Rise of the Fallen Kingdom’s Third Prince

The Mary Mary, the Sunny Sunny, and the Turtle Turtle unfurled their sails one after another.

The residents of Orphen, who had come out to see them off, wished Yuri good fortune.

“Come back safe and sound!”

“Blessings for Your Highness’s future!”

“Long live Prince Yuri!”

At that moment, reporters who had caught wind of the news arrived in droves and began taking pictures of the scene.

Suddenly—

“Your Highnessssss!”

A voice rang loudly across the port.

“Hm?”

When Yuri turned, he saw something he had never seen before.

A man was flying.

Huge wings, made from a wooden frame, were spread wide, and from them dangled someone flailing as he dove straight toward Yuri.

“Kyaaaaaaa!”

He was coming right at him.

Yuri didn’t catch him—he simply stepped aside.

“Augh!”

The man crashed into the deck, rolled several times, and ended up lying there, writhing.

Yuri pushed the fallen man aside and checked the deck’s condition. Fortunately, it was still intact.

“Phew, I thought it broke.”

“Not worried… about me?”

“Why should I be?”

“How inconsiderate!”

“Would a mage like you really die from something like that?”

The man who had just arrived flying was none other than Hernando.

“Ugh… fine, putting that aside. Why are you going adventuring without me? You’re taking Sir Laurent and Sir Jared but leaving me behind!”

“I thought you were busy.”

“How could Your Highness abandon a vassal who’s been with you since your prince days?”

“And didn’t you abandon me to follow Lord Inariel?”

“That was work!”

“This is work too.”

“Ugh…”

Hernando staggered to his feet. Yuri pointed at the wreckage.

“And what’s this?”

“Ah, this. It’s an artifact I invented—it’s called a hang glider. If I apply wind magic, I can fly freely.”

“Wow, science is terrifying in its progress.”

“Used well, it could also serve for reconnaissance.”

“And even for shooting from the air. Anyway, with you here, it reminds me of the old days.”

“Hahaha, I feel the same.”

Yuri remembered the first time he escaped the palace, bringing Hernando and Jared along. Years later, both were still by his side.

He smiled broadly.

“Alright.”

“Perfect.”

“Then, let’s set sail—”

Just as he raised Mamago to give the final departure order—

“Your Highnessssss!”

Again, someone called him.

“What now?”

A soldier came running.

“Your Highness, you must come for a moment. There’s someone clinging to the ship, shouting that they want to board. They say you know them…”

When Yuri went to the stern to confirm, he frowned.

“No way… you again?”

It was Guillermo, an executive of the Elaine Company. Decked out head to toe in jewels like a nouveau riche, he was desperately trying to climb aboard.

“Your Highness! Lady Elaine sent me!”

“And why?”

“Upon hearing about the New Continent, she said that maybe someday intercontinental trade would be possible and sent me to prepare in advance…”

“Well…”

Yuri scratched his head. He had considered something like that himself, but doubted that in a civilization using obsidian tools there would be any valuable goods.

Still, if he wanted to take the risk himself, there was no reason to refuse.

“Well, if you want to suffer voluntarily, go ahead.”

“I didn’t even want to come! That New Continent crawling with black magic terrifies me! But my performance’s been bad lately, and if I don’t do this, they might fire me…”

“If you lack ability, you get fired. That’s fair.”

“How cruel!”

And so, Guillermo also ended up joining the expedition.

Once on deck, he widened his eyes when he saw Alaitotep.

“Oh, that must be a New Continent native! Incredible! His appearance isn’t so different from ours.”

“That’s right.”

“Can I talk to him a bit?”

“I don’t think he’ll understand you.”

“That’s fine!”

Guillermo approached and tried to communicate with gestures. But when Alaitotep saw him, he started laughing nonstop.

Finding it strange, Yuri activated Mamago’s translation function.

[Alaitotep, why are you laughing like that?]

[S-sorry. It’s just that his appearance strikes me as comical…]

[Well, that’s true.]

Yuri nodded. His fingers were covered in gold rings, and yes, it was funny.

But Alaitotep’s words went further.

