《Grandson of the Holy Emperor is a Necromancer》


 Chapter 1

    Life could be so unpredictable.


    I mean, who could have guessed that you¡¯d just suddenly die from a VR game project you participated in with the simple hopes of making some pocket change?


    This stinging sensation alongside the smell of cooked flesh ¨C yup, this was definitely an electrocution.


    By the time I lost consciousness and woke back up again, I was already possessing a different body.


    Was this reincarnation? Maybe possession?


    I couldn¡¯t really tell.


    However, one thing I knew for sure was that the class I picked for the game testing ¨C ¡®Necromancer¡¯ ¨C became my current ¡®Profession¡¯.


    What¡¯s worse was that I now lived in a theocracy where the Holy Emperor set the laws. It seemed that I became the ¡®mangnani¡¯ grandson of the Holy Emperor himself.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m f*cked.¡±


    < 001. Prologue > Fin.

 Chapter 2

    Even though this was during the middle of the day, greyish, chilly fog was blanketing everything the eyes could see.


    I gripped the shovel real tight and slammed it hard against the ground.


    Sweat trickled down as I panted heavily. My whole body felt heavy like a soaked sponge.


    I glanced at my side towards the wagon filled with corpses. I was currently burying them underground. Anyone unfamiliar with this sight might think that they ran into a horrifying scene of mass murder. Regrettably, though, that wasn¡¯t the case.


    ¡°Yup, being a gravekeeper is no picnic at all.¡±


    Indeed, I was working as a Gravekeeper.


    Chilly atmosphere enveloped the entire graveyard.


    I shifted my gaze towards a derelict monastery on the verge of collapsing.


    In this northern region covered by snow 365 days a year, the Land of the Dead Spirits where rotting corpses and various undeads rampaged about, I was spending my days as the exiled Imperial Prince.


    **


    If you asked who possessed the absolute authority in this Continent, then people would most likely point at just one man.


    He was the king of humanity. An existence that even the lofty emperors had to be respectful and mindful of.


    He, in a nutshell, was the Holy Emperor, also referred to as God¡¯s emissary.


    Anyone who inherited the Holy Emperor¡¯s bloodline would be treated as a person blessed with a noble lineage. Too bad my situation was somewhat different from that.


    ¡°Banishment is it?¡±


    I clicked my tongue as I stared at the side of the graveyard.


    The weather might have been chilly, but flies still buzzed around the corpses atop the wagon, with maggots crawling all over said corpses as their companions.


    I hoisted the shovel on my shoulder, a bitter grin etched on my lips.


    ¡°Why did it have to be this particular body, though?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure whether this was a reincarnation or a possession, but what mattered here was the fact that the owner of this body had been banished to this place, the Land of the Dead Spirits.


    He was then given the job of a gravekeeper here.


    The reason was pretty simple¨Che was a complete trash, a maggot no one wanted to be associated with.


    Honestly speaking, this body¡¯s original memories didn¡¯t exist anymore. However, I would still hear some stories about this body¡¯s past on occasion.


    For example, while walking around the imperial palace, he felt quite bored, and so, he summoned a servant only to kick and slap the living hell out of the poor person.


    Another one includes him spotting a servant girl walking around and sexually assaulting her, or he¡¯d mercilessly beat up a tutor coming to teach him just because he got bored again.


    Sure, a portion of aristocrats would also do something like this, it also means that such a simple reason couldn¡¯t have warranted a banishment for the Imperial Prince and become a gravekeeper here.


    The actual reason why he got banished to not just a regular frontier region, but to a very dangerous one at that, even becoming a gravekeeper was¡­


    ¡­[Blasphemy], that¡¯s what.


    The libido of the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson had awakened and he tried to rape a certain esteemed daughter of a noble, one who came to the Theocratic Empire to train to become a lady-in-waiting.


    During the deed itself, he was discovered by an archbishop who came to pay his respects to the Holy Emperor. Now normally¡­


    ¨C Tsk, tsk. That mangnani is causing yet another incident.


    ¡­That¡¯s where the matter should¡¯ve ended along with the Archbishop stopping the youth.


    However, the problem was that the lady-in-training happened to be the granddaughter of the same archbishop who discovered the deed midway.


    The granddaughter he sent to the Imperial Palace to learn refinement and etiquette was about to be raped, and he got to personally witness that sorry sight.


    Of course, the archbishop flipped his lid.


    Unsurprisingly, the incident of the archbishop using his crosier to beat the living daylights out of the Imperial Grandson at the time occurred.


    Both of them were summoned before the Holy Emperor right away.


    One could say that the next-most powerful person besides the cardinal was the archbishop, but such a thing wouldn¡¯t matter after beating up the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson. However, as the grandson was also guilty in this case, both were punished with two months of house arrest.


    Things seemed to have calmed down with the case now closed, but then¡­


    ¨C He dared to hit me?


    The immature boy of 15 years old sneaked into the archbishop¡¯s quarters and proceeded to burn his holy scriptures. He broke the cross and then painted the wall with large letters that read ¨C ¡°A lowly bastard who sleeps with Goddess Gaia!¡±


    Despite him living in a theocratic system, and on top of that, he was even the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson, and yet he dared to blaspheme! What a crazy and reckless fool he was.


    Thanks to that, the Holy Emperor¡¯s pent-up rage exploded and he promptly banished his grandson to the Land of the Dead Spirits up north.


    The Imperial Grandson¡¯s authority and status were stripped away from him, and he was even ordered to perform services to the village there.


    ¨C Mourn for the dead and improve yourself that way.


    This was probably what the Holy Emperor was thinking at the time.


    While in post-banishment, the influence the boy possessed as the potential successor of the Holy Emperor vanished too. He didn¡¯t even have any escorts anymore.


    It was easy to guess what the Emperor¡¯s intentions were. He wouldn¡¯t give a damn even if the boy got kidnapped by another country, or his life was endangered by something else in this dangerous land.


    Basically, the Holy Emperor had abandoned the boy.


    ¡°Even then, suicide is just not on, dude.¡±


    The grandson, while full of dissatisfaction, headed to a nearby village and went on a rampage. He acted like an arse and not even a day later, Paladins came to visit him.


    The Imperial Grandson got subdued in an instant. He was then imprisoned inside the monastery with nothing but prayers and water as his nourishment. After that day, the boy became truly enraged.


    ¨C This is unfair. Too unfair. How dare those lowly things¡­!


    This whole thing must¡¯ve been completely unacceptable when viewed from the perspective of an once-lofty Imperial Grandson.


    Then again, he got banished to some backwoods to lug around corpses and shovel the ground. He probably couldn¡¯t see a better future anymore.


    Was that the reason why he did it?


    By the time ¡®I¡¯ gained consciousness, I was already flailing about in a noose around my neck after he hanged himself.


    Indeed, the Holy Emperor¡¯s dumb grandson complained about his sad fate and tried to kill himself.


    ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t matter now, does it?¡±


    That was all in the past now. It wasn¡¯t something I should particularly worry about anyway. This body had now become mine and my second life had begun.


    However, it would have been nice to live the life of a gold spoon in the Imperial Palace¡­ but well, living as a gravekeeper wasn¡¯t so bad either. Actually, this suited my personality better.


    Maybe because of the profession ¡®Necromancer¡¯ that I chose in the game I was playing for my part-time work in the previous life, I didn¡¯t really feel any repulsion when handling all these corpses.


    Hell, I was even okay with all the dreary, gloomy fog and the still silence, as well as the lingering stench wafting around here.


    ¡°I sincerely pray that I¡¯m not some loon who loves to spend time with dead bodies¡­¡±


    I muttered to myself as I glanced at the corpses.


    There was something really odd about me, though. For sure, a Necromancer was a magician-type profession that used demonic energy to rule over death. But now, it felt like the characteristics of this particular profession had been altered somewhat.


    I glanced around the vicinity. After confirming that no one was around, I cautiously touched one of the corpses.


    Suddenly, the body that was ready-to-be-buried emitted white light, and sure enough, it began standing back up on its feet while creaking like a wooden doll.


    -Oh, ooooh¡­


    Rotting flesh, empty eye sockets, and even the unmistakable stagger. This was, without a doubt, a zombie. Yes, it was definitely a zombie, but¡­


    I frowned deeply while looking at such a creature.


    ¡°¡­Why do you possess divinity though?¡±


    Forget about the aura of death, this zombie was overflowing with the aura of life instead.


    It was a zombie overflowing with ¡®divinity¡¯.


    **


    The Necromancy skills I possessed were [Resurrection of the Dead], [Dead Spirit Soldier], [Plague of Debilitation], [Swamp of Death], and [Horrifying Curse]. As for my sundry passive skills, I also boasted the [Mind¡¯s Eye] and [Translation], etc.


    I possessed a couple of other skills, but it seemed that I couldn¡¯t use them yet. I wasn¡¯t able to remember them at all.


    However, they sometimes flitted in and out of my mind, so I merely thought that it depended on my proficiency with my current skills in order to activate them.


    ¡°In the case of my Necromancy skills, they display effects closely related to all things life-related.¡±


    For instance, if I summoned zombies or skeletons, the ones appearing would be filled with divinity and not the normal demonic energy. The ¡®Plague¡¯ and the ¡®Curse¡¯ skills actually granted blessings, all the while the ¡®Swamp of Death¡¯ actually summoned a pit filled with holy water.


    All these skills that foretold one¡¯s death had now been altered to ones that bestowed life. The reason for that must be¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s probably this body¡¯s fault.¡±


    I took a closer look at my current body. Rather than demonic energy, it was brimming with divinity instead.


    Even though he was a complete asshole and possessed not a shred of faith in his bones, he was still blessed with a sizable amount of divinity because he was the grandson of the Holy Emperor.


    I wasn¡¯t sure what the levels of other Priests were like around these parts, but this body¡¯s divinity was probably about average in his age group.


    ¡°Sir Imperial Prince-nim¡­ Your highness¡­!¡±


    A voice called out to me from beyond the foggy footpath. I looked back to discover two men, both seemingly farmers, fumbling about while making their way out of the forest¡¯s narrow path.

 Chapter 3

    They were wearing masks, and with some difficulty, lugging around a corpse. I was so preoccupied with what I was doing that I failed to notice them approaching me.


    ¡°Go inside.¡±


    The divinity-filled zombie wiggled about and reacted to my words.


    It willingly entered the pit on the ground and comfortably laid down. As an added bonus, it even began dragging in the surrounding earth to bury itself. I took care of the remaining soil scattered about.


    I grunted heavily as I closed up the ground and carefully hardened it.


    ¡°Nice.¡±


    While feeling satisfied, I sneaked a glance at the farmers approaching me.


    ¡°Huh? Weren¡¯t you with someone just now, sir?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    I shook my head to deny what he said.


    It¡¯d be wiser to keep the villagers in the dark about the undead.


    Could you even imagine the kind of reactions it would cause if the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson was seen hanging around the zombies?


    ¨C The Holy Emperor¡¯s seventh grandson has grown disheartened by his fate and signed a contract with the devil!


    I somehow managed to ¡®miraculously¡¯ survive the suicide attempt, but now I was controlling zombies? A heresy inquisitor might really get dispatched here immediately.


    It¡¯d be rather difficult trying to convince the Priests of the Holy Emperor¡¯s kingdom, when they only believed in what they wanted to believe.


    ¡°So, uh, Sir Imperial Prince-nim. Uhm¡­¡±


    As for me, I was referred to as either the Imperial Prince or the Seventh Prince. Originally, I should¡¯ve been referred to as the ¡®Imperial Grandson (»ÊŒO)¡¯. But the thing was, the Holy Emperor¡¯s son, ¡®my¡¯ father, who was the first in line for the throne, had already ascended to the seat. But then he promptly went missing afterward.


    So, my current title was apparently the ¡®Imperial Prince¡¯.


    ¡°W-we greet Your Highness, the Imperial Prince-nim.¡±


    There was no way that a couple of villagers from the sticks would know anything about decorum or etiquette. The two farmers belatedly bowed their heads a little as their greeting.


    For some reason, they seemed to be minding my mood too.


    The original owner of this body must¡¯ve thrown an almighty tantrum after such greetings were offered in his way. Probably.


    I actually preferred these simpler greetings though. Besides that, I also had no clue as to what the established decorum or etiquette was myself, so I was in no position to demand that from these two.


    I pointed at the corpse they brought in with my chin and spoke to the farmers, ¡°What is that now?¡±


    Feeling a bit fatigued, I stabbed the shovel on the ground and leaned against it.


    The farmers quickly explained the story behind the dead body.


    ¡°You see, sir, my neighbour Beron died from the plague.¡±


    ¡°Euh-euhk, it was so terrible. I¡¯m worried about us getting infected by the plague ourselves and die later.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t cremate the body?¡± I said in pure dissatisfaction, causing the farmers to stare at each other.


    They then replied with awkward expressions.


    ¡°Well, that¡­ You know, it¡¯s a bit¡­ Even though we weren¡¯t that close, we still said good mornings to each other everyday, so we figured that he should at least get a decent burial, you see¡­ We heard that a simple purification ceremony is enough to let us bury him as an intact corpse.¡±


    ¡°W-we got tasked with this job recently, so we don¡¯t know much about the finer details on what we should do, sir. How should we even cremate¡­¡±


    I glared at them with eyes filled with dissatisfaction as I raised myself up.


    It¡¯d be fine to cremate the body and bring only the ashes, but these villagers seemed to be rather disinclined to harm the corpses. Perhaps it was due to the affection they felt towards one another when the dead body was still alive or something.


    Obviously, the number of things I had to do would increase because of this, but oh well.


    I raised my shovel up high, and then I glared at the farmers.


    The farmers flinched in surprise and backtracked in a hurry.


    ¡°I-Imperial Prince-nim?!¡±


    One farmer was panicking, while¡­


    ¡°I told you his old habit is still there! He didn¡¯t change after his suic¡­!!¡±


    ¡­The other farmer was shouting loudly, his complexion ashen-white.


    They probably thought that my shovel was aimed at them.


    It was then.


    -Ku-ohhhh!!


    The corpse wrapped tightly in fabric suddenly writhed and began moving. It extended its hand out and grabbed one of the farmers.


    Its cheeks were torn open and its mouth was split wide as if its jaw wanted to fall off.


    Just before the damn thing could take a bite out of the farmer¡¯s neck, my shovel sliced down. The edges of the farming tool slammed into the animated corpse¡¯s head.


    ¡°Hiieeek?!¡±


    The farmers got the shock of their lives and ended up falling on their asses.


    I lightly dusted my hand and spoke, ¡°I keep telling you people.¡±


    Raising the shovel again, I performed the kill-confirm strike. A rather bone-chilling noise issued out.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t cremate the corpse, it¡¯ll turn into a zombie in three-four days.¡±


    This world was rather unique in that way.


    I wasn¡¯t sure about a bustling city, but the thing was, when a person died near ¡®negative spots¡¯, such as somewhere out in the remote rural areas, some gloomy forest, or even in the middle of a battlefield, there was a one out of ten chance he or she would be revived as a zombie.


    It was like the standard rule of this world or some such.


    And the ones tasked with dealing such zombies among the villagers were called ¡®hunters¡¯, ¡®gravekeepers¡¯, or the Priests.


    The ¡®negative spot¡¯ found in the surrounding vicinity of the ¡®Land of the Dead Spirits¡¯ was especially strong. However, this was also probably because this was the final resting ground of the Necromancer King, the one who turned the continent into an ocean of death in the past.


    Thanks to that, anyone who died in this place had about a 50% chance of turning into an undead. The villagers already knew about this, and yet their dumb beliefs meant they were reluctant to cremate the dead with their own hands.


    Their reasoning was quite simple¨Ca superstition about getting cursed themselves.


    I wiped the sweat off my forehead and then drank some water out of the leather waterskin attached to my hips. ¡°Whatever. Thanks for your hard work. You may go now.¡±


    I waved my hand dismissively.


    The two farmers swallowed nervously as they stood back up. They then studied each other¡¯s moods before quietly opening their mouths. ¡°Excuse me¡­ Sir Imperial Prince?¡±


    ¡°What now?¡±


    I stared at them as I drank some more water.


    ¡°I-Imperial Prince-nim, sir, you¡­ You¡¯re a Priest in a way, yes?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know crap about being a Priest or not, but I¡¯m the grandson of the Holy Emperor, sure. I¡¯m just the grandson of a man who enjoys the authority of an emperor and a pope at the same time.¡±


    Well, that¡¯s what I was on the outside¡­ Ah, I forgot about the divinity inside me.


    ¡°I-in that case, is it possible for you to bless us so that we don¡¯t get infected by the plague?¡±


    I looked at them with a less-than-impressed glare.


    What the hell were they on about? There¡¯s no way you wouldn¡¯t get infected by the plague with something like that. Do you think that it¡¯s some sort of vaccination?


    Besides, I didn¡¯t even possess such skills either. I wasn¡¯t even a Priest, but a damn Necromancer, so why the hell¡­


    I shook my head as a response to their request, but the farmers didn¡¯t give up so easily.


    ¡°E-even if it¡¯s just a simple baptism¡­¡±


    They held hands and begged, their expressions serious and earnest.


    The plague doing the rounds in this area lately must¡¯ve been pretty grave. But then again, that had to be since corpses were frequently being brought into the graveyard. The appeal that the villagers sent to a nearby feudal lord must¡¯ve fallen on deaf ears.


    At this rate, it wouldn¡¯t be strange to see a whole village disappear.


    ¡°What do you mean by baptism? I¡¯ve never done anything like that before.¡±


    ¡°P-please don¡¯t be like that.¡±


    These farmers seemed to be under the assumption that I wasn¡¯t helping them out because I couldn¡¯t be bothered about their fate. They rummaged through their pockets and fished out a handful of coins before presenting me with those.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t much, but please¡­¡±


    Indeed, it was literally a pocket change that a little kid might carry around. I alternated my gaze between the two farmers, and they looked back at me with pleading faces.


    I spat out a lengthy groan. ¡°¡­If that can put your minds at ease.¡±


    Even though I said that, I still didn¡¯t know how to perform a baptism or whatever. I mean, when would I have ever had the chance to do something like that?


    I tried to recall what I saw in passing from TV in my previous life.


    I poured a little bit of water from the waterskin at the two farmers. After drawing a sloppy cross in the air, I mumbled out. ¡°Uh, so. Uhm, amen?¡±


    Even if it was just for show, I thought it¡¯d be discourteous not to do it.


    Originally, one would have to spray around holy water and recite the holy scripture, but as I didn¡¯t know how to do that, I decided to just gloss over the finer details.


    When the farmers saw how sloppy I was, they sighed under their breaths. But still, they gathered their hands and offered their prayers.


    ¡°We pray that Gaia¡¯s blessing will be with us.¡±


    It was exactly then.


    [You have blessed your target.]


    ¡­But how??


    < 002. Imperial Prince is a Gravekeeper -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 4

    **


    As I studied the distancing backs of the two farmers, the [Mind¡¯s Eye] skill showed me their current conditions.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    [Name: Gril.


    Age: 35.


    Speciality: Farming. Physical labour.


    + Currently in a blessed state.]


    ¡ª¡ª-


    There it was, the status info so short that someone who couldn¡¯t be bothered to must¡¯ve written it. However, I shouldn¡¯t be worrying about that right now.


    Blessed? I only drew a cross with my fingers and said ¡®amen¡¯ though?


    Despite my actions that could be construed as sacrilegious, the divinity inside my body still leaked out and the skill activated on its own. More importantly, though, I didn¡¯t possess any skill called ¡®Blessing¡¯.


    I sank into a deep contemplation before remembering a certain skill.


    ¡®[Horrifying Curse]. Damage a target for a prolonged time by inflicting pain.¡¯


    It seemed that its attribute had been flipped on its head.


    ¡­Well, it shouldn¡¯t pose any problems later, right?


    Eiii, what could possibly happen, anyway? I mean, it wasn¡¯t a curse but a blessing, so it should be fine.


    Even rotting food would serve as medicine if you don¡¯t get sick after eating it. If you didn¡¯t die after getting hit by magic, it would be a blessing in and of itself.


    If something really did go wrong, they would surely seek me out right away. With these thoughts in mind, I decided not to worry about the matter anymore.


    I was a gravekeeper. The ¡®Priest¡¯ that maintained the monastery, buried the dead, and performed the purification ceremony.


    Indeed, there was no need for me to sweat over the ongoings of the outside world.


    **


    Right. No need to mind the outside world.


    My job was to simply start shovelling, dump the maggot-infested corpses inside the burial pits, and then perform the purification ceremony so no one would turn into zombies. That¡¯s it. I felt no dissatisfaction towards what I had to do.


    In fact, I didn¡¯t feel any repulsion towards the dead bodies, which probably had something to do with the effects of my ¡®Profession¡¯, Necromancer. This job was even rewarding in its own way and could be fun at times too.


    However¡­ This ain¡¯t it!!


    ¡°Imperial Prince-nim¡­! Imperial Prince-nim!¡±


    The farmers from before had shown up again while pulling a wagon with great difficulty this time. However, the wagon was now carrying 4 or 5 corpses instead of one body they lugged around previously. The accompanying flies and wriggling maggots were simply an additional bonus.


    I fell into despair after seeing that wagon.


    ¡°Goddammit, there¡¯s more?!¡±


    Each of the bodies weighed at least somewhere between 50 to 60 kilos.


    Digging the burial pits and moving the corpses were easy, since I could just turn them into zombies and make them do all the hard work. Afterwards, all I had to do was close the graves and perform the perfunctory purification ceremony. That¡¯s it.


    It was possible to take care of everything so effortlessly, but I couldn¡¯t utilise my skills at all thanks to the farmers that kept paying me a visit far too often.


    In the end, I had to shovel, shovel, and then shovel some more. On top of that, I now had to lug around the bodies and perform the burial properly¡­


    This had to be the zenith of all hard labours in this world, period.


    Goddammit, to think that the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson, supposedly beloved by the Gods, had to perform such stupidly hardcore labour.


    This didn¡¯t make an iota of sense.


    Ahh, the highest esteemed Goddess of love and mercy, Gaia! Have we become sworn enemies now?


    I inwardly threw curses and insults in the direction of the Goddess that the Theocratic Empire worshipped. While doing so, I flinched greatly as I stared at the corpses.


    ¡°How many days has it been since they died?!¡±


    ¡°Pardon? Oh, uh, maybe 3 or 4 days¡­?¡±


    ¡°¡­What about the cremation?¡±


    ¡°As you can see, we didn¡¯t do it.¡±


    The wagon suddenly began bucking wildly. And then, three zombies promptly stood up.


    -Ku-ohhhh!!


    While spitting out phlegm-filled roars, the zombies tumbled down from the wagon.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk?!¡±


    The farmers cried out in panic.


    I became utterly speechless by this scene. Hell, I was even tempted to pretend that I noticed nothing and ignore them for now.


    Why was I given this gravekeeper job? Being thrown into the army would¡¯ve been more preferable than this.


    I groaned under my breath as I wielded the shovel still in my grasp. Then, I began smacking the heads of the zombies.


    The first blow, second, and then, the third.


    Zombies collapsed as their heads exploded. Blood splattered on my face. I scowled reflexively at this.


    After wiping the blood away with the back of my hand, I lifted up the unmoving bodies.


    D*mn it, this was still a part of my job.


    If only my profession was a Warrior or a Barbarian¡­ however, my current ¡®job¡¯ was that of a Necromancer. The profession that was at the height of sneaky cheapness, one that simply threw a bunch of zombies and skeletons out there and watched them fight for you.


    Such was the characteristic of this ¡®dark magic¡¯ profession, meaning there was no way that my strength stat would be any good. I definitely had a weak-ass Priest¡¯s physique. But my muscles and stamina were built up a bit by all the shovelling exercise I¡¯ve done lately, which barely managed to prop me up until now.


    ¡°Even if we¡¯re dealing with zombies, I¡¯ll still feel bad if they¡¯re damaged like this, you know.¡±


    I tossed the corpse with the busted head down the burial pit. The farmers helped me too, sweat trickling down their faces.


    Soon, most of the work was done.


    Feeling tired, I sat down on a tombstone that hadn¡¯t been set in place yet. While pretending to pull something out from a leather bag, I accessed my item window.


    I pulled out a boiled potato and took a bite out of it, with bloodied hands and all. This couldn¡¯t really be helped though¨Ctrying to wash myself before eating every time would be a waste of time.


    Also, this body must¡¯ve been sturdier than I thought, or maybe I should thank the divinity inside me. I hadn¡¯t fallen ill once after occupying this body.


    ¡°E-excuse me¡­.¡±


    It was then that the farmers, finished with their quest to help me in my work, suddenly addressed me. They exchanged glances with each other as if they were scared of the sudden change in my mood, and then, they cautiously opened their mouths.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s like the village has been cursed by an evil spirit. B-because, how can a plague like this one be¡­¡±


    An evil spirit?


    That wasn¡¯t even funny, dude. Looks like these gullible fools got suckered into believing yet another baseless superstition here.


    ¡°W-well, Imperial Prince-nim. You¡¯re a Priest, aren¡¯t you? How about exorcising the evil spirit from the village¡­?¡±


    Son of a gun. They were now asking me to become an exorcist too?


    I frowned heavily towards the farmers as I spoke, ¡°I¡¯m telling you this right now, I¡¯m a Priest only in name. And yet, you want someone like that to exorcise evil spirits? Say something that makes sense, will ya?¡±


    Unfortunately, my job description meant that I couldn¡¯t refuse them.


    As long as I possessed divinity, I should be able to defeat all the undead in this place. However, this was a really cruel thing to ask from a 15-year-old boy.


    And so, shouldn¡¯t requesting the Paladins that showed up like clockwork every month the smarter thing to do here?


    ¡°Besides, I¡¯m only 15 years old. Do you really want to entrust the exorcism to a 15-year-old kid?¡± [1]


    The two farmers shrunk back since they also knew this point oh-so-well.


    ¡°O-of course, but, but¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­The lord Paladins who visited the village the last time told us to leave everything to you unless it¡¯s a truly dangerous matter, Imperial Prince-nim.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Those stinking Paladin as*holes.


    Just as I began hurling all sorts of curses at them¡­


    ¡°A-also, you¡¯ve bestowed us with blessings, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re an amazing Priest capable of that, so we were hoping that you could also purify the village¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    What were they on about now? I stared at the two farmers with a puzzled look on my face. They noticed my expression and spoke up again.


    ¡°After you baptised us, we weren¡¯t struck down by the plague.¡±


    I tilted my head after hearing them.


    Well, you two just got lucky, that¡¯s all.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been dumped with this task, to cart around these plague-infected bodies the whole day. But then, rather than falling ill, we¡­.¡±


    The farmers began patting their torsos as if it was the oddest thing ever.


    ¡°It¡¯s as if we¡¯ve been filled with lots of energy for the past few days.¡±


    My tilting head leaned even further to the side.


    But¡­ surely that¡¯s because of the stamina you built up by farming?


    ¡°The injuries we suffered healed really quickly too.¡±


    But¡­ that¡¯s because the folks of this world are especially sturdy, so¡­


    ¡°Both me and this fool, the two of us are the only survivors from our village.¡±


    I stared at the two farmers with a dazed expression.


    It had already been a week since I used the skill [Horrifying Curse/Blessing] on these two. Between then and now, about 20 corpses were brought here. Those must¡¯ve been their fellow villagers then.


    Yet, these two farmers who brought in all those plague-ridden corpses were still perfectly fine. Even right now, they weren¡¯t wearing those cumbersome masks because they got in the way.


    ¡°The effects of making a cross the air with my hand and saying amen was that strong?¡±


    ¡°¡­Yes, it is.¡±


    The farmers nodded their heads with certainty.


    Holy cow! Dear Goddess Gaia!! Did you feel lazy like me and just haphazardly slap them with a blessing or something?


    I knew it! I was wondering why so much divinity leaked out of me back then. It seemed that the blessing itself had been pretty generous, to say the least.


    I crossed my arms and groaned loudly, ¡°A skill activated all on its own, and it even has a super awesome effect, too.¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    I guess it¡¯d be better for me to raise the proficiency of my skills so that I could use them at will later. That¡¯d be a much smarter thing to do rather than not even knowing that I somehow used my skills.


    I shifted my gaze back to the farmer duo. ¡°Did you say that you two are the only survivors? Then, where are you staying?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re currently residing in a neighbouring village.¡±


    I massaged my forehead.


    This was a job I had to do anyway, so I figured it¡¯d be better to do it as soon as possible. And as an added bonus¡­


    ¡°The two of you, help me out.¡±


    ¡­Doing it while I had two additional helpers would be smarter, right?


    The farmers became somewhat confused after hearing me, but they still nodded their heads.


    **


    ¡°What a bloody spectacular sight this is.¡±


    We arrived at the farmer¡¯s old village.


    30 or so shacks greeted us with a portion of them having already collapsed. There were shattered windows and broken doors; various filth and corpses littered their vicinity.


    A village that would¡¯ve had a starring role in a horror movie was waiting for us.


    I observed the conditions of the corpses lying around the village. After turning one of them over, I ran my hands over the damaged parts and tilted my head.


    ¡°¡­Looks like he¡¯s been bitten by something.¡±


    Did an animal take a bite out of this corpse? No, hang on. The bite mark was too small to say that an animal did this.


    I raised my head and scanned the village. ¡°What a relief, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any zombies around.¡±


    The corpses found around the village were either quietly staying dead, or were far too damaged to become undead.


    I looked at all the puke stains and filth scattered everywhere and scowled real deeply.


    Since there were so many dead bodies around, I naturally spotted lots of rats gnawing on them too. The rodent closest to me stopped chewing a corpse and raised its head to meet my stare.


    It had a disgusting stench and red eyes filled with murderous intent, as well as the faint trace of ¡®demonic energy¡¯ coming from it.


    ¡°¡­A zombie?¡±


    It then bared its crooked fangs and dashed towards me at a frightening turn of speed. It was so quick as if it couldn¡¯t wait to bite the crap out of me.


    I raised my shovel and then slammed it down. The rodent was sliced in half, its torn flesh bouncing around.


    ¡°What¡¯s up with this guy?¡±


    Even though it was in two pieces now, the rodent wasn¡¯t dead yet. Despite ending up as a severed torso, it was still trying to bite into my leather boots.


    I lifted my foot up and heavily stomped on it.


    The farmers flinched at my actions and shrunk away.


    ¡°Since when?¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    I squatted down and picked up the dead rodent before glaring at the farmer duo. ¡°This thing was a zombie. A damn undead rodent, okay? So, since when did things like this little guy begin running around in the village?¡±


    The farmers hastily exchanged glances with each other. Then, while making perplexed expressions, they shook their heads.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know.¡±


    What a refreshingly honest reply that was.


    ¡°Is that information important, your highness?¡±


    They tilted their heads.


    ¡°Well, no. Not really.¡±


    I tossed the zombie rat away.


    It wasn¡¯t only humans who could turn into zombies. A portion of any lifeform that died near a ¡®Negative Field¡¯ would turn into an undead.


    You wouldn¡¯t turn into a zombie just because you got bitten by an undead in this world. However, if the toxin spread in you and you died from that, then sure, there was a good chance that you¡¯d turn into one, but if not, you¡¯d just suffer from high fever.


    As long as you didn¡¯t die, you¡¯d naturally recover. Meaning, it was that sort of an illness, no more and no less.


    ¡°The stench is pretty intolerable though¡­¡±


    This rodent, however, was no longer on the level of simple zombification. A seriously thick amount of demonic energy was permeating from within it.


    Since there was so much, there was a high chance of a human dying from its bites and then turning into an undead later.


    Was this thing a hundred-year old zombie rat or something? If there was only one, or maybe two of these critters around, other animals or even humans would have easily killed it off, but¡­.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I shifted my gaze again.


    I spotted pitch-black shadows coagulating around a certain collapsed shack. Dozens upon dozens of zombie rodents, all with crimson eyes, were glaring at me.


    Seeing this spectacle caused my eye muscles twitch all on their own.


    With such a vermin horde around, it¡¯d been even stranger to see a village that managed to escape unscathed.


    ¡°You two, are you sure you didn¡¯t start a vermin farm or something?¡±


    I asked the farmers, and of course, they hurriedly shook their heads.


    Once they also saw the zombie rodents, they egan stumbling backwards in pure terror.


    ¡°T-there is no way! I-it wasn¡¯t like this a few days ago¡­¡±


    ¡°I remember now. You said that you left this village, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    The farmers quickly nodded their heads.


    ¡°E-even if this place is our h-home village, e-everyone was a-already dying from the p-plague, w-who¡¯d want to stay here? Our f-families have left t-this world a long time ago a-already, t-this i-is why we didn¡¯t have any reasons to s-stay put. W-we¡¯re currently staying in the n-neighbouring village.¡±


    ¡°They readily accepted you two?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes. In turn, the village tasked us with delivering those who died from the plague.¡±


    Oh, so that¡¯s why you were accepted.


    Seriously, man. There¡¯s so many things I¡¯ve gotta do now.


    I glared back at the zombie rodents. ¡°Well, there¡¯s your evil spirit. Not only that, they¡¯re pretty dreadful ones at that too.¡±


    Hundreds of zombie rats opened their eyes wider. And then, the horde began to dash towards us. My sole weapon was the shovel in my hand. Unfortunately, it¡¯d be impossible to fight them with just this.


    ¡°I-Imperial Prince-nim, run¡­!¡±


    While glaring at them, I stabbed the shovel into the ground.


    I sucked in a deep breath, and as whitish air exhaled out of my mouth, I muttered out the name of a skill.


    ¡°[Swamp of Death].¡±


    < 003. Imperial Prince is a Gravekeeper -2 > Fin.

 Chapter 5

    **


    [The Divine Puddle has been summoned.]


    A voice delivering a ¡®message¡¯ could be heard inside my head.


    The ground beneath my feet suddenly became mushy. With the shovel as the center, the water began to fill up below and eventually created a smallish puddle. And then¡­


    Squeeeal-!


    Dozens of zombified rodents that stepped into the puddle all melted away.


    Their bodies maintained by the thick demonic energy simply stopped existing, leaving behind only their skeletons. As they slowly sunk into the puddle, they completely vanished from the view.


    ¡°Oh, my goodness¡­¡±


    The eyes of the two farmers became huge circles.


    They walked closer to my side, and while staring at the melting rats, addressed me.


    ¡°I heard that some Priests can soar through the air and can even heal a dying person to their full health, but this¡­¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that you possessed such immense power, your highness. Can you also beat up the zombies while scattering light too?¡±


    Hey, did you guys read a xianxia novel or something?


    I clicked my tongue while looking at them. It wasn¡¯t so far-fetched to see them carry around strange notions regarding Priests though.


    I hadn¡¯t seen other Priests of this world yet, but they shouldn¡¯t be on such a fantastical level as described by these two farmers. Yup, they probably should wield a similar level of holy magic as me.


    I lifted up the shovel and rested it against my shoulder.


    The [Swamp of Death] in front of me, which would originally create a ¡®puddle¡¯ filled with demonic energy and kill the victims by sapping away their lifeforce, had been altered to summon a puddle filled with holy water instead.


    That¡¯s all good and well, but¡­


    ¡°Argh¡­ Anemia¡­¡±


    I staggered unsteadily.


    I¡¯ve been thinking about this every single time it happened, but man, the amount of divinity spent was nothing to laugh about.


    I really needed to learn how to control my own powers, but it was kinda difficult for me to figure out the methods to do that when all my ¡®holy skills¡¯ were based on Necromancy skills.


    ¡°Still, it sure is powerful alright.¡±


    I looked down on the zombified rats melting away.


    I didn¡¯t know that holy water could even melt down an undead¡¯s skin and flesh, actually.


    I dunked my hand in the holy water beneath my feet and took a whiff of it. What a unique kind of water it was, with an invitingly sweet aroma and all that. You could drink it straight up and it wouldn¡¯t cause you any harm.


    Holy water¨Cvery effective in curing any illnesses, enhancing your health, and as well as boosting your natural recovery rate.


    My version was created through a different process from the stuff found in churches or other monasteries, which was made by Priests praying their butts off while adding divinity to water. However, the effects should pretty much be the same between the two.


    ¡°It¡¯s really annoying to baptise everyone one by one, so¡­¡± I pointed at the holy water puddle and told the two farmers, ¡°Go and distribute this to the other villagers. Around a finger-sized portion should suffice. Have them drink it and the plague should be completely gone.¡±


    Actually, I hadn¡¯t experimented on living people before. But upon seeing that the two farmers were fine after being blessed by me, this holy water should also work pretty well too.


    ¡°You¡­ want them to drink this?¡±


    The farmers stared at the holy water puddle. Bits of flesh and bones that used to belong to the zombified rats were still floating around in it. They then shifted their troubled gazes back to me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think both of you are in any position to mind stuff like that right now,¡± said I while staring straight back at them. The farmers seemed to give up as they nodded their heads.


    ¡°¡­We¡¯ll distribute them right away.¡±


    Yup, you should¡¯ve done that in the first place. Otherwise, I¡¯ll be really troubled by you lot. I definitely didn¡¯t want this dang plague to get worse than this, after all. I was already losing my sh*t from the increase in the workload you gave me.


    ¡°By the way, why were all these zombies crowding around that particular house?¡±


    I studied the house where all those zombified rats came out from. Only the skeletal frames of it remained as if the vermin relentlessly gnawed on it or some such. I entered the structure and my gaze immediately lowered down to the floor. That¡¯s when I saw a tiny little gap.


    My shovel slammed down and enlarged the gap, and I began prying it open. I used the tool¡¯s handle like a lever and pushed it down, causing the wooden floorboards to shatter.


    It was then¨Csomething reddish-black suddenly pounced at me.


    Brandishing a sharp kitchen knife, a girl covered in a scarlet color grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back. I lost my balance and tumbled on my butt. I even heard my shoulder muscles being crushed.


    A pair of icy-cold eyes were now looking down on me. Without a shred of hesitation, she quickly stabbed down with her knife.


    ¡°Goddammit¡­!!¡±


    I reflexively blocked the knife with my shovel.


    The blade trembled mere inches away from the tip of my nose. I managed to save myself just in time with my trusty shovel. The girl and I entered into something of a power struggle.


    ¡°I thought this village was abandoned¡­¡±


    Cold sweat trickled down my face as I glared at the girl dyed in blood. She seemed to be around 15 years old.


    ¡°¡­Who¡¯d have thought that there was still an insane survivor in here?¡±


    A properly bat-sh*t insane one to boot!


    She must¡¯ve stabbed and bit the zombie rats to death, as evidenced by the rodent flesh and fur that were stuck to various parts of her body. On the other hand, many gouged-out wounds could be seen on her too¨Cit was perhaps caused by the rats biting her.


    Her irises were constantly shaking about. The glow in them was murky. There was almost no light of life in them at this point.


    Could she have thought that I was a zombie and attacked me?


    More cold sweat trickled down. My body was already weak to begin with and I began to tremble.


    ¡°L-little miss? You¡¯re making a mistake here. Get off me before your noggin gets a good smack.¡±


    The kitchen knife was getting closer to my forehead now.


    At this rate, nevermind getting pricked in the head, the bloody knife would go straight through my skull.


    ¡°¡­Die.¡±


    A cold-blooded murmur came my way. The girl, her expression as cold as a sheet of ice, glared at me with eyes full of murderous intent.


    ¡°Looks like you¡¯re a bit angry about something, but¡­¡±


    Defending myself anymore than this would be tough.


    Strength was leaving my hands now.


    The kitchen knife crept closer to my forehead.


    ¡°¡­Cool your head for a bit, alright?!¡±


    I summoned up every scrap of power and twisted the shovel to deflect the knife, and then, hit the girl in the head with my ¡®weapon¡¯.


    Crack!


    Accompanied by a rather chilling noise, the girl crumpled into the corner of the shack.


    I somehow managed to get up and touch my face. Her killing intent was so thick and heavy that I thought she actually did stab me.


    After confirming that there was no wound, I quickly turned my head to look at the girl. She was now lying on the floor, but her scary glare was still fixed on me. Beside her, I could see two corpses, currently covered by large sheets.


    I saw that, and my lips began twitching. ¡°Holy sh*t.¡±


    The two corpses were horribly maimed and shredded.


    It was a pair; an adult man and woman. They had bite marks that evidently came from the rats, but more importantly, smallish knife stab wounds could be seen everywhere on them.


    This girl¡­ she killed her parents that turned into zombies. Then, she must¡¯ve hid herself below the floor and endured until now while fighting for her life.


    ¡°What happened? Imperial Prince-nim?!¡±


    The two farmers hurriedly rushed inside. They saw the girl covered in blood and shouted out in sheer astonishment.


    ¡°Charlotte?! Oh, oh, dear Goddess Gaia! Oh, goodness me!¡±


    I looked at the two and grumbled in pure dissatisfaction, ¡°You said there were no survivors, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°T-there was none when we were here last time.¡±


    Rather than ¡°there was none¡± it¡¯s more likely that you failed to spot her.


    I massaged my aching shoulders and spoke up, ¡°How long has it been since you left this village?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been about a week, your highness. However, we came here three days ago. Back then, the whole village had already¡­¡±


    ¡°I see. She must¡¯ve at least endured three days, hm.¡±


    Without a doubt, the girl couldn¡¯t have gotten any sleep, nor eat and drink anything properly.


    She must¡¯ve endured against her hunger and thirst by consuming the zombified rat¡¯s meat and blood. This happened all the while the dang zombie rats tried to devour her after sensing her lifeforce.


    What a tenacious will to live.


    The two farmers checked her head and cried out after spotting blood trickling out from there. It seemed that the impact from the shovel had been greater than I thought.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get all worked up, you two. She¡¯s still alive.¡±


    I grabbed her collars and dragged her outside.


    ¡°I-Imperial Prince-nim?! What are you¡­?!¡±


    I then tossed the girl into the puddle filled with holy water.


    The cold water must¡¯ve woken her up as her eyelids faintly cracked open.


    ¡°Drink.¡±


    One of the farmers hurriedly approached me and spoke up, ¡°She¡¯s still a young child! Her wounds are serious, if you handle her so roughly¡­¡±


    ¡°A young child my a*s. She¡¯s about my age and also¡­¡± I pointed to the front. ¡°Even if she was hallucinating, she tried to kill me. I don¡¯t need to treat a would-be murderer so kindly, now do I?¡±


    ¡°H-however¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey, kid?¡±


    The girl¡¯s eyes shifted towards me.


    ¡°Drink.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I walked closer to the girl and squatted down next to her. ¡°Let me be brutally honest with you. Your body right now isn¡¯t in a normal condition. You ate zombie rats to survive, and the demonic energy and the poison from them have already spread throughout your body. You¡¯re also bleeding a lot too. At this rate, you¡¯re going to die and then become another zombie yourself.¡±


    She had been in a far-too-close proximity with death itself. As soon as her breathing comes to a stop, she would become an undead for sure.


    I pointed at the holy water puddle. ¡°However, by drinking this, something might happen. You might still be saved.¡±


    Honestly, this was a gamble that had to be taken.


    When divinity was forcibly inserted into a body that had absorbed demonic energy, an adverse reaction would occur. One mistake and the body itself would balloon up and explode.


    ¡°But, at the very least, you won¡¯t become a zombie. The survival rate might be less than 10%. Now, choose. Either choose to suffer horrendous pain and become a zombie, or struggle so that you can somehow live.¡±


    I read descriptions of the potential reaction from the interaction of these two forces, divinity and demonic energy, in an old book I found in the monastery. I wasn¡¯t sure whether it was due to the special perk of my Profession, or because of this body already possessing a certain amount of prior knowledge, but I had no trouble studying books related to magic.


    I yapped on about the standard knowledge found in the books and looked down at the girl.


    She was getting tearful as she tried to speak, ¡°Mom¡­ Mom is¡­¡±


    ¡°Not here.¡±


    ¡°Dad¡­ My¡­ dad¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not here too.¡±


    Teardrops formed at the edges of her eyes. She showed no indication of drinking the holy water.


    Was she going to give up after everything she went through?


    ¡°You struggled until now to survive, didn¡¯t you? Weren¡¯t you fighting in order to live?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°You want to live, right? It¡¯s simple. Drink this.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course, your chances of survival are slim. However, you won¡¯t become a zombie. There¡¯s no point in dying twice, right? And also¡­¡± I quietly looked down at the girl and continued on, ¡°At the very least¡­ two people who¡¯re no longer here would¡¯ve wished for you to live on.¡±


    Those were the keywords that made her move.


    She finally made her choice.


    After moving her head with some difficulty, she buried her face in the puddle of holy water. She opened her lips and poked her trembling tongue out to lick it.


    The moment the liquid entered her throat, her entire body began convulsing.


    Wu-du-duk!!


    Her bones broke, and the sounds of her muscles being crushed accompanied her tearing skin. Her horrifying scream filled my hearing. It was so sickening that I ended up frowning deeply.


    At this rate, she¡¯d go full-on insane even if she managed to survive.


    ¡°W-what is going on¡­?!¡±


    I stopped the farmers from getting any closer.


    The girl would end up as one of the two¨Ceither a living and breathing survivor, or a corpse that got blown apart.


    Her skin continuously ripped apart as blood trickled down. While she thrashed about in pain, the holy water on the ground healed her. Her old flesh burned up as it was replaced by new flesh. Her bones repeatedly shattered and realigned themselves.


    Wouldn¡¯t the ¡®metamorphosis¡¯ described in the martial art novels be similar to this, I wonder?


    Even as these sorts of useless thoughts circled around in my mind, I continued to silently observe her changes with my shovel stabbed into the ground.


    Five minutes passed by. Ten minutes, then thirty, and one hour later¡­


    Her horrifying screams gradually died down. Her convulsion finally stopped and she completely passed out, submerged in the puddle of holy water. Although faint, she was still breathing.


    ¡°Hiiiya! She survived it!¡±


    You could say this was a bit of relief. There was nothing more sour-tasting than watching someone die in front of you. I sighed inwardly and addressed the two farmers, ¡°Take her with you.¡±


    ¡°Pardon us??¡±


    The duo tilted their heads.


    ¡°She¡¯s your fellow villager, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, that¡¯s true. However, a child struck by the plague is a bit¡­¡±


    What the hell, seriously? Were they all putting up an act with their concerned expressions earlier? Or were they just being hypocrites?


    My straightforward glare caused them to shed buckets of cold sweat. Their gazes lowered while they spoke their piece.


    ¡°We¡¯ll try our best to talk to the folks from the neighbouring village.¡±


    ¡°Good. Oh, and like I said, distribute the holy water too.¡±


    ¡°You mean this?¡±


    As the farmers looked at the puddle of holy water responsible for causing that bout of convulsion in the girl, their complexions paled. They probably ended up recalling her rather violent reaction just then.


    ¡°That only happened because she swallowed up demonic energy. Oh, wait. Could it be that your new village has people who eat zombies? Wowsers, talk about stomachs of steel.¡±


    ¡°N-no, your highness. That¡¯s not it.¡±


    The farmers shook their heads side to side.


    ¡°In that case, you don¡¯t have to worry about it causing any side effects. So, let¡¯s prioritise in stopping the plague first,¡± said I before getting up while dusting myself. I pulled the shovel out from the ground and perched it on my shoulder. ¡°Oh, right! Install lots of rat traps too. It looks to me that the cause of this plague is the zombie rat¡¯s bites. One or two might not be an issue, but when there are hundreds of those things¡­ just imagining it gives me the heebie-jeebies!¡±


    Right? Just imagine hundreds of those swift-footed critters rushing in at you. No one would be able to deal with that sh*t.


    ¡°You gotta decrease their numbers, even if it¡¯s only by a little. Also, send the word out to Ronia as that¡¯s the nearest domain run by a lord. The feudal lord there will send out a Priest to investigate the origin of the plague, at the very least. I mean, he surely won¡¯t sit still when a deadly plague is spreading in an area around the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson, right?¡±


    ¡°We understand, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Good!¡±


    And with that, this saga should be over.


    The need to shovel away, lug around dead bodies, or to perform burial rites ¨C the need to perform all the extra physical hard labour should be gone soon. Now that I created holy water, this year¡¯s plague should be stopped pretty easily too. My peaceful daily life should get going once more.


    That¡¯s what I thought.


    Until the following day when hundreds of villagers arrived in front of the monastery, that was.


    Did they want to express their gratitude regarding the distribution of holy water? Nope.


    The villagers, all of them carrying expressions of despair, cried out.


    ¡°I-Imperial Prince-nim!! Please save us!!¡±


    ¡°Zombies are in our village¡­!!¡±


    ¡­It seemed that the once-serene rural villages had become a zombie¡¯s den overnight.


    < 004. Imperial Prince is a Gravekeeper -3 > Fin.

 Chapter 6

    **


    This couldn¡¯t be anything simple at all.


    In just a single night, the village was decimated, leaving behind 100 or so survivors.


    They all crowded into the narrow and dilapidated monastery. Kids, old folks, housewives and the likes were busy offering desperate prayers inside the building. Meanwhile, men were helping me lug around the dead in the cemetery.


    Once things had calmed down sufficiently enough, the representative of the village, the village chief, came up to me. ¡°Thank you for aiding us, your highness.¡±


    I was flustered. The village was decimated even before the holy water could be distributed? I had a mountain of things to do now thanks to this development.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t there a Paladin stationed in the village?¡± said I, remembering that there was a Paladin residing in the biggest village here tasked with monitoring me.


    ¡°After the incident happened, we sought him out. However, his current whereabouts are a mystery,¡± said the village chief as his response.


    ¡°What about sending the word out to the Theocratic Empire?¡±


    Sure, it might have been a banishment, but still, an Imperial Prince was staying here. Paladins promptly showed up just because the owner of this body rampaged around a bit, so there was no way the higher-ups would ignore the advent of a zombie wave.


    At the bare minimum, they should dispatch a knight order or something.


    ¡°T-that is¡­ we tried to send a messenger, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But?¡±


    ¡°He must¡¯ve been killed by the zombies during his journey.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°There are zombies hiding along all of the roads leading to Ronia. Even the contact with the nearest sentry post has been cut off too¡­¡±


    The zombies of this world were pretty amazing then.


    The Paladin in the village monitoring me went missing. Thus, the zombies seized this opening and attacked, and they even managed to cut off the exit. Did that mean they could use their heads?


    If this was true, then these bastards were even scarier than the ones from the movies, those that were capable of running around like marathon runners.


    Also, finding the origin of this plague would be next to impossible if it turned out there was a separate entity with enough intelligence that commanded the others.


    ¡°How many zombies are there?¡±


    ¡°T-there were about 30 of them. That¡¯s how many we saw when we were running away.¡±


    The village near the monastery actually consisted of four separate satellite villages. I went to an already-decimated village yesterday, so this meant that in just one night, the remaining three had basically been wiped off the map.


    If there were 30, did that mean there were around ten in each village? Or, maybe they worked together to attack the villages instead. It wasn¡¯t as if we were dealing with a zombie den or something, so there was no real need to get scared by an undead that couldn¡¯t run and were only capable of flailing about ungainly. Also, you wouldn¡¯t turn into an undead just because you got bitten once too.


    ¡°Okay, so what now?¡±


    ¡°W-we¡¯d like you to contact the Imperial Palace, your highness.¡±


    ¡°But didn¡¯t you say that all roads have been blocked?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t offering a prayer be sufficient? Like, with some sort of magic¡­?¡±


    How unfortunate, but I didn¡¯t know any convenient skills like that one.


    The villagers were looking at me with hopeful eyes, but it was my job to break the bad news for them, ¡°Such a thing is obviously impossible. You said that a wave of zombies showed up, right? In that case, we don¡¯t have any choice but to pull our socks up until Paladins come to rescue us. If not, we¡¯ll all be dead meat.¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to get their hopes up, so I honestly told them our current position and options. Thanks to that, they all fell into panic. Some became really pale, while some wailed uncontrollably. Hell, some of them even began screaming too.


    The villagers were in despair.


    This was quite obvious really, since they were about to die from the plague, or become the next meal for the zombies.


    Even if I enjoyed similar ¡®attributes¡¯ with the undead, the continuous appearance of zombies would still be dangerous for me in the long run. If I managed to survive alone when everyone else perished, it would look rather peculiar to other people, wouldn¡¯t it?


    This meant that the current situation remained unfavourable whether it was for the villagers or for myself.


    ¡°Please help us! Your highness! Aren¡¯t you the grandson of the Holy Emperor?¡±


    Even if that¡¯s true, I was but a mere regular person now.


    I stared at the village chief. These villagers seemed to be taking the banished Imperial Grandson for granted here.


    A banished member of the Imperial Family was no different than a ¡®commoner¡¯ who lost all of their ¡®status¡¯. The exiled people who arrived in places like these would have to work as lowly gophers running errands for the villagers, and they wouldn¡¯t even receive any compensation in return. There was no prior case of an exile taking revenge on the villagers either.


    They probably thought that they found themselves a nice little servant here.


    I wasn¡¯t that unhappy about their request, though. The villagers seemed to be willing to help me out too.


    It was just that¡­ If these folks were shameless enough to think that I should ¡®obviously¡¯ do it for them, then I wasn¡¯t planning to smile and bear it all out.


    In that case, I should put forward a beneficial condition for me. I smirked and stared at the village chief while using my [Mind¡¯s Eye] to confirm his Status Window.


    [Name: Parok.


    Age: 75


    Speciality: Snitching, farming, petty tricks.


    + Currently in a scared state.]


    My smile became one filled with contentment as I studied him. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll help you.¡±


    The two farmers from the night before were smiling brightly now. On the other hand, though, the remaining men carried unmistakably bleak expressions.


    Their reactions were rather lukewarm at best. Even if I pounded on my chest and declared, ¡°Who am I? I¡¯m none other than Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson!¡±, I wouldn¡¯t be able to convince anybody.


    Because, I was the mangnani Imperial Prince after all.


    I used my royal background to beat up servants and sexually assault maids. Hell, I even tried to rape a lady-in-waiting too, who in their right minds would trust me?


    The village chief hesitated greatly before opening his mouth, evidently having decided to grasp at straws with no other options available. ¡°T-then, we shall be in your care.¡±


    He probably figured that it was better than nothing and they might as well believe the ¡®Priest¡¯ and follow his lead.


    It sure was a rather arrogant attitude.


    I guess one could attribute his shamelessness to all those times he ordered around exiled formerly high-ranking ¡®gophers¡¯ as he pleased. Such a habit must¡¯ve been deeply ingrained in his bones by now.


    Well, it didn¡¯t really matter.


    Helping them out was the only way I¡¯d be able to spend some peace and quiet myself. Besides, I wasn¡¯t going to ¡®personally¡¯ deal with the zombies, anyway.


    ¡°However, I have a condition.¡±


    The village chief flinched before tilting his head. With a confused expression on his face, he asked me a question, ¡°When you say a condition¡­¡±


    ¡°I want you to start handing over some necessary funds. It¡¯s rather unfair that I¡¯ve been performing free services until now, right? Don¡¯t you agree with me?¡±


    ¡°A-are you asking me to pay you wages? B-but, everyone who was exiled here so far were¡­¡±


    I quietly stared at the village chief.


    The silent pressure I gave off forced him to shrink back and nod his head. ¡°I-I understand.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t rat on the Paladins later, got it?¡±


    As long as I stayed in the monastery, I¡¯d get a bit of food and water for free. However, that was pretty much it. I had no funds to spend for myself right now.


    Once every month, a traveling merchant would show up in the village, so it¡¯d be a good idea to fix up the monastery with the funds I¡¯m going to receive later. The Theocratic Empire had already given up on me anyways. I might end up spending the rest of my life here, so shouldn¡¯t I try to spruce up the place with a few decent pieces of furniture?


    ¡°Oh, and one more thing.¡± I pointed at the dilapidated monastery. ¡°I want you to fix that while you¡¯re at it too.¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    The village chief looked at the building. Although it was quite old and worn-down, the building was still large enough to house 100 or so of his fellow villagers. This meant that repairing it would require a considerable sum.


    After a lengthy deliberation, the village chief finally spat out a groan and nodded his head. ¡°I understand. Within my limits I¡¯ll¡­¡±


    ¡°And, you need to periodically provide supplies for free.¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll see what I can do within our means.¡±


    Nice! With that, all my problems had been sorted out.


    You see, rain water that leaked into the monastery had been causing me a lot of grief for a long while.


    Not only that, the provisions I received as compensation for maintaining the cemetery were only potatoes and vegetables. I should be able to get myself some meat now, and since winter was coming, I might as well get the villagers to diligently bring me my deserved rewards so that I wouldn¡¯t have to go get firewood personally.


    ¡°Your highness! Imperial Prince-nim!¡±


    While I was in the middle of my ¡®chat¡¯ with the village chief, a man hurriedly ran over towards us. He shouted out with a pale expression, ¡°The zombie horde is here!¡±


    I was stunned to hear this.


    Zombies were actually coming here?


    This meant there was no need to go over where they were personally, judging from how they were gathering here in order to prey on the living. They¡¯re pretty loyal to their base instincts, then.


    This was a relief, actually¨CI didn¡¯t have to search around and purify them one by one this way now. The amount of work I had to do decreased because of this.


    ¡°Nice! All of you, get your tools ready!¡±


    The villagers, including the village chief, all began to tilt their heads. Their confused, dazed gazes were focused on me.


    ¡°What are you, uhm, talking about, your highness¡­?¡±


    I shrugged my shoulders after hearing the chief. ¡°What¡¯s up with your expressions? Didn¡¯t you ask me to sort this crisis out for you?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes. But, why¡­?¡±


    His voice trailed off with the words, ¡°¡­Why are you throwing around such an ugly word like ¡®tools¡¯ at us¡­?¡±


    The corners of my lips arched up. ¡°It should be obvious, right?¡±


    Yup, so bloody obvious.


    I had four ¡®jobs¡¯ as it were.


    One, the Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire.


    Two, a gravekeeper.


    Three, a Priest, at least nominally.


    And finally, a Necromancer.


    None of these were the kind of professions where you¡¯d march to the frontlines and perform a sword dance or something.


    ¡°From now on, you lot are going to do some zombie hunting, that¡¯s why.¡±


    ¡°¡­!!¡±


    The village chief and his fellow villagers stiffened up in an instant.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. It¡¯s not like you¡¯ll become a zombie just because you get bitten by one. It¡¯ll just sting a bit and you¡¯ll run some high fever for a few days, that¡¯s all that will happen. You can rest easy because my heart shall ache alongside your pain too.¡±


    The village chief forced out a smile as cold sweat trickled down his forehead. ¡°Y-your highness. This is no time for jokes. You said you¡¯d help us earlier, so¡­¡±


    I shifted my gaze over to him and grinned refreshingly. ¡°Did it sound like a joke to you just because I smiled?¡±


    He openly formed an expression that cried out, ¡®What kind of a dogsh*t is this¡­?!¡¯


    Well, if you don¡¯t like it, you can forget about it, then.


    I stared at him and cackled loudly in a rather evil manner.


    **


    Well-built men gathered in front of the monastery; there were about 50 of them in total. Each one was armed with farming tools, logging axes, saws, or hunting bows and arrows.


    They were all built rather sturdily, perhaps owing to the fact that they were farmers, woodsmen, or hunters during their daily lives.


    Nice! They didn¡¯t forget to pack their weapons before running away despite the urgency of the situation. The survival instincts of this world¡¯s denizens were pretty outstanding, indeed.


    ¡°Oh. About the equipment you took out from the monastery, make sure you don¡¯t damage them, alright? I¡¯ll be charging you money if you break even one.¡±


    The villagers were now carrying fed-up expressions.


    I cleanly ignored them and simply nodded my head in satisfaction. ¡°Nice. This should suffice. They might be zombies, but as long as we aren¡¯t dealing with animal types, we should have no problems as they are all very slow.¡±


    Also, even if there were animal types mixed in, their attack power should still be limited overall, so it didn¡¯t really matter either.


    ¡°Alright, everyone. Let¡¯s take our time with this. Your safety should be your top priority. So don¡¯t be too tense about hunting zombies. If it gets too tough, just help each other out. As long as we pace ourselves, no one will get hurt, and¡­¡±


    It was then¨CI reflexively blocked my nose in a hurry. A truly horrendous stench was wafting out from the distance. Demonic energy was reverberating within the air like the disgusting stench of death.


    I cautiously shifted my gaze towards the forest. Eyes glowing in crimson hue were slowly surrounding the perimeter of the monastery. Soon, the staggering zombies marched out of the dense fog. Their numbers were in the several hundreds.


    ¡°Why the hell¡­¡±


    ¡­Are there so many?!


    I called out to the village chief, who happened to be backing away from sheer terror at the moment, ¡°Oiiii, Mister Village Chief.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes??¡±


    He looked back at me with a pale face.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that there were only around 30 or so back in the village?¡±


    ¡°T-that is¡­ That¡¯s what we saw¡­¡±


    Even the chief himself looked confused, evidently not understanding what was happening here.


    I began massaging my forehead. ¡°Four¡­ No, one of the villages was completely decimated, so¡­ What¡¯s the total populace of the three villages combined?¡±


    The village chief hurriedly counted by raising and folding his fingers. ¡°W-well, that is¡­ the biggest village has over 200 folks, while the other ones have between 50 to 100. It should be at least over 300.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so¡­ since there are 100 survivors here with us, and you saw about 30 zombies. In that case, where are the rest of them?¡±


    The chief flinched and stiffened up as he dazedly stared back at me, then muttered out helplessly, ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure. We were too busy running away, so¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­With this, it¡¯s pretty clear to me now.¡±


    A portion of the escaped villagers must¡¯ve been hunted down, it seemed. Or maybe, these creatures simply wandered into the ¡®Land of the Dead Spirits¡¯. Well, the very distant northern tip of the frontier wasn¡¯t called the haven for the undead for nothing, after all.


    My eyes twitched as I observed the slow, lumbering march of the zombie horde heading towards us. The villagers were crying out to me in sheer panic now.


    ¡°Y-your highness, what should we do?!¡±


    ¡°Imperial Prince-nim!!¡±


    ¡°Should we run away?¡±


    The village chief butted in at the end and asked me.


    I couldn¡¯t help but massage my temples even harder. ¡°Is there any other way to deal with zombies?¡±


    ¡°No, there isn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Even when a horde like this is coming?¡±


    The chief wiped away his cold sweat as he replied, ¡°An event like this one rarely occurs, you see. If we¡¯re faced with such a crisis, we simply inform the feudal lord and wait until he dispatches his troops.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but form a miserable expression upon hearing that. ¡°Why did my workload have to increase like this?! Hang on a minute, could it be that I¡¯m paying for all the blasphemous crap the previous owner of this body committed in the past?¡±


    Although I was just kidding now, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit bitter after thinking about it. It was possible that my situation was exactly the result of that.


    Since magic existed for real in this world, I couldn¡¯t discount the possibilities of gods really existing too. Not that I was religious or anything, but if gods really did exist, then there was no way they¡¯d do nothing when a supposed believer cussed them out, right?


    ¡®You dumba*s grandson!¡¯


    I facepalmed grandly.


    The crime of blasphemy this body¡¯s former master committed was pretty damn hefty, to say the least. If I was really paying for his transgressions, then hell, I was neck-deep in trouble here.


    ¡°Ahh! The Goddess of love and mercy, Gaia!¡±


    When I shouted this out, the village chief and the men all looked at me. Was it because I offered a ¡®prayer¡¯ just now? Their eyes seemed to have a renewed light in them.


    They probably found Priests using divine powers in front of the undead rather reassuring. Indeed, the holy men and women of this world did pray before gathering their divinity to cast their magic, didn¡¯t they?


    However, I was different.


    I refreshingly trampled on the expectations the villagers held of a Priest like me.


    ¡°Love and mercy, my ass! If you¡¯re putting me through a wringer just because I cussed you out once, then Imma cuss you out even more! You cheapskate stinker of a Goddess!!¡±


    < 005. Imperial Prince is Busting Heads -1 > Fin.

 Chapter 7

    **


    The complexions of the villagers instantly paled.


    They were probably stunned silly after witnessing the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson grandly blaspheme their Goddess. If high-ranking church officials were nearby, then I¡¯d have nothing to defend myself with when they either collapse from pure unbridled shock or try to arrest me for blasphemy.


    I could hear someone among the villagers whisper, ¡°Could it be that the Imperial Prince brought this plague upon us?¡±


    It wouldn¡¯t be all that surprising to see the villagers think that a calamity befell on them as punishment for the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson committing blasphemy.


    I could only dry cough and look towards the front. The zombie horde was coming.


    [Name: Zombie


    Age: ???


    Specialty: Biting, clawing.


    + Currently in an ¡®instinctively ravenous¡¯ state]


    My Mind¡¯s Eye returned a truly sloppy information window.


    However, it was enough. As implied, these creatures were slaves to their primal instincts, capable of only biting and clawing with their hands. The men from the village should be more than enough to deal with the lot.


    ¡°Heeeiiik!!¡±


    But¡­ the only problem right now was that they were in a terrified state. They began faltering back while voicing their dissatisfaction to me,


    ¡°Your highness, this is impossible! How do you expect us to fight them? We¡¯re not a Priest like you!¡±


    I kinda understood their position. If not for my profession of being a Necromancer, I¡¯d be sh*tting my pants by now too. For the time being, I ignored them and silently glared at the zombies. This prompted one of the scared villagers to shout out,


    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t do this! We might survive if we run away now! If I take my daughter inside the monastery and run, we might¡­?!¡±


    The man stopped yapping suddenly, his eyes growing larger. That was because he noticed one particular female zombie staggering around in the middle of the horde.


    ¡°M-my wife¡­?!¡±


    The man formed an expression of despair. Tears flooded down his cheeks as he began to wail.


    I observed the woman in the midst of the zombies; half of her face had been ripped off. She looked pretty gruesome, what with various parts of her body riddled with bite wounds.


    Although unfortunate, the woman was no longer his wife. No, she was just another walking dead now.


    I ignored the sobbing man and placed the shovel on my shoulder. While doing my best to look unperturbed, I raised my voice, ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a lot of zombies, alright. Leaving them alone like this will cause a serious issue later. Killing them quickly and ending this calamity right now is for the best, really.¡±


    I forced the corners of my lips to arc up, but man, acting wasn¡¯t easy at all. Even I was feeling a bit tense right now. We weren¡¯t talking about one or two zombies here, but several hundreds.


    Getting bitten wouldn¡¯t simply end with a bit of pain either. You¡¯d really die if a whole bunch of them started biting you.


    I began inhaling deep breaths in order to settle down my nerves. But then¡­


    ¡°I can¡¯t do this!! I just can¡¯t!!¡± The sobbing man loudly shouted at me, ¡°I know it¡¯s impossible for you lot, too!¡±


    He then yelled at the rest of the villagers as if to lodge a protest. Pointing at the zombie horde emerging from the forest, he continued on, ¡°They were our family members! Our friends, our neighbors! How do you expect me to kill them?!¡±


    I scanned the villagers. Unrest was rising up among them. This was quite problematic. Not only were they falling into a bout of pure fear, they were even losing the courage to wield their weapons as well.


    I quickly opened my mouth, ¡°They¡¯re already dead. Nothing will change if you ignore reality.¡±


    The man was startled by my words, and began to glare at me. His tearful eyes were now filled with murderous hate.


    ¡°What a headache this is,¡± said I, before walking up to the man. I lightly patted him on the shoulder and did my best to sound as gentle as I could be. ¡°Fine¡­ since you don¡¯t want to fight, you¡¯ll run away instead? Do what you want. I won¡¯t stop you.¡±


    Once the man heard my permission, he shifted his gaze back to his zombified wife, and then he started backpedaling once more.


    ¡°However, you better stay sharp so that your zombie wife doesn¡¯t hurt your little girl.¡±


    Those words stopped the man dead in his tracks.


    I glanced at him and continued on. ¡°I¡¯ll say this again. That thing over there is no longer alive.¡±


    I pointed at the zombified woman, and the man turned around to look at his former wife once more.


    ¡°She looks pretty gruesome on the outside, right? Well, too bad, she looks even worse inside. What do you think is happening to her, really?¡±


    You see, the [Mind¡¯s Eye] skill didn¡¯t only tell me the target¡¯s ¡®specialty¡¯.


    ¡°Her corpse is rotting away while her soul has become a wandering specter that¡¯s howling out from suffering right now.¡±


    Maybe it was due to the effects of the Necromancer profession, I was also able to see the soul of the departed as well. Distorted souls overlapping the hundreds of zombies were screaming out in pain.


    This was one of the reasons why I made graves and performed purification ceremonies. Without the ceremony, these souls would never be saved and just continue to scream every single day.


    ¡°She¡­ she¡¯s suffering?¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes trembled.


    I nodded my head, ¡°Obviously. She¡¯s become an undead that harms other people, who in their right mind would be happy about that?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°If you let her be like this, she¡¯s destined to wander around forever as a spectre, never to be saved. Her corpse will rot and only her skeletons will remain. She¡¯d remain as an undead for a very long time with no one to save her.¡± I picked up the discarded farming tool and pushed it back to him. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, how about you lessen her suffering? Your wife probably wants to close her eyes in her husband¡¯s presence. Wouldn¡¯t you say so?¡±


    The man was no longer looking at me. He silently stared at his zombified wife, his hands gripping the farming tool tighter and tighter.


    Tears fell as his expression crumpled even further.


    This was the face of a man in agony. However, his eyes had stopped wavering and his gaze towards his dead wife had transformed into a glare.


    He must¡¯ve made up his mind now.


    I patted him on the back. ¡°The dead should remain dead, while the living should go on and live.¡± I then glanced at the rest of the villagers. ¡°I don¡¯t care if you decide to run away. However, you better discard the notion that doing so will guarantee your survival. These aren¡¯t your run-of-the-mill zombies. They¡¯re smart enough to block all the exits, don¡¯t forget. You think you¡¯ll be able to evade such zombies? Nope, it¡¯s utterly impossible.¡±


    Most of those who escaped elsewhere other than the monastery had already turned into zombies. Which meant that trying to escape from here now wouldn¡¯t get you very far.


    ¡°In that case, there¡¯s only one way out of this.¡± I raised my shovel and pointed at the zombies. My eyes swept over them as I spoke up. ¡°We round them up and smack them dead one more time. This is the only way to protect your family, friends, and loved ones¨Cand to save those wandering souls.¡±


    I ended my speech with a bit of a smirk and the men began gritting their teeth. Even though they were still trembling in fear, no one was backing away now. This was a satisfactory result.


    ¡°I guess you all came to a decision then.¡± I stabbed the shovel on the ground, grasped its handle with both hands, and while shrugging my shoulders, I addressed the villagers, ¡°Let¡¯s end this as quickly as possible. Our job is simple. Kill the zombies and give them a proper burial. Don¡¯t you worry about getting bitten though. I¡¯ll bleed in my heart for you. And as an added service, I¡¯ll provide you with holy water too.¡±


    Was it because I sounded sarcastic? The villagers began cussing me out.


    ¡°He¡¯s not even a human! How can he act this way?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. What can I do when this is the real me? However, just who am I? Aren¡¯t I the Imperial Family¡¯s mangnani!!¡±


    ¡°Just because it¡¯s not your family¡­¡±


    ¡°Ahaha¡­ you should be grateful that I¡¯m willing to step up for you. If it were someone else, not only would he have run away by now, he¡¯d also have chased you all out from the monastery too!¡±


    I warmed up my muscles. Getting a move on while their minds were made up was the smartest thing to do. Who knew when their fighting spirit would start wilting due to the already-present sense of agitation?


    ¡°Let¡¯s end this quickly.¡± I grasped the shovel with both of my hands. ¡°The dead probably wish to rest quietly too.¡±


    So¡­


    ¡°Don¡¯t get killed though. You¡¯ll only increase my workload.¡±


    **


    Charlotte grew up in a happy family.


    She was renowned for her honest and hardworking ways in this small village that was located far north in the Land of the Dead Spirits.


    In the mornings, she would help her mother out by preparing breakfast and drawing water from the river. In the afternoons, she¡¯d help her father by entering the forest to cut some firewood.


    That very fateful day began the same as every other day.


    She finished helping her mother prepare breakfast and went to the river outside the village to get some water. While struggling a little with what she was carrying, she returned to her house.


    It was then, a rather familiar noise entered her ear.


    -Blergh¡­. Uwahk¡­. Blergh¡­..


    Charlotte was startled by the sound and quickly shifted her gaze to the side.


    The next-door uncle was clutching his stomach while vomiting out everything in his tummy. His wife was beside him, gently patting his back with a concerned expression on her face.


    A sour, stinging stench strong enough to make Charlotte instinctively block her nose wafted about. The girl formed a worried expression of her own.


    ¡®Tom ahjussi is also sick.¡¯


    The autumn and winter seasons were the time of plagues. Even Charlotte¡¯s father was struck down by the illness himself and was suffering in pain right now.


    -Don¡¯t worry my girl. I¡¯ll be fine after a week or so from an illness like this.


    Charlotte trusted her father¡¯s words. In all honesty, she too had contracted a plague last year and had to go through a tough time, hadn¡¯t she? However, look at her right now, wasn¡¯t she still alive and well?


    This was nothing more than a trial for one to overcome so that they could enjoy another year in health.


    While feeling worried, Charlotte tried to talk to her neighbours.


    -Hello there.


    The neighbour ahjumma flinched at Charlotte¡¯s greeting. She even formed a scowl on her face. Without saying a word, she shot back a wary glare and went back inside the house along with her husband.


    Charlotte felt just a little bit lonesome then.


    She¡¯d always smile and share greetings with her neighbours, but during the plague seasons, everyone would become as unfriendly as one could get. But then again, they were probably worried about the plague infecting someone else. Even if they were already suffering from it.


    After thinking of this, Charlotte tried to enter her home in a hurry.


    Squeak, squeak-!


    She lowered her head and found a rodent busy biting at her leather shoe. She frowned a little and kicked the vermin away.


    The creature was flung towards a storehouse nearby. This was when she discovered dozens of glowing eyes in the gap of the storehouse¡¯s open doorway.


    ¡®Uh?¡¯


    Just as Charlotte formed a stunned expression, the rodent that she kicked screeched out loudly.


    -Kiiiiieeeehk!!


    The howl was so monstrous that such a little body couldn¡¯t have possibly produced it.


    She was frightened by the screech so loud that it rang in her eardrums. She even dropped the metal bucket she was carrying. Reflexively, she turned around and ran.


    Dozens of rodents chased after her.


    She hurriedly dashed inside her home and shut the door behind her, locking it firmly in the process.


    Slam! Boom! Bang!


    The rodents slammed their bodies against the door.


    ¨C Mom! Dad!


    Charlotte¡¯s face was pale from fright. She quickly backed away from the door. Even then, she continued to call out to her parents with a frightened voice.


    Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t reply to her call.


    What did return, though, was a horrifying scream.


    Charlotte was shocked by what she heard and hurriedly ran into the kitchen. Almost immediately, her whole figure froze up.


    Her mom, who was holding a kitchen knife and should¡¯ve been preparing the family¡¯s breakfast, she¡­ her neck was being ripped apart by her father¡¯s teeth.


    ¡®But, why¡­.?¡¯


    Her Mom weakly muttered out to Charlotte as tears fell from her eyes.


    -R¡­ run¡­ away¡­


    The girl stood in her spot, her entire figure quivering without pause, and yet, she still resolutely shook her head.


    -Run¡­ away!


    -I-I¡¯ll ask someone for help!


    Charlotte looked at the front door. Rodents were still pounding away on it. This meant she couldn¡¯t go out that way. She quickly approached the nearest window. Through the shut window, she shouted out as loudly as she could at the neighboring houses.


    -Help us! Mom, she¡­ My dad¡­!


    She saw people peek out from each of the houses. However, it was only for a short while. They closed their curtains and ignored her.


    -Wuu¡­ Ohhh¡­ Uh?


    It was then that she heard a bizarre grunt coming from behind her. Flinching ever so slightly, Charlotte slowly turned around to look.


    Her dad was unsteadily standing there.


    His mouth, which was ripping into her mom¡¯s throat only a second ago, was now dripping with blood. His now-dead eyes were staring straight at Charlotte.


    -Ah¡­


    Her zombified father pounced on her.


    She couldn¡¯t remember what happened properly after that.


    In the faint, fragmented bits of memories flitting in and out of her mind, she was running into the kitchen to pick up the knife. That¡¯s where she confronted her now zombified mother.


    Charlotte wielded the knife, and when she finally came to, both her father and mother lay dead, filled with stab wounds.


    She stood there, dazedly staring at the two unmoving corpses.


    -S-save me¡­!


    -Bleeergh¡­ I, I need medicine¡­


    -What, what¡¯s this?! So many rats¡­?!


    The screams of the villagers reverberated outside the window.


    Charlotte turned her head towards the front door. The vermins had gnawed through it to create a hole. Once the door broke, the pack of rats, with their crimson teeth, pounced on her.


    ¡­¡­..


    ¡­.


    ¡°Heot!¡±


    Charlotte opened her eyes and shot up from the bedding. Cold sweat rolled down her face as she quickly scanned her surroundings. Her hands reflexively flailed about in the empty air.


    Somewhat embarrassingly, no rodents were pouncing on her.


    Charlotte panted heavily, her complexion deeply pale.


    Where was this?


    Her shifting gaze took in the sights of the monastery¡¯s interior.


    ¡°What happened?!¡±


    ¡­And then, the aunties and old ladies were taken slightly aback after seeing her wake up and came closer.


    < 006. Imperial Prince is Busting Heads -2 > Fin.

 Chapter 8

    ¡°Charlotte, how are you feeling?¡±


    An auntie and grandma came closer to check up on Charlotte¡¯s current condition, and asked her.


    ¡°Oh my goodness¡­ Look at all this cold sweat. Oh? Her fever has gone down. That¡¯s a relief. Why don¡¯t you lie down for a little while longer?¡±


    ¡°You must be starving. Here, have a potato at least. We only have these right now.¡±


    The auntie gave her a plate with a potato and a kitchen knife on top of it. Charlotte felt confused and flustered by these ladies and their nursing attempts.


    What happened? Where was she? Why was she here? What about her mom? Her dad¡­?


    As her unbridled confusion intensified, she shielded her forehead from the pounding headache. Just as she grew more flustered¡­


    ¡°Kyaaaahk!!¡±


    Someone suddenly screamed out.


    Charlotte was startled awake and she reflexively shot up from her spot.


    A woman was pointing outside the window while backing away in fear.


    ¡°They¡­ they¡¯re coming! No! They¡¯re already here!¡±


    All the women inside the monastery looked outside their closest windows. Charlotte too had quickly shifted her gaze outside and observed the current situation.


    She saw numerous zombies lumbering towards the monastery. There were so many of them too.


    The complexions of everyone inside the building grew as pale as a white sheet. Some screamed while a few others hurriedly looked around the area, perhaps searching for a place to hide.


    However, Charlotte reacted differently from them.


    ¡®Zombies¡­!¡¯


    She reflexively reached out and grasped the kitchen knife next to the potato, just before she started dashing towards the monastery¡¯s exit. The womenfolk were stunned by her actions and quickly stopped her by hugging her from behind.


    ¡°Charlotte, it¡¯s dangerous outside!¡±


    ¡°You mustn¡¯t!¡±


    Even though they were trying to stop her, they ended up getting dragged forward instead. Charlotte seemed to be gradually getting stronger with each passing step.


    This was a display of sheer physical strength that no 16-year-old girl could produce. The boys watching this scene play out also intervened and they finally managed to stop her.


    ¡°Uh? Uhh?¡±


    Charlotte flinched in surprise and ungainly flailed about. A part of this was because she finally lost out in strength, but at the same time, she didn¡¯t want to accidentally harm the others with the knife.


    This was why she stopped struggling. Even then, her gaze remained fixed outside the window. Her wide-open eyes were locked on a certain ¡®boy¡¯ standing outside the building.


    She saw him jump high up while raising his shovel.


    And then, he slammed it down.


    The head of a zombie split open as it collapsed to the ground.


    ¡°What are you all doing?! Aim for their heads! This ain¡¯t the time to worry about preserving the corpses or whatever!¡±


    The boy¡¯s yell prompted the terrified villagers to grit their teeth and start swinging with their farming tools.


    Soon, all sorts of tools began to land on the zombies.


    Eventually, though, someone lost in the contest of strength against the zombies and got bitten. The boy gritted his teeth and grabbed the back of the man¡¯s neck to forcibly pull him away.


    He then swung the shovel. It landed splendidly against a zombie¡¯s head, making it stagger before collapsing on the ground. The boy raised his shovel high up and smashed apart the downed creature¡¯s skull.


    This sight deeply stunned Charlotte.


    A boy about the same age as her, no, maybe one or two years younger even, was stepping up to hunt down the zombies before the older and stronger men could.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let up! If you¡¯ve got time to complain about the pain, then kill one more zombie instead!¡±


    His manner of speech was also quite unrefined too. The grown-ups glared at the boy, but still, they attacked the zombies nevertheless.


    One by one, they took down the pack of undead.


    These slow-footed, staggering zombies were subjugated unbelievably easily.


    The boy must¡¯ve been feeling quite fatigued as he barely managed to stand by leaning against his shovel, his breathing heavy and rough.


    It was around then, the ladies that stopped Charlotte earlier clicked their tongues.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? That Imperial Prince-nim, he knew how to hunt zombies?¡±


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s a prince from the Imperial Family, so of course he should know how to hunt down zombies.¡±


    The still-scared ladies continued to chat among themselves. Their words stunned Charlotte again, though.


    He was an Imperial Prince?


    Now that she thought about it, she did hear about a rumor that a mangnani Imperial Prince-nim had come to visit the monastery in the hills some time ago.


    She locked her gaze at the boy¡¯s back once more.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    The villagers bellowed out scream-like howls. They swung the farming tools held in their hands to stab and smash down. Every time this happened, the zombies¡¯ skulls were crushed and shattered.


    As rotting flesh splattered everywhere, the villagers backed away with expressions uncomfortably close to despair.


    Their breathing were extremely heavy and disarranged, but their eyes were still diligently scanning the 100 or so zombie corpses strewn about everywhere. Some plopped down on their butts, perhaps no longer having any spare energy left to even remain standing up.


    Others embraced the headless corpses while sobbing, too. The respective corpses must¡¯ve been their family members or acquaintances. Even though everyone suffered from the pain of grief, we somehow managed to defend against the zombie attack.


    I confirmed the conditions of the villagers. Some were injured, but no one died.


    ¡°Now that¡¯s a relief.¡±


    I stabbed the shovel on the ground, leaned my back against it, and spat out a long sigh.


    This was tough. Seriously tough.


    If I knew what was in store for my future, I would¡¯ve chosen the ¡®Warrior¡¯ profession during that game testing part-time job instead. It¡¯d been infinitely more preferable than this ¡®Necromancer¡¯ one where I had to mind everyone else¡¯s glares just to use a skill or two.


    Alternatively, how wonderful would it have been if I arrived in this place as a superman? One that boasted sky-high skill proficiency too.


    ¡°You worked hard, your highness.¡±


    One of the farmers came closer to me to pass along a leather waterskin filled with water.


    ¡°Oh, thanks.¡±


    I gladly received it and washed my hands and face before quenching my itching thirst. During all of this, I kept glancing at the farmer. And through [Mind¡¯s Eye], I confirmed his name.


    ¡°You said your name was Gril?¡±


    The farmer Gril flinched and asked back with a puzzled expression. ¡°Did I tell you my name before, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you have.¡±


    Nope, you haven¡¯t.


    Maybe he was happy about me remembering his name, because Gril suddenly formed a grateful expression on his face. ¡°Thank you, your highness.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me.¡±


    ¡°However, an Imperial Family member remembered the name of a measly farmer like me, so I¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hey man. You should hold your own profession in a higher regard. Let me tell you, being a farmer is an important job.¡±


    Gril seemed to be a bit stunned. After a few seconds, he nodded his head energetically, looking as if he was flustered.


    Now that I think about it, didn¡¯t this guy take away that girl who got infected earlier?


    ¡°What happened to that girl? Did she survive?¡±


    ¡°That girl? Ah, you mean Charlotte, your highness? She¡¯s safe and sound, and I think the ladies inside the monastery should be taking good care of her.¡±


    That¡¯s a relief then.


    I glanced at the monastery. For a moment there, I felt someone¡¯s gaze lock on me from one of the windows but I couldn¡¯t see any faces.


    Should I blame my current state of mind for that feeling?


    I glanced back at the extremely-dead zombies again. The stench was so bad that I ended up deeply frowning. The level of demonic energy they had was simply too much for mere corpses that became the walking dead literally overnight.


    ¡°How strange¡­¡±


    ¡°What is, your highness?¡±


    ¡°This plague, I mean.¡±


    Even if a plague was spreading around recently, a zombie wave of this scale suddenly showing up couldn¡¯t have been normal at all. Hell, I¡¯d wager that a plague on the level of Biblical proportions wouldn¡¯t be this severe.


    ¡°Even if we¡¯re near the Land of the Dead Spirits, it¡¯s too bizarre to see these many zombies to pop up like this. It was a really close call this time. If this keeps up, though, we¡¯ll be completely annihilated.¡±


    ¡°When¡­ when you say ¡®completely annihilated¡¯, you mean¡­?¡±


    ¡°Everyone except me will die.¡±


    Gril¡¯s complexion greatly paled.


    ¡°If we don¡¯t find the cause quickly, that¡¯ll happen for real.¡±


    I¡¯d say around two weeks minimum for the fiefdom of Ronia to detect something was off and dispatch people over here. I wasn¡¯t sure whether we could last that long or not.


    Gril hurriedly asked me in a petrified voice, ¡°W-what should we do next?¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll have to endure somehow. Or find the cause. But that¡¯s for later. Let¡¯s give them a proper burial first, starting with cremation.¡±


    ¡°You mean right now?¡±


    I looked at the villagers before glancing back at Gril. Everyone was dead tired right now. Even this guy was making the face of a man asking for a lengthy break. However, if they rested now, it¡¯ll get only harder to perform a proper purification ceremony later.


    ¡°We better finish up quickly when we still have many willing hands available. Also¡­¡± I stared at the unmoving corpses and slightly frowned. ¡°They¡¯re suffering even now, you know? We should ease their pain as soon as possible.¡±


    I directed the villagers to dig out a burial pit next to the cemetery. The mass funeral was simple and concise. After gathering the corpses, they were cremated, and then the remains were poured into the pit and buried. A lone wooden signboard acted as their tombstone.


    Now normally, a high-quality headstone would¡¯ve been used instead, but unfortunately, we lacked enough energy to make one.


    While everyone was watching, I stared at the new grave and offered a silent prayer, my hands still holding onto the shovel.


    This was the purification ceremony¨Cremembering the departed, and praying for their comfortable, eternal rest.


    I worked until the following morning to finish up. After offering the last prayer to the grave, I turned around to address the villagers, ¡°Let¡¯s take a break for a little while before hunting down the rest of them. It¡¯ll be better to trim their numbers as much as possible.¡±


    Even though I was in the middle of my speech, I didn¡¯t forget to study the villagers¡¯ reactions.


    A gaze that I didn¡¯t enjoy receiving landed on me first. Some looked rather dazed while the others looked quite surprised.


    I tilted my head, and this caused the villagers to either cough awkwardly or avoid my gaze.


    I frowned a bit and summoned the village chief. ¡°Hey, Mister Village Chief.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness. Is there something bothering you?¡±


    The chief sauntered over and formed an awkward but still considerably smooth smile.


    Something about this atmosphere felt weird to me.


    I formed a slightly pouting expression as my reply. The chief simply waited for me to finish what I wanted to say, completely disregarding whether I made such an expression or not.


    ¡°Did any strange events happen around here in the last few days?¡±


    ¡°When you say strange events¡­?¡±


    ¡°Like, for example, a strange object showed up or maybe a stranger came to visit the village.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I wonder. I don¡¯t remember anything like that. The plague started doing its rounds about a month ago, but there wasn¡¯t anything suspicious back then.¡±


    In that case, did this contagion really spread through the already-infected vermin or the wild birds? However, I had this strong suspicion that rather than mother nature, someone had artificially set this crisis in motion instead.


    ¡°Is there a Necromancer nearby or something?¡±


    I muttered to myself, but my words caused serious panic and fear to spread among not just Gril and the village chief, but to the rest of the villagers.


    In this place, Necromancers were literally calamity personified.


    The ¡®Grim Reaper of the Plague¡¯, the ¡®Soul-stealing Devil¡¯, etc., etc.¨Cwith the exception of a particular kingdom, everyone else in this continent branded them as criminals.


    One of the laws of this land even stipulated that you wouldn¡¯t be tried for murder if you killed a Necromancer without a good enough reason. To put simply, I¡¯d be as good as dead if my profession as a Necromancer was to be revealed here.


    ¡°A N-Necromancer?¡±


    ¡°Oh my god! You think that such a disgusting thing has been hiding in our village?¡±


    Oh, I¡¯m sorry for being so disgusting. It wouldn¡¯t be strange for your head to go flying for lese majeste against the Imperial Prince though.


    ¡°It¡¯s just my conjecture,¡± I calmly responded.


    But if there really was one, that would certainly be troublesome. Because if he decided to lay low for a while, then everything would go down the crapper for sure.


    However, there was a pretty good chance that he was nearby. You¡¯d have to be close by in order to control zombies after all.


    Too bad, I had no idea how to search for him. Unless we were talking about a dedicated search team composed of Priests and Paladins, sending these clueless villagers out there to search was basically the same as feeding the man tasty new treats.


    Well¡­ I could be wrong with everything and this whole situation could be a naturally-occurring plague that simply spiraled out of control.


    Either way, the problem remained the same¨Chow do we find the origin of it all?


    ¡°Let¡¯s stay put for one night and observe. Tell everyone to take a break. Ah, and we¡¯ll need rotating sentries just in case.¡±


    We were all as tired as anyone could be.


    We fought off the horde of zombies, then dug the ground the whole day and moved the corpses, and finally, we even went and performed a mass funeral too, so our physical and mental limits had been reached already.


    At the moment, none of us could really do anything.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to catch some Zs. If something happens, come and wake me up.¡±


    I told both the village chief and Gril before turning around to head towards the monastery.


    **


    ¡°Kyaahhk!¡±


    A scream resounded alongside a thunderclap.


    I was startled awake from my sweet slumber inside the monastery. The pitter-patter of raindrops rang around in my ears.


    My vision remained dark and dim, but the momentary brightness brought on by the lightning strike illuminated a person¡¯s face right before my eyes.


    Pale-white hair and crimson eyes alongside an expressionless face like a sheet of ice¨Call of these belonged to a certain girl.


    As if she was taken by surprise, her brows rose up higher as she stared at me.


    ¡°What is it now?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The girl showed some signs of fluster as she quickly left my side. It was then, the monastery¡¯s doors burst open and Gril rushed in.


    ¡°Your highness!¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to make me deaf?¡±


    Perhaps due to all the fatigue, my whole body felt as heavy as a wet sponge. Even my mind was drowsy right now. The farmer¡¯s loud shouting-like voice rang inside my head and I was getting dizzy from it.


    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked Gril, but at the same time, took a glance at the girl.


    She was openly looking at me with a pair of sunken eyes while squatting by a corner. The glare she had was cold and sharp.


    Wait a second, that girl¡­ wasn¡¯t she the one who ate all those zombie rats and survived?


    Her eyes were filled to the brim with venom. She¡¯s not blaming me for something, right?


    ¡°Your highness!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m listening, okay? What¡¯s going on here? What¡¯s with all this ruckus?¡±


    The farmer Gril then urgently updated me on the situation.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s been kidnapped by zombies!¡±


    < 007. Imperial Prince is Busting Heads -3 > Fin.

 Chapter 9

    ¡°Kidnapped by zombies?¡±


    With a dumbfounded face, I looked through the monastery¡¯s window. It should¡¯ve been the middle of the day right now, but thanks to the relentless downpour, it was quite dark outside.


    Since it was so poorly lit outside, one¡¯s range of vision should be impaired because of it as well. It kind of felt off that the zombies took advantage of the weather to not kill, but kidnap a person instead.


    Now normally, zombies wouldn¡¯t try to age a person like a fine wine before devouring the poor sucker, so they must¡¯ve been aiming for something else here.


    However, just a single villager?


    ¡°Did you say it was just one person?¡±


    Gril nodded his head. He continued on with a deeply flustered face, ¡°Yes, just one! It¡¯s a young lady who moved into the neighboring village around three months ago. She¡¯s¡­ You know¡­ that person you tried to score with¡­¡±


    ¡°I tried to do what now?¡±


    This was my first time hearing about this story.


    Gril snuck glances at our surroundings before whispering in my ear, ¡°Well¡­ she¡¯s such a looker after all. I¡¯m not sure if you can remember what happened, but after you got rejected by her, the shame led you to¨Cyou know¡­ hang yourself¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but squeeze my eyes shut just then.


    Aaaargh¡­ this was so damn embarrassing.


    The dude killed himself not because he felt despair at his doomed fate, but because some girl rejected him?


    I could now understand why the Holy Emperor abandoned this foolish grandson of his.


    Since he probably treasured the family¡¯s honour more than his life, he would¡¯ve definitely wanted to forget all about this mangnani grandson for good.


    I groaned helplessly as I massaged my temples. ¡°Okay, so how did she get dragged away?¡±


    ¡°Pardon? T-that is¡­¡±


    Gril looked flustered, unsure.


    Actually, the person who was feeling more flustered than him was me.


    Villagers were now standing guard outside the monastery. So, it¡¯d be safest to stay indoors¨Canyone even thinking of stepping foot outside right now was obviously not right in the head.


    ¡°The young lady is very kind-hearted you see. Her personality won¡¯t let her forsake any injured people around, and this was why she said that she¡¯d go and procure some medicinal herbs and¡­¡±


    What was up with this annoying development?


    A bite wound wouldn¡¯t pose any threat whatsoever with a sip of holy water. And yet, this woman personally went out to ¡®procure¡¯ medicinal herbs?


    Gril continued on, ¡°That¡¯s why the villagers wish to form a search party.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you guys scared of the zombies?¡±


    ¡°She was the village¡¯s herb gatherer and many people were saved due to her hard work, you see. Many of us are indebted, and¡­ She¡¯s one of the most beautiful women in the village too. And also single, your highness.¡±


    Meaning¡­ all the love-struck men wanted to rescue her?


    Actually, there was something bugging me about this as well. If the zombies really kidnapped her, then I should find out what they were really up to. I needed to find out whether this was a mere simple kidnapping or perhaps that woman and the zombies were involved in something shady.


    ¡°I get it now, but can you guys even track her down?¡±


    ¡°We have an experienced hunter named Hans with us. If it¡¯s him, then it should be possible. What will you do, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Form the search party. I¡¯m coming too.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going with the search party?¡±


    Gril formed a surprised expression. Yup, he was probably taken aback by the fact that the ¡®Imperial Prince¡¯ wanted to go rescue a maiden who rejected his advance. Especially so when he already knew what the boy¡¯s personality was like.


    ¡°Never mind whether she rejected me or not, I can¡¯t even remember it anyway. Besides that, a person¡¯s life is much more important, don¡¯t you agree?¡± I said, sounding quite righteous for a moment there.


    Honestly though, I was thinking of something else¨Cthere must¡¯ve been a reason for the zombies to not devour the woman right away, but instead drag her somewhere else.


    I thought that just maybe, searching for the kidnapped woman could lead us to the solution to this crisis. Something just felt off to me, which was why I needed to investigate it.


    **


    A search party had been hastily formed.


    ¡°It¡¯s this way! Over here¡­!¡±


    While wearing a pair of worn-out leather shoes and a robe, I made my way across the rainy, soggy forest on foot. The location the ten members of the search party arrived at while wielding burning torches, was a cave located pretty far from the monastery.


    The hunter named Hans nodded his head as he looked at the bits of flesh and blood left on the grass, as well as the muddy footsteps on the ground. ¡°It must be here.¡±


    ¡°Wow, you sure have located it so quickly, haven¡¯t you?¡± I retorted sarcastically.


    Actually, it wasn¡¯t so much as having ¡®located it quickly¡¯, but more like ¡®lured¡¯ to this place, or so I thought. These zombie assholes were smart as hell, so they must¡¯ve deliberately left all these breadcrumbs for us to follow.


    What was their goal though? Was this a diversionary tactic to split the villagers? If not, maybe lure away small numbers and hunt them down one group at a time?


    I stared into the cave¡¯s interior, my mind still filled with several questions.


    It was a pretty deep Negative Field where the outside light couldn¡¯t reach. No matter how deep it was, though, it failed to disguise the stench of rotting corpses busy stinging my nostrils. Although faint, I even sensed demonic energy too.


    Without a doubt, we discovered the den of the zombies.


    ¡°This place is definitely it.¡±


    The origin of the plague must be in here too.


    Never mind the zombie rats, there was a pretty good chance that the zombified humans and animals could be found inside. Us stepping inside this cave was basically the same thing as presenting a veritable buffet for the zombies to enjoy.


    There was no need to trigger the trap if you knew it was waiting for you.


    ¡°Should I go and get the oil for cremation from the monastery first? With that, I should be able to get rid of the zombies in one go.¡±


    The cave even sloped downwards too. By setting a fire and letting it burn for half a day, maybe not all of them but hopefully we¡¯d get to kill about half of the zombies inside.


    However, my opinion brought about a nervous question from the villagers.


    ¡°Your highness, what would happen to Morian in that case?¡±


    ¡°Morian?¡±


    When I mouthed the unfamiliar name, Gril next to me whispered the answer, ¡°That¡¯s the name of the kidnapped lady.¡±


    Was she still even alive at this point right now?


    The men were clearly getting anxious as they nervously paced about.


    That lady was their benefactor, and also the object of their crush. So yeah, they should be anxious alright. Too bad, I simply couldn¡¯t endanger everyone just to rescue one person.


    I lifted the torch and pointed it at the interior of the cave. ¡°Look, you can tell that this place is a Negative Field even with just a casual glance. Which means it¡¯ll be seriously dangerous. It¡¯s where the undead can receive buffs, you know?¡±


    ¡°¡­Buffs?¡±


    The men tilted their heads. They were puzzled by such a strange term.


    I replied. ¡°¡­It¡¯s where the undead can grow stronger.¡±


    More importantly, it was so dark in there that you couldn¡¯t see properly. The staggering, flailing zombies would present a greater danger than before in such an environment.


    At the very least, I had no reason to risk this much uncertainty.


    Gril studied the reactions of his fellow villagers before whispering back to me, ¡°What will you do now, your highness?¡±


    This cave was just too suspicious.


    ¡°Hmm, I hope there isn¡¯t a zombie bear or something in there.¡±


    It¡¯d be a definite no-no if that¡¯s the case. A damn zombie bear? The current me wouldn¡¯t be able to properly defeat such a thing. I wasn¡¯t even a warrior, so what was I supposed to do against such a monster if it really appeared?


    The villagers were now looking at me. I guessed that they wanted me to make the final call. Even they judged it to be too dangerous to just blindly rush into the cave.


    ¡°Right now, it¡¯d be for the best if we step back.¡±


    Since we now knew where the origin of the plague was, we could afford to go and prepare ourselves adequately first. We weren¡¯t just going to sacrifice ten lives to rescue one villager.


    ¡°We return to the monastery for now. Marching straight in there will only result in needless casualt¡­¡±


    It was then¨Ca seriously thick stench suddenly stabbed into my nose. While stunned silly, I instinctively looked behind me. A chill ran down my spine.


    Just as my eyes shifted towards the forest, a black shadow pounced on me and bit into my shoulder.


    Stab!


    Sharp fangs dug in and tore into my flesh. Soft skin ripped open and my muscles were gouged out; shoulder bones were crushed in the process, too.


    ¡°Uwaahk!!¡±


    I screamed out loudly.


    Then, my vision rotated upside down. Something was forcibly dragging me into the cave while biting into my shoulder.

 Chapter 10

    ¨C Imperi¡­ -nim!


    ¨C Pri¡­ Resc¡­


    Villagers had no time to react at all.


    Their voices grew increasingly distant.


    My vision grew darker. A huge wolf was biting into my shoulder, its eyes glaring at me. With the awful stench of a rotting corpse and disgustingly thick demonic energy added on top, too.


    ¡­Goddammit, it was a zombie wolf.


    ¡°Let me go!!¡±


    I held the shovel shorter and stabbed it into the creature¡¯s neck.


    Because my posture was all wrong and also with my bitten shoulder, I couldn¡¯t muster enough power behind the strike. My attack didn¡¯t even inflict a small nick in the monster¡¯s thick hide.


    Getting dragged any deeper would be too dangerous for me.


    By being isolated inside the cave all by myself, it would mean I¡¯d become surrounded by zombies and get devoured for sure.


    ¡°Screw this¡­!¡±


    I focused divinity on my hands, and then activated the skill [Horrifying Curse]. I felt the divinity immediately drain out of my body.


    As the sense of dizziness filled my head up, I could hear a faint voice.


    [You have granted a blessing.]


    Now wasn¡¯t the time to mind my anemia or whatever. The blades of the shovel glowed softly. My digging tool was now imbued with the reverse effect of the [Horrifying Curse], [Blessing].


    ¡°You stinking son of a b*tch!!¡±


    The shovel carrying the aura of divine blessing stabbed into the zombie wolf¡¯s neck.


    STAB¨C!!


    Forget about the smell of burning flesh, the dang thing actually melted away.


    The sensation of a heated metal chopstick melting down plastic got transmitted through my fingertips. The shovel dug in even deeper. However, the zombie wolf still didn¡¯t let me go.


    ¡°You stubborn son of¡­!¡±


    I pulled the shovel out and stabbed the damn wolf again.


    Eventually¡­


    Boom¡­!


    I finally managed to extricate myself out from the damn thing¡¯s maws after its neck completely melted away and its body collapsed into a heap.


    I rolled ungainly on the floor several times. The pile of bones and rotting corpses acted as cushions to soften my landing.


    While pressing my head on the ground, I screamed out, ¡°Uwaaaahk!! This f*cking hurts!! This¡­ Son of a b*tch¡­!¡±


    Seriously man, the pain was no damn joke.


    My trembling hand reached up to my wounded shoulder. I flinched when my fingers touched the gouged-out flesh. Almost as if I got burned by something, intense heat rose up from the wound.


    I couldn¡¯t tell whether I was screaming out or grunting from the pain when I muttered to myself, ¡°Why do I have to go through this sh*t anyway?!¡±


    I held my shoulder and injected divinity into the wound.


    This was the basic healing skill that most Priests possessed. I also added the skill [Horrifying Curse] on top, too. No, maybe I should just rename it to [Blessing] instead.


    I felt the divinity drain out of my body, and in turn, the wound healed at a visible rate.


    The demonic energy permeating within my muscles caused a negative reaction and my skin ruptured, but that only lasted for a short while. Broken bones realigned as new flesh grew to replace the old one.


    ¡°That freaking hurt.¡±


    This adverse reaction between divinity and demonic energy¨Chealing the undead¡¯s bite wound would always be accompanied by horrible pain.


    Only after the wound was completely healed without a scar did I breathe a sigh of relief.


    ¡°¡­No, hang on. I shouldn¡¯t be relaxing right now.¡±


    Maybe I should blame the instinctive fear I felt for the sudden bout of talking-to-myself syndrome. I scanned my surroundings, but my vision remained dark. I couldn¡¯t see anything properly at all.


    But that too lasted for only a short while as well. I quickly got to confirm the locations of the creatures shuffling towards me thanks to [Mind¡¯s Eye].


    ¨C Ku-oohhhh¡­.


    Yup, it was a horde of zombies.


    Zombies, halfway to becoming skeletons after most of their flesh had rotted away, were currently staggering and shuffling towards me, their jaws falling open as if they discovered a tasty treat in front of them.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m screwed.¡±


    I was already pretty fatigued, but now I had to fight them too?


    Ahh, the Goddess of love and mercy, Gaia!


    ¡°¡­Please, please just spare me once, will ya?¡±


    I begged the silent Goddess as my hands grasped the shovel tighter.


    **


    The whole cave was filled with a disgusting stench.


    Rotting corpses and discarded bones were literally rolling around on the ground. As an added bonus, I could even sometimes see the walking dead snack on them.


    Zombies that were busy feasting on the discarded bones and flesh discovered me and stood up from their spots. They staggered while coming in closer.


    Thankfully, there were no fleet-footed zombified animals among their midst like the one from before.


    ¡°Man, I might go crazy at this rate.¡±


    As it turned out, I got dragged pretty deep inside the cave. This meant that I shouldn¡¯t wait for the villagers to come and rescue me.


    I raised the shovel up before stabbing it down on the ground.


    [The Divine Puddle has been summoned.]


    With the shovel as the center, a holy water-filled puddle gushed up from the ground. It rapidly spread all around me in a diameter of around 5 meters.


    The approaching zombies stepped into the puddle and began to unsteadily totter about before falling face-first to the ground. They then slowly melted away.


    Unfortunately, another zombie stepped on top of the fallen zombies and got closer. Using their fallen ¡®comrades¡¯ as footholds, these damn things slowly shuffled towards me.


    What a bunch of tenacious evil creatures; mere slaves to their instinctive desire to devour the living despite knowing that they would also perish in the process. This was why I felt so spooked too.


    I quickly swung the shovel at the ones coming in closer towards me.


    Along with a dull crack, a zombie¡¯s head shattered, its rotting brain matter scattering about.


    I knew that this was simply me buying time and nothing more. I needed to completely, utterly destroy them, and do it over a wide area too.


    ¡°The [Plague of Debilitation].¡±


    I took a deep breath before muttering these words out. After raising the shovel up, I stabbed it back on the ground and closed my eyes. A large Rune letter suddenly appeared on the ground beneath the zombies, and then, particles emitting bright light exploded upwards.


    [You have carried out a wide-area blessing.]


    The light particles that rose up from the ground came in contact with the zombies, causing their rotting flesh to burn away. One by one, the undead turned into ashes and dispersed away.


    One, two, seven, ten¡­


    Nice! It¡¯s working! At this rate¡­!


    Too bad, just as the hopes of survival formed in my heart¡­


    BOOM-!!


    ¡­My bright expression turned gloomy in an instant.


    I raised my head up.


    ¨C Ku-ooohhhh¡­.


    The damn thing was at least three meters tall.


    It had shaggy fur covering its thick hide, alongside large arms and a humongous torso. A bipedal creature that possessed hook-like claws now stood before my very eyes.


    I muttered to myself, utterly dazed by this sight, ¡°¡­A goddamn zombie bear?¡±


    Yup, it was indeed a zombified bear.


    I didn¡¯t know which species of bear it was, but¡­


    [Name: King of Gluttony


    Age: ¡­


    Speciality: Biting, crushing, smashing, scooping out internal organs


    + Currently strengthened through Necromancy.]


    ¡­This guy wasn¡¯t something I could handle at the moment.


    A pretty vicious creature had turned into a zombie, it seemed.


    ¡°Yup, I¡¯m losing my mind here.¡±


    Every time the zombie bear took a step forward, I in turn also took a step backward. Even though the light particles from the wide-area blessing touched its body, the damn monster had no problem moving its body.


    It then crushed the melting zombies underfoot and stepped into the puddle of holy water. Its fur did somewhat melt, but due to its thick hide, the effect was minimal, to say the least.


    This guy was on a whole other level altogether compared to the zombies I had been dealing with so far.


    Should I run now? However, if I showed my back against it, I got the feeling that it¡¯d suddenly pounce on me with a frightening turn of speed.


    The scarier creatures other than humanoid zombies were the undead predators. Why? Because they possessed faster movements than regular humans, that¡¯s why.


    If I tried to run towards the sloping exit of the cave, my back would be ripped apart in no time at all. And I¡¯d probably get killed in an instant.


    I gritted my teeth while my hands held the shovel even tighter.


    ¡°A man can die once, but for a second time?!¡±


    Dying once from electrocution was already more than enough for a lifetime. I definitely didn¡¯t want to die again after being crushed by a damn zombie.


    I extended my hands as I gathered more divinity.


    ¡°The [Resurrection of the Dead].¡±


    As soon as my words came to an end, the divinity quickly spread around the cave¡¯s interior, causing the corpses found within to writhe.


    Undead zombies slowly stood up while emitting white light particles, their breaths filled with divine aura.


    ¨C Oh, ohhhh!!


    And then, the cave was rocked not by the bone-chilling howls of the undead, but pure and clean hymn-like singing instead.


    < 008. Imperial Prince is Hunting a Witch -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 11

    Ten holy zombies appeared before me.


    The shoulders of the newly summoned zombies were slumped forward. They raised their heads slightly upwards and took in the sight of the surroundings. Then, their jaws dropped wide after spotting the zombie bear.


    Each of their mouths opened so wide that the jawbones actually dislocated and their cheek skins almost tore up. And then¡­


    ¨C Kiiiiiieeeeeehk!!


    As if the hymn of a second ago was nothing but a lie, they spat out a screech far more bizarre than that of a regular undead. Their muscles writhed and wriggled, the blood vessels puffing up on the soles of their feet pressed down on the ground.


    The ten holy zombies crouched into a pouncing position, then they exploded forward by kicking the ground. They dug into the bear¡¯s defenses with astonishing a turn of speed.


    They violently, speedily tore and sliced into the bear¡¯s fur and hide with their own sharp claws.


    ¨C Kku-ruk??


    The zombie bear turned its head in a confused manner. The damaged hide on its body began to melt down.


    ¨C Kkiiiaaahk!!


    The holy zombies opened their maws wide and pounced on the zombie bear, biting and tearing the monster to bits. Its thick hide was bitten through as the creature¡¯s rotting muscles were extended like melting cheese before finally being severed.


    The ten holy zombies relentlessly ripped and devoured the undead bear. The hulking monster howled out every time the chewing and grating noises resounded out in the cave. Its large body tottered and it began to somewhat retreat.


    ¡°It¡¯s working.¡±


    I formed a faint little smile. I started believing that I might be able to survive this ordeal.


    Not only could these holy zombies raise their speed and break into sprints, their physical strength was also on another level altogether from the others. Their attack capabilities were also far higher than regular zombies from what I could see.


    Yes, this was the correct answer. As expected of the Necromancer profession, going for the numbers game was the best way.


    Didn¡¯t the various ¡®tokusatsu¡¯ and dime-a-dozen RPGs amply demonstrate this? The dirtiness of five or more characters cracking open a can of whoopass on a boss monster! Now that¡¯s the truth folks. [1]


    The numbers game didn¡¯t care whether you were a superhuman or not. That¡¯s why¡­!


    The zombie bear suddenly raised its paw and smashed down at the holy zombies.


    CRACK-!!


    Accompanied by the sounds of something rupturing wide open, the upper torsos of two holy zombies got torn in half, and they flew away to crash into the rocky walls of the cave.


    My expression froze right there and then. I shifted my gaze over towards the broken zombies that were smashed into the walls before looking back at the zombie bear.


    The hulking creature smashed its paw down once more.


    Its wide and heavy front paw smacked and ripped apart a hapless holy zombie¡¯s body like a piece of worn-out rag.


    And then, while the zombies were doing their best to gnaw at the undead bear bit by bit, the dang thing simply flung its entire body at the rocky wall.


    BOOM-!!


    Three of the holy zombies that were clinging onto the bear were crushed flat and went splat in an instant.


    Maybe it was now too annoyed to care, because the zombie bear simply ignored the rest that were still clinging onto its body, and began to march straight towards me.


    I could only stare up dazedly at the approaching monster.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m screwed.¡±


    I had no freaking clue that this thing was so powerful. I mean, wasn¡¯t it way too overpowered even if it was a zombified bear?!


    Whatever, I needed to get out of this place. This guy wasn¡¯t something I could fight head-on.


    ¡°I better start runni¡­!¡±


    The zombie bear¡¯s eyes abruptly widened before quickly lowering its posture. Like a spring, it leapt up after kicking the ground. Even though it possessed such a large and heavy body, it was probably the quickest out of all the predators when it came to its ability to charge forward.


    Huge, lengthy claws that I nearly mistook for actual scythes took a swift swipe at me.


    Son of a¡­!


    I immediately granted the blessing on the shovel. I tried to raise my only equipment up to defend myself, but the bear¡¯s paw struck me and my entire body tilted to the side.


    BANG-!!


    My hands ached. No, hang on a minute ¨C it felt more like the impact force was akin to all of my bones popping out from their sockets instead.


    ¡°Uuuk¡­!¡±


    A short scream leaked out from my lips, any semblance left of consciousness almost abandoning me. That attack just now, it was more than vicious enough to break the shovel and rip my body in half.


    However¡­


    A Rune letter was engraved on the shovel with a faint light oozing out from it.


    [Divine Aura has activated.]


    [Your equipment has been temporarily enhanced.]


    What? Divine¡­ What are you talking about?


    My eyes nearly popped out from their holes after hearing the message resounding inside my head.


    The shovel didn¡¯t break. Instead, I felt this wriggling sensation in my hands, the shovel¡¯s shaft feeling even more secure within my grip. On the other hand, the zombie bear¡¯s dangerous-looking claws developed big cracks before shattering into pieces.


    Of course, it wasn¡¯t as if I managed to block out the entirety of the impact.


    I did defend against the attack, but I still ended up crashing into the rocky wall of the cave, almost like some kind of a deflated ball. I vomited out blood as pain that could be compared to my whole body ripping apart tore through me.


    What the hell? I survived?


    I glanced down at the shovel. The shining Rune letter gradually disappeared. What was it again? The message definitely said [Divine Aura], didn¡¯t it?


    Such a thing wasn¡¯t among the skillset provided in the game.


    Hang on, now wasn¡¯t the time to sweat over something like this, was it?


    I defended the attack with the shovel, but the intense, horrible pain from my innards made me wonder if all my internal organs had been destroyed or something.


    ¡°Euh-euh-euhk¡­.¡±


    I inadvertently leaked out a painful moan, my gaze shifted back to my front. I heard loud, thudding footsteps¨Cthe zombie bear was staggering towards me.


    At this rate, I would die for sure.


    I attempted to use the shovel as leverage to stand up, but I plopped down on the ground again when I tried to do so.


    ¡®Ah¡­ I¡¯m definitely screwed.¡¯


    I couldn¡¯t muster any strength in my legs.


    ¡°Damn it, if only my skill proficiency was higher!¡±


    I should¡¯ve at least meditated seriously and tried to absorb a lot more divinity or something while staying in the monastery. If I did that, I could¡¯ve enjoyed a chance to overwhelm the zombie bear with the real numbers game.


    The bear switched to walking on all four legs. Perhaps realizing that its target couldn¡¯t escape anymore, its gait became rather relaxed too. The creature soon stopped near my position and looked down at me, the corners of its lips arcing up.


    Urgh, this crazy son of a¡­.


    I saw the creature¡¯s expression and realized the truth¨Cthe unknown Necromancer was busy controlling this very undead right now. The bastard must¡¯ve been watching everything through the monster¡¯s eyes all along.


    So¡­ the kidnapped woman was definitely just bait, then?


    It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that the woman was probably dead by now. My opponent probably only wanted to show everyone that the woman was kidnapped alive. After all, keeping someone alive wouldn¡¯t be much useful to a Necromancer.


    If she was still alive, then she might end up becoming some sort of a guinea pig, most likely. Or, she¡¯s already been killed off and turned into another undead, used as a tool to lure more hapless villagers to their doom.


    What a cheap and underhanded method it was. As expected of a Necromancer.


    The zombie bear opened its maw wide.


    What kind of nonsense was this? I couldn¡¯t be sure of whether this was a reincarnation or possession, but here I was, already hell-bound only after three months of living in this place.


    Ah, ahh, dear Gaia! If you¡¯re watching, can¡¯t you help a poor man out for once? I mean, you¡¯re a Goddess, aren¡¯t you? The Goddess of love and mercy no less?


    In that case, you can certainly show me some love and mercy by saving my butt, right?


    A lovable grandson of the Holy Emperor is about to get killed, so are you really going to let just it happen?


    All sorts of nonsensical stuff filled up my head. I should probably blame the fear of death on this one.


    My complexion paled and I ended up muttering out the thoughts bubbling in my head, ¡°Goddammit, there¡¯s no way I¡¯d be rescued by reciting a dumb little prayer¡­¡±


    ¨C Kuuu-ooohhhh!


    The zombie bear¡¯s wide-open mouth was about to pounce on me, but then¡­


    But then, I saw it.


    I saw a whitish object sneak out from behind the zombie bear.


    No, hang on a minute, isn¡¯t that a person¡­?!


    ¡­Moreover, it¡¯s a girl?


    She also happened to carry a kitchen knife too.

 Chapter 12

    ¡°Eh?¡±


    A stupid-sounding gasp jumped out of my mouth all on its own.


    H-hey, where did this girl pop out from?


    Even as my brain failed to fully process this sight, the girl hanging onto the bear¡¯s neck proceeded to stab the knife into the creature¡¯s eye.


    STAB-!!


    Was it because it lost its sight now? The zombie bear howled out loudly and violently shook its head. She yanked the knife out, and then stabbed it down again in the monster¡¯s eye socket. Her movements were super-quick and violent, also unnervingly precise too as she stabbed over and over again.


    Flesh and blood splattered everywhere.


    I finally regained my wits at this point and raised the shovel up high. This was my chance. If I didn¡¯t take it, then I¡¯d really die here!


    ¡°Get out of the way¨C!!¡±


    Did my voice get to her? Or was it because of the zombie bear¡¯s movements?


    The girl was flung away from the creature as if she was thrown away. She crashed roughly on the ground, perhaps because she didn¡¯t know how to land properly.


    Using the small gap created between that moment and the bear turning its head in my direction again, I managed to inject some more divinity into my shovel.


    Although faint, pure-white aura permeated into the ends of the tool¡¯s blade. I summoned all of my strength and stabbed it into the creature¡¯s forehead.


    STAB-!!


    I was initially greeted by this disgusting sensation of contact, and that was followed by the sound of something snapping in half.


    Any semblance of resistance from the bear suddenly stopped. The shovel¡¯s edges pierced past the monster¡¯s thick hide and penetrated straight into its skull.


    And just like that, the creature stopped moving altogether like a stuffed animal. The housing used for the demonic energy to animate the undead, the skull, had been destroyed. This cut off the flow of energy from the Necromancer.


    I glared deeply into the eyes of the zombie bear that gradually lost its light. I was sure that the damn Necromancer was watching me through them even now.


    I spoke while staring straight into those eyes. ¡°Sit tight and wait for me, because Imma pay you back in full for all the sh*t you just put me through.¡±


    I then released the shovel.


    Boom-!!


    The zombie bear lost its balance and fell to its side. The demonic energy that made this big hunk of rotting flesh move had completely dissipated now, and the ¡®remote control¡¯ was cancelled as a result.


    Argh, so bloody tiring.


    I plopped down on my butt once more.


    What kind of unnecessary hardship was this? I heard that MCs from other fantasy novels who were caught in this kinda situation would suddenly turn into munchkins, but I¡­


    ¡°¡­I have to go through this crap.¡±


    This was patently unfair.


    Why wasn¡¯t I given a once-in-a-lifetime talent or something? I was certain that there weren¡¯t any stories with such a sweet potato-like plot progression nowadays. [1]


    I sat there, inwardly complaining bitterly about the unfairness of it all to the high heavens, only to notice that someone was approaching me. I raised my head to see that it was the girl from earlier. She now stood before me.


    Her white hair was dyed in blood. She stared at me wordlessly with her equally-crimson and sunken eyes. The bear¡¯s fur and bloody flesh remained on the kitchen knife in her hand, blood dripping down from it.


    ¡°What now?¡±


    My words caused the girl to flinch a bit, and she for some reason, raised the knife in her hand and waved it around. Her lips twitched as it formed a grin.


    Could it be that she was trying to greet me?


    Well, that¡¯s the kind of a grin a serial killer from a slasher film might actually make.


    I suddenly recalled the incident of me ruthlessly smacking her in the head with the shovel not too long ago. Maybe I should¡¯ve held back a bit back then?


    You, uh, you ain¡¯t trying to stab me with that knife, are you?


    ¡°Imperial Prince-nim! Your highness¡­! Are you alright?¡±


    Rather belatedly, the voice of salvation entered my ears.


    What nice timing this was, since I couldn¡¯t even move my body properly at the moment. It¡¯d be very difficult to emerge unscathed if I got attacked by something hostile in my current condition.


    More importantly, though, I needed someone to do something about this awkward atmosphere between me and the girl. The villagers eventually got to my location. They discovered the zombie bear and froze up instantly.


    Mister Hunter was among the rescue party and after taking one look at the unmoving bear, his complexion became ashen-white. ¡°This¡­ isn¡¯t this the King of Gluttony?!¡±


    What a scary title that was.


    I just had to ask our Mister Hunter about it, ¡°You know about this thing?¡±


    Hunter Hans alternated his gaze between me and the zombie bear, then replied with an awkward expression on his face, ¡°This thing, it¡¯s one of the most dangerous creatures roaming out here, your highness. It lives in the Land of the Dead Spirits and it mainly preys on zombies.¡±


    According to him, this bastard of a bear enjoyed such a thick hide that it could easily withstand dozens of zombies attacking it at the same time. As a matter of fact, it was so scary that, were it to find a mate and get itself a little offspring, they could even hunt down an actual ¡®Troll¡¯ too.


    That¡¯s why it was so strong, huh.


    ¡°Did you actually kill this thing, your highness?¡±


    ¡°No, it was already a corpse when I got here.¡±


    I simply shrugged my shoulders.


    Things might get complicated if the villagers learn that I killed the monster by relying on Necromancer skills. Hang on, now that I thought about it, there was a witness here already, wasn¡¯t there?


    I shifted my head and looked at the girl. She looked back at me while tilting her head.


    There was a pretty good chance that she saw me summon the holy zombies. However, she didn¡¯t say anything about them and simply stood there. It could be either she wasn¡¯t the talkative type or she actually didn¡¯t see anything.


    The villagers looked at the girl with the kitchen knife and then at me while forming strange expressions.


    ¡°Why is this little girl here?¡± I asked, and my question prompted Gril to form a troubled expression on his face.


    He replied, ¡°We had no idea she was following us either, your highness. Just as you got dragged inside the cave by the wolf, she jumped out from the bushes.¡±


    She surely couldn¡¯t have chased after me thinking that she didn¡¯t want to lose the target of her vengeance in this fashion, right?


    A rather ominous thought decided to make camp in my head. The knife in her hand seemed to gleam even more so for some reason.


    I smiled awkwardly and tried to get back up. However, I staggered about unsteadily as I still had no strength in my legs. She quickly reached out and held me up.


    I flinched and looked back at her, only to discover a smile creeping up on her expressionless face. Her lips might have curled up, but there was no movement in her eyes whatsoever. Anyone could tell that she was forcing out a smile, and this only managed to send a chill down my backside instead.


    Please, please! Someone else help me out here! This girl, she might suddenly stab me in the stomach with the knife you know?!


    It was unknown whether Gril knew what my current thoughts were like or not. He simply alternated his gaze between the girl and me before pointing towards the exit of the cave. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get out of here for the time being. You look really tired, your highness, so let¡¯s go back and rest before¡­¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to leave so quickly? We should see this thing to the end now that you¡¯re all here.¡±


    ¡°Pardon me??¡±


    I pointed to the deeper parts of the cave. ¡°Let¡¯s end this right now.¡±


    ¡°B-but¡­¡±


    Gril looked at the bear with the imposing name of the ¡®King of Gluttony¡¯. Even though I said that the creature was already dead when I found it, he didn¡¯t seem to believe me.


    But then again, there was a hard-to-miss shovel sticking out of its forehead, so anyone with eyes could tell that it was killed by someone.


    The villagers must be scared of another possible zombified bear potentially hiding deeper within.


    The girl seemed to be blessed with quick wits, because she helped me move towards the shovel. I struggled a little before finally managing to yank it out from the dead creature.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing the other side doesn¡¯t have any more zombies left,¡± I tried reassuring them.


    ¡°Your highness?¡±


    I was merely guessing. There weren¡¯t any guarantees that our enemy no longer had undead troops left. However, I already came this far and there was no freaking way I¡¯d let the bastard escape.


    ¡°There aren¡¯t any more zombies. Even if there are some left, they should be on the same level as the ones you fought off back in the monastery. Not only that¡­¡±


    I took a look around our surroundings. Only then did the villagers notice the strangeness of the cave they were in. The cave where not a lick of light should exist, was brightly lit up.


    This was all thanks to the faint trace of divinity that still remained in the surroundings.


    ¡°That b*stard will escape if we don¡¯t act now.¡±


    Since the whole cave was washed with divinity, any lingering zombies shouldn¡¯t present us with problems.


    I studied the deeper parts of the cave that were shrouded in darkness and spoke, ¡°That Necromancer¡­ that bastard is somewhere in this cave.¡±


    That¡¯s right, I simply couldn¡¯t back off until our enemy was caught.


    I needed to make the fool pay for putting me through such a wringer!


    < 009. Imperial Prince is Hunting a Witch -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 13

    The villagers all held their breaths the moment they heard ¡®Necromancer¡¯ come out of my mouth. After exchanging glances with one another, they then gripped the farming tools in their hands even tighter.


    The light in their eyes turned hostile.


    Well, they finally figured out where the bastard that destroyed their lives and their homes was hiding, so without a doubt, their anger should be boiling like crazy right about now.


    ¡°What should we do about Charlotte?¡±


    Gril looked at the girl. However, the latter simply shook her head.


    Her tightly-shut lips parted just a little, ¡°I¡­ go with you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll get very dangerous. That¡¯s why you should¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m coming with you.¡±


    ¡°Charlotte, you¡¯re putting us in a spot here. Don¡¯t be stubborn, and¡­¡±


    She stared at Gril with a completely emotionless face. Her crimson eyes didn¡¯t flicker even once.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming with you.¡±


    The air seemed to get so much heavier just then.


    This was the kind of pressure that no young girl should be able to emit, but despite that it came bearing down on us regardless. The man feeling the most of her sunken and emotionless gaze was Gril; he hastily swallowed back his saliva.


    A short while later, the villagers including Gril all turned their heads away and avoided meeting her eyes.


    ¡°¡­Got it.¡±


    When confronted by a venomous snake vying for blood, the hapless puppies¨Cthe villagers¨Cgot petrified beyond salvation.


    She then asked me nonchalantly as if she had finally gotten her permission from the adults. ¡°I¡¯ll support you, but will that be alright?¡±


    I didn¡¯t say anything as I quietly studied her for a while. Even though our gazes were interlocked, she didn¡¯t try to avoid me. Well, she used a kitchen knife to fight off zombies, so this much was kinda understandable.


    If we were to run into more undead later, then this girl should prove to be far more reliable than these healthy menfolk from the village. Besides, she was the only one who could support me properly anyways due to our similar height.


    Gril could carry me, but one wrong reaction from him and I might get inadvertently killed, so that¡¯s a definite no-no.


    I deliberated on my choices, but in the meantime, the girl took my silence as a tacit agreement. She spoke up. ¡°Let¡¯s get going then.¡±


    She supported me and began walking forward. Naturally, the villagers started following us too.


    As I expected, we didn¡¯t run into any zombies. That zombified bear must¡¯ve been the Necromancer bastard¡¯s final line of defense. What a relief that was¨Cif a monster even scarier than the bear popped up, then we would¡¯ve been totally annihilated, that¡¯s for sure.


    Eventually, we managed to reach the deepest part of the cave.


    ¡°Looks like we¡¯re here.¡±


    Indeed it had to be, since we could see a wooden door at the end of this dank cave.


    The Farmer Gril and the Hunter Hans stood before the door and exchanged glances with each other, and then cautiously opened the door.


    The villagers tensed up as they gripped their farming tools tighter.


    It was quite dark inside, so the men raised their torches and cast some light in the interior of the chamber. We were then greeted by an incredibly foul stench coming from rotting corpses strewn about everywhere. Also, scrolls and grimoires written in unknown Runic characters were messily discarded on the ground too.


    ¡°I guess magician types aren¡¯t really fond of tidying up huh,¡± I commented upon seeing the mess.


    Well, we were talking about a Necromancer here. Even among the magician types, Necromancers were probably known as hardcore invalids who shut themselves up in a dark, dank corner of a room somewhere.


    It was then, Gril suddenly cried out, ¡°Ah! Oh my goddess!¡±


    The villagers hurriedly ran towards the corner of the chamber. On a certain rocky wall of the cave, we found a naked woman strung up by her arms and legs so that she¡¯d be left dangling in the air.


    Her body was riddled with wounds as if she had been tortured.


    ¡°Who¡­ is there¡­?¡±


    With some difficulty, the woman opened her eyes and asked us. It seemed that her vision hadn¡¯t gotten used to the lighting provided by the torches yet. She failed to discern that these were her fellow villagers.


    Her question elicited loud answers from Gril and the other men.


    ¡°It¡¯s me, Gril! Morian! I came to rescue you!¡±


    ¡°What are you on about?! This is Hans! In order to rescue you, I risked my life to¡­!¡±


    I became dumbfounded at the spectacle that was happening before me.


    I knew that they were somewhat excited right now, but shouldn¡¯t they act a bit more rationally than this?


    ¡°Hey, you lot. Before you start yapping on about stuff like that, why don¡¯t you untie her first? Looks like she¡¯s been tortured pretty good.¡±


    ¡°Ahh! T-that¡¯s right, the Imperial Prince-nim is here to rescue you too!¡±


    The villagers quickly untied the rope and supported the woman away from the wall.


    ¡°Imperial¡­ Prince-nim did?¡±


    She looked in my direction with a surprised expression.


    She was a looker for sure. Pale, blemish-free skin, clearly defined facial features, plus black hair and eyes which were rare in the Continent.


    She was certainly alluring, alright.


    There wasn¡¯t even any need to mention her figure too; abundant breasts, hand-spun waist, and rather supple buttocks. It was like looking at a fine sculpture, really.


    Any hot-blooded male would dearly love to, uh, share their love with her at least once in their lifetime. She was that kind of a woman.


    However¡­


    I began to massage my temples. ¡°You dumbass grandson¡­¡±


    I simply had to insult the original owner of this body.


    Sure, the boy¡¯s eyes had opened up to the joys of carnal activities to the point of even becoming blinded by a gorgeous beauty, but seriously? This woman had to be in her early thirties, man¡­ To think that he tried to hang himself just because he got rejected by a woman twice his age. What the bloody hell?


    I couldn¡¯t help but helplessly sigh as I thought of this.


    It was then something tugged at my mind, so I shifted my gaze back to the woman once more to use [Mind¡¯s Eye] on her.


    [Name: Morgana


    Age: 63


    Specialty: Honey trap, Necromancy, dissection, hexing, assassination.


    + Currently in an extremely tense and agitated state.]


    63 years old?! Necromancy? Dissection??? Hexing and freaking assassination????


    ¡°The Imperial Prince-nim came for me¡­?¡± The woman formed another surprised expression on her face. She sneakily brushed aside the villagers helping her and approached me. ¡°Is it true? You really came for me¡­?¡±


    She began blushing a little. Then, with an enraptured expression that belonged to a maiden experiencing her first love, she embraced me.


    Her smile was so alluring that the heart of any man who saw her would totally go wildly out of control.


    ¡°Ah, ahh! Your highness, thank you!¡±


    I wordlessly pushed away the silver-haired girl supporting me and grasped my shovel. With every ounce of energy I could muster, I smacked the woman on the head.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV)


    Understandably, the villagers freaked out and their expressions stiffened in an instant. Even the usually-taciturn silver-haired girl had to open her eyes wide.


    The woman staggered from the shovel shot to the head before collapsing on the floor.


    Her trembling hands rose up to touch her wounded head. Maybe she still hadn¡¯t comprehended this situation properly yet, because she kept staring dazedly at the ¡®Imperial Prince¡¯.


    ¡°Argh, I should¡¯ve hit her with the shovel¡¯s blade instead.¡±


    The Prince¡¯s mutter caused Morian¡¯s expression to instantly pale. She reached out to the other villagers and flailed about. ¡°H-help me!! T-the Prince has lost his mind! Please¡­!!¡±


    The Imperial Prince strode over to her. ¡°I was thinking that something stank really hard here. If only I knew earlier, I¡¯d have searched each and every villager thoroughly.¡± The Imperial Prince cracked his neck and shoulder muscles. And while gripping the shovel, he glared at the woman and snickered, ¡°So what should I do with you? Beat the living sh*t out of you and then tie you up? Orrr, just bury you six feet under so that you won¡¯t have a chance to get smart again with me?¡±


    The woman screamed out loudly again.


    It was at this point that the villagers finally regained their wits and stepped forward to protect the woman. They confronted the Prince and spoke up.


    ¡°I-Imperial Prince-nim! What are you doing this?! Why¡­?!¡±


    ¡°How could you wield your shovel against a frail young lady?!¡±


    As soon as the villagers stood up for her, Morian quickly hid behind them as her body shivered like a frightened kitten.


    Meanwhile, the Prince formed a dumbfounded expression as his eyes scanned the villagers. ¡°Get out of my way. I¡¯m gonna finish this. Or else, you fools are going to get hurt.¡±


    The village men quickly shook their heads. To them, the Prince right now had lost his mind.


    The boy¡¯s sharp glare, rude and harsh tone of voice¨Call those belonged to a neighborhood thug, not a prince. He was renowned for his mangnani personality, sure. But lately, though, people began thinking that he had somewhat improved, but as it turned out, nothing had actually changed.


    A mangnani would always be a mangnani, indeed.


    But then, the Imperial Prince said something completely unexpected to them. ¡°Did you just say she¡¯s a frail young lady? This b*tch is 63 years old. She¡¯s old enough to be your mother, and then some.¡±


    Morian¡¯s expression froze up in an instant. Her body began shuddering as well.

 Chapter 14

    This boy Prince, what was he even saying? He knew of her real age? But how¡­?


    ¡°Also, her name¡¯s not Morian or whatever. Was it Morgana? I heard that she showed up in the village three months ago. She must¡¯ve been preparing to start this horsesh*t ever since then. What a scary b*tch she is. As expected of a cowardly and cheap as*hole though.¡±


    Morian¡¯s eyes grew cold right away. He even knew her real name.


    The villagers formed flabbergasted expressions. But that was understandable¨Cshe worked as a pharmacist in the village and saved quite a lot of villagers in the process.


    So, between a pharmacist and the mangnani Imperial Prince, who would you trust more?


    It was obvious that the villagers would find the Prince insane.


    ¡°Your highness, could you please explain what you mean¡­?¡±


    The Imperial Prince pointed at Morian and spoke, ¡°To put it simply, that b*tch is the Necromancer.¡±


    With this one announcement, the whole cave fell into silence.


    The villagers stared at Morian with hardened expressions on their faces. Even Gril sneakily distanced himself away from her as cold sweat trickled down his face.


    Such a scene left Morian utterly flustered.


    ¡®Uh? What¡¯s this?! They actually believe the words of a crazy prince?¡¯


    Such a thing couldn¡¯t happen though.


    She worked so hard for the village¡¯s sake until now, and yet they trusted her even less than the mangnani prince?!


    Morian hurriedly shouted out, ¡°That¡¯s not true! That¡¯s not possible¡­ I¡¯ve been kidnapped by the zombies¡­!¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that weird, though? It¡¯s not like they were trying to mature a bottle of wine or something, so why did they kidnap a woman and let her live?¡±


    ¡°T-that¡¯s because I¡¯m the bait¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to keep you alive in that case. I mean, you already served your purpose when people saw you get kidnapped alive, right? There¡¯s no way a Necromancer would keep a bait alive when it could potentially escape and become an annoyance later.¡±


    ¡°T-that¡¯s because the evil magician was using me as a hostage¡­!¡±


    ¡°In that case, there should be someone else besides you here, no?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Morian finally shut her mouth up.


    Cold sweat drops traveled down her cheek and pooled on the tip of her chin. Her trembling eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.


    Even the villagers that initially believed in her innocence were distancing themselves away from her. Why? Because they definitely hadn¡¯t run into anyone resembling a Necromancer during their journey through the cave.


    The only person they met was Morian here, waiting for them.


    She hurriedly shook her head and stepped back.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not true! I¡¯m not lying¡­! This is a trap! A trap laid out by that evil magician! Why¡­ why don¡¯t you believe me¡­ Sob¡­¡±


    She covered her face with both of her hands and began sobbing away. The villagers saw this and exchanged sympathetic glances with each other.


    Could they have made a mistake?


    Such thoughts entered the villagers¡¯ heads. However, they had to change their minds the moment the Imperial Prince said these following words.


    ¡°You idiots, are you all wild animals or something? Don¡¯t listen to your base instincts and use your heads a bit more. You actually believe what she¡¯s saying in this situation?¡± The Prince harshly criticized them before shifting his gaze over to Gril. ¡°Hey, Gril. Do you still have any holy water with you?¡±


    ¡°Do you mean your holy water? Yes, sir. I still have some left.¡±


    The farmer nodded his head as he pulled out a vial of holy water from his inner pocket. The Imperial Prince snatched it away and tossed it to Morian. She hesitantly caught the vial, looking quite confused.


    ¡°Drink it. It¡¯s holy water.¡±


    Morian shut her mouth up. Just taking one look at the holy water caused her to involuntarily cover her nose. Even though the vial¡¯s cap was securely shut, the stench wafting out from it was truly extraordinary.


    This couldn¡¯t have been any ol¡¯ regular holy water. No, it must¡¯ve been created by a high-ranking Priest praying for several days and nights straight. Indeed, it was an incredibly dangerous ¡®poison¡¯ to a Necromancer who contained a sizable amount of demonic energy.


    ¡°You¡¯re injured all over too. You were probably tortured by the cowardly Necromancer, riiight? Drinking that should fix you up right away. However, if you¡¯re actually that very Necromancer¡­¡±


    ¡­The moment she ingested this liquid, her innards would start incinerating.


    Morian took a look around her.


    The gazes of the villagers were now focused on her. If she didn¡¯t drink this holy water right now, things would become very bad for her pretty quickly.


    She lowered her gaze and stared at the vial with trembling hands, after taking the lid off, the stench stung her nostrils.


    Just where did that unhinged fool of an Imperial Prince get himself such powerful holy water?!


    She now could tell that the liquid was imbued with an otherworldly amount of divinity. She then abruptly realized that the divine power used within the cave couldn¡¯t have come from an ordinary Priest too.


    This bastard of an Imperial Prince, something about him had changed three months ago.


    ¡°Ah, well, I¡­¡±


    She deliberately loosened her grip.


    Clang! Smash¡­!


    The vial of holy water oh-so naturally slipped out of her grasp and shattered on the floor. Morian feigned shock and shouted out, ¡°Oh no! I¡­ I was too tense and lost my grip¡­!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to fret.¡±


    The Imperial Prince glanced at Gril once more. The farmer hesitantly looked around and pulled out three more vials of holy water. He had enough spares on hand, in other words.


    This sight caused Morian¡¯s complexion to considerably darken. Her eyes trembled greatly, agitation clearly written in them.


    ¡®You son of a b*tch of an Imperial Prince!¡¯


    She gritted her teeth.


    This was a complete unexpected turn of events. She was supposed to ¡®assassinate¡¯ the exiled prince, but had now found herself in danger instead.


    In order to dispel the villagers¡¯ suspicions, she behaved like a saint and worked as a pharmacist for the past three months, but everything had gone down the drain in one moment, just like that.


    It was almost time for the ¡®Tide of Death¡¯ to rise up from the Land of the Dead Spirits. The Holy Imperial Family wouldn¡¯t have enough leeway to investigate the death of the Prince, in simple terms. She planned this event to coincide with that very moment, but now, things had become tangled up beyond repair.


    Morian¡¯s eyes slowly shifted over to the wall behind the Imperial Prince. This was where the only exit of this cave could be found.


    Her gaze then gradually lowered to the floor.


    The glass vial that used to contain the holy water had shattered into several sharp pieces. Although there were traces of holy water on them, if she roused up all of her demonic energy and dyed them with her blood, she was confident of changing their nature.


    Her previously terror-filled expression suddenly crumbled away. The corners of her lips curled up, and with madness-filled eyes, she glared at the prince. ¡°¡­You stinking Imperial Prince dog.¡±


    Was it because of those words? The villagers immediately pounced on her.


    ¡°C-catch her!¡±


    Unfortunately for them, though, the first one to make a move was Morian.


    She quickly picked up a glass piece from the floor. Her skin burned away from the holy water.


    She quickly injected her demonic energy in the glass and pounced at the Imperial Prince. Blood oozed out from her hands, and she quickly scattered it all around the boy.


    As the blood dyed the floor, she quickly recited the spell in her head. It was a Necromancy spell, one designed to summon an undead stained by eternal resentment.


    Demonic energy rapidly escaped from her body. Her once-firm skin instantly shriveled up to form countless wrinkles.


    Her stamina also quickly abandoned her and even the remaining vitality left her body in droves. As her reserve of demonic energy was consumed in haste, she aged at a visible rate.


    Morian sensed her body growing heavier.


    She knew she¡¯d have to work hard for a while after growing old again, but it¡¯d be fine¨Cshe only had to steal the lifeforce from another living person after all. She might not get to extend her life, but at the very least, she should be able to maintain her youthful looks.


    A magic circle was drawn in the blink of an eye around the Imperial Prince. A large Runic character suddenly appeared, then the earth overturned to reveal bleached-white bones.


    ¡°Your highness-!!¡±


    ¡°Oh my god¡­!¡±


    ¡°Save the prince!¡±


    The villagers stopped trying to arrest Morian and instead, tried to rescue the boy prince. However, it was already too late. The skeleton grabbed onto the prince¡¯s hand and leg.


    She wasn¡¯t able to use the proper summoning magic, so only the upper torso had been summoned to capture the prince. Despite this, it was already more than enough.


    Morian extended her hand. She aimed the bloodied glass piece at the boy¡¯s neck, and then¡­!


    BANG-!!


    The Imperial Prince instantly crushed the summoned skeleton with his shovel. As the monster¡¯s bones shattered and flew apart, the boy bent down and spun around to swing the shovel, as if to borrow the momentum from the centrifugal force.


    The blade of the shovel accurately flew towards Morian¡¯s head.


    ¡®You insane bastard!?¡¯


    There wasn¡¯t a shred of hesitation in his actions. If she got hit by the shovel, half of her head would be split apart by the blade and she¡¯d die.


    ¡®Don¡¯t make me laugh! Do you think I¡¯d get killed that easily?¡¯


    Morian gritted her teeth.


    She was an ¡®assassin¡¯ after all.


    Starting from a young age, she learned Necromancy, hand-to-hand combat, as well as assassination techniques from the ¡®Black Order¡¯.


    This level of attack from the young boy was nothing to her. She simply ducked her head lower and dodged the shovel.


    It was finally done. The Prince was now exposed after making such a huge move. If she went in right now and cut the boy¡¯s neck before making her escape¡­!


    It was then.


    Something approached Morian from her side with frightening speed. A set of slender-looking fingers suddenly grabbed her hair as well as her scalp. Pain accompanied her senses soon after.


    The unexplainable oppressive pressure caused Morian to look towards her side. A girl with platinum-white hair was glaring at her with a pair of goosebump-inducing red eyes.


    ¡°Huh¡­??¡±


    The girl held Morian¡¯s head in her grip and slammed it down hard on the ground.


    < 010. Imperial Prince is Hunting a Witch -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 15

    BANG!!


    Morian¡¯s head smashed into the hard, cold stone floor. Her teeth came loose and her nose bone broke. The girl then brandished her kitchen knife and brushed it against Morian¡¯s neck.


    Accompanied by a chilling sensation, the skin on Morian¡¯s neck split apart slightly, and blood began dripping out a little between the cold metal and human flesh.


    Since Morian studied human anatomy, she immediately realized that even the slightest resistance would result in her artery being cut wide open.


    She was suppressed even before she had enough time to even shiver from fear.


    The Imperial Prince looked at the platinum-haired girl with a surprised expression before walking over to Morian.


    ¡°Man, that surprised me.¡±


    The boy looked down at the captured Necromancer, ¡®Morian¡¯, with a slightly flustered expression. The latter¡¯s shaking eyes alternated between the prince and the girl.


    They were both carrying icy-cold glares.


    Morian quickly looked around her vicinity and saw the villagers standing nearby. Having found out that she was the Necromancer, their eyes were just as cold, even containing clear hints of killing intent too.


    They obviously hated her for utterly decimating their village and ruining their lives.


    Morian found them far more terrifying than the boy prince or the girl. She gritted her teeth. She was captured in the end. At this rate, she¡¯d die for sure!


    ¡°S-spare me.¡±


    The villagers wouldn¡¯t let her live. She was the culprit who caused the deaths of all their loved ones, after all.


    If she wanted to live, then she had no choice but to appeal to the Imperial Prince. Even if she sounded shameless, she needed to beg for her life here.


    ¡°What do you mean ¡®spare you¡¯? You were so busy trying to kill me, you know¡­ You getting tortured before being burned at the stake wouldn¡¯t be enough to make me feel happy here.¡±


    The Imperial Prince lightly waved his hand.


    The platinum-haired girl must¡¯ve understood what this gesture meant, because she began pushing Morian¡¯s head down even harder against the ground as if to protect the prince.


    It felt as if Morian¡¯s skull might shatter from the sheer physical force alone. Such strength couldn¡¯t possibly have come from the small hands of a young girl.


    ¡®Oh my god?! Just who is this girl? Where is she drawing this monstrous strength from¡­?¡¯


    Morian couldn¡¯t budge an inch anymore. It was clear that her opponents didn¡¯t plan on letting her off the hook. Without any doubt, she¡¯d be reported to the Theocratic Empire. The relevant authorities would be informed that an assassin dared to harm the grandson of the Holy Emperor. She became desperate after thinking about her future.


    She wasn¡¯t just any other criminal, and if the Imperial Court really got a hold of her, then it wouldn¡¯t simply end with her execution.


    ¡°Please¡­ I beg of you, let me go.¡±


    The corners of the Imperial Prince¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°Why should I? I finally caught you after going through so much crap, meaning I don¡¯t have a reason to do so. Why should I spare a b*tch who tried to kill me earlier anyway?¡±


    Morian gritted her teeth. She needed to survive. In order to do that¡­


    ¡°If you let me go, I¡¯ll tell you everything. I¡¯ll tell you who ordered me to kill you. Aren¡¯t you curious about that?¡±


    ¡°Kill me?¡±


    The Imperial Prince looked stunned at this sudden revelation. But that made sense since this particular Prince already had no chance in becoming the successor of the Holy Emperor. He had been basically abandoned by his family.


    So it was a little wonder why he¡¯d be surprised to learn that he had became a target for assassination.


    Hope began blooming in Morian¡¯s heart upon seeing the changes in the Prince¡¯s expression. If she played her cards right, then she might get to seduce this na?ve young boy again and escape from this situation.


    Her confidence shot up since she had already charmed the boy once before.


    ¡°T-that¡¯s right. I was told to seduce you and make it look like you killed yourself¡­¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t suicide?¡±


    The Imperial Prince seemed flabbergasted, but regretfully, that was all¨Che might be confused by these revelations, but he showed no signs of any willingness to let her go.


    This wouldn¡¯t do. What she did wasn¡¯t enough to convince him. She needed something far more stimulating¡­!


    Morian quickly recalled the reason why the Imperial Prince had been banished in the first place. He was just a na?ve and immature kid, yet his interest towards women was in full swing. He was dumb, and extremely easy to seduce too.


    That¡¯s why¡­


    ¡°You were interested in me, weren¡¯t you? I can become your slave. If you want, you can do whatever you want to my body¡­¡±


    ¡­She should continue seducing him.


    He was a boy going through puberty. He¡¯d definitely show a reaction when a healthy and slender beauty was seducing him.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m not interested in fooling around with a 60-year-old granny.¡±


    Morian bit her lower lip. She was currently in an aged state, so this sort of response wasn¡¯t that surprising. She couldn¡¯t seduce anyone with her current appearance.


    In that case, she should try that¡­!


    ¡°I¡­ I won¡¯t tell anyone. I won¡¯t tell anyone about the ¡®magic¡¯ you used earlier!¡±


    This boy, he summoned zombies.


    She wasn¡¯t sure how he did it, but well, if rumors of the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson summoning a bunch of zombies got around, then never mind the grandson in question, even the Holy Emperor would feel the heat!


    If she used this fact to negotiate with him, then¡­


    ¡°Ahh¡­ that¡¯s right. This b*tch, she saw ¡®that¡¯, didn¡¯t she?¡±


    The glare in the prince¡¯s eyes grew even colder.


    Something went wrong just now. Morian needed to retract what she had said or else. Just as she hurriedly opened her mouth, he forced his shovel inside her jaw instead.


    Morian¡¯s trembling eyes were now looking up at the prince.


    ¡°I advise you to reply promptly to the questions I¡¯m going to ask you now. If you get it, blink once,¡± the boy said.


    Morian blinked her terror-filled eyes.


    ¡°Three months ago, were you the one who hung me up on the tree?¡±


    She blinked her eyes once.


    Back then, she seduced the Imperial Prince and lured him into the forest. The dumb prince fell for it and followed after her. She then subdued the foolish prince who showed up all alone and hanged him on a tree, thereby making it look like a suicide.


    In case something unexpected happened, she even confirmed that his heart stopped beating too. She left after feeling confident of his death, and yet somehow, the Imperial Prince came back to life.


    Paladins soon showed up afterwards to protect the boy, thinking that he tried to hang himself. They stayed around for a month to guard the monastery, but fortunately enough, the Prince couldn¡¯t remember anything from the incident, and thus, Morian was able to escape from their suspicion.


    Even after the Paladins went away, she remained under the radar for the next two months to avoid further doubts.


    And the result of all that was this.


    The Imperial Prince sighed in relief. ¡°So that¡¯s what happened.¡± He formed a bitter grin and threw out the next question, ¡°The one who wanted me dead, do you know who it is?¡±


    Morian remained still for a bit there, her eyes wide open.


    She didn¡¯t know who it was exactly. However, she could speak about the organization she was a part of instead.


    The Imperial Prince seemed to have read her mind, seeing as he raised the shovel up a little. ¡°Oh? In that case, what is it that you wanted to tell me then?¡±


    Now that her mouth had become less restrained, Morian was able to speak what was on her mind, ¡°The organisation I belong to.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the name?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Black Order. They ordered me to assassinate the seventh grandson of the Holy Emperor.¡±


    The answer came out way too easily. In fact, it was even more suspicious precisely because of how quick she ¡®fessed up.


    ¡°That came out way too easily. I don¡¯t believe you.¡±


    ¡°Rather than being caught and tortured by the Theocratic Empire, being honest is far more preferable right now,¡± Morian replied.


    The Theocratic Empire¡¯s ¡®Heresy Inquisitors¡¯ were basically a bunch of inhumane demons. They were supported by not some piffling little organisation, but the entire Empire.


    As far as the human physiology was concerned, they possessed far more intimate and detailed knowledge than the Necromancers who dealt with death itself.


    Such as, how to not kill a person while still inflicting the maximum amount of pain, or how not to destroy one¡¯s mind while still placing the poor person in the maximum load of stress, etc, etc¡­.


    Their mercilessly cruel and evil torture methods were infamous for making 99 out of 100 confess to their crimes.


    They would torture you until they got the exact information they wanted, and then, they would start performing strict and precise live experiments until the victim¡¯s life ran out.


    Basically, they were worse demons than the Necromancers. They were a group of people clearly at odds with how the holy men and women of faith should behave, in other words.


    ¡°So you want me to spare you with only this little information?¡±


    ¡°Please let me go. I beg of you. Once I¡¯m certain of my safety, I¡¯ll provide you with all the info I can on the Black Order. I¡¯ll even report back to you on who wanted to kill you.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯d be dumb enough to believe that?!¡±


    This had to be a lie¨Cthat¡¯s what the Imperial Prince thought.


    ¡°If you want, we can perform the Soul Contract. I mean, it¡¯ll be troubling for you if your magic gets known to other people, right?¡±


    The Soul Contract. A type of pledge that Necromancers could make while using their souls as collateral. A promise would be made by risking a certain amount of one¡¯s remaining life span, and in case the promise was broken, the contract ensured that one¡¯s soul would be torn to tiny little pieces.


    Morian, now in the appearance of a shrivelled-up granny, pleaded with him desperately.


    The Prince looked at her and nodded his head, as if he too agreed with her sentiment. ¡°Right, if that gets out, things will become annoying for me too.¡±


    ¡°Y-you see? Soon, Paladins will show up here after realizing that something has gone wrong.¡±


    It would be infinitely more preferable to kill herself rather than get caught by those bastards.


    ¡°Let me go before they show up, please. If I were to get dragged before the Inquisitors, they¡¯ll find out about the magic you used and¡­¡±


    ¡°Annnd? That¡¯s why it¡¯s dangerous to let you live, right? My bad, but why don¡¯t you just die instead?¡±


    Morian¡¯s expression hardened upon hearing this.


    The young Imperial Prince was grinning right now. The way the ends of his lips curled up, that was definitely not the smile of a devout cleric who worshipped a deity. No¡­ that was a cowardly, vulgar smirk that belonged to a devil.


    This bastard, he never planned to let her live from the beginning!

 Chapter 16

    ¡°You son of a b*tch! You used Necrom¡­.!¡±


    Before she could finish her words, the shovel smacked her in the face once more. Despite blood dancing about everywhere, she didn¡¯t die.


    The Prince looked down on the dazed and bleeding Morian before speaking out loudly, ¡°I shan¡¯t be the one to judge you, but my fellow villagers will.¡±


    He then stepped aside. Even the platinum-haired girl released her grip on Morian.


    Before long, the villagers approached her from all sides. She looked at their expressions and her own complexion paled greatly.


    ¡°P-please, s-s-spare¡­!¡±


    She was quickly gagged and then dragged out from the cave. Eventually, the group returned to the monastery. The remainder of the villagers were informed of her evil actions.


    The enraged people stoned her mercilessly. Once she became a broken wreck, they tied her up and hauled her back to the forest before dangling her up by the neck and abandoning her to her own demise.


    Some time later, starving beasts passing by tore into her flesh and devoured her.


    Three days later, she herself became a zombie. While still hanging on the tree, she flailed about ungainly.


    The Imperial Prince looked at that spectacle and clicked his tongue. ¡°Even if this is a fantasy world, the medieval setting sure can be scary.¡±


    The zombified Morian who was dangling by the neck continued to flail away while howling out loudly.


    Without a Priest to perform her purification ceremony, she¡¯d have to remain as an undead for decades, maybe even for hundreds of years.


    This was the fate waiting for a Necromancer who relied on the magic of death.


    ¡°That¡¯s too bad though. I wanted to find out what that Black Order thing was all about, but oh well.¡±


    If only he possessed a skill to talk to souls like a real Necromancer, that would¡¯ve been real nice. Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t blessed with such a descriptive ability.


    It didn¡¯t matter at the end of the day though, since he was still an Imperial Prince.


    After he was banished to this place, his influence as a potential successor to the throne had pretty much disappeared. Even then, there were still some people who made a move to eliminate him, perhaps fearing that despite his current state, he could pose some threat to them.


    If that was the case, then he could certainly think of a few likely suspects.


    Such as¡­


    ¡°My brothers, huh.¡±


    His siblings from the Holy Imperial Family who were eligible to inherit the Holy Emperor¡¯s throne¨Cit was possible that they were targeting him.


    ¡°Damn, how cold-hearted. I didn¡¯t expect to get tangled up in a power struggle¡­¡±


    The Imperial Prince clicked his tongue again as he shook his head.


    Nevertheless, the curtains on the Witch Morgana incident had closed with this.


    They were in the northern frontier¡¯s Land of the Dead Spirits. The time for the ¡®Tide of Death¡¯, the moment when the instincts of the dead awoke, were closing on them once more.


    **


    Charlotte grew interested in the boy referred to as the Imperial Prince.


    During the defence against the zombie horde, and during the mass funeral, she observed him from a faraway distance.


    She heard stories about him. One of them being that while she was still unconscious, the prince took care to move the remains of her parents and sincerely performed their funeral.


    She quietly watched the boy prince tirelessly perform numerous funerals throughout the night. Even when everyone was dog-tired, he didn¡¯t rest and continued to work. He prayed with great care so that the dead souls could find some peace in their afterlife.


    While seeing him like that, she felt a certain frustration well up in her chest. He was her life¡¯s saviour, her benefactor. And he was also another type of a saviour, who saved her parents by performing their funeral rites.


    ¡°What kind of person is the Imperial Prince?¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s question was answered by the older girls and aunties of the village.


    He was a mangnani, a maggot, an irredeemable trash, a dumbass who killed himself after failing to seduce a woman. All sorts of criticism aimed towards his direction were whispered right into her ear.


    She frowned deeply after hearing them all. This wasn¡¯t what she wanted to find out. Charlotte ended up glaring at the village¡¯s womenfolk.


    ¡°Well, it does feel like he¡¯s somewhat changed since three months ago, actually.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he performed my father¡¯s funeral with such care back then, too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, he even saved everyone this time, didn¡¯t he?¡±


    They were grateful towards the Imperial Prince-nim. And they also seemed to be relying on him, too.


    Charlotte recalled the time she supported the Prince-nim back in the cave.


    ¡®He was so small and young.¡¯


    Indeed, his figure felt tiny and very light. He was even more immature than she was, with a face that looked younger than her. And yet, with such a small body, he fought off against that huge bear. Even though he was injured badly, he still tried his best to rescue the kidnapped woman.


    ¡®He¡¯s actually very caring.¡¯


    But then, that woman named Morian betrayed his faith in her. She lunged at the boy prince and tried to kill him.


    Charlotte quickly stepped in to stop that from happening.


    It all transpired in the blink of an eye, really.


    By the time she regained her wits, she was already leaping high in the air, grasping the woman¡¯s hair, and then slamming the woman¡¯s head down on the floor. She even pointed the knife at the woman¡¯s throat, almost slicing it wide open.


    She herself was shocked by her own agile movements.


    ¡®Was my body this light from the beginning?¡¯


    As it turned out, the woman was a Necromancer. Charlotte found that out after the woman and the Imperial Prince conversed for a while.


    Charlotte couldn¡¯t understand what they were talking about, but she was sure that this female Necromancer was targeting the Prince¡¯s life. And for that purpose, many, many villagers had to die.


    The Imperial Prince didn¡¯t forgive such a person.


    In the end, Morian was hung by her neck in the forest while she was still alive.


    It was a truly gruesome fate.


    That¡¯s how this incident came to an end.


    Charlotte and the rest of the villagers began rebuilding the village and hunted down the still unaccounted-for zombies. Then, they helped the Imperial Prince perform the funerals for the dead.


    When the situation had somewhat normalised, farmer Gril came to speak to her.


    ¡°Charlotte, if it¡¯s alright with you, why don¡¯t you stay at my place?¡±


    He smiled awkwardly while asking her. She had no place to stay anymore, and that¡¯s why she nodded her head to express consent. But still, she looked in the direction of the Imperial Prince in the monastery.


    ¡°Is there anyone there helping the Imperial Prince-nim?¡±


    ¡°Helping his highness? What¡­ Ahh, you mean as a gravekeeper?¡±


    She shook her head.


    She didn¡¯t just mean the role of gravekeeper, but someone to clean the monastery, managing it, as well as performing other sundry chores.


    Wasn¡¯t such an environment just too unforgiving for a young prince to live alone? Shouldn¡¯t someone at least try to lend him a helping hand?


    ¡°Ah, you wish to work as a maidservant?¡±


    Charlotte nodded her head in response.


    But Gril formed a troubled expression on his face. ¡°The thing is, the Paladins told us not to place a servant near him. The reason being¡­¡±


    ¡­Because he was a mangnani; he was banished so that his personality could hopefully change for the better.


    The Paladins said that having a maidservant would only cause the boy to become even more arrogant, rather than reflecting on his past and grow remorseful about it.


    Gril pondered the situation for a moment before addressing Charlotte once more, ¡°There¡¯s one other way. Maybe it might work if you decide to become a nun.¡±


    ¡°A nun?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a monastery, right? If you enter it to study faith, then the Paladins might not mind.¡±


    Charlotte nodded her head.


    The next day, she went back to the monastery.


    She found the Imperial Prince by the library. He was busy going through the written records recovered from the Necromancer¡¯s cave.


    ¡°How complicated. At this rate, I¡¯ll get assassinated for sure. Without a shield to protect me¡­ I¡¯ll definitely get killed. As for my skill proficiency, I gotta¡­¡±


    A shield?


    Not only that, assassination?


    Charlotte approached the boy prince. He flinched after sensing the presence of another human and sneakily hid the book.


    She tilted her head as she stared at him.


    He replied to her with a heavy frown. ¡°What¡¯s this? Why are you here? I don¡¯t have any funerals scheduled for today, so why can¡¯t you let me take a break for at least a single day?¡±


    ¡°I wish to pay my debt.¡±


    ¡°What debt?¡±


    She inwardly went, ¡®ah, I made a mistake¡¯. ¡®Debt¡¯ wasn¡¯t the right word to use here.


    She should¡¯ve said the kindness he had shown her¡­


    While regretting her choice of words, Charlotte tried to open her lips again.


    ¡°Wait, are you talking about back then?¡± The prince said.


    He looked really surprised just then. For some reason, he quickly retreated and sneakily reached out towards his trusty shovel too.


    Why was he reacting like that, though?


    Ah, perhaps he still had unfinished business he needed to attend to?


    ¡°It¡¯ll be better to forget about the past, alright? I mean, our first encounter wasn¡¯t all that memorable as a shared experience, am I wrong?¡±


    As expected of the Imperial Prince, his heart was secretly generous. He was even telling her to forget about the kindness he had shown her. But¡­ how could she dare to do that?


    He saved her life and ensured that her parents could rest peacefully, didn¡¯t he?


    ¡°I wish to serve you.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°And, also¡­¡±


    Charlotte recalled the word ¡®shield¡¯.


    She remembered that this boy-prince had been exiled here. And not to forget, that woman Necromancer spat out the word ¡®assassination¡¯ too.


    Someone was trying to murder this young prince. Without a doubt, his banishment had to be that person¡¯s underhanded trick as well.


    There was no way that a prince like this boy could be a mangnani.


    Charlotte¡¯s gaze shifted towards the books that were lined up on the bookshelf.


    [The Imperial Swordsmanship Tutorial]


    [The Imperial Self-Defence Technique and Practice Drills]


    [The Methods to Operate and Control Divinity for Paladins]


    There were several books here.


    A shield¡­ he was searching for it.


    He was searching for someone to protect him.


    However, if she came out and openly said it, he¡¯d reject her. Because it¡¯d be a dangerous task, that¡¯s why.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to offer my services in this place as a nun.¡±


    This didn¡¯t mean that she should give up though. No, she definitely had to protect this person.


    In that case, she should masquerade as a nun instead. As a nun, she would study his religion and train herself so that she could protect him when the time came.


    A young girl might not be able to properly defend an Imperial Prince, but still, she decided to give it her all regardless of this fact. Besides, there could be a way for a nun to switch to a Paladin by learning swordsmanship.


    This would be the only way for her to repay the kindness he had shown to her. She would protect the boy prince who had no one to rely on.


    ¡°That¡¯s why¡­¡±


    Charlotte smiled at him.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll be in your care.¡±


    < 011. Imperial Prince is Hunting a Witch -4 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 17

    [An undead will evolve as time elapses.]


    I flipped the page of the book I was reading.


    [When a zombie fully decomposes, it will become a skeleton. However, if it manages to preserve its body somehow, it will become an even more powerful creature, a ¡®ghoul¡¯.]


    I continued reading the paragraphs below.


    [If their bodies are exposed to the Negative Field, the existing demonic energy lingering in the location will greatly accelerate the evolution. Their skin will become tougher and their bones stronger.]


    M-mm¡­


    [A skeleton will reach a certain level of intelligence and start wielding a weapon. Meaning, it will evolve to either a Warrior or an Archer. If they do not reach the afterlife as soon as possible, then they will continue to grow even stronger over a lengthy period of time.]


    I flipped to the next page.


    [They instinctively crave for stronger demonic energy. They also wish for a stronger body. And that is why they all head towards the ¡®Land of the Dead Spirits¡¯.]


    The warmer seasons of Spring and Summer served to weaken the bodies of the undead. The demonic energy would dissipate when subjected to warm sunlight, and not to forget, the Negative Fields would be exposed under the bright light too.


    That¡¯s why the undead would travel to the Land of the Dead Spirits as it was a basically a huge Negative Field filled with demonic energy.


    And also¡­


    [Once Autumn ends and Winter arrives, the undead will finally awaken their instincts, the ones they had been suppressing all this time.]


    The instincts of the undead.


    The avaricious desire to devour the living and the drive to propagate their numbers by turning others into fellow undeads.


    [This is the ¡®Tide of Death¡¯. Once every year during the coldest spell in Winter, the undead that have been roaming the Continent will be drawn to the Land of the Dead Spirits, their instincts soon to be unshackled. It is the season where their bodies won¡¯t rot and remain as they are. They would scatter around the rest of the Continent to devour the living. And the time for that will be¡­]


    ¡°Around one month left until D-Day, huh.¡±


    I closed the book while muttering this.


    I got up from my seat to return the book to its original place somewhere within the monastery¡¯s small library.


    ¡°Let me take care of that, please.¡±


    However, a silver-haired girl stopped me from doing that.


    The girl kitted out in a neat nun¡¯s habit picked up the book while carrying her trademark expressionless face.


    Her name was Charlotte, and for some reason, she began visiting the monastery quite often after the end of the zombie wave incident.


    I heard that the farmer Gril accepted her as his adopted daughter or something. That guy initially detested the very idea, but now, he must¡¯ve decided to take responsibility and look after her.


    ¡°Okay, sure thing.¡±


    The girl nodded her head and placed the book back on the shelf.


    I couldn¡¯t tell whether she was suffering from the shock of losing her parents or something, but for some reason, she decided to enter the monastery and requested to work as a nun here.


    Never mind my breakfast, lunch, and dinner, she even took on the menial tasks of cleaning the monastery as well as maintenance of the graves too.


    It was convenient for me, sure, but every once in a while, I¡¯d recall the sight of the bloodied kitchen knife she wielded back then and chills would travel down my spine as a result.


    Weeeell, her unpaid voluntary service shouldn¡¯t last for that long. She¡¯d probably leave on her own volition once she gets sick and tired of playing my maidservant. Maybe.


    Not everyone could become a nun after all.


    This world believed in several different religions.


    As long as it didn¡¯t harm anyone, an order would easily be acknowledged as a religion. On the other hand, if it actually did harm other people, then it¡¯d be quickly labelled as a heretical cult.


    Also, another thing to take note was that you could get married even if you were a nun. So this silver-haired girl before my eyes would leave the monastery after falling in love with a boy or something.


    My expression remained as a sullen pout as I looked at her, before I walked straight past her. I opened the door to the library to go outside, only to find some people blocking my path.


    ¡°What now?¡± I asked.


    They were knights kitted out in pure-white armour from the top of their heads all the way down to their feet. These were the Paladins of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s Imperial Court. Also the monitors of the Holy Emperor¡¯s seventh grandson/Imperial Prince as well. Which was me, obviously.


    A week had already passed by since the zombie wave incident.


    I was so preoccupied with searching for every zombie wandering around in addition to performing all the funerals that I ended up gradually forgetting about the passage of time.


    It was only yesterday that we finally finished settling everything. After our relative safety was assured once more, the village chief sent the word out to the nearest fiefdom. It usually took over a full day¡¯s journey to travel back and forth, and yet, in just less than half a day later, these Paladins had already shown up.


    They perused me top to bottom before shifting their gazes to Charlotte over at a distance.


    ¡°A nun?¡±


    This monastery was empty before I showed up.


    They were puzzled by the appearance of a nun ostensibly studying their religion.


    I deliberately spoke in a sarcastic tone of voice. ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s sent by the local village. She¡¯s also studying the faith quite diligently too. Ah, she¡¯s volunteering her services for my sake. And she doesn¡¯t seem to care whether it¡¯s day or night either.¡± Not to forget, she even made sure to take care of my meals during breakfast, lunch, and supper, too. ¡°Well, what can I do? She¡¯s not a servant, but a nun. How can I reject a fellow believer in the Goddess, right?¡±


    I continued to speak in a slimy tone of voice.


    The head Paladin looked away from Charlotte and stared at me. ¡°We were informed that you captured the witch Morgana.¡±


    Huh! Would you look at this guy? Not even a simple greeting, but straight to the topic, eh?


    Are you taking me lightly just because I lost my status as the Holy Emperor¡¯s successor? Ah?


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The villagers caught that damn woman.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we heard,¡± he spoke without a hint of emotion like a cyborg while nodding his head. ¡°We heard that along with the villagers, you fought tooth and nail for their survival.¡±


    I fought tooth and nail along with the villagers?


    Well, if you¡¯re talking about the battle against zombies near the monastery, then¡­


    ¡°We also heard that they surrounded the King of Gluttony and fought it off with their farming tools.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Despite having hundreds of zombies surrounding them, the villagers still managed to defeat the undead in the end, and eventually located the Necromancer.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Especially so for that man named Gril. He said he defeated over 30 zombies and even cast holy water on Witch Morgana, thereby driving her to a corner¡­¡±


    Gril, oh dear Gril, since when did you become such a peerless, fearless farmer capable of spewing bullsh*t to that degree? I guess the sight I witnessed of you sobbing and wailing like a little baby, unable to even properly take down a single zombie, was all a lie? I had no idea that you had tendencies like those munchkin MCs that hide their powers for one stupid reason or the other!


    ¡°I know it¡¯s all an exaggeration, but¡­¡± The head Paladin continued on while his gaze shifted over to the monastery¡¯s window. He could see the newly-erected graves that went up over the past seven days containing several hundreds of the dead. ¡°¡­But, it seems to be true.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just pure exaggeration. You¡¯re supposed to be a Paladin, right? You shouldn¡¯t just haphazardly believe every story a stranger tells you.¡±


    Of course, this guy wouldn¡¯t even dream of a possibility that I killed all those zombies by myself, which includes the King of Gluttony too. It might have been heavily exaggerated, but the tale wasn¡¯t a lie since the villagers really did help me during the struggle.


    ¡°Anyways, you probably didn¡¯t come here to confirm that. Am I wrong?¡± I said with a little scowl.


    ¡°Were you aware that Morgana was affiliated with the Black Order?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she told me after I interrogated her.¡±


    What the hell? I could¡¯ve learned that from these guys instead? That Morian woman, she was talking like it was the greatest secret in the world or something.


    ¡°She was a truly malicious, vicious villain, suspected of decimating five other villages in the past.¡±


    Wowsers, she¡¯s actually a genocidal witch!


    Oiiii, what the heck? I was fighting against such a crazy b*tch?


    ¡°What happened to the witch, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear it from the villagers? She was beaten up half to death and got hung in the forest.¡±


    ¡°Did you do that, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    I immediately denied it.


    Are you mad?! How could I, a young boy with a frail heart, do something so cruel and savage? My heart is as pure as a maiden¡¯s!


    Naturally, I didn¡¯t say what was really in my head.


    This guy would definitely start retching if I did just that. Which was why I went with a different routine instead.

 Chapter 18

    I approached Charlotte and hugged her while behaving like a spoiled brat. ¡°I was sitting on my butt, busy wetting my pants from the fright, you see. Oh my goodness¡­! It was so terrifying, I tell you! That damn chick! She was even trying to seduce me earlier you know? But then, she treated me like a stinking scumbag, so she really got what she deserved! Wowsers, what a relief that I didn¡¯t sh*t my pants back then¡­!¡±


    I even yelled out loudly to amplify the effect even further. I didn¡¯t forget to sneak a couple of glances at the Paladins in the meantime, of course.


    The leader Paladin was lowering his head, and I could hear him sigh grandly.


    Nice! What a disgusting sight this must be for him!


    This spectacle of me clinging onto some girl and shivering away in fear while loudly yapping on and on¡­!


    Even I found such a sight rather disgusting, if I say so myself.


    In any case, oh my dear Paladins! Report this sorry sight in its full glory to the Holy Emperor! Oh, and don¡¯t forget to send suitable greetings to my brothers too.


    Please do your utmost best to convince them that there¡¯s no need to send more assassins like that witch in my way, okay?


    The head Paladin pulled out a leather pouch from his inner pocket and placed it on top of the shelf nearby.


    I asked. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the reward for Morgana¡¯s head, your highness. There¡¯s 80 Gold in total.¡±


    About 50 Silver would be enough for a commoner to live off for a month in this world. When considering that fact, you could say this reward was quite a hefty amount, alright.


    With this small fortune, I should be able to lounge around for a while.


    ¡°Huh, so there was a reward?¡±


    ¡°By any chance, did you find any magic-related tomes in the witch¡¯s possession, your highness?¡±


    ¡°What about ¡¯em?¡±


    ¡°We need to confiscate them.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t have ¡¯em. Didn¡¯t like the way they looked, so I had them incinerated.¡±


    I was bullsh*tting, obviously.


    Do you think I¡¯d hand over such nice educational material like magic grimoires to the lot of you, just like that?


    I risked my life to get my hands on those. I wasn¡¯t dumb enough to go ¡®Ohh, how wonderful!¡¯ and hand them over, you know? I could use them to their fullest myself instead.


    Of course, it was unknown whether I could learn anything from them or not, seeing that I possessed divinity instead of the demonic energy needed for Necromancers.


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Before the Paladins left, their leader looked back at me for one last time.


    ¡°Winter is coming and the weather is only getting colder, so please do take care to remain healthy, your highness.¡±


    ¡°I know. We¡¯re in the middle of a mountain and it gets so f*cking cold up here.¡±


    ¡°Also, the ¡®Tide of Death¡¯ will soon be upon us.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I read about that just now. A wave of undead that happens every winter, is it? It happens around the 25th of December when it¡¯s so cold that it¡¯s more like a bloody Ice Age, and that¡¯s when this Tide thing is supposed to happen, right?¡±


    I¡¯d rather much prefer that Santa showed up on that date instead, but well, it was more like Halloween where all sorts of spectres rampaged about.


    I spoke with a refreshing grin on my face, this caused the head Paladin to stare at me without saying a single word. He was probably sighing under his helmet from my lack of dignity.


    ¡°Please prepare to evacuate from here. We shall escort you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, ohhh! Really? I¡¯m finally leaving this boring, stuffy place for good? Where are we going, then?¡±


    Were we headed to the nearest neighbouring country? Or to another city?


    I¡¯d love to go on a tour of this world. Didn¡¯t matter where, I was dying of curiosity anyway! Since the Paladins would be accompanying me, I might as well make them cough up the expenses, too.


    The ultimate other-world travel log where the protagonist stays only in the best hotels and eats only the tastiest food! All the while protected by trusty escorts!


    How romantic was that?


    I was getting sick and tired of playing around with corpses anyway. Surely they wouldn¡¯t mind me going on a vacation, right?


    ¡°We shall accompany you to the Ronia fiefdom, your highness.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Yo, hang on. What¡¯s this? That place¡­ Isn¡¯t that right next to this village? Wasn¡¯t it a city only half a day¡¯s travel away?


    It had no tasty local delicacies and nothing interesting to look at. No, it was simply a fortress built as a shield against the ¡®Tide of Death¡¯.


    About half of its populace were convicted criminals, so understandably, its public order was the absolute worst. It was even commonly referred to as the ¡®Abandoned Domain¡¯, or the ¡®Castles of Sacrifices¡¯ set up to appease the evil spirits.


    Hang on a minute. Were they actually planning to send the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson to that kind of place?


    ¡°During the dark days of the Tide, many casualties will rise, your highness. Therefore¡­¡±


    E-eiii, there¡¯s no way! Please tell me it ain¡¯t true. Don¡¯t you dare say anything else!


    ¡°¡­For the sake of those noble sacrifices, we¡¯d like you to perform their funeral rites, please.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°This is the will of His Majesty, the Holy Emperor.¡±


    Oh! My! God!


    It wasn¡¯t just ¡°You, go there¡± but instead, ¡°You, go there and perform hard labour.¡±


    Ahh, you crappy rotten grandfather of mine!


    Well, you aren¡¯t my real grandfather, but biologically we¡¯re still blood-related, anyway!


    Are you planning to kill your poor grandson through overwork?


    W-wait, could it be that Morgana was sent by him instead?


    I could only sincerely pray that wasn¡¯t the case.


    If the Holy Emperor decided to kill me for real, then I¡¯d die without making a sound, that¡¯s for sure.


    Once the Paladins left, the villagers came to see me.


    **


    They were hammering away. Tools and materials were quickly brought in as the worn-down and weathered furniture were taken out.


    The monastery was currently going through the necessary renovation/repair work.


    ¡°What a relief that it¡¯ll be the undead attacking us and not some bandits.¡±


    The undead advancing forward due to the ¡®Tide of Death¡¯ would ignore run-down houses or buildings that lacked tangible signs of life.


    This meant that the village or the monastery would be spared as long as no one remained in them. So, there was nothing to lose by fixing up the old building and filling it up with new furniture.


    ¡°These are the village¡¯s best carpenters. Although it won¡¯t be like a brand-new building, they should at least ensure that there are no more leakages and help prevent the roof from collapsing.¡±


    The village chief showed up to honor our prior agreement.


    Not only did he bring people to fix the monastery, he even brought along enough firewood to last through the winter too. As a bonus, there were new ingredients for food waiting for me to collect them as well.


    Cooking used to be my hobby in my previous life, so you could say that fooling around with the various local ingredients found in this world had become my new past-time. Having said that, Charlotte was taking care of my meals lately, so I didn¡¯t really have to lift a finger anymore.


    I pushed forward a small coin pouch towards the village chief.


    ¡°Your highness, this is¡­?¡±


    ¡°There are five Gold Coins inside.¡±


    My words caused the old man¡¯s eyes to open up extremely wide. ¡°S-such a large amount of money is¡­¡±


    ¡°Apparently, there was a reward on the witch you guys hunted down. This is a portion of that.¡±


    Of course, I took the liberty of swallowing up the rest for myself. Sure, the villagers killed that witch, but didn¡¯t I play a huge role in her capture in the first place?


    It was a fair percentage, I thought. It should also be seen as the price for not soiling my hands too.


    ¡°We can¡¯t accept this. We¡¯re all in your debt as well, your highness. So this money¡­¡±


    The village chief formed a bitter smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m not just giving it away, you know,¡± I responded.


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m paying you upfront.¡±


    ¡°For the repair work on the monastery?¡±


    I shook my head.


    You mad? That¡¯s for free, innit?


    I pointed at the various headstones that were haphazardly erected here and there in the cemetery. ¡°Look, you can see that they¡¯re all pretty sloppy, right? Bring in some people and materials from the nearest town, and have them make proper ones. I¡¯ve already performed the necessary purification ceremonies for all of them, so the only thing you gotta do now is to tidy up the graves. I can¡¯t be bothered to work on them anymore, so do what you think will be okay.¡±


    What I was saying here was that, since I couldn¡¯t be bothered, the chief should go and hire some labourers. With their share of the reward no less.


    ¡°I understand.¡±


    The village chief accepted the money.


    ¡°If you try to pocket some, Imma break your hands, okay?¡±


    ¡°But of course.¡±


    The village chief chuckled good-naturedly.


    With that, the work was all done. The bothersome Paladins left too. I also took this time to study some magic as well.


    In a month¡¯s time, this world¡¯s version of Halloween would begin. Although, it wasn¡¯t some fun festival of sorts but a real march of the undead, which was a big bummer, I guess.


    The season of rampaging corpses that wouldn¡¯t rot. And the time when they would try to spread to the rest of the Continent.


    To prepare for my future which was potentially filled with endless labour, I should utilise this off-peak season to rest my weary soul and further increase my skill proficiency.


    If I don¡¯t, I¡¯d probably suffer hellish torment with no respite later!


    That¡¯s why¡­


    ¡°I guess I should start experimenting, then.¡±


    Now was the time to learn all those Necromancy skills found in the grimoires that Morian or Morgana, or whatever her name was, had left behind.


    < 012. Imperial Prince is Toiling Away -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 19

    **


    The time to relax eventually came to an end, and the peak season arrived with vengeance right at my doorstep.


