Karnak, Monarch of Death

A dark aura flowed around the four elders. It was the immense dark mana befitting archliches. Emil was thrown into confusion. "How are they here?"

Hadn't Karnak himself just said it? The archliches were managing the Twilight Order across the empire.

Karnak smiled calmly. "Why would you believe what the enemy says?"

It wasn't as if he talked excessively for no reason. By chattering about trivial facts and laying down groundwork, he could slip in lies naturally, planting them to deceive at the decisive moment.

"Th-that..."

Even so, Emil still couldn't fully understand.

How did no one notice?

There were two archmages present, and it wasn't as if they had ignored the possibility. They had paid special attention to it, yet they hadn't noticed at all? Suddenly, the nature of necromancers' void space flashed through Emil's mind. Damn!

A mage's pocket dimension could store large volumes of items, but living creatures were impossible to store. If you tried to put a living being in a pocket dimension, it would simply die.

A necromancer's void space had even more problems. Items stored inside would be tainted by malice and death energy, making it difficult to store not only living creatures but even food or daily necessities. For this reason, such spaces were typically used to store cursed objects or necromantic catalysts.

But... were archliches considered living beings? No, they weren't, were they? They were already dead. And being tainted by death energy and malice wasn't an issue for them at all. They were already thoroughly steeped in every kind of dark energy imaginable. Compared to most cursed objects, archliches were worse, not better.

"If you break them down, they're just piles of bones, so storing them is easy." Karnak gave a feeble laugh with a shrug. "So, there's really no problem with carrying archliches around in there."

The four elders flared up at once.

"Excuse me?"

"It's not exactly problem-free, you know?"

The infinite void where Tesranach resided was a terrifying hell where even setting foot would shatter a mortal's soul. The void space was similar to that. While their bodies were dead and could not feel pain, their souls were relentlessly worn down within the infinite darkness. Even the dead could find no rest in that hell within a hell.

The archliches had endured unending spiritual torment the entire time they were stored there. They were only fortunate the time was short. If it had been any longer, they might have gone mad.

"We really thought we were going to die, you know?!"

Karnak didn't even blink as the archliches grumbled. "I let you out before you went insane, didn't I? That's me going out of my way to take care of you, you know."

Only Emil seemed dumbfounded. "What kind of monstrous act..."

Still, he could understand the situation. The void space was, quite literally, a space completely isolated from the outside world. No matter how great a mage was, there was no way to detect a separate dimension like that.

To secretly carry archliches in such a void space and release them right under the enemy's nose was Karnak's Operation Gift Bundle.

"I was originally going to call it the Operation Pocket Lich, but I figured that would give it away too easily."

***

The archliches began to move among the billowing dark energy. They spread out wide, surrounding Emil Strauss, the blue ghostly lights in their eye sockets flashing.

Emil's expression hardened. He had confidence that he could handle Karnak and Varos. But now there were four archliches added to the fray? This is bad...

Even if he pushed the blessing of Tesranach to its absolute limit, his chances of victory were not high. But retreat was not an option either.

Gripping his sword tighter, he steeled himself. I'll just have to hold out somehow.

Thankfully, he didn't need to defeat all of them. He just had to wait for Batalok to finish off the church's priests, so that the rank of faith would rise enough for Tesranach to descend.

Or maybe Diogres or Giyen Ren will finish off their opponents and come to assist here.

But Emil was making one miscalculation. The truth that he wasn't the only one who didn't need to win.

Suddenly, Karnak raised his thumb at Varos and the archliches. "All right, then. Good luck with your fight!"

And then, without a hint of hesitation, he turned his back. "I'm off!"

Without looking back even once, he sprinted toward the inner sanctum.

Emil's eyes widened in shock. "Th-that bastard!"

That direction led directly to the Seal of the Shadow of Doom. As Emil moved to give chase in alarm, the archliches immediately blocked his path.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"You think we're letting you pass?"

"Because of you, we had to endure that hell!"

With cries filled with resentment, they unleashed a torrent of spells. Lightning strikes, flames, and mana blasts rained down around Emil. The deafening explosions shook the entire temple.

Watching this, Varos found himself thinking, Honestly, this isn't really Sir Emil's fault, is it?

It was Karnak who had shoved them into that void space, after all. But he didn't bother to correct them. An enraged archlich made a far better ally than a docile one.

Varos, too, drew forth his aura-infused sword and struck the ground. Silver aura and the blessed aura intertwined in the air, sending out shockwaves. Trading blows with Emil, he shouted loudly, as if wanting him to hear, "Take care out there, young master!"

His tone was unmistakably designed to get under Emil's skin. Sure enough, a furious shout erupted behind Karnak as he disappeared into the distance. "You miserable bastards!!!"

***

Karnak was running, heading for the Seal of Darkness. Even from afar, Diogres Kolon sensed it. "That bastard!"

As he hurriedly tried to leave his position, Serati immediately blocked him. "Where do you think you're going?"

A majestic blue aura stretched out, followed closely by the auras of Leven and Lapicel. Three slashes flew toward Diogres's back.

Diogres turned his body, releasing a surge of mana. "You insolent...!"

Dawnshroud Staff flashed with light, and a translucent shield deflected all the incoming aura blades. As expected of an archmage, he was able to respond instantly even to a surprise attack. But this made one thing clear.