[Why does he adorn himself with stones you can find lying on the ground?]

[Huh?]

Yuri looked at him, startled.

[It’s like children playing house. When I taught, my little students would decorate themselves like that for fun. It reminds me of home. Hahaha…]

[Alaitotep, what did you just say?]

[Yes?]

Yuri took one of Guillermo’s rings and held it up.

[Are you saying you can find this lying on the ground?]

[Yes, yes…]

[Really?]

[Of course.]

[Are such things abundant there?]

[Just dig a little and they’re everywhere. There are also transparent stones, red, blue, green ones, which the children play with.]

Yuri looked at Guillermo. His eyes were so wide they seemed ready to pop out.

He calmed him down.

“Guillermo. Relax.”

“Your Highness, y-you heard him.”

“For now, let’s keep this between us.”

“Yes… hehehe…”

“Fufufu…”

“Ehehehe…”

Guillermo was muttering like a madman.

“Money… I’ll be able to make so much money…”

What had begun as a purely idealistic journey now promised unexpected profits.

Suddenly, a new plan occurred to Yuri.

“What if we establish an imperial city in the New Continent…?”

Maybe Yekaterina would love it.

While daydreaming, Jared approached him.

“Your Highness. It’s time.”

“Ah, right.”

With the delays from the extra passengers, it was finally time to depart.

Yuri looked back. A crowd was waving, wishing them luck.

He raised Mamago and shouted—

“Set sail!”

The sails spread wide.

The wind invoked by the Anti-Magic Squadron pushed the ships forward.

The three vessels set out for the New Continent, beyond the Awl Blue.

At the bow, Yuri let the sea breeze brush against him as he shouted toward Yekaterina, far away in the Empire—

“I’ll come back loaded with money!”

***

Yekaterina was sitting on the terrace, having tea.

Though she bore the responsibilities of the throne, she never skipped tea time.

She usually shared it with Yuri, but for a while she would have to drink alone.

“Hmm…”

Since she had returned to the past, the aroma of Helgrey tea always reminded her of her previous life.

But not anymore.

She had made new memories, and no longer needed to look back.

She idly moved one foot, legs crossed.

“Yuri…”

Not long ago, she had sent him a letter through a messenger.

Normally, she disliked expressing her feelings that way, but this time she felt she had to.

No matter how strong Yuri was, she worried about him setting out on an expedition beyond the Awl Blue.

That very day, she had received his reply.

She smiled, looking at the darkening sky.

“Hmm…”

He was always unpredictable, but what he said in that letter exceeded even her expectations.

A man who, when leaving for the far side of the sea, left her with those words.

She leaned back in her chair.

“A child…”

Yuri had proposed having a child when he returned from the expedition.

She closed her eyes and imagined it.

A child who would be half Yuri, half her.

Without realizing it, she smiled. Just imagining it made her happy enough to wait for his return.

Savoring the letter, Yekaterina let out a soft laugh.

Then—

“Wait a moment…”

Yekaterina opened her eyes, which she had kept closed.

Now that she thought about it, at the end of the letter he had written: “Take care until we see each other again.”

“I wrote ‘I love you.’”

Yekaterina frowned.

“Shouldn’t he respond in kind if I expressed it first? If there’s an outgoing message, there should be a return. Does this mean I’m the only one who loves him?”

The maid who was entering to refill her cup trembled and hurriedly stepped back.

Yekaterina lifted the corner of her lips while holding her teacup.

“We’ll see.”

***

“I suddenly got a chill…”

Thinking it was from the sea spray, Yuri touched what was beneath his feet.

It was smooth.

It wasn’t the wood of the ship’s deck, but the skin of a sea creature.

The place he was standing on was none other than the back of a huge white whale.

“Modivic, increase speed!”

“Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”

In short, not long ago, the fleet under Yuri’s command had run into a storm in the middle of the ocean that threatened to sink them.

And to make matters worse, a giant whale appeared and attacked the fleet.

At that critical moment, Yuri had leapt into the sea and fought it directly. Thus began a battle between a man and a whale in the raging ocean.

In the end, Yuri won.

The white whale acknowledged its defeat.

