Rise of the Fallen Kingdom’s Third Prince

A small, misshapen being, limping and so ugly it was difficult to look into his eyes.

A half-orc despised by all.

The tiny spark he had ignited.

With every span it rose, it grew in size, until it filled the entire sky.

Since the dawn of civilization, had such a colossal light ever been artificially created?

It was so bright it seemed like a second sun in the firmament. And yet, it did not blind.

In that moment, all of humanity gazed upon that radiance with their own eyes.

The darkness dissipated.

The core of shadows that had devoured the sun, as if refusing to vanish, shook violently in one final outburst of madness.

The darkness rose.

Bursts of shadow erupted in all directions. The gates of the sky cracked apart.

Beyond, a glimpse appeared of a being impossible for the human mind to conceive.

Cedric, raising his gaze, spoke.

“The stupid monkeys are making their final desperate struggle.”

He clenched his fist without realizing his hands were trembling.

“When I crush even your last hope, monkeys, it will be fully proven that I was right.”

Cedric extended both hands toward the sky.

He squeezed out the last drop of malice and attuned himself to the darkness in the firmament.

Light and darkness repelled one another.

Cedric staked everything.

Even the reserve of mental power he always kept for emergencies, he poured into his black magic calculations.

A man who might have been the greatest genius in human history was offering everything he had for the annihilation of his own species.

The darkness rose again.

The opening in the sky grew wider.

The shadow core, bristling with tendrils, struck the vault of heaven like a raging beacon.

More cracks opened.

But the light did not yield either, scorching the darkness.

It was a scene worthy of myth.

The darkness, though weaker and weaker, fulfilled its task until the last second before vanishing.

“Kh…”

Cedric’s eyes were bloodshot.

With veins bulging across his body and blood flowing from all seven orifices, he sent more mana into the core of shadows.

The cracks widened.

The light pressed harder. And still, the gate to outer space opened little by little.

Cedric allowed himself a faint smile.

“Yes. That’s all you can do…”

His words trembled.

“I win. I win…”

Then, someone approached him.

Yuri Briol.

He staggered forward, dragging his sword.

He passed by Cory, unconscious on the ground, and stood before Cedric.

“This ends here, Cedric.”

“No, this is just beginning.”

Cedric forced a crooked smile. He wiped the blood clouding his vision and opened his eyes with determination.

“I have already won.”

He unleashed his power.

Immediately, the darkness burst, expanding and distorting the light, spreading across the entire sky in an instant.

But it never managed to invade it.

Within seconds, the light devoured it and extinguished it completely.

The sun.

And a radiant blue sky.

They had returned.

However—

“Hahahaha…”

Cedric laughed.

“It’s my victory, Yuri.”

He pointed upward.

In the sky, amid the blue, a small black fissure had opened. Through it, the void seeped in.

Outer space was descending. From beyond, a portion of a gigantic entity appeared and then withdrew.

“All it takes is one crack. The void cannot be stopped. Just like the human fate of this species, which survives only precariously, it has been doomed from the start. Every minute and every second, it rushes toward its self-destruction. I am here to prevent it. And to create a new world where everything works efficiently.”

Yuri looked up.

High above, the void was expanding.

Cedric reached his hands toward the fissure.

“Now, the void descends…”

But suddenly, the movement beyond the crack stopped. The void falling toward the earth and the entity stretching its tentacles vanished without a trace.

The opening was empty.

After a moment of silence, a gigantic eye appeared.

A familiar eye.

It was Kruphpk, the god from another world with whom Cedric had tried to make a pact, and against whom Yuri had fought in the void for a long time.

The gazes of the three crossed.

Blink.

Kruphpk’s eye closed and opened again.

The crack shrank.

The connection to outer space contracted to a point and disappeared.

Then, the sky—

A brilliant sun and a clear blue spread in all their splendor. Not a trace of darkness remained.

“Ah…”

Cedric collapsed.

“Ah…”

And began to laugh.

“Hahahahaha…”

His body trembled as he laughed.

“Hahahahahahaha…”

After a while, he turned his head toward Yuri. In his black eyes, there was nothing left.

“How did you do it?”

Yuri did not answer.

Only, with his battered body, he dragged Guilty until he stood before Cedric.

He looked at his brother and gave a serene smile.

“Yes. You have won, Yuri.”

Cedric accepted his defeat.

And, strangely, he did not feel bad. Out of habit, he analyzed the situation.

He had lost everything and was on the verge of death. Then why did he feel so at peace?

Yuri, with an impassive expression, asked him.

“Do you cry too?”

Cedric shuddered.

He realized, too late, that he was crying. He did not know why.

No matter how much he thought about it, he could not find the reason.

Yuri Briol.

And Cory.

His mind, which had always found an answer, refused to function before them.

It was like facing a mystery impossible to solve.

Then, what was that?

Cedric stared at Yuri. A face similar to his own.

Eyes full of determination.

His brother.

“Ah.”

After a brief exchange of glances, Cedric understood something.

“Now I see.”

Cedric’s eyes widened.

“Now I see. Now I see…”

Having lost everything, only in his final moment was Cedric able to understand. He let out an empty laugh.

It was something so simple.

Why hadn’t he understood it until now?

“In the end, I too was nothing more than a monkey…”

Yuri Briol.