    From here onwards I needed to steel myself and perform a continuous stream of one funeral after another. Not only that, I¡¯d be doing that during the coldest and harshest time of the year too.


    ¡°We came here to escort you.¡±


    The Paladins showed their mugs again as promised after a month.


    I wrapped myself in a cheap blanket and climbed aboard the horse-drawn carriage.


    Goddammit, it¡¯s so freaking cold! I might get frostbite while working in rubbish weather conditions like this. It¡¯d be a huge relief if I didn¡¯t have any of my limbs cut off from a hapless mistake or something.


    After going past the forest of the steep mountainside, we finally reached the village nearest to the monastery. The villagers had all packed up their luggage and were slowly marching out of their homes as well. Gril and Charlotte were also among the group.


    She was carrying luggage far bigger than herself, which was quite an amazing sight to behold. She saw me in the carriage and bowed her head a little, either out of respect or as a casual greeting.


    Wow. Hey you. You¡¯re pretty strong, aren¡¯t you? Probably much stronger than me, right?


    I inwardly clicked my tongue.


    All the villagers here were also evacuating to the Ronia fiefdom, to escape from the upcoming ¡®Tide of Death¡¯.


    ¡°Just how big is the scale of this Tide of Death anyway?¡±


    I had this feeling that most of the books I read about this subject were works of pure unbridled over-exaggeration. However, if it really was as dangerous as they say, then it¡¯d no doubt become rather troublesome for me.


    ¡°The exact scale is still unknown, your highness. However, we are certain to be attacked continuously for a month to coincide with the coldest day of the year. Last year alone, we had about five thousand undead creatures showing up to attack the fortress over the span of one week and on December 25th, the day when the Necromancer King died, we recorded the highest number of undead throughout the Tide itself.¡±


    Five thousand, was it¡­


    ¡°How many people are stationed in the fortress then?¡±


    ¡°The Ronia fiefdom boasts a combat force of about twenty thousand strong at all times, with more convicts regularly being shipped in to supplement that figure. We also have additional criminals, numbering around two thousand or so, scheduled to join our ranks in the near future, your highness.¡±


    Well, in that case, it shouldn¡¯t be all that dangerous, right?


    I shifted my gaze over to the distant fiefdom.


    Unfortunately, the fortress wasn¡¯t as big as I had hoped. It was rather shabby, if I was being brutally honest with myself.


    The castle walls were actually a collection of wooden palisades and stone barricades, and they were only around twelve meters high. But they still surrounded the fiefdom with nary a visible gap, as if to emphasize their role of protecting the city hiding within.


    This place was referred to as the ¡®Castle of Sacrifices¡¯, right? The place where all the ¡®sacrifices¡¯ were gathered to placate the anger of the dead?


    ¡°If only these walls were like the Wall from the Game of XX¡­¡±


    With the authority of the Holy Emperor, a fortification wall that dwarfed the Great Wall of China in scale could¡¯ve been built already. Of course, building such a grand wall didn¡¯t mean its enormous length could be effectively policed, and if one spot were to receive a focused attack, the wall would¡¯ve been easily breached anyway.


    This was why it was wiser to gather the ¡®living¡¯ to lure the huge hordes of the undead to a single spot, and stop them right there and then.


    One month.


    In one month¡¯s time, the ¡®Tide of Death¡¯ would significantly weaken. If we manage to endure that long, that was.


    And, when the warmer spring and summer season arrive, the dead would shuffle back to the far north once more ¨C to the Land of the Dead Spirits in order to preserve their bodies from rotting away and to gather more demonic energy in the process.


    ¡°There really are a lot of convicts here,¡± I commented.


    A lengthy procession of shackled-together prisoners and slaves were being ushered into the Ronia fiefdom at a similar time as our traveling group. They were the so-called ¡®soldiers¡¯ who were assigned to defend against the soon-to-be arriving ¡®Tide of Death¡¯.


    Every single one of them were supposedly serious felons saddled with heavy sentences, such as capital punishment or life imprisonment.


    All sorts of convicts had been brought here; from murderers, rapists, to armed robbers ¨C they were rather well suited to serve as sacrificial tools. In a way, this was a smart and logical way of dealing with the matter at hand, but¡­


    ¡°It was a misunderstanding! I only stole a loaf of bread! I didn¡¯t kill anyone¡­ That¡­ that bastard Paron, he framed me¡­!¡±


    One of the prisoners resisted bitterly, only to get beaten up black and blue by the soldiers stationed around the area.


    I had no doubt that there were a fair few wrongly accused people among the shuffling procession. Regardless of what the truth was though, their sacrifices should ensure that the rest of the continent enjoys yet another year of relative peace.


    ¡°Hang on a minute. I won¡¯t be fighting on the frontlines, now will I?¡±


    Since such a thing could happen, I felt compelled to get some clarification on the matter as soon as possible.


    The head Paladin spoke up. ¡°Of course not, your highness. Only the prisoners will be forced to fight on the frontlines.¡±


    Well, that¡¯s a relief.


    ¡°Your role will be to heal the injured and perform the funeral rites for the deceased, your highness. Every year, we see around two to three thousand victims.¡±


    Well, that¡¯s not a relief at all.


    ¡°What about other clerics who will assist me?¡±


    ¡°There are about eighty Priests available besides you who are also able to perform the purification ceremony. However, the soldiers will assist you with the funerals, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Are you seriously suggesting that a measly eighty people should heal at least two thousand people, while also performing purification ceremonies for the dead on top of that?¡±


    ¡°Your highness, if you take into account all of the undead that are coming from the Land of the Dead Spirits, your estimate should at least be tripled.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Although you might encounter a few from our side dying from overwork every now and then, it¡¯ll work out favorably in the end, your highness.¡±


    Hey, you. Be honest with me. You¡¯re an assassin sent by the Holy Emperor, right?


    I glared at them with pure dissatisfaction, but perhaps wisely, the Paladins all ignored my clearly discontent-filled eyes.


    We soon reached the fiefdom and I was immediately summoned by the lord of the place. The feudal lord happened to be a well-rounded man in his mid forties who boasted a rather extravagantly-groomed moustache.


    I heard that he was demoted to this place on the suspicion of diverting a portion of taxes meant for the Imperial Palace.


    Was that the reason why?


    ¡°W-welcome, your highness!¡±


    The feudal lord treated me quite affectionately for some reason.


    ¡°There, there. Please have some tea, your highness. We have other refreshments available for you to enjoy as well. Ah, you might be feeling weather-beaten, so how about taking a relaxing bath with warm water¡­?¡±


    Forget about being a feudal lord, he acted more like a manservant with how he kept bowing his waist and rubbing his hands.


    I already had a pretty good idea as to why he was acting so openly friendly towards me. Most likely, he desperately wished to return to his original domain by borrowing the power of the ¡®Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson¡¯, the Imperial Prince. Which was me.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I¡¯ve begun sensing that maybe, I used to enjoy a status far, far mightier than what I initially thought.


    I recalled how the villagers acted around me so far, then glanced at the Paladins still ignoring me. Yup, they were still standing around in utter silence.


    Would you look at these cheeky bastards?


    ¡°Well, your highness¡­ We¡¯ll prepare a warm meal for you in a minute, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Give me a room.¡±


    ¡°Your highness?¡±


    ¡°I want to rest for a bit, you see. And I¡¯d also like someone to serve me during my stay.¡±


    A maidservant approached us and placed a couple of snacks and cups of black tea on the table. I looked at her with a slimy grin etched on my face.


    She flinched in surprise and began shivering away.

 Chapter 20

    This caused the feudal lord to form a troubled expression on his face, then he sneaked a glance at the Paladins. He said, ¡°Y-your highness, that might prove to be quite problematic.¡±


    An evil feudal lord wouldn¡¯t have hesitated to serve up a measly little maidservant as a sacrifice. However, what with the Paladins tasked with being my monitors hanging around us during this little meeting, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do something so blatant like that.


    This feudal lord was really quick on the uptake, and I liked that. That¡¯s right, it would indeed prove to be problematic if a maidservant came to visit me in my room at the wrong time. That could potentially end up as a huge problem for me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be mistaken. I merely wish to relax, that¡¯s all,¡± I reassured him.


    The feudal lord formed an awkward smile. ¡°Aha, haha! I-is that so, your highness? In that case, please allow me to show you to your quarters.¡±


    He jumped up from his seat and called for his servant. Meanwhile, I sneaked a glance at the head Paladin.


    He was observing me through the holes of his helm. I could just about sense him furrow his brows.


    That¡¯s right, take a good look, buddy! I¡¯m still a horny fool! So, like, can you go back home and nicely convince any would-be assassin hirers? I mean, they should have plenty of competition back home already, right? Can they even afford to spare a moment to worry about a banished fool like me?


    I really wanted to live a simple life here. Living the life of constantly running away from bloodthirsty assassins was a fate I¡¯d like to avoid at all cost, you know?


    I was soon guided to my room.


    A manservant, which was clearly not a woman, had been ordered to serve me while a Paladin stuck close as if he would be my observer from now on.


    The room I was brought to was quite clean and somewhat plain. But at least it did feature a far, far cushier bed than the hard wooden board that I used back in the monastery, and there was even a fireplace to keep out the cold, too.


    I found this arrangement to be quite satisfactory.


    I turned my head and stared at both the manservant and the Paladin. The latter stood like a statue tasked with guarding the door, while the former was nervously waiting for my commands.


    This made sense though. This grandson of the Holy Emperor was infamous for suddenly slapping servants around. Various unsavoury stories of the ¡®mangnani¡¯ prince must¡¯ve done its rounds already in this place before my arrival today.


    Rather unsurprisingly, the manservant sneakily covered his cheeks and anxiously waited for me.


    ¡°Go fetch me clean water.¡±


    ¡°Water¡­ your highness?¡±


    The servant formed a surprised expression.


    ¡°Right. And also¡­ M-mm, get me some booze too.¡±


    The Paladin then sneaked a glance at me.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? I¡¯m not even allowed to drink now?¡±


    He shifted his gaze away and returned to his ¡®duty¡¯.


    Huh. Hang on a minute, could this guy be a bloody Termi*ator instead and not a human being?


    Not too long afterwards, the servant brought along a bottle of liquor and some water that I requested.


    ¡°Oh, thanks. You can go now.¡±


    ¡°T-thank you, your highness!¡±


    He quickly closed the door and escaped from the room.


    I then carefully studied the room again.


    This world shouldn¡¯t have hidden cameras or stuff like that, right? I wanted to make sure, but since I couldn¡¯t sense any divinity, demonic energy or mana in the room, I should probably be fine.


    I went ahead and emptied the bottle down the toilet. Then, I poured the water into the empty bottle before injecting divinity into it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll die of overwork if things go the way I imagine.¡±


    Only eighty Priests were stationed in this place, and we were tasked with purification ceremonies meant for several thousands. Are you bloody insane? Priests were supposed to be upper-class citizens in this world. But despite that, what a crazy notion of slave labour this was!


    ¡°I better make some pick-me-ups while I still have the chance.¡±


    This world unfortunately didn¡¯t have energy drinks like ¡°Re* B*ll¡± or ¡°Bac**us-F¡±. So¡­ it would be a smart thing for me to self-create some and then drink them later on. Sure, it was tiring to create holy water, but nothing came close to reinvigorating one¡¯s body stained by extreme bouts of fatigue. [1]


    ¡°And I should take a closer look at this thing too.¡±


    I extracted the Necromancer¡¯s grimoire from the empty air.


    ¡°It¡¯s so convenient that my skills and the item window all function exactly like a game.¡±


    What a fortunate thing it was, not having to worry about reaching the storage limit. Of course, there was a restriction on what could be stored depending on the item¡¯s size, but still, that was more than an acceptable compromise in my book.


    I flipped open the Necromancer¡¯s records.


    It seemed that Necromancy of this world sacrificed ¡®demonic energy¡¯ and ¡®life span¡¯ to summon the undead. This could be the reason why Necromancers boasted a high-level of magic control that easily overshadowed any other types of magicians.


    As I enjoyed the game-like attribute, I had pretty much nothing to do with the ¡®life span¡¯ part, but on the flip side, I had seriously poor ¡®divinity¡¯ control.


    I mean, didn¡¯t I grant blessings inadvertently back then?


    What I needed right now were two things ¨C one, items that either recovered my spent divinity or even greatly increased it. And two, learn to perfectly control the amount of divinity I use at any given situation.


    ¡°So, this thing is basically telling me to inject demonic energy into water and refine my control that way.¡±


    It emphasized that ¡®breathing¡¯ was the connecting chain of one¡¯s soul. Apparently, the demonic energy injected via ¡®breathing technique¡¯ would allow me to exert the greatest level of control.


    ¡°But that¡¯s the story for Necromancers, right? I mean, will it even work for a Priest like me?¡±


    After pouring the water into the liquor bottle and breathing into it, I was suddenly slapped in the head with a pop-up message. It said that ¡®Blessing¡¯ had been activated. Subsequently, I now got myself a new bottle of holy water.


    Compared to how anemic I felt the last time, this process felt a lot more easier.


    ¡°Huh. I guess there was a reward for training for the whole of last month, then.¡±


    For sure, the Necromancer¡¯s way of magic control was the absolute best out of everyone else. It was a day and night difference from how Priests would just stupidly dump as much of their divinity they can handle in one go.


    But then again, this made a lot of sense ¨C your life was on the line after all, so if you were sloppy with magic control, you wouldn¡¯t even last a single year as a Necromancer. That¡¯s just how this profession was like.


    Yup, as expected of the profession stuck in the extreme end of the scale, the Necromancer! This was perfectly fitting for the job class where one needed to put up life span as collateral before being allowed to use magic.


    I nodded my head while perusing the Necromancer¡¯s grimoire once more.


    This was truly excellent! When I¡¯m done with this sucker, I should sell it off. I was thinking that it¡¯d earn me some pretty penny later.


    Ever since the zombie wave incident, I worked quite hard to greatly increase my divinity reserve so that I could survive into the future.


    I kept praying, even though I barely held any faith whatsoever, and tried my best to absorb as much divinity as possible. And then, I¡¯d sneak off to the forest by myself and diligently focus on summoning various undead, thereby increasing their numbers. All to prepare for that off-chance of something unsavoury happening later.


    My current problem, though, was the potential fate of me dying from overwork in a short while. Which was unfortunately not related to all the hard work I had recently put in.


    The more I thought about it, the more pissed off I got. How did anyone expect me to perform funerals for thousands of people, anyway?


    ¡°No, hang on a minute.¡±


    I pondered my dilemma for a while but eventually, shook my head.


    There was no need for me to diligently do what they told me in the first place, right? Besides, this place wasn¡¯t my ¡®jurisdiction¡¯, as it were.


    All I had to do was simply go, ¡°Aigoo! I¡¯m so exhausted that I can¡¯t go on anymore!¡±, and everything should be fine after that.


    By pretending to be ill, I wouldn¡¯t need to risk my life by performing this so-called volunteer slave service anymore. To think that there was such a wonderful method to cheat the system!


    ¡°Nice! I should just pretend to work hard, up to a certain point.¡±


    When that happens, even the Paladins would have no choice but to let me off the hook. Just who was I, anyway? Even if it was just the shell, wasn¡¯t I the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson?


    Even if they knew I was just faking an illness, none of them were in a position to force me back to work.


    ¡°Still¡­¡±


    Just in case, I should still create a few more energy recovery drinks.


    This world was, figuratively and literally, extremely fantastic. No one knew what might happen at any given time, so it¡¯d be wiser to get myself some insurance.


    While creating more holy water, I shifted my gaze towards the side. There was this one thing that kept nagging me in the corner of my mind. And that was¡­


    ¡°¡­Yup, that¡¯s a gun, alright.¡±


    ¡­It was none other than a musket rifle hanging on the wall as decoration.


    < 013. Imperial Prince is Toiling Away -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 21

    ¡°I¡¯ve read in a book that guns existed in this world, but I didn¡¯t really figure it¡¯d be so commonplace.¡±


    Firearms were probably the best, and at the same time, the worst invention humanity has come up with so far.


    Unlike weapons such as swords or bows that required one to be proficient with them, using guns as weapons of war were far easier to familiarise yourself with. As a matter of fact, a person only needed to pull the trigger to ¡®kill¡¯ your opponent.


    However, the guns in this world were treated as more of ¡®decorations¡¯, and for a good reason, too.


    Instead of using gunpowder, these musket rifles relied on the concept of requiring ¡®Mana¡¯ to fire, which was why they were used mainly by the magicians.


    Did that mean only they used it, though?


    Nope, wrong.


    Whether you were a knight, a mercenary, or even a commoner, as long as you knew how to wield Mana, divinity, or even demonic energy, you could potentially use guns.


    Many magicians and alchemists spent the past 200 or so years researching the ways to further refine this advantage of firearms. And the eventual result arising from all that was¡­ them being simple ¡®decorations¡¯.


    What was the reason for this, you ask?


    ¡°¡­Utterly nonsensical Mana consumption.¡±


    Firing just one shot consumed an exorbitant amount of Mana, that¡¯s why.


    I read that even the most skilled magicians would exhaust all of their Mana reserves after firing only about five rounds or so. It was also said that you¡¯d need at least five minutes to gather enough Mana to generate a bullet, too.


    Meanwhile, the firing range was even more pathetic at only around 50 metres. And so, a question related to this whole thing that required an answer: was it powerful enough to compensate for its shortcomings, then?


    Nope, wrong again.


    Right after firing, the coagulated Mana would begin breaking down and scatter away in the air. It wouldn¡¯t even be able to fatally wound an enemy 50 metres away.


    Investing that five minutes in casting an AoE(Area of Effect) attack magic instead would actually deal a greater level of damage to your enemy. When considering the required Mana expenditure, you could safely say that this method was much more efficient overall.


    Nevertheless, guns still existed in the world, and there were two reasons for it.


    One, for the purpose of ¡®dieting¡¯.


    There wasn¡¯t any proof of a correlation between one¡¯s fatty tissues and Mana, but even so, I learned that ladies of nobility had taken up range shooting as it was apparently a good way to lose those extra kilos.


    Another one was with affluent nobles and their maniacally obsessive hobby of collecting stuff.


    The firearms served well as decorations, and since rich nobles only wanted the ¡®authentic¡¯ stuff, so I assumed that magicians were probably crafting these firearms as expensive ornaments and nothing more.


    It seemed to me that these nobles could be pretty dumb sometimes. They would invest a hefty chunk of coin just because they wanted to put the guns on display, even though these things didn¡¯t serve any other purpose than losing weight.


    Well, plenty of normal people also collected all sorts of junk for the purpose of their hobbies so there¡¯s that, I guess.


    I wonder, how much was this particular musket rifle? I heard that each one of these things could cost an arm and a leg¡­


    ¡°Still, what a waste. If only I knew how to make gunpowder, I¡¯d be living large as a munchkin by now¡­¡±


    What could I even do? It wasn¡¯t as if every cat or dog could learn how to mix and match chemicals, and I certainly didn¡¯t think about studying the related subjects while knowing that I¡¯d be thrown into another world.


    I lightly shook my head and moved to put the musket rifle back on the wall, but then, I had a change of mind after sneaking a glance around.


    ¡°Should I try firing it, at least once?¡±


    All of a sudden, I felt unnecessarily curious.


    It was fun to mess around with a musket rifle of this world, but it might be even more fun to actually fire one.


    Besides, I figured that injecting a tiny sliver of divinity wouldn¡¯t result in anything too powerful anyway. I¡¯d probably just scratch the furniture or some such.


    With this thought in mind, I sneakily took the rifle off the wall once more.


    Rather than shoving an iron ball and gunpowder down the barrel using a rod, this particular rifle was a breech-loading type. The reason for a lid in the chamber must¡¯ve been to let off the heat accumulating inside it after firing, or so I thought after looking at the design.


    I took the rifle, and quietly breathed into where the bullet was supposed to go in, or in this case, Mana.


    [A bullet has been generated through the usage of divi¡­]


    [You have entered Divinity Control state.]


    [Divine Aura has activated. The equipment will temporarily be enhanced.]


    [An even more precise bullet has been generated.]


    Huh?


    Messages began filling up my head. Since I had already seen some of them pop up like this before, they didn¡¯t really fluster me, but the ¡®Divine Aura¡¯ one did.


    One loved by the gods, or the one blessed by the gods, whatever ¨C that was one of those unexplainable powers where all kinds of modifiers found in this Continent would be attached to.


    The [Divine Aura]¡­


    This ability was a supernatural power unrelated to Mana, divinity, or


    even demonic energy.


    ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be treated like some kind of superpower in this world, right?¡±


    Hang on, could it be that this body wielded this power even before I took over? Sure, he belonged to a super-duper important bloodline, but still, I didn¡¯t expect him to possess such an ability despite that.


    ¡°How mystifying¡­¡±


    Now that I thought about it, I involuntarily used this power while facing off against the zombie bear back then, didn¡¯t I? My shovel got reinforced and I was able to defend against the monster¡¯s vicious attack.


    ¡°So it temporarily enhances any equipment¡­¡±


    I guessed that it¡¯s quite similar to ¡®reinforcement¡¯.


    Maybe that was the reason? The divinity consumption wasn¡¯t as high as I feared. Although I did feel a bit dizzy, it wasn¡¯t as bad as when I created holy water.


    I had no trouble moving my body afterward too.


    The time it took to generate a bullet was about a minute or so.


    That could be because I ended up making a rubbish bullet, but I had no way of knowing that yet. Even the skilled magicians supposedly needed around five minutes to do this, so there was no way that I could¡¯ve done it in only one.


    I raised the musket rifle and aimed it at a vase resting on a shelf. I was really curious about its firepower now.


    I felt like a little kid experimenting with his newly-purchased BB toy gun. With an expectant face, I pulled the trigger while murmuring a soft little sound effect.


    ¡°Bang.¡±


    What started off as me fooling around¡­


    BOOOOM-!!


    ¡­Ended up becoming a huge problem.


    A humongous explosion noise reverberated throughout the mansion.


    I fell on my ass with a dumbfounded face as I let go of the rifle. Not because I was too shocked, but more to do with the fact that I couldn¡¯t deal with the weapon¡¯s recoil.


    I heard servants and maids scream outside the window. They were shocked by the sudden explosion.


    Bang! Bang!


    ¡°Your highness! What happened?¡±


    In the next second, I heard the urgent voice of the Paladin from beyond the door. He sounded rather different from his previous machine-like calmness. Yup, he must¡¯ve been shocked silly by the explosion a second ago too.


    Since my response was late, the Paladin simply decided to break open the door¡¯s lock.


    ¡°What ha¡­¡±


    I quickly got up and pushed the Paladin back out of the door before he could set foot inside.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± I responded.


    ¡°Pardon? But, your highness¡­¡±


    The Paladin¡¯s eyes quickly shifted inside his helm, trying to observe the state of the room. It seemed like he wanted to confirm something, so I summoned all of my strength and pushed him back.


    ¡°Come on dude. It¡¯s really uncool to intrude the room of a boy going through puberty, you know?¡±


    I actually had half a mind to kick him in the shins if it meant making him retreat. Of course, I knew it¡¯d be my leg bearing the brunt of the pain from that action due to his armor, so I could only pound on his chest plate and push him back.


    After finally forcing the Paladin outside, I quickly shut the door.


    While breathing a sigh of relief, I alternated my gaze between the musket rifle lying on the floor, and the hole as big as a person¡¯s head in the nearby wall before frowning deeply.


    ¡°Decorative ornament, my ass!!!¡±


    Who the f*ck was it? Who said that these guns were useless ornaments only good for some diet routine?!


    With that much firepower, a regular person or even an undead would definitely get killed in a single shot.

 Chapter 22

    **


    Early next morning, Paladin Harman, who was tasked with escorting the Imperial Prince to the Ronia fiefdom, got right down to preparatory work.


    He stared at the ¡®Priests¡¯ standing before his eyes and deeply furrowed his brows.


    There were a total of eighty of them. And every single one of them was a ¡®sly-as-fox¡¯ type. The entire group consisted of either those currently being punished by the Humite Academy located in the central part of the Continent, or were Priests who got caught ¡®cheating¡¯ on the job.


    Harman shifted his gaze.


    Among these miscreants was the Imperial Prince, ¡®Allen Olfolse¡¯, currently shivering away from the cold. He¡¯s the seventh grandson of the Holy Emperor, and the ¡®mangnani¡¯ who tried to rape the granddaughter of an Archbishop.


    He was the worst out of this ragtag bunch of miscreants.


    His infamy being widely acknowledged throughout the Continent was no exaggeration, either. Thanks to this boy, even the great Holy Emperor had to suffer from severe bouts of migraine.


    ¡®He doesn¡¯t seem to have changed at all.¡¯


    Back in the monastery, Harman saw a girl near the Imperial Prince who was there with an excuse of training to become a nun. The boy also began drooling over the feudal lord¡¯s maidservant as soon as arriving in the fortress, too.


    Harman swore inwardly that, once this crisis was over, he¡¯d send his full report back to His Majesty the Holy Emperor, and grill that silver-haired ¡®nun¡¯ for the whole truth.


    He¡¯d ask her, ¡°Were you forced into this position by the Imperial Prince?¡±


    ¨C Well, he¡¯s¡­ He¡¯s changed a lot, actually.


    This was what Paladin Harman had heard from the villagers while investigating the ¡®Witch Morgana¡¯ incident.


    During this simple follow-up inquiry, he got to hear more about the young prince rather than the subject of his investigation, the dead witch.


    ¨C Haven¡¯t you also noticed it, sir Paladin? He changed a lot ever since that suicide attempt three months ago. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s due to the mental shock, or maybe because he lost his memories. But regardless of what, it¡¯s as if he turned over a new leaf.


    Sure, the boy had really changed.


    When Harman paid him a visit back in the beginning of the banishment, the Imperial Prince tried to kick him in the nuts. And then, while complaining about the pain in his leg, the boy picked up a farming tool and tried to stab the Paladin with that.


    It was none other than Harman himself who subdued the irate boy and then locked him up in his room, telling him to repent by praying, while drinking only water as his punishment.


    Well, His Majesty the Holy Emperor gave his express permission to Harman, telling the knight to do whatever he saw fit, so what he did was fine. Hell, he was even told that, as long as the boy remained breathing, it¡¯d be alright to break his arms and legs, too.


    ¨C He¡¯s been doing a wonderful job as the gravekeeper here. And when the zombie horde appeared, he was the first one to step up and hunt them down, too. And then¡­


    The villagers all told him similar stories with warm smiles on their faces.


    ¨C He protected us. Most importantly, he didn¡¯t take a break or even rest once as he sincerely performed the funeral rites of our loved ones. If you can¡¯t feel gratitude and only feel hatred for a person like him, then you¡¯re not a human being but a trash who doesn¡¯t know what kindness really is.


    Paladin Harman couldn¡¯t help but deeply frown again after recalling those words.


    That testimony made no bloody sense. The Imperial Prince actually hunted zombies down? He personally stepped forward to take down zombies when he used to get so scared by the sight of a single mouse¡­?


    And also, he turned over a new leaf? You¡¯d only say that when the person at fault finally realized his past mistakes and repented for them.


    Just because the Prince was suffering from amnesia didn¡¯t mean his record was wiped clean. It wasn¡¯t as if he was absolved of all of his past transgressions.


    ¡®He¡¯s probably using the excuse of amnesia as a pretext to return to the Imperial Palace.¡¯


    There was a good possibility that he requested the villagers to tell a matching tale based around the opportune happenstance of the Witch Morgana incident. The odds were high. He could be trying to create a way to return to the Imperial Palace by using the achievement of capturing a witch.


    However, there was something off about that explanation.


    Morgana the Witch had already decimated several other villages in the past. Even if she was a Necromancer known to be weak against close-quarter battles, she couldn¡¯t have been so weak that the mere villagers were able to overpower and beat her half to death.


    The Black Order was an organization that fostered assassins. An agent of such an Order wouldn¡¯t get caught by measly villagers just because she got careless.


    It also didn¡¯t mean that the Imperial Prince was responsible for capturing the witch, though. Perhaps that farmer named Gril wasn¡¯t exaggerating, but actually quite strong.


    Even though his older age posed an issue, but well, Harman figured that it wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to write a letter of recommendation, so that Gril could take the apprentice Paladin selection test later.


    Harman shifted his gaze back to Imperial Prince Allen once more.


    The boy pulled his cheap blanket around him even tighter, his dissatisfaction towards the cold weather clearly written on his face. He then shot a glare back at Harman that seemed to say, ¡°What are you looking at?!¡±


    ¡®Yes, he doesn¡¯t appear to have changed at all.¡¯


    The Imperial Prince, who loved fooling around with a woman even before the eyes of his monitor, resembled a local hoodlum. This was how the boy acted before Harman, so what kind of even more sacrilegious acts would he be involved in when no one was looking?


    ¡®However¡­ just what happened yesterday?¡¯


    During the previous evening, Imperial Prince Allen had a short meeting with the local feudal lord and got himself a room. Not too long after he entered it, something inside exploded.


    Even if the boy was a ¡®mangnani¡¯, he was still the grandson of His Majesty, the one Harman swore his undying loyalty to.


    The Prince might have been exiled, but he was also under Harman¡¯s protection, so if something untoward happened to the boy during his watch then it¡¯d be akin to deeply disappointing that one person he swore his allegiance to.


    This was why he tried to break the door down and enter the room, but to his surprise, Prince Allen was fine, and even more surprisingly, the boy actually pushed Harman out of the room.


    But in that very brief moment, he saw it. He saw a large hole in the wall. It was a hole that featured the unique signs of a magical attack that no swords, spears, or arrows could make.


    ¡®Just what was that?¡¯


    Was the Prince responsible for creating that head-sized hole?


    If so, how?


    There was no way that the Imperial Prince was in possession of such a powerful magical skill or even a dangerous artifact.


    And, with a monitor like himself around, he couldn¡¯t have secretly mastered new magic too. There were magic grimoires and sword training manuals left behind in the monastery¡¯s library, but not only did that fool of a prince not peruse them once, none of those books were low-classed enough for an amateur to master them in the span of only a few months, either.


    ¡®Could it be that he found a suspicious item inside the Necromancer¡¯s cave?¡¯


    If that was the case, then things could become rather dangerous. He should go through the Prince¡¯s belongings later.


    Paladin Harman shifted his gaze away toward the soldiers next.


    They were wearing rags as their attire, but were also fitted with quite thick cloth armors too. Indeed, they weren¡¯t just regular soldiers, but convicts dispatched to the Ronia fiefdom. Next to each of these people was a large rucksack, a shovel, and a water canteen.


    ¡®Ronia¡¯s prisoners.¡¯


    If they managed to survive the winter here, then their sentences would be either reduced, or they could even become free men. This method was necessary to maintain a steady stream of combat personnel for this cruel and unforgiving Sacrificial Castle, as well as to suppress the convicts themselves.


    Of course, if someone wished to rebel, then¡­


    ¡°Uht?! Hey, that guy¡¯s running away!¡±


    One of the convicts that arrived recently in the fiefdom tried to escape in a hurry. The ¡®real¡¯ soldiers fired their arrows and killed the escapee without a shred of hesitation. The remaining convicts witnessed this sight and shrunk back from the shock.


    What happened just now was the fate awaiting those who dared to resist.


    If you obediently endured the winter year after year, then your crimes would slowly be washed away. On the flip side, you¡¯d be executed on the spot if you rebelled regardless of how big or small your original crime was.


    Because their role was to serve as sacrifices and decrease the rage of the undead so it didn¡¯t matter whether you were alive or not. The convicts were nothing more than expendable pawns.


    The convicts stared at the dead escapee with tense expressions on their faces.


    Paladin Harman then spoke up, ¡°What are you all doing? Get rid of the corpse and distribute the uniforms!¡±


    This was merely the beginning.


    Between the beginning of the winter and 25th of December, the date when the Necromancer King died, countless undead would descend upon this fortress.


    The living had to build a stronghold here in preparation for that, and then, eliminate the waves of the undead, thereby stopping them from spreading to the rest of the Continent.


    Harman lifted up a rucksack and tossed it to Imperial Prince Allen Olfolse.


    ¡°This contains a special medical uniform designed to ward off the plague, your highness. Please put it on and join the other Priests in their tasks.¡±


    The young Prince frowned heavily, perhaps not liking what Harman had just told him. However, this sight only reaffirmed the Paladin¡¯s beliefs.


    Just as he thought¡­ the prince¡¯s dissatisfied glare hadn¡¯t changed at all.


    < 014. Imperial Prince is Toiling Away -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin

 Chapter 23

    **


    I took a look at the rucksack the Termin*tor Paladin threw in my way.


    The huge leather bag was filled with water and food, plus a sleeping bag and a shovel, rounded off with a strange-looking mask and the aforementioned medical personnel uniform.


    This¡­ was basically a soldier¡¯s gear, minus the gun of course.


    I shifted my gaze away.


    What a cold wintery day it was.


    The ¡®Sacrificial Castle¡¯ Ronia was slowly being submerged under the white snow and the convicts were busy shoveling away all that said snow. Next to them, I could see the real soldiers busy yelling out slogans and catchphrases while jogging in groups.


    Not too far away, I saw other groups of convicts receiving their gear that included spears. At the same time, they were also getting all the rules drilled into their heads.


    ¡­This, this was without a shadow of doubt, a freaking army.


    That¡¯s right, a real, bonafide army base. Goddammit, why are you reminding me of that godforsaken Nonsan boot camp?! [1]


    Holy sh*t! Oh, dear Gaia, why are you throwing me into this sort of trial? I¡¯m wallowing in the pit of sorrow for having to do hard labour in my second life, and yet, you want me to join the army for the second time too? Are you that resentful of me, you cheapskate Goddess!


    ¡°F*ck me. If you¡¯re putting me through this ordeal just because I swore at you once, then you¡¯ll see. Imma slag you off for generations to come.¡±


    Of course, I¡¯d only do that sort of stuff in my head.


    If the Goddess really existed and could hear me flipping her off, then an even worse misfortune might slap me in the face later.


    Just like how magicians needed to chant their spells, Priests needed to worship, or even go as far as to exalt the deities they believed in. Doing that allowed them to display an even stronger level of divinity than they previously could.


    When considering this simple point, you could say that gods really did exist in this world.


    ¡°It¡¯s your overalls. Please put it on and join the other Priests in their tasks, your highness.¡±


    I became utterly dismayed by what the Paladin said.


    Sure, my status and power might have been temporarily taken away from me, but he actually dared to chuck a rucksack at an Imperial Prince?


    Would you look at this crazy bastard?!


    I heard that this guy was a pretty renowned vice-captain of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s Paladin Corps.


    I¡¯m not sure how different the standards of this world and the South Korean militaries were, but this guy couldn¡¯t be higher than, say, a measly lieutenant-colonel, or maybe even a colonel. However, seeing him focus only on me did give off the feeling of a non-commissioned officer somehow.


    Hey, you! I¡¯m the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson! If this was South Korea, I¡¯d be like the son of the President entering the army. I don¡¯t expect you to bend over backward for me, but still, how dare you¡­


    ¡°Your itinerary includes, from six in the morning till nine, construction of the fortress, maintenance of the graves, purification of the deceased, and¡­¡±


    My dissatisfied glare was completely ignored by him as he continued to mouth off my schedule. Hearing him gave rise to this sense of anxiety in my heart.


    There was always someone like this found in every field, wasn¡¯t it?


    ¨C It doesn¡¯t matter whose son you are. I¡¯ll simply stick to the field manual.


    ¡­You could always find people with such a mindset everywhere.


    Someone who didn¡¯t care about looking good to those in power to advance their careers; they would stick rigorously to their set of beliefs and toil away!


    Holy moly. I have such a powerful backer, and yet I won¡¯t get to enjoy a smooth-sailing army life?


    What the freaking hell. Hey, Theocratic Empire? Why aren¡¯t you more corrupt? Please, do some of that military corruption thing already!


    ¡°Eh-whew, might as well forget about it.¡±


    I spat out a lengthy groan and picked up the rucksack.


    By the way¡­ Hmm?


    I turned my head to the side to look at a place a bit further away¨C the Ronia fiefdom¡¯s city center. For some reason, I caught a disgusting whiff of a rotten stench coming from there.


    ¡°¡­Are there any undead within the city too?¡±


    My silent mumble to no one caused the Paladin to tilt his head. ¡°What do you mean, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a bit faint, but there¡¯s this stink, and¡­¡±


    It was then, a wagon emerged out from the city. And it was packed full of dead bodies.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I wordlessly stared at the corpses, and that prompted the Paladin to speak up. ¡°Every now and then, you¡¯ll see people dying after failing to adapt to the environment, whether it be during the process of training, or from hard labor, your highness.¡±


    I heard that in reality, about double the amount of people died from hard labor than from the ¡®Tide of Death¡¯ itself.


    The domain of convicts with no human rights, that was Ronia in a nutshell. What a perfect way to deal with serious offenders.


    ¡°However, I can¡¯t just blame it on the atmosphere, though. Hopefully, there ain¡¯t any zombies hiding in the middle of the city,¡± I said.


    The Paladin nodded his head confidently. ¡°Something like that won¡¯t happen, so please rest easy. There may be cases of prisoners dying from hard labour, but they¡¯ll still be afforded the proper funeral process.¡±


    What a relief then.


    I still felt this uneasy air coming from the middle of the city, but it was simply too faint. It could¡¯ve been really the atmosphere or something.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you strengthen the city¡¯s public order just in case?¡± I suggested quietly.


    ¡°¡­The city¡¯s public order, your highness?¡± The Paladin tilted his head, looking somewhat puzzled, but nodded his head in the end. ¡°Understood. There should be times when corpses aren¡¯t recovered promptly and left to rot unattended. If a portion of that turns into the undead, then it could spread anxiety among the fiefdom¡¯s citizens.¡±


    Ohh! And here I was, thinking that you were an uptight fool. I guess you were actually the type who listens to other people¡¯s advice.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t have any more questions, please start with your task, your highness.¡±


    As soon as I was done praising the man, I wanted to hurl profanities right back at him.


    Well, I should do what I was told, at least for the time being. I didn¡¯t want to get smart and then get saddled with even tougher jobs instead. Since I was a Priest, as well as the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson, my duties should be on the lower end of the toughness scale.


    After fully opening the rucksack, I pulled out the mask and the coat. Funnily enough, I recognized the mask right away. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s that bird beak mask.¡±


    Alongside the white texture, it had two holes for the eyes, and a protruding beak ¨C it was a mask that actually existed during Earth¡¯s middle ages, and also an item that appeared often in fantasy games, too.


    I heard that people during the dark ages believed they wouldn¡¯t contract the bubonic plague by putting this mask on. Of course, most of them still kicked the bucket anyway since there wasn¡¯t such an effect on the mask itself.


    While looking at this thing, I suddenly felt that regardless of which world it was, people¡¯s minds still operated in similar ways.


    Wasn¡¯t there any proper equipment we could use rather than this decorative toy, though? ¡°Hey, man. Does this thing even have any special effects?¡±


    ¡°It contains a filter imbued with purification magic, as well as charcoal and sand plus a few others. It can purify most poisons emitted by an undead or prevent diseases it might carry from infecting you, your highness.¡±


    Huh. So, it¡¯s this world¡¯s version of a gas mask then?


    As expected, the treatment Priests got was a step above that of the convicts. Even our equipment was properly sorted out too.


    I put on the beak mask and the fur-lined robe. After looking around, I caught the sight of other Priests within my now-narrowed field of view.


    Everyone was wearing the exact same get-up.


    I couldn¡¯t help but recall the army once more. If you stood in line with your head cleanly shaved, you wouldn¡¯t be able to tell who was who, and that was the exact same feeling I got right now.


    ¡°Please perform the same duties as your colleagues, your highness,¡± the Paladin said.


    ¡°Same duties, is it?¡±


    The Paladin nodded his head. ¡°Currently, we have quite a few who have died from the diseases as well as from overwork.¡±


    Wha? Dead from overworking already?


    I spat out a lengthy sigh under my mask.


    The Paladin spoke up to here before turning around to leave, then began issuing commands to the convicts. Thankfully, it seemed that he wasn¡¯t going to monitor me 24/7.


    Was this his way of showing me some consideration? I couldn¡¯t help but wonder.


    I continued looking around and spotted the familiar villagers. There were quite a lot of people gathered here, as a matter of fact. This indicated that refugees from other villages beside the one near the monastery had also arrived in the fortress.


    There must¡¯ve been well over several thousands that were assigned to perform all sorts of manual labour. Unlike the convicts, these villagers were law-abiding citizens of the Theocratic Empire so they were provided with proper winter clothing.

 Chapter 24

    Men were either carrying heavy luggage or were maintaining and fixing up various equipment, while the women were handing out food.


    ¡°Imperial Prince-nim?¡±


    I quickly shifted my gaze to discover the familiar silver-haired, crimson-eyed girl carrying a basket. She also spotted me and quickly trotted to where I was.


    Maybe the cold weather was to blame, because the tip of her nose and her cheeks were all flushed pink. Whitish steam escaped from her lips as she stood wordlessly before me, her eyes wide open and waiting.


    Hang on, how did she recognize me when I was wearing a mask and this thick robe? Could it be that ¡°I¡¯m the Imperial Prince¡± was written on my back?


    Just before I could sneak a glance behind, she pulled something out from the basket and presented it to me. ¡°Please¡­ eat this. It¡¯s still warm.¡±


    It was a baked sweet potato.


    Charlotte carefully wrapped a few in a piece of cloth so that their warmth could be retained for longer before giving them to me.


    ¡°Oh! Thank you. Work hard, okay?¡±


    I received the sweet potatoes and lightly waved my hand at her. She slightly bowed her head and went away to distribute the rest.


    I took a bite out of the sweet potato. So sweet¡­ and warm too.


    A smile subconsciously bloomed on my lips.


    A little while later, I headed to the public cemetery located in the city center with the other Priests. They were cleaning out the snow and digging out the burial pits. Wagons carrying corpses arrived.


    The convicts carefully examined every single one of them to make sure that none had been zombified, and after finishing their inspection they then carried the corpses to lower them in the pits.


    The Priests extended their hands towards the graves, and while holding onto the holy scriptures, they started reciting something or rather.


    What the hell? That¡¯s the proper purification ceremony?


    It was actually more cumbersome and complicated than I thought. I only silently prayed for the dead as written in the books found in the monastery, but was I doing it wrong all this time?


    However, I did look through [Mind¡¯s Eye] back then and confirmed that all the souls had been purified, so silent prayers must¡¯ve been enough.


    Alright then. Should I get cracking, too? I¡¯ll just pretend to work a little bit before giving up halfway.


    ¡°Oii, mate. Hey, man!¡±


    I stopped shoveling and looked behind me. That¡¯s when I spotted a certain group among the labouring Priests that proved to be especially lazy ¨C as in, they weren¡¯t even bothering to do any work whatsoever and were actually using the corpses as chairs to sit around.


    They had long discarded the shovels and were busy chatting amongst themselves.


    I sneaked a glance at the other soldiers. For some reason, they didn¡¯t seem to care. Well, most of these ¡®soldiers¡¯ were actually convicts and also were commoners, to begin with. These Priests might be criminals in their own right, but no soldiers would dare to order them around even in this place.


    I slung my shovel over my shoulder and approached the group.


    ¡°You should take it easy, fella. It¡¯s not like we¡¯ll be rewarded for working our butts off in this damned place, anyway.¡±


    A well-built boy around 16 or 17 years old said that to me.


    He was right about that.


    Forget about being rewarded, working my ass off would only ¡®reward¡¯ me with sore muscles come tomorrow morning.


    I sneaked a glance at the Paladin. He was too busy issuing commands to other convicts, to the point that he didn¡¯t seem to have any leeway to mind this side. This meant that he wouldn¡¯t really care if I kicked back and took it easy.


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.¡±


    I nodded my head. The boy Priest then removed his mask and took out something to eat from the rucksack. He drank some water before spitting it out. ¡°Urgh, man. Isn¡¯t there booze in this place?¡±


    He glanced at the soldiers in dissatisfaction, prompting one of them to hesitantly approach us to sneakily hand over a certain bottle.


    ¡°Oh! Ohhh! Nice. That¡¯s right, fella! Goddess Gaia will bless you with her graces. Your crimes will soon be washed away.¡±


    ¡°T-thank you.¡±


    The soldiers bowed their heads. The boy Priest said some unconvincing things and chased the soldiers away with a dismissive wave of his hand.


    ¡°Goddammit, what the eff is up with this crap? I should¡¯ve been promoted to the second year in the Academy by now. To think I¡¯d be disciplined for something so small like that. F*ck!¡±


    He began chugging down the alcohol. Maybe it was stronger than he thought, because his complexion reddened almost immediately and he began staggering a bit.


    He spoke a bit forcefully, probably worried about how he looked to the others here. He then pushed the booze towards me. ¡°Why don¡¯t you have a sip too, brother? It¡¯s pretty damn good!¡±


    Well, you¡¯re only giving me this because you couldn¡¯t handle it, aren¡¯t you?


    He was pretty quick with his bluffs, I must say.


    I took the bottle since I was feeling thirsty anyway, and this would be my first time tasting alcohol ever since coming to this world too.


    I took off my mask and took a swig. A strong taste stung my throat and nostrils, and this heat rushed all over my body at the same time.


    Hiya~! This was actually pretty good! Did I make a mistake by throwing away the booze the manservant brought along? It could be the cold that enhanced the booze¡¯s taste, but still.


    ¡°How about it? It¡¯s good, right?¡± The boy Priest asked.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not bad at all,¡± I responded while handing the bottle back to him.


    ¡°Haha, we should help each other out when we can, right? I can see that you¡¯re an offspring of a noble household as well. Which family are you from?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­¡±


    ¡­The Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson.


    If I said that out loud here, how would everyone look at me afterwards?


    Would they look at me as if I was an unsightly ¡®mangnani¡¯? Or would they start prostrating before me? I was kind of getting curious about their potential reactions.


    ¡°I¡¯m from a small noble family out in the sticks.¡±


    Despite being curious, I decided to go with bluffing myself.


    ¡°Haha, so you were a country bumpkin then! I knew it. There¡¯s no way any high-ranking folks would be sent here.¡±


    The boy Priest laughed loudly, prompting the surrounding Priests to agree with him enthusiastically as well.


    The boy Priest continued, ¡°Alright then. Even if we¡¯re stuck in this place, getting acquainted with each other may bear fruit at a later date. Your name is?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Allen.¡±


    ¡°My pleasure, Allen. I understand that you¡¯re embarrassed about your last name, so you don¡¯t have to tell me.¡±


    I shook his extended hand.


    ¡°That¡¯s great! If you wish to spend your days here as untroubled and as safe as possible, then you gotta listen to what I say, alright? My name is Heis, the oldest son of Count Hedron that serves His Majesty, the noble and great Holy Emperor of the Theocratic Empire.¡±


    I was quite impressed by his declaration.


    Oh, ohh!! So I¡¯d really get to spend my time here relaxing without a care in the world, then? I guessed that there was no need for me to come up with other excuses now.


    My status and power had already been stripped off from me, but it¡¯d be a different story with the eldest son from a Count household. Even the Paladins wouldn¡¯t dare to treat him poorly, right?


    I grinned brightly and spoke, ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care then.¡±


    ¡°You made the right choice.¡±


    I settled down on the ground. The corpses might¡¯ve belonged to convicts, sure, but I still wasn¡¯t so keen on sitting on them.


    Heis next to me yapped on and on nonstop.


    His stories made him out to be some kind of a hero from fairy tales. He kept himself busy by telling me that he used divinity magic when he was merely three years old, and was called the genius of sword when he was seven ¨C he continued to spin several tall tales that would¡¯ve been better-suited as munchkin web novels.


    I relaxed more and more while listening to his tales, only to catch the next part of the conversation taking place between the Priests.


    ¡°Lord Heis, is it true that you¡¯re here because the Academy is disciplining you? I heard that you decided to bestow your ¡®blessings¡¯ to a lowborn girl? But rather than feeling grateful, she instead took revenge¡­¡±


    Heis flinched nastily and stared at that Priest.


    The former¡¯s expression hardened quickly. ¡°Uh? That? Ah, uh, well¡­ Haha! You¡¯re right. Actually, it¡¯s so unfair, right? Damn, why am I in the wrong for raping a maid doing lowly chores around the Academy anyway?¡±


    I stared at him.


    Heis must¡¯ve sensed my gaze, because he suddenly exploded into a peal of loud laughter as he carried on, ¡°I mean, maids can only continue to survive because we take good care of them, no?¡±


    The Priest asked him. ¡°So, like, what happened?¡±


    ¡°Uh? A-ah, that? Uh, so the thing was¡­¡± Heis began stuttering in a fluster. Before long, he seemed to have recalled something and spoke in a hurry, ¡°O-of course I tried to lie with her. She got scared and began begging me then. ¡®Please let me go~, spare my life~!¡¯ Hahaha! I got so turned on after hearing her go like that, you know? I guess I¡¯m a hopeless pervert, eh?¡±


    I ended up slightly frowning after hearing him.


    He must¡¯ve been bluffing from the way he said those things. But then again, seeing how he was sent here as punishment, he probably tried to rape a maid exactly like what a certain ¡®mangnani¡¯ son of a noble family did.


    I was in no position to criticise him, but well, I kinda found him a bit of an eyesore.


    < 015. Imperial Prince is Toiling Away -4 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 25

    ¡°Spare her? It¡¯s not as if I was trying to kill her or anything. I just slapped her around a bit and pushed down on her head.¡±


    I rubbed my forehead upon hearing this.


    Arghhhh, goddammit. I made the wrong choice, didn¡¯t I? Why did I have to go and choose this clique out of all the others?


    I stood up from my spot to leave. It seemed like Heis didn¡¯t seem to care about someone like me from the get-go, judging from how he continued to spin his yarn. ¡°I was so damn aroused by her futile resistance, you know? So, like, I tore up her skirt like this~! But then, f*ck, those stupid student council idiots had to show up and ruin that wonderful opportunity¡­ Eh-whew, what a sad fate my life is. Those assholes, acting as if a girl doing lowly chores around the Academy was someone important and then handing me this punishment and all¡­ Mm, by the way¡­¡±


    Heis shifted his gaze in a certain direction ¨C at a girl working diligently with a group of villagers at the distance. Specifically, at a girl with silver hair and red eyes ¨C yup, it was none other than Charlotte.


    She might¡¯ve been only 16 years old, but her calm demeanor made her seem much more mature than her age.


    Heis stared at her in an entranced daze.


    Before long, he snickered and called out to her. ¡°Heeey, girlie over there? Why don¡¯t you give me one too?¡±


    He spoke in an arrogant tone and beckoned her with his finger.


    Charlotte must¡¯ve heard his voice because she made her way to him. She presented him with a still-warm sweet potato and bowed her head as a greeting. However, Heis didn¡¯t seem to care about things like some sweet potatoes, and simply stared at her intently before stuttering a bit. ¡°Mm, ah, well¡­ Uh, Young m-miss, how old?¡±


    ¡­What the hell? You ain¡¯t even a drunken boomer, you know? I didn¡¯t expect to hear such a lame pick-up line by someone so young and eager.


    Charlotte didn¡¯t answer and simply stood there in silence.


    Heis seemed to be mindful of the surrounding gazes as he urgently spoke up again, ¡°Hiya~, you¡¯re really pretty, aren¡¯t you? It¡¯s almost to the point where it¡¯s a shame to let you stay as a lowly commoner.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°How about we talk some more after you finish work? I¡¯ll treat you to a warm cup of tea¡­¡±


    ¡°Please work hard, sirs.¡±


    Even before Heis could say anything else, she lightly bowed her head and turned around to leave. The Priests began chuckling after he got so wonderfully shot down.


    Maybe he got ticked off by their mocking laughter, because he suddenly reached out and grabbed Charlotte¡¯s hand with a heavy scowl on his face. She wordlessly stared at Heis¡¯s hand, and then glanced at me.


    Her eyes were actually trembling. Although there weren¡¯t any changes in her expression, I could kind of tell that she felt rather perplexed by this development.


    What¡¯s this? You want me to help you?


    I scratched my head while thinking.


    Oh well¡­ although I wasn¡¯t really a fan of getting involved in headache-inducing matters, she¡¯s from the same monastery as me so I should probably help her out. Also, that Mister Termin*tor Paladin wouldn¡¯t mi¡­


    Even before I could step up, though, Heis¡¯s hand was crushed.


    ¡°¡­Eh?¡±


    I ended up muttering out a stupid-sounding gasp after witnessing that sight.


    ¡°It hurrrrrrts!!¡±


    A small and frail-looking hand was gradually and oh-so slowly crushing a much larger and thicker hand.


    ¡°It hurts! It f*cking hurts!! Arrrrgh!!¡±


    Heis went down on his knees. The surrounding Priests couldn¡¯t understand what was going on and tilted their heads. Obviously, none of them were thinking that such a slender girl was really crushing a much larger hand than hers.


    Charlotte let go of Heis and then, rubbed her hand against her clothes ¨C as if she touched something unclean just now.


    ¡°Please excuse me.¡±


    She bowed her head again and tried to distance herself. However, Heis quickly held his crushed hand and roared out at her, ¡°Stop right there, you commoner!¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s steps came to a stop.


    ¡°Sh*t! How dare you, you lowly commoner¡­ How dare you ignore me? You monster-like b*tch!!¡±


    She glanced at him. Her cold, crimson eyes landed on Heis, and he froze up instantly.


    ¡°T-that, uh¡­ what was it again. Y-you aren¡¯t even a man in a drag, so how come¡­ W-well, aren¡¯t you a rather strong girl! Hah, how absurd! Are all lowborns strong like you? I, the eldest son of a Count, Sir Heis deigned to show you a passing interest, so you should¡¯ve taken it as an honour! How dare you insult me this way?! Goddammit!¡±


    ¡­You ain¡¯t even a little kid, so what gives? I¡¯m aware that you¡¯re a boy going through puberty, but that way of talking isn¡¯t cool even if you¡¯re scared, dude.


    The other Priests also slowly shook their heads on the side. A series of laughter soon followed after, and Heis¡¯s complexion reddened even further.


    I saw how he chose not to blindly rush forward and guessed that he was indeed scared by Charlotte and her strength that easily crushed his hand. With this, I didn¡¯t have to step forward anymore.


    If Mister Eldest Son of a Count decided to get smart at a later date, I should just call up that uptight Paladin and say a few things to him. I mean, the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson was lending his support to someone, so which son of a count would dare to raise his fist at the person in question?


    Charlotte must¡¯ve known this too, and that was probably why she didn¡¯t bother to confront Heis here. If she did, then the matter would have blown out of proportions later.


    Yup, I should get back to work now.


    I raised my shovel after thinking of this. Meanwhile, Charlotte ignored Heis and began walking away once more.


    The latter anxiously bit his lower lip and shouted out again, ¡°Hey, you! Both your mother and father are lowborns, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    It was then that her steps came to a sudden halt, her fists tightly clenched. Her glare had gotten so much sharper now.


    I ignored what was happening between those two and scanned my surroundings.


    I really needed to get back to work, but somehow couldn¡¯t see a nice enough spot to dig.


    ¡°Ahaha! That¡¯s right! You¡¯re just a lowborn, and that¡¯s why you will never amount to anything! Hah! I guess that¡¯s why you lowborns stick around this accursed Land of the Dead Spirits.¡±


    Charlotte quietly squeezed her eyes shut. She seemed to have calmed herself down because she ignored Heis again.


    That was a wise decision on her part. You avoided sh*t not because you were scared of it, but because it was dirty.


    But this action of hers only served to trigger Heis even further. ¡°I can already tell, they won¡¯t live for long before getting killed off by the undead! Ahaha! I hear that half of those who die in the Land of the Dead Spirits turn into zombies. With just one word from me, and the gravekeeper of your village, plus the resident Priests, will all shut their mouths up. And you¡¯ll become an orphan, all alone in this cold and harsh land!¡±


    ¡­Wowsers, he sure has a grating voice, doesn¡¯t he?


    Something he said also reminded me of the memories from my past life too. I slung the shovel on my shoulder and rubbed my neck.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you come here and flirt with me instead? I¡¯ll hire you as my personal maidservant. With how your lowly life is right now, I can certainly improve it, at least by¡­¡±


    Heis reached out and grabbed her arm again.


    With her physical strength, he wouldn¡¯t be able to stop her no matter how hard he tried. She knew that very well. Charlotte could have simply ignored him and walked away but this time, she chose to look back at Heis and say something.


    ¡°I¡¯m already an orphan.¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s curt and cold reply caused his expression to harden.


    Besides all that, I really gotta start digging out a burial pit for my job, but, mm¡­ Ah, that¡¯s a pretty good spot. Over there should do, right?


    I slammed down on Heis¡¯s foot with my shovel. His leather boot got crushed.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    Both Charlotte and Heis froze where they stood. The latter dazedly looked down at his toes before raising his head back up again to look straight in my face. He seemed rather dumbfounded at the moment.


    What¡¯s this? It didn¡¯t hurt?


    I hit you at that spot so that you¡¯d feel some pain, but I guess it wasn¡¯t as effective as I hoped.


    But that won¡¯t do! I mean, I stomped on you to hurt you¡­


    I raised my shovel again and slammed it back down.


    Heis¡¯s complexion was increasingly getting paler by the second. As a matter of fact, cold sweat began trickling down his face now.


    Ohh! Finally, some reaction!


    Time to say something appropriate then.


    ¡°Oopsie. My mistake.¡±


    I covered the mouth portion of the beak mask with one hand, and with the other, ruthlessly cranked the handle of the shovel currently crushing the sucker¡¯s toes.


    Eventually¡­


    ¡°Uwaaaaaahk!!¡±


    Just as he screamed loudly and reflexively stood upright, I swung my shovel and smacked him dead in the face. Mister Priest staggered unsteadily on his feet before falling rather lamely into the pit next to him.


    ¡°Oops, my hands seemed to have slipped a bit. Are you alright there, buddy?¡±


    ¡°Uwaaahk?! W-what is the meaning of¡­!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get in the way of my work and just quietly lie down there, will ya. If you¡¯re going to act like a corpse, why don¡¯t you do a proper job?¡±


    I fixed my mask back in place and began shoveling dirt on top of Heis or whatever his name was.

 Chapter 26

    ¡°This fool! What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing right now?!¡±


    His gang started rushing towards me. In response, I raised my shovel and pointed at them. These ¡®brave¡¯ Priests all fell back, clearly startled by my actions.


    ¡°Want me to bust your heads too?¡±


    ¡°B-bust our heads???¡±


    I shifted my gaze downward.


    I saw Heis trying to crawl out from the pit, so I kicked him back inside.


    He screamed noisily while stumbling back into the pit, then shouted at me in pure rage. ¡°You son of a b*tch! Do you know who I am¡­?!¡±


    ¡°And? Do you know who I am?¡±


    ¡°¡­What?¡±


    I squatted down and glared at the fool through the beak mask¡¯s eye holes. ¡°I said, did you know who I was before you raised your voice at me?¡±


    Heis forgot about his pain just then and shut his mouth up.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡±


    A few soldiers and the Paladin quickly rushed over to where we were.


    I watched them approaching and shrugged my shoulders. ¡°Hiya~, what a coincidence that was. The foot of this dumb son of a b*tch was in the exact spot where I was shoveling, you see? I couldn¡¯t avoid it and accidentally ended up hitting him. Tsk. Tsk. Why did you have to place your foot in such a location, my man?¡±


    ¡°O-oiii! Sir Paladin, this insane fool hit me on my foot! You need to punish him, immediately! I¡¯m none other than Heis Hedron, the eldest son of the Count Hedron household!¡±


    Heis roared out, causing the Paladin to glare at me through the gaps of his helm. His eyes were filled with dissatisfaction at the fact that I caused yet another incident. He probably thought I was the one at fault here.


    But then again, he didn¡¯t have any good impressions of me in the first place, so his reaction wasn¡¯t all that surprising.


    The Paladin sighed and spoke up, ¡°Please, you must apologise to¡­¡±


    ¡°Oii, Paladin. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    I abruptly cut him off.


    I was the grandson of the Holy Emperor.


    My status and power might have been stripped away from me after my banishment, but that didn¡¯t mean I had fallen so low to the point where I had to apologise to some no-name trash like this kid.


    That¡¯s right, I would never apologise to trash in my life.


    The one being apologised to should be me, instead. The apology for making me feel like crap, that was.


    **


    (TL: Told from 3rd person POV)


    Paladin Harman stiffened up in an instant.


    He was the vice-captain of the greatest knight order personally led by the Holy Emperor, The Holy Cross Knight Order.


    As he was someone acknowledged even by the Holy Emperor, Harman wielded a rather sizable influence himself. Measly nobles from the remote territories wouldn¡¯t even dare to meet his glare.


    It was the same story for the exiled Imperial Prince as well.


    Harman was responsible for grounding the Imperial Prince who was rampaging around unchecked. After locking the boy up in the monastery, the Paladin forced him to pray and drink only holy water to repent for his actions.


    The prince must¡¯ve realized that Harman¡¯s status couldn¡¯t be scoffed at, because he began showing a much milder attitude after this incident. His docile behavior after his suicide attempt could have been due to the memories of that house arrest still faintly lingering in his mind.


    That¡¯s what he thought until now, but¡­


    ¡°I asked you what your name is.¡±


    The boy¡¯s voice was low. Heavy, even. Despite this, it reverberated so powerfully that his words were being engraved deep within Harman¡¯s head.


    The Paladin swallowed back his dry saliva. His eyes wavered and his whole body felt heavy and lethargic. No, it wasn¡¯t just him, but the surrounding air was getting a step heavier too.


    Harman immediately realised the cause of this phenomenon. The Imperial Prince¡¯s voice was thickly permeating with divinity.


    ¡®Oh my goddess, a voice filled with divinity? How can the Imperial Prince use Spirit Speech¡­?¡¯


    Harman didn¡¯t know how to answer his own question. Meanwhile, the ¡®order¡¯ the Imperial Prince had issued remained firmly rooted in his ears.


    ¡°¡­Harman. I¡¯m Harman Daian, your highness.¡±


    As he spoke his name, cold sweat drops began trickling down his face. Due to the nervousness, he even slightly stuttered his words.


    What exactly was happening here?


    There was a son of some noble house inside a burial pit, then there was a girl standing around looking deeply flustered. And finally, the likely instigator of this incident, the Imperial Prince, was standing right before Harman¡¯s eyes.


    What happened here?


    No, before that¡­


    ¡®¡­This person, is he really His Majesty¡¯s grandson?¡¯


    The boy was wearing a mask, but his voice matched that of the Imperial Prince. This person was, without a doubt, Allen Olfolse. However, the atmosphere oozing out from him was entirely different than his usual self.


    He was completely different from the ¡®mangnani¡¯, well-known for his cowardice and penchant for looking down on others.


    ¡°In that case, Harman Daian, speak of what my status is.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The Imperial Prince¡¯s pair of piercing eyes stared deeply at Harman from beyond the beak mask. They were unwavering.


    Those eyes contained¡­


    ¡°¡­This is an order.¡±


    ¡­The ¡®Imperial Decree¡¯ that none could disobey.


    He might have been exiled from the Imperial Family, and yet somehow, he still exuded the dignified and irrepressible aura that could only belong to them.


    As if he was entranced by it, Harman opened his mouth and began speaking, ¡°Y-you¡¯re¡­ Allen¡­ Olfolse¡­¡± His voice sounded like a helpless moan now. ¡°The seventh grandson¡­ of His Majesty, the Holy Emperor.¡±


    In the end, the Paladin couldn¡¯t keep maintaining eye contact with the Imperial Prince anymore and lowered his gaze. However, his answer was still more than enough to shut the mouth of the Hedron family¡¯s eldest son.


    The prince¡¯s shoulders lightly jiggled as if he was satisfied by Harman¡¯s reply, ¡°See? See? The one you labeled as a country bumpkin was actually the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson! So how was it? It¡¯s freaking awesome, right?¡±


    With that, the heavy atmosphere was gone in an instant.


    The prince squatted down and glared at Heis still inside the pit looking stunned. He then began forcefully poking at the bigger boy¡¯s head with his finger.


    ¡°Someone like you was busy calling me a bumpkin? And what else? A son of a b*tch? Imma crack that numbskull of yours, you hear me? You heard that dude, right? Sh*t, man! I¡¯m the Emperor¡¯s grandson! How dare you raise your voice at me? Should I bury your whole family while I¡¯m at it, ahhhh?!¡±


    His current appearance was so vulgar that he might as well be a local thug rather than a nobleman. Harman was now swimming in this powerful sense of incongruity. Right now, the boy-prince looked like a typical irredeemable trash. However, he was completely different only a few seconds ago.


    Didn¡¯t he feel that heavy pressure that the boy exuded just now?


    For a moment there, he even hallucinated that he was staring at the shadow of the Holy Emperor, the great hero who led a massive army to defeat the Necromancer King.


    And that was why he involuntarily heeded the former prince¡¯s orders.


    ¡®¡­.Does this mean that His Majesty¡¯s blood flows through his veins, even if it¡¯s only a little bit?¡¯


    ¡°T-that, that is¡­¡±


    Count Hedron¡¯s eldest son couldn¡¯t even string along a proper sentence after finally learning the truth.


    ¡°Oh, so you want your family to be exterminated, then?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Hedron boy¡¯s eyes opened up wide. He bit his lower lip.


    He heard that the seventh grandson had no influence. Also, there were rumors of him being banished doing the rounds too. Meaning, even if the boy decided to raise a fuss here, he shouldn¡¯t be able to harm the Count¡¯s family.


    However, there was always the case of ¡®what if¡¯. Since he couldn¡¯t see into the future, Heis quickly made up his mind and became cautious in his approach.


    He urgently lowered his head and opened his mouth, ¡°I-I¡¯m truly sorry. Your highness, the Imperial Prince Allen Olfolse, please accept the humble apology of this lowly one, the eldest son of Count Hedron¡¯s household, Heis Hedron.¡±


    ¡°¡­Very good.¡±


    Allen nodded his head.


    Harman also let out a sigh of relief while watching this sight. If the heavy atmosphere of before continued persisting, then he knew he wouldn¡¯t have been able to do anything. Which was why he¡¯d be much obliged if this incident came to a close in this fashion.


    The eldest Hedron boy might have his toes damaged, but he¡¯d be fine after receiving medical treatment. So, with this, everything should be over nice and ea¡­


    ¡°Hm? You only want to apologise to me, eh? Fine. I¡¯ll accept it. And now, just die.¡±


    ¡­Aaaand it wasn¡¯t over yet.


    The soldiers and Paladin Harmon quickly acted to stop the Imperial Prince and his shovel from rampaging around.


    That¡¯s how yet another noisy day came to its conclusion.


    < 016. Imperial Prince is Really Toiling Away -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 27

    **


    ¡°Chet.¡±


    I ended up getting thrown into solitary confinement. Being locked in a prison cell meant that for now, I could only stare at Paladin Harman through the iron bars.


    ¡°Hey man. What¡¯s my name again?¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s Allen Olfolse, your highness.¡±


    ¡°And my status?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the seventh grandson of His Majesty the Holy Emperor.¡±


    I grinned in contentment after hearing that.


    Well, it was my first time going on a power trip while relying on my background, after all. And you know what? It felt better than I initially expected.


    The end result was a bit unfortunate though, to say the least.


    ¡°Why is a personage such as myself rotting inside a prison?¡±


    ¡°Your highness, since you committed a crime, you need to serve your time. Please spend the next seven days in here.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me laugh!¡± I scoffed and addressed Harmon directly, ¡°By the way, is that Mister Eldest Son of Count what¡¯s-his-face still alive?¡±


    ¡°Fortunately, yes.¡±


    ¡°If I really killed him, what would¡¯ve happened to me?¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯d be locked away in a prison, your highness.¡±


    ¡°For how long?¡±


    ¡°¡­Around half a year.¡±


    Oh, ohhh! Such a short time even though it¡¯s murder? Heh, I might no longer wield any influence as a Holy Empire¡¯s grandson, but I still get to enjoy some benefits, don¡¯t I?


    A Count should be ranked pretty high up in the nobility hierarchy, too.


    It¡¯s a pretty good deal to relax inside a prison cell for a while, right after getting rid of human trash too. While inside a prison cell, I didn¡¯t have to lug around rotting corpses, I could even read all I want, eat in peace, and exercise whenever I want. I was the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson, and since the feudal lord was treating me nicely, my standard of living should be guaranteed to be high in this place.


    ¡°Still¡­ I should¡¯ve castrated that dumbass.¡±


    ¡°¡­If you did, your highness, it¡¯d be me shouldering the full responsibility, instead.¡±


    Harman removed his helm and wiped the sweat away with a handkerchief.


    Indeed, this Paladin would be the one at the chopping block if I really managed to kill that fool for real. He was my ¡®guardian¡¯ after all.


    I quietly observed Harman. This dude who came across as the Termin*tor was slowly revealing his emotions bit by bit. I was satisfied with this progress. There were very few things in this world as fun as making a fool out of an uptight person.


    ¡°No need to get all sweaty, my man. If I truly wanted to kill him, I¡¯d have gone for the head instead. I merely disciplined him a little, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°But why, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Just because.¡±


    ¡°Just because?¡±


    Rather than a full answer, I formed a refreshed grin on my face instead.


    Harman could only massage his temples. ¡°I see. By the way¡­¡± He then stared straight at me and asked, ¡°¡­When did you learn to use Spirit Speech, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Spirit Speech?¡±


    I tilted my head in confusion, and upon seeing my reaction, Harman¡¯s expression became even more confused than mine.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, your highness. Please don¡¯t mind it. In the meantime, please cool your head in here for a week.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do just that. Ah, I¡¯m feeling kinda peckish, so get me something to eat. Also, something to read too. History books, if you will. It reminds me of reading fantasy novels and that kinda makes me feel good, you see.¡±


    I nodded my head and waved at Harman as the paladin got further away from the prison.


    A week, was it?


    An unexpectedly long holiday landed on my lap.


    I scanned the interior of the prison. It was tidier than I would¡¯ve expected. As a matter of fact, it wasn¡¯t your run-of-the-mill prison filled with gloomy, soggy atmosphere and an unbearable stench.


    I guessed that a disused storage area was cleaned out for my use. Hell, it even had a bed too. Also, there were no other prisoners, either. Other than some indistinct murmurs coming across the wall every now and then, it was rather quiet in here.


    It seemed that I was separately ¡®imprisoned¡¯.


    Meaning, a location must¡¯ve been specifically emptied out just for my sake. So, although this was nominally a prison cell, it was more like a small one-bedroom flat. It gave off a cozy overall vibe.


    Spending a week in this place should be a cinch, then.


    Actually, I was in need of some ¡®me¡¯ time at the moment. Well, I was deeply engrossed in studying magic lately, you see.


    For some reason, it was quite fun learning this kind of stuff.


    In my past life, I was what you¡¯d call¡­ academically challenged, but now? The sense of accomplishment I¡¯d get after learning magic and successfully using it was nothing to scoff at.


    Just as I extracted the Necromancer¡¯s grimoire from the item window, someone entered the prison. It was Charlotte. She must¡¯ve gotten permission from the Paladin to enter here.


    Because she hardly ever showed any emotions on her face, it was tough to get a bead on what¡¯s in her mind, but at least this time, she seemed troubled from the way her forehead had all wrinkled up.


    ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry. Because of me¡­¡±


    Charlotte lowered her head.


    ¡°What are you on about?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t planning on helping her out anyway. From the get-go, this girl had really quick wits about her. Even if I hadn¡¯t done anything, it was pretty obvious that she¡¯d have come out swimmingly from that situation anyway.


    ¡°I always end up receiving your aid.¡±


    I really had no clue what she was saying here.


    To be honest, I didn¡¯t think I have been specifically helping her out so far, so¡­ Ah, was she thanking me for our first encounter, back when I saved her life?


    I tilted my head but Charlotte just stood there, not saying anything else while simply staring at me.


    I muttered with a slight pout, ¡°Fine, fine. Just go and get me something to eat, will ya?¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°Not the stuff they distribute in this place. I mean, I¡¯d rather have the food you used to make back in the monastery. They tasted pretty good, you see.¡±


    Her cooking skill was first-rate. She was so good that even with just the common ingredients found in rural areas, she was able to produce something really delicious. So, with the much higher-class ingredients the feudal lord handed out, her cooking should be even better than before.


    ¡°If you tell the feudal lord that I sent you, he should let you use the kitchen as well as some ingredient, too. I¡¯m feeling quite peckish right now, so bring me something appropriate, will ya?¡±


    ¡°¡­Understood.¡±


    Charlotte smiled gently and bowed her head.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Paladin Harman was currently commanding the convicts outside the walls of the Ronia fortress.


    The blizzard was so strong that he was nearly walking blind at the moment. This weather was extremely dangerous ¨C the snow piled up far too high because of the ongoing blizzard.


    Ronia¡¯s walls were on the low side, at only twelve meters high. If the fallen snow hardened, it¡¯d basically give the undead access to bridges to cross over the walls. Which was why they needed to work fast and plow the snow away.


    ¡®It¡¯s been a week already.¡¯


    After his job was done here, he¡¯d go and free the Imperial Prince.


    ¨C Imperial Prince-nim only did those things because of me. Please pardon him.


    The girl from the monastery actually came to see Harman first. She explained what happened that day. Of course, he had to doubt his own ears.


    According to her, the one to instigate the incident was Heis, the eldest son of Count Hedron, and the Imperial Prince merely tried to dissuade him.


    ¡®Rather than dissuading, it looked more like a simple act of violence to me, but¡­¡¯


    In the process, the Imperial Prince displayed a new side of him. For a brief moment there, he showed to everyone present that he still had the authoritative air and dignity that befitted the descendant of the Imperial Family ¨C he proved to be someone who had indeed inherited the noble bloodline.


    No, the boy went even further than that and he ended up using ¡®Spirit Speech¡¯.


    He loaded his voice with divinity and caused the surrounding air to become heavier, which gave the sense of sheer pressure to all those listening to him.


    ¡®But it seems that his highness isn¡¯t conscious of it.¡¯


    Only a handful of commanders overflowing with charisma was capable of using Spirit Speech at will. And those who could subconsciously spit it out was even rarer, regardless of whether you were a student of magic, a believer in the divine, or even a possessor of demonic energy.


    Harman had a lot of questions he wanted to ask the Imperial Prince. He was really curious about how the boy could even use Spirit Speech, and where he learned to use it in the first place.


    Did something in him really change three months ago, after that suicide attempt? However, it was impossible for anyone to change their ways in such a short period of time.


    Harman frowned deeply and discarded all the unnecessary thoughts out of his head. He then shifted his gaze back to the convicts busy doing their jobs. They were wielding their shovels and plowing the snow away.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s too quiet.¡±


    The violent snowstorm continued to hinder his vision. It was eerily quiet and the only sound present was the noise of the winds angrily howling about. No, there were also the grunts of the convicts and their echoing shoveling noises too.


    This was too strange.


    The 25th of December. The day the Necromancer King Amon had perished. It was also when demonic energy would become its strongest within the Land of the Dead Spirits.


    Even then, the horrifying moans and screams dyed in pain belonging to the undead weren¡¯t reverberating throughout this cursed land.


    As a result from these days of relative peace compared to last year, the convicts were all carrying relaxed expressions.


    However, Harman was inwardly worried. This was exactly like the calm before the storm. It was too peaceful as a matter of fact. The Ronia fortress should¡¯ve been visited by at least hundreds of undead already. And yet, not even a single one could be seen.


    ¡®¡­Something is definitely wrong here. An event like this must be its first ever since the death of the Necromancer King.¡¯


    It had already been 50 years since the Great Hero, the current Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, had slain the Necromancer King.


    In the ensuing decades, events of the undead repeatedly gathering in the Land of the Dead Spirits and dispersing continued every year.


    And on the very day that the Necromancer King died, the 25th of December, the undead should be rampaging about more viciously than ever before. However, everything was so calm that he was getting goosebumps instead.

 Chapter 28

    ¡®It might be better to report this to His Majesty right away.¡¯


    The current peace was just too unnervingly ominous for his liking.


    Something was wrong. Even though he wished for this peace to be a good omen, if it was exactly the opposite of that then he couldn¡¯t sit back and do nothing about it.


    While thinking like this, Harman called out to the convicts. ¡°It¡¯s lunch time. Everyone, return to the fortress.¡±


    They stopped shoveling, the expressions on their faces changing as if their messiah had arrived. With their shoulders hunched forward, they began shuffling towards the Ronia fortress to escape from the cold.


    ¡°Heeiik¡­?!¡±


    A sudden noise startled a convict, he then quickly took a look behind him. After tilting his head, he suddenly realized that his colleague, who was walking behind him, had disappeared somewhere.


    The convict continued to tilt his head this way and that while peering deeper into the blizzard. The falling snow was more like a thick fog at this point, almost completely obscuring his view. Eventually he spotted a distinct humanoid shape within it.


    The convict thought that it was his colleague and shouted out. ¡°Oiii! Hurry up! I¡¯m dying of cold here. And starving too. Let¡¯s go and get something to¡­¡±


    The humanoid shape finally revealed itself. It was a humanoid type monster boasting a physique at least two meters tall.


    Various bits of its body were missing, or were simply rotting away. Its face had melted away while its back was hunched forward. Its long arms extended down to its knees, and there were unnaturally long claws at their ends.


    The monster looked at the convict and formed a horrifying grin with its melted face.


    The poor man¡¯s complexion paled in an instant.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!!¡±


    The sudden scream caused Harman to quickly turn his head. Other convicts also looked in the direction of the sound.


    The two-meter-tall humanoid monster had penetrated through the convict by then. Claws resembling scythes easily punctured straight through the man, lifting his body up. The undead proceeded to bite and tear off the man¡¯s neck, right before its rotting eyes shifted around to look at the other convicts in the vicinity.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s a ghoul!!¡±


    ¡°Run away¡­!¡±


    ¡°¡­Uwaaaahk!!¡±


    The sudden intrusion of the undead drove the convicts into panicked confusion. They began running away at full tilt.


    But then, many more ghouls began popping out from the thick layer of snow beneath their feet. The convicts were stunned beyond comprehension by the sudden appearance of these monsters and they began stumbling back instead.


    ¨C Kiiiiaaahk!!


    Claws were swung and convicts died in droves. Monsters pounced on them, pushed them down, and bit them to death.


    The once pure-white snow was quickly dyed in the crimson hue.


    The source of the current calamity was allowing the convicts to go outside the fortress walls to clear out the snow.


    ¡°Everyone, evacuate! If you wish to live, run!¡±


    Even though the situation was critical, Harmon remained calm. He unsheathed his sword, closed his eyes, and quietly murmured to himself, ¡°Oh, the God of War Heim. Grant this servant your power.¡±


    He opened his eyes to find a ghoul¡¯s claws arriving right before his nose. Harman lowered his waist and dodged the attack, before deftly swinging his sword to sever the monster¡¯s wrist.


    ¨C Kkiiahk?


    The ghoul tilted its head while looking at the severed wrist. Right after doing so, it looked back at Harman. But by then, his sword had already cut its head off.


    The headless undead monster collapsed on the ground.


    Harman quickly shifted his gaze away.


    More ghouls were rising up from beneath the snow covering the land. And from beyond the blizzard, others ghouls were rushing forward as well.


    They ran on all fours, and with preternatural agility, began hunting down the convicts one by one.


    There were too many of them for him to fight back.


    ¡°¡­Damn it.¡±


    Harman quickly turned around and made his escape too.


    He dashed towards the fortress as fast as he could. Even then, he didn¡¯t forget to inject divinity into his entire body while murmuring out, ¡°Oh, the God of War Heim. Grant your blessing to this unfortunate poor lamb¡­¡±


    He spoke the words of exaltation of the god he worshipped ¨C and as if to prove that his god was answering his prayers, the divinity within him circulated even more vigorously. His legs moved much quicker than any other convicts around him.


    However, numerous ghouls suddenly rose up before him. These monsters that were hiding within the snow roared out and pounced on Harmon.


    He gritted his teeth.


    ¡®How were they hiding all this time?¡¯


    Snow had been cleared out yesterday as well. But no one discovered anything.


    ¡®Did they infiltrate during dawn?¡¯


    If so, did they really suppress their instincts even when living humans were walking around on top of them?


    The undead not submitting to their instincts? How could such a thing even be possible?!


    Harman twisted his torso and dodged a ghoul¡¯s claws, cut it down with his blade, then continued dashing forward.


    Soon, he could clearly see Ronia¡¯s straight walls. Soldiers were urgently moving in the gap of the open gate.


    ¡°Fire!¡±


    Arrows fired by the soldiers struck the ghouls down accurately. Their arms and legs were pierced, and their bodies and eyes were stabbed through.


    Unfortunately, an undead with an intact head didn¡¯t know the meaning of fatigue. It would simply rush forward towards its prey without stopping.


    ¡°Close the gates!¡±


    Harman¡¯s roar prompted one of the knights to command the convicts. ¡°Shut the gates, now!!¡±


    However, the convicts struggled against the pulley controlling the outer gates. They loudly cried out, their complexions pale.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s stuck!¡±


    ¡°The chains, they¡¯re all frozen up¡­!¡±


    Their flustered voices even reached Harmon¡¯s ears.


    ¡®Damn it. I repeatedly told them not to be negligent with the maintenance, didn¡¯t I?!¡¯


    One of the knights quickly unsheathed his sword. ¡°Step aside!¡±


    He shoved the convicts away and swung his blade down at the pulley holding the gates open. The chains snapped and the heavy gates rapidly closed shut.


    With nary a hair¡¯s breadth, Harmon slipped past the closing gates and entered the fortress. The ghouls chasing after him were squashed to death by the gates¡¯ weight.


    Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and the convicts stepped back in pure shock. Meanwhile, screams resounded out from beyond the shut gates.


    ¡°Prop the gates!¡± Harman roared out towards other soldiers. ¡°Get into formation! Knights, command the convicts, no, the soldiers!¡±


    His bellow prompted the knights to cry out loudly as well.


    ¡°All personnel, get in line!¡±


    ¡°Form the ranks!¡±


    ¡°Go up to the walls! Hurry¡­!!¡±


    The convicts quickly heeded the knights¡¯ orders. While sloppily wielding shields and spears, they hurriedly ran up to the top of the outer walls.


    Harman too quickly checked the status of his equipment as he climbed up to the top in measured steps. He was wondering why things were so quiet, and now, here they were. Soon, it¡¯d be the 25th of December.


    The day the Necromancer King Amon drew his last breath on the Land of the Dead Spirits was almost upon them. Soon, around two, maybe three thousand undead would¡­


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Harman¡¯s expression hardened the moment he arrived on top of the fortress walls. He could hear the uneasy mutterings of the soldiers near his position.


    Two, three thousand?


    No way in hell! This was more like¡­


    Even Harmon fell into a state of chaotic confusion.


    Every year, he¡¯d travel to this place to combat the undead menace.


    His enemies were the walking dead. They knew no fear and simply lost themselves to their primal instincts. Not only did they lack the proper equipment to siege this place, they also didn¡¯t know anything about battle tactics or military strategies.


    That¡¯s why things hadn¡¯t been that dangerous during the previous years, but¡­


    ¨C Kuooooohhhh-!!!


    ¡­But it wasn¡¯t the same story anymore.


    His eyes were now taking in the sight of an ¡®army¡¯ of undead.


    Boom¡­ Boom¡­ Boom¡­!


    Booming beats of a war drum resounded out.


    More and more undead began revealing themselves from beyond the whipping snowstorm.


    A tottering zombie was beating on a drum made out of leather and bones. And surrounding it were weaponless zombie hordes flailing about while marching forward.


    Beyond them were creaking skeletons, outfitted with crude equipment, glaring at the living with their hollow eye sockets. There were roaring ghouls running around at high speeds among their ranks too.


    ¨C Kuweehck, kuehk, kueeek!


    There were also four-meter-tall zombie ogres among them.


    This combination wasn¡¯t any different from before. However, their actions certainly were.


    They weren¡¯t acting compulsively at all. The ones that suffered from eternal starvation, as well as hatred towards the living, had now formed proper ¡®ranks¡¯ and were on ¡®standby¡¯, perhaps waiting for ¡®orders¡¯ from their commander.


    And this army was well over twenty thousand strong. An army that, although shoddily put together, also possessed siege weapons!


    Harmon clamped his mouth shut tightly and scanned the field with his trembling eyes.


    Naked slave zombies were laboriously carrying a sedan chair as the snowstorm continued to rage on. And on top of this chair sat a bizarre creature commanding this army.


    ¨C Oh, ye living ones, hear me, fear me!


    It wasn¡¯t just Harman, but the other knights and the subjects of the Ronia fiefdom as well as the convicts, that felt the demonic energy-laden Spirit Speech, ¡®Undead¡¯s Echo¡¯, reverberate within their heads.


    It could drown out one¡¯s heart and awaken the emotion of fear.


    The complexions of the soldiers and citizens grew pale in an instant.


    ¨C Be envious of death, and long to be freed by it!


    Harman glared at the creature roaring out those words, at the ¡®overweight monster¡¯ sitting on top of the sedan chair carried by the tottering zombies.


    It had a huge frame at least three meters tall, its body wide and flabby. It had the ¡®triple chins¡¯, with noble¡¯s clothing stained with blood draped around its rotund figure.


    Around its thick neck, he could see a bone necklace. And as if to imitate real nobles, its white hair was all rolled up.


    The monster that was seemingly combined with a human and a swine used a shield placed before the chair as a serving plate. This creature treated a corpse lying on it like a slab of steak by cutting it up and devouring it.


    ¨C We are the judges of this world!


    Harman knew what this monstrosity was. That thing was an undead too. However, it wasn¡¯t just any undead, but one that existed as the final evolved form for all undead.


    ¨C And I¡¯m the messiah that will save this world through death itself!


    A zombie would evolve to a ghoul, while a skeleton would become either a warrior or an archer.


    ¨C We are¡­


    The final evolved form of a zombie was¡­


    ¨C The inheritor of the God of Death, Yudai¡¯s will!


    ¡­A vampire.


    ¨C This great me, the Count, shall save you all from the despair of living!


    < 017. Imperial Prince is Really Toiling Away -2 > Fin.

 Chapter 29

    **


    The Vampire Count ripped into the corpse lying on the shield and swallowed it up. A rotting right arm got chewed rather noisily.


    As he savoured the wonderful taste in his mouth, his huge body suddenly wobbled a little. Zombies were holding up the sedan chair from below, but they found it difficult to maintain smooth balance. The Vampire Count clicked its tongue and shifted its eyes back to the Ronia fortress.


    ¨C Ah, ah!! I can feel it.


    The Count could sense the aura of the living.


    The fresh meat it couldn¡¯t taste for the past fifty years was waiting to be plundered just over yonder. How many people were cooped up in fearful huddles over there? A few hundreds? Thousands? Maybe even tens of thousands?


    How fresh would their flesh and blood taste in its mouth?


    How much stronger would the army be after all those humans were killed off and turned into the undead soldiers?


    This monster had been waiting for an opportunity for the past fifty years. It started off as an egoless zombie that only moved according to its instincts, then it became a ghoul, before managing to morph into a dullahan, and then, to a zombie lord. Eventually, it became a vampire.


    Long story short, it had become an existence that was able to ¡®think¡¯ and make ¡®judgments¡¯ for itself.


    Just how long did the Vampire Count wait for this moment?


    To think that it¡¯d possess enough power to command an army of undead, as well as to wield an enormous level of demonic energy too!


    The aristocratic classification among the vampires was based upon the level of demonic energy they possessed. Although this particular monster hadn¡¯t been acknowledged by other vampires yet and therefore did not earn its rank normally, it still felt confident of boasting as much power as a Vampire Count did.


    ¡®A Count? No, I¡¯m above such a rank!¡¯


    Look at this amassed army! Even a vampire with the Marquis rank wouldn¡¯t be able to amass an army of over twenty thousand undead!


    ¡®That¡¯s right, I¡¯m no mere Count. I¡¯m more than enough to become the Vampire Lord, no, the King!¡¯


    The Vampire Count slowly stroked the necklace that hung around its neck; a skull of a mountain goat, one that was much larger than that of a human being¡¯s.


    ¡®This is it, the skull of the Necromancer King, Amon!¡¯


    Here it was, the tool that transformed this creature into a Vampire Count. A normal zombie wouldn¡¯t even be able to become a vampire after collecting demonic energy for the next 100 years or so, and yet this skull managed to do the job in only a few decades.


    It helped the monster with numerous things such as; gathering demonic energy, preserving the creature¡¯s body, and strengthening it even further. Very soon, it should be able to exceed the ranks of a Count and step onto the road towards becoming a Vampire King. And this very moment would be the first step in its path towards kingship, something it had been preparing diligently for the past few decades.


    ¨C I am the monarch, the inheritor of the God of Death, Yudai¡¯s will!


    The Vampire Count spread its arms wide open elegantly and exploded in a peal of bizarre laughter. Suddenly, light began exuding from the eye sockets of Necromancer King Amon¡¯s skull.


    Demonic energy spread out seemingly everywhere. The undead, who sensed the aura of death, raised their heads up high while issuing creaking noises.


    ¨C Oh, my dear undead!


    The Vampire Count pointed its chubby and thick finger at the Ronia fortress.


    ¨C Go now and punish¡­


    The monster smirked and roared out.


    ¨C Those that suffer the trials of life!


    The moment its words came to an end, all the undead moved simultaneously.


    The army screeched and howled as they marched towards Ronia.


    **


    (In 1st person POV)


    It¡¯s been exactly one week since I got imprisoned here.


    I should¡¯ve been released already, and yet for some reason, no one showed up to free me. What¡¯s going on here? At the very least, Charlotte should have already come here with my breakfast in tow.


    I grasped the iron bars and sneaked a glance at the outside. ¡°Oi, is anyone out there? You should at least give me something to eat! I¡¯m starving here!¡±


    It was then, I heard a noisy clamour.


    ¡°Hurry! Hurry up¡­!¡±


    The feudal lord, accompanied by his soldiers, was quickly approaching my location. Although he still enjoyed a somewhat rotund physique and elaborately styled beard, his complexion was as pale as one could be. The same applied to his escorts, as well.


    They hurriedly ran over towards the prison as if they were being chased by something. One of the soldiers quickly tried to open the cell¡¯s door with his trembling hands.


    ¡°Goddammit! Why isn¡¯t it opening up??¡±


    The frustrated soldier yelled out loudly.


    He was so fraught with fear that he even momentarily forgot about the fact that the feudal lord and the Imperial Prince were nearby.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? Did something happen?¡±


    My question caused the feudal lord to flinch. He quickly wiped away his cold sweat and replied. ¡°I-it¡¯s nothing much, your highness. Ha, hahaha!¡±


    It¡¯s nothing much? If so, why are you sweating so profusely when it¡¯s this cold? Also, I can see that your eyes are trembling from anxiety too.


    I frowned slightly and checked the feudal lord¡¯s name through [Mind¡¯s Eye].


    [Name: Jenald Ripang (Viscount)


    Age: 43


    Specialty: Offering consolation, communication skills, merciful.]


    What the heck? Wasn¡¯t he demoted to this place because he diverted taxes meant for the Imperial Court? If he did that, then what¡¯s up with all those Buddha-like attributes?


    The feudal lord, Jenald, patted the shoulder of the frustrated soldier. ¡°C-calm down, man.¡±


    ¡°S-sir? Ah¡­ Of course.¡±


    The soldier grinned bitterly before finally managing to unlock the cell door. He probably found that the scene of his lord trying to calm him down while being more fearful than he was, rather pitiful to behold.


    Meanwhile, the feudal lord forced a smile and spoke to me, ¡°W-we came to escort you, your highness. Please, let us leave this place as soon as possible.¡±


    While listening to those words, I exited from the cell and headed to the plaza along with them. Next to us, I could see hundreds of the fiefdom¡¯s subjects moving somewhere under the guidance of many soldiers.


    I naturally became puzzled by this sudden change in the fortress¡¯ atmosphere.


    Jenald then issued new commands to his soldiers, ¡°Send the word out to Sir Harman that I¡¯ve secured His Highness the Imperial Prince.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir!¡±


    This soldier must¡¯ve been the real deal and not a convict, judging from the way he strictly adhered to the protocols by saluting the feudal lord properly. After doing so, the soldier quickly rushed elsewhere.


    ¡°Your highness, shall we get going? Please allow me to escort you to a safer place.¡±


    ¡°¡­Just what is going on here?¡±


    I scanned my vicinity once more.


    Soldiers were busily moving about in the streets. Some of them were definitely evacuating the citizens, while others fully kitted out in their combat gear, were hurriedly running in the opposite direction.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s because of the Tide of Death, your highness.¡±


    The Tide of Death?


    Ah, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s almost the 25th, wasn¡¯t it?


    Indeed, this would be when the undead would grow even more vicious than ever before.


    ¡°I thought that it¡¯s not an event worthy of this much hullabaloo, though? Didn¡¯t the information say that we should be fighting against three or maybe four thousand undeads at most?¡±


    Besides, those monsters didn¡¯t even possess siege weapons and only relied only on their base instincts, too. As long as you stayed behind the fortress walls, it shouldn¡¯t be all that dangerous.


    That¡¯s right, those monsters were such pushovers that even the shoddy walls and convicts without that much training could easily stop them.


    Unfortunately for me, though, Viscount Jenald sighed helplessly and replied as if to put an end to my na?ve thoughts. ¡°The situation is completely different this time, your highness. Their scale is on another realm altogether.¡±


    ¡°¡­Okay, so. How many showed up, then?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s over twenty thousand.¡±


    ¡°In the past week?¡±


    ¡°¡­No, this is merely the number that showed up today, your highness. All of them made their moves simultaneously today.¡±


    I became utterly speechless upon hearing this. What the hell? Wasn¡¯t it supposed to be safe if you just remained behind the fortress walls?


    ¡°Whatever the case may be, let us leave together, your highness. Although it is unlikely, the fortress could get overrun so I must escort you to a safer location before it¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°My lord!¡±


    A knight hurriedly ran up to us and whispered something in Jenald¡¯s ear,


    ¡°We¡­ we¡¯re surrounded?¡±


    ¡°There are about three thousand undead monsters waiting for us near the rear gates, my lord.¡±


    ¡°¡­Have they attacked yet?¡±


    ¡°No, but as implied, they are on standby. It¡¯s as if they are waiting to devour anyone hoping to evacuate, my lord.¡±


    ¡­What the hell, so it¡¯s really dangerous now?


    ¡°K-hmm, your highness. How about we return to my mansion? We shall¡­¡±


    SWOOOSH-!!


    Ka-booooom!!

 Chapter 30

    Right then, something large flew in and crashed into a nearby large house, thereby rudely interrupting Jenald in the middle of his words. Bricks tumbled down as debris flung about everywhere.


    Both Jenald and I flinched at this sudden disaster.


    At first, I thought it was a large boulder or something. But as it turned out, it was a lump of ¡®meat¡¯ instead. It began wiggling before breaking apart into smaller pieces.


    The intertwined arms and legs reached and touched the solid ground. The once-meshed-together bodies began crawling on the soil, trying to free themselves. Zombies staggered back up to their feet. The numerous pairs of crimson eyes were looking around, their slack jaws bobbing up and down.


    I was so stunned that I ended up muttering involuntarily, my eyes wide open. ¡°¡­What the hell? Did they really catapult zombies inside?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ How did these undead get inside the territory¡­?¡±


    Even the feudal lord was making a dazed, lost expression.


    ¡°It¡¯s the undead!¡±


    Chaotic screaming soon resounded out. Citizens fell into unchecked panic and began running away in all directions.


    This was bad.


    If these zombies managed to hunt down the panicking citizens, then a lot more undead would start roaming around within the interior of the fortress. It already sounded like the undead outside the walls were plenty dangerous enough, so it¡¯d be game over if the inside was filled up with them too.


    ¡°Get into formation!¡±


    Soldiers quickly gathered around to fight against the zombies.


    ¡°W-wait! Listen, everyone! This place is safe! It¡¯s dangerous to go anywhere else! Hurry, head towards my mansion¡­!¡±


    Viscount Jenald shouted out at his citizens. However, they failed to hear him after fear took control of their hearts.


    He gnashed his teeth and spoke to a knight, ¡°I shall entrust you with a new task. Protect the denizens and guide them towards my residence.¡±


    ¡°But my lord! We¡¯re here to protect you¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. What¡¯s more important is for you to protect them first!¡±


    Jenald¡¯s voice got louder.


    The knight quickly bowed his head. He then took a portion of the soldiers away to rush towards the panicked citizens scattering in all directions.


    ¡°Please rest easy, your highness,¡± Jenald said as he unsheathed his sword.


    I didn¡¯t say anything and simply stared at him.


    ¡°Other than their high physical strength, zombies are weak, you see.¡±


    How dependable you sound right now, mister.


    ¡°If we use their sluggishness to our advantage, we can easily subdue¡­¡±


    Jenald was saying these things to calm me down, probably. But¡­


    BOOOM-!!!


    ¨C Cough! Cough!!


    The doors to many houses shattered open one after the other. I quickly shifted my gaze beyond the open doorway of one house, only to discover a hole in its floor and the droves of undead emerging out from within said hole.


    These were undead with melted faces, thin and spindly bodies, long arms, and claws resembling scythes. They were ghouls.


    The feudal lord, Viscount Jenald Ripang, dropped the sword in his hand. The dependable air he exuded just a second ago was now gone, his complexion now paler than a sheet of paper. He was suddenly jolted awake from his stupor and quickly picked his weapon back up.


    ¡°P-please rest easy, your highness! E-even if it¡¯s a ghoul, as long as we stay sharp¡­!¡±


    Sorry¡­ but I don¡¯t think I can trust you anymore.


    I massaged my forehead, recalling the aura of death I sensed a week ago. It seems that what I sensed back then must¡¯ve been these guys.


    To think that they would show up through the underground tunnels¡­!


    ¨C Kurururuk.


    The jaws of the ghouls clattered noisily. Their gazes were now focused on the soldiers as their disfigured eyes formed chilling smiles. This was an expression one would make after discovering delicious prey.


    On the other hand, the soldiers were shrinking away like a pack of rabbits that ran into a vicious predator.


    I squeezed my eyes shut.


    It seemed that my relaxing week-long holiday was an omen of things to come. Our dear Goddess Gaia-nim must¡¯ve been dying to put me through hell from the looks of things.


    **


    (In 3rd person POV.)


    ¡°¡­Uh? Uh¡­!¡±


    In front of them, zombies. In the rear, ghouls.


    The soldiers hurriedly faced behind them, right after judging that the ones appearing there possessed a higher degree of danger than regular zombies.


    Numerous ghouls began exploding out of the houses to pounce on the location of the soldiers. A man was forced down, then his shoulder was pierced through by a raised claw.


    ¡°Uwaaahk!!¡±


    ¡°Kill it!!¡±


    The other soldiers thrust their spears out and stabbed at the figure of the ghoul, only for another one to rush in and crash into them, flinging the human soldiers away. It then viciously swung its claws everywhere.


    The formation was breaking down.


    ¡°Gather around! Don¡¯t break the ranks! We need to drag in the injured¡­!¡±


    The soldiers showed an immediate reaction after hearing Viscount Jenald¡¯s shouts. Which wasn¡¯t surprising since they were properly-trained formal soldiers, and not some ragtag bunch of convicts. In other words, they were true elites who had enough real-world combat experience, and had undergone training to deal with all types of undead monsters.


    They quickly created a circular formation with the feudal lord and the Imperial Prince as their centre. The first line wielded shields and swords, while the second was equipped with spears.


    The feudal lord Jenald dragged in one of the injured, tore off his own clothing to stem the bleeding and stop it from endangering the soldier¡¯s life any further.


    ¡®We¡¯re in danger!¡¯


    His body continued to tremble in fear at the situation laid out before him. What should he do? What could he do, realistically speaking?


    He was just a feudal lord who ruled a small territory in the frontier. It had already been two years since he got demoted to this place, yet he still hadn¡¯t gotten too familiar with the land or his job.


    He felt lost with not knowing how to command the troops in an event like this one. If only an experienced knight was alongside him, that could¡¯ve been a huge relief. Unfortunately, he already sent that one away due to the severe shortage of manpower, all in order to combat the zombies trying to invade the fortress.


    That meant that he now had to take command.


    ¡®But I¡­¡¯


    The inside of his head was as blank as a fresh sheet of paper and he had no clue what to do next.


    It was then, the group of undead finally pounced towards them. A zombie bit into the shoulder of a soldier. By relying on its physical strength, it forcibly dragged the poor man out and began biting into him.


    ¡°Uwaaahk?!¡±


    His shoulder was torn up; skin, muscles, flesh, all of them ripped away as a fountain of blood sprayed out.


    ¡°H-how can this be¡­! Wh-what can I¡­?¡±


    Jenald fell into a state of panicked confusion.


    ¡°Uwahk¡­ Uwaaahk¡­!!¡±


    One of the injured soldiers grunted in pain and wobbled unsteadily. He forced himself to maintain their formation, raising his shield up no matter what happened.


    The undead focused their attacks on the injured soldier, attracted by the stench of approaching death. They grabbed onto the shield and tried to break the formation by yanking it away.


    The supporting soldiers behind him quickly thrust out their spears and pierced the undead to incapacitate them. However, different zombies grabbed onto the weapons and continued their attacks.


    The shield-wielding soldier should¡¯ve lent his own support by swinging his sword by now. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t raise his weapon due to the injured shoulder.


    And¡­ the zombies didn¡¯t miss this opening.


    ¨C Kki-ruuk!!


    The undead monsters reached out to rip the shield away. Four of them grabbed it at the same time. The soldier gritted his teeth and did his best to hold on, but as expected, he alone wasn¡¯t going to be enough.


    Just before the shield was torn away from his grasp¡­


    ¡°¡­[Plague of Debilitation.]¡±


    [Wide-area blessing has been activated.]


    All of a sudden, the hands of the zombies that were holding onto the shield began melting away.


    ¨C Kki-reek?


    These zombies staggered back ungainly. They stared at their arms that had already melted down to their forearms, then shifted their gazes back to the soldier.


    The human who was almost at death¡¯s doorstep began emitting a bright glow. His torn shoulder ballooned up and exploded; the sign of the after-effect of divinity forcibly interfering with demonic energy trying to invade one¡¯s body.


    A short while later, the soldier¡¯s deeply-gouged body part rapidly filled up with muscles, strands of flesh quickly growing like dancing tentacles. New skin instantly covered everything up after that.


    Was that all?


    Similar things were happening to other soldiers as well.


    The wounds that were inflicted on their bodies while they maintained formation healed up at a visible rate. Their fatigue was also getting washed away in just a few moments, as well. Then, bright light glowed from their shields, swords, and armor.


    ¡°¡­!!¡±


    Their wavering minds recovered in an instant.


    The nearly dying soldier couldn¡¯t figure out what just happened and simply stood around in a daze. Suddenly, he noticed a ghoul swinging its claw at him and reflexively raised his shield to defend.


    The claw crashed into the shield, bouncing away before shattering apart into pieces.


    ¨C Kki-ruuk??


    The one to get flustered wasn¡¯t the ghoul, but the soldier instead.


    ¡°I-I blocked it??¡±


    < 018. Imperial Prince is Really Toiling Away -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 31

    The physical strength of a ghoul was said to be equivalent to four adult men. However, this soldier was able to easily defend against an attack from such a monster.


    ¡®But¡­ but how?¡¯


    The soldier shivered after sensing an aura permeate within his body.


    He felt light. All of his wounds were healed too. And, in addition, he even felt much stronger than ever before. He sensed the divine aura emanate behind him and shifted his gaze towards it.


    Right beside the feudal lord Jenald stood the ¡®mangnani¡¯ Imperial Prince. No one knew where he got it from, but he had stabbed a shovel down on the ground while emitting countless particles of bright light from his whole body.


    The boy-prince then muttered with a fed-up expression, ¡°¡­Please, please be nice to me at least this one time, please?¡±


    His voice contained some hints of resentment, but the soldiers couldn¡¯t figure out who those words were meant for.


    However, they were sure of one thing. This incredibly powerful ¡®Blessing¡¯ had to be something their Imperial Prince brought to reality! This caused the soldiers to fall into a pit of confusion.


    ¡°B-but, how can the Imperial Prince use such magic?¡±


    Wasn¡¯t he an irredeemable trash and an inept ¡®mangnani¡¯?


    These soldiers encountered many Priests come and visit the Sacrificial Castle for the past several decades. That even included some high-class Priests who possessed amazing abilities as well. But even then, not one of them was able to cast a ¡®Blessing¡¯ of this caliber and not only that, over such a wide area too!


    ¡®¡­Besides all that, was the Blessing spell supposed to last this long?¡¯


    It wasn¡¯t just one¡¯s body that got blessed ¨C swords, spears, shields, and even armors; every single one of them was enveloped in divinity.


    It was a wide-area divinity magic, plus, it had enough power to imbue itself into inanimate objects too!


    ¡°W-what is the meaning of¡­??¡±


    All of the soldiers carried disbelieving faces. Even then, they began recalling a certain tale they heard while growing up.


    The Necromancer King, Amon. The king of the undead who led a massive army of several hundred thousands. And the Great Hero Kelt Olfolse, who defeated Amon 50 years ago.


    The Imperial Prince behind them was the grandson of ¡®Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse¡¯; a boy whose veins were flowing with the blood of the Great Hero.


    This immense and beyond measurable divinity must¡¯ve come from that noble bloodline.


    ¡°You lot, fight hard! I¡¯ll be casting all the ¡®Heal¡¯ you can handle like a petrol station pump, alright?¡±


    The soldiers weren¡¯t sure what the prince was yapping on about. However, they still could feel the power flow within them.


    A hero¡¯s grandson was watching them from behind. The descendant of the great hero responsible for killing the Necromancer King Amon was now protecting them on this very land, the Land of the Dead Spirits.


    At this very moment, confidence overflowed in them as if they had all become the fearless knights fighting alongside the great hero.


    ¡°Oh, oooooohhhh!!¡±


    The soldiers all loudly bellowed on.


    ¨C Kkiiiiaaahk!


    On the other hand, the undead were screeching out.


    Soldiers tightly grasped their shields and lowered their postures.


    Ghouls rushed in and zombies staggered quickly towards the human soldiers. Soon, the waves of undead collided with the wall of living. Shields were forced back.


    ¡°Don¡¯t falter! Hold the line!!¡±


    The supporters who were standing behind the first line shouted out. A soldier on the frontlines holding a shield gritted his teeth.


    ¡®This isn¡¯t a problem¡­!¡¯


    Indeed, nothing could stop him. Because¡­


    ¡°Fuu-woop!¡±


    ¡­Because, they were no longer regular soldiers. His feet firmly planted on the ground faltered a little but he managed to withstand the assault. A ghoul pounced and swung its claws at the soldier to rip the shield away, and yet, he shoved the monster back instead.


    The ghoul lost its balance, its arms flailing about ungainly in the air.


    ¡®Oh my goddess! Did he just shove a ghoul back?¡¯


    The supporting soldier at the back was also stunned at what he just witnessed but still didn¡¯t forget to quickly thrust out his spear.


    Stab¡­!!


    The spear blade penetrated through the ghoul¡¯s flesh with goosebump-inducing ease.


    ¨C Kiiiiaaahk!!!


    After the weapon was pulled out, a huge hole opened up in the ghoul, and ash began falling out from it. The monster howled in sheer pain, and while grabbing its wounded shoulder, quickly backed away before emitting a loud screech filled with wariness.


    The soldiers who saw this sight all had their brows shot up high.


    ¡®It can feel pain¡­?¡¯


    An undead felt pain?


    The supporting soldier looked at his spear. Particles of gentle light were slowly leaking out from the weapon.


    They were supposed to mere soldiers. Not knights, but measly grunts.


    Obviously, they had never learned how to utilize Mana, nor were they taught to use divinity. Simply put, they were trained only to rely on their physical abilities. But now, they were wielding weapons draped in divinity, almost as if they had suddenly become Paladins.


    ¡°Hah! Haha! Hahaha!!¡±


    The soldier involuntarily laughed out loudly.


    ¡®What the heck is this¡­ I-I can use divinity?¡¯


    The rest of the soldiers shifted their glares at the monsters. The zombies and ghouls that scared them before now looked weak and pathetic.


    On the flip side, it felt as if they had really turned into the objects of their yearning, the mighty Paladins.


    ¡°We can do this¡­¡±


    Indeed, they could.


    ¡°We can win!!¡±


    Indeed, they could!


    All of the soldiers roared out together. They didn¡¯t even bother to remain in their formation anymore. The feeling of adrenaline and excitement made them rush out from their ranks.


    With speeds they themselves could scarcely believe, the soldiers quickly arrived before the zombies and ghouls to swing their weapons. Numerous blades sliced past the flesh of the undead.


    It was as if they were slicing tofu; their weapons cut down their enemies so easily.


    As the undead¡¯s flesh cracked apart, their body parts burned away from the divinity, becoming ashes while scattering away.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡±


    The soldiers grew beyond confident and straight into the realm of arrogance. It was no longer time for the undead to hunt the living, but the living soldiers to hunt down these infernal undead instead.


    As a soldier thought like this, he sensed a certain presence behind him and quickly took a look behind.


    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±


    His head flew away, a surprised expression forever etched on his face.


    The other soldiers flinched and quickly shifted their gazes.


    It was a monster with a height of 2.5 meters; in its right hand was a longsword, while in its left, its own head. An undead knight kitted out in full plate armor stood imposingly.


    ¡°Heeeiiik?!¡±


    The soldiers discovered the presence of the dullahan and cried out in panic. Only then did they wake up from their temporary delusions and go straight back to reality.


    It was then, someone stepped on a soldier¡¯s shoulders and leaped up.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    The bladed edge of the shovel gleamed under the light. The Imperial Prince swung his shovel with a sharp and focused glare in his eyes.


    However, the dullahan easily smacked the shovel away.


    ¡°What the fu¡­?!¡±


    The Imperial Prince was flung into the air.


    Once Jenald witnessed this sight, he hurriedly shouted out, ¡°P-protect his highness, now!!¡±


    The soldiers quickly recovered their wits and caught the prince as he fell back to the ground.


    ¡°M-maintain formation!! All of you, wake the hell up!!¡±


    Jenald¡¯s loud orders brought the excited soldiers back to reality. They were just regular soldiers, not real Paladins who could display overwhelming martial prowess against undead monsters.


    Once they realized this fact, fear quickly filled the soldiers up again and they urgently retreated.


    ¨C Gu-oooohhhh!


    The dullahan¡¯s head in its own left hand suddenly exploded out in a bizarre howl. Its massive longsword was raised up high, before smashing down.


    ¡°Heot!!¡±


    Two soldiers within the formation raised their shields and defended against the longsword together. As the heavy attack landed, the soldiers wobbled unsteadily.


    The dullahan swung its sword once more, this time slicing upwards.


    However, the monster¡¯s second attack was defended as well but the shields ended up developing noticeable cracks. The soldiers who ably withstood the ghouls and their vicious attacks couldn¡¯t endure the strike and were lifted up into the air, before crashing back down on their rear.


    The formation was broken and a huge opening was created. The spear-carrying soldiers behind became deathly pale in an instant.


    ¡°S-stab that thing!¡±


    With these words, the panicking soldiers grasped their spears tightly and thrust them forward. The weapons enhanced by divinity broke past the armor and pierced into the monster. The dullahan howled out in pain, but it didn¡¯t stop swinging its sword in every which way.


    ¡°¡­Goddammit, that stinking little¡­!¡±


    The Imperial Prince jumped back up to his feet and tried to rush forward. However, Jenald hurriedly held him back.


    ¡°No, your highness!! Our opponent is a dullahan! The headless knight! It¡¯s in another realm compared to the ghouls!¡±


    Jenald quickly shut his mouth up, because the boy prince frowned and then suddenly extracted something out of his inner pocket without saying anything else.


    The feudal lord¡¯s eyes widened after realising what the Imperial Prince had taken out.


    Somehow, a long, stick-like weapon came out from the prince¡¯s pocket. It was rather shocking to see something that shouldn¡¯t fit the volume of the small pocket emerge so nonchalantly like that, but what shocked him even more was the type of the weapon itself.


    It was¡­ a rifle?


    What was he doing with that decorative piece?


    ¨C Gu-ohhhh!


    The ghostly glare in the dullahan¡¯s eyes burned fiercely. When it swung its sword again, two soldiers were flung away helplessly. The formation broke down once more, which enabled the ghouls and zombies to go on the offensive again.


    The dullahan raised its head and snickered derisively. Its dead eyes shifted around, until it spotted a small-framed boy among the humans.


    ¨C Kkii-rik?


    Just as the monster realized that the child was pointing a long stick at itself¡­


    A blinding flash of light exploded, and at the same time, the dullahan¡¯s head exploded as well, only to scatter away as bits of ashes.


    With its head gone, the dullahan went down on its knees and toppled weakly forward.


    ¡°Thought as much¡­ shouldn¡¯t have stepped forward¡­¡±


    The Imperial Prince must¡¯ve been feeling exhausted because, while still holding onto his musket rifle, he plopped down on the ground while tutting unhappily.


    **


    As he stood on top of the fortress wall, Harman swallowed his dry saliva.


    It was well-known that the Positive Field repelled the demonic energy, while the Negative Field attracted it. As long as the sun blazed overhead, an undead couldn¡¯t exhibit that much power.


    However¡­


    ¡®Even that is disappearing.¡¯


    Harman looked up at the sky.


    The violent snowstorm accompanying the black clouds was blocking the sunlight almost as if to devour the sun itself. He could sense a faint trace of demonic energy from them. These dark clouds were most likely a ¡®fog¡¯ created by the Vampire.


    ¡®Not only that, the sun is about to set too.¡¯


    The battle that commenced in the morning showed no signs of ending any time soon as evening approached.


    Boom¡­! Boom¡­! Boom¡­!


    A zombie wobbled as it continued to beat the war drum. Every time the drum made out of human hide resounded out, zombies and skeletons screeched and howled out in rhythm.


    ¡°Fire!¡±


    One of the knights issued his command and the convicts quickly fired arrows and crossbow bolts.


    The advancing zombies and skeletons were bombarded with countless arrows. The monsters raised shoddy shields up to protect their heads. Soon, the falling arrows penetrated their various body parts ¡ª arms, legs, even their torsos. Monsters faltered and fell, or even knelt down from the impact. However, that was about it.


    The arrows and bolts couldn¡¯t pierce past the shields. No, some of them did, but only went as far as going through the monsters¡¯ arms. None were able to touch their heads.


    Normally the undeads were not able to run, yet, they advanced with quick steps and reached Ronia¡¯s outer walls. By using ladders made out of wood and bones, they began climbing up.


    ¨C Kkiiieek, kkieek!


    ¡°Stop them!¡±


    The arrows and bolts were now aimed at the zombies and undead climbing up the ladders. The helms of the monsters were finally pierced as they tottered unsteadily before falling back down.


    More undead blankly stood at the bottom, and waited for their turns while protecting their heads with shields.


    They knew no such thing as fear. They didn¡¯t feel any pain either.


    No, they simply moved according to the orders given. If their heads weren¡¯t accurately struck, these monsters would simply continue to climb up the walls.


    This was the essence of an undying army. And that¡¯s what made the undead such troublesome enemies.


    ¡°¡­Dammit.¡±


    Harman watched this scene unfold and spat out an expletive.


    The other side was completely ignoring their own safety. As long as the heads filled with demonic energy weren¡¯t destroyed, these undead monsters could move again and again.


    So, the enemy was taking advantage of this situation by going for a drawn-out war of attrition.


    ¡®No, wait. The real problem isn¡¯t them.¡¯


    The catapults noisily shook about among the zombies. At the same time, something large flew in and fell inside the fortress.


    Harman shifted his gaze over to the landing area. A large ¡®ball¡¯ made out of something destroyed a house and continued to roll forward on the ground. A short while later, it split apart and humanoid creatures scattered in all directions.


    ¡°Zombie projectiles¡­¡±


    What flew in wasn¡¯t some boulders used to destroy the walls and equipment, but it was a lump of rotting flesh. Zombies, in other words.


    ¡°Goddammit¡­!¡±


    Harman looked at the far-off distance outside the fortress walls.


    ¨C Kuwohhhhhh¡­!


    The four meter-tall giants, zombie ogres, continued moving. They scooped up the zombies swarming around them, and as if to create an onigiri, began shaping their fellow undead into a ball. Noises of bones and flesh being crushed from the ogre¡¯s strength resounded out loudly. In some cases, zombies exploded while rotting blood dripped out too.


    The zombie ogres then loaded the masses of flesh onto the catapults. After this was done, the creaky skeletons tugged and wounded back the pulleys¡­ before letting go.


    KWA-RURURURUK!!


    The pulleys turned and the catapults shot forward.


    Once the soldiers witnessed this spectacle, they freaked out in despair.


    ¡°O-oh, my god¡­!¡±


    A portion of the catapulted flesh crashed into the outer wall and crumbled down below. The ball of zombies bunched up together, split apart and scattered to the ground.


    ¨C Kk, kkiieeek¡­


    After landing inside the fortress walls, these zombies started moving again despite their crushed limbs. They staggered back to their feet and dispersed in all directions.


    ¡°Stop them!¡±


    Numerous soldiers desperately thrust their spears out and defended against the zombies climbing over the fortress walls.


    There was a good possibility that the terrified regular citizens would get devoured without offering any resistance or be reborn as more undead.


    ¡°Use the ballistas and stop those things!¡±


    The convicts quickly took aim with the ballistas installed on the outer walls. Huge bolts were loaded and quickly fired at the zombie ogres.


    Some brushed past, while other shots landed accurately on the ogres¡¯ bodies, but such a thing wasn¡¯t threatening enough for the undead. The zombie ogres wobbled only for a little while, and then, simply ignored the bolts penetrating their bodies and continued scooping zombies up to load them onto the catapults.


    Harman gritted his teeth at this sight.


    With how things were, he couldn¡¯t even claim to have locked the gates. Enemies were continuously streaming into the Ronia fortress¡¯s interior, after all.


    At this rate¡­


    ¡®¡­We¡¯ll be overrun!¡¯


    His glare shifted over to the Vampire Count once more. The corpulent monster was simply roaring in laughter atop its sedan chair.


    ¡®We need to stop them, no matter what. At the very least, we need to stall for time until the Empire learns of the situation in this place¡­ Until they send us reinforcements¡­!¡¯


    However, Harman still couldn¡¯t think of a way.


    A minimum of two weeks would be needed before the Theocratic Empire learns of this situation. By then, this fortress would have been completely overrun.


    Just as he clenched his fists out of sheer frustration and rage, a certain girl brushed past his front.


    ¡°¡­??¡±


    Harman flinched and quickly looked at the girl with silver-white hair.


    < 019. Imperial Prince is Really Toiling Away -4 > Fin.

 Chapter 32

    The silver-haired girl ran around assisting soldiers while carrying sheathed swords in her hands, as well as a quiver full of dozens of arrows slung on her back.


    Harman became rather stunned, and couldn¡¯t help but dazedly stare at her carrying all these equipment that even grown men would find difficult to lug around.


    For a slender, frail-looking girl to do something like this, her physical strength and stamina must¡¯ve been quite considerable.


    ¡®But, wasn¡¯t she a daughter of a simple farmer?¡¯


    He knew her as both the daughter of Gril the farmer, and as a nun serving in the monastery where the Imperial Prince had been staying.


    She was lending her support to those soldiers currently doing their best to protect the citizens who failed to evacuate to the feudal lord¡¯s mansion in time and remained stuck near the city¡¯s outer walls. Her focus was on delivering the necessary equipment or healing the injured.


    Harman could only smile bitterly at this.


    Even the child of a farmer, despite not being a soldier, was giving it her all. Yet how dare he stay weak and unfocused like this?


    ¡®We can endure. We will defend against them. And in the worst possible scenario¡­¡±


    Harman shifted his gaze away.


    Several hundreds of undead were surrounding the Vampire Count like a defensive wall.


    ¡®¡­I¡¯ll break past that and cut the Count¡¯s head off myself!¡¯


    Harman tightly clenched his fist. But then¡­


    The zombie projectile landed in the area behind the silver-haired girl. They rained down from outside of the wall, on top of it, and on the inside right after.


    Harman flinched and hurriedly searched for her.


    Because of the zombie projectile, all of the soldiers and convicts on top of that part of the wall were thrown down to the ground below. There were many zombies starting to crawl back up to their feet behind the girl.


    ¡°Dammit¡­!¡±


    Startled by this sight, he quickly unsheathed his sword and rushed towards her position.


    In the meantime, she sensed movements behind her and looked back. A zombie blankly stood around, looking down at her.


    She must¡¯ve been so surprised because she ended up dropping the swords and arrows she had been carrying.


    ¡°What are you doing?! Run, child!¡±


    Harman roared out, but the girl didn¡¯t budge.


    Without a doubt, she must¡¯ve been terrified silly.


    She quietly sized up the zombie. In the next instant, the undead monster finally moved. Its jaw opened wide as it reached out towards her.


    ¡®Dammit, I won¡¯t make it!¡¯


    Harman gritted his teeth.


    ¡®I shall use divinity and then¡­!¡¯


    ¡°Oh, the God of War Heim. Grant your power to protect a poor lamb¡­¡±


    As divinity rushed out of Harman¡¯s body. White particles wrapped around his arms, legs, and his sword, increasing his speed greatly.


    Just as he tried his best to reach the girl¡­


    Her eyes suddenly became as sharp as a snake¡¯s. She picked up one of the fallen swords and rolled on the ground to evade the zombie¡¯s reach. While maintaining her steady breathing, she moved the weapon to her rear and unsheathed it.


    ¡°¡­Oh, the Goddess of Mercy and Love, Gaia.¡±


    Although faint, her sword was now emitting gentle light.


    Harman¡¯s expression froze right away even as his legs were still taking him closer to her.


    ¡°Grant me the power to protect your precious one¡­¡±


    After kicking the ground and powerfully pouncing forward, she rapidly dug into the zombie¡¯s unguarded torso.


    Her right leg was planted on the ground, and using it as a pivot, her entire body spun 360 degrees. Her blade easily sliced the zombie¡¯s head off.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    That strike was so clean and fast that it left behind the sword¡¯s afterimage in the air for a moment there. Only then did Harman¡¯s steps come to a stuttering halt.


    Her attack was both clumsy and shoddy, almost as if she learned to imitate the movements by looking at a sword training manual. He felt that she managed to execute the unfamiliar sword technique just through her sheer strength alone.


    ¡®However¡­¡¯


    It was rough, but at the same time, truly sharp.


    As if to display her explosive power, two-thirds of the zombie¡¯s severed neck was cleanly cut through, but the remaining portion looked serrated and rough. It seemed like she had to forcibly cleave through the rest.


    The zombie¡¯s head rolled around like a ball near her feet. The headless creature staggered ungainly before finally faltering down on its knees and crashing to the ground.


    Harman¡¯s eyes twitched as he took a look at the zombie¡¯s neck.


    ¡®That was definitely¡­¡¯


    It was the imperial swordsmanship, passed only through the ranks of the ¡®Holy Cross Knight Order¡¯ that protected the Imperial Family for thousands of years.


    How could a girl from a rural village use the Imperial Family¡¯s sword style?


    The girl, Charlotte, looked at the dead zombie and sighed in relief.


    Her heart was still pounding hard. Although she froze a little due to the fear, she still ended up pulling through in the end.


    ¡®¡­My training, it was worth it.¡¯


    She briefly recalled the contents of the books back in the monastery ¨C records that contained all sorts of techniques known to the Imperial Family. They were placed there so that the exiled Imperial Prince could at least try to learn them. Of course, he only cursorily glanced at them before completely giving up on learning any of it.


    ¡®What his highness has failed to do, I can do it in his stead.¡¯


    Feeling elated by this achievement, Charlotte turned around only to spot Paladin Harman standing still.


    ¡°Is something wrong?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    She tilted her head and asked him but Harmon simply stood there frozen stiff.


    **


    ¡°We¡­ we won!!¡±


    The soldiers who were protecting the feudal lord¡¯s residence looked at the pile of zombie and ghoul corpses right before their eyes. Even though they had a few casualties, it was still a miracle for these regular soldiers to win so convincingly against ghouls and a dullahan.


    ¡°¡­I really thought I became a Paladin just now!¡±


    The soldiers spoke in exhilaration while looking at their own bodies. The divinity seeped out of them as if it knew its job was over.


    However, they still couldn¡¯t calm down from the high they were feeling after living the dream of becoming a Paladin for a brief while.


    The one who felt really confused and flustered here was Jenald, though. He was a noble well-tuned to the affairs of the ruling class, which was why he heard more stories about the Imperial Prince than anyone currently present here.


    ¡®His reputations says that he¡¯s easily scared, extremely lustful, and an incompetent child who doesn¡¯t even know how to properly wield divinity, but¡­¡¯


    ¡­Easily scared?


    A kid using a shovel to attack a dullahan was named a scaredy-cat? No, that would be an act of insanity.


    And he didn¡¯t know how to wield divinity?


    ¡®Oh my god¡­ just how high are the standards in the Imperial Family that they judged the seventh Imperial Prince as an incompetent failure? Someone who can¡¯t even use divinity?! Could it be that the blessings from the scions of the Imperial Family can heal hundreds of people at once, and¡­ perhaps even revive a dead person? Is it something of that scale?¡¯


    Could it really be like that¡­?


    Jenald inwardly clicked his tongue.


    He thought that such a thing was nonsensical, but when looking back at the level of divinity the Imperial Prince displayed earlier, his imaginations didn¡¯t seem so outlandish anymore.


    Hell, he even began thinking that all those tales from 50 years ago, about the legendary feats the Holy Emperor had achieved, couldn¡¯t have been baseless fantasy anymore.


    ¡°¡­Good! Utilise this momentum and evacuate the rest of the residents to my mansion right now! Escort His Highness the Imperial Prince as well¡­¡±


    Jenald wiped the sweat off his brows with a handkerchief before shifting his gaze to the Imperial Prince.


    He wasn¡¯t there.


    ¡°¡­!!¡±


    The feudal lord was stunned by this sudden turn of events and quickly scanned the surroundings. He called out to some soldiers to inquire about the prince¡¯s whereabouts.


    ¡°¡­My lord, you wish to know where his highness is?¡±


    ¡°He was definitely heading off somewhere along with a company of soldiers. I thought he obtained permission from you, my lord.¡±


    ¡°¡­He went with some soldiers?¡± Jenald asked.


    ¡°Yes, my lord. Uh¡­? Y-yes, he¡­ definitely did¡­ But, uh¡­¡±


    The soldier¡¯s eyes kept looking around in confusion even as he spoke. He could see that the number of soldiers in front of the residence was the same. However, only the corpses were gone now.


    But then, the prince left with a company of soldiers?


    Jenald and the soldiers¡¯ expressions turned blank, almost as if they had fallen for a spectre¡¯s spell. But this lasted only for a second as Jenald realised that the prince could be in danger. He started shouting out loudly. ¡°Ten of you, follow me! We must locate his highness!¡±


    The feudal lord and his soldiers hurriedly set out into the city to find the Imperial Prince.


    **


    (TL: Back to 1st person POV.)


    ¡°Gimme a freaking break.¡±


    I gulped down the holy water and discarded the empty bottle. How many have I drunk so far? Maybe around five bottles? Although I feel grateful to be alive, I also feel really bloated right now.


    Somewhat like how energy drinks were supposed to work, I sensed the divinity charging back up inside my body.


    I continued walking around the interior of the city and chased after the stench of death.


    ¨C Kkuoooooh!!


    A nearby door shattered and a ghoul jumped out. Its torn mouth opened wide while its claws were ready to cut me down.


    Too bad¡­


    ¨C Kkiireek?


    The ghoul found itself suspended in the air.


    After casting its gaze lower, it finally discovered dozens of spears stabbing through its torso.


    I looked at the dozens of [Dead Spirit Soldier] units surrounding me. They were kitted out in the same outfit as the Ronia fiefdom¡¯s soldiers. Since they were wearing armour, their faces were hidden behind veils and helms.


    Now normally, I¡¯d have summoned skeletons created out of divinity. However, I tried to conserve my divinity reserve and so, ended up recycling the available corpses with my skill, which led to the reanimation of these undead with their hides fully intact.


    The spear blades permeating with divinity in them caused the ghoul to shiver rather noticeably.


    Another Dead Spirit Soldier unsheathed its sword and leaped up, rotated its body, and cleanly sliced the ghoul¡¯s head off.


    What a nice-looking beheading, that.


    ¡°¡­Although a bit crude, it¡¯s useful in its own way, I guess.¡±


    That was the basic swordsmanship of the Imperial Family.


    When I tried to do it in the past, I lost my balance and fell over ungainly, and yet, these Dead Spirit Soldiers could perform them fine, albeit in a clumsy manner.


    I sniffed the air again.


    We were currently going around the city, searching for the demonic energy-filled holes in the ground to destroy them. Because there weren¡¯t that many and most of them were located near each other, locating them wasn¡¯t all that difficult.


    As I continued to walk while sniffing out the stench of death, a seriously disgusting stench hit me hard and I had to cover my nose from how bad it was. I frowned involuntarily.


    Even before I noticed it, I had reached the Ronia fiefdom¡¯s outer walls. The most intense battlefield at the moment, in other words.


    ¡°Hurry and ready the equipment!¡±


    People, probably the civilians, were busy carrying around quivers filled with arrows on their backs, while spears and swords filled up their hands.


    ¡°Oil! Bring more oil and fire!¡±


    ¡°We need more stones!¡±


    ¡°Damn this, f*ck¡­! Those things are still coming! Sh*t!¡±


    ¡°Uwaaahk! I¡¯ve been bitten! I got bitten!¡±


    Even though the convicts yelled out loudly, they still didn¡¯t forget to fight against the hordes of undead infiltrating the city from the top of the walls as well as below it.


    ¡°I n-need healing¡­!¡±


    ¡°There are too many injured!¡±


    ¡°Since the venom and demonic energy permeated into his flesh, we need to slice it off!¡±


    Numerous Priests could be seen busily running around here and there, moving the injured and healing them.


    ¡°A complete madhouse, eh,¡± I commented before putting the beak mask on.


    Sure, my Dead Spirit Soldiers looked completely different from other zombies, but still, I¡¯d be in a heap of trouble if they got found out. I mean, hiding my identity just in case wouldn¡¯t be such a bad idea. Since everyone here was wearing the same masks, differentiating who was who should be impossible, I thought.


    I approached the group of Priests urgently healing the injured.


    Large pieces of cloth were placed on the ground. The wounded soldiers and convicts were laid down on them. The Priests, wearing beak masks to ward off both the venom and contamination from the demonic energy, rolled up their sleeves, cold sweat continuously dripping down their bodies.


    ¡°Demonic energy and toxins have invaded his internal organs!¡±


    ¡°What about letting him drink holy water¡­?¡±


    ¡°No. His body is too weak. Drinking holy water will only damage his internal organs from the adverse reaction. He¡¯ll die at this rate. Dammit! We¡¯re cutting open his stomach!¡±


    ¡°Get ready to operate! Bring me recovery potions, not holy water! What about anaesthetics?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have the time! The operation has to be done without it. We need to cut out the demonic energy invading his internal organs. If not, his intestines will start rotting away!¡±


    Those wearing the beak masks hurriedly moved around while pulling out scalpels and all sorts of medical tools for operation. They then proceeded to cautiously cut open the patient¡¯s stomach.


    ¡°Uwah¡­ Uwaahk¡­ Uwaaaaahk!!¡±


    The soldier¡¯s eyes grew increasingly larger as his belly was sliced open. The poor sob now had to witness his body being dissected in real-time.


    Man, this wasn¡¯t even a scene from one of those ¡®Saw¡¯ movies, so why¡­ How gruesome¡­


    ¡°No, don¡¯t! Stop! Y-you¡¯re killing me¡­¡±


    Since he wasn¡¯t anaesthetised, he unsurprisingly began thrashing about in pain.


    ¡°Ah! Arghh!! I-I don¡¯t want to die! I still haven¡¯t¡­ I haven¡¯t¡­ confessed to her yet¡­¡±


    Hey, dude. That¡¯s an obvious death flag.


    I began staring at the dying soldier in sheer dumbfoundedness.


    Just as I began thinking of that, the whites of the guy¡¯s eyes could already be seen, his breathing threatening to cut out at any given second. I couldn¡¯t stand by and watch this happen anymore.


    After taking out a bottle of holy water from my item storage, I went up to them.


    ¡°Damn it¡­! Hold on, man! I said, hold on! If you lose your consciousness now, it¡¯s all over¡­ Eh? Who the hell are you?¡±


    I simply poured the holy water into the opened up stomach. The other beak mask-wearing Priests were stunned by this sight and freaked out.


    It was understandable, though.


    Because the internal organs tainted by demonic energy immediately exploded from the adverse reaction, that¡¯s why. Blood splattered everywhere as bits of flesh landed on the Priests¡¯ masks.


    ¡°Heok!¡±


    ¡°W-what the¡­ You son of a b*tch!¡±


    One of the Priests angrily grabbed hold of my collars. He probably was earnestly trying to save the man¡¯s life, regardless of whether his patient was a real soldier or a convict.


    ¡°What the hell are you doing?! This isn¡¯t time for your pran¡­¡±


    I lightly tapped his mask in a way similar to knocking on a door and pointed at the dying soldier.


    ¡°¡­??¡±


    The Priest stared at my finger for a second as if entranced by it, before following it to look at the soldier on the ground.


    ¡°¡­What the hell is this?!¡±


    The damaged internal organs began regenerating. The exploded parts disappeared only for the newly-grown organs replace the void.


    ¡°Ow¡­ Ow¡­ Uwaaahk! It hurts! It freaking hurts, man! F*ck, what the hell! My stomach, it¡¯s¡­ Sh*t, you stinking Priest bastards! What the hell have you done to me! Uwaaahk! It hurts! Uwaahk! You sons of b*tches! You devils!¡±


    The soldier, who was on the death¡¯s doorstep a second ago, suddenly roared out in unbridled pain. Eventually, though, he couldn¡¯t endure it anymore and passed out.


    ¡°What are you doing? He¡¯s going to die like this. You better stitch him back up right away.¡±


    My ¡®polite¡¯ suggestion caused the Priests to flinch a bit. They hurriedly began closing the man¡¯s open stomach and sewed it shut. Then, they injected their divinity to heal the injury.


    The soldier must¡¯ve survived since his breathing seemed calmer now. I took out another bottle of holy water from my item window and tossed it at the Priests.


    ¡°Dimension¡­ magic?¡±


    The Priests alternated their gazes between the holy water on the ground and me.


    ¡°Make sure there are no more casualties. No need to unnecessarily increase the number of undead, now is there?¡± I said.


    ¡°Y-yes, we understand!¡±


    The Priests replied politely and nodded their heads.


    It seemed like they were dying to ask me lots of questions, but at the same time, they must¡¯ve realized that now wasn¡¯t the right time judging from how they all returned to caring for other patients.


    ¡°Just how bad is the situation that it¡¯s gotten to this point?¡±


    Twenty thousand undead. Even if they possessed siege weapons, wasn¡¯t our side wasting too much time dealing with these slow-poke creatures?


    I led the Dead Spirit Soldiers up the fortress¡¯ outer wall.


    < 020. Imperial Prince is Bestowing Divine Protection -1 > Fin.

 Chapter 33

    Another zombie projectile crashed into the outer wall just as I was about to reach the top. The zombies that were scrunched up as a ball scattered all over the place. A portion of them flailed their limbs and blocked my path.


    ¡°Get rid of them.¡±


    The Dead Spirit Soldiers slightly bowed at me before dashing forward.


    They sliced and diced the zombies with their swords. As for those holding spears, they forced the rest off the outer wall itself, thereby clearing up my path.


    The convicts on top of the outer wall witnessed the company of the Dead Spirit Soldiers led by yours truly and cried out.


    ¡°P-Paladins?¡±


    ¡°H-hey, the Paladins are here!¡±


    These cries soon led to a commotion breaking out on top of the outer wall. All of the convicts and soldiers shifted their gazes on to me.


    I ignored them for now and focused my attention on the army of undead on the other side of the walls.


    ¡°Gee whiz, now that¡¯s a lot.¡±


    I clicked my tongue beneath the mask.


    You see, twenty thousand were by no means a small number.


    The undead army had completely filled up the front of Ronia fiefdom¡¯s fortress. Monsters that were wielding long spears, swords, shields, crossbows, and siege weapons were emitting a scary glow from their eyes.


    Even I couldn¡¯t help but get tense while staring at this spectacle. My heartbeat seemed to synchronize with the pounding drum too.


    I felt this urge to cover my ears just then. Screams of the dead were resounding out from everywhere.


    This damn passive skill of the Necromancer¡­ Thanks to this damn skill, not only was it not enough to look at the rotting exterior of the undeads, I even had to endure the screams of their dead souls, too.


    Boom¡­! Boom¡­! Boom¡­!


    The undead placed ladders against the outer walls and climbed up, all the while zombie projectiles were filling up the sky. The tottering zombies were also firing arrows and crossbow bolts this way.


    Sure, the fired volleys were slow and inaccurate, but to compensate for that, these monsters showed no signs of fatigue. They ceaselessly rushed in, and until their demonic energy-filled skulls were destroyed, they continued to attack without rest.


    If this kept up, then we might really get overrun sooner or later.


    Memories from the Witch Morgan incident sprouted back in my head. Goosebumps broke out all over my skin after remembering the ordeal I went through with the zombie bear.


    ¡°Oh dear Goddess-nim. This is just too much, you know?¡±


    This was almost impossible for Job Classes other than the Necromancer to deal with. I mean, with what miracles were you supposed to defend against twenty thousand undead enemies?


    Oh, dear Goddess of love and mercy, I know you have a grudge against me, but you¡¯re really going overboard here, wouldn¡¯t you say?


    Could we really defend against this tide?


    I shook my head.


    Nope, utterly impossible.


    Soon, night would come. Once sunlight recedes away, the undead would grow even stronger after receiving the power of the Negative Field.


    And, in addition to this, the 25th was only two days away. The day that the Necromancer King Amon was killed. The one ¡®fondly¡¯ referred to as the king of all undead.


    In other words, the day when demonic energy found in the Continent would get thicker and start running amok was just around the corner.


    It¡¯d be the end for us when that day arrived.


    The undead would grow even stronger, and the Ronia fiefdom would be overrun. And then, the undead monsters would slowly spread out to the rest of the Continent.


    ¡°What a nonsensical game this is.¡±


    My opponent was an immortal army.


    Their soldiers enjoyed infinite stamina and also feared nothing. Not to mention, they would spread around diseases when they died, and they also carried toxins to turn the people they killed into more zombies.


    They were hard to kill with conventional weapons, and since communicating with them was impossible, you should forget about negotiating too.


    In other words, convicts with zero real-life combat experience couldn¡¯t possibly stop this army.


    ¡°So then¡­ There¡¯s only one way to win, eh?¡±


    However, even against such opponents, there would always be a way to win. Even a moron should know of this method.


    And that was¡­


    ¡°¡­To kill the damn commander.¡±


    I shifted my gaze to where hundreds of undead had gathered for some reason. In the centre of that particular horde, a whole bunch of naked slave zombies were unsteadily holding up a sedan chair. I could see a monster seemingly made out of nothing but fat sitting on it. I activated [Mind¡¯s Eye] to peer into its status.


    [Name: Vampire Count.


    Age: ???


    Traits: Biting, demonic energy emission, Necromancy magic, arrogance, currently in highly excited state.


    + I¡¯m the legion, and I¡¯m the existence who shall become the Vampire King!]


    ¡°¡­Something seems to have changed.¡±


    Information gleaned from [Mind¡¯s Eye] seemed to have changed a bit. The ¡®Speciality¡¯ had now turned to ¡®Traits¡¯, and some other useful stuff seemed to be added at the end too.


    ¡°Kill that swine monster bastard!¡±


    I glanced to my side. A convict operating the ballista took aim at the Vampire Count.


    ¡°I¡¯ll blow away that layer of fat for you!¡±


    The large bolt was fired and flew towards the vampire. But then¡­


    ¡°Huh?!¡±


    The bolt crashed into a purple-coloured barrier mid-air and shattering into pieces. As it turned out, a barrier created out of demonic energy was protecting the corpulent Vampire.


    ¡°Yup, I thought as much¡­¡±


    ¡­That bastard was the commander.


    It even cast a magical barrier to completely shut out any and all long-distance attacks. However, if you went for a close-range attack, all those hundreds of undead surrounding the Vampire Count would stop you, ultimately resulting in your untimely demise.


    So this was the ringleader behind these twenty thousand undead, the Vampire Count!


    I took out the musket rifle from my item window.


    ¡°Not sure if I can make it, but¡­¡±


    There was about 400 metres between me and the Vampire. Not only that, there was the barrier capable of blocking a ballista projectile too.


    ¡°I should at least give it a shot.¡±


    The only way to end this war in our victory was to kill that commanding Vampire.


    I raised the beak mask slightly with my left hand. With my right, I brought the rifle¡¯s ammo chamber closer to my lips. Then, I quietly breathed into it.


    [A bullet has been generated through the usage of divin¡­]


    [Divine Aura has activated. The equipment will temporarily be enhanced.]


    [You have entered Divinity Control state.]


    Stop reporting everything to me, will ya? You¡¯re breaking my concentration.


    An intricate holy bullet of highly concentrated divinity was created. However, this wasn¡¯t going to be enough. I needed to focus more. Much, much more.


    I need more accuracy¡­ and make sure that the recoil won¡¯t affect my aim¡­


    [Divine Aura is getting stronger.]


    [Skill, ¡®Sharpshooter¡¯ has been temporarily granted to you due to the evolution of the equipment. Your accuracy will rise.]


    [Skill ¡®Penetration¡¯ will temporarily be bestowed unto the equipment.]


    No, this still wasn¡¯t enough. This wasn¡¯t going to work, I wouldn¡¯t be able to break past the Vampire¡¯s barrier with this much.


    In that case¡­


    ¡°Oh, dear Goddess of Love and Mercy, Gaia.¡±


    One of the books I found inside the monastery¡¯s library mentioned the methods of gathering more ¡®divinity¡¯. Among them was a rather interesting theory concerning divinity control for the Priests of this world.


    It contained a quite provocative element.


    ¨C You must pray with all your heart. Pray until your faithful heart can reach the gods. If you do, the gods will grant your wish and bestow unto you a miraculous divine protection. Your exaltation of the gods will soon become your strength.


    Magicians used spell incantations and Mana, Priests used prayers and divinity, while Necromancers used lifeforce and demonic energy as their basis for performing magic.


    I was both a Necromancer and a Priest. I didn¡¯t need to use lifeforce in order to use my skills, but I also didn¡¯t need to pray to use magic either.


    But what if I did? What then?


    I didn¡¯t know how to sacrifice lifeforce as of yet, but something like a prayer? I sure could do that.


    A prayer towards the Goddess ¨C this was the highly effective ¡®divinity control¡¯ method for the Priests which allowed them to gather more divinity quickly, and also spend less amount than usual as well.


    It was something so simple to explain, yet the book contained far too many pseudo-cult like phrases for my liking. It kinda made me feel uneasy.


    However, I figured that praying wouldn¡¯t harm me anyway. If I could utilise divinity much more effectively with a simple prayer, then I better go right ahead, no?


    ¡°I beseech you to grant your sacred blessing to this lamb¡­¡±


    [Divinity is condensing.]


    ¡°Through your holiness, I shall subjugate the undead¡­¡±


    [Bullet is becoming even more precise.]


    ¡°¡­So grant me the power to pierce the undead with your divine grace.¡±


    Suddenly, divinity powerfully whipped about all around me. But it felt calm and soothing, almost as if a gentle figure of a woman was embracing me from behind.


    Right, this much was enough.


    I no longer needed to pray towards the Goddess. If Gaia really granted me her powers, it was now the time to use it.


    With this, I took aim at the Vampire Count.


    The huge monster had its arms spread wide open while loudly laughing out. It was unknown whether he knew what was going on here or not.


    The corners of my lips curled up, ¡°I hope your balls ¡®receive¡¯ Gaia¡¯s grace, you stinking Vampire.¡±


    And then, I pulled the trigger.


    **


    (TL: Back to 3rd person POV.)


    Harman stopped staring at Charlotte when he heard the noisy commotion breaking out, and turned his head away to look. A Priest donning a bird beak mask was climbing up the outer wall.


    Soldiers were escorting him all the while massacring the undead in his path.


    ¡°Who are they?¡±


    They seemed different from regular convicts or soldiers. Although faint, he could sense the trace of divine aura from the soldiers.


    Were they apprentice Paladins? However, why was a Priest being escorted by such a group¡­?


    This would be Harman¡¯s first time hearing about their presence in the fortress. Charlotte, next to him, however, opened her eyes extremely wide and muttered softly.


    ¡°Imperial Prince-nim?¡±


    Harman was startled after hearing this and quickly took a look at the girl.


    That was the Imperial Prince?


    Harman¡¯s suspicious gaze shifted back to the beak mask-wearing Priest. And then, both his and Charlotte¡¯s eyes grew even larger from the shock. It wasn¡¯t only them this time, however.


    Every convict, soldier, and the fiefdom¡¯s citizen nearby witnessed it together at the same time.


    On top of the outer wall, particles of holy light began gathering all around the Imperial Prince. Soon, the particles condensed in one spot to form a figure of a woman that gently embraced him from behind.


    Harman felt goosebumps break out all over his body. He involuntarily covered his lips. He knew what this phenomenon was.


    ¡®G-Goddess Gaia¡¯s¡­ Divine Protection!¡¯


    The blessing of the Gods personally bestowed unto their believers; a miracle that even a high-ranking Priest might or might not get to experience once in their lifetime!


    And such a phenomenon was happening to the Imperial Prince right now.


    ¡®This¡­ this doesn¡¯t even make any¡­!¡¯


    A prince who blasphemed against Gaia receiving her blessing? What kind of a contradictory event was this?


    Didn¡¯t this mean that the Imperial Prince was loved by Goddess Gaia?!


    It was then.


    After the boy prince finished his prayer to the Goddess, he aimed his musket rifle at the Vampire Count and spat out this line.


    ¡°I hope your balls ¡®receive¡¯ Gaia¡¯s grace, you stinking Vampire.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Harman froze up while doubting his own ears, but then, an incredibly powerful noise tore into his hearing as a blinding flash of light exploded and blinded his eyes.


    And then¡­


    BOOM!


    The Vampire¡¯s barrier was struck and visibly distorted before shattering into pieces. One heavy bullet managed to shake the aura of death.


    ¨C Kuoooohh-!!


    Divinity spread out all around the area as dozens upon dozens of zombies and skeletons collapsed into ashes.


    **


    ¨C Fuu-wooph!!


    The Vampire Count sucked in its breath at this feeling of confusion.


    Since it was an undead, basically a walking corpse, its lungs didn¡¯t operate at all. However, its faintly-beating heart suddenly palpitated and let it taste the emotion of ¡®fear¡¯.


    The undead monster¡¯s eyes opened wide and stared at the ¡®light¡¯ that crashed into its barrier. Soon enough, its irises began quivering.


    ¡®What was that? Just what the hell was that?!¡¯


    The Count was so shocked that it tried to get up, but seeing as it couldn¡¯t carry its own heft, it fell back on the sedan chair once more.


    This was strange.


    By now, its army should¡¯ve devoured that fortress. It was deliberately taking on enormous losses while pounding away at the target.


    The human soldiers concentrating on the defences of the outer walls should have already fallen into chaotic confusion by now since hordes of undead had already infiltrated the fortress¡¯ interior.


    However, it was simply too quiet.


    The Count couldn¡¯t even pick up the auras of the undead it sent into the fortress. Could it be that the monsters were destroyed already?


    But how¡­? How did the humans find all the hidden holes spread evenly throughout on the ground?!


    ¡®No, now isn¡¯t the time to worry about a matter like that!¡¯


    Maybe because its brain had rotted away and its thoughts were now formed through the manipulation of demonic energy, the creature¡¯s attention kept shifting elsewhere.


    The Count recalled the bullet that flew in its direction. It contained a truly detestable aura.


    A power completely at odds with death itself broke its barrier.


    Goodness¡­ To think that the sturdy shield created out of demonic energy by using the Necromancer King¡¯s skull was shattered, when not even a ballista could break it!


    The Vampire Count quickly moved its gaze around.


    Its blurry sight stared at the top of Ronia fortress¡¯ outer walls about 400 metres away. Its eyes couldn¡¯t look closely at the countless humans there. But it could sense their ¡®auras¡¯ instead.


    The sacred aura that drove away ¡®death¡¯.


    The incredibly terrifying aura that sent shivers down the monster¡¯s back!


    It was gathering again!


    ¨C This, this¡­!


    The Count¡¯s complexion paled even further.


    It was gathering again? Didn¡¯t the attack end just now?


    ¨C I m-must stop it!!


    The Vampire Count waved its hand. The barrier generated again as a zombie ogre stood before it too.


    And then¡­


    Yet another powerful flash of light shot out from the outer walls. The barrier which was yet to fully form shattered once more. The zombie ogre¡¯s large torso was also penetrated cleanly through.


    ¨C ¡­!


    The white light¡¯s trajectory was altered by the barrier and the zombie ogre. Which was why, instead of hitting it in the head, the ¡®bullet¡¯ had now struck the Count¡¯s nether region.


    ¨C ¡­


    The vampire looked down at its lower half.


    Its crown jewels were burning and scattering away as ashes. Powerful and hot aura spread throughout its entire body, almost as if the monster was on fire right now.


    ¨C Uwaaaaahk!!


    It hurt! It hurt so badly! But.. but how could a Vampire experience pain¡­?


    The Vampire Count thrashed about from the pain it felt for the first time in the past 50 years. Thanks to this, the zombies beneath the sedan chair couldn¡¯t maintain their balance and fell before being squashed flat into bloody bits and pieces from the sheer weight of the vampire.


    ¨C Aaaaaahhk¡­! Dammit! Those abominable Priests¡­!


    The Vampire Count crawled unsightly on the ground. Could it be that the fortress had a group of high-ranking Priests?! Did they invent a weapon that could fire the divinity they gathered?!


    The Vampire Count screamed out loudly.


    ¨C R-run¡­ Retreat¡­!!


    The Vampire Count trembled and continued crawling on the ground. Zombies, zombies ogres, and skeletons heeded their leader¡¯s commands. And after grabbing hold of the Count, began dragging the corpulent monster away.


    Due to its weight, its heavy flesh got dragged across the ground.


    ¨C W-wait, wait! Lift me up¡­!


    The Vampire Count roared on, but too bad, these undeads weren¡¯t so good with carrying out detailed orders.


    And so, the once-triumphant Vampire was unceremoniously dragged away from Ronia at the hands of the zombies.


    < 021. Imperial Prince is Bestowing Divine Protection -2 > Fin.

 Chapter 34

    **


    I frowned deeply after alternating my gaze between the musket rifle and the Vampire Count currently being dragged away in the distance.


    I was definitely aiming for the bastard¡¯s head. Unfortunately, the obstacles and the distance ensured that the trajectory of the bullet would be altered midway.


    Thanks to that, the joke of a blessing I said earlier became a reality instead.


    ¡°In the end, I failed to kill it, huh.¡±


    The Vampire Count was now out of the rifle¡¯s range.


    However, seeing as it was in that condition, that thing should have some trouble controlling the undead army. Also, I didn¡¯t have any energy left whatsoever to gather more divinity anyway. Even now, my legs were shaking hard and I felt really dizzy.


    ¡°I guess I bought us some time, then.¡±


    At the very least, we had some time to regroup and think about our options.


    I also needed time to gather divinity and create more holy water as my energy drinks.


    ¡°By the way¡­¡±


    When I turned my head around, I realised that everyone¡¯s eyes were focused on me.


    ¡°¡­Why is everything so quiet?¡±


    I could only frown while feeling their gazes landed on me.


    The soldiers and convicts, the feudal lord Jenald who arrived on the scene a minute ago, Charlotte and Harman in the distance, etc, etc, were all looking at me with lips tightly shut.


    **


    (TL: Back to 3rd person POV.)


    The sun had set and it was now nighttime.


    Harman stood alone on top of the outer walls. He was intently staring at the enemy¡¯s camp in the distance, at where the Vampire Count and the hordes of undead were biding their time. He was supposed to think about how they would attack the fortress again and what he should do to counter it. However, his mind was entirely preoccupied by something else.


    A day had already passed since the battle, and all the wounded soldiers were fully healed by the Priests and holy water. Harman was stunned to learn that, with the exception of serious injuries, everyone had recovered to ¡®full health¡¯.


    ¡®This isn¡¯t any ordinary holy water.¡¯


    He looked at the bottle of holy water in his hand. This small glass bottle contained the highest-quality holy water that could only be created when a high-ranking Priest gathered divinity for a day and night nonstop.


    Just one bottle would be enough to cure dozens upon dozens. And he was told that the Imperial Prince gave it to the priests.


    ¡®Not only that, it¡¯s quite high in concentration too.¡¯


    The holy water was diluted with regular water before being distributed, saving a hundred-plus lives in the process. This was all thanks to the Imperial Prince.


    ¡°What is the Prince hiding?¡±


    Harman had a lot of questions for the prince.


    Even if the Spirit Speech incident could be chalked up as coincidence, he definitely had to inquire about where this highest-grade holy water came from.


    Could it be that¡­ the prince himself made it?


    ¡®It¡¯s simply not possible that his highness possesses such abilities. But¡­¡¯


    The Imperial Prince did snipe the Vampire Count, didn¡¯t he? Not only that, along with Goddess Gaia¡¯s divine protection to boot.


    It seemed that the other Priests didn¡¯t know the truth yet. Well, he did try to conceal his identity with a mask, so that couldn¡¯t be helped.


    In all honesty, even Harman was still unsure of who it really was. He thought that maybe, the man who sniped the Vampire wasn¡¯t the Imperial Prince but someone else, possibly another high-ranking Priest.


    ¡®No¡­ that isn¡¯t it.¡¯


    That girl named Charlotte definitely called the sniper ¡®Imperial Prince-nim¡¯. A child who served the prince wouldn¡¯t be mistaken about the one she looked after in that situation.


    ¡®Besides, it also seems that Charlotte isn¡¯t an ordinary child either.¡¯


    She knew of the imperial swordsmanship. When he asked her where she learned it from¡­


    ¨C ¡°I learned it from a book.¡±


    ¡­Was her reply. She obviously didn¡¯t tell him the truth.


    Harman could only chuckle bitterly.


    She learned it by reading a book?


    Lies.


    Such movements couldn¡¯t be imitated by simply copying from a measly book for crying out loud.


    Here was the swordsmanship featuring all sorts of brilliant techniques. One needed to possess a requisite sense of balance, physical strength, as well as quick reactions in order to move like that.


    A person would need to at least train for many years to reach where she was.


    Harman was certain that the girl had been training in this swordsmanship style for quite some time now. And it couldn¡¯t have been a simple coincidence that such a child was serving the Imperial Prince from his side.


    ¡®Have they known each other for a while?¡¯


    He wondered if a loyal retainer of the seventh Imperial Prince secretly inserted her here for the boy¡¯s sake.


    ¡®If that¡¯s true¡­ then the girl¡¯s father, Gril, can¡¯t be an ordinary man either.¡¯


    Could it be that Gril was a knight currently on an undercover mission?


    However, when he conducted his investigation earlier, Harman learned that the ¡®farmer¡¯ had already been living in the Land of the Dead Spirits for many decades. Charlotte too had lost her parents from the plague, which resulted in Gril adopting her as his daughter afterwards.


    It would be tough to match the story so precisely with other villagers like that.


    Harman¡¯s head was a complicated mess. Everything seemed to be a mystery.


    ¡®And also¡­ the way the Prince changed is strange as well.¡¯


    Indeed, the prince himself had gone through a 180 degree turn-about after he got exiled and experienced an assassination attempt disguised as a suicide.


    He changed after ¡®losing¡¯ his memories.


    ¡®Maybe it¡¯s possible that he forgot about his trauma that occurred five years ago.¡¯


    The mother of the First and the Seventh Imperial Princes, Yulisia. She was a commoner from a rural village, and not only that, a mixed-blood from the Aslan Kingdom down south too.


    Aslan was at odds with the Theocratic Empire and the two nations had fought each other during many wars in the past several hundred years.


    Since she carried the bloodline from such a kingdom, unsurprisingly the gazes from the rest of the Imperial Family directed in her way couldn¡¯t be described as warm in any shape or form.


    Such a woman fell in love with the son of the Holy Emperor and before long, she gave birth to the First Imperial Prince.


    Naturally, the opposition from the nobles and the clergy were fierce ¨C the main sticking point being, the Crown Prince had chosen a commoner rather than someone from the other noble families. There was also the fact that the blood of the Aslan kingdom flowed in her body, albeit it being only half.


    Most importantly, the current Holy Emperor agreed with their sentiments.


    In the end, the Crown Prince, the son of the Holy Emperor, had no choice but to accept two other ladies from noble families that boasted distinguished bloodlines as his concubines. He did this all in order to appease the voracious opposition from his father, the nobles, and the clergymen.


    Later, these two ¡®wives¡¯ gave birth to many more Imperial Princes and Princesses. The first wife, Yulisia, eventually gave life to the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    In the year that the boy turned ten years old.


    On a certain snowy night, the mother of both the First and Seventh Imperial Princes, Yulisia, was the victim of a ¡®Vampire¡¯s surprise attack¡¯ inside the Imperial Palace¡¯s garden.


    The First Prince managed to narrowly escape death, but still suffered a curse of demonic energy invading his heart. Meanwhile, Yulisia tried to protect the Seventh Prince, only to be torn limb from limb before the boy¡¯s very eyes.


    His beloved mother died in his arms, and even his older brother grew deathly ill. The young Seventh Prince suffered a huge mental trauma on that day and basically lost his mind.


    The ten-year-old child known for his gentle personality grew up into an easily-scared and distrusting boy, one who also enjoyed belittling others around him.


    ¡®Could it be that the Witch Morgana incident reverted him back to his original personality?¡¯


    No¡­ even then, there were several strange points to consider.


    From the get-go, the boy losing his memories and possessing powerful divinity were completely unrelated to each other.


    ¡®I definitely heard that the noble named Heis insulted Charlotte, and the Imperial Prince attacked him after failing to rein in his anger.¡¯


    The prince wouldn¡¯t have made his move merely because the girl serving him was insulted.


    However, the keywords of ¡®lowly commoner¡¯ and ¡®dying on the cold floor¡¯ ¨C both of them applied to the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s mother, Yulisia.


    Could it be that the prince became enraged by those words and ended up beating Heis to a pulp?


    When Harman asked him, the boy simply smiled and replied, ¡®Just because¡¯, but¡­


    ¡®Could it be that he didn¡¯t lose his memories? Or did he move according to his instincts?¡¯


    Alternatively, it was also possible that the boy was using the pretext of amnesia to divert the Imperial Family¡¯s attention away from him.


    If this was true, then why would he do something like that?


    Harman slowly stroked his chin.


    ¡®Well, that¡¯s a simple answer, isn¡¯t it?¡¯


    He could more or less guess the reason.


    ¡®¡­For revenge.¡¯


    To kill the vampire who drove his mother to death, and to avenge all the humiliation she suffered at the hands of the nobles, the Seventh Prince deliberately got himself exiled.


    ¡®It¡¯s a plausible theory.¡¯


    There were plenty of eyes and ears within the Imperial Palace. Rather than staying there, it might be better to get exiled to a distant and remote monastery to grow one¡¯s powers in secret.


    The Imperial Prince kept saying that Morgana the witch was hunted down by the villagers, but in turn, they said something completely contradictory.


    ¡®If I think about matters this way, then everything fits. The reason why he behaves so crudely before me was also because of that!¡¯


    Harman wasn¡¯t sure how the prince managed to earn the love of Goddess Gaia and come to possess such an incredible level of divinity. However, he was certain of the boy wishing for more ¡®power¡¯ and dreaming of the day he¡¯d have his revenge.


    An unknown noble family must¡¯ve been supporting the boy prince from the shadows. Charlotte was the proof of this.


    All the mysteries seemed to be unravelling now.


    ¡®Lady Yulisia.¡¯


    Five years ago, Harman was also present at the garden. He was tasked with guarding them alongside other Holy Cross Knight Order members. Back then, he failed to protect Lady Yulisia and the Princes when they went out for a simple stroll.


    Even if the First Prince ordered him to go and summon help, it was inconceivable that he abandoned his duty as their guard.


    Harman gritted his teeth.


    He recalled his pathetic self back then and quickly sunk into the pit of shame.


    ¡®I¡¯ve forgotten all about it already. Yet¡­¡¯


    The Imperial Prince was trying to become stronger ever since the age of ten for the sake of vengeance?


    Such a young child, he endured against all that humiliation and got himself exiled in the process¡­!


    Harman rubbed his face.


    Yulisia was truly a beautiful woman, inside and out.


    She treated everyone equally, and her heart was always caring; she seemed to be ordinary at a glance, yet at the same time, extraordinary.


    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s why.¡±


    ¡­The reason why both him and the First Prince treated the Seventh Prince, Allen Olfolse, so coldly until now.


    No matter how deeply suppressed his emotions were, Harman would never tolerate any behaviour that insulted Lady Yulisia¡¯s memories. But reality was different.


    If the Seventh Imperial Prince truly wished to take revenge for Lady Yulisia, then¡­


    ¡®Then, I shall aid him in his quest!¡¯


    Harman clenched his fist tightly. He took a deep breath and calmed his heart down.


    Revenge.


    If that goal were to be realised, their current situation had to be resolved first.


    ¡°Indeed, I need to focus on our current situation before all else.¡±


    He spat out a long sigh before shifting his focus back to the matter of the fortress¡¯s security.


    In the far-off distance, the undead horde had set up a camp. There were hundreds, thousands of ghostly eyes glaring at Ronia.


    Thanks to that, the combat-readiness tension couldn¡¯t be undone. It resulted in the fatigue level of the soldiers to soar higher and brought down the morale of the troops.


    And later tonight, the approaching midnight would herald the advent of the 25th of December. The Vampire Count should start moving again when that time comes.


    Harman stopped looking at the enemy camp and headed back towards the fortress¡¯ interior.


    He could see soldiers going on a patrol while carrying bright torches. Several holes on the ground had been discovered within the city. Since the undead infiltrated through there, it was possible that the same tactic could be used again. To prevent that, the number of patrols had been increased and every house was searched for the presence of these holes.


    Thirty search parties made up of ten soldiers each were created. The total number of people who were tasked with this job was 300, in other words. However, when Harman surveyed the proceedings from the top of the outer wall, there seemed to be a few more patrolling around at the moment.


    The fortress should¡¯ve been suffering from the shortage of manpower, so how come¡­?


    ¡®What¡­?¡¯


    He could see that most of the soldiers were moving around with torches, but a small portion of them didn¡¯t have any sources of light at all.


    Why were they patrolling inside such darkness without any sources of light, especially when the moonlight had been swallowed up by the murky clouds above?


    Now that was incredibly suspicious.


    Harman climbed down from the outer wall. He picked up a torch and told the nearby knight that he was going out on a patrol before heading off to where those unidentified soldiers were.


    The soldiers without torches were deliberately picking only the dark areas with no people around. Harman frowned while watching these soldiers enter a darkened alleyway and followed after them.


    ¡°Oii, you there! Soldier!¡±


    Harman¡¯s call was ignored.


    His frown grew deeper as he quickened his steps to catch up to them. He hastily grabbed the shoulder of one of them, pulling the guy around towards him.


    ¡°Oii, soldier! What are you doin¡­¡±


    It was then, Harman¡¯s expression hardened.


    This soldier was wearing a helmet and a face mask. When hunting down the undead that spread around venom and diseases, it was common practice to wear masks. However, this guy wasn¡¯t wearing one to cover his nose, but to hide the entire face instead.


    Because it was¡­


    ¡°¡­An undead??¡±


    It was an undead soldier with no light of life found within its eyes.


    Harman unsheathed his sword and quickly stepped back. Even then, he doubted his own eyes and senses.


    ¡°B-but, how come¡­ divinity¡­?¡±


    Although faint, he could sense divinity oozing out from the undead.


    ¡®Just what on earth is going on here? How did these monsters¡­!¡¯


    Harman momentarily wondered if he was under the spell of a demon right now. Some Vampires were known to be able to cast ¡®Illusion¡¯ magic, after all.


    ¡®However, it should still be impossible to fool my senses¡­¡¯


    The undead soldier that possessed divinity simply ignored Harman and began walking away again. He gritted his teeth and pounced on the monsters.


    This was no time to hesitate.


    He wasn¡¯t sure why these creatures showed no interest towards him, but leaving them alone like this carried a great risk.


    Harman swung his sword as divinity permeated within his blade.


    A regular undead would turn to ashes the moment it got sliced by this blade!


    However¡­


    Clang!


    ¡­His attack was blocked.


    Harman¡¯s brows shot up higher.


    A mere walking dead was actually using a sword draped in divinity just like he was. The undead¡¯s eyes moved. Its eyes which resembled a pair of souls burning from deep within the darkness were now locked on Harman.


    Then, the Dead Spirit Soldier deflected his sword away.


    It stepped back before lowering its torso.


    Almost at the same time, spear blades shot out from the darkness behind.


    Other undead soldiers were stepping on the walls of this narrow alleyway to surround Harman from both sides, all the while deftly wielding their swords.


    ¡°¡­What?¡±


    Unhesitant, vicious attacks poured in from his front, left, and right.


    Harman¡¯s expression hardened as he witnessed this.


    ¡­Because these undead were coming at him with a coordinated attack, almost as if they were trained knights.


    < 022. Merry Christmas! -1 > Fin.

 Chapter 35

    A coordinated attack¡­?


    Harman gritted his teeth and evaded the incoming swords and spears. He then quickly stepped back, but this action allowed the Dead Spirit Soldiers to encircle him.


    Right afterwards, arrows flew in from the sky.


    He evaded them as well, but then, the undead began moving in towards his turned body. They were taking advantage of the opening to attack him.


    ¡®Just what exactly are these things?!¡¯


    Their skill level was only barely above that of an average soldier. However, their synchronised attacks were flawless, almost as if it was being performed by a single ¡®entity¡¯.


    More undead soldiers walked out from the darkened alleyways, all of them carrying all sorts of weapons such as spears, bows, and even maces. With eyes glowing in an eerie blue hue within the darkness, they raised their deadly weapons and pounced on him as well.


    ¡®Facing Paladins would be way more preferable than this!¡¯


    Harman blocked the swords and dodged the spears. He smacked the arrows away and retreated even further.


    But even then, the undead soldiers continued to dig into his defences from all sides in a simultaneous movement, and without any errors too. They used their legs as braces and spun their whole bodies while swinging the swords gripped firmly in their hands.


    Harman¡¯s jaw dropped after witnessing this spectacle.


    Although shoddily performed, the technique he just saw was intimately familiar to him.


    ¡®¡­The imperial swordsmanship?!¡¯


    His shock didn¡¯t have the opportunity to last for long, though. Because he didn¡¯t think he was capable enough to dodge every single one of these crude attacks. Dozens of swords were now aimed at him from all directions.


    ¡®I have to go all out from now on!¡¯


    As long as there was an unidentified group acting in the shadows inside Ronia fortress, this city¡¯s future would remain uncertain and shaky. He needed to quickly resolve this situation and start investigating who was behind this event. And he needed to do it before the advent of midnight too.


    ¡°Oh, the God of War Heim¡­¡±


    He began rousing up his divinity. The gentle and bright light oozed out from his blade and chased away the surrounding darkness.


    Just as he tightly grasped the hilt of his sword with both of his hands in order to extinguish the undead in one fell swoop¡­


    ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡±


    The group of undead suddenly halted their movements. Dozens of blades were frozen mid-air, still aiming at Harman¡¯s neck.


    The Paladin also stopped his sword about to cut down his enemies. He then cautiously turned his gaze towards the origin of the voice.


    From the darkened alleyway, a figure slowly walked out into the light. Harman¡¯s expression hardened after realising who it was. ¡°¡­Your highness.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen Olfolse, was now standing amongst the ranks of the undead.


    **


    (TL: Back to 1st person POV.)


    I settled down on the edge of the fortress¡¯ outer wall. My legs swayed in the empty air as I looked below.


    The outer walls were around 12 meters high. If I fell down from here, it wouldn¡¯t simply end with my legs breaking, that¡¯s for sure.


    ¡°Those who dropped down from here must¡¯ve been in a lot of pain.¡±


    There were quite a lot of corpses that hadn¡¯t been recovered yet strewn about on the ground below. Not too far away from this location, zombies were blankly standing around doing nothing, as if they were waiting for the Vampire Count¡¯s orders.


    ¡°Hang on¡­ Isn¡¯t that Saint-nim?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right! As expected¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the one who distributed that holy water to us?¡±


    I shifted my gaze towards the source of those voices.


    A lot of convicts and soldiers huddled around the corner of the outer walls were whispering amongst themselves, all the while sending me fervent gazes burning with¡­ something. And then¡­


    ¡°Let us pray together¡­¡±


    ¡°We shall atone for our sins, oh dear God.¡±


    They knelt down to pray.


    These idiots, how were they able to tell that it¡¯s me?


    I could only click my tongue inwardly at this sight.


    Harman and the undead soldiers were standing around nearby. And I was currently wearing the bird beak mask to ensure that others didn¡¯t recognize me.


    Yet, despite this nondescript attire, they were praying towards me? Not only that, they also wanted to atone for their sins?


    I couldn¡¯t help but retort in my head.


    Don¡¯t make me laugh!


    If prayers alone could erase your crimes, then this world wouldn¡¯t have any need for police officers and a set of laws in the first place.


    Why don¡¯t you reflect on your bad deeds and offer your services for the greater good instead? Do you think praying to me is your ticket to salvation or something?


    I stared at the convicts in dumbfoundedness before finally shifting my gaze over to Harman. ¡°Since when did people start calling me the ¡®Saint¡¯?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t even bother answering my question. Rather, he was currently too busy massaging his temples to reply. His helm was taken off his aching head quite some time ago.


    ¡°Wh-what am I supposed to do now?! The Seventh Imperial Prince, he¡­ Lady Yulisia¡¯s son has learned¡­ N-Necromancy¡­¡± The burly Paladin seemed to be deeply traumatised by what he just discovered, as evidenced by all that muttering directed to himself. ¡°Was that how desperate he felt? I didn¡¯t even know¡­¡±


    What¡¯s this? Me, desperate? Hey man. That word suits you better than me right now, wouldn¡¯t you say?


    I couldn¡¯t help but get confused by this guy.


    Harman was carrying an expression of a man who managed to lose his entire fortune overnight through gambling or something. He seemed to be doubting his own eyes and ears while he kept glancing at me. For the last time, he took a slow, measured look at me and opened his mouth. ¡°S-so, uh, well¡­¡±


    The previously-hidden emotions of this robot-like man were visibly shaking once more. His gaze then moved towards the undead soldiers next to me.


    ¡°These undead¡­ did you really summon them, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Oh, them? Yep, that¡¯s right. You¡¯re pretty sharp, aren¡¯t ya? So? What do you think? Not bad right? You can¡¯t tell them apart from regular living people with a casual glance, right?¡±


    I smiled refreshingly and answered him honestly.


    Since I was discovered already, there was no point in lying anymore. Actually, letting him know the truth was probably for the better in our current situation.


    Very soon, it¡¯d be December 25th.


    It wasn¡¯t the date of Christ¡¯s birth, nor was it the one and only Christmas where everyone was having fun all the while receiving gifts from Santa Claus.


    Nope, it was the complete opposite of that. This was the Halloween where the undead would go on a blood-soaked rampage instead.


    My summoned undead would prove to be helpful, at least a little bit in the circumstances. In that case, it should be a smarter move to let Harman know about them beforehand, thereby ensuring that we wouldn¡¯t see any unforeseen friction later.


    Harman groaned softly. ¡°Oh, Lady Yulisia. What should I do now¡­?¡±


    Who¡¯s this Yulisia?


    I tilted my head.


    However, Harman was startled by what his own mouth had uttered out and quickly covered his lips. Even then, he continued to study my reactions. ¡°¡­Why did you do it, your highness?¡±


    His voice asked me in a tone that indicated his need to confirm the truth no matter what. He was probably asking me why I went and learned Necromancy.


    ¡°Well, it somehow happened that way.¡±


    Actually, I¡¯m from another world, you see? I died on that side and when I woke up, I was already inside the body of your Seventh Imperial Prince, you know¡­ And I can also use all the abilities from a video game just fine too!


    ¡­Yup, there¡¯s no way he¡¯d believe me if I said all of this.


    It¡¯d probably be easier to explain by saying, ¡°I made a deal with the devil.¡± Probably.


    Although, the problem with doing that would be me getting branded as a heretic.


    ¡°Did you¡­ make a deal with the devil, your highness?¡±


    This guy, why are you saying some freaky stuff so casually like that? Are you planning to hand me over to the Inquisitors or something?


    ¡°Hiyaaa~, I¡¯m getting really curious here, you know? If someone really made a deal with the devil, would they be able to produce undead overflowing with divinity like me? I wonder.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    My words caused Harman¡¯s facial expressions to scrunch up and become even more complicated.


    Well, it wasn¡¯t much of a surprise that he failed to understand what was happening. Undead with divinity flowing in them? Even I was mystified by this, so what about Harman who had been loyally adhering to his faith all his life?


    ¡°In that case, how did you¡­ these¡­ uh, make these holy undead?¡±


    ¡°Dunno. I can¡¯t remember anything before the suicide attempt. Was I interested in Necromancy before that thing happened?¡±


    ¡°Are you hiding something, your highness?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not hiding anything, man. You see, even I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on.¡±


    I spoke the truth to him. If I knew how, then I¡¯d be more like the great sage instead. Harman stopped asking me questions at this point in time. So I asked him instead. ¡°So, then. Are you going to inform the Inquisitors now?¡±

 Chapter 36

    I couldn¡¯t help but get tense even though I was the one who said this question aloud.


    Depending on his reply, I¡¯d have to seriously consider how I should go about handling Harman¡¯s matter, right here in this very moment. Although there were those convicts over yonder, I figured that with my Dead Spirit Soldiers attacking him and not me personally, something or rather should work out in my favour, somehow.


    ¡°No I won¡¯t, your highness.¡±


    Now that was an unexpected reply.


    Harman stared straight at me and continued to speak. ¡°Even if I did report this in, I don¡¯t think anyone will believe me. No, rather than that, making a report stating that I¡¯ve allied myself with another Imperial Prince to falsely accuse you would carry more weight at this point, your highness.¡±


    Allied what now? Ahh, you mean, currying favours to get promoted quicker?


    But you¡¯re one of those types that rigorously stick to the field manual, aren¡¯t you?


    Indeed, this guy was definitely not the type to get in bed with someone else to enhance his career prospects. He¡¯d feel offended if he were to be suspected of such a thing, actually.


    Harman sucked in a deep breath. He was trying to remain calm as he asked me another question. ¡°Do you know the potential ripples you might cause if the truth comes to light, your highness?¡±


    Well, that¡­ I honestly didn¡¯t have any idea what would happen in that case. I guessed that at the very least, the rest of my life would be spent inside a prison cell. ¡°At a minimum, I won¡¯t be ¡®free¡¯, as it were.¡±


    ¡°¡­One wrong move and even your older brother, the First Imperial Prince, will fall into danger.¡±


    The First Imperial Prince? Oh, so I had an older brother?


    Well, I was called the ¡®Seventh¡¯, so yeah, there must be at least six others older than me. Obviously.


    I remained unperturbed while perched up on top of the outer walls and this scene caused Harman to spit out a lengthy sigh. ¡°I too was a knight serving Lady Yulisia with the task of guarding you and her highness back then¡­¡±


    He continued staring at me with fiery eyes. His expression hardened with resolve as he opened his mouth again, ¡°¡­I shall serve you and the First Imperial Prince until the end.¡±


    I dazedly stared at him for a while there.


    A dude who stuck to the field manual, he¡­ really seemed to have decided to get in bed with someone, after all. But then again, the allure of a quick promotion was obviously too hard to endure, wasn¡¯t it?


    Haha! This guy, he didn¡¯t know how to pick the right bed, though. To think he¡¯d align himself with an exiled imperial prince of all people! Much worse than that, it was even a totally suspicious prince who could use Necromancy, no less.


    No, hang on. Could it be that he wanted to find more unsavoury things about me? Since he didn¡¯t have enough evidence to use against me, was it possible that he wanted to monitor me even more closely?


    With these thoughts swirling in my head, I became even more wary of Harman than ever before. He was now looking at me with eyes of compassion for some reason.


    Just before I could ask him what the meaning of those eyes were, a powerful stench attacked my nose with excellent timing.


    ¡°In any case¡­ I think it¡¯s about time,¡± I muttered out.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I glanced up at the heavens above.


    Normally, you could easily look at the positions of both the sun and the moon to roughly estimate the time. But too bad, with all those thick and murky clouds hanging overhead, it made it impossible to tell the exact time now.


    However, even I could ascertain that the stench of death was rushing towards us to coincide with the advent of midnight.


    ¡°It seems that Christmas Eve is now over.¡±


    I¡¯d have much preferred to spend my free time with a pretty girl or with my friends, though¡­


    As the murky clouds gradually cleared away, the once obscured moonlight slowly revealed itself. Sadly, it wasn¡¯t the normal gentle and clear light, but an overwhelmingly eerie crimson hue that sent shivers down one¡¯s spine.


    The thick layer of demonic energy caused the transformation in the atmosphere and brought about this optical illusion.


    While looking at the moonlight, I muttered to myself, ¡°Merry Christmas, Harman. Of course¡­¡± I then lowered my head and stood back up before dusting myself off. ¡°¡­Enjoying Halloween on the same day is just an added bonus.¡±


    The undead on top of the snowy fields were finally moving once again.


    And about 600 meters away, well outside the musket rifle¡¯s firing range, the Vampire Count was standing on its feet, all the while busy gathering the crimson demonic energy within its hand.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    The Vampire Count sat atop of the sedan chair.


    The monster was currently gnashing its teeth in anger as it looked down at its crotch. The burnt stench still lingered, and its most important bits hadn¡¯t regenerated even now.


    ¡®But¡­ how come¡­?!¡¯


    This creature was far different from all the other undead. It wasn¡¯t some measly little ¡®corpse¡¯ that didn¡¯t even breathe, or one with a heart that no longer pulsed with life.


    It possessed ego, and could think before making decisions. Albeit weak, its heart did beat, and through its lungs, the monster could breathe too. It even knew how to enjoy the taste of meat as well.


    This was what it meant by becoming a Vampire; an existence that earned the right to enjoy ¡®new life¡¯ after crawling out from death¡¯s pits. Such a creature should¡¯ve been able to regrow any body part destroyed by divinity. However¡­


    Even now, its most important bits hadn¡¯t regenerated yet. Actually, it was growing back but at a pace even slower than a snail¡¯s crawl.


    At this rate, the wound might take a good few years before fully regenerating. That¡¯s how powerful the divinity carried in the bullet that pierced the monster was.


    ¨C That damn abominable Priest bastard!!


    The Vampire Count was enraged.


    Even though it was destined to become the next Vampire King, it had to suffer such a horrendous humiliation¡­!


    ¨C How dare you steal my source of pleasure¡­!


    The Vampire couldn¡¯t calm its anger and waved its hand about. After grabbing a nearby zombie, the creature ripped the poor undead¡¯s limbs apart and shoved the resulting matter inside its mouth.


    ¨C Fine! Fine! Once I possess that territory, I should be able to get my hands on an even greater power.


    By the time the monster succeeds in this dastardly conquest, regenerating the lost bits should become so much easier.


    The Vampire wasn¡¯t planning to back away from the fight.


    Its gaze shifted up towards the sky, at the crimson moonlight falling from up above.


    Then, it cast its gaze down on the ground.


