The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military

Translator: Pai_

At last, Odin was defeated.

The third story of the Apocalypse was also concluded.

Nevertheless, humanity could not laugh.

They could not afford to relax.

As if everything until now had merely been a preliminary stage before the true Destruction, the system directly announced that the true Destruction was beginning.

And after the system voice disappeared, a semi-transparent map of the continent appeared in the sky above the capital of the Empire.

[Black dots appearing across the entire continent. What are they?]

[Estimated locations of an enormous number of gates. Can humanity really stop them all?]

[The disappeared otherworlders. Now we truly have to stop the Destruction with only ourselves!]

After defeating the external gods and the Holy Alliance, the Empire once again moved busily.

They had to stop the true Destruction with their own power, without the otherworlders who had vanished after preventing Odin's complete descent.

The sense of loss from the disappearance of the otherworlders who had been active throughout the Empire struck harder than expected.

Moreover, it was a problem that only a small number of humans from the Holy Alliance, centered around Saintrea, had survived.

“Fucking bastards……”

Iron spat curses while thinking about the external gods.

There was nothing gained from winning the war.

They had even planned to re-educate the humans who had been bewitched by the gods, but the problem was that very few humans remained.

Most of the humans of Saintrea had been sacrificed due to the leadership of the old Holy Nation, including the Pope, and the same went for the Holy Alliance army.

[Holy Alliance Survivor Report]

-Centered around survivors outside of Saintrea including the Holy Alliance forces... (omitted)... in the end, those who had lost reason could not be brought back.

Iron’s expression twisted as he read the contents of the report.

The followers who believed in the external gods continued to cry out to the gods despite their defeat, escaping from reality.

Only a small number of people who had survived in the outer regions, likely because they had been less brainwashed, cooperated with the Empire.

Most of the survivors were now in a state where they were more likely to commit acts of terrorism once Destruction began than to be of help to humanity.

Moreover, the desert region was also in the worst state.

Right after concluding the third story of the Apocalypse, the Imperial Army immediately headed to the desert region.

It was because of the phrase the system had mentioned: "In the desert of the Western Continent, the army of the corrupted shall invade."

[Contaminated Desert Report 1]

Iron looked at the report decorating one corner of his desk with a heavy expression.

Below that report, related reports numbered 2, 3, 4, and so on were piled up in stacks.

Originally, there had been numerous kingdoms at the edge of the western desert of the continent.

But now, all those kingdoms had been destroyed.

Thousands of tribes had also been virtually annihilated.

But that wasn’t the end.

The desert, which was originally supposed to shine with a golden hue, had turned black.

While the Empire had been blocked by the Holy Alliance, the desert had become contaminated and was now the land of corrupted beings.

“Ha! Fuck, this is seriously fucked up.”

Iron ground his teeth when he thought about the external gods who had dropped all this crap and ran away in the end.

The destruction of the desert kingdoms had also been their doing.

Looking at what the external gods had done to this land, cursing didn’t even feel like enough.

1. They brainwashed humans who followed them, turning them into livestock.

2. They handed over the desert region to corrupted beings.

3. They set up altars for divine descent, completely wrecking the mana flow in the western region of the continent.

All of this had been done by the gods.

To them, the humans and living beings of this continent were merely tools to be used.

Respect for life?

If they had such a thing, they could never have done this.

Still, there was at least one benefit from the external gods.

“Has only faith in the Lord God gone up?”

Iron muttered as he let out a sigh.

The fact that there was no more pointless religious conflict.

And the fact that all the people of the Empire, whose faith was now unified under the Lord God alone, were working together to stop Destruction, this one thing had been helpful.

[121d : 23: 17: 43]

Iron looked out the window at the semi-transparent system window floating above the capital.

The system window floating above the area where the old Imperial Palace once stood displayed a map of the continent, along with the time remaining before the beginning of Destruction.

“No time… and too much to do.”

Iron let out a deep sigh and turned his gaze toward the towering pile of documents.

After the war with the Holy Alliance ended, the Empire immediately began preparations to prevent Destruction.

Even so, time was far too short.

It was nearly impossible to defend every marked location on the map in less than half a year.

“Ha…”

Iron sighed again, agonizing over how to deal with the approaching Destruction.

As he continued to process the overflowing piles of paperwork, growing more worn down by the day, a man visited Iron’s office.

“What brings the Governor-General here…”

It was Governor-General Chevara who had come to see him.

He spoke with a grave expression.

“The Eastern Continent… has fallen into the hands of the Ancient Species.”

At his words, Iron’s expression hardened.

“What species?”

“The Dragonkin.”

At Chevara’s words, Iron furrowed his brows.

If those arrogant beings had become rulers of the Eastern Continent, it was safe to assume that nearly all other life forms had been exterminated.

Their extreme arrogance made them view everything aside from themselves as insignificant.

That was the Dragonkin.

“What’s unexpected is that they didn’t kill all the humans. Rather, they apparently proposed reconciliation, purposely trying to preserve a large portion of the human army.”

“An alliance?”

“Yes. Right after winning the war, they formed an alliance. Currently, the emperor ruling the entire Eastern Continent is the leader of the Dragonkin, and the major species have formed a nation by composing its leadership.”

At Chevara’s explanation, Iron spoke as though he understood the reason.

“They must have formed a temporary alliance because Destruction is imminent.”

“That seems to be the case. However… that’s not all.”

Chevara looked at Iron with a serious expression.

