The Prince Wants to Retire

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The Crown Prince Wants to Retire

25. The Game of Subtlety!

The moment the Giant Behemoth and Kariel’s eyes met, a barrier of flames formed, cutting off the others from Kariel.

The Behemoth tilted its head in curiosity at the Odd Wave.

Had its intense curiosity suppressed its rage? It pressed its massive face closer to the tiny human.

Lowering itself, Kariel, undeterred, approached the Giant Behemoth.

– Gaaargh!

The resonating growl of the Behemoth swiveled towards Marquis Sicario.

At that, Kariel shook his head in haste.

“Ah, I’m not on the same side as that guy.”

– Gaaargh!

“Hmm… that guy is definitely a bad one.”

Kariel, seeming displeased, framed Marquis Sicario as the villain to calm the grumbling Behemoth.

From the Behemoth’s perspective, the human who had attacked it could not be anything but bad.

If it were in a more rational state, perhaps it would consider persuasion, but alas, Marquis Sicario had to be the antagonist.

– Gaaargh! Gaaargh!

“Ah! The worst guy went down there!”

As he pointed down towards the Labyrinth, the Behemoth merely nodded slightly without a dramatic reaction.

Kariel then tilted his head in confusion.

He expected that the Pope, who had dealt with him far more, would chase after him, but the Behemoth just let out a slight chuckle.

‘Seems like it will have a hard time.’

If the Behemoth reacted this way, it indicated that what the Dark Mages were preparing down in the Labyrinth was formidable indeed.

– Gaaargh!

The Behemoth’s upward curl of its lips, while bizarre, indicated joy; thus, Kariel fervently supported him in hopes of reassurance.

As if soothing a child, Kariel continued chatting with the Behemoth, but unlike in the Northwest, progress was particularly slow this time.

‘Looks like this will take a while.’

While it had taken time in the Northwest, this time felt like it would take much longer.

Though it had lost most of its power, it still was a Behemoth of higher standing than a complete Spirit King.

As such, communication with it would naturally take longer due to their higher resonance.

Just then, a fireball soared up to aid Kariel.

“Ah! Don’t be scared. I’m your friend!”

– Long time no see, Red Wolf.

At Surth’s greeting, the Behemoth tilted its head.

Though it was clearly an unfamiliar presence, it felt like it had met him a long time ago.

– Most of your soul has perished, huh.

Surth’s expression turned sorrowful.

The soul that should have perished alongside the body had been forcibly bound and corrupted.

As a result, it lost the original tier it once held, which led to its current state.

Fortunately, the Behemoth’s powerful physique had preserved itself intact, allowing it to maintain even its current soul.

– If it weren’t for the necklace, I’d be in the same situation.

Had it not been for the layered protections of the Empire’s magic keeping him from sleeping, Surth’s soul would have also vanished.

While that would have been natural, both he and the Behemoth had ended up defying fate.

– I’ll talk; you focus on the resonance.

Kariel nodded after briefly looking at Surth.

– You help out too!

As Surth puffed up his tiny arms and waved in the air, a tiny magma golem appeared.

The small golem, dripping lava and floating in the air, looked at the Giant Behemoth with a quizzical expression.

Could it be because their mental ages were similar?

The Behemoth and the golem began to have an earnest conversation, with the former tilting its head.

– Tsk!

Surth clicked his tongue, sighing while listening to their bizarre banter.

The fragment of the Spirit King had never had sound mental stability, but it became more peculiar after absorbing the torn fragments.

Since those fragments had rampaged in the Southeast, simply resonating wouldn’t suffice to contain the outburst.

Hence, he had no choice but to forcibly involve the infantile golem.

When he did, all the rampaging energy swiftly absorbed into the golem, but the problem was that since it was a torn energy that had gone berserk, it negatively affected the golem.

– This is maddening.

Seeing the Giant Behemoth and the magma golem, both still tilting their heads and having odd dialogues, even the hesitant Surth joined in.

Gradually, the Behemoth’s anger faded, calming its spirit and stabilizing its strength.

As things calmed, the resonance strengthened, and the colors of fire wrapping around them transformed into purer hues.

Marquis Sicario, watching from the outside, muttered in a daze.

“Is that the Cradle of Fire?”

The shape of the flames encircling the Giant Behemoth resembled a cradle.

Even with a general sense, the warmth and coziness from the flames eased even Marquis Sicario’s expression.

However, the cold-headed Sicario’s moment of indulgence in that comfort was brief.

“Everyone, snap back to attention! We must protect His Highness!”

As Marquis Sicario shouted with the power infused in his voice, the knights, startled, quickly collected their thoughts.

With the Count of the North directly urging them to regain their senses, the dazed Imperial Army readied their weapons.

Layers of protection formed around Kariel and the Behemoth.

Within the barrier, a magic sphere was recording everything, ensuring no one could approach Kariel.

“This… is it really okay?”

“Since His Majesty directly ordered it, it should be fine.”

The colossal Cradle of Fire.

Feeling a sense of anxiety about whether it was permissible to capture such a miraculous scene, they followed orders without question.

But they weren’t the only mages filming from afar; other mages were capturing the awe from different angles.

They were individuals who had all been briefed by Marquis Sicario beforehand.

“His Majesty gave the secret order, so while we follow it…”

Marquis Sicario gazed at the Cradle of Fire with a worried expression.

Unlike during the volcano eruption when they filmed from a distance, everything had been recorded since Kariel began to resonate with the Giant Behemoth, posing a high risk later on.

