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61 Signs of Instability (4)

The Crown Prince briefly explained his dreams in which Iron often appeared. His dreams showed the destruction of the Empire and what was yet to come. The outcome in his dreams changed every time but there were always two things that didn’t: the fall of the Empire and the people uniting under Iron’s influence and charisma.

However, humans would eventually face the limits of their power. No matter how much mankind tried to hold its ground, their strength could not withstand the catastrophe, eventually it led to the destruction of the empire, with only the military left behind.

“Did I… die?” Iron asked calmly.

“Yours didn’t appear until the end of the dream.” The Crown Prince responded heavily after pondering about it for a moment.

Iron nodded heavily at his reply. At the very least, his death was still uncertain.

“All of the futures I had in my dream, I always witnessed mankind uniting around you after the fall of the Empire,” the Crown Prince said. It seemed like he took responsibility for the duty to watch the Empire end. That was his duty. For him, there was nothing he could do for the future of mankind.

“May I inquire a few more questions?”

The Crown Prince nodded, signaling his approval at Iron’s request. Iron inquired about the questions that had been on his mind. One, how many more ancient monsters would appear? Two, would the Gods descend themselves. Three, what was the exact cause of the Empire’s downfall. Those were the questions that Iron wanted to know.

However, the Crown Prince did not have concrete answers for his questions. The future that he had seen was limited. Only fragments of the major events kept on appearing in his dreams and there were even plenty of changes in every dream. The Crown Prince frowned as he tried his best to recall the things Iron inquired about, but his memories were blurred. The only thing that he could clearly remember was the Empire’s downfall and mankind uniting around Iron as well as the large-scale war, the rest of the details of his dreams were blurred as if they were obscured in mist.

“Hmmm…” The Crown Prince hummed, trying to recall the things that he saw in his dreams but he had a hard time doing so. In the end, all he was left with was a frustrated expression as he failed to recall the entirety of his dreams.

‘Is it a restriction?’ Iron thought, frowning.

It was clear that the scenes were intentionally obscured and manipulated so that the Crown Prince could only remember the main events.

‘I’ve got everything I need.’

Just when Iron was about to stand up, knowing that there was nothing else for him to know here, the Crown Prince continued to struggle and stammer out all of the details in his head. He tried to explain a little more further. So, Iron calmly and intently listened to the Crown Prince’s words until the end.

“Even if God’s Orb breaks, the barrier will not completely vanish.”

And in the process, he unintentionally secured valuable information. With this information, Iron was assured that this world would not become a playground for the Gods the moment the God’s Orb breaks. Iron also heard about the monsters and creatures that would trample the Empire’s land. However, the Crown Prince did not mention any divine beings. However, ancient species that could only be heard from myths and legends would appear. But from what the Crown Prince said, they were on par with the Gods.

‘Isn’t that worse?’ Iron thought, smiling wryly?

“…Was it helpful?” the Crown Prince asked.

Iron was still pondering deeply when the Crown Prince asked him. However, he smiled brightly and said, “Yes, you were a great help.”

“That’s a relief.” the Crown Prince said, as he placed his hand over his heart.

“I’m glad to have fulfilled the role God has given me.” At the Crown Prince’s remark, Iron looked at him with a serious expression.

“Do you believe in God?” Iron asked.

The Crown Prince shook his head and smiled.

“I used to,” He said, smiling wryly.

“However, with the recurring dreams, it made me realize that the God I believed in is maybe not necessarily the ideal being that I imagined him to be.”

The Crown Prince recalled his dreams. There were people that cried calling out to God during grave situations. However, the Lord God turned a deaf ear to their earnest pleas. In the end, they were killed by the monsters and devoured by strange mutants.

“I do not believe in God. I know that the Lord God will not save us even if we asked him to. I just…” the Crown Prince trailed off, looking at Iron timidly as he continued to say, “…at least I believe that the Lord does not want us to perish.”

Iron watched the Crown Prince. These words alone showed the direction that God wanted them to go to for their survival.

“…I seem,” Iron said, nodding in agreement. Iron did not know what God’s purpose was but there was one thing that he was sure of: the Lord God did not want the other Gods to interfere with the continent.

‘Even if it faces destruction…’

At this moment, Iron thought that it was alright to believe in God and move forward. Iron sipped his tea as he continued to ponder over the course of his future actions.

The Crown Prince looked up to him and said, “It’s already late. Would you like to have dinner with me?”

“Ah…” Iron looked at the Crown Prince and nodded. He said, “How dare I refuse the Crown Prince’s offer? I would stay for as long as Your Highness wishes me to stay.”

The Crown Prince’s face brightened at Iron’s words. Iron couldn’t help but be suspicious at the sudden change of the arrogant Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was hailed as the greatest actor in the Empire. If he were born as a commoner rather than a prince and entered the theater, he would have already become famous for his talents. This was also the reason why everyone thought that the change in the Crown Prince was just an act.

However, Iron had watched his eyes, expressions and actions during their conversations. He could tell.

‘He has changed’ Iron thought.

Although it was only a dream, he thought that after the Crown Prince experienced those countless dreams and experienced numerous deaths and destruction. The experience itself was definitely traumatic enough to change one’s personality and attitude. Iron was certain since he himself had changed after suffering from a lot of setbacks in his previous life. Witnessing the Empire’s destruction and the fall of mankind did not necessarily mean that one would change. However, the Crown Prince recognized his shortcomings and changed to repay the work of the people in the Capital and regain their trust in the Emperor. He even went so far as to let go of his arrogance and carry the final task that God had entrusted to the Imperial Family. If that was the case, then Iron also had to give his respect to the Crown Prince. At the very least, he had to give his respect to the person that chose to enact and carry out his final duty as part of the Imperial Family to save mankind.