    Thick fog carrying demonic energy was criss-crossing the land. The undead who had their feet dipped within this fog noticeably shuddered. And then, the bodies of various zombies began ballooning up; their once-emaciated figures were enveloped in newly-grown muscles. Thick strands of demonic energy flowed between the bones of the skeletons.


    Upon witnessing this sight, the Vampire Count broke out into an eerie smirk.


    Look at this powerful demonic energy!


    This was the true ¡®Tide of Death¡¯!


    It was finally the 25th of December! The date when Necromancer King Amon died! This was their moment!


    ¨C Finally, our time has come!


    The Vampire Count grabbed the sedan chair¡¯s armrests and pushed itself up. Its huge body stepped into the demonic energy-filled fog.


    The creature¡¯s legs that used to struggle with its enormous heft were now standing firm and steady. Meanwhile, the demonic energy within the fog was rapidly being sucked into its body.


    Its previously corpulent figure was morphing into a toned and muscular one.


    ¨C Oh my dear walking dead! Your time has finally come!


    The undead all reacted to the Count¡¯s words and howled out loudly.


    ¨C Go and devour the living. And evolve!


    The Vampire Count moved its large body forward. Step by step, it slowly advanced towards its target.


    ¨C Become Vampires yourselves, and crown me, the one who led you to your perfected forms, as your new king!


    The Count clenched its fists as the demonic energy emitting crimson light swirled dizzily around its hands. The land reverberated as noise loud enough to rupture one¡¯s ears exploded out.


    ¨C I am the successor of the God of Death, Yudai! And I shall become your Vampire King!


    The Count then raised its right hand enveloped in that crimson light, right before slashing it down.


    The demonic energy swirling around it penetrated past the undead before the Vampire. Then, the gigantic ray of crimson light carved through the winds and reached Ronia fortress¡¯ outer walls, cleanly slicing into them.


    And then¡­ a huge explosion occurred.


    The outer wall made out of wood and stone couldn¡¯t withstand the impact force and exploded upwards in a spiral.


    A section of the 12 meter-tall wall then crumbled down powerlessly.


    ¨C Advance! I shall enter the battlefield myself!


    The Vampire Count moved its feet.


    There was nothing to fear during the Tide of Death. As long as this powerful demonic energy was supporting it, the Count could walk around by itself and enjoy hunting down the living in person.


    ¨C This is my first step towards the conquest of this Continent, towards my rightful ascension into kinghood!


    ¨C Kiiiaaahk!


    Undeads howled out loudly.


    They lowered their postures and broke into rapid sprints. The undead with their regular ¡®fastest¡¯ speed that used to be no better than walking pace, were now actually running towards the broken section of the outer walls.


    There was still about half of the original undead army remaining. Meaning, they numbered around ten thousand and every single one of them were advancing towards Ronia like a horde of voracious insects.


    < 023. Merry Christmas! -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 37

    **


    ¡°I-I beg your pardon, but¡­ my lord, Viscount Jenald! I-I can¡¯t fight like this! As you can see, my leg hasn¡¯t fully healed yet!¡±


    The eldest son of Count Hedron, Heis, pleaded with the feudal lord while limping on his perfectly-fine leg.


    ¡°L-look! My leg is still like this! And yet, you want me to partake in the forthcoming battle?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been reliably informed that Sir Heis has trained in the ways of the sword back in the Academy. Right now, we need every able hand we can find. Please, lend us your strength.¡±


    Feudal lord Jenald made his reply and ignored the boy altogether from then on.


    However, Heis didn¡¯t give up and chased after him. ¡°B-but¡­!¡±


    Just before the boy could carry on with his words, Jenald suddenly grabbed him by the collars. ¡°You¡¯re here due to your transgressions, Sir Heis, and as such, you must serve your time! This is the reason why the Sacrificial Castle stands h¡­¡±


    It was then.


    A streak of crimson light sliced past the outer walls. Both Jenald and Heis flinched in surprise and quickly turned their heads to look.


    A huge hole had opened up. The wall began ballooning up around this hole before spectacularly blowing up.


    Debris of stone and wood rained down everywhere. The soldiers nearby were flung away into the air like ragdolls.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    Jenald couldn¡¯t immediately recover from the aftermath of the explosion and shook his head ungainly. A disorienting buzz continued to ring inside his ears. He forced himself to look in the same location again, and his brows shot up greatly soon afterwards.


    The outer wall had¡­ collapsed.


    ¨C Kkiieeeehk!


    The nightmarish howls of the undead could clearly be heard coming from the other side of the wall.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Ahhh! I-I can¡¯t hear anything! Lord Jenald! I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t hear anything! P-please, save, save me¡­!¡±


    Heis clung onto Jenald¡¯s pants, but the latter simply ignored the boy and staggered back up to his feet. He then muttered to himself while looking at the outer wall, ¡°¡­M-must, stop¡­¡±


    The soldiers and convicts got up with the same difficulty as him as well. They were shaking the cobwebs off their heads, still oblivious to what¡¯s going on.


    ¡°Stop them¨C!!!¡±


    Their feudal lord, Jenald, managed to roar out these words. Only then did they realise the current situation. Their gazes hurriedly shifted towards the destroyed outer wall.


    The ground was vibrating. Hordes of undead were rushing out from the thick fog. And not with their usual slow, lumbering steps either ¨C they were running madly in order to devour the living.


    The complexions of the soldiers and convicts paled instantly.


    ¡°U-uwaaachk?!¡±


    As soon as they regained their bearings, they fell back into panic again.


    All of them were screaming. They either held their heads or trembled from sheer fear. Some who even began running away.


    None of them were thinking of ¡®fighting back¡¯.


    This ¡®fear¡¯ quickly spread among the ranks of the convicts. Even the trained soldiers and knights were trembling right now.


    The fog containing demonic energy seeped in through the destroyed wall. And from the sky, the red moon cast its eerie glow down below.


    The atmosphere morphed into one perfectly suited to instil ¡®fear¡¯ in the hearts of ¡®men¡¯.


    ¡°What are you all doing?! Stop¡­ Stop them!¡±


    Jenald shouted out, but there were no soldiers who heeded him. Instead, they simply stood frozen in place and dazedly stared at the horde of the incoming undead.


    The feudal lord gritted his teeth and unsheathed his sword. At this rate, the walking dead would fully invade into the fortress. This would mean the death of his citizens.


    ¡°Dammit, dammit¡­! Oh, dear Goddess of Love and Mercy, Gaia! Please grant us your protection!¡±


    Even though Jenald didn¡¯t know how to wield divinity, he did learn how to use Mana a really long time ago.


    He offered his prayer towards the Goddess and invigorated the sleeping Mana within his body. He took a deep breath and approached the destroyed outer wall all by himself.


    ¡°¡­This kinda reminds me of a tower defence game.¡±


    Viscount Jenald flinched in surprise from the sudden words and stopped walking. What a clear and pristine voice that was.


    The ¡®Spirit Speech¡¯ which contained a low amount of divinity spread around and entered the ears of the surrounding soldiers and convicts. Their gazes were focused in one spot.


    A Priest donning a beak mask while wearing a robe walked out from the darkness. With a shovel leaning against his shoulder, he glared at the incoming undead.


    The distance between the wall and the voracious undead horde was now down to only 200 metres.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯ll be easier for us to defend one spot rather than moving about here and there.¡±


    Their opponents were the undead after all. They were wild beasts that didn¡¯t know how to use their heads. Such beings were heavily ruled by their primal instincts, causing them to blindly pounce on any living beings nearby.


    When fighting against such creatures, it¡¯d be most effective to bury them all at once in one area.


    The beak mask-wearing Priest pointed his shovel at the rushing undead. There were only about 100 metres left now.


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia. Grant me the strength to protect these poor lambs¡­¡±


    His shovel suddenly began glowing brightly.


    The distance had now shrunk down to 50 metres.


    ¡°[Swamp of Death].¡±


    A single droplet of water formed on the ends of the shovel¡¯s blade.


    Five metres.


    That droplet then began falling towards the ground below.


    Three metres.


    The hordes of undead leapt up.


    They now crossed into the other side of the outer walls.


    And then¡­


    One metre.


    Just as the droplet touched the ground and issued a clear ringing sound¡­


    Every single undead who leapt up turned into ashes and were exterminated. Even the darkness dyeing the surroundings in the black hue disappeared too.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The feudal lord Jenald, Heis, the convicts, the soldiers, and Harman who belatedly arrived on the scene, all clamped their mouths shut.


    The fog containing demonic energy dissipated. In its place, clear and pure water began wetting the ground. A shallow ¡®lake¡¯ soon formed there with the droplet as its centre.


    Every single undead entering the wall fell down as soon as they stepped foot inside this lake. Their bodies enhanced by demonic energy convulsed violently before completely melting down.


    ¨C Kiiiiaaahk!!


    The monsters howled and flailed about in agony.


    Despite the lake only reaching up to their ankles, they still all ungainly thrashed about as if they had fallen into a bottomless ocean.


    ¡°¡­T-this is?¡±


    Viscount Jenald stared at the lake that extended past his own feet. He could sense an aura of holiness from the water. His initially chaotic head was now slowly growing calmer. He even felt his body getting lighter and stronger too.


    He gasped and began thinking. ¡®¡­This, this is exactly the same as the blessing bestowed by the Imperial Prince!¡¯


    ¡°Oh dear Gaia¡­¡±


    Jenald quickly shifted his gaze back to the Priest donning the beak mask, no, the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    ¡°Grant your divine protection to those who wish to fight beside you¡­¡±


    The boy prince turned around and swung his shovel this time.


    ¡°[Plague of Debilitation].¡±


    The moment those words left his lips, white particles of light rushed out from the bodies of the convicts and soldiers.


    Jenald¡¯s jaw dropped after witnessing this spectacle.


    The Imperial Prince was performing a wide-area blessing without any hesitation whatsoever. This was a miracle that regular Priests could never dream of performing.


    ¡®Just how much divinity does he have¡­?¡¯


    Just as Jenald thought of this, the Imperial Prince faltered slightly. He propped the shovel on the ground and managed to retain his balance. He then raised the mask ever so slightly and grabbed a bottle out of nowhere to drink what was contained within.


    ¡®I see¡­ did he exhaust all of his energy just now?¡¯


    Viscount Jenald tightly clenched his fist. He was deeply moved by the fact that his highness, the Imperial Prince, had personally stepped up to protect his citizens.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s the¡­ Saint-nim.¡±


    Jenald flinched slightly from surprise yet again and shifted his gaze to his side. That¡¯s where he found Heis, previously shivering in fear, mutter to himself in a daze.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s really the Saint-nim¡­¡±


    Jenald turned his head back.


    This time, the voices came from the convicts and soldiers.


    ¡°The Saint-nim that defeated the Vampire¡­?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the one who gave me the holy water.¡±


    The silent whispers soon grew louder and became noisy clamours.


    With this, everyone recovered their wits. The ¡®terror¡¯ and ¡®fear¡¯ they experienced just now had disappeared.


    Jenald¡¯s heart pounded away. He knew that now was the time. He needed to do something when everyone¡¯s ¡®fear¡¯ had gone away.


    But how¡­? And do what exactly?


    ¡°He¡­¡± Jenald finally opened his mouth, ¡°The Saint, he¡­ will be with us.¡±


    His voice was small. No one could hear him.


    He gritted his teeth, and then shouted loudly enough for the veins in his throats to bulge up, ¡°The Saint-nim will-!!!¡±


    Heis, the convicts, and the soldiers all flinched in surprise before looking at their feudal lord, Jenald.


    ¡°¡­He will be with us!!¡±


    The eyes of soldiers and convicts grew larger and larger.


    ¡°The Saint who received the blessing of Goddess Gaia will fight with us! He is the grandson of the Great Hero, His Majesty the Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse! The Seventh Imperial Prince will fight for our sake!¡±


    Jenald roared out as he pointed his sword at the collapsed outer wall, at the undead falling over after stepping into the lake, and at those stepping over the melting corpses below only to melt down themselves.


    He was pointing at the army of undead that was gradually inching closer to them.


    ¡°Let us fight with the Saint, and exterminate the undead!¡±


    He then ran forward.


    ¡°For the glory of His Majesty, and for the glory of Gaia¨C!!¡±


    All the soldiers and convicts quickly unsheathed and pulled out their weapons after witnessing their feudal lord personally rush into the fray.


    ¡°Oh, ooooooh!!¡±


    Heis was initially confused by this development, but then, he too became drunk in the atmosphere and yanked out his sword.


    Every single one of the soldiers and convicts rushed towards the undead.


    The two sides collided and blood splattered everywhere.


    While witnessing this spectacle, the Imperial Prince scowled deeply within the mask. He was trying to conceal his identity here, and yet that fool of a feudal lord had to go and grandly advertise it to everyone else! This somewhat pissed him off.


    ¡°Are you alright, your highness?¡±


    Meanwhile, Harman approached the prince, clearly worried about him.


    ¡°¡­I spent way too much divinity.¡±


    After seeing the prince chug down the holy water, Harman could only smile bitterly. He then summoned some soldiers and ordered them to escort the prince away.


    While swords and spears sliced, diced, and stabbed into the surging horde of the undead, arrows and crossbow bolts rained down from either side of the destroyed wall. Oil was poured down and lit to burn away the creatures down below.


    The undead who continued rushing in without any thoughts were quickly killed off.


    ¡°Saint-nim is with us!!¡±


    ¡°The bloodline of the Great Hero, Kelt Olfolse, is helping us!¡±


    ¡°His highness has stepped up as the vanguard!¡±


    Their fighting spirit was soaring higher.


    Whether it was a soldier or a convict, they all had fully broken free from the shackles of fear.


    **


    (TL: Back to 1st person POV.)


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s amazing, alright.¡±


    I was sitting on a chair located not too far from the destroyed outer wall to watch the ongoing battle.


    I heard from somewhere that people were animals of the ¡®mood of the moment¡¯. Apparently, we would feel ¡®fear¡¯ because of the pressure emanating from the surroundings, or start feeling ¡®rapture¡¯ after being ¡®incited¡¯.


    And right now, it kind of felt just like that.


    ¡°Inciting them is all good and well, but¡­¡±


    ¨C Let Gaia¡¯s blessing be with us¡­!


    ¨C His Highness the Imperial Prince is with us!


    ¨C The Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson, Allen Olfolse, has become the Saint and he will save us!


    ¡­Why do you all keep mentioning my name?! And who the eff is a Saint? What¡¯s all this nonsense about saving you and the whatnot?


    It seemed that the folks of this world were rather unstoppable when it came to interpreting things their own way.


    I couldn¡¯t help but click my tongue.


    Basically, they lost their reasoning once more right after escaping from the clutches of fear. Could it be that divinity had a similar effect to psychedelics?


    ¡°Well, thanks to this, I can¡¯t even summon my undead now.¡±


    Yup, with the things as they were, I couldn¡¯t summon my undead. But then again, I didn¡¯t really need to make a move of my own now, so it might be as good a result for me in the end.


    Thud-! Thud-!


    Loud footsteps could be heard from the distance.


    I turned my attention towards the outer walls.


    ¡°It¡¯s a zombie ogre!¡±


    A four metre-tall giant, an ogre, made its entrance. A tottering monster with rotting flesh stepped across the lake filled with divinity. It then swung the mace held in its hand.


    With each of its swings, four or five soldiers and convicts flew away while screaming, only to crash back down on the ground.


    I winced and closed my eyes briefly after witnessing this sight. Getting struck by something like that meant you wouldn¡¯t have enough time to feel pain, as you¡¯d be pretty much dead right away.


    The soldiers thrust their spears forward. However, the monster¡¯s hide couldn¡¯t be pierced with only such strikes. However, a figure leapt up towards the monster during the opening.


    ¡°Oh, the God of War, Heim¡­!¡±


    The Paladin, Harman, draped his divinity over his sword, and as his eyes flickered coldly, he cleanly cut the ogre¡¯s head off.


    The severed head flew up before crashing back down to earth.


    I spat out an exclamation after witnessing that sight, ¡°Wow! So damn strong!¡±


    Harman alone quite easily got rid of a zombie ogre that dozens of Dead Spirit Soldiers couldn¡¯t win against.


    With how things were going, I figured that I didn¡¯t need to step up here anymore. The [Blessing] should persist on for a good while. Even if it did come to an end, these soldiers who were behaving as if they were drunk on the effects of psychedelics wouldn¡¯t lose their fighting spirit any time soon.


    It seemed like I didn¡¯t have to summon any of my own undead to defend this pl¡­


    ¨C You lowly living things that defile this world! Pay for your sins with your lives!


    I reflexively covered up my nose. A truly disgusting stench stung my nostrils.


    I turned my head towards the outer walls.


    There was a muscular three metre-tall monster walking in an unsteady gait, all the while sporting the white rolled-up hairstyle of medieval nobles and wearing blood-stained formal clothing.


    It was the Vampire Count.


    The hulking monster¡¯s eyes burned in rage as it swung around its hands emitting crimson light.


    A powerful explosion threw off dozens of soldiers in the air before they helplessly hit the ground. They must¡¯ve died instantly as none of them moved afterwards.


    It only lasted for a short while, though; the fallen soldiers suddenly convulsed and then stood back up as zombies to pounce on the living soldiers and convicts.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    What the hell? Hang on¡­ is that guy really the Vampire I sniped a couple of days ago?


    That fat body was now filled with rippling muscles. As far as my memories go, it couldn¡¯t even stand on its own two feet earlier and had to get dragged away by the other zombies. Yet now, it¡¯s standing tall on its own no problem?


    The bastard was swinging its demonic energy-laden hands everywhere to subjugate the living soldiers.


    ¡°You damn Vampire¡­!¡±


    Harman roared out and rushed towards the Vampire Count. However, the monster simply deflected the swung sword with its hand glowing in crimson light.


    ¨C Where is that bastard?! Where¡¯s the Priest who inflicted upon me this unforgivable shame earlier?!


    The Vampire Count was furiously scanning the battlefield.


    I naturally shrank back from that sight.


    What the hell?! That guy¡¯s looking for me?


    ¨C I said, where¡¯s the damn Priest who humiliated me earlier?!


    ¡­Yup, it¡¯s 100% me.


    Holy cow. You¡¯re supposed to be a Vampire ¡®Count¡¯, and yet, what a small-minded guy you are. Searching for me just because I landed a hit on you once¡­


    I mean, what I did couldn¡¯t be that bad, right¡­?


    ¡°¡­Well, I guess it was pretty bad.¡±


    I inwardly clicked my tongue.


    Meanwhile, the Vampire Count swung its hands again, flinging dozens more soldiers away before flinching grandly and stared straight in my direction.


    ¨C I sense a disgusting stench!


    ¡­Holy sh*t. Do I smell that bad?


    I quickly took a look at myself. Only then did I realise that the particles of divinity were still drifting off of me, perhaps because I had been activating [Blessing] for a while now.


    Son of a¡­!


    I shot up from the chair.


    The Vampire Count smirked and ran in my direction while shoving aside the soldiers in the way.


    ¨C You bastard! I shall personally devour you alive!


    I quickly summoned the musket rifle.


    I wasn¡¯t planning on fighting the Vampire Count head-on. Doing that would be a certain death, after all.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m gonna let you kill me, though.¡±


    This was my struggle for survival.


    I raised the rifle and took aim at the Vampire.


    < 024. Merry Christmas! -3 > Fin.

 Chapter 38

    **


    Blood splattered around; flesh got sliced apart. Farming tools were used in hacking away at the moving corpses.


    Charlotte and Gril were participating in the battle near the outer walls alongside the other villagers.


    The groups of soldiers and convicts got into a messy tangle with the undeads. However, not a single one of them displayed signs of fear. Their roller-coaster of emotions controlled by the atmosphere were enough to drive away the terror in their hearts.


    Charlotte and Gril had been supplying equipment to those in need until early dawn, and that was why they happened to be near the outer walls.


    After grabbing a nearby farming tool with his fellow villagers, they began hacking away at the undead that managed to get past the destroyed outer walls and the soldiers defending it.


    ¡°You bastards! You bastards! You bastardssss!!!¡±


    After hacking down at the fallen undead, Gril continued swinging his farming tool at the horde of zombies approaching him.


    ¡°Haha! Hahaha!¡±


    As a matter of fact, he even had a smile on his face.


    Soldiers were roaring out in the ecstasy of victory even in the middle of the battle. Gril was affected by this atmosphere and seemed to have forgotten all about the undead¡¯s terror.


    While delivering various equipment, Charlotte glanced at the wagon filled with steel shields and swords. Just before she could reach out and grab one though, Gril called out to her.


    ¡°Charlotte! It¡¯s dangerous, so stay behind me! I¡¯ll protect you!¡±


    After accepting her as his adopted daughter, Gril became extremely protective of her. It wasn¡¯t just because of the weight of responsibility he now felt, but also because he treated her like his real daughter, that¡¯s why.


    Charlotte could only smile wryly at him.


    The way Gril fought against the zombie horde looked really amateurish. She prayed that he wouldn¡¯t force his body too much and hurt himself trying to ¡®protect¡¯ her.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Vampire¡­!¡±


    ¡°Protect His Highness the Imperial Prince!¡±


    Charlotte reacted immediately when she heard the words ¡®Imperial Prince¡¯. Her gaze quickly shifted to the distance and took in the sight of a giant entering the outer walls while crushing the soldiers fighting over there.


    Its hulking physique was well over three metres tall. Demonic energy poured out from its hands and by using that, the monster rowed past the crowd of soldiers before it.


    ¨C So that¡¯s where you¡¯ve been hiding, you accursed Priest! I shall repay you for the humiliation I suffered!


    The Vampire roared as it looked at someone. Its expression was hideously contorted out of sheer rage. Using its tall height, the monster discovered the whereabouts of the ¡®Imperial Prince¡¯.


    ¡°You Vampire¡­!!¡±


    A man¡¯s enraged voice could be heard next.


    Paladin Harman stood before the Vampire to fight it. His divinity-cloaked sword clashed noisily against the hand enveloped in crimson demonic energy.


    The two opposing forces collided, creating a powerful explosion.


    Harman was flung away from the impact and crashed into the outer wall. He groaned in pain but even then, his eyes never left the Vampire. He gritted his teeth and tenaciously resumed his attack.


    His sword, brimming full with divinity, cleaved a portion of the Vampire¡¯s leg flesh. The monster wobbled unsteadily before glaring at Harman.


    ¨C You bastard¡­! What are all of you doing?! Take care of this pest!


    The Vampire¡¯s roar caused dozens of dullahans to break through the ranks of soldiers and appear near their future king.


    The headless knights filled with spear, sword, and even arrow wounds attacked and tied Harman down on the spot. He quickly looked around the surroundings. ¡°Viscount Jenald!¡±


    Jenald, while flailing about breathlessly among the zombie horde, heard the Paladin¡¯s call. He responded by turning his exhausted body towards the latter.


    ¡°His highness is in danger!¡±


    Only then did the viscount sense the urgency of the situation and looked around as well. The Vampire was clearly targeting someone by breaking through the army to get somewhere.


    ¡°Knights, protect the Imperial Prince!¡±


    The feudal lord¡¯s cry prompted the knights to quickly make their move. They shoved aside the undead around them and urgently rushed towards the Vampire. However¡­


    ¨C You lowly insects dare to¡­!


    The Vampire Count suddenly sucked in a deep breath. Its neck and cheeks ballooned up like a bullfrog¡¯s.


    The swell of crimson demonic energy could be seen through its thick hide before the monster spat it out. The breath of death enveloped the knights, soldiers, and convicts below it.


    ¨C Fu-wooooo¡­!


    Their bodies instantly began rotting away. But then, the dead men instantly rose back up as an undead and howled out loudly.


    The Vampire Count watched all of this happen and began guffawing grandly while grabbing its stomach.


    Only two things remained on the path it treads on ¨C become either the meat paste of human remains, or an undead that would serve the creature.


    Just as the Vampire expressed satisfaction over its own creations, a bullet containing divinity flew into the creature. The barrier made out of demonic energy shattered into fine pieces and scattered everywhere.


    The Vampire¡¯s grin was wiped off in an instant. It recalled the horrifying wound inflicted upon it a couple of days ago as it quickly turned its head towards the source of the bullet.


    ¨C ¡­You bastard!


    A Priest carrying a musket rifle was busy running deeper into the fortress¡¯s interior. And as if to protect him, groups of knights formed a cordon around the Vampire.


    They secured huge steel shields on the ground and raised their spears.


    ¡°This is as far as you go, Vampire!¡±


    ¨C What a humorous bunch of fools!


    The Vampire Count quickly made its move.


    It didn¡¯t need to worry about these small fries after all. However, that particular Priest was another story. That human was capable of firing a divinity projectile which was capable of smashing through the protective barrier made out of demonic energy.


    Leaving him alone was simply too dangerous!


    The Vampire then threw its hefty frame forward. It stomped past the knights blocking its path, and with ungainly steps, ran towards where the Imperial Prince was.


    Charlotte, who was watching the proceedings from afar, gritted her teeth.


    The Imperial Prince in danger. She unhesitantly picked up a shield and a sword resting on the wagon.


    ¡°C-Charlotte??¡±


    As Gril watched her rush into the alleyway, he alternated his flustered gaze between her distancing back and the outer wall. Before long though, he was chasing after her, the farming tool still tightly gripped his hands.


    **


    (TL: Back to 1st person POV.)


    ¡°Y-your highness, you need to escape!¡±


    Knights shouted out as they stood before the vampire.


    The hulking monster continued to come after me, its eyes gleaming in madness.


    Holy sh*t, that¡¯s terrifying!


    I slung the rifle on my shoulder and hurriedly ran deeper into the fortress. But I didn¡¯t forget to sneak a glance behind me though.


    Another huge explosion ensued and knights were flung into the air. They were crushed by the Vampire¡¯s feet, and their heads were ripped off after getting ensnared by its huge hands.


    Those dead knights with intact heads invariably stood back up as zombies and scattered in all directions. What a horrifying scene straight out of a horror movie that was.


    ¡°That¡¯ll be my fate if I get caught, huh¡­¡±


    Still, running with such a huge body would be a bit too much, right? If I focused on moving through narrow alleyways, I should be able to lose the damn thing.


    Not only that, defeating ten thousand undead should become a much easier job with the vampire leaving the destroyed outer wall. As long as I succeeded in luring away their commander, our side should emerge victorious.


    After quickly entering a narrow alleyway, I then took a look behind me.


    ¡°¡­Son of a b*tch!¡±


    The Vampire Count continued chasing after me by destroying the houses on either side. Its hefty physique acted like a bulldozer as it mowed down everything blocking its path, all just to get closer to me.


    I thought the damn thing wouldn¡¯t be able to advance that fast, but then, it was closing the distance at a considerable speed all thanks to its long gaits.


    Blood was staining all parts of its muscular body. What a horrible looking monster it was.


    ¡°Oh dear Gaia. Grant me the strength to pierce the¡­¡±


    I brought the rifle near my lips and breathed into it while offering my prayer. But then, my entire back suddenly felt a creepy chill. I turned my head back only to discover the roof of a house flying in my direction.


    ¡°Oh, shi¡­¡±


    I reflexively leapt into the alley next to mine.


    The spot I was in only a moment ago was swept away by the roof crashing down. The entrance of the alleyway was now blocked by the debris.


    I raised my head to look around. My eyes caught the sight of a hand grabbing the corner house of the alleyway before a huge head abruptly peeked out from around it. A disgusting smirk was etched on its chubby cheeks.


    ¨C You rat-like bastard!


    ¡­And you¡¯re a stinking monster, dude.


    I hurriedly scrambled back up and started running again.


    It seemed that the enemy was rather sensitive towards ¡®divinity¡¯. Well, it did fling a whole roof in my way as soon as I tried praying to gather more divinity, so this hypothesis could very well be true.


    Creating a bullet by gathering divinity would take at least one minute, and if I were to add the praying bit on top, then I¡¯d need another 30 seconds, too.


    Trying to attack it even once this way would probably result in me getting killed instead.


    I didn¡¯t really have much of a choice here. Now that things have gotten to this stage, I might as well run around and waste time until a rescue party shows up¡­


    It was then, a huge shadow was suddenly cast down on me.


    ¨C I shall turn you into dust!


    The vampire was floating in the air. It spread its arms wide open and was sucking in a deep breath.


    That thing¡­ could fly?


    Hang on, isn¡¯t that¡­ what I saw just now? That ¡®breath¡¯ thing?


    My complexion turned deathly pale. Even I had no way of defending against that.


    ¨C Become an undead!


    The breath of death shot out from the vampire¡¯s mouth.


    Its crimson breath, eerily similar to huge swelling flames, crashed into the alleyway and left me with no immediate escape route.


    It was then, someone suddenly dashed out from behind me.


    The figure pushed me down by my shoulders, and then stepped in front of me while raising a humongous steel shield that was far bigger than her slender physique.


    ¡°¡­Charlotte?!¡±


    Her eyes were as scary as that of a venomous snake¡¯s.


    She planted her feet on the ground as firmly as she could. Her actions caused the ground below her to cave in. After she stabbed the sword down, both of her hands grabbed the shield¡¯s handle, securing her grip on it. Her slender arms were now bulging with thick veins.


    ¡°Uwa-aaaahk!¡±


    Gril popped out from the alleyway before I even noticed him, then quickly supported the shield along with Charlotte. Once I saw what they were doing, I reflexively supported them from behind as well.


    Right then, the breath of death smashed into the steel shield.


    The weighty impact of the strike forced all of us to slide back. From the tips of our fingers, our bodies began rotting away little by little.


    ¡°Wuu-wuuk¡­!¡±


    Charlotte and Gril shut their mouths in agony.


    We couldn¡¯t defend against this attack like this. I even sensed that the shield was beginning to melt down.


    In that case¡­!


    I reached out and touched the shield. ¡°Give it your all and push back!¡±


    [Divine Aura has been activated.]


    [Equipment will temporarily be reinforced.]


    A blood vein-like symbol appeared on the shield as divinity began swirling within.


    Just reinforcing equipment? No, this alone wasn¡¯t going to cut it!


    ¡°Oh Gaia¡­!¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s, Gril¡¯s, and even my hand, were rotting away.


    ¡°Grant me your power to protect these poor lambs¡­¡±


    More divinity poured out and permeated into all of our bodies. Our flesh repeated the pattern of rotting away before fully regenerating.


    ¡°Grant us your love and mercy, and lead your flock to light.¡±


    More divinity gathered with these words.


    On the other hand, it also felt like divinity inside my body was rapidly drying up.


    ¡°With your power, grant us a shield strong enough to protect us against the undead.¡±


    The huge shield started developing large cracks.


    ¡°Your faithful servant, Allen Olfolse, offers this prayer!¡±


    The shield eventually shattered. But at the same time, another shield created out of divinity replaced it.


    Two opposing forces ¨C divinity and demonic energy ¨C collided against each other.


    The Vampire Count still spitting out the breath of death witnessed this event and its brows shot up much, much higher.


    ¨C N-no, it mustn¡¯t¡­!!!


    A humongous explosion resounded out.


    Every single structure nearby was forced back before exploding into millions of pieces.


    The vampire¡¯s mouth, used to spit out its breath of death, was viciously ripped apart by the blast. Its demonic energy barrier shattered too as its hefty figure crashed down to the ground below.


    The once-narrow alleyway had now resembled a wide-open field.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The sacred shield protecting the three of us couldn¡¯t endure anymore and shattered while dissipating into light particles.


    I no longer had any energy left in my legs. Before I fell down, Charlotte with wide open eyes hurriedly propped me up first.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    Of course not¡­


    Right now, I didn¡¯t even have enough energy to stand up straight. Not only that, it felt like all of my bones had turned into powder, too.


    I glanced to my side and discovered that Gril had passed out on the ground. Oh, how envious I felt just then; wishing I could just collapse and pass out like that, but¡­


    ¨C Ah¡­ Ahhh, aaahk!!


    ¡­But the Vampire Count was still alive.


    Various parts of its body were ballooning up as if boils were growing on it. Those ¡®growths¡¯ then began rupturing noisily next. While screaming in agony from the holy flames burning it, the Vampire desperately rolled around on the ground.


    ¡°Holy water¡­¡±


    I barely managed to summon a bottle of holy water from my item window. However, I didn¡¯t even have enough energy to hold it and ended up dropping it on the ground. Charlotte picked the bottle up and cautiously tipped it against my lips.


    And that¡¯s how I got to drink my stash of holy water.


    My body recovered to a certain extent after that, allowing me to move again. However, my current divinity reserve was still empty.


    Even if I prayed, I wouldn¡¯t be able to use any skills whatsoever. It¡¯d be a prudent idea to run away from this place before that damn vampire recovered itself.


    To be honest, I¡¯d much prefer if soldiers showed up and lent us some help right about now. I mean, this would be the most optimal time to kill that vampire, what with its current condition and all.


    ¡°Let¡¯s retreat for now. At this rate, things will get dange¡­¡±


    I took a step back while saying this, before sensing my foot touch something.


    A weird emotion flooded my mind as I stared at a certain ¡®skull¡¯ rolling around on the ground next to me. It was the skull of a mountain goat, a type of animal that always seemed to be used as a symbol of the devil. It was so big that one could probably wear it like a full-face helmet.


    It was also the item the vampire wore like a necklace too.


    But why was it here¡­? Did it land here due to the explosion?


    I continued getting this strange hunch from it. Even I could tell that it wasn¡¯t just an ordinary skull.


    ¡°Is it a¡­ magical item or something?¡±


    I used [Mind¡¯s Eye] on it. Regular items wouldn¡¯t show any response with this skill, but what if it was a magical item instead?


    [Necromancer King Amon¡¯s skull.


    Abilities: Depending on the user¡¯s standard, demonic energy is amplified by between the minimum of 20% to a maximum of 200%, plus the addition of a 10% recovery effect. All abilities related to demonic energy will increase by 10%.]


    The results were in.


    And I became utterly speechless by what I saw.


    This thing amplifies demonic energy by 20 to 200%?! Alongside 10% recovery? Not only that, all skills and abilities improved by 10% too?


    What a legendary-class item this was.


    Hang on, demonic energy was it? Did that mean I couldn¡¯t use it?


    For some reason though, I didn¡¯t feel any rejection from this item, despite it being supposed to be operated only on demonic energy.


    I cautiously pushed Charlotte away, and as if in a trance, picked the skull up. The remaining divinity in me was smaller than a rat¡¯s tail. Even if I roused it up by giving it my all, I still wouldn¡¯t be able to use a single skill.


    Instead, I activated [Divine Aura] and reinforced Amon¡¯s Skull.


    [Equipment will temporarily be reinforced.]


    [Temporarily reinforced Necromancer Amon¡¯s Skull.


    Abilities: Depending on the user¡¯s standard, demonic energy amplified by between the minimum of 40% to a maximum of 400%, plus the addition of a 20% recovery effect. All abilities related to demonic energy will increase by 15%. Possible to summon the Armour of the Dead Souls.]


    An exclamation left my lips all on its own.


    I began stroking the skull of the Necromancer King. Maybe because of [Divine Aura], I had the feeling that I knew how to use this item, too.


    There was a type of ¡®activation code¡¯ for this thing.


    My body moved instinctively as I placed the skull of the mountain goat on my head. I bowed slightly.


    ¡°I am the legion,¡± said I as my eyes locked on the Vampire Count while it was ungainly standing back up. ¡°¡­And I am Gaia¡¯s inheritor.¡±


    < 025. Merry Christmas! -4 > Fin.

 Chapter 39

    **


    The pain the vampire felt was so brutal that it thought its soul was burning away. Divinity dug into every little corner of its large body and caused it excruciating pain that couldn¡¯t be described in mere words.


    ¨C You stinking Priest bastard!


    However, that much was still fine. This level of agony was still tolerable.


    That explosion should¡¯ve also left the Priest bastard in tatters as well. Even if he managed to somehow survive it, he probably wouldn¡¯t have enough energy left to gather any more divinity.


    This was what the Vampire Count thought as it raised its upper torso.


    ¡°I am the legion.¡±


    But suddenly, it could hear someone mutter out these ominous words. The vampire flinched nastily as its whole body froze up right there and then.


    ¡°And I am Gaia¡¯s inheritor.¡±


    Right at that moment, this incredible pressure materialised out of nowhere, one almost heavy enough to crush the vampire¡¯s whole body. And the atmosphere kept getting heavier and heavier with every passing second.


    A deathly chill ran down the monster¡¯s spine. Its body, which was completely covered in goosebumps from head to toe, instinctively refused to move.


    ¡®W-what is this feeling¡­?¡¯


    The Vampire Count swallowed its dry saliva and looked behind it.


    The monster now could see a figure standing tall over there while grasping the hilt of a greatsword stabbed into the ground.


    Another figure, also standing tall but had a longsword attached to its hips.


    There were more; figures wielding bows and crossbows, ones with spears slung over their shoulders.


    Even some with maces and shields, etc¡­


    About thirty ¡®undead¡¯ beings gripping onto various weapons could be seen now. However, even at a casual glance, one could tell that they were no ordinary undead.


    All of them wore matching white armour. Some were using the debris from the destruction earlier as their chairs, while others remained standing.


    Bluish wisps of breaths leaked out from around their mouths. Their eyes gleamed fiercely as if they were still alive.


    They then opened their mouths. Or more correctly, it was their jawbones that bobbed up and down, their teeth clattering against one another.


    ¨C I can smell the odour of death.


    This quiet murmur contained traces of ¡®divinity¡¯. It was Spirit Speech, something an ordinary undead could never ever hope to produce.


    These existences, these ¡®Holy Knights¡¯, shifted their gazes over to the Imperial Prince.


    ¨C Is he the master responsible for our creation?


    ¨C If so, what is our purpose?


    ¨C What is the reason for our creation?


    They all possessed ¡®ego¡¯ and were capable of ¡®thoughts¡¯.


    They turned their heads, their glares locking on to the vampire. The bluish light in their eyes narrowed as if to focus on the giant but immobile monster.


    ¨C It¡¯s a heretic that goes against the rules of this world.


    ¨C And so, is this the reason for our creation?


    ¨C A creature no better than a mere germ that maintains the balance of this world wishes to imitate a living being.


    The vampire froze up after meeting their glares.


    ¡®Just what are those¡­?¡¯


    Although what it heard was a mere whisper, the vampire definitely did hear the Priest say the ¡®activation phrase¡¯. What he said, though, wasn¡¯t the call to the god of death, Yudai, but one meant for the ears of the god of life, Gaia.


    And that was the strangest part of it all.


    The Necromancer King Amon worshipped the god of death. But calling out to Gaia while summoning these undead through that person¡¯s skull?


    ¨C This¡­ it does not make¡­ any sense.


    The vampire stumbled backwards all the while denying reality unfolding right in front of its eyes. This event simply couldn¡¯t happen. It mustn¡¯t be allowed to happen, either.


    The human Priest might have called out to ¡®Gaia¡¯, but she was the goddess of life and as such, she simply couldn¡¯t have possessed the powers to rule over the undead.


    Those creatures, they were such incongruous and inconceivable existences that even the goddess herself should be freaked out by their mere presence alone.


    ¨C It¡¯s only obvious why we have been created.


    ¨C As I thought, we should abide by the commands given to us.


    The holy undead knights gathered and formed an orderly line. And then, they stood before the boy wearing the mountain goat¡¯s skull, cautiously kneeling and bowing their heads.


    This was completely different from the usual display of bowing before their sovereign. No, it was far closer to the sight of fervent believers filled to the brim with unbreakable faith, earnestly waiting for their next divine orders.


    ¨C Your command¡­


    Their master didn¡¯t say anything when the holy undead asked. He simply showed it with his actions instead.


    The Priest donning Amon¡¯s skull raised his hand and pointed at the vampire. Then, his raised thumb pointed downwards.


    It was truly a simple gesture, something that no one else in this world would¡¯ve understood. However, these holy undead knights were connected to their master and they indeed fully understood what this order entailed.


    They stood up.


    They raised and cocked their heads to the side.


    And then, started glaring intensely at the vampire.


    ¨C We¡­


    Their blue eyes were set ablaze.


    ¨C ¡­Detest death.


    Pure unbridled and naked terror began dyeing the vampire¡¯s expression.


    ¨C Ku-ohhhh¡­!


    The moment the holy undead knights roared out, divine aura flooded out from the gaps of their white armour.


    The Vampire Count urgently covered its ears. It was suddenly struck by Spirit Speech containing divinity. The roars were so powerful that the undead¡¯s eardrums almost ruptured and even its soul was shaken to the core.


    The holy undead knights lowered their posture with their weapons raised up. They kicked the ground and dashed towards the vampire.


    ¨C Y-you monsters¡­!


    The vampire¡¯s complexion paled instantly.


    Undead that possessed divinity¡­?!


    Just where did such hybrids even show up from?!


    This was definitely an extraordinary phenomenon.


    These knights called the vampire a ¡®heretic that went against the rules of the world¡¯, but their existence itself was the true contradiction! Because they were definitely the beings that ¡®went against the rules¡¯ in this case, were they not?!


    These creatures utterly shattered the logic governing this world.


    ¨C You cursed undead knights¡­! You¡¯re the true heretics that insult the will of the god of death, Yudai!


    The vampire used all of its strength and gathered whatever demonic energy it could. Then, it slammed its hand filled with the reddish energy down on the ground. The land below split apart and a large Rune letter was generated. Hordes of undead began crawling out from the depths of hell.


    Zombies, skeletons, ghouls, and even dullahans ¨C there were about two hundred individuals that crawled out, screeching towards the heavens above.


    ¨C Go and punish those heretics that betrayed Yudai¡¯s will!


    The vampire waved its hand.


    The mob of undead howled out and dashed towards the holy knights.


    The knight wielding the greatsword stomped its foot. The ground below crumbled and buckled as it swung the massive blade with both of its hands.


    ¨C Eternal rest for the undead¡­


    With just one swing, many undead were thrown into the air, only to turn into ashes and scatter away.


    ¨C The blessings of Gaia, the one who extols all life¡­


    The holy knights wielding crossbows and bows pulled the triggers and let go of their strings to fire their projectiles. The volleys of light penetrated through multiple undead creatures in an instant.


    ¨C We are Gaia¡¯s spears and shields.


    The holy knights brandishing shields created an impregnable wall of iron, and the spear wielders began thrusting their weapons forward from behind them.


    Every undead that came in contact with the shields all burst into flames without a single exception, and those stabbed by the spear blades blew up spherically like bursting balloons and were exterminated immediately.


    Two hundred or so undead versus thirty holy knights; the vampire held the obvious numerical advantage, but it failed to even leave a single nick on the armours of the holy undead knights.


    ¨C Ah, ah, ah¡­!


    The vampire was overcome with terror and grief again.


    It knew that getting captured by those things meant certain purification for itself. The life it struggled so hard to acquire for the past fifty years would be snuffed out so quickly, just like that!


    ¨C Uwaaaahk!


    The Vampire Count yelled out, but then, it suddenly closed its mouth tightly.


    Its stomach bulged greatly. This disgusting-looking bulge travelled all the way up from its belly to its throat, then went past its throat and into its mouth. Demonic energy leaked out from the torn bits of flesh hanging around the creature¡¯s jaw.


    And with every ounce of its energy, the vampire spat out another breath of death. No, it tried to.


    ¨C Ku-ooooooh!


    A holy undead knight swung its greatsword upwards. From the vampire¡¯s bulging stomach all the way up to its jaw was sliced apart. Demonic energy leaked out as the monster¡¯s flesh burned and turned into ashes.


    ¨C Uwaaaahk?!


    Arrows and bolts connected by chains flew in and pierced through the vampire¡¯s body. These sharp projectiles stuck out like the needles of a hedgehog, the connected chains serving to rob the monster of its freedom.


    The vampire¡¯s large frame was quickly dragged down as it crashed face first into the dirt. The waiting holy undead knights then slammed down and crushed both of the fallen creature¡¯s legs with their shields.


    ¨C Aaaaaaahk?!


    Multiple spears were thrust forward and trapped the vampire¡¯s throat.

 Chapter 40 - 026. Merry Christmas! -5 (Part Two)

    All thirty holy undead rushed in and prevented the vampire from moving ever again. The Priest slowly walked over to the downed vampire while slowly taking off Amon¡¯s skull.


    He raised a musket rifle with one hand, and began breathing deeply into the weapon¡¯s loading chamber.


    ¨C N-no! Spare me, please! Uwaaahk!


    The vampire cried out.


    It mustn¡¯t! It must not come face to face with that thing!


    That bastard, he¡­!


    A shadow loomed over the vampire¡¯s face currently sprawled on the ground in an unsightly manner.


    The Vampire Count tried raising its head up, but the Priest stomped down on it first.


    The monster¡¯s eyes shot open wider.


    This Priest turned out to be a mere boy, someone even younger than anyone could have imagined. Even at a stretch, the boy in front of its eyes couldn¡¯t have been older than fifteen, maybe sixteen years old at most.


    However, he was definitely no ordinary human. The expression on the young priest¡¯s face was more sinister and cruel than any other devil in existence.


    His eyes, his lips¡­ they were smiling.


    This devil, seemingly filled with madness, slowly opened his mouth.


    ¡°In the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost¡­¡±


    The barrel lined up right in front of the vampire¡¯s eyes. This indescribably horrifying and ominous divinity began coalescing in the weapon again.


    And then¡­


    ¡°Hey, mister vampire. Merry Christmas. Give my regards to Gaia when you reach hell, okay?¡±


    The boy priest said some things that could either be construed as pure blasphemy or words of exaltation for the goddess, and then firmly squeezed the trigger.


    **


    December 25th.


    The morning sun was steadily rising up in the sky.


    Warm sunlight drove out the effects of the Negative Field and ushered in the aura of the Positive Field. The fog filled with demonic energy still lingered. However, even that added to the feeling of staring at a beautiful snowy field emitting a gentle light.


    A convict stabbed his sword on the ground to support himself. While breathing heavily, he took a look at his surroundings.


    He could no longer see any undead beyond the outer walls. Those infernal creatures had all scattered away. The only remaining undead were the ones slowly melting down within the ¡®lake¡¯ made out of holy water.


    Various levels of fluster filled up the faces of the convicts and the soldiers. However, this only lasted for a brief moment and their expressions soon began quivering next.


    The corners of their lips trembled. Convulsions broke out on the muscles surrounding their eyes.


    And finally¡­


    ¡°We¡­ We won!!!¡±


    The feudal lord Jenald forced his hand up and declared their victory, despite having trouble moving that very arm.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Ah, ah¡­!¡±


    ¡°I¡­ made it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m alive!!!¡±


    Every single one of the soldiers and convicts roared out in celebration. Even the citizens of the Ronia territory as well as the refugees from other villages also cried out loudly, their cheers filled with unbridled happiness.


    Despite staggering somewhat, Harman continued to move. But when he got to the centre of Ronia fortress, which now resembled a devastated and empty plain, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    ¡­Because, he witnessed several undead ¡®knights¡¯ made out of pure light standing still in the centre. Unfortunately, this scene only lasted for a second. They vanished by scattering away as light particles.


    On this desolate and ruined empty land, one boy could be seen supported by a girl. An unconscious man was also laying on the ground, too.


    Finally¡­


    ¡°The vampire¡­?!¡±


    Starting from its head, Harman could see the vampire slowly turning into ashes and scattering away in the winds.


    The Paladin clamped his mouth shut and shifted his gaze back to the Imperial Prince. The boy, while being supported by the silver-haired girl, was sleeping like a dead log, a satisfied grin etched on his face.


    **


    On a hill not too far from Ronia fortress.


    The Theocratic Empire dispatched its most elite legion, the ¡®Holy Cross Knight Order¡¯ after sensing that something ominous was afoot in the northern region from the unlikely report of no undead being sighted in the Land of the Dead Spirits for the past month or so.


    And only on the morning of the 25th did they finally manage to reach their destination, Ronia.


    An old man stood tall in front of the troops and while staring at the fortress, he muttered with a disinterested expression.


    ¡°¡­Are we already too late?¡±


    He was outfitted in a set of armour so thick that it bordered on being excessively hulking. Quite unlike the scale of the white armour he was wearing, though, the old man¡¯s body under all those layers of protection was on the thin side.


    ¡°It seems so, my lord.¡±


    ¡°I was wondering what was going on. When I heard that a strange phenomenon was afoot in the Land of the Dead Spirits, I feared the revival of the Necromancer King had occurred, but¡­¡± The old man narrowed his eyes as he took in the sight of Ronia fortress. ¡°It was nothing more than some measly little prank of a vampire?¡±


    Ronia fortress was mostly made up of convicts and civilians. So the vampire failing to overrun such a fortress could only mean that the creature in question didn¡¯t possess all that much power, to begin with.


    ¡®I do not know how the vampire managed to command twenty thousand undead, but that must have been the extent of its powers since it couldn¡¯t even win against the Sacrificial Castle. However¡­¡¯


    ¡°¡­That is indeed a bizarre aura.¡±


    The old man had been sensing a certain aura for a while, long before he and the army reached this location. This aura could¡¯ve only come about from the chaos caused by the collision of powerful divinity and demonic energy.


    This phenomenon seemed to indicate that the vampire must¡¯ve wielded a considerably great amount of demonic energy. It also indicated that a person wielding equally powerful divinity had fought off that very undead.


    Since the entirety of the fortress was cheering raucously of their victory, that unknown person of considerable divinity must¡¯ve killed the vampire off in the end.


    The old man stared at Ronia fortress while muttering to no one in particular, ¡°¡­Did a Saint descend here or something?¡±


    A god breaking off a fragment of themselves to give birth to an existence, all for the purpose of their entertainment ¨C such beings were called Saints, or Saintesses.


    Since they couldn¡¯t remember or weren¡¯t aware of the reasons for their existence, almost none of them had any inklings of who they were.


    ¡°It would be nice if that¡¯s indeed the case.¡±


    The war between vampires and humanity had persisted for the past several millennia.


    As time continued to pass, the forces of the undead monsters began finding craftier and craftier ways to infiltrate the society of the living. So, it would be great to have a figure like a Saint or Saintess acting as the rallying point in the ongoing efforts to stop those monsters.


    The old man smiled wryly.


    He was beginning to hold baseless hopes as his own demise crept ever closer. The death of a single vampire couldn¡¯t possibly herald the advent of a new Saint after all.


    ¡°Dispatch the Priests, healers and apothecaries to the fortress. Prioritise healing the citizens, and when they are finished doing that, give the convicts the opportunity to survive.¡±


    It didn¡¯t matter whether or not the convicts and slaves were killed off. However, the safety of the regular citizens here still worried the old man.


    ¡°Understood, your majesty.¡±


    The Paladin replied and bowed deeply.


    ¡°We shall head back,¡± the old man said while turning around. He mounted a sturdy warhorse just as another Paladin addressed him.


    ¡°¡­But your majesty, the Seventh Imperial Prince should be there as well.¡±


    He was asking if the old man wanted to stop by and meet the boy before leaving.


    However, the old man¡¯s expression crumbled at that inquiry. He glared at the Paladin as if he had run into a mortal enemy. ¡°I don¡¯t have any reason to see a foolish child who keeps insulting the memories of his own mother. Without a doubt, he must¡¯ve been hiding within the feudal lord¡¯s residence, cowering away in fear.¡±


    It¡¯d be a relief if the boy didn¡¯t sh*t his pants during the chaos.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving. I¡¯ll listen to Harman¡¯s report on that subject matter at a later stage. Summon him back to the Imperial Palace so that I can grill him for more detailed information.¡±


    ¡°Understood, your majesty.¡±


    Indeed, this old man was none other than the Holy Emperor of the Theocratic Empire, the great hero who killed Necromancer King Amon fifty years ago.


    Kelt Olfolse took one last look at Ronia fortress before setting off.


    ¡°My rotten little grandson.¡±


    Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse made his way back to the imperial palace. About two weeks later, Paladin Harman showed up to submit his account of what happened.


    Inside the imperial audience chamber so huge that it could qualify as a royal castle on its own right, Harman bowed deeply towards Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse sitting on the throne.


    The Paladin then opened his mouth.


    ¡°His highness the Imperial Prince was the one who hunted the Vampire Count, your majesty.¡±


    The Holy Emperor¡¯s mouth clamped shut after hearing this.


    < 26. Merry Christmas! -5 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 41

    Paladins were standing in a line on either side of the imperial palace¡¯s audience chamber. And towards the rear, the high-ranking members of the clergy, the scions of the Imperial Family, and lastly, many important nobles could be found in large crowds.


    They had all congregated here today to listen to the strange occurrence on the ¡®Land of the Dead Spirits¡¯. However, the things Harman said just now wasn¡¯t exactly what they had been expecting to hear.


    The nobles¡¯ eyes showed their shock despite their lips being firmly shut.


    ¡°¡­His Highness the Imperial Prince hunted a vampire?¡±


    ¡°There was an Imperial Prince dispatched to the Land of the Dead Spirits?¡±


    Various whispers could be heard being exchanged within the nobles¡¯ ranks. Meanwhile, the scions of the Imperial Family were exchanging glances with each other. They began shaking their heads to indicate that it wasn¡¯t them.


    The Holy Emperor finally opened his mouth, ¡°¡­When you say the Imperial Prince, could you perhaps be referring to the seventh, Allen Olfolse?¡±


    The nobles wouldn¡¯t dare openly smile in front of the emperor, so they chose to quietly shake their heads instead. Although, they couldn¡¯t prevent a faint grin from leaking out as if they heard an amusing joke just now.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince?


    There¡¯s no way that¡¯s true, then. It¡¯d be a relief if that boy didn¡¯t wet his pants in some corner of a room somewhere.


    ¡°That is indeed so, your majesty.¡±


    Harman¡¯s response caused the brows of the gathered nobles to furrow deeply. Even the Imperial Family¡¯s sons were narrowing their eyes.


    Paladin Harman slowly raised his head and observed the emperor¡¯s dignified countenance. The latter¡¯s lips were firmly shut and his eyes wide open after being rendered completely speechless.


    Harman could more or less guess what the emperor was thinking about right at this moment. For obvious reasons, the latter couldn¡¯t believe it.


    A foolish Imperial Prince who got himself banished for trying to lay his hands on a lady-in-waiting managed to hunt down a vampire? Even Harman would¡¯ve found the notion quite ridiculous if he hadn¡¯t witnessed it himself.


    ¡°Harman. Up until this very moment, I always saw you as a man more virtuous than any other. However, it seems that I was mistaken. Right now, you¡­¡± The Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse frowned deeply, hints of displeasure clearly written large on his face. ¡°Have you decided to throw in your lot with him? With that rotten basta¡­¡±


    ¡°A-hem¡­¡±


    A fake cough resounded out from beside the holy emperor. An old man in his mid to late seventies wearing a white robe stood there while propping up a crosier.


    He was probably trying to stop the holy emperor from blurting out a word that might lower his station.


    Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse glanced at the old man, the archbishop, in unhappiness before shifting his attention back to Harman. ¡°Could you perhaps have decided to support the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s cause?¡±


    Although he couldn¡¯t openly say it, the emperor was asking if the Paladin had really chosen to sponge off the seventh prince.


    Harman could only smile wryly just then.


    ¡®Indeed, blood is thicker than water, is that it?¡¯


    That boy was definitely the grandson of this emperor; he surely inherited the same fiery blood of the old man. The Holy Emperor¡¯s current attitude was an exact copy of the amnesiac Imperial Prince.


    ¡°No, your majesty. I merely speak of the truth.¡±


    Kelt Olfolse wordlessly stared at Harman kneeling below. The latter¡¯s eyes which were filled with unshakeable faith, showing not a single sign of wavering.


    This Paladin used to protect Yulisia in the past. Such a man shouldn¡¯t be harbouring any ¡®untoward¡¯ thoughts.


    ¡°¡­Archbishop. What is your take on this matter?¡±


    Harman shifted his gaze over to the archbishop, Raphael Astoria.


    He was considered to be one of the ten most influential individuals in the whole Theocratic Empire. And unfortunately, the Seventh Imperial Prince had a prior record of attempting to rape this man¡¯s granddaughter.


    ¡°Such a thing is simply impossible, your majesty.¡±


    His declaration basically condemned Harman as a liar.


    The Paladin gritted his teeth. This wasn¡¯t surprising at all.


    He already knew that it wouldn¡¯t be a cakewalk to stand by a mangnani prince like that boy in the first place.


    ¡°However¡­¡±


    Raphael Astoria suddenly began gnashing his teeth.


    He must¡¯ve felt his rage boil over after recalling the sight of the Seventh Imperial Prince trying to assault his precious granddaughter.


    Despite this, he suppressed his emotions and continued on.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ve received a report that Ronia¡¯s citizens are now supporting the Seventh Imperial Prince. It seems that some have even taken the action by calling him the Saint as well.¡±


    It was then, someone chortled inside the audience chamber. The origin of that noise was from where the Imperial Princes and their retainers were.


    The culprit, the Third Imperial Prince, recognised his slip-up and hurriedly clamped his mouth shut. He swallowed back his dry saliva and lowered his head to acknowledge his mistake.


    Raphael Astoria carried on from where he left off. ¡°It is also an undeniable fact that your majesty did detect a bizarre aura emanating from Ronia fortress. As such, there is a need to investigate this matter thoroughly.¡±


    Kelt Olfolse replied. ¡°Are you implying that the aura back then was the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s power?¡±


    ¡°No, your majesty. I merely wish to prevent the Seventh Imperial Prince from snatching up any accomplishments that belong to someone else.¡±


    ¡°¡­I see,¡± the Holy Emperor responded before fixing his gaze on Harman. ¡°Whether your report is false or not has not been verified yet, but it is indeed true that you made great contributions in the defense of Ronia fortress. Therefore¡­¡±


    The emperor raised his hand slightly and made a declaration.


    ¡°The current feudal lord of Ronia, Viscount Jenald Ripang, shall receive the title of Count. Paladin Harman Daian shall be bestowed with a small but adequate territory in the north-western region. And finally¡­¡±


    He lowered his hand before letting a heavy silence stew the area for a while.


    The emperor¡¯s eyes were closed inside this silence. He then softly spoke as if he was talking to himself.


    ¡°¡­I shall reduce the term of banishment for the Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen Olfolse. The moment he recovers to full health, he is to be brought back to the imperial palace immediately. I shall converse with him in person.¡±


    Archbishop Raphael Astoria¡¯s brows rose up higher at that declaration. He seemed to have something to say, but the Holy Emperor raised his hand once more and stopped the clergyman.


    ¡°Any objections? Harman?¡±


    ¡°No, I do not, your majesty.¡±


    Harman Daian bowed again in response to the Holy Emperor¡¯s question.


    **


    The next location Harman sought out was an isolated room situated in a deep, dark corner of the imperial palace. He opened the door and stepped inside, only to be greeted by a familiar voice.


    ¡°¡­Is it you, Harman?¡±


    ¡°It is indeed I, your highness.¡±


    Even though it was still the middle of the day, the windows had all been boarded up, causing the interior of the room to be dark. Harman lit up a lone candle on the candlestick standing tall on a shelf nearby.


    A gentle light illuminated a young man sitting on the edge of the bed, his whole figure wrapped tightly in bloodied bandages.


    Although it was not easy to guess the young man¡¯s age, based on either his physique or voice, he could¡¯ve been anywhere between mid to late twenties.


    ¡°Have you been well, your highness the First Imperial Prince?¡±


    This was Yulisia¡¯s first son, as well as the elder brother of the Seventh Imperial Prince, Luan Olfolse.


    The young man glared straight at Harman and replied, ¡°Been well, you say? Hahaha, you certainly do know how to jest, Harman. Surely, you know as well as the others what my current state is like. Indeed, technically I¡¯m still alive. However, I¡¯m now living a fate of suffering intense pain borne out of a horrifying curse. It wouldn¡¯t be strange for me to die tomorrow, or even today.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The First Imperial Prince, Luan Olfolse, had his heart struck by a curse.


    The demonic energy penetrated into his actual, physical heart and had taken root there. The curse continued to shave away at his lifeforce even now.


    His skin rotted as all of his senses throughout his body gradually became paralysed. He had already lost the sense of touch, smell, as well as taste. The remaining two ¨C sight and hearing ¨C were slowly deteriorating with time, and it wouldn¡¯t be strange if he lost them at any moment now.


    And since the demonic energy was hiding in his heart, treating him was deemed impossible. This meant that he was gradually turning into a living corpse.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been informed that you tried to stand up for the Seventh Imperial Prince.¡±


    ¡°That is indeed so, your¡­¡±


    Luan suddenly reached up and grabbed Harman¡¯s collars. The young man¡¯s glare burned fiercely. ¡°You dared to speak up for that trash who caused our mother¡¯s death, the trash who constantly tramples on her legacy? You fool! Are you insane?! What¡¯s wrong? Have you finally realised that I¡¯m not long for this world and decided to throw in your lot with that bastard? Hahaha! If so, then you¡¯ve chosen poorly. A mangnani like that can never become the next Holy Emp¡­!¡±


    The First Imperial Prince flinched in surprise and let go of the Paladin¡¯s collars. Although he exerted his strength only for a brief moment, droplets of blood already began falling down from his hands.


    Luan gritted his teeth and began massaging his forehead. ¡°¡­I was out of line. Forgive me. You¡¯re not a man to stoop so low after all.¡±


    ¡°The Seventh Imperial Prince is not to blame, your highness. I was responsible for Lady Yulisia¡¯s passing. If only I remained to protect you back then¡­¡±


    ¡°Do remember that it was I who gave you that order. I ordered you to bring us extra support, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°Even if it was your command, I still failed to protect you, your highness. It¡¯s the same thing as having run away from my duties because of my cowardice.¡±


    ¡°If you hadn¡¯t brought along the reinforcements needed back then, both I and the Seventh Imperial Prince wouldn¡¯t have survived.¡±


    The vampire targeted Yulisia and both of her children. If either the First or the Seventh showed any signs of escaping, then the undead creature would¡¯ve hunted them down first.


    Since that was the case, the correct decision was to send Harman away and seek help from more Paladins. Of course, Yulisia was already dead and the First Prince was struck by the curse of ¡®leprosy¡¯ by the time they arrived, but still¡­


    Harman cautiously spoke up, ¡°Your highness. Do you¡­¡±


    Luan shifted his gaze back to the Paladin.


    ¡°¡­Do you hate the Seventh Imperial Prince that much?¡±

 Chapter 42

    ¡°¡­Isn¡¯t that obvious? Why do you ask something so apparent?¡±


    Luan tilted his head. He couldn¡¯t figure out the intent behind that question.


    Harman continued on. ¡°What if the Seventh Imperial Prince has been hiding his true self all along? What if he accepted the fate of being treated like trash for the sake of Lady Yulisia? So that he could¡­ raise sufficient strength. He¡­ acted like a mangnani, and¡­ deliberately got himself banished¡­¡±


    The first prince looked at Harman with a pair of pitying and sympathetic eyes. ¡°It seems that dealing with that fool for too long has tainted even your mind, Harman.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°The road must¡¯ve been long and tiresome. You must be feeling fatigued from the recent events, as well. Not to mention, dealing with that fool would¡¯ve been exhausting, too. You should take your well-deserved rest.¡±


    It was exactly as Harman thought. No one believed him. Well, all the things the Seventh Imperial Prince had done were beyond acceptable, after all.


    However, the Paladin didn¡¯t give up.


    The young Seventh Imperial Prince was still polishing the dagger of revenge even now. No matter how much strength you shored up, it would crumble down quite easily if no one provided a sturdy pillar of support.


    A pillar, a necessary backer for the boy, simply had to be found somehow, somewhere.


    Harman sighed under his breath.


    He planned out a new itinerary and quickly headed back to the Land of the Dead Spirits.


    **


    Several weeks had gone by since the end of the ¡®Tide of Death¡¯, yet the Ronia fiefdom as a whole still hadn¡¯t regained its normalcy.


    Gril frowned deeply as he organised the corpses that had thawed out from the ice.


    ¡°Just for how long am I supposed to do this?¡±


    He was a farmer, not some corpse caretaker or some such. However, he couldn¡¯t voice his complaints too loudly, because¡­


    ¡°Fuu-wuu¡­¡±


    The feudal lord of Ronia was personally overseeing the disposal of the undead corpses along with his knights, that¡¯s why.


    ¡°How did a personage such as him get demoted to this place? How?¡±


    Gril could only click his tongue in dismay. While he was doing that, his fellow villager, Hans the hunter, sneaked closer to him.


    ¡°Gril! Hurry, my man. Take this¡­!¡±


    Hans pulled a piece of paper out from his inner pocket and forcibly shoved it inside Gril¡¯s clothing.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s something that came out of an undead. Hurry up before the guards say something!¡±


    ¡°What on earth¡­¡±


    Hans seemed to have already lined his pockets well, since he was carefully putting away a bulging pouch within his clothes.


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, there¡¯re plenty of valuable things to be found here!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Gril sneaked a glance at the soldiers currently engaged in their duties before taking a closer look at the piece of paper Hans had given him. As he was never taught how to read, he had no idea what was written on this thing. But regardless, the paper itself seemed to be the luxurious sort that the nobles often used.


    It seemed old with the way it was torn, and the ink blotted and smudged. That only made it look more valuable, though.


    Gril carefully tucked this scrap of paper back in his inner pocket.


    He still had no clue what this was, but he figured that it¡¯d be a good idea to ask Charlotte to have the Imperial Prince take a look at it at a later date.


    And it¡¯d be really great if the item could fetch him some coin, too.


    Gril smacked his lips in anticipation and returned to his job of disposing the corpses.


    **


    (Back to 1st person POV.)


    ¡°As I thought, it tastes really great!¡±


    I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the feast placed on top of the table right before my eyes.


    The first thing I did was to use a spoon to take a sip of the soup, and slowly cut into the slab of steak with my amateurish knife skills. Then, I brought the chunk of meat into my mouth.


    Aaah, I¡¯m getting all choked up with emotions here. That¡¯s how happy I felt right now.


    This was the sense of satisfaction I was longing for!


    This sense of happiness! It wasn¡¯t something I could feel back when I worked as a gravekeeper in the monastery.


    ¡°¡­Not being able to move freely is still a bummer, though.¡±


    I took a look at my own body. Currently, my arms, legs, whole torso, and even my head were all wrapped up in swathes of bandages.


    It was like looking at a mummy, really.


    According to the Priest in charge of taking care of me, I¡¯d been in a coma for the past three weeks or so.


    It¡¯s a case of divinity exhaustion, your highness. It was severe enough that a normal person would have ended up as a cripple, but¡­ it seems that you¡¯re in a stable condition now. Just how much divinity did you use anyway, your highness?


    Apparently, I was fed a combination of holy water and various medicines during my three-week-long coma. Even then, my bones hadn¡¯t fully healed yet. There was some residual mental fatigue to worry about too, which was why I needed to rest for a good while longer. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been told anyway.


    Whatever the case might have been, it also meant that I now didn¡¯t need to partake in the community service work of sorting out Ronia fiefdom¡¯s situation.


    You could say it was a pretty good result overall.


    ¡°Are you happy with how it tastes?¡±


    I glanced to my side after hearing that question.


    Charlotte stood next to the bed, staring at me. Her face remained emotionless as usual, but her eyes at least seemed to be filled with anticipation.


    To me, it felt like she was waiting for my honest impression on the meal she had painstakingly prepared.


    I lightly waved the spoon around and replied, ¡°It tastes freaking good, actually.¡±


    ¡°¡­Thank you.¡±


    Charlotte smiled faintly.


    Upon seeing her once more, I could only frown somewhat.


    This kid, no matter how I looked, she was definitely not an ordinary person.


    Let¡¯s say that the witch named Morgana was weak because she ran out of her demonic energy reserve. Even if that¡¯s the case, the event with the vampire would obviously be a whole different story altogether.


    The feat of blocking the Vampire Count¡¯s breath attack with nothing but a steel shield was a heroic sight, something that you¡¯d only get to see in some legendary tales.


    Sure, both Gril and I helped back then, but here¡¯s the thing ¨C the strength to withstand that attack for even a few seconds all by herself simply couldn¡¯t have belonged to a regular girl of her age.


    ¡­Your highness, did you know about this girl?


    Numerous Priests, apothecaries, and healers were dispatched to Ronia fiefdom. My treatment, as well as Charlotte¡¯s, was taken up by the most skilled of that bunch, a healer directly employed by the Imperial Family.


    This child is definitely not ordinary, your highness. At this rate, it¡¯ll be rather difficult to classify her body as a human¡¯s, sir.


    That was the conclusion the healer arrived at after examining Charlotte. She wasn¡¯t just ¡®not ordinary¡¯, but difficult to classify as a human being too?


    By any chance, was this child exposed to both divinity and demonic energy at some point?


    Yeah, that did happen.


    Charlotte ate zombie rats back in her village and ingested demonic energy. And then, she got thrown into a puddle made out of divinity.


    In such cases, your highness, what would normally happen is that you¡¯ll either die, become disabled, or end up as a cripple. However, I¡¯ve seen one single case similar to what we have here. It happened about fifty years ago when his majesty the Holy Emperor fought the Necromancer King Amon, and fell into a comatose state.


    I scooped up the spoonful of soup and continued to recall what the healer told me.


    Back then, his majesty broke through the limit that all humans are born with. The collision of demonic energy and divinity destroyed his body, and yet it was rebuilt again. That process had been truly bizarre to behold. It was as if his physical body was going through an evolution.


    Through demonic energy, the emperor experienced death, then he was revived through divinity. His bones were crushed and hardened, his skin rotted away before new ones grew out, he vomited out dead blood as new blood replaced it, and then¡­


    Even though his exterior is the same as us, he had become a superhuman that exceeds the limits of a regular human body. The reason why his majesty was able to defeat Necromancer Amon was precisely because he ended up acquiring that superhuman physique.


    Apparently, the great hero Kelt Olfolse was Superman.


    I stared openly at Charlotte and at the same time, activated the ¡®Mind¡¯s Eye¡¯.


    [Name: Charlotte


    Age: 16


    Traits: Cooking, hard working, extreme concentration, sloppy swordsmanship, superhuman physique, a versatile talent.


    I¡¯ll work hard so that I can assist him!]


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    Charlotte tilted her head and touched her face, seemingly wondering ¡®Do I have something on my face?¡¯


    ¡°¡­So, the mythical total rebirth of one¡¯s body only seen in xianxia novels do happen in this world, too.¡±


    It seemed that this girl was destined to become a hero or something later on.


    Just as I decided to return to my steak and finish it as soon as possible, someone knocked on the door and entered.


    ¡°Please pardon my intrusion, your highness the Seventh Imperial Prince.¡±


    Paladin Harman stepped inside. He now observed proper etiquette which was rather different from before. I was wondering why I couldn¡¯t see this dude for the past few days or so, yet here we were.


    ¡°Okay, so? What¡¯s up?¡±


    Surely he wasn¡¯t here to tell me that I gotta go back to the monastery and resume my role as its gravekeeper. Or maybe worse, offer my services to Ronia fiefdom still in the middle of reorganising itself, right?


    I¡¯d definitely decline such an invitation.


    Seriously, he wouldn¡¯t force a patient still wrapped up in bandages to do manual labour, right?!


    However, what Harman said next was completely out of my expectations.


    ¡°His Majesty the Holy Emperor is summoning you, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­?¡±


    ¡°His majesty, Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse, has issued an order of your immediate return, your highness.¡±


    I ended up dropping the fork in my hand after he repeated his words.


    < 027. Imperial Prince is Going Home -1 (Part One and Two) >Fin.

 Chapter 43

    Liu Bei had to visit Zhuge Liang three times and kneel before the latter¡¯s residence just to reel in the famed tactician to his side.


    That¡¯s right, even someone like Liu Bei would no doubt be earnest in his efforts and do his utmost best to convince Zhuge Liang. And such dedication did move the latter so much that he had step out of his residence.


    However¡­


    ¡°Your highness.¡±


    When the attempts go beyond the level of sincerity and straight into stubborn persistence, it¡¯d be only normal for you to get pissed off about the whole damn thing.


    Honestly, Liu Bei wouldn¡¯t have displayed that legendary patience of his when visiting Zhuge Liang three times just for laughs, now would he?


    ¡°His majesty is¡­¡±


    I shoved Harman outside the monastery¡¯s door after he showed up yet again.


    ¡°He¡¯s summo¡­¡±


    ¡°Charlotte, go and fetch me some salt!¡±


    She went and brought some salt in a small bucket after I shouted out loudly. I couldn¡¯t help but ruefully smack my lips at that. Although salt wasn¡¯t all that expensive, it was still a bit of waste regardless.


    But as long as I could stop this damn Paladin from talking, then¡­!


    I emptied the whole bucket of salt on the man.


    ¡°¡­ning you, your highness.¡±


    However, this damn guy still finished what he wanted to say. His eyes staring at me were twitching noticeably.


    Initially, I figured this wouldn¡¯t last long. I used the excuse of not feeling well to send him away a few times. But then, he began showing up here not just once, but three times in a day!


    During breakfast, lunch, and then supper ¨C just before I¡¯d sit down for my meal, he¡¯d show and start muttering, ¡°¡­back to the imperial palace.¡± To make matters worse, he¡¯d always open his mouth in his trademark deadpan face just as I pick up my spoon to dig into my food.


    You try listening to that for a month. How would you feel afterwards?!


    This sour mood I felt caused the previously-delicious meal to no longer taste as good, and every time I took a bite, it felt like indigestion would hit me in the face again and again.


    Hell, he¡¯d even stand outside the window near my bed and glare straight through it just as I¡¯m about to hit the sack, too. It was already a small mercy that his Term*nator mug hadn¡¯t shown up to torment me in one of my nightmares so far.


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, he¡¯s a bloody T-800! Seriously!¡±


    ¡°¡­Did you send him away again?¡±


    As Charlotte placed the plates and cutlery on the table, she asked me this question.


    I simply waved my hand dismissively at her. ¡°Forget about it and let¡¯s just eat.¡±


    Despite nodding her head, she still glanced at the door. I figured that this kind-hearted country girl was concerned about Harman outside.


    ¡°¡­Go and give him something to eat, then.¡±


    She nodded again before placing a couple of her handmade sandwiches on a plate. After opening the door, she presented them towards Harman, who was still standing outside like some kind of a log.


    ¡°I thank you.¡± He gladly received the plate and shifted his gaze over to me to open his mouth once more, ¡°His majesty is summo¡­¡±


    I slammed the door shut right away.


    After the ¡®Witch Morgana¡¯ incident, as well as the Ronia fortress adventure, I found myself with not much to do in the monastery. Indeed, I was finally enjoying some peace and quiet!


    About three months had gone by since the winter¡¯s onset. The passing of time brought the seasonal plague to its close and allowed the warmth of spring to approach us. I wasn¡¯t stupid enough to give up on this peaceful and calm lifestyle.


    After finishing my meal, I immersed myself in reading the grimoires until supper time.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡±


    I was brushing up on the magic theory of the Imperial Family related to divinity control.


    [Author: Raphael Astoria.]


    ¡°¡­This dude, he must be a religious quack or something.¡±


    Written in the book was a theory on divinity control that easily rivalled the Necromancer¡¯s method. My issue with this tome was that it seemed to be filled to the brim with this over the top adulation of the goddess bordering on unhealthy obsession.


    Sure, I did manage to make that vampire eat a good one all thanks to this book, but even then, it just left a sour taste in my mouth.


    ¡°¡­However, even this book doesn¡¯t say how I can properly control Amon¡¯s skull.¡±


    I was in a need to find a way to control a far greater amount of divinity in the future, somehow.


    I thought about the skull I acquired back in Ronia fiefdom. It was one heck of an ominous-looking mountain goat¡¯s skull, that¡¯s for sure.


    For the purpose of testing it, I went to an uninhabited open field, put the skull on, and used my skills. That¡¯s when I learned that I didn¡¯t need to offer up a prayer or even gather extra divinity. Quite literally, I could spam my skills without worrying about cooldown time.


    Its option of amplifying divinity indeed proved to be outstanding. But my issue was¡­


    ¡°The hangover is no bloody joke, man.¡±


    The after-effects of using the skull was too severe. It did amplify my divinity, as well as my healing factor for a limited time. However, I ended up collapsing from divinity depletion afterwards.


    Every time that happened, the healer who remained behind in Ronia fortress had to hop over here. While doing his best to save my butt, he asked me this.


    Just what exactly are you doing to deplete your divinity to this extent, your highness?! This happened not just once or twice, either! And to think that you¡¯d deplete yourself so much that you could even end up as a cripple¡­


    Thanks to my experiments, I had to stay confined to bed for three or maybe four days in total.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t going to work¡­ If using a couple of skills as a test run leaves me in that state, I have to find a better way.¡±


    With this idea in mind, I shifted my attention over to the other grimoires.


    [Divinity and Resuscitation: a Study on Revival. Author: Raphael Astoria.]


    This fella, he seemed to be knowledgeable on a pretty wide range of topics, didn¡¯t he?


    It looked to me that he had researched not just divinity control, but even the various healing techniques in-depth as well. The book contained several theories based on magic spells recorded in various myths.


    ¡°But why is it so thick, though?¡±


    It was as thick as two encyclopedias stacked together, actually. I could only click my tongue at that. When I was about to reach out to it, someone addressed me from behind.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be retiring for the night, Imperial Prince-nim.¡±


    I looked behind to see Charlotte wearing a substantial winter robe and a scarf bowing down towards me.


    I muttered out my reply, ¡°Ah, it¡¯s that late already?¡±


    The day had already darkened considerably when I looked outside the window.


    Charlotte stared at me for a little while before cautiously opening her mouth, ¡°Pardon me, but¡­ will you be heading back to the imperial palace?¡±


    ¡°Why would I go back to such a dangerous place?!¡±


    I still didn¡¯t know who sent that witch Morgana here. And not only that, the emperor must still be pretty displeased with his grandson, too. You could easily tell that by him forcing me to provide ¡®voluntary¡¯ service to Ronia fiefdom.


    Going there would surely provide me with some answers. However, it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that I¡¯d receive the cold shoulder treatment if I went there.


    The fellow Imperial Princes wouldn¡¯t just look down on me with cold and sneering gazes, but also with murderous glares while painting a bullseye on my back.


    ¡°A dangerous place¡­¡±


    Charlotte murmured to herself. Then, she formed a wry grin and bowed again.


    ¡°Hey, be careful on your way home.¡±


    I accompanied her on the way to the monastery¡¯s gates. That was where I discovered Harman standing around, waiting by the road leading to the village below the hill.


    I tutted loudly while looking at the guy. What a stalker he was.


    Still¡­


    ¡°I shall escort you home.¡±


    ¡­It was commendable that he waited for Charlotte and escorted her home, ensuring her safety at night. I watched as she and Harman disappeared down the road.


    **


    (TL: in 3rd person POV.)


    After returning to her home in the village, Charlotte started undoing the scarf, eventually changing into a comfortable nightwear. Even as she did this, her eyes remained narrowed in contemplation.


    ¡°Danger¡­¡±


    The Imperial Prince mentioned that it was dangerous.


    As she suspected, the imperial palace must¡¯ve been a dangerous place for him.


    The ones responsible for the prince¡¯s banishment, were they still targeting the boy¡¯s life even now?


    It could very well be that the prince knew about this, and that explained his strong reluctance to go back there.


    She had no way of knowing the ills troubling him. If only he let her in and shared a little bit of his honest thoughts with her. That would have certainly been wonderful.


    ¡°But¡­ would I be of any help even if I listened to what¡¯s troubling him?¡±


    Charlotte clenched her fists.


    She recalled the figure of the Imperial Prince confronting the Vampire Count back in Ronia fortress.


    The knights emitting bright light appeared to suppress the vampire. Then, the prince oh-so easily blew away the head of the suppressed undead.


    While all of this was happening, she was unable to do anything.


    There was little doubt that the imperial palace should be littered with people wielding devastating strength capable of threatening the prince¡¯s life. But here she was, a child who believed that she could somehow protect him.


    ¡®I need to put in more effort.¡¯


    She wasn¡¯t good enough yet.


    Indeed, she needed to put in more effort.


    Before she stepped outside her room, she noticed a piece of document resting on a shelf. As if it had been abandoned for decades, it was stained and caked with blood and dirt.


    The ink had been smudged to the point of the letters being hard to make out. Charlotte saw this paper and could only tilt her head. She stepped outside the room and saw Gril and Harman chatting with each other.


    ¡°Gril, do you have any thoughts of entering the imperial palace?¡±


    Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she heard this.


    The imperial palace? Gril¡­? Why?

 Chapter 44

    Gril went past the state of fluster and straight into freaking out. ¡°Y-you mean, ¡®that¡¯ imperial palace, sir?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been informed that you provided crucial aid to his highness when he hunted down the Vampire Count, as well as during the Witch Morgana incident earlier. As you¡¯re a representative of the empire¡¯s citizens, it is only correct that your accomplishments are properly recognised.¡±


    ¡°T-that isn¡¯t right! I haven¡¯t done anything so grand!¡±


    Gril¡¯s denial only made Harman shake his head.


    How could he even say that he hadn¡¯t done anything?


    Judging from the recent events, the farmer went on to hunt thirty-odd zombies as well as the King of Gluttony. He then even managed to corner Morgana the witch afterwards. And according to the Imperial Prince¡¯s own testimony, this supposed farmer even defended against the vampire¡¯s breath with a mere steel shield too.


    These series of feats were almost too good to be true.


    ¡®Not only that, even his daughter is extraordinary.¡¯


    Charlotte even knew the imperial swordsmanship. Without a doubt, this Gril was a guardian knight sent by an as-yet identified noble house to protect the imperial prince.


    If this arrangement was put in place with good intentions, then all was great but if not, then it was Harman¡¯s duty to stop this man. To get to the bottom of the matter, Gril simply had to be brought to the imperial palace.


    Charlotte alternated her gaze between Harman and Gril, an awkward expression floating upon her face. She could tell that Gril was deeply troubled by what was happening.


    ¡°¡­Excuse me, Gril? May I ask what this is?¡±


    So, she decided to butt in, hoping that she could help him out somehow.


    ¡°Mm? Ah, that¡­?¡± Gril lightly scratched his head after spotting the aged document she was currently holding. ¡°That thing showed itself while we were taking care of the undead remains back in Ronia fiefdom. Mister Hans gave it to me, and since I figured it could fetch us some coin, I brought it back home with us. I¡¯m not sure of the details, however.¡±


    ¡°¡­You shouldn¡¯t have done that, Gril. If you carelessly handle items found on an exterminated undead, it can bring about a powerful curse on you.¡±


    ¡°H-haha, haha¡­ y-you think so too? You know, since I didn¡¯t know what it was, I was thinking of asking you to show that thing to the Imperial Prince-nim, so that he can check it out later.¡±


    Something like what Charlotte said would occasionally happen. Items that zombies or skeletons used back when they were still alive would sometimes drop after they were defeated. And oftentimes, random villagers or travellers would end up picking those items up.


    However, most of the time, those recovered items would be plain and ordinary. But in some rare circumstances, the recovered items could carry a curse.


    Charlotte frowned as she stared at the document again. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t seem to be a cursed item. She then proceeded to read the biggest letters that were still legible on the document, ¡°Count He¡­ Hera¡­ Herai..?¡±


    Harman¡¯s brows shot up high when he heard Charlotte¡¯s voice. He then quickly walked over to her to take a closer look at the document in her hand.


    The document that seemed to be abandoned and forgotten for a very long time just so happened to be a certificate of authentication, one that featured a genuine emperor¡¯s official seal, proving that the one holding this paper was a noble.


    And this certificate, it used to belong to¡­


    ¡°Haha, hahaha¡­ It¡¯s nothing to worry about. W-wait, now that I think about it¡­ Aha, you must be starving right now, Sir Harman. My good neighbour shared some of their fresh bread, so how about we have some¡­?¡±


    Gril worked suspiciously hard to hide the document away.


    ¡®Oops. I can¡¯t boast about something I pilfered from a corpse like some dummy in front of a Paladin, now can I?¡¯


    Harman watched this scene play out while standing there dumbfounded, his expression somewhat dazed.


    ¡®The¡­ Heraiz family?¡¯


    That noble household was renowned for their skill with the sword. Their undying loyalty to the Theocratic Empire was the stuff of legends, too.


    The family also happened to be in charge of the Land of the Dead Spirits fifty years ago, and tragically, the whole household was massacred during the bitter battle against Necromancer King Amon. They had become a near-forgotten footnote in the annals of history.


    Harman continued to dazedly stare at both Charlotte and Gril.


    ¡°Is something the matter¡­?¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    The farmer and the ¡®nun¡¯ began tilting their heads in puzzlement.


    ¡®I see¡­ So that¡¯s what happened.¡¯


    Harman slowly rubbed his face.


    These two¡­ they were none other than the remaining survivors of the Heraiz bloodline, their true descendants. Were they the unknown noble house supporting the Seventh Imperial Prince?


    ¡®Was this the true reason why Charlotte knew the imperial swordsmanship?¡¯


    Everything seemed to make sense now.


    Gril hid his true identity, and while living on this Land of the Dead Spirits, he faithfully carried out his duties and protected the north. His daughter, meanwhile, was protecting, supporting, and serving the prince from the boy¡¯s side.


    Despite being forgotten, and with fifty years of lengthy history going past them, their loyalty to the Holy Emperor and his family still remained strong to this day.


    ¡®How happy would his majesty be when he gets to meet the Heraiz family¡¯s descendants after all this time?¡¯


    Without a doubt, the emperor would bestow a great reward upon them.


    However, this was not a decision that Harman could make on his own.


    ¡®There must¡¯ve been a reason for them to hide their identity.¡¯


    It¡¯d be too much of a waste to let the world forget about this family, however.


    Gril kept his true identity a secret. There was the chance that the reason why he didn¡¯t openly support the Seventh Imperial Prince could be that he wished to let the family¡¯s duties end with his generation.


    Even if that was the case¡­


    Harman¡¯s gaze shifted over to Charlotte.


    ¡­This child still wished to serve the Imperial Prince.


    Just this fact alone was enough for this family to be recognised.


    Harman broke his silence, ¡°I shall write a letter of recommendation.¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    ¡°How about sending your daughter to the imperial palace?¡±


    Gril¡¯s jaw nearly hit the floor, ¡°O-oh my goodness! As a maidservant working in the palace?¡±


    Harman shook his head. ¡°No. I¡¯d like her to join us as a knight¡­ Wait, as a Paladin, actually.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?!¡±


    ¡°I shall also inform His Majesty the Holy Emperor and urge him to bestow her with a suitable peerage. If you wish, I can also write a letter of recommendation to the Academy as well.¡±


    There shouldn¡¯t be any obstacles for this. They were from a ruined noble family, after all. Since they weren¡¯t originally commoners to begin with, the other nobles shouldn¡¯t be that vocal in their opposition, either.


    Harman pressed on, ¡°So? How about it?¡±


    Gril forgot what he wanted to say and stared at Charlotte. His lips did bob up and down from sheer mental shock, but from Harman¡¯s point of view, the ¡®farmer¡¯ seemed to be waiting for his daughter¡¯s opinion on the matter, instead.


    With this understanding in mind, he too looked at Charlotte and asked her. ¡°What do you think? If you wish, the imperial swordsmanship will be taught to you properly. It also means that you will become a great help to his highness.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    His words caused her brows to shoot up high. ¡°I can become a great help to Imperial Prince-nim?¡±


    ¡°But of course. You will be bestowed with the title of a Paladin after all. If you want¡­¡± Harman narrowed his eyes. ¡°¡­I¡¯m even willing to hide your true identity and disguise you as a mere nun, maybe even as a maidservant. I¡¯ll lend you my assistance so that you can serve and protect his highness from his side.¡±


    Those words put an end to Charlotte¡¯s hesitation. She nodded and responded back, ¡°However, I¡¯d like to remain by the Imperial Prince-nim¡¯s side.¡±


    It sounded as if she was unwilling to go to the imperial palace without the prince by her side.


    Harman replied to her, ¡°That¡¯s obvious. I¡¯m planning to escort his highness back to the palace no matter what it takes, so you can allay any fears you might have.¡±


    Charlotte formed a slightly troubled expression when she heard Harman. How did their conversation end up going down this route?


    Harman nodded his head, looking even more determined than ever before. He now had more reasons to escort the Seventh Imperial Prince back to the capital.


    Later that night, he wrote a letter and had it delivered to the Theocratic Empire.


    **


    (Back to 1st person POV)


    It had already been two months since the vampire incident.


    The weather remained chilly even then.


    Currently, I was staring helplessly at the bookshelves.


    ¡°¡­I have no choice, do I?¡±


    There simply weren¡¯t enough books here. The grimoires found in the monastery were too limited to satisfy my thirst for knowledge.


    ¡°However, this guy¡­ he sounds like he definitely knows something.¡±


    I stopped reading a grimoire related to healing techniques and took another look at its author.


    [Author: Raphael Astoria.]


    I had seen this name before. After thinking about it for a bit, I began rummaging through other books next, mostly historical records.


    Finally, I found it.


    He was one of the historical figures who stood alongside Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse and fought against the Necromancer King Amon. He was also one of the five archbishops in the Theocratic Empire, too.


    Raphael Astoria ¨C the dude that everyone referred to as the empire¡¯s best when it came to healing techniques and divinity control.


    This guy might be able to provide me with some hints on how I can control a huge amount of divinity without facing a heavy rebound. I mean, surely he must¡¯ve penned other grimoires besides these ones here. Wait, maybe it¡¯d be better to personally talk to him, instead.


    Knock, knock-


    Suddenly, a knocking sound could be heard coming from the door. While still holding the grimoire, I stood up and opened it.


    ¡°¡­I came to escort you, your highness.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    As usual, it was Harman saying the exact same thing.


    However, there was one big difference this time. A big crowd of Paladins and Priests were standing before my eyes. There was that unmistakably huge horse-drawn carriage on standby too.


    Charlotte, kitted out in a maid¡¯s uniform, was looking a bit baffled while shifting her worried gaze in my direction.


    Harman stood in the centre of this crowd and bowed before me.


    ¡°Let us get going, your highness.¡±


    It seemed to me that this guy was done asking me for my opinion.


    I stood still in a daze before looking down. Specifically, at the grimoire written by the author Raphael Astoria still held in my hand.


    ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    My short answer prompted a stunned expression to form on both Harman and Charlotte¡¯s faces. The corners of my lips curled up when I saw their reactions.


    Well, I guessed that going back to the imperial palace was an unavoidable fate for me. Actually, this was probably for the best. Someone like Raphael Astoria probably knew how to control Amon¡¯s skull, that¡¯s for sure.


    < 028. Imperial Prince is Going Home -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 45

    **


    I continued reading the grimoire even though a loud yawn broke out of my mouth. Then, I muttered to myself. ¡°Never guessed that an actual Paladin corps would be dispatched here to fetch me.¡±


    From what I heard, this whole gang was assembled in order to find out the real party responsible for the meritorious deed of hunting the Vampire Count.


    That didn¡¯t mean I should speak the truth, though. I should probably only mention some things that I can say then pepper in some make-beliefs somewhere in the middle and hope that everything would work out fine afterwards.


    ¡°Your highness. You seem to rather enjoy studying magic.¡±


    Harman, sitting next to the sleeping Charlotte leaning against the carriage¡¯s wall, asked me.


    ¡°Mm? Ah, this? You know, it¡¯s kinda fun once I got started, you see.¡±


    The original reason was so that I could increase my strength in order to survive, but in all honesty, I did find the magic of this world really interesting to learn. Plus, the sense of accomplishment I¡¯d get from learning the magic itself was rather extraordinary, so it became a hobby of mine pretty quickly.


    ¡°¡­Isn¡¯t it difficult, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s alright.¡±


    I brushed the topic off and flipped through another page of the considerably thick grimoire. Then, I sneaked a glance at Harman.


    He was looking back at me with a rather meaningful stare.


    It was right then that a knocking sound came from outside the carriage. I opened the wooden window panel and was greeted by a Paladin bowing his head right outside the door.


    ¡°Your highness, we¡¯ve arrived at the capital of the Theocratic Empire, Laurensis.¡±


    Upon hearing this, I opened the door wide and leaned the upper half of my body outside the carriage. I then let out an impressed sigh right afterwards. ¡°Oh-ho¡­!¡±


    Since this was the capital of a religious state, I figured it¡¯d be the city version of a stiff upper lip, the kind that had humourless square streets everywhere. But boy, was I wrong.


    A city so eye-catching and flashy that the medieval ages of Earth could never even hope to match its splendour, was spread out before my view.


    Around it, various small to large villages surrounded the capital. Beyond them were outer walls that easily reached twenty meters in height extending around the capital to protect it from the external forces.


    Despite the tall fortress-like walls, I could clearly see the statue of the goddess located on top of a hill, and beyond that was the Theocratic Empire¡¯s imperial palace, its pointy tip piercing the heavens above.


    The architecture of the structures was truly amazing, simply overflowing with grand scale and sheer beauty. As expected of a capital city that belonged to a fantasy world filled with magic.


    This was the holy land of the faithful, Laurensis; the centre of this empire¡¯s faith where this body was born. And also where my ¡®brothers¡¯ from the Imperial Family were waiting for me.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m getting all tensed up here.¡±


    My muttering brought about a wry grin on Harman¡¯s face.


    The massive outer gates were wide open to allow the travellers and citizens to come in and go as they pleased. We went past the huge steel gates that were at least fifteen metres tall and stepped on the well-laid-out avenues meant for horses and carriages.


    The gazes of numerous tourists and the denizens were directed towards our ride.


    ¡°I guess there isn¡¯t going to be a welcoming party for me, then?¡±


    Now normally, flower petals should be raining down and the empire¡¯s citizens would be lining the sides of the streets to cheer for the triumphant return of the Imperial Prince. At least that¡¯s how things were like in the novels I¡¯ve read. If I was being honest, I did anticipate some sort of a flashy welcoming party, but all of their expressions kind of implied that they had no clue who was even riding in the carriage.


    Harman coughed uncomfortably at my question and formed a troubled expression on his face. ¡°His majesty has never prescribed to such pretensions, and that¡¯s why¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s how much I¡¯m being resented by him, huh.¡±


    I inwardly told myself that it¡¯d already be a huge relief if my grandfather didn¡¯t start nagging me to death the moment we met.


    With these thoughts percolating in my mind, I shifted my gaze outside and observed the city streets. They were spotless and clean. Numerous kids were running around having fun in the markets, all the while the citizens were selling or buying things with bright expressions on their faces. Some men who looked like mercenaries were guffawing about something while holding each other¡¯s shoulders. And the sights of some folks kitted out with spears and shields, probably Paladins patrolling the streets, left me with a pretty deep impression.


    I got some inkling from having met Harman earlier, but well, this guy called the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, must¡¯ve been a wise and benevolent ruler who knew how to lead his subjects splendidly. It was fairly easy to come to this conclusion from all the energetic faces found in the capital¡¯s streets.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t so bad,¡± said I.


    Harman looked at me, and with a smile on his lips, nodded his head.


    I continued on, ¡°It¡¯s great that there are plenty of things to sightsee here.¡±


    ¡°Is that so, your highness?¡±


    The Paladin spoke in a rather pleased tone of voice.


    I had no idea that I¡¯d feel like an amazed tourist despite this place being my ¡®hometown¡¯. I also couldn¡¯t help but wonder what my expression was like right now while taking in the sights of these streets.


    Probably one of an immature little kid, I thought.


    This was how much anticipation and heart-pounding excitement had pervaded into my emotions. Although the distance we had covered wasn¡¯t really all that much, it still felt like I was travelling all around the world.


    Unfortunately, such emotions didn¡¯t last for long.


    ¡°¡­!?¡±


    I reflexively covered up my nose. My innards almost tumbled from the sudden onset of this disgusting and twisted stench. The feeling of sheer displeasure welled up inside me almost uncontrollably.


    After quickly retreating away from the windows, Harman came in closer to pat me on the back. ¡°Are you feeling alright, your highness? Perhaps you¡¯re coming down with motion sickness?¡±


    ¡°¡­Let me ask you something, Harman.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness?¡±


    He tilted his head in pure puzzlement. However, his response only made the corners of my lips quiver. ¡°Could there be¡­ undeads hiding in the capital of the Theocratic Empire?¡±


    His expression instantly hardened upon hearing my question.


    **


    Our group¡¯s march came to a halt in the middle of the street and I stepped out from the carriage. Charlotte woke up from her nap, and along with Harman, stayed very close to me as I made my way forward.


    ¡°This is a Yalua fruit! It¡¯s only worth five bronze coins!¡±


    ¡°Oi, little miss! I¡¯ll discount this thing especially for you, so please buy it!¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! That¡¯s right! I really did it! I confessed to her and she said yes!¡±


    The market place was truly lively. I silently walked on these laughter-filled streets as Harman, Charlotte, and the other Paladins approached me while carefully studying my mood.


    ¡°Your highness, did something happen¡­?¡±


    Harman cautiously asked me, but I paid him no mind. I couldn¡¯t stop myself from moving my legs, all because of this ominous foreboding.


    Soon, we stepped into an alleyway that branched off from the lively market. There were hardly any people walking around here. Various articles of laundry and drying sheets were hung between the narrow alleyway¡¯s walls.


    Despite it being in the middle of a bright day, the shade cast here was pretty dark. It was also quite gloomy and far too quiet for my liking.


    This whole area felt far removed from the lively marketplace found just around the corner.


    I stopped walking here, and with my gaze fixed to our immediate front, I spoke up. ¡°¡­And what could that be?¡±


    There was a beautiful woman.


    A rapturous expression was etched on her face, while her eyes were tightly closed with tears streaming down her cheeks. Just as striking was the gorgeous arrangement of flowers around her severed neck resting on the ground.


    I carefully studied the arrangements of roses as well as her severed head before raising my gaze upwards. There it was, a headless body that I suspected to be hers dangling along on the clothing lines.


    It resembled a dried-up mummy as if all of its blood had been sucked out. The headless body danced around in the winds blowing up there.


    Harman shouted out in sheer surprise, ¡°What is the meaning of¡­?!¡±


    Charlotte averted her gaze at this sight. The Paladins following us from behind also stood still with hardened expressions, their jaws dropping to the floor.


    A heavy silence descended in our midst after none of us managed to escape from the shock of this scene. However, the first one to break this silence by opening her lips was the woman¡¯s severed head.


    -Kkiiiiaaaahk!


    ¡®She¡¯ suddenly opened her eyes, and her eyeballs began frantically searching about the area. When it spotted our group, it then began screeching out. The body-less head was repeatedly opening and shutting its mouth.


    It was an undead; to be more specific, a zombie with only its head remaining.


    I placed my hand on the woman¡¯s head and injected some of my divinity. It began melting down and turned into ashes that scattered away, leaving behind only the bleached skull.


    Since the disgusting stench was still lingering around here, I hurriedly shifted my gaze to scan our vicinity. The creature that killed this woman and turned her into a zombie was still nearby.


    I got up and dashed out of the alleyway.


    ¡°Your highness!¡±


    I summoned my trusty shovel and gripped it tightly.


    Before long, I found myself back in the marketplace. Amongst all the crowds bustling about, my piercing glare singled out the back of a certain individual, a man in his early-to-mid thirties with a striking set of red hair.


    He was walking among the crowd, and yet, he flinched in surprise for some reason before shifting his gaze behind him. I could see his lips bob up and down briefly just then.


    -Looks like I¡¯ve got myself a tail.


    It was right then ¨C the disgusting stench thinned out, and just like that, the odour of death vanished into the air. As for the man, he too vanished without a trace within the crowd.


    I stood there as if in a trance from that spectacle. After regaining my senses, I lowered my shovel helplessly and groaned loudly. ¡°Ahhh¡­ I¡¯m so screwed.¡±


    The only reason why I came here was to learn some magic, but it seemed that I got myself mixed up in a bizarre event, instead¡­

 Chapter 46

    **


    The Paladins had set up a cordon around the crime scene.


    People from the marketplace gathered around and whispered to each other.


    ¡°Is it another murder?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t something like this happen last time too?¡±


    ¡°Just what are the patrolmen doing these days, I wonder¡­¡±


    I observed their behaviour while sitting inside my carriage. The vehicle soon set off again.


    ¡°Please do not worry, your highness. The Paladins will surely get to the bottom of this and deal with the matter appropriately,¡± Harman said while looking at me with a concerned expression on his face. ¡°You seemed to be rather greatly shocked at what happened, your highness.¡±


    I shifted my head after hearing that. A deeply sunken pair of eyes reflected in the mirror mounted on the carriage¡¯s door stared right back at me.


    Shock? Yup, that sounded about right. Quite huge, in fact. However, it wasn¡¯t because I witnessed a scene of murder.


    I¡¯ve already ran into hundreds, no scratch that, thousands of zombies before. And not to forget, I even blew apart a vampire¡¯s head too. All thanks to the characteristics of my class as a Necromancer, my nerves were pretty tough.


    If you wanted to know what¡¯s been bugging me¡­


    I held my head in despair. ¡°¡­I can already see so much hard labour coming my way soon, that¡¯s what.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    Charlotte sitting next to me formed a puzzled expression.


    In the meantime, the carriage finally arrived at the imperial palace.


    The impressive front gates of the palace opened up and we smoothly entered inside.


    Countless maids and manservants had created a pair of long lines with their heads bowed deeply.


    After we all exited from the carriage, Harman spoke to a person who looked to be the chamberlain. ¡°His highness the Imperial Prince is fatigued from the long journey. Please guide him to his quarters while I shall personally speak to his majesty and¡­¡±


    After that brief chat, Charlotte was promptly allocated a separate room for her to rest in. As for Harman, he seemed to have left to speak to the Holy Emperor.


    As for me, I too was guided to the room I¡¯d be staying in from now on.


    While my feet strode on the glittering passageways of this impressive imperial palace, my mind was still occupied by all sorts of complicated thoughts taking root in there.


    One, about the severed head and the bloodless body I saw in the alleyway. Two, regarding the thick demonic energy and the accompanying disgusting stench I smelled earlier.


    I was pretty familiar with all of them, actually. I did smell something similar back in Ronia after all. The stench belonged to an existence that transcended the regular undead.


    A vampire, in other words.


    A stench very similar to that vampire was wafting around in the capital of the Theocratic Empire.


    ¡°I¡¯m so screwed. Really, seriously, definitely screwed!¡±


    Holy sh*t! To think that vampires could even exist in the capital of the mighty Theocratic Empire, a city where the statue of Gaia stood so tall and imposing!


    Wait, could this whole thing be because Gaia¡¯s love and mercy even extended to those creatures too? What¡¯s up with this messed-up act of all-encompassing mercy that even covered every damn cat and dog under the sun?!


    ¡°I better bounce.¡±


    Yup, I needed to escape out of here.


    I simply refuse to go through the same hellish crap that I experienced back in Ronia. No matter how much I coveted more knowledge on magic, my life took priority over everything else.


    I called out to a maidservant.


    ¡°Y-yes, your highness!¡±


    She seemed to be really tense. It made sense though, since the story of the Seventh Imperial Prince trying to assault a lady-in-waiting should still be doing the rounds within the imperial palace¡¯s walls even now.


    It was obvious that the ones guiding me would be terrified.


    I asked her. ¡°Do you know where the library is?¡±


    Even if I was planning to run, I should at least ¡®borrow¡¯ a few expensive grimoires before doing so. This would be the wiser thing to do. In fact, I also wanted to meet this Archbishop Raphael before leaving, but if I did exactly that, I¡¯d have even less of a chance to escape afterwards.


    I refused the ¡®kindness¡¯ of the maids who tried guiding me there. I simply memorised their directions and headed towards the library on my own.


    Since I already had a bit of money on me now, after getting my hands on some useful grimoires, I should be able to find a horse or even a carriage in the city later to take me far away from here.


    Fooling the eyes of those escorting Paladins should be easy, since I could just say that I¡¯m going sightseeing in the city. As for Charlotte, there should be no problems on that end because Harman was here. She¡¯d be treated well before being sent back home, I thought.


    While thinking this, I looked around with a somewhat dazed expression.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m lost, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    The imperial palace was much bigger than I thought. Not to mention, the corridors were a series of complicated mazes, too!


    The location I somehow ended up in was the imperial palace¡¯s garden instead.


    A small and intricately sculpted bronze statue of a woman stood all alone surrounded by well-maintained trees and flowers. With a benevolent smile on her face, she was gently stroking the heads of two boys.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t look like Goddess Gaia.¡±


    She certainly seemed different from the imposing goddess statue erected in the centre of the city¡¯s plaza. I quietly read out the letters engraved near the bottom of the bronze statue.


    ¡°¡­Yulisia?¡±


    Was she a person of this imperial palace?


    She must¡¯ve left this world about five years ago, judging from the birth and death dates engraved on the statue.


    ¡°Eh-gugu! My back¡­ Darn it! I let my underlings take care of things, so why did they do such a sloppy job? I might as well cut off all of their heads and put them on a spike near the castle gates or something.¡±


    I shifted my head in the direction of the series of loud complaints.


    ¡°And here I was, expecting something good since they were new hirings. To think that the punks making a living out of the citizens¡¯ taxes would be this lazy.¡±


    An old man was up on a ladder, busy pruning the landscape with a garden shear. After climbing down, the old man began massaging his back. A couple of seconds later, he discovered me and flinched, his expression visibly hardening.


    Actually, this was good. I might as well ask this old man the way outta here. ¡°Ah, I beg your pardon on this intrusion. I merely wished to ask you about¡­¡±


    ¡°If you were here, you should¡¯ve greeted me first, you fool!¡±


    The old man suddenly yelled at me.


    It was my turn to flinch and stare dazedly back at him.


    ¡°Besides all that. You beg my pardon? What on earth has gotten into this fool¡­ Ah, those things over there, bring them to me.¡±


    The old man pointed to a spot next to me. I looked at the spot and found a hoe plus a metal bucket filled with soil.


    ¡°What are you doing? You don¡¯t want to bring them over?¡±


    I was utterly dumbfounded.


    Just how many people still alive would be able to order around the Seventh Imperial Prince like this? While thinking about this, I glanced down at my current attire.


    What a big surprise, it was the same shabby traveller¡¯s outfit that I wore even back in the monastery. Harman did hand over a far flashier outfit earlier, but I didn¡¯t put it on since it felt too burdensome to do so.


    Did this old man mistake me for a new gardener or something?


    ¡°What are you doing, boy? Hurry up, will ya?¡±


    I licked my lips.


    The old man rolled his sleeves up after I brought the bucket and the hoe. He then crouched low to the ground to tender the garden next. Watching him at work gave me this strange, incongruent vibe.


    This old man, he¡­ came off as oddly familiar, somehow.


    Was he someone the original owner of this body knew well?


    A little while later, the old man dusted his hands and stood back up as if he was finally done with the gardening. Judging from how fast he was, he probably was already in the process of wrapping things up before I showed up.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡±


    Whitish air exhaled out of his lips.


    His hands were rough and calloused, looking as if it endured long years of labour. He rubbed the dirt off his hands on his overalls. But since I couldn¡¯t bear to watch the pristine clothing get dirty, I pulled out my own handkerchief to clean up his hands instead.


    While doing this, I spoke to him. ¡°Are you the only person here, old sir? How can only one person be responsible for such a large garden¡­?¡±


    Although still awkward, I tried to imitate a princely manner of speech. I was being mindful with this place being what it was, but man, this act of putting up a refined personality just didn¡¯t suit me at all.


    I tutted softly and looked at the old man¡¯s face.


    Even if the Theocratic Empire was supposedly righteous, abuse of power still existed, it seemed. The head gardener of this palace must not have been a very good person, judging from how a single old man was left alone to deal with everything. He did mention something about new hirings, but seeing that none of them were here, I figured that they dumped everything on this old man¡¯s shoulders and were goofing off somewhere.


    The old man had a really stunned expression on his face.


    He stared at me for a good while before finally opening his mouth, ¡°I see¡­ the story of you losing your memories is indeed true.¡±


    These words made me do a double-take at the old man.


    ¡°Not only did your personality change, you can¡¯t even recognise your own grandpa.¡±


    I flinched nastily at his words and hurriedly activated [Mind¡¯s Eye].


    [Name: Kelt Olfolse (Holy Emperor)


    Age: 105


    Traits: Crushing, destroying, a truly massive divinity pool, thunderbolts, an overwhelmingly monstrous physique.


    Eiiit! I should¡¯ve done a better job with my family. Uh-whew¡­]


    The top ruler of the Theocratic Empire, referred unabashedly as the great hero who killed the Necromancer King Amon fifty years ago. The man who was technically my grandfather, Kelt Olfolse, was now standing right before my eyes.


    < 029. Imperial Prince is Going Home -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 47

    I really did try to escape.


    However, I simply couldn¡¯t.


    The gardeners showed up belatedly and freaked out after discovering that their Holy Emperor was tending to the garden. As for me, I was quickly ¡®shown¡¯ to the imperial audience chamber, or more like I got dragged there against my will.


    A huge number of Paladins were all lined up on either side of the humongous chamber. The high-ranking aristocrats and members of the clergy were shooting their piercing stares at me, but I resolutely kept my own gaze fixed to my front.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    The old man was no longer kitted out in the shabby clothing from earlier. Nope, he was now properly dressed as the Holy Emperor; a crown perched on his head, and a luxurious white robe laced with golden engravings adorning his figure.


    While sitting on an impressive throne, he took a good look at me, his head cocked slightly to the side. ¡°It has been a while. Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen Olfolse.¡±


    At those words, I ended up sneaking a glance to my sides.


    The nobles were whispering amongst themselves.


    ¡°¡­Is it really true that he hunted a vampire down?¡±


    ¡°The Seventh Imperial Prince did what? How?¡±


    ¡°From what I heard, the vampire in question possessed a level of demonic energy easily as great as a count, no, maybe even greater. A whole order of Paladins surrounding it wouldn¡¯t have been enough to quell the thing. It¡¯s rather obvious that the army and Sir Harman were responsible for accomplishing the deed.¡±


    ¡°However, aren¡¯t Ronia¡¯s citizens raising their voices of support for the prince?¡±


    ¡°A hidden expert or someone like that must¡¯ve been responsible. It¡¯s quite clear that the Imperial Prince merely snatched this achievement for himself.¡±


    The imaginations of this world¡¯s denizens seemed pretty robust.


    Since I had no idea what the correct decorum of the Imperial Court was in the first place, that left me deeply troubled on what to do next.


    The Holy Emperor studied me for a little while before opening his mouth, ¡°I was informed that you have successfully hunted a vampire down. How true is this information?¡±


    Alright, so¡­ How should I answer him?


    A vampire was currently existing in Laurensis, the capital city of the Theocratic Empire.


    Since the shoppers in the marketplace were throwing around words like ¡°again¡± in their conversations, it should be pretty safe to assume that the Imperial Family already knew of the existence of this ¡®creature¡¯ hiding in the city.


    Honestly speaking, there was a higher chance of this occasion being a ruse to find out if I was ¡®someone who can hunt vampires¡¯, rather than getting my accomplishment in the Ronia fiefdom publicly acknowledged. That¡¯s what I thought, anyway.


    Besides, there was already an air of suspicion on whether or not Harman and I had really hunted that vampire down, anyway.


    ¡°¡­Yes, it is true, your majesty.¡± Despite nodding my head, I didn¡¯t forget to make a troubled expression and lower my face at the same time. ¡°It¡¯s just that, I alone could have never hunted down a creature like that in a million years. Such an event was only possible through the aid of countless others. I can only thank Harman, Charlotte, feudal lord Jenald Ripang, and additionally, the numerous citizens of the Ronia fiefdom for their help.¡±


    I should acknowledge the truth, sure, but I also needed to make it someone else¡¯s achievement at the same time. The only people who witnessed me take out the Vampire Count in person were Charlotte and Harman. However, many did see me snipe the undead creature from Ronia¡¯s walls.


    Even if I was going to lie, I needed to mix in some truths in there.


    A surprised expression floated up on the Holy Emperor¡¯s face. He then rubbed his chin, almost as if what I said was quite intriguing. ¡°Oh, so it was all thanks to other people, is that it?¡±


    ¡°Of course, your majesty. It is all thanks to their hard work that I stand before you still alive and in one piece. Also, that¡¯s how we got to prevent the ¡®Tide of Death¡¯ as well.¡±


    ¡°¡­I see.¡±


    The Holy Emperor nodded, his expression a mixture of complicated and vague thoughts.


    He glanced in the direction of the aristocrats, as well as his loyal retainers. They were murmuring to each other while sending mocking sneers in my way.


    -So that means the Imperial Prince wasn¡¯t responsible for hunting it down?


    -Who helped what now? He was probably hiding in the corner of a room somewhere and only showed up after everything was over.


    -However, some hidden expert must¡¯ve used powerful divinity, for sure. I heard that the feudal lord Jenald identified him as the Imperial Prince¡­


    -The man was supposed to be wearing a mask, so it¡¯s not possible for anyone to identify the true identity of that hidden expert.


    Although I did expect the cold shoulder treatment, never did I imagine that this level of mockery and contempt would be directed in my way.


    It seemed that the Seventh Imperial Prince was despised by pretty much everyone around here.


    Around then, one of the retainers who was studying the uneasy atmosphere cautiously made his way towards the Holy Emperor. This person whispered something in the latter¡¯s ear, prompting the emperor to cast his gaze in my direction once more.


    He spoke. ¡°You must be feeling tired from the long journey. Go and take a good rest.¡±


    I thought I¡¯d be interrogated to death or something today, but the Holy Emperor didn¡¯t pursue the matter anymore and sent me away to my room.


    I inwardly sighed with relief and turned around to leave, but before exiting the grand hall, I decided to ask just in case, ¡°Ah, and by the way, right here in Laurensis¡­¡±


    Everyone¡¯s gaze focused on me. This also included the Holy Emperor¡¯s, his expression one of puzzlement.


    I addressed the issue at hand. ¡°There¡¯s a vampire in the city, so please do something about that. The citizens are living in fear.¡±


    What I said caused the emperor¡¯s expression to stiffen up. Not to mention, the atmosphere in the hall had become icy cold in an instant too.


    Eh? What¡¯s this, maybe I wasn¡¯t supposed to openly mention that?


    I lightly tutted, thinking that maybe I butted unnecessarily in a matter that these fine folks would¡¯ve taken care of on their own. I finally exited from the grand audience chamber.


    **


    (TL: in 3rd person POV.)


    Kelt Olfolse recalled what the Seventh Imperial Prince said before exiting the audience chamber a minute ago.


    The boy was such a coward that, only a half year ago, he would stay on his knees and not even dare to raise his head at his own grandfather. But someone like that was now standing tall and proud today, even shooting a pointed glare at the emperor.


    And then, forget about monopolising the accomplishment of hunting the vampire, he even acknowledged receiving help from the others.


    Would someone¡¯s personality really change that much if they lost their memories?


    ¡®As for the duo ¨C Gril and the child named Charlotte¡­¡¯


    Kelt Olfolse had received a detailed report from Harman not too long ago. Apparently, they were the last surviving descendants of the ¡®Heraiz¡¯ bloodline. Certainly, hunting down a Vampire Count would be more than possible if the boy had help from those two along with Harman.


    ¡®However, it is still bizarre.¡¯


    Indeed, there was something that just didn¡¯t make much sense.


    The house Heraiz was a martial arts-oriented family that had mastered imperial swordsmanship. They certainly were not capable of freely pouring out divinity as they pleased in the past.


    There was another report sent from Ronia, compiled by feudal lord Jenald Ripang. That report contained various peculiar testimonies.


    -When his highness the Imperial Prince used divinity, numerous soldiers on the brink of death were all fully revived.


    Reviving soldiers who were about to die? What an unbelievable claim that was. The Imperial Prince didn¡¯t even know how to properly cast any healing magic, so how could he possibly save a soldier who was about to die?


    Not only that, he even apparently located all the holes in the ground that the undead used to invade the fortress.


    The emperor ended up snorting in derision when he read those things.


    Since feudal lord Jenald was under suspicion of tax evasion, he probably was hoping to return to his original territory by sucking up to the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    -After his highness the Imperial Prince offered a prayer to goddess Gaia, she bestowed her divine protection on him, thus enabling him to pierce through the vampire¡¯s limb, your majesty.


    To top it all off, the boy apparently used a musket rifle, a trifling decorative ornament, to penetrate past the vampire¡¯s defences. If the magicians and alchemists that researched the potential of magic projectiles for the past 200 years heard this, they would guffaw nonstop from how funny the joke was.


    The Holy Emperor decided not to believe in any of this. He was already prepared to completely disregard feudal lord Jenald¡¯s report altogether.


    -These are the testimonies of numerous eyewitnesses, your majesty. They all say that a person, suspected to be his highness the Imperial Prince, managed to pierce the vampire¡¯s abdominal region with a musket rifle.


    This was the result of the investigation performed by the Imperial Family¡¯s knights going undercover. On top of this feat, the boy went on to save hundreds of lives by distributing holy water. Then later on, a lake made out of holy water even made its grand entrance as well.


    Indeed, this was almost on the level of a Saint bestowed with the goddesses¡¯ fragment manifesting into the world.


    None of these testimonies sounded even nearly believable.


    They had to be lies.


    Without a doubt, these reports had to be all wrong.


    Even with such thoughts swirling in his head, Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse still held a tiny ray of hope in his heart.


    ¡°What are your thoughts on this matter?¡±


    The Holy Emperor asked his loyal retainers gathered before him.


    ¡°They are all lies, your majesty.¡±


    Not one shred of hesitation could be heard in their response.


    ¡°There¡¯s no doubt that his highness was present at the Ronia fiefdom. However, no one can say with any certainty that they have seen him during the battles, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°All they saw was an expert wearing a mask.¡±


    ¡°It is too much of a stretch to identify that person as his highness the Imperial Prince, your majesty.¡±


    They didn¡¯t need such a thing as ¡®reason¡¯. All the retainers here unquestioningly denied the possibility altogether.


    It was obvious why ¨C they were riding on the same boat as the other Imperial Princes currently standing beside them.

 Chapter 48

    Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse closed his eyes and massaged his forehead.


    The thought process of these people were too biased. With how much older and closer the emperor got to the day of his abdication, the easier it became to see all the behind-the-scenes manoeuvrings of the nobles. They were doing it all in order to win over the ¡®heir apparent to the Holy Emperor¡¯.


    As for Archbishop Raphael, someone who staunchly maintained his neutrality, he was currently confining himself in his room solely because he did not wish to run into the smug face of the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    ¡®¡­Who should I listen to in moments like this?¡¯


    -Have you eaten yet, your majesty? I¡¯ve prepared some sandwiches, so would you like to¡­


    Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse slowly opened his eyes. He ended up recalling the First Crown Princess Consort, a woman who everyone thought as a lowborn, and was even treated as such.


    ¡®Yulisia¡­¡¯


    He could only lick his lips in bitterness after recalling her always-smiling face.


    The First Imperial Prince Luan, who carried her bloodline and grew up under her gentle wings, was a smart kid and possessed the disposition of a benevolent and wise king.


    However, since his life could end any day now, the throne could not be handed over to him.


    Kelt felt even more bitter when his thoughts reached that far. He should¡¯ve been more worried about the health of his own grandson so he couldn¡¯t help but feel that it was truly selfish of him to care more about the emperor¡¯s throne and the wellbeing of the citizens living in this vast empire, instead.


    ¡®That doesn¡¯t mean I can relinquish my throne to the other princes, however.¡¯


    There were lowly and disgusting vampires hiding within the Theocratic Empire. It was unknown just how deep they managed to infiltrate society of the living while hiding behind the masks of normal human beings. In order to stop them, someone with a suitable level of qualification had to become the emperor.


    -Ah, and by the way, there seems to be vampires hiding in Laurensis, so please do something about that. The citizens are living in fear.


    Before exiting the grand hall, the Seventh Imperial Prince said this. He sounded as if he had seen the ¡®vampire¡¯ in question already.


    Kelt Olfolse shifted his gaze.


    Most of the nobles were still sneering at the Seventh Imperial Prince. However, some of them seemed to be agonising over something, judging from their current expressions.


    These aristocrats knew the truth. They knew that there was a vampire hiding in the midst of this ¡®Imperial Court¡¯.


    ¡®Maybe there¡¯s still a chance.¡¯


    What if. Just what if¡­


    What if the Seventh Imperial Prince still possessed a tiny little speck of talent to succeed as the emperor¡­?


    And what if the boy also possessed the power to eradicate the vampires too? Would it be the correct decision to relinquish the throne to the boy if that was the case?


    ¡°This loyal servant wishes to address his majesty even at the risk of committing offence.¡±


    Someone then called out to Kelt Olfolse still swimming within his thoughts.


    The man asked for an understanding from his fellow retainers and cautiously stepped out from their ranks. The emperor recognised who it was and a smile naturally floated up on his lips.


    It was a nobleman in his early to mid forties with a set of striking crimson hair and red eyes ¨C Count Fomor.


    He was also one of the forces that supported Yulisia¡¯s son, the First Imperial Prince Luan.


    Fomor knelt down and lowered his head before speaking up, ¡°There is still plenty of time, your majesty. May I be so bold to suggest that a more in-depth investigation be launched into this matter? The anniversary of Lady Yulisia¡¯s passing is in two months¡¯ time as well. I beg of you to let his highness the Seventh Imperial Prince remain in the capital for that day, your majesty.¡±


    His words caused a deep frown to etch on the faces of the other aristocrats. On the other hand, a grin formed on the emperor¡¯s countenance.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that his highness the Seventh Imperial Prince wishes to return to the Land of the Dead Spirits in order to reflect on his sins. However, this servant is of the opinion that his highness has already atoned for his past mistakes, through the great contribution of hunting down a vampire.¡± Count Fomor raised his head and carried on with a smooth grin. ¡°And as such, may I suggest a celebratory banquet to honour those who have rendered meritorious services in Ronia?¡±


    Kelt Olfolse nodded his head.


    It was indeed too premature to make up his mind on the Seventh Imperial Prince. The boy needed to be kept at a close-enough proximity, so that he could be carefully monitored.


    In addition, the emperor also thought that it wasn¡¯t such a bad idea to personally listen to feudal lord Jenald Ripang¡¯s accounts as well.


    ¡°Then, let it be so.¡±


    ¡°Inscrutable are the emperor¡¯s favours.¡± [1]


    Kelt Olfolse decided that the fate of the Seventh Imperial Prince would now depend on how the boy acted during the banquet. In other words, whether he should extend the banishment, or to let the boy remain in the imperial palace for further observation.


    **


    (TL: back to 1st person POV.)


    Living a life of a prince in the imperial palace was far more comfortable than I could¡¯ve ever imagined.


    For the past week or so, I stayed in a room that would put any seven-star hotel to shame.


    Most of the time, I¡¯d just be laying on the bed, munching on various snacks while perusing the grimoire.


    Holy cow¡­! Who could¡¯ve imagined that the life of a prince would be this exquisite?


    I wasn¡¯t sure about the other nobles but well, the servants and maids here at least treated me with utmost respect. The bed was so cushy that I¡¯d fall asleep as soon as I lied down on it. The food served was at the zenith of opulence, too. But the best of all, no one tried to stick their nose into my business or even try and nag me to death.


    I wasn¡¯t aware of what the role of an Imperial Prince entailed, but¡­


    ¡°¡­When I think about it, living in the imperial palace isn¡¯t so bad, is it?¡±


    I didn¡¯t need to lug around heavy corpses or dig out graves. And in a stark contrast to my initial fears, no one tried to keep me in check nor posed a clear threat to my life.


    Most importantly, though, I was in the palace of the Imperial Family, a place which was completely filled from top to bottom with Priests and Paladins. No vampire would be insane enough to infiltrate this sort of sanctuary, right?


    As for the bloodsucking undead in the city, the imperial court would surely smoke it out sooner or later.


    After finishing the grimoire, I stood up from the bed.


    ¡°Feels like something¡¯s not quite enough, though.¡±


    It was indeed true that the palace held quite a lot of grimoires. However, it was a lot harder to get a satisfying enough result from them.


    Not just divinity control, but even the divinity reserve inside me felt as if they weren¡¯t improving at all. This feeling was kinda like something¡¯s been tightly clogged up somewhere, that I was going through a slump.


    I smacked my lips while staring outside the window. It was already night time with a bright moon visible in the sky.


    I cautiously opened the creaking door. My fingers were crossed but unfortunately, there was a Paladin standing right outside. He stared at me, looking visibly tense.


    ¡°How may I be of your assistance, your highness?¡±


    I wanted to test out Amon¡¯s skull, but because Paladins like this dude were practically everywhere in this place, I couldn¡¯t activate nor practice any of my skills.


    ¡°Ah, well. I wanted to fetch some more grimoires, you see,¡± said I.


    ¡°In that case, let me summon some servants.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother. Let them enjoy their well-deserved break. Besides, they wouldn¡¯t be able to tell apart which book is which. I might as well just go there myself.¡±


    ¡°Allow us to escort you, your highness.¡±


    Man, how annoying.


    Look! This was why I couldn¡¯t freely activate my skills, what with them following me around everywhere.


    After arriving at the imperial library, I had the Paladins wait by the door before finally stepping inside alone. I thought no one would be here at this late hour, but contrary to my expectations, there was a girl here already. All by herself, no less.


    Her attire was different from the regular maidservant¡¯s. Seeing as how her robe came across a bit more high-class, I figured that she must¡¯ve been one of the ladies-in-waiting.


    She was reading a book with a lit lantern placed on the table. After sensing a person¡¯s presence, she raised her head and stared at me.


    ¡°Huh, ladies-in-waiting gotta work hard too, don¡¯t they? Seeing how you need to study refinement even deep into the night like this.¡±


    My words caused a rapid transformation in her expression. She gradually froze up in pure fear, then shot up from her seat and hurriedly stumbled away from me.


    Judging from her reaction, I figured that she had finally recognised who I was.


    Her reactions made sense, though, since she was unfortunate enough to run into the Imperial Prince with a prior record of assaulting a lad-in-waiting at this pretty late hour inside a library that¡¯s practically sealed off from the outside. She must¡¯ve been overcome with shock and fear by now.


    I spoke up. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be that scared. I won¡¯t do anything to harm you. I only came here to read some books, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Maybe I wasn¡¯t convincing enough, because she just stood there with her lips resolutely clamped shut.


    I furrowed my brows while looking at her. Wait a minute, maybe she wasn¡¯t an ordinary lady-in-waiting?


    I recalled back to the ¡®Witch Morgana¡¯ incident as well as when I ran into the Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse.


    Back then, there had been just too many people for me to individually check out their real identities and that¡¯s how that witch slipped past me. As for the emperor, I mistook him as just a simple gardener working hard at his job.


    I really needed to change my mindset here. This was the imperial palace, after all. As I had no idea who was who, it¡¯s probably wiser to confirm the identity of the person I was dealing with every single time, even if doing such a thing was a bit of a pain in the neck.


    [Name: Alice Astoria


    Age: 15


    Traits: Loving and merciful, a massive pool of divinity plus magical knowledge, god¡¯s fragment, prediction, hand to hand combat, excellent physique.


    I¡¯ll do my best to help my grandfather!]


    I was surprised by her status as revealed by ¡®Mind¡¯s Eye¡¯.


    Astoria?


    Wasn¡¯t that the surname of Archbishop Rapahel, the one who authored the grimoire on the subject of divinity control?


    Was she his granddaughter then?


    Weren¡¯t there five archbishops in the Theocratic Empire? A granddaughter of one of them was a lady-in-waiting, and she was standing right before my eyes. In that case, uh, could she be the one that the original Seventh Imperial Prince tried to rape?!


    Besides, what¡¯s that ¡®god¡¯s fragment¡¯ thing?


    It feels like I¡¯ve seen that term somewhere before¡­


    ¡°Uhm, excuse me¡­ Are you¡­ really the Imperial Prince?¡±


    It seemed that my worries were for nothing.


    She rubbed her eyes as if she couldn¡¯t quite believe what she was seeing right now and kept staring directly at my face.


    The fear previously visible in her eyes had already disappeared. It was replaced by surprise and puzzlement instead.


    < 030. Imperial Prince is Attending a Banquet -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 49

    I was puzzled by the question from the girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.


    She didn¡¯t seem to recognise me. Maybe it hadn¡¯t been that long since she started working here or something.


    I shifted my gaze over to the book she had been reading.


    [Treatment and the Impossible Miracle, Resurrection.]


    The title sounded a lot like a topic I used to read somewhere else. Raphael Astoria probably wrote this book as well.


    What a good granddaughter she was, to be studying deep into the night like this. The grimoire itself was a pretty high-levelled one too. This just went to show how knowledgeable Raphael Astoria¡¯s granddaughter was.


    ¡°It seems that a certain grandfather is blessed with a wonderful granddaughter,¡± said I while approaching her.


    She flinched and hurriedly stepped away from me. Those backing steps were filled with vigilance.


    What she did was a rather impertinent thing to do when speaking to an Imperial Prince like myself. She must¡¯ve realised this too, because she belatedly bowed her head and acted according to the established decorum.


    I could only grin wryly and look at the grimoire again.


    [Resurrection], was it?


    That sure sounded like an interesting topic.


    I then shifted my gaze over to this lady-in-waiting. ¡°Ah. Looks like I interrupted you.¡±


    ¡°No, not at all, your highness. I was already thinking of tidying up and retiring for the night.¡±


    She bowed her head deeply.


    Her desire to avoid me as much as possible came across pretty loud and clear from how she was already heading towards the exit. Then again, ¡®I¡¯ had the prior record of trying to jump on not just a simple maid, but an esteemed daughter of a famed noble household. It made complete sense that she was on guard against me.


    ¡°Sure thing. Have a pleasant night.¡±


    I waved my hand at her and settled down on the chair before scanning through the grimoire. It was an intriguing topic, alright. The book was talking about resurrection through divinity, not demonic energy as how Necromancers would do it.


    I muttered out, ¡°Resurrection, is it? Doesn¡¯t sound like it¡¯ll be completely impossible, actually.¡±


    ¡°¡­No, it¡¯s impossible.¡±


    I glanced at the lady-in-waiting.


    The girl who was about to exit the doorway had stopped moving and turned around to say that. She flinched in surprise, then hurriedly bowed her head again. ¡°Please forgive me for my insolence, your highness.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your basis?¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±


    The lady-in-waiting, Alice, raised her head and formed a slightly dazed expression on her face.


    I pressed hard on the grimoire¡¯s page with my fingertip and asked her once more. ¡°What¡¯s your basis for what you just said?¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s because, despite divinity¡¯s ability to bestow lifeforce, it can only restore the body but not arrest the soul that has already escaped from it, your highness. Such a thing will be impossible even if goddess Gaia herself grants us with a miracle.¡±


    ¡°What if you can ¡®arrest¡¯ the soul, then?¡±


    ¡°But¡­ doing that is impossible for Priests wielding divinity, your highness. The only way to make it happen is by using Necromancy, but that is of a completely opposite nature to ours.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I get that. However¡­ what if you possess both natures?¡±


    ¡°That is utterly impossible. These two natures are in direct opposition to each other. Even if you do manage to utilise divinity and demonic energy at the same time, your body will explode and you will be exterminated completely. Not even your soul will survive from that.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t even a single shred of hesitation in her voice.


    ¡°I wonder about that¡­ It looks to me that this thing called ¡®resurrection¡¯ isn¡¯t completely impossible.¡±


    My response caused her brows to furrow deeply.


    I flipped through the grimoire¡¯s pages while muttering to seemingly no one in particular. ¡°What about an even better divinity control method¡­?¡±


    ¡°Offering prayers to the gods should suffice, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Besides praying?¡±


    ¡°For magicians, Mana and incantations. For Priests, divinity and prayers, while for the dark magicians, demonic energy and lifespan. Those are the costs one has to pay in order to wield the powers of nature. If you seek another route beside offering prayers, then there are magic tools you can consider.¡±


    If there was something I was curious about, I would simply ask her as if I was talking to myself. ¡°I wonder if it¡¯ll be impossible to cast magic while omitting the necessary preparations.¡±


    ¡°Yes. It is possible, your highness. Incantations and prayers are there to correctly arrange the sequence of the images forming in your mind. Through enough training, you may get to omit those preparations, but it is not the most efficient method when you try to gather a great amount of energy or to lower the expenditure. However, there is an exception¡­¡±


    My question was answered ably by Alice Astoria, who just so happened to be still standing far away from me.


    ¡°¡­If you are blessed with literally an infinite amount of divinity that can deal with all problems that arise from this, then you will be able to omit everything and wield the powers of nature at will.¡±


    Now those were some truly satisfactory answers.


    Time continued ticking by as we discussed several things.


    The lantern¡¯s light had gone off before anyone noticed it and the rays of morning sun seeped past the windows.


    I yawned grandly and rubbed my drowsy eyes, only to realise that she was no longer in the library. I suddenly felt apologetic just then, thinking that I may have needlessly held her up here for the whole night when she probably wanted to go back to her room and rest instead.


    ¡°¡­I guess it¡¯s also time for me to tidy up and get out of here myself.¡±


    I closed the grimoire and got up from the chair. But the first thing to greet me was Harman¡¯s mug as soon as I opened the library¡¯s door.


    He had a troubled expression on his face while looking at me. ¡°Your highness, the banquet is one week from now. Have you prepared for it yet?¡±


    Now that I thought about it, didn¡¯t someone say that the Holy Emperor was organising a banquet? The feudal lord from up north, Jenald Ripang, and even Gril had been invited. For some reason, Charlotte was also asked to attend as well.


    ¡°Man¡­ can¡¯t I, like, skip that annoying thing?¡±


    ¡°Only by having your accomplishments publicly acknowledged will your stay be more comfortable here, your highness.¡±


    I smacked my lips in response.


    Why did I get the feeling that things were about to get even more annoying?


    ¡°And also¡­ Were you with Lady Alice up until earlier, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Mm? Ah, that? Yeah, I was. Hiyaaa¡­ that girl was really amazing, let me tell you. Seriously, her knowledge regarding magic was second to none. Thanks to her, the stuff I was curious about are all completely answered now.¡±


    It felt like that clogged-up sensation somewhere deep inside me had been blown away without a single trace left.


    Harman studied my mood before cautiously opening his mouth. ¡°Did anything happen, your highness?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Hang on, you thought I¡¯d jump on that girl? Hey man, just what do you take me for?¡±


    Harman, even though the time we spent together is¡­ admittedly not all that long, but hell, we¡¯ve gone through the proverbial hell and back, didn¡¯t we?! Don¡¯t tell me you still can¡¯t let go of your suspicions even now!


    I tutted and was about to voice out my mind. But then¡­


    ¡°You¡­ already tried it once before, your highness.¡±


    ¡°¡­Wha?¡±


    ¡°You tried to¡­ ¡®jump¡¯ on her already. Lady Alice Astoria is the granddaughter of his eminence Raphael, one of the five archbishops of the empire and the very same person that ensured your action would remain as an attempt only.¡±


    My mind blanked out after hearing this.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Alice, currently walking on the corridors of the imperial palace, was recalling the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s figure.


    ¡°That was the Imperial Prince¡­? The Seventh? That Allen Olfolse?¡±


    She frowned heavily before shaking her head hard.


    ¡°No, it can¡¯t be.¡±


    Outwardly, he seemed to be the exact same person, but something about him felt entirely different in her view. She got this sense of incongruency from him, almost like two different ¡®natures¡¯ were all jumbled up inside the boy.


    From what she heard, he lost his memories after the suicide attempt, and that seemed to have resulted in the changes to his personality, as well. However, she found it strange that even his ¡®nature¡¯ had become different too.


    When she first saw the Seventh Imperial Prince in the library, she was terrified. But her worries turned out to be unnecessary in the end.


    He simply settled down quietly on one of the seats, and while reading the book, he began asking her as if he earnestly wished to learn about something.


    Alice replied to all of his questions.


    This process repeated itself again and again whenever she resolved herself to exit from the library. Upon fearing that he¡¯d find a pretext somewhere, she deliberately explained everything in as much detail as possible.


    At first, she was scared. She thought that he¡¯d harm her if she let her guard down even for a second.


    However¡­ the level of his questions steadily rose up as hours ticked by. She even found the topics quite enjoyable to discuss. This was how she even forgot about the passage of time.


    The person before her eyes was undoubtedly the one who harmed her, and yet, his disposition seemed to belong to someone else entirely.


    Before long, she found herself starting to observe the Imperial Prince more closely while looking forward to what he¡¯d ask her next, instead.


    Goodness¡­ no matter how badly human beings suffered from intense bouts of curiosity and the desire to learn, to think that she actually tried to ¡®study¡¯ a person who attempted to assault her!


    This was pure insanity. She thought that she couldn¡¯t have been in the right frame of mind.


    ¡°You¡¯re here, my child.¡±


    Alice raised her gaze. Her grandfather, Raphael Astoria, was standing before the room occupied by the First Imperial Prince.

 Chapter 50

    ¡°I went to look for you in your room, but you were not there. Where have you been?¡±


    The caring grandfather asked her with a concerned expression, and Alice replied with a smile. ¡°I was studying in the library, grandfather.¡±


    Rapahel smiled back in response. ¡°You resemble me when it comes to satisfying our far-too intense curiosity. I¡¯m worried that you may harm your health if you keep this up, child. Ah, and also, please do be more careful. The Seventh Imperial Prince is lurking somewhere in the palace even as we speak. Do pay extra caution not to run into him.¡±


    Alice flinched a little when she heard that.


    Due to her excessive curiosity, she had recently ended up ¡®spending¡¯ the whole night with the Seventh Imperial Prince. What kind of a misunderstanding would occur when her grandfather learns of this matter?


    Maybe he¡¯d even seek out the Imperial Prince once more while wielding a crosier.


    Alice did her best to form a bright smile. ¡°Please do not worry. I¡¯m growing up healthy and tough all thanks to my mother who safely gave birth to me.¡±


    ¡°Aikoo, my granddaughter!¡± [1]


    Raphael lovingly held her tightly. She smiled like a benevolent goddess as she gently patted her grandfather¡¯s head.


    ¡°Will you be alright?¡±


    He asked her again with another deeply worried expression.


    Even if his granddaughter was praised as a genius, the task they were about to perform together was just too heavy of a burden for her young shoulder to bear.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, grandfather.¡±


    With those words, Raphael handed over a bird beak mask and a medical robe to her. ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself too hard, child. Well then. Let us go inside.¡±


    Alice put on the mask and the robe before staring at the door of the First Imperial Prince¡¯s room. Raphael knocked, opened the door, and stepped inside.


    The First Imperial Prince suffering from indescribable torment was laying on the bed. His body was rotting away even now. Judging from how he was thrashing about wildly on top of the mattress, his pain must¡¯ve been truly agonising and unbearable.


    The healers wearing the bird beak masks who had entered earlier grabbed the prince¡¯s four flailing limbs and bound them tight to seal his movements.


    Then, healing magic was cast on him.


    Alice lent her support from their side.


    She kept her eyes locked on the First Imperial Prince Luan through the clear lenses of the mask.


    Cold sweat trickled down her body. This one single act of trying to conserve his rotting body had kept them mindlessly busy. They also had to pay an even greater attention so that divinity wouldn¡¯t accidentally get into his heart tainted by the curse.


    She was praised as a ¡®genius¡¯, a ¡®once in a generation talent¡¯, or even as a ¡®girl who might be a saintess¡¯. And yet, even someone like her was nothing more than yet another ineffective healer in front of the First Imperial Prince Luan.


    The treatment process came to an end seven hours later.


    The healers opened the door and exited from the room. The expressions revealed after removing their masks were of despondency. They either held their heads in helplessness or plopped down where they stood. Some even spat out frustrated groans.


    Alice was no different from them. She carried a forlorn expression underneath the mask.


    ¡°Alice,¡± Archbishop Raphael called out to her as he took off his mask. He too was soaked in sweat from head to toe.


    Noticing that she didn¡¯t respond, his gaze shifted towards her. The girl was simply standing there in her spot unmoving, her mask still on her face. It was probably due to mental shock, even though she had to go through the same experience every single time.


    ¡°¡­Don¡¯t blame yourself. This is an impossible task, after all.¡±


    Alice flinched a little when she heard that word. ¡°Impossible¡­¡±


    Raphael watched her blur the end of her word and immediately realised his own slip of the tongue.


    She wanted to save the First Imperial Prince more than anyone else. So her own grandfather passing the ¡®sentence of death¡¯ on the dying prince right in front of her eyes was clearly not the right thing to do.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m sure you¡¯re exhausted from this ordeal, so why don¡¯t you go ahead and rest in your room? I shall take care of reporting back to the Imperial Family.¡±


    She powerlessly nodded her head.


    With staggering steps, she walked on the palace¡¯s corridor. However, the very moment she went around the corner, all semblance of strength abandoned her legs and she ended up squatting down.


    ¡®I couldn¡¯t heal him¡­¡¯


    She took off the mask. Her golden locks were soaked through and the messy strands tumbled down her face.


    Her despairing expression could now be seen with the mask off.


    ¡®But why not¡­? I possess Gaia¡¯s fragment, and yet¡­ why couldn¡¯t I¡­?¡¯


    She already knew that she was the ¡®saintess¡¯. She knew better than anyone that she was still in the middle of her growth, and in the future, she¡¯d get to wield an even greater power than right now.


    Even then, she couldn¡¯t shake off this gnawing feeling that even if her growth was completed, it¡¯d still be impossible to heal the First Imperial Prince Luan.


    ¡®At this rate¡­¡¯


    ¡­The prince would definitely die for sure.


    No, he wouldn¡¯t just merely ¡®die¡¯, but turn into an undead, instead.


    This was indeed the ¡®impossibility¡¯. Exactly as her grandfather told her just now. Demonic energy invading one¡¯s heart meant that the curse would never come undone unless you died first.


    -Resurrection, is it? Doesn¡¯t sound like it¡¯ll be completely impossible, actually.


    Alice recalled what the Seventh Imperial Prince said earlier.


    [Resurrection], a miracle that would only be seen in the legendary myths. Not to mention, an absolutely impossible domain that went against the providence of nature itself, too.


    But if it was this ¡®miracle¡¯, then treating the First Imperial Prince would certainly be possible.


    She tried to comb through every bit of knowledge crammed deep inside her head. She kept her fingers crossed all the time but eventually, had to let go of her expectations.


    What a funny thing it was. She herself loudly stated that such a thing was impossible, and yet here she was, hoping for that exact miracle to occur.


    In the end, there was nothing she could do.


    She held her head in frustration and despair.


    **


    (Back to 1st person POV.)


    ¡°You sure this is everyone?¡±


    I perused the report Harman had compiled for me. It was a list of past actions and the individual relationships the Seventh Imperial Prince had, ones that the Paladin got to observe with his own eyes in the palace.


    When I asked him about such things back in the monastery, this guy didn¡¯t even mention anything about Alice Astoria. So naturally, I had to dig in even further for his reasoning, and he eventually replied that it was ¡®to maintain secrecy¡¯.


    It sorta made sense, seeing how even the village stuck in the Land of the Dead Spirits knew about the Seventh Imperial Prince trying to assault a lady-in-waiting. It¡¯d be even more troublesome if the rumour of whose granddaughter it was somehow wound up spreading throughout the empire¡¯s citizens.


    ¡°Yes, your highness. This is everyone.¡± Even while answering me, Harman was avoiding my gaze.


    ¡°¡­That¡¯s odd. There isn¡¯t any info on my mother and father here.¡±


    ¡°Do you even require that, your highness? Don¡¯t you remember them perfectly anyway?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, I remember? I¡¯ve forgotten all about them, you know.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to hide the truth from me, your highness. We¡¯re riding on the same boat, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°What the heck? You¡¯re now openly getting in bed with me? Fine, whatever man. Hurry up and spit it out, will ya.¡±


    Harman had this deeply troubled expression on him.


    He pondered deeply about something before opening his mouth. ¡°When you were with both of your parents, you lived a truly happy, ordinary life, your highness.¡±


    Even as he said this, he kept avoiding my gaze.


    This guy, he was definitely lying.


    I figured that I still wouldn¡¯t get any answers even if I went around asking other people. I noticed earlier that the maids and servants were very reluctant to even mention both the father and mother of the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    Which wasn¡¯t surprising at all, since the topic itself dealt with the Imperial Family¡¯s internal affairs. Unless you were a high-ranking aristocrat, even thinking of mentioning it in the open would be quite tough.


    Harman seemed to be trying to change the topic, because he brought something else up. ¡°Tomorrow is the banquet, your highness. Have you finished preparing for the occasion?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    He did urge me to learn about etiquette earlier, but I didn¡¯t bother. Heck, I didn¡¯t even have enough time to learn more about magic, so where would I find spare moments to waste on learning such a useless thing called etiquette?


    Harman spat out a lengthy sigh. ¡°Others may start mocking you if you put on a poor display, your highness. Charlotte has been learning diligently in her own room, just so that she wouldn¡¯t embarrass you in any way.¡±


    ¡°Tell her to just relax and enjoy it at her own pace. Isn¡¯t that what a party is supposed to be, anyway?¡±


    ¡°A party and a banquet are two different beasts, your highness.¡± Harman sighed once more. ¡°What will you do if his highness the First Imperial Prince attends as well?¡±


    After hearing that, I quickly glanced at the report once more. ¡°You know¡­ there is no mention of this First Imperial Prince in here, too.¡±


    ¡°A simple oversight on my part, your highness.¡±


    Harman¡¯s gaze automatically went towards the ceiling. This dude¡­ his ability to lie was on par with little kids.


    I asked him, ¡°Okay, so. Who is the First Imperial Prince then?¡±


    Harman pretended to not hear me, but when I locked my glare on him, he finally caved in and opened his mouth.


    ¡°Luan Olfolse.¡± His gaze lowered and he was now looking straight into my eyes. ¡°¡­He¡¯s your older brother, born from the same womb, your highness.¡±


    < 031. Imperial Prince is Attending a Banquet -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 51

    **


    The banquet was held in the imperial palace¡¯s gorgeous grand hall.


    Long tables were placed in an ordered arrangement and all sorts of luxurious delicacies had been laid out on top.


    The musicians were playing a mellow but pleasant music in the background.


    The aristocrats and bureaucrats of the Theocratic Empire, as well as those invited from other nations, had gathered in one hallway to exchange idle banter and flatter each other.


    ¡°Oh! Oh my goodness, Lady Alice! To think that you¡¯d grow up into such a beautiful lady. I can¡¯t even fathom how much more beautiful you¡¯ll become after reaching adulthood.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your kind words, Lord Viscount.¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes smiled elegantly as she looked at all the nobles who were approaching her to offer their greetings. While doing this, though, she was sighing deep inside.


    -I shall not allow you to attend it! If it was a banquet to celebrate Harman or feudal lord Count Jenald Ripang, then fine! But a banquet held to honour the Seventh Imperial Prince?!


    Archbishop Raphael chose not to attend. It wasn¡¯t merely because of the Seventh Imperial Prince but he had to look after the First Imperial Prince Luan still suffering from poor health.


    However, an archbishop like him not attending an official banquet would present various problems. There was also the Holy Emperor¡¯s reputation to consider, so Alice decided to reveal her intentions to attend behind Raphael¡¯s back.


    ¡®Grandfather will surely bite my head off once he learns about it later, but still¡­¡¯


    Even then, ensuring that her grandfather¡¯s reputation remained unaffected would be for the best, after all.


    ¡°You¡¯re still as beautiful as always. If someone told me that you¡¯re the incarnation of Goddess Gaia herself, I¡¯d certainly believe it.¡±


    Alice flinched upon hearing those words and shifted her gaze behind her.


    It was Count Fomor Daia with his crimson hair and eyes, a man who used to serve the First Crown Princess Consort, Lady Yulisia.


    An aristocrat who not only supported the First Imperial Prince, but also the same individual who suggested holding this very banquet to the Holy Emperor too.


    ¡°¡­So it¡¯s Count Fomor. From what I heard, he seems to enjoy robust support from the citizens. Surely, it must be rather taxing to play to the whims of the lowborns. Tsk, tsk.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s also widely known for his friendship with Archbishop Raphael too.¡±


    ¡°However, he¡¯s a loyal vassal who serves the First Imperial Prince. That is quite a pity, really. When will his highness¡¯s health recover, I wonder?¡±


    Alice could hear the various murmurings coming from the gathered nobles. Despite their voices being loud enough for everyone to hear, they didn¡¯t try to hide the overflowing sneer in their tones.


    It was at this moment that she began feeling an indescribable emotion. The whisperings of these nobles who were leeching off of the Imperial Family¡¯s other princes were making her furrow her brows.


    But more than that¡­


    Count Fomor knelt down and kissed the back of Alice¡¯s hand. Even though she was wearing a glove, for some reason chills ran down her skin.


    ¡°I fear that once you reach maturity, even I¡¯ll fall for your grace, my lady. I¡¯m worried that my dearly departed missus will grow jealous in the afterlife.¡±


    Alice smiled awkwardly while staring at Count Fomor. ¡°Thank you for your kind words.¡±


    Why was this?


    Why did she always find it hard to deal with this person?


    It felt like her innards were twisting in knots.


    He certainly was a good man, but for some unfathomable reason, she instinctively wanted to distance herself far away from him.


    Even as cold sweat trickled down her body, Alice did her absolute best not to reflexively cover her mouth. However, she couldn¡¯t hold Count Fomor¡¯s gaze anymore, so she hurriedly turned her head away.


    ¡°G-goodness me¡­ For a mere rural lord like myself to be invited to a grand occasion of this nature¡­!¡±


    ¡°W-what will I do if you become this tense, my lord? I¡¯m m-m-merely a commoner, you know?¡±


    A rather awkward atmosphere suddenly descended in the hall. The attention of the nobles shifted over to the two men who just entered. They were the protagonists of this banquet, feudal lord of the Ronia fiefdom Count Jenald Ripang, as well as the representative of the citizens living there, Gril.


    Alice quickly bade goodbye to Count Fomor and went over to them as if she had finally discovered a shelter from the storm.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­ Just where is Imperial Prince-nim, I wonder¡­?¡±


    ¡°I am not so sure of that myself. What am I even supposed to do here?¡±


    They were chatting to one another like a pair of very close brothers, with nary a sign of distance between the two.


    Was that the reason why?


    ¡°Hello there.¡±


    Alice found it so much easier to speak to them.


    Gril and Jenald turned their heads almost at the same time.


    ¡°Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I¡¯m Alice Astoria, the granddaughter of Archbishop Raphael. I¡¯m attending this banquet on his behalf.¡±


    The word ¡®archbishop¡¯ caused both Count Jenald and Gril to jump back in sheer fright. The tones in their voices noticeably rose up as they began stuttering away. Because of their flustered and loud voices, the gazes of the surrounding people focused on them, but even then, Alice still believed that it¡¯d be difficult to find someone easier to talk to than these two men.


    But this sense of relief lasted only for a little while; one particular gaze caused a creeping chill to run down her spine.


    Count Fomor was standing right behind her.


    ¡®It feels like he¡¯s running his eyes all over me.¡¯


    There was this stinging sensation that especially lingered around her neck.


    Unable to endure it any longer, Alice was about to cover up her mouth. But then¡­


    ¡°Under the divine protection of the virtuous empire, His Highness Imperial Prince Allen Olfolse and his escorting knight, Sir Harman, are making their grand entrances!¡±


    The grand chamberlain¡¯s loud, clear voice reverberated throughout the venue.


    After hearing that, Count Fomor formed a rueful expression and excused himself from Alice. ¡°It seems that the Seventh Imperial Prince has arrived. I need to give him my regards, so¡­¡±


    ¡°I understand, you don¡¯t need to worry about me,¡± Alice responded.


    ¡°Well, in that case¡­¡±


    While watching the count get further away from her, she couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh of relief.


    **


    (TL: back to 1st person POV.)


    The grand doors opened up before me.


    I stepped into the banquet hall.


    The gazes of the attending aristocrats landed on me all at once.


    And that was about it.


    They retracted their gazes and resumed their interrupted chatter from earlier. Not even one of them bothered to greet me


    This was quite understandable, seeing that I was a banished imperial prince and all that.


    Sucking up to a prince who didn¡¯t have a mothball¡¯s chance in hell to inherit the emperor¡¯s throne would only end with you getting on the bad books of the other imperial princes, anyhow.


    The thing was, though, I didn¡¯t really completely escape from the attention of the aristocrats yet.


    ¡°Imperial Prince-nim, let us go in.¡±


    Actually, the one who attracted the gazes instead of me was Charlotte attending the banquet with me. Because of her platinum hair and red eyes, plus in that crimson long dress of hers, she really did stand out a lot.


    Her gloved hand ever so slightly raised the corner of her dress. Her neatly tied hair lowered a little in my direction. She then gracefully offered her other hand to me.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Numerous esteemed daughters and ladies of the established noble houses were present in the banquet hall. And not to forget, there were several Paladins standing tall by the edges of the venue too.


    However, Charlotte was far more graceful and charming than any one of them. From her sharp eyes and to the offered hand, one could pick up on the vibe of the resolute strength exhibited only by an escorting knight.


    Was that the reason?


    Men all had a dreamy expression floating around their faces, while the ladies carried entranced ones. As expected, this girl naturally had the undeniable appeal that bewitched other people.


    ¡°Hey, Charlotte. Maybe you¡¯re secretly from an actual noble family?¡± I asked her before reaching out to take her hand.


    She simply replied with a gentle, soft smile.


    We then started walking forward with Harman following us from behind.


    Eventually, we got to a corner of the banquet hall. Charlotte stood next to me and demurely kept her hands in front of her, clearly on standby for my sake. Meanwhile, Harman was just standing there, stiff in his uniform. There was nothing I could do about all the attention still pouring in our direction mainly because of her, unfortunately.


    ¡°Could she be an esteemed daughter of a noble household?¡±


    ¡°I just can¡¯t seem to place her. Could she be from another country¡¯s noble family instead?¡±


    ¡°The meaning of her standing beside his highness¡­ this surely indicates that she¡¯s no ordinary child, at the very least, right?¡±


    ¡°I inquired the chamberlain earlier, and he told me that she¡¯s simply a maidservant accompanying the Seventh Imperial Prince.¡±


    ¡°A maid? No, that can¡¯t be. She exudes such an extraordinary air, so she must be hiding her real identity.¡±


    All sorts of discussions and guesses were being exchanged in the peanut gallery. These estimations were all about Charlotte rather than me.


    I too couldn¡¯t help but continuously glance at her.


    What an earnest girl she was.


    Apparently, she mastered etiquette in the last few days after deciding that she didn¡¯t want to publicly embarrass me.


    I couldn¡¯t quite understand her dedication, though. Just what was her motivation to go this far for me like this?


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, your highness the Seventh Imperial Prince. And also, Sir Harman.¡±


    A man offered his greetings and walked over to our location. He was a handsome dude with red hair. He acknowledged Harman with a simple little nod and glanced at Charlotte for a moment, before fixing his gaze on me.


    Just as I was starting to frown slightly, Harman whispered in my ear, ¡°This is Count Fomor, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Aha!¡±


    I did see his name on the list that Harman compiled for me. This count was the one who supported both the First Imperial Prince as well as the Seventh Imperial Prince, which was me.


    Was it because of this reason that he openly greeted me here?


    ¡°Are the delicacies to your liking, your highness?¡±


    Count Fomor addressed me with noticeably friendlier-sounding words compared to other nobles.


    From what I¡¯ve heard, this guy was famous for his pretty high evaluation from the general populace. Apparently, not only was he a kind man, he didn¡¯t have one corrupt bone in his body, either.


    Maybe that was the reason why the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, was keeping a favourable eye on him. From what I heard, of course.


    ¡°It has indeed been a while. Also, my apologies for my lack of decorum, as I¡¯ve lost my memories¡­¡± I spat out some awkward-sounding words and extended my hand.


    ¡°Please do not mind it, your highness. Rather than that, I was not present by your side when you had to suffer a great insult to your personage. I beg of you to forgive this retainer¡¯s shortcomings, your highness¡±


    Count Fomor bowed and took my hand.


    While staring at the guy, I activated my ¡®Mind¡¯s Eye¡¯.

 Chapter 52

    This guy¡¯s nature was obviously clean and good, judging from the list Harman had compiled for me. Also, the way he spoke to me and also his reputation among the general populace implied that his traits should definitely align with all things related to kindness. I didn¡¯t really need to use Mind¡¯s Eye to know all that, but still, to be on the safe side¡­


    [Name: Fomor Daia, count.


    Age: ???


    Traits: Blood sucking, dismemberment, black magic, currently in the ¡®thirsty¡¯ state.


    Ah! Ah! I want so badly to behead every noble present in here and decorate them! Just how beautiful will the colour of blood be?]


    Almost out of reflex, I injected divinity in my hand. But then¡­


    ¡°¡­??¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, your highness?¡±


    My widened eyes were now staring at Count Fomor. I then looked down at his hand with divinity still being injected inside.


    There was no reaction at all. A hand of an undead that should¡¯ve burnt away remained as it was.


    ¡°¡­Your highness, may I ask if something is troubling you?¡±


    I raised my head and fixed my gaze behind Count Fomor, I then activated ¡®Mind¡¯s Eye¡¯ once more.


    I couldn¡¯t get any reading on those buried deep among the crowd. It was the same story for those with their faces turned away from me. However, I could clearly see the information on those who were in a near-enough vicinity from me, as well as those who were facing towards me.


    Nobles, servants, and maids¡­


    The total number of attendees found on both of the banquet hall¡¯s floors was about one hundred.


    Out of those that I could see, the ones who possessed the trait [Blood Sucking] totalled five.


    I returned my gaze back at Count Fomor. While smiling brightly, I let go of his hand. ¡°It¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡±


    ¡°Is that so, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Ah, wait. Count Fomor, I heard that you¡¯ve been taking a good care of my dear older brother. As a token of my appreciation¡­¡±


    I reached to my side and grabbed a bottle of wine, then poured the drink on a glass. I also didn¡¯t forget to inject some divinity in it to create an impromptu holy water.


    I poured two glasses of wine; one for Count Fomor, and the other one for myself.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we share this drink?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be my honour.¡±


    The count received the wine glass from me. We clinked the glasses and then, he downed it.


    I quietly observed him.


    There was no disgusting stench coming from him. I also couldn¡¯t pick up any demonic energy or the aura of death from him either.


    However, [Mind¡¯s Eye] was busy telling me that this dude was a bonafide vampire. A damn bloodsucker. Also, I was getting this feeling that he was the culprit of the murder I witnessed back in the streets of Laurensis too.


    For one thing, the red hair I saw among the market¡¯s crowd matched this guy¡¯s head.


    Count Fomor drank the wine permeating with divinity. With a loud ¡®glug, glug¡¯ noise, he emptied the glass in one go, his Adam¡¯s apple visibly bobbing up and down.


    He then shielded his forehead and shook his head as if a bout of dizziness was assaulting him. ¡°Ahaha, please forgive this rude servant, your highness. I¡¯ve always been weak against alcohol¡­¡±


    I wordlessly smashed the wine glass on the table next to me. And without a shred of hesitation, slashed the count¡¯s exposed hand with the broken shard.


    The skin on the back of his hand broke as blood trickled out. Count Fomor looked stunned for real this time, and while grabbing his bleeding hand, he quickly stepped back.


    ¡°Your highness?!¡±


    Harman was about to jump in, but I raised my hand and signalled him to stop. Charlotte was shooting a wary and alert glare in Fomor¡¯s direction. Since she was blessed with quick wits, she must¡¯ve realised by now that I found something was seriously wrong with this Count what¡¯s-his-face.


    I shifted my gaze away from them and stared at the vampire¡¯s hand. Fomor ever so sneakily lowered his hands. It was as if he wanted to show me that the cut wound on the back of his hand wasn¡¯t healing.


    I stared at that sight for a while, before smiling brightly. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m really sorry about that. My hand slipped just now, you see.¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon? Ha, hahaha, no it¡¯s¡­ quite alright, your highness.¡±


    Count Fomor replied with a bitter smile and began backing away from me.


    This sudden event caused the surrounding aristocrats to murmur among themselves.


    The count looked around before bowing his head before me. ¡°It seems that¡­ I¡¯ve managed to ruin the banquet¡¯s atmosphere. Allow me to excuse myself, your highness.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, sure thing. As for that injured hand, make sure to get it treated properly.¡±


    Count Fomor exited from the banquet hall as if he was retreating from the place. At a casual glance, he really looked like a loyal retainer taking responsibility for ruining the banquet by making himself scarce from my view.


    So, I simply smiled and waved my hand at him.


    **


    (TL: in 3rd person POV.)


    Count Fomor walked along the imperial palace¡¯s corridors with a gentle smile on his face.


    He shared quick greetings with the aristocrats who gathered here for the banquet, while also encouraging the servants and maids to do their best and serve them professionally.


    His expression didn¡¯t crumble during all these exchanges. But that didn¡¯t last for long; his complexion gradually paled, and he couldn¡¯t do anything about the cold sweat that trickled down his body.


    His previously-leisurely steps slowly quickened.


    He dashed into the bathroom connected to his private suite in the imperial palace. And then, he locked the door firmly behind him.


    His expression instantly crumpled.


    Cold sweat poured down as this sensation of flames scorching his entire body wrecked him. That pain was accompanied by blue flames erupting out of his mouth.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Ah¡­ Euh¡­ Ah¡­¡±


    Count Fomor roughly covered his own mouth.


    He knew that he mustn¡¯t.


    No matter how good the soundproofing of this room was, he mustn¡¯t forget that this was the imperial palace. Someone might somehow latch onto even the smallest noise or actions he made. He must not leave any ¡®traces¡¯ of himself anywhere.


    He hurriedly tore off the clothes he had on.


    By using his sharp claws, he quickly sliced open his currently-burning abdomen.


    He proceeded to cut out the oesophagus stained by the wine. He then realised that the holy water had already gone past the oesophagus and permeated into his stomach.


    At this rate, divinity would spread out to the rest of his body.


    ¡®I¡¯ll cut out all of my internal organs!¡¯


    He then used his claws to cut out every single internal organ out of his body.


    He sliced, diced, and extracted everything.


    Blood spluttered and splashed, dirtying the floor.


    The extracted organs were discarded on the soiled bathroom floor.


    The rotting organs wiggled as they burned away. The blue flames enveloped them before they all turned into piles of ashes.


    ¡°Damn it¡­ damn it¡­! That stinking trash of an imperial prince¡­!¡±


    He hissed quietly through his clenched teeth.


    By the time that disgusting, sickening aura dissipated from his body, the merciless pain had also subsided as well.


    The destroyed organs began to regenerate a little by little.


    Slowly, so very slowly, tentacle-like things enveloped the voids where the organs used to be.


    Their speed was far too slow, however.


    He didn¡¯t have enough nutrients to accelerate his recovery. The fact that it was still daytime, with the blazing sun over his head, bugged him as well.


    ¡®I-I need blood and meat.¡¯


    What he needed was a fresh living human.


    Knock, knock¡­


    Count Fomor flinched at the sounds of knocking, and opened the bathroom door. He could hear the voice of a maidservant coming from beyond the suite¡¯s door itself.


    ¡°My lord, I noticed that your complexion was poor earlier. Are you feeling unwell, sir?¡±


    Since Count Fomor was well-liked among the servants and maids, she must¡¯ve come to speak to him due to her worries. Judging from how she spoke in a familiar tone of voice, this woman must¡¯ve been one of the maids assigned to serve him, so he thought.


    Fomor quickly changed to a set of new clothes and opened the door.


    The maidservant blushed a little when she saw him appear. ¡°Are you feeling alright, sir? I hope that you didn¡¯t push yourself too hard during the banquet¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m alright. Thank you. Please do come inside.¡±


    He stepped aside, and when the maid entered the suite, he locked the door behind her.


    ¡°Should I bring you a glass of water? Or¡­¡±


    While saying this, the maid tilted her head a little. She could see the bloodied formal clothing, plus the piles of ashes through the ajar bathroom door.


    ¡°Excuse me¡­ My lord, what could those be¡­?¡±


    The maid turned her head.


    She saw Count Fomor¡¯s mouth split open so wide that his cheeks had been torn apart, with both of his hands raised up high towards her.


    Crunch!


    **


    (TL: back to 1st person POV.)


    The nobles were furrowing their brows.


    They were busy spitting out various criticism-filled words aimed at me through hushed voices.


    I utterly ignored them all and addressed Harman instead, ¡°Hey, Harman.¡±


    ¡°Please speak, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Go and get me a pen and paper.¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±


    He seemed deeply confused by my request. He probably couldn¡¯t figure out how the discourtesy I showed Count Fomor earlier was related to an order to acquire a pen and paper.


    ¡°Your highness, may I inquire as to what you wish to write on the paper?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s obvious, ain¡¯t it?¡±


    I scanned the banquet hall once more with ¡®Mind¡¯s Eye¡¯ active.


    The Theocratic Empire was supposed to be clean and virtuous. However, I was wrong.


    This place was¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s time to ferret out the vampires.¡±


    ¡­No different from a den of monsters.


    < 032. Imperial Prince is Attending a Banquet -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 53

    **


    Count Fomor fixed his attire and exited from his suite. Before leaving, he took a look back inside.


    There wasn¡¯t a drop of blood, a piece of flesh, or even a scrap of the maid¡¯s clothing in it.


    ¡®I ended up losing my rationale.¡¯


    He felt overstuffed having eaten even the girl¡¯s clothing.


    ¡°How are you today, sir?¡±


    Maidservants passing by greeted him.


    Count Fomor waved his bandaged hand and addressed them, ¡°Ah, by the way. Regarding the maid named Millia.¡±


    The maidservants stopped walking in order to listen properly.


    ¡°I had her sent to my territory as my private maid. I¡¯ve been troubled with a shortage of personnel recently, you see. Can you speak to the grand chamberlain and express my apology for arbitrarily making up my mind on this matter?¡±


    The maidservants all looked surprised.


    A maid getting noticed by an aristocrat and then being dispatched to his fiefdom happened quite regularly. And the odds of such a girl ending up as a concubine of said aristocrat and turning her life around were very high, too.


    The maidservants nodded their heads, looks of envy clearly visible in their faces.


    Count Fomor bade them goodbye with a simple, ¡°Do your best!¡± and watched them walk away until the end. With this, there shouldn¡¯t be any suspicions regarding her disappearance. As long as he had enough time, all evidence could easily be erased.


    The real problem right now, though, was the Seventh Imperial Prince. That boy was suspicious of Fomor. No, wait. He was definitely sure of it.


    ¡®Right, he even used divinity on me!¡¯


    There wasn¡¯t even any hint of hesitation, either.


    While shaking hands, that damn boy used divinity, then even coaxed Fomor into drinking wine laced with more divine energy.


    Was that all?


    Nope, he even proceeded to slice up the back of Fomor¡¯s hand with a broken wine glass too. Such a barbaric method would¡¯ve been in use around three hundred years ago.


    Of course, if such simple methods were enough to unmask him, Fomor wouldn¡¯t have dared and infiltrated the imperial court this deeply in the first place.


    ¡®However, that brat was certain of my true nature. Why? How come?¡¯


    How did he even find out?


    Fomor was capable of even fooling the eyes of an archbishop, and yet the brat easily saw through his ruse. Could it be that the boy prince discovered a method to distinguish vampires during his banishment?


    If so, he was too dangerous to be kept alive.


    ¡®He needs to be eliminated.¡¯


    Killing an imperial prince within the Theocratic Empire would not be simple. In that case, the brat had to be sent back to the Land of the Dead Spirits. Having him banished again would make it easier to eliminate him, after all.


    What scheme should Fomor resort to, then?


    The count pondered his options for a while, and eventually, the ends of his lips curled up. He realised that there was no need for him to personally step up here.


    He was a loyal vassal of the Theocratic Empire, while the Seventh Imperial Prince was the mangnani prince.


    Wasn¡¯t there already someone who¡¯d willingly stand by his side, someone who also happened to hate that brat down to his bones?


    Fomor quickly headed towards the room where the First Imperial Prince Luan resided in.


    **


    (TL: in 1st person POV.)


    My eyes continued to shift around the vicinity as I walked around. I was busy confirming the status windows of the ones near me, trying to separate the normal folks from the hidden vampires.


    The nobles in the banquet were sneakily shuffling away from me, looking clearly anxious.


    That made some sense, though.


    I was the mangnani Imperial Prince who even harmed Count Fomor, someone supposed to be close to me. If it had been some other noble, the treatment might have been far worse, not better.


    These folks who used to sneer and even swear at me were now nervously minding the atmosphere, avoiding meeting my direct gaze and keeping their mouths shut.


    This was simpler for me, actually.


    Since I didn¡¯t need to talk to anyone, there was no need to worry about my manners anymore.


    ¡°Why, hasn¡¯t it been really a long time! Allen Olfolse, my dear little brother!¡±


    I raised my head up and discovered a young man in his early-to-mid twenties smiling at me.


    [Name: Ruppel Olfolse.


    Age: 24


    Traits: deceitful character, excellent spearmanship, ordinary physique, cowardly.


    I shall definitely become the Holy Emperor for my mother¡¯s sake!]


    I wordlessly stared at him. For an Imperial Prince, his status window seemed rather lacklustre.


    ¡°Ah, right. You¡¯ve lost your memories, haven¡¯t you. I am¡­¡±


    I quickly cut him off, ¡°The Third Imperial Prince.¡±


    I remembered the majority of what Harman told me.


    This dude had almost zero presence, and apparently, even the whole imperial court acknowledged him as a ¡®mama¡¯s boy¡¯.


    Although some nobles were leeching off of him, his sphere of influence wasn¡¯t all that great. If there ever was a novel¡¯s extra, wouldn¡¯t this Third Imperial Prince in front of my eyes qualify as one?


    ¡°I see, so you do remember me.¡±


    Ruppel frowned deeply.


    I simply returned a grin at him and bowed slightly. ¡°No. Harman had informed me earlier, dear brother.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it was,¡± the Third Imperial Prince muttered before scanning the surroundings. ¡°I don¡¯t see any of our other brothers present today. I¡¯m sure they had to return to their individual territories as they are all burdened by their duties. So don¡¯t be too dejected by it. I too am bound by my own duties and can only stay here for a short while.¡±


    He smiled back at me, but judging by how his lips were twitching like that, I figured that he was just as bad at lying as Harman.


    ¡°Thank you for those words.¡±


    I put on a smile and responded, and the Third Imperial Prince Ruppel lightly patted my shoulder.


    ¡°I saw you raise a bit of a commotion earlier. I feared that you¡¯ve reined in your wild streak after returning to the imperial palace, but my goodness! You and your fiery temper! Haha!¡± He continued yapping on and on, but still didn¡¯t forget to study me closely. ¡°It¡¯s truly a relief that you are not harbouring any foolish thoughts.¡±


    The smile on his face moved over to his eyes this time.


    ¡°If you were attending this occasion with the hopes of trying your luck at the emperor¡¯s throne, you and I would¡¯ve ended up as enemies. So all I can say is I¡¯m truly relieved.¡±


    The corners of his lips curled up with his head now cocked to a side.


    ¡°Just like how it used to be. We carry on as we always have, do you understand? You only have to do what I tell you. Ah, if you want, then I can make sure that everything your heart desires will come true! Haha!¡±


    He patted me on the shoulder again.


    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll be on my way now.¡±


    He then promptly exited from the banquet¡¯s venue.


    No sense of presence, was it¡­? I thought that I could figure out the reason why. That fool¡¯s style was to say what he wanted to say and then leave, just like that.


    I ignored that idiot and continued with compiling the list.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m finished.¡±


    I returned to the corner of the hall again and settled down before pushing the list towards Harman still standing there stiffly.


    ¡°Here, this is the list of the vampires within the imperial court.¡±


    ¡°Have you really located everyone, your highness?¡±


    Harman received the paper, his eyes opening much wider than before.


    ¡°This is merely a portion of them. If I really start looking around seriously, I¡¯m sure that many more can be found. If I don¡¯t get a good look at their faces, then I¡¯ll find it hard to determine their true identity. And guess what? Most of them have their faces turned away from me as if I¡¯m too hot for them to handle or something. If that¡¯s not it, then they saw what I did to Count Fomor, figured something was up, and deliberately avoided me.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying this is only a portion, your highness?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only gone through the ones on the ground floor. I haven¡¯t had the chance to go up to the first floor of the banquet hall yet.¡±


    ¡°There seems to be a lot of nobles, your highness.¡±


    Yeah, I was surprised by that too.


    About one hundred aristocrats, servants, and maids were present in the hall. Twelve of them turned out to be vampires, five aristocrats plus seven servants and maids.


    Most of them were well regarded by their peers, apparently. They probably treated the others well in order to hide their true natures. This would be rather similar to the owner of the farm sprucing up the livestock pen.


    ¡°Your highness, are you sure all these people are vampires?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t trust me?¡±


    Harman shook his head at my question. ¡°No, I trust you.¡±


    ¡°Even though there isn¡¯t any proof?¡±


    ¡°Anyone would trust you after witnessing all the miracles you¡¯ve managed to pull off so far, your highness.¡±


    Well, that¡¯s a relief then. Here¡¯s one person who did believe in my accusations.


    Ah, hang on. It¡¯s two people now, wasn¡¯t it?


    I glanced at Charlotte for a second before continuing on, ¡°Absolutely bloody brilliant, this damn Theocratic Empire. I had no idea that it¡¯d be this hopeless.¡±


    This was only the banquet hall. Which meant that there should be an even higher number of vampires hiding within all corners of the imperial palace.


    Even at a casual estimation, there should be at least over thirty of them.


    Why was the imperial court letting them run around unchecked, anyway? Did Gaia¡¯s love and mercy really embrace every fool under the sun equally?


    ¡°There¡¯re more of them than I thought. Wait, they all can¡¯t be as strong as the Vampire Count back in Ronia, can they?¡±


    Harman shook his head. ¡°They shouldn¡¯t be the ¡®Progenitors¡¯, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Progenitors?¡±


    ¡°You already know the evolution process of an undead, don¡¯t you?¡±


    If a zombie managed to maintain its body and gather enough demonic energy, thus evolving even further, eventually it¡¯d end up as a vampire.


    The ones called ¡®Progenitors¡¯ were existences ¡®born¡¯ through that process, and their origin would be considered as ¡®vampires¡¯ to begin with. As for the existences ¡®birthed¡¯ from such a Progenitor as a sort of a clone, they were called a ¡®blood-creation¡¯. These were beings that inherited the powers of a vampire without going through the undead¡¯s evolution.


    Harman continued on, ¡°They should all be blood-creations, your highness. Unless the Progenitor¡¯s balls are made out of pure grade-A steel, the creature itself wouldn¡¯t dare and hide within the borders of our Theocratic Empire.¡±


    Thankfully, this meant that they were all considerably weaker than the Vampire Count we ran into back in the Ronia fiefdom. On the flip side, it also meant that they were craftier little buggers, instead.

 Chapter 54

    I contemplated for a while before opening my mouth. ¡°Doesn¡¯t the imperial court know how to suss out the vampires?¡±


    Harman groaned under his breath. ¡°In all honesty¡­ no, we don¡¯t have any reliable methods, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t their bodies usually cold?¡±


    ¡°Vampires can manipulate their bodies. If they want to raise their body temperature, it should be rather easy to do so.¡±


    ¡°You can feed them holy water.¡±


    ¡°They will withstand it even after consuming some.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t their flesh burn away after injecting some divinity?¡±


    ¡°These blood-creations have evolved specifically to live in plain sight among regular humans, your highness.¡± Harman swallowed his dry saliva and carried on. ¡°And their bodies are also that of a normal human.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    A dazed expression floated up on my face.


    Vampires were monsters that could survive with their whole bodies being dismembered, as long as their head and heart permeating with demonic energy were left intact. It meant that cutting off and replacing a portion of their own bodies with someone else¡¯s was a fairly simple process.


    For instance¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s possible for a vampire to sever its own arms and legs, attach the limbs belonging to another person on itself, then manipulate the nerves to pass them off as its own, your highness. It can even remove the skin of its victim and wrap itself completely with that as well. In such cases, they should be able to withstand holy water being cast on them, or divinity being injected into them.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Fomor was still fine after I injected some divinity into him merely because the ¡®hand¡¯ I shook belonged to an actual human.


    ¡°What would happen if you create a wound and pour holy water on it? A vampire¡¯s body wouldn¡¯t heal from that, am I wrong?¡±


    ¡°As I¡¯ve said earlier, these creatures are wearing the skins of real human beings, your highness. That very skin should react positively to holy water and heal itself instead. Of course, as they are merely wearing skins, they shouldn¡¯t be able to exhibit the full strengths of real vampires.¡±


    I could only click my tongue at this information. But I didn¡¯t give up there and asked Harman for more details on the methods to ferret out the vampires.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be possible after learning magic that utilised divinity?¡±


    ¡°Those without talent can¡¯t gather divinity, your highness.¡±


    ¡°What about wounds?¡±


    ¡°Vampires can simply make it so that they don¡¯t heal.¡±


    ¡°Sunlight?¡±


    ¡°Although they do grow weaker in daylight, they can walk around without any issues.¡±


    ¡°Garlic?!¡±


    ¡°There are numerous vampires with unique taste palates who apparently enjoy garlic from what I¡¯ve heard, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Undeads have demonic energy in either their hearts or heads, don¡¯t they? You can pry them open to see it, right? Medical techniques of this world seem pretty advanced to me, so can¡¯t you at least check for something like that?¡±


    ¡°Actually, a vampire hunt fitting your description swept across the entirety of the continent about five hundred years ago, your highness. During that incident, over ten thousand innocent citizens had their heads and chests sliced open. Only two among them were positively identified as vampires.¡±


    Wowsers, the vampires of this world really were insane, weren¡¯t they?!


    I held my head.


    If there was a sure-fire way, then I¡¯d have told the Holy Emperor already. But without any indisputable proof, he wouldn¡¯t believe me even if he was my own grandfather.


    Being a mangnani sure presented various problems, didn¡¯t it?


    Wait, mangnani?


    ¡°Aha! Can¡¯t I like, just kill them all?¡±


    Wouldn¡¯t it be easier if I just went around smacking them in the head with a shovel or maybe shooting them with my musket rifle? Sure, this method was as dumb as a pile of bricks, but I didn¡¯t have to think too hard about it, plus it was a super-quick way to confirm everything.


    A huge commotion might start if I did just that, but there shouldn¡¯t be a better solution than this one. I mean, if I killed them first and proved that they were all vampires, then everyone else would start believing me afterwards.


    Since it would be the actions of a mangnani, what did it matter if I was a bit heavy-handed and stuff?


    ¡°Harman, isn¡¯t your position pretty high up in the pecking order?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a vice-captain of the Holy Cross Knight Order, your highness. I can mobilise a single Paladin corps at my discretion.¡±


    ¡°Okay, in that case, let me ask you for a favour.¡± While saying that, I entrusted the list to him. ¡°You see everyone on this list? Arrest them all and imprison them. No, hang on. Just kill them all.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll bear the full responsibility for it.¡±


    Harman swallowed more of his dry saliva.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You can¡¯t do it?¡±


    ¡°No, your highness. I¡¯ll do it. But will it really be alright?¡± He asked in a worried voice, ¡°We¡¯re still in the middle of the banquet. Mobilising an armed force during such an occasion means that you will be in danger as well, your highness.¡±


    Never mind many high-ranking aristocrats attending the banquet, even the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse himself, was scheduled to show up soon. And yet, the Seventh Imperial Prince wanted to gather troops to such a place?


    The odds of this action being interpreted as a coup d¡¯etat, an insurrection, was pretty damn high.


    ¡°Coup d¡¯etat or insurrection or whatever, ignore them all and just kill them. We just need to gather their ashes as proof, that¡¯s all.¡±


    The corners of my lips rose up. While leaning back, I interlocked my fingers and crossed my legs.


    Since I finally decided to make a move, I needed to do it as quickly as possible.


    ¡°Do it as soon as possible. Or else, I¡¯ll find myself in serious trouble later.¡±


    Both Harman and Charlotte¡¯s eyes grew wider from my remarks.


    I glanced at them. ¡°It¡¯s obvious, isn¡¯t it? I openly tried to confirm whether Count Fomor was a vampire or not. Which means that he¡¯s already suspecting me and will definitely try to take my life. So, before that bastard makes his move first, we¡­¡±


    It was right then.


