The Prince Wants to Retire

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Chapter 7: The Invasion of Other Dimensions? (2)

“News of the defeat of the Allied Forces in the East Continent spread across the world, and soon after, reports of losses began to emerge from the New Continent and the Southern Islands as well.

Those who had grown complacent, believing that Ignit could handle everything, ended up proving the dangers of the invasion of other dimensions themselves with a string of defeats.

“We are not Ignit!”

“With our successive defeats, we have realized the majesty of Ignit!”

“The world’s strongest nation is different!”

The Empire citizens, who had failed to grasp how dangerous the invasion of other dimensions truly was, started to understand through the videos sent from foreign nations.

“So Ignit was indeed strong.”

“Ugh… insane.”

The videos sent from other countries were all different.

Even in the East Continent, the creatures appearing from each gate were all distinct.

Some gates emitted entities as massive as mountains, while others were inundated by powerful armies equipped with technologies surpassing even Ignit.

In certain places, legions composed of incorporeal beings resembling spirits emerged.

As various armies with no distinct characteristics surged in, it became evident that both the East Continent and other continents would struggle to respond.

But Ignit was different.

Boom!

– Leave the rest to them.

– Yes! Your Majesty.

Kariel, with formidable flames, wiped out all the countless armies charging through the Special Grade Gate, before passing the remaining task to the commander and heading straight to another location.

“That’s overwhelming.”

“Indeed.”

Watching the videos from the East Continent and other nations, it seemed that while there were Master Class warriors, they barely managed to fend off the invasions with their armies.

However, Kariel was different.

Leading alone, he created a storm of flames, turning the enemies to ashes.

What about the Special Grade Gates?

As monsters close to Grand Master levels began to appear one by one, the citizens of the Empire worried whether Kariel would be in danger.

The massive dragon that had defeated three legions in the East Continent, a giant fly that melted everything, and a gluttonous monster with thousands of huge legs stretching from the sky—all these Special Grade monsters were too much for other nations to handle, leaving them no choice but to watch them settle in.

– It’s about time to make my move.

The moment Kariel muttered that, a giant Fire Giant fell onto the bug spewing acid.

And that was the end.

With just Surth, without summoning other summoned beings from the Great War period, Kariel was powerful enough to handle the dangers of the Special Grade Gate.

And it was the same for Glen and Marquis Sicario.

Glen, tearing apart a horned demon that had been toying with the Imperial Army, split the space itself in two.

Marquis Sicario created countless clones from the grotesque creature that reached the skies, turning it into dust, darkening the surroundings.

“Are those guys gods?”

Their strength was so overwhelming that it could be compared to that of gods, leaving everyone in shock.

The Empire citizens finally realized why the Round Table could be revived.

Those bestowed with overwhelming power as if they had ascended to the Divine Rank held strength surpassing even the heroes of the First Emperor.

Blocking invasions centered around the Round Table, Ignit was just one part of the Empire’s power.

“We have a dense gate defense line established around the Divine Beasts!”

The public newspaper carried the maps of the West Continent.

Black dots and red spots marked the locations of the gates and where the Divine Beasts resided across the West Continent.

Having formed contracts with most of the beings in the West Continent, which contained entities far stronger than those in the New Continent, the remnants assigned to various regions appeared to guard the gates.

“Special Grade Gates and above – Round Table

Dangerous Gates – Divine Beasts and Remnants of the Past

Below that – Ignit’s special troops”

The Imperial Army, segmented by danger level, scoured the West Continent to assess the risks of the gates.

As a result, they managed to block numerous gates, and with newfound security, they began to research the gates as well.

Having already conducted research with the help of Divine Beasts and Remnants of the Past, the Empire could understand the gates even more clearly.

Finally, the research team led by Duke Welch discovered a method for permanently sealing the gates.

“Once a gate appears in an area, it can be sealed almost permanently.”

Upon the announcement by Duke Welch, the ministers cheered.

Having worked tirelessly due to the sporadic gate occurrences, the ministers and bureaucrats wept with joy and cried, “We survived!”

However, that was not the only research outcome.

“The dedicated research team for the Imperial Gates has finally found a method to preemptively discover regions that meet the conditions for gate generation!”

This became an opportunity to organize the sporadic gates more systematically.

They also discovered the regions meeting the conditions for gate creation.

As research on the gates progressed, the Empire was able to construct a more stable defense network, which would soon lead to a surplus for the Empire.

A clear example of the Empire’s surplus was revealed.

“Gates below level 3 – to be sold to mercenaries and civilian organizations!”

Selling gates to civilian organizations.

This was a new law that allowed for killing incoming enemies and selling their byproducts, going beyond mere defense.

The proposal for this law came from Kariel himself.

Until now, they had only seen gates as targets to eliminate.

However, many beings crossing from other dimensions had usable byproducts.

Horn stronger than steel, hearts or cores filled with power stronger than magical stones, and skins with elasticity were all resources that could be processed and used.

For this reason, Kariel decided to allow the sale of usable entities to civilian organizations without completely closing the gates.

“The Empire that sold gates for the first time in the world!”

“The Empire’s confidence in being able to control even the gates completely.”

People from other nations envied the Empire, which was even using the gates commercially.

They could only envy, as their focus was still solely on building defenses and repelling gates like in the days of the Grand War.