The former Crown Prince, resonating with the Behemoth that even two masters couldn’t fully restrain, couldn’t be a more surefire way to contain the chaos erupting in the capital.

While it was certain the Emperor’s secret order was planned alongside the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the two princes, ultimately, they had no choice but to comply since the Emperor had directly commanded it.

“How should I appease His Highness’s wrath later…”

Worrying about Kariel’s future actions, Marquis Sicario sighed, tightening his grip on his sword.

Though he was anxious about what would come, he focused solely on perfectly protecting Kariel for now.

“Everyone, be on high alert and maintain a strong watch. We can’t let a single rat slip in!”

“Yes!”

The knights answered, bowing their heads in response to the exclamation from the Empire’s strongest master.

*

While the Imperial Army surrounded the Giant Behemoth with unwavering vigilance, the Holy Nation that had entered the Labyrinth was facing a tough battle.

When they first entered the underground, it felt hardly different from before.

Although it had been sealed for a long time, they had occasionally carried out explorations into the depths.

However, they had not explored the bottom layer to avoid provoking the Behemoth.

Thus, arriving at the deepest level was their first foray in ages.

Everything seemed fine until they reached that lowest layer, but there, reality greeted them with a landscape entirely different from the records.

“These lunatics…”

One of the Cardinals trembled in rage, unleashing holy magic.

Undead and grotesquely mutated monsters surged forth from the bottom layer in droves.

“Neglecting to monitor to avoid rousing the Behemoth has resulted in this.”

The Pope frowned as he spoke, prompting all to bow their heads.

Although that hadn’t been the intent, it was as if they had granted the Dark Mages a massive research facility.

“They’re emanating corrupted energy…”

“It seems they’ve been researching ways to disperse this energy on a large scale.”

Signs of research aiming to condense the corrupted energy and disperse it in vapor form were evident everywhere.

The monsters on the bottom layer were evidently mutated, tainted by the corrupted energy.

But that wasn’t the only issue.

The underground structure of the Labyrinth had changed significantly; new underground passages connected to the Giant Mountain Range had appeared.

“…It appears something was moved to the Giant Mountain Range.”

The Holy Knight’s report caused the Pope to furrow his brow in concern.

“If the corrupted energy here disperses into the Giant Mountain Range, what will happen?”

At the Pope’s question, the knowledgeable High Priest regarding monsters fell silent for a moment.

Then he reluctantly opened his mouth.

“…The monsters that inhale the corrupted energy will go berserk.”

“If that’s the case…”

“An artificial Monster Wave will be created. It would be a top-tier Monster Wave unseen in history.”

Inhaling the vapor containing corrupted energy will cause the monsters to go berserk.

There’s no need to disperse the vapor throughout the entire mountain range.

Even if just the upper-tier monsters go berserk, a Monster Wave would form naturally.

Moreover, since it was in vapor form, they only needed to disperse it up the mountain range.

“Your Holiness! This!”

Urgently calling to the Pope, a Holy Knight dashed over and stared hard at a map drawn on one side, his face paling.

“Does that mean there aren’t just one or two research facilities here?”

“Yes, it seems there are such facilities throughout the eastern region.”

The Dark Mages, preparing to unleash their berserk state across the Giant Mountain Range, made the Pope clench his teeth in anger.

“This information must not get out. We need to erase all traces of this location immediately…”

“Your Holiness! There’s grave news!”

“What is it?”

An adjacent Cardinal cried out in response to the Holy Knight’s urgent report.

“It seems the Imperial Special Forces are trailing behind us!”

“What! Didn’t we order complete vigilance on the rear?”

The Sun Blade questioned, astonished, while the Holy Knight bowed his head in shame.

“It’s been difficult to maintain our caution due to the battles erupting throughout the underground. My apologies!”

“Ha!”

The Sun Blade held his head in frustration, looking at the Pope.

“Have they gained entry to the lowest layer?”

“I couldn’t ascertain for certain. However, we found this mark near the entrance to the lowest layer.”

A piece of cloth with a partially severed crow drawn on it.

Seeing it made the Pope sigh deeply.

The cursed presence that had them bound in the North had arrived here.

“Covering it up will be tough.”

The Pope sighed again.

Just as they had staged an accident to attempt to kill Kariel, Marquis Sicario wouldn’t have simply allowed their underground efforts to go unnoticed.

Since they suspected one another, they had infiltrated crows into the Labyrinth, and now they were discovered.

“This situation might not be entirely bad.”

“What do you mean, Your Holiness?”

The Pope, who had briefly sunk into thought, smiled as he spoke, causing the Sun Blade to tilt his head in confusion.

“Perhaps we can use this incident to allow the Holy Nation to officially intervene in the affairs occurring in the Giant Mountain Range and East.”

“Ah…”

The Pope’s suggestion brought looks of admiration among the Sun Blade and Cardinals.

“We should search for the secret bases of the Dark Mages hidden within the Giant Mountain Range.”

“Shouldn’t we help out the Principality as well?”

Without needing the Pope to suggest it, the Cardinals began sketching the tactics that would unfold in the future.

However, it was clear that executing such plans would not be easy.

‘The Empire will meddle, but… we’ll just have to stop them.’

The Pope thought so, determined to ensure Kariel’s victory this time around.

*

As matters within the Labyrinth were slowly evolving, enormous chaos erupted in the capital.

The confusion that began with Derek mixed with other events, leading to protests in the square.

Just then, a massive magical sphere displayed a scene from the Northeast.