    The outside of the banquet hall¡¯s doors were getting noisier.


    Even before the chamberlain could say something, those same doors were flung wide open.


    ¡°I-Imperial Prince Luan! Your highness, you mustn¡¯t! If you keep pushing that body of yours¡­!¡±


    My gaze shifted towards the doorway.


    A man resembling a mummy with numerous bandages tightly wrapped around him stumbled inside. Not just mine, but everyone¡¯s gazes were quickly focused on him in an instant.


    The aristocrats screamed and hurriedly covered their noses and mouths. Their alert and wary reactions were similar to how you¡¯d look at a patient infected with a pandemic.


    I looked at the mummy man and furrowed my brows deeply. The stench of death was coming off of him.


    What the heck was he? An undead¡­? No, hang on, he¡¯s still alive. But seeing as how all that demonic energy was wafting out of him¡­


    ¡°A curse, is it? One that necrotises the host¡¯s body.¡±


    Harman looked stunned by this event, then he hurriedly looked at me. With an anxious sounding voice, he opened his mouth, ¡°Your highness, how about we leave first and¡­¡±


    ¡°Allen Olfolse!¡±


    The patient wrapped in bandages glared at me in pure rage. Then he walked up to me next. He shoved aside the knights blocking his path, and even pushed and overturned the tables getting in his way.


    ¡°First Imperial Prince, your highness. Just what¡­¡±


    Harman stood before me as if to provide protection. He then tried embracing the approaching First Imperial Prince to stop the latter.


    ¡°¡­First Imperial Prince?¡±


    That guy was my older brother?


    His eyes were bloodshot and he looked like an undead with his mouth wide open like that.


    [Name: Luan Olfolse


    Age: 27


    Traits: benevolent personality, vicious personality, rotting body, excellent talent in swordsmanship, qualities of a wise ruler, thunderbolts, qualities of a tyrant.


    Allen Olfolse! I shall punish you bastard for insulting our mother¡¯s memories!]


    Now those were some seriously contradictory traits. On top of that, the stuff written in the ¡®+¡¯ section was uncomfortably close to pure hatred.


    Wait a second, it couldn¡¯t be that the siblings born from the same mother were trying to kill each other, right?


    I recalled the Witch Morgana incident and was overcome with some fear that maybe she had been dispatched by the First Imperial Prince, instead.


    Charlotte too stood in front of me to act as a shield.


    ¡°You bastard, you even dared to insult my loyal vassal too? You can¡¯t be satisfied with dragging our mother¡¯s honour through the mud and attempt to rape the esteemed daughter of an archbishop, so you now even decided to attack my vassal?!¡±


    ¡°Your highness Luan. If you force your body like this¡­!¡±


    Harman couldn¡¯t make any careless moves here. Every time he tried to stop the First Imperial Prince from going forward, drops of blood fell and pooled on the floor.


    ¡°Y-your highness!¡±


    Numerous healers and an old man wielding a crosier belatedly rushed into the banquet hall.


    ¡°You dare to blaspheme and dishonour our mother¡¯s memories! And as if that wasn¡¯t enough, you even tried to insult the loyal vassal that served her as well! Just what is your reason for tarnishing our mother¡¯s honour to this degree?! What is your damn reason!¡±


    Luan finally managed to shove Harman aside.


    As if he had completely lost his reasoning, he pounced on me. Charlotte grabbed his arms, but just before she could subdue him¡­


    ¡°Just what the hell do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡±


    A loud roar reverberated throughout the hall. The Spirit Speech containing divinity completely filled up the banquet venue in an instant.


    All of the aristocrats flinched and shielded their heads.


    Charlotte, Harman, Luan, and myself froze up and slowly shifted our gazes in a certain direction.


    The grand chamberlain kowtowing on the floor made his announcement with every ounce of his energy.


    ¡°U-under the divine protection of the virtuous empire¡­ the g-great and noble ruler of the Theocratic Empire¡­¡±


    ¡®He¡¯ took one step at a time. The floor beneath his foot shattered and electricity ominously cackled.


    The old man kitted out in a white robe with golden engravings might have boasted only a slight physique, but right now, he was exuding this sense of immense weight.


    With every step he took, it felt as if a giant was walking towards us.


    ¡°His majesty has graced us with his presence!¡±


    The Holy Emperor of the Theocratic Empire, Kelt Olfolse, was now glaring at the instigators of the commotion in the banquet hall.


    < 033. Imperial Prince is Attending a Banquet -4 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 55

    Alice was with Gril and Count Jenald Ripang on the first floor of the banquet hall. The subject of their conversation were the recent events that took place in the Ronia fiefdom.


    ¡°That¡¯s absolutely it, miss! When the Seventh Imperial Prince-nim swung his shovel, a huuuge lake made out of holy water suddenly¡­!¡±


    ¡°What Gril said is the truth, Lady Alice. Huhuhuh, even I had no idea that the Imperial Family¡¯s youngest prince was capable of performing miracles of such an immense calibre. Just his highness alone was that amazing, so I can¡¯t help but be curious about the level of miracles that his majesty can perform!¡±


    Gril sat by one of the tables and yapped on while spittle flew out of his mouth, all the while Count Jenald continuously agreed with his words rather enthusiastically from the side.


    Alice smiled awkwardly while looking at these two. From her perspective, it was rather hard to believe the stories that Gril or Count Jenald Ripang have been telling her.


    Despite being the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson, the Seventh Imperial Prince was an infamous mangnani, so how could he create a lake made out of holy water?


    Various Priests, Saints, or Saintesses that are found in history had never, ever managed to create such an event before. Besides, the idea of creating a lake on top of dry ground itself didn¡¯t make any sense whatsoever, either.


    The tales recited by Gril and Count Jenald Ripang contained far too many parts that went against the laws of this world.


    ¡®Still, I can sort of picture him swinging around a shovel, somehow.¡¯


    It actually seemed like a perfect choice of weapon for a mangnani.


    Alice sipped the wine in her hand and lightly shook her head. Her cheeks reddened slightly from the alcohol. She felt a little light-headed, but in spite of that, her overall mood was great.


    Shatter-!


    Suddenly, a sharp noise rang out.


    Alice flinched and took a look at her own hand, wondering if she had dropped her wine glass. Thankfully, it seemed that she wasn¡¯t drunk enough yet to make such a mistake.


    Did that mean a servant or a maid made an error and dropped something somewhere?


    She shifted her gaze around. As she had been staying near the railing of the first floor, she could look down below at the banquet hall¡¯s ground floor. It was at that moment she spotted the Seventh Imperial Prince. Count Fomor was with him too.


    She gasped out. ¡°Urgh¡­¡±


    For some reason, she couldn¡¯t help but feel this weird queasiness when looking at those two. She ducked her head lower in fear of them inadvertently spotting her before silently observing what happened next.


    Her curiosity only lasted for a short while, however.


    The actions of the Seventh Imperial Prince were indeed extremely strange. He deliberately injured Count Fomor.


    The boy prince formed an unreadable expression, then smiled brightly while keeping his eyes fixed on the red-haired count¡¯s back as the latter exited from the banquet hall.


    Alice could only blink nonstop from that.


    Her eyes spotted the wine dripping from the shattered glass, the one the Seventh Imperial Prince was drinking from earlier. That was where the highly-concentrated divinity could be sensed from.


    ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯


    ¡°Tsk, tsk. It looks like his highness the Seventh Imperial Prince has lost his mind. Is he really thinking of turning Count Fomor against him? Someone who used to serve his mother, Lady Yulisia?¡±


    ¡°What a shame it is for Count Fomor. You won¡¯t find a vassal who worries about the First and the Seventh Imperial Prince as much as he does, after all.¡±


    ¡°They seemed to be in good spirits while drinking wine together, and yet for some reason, things seemed to have deteriorated instantly.¡±


    ¡°You can blame that on being drunk, I guess. Let us leave as well, I don¡¯t think any one of us can deal with an intoxicated imperial prince.¡±


    The aristocrats cautiously studied the overall atmosphere before leaving the banquet altogether.


    However, Alice mulled over what she heard. ¡®They shared wine together?¡¯


    They drank wine containing divinity, and then the prince suddenly wounded the count on the back of the latter¡¯s hand?


    Exactly why did the Seventh Imperial Prince treat Count Fomor in such a manner?


    ¡°Uh? Isn¡¯t that Charlotte? Charlotte~~, your dad is over here!¡±


    ¡°Gril, you¡¯re drunk. Your actions are putting us in a spot!¡±


    Gril continued waving his hand, his face clearly flushed red. Meanwhile, feudal lord Count Jenald Ripang was trying to dissuade his drunken conversation partner.


    The other aristocrats looked at the two men, and they were either scowling deeply or chuckling under their breath. In their eyes, a feudal lord from a rural backwater town and the representative of the citizens living there looked like a couple of court jesters.


    Alice too couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly when looking at these two men. Although she did find them easier to be around with, they were also a bit burdensome as well.


    By the time she shifted her gaze again, Sir Harman pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, before presenting them to the Imperial Prince. The latter received them and began wandering around the banquet hall, his eyes gleaming suspiciously as if he was looking for something.


    ¡°Just what is he doing?¡±


    The very moment Alice asked herself that question, the next incident quickly occurred.


    ¡°Allen Olfolse!!¡±


    The First Imperial Prince made his entrance.


    She was startled awake by that. The First Imperial Prince Luan, still suffering from ill health, could be seen overexerting himself while trying to pounce on the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    ¡°Just what the hell do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡±


    And then, the next to make his entrance was the Holy Emperor himself.


    His powerful roar contained divinity. Even Alice ended up flinching greatly from it.


    The three people of the Imperial Family were now staring at each other. She could also see her grandfather stuck in the middle while sweating profusely, clearly not knowing what to do in this situation.


    Alice held her aching head.


    The Imperial Family always had its fair share of hotheads over the years. Because of that, she couldn¡¯t help but gain a sort of renewed respect for her grandfather who stood by and served such a dysfunctional family for his entire life.


    ¡®W-wait, now isn¡¯t the time for this!¡¯


    While holding onto the hem of her dress, she urgently headed downstairs to the banquet hall¡¯s ground floor.


    She didn¡¯t really care about anything else. The in-fighting of the Imperial Family members occurred pretty regularly after all. The one thing she found more important than that was the instability of the First Imperial Prince Luan¡¯s physical state.


    She passed by the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s side and sneaked a glance at the latter.


    It looked like he was taking a step back while pushing a piece of paper containing something to Sir Harman at the same time. The boy prince lowered his head and whispered to the Paladin.


    Harman, go and hunt down the vampires.


    The whisper was soft, almost inaudible, only his lips bobbing up and down ever so slightly. If it weren¡¯t for Alice¡¯s comparatively short height, she wouldn¡¯t have seen his lips move at all.


    ¡®Vampires?¡¯


    Just as Alice began wondering what that was all about¡­


    The First Imperial Prince grabbed his chest and let out a pained moan.


    ¡°Your highness!¡±


    Alice turned her body towards Luan and hastily supported the prince. Archbishop Raphael nearby hurriedly came over and began injecting divinity into the cursed body of the First Imperial Prince.


    **


    (Tl: back to 1st person POV.)


    ¡°Harman, go and hunt down the vampires.¡±


    I passed the list containing the names of the vampires over to Harman. He nodded his head and received the piece of paper.


    Meanwhile, my dear older brother Luan, who also happened to be the First Imperial Prince, was gritting his teeth.


    He must¡¯ve regained his wits, because he was taking a few steps back now. But then, he suddenly staggered unsteadily and clutched his chest before moaning in pain.


    Even before I realised it, the lady-in-waiting, Alice, rushed over and supported Luan from keeling over. A healer that looked to be in a high position quickly approached them, and then began injecting divinity into the First Imperial Prince¡¯s body.


    ¡°You fools, are you really trying to sully the honour and prestige of the Imperial Family?!¡±


    The Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse shouted out, the veins in his throat bulging ever so grandly.


    As expected of the emperor who wielded the utmost absolute authority on this continent; his majestic aura was so splendid that any other emperor would have no choice but to tuck their tails firmly between their legs.


    ¡°You punks! Will you finally get a grip on yourselves if I bust your skulls with my own two fists?!¡±


    The only problem I could see here would be the way he unhesitantly spat out some words that seemingly fed all semblance of class to a pack of stray mutts.


    The old man who looked like the archbishop wanted to say something, but the atmosphere was too volatile and ugly that he just couldn¡¯t find the right timing.


    The surroundings had fallen deathly silent.


    Everyone around us was shivering in fear while looking at the First Imperial Prince, me, and the Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse.


    What the hell? I feel like I¡¯ve become the lead in a makjang K-drama or something. [1]


    Why oh why did I have to go and possess the body of a kid from such a soya powder family? [2]


    ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    Charlotte asked me.


    I¡¯m obviously alright. It¡¯s not like I was struck by something just now, anyway.


    ¡°What is your excuse, Allen Olfolse?¡±


    I shifted my gaze over to the First Imperial Prince as the latter¡¯s eyes drilled into me.


    ¡°I heard that you dared insult Count Fomor. What is your reason for that?¡±


    The mention of Count Fomor¡¯s name caused the Holy Emperor to divert his gaze in my direction. His eyes were narrowed down to slits. ¡°Is that true?¡±


    I replied honestly, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true.¡±


    Well, it wasn¡¯t meant to be an insult but actually me trying to hunt the dude down, but too bad, I failed to kill him. Who would¡¯ve thought that he¡¯d emerge unscathed after I injected divinity in his hand then had him drink holy wine? For a moment there, I even suspected that [Mind¡¯s Eye] suddenly developed a system error or something.


    ¡°What was your reason for doing so?¡±


    Okay, so. Should I openly say, ¡°Because he was a vampire¡±?


    I could only grin wryly.


    Here I was, the prince who got banished and was sent to a backward town without any guards to protect me.


    The Holy Emperor in front of me left his own seventh grandson to his devices, even when the boy almost got murdered after being hanged by a witch. I had a hunch that the old man wouldn¡¯t listen to me at this point in time.


    Nope, he¡¯d probably berate me instead.


    Besides, if I openly say something about the vampires in the city now, then those damned undead would only crawl deeper into the shadows and hide away.


    ¡°I made a mistake. It seems that I was too drunk at the time.¡±


    ¡°A mistake?¡±


    Kelt Olfolse glared at me even harder than before.


    I simply cocked my head wordlessly, and then shrugged my shoulders.


    This sure was the perfect display of a mannerless mangnani, alright. Despite my actions, though, the Holy Emperor still persisted with his questioning.


    ¡°Was that really the only reason?¡±


    Eh?


    Now that was an unexpected response.


    Kelt Olfolse was demanding another reason from me. However¡­ wasn¡¯t I a grandson you already abandoned? Why are you looking at me with such a meaningful glare in your eyes?


    I replied dismissively, ¡°Why would there be another reason?¡±


    The First Imperial Prince breathed raggedly while keeping his glare locked on me. He then picked up a wine glass from a nearby table and threw it on the ground I was standing on.

 Chapter 56

    The glass hit the floor and shattered.


    The First Imperial Prince Luan Olfolse then shot me a determined glare and spoke. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we last had a duel, so let¡¯s have one now. Allen Olfolse, my dear younger brother!¡±


    The tone of his voice sounded like a neighbourhood thug about to throw down in a gang fight.


    A troubled expression crept up on my face as I anxiously scanned both the Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse and the First Imperial Prince.


    Was this the case of, ¡®Like grandfather, like grandson¡¯?


    I muttered out, ¡°Just who does he resemble to be that hotheaded, I wonder?¡±


    Harman piped up from behind me, ¡°But, your highness. You¡¯re just like his majesty and your older brother.¡±


    I silently shot him a glare and the Paladin sneakily took a step back.


    Meanwhile, the Holy Emperor spat out a groan and shook his head. ¡°Luan, what do you think you are doing to your younger brother? A duel? Why do you have the gall to even suggest that in your current condition?¡±


    Luan Olfolse bowed deeply towards his grandfather, the emperor. ¡°Please forgive this one¡¯s impertinence. However, your majesty, I simply cannot overlook the matters this time. This one¡¯s loyal vassal has been insulted greatly.¡±


    ¡°Even so, this is not the correct way. And so, Allen. You return to your quarters immediately. I shall have this commotion investigated thoroughly before handing out your appropriate punishment.¡±


    It was then, Luan spoke up. ¡°Your majesty. I have heard that Allen¡¯s contribution during the vampire incident up north was rather sizeable.¡±


    When those words were spoken, Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse¡¯s eyes shifted back over to the First Imperial Prince.


    The latter raised his head and met the former¡¯s gaze before continuing on. ¡°By having a duel with me, we should be able to see Allen¡¯s true face. We¡¯ll see whether he really did hunt the vampire, or he simply lied in order to snatch away someone else¡¯s accomplishment. By allowing this duel to happen, we should be able to see for ourselves, your majesty.¡±


    The Holy Emperor now seemed hesitant. He sighed deeply again before shaking his head.


    The First Imperial Prince Luan took his grandfather¡¯s silence as a sign of tacit agreement, then shifted his glare in my direction again. ¡°Now then, let us have a duel! Allen, I shall definitely fix your insolent ways for good!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    All I could do at this point was tut inwardly.


    What a cliched plot development this was. So, so bloody obvious, in fact.


    The kind of plot you¡¯d normally see in a dime-a-dozen third-rate novel, was now unfolding right before my eyes.


    **


    Forget about a banquet, it felt like a martial arts tournament was opening up instead.


    All the aristocrats at the party venue had gathered in the training hall. They seemed oddly excited, probably because they must¡¯ve enjoyed spectating on the feuds of other families.


    The First Imperial Prince Luan raised a wooden sword while breathing heavily.


    ¡°Cough! Cough!¡±


    He covered his mouth but still coughed out some blood. Even though he was staggering about, his frenzied glare was still firmly locked on me.


    Was it really okay to let an almost-dead patient do something like this?


    Wait, this event wouldn¡¯t be like that ¡®Emergency Escape¡¯ episode where he dies of heart attack while walking over here, right? [1]


    I stood stiffly in the middle of the training hall and observed the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse.


    The Archbishop and Alice were doing their best to change the old man¡¯s mind. But even then, he simply stood there while keeping his mouth firmly shut.


    An expression of worry meant for the First Imperial Prince could clearly be seen on his face, yet he didn¡¯t seem to be planning to put an end to this duel at all.


    Just what was he expecting to gain from this?


    ¡°Please be careful.¡± Charlotte helped me put on a set of leather armour. She looked deeply worried. ¡°Please don¡¯t force yourself. If you feel it¡¯s getting too dangerous, please surrender immediately.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry about me.¡±


    Seeing that I was about to face off against a wobbly patient, I probably didn¡¯t need to push myself too hard here.


    At that moment, I ended up recalling some other fantasy novels I¡¯ve read in the past. Why was I heading down such a cliched development?


    An Imperial Prince; the unsolved mystery of whether this being a possession or reincarnation; then, a duel between the said Imperial Prince and his sibling who was in conflict with him.


    If I was to point out the difference here, then the leads of those novels would be accomplished martial artists while their opponents were vastly weaker than them. In my case, things had been somewhat reversed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know how to use a sword, though.¡±


    Sure, I had the prior experience of hunting down zombies by swinging my shovel in every which way. However, the thing was, I never really learned how to wield a sword, nor did I even swing one around properly before.


    ¡°¡­Ah, right. There was that one time, wasn¡¯t there?¡±


    Back in the monastery, didn¡¯t I try to train in the swordsmanship only to kiss the ground with my ass?


    My physical abilities weren¡¯t that much different from a regular person who exercised often, that was about it. Although, I could still cast a ¡®Blessing¡¯ on myself by using divinity and temporarily enhance my physical attributes for a bit.


    ¡°For the reasons of safety, the usage of divinity will be prohibited during this duel.¡± The archbishop wielding a crosier, the one I identified as Raphael Astoria through [Mind¡¯s Eye], made his announcement. ¡°If you really managed to hunt the vampire down, your highness, then you surely didn¡¯t just rely on your divinity to succeed. We suspect that you¡¯re talented in some kind of martial arts, or at least, quick with improvising. That should be quite obvious if you had really killed a Progenitor Vampire.¡±


    Well, sh*t, even my divinity got sealed now.


    Raphael was glaring at me with sharp, critical eyes. It looked as if he was forcibly suppressing his urge to swing that crosier in my face.


    Holy cow. Enemies were literally everywhere under heaven and earth, weren¡¯t there?!


    The archbishop who I wanted to meet so badly hated my guts, which I found rather ironic to behold.


    Hey, dear Seventh Imperial Prince, I really acknowledge your accomplishments in life, man! I really gotta hand it to you for being an undeniable mangnani!


    While inwardly ¡®praising¡¯ the Seventh Imperial Prince, I addressed Harman next to me, ¡°Hey, Harman.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. Just focus on the preparations.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Harman bowed slightly and left the training hall.


    The Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, studied both me and Harman for a bit before opening his mouth, ¡°Let the duel begin. Fighters, do not forget to uphold the courtesy of¡­¡±


    The old man began saying some things. While listening to him, I began thinking of some other things instead.


    Ah, right.


    This was supposed to be a duel, wasn¡¯t it?


    ¡°Therefore, you must not forget the courtesy between the brothers. And now¡­¡±


    The Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse raised his hand.


    ¡°Allen Olfolse, my immature little brother,¡± Luan said as he glared at me. He staggered before stabbing the wooden sword on the ground to steady himself while gritting his teeth. ¡°I shall properly fix that insolent streak of yours today.¡±


    Kelt Olfolse lowered his hand. ¡°Begin.¡±


    The First Imperial Prince Luan sucked in a deep breath. He then forced his rotting body to move.


    He let out a spirited yell and kicked the ground.


    Blood splattered everywhere.


    The bandages danced wildly from his rough, harsh movements.


    That probably hurt quite a lot. Well, he was forcing his rotting muscles to move, after all. The only reason why he managed to move this much was probably due to his tough mental fortitude.


    ¡°Allen Olfolse!!!¡±


    He leapt up and raised his wooden sword.


    While watching him, I discarded my own wooden sword on the ground. Then, I placed my hand on my chest and bowed my head in a dignified manner.


    ¡°I surrender.¡±


    With those words, his wooden sword stopped mid-way.


    I sneakily raised my head a little, and confirmed that the falling weapon had stopped somewhere right above my noggin. I then stealthily took a glance at the opponent before me.


    His face was wrapped up in bandages, but seeing how wide his eyes were, I figured that he still hadn¡¯t comprehended what kind of a situation this was.


    Just to make sure, I decided to continue on with my words. ¡°This cowardly Allen Olfolse is so utterly scared of his older brother, and that¡¯s why I¡¯m surrendering immediately.¡±


    Winning or losing didn¡¯t matter to me one bit.


    Besides, there was only one First Imperial Prince in this world, who also happened to be my older brother, too. Seeing that his physical condition was poor, wouldn¡¯t it be the duty of a younger brother to hand over the moral victory here, at the very least?


    I stared at Luan and smiled brightly. ¡°This is the victory of my noble older brother. I congratulate you! Well, everyone! A round of applause, please!¡±


    I quickly started clapping away.


    It was at this point that Luan¡¯s once-dazed expression crumpled in an unsightly manner.


    < 034. Imperial Prince is Duelling -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 57

    **


    -Your majesty, are you not going to put a stop to this?


    -The condition of his highness the First Imperial Prince¡¯s physique is too unstable. I beg of you to stop this duel, your majesty!


    Archbishop Raphael and his granddaughter, Alice, said those words.


    The personal physicians of the First Imperial Prince were trying to change his mind, but the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, didn¡¯t want to stop this duel.


    The truth was that he felt fifty-fifty about it.


    He was worried about his first grandson,so the half of his heart wanted to stop the duel. But there was his desire to find out the truth about his seventh grandson, too.


    If the boy really pulled off such miracles back in the Ronia fiefdom, and if he really managed to hunt down a Progenitor Vampire, then¡­ he¡¯d be someone who possessed the status of a Saint. He would be someone with the talent to become the ¡®inheritor of the Holy Emperor¡¯s throne¡¯.


    ¡®I¡¯m sorry, archbishop.¡¯


    It didn¡¯t matter even if he came across as selfish. From Kelt Olfolse¡¯s perspective, he needed a successor capable of protecting the denizens of the empire, someone who could defend them against the vampires.


    The First Imperial Prince wouldn¡¯t last a year at this rate. And Kelt was too advanced in age, so no one could tell just when he¡¯d depart from this world as well.


    He wanted to confirm the truth about Allen through this duel, then give himself another chance to think about the succession issue.


    ¡°This coward, Allen Olfolse, admits his defeat. I congratulate you, my noble older brother, for your victory. Well, everyone. A round of applause, please!¡±


    However, the Seventh Imperial Prince simply surrendered. No, he even went beyond that and began clapping his hands too.


    ¡°Everyone, applause!¡±


    On top of that, he was coaxing the aristocrats present to applaud as well. Everyone inside the training hall now had dumbfounded looks on their faces.


    ¡°Well, grandpa, you clap your hands too!¡±


    Even the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, was feeling the same as the others. The Imperial Prince must¡¯ve taken after a certain someone because he seemed to have fed all semblance of princely dignity to a stray mutt or some such.


    This was no sacred duel between the two imperial princes. No, this had devolved into a mere playtime for kids instead.


    Kelt Olfolse had been looking forward to this duel, so naturally, anger rushed up to his head. But just before he could roar out at the top of his lungs, he heard the sound of someone clapping away.


    He turned his head to look and spotted a girl with silver hair following after the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s example to clap her hands. Just then, someone else started applauding too.


    The culprits this time were Count Jenald and the citizen¡¯s representative, Gril. Both men were standing among the aristocrats.


    The Holy Emperor stared at them and frowned deeply, but then, more clapping noises came from elsewhere, this time from a much closer location.


    Alice, who was dazedly standing next to him, flinched in surprise, and urgently began clapping away. But was that all? Even the archbishop was hurriedly applauding as well.


    Only then did Kelt Olfolse realise what their intentions were.


    The silver-haired girl and Count Jenald, as well as the citizen¡¯s representative, were all trying to help the Seventh Imperial Prince. Meanwhile, Raphael and Alice were also attempting to end this so-called duel and rush to the First Imperial Prince¡¯s aid.


    Now that even the archbishop began clapping, the other aristocrats in the venue had no choice but to start doing the same too, their faces filled with obvious signs of awkwardness.


    All the people completely filling up the training hall were now applauding. Gradually though, dissatisfied expressions began floating up on their faces.


    Kelt Olfolse was about to roar out after his rage boiled over, but the atmosphere had changed far too much for that now.


    ¡®I can¡¯t step in anymore.¡¯


    The emperor then shifted his gaze over to the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    Why did that boy do something like this?


    Was he trying to avoid this duel at any cost?


    If not, was he worried about his older brother, the First Imperial Prince Luan, and decided to cancel this duel even at the cost of his own humiliation?


    ¡®Unfortunately, your thoughts were too na?ve, Allen.¡¯


    Kelt Olfolse helplessly massaged his temples. From his perspective, and undoubtedly from the First Imperial Prince¡¯s too, what the boy did was clearly tomfoolery, a naked provocation, and perhaps even a thinly veiled insult.


    The proof was with the First Imperial Prince raising his wooden sword even higher now.


    ¡®Looks like I might really have to step in now.¡¯


    Kelt Olfolse tutted softly.


    **


    (TL: back to 1st person POV.)


    ¡°Well, grandpa, you clap your hands too!¡±


    I spoke while looking at the Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse.


    He seemed completely dumbfounded by my actions, and was unable to say a single thing.


    Hiyaaa, even I think this was one hell of a crazy situation. There shouldn¡¯t be a mangnani even more extraordinary than myself in this entire world!


    No, hang on second, since I was doing the right thing for my older brother, this wasn¡¯t me strictly being a mangnani was it? I mean, what I just did would give him some face here, right? Yup, no doubt about that.


    ¡°Well, then. Now that the match is over, let us get back to the more enjoyable banq¡­¡±


    I reflexively ducked.


    A wooden sword brushed past above my head with nary a hair¡¯s breadth.


    ¡°Dear mommy! Older brother?!¡±


    I hurriedly shielded my head and flinched greatly while looking up at Luan. The muscles around his brows and lips were trembling ominously. His previously rage-filled expression became even more distorted afterwards. ¡°You bastard! You finally even dare to insult me?!¡±


    ¡°What horsesh*t are you¡­ Eh-hmm, what could you possibly mean by that, older brother? I¡¯m merely looking out for you, so I¡­¡±


    I got flustered and had a minor slip of the tongue just then, but that only seemed to cause Luan¡¯s reasoning to fly further out the window instead. ¡°Did you just call me horsesh*t, you bastard?!¡±


    ¡°H-hang on, that¡¯s not what I said.¡±


    ¡°You goddamn punk of a b*tch¡­!¡±


    ¡°Brother, why don¡¯t we uphold our princely dignity and¡­¡±


    Luan¡¯s eyes shifted. He then took a swing with his wooden sword again.


    This was getting really dangerous. I currently didn¡¯t even have my wooden sword with me.


    I rolled on the ground in an attempt to dodge the sword.


    Luan then bent his body. While relying on a bizarre movement, he thrust his wooden sword accurately towards my face.


    The intent behind the attack was so sharp that getting struck by it would surely result in my nose breaking, or with me losing a few teeth.


    ¡°Damn it, dude, what kinda dog sh*t is this¡­?!¡±


    I quickly summoned the shovel out of my item window.


    The wooden sword collided with the shovel at the very next moment.


    Luan¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and everyone else inside the training hall froze up right where they stood.


    ¡°A shovel?¡±


    Their reactions weren¡¯t that surprising, since a mangnani imperial prince was suddenly wielding a shovel of all things. They probably were freaking out. However, the gasps of shock quite different in nature from emotions of fluster leaked out from them instead.


    The aristocrats were forming utterly stunned expressions.


    ¡°Where did that shovel¡­?¡±


    ¡°Was that subspace magic?!¡±


    The gazes of the aristocrats instantly shifted over to the court magicians. The latter group hurriedly shook their heads, having the same somewhat flustered expressions as them.


    ¡°B-but there wasn¡¯t any flow of Mana just now! What his highness used wasn¡¯t magic. However, we also believe that what happened was not reliant on a magic tool either. In such cases, we believe it was [Divine Aura].¡±


    Luan narrowed his eyes before taking another swing with his wooden sword.


    The shovel and the sword collided once more.


    His attacks were seriously sharp. For a patient with his whole body rotting away, his blows were all smoothly executed.


    His flawless execution of the imperial swordsmanship technique was pressuring me nonstop.


    Hell, since he was already at this level with the current state of his body, how much worse would it have been if he was in a perfect condition?


    I raised my shovel and hurriedly blocked another strike from the wooden sword.


    The light gleaming in Luan¡¯s eyes had changed by now.


    During the beginning of the duel, that very light was filled with hatred. However, when I summoned the shovel, he looked puzzled. And now, those eyes contained deep shock instead.


    He asked me. ¡°Did you really kill the Progenitor Vampire?¡±


    ¡°I told you that¡¯s not it. I had everyone¡¯s help with me.¡±


    Luan¡¯s gaze shifted for a moment just then. He looked at the Holy Emperor before reverting his glare back at me.


    His eyes sharpened even further.


    Upon noticing this, a chill ran down my spine.


    Something¡¯s coming!


    ¡°Oh, the God of abundance, Tomer¡­¡±


    H-hey, man. I thought we weren¡¯t allowed to use our divinity?!


    Besides all that, if you use divinity in your current state¡­


    The thing I was worried about happened for real.


    The demonic energy hiding in Luan¡¯s heart started displaying a negative reaction when he forcibly gathered divinity.


    The skin tightly wrapped underneath the bandages puffed up before finally rupturing. Blood spluttered down and formed small puddles.


    ¡°Your majesty! You must stop this!¡±


    ¡°Just a little longer.¡±


    ¡°But his highness will die at this rate!¡±


    ¡°I already know!¡±


    Even as Raphael desperately tried to talk some sense into the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse simply kept his eyes wide open.


    ¡°I know. I know it all too well.¡±


    Kelt Olfolse was clenching his teeth so hard that blood almost seeped out of his gums.


    H-hey, if you know so well, do something and stop this already!


    The First Imperial Prince will die for sure!


    Divinity was now injected into Luan¡¯s wooden sword.


    The shovel defending against the weapon was buckling under the pressure. It let out a sharp ¡®Crack!¡¯ and began breaking in half.


    This is bad!


    At this rate, forget about the First Imperial Prince, it¡¯d be me dying right here today!


    [Divine Aura has activated.]


    A Rune letter suddenly engraved itself on the shovel still tightly held in my hands. The tool buckling nonstop as if it¡¯d break at any given moment had now grown sturdy and tough and easily withstood the wooden sword filled with divinity.


    Please, someone, anyone, stop this madness already!


    At this rate, either me or the First Imperial Prince will really die!


    I inwardly prayed for someone to lend a hand and rescue me. However, too bad, the stinking aristocrat bastards were too impressed by our duel and were seemingly committed to spectating it until the very end.


    Is a family feud that entertaining to you?! This place called the Theocratic Empire, what an effed up kingdom it¡¯s turning out to be!


    It was around then, I spotted a head full of red hair among the aristocrats. It was none other than Count Fomor, hiding between his fellow nobles with the corners of his lips curled upwards.


    Ah. So you were responsible for this crappy event, was that it?


    Seeing how you¡¯re here to leisurely spectate on this duel, I guess you feel that much confident about yourself, don¡¯t you?


    I couldn¡¯t endure this anymore.


    If I kill that bastard right now, everything would be sorted out in an instant. Me being played on the palm of a damn vampire must stop right now.


    ¡°Brother, I¡¯m really sorry about this.¡± I deflected the wooden sword belonging to the First Imperial Prince, Luan Olfolse. ¡°Keep your teeth clenched tightly, okay?¡±


    I firmly stepped on the ground, spun my whole body, and swung the flat part of the shovel on Luan¡¯s body.


    THUD!


    Along with a heavy, dull thud, his body became airborne for a brief moment. Then, he powerlessly fell into a heap on the ground.


    ¡°Keo-uhrk¡­¡±


    His nose was broken and several of his teeth came loose. While laying on the cold ground, Luan Olfolse¡¯s body continued twitching.


    I stood before him and summoned my trusty musket rifle, then breathed into the ammo loading chamber.


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia.¡±


    A bullet of divinity rapidly coalesced.


    [Divine Aura has activated.]


    [Equipment will temporarily be enhanced.]


    [A bullet is being generated.]


    I stared at the two men who could be seen as the referees of this duel, the Holy Emperor and the archbishop.


    The latter¡¯s complexion paled even more, and he began pleading desperately to the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse. ¡°We must stop him, your majesty! Even if a musket lacks the power to kill, his highness is still in danger at such a close proximity!¡±


    Relax, mister archbishop. I¡¯m not aiming for his highness the First Imperial Prince anyways.


    I sneaked a glance at the vampire. Count Fomor was hiding among the nobles. He flinched in surprise and hurriedly stumbled back.


    Tch, you¡¯re pretty cautious, aren¡¯t you? To think that he¡¯d be that wary of a musket, a so-called decorative ornament in this world.


    Because of this, I couldn¡¯t gather enough divinity. Normally, I needed to spend around one minute to generate a bullet, and then another thirty seconds to offer a prayer. But it seemed that I wouldn¡¯t have enough time to go through all of that.


    It had been less than ten seconds since I began gathering divinity. Because of how short the time was, I wasn¡¯t sure how strong this shot would be, but at the bare minimum, I needed to hit that vampire in the face first.


    I quickly raised my musket and took aim at Count Fomor hiding within the nobles. He was fine even after divinity got injected into him and had to drink a glass full of holy wine.


    Still, he shouldn¡¯t be left unscathed after his head gets blown off.


    ¡°Heot?!¡±


    ¡°What is he¡­?!¡±


    Just as the gathered aristocrats fell into panicked chaos, I pulled the trigger.


    Flames erupted from the muzzle.


    The divinity bullet squarely struck Count Fomor¡¯s head within the spectators.


    CRUNCH!!!

 Chapter 58

    ¡°Uwaaaaaahk!¡±


    One side of his face exploded. Count Fomor hurriedly shielded his blown-up face and fell onto the ground. He screamed out while thrashing around in pain.


    ¡°Uwaahk?!¡±


    ¡°H-his highness has finally lost his mind!¡±


    Bloody hell, he¡¯s still alive?


    I had to stop in the middle of generating the bullet and that must¡¯ve caused the gathered divinity to be too unfocused.


    Just before I could grab the shovel and dash towards the vampire¡­


    ¡°¡­Stop the Imperial Prince, now.¡±


    The Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse issued his command.


    The Paladins patiently waiting on standby pounced on me en masse.


    I glared at the emperor.


    He showed not one hint of fluster on that stony face of his. Nope, it simply came across as being endlessly disinterested.


    Kelt Olfolse shifted his gaze away from me and stared at Count Fomor afterwards. He then tilted his head to the side, a deeply meaningful expression floating up on his face.


    Dammit! Just one more hit! One hit and it¡¯d been over¡­!


    While gnashing my teeth, I got dragged away by the Paladins to an unknown destination.


    **


    (TL: in 3rd person POV.)


    The Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, was deeply disappointed by the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s announcement of surrender. However, he couldn¡¯t help but get constantly surprised by what transpired during the duel.


    He thought that these two brothers were extremely similar when they started hurling profanities at each other.


    But the moment the Seventh Imperial Prince summoned a shovel from an empty space without any trace of using magic, he gasped out in admiration.


    He then even felt almost compelled to applaud the fact that the boy managed to hold on for so long in a duel against Luan, even though the latter admittedly wasn¡¯t at the peak of his health.


    Luan Olfolse was also deeply stunned by these events as well.


    He personally witnessed the Seventh Imperial Prince use [Divine Aura] right in front of his eyes.


    The boy summoned a shovel, and yet, there was definitely not a speck of detectable flow of divinity, Mana, or even demonic energy.


    This had to be another type of supernatural ability, a god¡¯s miracle that wasn¡¯t related to magic at all. Luan had no choice but to think of it that way.


    The fact that the boy used [Divine Aura] caused questions to pop up in his head, but they weren¡¯t related to the insults done to Count Fomor but rather, the things Allen had done up until now.


    -Your highness, what would you do if it turned out that the Seventh Imperial Prince deliberately misbehaved in order to get himself banished?


    Luan abruptly recalled what Harman had told him some time ago. Back then, he thought that such a thing was pure nonsense, a mere delusional dream.


    But with things like this, could there be more to that assertion, somehow?


    Just what did his younger brother do after his banishment to acquire power of this magnitude? Or, was it like what Harman said and the boy had been hiding his true self since from a long time ago?


    Suddenly, Luan felt this compulsion to test Allen out.


    He shifted his gaze and met Kelt Olfolse¡¯s eyes.


    As expected of two people with the same blood flowing in their veins, their thoughts were exactly the same, too.


    ¡®I want to test him!


    ¡®I want to test Allen in front of my eyes and see if he possesses the qualities of an emperor in him!¡¯


    Luan already knew that he was a dead man.


    For the sake of his mother¡¯s honour, he wished so badly to endure somehow, undo this curse, and become the next emperor. However, if that was an impossible goal for him, then Allen should replace him, since he was the brother who came from the same womb as him.


    This would be the best way to get back at those aristocrats who mocked and sneered at his mother for being a lowborn, a commoner.


    ¡®In that case, I shall sacrifice my own life to test you properly, Allen!¡¯


    He started injecting divinity into the wooden sword.


    It was around then, another stunning scene played out again.


    Allen activated another round of Divine Aura. The shovel, which was close to snapping in half, had suddenly grown tough, strong.


    He somehow deflected the wooden sword, and then smashed Luan in the face with the shovel. The latter collapsed into a heap on the ground, but his eyes continued to move.


    He saw Allen summon a musket.


    The boy¡¯s eyeballs shifted and then started glaring at Count Fomor among the spectating aristocrats.


    But why? Why was this fool so obsessed with Count Fomor like this?


    Allen started offering a prayer, but he had to stop that in the middle and took aim with the musket rifle.


    It was a ¡®no casting¡¯.


    A magician normally needed chanting and Mana, whereas Priests required prayers and divinity, and Necromancers used lifespan and demonic energy.


    However, ignoring those necessary steps and instantly using magic was a feat that even the high-ranked members of clergy would find difficult to pull off. Yet, the Seventh Imperial Prince did exactly that.


    No, he went beyond that by stopping in the middle of a prayer and used a musket, a mere decorative ornament, to produce an attack with enough killing power behind it.


    Allen managed to accurately hit Count Fomor in the face.


    Unfortunately, the attack itself seemed a bit lacking because the count managed to survive the hit. Allen Olfolse raised his shovel and tried to finish the job.


    Both the Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse and his grandson, Luan, thought the same thing while witnessing this spectacle.


    ¡®There¡¯s something here.¡¯


    ¡®There has to be something.¡¯


    Around that point in time, Luan passed out.


    In the meantime, Kelt Olfolse blocked the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    ¡°But why would his highness attack Count Fomor¡­?¡±


    Alice softly muttered seemingly to herself, and the Holy Emperor next to her lowered his head to match her eyeline to ask a question. ¡°Oh, the dear granddaughter of Raphael, Alice Astoria.¡±


    She flinched and hurriedly bowed her head in his direction. ¡°Y-yes, your majesty?¡±


    Kelt Olfolse watched Allen being dragged away by the Paladins and continued speaking to her. ¡°I recall that you were present in the banquet hall earlier. Can you explain to me in depth all the rude behaviour Allen Olfolse has done to Count Fomor?¡±


    And that¡¯s how he got to hear what happened in the banquet hall from Alice. All those things were methods used in the past to differentiate vampires.


    ¡°¡­Where is Sir Harman? Do you know where he is?¡±


    Kelt Olfolse then asked Raphael the archbishop.


    The latter bowed his head. ¡°His whereabouts after we arrived in the training hall are unknown, your majesty.¡±


    Harman, who was originally tasked with escorting the Seventh Imperial Prince, was now nowhere to be found as the boy got dragged away.


    Did this mean that there was another scheme at play here?


    ¡°Archbishop.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°Can you bring Count Fomor to me?¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±


    Raphael shifted his gaze and stared at the sight of various healers rushing in to heal Count Fomor¡¯s injury.


    However, the count waved his hand around unhappily and pushed those healers away, and then, while walking with unsteady steps, he headed off to somewhere else.


    Even though one of his own grandsons had almost murdered an aristocrat, there was not a single hint of fluster on the Holy Emperor¡¯s face.


    He spoke with an emotionless face. ¡°Bring him to me.¡±


    ¡°What are you planning to do, your majesty?¡±


    ¡°My grandchild went past being rude and even caused an injury to his face, did he not? I was thinking of healing the count myself.¡±


    The Holy Emperor was cracking his knuckles and loosening his wrists. A benevolent expression formed on his face, but the glare shooting out from his eyes was as cold-hearted as one could get.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can crack open his skull, so instead of doing that, I¡¯m now thinking of injecting some divinity into his head while treating his injuries. Then maybe, who knows?¡± A bright grin broke out on Kelt Olfolse¡¯s lips. ¡°We might get to find out what Allen so badly wanted to confirm in the first place.¡±


    Archbishop Raphael Astoria swallowed back his dry saliva. The grin on the Holy Emperor¡¯s face was eerily similar to the one the Seventh Imperial Prince often made.


    He felt that sometimes, nothing would be harder than figuring out just what the Holy Imperial Family was thinking about.


    **


    (TL: back to 1st person POV.)


    I was locked up in a prison again.


    Hiya¡­ this would be my second time getting thrown into one, wouldn¡¯t it?


    I guess this body did really commit a lot of crimes in the past, then.


    Besides all that, seeing how quiet it was inside the imperial palace, Harman must¡¯ve failed in his quest too.


    It wasn¡¯t all that surprising, considering how Count Fomor so brazenly showed his face in the training hall. The vampire must¡¯ve already finished with his preparations.


    ¡°Seriously, though. That¡¯s really impressive. These vampires are really fast with their response.¡±


    That was probably how they managed to infiltrate the imperial court in the first place. For them, the Theocratic Empire was basically the centre of the enemy camp, a place where death lurked around every corner.


    Surely by now, they had come up with a set of protocols to follow if someone detected them making even the slightest suspicious movements.


    It was only around two hours between Count Fomor¡¯s exit from the banquet and the end of the duel taking place in the training hall. And yet, during that short time period, he managed to coax the First Imperial Prince Luan and allowed the other vampires to escape.


    No, hang on. They might not have escaped after all.


    They could¡¯ve either hid away in their own suites, slip out of the imperial palace, or even surround themselves with plenty of soldiers, all of which should be plenty enough for their objective.


    Even if it was Harman, he wouldn¡¯t be able to brazenly kidnap, imprison, or even outright murder them. Besides, the vampires pretending to be nobles would try to ¡®protect¡¯ their servants and maids, all the while pushing their human soldiers out to the frontlines instead.


    All they had to do was make their calm exits once the ¡®banquet¡¯ had come to an end. In the meantime, I would get punished for attempting to murder a count.


    At this rate, I might end up being blamed for everything that happened here.


    ¡°I heard that you caused yet another commotion, my dear younger brother.¡±


    I heard a voice and shifted my head to the front of the jail cell. A familiar man was standing there.


    This guy¡­ uh, who was he again?


    I confirmed his identity through ¡®Mind¡¯s Eye¡¯ and quickly clapped my hands. ¡°Ah, the Third Imperial Prince!¡±


    ¡°You should at least address me as your older brother¡­¡±


    The Third Imperial Prince Ruppel Olfolse furrowed his brows.


    He stared at the imprisoned me beyond the iron bars and coughed to clear his throat, then formed a smile. ¡°How could you fight against your own beloved older brother?¡±


    ¡°Contrary to the contents of your words, you sound rather delighted, older brother.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s merely your mood.¡±


    The First Imperial Prince was suffering from ill health while I was imprisoned for attempting to murder a count.


    From the Third Imperial Prince¡¯s perspective, this would be like his prospective rivals were digging their own graves, so of course he¡¯d be feeling chuffed about it.


    As expected of someone who enjoyed the attributes of a coward. Since he couldn¡¯t face off against other imperial princes, he was probably trying to trample on those that looked easy in his eyes.


    Of course, he still remained as a person to ignore in my book, though.


    Hang on a second, this fool was also an imperial prince, wasn¡¯t he? Didn¡¯t that mean he wielded some amount of authority himself?


    I locked my gaze on the Third Imperial Prince. ¡°Dear brother.¡±


    ¡°Mm? What is that you want now?¡±


    ¡°Can you free me from here?¡±


    ¡°That I can do. But why should I?¡±


    The corners of Ruppel¡¯s lips curled up. For him, me stuck behind the bars was an ideal outcome.


    ¡°You assured me that you¡¯d honour one request of mine if I did as you told me. Didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡­¡± The Third Imperial Prince Ruppel carefully contemplated first before nodding his head. ¡°I certainly said that. However, it¡¯s not applicable at this time. Freeing someone who attempted to murder a count would mean that even I will be heavily reprimanded by his majesty.¡±


    ¡°Honestly speaking, our oldest brother is at death¡¯s doorstep, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°Why would you bring up the First Imperial Prince all of a sudden?¡±


    It seemed to me that Ruppel really despised Luan Olfolse, judging from how he addressed the latter as ¡®First Imperial Prince¡¯ rather than as his older brother.


    The Third Imperial Prince nodded his head again.


    I spoke up. ¡°I merely wish to pay my brother who has insulted me a visit and pray for his good health.¡±


    ¡°What was that?!¡±


    ¡°You know what my personality is like, don¡¯t you? You do remember what I did back when the archbishop beat me up and humiliated me?¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    ¡°Please help me get out of here. If you do¡­¡± I smiled brightly and continued on. ¡°A truly entertaining event will happen very soon.¡±


    < 035. Imperial Prince is Duelling -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 59

    **


    Not only did my dear older brother, the Third Imperial Prince, take me out of the prison, he was even kind enough to escort me all the way to the armoury, too. His authority as an imperial prince was more than enough to drive away the guards surrounding that place temporarily, as it turned out.


    Hiya, this Third Imperial Prince sure has some guts, doesn¡¯t he?


    I got a hunch that he¡¯d do something pretty major in the future for sure.


    He didn¡¯t simply stop at freeing me but even went further than that, probably hoping that I¡¯d take it upon myself to assassinate our own dear eldest brother.


    ¡°Well, it did make my job that much easier, so I¡¯m pretty cool with this.¡±


    Even if he was acting on impulse, once the truth about him freeing me gets out, the Holy Emperor would certainly not hold back on him. At this rate, the Third Imperial Prince would definitely find it difficult to escape punishment, but seeing how he still went and did it, he must¡¯ve seriously hated both me and the First Imperial Prince Luan.


    He probably figured that I wouldn¡¯t be able to beat up our oldest brother, or even kill him once I get there. Paladins were just about everywhere within the imperial palace, so rather obviously, I¡¯d get apprehended by them even before reaching the First Imperial Prince¡¯s quarters.


    The Third Imperial Prince Ruppel would most likely derive a huge satisfaction out of me ¡®escaping¡¯ from imprisonment, then stealing some weapons and starting a bit of commotion.


    ¡°Okay, so. What should I do now?¡±


    I now had two choices I could make.


    One, catch one of the vampires and kill it. Present the irrefutable proof in front of everyone, get people to believe my story, and mobilise the subjugation forces.


    However, that last bit should prove to be a big hurdle to overcome when the vampires would simply use their own private forces made up of humans to resist. Also, if they escaped using the ensuing confusion, then catching them again would be a tough ask, too.


    Because of my alleged crime of attempting to murder Count Fomor, I no longer enjoyed the requisite authority to dismiss an aristocrat¡¯s private force.


    In that case, I had no choice but to go with the option B.


    I should seek out the dude who couldn¡¯t move yet also was far more unrestricted than I. Someone who enjoyed far more privileges than me, and was even greatly trusted by the others.


    ¡°The First Imperial Prince Luan. Dear brother, I¡¯m sorry about this, but looks like you¡¯ll have to take over the mop-up operation from me.¡±


    I shifted my gaze over the weapons hanging on the walls.


    Various armours, helms, swords, etc. ¨C all kinds of equipment the Paladins of the imperial palace used were here, waiting to be claimed. And these were more than enough to disguise someone from head to toe as well.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, but it looks like you guys need to step up here.¡±


    I looked behind me.


    The Dead Spirit Soldiers were all lined up in silence, their numbers hovering around fifty or so.


    Bluish glows and breaths leaked out from their eye sockets and jaws.


    This was a combat force large enough to rival a small-sized knight order.


    At first, I tried not to get involved in the matters of the imperial court or the stinking vampires. But now, it¡¯d be impossible not to. Since things had already gotten to this stage, I figured it¡¯d be for the best if I flipped the table big time.


    I was too tired of this sh*t. I didn¡¯t feel like hiding either. My gaze remained locked on my holy undead soldiers with my teeth grinding loudly.


    My desire to live a quiet and peaceful daily life was now basically over with this. All because of some stinking vampires!


    Rather than getting blamed for everything and get done in by their schemes, I might as well declare an open war on them instead.


    ¡°Let¡¯s flip this whole effing Imperial Family on its head. You can name this a coup d¡¯etat, a revolt, or whatever you wish! With this sort of a stupid soya powder family, everything¡¯s makjang already, anyway! So, we might as well go the full distance!¡±


    The Dead Spirit Soldiers, my holy skeletons, put on the helms and armours, then gripped the swords tightly.


    Their eyes let out an eerie blue glow from under their helms.


    Once they were finished gearing up, we brazenly strode on the corridors of the imperial palace. The manservants and maids in the area fell into anxiety and hurriedly got out of our way.


    ¡°Your highness?! What do you think you¡¯re doing, sir!¡±


    I glared at my front.


    The Paladins of the Theocratic Empire performing guard duties were now approaching me. They all looked quite tense while raising their shields.


    It seemed that they wouldn¡¯t dare to draw their swords in front of an imperial prince, and could only let their hands hover over the hilts of the weapons mounted on their hips.


    I tersely replied. ¡°It¡¯s a family feud.¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s as I said. I¡¯m gonna start one hell of a family feud, got that? At the same time, I¡¯m also going to hunt a few bugs along the way too. So¡­¡± I summoned my shovel. ¡°My bad, but you lot will have to step out of my way now.¡±


    I jumped up and smacked a Paladin on the head with the flat side of the shovel. The poor man struck in his helm faltered before collapsing.


    The other Paladins all carried a dazed expression, but quickly snapped wide awake and cried out loudly.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s a revolt¡­!¡±


    Clap-!


    I clapped my hands.


    At the same time, my holy skeletons all raised their heads. As if they were of one body and one mind, they simultaneously raised their weapons.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill them. Just open up a path for me.¡±


    -Ku-ooooooh!


    The skeletons rushed past me and pounced on the Paladins.


    While they did their jobs, I leisurely strode past.


    ¡°S-stop them!¡±


    More Paladins rushed at me.


    -Ku-ooooh!


    The Dead Spirit Soldiers raised their own shields to form a sort of moving barricade in front, while some others stepped on the surfaces of the raised shields to leap up and pounce on the Paladins up ahead.


    The loud clangour of weapons colliding resounded out.


    As far as skills were concerned, the Paladins were overwhelmingly superior. However, the skeletons enjoyed unbreakable unity, and through that, they performed chain attacks without exposing any open gaps.


    In a narrow and chaotic corridor like this one, our side had a bigger advantage.


    The Dead Spirit Soldiers broke past the ranks of the Paladins and followed after me while securing my safe passage.


    Eventually, I reached the end of the corridor that led to the First Imperial Prince¡¯s quarters.


    ¡°P-please, do not go any further, your highness!¡±


    ¡°If you decide to come closer, then we won¡¯t have a choice but to harm you, your highness!¡±


    The Paladins standing guard outside unsheathed their swords.


    They were tasked with protecting the First Imperial Prince. I could easily see their unwavering will to perform their duties, even at the cost of hurting another imperial prince.


    It was then, the door to Luan¡¯s quarters opened and the lady-in-waiting, Alice, walked out.


    ¡°W-what¡¯s going on?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a r-revolt, miss! His highness the Seventh Imperial Prince has come while leading some soldiers. Lady Alice, please hide inside the room!¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?!¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes were directed at me next.


    I waved my hand at her and spoke loudly. ¡°Sorry about this, but you need to behave yourselves and step back.¡±


    My skeletons and their glowing eyes pounced on the Paladins. The weapons collided loudly again.


    I deliberately didn¡¯t use divinity through the undead soldiers, since they were simply here to subdue the opposition.


    Perhaps the Paladins also sensed this, because they too didn¡¯t use their divinity, either.


    One by one, the Paladins guarding the door were brought down.


    Alice too resisted quite fiercely.


    As befitting her outstanding physique, she continuously beat the skeletons down. Too bad though ¨C our side had an overwhelming numbers advantage.


    My holy skeletons grabbed her head and wrists before pinning her down on the floor.


    I used both of my hands and opened the door before me.


    The first thing I saw were the healers kitted out in those bird beak masks and medical gowns.


    I stepped inside and the skeletons following behind me glared at the healers with their eerie blue eyes.


    The healers began talking in voices quivering from anxiety.


    ¡°Y-your highness?!¡±


    I replied. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to get hurt, get out.¡±


    ¡°You mustn¡¯t do this, your highness! Please think about what you¡¯re doing!¡±


    ¡°His highness the First Imperial Prince¡¯s condition has stabilised only just now, so if you do something like this¡­!¡±


    ¡°I said, get the hell out.¡±


    ¡°No, we won¡¯t!¡±


    The healers yelled out.


    Huh, the Theocratic Empire¡¯s healers were this concerned for their patients, eh? The worlds might be different, but even then, the doctors remained a truly commendable bunch of people, that¡¯s for sure.


    ¡°I hope you all forgive me for this rudeness, then.¡±


    I lightly flicked my hand.


    The skeletons yanked their swords out and pointed it at the healers, forcing the latter group to raise their hands up and finally step aside. Soon, they were completely driven out of the room altogether. The door was shut close behind them.


    And so, only I, the skeletons kitted out in the Paladin gear, and Luan remained inside the room.


    He was breathing heavily while glaring at me.


    I could see his horribly necrosed flesh on his face in between the loose bandages. He tried forcing his body to move but could only ultimately moan in pain.


    ¡°Allen, what are you planning to do to me?¡±


    I licked my lips before dragging an overturned chair nearby, placing it right next to the sick bed.


    After settling down, I locked my fingers while leaning against the seat. ¡°I too didn¡¯t want to do this. Dear brother, why couldn¡¯t you just leave me alone when I merely wished to live a quiet and peaceful life for myself? Because of you, everything¡¯s gone down the crapper now.¡±


    What the hell, my speech really did sound like a villain planning a coup d¡¯etat or something. And with the atmosphere being what it was, I ended up sounding far more graver than usual, too.


    ¡°What do you mean by everything? Cough!¡±


    Luan coughed out blood.


    I stared at him and smiled bitterly before spitting out these two words: ¡°Vampire hunting.¡±


    What I said caused his pupils to noticeably shake.


    Was it because he believed me? Or maybe he was still suspicious of me? Honestly, it was probably the latter.


    I mean, who would believe a mangnani? Especially so when it was this guy who hated my guts.


    ¡°Are you perhaps saying Count Fomor is a vampire?¡±


    ¡°Were you aware of it?¡±


    Luan shook his head. ¡°I always thought that there was something about him. But a vampire? That cannot be. Clergymen have already confirmed him to be a living person. He¡¯s no monster.¡±


    ¡°And can you be confident that those clergymen examined him thoroughly, without cutting any corners whatsoever?¡±


    Luan shut his mouth up with this.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it possible to bribe those clergymen tasked with the vetting process?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Unless you pour divinity into his skull, you can¡¯t really say it¡¯s been confirmed in full, am I wrong?¡±


    Not only that, you also needed several dozen Priests or an archbishop injecting divinity, otherwise a vampire would be able to withstand the treatment.


    Besides all that, carrying out such a test on every single aristocrat out there would be next to impossible as well.


    Luan finally broke the lengthy silence. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say anything? That he¡¯s a vampire.¡±


    ¡°No one would¡¯ve believed me even if I did.¡±


    I too didn¡¯t trust this Imperial Family either.


    The previous owner of this body got banished and assassinated. He was left to fend for himself without any escorts in that place.


    How could I ever trust such an Imperial Family and speak about matters related to vampires?


    Also, I couldn¡¯t really find the right timing to raise the issue, too.


    It was already too late by the time I finished confirming that Count Fomor was a vampire and learned more about some important information on how vampires operated. They were already on the move.


    The First Imperial Prince Luan was fooled into tying up my hands. Even if Harman indeed managed to scrounge up some forces, his authority alone would not have been enough to do anything about the vampires.


    ¡°If only you¡¯ve shown your true self, your real powers, then we¡¯d have believed you,¡± said Luan.


    Show you my powers? Hahaha. If I did, the Imperial Family would¡¯ve tried to exploit me instead. I mean, they probably already knew that vampires had infiltrated the Theocratic Empire, and were searching for a way to filter out the bloodsuckers anyways.


    ¡°Honestly? I didn¡¯t want to get involved anymore. My stupid soya powder family, the Imperial Court, and those stinking vampires, I was sick and tired of them all. I had enough of all this insane hardship back in the Land of the Dead Spirits, you see? But it seems that I can¡¯t weasel my way out of this thing anymore.¡±


    The vampires were trying their darndest to drive me to a corner.


    If I get banished again or get locked up, then they would surely find a good timing to kill me.


    However, there was this one thing they failed to consider.


    I¡¯m talking about how much thick-headed the loons of the Imperial Family¡¯s siblings could be, obviously.


    Bang! Bang!


    I could hear the sounds of the door being pounded on. This meant that my skeletons could no longer stop the other side.


    ¡°Let¡¯s end this preamble here.¡± I got up from the chair and looked down at Luan on the bed. ¡°You said you¡¯d have believed me if I showed you my real powers, right?¡±


    Luan¡¯s eyes trembled again, but this time, from fear.


    The expression in his eyes said that he didn¡¯t know what I¡¯d do next.


    ¡°In that case, let me show you my real powers. No, hang on. Let me show you a miracle. But I expect you to finish what I couldn¡¯t, my dear older brother.¡±

 Chapter 60

    I snapped my fingers.


    The skeletons wearing Paladin gear approached the bed and covered the eyes and mouth of the First Imperial Prince.


    ¡°W-wait, what are you tryi¡­ Euh-euhp!¡±


    While licking my lips again, I took out the skull of the Necromancer King from the item window ¨C the myth-grade item that resembled a mountain goat¡¯s skull, as if to symbolise the devil itself.


    ¡°I shall let you personally experience a miracle. When you wake up, please seek out Harman. And finish what I wanted to do. Since you crapped all over the floor in the first place, you better clean up the mess yourself, dear brother.¡± I grasped the chest of the First Imperial Prince. ¡°Ah, and I need some compensation for all the hardship I¡¯ve endured, so for now¡­¡±


    Luan continued to resist.


    I watched him struggle and smiled with my eyes.


    ¡°¡­Please die.¡±


    I drove divinity into his body.


    ¡°Euh-euhp¡­!¡±


    Crunch!


    The sound of something exploding could be heard. The piece of clothing used to cover Luan¡¯s mouth couldn¡¯t stop the blood exploding out from there.


    I felt pretty bitter about this.


    This would be my very first act of murder in this world.


    Having the attributes of a Necromancer in a situation like this proved to be oh-so wonderful. I covered up my bitter grin with Amon¡¯s skull and spoke up. ¡°And then, please revive again.¡±


    After sucking in a deep breath, I recited the activation words for Amon¡¯s skull.


    I had never tried reviving someone before. But just like what Alice said, it shouldn¡¯t be impossible to pull off with a massive amount of divinity alongside the attributes of a Necromancer.


    It¡¯s time to give the improbable [Revival] a go, something often referred to as god¡¯s miracle.


    **


    (TL: in 3rd person POV.)


    ¡°What is the meaning of all this?!¡±


    Archbishop Raphael loudly roared out as he stood in the corridor.


    The whole imperial palace was in an uproar. Hundreds of Paladins were stuck in a messy tangle, busy fighting each other. It seemed impossible to tell apart just who was the ally and enemy at the moment, as everyone wore similar attire.


    ¡°It¡¯s a revolt, sir!¡±


    ¡°A revolt?!¡±


    A Paladin hurriedly approached the archbishop and informed the latter.


    ¡°Actually, we suspect it of being a revolt, your grace.¡± The Paladin took off his helm and revealed a confused expression hiding underneath. ¡°Our opposition doesn¡¯t seem willing to take a life.¡±


    Archbishop Raphael observed the Paladins currently involved in the messy melee in the corridor.


    Bang! Boom!


    Swords were crashing into armours, but as no divinity had been used in the attacks, none of the Paladins being knocked back and passing out suffered from serious injuries.


    So the remaining question was with how to differentiate their allies from the enemies.


    The reason why the Paladins hadn¡¯t resorted to their divinity to resolve this situation yet was precisely this.


    ¡°Hang on. What about his highness the First Imperial Prince?¡±


    ¡°The Seventh Imperial Prince invaded his highness¡¯s quarters earlier!¡±


    Archbishop Raphael gritted his teeth.


    ¡®That damn mangani bastard, he has committed yet another sin!¡¯


    It was unknown just how that boy managed to scrounge up a force of this size, but for the time being, securing the safety of the First Imperial Prince took priority over all else.


    Raphael raised his crosier and stepped into the battlefield.


    A Paladin then suddenly stood in his way.


    This meant that this particular knight was an enemy.


    The unknown Paladin seemed to recognise Archbishop Raphael because he held the sword in a reverse grip so that the blade would be facing the other way. He then tried to attack the priest with the hilt.


    Raphael used his crosier to deflect the incoming attack. ¡°You fools dare¡­!¡±


    He might have been a clergyman, but at the same time, he was no ordinary holy man either.


    No, he was the archbishop!


    He was the inheritor of the doctrine of the Holy Imperial Family¡¯s religion. Would someone like that be soft enough to get beaten back by a mere no-name Paladin?


    Raphael ably wielded his crosier and slammed it against the Paladin¡¯s helm. The gear protecting the head crumpled and the Paladin collapsed to the ground.


    ¡°You fools. Back in my prime, I could even fight one on one against a Death Knight bare handed. Do you really think I¡¯ll get knocked down by the likes of¡­ Huh?!¡±


    Raphael had to stop in the middle of his speech, his eyes bulging out from their sockets.


    The helm was definitely crushed. In fact, the protective covering on the face was distorted so much that the person underneath should¡¯ve passed out from being unable to breathe properly. Despite that, the Paladin still extended his hand out and grabbed Raphael¡¯s ankle.


    It was at this point that the archbishop sensed something strange.


    He could sense some divinity coming from the downed Paladin¡¯s body. But it was different from the other Paladins who utilised either the divine energy inside their bodies or the outside atmosphere. It was as if this knight¡¯s body itself was made out of divinity.


    Feeling suspicious, Raphael bent down, reached out with his hands, and took off the helm. And then, he had to question his own eyes.


    ¡°What¡­ is the meaning of this?!¡±


    It was a skeleton made out of divinity, its jaw noisily clattering away while holding onto Raphael¡¯s ankle to buy more time.


    ¡°Your grace, sir! It¡¯s too dangerous! Allow us to escort¡­!¡±


    When some other Paladins approached him, Raphael hurriedly put the helm back on the skeleton.


    ¡®T-the walking dead, in the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital¡­?! Not only that, inside the imperial palace no less?¡¯


    Raphael flinched nastily at this realisation and hurriedly shifted his gaze over to the corridor before him. Currently, hundreds of Paladins were still involved in a messy tangle in the space between the archbishop and the First Imperial Prince¡¯s quarters at the end of the corridor.


    Could it be that half of these men were actually undead?


    Not only that, these skeletons were permeating with divinity, too.


    Existences that ignored the world¡¯s laws, and an event that Raphael¡¯s knowledge on magic said that it¡¯d be utterly impossible, were happening right before his eyes.


    ¡®Just what on earth is happening in the imperial palace¡­?!?!¡¯


    As he was now facing an event out of his common sense, naturally ¡®fear¡¯ began rushing in.


    Without a doubt, some of the living Paladins involved in the messy melee right now must¡¯ve cottoned onto this fact as well.


    They had to be stopped.


    If the truth gets out, then never mind the Theocratic Empire, but the entirety of the continent would get swept up in an unprecedented chaos!


    Raphael cried out, ¡°C-cut off this whole area, now!¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±


    ¡°Stop any and all Paladins from leaving this corridor at once! Make sure that no one, and I do mean not even one soul, gets out of here!¡±


    The archbishop then stared at the room the First Imperial Prince was trapped in.


    There were two things Raphael had to do right now. One, stop the potential rumours about these undead from leaking out of here.


    And the second, rescue the First Imperial Prince Luan.


    ¡®And also, capture the one who summoned these creatures!¡¯


    If there were walking dead present, then that meant a Necromancer was nearby. Could it be that the Seventh Imperial Prince dared to join hands with a Necromancer?!


    ¡°H-his highness Luan is in danger! Make a path for me no matter what!¡± Raphael roared out, and while raising his crosier in the air, he closed his eyes and started praying. ¡°Oh, the Goddess of life itself, Gaia!¡±


    His eyes shot open right then.


    ¡°Please grant us your miracle through your mercy and love, and protect all of your faithful flock!¡±


    His eyes quickly picked out the undead created out of divinity.


    ¡°I beg of you to arrest and confine the vile heretics so that they may pay for their sins!¡±


    His crosier came down, hard.


    Strands of pure light exploded out and began tying up all the undead in the corridor. However, the living Paladins still fighting each other didn¡¯t seem to have figured out who were their allies and enemies yet.


    ¡°Everyone, follow after me! We must rescue his highness, the First Imperial Prince!¡±


    The fighting Paladins flinched and quickly shifted their gazes.


    Raphael hurriedly walked among them.


    The knights stopped fighting and began following right after him.


    Now wasn¡¯t the time to worry about these undead. Right now, the First Imperial Prince Luan was¡­!


    The undead standing before the door were now blocking the archbishop¡¯s path.


    Raphael¡¯s eyes caught sight of Alice currently pinned down on the ground by the undead, and then at the First Imperial Prince Luan¡¯s healers currently isolated from the rest on the side of the corridor.


    ¡°His highness the Seventh is inside the room, your grace! Hurry¡­!¡±


    Just before Raphael could take a swing with his crosier¡­


    -Kki-rriik?


    All of the undead suddenly ceased to exist.


    They turned into particles of light and vanished; only the empty armours fell and clanged on the hard, cold floor.


    At the same time, Raphael and the Paladins all froze up on the spot.


    Their hardened faces gradually turned towards the door, towards the room where the First Imperial Prince Luan was staying.


    Suddenly, the door was flung open wide. And from the doorway, a truly incredible amount of divinity began madly gushing out.


    The waves of divinity were so mighty that the whole of the imperial palace was shaking around!


    Raphael stabbed the crosier down on the ground to withstand the waves. But Alice and other Paladins ended up planting their butts hard on the floor.


    Their disbelieving gazes were directed towards the doorway, but the light was too blinding and they had to close their eyes in the end.


    Chills ran down their spines. They started wondering if a god had descended here or some such.


    Raphael gulped back his dry saliva. His whole body was frozen stiff and he couldn¡¯t move.


    Eventually, the enormous waves of divinity died down. The blinding light slowly weakened too.


    The flung-open door hung precariously on its hinges, creaked noisily, before drifting halfway shut again.


    Raphael and the Paladins stood there frozen in a pure daze for a while, having forgotten their initial purpose.


    ¡°G-grandfather.¡±


    The archbishop finally regained his wits at Alice¡¯s urging.


    He reached out and slowly opened the creaking door.


    < 036. Imperial Prince is Subjugating Vampires -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 61

    **


    Luan recalled what Allen told him before.


    Count Fomor¡­ was a Vampire?


    Now that was a story he would¡¯ve never believed. If he hadn¡¯t seen Allen¡¯s true ¡®hidden¡¯ self, that was.


    But then again, he did notice some odd signs.


    For starters, it was rather weird to see Count Fomor, who was supposed to be in the banquet hall, rush back to his side and speak of Allen¡¯s violent misdeeds, goading him to take appropriate actions.


    Upon looking back on things, the count was reporting on every little mangnani-like behaviour of Allen¡¯s. And through his lips, Luan continued hearing the insults of ¡®a low-born mother and her son¡¯, allegedly spoken of by the others.


    After pondering on it a little bit longer, it became rather plain to see that Count Fomor was trying to drive a wedge between himself and his younger brother, Allen. However, Luan still ended up believing the count, simply because the latter took good care of him since his childhood. Fomor was also the only person who comforted him from the sorrow of losing his mother.


    To think that Luan was shielding such a man while not being aware of his true identity as a damn Vampire.


    What a dumbfounding revelation this was.


    That was why¡­


    <ul>


    Please die.


    </ul>


    ¡­It couldn¡¯t be helped even if Allen chose to murder him.


    Luan felt his heart suddenly explode.


    All the pain that was wrecking his body instantly vanished, and then, darkness visited him. His whole body became lighter, almost weightless. His consciousness grew faint and distant.


    This was the sensation of his soul leaving his mortal body.


    Luan felt a bit bittersweet. It wasn¡¯t so bad that he finally escaped from the body that tormented him with endless pain. No, it was rather comforting instead.


    Perhaps¡­ he was inwardly praying for his death all this time. That could¡¯ve been the reason.


    <ul>


    And then, please revive again.


    </ul>


    Although he felt himself moving further away from his body, Allen¡¯s voice still managed to reach him, albeit in a whisper.


    Revive? What on earth could he be talking about out of the blue?


    <ul>


    I am the legion.


    </ul>


    Allen¡¯s voice continued murmuring within the comforting darkness.


    <ul>


    And I am Gaia¡¯s inheritor.


    </ul>


    Suddenly, it felt like his soul started gaining weight.


    Something started sucking him in.


    Then, his hearing caught several horrifying and bone-chilling noises.


    They were the noises of something exploding, the noises of something being crushed, the noises of someone convulsing as if they were about to die.


    And then, the sensation of incredible pain instantaneously struck him!


    <ul>


    Uwaaaaaahk!!!


    </ul>


    It was as if the blood vessels found throughout his flesh and body were forcibly being grafted together. His bones solidified as his muscles tightened, gaining volume in the process.


    The blood that had stopped circulating was suddenly and violently swirling, quickly flowing throughout his whole body.


    ¡°Cough!¡±


    The tip of his tongue was assaulted by a bitter taste while his nose was filled with the distinct metallic odour.


    Was this blood? The taste, and perhaps, the smell of blood too?


    His previously-blurry vision slowly regained its focus.


    What was once lost to the necrosis, his five senses, were now gradually returning to him in a slow but noticeable manner.


    ¡°Heu-heuph¡­ Wh-what, what is¡­?!¡±


    A clear ringing voice came out from his throat.


    Fresh air quickly rushed in and filled up his lungs, but ironically, this caused him to become breathless instead.


    Luan hurriedly covered his mouth.


    His body arched like a bent bow and his eyeballs hurriedly rolled around.


    The first thing he saw was unblemished skin on his hands between the gaps of his bandages.


    However¡­ these couldn¡¯t have been his hands. There was simply no way that hands covered in such white and pristine skin belonged to him.


    ¡®Skin, I-I have skin!¡¯


    He even forgot about his inability to breathe without pain and raised his trembling hands closer to his face.


    In just a second, he stared at his palm first, confirming their current condition, and then, he looked at the back of his hand next. While speechless, he held his own hands and gently stroked them. This unfamiliar sensation completely took over his rationale.


    ¡°Ah, ah, ah¡­¡±


    He let out a breath. And then let it back in. Although unrefined and rough, he continued on breathing like this.


    ¡°Ah, aaaah¡­¡±


    He raised his upper torso up with a great deal of effort.


    His hands were now beginning to touch his face. The wonderfully soft sensation was transmitted from the tips of his fingers to his brain. Afterwards, his gaze headed to the rest of his body. White flesh could be spied on in between the gaps of the bandages wrapped around him.


    ¡°Ha-ah! Hah-aaah!¡±


    Overtaken by a sense of uncontrollable excitement, he hurriedly ripped off the bandages, tearing through them to make sure what he saw was reality.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    A gasp of admiration leaked out of his mouth. He could see smooth, firm skin.


    After turning his head in a certain direction, he found a mirror, the one he had flipped around in the past after no longer wishing to see his hideous face.


    He reached out to this very same mirror. And after turning it around, he finally confirmed the state of his appearance. The mirror reflected a figure of a man with healthy-looking skin, not some horrendous mess of rotting flesh he saw in the past.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Luan swallowed back his dry saliva and slowly shifted his gaze to the side. He could see his younger brother, Allen, currently collapsed on the side of the sick bed.


    Was this¡­ a dream? Maybe this was a lucid dream instead?


    He bit down on his own finger. His pristine teeth dug into the flesh.


    This flesh was no longer the same dried-up and rotten version filled with acrid, fishy stench. No, it belonged to a healthy body where pure and clean blood flowed within!


    This crystal clear pain he received from his fingers rammed home the reality of the situation.


    Allen definitely told him he would experience a ¡®miracle¡¯.


    Could the miracle he referred to be this?!


    ¡®Did he really liberate me from the curse that the continent¡¯s greatest, most accomplished healers, and the esteemed archbishops all gave up on?!¡¯


    <ul>


    When you wake up, please seek out Harman. And finish what I wanted to do. Since you crapped all over the floor in the first place, you better clean up the mess yourself, dear brother.


    </ul>


    Luan abruptly recalled what Allen told him.


    It was then, the creaking door was cautiously pushed open. The First Imperial Prince shifted his gaze in that direction and discovered Archbishop Raphael carefully entering the room.


    The older man¡¯s whole body froze up the moment he locked eyes on Luan. But the prince ignored this reaction from the archbishop and looked back at Allen once more.


    ¡®Allen¡­ just what are you? What can you possibly be that you can even bring about such an impossible miracle?¡¯


    Luan slowly covered his face with both of his hands.


    Chaotic confusion and delirium tumbled in his mind. Even then, there was no way to disguise the unadulterated joy hiding among all these emotions.


    This sensation of being born again ¨C no, wait. He was ¡®revived¡¯, wasn¡¯t he?


    Luan Olfolse has now been completely revived!


    A deep grin floated up on his lips.


    ¡°Indeed, Allen.¡±


    Luan lowered his hands and placed them away from his face, only to reveal the frightening glare oozing out from his eyes.


    ¡°The task you wished to carry out, I shall finish it for you. Not only that, I¡¯ll ensure that there are no loose ends either. I shall bet everything of mine and¡­!¡±


    Unsuppressed hatred burned in his glare.


    ¡°¡­I shall hunt down all the insects that took away our mother from us.¡±


    **


    Luan quickly made his next move.


    As his body hadn¡¯t fully recovered yet, dizzy spells occasionally washed over him and he didn¡¯t have much strength in his legs. Even then, there was one reason that continued to drive him forward.


    ¡­His desire to hunt down and kill the Vampires.


    The very first thing he did was to grasp the current situation of the imperial palace. Count Fomor, Allen¡¯s target, had now been summoned before the emperor. This could only mean that even Kelt Olfolse had figured something was up.


    If that was indeed the case, then Count Fomor should no longer present any problems. All Luan had to do now was simply follow what Allen had told him earlier.


    He directly went to see Harman.


    The Paladin visibly stiffened on the spot after discovering Luan¡¯s current appearance.


    ¡°Are¡­ are you really his highness, the First Imperial Prince?¡±


    He didn¡¯t even bother to hide the look of shock on his face. But then again, this reaction was obvious since a man who previously resembled a mummy now stood before him as a brand new person.


    ¡°Any detailed explanation will have to wait for now,¡± said Luan while locking his eyes on Harman. ¡°What Allen wished to do¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°It was to hunt down the Vampires, am I correct?¡±


    Harman clamped his mouth shut.


    ¡°Do not fear, Harman. Allen tasked me with the mop-up operation. If you want proof¡­¡± Luan pointed towards himself with his healthy finger. ¡°Doesn¡¯t a miracle stand before you now? Allen was responsible for this. If I say this is my proof, will you believe me?¡±


    Harman¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    He hesitated for a little while, but then eventually pulled out a list and presented it before the First Imperial Prince.


    Ever since he found out that Allen Olfolse was responsible for summoning the holy undead, Harman didn¡¯t doubt for once that the Seventh Imperial Prince would also be capable of pulling off a miracle on such a bizarre scale.


    ¡°Your highness, this is a list of the Vampires.¡±


    It was Luan¡¯s turn to be stunned.


    He took the list and briefly scanned its contents. ¡°All these names are Vampires? It wasn¡¯t just Count Fomor, I see¡­¡±


    ¡°These don¡¯t only consist of aristocrats from our Theocratic Empire, but also servants, maids, and even several nobles invited from other kingdoms, your highness.¡± Harman gritted his teeth. ¡°Unfortunately, my authority was only good enough to stop these people from leaving the capital.¡±


    The nobles who enjoyed a high enough standing in the hierarchy had already fled from the palace by now. As for those without the same level of power, they deployed their private armed forces all around their residences located in Laurensis. Then, they hid in there, quietly waiting for the commotion to die down.


    Harman simply didn¡¯t have the necessary authority to stop them. Even the force he had worked hard to gather was about to be dissolved too.


    However, Luan lightly waved the list around as if he wasn¡¯t even remotely concerned. ¡°Ah, none of those will present any more problems.¡±


    It was then, footsteps could be heard echoing in the corridors.


    Figures covered in bird-beak masks and crimson robes were seemingly filling up the corridors of the imperial palace.


    ¡°Allen possesses the status of a Saint capable of bringing about miracles. In that case¡­¡± Luan looked at the gathered group behind him. ¡°¡­Those that he says are Vampires, must be Vampires.¡±


    The group kitted out in bird beak masks and crimson robes stood at attention before the First Imperial Prince, Luan Olfolse.


    ¡°Under the grace of the noble Theocratic Empire!¡±


    The group that carried all sorts of varied and strange weapons, such as scythes, sickles, shortswords, and greatswords were¡­


    ¡°We obey the command of his highness, the First Imperial Prince, Luan Olfolse!¡±


    ¡­None other than Heresy Inquisitors formed solely for the purpose of hunting down heretics and monsters.


    ¡°The Heresy Inquisitors, the Order of Crimson Cross, has finished convening, your highness!¡±


    The knights of the Crimson Cross, with their faces and figures hidden behind the creepy bird beak masks and blood-red robes, knelt down and lowered their heads before the prince.


    Harman¡¯s lips clamped shut even tighter while looking at them.


    They were one of the top five armed forces that only someone of the imperial bloodline from the Theocratic Empire could command


    Luan¡¯s eyes surveyed the kneeling Inquisitors. ¡°I thank you all for answering my call on such a short notice.¡±


    The leader of the Crimson Cross was the only one to raise his head, as he looked at Luan Olfolse.


    ¡°I, the first in line to the throne of the empire, Imperial Prince Luan Olfolse, shall now issue a royal decree.¡± He pushed forward the list of names to the leader. ¡°Hunt down all the insects written on this list. They are vermin that dared tarnish our Theocratic Empire, murdering my mother in the process. Judge them all without mercy in the name of our Goddess and the holy spirit!¡±


    The corners of Luan¡¯s lips curled up. Traces of madness dyed his eyes as well.


    ¡°If they resist, you¡¯re given permission to kill them. Whether they be marquises or counts, none of it matters.¡±


    They were the bastards that killed his mother and placed a curse on his heart, after all!


    ¡°Hunt down every single pest found on this list. And then, torture them.¡±


    After all these years, he was finally given the opportunity to exact his vengeance.


    ¡°Pry open their chest and examine their hearts. Crack open their skulls and confirm whether or not the accursed demonic energy resides in their brains. Confirm whether they are Vampires or not, and then¡­¡±


    Not only that, with his own hands and no one else¡¯s too!


    ¡°Let them taste endless pain. Help them realise how vain their false lives have been!¡±


    Luan straightened his back as an arrogant expression filled his face.


    The knights of the Crimson Cross quietly waited for the last part of the command to come from the one inheriting the blood of their emperor.


    ¡°This¡­ is a Vampire hunt! Apprehend them all!¡±

 Chapter 62

    Screams reverberated throughout the imperial palace.


    ¡°Halt! What is the meaning of this?!¡±


    The Order of the Crimson Cross ruthlessly rushed towards the luxury suite where some nobles were currently staying. They pushed forward the imperial decree inscribed with the imperial family¡¯s coat of arms at the Paladins guarding the doorway.


    ¡°We are the Heresy Inquisitors. Our actions merely follow the commands of his highness, the First Imperial Prince, Luan Olfolse. Do you have any objections?¡±


    ¡°The command of h-his highness¡­?¡±


    ¡°If you wish to stop our advances, then you must first obtain the permission of two archbishops, or more. If you don¡¯t have that, then¡­¡± A cold shine radiated from the eyes hidden beneath the bird beak mask that zeroed in on the Paladin. ¡°We¡¯re authorised to summarily execute anyone who resists. Even the Paladins loyal to the Imperial Family are no exceptions.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°This is neither a revolt nor is it a coup d¡¯etat. Even his majesty, the Holy Emperor, has permitted it. Will you disobey his decree?¡±


    The eyes of the Crimson Cross gleamed behind their masks. They began raising their scary-looking weapons in their hands. All sorts of tools like scythes, greatswords, and maces could be seen rising up threateningly in the air.


    The Paladins stumbled back before ungainly moving out of the way.


    The Crimson Cross kicked the door down when their path was clear.


    The nobles were taken greatly aback and hurriedly retreated, their faces filled with pure fear.


    The members of the Crimson Cross double-checked the list, then scanned the ranks of nobles, servants, and maids currently present.


    ¡°Capture them! If anyone resists, cut off their heads immediately. That¡¯ll serve as proof of whether they are Vampires or not.¡±


    The Crimson Cross began approaching the frightened nobles.


    ¡°H-how dare you¡­! I¡¯m Count Bernia! Do you think you¡¯ll be unscathed after pulling this stunt¡­?!¡±


    One of the nobles present unsheathed his sword. However, this act constituted as ¡®resistance¡¯.


    The Crimson Cross members spoke at the same time, ¡°We act according to the commands of the Imperial Family.¡±


    ¡°E-even if the Imperial Family has issued a command, this is still wrong! Just what exactly happened that you are¡­!¡±


    The Crimson Cross wasted no more time and quickly pounced upon the one still issuing resistance in the group.


    A scythe swiped across the air, cleanly lopping the count¡¯s head off. A fountain of blood gushed out from between the severed head and torso.


    The headless body fell down to its knees while the ownerless head rolled around on the carpeted floor. This lasted only for a brief moment as both of them suddenly burst into bluish flames and began burning away.


    ¡°He¡­ really was a Vampire?!¡±


    The knights of the Crimson Cross stared at the list with renewed shock in their eyes. Then, they shifted their glares back over to the nobles inside the luxury suite. The corners of their lips hidden beneath the masks began curling up into maddened grins.


    There was no more need for doubt.


    Their glares locked on the surviving ones who were backing away even now.


    ¡°Every single person in this room is now suspected of being the blood-creations. Capture them all!¡±


    And so, screams continued to reverberate throughout the imperial palace.


    Meanwhile, groups decked in crimson robes were dashing across the streets of Laurensis on horseback.


    They stopped a carriage, one that was about to cross the guard station located by the gates leading outside of the capital city.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?! I¡¯m Count Ruran from the kingdom of Lome¡­¡±


    ¡°Count Ruran is also on the list. He¡¯s definitely a Vampire.¡±


    After declaring that, the members of the Crimson Cross uniformly raised their crossbows.


    ¡°What?! What are you¡­?!¡±


    They fired their bolts.


    Projectiles penetrated straight into the count¡¯s torso and limbs. Despite screaming in pain, the Crimson Cross didn¡¯t stop there and even proceeded to place a noose around his neck.


    ¡°Surely a Vampire wouldn¡¯t die from something this minor.¡±


    While saying this, they began dragging him back to the palace as their horses galloped forward.


    From the imperial palace all the way to the streets of the capital¡­


    ¡­A pandemonium of blood was underway.


    Citizens shivered away in fear and cried out helplessly.


    Even then, the Crimson Cross didn¡¯t hesitate nor hold themselves back. Their duty right now was to ¡®Kill and Capture¡¯; everything else was besides their consideration.


    Luan stood by a window of the imperial palace and observed the events from high up.


    Witnessing them capture and bring back the Vampires brought a smile to his face.


    **


    Count Fomor was presently shivering away from anxiety.


    Like a broken machine, his head continued creaking from side to side as he scanned his surroundings.


    He was currently standing inside the majestic audience chamber.


    This magnificent space was meant for the emperor to grant audiences to his subjects, and normally it should¡¯ve been filled with Paladins and loyal retainers of the empire.


    Yet, not a single soul could be seen inside right now.


    Was that all?


    Of course not ¨C all the windows were covered up with thick drapes as well.


    Inside this hall that seemed to personify darkness itself, only the emperor¡¯s throne received rays of brilliant sunlight, almost shining like a beacon in this place.


    Count Fomor swallowed back his dry saliva and stared at the person sitting on that very throne.


    ¡°Welcome back, Count Fomor.¡±


    It was none other than the Holy Emperor himself, Kelt Olfolse.


    This man had personally summoned Fomor to this place.


    Honestly speaking, he didn¡¯t think that meeting the emperor in this fashion wouldn¡¯t be all that difficult to pull off. He¡¯d been fooling the old man and earning the latter¡¯s trust for several years by now, after all. He believed he was safe with some amount of certainty.


    However¡­


    Slam!


    Count Fomor hurriedly looked behind him.


    The only entrance of the audience chamber had been closed shut. On top of that, he could even hear the sounds of something being locked down, too.


    Fomor¡¯s level of alertness went up a notch.


    This¡­ the atmosphere in here was too strange.


    He shifted his attention back to Kelt Olfolse and asked in a trembling voice, ¡°Y-your majesty? May I enquire as to why you¡¯ve summoned this servant to your presence?¡±


    Kelt Olfolse began massaging the back of his neck. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nothing to fret over. Well¡­ I thought that my littlest grandson has caused you much offence, you see. I figured I might as well heal you personally.¡±


    Count Fomor did his absolute best to smile naturally.


    He immediately performed established etiquette to imply that although such a thing was an honour, he¡¯d still have to graciously refuse. ¡°Your majesty, this servant of yours doesn¡¯t require such a magnanimous grace. I have already employed personal Priests, so I can simply¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, well. Let me stop beating the bush around then. Fella, are you a Vampire?¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±


    ¡°I asked you if you were a Vampire.¡±


    Kelt stood up abruptly from the throne, then unhurriedly strode down the stairs of the elevated platform.


    Every time he took a step, Count Fomor stumbled backwards.


    ¡°I ask of you to be forgiving towards the offence I¡¯m about to cause. If you are indeed a human, then I shall apologise to you. And I shan¡¯t forget to bestow you with an equally-deserving compensation. I swear this in my name. However¡­¡± Kelt Olfolse spoke without a hint of expression on his face, even his eyes gleaming in a disinterested light. ¡°¡­If you are indeed a Vampire, then I plan to not let this matter slide without any due punishment.¡±


    The muscles surrounding Count Fomor¡¯s eyes twitched.


    Nothing about this made any sense.


    This whole situation was barrelling down the worst possible path.


    Without a doubt, things were progressing smoothly when he managed to have the Seventh Imperial Prince thrown into prison.


    But all of a sudden, a loud commotion took over the imperial palace, and followed shortly afterwards by waves of divinity crashing through it. And now, he could even hear the terrified screams resounding out inside the palace.


    And all those screams of desperation were unique to the undead.


    Due to these events, Fomor could tell. Outside of this audience chamber, a ¡®Vampire hunt¡¯ was currently underway.


    Cold sweat drops trickled down Fomor¡¯s body as the terror of this realisation caused his body to involuntarily shiver.


    Something somewhere had gone horribly wrong.


    He needed to escape from this place.


    Count Fomor hurriedly shifted his gaze all over the area. The doorway behind him was sealed up while the windows were blocked by iron bars.


    Dammit, there was no way out!


    ¡®N-no, wait¡­ Think calmly about this first. I don¡¯t have a way to get away from here. And right now, only a single person is standing before me, the emperor¡­¡¯


    Fomor flinched at this chain of thought before scanning his surroundings once more.


    There were no Paladins in the vicinity.


    Indeed, only the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, was in front of him. The old man wasn¡¯t even armed right now.


    A forced smile crept up on Fomor¡¯s face.


    Kelt Olfolse was the great hero who killed the Necromancer King Amon. However, he was unarmed right now. Not only that, he was so old that it¡¯d not be strange for him to keel over from natural death any day now.


    Look! Look at all those skinny bones visible through the gaps of the white-coloured and somewhat shabby robe!


    That was the limit of the creature called ¡®humans¡¯.


    Quite unlike a Vampire blessed with an everlasting life, a human was a just measly little lifeform. Someone like Fomor, who was only a step away from reaching the status of ¡®Progenitor¡¯, might be able to fight against the emperor.


    ¡°Hah. Hahah¡­ Hahahaha!!!¡± Count Fomor exploded out in a loud peal of laughter. He then held his forehead. ¡°All of you damned Imperial Family fools. You¡¯re all insane!¡±


    Take a good look throughout the world. Where would anyone find a place that handled matters in such a crazy fashion?


    Never mind thinking outside the box, these Imperial Family bastards were all batsh*t insane. No, they were a bunch of psychos who wouldn¡¯t bat a single eyelid even as they drowned the imperial palace and the capital city in the river of blood.


    Kelt stopped walking and tilted his head when Count Fomor suddenly guffawed out.


    ¡°Oiii, old man!¡± Fomor cried out.


    ¡°¡­Count Fomor, your manner of speech has become rather unrefined for some reason.¡±


    ¡°You asked if I¡¯m a Vampire, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Fomor raised both of his arms, then¡­ he began devouring them with his own mouth. He consumed these arms that used to belong to a human, and in their place, ¡®the arms of a Vampire¡¯ grew out. Bizarre-looking arms that hideously wiggled and contorted in an unsightly way.


    ¡°I am indeed a Vampire, a predator that will devour all of you!¡±


    The count hastily made a beeline towards the emperor.


    ¡°Once I¡¯m done with you. I will be acknowledged by the other Progenitors and earn proper nobility in the process!¡±


    In the blink of an eye, he arrived before Kelt Olfolse. His sharp claws were raised up high.


    ¡°As long as you disappear from here, I shall¡­!¡±


    Count Fomor quickly swung down his right hand. It was then easily caught by the emperor¡¯s grasp.


    He flinched nastily in shock while staring at Kelt.


    His claws couldn¡¯t break through the old man¡¯s skin. Not only that, the claws themselves actually shattered instead and his whole hand was instantly crushed.


    The hand which belonged to a frail-looking small old man had stopped the much larger hand of a monster.


    ¡°Sounds like you mosquito bastard has forgotten it. I¡¯m the Holy Emperor.¡± Kelt grinned refreshingly and continued on. ¡°I¡¯m the man who pummelled the Necromancer King Amon with my own hands before proceeding to rip his head off. Did you really think I can¡¯t even handle a mere gnat like you?¡±


    Kelt¡¯s free hand shot out and grabbed Count Fomor¡¯s head.


    ¡°W-wait! Hold on¡­¡±


    And then, a horrifying noise echoed in the chamber.


    Blood splattered everywhere as Fomor¡¯s head, alongside his spine, got ripped out from the torso.


    ¡°K-keo-hurk¡­¡±


    More blood gushed out from Count Fomor¡¯s open mouth.


    The bloodied spine dangled in the air while still attached to the head.


    ¡°Now that¡¯s a relief, you¡¯re still alive.¡± Kelt smiled in satisfaction, and then he brought his lips close to Fomor¡¯s ear to whisper the following. ¡°Don¡¯t die on me yet. I still need to uncover the culprit responsible for murdering the Imperial Crown Princess Yulisia, after all.¡±


    Of course, that wouldn¡¯t be the end.


    Now was the time to filter out every single Vampire in hiding by interrogating this bastard.


    < 037. Imperial Prince is Subjugating Vampires -2 Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 63

    The Third Imperial Prince Ruppel stood before a doorway.


    He gritted his teeth, but even while doing that, he was also tearing his hair out as well.


    After freeing the Seventh Imperial Prince, he hurriedly returned to his private residence located in the eastern section of the palace, out of fear of being reprimanded for his actions.


    However, the news waiting for him as soon as he arrived at the residence was regarding the events that took place in the capital, Laurensis, as well as the corridors of the imperial palace itself.


    He still didn¡¯t know anything in detail. But one thing was for certain ¨C the imperial palace had turned into an ocean of blood.


    ¡®I¡­I merely sprung Allen out of the prison, that¡¯s all!¡¯


    Could it be¡­ that bastard Allen started a revolt? But if this was true, then news of it should¡¯ve gotten to Ruppel sooner.


    No, there was a higher chance of a different event happening.


    From what he heard, the rumours spoke of a ¡®Vampire hunting¡¯ instead. If so, it should be unrelated to what he had done.


    He swallowed back the dry saliva in his mouth before cautiously opening the door before him. It led to a luxurious suite. There was a middle-aged woman lying on the sick bed located inside the room, her expression seemingly lost in a daze.


    ¡°Mother.¡±


    She was the second wife of the Holy Emperor¡¯s son, and her name was Rose. She turned her emaciated face to the side and stared at Ruppel. ¡°¡­Oh! My baby! Hurry and come to your mother!¡±


    ¡°I-I¡¯m back, mother.¡±


    Ruppel walked over to her then pulled out a chair next to the bed, settling down on it.


    ¡°Welcome back, your highness.¡±


    He reflexively turned his head towards the direction of the voice. He saw a maidservant in her late twenties, a charming woman with black hair and black eyes, standing by the corner.


    She was smiling at him, but the light in her eyes seemed to be a little peculiar.


    Ruppel stared back at her as if he¡¯d been entranced, but then someone began gently stroking his cheek to bring his attention back.


    ¡°My baby¡­¡±


    Ruppel shifted his gaze back, only to be greeted by Rose¡¯s cold and dispassionate eyes glaring right back at him.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about what happened in the capital,¡± Rose said.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Is it true that you freed the Seventh Imperial Prince? And by extension, you¡¯re also responsible for the commotion inside the imperial palace, are you not?¡±


    Wasn¡¯t his mother lying on this sick bed? How could she have known about these things better than him?


    ¡°B-but¡­ Mother, that was¡­¡±


    Rose abruptly reached out and grabbed a flower vase resting on top of a shelf, then she ruthlessly smashed it against Ruppel¡¯s head.


    ¡°And I¡¯ve warned you to keep your head down! I¡¯ve repeatedly warned you not to get on the wrong side of his majesty! You¡­! You! You¡¯re ruining everything!¡±


    Ruppel moaned in pain while holding his head. He then stared at his own mother.


    Rose, his mother¡­ she suddenly began tilting her head in confusion. Her distorted expression lasted only for a brief moment, as if what happened just now was all a lie. Her face reverted back to that of a caring mother as she looked back at Ruppel. ¡°Ah¡­ Ahhh! My baby, I¡¯m so sorry! Your mother deeply loves you. My dear son, Ruppel. My¡­ my first child!¡±


    Rose pushed herself off from the bed and embraced Ruppel.


    Meanwhile, his lips clamped shut tightly from what she said just now.


    Her mouth might have uttered out ¡®first child, Ruppel¡¯, yet he was the second child she gave birth to, not the first.


    Rose always had her first child in mind. Ruppel, being her second child, was more like a ¡®nameless existence¡¯ to her.


    ¡°You must become the next Holy Emperor. That¡¯s your sole purpose of being born. You understand that, don¡¯t you my baby?¡± Rose smiled with her eyes. It was a truly gentle and warm smile. ¡°Only then will his highness, the Crown Imperial Prince, will favour me. Not that lowborn of a b*tch Yulisia, but me.¡±


    To her, her son taking the throne of the Holy Emperor was merely a pathway to ¡®success¡¯, a tool of sorts to ingratiate herself to the currently-missing Crown Imperial Prince.


    Ruppel clenched his teeth.


    Rage went on to distort his expression, but he did his best to stop it from being visible on his face.


    He forced a smile on his lips and responded, ¡°Of course, mother. I shall definitely become the next Holy Emperor.¡±


    **


    After the Vampire hunt got underway, about half of the names on the list were captured or killed on the very same day.


    ¡°Now look! Look at these disgusting monsters!¡±


    The Vampires were currently tied down on the capital¡¯s plaza.


    ¡°These are the heretics who sold their souls to the abominable Vampires in the vain hopes of maintaining their youths!¡±


    These individuals that chose to become Vampires after being captivated by the physical strength and allure of eternal life, finally had their facade of humanity stripped away from them. With their human skins all ripped off, their ugly and contorted faces underneath were bared for all to see.


    ¡°The judgements of the gods shall descend upon them!¡±


    Partitions were placed up.


    An Inquisitor raised his sickle up high before chopping a Vampire¡¯s head off.


    The silhouettes were cast on the partition as moving shadows, and this was how the citizens witnessed the beheading.


    And then, the corpse began burning in blue flames. It soon turned into ashes, which in turn, also served as proof for all the citizens to see.


    However, this show wasn¡¯t meant for their eyes. No, it was to make an example to explicitly warn the Vampires that were still hidden out there.


    ¡°We¡¯re the devout followers that possess the eyes of the gods! No Vampire shall infiltrate our Theocratic Empire anymore. Under the grace of our Goddess Gaia, we shall find all those living a false life and punish them accordingly,¡± the Heresy Inquisitor spread his arms wide open and loudly declared to the masses. ¡°There will be no more places for a Vampire to hide in our land!¡±


    Perhaps to echo his cries, the surviving Vampires currently imprisoned somewhere below the imperial palace desperately screamed.


    They were the ideal subjects for human experimentation.


    The members of the Crimson Cross fed and injected all sorts of drugs into these captured vermin and studied the ensuing reactions.


    One of the ¡®researchers¡¯ commented loudly. ¡°To think that we¡¯d come across a chance to collect so many Vampires in one go like this. Thanks to this event, we should soon be able to advance our medical, magical, and alchemic knowledge by a great margin.¡±


    Indeed, to the researchers of the Order of the Crimson Cross, these Vampires were seen as valuable lab rats and ¡®material¡¯ for magic research. As these creatures were monsters who could indefinitely regenerate themselves, there wasn¡¯t a better test subject than them.


    The events that took place in the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital soon spread out to the rest of the continent.


    <ul>


    The Theocratic Empire has finally found a way to discern Vampires!


    </ul>


    This news frightened some Vampires into vanishing without a trace, while there were others who chose to escape to the neighbouring kingdoms.


    This Vampire hunting event became yet another opportunity that solidified the Theocratic Empire¡¯s position as the continent¡¯s only true nation filled with devout believers.


    Everything seemed to be plain sailing as far as I could tell.


    Almost all the incidents involving Vampires inside the Empire¡¯s borders saw a rapid decline in frequency.


    I figured that this peace would continue on for a long while. I really did.


    ¡°And so, I declare the commencement of the inquisition of Allen Olfolse.¡±


    Except¡­ There was this tiny little problem, where I had to go through a trial and defend myself.


    **


    We were currently inside what looked like a courtroom. And I was standing all alone at the spot where the accused should normally be stationed.


    What a relief, though, that I wasn¡¯t shackled or anything like that.


    In front of my eyes was Archbishop Raphael, acting as the judge of the proceedings, and other bishops that were sitting on either side of him.


    On the left-hand side balcony of the first floor was the Holy Emperor himself, Kelt Olfolse, currently perched up on a throne. The right-hand side was occupied by my oldest sibling, the First Imperial Prince Luan ¨C also sitting on his own throne.


    ¡°Now, we shall commence with Allen Olfolse¡¯s inquisition. His highness the Seventh Imperial Prince is accused of leading a group of soldiers to throw the imperial palace into disarray. This act directly violates the laws of the imperial court, and therefore¡­¡±


    ¡°How laughable.¡±


    Archbishop Raphael lowered the scroll he¡¯d been reading from and shifted his gaze in another direction.


    At the end of his gaze was the Holy Emperor sitting on the balcony, his fingers were interlocked and his eyes were glaring back.


    ¡°What did he violate exactly?¡±


    The emperor¡¯s voice was hushed, yet it carried an undeniable weight.


    The archbishop and other bishops visibly shrunk back.


    ¡°Your majesty, he mobilised armed forces without permission. As such, the accusation of revolt has been¡­¡±


    ¡°Those who are within the direct bloodlines of the Imperial Family are permitted to mobilise armed forces in emergency situations.¡±


    At the latest response, Raphael turned his head towards the right balcony this time.


    The First Imperial Prince Luan sitting on the throne with his hand grasping the hilt of his sword, was glaring down at them. His criticising eyes, seemingly meant to belittle the ones below, were locked squarely on the archbishop and his fellow bishops.


    Luan continued on. ¡°As such, there shouldn¡¯t be any problems, wouldn¡¯t you say? Besides, the people in question, his majesty the Holy Emperor and myself, Luan Olfolse, both said it¡¯s fine. What could possibly be the problem here?¡±


    The bishops lowered their heads and began sweating profusely as if they were the criminals on trial when subjected under the intense glares of these two men.


    ¡°If you find something still problematic, I shall summon the Order of the Crimson Cross here. We can simply confirm this afterwards, can¡¯t we? Confirm whether my younger brother indeed started a revolt, or it was actually all of you harbouring baseless suspicions.¡±


    The complexions of the bishops grew even paler than before after he said these words. Only a month had passed by since the imperial palace was turned into an ocean of blood after all.

 Chapter 64

    Raphael cautiously got up from his chair and waved his hand. ¡°Your highness, please calm down first. This is merely¡­¡±


    That¡¯s right. This proceeding was merely a ¡®formality¡¯, nothing more. These fine folks didn¡¯t even have the required authority to punish me in the first place.


    Sure, I might be guilty of causing chaos in the imperial palace, but that directly led to the Imperial Family successfully driving out the Vampires from the Empire to some degree ¨C these were the creatures that proved to be a thorn on their side for the past several hundreds of years or so.


    On top of that, let¡¯s not forget my achievement of undoing the curse inflicted upon the First Imperial Prince and restoring him back to full health, too.


    In all honesty, even I knew that the plan here was to have my achievements acknowledged and hand out suitable rewards as soon as this sham trial came to an end.


    Archbishop Raphael coughed, clearing his throat. The other bishops couldn¡¯t even raise their heads out of pure fright. This was understandable, considering that the two ¡®monsters¡¯ with volatile personalities who recently turned the imperial palace into a bloodbath were sitting on either side of them.


    Every single word that left their mouths probably placed one hell of pressure on these poor clergymen.


    Hiya~ mister archbishop. You¡¯ve somehow managed to keep your sanity intact while dealing with this soya powder family, haven¡¯t you?


    Archbishop Raphael hurriedly mouthed off some things for the sake of appearance, then directly got to the last part of the proceedings.


    ¡°H-hm. With this, I declare the end of¡­¡±


    Man, it seems to be finally over. Just as I yawned out of sheer boredom, Raphael suddenly paused and clamped his mouth shut. Then, he wordlessly stared straight at me for a long while.


    When the bishops began looking at him with clear confusion, Raphael finally broke his silence. ¡°Your highness, you¡­¡±


    His eyes swept over his fellow bishops for a little bit before resuming his questioning.


    ¡°¡­Are you somehow involved in Necromancy?¡±


    I scowled inwardly while staring back at Raphael.


    This was the bit I felt most concerned about.


    Why did it have to be the archbishop of all people who discovered my holy undead?


    Since his knowledge on magic was considerable, it was only obvious that he¡¯d have some questions.


    Even the emperor and the First Imperial Prince chose to stay silent on this topic. Well, they probably must¡¯ve received some reports regarding this by now.


    Other matters could be glossed over without any problem, but if Necromancy was somehow involved, then they surely would want to find out, too.


    I smiled and replied, ¡°Nope. There¡¯s no way that¡¯s possible.¡±


    ¡°But your highness! There are eyewitnesses!¡±


    Raphael roared out. Even then, I saw his eyes visibly tremble.


    That was definitely because of agitation.


    However, his agitation must¡¯ve stemmed from the fear he felt after witnessing an unknown magic, not because of my brazen audacity.


    I asked him, ¡°Alright, so. Where are these so-called eyewitnesses, then?¡±


    I scanned my surroundings.


    The courtroom was currently populated by the Holy Emperor and the Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, plus its archbishop and bishops.


    Even the Paladins had been excluded from the proceedings. All because nothing good would happen if the story of the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson being involved in Necromancy somehow got out.


    I stared back at the archbishop. ¡°But there¡¯s no one here?¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to stick to your lies, your highness?! I¡¯ve seen those h-holy¡­ holy¡­¡± Raphael abruptly started stuttering away. He massaged his forehead as if he wanted to deny reality itself. After sucking in a deep breath, he then continued on from where he left off. ¡°I¡¯ve witnessed the summoning of the holy undead with my eyes. And I must enquire as to whether or not your highness, the Seventh Imperial Prince Allen Olfolse, was behind that event or not.¡±


    This time, it was the turn of the bishops around him to flinch and stare at Raphael. Their gazes were something else to behold, really. Varying degrees of dumbfounded disbelief and fluster were clearly visible in their expressions.


    Witnessing undead being summoned was unsurprising in and of itself. However, this should be their very first time hearing anything about ¡®holy undead¡¯.


    Only the emperor and the First Imperial Prince should¡¯ve received the report. As for the Paladins, they were probably slapped with a comprehensive gag order by now too.


    Raphael sensed the piercing gazes of his fellow clergymen and began sweating profusely. No matter how many eyewitnesses were present at the time, that event still sounded like a rambling of a crazed lunatic.


    It was possible to mislead the Paladins by saying that what they saw was an illusion, or maybe a bewilderment magic verging on mind control that the Vampires resorted to as a part of their evil scheme.


    However, it wouldn¡¯t work on someone like Raphael.


    He was a man with abilities powerful enough to make him an archbishop, so there was simply no way he¡¯d be fooled by some illusion or mind control magic.


    I could only groan here.


    I figured that it¡¯d be impossible to pull the wool over the eyes of someone like this archbishop right here. It couldn¡¯t be helped; since he asked me directly, I had to provide him an answer.


    My expression became a lot more serious as I stared back at him. ¡°Do you really wish to learn the truth?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t just Archbishop Raphael, but even the Holy Emperor Kelt and the First Imperial Prince Luan focused the entirety of their attention on me.


    A lengthy and weighty silence descended on the courtroom.


    Raphael¡¯s trembling voice leaked out from his mouth after a moment. ¡°Are¡­ are you admitting it, your highness?¡±


    I looked at them and smiled brightly.


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    **


    I exited from the courtroom.


    ¡°Thank you for your hard work, your highness. Is your body still feeling fine?¡± Charlotte kitted out in a maid¡¯s outfit and carrying her trademark expressionless face, asked while bowing her head. She then helped me put on a coat.


    Honestly, rather than a maid, she gave off the vibes of a dependable guardian knight instead.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    I began heading back towards my quarters in the imperial palace. Although Charlotte followed behind me, she didn¡¯t stop observing my complexion.


    She must¡¯ve been really worried. Her actions made sense, though; I was unconscious for about three whole weeks, after all. Even after waking up, I suffered from a serious fever too.


    Without Archbishop Raphael and the lady-in-waiting Alice looking after me by my side, who knows if I ever would have woken up?


    Even though I resorted to using Amon¡¯s skull, I never expected the side effects or penalties associated with [Resurrection] to be that extreme.


    Things should get troublesome from now on, that¡¯s for sure.


    Investigations into the ¡®holy undead¡¯ would surely be launched, and those wishing to inquire more about [Resurrection] would only increase in number.


    I kept relying on the time-worn excuse of not feeling so well when refusing them all, but this excuse wouldn¡¯t work forever.


    ¡°I offer my greetings to your highness,¡± Harman said, welcoming me by the corridor. Apparently, his business this time was with Charlotte, and not me. ¡°Charlotte, his majesty is summoning you.¡±


    She tilted her head in confusion. She couldn¡¯t hide her surprise at the fact that the Holy Emperor wanted to see her, a mere commoner.


    ¡°Understood,¡± Charlotte bowed a little to me and responded. ¡°In that case, please excuse me.¡±


    Harman also bowed to me and was about to guide her, but I hurriedly called out to him, ¡°Ah, Harman, by the way¡­¡±


    I summoned my shovel from my item window and lightly tossed it at him.


    ¡°My shovel is broken.¡±


    During my duel against the First Imperial Prince Luan, the shovel¡¯s handle broke on me. I¡¯ve grown attached to this guy while relying on it ever since our days in the monastery, so I couldn¡¯t help but feel bad about making this decision.


    ¡°Go and find me another shovel.¡±


    Harman alternated his gaze between me and the shovel before forming a really perplexed expression. ¡°But your highness¡­ a shovel? How about mastering swordsmanship instead?¡±


    ¡°Swordsmanship? Do I look like I¡¯m suited to swinging around a sword to you?¡± I nonchalantly shrugged my shoulders. ¡°Just who am I? I¡¯m a Priest, innit? How can someone like me swing a sword around?¡±


    Harman lightly facepalmed. ¡°Your highness, a Priest walking around with a shovel looks even worse in my opinion.¡±


    ¡°A sword and a shovel aren¡¯t even remotely the same, you know?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I agree. They couldn¡¯t be any more different even if they tried. Which is why a Priest swinging around a shovel is even more bizarre.¡±


    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you hand me a weapon that I¡¯m familiar with then? What can I do when all I know is how to shovel?¡±


    ¡°A weapon you¡¯re familiar with? Even if you say that¡­ Ah, wait! How about having it crafted exclusively for your use, your highness?¡± Harman pondered this query deeply before looking back at me. ¡°There is a mine that produces iron and magic stone ores up in the fiefdom located in the northwest.¡±


    Northwest, is it?


    Harman proceeded to explain more about the fiefdom located in the northwest of the empire. He said that it was currently being governed by the First Imperial Princess, and that the place also served as the Theocratic Empire¡¯s greatest armoury as well.


    The ones referred to as ¡®fairies blessed with the deftness of the gods¡¯, the dwarves, were found there. A contract was signed with them and they produced all sorts of armaments by the truckloads in that place, almost like some kind of a factory.


    ¡°Hilda fiefdom is home to artisans capable of crafting not just some regular weapons, but even powerful magical weapons, your highness,¡± Harman continued on while making an awkward expression. ¡°They should be able to craft a weapon that suits your particular needs the best, your highness. Also¡­¡±


    He then pondered something else for a bit.


    ¡°¡­You might be able to procure a musket rifle as well. Such an item is still popular among the aristocracy as decorative ornaments, after all.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really?¡±


    I recalled the musket rifle. Now that I thought about it, didn¡¯t I acquire an antique back in Ronia fiefdom and use it until now? That thing only saw the light of day as an ornament in its original home.


    However, what if I could get my hands on something even better?


    ¡°Hilda fiefdom, is it¡­?¡±


    What kind of firepower would a proper modern musket possess, I wonder?


    < 038. Imperial Prince is Heading Out to Enjoy A Festival -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 65

    **


    The archbishop and his fellow bishops hurriedly fled from the courtroom, leaving only the Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse and his grandson, the First Imperial Prince Luan, behind to man their positions.


    They stared at each other and began their discussion.


    Luan started speaking first. ¡°With what Raphael said¡­ Do you think he¡¯s onto something?¡±


    ¡°Do you mean the ¡®holy undead¡¯?¡±


    Luan looked at his own hand. The unblemished white skin entered his view. Even after a month, he still found himself touching his own skin several times in a day.


    He continued on. ¡°He brought about this miracle called resurrection, grandfather. I may sound like a lunatic by saying this, but I keep thinking that things like a holy undead being created wouldn¡¯t be impossible for him to pull off.¡±


    He shifted his gaze back to Kelt Olfolse.


    The emperor looked confused as well. ¡°I can¡¯t figure it out. How can a set of rules that contradict itself exist? However¡­ if what Raphael has said is all true, then that only means Allen is still hiding something from us.¡±


    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t he tell us the truth?¡±


    ¡°Because he doesn¡¯t trust us. We ourselves are guilty after all.¡±


    The guilt of banishing the boy and abandoning him ¨C there was also the threat of assassination, and yet the Imperial Family chose to turn a blind eye.


    That was most likely the reason for Allen¡¯s distrust of the entire Imperial Family.


    Just as a bitter grin began spreading on Kelt¡¯s lips, a Paladin quietly approached and whispered something to his ear before presenting a message. ¡°Your majesty, a letter from her highness the First Imperial Princess.¡±


    Kelt Olfolse furrowed his brows and broke open the wax seal. After scanning through the contents, he shook his head. ¡°We got rid of the pests, but now it¡¯s the wild beasts¡¯ turn, it seems.¡±


    According to the letter, demonic creatures were going on a rampage nearby the expansive forest found in the Hilda fiefdom, which was located in the northwest of the Empire.


    Kelt Olfolse asked the Paladin, ¡°Which Order of Cross?¡±


    ¡°Your majesty, the Order of the Verdant Cross has been dispatched as per her highness¡¯s instruction.¡±


    ¡°What seems to be the problem then?¡±


    ¡°The enemy has proven to be quite crafty, your majesty. They attack swiftly, and then withdraw just as quickly back to the forest, their natural territory. Not even the members of the Verdant Cross dare to carelessly tread in their backyard, your majesty.¡±


    Kelt Olfolse groaned under his breath.


    Luan, who was sitting on the opposite balcony, tilted his head. ¡°Did something happen, your majesty?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s from the First Imperial Princess, Hilda. She says things have gotten somewhat complicated.¡±


    ¡°Is it because of the demonic beasts?¡±


    Kelt shrugged his shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s likely that the news of Vampires fleeing from our land has even reached that place. That¡¯s probably the reason why those beasts began their rampage.¡±


    While saying this, the Holy Emperor turned his head in another direction. His attention was now resting on a group entering through the courtroom¡¯s entrance, who consisted of one girl and two men ¨C Charlotte, Gril, and Harman.


    Gril was exceptionally cautious as he studied the atmosphere inside. Lord Jenald left for his fiefdom quite a while ago, and that was why only the farmer and Charlotte had been invited here.


    ¡°Uhm, excuse me¡­ D-dear Paladin-nim? Why did you summon us here?¡±


    It was at that very moment Kelt arrived before the group. ¡°I summoned you all today so that I can bestow upon you with suitable rewards for defending our northern territory.¡±


    All of the colours drained out of Gril¡¯s complexion at the Holy Emperor¡¯s entrance. He hurriedly prostrated on the ground.


    Unlike him, though, Charlotte adhered to the established etiquette of the imperial court by getting down on one knee and bowing her head.


    ¡°Oh-hoh!¡±


    Kelt¡¯s brows arched in a soft smile as he observed Charlotte.


    Gril might be one thing, but as far as he was concerned, this girl truly possessed an air similar to a knight undergoing training in the imperial court.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to reward you both.¡±


    Luan also came down from the balcony and stood before them. He produced a document from inside his robe, an official decree of peerage, which was marked with both the Holy Emperor¡¯s handwriting as well as his Imperial Seal.


    Kelt Olfolse spoke up, ¡°You shall be granted nobility.¡±


    Gril, still face down while kowtowing on the floor, was making a puzzled expression.


    Nobility?


    He recalled that it was some throwaway joke the Paladin named Harman told him in the past. So why was his majesty making the same joke now too?


    ¡°Hear ye, oh the present head of the House of Count Heraiz, Gril Heraiz.¡±


    Gril flinched nastily.


    Gril Heraiz? Who or what was even this Heraiz thing? He raised his head with a dazed expression etched on his face.


    ¡°Not only did you ably defend our northern territory, you are also the only member of our aristocracy who supported my youngest grandchild, Allen Olfolse. As such, I shall bestow upon you the title of Marquis.¡±


    Gril¡¯s jaw figuratively fell to the ground.


    ¡°In addition, your daughter, Charlotte Heraiz, will be granted the peerage of Paladin. She will be accepted into the knight order directly under my command, the Order of the Golden Cross.¡±


    ¡°H-hang on, I beg y-your pardon¡­ Your majesty?¡±


    Gril¡¯s eye muscles were noticeably twitching now.


    ¡°Of course, if you wish to continue living in anonymity, then I shall respect your decision and not force it upon you. However, Charlotte, what say you?¡±


    She kept her head bowed during her reply, ¡°I swear to continue protecting his highness.¡±


    ¡°I see. I give you my praise for your loyalty, child. The moment you reach adulthood, you shall be bestowed with your own peerage and the Imperial Court will spare no expenses in supporting your growth. I shall also write a recommendation letter to the academy in my name. I have an acquaintance named Oscal staying there. He shall teach you the mastery of the sword,¡± the Holy Emperor spoke with a content smile on his lips. ¡°I pray that Gaia¡¯s blessing and the everlasting glory of our Theocratic Empire will always be with you¡­!¡±


    And so, the Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse bestowed peerage to both Gril and Charlotte. He then left the courtroom, leaving behind Luan and the rest.


    The First Imperial Prince then lightly patted Harman¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Harman, you¡¯ve done well. We¡¯ll increase the amount of supporting funds meant for your bestowed territory, so don¡¯t be shy and spend it as you see fit.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m honoured, your highness.¡±


    Harman bowed deeply after hearing his words.


    Luan exited from the courtroom next. And now, only Harman, Gril, and Charlotte remained in the area.


    The Paladin shifted his gaze over to Gril. ¡°I¡¯m relieved that your loyalty has been sufficiently rewarded toda¡­¡±


    ¡°Just what on earth happened here?!¡±


    Gril shouted out while hurriedly holding his own head. But then, he suddenly reached to grab Harman by the shoulders, and shook the latter, hard.


    Looking as if all semblance of rationale had abandoned him, cold sweat drops trickled down his face as he continued crying out. ¡°Just¡­ just what the hell happened to me?! P-p-peerage?! What¡¯s this all about Counts and Marquises and all that?!¡±


    Harman furrowed his brows. ¡°Gril, my man. Calm down. Aren¡¯t you Gril Heraiz?¡±


    Gril¡¯s eyes widened to an unbelievable degree. ¡°Who said that?!¡±


    ¡°There was that document with his majesty¡¯s seal branded on it, wasn¡¯t there?¡±


    Gril immediately recalled the tattered piece of document he ¡®picked¡¯ up back in Ronia.


    Harman continued on, ¡°You don¡¯t have to hide it from me nor from his majesty anymore. He has already acknowledged it, therefore¡­¡±


    ¡°I only picked that up, you know?!¡±


    Harman flinched a little and tilted his head. ¡°Say that again?¡±


    ¡°I said, I picked it up! We were busy getting rid of the corpses back in Ronia fiefdom, but then, my friend Hans dumped that paper on me! That¡¯s how I came across it!¡±


    ¡°N-no, hold on for a second here¡­¡±


    ¡°Did you confirm it? Did you properly confirm my ancestry, sir Paladin?!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Forget about confirming or whatnot for a moment here, didn¡¯t the Seventh Imperial Prince trust this man? And his daughter also knew Imperial Swordsmanship, didn¡¯t she?


    Not to mention, this man was also involved in hunting down the Progenitor Vampire, Morgana the Witch, and even the King of Gluttony too.


    If all these feats weren¡¯t proof enough, then what would?


    There was simply no way that a mere commoner would provide help in killing a Progenitor, hunt down a witch, and win against a zombified bear in battle¡­


    Gril cried out, ¡°Those were all lies!¡±


    ¡°Lies?!¡±


    ¡°I made up those stories so I¡¯d have something to boast about down at my local pub!¡± Gril held his head once more. ¡°M-M-Marquis¡­ A bloody Marquis?! C-Charlotte, if it¡¯s Marquis, it¡¯s that, right? That? Baronet, Baron, Viscount, and¡­ and, what comes after that, Charlotte?¡±


    ¡°Count.¡±


    Charlotte responded in an unconcerned voice, and Gril animatedly nodded his head. ¡°Yes! That¡¯s right! A Count! A Marquis comes after that! Oh my dear goddess! It¡¯s a major nobility! Wh-what is with this sudden situation?!¡±


    Harman¡¯s eyes started trembling powerfully while he listened on. He shifted his gaze over to Charlotte, hoping for some kind of verification from her.


    She coolly nodded. ¡°The events of killing Morgana the Witch, King of Gluttony, and the Progenitor Vampire are all purely the achievements of his highness, the Seventh Imperial Prince. Gril and I are simply commoners.¡±


    Harman urgently turned his head towards Gril. ¡°Is that really true?!¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s all true! Aaargh, this fella! How can a fella like you be so frustratingly thick-headed?!¡±


    Gril must¡¯ve completely forgotten about the fact that he was addressing a Paladin of all people and as a matter of fact, he even began stomping on the ground in frustration.


    He just couldn¡¯t wrap his head around this event where he somehow ended up with a nobility of marquis. However, that ship had set sail already.


    A commoner, not even a count, ended up being bestowed with the title of marquis. Meanwhile, Charlotte shot right past the ranks of regular Paladins and became a member of the Order of the Golden Cross, a knight order that answered to no one but the Holy Emperor.


    Harman¡¯s mouth clamped shut real tightly.


    While bestowing these peerages, the Holy Emperor held Gril¡¯s hands and patted Charlotte on her head as if he had been deeply moved by their loyalty. Even the First Imperial Prince Luan lightly patted Harman on the shoulder and offered some words of encouragement.


    All of these events, all of these accidents¡­ they were all caused by Harman¡¯s misunderstandings.


    Large cold sweat drops visibly trickled down Harman¡¯s ashen-coloured forehead.


    What if this lie was to be exposed? He had basically deceived both the Holy Emperor and the First Imperial Prince at the same time.


    Harman reflexively shielded his neck; knowing those two¡¯s personalities¡­ there was simply no way they would let this one slide if the truth got out.


    While thinking to himself, it can¡¯t be¡­ Harman began recalling the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s face just then.

 Chapter 66

    **


    ¡°By the way, won¡¯t there be issues with granting a commoner with the title of Marquis, your majesty?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    When Luan raised this question, they continued walking ahead while not even looking back. The Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse replied while cracking his stiff neck muscles.


    ¡°Harman, that fellow, he really messed up this time. To think that he didn¡¯t even bother to do a thorough investigation first. I mean, I do trust that man, but as expected, his actions sometimes just aren¡¯t sharp enough. That¡¯s why he hasn¡¯t been promoted past the role of a vice-captain even now.¡±


    ¡°When nicely put, he¡¯s a pure-hearted man. Or in other words, he¡¯s not the brightest mind out there. He¡¯s the type to never suspect you of anything as long as you¡¯ve earned his trust. Still, his conviction is steadfast and pure, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°With things being like this, I¡¯m beginning to suspect the claim of Allen hiding his true self and getting deliberately banished.¡±


    When Kelt said what was on his mind, Luan followed up with a question of his own, ¡°Your majesty, do you believe his amnesia is real?¡±


    ¡°At the very least, I believe so. That¡¯s what I think. When he saw me back in the garden, his expression clearly indicated that he did not recognise me.¡±


    ¡°But I disagree, your majesty. I can¡¯t let go of this suspicion that he got himself banished in order to hunt down the Vampires. He could¡¯ve uncovered something during the process as well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s also another possibility. We¡¯re talking about none other than the Land of the Dead Spirits after all. Since it¡¯s the land of the dead, the place where Amon rests, it¡¯s possible that he discovered something up there.¡±


    Allen Olfolse was still hiding the full extent of his powers ¨C they had to think of things that way.


    ¡°And that¡¯s exactly why we need the House of Heraiz right now.¡±


    There were no surviving members of the Heraiz family line. The Holy Emperor knew this fact better than anyone. Because¡­ he fought with them side by side after all.


    Despite knowing the truth, he still granted them peerage bearing that name. His reason for such an action was simple.


    ¡°That child, Charlotte. She seems to be a good find, do you think so?¡±


    ¡°Charlotte? That silver-haired girl?¡±


    ¡°Harman told me that she¡¯s apparently a diamond in the rough. Although that man named Gril is¡­ not really dependable, if that child grows safely and manages to strengthen her base, then whether it be you or Allen, she should be able to protect you both.¡±


    The Heraiz family used to assist the Imperial Family. Fifty years ago, they were the sixth strongest force that swore loyalty to the emperor¡¯s bloodline.


    The second coming of the name ¡®Heraiz¡¯ was a necessity more than ever before.


    It was true that the Imperial Family¡¯s influence had grown stronger through the recent Vampire incident, but it was still not up to the satisfactory level.


    The absolute monarchy that centred on the Holy Emperor, a position of absolute power that no one under the sun could oppose. This was what Kelt Olfolse truly desired. He wanted even greater authority and power than before.


    And most importantly, he wanted this concentration of power to remain as the central pillar of the continent, even if it wasn¡¯t meant for him but for his grandchildren¡¯s generation.


    ¡°But your majesty, I thought that you weren¡¯t much of a fan of commoners?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re bringing up that ancient history again? Besides, you need to be careful with what you say. At least outwardly, that child is from the ¡®bloodline of a count¡¯. Without that claim, the other aristocrats would kick up a major fuss.¡±


    ¡°Your majesty, didn¡¯t you also kick up a fuss over my mother?¡±


    ¡°Yulisia? Huh, huhuh. Back then, I was as blind as a bat. Who could¡¯ve guessed that someone I thought to be a lowborn would be the purest and kindest person I know¡­¡±


    Kelt smiled bitterly.


    Only after his son, the Crown Prince, disappeared seemingly from the face of the continent, did he get to witness the true faces of the Crown Princess Consorts.


    The First Crown Princess Consort genuinely grieved. Meanwhile, the Second Crown Princess Consort pushed her own son forward into the light, and while mouthing off about the right to the succession, she began gathering like-minded nobles around her. Even the Third Crown Princess Consort was trying so hard to make sure that the absolute power would end up in the hands of her children.


    Yulisia was the only one who grieved over the disappearance of the Crown Prince.


    Unable to face the bitterness taking over his heart, Kelt Olfolse decided to change the topic. He reached inside his robe and pulled out the letter from earlier. ¡°By the way, it¡¯ll be a problem if my dear granddaughter continues to encounter trouble up there.¡±


    ¡°Ah, you mean Hilda, your majesty?¡±


    ¡°The kingdom of Aslan down south has been making suspicious manoeuvres recently. There are hints of war afoot. This means that it¡¯d be troubling if our greatest armoury, Hilda¡¯s fiefdom, cannot meet the quota in the current situation.¡±


    ¡°You mean to say that we need someone with talent to hunt down those demonic creatures?¡±


    ¡°Indeed that we do. Someone with powerful divinity, and also without a shred of fear too.¡±


    ¡°¡­Someone courageous enough and is capable of seeing through the Vampires¡¯ ruses. Someone who can kill them without hesitation.¡±


    Even as they continued speaking, a wide grin formed on both their lips when their gazes met.


    Luan spoke up next, ¡°Don¡¯t you wish we could learn just how much more Allen Olfolse¡¯s been hiding from us, your majesty?¡±


    ¡°Mhm. I shall write a letter to Hilda, one that says her beloved youngest brother will be paying her a much-delayed visit. Ah, before that, we have something else we must do.¡± Kelt Olfolse lightly waved around the letter with a wide smile on his face. ¡°We need to publicly declare that the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson is a hero, now don¡¯t we?¡±


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    ¡°The Theocratic Empire! Hooray!¡±


    ¡°His majesty the Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse! Hooray-!¡±


    Despite the hour being deep into the moonlit-night, the empire¡¯s capital city, Laurensis, was awash with colourful arrays of light.


    Countless people had flooded out on the streets. Magicians of the imperial court were launching many fireworks into the skies. At the same time, the imperial clergymen provided their services for free to Laurensis¡¯s citizens.


    Even the pierrots and street troupes could be seen giving the crowd something to watch and laugh about in the forms of exciting re-enactments that were filled with energy and drama.


    Paladins in perfectly-organised ranks marched through the streets, prompting the citizens to gather and cheer them on.


    And then¡­ there was this one dude stuck in the middle of that very march. This unlucky dude was currently perched up on a throne of an open-top carriage, and oh boy, he was even wearing an attire so extravagant that it verged on being an eyesore.


    The crowd shouted out.


    ¡°It¡¯s the rebirth of a Saint!¡±


    Of course this dude wasn¡¯t the reborn Saint.


    ¡°He¡¯s the one loved by Goddess Gaia!¡±


    I wonder about that. If Gaia really loved this dude, then why would he even have to go through that much crap in the first place?


    ¡°We pray that we receive the grace of the one who defeated the Vampires, the Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen Olfolse-!!!¡±


    The dude sitting in the carriage surrounded by the marching Paladins was¡­


    ¡­None other than me.


    I could feel my eye muscles twitching non-stop.


    I had to shift my head and look elsewhere. That¡¯s when I noticed the actors performing in the corner of the street in the distance. A ¡®boy¡¯ wielding a sword was cutting down on another actor dressed up like a Vampire.


    The actor cried out, ¡°I, Allen Olfolse, shall hunt this Vampire down!¡±


    My head faltered and I had to hide my face.


    Not sure why, but I was getting seriously embarrassed here.


    The whole city was overcome with a festive atmosphere. No, hang on, it was already a festival. A festival prepared by the Holy Emperor to publicly announce their news of victory against the Vampires ¨C and also to advertise the achievements of his grandson, Allen Olfolse, while he was at it.


    Our procession left the streets draped in an extremely festive atmosphere and eventually, we returned to the imperial palace but that only signalled the beginning of a banquet instead.


    ¡°We pay our respects to your highness the Saint.¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m not a Saint.¡±


    ¡°But your highness. Have you not granted the blessing of Resurrection already? Honestly speaking, even the title of Saint is found lacking in your case, your highness.¡±


    The imperial court¡¯s clergymen came up to me one after the other, and while bowing their heads, they began praying.


    ¡°G-greetings! I¡¯m Count Raira, at your service. Your highness! It¡¯s truly an honour to make your acquaintance!¡±


    Many nobles knelt down on one knee, deeply bowed their heads and offered me the sincerest greetings they could manage.


    ¡°How do you do, your highness? This one¡¯s name is Sharin. I¡¯m the eldest daughter of Marquis Rinai¡¯s household and¡­¡±


    Even the esteemed daughters of several noble families began chatting me up.


    The inside of my head was getting chaotic. My vision was spinning too.


    ¡°Excuse me¡­ Your highness?¡±


    ¡°What is it? Be quick cuz I¡¯m feeling dizzy right now.¡±


    Harman, who was acting as my guard, cautiously called out to me while covered in cold sweat. This guy¡¯s been acting super weird since a few days ago. He seemed to want to say something, but he¡¯d stop before getting a word out every single time.


    He laboriously opened his mouth. ¡°Please, you must tell me the truth.¡±


    While I was tilting my head at those words, Harman continued on.


    ¡°Your highness, your memories¡­ Have you really lost them?¡±


    ¡°How many times do I have to tell you? Yeah, they¡¯re completely gone.¡±


    He began massaging his temples real hard after I answered him.


    ¡°Oh, oh the god of war Heim¡­!¡±


    ¡°What the? Hey, did you eat something weird just now? Why the sudden need for a prayer?¡±


    The festival lasted for about a week. It was certainly a noisy and boisterous event, that¡¯s for sure.


    The festival and banquet were meant to assuage the fears of the citizens while celebrating the might of the Imperial Family, and also to advertise my existence to the wider world, but man, I just found things like these way too tiresome.


    The festival eventually drew to a close, and¡­ about two weeks later, the death anniversary of a woman arrived.


    < 039. Imperial Prince is Heading Out to Enjoy a Festival -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 67

    It was the death anniversary of a woman.


    To remember her passing, people came together. The location was the garden found within the imperial palace.


    The ceremony itself was simple, sombre, and quiet.


    Kelt, Luan, and myself stood before the woman¡¯s statue and offered our silent prayers. The ceremony itself was brief; it ended quickly and everyone went on their own ways.


    However, I remained behind and continued staring at the statue.


    Harman addressed me from behind. ¡°It¡¯s Lady Yulisia. She was your mother, your highness.¡±


    Stunned by that revelation, I took a deeper look at her statue.


    That¡¯s right¡­ I did hear about her. She was the Crown Princess Consort, and the mother of the current me. The one who lost her life while valiantly defending the Seventh Imperial Prince from a Vampire¡¯s sneak attack.


    She was also apparently the most pure-hearted and kindest person as well.


    I stared at the statue erected above her final resting place and offered one more silent prayer.


    After the ceremony ended, another week flew past us.


    By then, the festival was well and truly over. Mother¡¯s anniversary had also come and gone. I figured things would finally settle down, but no.


    ¡°We humbly come to pay our respect to your highness, the Imperial Prince.¡±


    Nobles continued showing up and¡­


    ¡°Do you still remember me, your highness?¡±


    Esteemed daughters of noble houses also kept popping in and out too, and¡­


    ¡°Ahaha! Your highness, please forgive us for this intrusion, but we¡¯re here to ask you some important questions. Just how did you pull off Resurrection magic¡­?¡±


    ¡­And even Priests and Magicians showed up to pester me.


    Besides them, even tutors meant to drill the ways of etiquette, aristocratic refinement and history into me, stood in a proverbial queue outside my room. Hell, Harman was also nagging me, still asking if I wasn¡¯t interested in taking up swordsmanship training.


    Every single day was packed to the brim with stuff to do.


    To put an icing on this¡­ cake, someone else had to test my food first before I was even allowed to touch it.


    My life in the palace so far has not seen one single peaceful day.


    Ah, ah¡­ I already feel myself missing the days back when I toiled away as a gravekeeper.


    Only at night would I get to enjoy some peace and quiet around here.


    After leaning against the balcony and letting my body sag like a piece of rag, I muttered to myself. ¡°If I knew this would happen, man¡­ Hunting zombies or Vampires would¡¯ve been so much better.¡±


    At least those guys were considerate enough to get killed and leave me in peace afterwards, yet these dang living humans just kept on pestering me day in and day out!


    I was seriously beginning to miss the days when they ignored me and pretended that I didn¡¯t even exist.


    My head was pounding; it was getting harder and harder to endure physically and mentally.


    ¡°Ohhh! My dear beloved youngest brother, Allen Olfolse!¡±


    There was also this dude busy wrapping his arm around my sagging shoulders, too. I turned my head to the side and frowned at the First Imperial Prince, currently waving around a wine bottle next to me.


    This dude, I could tell that he was having the time of his life after regaining his full health.


    Probably because of his reborn taste buds, he had been ordering all sorts of rare and delicious cuisines, as well as fine liquor to gorge himself in, and I also heard that he¡¯d been sneaking in some ladies to his chamber every night too.


    While someone here was toiling his ass off, you were having a real blast, weren¡¯t you, buddy?!


    ¡°¡­Brother, please knock before entering someone else¡¯s room. Please.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! Ah, my sincerest apologies. In any case, isn¡¯t the life in the imperial palace proving to be too challenging for you?¡±


    Challenging, you say?


    Don¡¯t even mention it. If I was given some time to rest, then it might not have been as bad but since I wasn¡¯t afforded even a moment of respite, I¡¯m seriously considering running away from here.


    I spat out a lengthy groan and responded. ¡°Honestly? I¡¯m exhausted.¡±


    ¡°Haha! Is that so?¡± Luan checked my complexion before pushing an envelope towards me. ¡°How about this, then? Run a simple errand for us, and in the process, refresh your spirit too.¡±


    ¡°An errand?¡±


    I took the letter. On the cover were the words [To Hilda].


    Luan continued yapping away. ¡°Hilda¡¯s territory is located in the northwest of the empire.¡±


    Hilda¡¯s territory in the northwest? Ah, hang on. Isn¡¯t that the mining area Harman told me about not too long ago?


    Now that I thought about it, this name was also familiar, too. For sure¡­ this was the First Imperial Princess¡¯s name, wasn¡¯t it?


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you pay her a visit and say hello?¡±


    Luan made that suggestion with a rather smooth smile.


    I stared back at him with deeply furrowed brows. ¡°You mean, you want me to travel somewhere that far away?¡±


    ¡°Well, I was thinking that it¡¯d be good to bring back some weapons from over there.¡±


    ¡°Is there a reason why you need an Imperial Prince to do this kind of task?¡±


    ¡°No, no reason. But then again, you do seem exhausted after all. I simply thought that you could treat this errand as a vacation, to go on a grand tour of sorts. So¡­ how about it? They should be in the midst of holding a festival of their own that¡¯s filled with all sorts of delicacies and joyous atmosphere. Also, did I mention that the area is renowned even within the continent as a tourist destination? Unlike here, you won¡¯t have to put up a facade to maintain your princely station once you get there. And since Hilda¡¯s around, you should be able to enjoy the proceedings more freely, I think.¡±


    Vacation. Tourist destination. Festival.


    All those things sounded so sweet and tempting to my heart currently worn down by my packed-to-the-brim daily schedule.


    Ever since arriving in this world, I never took a day off to just go on a trip for myself. All I did was lug around corpses, get involved in hunting Vampires, and then got dragged around in the Imperial Court¡¯s affairs¡­


    ¡°I heard that you¡¯ve been searching for a weapon that suits you. Rather than place an order and wait around until its completion, why don¡¯t you just hop over to where it¡¯s going to be made, instead? Wouldn¡¯t that make things more certain? Not only that, they also have many delicacies and plenty of souvenirs to choose from as well. It¡¯ll be fun! Also¡­¡±


    The corners of Luan¡¯s lips curled up as he tussled my hair.


    ¡°¡­There should be plenty of beauties too,¡± he continued on with a sly grin. ¡°You can say hello to our First Imperial Princess Hilda as an added bonus. What say you?¡±


    I lowered my head in contemplation.


    At this point in time, I didn¡¯t really care where or how.


    I just wanted a break!


    Was it northwest? Fine! No, this was actually for the better.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll go. As long as I can escape from this stuffy and tiresome imperial palace, I¡¯m prepared to do anything.¡±


    ¡°Very good!¡± Luan clapped his hands before taking a long swig from the wine bottle. While doing that, he still didn¡¯t forget to pound me on the back. ¡°We¡¯ll get you prepared right away. Ah, wait. I almost forgot to say this. When you get there, another fun activity should be lying in wait for you.¡±


    ¡°¡­Fun activity?¡±


    Luan responded with an extremely refreshing smile on his face.


    ¡°Beast hunting. You will be able to enjoy that to your heart¡¯s content when you get there.¡±


    **


    The next day.


    Carriages and selected members from the Order of the Crimson Cross acting as guards were prepared to depart for the Hilda fiefdom.


    Due to his duties, Harman had to remain behind in the palace. Meanwhile, Charlotte had gone off somewhere for a little while after receiving a letter of recommendation from none other than the Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse himself.


    I couldn¡¯t be any happier with the fact that I now got to travel by myself in peace and quiet.


    Of course, my happiness didn¡¯t last all that long.


    ¡°¡­Hang on, is the archbishop coming with me too?¡±


    ¡°No need to fret. He might hate your guts to the point of wanting to murder you in your sleep, but he¡¯s also a man who knows how to separate private and public matters.¡±


    While bidding us goodbye, Luan cracked a joke at my expense.


    Two carriages were prepared. One was for me since I was going there to run an errand, and also to get myself a new weapon that would hopefully fit me like a glove.


    As for the other one, it was manned by Archbishop Raphael and his granddaughter, Alice. Apparently, they had some ¡®matters¡¯ to attend to at the Hilda fiefdom.


    I had no idea that Raphael and Alice would be tagging along until right now. From what I heard, they had an important business they had to take care of up there.


    What a relief that we were travelling in separate carriages. If I had to share one with those two, I¡¯d have gone insane from the uncomfortable atmosphere.


    This must¡¯ve been my big brother showing his considerate side to me.


    The knights of the Crimson Cross kitted out in crimson robes climbed aboard their horses. The carriages set off soon afterwards.


    I opened the windows and looked at the outside world passing us by. Our group briefly stopped by small villages, and then toured other territories on the way as well.


    I made sure to sample local specialities or buy souvenirs in every village and fiefdom we stopped by.


    While covering the lengthy distances between each stop, I took naps inside the carriage or focused all my being in studying magic.


    A week flew by just like this, then another week came and went.


    My fatigued body and mind gradually recovered in the process.


    ¡°Yes, this is what I¡¯m talking about. This is a true vacation! This is the isekai life I¡¯ve been longing for!¡± [1]


    Everything was truly satisfactory.


    Now, where would you find a vacation this laid-back and peaceful?


    I might as well take this opportunity and leave the imperial palace for good, and maybe even travel the whole continent!


    For the first time ever, I thanked Luan Olfolse in my heart.


    And so, our group travelled past the last village that was before the Hilda fiefdom. However, just before we could cross a bridge that connected the two territories¡­


    The carriages suddenly came to a stop.

 Chapter 68 - Imperial Prince is Heading Out to Enjoy a Festival -3 (Part Two)

    Although it was late in the evening, we were already fairly close to Hilda fiefdom anyways, meaning it was unnatural for the carriages to stop so abruptly like this.


    While tilting my head, I opened the carriage¡¯s door. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    One of the Crimson Cross members nearby responded promptly. ¡°It¡¯s nothing to worry, your highness. Please go back to bed and let us handle it.¡±


    I peeked my head out further and took a look at the path ahead of us.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of touring troupe you folks are, but it doesn¡¯t matter now! Give up all your belongings and we¡¯ll let you go!¡±


    What I saw was a muscle-bound man boasting rather abundant beard. He was accompanied by a large contingent of men reeking with obvious signs of desperate poverty. With suspicious grins in their faces, they were blocking the road.


    Their hands were gripping woodcutting axes, kitchen knives, and other shoddy make-shift weapons.


    The burly beard man roared out, ¡°Give us all your money and women, and maybe we¡¯ll let you pass! Looks like you¡¯re either a troupe of pierrots or performers, so surely there must be some beauties amongst you lot! Isn¡¯t that right, fellas?¡±


    Wow, isn¡¯t this one of those clich¨¦d developments that often appears in fantasy novels? A protagonist on an adventure, bandits that try to rob him, and then the protagonist mercilessly slaughters said bandits.


    Now that I got to experience that very development I only ever read about in books before, I couldn¡¯t help but feel rather stoked by it.


    Well, this was also a part of a fun travelogue, wasn¡¯t it?


    ¡°Oh-hoh! Bandits!¡±


    My excited tone of voice elicited slow head shakes from the Crimson Cross members.


    The one who answered me by the door continued on. ¡°Your highness. They must¡¯ve stopped us in the hopes of robbing us blind since they have numbers on their side. And judging from how that man talks, they have no idea who we are.¡±


    ¡°Man, they sure do have some guts. In my eyes, our little group looks like a collection of psychos, and yet they wish to attack us?¡±


    Our group consisted of people wearing creepy bird beak masks and crimson robes, plus they were carrying scary weapons like scythes, greatswords, and maces. If I was in their shoes, I would have found a suspicious group like this one waaaay too ominous and just let them pass by without doing anything.


    ¡°They seem to have mistaken us for a troupe of pierrots or street performers, your highness. Well, a festival is scheduled to take place in Hilda fiefdom in a month after all. What are your commands?¡±


    ¡°Teach them just enough so that they won¡¯t harm other travellers, then let them be on their way.¡±


    ¡°In that case, we should cut off their tendons.¡±


    Now that¡¯s properly savage.


    Still¡­ letting them go would inevitably result in other travellers getting attacked by these same people. So yeah, it¡¯d be better to subjugate them now and ensure that other unfortunate folks weren¡¯t unduly inconvenienced by this bunch.


    The members of the Crimson Cross began approaching the bandits.


    I could only send my sympathetic prayers in the hapless bandits¡¯ direction. ¡°I pray that you all behave better in your next lives.¡±


    Just as I was about to close the carriage door shut, my gaze shifted over to the surrounding forest. An unmistakable acrid stench of blood wafted in. At the same time, I noticed rapidly moving shadows.


    Eyes glowing blood-red, and fangs as sharp as blades that belonged to these shadows, began appearing one by one between the gaps of trees.


    My expression hardened immediately after locking my gaze with those eyes.


    ¡°Everyone, battle stations!¡± I roared out reflexively. ¡°Ignore the bandits, now!¡±


    The Order of the Crimson Cross members immediately turned their heads to me.


    I shouted out once more, ¡°Maintain formation! Protect the carriages!¡±


    Without asking a single question, and not even a hint of hesitation, they answered my call and carried out my commands to the letter. After quickly surrounding the carriages in a protective cordon, they lowered their postures and began urgently scanning our surroundings.


    ¡°Monsters are coming. Get ready!¡±


    I shouted out while exiting from the carriage myself. Then, I quickly summoned my musket rifle and breathed into the loading chamber.


    Meanwhile, I continued surveying the forest all around us.


    The red glowing eyes, a whole lot of them¡­ were beginning to move forward.


    It seemed that the Crimson Cross members had finally noticed those things too.


    ¡°It¡¯s them!¡±


    ¡°The demonic beasts of the forest are here!¡±


    From the sounds of it, they must¡¯ve known the identities of the monsters hidden in the forest.


    ¡°What are you all doing? Why don¡¯t you put on your performance later, and¡­¡±


    The axe-wielding bandit leader smirked foolishly and began approaching us. But it was right at that moment when a shadow suddenly leaped out from the trees and pounced on him.


    Sharp fangs gleamed coldly under the moonlight.


    I saw a torso with gaping holes of rotting flesh and black fur that grew in unkempt patches. It was a monster with the appearance of a half-man and half-beast.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk?!¡±


    The monster bit down on the bandit leader¡¯s throat. The poor man¡¯s neck got ripped apart as blood sprayed in all directions.


    It didn¡¯t stop there; the monster then grabbed the leader¡¯s body with its two hands before tearing it into several pieces, then threw them away.


    Bits of torn flesh and intestines scattered everywhere in a rain of blood.


    <ul>


    Ku-oooooooh!!!


    </ul>


    Howls of beastly nature reverberated out from the forest.


    The complexions of the bandits grew incredibly pale in an instant. They screamed in panic and tried to run away. Too bad though, the undead beasts targeted them first and began hunting the bandits down.


    They bit, tore, and ripped their victims apart.


    This was one hell of a merciless and cruel sight to behold.


    One of the Crimson Cross members cried out, ¡°They¡¯re lycanthropes!¡±


    ¡°What the hell? Wait a minute, are you talking about werewolves from horror movies?¡±


    What this crimson robe-wearing guy said didn¡¯t make much sense to me. These things looked different from the werewolves I saw in movies, after all. Their appearances just seemed too unnatural to be called wolf-men, at least that¡¯s what I thought.


    It wasn¡¯t the case of a human turning into a beast, but more like a beast which was forcibly trying to morph into a humanoid shape.


    ¡°Thankfully, they seemed to be nothing more than blood-creations.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be more than enough to deal with them, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Those damn bandits. They just increased our workload, didn¡¯t they?¡±


    The bandits who were killed off by the lycans began standing back up. They were now zombies, their eyes glowing in an eerie crimson hue.


    The lycans and the zombies were glaring at the Crimson Cross and me.


    It was then, the door to the other carriage flung open and Archbishop Raphael Astoria walked outside.


    ¡°You lycans, half-man and half-beast undeads!¡± He scanned his surroundings before quickly slamming his wooden crosier hard on the ground. ¡°Allow me to grant you all an eternal respite!¡±


    I finally figured things out after listening to him.


    So¡­ was this the reason why Raphael and his granddaughter were headed to Hilda¡¯s territory up in the northwest?


    Raphael raised his crosier up and closed his eyes before offering a prayer.


    Upon seeing this, the Crimson Cross members quickly tightened their cordon even further.


    Unlike the zombies, the lycans were scanning our group as if they wanted to observe us first. Then, perhaps after judging Raphael to be the most dangerous one among us, they began dashing towards him.


    I raised the musket rifle and took aim, but before I could fire, a crossbow bolt flew in from another direction and cleanly penetrated through a lycan¡¯s shoulder.


    The undead monster flinched nastily and hurriedly turned its head towards a hill nearby.


    People kitted out in green robes and balaclavas were riding on horses and rushing towards our direction. They expertly reloaded their crossbows even as they rode on horseback. The blades attached to lengthy spears carried by these people were pointed at the zombies.


    ¡°Uwoooooh!¡±


    After the bolts penetrated through the zombified bandits, the horses¡¯ hooves ruthlessly trampled down on them.


    The eyes of those carrying the spears seemed to flash sharply as they threw their weapons forward.


    Numerous lycans swiftly retreated while swinging their claws powerfully, knocking away or breaking the incoming spears.


    They howled out in that unique-to-beasts manner before quickly returning back inside the forest.


    ¡°Do not give them chase! The forest is their territory!¡±


    A maiden riding on a horse at the front of this new group shouted out, then she pulled on the reins of her mount to stop right before our eyes.


    The spear-wielding maiden was still in her early to mid twenties.


    She scanned the Crimson Cross members and then locked her gaze on the archbishop. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, your eminence.¡±


    She bowed her head like a proper knight before turning her head in my direction. While furrowing her brows, she dismounted from the horse.


    She lowered herself a little to match my eyeline and then proceeded to scan my face from this and that angle.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, little brother. However, you certainly have changed a lot, didn¡¯t you? I¡¯ve already heard it from his majesty but to think that your whole atmosphere has changed to this extent in only half a year¡­¡±


    I checked her attributes right away.


    I confirmed that she had aspects of a wise ruler, incredible talent in pretty much everything, and on top of that, excellent martial prowess as well.


    ¡°No, wait. Even if it¡¯s been a while, you supposedly have lost your memories, have you not? In that case, I must introduce myself properly then.¡±


    A princess knight oozing the confidence and pride of a male knight ¨C she was none other than¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m Hilda! And I welcome you to my fiefdom, my dear little brother.¡±


    ¡­Hilda Olfolse, the fourth child of the Crown Prince and the granddaughter of the Holy Emperor.


    She also happened to be my older sister too.


    < 040. Imperial Prince is Heading Out to Enjoy a Festival -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 69 - . Imperial Prince is Searching for a Weapon -1 (Part One)

    **


    When thinking about a festival, a few things should pop up in your mind first. For instance, since it was Spring, how about looking at all the blooming flowers? Or maybe the open-air concerts and performances? Those kinds of stuff should enter your head first and foremost.


    Next up would be the delicious food or regional products that matched the seasons.


    This location was a mining area. No, more than that, it was a place where dwarves lived. Dwarves, referred to as the fairies of blacksmithing, no less! I believed that the souvenirs matching their speciality would be on sale at every street corner.


    ¡°No¡­ there¡¯s nothing here! Everything I was looking forward to, they¡¯re not here!¡±


    Yup, not a single thing on my wishlist could be found around here.


    The First Imperial Prince Luan told me that there would be a ton of stuff to eat. However, the marketplace was currently closed shut. There weren¡¯t any hints of people on the streets, either. Not even a trace of their shadows, as a matter of fact.


    He lied to me.


    He said that there were lots of things to sightsee when I came here.


    Sure¡­ there were many things to clap my eyes on. Such as the stuffed ¡®animals¡¯ being displayed inside Hilda¡¯s castle, trophies of her previous successful hunts. Actually, they weren¡¯t just any stuffed animals, but lycanthropes no less.


    He said there were lots of beauties in this place.


    He was probably correct on that one.


    I did see quite a few potentially beautiful women in the surrounding villages while passing through them, after all. Except that their faces were all covered up, that they were hiding inside their houses, and that their doors were all bolted shut tightly.


    Finally, he said there should be quite a few games waiting to be hunted down. Well, he was definitely right about this one.


    I could see several members of the Order of the Verdant Cross kitted out in green robes and balaclavas crossing the streets while carrying zombies skewered by the spears.


    Ah, I think I figured it all out.


    The festival Luan was talking about?


    It must¡¯ve been the festival of blood.


    A festival where I¡¯m supposed to hunt the undead!


    ¡°That stinking motherf*cker¡­!¡±


    Luan, that bastard. I went out of my way to save him, yet he dares to screw me over like this?


    Seriously, dear brother? How could anyone under the heavens be so heartless to send their one and only little brother to a festival of blood like this?!


    I was currently on the balcony found at the top-most floor of Hilda¡¯s citadel. While sitting by a table, I cast my eyes on its surface then held my head. A book of records which contained information on the undead beasts found in this area, the lycanthropes, was resting right here.


    [They are different from the Vampires. Human zombies would regain their egos and intelligence as they evolve, and eventually, they will be reborn as corrupted existences. But the lycans¡­]


    The ¡®lycanthrope¡¯ was the final evolved form of a zombified beast which absorbed demonic energy for a long, long time. It was a half-human, half-beast animal-type undead that boasted some intelligence, as well as having top-draw physical attributes.


    ¡°Could there be records of how monsters evolve too?¡±


    Just to be sure, I took a look through the records but couldn¡¯t find anything regarding such things. From what I heard so far, such information could only be found on myths and legends being passed down.


    I stared at the records of lycanthropes and muttered out, ¡°I wonder¡­ will they be easier to deal with compared to the Vampires?¡±


    [Lycans are the ideal type of ¡®pet¡¯ that Vampires seem to favour the most. As they have evolved from animals in the first place, Vampires often do raise them as pets through usage of ¡®magic¡¯.]


    According to the records, lycans were capable of utilising demonic energy. However, it wasn¡¯t in the form of magic, but only on the level of enhancing their physical abilities.


    As they were basically simple beasts to begin with, their level of intelligence was only barely enough to let them memorise human languages.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be harder than you think, little brother. They may not be able to cast magic, but their physical abilities still exceed your average Vampires.¡±


    I shifted my gaze towards the direction of the voice.


    Hilda stood there. She was smiling with her eyes while lightly shaking around a bottle of wine in her hand.


    I furrowed my brows while staring at her. ¡°It seems that people with the Holy Emperor¡¯s blood don¡¯t know how to knock.¡±


    ¡°My apologies. I wanted to introduce you to someone, which is why I brought him here.¡±


    Hilda looked behind her. A rather short man stood there.


    This person was a head shorter than me, and I was far from being an adult myself. However, his shoulders were seriously broad and muscles were rippling under his shirt. His abundant beard and the middle-aged face really suited him too.


    The moment I saw him, I reflexively gasped out in exclamation, ¡°A dwarf!¡±


    ¡°I am Belrog, your highness. A blacksmith under contract with the Imperial Court.¡±


    The dwarf slightly bowed his head as a greeting.


    Belrog and Hilda came over to where I was and settled down by the table as well. The wine glasses were brought out and aromatic wine was poured in.


    Hilda spoke up first, ¡°I heard that you were searching for an item that would suit you?¡±


    I clinked my glass with the both of them.


    I came here to get myself a weapon, but at this rate, I might get sucked into the ¡®game hunting¡¯ too. It¡¯d be for the best if I got out of this joint as soon as possible.


    ¡°Yes, I need a weapon for self-defence.¡± I drank the wine while making sure to put on an unimpressed expression. ¡°And then, I plan to leave as soon as I acquire it.¡±


    Hilda on the other hand had a surprised expression after hearing what I said. ¡°But I thought you came here to lend a helping hand?¡±


    Lend a helping hand?


    This time, it was me getting shocked due to her expression, instead. ¡°Who told you that?!¡±


    ¡°Grandpa¡­ H-hm, his majesty and our older brother, Luan Olfolse, mentioned it in their letter.¡±


    ¡°Stinking Imperial Family punks¡­¡±


    It seemed that those two punks were doing their darndest to put me through a wringer.


    ¡°I¡¯m merely here to enjoy the festival, not to hunt down some stinking lycans. If you wish, I shall leave behind the Crimson Cross members before I go back.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? How unfortunate. Our festival was supposed to get underway from next week, but because those creatures recently began their acts of terror, it couldn¡¯t be helped but be called off.¡±


    Oh, so there really was a festival, then?


    ¡°It seems that big brother didn¡¯t deceive me completely.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think of them too poorly, Allen. They probably only wished to learn more about your talents after all.¡± A bitter grin spread on Hilda¡¯s lips next. ¡°Although we¡¯re from different mothers, I still do not wish to make you go through something dangerous. The interior of the citadel should be the safest place, so you should stay indoors. As for your weapon, it¡¯ll be prepared in due course.¡±


    Hilda stared at the dwarf Belrog.


    He opened his mouth as if he was waiting for his turn. ¡°Your highness, do you have any type of a weapon you already favour?¡±


    ¡°Well, not really, but I¡¯ve been relying on a shovel recently.¡±


    ¡°A¡­ shovel, is it?¡± The dwarf blacksmith frowned slightly.


    ¡°It¡¯s only because I haven¡¯t found a weapon that takes my fancy, you see? Shovelling was all I did during my half-year-long banishment after all. I tried wielding a sword and even had a go with a spear in the past, but they just didn¡¯t feel right when I used them.¡±


    ¡°May I take a look at your hands, your highness?¡±


    I presented my hands forward.


    Belrog inspected them really closely before speaking up. ¡°For sure, these aren¡¯t the hands of someone who has been mastering the ways of weapons.¡±


    The dwarf now looked troubled as he shifted his gaze over to Hilda.


    However, he still continued talking to me. ¡°A shovel can serve a variety of purposes, but its effectiveness during a combat situation is somewhat lacking compared to the others. If you wish for one to be crafted, then there¡¯s nothing stopping us, but¡­ Mm¡­¡±


    He was clearly in a dilemma over something.


    ¡°Simply put, all we need to do is to find a weapon that suits him, is that it?¡± Hilda asked Belrog while picking up the bottle to refill the wine in my glass. ¡°In that case, get some people to tidy up the drill hall. I¡¯d like to enjoy a little duel with my little brother there. It¡¯s been a long time after all.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯d like to decline that invitation, thank you very much.¡±


    I¡¯ve had enough of sibling duels back in the imperial palace. I definitely didn¡¯t want to have another one after coming this far.


    However, Hilda began smiling meaningfully at my reply. ¡°Do not worry. I¡¯m not planning to be as uncouth as our older brother Luan.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s as implied, I merely wish to find out what weapon suits you the best. That¡¯s all.¡±


    Hilda raised her glass.


    As the accepted social etiquette demanded it, I clinked her raised glass with mine, but I still continued complaining, anyway. ¡°I merely came here to take a break, you know?¡±


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll simply defend and do nothing else.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, if you say so.¡±


    Hilda looked rather pleased by my answer and drank her wine.


    Belrog, who was watching our exchange from the side, cautiously opened his mouth. ¡°But¡­ Lady Hilda¡­ you aren¡¯t so good with liquor, so if you drink that much¡­¡±


    ¡°What about it? I¡¯m meeting my brother for the first time in five years.¡± While saying that, she placed the glass down and stood up from the chair. ¡°Now that we¡¯ve sufficiently warmed up, how about we have our duel now?¡±

 Chapter 70 - . Imperial Prince is Searching for a Weapon -1 (Part Two)

    **


    The drill hall was located within the citadel.


    As befitting of the empire¡¯s mining area, which was also renowned for being its greatest armoury, all corners of the drill hall were decorated with every kind of weapon imaginable.


    Hilda began picking out weapons that matched my physique and tossed them my way.


    ¡°Even if you¡¯re my younger brother from a different mother, I still should have paid more attention to you.¡±


    She tossed a spear, mace, sword, greatsword, morning star, steel chains, a pair of gauntlets, and then finally, a shovel.


    I stared dazedly at the weapons strewn about on the floor before looking back at Hilda.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, this is our first meeting since Lady Yulisia¡¯s funeral, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    A few dwarves walked up to me. Even if Hilda said she wouldn¡¯t attack, this was still a duel. At the very least, as a formality, they began putting leather armour on me.


    ¡°Back then, I was also too young and was recently given stewardship of this territory, so I was unable to look after you properly. When I heard the rumours that you had become a mangnani, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how a child as kind as you would change so much like that.¡±


    While talking about her past regrets, she reached out and grabbed a spear shaft nearby. It was a spear meant to be used in sparring sessions with its edges made out of wood.


    ¡°But now that I look at you, that doesn¡¯t seem to be it, either. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve experienced during your banishment, but seeing how much your atmosphere has changed, you must¡¯ve gone through some unimaginable things.¡±


    She sucked in a deep breath before fixing her gaze on me.


    ¡°If you haven¡¯t come to see me like this, then I still wouldn¡¯t have paid you any attention. For that, I can only apologise to you.¡±


    She then tightly gripped the spear shaft.


    ¡°Even though my mother wouldn¡¯t be too happy about this, we are still siblings, so I shall make sure to look after you during your stay here.¡±


    I ended up smiling bitterly at what Hilda said.


    The first impression I got from the Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse was ¡®disinterest¡¯. As for Luan, it was ¡®hatred¡¯.


    But at least with Hilda, I could sense ¡®consideration¡¯ from her.


    It seemed that someone in the Imperial Family really did care about the Seventh Imperial Prince, then.


    ¡°Now, come and attack me. Let us discover what kind of weapon suits you the most.¡±


    I picked up the sword first, and then glanced at Hilda.


    Her expertise in spearmanship was truly extraordinary. Even if someone handed me a treasure sword, I still wouldn¡¯t be able to touch her hair, never mind her main body.


    Even though I knew that, I still gripped the weapon tightly and rushed towards her, before taking an almighty swing.


    Hilda¡¯s spear brushed aside my sword and quite easily flung it out of my grip.


    ¡°Next.¡±


    I picked up the spear next. She flung it out of my hands too.


    We tried the mace, the morning star, steel chains, and other available weapons. Eventually, even the shovel was flung out of my grip in the end.


    The dwarves standing in the corner of the drill hall watched us and diligently jotted down something on a piece of paper.


    After Hilda glanced at them, they shook their heads in response.


    She ruefully licked her lips, then while gripping the spear, she addressed me, ¡°Again. Let¡¯s start from the beginning once more.¡±


    Just like that¡­ How many hours passed by like this?


    ¡°L-let¡¯s just stop, please!¡±


    I was lying spread-eagled on the drill hall¡¯s floor, completely exhausted. My breathing was heavy and rough.


    My eyes caught the sight of Hilda¡¯s grinning mug as she squatted beside me.


    ¡°You did well,¡± said Hilda.


    ¡°¡­This is unfair. Someone¡¯s collapsed on the floor out of exhaustion, but the other person hasn¡¯t even broken a sweat?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s obvious since I train every single day.¡±


    Hilda then stood back up. She turned her head as the dwarves walked over to us.


    ¡°Your highness. His highness¡¯s proficiency with all the weapons seems to be about the same. However, we don¡¯t believe he¡¯s particularly talented in handling any one of them.¡±


    ¡°As for the shovel, we can tell that his proficiency with it is quite good, but it¡¯s still not suitable for combat, judging from his movements.¡±


    ¡°In addition, everything seems to be somewhat inefficient. Although his movements do indicate that he¡¯s used to actual combat, his physical attributes are simply too lacking, your highness. As such, determining what his highness¡¯s potential weapon can be will remain difficult.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Hilda rubbed her chin in contemplation. ¡°His physical attributes are lacking¡­¡±


    She glanced at me still lying flat on the ground.


    ¡°¡­In that case, we just have to improve his physique.¡±


    ¡°If you want me to train, then I¡¯d like to politely decline now.¡±


    There was no bloody way that a training regime Hilda comes up with would be a simple exercise routine. No, I bet it¡¯d be as hardcore as the training that the Imperial Court¡¯s Paladins go through, which was designed to bring out one¡¯s best during an actual combat situation.


    An extreme training that broke your bones and tore apart your tendons, that sort of a training regime. I came here to take a break, so I would have to unequivocally decline any invitation to partake in such training.


    Hilda continued to stare at me on the floor and pondered something for a bit before opening her mouth. ¡°Allen, I heard that you¡¯re capable of using ¡®Divine Aura¡¯. That ability probably strengthens the essence of a weapon. Am I correct?¡±


    ¡°How did you know that?¡±


    ¡°Master weapon craftsmen live in this area. They read the reports about you and made a judgement based on the information provided.¡±


    After hearing her say that, the dwarves around us suddenly began standing taller with straighter backs.


    ¡°Let¡¯s find your most suitable weapon while you activate that power.¡±


    ¡°Hang on a minute here, we gotta do this again?¡±


    ¡°Finding a weapon that suits you is not a matter that can be solved in one or two days.¡±


    I facepalmed at Hilda¡¯s response.


    And so, I spent the following week sparring with Hilda. A few dwarves were always present to observe our matches.


    I collapsed to the floor in exhaustion several times.


    Incredibly, I couldn¡¯t even land a single blow on her during that time.


    Luan¡¯s movements back then were dulled by his body rotting away, but in comparison, Hilda was a skilled fighter with a skillset moulded in the heat of actual battlefields. I was told that she was powerful enough to hunt a lycan all by herself, even if that lycan was only a blood-creation.


    I plopped down on the floor in exhaustion yet again. And the dwarves were shaking their heads again as well.


    ¡°As we thought, his highness¡¯s physical attributes are simply too lacking. At this rate, making a decision will be too difficult, my lady.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    I could only tut inwardly.


    This body of mine belonged to a mangnani. Let¡¯s not forget that I was a Priest, and a Necromancer, to boot.


    I wasn¡¯t some monster who started training from a young age, so my physical abilities and reaction speed must¡¯ve looked really pathetic from the standards of these dwarves.


    ¡°In that case, Allen.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°Use divinity from now on.¡±


    ¡°Divinity, you say?¡±


    ¡°I heard that you¡¯re quite talented in the ways of magic. And you must know by now that divinity can be utilised to fortify one¡¯s physique.¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course. However, I¡¯ve never actually tried that before.¡±


    I nodded slowly. Honestly, I couldn¡¯t remember a single time when I tried to raise this body¡¯s attributes in that manner before.


    ¡°In that case, try to strengthen yourself during our next sparring. Use Divine Aura as well. I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be easy in the beginning, but if you do have the requisite talent, then you might uncover something from it.¡±


    I nodded once more at her suggestion.


    That evening, I got permission from Hilda and entered the citadel¡¯s library to go through the magic grimoires stored there. Most of my focus was with the body reinforcement type magic.


    As I delved into my studies, someone suddenly called out to me.


    ¡°Your highness?¡±


    It was Alice. After arriving at this place along with her grandfather the archbishop, she basically confined herself in the library, devoting all of her time in studying magic.


    I looked behind her before saying anything. Thankfully, Archbishop Raphael wasn¡¯t with her this time.


    She stood there with a lantern in her hand, her face clearly frozen stiff under the flickering light. It was an expression of fear.


    She probably ended up recalling what happened in the past.


    Even if I resurrected Luan and earned the trust of the Imperial Family again, to her eyes I was still the same villain that tried to force himself on her.


    Her gaze eventually headed to the book in my hand. Only then did her frightened expression disappear in an instant as if it was all a lie. Curiosity began filling up the sparkling light in her eyes, instead.


    ¡°¡­Don¡¯t mind me. You go ahead and do what you came here to do,¡± said I, before returning my eyes to the book.


    While standing at a safe-enough distance away from me, she cautiously asked. ¡°Could you perhaps be researching the topics of body reinforcement type magic, your highness?¡±


    I tilted my head at her question.


    **


    Night came to an end, and morning came to visit us once more.


    As usual, my sparring session with Hilda commenced again. The dwarves were still present with notes in their hands. They also didn¡¯t forget to prepare towels and water for me to drink.


    They were fully expecting me to collapse in exhaustion again today.


    They shifted their gazes to look at me and Hilda, and that served as the signal for the sparring to begin.


    And when that happened¡­


    ¡°¡­!!!¡±


    Almost as soon as it began, everyone¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Even Hilda and I had to clamp our mouths shut from the pure shock too.


    ¡­Because the moment the weapon I wielded collided with her spear, the latter¡¯s weapon which was meant for sparring purposes broke and shattered into pieces, that¡¯s why.


    < 041. Imperial Prince is Searching for a Weapon -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 71 - 042. Imperial Prince is Searching for a Weapon -2 (Part One)

    **


    ¡°So this was where you were, Alice.¡±


    Alice opened her eyes at Raphael¡¯s voice.


    She had been sleeping on the library¡¯s desk. Subconsciously, she rubbed her still-drowsy eyes and wiped away the hint of drool near her chin. While doing so, she looked at the blanket wrapped around her shoulders.


    Raphael continued on. ¡°You seemed to have spent the night here.¡±


    ¡°Pardon? Ah, yes.¡±


    Her grandfather¡¯s gentle but worried tone of voice prompted an awkward smile to float up on her face.


    The truth was, she ran into the Seventh Imperial Prince last night. How badly would Raphael worry if he found out about that?


    While still oblivious to what happened in the night prior, Raphael smiled contentedly as if he found his granddaughter quite adorable. ¡°Please rest inside your quarters, child. I know studying magic is important, but you¡¯ll place too much strain on your body like this.¡±


    Alice inwardly felt rueful. Actually, she wasn¡¯t able to get any studying done yesterday. However, even then¡­


    ¡°¡­It was more fun than I thought.¡±


    ¡°Mm? What was that, child?¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, I was just saying, studying was more fun than I thought, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°I see. As expected, one can¡¯t fool their own blood it seems. Do you find studying magic that enjoyable?¡±


    When Alice smiled brightly back at him, Raphael gently patted her on the head.


    They left the library and began walking down the citadel¡¯s corridor.


    ¡°By the way¡­ just how did his highness the Seventh Imperial Prince succeed with Resurrection? Also, what about those holy undead? I can¡¯t seem to figure it out. Lately, I¡¯ve begun wondering if dementia has taken a hold of me.¡±


    Raphael muttered out as if he was talking to himself.


    Alice could only look on at her grandfather with pity. Raphael was the type to directly ask the source if his curiosity got the best of him. And yet, he chose not to ask the Imperial Prince and that was only because of her, Alice.


    There was simply no way that he¡¯d politely ask a bastard who tried to rape his granddaughter, after all.


    In all honesty, Alice too had a lot of questions in regards to those topics. The one thing she was most curious about was how the Imperial Prince managed to heal Luan, someone she failed to save even after a long period of time.


    ¡°Excuse me, grandfather? How about we just ask him for a¡­¡±


    It was then, they heard the sounds of something breaking.


    Alice¡¯s gaze hurriedly shifted over towards the door at the end of the corridor, which led to the citadel¡¯s drill hall.


    Raphael furrowed his brows and spoke. ¡°The Seventh Imperial Prince has certainly changed, hasn¡¯t he? That boy is even willing to do something he has never done before.¡±


    After arriving here, the Imperial Prince continued holding practice sparring sessions with the Imperial Princess Hilda. Such a thing would¡¯ve been unimaginable for the boy prince prior to his banishment.


    ¡®Now that I think about it, what he was studying yesterday was¡­¡¯


    Since she was with him last night, she got to witness the figure of the boy prince fervently reading from a grimoire related to body reinforcement magic.


    It also happened to be the exact same field of study she was researching at the moment as well, and that was why her interest automatically piqued in the blink of an eye.


    Why was his highness checking out magic related to enhancing one¡¯s physical abilities? Alice also couldn¡¯t win against her curiosity so she changed her direction towards the drill hall.


    However, Raphael reached out and grabbed her shoulder, trying to dissuade her. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t go, child. The Seventh Imperial Prince might start harbouring untoward thoughts again if he lays his eyes on you.¡±


    Alice already expected her grandfather to oppose her decision, so in order to change the subject, she pointed to the blanket around her shoulders. ¡°Ah, I almost forgot! Thank you for this, grandfather. I didn¡¯t feel cold because of it.¡±


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t put that on you?¡±


    Alice was stunned to hear that. ¡°Really?¡±


    She abruptly recalled the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s face.


    He must¡¯ve placed it on her shoulders before leaving.


    A wry grin floated up on her lips after remembering the events of the night before. Now that she looked back, didn¡¯t something similar happen back in the imperial palace too? When they accidentally ran into each other back then?


    She was instantly scared after seeing his face, but curiosity quickly bubbled up in her heart. This caused her to stay and observe what exactly he was trying to do.


    As expected, it seemed that the blood of the renowned researcher of magic, Raphael Astoria, was indeed flowing in her veins.


    Once she stood before the door, she began sensing this weird divinity come from beyond it. Raphael must¡¯ve sensed it too, because he no longer asked her to not go in there.


    After they exchanged glances, the pair¡¯s eyes started shining with the greedy light of seekers of truth.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take a small peek before leaving,¡± said Alice.


    Raphael formed an unhappy expression at her suggestion, but even then, he still reached out to open the door ever so slightly.


    Through the doorway¡¯s open gap, they could see the sparring session between the Seventh Imperial Prince and Hilda.


    It was then, the boy prince raised the sword up and flung himself forward. Hilda used her spear to block his attack, but then, her weapon shattered into pieces.


    Everyone was stunned at what just happened ¨C Hilda, the dwarves, and even the Imperial Prince.


    ¡°How about it then? Is it sword?¡±


    In order to have confirmation on things, Hilda threw this question at the dwarves, but they still shook their heads.


    ¡°Please try out something else, your highness.¡±


    One of the dwarves then tossed a replacement spear towards Hilda.


    Meanwhile, the Seventh Imperial Prince picked up a mace.


    Their weapons collided again, and just like before, Hilda¡¯s spear shattered into bits.


    The dwarves looked genuinely surprised, but that didn¡¯t last long either, their expressions changing visibly to indifference, and even to something similar to pity.


    ¡°Only his physical attributes have been enhanced. Even though his highness wielded a sword and a spear, he wasn¡¯t cutting or slicing. He simply shattered your weapon, my lady. As expected¡­ he just doesn¡¯t seem to be talented in wielding weapons.¡±


    The dwarves sounded really disappointed just then.


    Alice witnessing the scene, smiled wryly.


    She then saw the boy prince bite down on his lip. He looked quite impatient.


    He put in a lot of effort for the past several days. But now, he was being told that all of his hard work so far was in vain.


    However, Hilda didn¡¯t give up despite the dwarves¡¯ conclusion. ¡°There¡¯s the possibility that it¡¯s because we¡¯re not fighting earnestly.¡±


    She reached out towards her own personal spear, not one forged for the purpose of sparring. This was the weapon that the dwarves had meticulously crafted for her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll start attacking from now on. I won¡¯t simply defend but will also evade as well.¡±


    After saying that, Hilda pounced forward. The boy prince picked up the weapons strewn about on the drill hall¡¯s floor and swung them around.


    She attacked and dug into his openings. Her spear danced and darted beautifully as it was thrusted in towards him.


    The Imperial Prince freely ducked and weaved out of the attacks thanks to his physical attributes and reflexes reinforced by divinity.


    Raphael and Alice forgot where they were and watched the spectacle before them unfold.


    Hilda sucked in a deep breath, and then suddenly dashed in.


    The boy prince staggered; he let go of the sword and picked up a shovel to mount resistance.


    Hilda¡¯s eyes narrowed. She swung her spear not to slash down, but in a wide, circular arc to clash directly with the shovel. She leaned against his weapon before flicking it out of his hands.


    The boy prince no longer had anything.


    Hilda stomped on the ground and stabbed powerfully forward.


    It was right at this moment, Alice saw it.


    She saw the Imperial Prince step back while bringing his hands near to his mouth.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡±


    His breath permeating with divinity was injected into his hands; gentle light oozed out from them.


    Alice abruptly recalled what she told the Imperial Prince back in the library.


    ¨C Is there a reason why you must rely on a weapon? Yes, it is indeed possible to reinforce a weapon through divinity.


    She taught him without even being aware of doing that.


    ¨C Divinity responds to the energy of life. If it permeates not in some simple weapons but inside a living person¡¯s flesh¡­ and when you learn how to freely wield this strength, then¡­


    The Seventh Imperial Prince tightly clenched his fist.


    He punched towards the incoming spear.


    ¨C Then you will be able to exert an explosive strength. That¡¯s precisely the reason why I focus on hand-to-hand combat.


    Hilda¡¯s spear shattered.


    Centred around the boy prince¡¯s powerful punch, the drill hall¡¯s hardened walls exploded and crumbled to the floor.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    The dwarves were stunned into freezing up in their spots.


    Hilda bounced away and rolled on the floor ungainly. Eventually, she crashed into the weapon display stand.


    I didn¡¯t even notice when they appeared, but Archbishop Raphael and Alice were rushing towards Hilda¡¯s side.


    What the hell just happened?


    I was stunned beyond words myself. While alternating my shocked gaze between my fist and the crumbled wall, I firmly clamped my mouth shut.


    This was my first time injecting divinity into my own body and not someone else¡¯s. Heck, it was also my first time trying it out during a combat situation.


    But the resulting firepower was way over the top.


    Holy cow! Did I go overboard with making myself stronger?


    I hurriedly ran towards Hilda¡¯s side. By then she was being supported by Raphael back up to her feet.


    Somewhat ironically enough, she seemed to be worried more about me rather than herself. Hilda looked over to the group of dwarves.


    They noticed the light in her eyes and hurriedly announced their observation.


    ¡°The power output was certainly threatening, but his highness doesn¡¯t seem to be talented in hand-to-hand combat either.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    Hilda looked rueful just then.


    Even though she was clearly hurt, she was still giving it her all in helping me find a suitable weapon.


    I realised how caring yet obstinate she was as a person.


    I could¡¯ve never guessed that she¡¯d be this focused on helping me out. Hilda was going beyond simple consideration for my welfare and was heading straight into the territory of genuine kindness.


    Forget about the other Imperial Family siblings for the time being, I knew I could at least place my trust in Hilda. The previous master of this body, the real Seventh Imperial Prince, must¡¯ve been loved by her at the very least, that¡¯s for sure.