“Your Majesty, it seems that the West Continent is entering a stable period. It may not be a bad idea to lower our emergency alert status.”

“Doesn’t seem entirely complete yet, does it?”

Kariel tilted his head at Seriel’s report while gazing at the map.

The purple flags stuck on the map of the West Continent were located beyond the Special Grade Gates.

Similar gates to those initially identified as Demon Lord Level Gates.

From these gates, no entities had yet emerged.

This made them even more dangerous.

“Since a divine being might emerge, tell them not to let their guard down.”

“Yes! Your Majesty.”

Seriel nodded, bowing his head at Kariel’s orders.

“But we can’t just let the troops sit idle.”

“If you wish to…”

“The remaining troops should be allowed to earn some pocket money.”

Seriel tilted his head at the mention of pocket money.

“Have them go to foreign lands and work as mercenaries.”

“Oh!”

“And it would be great if they could also bring back the rights to the gates they handled.”

“I’ll discuss it with the ministers.”

Nodding at Seriel’s words, Kariel let him go and sighed.

The Empire was doing far better than expected.

They had almost perfectly blocked the gates and stabilized the Empire’s situation in no time.

Yet, what troubled him was the high-risk grade gates.

The purple flags were dangerous, but they paled in comparison to the gray flags planted in the northern snowfields.

“I suspect it might be more dangerous than the Demon Lord Level gates…”

The Empire’s research on the gates was not yet perfect, so certainty was out of reach.

Thus, Duke Welch personally traveled to the snowfields for analysis, concluding that these gates likely posed a greater threat than those with purple flags.

“Sigh… how annoying.”

It would be better if they appeared quickly; making people wait only makes anxiety grow.

Neither the purple flag gates nor the gray flag gates had released any entities thus far, causing unease.

Thinking back to when previous gates had unleashed armies within a month at the latest, he imagined these would do the same, but several months had gone by with only deterioration in the surroundings while remaining dormant.

Consequently, the Round Table’s waiting time had naturally extended as well, staying bound to the capital and ready to move out at any moment.

“An incalculable gate. I wonder when it’ll erupt.”

The world’s most dangerous gates lay on the West Continent.

However, a year had passed without any movement from the incalculable gate.

“Looks like someone’s just lounging around today.”

Rufiel gazed at Kariel with envy, visiting the Round Table.

“Lounging? I just took care of a dangerous gate recently.”

“I’d rather be doing that too.”

Rufiel, with dark circles under her eyes, sighed with an exhausted expression.

“Could you lend me some help!”

“Hey! The Empress is pregnant, how could I?”

With the incalculable gate causing prolonged waiting times, Kariel, who had been spending time relaxing during the busy hours while handling dangerously high-risk gates when necessary, still felt a certain degree of leisure.

As a result, Kariel was able to spend more time with Aila, and finally! That fruit bore results.

“At last, the Empress is pregnant! The birth of the next Crown Prince is imminent!”

Just recently announced, the news of Aila’s pregnancy!

As such, Kariel had set aside all duties of the Round Table, focusing solely on overseeing the Empress.

“Can’t you just leave it to the maids?”

“I hear doing it myself is better for my health.”

Focusing tenderly on Aila, Kariel injected fire energy into her body to keep her warm and blessed her three times a day with utmost care.

“The early stages of pregnancy are crucial!”

“Sigh…”

“Hold on for just a month. After that, I’ll help you.”

Watching Kariel blatantly declare he would take a month off, Rufiel sighed.

Next was Seriel.

Handling all military matters, he too was feeling like he was at the end of his rope.

“Brother, this is too much, isn’t it?”

“Take that up with Aila. If she permits, I’ll lend a hand.”

Seriel fell silent, bearing a deep sigh at Kariel’s words.

“Just don’t cause any trouble.”

“What’s that, you punk?”

Muttering to himself as he left, Seriel stirred up Kariel’s anger.

But Seriel was already gone.

– What a sneaky guy. Don’t you feel sorry for your younger siblings?

“I bore all the hardships!”

– Tsk tsk! One day you’re going to be in for a shock.

Taking advantage of Aila’s pregnancy and the Round Table, Kariel had been slacking off for several months.

Unlike what Seriel had said, he hadn’t been merely idling; the West Continent, becoming stabilized as originally envisioned, had begun dispatching the forces of Ignit to other continents as well.

As a result, the wounded frontlines began to be restored as gates were rapidly cleared.

What was most encouraging was that while clearing various gates, the technological level of the world was rapidly rising.

So why was it still so hard?

As human levels rose, so too did the levels of the gates.

“Gates are no longer merely hazardous beings!”

“Gates are entities that can propel human development!”

“It is now time to think about trading with beings from other dimensions!”

The commercial use of gates, enabled by Ignit’s security.

But still, there remained a long road ahead.

Gates that had not been cleared for an extended period gradually widened, attracting more army troops and higher-level monsters, leading the world, excluding Ignit, into chaos.

The only continent termed ‘safe’ in the world, the West Continent, was beginning to shake with that safety.

“Your Majesty.”

“What is it!”

Kariel asked upon the sudden appearance of Talion.

“The incalculable gate has started moving.”

Kariel’s face showed surprise at Talion’s words.

At the same time, Surth, who was nearby, commented.

– The time for leisure has ended.