“The Eastern Continent has designated the Empire as a hostile nation.”

“…What’s the reason?”

Iron asked with a puzzled expression.

Destruction was a shared problem for the entire world.

Since they had the system as well, it would make sense for them to build a joint front with the Empire, so it made no sense that they were expressing hostility.

“It’s because we annihilated dragons in the North, and killed some of the external gods in the West. Apparently, some of those external gods were worshipped by members of their leadership.”

“No way…?”

“Yes. As a result, a considerable number of the leaders of the major species that make up their leadership… harbor hostility toward the Empire. Of course, the humans of the Eastern Continent managed to suppress it for now by citing the threat of Destruction…”

“That’s difficult.”

If they managed to stop Destruction, they might have to go to war with the Eastern Continent.

Seeing the Eastern Continent act with hostility toward the Empire when unity was already in short supply, Iron let out a sigh.

“Do they… even have any sense?”

Iron couldn’t understand the leadership of the Eastern Continent, who were making such decisions despite the shared threat of Destruction.

Watching Iron’s reaction, the Governor-General gave additional explanation.

The numerous races living in the Eastern Continent had never believed in the Lord God.

From the demi-humans to the races that would be called monsters in this land, the Eastern Continent housed many species with a wide variety of faiths.

Thus, to them, the Empire, which now ruled the Auzria Continent, appeared as an entity that rejected all other deities apart from the Lord God.

From the perspective of the Eastern Continent, which had built peace over a long time through its own version of harmony, this was unsettling.

Even the humans of the Eastern Continent felt that way, so it was only natural.

In such a situation, the Dragonkin who had crossed over from here joined forces with the Dragonkin of the Eastern Continent, won the war, and unified all species.

Then they whispered that the Empire, which had unified the Auzria Continent, did not acknowledge any god besides the Lord God, and now here they were.

“Scum.”

Iron ground his teeth.

It was true that all the humans in the Empire believed in the Lord God, but that didn’t mean they outright rejected other gods.

Of course, recent events involving the external gods had caused a negative sentiment toward other deities.

However, that didn’t mean they intended to disrespect the faiths of the Eastern Continent.

As proof of this, the Merfolk and other surviving races in the northeast each had their own objects of faith, and the Imperial military respected that.

“It seems they used the Empire to more easily seize control over the Eastern Continent.”

Governor-General Chevara voiced his thoughts to Iron, who was grinding his teeth.

At that, Iron let out a small sigh.

“That’s not all, is it. Eventually… they intend to attack the Empire.”

The arrogant Dragonkin would never tolerate a human empire that ruled over the largest landmass in the world.

The Dragonkin, now at the highest position in the Eastern Continent, would eventually be unable to accept the Empire and would strike.

Perhaps, even while Destruction was unfolding, they might stab the Empire in the back.

“How annoying.”

Iron muttered quietly, wearing a cold expression.

They couldn’t afford to go to war with the Eastern Continent right before Destruction.

But just sweeping it under the rug like this left a terrible feeling.

‘Should I go alone?’

He thought, “Should I go to the Eastern Continent alone and clean up the Dragonkin myself?” but quickly pushed that idea away.

He was the strongest on the Auzria Continent, but the Eastern Continent likely had strong beings as well.

To face such enemies alone would be arrogance.

Thinking about how the gods, full of pride and arrogance, had been destroyed by his own hands, he opened his mouth heavily.

“…For now, we have no choice but to let it go.”

“Yes. As of today, the diplomatic line with the Eastern Continent will be closed. The trade lines will also be shut down.”

At the Governor-General’s words, Iron gave a small nod.

“Hoo… I’ll also inform the Eastern Army to designate the Eastern Continent as a hostile nation and prepare accordingly.”

“Yes.”

Governor-General Chevara gave a brief response to Iron, who had understood the purpose of his visit.

“You look very tired.”

“You look even more tired, Governor-General. At least I have a strong body, but you don’t even have that. Please take care of your health.”

“Ha-ha… If only I had the time to do that.”

The Governor-General gave a bitter smile at Iron’s words and stood from his seat.

“There’s already so much to worry about… now there’s even more thanks to the Eastern Continent. I wonder how many hours I’ll get to sleep tonight…”

He sighed as he lamented.

Since they were now effectively enemies with the Eastern Continent, they would also have to consider diplomatic issues with other islands and minor continents.

Most continents had perished during the Apocalypse, but many islands within the Lord God’s domain had survived.

They needed to bring those surviving groups to the Auzria Continent and redefine diplomatic relations with the Eastern Continent.

To handle all of that, he wouldn’t have time to sleep for days.

Iron looked at the Governor-General with pity, gave him a respectful send-off, then sat back down in his chair.

As soon as he received word that the Governor-General had arrived at the Governor-General’s Office, he issued orders to the Eastern Army.

Calling over a communications officer to personally relay the command, Iron began writing the official order concerning the Eastern Continent.

[Designation: Eastern Continent Level-2 Surveillance Target.]

Because there was a possibility they could strike during the onset of Destruction, they were marked as a surveillance target.

Labeling them as a main enemy would require troop deployment to the Eastern Continent, so while that designation was held back, they were at least placed under surveillance.

“The navy’s got more work to do now.”

Thinking about how the already busy Eastern Commander would get even busier, Iron shook his head in sympathy.

“Who's worrying about who here…”

With those words, Iron once again buried his head in the pile of documents.

***

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