Chapter 85
The Crown Prince is strong.
This was a fact known not just across the Empire, but the entire Continent.
Ask anyone, and they would all give the exact same answer as if it were obvious.
But if you asked how strong he was, you would get completely different answers.
Some would say he could split the sky, while others would say he could split the sea.
Some claimed he could erase mountains, and others claimed he could cleave the Continent.
Still others called it martial prowess capable of destroying the Continent, saying he had even killed a god.
Perhaps it was because, while everyone knew he was strong, no one who had experienced just how strong he was remained intact.
Most people could not clearly grasp the Crown Prince’s peak.
And that was the same for the knight order residing in the Imperial Palace.
It was true that he was an unapproachable existence and a noble personage, and they did not doubt his strength, but.
Debates about just how strong he was were inevitably endless.
“Could Your Excellency really split the sea?”
“But if he really split it… wouldn’t that make no sense? How could a person split the sea?”
“…I feel like he could, he just hasn’t had a reason to.”
“True, but if a reason to split it ever came up, I’d love to see it.”
One who splits the sea.
A true marvel and a miracle.
The knights wished that the Crown Prince would surely create that spectacle, one that would not be found wanting, even if called the work of a god.
Did that wish actually reach him?
“…”
Right at this moment.
“…What is that?”
A single white line in the empty air entered the vision of the knights preparing for the aftershock at the port in the eastern region.
It was a truly unnatural line.
It felt as if someone had taken white paint and drawn a long, thick stroke across an empty space.
“The Little Sun is preparing to write a myth.”
Upon seeing it, the quick-witted division commanders rapidly grasped what was currently happening.
“All personnel, do not close your eyes from this moment on, for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is about to show us the ideal that we knights must strive toward.”
“Loyalty!”
At the knight commander’s words, the knights on standby at the port opened their eyes wide and channeled mana into them.
Rumble.
The white line moved.
The line that had stretched high into the sky slowly descended, falling toward the sea.
“…divine punishment.”
A punishment brought down by the sky above the sky that is the Empire.
Beneath it, no one could endure.
Ruuuumble.
The moment the white line touched the surface of the sea.
Swaaaash!
The sea split apart as if blood were splattering.
+++++
“Sea Slash.”
The pure white flames stretching high into the sky touched the sea exactly along the blade.
“I apologize! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! I apologize!”
Thalassa, realizing the severity of the situation, hastily apologized, but my answer was the same as before.
“Did I not say there is no need to be sorry?”
There was no need for any apologies.
I had no reason to listen, nor did I want to.
The mermaids wished for the Fall of the Empire.
The Empire dreamed of a grand eternity.
If our paths were different, there would be no need to care about each other.
Due to the extremely condensed heat and destructive physical force, the sea split apart, revealing its depths.
As if the waters despised each other.
They desperately distanced themselves from the boundary line I had created.
The deeper the white line went beneath the sea.
A crevasse formed deep within the ocean.
And at its end.
“You lived diligently in hiding. Did you quietly hide in a place like that and wish for the Fall of the Empire?”
The mermaid kingdom came into view.
The screams of the kingdom could be heard.
The sea that had been enveloping them vanished in an instant,
and the mermaids could be seen panicking at the disaster-like situation.
“Why do the mermaids wish for the Fall of the Empire? What is the prophecy book? Tell me everything.”
With my back to the sun, I vastly increased the size of the White Night resting above Thalassa’s palm.
I floated the White Night in front of the sun at my back.
The mermaids could not see the sun, but ironically, they would be able to see nothing but the sun.
“Your Excellency! Please calm down! Please! I beg of you! Please calm your anger!”
“That is not the answer I want.”
Had he still not come to his senses?
I slowly dropped the White Night down the crevasse formed in the middle of the sea.
“I know that if the Executioner’s Covenant is not kept, the Empire will fall! If we perish here… the Empire will also be in danger!”
“Are you threatening me?”
The moment my words ended was frighteningly fast.
Teo, having sought permission with a glance, moved immediately.
“Foolish thing, how do you not know that His Highness has given you many chances?”
Teo snapped his fingers without hesitation, tearing off Half-Pint of Thalassa’s fin.
It was not an amputation, but a separation through telekinesis magic.
“Kuaaaaaaagh!”
“Even at this moment, His Highness’s White Night is falling upon the mermaid kingdom. Do you wish to turn them all into cooked meat? Watch your words, and spit out only the answers His Highness desires.”
At Teo’s words, Thalassa hastily swallowed his screams and gauged his reaction.
The proper fear was finally visible in his trembling eyes.
“…I will give you everything, everything. Please, just spare our lives…”
Perfect submission.
Thalassa curled his body up and begged me to spare his race.
Since I also had no intention of wiping out the executioner’s race, I nodded and withdrew my power.
“I will leave the aftershock to you.”
With those words, a massive amount of water poured toward the mermaid kingdom to fill the empty void in the sea.
The waves flowing in from all directions crashed into each other, creating a tsunami of grotesque proportions.
It was a size capable of easily swallowing an average kingdom.
However, proving they weren’t mermaids for nothing, they swiftly began to calm the tsunami.
The mermaids who appeared in droves around the tsunami began to sing.
The chorus that began stopped the tsunami’s movement instantly, and even reduced its size.
“Perhaps because they are mermaids, they are quite competent in this regard.”
Thud.
Muttering that, I descended from the air and landed on the deck.