His dear younger brother, who had ruined all his plans. He should have known from the start.

Why he had let him live, despite knowing Yuri brought uncertainty. Why he had kept him around as entertainment, even when his first prediction failed.

When he began to see him grow, to feel uneasy. When he sensed that one day he would become his rival.

Even knowing something was going wrong, he had felt a strange joy.

Now he seemed to understand the truth that lay deep down, something even he himself had not known.

“Yuri, I think the monkey inside me wanted you to stop me.”

“You’re not a monkey. You’re a human being.”

“A human being…?”

Cedric let out a laugh. Yuri was raising his sword.

The blade shone brilliantly under the sunlight. Cedric saw the mark of sin engraved on it.

「Guilty」

He wondered with what feelings his brother wielded that sword.

It didn’t matter.

“Yuri, my brother.”

The glow of the sword began to descend.

Cedric confessed.

“I still despise human imperfection.”

And he closed his eyes.

In the darkness, he saw something.

The first time he met Yuri Briol, his younger brother.

Small, tiny, moving clumsily, even unpleasant.

Always noisy.

When that child insisted on learning to fight with a wooden sword, Cedric smiled and agreed to play with him.

He had talent with the sword. Perhaps he could even surpass him.

He, who did not consider himself inferior to anyone, thought for the first time that, in sword talent, that little one might defeat him.

It was something surprising.

That was why he lifted his little brother, who was awkwardly wielding the wooden sword, into his arms.

Yuri burst into pure laughter. There was a day like that.

And that day, the sky was just as blue as it was now.

Now he understood.

Cedric, with his eyes closed, smiled radiantly.

“Even so, you are still my joy.”

That was the end of Cedric.

***

Yuri’s sword pierced Cedric’s chest.

He smiled softly before collapsing.

The blood that gushed out darkened, and from it sprouted black tentacles that devoured his body.

In no time, not a single bone was left.

The tentacles, as if bursting with light, spread and then fell, disintegrating into ashes.

And there, where the body had disappeared, remained a single black book.

Yuri, who was about to swing Guilty again, stopped. He remembered Cruar’s words — the demon grimoire must not be cut.

Now he understood why.

The demon grimoire was matter and, at the same time, was not. A concept born from centuries of hatred and resentment wandering the earth.

Cutting it would only add more hatred.

It could be stopped for a time, but sooner or later it would reappear in the history of humanity.

To destroy it completely, something else was needed.

“Cory.”

Yuri called to Cory, who was lying on the ground. He woke up groggily when Yuri shook him.

“Uh, uh…”

“Cory, stand up.”

“Y-Your Highness, hehehe…”

Scratching his head as if he had just woken up, Cory looked at Yuri, who pointed to the demon grimoire.

“Tired, right? Come on, let’s get rid of that and then rest.”

“That is…”

Hesitating, Cory stepped in front of the grimoire.

“You’re the only one who can destroy it.”

“Ah… no, not only me…”

“Can you do it?”

“Hmm…”

Cory scratched his neck, coughed, and raised his hands.

“Let’s try.”

[Voice of Authority — Feeling]

A small white light emerged from his hands and floated toward the demon grimoire, like a leaf falling in the wind.

It landed on the book.

That was all.

The grimoire turned into white ashes, which a gentle breeze carried away.

“Done.”

“Good work, Cory.”

To erase the black, something opposite was needed.

Pure good.

Something no one had ever found.

Perhaps impossible for other humans — but not for Cory, this small half-orc, a miracle born from the human heart.

Yuri placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Cory, you did well.”

“N-no, Your Highness is the one who…”

“Yes, I did my part too.”

Yuri patted him and smiled broadly.

“See? I was right.”

“Eh?”

“I told you it was important to learn skills. Good thing you learned magic, right?”

Cory looked at him, remembering how he had taken him in and taught him magic, even though everyone despised him.

A person like the sun.

Emotions don’t hide just because one wants them to.

So Cory smiled so widely his face seemed to shrink.

“Yes, that’s true.”

Yuri smiled back.

“Let’s go back.”

Yuri lifted Cory.

“Eh?”

“You can’t walk well.”

“I-I’m fine…”

“Fine? Your legs are shaking.”

“It’s just that I’m afraid of heights…”

“Now you’re making jokes.”

“Hehehe…”

Carrying Cory, Yuri walked beyond where the black curtain had been.

Most of the allied army was sitting, exhausted after giving their energy to Cory.

When they saw Yuri and Cory appear, they all staggered to their feet.

Yuri Briol.

His return meant only one thing — victory.

“Ah…”

They had won.

“Ah…”

The murmur turned into cries of joy.

Everyone raised their arms and cheered.

Yuri did too.

Feeling renewed strength, raising his sword in one hand and Cory in the other, he shouted.

“We woooon!”

“Eh?”

“We woooon!”

“Y-Your Highness, put me down…”

“Cory, you shout too!”

“Eh?”

“We woooon!”

“We… won?”

“Louder!”

“We woooon!”

“We woooon!”

“We woooooon!”

“We woooooon!”

“We woooon…! Cough, cough… ugh!”

“Hey, hey?”

The war was over.

It had been a hard and bloody road, with many lives lost.

But, in the end.

They had won.