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61 Signs of Instability (1)

The news about the Southeast spread far and wide.

With battles ongoing every day, people became anxious. They did not know when it would end or when their dominance would be taken over and disappear. But in the end, it ended with the humans’ victory.

[ After a series of fierce battles, the Mobile Field Army gained victory… ]

With this brief headline, the news about the Southeast was spread all throughout the Empire. However, the Empire did not have any time to care about it at all.

The alliance of birdmen in the West.

The sudden explosion of the ruins of Atlantis in the East.

The fluctuation in the great forest in the South.

The changes in the continent began to appear as if it was waiting for the conclusion of the events in the Southeast.

However, the biggest problem was in the North. The place, where they thought was the safest, suddenly began to move strangely. The region was still relatively much closed off, but thanks to the Northeast being mostly open to the public, they were still able to receive the latest news. And the worst news that the Empire could receive came from that very same Northeast.

[ Frost Giant Corps? Are they awakening? ]

[ The worst crisis. How will the Northeast overcome this crisis? ]

In the end, the truth that they had hidden had been revealed. And the Northeast, which was hailed as a safe zone, had become a dangerous area in a blink of an eye.

In a situation where the entire Northern region was in danger, the people’s attention was suddenly focused on the Center. This was because the areas in the vicinity of the capital had become a relatively safe area after the dangers erupted from all over the Empire.

Because of this, the collapsed Central Government began to recover their power, albeit only slightly. However, contrary to what they showed to the public, the Imperial Family, especially the Crown Prince and the nobles who supported him, all had solemn expressions on their faces that grew deeper by the day.

“…When do you think it will break?”

The ministers standing behind the Crown Prince all remained silent at his question.

This was a fact that only a select few people knew. However, they all knew that this was something that they would eventually let the public know.

The white crystal, which was currently believed to be the core that held the boundary protecting this continent, was on the verge of breaking.

The Imperial Family had suffered and endured all sorts of degradation and humiliation just to protect this item. They eventually succeeded in protecting this and the Empire despite the fall of the capital and the Imperial Family’s power.

But even after they tried everything that they could, the crack was still growing by the day. Perhaps it was because it had already reached the point where it couldn’t be reversed anymore or the speed of breaking had become uncontrollable that it accelerated after receiving that huge crack. However, that did not matter anymore. What mattered was that there was a big crack on this crystal right at this very moment. And with the dangerous situation in the continent, it would not be strange at all if it suddenly broke completely.

“Right now… I think we need to prepare for the worst.”

The Crown Prince silently looked at the white crystal, the God’s Orb, silently at the words of one of the ministers behind him.

The Crown Prince was known as someone incompetent and arrogant. Would such a person change when faced with a crisis?

Compared to the other princes, who were only focused on fighting politics, the current Crown Prince sincerely felt sad for the crisis that the Empire would face.

They did not know what he saw, but after the Crown Prince came out of the place where only the previous Emperors could enter, his attitude had changed little by little over the years. He did not even give any unreasonable orders to re-establish the Central Government’s collapsed prestige or gather forces to rebuild the Imperial Family’s power.

In fact, it was the other princes and several other ministers who tried to undermine the authority of the Commanders and the Mobile Field Army. But the more they did, the more the Crown Prince mediated.

Everyone looked at the Crown Prince in doubt after seeing how much his appearance and attitude had changed but the Crown Prince remained consistent with this change. From what they heard from the servants and the maids, this appearance was not just a pretense. He really had changed as a person.

Perhaps that was the reason why the ministers and the bureaucrats continued to look at him with disbelief as they gave him advice. They only stepped down after talking about theories and hypotheses since they did not have any other way in this situation.

After everyone stepped down, the Crown Prince sighed as he muttered to himself.

“Destruction…”

Recently, he would experience special dreams the moment he closed his eyes to sleep. It was a dream that showed the destruction of the continent.

Auzria, the home of mankind, turned into a playground where all of the gods had gathered. To resist and fight against them, the ancient races awakened. But these beings were trampled by the gods and turned into their toys.

After dozens of dreams, the Crown Prince instinctively knew that this was not just a simple dream.

“Foresight…”

He did not know why he saw dreams that could almost be called foresight but there was one thing that he was sure about. Destruction was not far away.

In his dreams, he died dozens of times.

The humans faced destruction as the capital was set ablaze. It was the other-worlders and the chosen ones who fought from the beginning to the end of destruction. And among them, the ‘hero’, who defended the Empire numerous times, was the one who resisted until the very end. The very same hero who worked so hard to cut himself off from the Center. And in all of his dreams, the Empire and the continent collapsed dozens of times in various ways but that hero was the only one who remained consistently the same in all those dreams.

‘The Empire’s destruction.’

The Crown Prince could tell that it was a planned matter.

None of his dreams depicted the survival of the Empire. Even if he became the Emperor, he would still be deposed soon. He finally realized that the Emperor’s position, the position that he wanted so much, was meaningless the moment the day of destruction appeared.

And he needed to make a decision before the domineering gods and the ancient races came to be.

“Father…”

The moment that his father and all the late Emperors had tried so hard to stop was fast approaching. Although the method that they used was wrong, they still sacrificed themselves for a ‘great cause’. He kept on thinking about the situation where he had to give and devote his all for the Empire just like the previous Emperors.

Right now, the Imperial Family had to prepare to welcome their end to protect the Empire and the continent from destruction. Although everyone cursed the Imperial Family and told them that they were terrible and hideous, at the very least, he thought that the Imperial Family could still make this noble sacrifice. This Imperial Family would also no longer exist in the future. And he, one of the noblest descendants, would fall down to the abyss too.