“You have worked hard.”
“You did well too, Teo.”
“…It is an honor that Your Excellency recognizes it!!!”
I gave a moderate reply to Teo’s words and looked down at Thalassa, who had begged for his life.
At my gaze asking how long he was going to stay like that, Thalassa’s eyes widened in sudden realization and hurriedly dove into the sea.
'The prophecy book is obviously connected to Mirne. In the first place, does that mean the mermaids themselves are a race set up for Mirne?'
Watching that sight, I fell into thought for a moment.
There was an Executioner who wished for the Fall of the Empire and a race that naturally thought the Empire would fall.
It was so blatant that it was almost laughable.
On top of this, if things had followed the original story, Kailen Marin would have naturally sided with Mirne as well.
Were the Grand Duke of the East, who had a tight grip on the sea, and the mermaids both siding with the Maselin Kingdom?
I wondered if there could be any better conditions to isolate the Empire than this.
'If the covenant is broken, do the mermaids bring a massive tsunami to the Empire?'
With a dragon running rampant, a giant trampling the ground, and the land itself turning into a death trap,
If a tsunami also crashed over the Empire, it had to be considered impossible for it not to fall.
Add to this Gilbart’s Covenant, which hadn’t even been properly revealed yet.
The imperial territory itself disappearing would be nothing.
'No matter how endless the Crown Prince’s strength is, protecting the entire imperial territory would be impossible.'
But thinking about it from another perspective, it meant the Empire wouldn’t fall unless it was at that level.
A nation that would never collapse unless faced with an absurd level of forced misfortune - that was exactly what the Empire was.
Splash!
“I have brought it.”
While I was having those thoughts, Thalassa surfaced above the water with an urgent voice.
“For a prophecy book containing the Fall of the Empire, it doesn’t have any special characteristics.”
The book in Thalassa’s hands had the appearance of a commonly seen book.
It had a black cover with nothing written on it, and the thickness of an encyclopedia.
If there was anything unusual, it was that despite being underwater for quite a long time, there were absolutely no signs of damage.
Tap.
After using mana to bring the prophecy book from Thalassa’s hands.
I immediately opened the book, and right at that moment.
- It is astounding to think a book containing the Fall of the Empire could exist.
- In this book, where matters big and small were all written, malice toward the Empire could be seen
- At the end of this book, it was written how the Empire would fall
- This book is the worst.
The Crown Prince’s memory surfaced.
'He used the expression “the worst”?'
Continuously recalling the memories surfacing, I immediately checked the back pages of the book.
Rustle.
The sound heard every time the pages turned was somehow unpleasant and grating.
It felt like listening to the fluttering wings of a fruit fly stuck on sticky ointment applied to a scrape.
“Hah.”
The final page turned like that.
The contents written there were extremely blatant.
[ The Empire shall inevitably fall ]
It was revealing its malice toward the Empire.
“It feels like a declaration rather than a prophecy.”
Should I say it showed a will to absolutely destroy the Empire?
Even if the contents unrelated to the Empire were indeed prophecies, the contents related to the Empire did not seem like prophecies.
[ When the Empire falls and the Continent falls into danger, a woman shall appear and bring peace to all ]
[ The Empire, which will turn into a demon realm, must inevitably be destroyed. ]
[ Everything in the Empire must be prevented from being tainted by the demonic. ]
“No, is it not just a declaration?”
Why did the Crown Prince say the covenant was not the end?
That reason had just been revealed.
'The Empire turns into a demon realm, doesn’t it?'
I also realized the reason Mirne hadn’t accepted the imperial citizens.
It meant she didn’t want to let the imperial citizens, who would become the demon race, into her kingdom at all.
Since the Empire was slated to turn into a demon realm anyway.
'After the covenant comes the demon realm transformation, huh.'
Right, the Empire wouldn’t fall without this level of forced misfortune.
That was the moment I thought that.
[ You have discovered that the Empire will turn into a demon realm. ]
[ The Empire’s Chance of Annihilation rises. ]
[ Empire Destruction Probability: 100% ]
[ The Empire will inevitably fall within 5 years. ]
The Empire Destruction Probability, which had been quiet for a while, skyrocketed to a ridiculous figure.
Of course, it was because it reflected a figure that would happen in advance, but still, it was 100%.
If it were like before, I would have trembled in extreme anxiety, but now it is just funny.
“Does this scrap of paper dare to speak of the Empire’s end?”
Fwoosh.
I burned the prophecy book.
“Y-Your Excellency! The p-prophecy book! Without the prophecy book, our Coralia won’t know what to do from now on…!”
And as soon as I burned it, Thalassa freaked out and raised his kneeling body.
I laughed as I watched that sight.
“There is no need to worry.”
I honestly couldn’t understand why Thalassa was worrying like that.
“The Empire will rule you from now on, so do not fret.”
The mermaid kingdom, Coralia, was slated to become a vassal state of the Empire.
“I have checked the contents of the prophecy book, so is the matter of the covenant the only thing left?”
Beforehand, Thalassa had said he didn’t properly know about the covenant, but.
Given that he had just shown me the prophecy book after saying he couldn’t, it was hard to trust his words that he knew nothing.
“When I mentioned Nerissa, she received a lot of hate, with people calling her 'that bitch'.”
“…Th-that is.”
“You just need to tell me everything. There is no need to think about where to start, so speak comfortably.”
If you don’t want to see your kingdom destroyed, spill everything you know.