"Warrior, this is the reward you deserve."

After bestowing the corresponding machinery upon him, the king smiled warmly as he spoke.

John nodded slightly and was just about to leave Valhalla.

But at that moment, the king’s voice rang out once more.

"Warrior, please wait!"

John froze for a moment. Then, in the very next instant, a system prompt sounded beside his ear.

[The King of the Eaglecrest Empire intends to grant you the title of First Prince. Do you accept?]

John abruptly turned back.

He saw that at some point, a longsword had appeared in the king’s hand. The king was gazing at him with a solemn expression.

"Warrior, I wish to confer upon you the title of First Prince, so that you may guard the borders for humanity, defend the gates of the nation, and protect the peace of the common people. Are you willing?"

[Notice: After becoming a prince of the human race, you will obtain unlimited Fame within the Eaglecrest Empire, half control over all main cities of the Eaglecrest Empire, a 100% increase in the chance of triggering Hidden Quests from all main city lords... and many other rewards!]

John’s eyes lit up when he heard the prompt.

He had never imagined that the benefits would be this generous!

It was truly tempting.

More importantly, from that prompt, he did not hear a single mention of any responsibility he would have to shoulder after becoming a prince.

Only rewards, no obligations.

Who wouldn’t like that?

John immediately knelt on one knee and nodded.

"I am willing to shoulder this great responsibility, guard the borders for the kingdom, and protect the peace of the people."

Compared to the benefits, kneeling on one knee was nothing.

The king nodded in satisfaction and placed the longsword upon John’s shoulder.

"Very well. Today, for the great merits you have rendered, I, the three-hundred-and-seventy-second king of the Eaglecrest Empire, hereby confer upon you the title of First Duke of the Empire!

"May you receive the admiration of countless citizens and enjoy the eternal reverence of the royal court!"

After that impassioned declaration, a system prompt rang beside John’s ear.

[Congratulations. You have become the First Prince of the Eaglecrest Empire. This title is valid across the entire server!]

[As you are the first player to obtain the title of prince, a server-wide announcement will now be made!]

[Server-wide Announcement: Congratulations to Zone 5 player "John" for becoming the first player to obtain the title of prince!]

[Zone 5 player "John" has obtained max Fame, daily gold coin income +100,000, prince privileges... and more!]

... 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The announcement rang three times.

The entire server fell silent for a moment.

Then, in the next instant, it erupted completely!

[Aihawk] (Zone 5, Overlord Guild): "666! Boss John, what did you do this time?"

[Kalund] (Zone 3, Death Guild): "Wait... First Prince? First in the entire server? Am I seeing things, or did the system bug out?"

[Raymond] (Zone 4, War God Guild): "No, seriously. He just came out of the All-race Battlefield a second ago, and now he’s been made a prince? He didn’t even go through the basic baron title process. He just ascended straight to the top?"

[Frost] (Zone 1, Glory Guild): "Unlimited Fame? Half control over the main cities? Double the trigger rate for Hidden Quests? Is this even a reward a human can get?"

[Alvis] (Zone 2, Thunder Guild): "No way. We ordinary players are still worrying about how to trigger quests, and Boss John has already become a prince... Can the gap between people not be this huge?"

[Godley] (Zone 5, Overlord Guild): "The key point is those four words: ’valid across the entire server.’ Does that mean when he comes to the main cities in our zones, even our city lords have to salute him?"

[Shulsen] (Zone 3, Death Guild): "I’m convinced. Truly convinced. From now on, whenever I see the name John, I’m taking a detour."

[Wendyl] (Zone 4, War God Guild): "This is way too outrageous. I’ve never heard of a player becoming the prince of an NPC empire before!"

[Lorian] (Zone 1, Glory Guild): "One-man petition for Boss John to release a guide. Please teach us how to play the game well enough to become a prince!"

[Gerard] (Zone 2, Thunder Guild): "Don’t ask. The answer is: go to the All-race Battlefield, take first place, and maybe you can become a prince too!"

[Balenk] (Zone 5, Overlord Guild): "Forget it, then. Boss John’s strength is honestly terrifying!"

...

Inside Valhalla, after obtaining the title of prince, John’s expression did not fluctuate much.

To him, this title was merely icing on the cake. There was nothing about it that made him particularly excited.

[Your personal panel has been updated!]

John was stunned when he saw the prompt. Then he opened his personal panel and began checking it.

[Player]: John

[Level]: 200 (9 billion / 1 trillion)

[Class]: All classes unlocked

[Title]: First Prince of the Eaglecrest Empire

[Talents]: Wrath of the Raider (SSS), Absolute True Damage (SSS), Wrath Sovereign (SSS), Lord of Beasts (SSS), Dominion Lord (SSS), Divine Healing (SSS), Wrathborn (SSS)...

[Special Talent]: Reincarnator

[Attributes]: Strength 823,226, Agility 823,226, Mind 823,226, Stamina 823,226

[Skills]: Godshadow (SS), Sunpiercer (SS), Lightning Double (SS), Lightning Chain (SS), Annihilation of All (SS), Phantom Blink (SS), Curse Resistance (S), Falling Resistance (S), Poison Resistance (S), War Smoke (A)...

[Equipment]: Staff of Death (SS), Dragon Turtle Set (SS), Dragonflame Scepter (S)...

[Wallet]: 12.9 billion gold coins, 981 silver coins, 937 copper coins

[Items]: Pass Permit, Pillage Order, Holy Grail (Large), Dragonkin Isle Worldfall Ruins Token, Leviathan Palace Worldfall Ruins Token...

...

This panel had already reached an unparalleled level!

John felt that at any moment, he could erase an entire main city from the map, including all of its NPCs.

"With this identity as a prince, perhaps I can visit other main cities and try my luck.

"Maybe I’ll be able to trigger some Hidden Quests.

"If I’m lucky, I might even run into another Class Advancement Quest."

Just as John was thinking this, a system prompt suddenly rang beside his ear.

[The Underground Demon Caves are rioting. A new server-wide dungeon is about to be triggered: Demon Race Calamity!]

[The Demon Race Calamity has descended upon all zones. Please proceed immediately to carry out resistance operations!]

Before John could even react, the Demon Race Calamity had already descended.

[This Demon Race Calamity has no time limit. It will continue until all human main cities have been destroyed!]

[During the outbreak of the Demon Race Calamity, killing demon race creatures will grant generous rewards!]

[The Demon Race Calamity Points Ranking has opened. Points may be exchanged for rewards in real time!]

[All players, please take up your weapons and protect the human main cities. Otherwise, once humanity falls, all players in the affected zones will enter the era of demon race rule. Good luck!]

...

Upon hearing the announcement, players across all zones had not yet recovered from the shock of John becoming an imperial prince.

Then, in the very next moment, they heard that the Demon Race Calamity had begun.

One wave followed immediately after another.

They were given almost no time to react.

The Demon Race Calamity had even started instantly, without leaving them any preparation time at all.

Near the cities of every race, the ground began to collapse on a massive scale. Countless demon race creatures, their bodies surrounded by Demonic Aura, emerged from below.

The human main cities had fallen into danger!