A small moan echoed in the dark space.

“Ah… how did this happen… I have no face to see His Majesty.”

The person who was locked up in the dark dungeon was an old man with wrinkles on his face. He looked gloomy, as if he had lost everything in the world.

‘I wonder what happened to Prince Eurius? I’m worried that he might have been caught already.’

The old man was Marius.

He was one of the bureaucrats who had protested vehemently against the current situation and was arrested.

“This is an absurd slander! There is no evidence other than the Holy Kingdom’s claim!”

But his protest was ignored and he had been in this dungeon for more than ten days.

“Sigh…”

Marius’s face looked like he had aged ten years in these few days.

He couldn’t sleep at night because of his worry for Eurius.

More than anything, he felt a deep guilt.

‘It’s all my fault. I didn’t keep an eye on the second prince while His Highness was away!’

Of course, it was not Marius’s fault at all, but he didn’t know that and he was tormented by his guilt for the emperor and Eurius.

“It’s all this old man’s fault…”

“That’s not true.”

“…!?”

Marius was startled.

A quiet voice came from his side.

And that voice was very familiar.

‘Could it be…’

He turned his head and almost stopped breathing.

“Prince Eurius!”

“Shh!”

“Uh!”

Marius covered his mouth.

A scream-like groan escaped from his lips.

The person standing next to him was Eurius, whom he had been worrying about.

“Did you come here after being captured…”

Marius thought that, but shook his head.

If he had been captured, he wouldn’t have been brought here secretly.

Then there was only one possibility.

“You came back!”

Squeak

Clang!

Instead of answering, Eurius swung his sword and cut off both the bars and the handcuffs.

Then he smiled brightly.

“We have to get out of here first. Follow me well.”

“…!?”

A moment later

“Huh… I still don’t know anything about His Highness.”

Marius muttered softly and made a bewildered expression, because no one noticed them moving until they escaped from the palace, which had strict security.

‘His Highness is a great warrior, so I can understand that. But how can he go in and out of the palace without being noticed while carrying this old man?’

Soon, they crossed the city wall too easily.

“Phew, now we can talk.”

Eurius sighed and looked at Marius with a serious expression.

“Can you trust me?”

“Of course.”

Marius nodded.

He was someone who would trust and support Eurius in any situation.

Eurius knew that and smiled with satisfaction.

“I have a favor to ask you.”

***

This place was the Kingdom of Parthia.

It was the largest and most prosperous among the desert kingdoms. Until recently, it had been troubled by various problems, but now there were none of them.

“Is there any change in the Empire’s situation?”

“There is no significant change.”

“Hmm…”

A man with a majestic physique stroked his beard.

His name was Karim.

He was the royal family who actually ruled this Kingdom of Parthia.

He was a renowned person, but lately he had been having a headache over one problem.

“I see. You can leave now.”

“…”

When he waved his hand, his subordinates quietly left. Karim muttered to himself without realizing it.

“No significant change, huh?”

He made a rare uncomfortable expression and got up from his seat.

‘I need some fresh air. What should I do?’

He decided to go outside for a while to relieve his frustration. But then!

“Long time no see, Karim.”

“…!?”

Karim was surprised, but he quickly turned his head with a calm expression.

This room was a place where only he and a few trusted servants could enter, but someone had intruded.

“Who are you?”

However, the person who was in the place where he turned his head was someone Karim knew well.

“Eunin!”

“How have you been?”

The person who walked out of the corner of the room was Eurius.

He was the one who solved the great calamity that hit the Partia Kingdom a few years ago, and Karim considered him to be a great benefactor who he owed his life to.

“How did you get here…”

And he was also the protagonist of the problem that he was currently worried about.

[Prince Eurius of Scharnos Empire dethroned! Wanted as a traitor!]This news spread widely throughout the continent and gave rise to many speculations and suspicions.

Of course, most opinions were that it was unreasonable but inevitable since the Holy Kingdom guaranteed it.

‘But our desert is different.’

However, in the desert where the influence of the Holy Kingdom was relatively weak, and Karim, who had received a great favor from Eurius, had no choice but to worry.

‘Eunin is in trouble. I should help him, but how do I do that.’

However, it was absurd to oppose the combined power of the Holy Kingdom and the Empire with the power of one Partia Kingdom.

That’s why he had a lot of worries lately.

He temporarily made this decision.

‘Since Eunin’s life or death is not certain, I have no choice but to do this if he does not come back.

However!’

Karim was a person who knew gratitude.