“The life of a commoner…”

The thought of becoming one of the people who he deemed as ‘petty and unimportant’ before was terrible. It brought him fear and terror. However, the handful of ‘honor’ left in his heart that he did not know where it came from gave him the courage and helped him overcome this fear.

‘That’s right! Since we’re going to fall into destruction anyway, let’s maintain this handful of honor…’

It was only just recently that the Crown Prince came to think like this.

After experiencing dozens of deaths in his dreams and realizing that their future was a planned destruction, the arrogant and naive Crown Prince finally realized everything. And today, he was finally able to get rid of his fear and made up his mind to prepare for the end.

The very next day, the Crown Prince’s decision was announced.

“Are you really going to make that decision?”

The Crown Prince nodded silently at the 4th Prince’s question.

The Emperor’s forces would be distributed to each ministry. The Imperial Family’s Shadow would be sent to the Ministry of Information and the Imperial Palace’s Knight Order that belonged to the Capital Defense Corps before would be sent to the security forces. He also drastically reduced the authority and power of the Imperial Family.

This decision resulted in a significant increase in the authority of the Central Nobles affiliated with the ministries.

Everyone wondered if the stupid and foolish Crown Prince knew something after hearing him make this decision. The Crown Prince, who was currently nominated as the next Emperor, had given up the Emperor’s authority? It did not make sense at all. But what did not make sense at all was the fact that the Crown Prince, who made this decision, only wanted one thing.

“We need the support of the nobles to expand our armament.”

The expansion of armament.

After collecting the taxes from the public, what they have was still only barely enough. That meant that the only ones left were the wealthy nobles. However, if the taxes on the nobles were increased indefinitely, the only ones who would suffer were the lower nobles. The most effective way was to receive support from the upper nobles under the pretext of donations.

“How much… are you talking about?”

One of the upper nobles spoke with a trembling voice.

This request was made after he gave up the Emperor’s authority so it was definitely not a small amount.

But despite the tensed and nervous gazes that were trained on the Crown Prince, he only replied dully.

“30%. Donate more than 30% of your assets to the Imperial Family.”

The expression of everyone present crumpled at the Crown Prince’s words.

At first they thought that it was just a joke. They thought that him giving up the Emperor’s authority was also a joke. But everyone was still alert and nervous. After all, the Crown Prince stamped the seal and gave up his authority in this move.

“Why in the world… are you doing this?”

The Crown Prince quietly replied to the question of one of the nobles.

“The end has come.”

It was just this one sentence.

At first, they thought that the Crown Prince had gone crazy. But soon, the fact that only a few ministers knew about was finally revealed to them.

Everyone was shocked at the sight of the shining God’s Orb that was littered with dense cracks.

“According to the Ministry of Information, the chaos covering the continent right now is an aftermath of God’s Orb reaching its limits.”

Unlike the Crown Prince’s calm and steady voice, the hearts of the astonished ministers and nobles were in turmoil.

“The terrible things that are happening right now is the price that we have to pay for not keeping this orb properly safe. So… We have to take responsibility.”

“Th… Then, let’s do it like before. Let’s strengthen the defense line around the capital…”

“Once the God’s Orb is broken, the value of this place would become meaningless. It’s better for you to invest somewhere else.”

The Crown Prince looked at the nobles and the ministers as he said this.

“I don’t care if you use your remaining assets to line up with the Commanders. There’s only one thing that I’m sure of… the end has come and it’s time for us to find our own ways to survive.”

The nobles panicked at the words of the Crown Prince.

Of course, these words also made it through the headlines and spread all over the Empire.

The people of the Empire were left in chaos after the newspapers spread the news that the end was approaching. The news even went beyond the Empire and spread all over the continent. The poets and bards wrote songs and poems about the apocalypse while the pessimists went around busily telling everyone that they would die.

While the air in the Empire became low, the South and the West were different.

Many Southerners signed a contract with the ancient gods, and they believed that they would be able to survive as long as they became stronger under their banner. On the other hand, the Westerners devoted themselves to unknown gods and believed that they would be protected by them. Even the Divine Nation, who believed in God, slowly started to abandon their own God.

“The Lord, our God, can no longer protect the continent.”

“We have to turn our devotions and faith to many other gods.”

“Since the Lord, our God, had abandoned us, we will abandon him too!”

With these claims, the Divine Nation officially discarded their own God and devoted themselves to other gods. To the gods who gave them revelations and power. Knowing that the approaching end would bring about more dangerous beings, they turned towards these unknown gods despite knowing full well that they were also dangerous.

While everyone was busy trying to get out and break out of the current standards to prepare for the end, the Southeastern region of the Empire quietly cultivated their strength and expanded their power. They gradually pushed back the giant worm corps, who seemed to be too strong and skillful that they couldn’t win against them in numerous battles.

And in just a blink of an eye, the Mobile Field Army, which had become the strongest force in the Southeast, had already prepared to start a war against the alliance between the giant worm corps and the monster corps.

“These are the supplies from the Center?”

Iron looked at Carl strangely after hearing his report in his Commander’s office.

“That’s right.”

Carl replied in an affirmative before placing a letter on Iron’s desk.

“This is?”

“This is a letter from His Highness, the Crown Prince.”

At Carl’s words, Iron quietly opened the letter. There was only a short sentence written on the letter.

[ Please take good care of the Empire. ]

***