And became his vassal.

When the bond of lord and vassal was sealed between them, the storm ceased as if it had never existed—almost as if blessing the start of their union.

“A human making a whale his vassal—only you could pull that off.”

Cruar, who was riding behind Yuri on Modivic, spoke.

“Don’t call him a vassal. This guy is my friend. Right, Modivic?”

The whale moved its body once. “Modivic” was the name Yuri himself had given it.

“Your Highness!”

From the Mary Mary, which was following the whale, Buscolum shouted.

“It looks like we’ll be reaching our destination soon!”

“At last…”

Yuri spread his arms, overcome with emotion.

After a long journey, they were about to arrive at the New Continent beyond the Owl Blue.

Yuri smiled, thinking of lands full of gold.

“Hehehe…”

“You’re smiling in a sinister way. What are you plotting?”

“What are you saying, sir?”

Just as Buscolum had said, shortly afterward something appeared before them.

“Eh?”

Yuri’s eyes widened.

“This is way too well prepared…”

What was revealed beyond the horizon was none other than a port.

Several ships, identical to the Katlchinoti ones they had sunk before, were anchored there.

The dark smoke of black magic covered the whole place.

“Lady Cruar.”

“What is it?”

“I have a disease.”

“What kind of disease?”

Yuri drew his pistol in one hand and held Mamago in the other.

“A disease that keeps me from controlling my anger when I see black magic.”

That dark smoke was proof of black magic, and it also meant that human lives had recently been sacrificed.

Murderers who killed people to move their ships.

Yuri felt his fury overflow.

Cruar nodded.

“Yuri Briol, if you lose control of your anger, there’s no one in this world who could stop you.”

“Unfortunately, that’s true. Now that I’ve become the strongest, it’s an incurable disease. But I can ease the symptoms.”

“How?”

“By destroying the cause of my anger.”

Yuri shouted.

“Let’s go, Modivic!”

“Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”

Running across the whale’s back as if it were a runway, Yuri leapt from the animal’s forehead.

In midair, he pulled the trigger.

His unique technique—Shot of the Soul and Heart.

The barrel spat fire.

The enemies on deck fell instantly.

Yuri landed on the deck of another ship, and the impact split it in two, sinking it at once.

Without stopping, he leapt to another vessel and swung his sword.

Cut of the Soul and Heart.

With a single slash, the ship was cleanly cut into two halves.

In mere moments, Yuri had destroyed two entire ships.

“…”

The Knights of the Order of Vengeance and the exorcists watching him all thought the same thing.

“This… His Highness could conquer everything by himself…”

“Do we even need to be here…?”

“That makes five ships already…”

With a single move, Yuri obliterated targets—and not just people, but entire ships.

Meanwhile, Modivic emerged from the depths, ramming and smashing enemy ships with its colossal body.

“Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”

In an instant, several vessels were reduced to floating planks.

The whale shot a high spout of water, which sparkled in the sunlight like a rain of diamonds.

It was a beautiful sight.

“…”

The knights, entranced by the scene, reacted late.

“W-we should go too!”

“Everyone attack!”

“Board them!”

The grappling hooks latched onto enemy ships, and the Knights of Vengeance boarded.

The exorcists chanted Dispel Evil in unison, nullifying all black magic in the area.

The enemies were useless.

Their obsidian weapons barely scratched the steel armor of the knights.

“Destroy everything!”

“Leave nothing standing!”

The skills of the Knights of Vengeance and the Anti-Magic Corps were the best on the continent. And alongside them were Jose and Francesco, equally skilled, as well as Laurent and Jared.

Each time they swung their swords, the sea split and ships were cut apart.

The battle was overwhelming.

Yuri shouted—

[Anyone who wants to surrender, bow down, or you’ll all die!]

The battle didn’t last long. Soon the enemy was completely cornered, and those who resisted were beheaded.

Yuri was the first to set foot on the new land.

He stood proudly on the ground, Mamago on his shoulder.

“So this is the New World…?”

The soil was soft, and the air smelled of grass.

The sky was also clear and blue.

Yuri glanced sideways.