Even if it was a fight with little chance of winning, he felt that it was worth helping him when he saw Eurius’s ability and character.

‘If he asks me for help directly, I have to help him.’

Karim was a very outstanding person.

He didn’t know how Eurius came to find him, but he quickly guessed why he came.

He bowed his head slightly with a determined expression.

“I am ready to help Eunin.”

***

It had been a month since the imperial palace was seized.

“Ugh… more paperwork?”

“Running an empire is not an easy task.”

“It could be just because we lack people. We need to recruit more manpower quickly…”

The three popes were busy without a moment to spare from the influx of work.

It was because there was a shortage of competent personnel due to the mass imprisonment of bureaucrats, including Marius.

Speaking of bureaucrats, one of the popes raised an eyebrow.

“By the way, what happened to Marius? He disappeared from the imperial palace and there is no news of him…”

“That’s right. It’s been a little over two weeks since he disappeared, so he couldn’t have gone far?”

The empire seized by the Holy Kingdom was surprisingly peaceful.

Except for Marius disappearing, there were no signs of anything strange.

“Ahem… isn’t it strange? There are still many apostles of the evil god left.”

“But the difference in power is clear.”

“They might be afraid to come or preparing some kind of plan.”

The popes racked their brains but there was no obvious answer.

But they never dreamed of it.

In less than two days, they became so busy that they didn’t even have time to worry.

It all started with a messenger.

“Your Holiness! Pope Your Holiness!”

“What is it?”

The popes quickly went down when they saw the knights running hastily.

They sensed that something had happened because their momentum was not good.

“There is a rebellion in the northern part of the empire! Marius is already there somehow!”

“…!?”

The popes seemed surprised for a moment but quickly regained their composure.

The north was originally a place where Eurius’s influence was strong. They were not unprepared for such an event.

“That’s surprising. How did that old man get to the north in just over two weeks?”

“Maybe he had some collaborators inside the imperial palace?”

Their tone was too relaxed, so one of the knights said again with an anxious face.

“Your Holiness! The scale of the rebellion is not normal!”

“Scale?”

“The north is only wide in land area, not in population, right?”

“That’s…”

The knights hurriedly handed over the report.

“The immigrants in the north have joined the rebels! There are many formidable people among them and they are advancing like an unstoppable force…”

“Heh.”

The popes finally realized the seriousness of the situation. This was not a rebellion that could be easily suppressed.

“Now that I think about it, wasn’t there someone who unified the immigrants in the north as a superhuman?”

“That means they are not easy opponents. We need to prepare accordingly.”

They became somewhat serious, but they still didn’t think it was a big crisis.

That was because the superhuman-level power that the Holy Kingdom could mobilize was endless.

‘If necessary, we can send Galaeus to deal with it, or we can go ourselves.’

They did not know that their arrogance would soon be shattered.

The three popes were not scarecrows. Just like Medit Pope had defeated the imperial guard and imprisoned the emperor, they could unleash superhuman power if they used their authority well.

But not even a few hours had passed when another news came.

“Your Holiness! An urgent report!”

“What?”

“What is it now?”

“This time it’s from the south! There is suspicious movement in the southern desert…”

“…”

The popes suddenly became grim.

When they heard the word desert, they thought of one country.

Kaliha, and the Heimdall Cult!

“The evil god’s followers have finally started their full-scale activity.”

“We have to show them our power this time.”

Mars Pope, who had a fiery temperament, rolled up his sleeves and was about to rush out.

“Your Holiness! It’s not just Kaliha.”

“…!?”

“The desert kingdom alliance, including Parthia, has also suddenly raised their flag against the empire.”

“What?”

“Why would they… Do they have any grudge against us?”

The popes felt that something was wrong from here.

How could these events happen one after another?

What on earth is going on?They exchanged glances and muttered with trembling voices.

“We have to inform the God King.”

***

That day, Count Wallace was sweating profusely as he led the meeting of the nobles.

“…”

They were unusually silent. The recent events in the empire were hard to believe.

“Where is His Majesty the Emperor?”

“It seems that Prince Eurius is in the east. I wonder how he will deal with this situation.”

The nobles’ thoughts were simple.

They just had to side with whoever benefited them.

The Holy Kingdom looked like a thick and sturdy rope to them.

“So, are we going to swear allegiance to Prince Secondus?”

“…”

But it was hard to make that decision. Then Wallace, who was sitting on the seat of honor, shook his head with a serious expression.

