Karnak, Monarch of Death

Chapter 367: The Empire's Counterattack (5)

Emil Strauss stood inside the meeting hall of the three goddesses' grand temple. His eyes were fixated on a map before him. It was a map of the capital, Thea Krahan, with black pieces placed throughout. Reports came flooding in.

Andros, defeated.

He picked up a white piece, removed a black piece, and replaced it with the white.

Navalo, in retreat.

Again, he picked up a white piece, removed a black piece, and replaced it with the white.

Lothrin, holding a defensive position.

This time, he removed the white piece and placed a black one. The way he placed and removed the pieces on the large map of the capital truly resembled a chessboard. Emil studied the flow of battle with a detached expression.

The imperial army's momentum was stronger than he had expected. They were securing strategic positions across Thea Krahan, seizing control of routes leading toward the grand temple.

Of course, some imperial forces were being overwhelmed and forced to retreat, but in the grand scheme of things, the imperial army was maintaining a victory rate of about seventy percent. At this rate, there was a real possibility they could be driven into checkmate.

"The imperial army is performing better than I thought," Emil Strauss commented. "It's about time you two stepped in."

An elf man with green hair, clad in a golden robe, nodded. "I was getting ready anyway."

Giyen Ren rose to his feet while leaning on a wooden staff adorned with green leaves. It was the Golden Branch, the sacred artifact of the archmage and the namesake of the Golden Branch Society. Likewise, Diogres Kolon gripped the Dawnshroud Staff, an heirloom passed down through generations of the Tower of Dawn's masters.

"Let's show them why we're called archmages."

***

Two figures revealed themselves on the towering spires of the grand temple. It provided a vantage point, allowing one to look over all of Thea Krahan.

Looking down over the southern part of the city, Giyen Ren raised the Golden Branch. "Under the sweeping sky, let ruin descend..."

As his clear incantation rang out, the blue sky became shrouded in darkness. Thunderous roars erupted within the blackened expanse that enveloped the capital. Massive bolts of light howled as they surged between the storm clouds.

Giyen Ren gently lowered his staff. "Strike, decree of the black heavens."

The light of the sky fell to the earth. Devastating lightning strikes smashed into parts of the city. Blinding flashes of dreadful light filled the streets, and deafening booms sent shockwaves sweeping through the air.

Giyen Ren's magic targeted precisely the positions the imperial army had secured as strongholds. The hammer of the thunder god came crashing down across the city like a brutal iron mace. Colossal bolts of electricity pierced through buildings and ripped up the streets, flames erupting in every direction. Screams and cries of anguish rang out from all corners.

Diogres Kolon smiled faintly while watching the scene unfold. "Master Giyen has set the stage beautifully. Well then, I'll make use of it."

The sky was now perfectly ripe for spellcasting. Looking down over the northern part of the city, he too raised the Dawnshroud Staff.

Giyen Ren sent him a dry telepathic message.

—How shameless of you. Are you just going to put your spoon on the table I've set?

—Why bother setting another table when there's already a feast laid out?

What Diogres summoned was a colossal storm. "Blow, roar of the sky beast."

A merciless gale swept across the city. Air condensed into a single point struck harder than steel. The ground quaked, and shards of broken buildings were swept up in a violent whirl.

It was a horrific sight. The two of them were simultaneously demolishing dozens of locations from several kilometers away.

This was truly a disastrous miracle befitting the title of archmage. The strongholds the imperial army had barely managed to secure throughout Thea Krahan, the once sturdy buildings, began to crumble like brittle biscuits.

***

Debris rained down over their heads. Knights raised their shields to block the falling rubble as they shouted in alarm, "Everyone, out of the buildings!"

With each thunderous boom, the ground shook, buildings collapsed, and shockwaves rolled outward. Mages raised walls of ice, while priests unfolded holy shields to block falling stones. Even in the chaos, they shuddered at the thought of those responsible for this destruction.

"Those monstrous bastards!"

"What more on earth did they need that they turned to the cult? Despite having this kind of power?!"

They already knew the archmages were powerful. However, they hadn't imagined they could unleash such destructive force from so far away.

Well, Varos wasn't particularly surprised. Beltia can do this much, so why wouldn't archmages be able to?

Of course, even Martial King Beltia couldn't strike so many targets at once like they did, but the sheer destructive power unleashed from a distance was certainly expected. Beltia had done similar things on Dragon's Isle.

Varos urged the soldiers on. "Everyone, move out! Quickly!"

His silver aura blade quivered as he swung it.

Kretas Swordsmanship, Snowflake Storm!

The secret art of Martial King Dreltein was enacted by Varos' blade. Flashes of silver aura shattered falling boulders one after another.

The mages and priests were doing well enough with the defense, but even they could not block enormous masses of debris. Someone had to break it down into manageable pieces, and Varos personally saw to it.

Varos continued to pull back the soldiers while securing a retreat route. In the end, most of the imperial army managed to withdraw safely from the stronghold. At the very last moment, the building collapsed entirely.

Varos let out a sigh of relief as dust and debris scattered in every direction. Considering how sudden the attacks had been, it was remarkable that most of their forces had escaped unscathed. It meant they had avoided serious casualties.

"Whew, good thing we prepared in advance."

***

The two archmages observed the capital from the tall spires of the grand temple. Their expressions slowly hardened. The outcome was completely unexpected. There was far less damage than they had anticipated.