 Chapter 72 - Imperial Prince is Searching for a Weapon -2 (Part Two)

    I asked her. ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am. We have two of the most reliable healers in the whole empire with us, don¡¯t we?¡± Hilda looked over to Alice and Raphael before looking back at me. ¡°But what happened during the course of one night? This isn¡¯t merely on the level of reinforcing one¡¯s physical attributes.¡±


    When those words left Hilda¡¯s lips, Alice flinched slightly and hurriedly glanced at me. She even placed her index finger vertically over her lips, indicating that I should shut up. I figured that she was quite deeply conscious of her grandfather¡¯s presence right next to her.


    I replied after a slight pause. ¡°¡­I was interested in the topic for a while, so I thought I might as well give it a shot today.¡±


    Honestly, I had no idea it¡¯d be this much. Never mind that for now, though, it seemed that Alice¡¯s teachings had been super-effective, didn¡¯t it?


    Once I got the basics down, utilising it in practice wasn¡¯t all that hard. As for controlling divinity, the Necromancer¡¯s method of demonic energy utilisation played a big help there.


    Still, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that the output would be this incredible.


    When I thought about it a bit more, combining a Priest¡¯s divinity and a Necromancer¡¯s method of control into one was seriously a wacky idea in the first place.


    ¡°Although you were full of openings, it was still amazing nevertheless. Just getting struck once would result in an unavoidable fatal wound. Perhaps this might be a better option for you than any other weapon.¡±


    It was as Hilda said. The power behind my punch was more than enough to kill a regular person in one hit, and then some.


    She settled down on a nearby chair and let Raphael and Alice examine her.


    ¡°We shall now announce the result of our analysis.¡±


    Meanwhile, the dwarves approached me.


    I kept glancing in Hilda¡¯s direction out of concern, but she simply waved her hand at me to say that she was fine.


    I could only swallow back this bitter taste while asking the dwarves. ¡°Okay, so¡­ What¡¯s the result?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity, but when it comes to handling weapons, your highness is far too¡­ simple. We¡¯ve been fortunate enough to analyse the scions of the Imperial Family for a long time, but this must be our first time finding someone with so little talent.¡±


    Huh. It kind of hurt listening to someone being so brutally honest with their words.


    It was pretty much an accepted norm for the protagonists of fantasy novels to be born with talent at handling weapons, but it seemed that my level was decidedly rubbish by their standards.


    ¡°Even though I broke my sister¡¯s spear?¡±


    ¡°That was only possible because the weapon you were wielding at the time had been reinforced, as well as due to your absurdly enhanced physical attributes, your highness. With bladed weapons such as swords and spears, you should¡¯ve cut or sliced through, but judging from how you broke her spears, we can only say that you were simply smashing down with your strength.¡±


    ¡°Fine. What about my hand-to-hand combat skills, then?¡±


    While saying this, I looked at the drill hall¡¯s sturdy floor, which was currently caved in deeply.


    Dwarves also looked at the same spot before dumbfounded expressions filled their faces.


    ¡°We can¡¯t say anything for certain since we haven¡¯t fully analysed your hand-to-hand combat ability, your highness. However, because your physical attributes were enhanced too much by divinity, we¡­¡±


    ¡°Now you can¡¯t analyse it because my attributes got way too good?¡±


    The dwarves suddenly turned silent just then.


    ¡­Ah, ah! Dear Gaia? Why do you keep giving me trials to overcome but never give me any actual rewards? Why couldn¡¯t you, you know, give me one or two talents at something?!


    While bitterly complaining inwardly, I abruptly thought of something and asked the dwarves before my eyes, ¡°By the way, are you sure I don¡¯t have a lick of talent in any type of weapon?¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness. However, you did exhibit natural movement while wielding the shovel. Even then, we still predict that fighting long-term with it would be too much of an ask.¡±


    Meaning¡­ every weapon you could think of was unsuitable for me. As for the trusty shovel, I only displayed some familiarity with it and that¡¯s about it.


    The revelation that all my hard work so far was in vain left behind this really sour taste in my mouth.


    ¡°¡­Ah, hang on a sec. That also means it doesn¡¯t really matter what kind of weapon I use, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    While saying so, I recalled the Necromancer grimoire procured during the Morgana the Witch incident.


    I shifted my gaze and stared at the weapons strewn about on the drill hall¡¯s floor.


    Swords, spears, maces, steel chains, morning stars, shovels, etc¡­


    All of these weapons were judged to be somewhat ineffective in my hands, or so they say.


    Yeah, in ¡®my hands¡¯, that was.


    ¡°How did you even arrive at that conclusion, your highness?¡±


    A dwarf asked me while looking rather confused by my stance.


    I quickly shook my head. ¡°Nah, don¡¯t worry about it¡±


    ¡°For the time being, we¡¯ll stop our analysis for today. Her highness needs to take a break, after all.¡±


    The dwarves bowed deeply while saying this.


    ¡°Allen, you too go and get some rest.¡±


    Hilda spoke up before being guided by Raphael and Alice out of the drill hall.


    Currently, only I remained in this messy hall.


    Without saying anything, my eyes took in the sights of its interior.


    There they were, all kinds of weapons discarded on the floor. Wonderful and tempting weapons, crafted lovingly by the dwarf artisans. Every single one of them.


    However, I wasn¡¯t able to properly wield even one of these. Still¡­ I should have a way to utilise them somehow.


    I began examining each of the weapons in the drill hall.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Inside the mine located in the northern part of Hilda fiefdom.


    Clang-! Clang-! Claaang-!


    The sounds of metal clanging away resounded out. Then, sounds of heated up metal cooling down inside water spread out afterwards.


    The dwarves were still working hard late into the night.


    They mined mineral ores and burned the flames inside their forges.


    Belrog was also present; while a blacksmith himself, he was also the leader of these dwarves as well.


    He urged the other dwarves to finish up that day¡¯s quota.


    ¡°Alright! Although we¡¯re a little late, we still managed to meet our quota for today!¡±


    Dwarves smiled in content and looked at the mined ores, as well as the completed weapons loaded onto the mine carts. To them, crafting things wasn¡¯t just an act of labour. It was far closer to an enjoyable hobby more than anything else.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and knock some cold one, fellas! I hear Lady Hilda prepared one hell of a feast for us since she¡¯s been feeling pretty good lately, so you all better prepare yourselves!¡± Belrog roared out.


    ¡°Oh, ooooh!!!¡±


    ¡°As expected of Lady Hilda!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, she¡¯s one tough lady!¡±


    Hilda fiefdom was pretty much a paradise for them ¨C an abundant mine, plenty of ores, lots of liquor, then even freedom too!


    All of their needs were being supported by the empire. There couldn¡¯t have been better living conditions for a dwarf than them!


    They began packing away their equipment while chatting amongst themselves and some even broke into loud peals of laughter as well.


    They exited from the mine and smithies, and were greeted by the soldiers waiting for them by the carriages. They then boarded these carriages originally designed for human¡¯s body size with some difficulty, but before they could set off towards the citadel¡­


    ¨C Awwwwooooo!


    A beastly howl reverberated throughout the mountainside.


    The complexions of everyone present, including the dwarves, hardened in an instant. The soldiers tasked with protecting the lives of the dwarves vigilantly scanned their surroundings. But then, their gazes drifted up into the heavens.


    Because of the demonic energy spreading within the air, the moon above them shone in the distinctive colour of blood.


    ¡°Damn it, it¡¯s them!¡±


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have stayed late to finish our quota!¡±


    ¡°Secure the tools!¡±


    All of the dwarves hurriedly loaded the newly-crafted weapons onto the waiting carriages. Even then, they didn¡¯t forget to keep looking around the vicinity.


    They could see the beasts with crimson eyes dash around between the trees.


    The dwarves quickly finished boarding the two waiting carriages, but at that very moment, the beasts leaped out from the forest and dug into the soldiers¡¯ ranks.


    ¡°Uwahk!¡±


    Most of the dwarves flinched and hurriedly shifted their gazes over to the soldiers.


    One of the soldiers shouted out back at them. ¡°Hurry and leave! We¡¯ll somehow¡­ Keok!¡±


    Even before the dwarves could do something, the soldiers were all killed off.


    ¡°Dammit!¡±


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s on board now! Go!¡±


    The dwarves acting as coachmen urgently whipped the horses.


    The carriages set off immediately down the road as the horses neighed and snorted roughly.


    The beasts detected the dwarves¡¯ movement and began giving chase.


    ¡°Fire!¡±


    Several dwarves raised the crossbows in their hands and fired their bolts. But the carriages continued to rock side to side while rushing down the road, and the surrounding foliages were too dense for them to take aim and bring down these damn creatures.


    Eventually, the beasts sprung out from the forest.


    These half-man, half-beast monsters were as fast as the horses. They ran alongside the carriages before trying to jump on top of the vehicles.


    ¡°You dare¡­!¡±


    Belrog lifted up a warhammer and slammed it onto one of the beasts.


    ¡°Hahat!¡±


    He then roared out in a satisfied laughter.


    But around the same time, another lycan pounced on the horses.


    This humanoid monster, which was over two metres tall, began tearing into the horses without mercy. All thanks to that, the carriage veered off course and eventually overturned.


    The dwarves riding inside were thrown to the ground. A lycan bared its fangs and glared threateningly at the dwarves.


    ¡°Heot¡­!¡±


    The dwarven coachman driving the carriage in front looked behind him. But before he could bring his vehicle to a stop, Belrog, currently surrounded by the lycans, shouted out. ¡°Do not stop! Go on ahead and get help!¡±


    He then let out a thunderclap-like roar while swinging his warhammer.


    ¡°Die, you stinking sons of b*tches!¡±


    One of the lycans was struck by the hammer and got flung away.


    Meanwhile, the remaining dwarves retreated and pressed their backs against each other. They were now surrounded on all sides by the lycanthropes.


    It was then, they detected more movements coming from the forest.


    It seemed that they were dealing with a large number of these damnable beasts.


    Cold sweat trickled down the faces of the gathered dwarves.


    ¡°What should we do, leader?!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, what? We run! Fine liquor is still waiting for us back home, so we can¡¯t die in this place! It¡¯s still too far to the citadel from here¡­ we are returning to the mines!¡± Belrog groaned slightly. ¡°If we build a wall there and make a stand, Lady Hilda will surely come to our aid!¡±


    The dwarves swallowed back their dry saliva and glared at the undead beasts.


    < 042. Imperial Prince is Searching for a Weapon -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 73 - Imperial Prince is Enjoying the Hunt -1 (Part One)

    **


    Phwwwwhht, beeeeep-!


    Along with the loud whistle noises, numerous bells began ringing loudly.


    The whole citadel entered a state of emergency, and the Order of the Verdant Cross members were getting ready to set off while all kitted out in their green robes and balaclavas.


    I walked over to the drill hall¡¯s window and took a look outside. That¡¯s when I discovered Hilda and Raphael leading the Verdant Cross outside the castle walls.


    What was going on here?


    It was then, knocks came from the door to the drill hall. I opened it to discover a dwarf standing before me.


    He bowed slightly as a greeting. ¡°Your highness, it seems that an emergency situation has developed by the mines.¡±


    ¡°By the mines, you say?¡±


    ¡°Our comrades are trapped there, but I don¡¯t foresee any difficulties. Even if the lycans are powerful monsters, we dwarves are people with resilient vitality, you see?¡±


    This dwarf laughed in a rather easy-going manner. Even I could tell that he was doing his best not to look agitated, but judging from the cold sweat trickling down his forehead, he must be feeling really anxious right now.


    ¡°By the way, your highness? Aren¡¯t you pushing yourself a little too hard? I¡¯ve heard some loud commotion coming from the drill hall, so¡­¡±


    The dwarf suddenly clamped his mouth shut.


    I glanced behind me, at the drill hall, and couldn¡¯t help but smile awkwardly. ¡°Ah¡­ well, uhm. Yeah, sorry about that.¡±


    I placed my hand on the dwarf¡¯s head and lightly patted him there.


    ¡­There¡¯s no doubt that this dude was in his middle-ages, someone far older than me. But since he was short and just about the perfect height for a head pat, so even before I could stop myself, I ended up patting him on his noggin.


    ¡°The drill hall, well¡­ I don¡¯t think you can use it anymore.¡±


    I half expected to be inundated with the protest of ¡®But this is wrong!¡¯ from him, but the dwarf remained in a pure daze while taking one faltering step at a time to enter the drill hall.


    He finally said something. ¡°¡­Just what did you do, your highness?!¡±


    I too took a good look at the state of the drill hall.


    In short, it was utterly ruined. Cut down, sliced up, broken to bits, and caved in everywhere.


    At this rate, forget about trying to repair this place, you might as well demolish everything and build from scratch, instead.


    I responded, ¡°I was testing out my magic, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Your magic?¡± The dwarf sounded incredulous while he surveyed the carnage. His eyes opened up wider as he continued on. ¡°But your highness! These aren¡¯t the traces of magic. No, these were all done by weap¡­ Hold on, where are all the weapons that were stored in here?¡±


    This fella was sharp. The weapons that used to be stored in the drill hall were no longer around here.


    Why? I stashed them away, obviously.


    My stay so far hadn¡¯t been a picnic, so yeah, I decided to stuff my item window with them. I needed payment for all the hard work I had to go through so far, so it seemed only right to procure some new items for myself.


    Besides, the weapons I took could be found practically everywhere in this place anyways.


    I avoided meeting the dwarf¡¯s sharp gaze and pretended to not notice a single thing.


    ¡°Ah, by the way. I was thinking of getting myself a new item, so I need your help.¡± I smiled slyly at the dwarf. ¡°You guys also make musket rifles here, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we do. But even if we made them, their performance is¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to have a look at them, if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    The dwarf furrowed his brows, but even so, he still quickly organised a selection of musket rifles for me nonetheless.


    All sorts of varieties were wheeled out.


    ¡°Magicians, Alchemists, and we Dwarves, have cooperated to manufacture these muskets,¡± said the dwarf.


    One rifle boasted a long and slender barrel, while another had a stubby muzzle. Another one had a long ¡®magazine¡¯ attached to the barrel itself.


    Every single one of them was overflowing with individuality.


    To the dwarves, it didn¡¯t matter what they were making, they would still craft them with the dedication of a true master craftsman. Meaning, even if they were only making decorative ornaments, they would still pour their whole being into manufacturing a ¡®treasure¡¯ that could produce the best possible performance.


    ¡°As you may know, your highness, although these can be used in real combat, they do a better job of serving as flashy decorations. To avid collectors, they are only mere wall decorations, while for ladies of nobility who know some magic, these things are only good for their diet routine.¡± While kindly explaining the usage of the rifles, the dwarf glanced in my direction. ¡°However, the story should be different if it concerns you, your highness. I mean, you¡¯ve already sniped a Vampire over four hundred metres away, after all.¡±


    I picked up the musket rifles one at a time and took a closer look at each article.


    Each weapon boasted their own unique personalities. And as they contained magic, I could use my [Mind¡¯s Eye] to analyse what their performance specifications were like.


    [Spread Shot], [Rapid Fire], [Snipe]¡­


    These muskets were crafted with a variety of internal structures.


    I have to say, they were all considerably appealing to my taste.


    ¡°Niiiice.¡±


    I stroked the muskets with pure satisfaction, Then, I quickly began storing them all away in my trusty item window.


    The dwarf watching this spectacle was gradually getting more and more flustered. ¡°Could it be that all the weapons inside the drill hall were also¡­?¡±


    Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!


    It was then, the bells began ringing loudly again.


    The dwarf unhappily massaged his temples. ¡°Those f*cking bastards are really getting on my¡­¡±


    But when he noticed that I was still here, he hurriedly coughed to clear his throat, and then corrected his manner of speech.


    ¡°¡­It seems that those bastards are raising a lot of ruckus, your highness.¡±


    ¡°You mean the lycans?¡±


    ¡°Well, because the Vampires all fled from our Theocratic Empire, they probably believe that their time has finally come or some such.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Judging from how quiet it is inside the citadel, they must¡¯ve attacked the villages outside. Even if we¡¯ve come up with defensive measures and have people on guard, it¡¯s still not enough to stop their raids. In order to completely exterminate them¡­¡± The dwarf continued addressing me. ¡°¡­We¡¯ve requested assistance from the Theocratic Empire. But then, you showed up, your highness.¡±


    Why did it sound like he was asking me for help?


    ¡°The Order of the Crimson Cross will not lift a finger without your commands, your highness. From what I heard, their number one priority is to provide you with protection.¡±


    Sure, I could step up to the plate here. But since the Crimson Cross guys were also here, why do I need to¡­


    ¡°Of course, we could also mobilise ourselves, but we are unfortunately slow walkers, so¡­¡±


    Cold sweat began trickling down my face.


    ¡°Your highness, your subjects are in danger.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, ah! If it¡¯s the famed Crimson Cross, then those monsters wouldn¡¯t even be an issue anymore!¡±


    The dwarf began looking up at me.


    Rather unfitting for a middle-aged man, he was utilising his shorter height to look up at me with sparkling eyes before landing the final blow to the nail. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to test out your new muskets, your highness?¡±


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    It was really uncommon for the lycans to attack the villages located in the outskirts of the citadel.


    ¡°Everyone, evacuate inside the citadel!¡±


    However, with all the Vampires having disappeared, it wasn¡¯t wrong to assume that no creature capable of stopping them currently existed.


    Numerous combat forces had been dispatched to the villages, but regular soldiers weren¡¯t enough to fight off the lycanthropes. All they could do was help evacuate the villagers inside the citadel walls.


    However, the lycans scaled the tall outer walls using their claws and infiltrated inside. They then opened the gates to let the zombified animals disperse throughout the city.


    ¡°Everyone, hurry and evacuate!¡±


    While being guarded by the soldiers, Alice focused herself with the evacuation of the villagers.


    ¡°Priestess-nim! My child, my child¡¯s hurt! Please help!¡±


    A woman who must¡¯ve been the mother to the young child currently held in her arms, hurriedly approached Alice and tearfully begged her.


    When the child also started crying, Alice made a gentle and calming smile while stroking the head of the tearful kid.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be alright, I¡¯ll make the pain go away.¡±


    She proceeded to heal the injured child.


    It was around then, she began sensing this uncomfortable aura. She quickly turned her head and discovered a horde of zombified animals rushing towards her location.


    <ul>


    Ku-aaaaahk!


    </ul>


    They screeched out while pouncing on the soldiers.


    ¡°Lady Alice! Please escape from¡­!¡±


    The soldiers staggered and backed away.


    A lycan perched up on the roof of a nearby building glared at Alice at that very moment. It roughly sniffed the air. Its expression distorted hideously at the thick scent of divinity wafting out from her.


    The lycan leaped off from the roof, and while extending its sharp claws, pounced towards her position.


    Alice flinched and hurriedly looked up.


    ¡°My lady, danger¡­!¡±


    She sucked in a deep breath and lowered her posture.


    After stepping on the ground, she jumped up, grabbed the lycan¡¯s head, and then slammed it straight into the ground.


    BOOM!


    The creature¡¯s head crashed into the hard earth below and the surface shattered into bits.


    The soldiers nearby gasped in admiration. They were impressed by the fact that a girl as young as her could produce physical strength that amazing.


    Just as Alice let out a sigh of relief, the lycan¡¯s eyeballs shifted and suddenly glared in her direction.


    ¡°Huh?!¡±


    She urgently leapt away from the lycan to create some distance.


    Despite its head being slammed to the ground, the monster simply stood right back up. It was even smirking derisively, as if it found the previous exchange laughable.


    In an instant, it bared its fangs and growled threateningly. But just before it could pounce on her once more, its head exploded spectacularly.


    The hulking body over two metres tall fell on its knees and collapsed to the ground, just like that.


    ¡®Was that a magic attack?¡¯


    Alice quickly scanned her surroundings, but she couldn¡¯t see any Magician responsible for firing that magic attack.


    She then shifted her gaze behind her. More specifically, at the steeple where the bell would be rung in the case of emergency. She could just about vaguely spot a person-shaped silhouette up there.


    But the distance from here to there must¡¯ve been nearly five hundred metres.


    Who could it be?

 Chapter 74 - Imperial Prince is Enjoying the Hunt -1 (Part Two)

    She sensed another wave of divinity just then.


    Not too long after that, projectiles made out of divinity were fired one by one.


    Rays of pure light began penetrating straight through the zombified animals. And then, divinity rapidly spread throughout the penetrated undeads¡¯ surroundings.


    The other still-intact undead backed away to a certain distance and hesitated as if this divinity was too uncomfortable for them to handle.


    Projectiles made out of divinity, then sniping from an incredible distance away.


    Alice recalled the incidents from Ronia she heard about back in the imperial palace.


    ¨C His highness the Seventh Imperial Prince sniped the Vampire Count.


    ¡°Could it be¡­ His highness?!¡±


    Alice¡¯s shocked eyes were directed back towards the steeple.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    ¡°Excellent!¡±


    I was genuinely surprised.


    So, this is a musket rifle made by the dwarves!


    Each and every shot felt weighty; even the divinity consumption was far lower than the old rifle I used.


    Even if I deliberately decreased the power output in order to increase the number of rounds I could fire, it was now possible for me to snipe targets from five hundred metres away when my previous range was only about four hundred metres during the Vampire Count incident.


    Of course, the firepower was still considerable and the recoil was pretty huge since I was sniping at a great distance.


    Normally, I¡¯d have already fallen on my butt after firing a shot every single time. But by reinforcing my body with divinity, there was almost no recoil to worry about.


    I let out a breath into the musket with the lengthy barrel, and then injected divinity into my eyes to widen my field of vision.


    [Divine Aura has been used.]


    [The weapon will temporarily be enhanced.]


    [Your accuracy will rise. The skill ¡®Penetration¡¯ will be granted.]


    Now those were some nice notifications.


    This thing called [Divine Aura] presented me with skills that I previously didn¡¯t have. Which was really great!


    The zombified animals might have been fast, but even regular soldiers could deal with them. The real problem at the moment were the lycans scattered around.


    As long as those things were subjugated, there shouldn¡¯t be any further issues.


    Because they were hiding among the gaps of the buildings, it wasn¡¯t all that easy to aim at them.


    But if I spied just a little bit of an opening¡­


    I squeezed the trigger without hesitation.


    The head of a lycan peeking around the corner exploded into a bloody mess.


    I used their scent of death and determined the locations of these bastards. As soon as I found an opening through my divinity-reinforced eyesight, I unhesitantly sniped them.


    As long as there was no obstruction within the five hundred metre-range, all of these undead would be nothing more than some simple games to hunt down for me.


    ¡°Big bro was right, I guess. This is quite fun.¡±


    Indeed, Luan was right. The sensation of continuously hitting beasts during a hunting spree felt much better than I thought.


    Every time my shot landed on the target, their heads would nastily explode, or their bodies would be cleanly penetrated through. Seeing it happen first-hand gave me this feeling of all my accumulated stress finally being released.


    Not to forget, my worries over finding a suitable weapon had been sorted out by now so the only thing remaining for me to do was to vent some steam here.


    Those undead must¡¯ve felt threatened since they began gathering around. Their aim was most likely me up on the steeple.


    The lycans used the buildings as cover while rapidly closing in on my location.


    ¡°Hiya~, I¡¯m more popular than I thought. Don¡¯t you think so?¡±


    Anyone would¡¯ve thought that my question was quite brazen under the circumstances.


    A Crimson Cross knight wearing a creepy bird mask responded to my question. ¡°If it¡¯s you, your highness, even the god of death would fall head over heels.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s actually not that great if a god¡¯s love for you goes overboard, you know?¡±


    I smacked my lips during my retort. Honestly, it kind of felt like we were irreconcilable enemies sometimes.


    The same Crimson Cross member asked me. ¡°Won¡¯t this be dangerous, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Of course it will be. And that¡¯s why you¡¯re here to protect me, right?¡±


    The Crimson Cross member bowed deeply at my comment. ¡°If it¡¯s your command, then¡­¡±


    At the same time, the eyes hidden behind the masks of the Crimson Cross knights standing on or below the steeple¡¯s roof began gleaming sharply.


    ¡°¡­We shall sacrifice even our souls to protect you, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Excellent!¡±


    I put away the long-distance musket inside the item window, and then extracted another one.


    These rifles were truly great weapons. However, their cooldown before I could inject more divinity tended to be too long depending on their performance.


    These musket rifles were different from the ones found back in my previous world. Well, that was obvious since these things operated with magic, after all. They weren¡¯t the types that fired single shots of metal balls, but were magical rifles found only in this fantasy otherworld that needed magical energy to function.


    They were the ultimate weapons of magic that didn¡¯t require a physical projectile or gunpowder, but only needed my divinity and the images I could cook up in my head.


    ¡°Buy me some time. Two minutes should suffice.¡±


    ¡°We shall obey!¡±


    The Crimson Cross knights by the ground raised their assortment of colourful weapons which included the likes of spears, scythes, shovels, maces, and many others.


    The ones in the front raised their shields and created a defensive wall, while the others lent assistance from behind.


    ¨C Kuwaaaahk!


    Various weapons slipped out from the gaps of the shields and hacked away; the Order of the Crimson Cross began their undead hunting in earnest.


    These zombified animals didn¡¯t present that many problems to them. The ones that actually did were the lycans. These undead beasts moved swiftly and began shoving the shields of the Crimson Cross back.


    The Crimson Cross members created some distance and quickly hacked down the lycan¡¯s arms and legs with their deft movements.


    ¡°Confine!¡±


    ¡°Judgement!¡±


    And by relying on their coordinated attacks, they subdued a lycan and hacked it into tiny pieces.


    But while they were doing this, more and more zombified animals were gathering around this location. Their numbers were overwhelming.


    The animals alone were in the several hundreds, while there were dozens of lycans too.


    No matter how good these Crimson Cross guys were at fighting, they wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with all these monsters rushing in from all directions.


    [Divine Aura has been used.]


    [The equipment will be temporarily enhanced.]


    [The equipment¡¯s divinity ¡®storage amount¡¯ will be expanded.]


    [The enhanced equipment is now granted with the skill ¡®Burst Fire¡¯.]


    The message notifications rang around noisily inside my head.


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia¡­¡±


    I began offering my prayer afterwards while letting out a breath into the lengthy loading chamber.


    ¡°Grant me power to subjugate the undead.¡±


    I busily rolled my eyeballs around and took in the sight of every single undead around. Then, I spotted and differentiated the members of the Crimson Cross mixed in among them.


    Sure, it¡¯d be hard to hit them all.


    But, what did that matter anyway? I just needed to blow them all away, right?!


    ¡°Grant me your power to extend the hand of salvation to your faithful flock¡­¡±


    I would be granting blessings to the living ones, while¡­


    ¡°And rain down your judgement on the heretics.¡±


    ¡­Curses would be bestowed upon these stinking undead.


    I then pointed the muzzle at the lycans and the zombified animals.


    My anticipation over the events about to come bubbled up and the corners of my lips curled up all on their own.


    ¡°Time to hunt some beasts.¡±


    Then, I squeezed the trigger.


    A powerful storm formed in front of the muzzle. Divinity exploded forth before splitting into many, many strands.


    Explosion noises rang out.


    The baptism of light bullets rained down on everything before me.


    The projectiles didn¡¯t differentiate allies from the enemies. They went right through the zombies and hit the ground. Even the members of the Crimson Cross got pierced right through the divinity bullets.


    After the bullets went through their targets and hit the ground, they began emitting dense smoke. The previously-dark night was suddenly brightly illuminated by the bullets of light.


    This cacophony of gunfire was loud enough to nearly burst my eardrums. I was getting this vague feeling of euphoria from the powerful resonance coming from my arms.


    The dense smoke obscured my view and I couldn¡¯t see anything. But that didn¡¯t matter one jot, though. I just needed to fire away!


    I laughed out loudly.


    Alright then! All the stress accumulated through every hardship I had to suffer through? Let me vent it all out right here, right now!


    Vampires? The Imperial Family? Gaia? The stuff I wish I could do to them but couldn¡¯t, Imma unleash every bit of it on you, you stinking undead!


    The screeches of the undead reverberated throughout the night sky.


    They were howling out from pure agony.


    However, their cries gradually died down along with the thinning stench of death.


    The baptism of projectiles wrapped in divinity rained down mercilessly and purified all the undead in the vicinity.


    Individual shots might not have been all that powerful, but lots of bullets were being fired nonstop.


    Hundreds of bullets were fired, and eventually, all the divinity stored in the ¡®magazine¡¯ ran out.


    I squeezed the trigger again, only to be greeted by the empty ¡®clack¡¯ sound.


    Maybe me going overboard with divinity usage was to blame here, because I was already getting dizzy.


    Hot steam expelled out from the muzzle of the rifle that went on a firing spree like a machine gun.


    The dense smoke slowly cleared away.


    The Crimson Cross knights who had been fighting against the undead by the foot of the steeple all flinched in surprise and hurriedly checked their own bodies.


    They were probably shocked silly since the divinity projectiles penetrated cleanly through them. However, they shouldn¡¯t be negatively affected.


    Those bullets would heal the living while they acted like curses to the undead, after all.


    The Crimson Cross members quickly shifted their gazes to their opponents.


    The undead were now burning away into ashes. Some of them still managed to somehow crawl on the ground as their limbs continued burning away.


    I began sensing the gazes of the Crimson Cross members guarding me from the side and the roof of the steeple, landing on me.


    Even though I knew that, I still ended up losing my rationale.


    While plopping down on my ass, I laughed out loudly in satisfaction.


    ¡°Ahahaha! This is the grace of the Goddess, you motherf*ckers!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, hang on. All of you, you can tell this isn¡¯t blasphemy, right?¡±


    Since I wasn¡¯t blaspheming here, it should be alright.


    While thinking that, I continued laughing away in delight for a while.


    The stench of death previously wafting around the city had mostly dissipated after this. As for the remainder, I figured the soldiers of Hilda fiefdom would do something about them.


    I cackled on while looking down at the limbless groups of undead trying to crawl away as they continued to burn.


    ¡°This is the end of the hunt, you stinking bastards.¡±


    < 043. Imperial Prince is Enjoying the Hunt -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 75 - 044. Imperial Prince is Enjoying the Hunt -2 (Part One)

    **


    Before they could reach the mine, Hilda and Archbishop Raphael had to stop their horses in the middle of the road.


    Because the dwarves they planned to rescue were standing right there. Except, they were also being accompanied by several unwelcome guests as well.


    The claws and fangs belonging to the lycans were only millimetres away from the dwarves¡¯ throats. Meanwhile, their limbs were bound by shackles and their mouths were gagged by rags.


    Hilda¡¯s mouth clamped shut at that sight. She could more or less guess what the lycans were going for here.


    This was a ¡®hostage¡¯ situation.


    -To the noble Imperial Princess of the Theocratic Empire, Hilda Olfolse, I offer you my greetings.


    Among the growling lycans, a half-man, half-beast monster at least three metres tall, stepped forward. It had the head of a wolf while its whole body was covered in black fur. It even wore armour and a helm adorned its crown.


    This creature swept its gaze over the other lycans before spreading open its arms wide, introducing itself.


    -I¡¯m the leader of these beings, Redmoon. I wish to negotiate with you, princess.


    ¡°Negotiate?¡±


    Hilda furrowed her brows after hearing that. Redmoon, on the other hand, was arching the corner of its lips upwards.


    -What we want is you. A detailed discussion will take place between only you and me. As you humans say, I want to have a more ¡®intimate and private¡¯ discussion with you.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    -If you agree to this demand, we shall release these short ones.


    ¡°Euh-euph!¡±


    The gagged dwarves tried resisting. However, even if they were renowned for their strength, there was little they could do to win against the lycans when their hands were rigidly bound like this.


    Hilda raised her arm and extended her hand.


    The members of the Verdant Cross all raised and pointed their crossbows, bows, and spears. Raphael got ready to offer his prayers in order to activate his magic.


    ¡°Why should we trust your word?¡±


    Redmoon glanced at one of the lycans. It released a dwarf and shoved him forward.


    The dwarf grunted and struggled with his bound limbs until he finally managed to get to where Hilda was.


    -We are different from the likes of the Vampires. Even if we¡¯re beasts, we still have honour.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    -As long as you come with me, the other short ones will be released.


    Archbishop Raphael stood next to Hilda and whispered urgently to her. ¡°Your highness, you mustn¡¯t fall for that thing¡¯s words. This is clearly a trap. The moment you go with them, they¡¯ll immediately start attacking us.¡±


    Because the lycans possessed excellent hearing, Redmoon could hear what Raphael said. It spoke up once more.


    -If you come with us, then we shall release our other captured short ones too.


    Hilda¡¯s eyes opened even wider at its words.


    -Deep below the surface of the forest of the red moon lies an underground graveyard. That¡¯s where we keep our slaves. Did you really think we merely went around mindlessly killing the dwarves?


    Redmoon was implying that there were more dwarves being held hostage. Indeed, the armour currently worn by the lycan had to be crafted by the dwarves, seeing as it matched the creature¡¯s hulking physique. The mere fact that it wore that armour was proof in and of itself.


    Hilda¡¯s previously-cold expression crumbled. Her eyes trembled as if unrest stirred up in her mind.


    Redmoon didn¡¯t miss those tiny movements on her face.


    -How about it? As long as you come with us, we shall free them all.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Redmoon continued staring at Hilda, its eyes arching in a grin.


    -What we wish for is ¡®peace¡¯ and ¡®freedom¡¯.


    ¡°Peace? Freedom?¡±


    Now those were rather novel words to come out of a lycan¡¯s mouth.


    -Our enemies are the Vampires. We are not their pets and we want to be freed from them. The Imperial Princess of the Theocratic Empire, what do you think about forming an alliance with us and enjoy the subsequent peace?


    Hilda¡¯s eyes narrowed down to slits at Redmoon¡¯s offer.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    Ashes scattered and danced around in the air everywhere.


    While waving my hand in front of my face, I looked around my vicinity.


    The knights of the Crimson Cross were mopping up the undead still crawling around or wiggling like worms on the ground.


    It seemed that our surroundings were more or less taken care of.


    But just then, loud battle roars suddenly resounded out.


    Platoons of dwarves kitted out in armour from the top of their heads all the way to their toes began dashing in and out of the city¡¯s streets.


    A dude who looked like their commander walked up to me and bowed his head in a dignified greeting. ¡°I offer my sincerest gratitude for your help, your highness. Your actions ensured the safe evacuation of the fiefdom¡¯s subjects.¡±


    ¡°Nah, I should be the one thanking you.¡± I lightly waved the musket rifle before his eyes. ¡°I mean, I got my hands on weapons with such amazing performance for free after all. Holy cow, how can people think of such powerful weapons as nothing more than decorations or diet tools? It¡¯s totally absurd, I tell ya.¡±


    The dwarves exchanged flustered looks with each other.


    ¡°Your highness, did you really use the muskets we manufactured?¡±


    ¡°Mm? Yeah, I did. What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°Well, uh, the firepower was just too great, that¡¯s why. So much that we thought someone else must¡¯ve manufactured those weapons.¡±


    The dwarves were studying my mood before cautiously speaking up.


    ¡°If it¡¯s alright with you, your highness¡­¡±


    The light in their eyes began gleaming rather brightly in the very next moment.


    ¡°May we be permitted to analyse your Divine Aura the next time you use a musket rifle?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but furrow my brows at those words. The dwarf asking me hurriedly waved his hands around, as if to say I shouldn¡¯t misunderstand his intentions.


    ¡°Your highness, you just need to shoot the musket. It won¡¯t be a sparring session or a duel to the death.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, as long as we keep it to a level where I don¡¯t break a sweat.¡±


    I acquired all the weapons in the drill hall, plus the musket rifles with such excellent performance specs. So I figured I could at least do that much for them.


    In any case, it looked like the situation on this side was now more or less sorted out. The only thing which remained was to wait for Hilda and her troops to come home.


    Not too long afterwards, the Verdant Cross came back to the citadel.


    They seemed to have rescued the dwarves. And seeing how none of them were injured, the mission must¡¯ve been a success, but¡­


    ¡°We apologise. Because we got captured, Lady Hilda had to¡­¡±


    ¡­The end result wasn¡¯t as successful as it turned out.


    Hilda willingly went with the lycans ¨C that revelation caused many stupefied expressions and widened eyes to show up on the faces of the dwarves.


    However, their dazed state lasted only for a short while. Their expressions soon became rather belligerent next.


    ¡°What was that?! Bloody hell, you call yourselves dwarves even after that?!¡±


    The dwarves angrily pounced on the returning hostages. A big fight broke out all of a sudden.


    I furrowed my brows and watched this spectacle unfold before shifting my gaze over to the Verdant Cross members. Weirdly enough, none of them looked injured. Maybe they didn¡¯t even fight the lycans?


    Not only that, but I also couldn¡¯t see Archbishop Raphael anywhere near them either.


    ¡°Did his eminence accompany my older sister?¡±


    I asked, and the Verdant Cross members nodded their heads in response.


    They seemed to be too unconcerned, even emotionless, though. Despite the fact that the Imperial Princess they were supposed to be guarding was currently in the enemy¡¯s hands, they were acting way too calm for my liking.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and rescue Lady Hilda!¡±


    The dwarves finished fighting among themselves and roared out.


    ¡°But how?¡±


    They then shook their heads almost immediately.


    To the dwarven race, the lycans were basically their sworn enemies.


    Several attempts have already been made to exterminate every single one of these undead beasts, but finding out where they were hiding proved to be frustratingly difficult.


    The lycanthropes were the spectres of the forest. One would never be able to discover their footprints or even traces of them within the forest itself.


    It was then, one of the Verdant Cross members spoke in a dry voice. ¡°If it¡¯s Lady Hilda¡¯s location, then we know where she is.¡±


    The dwarves¡¯ gazes quickly landed on that specific Verdant Cross member.


    ¡°It was precisely the reason why her highness personally stepped up after all.¡±


    The reason why she stepped up, is it?


    ¡°Let us head out. Her highness should be waiting for us.¡±


    This was quite puzzling.


    These guys were one of the five forces that belonged to the Imperial Family, assembled for the purpose of serving and assisting Hilda.


    And yet, their reactions were rather flat despite their Imperial Princess seemingly in grave danger.


    While frowning deeply, I threw a question in their way, ¡°You guys seem to be unexpectedly calm even in this situation. How come?¡±


    Because of their loyalty towards the Imperial Family, they would never have handed Hilda over to the enemies even if doing that cost the lives of the dwarves.


    Yet, not one trace of battle could be seen on them, and that was making me quite suspicious here.


    One of the Verdant Cross members still wearing their trademark balaclava responded back to me. ¡°We are indeed worried about her highness. However, she¡¯s none other than Lady Hilda. We believe in her temperament, her talent, and most of all, her skillset.¡±


    The Verdant Cross might be full of taciturn dudes, but when it came to the topic of their master, a chain of praises began gushing out endlessly.


    ¡°If her highness had been born as a man, then it wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that she will be next in line to inherit the throne from his majesty, your highness. We also have her highness¡¯s orders to follow as well¡­ Finally, his eminence, Archbishop Raphael, is currently accompanying her highness, therefore we do not envisage any harm will come to her.¡±


    ¡°Sure, that old man is an archbishop, but aren¡¯t you guys placing too much faith in him? I mean, aren¡¯t those lycans good in close-quarter combat? So, like¡­¡±


    It was the Verdant Cross members¡¯ turn to look surprised. The eyes beyond the balaclavas opened wider, but then, the one speaking to me must¡¯ve remembered something and quickly replied, ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. Your highness Lord Saint lost your memories, did you not? In addition, the dwarves don¡¯t really care much about the outside world¡¯s news, so they wouldn¡¯t know about it either.¡±


    Even before anyone noticed it, the Verdant Cross was now calling me the Saint.


    ¡°His eminence, Raphael Astoria, was one of the heroes who fought against the Necromancer King alongside his majesty.¡±


    I abruptly recalled something after hearing that ¨C the reason why I left the monastery in the north hoping to speak to Raphael.


    I remember now! This whole episode was written in the history book, wasn¡¯t it?


    ¡°To his eminence, these lycans are¡­¡±


    That Raphael dude, he was there along with Kelt Olfolse in the fight against the Necromancer King Amon. In other words¡­


    ¡°¡­Nothing more than some newly-born puppies.¡±


    ¡­He was a great hero.

 Chapter 76 - 044. Imperial Prince is Enjoying the Hunt -2 (Part Two)

    Chapter 76: 044. Imperial Prince is Enjoying the Hunt -2 (Part Two)


    **


    -You¡¯re truly beautiful.


    Its murmur was bassy and heavy. The tone of the voice indicated that the creature was forcing itself to speak in the human tongue.


    Hilda was sitting demurely on a chair, her eyes faintly open. Both her arms and legs were bound in steel chains.


    Next to her was Archbishop Raphael, also bound in chains but covered in some blood. Perhaps to stop him from offering any divinity-infused prayers, his mouth was gagged and his eyes were blindfolded.


    -I¡¯ve been watching you since a long time ago. You have displayed the valour of a warrior.


    Its voice continued resounding out from within the darkness.


    Once Hilda¡¯s eyesight became used to this dimly lit environment, she began spotting things in her surroundings.


    A humanoid beast was sitting on a throne made out of animal bones. It wore armour and a helm, and was also currently letting a few dwarves perform manicure and pedicure on its claws.


    -The sight of you hunting down my blood-creations was arrestingly beautiful. Those gruesome and desperate battles! That¡¯s when I fell head over heels for you.


    Hilda¡¯s eyes quivered at its words.


    The beast with a rather openly lustful glare in its eyes walked over to her position.


    -I¡¯m truly tempted to bite you and turn you into a zombie, so that I can keep you by my side forever. However, if I do that, the Theocratic Empire won¡¯t sit still.


    The lycan¡¯s leader lowered its head and looked down at the sitting Hilda on the chair.


    -And that¡¯s why I wish to negotiate with you. I want to enter an alliance with your empire, and as the sign of this alliance¡­


    The lycanthrope, Redmoon, licked its lips avariciously while staring at her in a strange light.


    -¡­Oh, the Imperial Princess of the Theocratic Empire, Hilda Olfolse! I wish to take you as my bride. So, how about it, noble Imperial Princess of the empire filled with devout followers?


    Despite hearing Redmoon¡¯s proposal, Hilda wordlessly stared up at the lycan. Her expression remained completely emotionless.


    -If you wish, I¡¯m prepared to wait until your dying day. I shall permit you to remain as the noble Imperial Princess that you are. Except, I wish you to be forever by my side after your passing.


    Her head slowly tilted to one side. ¡°You¡¯re getting long-winded here. Get to the main point. What benefits will there be if we form an alliance with you?¡±


    Redmoon glared at her for a little while.


    -Very well. These are the conditions we want to see fulfilled. A territory to call our own, freedom, and finally, a fixed amount of human slaves handed over periodically. Since we want slaves, that shouldn¡¯t present you with problems. Those would be sufficient for us.


    Redmoon smacked its lips. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out what it wanted to do with the human slaves.


    ¡­Probably to ¡®devour¡¯ them.


    -Our eyes and noses can differentiate Vampires from humans, so if you unleash us the lycans, never mind a portion of the Vampires, you will be able to completely drive out their whole kind. How about it? A world without any Vampires, does it not sound enticing to you?


    Hilda spat out a groan.


    The condition being put forward was ¡®ferreting out the Vampires¡¯? And in return, Theocratic Empire had to sacrifice its territory and its subjects? What truly absurd demands they had.


    ¡°¡­Where are the other captive dwarves?¡±


    Her voice sounded frigid and indifferent.


    Redmoon furrowed its brows at her response that didn¡¯t line up with its expectations.


    -Your heart is indeed magnanimous. Even in this situation, you are more concerned for your subjects rather than your own wellbeing?


    ¡°I wish to see them.¡±


    -A commendable mindset. The Imperial Princess who lets herself be captured for the sake of the dwarves? Your subjects will be most moved. Very well, to successfully conclude an ongoing negotiation, one needs to show that the hostages are safe and sound. I was at least taught that.


    ¡°You were taught?¡±


    -By the Vampires.


    Redmoon straightened itself up.


    Hilda glanced to her side, at Raphael next to her. ¡°I wish to go along with my servant.¡±


    -You also care for your retainers, it seems.


    ¡°He¡¯s been assisting me ever since I was young.¡±


    Redmoon took a look at Raphael¡¯s condition. He was an aged Priest, a face that hadn¡¯t been seen before around these parts.


    Blood trickled down from somewhere in his head and he was moaning with some difficulty. Meanwhile, the old man¡¯s hands were faltering from the weight of the steel chains.


    With how his mouth was gagged, not to mention the blindfold over his eyes, a Priest wouldn¡¯t be able to utilise his magic at all.


    Indeed, he was only a frail little old man.


    -Very well.


    Redmoon nodded its head.


    **


    Redmoon the lycanthrope was walking down an underground cavern.


    Archbishop Raphael¡¯s hands were resting on Hilda¡¯s shoulder while she helped him walk forward.


    She scanned the surroundings beyond the hulking frame of Redmoon. After memorising the layout of the cavern, she cast her gaze to her front.


    Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!


    What greeted her was a sight of hell filled with the sounds of metallic clangs.


    Human zombies were carrying cargo around. Meanwhile, the dwarves were being forced to manufacture weapons.


    They were tough people always filled with boisterous laughter, yet the ones found here were all emaciated and staggering on their feet.


    The place visible beyond the steel bars, it¡­ was a weapon factory.


    Spears, shields, and even armours meant for a lycan¡¯s usage were being manufactured here. It felt like she was witnessing a preparation for war.


    Hilda¡¯s face remained expressionless while she continued staring at them. However, the light in her eyes still trembled slightly. ¡°I wish to speak to them.¡±


    -Speak, is it?


    ¡°Correct. Will you not permit it?¡±


    Hilda looked up at Redmoon, and the latter stared at her while tilting its head.


    ¡°Will we not stay next to each other forever? I¡¯m merely asking for a small favour. I wish to chat to them quietly among ourselves.¡±


    Redmoon¡¯s eyes went visibly round from what she said. It seemed to be rather pleased with her words since its tail began wagging side to side.


    The lycan rubbed its chin in a slight bit of hesitation before coming to a decision.


    -Very well. However, only for a brief period. And if you try anything foolish, your servant will die.


    After Redmoon issued his warning, two lycans walked up to the still-bound Raphael.


    Hilda was then guided into the prison with the wide floor. Redmoon entrusted the security detail to the other lycans and went elsewhere.


    The archbishop was now left standing in between the two lycans. As they were still wary of him being a Priest, he wasn¡¯t allowed to step foot inside the dwarves¡¯ prison.


    When the dwarves discovered Hilda, their eyes widened with shock.


    She counted about twenty of them. Thankfully, their hands and feet were unshackled. They seemed to have already heard some things about her capture because they immediately began forming expressions of despair.


    ¡°Ah, ah! How could this be¡­!¡±


    ¡°Dammit, dammit, dammit!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re so sorry, Lady Hilda. Because of us, you had to¡­!¡±


    The dwarves planted their butts on the ground, and some of them even began shedding tears of sorrow.


    Hilda could only look on bitterly at their response. She hugged them one at a time and tried comforting them.


    To get a better understanding of the situation, she began asking them a few things. ¡°Are all of you the only ones who¡¯s been captured?¡±


    ¡°No, my lady. There are a few more.¡±


    ¡°How many?¡±


    ¡°About ten more at another workshop¡­¡±


    ¡°How are your bodies?¡±


    Hilda asked them about their wellbeing while touching their hands.


    The dwarves tried to say they were fine, but still ended up softly sobbing away.


    ¡°We¡¯re fine, my lady.¡±


    ¡°However, several of our comrades suffered from overwork, and they have already¡­¡±


    ¡°Sons of b*tches!¡±


    The glow in Hilda¡¯s eyes sharpened considerably.


    However, the rage-filled glare gradually died down. She managed to calm her breathing and rein in her emotions before speaking again. ¡°What exactly were you doing here?¡±


    ¡°We were manufacturing weapons they wanted to use, my lady.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Weapons and armours¡­¡±


    ¡°Can you use them yourselves?¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    Hilda shifted her gaze. ¡°I¡¯m asking you if there are any equipment you can use for yourselves.¡±


    ¡°The armours are out of the question, but we can use the weapons.¡±


    ¡°All in all, there are about thirty hostages then. Do you know the exact coordinates of where things are? How about the layout? The status of the security?¡±


    The dwarves hurriedly responded to Hilda¡¯s questions.


    While listening, the corners of her lips curled up.


    This wasn¡¯t inside a forest. No, they were currently underground, and in addition, this place was apparently a graveyard as well.


    The dwarves had been forced to construct the underground tunnels, but overall, the passageways generally remained narrow. Honestly, this place suited the short-statured dwarves far better than anyone else. And finally¡­ the worst headache currently plaguing Hilda fiefdom, Redmoon the Progenitor lycan, was also hiding here.


    She now learned that the dwarven hostages were mostly safe, and even got an accurate picture of the nesting ground of the monsters on top of that.


    Redmoon was a beast with too much ego. And also rather stupid.


    It only barely managed to imitate a human being, yet its arrogance caused it to not pay much attention to either herself or Raphael.


    Now this was a truly satisfactory result.


    With this, she had no need to lead an army down here nor wait for the back-ups to arrive.


    ¡°Things will be easier than I thought,¡± said Hilda before turning her head towards Raphael, currently standing beyond the steel bars that blocked the prison¡¯s entrance. ¡°Oh, Raphael Astoria.¡±


    As the lycans by his sides looked on, the gagged-and-blindfolded Raphael raised his head.


    ¡°Carry out the original duties you meant to perform after coming to this place. Hunt down these beasts!¡±


    After her voice resounded out, Raphael quietly bowed his head.


    He was gagged and even blindfolded too. But ever since arriving in this place, not even once did he reveal his true self. Even if he didn¡¯t, however, the lycans boasting a level of intelligence no better than animals wouldn¡¯t have known anything about him in the first place.


    Especially the fact that he was the ¡®one dispatched to hunt down the lycans¡¯.


    Divinity suddenly gushed out from Archbishop Raphael Astoria¡¯s body.


    < 044. Imperial Prince is Enjoying the Hunt -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 77 - : 045. Imperial Prince is Hunting Beasts -1 (Part One)

    The lycans were burning away.


    As a matter of fact, they couldn¡¯t even howl out in pain and simply turned into pieces of open-mouthed charcoal.


    Once no more demonic energy could be sensed in his surroundings, Raphael pulled off the dirty rags covering his eyes and mouth with his hands. However, he couldn¡¯t undo the steel chains still shackling his wrists, eventually giving up after a brief period of struggling.


    ¡°Eh-whew, look at my life. Why did I have to go and choose to serve the Imperial Family¡­?¡±


    While lamenting his life choices so far, Raphael ruthlessly stepped on the lycan remains, turning them into powder. After rummaging through the piles of ashes, and finding the keys to the prison door, he quickly undid the locks.


    Hilda watched him and nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Excellent. As expected of you, your eminence.¡±


    ¡°Your highness, this was going too far. Do you know how worried this old man was?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how much I believed in you.¡±


    ¡°Even if you say the exact same thing as his majesty, I¡­¡±


    ¡°If I didn¡¯t come here, then you¡¯d also not have stepped foot in this place, correct?¡±


    ¡°Well, that is true.¡±


    Hilda shifted her gaze over to the dwarves in the next moment.


    ¡°No one is hurt and we can even procure weapons too.¡± While saying that, she turned her gaze back to Raphael with a radiant smile on her face. ¡°We are now blessed with an opportunity to eliminate the nest of the beasts who soil my fiefdom in one fell swoop. Is this not a satisfactory outcome? It won¡¯t be any more perfect than this situation. Therefore¡­¡±


    She patted on Raphael¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Archbishop Raphael, allow me to ask you for a simple favour. Do your best and attract the attention of the beasts, please.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I shall lend you my support soon afterwards.¡±


    Now normally, a Priest needed someone to guard him. However, he couldn¡¯t exactly ask the Imperial Princess to protect him from harm, now could he?


    But that also didn¡¯t mean he could entrust his protection to these dwarves who weren¡¯t even adequately equipped yet.


    This left him with only one option.


    ¡­It was time for him to toil away, then.


    But still, he didn¡¯t forget to protest a little bit. ¡°The lycans are strong in close-quarter combat, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t your magical prowess enough to handle them?¡±


    ¡°Are you saying I should omit spell chanting?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine to pray a little bit every now and then? It should be more than doable if it¡¯s you, archbishop.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have my crosier with me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be alright, you can do this.¡±


    ¡°But your highness, I¡¯m not so young anymore¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it in your capable hands.¡±


    Hilda responded with a smile and all Raphael could do now was groan.


    He figured that two days worth of non-stop muscle ache would be in store for him now.


    ¡°My biggest regret in life is choosing to serve the Imperial Family, your highness.¡±


    ¡°And we, the Imperial Family, considers having a loyal retainer such as you one of the greatest blessings the gods have granted us.¡±


    She was truly Kelt Olfolse¡¯s granddaughter. Hilda didn¡¯t even give up an inch during this exchange.


    1


    Raphael thought to himself. ¡®¡­Looks like I won¡¯t live for long at this rate.¡¯


    Who would doubt her being the Holy Emperor¡¯s granddaughter when she was this aggressive?


    Now think about it for a second; which princess in history would willingly become a hostage?


    All these scions from the Imperial bloodline just didn¡¯t know how to moderate themselves. Not only did they turn the imperial palace into a sea of blood, a princess of all people stepped forward and personally became a hostage, all for the sake of taking the enemy leader¡¯s head after she found out the location of the enemy camp.


    Despite everything, these grandsons and granddaughters were still much better than their grandfather. The Holy Emperor, for instance, was mad enough to face the Necromancer King with only Raphael accompanying him.


    Just how close was he to wetting his pants back then?!


    And now, just thinking about his own granddaughter deciding to serve this very bloodline, and how she would have to face all the trials and tribulations associated with that, he quickly lost all hope for the future.


    ¡°I ask of you for this favour, oh Raphael Astoria.¡±


    When she called out to him using his full name, he stared at her with a face filled with dissatisfaction before sighing deeply away.


    ¡°In that case, I should offer my prayer right now¡­¡±


    He then closed his eyes.


    ¡°Oh, dear goddess of life, Gaia.¡±


    He began gathering divinity to himself.


    ¡°Your faithful servant, Raphael Astoria, humbly begs thee¡­¡±


    Divinity permeated into his body and was rapidly sucked into the surroundings.


    ¡°Grant this one a shield to block the undead, and¡­¡±


    A formless shield made out of divinity materialised in front of him.


    ¡°¡­And a sword to pierce through the undead.¡±


    And then, a sword formed out of pure light was summoned right next to the shield.


    Raphael¡¯s eyes opened up.


    **


    Redmoon saw itself as a smart creature.


    Not only did it manage to escape from the domination of the Vampires, it even successfully settled down here and grew its forces.


    On top of all these accomplishments, it even discovered the close ties between the dwarves and the Imperial Princess, and by using the short ones as hostages, it managed to succeed in bringing her here, too.


    Now behold! The Imperial Family that even the Vampires were scared of, was currently moving according to Redmoon¡¯s wishes! By taking full advantage of this opportunity, the Vampires wouldn¡¯t be able to treat the lycanthropes as their pets anymore.


    Understandably, Redmoon was full of arrogance right now.


    But as it was walking away, it began sniffing the air.


    -¡­Divinity?


    The thick stench of divinity could be picked up in the surroundings. And a second later, nasty goosebumps broke out on its whole body.


    All the fur on its body stood up.


    A chill ran down its spine as fear began rushing in.


    Redmoon hurriedly dashed into the underground tunnel.


    A short while later, it came to an abrupt halt and stared at the event taking place up ahead.


    Within the darkness, the lycans were standing around, looking clearly wary of something. One of them growled menacingly and pounced forward, only to be pinned mercilessly against a wall in the blink of an eye.


    -¡­!!!


    Redmoon stared in shock at the lycan pinned to the wall by the ¡®sword of light¡¯.


    This lycan thrashed about and howled in pain, but then, blue flames erupted and burned it out of existence.


    Redmoon turned its head, that¡¯s when it saw him.


    It saw a skinny and frail-looking old man holding a shield made out of divinity walking forward.


    ¡°This wasn¡¯t the image I had in mind¡­¡±


    Raphael was smacking his lips.


    The reason why he was dispatched to this area was to subjugate the lycanthropes.


    However, the original plan was to meticulously search through the forest for a long while under the protection of the Crimson Cross and support from the Verdant Cross. They wouldn¡¯t even suffer a single casualty if nothing went wrong.


    Then, after uncovering the nest, he was to subjugate the Progenitor lycanthrope.


    Raphael shook his head before locking his gaze on Redmoon.


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia¡­¡±


    Raphael pulled together his still-bound-in-chains hands and bowed his head, offering a prayer.


    Divinity expanded and quickly gathered in him.


    The remaining lycans began shaking uncontrollably from pure fear. Terror also began filling up inside Redmoon¡¯s eyes.


    This place was supposed to be a graveyard. No matter what, this place was far closer to being a Negative Field rather than a Positive one, and yet, the old man was still able to gather an unbelievable amount of divinity right now.


    He needed to be killed before his prayers could be completed.


    -What are you all waiting for?! Kill him!


    ¡°Please let your grace bless this land¡­¡±


    Raphael opened his eyes and glanced at the lycans.


    Divinity coalesced mid-air into the shape of a sword. The blade of light flew out and quickly pierced straight past the lycans.


    He was currently using a prayer, and at the same time, he was also casting multiple magics as well.


    ¡°¡­So that your humble servant can¡­¡±


    The other undead were rushing towards his position. They crashed into the divinity shield and ungainly flailed their limbs about.


    ¡°¡­Save the souls of these undead.¡±


    In that very instant, rays of bright light exploded forth from Raphael¡¯s body.


    The lycans that were rushing towards him were burned by the light and turned into ashes.


    Redmoon¡¯s eyes gradually turned bloodshot as it took in this spectacle, and a short moment later, actual blood began gushing out from them.


    -Uwaaaaaahk?!


    Redmoon urgently shielded its face. Its whole body was being scorched by the rays of divinity.


    It couldn¡¯t help but stumble back from the horrifying pain.


    It was then, the ground seemed to rock under its feet.


    While still shedding tears of blood, Redmoon turned its head.


    Its blurry gaze caught the figures of the dwarves.


    The short creatures were wielding all sorts of weapons that were originally meant for the lycans. Hilda could be seen standing among them.


    She held a spear in her hand with an arrogant expression on her face.


    The aged Priest was currently slaughtering the lycans while the Imperial Princess thought to be locked away in a prison had escaped.


    Redmoon gnashed its teeth.


    -How disgraceful, Imperial Princess! You openly fawned over me only a minute ago, and yet you dare point your blade at me?!


    ¡°Fawn over you? What are you even talking about?¡±


    While tightening her grip on the spear, Hilda tilted her head in confusion. However, she began nodding as if she managed to recall something.


    ¡°It seems that it¡¯s easier than expected to tame an animal.¡± The corners of her lips curled up, but the light in her eyes remained frigid as her glare locked on Redmoon. ¡°Honestly speaking, I quite like the look of you as well.¡±


    -If that¡¯s the case, then why¡­?!


    ¡°I just had an opening on a wall inside my castle for a stuffed animal, you see?¡±


    1


    Redmoon¡¯s expression instantly hardened when it heard those words.


    ¡°The master dwarf craftsmen live in this area so by capturing you alive and letting them work on you, I¡¯ll have a brand new addition to my collection. Or, you might even serve as a great gift for his majesty.¡± Hilda was grinning with her eyes now. ¡°If I capture a Progenitor lycanthrope and present it to his majesty, it¡¯ll be acknowledged as an outstanding achievement. Wouldn¡¯t you agree that this is a wonderful outcome?¡±


    Hilda then fixed her grip on the spear.


    Redmoon¡¯s expression distorted in pure rage.


    -You insane b*tch¡­!


    ¡°You seem to have figured it out now. We at the Imperial Family¡­¡± While tightening the grip on her spear, she lowered her posture. ¡°¡­Have to be mad enough in order to hunt you monsters down.¡±


    1

 Chapter 78 - : 045. Imperial Prince is Hunting Beasts -1 (Part Two)

    -Ku-oooooh!


    Redmoon crouched lower. The overwhelming rage it was feeling right now caused its black fur to change to red colour. Its whole body ballooned up; the muscles expanded and thick veins visibly bulged among the fur.


    Redmoon had to lower its head due to how small the cavern was. Its eyes burned in rage while glaring at Hilda.


    -A woman who knows no honour, I shall¡­!


    Hilda closed her eyes. ¡°Oh, the god of war Heim¡­¡±


    Redmoon in unchecked rage rushed towards her position.


    ¡°Protect Lady Hilda!¡±


    The dwarves quickly gathered in front of her and raised their spears.


    However, Redmoon ignored them all. The spears mercilessly stabbed its whole body.


    But the lycan, despite all the spears piercing its hulking body, viciously swung its arms amidst the dwarves and flung them all away.


    Just before it could take an almighty swipe at Hilda with its claws¡­


    ¡°Grant a pair of swift legs to your faithful follower.¡±


    She opened her eyes and watched the lycan¡¯s claws descend on her position. Despite the claws being a mere hair¡¯s breadth away from touching her face, they were so slow.


    She evaded them all in the blink of an eye.


    She moved so fast that only afterimages were left behind in her wake.


    Hilda dug into the lycan¡¯s opening with the speed that far outstripped the undead monster¡¯s.


    ¡°Grant your blessings of the battlefield on the spear of your faithful servant.¡±


    Divinity gathered on the spear¡¯s blade.


    Hilda stomped hard on the ground and thrust the glowing spear at Redmoon¡¯s chest.


    Staaab!


    The spear¡¯s blade pierced right through the lycan¡¯s chest.


    The wound expanded in a spherical shape with the spear at the centre before exploding, leaving behind a gaping hole.


    At the same time, the dwarves standing by the sidelines thrust their own spears forward and stabbed Redmoon, forcing it back.


    -Ku-aaaaahk!


    Despite Redmoon stumbling backwards, Hilda still grumbled with dissatisfaction, ¡°Can¡¯t you just sit still? It won¡¯t do to damage the stuffed animal meant to be a gift for his majesty.¡±


    -You! You monsters!


    Redmoon alternated its glare between Hilda and Archbishop Raphael.


    They were both monsters! They were even more insane than the Vampires, and to make matters worse, their strengths were superior to the undead too.


    Only now did Redmoon realise it.


    It finally realised why the Vampires were so frightened and chose to keep their heads down while hiding amongst the humans. It realised why even the Progenitors of Vampires dared not provoke the Imperial Family.


    They were ruthless, insane, and absolutely dangerous existences, that¡¯s why!


    ¡°So you¡¯ve now become aware of it, undead? Indeed, we¡¯re monsters.¡±


    Redmoon hurriedly looked behind after hearing the old man¡¯s voice.


    Raphael had just finished turning the other lycans into ashes and was now leisurely walking towards it.


    ¡°¡­Only by becoming monsters can we possibly hunt creatures such as yourself.¡±


    A sword of light penetrated into Redmoon¡¯s back.


    With divinity pervading its body, its spine began burning away. The lycan felt the scorching sensation of its back bones, intestines, and ribs melting away.


    ¡°Now choose. How do you like to die?¡± Hilda asked.


    Redmoon gritted its teeth and shifted its gaze to the front.


    Hilda slowly walked up to the lycan. ¡°Will you become my stuffed animal? Or¡­¡±


    Redmoon then looked behind it.


    ¡°Or will you burn to ashes?¡±


    Raphael finished her sentence.


    Sweat trickled down Redmoon¡¯s face.


    The two monsters were closing in on it.


    Redmoon deeply sucked in its breath.


    -Kuwaaaaahk!


    After roaring out, it dashed towards Hilda.


    She gripped her spear tightly and lowered her posture once more before digging into the incoming undead. ¡°You¡¯ve made the right choice. I congratulate you on becoming a new trophy!¡±


    She and the dwarves stabbed their spears forward.


    However, Redmoon used its arm to block the attacks.


    The divinity-laden spear punctured its hand and the limb quickly exploded. Meanwhile, its whole body now resembled a hedgehog with all the spears sticking out.


    An arm as tall as an adult human fell with a thud on the ground. But even then, Redmoon simply ignored both its lost arm and Hilda, and ran straight past her.


    Hilda tutted unhappily. She never expected that the lycan would discard its arm in this manner.


    Redmoon shed tears of blood. Ashes continued drifting away from the lost stump of its arm.


    It madly dashed outside the underground tunnels to emerge outside, and into the disused and forgotten graveyard.


    The lycans in the surroundings looked lost and confused by this scene, but they suddenly burst into flames and turned into ashes themselves.


    Terrifying noises kept coming from behind as Redmoon ran away. The noises scared its already frightened mind even further.


    -D-don¡¯t kill me¡­ Spare me¡­!


    There was still a chance.


    It must survive. Yes, it definitely must. It simply couldn¡¯t afford to die like this.


    -Don¡¯t kill me¡­ Please¡­!


    It continued sobbing away while dashing through the forest. It turned its head briefly to look behind.


    The two ¡®monsters¡¯ showed up by the mouth of the graveyard, glaring at Redmoon with eyes filled with madness.


    The fleeing lycan¡¯s eyes widened even further than before.


    It even screamed as horror gripped its heart.


    -Ah, ah, aaaaah-uwaaaaahk!


    Inside the woodland called the red moon forest, the lycan was nothing more than a weak little beast.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    This was a tale from a long time ago.


    -All of you, start calling me Your Imperial Princess-nim!


    The dwarves stared at a young human girl who happened to be even shorter than they were.


    In fact, the girl couldn¡¯t have been older than twelve, maybe thirteen years old at a push. She was grinning mischievously like a little troublemaker, maybe because of her young age.


    She confidently placed a hand on her chest and announced proudly, all the while standing tall on her small frame.


    -I¡¯m the Theocratic Empire¡¯s First Imperial Princess, Hilda Olfolse! I¡¯m the noble personage that will become your master! Eh-hem!


    It was rather mystifying to learn that such a young girl rescued these dwarves from slavery. What was even more puzzling was the fact that she was going to be in charge of this Hilda fiefdom temporarily too.


    -So take good care of me from now on, shorties!


    That was the first encounter between Hilda and the dwarves.


    -I didn¡¯t wet my bed!!!


    One day, Hilda did wet her bed by accident.


    She cried and protested, but the dwarves simply laughed away.


    Naturally, she got angry and kicked them in the asses.


    The dwarves then watched her master the ways of spearmanship.


    Her shoddy movements eventually caused her to fall down on her butt. However, the dwarves helped her up every time that happened. Eventually, they crafted a spear that suited her physique better.


    After reaching adulthood, she headed back to the imperial palace and stayed there for some time. She was tutored properly in the art of spearmanship while staying there. She was also granted all authorities related to Hilda fiefdom.


    The dwarves bore witness to Hilda¡¯s growth and development for many years.


    She granted them freedom, and even prepared a place where they could call home as well.


    To return the favour, they voluntarily served, looked after, and watched her grow.


    In almost all the steps leading up to her adult life, the dwarves were there, guiding and helping her along the way.


    And Hilda became the most precious person to all the dwarves.


    Once I finished listening to Belrog¡¯s tale, I kind of understood why they were so obsessed about her.


    I looked at Belrog and spoke my honest impression, ¡°What the heck, you guys were basically her dads.¡±


    Belrog flinched nastily and hurriedly shook his head. ¡°Your highness! There¡¯s the difference in stations to consider! Please be more careful with what you say. We were originally slaves, so you mustn¡¯t even think about saying we¡¯re her fathers! Especially more so when his highness the Crown Prince isn¡¯t with us anymore. You must not carelessly utter those words out in the open.¡±


    Despite all of his protestations, he didn¡¯t seem all that displeased by the term ¡®father¡¯. I could simply tell by looking at the content grin etched on the dwarf¡¯s face.


    All around us were dwarves kitted out in silver-hued armours.


    We were marching through the gaps between hard and dark-coloured trees at the moment. They called this place the red moon forest or something.


    I asked aloud. ¡°So this is the nest of the lycans, is it?¡±


    ¡°That is indeed so, your highness.¡±


    One of the Verdant Cross members responded to me. They scanned the darkened forest¡¯s floor before unhesitantly heading in some direction.


    ¡°Since the lycans live here, can¡¯t we just burn the whole forest down?¡±


    ¡°Regrettably, the trees found north of the forest are called ¡®nordin wood¡¯. They are sometimes referred to as forged steel made out of wood, your highness. Not only do they possess the characteristics of resisting fire, they are also one of our most important natural resources. Their economic value comes only second to our mining operations.¡±


    Their toughness rivalled forged steel and not to mention, they were also valuable resources, he said.


    Apparently, the lycans weren¡¯t behaving this boldly a few months ago and it was business as usual back then. But after the Vampires practically vanished overnight, the lycans suddenly began unleashing their vicious side.


    I looked around the area.


    The Verdant Cross members were exploring the surroundings and rapidly advancing forward.


    I asked another question to the Crimson Cross knight next to me. ¡°You know, doesn¡¯t it feel like we¡¯re moving a bit too fast?¡±


    ¡°How so, your highness?¡±


    ¡°The lycan¡¯s nest. I thought we didn¡¯t know where it was?¡±


    The Verdant Cross was moving really quickly.


    The dwarves, the Crimson Cross, and myself were being guided by them into the forest.


    A Crimson Cross member glanced at the Verdant Cross doing their thing and replied. ¡°They are specialised in exploring forest environments like this one, your highness. They are most likely uncovering traces left behind by her highness¡¯s abduction.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this still way too fast for that, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Their specialised field is different from ours, your highness. We are the judges. While we¡¯re tasked with duties of torturing and uncovering the betrayers of our faith, and punishing them appropriately¡­¡± The Crimson Cross member glanced at the Verdant Cross group. ¡°¡­They are the trackers. They focus mostly on the pursuit and hunt of the enemies, as well as collecting necessary intel.¡±


    Well, I could see that the Verdant Cross guys were agilely dashing over here and there before carefully scanning the ground and moving on.


    I called out to them. ¡°Oiii!¡±


    One of the Verdant Cross members rapidly approached me and knelt down, bowing his head.


    I asked him. ¡°Do you really know where my sister has been taken to?¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness. We¡¯ve located her traces.¡± He then pointed to a spot on the ground. ¡°There, that¡¯s a trace left behind by her highness.¡±


    I peered real closely at the ground before looking at a different spot.


    For sure, there seemed to be a slight indentation there, but I couldn¡¯t see much difference between that and the other bits of normal ground.


    I glanced at the Crimson Cross guys for confirmation, but they also shook their heads as if they couldn¡¯t tell either.


    The Verdant Cross member nodded in understanding. ¡°Such a trace is only recognisable to us, your highness. While stepping on the ground, one usually leaves behind a foot imprint that matches the surrounding nature. However, the trace itself is far too faint and there is a danger of it disappearing with the passage of time. Surely, even the lycans haven¡¯t thought about such a thing, your highness.¡±


    It seemed that the lycans hadn¡¯t considered the possibility of humans leaving behind their footprints as traces on these dried-up grounds.


    It was then, a rather familiar stench assaulted my senses.


    I urgently blocked my nose and frowned deeply.


    I quickly shifted my eyes around and peered into the darkened forest. ¡°¡­Get ready for battle. The bastards are coming.¡±


    I was right; a large red-furred lycan covered in wounds from head to toe was rushing towards our location while being accompanied by other blood-creations.


    < 045. Imperial Prince is Hunting Beasts -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 79 - 046. Imperial Prince is Hunting Beasts -2 (Part One)

    ¡®I¡­I need to escape!¡¯


    Redmoon was urgently dashing through the forest.


    ¡®I must regrow my forces.¡¯


    The lycan sucked in a deep breath.


    ¡®And then, I shall have my revenge!¡¯


    It opened its maw and howled out loudly.


    The other lycans and zombified animals that had been scattered around the forest rushed to where Redmoon was and they joined it to form a horde.


    Now that they were finally in the forest and a sizeable horde had formed around it, Redmoon began breaking free from the grips of fear.


    The lycan looked behind, but it could no longer see the shadows of those two insane humans.


    That was obvious ¨C it had been running for quite some time, after all.


    Those humans would never be able to chase it down with their running speed.


    Besides, even if they did give chase, Redmoon was confident in escaping from their pursuit so long as they were within the forest.


    This place was the red moon forest, the territory of the lycanthropes. Unless every single tree in this forest was cut down, they would have enough places left to hide.


    The relief of knowing it was safe caused the corners of Redmoon¡¯s lips to curl up again.


    It truly felt relieved.


    -¡­!


    However, the moment it began relaxing from the sense of relief, rage began contorting its expression instead.


    While continuing to run away, Redmoon reached out to grab a zombified animal nearby, and ripped its head off. Then, it devoured the rotting meat with its wide-open maw.


    1


    After drinking the animal¡¯s blood and consuming its meat, Redmoon¡¯s body began recovering to a certain extent.


    -Dammit!


    How humiliating.


    A measly human dared to say that she¡¯d hunt down lycans and turn them into stuffed wall decorations?!


    To think that Redmoon would get scared by that and scream so pathetically, too!


    It was simply too humiliating.


    ¡®Whether it takes decades or centuries, I shall have my deserved vengeance!¡¯


    However, this area was overflowing with monsters and lunatics. Redmoon did thirst for revenge, but it¡¯d have to grow its forces somewhere else first.


    While the lycan was thinking about the future plans, its nose caught a faint little scent.


    Redmoon shifted its gaze to a distance and spotted a group of humans standing over there.


    Were they soldiers? Perhaps they were dispatched here to rescue the Imperial Princess?


    Redmoon¡¯s eyes darted around once more.


    There were dwarves, the Order of the Verdant Cross, unrecognisable men dressed in red robes, and finally, a small and weak-looking boy commanding them all.


    ¡®¡­He looks weak.¡¯


    Redmoon stopped running. It faltered where it stood and started hesitating.


    Since the lycan was in the middle of forcibly healing the wounds on its body, the pang of voracious hunger attacked it rather uncontrollably at the moment.


    It craved so badly to consume human flesh.


    However¡­


    ¡®I must not judge by how he looks on the outside.¡¯


    That was the case for both the old man and the princess.


    Since it was a young boy, he might not be as bad as those two, but nothing good would come from letting one¡¯s guard down.


    Not only that, they weren¡¯t chasing after Redmoon¡¯s group, either. If the lycan¡¯s horde attacked the humans, things could get disadvantageous really quickly.


    For the time being, it seemed that escaping from here should be its top priori¡­


    It was then, a ¡®light¡¯ flashed in the enemy camp.


    Redmoon reflexively tilted its head out of the way. A projectile made out of divinity brushed past its face.


    Splat!


    Its right side cheek and the maw were ripped apart. The fangs hidden beneath the hide shattered and broke.


    Redmoon dazedly covered its face.


    If it hadn¡¯t dodged out of pure instinct, then that single strike would¡¯ve completely blown apart the lycan¡¯s head.


    Redmoon glared at the boy commanding the platoon of soldiers.


    That boy, he¡­ was holding some kind of a long stick, and was still trying to do something.


    But when Redmoon sensed a stupendous amount of divinity gathering around the child, the lycan¡¯s already-torn maw dropped to the ground in utter disbelief.


    How could this be?! Was this whole area a den of monsters or some such?!


    First, it was that old man and the princess, and now even that boy, too?!


    Redmoon¡¯s whole body shuddered in fright and began stumbling backwards.


    It had no idea how vast the Theocratic Empire was, but if its borders were teeming with such monsters, then the lycan¡¯s thoughts of vengeance would have to remain as a pipe dream forever.


    Redmoon¡¯s eyes began quivering from fear.


    The boy then got into a stance and aimed his musket rifle once more. A grin of madness was etched on his face. That very grin reminded Redmoon of the Imperial Princess, and that realisation sent a creeping chill down its spine.


    -Kuwa-aaaahk!


    The zombified animals that shared the lycan¡¯s emotions began shuddering in fear too.


    -Stop that thing! Stop that human boy!


    The moment Redmoon roared out, the zombified animals dashed towards the human horde.


    Meanwhile, it hurriedly led the other lycans in another direction.


    They needed to escape from here.


    As quickly as possible too. It had to abandon this land of nightmares right now!


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    ¡°Man, that shot was a little too weak. As I thought, the firepower decreases a lot when the range goes past five hundred metres.¡±


    I could only smack my lips at the results. But then again, I fired that shot without praying first.


    It was the norm for divinity projectiles fired by musket rifles of this world to begin disintegrating past the one hundred metre mark before disappearing altogether.


    In other words, I had to activate [Divine Aura] in order to snipe a target that far away.


    ¡°Okay, one more time.¡±


    I raised the musket up and took another aim at the red-furred beast, Redmoon. The big lycan began faltering, and then suddenly hightailed out of here while showing its back to me.


    On the other hand, a horde of zombified animals rushed out from the thick fog of the forest like some swarm of bees.


    ¡°Che! It¡¯s running away. All personnel, battle stations!¡±


    After I called this out, Belrog followed up with a shout of his own.


    ¡°Defensive formation!¡±


    The dwarves slammed their tall shields on the ground. Then, their spears were thrust out from between the gaps of the shields, creating a short wall of spikes jutting out.


    The Verdant Cross guys instantly climbed up on the trees nearby in order to fire their crossbows and arrows.


    Our opponents this time were simple zombified animals. Since we weren¡¯t chasing after them, but waiting for them to approach our formation instead, the advantage was on our side.


    However, by engaging in a defensive battle, I¡¯d lose that red-coloured lycan.


    One of the Crimson Cross knights addressed me. ¡°That beast has been heavily wounded, your highness. It¡¯s Redmoon, the lycanthrope that the Verdant Cross has spoken about.¡±


    Only then did I finally figure out the reason why the Verdant Cross guys were so calm earlier.


    As we traversed into the forest while following after the traces left behind by Hilda, Redmoon, who was already full of wounds, suddenly stumbled into our path instead.


    So then¡­ Was that thing¡¯s sorry sight the product of Hilda and Archbishop Raphael?


    ¡°Should we go after it, your highness?¡±


    The Verdant Cross was now asking me. Even the dwarves were staring at me, waiting for my response.


    The fact that Redmoon was nearby indicated that Hilda, the archbishop, and the kidnapped dwarves were somewhere nearby as well. I guessed that reaching Hilda should be their number one priority above all else.


    However, joining up with her group meant that Redmoon would make its escape from here.


    My head began aching from all this dilemma.


    I squeezed my eyes shut tightly.


    Holy cow! Oh dear Gaia, please, please!


    Why do I keep finding myself in these kinds of situations?


    I massaged my forehead and forced myself to say something. ¡°Create a path for me. I shall hunt that thing down while the Verdant Cross and the dwarves will head to where my sister is.¡±


    I just couldn¡¯t let that Redmoon guy run loose. Before it becomes a bigger source of nuisance later on, I need to hunt it down right now.


    The leader of the Verdant Cross came up to me and asked, ¡°Will it be fine, your highness? How about we lend our¡­¡±


    When it came to pursuing something, then yeah, the Verdant Cross people were the specialists. However, even they wouldn¡¯t be able to chase that lycan down.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± I replied before calling out to the Crimson Cross. ¡°You guys are coming with me, though.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    The Crimson Cross members raised their weapons. They stepped on the dwarves¡¯ shields and leaped out of the formation, hacking down on the zombified animals.


    When I stepped forward, the dwarves moved aside to open up a path.


    ¡°I won¡¯t let it escape.¡±


    After injecting divinity into my legs, I strengthened the rest of my physique and then greatly expanded my eyesight.


    The lycan and its gang were already long gone from my view by now. Not even their footprints were to be seen on the forest¡¯s floor.


    However, those undead had no bloody idea.


    ¡­No idea how insanely strong their stench was.


    ¡°Man, I really don¡¯t wanna do something this troublesome, but¡­¡±


    Since it already came down to this, I might as well use those creatures as lab rats in an experiment I was dying to try out.


    And so, I began my pursuit of the red-furred lycanthrope.

 Chapter 80 - : 046. Imperial Prince is Hunting Beasts -2 (Part Two)

    **


    Redmoon was madly dashing forward.


    No human should be able to keep up with its speed within the forest. Surely not.


    But then¡­


    Crunch!


    A tree nearby caved in before exploding to bits. The sound of gunfire belatedly resounded out.


    The projectile flew in faster than the sound itself.


    Redmoon sucked in a deep breath. It was scared silly now. The beast hurriedly dashed and darted in between the gaps of the trees to use them as natural cover.


    It glanced back.


    A boy was chasing after the lycan, followed by humans wearing crimson robes and strange masks.


    ¡®I can¡¯t shake them off!¡¯


    As if they were hunting hounds sniffing out the prey¡¯s scent, they were proving to be incredibly persistent.


    The lycans were the so-called spectres of the forest, and they didn¡¯t leave behind any types of traces anywhere. Not just footprints, but also no body odour to speak of, as well.


    And the deeper they headed inside the forest, the thicker the fog and the natural darkness got, which provided them with even greater protection.


    On the other hand, the humans wouldn¡¯t be able to see and then eventually lose their bearings inside the darkness.


    Yet, that boy must¡¯ve used some kind of magical means because he somehow managed to chase Redmoon down.


    For instance, there was that moment when, after the lycan thought it had managed to create enough distance, the boy and his men suddenly appeared before the undead instead.


    This nightmare couldn¡¯t have been any worse even if it tried.


    Redmoon was supposed to be a hunter¡­ and yet, it was now being hunted down?!


    -I can¡¯t die like this.


    Redmoon checked the size of the enemy forces. The biggest source of its headaches, the Verdant Cross or the dwarves, weren¡¯t there.


    While running away, Redmoon carefully observed the boy¡¯s attacks.


    As it turned out, his actions were rather simplistic. He¡¯d raise the musket rifle in his hand and breathe into it. Then every minute or so, he¡¯d fire a projectile.


    In other words, there wouldn¡¯t be any danger as long as the boy wasn¡¯t given a chance to breathe or an opening of one minute.


    1


    It was then, one of the lycans currently running alongside Redmoon was struck by the divinity projectile and got extinguished from existence while howling out in pain.


    -Dammit!


    Still¡­ there were almost ten lycans remaining. Not to forget, there were plenty of other blood-creations spread out in the near vicinity too.


    Redmoon had no idea how dangerous an existence that boy was. However, he should be easier to handle than that old man or the Imperial Princess!


    Rather than being chased around and eventually get hunted down, it¡¯d be far better to fight back instead.


    Redmoon¡¯s legs contorted. It stopped running and turned around to face the boy.


    He and the red robe-wearing humans all came to a stuttering halt.


    The boy didn¡¯t even look remotely tired even after all that running. No, he instead was letting out a sigh of relief once Redmoon stopped trying to escape.


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re finally giving up? You made the right call there, buddy. My divinity was getting a bit too precarious there, you see? It¡¯s great that you¡¯ve chosen to give up, isn¡¯t it? Okay now, let¡¯s wrap this up sharpish, alright?¡±


    The boy wasn¡¯t even nervous. No, he didn¡¯t even bother hiding his relief at no longer needing to chase after his prey instead.


    His attitude indicated that he was looking down on his opponents.


    Redmoon glared at the boy.


    -Giving up? What are you talking about, boy?


    The lycan cracked its neck.


    -This is our territory.


    No matter how wounded or terrified it was, Redmoon was still the ruler of this forest. It was also the Progenitor Lycanthrope.


    -A human who lacks the dwarves¡¯ strong shields¡­


    The boy didn¡¯t possess any power to resist the fury of the beasts.


    -¡­and also, lacks the swift legs of those green-robed humans, honestly think that you¡­


    Finally, humans were merely cattle for slaughter once they were driven to a corner and failed to escape on time, were they not?


    -¡­you can win against us?!


    1


    Most importantly of all, the lycans enjoyed an overwhelming advantage of numbers.


    As the lycans spread out, they quickly surrounded the boy and the Crimson Cross from all sides.


    Numerous red eyes glowed from the darkness of the forest. Then, hundreds of zombified animals strode into the view.


    Just as the boy raised his musket rifle, Redmoon roared out.


    -Oh, hear me now, boy! Do not move a muscle! The moment you dare to move¡­


    However, the boy simply ignored the lycan¡¯s words and began breathing into the musket¡¯s loading chamber.


    Redmoon furrowed its brows and urgently cried out.


    -You will die a gruesome death with all of your limbs ripped apart! Not just you, but all of your underlings too!


    As soon as Redmoon finished making its threat, the lycans began howling from all directions.


    They bared their fangs and extended their sharp claws.


    The zombified animals began growling in a threatening manner.


    -If you wish to save your underlings, behave yourself and¡­!


    It was then, the boy took aim with the musket rifle.


    Redmoon¡¯s eye muscles twitched as it urgently grabbed a nearby lycan. It quickly shoved the hapless creature forward as a meat shield.


    Accompanied by a loud gunfire noise, the shielding lycan¡¯s head exploded into bloody bits.


    -¡­


    Redmoon discarded the headless lycan to the ground and glared at the boy.


    The boy asked, sounding unperturbed by the threat. ¡°Okay, so what about it?¡±


    Redmoon¡¯s shoulders drooped down low.


    Bloody hell, how could none of these humans be reasoned with?!


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I glared at the lycan calling itself Redmoon before raising my musket again.


    But then, the Crimson Cross members tensed up.


    ¡°It might get dangerous this time, your highness.¡±


    Well, they were right about that.


    No matter how good these Crimson Cross guys were, we weren¡¯t on some steeple this time but inside a forest. It¡¯d be pretty hard to protect me against all these lycans and numerous zombified animals.


    Especially more so when our opponent was a Progenitor Lycanthrope. That guy¡¯s specs shouldn¡¯t even be compared to the likes of mere blood-creations, most likely.


    It lost one of its eyes with its cheek and maw torn off, while its left arm was missing. Yet, the stench coming off of the damn thing was seriously disgusting. At the very least, this lycan was strong enough to easily rip apart Count Fomor into bits and pieces.


    ¡°However, it¡¯s still nothing compared to the Vampire Count I ran into back in Ronia.¡±


    To think that I had to toil so hard because of a little punk like this guy¡­


    I raised my musket rifle and got ready to breathe into it, but then, the zombified animals began rushing towards us from all directions.


    The screeches and howlings of the undead assaulted our eardrums.


    ¡°Your highness, be careful¡­!¡±


    ¡°Everyone, close your eyes.¡±


    The Crimson Cross members all stared at me.


    The pairs of eyes beyond the bird beak masks were visibly filled with confusion. They stared at me as if to make sure they didn¡¯t mishear my command.


    I looked back at them.


    ¡°Close your eyes and then block your ears. Kneel down and stay right there,¡± said I. ¡°Wait, maybe you don¡¯t trust me? I have my ways, so just do as I say. Because I¡¯m about to show you a really shocking magic trick very soon.¡±


    I shrugged my shoulders.


    The Crimson Cross then nodded their heads.


    ¡°¡­We shall obey.¡±


    After saying those words, they immediately went down on their knees. After lowering their heads, they closed their eyes and then covered their ears with their hands.


    Seriously, now that was some overzealous faith on display.


    But this was enough for me. The dwarves weren¡¯t here, and even the Verdant Cross that prioritised Hilda¡¯s commands over mine weren¡¯t around either.


    As for the Crimson Cross members, they were zealots who would even brave death to heed my commands. From this moment on, there were no ¡®eyewitnesses¡¯ here. Meaning, this place was now ¡®my territory¡¯.


    -Ku-ooooooh!


    Redmoon was dashing towards me. There were hundreds of zombified animals baring their fangs as they ran over here just to devour me alive.


    There was this thing I¡¯ve been wanting to test out, though.


    I summoned Amon¡¯s skull from my item window and put it on my head. After doing so, I softly whispered the activation phrase.


    The zombified animals leapt up.


    It was then, Redmoon suddenly faltered and stopped continuing forward.


    Did that guy detect danger or something? Man, its instincts must be pretty amazing.


    However, it was already too late.


    They were all within my ¡®kill range¡¯ by now.


    Underneath Amon¡¯s skull, I was smiling with my eyes as I stared at Redmoon the lycan.


    **


    A soft sound of a falling water drop resounded out.


    A puddle containing holy water was summoned with me in the centre of it.


    And various skeletons were seemingly standing on the water¡¯s surface.


    Creak-! Clack-!


    Their bodies, however, all crumbled down in an instant. But then, their bones started to quickly pile up into one large mass.


    Various bones joined up and began constructing a new shape.


    The bones far too numerous to count, extended and rose up several metres in the air.


    The giant silhouette made out of bones gradually finished forming, turning into a new type of undead. In the meantime, more skeletons continued crawling out from the puddle.


    The bony hands of the skeletal undead began gripping the weapons extracted from my item window ¨C a sword, spear, mace, scythe, steel chains, and various other types of weapons.


    Each of its hands were now equipped with weapons manufactured by the master dwarf craftsmen.


    It was truly unfortunate, but I just didn¡¯t have any talent in handling these weapons myself. However, if there was no one around to protect me or to witness what I was about to do, then was there really a need for me to personally swing around stuff like these?


    If the issue was with my lack of talent, then I just needed to let an ¡®undead¡¯ who knew how to use weapons take care of that problem.


    I was a Necromancer, a profession that normally commanded an army of undead, after all.


    < 046. Imperial Prince is Hunting Beasts -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 81 - 047. Imperial Prince is Hunting Beasts -3 (Part One)

    **


    It was truly an incongruous spectacle to behold.


    Redmoon even forgot all about its fear and terror. The lycanthrope simply stood there and dazedly stared at its front before asking itself a question.


    What on earth could ¡®that¡¯ be?


    The group of humans wearing red robes suddenly knelt down and lowered their heads. They even covered up their ears with their hands too.


    At first, Redmoon thought they were doing that out of fear.


    But that wasn¡¯t it.


    What the boy did next kickstarted an extraordinary event.


    It was unknown just where he got such a strange-looking skull, but the moment he put that thing on his head, the dried-up ground was suddenly filled with a shallow puddle.


    That signalled the start of the incongruous event. Because, even more bizarre things began unfolding afterwards.


    A hand made out of bones suddenly popped out from the water¡¯s surface.


    Forget about rising out of the holy water puddle, the skeletons practically began shooting out from the water now.


    At first, there were only five of them. But soon after, the number ballooned past ten. And then, twenty, thirty, forty, until eventually, there were so many that it was impossible to count them all.


    Redmoon faltered and stumbled back, its expression showing how it so badly wanted to deny the reality in front of it.


    The dry ground suddenly turning into a holy water lake already seemed like an illusion in and of itself, yet undead skeletons were basically flooding out from there? No matter how dim-witted and foolish the lycan was, it still knew how to differentiate between what was possible in this world and those that simply could not happen.


    And now, a pure nightmare that couldn¡¯t be found in reality was taking place right before the lycan¡¯s disbelieving eyes.


    -Kkiiiiaaaahk!


    They weren¡¯t some emaciated, shabby skeletons either. Each and every single one of them emitted a powerful presence.


    They plunged their hands into the holy water¡¯s surface and began extracting weapons one by one.


    It was like a scene straight out of a child¡¯s bedtime story, or some legendary myths where heroes pulled out weapons from rocks. This whole scene was oh-so holy to behold.


    The evil holy spirits, now wielding various murderous weapons, shot cold glares as they stared at the zombified animals.


    And then¡­


    The zombified animals pouncing towards them got ¡®slaughtered¡¯ mercilessly.


    They got pierced by the spears and dangled in the air. They got sliced by the swords and ended up into chunky pieces. They were crushed by the maces. They were constricted by the steel chains before exploding into bloody bits.


    The holy undeads were cackling away.


    However, this scene didn¡¯t carry on for long; the chorus of evil cackles abruptly came to a halt.


    Their gazes all suddenly shifted and locked on Redmoon at the same time.


    -¡­!!!


    An icy chill ran down the lycan¡¯s back.


    From atop the brightly-glowing ¡®lake¡¯, several hundreds of eyes gleamed bright blue, glaring only at Redmoon.


    They began cackling away as if a really delectable prey had been discovered. Divinity-infused breaths leaked out from their bony jaws.


    They then began walking closer to Redmoon¡¯s position.


    Despite being made of only frail-looking bones, each of their steps felt imposing and heavy.


    Only then did Redmoon regain its wits. It urgently shouted out towards the other lycans near its vicinity.


    -Get rid of those skeletons! Buy me time so that I can esc¡­?!


    A portion of the sprawling skeletons suddenly crumbled, but then, their bones gathered into a pile and created a new type of skeleton.


    A much larger, much stronger giant had been created out of their bones.


    Although the lycans were at least two metres tall, they had to look up while stumbling backwards.


    The huge Bone Golem was well over three metres tall, and it now looked down at the undeads while hoisting a greatsword over its shoulder.


    It reached out with its massive hand, grabbed the head of a lycan, then easily crushed it. After doing so, it swung the greatsword with its other hand and hacked down on its other victims.


    Ashes danced in the air.


    The lycans couldn¡¯t even mount any notable resistance as they were crushed and stomped to death.


    All these weapons and undeads were infused with awe-inspiring levels of divinity. But how was that even possible?


    Redmoon glared at the human boy.


    -Y-you! You bastard! Just what have you done?!


    ¡°Wonderful.¡±


    The boy standing in the middle of the lake which kept spewing out undeads uttered out a single word in a satisfied tone of voice.


    He seemed to be carefully observing the undead around him.


    Even at a casual glance, one could tell that he was experimenting with something. He glanced at Redmoon and spoke up. ¡°You guys were really wonderful test subjects. But your role ends here now. So, beast, why don¡¯t we wrap all this sh*t up and go home?¡±


    The boy grabbed his musket rifle and began offering a prayer once more.


    His eyes seemed to glow eerily from within the eye holes of the huge skull on his head.


    Divinity began rapidly gathering within the stubby muzzle of the rifle.


    Redmoon, on the other hand, fell into a pit of deep confusion.


    What should it do? What should it do to survive this event? Use its head, or perhaps let instinct take over?


    What should it do¡­?


    The inside of the lycan¡¯s head turned blank. The only thoughts popping up in its mind was ¡®death¡¯.


    There was no chance of victory. It could only escape in order to survive.


    Redmoon sneakily stepped backwards.


    However, every time it moved, the eerie light of the skeletons¡¯ eyes around it grew fiercer. Every time it took a step away, they also moved in sync.


    They were just like hellhounds staring at a delicious prey, almost as if they would pounce on you if you dared turn your back on them.


    Because of this, Redmoon faltered and stopped moving. The lycan then shifted its gaze back to the boy.


    ¡°Through your grace, grant me the steel mace to crush and tear apart the undead¡­¡±


    That human boy¡­ he was the real issue in this situation. Even if Redmoon decided to turn tail and run, it still wouldn¡¯t be able to evade the magic this human was capable of shooting.


    Cold sweat trickled down the lycan¡¯s body. It also began trembling from agitation. Its reasoning was threatening to abandon the creature; it began entrusting itself to the primal instincts of a wild beast.


    It was then ¨C the boy¡¯s brows barely visible underneath the skull furrowed deeply. He stopped praying, and then addressed the lycan.


    ¡°Hey, beast.¡±


    Redmoon flinched in surprise and stared at the boy.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say something about knowing honour and whatnot earlier? From what I heard, you keep mumbling some stuff about being warriors and all that.¡±


    His eyes underneath the skull were arching like a pair of crescent moons.


    ¡°But hey, I hope someone like you isn¡¯t planning to turn tail and run from here. I mean, the way you run your mouth off about being warriors and honour and stuff like that, I figured that you¡¯d be a fan of fighting till the end. Was I wrong? Or maybe¡­¡±


    He continued talking in a sarcastic tone of voice.


    ¡°¡­You were planning to escape from here like some terrified little mutt? Ah, but you¡¯ve already run away once, so I guess you don¡¯t have any honour or pride to begin with¡­¡±


    Redmoon¡¯s eyes widened.


    This was clearly a provocation. The lycan knew that, yet the boy¡¯s words still managed to snap the very last fabric of reasoning inside Redmoon¡¯s head.


    1


    -You¡¯re right, human. I shall not run anymore.


    Even if it ran now, it¡¯d eventually be hunted down anyways.


    Since that was the case, Redmoon needed to at least land one solid blow at the human bastard who dared look down on the lycanthrope¡¯s pride.


    The lycan swore that it¡¯d crush that sarcastic human boy. That was the only way it could wash away all the pathetic, sorry sights it had displayed up until now.


    Redmoon began gathering demonic energy from the surroundings. The concentration of all that energy began amassing in its remaining arm.


    The sound of bones shattering accompanied its arm ballooning up greatly. The ground beneath caved in from the lycan¡¯s legs bracing the weight.


    -Even if I die, I shall drag you along with me.


    ¡°You made a wise decision. Yup, you should behave yourself and stop making me feel annoyed.¡±


    The boy resumed letting out a breath of divinity into the musket rifle.


    -Ku-oooooh!


    Redmoon kicked the ground. The soil underneath its feet exploded and the lycan¡¯s body was flung forward with terrifying momentum.


    It strengthened its whole body with the gathered demonic energy and focused every last bit of its strength into this one final strike.


    However, the groups of holy undead stood in its way. There were more of them surrounding the lycan from the left, right, and even behind it.


    These skeletons must¡¯ve shared emotions with their master, because the glow coming from their eyes also arched up like crescent moons as well.


    Spear blades pierced deep into Redmoon¡¯s body. The steel chains arrested and confined the lycan¡¯s torso. A huge, bony hand blocked the beast¡¯s path, then a greatsword descended, cleaving apart Redmoon¡¯s body.


    Its torso got hacked to bits and turned into a figurative rag. But even then, Redmoon¡¯s eyes remained fixated on the boy.


    Real ¡®death¡¯ was approaching. Its false life was about to be extinguished. But to land that one strike on the boy, the lycan struggled desperately with all of its existence.


    This was the only way to regain its pride that had been trampled on.


    Even its soul was being torn apart into pieces. Terror and fear washed over Redmoon.


    Meanwhile, the boy was finally finished with his prayer. He raised the musket to take aim.


    Redmoon stared at the swirling, spinning divinity inside the weapon¡¯s barrel before shifting its gaze back to the boy.


    He opened his mouth to speak. ¡°This is the final test for my musket rifle.¡±


    ¡®¡­Ah, I¡¯m too late.¡¯


    In the end, Redmoon failed to even inflict a single injury on this human boy.


    Just one more step. It only needed to take just one more step, and swing with its arm ¨C that would¡¯ve been sufficient, but the lycan no longer possessed enough strength.


    By then, the holy undead were dragging Redmoon away from the boy. Not only that, as they were dragging it away, these damned things continued hacking away at the lycan¡¯s body.


    Eventually¡­


    ¡°Have a nice trip, beast.¡±


    The boy pulled the trigger.


    The spinning divinity inside the barrel spread out to the surroundings at the same time.


    A blinding ray of light enveloped the dark forest.


    2


    The explosive power completely obliterated the skeletons, Redmoon, and even the portion of the forest.

 Chapter 82 - 047. Imperial Prince is Hunting Beasts -3 (Part Two)

    **


    I took off Amon¡¯s skull. Fortunately, I didn¡¯t faint or anything like that this time. Unlike how things were in the past, my body seemed to have acclimatised to some extent to this thing.


    But now¡­


    ¡°Man, this stinking hurts!¡±


    My whole body was aching like crazy.


    This muscle pain was far worse than what I bargained for. Also, maybe I had exhausted all of the divinity located near my heart, because an empty feeling began washing over me, too.


    Argh, here comes the Post Nut Syndrome.


    1


    Man, I really hated this feeling.


    Besides, it looked like I might have to suffer through four, or maybe five days of muscle pain after I get back, too. I should seriously get a massage with holy water or something later.


    ¡°Okay, so¡­ Things are more or less mopped up here, then.¡±


    I used the musket rifle in my hand as a walking stick to prop up my weakened body. All of my undead also disappeared while emitting light particles.


    Meanwhile, the Crimson Cross members were still loyally carrying out my order even now. While still on their knees, they kept their heads lowered and their ears firmly blocked.


    But I could see their bodies trembling slightly.


    Well, they must¡¯ve sensed all that divinity from nearby running amok, then there was that huge explosion sound just now too, so they probably couldn¡¯t even imagine what¡¯s going on all around them.


    I lightly tapped on the shoulder of the nearest Crimson Cross knight. ¡°Oii, it¡¯s alright now.¡±


    However, he kept his ears blocked tightly even then.


    I forcibly pried his hands away and addressed him again, ¡°I said, it¡¯s alright now.¡±


    Only then did the Crimson Cross members stand back up one by one. They discovered the totally wrecked forest and stood there in a daze.


    ¡°Just what on earth¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, remember what I said? It¡¯s a cool magic trick, isn¡¯t it? Holy moly, look! All the zombie animals vanished like magic!¡±


    I spread open my arms wide while pointing at the forest¡¯s interior.


    I hoped that my audience would at least crack a smile at my lame joke, but the folks with the masks here just stood in silence.


    The eyes visible beyond the masks¡¯ eye holes were wide open, while their lips weren¡¯t making any noises.


    I felt really awkward just then and could only ruefully smack my lips.


    ¡°In any case¡­.¡± I shifted my gaze back to the forest. ¡°The firepower sure was something.¡±


    Everything in a fifty-metre vicinity from where I fired the musket rifle was completely levelled flat.


    The so-called forged steel trees were torn to shreds and even my skeletons and Bone Golem, plus the lycan Redmoon¡¯s body, were all blown apart into unrecognisable powder.


    This was the [Spread Shot] in action.


    While using the dwarf-made musket, I activated magic. The additional skills [Divine Aura] granted me this time were ¡®Penetration¡¯ and ¡®Explosion¡¯.


    I unleashed my divinity and poured it out practically everywhere.


    The original range was around twenty metres. It was an indiscriminating baptism of projectiles firing all at once. Even with Amon¡¯s skull, the range was limited to only about fifty metres.


    ¡°This is more like a bombardment of grenades instead of bullets, though¡­ But, huh, simply amazing!¡±


    Overall, what a satisfactory result this was.


    I got to find out whether or not my army of undead could take out the weapons the dwarves have crafted from my item window. Then, I even got to confirm the performance they could display with the weapons as well.


    I guess the ¡®in-game Necromancer trait¡¯ was still being applied here, judging from how the item window and the undead had been basically summoned together.


    -You, boy.


    I turned my head around after hearing someone call out to me. Redmoon¡¯s head still remained there on the ground.


    It had lost an eye, its cheeks were torn to bits, while its red fur was scattering away in the air as ashes.


    I frowned deeply while walking over to the head before picking it up. ¡°What¡¯s this? You were still hanging on?¡±


    -You bastard. Just what are you exactly?


    I tilted my head. For sure, these things called Progenitors enjoyed such a tenacious lifeforce that they even put cockroaches to shame.


    -Just what was that¡­? How did you do that¡­ with t-the, undead¡­?


    ¡°Undead?¡±


    -How did you come to possess such powers? Those undead, just how could you¡­!


    I hurriedly avoided meeting Redmoon¡¯s glare and looked elsewhere. The Crimson Cross knights were listening on in our conversation.


    ¡°Argh, so like, what were you saying?¡±


    I pointed the muzzle at Redmoon¡¯s head, then began injecting divinity into the weapon directly through my hand, and not with my breath.


    However, I staggered a little, probably because of my exhausted divinity reserve.


    ¡°Unde¡­?¡±


    I pulled the trigger.


    Blood splattered on my face, but even that and the rest of the head turned to ashes as they scattered away.


    I scanned my surroundings once more. Redmoon was definitely gone now, not even a trace of it remaining anywhere.


    While opening my eyes wide, I theatrically shook my head. ¡°Aikoo~, sorry. My hearing is pretty bad, you see? So I didn¡¯t quite catch that. You guys, did you catch what the lycan was saying?¡±


    I nonchalantly dusted the hand that used to hold the lycan¡¯s bodiless head.


    The Crimson Cross all shook their heads.


    I smiled in satisfaction at that.


    With this, everything was over. The dwarves and Hilda should have reunited by now too.


    Then, I recalled the First Imperial Prince¡¯s mug.


    Dammit. You just wait for me until I get back. As soon as I get back to the palace, Imma bury a bullet in that bastard¡¯s forehead.


    I turned around and addressed the Crimson Cross. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head back now. But, uh, by any chance¡­¡± I scanned the forest, before continuing on, ¡°¡­Anyone remember our way back?¡±


    The Crimson Cross stared at the forest around us, before exchanging glances with each other.


    It seemed that no one here knew, either.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Raphael Astoria, who was previously pursuing Redmoon, now found himself leaning his back against a tree. His whole body was completely frozen stiff.


    Large cold sweat drops trickled down his face as he clenched his chest.


    His breathing was rough and laboured as he recalled the sight he witnessed just now.


    The fear of the unknown quickly took a hold of him.


    He¡­ he witnessed ¡®that¡¯ sight.


    The Imperial Prince actually summoned an army of ¡®Holy Undead¡¯.


    Not only that, the boy summoned an army far larger in scale compared to the one that appeared back in the imperial palace.


    ¡®But how¡­?¡¯


    Raphael just couldn¡¯t comprehend it.


    The types of powers involved here should be in direct opposition to each other. So how could such things even exist?


    ¡®Wait, could it be because of Aslan¡¯s blood flowing in him?!¡¯


    The Kingdom of Aslan located south of the empire worshipped the God of Death. Maybe the Imperial Prince was able to summon those holy undead because half of his blood came from that kingdom?


    ¡®No, that also doesn¡¯t make sense.¡¯


    There had never been any events like this in the continent¡¯s written history.


    Aslan and the Theocratic Empire waged many wars against each other. Many lost their lives, and just as many were born.


    Among them were people capable of wielding either divinity or demonic energy. But there never had been someone capable of combining the traits of those two energies into one.


    Such a thing should still be impossible even if the boy was Yulisia¡¯s son.


    ¡®There¡¯s something even I don¡¯t know of yet!¡¯


    His emotions which were previously dyed in fear gradually distorted. Right now, he began feeling ecstasy.


    He witnessed magic that he had never seen before ¨C no, magic that had to be the first of its kind in existence!


    As a researcher of magic, it was only obvious that his blood was boiling right now.


    The idea of ¡®Resurrection¡¯ alone was already shocking enough, yet now, holy undead too?!


    ¡°Ha¡­ Hahah¡­¡±


    Laughter threatened to break out so he hurriedly covered his mouth.


    ¡®I knew it, my eyes didn¡¯t deceive me back then!¡¯


    Aaah, I want to ask him. I want to kneel before the Imperial Prince, bow my head and beg him to tell me how he can use such magic right this instant!


    And, I want to ¡®raise¡¯ him too.


    If powerful magic spells were to be passed on to the boy, and after he grows older and becomes an integral part of the Theocratic Empire, just how much stronger would this nation become? Merely imagining the possibilities alone sent shivers of pleasure down Raphael¡¯s spine.


    The greatness of the Goddess might get magnified even further through the boy too.


    Countless many subjects would surely start exalting the gods! Indeed, they might even experience the ¡®miracle¡¯ that Raphael himself was privileged enough to experience in the past!


    He¡­ he wanted to bear witness to it all!


    Raphael was clearly excited.


    As he spied the figure of the Imperial Prince through the gaps of the trees, his body was still shuddering.


    The rage from when the boy tried to rape his granddaughter, his loyalty to the Theocratic Empire, and finally, his emotions as a researcher of magic¡­ All of these disparate emotions chaotically collided in his mind and he fell headlong into a pit of confusion.


    ¡®I must report this to his majesty.¡¯


    Indeed, he must report what he saw to the Holy Emperor. And then¡­


    ¡®¡­And then?¡¯


    Raphael lowered his head in contemplation.


    And then¡­


    ¡­If his majesty the Holy Emperor commanded Raphael to ¡®raise¡¯ the boy, then well, he¡¯d have no choice but to heed this ¡®imperial order¡¯ and accept the child as his disciple.


    Yes, he wouldn¡¯t have a choice anymore¡­ But, how could he take on a mangnani that tried to harm his granddaughter as a disciple? No, such a thing could not happen! However, abandoning such an immense talent was no different from going against the Goddess¡¯s wishes!


    His mind was spinning dizzyingly from one direction to the next.


    Raphael glared at the boy with eyes filled with both rage and greed.


    ¡°Allen Olfolse¡­¡±


    He subconsciously muttered out the name of the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    < 047. Imperial Prince is Hunting Beasts -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 83 - 48. Imperial Prince is Enjoying the Festival (Part One)

    **


    I was at the shooting range inside Hilda fiefdom.


    There were targets meant for bows and crossbows placed in intervals of 100 to 200 metres, while even bigger targets for siege weapons were placed over 400 metres away.


    A bird flew in and settled down on one of the branches of a tree.


    The dwarves were sitting near the entrance of the forest with expressions of anticipation on their faces. In their hands was a combination of a pen and paper.


    I put on some gloves and raised a musket rifle.


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia. Grant me your blessing.¡±


    A minute to gather enough divinity, then another thirty seconds to offer up a prayer.


    Divinity visibly coalesced and began spinning wildly within the musket¡¯s barrel. I even activated Divine Aura too.


    A new skill [Divinity Storage Expansion] was added on top of the already-existing [Burst Fire]. Even the range had expanded too.


    I took aim at the target located at about one hundred metres away and pulled the trigger. My hands, currently strengthened through body reinforcement magic, felt the strong recoil.


    A loud gunshot rang out and the projectile flew with an explosive burst of speed. The divine bullet not just destroyed the target, it even shattered the rock behind it.


    ¡°Oh! Ohhhhh-!¡±


    The dwarves immediately jumped up to their feet. They began clenching their fists tightly and cried out in elation, while some others couldn¡¯t even hide their excitement and began bouncing around.


    Heck, some of them dropped their pen and paper, completely forgetting to evaluate what just happened.


    The dwarves were clearly having a jolly good time right now. On the other hand, I was being tormented by them.


    After exhausting some more of my divinity, I lowered the musket and wiped the sweat off my forehead.


    It had already been two weeks since we subjugated the lycans.


    As soon as my body recovered to its full health, the dwarves wanted to evaluate the performances of their musket rifles.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s truly excellent, your highness.¡±


    I glanced to my side and saw Belrog walking up to me.


    He still seemed to be in disbelief while he stroked the musket that had been enhanced by the Divine Aura.


    Belrog observed the bluish light in the shape of a magic rune letter enveloping the weapon and spat out a string of appreciation. ¡°No, it¡¯s beyond excellent, your highness. It¡¯s like the weapon itself has come to life and is even breathing right now. It¡¯s evolved to the next level after coming to life, by the looks of it.¡±


    As expected of a master weaponsmith, his appreciation of the musket came across as rather emotive.


    ¡°Okay, so what did you think?¡± While asking, I handed the musket over to Belrog. However, the moment it left my hand, the rune letter simply disappeared.


    Belrog muttered to himself, ¡°Divine Aura only activates when it¡¯s being held?¡±


    He then took aim at another target with the very same musket, and began chanting some incantation. He injected Mana into the weapon, focused for the next five minutes, and pulled the trigger at the distant target.


    First shot.


    The dwarf sucked in a deep breath then resumed injecting Mana through his hands.


    Second shot.


    He fired the third and fourth shot in the same manner.


    Projectiles of Mana left the barrel and a little while later, the target standing about one hundred metres away from us shook around while making ¡®Bang, bang!¡¯ noises.


    I was totally dumbfounded by this sight.


    ¡°Your highness, this is the actual power of the musket.¡± Belrog was panting heavily as if he had exerted himself to an extreme degree just now. ¡°This particular weapon is one of the finest examples we have crafted, and this level of ability to rapidly fire is only possible through a lot of training as well.¡±


    ¡°¡­Rapid fire? But it looked to me like you were firing one shot, reload, and then fire another one?¡±


    Belrog replied testily with a dissatisfied expression. ¡°This is the so-called rapid firing as seen from our standards, your highness. This is already five times faster than existing muskets.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, to begin with, you¡¯ve been flooding the weapon with a stupid amount of divinity, so your level of firepower displayed isn¡¯t surprising, and also¡­¡± Belrog tutted a little. ¡°¡­Through the mysteries of [Divine Aura], it seems that the internal structure of the musket itself has been modified as well. Now, originally, a musket shouldn¡¯t even be able to withstand the amount of divinity you normally injected into it and end up breaking apart. So, when I first heard the report, I assumed it¡¯d be only on the level of reinforcing the weapon. But now, this¡­¡±


    Belrog looked excited as he lifted the musket above his head. He placed it to block the sun¡¯s rays and then narrowed his eyes.


    ¡°¡­This is true advancement.¡±


    The ability to reinforce regular weapons, and to make those very magic weapons leap past an entire generation of advancement ¨C this was how Belrog evaluated my Divine Aura.


    Now that I think about it, notifications kept saying something about ¡®advancement¡¯ or some such whenever I used Divine Aura, didn¡¯t it?


    Belrog seemed to be in deep contemplation, but he eventually addressed me again. ¡°While you¡¯re gathering divinity and praying, wouldn¡¯t you be exposed to danger many times like that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah. That happens a heck of a lot too, I tell ya.¡±


    It sure had been dicey during my encounters with the Vampires and the lycans, and the story shouldn¡¯t be too different if I need to confront humans at a later stage.


    Especially in the cases of bows or crossbows ¨C they could be reloaded very quickly and that would be quite dangerous for me.


    Of course, if things do get really dangerous, then I was planning to summon my undead and use them as shields, regardless of whether there were witnesses or not.


    ¡°Wait, now that I recall, your highness, isn¡¯t your body reinforcement magic already on the level of being monstrous? It must be at least half, or more than half, of an Ogre¡¯s physical strength. And an Ogre is often referred to as the king of forests. So, how about¡­¡± Belrog raised his head in my direction and asked, ¡°¡­Putting on some kind of armour?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    I tilted my head.


    Belrog tried explaining. ¡°If you put on some armour and use Divine Aura to reinforce them, then well, the likes of mid-to-lower tier magic spells won¡¯t even¡­¡±


    It was then, another dwarf approached us in a leisurely gait of a man on a stroll, and waved his hand at us. ¡°Preparations are complete now. Lady Hilda is calling for you, your highness!¡±


    Belrog smacked his lips ruefully before looking at me. ¡°Let us discuss the matter of your armour at a later stage. I might as well gift you with a set later on.¡±


    He bowed his head as his goodbye and then walked over to the other dwarves. ¡°Fire up the smelting furnace. Prepare forged steel, some gemstones of spirits Eltera, white silver and mistletoe grass. And also, Alchemists¡­¡±


    While I eavesdropped on him, the dwarf who was strolling up to me tugged at my clothes. I turned my gaze to him.


    He grinned brightly and spoke, ¡°Let¡¯s get going, your highness. A festival meant for you is about to get underway!¡±


    **


    In the middle of the village¡¯s plaza.


    Hilda walked up to an elevated platform with no noticeable expression on her face. On her right hand was a liquor bottle, while her left was holding a cup.


    The villagers were staring at her, their hands holding baskets of fruits.


    Hilda poured the liquor in the cup, and once the crimson-coloured liquid filled it up, she took a hearty swig of the aromatic drink.


    After she cleanly emptied it, she began spraying the villagers below the platform with the alcohol in the bottle.


    She shouted out, ¡°I declare the festival of blood now open!¡±


    ¡°Waaaaaah!¡±


    The villagers loudly cheered on.


    Flower petals were scattered from the vicinity of the village. At the same time, red-coloured fruits were tossed in the air.


    This fruit reminded me of a tomato; they jiggled in the air and burst into bits after hitting their intended targets. The villagers exploded in loud peals of laughter as they began tossing these squishy fruits at each other.


    The ¡®festival of blood¡¯ ¨C as it turned out, it was an actual festival that Hilda fiefdom was preparing to hold. It was a festival where people popped the crimson fruits to substitute for real blood and get rid of all the misfortunes that might befall on them.


    The closest equivalent that I could think of back on Earth was the annual tomato festival in Spain. This also happened to be the festival Luan was telling me about earlier too.


    I shifted my gaze.


    It seemed that even the Crimson Cross and Verdant Cross folks were enjoying the festival as well. But uh, weren¡¯t they going to take off their bird beak masks and balaclavas? How were they going to even eat and drink like that?


    I looked away from them and began admiring the villagers enjoying the festival. ¡°Well, there really are a lot of beauties in this place.¡±


    I was currently sitting by a table placed on the street. After picking out a tomato-like red fruit nearby, I sliced a piece off before munching on it.


    My eyes went round from surprise and I hurriedly looked down at the fruit.


    Wow, as expected of the fiefdom¡¯s specialty product, it tastes really great! I should take some with me and give it to Charlotte and Harman later. That¡¯ll probably make them happy.


    It was then, a massive cup was placed on my table with a loud thud.


    ¡°Your highness! How about accepting a shot from us!¡±


    The dwarves were gathering around me.


    They seemed to have knocked back a few already, as evidenced by their complexions being beet-red.


    The dozens of dwarves were grinning away as if they were feeling rather pleased about something. One of them then began pouring the red liquor from the bottles held in both of his hands into that large cup.


    Although the cup in question was as big as my head, the alcohol was actually spilling from the top now.


    ¡°Here you go! Go ahead, your highness! Enjoy!¡±


    The dwarves were pressing their faces real close now.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I could only smile awkwardly at them.


    Maybe this world didn¡¯t have a minimum age for drinking? Well, I did drink back in Ronia, so it¡¯s not going to be an issue, I guess.


    I lifted up the hefty cup.


    Wha-? This thing tastes like soju mixed with ground tomatoes!


    My head spun. Holy cow, this is pretty strong, innit?!


    When I managed to gurgle down the whole cup, a loud cheering exploded from all around me.


    ¡°Alright! One more, your highness! Just one more!¡±


    More alcohol was poured into the cup.


    ¡°Your highness! Us too¡­!¡±


    The villagers walked up to me and poured even more alcohol in my cup.


    My head was really spinning now, But hey, it didn¡¯t feel all that bad.


    Actually, a pleased grin was spreading on my lips all by itself.


    Genuine laughters were overflowing from seemingly everywhere.


    Despite going through a horrifying event just recently, it looked to me they were ridding themselves of the nightmare through their laughters.


    Also, it felt like they weren¡¯t conscious of my station of being an Imperial Prince. The reason for that must¡¯ve been¡­.


    ¡°Everyone, raise your cups for a toast!¡±


    ¡­Probably because of Hilda.


    Rather than an Imperial Princess, she looked more like a regular citizen enjoying the village¡¯s festival right now.


    Her outfit was simple and plain. In fact, she didn¡¯t even try acting elegant and cultured, either.


    She was holding a bottle to pour the alcohol into the cups of her villagers while merrily laughing alongside them.


    ¡°The monsters have vanished. This is the blessing of the goddess, Gaia! And to my dear younger brother who has accomplished this wonderful feat, a toast to Allen Olfolse! Cheers!¡±


    ¡°Cheers!¡±


    Cups and glasses clinked noisily against each other.

 Chapter 84 - Imperial Prince is Enjoying the Festival (Part Two)

    Meanwhile, red fruits continued flying around and dyeing the village crimson.


    I guessed that the villagers and the dwarves were going to have a hard time trying to mop everything up later on.


    It was then, my ears caught the laughter of children. I shifted my head in that direction.


    Raphael¡¯s granddaughter, Alice Astoria, didn¡¯t seem to mind her own status while letting her hair down to enjoy the festival. It made some sense to me, considering that it must¡¯ve been pretty rough working as a lady-in-waiting in that stuffy imperial palace.


    She was tossing the red fruits at the other kids as if they were having a snowball fight. However, she must have lost to them once already, because she was dyed from head to toe in red by the time I saw her.


    ¡°You guys¡­!¡±


    Alice was throwing the fruits at the children with a playful smile on her face.


    The kids dodged her throws. But then¡­ one of the stray fruits flew in and hit me on the head before going splat.


    The gooey juice trickled down from the fruit. I lightly brushed it off and laughed out loudly too.


    On the other hand, the thrower¡¯s face paled in an instant. Alice¡¯s whole body seemed to shudder as she hurriedly bowed and apologised. ¡°I-I¡¯m terribly sorry, your highness!¡±


    ¡°This is nothing, though. You can relax, Alice Astoria.¡±


    Despite me telling her that it was all fine, she still continued apologising over and over again while bowing nonstop.


    Well, this body¡¯s previous owner tried to assault her in the past, so her reaction couldn¡¯t be helped, I thought.


    But getting hit by one or two stray fruits was nothing major, really. Besides, wasn¡¯t this festival all about letting the red fruits hit you to get rid of your misfortunes in the first place, anyways?


    So, this was also a part of this festival¡¯s charms!


    Seeing her shiver away like that only made me feel sorry for her.


    Sure, we did chat a lot inside the library, but she still must¡¯ve had a lot of trauma left over.


    I picked up a cup and asked her, ¡°Wanna drink? No need to push yourself though.¡±


    She cautiously glanced at her surroundings when I said that.


    The dwarves around us were staring at her with sparkling eyes. It was kind of obvious that they also wanted her to down at least one cup.


    I totally understood her dilemma. The sparkling eyes of these uncles made it mysteriously difficult to say no.


    Despite their short heights, their faces belonged to tough middle-aged uncles. Yet, their expressions resembled pure-hearted children.


    Their truly unique outer appearances made it doubly harder to refuse.


    Alice met my gaze for a moment before smiling awkwardly. ¡°In that case, maybe a little.¡±


    Her cup and mine lightly clinked. We then proceeded to drink to our hearts¡¯ fill. Meanwhile, the dwarves all around us boisterously chatted away.


    I was getting a bit tipsy, but that did wonders with getting rid of that awkward air from earlier.


    She seemed to be drunk as well, since she asked me a question with a reddened complexion. ¡°Your highness. That¡­ Resurrection magic, just how did you pull it off?¡±


    I took another gulp of the booze and easily ¡®fessed up. ¡°It¡¯s pretty simple. Remember that theory you told me earlier?¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°A totally absurd amount of divinity. I used that for my healing magic.¡±


    I also used Amon¡¯s skull and almost risked my life to save Luan¡¯s butt. Although, I still shudder to this day whenever I look back to that event. That was because I was dumb and had no idea that Resurrection magic could be so dangerous.


    She continued on, ¡°But in such a case, his highness Luan should¡¯ve died and his soul¡­¡±


    ¡°All you gotta do is catch the soul and drag it back to where it belongs.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Alice¡¯s eyes went round from shock. ¡°Capture a soul? But how?¡±


    She softly muttered under her breath.


    While placing the cup near her lips, she tried asking me again, but I could see her eyes drifting away, almost ready to pass out. ¡°But, is such a miracle even possible?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s possible, at least if it¡¯s me.¡±


    One would need the combination of a Priest¡¯s and a Necromancer¡¯s attributes. Excluding me, pulling that off was probably impossible for the people of this world.


    She murmured softly, ¡°Oh my goodness¡­ Such a thing was actually possible?¡±


    I grinned slyly and replied, ¡°No need to be surprised though. It was all thanks to you anyway.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets this time.


    Well, I wasn¡¯t lying about that. The Resurrection magic I performed was a combination of my divinity, Amon¡¯s skull, and Alice¡¯s pool of knowledge.


    If she hadn¡¯t spent the whole night telling me about the base theory, and if it wasn¡¯t for the game¡¯s class attribute which helped me quickly understand the theory regarding magic, this miracle couldn¡¯t have come about at all.


    ¡°I learned everything I needed from you back in the library that night, you see? The First Imperial Prince Luan Olfolse survived all thanks to you. So, it¡¯s fine for you to be proud of this accomplishment. You¡¯re a terrific healer who never gave up on her patient even right till the end.¡±


    She clamped her mouth shut. Her eyes showed how conflicted and confused she was feeling right now. However, that didn¡¯t last for long; she emptied her booze in one go and stood up from her seat.


    ¡°I am Alice Astoria, the granddaughter of Archbishop Raphael Astoria.¡± She held the corners of her dress and lifted them up a little before elegantly bowing. ¡°Although late, this servant greets his highness. I¡¯d like to express my gratitude for healing this one¡¯s patient, his highness Luan Olfolse.¡± A refreshing smile was now etched on her face. ¡°I thank you from the bottom of my heart.¡±


    I smiled back in response, and raised my cup.


    While looking straight back at me, she too raised hers and we clinked our cups once more.


    I replied. ¡°I¡¯m also grateful. All thanks to you, I¡¯ve learned a lot of things.¡±


    Yeah, the theories she taught me would no doubt improve my powers further down the line. Make me much stronger and stuff like that.


    Just as I was about to take another gulp of the booze, I flinched nastily and my body subconsciously stiffened all on its own.


    I felt a chill run down my backside.


    What the hell? What¡¯s this? Who is it?!


    A stinging glare was stabbing me in the back. It even contained a mixture of killing intent and madness too.


    While shedding drops of cold sweat, I cautiously looked behind me and immediately discovered the owner of that glare.


    A certain old man was standing in the midst of the villagers.


    ¡­Raphael Astoria.


    Veins were bulging on his forehead, and the corners of his lips were quivering ominously as he continued glaring at me.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Charlotte was heading east after receiving the Holy Emperor¡¯s letter of recommendation.


    1


    Accompanied by the Paladins, she rode on a carriage and travelled tirelessly for a while. Eventually, the destination she reached was a city called Humite, located in the southern region of the empire¡¯s territory and near the border to Aslan Kingdom.


    She carried the recommendation letter for Humite Academy and went to find a certain individual living in the vicinity of the academy.


    She found the address and knocked on the door before stepping inside.


    It was then, a voice suddenly called out to her.


    ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re that girl.¡±


    The voice was low and hushed. However, the sheer sense of weight contained in that voice crushed down on Charlotte¡¯s shoulders.


    She tensed up and observed an old man before her eyes. His age must¡¯ve been somewhere around early to mid eighties. He was also thin as a stick. For some reason, he was even dressed like a poor farmer too.


    Yet, there was a large burn scar on his face.


    1


    While resting both of his hands on a walking stick, he sat on a chair with his head arrogantly cocked at an angle.


    His glare, as sharp as a treasure sword, was locked firmly on her.


    ¡°¡­The puppet of a girl who was granted the name of Heraiz.¡±


    Charlotte stepped forward.


    She knelt before the old man and bowed. ¡°Charlotte Heraiz. His majesty has bestowed that name onto me.¡±


    ¡°My name is Oscal Baldur.¡±


    Her body instantly froze up at this revelation. While shedding thick cold sweat drops, she looked up at the old man.


    Oscal Baldur.


    The vice captain of the Order of the Golden Cross personally led by the emperor himself, and also a man exalted as the Theocratic Empire¡¯s ¡®Sword King¡¯.


    He was also another one of the great heroes who fought against Necromancer King Amon¡¯s undead army.


    ¡°I ask you, little girl. What do you want?¡±


    Charlotte responded without hesitation, ¡°It¡¯s strength.¡±


    ¡°And what will you do with that strength?¡±


    ¡°I swear to serve and protect the Seventh Imperial Prince.¡±


    ¡°If he tells you to die?¡±


    ¡°My life is only possible because of his grace. Even my parents have been saved by him. To repay this debt, I¡¯m prepared to sacrifice my life.¡±


    ¡°What if his highness tells you to kill him?¡±


    Charlotte flinched and looked up at the old man.


    Oscal Baldur expressed his displeasure at Charlotte¡¯s hesitation. ¡°Still an immature little child, I see¡­ And quite stupid to boot!¡±


    ¡°¡­My apologies.¡±


    ¡°Listen well. We are nothing but mere puppets. We must carry out any and all commands of the Imperial Family, regardless of what they are. If we are commanded to kill the empire¡¯s subjects, then we must not differentiate between men, women, children, and the elderly and execute everyone we see. Even if that command extends to our masters, we must follow through their will. Their commands are absolute. You must not harbour a hint of hesitation, a trace of suspicion, or even as much as a question in your heart. Do you understand?¡±


    1


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°If our masters order us to kill, then we will kill. It does not matter whether we stab a blade into the heart or cut open the throat. As long as they are ¡®certain¡¯ of something, we must unhesitantly carry out their will. If our master possesses the ¡®rightful succession to the throne¡¯, then we must absolutely heed the command. Disobedience will not be permitted. That is something only heretics will do.¡±


    The old man repeated himself like a madman.


    However, Charlotte didn¡¯t say anything and continued to listen.


    ¡°I shall ask again. What if his highness asks you to kill him?¡±


    ¡°¡­I will not comply.¡±


    ¡°How foolish you are!¡± The old man stood up from the chair. ¡°However, that will only make it more satisfying to tame you.¡±


    The old man used the tip of his walking stick to lift up Charlotte¡¯s chin.


    ¡°As per his majesty¡¯s imperial decree, I shall turn you into a proper monster. Of course, that¡¯s only when you manage to survive till the end.¡±


    1


    Oscal Baldur looked down at her as the corners of his lips curled up into a sinister grin.


    ¡°I congratulate you for becoming a puppet of the Imperial Family, Charlotte Heraiz.¡±


    < 048. Imperial Prince is Enjoying the Festival (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 85 - 049. Imperial Prince is Hunting Santa -1 (Part One)

    2


    **


    In the middle of a dark and gloomy night.


    A ¡®person¡¯ wearing a red robe was deftly jumping between rooftops to move from one spot to another. It had a rotund physique, abundant beard, and even a matching large red pouch too.


    This being¡¯s eyes busily darted around here and there. Eventually, those eyes discovered a child still out and about despite the late hours.


    A smile spread on the lips of this red-robed being before it quietly leaped off from the roof. It pounced on the child before shoving its victim inside the pouch.


    -Woo-wuk?!


    The pouch tumbled around. Inside it was filled with other children and they began screaming together.


    1


    The red-robed being continued grinning as it leapt back up to the roof, then it dashed away from there.


    The commotion prompted the neighbours to open their windows and look up at the sky.


    And right there on the rooftop with the pale blue moonlight shining down, was a red creature sinisterly cackling away. But in the blink of an eye, it¡­ vanished.


    The stunned neighbours cried out.


    ¡°It¡¯s here! The devil has shown up here!¡±


    ¡°Call the garrison!¡±


    ¡°Hide the children! Hurry and hide them!¡±


    The people called that creature the ¡®Red Devil¡¯.


    They told their children that ¡®if they do bad things, the Red Devil will come and devour them¡¯. However, that story wasn¡¯t a fantasy but something based on reality.


    An actual red-coloured devil was roaming throughout this city.


    **


    I spent one more month in Hilda fiefdom after the festival came to an end. Eventually, I had to return to the capital city, Laurensis.


    While staring at the distant imperial palace, veins began bulging on my forehead.


    ¡°You stinking son of a b*tch of a brother. You just wait for me, cuz I¡¯ll be gifting you with a holy bullet to your head pretty soon.¡±


    As soon as I stepped inside the palace, a rather grand welcoming party greeted me. However, I cleanly ignored all the servants and maids lining up on the corridor and continued to stride away towards my destination.


    I also immediately summoned a musket rifle. The Crimson Cross knights were following quietly behind me.


    I flung open the door to my dear oldest brother, Luan Olfolse¡¯s private quarters.


    ¡°Kkyaaahk?!¡±


    Three very naked maids screamed and hurriedly shielded themselves with the bed sheets.


    Huh, someone was busy hoofing it around in a forest hunting down some beasts, but here¡¯s some other fool who¡¯s busy living a dream life with a beastly body.


    Since he was a bit of a pretty boy, I guess that he managed to sweet-talk a few gullible ladies.


    My stomach began aching in jealousy.


    Unlike the tense maids, though, Luan seemed rather relaxed. He laughed magnanimously after spotting me before putting on his clothes in a leisurely manner. ¡°Allen, it¡¯s been a while! I did hear that you¡¯ve returned. I was about to finish up here and head out to welc¡­¡±


    However, Luan froze up when he saw the musket in my hand.


    ¡°¡­Allen, what are you doing with such a dangerous object?¡±


    ¡°Get those girls outta here.¡±


    I issued a command and the Crimson Cross knights took off their robes and wrapped them around the women, then led them outside the room.


    Even if they were religious fanatics, at least they were also behaving like gentlemen, so that was nice.


    I closed the door shut behind me and began injecting divinity into the musket.


    ¡°Huh? A-Allen, hold on. That¡¯s not a toy, brother.¡±


    Luan¡¯s complexion darkened rapidly. He even stumbled back.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, big brother.¡± I walked over to him and then pointed the muzzle at his head. ¡°This bullet contains healing magic, so you probably won¡¯t die. However, since you¡¯re getting hit from a close range, it might hurt just a tiny bit.¡±


    Luan¡¯s eyes visibly shook.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you still find the after-effects of the Resurrection spell unbearable, so as your dear younger brother, allow me to ¡®massage¡¯ your head off, okay?¡±


    I snickered and pulled the trigger containing my rage.


    **


    While exiting from the room, I glanced behind me.


    Luan was on the floor, still grunting in pain while holding his forehead. ¡°Allen, isn¡¯t this too much?! How could you do this to your beloved brother?!¡±


    I glared at him, the corners of my lips quivering. ¡°I¡¯m exhausted from the long itinerary. Which is why I¡¯m thinking of taking a lengthy break, and I¡¯d like you to handle all the duties originally meant for me, big brother. If you have any semblance of morals left, then you mustn¡¯t refuse.¡±


    ¡°Mm¡­ Very well. I did commit the sin of deceiving my little brother, so it can¡¯t be helped, I guess.¡± Luan groaned and nodded slowly. He shook his head and then changed his expression to a grin before continuing on. ¡°In any case, welcome back home, my beloved little brother!¡±


    What the f*ck? You¡¯re having a laugh, aren¡¯t you?


    I almost threw up in my mouth just now. Beloved, my ass! Where would you find someone under the heavens heartless enough to send their youngest brother to a lycanthrope hunt?!


    I angrily slammed the door shut behind me.


    Right, I better stop wasting my mind space on that guy.


    I also might as well refuse to do anything for the next month or so, even if I have to resort to throwing a tantrum or something. Only then will I be able to vent some steam.


    Since my previously-stuck divinity control was getting better, what I should do now was to focus on learning new magic spells.


    I headed to the library afterwards. Found a book, flipped it open, and read it all. One book, two books, then three¡­


    All thanks to the in-game attribute of being a Necromancer, I was able to immediately absorb all the knowledge on display.


    It kind of felt similar to ¡®reading¡¯ skill books in games. Except that it also felt like a ¡®skill¡¯ was being created based on the magic theories as soon as I finished reading all the different books.


    Also, if a grimoire proved to be complicated or a part of it was difficult for me to understand, then it would take a lot more effort for me to master what¡¯s contained within. On top of that, I faced quite a lot of problems trying to read and understand grimoires that didn¡¯t fall within the categories of Priests and Necromancers.


    And finally, it seemed that even the magic I did master would vary in effectiveness depending on my proficiency with it.


    While I immersed myself in studying, something began getting on my nerves quite a bit.


    I glanced to my front. And there he was, a certain old man quietly, intensely staring at me from beyond the open gap of the library¡¯s door.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    That old man, he started doing that ever since the festival in Hilda fiefdom.


    To avoid being stared at like this, I picked a few grimoires that looked interesting and left the library. While walking down the corridor, I still felt his naked glare stabbing me in the back.


    Next morning.


    A maidservant opened the door to my room to bring in my breakfast.


    However, Raphael was standing beyond the door like a lamp post despite it being an early morning.


    Later in the day, as I was walking in the corridors, Raphael silently chased after me while maintaining some distance.


    Morning, lunch, in the evening, library, inside my room, within the corridors¡­


    ¡­I kept sensing that stabbing glare all over me.


    While shedding thick, cold sweat drops, I stared right back at Raphael.


    That intense and quiet stare didn¡¯t even try to hide the ¡®greed¡¯ contained within.


    At first, I thought he was planning to take his revenge on me for harming his granddaughter or something. Then, since she was his precious granddaughter and all, I figured he was keeping his eyes on me to make sure that I didn¡¯t go around doing all that mangnani stuff again.


    But those guesses were all wrong.


    Man, I can¡¯t even breathe properly here¡­


    Holy cow. This geezer, is he suffering from dementia or something?!


    I tried my best in distancing myself from him after sensing this ominous foreboding.


    Later on, I entered the imperial palace¡¯s private baths.


    I refused the maidservants who offered to wash my body, but rather, I ordered them to not allow anyone to enter the baths instead.


    Once everything was locked and secure, I dipped my weary body in the warm water. But then, my eye muscles began twitching uncontrollably when a certain figure oh-so naturally and silently slipped into the opposite side of the bath.


    Who else could it be other than Raphael Astoria?


    He settled down on my opposite side, and then continued on with his quiet but intense stare.


    I swallowed my dry saliva. ¡°¡­What is it, your eminence?¡±


    ¡°Your highness¡­¡± Raphael finally broke his silence. ¡°¡­Do you have any thoughts of learning magic from me?¡±


    **


    ¡°What the hell is this¡­? Gimme a freaking¡­ Urgh, seriously¡­?!¡±


    Inside Luan¡¯s quarters.


    We were sitting by his balcony and I was busy expressing my rage.


    I originally planned to enjoy plenty of rest for at least a month, but I was now suffering from an unexpected stalker problem.


    The First Imperial Prince Luan tried calming me down by pouring some red tea into my cup. ¡°How about you take a step back and calm down first? Raphael merely wishes to teach you, that¡¯s all. Isn¡¯t it a considerable honour? It¡¯s an opportunity to learn from the continent¡¯s number one magic resear¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to.¡±


    I frowned deeply while taking a sip of the aromatic red tea.


    As long as I had access to grimoires, I could learn magic at any time. If I failed to understand a magic theory, I could either ask Alice or check out other related tomes. That¡¯s all.


    But then, what were you telling me to do? One-on-one private tutoring lessons from that perverted geezer? Just thinking about that gave me nasty goosebumps.


    It was then, a knocking sound came from the door.


    Once Luan permitted entry, a maidservant stepped inside. She cautiously studied my mood before whispering something to Luan¡¯s ear.


    He replied, ¡°I see. I shall speak to his majesty right away.¡±


    After slightly nodding his head, he dismissed the maidservant.


    I commented at that sight, ¡°You seem to be rather busy lately.¡±


    But then again, he had been taking on my duties too. Finding enough time to drink tea like this would be a hard luxury to come by for him.


    However, Luan waved his hand dismissively as if there was nothing to be concerned about. ¡°The Black Order is causing trouble again, that¡¯s all.¡±


    The Black Order?


    That¡¯s an organisation I also know something about. Wasn¡¯t that the one where Morgana the Witch swore allegiance to¡­ Eh?


    A thought suddenly popped into my head.

 Chapter 86 - 049. Imperial Prince is Hunting Santa -1 (Part Two)

    All things related to Priests were basically strewn about messily within the imperial palace, but for some reason, I couldn¡¯t even find a hint of any books related to Necromancy no matter how hard I tried.


    Luan carried on talking in the meantime. ¡°They sure are a big source of headache, aren¡¯t they? To think that they¡¯d show up in Humite of all places¡­ That¡¯s a sensitive location since many scions of nobles reside there. We did pounce on them in hopes of routing them out for good, but they still managed to crawl out from some other place.¡±


    ¡°¡­Are there no books related to Necromancy in the imperial palace?¡±


    At my abrupt question, Luan tilted his head this way and that. ¡°Of course there wouldn¡¯t be any such ominous materials kept in the palace. Most of the time, they are stored in nearby regions. Quite a number of them are stored in Humite Academy as well. The Magicians there are charged with managing them, actually.¡±


    1


    ¡°¡­Do they have a lot of them?¡±


    ¡°A lot of what?¡±


    ¡°Grimoires.¡±


    More correctly, tomes related to Necromancy of course.


    The skills I could use so far were fairly limited in scope. But judging from how there seemed to be restrictions in the skills I tried imagining, I must¡¯ve lacked enough knowledge related to that particular subject.


    In that case¡­ what if I had access to the ¡®things¡¯ that could fill in the gaps?


    ¡°Oh, that? Yes, there are plenty. A majority of all the grimoires that had been collected over the years are stored in the academy, after all.¡±


    A smile automatically broke out on my face when I heard what Luan said.


    ¡°Why? Are you interested?¡±


    Obviously. Since I was a Necromancer before being a Priest after all.


    Although the presence of the Black Order was a nuisance, that place sure sounded like an attractive location to spend my free time.


    My divinity control was on the verge of perfection after studying Morgana the Witch¡¯s grimoire.


    I got my hands on a grimoire that allowed me to blow away a Progenitor Vampire from a shabby little witch like her, so how could I not be tempted by the idea of numerous grimoires in the care of those magicians, plus all those items that equalled those books in value?


    That place was practically a treasure trove for someone like me.


    And one more thing ¨C I still had a score to settle with those Black Order bastards, too.


    I looked at Laun and addressed him. ¡°I¡¯d like to make an offer.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    I smiled brightly at him.


    Someone on the level of Morgana the Witch wouldn¡¯t even pose a problem for the current me. In that case, the same should probably apply to the Black Order, too.


    Hell, all of them should be at a far lower level compared to a Vampire, I¡¯d wager.


    ¡°I¡¯ll eliminate the Black Order for you, so how about giving me a bit of vacation in return?¡±


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV)


    ¡°A bunch of stinking cockroaches.¡±


    The Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse spat out an expletive.


    He was currently scanning through a report.


    [The Black Order¡¯s movements detected in the region of Humite. As proof, their familiar, ¡®Red Devil¡¯, has been spotted.]


    ¡°These bastards have finally lost their minds. To think that they dared to build a nest in a location where Oscal calls home. Do we look like easy marks to them or some such?¡±


    Kelt smacked his lips while his brows were furrowing deeply.


    The Black Order was one of the top five underworld organisations. Of course, it was nothing more than a newborn pup when compared to the might of Theocratic Empire.


    The real problem was their secretive nature.


    The Crimson Cross had captured and tortured a few of this organisation¡¯s members already, but even the captured ones didn¡¯t know anything in detail about their very own group.


    This organisation seemed to be completely shrouded in a thick veil. There was no way of finding out the command structure, nor was it easy to locate where they were even hiding.


    It was at this point that Kelt recalled the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s face. If it was that boy, he might be able to catch them rather easily.


    ¡®That kid even hunted the lycans down rather easily after all.¡¯


    According to Archbishop Raphael¡¯s testimony, the boy displayed an overwhelming level of power back then. And the ¡®holy undeads¡¯ were witnessed in action too.


    With that, the order of the potential successors to the imperial throne had been pretty much decided ¨C Luan, Hilda, and then Allen.


    The rest were all disqualified. They were either too cowardly or their skill levels were just not up to scratch.


    If it were those three, then they wouldn¡¯t betray whoever became the next emperor. No, they would respect one another instead. This meant that the Theocratic Empire in the future would have nothing to fear from if one of those three became the next emperor while the remaining two lent their support.


    Kelt glanced at another report and confirmed its contents.


    [The discovery of an individual who may be the missing Imperial Crown Prince. Location, a marketplace in Aslan in the south.]


    ¡°He¡¯s still driving me nuts, this child of mine. Are you still alive, or are you already dead, son?¡±


    Kelt could only groan helplessly.


    After a war against Aslan ended, the Imperial Crown Prince went missing. Whether one was dead or alive, he or she would still leave behind some traces of themselves somewhere ¨C but this son of his didn¡¯t even permit that from happening.


    Kelt¡¯s thoughts became even more complicated when he thought about his only son.


    He shifted his gaze to another report.


    [Aslan Kingdom¡¯s movements deemed to be suspicious. Movement of the Necromancy Corps., mainly composed of Necromancers, is detected.]


    ¡°¡­And these bastards have gone mad as a whole group.¡±


    Was Aslan preparing for yet another war?


    1


    Now that the Vampires and lycans had been taken care of, it was the turn for the humans to go mad and rampage around. No, hang on ¨C the empire had always been dealing with these insane bastards that dared to rampage around one by one, didn¡¯t it?


    Kelt turned his head and looked at his desk. Plenty more documents waiting for his attention were strewn on its surface.


    The empire¡¯s territories were vast, and many of its neighbouring nations depended on it. This resulted in a mountain of work that needed to be sifted through.


    He felt lightheaded from the prospect of the task at hand.


    He should¡¯ve abdicated early and retired, but his only son, the Imperial Crown Prince, just had to go missing as soon as ascending to the throne.


    All thanks to that, Kelt had to get back to the thick of things again.


    That damn child of his¡­ he wasn¡¯t even acting like a filial son and all that! At the very least, he should¡¯ve shown his face if he was alive, or let his remains be discovered if not! In that case, they would be able to hold a proper funeral or something!


    Kelt could only grin bitterly. ¡°Although I wouldn¡¯t have anything more to wish for if you¡¯re still alive somewhere, son. Uh-whew.¡±


    It was then, a knocking sound came from the door. It opened and Luan stepped into the chamber.


    What an excellent timing this was. Kelt pushed forward a big pile of documents in Luan¡¯s direction. The latter smiled awkwardly but still received them without a complaint.


    ¡°What brings you here?¡±


    Kelt asked him, wondering if this child came to lend an aid to his grandfather.


    But that would never happen. After his resurrection, this punk had been busy throwing himself into all those wonderful things that he previously couldn¡¯t enjoy until now.


    Although none of it reached the level of a mangnani, there was no doubt that Luan was having the time of his life right now.


    Luan Olfolse held Kelt¡¯s probing gaze and spoke up. ¡°Actually, I was thinking of dispatching Allen to Humite, grandfather.¡±


    ¡°To Humite, you say?¡±


    Kelt¡¯s brows rose up.


    ¡°Yes. Allen himself volunteered to go.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s gotten into him?¡±


    ¡°He says he has a score to settle with the Black Order.¡±


    ¡°A score?¡±


    This actually made sense to Kelt, since he already received a report regarding this topic already. Allen nearly died because of that witch named Morgana, after all.


    Was his desire for revenge born out from that incident? If that¡¯s not it, then could it be¡­


    -His highness was commanding the holy undead! This is the discovery of the century that can irrefutably prove Goddess Gaia¡¯s greatness! If it¡¯s your command, your majesty, I shall have no choice but to teach his highness. I shall mould him into an absolute powerhouse who will convey the noble might and greatness of our Theocratic Empire far and wide! That is why, please, issue your imperial decree¡­!


    Those passionate words belonged to Archbishop Raphael.


    Holy undead ¨C what a deeply appealing concept it was.


    An army of undead permeating not with the aura of death, but the sacred power of Gaia. An existence of a different foundation compared to what the Necromancers could summon.


    With it, one could safely argue that the goddess of life, Gaia, now possessed a type of divine authority that could threaten the god of death, Yudai.


    Necromancy was a forbidden power that was only legal to use in Aslan. But what if a version of that could be utilised even within the Theocratic Empire?


    Without a doubt, an epoch-shifting rift would happen within Aslan¡¯s political structure. Their values would be rocked to the core and many of their subjects would probably convert religions as well.


    Thinking about all the possibilities made Kelt quite excited. So much so that he was this close to asking Allen to show him these holy undeads right now.


    ¡°Did he ask for anything in return?¡± Kelt asked Luan.


    ¡°Ask something in return¡­? He did question me about magic grimoires, actually. Necromancer¡¯s tomes and¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±


    Kelt nodded slowly.


    For sure, that boy must¡¯ve been thinking of something.


    ¡°Very well. Dispatch him.¡±


    Luan seemed surprised at the emperor¡¯s swift decision.


    ¡°Aslan has been making suspicious manoeuvres lately, anyways. They must be planning to work together with the Black Order to do something.¡±


    The Black Order was an organisation built up on the foundation of Necromancy. And apparently, they seemed to have close ties to the kingdom of Aslan who worshipped the god of death.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what they¡¯re scheming together, but it¡¯d be quite refreshing to stop them dead in their tracks, wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡± Kelt Olfolse addressed Luan. ¡°Do not spare any resources in supporting the boy. If he wants something¡­¡±


    Kelt stared deeply at Luan.


    ¡°¡­It doesn¡¯t matter what it is, make it happen.¡±


    < 049. Imperial Prince is Hunting Santa -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 87 - 050. Imperial Prince is Hunting Santa -2 (Part One)

    Harman and I climbed aboard a carriage after two weeks of preparation came to an end. And on the tenth day of travel to Humite¡­


    The inside of the carriage made clunking noises due to the uneven road surfaces.


    Harman pushed forward a document in my direction. ¡°It¡¯s your new identity, your highness. With the aid of the feudal lord Jenald, we were able to give you the false identity of his adopted son. Also, here. It seems that his highness Luan wished for you to have a quiet but enjoyable time in our destination.¡±


    He produced another document and handed it over to me.


    ¡°This is a transfer document to the Humite Academy. Since you have a student¡¯s identity, the Black Order shouldn¡¯t suspect you immediately. In fact, spending some time as a student while fulfilling your duties can perhaps be¡­¡±


    ¡°Man, my big brother did something unnecessary, didn¡¯t he? Forget about being a student or whatever, it¡¯ll be over as soon as I discover where those stinkers are hiding at, you know?¡±


    2


    I clicked my tongue.


    What I wanted was the right to freely access the library. Oh, and also those tomes related to Necromancy under the management of the library¡¯s overseers.


    Harman opened the window pane of the carriage.


    It was getting pretty deep into the night. If we didn¡¯t have lanterns attached to our carriage, it would¡¯ve been next to impossible to discern anything in our vicinity.


    Even through the darkness of the night, I could see lights from a city coming from below the hill in the far-off distance.


    ¡°We should arrive at our destination later tonight, your highness. But do you really not require any escorts?¡±


    Currently, our carriage didn¡¯t have any escorts or even simple guards. I asked Luan to make it so that I could move around freely within Humite.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. You already know I¡¯m capable of anyways.¡±


    Harman knew full well what I could do. And he seemed to know how to keep secrets, seeing as he hasn¡¯t blabbed anything to anyone yet. However, I was still kind of confused about him not reporting the truth to the Holy Emperor, though.


    ¡°Also, it¡¯ll be more convenient for me without any eyewitnesses around, too.¡±


    ¡°But your highness, your safety¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, let me ask you this then. Between Ronia¡¯s Vampire Count and the Black Order, which one of the two do you think is stronger?¡±


    ¡°¡­Even if the Black Order members attack in droves, they wouldn¡¯t be able to leave a scratch on that Vampire Count.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s all good in that case, right?¡±


    While replying like that, I read the contents of the documents.


    The emperor himself personally provided me with the necessary intel this time around; information related to the incidents and various crimes the Black Order was responsible for. Such as, mercilessly devastating villages, committing murders, and even abducting children too.


    However, all these incidents could be considered small scale on the level of a ¡®village¡¯.


    They didn¡¯t have the resources or the talents of the Vampires to infiltrate the imperial palace, nor did they possess enough strength to rock a region like how the lycanthropes had done.


    Meaning¡­ they were nothing more than small fries.


    Man, it¡¯s really surprising to learn that such small-time crooks were aiming for my life.


    However, they were going to be ¡®useful¡¯ in their own way. They possessed considerable wealth of ¡®magical knowledge¡¯; seeing as their own lifespan had to be put up as collateral, they literally risked their own lives to research and refine their magic. This naturally indicated that they should be in possession of many valuable books and items related to their research.


    ¡°Hey, Harman.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Since I¡¯m dealing with bad people here, it¡¯s okay to do whatever I want, right?¡±


    The Holy Emperor personally granted me the authority of a ¡®Heresy Inquisitor¡¯. Because it was his imperial command, no one would be able to hinder me unless three or more archbishops agreed to do so.


    2


    As the Black Order bastards were the villains in this case, it¡¯d be left completely up to me whether I choose to roast them alive or chop them up into tiny little bits.


    ¡°¡­Your highness. Your current expression resembles his majesty a little too much.¡±


    1


    Harman sitting on my opposite side in the carriage was making a fed-up face. I flinched and hurriedly touched my lips. Since when did I start making creepy grins like this one?


    ¡°There¡¯s no bloody way I resemble my grandfather.¡±


    ¡°Actually, you¡¯re a perfect copy of his majesty.¡±


    1


    ¡°¡­¡± I smacked my lips unhappily before continuing on, ¡°By the way, what¡¯s this?¡±


    I pushed forward one of the documents containing information.


    Harman took it over, browsed it, and then responded. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s the Red Devil.¡±


    Red Devil?


    ¡°Well, you know that tale, don¡¯t you? The one about the Red Devil coming to abduct children who are being naughty.¡±


    ¡°Is that like a fairytale or something?¡±


    ¡°The Red Devil actually exists, your highness. From what I hear, it has a rotund body, overgrown beard, and wears red clothing. While carrying a red pouch slung on its back, it darts across the rooftops.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    Hang on, isn¡¯t that basically a description of Santa?


    Santa Claus is abducting kids?


    Doesn¡¯t that sound somewhat like an idea for a horror movie?


    ¡°Wow, this world can be so weird. Christmas is Halloween while Santa shows up in the middle of Spring too.¡±


    ¡°The truth is, that thing is nothing more than a familiar employed by the Black Order.¡±


    According to Harman, the creature was ¡®manufactured¡¯ by combining all sorts of zombies. It sat one step above a ghoul in the evolution ladder, and apparently it also even possessed a considerable skillset.


    Harman continued on. ¡°The creature is unexpectedly strong, your highness.¡±


    ¡°But what if you fight it one on one?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be my victory, of course.¡± Harman proudly sat up taller in his seat. ¡°The issue at hand is with how to locate the Red Devils. They truly excel at erasing their presence. Even the most skilled Paladin would easily miss them unless the bastards are standing right before his face.¡±


    Was that why the Black Order guys resorted to using the Red Devil?


    The ones I was about to confront were Necromancers. A sub-type of Magicians who were famed for being invalids that locked themselves away in some dank corner of a room somewhere. There was no way they would be willing to personally dirty their hands.


    Did that mean I wouldn¡¯t be able to latch onto their scents?


    I wonder. Maybe that¡¯d be a tall order for me too¡­


    If we were talking about the undead, then sure, I could sniff out the stench of their demonic energy, but since we were dealing with living people here, I had to use [Mind¡¯s Eye] to confirm their statuses.


    For instance, I wouldn¡¯t have discovered Morgana¡¯s real identity if it weren¡¯t for this convenient skill.


    In that case, I might need some kind of a ¡®bait¡¯.


    ¡°A bait, is it¡­?¡±


    That¡¯s right, I needed something to tempt those invalids hiding inside the dark corner to show themselves somehow.


    All of the abducted children so far were aged between ten to sixteen. But I couldn¡¯t just use a child as bait even if that¡¯s what the Black Order bastards were looking to kidnap.


    I abruptly began blinking my eyes in the next moment.


    Wait a minute, how old am I this year again?


    Didn¡¯t I, like, turn sixteen this year?


    In that case¡­


    ¡°You know, just in case¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°Let me ask you this. What do you think will happen if a sixteen-year-old boy is standing around alone with no guards or people nearby?¡±


    Harman¡¯s brows rose up high at my question.


    ¡°As a kidnapper, wouldn¡¯t you be interested in that?¡±


    1


    I began snickering away.


    **


    Our carriage only managed to reach the city of Humite during late evening. This place didn¡¯t even have any surrounding outer walls to speak of.


    We climbed out of the carriage and began walking on the city avenues to get the feeling of enjoying a simple trip.


    The hours were late, but a normal city street should still be filled with footsteps that belonged to either travellers, adventurers, or both. There should be lots of bright lights coming from everywhere too. However, right now, not even a hint of their presence could be seen and it was also eerily quiet.


    Actually, I could spot several soldiers on patrol a lot more often instead.


    It was understandable, though ¨C because of the Red Devil¡¯s appearance, people simply avoided wandering around in the streets at night.


    Perhaps due to Harman¡¯s outfit, the patrolling soldiers only chatted to us briefly before letting us pass.


    While walking down the city¡¯s street, I casted my gaze over to a large public notice stuck to a wall nearby.


    [Beware of the Red Devil! If something happens to your child, alert the garrison immediately.]


    A drawing of a red ¡®thing¡¯ was accompanied by the warning notice.


    The space next to the notice was dominated by scribbled queries asking about the whereabouts of the missing children, as well as the illustrations of what the kids looked like, which were most likely placed there by the desperate parents themselves.


    I was getting the sense of people suffering from genuine terror while staring at all these posters.


    I could only lick my lips for now. While feeling rueful from what I just saw, I shifted my eyes away from the missing children posters and at the image of the Red Devil.


    No matter how I look at it, that thing¡­ was a damn ¡®Santa Claus¡¯. Look at that body, that beard, even the pouch slung over its back, the whole nine yards!


    It was then, the tip of my nose stung. My gaze automatically shifted towards the direction of the offending stench.


    There was something running across the rooftops while casting its long shadow from the cold moonlight.

 Chapter 88 - 050. Imperial Prince is Hunting Santa -2 (Part Two)

    I used divinity to enhance my eyesight. And what I saw next was an existence boasting a portly body, snickering lips, and a red hat pressed down on its head.


    Yup, it was the Red Devil, and it was currently running along with a red pouch visibly wiggling around on its back.


    Not only that, there were two of them, too!


    Two ¡®Santas¡¯ were moving around in a surprisingly agile manner that contradicted their rotund body shapes.


    ¡°Holy cow!¡±


    Even though I was staring at them with my own two eyes, those two creatures just didn¡¯t emit any sense of presence that I could latch onto. Even though they were wearing red clothing and I could see them running, I still couldn¡¯t pick up their existences at all.


    It was like looking at a creature that couldn¡¯t be consciously ¡®recognised¡¯.


    I guessed that some type of magic that fooled the eyes of the observer and cloaked one¡¯s presence was at play here. Could that be the reason why those creatures hadn¡¯t been caught until now?


    If it weren¡¯t for their stench, even I would¡¯ve failed to discover them despite them running around openly on the rooftops.


    ¡°Hey, Harman.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Over there.¡±


    I pointed at the pair of Santas.


    Only then did Harman notice them. He hurriedly unsheathed his sword.


    ¡°Alert the patrols. And hunt down one of them by yourself.¡±


    ¡°But we must¡­¡±


    ¡°The safety of our subjects takes priority. Could it be that you don¡¯t trust me?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I stared at Harman. ¡°I¡¯ve hunted both the Progenitor Vampire and the Progenitor Lycan. A small fry like that won¡¯t even leave a scratch on me. We are going to hunt both of them and rescue any children found inside those pouches in the process.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    I summoned my musket rifle, and then after reinforcing my body, dashed forward.


    I ran through the streets at a rapid pace before entering a dark alleyway.


    While sniffing out the stench of the targets no longer visible to my eyes, I continued my pursuit. And then, I looked up at the rooftops of the houses lining up the alleyway.


    A ¡®Santa¡¯ was forcing its round body down the chimney with a grunt before disappearing from my view.


    ¡°Son of a¡­?!¡±


    Bloody hell, maybe that¡¯s the real Santa? I¡¯m not going out of my way to stop the real thing from trying to distribute gifts to good children, now am I?


    I turned my heading towards the house in question. At the same time, I injected divinity through my body.


    After kicking the front door down, I heard blood-curdling screams.


    I dashed up the stairs and reached the first floor in an instant, then stared at the ¡®Santa Claus¡¯ currently standing in front of the fireplace connected to the wall. It was gripping a huge machete. Blood was dripping from the blade.


    An adult man and woman were lying face down before the creature. Meanwhile, a child was screaming and resisting from inside the red pouch slung over its shoulders. However, the noise gradually died down.


    Noise-blocking magic, was it?


    The fake Santa Claus¡¯s gaze shifted over to me.


    Its cheeks were chubby, but the rest of its face was contorted and rotting away rather hideously. Its dead eyes rolled around, and its sharp teeth gleamed under the moonlight from beyond the torn jawline.


    -Kkereek, kkireek?


    It made the unique-to-undead noise and began tilting its head. But then, it lowered its posture before pouncing at me.


    The thing swung its machete, but I easily dodged that. After lowering my head to let the blade fly over me, I pointed the musket at the damn thing¡¯s noggin and pulled the trigger.


    The undead¡¯s head exploded, and it fell on its knees before collapsing on the floor with a thud.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡±


    I spat out a sigh of relief before opening the pouch. A tearful boy emerged from inside and jumped into my arms.


    ¡°You alright, kid?¡±


    I patted the boy on the head but had to urgently cover his eyes while doing so. I turned my gaze towards the fireplace, at the boy¡¯s dead parents.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    They were standing back up as zombies. In their current conditions¡­ ¡®Resurrection¡¯ couldn¡¯t be used on them.


    I kept covering the boy¡¯s eyes while summoning the shovel from my item window.


    ¡­¡­..


    ¡­.


    ¡­


    The parents were now laying unmoving, dead. The boy continued to cry.


    I wrapped him warmly in a blanket and waited. A short while later, Harman and some patrolling soldiers showed up at the house. It seemed that they managed to deal with the other Santa as well.


    And so, I took custody of the two dead fake Santas.


    ¡°For sure¡­¡±


    I took a closer look at the Santa corpses.


    Yep, it was a type of zombie I had never seen before. Not only was it quick, its physical strength was excellent too. On top of all that, it came equipped with some kind of special ability that perfectly prevented it from giving off any sense of presence.


    I got the feeling that these things were created for the purpose of assassination, or maybe to deal with any loose ends.


    Yeah, I made the right call by coming here. An organisation of Necromancers did know ways to summon more varieties of undeads, as it turned out.


    I shifted my gaze away.


    The remains of the parents were handed over to the garrison. The boy was clinging onto his parents and was still crying even now.


    ¡°¡­What will happen to the kid?¡±


    ¡°He will most likely be sent to an orphanage, your highness,¡± Harman responded.


    I didn¡¯t realise I was biting my lower lip until I said something. ¡°¡­This is nuts. Those sons of b*tches, we gotta mop this up real quick. Go and obtain all the reports on every incident that has happened so far.¡±


    I might be a mere transfer student right now, but Harman was still a Paladin. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult for him to get his hands on the reports I told him to acquire from the garrison.


    I picked up the Santa corpses and put them away in my item window.


    There was plenty of value in researching these things, I figured.


    The undeads they¡¯ve been using? I¡¯ll use them for myself and let those bastards taste their own medicine very soon.


    **


    Near a village on the outskirts of Humite.


    Inside a certain section of the forest where all of its trees had been cut down, a dozen-plus knights belonging to the Order of the Golden Cross could be found.


    These knights were kitted out in gleaming golden armours and raising up their scabbards. Then, they began slashing down in Charlotte¡¯s direction with their weapons.


    She fortified her body with divinity and defended against the incoming attacks. She continued deflecting away the scabbards, but one still landed on her back.


    A wound opened up and blood danced in the air.


    Even though she grunted in pain, she still clenched her teeth hard and continued swinging her sword.


    Eventually, three of the Golden Cross knights collapsed while bleeding a little. The other knights on standby took them away and treated their injuries.


    Oscal was watching this duel play out with widened eyes. ¡°Excellent! I simply cannot believe that the Imperial Family managed to fish out a monster of this calibre from somewhere!¡±


    While panting heavily, Charlotte turned her head towards Oscal¡¯s direction.


    ¡°However, it¡¯s still not enough. If it¡¯s only on this level, you cannot protect the Imperial Family from the true monsters.¡±


    Oscal stood up from his chair. He then personally picked up a white scabbard containing a sword and entered the fray. As a result, the intensity and difficulty of the training became even worse.


    She attended the academy during the day to get educated on various topics. And at night, she would spar against the Golden Cross knights to hone her skills even further.


    On this particular day, rain fell. She was on the ground, vomiting blood.


    She forced her body to stand back up from the muddy ground.


    Oscal, who was watching her, spoke in a cynical voice, ¡°Are you going to give up now? It isn¡¯t a bad idea to abandon the ways of the sword and live like a rural farm girl. Maybe it¡¯ll be a happier life for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ do not want to.¡±


    She didn¡¯t want that.


    No, she had a goal. A goal of getting stronger to protect that person.


    That was the drive that motivated her to keep moving forward.


    Oscal was making a deeply satisfied grin. ¡°Indeed. That¡¯s how it should be.¡±


    He raised the white-coloured scabbard and swung it in Charlotte¡¯s direction. She dodged it and quickly dashed into Oscal¡¯s torso.


    However, her sword clashed against Oscal¡¯s scabbard instead.


    He was genuinely impressed. ¡°You will definitely become stronger. More and more! For the sake of the Imperial Family, become even stronger!¡±


    Charlotte gritted her teeth.


    All of that was nonsense.


    She didn¡¯t care about the Imperial Family. What she wanted to achieve was only one thing.


    The benefactor who gave her parents a proper funeral and saved their souls, and also even gave her another chance at life¡­


    ¡­Allen Olfolse.


    She only wanted to be by his side. Nothing more, nothing less.


    While gritting her teeth, she continued swinging her sword again.


    < 050. Imperial Prince is Hunting Santa -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 89 - 051. Imperial Prince is Hunting Santa -3 (Part One)

    **


    I found lodging at a local inn and spent a week in the city.


    As I bit into the loaf of bread in my hand, I continued staring at Harman. We were currently inside my rented room.


    I asked first. ¡°How many kids have been abducted so far?¡±


    ¡°Fifteen in total, your highness.¡±


    According to the intel, those Black Order bastards had been making their moves every three to four days, sometimes with the gap of a week or so before we arrived at the city.


    Fifteen kids already? And that¡¯s within the time-span of a month too.


    Those bastards¡­ forget about being secretive and whatnot, it was pretty much safe to assume that they were openly declaring themselves.


    I thought that for an easily scared bunch like that, their actions so far had been a bit too over the top.


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot¡­ I heard that there are a lot of kids from various noble families living in this city. Considering that, isn¡¯t this city¡¯s security way too lax?¡±


    ¡°The bastards have only abducted the children from commoner families. There haven¡¯t been any victims from aristocracy so far, your highness.¡±


    I felt a lot of dissatisfaction from that. I even began wondering if the city¡¯s garrison assigned a portion of their forces to protect only the nobles.


    Harman noticed my dissatisfied glare and shook his head as if he had read my mind. ¡°Please don¡¯t misunderstand, your highness. The scions of the noble households employ their own private forces as their guards. Not to mention, even the bastards at the Black Order wouldn¡¯t dare touch the nobles. They wouldn¡¯t want to see the nobles¡¯ forces dispatched to all corners of the city, after all.¡±


    He spoke with a lengthy groan.


    I took a sip from the teacup and continued asking him. ¡°What¡¯s the strongest force currently present in this region?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Order of the Golden Cross, your highness. As we¡¯re located rather close to the border with Aslan, a portion of this famed order is always stationed nearby.¡±


    I was surprised by his response and stared back at him. ¡°The Golden Cross, you say?¡±


    Wasn¡¯t that the knight order directly under the Holy Emperor¡¯s command?


    The Heavenly Army, Paladin Corps., Verdant Cross, Crimson Cross, and finally, the Golden Cross ¨C these were the five main forces of the Imperial Family, and the Golden Cross was referred to as the strongest of the lot. They also wouldn¡¯t move a muscle without the emperor¡¯s command, too.


    Such powerful monsters were stationed here, and yet they couldn¡¯t stop the abductions?


    ¡°Unfortunately, their field of expertise is unsuited for this task, your highness. More importantly, the Black Order only began building their nest here just over a month ago. If they noticed any pursuers, they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to get rid of the Red Devils. As such, we don¡¯t have much information to go on. If you wish, I can request the Golden Cross¡¯s aid. With your current authority, it should be possible to mobilise them.¡±


    ¡°No, don¡¯t.¡±


    Just me and Harman being here was enough to eliminate the Red Devils without much difficulty. But if the Golden Cross began mobilising, then more than likely, the Black Order would go into even deeper hiding.


    If that were to happen, it¡¯d get harder to confirm whether the abducted children are still alive or not, too.


    This was probably the reason why Kelt Olfolse didn¡¯t order the Golden Cross into action already.


    ¡°If the bastards haven¡¯t run away by now, they should be preparing to make another move soon,¡± said I while extracting the two corpses of Red Devils from my storage and laying them down on the floor.


    Zombies could be rather convenient in cases like this. Unlike Vampires, these undead corpses wouldn¡¯t ¡®extinguish¡¯ from this world after their heads get blown away, so it was possible to analyse them.


    I took out the tortur¡­ ahem, I mean the medical tools that the Crimson Cross enjoyed using and began dissecting one of the Red Devils right there and then.


    Harman hurriedly covered his mouth from the gruesome sight happening before him. Since we were still in the middle of a meal, maybe he felt like throwing up or something.


    ¡°Y-your highness. If you can help it, how about behaving in a way that fits your station¡­ a bit better¡­?¡±


    ¡°The Imperial Family doesn¡¯t give a sh*t about such things, though? Besides, it¡¯s about time we rush things along, anyways.¡± I began extracting intestines from the sliced-open belly and tossed them on the floor. ¡°Heh, so this is how they look inside? They¡¯re not all that different from a regular zombie, then.¡±


    1


    I continued unhesitantly yanking out more internal organs. Finally, I found the heart, grabbed it, and pulled it outside right away.


    Although faint, there were some traces of demonic energy left within.


    ¡°Yup, it¡¯s totally worth it to research these things.¡±


    I haven¡¯t seen a magical construction like this before. It seems that they somehow forced the heart to beat, and in turn, caused the rest of the body to move.


    ¡°Excellent! This alone should make ¡®it¡¯ possible. This one is useless now, but the other one, well¡­¡± I stared at the corpse of the fake Santa and the corner of my lips curled up on their own. ¡°¡­It¡¯s still pretty useful.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, your highness? Still useful?¡±


    ¡°Santa Claus.¡± I looked back at Harman and grinned. ¡°I¡¯m planning to give those bastards an unforgettable gift, you see? Can you do something for me? Get me some blue-coloured robes.¡±


    I activated [Mind¡¯s Eye] while staring at the heart. By doing this, I was able to see the flow of demonic energy and the organ¡¯s internal structure.


    Not too long after that, a notification message popped up in my head.


    [A new skill has been generated.]


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    About two weeks had passed by since the two Red Devils had vanished. However, another one with an exact same appearance silently showed up during this particular night.


    Indeed, it was another Red Devil. The demonic creature with a rotund physique and beard was currently squatting on top of a house¡¯s chimney.


    It was scanning the surroundings with a mischievous look etched on its face, but it abruptly began tilting its head this way and that.


    The city¡¯s security seemed more lax than usual. Then again, no abductions had been taking place for the past three weeks. Not only that, the soldiers managed to kill two Red Devils already, so they probably thought that the culprits had run away from the city by now.


    This was the foolishness of humans on full display.


    With the passage of time, they would gradually forget the fear in their hearts. When such a moment comes, the Red Devil would appear again and just like how it was in the fairy tales, start abducting children.


    Pursuers would surely start showing up and doggedly chase the culprits down, but it¡¯d be quite easy to lose them if that happened.


    If a tail stuck itself to the Red Devil, then it¡¯d simply extinguish itself. That was all it needed to do.


    The probing gaze of the Red Devil eventually landed on the village plaza. A boy could be seen loitering there. The robe he had on looked quite shabby and cheap.


    Was he a traveller who just entered the fiefdom? That had to be it, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t be that defenceless.


    What about his age though?


    He looked to be between fifteen and sixteen. Not all that tall either, perhaps because he was still yet to enter his growth spurt.


    The Red Devil alternated its gaze between its red pouch and the boy. After estimating whether the boy could fit in there or not, it slowly nodded.


    A smirk gradually floated up on its face.


    It dashed across the rooftops, leapt up, and quickly pounced on the boy.


    It was then, the boy turned his head as if he had sensed the movement of the Red Devil, before suddenly cracking a smile.


    ¡°Only one stench this time, eh? What a relief that I don¡¯t have to eliminate the second one.¡±


    The Red Devil pushed the boy down to the ground. However, he was simply smiling away without offering any resistance. The Red Devil saw this unusual reaction and tilted its head once more.


    Something seemed kind of off here.


    The victim should¡¯ve been terrified by now, yet he looked rather relaxed for some reason.


    The boy pondered something deeply after being subjected to the Red Devil¡¯s puzzled gaze, then he fake-coughed loudly. ¡°Oh my goodness! The devil is here! Someone help me!¡±


    He finally cried out while sounding terrified.


    That¡¯s more like it. It seemed that the fear terrified the boy into a dazed state just now.


    Once the Red Devil no longer felt suspicious, it covered the boy¡¯s mouth, and then stuffed him inside the pouch. Just one child should suffice for tonight.


    ¡°Son of a¡­ Why the hell is it so cramped in here?! You ain¡¯t some penny pincher either, so why can¡¯t you start carrying pouches that match your size?! What the hell¡­!¡±


    The insides of the pouch became noisy really quickly.


    1


    ¡°It¡¯s the Red Devil!¡±


    The creature referred to as the Red Devil shifted its head. It could see the soldiers on patrol rushing towards its position from afar.


    Since it was seen, it escaped from the spot by quickly darting up to the rooftop.


    While dashing agilely above different buildings, it masked its presence. Even the sound coming from the pouch had been blocked off. The soldiers gave chase for a while, but losing them didn¡¯t prove to be all that difficult.


    A short while later, it entered a nondescript building in a darkened alleyway and silently locked the door behind. After doing so, it then opened a hidden access to the basement floor and climbed down the stairs to enter a tunnel.


    A Necromancer wearing a black robe was standing near the doorway. He stopped the Red Devil from going forward. This black magician looked beyond the undead to confirm that no one had followed it here, and after he was done checking, he began examining the creature¡¯s body for any abnormalities.


    Lastly, he confirmed the boy inside the pouch and grinned widely. ¡°You may pass.¡±

 Chapter 90 - 051. Imperial Prince is Hunting Santa -3 (Part Two)

    The Red Devil walked past the Necromancer. After continuing down the narrow tunnel for a little bit, the undead entered an underground area that was as large as a spacious hall.


    This was the rather sizeable hideout of the Black Order.


    There were networks of tunnels resembling an ant hill underground, and numerous Necromancers could be found walking around inside. They were either busy carrying around various grimoires or scanning through important-looking documents. Some were even dragging away crying and resisting children.


    In addition, there were summoned zombies standing in rows like some kind of statues. The Necromancers were studiously examining them one at a time.


    The location the Red Devil headed to was the depository where the other Red Devils were being kept. It pushed open the steel door and entered the room.


    Corpses with portly proportions were either laying on the ground or dangling from the ceiling. Two Necromancers were busy working inside. These men were tasked with assembling the corpses and turning them into the so-called Red Devils.


    ¡°Oh, oh! Looks like a new sacrificial offering has arrived.¡±


    ¡°We were in need of more demonic energy, so this is good timing.¡±


    The expressions on the faces of these Necromancers looked rather happy.


    Even though they were both old men with plenty of wrinkles lining up their faces, the truth of the matter was, their real age should only be somewhere around early to mid forties, instead.


    Such an appearance was quite common among those who used their lifespan and youth as fuel for demonic energy.


    They served ¡®someone else¡¯ up as a sacrificial offering to maintain their demonic energy reserve, as well as their youth. Amongst all the potential offerings, the most effective ones were young children.


    Once the Necromancers pulled the pouch open, a boy emerged from within.


    However, he wasn¡¯t crying nor did he even seem scared at all. For some reason, he was surveying his new surroundings as if everything came across as new and mystifying instead.


    Was that all?


    He proceeded to meet the gazes of the Necromancers and then grin brightly as well. ¡°Hello there!¡±


    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±


    1


    The Necromancers were left dumbfounded.


    Meanwhile, the boy began grandly stretching his limbs as if to enjoy his freedom from the confined space of the pouch. He waved his hand at the Necromancers next. ¡°Eeiya~, that was tough, let me tell ya. I¡¯ve been wandering around late at night all alone for the past week or so, but to think that you¡¯d only take the bait today. Do you have any idea how nervous I was? I couldn¡¯t help but be worried that you lot might have already fled from the city!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    After hearing the boy talk, the Necromancers shifted their glares of dissatisfaction in the Red Devil¡¯s direction instead. The undead was supposed to abduct healthy and normal children, yet it somehow brought along a nutcase¡­


    1


    Sure, a child like this wouldn¡¯t end up harming them, but still, they felt a bit hesitant about the prospect of using such a child as an offering. However, it didn¡¯t mean they could afford to dispose of the child as useless trash.


    ¡°First of all, stop him from talking.¡±


    After the Necromancer ordered, the Red Devil began moving. It pulled out a machete and approached the boy.


    ¡°Eh-hem. I¡¯ve come to deliver a wonderful gift to you all. It¡¯s a present from Santa, so I hope you enjoy it.¡±


    Suddenly, the boy¡¯s manner of speech changed. He gestured in a theatrical manner, and then pretended to pull something out from the pouch itself.


    But then, from the empty pouch, a corpse covered in blue clothing came out. It was a corpse with a blue hat and a matching robe. It also had a rotund physique and beard, too.


    ¡°What¡­?!¡±


    The expressions on the faces of the Necromancers froze up instantly.


    How could something that big come out from such a small pouch? Besides all that, to their eyes, this corpse looked like¡­ a ¡®Blue¡¯ Devil.


    Their gazes shifted back to the boy. He was holding the hand of this ¡®Blue Devil¡¯ and waving it at them.


    He broke into an ominous cackle as if he was performing ventriloquy.


    ¡°Hello everyone! I¡¯m Santa Claus!¡± The boy then injected divinity into the corpse. And as a thick, evil grin spread to the rest of his expression, he continued on. ¡°I thought you guys loved death, so I came to gift you all with it!¡±


    1


    The eyes of the Blue Devil shot open after divinity flooded inside its body.


    The Red Devil that was walking up to the boy suddenly lost its head, cleaved cleanly off by another machete. The undead fell to the ground and stopped moving, and its place, the Blue Devil brandishing a machete stood up.


    ¡°And so, I hope you won¡¯t reject this wonderful gift.¡± The boy commanded the Blue Devil in a nonchalant manner. ¡°Kill them.¡±


    ¡°W-wait..!¡±


    The Blue Devil leapt up and hacked away with its machete.


    Blood danced and scattered everywhere.


    Necromancers couldn¡¯t even use any magic before they were killed off, the blade mercilessly hacking them apart at their shoulders and heads.


    After slaughtering them both, the Blue Devil grunted as it struggled to yank out the machete that got stuck in the skull of one of the Necromancers.


    The boy, the Seventh Imperial Prince Allen Olfolse, began taking a better look at his surroundings.


    The closed-off room he was in was practically filled with Red Devils, almost as if it was a doll factory. It seemed that he managed to reach the destination he was searching for without any problems.


    He checked the status of the Red Devils first.


    These things were just about perfect.


    He had already received enough supply of blue robes from Harman, so all he had to do now was dress these things up with the right attire. These were the perfect attires that would serve as a symbol of fear, and also to dress up the corpses as a bunch of Santas that would deliver the gift of death to the bad guys outside.


    Although the date had come and gone a while ago, the boy prince figured that it wasn¡¯t such a bad idea to spend Christmas in this place today.


    **


    The Necromancers were working tirelessly.


    Some lugged the corpses around while others assembled the different bones of the skeletons. But they were panting laboriously while walking along with their canes. To these people who were far from the ideal examples of a healthy physique, the narrow underground hallways always came across as rather vast and wide.


    ¡°Just what is going to happen that we¡¯re preparing so much like this?¡±


    ¡°Who knows? From what I heard, others are also preparing to make a move in different locations as well. I¡¯m guessing that more of us are hidden somewhere else within this very city too. The higher-ups are probably planning to do something really big very soon.¡±


    ¡°Do they want to devastate the whole of Humite itself? And finally start a war with the Theocratic Empire?¡±


    The conversing Necromancers stared at the zombies and skeletons lining up the passageway before briefly shutting their mouths up.


    ¡°¡­But how? The Order of the Golden Cross is stationed nearby. I don¡¯t know about the other locations, but it will be tough to pull their plan off in this city, at the very least. Will they really do something akin to abandoning our forces we worked so hard to raise at this point?¡±


    ¡°Fella, nothing will be different no matter how much we rack our brains. All we have to do is just obey what they tell us, and¡­¡±


    Bang!


    The Necromancers stopped talking and turned their heads.


    Bang!


    Strange noises were coming from the door made out of steel.


    Bang!


    The tightly-secured door bent visibly before breaking off at the hinges.


