The Prince Wants To Retire

17. Blood clots in volcanoes (2)

As the entire army of the northwest, led by the Master, pushed in, the monsters that were about to jump out of the forest hurriedly hid inside.

It was because the humans I looked at were more powerful than I thought.

The monsters, who realized that they were not the humans they knew in a single battle, went inside the forest and did not come out.

The corps commander then summoned the troops that were ready for battle.

“Push up.”

“Yes!”

Even after one battle was over, they did not stop and immediately started preparing for the march.

There may have been complaints, but none of the soldiers spoke out.

“majesty.”

Cariel biting his lip, Tarion looked at him anxiously.

Either way, Kariel thought for a moment with a look of nervousness that anyone could see.

Seeing him dazed in thought on the horse, Tharion stood close and supported his body.

At last, Kariel, who came out of deep thoughts, looked back at Tharion.

“Call me Sir Akelio.”

“Yes.”

After bowing his head once, Tarion left Cariel’s side, and eventually returned with Akelio.

“Did you call?”

“Can you feel anything?”

“What if you say you feel it?”

When Akelio asked with a questioning expression, Kariel said, pointing to the forest.

“Something like black magic.”

“Well, I haven’t felt anything yet.”

Achelio stretched out his senses, but he didn’t feel anything yet.

“Still, that mana storm is unusual.”

A whirlwind made up of so much mana that even the master fears in his heart.

It was forming at the top of the volcano.

“What do you think would happen if that thing exploded?”

“You mean that mana storm?”

“exactly.”

Achelio, who looked up at the sky at Kariel’s question, spoke cautiously.

“At least this area will be blown away.”

“What if a volcanic eruption overlaps there?”

“The western and central regions of the Empire will be destroyed. The aftermath will reach all over the empire.”

At Achelio’s answer, Kariel’s expression hardened.

If a single volcanic eruption was this large, if the remaining volcano exploded in this way, the only future left for the empire would be destruction.

‘Huh, you crazy guys.’

What black magicians did was more terrible than demons.

Warlocks killed more humans than demons who regarded humans as toys.

“Is there something that bothers you?”

At Achelio’s question, Kariel shook her head slightly.

Clearly, what the warlocks want is to use volcanic eruptions to wreak havoc on the empire.

The problem was that something kept getting stuck.

‘what?’

There was obviously something missing.

Kariel furrowed her brow at the feeling that something was tickling her, but she couldn’t remember anything right now.

In the end, he reached the vicinity of the forest, leaving a feeling of embarrassment.

“It definitely feels more dangerous when you see it up close.”

Achelio looked at the volcano with a serious expression.

Although the distance to the volcano was quite far, the mana storm around it was fluctuating.

Wizards had to step out as only knights because of mana fluctuating to the point where it was difficult to exert effort.

Of course, it was quite difficult for the knights to use mana as well.

“From now on, we will start breaking through to the volcano.”

“Yes!”

All troops bowed their heads in unison at the command of the corps commander.

His plan was simple.

1. Break through the forest with troops.

2. Climbing the volcano is only for knights.

3. The troops waiting under the volcano wait for reinforcements and prepare for an enemy attack.

The soldiers couldn’t go through the mana storm that raged near the volcano, so they had no choice but to build a raiding party made up of only knights.

That’s why the corps commander thought of going through the monsters with only normal troops so that at least the knights would not lose their strength in the forest.

The plan was plausible.

The operation was so passable that any commander would nod their heads.

But the situation did not go smoothly.

Not long after entering the forest, I heard the peculiar sound of a crow’s flute.

“Are they enemies?”

“That’s right. It is presumed to be the reinforcements of the Holy Kingdom.”

The crow lowered its head and answered Kariel’s question.

“First reinforcements?”

“Yes.”

“all?”

“I don’t think it is. Only paladins and those who appear to be high priests are coming.”

Those who are likely to be enemies were running towards Kariel’s forces.

If they had come all the way from Seongguk, it would have been difficult for them to know where they were, but exquisitely, they were running towards it precisely.

Seeing that they were coming openly, it was almost certain that they were trying to stop them.

“The Northern Army?”

“The ravens and the marauders are coming right behind them. The rest of the troops will come while checking in on Seongguk’s 2nd reinforcements.”

Upon hearing the crow’s report, Kariel fell into thought.

“Maybe it would be good for the corps commander?”

“Isn’t it right to stop in the first place… … .”

The corps commander looked up at the sky, blurring the tip of his words.

An unusual storm of mana.

It is not known which method was used, but one thing is for sure is that the volcano should not be allowed to explode as it is.

They had to climb the volcano as soon as possible to prevent the eruption.

“kyung.”

“Yes.”

“Bring the knights up.”

At Cariel’s command, Akelio’s expression hardened.

“Your Majesty, you are also a knight of the Imperial Palace.”

Akelio, who says back that the safety of the prince comes first.

But Kariel was adamant.

“If that explodes, the empire will perish.”

“Your Highness, Haona… … .”

“Are you going to play with your enemies?”

Achelio closed his mouth for a moment at Kariel’s words, then nodded as if he couldn’t do anything about it.

“I will take only the Knights of the Central Army.”

“kyung.”

“I absolutely cannot be a knight in the imperial palace.”