“We can’t be hasty. Didn’t you see what happened to Grand Prince and the other nobles?”

“Yeah…”

“We can’t let that happen again.”

The reason why the southern nobles hadn’t gone up to the capital yet was simple.

It was because of the painful memories of being beaten several times.

First, the Grand Prince, who had the second most power after the emperor, was purged.

Then, the other southern nobles who raised their flags were also purged.

Eurius didn’t even get purged, but rather ascended to the crown prince position.

“I will follow Count Wallace’s decision.”

“Me too.”

“I agree.”

“Ahem…”

Wallace, who was timid, found himself in a very awkward situation. The nobles’ eyes were too bright.

‘Count Wallace switched from Grand Prince to Exiled Crown Prince Eurius, right? He also avoided the crisis with a fantastic performance last time.’

‘I trust his decision.’

That’s right!

Wallace had no choice but to do this and that under Eurius’s threat, and to the eyes of other nobles who didn’t know the situation, he seemed like a master of tightrope walking.

He became gloomy inside as he received the important decision-making power.

‘What should I do… Eurius is not an easy person to deal with. But isn’t this situation a bit different?’

But Wallace couldn’t predict how this incident would turn out.

The imperial palace was clearly taken over, and Eurius had been silent for a month. But because of what happened in the past, he thought that it could be a test from Eurius.

‘This is driving me crazy. Whose side should I take?’

The decision he made after tearing his hair out was Eurius in the end.

‘Well, since I’m on this boat, I might as well trust him one more time.’

He didn’t think Eurius would win the war of succession either.

And Wallace had a bit of conscience too.

‘It’s not like there’s another crown prince to follow. I’ve known Eurius since we were young, so he might be better.’

“I would like to wait a little longer. Eurius hasn’t returned yet!”

“I see.”

“Then I will follow your decision, my lord.”

In the end, the southern nobles decided not to follow the central command for the time being. And there was someone who was smiling while watching that scene.

‘Well, half of it is probably because they’re afraid of me, but Wallace has that side too?’

That person was none other than Eurius. He was hiding and watching them, wondering if they might have a different idea.

‘I’ll remember this, Wallace.’

Eurius left their mansion and moved to the rendezvous point.

“Did it go well?”

“It was successful. It was worth training them.”

“Hooh…”

The emperor looked at Eurius with a surprised expression.

‘I’ve felt it before, but he’s not an ordinary guy.’

When he first heard his request, the emperor didn’t like it very much.

“What? You want me to be your transport shuttle? Wouldn’t it be better to just break into the imperial palace right away?”

Eurius shrugged his shoulders and argued.

“Then wouldn’t there be too many annoying enemies? And you can’t help me either, so I have to fight alone.”

“Hmm…”

The emperor felt stung and had no choice but to agree with him.

But the result was surprisingly positive.

The first thing he did was send Nuada to the north.

“Help Marius and come down from the north to the capital.”

“It won’t be hard!”

Of course, Nuada agreed readily.

Then Eurius rescued Marius and sent him to the north to gather forces.

“Gather the northern immigrants and attack the imperial palace. I trust you.”

“Is there any doubt?”

Marius, who was transported to the north in an instant by the emperor’s power, quickly called the bureaucrats and prepared for war. Eurius’s reputation was so great that raising an army in the north was not a difficult task.

And with the addition of the excellent warriors of the immigrants, it was icing on the cake! The northern soldiers were now descending on the capital with unstoppable momentum.

And the third was the southern desert!

“Can you move that group called the Church?”

“Huh? I’m their leader, so it won’t be hard. But they alone won’t be enough to break through the empire’s defense, right?”

The emperor was the leader of the Heimdall Church, or the Demon Church. In other words, he was the actual ruler of Calihara. Naturally, raising an army was a piece of cake for him. With Eurius’s connection, he added Karim’s army and a formidable army was formed in the south as well.

And even the southern nobles were either passive in defense or helping them out. The desert kingdom’s troops were also moving northward toward the empire’s capital at a fast pace.

“No matter how powerful the empire and the holy kingdom are, they can’t handle both the south and north at once. Impressive.”

The emperor praised him honestly.

But Eurius shook his head.

“That’s not all.”

“What?”

“Don’t we still have one more force that we haven’t mobilized?”

“What is it?”

The emperor thought for a moment and slapped his knee.

“I see. You planned that from the beginning.”

Eurius smiled faintly.

“All you have to do is one last favor for me. We just need to join forces now.”