    And then¡­


    BANG!


    The steel door bounced powerfully away. Countless blue glares shone eerily from beyond the narrow doorway. Then, the tottering corpses kitted out in blue ¡®uniforms¡¯ began walking out one by one.


    The surrounding Necromancers stared at the corpses and began tilting their heads.


    ¡°What are those¡­?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t those the Red Devils¡­?¡±


    Perhaps unsurprising for a group of people who were magicians at heart, they stared at these strange corpses with a great deal of curiosity. And without feeling any rejection, several Necromancers walked up to these corpses decked in blue-coloured clothing.


    ¡°Hmm, their internal structure is similar, but at the same time¡­ it¡¯s different?¡±


    ¡°By the way, what is this bizarre aura coming from them? It¡¯s different from demonic energy¡­¡±


    Gradually, though, their curiosity-filled expressions noticeably hardened.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this¡­ divinity?! What the hell?! How could this be¡­?!¡±


    The Blue Devils, all at once, suddenly began grinning. The one at the front raised up a machete before hacking down.


    A Necromancer¡¯s head split open as blood splattered everywhere.


    The other Necromancers paled from the shock and fright as they bore witness to the demise of their colleague.


    The bearded and portly Blue Devils glared at them and continued grinning wickedly.


    ¡°Merry Christmas! Oh, dear Necromancers who mess around with death!¡±


    It was then, a boy suddenly walked out from amidst the Blue Devils.


    ¡°This kind Santa Claus has come to deliver a wonderful gift to you all!¡±


    The clearly-excited voice of the boy reverberated throughout the underground hideout.


    The Necromancers were even more frightened by his appearance, and they couldn¡¯t help but stumble backwards. Their terrified eyes were firmly locked on the strange boy standing in the middle of all these Blue Devils.


    ¡°And my gift to you all is death. A gift that perfectly suits the likes of you.¡±


    The moment those words left his lips, the Blue Devils began pouncing forward.


    < 051. Imperial Prince is Hunting Santa -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 91 - 052. Imperial Prince is Hunting Santa -4 (Part One

    **


    Alongside the laughter, screams resounded out.


    A Blue Devil leaped up while swinging around a machete.


    The Necromancers screamed tragically as they were hacked to bits by the sharp blades.


    The Blue Devils continued cackling away while raising their bloodied blades. Some Necromancers tried to escape, only to be caught and get dragged away by their heads somewhere.


    ¡°Find the abducted kids. And also, whatever items and information you find ¨C take them all away!¡±


    I loudly issued my command and the Blue Devils busily dashed around here and there. They practically swept every item and piece of paper they could see inside their pouches.


    ¡°S-stop them, now!¡±


    Of course, the Necromancers didn¡¯t take the beating lying down.


    They pointed their staves at the Blue Devils and started chanting their spells.


    However, even before they began thinking about making their countermoves, I already scanned all the corpses and skeletons strewn about in this underground hallway.


    Without hesitation, I injected divinity into all of them. Soon, zombies and skeletons writhed and came to life one by one. With the eerie, thick blue light glowing from their eyes, they pounced on their prey even before the Necromancers could do anything.


    ¡°Uwaaaaahk!¡±


    As they were bitten or got ripped apart by the holy undead, more desperate screams resounded out.


    One of the Blue Devils waddled towards me in a playful gait. While grinning mischievously, it pointed in a direction with its hand covered in a mitten.


    I yanked open the steel door pointed out by the Blue Devil. It led to a sealed-off space where I found a Necromancer brandishing a knife made out of a bone at the cowering children.


    ¡°D-do not come closer! If you do, I will¡­!¡±


    These Blue Devils really came in handy at times like these.


    It hid its presence and melted right into the darkness. It then reappeared behind the Necromancer and proceeded to break the black magician¡¯s knife-wielding hand.


    ¡°Uwaaahk!¡±


    I ignored him for now and looked around the room. There were only thirteen kids here. Two more should¡¯ve been here according to the report.


    Those two must¡¯ve been¡­


    ¡°¡­Hi, kids.¡±


    I tried my best in calming the kids down with a bright grin. But they began screaming instead.


    1


    Eh? Did I do something wrong?


    Hmm, it seems that I was maintaining the same expression with the one I showed to the Necromancers outside.


    ¡°H-hmm.¡± I faked a cough to clear my throat, and then addressed the Blue Devil next to me, ¡°This should be Santa Claus¡¯ role. Do something to calm these kids down, will ya?¡±


    The Blue Devil approached the children while giggling away. It patted them on their heads and tilted its head this way and that.


    ¡°Hiieeek¡­¡±


    Unfortunately, the kids got a good look at the Blue Devil and became even more terrified instead.


    Man, I guess this wasn¡¯t the best idea either.


    ¡°T-there¡¯s no need to get scared, kids. These guys, mm, right, they¡¯re angels that fell down from the sky, you see!¡±


    Sure, my words lacked the sufficient persuasive powers to convince these kids that the Blue Devils were in fact, angels, when the undead themselves were carrying around machetes dripping with blood. Even then, I continued racking my brain and tried to find the right words to put their minds at ease.


    ¡°These blue angel-nims will take full responsibility and take you back to your parents, so you can all relax now.¡±


    The eyes of the children widened when they heard me. It seemed that me bringing up their parents did the trick and finally made them somewhat relax.


    It was then, a figure of a Blue Devil dragging a Necromancer away by the sucker¡¯s head could be spied through the open doorway. That¡­ surely was a bit too stimulating to see for these still-developing young minds.


    I quickly continued speaking to the kids. ¡°O-of course, those bad uncles will be met with dea¡­ or not, with heaven¡¯s punishment! Y-yes, that¡¯s right, heaven¡¯s punishment!¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, now. Like the good children that you all are, close both of your eyes and firmly cover your ears, okay? By the time you open them again, your parents will be waiting for you.¡±


    The children did as they were told and closed their eyes, and covered up their ears with their hands.


    How nice. What good children they were.


    I stepped outside the prison and had the door closed behind me.


    ¡°Stop them! Do something and stop them right now! This place must not be overrun! Our time is about to come, so we can¡¯t let this happen!¡±


    I turned my head in the direction of the voice. A dude was busy commanding the rest of the Necromancers. Several undead covered in robes were raising their staves while standing in a cordon around this man. They looked to be skeletons.


    My eyes gleamed brightly at the sight.


    Were they skeleton mages capable of using demonic energy? In that case, weren¡¯t they easily one of the best ¡®products¡¯ I could procure today?


    ¡°Capture that man alive.¡±


    The Blue Devil nodded at my command and quickly made its move.


    I leisurely strode towards the wide hallway and took my spot there. After settling down comfortably on a chair, I began perusing through the documents the Blue Devils brought before me.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s see¡­¡±


    As expected of Necromancers, most of the ¡®confiscated¡¯ items were tomes and documents related to various summons as well as tools to help facilitate the summoning process.


    I took a cursory look-see through them.


    Screams continued ringing out all around me, but that wasn¡¯t something I cared about. The prison with the abducted kids had been secured by now and the Blue Devils were protecting it, and I even had the sound blocked off so they should be fine.


    ¡°¡­What the hell is this?¡±


    While digging through the pouches, I discovered a certain document. My brows furrowed all on their own while I took a look at its contents.


    [The Chaos Plan. The Black Order members in different districts will conquer the cities they are in charge of. The plan will be considered a success as long as you can sow confusion, chaos, and terror among the populace. Drag it out as long as you can and inflict as much damage as possible.]


    ¡­Did these punks collectively lose their minds?


    1


    If the contents of this document was all true, then the Black Order was planning to initiate acts of terror throughout every major city found inside the Theocratic Empire. A bunch of punks no better than some neighbourhood thugs wants to declare war on a country?


    I couldn¡¯t believe what my eyes were reading.


    ¡°On top of that, it wasn¡¯t just here, either?¡±


    This hideout of the Necromancers under the streets of Humite was fairly large in scale. But such hideouts could be found in other locations, too? Not only that, they were planning to do something pretty big at the same time?


    ¡°This isn¡¯t something that can be solved with only me knowing the truth. Hey, go and bring Harman here.¡±


    A Blue Devil heard my order and nodded before vanishing from the spot.


    I then turned my head in another direction to look at the apprehended Necromancers being dragged out to the hallway.


    They were screaming, howling, or sniffling away pathetically like some scared kids.


    All of them pretty much looked like geezers, but I was fairly certain that none of them were over fifty years in their actual age.


    This was the state these people had ended up in after sacrificing their youth and lifespan to acquire a great power.


    ¡°It¡¯s too early for you to die, don¡¯t you all agree?¡±


    I stared at them and formed a cruel, twisted grin.


    The knowledge and powers these folks possessed would soon be mine.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    The Blue Devils suddenly appeared at a plaza located in Humite¡¯s city centre. There were ten of them in total.


    The soldiers on patrol all flinched nastily from shock and quickly stood at guard against the undead. However, none of them dared to make any rash moves because the creatures were accompanied by more than a dozen children.


    The kids looked up at the Blue Devils while the latter tilted their heads this way and that and formed rather creepy grins.


    They crouched and patted the children on the heads. Even though their expressions were on the scary side, their hands were undeniably gentle.


    A short while later, the Blue Devils scattered away in brilliant light particles and disappeared from the spot.


    ¡°Now! Protect those kids!¡±


    The soldiers hurriedly approached the children.


    ¡°The blue angel-nims saved us.¡±


    ¡°I think they were called grandpa Santas! That¡¯s what he said.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they rescued us!¡±


    With the kids piping up one at a time like this, the soldiers could only tilt their heads in confusion.


    Harman watched the scene unfold from a distance before entering a deserted alleyway. There was another Blue Devil standing right there, waiting for him. The creature formed a playful smile and beckoned at him with its hand covered in a mitten.


    1


    Harman didn¡¯t say anything and silently followed the creature.


    But when he entered the Necromancer¡¯s hideout, his brows furrowed automatically at the sight greeting him.


    A gruesome massacre had taken place here.


    There were so many traces of blood splatter visible everywhere. The holy zombies were dragging away the corpses of the clearly-dead Necromancers. And as if there was an incineration furnace or some such nearby, even the distinctive odour of burning corpses stung his nose.


    In the centre of the hallway, people who looked to be living Necromancers were trembling away while blindfolded and bound.


    The Imperial Prince could be found nearby them, sitting on a chair. He was currently interrogating them.


    ¡°Two kids are missing. What happened to them?¡±


    ¡°T-that is¡­¡±


    The heads of the Necromancers visibly trembled even more while they failed to answer the prince.


    He asked another question. ¡°Did you devour them?¡±


    In order to use magic and recharge their demonic energy, they had to put up an offering of life. The young children they captured were an ideal ¡®food source¡¯ to these bastards.


    One of the captured Necromancers cried out in a pale complexion, ¡°P-please don¡¯t kill me! I beg of you!¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s head cocked to the side. ¡°And what did you say to those kids when they were crying and begging you?¡±


    ¡°P-please, don¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. Although the dead ones can¡¯t be helped, I ain¡¯t planning to let you die so soon. You see, I want you lot to keep performing Necromancy right till your expiration date. Well, until I can master your magic, that is. I¡¯m gonna make you summon and control undead 24 hours a day until that happens, though.¡±

 Chapter 92 - 52. Imperial Prince is Hunting Santa -4 (Part Two)

    ¡°B-but if we do that, we¡¯ll all die! Our lifespan¡­¡±


    ¡°Dude, what¡¯s the worst that can possibly happen to you besides ending up dead and becoming a zombie? You chose to become a Necromancer even though you knew what your end would look like, so what¡¯s with all this fuss?¡±


    The Imperial Prince got up from the chair.


    His expression, previously colder than a sheet of ice, immediately changed after he discovered Harman¡¯s presence. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here? Finally.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    His previous voice and appearance which were filled to the brim with barely-contained rage had vanished instantly. Even though he looked okay right now, Harman could still tell that the boy was trying hard to hide his current emotions, and that only made it seem like he was wearing an ill-fitting mask instead.


    ¡°What good timing. I have a new task for you.¡±


    ¡°A task, your highness?¡±


    The Imperial Prince then pushed forward a piece of document.


    Harman took it and his mouth immediately clamped shut afterwards.


    ¡°They call it the ¡®Chaos Plan¡¯ or something.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°And they were trying to make it happen for real.¡±


    Harman responded while scanning through the document. ¡°They are truly foolish, your highness.¡±


    The Black Order couldn¡¯t be classified as a small organisation by any stretch of imagination. But even then, them planning to do these things against the Theocratic Empire was akin to committing a mass suicide.


    ¡°This plan is completely outlandish. I can guarantee that it¡¯ll end in failure in less than two, maybe three hours after commencing, your highness.¡±


    ¡°The thing is though, that means they will be able to buy two, three hours worth of time, right?¡±


    1


    Harman looked back at the Imperial Prince. ¡°Are you saying that these bastards have another goal in mind?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, otherwise why would they willingly risk committing acts of terror that are basically the same as killing themselves for nothing?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Looks like there are still other rat holes throughout Humite where more of these bastards are hiding in. The same story goes for the other cities, too.¡±


    Indeed, it wasn¡¯t just Humite, but Ronia, Laurensis, and many others besides.


    As far as the scale of the operation was concerned, this city¡¯s hideout should be the biggest. But regardless of what, the Necromancers were planning to unleash the undeads ¡®simultaneously¡¯ throughout the empire.


    The Imperial Prince groaned loudly. He settled down on the chair and crossed his legs. After contemplating something for a while, he spoke to Harman again. ¡°These guys weren¡¯t cowards at all. Nah, they¡¯re just insane. Then again, they¡¯ve probably lost their bloody minds by the time they tried to assassinate me.¡±


    Harman inwardly clicked his tongue. He couldn¡¯t help but retort in his mind that they weren¡¯t as mad as the Imperial Family.


    1


    ¡°Anyways, Harman.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll hand over some of the Black Order survivors to you. Take them to the imperial palace and let the Crimson Cross have their ways with them.¡±


    The Necromancers fell into unrest after hearing the name of the Crimson Cross. They knew what was going to happen to them.


    They were about to be handed over to the worst of the worst Heresy Inquisitors out there. They now knew that the fate waiting for them would be endless torture until they kicked the buckets.


    ¡°Will it be fine, your highness?¡±


    Harman suddenly became worried.


    If these Necromancers ended up in the hands of the Heresy Inquisitors, then it wouldn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that the matters of the holy undead would be brought up.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. The archbishop discovered it back in the imperial palace anyway. It¡¯s only going to get harder to weasel my way out of explaining it.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Even his majesty the emperor has probably noticed it by now too. However, he hasn¡¯t said anything yet. I¡¯m guessing that he wants to wait and see how things play out for the time being.¡±


    ¡°His majesty is really doing that?¡±


    ¡°In any case. Inform the palace as soon as possible. Make sure that enough soldiers are dispatched throughout all the important cities. Oh, and tell them that I need to increase the number of my vacation days. There are some matters in this city that require my attention at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Understood. If I use a communication sphere, the news will reach the imperial palace in less than a day. As for the transfer of the Necromancers, I shall personally handle it, your highness.¡±


    Harman nodded then left the underground hideout while leading away a portion of the captured Necromancers.


    The Imperial Prince shifted his gaze to the remaining Black Order members. ¡°Alright then. Why don¡¯t we start the mop up operation and tidy up all the loose ends?¡±


    Another evil grin spread on the boy prince¡¯s lips.


    He then began a new round of interrogations.


    ¡°So, where are your other friends hiding in Humite?¡±


    **


    In the region bordering the kingdom of Aslan, a lone small house could be found in this location.


    But under this seemingly deserted house, Necromancers were busily moving around.


    ¡°What did you just say?!¡±


    ¡°It seems that our group in Humite was done in, sirs.¡±


    ¡°Numerous Paladins and Priests have been suddenly dispatched throughout Laurensis, Havilon, Hilda, Hedron, and the other strategic cities, sirs. If we wish to carry out our Chaos plan, then we will need a lot more manpower now. In our current situation¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­There is a very good chance that we will fail the moment we initiate our plan, sirs.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The executives of the Black Order were clenching their teeth upon hearing the reports.


    The one that looked like the leader roared out. ¡°Humite was the most important location! What the hell do you think will happen if we fail there? And with only one month remaining in our schedule, too!¡±


    ¡°It seems that the ones in the Humite district were acting too openly, and that caused their tails to be exposed, sir. A lot of our agents had been assigned there and it presented a serious problem with recharging demonic energy, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Bloody idiots! They should¡¯ve been more cautious since that was the most important location in our plan!¡±


    ¡°Not only that¡­ It seems that the Imperial Family has sensed something is up as well.¡±


    ¡°¡­What was that?¡±


    ¡°It seems that the Heavenly Army has been stationed near the border to Aslan, sir.¡±


    The Heavenly Army was one of the five strongest forces belonging to the Theocratic Empire. They were always mobilised solely for the sake of warfare.


    An army consisting of one thousand Paladins who obeyed the will of heaven was currently dispatched to the border region.


    All of the Necromancers present began clicking their tongues. They were planning to delay the Order of the Golden Cross stationed near Humite, but now, the damn Heavenly Army acted first.


    With how things were going, their plan had basically been ruined.


    Their ¡®job¡¯ was a simple one. Procure as many zombies and skeletons as possible, then when the time comes, commit acts of terror in the strategic locations around the empire. Then, cause ¡®paralysis¡¯ for at least a minimum of two hours, or ideally, three hours at most.


    Also, just as importantly, they would tie down the Order of the Golden Cross currently stationed in the Humite region.


    Those were the extent of their roles.


    However, it was already a failure before they could begin.


    The executives of the Black Order could only groan unhappily.


    ¡°What did Aslan say?¡±


    ¡°¡­They wish to postpone the plan for the time being. They are instead thinking of sending an envoy to the Theocratic Empire soon.¡±


    That made some sense.


    The organisation of the Black Order enjoyed close ties to the kingdom of Aslan, after all.


    There was little doubt that this event would cause the Imperial Family to begin suspecting that Aslan was harbouring foolish thoughts, and since the emperor and his whole family were certifiably insane, they could even lead a massive army to invade and pillage Aslan afterwards.


    The envoy dispatched by the kingdom would suss out the situation, and then vehemently deny their ties to the Black Order while being conscious of the threat of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s immediate invasion.


    The executives groaned and their heads faltered.


    ¡°So it¡¯s a complete failure?¡±


    ¡°No, it isn¡¯t, sirs.¡±


    The Necromancers making the report shook their heads. Cold sweat drops trickled down their backs while they stared at the executives.


    ¡°As the message implied, they are simply ¡®postponing¡¯ it.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°They also promise to send us the signal when the right time comes. They ordered us to be on an indefinite standby until then¡­¡±


    ¡°Damn it all to hell!¡±


    They thought this was their chance to escape from the southern wastelands.


    They really thought that they could obtain the verdant, fertile lands blessed by the gods and occupy the city of Laurensis, which was often referred to as the gods¡¯ holy ground.


    But then, the idiots at Humite district just had to go and make foolish mistakes, which in turn led to their plan falling apart even before it could get started.


    -Failure?


    The executives flinched at that voice and turned their heads.


    -Don¡¯t make me laugh. Do you really believe that our noble and great Aslan has failed because of something like this?


    The low growl continued reverberating throughout the meeting room.


    A pair of crimson lights glowed intensely from the darkness. Their owner then stepped into the dim light.


    A black skull with thin, fragile-looking bones visible under the loose-fitting robe¡­ An existence wielding a staff made out of bones walked out into the dim light.


    It was an undead Lich. The founder of the Black Order and their highest commander glared at the gathered executives.


    All of the Necromancers knelt down and bowed deeply at the creature¡¯s presence.


    -Send word to the envoy. The timing will be delayed, yes, but our plan will go ahead nevertheless. As for the failure of Humite, I shall personally fill the void.


    The crimson light in its eyes became harsher as the Lich continued on.


    -Also, find the cause for the failure of Humite¡¯s group. Uncover who or what sniffed out our hideout in the city. And when you do¡­


    Then, those crimson lights narrowed down to slits.


    -I shall personally eliminate that existence along with Humite itself.


    2


    < 052. Imperial Prince is Hunting Santa -4 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 93 - 053. Imperial Prince is Going to the Academy -1 (Part One)

    Chapter 93: 053. Imperial Prince is Going to the Academy -1 (Part One)


    **


    One month had passed by after the Red Devil abduction case drew to a conclusion.


    Despite the hours being late evening, people were still crowding Humite¡¯s streets.


    Numerous travellers and adventurers were busy heading to their destinations while children still awake even now and out on a stroll with their families made sure not to let go of the hands of their parents.


    A Necromancer named Beshum managed to infiltrate Humite successfully, and while walking on the streets to search for the survivors of this district, he pulled the hood of his robe up to hide his face.


    It was then, a child suddenly yelled out.


    ¡°It¡¯s the grandpa Santa!¡±


    Beshum flinched in surprise and turned his head to take a look.


    There it was, perched up on top of a chimney belonging to a residential house; a creature with a portly physique wearing a blue-coloured costume was squatting up there and scanning the area.


    Beshum¡¯s eyes opened wide as he stared at this strange existence.


    ¡®¡­A Red Devil?!¡¯


    Although its attire was different, that thing was no doubt a Red Devil, a familiar created for the purpose of information gathering, assassination, or even to abduct sacrificial offerings meant to recharge demonic energy.


    The children shouted out happily while pointing at such an existence.


    ¡°It¡¯s Santa!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Santa the grandpa!¡±


    The soldiers on patrol were clearly on guard against the ¡®Blue¡¯ Devil, but for some reason, they didn¡¯t try to subjugate the undead and simply stood around observing it.


    As for the fiefdom¡¯s subjects, they seemed to be rather unsure of the existence referred to as Santa and hurriedly shielded their children. However, a portion of them actually placed their hands together and began offering a prayer towards the undead.


    Such a sight came across deeply disturbing to Beshum.


    If the Red Devil was the symbol of fear, then the Blue Devil seemed like the symbol of blessing.


    Before he reached the city, he heard some rumours floating around that said the ¡®Blue Santas¡¯ carrying out the mission of an ¡®angel¡¯ were guarding the city¡¯s streets.


    Some of the stories sounded like fairy tales ¨C they returned the kidnapped children, and even left behind gifts of wealth to some households suffering from financial hardship as well.


    Thanks to these events, the Blue Devils were quickly being regarded as the ¡®fairies of good fortune¡¯ in Humite.


    It was right then, the ¡®Blue Santa¡¯ turned its head.


    ¡­And its gaze met with Beshum¡¯s.


    The Blue Santa tilted its head this way and that.


    Once it discovered a suspicious person, it shared its vision with its ¡®master¡¯ and activated [Mind¡¯s Eye]. The name of the Necromancer and the pertinent information regarding him were transmitted through the eyes of the ¡®Santa¡¯.


    The Blue Devil AKA Santa, grinned afterwards. Then, its lips began moving slightly.


    -Found one.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    Beshum hurriedly entered a nearby alleyway.


    He broke into an urgent dash. After breathlessly running for a little while, he took a look behind him.


    No one was pursuing him.


    What about that existence called the Blue Santa, though?


    He cautiously scanned his surroundings but it wasn¡¯t there either.


    Did he manage to lose the creature?


    While panting heavily from the shortness of breath, Beshum pulled out a map. It displayed the location of another hideout where the survivors should be hiding at.


    He needed to join up with them and hear the exact details of what had transpired in this city.


    Beshum continued moving and eventually ended up in a dark alleyway with no traces of people. He pounded on an unmarked steel door.


    ¡°To leave the wasteland behind and regain the verdant forest.¡±


    He said the password, and a short while later, the peep hole opened up for confirmation. A Necromancer wearing a robe cautiously raised his voice.


    ¡°D-did anyone follow you here?¡±


    The man¡¯s voice sounded dry and cracked, yet it was also trembling noticeably. Just from that, Beshum could already guess how much the survivors were shivering away in fear.


    ¡°No need to worry. It¡¯s safe.¡±


    The steel door opened up quickly. The Necromancer behind it, looking quite clearly frightened, gestured urgently towards Beshum, telling him to quickly enter.


    Beshum patted him on the shoulder, hoping to calm this man¡¯s fear at least a little bit. ¡°Guide me, please. I¡¯d like to hear about what¡¯s been going on here.¡±


    The Necromancer nodded and closed the door shut.


    Beshum stepped into the house, and the Necromancer guided him to the underground hideout.


    While walking forward, he spotted more Necromancers squatting by the floor of the narrow passageway. Their faces were covered in dirt, and their eyes lacked vitality. Even their expressions were filled with fear.


    These people were Necromancers who regularly sacrificed youth and lifespan for power. Yet¡­ just from their outer appearances alone, you might mistakenly think that they were refugees fleeing from a conflict zone.


    Another steel door opened and gave him access to the area where the Humite district¡¯s surviving Necromancers, those occupying some position of influence within the organisation, were staying.


    Once inside, Beshum took off his robe.


    His deeply wrinkled face sent a little nod as a greeting to the other Necromancers present.


    ¡°Did¡­ did the Black Order send you here?¡±


    ¡°W-what¡¯s going to happen to us?¡±


    ¡°What about the rescue party? Is a rescue party coming to save us?¡±


    Beshum could only frown at what these Necromancers were saying.


    How could these Necromancers that dealt with death be this gutless¡­? Besides all that, a rescue party?


    ¡°Rescue? What are you talking about? There is no such thing. I merely came here to acquire information, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Information?!¡±


    ¡°Oh, no! Does that mean we aren¡¯t going to escape from this hell?!¡±


    The surrounding Necromancers began trembling even more now.


    What was going on here? Why were they acting like this?


    ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you all? Could it be that the Heresy Inquisitors are here?¡±


    When Beshum asked them, the Necromancers shook their heads in response.


    ¡°Heresy Inquisitors, they¡­ Yes, you¡¯re right. They did come. Less than a week ago as a matter of fact. But before all that, there¡¯s a monster here! And that monster is still madly searching for us even now!¡±


    One of the Necromancers answering Beshum shivered uncontrollably while hugging his head.


    A monster?


    Wait, could it be that Oscal of the Golden Cross had personally stepped up?


    Beshum asked another question. ¡°Do you know anything about this¡­ person?¡±


    ¡°That person, he¡¯s the devil.¡± The eyes of the Necromancer were shaking in fear. He stared at Beshum and stuttered out the rest of his reply, ¡°N-no, the truth is, h-he¡¯s a devil-like angel!¡±


    ¡°¡­What are you even talking about?¡±


    ¡°Since we wanted to be sure, we employed every method at our disposal to gather information.¡± The Necromancer brought out several documents before spreading them on a nearby table¡¯s surface. ¡°However, we still don¡¯t know anything about that creature. B-but! We went through a lot of difficulty and learned about several rumours, and by analysing them, we were able to come to a conclusion.¡±


    ¡°Rumours? Conclusion?¡±


    Beshum tilted his head.


    The Necromancer, however, was nodding his head. As a strand of cold sweat trickled down his face, he gravely continued on with his explanation. ¡°The event when Vampires were suddenly murdered in the capital city of the Theocratic Empire, and then, the lycanthropes being hunted down. Those had been the omens of the things to come!¡±


    Beshum clamped his mouth shut.


    He also had heard about those stories.


    And thanks to those events, some people began spreading the rumours of the Theocratic Empire acquiring a ¡®brand new power¡¯ for themselves recently.


    But¡­ wasn¡¯t that simply a baseless rumour?


    The Necromancer stared at Beshum. ¡°And that¡¯s how we came to our conclusion. The slaughterer of the Vampires, the butcher of the Lycanthropes, all of those things were perpetrated by that monster! We concluded that they were the handiwork of the ¡®angel¡¯ currently being ¡®developed¡¯ by the Theocratic Empire!¡±


    ¡°¡­And what kind of a conspiracy theory is this now?¡±


    Beshum couldn¡¯t contain his chuckles anymore.


    He initially thought that the other party was cracking a joke to lighten up the mood, but too bad, he could see that they were still clearly frightened out of their minds.


    ¡°I¡¯m not joking! Yes, it¡¯s nothing more than a conjecture at this point, but we¡¯re extremely certain of it!¡± The Necromancer insisted while spittle flew out of his mouth. ¡°Besides, we have a definite proof too! According to the testimonies of the children roaming the streets, they say an ¡®angel¡¯ helped them!¡±


    This Necromancer must¡¯ve really lost his mind. Did dementia get the better of him after messing around with Necromancy too ardently?


    However, Beshum decided to humour them for the time being. He let out a hollow chuckle and asked another question, ¡°Alright, fine. Let¡¯s say there really is such an angel. Are you telling me that it¡¯s the same type of creature as the Blue Devil?¡±


    ¡°N-no. The Red Devil is nothing more than some nickname attached to the undead in order to sow the seeds of fear. However, the ¡®angel¡¯ is different. The Theocratic Empire really has summoned this creatu¡­?!¡±


    The Necromancer suddenly flinched and stared at Beshum.


    A lone strand of sweat travelled down his cheek.


    ¡°Hang on a minute. How do you know about the Blue Devil?¡±


    ¡°Rumours were floating around even before I came here. And also, I saw one as soon as entering Humite as well. Although it seemed to have noticed me, I managed to lose it. You don¡¯t have to wor¡­¡±


    ¡°You! You stupid son of a b*tch!¡±


    The Necromancer screamed out.


    He must¡¯ve lost what little rationale he had left, judging from how he suddenly began pointing and glaring murderously at Beshum.


    ¡°Dammit! What the hell were you thinking?! If you were being followed, you shouldn¡¯t have come here!¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    Beshum turned his head.


    The fear spread around to the rest of the Necromancers like a plague and they seemed to have lost their rationale as well, judging from all the screams coming out of their mouths.


    What was this? Why were they acting like this?!


    The Necromancers hurriedly began packing away their important documents.


    ¡°W-we need to get out of here! Get ready! We¡¯ll disperse as soon as we leave this place. That creature is coming! That thing will soon come here!¡±


    The Necromancer began tearing out his hair. Actual hair strands came loose as his eyes turned bloodshot.


    ¡°What are you even¡­¡±


    Beshum reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder, but the Necromancer simply screamed out in terror.


    ¡°That creature¡­! The angel is coming!¡±


    It was then ¨C accompanied by a loud explosion, the whole hideout was powerfully shaken around.

 Chapter 94 - 053. Imperial Prince is Going to the Academy -1 (Part Two)

    **


    As the explosion resounded out, the steel front door was blown apart.


    The Necromancers squatting by the passageway flinched nastily and hurriedly got up from the ground.


    As the thick smoke wafted out, a black silhouette could be seen within. Then, a distinctive metallic ¡®clank¡¯ rang out.


    The heavy-sounding footsteps forced the Necromancers to hastily stumble back.


    It was a ¡®creature¡¯ kitted out in a pure-white helm and armour which covered his entire torso and limbs; even his joints were covered by chainmail.


    A set of impressive white armour covered him from top to bottom, with a massive shield held in its left hand and a long-barrelled musket rifle in the right.


    [Divine Aura has been used.]


    [All equipment will temporarily be upgraded.]


    The lights resembling rune letters suddenly engraved themselves on the entire body of this small-statured ¡®angel¡¯. Strikingly-blue divinity gushed out from the gaps of the armour in the very next moment.


    Behind him were the eerily-grinning Blue Santas with much larger physiques on standby.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s the angel!¡±


    The Necromancers screamed in terror at the angel¡¯s appearance, and urgently tried running away from there.


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia.¡±


    Breaths leaked out from the air holes of the white helm the angel was wearing. Divinity started permeating into the musket rifle.


    ¡°Hiiieek?! A-all of you, stop him!¡±


    Rune letters of demonic nature were engraved on the floor and the Necromancers hurriedly summoned zombies and skeletons.


    The undead they summoned while using up their own lives began shuffling towards the angel.


    They reached out and tried biting into it.


    However, the angel utterly ignored them all. The divinity gushing out from the gaps of the armour was more than enough to melt down any skeletons or zombies getting too close and erase them from existence.


    This sight was a complete contrast to the Necromancers who spewed out poison.


    The angel pointed his musket at the targets.


    [Skill, Spread Shot, has been used.]


    Then, he squeezed the trigger.


    BOOM-!


    At the same time, dozens of projectiles were fired out.


    The Necromancers were cleanly penetrated through and turned into Swiss cheese in an instant. The bullets ricocheted off the walls and the narrow passageway was soon enveloped in noisy explosions.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡±


    The Necromancers trying to escape were swept up in the explosions and got flung away.


    After the smoke cleared, the Blue Santas began searching through the hideout. They checked if any children had been abducted, and also didn¡¯t forget to ransack the place for any items they could find within.


    Clank, clank.


    The angel continued marching forward. He offered prayers and exhaled more breaths into the musket.


    [Skill, Burst Fire, has been used.]


    He pointed the musket at the Necromancers. Divinity visibly swirled around in front of the muzzle, and every time he pulled the trigger, holy bullets flew out to strike their targets.


    ¡°O-oh, dear god! We beg of you! Please, please s-save us!¡±


    A Necromancer who lost his leg was crawling on the ground.


    But then, the angel ruthlessly stepped on this man¡¯s back and spoke up. ¡°Save you? Heh, allow me to do just that for you.¡±


    He pointed the musket at the downed Necromancer.


    ¡°The Goddess¡¯s grace will lead you punks straight down to hell.¡±


    The Necromancer looked behind him. His eyes widened in terror after spotting the swirling divinity in front of the muzzle.


    ¡°Ah, aaaaah¡­ Aaaaaahk!¡±


    A gunshot rang out.


    With every step the angel took, the Necromancers fell increasingly deeper into confused pandemonium. Because, the angel was truly merciless against the ones who manipulated death.


    Only death existed whenever it pulled the trigger on the musket.


    Soon, the angel stood before a steel door. He simply kicked it off the hinges.


    The heavy, sturdy-looking door bent and broke. The glare of the angel¡¯s eyes seemed to gleam brightly from beneath the helm.


    Countless Necromancers activated their magic while paying the price of their lifespan, right up until their moments of death.


    Beshum, who was stuck in the middle of them, was also raising his staff, a look of shock etched on his face. He was working hard to manipulate demonic energy to do his bidding, but his eyes didn¡¯t want to look away from this creature called ¡®angel¡¯.


    ¡°That¡­ that¡¯s the angel?!¡±


    The angel¡¯s body size was small. But even then, ¡®it¡¯ still managed to move that thick armour without any issues.


    This being was the so-called monster that took over Humite all by itself?


    ¡°Fire!¡±


    While Beshum dazedly muttered to himself, other Necromancers were busy roaring out as veins in their throats bulged up.


    The angel raised the thick shield in its left hand. The fired magic spells collided noisily against the shield.


    It was set on fire before freezing up. All sorts of curses and toxins began melting down the area around the angel. The combined firepower was so great that a regular person would¡¯ve dissolved away without a trace even before he had a chance to protect himself with the shield.


    Unfortunately, the angel was unscathed.


    The impact force did push it back a few steps, but that was only for a short while. It began moving forward once more.


    The glare of its eyes shooting out from beneath the helm was so frightening that goosebumps broke out on the skin of all the Necromancers watching.


    ¡°Ah, aaaaahk!¡±


    Beshum, who only a few minutes ago thought of it as some kind of a joke, also lost himself to fear as well.


    He unleashed all of the demonic energy in him.


    The angel¡¯s eyes permeating with divinity were quietly taking in the sights of the Necromancers. It was as if he was trying to study their magic.


    ¡°Pant¡­ pant¡­ pant¡­¡±


    One by one, Necromancers began collapsing out of exhaustion.


    Their magic spells eventually cut out, and in the end, even Beshum fell on his butt while laboriously panting.


    He raised his head in despair.


    The angel remained unscathed.


    The white armour didn¡¯t even have a single trace of being singed. In fact, the aura of divinity continuously gushing out from his body was still perfectly protecting him.


    ¡°Ah, ah! Dear Yudai¡­!¡±


    Beshum offered a prayer towards the god he worshipped.


    In the meantime, the angel¡¯s breaths injected more divinity into the musket rifle, then he took aim at the Necromancers. Flames lit up on the weapon¡¯s muzzle in the next instant.


    It was one of the magic spells that the Necromancers used earlier.


    ¡°He¡­ he copied our magic?!¡±


    Even if the attack spells employed by Necromancers were rather simple in structure, how could anyone analyse and copy it in such a short amount of time?!


    The flames erupted out from the muzzle and incinerated the Necromancers.


    More wretched screams resounded out in the area.


    Beshum looked behind him and saw that his fellow Necromancers had collapsed to the ground as burnt-out blocks of charcoal.


    He shivered in fear, and when he turned his head back, the angel was standing right in front of his eyes.


    Beshum barely managed to crack open his trembling lips, ¡°You! You bastard¡­ Just what are you?!¡±


    The angel didn¡¯t reply and simply reached out with his hand.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    The morning sun rose past the horizon.


    I yawned and stretched my limbs while still feeling drowsy.


    My whole body was still aching thanks to all that rampaging I did last night while wearing the set of armour Belrog had gifted me. My accumulated fatigue hadn¡¯t gone away yet.


    I rubbed my still-sleepy eyes and went to the ground floor of the inn. The inn¡¯s owner smiled warmly while bringing out my food.


    After settling down on an empty spot at a dining table, I began chowing down on my breakfast consisting of a bowl of simple soup and bread.


    In the meantime, Harman walked over and sat on my opposite side. ¡°Your highness. With the aid of the Crimson Cross, I was able to interrogate the Necromancer that infiltrated the city last night. His name is¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Beshum?¡±


    ¡°¡­You already knew?¡±


    Of course I knew. A Necromancer was capable of sharing the vision of their familiars after all. While using that skill, I activated [Mind¡¯s Eye], so yeah, I knew a few things about that guy.


    Although, there was somewhat of a drawback of my vision becoming disorientated if I used this skill on too many familiars, which was the exact opposite of what I wanted. Still, it was better than nothing.


    I replied while chewing on the bread. ¡°I only know his name.¡±


    Harman¡¯s breakfast was brought out as well.


    He munched on his bread and continued with his report. ¡°He says he came here to learn more about the current state of Humite, your highness. He hasn¡¯t mentioned which district he originally belongs to, but if you give me a week, I will definitely uncover that information as well. It wouldn¡¯t be all that hard considering that the Order of the Crimson Cross is also here.¡±


    As per my request, Harman transferred the surviving Necromancers to the imperial palace and brought along a portion of the Crimson Cross back with him to Humite.


    We were currently capturing any Necromancers that decided to show up here, and at the same time, interrogated them and learned more about this [Chaos Plan] of the Black Order.


    Currently, it was a rather delicate time period for the Theocratic Empire.


    The moment Kelt Olfolse learned of the [Chaos Plan], he immediately dispatched combat forces to each of the important cities. He also considered the possibility of the Black Order entering into a cooperative relationship with Aslan to invade the empire, and that was why he had the Heavenly Army stationed in the border region.


    If the kingdom of Aslan showed even one tiny little hint of doing something stupid, then the battlefield wouldn¡¯t be inside the Theocratic Empire, but somewhere in Aslan instead.


    ¡°Okay, I got it. Get all the info out of him as quickly as possible.¡±


    While saying that, I got up from the seat.


    ¡°Where are you going, your highness?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m off to the library.¡±


    ¡°You mean the one in the academy? You seem to frequent that place a lot, your highness. May I ask, why do you go there?¡±


    ¡°Because they have plenty of books.¡±


    Actually, the real reason was because a lot of grimoires left behind by the Necromancers could be found in there, that¡¯s why. Most of the captured punks were small-fries and they didn¡¯t hold a lot of valuable knowledge.


    The grimoires dealing with more advanced content could be found stored in the academy. I especially found all the tomes related to the Necromancer King quite interesting at the moment.


    ¡°Instead of doing this, isn¡¯t it better to consider transferring to the academy altogether?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been acting like B*tman almost every single night so you think I have enough spare energy left to attend school during the day?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea what this B*tman is, but you can leave the search and hunt of those bastards to us, your highness.¡± Harman placed his fist against his chest, and then bowed his head. ¡°We wish for nothing more than your highness to be able to enjoy some semblance of a normal life.¡±


    Hey Harman, you sure do know how to talk, don¡¯t you?


    Just who was it that forcibly dragged me out of the monastery all those months ago? So what¡¯s this about having a normal life now, ah?!


    ¡°The other siblings of the Imperial Family have also spent some time as students here in Humite, your highness. How about taking a small break from your task and making some friends in the¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it, okay?¡±


    I could only tut here.


    After breakfast, Harman went to the hideout to interrogate the rest of the captured Necromancers, while I walked over to Humite Academy.


    I passed through the grand gateway of the academy and entered the hallway that led to the library, only to be greeted by a familiar voice.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Allen. Or should I call you with the false identity of Jerone Ripang in this place?¡±


    Jerone Ripang ¨C this was the name of my current identity, the adopted son of Count Jenald Ripang. Only the Imperial Family and Harman knew the truth.


    I turned my head and stared at the owner of that voice.


    < 053. Imperial Prince is Going to the Academy -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 95 - 054. Imperial Prince is Going to the Academy -2 (Part One)

    **


    The Third Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse.


    ¡­For a second there, I nearly couldn¡¯t remember this dude¡¯s name.


    ¡°Ah, dear brother!¡±


    ¡°¡­Why does your response seem a little delayed? It can¡¯t be that you forgot about me again?¡±


    I smiled brightly back at him.


    Honestly? I did forget about him. Well, compared to people like Luan or Hilda of the Theocratic Empire, Ruppel was an air-like existence, after all.


    ¡°Of course that¡¯s not true, brother. I do owe you a debt of gratitude, after all.¡±


    That claim was true, wasn¡¯t it? This punk here was one of the ¡®other¡¯ siblings who disliked the First Imperial Prince Luan. During the Vampire incident a few months ago, he freed me from prison while hoping that I¡¯d go on and create some havoc in the palace.


    I asked him. ¡°But why are you here, third brother?¡±


    ¡°I have a family residence located in between the border to Aslan and the city of Humite. Wait, have you forgotten about that too?¡±


    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how it was?¡±


    Now that I thought about it some more, I could faintly recall something about the Third Imperial Prince¡¯s residence in Humite showing up in the information regarding the city.


    Since the information itself was insignificant, I kind of skipped it altogether.


    ¡°That still doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re living in Humite, so what brings you to the academy, brother?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be difficult to converse freely here, so why don¡¯t we head out to enjoy some tea elsewhere?¡±


    The location Ruppel led me to was an executive office inside the academy.


    A maidservant brought some tea and he personally pushed a cup towards me.


    While sitting on a couch on the opposite side, I stared at Ruppel, waiting for him to get the conversation going again.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you were aware of it, but Humite is a part of the region that I¡¯m in charge of.¡± While sipping on his tea, Ruppel glared straight at me. ¡°But then, I hear you¡¯ve been causing incidents inside my territory without me being aware of it, Allen Olfolse.¡±


    It sounded like he was talking about the matter with the Black Order.


    I too sipped on the tea and leisurely made my reply. ¡°What do you mean by ¡®causing incidents¡¯? People might misunderstand if they hear you, brother. You should say that I¡¯ve been taking care of the situation instead. Besides, all of my actions have been sanctioned by his majesty, anyways.¡±


    ¡°That matter was mine to resolve.¡±


    Ruppel didn¡¯t sound happy at all regarding this situation.


    But I smiled anyways while replying back to him. ¡°If so, why didn¡¯t you get on top of it right away? Did you know how frightened the citizens were after the matter was left unattended for over a month? We even have victims now, too. Their pain isn¡¯t something that can be erased with financial means. If you find yourself with some free time later, I recommend that you go and visit their graves.¡±


    ¡°¡­Are you trying to get smart with me?! Did your ego grow too big after causing a scene back in the imperial palace?¡±


    ¡°Do you even know what I did in the imperial palace, brother?¡± I asked while shooting a glare in Ruppel¡¯s direction.


    He flinched and quickly swallowed back his dry saliva.


    From that reaction alone, I could guess that he must¡¯ve heard about it by now ¨C the details regarding events of the imperial palace and the capital city Laurensis turning into an ocean of blood.


    He was actively avoiding meeting my eyes while opening his mouth. ¡°Uh, hm, well¡­ weren¡¯t you hunting Vampires?¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s hand lifting the teacup was visibly trembling.


    Well, as expected of a dude with the trait of a coward.


    Then again, a portion of the rumours incorrectly suggested that I tried to rebel or some such. They said that I ¡®led a portion of the Paladins to murder Luan¡¯.


    If that had been true, then Ruppel would¡¯ve been seen as an accomplice.


    What a relief that it was nothing more than your ¡®average¡¯ Vampire hunt. Otherwise, both Ruppel and I would be rotting inside a jail cell for the rest of our lives.


    While hoping to somehow disguise his emotions, Ruppel suddenly changed the topic. ¡°H-hmm. In any case, after your arrival, the state of Humite has spiralled completely out of control.¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about the state where people are strolling around late at evenings while the Blue Santas are helping those unfortunate people in need? Where the citizens are enjoying a period of safety and happiness filled with laughter? Well, I wonder. In your view, brother, how do you find the current state of Humite?¡±


    ¡°¡­I find it very acceptable. As far as public security is concerned, we¡¯re second only to Laurensis now.¡±


    Ruppel replied honestly with a dissatisfied expression filling up his face.


    I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. ¡°In that case, what¡¯s the problem?¡±


    ¡°Of course there¡¯s a problem, and that¡¯s why I came to see you.¡± Ruppel groaned deeply and held his forehead. ¡°Those Blue Santas. Aren¡¯t they the same existence as the Red Devil? How do you even command such creatures in the first place?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve tortured a few Necromancers. They seem to be a lot more willing to cooperate with me afterwards.¡±


    ¡°¡­I had a chance to observe one from close by. I noticed divinity permeating within it. That is such a bizarre existence, one that¡¯s truly ominous to behold. Could it be that you have a Necromancer as one of your retainers? That being referred to as an ¡®angel¡¯ or some such?¡±


    ¡°Ah, you mean the holy undead? Aren¡¯t they amazing? I acquired this technology after capturing and torturing an alien. Hiya~, did you know that the technological prowess of the Necromancers are easily the best in the world?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to change the subject.¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s expression was noticeably twitching.


    The head of the Imperial Family chose not to say anything about the holy undead. However, news of it was bound to get out sooner or later.


    And accordingly, I gotta prepare myself in the heart too. My future actions would depend solely on how the Theocratic Empire decides to respond.


    ¡°I¡¯m aware that the scale of the Black Order hiding in Humite is quite considerable. Also, the Necromancers have currently infiltrated various cities of the empire. Then, Aslan is also gathering their Necromancy Corps too.¡± Ruppel tutted unhappily and continued on. ¡°After looking at the current situation, it¡¯s no wonder that his majesty has begun suspecting that the Black Order is conspiring with Aslan to invade our empire.¡±


    ¡°Not suspecting, but he¡¯s probably convinced of it by now.¡±


    That grandpa of ours, the moment he claps his eyes on a piece of evidence that could serve as a pretext, he¡¯d lift up a giant hammer or something and while roaring out, ¡°Time to loot! Time to massacre some fools!¡±, he would personally jump headfirst into the warzone.


    3


    Considering that he was an insane geezer, yeah, he¡¯d definitely do something like that, and then some.


    Ruppel also knew this, and that¡¯s why he was massaging his temples with much anguish. ¡°This matter seems to have scared Aslan and they are apparently planning to dispatch an envoy.¡±


    I guessed Aslan also got sh*t-scared by the prospect. There was a big difference between waging war inside the Theocratic Empire and inside Aslan¡¯s borders after all.


    The higher-ups of Aslan should be racking their brains for a good idea on how to placate our pissed-off grandpa.


    I replied in an unconcerned voice. ¡°If an envoy is coming, then he should be bringing gifts, right? Even if they weren¡¯t planning to invade, there were some signs of that, so I¡¯m thinking that the gifts would have to be extra generous to match the circumstances. Heh, will I get some extra pocket money then?¡±


    From what I heard, Aslan might be located in the wastelands but their natural resources and wealth were second only to the Theocratic Empire on this continent.


    The rich deposits of magic stones and iron ores, plus the slavery system that dealt humans as goods ¨C these were the two of the most important drivers of Aslan¡¯s economic growth.


    There was a very good chance of the envoy showing up with gifts this time in order to stop the war. And the value of said gifts should determine whether or not Kelt Olfolse choose to let this matter slide.


    Ruppel carried on. ¡°I¡¯m thinking that in one month¡¯s time, Aslan¡¯s envoy would arrive here in Humite.¡±


    ¡°In a month? I¡¯ll still be here by then.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re planning to stick around until then?¡±


    ¡°Well, the imperial palace is a tiring place to stay, you see? And also, I¡¯m having a lot of fun researching magic lately, and the work of Santa Claus suits my disposition well, so¡­¡±


    Ruppel groaned under his breath. ¡°The welcoming ceremony must take place in this city. And I¡¯m duty-bound to safely escort the envoy to Laurensis too.¡±


    He began fidgeting anxiously. As a matter of fact, he must¡¯ve been feeling really anxious since even his legs began trembling while he stared at my face, trying to gauge my mood.


    ¡°What I want from you is for you to behave yourself until they reach the city. If you can¡¯t do that, then seeing as you¡¯re nominally a transfer student, live a quiet student life in the academy, at the very least. Isn¡¯t that so much better for you?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s me behaving nicely got to do with Aslan¡¯s envoy?¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s expression crumpled. ¡°Aslan as a country worships the god of death, Yudai. Their belief system is different from ours, and not only are the Necromancers their version of holy men, they are also the members of the ruling aristocracy, too.¡±


    Necromancers were a part of Aslan¡¯s aristocracy. As for the slaves they possessed, they were considered as a ¡®food source¡¯ that provided vital nutrients, so to speak. The poor suckers were considered as the ¡®eternal slaves¡¯, meaning they would remain as slaves for the rest of their lives.


    ¡°Imagine how the envoy would react if he saw Necromancers being oppressed.¡±


    Well, some important nobles in his point of view were openly being oppressed, so without a doubt, he¡¯d angrily rebuke with the words of, ¡°You dare look down on us?!¡±


    ¡°What I ask of you is your cooperation so that I may successfully deal with the envoy without any hiccups.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, you aren¡¯t telling me to participate in the proceedings, now are you?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s the exact opposite. All I want is for you to simply keep your head down. If that¡¯s too hard for you, just¡­ live a normal life as a mere student.¡± Ruppel put his hands together and even bowed his head. ¡°I beg of you. Please let me accomplish something this time. It feels like his majesty has forgotten about me lately.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I could sense Ruppel¡¯s desperation here.


    But then again, that¡¯s unsurprising. The throne succession order was more or less settled now with Luan¡¯s sudden revival.


    The first spot was no doubt Luan¡¯s, while Hilda would be the second, and then, Ruppel was probably the third in line.


    3


    However, if some scandals broke out in the city he governed and more problems arose during the upcoming diplomatic event, then it was sure as heck that Ruppel would slide down even further in the pecking order.


    But even if he was begging me, a lot of Necromancers have been trying to infiltrate the city lately. Even if their aim was to gather information, I couldn¡¯t just let them be¡­


    ¡°If there¡¯s anything you want, I¡¯ll definitely make it happen.¡±


    ¡­Well, those words sure perked up my ears.


    ¡°You mean, literally anything?¡±


    ¡°T-that¡¯s right. What is it that you want? I do have some authority in this place. If there¡¯s something you desire, I¡¯ll do my best to make it come true.¡±


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯d like to have a gander at the ¡®Necromancer King Amon¡¯s grimoire¡¯ currently stored in the academy.¡±


    I immediately brought up what I wanted.


    But Ruppel¡¯s expression froze up instantly. ¡°¡­That tome cannot be viewed without his majesty¡¯s express consent.¡±


    Yeah, I also knew that.

 Chapter 96 - 054. Imperial Prince is Going to the Academy -2 (Part Two)

    The Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse didn¡¯t hold back in supporting me by providing Heresy Inquisitors and lots of other resources, all of them under the ¡®no questions asked¡¯ clause. However, he still placed a restriction on me when it came to Necromancer King Amon¡¯s grimoire.


    There was nothing stopping me if I really wanted to read it by force, but just to be safe, I wanted the Third Imperial Prince to share a portion of the blame if things went south.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you somehow make it happen? If you do that for me, I¡¯ll quietly spend the rest of my stay here as a mere student. Heck, if you want, I can even stay as a student until I graduate.¡±


    Of course, I still planned on carrying out my nightly operations as quietly as possible too. I couldn¡¯t let those Necromancers infiltrating the city run around as they pleased after all.


    ¡°N-no, it¡¯d be even more troublesome for me if you stay until graduation. In any case, let me think about it. I¡­ I can smuggle the grimoire out, but once discovered, I¡¯ll be severely reprimanded.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll share the blame with you.¡±


    ¡°¡­I see. I¡¯ll do my best, then. But it will take some time.¡±


    I nodded my head. ¡°Great.¡±


    Now this was a satisfactory outcome.


    With a pleased expression on my face, I finished the rest of the tea.


    Ruppel studied my mood for a little while before cautiously asking a question, ¡°By the way. I¡¯m asking you this because I¡¯m curious¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°Vampires, lycans, and even the Necromancers, by any chance do you have a way to distinguish them somehow?¡±


    Strange rumours were doing their rounds recently in the Theocratic Empire. They were about the slaughterer of the Vampire, the butcher of the lycans, plus something about a new weapon called ¡®angel¡¯, etc, etc.


    Even I could tell that these rumours were about me, but they were mostly exaggerated nonsense.


    ¡°Yes, I do.¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    His shock made some sense though. It was thought to be impossible to differentiate Vampires and Necromancers from the common people for the past several hundred years, after all.


    ¡°You¡­ really do? But how?¡±


    ¡°Do you know about the events I went through during my banishment up north?¡±


    Ruppel flinched and clamped his mouth shut.


    The incident of the Seventh Imperial Prince nearly dying was a taboo subject that the siblings of the Imperial Family preferred not to talk about.


    Ruppel maintained his silence for a while before nodding his head. ¡°Yes, I know of it. You mean the incident involving Morgana the Witch, yes?¡±


    He was speaking with a hushed voice. His face also showed how tense he was too. I decided to humour him after seeing that face of his.


    I opened my mouth while making an expression that Buddha must¡¯ve made back when he had his epiphany. ¡°Back then, I received a divine revelation.¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s expression hardened even more. ¡°A divine revelation, you say? Are you saying you received Goddess Gaia¡¯s grace?¡±


    ¡°Dear Gaia taught me, and only me, a sure-fire way to differentiate all the evil doers.¡±


    ¡°A sure-fire way? Does that mean others can also learn it too?!¡±


    ¡°Why? Do you wish to learn it as well?¡±


    Ruppel urgently nodded several times.


    Wow, he¡¯s so serious. That probably showed how pressed he was feeling right now, though.


    Once you become the next Holy Emperor, you¡¯d have to deal with migraine-inducing monsters like Vampires, Lycans, and even Necromancers after all.


    Well, I guess it should be alright to give him a small hint.


    ¡°It¡¯s actually simple, really.¡± I greatly simplified my explanation for him. ¡°Place a statue of any of the gods worshipped in the Theocratic Empire.¡±


    To illustrate my point, I picked up a flower vase nearby and then placed it in front of me.


    ¡°Then, you place your hands together, and with a purest, sincerest heart, pray and kowtow.¡±


    ¡°Pray? Kowtow?¡±


    ¡°Yes. M-mm, and you also gotta read aloud a chant too. It¡¯s an ancient song of praise that the gods enjoyed listening to from time immemorial.¡±


    ¡°There was such a thing?¡±


    I smiled brightly and nodded like a sage. ¡°By any chance¡­ do you know what Buddhist scriptures are?¡±


    **


    I taught him a piece of Buddhist scripture that I couldn¡¯t remember properly and left the office.


    1


    After closing the door, I thought I could hear some strange mumblings coming from beyond it.


    Eeeiya~, isn¡¯t this a great test?


    Aren¡¯t you at least a bit curious?


    The previous owner of this body basically called Gaia a piece of dirty mop. And although I wasn¡¯t sure whether it was the divine retribution meant for me or simply a series of sh*tty coincidences, I was swimming in varying degrees of hardships for a while now.


    If the gods were mischievous little punks, then heh¡­ I was getting genuinely curious about what was going to happen to our dear Third Imperial Prince Ruppel.


    Would he suffer just as much hardships as I did, or would he be ignored?


    Honestly, I was half-pranking him. Although, there was no way that a god would go along with a prank of this nature.


    ¡°Well, if you do end up with a difficult trial, then¡­¡±


    I cast my gaze filled with sympathy in the direction of Ruppel¡¯s office.


    Dear Third Imperial Prince, I swear not to forget your sacrifices. You can rest easy now. Who knows, by suffering through some trials, you may find an opportunity to grow as a person.


    1


    ¡°In any case. A student, is it¡­?¡±


    I looked at the transfer document that Ruppel forced into my hand. There was one month remaining until the envoy was supposed to show up. And he wanted me to keep my head down until then.


    Wait, now that I thought about it¡­


    ¡°¡­Isn¡¯t Charlotte supposed to be studying here?¡±


    I might get a chance to run into her later then.


    1


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Somewhere near a village located in the outskirts of the Humite region.


    Veins were bulging visibly on Oscal¡¯s forehead.


    ¡°Charlotte, you are an agent of the Golden Cross. You must absolutely, unquestioningly abide by the commands of the Imperial Family.¡±


    ¡°¡­I swear in my honour to follow and obey his highness.¡±


    The muscles around Oscal¡¯s lips twitched.


    Just where did she get her stubborn streak from?!


    ¡°Not his highness, but his majesty! You must obey our emperor!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Charlotte hastily forced back the words ¡®If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll leave the Golden Cross¡¯ down her throat.


    There were still plenty of things left to learn here.


    Just by being here with them, she showed a truly shocking rate of growth. Even she could sense that herself.


    Oscal stared at her with some dissatisfaction before opening his mouth again, ¡°From today onwards, your training will be twice as harsh. Any objections?¡±


    ¡°¡­I have none.¡±


    Oscal then raised the scabbard once more.


    The next day.


    Charlotte headed to the academy¡¯s cafeteria for lunch.


    Bandages with some blood on them were wrapped tightly around her face and arms. The other students around her couldn¡¯t help but stare at her and whisper amongst themselves.


    ¡°Uhm, your condition looks really terrible. Are you feeling alright?¡±


    She glanced to her side.


    A boy with a familiar face had sneaked closer and settled down on the spot next to hers by the dining table.


    ¡­This was the boy who insulted her parents back in Ronia.


    His name was ¡®Heis¡¯, the eldest son of Count Hedron¡¯s household.


    For some reason, he showed her a lot of attention in this place.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, thank you.¡±


    She roundly ignored him and continued on with her lunch.


    Heis got even closer and then cautiously pulled something out from his jacket¡¯s inner pocket. ¡°It¡¯s a potion. A rare one, at that. If you use this, your wounds will¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Thank you.¡±


    Oscal once told her this ¨C that one needed to know how to endure pain.


    He said that if one didn¡¯t know how to continue moving forward with a wounded body, then one would inevitably get hunted down by the monsters.


    With the exception of the ¡®absolute obedience¡¯ shtick, he had plenty of good things to learn from. She believed that it was definitely worth being around that man.


    ¡°I-is that so?¡±


    Heis ruefully smacked his lips. He cautiously studied her mood.


    She was expressionless. But maturity, ladylike virtue, and even pride were still permeating within her stoic face.


    Heis stared at her face for a while as if he was completely entranced by those points.


    If it was him suffering from those grave wounds, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to walk around. She must be under intense pain right now¡­ yet there was not even a single hint of it in her current demeanour.


    Just why was she always this wounded almost everyday?


    Heis barely managed to muster up some courage and was about to speak to her again, but she suddenly stood up from the chair.


    ¡°Uh? A-ah, wait!¡±


    She was about to leave the cafeteria while holding her food tray, so Heis hurriedly chased after her.


    It was then, Charlotte¡¯s vision blurred.


    The accumulated fatigue momentarily made her dizzy.


    All of the sounds from the surroundings vanished. The only thing her eyes could see was a monochromatic world.


    This brief moment of anaemia nearly caused her to lose balance and collapse to the floor.


    But then, someone caught her and supported her frame.


    ¡°Ah, thank¡­ you.¡±


    Charlotte expressed her gratitude at being able to avoid dropping her tray, but she still didn¡¯t forget to cautiously push away the hands supporting her.


    It was at that moment her ears caught a familiar voice.


    ¡°You feeling alright?¡±


    Her shoulders flinched slightly.


    She couldn¡¯t help but doubt her ears just then.


    Wanting to confirm the face of the voice¡¯s owner, she turned her head.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s been a while. But what happened to you? Your face¡­?¡±


    Her eyes grew wider and the irises within gradually went up.


    The figure of a certain person filled up her view in this dark, monochromatic world.


    ¡°Imperial¡­¡±


    He quickly raised his finger and placed it on his lips as a signal that she should stop right there.


    She quickly clamped her mouth shut at that sight.


    ¡°You mustn¡¯t call me that here. Alright, let me introduce you to my name then.¡±


    The one she wished to protect was standing right before her eyes.


    The boy grinned and continued speaking.


    Apparently, he was using a different name now.


    ¡°My name is Jerone¡­¡±


    Allen¡­


    ¡°Ripang.¡±


    ¡­Olfolse.


    He was grinning brightly away.


    ¡°Although it¡¯s only going to be for a short while, I somehow ended up attending this place. It¡¯s been a while, but I¡¯ll have to ask you again to take care of me, Charlotte.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince was standing right before her.


    < 054. Imperial Prince is Going to the Academy -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 97 - Charlotte Heraiz (Part One)

    Life in the academy was a constant stream of sheer boredom.


    From studying the magic knowledge that was either way too easy or was stuff I already knew, down to the sparring sessions that didn¡¯t even come anywhere near to what I had against Hilda. And finally, topics that wouldn¡¯t help anyone with their survival, such as the continent¡¯s history and studies involving various noble households¡­


    Just spending one day doing those things would bore me to death, and yet I was supposed to spend one whole month living this life?


    That was completely out of the question.


    ¡°I might as well just goof off.¡±


    Yup, it¡¯d be far better to just spend all of my time stuck inside the library instead.


    So¡­ I did just that and skipped all my classes.


    I spent the morning inside the academy¡¯s library and then went to the cafeteria to get some lunch ¨C that¡¯s when I ran into Charlotte.


    But after looking at her current state, I just had to ask her. ¡°Did something happen to you?¡±


    Her whole body was full of injuries. Because of all the bandages wrapped around her, I almost didn¡¯t recognise her straight away.


    What the hell? How did this kid end up injured this badly?


    Hang on, could it be that the people here were treating her like an outcast because she¡¯s a commoner?


    I ended up furrowing my brows even before realising it.


    I mean, she was one of the handful of people that I could genuinely trust in this world. She had been helping me out all this time, so seeing her in this state was making me feel really bad here.


    Charlotte dazedly stared at me for a bit, but took a step back as if she had finally regained her composure.


    After putting her food tray down on a nearby table, she slightly bowed her head as a greeting. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since the Ronia incident, Young Master Jerone.¡±


    Not even a hint of a slip-up, eh?


    The moment she heard my fake name, she changed her response and quickly matched the situation. She probably connected the dots from my new surname of ¡®Ripang¡¯, and most likely recalled feudal lord Jenald Ripang from Ronia.


    No matter when or where I saw her, she remained one smart kid.


    Suddenly, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit bitter. The way she distanced herself and greeted me while her body trembled just a little gave off the feeling that maybe she didn¡¯t want to see me here.


    Did I unnecessarily butt in here?


    ¡°Once more, Charlotte Heraiz offers her greeting to Young Master Jerone.¡±


    ¡°¡­Heraiz?¡±


    I tilted my head while staring at her.


    She had a surname?


    And it¡¯s ¡®Heraiz¡¯ too?


    It felt like I¡¯ve heard that name before somewhere.


    Hang on, now I remember; I heard this name while studying history back in the imperial palace.


    It was one of the noble houses that served the Imperial Family but got wiped out by the Necromancer King fifty years ago.


    That¡¯s right, I was sure that ¡®Heraiz¡¯ used to be one of the loyal forces employed by the Imperial Family, but now lost to time itself.


    The Heavenly Army, the Paladin Corps, the Order of Verdant Cross, Crimson Cross, and then, the Golden Cross. There also used to be a sixth entity that could freely exercise their military might which was rather different from the rest.


    And they were¡­


    ¡°S-Saint-nim?!¡±


    I flinched nastily in shock and looked behind me.


    The sound of a food tray falling to the floor echoed out. A boy with a pretty large physique stood there and stared at me with his wide-open eyes.


    His jaw dropped, then he hurriedly got down on his knees. He prostrated flat on the floor and shouted out, ¡°This lowly eldest son of Count Hedron¡¯s household pays his respect to the Saint!¡±


    A big-shot noble from a count house suddenly went down on his knees to kowtow to me. On top of that, he was shouting at the top of his lungs too. It was inevitable that his antics would draw attention from the surroundings.


    I could hear the crowd starting to buzz around us.


    The scene of the eldest son of a count household kowtowing to another son of a count household sure was a memorable sight to behold.


    I facepalmed at it, though.


    I wanted to spend my time here quietly. But now I began wondering if I should just give up on that wish at this point.


    **


    Since we were free to do what we wanted during lunch hour, I simply left the academy and had my meal at the marketplace by Humite¡¯s city centre.


    I settled down on a bench and munched on the food in my hands.


    However, the awkward atmosphere stuck around me like a piece of gum, all thanks to two people sitting on either side of me.


    On my right was Charlotte, while my left was Heis.


    They were both currently staring at the food that I bought for them while being unnaturally stiff-as-rocks right now.


    What the¡­ Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have chatted to them in the first place?


    You were supposed to rest your weary mind and body during lunch hour. I began wondering if my presence was preventing them from doing just that and act weirdly like this.


    ¡°¡­Anyways. What¡¯s going on with your injuries?¡±


    I asked Charlotte while munching on the sandwich that closely resembled a burger.


    I couldn¡¯t help but keep thinking about them. Her injuries were definitely the results of getting hit by something blunt.


    After taking a better look at how many scars there were on her, I started imagining that maybe the academy was harassing her somehow. Since there were plenty of snooty children of nobility attending this place, there was a good chance of them treating Charlotte as their prey.


    She flinched in surprise and began touching her face. Realising her state belatedly, she lowered her head while biting her lower lip. ¡°These injuries are from sparring, your highness.¡±


    ¡°For something you got from sparring sessions, they look kind of excessive, don¡¯t you think? You aren¡¯t getting ostracised or something, right?¡±


    ¡°T-that definitely can¡¯t be!¡±


    Heis suddenly butted in.


    Now that I had a chance to remember, didn¡¯t we have a run-in back in Ronia? That¡¯s right! I smacked him on his foot back then.


    1


    He was busy yapping off about assaulting a maid who happened to be a commoner, wasn¡¯t he?


    I asked him. ¡°You aren¡¯t responsible for her current state, now are you?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way that¡¯s true!¡±


    Heis freaked out and hurriedly shook his head.


    Oh well. If it was him, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do something like that to Charlotte. He already suffered the fate of his hand being crushed by her back then, after all.


    I retorted back at him. ¡°Why should I believe you? Didn¡¯t you rape a maid in the past?¡±


    Heis jumped up in surprise and responded in a fluster, ¡°T-that¡­ that was a lie.¡±


    ¡°A lie?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I was merely bluffing back then. Y-yes, something like that did happen, but I wasn¡¯t the perpetrator. I¡­ I was trying to stop the seniors, but then¡­¡±


    So what happened was¡­ the children of a duke, a marquis, and other peerages coaxed Heis out and they planned to assault the maid as a group. However, he tried to stop them instead, which in turn led him to receiving the disciplinary action of spending time in Ronia.


    ¡°And yes, I ended up taking all the blame for the incident.¡±


    Those kids from the higher-tier aristocratic families would obviously not get punished. And apparently, even the maid he saved ended up falsely testifying after they bought her off as well.


    ¡°Okay, then why did you bluff about it back in Ronia?¡±


    ¡°¡­Someone told me to do that. It¡¯s scary there, you see¡­ A-and it¡¯s where convicts and corrupt Priests end up, isn¡¯t it? I-I heard that only by relying on my background of being a count¡¯s son and acting like a madman will I be left alone by the real criminals.¡±


    That kinda sounded similar to how weak convicts used their bluffing skills to create protective gangs around them in prisons.


    ¡°Well, fine. What about Charlotte¡¯s injuries then?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not certain about that. Even though I asked her, she refuses to answer.¡±


    I shifted my gaze back to Charlotte.


    However, she kept her lips firmly closed and didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°¡­Hang on, it can¡¯t be that Gril is a child beater, is he?¡±


    It was now Charlotte¡¯s turn to jump up in surprise and urgently shake her head. ¡°No, he isn¡¯t. Gril is a truly caring father. Although we currently live apart, we still constantly exchange letters.¡±


    Did Gril return to the village up north? I had no idea.


    I looked back at her.


    Seeing how she clamped her mouth shut again and lowered her head, I got the feeling that she wasn¡¯t going to say anything else even if I asked.


    But it¡¯s not good manners to keep digging, either.


    While I was deeply pondering my options here, Charlotte raised her head as a look of determination filled up her face.


    ¡°I wish to become a Paladin.¡± She stared at me and continued speaking. ¡°And I wish to serve you, your highness.¡±


    I heard something falling to the ground just then coming from my side.


    It was Heis again. He looked deeply shocked by something, and the sound came from his burger-like food falling out of his hands.


    I shifted my gaze back to Charlotte. She was ignoring Heis as if the poor guy was air or something.


    However, that indicated how serious she was right now.


    ¡°So, please wait for me. I, as your sword and shield¡­¡± Charlotte stood up from the bench and then knelt down on one knee while bowing her head deeply. ¡°¡­shall serve you by your side.¡±


    Her sudden actions caused the crowd in the streets to murmur to themselves. Well, we were in the middle of a street and she just performed a pledge of a knight, after all.


    And not to forget, such an act was currently being performed by a girl no more than seventeen years of age, so something like this would obviously draw some attention.


    I ignored all of the eyes staring at us and studied Charlotte.


    Her words were coming straight from her heart.


    A Paladin.


    Not anyone could become one.


    In order to become one, you needed to possess a superhuman-like mindset and physical abilities to hunt down monsters, plus a level of divinity that easily surpassed an average person.


    Vampires, lycanthropes, various undeads, and other unsavoury existences¡­


    The combat ability to hunt all those things down was obviously a must-have, and you¡¯d also have to give up on being a normal human if you wanted to walk down this path.


    Charlotte did possess genius-level talents in all the points I just mentioned. If she gets to develop her skill set even further than now, then from the perspective of the Theocratic Empire, she¡¯d become one of the most important blessed figures in the land.


    While munching down on my burger, I stared at her bowing figure.

 Chapter 98 - 055. Charlotte Heraiz (Part Two)

    The way I see it, sure, it¡¯d be really great if I could surround myself with people I trusted. And it was certainly not an exaggeration to say Charlotte was someone that I¡¯ve spent the longest time with, out of everyone I¡¯ve met so far.


    She was also the only one that I did trust implicitly in this world too, which was why this kind of left a bitter taste in my mouth.


    If it was her¡­ She could¡¯ve lived a happy, fulfilling life as a simple rural farm girl. To serve the Imperial Family reeking of the unmistakable stench of blood, now that was something you couldn¡¯t do with a sane mind.


    Since Charlotte had been witnessing their antics from a close vantage point, she should be well aware of that fact. But even then, she still volunteered to become a Paladin, and that probably had something to do with her unyielding determination.


    ¡°Alright. However, it won¡¯t do for a Paladin serving me to have a face like that.¡±


    Charlotte flinched and hurriedly lowered her head.


    ¡°T-this was¡­¡± She hesitated with the answer before finally making her reply. ¡°I need the strength of mind to withstand pain and get back up on my feet, your highness.¡±


    Maybe the thing about sparring causing her injuries wasn¡¯t a lie? That only meant that she was recklessly pushing herself instead.


    ¡°What kinda middle-schooler syndrome nonsense is this?¡±


    I mean, really. Someone serving me shouldn¡¯t have to worry about getting injured.


    ¡°Who cares about some pain or whatnot? If you get hurt, I¡¯ll just heal you and that will be all.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°You said you¡¯ll be my exclusive Paladin, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s eyes opened so much wider.


    While looking at her surprised face, I poked her forehead with my finger. I injected some divinity while doing so.


    ¡°In that case, you won¡¯t have to worry about getting hurt, you know? But if you do get injured somehow, I¡¯ll definitely heal you.¡±


    I injected a little more divinity.


    All the bruises, wounds, and old scars dotting her face gradually disappeared.


    I reached out with my hands and undid the bandages wrapped around her head.


    ¡°Whether it be small injuries or a big wound, I¡¯ll make sure not even a remnant of a scar remains on you.¡±


    Once the bandages came loose, a face without a single blemish revealed itself, and the pair of red eyes on that face began trembling faintly.


    ¡°If you die, I¡¯ll bring you back to life even if I have to strain myself.¡±


    I grinned while taking a better look at Charlotte¡¯s face.


    ¡°So, what could possibly be the problem?¡±


    I retracted my hands, picked up my burger, and took another large bite out of it.


    Clearly looking dazed, Charlotte didn¡¯t say anything for a while.


    I pushed forward her untouched burger towards her and asked, ¡°What¡¯s your answer?¡±


    A change happened in her expression. Her previous emotionless face crumbled away and a truly radiant smile formed on her lips.


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. There aren¡¯t any problems.¡±


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    The sun set beyond the horizon and the night visited the world once more.


    It was late in the evening; Oscal was furrowing his brows rather deeply.


    He was observing Charlotte¡¯s movements and continued tilting his head this way and that.


    ¡®Something about her has changed.¡¯


    She was currently sparring against the Golden Cross knights.


    Her movements were noticeably smoother. Such a thing wouldn¡¯t be possible just because she had her body healed.


    Her eyes that seemed to lack energy were now filled with hardened resolve.


    Every time she took a swing with her sword, the Golden Cross knights had to take faltering steps back.


    ¡®¡­It isn¡¯t just the fatigue of her body, but even her mind has been refreshed. Did she find a pillar of support that she can lean on?¡¯


    Oscal continued observing her with great interest.


    Charlotte sucked in a deep breath. She was recalling the event from earlier in the day.


    -I wish to become a Paladin. And I¡¯ll stay by your side, your highness.


    For the first time ever, she spoke her true intentions to the Imperial Prince ¨C her resolve of becoming his Paladin.


    And to reach her goal¡­


    ¡®I will not give up.¡¯


    ¡­She needed to become much stronger.


    Charlotte stepped on the ground and then performed a powerful upward slash with her sword.


    The Golden Cross knight flinched in surprise and raised his scabbard to block the strike.


    Her sword and the knight¡¯s scabbard collided mid-air.


    In that instant, a loud explosion rang out and the knight¡¯s scabbard was shattered to bits.


    Even his armoured body was powerfully knocked away, and he crashed into nearby trees before bouncing back to the ground. The Paladin forgot about his pain and stared at Charlotte¡¯s sword, his eyes beneath the helm failing to disguise his shock.


    Divinity was permeating brilliantly on her blade. It glowed in a sacred light as if the holy energy from the gods and metal had infused to become one.


    Oscal¡¯s jaw nearly dropped to the ground.


    His expression became utterly stupefied as he muttered out. ¡°¡­Truly excellent. You are indeed a monster! Not even his majesty nor I managed to reach your level at your age!¡± He shot up from the chair. While approaching Charlotte, he extended his hand after failing to suppress his excitement. ¡°You! You will continue to grow even further. And for the sake of the Imperial Family¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Oscal¡¯s steps came to a halt.


    He stared at Charlotte and tilted his head.


    She had her face turned towards him, her glare firmly locked on the old man. ¡°I will not pledge my loyalty to the Imperial Family.¡±


    Oscal¡¯s dazed expression instantly crumpled. ¡°¡­You foolish child, what do you think you¡¯re saying right now?! You are a member of the Order of the Golden Cross! We brave even death to fulfil our duty his majesty has bestowed upon¡­¡±


    ¡°I will move according to my own wishes. I¡¯m not anyone¡¯s puppet.¡±


    From this moment on, she wanted to clearly state herself.


    To announce to everyone that she was a puppet of no one but her own.


    Without a doubt, Oacal would rebuke her for it. And he wouldn¡¯t simply let her off the hook either. In order to make her submit, he¡¯d probably train her much harsher than ever before.


    However, that¡¯s what she wished for.


    Oscal always insisted that she needed to absolutely obey all the commands of ¡®his majesty¡¯. The Holy Emperor decreed that Charlotte would become a member of the ¡®Golden Cross¡¯, so he had no choice but to absolutely obey that. As long as the emperor didn¡¯t have a change of heart, there shouldn¡¯t be an event of her being cast aside or anything similar.


    ¡°Y-you, you fool, what are you even¡­¡±


    As Charlotte stared at Oscal, she held her head high. ¡°If you wish so desperately to turn me into a puppet, then you better make me submit first.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I shall never become a puppet who acts only on the orders of his majesty or you, the vice captain.¡±


    1


    Oscal was left speechless. He simply stood there with eyes wide open from shock. He then scratched his head before glancing at her. ¡°A person with no loyalty towards the Imperial Family cannot be a part of the Golden Cross.¡±


    ¡°I will definitely enter the Golden Cross. But only one person can order me.¡± Charlotte glared at him with a pair of sharp, unyielding eyes. ¡°Allen Olfolse. The only liege I will serve is him.¡±


    ¡°You speak of pure nonsense! We exist solely to serve the Holy Emperor. As long as his highness is not the emperor, we cannot¡­¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then I shall make him the next Holy Emperor. I will make him the rightful successor that everyone looks up to.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Oscal firmly clamped his mouth shut.


    Even the Golden Cross knights in the surroundings were staring at her with stunned eyes too.


    She wanted to make the Seventh Imperial Prince the rightful successor to the throne?


    That was an extraordinary thing to say out aloud. One wrong step, and even the declaration itself could be construed as quite ¡®problematic¡¯.


    Charlotte knew that, but even then, she didn¡¯t hesitate one second to say it.


    If the Seventh Imperial Prince wished to become the next Holy Emperor, she was determined to make that dream come true.


    As his sword and shield, she would have to do her absolute best in supporting his cause.


    ¡°¡­Did you all hear that?¡± Oscal turned his head and asked the other Golden Cross Paladins, ¡°I said, did you all hear what she said just now?¡±


    The Golden Cross members wordlessly shrugged their shoulders.


    The corners of Oscal¡¯s lips curled up. He looked back at Charlotte and let out a roar of laughter. ¡°Hahaha! This child, she sure is something else. His majesty has sent me a truly interesting little toy, hasn¡¯t he?!¡±


    He sat back down on his chair.


    A somewhat hollow expression formed on his face as he lightly clicked his tongue.


    ¡°We exist to devote our whole beings to the one possessing the rightful claim to the throne,¡± he muttered as if he was talking to himself while looking a little rueful at the same time. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a problem if his highness does indeed inherit the throne, just as you say. However, right now, he hasn¡¯t. Anyone who rebels against the Holy Emperor¡¯s will cannot remain as a Paladin in the Order of the Golden Cross. Dammit, and here I was thinking that my potential successor has finally shown up. Looks like I¡¯ll have to start searching again.¡±


    Oscal spat out a lengthy sigh, then issued an order to the Golden Cross knights.


    ¡°One of you, go and bring me the sword of Heraiz.¡±


    The Paladins exchanged glances with each other before shaking their heads as if to accept the fact that they couldn¡¯t do anything about it.


    A couple of them stepped inside Oscal¡¯s hut, and eventually brought out a single sword.


    ¡°I hereby declare your expulsion from the Order of the Golden Cross,¡± said Oscal while tossing the sword taken out from his hut in Charlotte¡¯s direction. ¡°And instead, I assign you to the now-forgotten sixth force of the Imperial Family that used to be led by the old Heraiz house.¡±


    The sword, while still sheathed inside the pure-white scabbard, fell to the ground below her feet.


    Oscal continued on. ¡°¡­The Order of the White Cross.¡±


    She stared at him in confusion.


    However, Oscal simply cocked his head as a disinterested expression filled his face. ¡°Charlotte Heraiz, I congratulate you for becoming the new head of the White Cross.¡±


    Her brows shot up. She reached down and picked up the white scabbard, and then carefully unsheathed the sword within.


    A smooth, slick blade greeted her view. The weapon in her hands seemed priceless, almost enough to be called a ¡®divine sword¡¯.


    Meanwhile, Oscal extended his hand to the side. A Golden Cross knight placed a sword in said extended hand.


    The old man slowly extracted the weapon from the golden scabbard.


    ¡°Charlotte Heraiz. You shall follow the one you wish to serve.¡±


    She immediately realised what he was about to do. She knelt down on one knee and lowered her head.


    Oscal¡¯s sword touched her shoulder.


    ¡°You shall protect him.¡±


    The sword then touched her other shoulder. And finally, it was placed on the crown of her head.


    ¡°I shall treat you as my equal from now, as the head of the Marquis Heraiz house. Now that we¡¯re here, I shall carry out the next part of his majesty¡¯s secret order.¡± Oscal declared loudly and looked down at the kneeling Charlotte. ¡°I shall turn you into the strongest being in the entire Theocratic Empire. So that you may get to keep your life, unlike those who had to leave his majesty the Holy Emperor¡¯s side fifty years ago.¡±


    He then stepped back.


    Meanwhile, the Golden Cross knights quickly created distance from the two.


    Their leader raised his sword and pointed it at Charlotte.


    Oscal Baldur, the man currently referred to as the greatest swordsman in the empire, addressed her.


    ¡°I shall mould you into a true Paladin.¡±


    The moment he spoke, a massive amount of divinity gushed out from his sword.


    < 055. Charlotte Heraiz Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 99 - Ruppel Olfolse (Part One)

    Lunch hour.


    As usual, I was out and about in Humite¡¯s marketplace.


    Three weeks had already flown by ever since I started my academy life.


    While Charlotte and Hais went to get our food, Harman walked up to the bench I was sitting on.


    He spoke first.¡±¡­Necromancers have gotten rather active lately, your highness.¡±


    He settled down on an open spot next to mine. It was unknown where he bought the fruit juice from, but since he gave it to me anyways, I said thanks and took it.


    After taking a gulp of the juice, I replied. ¡°Yeah, I hear you. They aren¡¯t even cockroaches, yet after we deal with one, two more pop out of nowhere.¡±


    I¡¯ve been spotting those bastards every single night lately. Especially more so around the outskirts of Humite ¨C they were gathering in some numbers there.


    I made sure to snatch the suckers up as soon as spotting one and interrogated them thoroughly, but the end results weren¡¯t all that much to write home about.


    ¡°Seriously though, there shouldn¡¯t be that many Necromancers in the world in the first place, so is it okay for them to send so many like this?¡± I asked Harman.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they see it as getting rid of those with little lifespan remaining, your highness. Even then, only those with below average skill sets.¡±


    Oh, so they were simply ridding themselves of the ones that were deemed not worth recycling, then?


    All thanks to that, I was also going nowhere at the moment, you know?


    A groan automatically left my lips. ¡°If they¡¯re this persistent, then that could only mean this ¡®Chaos plan¡¯ thing is still progressing forward¡­ What about Aslan¡¯s envoy?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still on his way, your highness.¡±


    ¡°And they¡¯re still denying everything?¡±


    ¡°Yes. That¡¯s probably the only method they have at their disposal right now, your highness. They dearly wish to avoid fighting a war within Aslan¡¯s territory. However, that doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re confident in breaking down the border wall and face off against the Heavenly Army either.¡±


    The Black Order still hadn¡¯t given up on¡­ ¡®something¡¯ yet.


    And then, the envoy from Aslan hadn¡¯t postponed the itinerary of visiting the empire.


    Were they really planning to wage war?


    But how were they planning to attack the border region guarded by a massive border wall, the Heavenly Army, and even the Order of the Golden Cross?


    Or¡­ maybe they were really unrelated to the Black Order after all?


    While I was deeply contemplating the matters at hand¡­


    ¡°Oh! Aren¡¯t you his highness the Seventh Imperial Prince?¡±


    Harman¡¯s head and mine snapped towards the voice at once. A quite beautiful noblewoman in her early to mid thirties was standing there.


    Harman was so stunned that he nearly spewed out the fruit juice in his mouth. To meet the established decorum, he hurriedly got up on his feet, placed his hand on his chest, and bowed deeply at the woman. ¡°T-this humble servant greets the Crown Princess Consort, Lady Rose.¡±


    Crown Princess Consort?


    I was taken aback and quickly activated [Mind¡¯s Eye] to properly take a look at the noblewoman.


    [Name: Rose Darina.


    Age: 45


    Attributes: Frail constitution, weak mind, confused and chaotic, insanity-laced obsessiveness.


    + I shall definitely make my son the next Holy Emperor! Ah, ah, my beloved Crown Prince! I love you so much!]


    After checking out her name through [Mind¡¯s Eye], I was even more taken aback than before. According to the information Harman provided for me in the past, she was the missing Imperial Crown Prince¡¯s second wife.


    Rose Darina.


    Oh, and she was also the mother of the Third Imperial Prince Ruppel.


    I performed a simple little greeting.


    She responded with smiling eyes and slowly approached us. ¡°What brings you to this fair city, your highness?¡±


    Although it was only for a brief moment, the way she looked at me wasn¡¯t what you¡¯d call nice. It seemed that she detested me as much as Ruppel.


    I smiled back and replied airily. ¡°I began attending the academy through brother Ruppel¡¯s recommendation.¡±


    Since I couldn¡¯t exactly come out and say, I came to torture Necromancers and steal their techniques, I decided to come up with another excuse.


    Rose frowned slightly. ¡°My Ruppel did?¡±


    ¡®My Ruppel¡¯, she said. It sounded like she really cared about her son.


    ¡°To think that the Second Imperial Prince, my son, wouldn¡¯t mention that to his own mother. How sorrowful it is, I must say.¡±


    ¡°¡­Second Imperial Prince?¡±


    I tilted my head in slight confusion.


    Who was she even talking about?


    Now that I thought about it, out of all my Imperial Family siblings, Harman hadn¡¯t really told me much about those related to Rose until now for some reason.


    I whispered in Harman¡¯s ear, ¡°Hey, Harman. Who is this Second Imperial Prince?¡±


    A bout of cold sweat suddenly broke out on his face. ¡°T-that is¡­¡±


    ¡°Mother!¡±


    It was then, a horse-drawn carriage came to a sudden halt on the street before us. The one who climbed out of the vehicle turned out to be none other than Ruppel Olfolse.


    He looked clearly stunned to find Rose here, and quickly dashed straight towards our location. A bright smile bloomed on her face while she stared at her son, and once he got close enough, she heartily embraced him.


    ¡°Ah, ah, my beloved child Ruppel! Your mother has come to see you. How could you be this adorable, my son? If your father, the Crown Prince, sees how well you¡¯ve grown up, he will be most pleased!¡±


    1


    ¡°N-no, the thing is¡­ mother¡­¡±


    While stuttering away, Ruppel shifted his gaze around and his expression hardened instantly after spotting me.


    Well, he must be feeling pretty embarrassed right now. He was a young man who¡¯s already come of age but was currently being hugged and fawned over by his mother in public after all.


    Was this why? You know, the reason why he was labelled as a mama¡¯s boy back in the imperial palace?


    ¡°My son, have you enjoyed your meal yet?¡±


    ¡°M-mother, please think about the dignity of¡­¡±


    ¡°Your mother personally cooked your meal today.¡±


    What a wholesome sight between a mother and her son this was.


    I mean, it¡¯d be pretty hard to see any other mother/son combination that cared about each other to this degree within the Imperial Family, after all.


    Just as I began clicking my tongue out of this bitter feeling¡­


    ¡°Ah, ah, my dear Ruppel, the Second Imperial Prince! You must handle the upcoming matter well, my child. Please speak well to Aslan¡¯s envoy. You understand, don¡¯t you? My dear Ruppel! My beloved first son!¡±


    I froze up on the spot and alternated my gaze between Ruppel and Rose.


    Yo, hold up. What was she even talking about? Not the Third, but the Second Imperial Prince?


    1


    ¡°What does she mean?¡± I spat out a question at Harman almost reflexively. ¡°Second Imperial Prince? Not the third?¡±


    Ruppel gritted his teeth as he glared at Harman.


    The latter hurriedly whispered in my ear, ¡°I¡¯ll explain later, your highness.¡±


    ¡­Was there some other circumstance at play here?


    ¡°M-mother, please get on the carriage for the time being. It¡¯ll trouble me greatly if you chose to take a stroll alone, you know. What if you get lost like the last time and¡­¡±


    ¡°I understand, my child.¡±


    Rose nodded, but before climbing aboard the carriage, she ever so briefly shot me a rather unpleasant glare first.


    In the meantime, Ruppel took out an ¡®item¡¯ from inside the carriage. ¡°It¡¯s the thing you asked me for.¡±


    He then tossed the item in question ¨C a book.


    I caught it and took a look. It was wrapped tightly in a cloth. Steel chains must¡¯ve tightly bound it because I could sense the distinctive hard texture under the fabric, too.


    It seemed that what I was holding right now was the ¡®thing¡¯ we talked about the last time, the grimoire used by Necromancer King Amon.


    However, I forgot to celebrate this acquisition and simply stared at Ruppel. ¡°Brother, just what happened¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know.¡±


    That was Ruppel¡¯s curt reply as he disappeared into the carriage. The vehicle set off and soon went beyond my field of view.


    I could only frown a little while staring at the back of the carriage. ¡°¡­Harman, what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    He let out an audible groan.


    He might¡¯ve been the vice captain of the Paladin Corps, but that didn¡¯t mean he could freely discuss the matters of the Imperial Family.


    ¡°Are you still going to disobey even if I order you as a Heresy Inquisitor? How can the Third Imperial Prince become the Second?¡±


    I glared straight at Harman¡¯s face.


    More cold sweat began flooding down his face. He eventually plopped down on the bench before opening his mouth.


    ¡°¡­This matter is something that even the nobles of the Imperial Court avoid discussing, your highness.¡± Even though he massaged his temples while looking at me, he still carried on regardless. ¡°If you command me to answer, then I¡¯m compelled to do so, but still, I implore you not to tell this to anyone. Please.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anyone to prattle to, anyways.¡±


    Harman groaned again before starting his tale.


    Rose Darina.


    She was apparently deeply in love with the Imperial Crown Prince and gave birth to his child after becoming his second wife.


    That child was the Second Imperial Prince. But even before the baby got to enjoy the outside light, the umbilical cord got entangled around his throat and he ended up dying in her womb.


    ¡°Wha?!¡±


    ¡°¡­It was a horrific tragedy, your highness. Despite the presence of various Priests by her side, they couldn¡¯t bring the dead baby back to life.¡±


    Rose was shocked by what happened.


    She had already selected potential names for her baby by then, too. If it was a boy, Ruppel, but if it was a girl, Lucy.


    However, her child was stillborn. Rose ended up falling in the clutches of shock, and sorrowfully wailed out while clutching the baby.


    The Imperial Crown Prince also found it heartbreaking and bestowed the peerage of ¡®Second Imperial Prince¡¯ on the baby before giving it a proper funeral.


    But even then, Rose still couldn¡¯t escape from her sorrow. She spent every waking day in tears. The Crown Prince apparently stayed by her side and tried to soothe her somehow, but she showed no signs of getting better.

 Chapter 100 - 056. Ruppel Olfolse (Part Two)

    The sickness of her mind progressively got worse with every passing day. She eventually started calling a young male servant by her son¡¯s name, Ruppel, and even referred to a small doll in her hand as her own son.


    It got to the point where she¡¯d end all of her sentences with the clearly unstable-sounding words of, ¡°You are a child that will make his highness the Crown Prince happy.¡±


    I asked, ¡°¡­Wasn¡¯t there a way to heal her?¡±


    ¡°A Priest can certainly heal the injuries and illnesses of one¡¯s body, your highness. However, they are unfortunately powerless when confronted by the diseases of one¡¯s mind.¡±


    A despair-filled time period ensued. The Crown Prince decided to have another child with Rose, believing that it¡¯d be the best thing for her future happiness.


    The thinking there must¡¯ve been that she¡¯d eventually forget about the pain in her heart and lead a brand new life from that moment on.


    But then, around the time she became pregnant with the current Third Imperial Prince Ruppel, a new problem reared its head.


    Harman¡¯s voice quivered as if the memory was too painful to recall. ¡°It was around this time that Lady Rose ended up committing an act that she should never have done.¡±


    ¡°Something that she should have never done, is it?¡±


    Cold sweat continued trickling down Harman¡¯s face. He swept back his hair, and after a lengthy hesitation, opened his mouth once more. ¡°She¡­ managed to revive the Second Imperial Prince.¡±


    1


    ¡°¡­¡±


    A creepy chill ran down my skin.


    In the continent¡¯s lengthy history, [Resurrection] had never succeeded once. It didn¡¯t matter which Magician, Alchemist, or Priest attempted it, in the end, they all utterly failed.


    Not even the previous Saints and Saintesses managed to pull it off, so obviously, it was impossible for everyone else. With the sole exception of someone like me who possessed the powers of both a Necromancer and a Priest.


    However, not even I would be able to revive a dead person if it had been left to rot for a long time.


    So when he said she ¡®revived¡¯ her dead baby, it could only mean¡­


    ¡°¡­As an undead, huh.¡±


    Harman responded gloomily, ¡°Yes. It was an unthinkable act for someone from the Imperial Family.¡±


    ¡°But how? Wait, are you saying that she¡¯s a Necromancer?¡±


    ¡°We still haven¡¯t figured out how she pulled it off, your highness. Some posited that the Necromancers had somehow bewitched her. As a result, the imperial court initiated a wide-scale operation to apprehend and execute Necromancers back then.¡±


    The Crown Prince despaired, and from that day onward, distanced himself away from Rose. He even had to eliminate his own stillborn child.


    Even then, Rose acted as if she had no clue what she had done.


    Perhaps with excellent timing, the Third Imperial Prince was born right around then. Rose began thinking of the child as the Second Imperial Prince.


    And that¡¯s how the Third Imperial Prince ended up being called the Second Prince by his own mother, and even inherited the dead baby¡¯s name too.


    The reason why she still called him like that was most likely her mental condition, the ¡®disease of the mind¡¯, hadn¡¯t healed at all.


    ¡°Well, that was a pretty horrible ordeal.¡±


    Hmm, the trio of ¡®chaos, confusion, and obsessiveness¡¯ that showed up when I looked at her through [Mind¡¯s Eye], I¡¯m guessing they were caused by this event, then?


    I shook my head. ¡°What a tragic event that was.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is indeed so, your highness.¡±


    Even while saying that, Harman sighed deeply as if all his strength had abandoned him just then.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Rose and her son were riding in the carriage. She had the lower half of her face covered with a hand fan.


    She narrowed her eyes and spoke up, ¡°Allen Olfolse, that child is looking rather healthy these days.¡±


    Ruppel flinched a little at her sudden observation and shifted his gaze over to his mother.


    She continued on. ¡°It would¡¯ve been so much nicer if he also died when Yulisia was killed, too.¡±


    Those deeply cold words sent shivers down Ruppel¡¯s whole body. ¡°Mother, he¡¯s still my little brother. I beg of you to mind what you¡­¡±


    ¡°To think that they failed to assassinate him during his exile. It seems that the Black Order is also useless.¡±


    Ruppel sucked in his breath.


    Rose¡¯s snake-like eyes were now firmly locked on her son. ¡°You must never lose to that boy, understand? For the sake of your father the Crown Prince, you must inherit the Holy Emperor¡¯s throne no matter what. If you fail, how will I be loved by him again? Wouldn¡¯t you agree, Ruppel? My beloved Second Imperial Prince.¡±


    Ruppel shivered where he sat.


    This woman¡­ she was definitely broken. Her excessive love had broken her beyond repair.


    With her mind tainted so much by chaos, confusion, and obsessiveness, she was no longer a human but a monster who had discarded her humanity.


    She gave birth to a stillborn child, the Second Imperial Prince, who was meant to earn the affection of the Crown Prince for herself. That made her too impatient. Her fears over his interest in her waning went on to disease her mind to this degree.


    ¡°Mother, perhaps it¡¯s time that you stop bringing up father in the¡­¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s gaze drifted to the side.


    That¡¯s when he noticed the maidservant sitting beside his mother.


    The maid with black hair and black eyes was staring back at Ruppel with a truly bewitching look. While doing so, she raised her hands and softly massaged Rose¡¯s shoulders.


    Ruppel flinched and stiffened up just a little.


    1


    ¡°What do you mean, my child?¡±


    Rose¡¯s voice woke Ruppel back up, he urgently shook his head.


    ¡°¡­No, it¡¯s nothing to worry about, mother.¡±


    ¡°Now that I think about it, the envoy should arrive soon, won¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes. Indeed, mother.¡±


    Ruppel loosened his collars at the suffocating feeling.


    ¡°Do your best to resolve this matter well. It will serve as a heaven-sent opportunity for you to become the next Holy Emperor, after all.¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll engrave that in my heart, mother.¡±


    Ruppel sucked in more breaths.


    He also knew that he couldn¡¯t afford to make any mistakes in the upcoming event. For the sake of himself and his mother, he definitely needed to succeed.


    Ruppel opened the partition to the coachman¡¯s seat and addressed the driver. ¡°We are heading to the border region at Aslan. I¡¯ll go and greet the envoy now.¡±


    **


    At the giant border wall to the kingdom of Aslan.


    The envoy from Aslan, who had been granted permission to step into the empire¡¯s territory, entered through the open gap of the massive gate of this wall currently being manned by the Paladins of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s Heavenly Army.


    The envoy was decked out in a loose-fitting robe. Besides his eyes, the rest of his face was hidden behind a red bandana.


    Several Necromancers were following him from behind as his guards. All of them were equipped with a sword on their hips, while their right hands carried magic staves.


    The envoy rode on horseback and travelled past the massive gate, and once he got safely across, he pulled the bandana down from his mouth.


    ¡°So this is the land of the gods, is it?!¡±


    His eyes went round from shock.


    He then looked behind him, beyond the gates he just went through.


    There it was, the dry, desolate wasteland where only the winds of sand blew around.


    He turned his head and looked to his front.


    A blessed land filled with fertile, rolling green hills that were gently caressed by the refreshing breezes.


    He only travelled past a single gateway, yet the difference between two areas was just too stark.


    If Aslan did manage to acquire this fertile land, then it¡¯d be the same as acquiring heaven itself.


    The envoy took his time to take in and admire the wide-open verdant fields before shifting his gaze to his side.


    He could see numerous Paladins lining up near the border wall.


    These Paladins, armed from the top of their heads right down to their toes with nary an opening to speak of, stood there like unmoving statues.


    ¡­The Heavenly Army. One of the five main forces of the Theocratic Empire, who absolutely obeyed the commands of the Holy Emperor.


    Although their overall skill level fell a little behind compared to the other Orders of the Cross, they still possessed an overwhelming might if you judged them on their sheer scale alone.


    Just a single word from their emperor, and these holy knights would ignore the threat of death and invade Aslan. That would result in Aslan¡¯s territory, which was already a wasteland to begin with, to turn into a scorched, burning land in an instant.


    ¡°I welcome you to the empire, sir envoy.¡±


    The envoy turned his head once more.


    The Third Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse, was welcoming him with a dignified, princely manner. ¡°It must¡¯ve been difficult to travel such a long distance, sir envoy.¡±


    Aslan¡¯s envoy formed a considerably smooth smile as he stared at Ruppel. He smartly bowed and offered his greeting as well. ¡°This one is called Haima, a special envoy dispatched by his majesty of Aslan. It¡¯s my honour to make your acquaintance, your highness the Third Imperial Prince.¡±


    Haima continued observing the Third Imperial Prince Ruppel closely.


    ¡°I heartily welcome you to the Theocratic Empire. I¡¯m Ruppel Olfolse.¡±


    Ruppel extended his hand, and the envoy, Haima, shook the hand with a thick smile etched on his face.


    No one was more important than the Third Imperial Prince Ruppel Olfolse when it came to what would happen soon. If this prince was utilised well, then Aslan should be able to acquire all these wide-open green fields.


    ¡°Imperial Prince Ruppel, please take good care of us during the upcoming events.¡±


    Haima smiled away with his eyes.


    < 056. Ruppel Olfolse (Part One and Two) >

 Chapter 101 - Imperial Prince Saw Him -1 (Part One)

    **


    ¡°Well then, we¡¯ll start the sparring session now.¡±


    The academy¡¯s instructor tightly held a wooden sword as his eyes became bloodshot. With a deeply-tense expression, he stared at the opponent before him, Charlotte Heraiz.


    He addressed her. ¡°Go easy on me, Charlotte.¡±


    She silently nodded her head.


    The instructor swallowed back his dry saliva. Sweat trickled down the hand gripping the wooden sword.


    How long had it been since the last time he felt this nervous?


    He glanced at his surroundings.


    The gazes from the students were pricking his skin. He also saw the Paladins in charge of the academy¡¯s security as well.


    All of their attention was focused on him.


    ¡®I¡¯m screwed.¡¯


    Cold sweat also began gushing down the instructor¡¯s face. While everyone was watching, he had to confront the girl right in front of him.


    She was only seventeen years old.


    To the instructor who had wielded the sword far longer than she¡¯d been alive, this sparring was not something he could back away from.


    But how embarrassing would it be if he lost to this girl?


    No, hang on ¨C it shouldn¡¯t be a disgraceful thing to lose to her. She already defeated many other instructors by now, after all.


    ¡®Eleven in total¡­¡¯


    That was the number of the instructors that went down trying to ¡®spar¡¯ against her. All of those people lived their lives while relying on their sword and yet, none of them could win against a single seventeen year-old girl.


    But all of those results so far came about through sparring sessions that purely tested one¡¯s swordsmanship technique.


    However¡­


    ¡®¡­In this sparring, we¡¯re allowed to use either divinity or Mana!¡¯


    She was still a little runt who hadn¡¯t mastered a proper way to wield divinity or Mana. If the instructor fought against such a girl, then he¡¯d surely have an overwhelming advantage!


    ¡®That¡¯s right! Since I¡¯m about to be embarrassed here, let me at least fight you with everything I have! I shall show the true extent of my skill that nearly got me through the entrance test of the elite organisation, the Heavenly Army!¡¯


    ¡°Fuu-heuph!¡¯


    The instructor immediately injected his divinity into the wooden sword. Powerful waves of divine power whipped around his surroundings. The students and the Paladins gathered around to spectate all gasped out in admiration.


    The instructor formed a satisfied smile.


    Indeed, take a good look! Look at my skill that was almost good enough to enter the Heavenly Army¡­ No, wait! Any order of the cross that I wanted to!


    With this one strike of mine, I shall defeat you, Charlotte! And I will regain the honour and pride of the instructors of the Humite Academy in the process!


    ¡°Oh, the god of war Heim!¡±


    The instructor brought out all of his power. He squeezed out every drop of strength residing within his body.


    ¡°Grant me your grace, your strength, to defeat my enemy-!¡±


    Not even once before in his life did the instructor squeeze out so much divinity out of himself or pray this fervently to his god.


    The instructor let out a spirited roar, ¡°Uwooooooh-!¡±


    He strengthened his body with divinity, and then raised the wooden sword in his hands. Burning spirit could be felt oozing out from his whole frame.


    Charlotte stared at the instructor. She felt the kind of charisma from him that no other instructors could match up to.


    His determination-filled appearance reminded one of a noble warrior about to confront a demon king.


    ¡°Now, behold! Charlotte, this is the true form of a Paladin who can unify his sword with divi¡­¡±


    Divinity began gushing out from Charlotte¡¯s sword in the next instant.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    The instructor¡¯s brows shot up high.


    Not even a hint of flicker could be seen on the gentle waves of light.


    The energy of divine nature and her wooden sword became one and went onto create a blade of pure light.


    Anyone could tell the clear difference between her sword and the instructor¡¯s attempt where divinity was leaking out everywhere.


    She gently sucked in her breath before exhaling out. Divinity exited along with her breathing.


    The tip of her wooden sword was slowly lowered, and it ever so faintly scratched the ground, causing the floor to split apart as if it was a block of tofu being cut down by a famous treasured sword.


    It was a chantless activation where she didn¡¯t offer up a prayer. But even then, the firm and sturdy blade of light formed out of pure divinity still manifested without any issues.


    The instructor bearing witness to this sight felt his bowels tighten.


    Despite being so young, the light in his opponent¡¯s eyes were scarily sharp. On top of that, her sense of presence came across as large as a mountain.


    The overwhelming difference in their skills ruthlessly pressured the instructor¡¯s entire being.


    Eventually, he failed to withstand this pressure and his lips parted open all on their own. ¡°Bloody hell, this is¡­¡±


    It was right then, Charlotte dashed forward.


    She swung her divinity-infused wooden sword, cleanly slicing apart the instructor¡¯s own wooden sword in the process.


    Was that really all? Now strengthened by divinity, she was as powerful as the gale-force winds.


    She merely cut down her opponent¡¯s wooden sword and brushed past him, yet the floor of the drill hall caved in deeply while the instructor was viciously flung away to a distance and he ungainly rolled on the ground, after he failed to withstand the impact force.


    ¡°Keo-uhk!¡±


    He spat out a pained grunt.


    He tried standing back up, but his legs lost all strength and he plopped back down on his butt.


    The spectating Paladins and students were freaking out by what they just saw.


    ¡°H-how, how did you, that level of¡­ enlightenment¡­?¡±


    The instructor¡¯s whole body was shivering nonstop. His life, built up on the foundation of decades of swordsmanship, was crumbling down in this one single instant.


    He stared at Charlotte.


    She didn¡¯t even have a bit of hesitation in her movement. That clean, smooth strike earlier was so gorgeous that even the instructor became entranced by it.


    Charlotte looked back at the downed instructor and performed a simple greeting befitting a proper knight. ¡°Thank you for your guidance. It was a good match.¡±


    With this, twelve people had fallen.


    There were no more instructors remaining in the academy that she could fight against. The defeated instructor¡¯s head faltered as if he felt unhappy at this outcome.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    The warm spring breeze was gently flowing through the open windows.


    ¡°¡­Your highness. Imperial Prince-nim?¡±


    Someone was shaking me out of my slumber. I barely managed to crack open my eyelids and raise my head to take a look.


    Charlotte was looking at me from above. ¡°It¡¯s already lunch hour, your highness.¡±


    I somehow ended up falling asleep in the library.


    While standing back up, I yawned and stretched my limbs.


    Heis was on standby at the library¡¯s entrance, and he nodded his head while looking back at me.


    Man, it¡¯s already lunch time?


    We walked down the academy¡¯s corridor.


    Plenty of students were out and about, since it was lunch time and all that. However, quite a lot of people were staring at Charlotte as we walked past them. It didn¡¯t matter whether they were a boy or a girl, their faces were heating up from just looking at her.


    ¡°¡­Did something happen?¡±


    I asked her, but Charlotte tilted her head to indicate that she also had no clue what was going on here.


    We continued walking down the corridor and eventually spotted a crowd of students gathered in front of the cafeteria. They were murmuring among themselves while staring at a certain poster placed up on the wall.


    [A banquet to celebrate the special envoy from Aslan.]


    I couldn¡¯t help but frown a bit after checking out the poster.


    What the heck, a banquet? Weren¡¯t they from our enemy nation? Was there a need to hold a celebratory banquet for them? And since the poster was plastered on the wall of the academy, it implied that the organisers wanted the scions of the noble families studying in this place to attend, didn¡¯t it?


    Charlotte must¡¯ve read my expression, because she began explaining without my prompt. ¡°It¡¯s an established custom whenever an envoy from another kingdom visits the empire. It¡¯s normal for the envoy to pay a visit and take a look at the key facilities in the area.¡±


    ¡°And what do they do, exactly?¡±


    ¡°They hold banquets. Honestly, it¡¯ll be rather simpler to see it as an ostentatious display to emphasize the greatness of the Theocratic Empire.¡±


    ¡°A banquet that¡¯s also a¡­ display, is it?¡±


    Hang on, is there something to ¡®display¡¯ ostentatiously during a banquet, anyways?


    ¡°The banquet itself will be held within the hall of the academy, and at the same time, a festival and an athletics showcase will be held on the streets of Humite. Various athletic activities that include sparring, shooting, high jump, sprinting, handball, horse riding, gymnastics, and etc., are being prepared at the moment.¡±


    ¡°¡­Isn¡¯t that like the Olympics?¡±


    Judging from the scale of the event alone, it sounded like we weren¡¯t talking about your average field and track event, but the full-blown Olympics instead.


    I mean, numerous nobles¡¯ children attended the academy. Not only that, the nobles of other nations also were here, so the number of participants alone would be well over five hundred.


    And I heard from her just now that even regular citizens were allowed to participate, which meant that the overall scale should be quite considerable.


    I asked her, ¡°Will it even be worth it?¡±


    ¡°The quality of the education system basically signifies the kingdom¡¯s overall national strength. In addition, the plan is to perform an official military inspection before the banquet as well. By displaying the might of the Order of the Golden Cross, the organisers most likely wish to emphasize the empire¡¯s strength.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh, really?¡±


    Since Aslan, an enemy nation to the empire, was involved this time, I thought that there was a good chance of the festivities being quite over the top in spectacle.


    It was probably okay to assume this whole thing as a sort of an armed protest, if you will.


    After going through this ¡®banquet¡¯, the folks from Aslan would have to think seriously hard about what kind of a bribe they needed to grease the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse¡¯s palms.


    ¡°Hmm, so basically, it has nothing to do with me then. Wait, are you two going to participate?¡±


    Charlotte and Heis both nodded their heads.


    ¡°If your results are good during the competition, you can even earn the financial support of the Imperial Family.¡±


    She explained further and Heis animatedly nodded several times more.


    ¡°You can bring more fame to your family¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Ooh?! Heis, it¡¯s been a while!¡±


    Heis¡¯s expression hardened in an instant from that voice.


    Charlotte and I turned our heads and took a look at who was trying to talk to him.


    Three boys walked up to our group, then one of them slung his arm around Heis¡¯s shoulders. This boy opened his mouth. ¡°It¡¯s been so long since your punishment came to an end, so how could you not come and say hello to us? And here I was, so worried that you got dragged back to the northern frontiers again.¡±


    I began tilting my head in confusion, and that prompted Charlotte to whisper in my ear. ¡°They are scions from the duke and marquis households.¡±


    Aha, these were the punks who framed Heis in the past?


    By the way, I couldn¡¯t help but be amazed by the fact that Charlotte knew who they were. It couldn¡¯t be that she memorised the list of all the nobles attending the academy, could it?


    I shifted my gaze over to Heis next. Unfitting for that big frame of his, he was making an awkward expression while trying to dissuade the boys. ¡°S-seniors, how about discussing my story lat¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, and who are these fine folks?¡±


    The boys ignored him and approached us.


    Maybe they practised swordsmanship or something because their physiques were quite considerable for their age.


    They briefly stared at me before shifting their attention to Charlotte, only for their faces to freeze up right there and then.

 Chapter 102 - 057. Imperial Prince Saw Him -1 (Part Two)

    ¡°H-hey, it¡¯s Charlotte.¡±


    Suddenly, the boys looked really tense.


    Hang on, did some kind of strange rumours about Charlotte spread around in the academy or something?


    The boys were exchanging quick glances with each other.


    ¡®What should we do?¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯ll be fine. She¡¯s just a commoner, isn¡¯t she? She can¡¯t do anything to us.¡¯


    ¡®However, didn¡¯t a descendant of a viscount family end up getting beaten to a bloody pulp after trying to seduce her earlier?¡¯


    ¡®That¡¯s just a viscount family. We aren¡¯t the same as that small fry since we¡¯re from major noble houses!¡¯


    The three boys were arguing with each other.


    I turned my head towards Charlotte and asked her. ¡°What¡¯s this about a bloody pulp?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much. A slight misunderstanding, nothing more.¡±


    She responded while sounding unconcerned.


    Well, I guess it¡¯s not something to be worried about then¡­


    While I was thinking to myself, the boys finally finished their little meeting. They spoke while coughing to clear their throats.


    ¡°Ahem. In any case, they should be the same as Heis since they hang out together.¡±


    ¡°I know everyone from the major noble houses, after all.¡±


    They were glancing in Charlotte¡¯s direction now. The way they swept their gazes all over her from top to bottom was seriously getting on my nerves.


    Hmm, should I beat the living daylights out of them?


    Argh, just forget it.


    Weren¡¯t they just kids from the duke and marquis families? Those noble houses still served the Imperial Family. Besides, these punks were probably still too immature, that¡¯s all.


    ¡°Let¡¯s ignore them.¡±


    I spoke up and Charlotte nodded in agreement. I turned around and headed towards the cafeteria.


    Did they think we got intimidated by them? Suddenly their attitude became even more cocky.


    ¡°Your name is Charlotte, isn¡¯t it? We¡¯ll call for you later on, so come alone, got that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, as for you, the small guy next to Heis? The same thing for you too. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll help you do something especially fun later.¡±


    ¡°¡­Especially fun, is it?¡± I asked while turning my head.


    The boys shrugged their shoulders, and then pointed at Heis before explaining themselves.


    ¡°The thing he couldn¡¯t do? We¡¯ll help you do it. And if you¡¯re from a famous house, then we¡¯ll make sure it¡¯s even more fun.¡±


    The boys cackled away.


    I blinked my eyes a couple of times and stared at Heis. He was shedding a lot of cold sweat drops while staring at the floor.


    ¡°¡­You know, that¡¯s a pretty interesting story,¡± I said while turning my head to look at them. A smile slowly crept up on my face. ¡°Can you tell me more about it?¡±


    ¡°Would you listen to this kid? Where¡¯s your polite speech? Do you think your seniors are a bunch of jokes or something?¡±


    Despite frowning deeply, they still continued with what they wanted to say.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much, really. Simply put, it¡¯s about managing personal connections, that¡¯s all. A present that we give to our juniors in the academy.¡±


    ¡°What kind of present?¡± I asked while trying to sound ¡®innocent¡¯.


    ¡°There are plenty of commoners in the academy, right?¡±


    ¡°We simply pick one of them.¡±


    ¡°And then¡­¡±


    They began sending me rather evil leers.


    ¡°¡­We enjoy the meal together, get my drift?¡±


    Well, I got the gist of it, more or less.


    I thought that the Theocratic Empire was clean as a whistle, but as it turned out, I was wrong.


    What remained after chasing out the Vampires from your house was a bunch of trash-pit bottom dwellers of human beings.


    The old saying went that humans were scarier than spectres, and it proved to be correct in this case.


    A groan automatically leaked out of my mouth.


    I looked over to Heis and spoke up. ¡°Hey, Heis.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes?!¡±


    ¡°Go fetch me a shovel, will ya?¡±


    ¡°¡­I beg your pardon?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just bury them away now. I won¡¯t stand the sight of these idiots becoming the heads of their own houses in the future.¡±


    Whether I liked the idea or not, I had to live in this Theocratic Empire for the rest of my life.


    I¡¯ve already earned the trust of both Luan and Hilda, so as long as one of them inherits the Holy Emperor¡¯s throne, I could live a safe life while doing whatever I pleased.


    However, there was a small problem with that scenario. If these kinds of idiots showed up and started causing headaches, then it¡¯d put me in a bit of a spot.


    I wasn¡¯t sure about how Hilda would react in such cases, but if it was Luan, there was a very good chance that he¡¯d do whatever it took to entice me into taking care of these idiots.


    Since that was the case, I might as well snip the potential buds of trouble in the heads right now.


    Heis¡¯s complexion paled instantly. He must¡¯ve recalled the events from back in Ronia since he took a stumbling step back with fluster. ¡°N-no, you can¡¯t. They¡¯re from major noble houses, s-so even if it¡¯s you, Saint-nim¡­¡±


    ¡°Charlotte.¡±


    ¡°Should I bring one from the academy¡¯s storage?¡±


    It¡¯s good that this girl was so quick-witted.


    ¡°Heh, you sound like you¡¯re interested?¡±


    The three boys smirked and walked up to us.


    One of them reached out towards me with his hand. But before he could touch my shoulder, the boy¡¯s whole body suddenly floated up in the air.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Now that was a beautiful example of a back throw.


    Charlotte grabbed the boy¡¯s hand and exquisitely slammed the fool down to the ground.


    After making a squishy splat noise, the boy dazedly stared at the empty ceiling.


    Meanwhile, she tidied up her attire and glared down at the downed boy.


    ¡°Ohh! Charlotte, that¡¯s so cool!¡±


    I clapped my hands in admiration, and she smiled rather smoothly as her reply.


    The still-standing boys stumbled back while looking at her in shock.


    ¡°H-hold on, what is the meaning of¡­!¡±


    ¡°How dare a commoner lay her hands on us! Do you know what¡¯s going to happen to you now?!¡±


    ¡°Ohhh, so are you saying that it¡¯ll be okay as long as it¡¯s not a commoner, eh?¡±


    While asking that, I snapped my fingers.


    It was right then ¨C a loud bang resounded out from the academy¡¯s roof.


    The boys all looked up. Their expressions froze up right there and then.


    ¡°Ah, it looks like you guys don¡¯t know about it yet.¡± I swept my gaze over at the three boys and smiled deeply. ¡°¡­That there¡¯s a fairy in Humite that abducts naughty children. You three probably haven¡¯t heard about this story, I guess.¡±


    Up on the roof of one of the academy¡¯s buildings was a Blue Santa holding a large pouch in one hand and wielding a machete with the other.


    Its crimson eyes were locked on its new targets.


    ¡°¡­Wha, what¡­?!¡±


    ¡°Th-the, R-Red Devil?! S-security!¡±


    The boys yelped out. They were about to flee from here while looking back, but the Blue Santa managed to pounce on them first.


    It proceeded to whack their backs with the machete¡¯s handle.


    ¡°Keo-eork¡­!¡±


    Screams resounded out in the corridor; the other students hurriedly scattered away from there.


    Hiiiya~, this turned into a proper mess, hasn¡¯t it? It¡¯s a complete madhouse now. Man, this brings back memories from my first raid on the Necromancer hideout!


    I quietly shook my head.


    I tried to keep it down low, yet the matter spiralled out of proportions in an instant.


    Holy cow! To think that a Blue Santa would suddenly appear in the academy and abduct the children of the nobles! A ¡®Santa Claus¡¯ that respected gender equality and didn¡¯t care about one¡¯s status? Wasn¡¯t that a wonderful concept?


    Still, this had to qualify as the ¡®quieter¡¯ way of doing things, rather than me personally beating the snot out of these kids. Besides, just like what my dear third brother asked of me, I hadn¡¯t even touched a hair on these kids either.


    ¡­Well, I kept half of our promise, didn¡¯t I?


    Ah, hang on! Since I¡¯m about to warn these duke and marquis houses, I might as well properly educate these fools using this opportunity too.


    The Blue Santa glanced at me.


    ¡°Stuff them inside while making sure not to harm them too much.¡±


    The undead nodded while Charlotte simply watched the scene unfold before her. However, Heis next to us had lost all of the colours from his complexion.


    ¡°W-what¡¯s going on here?!¡±


    Eventually, the security guards showed up on the scene.


    ¡°T-the Blue Santa?!¡±


    The moment they spotted my Blue Santa, they visibly hesitated.


    They couldn¡¯t do anything. All they could do for now was just watch the creature stuff these three scions from noble families inside the pouch.


    However, that was kinda obvious. The ¡®Heresy Inquisitor¡¯ personally selected by the Holy Emperor had issued a decree that none would be allowed to even harm a hair on the Blue Santas found in Humite.


    If any soldiers or guards attacked without the shared consent of three archbishops or more, then they would immediately be arrested and punished for the treasonous action of disobeying an imperial decree.


    This was the reason why the security guards didn¡¯t do anything even after finding a Blue Santa out in the streets as well.


    The Blue Santa glanced at me once more.


    I grinned at it and issued another order. ¡°Deliver your cargo to the Crimson Cross. Tell them to instil some morals in the minds of these kids.¡±


    The undead cackled while jumping up to the rooftop. It eventually disappeared from our view.


    ¡°Now that we got rid of some dirty trash, let¡¯s go and have our meal in peace, shall we?¡± I asked the two people beside me nonchalantly.


    Charlotte nodded and followed after me.


    Heis, on the other hand, just stood in his spot with a hardened expression while alternating his gaze between me and the direction where the Blue Santa had disappeared to.


    On the next day.


    A trio of buck-naked boys who belonged to some duke or marquis houses or some such were discovered in one of the vacant lots dotting around Humite.


    This became a bit of a problem, because it was supposed to be the day of Aslan¡¯s envoy arriving and paying a visit to Humite.


    The Third Imperial Prince Ruppel Olfolse learned of the news and immediately sought me out.


    His face was as red as it could be and he was clearly angry about ¡®something¡¯ here. ¡°Did you do it?!¡±


    I looked at my brother and his terrible mood before smiling brightly.


    He must¡¯ve been talking about those three mangnani ¡®musketeers¡¯. Oh well, they were from the duke and marquis families, after all. Meaning, they weren¡¯t people that could be handled willy-nilly.


    But through this incident, we now had a clear justification to punish those houses, though.


    Investigate the duke and marquis houses involved and uncover all of their corrupt dealings, plus other instances of them abusing their authority to harm the commoners ¨C it should be possible to expose them all and punish them accordingly.


    Ruppel couldn¡¯t help but groan loudly.


    Well, my dear brother was probably under a lot of stress with the matter of the envoy from Aslan, so it made some sense that he¡¯d get pissed off from what I¡¯ve done.


    So, I simply decided to come out clean.


    ¡°Yes, I was responsible.¡±


    Ruppel gritted his teeth. And then, he spat out some words that I didn¡¯t expect at all.


    ¡°You¡¯ve lost your mind, haven¡¯t you?! On the very day that the envoy is supposed to arrive in the city, how could you hang Necromancers by their necks on Humite¡¯s plaza! Just what were you thinking?!¡±


    I ended up freezing on the spot from what he said.


    < 057. Imperial Prince Saw Him -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 103 - Imperial Prince Saw Him -2 (Part One)

    **


    Inside the academy¡¯s executive office.


    I was still stewing in shock when I asked Ruppel the following question. ¡°What are you even talking about?!¡±


    He sunk into the couch and firmly massaged his temples. ¡°Dead Necromancers were discovered dangling by their necks on the plaza. That was early this morning. According to what some eyewitnesses say, an ¡®angel¡¯ did it.¡±


    Not just any Necromancers either ¨C if they were from the Black Order, it¡¯d be possible to come up with some excuses. However, the discovered Necromancers were wearing attires belonging to the envoy¡¯s group from Aslan. To make matters worse, the victims apparently belonged to the kingdom¡¯s aristocracy, too.


    I asked again. ¡°Who could have done that?¡±


    ¡°What are you saying? Didn¡¯t you do it? Surely the Necromancer that serves you must¡¯ve been responsible.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s definitely not true.¡±


    You think I¡¯m crazy enough to dangle around a bunch of Necromancer corpses in a public plaza? Especially when they were Aslan¡¯s nobles and not some random Black Order punks?


    ¡°You dare and deny it now?! Do you have any idea how upset envoy Haima was?!¡±


    After receiving the report, the envoy apparently went on a tirade against Ruppel.


    ¨C Are you trying to make a mockery of us?! H-how dare you hang the devout worshippers of the god of death by their necks! Do you wish to wage a real war against us?!


    ¡°Dammit! Why did something like that have to happen now? This wasn¡¯t a part of the plan, so what¡¯s going on here? Allen, this matter needs to be reported back to the imperial court. I fear that both you and I won¡¯t be able to escape from the repercussions of this event.¡±


    Ruppel looked really flustered and confused right now.


    I agreed that this was seriously dangerous. One wrong move somewhere, and I might end up as an unwitting patsy.


    Bloody hell, it¡¯s not like I did something really outlandish, you know?!


    All I did was simply raid a few Black Order hideouts for the sake of our subjects¡¯ safety and uh, to acquire some new techniques for myself!


    I spat out a groan and asked Ruppel. ¡°Okay. Can you tell me where the dead Necromancers were found?¡±


    **


    Harman and I reached the plaza in question.


    The surrounding avenues were in the middle of preparing for the upcoming festival, but everything had come to a halt due to the incident.


    The citizens walking by were staring at the plaza, an expression of worry clearly visible on their faces.


    ¡®Maybe the war is going to break out for real now?¡¯


    ¡®Didn¡¯t Aslan¡¯s envoy come to the city? And I heard that our Theocratic Empire declared war first. Could it be true¡­?¡¯


    ¡®What? It isn¡¯t Aslan declaring war but us, the empire?¡¯


    1


    The whisperings of the passersby entered my ears.


    I raised my head and took a look at the top of a building near the centre of the plaza. Along with some bloodstains, severed ropes where the corpses were previously tied to could be seen up there.


    Several Paladins standing in front of the building continued on with their investigation.


    Meanwhile, a few Priests were busy scrubbing some of the blood away before shaking their heads. From the looks of things, they didn¡¯t seem to have uncovered anything of note so far.


    ¡°¡­Did someone from the Imperial Family make a move?¡±


    Harman returned to my side after chatting to the Paladins on scene.


    He shook his head after hearing my question. ¡°No, your highness. That shouldn¡¯t be it. We aren¡¯t even in a wartime situation right now, so they wouldn¡¯t do anything as extreme as killing the nobles of another kingdom to use as a warning like this.¡±


    ¡°What about eyewitnesses?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the strange thing, as there are none. The corpses simply appeared out of the blue, they say. But one thing¡¯s for certain ¨C we don¡¯t know who the culprit is, but¡­¡± Harman glanced at the Priests scrubbing the blood away and lightly clicked his tongue. ¡°¡­This is definitely an act of someone wishing to create friction between Aslan and the Theocratic Empire. It¡¯s safe to assume that we¡¯re dealing with a big fish capable of hunting down Aslan¡¯s nobles.¡±


    Just who could¡¯ve done this, I wonder?


    It wasn¡¯t the Imperial Family, since if someone from the family made a move, then I would have received some kind of report.


    In that case, maybe it was Aslan themselves?


    Harman seemed to have thought the same thing as I did, judging from what he said in the next moment. ¡°Could it be that Aslan¡¯s own people did this?¡±


    ¡°For what purpose?¡±


    Of course, I had already thought up of a few things in that regard. There was a pretty solid reason to go this far, wasn¡¯t there?


    1


    Harman replied. ¡°The pretext for war, your highness.¡±


    If Aslan really wanted to invade the Theocratic Empire, then this incident would be as good as any justification you could think of.


    I muttered out. ¡°However, judging from the envoy¡¯s reaction, that couldn¡¯t be it either.¡±


    It seemed that Aslan¡¯s own envoy had no idea about this incident.


    Besides, if the story of the kingdom harming its own high-ranking nobles for an underhanded scheme got out to the masses, then there was a pretty good chance that some kind of an internal conflict might flare up in Aslan.


    When facing the prospect of war, you couldn¡¯t afford to have a division in your camp, now could you?


    It was neither the Imperial Family, nor Aslan¡¯s people. In that case, it had to be the third party.


    But who¡­


    It was then, a thick stench of demonic energy wafted to my nose.


    Almost at the same time as the heavy odour of death entered my senses, this powerful dread began suppressing my whole body.


    A chill ran down my spine.


    Someone or something was staring at me.


    I turned my head towards the direction of the demonic energy¡¯s stench.


    There, right by an alleyway ¨C a figure shrouded in a hooded robe was standing behind the corner.


    -How surprising. You can actually sense me?


    The figure wasn¡¯t talking to me through its vocal cords. No, its voice was reverberating inside my head.


    -I see. The one who turned Humite into this mess and abducted my underlings was you, wasn¡¯t it? So, you¡­


    The hooded figure slowly raised its head.


    A bleached-white skull revealed itself, along with a pair of glowing eyes burning in crimson hues.


    -¡­must be the ¡®angel¡¯.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    I held my breath.


    The moment our gazes collided, the surrounding air seemed to tumble down and begin suppressing me. Since I could clearly see that thing¡¯s face right now, I quickly activated [Mind¡¯s Eye] to analyse its identity.


    [Name: Nasus


    Age: ???


    Attributes: Destruction, ruination, hexing, black magic, Necromancy.


    + For the eternal glory of Aslan¡­]


    I sucked in a cold breath.


    I then immediately pulled out my musket and summoned all the Blue Santas currently scattered around Humite, too.


    It must be him! That¡¯s the culprit responsible for this incident!


    On top of that, this creature was the most dangerous individual I¡¯ve run across so far.


    Vampires, lycanthropes, all of them would be rendered powerless in front of that damn thing!


    This aura, this bone-chilling vibe¡­


    Right now, I was getting a similar sort of vibe which I felt from the Progenitor Vampire capable of mobilising an army of twenty thousand undeads. That monster was either on par with that Vampire or maybe even exceeded it!


    It couldn¡¯t have been your run-of-the-mill skeleton mage. No, that thing shouldn¡¯t even be compared to a mere skeleton at all.


    It¡¯s an undead Lich!


    ¡°Oh, Gaia!¡±


    ¡°Your highness?!¡±


    Harman hadn¡¯t realised anything yet. But that was unsurprising, seeing that the Lich deployed some kind of an obstruction magic. That spell was such a high tier that the Blue Santas¡¯s cloaking magic simply paled in comparison.


    I quickly gathered divinity. I needed to shatter that skull in one shot, otherwise we might have a huge trouble later down the line.


    ¡°Please grant your blessing to your faithful servant.¡±


    Divinity quickly permeated into the musket. The citizens around us flinched in shock and began staring at me.


    Harman hurriedly waved his arms around and the guards near our position began evacuating the citizens from the surroundings.


    Meanwhile, I resorted to breathing divinity, offering a prayer, and even activating [Divine Aura] on top of them all.


    ¡°Grant me the spear of your grace to pierce down the vile spirit of evil!¡±


    This rifle was a long distance sniper type, and I pushed its firepower all the way to the max.


    The undead Lich seemed to be silently observing, with less than two hundred metres separating us. I aimed my weapon and squeezed the trigger.


    A bullet of light exploded forth.


    The air expanded as the projectile penetrated through the air.


    The undead Lich suddenly held up a crude-looking wooden staff in the air. Through my [Mind¡¯s Eye] I immediately deciphered what the staff was.


    [Amon¡¯s staff.


    Ability: Depending on the user¡¯s stats, demonic energy is amplified by a minimum of 50% to 200%. Increase of 10% added to the recovery rate. Additional 10% to effectiveness of all skills.]


    What the hell?


    Demonic energy quickly coalesced on the staff. A barrier suddenly materialised and collided noisily against the holy bullet.


    The two opposing forces of demonic energy and divinity triggered a powerful storm of explosion.


    The crowd screamed and hurriedly ran away from the area.


    Cracks began appearing on the demonic energy barrier.


    What? The holy bullet failed to penetrate through it?


    The undead Lich also got to witness this scene and the crimson glow in its eye sockets widened in shock. It stumbled back immediately.


    -I see now. This is the reason why you were called the ¡®angel¡¯, isn¡¯t it?


    Dammit, the shot was too weak. I gotta fire another round. I should be able to accurately break through and hit the target this time.


    I took another aim with my musket.


    -It¡¯ll be too difficult to deal with you as I am right now. We shall see each other again in the future. And when that happens¡­


    The undead Lich¡¯s glowing eyes burned in a crimson hue.


    -I shall definitely kill you!


    The Lich turned around and began dashing down the alleyway.

 Chapter 104 - Imperial Prince Saw Him -2 (Part Two)

    It¡¯s running away!?


    You want to see me again later? Bloody hell, that thing¡¯s planning to pay me a visit in the future! Anyone would be able to tell that guy was quite pissed off!


    I couldn¡¯t afford to let it escape like this.


    I quickly chased it down into the alleyway.


    After offering one more prayer, I injected divinity into the musket.


    Meanwhile, the Blue Santas pounced on the fleeing Lich. They raised their machetes and leapt up before hacking down.


    However, the undead Lich easily handled them all.


    It loaded demonic energy into the staff and waved it around, activating various hexes. The Blue Santas either turned into ashes and scattered away, or rotted away to nothing.


    The Lich dispassionately glared at the Blue Santas trying to block its path.


    One of the Santas began swinging its machete, but the Lich simply ducked lower to evade the attack and reached out to grab the bearded undead¡¯s head ¨C before easily crushing it.


    The Lich powerfully flung the sagging headless corpse at the other Blue Santas afterwards.


    More Santas scaled and ran on the walls on both sides to pounce on the Lich¡¯s position, but the latter expertly wielded its staff and beat them all down. And with its free hand, it grabbed a wayward Santa before slamming the undead hard on the ground.


    Since I was currently sharing the visions of the Blue Santas, it allowed me to observe the Lich¡¯s movements.


    This thing¡¯s skill level was simply extraordinary. Not only was it adept at magic, Nasus the Lich was also very good at hand-to-hand combat as well.


    Eventually, though, its movement had to come to a halt.


    It had run into a dead-end, that¡¯s why. It looked back only to discover the numerous Blue Santas standing on the rooftops and the alleyway itself.


    I too stepped into the very same street by then.


    I quickly raised the musket in my hand and took aim.


    ¡°Checkmate, pal.¡±


    The undead Lich belatedly raised its staff, but it was too late by then.


    I had already squeezed the trigger.


    The holy bullet penetrated cleanly through the Lich¡¯s skull right where it stood.


    The bones that used to be its head exploded to bits and rained down on the surroundings, leaving behind only its jawbone.


    The undead Lich stumbled ungainly before clattering against the wall behind it. Then, the whole pile of bones simply crumbled down.


    ¡°¡­The end?¡±


    No, hang on. The stench was still here.


    Besides, if it was the Progenitor Vampire Count instead, that one little hit wouldn¡¯t have killed it.


    That¡¯s how powerful this existence wa¡­?!


    -Let us meet again next time, little pup.


    The undead Lich¡¯s finger suddenly began moving. This bony finger scratched a magical circle on the ground in the blink of an eye, then injected demonic energy into it.


    -When that time comes, I shall personally dissect you. I will definitely uncover the source of your unique power.


    In an instant, both the undead Lich and its staff seemingly broke down to tiny little particles before disappearing from the spot altogether.


    No, the Lich hadn¡¯t been erased from existence. That was simply the result of a teleportation-type magic spell called ¡®Warp¡¯.


    Not only was it one of the highest-tier magic spells out there, only a small handful of people were capable of using it in the entire continent, too.


    On top of that, the Lich was able to complete and activate the magic circle in a matter of seconds to successfully escape from here without leaving behind any traces.


    I clenched my teeth hard at this sight.


    Son of a b*tch!


    A creature that I couldn¡¯t afford to let go managed to slip through my fingers and escape from my net.


    It said ¡®abducted its underlings¡¯, which implied that the Lich was aware of me kidnapping the Necromancers. Which also meant that the undead was a member of the Black order, too.


    What did Harman tell me before? That even if the Black Order attacked in droves, they couldn¡¯t even injure the Progenitor Vampire Count?


    Horsesh*t.


    We¡¯ve been underestimating our enemies¡¯ strength up until now.


    Besides all that, Aslan was still denying having any ties to the Black Order, right? But if they were really unconnected, then I wouldn¡¯t have seen all that nonsense about the glory of Aslan or whatever in the Lich¡¯s status window.


    Through this event, I definitely learned that the ¡®Black Order¡¯ was not a piffling little organisation at all. No, they actually belonged to the kingdom of Aslan.


    This meant that my enemy was the whole of Aslan.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    In the underground floor of a nondescript house near the city of Humite.


    On top of a magic circle with mysterious rune letters inscribed within, countless individual particles began rapidly gathering into one solid mass.


    Eventually, it became the undead Lich wearing a robe and gripping Amon¡¯s Staff.


    The creature raised its head. Even its shattered skull had reverted back to how it was by then. It got up from the spot but its legs suddenly wobbled and creaked noisily.


    Nasus grasped its regenerated skull.


    ¡®His attack was far stronger than I thought.¡¯


    It should¡¯ve been nothing more than some minor damage to its physical body. But even then, it still suffered from a tremendous impact force. The projectile containing divinity was so frighteningly strong that even the Lich¡¯s soul was shaken up.


    It could¡¯ve been truly dangerous if it had allowed the boy to fire another round.


    The human referred to as the Theocratic Empire¡¯s angel ¨C the Imperial Family had been taming such a monstrous creature, was that it?


    ¡°¡­And you finally showed up.¡±


    The special envoy Haima was standing before Nasus. His complexion was flushing red from anger.


    Several Necromancers stood next to him as if to act as his guards while wielding swords in their right hands and magic staves held in their left.


    ¡°I have something to ask you, Nasus. Our fellow priests found in Humite¡¯s plaza, was that your handiwork?¡±


    The undead Nasus ignored Haima and simply walked past the group.


    However, Haima continued to roar at Nasus. ¡°I¡¯m speaking to you right now! How dare you besmirch the great name of Aslan like this?!¡±


    The envoy angrily reached out and grabbed the Lich¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Not only that, you dare to make a move without making a report first? You are nothing more than a mere puppet, so how dare you think that you can do whatever you please?!¡±


    As if it belatedly recalled something, Nasus quickly waved its hand around in the air. Its bony hand slipped into a seemingly empty space and then began extracting several documents from there.


    The Lich proceeded to scan through each and every document it found.


    When it continued ignoring Haima, the envoy couldn¡¯t hold back anymore and stepped in front of the Lich. ¡°How dare a measly little undead Lich try to oppose living humans! We had to sacrifice one hundred noble priests just to create you, yet to think the end product was a defect rubbish like this!¡±


    Haima gnashed his teeth, but in the meantime, the undead Lich finally found a document it was looking for.


    The crimson glow in its eye sockets narrowed as if the information contained within proved to be very interesting.


    ¡°I shall report your actions to Aslan without a doubt. Also, I now hereby rescind all of your controlling authority over the Black Order. We shall dispose of you at a later¡­¡±


    Nasus suddenly spun around and grabbed the envoy¡¯s throat, lifting the latter easily off the ground.


    ¡°Wha-what¡­keok?!¡±


    The guards on either side of the envoy tried to rush in, but then the eerie glow within Nasus¡¯s eyes powerfully gushed out.


    The bodies of all the Necromancers froze up where they stood. But that lasted for only a brief moment; their flesh began rotting away and desperate screams escaped from their mouths.


    The special envoy Haima¡¯s complexion paled instantly as he watched his escorts wither and die.


    He shifted his terrified eyes back to Nasus, the undead Lich.


    -I do not serve the god of death. No, I exist solely for the glorious kingdom of Aslan.


    ¡°W-what was that?!¡±


    -Tell me, dear envoy. What have you done so far for the everlasting glory of Aslan?


    Nasus tossed the envoy away, and then lifted up its staff to pointing at Haima.


    The latter remained on his butt and ungainly scampered back in fear. ¡°W-wait! I¡¯m the special envoy from Aslan! Your action of disobeying me is the same as disobeying the will of his majesty, our noble king Rahamma!¡±


    -His majesty has already bestowed unto me all the necessary authority.


    ¡°W-what?!¡±


    -And so, from this moment on, I will be in charge.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    -Once the banquet starts, your role will be to secure the Third Imperial Prince and block the movement of the Order of the Golden Cross. Meanwhile, I shall eliminate both the city of Humite and the source of our headaches.


    Nasus cocked its head to the side and withdrew the staff.


    -At the same time, the great wall of the Theocratic Empire that surrounds Aslan will be destroyed. A thousand members of the Necromancy Corps, fifty thousand undead army they have summoned, fifteen thousand elite troops of Aslan, and finally, another fifty thousand slave soldiers will march into the empire¡¯s territory.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Haima¡¯s brows shot up high.


    He already knew that the plan was to invade the Theocratic Empire sooner rather than later. But the scale of the invading troop Nasus mentioned was on a completely different realm than the information he knew.


    This¡­ this was no doubt a frontal warfare.


    -We now have our pretext. On the day you arrived at the city, I¡¯ve selected two priests and a high-ranking noble as our glorious sacrifices. That alone should suffice.


    More importantly, no one else knew the truth of what Nasus had done ¨C other than Haima and the Lich itself. However, if some signs of this matter getting out were to be detected, then Nasus would simply dispose of the envoy as a sacrificial lamb and that would be the end of it.


    The Lich smiled with its eyes.


    -As such, we shall make this verdant land the new territory of Aslan. And¡­


    Nasus looked down at the document one more time, its glowing eyes arching so much that they now resembled a pair of crescent moons.


    -We may get our hands on an existence that can dominate the devotees of the Theocratic Empire.


    The piece of parchment currently held in Nasus¡¯s hand contained information regarding an assassination request the Black Order had accepted a while ago.


    -The seventh grandson of the Holy Emperor, Allen Olfolse.


    The information was about the Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen Olfolse.


    The one making the request was ¡®Rose Darina¡¯ ¨C the mother of the Third Imperial Prince.


    The request originally said to kill a powerless little child. But then, the end result turned out to be rather different.


    That boy was not some little hatchling.


    Not only was he a powerful existence, the most concerning thing about him was actually the unique ability he possessed. It was something that could pose an immense threat to Aslan¡¯s future.


    An existence that relied on divinity to perform Necromancy.


    A being of contradiction who commanded both life and death.


    A medium that could ¡®unify¡¯ two disparate religions into one.


    Just like the rumour had said, he was¡­


    -The ¡®angel¡¯, is it?


    ¡­An angel-like existence.


    If the foundation of the boy¡¯s powers could be understood, then the resulting impact would be felt not just in Aslan, but even within the Theocratic Empire as well.


    That boy¡­ Aslan definitely needed to secure that boy no matter what.


    < 058. Imperial Prince Saw Him -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 105 - Imperial Prince Saw Him -3 (Part One)

    **


    Harman reported the incident to the Imperial Family.


    However, Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse ordered us not to stop the upcoming banquet, and instead continue on with ¡°meet and establish a diplomatic connection with the envoy¡±.


    I was totally dismayed upon hearing this.


    Just what was the old man even thinking? Did he really want to start a war? Or¡­ was he separately thinking about doing something else?


    Since the Holy Emperor issued his imperial decree, we now had no way to stop the proceedings from going ahead. But still, I asked Ruppel to come to the academy¡¯s executive office.


    Kelt Olfolse was probably cooking up a plan of his own, but as far as I was concerned, this event should definitely not go ahead. The whole thing was so dangerous that one misstep might result in the massacre of innocent citizens.


    The banquet could be stopped as long as Ruppel and I had the same opinion. He was responsible for managing this diplomatic event after all. In fact, he should also be aware of how grave the current situation was, so I felt confident that he¡¯d agree with me.


    But then¡­


    ¡°¡­Are you saying that the banquet will go on ahead regardless?¡±


    Ruppel was sitting on the couch while drinking his tea. ¡°Indeed. The banquet will take place in two weeks¡¯ time. We¡¯ve delayed it as much as possible in consideration of the overall safety of the citizens. The plan is to hold an even bigger festival than what¡¯s been originally envisioned in order to eliminate any and all concerns our subjects might have.¡±


    How did that make any sense?!


    Aslan had been making suspicious movements, yet we were still planning to enjoy a festival and a banquet?!


    I shot a glare straight at Ruppel. ¡°What is your reason for doing this?¡±


    Ruppel first looked around the office, tidied up his attire, and only then did he make his reply, ¡°¡­Special envoy Haima apologised first, you see. He said that he ended up uttering some embarrassing things out of agitation. If there was any misunderstanding, he wishes to resolve them through dialogue during the banquet itself.¡±


    ¡°How does that even make any sense?!¡±


    ¡°Even if it doesn¡¯t, so what? Admit that it was our fault and chase the envoy out from the empire¡¯s soil? Huh! Why don¡¯t you openly declare that Aslan is our enemy instead? How about you publicly announce that it wasn¡¯t Aslan, but the Theocratic Empire who first declared the war! And by resorting to barbaric means of hanging several of the foreign nobles by their throats, no less!¡±


    Ruppel roared out as his complexion got redder and redder. It looked like his head was in a chaotic mess right now.


    He was right, though; if we chase out Aslan¡¯s envoy without a solid reason, then it¡¯d somehow look like the empire was admitting to murdering those nobles.


    I leaned my head against the couch and continued on, ¡°An undead Lich showed up.¡±


    ¡°I know that. Although, I¡¯m a little sceptical considering it¡¯s coming from you¡­¡± Ruppel furrowed his brows while staring at me. ¡°But what are you so concerned about? The vice captain of the Order of the Golden Cross, Oscal Baldur is residing in this city after all.¡±


    3


    ¡°Is he that strong?¡±


    ¡°Well, at least he¡¯s far stronger than Archbishop Raphael. Even a Progenitor Vampire won¡¯t be able to win against him.¡±


    ¡­That¡¯s not the problem here.


    Even the current me could stop the undead Lich by myself.


    No, the real problem here was the safety of the citizens. We weren¡¯t talking about one or two lives here. This issue involved the lives of tens of thousands of people.


    This matter had quickly ballooned past the point where I could try weaseling out of taking the responsibilities simply because I didn¡¯t want to be ¡®inconvenienced¡¯ anymore.


    ¡°In that case, I shall quickly return to the imperial palace. I¡¯ll have a direct audience with his majesty and make my report.¡±


    I thought that at the very least, the undead Lich could be somehow ¡®persuaded¡¯ into leaving this city if I left and headed elsewhere.


    I couldn¡¯t help but recall those glaring lights coming from the Lich¡¯s eye sockets. The emotions contained within were rage and greed. Not only did it want to kill the culprit responsible for messing up its plans, which was me, it also clearly wanted something else.


    Just thinking about that madness-filled gaze sent a creeping chill down my spine.


    Now, imagine a scenario where an existence as strong as a Vampire Count was stalking you. You¡¯d never get to enjoy a good night¡¯s sleep.


    I simply figured that the best way to handle it was to speak directly to the Holy Emperor and let him deal with this matter.


    ¡°Unfortunately, that¡¯s going to be impossible.¡±


    I stared at Ruppel when he uttered those words out.


    ¡°Envoy Haima was asking about you. More specifically, he was asking about the one who took the lead in hunting the Black Order down.¡±


    I frowned deeply. ¡°What does that have to do with me?¡±


    ¡°To resolve any misunderstandings, he wishes to confront and speak to the one who personally annihilated the Black Order.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s such a stupid excuse.¡±


    The undead Lich probably thought up of that one.


    Ruppel quickly spoke in a conciliatory tone of voice, ¡°The potential flow of this diplomatic event will depend entirely on your participation, Allen.¡±


    ¡°The undead Lich is a part of the Black Order. That very organisation also belongs to Aslan. This is an obvious trap, don¡¯t you see that?¡±


    ¡°Even if we know the truth, we don¡¯t have any physical evidence.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you have evidence that every kingdom on the continent could get behind?! If we don¡¯t have that, then at least come up with a plausible tale that even Aslan could accept. Do you honestly think that we haven¡¯t invaded Aslan just because we¡¯re scared of them? We simply don¡¯t have the justification! Justification, I say!¡± Ruppel rubbed his head. ¡°Even if the Necromancers of the Black Order make false testimonies, they¡¯re already in the hands of the Crimson Cross, so it¡¯s obvious as daylight that the others will claim we somehow coaxed them. This means that the most optimum method available to us right now is dialogue. For the sake of peace¡­ the banquet and the festival must go ahead. And no matter what, you will attend it.¡±


    ¡°How laughable.¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    I stood up from the couch. ¡°I have no desire to dance on the palm of our enemies.¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯ll become troublesome if you don¡¯t attend.¡±


    ¡°In that case, I shall attend. However, I shall also exercise my authority as a Heresy Inquisitor, which was personally bestowed unto me by his majesty.¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s face hardened. ¡°Even if it¡¯s you, you can¡¯t stop me. No, wait. Are you thinking of arresting the envoy? His majesty directly ordered us to go through with the diplomatic meeting!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I can¡¯t stop you, brother. And I also can¡¯t touch the envoy. However, I can still stop what Aslan is scheming to do.¡±


    ¡°¡­What are you planning now?¡±


    I stared back at Ruppel as a sly grin floated up on my face. ¡°I¡¯ll deploy the army of the Theocratic Empire on the border to Aslan.¡±


    Despite the fact that the Heavenly Army was currently stationed near the border, Aslan¡¯s movements still remained extremely provocative. No one could tell what they were planning to do next, so it was the smart thing to prepare as much as possible.


    In fact, it¡¯d be much better to completely block off the border wall and make sure that they couldn¡¯t even invade in the first place.


    Ruppel dropped the teacup in his hand. ¡°E-even if you¡¯re a Heresy Inquisitor, that is imposs¡­¡±


    ¡°That will no longer be a problem when I combine my authority with those of First Imperial Prince Luan¡¯s and First Imperial Princess Hilda¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°W-what was that?!¡±


    ¡°Harman!¡±


    The office door quickly opened up and Harman stepped inside.


    ¡°Send out an immediate communique to both my older brother and sister! Summon the Crimson Cross, and request them to call on the Verdant Cross and the dwarven legion too. In addition, send another message to the feudal lord of Ronia, Jenald Ripang and ask him to lend me some of his troops. It doesn¡¯t matter if he sends convicts.¡± I took a deep breath before continuing on, ¡°And then, by using my authority, call on as many Paladins as possible. Let¡¯s also utilise those three mangnani musketeers that were educated under my orders yesterday. Investigate their families right away, and as soon as you uncover even a hint of corruption, illegal activities, irregularities, whatever it is, use that as justification along with the crimes their scions have committed to take away and conscript their private forces for our own purposes. They will be dispatched to the border region to Aslan.¡±


    ¡°¡­I shall obey.¡±


    2


    Harman bowed before leaving the office.


    Ruppel¡¯s eye muscles twitched nonstop. His expression betrayed how unsettled and lost he was, but he still shot up from the couch and shouted at me. ¡°Allen! Do you actually wish for war instead?!¡±


    ¡°No, brother. I¡¯m trying to prevent one.¡± I glared coldly at Ruppel. ¡°If Aslan wishes to invade us, then let them try. If they wish to get massacred even before breaking through the border wall, that is.¡±


    That¡¯s right. The moment they try to invade the empire, they would be met with a dog¡¯s death right on top of their dried up wasteland without being able to breach the wall.


    Their corpses would remain abandoned without anyone to save them for all eternity.


    ¡°I¡¯m merely humouring this envoy and the upcoming diplomatic nonsense out of my consideration towards you, brother. However, if they make one unsavoury or suspicious movement, I won¡¯t hesitate to make my move.¡±


    Ruppel swallowed back his dry saliva.


    ¡°As such, send my regards to the envoy. Tell him that if he wishes peace for his own people, they should behave themselves.¡±


    I walked past Ruppel and closed the office¡¯s door shut. Then, I issued the rest of my orders to Harman, the latter was still waiting outside.


    ¡°Summon Oscal Baldur of the Golden Cross. I must speak to him face to face.¡±

 Chapter 106 - . Imperial Prince Saw Him -3 (Part Two)

    **


    The communiques had been sent out, and First Imperial Prince Luan in the imperial palace, First Imperial Princess Hilda in the northwestern territory, and feudal lord Jenald Ripang in the northern frontier all received the letters.


    1


    Without any hesitation whatsoever, the trio dispatched their troops after reading the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s letter. Also, investigations were launched into the affairs of the certain duke and marquis households of the Theocratic Empire using this event as a basis.


    And with the revealed corruption and abuse of power as pretext, their private forces had been appropriated and mobilised as well.


    Two hundred Crimson Cross members, one hundred and fifty from the Verdant Cross, another one hundred from the dwarven legion, two thousand convict soldiers, and finally, five thousand private soldiers from the affected noble houses alongside the elite forces of the empire numbering three thousand; they all closed in on the border region to Aslan.


    One thousand Paladins of the Heavenly Army and over fifteen thousand elite soldiers were already stationed by the southern border to Aslan. The combined army currently waiting by the border now boasted twenty six thousand four hundred and fifty combatants.


    As for the one hundred and fifty members of the Paladin Corps led by Harman, they were spread throughout the streets of Humite. They took on the role of protecting the city itself.


    On top of that, the Order of the Golden Cross also made their move.


    One hundred Paladins kitted out in gleaming golden armour were dispatched to Ruppel¡¯s private residence where the special envoy of Aslan, Haima, was currently staying. The pretext here was to provide ¡®protection¡¯, but the real story was quite different, of course.


    This extravagant show of force was completed in only ten days.


    When special envoy Haima received all the reports regarding these military movements, his complexion became deathly pale.


    He began shouting at Ruppel. ¡°Isn¡¯t this different from what we discussed before?! Wasn¡¯t your Theocratic Empire and my Aslan hoping to build a more amicable relationship? If not, could it be¡­?¡±


    Haima scanned the surrounding Paladins. They were here to supposedly protect Ruppel.


    The special envoy from Aslan whispered to the Third Imperial Prince while keeping his eyes on the Paladins. ¡°Could it be that you truly wish to wage war? It¡¯s not too late, your highness. For your own sake, you need to dismiss the gathered forces.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible. With my authority, I can¡¯t¡­¡±


    Ruppel could only force out a pained groan as his reply while he began massaging his forehead.


    The First Imperial Prince and Princess were now involved here. On top of that, Allen was currently enjoying the authority of the Heresy Inquisitor as well.


    Ruppel alone didn¡¯t have enough power to go over their heads.


    ¡­The architect of this entire event was none other than Allen Olfolse, the Seventh Imperial Prince. It went without saying that the actual right to command the gathered army now rested with him.


    With just one word from him, the vast army numbering over twenty thousand would immediately make their next move.


    Ruppel was desperately thinking to himself. ¡®Just what on earth did he do that they¡­¡¯


    Why were both the First Imperial Prince and Princess, and also a feudal lord in the northern frontier, so willing to make their moves simply because Allen asked them to?


    ¡®¡­No, maybe it¡¯s not all that surprising.¡¯


    Feudal lord Jenald from the northern frontier in question managed to defeat a Vampire with Allen¡¯s aid.


    The First Imperial Prince was on his deathbed, only to be revived to full health.


    As for the First Imperial Princess, Allen was instrumental in eliminating the troublesome lycanthropes and helping with the rescue operation of the captive dwarves.


    There were exaggerated rumours of him being the slaughterer of Vampires and the butcher of lycans, but now that Ruppel thought about it, those stories began floating around only because Allen must¡¯ve contributed greatly in those events.


    He had been treating them all as just some random rubbish, but could there really be something to those rumours?


    Ruppel sat while contemplating with his fingers interlocked, but his legs were trembling nonstop. Still feeling unsettled and not able to calm down at all, he decided to ask the envoy a question. ¡°Should we¡­ postpone the banquet?¡±


    Haima flinched in surprise at the question before responding with a groan. ¡°No, that¡­ cannot happen. We already finished our preparations, you see. We can¡¯t afford to postpone it any longer.¡±


    Ruppel held his head.


    Haima looked at the sitting Third Imperial Prince and opened his mouth again, ¡°¡­However, I know of another way.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°Forget about the others for a moment, all you have to do is to ensure that the Order of the Golden Cross would be unable to make their moves.¡±


    ¡°Did you think of something?¡±


    Haima nodded meaningfully, and then whispered some things into the Third Imperial Prince¡¯s ear.


    However, what Ruppel heard caused his expression to harden.


    **


    Currently, the city of Humite was a powder keg of anxiety.


    The citizens were falling to the pits of fear from all the obvious signs of an impending war, and in the meantime, the kingdom of Aslan was seen making all sorts of ominous manoeuvrings lately.


    Almost all of the main forces of the Imperial Family had left the imperial palace and were being stationed by the border to Aslan.


    Even though the Imperial Princes were seemingly doing whatever the hell they wanted, Kelt Olfolse did not interfere.


    The important matter for him right now wasn¡¯t ¡®Aslan¡¯s ominous manoeuvring¡¯ but the ¡®manoeuvring within the imperial court¡¯ itself.


    The Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, was currently in a dark, gloomy location. He sat on a simple wooden chair with his fingers interlocked, his overall demeanour filled with the dignified arrogance of a ruler.


    And in front of him was a gruesome-looking corpse. No, it wasn¡¯t an actual corpse, but a body that had been torn apart mercilessly to resemble one.


    Red hair had been ripped off here and there; its eyes were gouged out and blood trickled out from the sockets.


    Spears made out of silver were stabbed into various parts of its torso, and a fountain placed in front of it continuously sprayed holy water to burn the rest of what remained of its body.


    It was none other than the Vampire, Fomor.


    He looked to be suffering from great torment while barely managing to open his mouth. He mumbled out some words in an unknown language while his voice cracked apart.


    The members of the Crimson Cross next to the Vampire listened, and then reported the contents directly to their Holy Emperor.


    No matter how adept the Vampires were at concealing their presence, it was definitely not a simple feat to infiltrate the Theocratic Empire. What made matters worse was that it wasn¡¯t any regular part of the empire, but the imperial palace itself.


    However, they still managed to do so. Which meant that someone had ¡®deliberately¡¯ let them in.


    Without a doubt, this certain someone possessed a considerable amount of political influence as well.


    Kelt had suspected as much, but he had no physical evidence. To be certain of his suspicions, he had been biding his time for this moment.


    To discover the culprit responsible for bringing these abominable Vampires to his imperial palace and murder the First Crown Princess Consort Yulisia, he ordered to have the captured Vampires tortured endlessly.


    And finally, after a lengthy period of interrogation, the Vampire Fomor declared his surrender. In other words, he confessed.


    He confessed to who helped him infiltrate the imperial palace and what other various crimes he committed at the individual¡¯s request.


    The identity of the criminal who used a Vampire to murder the Imperial Family¡¯s Yulisia¡­


    Her name was¡­


    -Rose¡­ Darina¡­


    ¡­The Second Crown Princess Consort, Rose Darina.


    Kelt Olfolse quietly closed his eyes after he heard that name.


    ¡°¡­I see. So what you lot actually wanted was¡­¡±


    Suddenly, veins bulged on his face and his complexion turned blood-red. His whole body began trembling from rage.


    ¡°¡­To die miserable deaths!¡±


    Sparks arced and danced all around his surroundings.


    A loud thunderclap resounded out, accompanied by a bright flash of light that illuminated the interior of the dimly-lit prison.


    The other Vampires imprisoned beyond the thick steel bars were struck by the lightning bolt containing the emperor¡¯s rage, and they were instantly incinerated, not even leaving behind a handful of ashes.


    He was truly enraged.


    But he needed to hold himself back.


    Indeed, for the time being, he must do so.


    Aslan had been making strange movements recently. The piffling little kingdom to the south wouldn¡¯t normally dare to drool over the Theocratic Empire. Even then, they were still going ahead with their preparations, which could only mean that there was another factor at play here.


    What if Rose and Ruppel were not only involved in this wretched affair with the Vampires, but with also some other unsavoury matters¡­?


    2


    ¡°I shall annihilate you all!¡±


    Whether it be the Vampires, Aslan, Ruppel, or Rose ¨C none of them would be left unscathed!


    Kelt Olfolse shot up from the chair.


    He issued a new command to the Crimson Cross knights still remaining in the imperial palace.


    ¡°I shall leave the imperial palace to Luan¡¯s care for the time being. Inform Oscal Baldur regarding the matters of Ruppel and Aslan¡¯s envoy. Tell him that if either Rose or Ruppel makes any suspicious movements, have them apprehended even if he has to cut off their limbs. Because I¡­¡±


    Kelt¡¯s eyes seemed to get redder and redder from barely-checked rage.


    ¡°¡­shall personally judge them.¡±


    1


    < 059. Imperial Prince Saw Him -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 107 - Imperial Prince Saw Him -4 (Part One)

    **


    Inside the executive office of Humite Academy.


    The vice captain of the Order of the Golden Cross, Oscal Baldur, had been invited here.


    1


    He sat silently on a couch, still having a tough time trying to hide his shock while staring at the Seventh Imperial Prince sitting on the opposite side.


    The boy¡¯s physique was on the smaller side. Even if he was in his growth period, Oscal couldn¡¯t help but think that the boy was smaller than most of his peers. The old man wondered if his perception became a bit warped after seeing too many knights bitterly training in swordsmanship during his life.


    However, the atmosphere oozing out from the boy alongside the sharp glint in his eyes were completely different from the disposition of a mangani that Oscal so often heard about.


    ¡®Indeed, rather than a mangnani, this is¡­¡¯


    He felt the imposing air of a sovereign coming from such a small frame.


    More than anything else, those eyes contained so much bone-chilling murderous aura ¨C Oscal thought that he was currently staring at the younger version of the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse.


    ¡®Then¡­ This boy is the one Charlotte wishes to serve?¡¯


    Oscal shifted his gaze.


    Charlotte Heraiz was standing next to the couch used by the Seventh Imperial Prince. Her hands were demurely gathered in front of her while her head was slightly bowed.


    If someone else who didn¡¯t know her saw this scene, they might see her as yet another maidservant, but in reality, her true station was that of a major noble and also someone who¡¯d eventually become the number one swordswoman in the entire imperial court.


    ¡°I thank you for lending me your assistance in this matter, Oscal Baldur.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince spoke while sipping his tea. Oscal responded with a smooth smile. But even then, he continued to study the boy prince.


    Kelt Olfolse constantly sent letters containing some tales regarding his grandchildren to Oscal ¨C especially those that could potentially become the next Holy Emperor and the possible commander that the Order of the Golden Cross must answer to.


    The ones that interested Oscal the most lately had been the stories involving the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    The boy somehow ferreted out the hidden Vampires in the imperial palace and slaughtered them. He healed Luan that even Archbishop Raphael had failed to heal, then went on and eliminated the Progenitor lycan that caused so much headache in the northwestern territory of the empire as well.


    And now, he was dispatched to Humite as a Heresy Inquisitor. The Necromancers called him the ¡®angel¡¯ even as he continued abducting and imprisoning them. The report on the matter said that the boy stashed his victims away and was doing something to them even till this very day.


    A boy with a cruel and merciless streak, yet also someone who enjoyed the loyalty of the righteous Charlotte Heraiz. Wasn¡¯t he truly a man of amusing character?


    ¡®¡­Both his highness Luan and her highness Hilda are interesting people, but this young lord is just as interesting as them.¡¯


    What would happen if the boy before his eyes ascended to the throne of the Holy Emperor? Just imagining the aftermath alone made Oscal salivate in anticipation.


    For him, nothing was more entertaining to watch than the Imperial Family committing some of the maddest acts one could think of. The rulers of an empire who personally hunted down monsters, and engaged in various festivals of blood they enacted every so often¡­


    ¡­How could Oscal not wait with bated breath for what other insane antics they might resort to next?


    3


    He expertly managed his expressions and formed a warm, smooth smile.


    ¡°I should thank you instead, your highness. To think that I¡¯d be treated to wonderful and rare tea like this.¡± Oscal took a small sip of the warm tea and fixed his gaze on the Seventh Imperial Prince. ¡°By the way, may I enquire as to why you have summoned me again, your highness? Do you have another task in mind for me?¡±


    He couldn¡¯t be asking Oscal to murder the special envoy from Aslan and put the latter¡¯s severed head on display by the border wall, now could he?


    ¡°Sir Oscal, can you fight against an undead Lich?¡±


    At the sudden and unexpected question from the Seventh Imperial Prince, Oscal¡¯s head leaned to the side. ¡°One or two shouldn¡¯t pose too much of a problem. Necromancer King Amon commanded fifteen undead Liches back then. I was able to break through the monster horde they had summoned and safely escorted his majesty and his eminence Archbishop Raphael to where Amon was.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s eyes opened wider as if he was genuinely surprised. However, the scions of the Imperial Family should be familiar with this tale by now. After seeing that he clearly didn¡¯t, the boy really must¡¯ve lost his memories.


    The boy prince asked. ¡°Is that something a normal human can do?¡±


    ¡°Well, we the members serving the Imperial Family are rather strong, you see.¡±


    ¡°What a monster you are.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince tutted softly.


    Ahaha! Just who was calling who a monster here?


    Without a doubt, the current Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse possessed power on an absurd level that put just about every one of his predecessors to shame. Although he is such a man now, back when he was about the same age as this boy¡­


    The corners of Oscal¡¯s lips curled up. ¡°May I ask, why did you suddenly enquire about a Lich?¡±


    ¡°The reason why I asked you to come here today is because I wish to entrust a task to you.¡±


    ¡°Please go ahead.¡±


    ¡°I leave my brother to you.¡±


    Oscal¡¯s eyes narrowed to slits.


    The Holy Emperor was currently headed to the city of Humite. His reason was to punish the ¡®traitor¡¯ in their midst. And the identity of the traitor in question was ¡®Rose Darina¡¯ and everyone in her household.


    It was still unknown whether she and her cohorts were connected in some way to Aslan, but to find out the truth, the Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse would probably quietly observe the situation play out from a close vantage point.


    And yet, the Seventh Imperial Prince was ¡®leaving¡¯ the Third Imperial Prince Ruppel to Oscal?


    Did the boy realise something was amiss too?


    The Imperial Prince continued on, ¡°Even I can deal with a single undead Lich.¡±


    ¡°Oh-hoh!¡±


    Oscal let out a gasp of genuine admiration. He already heard it in the reports, but without a doubt, this boy was a monster! To think that a mere sixteen year old boy was capable of fighting against an undead Lich!


    ¡°However, I¡¯m not confident of defeating it while having to protect my older brother at the same time. It¡¯s unfortunate, but I¡¯m not very good at protecting someone, you see.¡±


    Oscal smiled wryly. Only after hearing that did he figure out the intent behind the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s request.


    I see¡­ so he wants me to protect a traitor?


    ¡°The moment the Order of the Golden Cross moved to surround my brother¡¯s private residence, the banquet venue also changed to his place. This is in spite of the fact that your knights are already surrounding the residence. That could only mean¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­There must be some kind of a combat force hidden around the residence that¡¯s working together with the envoy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible that the envoy himself is hiding the undead Lich. That¡¯s why¡­¡± The Seventh Imperial Prince locked his gaze on Oscal. ¡°¡­I¡¯d like you to protect my brother.¡±


    Was that the reason for him commanding the Golden Cross to surround Ruppel Olfolse¡¯s residence? Not because he wanted to pressure the envoy?


    ¡°¡­Understood. If it¡¯s your command, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince smiled brightly.


    After sharing some other small talk, Oscal prepared to leave. But before that, he glanced at Charlotte first and asked. ¡°May I know where Charlotte will be stationed?¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince seemed to be surprised at Oscal¡¯s question.


    Ah, I see. His highness still doesn¡¯t know yet, it seems.


    Oscal smiled and continued on, ¡°I¡¯ve been teaching Charlotte for a while now. She¡¯s actually staying in my place at the moment, you see.¡±


    ¡°¡­And were you also the one who injured her?¡±


    ¡°It was never my intention to harm your follower, your highness. I beg of your understanding on this matter.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince shot a glare filled with dissatisfaction at Oscal before glancing at Charlotte afterwards.


    She bowed her head and spoke as if she could tell what the boy was thinking just from that single glance. ¡°I¡¯m fine, your highness. I¡¯m actually deeply indebted to Lord Oscal.¡±


    ¡°If you say so, then it should be okay, I guess. Charlotte will protect Humite along with Harman from the Paladin Corps. Of course, on the last day, she will be attending the banquet with me.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Well, then¡­ I¡¯ll leave my brother in your care, Lord Oscal. If something happens, prioritise my brother above all else.¡±


    Oscal slightly nodded his head. That went without saying ¨C Ruppel needed to be alive and breathing until Kelt Olfolse reached the city.


    ¡­So that the Holy Emperor could personally punish him.


    Oscal stood up from the couch and then bowed deeply at the Seventh Imperial Prince. ¡°Of course, I shall obey. As it¡¯s a command from an Imperial Family member, I¡¯ll ensure that it happens as you instructed.¡± He cast a glance in Charlotte¡¯s direction next. ¡°And as for you, Charlotte. I¡¯ll prepare a present for you later.¡±


    She too slightly bowed her head in response.


    Oscal smiled in satisfaction and left the executive office.


    Harman was standing before the door. He looked really tense while bowing towards Oscal.


    The old man addressed the stiff Paladin. ¡°I heard that you will be taking on the role of protecting Humite along with Charlotte.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. That¡¯s correct.¡±


    Oscal nodded then lightly patted Harman on the shoulder. ¡°In that case, do your best to follow her commands well.¡±


    ¡°Understo¡­ Huh?!¡±


    1


    Harman flinched in surprise and stared at Oscal.

 Chapter 108 - 060. Imperial Prince Saw Him -4 (Part Two)

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Harman?¡±


    ¡°Sir¡­ uhm, when you say Charlotte¡¯s commands, what did you¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see. Neither you nor his highness is aware of this yet, is that it? Very well. At the very least, you should know by now that she¡¯s from the Heraiz family, yes?¡±


    Harman broke out in cold sweat after hearing what Oscal said. ¡°Ah, actually¡­ the truth is¡­¡±


    ¡°She was granted the peerage of marquis by his majesty. And also¡­¡± Oscal leaned in closer and whispered into Harman¡¯s ear, ¡°As the head of the Heraiz household, she¡¯s now the captain of the Order of the White Cross.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°It was his majesty¡¯s will. Do you understand what that means, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    2


    ¡°She¡¯s now your superior in rank.¡±


    The Order of the Golden Cross, the White Cross, Crimson Cross, Verdant Cross, Paladin Corps, and finally, the Heavenly Army.


    That was the order of the hierarchy. In that sense, Charlotte Heraiz was sitting on a much higher leg of the command structure than Haman Daian.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to your discretion, Harman. Oh, and his majesty wishes to keep this matter as a secret for the time being, so don¡¯t spill the beans to his highness just yet. Honestly, nothing good will come about by letting other nobles learn about this matter, anyway. Especially so when she lacks the sufficient strength to stop their machinations. This will be the same as strengthening the Imperial Family¡¯s sphere of influence, and also presenting his highness with a surprising gift as well.¡±


    ¡°¡­Understood.¡±


    Harman muttered as if he was talking to himself, his expression completely stupefied.


    Oscal smiled in satisfaction. ¡°Take care of Charlotte for me.¡±


    The old man burst into a loud chuckle and walked down the corridor.


    He now had things to do. He needed to set up a camp by Ruppel Olfolse¡¯s residence and ensure that not a single person leaves that building.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    Time flew past in the blink of an eye, and the celebratory banquet for the special envoy¡¯s arrival finally went underway.


    A simple military inspection ceremony was the first to take place, and the Paladin Corps members in charge of protecting Humite marched through the main street.


    The crowd gathered to spectate was loudly cheering on as the well-armoured Paladins marched past them.


    To heat up the excitement of the banquet even further, all sorts of competitive events had been organised and they all progressed one after the other. Both Charlotte and Heis participated in the proceedings. However, she was mainly there to ensure the safety of the nobles that were participating en masse.


    As for me, I was with Ruppel and envoy Haima at the front yard of Ruppel¡¯s private residence, spectating Humite¡¯s festival.


    ¡°Oh, so you can also do something like that with magic, huh¡­¡±


    While listening to the pleasant background music, I stared at the centre of the banquet hall where all sorts of rare and exquisite cuisine had been prepared.


    My eyes were locked on the fountain located there, which had been manipulated by Magicians and Alchemists from the palace to somehow display the scenes from various parts of Humite in real time, almost like some kind of a hologram display.


    Apparently, it was called the ¡®image crystal¡¯.


    It operated by storing images and sending it to other ¡®crystals¡¯ that were positioned in fixed intervals within the vicinity.


    Maybe because it was the first time this ¡®product¡¯ had been unveiled publicly, the visitors at the banquet hall were all greatly impressed by what they saw.


    Envoy Haima was stunned by this display and shouted out. ¡°Oh! Truly exceptional. To think that the magic technology of the Theocratic Empire has advanced to such a degree! If it¡¯s fine with you, is it possible for us to also learn about this magic as well?¡±


    Ruppel, who was standing in front of the envoy and drinking from a wine glass, smiled and replied to that request. ¡°Of course. If it¡¯s for the sake of building an amicable relationship between us and Aslan, we can certainly provide something like that. However, we had to spend a lot of funds during the research and development phase, so¡­¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, allow us to provide financial support during the refinement process. Of course, for the sake of reconciliation with the Theocratic Empire, we should strive to aid one another. Hahaha!¡±


    ¡°Why, thank you very much. By the way¡­¡±


    When Ruppel looked behind him, he found Oscal Baldur there, sticking very close to him.


    ¡°¡­Sir Oscal, do you mind creating a slightly more distance away from us?¡±


    ¡°My apologies, your highness. But guarding you is currently my top priority.¡±


    Ruppel groaned at Oscal¡¯s reply.


    Special envoy Haima also seemed to have found the presence of Oscal a bit too uncomfortable, since he kept wiping away cold sweat from his face with a handkerchief.


    1


    I was standing on a first floor balcony, looking at Ruppel and the envoy from Aslan, Haima, down at the banquet hall¡¯s ground floor.


    My dear older brother was having a rather positive-sounding conversation with the special envoy. From the looks of things, one could be lulled into thinking that nothing was wrong here, but¡­


    ¡°¡­Man, that¡¯s one hell of a stench.¡±


    This mysterious but horrid stench was wafting in from somewhere around the vicinity of the residence. It was a pretty heavy stench too, as if the undead had been there for a long, long time.


    Was Ruppel even aware of this fact?


    Just what would you have to do for demonic energy to thickly permeate like this? Or, could it be¡­?


    Ruppel finished chatting briefly with the envoy before glancing in my direction. He then walked up to where I was.


    He asked. ¡°How do you find the banquet?¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s enjoyable enough.¡±


    Honestly speaking? It was boring.


    I knew no one here, and besides, no one here would chat to me anyways. Not to forget, the current situation at hand didn¡¯t really allow me to enjoy a banquet in the first place.


    Just to be sure, I personally checked every single noble entering the banquet hall. I also used the members of the Golden Cross to search the vicinity of the residence.


    The stench was so strong that I could only think about the possibility of Necromancers commanding a horde of undeads hiding somewhere close by.


    Ruppel continued on. ¡°Envoy Haima expressed his wish to speak to you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not interested.¡±


    I waved my hand away. My gesture was similar to how you¡¯d chase away an annoying bug.


    Ruppel spoke again, obviously trying to change my mind. ¡°It¡¯s for the sake of our nation.¡±


    ¡°Tell him that he should be satisfied with the fact I¡¯m even attending the banquet in the first place.¡±


    Ruppel stared back at me with a dissatisfied expression on his face. After saying silent for a brief moment, he then continued on. ¡°Remember the way to discern if someone was a Vampire or not, the one you told me about earlier?¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been trying hard ever since that day, but it doesn¡¯t seem to be effective. Does it even work in the first place?¡±


    I could only inwardly tut at that. This guy, he was still persisting with that nonsense?


    Besides all that, there didn¡¯t seem to be any form of divine retribution aimed at Ruppel. As I thought, this whole thing about blasphemy was just some window dressing.


    I asked him. ¡°Were you really trying earnestly?¡±


    ¡°Of course I was. But, well¡­ No matter how many times I did it, I¡¯m still not sure if it works at all. Maybe there¡¯s another, better way?¡±


    ¡­I was only half-joking, you know? However, Ruppel¡¯s expression was considerably serious.


    Before I could ask him for his thoughts on the whole discerning the Vampire thing, he beat me to the punch. ¡°Allen, I was wondering¡­¡±


    Ruppel then pointed towards a certain corner of the banquet hall with his finger. That was where his mother, Rose Darina, was currently sitting on a chair. Next to her was a black-haired, black-eyed woman who looked to be a maidservant performing her duties.


    ¡°¡­What do you think about that woman?¡±


    ¡°Pardon me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s exactly as I asked.¡±


    Ruppel maintained a serious expression while asking me. And judging from the droplets of cold sweat caking his forehead, he must be feeling rather anxious as well.


    I shifted my gaze away from him and stared at the maid standing next to Rose.


    [Name: Sharin.


    Age: 25


    Attributes: Honey trap, bewitching techniques, underhanded disposition, treacherous, blackmailing, currently addicted to narcotics.


    + I shall definitely give birth to his highness the Imperial Prince. I¡¯m destined to become a member of the Imperial Family!]


    ¡°¡­Are you sure she¡¯s really a maidservant?¡±


    For a maid¡¯s attributes, those were some rather unique ones, I have to say.


    If she was a noblewoman, then she might have sold her own country down the river by now. The rest of her attributes suggested that for the purpose of moving up the social ladder, she¡¯d use and discard men like toilet paper.


    Ruppel¡¯s face hardened. He even urgently grabbed my shoulders. ¡°Is she a Vampire?¡±


    ¡°No, she¡¯s human.¡±


    ¡°I-in that case, maybe she¡¯s a Necromancer?¡±


    Why was he acting like this?


    I shook my head. ¡°Also no. She¡¯s simply a maidservant, except that she doesn¡¯t seem to be a good person.¡±


    ¡°Not a good person?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a bit difficult to put it in words, but¡­¡± I kept shaking my head while stating the rest of my observation. ¡°¡­She¡¯s the type to sell her own country for herself.¡±


    Ruppel flinched in surprise and hurriedly clamped his mouth shut.


    ¡°She¡¯s the type of woman who¡¯d use blackmail to get what she wants.¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s shoulders quivered.


    Meanwhile, I continued on, ¡°Is it okay for you to have such a woman around your mother?¡±


    ¡°¡­O-of course. Allen, I¡¯ll definitely repay all of my debts in the future.¡±


    What Ruppel said sounded rather odd. Could it be that she discovered his weakness or something? Even if that was true, an Imperial Prince like him couldn¡¯t be sweating bullets because of a mere maid, right?


    Could it be that there was some other reason?


    It was then, the special envoy from Aslan, Haima, walked up to us. He leaned closer to Ruppel and whispered, ¡°Looks like it¡¯s time, your highness.¡±


    At the same time, the voice of ¡®that existence¡¯ came out of nowhere.


    -I welcome you to the banquet hall, oh humans!


    The voice belonging to the undead Lich, Nasus, reverberated throughout the banquet hall.


    < 060. Imperial Prince Saw Him -4 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 109 - . Angel of Death -1 (Part One)

    Humite¡¯s citizens were getting really pumped up.


    The military inspection-cum-parade had come to an end and various competitions got underway.


    The academy¡¯s students who were mastering magic eagerly displayed the breadth and scope of their talents, while those walking on the path of the sword began sparring against each other as the spectators watched on.


    Even regular citizens participated in various competitions and managed to win a few prizes along the way.


    The citizens enjoyed the festivities and continued spending wonderful time while forgetting about their anxiety over the war.


    Charlotte, who was quietly observing them, shifted her gaze away. She was sitting on a bench, waiting to enter one of the competitions. Her eyes now rested on a large box next to her.


    This was the present Oscal talked about, delivered through Harman earlier. While still sitting on the bench, she opened the lid of the large box and her eyes instantly opened wider at its contents.


    A set of white-coloured armour meant for women could be found inside.


    The set consisted of a metal plate wrapped around the chest area, plus clothing made out of unknown monster hide. The armour seemed to be crafted with maximum focus on usability and effective performance.


    While she stared at the armour in stupor, Harman walked up to her. ¡°That armour set was crafted by the dwarves in the Hilda territory. It seems that his majesty commissioned for its creation right after meeting you, Charlotte.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ something as valuable as this is¡­¡±


    Charlotte longingly stroked the armour¡¯s surface.


    ¡°It simply goes to show how much the Imperial Family thinks of you as an indispensable talent.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    This was rather vexing from Charlotte¡¯s perspective, since it wasn¡¯t the Imperial Family she wished to serve.