At Archelio’s words, Tarion nodded furiously from the side.

Then Kariel took a step back as if she couldn’t do anything about it.

It was important for Achelio to get to the top of the volcano.

“The corps commander, look for good terrain for defense.”

“I will.”

At Kariel’s command, the entire army hurriedly moved to the vicinity of the volcano area through the monsters.

There were already a lot of monsters that had escaped through the monster wave, so the number was very small, but with the master accompanying them, the human army was no different from the monsters’ point of view.

Thanks to that, the army, which easily entered inside, hurriedly prepared for defense.

“Go up.”

“Yes, I will finish my mission and come down.”

Having said that, Achelio took the Knights of the Central Army and started climbing the volcano.

When the head of the imperial palace knights entered the interior, cutting through the mana swirling around them with a single sword, the knights hurriedly followed.

Not long after sending the Knights and Masters upward, the Paladins appeared with a flag symbolizing the Holy Land.

“Stop!”

“We are Seongguk-gun! I’m here to help you!”

Despite the cry of a paladin, the Empire did not lift its vigilance.

Then the high priest himself stepped forward.

“Songguk’s reinforcements! Open the way!”

“The Master is already climbing the volcano.”

As Kariel stepped forward and spoke, the gaze of the high priest who stepped forward changed.

“Is it true that the Master is climbing a volcano?”

As Kariel nodded, the high priest asked again as if to confirm.

“Are you sure the Master has gone?”

“Is that so?”

“It is still dangerous. Priests will need help in capturing the warlocks.”

“Not required. Because the elite of the empire headed there.”

The high priest’s eyes changed sharply at Kariel’s words.

Hearing that there was no master and that even the elite troops of the empire had gone up to the volcano, magic flowed from the body of the high-ranking priest.

At the same time, the magic secretly manifested by the high priest burst out at Kariel in a surprise attack.

cooong!

“I knew it would.”

Kariel smiled and looked at the high priest.

The high priest clicked his tongue as Tarion stepped forward to block the sudden attack on Kariel.

“Did the imperial palace knights and the chief chamberlain remain?”

The moment the high priest muttered with a sad expression on his face, the paladins pulled out their swords.

All Paladins with skills comparable to the elite knights of the Empire.

In addition, a difficult fight was scheduled with the current power if it included the high priest.

Even so, a smile hung on Kariel’s lips.

“Hit it.”

The moment the high priest’s name fell, the light that flowed from the bodies of the paladins turned into a muddy color.

A gray, turbid power possessed only by those who betrayed God.

At the same time, the magic of the high priest also changed to a cloudy color, creating a huge amount of magical spears in the air.

At that moment, Tarion stepped forward.

It was to subdue the high priest.

“Aim only for the Crown Prince!”

Even if everyone died, if only the prince could be killed, the high priests and paladins were fiercely targeting Kariel.

Perhaps it was because of the fact that the Holy Knights, which were all made up of elites, included high-ranking priests, it was not easy to defend even the SS, which was made up of knights commanders.

Then, as if trembling in fear, Kariel stood there, trembling, without turning back.

Seeing that, the high priests and paladins opened their eyes and aimed at Kariel.

‘If only through the SS!’

‘We’re almost there!’

‘You only need to kill the Crown Prince!’

‘Everything is for the sake of the grand generation!’

The knights of the Imperial Palace, the shadows, and the crows that were scouting nearby also joined to prevent the enemy from targeting Kariel, but it was in vain.

The corps commander hurriedly gave the order, but it was difficult to stop the rush of the paladin with ordinary troops.

“die!”

A gap that was forcibly opened as all of the members of the Knights Guard were killed by Kariel’s bodyguards.

A paladin poked his sword towards it.

A sword that only flows with weak magical power after suffering serious internal wounds.

If it was the 2nd or 3rd prince, it would have been an unbelievable attack, but Kariel was different, so I put my hopes on it.

At that very moment, a smile appeared on Kariel’s face, who was lowering her head.

“Welcome.”

The moment Kariel said that, the paladin’s sword was melted down by a huge fireball.

It was only once, but Surt perfectly blocked the paladin’s attack, and that was it.

“sulfur… … womb… … ruler.”

The paladin, who had been rushing forward even as swords were stabbed all over his body to catch Kariel, coughed up blood and lowered his head.

Seeing that, Kariel smiled.

“Isn’t the bait pretty good?”

At Kariel’s words, the paladins who were blocked by the bodyguards looked angry.

Despite his ignorant rush to catch a prince, he failed in the end.

The cost was horrendous. This is because they were trapped in the encirclement created by the commander of the corps and died one by one.

At the same time, the shadows attacked the priests.

They attacked while moving at such a high speed that it was difficult to respond, and eventually they died one by one.

And finally, a high-ranking priest who was stabbed in the heart by Tharion and killed.

However, seeing this, Kariel made a puzzled expression.

“You mean you die laughing?”

The figure of the high-ranking priest dying with a smile on his lips made Kariel doubtful and unbearable.

He failed to kill himself, and also failed to block the raiding party from going up to prevent the volcanic eruption.

Still, they died laughing.

‘Wasn’t a volcanic eruption all about it?’

The moment she thought that, something passed through Kariel’s mind.