The Katlchinoti troops on land had lost all will to fight.

All of them were prostrated before him, lowering their heads and begging for mercy.

With the arrogance of a conqueror, Yuri walked forward, looking at each of the faces of the subdued enemies.

“Hmm.”

Suddenly, Yuri stopped and drove Mamago down.

The head of a black mage, who had his forehead to the ground, was split in two.

“Black mages are the exception.”

Yuri had witnessed their atrocities.

Just as in the sea battle against the fleet, as soon as their mana was sealed, the black mages would stab victims for sacrifice, killing them in vain.

It hadn’t been one or two people who had died pointlessly.

Yuri executed the black mages one after another. No one dared resist.

The overwhelming difference in power imposed a fear that didn’t allow even the slightest attempt at resistance.

“That’s enough…”

Looking back, there wasn’t a single intact ship left on the sea besides their own.

All had either sunk or been destroyed, reduced to floating wreckage.

The Knights of Vengeance began disembarking one after another.

“Your Highness, what should we do with the prisoners?”

“For now…”

Yuri raised Mamago and shouted—

[Slaves from other cities who have been unjustly captured by the Katlchinoti, rise from where you are!]

Then, among the prostrated Katlchinoti, some slaves timidly raised their heads.

They seemed distrustful of his intentions.

Yuri shouted again—

[We have come to give you the choice! If you wish to rise against Katlchinoti, stand up! Fight by our side! You will gain freedom in proportion to the courage you show.]

With that, Yuri raised Mamago and invoked the “Spinning Whirlwind.”

A whirlpool of mana repeating in fractal structures.

A roar rumbled as if a storm were striking the earth.

Yuri turned his gaze toward the port.

There stood a massive building constructed by Katlchinoti.

At the top of the roof were ornaments made of human bones, and fresh blood still dripped over them, as if they were constantly replaced.

It was a repulsive sight.

Yuri took aim and swung his sword.

The storm of cutting energy flew forth and swallowed the building whole.

Everyone doubted their own eyes.

The entire building had been pulverized as if a gigantic monster had bitten and torn it apart.

The structure, which only moments ago had loomed imposingly, was now reduced to dust.

It was a display of immeasurable power.

Even the Knights of Vengeance, who already knew his strength, were astonished.

For the people of the New Continent, it seemed like a miracle.

Yuri smirked and rested Mamago on his shoulder.

[Will you join me in destroying Katlchinoti and killing their evil priests?]

The sun, hidden behind clouds, appeared and its rays descended upon him.

Seeing him wrapped in a halo of light, the slaves from other cities all remembered the same thing.

A savior.

The figure from the prophecy had arrived.

They rose, bowing, and prostrated themselves before Yuri.

[Oh, Savior…!]

[No, I’m not that.]

[Oh, Savior!]

[The Savior has come!]

[That’s not—]

On the deck of the Mary Mary, Alaitotep murmured as he looked at the scene.

“It’s the same…”

His companions beside him nodded.

“That’s right. That man is without a doubt the Savior of legend.”

“Could we be dreaming?”

“The gods have not abandoned us…”

In all the cities under Katlchinoti’s rule, a similar prophecy circulated.

It said that someday, a savior with black eyes and black hair, arriving from across the sea, would liberate this land.

Alaitotep murmured.

“They said he would launch fire from his hands, possess the power to cut anything, and unleash storms to destroy the enemies who blocked him. That anyone would recognize him as the Savior without needing proof. And that the day he came from beyond the sea, Katlchinoti would vanish without a trace and the oppressed would receive a new era…”

Alaitotep understood that the legend was unfolding before his very eyes.

There was no doubt.

The demonic Katlchinoti, users of black magic, were kneeling and begging for their lives.

And the slaves who had been treated like livestock were weeping as they praised that man.

One of Alaitotep’s companions spoke as he watched the scene.

“Alaitotep, you also know the second part of the prophecy, don’t you?”

“Of course.”

The prophecy of the Savior was widely known, but few knew its conclusion.

As the crowd surrounded the Savior, Alaitotep spoke in an emotional voice.