    Harman must¡¯ve read what she was thinking right now, because he said something else as well. ¡°They are well aware of what you wish to do. So, do not be unduly burdened by this gesture.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°¡­Actually, your rank is far higher than mine, so for me to offer you a word of advice like this is a little against the decorum, but well¡­¡±


    Charlotte smiled wryly before asking Harman. ¡°Do you mind if I try it on?¡±


    ¡°There should be a waiting room nearby. You may be able to change your attire there. You can show your new armour to his highness later on too. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be pleased.¡±


    A bright smile spread on Charlotte¡¯s face the moment she heard that.


    She easily lifted up the box that looked fairly heavy even for an adult man, and with airy steps, she headed straight to the aforementioned waiting room.


    Harman watched her leave and smiled wryly.


    A girl so much younger than him was now his superior. Honestly, he didn¡¯t care about this point all that much, but what he did mind about was her true ¡®identity¡¯.


    It was too late to go back now, though.


    If the truth somehow got out, then Harman wouldn¡¯t have any excuses to defend himself with when his entire family and even the in-laws got punished for the crime of deceiving the imperial court.


    He couldn¡¯t help but massage his forehead.


    ¡®If his majesty learns about Charlotte¡¯s true background, then my head will swiftly roll off my neck.¡¯


    Harman made up his mind to take this secret all the way to his grave.


    ***


    The citizens were joyously laughing away. They watched on as the participants of a marathon panted laboriously while running on the streets of Humite.


    One of the runners stopped running altogether after sheer fatigue overtook him.


    ¡°Argh, I give up! I can¡¯t go on anymore. Fuu-woo¡­¡±


    Unlike his declaration of giving up, though, he was making a refreshed expression as he plopped down on the ground. He wiped away some of the sweat trickling down his body and looked around, only to tilt his head this way and that.


    ¡°Huh¡­?¡±


    He spotted a massive ¡®animal¡¯ in an alleyway.


    There was a lion as well as a lamb. Then, next to the creatures were some people who seemed to be the animal trainers, judging from their black robes, and the whips and staves held in their hands.


    Who were they? Did a circus troupe also get invited to perform today?


    Just who could they be? Even if the animals were tamed, how could anyone think that it was a good idea to let loose such a powerful predator like that?


    However, something¡­ didn¡¯t seem quite right about those animals.


    The lamb¡¯s head was actually attached to the lion¡¯s body, and its tail was a snake.


    Even the other citizens flinched in surprise and stared at this bizarre lifeform. Just as they began realising what it was, the ¡®chimera¡¯ opened its maw wide, and then¡­ pounced on the citizens, literally biting their heads off.


    Screams resounded out.


    People began running away in panic.


    As for the ¡®trainers¡¯ surrounding the chimera ¨C or more correctly, the Necromancers kitted out in black robes, they raised their heads.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s finally begun.¡±


    ¡°Our Chaos plan.¡±


    ¡°Sow as much terror, chaos, and confusion in the city¡­!¡±


    Necromancers gathered demonic energy on their staves and then slammed them down on the ground.


    **


    Allen Olfolse and Ruppel¡¯s faces hardened instantly. Even Oscal Baldur, who was next to them, couldn¡¯t stop his eyes from opening wider.


    Every noble present in the banquet hall flinched in surprise and began touching their ears. The voice hadn¡¯t been physically transmitted to them, but instead rang directly inside their heads. None of them could tell where it came from.


    However, Allen could already tell merely from the stench alone.


    ¡­The front yard of the residence.


    The undead Lich, wearing a loose-fitting robe and surrounded by a group of Necromancers, was openly striding in through the front gate.


    The Lich, Nasus, wielded its staff and cocked its head as eerie crimson light gushed out from its eye sockets.


    It was truly flabbergasting. Just with what confidence were they brazenly entering the residence?


    The Paladins of the Golden Cross reached down to the hilts of their swords as soon as the enemies made an entrance. However, since Oscal hadn¡¯t given his order yet, they held back and simply observed the unfolding situation for the time being.


    The reason for the brazen appearance of the Lich and its cohorts must be that they felt a need to hold a conversation first.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Lich!¡±


    ¡°An undead¡­!¡±


    The banquet hall became noisy in an instant.


    The nobles began stumbling back in fear. As if wanting to escape from here, they hurriedly searched for an exit.


    But then, more Necromancers rushed out from the residence¡¯s interior. No one could even begin to guess just how they managed to infiltrate the personal residence of an Imperial Prince like this.


    ¡°All of you, be silent!¡±


    The Necromancers pointed with their staves, silencing the nobles in an instant.


    Oscal furrowed his brows and turned his head. He was greeted by the sight of special envoy Haima pointing a short dagger at Ruppel¡¯s throat.


    As for Ruppel¡¯s mother, Rose Darina ¨C the black-haired maid flinched in surprise and hurriedly hid behind her. Unlike all the other nobles with pale faces, a thick smile was etched on Rose¡¯s face.


    Haima roared out. ¡°None of you move! If you wish to save the Imperial Prince, do not move a muscle!¡±


    Oscal couldn¡¯t help but tilt his head.


    He found it a little hard to understand this situation.


    Were they not the Black Order? Why were they taking Ruppel hostage, their own collaborator?


    What was going on here? Could it be that Ruppel and Aslan were not working together after all?


    No, that couldn¡¯t be it.


    This had to be nothing more than a ¡®ruse¡¯. The thought dismayed Oscal somewhat. Did Ruppel really think he¡¯d be able to stop the Golden Cross by taking himself hostage?


    Oscal shook his head.


    Indeed, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to make any moves if Ruppel was a hostage. But that story only applied before the crimes of ¡®treason¡¯.


    The current Oscal Baldur would not be punished for taking Ruppel¡¯s head in the case of an emergency.


    The Paladins of the Golden Cross glanced at Oscal, waiting for his next command.


    He was pondering his options.


    The Holy Emperor did tell him this, didn¡¯t he?


    ¡®¡­That it didn¡¯t matter even if one or two of his limbs are missing, as long as he¡¯s still breathing.¡¯


    That was why¡­


    Oscal reached down and grasped the hilt of his sword.


    For now, he¡¯d let Ruppel live. It wouldn¡¯t matter much even if the traitor¡¯s arm or a leg went missing in the process.


    The other Golden Cross knights followed his example and started unsheathing their swords.


    Both Ruppel and Haima flinched at this sight and their expressions hardened.


    Haima roared out again. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to not make any moves?! You need to stay quietly in this place, otherwise, if you don¡¯t¡­!¡±


    Oscal responded with a grin. ¡°You want us to behave ourselves? What a laughable notion that is. Is that something a man pointing a blade to an Imperial Prince¡¯s throat should be saying? This is clearly an ¡®open declaration of war¡¯. Not only do we have plenty of eyewitnesses¡­¡±


    He then pointed to the Magicians at the centre of the banquet hall.


    ¡°¡­This whole spectacle is being recorded live as well. I¡¯m sure you know what that means, don¡¯t you?¡±


    An even thicker grin floated up on Oscal¡¯s face.


    This situation only made things more advantageous to the Theocratic Empire, not Aslan. The latter party had willingly created the perfect pretext for them!


    ¡°This works as perfect justification for an open war. For that, I¡¯m grateful. Thanks to you, I now have another opportunity to fight your people.¡±


    Cold sweat trickled down envoy Haima¡¯s forehead.


    For some reason, his opponent seemed to be enjoying this situation. But why was that? Why was this old man so relaxed like this? Was he simply bluffing?


    Haima hurriedly retorted back, ¡°¡­Ahaha, what nonsense are you spewing now? Your side murdered our nobles first.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any proof that we did so? More importantly, when you look at the current situation, is it not easier to assume that it was your own people who committed such an act? Trying to start a war by sacrificing your own nobles will surely make things difficult for Aslan¡¯s government, wouldn¡¯t you say? Maybe you wish for an internal conflict to flare up first?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. That¡¯s an act the Black Order has committed, after all. Once this event is over, the Order will cease to exist, anyway. Besides, there will be no survivors. No one will leave this place alive. We will simply dispose of the recorded footage and that will be the end of it all.¡±


    ¡°Huh! You speak as if you are confident of killing me.¡±


    -That¡¯s not going to be a problem.


    Oscal turned his head.


    The Lich, Nasus, was raising up its staff.


    A strange, creepy grin was spreading on its lips.


    And then¡­


    -It may be impossible here, but the story will be different in another location.


    The Lich powerfully stabbed the staff down on the ground.


    The entirety of the banquet hall powerfully shook around. A massive magic circle suddenly manifested on the ground as rune letters began inscribing within it.

 Chapter 110 - 061. Angel of Death -1 (Part Two)

    Oscal¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at this sight.


    Warp magic?!


    ¡°Dammit¡­!¡±


    Not only that, it was the highest-tier of warp magic that completely surrounded the whole of the residence too!


    No one on this continent was capable of utilising a warp magic on this scale. Even then, the fact that it was currently being brought to life could only mean¡­


    ¡®¡­Human sacrifices!¡¯


    Those bastards in Aslan were using human sacrifices to forcibly activate this mass-scale warp magic.


    -Allow me to invite all of you to Aslan. Oscal, let us find out whether or not you will survive once we get there.


    With these words, Nasus summoned more demonic energy.


    At the same time, Oscal yanked his sword out. It was then, he sensed a presence nearby and briefly glanced to his side.


    No one could tell just where he got it from, but the Seventh Imperial Prince Allen was currently wielding a musket. He could be seen letting out a breath of divinity into the loading chamber.


    ¡°Your highness?¡±


    The boy then took aim at both Ruppel and envoy Haima.


    The latter cried out, ¡°Hold it! Didn¡¯t I say not to move a muscle?!¡±


    ¡°A-Allen¡­?!¡± Ruppel¡¯s complexion paled even more than before. ¡°What are you doing?! Withdraw your weapon this ins¡­¡±


    Haima and Ruppel¡¯s expressions froze up stiff.


    There wasn¡¯t even a hint of hesitation within Allen¡¯s eyes. He was definitely going to pull that trigger. Was he thinking of shooting his own brother?!


    ¡°This insane¡­!¡±


    Special envoy Haima reflexively twisted his body out of the way. Allen didn¡¯t hold back and pulled the trigger.


    The holy projectile pierced straight through Ruppel¡¯s torso and cleanly bore a hole in Haima¡¯s shoulder.


    Since he was permeating with demonic energy at the time, Haima vomited out a mouthful of blood and stumbled back.


    Oscal made his move right at that moment. He grabbed Ruppel by the scruff of the latter¡¯s neck before powerfully yanking him back.


    ¡°Your highness, you must get out of¡­!¡±


    Allen immediately switched to his next target.


    Nasus¡¯s eye glows went round from shock after it witnessed what happened just now. Who would have thought that the boy didn¡¯t even hesitate in pulling the trigger at the hostage?


    Besides all that, the incoming bullet was even more dangerous than ever before.


    -You insane little¡­!


    The wide-scale warp magic hadn¡¯t been completed yet. But at this rate, the Lich was in danger of getting extinguished even before it could successfully activate the magic.


    -No, it doesn¡¯t matter.


    The Lich¡¯s original task was to tie up and delay the Golden Cross as much as possible. If that resulted in Aslan¡¯s invasion going ahead and its army breaking through the border wall, then it¡¯d be considered a success!


    Since the warp magic wasn¡¯t completed yet, no one could guess where the end coordinates might possibly be.


    -All of you, disappear from here.


    Nasus slammed its staff down once more.


    At the same time, its skull was cleanly penetrated through before shattering into tiny bits.


    In that instant, the rune letters engraved into the residence began activating. Every living being standing on top of the magic circle began breaking down into tiny little particles.


    ¡°Bloody hell¡­!¡±


    Because Oscal was well aware of the principles of warp magic, he hurriedly grabbed onto Ruppel Olfolse. He then reached out to grab the Seventh Imperial Prince as well.


    An incomplete warp magic like this was dangerous. No one knew just where you might end up if luck wasn¡¯t on your side. The odds of ending up in the same location as someone else would go up greatly by being in physical contact with said person when getting sucked into a warp ¡®gate¡¯ like this one.


    As such, he at least needed to protect the Imperial Prince¡­!


    Unfortunately, Oscal¡¯s fingertips began breaking down in particles first. And his hand almost managing to grab Allen Olfolse disappeared from the view.


    ¡°Your highness!¡±


    Allen looked down at his own body disappearing before turning his head to look at Oscal.


    The old man shouted out. ¡°Be careful! We don¡¯t know where you¡¯ll be flung off to, so¡­!¡±


    Oscal holding onto Ruppel disappeared from the view. That was the last thing Allen saw before his vision became pitch-black.


    And then¡­


    By the time he regained his wits, he found himself in a completely different location. His body which had been split into countless particles had reverted back to how it was.


    He took a look around him.


    The location was dimly lit and gloomy. The nose-stinging stench of blood filled up the air while numerous souls moaning in pain entered his sight.


    He eventually discovered that he was standing on a humongous altar with an equally large magic circle drawn on it, and several dozens of withered corpses belonging to Necromancers strewn on top of the altar itself.


    This ¡®warp gate¡¯ was activated with at least thirty living sacrifices.


    Allen shifted his gaze away from the altar.


    The living Necromancers, numbering well over one hundred-plus, were standing around in a cordon. Meanwhile, more than a thousand emaciated slaves were trapped behind numerous prison cells.


    Allen¡¯s face became rigid as he muttered out to no one in particular, ¡°Where the hell am I?¡±


    -¡­You accursed pup!


    He turned his head towards the location of the voice.


    Right next to him, the figures of the undead Lich Nasus and special envoy Haima were being reconstructed as particles rapidly coalesced.


    It seemed that their arrival was a little slower compared to him.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk?! Dammit¡­ This hurts¡­!¡±


    Haima screamed while holding his shoulder cleanly penetrated through by the holy bullet. A few of the surrounding Necromancers quickly rushed in and took him away to start their treatment.


    While Nasus was regenerating its shattered skull, the Lich glanced at Haima briefly before looking back at Allen.


    -You¡¯re clearly insane. Your own brother was held hostage, yet you tried to kill him along with the envoy? Was that how badly you wished to become the next Holy Emperor?!


    ¡°He wasn¡¯t going to die anyways, so pipe down. Besides, me becoming the Holy Emperor? I¡¯m not even remotely interested in something that troublesome, okay?¡±


    Because the projectile contained healing magic, unless you had demonic energy permeating in you, you wouldn¡¯t die from getting hit by that shot.


    ¡°Besides all that, where is this place?¡±


    Could there be a large in-door space like this one hidden within the Theocratic Empire? Nope, not even remotely possible.


    Just how big was the scale of the Black Order though? Or could it be that the Theocratic Empire was so incompetent that it didn¡¯t even know about the true extent of this organisation¡¯s capabilities?


    Allen¡¯s questions were easily answered by Nasus.


    -We are now in the headquarters of the Black Order, located in the southeast of Aslan kingdom.


    The boy prince flinched at this revelation and took a renewed look at his surroundings.


    Indeed, there were quite a lot of high-class Necromancers gathered around in this place. And to serve their needs for energy, more than a thousand slaves were currently locked away behind the prison bars too.


    -To bring this plan to life, we had to sacrifice thirty noble Necromancers.


    Nasus¡¯s hand holding the staff began trembling.


    -Not just to destroy Humite, but to kill Oscal Baldur after dragging him here. That was our plan! Yet you dared to interfere?!


    The Lich roared on in rage and raised its staff up.


    -Years of preparation was ruined. All because of the likes of you¡­!


    The glowing eyeballs of the Lich reddened even further.


    -Now that things have gotten this far, I shall personally rip you apart and dissect you. Allen Olfolse! Your powers, all of it, will be mine!


    Even while listening to Nasus¡¯s angry declaration, Allen was still taking a gander at his new surroundings.


    This place turned out to be some kind of a temple where not even a speck of light entered from the outside. Meanwhile, way too many Necromancers were surrounding him in a tight net.


    ¡®Man, why did it have to be only me that ended up being teleported here, even though we all got sucked in that same warp magic?!¡¯


    Out of so many people at the banquet hall, only he got summoned to this location. Just what were the odds of that happening?


    What happened to his brother, Ruppel? Since Oscal was with him, there didn¡¯t seem to be a need to be too concerned about their fate. But as this place was in Aslan, it was safe to assume that he and those two could now be stuck in the middle of enemy territory.


    To make matters worse, it seemed that the opponents here made thorough preparations to kill Oscal.


    Allen finally looked back at Nasus.


    There was that staff again. And then, countless Necromancers were present, too. Didn¡¯t the Lich say that it¡¯d dissect him and figure out the origin of his powers?


    Unfortunately, Nasus was wrong about that.


    It¡¯d be the exact opposite, actually.


    ¡°¡­Hey, by the way. Did you know?¡±


    Allen extracted Amon¡¯s skull from his item window. His new opponents had already finished their preparations to fight against the strongest swordsman in the Theocratic Empire.


    ¡°The one who will get ripped apart and dissected won¡¯t be me, but¡­¡±


    In that case, he should also unleash all of his might and fight back.


    ¡°¡­All of you standing here right now.¡±


    After the boy placed the skull on his head, he summoned the grimoire that belonged to the one and only Necromancer King Amon.


    1


    Nasus and other Necromancers all bore witness to this scene and their expressions hardened instantly. They recognised what those two items in Allen¡¯s possession were.


    1


    ¡°I¡¯m the legion.¡±


    Allen, now wearing the skull, stared at Nasus and smirked ominously.


    ¡°¡­And I am Gaia¡¯s inheritor.¡±


    < 061. Angel of Death -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 111 - 062. Angel of Death -2 (Part One)

    Oscal Baldur.


    1


    As far as mastery over swordsmanship was concerned, he was acknowledged as the strongest in the Theocratic Empire.


    And to eliminate someone as dangerous as him, one hundred and fifty highly-skilled Necromancers had been brought in and well over a thousand slaves were prepared for their use.


    An undead army boasting at least two thousand combatants could be summoned by them in total. Additionally, with Nasus and envoy Haima working together with them, they should have stood a fairly good chance at defeating Oscal Baldur.


    Indeed, that¡¯s what they originally believed.


    Unfortunately for them, the one they should¡¯ve been really worried about was someone else entirely. Someone completely different from Oscal Baldur. Someone even more dangerous than that old man.


    -Everyone, step back!


    Nasus urgently shouted out as its voice reverberated throughout the temple¡¯s interior.


    With the altar at the centre, a massive storm of divinity angrily crashed down.


    Its power was more than enough to rock even Nasus¡¯s soul; the Necromancers who got sucked into the stormy winds were ripped apart into bloody chunks before getting purified out of existence.


    The Lich¡¯s shouts prompted Haima and the rest of the surviving Necromancers to urgently climb down from the altar. Nasus also quickly backed off before jumping off from the raised platform altogether.


    They all then looked up at the altar.


    Holy water started gushing down the steps of the tall altar like a sacred waterfall.


    The divine aura coming from the clear liquid drove away the stench of death and gradually soaked the temple¡¯s floors, letting out a pleasing aroma in the process.


    ¡°C-cover your noses!¡±


    ¡°Prepare the masks!¡±


    However, the complexions of the Necromancers paled instantly as if a powerful toxin was spreading around them. They hurriedly put on some masks and leather boots while quickly backing away from the affected areas.


    1


    From the shallow but wide puddle, an army of undead began rising up. Skeletons with white bones, zombies filled with hideous wounds, ghosts with the figures of transparent women called banshees, the headless dullahans riding on skeleton horses, bone golems, etc., etc¡­


    All of the undead were wearing armour as they carried various types of weapons.


    A colourful array of undead stood up tall, and as the eerie blue light glowed from within their eye sockets, they suddenly began chanting a holy hymn.


    ¡°What is this? What are those things?!¡±


    ¡°What¡­ what is going on here?!¡±


    The Necromancers numbering well over a hundred all fell into a pit of chaotic confusion. They hurriedly covered their ears as the ¡®Spirit Speech¡¯ reverberated throughout the surroundings.


    The hymn permeating with divinity sounded like a siren¡¯s call that heralded the incoming Armageddon to the Necromancers trapped inside the sealed-off interior of the large temple.


    Terror and fear took over their rationale.


    A bizarre existence was shooting out holy water from the tips of his feet while wearing a just-as-bizarre skull and holding a grimoire.


    It was then, yet another transformation took place on the boy with a small physique.


    ¡°Since you¡¯ve prepared yourselves thoroughly for a fight against Oscal, I should go all out today, too.¡±


    His appearance began changing.


    The summoned skeletons around him suddenly began clinging onto the boy. The undead¡¯s bodies broke down into small pieces before enveloping his figure like clay and swirling around him.


    Divinity began hardening the bones and created a clearly definable shape ¨C a white-coloured bone armour. The previously small-statured boy ¡®grew¡¯ so much larger due to the bone armour and the mountain goat¡¯s skull.


    A set of bone armour reaching well past the height of two metres now stood on the altar.


    Meanwhile, twelve arms grew out on the armour¡¯s back as if they were unfolding wings and quickly reached ridiculous lengths.


    Special envoy Haima forgot to even breathe as he witnessed this truly bizarre sight. As for his fellow Necromancers, they all hurriedly shook their heads as if they wanted to reject reality itself. While they stared at this ¡®being¡¯ standing before their eyes, all of them began recalling one same individual.


    The existence that dyed this world in death and terror. The existence that had disappeared from this world a long time ago.


    And the name of that existence was¡­


    ¡°¡­Necromancer King Amon.¡±


    The one standing before them was none other than the very Necromancer King who was wiped out of existence fifty years ago.


    He descended back to the plain of the living while permeating not with demonic energy, but divinity instead. No, wait ¨C he was manifesting back into this world. That had to be it!


    That¡¯s what all these Necromancers felt.


    However, one individual among them was thinking of different things right now. It was the Lich, Nasus.


    Its burning eyes were quaking with agitation.


    The holy water continued gushing out from the feet of the bone armour. All sorts of holy undead were figuratively jumping out from the pool of the sacred water of life.


    That boy¡­ he possessed Amon¡¯s skull as well as its grimoire. Despite the layer of bone armour surrounding him, he still gave off this unmistakable holiness from his whole frame.


    More importantly, those twelve wing-like arms spreading out from behind imparted the symbolic imagery of an ¡®archangel¡¯.


    ¡®Too dangerous. This boy, he was the most dangerous existence for us all along!¡¯


    Nasus grasped its own skull. For a brief moment there, its own belief nearly crumbled down.


    The moment the Lich laid its eyes on the boy, it almost ended up acknowledging the greatness of the goddess of life, not the god of death.


    The revelation that the goddess of life now had control over the dominion of death sent a bone-chilling shudder down the Lich¡¯s spine.


    What if a being such as that boy decided to stick around inside Aslan¡­?


    ¡®¡­Aslan will be destroyed!¡¯


    And not from external factors, but from internal issues, instead!


    Those who previously worshipped the god of death would end up changing their religion. They would start worshipping Gaia, discard all of their demonic energy, and to become Priests, turn themselves into invalids.


    The boy before Nasus¡¯s horrified eyes was an existence who dared to imitate an archangel, and at the same time, also someone who¡¯d bring about the destruction of Aslan.


    The Lich was the one who had inadvertently dragged in such a being into their land.


    -This is all your fault. Remember that.


    Although the voice was not physically made, it still clearly rang within the heads of all who heard it.


    Nasus wasn¡¯t the one who said it. No, the ¡®archangel¡¯ before the Lich engraved it into their minds instead.


    -If you simply returned home after enjoying the banquet, then this wouldn¡¯t have happened. Since you are all responsible, be prepared to deal with the consequences.


    The boy was enraged.


    He who wished for peace and quiet, now desired merciless death to all who dared to drag him into the battlefield.


    For the first time ever since Nasus turned into a Lich, it felt fear in its heart.


    -Stop him!


    The Necromancers all flinched in shock and stared at Nasus.


    -We need to stop him. Stop that bastard, now!


    Even envoy Haima stared at the Lich in stupor. ¡°What are you saying? That¡¯s no longer an existence that we can deal with. Take a good look, will you?!¡±


    1


    He urgently pointed at the surrounding areas of the altar. The army of the holy undead, still emerging from the holy water pool, stood silently. Their numbers were already well past a few thousand.


    Logically speaking, their opponent was a creature they couldn¡¯t even compare against.


    ¡°Those two are ancient relics. Just one of those relics alone is capable of turning a regular Necromancer into a bona fide monster, yet he has two of them¡­! Not only that, he can even use them as he pleases. We alone are simply inadequate to¡­¡±


    -We need to stop him right now, or Aslan will fall by his hands!


    This warning from Nasus was enough to shut Haima¡¯s mouth up.


    -It will be possible to kill that version of an archangel if the great generals and the greatest Necromancers of Aslan gather in one place. However¡­!


    However, that boy wouldn¡¯t just sit still and wait for such a thing to happen.


    Outwardly, he might be the archangel but underneath, he was still a young boy only sixteen years of age.


    This also meant that there was more ¡®room¡¯ for him to grow in the future as well.


    What if the boy concealed his identity and grew up into an even greater monster?


    In less than five years¡¯ time, no, make that around three years, that boy would surpass the level attained by Necromancer King Amon.


    A being that would deliver an unstoppable calamity to Aslan¡¯s very own existence would be born in the Theocratic Empire.


    A being who was even more dangerous and possibly an even greater threat than the current Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse.


    A being that had all the potential to create another, the ¡®third¡¯ religion which believed in a different faith.


    Such a being was standing right before their eyes.


    Envoy Haima spoke in a fearful tone of voice. ¡°It¡¯s impossible with only us alone. I¡¯m already inflicted with a grievous wound. Even if we combine our strength together¡­¡±


    -The story will change if we sacrifice our lives.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    -For the glory of Aslan, we shall offer up even our souls. Gather as much demonic energy by spending the lives of the thousands of slaves as collateral. All we need to do is break through that legion and get close enough to the archangel. Our opponent is but a mere Priest. Fighting in close quarters should be almost impossible for him.


    Nasus¡¯s burning eyes shifted and locked on envoy Haima.


    -I shall break through that legion and open up a path.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    -Prove your loyalty to Aslan, oh Special Envoy Haima! Our king, his majesty Rahamma, shall hear of your noble exploits and bestow eternal glory upon your family for generations to come!

 Chapter 112 - Angel of Death -2 (Part Two)

    Haima swallowed back his dry saliva after hearing that declaration.


    He had experienced many predicaments on his way to reach this point in his life. But even then, he had not come across a calamity this dangerous before.


    However¡­ what if he could somehow defeat the archangel before their eyes? He¡¯d be forever recorded in the annals of Aslan¡¯s history as a great hero. His descendants would be praised as the children of a hero as well.


    Haima turned his head and stared at the archangel up on the altar, and then he shifted his gaze at the army of Necromancers in a cordon around the tall platform.


    This combat force was put together to deal with a monster like Oscal Baldur. Meaning, there was a possibility that they could also stop the archangel today.


    Haima, who went through a brief moment of internal conflict, eventually opened his mouth. ¡°For the sake of Aslan.¡±


    -For the sake of our glorious Aslan!


    One Lich and one human took a deep breath.


    ¡°Everyone, get ready for battle!¡±


    -Summon an undead legion of our own! We shall confront that bastard¡¯s army!


    The two of them shouted out.


    -If this goes on, we will all die. Before that happens, attack him first!


    Only then did the Necromancers regain their wits.


    This place was the home base of the Black Order.


    They had heard some reports regarding the ¡®angel¡¯. No one knew what happened to all the Necromancers who got abducted by him. But since the Order¡¯s survivors within Humite were shivering away in pure terror, there must¡¯ve been a good reason for that.


    The Necromancers began gathering demonic energy. They summoned every creature they could call out. A dozen of them even worked together to summon a single death knight.


    An undead army numbering in the thousands, which was originally meant to fight against the ¡®sword king¡¯ Oscal Baldur, now stood before the holy undeads in a tight cordon.


    On one side, an army of undead permeating with divinity, while on the other, an army of undead permeating with demonic energy.


    The two opposing camps were now fully prepared.


    The previously-wide interior of the temple was filled up to the brim with these two armies of undead.


    Nasus too summoned up all of its demonic energy.


    -I shall mobilise all of my demonic energy to seal the archangel in this place.


    They were unable to kill him. In that case, they should seal him in here for the time being.


    As long as a single survivor could make it out of here alive, that individual would be able to report back to Aslan¡¯s leadership. Once that happens, the kingdom would immediately start preparing the means to kill the archangel.


    This is what Haima and Nasus firmly believed in their hearts.


    ¡°All of you¡­ Advance!¡±


    Along with Haima¡¯s loud roar, the Necromancers swung their staves.


    The undead army heeded their call and began marching forward. Skeletons, zombies, and dullanhans screeched and howled out.


    ¡°Scatter the poison around!¡±


    ¡°Neutralise all that holy water, now!¡±


    Numerous Necromancers pulled out jars of poison and hurriedly poured the contents on the floor.


    The temple¡¯s floor stained by holy water had been temporarily neutralised, and the undead army marched over the now-safe ground.


    -Ku-oooooh!


    They roared out, the crimson glares in their eyes getting brighter as their shabby weapons were raised in the air.


    The archangel on top of the altar stared at this spectacle. One could just about see that his eyes hidden behind the mountain goat¡¯s skull were smiling away.


    He lightly flicked his finger. When he did, the holy undead all moved simultaneously as if they shared the same emotions and senses with their master.


    The ones at the front raised towering shields to create walls, and those behind them pointed their sharp spears.


    Right behind their ranks, the banshees began pulling at the bowstrings permeating with divinity from their assigned spots.


    Arrows filled with divine energy were fired. They easily pierced through the undead army, while the wall of shields prevented the tottering undead from intruding any further.


    ¡°Back line, provide support fire, now!¡±


    The Necromancers at the back of the army gathered their demonic energy in the next moment. Magic spells of fire and ice were brought to life mid-air.


    The baptism of magic attacks flew into the opposing camp of the holy undead. However, skeleton mages wielding divinity also used magic of their own to block and deflect the Necromancers¡¯ attacks.


    2


    Explosions rang out loudly in the air and the shockwaves continuously rang out.


    ¡°What is the meaning of¡­!¡±


    This was a massive-scale conflict involving thousands of undead in a chaotic melee. The battle consisted of an army of holy undead summoned by a single ¡®archangel¡¯, against the army of undead with demonic energy summoned by one hundred fifty Necromancers led by a Lich, plus over one thousand slaves who supplied them with demonic energy.


    In terms of the army¡¯s scale, the Black Order should have the upper hand here, and yet, the holy undeads displayed not even a hint of being forced back.


    No, it was the exact opposite ¨C they were in an overwhelmingly superior position. The undead operating on demonic energy couldn¡¯t even advance an inch.


    -All of you, step aside!


    It was then, Nasus finally stepped forward.


    As its loose-fitting robe flapped in the winds, the Lich began gathering another round of demonic energy.


    ¡®I shall suck in the life force of the slaves!¡¯


    Magical patterns had been drawn up on the slaves imprisoned within the temple. These were the magical fetters that connected them to the Necromancers, which were manipulated by the latter group to suck the life force out from the former and bring their magic spells to life.


    When Nasus slammed its staff down, flames viciously whipped up like a storm all around the Lich before gathering in one spot.


    A ball of flames reminiscent of a small sun was born. Once it collided against the holy undead legion, it caused a massive explosion.


    Countless bone shards flung in all directions.


    Flames burned and sizzled in the middle of the enemy formation, and finally, it created some kind of an opening.


    Envoy Haima¡¯s eyes gleamed brightly. ¡°Now!¡±


    The undead army permeating with demonic energy dashed towards the open gap. Even Haima himself yanked his sword out and joined the fray along with Nasus in tow.


    However, the holy skeleton mages chanted spells aloud, causing the shattered bone fragments to rapidly gather and regenerate back into skeletons.


    Was that all? No, even more undead crawled out from the pool of holy water, their numbers matching those that got destroyed in the earlier attack.


    ¡®He is a terrifying existence.¡¯


    Nasus thought to itself in fear. Was the human boy¡¯s divinity reserve infinite?! Just as the Lich suspected from the very beginning, that human was simply far too dangerous to let live.


    Special Envoy Haima and Nasus gradually dug into the enemy camp deeper and deeper. By receiving support from demonic energy-infused undead and other Necromancers, they were able to creep forward inch by inch.


    ¡®Just a little bit more¡­!¡¯


    It was then, several new existences stopped their advance.


    -After the Vampire, now it¡¯s a Lich?


    -These beings bring too much instability to the balance of this world.


    1


    Holy knights kitted out in armours of blinding light appeared. They were now blocking the duo¡¯s path.


    The muscles around Haima¡¯s eyes uncontrollably twitched, while even Nasus was letting out a heavy groan.


    -¡­Buy us some time!


    After the Lich loudly roared out, the Necromancers quickly exhausted their demonic energy reserve. Some of them even withered and died on the spot after their lifespan finally ran out.


    The death knights they managed to summon were now standing before the holy knights.


    -And these bastards are¡­?


    -They are different from us.


    Holy knights, blessed with intelligence and ego, observed the death knights with some interest. And then, they pounced on each other to engage in an intense melee.


    A sword permeating in divinity sliced apart the shield of a death knight. A spear cleanly stabbed through the torso of another death knight and dangled it in the air.


    In the end, the death knights couldn¡¯t even put a decent resistance. However, this was still more than enough to buy the necessary time.


    -Envoy Haima, we will warp forward!


    Haima grabbed Nasus¡¯s shoulder.


    Casting a warp magic without drawing rune letters first would always be accompanied by some degree of danger, but it was an emergency situation. No matter how small it was, they simply had to advance ahead while deploying every means available at their disposal.


    After their bodies split apart into particles, they successfully leapt past the holy knights and reformed on the steps of the altar once more.


    The aftermath of the short-distance warp caused both of them to unsteadily stagger. Haima felt insanely queasy as both of them felt their minds chaotically tumbling around.


    They raised their heads and locked their fatigued glares on the archangel.


    The boy was looking down at them with glowing eyes from beneath the skull. It was as if he found this whole thing rather amusing to behold. Other than holding the grimoire in one of his hands, he had not assumed any defensive postures yet.


    His eyes had this seemingly dismissive glint aimed towards them.


    Those eyes were the final straw that broke the back of Haima¡¯s rationale, which was already teetering precariously from the weight of fear.


    ¡°I shall immediately strike that bastard down! Right now, when he¡¯s using magic, it should be our best opportunity!¡±


    He yanked out his sword again. After reinforcing his body by injecting more demonic energy in his flesh, he leaped up towards the top of the altar.


    Nasus provided its support in case of an unknown danger that might appear without warning. The Lich enveloped Haima¡¯s body with protective barriers of demonic energy, and even summoned a death knight right next to him so that the two of them could attack the archangel together.


    And in that moment, the archangel finally made his move.


    No, more correctly, the twelve arms sprouting out from his back like wings were moving, instead. Those hands extracted some items from the empty air and pointed them at the incoming targets.


    They were twelve musket rifles.


    ¡°¡­What?¡±


    [Divine Aura has been used.]


    [All equipment will temporarily be improved.]


    Divinity swirled violently within the muzzles of the muskets.


    The Divine Aura, Amon¡¯s skull, and the grimoire¡­ Divinity amplified by these two relics plus the mythical ability¡¯s effects no longer made it necessary to offer a prayer or even breathe into the loading chambers.


    To load projectiles and discharge them, he only needed three seconds.


    All of the muskets were aiming at the unprepared Haima.


    The special envoy stared at this sight and muttered out his last words.


    ¡°¡­F*ck me.¡±


    7


    The triggers of all twelve muskets were pulled right at that moment.


    < 062. Angel of Death -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 113 - Angel of Death -3 (Part One)

    The holy bullets penetrated right through the death knights. At the same time, the protective barrier made out of demonic energy wrapped around envoy Haima failed to withstand the barrage and shattered to bits as well.


    His whole body was instantly turned into Swiss cheese, and the bullets going through him collided with the ground behind, kicking up a thick dust cloud in the process.


    Nasus the Lich hurriedly waved its staff around to blow away the dust blocking its view. In the meantime, Haima, now resembling a shredded rag, fell face-first on the ground and stopped moving altogether.


    -As expected, you¡¯re a bastard who is a symbol of fear for all Necromancers!


    Nasus forced its eyes away from the dead envoy and raised its head up.


    The ¡®archangel¡¯ was pointing with his twelve muskets again, having already finished preparing for the next wave of attacks.


    -A seemingly infinite divinity reserve and the ability to even command death itself¡­


    There was also this strange and unique power capable of even shaking up the values of a deeply-devout Necromancer too!


    All of these were truly amazing powers.


    However, they were nothing more than some simple deception at the end of the day. Even this calamitous legion of holy undead would be nothing more than a simple trial the great kingdom of Aslan had to go through.


    As long as the kingdom managed to defeat this angel-like existence, Aslan too would earn the unshakeable unity among its people, just like how the Theocratic Empire did so back when they killed Amon. This event would serve as a springboard for the kingdom to develop even further in the future.


    Nasus looked up at the archangel and raised its voice.


    -You have the potential to become a monster that shakes the very foundations of both the Theocratic Empire and the kingdom of Aslan. However, you¡¯re fated to be buried alive here before that happens.


    The Lich still had one more ability, an ace up its sleeve that could possibly stop the archangel right here, right now.


    Before the boy had a chance to mature even further, he must be stopped dead in this place. He must never be left alone until he becomes a monster so strong that no one would be able to do anything about.


    -I shall offer up my own soul as the sacrifice.


    Seemingly all demonic energy in the surroundings began rushing to gather into Nasus¡¯s staff. Lifeforce from over one thousand slaves was rapidly sucked in towards the Lich.


    The imprisoned slaves started screaming as they began dying one by one.


    Nasus¡¯s chest puffed up as if it was sucking in a deep breath.


    -I shall seal you in here and let his majesty, the king of Aslan, Rahamma, finish you off personally! That is why, oh archangel¡­!


    The glowing eyeballs within Nasus¡¯s skull burned even fiercer.


    -Be sealed in this place and slumber away until your death!


    With these words, the Lich slammed down with its staff.


    The demonic energy quickly coalesced and entered Nasus. Its skeletal body began floating up in the air and a pitch-black shadow suddenly wound tightly around the undead.


    The staff in its hand transformed into a lengthy shaft made out of bones, and a sharp curved blade of a scythe emerged on one end. The cape made out of demonic energy now fully enveloped Nasus as its crimson eyes burned fiercely.


    Now wielding an incredible amount of demonic energy, Nasus roared out loudly enough to rock the interior of the huge temple.


    -What could be a more apt existence to deal with an angel than this?


    Indeed, only an existence that controlled death, something that no living creature could avoid meeting in the end, would serve as the perfect foil.


    The grim reaper.


    Nasus, now in its reaper form, held a massive scythe and pointed its blade at the archangel.


    -Angel, you shall slumber in this place. And when the time comes, prepare yourself to receive the judgement of his majesty, the great and noble Rahamma!


    The grim reaper pulled the scythe back and got ready.


    -I, Nasus, shall be in charge of your death!


    ¡­Then, the creature leapt up. In the blink of an eye, the reaper appeared right in front of the archangel.


    Nasus¡¯s eyes reddened as the scythe powerfully swung down.


    At that exact moment, the reaper¡¯s scythe clashed noisily against a sword permeating with divinity.


    One of the archangel¡¯s wings, or more correctly, the hand sprouting out from his back, was now holding a sword instead of a musket.


    Indeed, none of the arms wielded muskets anymore, they instead were now wielding various weapons that included the likes of a sword, spear, mace, and even a shovel.


    3


    A dozen weapons simultaneously flew in from almost every angle imaginable towards the reaper.


    -Fuu-woo¡­!


    Crimson-coloured breaths escaped from the reaper¡¯s mouth. It quickly swung the scythe, deflecting away all the weapons slashing down at it.


    Clack.


    Around the same time, a musket was pointed at the reaper, and the loaded projectile was fired at the target.


    For a moment there, the holy bullet seemed to be on course to strike the reaper¡¯s figure, only for a thick barrier made out of demonic energy to appear and deflect it away.


    -This is meaningless resistance, oh archangel! Quietly accept your fate!


    When the reaper extended its hand, a large rune letter suddenly manifested on the ground the archangel was standing on. Hands rose up from the black shadow and began confining his whole body.


    However, the archangel continued firing his musket.


    1


    The reaper rapidly moved its body to evade, wielded its scythe to defend and used its barrier to deflect the incoming attacks.


    As Nasus continued dragging things on and bought more time, the hands permeating with demonic energy kept stealing away the angel¡¯s freedom of movement, eventually pulling the latter down to his knees.


    ¡®It¡¯s now!¡¯


    As expected, the boy was still too immature.


    If it was now, then Nasus might be able to kill him! Even if that proved to be too much, it¡¯d still be able to seal him away or at least inflict a grievous wound on the boy.


    All so that Aslan could kill him at a later date!


    The reaper rushed in towards the archangel.


    It spat out crimson breaths as it raised up the large scythe above its head.


    -I shall return to hell with you, angel! Let us tour the underworld, toge¡­!


    It was right then, steel chains suddenly wrapped tightly around the reaper¡¯s body.


    -¡­?!


    Nasus quickly looked behind. The holy knights that had finished dealing with all the death knights were standing there, the eerie glow in their eye sockets firmly locked on the reaper.


    They used divinity-infused chains to confine Nasus on the spot.


    Then, ghostly banshees took aim with their bows from seemingly every direction eyes could see.


    Hundreds of arrows clattered against the thick barrier made out of demonic energy before finally shattering it to bits, then proceeded to stab into the reaper¡¯s body.


    -Ku-oooooooh!


    Nasus the reaper screamed out as its eyes urgently searched around the area.


    The Necromancers that had been fighting alongside it were now laying on the floor as rapidly-cooling corpses. Some had managed to survive, but rather shamefully, they had forsaken their own beliefs and were trying to flee from here.


    -You truly short-sighted ones!


    Just a little bit more, just a little further, and they might have had a chance to win¡­!


    If they found just a little more courage and fought for the glory of Aslan, then their bravery would¡¯ve been recorded in the history books, but now¡­!


    -You can go to hell by yourself, you bastard.


    The reaper turned its head towards the voice.


    In that brief moment of distraction, twelve muskets had been summoned, locked and loaded, and were taking aim at Nasus. Divinity was angrily swirling within their muzzles.


    This was dangerous. The reaper¡¯s demonic energy barrier had been shattered earlier, so if Nasus got struck by those projectiles head-on¡­!


    -N-no, wait!


    The reaper struggled mightily. It tried to retreat. It viciously swung its scythe around to cut down on the chains, but more of them showed up instead and wrapped tightly around the undead¡¯s body, continuously restricting its movement.


    It was then ¨C all twelve triggers were pulled, and the bombardment of holy bullets rained down on the reaper.


    A series of powerful explosions rocked the air.


    While screaming out a bizarre-sounding cry, the reaper crashed back to the ground.


    The moment it touched the ground, hundreds, nay thousands of holy undead pounced on the creature. They began biting and hacking away with their weapons.


    Hundreds of holy undead formed a writhing, pulsating hill. The reaper, now buried at the bottom of this hill, continued to ungainly flail away.


    -Uwaaaaaahk! You bastards!


    It couldn¡¯t escape from here no matter what it did. The more it cut down and destroyed, the more holy undead would show up to replace the ones already destroyed.


    The reaper turned its head.


    The archangel had finally shaken off the hands of demonic energy and began advancing forward again. As he approached the hill with the reaper trapped in it, the hordes of holy undead bowed down and created steps for the angel to walk on.


    The archangel continued advancing by stepping onto the backs of his undead and reached where the reaper was.


    ¡®No, this can¡¯t be. It can¡¯t be-!¡¯


    Nasus the reaper kept flailing away. It knew it had to get out of here. It knew it mustn¡¯t get captured by this boy.


    It needed to escape from this place and report this event to Aslan¡¯s leadership, to the great and noble Rahamma!


    Failing to do so would result in the noble Aslan¡¯s¡­ in the entire kingdom¡¯s downfall¡­!


    -You¡¯re definitely going to hell, moron.


    The reaper flinched and turned its bony head.


    The archangel was staring back at the undead, the glow in his eyes seemingly getting brighter.


    One of the twelve ¡®wings¡¯ delivered the weapon it wielded to the archangel¡¯s hand. It was a shovel. A simple shovel with a dull-looking edge and a flimsy-looking handle.


    But then, the skeletons rushed at it and transformed the weapon into something else.


    It turned into a sharp spike that eventually began resembling more like a spear. The lengthy, pointed tip on the weapon¡¯s end seemed sharper and deadlier than any sword out there.


    And so, a ¡®stake¡¯ fashioned out of bones manifested itself to the world, implanting an incredible sense of terror in the heart of Nasus the reaper.


    -Fuu-woo¡­


    Divinity-infused breaths leaked out from below the mountain goat¡¯s skull. The archangel readied the stake before addressing the undead.


    -Become a part of me, mister reaper.


    Then, he thrust the stake forward.

 Chapter 114 - Angel of Death -3 (Part Two)

    **


    ¡°Evacuate the citizens, now!¡±


    Harman loudly roared out.


    The knights from the Paladin Corps and Humite¡¯s security forces continued to cut down the undead creatures running loose in the city. But even then, their numbers didn¡¯t show any signs of decreasing at all.


    Right around that time, a huge beast pounced in Harman¡¯s direction. It was the monster with a lion¡¯s torso and a lamb¡¯s head, the chimera.


    It raised its sharp claws and took a swipe at him. Harman urgently raised his divinity-infused sword and defended against the attack.


    ¡°What monstrous strength¡­!¡±


    Although he staggered back from the impact, he still didn¡¯t forget to swing his sword. The chimera leapt back as if it got smacked away.


    Harman glanced in another direction.


    Necromancers were chanting their magic spells while hiding inside a building.


    The members of the Paladin Corps were trying their best to stop the Necromancers, but the amount of the summoned undead exceeded their expectations and the knights of the empire couldn¡¯t even approach the building in question.


    The scale of this dastardly scheme was far greater than he thought. Harman already knew that the Black Order boasted a considerable scale, but to think that a force of this size was hiding within the city¡­!


    ¡°¡­I shall deal with it.¡±


    Harman flinched in surprise and shifted his gaze.


    He spotted Charlotte kitted out in a silver-white armour that flowed and danced like an elegant long dress.


    The gentle, soothing light seemed to ooze out from not just her brilliant armour, but even from her smooth, lengthy divine sword.


    Her current figure as a holy knight reminded Harman of a brave warrior from ancient fairy tales.


    She sucked in a deep breath and then lowered her posture while cocking her sword back.


    ¡°C-Charlotte?! It¡¯ll be too difficult for you alo¡­¡±


    Before he could finish his sentence, though, Charlotte kicked the ground and dashed forward.


    In the blink of an eye, she arrived before the chimera. And while rotating her whole body in 360 degrees, she slashed with her sword.


    As the flash of light rapidly approached the monster, the chimera¡¯s eyes widened. It screeched out in pain as its large frame was sliced apart left and right. Blood gushed out like a fountain while its ashes began scattering away from the fatal wounds. Soon, the chimera burned away out of existence.


    Just one strike. That was all she needed


    Charlotte took another deep breath.


    The soldiers and Harman bearing witness to this scene all gasped out in admiration.


    Harman muttered out. ¡°¡­I did hear she was getting stronger, but this¡­¡±


    He had no idea that she was this strong now.


    While he was standing there stewing in his amazement¡­


    ¡°Sir, I bring urgent news!¡±


    Harman quickly turned his head and looked at the approaching guard captain.


    ¡°Sir, a Lich leading a group of Necromancers attacked the residence of his highness, the Third Imperial Prince Ruppel Olfolse!¡±


    The very first person to react to the news was Charlotte. She flinched in surprise and paid closer attention to what the guard captain was saying.


    Strength began gathering in her leg muscles as if she was getting ready to dash in that specific direction right away, but then¡­


    ¡°¡­Everyone inside the residence has gone missing, sir.¡±


    ¡­Those words managed to drain all strength from her body.


    After she managed to stop herself from plopping down on the ground, she asked the captain while swallowing back her dry saliva. ¡°W-what happened to his highness? Do you know?¡±


    ¡°W-we still don¡¯t know anything yet, ma¡¯am. The palace magicians are trying to figure out the end coordinate even as we speak, but the magic involved in whisking them away was too high tier and it¡¯s proving quite difficult to analyse it. If those bastards have been making preparations for a long time, then there¡¯s a possibility that his highness may already be a captive at this stage¡­¡±


    ¡°How could this be¡­!¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s lips clamped shut. Her eyes trembled in shock and she seemed to be deeply shaken right now.


    However, even as Charlotte reacted like this, the guard captain didn¡¯t stop his bad news there. ¡°Also, Aslan¡¯s forces numbering over one hundred thousand have reached the border region as well!¡±


    This time it was Harman¡¯s turn to respond. ¡°What did you say?!¡±


    In the end, the one event they were all worried about happened for real.


    So¡­ this was the true end goal for the Chaos plan?!


    Those bastards from Aslan really did want to invade the Theocratic Empire, after all. Judging from how they targetted the Imperial Princes, the enemy also probably wanted to use them as hostages and bargaining chips in the negotiation that would surely take place after a period of conflict and the ensuing ceasefire. A negotiation where those bastards would brazenly demand a portion of the empire¡¯s territory to be surrendered.


    Harman gnashed his teeth.


    The safety of the two Imperial Princes should take precedence above all else, but he had no way of knowing where they were at the moment. This meant that, for now, stopping Aslan¡¯s invasion took top priority instead.


    ¡°As soon as we sort out the situation in this area, we shall depart to protect the bord¡­¡±


    ¡°A-and finally¡­¡± The guard captain suddenly cut Harman off. While buckets of cold sweat rolled down his face, he finished the rest of his sentence. ¡°¡­The border gate has been opened.¡±


    Harman flinched greatly and stared agog at the guard captain.


    Could it be that the border had been broken through already?!


    The mighty border wall of the Theocratic Empire was overcome so soon¡­?!


    But¡­ how?


    The greatest combat forces of the empire had been amassed in that region. The Orders of the Crimson Cross and Verdant Cross, the dwarven legion, the Heavenly Army, over ten thousand elite soldiers, private forces employed by major nobles, and even the convict soldiers were stationed there.


    Harman just couldn¡¯t understand how such a place got overrun in a matter of less than a couple of hours.


    ¡°S-sir. It¡¯s not that the enemy broke through, but the gate opened by itself from our side.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that there was a spy?!¡±


    ¡°N-no. The thing is¡­ he¡­ he himself has opened the gate, sir.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying, man?¡±


    The guard captain wiped the cold sweat off his brows and responded, ¡°His majesty personally opened the border gate, sir.¡±


    **


    Aslan¡¯s Field Marshal, Gallas, appointed as the top commander of this invasion, could only stand still and doubt his own wide-open eyes.


    An army of fifty thousand undead and one thousand members of the Necromancy Corps to support them, another seventy thousand slave soldiers and elite troops were standing in rank and file before him.


    This massive army had been marching towards the border region in order to invade the empire.


    And once they reached the massive border wall and its gate, Gallas did issue the command to keep advancing forward, but even before the great army could take another step, the wall¡¯s large gate opened up by itself.


    Could this be a trap?


    However, he had to revise his thoughts pretty quickly. Gallas¡¯s mouth clamped shut as he continued staring toward his front. More correctly, at the lone figure standing in the middle of the wide-open gate.


    ¡°¡­I came here to apprehend a traitor, and yet, he¡¯s vanished on me.¡±


    An old man spoke while walking out from the open gateway.


    ¡°The filthy bastards that dared drag the name of the Imperial Family through the mud also ran off to somewhere.¡±


    The old man held a massive golden warhammer with his right hand, while his left was busy massaging his temples, almost as if he was trying extremely hard to maintain his composure.


    ¡°My trusted knight, Oscal, has disappeared, and so did my precious grandson.¡±


    The old man¡¯s physique seemed to be frail and skinny. He might be wearing a luxurious-looking outfit, but his overall attire was simply too ill-suited for a battlefield.


    ¡°So, I ask of you. How should I go about venting my rage?¡±


    The old man abruptly raised his head.


    He was clenching his teeth as his enraged glare firmly locked on the great army before him.


    ¡°This is a mess you started, oh the fools of Aslan.¡±


    The old man, Kelt Olfolse, gritted his teeth loudly. In the next moment, he gripped the warhammer even tighter.


    ¡°This war is something you wanted to wage first.¡±


    The weapon¡¯s handle and his flesh ground against each other and issued a bizarre, unsettling noise that resounded out to everywhere.


    ¡°If it¡¯s a war that you seek, then yes, why don¡¯t we have one?! If it¡¯s total annihilation that you seek, then I shall make it happen for you!¡±


    The previously-clear skies above their heads were gradually being covered up by the gloomy storm clouds.


    ¡°If you wish to be wiped off from the continent¡¯s map, then I shall make it come true for you!¡±


    Suddenly, loud thunderclaps reverberated throughout the heavens.


    ¡°Oh, Aslan. Oh, your foolish king Rahamma¡­¡±


    Kelt Olfolse loudly gritted his teeth once more and continued glaring straight at Aslan¡¯s Field Marshal, Gallas, in the distance.


    ¡°¡­You brought this event of death and destruction upon yourselves.¡±


    < 063. Angel of Death -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 115 - Angel of Death -4 (Part One)

    The great hero responsible for killing Necromancer King Amon, Kelt Olfolse, had personally entered the battlefield.


    Step by step, he walked on the dry and barren landscape, slowly approaching the huge army of Aslan.


    This sight pushed Aslan¡¯s Field Marshal Gallas even further into the pit of confusion.


    Their opponent was the ruler of the Theocratic Empire. The Holy Emperor himself.


    However, someone like that was on the forefront? Not only that, all by himself too?!


    On top of that, look at his attire, look at his posture. That was not how one should look when one was about to enter a battle.


    His only weapon was a massive golden warhammer.


    Was he taking the great army of Aslan lightly? Or maybe he had finally gone senile? If neither of those were true, then maybe he felt confident of facing the army of a hundred thousand combatants all by himself?


    No, hang on ¨C none of that mattered right now.


    Indeed, this was a wonderful chance.


    This event was basically the same as the god of death gifting Gallas with an opportunity to achieve a truly meritorious deed.


    ¡®That¡¯s right, if I manage to kill that old man¡­!¡¯


    His majesty, King Rahamma, would definitely acknowledge Gallas¡¯s great achievement!


    Killing the Holy Emperor was the same as taking half of the Theocratic Empire in one fell swoop. An opportunity of this magnitude would not present itself the second time.


    Even if that old man was the great hero, no one could do anything about the decay of human lifespan.


    There would only be one chance to¡­ kill the frail Holy Emperor.


    Gallas yanked out his sword and pointed it towards Kelt Olfolse, who was still walking closer to his army in the distance. ¡°Kill that fool! I shall handsomely reward anyone who manages to kill that man. I shall bestow freedom to the slave, peerage to the soldier, or one hundred slaves and a territory to the Necromancer!¡±


    3


    Gallan¡¯s roar loudly resounded out.


    His adjutant next to him raised a red flag as soon as the Field Marshal bellowed out.


    Drum beats began booming out from Aslan¡¯s formation.


    The undead howled and screeched out as the slaves raucously cheered on.


    Their eyes could see it. They could see a lone defenceless old man within the desert winds walking towards them.


    1


    Killing someone like that should be incredibly easy!


    ¡°Go! Go and take the head of that old man!¡±


    Vu-wuuuuuuu-!


    The sounds of battle horns blared out. They served as the signal for the undead and slaves to rush forward.


    The marching creatures unsheathed all sorts of weapons.


    The land rocked and quaked under their feet.


    Crazed lights shot out from the eyes of the undead filled with hatred towards the living, and the slaves who lost themselves to the allure of potential rewards.


    ¡°I¡­ I will kill him first!¡±


    One of the slaves was running forward with all his might. While gripping a mace, he leapt up as spittle drooled down from the corner of his mouth.


    The mace seemed comically large for his skinny frame, but his vigour suggested that he might instantly shatter the head of the defenceless old man.


    Unfortunately¡­


    Kelt Olfolse raised his hand. Then, lightly waved it.


    For the briefest moment imaginable, there was a flash of light and an arc of electricity.


    The mace-wielding slave¡¯s head at the front of the pack simply ¡®vanished¡¯. Not even ashes remained where his head used to be. The headless body simply flopped and fell to the ground.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    The slaves rushing in flinched and immediately stopped running altogether. But by then, they had already arrived in Kelt Olfolse¡¯s range.


    He raised his head and glared at the slaves.


    ¡°If you¡¯re guilty of something, then that would be¡­¡± He raised the warhammer in his right hand high up in the air. ¡°¡­Foolishly standing in my path.¡±


    2


    The warhammer slammed down.


    ¡­And the ground below exploded.


    With him at the centre, blinding light flashed. The barren land was dyed pitch-black in an instant while the arcs of lightning currents danced and flowed within the scorched earth.


    1


    A huge lightning bolt rose up from the ground and headed to the heavens above.


    But, was that all?!


    The rising lightning bolt coalesced and transformed into a humongous wall of electrical currents.


    ¡°Wha¡­ what is¡­?!¡±


    The slaves faltered and stumbled back at the sight.


    The massive wall of lightning was slowly tipping over towards them. And then, it slammed down on the ground, spreading out to all corners of the land.


    This was a wave ¨C a wave of lightning that spread out in every direction!


    1


    ¡°What the hell?! What¡­!¡±


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡±


    The slaves hurriedly turned around and ran in the opposite direction. However, the massive wave of lightning instantly swallowed them up, completely incinerating all of its victims without leaving behind even a handful of ashes.


    Gallas, standing several hundreds of metres away, began faltering at the incredible sight. Right at that moment, sparks arced all around Kelt Olfolse¡¯s body, and along with a sudden flash of light, the Holy Emperor vanished from the spot.


    The ground exploded once more.


    A halo of light rapidly accelerated forward and burned everything in its surroundings to death.


    Eventually¡­


    Gallas was starting to doubt his own eyes.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡±


    It was because¡­ Kelt Olfolse was literally standing right before Aslan¡¯s Field Marshal.


    The Holy Emperor was exhaling deeply while staring at Gallas with a pair of narrowed eyes.


    The thunderclap belatedly reverberated throughout the world afterwards.


    Gallas swallowed back his dry saliva and tightly grasped the hilt of his sword. It was then, his eyes suddenly caught another flash of light. He reflexively swung his weapon.


    What he defended against was a lightning bolt. The scorching pain of his hand burning away was accompanied by a loud explosion which flung his body far away.


    ¡°U¡­ uwaaaaahk?!¡±


    Gallas screamed and grasped his right hand. Electric currents were still overflowing on his arm. The surrounding Necromancers that witnessed this sight hurriedly gathered around him to pour a healing potion on his wound.


    ¡°That¡­ that bastard! Kill him! Do not underestimate him! He.. he¡¯s a monster!¡±


    Kelt Olfolse was now standing in the centre of the enemy formation even before the others could realise what just happened. The soldiers surrounding the Holy Emperor sucked in cold breaths.


    All because they bore witness to the earlier scene.


    ¡­The scene of all those slaves instantly getting ¡®vaporised¡¯ by a human who flickered like a lightning bolt.


    ¡°All of you, stop him!¡±


    ¡°Slaves! Buy us time!¡±


    The one thousand members of the Necromancy Corps quickly cancelled the summoning of fifty thousand undead in order to conserve their demonic energy reserve. Instead, they gathered in smaller groups and began kneading and moulding demonic energy to summon much higher-tier undead.


    Death knights with demonic energy armour enveloping them started crawling out from the ground, their eyes shooting out eerie crimson glow.


    In the meantime, the slaves meant to buy time were desperately screaming.


    All those trying to approach and attack Kelt Olfolse were instantly incinerated out of existence by the lightning of divinity after they got a little too close to him.


    The summoned death knights rapidly closed in on the Holy Emperor. They dashed forward as their black-coloured armour glistened dully, their crimson-coloured breaths unique to the undead leaking out from under the helm.


    The Necromancers who summoned them were not some ordinary dark magicians. No, they were the true elites among the cream of Aslan.


    Their organisation, the Necromancy Corps, was often called the undying legion. Its members were true experts of their craft unlike the Black Order, which was mostly filled with weaklings and inexperienced hatchlings.


    As such, the quality of the undead they summoned were on another realm compared to the others. The death knights they summoned by pooling their strength together would easily shoot past what was accepted as the norm.


    These death knights reached where Kelt Olfolse was, and while withstanding all the lightning bolts crackling around him, began wielding their various weapons. The undead creatures surrounded him from all sides before swinging, stabbing, and thrusting their swords, spears, and maces.


    However, Kelt¡¯s eyes had already analysed every single weapon flying in towards him from all angles in an instant.


    He easily dodged the swords and spears, and even slapped away the mace. His body flashed; he grabbed the head of a death knight and viciously slammed it down on the ground.


    He stepped on the stable ground before taking a mighty swing with his warhammer. Yet another death knight was smashed far away.


    He even snatched a weapon away from a death knight and stabbed it into its solar plexus. After lightly spinning around, he kicked the weapon serving as a stake right through the undead.


    ¡°How annoying!¡±


    Kelt compressed divinity on his left hand and then fired it at the skies above.


    More lightning flashes crackled within the thick storm clouds overhead, and eventually, a deluge of lightning bolts crashed down towards the ground.


    They descended without any pattern or mercy whatsoever on Aslan¡¯s military formation, and within this chain of deadly explosions, dozens upon dozens of slaves were floating up from the ensuing shockwaves.


    As for the death knights, most of them were struck by the lightning and got destroyed instantly, only some managing to barely escape from this ordeal.


    ¡°Withdraw the death knights, now!¡±


    Kelt¡¯s gaze shifted in the direction of that call.


    Necromancers standing in almost every direction he could see were chanting away to materialise massive fireballs and blocks of ice. However, before those things could pounce on Kelt Olfolse, he lifted up his huge warhammer.


    He cocked his torso back and powerfully swung the hammer in his hand.


    A blinding flash of lightning exploded from the weapon.


    The divinity lightning cleanly penetrated through all those magical projectiles permeating with demonic energy that were closing in on him from everywhere, and headed towards the camps of the Necromancers.


    ¡°Heot!¡±


    ¡°Block it!¡±


    The Necromancers hurriedly spread out a protective barrier of demonic energy. However, the barrier consisting of several layers was easily pierced through, and the lightning exploded within the midst of the Necromancers.


    1


    The unlucky ones died without leaving behind a trace of their corpses, and as for those who somehow survived, they were screaming desperately while holding onto their vaporised body parts.


    1


    Gallas, who was witnessing all of these things happen right before his eyes, sucked in a cold breath.


    Hundreds¡­ nay, thousands of elite fighters were being instantly wiped out right in front of him.


    ¡°¡­How can anyone say that that old man is at his death¡¯s doorstep?!¡±


    Aslan¡¯s Field Marshal could only swallow back another round of his dry saliva. He alternated his gaze between the sky above and the ground below.


    The land Kelt Olfolse walked past was littered with craters and scorched black as electrical currents continued crackling menacingly.


    As for the sky, the dense storm clouds were still up there issuing a cacophony of terrifying thunderclaps.


    Within this maelstrom, Kelt was freely commanding the lightning to hunt down the death knights. He was transforming mother nature itself and bending it to his will.


    The Holy Emperor was over one hundred years old this year, yet how could anyone consider him to be a dying, frail old man?!


    1


    Gallas took a look at his right hand. It had finally recovered to some extent. Luckily, he had been constantly cladding himself in demonic energy to reinforce his flesh since he was about to fight a war.


    What would¡¯ve happened if he failed to withstand Kelt Olfolse¡¯s lightning? Never mind just the hand, his whole body would¡¯ve vaporised out of existence instead.


    He grasped his sword¡¯s hilt.


    ¡®Should we retreat?¡¯


    No, not yet.


    If he retreated too quickly from here, then he¡¯d have to shoulder all of the blame.


    The death knights were still tying up Kelt Olfolse over there.


    Gallas simply had to seize this opportunity.


    ¡°Necromancy Corps, cover me! I, Gallas Iram, one of the twelve honourable feudal lords of Aslan, shall personally take the head of the Holy Emperor!¡±


    Numerous Necromancers quickly stood behind Gallas. Their demonic energy was delivered to him.


    His body was reinforced once more, while his sword thickly permeated with demonic energy. All of his senses were focused on the blade.


    ¡®With this one strike¡­!¡¯


    Gallas would take Kelt Olfolse¡¯s head with this attack and end this war with a resounding victory!


    2


    He sucked in a deep breath before quickly dashing towards the Holy Emperor, who was still occupied by the platoon of death knights.


    Gallas ran like a squall and dug into the battlefield. In the blink of an eye, he reached the opening left by Kelt Olfolse.


    The tip of his blade thrust out towards the Holy Emperor¡¯s unguarded back.


    ¡®This is the end, Kelt Olfolse-!¡¯


    1


    It was right then; Kelt turned his head and his cold gaze met with Gallas¡¯s eyes.


    1

 Chapter 116 - 064. Angel of Death -4 (Part Two)

    The surrounding air expanded.


    The ground both Kelt and Gallas stood on broke apart as the two men collided. A powerful blast exploded right behind the Holy Emperor and blew away all the death knights standing there.


    Gallas grinned deeply.


    He felt it. He felt the sensation of the blade digging into flesh!


    Either the old man died instantly, or even if he somehow survived the attack, the wound itself should be too fatal to easily recover from!


    With this, Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse was¡­!


    ¡°¡­What?¡±


    Kelt Olfolse stood upright within the dust cloud and stared at Gallas with an indifferent expression on his face.


    The old man, he¡­ had stopped the attack. Kelt¡¯s bare hand caught the blade.


    His hand was trembling a little as blood trickled down from his palm. Demonic energy had infected his fingertips and they turned black in colour, but that was as far as the attack went. The sword couldn¡¯t dig in any further.


    Gallas¡¯s jaw nearly dropped to the floor.


    He blocked that¡­?!


    ¡°What kind of nonsense¡­?!¡±


    How could he block a sword permeating with demonic energy? And with his bare hand too¡­?!


    While staring apathetically at the clearly-astonished Gallas, Kelt addressed him. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you want to take my head? In that case, I recommend that all of the twelve feudal lords and your king Rahamma be here. If they work together, then who knows?¡±


    Kelt¡¯s expression remained one of apathy as he raised the warhammer towards Galas¡¯s head, who was currently too stunned to either advance forward nor retreat.


    ¡°They might stand a chance at killing me, then!¡±


    The Holy Emperor tightened his grip further to obliterate the blade. And at the same time, he slammed the hammer downwards.


    The Field Marshal¡¯s head literally blew apart, and his body was vaporised in the next instant. The falling hammer collided with the ground below and yet another massive explosion went off, creating a crater at least a dozen-plus metres deep.


    More death knights were blown cleanly away from the emperor¡¯s vicinity after failing to withstand the shockwave .


    Aslan¡¯s soldiers shielded their faces from the choking, blinding dust cloud. However, they still saw what was happening.


    ¡­They saw the imposing figure of Kelt Olfolse standing upright all by himself. With only a light flesh wound on his hand, he was glaring murderously right back at them.


    The soldiers no longer maintained their combat postures, the weapons in their hands dropping towards the ground.


    ¡°W-what¡­ Just now¡­ Lord Gallas, he¡­?¡±


    ¡°D-did one of the twelve feudal lords lose just now?¡±


    Kelt took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.


    He could feel his fatigue rushing in. It seemed that old age was indeed catching up to him. He only rampaged a little bit, and yet, he felt tired already. As a matter of fact, he even got injured in the process, too.


    He angrily massaged his temples before shooting a glare back at the remainder of Aslan¡¯s soldiers, rage still visible on his face.


    The hapless soldiers were frightened silly by his demeanour and their complexions paled in an instant. Even the death knights vanished as if maintaining the steady flow of demonic energy was too much of an ask at this stage.


    No one dared to attack.


    No, they were busy casting glances at each other while stumbling back ungainly, hoping for a chance to flee from this place.


    Although they hadn¡¯t screamed out aloud yet, the terror from ¡®death¡¯ still paralysed their reasoning and none of them could make any rash moves.


    Kelt realised from this sight that there was no need for him to step up anymore.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll leave the rest up to you, lads.¡±


    Kelt looked behind him. Before anyone had noticed it, the Heavenly Army was already standing by outside the border region¡¯s gigantic wall.


    One thousand Paladins riding on horseback were lined up one after the other, all of them wielding large shields and lances meant for cavalry warfare.


    ¡°We obey his majesty the Holy Emperor¡¯s command, and-!¡±


    They uniformly roared out.


    Their roar was loud enough to rock the earth and reverberate throughout the sky.


    Their cavalry lances were raised up as if to pierce the heavens above, before pointing forward.


    ¡°¡­We shall eradicate the heathens!¡±


    The Paladins¡¯ eyes hidden beneath their helms burned menacingly. They glared at the would-be invaders, and then began rushing forward towards their enemies.


    Aslan¡¯s soldiers fell further into a panicked state from this spectacle.


    Their top commander was already dead. And not only that, Kelt Olfolse hadn¡¯t suffered any grievous wounds either.


    But now, even the Heavenly Army was going to join the fray, too?


    ¡°R-retreat!¡±


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡±


    Kelt walked back towards the border wall within the dry, sandy winds. The Paladins on horseback brushed past his sides.


    The captain of the Paladins climbed down from the horse and slightly bowed at the Holy Emperor. ¡°Thank you for your hard work, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°Send a missive to Aslan¡¯s leadership and prepare to advance.¡±


    The captain¡¯s eyes widened at this sudden order.


    ¡°I shall grant Aslan¡¯s king, Rahamma, an opportunity. Unless he bows his head in defeat and hands over the Imperial Princes he abducted¡­¡± Kelt Olfolse turned his head and shot an icy-cold glare at the captain. ¡°¡­We shall continue trampling on them. If he wishes to live, then he better crawl on the floor and quickly come up with a way to ensure his survival. If he captured the princes and intends to use them as hostages, then there will not be even a hint of negotiations. If I find that they were injured in any shape or form, even if the injury is negligible, I shall burn one of Aslan¡¯s cities down to the ground. That is¡­¡±


    Kelt finished the rest of his orders as veins started bulging on his face.


    ¡°¡­My, The Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse¡¯s, will. If they still wish to defy me, then I shall grant them the final audience with the god of death that they love so much.¡±


    The captain of the Paladins bowed deeply as thick sweat drops fell from his forehead.


    And so, the curtains of war between the Theocratic Empire and Aslan were raised up once more.


    **


    The Necromancers trapped inside the Black Order¡¯s headquarters were screaming their heads off.


    ¡°We need to run¡­!¡±


    They finally emerged outside the temple.


    What greeted them was a barren wasteland. There was literally nothing here except for the winds of sand.


    Numerous Necromancers hurriedly dashed outside the temple and climbed on top of the waiting camels. They started their desperate escape on top of these animals, but then, the holy skeletons riding on skeleton horses easily caught up to them.


    The horde of undead aimed their spears before skewering their victims.


    ¡°Uwaaahk!¡±


    The Necromancers stabbed by the spears were dragged on the hot, barren ground or smashed against the rock walls.


    As their screams continued to ring out, the imprisoned slaves shivered away from fear and huddled themselves.


    Terror had stained their hearts.


    But this lasted only for a little while; a sweet aroma began spreading out towards everywhere. They felt their bodies suddenly become languid and relaxed. All sorts of wounds inflicted upon their flesh began healing gradually.


    The slaves looked beyond the steel bars that still imprisoned them and at the centre of the temple. The sweet scent was coming from the puddle of holy water.


    ¡°¡­Lady Tina, Lady Tina!¡±


    The former Necromancer and noble, Damon, stared at this spectacle with a shocked face.


    He was currently only forty years of age, yet his current appearance resembled a skinny old man in his 80s. He was now a cripple with not a drop of demonic energy found within him. Such a man was stunned beyond comprehension, and while hugging his bald head, called out to the girl behind him.


    The girl squatting on the floor with her head buried between her gathered knees slowly looked up.


    Her ears were long and pointy ¨C she was a Dark Elf.


    Her skin was tan-coloured while both her eyes and hair were scarlet, almost reddish-pink in hue. She slowly tilted her head.


    Since she was a slave, the Necromancers didn¡¯t hesitate to perform all sorts of experiments on her until her body was left in tatters.


    Her physique, tormented by all sorts of diseases, torture-like drugs, and experiments, displayed countless signs of burn marks and scars from sharp blades.


    ¡°Look, my lady! Our wounds, they¡­ they¡¯re being healed!¡±


    Damon looked down at his own hands.


    His body, also used by the other Necromancers as an experimental tool, was being gradually healed little by little. His wrinkled skin was regaining hints of vitality.


    ¡°¡­Oh, my goodness. This is a miracle! Even though I¡¯m nothing more than a dark magician who sacrificed his own lifespan for some measly power, how can my lifespan recover like this?!¡±


    A Necromancer¡¯s job required one to pay the cost of their lifespan in order to use their magic. Rather obviously, one¡¯s body would rapidly age as their vitality was sucked out of them. No one had discovered a method to permanently reverse this damage until now.


    However, this ageing process was being reversed little by little right before his very eyes. As a matter of fact, his whole body was reverting back to the days of his youth before he began accepting demonic energy.


    The girl named Tina could also feel it. This strange, unexplainable aura was healing her diseased and sick body.


    ¡°That¡­ that¡¯s the angel-nim! An angel that punishes evil has descended right over there, my lady!¡±


    Tina stood up from the spot and then approached the steel bars.


    Both her and Damon stared outside their prison and fixed their gazes at the figure of the ¡®angel¡¯, currently sitting on the edge of the altar with his head lowered, almost as if he had passed out.


    ¡°Ah, aaaah¡­ Oh my goodness. That person delivered salvation to us. He has come to rescue you, Lady Tina¡­!¡± Damon got down on his knees. ¡°The others have tried to ostracise you, but the heavens have indeed chosen you, oh Lady Tina!¡±


    The angel used divinity to heal people. However, he wielded Necromancy to rule over the evil spirits as well.


    This contradictory power had completely entranced Damon.


    ¡°Now behold, my lady! Where can anyone find a miracle more miraculous than this?! Gaia with the miracle of life, and Yudai with the miracle of death ¨C the archangel possessing both of those powers is right before our eyes! He has manifested right before us!¡± Damon raised up both of his hands high and offered his heartfelt exaltation. ¡°That noble being is the perfect combination birthed by the two gods. The son of the gods! The advent of the archangel!¡±


    Damon continued babbling nonstop like a crazed religious fanatic.


    What he said caused Tina to swallow back her dry saliva.


    ¡°We¡­ we witnessed the advent of the angel birthed by the gods, my lady!¡±


    Because his voice loudly resounded out to the rest of the temple¡¯s interior, the other imprisoned slaves turned their flustered and shocked faces back to the altar.


    It was then, the bone armour of the archangel slowly dissipated away. As if to respond to that, the undead soldiers hunting down the Necromancers also disappeared from the world.


    The boy sitting on the altar was asleep. On his opposite side, they could see a grim reaper nailed to the ceiling with a stake, the demonic energy surrounding the creature gradually dissipating away.


    All of the innumerable slaves were now staring at the ¡®archangel¡¯ that killed a reaper.


    An altar soaked in a pool of holy water, and a sleeping boy on top of it letting out an entrancing light; at this mysterious yet sacred sight, the slaves began kneeling down one by one. They began offering their prayers to the boy named Allen Olfolse.


    ¡°That¡­ is Lord Angel?¡±


    Tina¡¯s trembling eyes were locked on him.


    The girl thrown away by the king of Aslan, Rahamma, was captivated by the boy¡¯s figure.


    If what Damon said was correct, then he must be an angel that came to offer her salvation.


    ¡°H-hurry, my lady, offer your prayers to him! And please, you must tell everyone, no, the rest of Aslan, that you¡¯re the king¡¯s successor!¡±


    At Damon¡¯s prompt, Tina went down on her knees, placed her hands together, and offered her heartfelt prayer.


    If what he said was true, then in order for the angel to choose her, the daughter of the king of Aslan, Rahamma, she needed to be noticed by him.


    She bowed her head lower in her kneeling position. With her hands held tightly, she earnestly prayed.


    Hundreds of still-surviving slaves all prayed together with her.


    They exalted the angel and even began shedding tears at the existence that delivered salvation to them.


    None of them had noticed it yet, but a new faith was budding deep inside their hearts.


    Nasus¡¯s assertion was indeed correct. This boy was an existence that would go on to create the third belief system.


    This was the moment that a brand new religion was born into this world, one that had never been seen before in either the Theocratic Empire nor the kingdom of Aslan.


    < 064. Angel of Death -4 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 117 - New Fate -1 (Part One)

    Tina was the thirtieth offspring of Aslan¡¯s king, Rahamma. She was also a child not birthed out of love but for the purpose of ¡®experimentation¡¯.


    -So, it¡¯s a female.


    Rahamma, who was sitting on the throne, frowned and looked down at Tina.


    Almost twenty years after the child¡¯s birth did he finally decide to lay his eyes on the girl.


    Due to the Elves¡¯ special trait, her growth was slow and her outer appearance remained as a young child. When Rahamma saw her figure, he slowly shook his head.


    He seemed to be deeply disappointed.


    -And so, what about her Necromancy?


    He wasn¡¯t even remotely interested in his daughter.


    As a female, she not only had no claim to the throne of the kingdom, but she was also a carrier of Elven blood. That alone made her a target for ostracism and even slavery.


    However, to the school of Necromancy which required the sacrifice of one¡¯s lifespan as an energy source, an Elf¡¯s lengthy life would serve as a truly wonderful weapon to have.


    She inherited the blood of Rahamma, who was blessed with the greatest, most powerful demonic energy reserve out of all the kings in history. That alone should serve as proof of her talent being top-class.


    Unfortunately¡­


    -How pathetic!


    The king¡¯s enraged voice made Tina flinch in fear.


    While standing among the ten skeletons she summoned through Necromancy, she timidly looked up at Rahamma sitting on the throne.


    The king¡¯s expression was clearly distorted. It was without a doubt, filled with rage.


    -To think that she¡¯s worse than a regular Necromancer! Is she really one of my bloodline?!


    -Y-your majesty, how could that be? Please take a look! She summoned ten undead!


    Necromancer Damon, who had been charged with raising Tina, tried to shield her.


    -A regular Necromancer can summon twelve skeletons. And yet¡­ to think that a child of mine can only produce so little?!


    -Your majesty, the blood of an Elf flows in Lady Tina¡¯s veins. As such, her growth will be slow. H-however, if she¡¯s given a little more time to mature, then¡­


    -When will that be? How long do we have to wait? Ten years? Twenty? Don¡¯t make me laugh. We need weapons to invade the Theocratic Empire right now.


    Rahamma was the most ambitious out of all the kings in Aslan¡¯s history.


    He desired to acquire the verdant lands beyond the border, and thirsted for a chance to leave behind a historical accomplishment that would be acknowledged as the greatest of all time.


    1


    To a man like this, his own children were nothing more than disposable tools to support the throne.


    -I have no need for such a slave. Discard her at once! If the feudal lords find out about her, this pathetic sight would incite backlash from them instead.


    -T-that is¡­!


    Damon stared at Tina with shocked eyes.


    Rahamma tutted while observing Damon¡¯s reaction.


    -We are currently in need for healthy, young slaves with plenty of lifespan remaining, so this is actually good. Send her away to the Black Order. She should serve as a good lab rat for them. She will either end up as their food source, or become an excellent research material for magic.


    -B-but your majesty, this doesn¡¯t make any sense. How can such a thing be¡­!


    -And you, Damon, will take the responsibility for failing to train this Elf properly. Men! Extinguish the demonic energy reserves in these two and send them away as slaves. Since Nasus is planning to do something, you two shall sacrifice yourselves for the glory of Aslan.


    Rahamma glanced at Tina and spoke in a disinterested tone of voice.


    -This is for the sake of Aslan. Take it as an honour, Dark Elf.


    The father she was meeting for the first time in her life turned out to be the kind of a man who didn¡¯t even call his daughter by her name even until the end.


    That was all she remembered about the king of Aslan, Rahamma.


    **


    ¡°Lady Tina¡­ Lady Tina?¡±


    Tina faintly opened her eyelids.


    She was currently lying on top of a wooden bed located inside the dimly-lit and sealed-off room. Her eyes took in the sight of someone looking at her from above.


    It was a middle-aged man probably in his early to mid fifties. Although bald, he still gave off a benevolent impression. The man in question was Damon, the person who had been looking after Tina ever since her birth.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to wake up, my lady. You need to get prepared.¡±


    ¡°Got it. Thanks for waking me up.¡±


    She smiled gently at Damon¡¯s urging before standing up on the bed.


    Soon after that, slaves entered her room. They used wet towels to clean her body, and once they were done, Damon combed her hair.


    She put on the cleanest set of robes currently found stored within the temple of the Black Order. While wearing the lengthy robe that was dragging along on the ground, she headed outside the room with a coarse-looking staff held in her hand.


    The first thing that greeted her once she left the room was a wide hallway.


    The interior of the temple was designed so that from the ground floor up to the second floor were residential rooms, while the third floor up till the top floor were used as prisons.


    The holy water was still present on the floor and made one think of a pristine lake. All sorts of vegetation had sprouted out around the edges of the water. Young slave children were joyfully playing around within the lake¡¯s surface that went up to their ankles. They discovered Tina and jumped up in surprise before quickly approaching her.


    ¡°It¡¯s Miss Princess!¡±


    ¡°Miss Princess!¡±


    A couple of children gifted her with a bunch of flowers.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Tina smiled and patted them on their heads.


    The older slaves were filling up buckets with the holy water and carrying it elsewhere.


    In the middle of the temple¡¯s hallway stood a huge altar.


    Even though it was still an early morning, the slaves were already filled with vitality. All the Necromancers that worked as their prison guards were dead by now, meaning that they could freely step outside the prison and walk around as they pleased.


    Another important fact was that the various illnesses tormenting them had been completely cured, and there were plenty of food reserves stored within the temple as well.


    The slaves here ranged from young children all the way to old people; not just adult human men and women, but even other demi-human species as well.


    Since these slaves used to have different professions, the life inside the temple didn¡¯t prove to be too difficult. Even the barren land outside saw the gradual spread of deep-rooted vegetation. Perhaps due to the effect of the holy water, the soil became so fertile that one could even start farming right away too.


    ¡°Everyone, please gather around. It¡¯s time to offer our prayers!¡±


    Once Damon called out, the slaves started gathering around.


    They were now wearing the robes previously used by the Black Order. After gathering in front of the altar, they began offering their prayers.


    ¡°Lady Tina, please hurry with your prayers as well¡­¡±


    Tina nodded, and then climbed up on the altar¡¯s staircase.


    After reaching the top, her eyes took on the sight of a boy sitting on a sloppily-constructed wooden throne.


    Amon¡¯s skull adorned the boy¡¯s head while a grimoire rested on his knees. A staff was propped up against the throne¡¯s side.


    He was still slumbering away with his head leaning to the side. For this boy, the children freed from slavery placed decorations of flowers all around him.


    Tina gently smiled at this sight and prayed at the sleeping boy.


    It had already been three months since the Black Order had disappeared. Their ¡®Lord Angel¡¯ hadn¡¯t woken up from his slumber after killing the grim reaper.


    3


    According to Damon, who had examined the angel¡¯s body, the boy had gotten very weak from the intense battle. It was a type of divinity exhaustion that would turn normal human beings into cripples, or even outright kill them.


    -However, the story is different with our Lord Angel. Now look, my lady. Although faint, he¡¯s already starting to regain his spent divinity. Hence, I posit that he will keep slumbering until his full recovery.


    While recalling what Damon had told her, Tina ended her prayer and looked up at the boy. The symbol of the devil, a mountain goat¡¯s skull was covering his head, but rather than invoking fear, he came off as more benevolent than anything else all thanks to the decoration of flowers perched on top of said skull.


    1


    ¡°I pray for your speedy awakening.¡±


    Tina placed the flowers she got from the children on top of the skull after saying those words. Damon, who was watching her from some steps behind, smiled in satisfaction.


    He then quietly glanced at his own hand.


    ¡®My body¡¯s been fully regenerated. Indeed, this much alone can already be seen as a miracle. However¡­¡¯


    His body, which no longer possessed any demonic energy, had experienced a transformation. He looked at his staff before lightly tapping it on the altar¡¯s surface.


    A little amount of divinity gathered before spreading out.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Damon became speechless from this sight. He lost his demonic energy and became a cripple. But somehow, his body changed so much that he could now use divinity.


    1


    At the start, he was planning to gather demonic energy once more, but even before he had a chance to notice it, divinity had filled him up instead.


    ¡®¡­This is troublesome. All I know are spells related to Necromancy and dark magic, so to be suddenly forced to deal with divinity¡­¡¯


    1


    He had basically changed his job from a Necromancer to a Priest. It was true that he had converted his religion, but he still couldn¡¯t make any headway at explaining why this completely opposing power came to dwell inside him now.


    The case should be the same with Lady Tina as well.


    What a strange, profound, and mysterious feeling this was.


    ¡®Still¡­¡¯


    All thanks to the angel, they were able to survive.


    Neither he nor Tina wanted to live the rest of their lives as slaves and lab rats. It would be nice to live a quiet and peaceful life in this place.


    ¡®But if not¡­¡¯


    Damon looked at the slumbering boy. As he used to be a Necromancer himself, his discernment regarding this sort of thing was still functioning properly. That boy currently possessed three relics of Amon.


    No, wait ¨C he was the archangel in the appearance of a human boy, wasn¡¯t he?


    What if he really was the son of the gods, an existence that descended to this world in order to save Lady Tina?


    ¡®¡­In that case, Lady Tina can become the queen.¡¯


    1


    A smile floated up on Damon¡¯s lips.


    He took care of her ever since she was a toddler, even going as far as changing her diapers. The other nobles never cared for her station and constantly looked down on her. Sometimes, they even dared to directly insult her.


    And yet, Lady Tina endured it all and came this far. Now, they had an opportunity to exact their revenge on all those who looked down on her.


    The sheer joy from the thought of a child, practically his daughter at this point after raising her all this time, becoming the next king, greatly re-energised Damon.


    He lightly coughed to clear his throat and approached Tina.


    ¡°My lady, let us get going. It¡¯s almost time for breakfast.¡±

 Chapter 118 - New Fate -1 (Part Two)

    **


    On a night with only a lone moon to illuminate away the darkness.


    A group of people were traversing the barren landscape on the backs of camels.


    ¡°Dammit, it¡¯s still so far away.¡±


    ¡°Is that it? The Black Order¡¯s headquarters?¡±


    These travellers currently stuck inside the harsh winds of sand were Necromancers covering their faces with balaclavas. When they shifted their gazes, they could see a huge temple in the far-off distance.


    These men were spies sent by Aslan¡¯s leadership.


    In order to invade the Theocratic Empire, Aslan employed a Lich named Nasus. The initial plan was to trap Oscal Baldur by stringing along the Imperial Prince and taking him hostage.


    ¡®¡­The problem is, Nasus¡¯s current whereabouts are unknown. Even all contacts to the Black Order have been severed.¡¯


    A month after Aslan¡¯s great army was dispatched to the border and got utterly annihilated, the Theocratic Empire¡¯s own troops began their earnest march on the kingdom¡¯s soil.


    They had enough of a pretext now. The stored image crystal was discovered inside the Third Imperial Prince¡¯s private residence. The recorded footage of Aslan¡¯s people seemingly taking the Imperial Prince as hostage was publicly displayed for all to see.


    This caused an internal discord to break out within Aslan¡¯s ruling class. The plan to sacrifice their kingdom¡¯s own nobles to create a pretext and invade the Theocratic Empire was uncovered, that was why.


    And for the past two months, the Theocratic Empire was unhesitantly destroying Aslan¡¯s territory.


    The Holy Emperor himself, Kelt Olfolse, personally stepped up to fight. And to stop his rampage, King Rahamma and the eleven feudal lords excluding Gallas banded together to fight him.


    Despite their combined might, it was only enough to barely defend against the emperor.


    Such exchanges took place several times by now.


    The repeated cycle of fighting and tasting defeat was gradually forcing Aslan down the path of destruction. The kingdom, as it currently stood, had no way of repelling the Theocratic Empire.


    So many cities were already laying in smouldering ruins by now.


    Even King Rahamma had realised the severity of the situation. He sent several communiques to Nasus through the communication sphere, but all he got in return was silence.


    And so, left with no other choice, he dispatched a group of spies like this. As the Black Order¡¯s headquarters was located in a barren wasteland literally in the middle of nowhere, the spies rushing over in great haste still had to spend almost one month just to reach here.


    ¡®Even if the Black Order was secretly set up, this is just too irresponsible.¡¯


    More than anything else, things must¡¯ve spiralled out of control like this because an undead Lich was left in charge.


    ¡°Hang on, Oscal Baldur can¡¯t still be alive, now can he?¡±


    ¡°¡­If that¡¯s true, then we¡¯ll all be dead meat.¡±


    The Necromancers swallowed their dry saliva and pulled on the reins of their camels.


    They quickly headed towards the distant temple where Nasus and his gang should be.


    **


    ¡°Lady Tina! Lady Tina!¡±


    Tina woke up from her sleep and shifted her gaze to Damon.


    He urgently spoke up. ¡°They¡¯re coming, my lady. Necromancers are here!¡±


    Those words greatly stunned Tina. ¡°They are¡­? But why? Without any warning, too?!¡±


    But in a way, this was inevitable.


    Indeed, it was actually more strange for none of them to show up in this place for the past three months. They must be scouts dispatched by the kingdom to investigate what happened here.


    ¡°Shh. They have already entered the temple. You must¡­ be absolutely silent, my lady.¡±


    ¡°What about Lord Angel?¡±


    ¡°¡­We seem to be already too late in that regard.¡±


    Tina¡¯s complexion paled in an instant. She hurriedly opened the door and left her room. Her ears immediately caught the sound of footsteps, and she quickly hid behind a boulder nearby.


    Not too long after that, Necromancers wielding lit torches entered her view. They were scanning the ruined interior of the temple.


    ¡°This is intense. Just how much were they rampaging around¡­?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­ holy water? There¡¯s a lake of holy water here?¡±


    They continued looking around their vicinity, moving the torches this way and that as if to investigate even further.


    Flinch!


    They discovered a few slaves hurdling away here and there and began smacking their lips. There were no signs of other Necromancers in the surroundings, and seeing how all these slaves were running free, it could only mean that Nasus had failed to kill Oscal Baldur.


    What about the Imperial Princes taken as hostages, then? Probably in the wind by now, too.


    ¡°¡­Did they really get done in by Oscal Baldur?¡±


    ¡°After all, even a Lich was nothing much, it seems.¡±


    ¡°I hear that over one thousand slaves were mobilised for this plan, but it was all a massive waste, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    The Necromancers clicked their tongues loudly. Meanwhile, a couple of them broke off from the main group and started walking up the steps of the altar.


    ¡°What is that?¡±


    Eventually, they discovered a slumbering boy sitting on a wooden throne on top of this tall altar. Naturally, their eyes widened in shock.


    Because they had immediately recognised the mountain goat¡¯s skull on the boy¡¯s head, a grimoire resting on his knees, and a staff leaning against the throne itself.


    ¡°Oh my goodness! Aren¡¯t those things relics?!¡±


    ¡°Not only that, those are the legendary relics that belonged to Necromancer King Amon!¡±


    ¡°To think that I¡¯d actually get to see the relics only described in books with my own eyes! Hang on, they aren¡¯t imitations, now are they?¡±


    The Necromancers maintained their stunned expressions while walking over to the slumbering boy. Once they got close enough, they extended their hands.


    It was then, a figure quickly stood in their way to stop them.


    ¡°Do not touch Lord Angel¡¯s belongings with your filthy hands!¡±


    The Dark Elf, Tina, jumped in their path and blocked them. She stood tall with her back to the boy. The Necromancers furrowed their brows while looking at her.


    ¡°A slave?¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s a Dark Elf.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s still a little kid. No need to mind her, then. Since she¡¯s a slave, she can¡¯t even use demonic energy anyways.¡±


    Just as they decided to roundly ignore the child, Tina frowned deeply and shouted out, ¡°My name is Tina Aslan. I¡¯m the daughter of your king, Rahamma!¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°As the daughter of Aslan¡¯s king, I command you. Step back this instant!¡±


    The Necromancers finally displayed some reactions. They exchanged glances with each other before reverting their gazes back over to Tina.


    ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°I shall repeat myself. Get away from Lord Angel right n¡­¡±


    The Necromancers stared at Tina as the corners of their lips curled up.


    ¡°Aha, so that¡¯s who she was. This little kid¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­She¡¯s the discarded daughter, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! What the hell? She¡¯s that daughter who got thrown away? What was that again, you¡¯re King Rahamma¡¯s¡­?¡±


    They began guffawing out loudly.


    Tina¡¯s expression hardened as she glared at them.


    ¡°Then again, his majesty does have a strange hobby. A hobby of making children with demi-humans and using them in experiments, that is.¡±


    ¡°Ignore her. Nothing good will come out of dealing with this child. Besides, she has no powers. Our duty is to make a report regarding the state of this place. And then¡­¡±


    The Necromancers¡¯ avaricious gazes fell on the relics currently adorning the sleeping boy.


    ¡°¡­To take those items out of here too.¡±


    ¡°H-how dare you look down on me!¡±


    ¡°First of all, if we¡¯re talking about children seeded by his majesty, then there are literally more than a hundred of them. Our dear princess, surely you know better than anyone on how they¡¯re being treated and used, now don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Get out of the way.¡±


    They resumed reaching out with their hands.


    It was then, Tina held her staff tightly and slammed it down. ¡°I said, do not touch our Lord Angel!¡±


    A rune letter suddenly engraved itself on the altar¡¯s surface. Roots of vegetation growing around the altars broke out of the ground and rapidly rose up to rush towards the Necromancers, but they swung around their staves to easily defend against the attack.


    ¡°You little wretched child! Besides, what do you mean by Lord Angel? I think I figured out why his majesty cast you aside.¡±


    ¡°Hang on a second here. Did she use magic just now? Didn¡¯t her demonic energy supply get cut off before becoming a slave?¡±


    ¡°¡­No, I sensed divinity coming from her just now.¡±


    Necromancers tutted audibly.


    ¡°Little girl, are you seriously calling that boy an angel? Besides all that, divinity? You¡¯ve gone completely mad, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    They wielded their staves and summoned undead skeletons on the spot.


    ¡°Since there are plenty of slaves here, we might as well take them all with us. Why don¡¯t we also present this child to his majesty?¡±


    ¡°If all goes well, we might even earn ourselves a Dark Elf permeating with divinity as a lab rat.¡±


    Creepy grins broke out on the faces of the Necromancers.


    Tina¡¯s face paled even further, but just as she began stumbling back, a low growl-like voice came from behind her.


    ¡°Man, you guys are so bloody noisy.¡±


    She flinched in surprise and turned her head.


    The voice came from the boy sitting on the throne. Within the eye holes of the mountain goat¡¯s skull loosely fitting his head, the irises of the boy¡¯s previously-sleeping eyes could be seen shooting a cold glare at the Necromancers.


    ¡°And who is this Lord Angel or whatever?¡±


    His low growl-like voice reverberated throughout the temple.


    The slaves hearing his voice began emerging from the darkness one by one.


    Damon, who was watching and waiting for a chance to sneak attack, also gasped out in surprise and opened his eyes much wider.


    The boy slumbering away on the throne¡­


    Allen Olfolse, the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire¡­


    ¡­After three months of long slumber, he had finally opened his eyes.


    < 065. New Fate -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 119 - 066. New Fate -2 (Part One)

    **


    ¡°Lord¡­ Angel?¡±


    Tina muttered out while staring at the boy.


    But the Necromancers were simply tutting away.


    They heard that plenty of Rahamma¡¯s children were born with some kind of defects, and that assertion seemed to be true in this case. Not only did she use divinity instead of demonic energy, she was even blabbing some nonsense about an angel, too.


    ¡°¡­Hang on a minute here. Did she say angel?¡± It was then, one of the Necromancers suddenly piped up. His expression hardened as he swallowed back his dry saliva. ¡°H-hey, haven¡¯t we heard about something similar to that before?¡±


    ¡°What are you on about?¡±


    A fellow Necromancer threw him a question, and his colleague replied while trickles of cold sweat began falling from his forehead.


    ¡°I¡¯m talking about the angel of Humite.¡±


    ¡°Wait, that serial killer rumoured to have hunted down and tortured Necromancers?¡±


    This tale was from about three months ago.


    During the pandemonium raised by the Chaos plan, several surviving Necromancers managed to escape from Humite. A portion of them returned to Aslan somehow, and reported everything they went through to the higher-ups.


    And their report spoke of how an existence referred to as an ¡®angel¡¯ captured Necromancers and tortured them endlessly to steal away all sorts of magic techniques.


    At first, the survivors¡¯ tales were treated as a mere fantasy cooked up by a bunch of madmen. If their testimonies were true, then that meant one could use divinity to perform Necromancy, that¡¯s why.


    However, the Necromancers who argued that such a thing was true continued to grow in numbers. And before long, this ¡®angel¡¯ became a symbol of fear among those who practised Necromancy, almost like some kind of a spooky campfire tale.


    ¡°Hang on, are you saying that the serial killer named ¡®angel¡¯ is a real thing?¡±


    All of their gazes shifted over to the boy.


    He was still sitting on the throne, not showing any signs of moving from there. Other than holding onto the valuable relics, all he did was glare straight at them.


    The Necromancers cowered from the pressure he emanated and swallowed back their dry saliva again.


    ¡°Who are you calling a serial killer?! This noble being is our Lord Angel who has descended from the heavens above!¡±


    Tina still naively believed what Damon had told her. She continued insisting that the boy was an angel.


    Was it because of her voice? The other slaves reacted and began shouting out as well.


    ¡°Lord Angel has woken up.¡±


    ¡°Lord Angel¡­ Lord Angel has opened his eyes!¡±


    Before long, the temple was filled with murmuring voices coming from the slaves inside. The Necromancers became tense once they realised countless slaves were still hiding within the shadows.


    They raised up their staves and began backing away.


    ¡°For now, let¡¯s retreat from here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure whether he¡¯s the rumoured angel or not, but we need to make our report first and¡­¡±


    It was then, crumbs fell from the ceiling. One of the Necromancers raised his head to confirm what was up there.


    ¡­Only to find a wretched-looking skull dangling on the ceiling. A Lich, normally an object of terror, had been staked up there for all to see.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be¡­ Nasus?!¡±


    Fright quickly dyed the faces of the Necromancers.


    ¡°Now do you understand?¡±


    They flinched in surprise at Tina¡¯s voice and looked back at her.


    She slammed her staff down on the ground and declared proudly. ¡°The noble being behind me is Lord Angel who killed the grim reaper!¡±


    Her bold words caused the Necromancers to suck in a deep breath.


    Did she say the grim reaper¡­?


    Could Nasus have summoned a grim reaper, then?! But that didn¡¯t make any sense. Especially more so when the Lich summoning the grim reaper had died instead!


    ¡®What does that even mean?¡¯


    The ¡®sword king¡¯, Oscal Baldur, was nowhere to be seen.


    That could only mean that the boy alone killed Nasus when it summoned the grim reaper and proceeded to dangle the Lich up on the ceiling.


    All semblance of colour drained out of the Necromancers¡¯ faces. Clearly frightened silly now, they looked behind them in order to start their escape, but then¡­


    ¡°Stop them! They pose too much threat to our Lord Angel!¡±


    Damon loudly roared out.


    The slaves who were still hiding within the temple walked out and blocked both the altar and the building¡¯s only exit. While brandishing all sorts of shabby make-shift weapons, they glared at the Necromancers with madness-filled eyes.


    ¡°H-how dare you lowly slaves try to stop us with higher stations t-than you?!¡±


    ¡°Get out of the way! Now!¡±


    The Necromancers loudly yelled out and stood behind their summoned skeletons. However, the hundreds of slaves didn¡¯t falter despite displaying obvious signs of fear.


    No, they were actually rebelling against them.


    ¡°Protect¡­ Protect Lord Angel!¡±


    One of the slaves roared out.


    A lone arrow flew in from somewhere and pierced the shoulder of the Necromancer. A scream left his lips and caused the rest of the group to lose their reasoning as well.


    ¡°You accursed bastards!¡±


    ¡°Kill all the slaves!¡±


    The skeletons¡¯ jaws creaked and opened wider, then the small group of undead raised their weapons high.


    It was at that precise moment that the boy sitting on the throne flicked his finger and lightly tapped on the armrest.


    2


    A huge rune letter suddenly manifested on the surface of the altar. And from the glowing symbol, numerous skeletal undead kitted out in armour leapt out.


    ¡°Chantless casting?!¡±


    ¡°Not only that, Necromancy too?!¡±


    Just as the Necromancers began freaking out even more¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure what you lot have been yapping on about since a while ago, but¡­¡±


    The boy¡¯s tired-sounding voice echoed within the temple¡¯s hallway.


    The Necromancers looked back at the boy on the throne. Divinity-infused skeletons were summoned around him and they glared straight back, the eerie blue glow in their eyes firmly locked on the dark magicians.


    ¡°¡­The ones to die today will be you.¡±


    The boy¡¯s chilling words came to an end, and immediately, the holy undead pounced on the Necromancers.


    Their spears easily shattered the pathetic skeletons made of demonic energy and stabbed through the hapless Necromancers.


    One of the spear-wielding holy undead chucked the skewered Necromancer from the top of the altar. The other Necromancers rolled down the altar¡¯s staircase after getting stabbed and sliced apart by the swords and spears.


    The slaves who were waiting at the bottom quickly rushed in at the still-breathing Necromancers and started hacking away.


    All of these things happened in the blink of an eye.


    Tina couldn¡¯t help but stare at the boy with shocked eyes, and he stared right back at her. ¡°Okay, so. Let me ask you something, Dark Elf. Where is this place and who are you people?¡±


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    My whole body felt stiff. No, hang on ¨C never mind stiff, I couldn¡¯t move a single muscle at all.


    It was like all of my muscles bunched up and melted into one mass while my bones hardened like fossils.


    Did my body freeze up after sleeping for so long? Thanks to whatever it was, I couldn¡¯t do anything while sitting on this wooden chair.


    The best I could do right now was slightly move my finger around, that¡¯s about it.


    Before all that though, just where am I, anyways?


    I shifted my eyeballs around and scanned the illuminated interior of the temple. Without a doubt, this place had to be the headquarters of the Black Order, the one I warped into.


    However, the overall vibe I got felt seriously different.


    Unlike how gloomy and cold it was before, this place was overflowing with vitality now. The divine energy that came from the holy water abundantly filled up the air, and there were plants growing on the edges of the water, too.


    Maybe I should blame my current state on sleeping for too long; not only could I not immediately figure out what was going on here, but even my memories were so faint and blurry that I was getting seriously confused right now.


    Blooming hell, what a relief it was to have Raphael and Alice next to me after I used [Resurrection]. Now, I didn¡¯t even have such luxury.


    Just how long was I left alone like this, in this sitting position?


    It could¡¯ve been probably somewhere around a week.


    Right, fine! Whatever. That¡¯s all good and well. As far as my body was concerned, it should get sorted out eventually if I kept trying to move little by little.


    However, just imagining what these strange people before my eyes did to me while I was unconscious sent a creepy chill down my backside.


    1


    ¡°Everyone, offer your prayers to our Lord Angel.¡±


    Even though it was an early morning, some folks kitted out in black robes were already gathered around the altar¡¯s vicinity. They all knelt down towards me and began praying.


    ¡°Oh, our Lord Angel!¡±


    ¡°I thank you for delivering salvation to us!¡±


    Most of them muttered softly to themselves, but some started sobbing away as if their emotions got the better of them.


    ¡­Their actions kinda made me think that they saw me as a deity or something.


    What the heck was happening here?


    Did something weird happen after I killed Nasus that caused them to behave like this?


    Hang on, could it be that I became some kind of a sacrificial offering for a crazy cult, or maybe even a subject of an experiment?


    ¡°Who is this Lord Angel? Just what on earth are you people talking about?¡±


    What a relief that my voice still came out.


    While I was sitting there in confusion, a man walked up to me and spoke up, ¡°It¡¯s time to consume our tribute, Lord Angel.¡±


    It was a middle-aged man in his early to mid fifties.


    [Name: Damon.


    Age: 40


    Attributes: weak divinity, weak magic, healthy physique. Deep devotion and loyalty.


    1


    + Lady Tina has been chosen by Lord Angel! What a wondrous, glorious day this is!]


    This dude brought a bowl filled with holy water up to my lips.


    I quickly addressed him, ¡°Hey, will you listen to me for a second, Mister Damon? I¡¯m asking you a question here.¡±


    After hearing me talk, he dropped the bowl all of a sudden.


    His jaw nearly fell to the floor as an expression of shock spread all over his face. ¡°How in this world¡­ My name, how could a noble one such as yourself know of my name¡­?!¡±


    ¡°W-well, that¡¯s because¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a miracle!¡±


    1


    The zealots around us suddenly exclaimed loudly.


    Loud exaltations and cries of joy were coming out of their mouths.


    As I was tutting unhappily away, I finally understood why people were so afraid of those crazed cults.


    Hell, at least I could hold some sort of civilised conversation with Vampires, lycans, and even the Lich, Nasus, while fighting them. But man, words were simply not getting through these folks.


    1


    I could use magic to solve things here, sure, but trying to deal with an insane cult was making my head chaotic as well.


    ¡°I just want to ask you a question, okay?! Can¡¯t we just have a regular conversation already?¡±


    My holy skeletons stood in front of me to provide protection against the zealots.


    Unfortunately, Damon seemed to have misunderstood my intentions because he flinched greatly and bowed deeply towards me. ¡°Please forgive this foolish believer for failing to understand your deep wisdom, Lord Angel. This lowly servant dared to engage you, our Lord Angel, in trivial conversation.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Oh, man¡­ I really wanted to massage my temples right about now.


    One of my skeletons seemed to have figured out my needs since it began massaging my head for me instead.


    ¡°Lady Tina.¡±


    While keeping his whole body bowed deeply, Damon began stepping back. A young girl next to him came up to me in his place.


    She was pretty small with tan skin and long ears, plus the scarlet-coloured hair and eyes.


    A Dark Elf, huh.


    This would be my first time seeing an elf after coming to this world.


    The small elf girl holding a staff was wearing a long robe that dragged on the floor. She knelt down before me and lowered her head before speaking up, ¡°The daughter of the ruler of this land, Tina Aslan, greets our Lord Angel.¡±


    ¡°Okay, can I finally ask you some questions now?¡±


    I really wanted to get rid of all these questions burning a hole in my head.


    ¡°Please speak, Lord Angel.¡±


    She raised her head. Her face looked innocent, but there was a clear hint of curiosity as well.


    I spat out a groan and questioned her, ¡°First of all, what rubbish are you even talking about? And secondly, how long have I been sitting here?¡±


    ¡°As a mere child, I do not fully understand your noble words, but¡­ If it¡¯s a question regarding how long you¡¯ve been staying in this temple, then you¡¯ve been sleeping for around three months.¡±


    ¡°Three months?!¡±

 Chapter 120 - 066. New Fate -2 (Part Two)

    I was shocked silly by her answer.


    Oh my god! Not a week, but three months?


    How could that even make any sense?!


    W-wait a second. Did that mean I was basically a vegetable this whole time¡­?


    ¡°Could it be that I¡¯ve been sitting on this¡­ ¡®chair¡¯ for three months?¡±


    ¡°That is indeed so.¡±


    The little Elf girl nodded her head as if it was the most obvious thing ever. Hell, I could even spot pride in her expression!


    Jesus, they¡¯re all insane!


    No wonder I couldn¡¯t move my body at all. Besides, since my head was leaning to one side and got stuck there, it made it seriously uncomfortable.


    What a mystery it was that I was still even alive.


    ¡°My brain can¡¯t really compute what¡¯s being said here. So, like, let me get this straight. I sat here, like this, in this same position for the last three months? What about food?¡±


    Tina responded, ¡°We helped you drink holy water during every breakfast, lunch, and supper time.¡±


    But I was asleep! How could I even drink anything?!


    She must¡¯ve read my mind or something because Tina quickly continued to clear up the air, ¡°When we dripped some on your lips, you instinctively began drinking the holy water, Lord Angel.¡±


    Hmm, could that be the reason for my vocal cords functioning properly, at least?


    ¡°¡­What about my, uh, nature¡¯s calls?¡±


    My questions caused a troubled expression to form on Tina¡¯s face. ¡°We¡¯re not certain whether it¡¯s because you¡¯re Lord Angel or not, but you had no need for that.¡±


    Well, that¡¯s a relief, at least.


    Since I hadn¡¯t eaten anything, I figured that my body had no need to expel anything out, either. As for the holy water, it must¡¯ve broken down as soon as entering my body and was used up for my healing process.


    The skeletons carried holy water over to my position, poured it on me, and began massaging the stiff body parts. At the same time, I used divinity to reinforce my physique.


    Along with the stinging sensation coming from my affected body parts, my stiff muscles and bones were gradually loosening up. It looked like I¡¯d have to toil away for the next few days and try to retrain all of my muscles back to working order.


    Now that some stability had been achieved, this pang of hunger suddenly sneaked up on me out of nowhere.


    ¡°I wish to eat some food.¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±


    ¡°Food.¡±


    Tina dazedly stared at me before nodding her head. ¡°Understood. I shall have some ready for you right away.¡±


    She bowed deeply and walked backwards away from me, then started climbing down the altar altogether.


    Thankfully, she didn¡¯t seem to be a threat to my health. I figured it¡¯d be good to take my time and speak to her. After getting something in my stomach first, of course.


    I wanted to find out exactly where we were, plus what had transpired in the last three months.


    **


    Inside one of Aslan¡¯s ancient ruins.


    A man in his early to mid forties was walking down a narrow passageway.


    Above him in the air was a ball of light made out of divinity, illuminating his surroundings.


    ¡°Can I really find what I¡¯m looking for in here?¡±


    This man had been wandering around the continent for the past ten years. He had already travelled to the kingdom of knights, Lome, the kingdom of magic, Aihrance, plus many others. However, the one person he had been searching for until now couldn¡¯t be found in any of them.


    Could it be that he was chasing a ghost again this time too?


    ¡°¡­Those stinking Vampire bastards, they can¡¯t be making a fool of me, right?¡±


    The man tutted unhappily.


    He continued traversing the narrow passageway for a little while longer, but then, the spot his foot stepped on suddenly sunk lower to the floor.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    The man flinched and froze up on the spot before casting his gaze below. And with a face of someone who had stepped on a live landmine, he cautiously looked back.


    He could hear something large making a racket from somewhere behind him.


    Could it be¡­?


    The source of the noise turned out to be a humongous boulder.


    It was quickly rolling down on the narrow passageway and heading towards him.


    That thing seemed to be constructed out of a combination of forged steel and another metal called ¡®Eltera¡¯, which possessed resistance to magic. It¡¯d be a tall order to shatter it with divinity alone.


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit too much, isn¡¯t it?!¡±


    The man hurriedly ran forward from there.


    Unfortunately, every floor panel he inadvertently stepped on seemed to trigger some other types of traps; the ground suddenly caved in and arrows even began flying out from holes in the ceiling.


    However, the man dodged them with plenty of room to spare. He continued running down the passageway.


    Divinity reinforced his body and enhanced his vision at the same time. What his improved eyes saw next were hundreds of glowing eyeballs and dozens upon dozens of hairy legs hidden within the darkness of the narrow passageway.


    They belonged to poisonous spiders with huge fangs, each as big as a grown man¡¯s head.


    ¡°More traps, is it?! Those bloody Vampire bastards!¡±


    When the man snapped his fingers, dozens of light swords created out of divinity materialised in the air. The shining swords shot forward simultaneously and utterly massacred the poisonous spiders blocking his path.


    While barely managing to stay several steps ahead of the metal boulder behind him, he stared at the final exit over yonder as the walls on either side of the passageway began closing in.


    ¡®Seriously, it¡¯s one thing after another!¡¯


    He quickly passed through the passageway as if sliding on ice.


    The boulder crashed and stopped at the entrance, plugging it up.


    After the man tumbled into an expansive hallway, he spat out a groan of relief before standing back up. However, once he saw how the interior of the hall sparkled so brightly, he ended up letting out an exclamation of admiration.


    ¡°This is a mountain of treasures, alright.¡±


    Treasures were strewn about practically everywhere. Gold and silver, jewels of various shapes, sizes, and colours, and even countless magic stones were forming several small hills.


    And perhaps inevitably, there was a ¡®guardian¡¯ looking after all of these as well.


    The man turned and raised his head towards the direction where that stabbing glare was coming from.


    It belonged to a massive lifeform at least ten metres tall and twenty-five metres in length. Its back, head, and even the rest of its torso were covered in hard, armour-like shells.


    Its belly was covered in scales while it had a pair of bat-like wings on the back; a pair of horns resembling a crown could be found on the creature¡¯s head.


    This large Black Dragon stared at the small human while its lengthy tongue flicked in and out of its maw.


    ¡°¡­And now it¡¯s a dragon, too? Those damn Vampires, they¡¯re trying really hard to get me killed, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    The Black Dragon clamped its maw shut all of a sudden. But then, its throat and cheeks began ballooning up. Licks of crimson flames leaked out from its maw.


    It was the Dragon¡¯s Breath.


    That was dangerous. That wasn¡¯t something this man could handle!


    ¡°I gotta work my butt off every single time, don¡¯t I?!¡±


    The man quickly waved his hand around. Dozens of light swords generated in the air above before stabbing into the dragon¡¯s body. Its hard shell split apart and the swords suppressed the Black Dragon¡¯s body underneath.


    The creature issued a horrifying screech. But even then, the dragon¡¯s eyes continued glowing red and it opened its maw wide. The gathered flames swirled crazily like a tornado inside its mouth. It seemed like the Black Dragon hadn¡¯t given up on its prey yet.


    In that case¡­!


    ¡°Oh, the god of abundance, Tomer!¡±


    The man offered a prayer.


    A massive spear of light materialised in his hand.


    Just as the dragon prepared to fire its Breath, the man finished his prayer first and immediately threw the nearly two metres-long spear with everything he had.


    The air around them expanded.


    The spear created by compressing an incredible amount of divinity stabbed straight into the dragon¡¯s chest. Its scales exploded and a spray of blood rained down everywhere.


    That had to be a fatal wound. Even if it was a mighty dragon, this attack should be¡­!


    Madness began dyeing the dragon¡¯s eyes. As if it was enraged even further now, the dragon glared at the man and opened its maw much wider.


    ¡­It seemed that his attack was slightly lacking in the firepower department.


    ¡°Well, even if it¡¯s me, fighting a dragon is a bit¡­¡±


    The man tutted unhappily and quickly scanned his surroundings. He eventually spotted what seemed to be the only exit in this place.


    He hurriedly dashed over there while continuously creating more swords of light to stab the Black Dragon¡¯s body.


    With its hard shell being blown apart by the swords, bits of scales were flung about everywhere. Although the Black Dragon writhed in pain, it still did not give up on its prey.


    The man leaped and slid into the narrow exit-like opening on the wall, and at the same time, the dragon spat out its Breath. A humongous ball of flames exploded out and scorched this tiny entrance before breaking the structure down.


    Meanwhile, the man kept running and running for some more. Once he saw the lone glimmer of light coming from the exit, he literally threw himself at it.


    Belatedly, the exit exploded in a fiery blast and the stones crumbled down behind him, The man tumbled down on the outer surface of the ancient ruin which resembled a pyramid until he hit the ground below.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡±


    He shook his head and dusted the sand away from his clothes and hair. After staring back at the ancient ruin, he tutted softly.


    ¡®Looks like it¡¯s a bust this time, too.¡¯


    The man stood back up on his feet.


    His name was White Olfolse. He was, once upon a time, the Crown Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, a man who had actually ascended to the throne. And currently, while roaming the width and breadth of the continent, he¡­


    ¡°Just where are you, my son?¡±


    ¡­He was also a traveller searching for his missing son.


    ¡°Where should I go this time?¡±


    He clicked his tongue and then pulled out a map.


    There were no more places left to go. And he didn¡¯t have enough information either.


    He really couldn¡¯t help it, though. The kingdom of Aslan was currently rather unstable at the moment. Not only that, he recently came across a piece of news saying that his father, Kelt Olfolse, was rampaging around recklessly as well.


    For the time being, he should stop by at this kingdom¡¯s capital, and then¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, so should I head back home?¡±


    He thought he should stop by at the Theocratic Empire and calm his irate father down.


    He tutted again and began walking away.


    < 066. New Fate -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 121 - . New Fate -3 (Part One)

    **


    A week had gone by since the angel¡¯s awakening.


    Tina earnestly served the boy during this time period. She brought him food, and whenever he wanted to do something, she assisted him from the side as much as possible.


    Since the angel had summoned holy undead for himself, that eliminated much of the hassle associated with moving around with a stiff body. The skeletons picked him up and carried him from one spot to another, and performed the actions he wanted to do.


    As his stiff body gradually loosened up, he was barely able to start moving bit by bit. But compared to a regular person, anyone could see that he was still suffering from a lot of discomfort.


    ¡°Lord Angel! Lord Angel!¡±


    ¡°Are you still uncomfortable?¡±


    ¡°Is there anything we can help you with?¡±


    The children who used to be slaves approached him and asked while circling all around him. However, the boy simply waved his hand at them as if he wanted to chase them away. But when the children showed no signs of leaving him alone, he summoned an undead instead.


    It was a devil wearing a blue hat with a matching blue attire. The familiar with a rotund physique lightly picked the children up, then began entertaining them.


    1


    Tina watched them and smiled gently.


    Despite how he looked ¡®annoyed¡¯ by the kids, the angel still cared for them, and she found this heart-warming to see.


    ¡°Man¡­ This is way too hard!¡±


    He squatted down on the foot of the altar.


    After dipping himself inside the shallow lake made out of holy water within the temple, he began forcing his body to somehow move little by little.


    He called this his ¡®revival training¡¯, and while shedding thick cold sweat drops, he continued to struggle and toil away.


    When he forcibly stood up, his body immediately started wobbling about. Tina urgently supported him.


    The blue-attired familiar belatedly arrived and began scratching the back of its head as if it was a little embarrassed by its tardiness.


    Tina was surprised by that sight and stared agog at the undead. The familiar was behaving as if it possessed ego, that¡¯s why.


    ¡°Massage me, my whole body feels really terrible.¡±


    The boy spoke up. Without a doubt, he was addressing his familiar.


    Wanting to test her theory, Tina quickly talked to the Blue Devil, ¡°Allow me. But in turn, aid Lord Angel and help him up, please.¡±


    The Blue Devil nodded at her words before plopping down on the spot. It placed the angel on its lap as if to serve itself as a comfy chair.


    This sight prompted yet another surprise to Tina.


    ¡®I knew it¡­! This undead has intelligence!¡¯


    Not only could it understand its master¡¯s orders, the undead was also capable of understanding what someone else had said to it. This creature was on a whole other level compared to ordinary skeletons.


    Even while feeling amazed, Tina didn¡¯t forget to assist the angel. She lightly pounded on his back to loosen the muscles there.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t force yourself too much, my lord. We can offer you our assistance at any time,¡± said Tina.


    ¡°Even if you keep telling me that, I¡¯m planning to leave this place in a week anyways. So I gotta get better soon.¡±


    Tina flinched at his words and stared at him.


    The boy rotated his arm as if his shoulder was too stiff and then frowned deeply all of a sudden. ¡°¡­Man, I can¡¯t move my shoulder properly.¡±


    After Tina cautiously lowered his stiff arm, she began massaging and pressing down his problematic shoulder. While doing that, she tried her best to maintain her composure before speaking up, ¡°I-if you wish to leave here, then¡­ Are you going to abandon us?¡±


    ¡°I told you this before, right? I¡¯m not some grandiose existence like an angel. I¡¯m just a regular human, okay?¡±


    1


    That was difficult to believe. A ¡®regular¡¯ human would definitely not be able to kill the grim reaper, not to mention create a miracle of healing hundreds of slaves in one go, as well.


    However, such an angel was now saying that he¡¯d abandon the slaves and leave?


    Did¡­ did they do something wrong?


    ¡°L-Lord Angel, did we do something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Nah, nothing like that. Actually, you guys are being way too nice to me and that¡¯s kinda making me suspicious of you.¡±


    Tina¡¯s lips clamped shut at what the boy said.


    She knew it. Lord Angel still didn¡¯t trust her enough yet.


    It must be because her faith was still not enough and she was lacking in way too many regards!


    3


    ¡°I beg of you not to throw us away. I swear that we will definitely fix the errors of our ways!¡±


    ¡°I told you, that¡¯s not it.¡± The boy looked at Tina and continued on. ¡°You also don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on out there. I just want to find out the current situation outside, you know?¡±


    What he said was correct. Tina had no idea what the current situation in Aslan was like. After she got dragged in here as a slave, all contact with the outside world had been cut off.


    And the Necromancers who came to the temple had been quickly killed off as well, so it wasn¡¯t possible to hear anything from them now.


    1


    ¡°Meaning, there¡¯s only one way left to find out what¡¯s happening over there. And that¡¯s personally stepping outside. Sorry about this, but I¡¯ll be needing more of your help. Prepare some water and food for me.¡±


    ¡°That isn¡¯t going to be difficult. However¡­¡±


    If the angel was to leave, then what should the ones remaining behind do?


    While Tina was swimming in confusion, Damon suddenly butted into the conversation. ¡°In that case, may we be allowed to accompany you?¡±


    The boy stared at Damon.


    The older man smiled benevolently. ¡°We can¡¯t stay here forever as well. Thanks to you, Lord Angel, we have water, and even plants have started growing here, but it¡¯ll be impossible to live a quiet life in this place anymore. The Necromancers paid us a visit one week ago, after all. It¡¯s safe to assume that this place is no longer safe for us.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, are you asking me to take all of you along?¡±


    The boy scanned their vicinity.


    There were well over seven hundred slaves here. Taking them all along and wandering around aimlessly without a fixed destination was basically the same as killing yourself.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it, my lord. Only Lady Tina and myself wish to accompany you, that¡¯s all. And I¡¯d like to find a suitable land that can serve as these people¡¯s new home. Only then will they be truly safe. Also, if Lord Angel finds us too much of a bother, then¡­¡± Damon lowered his head and finished the rest of his sentence. ¡°¡­We won¡¯t mind it even if you decide to discard us there.¡±


    Those words made the boy tut unhappily. Since he had been receiving their help, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to say no to them.


    He grunted and replied. ¡°Well, if we¡¯re going on our separate ways when the right time comes, then it doesn¡¯t matter to me one way or the other. What about you? What will you do?¡±


    Tina jumped up in surprise and hurriedly nodded her head. ¡°Y-yes! As long as I¡¯m with you, Lord Angel¡­!¡±


    1


    The boy could only smack his lips at her reply.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    There wasn¡¯t much information to be found within the Black Order¡¯s temple. Sure, there were slaves here with all sorts of occupations, but they had been cut off from the outside world for too long.


    Honestly though, I did expect something like this.


    That special envoy took my brother, Ruppel, as hostage, then Nasus the Lich performed a warp magic and brought me here.


    The Chaos Plan of the Black Order should¡¯ve been launched in the meantime, and that would have prompted Aslan¡¯s army to make its move, too.


    In that case, there were three possible outcomes to this tale.


    The border region was lost and the war did break out within the Theocratic Empire¡¯s territory, or Aslan¡¯s forces failed to break through the border and the war broke out on its own territory instead.


    If it¡¯s none of the above, then the two nations were in the middle of a negotiation with me and my brother as the hostages.


    2


    I finished organising my thoughts and then drank some water from a container.


    Meanwhile, the sun was beating down on me.


    The ground below was dry and barren while winds of sand constantly blew around and made me furrow my brows.


    Seventy percent of Aslan¡¯s territory was a barren wasteland, while the rest thirty were arid deserts. Meaning, this whole country was one giant land of death.


    The landscape of the kingdom had been specially evolved for the ease of gathering demonic energy, rather than divinity or Mana.


    ¡°Man, just how much further are we supposed to go before reaching a village or a city?¡±


    It had been over a week since we began wandering on this barren land on the backs of camels. It was only obvious that I¡¯d be exhausted by now.


    ¡°We also do not know exactly where this place is¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Damon was shaking his head while Tina was apologising to me as her ears visibly drooped.


    I could only smack my lips again here. It was wrong to blame them, anyways; in the first place, they got dragged to the temple without being told where it was located.


    ¡°What about the slaves, though? Are they going to be alright?¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes, they will be. Before becoming slaves, they used to dedicate themselves in various professions, after all.¡±


    Some of them were servants of nobles, while some worked as mercenaries and soldiers; some others used to be farmers or hunters, while one or two were apparently even apothecaries.


    Compared to back when their freedom had been suppressed, right now was basically paradise, they said.


    ¡°Even if other Necromancers suddenly show up there, they shouldn¡¯t be able to oppress the slaves or try to take them away. Due to how unforgiving the surrounding environment is, unless they bring an army over, they surely wouldn¡¯t want to take on the risk of taking the slaves away. Of course, it¡¯s not as if there are no dangers to worry about, so I believe it¡¯ll be for the best to find a place for them as soon as possible.¡±


    Damon patiently explained to me.


    That made sense, considering there were more than seven hundred slaves. Even if Necromancers happened to show up, they wouldn¡¯t exactly want to test the temper of the recently-freed slaves.


    We continued traversing the uneven and hostile terrain on either foot or on top of the camels.


    Daytime was not only swelteringly hot, but the sun¡¯s rays were also unforgiving enough to scorch one¡¯s skin if exposed for too long. On the other hand, bone-chilling coldness descended during the nighttime. So cold, in fact, warm breaths leaked out of my mouth as if we were in the middle of winter.


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to see why Aslan is drooling over the Theocratic Empire.¡±


    Right, they probably were desperate to acquire the verdant fields beyond the border. You know, the chosen, blessed land where the days were warm while the nights were refreshingly cool. That place.


    While we were marching forward as the wind continued battering us, we heard a scream come from beyond a sand dune.


    I asked in a slight fluster. ¡°What was that?¡±


    Tina flinched a little and leaned in towards the sound¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Sounds like a human to me.¡± As soon as she said that, Tina reflexively covered her mouth. ¡°I¡­ I apologise, Lord Angel.¡±


    ¡°I told you, it¡¯s fine not to use formal speech with me.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°I feel better when you don¡¯t, okay? Besides all that. You said it¡¯s a human?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± She nodded before cupping her ears with her hands and closing her eyes. ¡°Humans, and there are sounds of Orcs as well. They are currently fighting.¡±


    I thought that the desert¡¯s sand-filled winds would simply drown out all the other noises, but Tina with her Elf traits seemed to be able to hear everything rather clearly.


    I stared at Damon. ¡°How good are our odds of finding a nearby village or a city?¡±


    ¡°My lord, I fear that¡¯s too much of an ask. Both our water and food reserves will soon run out, and when that happens, we won¡¯t have a choice but to return to the temple before setting off again.¡± Damon then turned his head towards the direction that Tina pointed out. ¡°However, our story will change if we encounter people who know where a nearby settlement or a town is.¡±


    I pondered our options here. Well, it¡¯d not be all that smart to get tangled up in the business of the people of Aslan, which was an enemy country.


    However¡­


    ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡­It wasn¡¯t as if we could continue dragging things out like this, either.

 Chapter 122 - New Fate -3 (Part Two)

    I tugged at the camel¡¯s reins.


    We ascended to the peak of the dune and took a look below.


    On a stretch of a barren terrain, around forty Orcs were battling against about twenty people who looked to be mercenaries and merchants.


    The Orcs were at least two metres tall with brown skin and rippling muscles. Besides some dirty rags covering their important bits, the entirety of their attire consisted of clubs made out of wood or bones in their hands. That was about it.


    Their physical prowess seemed over the top, too ¨C when one of the Orcs took a swing with its bone club, a mercenary was flung away on his butt.


    ¡°Brown Orcs!¡± Damon cried out in shock before I could even say anything. ¡°They belong to the upper tier of the Orc species, my lord. Although not as dangerous as the Red Orcs, they are still known to be quite vicious.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really?¡±


    I was about to summon a musket, but belatedly stopped myself.


    We were in Aslan. A kingdom that legalised Necromancy.


    The thing was, I couldn¡¯t see anyone down there who might potentially be Necromancers. Which meant¡­


    ¡°¡­Doesn¡¯t this mean I can rampage to my heart¡¯s content?¡±


    Well, since they were mercenaries, they shouldn¡¯t be able to sense divinity in the first place. But even if they did, not only did they not pose any threat to me, no one would believe them even if they chose to blab about it, anyways.


    Besides, I could appropriately deal with them depending on their reactions before trouble comes knocking my way.


    After making my mind up, I summoned some undeads.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    ¡°We¡¯re going to die. We¡¯re all going to die!!!¡±


    1


    Although Hans was a merchant by trade, he was also an Alchemist by profession who crafted and sold potions alongside all sorts of magic tools. But at the moment, he was holding his head in desperation while looking around his surroundings.


    The mercenaries were protecting the camels they rode on as well as the wagon carrying the cargo.


    Meanwhile, a horde of Orcs were rushing down from a dune. At first, they numbered only around twenty, but as the battle continued on, that figure ballooned past thirty and eventually, reached forty.


    The newly-appearing Orcs soon outnumbered their brethren lying on the ground as corpses.


    ¡°It¡¯s over. It¡¯s all over!¡±


    ¡°Will you stop with that unlucky babbling of yours already?!¡±


    A mercenary angrily shouted at his own client.


    However, he still knew. Even his fellow mercenaries all knew it, too.


    They knew that it was difficult to survive once you ran into Brown Orcs in the desert. No matter how far the battlefield was, the Orcs would hear the commotion and show up here sooner than later.


    These starving monsters would no doubt rush over here, surround their prey, and continue attacking until their new food sources collapsed from sheer fatigue.


    ¡°You said you¡¯re an Alchemist, right?! Don¡¯t you have something like magic explosives or something?!¡±


    The leader of the mercenaries, Kasal, shouted at Hans.


    ¡°T-that! H-hang on!¡±


    Hans began rummaging through the wagon before eventually pulling out a purple-coloured crystal sphere.


    ¡°I-I have this!¡±


    ¡°And what is that?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a vial containing poison! It¡¯s a weapon that will detonate once you inject it with Mana or demonic energy. That¡¯s why¡­¡±


    Even though Hans eagerly pushed the poison sphere forward, the mercenaries loudly yelled back at him.


    ¡°There¡¯s no freaking way we know how to use Mana or demonic energy!¡±


    These mercenaries were only third rate ¨C charitably speaking, barely second-rate, actually. Obviously, they wouldn¡¯t know how to control Mana or demonic energy.


    Hans, with an expression of a man left with no other choice, personally injected Mana into the crystal sphere. It began trembling right away.


    When the item began working as intended, Hans¡¯s complexion brightened in an instant.


    Just as he was about to chuck the sphere at the group of Orcs, a hatchet flew in from somewhere and severed his hand holding it.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    With a thud, the sphere fell to the ground. After trembling for a bit more, the container exploded.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk?!¡±


    ¡°My eyes, my eyes! I can¡¯t see!¡±


    Hans held his severed right hand and screamed at the top of his lungs. A portion of the mercenaries, meanwhile, were struck by the poison bomb and began writhing in pure pain.


    ¡°Bloody hell¡­! This is why one should never escort a damn Alchemist! A treasure trove, my ass! What bloody treasures, when we¡¯re about to get slaughtered?!¡±


    Just as Kasal angrily yelled out, an Orc pounced on him.


    His eyes belatedly spotted the massive club rapidly closing in his direction, and he could only go, ¡°Oh, sh*t¡± after failing to defend himself in time.


    But then, a single ray of light stabbed cleanly through the Orc about to smash down on him.


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    Kasal flinched nastily and stared at the Orc with a big hole in its chest.


    As for the monster, it stopped and began tilting its head. It curiously poked the bloody hole in its torso with its finger before collapsing on the sand with the whites showing in its eyes.


    Kasal stared at the ¡®arrow¡¯ that had pierced straight through the Orc, which was now stabbed into the ground. The projectile seemed to be made out of magic because it was gradually dissipating away in gentle light particles.


    He dazedly looked behind him.


    Inside the storm of sand some distance away, he could see several transparent spectres in the shapes of women lining up.


    ¡°¡­Banshees?¡±


    Indeed, they were Banshees, the ghosts that sang songs of sorrow.


    When the Banshees breathed into the bows in their hands, arrows materialised there. The spectres pulled on the ethereal bow strings and took aim at the horde of Orcs.


    ¡°Why are Banshees here?¡±


    Could it be that a Necromancer was nearby?!


    Kasal¡¯s dazed muttering prompted the other mercenaries to turn their heads.


    Even the Orcs stopped fighting and turned their large heads to look up at the top of the dune.


    ¡­Because, existences glowing in brilliant silvery hue were marching out from the rough sandy winds.


    1


    Clack!


    Looking rather out of place in this barren desert landscape, an army of skeletons marched forward while kitted out in full-body armour, shields, and all sorts of armaments.


    The army of undead marched perfectly in sync. They stepped on the soft, burning sand below while an eerie blue glow oozed from their eye sockets.


    They gradually approached the horde of the Orcs before coming to a stop in front of them. As if to suppress the spirit of the other side, the skeletons coldly glared at the Brown Orcs.


    ¡°H-hang on, are they¡­ really skeletons?¡±


    Kasal was genuinely impressed.


    The sense of presence these undeads gave off was on another level. Every single one of these skeletal soldiers felt like a powerful warrior.


    The Brown Orcs glared right back as if they didn¡¯t want to cower, but their eye muscles were twitching from the rough sand-filled winds.


    And then¡­


    ¡°Waaaaaaah!¡±


    An Orc roared out when it thought their momentum was being suppressed. But in the blink of an eye, this very Orc¡¯s head went flying away.


    A headless Orc crashed down to its knees, and the horde of undead opened their jaws to screech out even louder. Their mouths were opened so wide that their jawbones threatened to dislocate; vicious howlings escaped from their openings.


    -Ku-ooooooh!


    Finally, the Orcs flinched.


    ¡°Rah-oora-biba!¡±


    The Orcs cried out something in an indecipherable language while pointing at the undead. More Orcs rushed in from beyond another sand dune, their numbers reaching about fifty. The thirty skeletons and ten Banshees watched the arrival of the enemy reinforcements and got ready for combat.


    And then¡­ the two camps collided.


    The skeletons evaded the Orcs¡¯ weapons, lowered their backs, and used their blades to slice apart the monsters.


    They kicked and stabbed down with their spears.


    They shoved back with their mighty shields and struck the Orcs in the heads with their maces.


    The Banshees, on the other hand, floated and darted freely among them while firing their magic arrows.


    The legion of undead massacred the Orcs in a display of overwhelming might.


    ¡°What in the world¡­?!¡±


    Kasal had to doubt his own eyes at this sight.


    The surviving Orcs couldn¡¯t even manage to destroy a single undead, and resorted to urgently escaping from the battle in terror.


    However, as if they didn¡¯t want to let the Orcs go, the Banshees continued firing their arrows away, while the skeleton soldiers snatched away the reins of the camels belonging to the mercenaries and mounted the reticent rides to give chase.


    2


    ¡°W-wait, they even know how to ride camels, too?!¡±


    A shocked expression was etched on Kasal¡¯s face.


    But in the midst of all this chaos, Alchemist Hans¡¯s eyes were figuratively sparkling away.


    He stared at the skeletons and dazedly muttered out. ¡°Undead possessing divinity! Just who can¡­?¡±


    It was then, the vicious sand winds began to die down. Three individuals riding on camels emerged from the sandy storm.


    The skeletons kneeled down as if they served this trio.


    The one at the front was a young boy wearing a robe, while to his side was a middle-aged man who seemed to be the boy¡¯s attendant. The last one was a small Elf child.


    Since Aslan treated all demi-humans as slaves, Kasal automatically assumed this boy to be some kind of a noble that had an Elf slave.


    The mercenary leader hurriedly knelt down and bowed his head. ¡°I offer my greetings to the noble priest-nim who worships the god of death! And also, thank you for saving us lowly servants!¡±


    Here was a being capable of controlling several powerful undeads. Someone like that had to be a renowned aristocrat at the bare minimum, or alternatively, there was a good chance that he was a scion of the king ruling the land of Aslan.


    After seeing how Kasal reacted, the other mercenaries also chose to offer their greetings first instead of dealing with their injuries or treating their wounded colleagues.


    Aslan¡¯s nobles could be quite overbearing. No one knew for sure how they would react if you got on their bad books.


    Hans too knew this, yet he didn¡¯t offer any greetings yet.


    He was too busy alternating his gaze between the never-before-seen undead wielding divinity, and the three unknown individuals commanding them. The Alchemist¡¯s eyes were already dyed in the greed of a researcher.


    He must¡¯ve already forgotten about the pain from his severed hand, because he was staring straight at the three unknown people and asking a question, instead. ¡°M-may I enquire as to what your name is?¡±


    1


    Even before revealing his name first, Hans threw out this query. In a certain sense, one could think of his attitude as belittling the Necromancer.


    Kasal freaked out and shot back up to his feet, trying to grab the idiot¡¯s head and make him bow down, but then¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s Allen.¡±


    The boy suddenly opened his mouth.


    ¡°My name is Allen.¡±


    Kasal and Hans both flinched a little as they stared at the boy.


    While standing amidst the desert winds, the boy commanding the undead stood proudly and addressed them.


    < 067. New Fate -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 123 - 068. Ancient Ruin -1 (Part One)

    Night fell and the mercenaries set up their tents in preparation to camp outdoors. Their leader, Kasal, treated the three individuals who seemed to be from a major noble house, with utmost respect and courtesy.


    Alchemist Hans, who happened to be watching this scene play out from some distance away, swallowed back his dry saliva. He couldn¡¯t help but recall the undead soldiers from earlier in the day, that¡¯s why.


    They weren¡¯t regular undeads that emitted darkish purple aura and crimson glowing eyes. No, they were a unique type that oozed bright and pure light, while the glow in their eyes were blue-coloured.


    Just staring at them gave him this sacred feeling. Without a doubt, that was divinity.


    Wondering if what he saw earlier was nothing but a passing daydream, Hans asked the mercenary setting up the tent along with him. ¡°Excuse me, but did you sense a strange aura coming from the undead earlier in the day?¡±


    ¡°A strange aura, you say?¡±


    The mercenary¡¯s head was tightly wrapped around in bandages. He distorted his expression and shot a glare at Hans.


    Although the Alchemist did distribute some healing potions, the mercenary group had suffered losses from his mishap with the poison bomb, and that¡¯s why they were unable to look at Hans in a favourable light.


    Hans flinched a little at the glare and shrunk back. However, he still continued on with his questioning. ¡°What did you feel when you were looking at those undeads? Was it fear?¡±


    ¡°Fear?¡± The mercenary pondered his answer for a bit before shaking his head. ¡°Nah, rather than fear, I got this soothing feeling instead. Right, it felt like I was receiving salvation. And we did get saved in reality, too.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you find that strange?¡±


    ¡°Find what strange?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m talking about those undeads! They¡¯re undeads, you know?! But you got a soothing feeling from them? And salvation? Not fear or terror?¡±


    ¡°What is it that you want to say here?¡±


    ¡°That priest-nim over there.¡± Hans pointed at the trio currently chatting to Kasal in the distance. ¡°I think he used divinity earlier. And not only that, he used divinity to activate Necromancy!¡±


    1


    ¡°Divinity?¡±


    The mercenary looked stunned by this revelation and began alternating his gaze between the trio of travellers and Hans. But then, his eyes locked on the merchant-cum-Alchemist, and an expression akin to sorrow began floating up on his bandaged face.


    ¡°I see. I heard that Alchemists often fall into the habit of abusing substances. This has to be it, then.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°Could it be that there being an ancient ruin with a mountain of treasure inside is just drug-induced nonsense, too? Dang it, I shouldn¡¯t have accepted this job in the first place!¡±


    ¡°W-what are you talking ab¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop with your nonsense and get back to work, will you?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean nonsense?! Are you disparaging my discerning eyes?! It¡¯s all true! Those people, with divinity, they¡­¡±


    ¡°Where in this world would you find someone capable of summoning undead with divinity?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re right in front of your eyes, aren¡¯t they?! Besides, even though it sounds like some spooky ghost tale, there have been several rumours coming from the Theocratic Empire that holy undeads were sighted¡­¡±


    ¡°But those are some baseless rumours floating around, aren¡¯t they? A cock-and-bull story concocted by the empire to scare us. Didn¡¯t Aslan publicly announce that? That the damn empire people were spreading around falsehoods?¡±


    ¡°And you believe that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, and you didn¡¯t? In that case, does controlling undead with divinity sound logical to you?¡±


    When the mercenary retorted back, Hans could only respond in a dazed voice. ¡°¡­Indeed, it¡¯s not logical.¡±


    ¡°Well, at least you know.¡±


    Hans groaned. ¡°F-fine. In that case, I shall personally ask them!¡±


    Just as he tried to head towards the trio, though, the other mercenaries quickly stood in his way.


    ¡°What are you¡­?¡±


    ¡°This guy, he just can¡¯t get a grip on himself! Even if that person saved our hides earlier, there¡¯s no guarantee that he¡¯s a kind-hearted noble. Sure, he certainly comes across as more patient than the other nobles, but no matter how good his character is, how do you think he¡¯ll react if you ask, ¡®Are you using divinity, good sir?¡¯, ah?¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be incensed.¡±


    ¡°Never mind being incensed, he might cut off your arm or something. Even worse, he might just kill you right away and turn you into an undead, making you his slave forever. Seriously now, why are you so slow on the uptake today?!¡±


    1


    ¡°¡­¡±


    What the mercenary said was indeed correct.


    A Necromancer using divinity was no different from rejecting the existence of the god of death, Yudai. There was simply no way that a Necromancer would let the rejection of the deity they worshipped go unpunished.


    ¡°If you have time to blow hot air, why don¡¯t you help us put up these tents, instead? We gotta prepare a lodging for them to spend the night as soon as possible.¡±


    Hans¡¯s shoulders dropped real low from those words.


    He cast a doubt-filled glance in the direction of the trio before going back to setting up the tent.


    1


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    Tina, who had been busy eavesdropping on the distant chatter between Hans and the mercenaries, whispered in my ear. ¡°They don¡¯t seem to believe him.¡±


    ¡°I guessed as much.¡±


    Necromancy that utilised divinity? Now that was straight into the realm of impossibility that wouldn¡¯t even appear in the legendary myths.


    Heck, even the bishops of the Theocratic Empire known for their unyielding devotion were doubtful when Raphael tried to tell them the truth. Since people like that were unwilling to believe the words of an influential archbishop, who¡¯d take the words of some wandering Aslan merchant at face value?


    As these mercenaries couldn¡¯t use magic, they had no way of differentiating between divinity and demonic energy. But even if they somehow did, there shouldn¡¯t be all that many people willing to trust what some rowdy mercenaries were saying, either.


    Since the topic of ¡®holy undead¡¯ had been spreading around as some spooky tale, most people would treat it as nothing but hot air.


    I thought it was more or less safe to assume that there was no immediate danger to us for the time being. However, I still couldn¡¯t discount the possibility of running into issues inside a city where there were more eyes watching.


    I figured it wouldn¡¯t be a huge problem as long as I paid attention a little more.


    Around the time I finished analysing the atmosphere of our new companions, Kasal guided us to a pretty accommodating tent for our use.


    ¡°Please, use this tent for the night, sir.¡±


    I scanned the fairly-clean interior of the tent before asking Kasal, ¡°Is it possible to get some provisions from you?¡±


    ¡°Provisions, sir?¡±


    Kasal formed a troubled expression before slightly nodding.


    A short while later, he came back to me while carrying a leather bag. ¡°My apologies. This is all we have at the moment. Also, we won¡¯t be able to provide you with water as we don¡¯t have any to spare.¡±


    It seemed that the mercenaries were also lacking food as well. As for water, they probably only had enough for their own individual needs.


    Kasal was obviously trying to mind my mood, so I lightly waved my hand to indicate that he shouldn¡¯t sweat over it. ¡°Thanks. And although it¡¯s not much of a trade¡­¡±


    I handed over my canister of regular water to Kasal.


    ¡°Take this. After all, we already have enough water for ourselves.¡±


    Kasal looked really surprised while receiving the water, then deeply bowed his head. ¡°Thank you so much! Please have a wonderful rest.¡±


    He must¡¯ve thought of us as nobles because he was doing his best to make us comfortable before leaving the tent.


    Damon confirmed that the tent¡¯s flap was fully closed before addressing me, ¡°Will it be fine, my lord?¡±


    ¡°The water? It¡¯s fine since I can make more any time. We¡¯ll just drink my holy water.¡±


    After placing my hand over a leather waterskin¡¯s opening, I started materialising fresh holy water using divinity and the clear liquid began trickling out from the tip of my finger.


    Damon observed my finger with a deeply interested expression. ¡°As expected, you¡¯re indeed an angel. To think that you can create something out of nothing!¡±


    ¡°Man, I keep telling you that it¡¯s nothing as grandiose.¡±


    Tina next to me, looked also greatly impressed. While deeply pondering something, she stared at me in silence for some time, then cautiously called out to me.


    ¡°Uhm, Lord Angel?¡±


    ¡°Just call me Allen.¡±


    ¡°Pardon? But how can I dare call you by your name¡­?¡±


    ¡°Mercenaries are here, so it¡¯s all good. Besides, I prefer that to begin with.¡±


    ¡°¡­In that case, Lord Allen.¡±


    ¡°You can also drop that ¡®lord¡¯ thing too, okay? What¡¯s up?¡±


    She was intently staring at me. Then, she demurely got down on her knees and lowered her head as if what she was about to ask was monumental in scale.


    ¡°This lowly believer humbly begs of you. May you be so gracious enough to summon a single skeleton?¡±


    Even the way she spoke to me changed, sounding really dignified and official.


    Since it wasn¡¯t a difficult favour, I lightly snapped my fingers. A rune letter engraved itself on the ground and a skeleton crawled out from there.


    Her eyes seemed to be sparkling as she stared at my newly-summoned undead. ¡°May I be permitted to converse with this creature?¡±


    ¡°You wanna talk to this skeleton?¡±


    Tina nodded her head.


    Huh, this would be my first time hearing about someone wanting to chat to an undead. Then I recalled the skeletons and the Blue Santas that were entertaining the children back in the temple. She was still young and curious, so the holy skeleton must¡¯ve greatly intrigued her.


    ¡°Sure, do what you want.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Well, this way¡­¡±


    Tina pointed to a corner of the tent. When she did, the skeleton walked over along with her and settled down on the indicated spot.


    She asked a question, and the skeleton responded by either nodding or shaking its head. That¡¯s how they communicated.


    Damon watched the two of them for a while, then turned towards me to bow his head. ¡°I¡¯d like to offer my heartfelt gratitude once more. Thank you for saving both Lady Tina and myself.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning to save you people in the first place. It was just a coincidence that you happened to be there.¡±


    The Black Order ¡®summoned¡¯ me there, and I simply got rid of the fools, that was all.


    While saying that, I glanced at Tina without giving much thought. Her eyes were sparkling away while she continued to ask the skeleton a variety of questions.


    I thought I could more or less tell her state of emotions from how her pointy ears perked up or drooped low. At least from that alone, she came across as a regular child to me.


    I quietly asked Damon. ¡°You say she¡¯s the king¡¯s daughter, a princess?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct.¡±


    He nodded towards me.


    I could only click my tongue at that.


    Who¡¯d have imagined that I¡¯d be travelling with the princess of an enemy nation¡­? If she learned about my identity as an Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, how would she even react?


    I recalled the events from the temple.


    ¡°Even though she¡¯s a princess, she got treated like a slave?¡±


    The Necromancers that showed up at the temple all disparaged her. As such, it felt like a bit of a stretch to call her the king¡¯s daughter or a princess of a kingdom.


    Damon replied with a bitter expression etched on his face. ¡°His majesty Rahamma has sired over a hundred children so far.¡±


    ¡°Over a hundred? Just how many wives does he have?!¡±


    ¡°There is only one queen, my lord. The others are all slaves.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°His majesty has been using the demi-humans to create an even stronger offspring¡­ No, wait. More correctly, he uses them to create an even more potent weapon for himself.¡±


    The dude apparently had over a hundred children, and they were all demi-humans. They would all go through an intense training regime, and if Rahamma acknowledged their strength, they would then be deployed as ¡®weapons¡¯ meant to serve him. However, if you failed to earn his acknowledgement, then you¡¯d be thrown away to become a ¡®slave¡¯.


    ¡°As such, Lady Tina didn¡¯t get acknowledged by his majesty.¡±


    That was how she ended up as a sacrificial offering for the Necromancers.

 Chapter 124 - 068. Ancient Ruin -1 (Part Two)

    I continued listening to Tina¡¯s story while feeling rather bitter about it.


    A short while later, Kasal¡¯s voice came to us from outside the tent, ¡°I¡¯ve brought some food, sirs. Would you like some?¡±


    ¡°Ah, hang on. Let me join you guys outside. There are some things I¡¯d like to hear from you as well.¡±


    Damon and I stepped outside the tent, leaving Tina and my skeleton behind inside.


    I let her be on her own and headed straight into the midst of the mercenaries currently sitting around a campfire.


    However, even I could tell that they were quite tense. From what I heard, they were like this because of how so many of Aslan¡¯s Necromancers were cruel and volatile in nature.


    The atmosphere suggested that this was not a place I should stick my nose in, but it couldn¡¯t be helped as I had a pressing matter to attend to. After getting a bowl of soup, I wanted to somewhat soften the stiff mood around, so I stared at Hans next.


    He was still glancing at me every now and then as if he wanted so badly to solve his curiosity over the skeletons I summoned earlier.


    ¡°You said your name was Hans?¡±


    When I addressed him, he flinched grandly and quickly looked back at me. ¡°Y-yes, that¡¯s correct.¡±


    He might have been nodding his head, but his shoulders were visibly drooping; probably after he felt intense pressure from all the glares of the nearby mercenaries landing on him.


    They almost died from Hans¡¯s poison bomb, after all. And judging from the overall atmosphere, they were more than likely worried about the merchant saying something dumb to piss me off.


    The truth was, I was rather intrigued by him.


    My [Mind¡¯s Eye] returned the results of him possessing the attribute of ¡®alchemy¡¯. It was one of the techniques employed during the magic tool manufacturing process.


    A profession where you used the neutral energy source called Mana to manufacture medicines and magic tools which utilised either divinity or demonic energy. I found that quite interesting.


    ¡°According to the mercenaries, you¡¯re a merchant and an Alchemist?¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes. I am.¡±


    ¡°Your wares seem rather excellent.¡±


    Hans¡¯s eyes began gleaming once I praised him a bit. It seemed that he was a bit on the gullible side.


    2


    I carried on talking to him in a slightly flattering tone of voice. ¡°Indeed, your products seem quite useful. If it¡¯s alright with you, I wouldn¡¯t mind purchasing some of them.¡±


    ¡°O-of course! I have many varied wares to choose from. Such as the crystal sphere containing poison that will explode, a goggle to detect any traps lying in wait, and also¡­¡±


    Hans sounded quite excited as he began introducing his products. Now that I heard him, several of his things really did sound useful.


    ¡°I wish to learn alchemy as well. Is it possible?¡±


    Hans flinched upon hearing that.


    He replied while cautiously minding my reaction. ¡°That¡­ will be difficult, sir. My family forbids the passing of our alchemy skills to someone who is not of our descendant¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I-I¡­ I apologise!¡±


    Hans quickly prostrated on the ground.


    I could only smack my lips at his reaction.


    Well, it wasn¡¯t as if I planned to force him into teaching me alchemy anyway. The important thing right now was to learn the current situation between Aslan and the Theocratic Empire rather than studying some alchemy.


    Okay, enough of these side distractions. Time to get to the main topic.


    I asked the one thing I was dying to know to the nearby mercenaries. ¡°In your view, how does this kingdom¡¯s situation look to you?¡±


    I deliberately asked in a vague manner. Since they saw me as a noble of Aslan, I should play along to their misconceptions.


    The mercenaries tensed up even more.


    A lengthy bout of silence later, Kasal finally opened his mouth as thick cold sweat drops trickled down his face. ¡°I-if you¡¯re referring to the war between Aslan and the Theocratic Empire, then of course, our great and noble Aslan is on the winning streak!¡±


    I was a bit flustered by that reply. I was initially sceptical of the Theocratic Empire being on the losing side, but then it occurred to me that Kasal only said that to hopefully please the ¡®noble¡¯ of this country.


    Damon also seemed a little taken aback by Aslan¡¯s situation and paid closer attention as well.


    I spoke up again. ¡°I pray that you answer me honestly. I¡¯m simply curious. I merely wish to find out what the citizens are thinking of, that¡¯s all.¡±


    The mercenaries began exchanging glances with each other after hearing what I had to say.


    Another bout of silence ensued until Hans decided to butt in. ¡°Apparently, we¡¯re in the middle of a negotiation, sir.¡±


    ¡°Negotiation, is it?¡±


    I stared at Hans.


    He continued on. ¡°As you may well know, Aslan has taken hostage of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s Second Crown Princess Consort and the Imperial Princes.¡±


    So, both Ruppel and Rose were now hostages?


    ¡°Even then, the empire didn¡¯t stop their invasion, bringing much hardship and suffering to the kingdom¡¯s subjects. Five cities have already been burned to the ground and created countless refugees. We keep losing in the war, and despite Aslan¡¯s continued threats, none of them seem to work, so from this humble one¡¯s perspective¡­ the subjects should be resenting his majesty by now.¡±


    That sounded about right. Knowing the Holy Emperor¡¯s personality, threats wouldn¡¯t work on him.


    You don¡¯t want to release the Imperial Prince? Invade away.


    1


    Making threats using the Imperial Prince as a hostage? Burn down a city.


    1


    Injured the Imperial Prince in some way? Send a warning by ripping off the limbs of countless captured nobles.


    1


    And the Imperial Prince is about to get killed? No more negotiations, then.


    6


    This invasion would never end until all of Aslan¡¯s nobles and its king were slaughtered into oblivion, leaving not one alive.


    Aslan¡¯s leadership should have realised that point by now.


    If they wanted to end the war, it¡¯d be only normal to send back both Ruppel and Rose home. However, seeing that there was no mention of that¡­


    ¡°Honestly speaking, I¡¯m rather suspicious of Aslan¡¯s rulers even holding the Imperial Princes and the Second Crown Princess Consort captive, sir. There¡¯s a certain rumour doing its rounds among the kingdom¡¯s subjects at the moment.¡±


    What Hans said just then caused an outbreak of cold sweat to flood out from the mercenaries. Mainly because he basically declared his distrust of the kingdom just now, that¡¯s why.


    This dude, even I could tell that he wasn¡¯t the most quick-witted person in the group who obviously enjoyed needlessly blabbing away whenever he had a chance.


    Since it was good for me either way, I let him be. ¡°Oh-hoh, that certainly is interesting. What kind of a rumour is it?¡±


    ¡°That both the princes and the crown princess consort are missing. The rumour says his majesty King Rahamma wishes to stop the Theocratic Empire by any means necessary, and so, he is currently scouring the land for their whereabouts. His agents are supposedly moving in secret, but if that is so, then we wouldn¡¯t have any rumours to begin with.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    Seeing how the rumours had spread among the populace like this, should I take that as Aslan being dead serious about finding them?


    With how things were already at this level, the odds of the Theocratic Empire cottoning onto the rumour were pretty high, too. And that¡¯s probably more reason for the Holy Emperor to go on an even crazier rampage.


    ¡°From what I hear, the Third and Seventh Imperial Princes, the sword king Oscal Baldur and the Second Crown Princess Consort, have all gone missing, sir. And both the Theocratic Empire and Aslan are searching high and low for them.¡±


    Hans¡¯s talkative streak caused the mercenaries to keep a close watch on any visible changes to my mood.


    Kasal sidled up to me, and then tried to whisper to Damon and me. ¡°Honourable sirs, y-you can simply ignore this fool. All of it is nothing more than some hot air of a¡­¡±


    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s alright. I find it rather interesting. In any case, do carry on.¡±


    When I reacted positively, Hans¡¯s talkativeness became even more belligerent. He continued blabbing about everything he knew.


    I was constantly amazed during his lengthy monologues.


    This guy, he somehow managed to keep his life this far. I mean, judging from either his attitude when dealing with a noble or how loose his lips was, his lifespan should¡¯ve been cut short by now.


    Maybe he enjoyed pretty great luck or something.


    As Hans noticed how attentive I was, he suddenly stood up from his spot while looking clearly excited about something. ¡°Ah, by the way, good sir. I have portraits as well.¡±


    ¡°Portraits, is it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a bunch of portraits featuring the faces of the missing Imperial Family members!¡±


    This time, it was my turn to flinch in surprise.


    ¡°Of course, these are nothing more than carpets for the major nobles to step on. Honestly speaking, I believe their real appearances are a little different from the depictions.¡± After he said that, Hans walked up to his wagon and pulled out a single portrait from his luggage. ¡°These portraits were drawn up to insult the Imperial Family, you see. Nobles use them as carpets so that they could walk all over the faces of the Imperials. Sure, they are humorously caricatured to some degree, but you can still make out the general outline of¡­ Huh?¡±


    I lightly dusted myself while standing back up.


    Riiight, so¡­ How should I handle this?


    2


    I leisurely walked up to Hans. He was rooted to the spot, busy alternating his gaze between the portrait and my face.


    ¡°Uh? Eh? Huh?¡±


    He seemed to be confused and dazed at the moment.


    I placed my arm around Hans¡¯s shoulders and quietly pressed down on him. Then, I took a peek at the portrait held in his hands.


    ¡°¡­Ohh, for some reason it¡¯s a bit different from the face that I know of. I mean, the real deal is a lot more handsome than this drawing, wouldn¡¯t you say? Actually, isn¡¯t this quite uncanny? You won¡¯t tell the difference unless the real thing is right next to the portrait!¡±


    ¡°W-well, that¡­ that, that is¡­ Ha-haha¡­ No way?¡±


    ¡°No way what, exactly?¡±


    I smiled meaningfully at Hans.


    With a pair of trembling hands, he carefully folded the portrait away. As thick cold sweat drops rolled off his face, his whole body went stiff and he dared not to look at my face anymore.


    He finally squeaked some words out. ¡°N-no, it¡¯s nothing at all, good sir. I¡­ I haven¡¯t seen anything and heard nothing at all. T-that is why¡­!¡±


    As I thought, this guy enjoyed a run of great luck. Despite his loose lips and lightweight behaviour, he somehow managed to keep surviving in this harsh, unforgiving world.


    Unfortunately, his luck seemed to have finally run out this evening.


    A tall shadow suddenly appeared from behind Hans. A summoned skeleton stood there and reached out to firmly grab him by his shoulder.


    When the atmosphere fell off a cliff in an instant, the mercenaries flinched nastily, and as befitting a bunch of men with quick wits, hurriedly vacated their spots around the campfire.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we have a more measured, intimate conversation, just the two of us?¡±


    While I smiled oh-so happily at him, Hans¡¯s complexion became deathly pale.


    1


    More sweat flooded down from his face as he murmured one other thing in a weak voice, ¡°T-that alchemy thing, do you still wish to learn it, good sir?¡±


    3


    It was good to know that he was so willing to change his tune. Too bad, he seemed to be a bit tardy in that regard.


    I shook my head. ¡°Nah, I¡¯m good.¡±


    ¡°W-w-wait a moment, please!¡±


    He fell into a bout of a deep contemplation. He was probably searching for a way to keep breathing, or so I thought.


    No matter how dimwitted he was, he should be able to figure out by now that the current situation was rather precarious to his overall health.


    His eyes urgently shifted from this way and that before he suddenly clapped his hands as if he finally managed to recall something. ¡°Ah! B-by any chance, have you heard about the treasure trove hidden inside an ancient ruin?¡±


    ¡°An ancient ruin?¡±


    It was Damon who reacted this time.


    I glanced at him and then looked back at Hans.


    ¡°Y-yes! There is an ancient ruin suspected of being a ¡®dragon¡¯s lair¡¯.¡±


    2


    Hans rummaged through his inner pockets and eventually pulled out a small reptile¡¯s scale.


    ¡°This¡­ This is a scale of a dragon.¡±


    He swallowed back his dry saliva and addressed me.


    ¡°I, I can tell you where it is if you are interested.¡±


    < 068. Ancient Ruin -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 125 - 069. Ancient Ruin -2 (Part One)

    Tina stared at the skeleton and asked first.


    ¡°Are you¡­ a living soul?¡±


    The skeleton tilted its head this way and that at her question. Eventually, it shook its head to say no.


    ¡°¡­What is the substance that forms the basis of you?¡±


    The skeleton used its bony finger to scribble on the ground.


    [Divinity.]


    That sounded about right.


    A normal undead was usually a summoned creature and most of the time, its physical body consisted of demonic energy. That was why Necromancers preferred to utilise the existing physical body to preserve their demonic energy reserve rather than summon a fully-realised undead from the get-go.


    However, this story only applied to the ¡®physical body¡¯, of course.


    ¡°What about the soul?¡±


    The skeleton shook its head and scribbled on the ground with its finger once more.


    [We are newly created existences.]


    ¡°Meaning, you don¡¯t have a soul? How can you have ego in that case?¡±


    [We are simply ¡®will¡¯. Will, which possesses divinity. We merely follow our master.]


    The skeleton¡¯s glowing eyes locked on Tina.


    [Divinity, Mana, demonic energy, all have ¡®will¡¯.]


    Tina intently stared at the letters the skeleton had scribbled on the ground. The undead before her eyes was a combination of the summoner¡¯s powers and the divinity¡¯s will responding to his calling.


    1


    She sucked in her breath.


    There were too many points here that she couldn¡¯t understand with her limited pool of magic knowledge.


    Not only was Allen capable of performing Necromancy with divinity, he could also create skeletons possessing ego that didn¡¯t come equipped with souls. In addition, even though she had heard about Priests being able to turn regular water into holy water, never before did she hear about instances of someone creating holy water out of thin air.


    It was a method completely in opposition to the established way of commanding the undead which contained human souls dragged out from the depths of the netherworld. And then, he could also create holy water out of nothing that no other Saints in history managed to pull off.


    In just about every facet she could think of, he was just too disparate from everyone else. It was as if his powers were not from this world.


    ¡®Which can only mean¡­¡¯


    He was basically utilising the power of the gods, ¡®creation¡¯, at will.


    When her thoughts reached this far, her reverence of Allen suddenly swelled up even more.


    She was right! He was definitely no mere human being. There was simply no way that a normal human could perform acts of miracles like those!


    ¡°In that case, could it¡­¡±


    Tina was about to start asking another question, but then¡­


    ¡°Excuse me, Dark Elf? Are you asleep?¡±


    The voice belonging to Kasal, the mercenary group¡¯s leader, came from beyond the tent¡¯s flap. Tina stood up from the spot while feeling a little disappointed about the interruption.


    She opened the flap, stared at Kasal, and asked him directly. ¡°How can I help you?¡±


    The mercenary leader had this troubled expression as he looked back at Tina. ¡°Well, uh, what should I say here¡­ Although I¡¯m not sure a slave can resolve this, but uh¡­¡±


    Tina frowned a little at that word, ¡®slave¡¯. But Kasal simply ignored her reaction and carried on.


    ¡°You see, that idiot Hans is getting threatened by your master at the moment. I don¡¯t really care whether he dies or not, but he¡¯s still our employer for this trip, which means that if he¡¯s dead, we won¡¯t get paid later. I wondered if you can somehow persuade your master and have him calm down. Think of it as you doing a good deed of saving a person¡¯s life.¡±


    Tina¡¯s head tilted a little after listening to Kasal¡¯s request.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­ Wow! How long has it been since I shovelled like this?¡±


    Indeed, it had been a while since I held a shovel to dig a hole. A skeleton was helping me out at the moment.


    While pretending to wipe my sweat away from my brows, I looked behind me.


    ¡°Woo-wuhph?!¡±


    Mister Alchemist Hans, currently buck-naked and tied up with a gag in his mouth, was shivering away pathetically on the sand.


    I grinned brightly and cheerily waved at him.


    My skeletons walked over and dragged his naked body over to the freshly-dug pit, and nicely laid him down in there.


    Hans struggled mightily to free himself, but the only thing he got out of all that struggling was the loosely tied gag coming off his mouth.


    ¡°P-please don¡¯t kill me, good sir. All I heard or seen today, I won¡¯t tell a soul!¡±


    You don¡¯t have to worry so much, though. I¡¯m not actually planning to kill you. I just want to scare you a little, that¡¯s all.


    I suppressed my inner voice wanting to jump out of my mouth and slowly walked over to him with my shovel in hand. After squatting near the pit, I slung the shovel on my shoulder and lightly wiggled my legs around.


    I tried my best to imitate some third-rate hoodlum from a gangster movie, then addressed the Alchemist in a sarcastic tone of voice. ¡°Oh, and where¡¯s the guarantee that you¡¯ll keep your mouth shut forever?¡±


    ¡°I swear! I-I¡¯m even willing to swear on my soul¡­¡±


    ¡°Heh, in that case you can just die today and become an undead.¡± I clapped my hands and issued an order. ¡°Our guest wants a relaxing eternal slumber, gents. Shall we accommodate him?¡±


    The skeletons began carrying back the dug-up soil to the pit.


    ¡°N-no! That¡¯s definitely not true! Please spare me, sir! I truly will never tell anyone!¡±


    ¡°Buuuut, didn¡¯t you suddenly tell me that you were willing to teach me your family¡¯s secret alchemy knowledge, which is passed down only to your blood descendants? How can I believe the words of a fool like that?¡±


    Hans quickly responded as his complexion became ashen white. ¡°T-that was the only way I could keep my life! B-besides, didn¡¯t I also present you with an even better item? It isn¡¯t some trivial toy, but a dragon¡¯s scale! An actual dragon scale, sir!¡±


    After listening to him desperately plead his case like that, I took out that onyx-coloured scale in question. At a casual glance, it looked like a piece of really hard black rock.


    ¡°T-that scale came from the back shell of a dragon, sir. That little piece alone will fetch an enormous price! Didn¡¯t I say that I know where we can find a treasure trove filled with such items?¡±


    ¡°Oh? And where is this place, then?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Bury him.¡±


    2


    ¡°I-it¡¯s northwest from here, sir!¡±


    Just as the skeletons got ready to completely bury him, Hans desperately cried out.


    As I thought, he had loose lips, alright.


    My plan initially was to scare the bejesus out of him, but now¡­ I began to seriously entertain the idea of really burying his sorry ass out here in the middle of this vast desert. The possibility of this guy causing me a lot of headaches down the line if I let him off the hook was becoming a bit of concern.


    ¡°Uhm, excuse me¡­?¡±


    Tina and Damon walked up to me.


    While the Dark Elf girl alternated her gaze between me and Hans, the former Necromancer walked up to me and whispered in my ear, ¡°The location this man is talking about could be an ancient Aslan tomb, my lord. The odds of it being one are rather good. And if it¡¯s that kind of a location, then it wouldn¡¯t be so surprising to find a dragon¡¯s scale.¡±


    My curiosity perked up from what he said.


    A lair where a dragon lived? Could it be a tomb of a previous king or something in reality?


    I stared at Damon and asked. ¡°What kind of a place is that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s as the title implies, my lord.¡± He pulled out a book from Hans¡¯s wagon and presented it towards me. ¡°This is a written record of Aslan¡¯s ancient history. It speaks of the palaces of the ancient kings and also about the tombs where those kings were buried after their passing as well. Unfortunately, their precise locations aren¡¯t disclosed. The reason being that there were far too many grave robbers back then.¡±


    Tina and her good hearing must¡¯ve finished analysing the overall mood by now because she quickly butted into our conversation in the next moment. ¡°Not even the successive generations of the kings know about the locations of the ancient Aslan royal tombs, my lord. The records are just too ancient, and most of them are buried underneath the desert sand.¡±


    Damon continued flipping through the book before displaying a certain page before me. It was a drawing of a man sitting on a throne, accompanied by a small dragon next to him.


    ¡°There is an old tale of a dragon that is supposedly still protecting its master¡¯s tomb. I suspect that the scale could have come from that dragon, my lord.¡±


    ¡°Huh, so Aslan even reared dragons?¡±


    Tina replied this time. ¡°Back in the ancient times, of course.¡±


    Damon quickly added something else, ¡°Also, if it really is an ancient palace, then it could potentially provide a safe shelter for us to live.¡±


    They wanted to use such a place as their shelter?


    I asked Damon for some clarification. ¡°Isn¡¯t a dragon a really powerful creature? I mean, in fantasy novels, they can use all sorts of magic and speak human languages, and can even polymorph into human-like figures too, you know?¡±


    Damon seemed taken aback by that.


    ¡°What? Am I wrong?¡±


    ¡°Well, they are known for casting magic, yes, but such instances are extremely rare, my lord. In fact, the majority of them use their Breath, which is far more powerful than any existing magic, and that makes the dragons such dangerous existences to deal with.¡±


    ¡°Mm¡­¡±


    ¡°However, Aslan¡¯s ancient tomb¡­ Such a place should be safe as a dwelling for us. All sorts of security precautions are installed there to protect the contents within, after all.¡±


    The reason why Tina and Damon were accompanying me in the first place was to find a safe location for the slaves left behind in the temple to stay. And for that purpose, an ancient Aslan tomb would apparently be a pretty good fit.


    Was it because I showed some semblance of indecision? Hans shouted out as if this was his last chance at survival, ¡°There are definitely lots of treasures in there. Lots and lots of them!¡±


    I wasn¡¯t tempted whatsoever by the treasures, my man.


    This body of mine belonged to an Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, so why would I have issues with not enough wealth in the first place?


    I responded back to him. ¡°That place has a dragon living in it, right? Sure, it might be a little different from the dragons that I¡¯m familiar with, but still, I can¡¯t help but get this feeling that it¡¯s going to be a lot of hassle.¡±


    We were talking about a dragon¡¯s nest here. Rashly stepping foot in a place like that would be very dangerous for our health.

 Chapter 126 - 069. Ancient Ruin -2 (Part Two)

    Things like this happened pretty often in fantasy novels, didn¡¯t it? Humans intruding upon the dragon¡¯s lair would either get devoured by the creature or end up as spit-roasted lumps of charcoal.


    ¡°T-there shouldn¡¯t be any dragons there. I mean, what era are we even living in¡­¡±


    When Hans muttered that out, I glanced at Damon for confirmation.


    ¡°It¡¯s as he says, my lord. No one has witnessed a living dragon in our current era. It¡¯s just that various scales and bones of the dead dragons have been discovered, and those tell us that some must be still alive somewhere.¡±


    Hans frantically nodded when Damon explained to me.


    ¡°A man who sold that dragon¡¯s scale to me said this, sir. He said that he saw a living dragon inside the ancient ruin. However, he also made some outlandish claim about him fighting and fatally injuring the dragon before making his escape from the ruin,¡± Hans spoke with a face filled with confidence. ¡°But such a thing is utterly impossible, sir. Just how many people in this world are capable of fighting a dragon alone? Honestly, he probably got his hands on the scale from a dead dragon or some such.¡±


    1


    I contemplated deeply on everything I¡¯ve heard so far while staring at Hans. To be honest, I was getting rather suspicious of Hans¡¯s tale.


    So I asked him. ¡°If that¡¯s true, why did that man tell you all about this treasure trove in the first place?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because I helped him out, you see. More correctly, I¡¯m actually his life¡¯s saviour!¡±


    ¡°His life¡¯s¡­ saviour?¡±


    Hans nodded animatedly.


    During one of his travels, he ran into a man squatting in the middle of a barren landscape. The man was sitting there out of exhaustion after wandering around in the desert for too long. Apparently, Hans gave some water to him.


    2


    As a sign of gratitude, the man sold that dragon scale at a dirt-cheap price.


    ¡°Of course, that dirt-cheap price still took all of my life savings thus far,¡± Hans quipped at the end.


    ¡°Even then, wasn¡¯t that too easy? I mean, that man could¡¯ve gone back there later, right?¡±


    ¡°According to him, he was travelling the world to find his missing family member, sir. He told me that he was planning to leave Aslan soon and therefore, he does not have enough time to go back to the ruin.¡±


    2


    Along with the scale and the words of gratitude, the man then told Hans of the location to the ancient ruin.


    -It¡¯s really dangerous there, so I advise you to drop all thoughts of going there yourself. As a matter of fact, I advise you to just sell this information to a noble for a good price and move on.


    Those were the parting words of the mystery man.


    But this was a dragon¡¯s lair, wasn¡¯t it?


    Advising Hans to simply sell the information on a treasure trove to someone else ¨C now that was one hell of a crazy notion.


    Hans decided to take the gamble since he had already squandered away his fortune anyways. He sold off a portion of his remaining wares and hired the mercenaries to accompany him.


    ¡°According to the man, there is drinkable water and food in that location. I thought that there shouldn¡¯t be any real dragons in that place, and even if some monsters are hiding in there, they shouldn¡¯t be any more dangerous than some Goblins or Orcs. In that case, maybe I¡­¡±


    So¡­ He thinks there¡¯s no dragon to worry about, eh?


    I glanced at Damon and Tina. They seemed to be waiting for me to make a decision.


    At this rate, these two might tag along with me forever.


    Also, with the prospect of uncovering a potentially safe home for the slaves around the corner, it didn¡¯t seem all that cool to turn a blind eye and ignore everything I¡¯ve just heard.


    ¡°A-and, weren¡¯t you planning to stop by at a nearby settlement? If you wish to head to the ancient ruin, then it lies in the direction of a town, sir. Actually, it should be closer than reaching another city from this place.¡±


    It was a two-week trip from our current location to the city Hans came from, but we would only need a week if we headed to the nearest village via this ancient ruin, according to him.


    I continued staring at Hans.


    ¡°H-how about it? Aren¡¯t you at least a little tempted, sir?¡±


    I frowned deeply while staring at this guy¡¯s mug.


    He sure was one lucky punk, I thought.


    **


    Left with little choice, we ended up heading northwest from there.


    There was supposedly a village in that direction, one that was the closest to our current location, and we could potentially procure extra drinking water and some food on our way there, so I had no choice but to trust the words of this flaky merchant.


    Our group trudged forward for a few days, and sure enough, we did discover a huge pyramid-like structure buried under all that shifting sand.


    ¡°It, it¡¯s really here?!¡±


    Even the man who guided us here, Hans, seemed to be shocked beyond words. The mercenaries also looked rather excited as well.


    They all thought this trip would be in vain, yet they had really discovered an ancient ruin.


    The ruin was half-buried in the sand blown around by all the desert winds. I couldn¡¯t help but say something in admiration while staring at this structure, ¡°Well, it wasn¡¯t a total lie, at least.¡±


    Hans quickly responded to me. ¡°I do not know how to lie, sir.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh, so you were planning to truthfully run your mouth off that you saw me out here, then?¡±


    1


    He promptly clamped his mouth shut and shook his head.


    I ignored him for now and took a look around us.


    There didn¡¯t seem to be any water or food in this place. I couldn¡¯t help but feel that we wasted our time coming here. Could the slaves really live in such a location?


    I shifted my gaze over to Damon. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Since we came this far, I thought it¡¯d be better to listen to the opinion of a man who was basically in the same position as the rest of the refugees.


    Damon was nodding his head. He seemed to be quite satisfied by what he saw. ¡°It¡¯s wonderful, my lord. No one should be able to locate this place.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t see any food or water sources, though?¡±


    ¡°My lord, most of the time, ancient temples such as this one have waterways built underground. Although there is no guarantee that the water supply hasn¡¯t gone dry, as long as what Hans has told us is true, we should be able to find plants that will serve as a food source, as well as drinkable water inside the structure. I believe that it¡¯ll be a good idea to explore the ruin for the time being.¡±


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s get going, sir!¡±


    Hans hoisted up a huge bag and confidently took the lead.


    Once we entered a dark, unlit cavern, the mercenaries lit up some torches. As for me, I injected divinity into my eyes and enhanced my vision that way.


    We took a look around at our new surroundings.


    Spider webs could be found practically everywhere. Also, a narrow waterway was dug into the floor with water flowing through it.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s definitely drinkable water here. And also¡­¡±


    After saying that, I shifted my gaze back to our front.


    Existences with glowing eyes were hiding beyond the pitch-black darkness. They turned out to be spiders, as hundreds of eyes and dozens of legs emerged from said darkness.


    2


    Venomous spiders, each one as big as an adult man¡¯s head!


    1


    Damon and the mercenaries¡¯ faces hardened instantly. As for Tina and Hans, their complexions paled like a sheet of paper.


    However, I simply spat out some words of admiration instead, ¡°Huh. There¡¯s food here, too.¡±


    I had seen plenty of folks on TV willingly eat spiders. When you were stuck in a situation with no food, you shouldn¡¯t be discriminating on what you can or can¡¯t eat.


    Sure, you might feel a bit queasy at the prospect, but still¡­


    The venomous spiders leapt up, but I simply snapped my fingers.


    The skeletons were summoned immediately and began shooting eerie blue glows from their eye sockets. They wielded various weapons and started cutting the spiders down.


    The mercenaries had no need to step forward here.


    Once the skeletons finished dealing with the spiders, they took the torches away from the mercs and burned the spider webs to make way for us.


    ¡°A-as expected of you, Lord Allen!¡±


    One of the mercenaries tried to flatter me. Even as he tried so diligently to kiss my ass, the light in his eyes spoke of how excited he was right now.


    That¡¯s because the probability of a real treasure trove existing in this place was quite good, seeing that we were inside an actual ancient ruin. At least that¡¯s what I thought.


    Well, if you could get your hands on some treasure by eliminating a couple of spiders, then why wouldn¡¯t you be happy? I should be able to gain something from this venture, too.


    I figured that filling up my item window to the brim would be a good idea. Let¡¯s not forget, we were talking about an ancient tomb of Aslan here, so I might find one or two never-before-seen Necromancy grimoires.


    We walked past the narrow passageway and eventually ran into a massive doorway. Once my skeletons forced the door open, a huge hallway greeted us.


    The very first thing to catch my eyes was a stone statue about five metres in height. A set of metal armour covered it from top to bottom, and it even had a helm placed on its head. There was only one eyehole, though. Its arms were across its chest while holding a pair of curved longswords.


    All sorts of murals were painted on the surrounding walls while intricately carved statues were lined up in front of them.


    I felt like a tourist visiting an Egyptian tomb or something.


    ¡°Oh, ohhh! Isn¡¯t that¡­!¡± Hans gasped out in pure amazement and approached the huge statue. ¡°Truly incredible! Look at its intricate construction! Imagine how much coin it will fetch if I manage to sell it! And besides all that, it might even be a magic tool judging from how it permeates with demonic energy. What kind of functionality does this thing have, I wonder?¡±


    When I heard him yap on, I ended up tilting my head.


    There was a magic cast on that statue? Really?


    I activated [Mind¡¯s Eye]. If magic was active on it, then I should be able to tell what it was.


    [Cyclops Golem.


    Attributes: Petrification, crushing, severing, the guardian of the crypt.]


    What a simplistic information window that was.


    ¡­Hang on a sec. Could that thing be¡­?


    Hans was animatedly jumping up and down on his spot. But just as he began stroking the statue, a sharp light suddenly gleamed from within the lone eyehole in the helm.


    I watched this spectacle unfold and could only mutter to myself.


    ¡°¡­Argh, gimme a freaking break.¡±


    The pair of curved swords crossed in front of its chest were raised up high, before their sharp blades slammed down on Hans.


    < 069. Ancient Ruin -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 127 - 070. Guardian of the Tomb (Part One)

    ¡°Uh? Eh?¡±


    At first, fluster, then horror rapidly filled up Hans¡¯s eyes.


    Just as he began stumbling back from horror, something tripped his legs from behind. He lost his balance and kissed the ground with his butt.