No matter how powerful Diogres was, he couldn't turn his back on these opponents. If he wanted to leave this place, he would have to defeat them all.

Diogres's face twisted with frustration. He could feel Karnak moving closer and closer to the center of the temple, but because of the ones in front of him, he could not move.

Serati mocked him. "Oh my, caught in your own trap, are you?"

It was exactly what Diogres had said to her. Throwing his words back at him felt undeniably satisfying. So this is why Lord Karnak always uses the enemy's words to mock them.

But Serati soon realized why others didn't live like Karnak. Her mockery had pushed Diogres into a state of extreme rage.

"What did you just say, you insolent wretch?"

A vast amount of mana erupted from the archmage's entire body, on a completely different scale from before. Until now, he had been holding back to conserve his strength for later, but in his anger, he was now using his full power.

Serati's face crumpled in unfairness. Hey, you're the one who said it first, remember?

She wanted to argue that she had simply repeated his own words, and that it was the same either way. But that only applied when both sides were on equal footing.

"I will crush you, you worthless insects!"

The furious aura of Diogres pressed down on their shoulders. The surroundings shook as if an earthquake had struck, the entire temple trembling.

Leven muttered through telepathy, complaining in shock.

—See? Why'd you have to provoke him?

In contrast, Lapicel was deeply moved. As expected of Sister Serati!

She felt ashamed. In the face of such overwhelming power, she herself had been intimidated, yet Serati stood firm, refusing to back down, facing the storm with unyielding will. This was how a true warrior should behave.

Resolving herself, Lapicel focused her mind. I can't back down either!

She honed her entire body like a single blade, pouring everything she had into piercing the enemy before her.

Tascal Swordsmanship: Flashing Lightning Thrust!

The blade of aura shot forth like a single streak of lightning. Diogres swung his staff in response. "The Dawn's Veil shall eclipse the light!"

Mana and aura collided, exploding in a massive blast. It seemed Lapicel lacked the strength to break through. Her small body was flung backward. But she did not fall.

The small girl twisted in midair, regaining her posture to land safely. She immediately raised her fighting spirit sword once more, a brilliant silver aura aiming its tip at the enemy.

Diogres muttered in shock. "Silver blade aura?"

He wasn't the only one surprised. Serati and Leven wore the same expression.

Lapicel?

How did she suddenly power up like that?

***

Diogres was not the only one growing desperate. Giyen Ren, too, had lost the composure he had earlier, now unleashing his spells at full force. "Damn it! Why the hell are those archlich bastards showing up over there?!"

Violet mana surged, swirling around Drel, Dios, Milia, and Leven like a raging storm. The overwhelming force pressed down on them with an invisible weight that could not be resisted.

Drel clenched his teeth while drawing up his silver aura to endure the storm. This was no time to be pleased that Karnak was heading for the seal. Imperial priests were still being slaughtered by Batalok.

Now, both sides were racing against time. Would Martial King Batalok slaughter the priests of the church first? Or would Karnak unleash the Shadow of Doom before that happened?

Drel gave a bitter lament.

—Who in the world is going to stop Batalok, that monster?

Dios replied with a faint glimmer of hope.

—There may be someone.

Dios hadn't heard Karnak's plan in advance either. He hadn't anticipated things would turn out like this. But there was one thing he could reasonably predict.

After all, there was one fanatic who had hounded him endlessly, someone whose behavior had become painfully predictable precisely because of that persistence!

—If it's him, he'll throw his life away to stop Batalok, no matter what!

***

Dios's prediction was entirely correct. It was true that Desteran had no idea what was happening. He didn't know what was going on inside the temple, nor why Batalok had suddenly burst out of the temple to begin slaughtering the priests of the church.

Yet, he was the first to rush over, and the first to stand in Batalok's way. "Not a single fingertip shall be laid upon the relics of Serakal!"

He didn't care at all about the priests of the seven goddesses. What mattered was that he would never permit any harm to come to the six pillars, the so-called relics bestowed by the Goddess of Twilight.

With a savage roar, Desteran unleashed his silver chain sword. Dozens of aura chains lashed out like dancing serpents, striking toward Batalok. Of course, Batalok could easily deflect all of these attacks. "Hmph! A mere silver knight dares?"

Yet, actually defeating Desteran was not so easy. Charging in recklessly, caring nothing for his own safety, Desteran's sheer ferocity caused even the martial king to be slightly pushed back by his momentum.

The time Desteran bought was enough for Chaplin to arrive. Two silver knights now stood blocking the martial king's path. Even if the two of them fought together, their chances of victory were nearly nonexistent. At best, they could hold out for a few minutes.

But at this moment, even those few minutes were immeasurably precious. Glancing sideways at Desteran, Chaplin let out a bitter laugh. As the protector of the capital, the one person he most wanted to capture and execute had always been the leader of Search Black.

"To think I'd live to see the day I'd fight alongside that man..."

Desteran responded in an oddly solemn tone. "The will of Twilight lies beyond mortal understanding. Is this not the vastness of fate itself?"

Chaplin's expression turned strange. What the hell is he talking about?

But he did not bother to say it aloud. Even if Desteran was a madman, at least he was their madman now. That was enough for the moment. Silver aura surged from the bodies of Chaplin and Desteran like a storm.

"For the empire!"

"For Serakal!"

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