But considering Roman’s previous actions, they had no choice but to think differently.

‘We cannot dance to the Roman Emperor’s tune.’

Frowning at the thought of the Roman Emperor who was likely twiddling his thumbs, Kariel asked Talion,

“How are the discussions with the nomadic tribes going?”

“The negotiations with the nomads at the eastern edge have concluded. Most neighboring tribes are also largely in agreement about the dangers posed by the demons. The issue lies with Golan.”

Kariel nodded as if he had anticipated this.

“They haven’t allied with the demons, have they?”

“Not at all, but they evidently don’t see any reason to fight against Roman.”

Kariel nodded knowingly at Talion’s response.

The current leader of Golan was someone who could think strategically.

From his position, the emergence of demons suited him just fine.

Currently, tribes comparable to Golan were all located near Roman’s borders. The areas suspected to be demon-infested just happened to be close by.

“We’ll leave Golan alone for now. It will be enough to keep reminding the other tribes that the demons are a dangerous presence.”

Once the tribes comparable to theirs started falling to the demons, they would likely see the thousands of nomadic tribes unifying out of desperation.

Thus, they would not move unless the demons made their presence known.

This had been made crystal clear through similar situations in Kariel’s past life.

“Is that all settled?”

“They’ll act on their own when the demons show up. They tend to stop at this point.”

“Yes.”

With the nomadic tribes issue settled, Kariel sighed.

“What could Roman’s intentions be?”

Kariel muttered as he tried to think from Roman’s perspective.

‘Simply bringing in the demon armies presents too great a risk.’

Kariel fell deep into thought.

Inside his notebook lay detailed accounts of the demon military power he had observed in his past life.

Though it could conjure images of the horrors unleashed in ancient times, surprisingly, their military strength wasn’t as formidable.

While Glenn had been a significant aid, it was still within the realm of something even a somewhat shattered empire could weather.

‘If the Roman Emperor is this cautious, it likely means whatever he has in store is more formidable than that….’

Without clarity on what that was, it would be perilous to make assumptions about Roman’s forces.

Thus, the only thing left to do in this situation was singular.

“Tell Marquis Sicario to join forces with the Pope. Glenn should lead some of the Imperial Palace Knights and the Capital Defense Knight Order to the stronghold.”

“With that, the only Master left in the Empire is Lord Achelio and Duke Welch.”

“That’s sufficient.”

To Talion’s anxious tone, Kariel nodded affirmatively.

Yet from Talion’s perspective, it was only natural to be worried.

While two Master-class individuals remained in the capital, Duke Welch had to be hopping all over the place due to the Magic Workshop.

He wouldn’t be able to rush back immediately in times of crisis.

“There’s a chance for an aerial attack just like before.”

“To prepare for that, the Empire’s main aerial forces are stationed with the Central Army.”

“Even so….”

Kariel shook his head firmly, as if refusal to acknowledge any argument was in order.

Normally, Kariel was open to absorbing the opinions of officials and nobles. However, when it came to exceptional situations, he would make clear-cut decisions.

And until now, those decisions had rarely been rescinded.

This time would be no different.

“Talion, go and prepare. Summon the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It’s time for the Human Alliance to take action.”

“Understood.”

“Yes.”

With the orders given, Talion and the attendant exited.

After some time, Kariel announced through the arrival of the Minister of Foreign Affairs that the Human Alliance was ready to take action.

“It is finally time to punish humanity’s enemies! We will eliminate the betrayers who have allied with the demons and ensure that the demons do not dare to covet our continent!”

*

Upon declaring before the citizens of the Empire in the square that they would strike against Roman, other nations of the Human Alliance also began to rally their troops for the same purpose.

The first to move were the nations of the Eastern Continent.

The Southern Kingdoms began to attack the nations to the east.

Under the justification of punishing a royal family that made a poor choice, the eastern nations fought back.

However, they quickly found themselves crumbling under the pressure.

Internal factions of resistance caused chaos from the inside and soon led to their downfall.

“It appears the king and high nobles have already escaped.”

“Tsk! That’s unfortunate.”

A commander-like man clicked his tongue at the report from one of the knights.

Such circumstances were commonplace in small nations as well.

They had slithered away to Roman, just as expected.

However, the problem was that they weren’t the only ones that slipped away.

All the elite forces of these small nations had fled to Roman, leaving only under-trained troops to occupy the regions they had claimed.

All the wealth had also vanished, leaving no reward for their efforts.

In such a situation, the Empire’s assault finally commenced.

“They’ve started earlier than expected.”

“It seems the Emperor of Ignit has caught on.”

As the Roman Emperor chuckled, finding amusement in the situation, a kneeling mage bowed his head and replied.

“While it’s a bit regrettable, it should suffice. Go and inform your leader. The time to move has come.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”