Most of the imperial forces that had invaded the capital were managing to evade the magical bombardment without much trouble. It wasn't as if there were no casualties, but most imperial soldiers had survived despite the immense destructive power contained in the spells unleashed.

It was thanks to how well-coordinated the imperial forces were. It was as if they had anticipated this and rehearsed their response beforehand.

—What shall we do, Master Ren? Should we unleash a few more spells?

—It's difficult to cast effective spells against moving targets at this distance.

All magic lost power and accuracy the farther it had to travel, and the imperial army had a fairly capable magic corps and priests. Though their skill was a far cry from that of the archmages, they were not so weak that they couldn't block spells launched from such a far distance. That was why the two archmages had targeted buildings to inflict indirect damage in the first place.

Giyen Ren pointed downward with his left hand, the one not holding the Golden Branch. "If the damage is too little..."

Diogres lifted the Dawnshroud Staff, letting it hover in the air before turning both hands downward. "We can simply increase it."

The two towers shook as dark energy exploded from the two archmages. The overflowing darkness engulfed the towers and reached down to the grand cathedral below.

"Shadow of Doom."

"Obey the command of your true master."

A massive darkness began to flow through the key lines from the grand cathedral, resulting in the breath of death spreading across the capital with a massive rumble. The black sky shuddered. Beneath that darkness, countless corpses began to rise.

There was no distinction between friend and foe. There were fallen imperial soldiers, as well as fallen cultists. The dead, the killers, the killed and those who had killed now rose together.

Once again, the city was filled with the moans of the dead. The undead army that the imperial forces had worked so hard to defeat was completely restored. No, it wasn't just restoration. Their numbers had actually increased.

The power of darkness they had just unleashed was not simply the necromantic power of Giyen Ren and Diogres Kolon alone. They were using a portion of the Shadow of Doom stored within the grand cathedral.

That Shadow of Doom was a precious soil meant for planting Astra Shunaph. But taking just a shovelful would not cause any major problems.

Giyen Ren smiled coldly. "We save when we can, but we use what we must."

Emil had once described this situation as a chessboard with the capital as its foundation. But it was not a fair game by any means. Their enemies only had one life each, while they could pull their fallen pieces back onto the board as many times as they wished.

"Go forth, servants of Tesranach." A powerful wave of will struck the undead across the capital. "Strike down our enemies."

***

The undead imperial soldiers came surging on once more, even though they had just been struck down. The elf warriors they had just defeated now came back as undead, as ghouls, pressing in again. It was a deflating sight for the imperial army, who had fought so hard for victory.

The soldiers muttered under their breath as if they could not believe their eyes. They already risked their lives to fight, win, and secure strongholds, therefore fulfilling their orders.

But before they could even savor their victory, the strongholds were obliterated by the archmages' large-scale spells, and the enemies they had struggled to defeat were now charging back at them, completely restored.

Even the bravest could not help but feel their morale falter in such a situation. Yet their fighting spirit did not break. It was not merely due to loyalty to the empire or faith in the goddess. There was a deeper, more fundamental reason.

There, the dead were advancing upon them. As the living, it was a sight they could never accept. No matter the cost, they had to win. They could never allow their beloved families and friends to be turned into something so horrific.

The imperial knights gathered the last of their courage and shouted battle cries.

"The goddess is watching over us!"

"Do not fall back!"

At that moment, an order pierced through their brave cries. "Everyone, fall back!"

The voice belonged to Sir Chaplin, captain of the imperial knights.

For a moment, the soldiers could hardly believe their ears. Fall back? They had steeled their resolve and put their lives on the line to hold this ground.

But it was no mistake, as Sir Chaplin added, "Today, we have won! Vanguards of the great empire, fall back with your pride intact!"

***

The imperial army began a coordinated retreat across the city. It was not a panicked, chaotic flight driven by fear. It was an organized, calculated retreat, with the leaders moving their forces in perfect order.

"We have won. Now, we return to the main camp!"

Naturally, the soldiers were bewildered. They couldn't quite understand how this counted as a victory. It wasn't as if the imperial army had achieved nothing. They had been mostly victorious in the initial clashes, and they had succeeded in their operational objective of securing strongholds. They had all successfully fulfilled their orders.

However, afterward, the strongholds had all been destroyed, and the enemies were now surging back at them. And yet, the command from the imperial leadership was unwavering. Their leaders seemed fully convinced that they had won.

"Today's retreat will become the foundation for tomorrow's victory!"

They did not fully understand, but no soldier opposed the order to retreat. After all, wasn't it a hundred times better than dying here on this spot? Quickly and efficiently, they began the procedures for withdrawal.

It took great courage to charge toward the advancing corpses, but fleeing from them required no such thing. All it took was discipline. The imperial soldiers calmly began pulling out of the capital without breaking formation.

The Dark God's forces did not pursue the imperial army to the end. After all, the orders they had been given were strictly limited to defending the capital. From the cult's perspective, they would eventually win as long as they could continue to delay. Chasing after the enemy to annihilate them, only to fall into an ambush, would be a greater loss.

Giyen Ren and Diogres Kolon smiled with satisfaction while watching the imperial army completely withdraw from the capital. "A clean victory."

However, Karnak, who had been observing the situation from the command base outside the capital, was smiling as well. "Good, we didn't lose."

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