“The God’s Orb… has already reached its limit.” Iron sighed as he went to inspect the God’s Orb after dining with the Crown Prince.

The sacrifice of plenty of people, even risking his own life to protect the capital and God’s Orb was still fresh in his mind. They were lucky to be able to stop its destruction back then. However, the cracks in the orb were too much. Iron could tell that it could break at any moment. Even with the help of countless magic circles and the priest’s holy power, the God’s Orb was still on the verge of collapsing.

Crack!

A small fragment fell down from the cracked God’s Orb. Iron frowned at the sight. If the fragments of the orb kept on falling like this then it would definitely collapse at any given moment. In order to increase their time, the orb should at least maintain its complete form. Iron approached the orb and inspected the orb. He turned to the Crown Prince and asked, “Do you not have enough holy power?”

From what Iron could see, the pieces that fell had faded. Hearing his words, the Crown Prince nodded. He said, “Haa… It’s very difficult to find a priest these days.”

After the Divine Nation Alliance abandoned and betrayed God, finding a priest had become an arduous task. Moreover, they were also busy working in various parts of the Empire, purifying contaminated lands, sealing and purifying dimensional cracks and many more. Plenty of priests had moved into the Imperial Palace because of the God’s Orb. However, their power still proved to be inefficient.

Whoosh!

Iron looked at the God’s Orb for a moment before lifting his hand. Then, bright light appeared in his hands as an enormous amount of holy power covered the fragments of the orb that were about to fall off. After he was done, the orb was shining brightly once again.

“This is enough…” Iron said, as raised his head.

[Side Quest! Inject your Holy Power into the exhausted God’s Orb.]

– The God’s Orb is facing extreme hunger. Fill it with holy power until it’s full!

– Rewards: Extension of God’s Orb’s life

[23 : 59 : 59]

Iron tilted his head at the sudden appearance of a quest. He watched as the fragments of God’s Orb shone brightly. It seemed like his holy power kept the falling fragments intact and made sure to keep it whole as much as possible. However, based on the quest, the holy power that he injected was still insufficient.

Iron looked at the God’s Orb in confusion. Then…

-Ring!

[Linked Quest! Piece Together the Fragments of God’s Orb with the Help of the Wizards and Priests.]

– Help prolong the lifespan of the God’s Orb.

– Rewards: Double the reward for the quest: Inject your Holy Power into the exhausted God’s Orb

Seeing the Linked Quest, Iron hurriedly turned towards the Crown Prince and said, “Can you please summon the wizards and priests?”

“Alright,” The Crown Prince said, issuing an order through the chamberlain.

Not long after, all of the priests and wizards in the Imperial Palace gathered around the God’s Orb. All of them were curious, wondering why Iron called for them. However, instead of answering them, Iron turned to the God’s Orb and injected his holy power into it. The fragments that lost their shine and had become like ordinary stone fragments began to glow once again.

The priests looked at the fragments that did not react to their holy power when they tried to infuse it with holy power before. They couldn’t believe that it reacted to Iron’s holy power.

“Ho… How is this possible…? It didn’t react to our holy power before…”

“Once the holy power has been exhausted, you need a huge amount of holy power to replenish it again,” Iron said as he injected a huge amount of divine power on the fragments.

Iron’s holy power continuously flowed to the fragments until they started to float up and glow brightly.

“Do you you can maintain this around the God’s Orb?” Iron asked as he looked at the priests and wizards.

The priests and wizards hurriedly gathered to discuss among themselves. The wizards then inspected the fallen fragments and surrounded the God’s Orb. Only after that did they nod.

“Yes. I think we can help maintain the holy power around God’s Orb.”

“Please prepare right away,” Iron said the moment the wizard answered. Of course, he continued to inject his holy power inside God’s Orbs and its fallen fragments. His holy power continued to flow inside the God’s Orb as if it was a spring that would never run dry.

The priests looked at Iron in awe after witnessing the sight. Then, Iron asked, “Where are the other fragments?”

“We kept them separately,” the chamberlain said.

Then, the Crown Prince immediately ordered, “Bring them all here.”

“Yes!”

With the Crown Prince’s orders, the remaining fragments of God’s Orb were brought to them. And with the help of the wizards and the friests the fragments started to float and shine brightly once again. The wizards created new magic circles while the priests prayed to God, infusing their holy powers and individual powers to the fragments.

“Is it over?”

One of the priests shook his head in response to the Crown Prince’s question. He said, “We have to inject our holy power for an entire day. No matter how strong a Saint is, he will still find it difficult to do.”

“That’s right. It’s enough for now. We can finish it for today and reinforce it later…” One of the wizards said in worry after hearing the priest’s words. However, Iron shook his head as he continued to concentrate on injecting his divine power.

“I don’t know when I will be able to come to the Imperial Palace again. Besides, if we stop here, we won’t be able to finish it perfectly. Right?”

“That is true, but…” The wizard said, mumbling the end of his words.

Iron nodded at him. He said, “I always see the end of things once I start doing them.”

The wizards and priests’ backs were drenched in cold sweat as they went back and worked. They continued to work on extending the life of the God’s Orb all night thinking that they would die if they did not do so.

However, despite their best efforts, another unusual situation occurred in the continent.

[A mysterious race had appeared south of the Divine Nation Alliance! What race are they?]

[Mountain Giants have appeared in the Giant Mountains! The appearance of this extinct species, is it a good sign or a bad sign?!]

[A vortex suddenly appeared near the old site of Atlantis. What’s inside it? The Eastern Command has issued an emergency order…]

Suspicious and unexpected situations appeared all over the continent. Everyone agreed that these ominous signs were the signs of the end coming near. This time, the scholars agreed with the public sentiment.

In the end, the time of destruction has arrived.

***