“The Savior will destroy Katlchinoti, kill all the evil gods they worshipped, and finally summon the Platinum Goddess who dwells beyond the sea to build upon this land a blessed empire that will prosper for thousands of years…”

The moment he finished speaking, all the prisoners on the Mary Mary prostrated themselves before Yuri.

“We will never forget this day…”

For the people of the New Continent, it would be remembered as the day of the Savior’s arrival.

For the Empire, it would be recorded as the day Yuri Briol, the Emperor’s husband, first set foot on the New Continent.

And so, five years passed.

***

Five years later, the Katlchinoti had been completely annihilated.

Yuri Briol had founded a new nation there, and the cities and nations of the New Continent that had been exploited by Katlchinoti declared their allegiance, forming a vast federation.

Its name was the United States of Ameria.

The name came from the fact that the inhabitants of the New Continent called their land “Ameria.”

The United States of Ameria recognized as head of state Yekaterina Ivarna Granzaien, empress of the Empire across the sea. However, each member state governed itself autonomously, making it a loose form of Imperial Confederation.

A peace and prosperity that seemed eternal continued.

A golden age unprecedented in history.

But for Yuri Briol, the hero who had saved the continent and was revered as the savior of Ameria, it was not a happy era.

Unwillingly turned into the ruler of the United States of Ameria, he was even more burdened with duties than before.

Even if he wanted to delegate, he couldn’t.

His wife, Empress Yekaterina, had personally traveled to the continent of Ameria under the pretext of an official visit, and kept a close watch on him.

“It’s a good era.”

“Isn’t it?”

“To be able to come all the way to the continent beyond the sea…”

“That’s right.”

Yekaterina was speaking with Elaine, whom she had met during her official visit.

Elaine, who had led intercontinental trade, had become the richest person in the world, and since Yuri was the main shareholder of the Elaine Company, his fortune had also reached an immeasurable level.

Elaine smiled.

“Despite that disastrous war, the world recovered quickly. Back then, I never thought the day would come when I could drink tea with Your Majesty, in peace, in such a faraway land…”

She remembered the past.

A mysterious boy who appeared before her when she had nothing, entrusting her with a job.

That boy ended up changing the fate of the world.

“That’s right. I didn’t think such a day would come either.”

They both drank their tea in silence, when suddenly—

“Mom.”

A little girl came running with short steps.

Black hair like the night and green eyes that shone like jewels.

An angelic, charming face.

She was none other than the daughter between Yuri and Yekaterina, the princess destined to inherit the Empire.

“Mom, mom.”

“What is it?”

“It’s just…”

The girl, with her mother’s white skin and a slight blush on her cheeks, said—

“Papa’s not here…”

“Eh?”

“I wanted to play with Papa, but he’s not here…”

“Yuri’s not here?”

Yekaterina immediately stood up. A bad feeling crossed her mind.

“Elaine, I have a bad feeling. Will you come with me?”

“Of course.”

The two left the terrace and headed to the office where Yuri was supposed to be.

Yekaterina unhesitatingly opened the door marked with the bald eagle emblem, symbol of the ruler of the United States of Ameria.

“…”

No one was there.

On the desk still lay scattered documents, as if he had been working there until recently. Behind the misaligned chair, the window was wide open, and the wind was making the curtains flutter freely.

Yekaterina, feeling a strong premonition, approached the desk.

She clenched her fist.

“Yuri…!”

On the table was a note.

In it, Yuri left a brief excuse—something very important and serious had come up, and he had no choice.

Yekaterina put her hand to her forehead.

“He ran away again…”

Elaine was dumbfounded.

“Oh my god! What do we do?”

“First I must contact the Empire. Let’s start by ordering a search with Sir Laurent and Sir Jared.”

“What comes after the New Continent? An empire in the depths of the sea? An underground one? Or in the sky?”

“Don’t say such ominous things!”

The hero who had saved the continent and the savior of Ameria—Yuri Briol.

With his escape, the winds of the storm began to stir the world once again.

Unaware of the adults’ concern, the little princess, who had run after them, smiled brightly, thinking of her father, whom she loved most in the world.

“Run away…? How fun!”