    With a gap as narrow as a single strand of hair, a large blade sliced the empty air just above his head.


    He dazedly stared at the skeleton that rescued him and muttered out, ¡°A h-holy skeleton! I knew it, my eyes didn¡¯t deceive me back then!¡±


    Dude, this isn¡¯t the right time to get amazed!


    The Cyclops Golem raised its sword once more.


    While observing the statue, I shouted out. ¡°Rescue!¡±


    My skeletons quickly made their next moves. They bent down and grabbed Hans¡¯s arms before pulling him back up to his feet.


    ¡°Restrict!¡±


    The other skeletons used their steel chains and tied up the Cyclops Golem¡¯s limbs.


    ¡°Punish!¡±


    The holy skeletons leapt up from the left and right sides before elegantly swinging their blades at the Golem¡¯s chest.


    A loud metallic clang rang out, and the huge Golem stumbled back. However, the skeletons were wincing away while looking at their swords after landing back on the ground.


    The blades forged by the dwarves had cracked, that¡¯s why.


    Hans urgently shouted out at this sight. ¡°That creature¡¯s exterior has elements of Eltera mixed in, sir! That metal is tougher than any forged steel, and it also possesses resistance against magic as well! Regular swords can¡¯t possibly damage that thing¡¯s armour!¡±


    Blooming hell, it¡¯s one thing after another, isn¡¯t it? You telling me that my dwarf-made weapons are useless against that statue?


    When the Cyclops Golem swung around the swords held in both of its hands, the holy skeletons quickly raised their shields to try and defend against the attacks. However, they failed to withstand the impact force generated from the large blades smashing into their shields and got blown away to crash into the nearby walls.


    ¡°Wha-what?!


    The mercenaries also raised their shields in alarm. They tried to protect themselves from the merciless hackings of the Golem, but unfortunately, their limbs and bodies were easily chopped apart like blocks of tofu.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡±


    The merc leader, Kasal, screamed in horror as he watched his comrades get picked off and suffer miserable deaths. He urgently turned around to escape from the chamber. However, when he got to the doorway, he realised that the gate was closed shut. The exit had been sealed tightly while we were being distracted by the Golem¡¯s rampage.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?! Why isn¡¯t it opening already?!¡±


    Despite Kasal¡¯s desperate pounding on the sealed door, it didn¡¯t even budge an inch.


    ¡°Lady Tina! Come this way¡­!¡±


    Damon took Tina and quickly hid behind one of the tall and wide pillars. They raised their staves and got ready to use magic.


    Meanwhile, my summoned skeletons kitted out in full armour and shields, faced the Cyclops Golem. I extracted my musket rifle and went behind the same pillar as well, and while leaning against it, began offering a prayer.


    It was right about the same time that the Cyclops Golem¡¯s lone eye began ¡®burning¡¯ in an eerie crimson hue, followed almost immediately by a single ray of crimson beam.


    The skeletons raised their shields again to defend against this new attack.


    However, when the ray and their shields collided¡­


    ¡­The shields and the skeletons gradually turned into stone.


    ¡°What the heck is that?!¡±


    I sucked in a cold breath at that sight.


    Damon, currently hugging Tina tightly while pressing his back against the pillar, replied. ¡°It¡¯s petrification magic, my lord!¡±


    Petrification magic, is it? Was it similar to Medusa¡¯s glare from the Greek myths?


    ¡°Hang on, won¡¯t I die instantly if that thing hits me just once?¡±


    What kind of an unfair cheat was this?!


    Damon continued with his explanation as cold sweat drops trickled down his face. ¡°That magic envelops its victims in a hardened layer of stone, my lord. If you are unfortunate enough to be struck by that beam, rather than you turning into a stone statue, you¡¯ll instead burn to death from the excruciating heat or suffocate from being unable to breathe!¡±


    Huh, so it¡¯s like a ¡®rapid-dry concrete¡¯ ray, then?


    I shifted my gaze to another pillar over yonder. Hans was there, still alive and leaning against it.


    I called out to him. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you have any useful items on you?¡±


    ¡°Pardon? Ah, please hold on.¡±


    Hans placed his large bag down and began pulling out all sorts of junk from inside it. I used [Mind¡¯s Eye] to check out his things.


    [Poison Bomb], [Goggles that sees magic circuitry], [Warp Scroll], plus various books and other knick-knacks; despite being an Alchemist, he didn¡¯t seem to have all that many useful stuff, as far as I could tell.


    ¡°Hey, hand over those three items to me.¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon? B-but¡­?¡± Although Hans tossed the Poison Bomb and the goggles in my direction, he held onto the Warp Scroll. ¡°This is incredibly expensive, sir.¡±


    ¡°It looks to me like some cheap-ass product that will only warp you three metres or less, though? Just hand it over, will ya?!¡±


    Honestly, when compared to the warp magic Nasus used, that thing didn¡¯t even deserve to have the same spell name.


    ¡°How can you say that¡­?! This is one of my life¡¯s masterpieces, sir! Eh? How do you know about its function?¡±


    ¡°Just shut up and give it to me already. Or you wanna end up as a dead statue too?¡±


    Hans eventually tossed the Warp Scroll in my direction.


    As the Cyclops Golem continued approaching us while shooting out that crimson beam, I put the goggles on and stared at the moving statue. I could ¡®see¡¯ the flow of demonic energy in and around that thing.


    I spotted some kind of a gemstone-like object embedded near the Golem¡¯s eye. It seemed to function as its brain.


    I quickly injected divinity into the crystal sphere named [Poison Bomb]. Our opponent was a statue, so a bomb permeating with demonic energy wouldn¡¯t be anywhere remotely enough to eliminate it. However, the story should be somewhat different if it¡¯s a purified holy water bomb.


    I threw the sphere which now contained holy water at the Golem. It clattered onto the statue¡¯s chest and exploded spectacularly. The huge moving statue wobbled unsteadily and temporarily stopped shooting that crimson ray. It even began shaking its head.


    That¡¯s my opening!


    I activated [Divine Aura] and temporarily ¡®enhanced¡¯ the Warp Scroll.


    The moment I ripped the scroll up, my body split apart into tiny particles and teleported elsewhere. My destination was right above the Cyclops Golem¡¯s head.


    I stabilised myself by standing on the Golem¡¯s shoulders, then grabbed the damn thing¡¯s head with one hand and used my other to aim the musket¡¯s muzzle right at its large eye.


    ¡°Hey, as*hole, it¡¯s time to die.¡±


    I pulled the trigger.


    The holy bullet fired out from the muzzle and struck its target, causing the back of the Golem¡¯s head to explode. It stumbled back before suddenly going crazy. It reached up to grab me, but right at that very moment, numerous cracks began running throughout the Golem¡¯s huge body, and eventually, the entire thing just crumbled down to pieces.


    I wobbled a bit but still managed to stay on my feet above the debris of the broken-down statue. I looked around the vicinity, but by then, all the mercenaries were already dead. Some had their bodies chopped up to bloody chunks, while the rest had turned into stone statues themselves.


    I shifted my gaze over to the exit only to find the mercenary¡¯s leader, Kasal, had also turned into a statue as well, forever frozen in the middle of pounding on the door.


    ¡°Is¡­ is it over now?¡±


    Hans peeked his head out from around the pillar.


    Damon brought Tina out from their hiding spot, then while alternating his gaze between me and the destroyed Cyclops Golem, sighed deeply in admiration.


    It was then, the hallway began shaking ominously. Crumbs of debris began falling from the ceiling, and then the whole thing gradually started coming down on top of us.


    ¡°Really now?! Give me a break.¡±


    We came here to explore some ancient tomb, but at this rate, I might as well shoot the next sequel in the Indi*na Jones franchise or something.


    While looking at my skeletons, I quietly massaged my temples. They broke apart Kasal¡¯s statue and struggled mightily to pry open the exit. Eventually, though, they gave up and shook their heads.


    Left with no other choice now, I looked for another exit. Sure enough, there was a small doorway right behind where the Cyclops Golem used to stand.


    ¡°Huh, so you want us to enter even deeper inside, is that it?¡±


    It was as if the tomb itself tried to encourage any would-be invaders to willingly throw themselves into the next trap.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here, everyone. Otherwise we¡¯ll all be crushed to death!¡±


    Hans called out to us and then hurriedly placed his stuff away in the bag.


    In the meantime, I picked up a portion of debris that used to form the Cyclops Golem. By using the trio of [Mind¡¯s Eye], [Divine Aura] and Hans¡¯s goggles, I was able to analyse its magic composition quite easily.


    I stared at the magic stone within the debris for a little while before heading towards the exit. Tina and Damon quickly followed after me.

 Chapter 128 - 070. Guardian of the Tomb (Part Two)

    **


    Whether it was in the past or the present, it seemed to me that folks like emperors and kings just loved to show off their might to the world.


    For instance, the ancient pharaohs of Egypt had giant pyramids built for them, while China¡¯s Qin Shi Huang had all those terracotta soldiers made.


    And the story seemed to be largely the same for the kings of this world, too. Not only were we inside a giant pyramid, we even discovered relics that kind of resembled a terracotta army in this place.


    I raised the torch up and explored the dark interior of the pyramid.


    The vibe I got while looking around this place was that it resembled a ¡®factory¡¯. From a smithy meant to manufacture various weapons, to a laboratory designed to research magic, and even a workshop to construct siege weapons, etc¡­


    On top of that, there had to be thousands of finished weapons and various other equipment, as well as hundreds of chariots and bones of horses that would¡¯ve towed them, all strewn about everywhere we looked.


    Heck, we even spotted several incomplete bits of Cyclops Golems lying around here and there, too.


    ¡°For sure, this place is a treasure trove, alright.¡±


    At least it would be for Aslan, considering its foundation was built up on the backs of the Necromancers. Despite thousands of years having passed by, these things still retained their exquisite detailing to this day.


    If it was an Aslan noble discovering this tomb, then that lucky individual would¡¯ve become the possessor of an incredible military might.


    Even Damon was scanning our surroundings with an entranced expression on his face. ¡°Truly amazing, my lord. Never mind a fallen noble house, an ancient ruin of this calibre should be more than enough to serve as a foundation for a fallen dynasty to rise up once more.¡±


    I took out a jerky from the item window and munched on it. Even while doing that, I couldn¡¯t stop glancing at the bits of the Cyclops Golems lying around. ¡°I wonder, can these things move?¡±


    Damon walked up to one of the statues and closely studied it. ¡°I believe it will be quite difficult, my lord. Not only does it boast a highly complicated architecture, it also demands quite a lot of demonic energy to operate. Unfortunately, I currently have no clue on how to activate it.¡±


    After hearing his brief explanation, I picked up the ¡®gemstone¡¯ that belonged to the Cyclops Golem. By now, I had more or less figured out its structure and the flow of magical energy. If it¡¯s the current me, I should be able to bring one of these statues to life.


    I knelt down slightly and placed my hand on the statue¡¯s head.


    Meanwhile, Hans was looking around the vicinity.


    As befitting an Alchemist, his curiosity-filled eyes continued studying and taking in the various relics found inside the structure. His wandering gaze eventually spotted a ¡®coffin¡¯ hanging on the nearby wall, and he began tilting his head in puzzlement.


    After taking a few steps back, he raised the lit torch even higher.


    The light from the torch chased away the darkness around him, revealing a wall¡¯s surface adorned by hundreds, nay, over a thousand coffins as if they were some kind of a macabre decoration.


    Hans glanced behind him while an expression of concern gradually formed on his face. ¡°U-uhm, excuse me? C-can you come and take a look at this¡­?¡±


    Tina heard Hans¡¯s shaky voice and looked at the coffins as well.


    Dust blew out from the slightly ajar coffin lid, and a ghostly pair of glares began gleaming sharply underneath.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    The first things to wiggle and crawl out from the open gap were creepy insects. Almost right after that, a rotting hand shot out from the gap of the coffin.


    A creature with glowing eyes was forcibly prying open the coffin lid to emerge from its millenniums-old slumber.


    ¡°Damon, it¡¯s an undead!¡±


    Tina¡¯s cry prompted Damon to flinch in surprise, and he hurriedly looked around his vicinity.


    As the lids of the thousand-plus coffins opened up, the reanimated corpses began crawling out.


    These creatures were called ¡®mummies¡¯. Dirty bandages were wrapped tightly around their bodies to hide the rotting flesh underneath. Damon sucked in his cold breath after recognising what those things were.


    ¡°Mummies! Were they still protecting the tomb after all this time?!¡±


    He became flustered. Even if this was an ancient ruin, he never guessed that so many guardians would still be active and were protecting the tomb inside.


    ¡°Lord Allen!¡±


    Tina hurriedly called out to Allen. But the boy was currently focusing his divinity with his eyes closed. He seemed to be preparing something.


    The mummies opened the lids of their coffins located high up on the tall walls and fell hard to the ground with loud thuds. However, they simply shuffled back up to their feet as the creepy glares oozed out from their eye sockets.


    The tottering horde of mummies reached out and grasped the weapons hanging on the walls. Even the bones of the dead horses were reanimated into the skeleton horses; the mummies connected a chariot to the numerous four-legged undead and climbed aboard the vehicle.


    When the eerie glowing eyes were locked on the quartet of living invaders, the group was frozen stiff in their spots. The mummies¡¯ eyes eventually landed on Allen, who was still injecting divinity into a statue.


    He was to be the first target of the undead.


    One of the mummies began stumbling forward. At first, its steps were slow but it gradually gained pace, and eventually, it broke into a frenzied leap.


    The ends of the bandages tightly wrapped around the creature whipped in the air as the mummy dashed forward. Just before it could take a swing at its target with a sword, Tina stood in the undead¡¯s path.


    She injected divinity into her staff and slammed it down on the ground. Withered tree branches broke out from the surface and wrapped around the mummy.


    ¡°Damon! We must protect Lord Angel!¡±


    ¡°Understood, my lady!¡±


    Damon rushed towards the bound mummy and smashed it down with his own staff.


    Meanwhile, Hans hurriedly hid behind them and began rummaging through his bag once more. ¡°T-the thing that works wonders with the undead¡­ Ah, here it is!¡±


    He pulled out some silver powder and quickly poured it on the ground.


    Despite all the commotion taking place around him, Allen continued to keep his eyes closed in silence.


    His right hand rested on top of the statue¡¯s head, while his left was holding the gemstone that would¡¯ve served as the Cyclops Golem¡¯s brain.


    [Divine Aura has been used.]


    He used [Divine Aura] to temporarily enhance the performance of the Golem. He then used [Mind¡¯s Eye] to analyse and detect the flow of demonic energy in the statue.


    As if he was reading a skill book in a game, knowledge began flooding into his mind.


    And then¡­


    A light flickered within the Cyclops Golem¡¯s lone eye.


    [You are now operating a Cyclops Golem.]


    [A new skill has been generated.]


    -Ku-oooooh!


    Two pairs of skeleton horses snorted out as they roughly neighed and dashed forward, flinging away the rows of mummies standing before them. Their target was Allen and his group.


    The mummy riding on the chariot raised and pointed a lengthy spear, while the skeleton horses reared up high to stomp down with their hooves.


    It was as if the group would get crushed at any given moment now.


    The chariot and the horses dashed in too fast, leaving the invaders no time to defend themselves.


    ¡°Heot?!¡±


    ¡°Lady Tina, it¡¯s dangerous!¡±


    ¡°Lord Angel, we must protect Lord Angel!¡±


    While Hans was hugging his head in terror, Damon stepped forward before Tina to protect her. Meanwhile, she quickly turned her head behind out of her fear for Allen¡¯s safety, only for a huge hand to brush past her view.


    Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she hurriedly looked up. There it was, a huge statue at least five metres tall.


    A Cyclops Golem had come to life.


    The huge Golem covered in sturdy armour grabbed and tossed aside a pair of skeleton horses, causing the chariot to crash and overturn. The remaining pair struggled mightily. However, the large statue simply stomped on the skeleton horses and the mummy aboard the chariot with its feet and crushed them out of existence.


    When the huge Cyclops Golem began making its move, the mummies raised their heads and stared at it.


    The lone glow within the huge statue¡¯s eye hole seemed to burn brightly.


    ¡°This is the beginning of round two, folks.¡±


    Allen was riding on the statue¡¯s shoulder with an evil grin etched on his face.


    A petrification ray exploded out from the Golem and began turning the mummies into stone statues. Countless mummies thrust forward with their spears, but none of them managed to inflict a single scratch on the Cyclops Golem.


    Unfortunately, just as the Golem began crushing the mummies by relying on its overwhelming strength¡­


    -Ku-ooooooooooh!


    A roar so loud that it threatened to burst everyone¡¯s eardrums rang out from somewhere within the ancient ruin. That monstrous howl contained a dense killing intent.


    Tina, Damon, and Hans froze up on the spot in an instant as fear overtook their senses.


    A creature was slowly revealing itself from beyond the darkness. A creature so huge that even Allen, who was still riding on the huge statue¡¯s shoulder, had to raise his head to take a good look at it.


    By the time all four of them regained some of their wits and peered at the darkness, the massive monster had fully emerged out into the dim light.


    A humongous body and equally large bat-like wings, arms and legs thick and muscular enough to easily crush a giant. And then, a pair of horns jutting out from its crown as if to symbolise the majestic aura befitting the mightiest living creature currently in existence.


    It was a dragon.


    Allen muttered out, ¡°¡­It¡¯s only round two, yet we¡¯re already facing the last boss?¡±


    The guardian of this ancient ruin was glaring at the human boy as heavy breaths tinged with flames leaked out from its maw.


    < 070. Guardian of the Tomb (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 129 - 71. Skeleton King -1 (Part One)

    [Name: ??? (Black Dragon)


    Age: ???


    Attributes: Dragon¡¯s Breath, wide-area magic, transcendental physique. Starving. Currently suffering from a fatal wound.]


    Hey, this is so wrong, ain¡¯t it? Wasn¡¯t I told that there wouldn¡¯t be a bloody dragon here?


    I stared dazedly at the Black Dragon.


    It was over ten metres tall and its body was even longer than its height. The way the army of mummies stood in front of the creature reminded me of an evil dragon from a fairy tale or some such.


    I couldn¡¯t help but cower from the intense pressure the dragon emitted.


    I made it through all sorts of trials and tribulations up until this point, but now it seemed that I would have to fight a dang dragon of all things.


    However, I was puzzled by something. A line among the attributes caught my eyes. More specifically, that bit about ¡®suffering from a fatal wound¡¯.


    For sure, I noticed that the dragon¡¯s condition was a bit weird. Its back shell was visibly cracked apart while there was a large hole on the scales covering its belly.


    It was at this point that I recalled what Hans told me earlier.


    ¡­You know, that story about a traveller fighting against a dragon.


    What the heck, could it be that that tale was actually true?!


    Crazy son of a gun! How strong was that man that he could fight and injure the dragon to this extent before getting out of here alive?


    Even though I was freaking out inside, I still didn¡¯t forget to check out the dragon¡¯s expression. It was cruelly distorted and its eyes were glaring straight at me as if it couldn¡¯t control its rage at all.


    Well, if I were to make a guess, its rage must be because of that wound.


    The Black Dragon didn¡¯t even hesitate for a second before mouthing roiling flames within its black maw. After sensing the flow of enormous demonic energy gathering there, I instinctively realised that there was no way I or anyone else would be able to deal with the incoming attack.


    ¡°Block that!¡±


    While shouting out, I jumped off from the Cyclops Golem¡¯s shoulder.


    The crimson glow within the Golem¡¯s eye intensely sizzled before the laser-like beam shot out. At the same time, the dragon fired its Breath as well.


    The petrification ray and the Breath collided in the air. However, the magic that turned its victim into stone was hopelessly outmatched by the overwhelming might of the dragon¡¯s Breath, and it got ruthlessly pushed back.


    Flames enveloped the Cyclops Golem¡¯s body, and the statue covered its hands around my body to protect me from the attack to the best of its abilities.


    ¡°Gimme a freaking break!¡±


    The intense heat was causing thick sweat drops to flood down my skin.


    While using the Cyclops Golem¡¯s big body as a shield, I began injecting divinity into my body. My consciousness threatening to fade away from the heat finally came back to me after I did that.


    What a relief it was that the armour surrounding the Golem was this metal called ¡®Eltera¡¯. It apparently had strong innate resistance against magic so it should be able to endure for a while. Any regular metal would¡¯ve melted away in a matter of seconds, and even if I got lucky with the Breath being somehow kept away from my body, I would have still died from the intense heat.


    But even with the special metal, the Cyclops Golem couldn¡¯t seem to withstand the dragon¡¯s Breath for too long as its surface began melting down into a goo.


    Okay, now what?


    ¡°Do I need to use the relics?¡±


    If I used Amon¡¯s relics then I should probably be able to deal with the dragon. However, my issue would be with the side effects of using them.


    Other than the toll on my physical body, there wasn¡¯t any other major backlash to worry about when using only the skull. But the serious problems would no doubt arise by using both the grimoire and the staff.


    I was already quite familiar with the severity of the overlapped side effects when using the skull and grimoire at the same time. Unless I train myself to withstand the backlash, I would have to spend at least the next three months as a vegetable again.


    Just the strain of using two relics was that bad, so if I used the staff on top of that, then well, let¡¯s just say that the possibility of losing my life would be too uncomfortably high for my liking.


    It was then, the Breath suddenly stopped. I stared at the dragon through the open gaps of the Cyclops Golem¡¯s fingers.


    The Black Dragon was busy flapping its wings, and the countless balls of flames and vast quantities of icy-cold air were swirling and spinning all around the creature.


    ¡­Who the hell was it? Who the hell was the idiot that said dragons can¡¯t use magic?!


    ¡°Bloody hell?! Buy me some time!¡±


    The Cyclops Golem¡¯s body creaked and stuttered like a broken doll when it turned around. It forced its melted-down torso to move and fire another ray of petrification beam.


    The attack hit the Black Dragon and some part of its outer skin began solidifying into stone. But at the same time, the dragon¡¯s magic attacks came flying in.


    The flame balls heated up the Golem in an instant, then the spears of ice completely shattered its chest. The massive stone statue began crumbling down to bits and pieces.


    ¡°Seriously now?!¡±


    I pulled out Amon¡¯s grimoire and enhanced it with [Divine Aura].


    There was no more time to worry about the backlash or whatever anymore. I mean, we were about to be turned into roasted charcoal, so what other choice did I have left at this stage?!


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia!¡±


    Not just [Divine Aura] on the grimoire, but I also overlapped its effects with a prayer as well.


    But right at that moment, one of the stray magic attacks from the dragon came flying towards my direction. I had no time to defend against that.


    I couldn¡¯t even dodge. If that thing hits me, I¡¯d either get grievously injured or worse, instantly kick the bucket!


    As I stood there frozen, plants broke through from the ground and their stems quickly wrapped around my body before yanking me towards the rear.


    The spear of ice summoned by the dragon barely missed me by a hair¡¯s breadth.


    I looked behind and spotted Tina using magic to control the plants that were currently moving me around. The mummies in my surroundings tried to pounce on me, but the plants sealed their movements in order to protect me.


    Thanks to her, I managed to live through that.


    While I got dragged on the ground, I began pouring out divinity from my body. Holy water was generated in the place I was in. At the same time, my army of undead began crawling out from the surfaces of the water.


    I called out. ¡°Stop the dragon!¡±


    The holy skeletons rushed towards the Black Dragon while the banshees nocked energy arrows on their bowstrings.


    Since they were merely low-level undeads, I knew that they wouldn¡¯t last a couple of seconds against the dragon.


    The plant stems carried me over to where Tina and the rest of the group were. Once I reached the destination, the plants broke down and I regained my freedom of movement.


    I sighed with relief and spoke to Tina, ¡°Thanks. You saved my life just now.¡±


    Even though Tina looked exhausted, she still flinched from my compliment and began nodding her head energetically.


    While gripping her staff tightly with both of her hands, she spoke up valiantly. ¡°I-I do not know if I can be any use to you, but I¡¯ll do my best to assist you.¡±


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll leave the mummies to you. Stop them as long as possible and buy me as much time as you can.¡±


    My undead legion would only be able to hold up the dragon for a little while. To stop the mummies, I required help from both Tina and Damon.


    The two of them nodded while looking clearly determined.


    Hans stood behind them with a deeply-scared face. He asked me nervously. ¡°W-what about me? What should I do, sir?¡±


    ¡°Warp Scrolls.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Hand over all the scrolls you have.¡±


    Hans hurriedly rummaged through his bag and pulled out four Warp Scrolls before passing them onto me.


    I used the warp magic to teleport near the Cyclops Golems as quickly as possible. As soon as reaching the statues, I placed my hand on their torsos and began activating them one at a time.


    While doing this, I couldn¡¯t move my body, so this was where Tina and Damon¡¯s assistance came to play. She used the plants to tie down the approaching mummies while Damon swung around and smacked the undeads with his staff permeating with divinity.


    The Cyclops Golems began activating and standing up one by one. Ten of them shuffled towards the Black Dragon.


    The Golems spread around and fired out their rays at once. While doing that, they didn¡¯t forget to grab the weapons found all around the tomb¡¯s interior.


    The dragon tried to shoot another Breath out, but the petrification rays solidified the creature¡¯s mouth into stone first.


    The Golems, now wielding massive double-edged broadswords, advanced towards their target.


    Bang! Bang!


    The ground rocked from their march.


    The Golems leapt up and took mighty swings with their broadswords at the dragon.


    The huge weapons collided against the hard scales of the lizard. It initially seemed like the blades were successfully repelled, but the Golems continued to force down with brute strength and crushed its scales instead.


    -Ku-oooooh!


    The Black Dragon flapped its wings and flew up in the air.


    The holy skeletons didn¡¯t miss that opening. They utilised the siege weapons left lying around to fire ballistas and catapults at the airborne dragon.


    However, the dragon simply flapped its wing to deflect away the incoming siege weapon projectiles.


    It finally got to shoot another Breath and stopped the holy skeletons dead in their tracks, while its thick arms and legs ruthlessly stomped down on the Cyclops Golems.


    The dragon even used another round of wide-area magic and flung the balls of flames and ice spears in all directions.


    While staring at this unfolding spectacle, I could only click my tongue in amazement. As I feared, never mind killing that dragon, we wouldn¡¯t be able to survive for long at this rate.

 Chapter 130 - : 071. Skeleton King -1 (Part Two)

    I began undoing the chains wrapped around Amon¡¯s grimoire.


    ¡°You two, look after me if I end up unable to move again, okay?¡± I turned to look at Tina and Damon. ¡°However, please make sure that my body doesn¡¯t get stiff like last time.¡±


    Tina and Damon nodded with dazed expressions on their faces.


    I flipped open Amon¡¯s grimoire and stared at the letters inscribed within. Countless rune letters were written on the pages. Using my [Mind¡¯s Eye], I confirmed the ¡®function¡¯ contained within these writings.


    It spoke of a summoning magic. Not only that, one with a considerable firepower too.


    I sucked in a deep breath. ¡°¡­Right, let¡¯s not die today.¡±


    With that, my mind was made up.


    If I were to use only the grimoire and nothing else, the backlash should be more or less manageable, hopefully.


    Soon afterwards, I began reading aloud the rune letters for the summoning magic.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Despite being tamed by a human, the Black Dragon still possessed some level of intellect. And that¡¯s why it found the spectacle unfolding before its eyes quite difficult to comprehend.


    After all, those things were holy undeads. Even the Black Dragon that had lived for thousands of years had never seen a sight as bizarre as this one before.


    What surprised it even more was the fact that all these holy undeads and the Cyclops Golems were being controlled by a single human being.


    And thanks to that, the dragon was suffering from all sorts of humiliation right now.


    The weapons wielded by the holy skeletons or the arrows fired by the banshees were not a problem at all. The dragon¡¯s thick scales not only boasted amazing magic resistance, they were also resistant against physical attacks as well.


    However, the problem laid with the siege weapons found within the tomb itself. They were specifically manufactured to defend the ruin from large-scale invading forces. As such, no matter how sturdy the dragon¡¯s scales were, the creature was bound to suffer damages when struck by the projectiles fired by those siege weapons.


    The mummies tried to stop the holy skeletons, but since a lake made out holy water appeared near their vicinity, it made it difficult for them to even move properly at the moment.


    However, the ones causing the biggest headache of them all were the Cyclops Golems.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    They agilely moved their big bodies to grab the dragon¡¯s limbs and drag it down from the air. Despite its powerfully beating wings, the combined weight and strength of the Golems were more than strong enough to force the dragon to wobble during its flight. At the same time, the other Cyclops fired their petrification rays and continued to pressure the Black Dragon.


    Its bat-like wings solidified and caused the dragon to crash land on the ground. It beat its wings once again to shake off the irritating rock pieces.


    Right at that split second opening, a Cyclops Golem leapt up above the Black Dragon and slammed down with its broadsword.


    BOOM!


    The dragon screamed out in pain.


    The other Cyclops Golems rushed in and began hacking away and smashing down from all directions.


    Every time the weapons slammed into the dragon, it felt its rage boil over higher and higher.


    These measly little stone guardians dare¡­!


    Even as it writhed from the pain, the Black Dragon gathered energy into its maw and spat out yet another Breath.


    The attack melted down all the Cyclops Golems before it, then the dragon grabbed one of the Golems with its tail before throwing the statue towards where the holy skeletons were.


    The Black Dragon rose back up while shaking its head and breathing laboriously.


    It felt tired. The wounds on its body, inflicted during the scuffle against the previous intruder, hadn¡¯t fully healed yet.


    1


    Yet, it now had to deal with another monstrous intruder and that made the dragon feel really exhausted.


    ¡®Still, he¡¯s just a measly little human.¡¯


    The dragon told itself. Indeed, magic of this calibre could never kill the dragon. Without fail, those who dared to soil this tomb would be cleansed away completely this time as well.


    But right at that moment, the Black Dragon sensed a bizarre aura and flinched nastily, before hurriedly turning its head around to look. An incredible amount of divinity was gathering over there.


    A group consisting of a Dark Elf girl, a middle-aged human male, and another human male, a slender one this time, could be found. Behind them was a lone boy standing on the lake of holy water.


    He was holding a book and quietly reading its pages.


    Now normally, such a scene might have elicited a hollow chuckle from the observers since the boy seemed to be enjoying all the time in the world, but the reality of the situation was not exactly laughter-inducing. No, it was the complete opposite of that.


    Every time he flipped a page of that book, an incredible amount of divinity that instilled fear in the dragon¡¯s heart rushed towards the boy.


    That¡­ was a process of getting ready for something. That human boy, he was planning to do something dastardly.


    Despite controlling these many holy undeads, just what other magic was he planning to use this time?


    The Black Dragon howled out in anger.


    Events here must not spiral out of control any further than they already have. As long as that human boy was eliminated, everything would be taken care of.


    The swarms of holy undeads, the Cyclops Golems, all of them would automatically cease to exist altogether!


    The Black Dragon beat its wings powerfully and took to the air once more. It then sucked in a deep breath.


    It didn¡¯t know what that human boy was trying to do here, but this battle must end before he had the chance to activate his magic.


    The Black Dragon began gathering demonic energy inside its maw once more. A humongous storm of flames swirled within.


    The still-functioning Cyclops Golems fired their petrification rays but it was of no use. Although the Dark Elf girl and the middle-aged human man froze up on their spots, they still managed to activate their defence magic.


    How laughable. There was no way that such pathetic creatures would be able to defend against a Dragon¡¯s Breath.


    The Black Dragon gathered its strength before firing its mighty Breath at its target.


    But at that exact moment, the human boy closed the grimoire shut ¨C he muttered out the activation phrase for a magic spell.


    ¡°¡­The undead king.¡±


    Suddenly, a massive stake made out of bones shot out from the ground.


    The stake seemed to be made out of hundreds, thousands of bones plastered together. It rose up rapidly like a spire and penetrated cleanly through the Black Dragon¡¯s wing.


    Because the dragon staggered in the air, its Breath spread out erratically in almost every direction.


    The interior of the tomb went up in flames.


    Despite its wing being pierced through, the Black Dragon couldn¡¯t tear its astonished eyes away from the human boy.


    The tomb was burning down in scorching flames. Yet the boy stood completely still in the middle of the holy water lake, his eyes quietly closed.


    And right behind him, a huge hand made out of white bones broke through the surface and landed on the ground. The whole world seemed to quake from the impact just now.


    A wave of divinity so boundlessly vast that it sent shivers down the dragon¡¯s spine spread out and enveloped the entirety of the ancient tomb.


    The environment built to suit Necromancy was wiped away in an instant, and the whole pyramid began transforming into a sacred temple-like structure instead.


    -I shall ask you a question. Are you a being who fears death?


    A Spirit Speech containing divinity reverberated throughout the ancient tomb¡¯s interior. For the first time ever during this battle, signs of unrest dyed the eyes of the Black Dragon.


    -I am the master of death.


    As if to respond to the deafening Spirit Speech, all the mummies in the surroundings covered up their ears in torment as they literally melted away where they stood.


    -Yet, I am also the bringer of life.


    From the lake of holy water, a noble and great existence slowly emerged. Four humongous arms, a massive skull, and bleached-white bones attached to the spine¡­


    ¡­An existence with an unmistakable crown on its head.


    -I, newly created into the world, shall be named¡­


    The gigantic creature¡¯s eye sockets seemed to glow brightly as breaths permeating with divinity leaked out from its mouth.


    -¡­The Skeleton King¡­


    Although only its upper body had emerged from the lake, this gigantic undead had already reached past ten metres in height.


    -¡­Donn O Donnchadha.


    1


    The gigantic personification of death that let out a breath of divinity glared straight at the Black Dragon.


    -Remember that name, as it belongs to the being that shall present you with the gift of death.


    The undead king plunged its hand into the lake of holy water, then yanked out an equally humongous sword made out of gold and bones.


    -Are you prepared to accept your death, oh the dragon of everlasting life?


    The undead king¡¯s blue eyes burned fiercely as it locked its glare firmly on the dragon.


    < 071. Skeleton King -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 131 - 072. Skeleton King -2 (Part One)

    Chapter 131: 072. Skeleton King -2 (Part One)


    **


    Tina quickly supported Allen¡¯s falling figure before looking up at the Skeleton King.


    Sacred light oozed out from the humongous figure of the undead king and illuminated the entirety of the ancient tomb.


    The hordes of undead permeating with demonic energy stared into that light while covering their eyes, and they also blocked their ears every time the giant skeleton¡¯s voice reverberated throughout the structure.


    As befitting the title of the Skeleton King, the creature boasted a truly terrifying level of majesty and dignity. But for some reason, Tina felt a sense of intimacy from it instead.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ a giant angel-nim.¡±


    As she stood there dazedly muttering out, Damon hurriedly wrapped his arms around her figure to shield her from harm. He then looked up at the undead king.


    It was a legendary existence that only Necromancer King Amon could supposedly summon. Yet such an existence was right before his eyes. And as expected of a legendary creature, its mighty aura was more than enough to contend with a dragon.


    The Black Dragon¡¯s whole body had stiffened up from nervous tension.


    The surrounding air had grown noticeably heavier.


    In fact, the dragon instinctively realised that the existence before its eyes was a real threat to its life. This undead really did possess the ¡®strength to kill¡¯ the dragon who had lived for thousands of years already.


    ¡®¡­Death.¡¯


    The dragon had never dreamt that this single word could instil so much fear in its heart.


    The Black Dragon hurriedly fired out another Breath of flames. At the same time, the undead king also made its move.


    The latter swung the massive golden bone sword, and its terrifying strike containing divinity easily sliced through the incoming flames. However, the strike didn¡¯t stop there and continued to fly towards the Black Dragon.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    The dragon¡¯s expression hardened in an instant and it violently tilted its body to the side. But its wing currently stabbed through by a giant bone stake got in the way.


    There was no helping it; the dragon forcibly tore its own wing off.


    The bat-like wing got ripped apart and the bones connecting the limb tore and broke off. Although the dragon howled out from the nerve-wrecking pain, it still managed to barely escape from the sword strike.


    It was then, another stake pierced through the remaining wing, and its bone-white surface began opening up. The skeletons crawled out from the surface of the stake that resembled a spire made out of bones.


    These undead clung onto the wing and made their way over to the dragon¡¯s main body before forcing themselves into the open wound on the other side.


    It was at this point that the Black Dragon felt a horrifying pain shoot through its senses. Its skin was wiggling around; some things crawling underneath were busy tearing and ripping apart its flesh.


    This sensation was akin to parasites digging in and burying themselves in the dragon¡¯s innards.


    The Black Dragon screeched out in pain.


    -Do not resist.


    The Skeleton King¡¯s voice rang out once more.


    The dragon¡¯s scales continued writhing and wiggling around. The skeletons dug deeper into the dragon¡¯s body and ripped apart the muscles found within.


    The Black Dragon glared at the undead king.


    -Accept your death. That is the outcome my master wishes for.


    What a laughable notion that was.


    Did the dragon look so feeble that it¡¯d get killed off by some measly pile of bones?!


    The dragon used magic on itself. It poured icy-cold air and intense heat into its injured flesh.


    Its wound was half-frozen and half-scorched, but that did close up the hole the skeletons used to crawl inside. A portion of the undead had already entered its body, that couldn¡¯t be helped for the time being.


    No, the priority was with the existence that brought ¡®death¡¯ to the world right before the dragon¡¯s eyes. Only by getting rid of this bone giant could the Black Dragon survive this ordeal.


    -This is pointless resistance.


    The undead king said something that the dragon should be saying.


    The enraged dragon screeched out and dashed forward. At the same time, it fired another round of Breath.


    The undead king was struck dead-on and went up in flames. Just as the giant stumbled back from the intense heat, the dragon¡¯s large body crashed into its torso.


    For a moment there, it seemed like the Skeleton King was shoved back, but then, three arms reached down and grabbed the dragon¡¯s body. Those thick, heavy fingers twisted and crushed the dragon¡¯s hides.


    Just as the dragon thrashed about in pain, its eyes spotted the remaining hand. That hand was slashing down with the golden bone sword.


    The Black Dragon desperately flung itself away from there. The massive sword missed the dragon by a hair¡¯s breadth and split apart the floor of the tomb instead.


    It was as if the whole world was screaming; the air expanded and the ground resonated. The battle of these two giant monsters permanently altered the surrounding terrain.


    Hans couldn¡¯t withstand the shockwaves and got blown away to somewhere; meanwhile, Damon urgently protected Tina and the unconscious Allen.


    -Oh, you foolish creature!


    The undead king pointed at the Black Dragon with its bony finger.


    The holy skeletons took aim with siege weapons and began firing powerful projectiles.


    When the ballistas and other catapulted projectiles flew up towards their target, the dragon responded by casting appropriate magic. Flames and ice blocks materialised in the air to collide and deflect the siege weapons.


    The dragon looked around.


    It discovered that the undead king hadn¡¯t moved from its spot. The dragon lowered its gaze to the floor and stared at the pristine lake where the Skeleton King¡¯s lower torso seemed to be submerged in.


    ¡®I see. It was the holy water!¡¯


    The dragon¡¯s enemy had half of its body submerged under the lake of holy water, and that must¡¯ve been the reason why it couldn¡¯t move from there.


    This meant that the area the undead king could operate in had to be only within the radius of that lake. It would not be able to leave the water¡¯s boundaries.


    In that case¡­!


    The entire body of the dragon seemed to balloon up. It buried its arms and legs on the ground to secure itself. Then, it sucked in a deep, deep breath.


    If the enemy couldn¡¯t move from the spot, then eliminating it should be a straightforward affair. Although the ancient tomb would be destroyed in the process, it could always be repaired in the future!


    Masses of flames crazily swirled inside the dragon¡¯s maw. One flame was compressed first, then the second was followed by a third and fourth one. All four balls of flames combined into one much bigger mass and began emitting blinding rays of light.


    Everything in the surroundings melted down from the intense heat. As a matter of fact, the dragon¡¯s hide that boasted high resistance to fire was also getting burned from the heat.


    ¡®I shall destroy you!¡¯


    This attack contained the greatest power the dragon could output. It had secured its limbs to the ground to prevent its body from getting blown away by the inevitable recoil.


    Veins bulged on the creature¡¯s flesh and its four limbs dug in even deeper.


    This was it.


    With this one strike, the Skeleton King should cease to exist.


    ¡®Disappear from this world, and go back to the depths of hell!¡¯


    -Fuu-woo¡­


    The glowing eyes of the undead king burned brighter than ever before.


    All four of its hands grasped the hilt of the golden bone sword tightly. The gigantic undead let out a breath towards the blade made out of bones.


    Divinity oozing with a bone-chilling quality entered the bone sword, turning the surface of the blade into a sea of white flames.


    Since the Skeleton King couldn¡¯t dodge, it wanted to clash head-on with the incoming attack.


    ¡°W-well, doesn¡¯t this look kind of dangerous?¡± Hans asked while shivering away from pure fright.


    Damon nodded urgently as if to agree with that astute observation. He quickly placed Allen on his back, hoisted Tina on his side, then ran away from there along with Hans.


    They knew that they had to get away from this location as soon as possible.


    While running away, Tina looked back at the undead king.


    -I shall give you eternal rest.


    The moment the Skeleton King finished saying that, the Black Dragon¡¯s mighty Breath exploded forward.


    The gigantic undead king¡¯s four hands tightly grasped the golden bone sword and took a powerful swing.


    Tina reflexively closed her eyes.


    A mighty sand storm blew in and the pyramid was blown apart.


    The undead king¡¯s sword collided against the Black Dragon¡¯s Breath.


    The burning white divinity split apart the dragon¡¯s flames in half, and the tightly-compressed flames scattered in all directions to puncture several holes throughout the ancient ruin.


    Debris ricocheted and clattered everywhere as if a violent tornado was whipping through the location.


    Within the choking, blinding dust storm, the undead king¡¯s eyes seemed to flicker brightly. It turned its head to search for the Black Dragon¡¯s current location.


    It was at that precise moment that the dragon burst through the curtain of dust. As if going for the final hurrah, the dragon had its maw wide open to try and bite the undead king to oblivion.


    -Truly excellent, oh the dragon of everlasting life.


    The golden bone sword still tightly gripped within the four arms moved once more.


    -It¡¯s time to conclude your lengthy task and slumber away.


    The blade rose up high into the sky before chopping down rapidly.


    It was as if a massive pillar came crashing down from the heavens; the sharp bone blade scythed past the storm winds madly whipping about.


    Along with the dust clouds, the dragon¡¯s skull, neck, and its torso were cleanly sliced through.


    A beautiful, blinding ray of sacred light burst forth and the ancient pyramid was completely sliced open in half.

 Chapter 132 - Skeleton King -2 (Part Two)

    -Kuh¡­ Euh¡­


    The Black Dragon¡¯s facial muscles twitched, but that lasted for only a short while. The dragon¡¯s blood sprayed out seemingly everywhere.


    THUD¡­!


    The two lifeless halves of the giant lizard¡¯s body crashed to the ground below. Blood continued sputtering out from the two severed halves. Meanwhile, the holy skeletons acting like parasites under the dragon¡¯s hide crawled outside.


    The undead king bit the golden bone sword in its mouth, and then used its four large arms to grab and lift up the dragon¡¯s corpse.


    When divinity flowed through its arms, the dragon¡¯s flesh was cleanly stripped away from its bones almost instantly. The loose dragon meat flapped and fell to the ground with a loud thud.


    The undead king took a closer look at the bones of the dragon, and then dipped them into the lake of holy water.


    It was as if the lake itself acted like a portal connected to another dimension; the dragon¡¯s bones were gradually sinking under the surface.


    1


    Now that its role was over, the glowing light within the Skeleton King¡¯s eyes flickered out. Its sword was the first to sink beneath the lake¡¯s surface; the gigantic undead king and the dragon¡¯s bones followed soon after and gradually disappeared from this world.


    The holy skeletons in the vicinity also vanished while scattering light particles.


    And so, only the quiet stillness remained. Tina cautiously opened her eyes. She used her staff to prop herself up and then stared up into the sky above.


    A searing sunlight was beating down on the land below.


    And then¡­


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    Tina slowly turned her head. She spotted something sparkling in the corner of her eye. But when she fully turned her head in that direction, her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    What she saw just then was literally a mountain of treasures.


    From countless gold and silver coins, to innumerable jewels and expensive-looking antiques, etc, etc¡­ All sorts of invaluable gemstones and treasures were reflecting the harsh sunlight. She could even spot several ancient magic grimoires strewn about as well ¨C tomes that were thought to be lost to time.


    Quite literally, she was now staring at a mountain of treasures that would¡¯ve felt right at home inside a legendary fairy tale.


    ¡°There really was a treasure trove here all along!¡±


    Tina muttered out in a daze, while Hans stared at their discovery in stupefaction before exploding in a fit of loud laughter.


    He had already forgotten about his fear from a few minutes ago as his eyes were now filled with greed of highest order. ¡°Ha, hahah¡­ Hahahaha! I¡¯m rich! N-no, I mean, we are all rich! Filthy rich!!!¡±


    He began jumping up and down like a madman.


    Damon too sighed in admiration at the sight, then shifted his gaze over to the dragon¡¯s remains.


    The creature had been split apart into two pieces. Damon found the sight of the dead dragon, with its tongue sticking out and all of its bones missing, rather pitiful to behold.


    ¡®He managed to kill a dragon.¡¯


    Allen had summoned the king of all undead and killed the creature thought to be the strongest in existence. Not only that, through overwhelming means too.


    First, it was the grim reaper. And now, even a mighty dragon as well.


    ¡®He has already exceeded the limits of Necromancy.¡¯


    Was that all? He even possessed an ability to breathe new life into the land of death through his holy water. As an example, didn¡¯t the Black Order¡¯s temple turn into a verdant land teeming with life through his powers already?


    Damon swallowed back his dry saliva.


    Seeds of a small dream and hope were taking root within his mind. The withered and barren land of Aslan could be revived through the combined strength of Lord Angel and Lady Tina.


    They could potentially turn the entirety of the land of death into a beautiful world of life filled with nature and greenery.


    Damon¡¯s expression hardened as he glanced at Allen, currently slumbering away on his back.


    ¡®It¡¯s him! He¡¯s the only one who can deliver salvation to Aslan!¡¯


    It was unknown if Tina knew what Damon was thinking about at the moment. With a worried look on her face, she placed her hand on Allen¡¯s forehead. Much to her relief, he wasn¡¯t suffering from fever.


    ¡°How is he?¡±


    Tina asked Damon, jolting the latter awake. He quickly took a closer look at Allen¡¯s current condition.


    ¡°¡­Thankfully, he seems to be only asleep, my lady. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know for how long he¡¯ll sleep this time.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    Tina was relieved to hear that.


    Damon scanned the state of the ancient ruin.


    The ceiling was practically destroyed now. It should take a considerable amount of time and effort to repair this place. Despite all that, the ruin was still far safer than the Black Order¡¯s temple as far as its location was concerned.


    Not to forget, a lake of holy water had been generated here as well. Just like what had happened back in the temple, the environment in this location would soon transform.


    With these conditions, they should be able to develop a self-sustaining environment inside the ancient tomb.


    ¡°We should use this place as our base, my lady. I believe it¡¯ll be more than safe enough for us to stay here,¡± Damon muttered out while glancing back to Allen on his back. ¡°And also, it¡¯ll serve as an appropriate location to build up a religious order dedicated to our Lord Angel.¡±


    1


    Tina smiled brightly at his suggestion and nodded her head. Once she recalled the faces of the kingdom¡¯s subjects left behind in the Black Order¡¯s temple, she responded to him with a cheery voice, ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll ask this of you, Damon. Please guide those subjects to this location.¡±


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    It was dark.


    I felt really queasy.


    It felt like I was dreaming a memory from a distant past.


    -What¡¯s going on here? What happened?


    -S-sir, there¡¯s been a malfunction with the machine! There was a sudden overload in the system, and¡­


    -It¡¯s on fire, you idiots! Put it out! Bring the fire extinguishers! Didn¡¯t you inspect it beforehand?! What about the tester inside the capsule?!


    -S-sir, that is¡­


    -Dammit, why the hell did such a thing have to happen during the test?! ¡­Uh?


    -Wha, what¡­ is that?


    Unfamiliar voices belonging to strangers entered my hearing. And then, screams ¨C followed quickly by the sounds of something sucking me in.


    -Is that a black hole¡­?


    -W-what the¡­?


    -Run away¡­


    It was at that moment I opened my eyes.


    The first thing to enter my sight were a bunch of people kitted out in robes. I was jolted wide awake and quickly took a closer look at their faces. Fortunately enough, they came across as quite familiar to me. As it turned out, they were the slaves that stayed in the Black Order¡¯s temple.


    After sighing slightly in relief, I shifted my gaze elsewhere.


    My eyes took in the sight of a ceiling with a huge hole that was falling to pieces, almost as if a huge sword had cleaved right through it. And the people around here were currently doing construction work in order to repair that very ceiling.


    I smiled awkwardly and glanced at the chair I was sitting on.


    It was yet another shabbily-made throne. Next to it was Tina, leaning her head against the arm rest and dozing off, looking like she was too exhausted to even stay awake.


    Was she protecting me from the side?


    Even before the feelings of gratitude entered my mind, an ominous foreboding managed to get a grip on me first.


    I ended up losing my consciousness again. Just how many days went by this time?


    ¡°My lord! You¡¯re finally awake!¡±


    It was then, Damon hurriedly walked up to me while looking clearly stunned.


    Since he was here, I might as well ask him my question, then. ¡°How long did I sleep for?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been around ten days, my lord.¡±


    Ten days?


    Man, I¡¯ve been asleep for a pretty long time, haven¡¯t I? No, hang on. Compared to three months, I guess it¡¯s not that much of a big deal?


    I looked behind me and was immediately taken aback again.


    A massive monster, with its tongue sticking out, was laying dead on the ground in two pieces. And like some weird mollusc, it didn¡¯t seem to have any bones in its body either.


    ¡­Was it because the corpse belonged to a dragon? Despite the sweltering heat, the meat had not rotted away and was somehow being preserved rather nicely.


    I took a closer look at the dragon¡¯s condition.


    When I did, I sensed a faint but strange aura. Something was glowing from within all that dragon meat.


    I walked over, and with some difficulty, managed to lift up the meat on the creature¡¯s chest area. That¡¯s when I got to see it.


    ¡­An ¡®organ¡¯ about a metre in width, permeating with demonic energy.


    What else could it be other than the legendary dragon heart?


    **


    (TL: Back to 3rd person POV.)


    The current location was the continent¡¯s most well-known slave market ¨C a place where regardless of whether you were a man or monster, everyone ended up as slaves. Not only were there human nobles or royal family members, but even the likes of the Orcs and Ogres that were labelled as monsters could be found here.


    Although rare, this place even had Vampires as slaves as well.


    It was the city of slaves, Evelyum.


    There was a combat arena within Evelyum where life-or-death battles took place every day throughout the year.


    It was called the ¡®coliseum¡¯, a grand stage where Necromancers wishing to show off their abilities participated in battles alongside the slaves they had purchased.


    As long as you were skilled enough to win, you¡¯d be able to get your hands on incalculable wealth. As for slaves, if they could fight ten times and survive till the end, then they would regain their freedom.


    In such an arena, a young man in his early to mid twenties was standing around in a daze. He swallowed back his dry saliva and stared at his arm. A shackle was placed there, along with a sword tightly gripped in his hand.


    The young man¡¯s gaze drifted to his front.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    A Brown Orc was roaring out while banging its mace on the ground on the other side. That was the opponent of the young man, who had become a slave recently.


    He scanned his surroundings.


    His eyes took in the sight of the crowd cheering on fervently.


    ¡°Kill! Kill! Kill!¡±


    ¡®¡­How did this happen?¡¯


    The mass-scale warp magic transported him to a barren wasteland, there was no doubt about that. As a result, he had to wander the desert without knowing where he was. Having not drunk a single drop of water, he eventually collapsed on the sand, only to be rescued by a traveller.


    The traveller was a kind person.


    For the past several months, the traveller led the young man and visited several different marketplaces, and despite his own challenging circumstances, the former still treated the latter fairly well.


    And that¡¯s why the young man grew to trust the traveller. This was the reason why he asked the latter to take him to the Theocratic Empire. The traveller nodded in agreement.


    ¡­And then, he sold the young man off as a slave.


    ¡°And they say there¡¯s no one to trust in this world¡­¡±


    The young man belatedly found out that the reason for them visiting all those different marketplaces was for the traveller to find a slave merchant who¡¯d pay the highest price for him.


    The young man held his head. To think that he trusted and relied on such a dastardly person!


    But he had been stuck in a pit of despair, so it was only obvious that he¡¯d seek out someone to rely on.


    The Necromancers in the vicinity held back the Brown Orc while undoing the creature¡¯s shackles. The monster tried to rampage around violently, but the skeletons summoned by the Necromancers forcibly suppressed it.


    ¡°Win ten times from this battle onward, and I shall bestow you with freedom and a little bit of prize money.¡±


    The young man turned his head to his side. A Necromancer who said that was now undoing the shackles restricting the young man¡¯s wrists.


    ¡°If you wish to earn your freedom, keep surviving.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The young man now found himself in a situation where he had to win ten battles in this arena.


    His name was Ruppel Olfolse. A man who, once upon a time, possessed the lofty status as the Third Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire.


    He ended up in the middle of Aslan from the mass-scale warp magic, somehow became a slave, and was currently stuck in the city of Evelyum.


    ¡­All the while the two opposing forces, the Theocratic Empire and the kingdom of Aslan, were still searching for his whereabouts and hadn¡¯t found him yet.


    The Third Imperial Prince Ruppel Olfolse quietly squeezed his eyes shut as he muttered to himself. ¡°Someone, anyone, please save me¡­¡±


    ¡°Ku-oooooh!¡±


    The Brown Orc roared angrily and pounced on Ruppel.


    < 072. Skeleton King -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 133 - City of Slaves -1 (Part One)

    **


    In the campsite of Aslan¡¯s army.


    Countless tents had been set up on the barren wasteland.


    ¡°Uwaaaah! It hurts¡­ It freaking hurts! Healer. Where¡¯s a healer?!¡±


    Soldiers were crying out in anguish while the medics were urgently running around here and there.


    They stitched up the grievous wounds and poured healing potions on the injuries to heal their patients.


    The current status of Aslan¡¯s camp was truly wretched to behold.


    The number of wounded soldiers were mind-numbingly numerous, while quite a few of the still-healthy soldiers were holding onto their stomachs out of starvation. They were also visibly panting laboriously.


    Even the Necromancers, usually treated as high-ranking nobles, hadn¡¯t had a proper drink of water for a while now.


    In the beginning, this army boasted fifty thousand combatants. But in less than a month, that number dwindled down to about thirty thousand. While trying to defend against the Theocratic Empire¡¯s invasion, many soldiers lost their lives, and after experiencing several defeats, just as many had abandoned the frontlines.


    With how things currently stood, Aslan was only barely holding on against the empire¡¯s invasion. But the kingdom didn¡¯t have much more strength left to keep up with their resistance.


    In the end, King Rahamma had to lower his pride and suggest a ceasefire to the Theocratic Empire. With this move, Aslan now found itself in a situation where they now had to do whatever the empire demanded from them.


    ¡°Y-your majesty, the communique has arrived!¡±


    The empire had finally made its reply.


    The twelve feudal lords ¨C no, now only eight remained ¨C who were also previously known as renowned generals of their respective territories, all held their breaths.


    Their gazes shifted over to a certain man sitting on the seat of honour inside the commander¡¯s tent.


    It was a man in his mid to late sixties, boasting a burly physique currently hidden underneath the sturdy armour ¨C it was the king of Aslan, Rahamma.


    The slaves stood on either side of him, waiting. The king had his eyes closed, but when the arrival of the communique was announced, he opened them and stared at the scout.


    He spoke up. ¡°Is it from the Theocratic Empire?¡±


    The scout bringing the communique from the empire swallowed back his dry saliva.


    While trembling away, he bowed deeply and addressed his king. ¡°¡­Y-your majesty. It¡¯s indeed a message from the Holy Emperor. His reaction seems to be in favour of the declaration of ceasefire.¡±


    Rahamma slowly rubbed his face down.


    This was truly humiliating.


    It was him who started this war first, yet after a string of bitter defeats, he now found himself basically begging the enemy to spare him. Honestly, who would¡¯ve guessed that an old man over one hundred years of age was that vicious and insane?


    Rahamma finally understood why the Vampires were so scared of that old man and stayed hidden all this time.


    Even though ¡®sword king¡¯ Oscal Baldur wasn¡¯t around, just the Holy Emperor alone proved to be impossible to deal with.


    To make matters worse, all communications with Nasus, who was supposed to battle the sword king, had been severed as well. Even the scouting party sent there to investigate had gone missing.


    The situation had gone as badly as it possibly could.


    ¡®It can¡¯t be helped. This time, it is clearly my defeat.¡¯


    Rahamma had no choice but to accept this fact. If things continued on at this rate, then it¡¯d be only a matter of time before the Theocratic Empire invades Aslan¡¯s capital and captures it.


    One of the slaves took the communique from the scout, and while trembling from fear, delivered it to Rahamma.


    The king of Aslan flipped open the letter and quietly read its contents.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Once he confirmed what was written on it, his head gradually cocked to one side. And then¡­ He suddenly reached out and grabbed the throat of a slave nearby, before twisting it.


    Crunch!


    The slave¡¯s neck was broken, and at the same time, his vitality seeped out and his body withered into a mummified corpse.


    The remaining slave barely managed to stop an inevitable scream from jumping out by blocking his mouth.


    Meanwhile, Rahamma¡¯s complexion was getting increasingly redder by the moment. Unchecked rage distorted his expression and the aura of death began spreading out from all around him.


    The surviving feudal lords gasped out in surprise and hurriedly knelt down before their king and bowed their heads.


    Rahamma growled out in rage. ¡°That wretched bastard of an old man dares to¡­!¡±


    The letter¡¯s contents were fairly simple in nature.


    One, to immediately announce Aslan¡¯s surrender. Two, for the period of next ten years, Aslan must pay tribute to the Theocratic Empire and serve the latter¡¯s needs.


    Finally, Aslan¡¯s king, Rahamma, must bear all the responsibilities of this war, and¡­


    ¡°¡­I must kowtow in nude and kiss the emperor¡¯s feet?!¡±


    Rahamma angrily ripped the letter into pieces. This was not a declaration of ceasefire, but a contract of subordination. Also, a ruler of a nation should be afforded at least a minimum level of respect, yet the Holy Emperor even dared to trample on such a notion.


    This was clearly a provocation. From the very beginning, the empire hadn¡¯t even considered the possibility of a ceasefire.


    The Holy Emperor was enraged. And he was venting all of that anger on Aslan. Many more cities would be burned down in the coming months, and eventually, all of Aslan would be lost to the invaders.


    A total annihilation.


    Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse was really trying to wipe the kingdom of Aslan off the map.


    King Rahamma gritted his teeth.


    ¡°¡­No, wait. It¡¯s still fine.¡±


    He worked hard to calm his boiling head. He settled back down on his chair and tightly massaged his temples.


    ¡®Indeed, I still have my children.¡¯


    As a matter of fact, over one hundred demi-human children. They formed a troop evolved specially for the tasks of assassination and Necromancy.


    They were called the ¡®Hashashin.¡¯


    These were the warriors that Rahamma spent the last several decades carefully nurturing. By using them, the Theocratic Empire¡¯s invasion could potentially be stopped.


    In the worst case scenario, they would even have to plan for the Holy Emperor¡¯s assassination.


    That monstrous old man was gradually slowing down with his invasion effort. He might be trying hard not to show it, but without a doubt, the Holy Emperor should be getting exhausted by now too.


    When the invading army stops advancing out of exhaustion, that would prove to be the decisive opening.


    Just as King Rahamma fell deeper into his contemplation¡­


    ¡°A-and your majesty.¡±


    Rahamma glanced at the scout.


    ¡°There is one more matter that needs to be reported to you.¡±


    The king furrowed his brows.


    After the scout¡¯s trembling hands presented the written report, Rahamma personally stood up from his chair to take the scroll. He yanked the report open and took a look at its contents.


    The report spoke of the current whereabouts of the Imperial Family¡¯s missing scions.


    Rahamma¡¯s eyes opened wider.


    ¡°In the city of slaves, Evelyum, a man who looks similar to Third Imperial Prince Ruppel Olfolse has been discovered, your majesty.¡±


    There he was, one of the grandsons the Holy Emperor was so desperately searching for.


    Not only that¡­


    ¡°And also! The one and only son of the Holy Emperor, the Crown Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire¡­¡± The scout bowed his head even further as cold sweat continued to trickle down his face. ¡°¡­White Olfolse! We presume that he is also staying somewhere in the city of slaves, Eve¡­¡±


    The scout couldn¡¯t finish the rest of his report.


    Rahamma¡¯s hand shot out and grabbed the poor soldier¡¯s head, crushing it in the blink of an eye. Blood and brain matter splattered everywhere.


    The clearly-agitated Rahamma panted like a bull.


    He too was shedding cold sweat now; his eyes alternated between the pieces of the torn communique from the empire and the scout¡¯s report in his hand.


    The Third Imperial Prince wouldn¡¯t be an issue as he was already a discarded pawn in this matter. But the real problem was White Olfolse, the Crown Imperial Prince and the son of the Holy Emperor himself!


    To think that man was still alive! Why did the Holy Emperor¡¯s son, who went missing for over eleven years, have to show up now? More than that, why was he near the Third Imperial Prince¡¯s vicinity? Could it be that Nasus had failed to kill ¡®sword king¡¯ Oscal Baldur and the abduction of the Imperial Princes?


    ¡®It can¡¯t be¡­?¡¯


    An ominous foreboding quickly washed over Rahamma.


    Nasus had indeed failed to defeat the sword king, which allowed Oscal and the Imperial Princes to quietly hide within Aslan. But what if they joined up with White Olfolse instead? What then?


    ¡®¡­A combination of absolute monsters.¡¯


    The Crown Imperial Prince, White Olfolse, was acknowledged as a bona fide monster second only to the Holy Emperor in terms of pure combat strength. Not to forget, Oscal Baldur the ¡®sword king¡¯ was another symbol of terror as well.


    ¡®All of them are hiding within Aslan!¡¯


    It was already impossible to count all the vampires that lost their lives to the Crown Prince. A man who was once called the object of fear to all the vampires in existence was currently in Aslan. Not only that, in the city of Evelyum which happened to be quite close to the capital of the kingdom.


    What if Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse, Crown Prince White, and Oscal the sword king all attacked the capital from three different sides?


    There would be no way for Rahamma to deal with them all.


    The king of Aslan had to grab his own trembling hand. A glorious kingdom that existed for thousands of years was about to be destroyed because of his ambition.


    He couldn¡¯t help but seriously consider whether or not he should bow down to the Holy Emperor.


    ¡®No, not yet¡­ Not yet! Before I do something to taint the glorious title of the King of Aslan, I will kill myself first!¡¯


    Rahamma gritted his teeth and spoke up, ¡°¡­Mobilise the troops.¡±


    The surviving feudal lords raised their heads and stared at their king.


    ¡°Our new target will be¡­¡±


    Rahamma walked away from his spot and got closer to the map of the kingdom placed atop the commander¡¯s table. He picked up the pawns meant to indicate Aslan¡¯s forces on the map and moved them nearer the city of Evelyum.


    ¡°¡­The city of slaves, Evelyum. We will burn this place down.¡±


    Every feudal lord gasped out in shock, their complexions quickly drained of all colour. What was their king even talking about? Attacking one of their own cities?!


    Rahamma gritted his teeth and continued on, ¡°It¡¯s already too much to deal with the Holy Emperor alone. The ceasefire agreement is no more than a pipe dream now. In that case, we must prevent what the Theocratic Empire is trying to do at all cost.¡±


    ¡°H-however, your majesty! According to the report, it¡¯s not a clear confirmation, but merely an estimation. Our court is growing ever more suspicious that this war only began because our own nobles were sacri¡­¡±


    Rahamma glared murderously at the feudal lord voicing his objection. The latter couldn¡¯t finish the rest of his sentence and quickly lowered his head.


    A period of deathly-still silence ensued, and eventually, King Rahamman opened his mouth once more. ¡°Before the Crown Prince or the Imperial Princes notice it, we shall surround the whole city and slaughter every being found within the city¡¯s limits.¡±


    For the time being, they had to somehow decrease the combat force of the Theocratic Empire as much as possible. Rather than waiting for their doom without doing anything at all, they should at least struggle bitterly until the very end, instead!


    ¡°Aslan will not perish from this war. Regardless of what sacrifices we must make, this one will stop that outcome! Anyone who wishes to object, offer me your heads first. I shall listen to your opinions afterwards.¡±


    Rahamma declared that he wouldn¡¯t accept any dissent on this matter.


    At his decree, all the feudal lords bowed their heads.


    ¡°We shall obey, your majesty.¡±


    After getting the consent from the feudal lords, Rahamma stared at the report once more.


    White Olfolse.


    Just what was the reason for this man who went missing for eleven years to suddenly resurface like this?


    Still feeling enraged, Rahamma tore the report to shreds.

 Chapter 134 - City of Slaves -1 (Part Two)

    **


    The slaves ¨C no, hang on. Aslan¡¯s subjects that had regained their freedom settled down nicely in the ancient ruin. While watching them get quickly acclimatised to their new home, I got ready to leave.


    I, uh, stored the treasures, weapons of both hand-held and siege type varieties, as well as the Cyclops Golem statues in my item window for ¡®safe¡¯ keeping. Of course, I also didn¡¯t forget to pack away some dragon scales as well as its meat.


    ¡°My lord, are you really giving us all these things?¡±


    Damon made a stunned expression as he stared at the remainder of the treasure trove, as well as the dragon meat. Excluding its torso, a single leg was all that remained now in the ancient ruin.


    I nodded my head. ¡°Isn¡¯t it going to be enough to feed you guys for months?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes. That¡¯s true,¡± Damon answered with a somewhat stupefied expression. ¡°However, there is a legend that has been passed down since the ancient times, my lord. It says that a knight or a magician who consumes dragon¡¯s meat will grow stronger at a much quicker rate¡­ Are you really giving such precious meat to us?¡±


    ¡°Even if there¡¯s some kind of an improvement, how noticeable can it be anyway? Besides, you guys don¡¯t have enough food in this place, right? And if you don¡¯t eat the meat quickly enough, it¡¯s going to spoil.¡±


    2


    Of course, the meat nicely stored away in my item window would always be perfectly preserved.


    Damon was unable to refuse, and in the end, he bowed his head deeply to express his gratitude. ¡°I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this favour, my lord. I swear that one day, I shall become a great source of strength to you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not so weak that I need to ask help from some people who can¡¯t even look after themselves yet.¡±


    Hans took on the duty of guiding me.


    Since I couldn¡¯t afford to waste any more time than I already had, I summoned skeleton horses.


    ¡°Oh, ohhh! Holy skeleton horses! To think that I¡¯d get to witness one from so close by!¡±


    While his eyes sparkled brightly, Hans studied the skeleton horse from this and that angle.


    1


    I summoned more skeletons and they connected the chariot recovered from the ruin to the undead horses. It was to ensure that we travelled at the fastest speed possible.


    ¡°Are you really going to leave us?¡±


    Damon and Tina, as well as countless people, gathered by the exit and looked at me with rueful longing.


    I stopped packing my things away and could only grin awkwardly at them. ¡°Why, you want to follow me this time as well?¡±


    Damon shook his head. ¡°I must remain and look after these folks, my lord. However¡­¡±


    He glanced at Tina next to him.


    While holding a crude little wooden staff with both of her hands, Tina cautiously walked up closer to me. ¡°May I¡­ be permitted to accompany you?¡±


    I stared at her in confusion. ¡°Why? You now have a safe haven, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°The truth is¡­ I¡¯d like to learn magic from you, Lord Angel.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m aware that it¡¯s rude to request this, but I wish to receive your teachings as a believ¡­ ah, no, I mean as your disciple.¡±


    I got the feeling that she gave it her all to change the word ¡®believer¡¯ to ¡®disciple¡¯ just then.


    Huh, so they still think I¡¯m this angel or whatever?


    ¡°You know, I don¡¯t have much talent in teaching anyone about magic.¡±


    Tina nodded as if she had already prepared for something like that. ¡°It¡¯s possible that I may never be able to follow your teachings, Lord Angel. But I swear to give it my everything. I swear to never be a hindrance to you.¡±


    What she just now said somehow reminded me of Charlotte. The girl with silver hair and red eyes who expressed her determination to serve under me.


    ¡­Now that I thought about it, she must be really worried about me by now. And I was kinda curious about how she was doing right now too.


    A thin smile crept up on my lips after I began missing her. ¡°I gotta say, it might get really complicated for you if you travel with me.¡±


    The Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire and a princess from Aslan. Wouldn¡¯t you agree that it¡¯s a rather ill-fitting combination?


    ¡°How can that be? You¡¯re the person who gifted us with renewed hopes and dreams, so how come¡­¡±


    I tutted internally at Tina¡¯s words that sounded like a flight of fancy. Hopes and dreams? Gimme a break.


    Here was a group of slaves who continued to hold on even as they were mistreated and tormented by their so-called masters.


    Some of these slaves used to be Necromancers. Not only that, others used to have a pretty scary-sounding job title such as a mercenary, hunter, or assassin, while the rest were experienced in various professions such as servants, maids, merchants, farmers, etc, etc¡­


    Even without my help, these people would¡¯ve survived perfectly well on their own.


    ¡°Besides, Lord Angel. You don¡¯t know much about the kingdom¡¯s ways, so allow me to guide you. Please let me serve you.¡±


    When Tina said that, I glanced at Hans.


    He made a troubled face while saying, ¡°Ah, I¡¯m merely planning to show you the way. I¡¯ll be returning to this ruin right afterwards.¡±


    Hans was asked to provide education to the people living here in return for Damon providing aid during the Alchemy research.


    Of course, I figured that his real reason for sticking around would be for all those remaining treasures in this place.


    I looked back at Tina. Having given this matter a brief contemplation, I did realise that a trustworthy guide was indeed a necessity.


    ¡°Do you know a way to reach the Theocratic Empire, though?¡±


    Tina¡¯s expression brightened instantly. ¡°Yes! Of course. As soon as we reach the city, I¡¯ll be able to guide you all the way to the border wall of the empire!¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess that will make this trip pretty short, then. I¡¯ll be in your care until then.¡±


    When I extended my hand, Tina gladly held it while her pointy ears perked up.


    I turned my head towards Hans and asked him. ¡°By the way, what¡¯s the name of the city we¡¯re heading to?¡±


    He pulled out a map and a compass that seemed to be crafted through Alchemy. ¡°We will travel north for a little while. When we do¡­¡±


    He continued tracing his finger on the map before turning his head to me.


    ¡°¡­We should reach the city of slaves, Evelyum.¡±


    2


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Crown Imperial Prince White Olfolse was currently walking on one of the streets found within the city of slaves, Evelyum.


    There were innumerable tents set up here, and merchants selling slaves were noisily shouting out to advertise their ¡®wares¡¯.


    ¡°Oii, you there, good looking gent! How about this slave over here? She¡¯s perfect for meeting your nightly needs! And her technique is an art in itself!¡±


    ¡°A boy? A girl? Regardless of what your taste is, we can meet it for you!¡±


    The slave merchants all tried to engage White. Every time that happened, he could only smile awkwardly and wave his hands to declare his lack of interest.


    He was sighing deeply at length.


    It was proving to be quite challenging to travel in Aslan. Not only was the distance between different cities great, it was also uncommon to find small towns or villages along the way as well.


    This country was so treacherous that if you got lost while traversing the barren wasteland, then you¡¯d have to wander around for a few days until rediscovering the correct path if luck was on your side. If unlucky, though, you¡¯d be left wandering until you died.


    White stopped walking and stared at an advertisement flyer stuck to a wall. It was a notice of the list of merchant groups that would set off from the city in ten days.


    If you paid them some amount of coin, they would guide you to the next destination.


    White¡¯s eyes drifted to another flyer next to the list.


    [Coliseum, an arena of fierce combat! Challenge it with your martial prowess!]


    He lightly tilted his head while reading the flyer. Now that he thought about it, Aslan seemed to have quite a lot of competition that utilised slaves.


    When he stood there reading the flyers, an aged beggar squatting by the corner of the street cackled and began chatting to him. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, interested in that martial arts competition?¡±


    White shifted his head to stare at the old man. The latter was begging the passersby with an empty bowl before him while his lower torso was covered in a dirty-looking blanket.


    The old beggar was grinning at White.


    The Crown Imperial Prince stared at the beggar, and while scratching the back of his head, pointed at the list of prizes for the winner written on the flyer. ¡°I see that the reward is a Vampire slave.¡±


    1


    ¡°Indeed it is. Isn¡¯t it tempting? That¡¯s basically the best magical energy source for a Necromancer after all!¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    ¡°And also, a participant who¡¯s not a slave receives some prize money every time he or she survives a round. Of course¡­¡±


    The old man pulled off the blanket covering his legs. What showed up underneath was a leg wrapped tightly in bloodied bandages. It lacked any signs of vitality whatsoever. It was already a minor miracle that the leg itself hadn¡¯t rotted away by now.


    ¡°¡­You might get greatly injured in the process,¡± the old man finished what he was saying.


    White replied. ¡°¡­Well, it¡¯ll be good to interrogate a Vampire since I¡¯m looking for someone, but unfortunately, I¡¯m in a bit of a hurry, you see.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re looking for someone?¡± The old man tilted his head. ¡°And you need a Vampire¡¯s help to find this person?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes. The matters of my family are a bit complicated¡­¡±


    White ruefully smacked his lips.


    The old beggar stared at him with a puzzled expression before abruptly shifting his gaze towards the street over yonder. ¡°Oh, looks like the new slaves that survived their recent rounds are going past us. They now need to survive nine more rounds to earn their freedom.¡±


    White also turned his head after hearing the beggar. He saw the slaves being led away while chained to a bunch of skeletons summoned by the accompanying Necromancers.


    The group was made up of all sorts of races. He even saw a Brown Orc amongst the old humans and young children. A few young men were also in the mix as well.


    White stared at them and ended up smiling bitterly. He thought it was somewhat heartbreaking to see a particular young man getting led away. That young man just so happened to resemble one of his sons, that¡¯s why.


    ¡°¡­Huh?!¡±


    No, hang on a second ¨C not just ¡®resembling¡¯, but that was really his own son!


    The sobbing Third Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse, was being led away by the Necromancers.


    White stood there in pure stupefaction before urgently rubbing his eyes. He confirmed it several times, and without a doubt, that was definitely his son! A child he hadn¡¯t seen in years!


    The old beggar titled his head at White¡¯s strange reaction. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°No, well¡­ The situation has gotten much more complicated, you see,¡± White groaned under his breath while replying. However, he still continued to glance at the slaves being led away. ¡°Is it possible for you to tell me some things about this country? I¡¯m not talking about the stories about the war, but¡­ something more in-depth.¡±


    ¡°Well, what kind of stories are you thinking about? Not only some simple rumours, I happen to know other, juicier tales involving dastardly schemes that Aslan is trying to hide.¡± The old beggar grinned as his fingers began making a round sign. ¡°However, it¡¯ll cost you.¡±


    ¡°I only have enough for my travel expenses since I plan to travel a long, long way. However¡­¡±


    White squatted down and matched his eye line with the old man. He glanced around to make sure that no one was paying them attention, and then, quietly placed his hand on the beggar¡¯s broken leg.


    He injected a little bit of divinity and the leg convulsed briefly.


    The old man sucked in a deep breath as a sacred feeling coursed through his limb. He could feel his leg again.


    The old beggar¡¯s shocked gaze alternated between his leg and White Olfolse.


    The leg that got diagnosed as crippled for the rest of his life was healed in the blink of an eye! How could there be such a miracle?!


    White placed his index finger on his lips to signal the old man to pipe down. ¡°And so, can you tell me those interesting stories now? Stories involving the martial arts competition, and all those schemes as well. I¡¯m getting the feeling that there are some things I haven¡¯t heard of before, you see?¡±


    The old man animatedly nodded his head several times.


    ¡°I, I shall tell you anything you want. No, I shall tell you everything I know!¡±


    < 073. City of Slaves -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 135 - 074. City of Slaves -2 (Part One)

    **


    Two pairs of skeleton horses pulling the chariot were neighing and snorting noisily.


    Our chariot was currently dashing through the barren wasteland.


    I settled down and leaned my back against the violently-shaking wall of the vehicle. Meanwhile, Hans seemed to be suffering from a bit of travel sickness, judging from his sickly-white complexion. Oh, he was also spewing everything he ate so far on the desert sand below as well.


    ¡°Are you feeling alright?¡± Tina asked while patting Hans¡¯s back.


    ¡°Y-yes, I¡¯m feeling¡­ Wuu-wuuph¡­¡±


    Hans wiped away the bits of vomit around his mouth and slid down on the chariot¡¯s wall without much energy.


    I stared at his exhausted face for a bit before taking out the warp scroll from the item window. After using Amon¡¯s grimoire the last time, I grew quite interested in this magic called ¡®warp¡¯.


    Hans wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and tried to talk to me with a weak voice. ¡°You said it¡¯s a cheap item, but be honest with me, sir. It¡¯s a great item, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Even though you can only travel three metres?¡±


    ¡°You can search both heaven and earth, sir. See if you can get your hands on a warp scroll capable of transporting you three metres. Just that scroll alone will fetch several hundred gold coins.¡±


    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s that expensive?¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, unfortunately, nobody is willing to pay that much for one.¡±


    Hans grinned wryly.


    Unsurprising really, considering that it was a bit useless.


    Three metres ¨C that¡¯s a distance you¡¯d be able to cover by stretching your legs a bit and jumping forward three times or so. Who in their right mind would pay good money for something like that?


    I stared at the warp scroll in my hand for a long while before saying something. ¡°That feeling when I got sucked into the warp magic. I gotta say, it really was weird.¡±


    I recalled the time when I had blacked out after using Amon¡¯s grimoire.


    One of the terms I heard during that dream ¡®sequence¡¯ kept replaying in my head.


    A black hole.


    That¡¯s what I heard inside that faint dream of mine.


    Nasus¡¯s warp gate, Hans¡¯s warp scroll, then the black hole inside the VR capsule¡­


    All three of them felt pretty similar to each other.


    ¡°You know, there¡¯s something I¡¯m curious about.¡± I stared at Hans and asked him. ¡°Is it possible to move between dimensions if you cast warp?¡±


    He flinched in surprise before rubbing his chin with deep contemplation. Eventually, he looked back at me and replied. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be completely impossible.¡±


    ¡°So, that means it¡¯s doable?¡± I asked back after getting quite stunned by his answer.


    ¡°If it¡¯s ¡®warp¡¯ magic we¡¯re talking about, Lord Allen, haven¡¯t you been using it already?¡±


    I¡¯ve been using warp magic?


    Hans shrugged his shoulders. ¡°What do you think happens when you summon an undead? This type of summoning magic calls forth a soul from another dimension that has departed from this world already. You could say that it¡¯s a type of warp magic.¡±


    ¡°Then, does that mean I can also use warp to transport myself to¡­ another realm?¡±


    Hans shook his head. ¡°A soul and a living being are two different things. You can¡¯t warp a living person the way you summon an undead.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so different about them?¡±


    ¡°The weight, sizes of particles, and also, the fission and fusion points during the warp process, they¡¯re all different, sir. In the case of a soul, it¡¯s so much easier to summon one than an actual physical body. If we unpack the law set out by the ancient Alchemist Granggas, then¡­¡±


    Hans continued on with his explanation, but it was like listening to a complicated mathematics formula and I couldn¡¯t understand a word of it.


    I clicked my tongue and cut him off. ¡°Fine, fine. Just get to the point, will ya? Is it possible to move between dimensions or not?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s possible. However, the issue will be with the distance between the dimensions. The required amount of energy will depend on how far apart the two points are, after all.¡±


    According to Hans, there was more than one ¡®foundation¡¯ that formed this world. He continued on and said that other dimensions were overlaid on top of the visible world around us.


    The middle realm where the humans lived, the purgatory where the souls of the dead went, and also the ¡®titan realm¡¯, sealed away by the fearful gods. Then, the spirit realm, thought to be a world of legends that supposedly formed the basis of nature itself.


    There were apparently dozens of dimensions overlaid with ours, according to him.


    ¡°If the distance between these realms are short, the required energy expenditure will also be on the smaller side. The walls between the dimensions are so narrow that something like a soul can easily slip through without breaking down into fine particles. However, such a thing would be challenging to pull off with a living person due to their overall physical size, even if you manage to break the subject down into tiny little particles.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean a living person can never cross over to another dimension?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it, sir. Theoretically speaking, it should be possible as long as you can supply enough energy to ¡®break through the wall¡¯. Of course, that amount of energy should be absolutely terrifying.¡±


    What he was saying basically boiled down to this: you can break the wall between dimensions by utilising ¡®power¡¯ that rivalled a god. Meaning, it¡¯d be practically impossible for a human to move between dimensions.


    ¡°Wow, something about this is rather incredible.¡±


    I sighed out in amazement, but that only prompted Hans to sit up taller with pride all of a sudden. ¡°Sir, I¡¯ll have you know that I didn¡¯t become a merchant out here in the sticks because my skills as an Alchemist were found inadequate. No, it was merely because I lacked sufficient finance and research materials. If I get my hands on those, then I can proudly boast that I¡¯m one of the greatest Alchemists on this continent.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t praising you, though?


    Still, he looked rather pleased so I decided to humour him for the time being. ¡°Did you learn alchemy from your parents?¡±


    ¡°No, sir. It¡¯s all self-taught. My dear parents have passed on while I was still a young ¡®un, their only heirloom being the books containing their research.¡± Now that Hans got his chance, he began talking fervently about himself. ¡°Do you know why I had to risk my life to acquire the treasure trove, sir? Was it to spend it all like a playboy? No! It¡¯s all to make my dream come true. To spend the rest of my life researching and refining alchemy, then to find out the truth of our world! That is the ultimate purpose of my life, sir.¡±


    I let out a sigh of admiration at that. I took him as a greedy, aimless merchant out to make some buck, but as it turned out, he was working towards a pretty noble goal.


    I asked him. ¡°You have so much skill, yet you aren¡¯t affiliated with anyone?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, sir¡­ This world isn¡¯t a kind place. The profession called the Alchemist, well, it¡¯s too full of corruption to be successful with your skillset alone. No noble in their right mind would want to financially support someone like me who doesn¡¯t have any personal connection and comes from a humble background.¡±


    After I heard his speech, I stared at him for a while. ¡°Hey, Hans.¡±


    ¡°Yes, please speak, sir. Is there anything else you¡¯re curious about?¡±


    He sounded a little cheerier than before, perhaps feeling pleased that he got an opportunity to speak about his life story.


    ¡°You should come to the Theocratic Empire in the future.¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    Hans made a puzzled expression.


    ¡°If you want to work for the imperial court in the future, then pay me a visit. I will spare no expense on supporting you.¡±


    Hans¡¯s jaw nearly dropped to the floor at that.


    It was a promise made by an Imperial Prince of all people, after all. He probably realised that I¡¯d be able to properly support him financially.


    It was then, Tina cried out, ¡°We¡¯ve arrived! It¡¯s Evelyum!¡±


    Hans and I turned our heads in the direction Tina pointed at.


    She was right. I could see a city made out of hardened sand standing above the barren landscape.


    That was the city of slaves, Evelyum.


    **


    I cancelled the summoning of the skeleton horses and placed the chariot back in my item window.


    Tina, Hans, and I walked the rest of the way to the distant city.


    Entering it proved to be easy enough. We easily passed through the guard station by handing over a small portion of silver coins recovered in the ruin as a bribe.


    After passing through the city¡¯s outer gate, we were immediately greeted by the sight of a lively marketplace and the merchants populating it.


    ¡°Selling demi-humans! Selling healthy demi-humans! Orcs, dwarves, and even elves! We sell everything!¡±


    ¡°Truly outstanding nightly technique! Only one gold for a burly slave that will heat up any lonely noble ladies out there!¡±


    ¡°This slave is formerly a mercenary! He¡¯ll serve as a guardian knight during the day, and a servant of lust during the long and steamy nights! Come and take possession of this wonderful¡­¡±


    The main product on sale in the marketplace happened to be slaves. The slave merchants were busy hawking off living people as if they were selling fruits and vegetables.


    I could only grin wryly at this somewhat surreal sight. ¡°There are¡­ a lot of slaves here.¡±


    Tina, who was next to me, smiled forlornly. ¡°Even a princess can end up as a slave in this world after all.¡±


    I placed my hand on her head and patted her there.


    She then pulled out a small flower pot from her luggage. It contained a weed that the children gifted her with before we departed from the ruin.


    Tina had been watering the pot with holy water and nurturing the weed with every little chance she got.


    I asked her. ¡°Is it that precious to you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my hope and dream, my lord. A hope that one day, even weeds can start growing on this land.¡± Tina smiled innocently before asking me back as if she recalled something just then. ¡°By the way, how do you perform the summoning magic for the holy skeletons?¡±


    ¡°Even if you ask me, it¡¯s still the same basic theory that you already know. You told me that you already tried Necromancy before, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Of course, I was summoning the undead with the game system as my foundation. It¡¯d be next to impossible for an Elf¡¯s special trait which possessed divinity and Mana, not the usual demonic energy, to summon an undead.


    However, Tina still didn¡¯t give up. ¡°Can you tell me what it feels like?¡±


    ¡°What it¡­ feels like?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the feeling. In your case, Lord Angel, what do you feel when you summon the holy undead?¡±


    I had to think deeply about this before answering her, ¡°I just imagine it in my mind. Such as, what the summoned undead will look like, what its ability will be, and the amount of divinity spent summoning one. It feels like I¡¯m consolidating all of those while calling out to them. Like¡­ how the undead with ego answer my call and show up.¡±


    ¡°Consolidating while calling out? Ego?¡± Tina¡¯s eyes resembled a surprised rabbit¡¯s at my reply.


    She put the flower pot on the ground and picked up her staff. Divinity and Mana began writhing around her. The combination of those two energies created light that oozed out from the tip of her finger.


    I could tell that she was trying pretty hard to summon an undead. Even though it wouldn¡¯t work, she didn¡¯t seem to know when to give up.


    That was one of her strengths, though.


    I didn¡¯t say anything and silently observed her attempts, before turning my head away at the commotion coming from a corner of the street.


    ¡°Oh, oh! Amazing. That¡¯s nine times in a row!¡±


    ¡°Looks like that slave used to be a Paladin from the Theocratic Empire, doesn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°The Theocratic Empire, you say? Why are you bringing up that bastard of a country?¡±


    ¡°Who cares about that! We won handsomely all thanks to that punk, didn¡¯t we?! Hahah!¡±


    A crowd had formed over there and I could hear their jovial laughter. Then, I noticed a group of slaves marching forward in between them.


    Since an unfamiliar spectacle presented itself, I decided to leave Tina and Hans here for the time being and take a look for myself.


    Just as I took a couple of steps forward, Tina gasped out in surprise.


    ¡°Uh? I did it!¡±


    1


    (TL: There will be only one chapter tomorrow.)

 Chapter 136 - 074. City of Slaves -2 (Part Two)

    I flinched in surprise and tried to turn my head to look at her. However, a loud cheering broke out at the same time.


    Slaves were walking past the crowd while being ¡®escorted¡¯ by skeletons. Among the group, there was this one guy who really stood out like a sore thumb.


    Although shackles were placed on his wrists, he was actually riding on a carriage unfitting for a slave. Meanwhile, female slaves were on either side of him, feeding him fresh fruits.


    Compared to the other slaves, he was getting a noticeably nicer treatment. Although the man looked fatigued as heck, there was this unmistakable rosy glow on his face.


    ¡°Haha! Do you have any idea who I am?! I¡¯m the Imperial Prince! The Imperial Prince! You think I¡¯ll lose to some lowly Orcs or slaves?!¡±


    The dude riding on the carriage guffawed out loudly.


    The crowd of citizens watching the procession let out some words of admiration and amazement.


    ¡°With this, it¡¯s nine straight victories! One more and he¡¯ll be freed from slavery!¡±


    ¡°But look, you can tell he¡¯s mad.¡±


    ¡°Who knows, he might get dragged away later for insulting the monarchy and lose his head!¡±


    Whoever said that, well, that person was spot on. The dude in the carriage definitely had misplaced several screws in his head.


    This kingdom was fighting a war against the Theocratic Empire, yet he was busy announcing himself as a prince of the enemy nation to everyone out here. If that wasn¡¯t an act of madness, then I didn¡¯t know what would qualify as one.


    What was even crazier, though, was that he wasn¡¯t bullsh*tting at all.


    I stared at the slave in question and became utterly stupefied.


    That face for some particular reason, felt far too familiar.


    The ¡®slave¡¯ from the Theocratic Empire, who was forced to participate in a martial arts competition¡­


    ¡­No, he was actually the man formerly known as the Third Imperial Prince of the empire!


    ¡°Why is my older brother coming out from the arena?!¡±


    Indeed, he was Ruppel Olfolse.


    And he was currently guffawing out loudly while embracing the female slaves.


    **


    I hadn¡¯t seen my older brother in a long while, but uh, he seemed to have changed somewhat.


    While basking in the adulation of the crowd, he was proudly showing himself off.


    ¡­How did he end up in that state anyway?


    I figured that Ruppel had also been transported into Aslan by the mass-scale warp magic. But in that case, what about Oscal Baldur? Didn¡¯t they warp together?


    I looked around but couldn¡¯t see or sense that old man. Then again, if he was around, Ruppel wouldn¡¯t have ended up as a gladiator slave like this.


    My gaze turned back to the completely-transformed Ruppel.


    The ¡®Ruppel Olfolse¡¯ I know would¡¯ve been sobbing like a little kid after finding himself in an unfamiliar foreign land. But that dude, he was kicking up a big fuss over there.


    Although, it wasn¡¯t all that hard to see why.


    So many people were cheering him on. On top of that, attractive female slaves were seducing him and humouring his needs as well.


    He was getting the acknowledgement he failed to gain back in the imperial palace from these cheering strangers, so yeah, he must¡¯ve been feeling like he¡¯s on cloud nine or something.


    I pushed my way past the throng of onlookers.


    ¡°Brother!¡±


    ¡°Ng?¡±


    Ruppel turned his head and looked in my direction. His eyes opened wider. He even rubbed his eyes several times in disbelief. And then¡­


    ¡°Is, is that you, Allen?!¡±


    He was clearly overjoyed as he climbed down from the carriage, but when he tried to run over to me, some soldiers blocked his path.


    Ruppel flinched and stepped back.


    The Necromancers stared at me and pointed their spears. ¡°And who you might be?¡±


    Obviously, I couldn¡¯t say out aloud that that man was my older brother. Even if these people ended up treating me as another madman, it¡¯d still be too risky to openly call myself an Imperial Prince.


    For now, it would be smarter to feign ignorance in this case.


    Besides all that, how did my older brother end up as a slave? What could have happened in the last few months?


    No, hang on. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise. If he¡¯s a slave, didn¡¯t that mean it was possible to negotiate his price?


    I pretended to reach inside my robe to pull something out, and extracted a coin pouch from the item window. ¡°I wish to purchase him.¡±


    ¡°What the¡­? What are you even talking about? He¡¯s not a product for sale. In the next match, he¡­¡±


    I opened the mouth of the pouch and showed them the contents within.


    It was filled with quite a lot of glistening gold coins. As payment meant for only a single slave, it was a considerable sum.


    The Necromancers¡¯ eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. They then exchanged glances with each other.


    ¡°¡­W-well, he¡¯s already won nine times in a row. Maybe it¡¯ll be better for us to sell him now.¡±


    The Necromancers nodded their heads in agreement.


    But just as they extended their hands towards my coin pouch, yet another group of Necromancers showed up to interrupt us.


    ¡°Halt! That slave is coming with us!¡±


    I glanced at them.


    This new group was kitted out in proper armour and even wore metal helms. They were well armed, and even accompanied by their own slaves who must¡¯ve been sacrifices meant for extra demonic energy reserve.


    Meaning, these guys were Necromancers with quite a bit of authority.


    The leader of the armoured Necromancers exchanged his piercing gaze between me and Ruppel. ¡°¡­What is your relationship with this slave?¡±


    I cussed inwardly at that question.


    This guy¡¯s eyes were filled with vigilance. I wasn¡¯t sure what he thought about me, but Ruppel was definitely being ¡®suspected¡¯ here.


    If that¡¯s the case, I needed to take a step back from here for the time being. ¡°I was merely curious since he apparently won nine times in a row. As I¡¯m in the middle of a journey, I was in need of a guard, you see.¡±


    ¡°My apologies, but this slave cannot be sold to you. His lordship, the castellan of Evelyum, is planning to take possession of him.¡±


    ¡°The castellan? How come?¡±


    The Necromancer curtly replied to my question. ¡°It doesn¡¯t concern you. Take him away.¡±


    The summoned skeletons grabbed Ruppel and began forcibly dragging him away. He resisted and struggled to free himself before staring at me. I placed my index finger on my lips and silently mouthed the following words.


    -I¡¯ll come and rescue you, so behave yourself.


    Ruppel¡¯s head faltered lower after he understood what I was saying.


    Once the Necromancers took my older brother away, Tina and Hans walked up to me.


    Hans asked first. ¡°Who was that man, sir?¡±


    I ruefully smacked my lips and replied. ¡°My older brother.¡±


    ¡°¡­?! You mean he¡¯s an Imperial Prince?!¡±


    1


    Tina tilted her head in confusion at Hans¡¯s reaction as she still didn¡¯t know about my real background.


    Hans continued on. ¡°Oh my goodness! So the rumours of Aslan holding the Imperial Prince captive were all true! But to think he¡¯s now a slave! If the Theocratic Empire finds out, the ensuing pandemonium will be truly horrific.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right about that.¡±


    More importantly, though, it seemed that the castellan of this city must¡¯ve figured out Ruppel¡¯s true identity. That¡¯s probably why my older brother got dragged away like this.


    Things just got more complicated.


    I spat out a lengthy groan. ¡°All of you, prepare to leave.¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll flee from the city once I break my brother out.¡±


    ¡°B-but, how¡­?¡±


    Hans and Tina stared at me in a daze.


    Since Ruppel got dragged away by the castellan¡¯s people, the possibility of him getting locked up somewhere in the fortress was quite high.


    I replied. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡±


    If he got imprisoned, then all I had to do was break him out.


    Now that Ruppel¡¯s identity had been exposed, an investigation about me would be launched sooner rather than later. If that¡¯s the case, I should make my move first before my opponent has a chance to act.


    ¡°Yup, it¡¯s time to go on a rampage.¡±


    I shifted my gaze over to the huge castle located on top of a hill over yonder.


    While staring at the castle of Evelyum, I began warming up my muscles.


    ***


    In the military camp belonging to the Theocratic Empire.


    Paladins in metal armours were standing tall and proud even under the sweltering sunlight beating down on them.


    Aslan¡¯s citizens could be spotted infrequently among the empire¡¯s soldiers displaying their finely-drilled military discipline.


    ¡°T-thank you. Thank you so much!¡±


    Raphael and Alice healed the kingdom¡¯s citizens who were wounded during the war. From the trivial little scratches all the way to grievous injuries, they gave it their all. With their skill level, they were more than capable enough to heal even a person at death¡¯s doorstep to full health.


    However, it was still a difficult task trying to treat dozens, hundreds of refugees every single day.


    Raphael smiled back at Aslan¡¯s refugees who were expressing their gratitude.


    It was then, he heard a small commotion breaking out at a nearby guard post.


    Someone was approaching the Theocratic Empire¡¯s territory. It was an old man using a golden-coloured sword as his walking stick. He was wobbling unsteadily on his feet.


    1


    The Paladins guarding the camp quickly pointed their spears at the old man. ¡°Halt! Identify your¡­¡±


    ¡°Get out of my way if you wish to keep your head.¡±


    The old man¡¯s words were filled with thick murderous intent.


    The Paladins flinched nastily and froze up on the spot.


    The old man¡¯s eyes, obscured under the dry and cracked hair strands, were glaring venomously at the Paladins. ¡°I shall have an audience with his majesty the Holy Emperor right away.¡±


    The emaciated old man, with a dried-up scalp and lips, alongside a face lacking signs of vitality ¨C came across as oddly familiar to the Paladins.


    They eventually realised who this was and froze up even further on their spots. And Raphael, witnessing this situation from a distance, hurriedly dashed towards the guard post.


    The old man was a sight for sore eyes, at least to the archbishop. A great hero who participated in the battle against Necromancer King Amon fifty years ago had finally returned to the fold.


    It was the legendary figure who ably guided the Holy Emperor and the archbishop to the front steps of Amon all those years ago.


    ¡°Oscal! Is that you, Oscal?!¡±


    The vice-captain of the Order of the Golden Cross.


    The sword king, Oscal Baldur.


    He had crossed the barren desert to reach the Theocratic Empire¡¯s camp.


    < 074. City of Slaves -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 137 - 075. Rescue -1 (Part One)

    **


    Oscal Baldur gulped the water down and then shoved a big chunk of meat in his mouth.


    ¡°Thank you, archbishop,¡± he muttered out while munching on a mouthful of food.


    Raphael Astoria heard the gist of what happened from the sword king.


    Oscal said that for the last four months, he¡¯d been wandering the desert all alone. He had nothing to drink or to eat, and whenever he was about to collapse from hunger and fatigue, the monsters residing in the vast desert proved to be his hope of survival.


    He killed giant desert scorpions and consumed their meat, then after slaughtering the Brown Orcs trying to ambush him, he cut open their bladders and quenched his thirst that way.


    1


    Afterwards, he walked, and then continued walking some more.


    He would sometimes spot a town or a troupe of mercenaries once every month or so, but he did his absolute best to avoid getting in contact with them.


    Aslan was in the middle of war.


    Oscal was well aware of how badly twisted the impoverished citizens of an exhausted nation could get. Ill intentions hidden behind the facade of kindness ¨C that was the situation people usually encountered within a country that had turned into a warzone.


    He could have ambushed them, but it¡¯d be a challenging task with his worn-out body. He had to consider the possibilities of him failing to catch up to the escapees running away on the camels, as well as the enemies getting the whiff of his current whereabouts.


    And so, he decided to avoid people as much as possible during his journey across the desert.


    It didn¡¯t take him long to spot Aslan¡¯s military camp. He caught one of the soldiers trying to desert the army and interrogated him.


    He learned from the soldier that Aslan couldn¡¯t stop the Theocratic Empire¡¯s invasion and repeatedly went through the cycle of defeat and retreat. And now, the kingdom¡¯s army was mobilising to sneak attack Evelyum of all places.


    After hearing that, Oscal killed the deserter and headed in the direction of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s relentless march.


    ¡°What about the Imperial Princes?¡±


    Raphael¡¯s question was met with Oscal¡¯s shaking head. ¡°I don¡¯t have any clues regarding the whereabouts of his highness the Seventh Prince. As for the traitor Ruppel, he and I landed on the same spot of the desert together, but¡­¡±


    The problem was, the warp magic had sent them straight into a fierce sandstorm. It wasn¡¯t a regular sandstorm either, but a monstrous tornado consisting of two, three different storms combined together.


    Thanks to this freaky misfortune, Oscal and Ruppel ended up being flung far away from one another, and the old man was left to wander aimlessly inside a storm boasting a scale that he had never even seen or heard before in his entire life.


    1


    ¡°In the case of the Third Imperial Prince, the odds of him dying under the layers of desert sand are quite high. I barely managed to walk out of that storm after all.¡±


    Even if he was the revered sword king, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to bend the great mother nature to his will.


    Once he filled up his empty belly, he stood up from the chair.


    However, Raphael tried to dissuade him. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you rest for a little longer?¡±


    ¡°No, I must give my report to his majesty first.¡±


    Ten minutes of break was sufficient for Oscal.


    He quickly walked away with his new destination being the commander¡¯s tent.


    Once he stepped inside, he was greeted by the sight of many great warriors waiting for his arrival.


    On either side of him, the leaders of the Orders of the Crimson Cross and the Verdant Cross, as well as the dwarf legion, the Paladin Corps and the Heavenly Army. Finally, the newly-installed head of the White Cross was present as well.


    Commanders and vice-commanders who represented the strongest combat forces in the Theocratic Empire had gathered in one place. And in the seat of honour ahead of them, a certain old man was sitting on a throne.


    The ruler of the Theocratic Empire, and the commander responsible for creating and personally leading the Order of the Golden Cross. The Holy Emperor wearing a set of brilliant golden armour, Kelt Olfolse.


    He was staring at Oscal with an indifferent expression.


    ¡°Report, Oscal Baldur.¡±


    The emperor didn¡¯t even bother with a simple greeting to ask whether Oscal was doing well or not. Not even a shock or a welcoming reaction. Nothing at all.


    The emperor¡¯s attitude was as indifferent as one could possibly get.


    However, Oscal¡¯s heart became more tranquil from this lack of reaction. That¡¯s because the emperor wasn¡¯t demanding an answer for his failure to protect the Imperial Prince and to capture the traitor.


    Without a doubt, Kelt Olfolse was the ideal ruler who¡¯d never be shaken up by anything. As the sacred sovereign Oscal swore to serve until his dying day, this emperor was the embodiment of perfection.


    Oscal knelt down on one knee and bowed his head. ¡°Please forgive this one¡¯s disloyalty, your majesty. I failed to hold onto the traitor as mentioned in your decree, Ruppel Olfolse. Also, I failed to protect the noble Saint, his highness Allen Olfolse.¡±


    The moment the Seventh Imperial Prince was brought up, the head of the Order of the White Cross ever so briefly flinched.


    She was standing tall with her pure-white sword stabbed into the ground below with both of her hands holding its hilt. For a moment there, her eyes trembled a little.


    Oscal could only grin bitterly at Charlotte still acting unsatisfactorily even to this day.


    The Holy Emperor spoke with a low voice, ¡°Any other report to make besides that?¡±


    Even though the fate of his youngest grandson was up in the air, the emperor showed not one single glimpse of unrest.


    ¡°I¡¯ve witnessed Aslan¡¯s army on the move, your majesty. Their King, Rahamma, was personally leading the formation.¡± Oscal reported on what he saw and heard. ¡°Their destination was Evelyum, a place referred to as the city of slaves.¡±


    ¡°Was it to protect the city?¡±


    ¡°No, your majesty. It was to attack.¡±


    ¡°The reason?¡±


    ¡°This servant does not know, but there must be ¡®something¡¯ in that city. For that man to attack one of his own cities in this current wartime situation, there can only be one reason, your majesty.¡±


    Aslan¡¯s capital city was, figuratively speaking, only a stone¡¯s throw away. Yet Rahamma was pulling his troops back?


    Just like what Oscal said, there must¡¯ve been ¡®something¡¯ else at play here. And there was little to doubt that this ¡®something¡¯ were the Imperial Princes.


    But some part of that deduction didn¡¯t make logical sense. You wouldn¡¯t necessarily need to attack the whole city if you wanted to hit only the ¡®Imperial Princes¡¯.


    Which meant that there could be something else exceeding the ¡®Imperial Princes¡¯ in that location in terms of sheer urgency.


    ¡­Something else capable of making King Rahamma fearful enough to act like this.


    The Holy Emperor¡¯s eyes narrowed to slits. ¡°Oscal Baldur.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°From this moment henceforth, I grant you the authority over the entire army.¡± Kelt Olfolse got up from his throne and walked up to Oscal. ¡°And your new task is to bring me their unconditional surrender.¡±


    Oscal raised his head and looked up at the Holy Emperor.


    The aura the latter gave off was icy-cold. So much so that it sent a creeping chill down Oscal¡¯s spine.


    Emperor Kelt Olfolse stared at him with eyes utterly devoid of any and all emotions, causing Oscal to shudder from the unnatural chill.


    ¡°If they do not wish to surrender, then¡­¡± The Holy Emperor spoke without a hint of hesitation, ¡°¡­Kill them all.¡±


    Oscal bowed his head once more. ¡°This servant shall obey.¡±


    **


    The Crown Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, White Olfolse, was on standby in the tournament arena as the night fell.


    Ruppel Olfolse, his son, had already achieved nine victories. Just one more win and he¡¯d become a free man once more. White planned to take his son and quickly return to the empire.


    However¡­


    ¡°¡­I guess this matter just got a bit more complicated.¡±


    White standing by the coliseum¡¯s entrance could only scratch the back of his head.


    He scanned his vicinity and saw a cordon of skeletons surrounding him, the eerie crimson light glowing from within their eye sockets. The Necromancers were standing in a line behind the horde of undead.


    Rather obviously, these dark magicians didn¡¯t come here to rob him of his pocket money. Which means that them being here could only mean¡­


    ¡°¡­I got found out, huh?¡±


    Indeed, it seemed that they had cottoned unto his true identity.


    But then again, he¡¯d been too conspicuous lately. Aslan¡¯s leadership should¡¯ve detected his and Ruppel¡¯s location by now.


    Seeing that his son hadn¡¯t come to the arena yet, Ruppel must¡¯ve been apprehended already.


    ¡®This means that Ruppel is being held inside the fortress.¡¯


    At the very least, he should be unharmed. Well, as a hostage, he¡¯d prove to be an excellent bargaining chip during the negotiation with the Theocratic Empire, after all.


    ¡®In that case, should I go and rescue him? My son¡¯s in danger, and also¡­ it¡¯ll be no good if a rumour spreads around the continent, one about how the empire was left quaking in its boots because measly little Aslan dared to threaten it.¡¯


    Sooner or later, White Olfolse was destined to ascend to the throne of the Holy Emperor. His empire, sometimes called the nation of devout believers, was also referred to as the strongest on the continent. It meant that he could not afford to display even a hint of yielding to the likes of Aslan.


    ¡°Can¡¯t be helped, it seems.¡± He glanced around at the Necromancers and skeletons before cracking his neck muscles. ¡°Should I go and rescue Ruppel first then?¡±


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    There were two ways to rescue my not-so-sharp older brother.


    The first option would be to silently sneak into the fortress ¨C covertly scale the fortress walls, and start searching for Ruppel throughout the place since I had no idea where he¡¯d be locked up.


    Mm¡­ But that would take way too long. Even if this option offered the advantage of taking care of things quietly, it was a no-no.


    1


    Besides, I¡¯d be discovered in a few hours anyways. Without a doubt, the castellan would send pursuers after us as soon as they realised that Ruppel was gone.


    In that case, option number two could prove to be far more simpler for me.


    With it, I wouldn¡¯t have to scale any tall walls or search for Ruppel all by myself. I could even save myself a lot of time too, and if all goes well, the castellan wouldn¡¯t even be able to think about coming after us.


    Yes, the second option was for the best.


    And this second option was¡­


    ¡°Halt!¡±


    I arrived before the huge fortress located on top of the hill after night fell.


    The walls alone seemed to reach at least ten metres in height. I spotted the soldiers guarding the fortress¡¯s gate.


    They weren¡¯t the Necromancers, though, just regular soldiers. It was them who were calling out to me, telling me to stop.


    I stared at them with a slight pout before shifting my gaze back to the large castle behind them, one that boasted the distinctive architecture of Aslan¡¯s culture, and spat out some words of appreciation. ¡°Eeiya~. Man, if it wasn¡¯t for the war, I¡¯d have taken my time to enjoy these sights, you know. Too bad.¡±


    There couldn¡¯t have been more than five, maybe six hundred people max in this fortress. The soldiers saw how ¡®amazed¡¯ I was and seemed to lower their guard a litte, then withdrew their spears.


    ¡°What the heck. It was just some random traveller?¡±


    ¡°What brings you here? Do you have any business with his lordship, the castellan?¡±


    The soldiers scanned me from top to bottom. And their wariness dropped even further to the ground. Which wasn¡¯t all that surprising since the robe I was currently wearing almost resembled a dirty rag at this point.


    ¡°Ah, actually. Rather than having business with the dear lord castellan, it¡¯s more like my older brother is inside this fortress, you see.¡±


    ¡°Your older brother, is it?¡±


    I smiled brightly while nodding theatrically. ¡°Yes. He¡¯s currently imprisoned inside as a slave.¡±


    And those words completely undid the last remnants of wariness in the soldiers. They instead burst into a round of loud chuckles.


    ¡°What was that? He¡¯s a slave?¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you were just a commoner?¡±


    I maintained my bright smile but shook my head this time. ¡°Nope. My station is actually quite high.¡±


    When I said that, the soldiers stopped laughing and clamped their mouths shut. They sneakily exchanged glances with each other, wondering if they made a foolish mistake just now.


    ¡°W-which noble house are you from, lad?¡±


    I stared straight at them and responded while enunciating every word clearly. ¡°I¡¯m the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, Allen Olfolse.¡±


    3


    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 138 - 075. Rescue -1 (Part Two)

    The soldiers wordlessly blinked their eyes.


    This silence lasted for a surprisingly long time, but eventually, they all exploded into a loud peal of laughter again.


    ¡°Hahahahah!¡±


    ¡°Listen to this kid! Look, everyone! Some crazy kid just showed up!¡±


    The guffawing soldiers shouted out, and even their colleagues up on the fortress walls peered down to take a good look at me.


    ¡°This kid, he looks outwardly fine, but it seems he¡¯s lost his mind! He says he¡¯s from the Imperial Family. Not only that, he says he¡¯s the Seventh Imperial Prince, no less!¡±


    ¡°Seriously now, the whole world must¡¯ve gone mad. I had no idea that a boy this young can also work as a clown!¡±


    One of the soldiers dug within his pockets, found a copper coin, and tossed it in my way.


    I glanced at the soldiers.


    ¡°If you¡¯re planning to entertain us, clown, make it more entertaining than this. I was actually dying of boredom just now.¡±


    ¡°But know this, kid. If you fail to keep us amused, we¡¯ll just break your legs and sell you off as a slave.¡±


    Their glares were rather cold, I have to say.


    Even though they were just regular soldiers working for the castellan, they still came across as pretty overbearing. That¡¯s because even if they killed someone for fun, they wouldn¡¯t get punished. They were even allowed to assault any women they found pleasing to their eyes.


    As long as the castellan turned a blind eye, all would be forgiven.


    This was precisely the reason why Aslan¡¯s subjects detested and feared the nobles and the soldiers. What a relief it was that I investigated this fact beforehand. All these soldiers, they treated every commoner like a slave and they thought of it as an obvious thing to do.


    In that case, no more reason to hesitate then.


    While looking at them, I shook my head as if I found something to be quite unfortunate. ¡°How sorrowful. None of you believe me even though I speak the truth. Working as a clown? You do know that¡¯s lese majeste, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Is this one of those situational comedies? Don¡¯t you have any other talent besides this? Like, juggling or balancing on a ball?¡±


    ¡°Talent, is it?¡± I asked.


    The soldiers stared at me with amused eyes.


    I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have much of a talent, but mm¡­ Well, I can show you this one cool trick though.¡±


    ¡°A cool trick?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Well, I guess I¡¯ll show it to you guys in commemoration of rescuing my older brother, and also to advertise my new wares.¡±


    ¡°¡­Your new wares?¡±


    ¡°Now, please concentrate on this upcoming trick that will even stun the likes of Mister Jok*r!¡±


    ¡°¡­What¡¯s this trick he¡¯s talking about?¡±


    The soldiers clearly became interested. It was pretty boring guarding the fortress¡¯s gate, so their curiosity must¡¯ve been greatly stoked by my actions.


    Every soldier around the gate and above the walls paid their undivided attention to me. They snickered while occasionally exchanging glances with one another.


    It seemed that these folks were treating me as a simple clown.


    Well, they were right about one thing.


    I was the ¡®clown¡¯. Except that, rather than laughter, I¡¯d be busy gifting them with shock and terror, but hey!


    I pointed to the empty space behind me. ¡°Do you see anything behind me?¡±


    ¡°Behind you?¡±


    Since it was at night, the soldiers had to raise their lit torches up high to cast enough light. Although the darkness behind me was chased away, they couldn¡¯t see anything there.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing there, though?¡±


    ¡°Indeed! You can¡¯t see anything there, right? But when I do this¡­¡±


    I spread open my arms wide like a showy illusionist performing on a grand stage. My hands smoothly, slowly tilted and turned. The gazes of the soldiers all drifted towards the ends of my fingertips.


    Just as their undivided attention was focused on me, I loudly clapped my hands before spreading my arms again.


    ¡°Ta-da~!!¡±


    The soldiers¡¯ gazes instantly left my hands and their faces all hardened like stone while staring not at me, but at the ¡®beings¡¯ currently standing right behind me.


    I turned my head and looked back as well. ¡°Oh~ my~ goodness! Can you see now? In this previously-empty space, a whole bunch of undead suddenly showed up!¡±


    They were none other than one hundred or so ¡®mummies¡¯, with forged steel-like rotting flesh wrapped up in white bandages. They were currently outfitted with white balaclavas and matching white-coloured steel armour. They stood tall with their heads bowed while wielding the curved scimitars.


    The corners of my lips curled up.


    I looked back at the stunned soldiers and raised my voice louder. ¡°Yes, these are the freshly oven-baked one hundred ¡®mummies¡¯ I got my hands on recently!¡±


    They ranked higher than mere skeletons in the undead pecking order. Not only was this legion of mummies able to masterfully wield all sorts of weapons, they could even use low-tier magic as well.


    ¡°And so¡­¡± I pointed at the soldiers with my finger. ¡°For the crime of insulting the monarchy, all of you¡­¡±


    I raised my thumb up and pointed it to the ground.


    ¡°¡­will be executed.¡±


    The soldiers flinched and stumbled back.


    It was then, a mummy rapidly dashed forward and dug into the midst of soldiers. The scimitar held in both of its hands rose up before quickly slashing down.


    Along with the quick flashes of light, a single thin red line suddenly appeared in between the brows of the soldier.


    ¡°Uh? Huh?¡±


    Two soldiers collapsed as their eyes rolled back into their sockets, while blood started gushing out from their fresh wounds. At the same time, all of the mummies raised their bowed heads, their eyes glowing eerily in the dark.


    ¡°E-enemies?!¡±


    ¡°I-intruder¡­!¡±


    The mummies pounced forward.


    They wielded the scimitars held in their hands much faster and much more nimbly than any skeletons could. The soldiers guarding the fortress¡¯s gate were all slaughtered mercilessly while their blood danced in the air.


    A portion of the mummies looked up. Their eyeballs exposed between the bandages and the white balaclavas busily darted around.


    ¡°F-Fire the arrows¡­!¡±


    The soldiers up on the walls fell into panic and hurriedly nocked their arrows.


    The mummies lowered their heads, and rapidly dashed forward. They climbed up the wall in the blink of an eye by grabbing onto the gaps found within the surface.


    Dozens of mummies agilely climbed up the fortress wall at least ten metres tall. The soldiers up there were instantly butchered even before they could do anything.


    The mummies stabbed and killed the archers, stole the weapons and speedily fired arrows to hunt down the other Aslan soldiers.


    While all this slaughter was happening, I summoned the dwarf-made armour set and the musket. I quickly put the white-coloured armour that covered me from the top of my noggin all the way down to my feet and then grabbed the musket.


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia¡­¡±


    I breathed into the spread shot-enabled musket and stared at the firmly-shut fortress gate.


    ¡°It¡¯s that one! He¡¯s the Necromancer!¡±


    ¡°Kill him first!¡±


    More soldiers showed up above the fortress wall and shouted out while pointing down. Unfortunately for them, though, none could touch the current me.


    ¡°Fire the arrows!¡±


    Arrows rained down, but my mummies quickly came to my defense. With deft movements, they raised round shields and blocked off all the incoming arrows. Some crouched low while some other stood straight to defend. Others stepped on them to create a tall wall where every layer was tough and impregnable.


    The defensive wall created out of shields layered on top of one another and successfully defended me from the arrows.


    ¡°Sir Necromancer! Over here!¡±


    A soldier on standby above the wall suddenly shouted out. A Necromancer arriving on the scene belatedly began casting a spell under the protection of the nearby soldiers.


    A huge ball of fire created through magic flung down and blew away the mummies forming the defensive wall. However, I simply ignored the incoming magic despite being within that wall.


    This armour boasted built-in magic resistance. It had been improved even further by [Divine Aura], so without casting a mid-to-high tier magic, no one would be able to hurt me.


    [Divine Aura has been used.]


    [The equipment will be temporarily upgraded.]


    [The upgraded equipment is now granted with the skill ¡®Spread Shot¡¯.]


    I stared at the fortress gate, took aim with the musket, and then fired it.


    A loud sonic boom exploded out. At the same time, dozens of holy projectiles pierced straight through the darkness of the night and collided directly against the gate.


    The projectiles even went straight through the gate itself.


    The soldiers above the wall flinched in surprise and looked down at the gate, only to witness it explode spectacularly into countless bits and pieces.


    Debris flew out and rained down in all directions.


    An unlucky soldier had his head impaled by a piece of wood and died instantly, while many others screamed at the top of their lungs as bits of the gate punctured various parts of their bodies.


    ¡°Stop them! Do not let those bastards invade the fortress!¡±


    Bells began ringing throughout the fortress. Even the sleeping soldiers were roused up and began rushing towards the broken-down gate.


    More Necromancers also showed up and summoned their skeletons to completely surround the vicinity.


    I leisurely strolled through the open gateway.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡±


    Divinity-laden breaths leaked out from the slight opening of my helm.


    My whole body was covered in heavy-looking armour while my right hand held a musket rifle, and in my left, a towering shield. Behind me, the mummified ancient guardians followed closely by.


    The commanding officer leading the castle¡¯s troops saw me and his face visibly hardened.


    ¡°A white armour, the musket, and then¡­¡± He muttered out as his expression morphed into a full-on freakout while staring at the white-coloured mummy legion and yours truly leading them from the front. ¡°¡­H-holy undead.¡±


    The Necromancer¡¯s complexion paled instantly in fear.


    But that wasn¡¯t so surprising.


    Didn¡¯t Hans say this? That there was a spooky ghost story doing its rounds in Aslan.


    And that happened to be¡­


    ¡°It, it¡¯s the angel¡­!¡±


    ¡­A rumour about me.


    This was the second option I was talking about ¨C capturing the enemy fortress outright.


    If the castellan knew about our identities, then killing him would solve the problem. Even if pursuers did come after us, it¡¯d only happen some time later since a matter like the death of the castellan would take a while to deal with.


    I cocked my head to the side and issued an order. ¡°Go and locate my brother.¡±


    The mummies bowed their heads.


    ¡°Oh, and wipe them all out, too.¡±


    Within the darkness of the night, the holy undead legion dashed madly forward as the eerie light in their eyes glowed brightly.


    < 075. Rescue -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 139 - 076. Rescue -2 (Part One)

    **


    Ruppel¡¯s whole body shivered as he scanned his new surroundings. He was currently stuck inside a prison cell filled with mouldy smell.


    He could see a prisoner and burly torturer wearing a leather hood beyond the steel bars of the cell on the other side.


    The torturer was busy whipping the prisoner without even a hint of mercy. The more the poor man¡¯s scream reverberated throughout the prison, the greater Ruppel¡¯s fear grew in his heart.


    No matter where he looked, this place looked like a torture chamber designed solely for the purpose of tormenting and hurting the unlucky prisoners.


    ¡°Dammit, to think it¡¯s that angel! Such a nonsensical tale was true all along?! Fine, we shall flee from this place. At least we must secure the Third Imperial Prince before escaping from here!¡±


    A rotund man and a bunch of Necromancers escorting him abruptly barged into the torture chamber that also served as a prison. He was none other than Evelyum¡¯s castellan.


    While not even bothering to hide his pale complexion, he angrily kicked the torturer in the leg. ¡°Hurry up and open the cell! Or it¡¯ll be you who dies next!¡±


    The torturer, who obviously had no idea what was going on outside, could only scratch his head awkwardly before opening the cell door.


    Ruppel became puzzled by what the castellan had said.


    The angel? And what¡¯s this about dying?


    The torturer extended his hand and grabbed Ruppel before forcibly dragging him outside, which gave the latter a chance to get a better look at the d¨¦cor outside his cell.


    What greeted his view was a torture chamber slathered in pools of blood everywhere; prisoners who lost their limbs, prisoners moaning in pain after all that merciless whipping, and even a dead prisoner with burnt flesh could be seen dangling on the ceiling and the walls.


    Every single one of them had suffered an extreme level of inhumane torture.


    Was he also going to¡­?


    ¡°Uwaaaahk?! L-let me go! I-I¡¯m Ruppel Olfolse! Torturing a member of the Imperial Family is against the law of the continent!¡±


    Ruppel quickly cried out as the fear of getting tortured in this place quickly overtook his rationale.


    ¡°What are you doing! Drag him outside already! We don¡¯t have time for this rubbish! We need to flee from this place before that deranged serial murderer finds us first!¡±


    The castellan¡¯s angry yell prompted the torturer to grab Ruppel¡¯s hair and proceed to drag the latter away.


    Even now, the figure of Evelyum¡¯s castellan was trembling away in anxiousness, all because of a communique that had arrived earlier in the day.


    It said¡­


    -Immediately locate the Crown Imperial Prince and the individual suspected of being the Third Imperial Prince. Upon failure to do so, a military attack against the city will immediately commence.


    The army led by King Rahamma was apparently headed this way.


    The reason? Evidently, the Imperial Family members of the Theocratic Empire were hiding somewhere in the city of slaves, Evelyum.


    At the earliest, the king¡¯s army should arrive at dawn, which was in a few hours. This meant that the castellan had to flee from the city before they showed up.


    If he managed to secure the Third Imperial Prince while fleeing, then he might get a chance to keep his head.


    ¡®Besides, the castle is being attacked right now. The creature called the angel is here. Without a doubt, that bastard is aiming for¡­¡¯


    ¡­The member of the Imperial Family.


    It seemed that the spooky tale about the Theocratic Empire summoning an angel to do its bidding was true all along.


    A creature was kitted out in a set of white-coloured armour covering its whole body, and it was also leading a legion of holy undead; it had a massive musket rifle in its right hand, and a tall and sturdy shield on its left.


    This was the monster birthed by the Theocratic Empire that nearly erased the Black Order out of existence in Humite!


    The ¡®angel¡¯!


    The castellan shuddered once more. ¡°We shall flee from this place right away. Bring the Third Imperial Prince along, now!¡±


    The torturer forcibly dragged Ruppel away.


    ¡°Stop, stop it-! Save me! Someone save me! Mommy, dad, Allen! Anyone, please save me¡­!¡±


    Just as Ruppel began crying out in desperation¡­


    The torturer¡¯s head suddenly exploded into gory bits. Blood rained down everywhere, belatedly followed by the noise of a single gunshot.


    The castellan who witnessed this sight froze up stiffly on the spot and turned his head like a broken doll. The angel raiding the fortress was standing in front of his eyes.


    ¡­While holding a tall shield and pointing at him with the muzzle of a big musket, no less.


    The armoured creature¡¯s eyes gleamed sharply under the helm as divinity-laden breaths exhaled out from the open gap of the armour.


    The castellan freaked out in terror and pointed at the angel. ¡°Uwaaahk?! Kill, kill that thing, now!¡±


    However, before the Necromancers had a chance to raise their staves, the musket¡¯s trigger was pulled first. The loud gunshot noise created by the ¡®Burst Fire¡¯ skill rocked the hallway.


    A terrifying noise resounded out and a portion of the prison exploded into bits, creating a huge hole in the wall.


    Ruppel hugged himself and trembled in fear.


    The castellan and the Necromancers faltered before falling to the floor, looking like bee hives draped in robes full of holes.


    ¡°Heeeiiiik?!¡±


    Ruppel became even more frightened by what he saw. Which was understandable, since corpses filled with holes all over their bodies were the embodiment of one¡¯s worst nightmare, after all.


    After turning his head, he saw the creature referred to as the ¡®angel¡¯ extending its hand towards him.


    ¡°U-waahk! S-stop, please stop¡­!¡±


    ¡°I came to rescue you.¡±


    Ruppel flinched in surprise from that familiar voice, then stared at the angel¡¯s face. The unidentified assailant slowly grabbed its helm before taking it off.


    Pure-white particles of divinity scattered around and a familiar face revealed itself.


    That face belonged to his unsightly little brother.


    It was the face that belonged to the Seventh Imperial Prince, the one Ruppel so badly wanted to trample on.


    ¡­Allen Olfolse.


    He was the angel who frequently appeared in Aslan¡¯s spooky campfire tale.


    Ruppel¡¯s jaw dropped. For some reason, the rays of salvation seemed to be radiating brightly from his little brother¡¯s figure.


    ¡°A-Allen!¡±


    Never before in his life did Ruppel feel this glad to see his youngest brother. Not as a sworn enemy, but as his saviour, no less!


    Allen reached down and easily lifted Ruppel up.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    This dude, seriously now. He can be such a pitiful guy sometimes.


    I slung Ruppel on my shoulder and exited from the prison.


    ¡°Lord Angel! Please free the other subjects!¡±


    After turning my head, I spotted Tina and Hans belatedly entering the castle after me. While being guarded by the mummies, they reached my location.


    Behind them were the slaves previously imprisoned within the fortress. All of them used to be regular citizens, but somehow ended up in their current state after getting on the bad books of the castellan or became ¡®toys¡¯ out of some malicious sense of amusement.


    ¡°We¡¯ve already finished preparing, sir. All we need to do now is to escape from here as soon as possible!¡±


    Hans informed me of the progress and I nodded in understanding right before turning my head.


    After checking out the unfolding scenery outside, I figured that things should wrap up pretty soon.


    My mummies were moving around nimbly and quickly. The bandages under their balaclavas whipped about from their rapid movements, while the eerie glows in their eyes gleamed sharply in the night air.


    They continued cutting down the soldiers and pirouetted around gracefully, and then swung their scimitars some more. Their movements were so much more fluid compared to the skeletons. It was almost as if I was watching pro dancers performing a routine.


    Screams rocked the night sky while blood splattered everywhere.


    ¡°Uwaaahk!¡±


    ¡°Dammit, there¡¯s simply no way that I can fight off a mummy!¡±


    The Necromancers knew all too well just what kind of creatures these mummies were. These undead were the best of the elite soldiers nurtured for the express purpose of protecting a king from Aslan¡¯s ancient past.


    Over one thousand soldiers willingly went through the mummification process and became a member of the undying legion. As the guardians of the king, they were objects of fear even to Aslan¡¯s Necromancers.


    ¡°Everyone, run away!¡±


    A portion of the Necromancers and soldiers aimed for an opening and tried to flee through the fortress gate.


    What a smart decision that was. Unfortunately for them, though, I wasn¡¯t planning to let a single one escape.


    My name had been muttered out in public already, and the soldiers around us must¡¯ve heard it, too. So¡­ it¡¯d be smarter of me to take care of all those loose ends right here.


    But before my mummies could pursue and slaughter the fleeing soldiers¡­


    Swords of divinity suddenly flew in out of nowhere and stabbed all the runaways to death. I was taken aback by this new development and stared at the fortress gate.


    ¡°I was planning to have a face-to-face talk with the dear castellan, but what in the world is going on here?¡± A lone middle-aged man was leisurely strolling in through the open gap while loosening his neck muscles. He looked around the area, observed the mummies closely, and then spat out some words of amazement. ¡°Holy undeads? Goodness me! I did hear about them before from a twisted little birdy, but wow, to think that they really do exist! In that case, I guess that angel or whatever is also real, too?¡±


    He continued studying the mummies with great interest from this and that angle, all the while the corners of his lips curled up in a smirk. He then raised his head to stare at me standing on top of one of the fortress¡¯s walls.


    ¡°By the way, I should ask you this. Are you an ally? Or¡­¡± While saying that, he materialised several swords of light all around himself and pointed them at me. ¡°¡­An enemy?¡±


    As I stared back at him, I couldn¡¯t help but get stunned nearly out of my wits.


    [Name: White Olfolse.


    Age: 48


    Attributes: tough physique, transcendental divinity reserve, excellent combat ability, disposition of a benevolent ruler, specialised light magic.


    + When will I ever locate that son of mine?]


    After taking one look at him with [Mind¡¯s Eye], I finally figured it out.


    ¡°¡­Father?¡±


    The Crown Imperial Prince who had been missing from the Theocratic Empire for the past eleven years ¨C White Olfolse.


    The father of the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s body who I had never seen before was now standing down there on the ground looking back at me.

 Chapter 140 - 076. Rescue -2 (Part Two)

    White Olfolse smacked his lips a little.


    Although the holy undead were surrounding him, they didn¡¯t display any signs of hostility.


    No, it was as if they were studying him back instead.


    He spotted three figures walking out among the mummies.


    One of them was a young Dark Elf, while another was a slender man who didn¡¯t seem to be a combatant. The last one was a person kitted out in a set of white-coloured armour that covered him from his head to toe, with another person slung around on his back.


    What a strange combination this was.


    ¡®That creature is the one that took over the castle?¡¯


    White thought to himself and quickly stopped being so laid-back.


    This armoured individual was powerful; his instincts were warning him.


    1


    It was at that point White realised that the person currently being carried out by the unknown being was Ruppel, his son.


    By the looks of things, this individual seemed to have rescued Ruppel. Which meant that, at the very least, the ¡®angel¡¯ wasn¡¯t an enemy.


    ¡°You were a knight from the Imperial Family?¡±


    1


    Without a doubt, this was a display of considerable ability.


    On top of that, each holy undead here could easily overwhelm the normal undead in terms of power by a wide margin as well. This level of strength wasn¡¯t something an average member from the clergy could pull off.


    White recalled back to one of the several spooky rumours doing its rounds within Aslan kingdom. One of them was a conspiracy theory regarding the Theocratic Empire successfully taming a sentient weapon called the ¡®angel¡¯.


    He thought that it was all baseless rumour. Mainly because it shouldn¡¯t be possible for anyone to hunt down Necromancers, torture them to steal their techniques, and then use divinity to perform Necromancy.


    But then, those things had really occurred right before his eyes.


    It wasn¡¯t just some spooky bedtime story, and as it turned out, the individual at the centre of the tale actually existed.


    Either the Theocratic Empire really did manage to summon an angel, or they had gone and created a Priest that rivalled one in power.


    ¡®¡­Looks like father did something unnecessary again.¡¯


    That¡¯s what White thought.


    ¡­Up until the other person took off his helm, that was.


    The identity revealed after taking the helm off was¡­


    White was stunned by the fact that it was a boy who looked way too young for this, then he got stunned again for the second time after realising that this boy was someone he knew.


    It was a familiar face. Although the boy had grown up a lot, those unique facial features remained the same.


    White¡¯s jaw fell as he failed to hide his shock.


    1


    Oh my goodness!


    ¡°Allen¡­?!¡±


    Before his stunned eyes, Allen Olfolse was standing tall without his helm.


    ¡°Huh, for a father who abandoned his home for over ten years, you sure do recognise your son pretty well.¡±


    The boy spoke with a sarcastic tone of voice. It must¡¯ve been because of the resentment he felt about a father who had abandoned him at a young age.


    1


    White forgot what he wanted to say.


    Eleven years.


    That was a long period of absence, indeed. A child who used to be so pure, so kind, and also so tiny, had grown up so much that he could now equip a set of armour covering his whole body, and wield a shield as well as a musket.


    1


    As proof of his growth, he was even strong enough to capture an enemy castle by all himself.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince furrowed his brows while staring at White. The latter, on the other hand, could only smile bitterly at his son.


    This was the moment that a father and his son were reunited for the first time in eleven years.


    **


    The army led by King Rahamma rushed forward without a moment¡¯s rest.


    Even the combat force previously stationed at the capital city had joined up, and the city of slaves, Evelyum, was now surrounded from all sides.


    They had all been running for several days by then. The soldiers pushed their tired bodies, and while panting away breathlessly, they went ahead to set up the military camp.


    As it was late at night, they needed to take a break for the time being. Torches and braziers were swiftly installed here and there within the camp.


    An army of thirty thousand had now surrounded the city of slaves. Their leader, King Rahamma, carrying a massive mace about two metres long on his back , stood tall and glared at the distant city.


    1


    He spoke up. ¡°Dispatch a messenger immediately. Order the castellan to find the Crown Prince and the individual who claims to be the Third Imperial Prince.¡±


    ¡°T-that is¡­¡±


    King Rahamma cocked his head and stared at the feudal lords standing around him.


    ¡°Your majesty, I¡¯ve already dispatched one ahead of time, just in case. However, there has been no reply from the castellan, Kirum. Also, the soldier who was sent to deliver the message returned to say that the fortress of Evelyum has been attacked by unknown enemies.¡±


    King Rahamma¡¯s eyes grew wider.


    He could already tell how such an outcome had come about. There could only be one individual capable of attacking Evelyum¡¯s fortress like this.


    White Olfolse!


    1


    That man, he must¡¯ve decided to step up.


    The castellan probably went beyond the order of locating the Crown Imperial Prince and tried to apprehend him as well. And that resulted in the fortress being overrun, instead.


    1


    That fool had done something completely unnecessary.


    Without a doubt, White Olfolse must have realised that his true identity had been exposed, and he should become so much more cautious from now on as a result.


    ¡®How troublesome.¡¯


    ¡°According to another report, the Crown Imperial Prince and his sons, the other Imperial Princes, are still somewhere inside the fortress, your majesty.¡±


    King Rahamma gritted his teeth.


    If White Olfolse had become aware, then it¡¯d no longer be that easy to surround him in a net.


    Even if countless soldiers were to be sent in, there was no guarantee of capturing him now.


    ¡°Your majesty, I bring you a new report!¡±


    Rahamma turned his head in the direction of the voice.


    A scout jumped off from the horse and breathlessly ran up to where the king was. ¡°Your majesty, the Theocratic Empire¡¯s army is currently advancing forward.¡±


    ¡°¡­And their destination is?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s here in Evelyum, your majesty.¡±


    Rahamma sucked in his breath.


    The Theocratic Empire was headed this way? Not the capital city?


    Was it to kill him? If that wasn¡¯t it, then was it to protect the Crown Imperial Prince hiding within Evelyum?


    There was no way of finding out. But one thing was for certain ¨C if the Crown Imperial Prince and the Theocratic Empire¡¯s army joined up, then it¡¯d be too late to turn back.


    King Rahamma clenched his teeth and then quietly squeezed his eyes shut.


    If it was only White Olfolse in the city, then Rahamma and his immediate subordinates would¡¯ve been sufficient enough to deal with the Crown Imperial Prince. However, the tale would become radically different if the Theocratic Empire¡¯s army was also added to the mix.


    Before the enemy¡¯s army arrived in this location, he now had to urgently track down the Crown Imperial Prince at all cost.


    ¡°Surround the entire city and capture anyone coming out. Alive. It¡¯ll be fine to execute them if they resist. Also, send in the troops and round up everyone in Evelyum into one location.¡±


    Because Evelyum was a considerably large city, it wouldn¡¯t be an easy task to capture a lone Crown Imperial Prince. It¡¯d be far easier to gather everyone in one spot and search them one by one instead.


    This plan should work if his army started the search from the outer parts of the city and gradually pushed in deeper. Although there would be some inevitable sacrifices, it didn¡¯t matter as long as they successfully killed off the Crown Imperial Prince and captured the Imperial Princes as hostages.


    When Rahamma took the lead and began walking forward, the feudal lords swiftly accompanied him.


    ¡°I shall personally handle this. Our destination will be Evelyum¡¯s fortress.¡±


    ¡°But your majesty, will you go there alone?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± King Rahamma turned his head and looked at the feudal lords. ¡°Some of you shall come with me, while the rest will remain behind. And also¡­¡±


    He shifted his gaze behind him. There were over one hundred demi-humans standing there ¨C elves, beastmen, dwarves, etc. All sorts of various races formed this mysterious group.


    Every single one of them held weapons while iron masks hid their faces.


    All of them were his ¡®children¡¯, nurtured by King Rahamma for one single purpose. They were the ¡®hashashins¡¯ meant to be used as living weapons.


    ¡°These ones will come with us. I shall personally¡­¡± Rahamma reached behind him and grasped the hilt of the mace. ¡°¡­Kill the Crown Imperial Prince.¡±


    With those words, the feudal lords all sighed collectively. The worst case scenario of trampling on their own territory had finally come to reality, that¡¯s why.


    But it couldn¡¯t be helped anymore. Before they suffered from an even worse catastrophe, they had to somehow subdue the Crown Imperial Prince first.


    ¡°Advance!¡±


    Once a feudal lord issued this order, one of the commanders raised up a red flag into the air. That was a signal for the war horns to loudly blare out through the night sky.


    Almost at the same time, several large rocks burning in flames were launched from somewhere within King Rahamma¡¯s military camp.


    Dozens of burning projectiles landed on the city of slaves. The once-quiet city was now illuminated brightly as flames erupted on its districts.


    Black smoke bellowed out and the screams from its citizens could be heard in the next moment.


    However, despite all this, the catapults continued to relentlessly fire their load.


    ¡°Advance! Advance! Advance!¡±


    The beatings of the war drums loudly rang out.


    The infantry soldiers formed ranks and began marching forward.


    A war song resounded out.


    Their marching footsteps rocked the ground below.


    The soldiers who were sent to the city of slaves forced open the gates to the city itself.


    King Rahamma¡¯s army all unsheathed their weapons, and these soldiers of Aslan glared at the city while madness quickly filled their eyes.


    < 076. Rescue -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 141 - 077. Hashashins and King Rahamma -1 (Part One)

    I furrowed my brows.


    Just before I could start grilling the Crown Imperial Prince regarding what he had been doing until now, Ruppel regained consciousness and climbed down from my shoulders, before plopping down on his butt on the ground.


    He dazedly stared at White Olfolse before crying out, ¡°F-father?!¡±


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s been a while, son. I see that you¡¯re now a fully-grown young man!¡±


    This father of ours¡­ he was actually greeting us back with such a laid-back attitude. His response didn¡¯t match a man who¡¯s been missing for eleven years, but someone coming home from a business trip that lasted only about a month or so.


    I was getting a pretty poor impression of White while staring at him. Even though it¡¯s quite a bit of a stretch to call him my father, he was still this body¡¯s biological father nonetheless.


    While he was missing, this body¡¯s mother and his wife, Yulisia, got murdered, then his son the First Imperial Prince, Luan, was inflicted with a deadly curse. The whole imperial palace got flipped on its head from the Vampires later, too.


    Despite all these events, he didn¡¯t even bother to show up in the palace once. I just couldn¡¯t see this guy as a good father at all.


    ¡°Just where have you been for the past decade or so?¡±


    My question elicited a bitter grin on White¡¯s face. ¡°I was looking for someone.¡±


    ¡°Someone, is it?¡±


    He nodded his head. But before he could follow up with an explanation, the noise of a loud explosion suddenly reverberated throughout the city.


    Tina, Hans, Ruppel, White, and I all turned our heads at the same time.


    In the distant sky over there¡­ Crimson flames were rising up.


    We hurriedly exited from the wrecked fortress gate and took a better look at the cityscape outside.


    Large boulders soaked in oil were crashing down on the city and rolling around to crush the buildings flat. Not too long afterwards, the echoes from war horns and drums began resounding out from the distance.


    ¡­War?


    Only one army out there would even think about attacking an Aslan city like this.


    I muttered, ¡°Is it the Theocratic Empire?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s them.¡± White walked up to my side and spoke up. ¡°The drum sounds or the horns ¨C none of those belong to our side.¡±


    ¡°Which means¡­?¡±


    Tina followed me outside the fortress gate, and her ears began twitching. ¡°This noise ¨C it¡¯s a military marching song sung by the Aslan army. Not only that¡­¡±


    Her complexion grew deathly pale.


    ¡°¡­An army led by my father, King Rahamma.¡±


    She dazedly stared at the burning city.


    I too stared at the cityscape and spotted Aslan¡¯s soldiers rushing inside the city¡¯s open gates in the far-off distance.


    I asked out loud, ¡°Why is Aslan attacking its own city? Could it be that they ran out of supplies and decided to raid one of their own territories or something?¡±


    Such things happened infrequently throughout history ¨C foolish kings raiding and pillaging their own territories in order to boost the morale of their troops as well as to secure extra supplies.


    Of course, the outcome from such actions would inevitably go the other way from their imaginations.


    Tina shook her head at my question as if she also couldn¡¯t quite figure it out. ¡°I also do not know, my lord. How can such a horrible event even be¡­!¡±


    ¡°¡­Ah, about that. I can think of this one little possibility,¡± White muttered while crossing his arms in front of his chest. ¡°I¡¯m thinking that maybe this whole thing is because of me.¡±


    We all stared at him.


    He smiled sheepishly as if he was getting embarrassed about something. ¡°Well, what can I say? I¡¯m still the Holy Emperor¡¯s son, after all. Besides, I also left the imperial palace immediately after ascending to the throne, too. So, uh, if I return to the palace now, then I¡¯d effectively go back to being the ¡®Holy Emperor¡¯. They probably figured that getting rid of me might be enough to end this war.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Even if all of that was true, how can anyone even think about blowing up a whole city just to kill one person?!


    It seemed that this King Rahamma fella was certifiably insane.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the right time to leisurely exchange casual banter, everyone!¡± Hans called out to us while pulling a carriage to our location. ¡°I¡¯ve prepared proof of identities. As I¡¯m a merchant by trade, as long as we get outside the city and grease enough palms sufficiently while explaining our situation, then we can¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good method, you know?¡±


    White interjected, and I glanced at him.


    ¡°Rahamma is attacking one of his own cities, which can only mean that he¡¯s already prepared to slaughter every person found in the city. Even with the identity of a merchant, it¡¯s quite obvious that we¡¯d be exposed to danger right away.¡±


    I facepalmed at his observation. ¡°Man, it¡¯s one thing after another, isn¡¯t it¡­¡±


    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t get away from here, though. There are two ways of escaping from this place.¡± White raised his index and middle fingers. ¡°One is to hide somewhere. We hide and wait until they tire themselves out and an opening presents itself. Too bad, this option is next to impossible to pull off. As for the other option¡­¡±


    He nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.


    ¡°Someone becomes bait and attracts the army¡¯s attention. Or more correctly, delays King Rahamma as long as possible.¡±


    ¡°¡­Anyone wishing to volunteer as bait?¡±


    I threw that question out, but Tina, Hans, and Ruppel all clamped their mouths shut. Then again, who among this trio would be capable of opposing Aslan¡¯s army by themselves?


    ¡°W-well, sir. Haven¡¯t you killed that dragon by yourself? Wouldn¡¯t you be able to deal with Aslan¡¯s army, since that¡¯s the case?¡± Hans sneakily asked me.


    Too bad for him, though, doing that would be quite stupid of me.


    Sure, I could fight off the Aslan army by myself if I resorted to using Amon¡¯s relics. My problem was with ¡®time¡¯, though.


    The longer the fight, the worse the burden of using the relics would be on my body, and eventually, I¡¯d end up incapacitated in the middle of the battle.


    ¡°Nah, that will be too difficult even for me. Close to impossible, actually.¡±


    Hans¡¯s head faltered lower.


    It was then that White shrugged his shoulders again. ¡°Well, honestly speaking, it¡¯ll be better for everyone if I act as the bait. The one they are targeting from the get-go is me, after all.¡±


    ¡°Can you survive the ordeal, though?¡± I asked.


    White replied with that laid-back attitude of his, ¡°I may not be as monstrous as my father, but I can still do some crazy things, I¡¯ll have you know. Although, if Aslan¡¯s king and his feudal lords show up together, then I won¡¯t have a choice but to flee from here. Allen, since you are strong enough to summon ancient mummies, surely you can also summon regular skeleton types as well, correct?¡±


    I nodded without saying anything.


    ¡°In that case, you should escape from the city by riding on skeleton horses. You¡¯re powerful enough to capture a fortress by yourself, so it should not be a tall order for you to get rid of the scattered soldiers trying to pursue you, and also break through the shoddy encirclement outside the city, as well. So, what do you think? It¡¯s doable, isn¡¯t it? In the meantime, I¡¯ll deal with King Rahamma and the feudal lords.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to butt in during the strategy meeting, but I think we need to get on with it as soon as possible.¡±


    Ruppel cut in between White and me, then pointed at the city beyond.


    As the castellan¡¯s fortress was located on the hill, we were afforded a great view of the city¡¯s interior. And that¡¯s how we got to see that all the exits leading outside the city had been blocked off by the cordon of Aslan soldiers.


    ¡­And while invading the city, they mercilessly attacked anyone they ran into.


    Aslan¡¯s own citizens, clearly frightened out of their wits, were trying to flee to safety.


    This whole thing was reminiscent of mass herding of wild animals. If they kept marching forward at this rate, then eventually¡­


    ¡°¡­They¡¯ll reach this fortress sooner or later.¡±


    With the exception of White, everyone became deathly pale from my observation.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV)


    Rahamma¡¯s army couldn¡¯t be controlled.


    ¡°Force them all towards the plaza!¡±


    The orders these soldiers received were to either capture the ¡®Crown Imperial Prince¡¯ and the ¡®Imperial Princes¡¯ alive, or just outright kill them.


    However, regular soldiers wouldn¡¯t know what the Imperial Family members looked like. So, an alternate order was issued ¨C to perform a ¡®livestock herding¡¯¨Ctype hunt.


    It was basically to drive all the citizens living inside Evelyum to one large location, and then filter out the Crown Imperial Prince and the two Imperial Princes.


    The order was simply to herd the citizens to one location, but the Aslan soldiers interpreted it as permission to ¡®assault¡¯ and ¡®pillage¡¯, instead.


    In other words, to kill normal people for fun or forcibly take away their valuables, and even rape any womenfolk they came across.


    They lost all of their self-restraint almost in an instant.


    ¡°King Rahamma said he won¡¯t hold us responsible!¡±


    ¡°Every single one found in this city is no longer our fellow countryman!¡±


    Those words, and other declarations similar in nature, laid bare their eagerness to no longer treat the people of Evelyum as their fellow Aslan citizens.


    Well, this was the city of slaves, after all. The slaves and even the commoners found in this place suffered a somewhat lower status than the commoners and slaves living in the other cities.


    The final contributing factor was the repeated defeats these soldiers had to experience for the past few months. The realisation of how powerless they were resulted in their psyches being traumatised, while their fatigued physique and boiling rage caused their rationale to stop functioning altogether.


    ¡°P-please, spare us!¡±


    An old man was hugging a young boy who must¡¯ve been his grandson while shivering away in fear.


    The Aslan soldiers were staring at the child while snickering away. One of them took a swipe with his sword and slashed the old man¡¯s back open.


    ¡°Uwaaahk!¡±


    ¡°Grandpa!¡±


    The child hung onto the old man and wailed loudly.


    ¡°R-run away, child! Hurry!¡±


    ¡°B-but¡­¡±


    The child just couldn¡¯t leave the side of his grandfather.


    An Aslan soldier raised his sword up, getting ready to cut the child down as well. But then¡­


    A lone ray of light penetrated straight through the soldier. His head exploded and a gunshot noise belatedly echoed out.

 Chapter 142 - : 077. Hashashins and King Rahamma -1 (Part Two)

    The dead soldier¡¯s colleagues flinched in shock and hurriedly turned their heads in the direction of that ray of light. Unfortunately for them, by the time they looked, their heads also blew apart into gory bits and pieces.


    ¡°It¡¯s magic!¡±


    ¡°Hide yourselves!¡±


    As if to prove that they were better trained than most other combatants, the surviving Aslan soldiers quickly took cover among the buildings.


    The child flinched in fear, but that ray of light didn¡¯t come for him or his grandfather. No, it only came for those Aslan soldiers peeking their heads out to take a look, before cleanly piercing right through them.


    ¡®Someone is protecting us!¡¯


    The child realised that an unknown magician was protecting him and his grandfather. Having understood that fact, he turned his head and watched on as more rays of light flickered from the distant fortress to instantly kill off the Aslan soldiers.


    The child grasped the old man and did his best to drag the latter away.


    ¡®We, we¡¯ve gotta reach the fortress!¡¯


    ¡°Grandpa, grandpa!¡±


    The old man¡¯s current condition was so grave that it was hard to tell whether he was still alive or not. He had lost far too much blood by now.


    But just as the last gasps of pain leaked out of the old man¡¯s mouth, a ray of light flew in and penetrated him.


    The child jumped up in shock before clamping his mouth shut.


    That magician wasn¡¯t protecting them!?


    But not too long after that, the child couldn¡¯t hide an even bigger shock.


    The wound on the old man was healing at a visible rate. As a matter of fact, he was so perfectly healed that not even a scar remained now.


    1


    ¡°G-grandpa?¡±


    ¡°My, my body¡­? N-no, hang on. Now isn¡¯t the time for this!¡±


    The old man touched his back in stupefaction, but then he quickly lifted the child up and began running away.


    ¡°Grandpa! The fortress! We must head to the fortress!¡±


    At the child¡¯s shout, the old man urgently turned his head to look.


    On the distant wall of the fortress, he could just about make out the shape of a person in white armour busy firing magic to shoot down the Aslan soldiers.


    ¡°Y-yes, let¡¯s do that!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t just the old man and his grandchild, however.


    All the citizens and slaves of Evelyum were now headed towards the fortress up on the hill.


    Only that place shone with the light of salvation for them.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV)


    I continued to pull the trigger.


    By relying on the [Snipe] skill, I kept hitting the heads of the distant Aslan soldiers.


    While standing on the fortress wall, I breathed deeply into the musket.


    ¡°Ohh, wow. Hey, son? That looks like a fun little toy, doesn¡¯t it? Is that a new type of weapon developed by the Theocratic Empire?¡±


    White Olfolse tried to chat to me in a friendly tone of voice.


    This dude had the gall to abandon his son for the past eleven years, so what gave him the right to act so friendly towards me like this?


    More importantly, though, I might be his biological son, but that was only applicable to the shell I was in. Honestly, we were more like complete strangers as far as I was concerned.


    I formed a wry grin and addressed him. ¡°Please go and aid the citizens arriving here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good mindset to have. I bet you¡¯ll become a good Holy Emperor someday.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not planning to become one, and something like that will be taken good care of by my older brothers, anyway.¡±


    I resumed pulling the musket¡¯s trigger.


    White remained there and stared at me for some time, then while scratching the back of his head, headed down to the foot of the fortress wall.


    Tina and Hans were currently evacuating the citizens into the fortress at the moment. If we utilised the interior of the fortress including its basement and the prison, then it should be possible to protect tens of thousands of people quite easily.


    ¡°Man, I¡¯m constantly stumbling into all sorts of weird sh*t, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    Yup, and it¡¯s the turn of a freaking war this time.


    Not only that, I was stuck inside the enemy nation, protecting the citizens of said enemy nation by massacring the enemy nation¡¯s soldiers.


    What an absurd situation this was.


    ¡°Lord Angel! Lord Angel!¡±


    Tina was calling out to me.


    I looked at the ground below the fortress wall. A carriage was parked there, and Ruppel, Tina, and Hans were waiting for me next to it.


    ¡°We are ready to escape now!¡±


    I quickly climbed down from the wall and summoned the skeleton horse before attaching it to the waiting carriage.


    Before leaving, though, I turned my head and stared at White Olfolse. He chose to remain in the fortress, because he wanted to act as the lone bait to attract the attention of King Rahamma and his underlings.


    ¡°Well, their ultimate goal is me, anyway. If I fight outside the fortress, that should keep the Aslan citizens safe, at least.¡±


    ¡°What are you planning to do once King Rahamma and the feudal lords show up?¡±


    White shrugged his shoulders at my question. ¡°Just like what I told you earlier, I¡¯ll just fight for a bit before getting out of dodge. Even for someone like me, King Rahamma is a challenging opponent to handle, you see. I mean, that guy is strong enough to fight my father and still survive, so that should be good enough proof of his strength.¡±


    He then smiled bitterly and placed his hand on my head.


    ¡°It¡¯s been too long, so I wanted to talk to you for a bit longer, but¡­ it seems that fate has interfered with us again.¡±


    His bitter smile gradually changed to a caring, gentle one.


    I quietly watched him, before climbing into the carriage. ¡°I will pray for your safety, father.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. You also take care of yourself, too. Let us see each other again back home.¡±


    The skeleton horse reared up and snorted angrily before powerfully dashing forward, causing the carriage to break into a sprint as well.


    I continued to stare at White standing in front of the fortress gate, rapidly getting smaller in my view, before finally turning my head away.


    From a certain moment on, his figure was no longer visible, and the carriage entered one of the city¡¯s alleyways below the hill.


    The skeleton horse crushed the obstructions blocking our path and viciously rushed forward.


    ¡°What the hell?!¡±


    ¡°A skeleton horse?¡±


    ¡°Halt! Necromancer, which division do you belong to-!¡±


    The Aslan soldiers pointed their spears at us, but the skeleton horse simply trampled on them and continued to sprint forward.


    Meanwhile, a bitter grin didn¡¯t want to leave my face.


    It seemed that he was still a father at heart, indeed ¨C especially when judging from how he chose to stay behind by himself in order to protect his two sons.


    The skeleton horse exited from the alleyway and began running on the wide city street next. It was also around this time that I noticed a bunch of shadows agilely darting across the nearby rooftops.


    Some ¡®things¡¯ were pursuing us. I flinched and hurriedly raised my head. There they were, a group of unidentifiable people wearing masks to obscure their faces.


    While freely running on the rooftops, they tirelessly chased after us.


    ¡°Holy cow! Just who are those people?!¡±


    Were they seriously managing to keep up with a skeleton horse by using nothing but their own legs? How could that even be possible?!


    While I made an astonished face, Tina raised her head and stared at our pursuers. Her expression froze up as she muttered out their identity. ¡°The hashashins!¡±


    They were the offspring of King Rahamma. A special forces ¡®squad¡¯ possessing varieties of skill sets that were mostly geared towards assassination ¨C that¡¯s who they were.


    Their eyeballs beyond the masks¡¯ holes were darting around to stare at me and Ruppel. Then, one of them focused demonic energy in his hand before shooting it in the air like some kind of a signal flare.


    Was that the reason?


    More and more hashashins that were previously scattered around the city began gathering here with every passing second. A group of demi-humans wearing black leather clothing and steel masks fiercely chased us down.


    And when about one hundred of them gathered around¡­


    They unleashed their wave of attacks on us. They fired crossbows and the bolts penetrated through the carriage.


    ¡°Uwaaahk?!¡±


    Ruppel and Hans hurriedly shielded their heads. Tina quickly cast a protective barrier around the carriage.


    I raised my musket and went on the counteroffensive. The holy bullets were about to hit the hashashins, but they nimbly dodged out of the way.


    ¡°The front! The front!!!¡±


    I shifted my gaze to the front.


    The signal from the hashashins seemed to have reached the Aslan soldiers as well. An encampment of soldiers was waiting ahead of us on the road. Meanwhile, the narrow side streets were also blocked off by more soldiers.


    ¡°Allen, what will we do now?!¡±


    Ruppel cried out, but I simply snapped my fingers as my reply.


    What do you mean, ¡®what¡¯?


    ¡°Obviously, we break through!¡±


    The ground around the sprinting carriage split open and bones leapt out. They combined to create summoned skeleton horses as well as skeleton riders. Light enveloped them and the dwarf-made items stored in my item window were summoned into their hands ¨C items that included the likes of armour for the horses and the riders, helms, and cavalry lances.


    -Ku-oooooh!


    The heavily-armoured skeleton cavalry rushed forward. The Aslan soldiers freaked out and hurriedly raised their shields and spears.


    Unfortunately, that was all useless. The soldiers were frightened by the front hooves of the skeleton horses kicking down, and stumbled back.


    Their formation broke down in an instant.


    Their spears were simply too inadequate to penetrate the armour covering the skeleton horses and their riders. Actually, the dwarf-made armour was more than sturdy enough to shatter the incoming enemy spear blades instead, while the bony hooves easily trampled and crushed the shields of the Aslan soldiers.


    The undead mounted troops trampled on them and continued on with their advance.


    < 077. Hashashins and King Rahamma -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 143 - 078. Hashashins and King Rahamma -2 (Part One)

    ¡°Kyaaahk! Stop! Please stop!¡±


    ¡°W-what is the meaning of this!? Keok!¡±


    The citizens of Aslan continued to scream away. The intoxicated soldiers mercilessly attacked them, but in the midst of their cruel slaughter, they noticed a signal flare rising up into the night sky.


    ¡°What was that just now?¡±


    The crimson flare had been fired by the hashashins.


    ¡°Huh! That¡¯s from Rahamma¡¯s children, isn¡¯t it? But, they are requesting assistance?¡±


    ¡°Those high-and-mighty hashashins are doing what now?¡±


    ¡°Haha, in the end they are still nothing more than some measly demi-humans, after all! What can a group of slaves even do, anyway?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. How strong can a demi-human be, right?¡±


    ¡°Get ready. Judging from the direction, it looks like the street we¡¯re on.¡±


    The Aslan soldiers got ready by the entrance to the street. While pulling out their swords and crossbows, they strutted towards their destination and gathered up in a group.


    ¡°Well, now. Should we snatch up the achievement that those demi-human bastards so stupidly messed up?¡±


    ¡°Hey, who knows? Maybe our accomplishment will get acknowledged today and we¡¯ll be granted those demi-humans as our slaves.¡±


    ¡°Ohh! Does that mean we can order around royalty as our own personal slaves?¡±


    They exchanged banter and relaxedly waited for their quarry to show up. Just as around thirty soldiers finished finding their individual positions and raised their crossbows, the ground beneath their feet began rumbling ominously.


    The Aslan soldiers got confused by this sudden development, and paid closer attention to their front. Their previously smiling expressions gradually froze up.


    -Fu-ruuph! Fu-ruuuph! Fu-ruuuuph!


    A skeleton horse kitted out in heavy armour was angrily snorting away while dashing towards them. The paved road surface below cracked apart into bits every time the undead creature¡¯s hooves pounded on the ground.


    Thick dust clouds were kicked up in its wake, and its glowing eyes were flickering sharply.


    Then, the Aslan soldiers saw the undead kitted out in knightly helms and armour covering their entire bodies. On top of that, they were even lifting up lengthy cavalry lances as well.


    ¡°S-stop them!¡±


    ¡°You think we can stop something like that?! Run away, now!¡±


    All semblance of colour drained from the complexions of these Aslan soldiers.


    The undead cavalry leaped up and, without a single trace of hesitation whatsoever, trampled and crushed the hapless soldiers.


    The lances merely stabbed into their victims, but the human bodies couldn¡¯t withstand the impact force and got ripped apart into chunky bits and flung away in the air.


    The mounted undead troops led from the front while the carriage pulled by the skeleton horse closely followed from the rear. Meanwhile, hashashins were chasing after them on the rooftops.


    The soldiers who urgently jumped out of the way got lucky and managed to keep their lives. While their complexions grew deathly pale from fright, they loudly shouted out to the others. ¡°G-gather more troops, now!¡±


    More signal flares went up in the air.


    The hashashins continued gathering demonic energy in their hands. They fired magical projectiles at the carriage, causing a chain of explosions.


    However, their assault couldn¡¯t last long; hashashins quickly shifted their gazes to the path ahead. Rune letters began engraving onto the various rooftops, and mummies wielding scimitars leapt out from there.


    The undead cocked their heads up while the light in their eyes glowed ominously.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    The legion of mummies, referred to as the ancient guardians, revealed themselves to the world once more.


    The undead attacked with their scimitars. Hashashins relied on their nimble movements to dodge the curved blades one at a time, then ran past the mummies.


    -Ku-ooooh!


    The undead legion also broke into sprinting as well and chased after the hashashins. The mummies were swift and agile, allowing them to quickly catch up to the demi-human assassins.


    Every time hashashins managed to catch up to the carriage, the mummies were summoned right in front of them and blocked their paths.


    However, the demi-human assassins were able to cut the mummies down and reopen the path. Still, the number of undead blocking the way continued to swell even higher, and that slowed the speed of the hashashins greatly.


    The demi-humans quickly scanned their surroundings. They could see that the distance to the carriage was growing larger. At this rate, the Imperial Family members would slip through their fingers.


    The signal flares continued to go up into the night sky.


    The Aslan soldiers within the city saw them and began making their moves.


    King Rahamma and the feudal lords also witnessed the flares illuminating the night sky.


    ¡°Your majesty, it seems that the hashashins have discovered the Imperial Family members.¡±


    Rahamma frowned heavily when one of the feudal lords addressed him.


    He could see that the flares were still going up periodically, which indicated that the hashashins were experiencing great difficulty at the moment.


    The thing was, though, that the flare¡¯s colour wasn¡¯t white, meant to signal the presence of the Crown Imperial Prince.


    Did that mean only the Imperial Princes had been discovered?


    Rahamma leapt up and landed on top of a tall rooftop. His eyes caught the figures of the hashashins darting across the distant rooftops and the mummies blocking their advance. The two groups were currently sprinting forward while engaging in a nimble, quick-footed combat.


    ¡®Mummies?¡¯


    Why were the undead meant to guard the ancient Aslan kings currently appearing in this place? Could it be that some Necromancers were trying to protect the Imperial Family members?


    Some amount of fluster washed over Rahamma, but that emotion passed him by quite quickly.


    ¡°It¡¯s over.¡±


    He knew this because he had spotted a silhouette belonging to a massive monster shuffling forward among the buildings of Evelyum.


    It was a huge war elephant at least eight metres tall, boasting dark and thick hide, a pair of massive ears, and equally huge tusks. Thick metal plating covered its body like armour, while Aslan soldiers riding on its back readied bows and arrows as well as sharp spears. One of the riders was whipping the huge creature to make it shuffle forward.


    That was one of the strongest creatures found on land. Even Ogres avoided colliding head-on with that weaponised beast and tried to run away if they saw one.


    If the Crown Imperial Prince wasn¡¯t riding in the carriage currently pursued by the hashashins, then the two Imperial Princes alone should find it very difficult to defend against that war elephant.


    Once the carriage came to a stop, the hashashins should have no trouble dealing with the Imperial Princes.


    That was why Rahamma decided to stop paying attention, but even before he could do that¡­


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    His brows shot up high.


    The ground began rumbling.


    The paved streets got crushed as a huge stone statue slowly rose up to its feet. Its whole body was covered in metallic armour, and its lone eye burned fiercely against the backdrop of the night sky.


    The ancient weapon of Aslan that was supposed to be lost to the passage of time¡­


    ¡°¡­A Cyclops Golem!¡±


    Rahamma gasped out in a daze.


    No one could tell just where a Cyclops Golem had suddenly emerged from, but as if to remind everyone that such a thing didn¡¯t matter right now, the statue broke into a fierce sprint as well.


    The ground cracked apart from its sheer weight. The surrounding buildings were collapsing from the shockwave.


    ¡°U-uwaaaahk?!¡±


    The Aslan soldiers all fell into unbridled panic at the suddenly-emerging giant stone statue. They unsteadily stumbled back before fleeing in fear. Even the war elephant backed away while howling out loudly in alarm.


    The hands of the giant stone statue shot out and grabbed the war elephant¡¯s tusks before easily lifting up the huge creature off its feet.


    The statue was strong enough to drag down a dragon from the air. Obviously, a single war elephant wouldn¡¯t even pose a challenge!


    A humongous shadow was cast over the soldiers of the kingdom of Aslan.


    A giant stone statue at least five metres tall was lifting up an even bigger war elephant in the air, so the resulting spectacle could only be described as truly gobsmacking to behold.


    The soldiers remained stupefied for only a brief moment, however; they all began screaming desperately after realising that the war elephant had been thrown in their direction.


    The buildings all collapsed and got destroyed, while the hapless soldiers were crushed into meat paste.


    ¡°Just what on earth is the meaning of¡­?¡±


    King Rahamma sucked in cold, heavy breaths.


    There were undead mounted troops dashing forward and slaughtering the Aslan soldiers on the streets. A giant stone statue was walking around and firing beams from its eye. Meanwhile, the agile mummies were darting across the rooftops to oppose the hashashins.


    The city was going up in flames while the screams from the dying Aslan soldiers echoed throughout the night sky.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    With how things were, it became rather difficult to tell who was actually attacking and destroying the city right now.


    Rahamma found it impossible to understand. From what he could see while standing a great distance away, those creatures must¡¯ve been the results of summoning magic from the school of Necromancy.


    Not only that, every single one of those creatures needed a considerable amount of demonic energy to manifest in this world.


    So, why would a Necromancer with such incredible powers protect the members of the Imperial Family?!


    Something felt very, very wrong here.


    An ominous foreboding quickly took a hold of King Rahamma.


    Could there be someone other than Oscal Baldur the sword king and Crown Imperial Prince White Olfolse present here? Someone he had overlooked until now?


    Just what exactly had the Imperial Family been hiding from the world until now? What kind of a weapon could it even be?


    ¡°Your majesty!¡±


    It was then that one of the soldiers urgently called out to him.


    Rahamma turned his head and stared at a group of soldiers down by the street.


    ¡°The individual suspected to be the Crown Imperial Prince has been located in Evelyum¡¯s castle! Currently the members of the army are fighting him, but as expected, they can¡¯t hold on for much longer, your majesty!¡±


    Rahamma¡¯s eyes trembled greatly at the soldier¡¯s report.


    He alternated his gaze between the distant fortress up on the hill, and the relatively-close carriage with the Imperial Family members inside sprinting across the city¡¯s streets.


    The feudal lords leapt up and also landed on the rooftop, then walked over to their king to ask, ¡°W-what will you do, your majesty?¡±


    ¡°All of you, head to the fortress.¡±


    The feudal lords flinched in surprise and exchanged glances with one another.


    ¡°Go and keep the Crown Imperial Prince busy for the time being. In the meantime, I¡­¡± King Rahamma turned his head away. He locked his gaze on the carriage that had finally arrived at the city¡¯s gate and was about to exit the city limits altogether. ¡°¡­shall eliminate the monster over there and join you later.¡±


    He quickly dashed forward.

 Chapter 144 - 078. Hashashins and King Rahamma -2 (Part Two)

    **


    ¡°¡­Allen, did something happen to you while I wasn¡¯t around?¡±


    3


    White Olfolse stood on the hill and stared at the unfolding spectacle in the distance. He ended up mouthing, ¡°Ah, shoot,¡± when the hashashins wearing black uniforms and metal masks suddenly showed up and started chasing after the carriage.


    He hadn¡¯t expected the enemies to resort to deploying their hidden weapons in the city. Fortunately enough, his worries didn¡¯t last for long.


    The dust cloud continued to kick up and the Aslan soldiers screamed out. The mummies were summoned once more and interfered with the pursuit of the hashashins.


    A short while ago, even a war elephant made its entrance. When that happened, White couldn¡¯t help but think that no matter how good Allen was, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to stop that giant creature.


    1


    White believed that once the carriage came to a stop, the hashashins would focus their attacks and eventually capture the Imperial Princes alive.


    But, what on earth was going on here?


    A humongous Golem suddenly leapt out of nowhere, easily lifted up the war elephant, and tossed it away like a doll!


    The buildings all around it collapsed as the giant stone statue rampaged around and fired beams from its eye.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ve frequently run into various bits of news about the Imperial Family during my travels, but uh, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard about something like this before.¡±


    1


    Allen might be an Imperial Family member, but he was still a boy not even seventeen years of age. Not only that, he should¡¯ve been a ¡®Priest¡¯ by default, yet there he was, busy commanding the undead through Necromancy to destroy a city and relentlessly advancing towards his destination.


    What a bizarre spectacle this was.


    ¡°Maybe the period of eleven years was indeed a lot longer than I thought.¡±


    Even if that was true, how could a pure, kind-hearted boy transform into a genocidal weapon of mass destruction in little over a decade like this?


    3


    White tutted away in unhappiness, before turning his head away.


    Several swords of divinity had been materialised all around him, while countless corpses belonging to the Aslan soldiers were messily strewn about on the ground.


    There were a handful of figures approaching him while stepping over the maimed corpses ¨C five men in total.


    Demonic energy gushed out of their bodies, and various weapons were gripped tightly in their hands.


    White gasped out in surprise and licked his dried lips. ¡°Wow, this is making me nervous.¡±


    He was now facing off against the kingdom of Aslan¡¯s mighty feudal lords, the ones responsible for halting the rampages of Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse.


    They were now glaring at White while emitting thick bloodlust.


    ¡®It won¡¯t be easy trying to fight five of them off. But hang on¡­¡¯


    White¡¯s eyes suddenly began trembling greatly.


    ¡­Because he couldn¡¯t see King Rahamma anywhere.


    2


    ¡®It can¡¯t be!¡¯


    White genuinely flinched in shock and hurriedly turned his head.


    But by then, the carriage had already left Evelyum¡¯s city limits.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    ¡°Man, out of the frying pan and straight into the fire, is it?¡±


    Why did it feel like saying stuff like that had become a habit of mine lately?


    The moment we emerged from the city¡¯s gate, I was rendered utterly speechless by what was waiting for us. The Aslan soldiers were surrounding the gate from pretty much every direction.


    How many were here? Three thousand? Maybe four thousand? Whatever the case might have been, it sure was a lot.


    To make matters worse, quite a few Necromancers were also included in this army. Heck, they even had other war elephants plus siege weapons at the ready, too.


    These folks¡­ it seemed that they were well prepared for all eventualities. Thanks to that, we had no choice but to stop our carriage.


    ¡°What should we do now?¡± I looked behind us while muttering that out.


    The hashashins and soldiers poured out from the city to block the gateway. Even the archers were being stationed on top of the city walls.


    Hey, dear father? This wasn¡¯t what you told me, you know?! Didn¡¯t you say something about a shabby encirclement or something like that?


    But these guys¡­ weren¡¯t they way too perfectly prepared for something supposed to be ¡®shabby¡¯?


    I scowled deeply and shot a glare at the hashashins behind us. They were most likely at fault for this nonsense. Now that I thought about it, their firing all those signal flares must¡¯ve been to alert the army and have them set up this ambush.


    ¡°S-surrender yourselves, now! If you put down your weapons and give yourselves up quietly, we swear to treat you fairly as the Imperial Family members!¡±


    The Aslan soldiers were shouting at us. They seemed to be quite scared, though.


    But that was pretty obvious. An undead mounted regiment, a giant stone statue, and a legion of mummies were with us, after all. And they were all emitting divinity, to boot. To them, this should come across as an unfamiliar and fear-inducing power.


    A power capable of rocking the very foundation of their religion¡¯s belief system.


    So, these creatures should be pure objects of terror to these soldiers.


    ¡°W-what are we going to do?! Allen!¡± Ruppel urgently addressed me. ¡°Are we going to be captured like this? H-how about I talk to them? Well, I¡¯m fairly close to the nobles of Aslan, you see. If we talk to them nicely, maybe we¡­¡±


    Both Tina and Hans looked lost and nervous as well.


    I wondered about what to do here, before suddenly shouting out at the soldiers. ¡°I am Allen Olfolse, the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire! And as such, I seek treatment befitting my station. I¡¯m willing to bargain. Who is the commanding officer of this division?¡±


    The Aslan soldiers stirred up even more from what I said.


    That wasn¡¯t surprising. This kind of situation wasn¡¯t exactly what you¡¯d call ¡®conducive towards a healthy negotiation¡¯, after all.


    Just from this situation alone, we seemed to be at an overwhelming disadvantage. But because I did call out first, the other side didn¡¯t have much of a choice but to act according to the accepted protocol. Eventually, a dude that looked like the commanding officer stepped out among the cordon of soldiers.


    With a deeply nervous expression, he cautiously approached our carriage while being accompanied by several well-armed guards.


    He opened his mouth once they got close enough. ¡°W-what is it that you wish to say? Are you finally surrendering? If you willingly give yourselves up, then as the Imperial Family members, you shall be afforded the proper¡­¡±


    I grinned brightly and cut him off there. ¡°I, Allen Olfolse the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, command you. Announce your surrender and disarm yourselves immediately. And then, you shall open up a path for us to leave.¡±


    1


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    The commanding officer stared at me with a dumbfounded expression.


    I looked down at him from the carriage. ¡°If you do not comply, I shall slaughter you all.¡±


    I then raised my musket and began breathing into its loading chamber. While doing that, I glanced at the commanding officer and didn¡¯t forget to smile with my eyes.


    1


    He was just standing there in stupefaction, unable to say anything for a while. But that didn¡¯t last for long, and his complexion gradually became ashen white.


    The soldiers accompanying him as his guards hurriedly pulled out their weapons, but at the same time, the lights burning within the eyes of the undead around us were locked firmly on them.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?! B-but, didn¡¯t you say you wanted to bargain¡­?!¡±


    I raised my left hand, then began folding my fingers one by one. It was a countdown.


    The commanding officer¡¯s jaw fell to the ground. ¡°You insane boy¡­!¡±


    After finishing breathing into the musket, I aimed the muzzle at the commanding officer. ¡°Four seconds.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°Three.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re insane!¡±


    1


    The commanding officer turned around and fled from there.


    ¡°Two.¡±


    ¡°A-all of you, attack¡­!¡±


    ¡°One.¡±


    ¡°K-kill them all, now¡­!¡±


    I pulled the trigger. And the commanding officer¡¯s head blew up into bits.


    With that, I got rid of one officer from the enemy camp.


    I stared at the rest of the Aslan soldiers. Their expressions showed how scared they were. Heck, they were visibly rooted to their spots, too.


    Their fighting spirit had tumbled to rock bottom in an instant.


    Yup, as I thought, killing the enemy commanding officer was still the most effective method available in a war-type situation, wasn¡¯t it?


    I laughed heartily and extracted the relic with the least severe side effects, Amon¡¯s skull, from the item window.


    1


    [Equipment will temporarily be upgraded.]


    [The performance of Amon¡¯s skull has been improved.]


    [Additionally, the skill ¡®Summon bone armour¡¯ has been generated.]


    I had already experimented and confirmed it during the lycanthrope hunting incident. Other than the physical strain on my body, I shouldn¡¯t end up incapacitated and unable to continue the battle after using only Amon¡¯s skull. As long as I didn¡¯t resort to summoning the bone armour, I shouldn¡¯t lose my consciousness, either.


    Besides, my opponents this time weren¡¯t undead, but living humans.


    Humans, who were blessed with emotions.


    Even if there were three or four thousand soldiers here, they were now in no state to oppose us after their fighting spirit got so nicely crushed by yours truly.


    The number one priority for us now was to break through this encirclement and get out of here.


    ¡°What are you all doing?!¡± Another commanding officer was yelling out so loudly that veins were bulging on his throat. ¡°Kill them all, now!¡±


    The Aslan army made their move.


    Soldiers pulled on their bow strings, while their colleagues of both running-on-foot and riding-on-mounts variety rushed towards us.


    Loud howls came from the war elephant regiment over yonder, and even the siege weapons got ready for action.


    Finally, the hashashins behind us also came running at us as well.


    The great army of Aslan was advancing towards us.


    ¡°I am the legion.¡±


    1


    I put Amon¡¯s skull on my head, and glared at the Aslan army through the empty eye sockets.


    This day would forever be etched in their heads as the day of terror; I guarantee it.


    And that¡¯s because¡­


    ¡°And I am Gaia¡¯s inheritor.¡±


    ¡­They were about to experience the wrath of a divine army that they had never seen or heard about before today.


    1


    < 078. Hashashins and King Rahamma -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 145 - 079. Hashashins and King Rahamma -3 (Part One)

    Chapter 145: 079. Hashashins and King Rahamma -3 (Part One)


    A long time ago, there was a time when Rahamma summoned an extraordinary soothsayer to the royal castle. He did it purely for his entertainment. Indeed, it was nothing more than a distraction to help him forget his boredom.


    The soothsayer was just a mere slave. Even then, Rahamma still told this man to see into Aslan¡¯s future while he was still its king.


    When that happened, the soothsayer replied with an expression of unadulterated delight on his face.


    -Aslan shall be saved!


    Rahamma was stunned by that declaration.


    At first, he thought that the soothsayer was merely saying some nice-sounding words in order to please him. But that wasn¡¯t it.


    The soothsayer was genuinely smiling.


    -The land of death will vanish. The verdant fields will spread all over Aslan!


    He was visibly excited.


    Tremors ran through his whole body, and with an enraptured face, he proclaimed a fervent revelation to his king, Rahamma.


    -The winds of sand will no longer blow, while the murderous sunlight and bone-chilling night air will vanish alongside them as well! Our land will soon be blessed with the abundance of nature where warm rays of sunlight and gentle, cooling nightly breezes embrace us.


    The eyes of Rahamma sitting on the throne widened greatly. Even before he knew it, his interest had been piqued and he was now paying undivided attention to the prophecy.


    It was as if the soothsayer was reading from a fairy tale for children as he wildly gestured with his whole body.


    -The land of death that no other kings in history managed to solve will soon feature hues of green so lush and blessed that no other lands can ever rival it! Yes, it shall turn into the chosen land, instead!


    Rahamma felt pleased after hearing those words that seemed to be praising him.


    This was appropriate, because he had been planning to start a war of conquest. His target was the Theocratic Empire. He wished to acquire its territory for himself.


    The negotiation with the ¡®Third Imperial Prince¡¯ had already concluded by now. Although it was a top secret that only a few knew about, it seemed that the soothsayer had coincidentally guessed it correctly.


    Rahamma grinned deeply.


    This event had been good entertainment, indeed.


    It seemed like a fine idea to keep this slave around and turn him into a personal entertainer for the rest of his life.


    Rahamma rested his chin on his hand and questioned the soothsayer again.


    -Does that mean I shall be recorded in history as the greatest conqueror of all time?


    The soothsayer flinched from that question, before cocking his head. He replied with a question of his own.


    He asked, what are you even talking about?


    -You will be reviled as the worst king in history.


    -¡­


    -Because of you, countless cities will burn down. Also, innumerable subjects will lose their lives. Your reckless ambition will drive Aslan to the brink of annihilation.


    Rahamma¡¯s face hardened.


    The soothsayer was mocking his own king without a shred of fear.


    -However, even though you¡¯ll become a villain, it is also undeniably true that you will contribute greatly to Aslan¡¯s history. This is because you will be responsible for calling the ¡®angel¡¯ to this land. In addition, you have sired the child who will be chosen by the angel.


    The soothsayer¡¯s expression remained one of rapture.


    This slave, cursed with the superhuman ability of [Prophecy], cried out in elation with the look of a man swimming in pure bliss.


    -Because of you, Aslan shall receive her salvation! Along with the sacred angel, the chosen princess will bring salvation to Aslan¡¯s lands. Oh, hear me, you foolish and arrogant king! With this act you¡¯re about to embark on, you have truly outdone yourself! Hahaha!


    King Rahamma shot up from the throne and grabbed the throat of the soothsayer before lifting the latter clean off the ground.


    -I see. So you were a spy sent by the Theocratic Empire.


    Aslan couldn¡¯t tolerate this soothsayer¡¯s ludicrous declarations anymore. What this fool had said could mistakenly be interpreted as Aslan falling to the Theocratic Empire.


    Rahamma became incensed, and broke the soothsayer¡¯s neck right there and then to kill him.


    However, the soothsayer with the broken neck still continued to yap away despite dangling lifelessly in Rahamma¡¯s grip.


    -Ahhh, a truly sacred legion comes.


    Rahamma flinched in surprise and stared at the soothsayer.


    -While wearing white armour, their white eyes glow sharply from under the white helms.


    The eyes of the soothsayer had turned milky-white by then.


    -They are crawling out from the ground.


    His expression still remained entranced, not one of pain or suffering.


    -Are they undead? No, anyone who sees them will not think of them as the undead.


    -They are the guardians, the saviours summoned by the angel himself!


    -Now, behold! Their sacred white armour!


    -Now, listen! Their sacred hymns!


    -He is no doubt the existence beloved by the gods.


    -He is the visitor from another world invited to our own.


    -He will save the world as the Sai¡­!


    Rahamma ripped the soothsayer¡¯s throat clean off. Only then did the dead man¡¯s lips that continued to flap finally come to a stop.


    Cold sweat drops trickled down Rahamma¡¯s back. What had been said just now had gone way past the assertions of a simple slave. He worked hard to calm his pounding heart and dismissed the prophecy as some crazed ramblings of a lunatic.


    He told himself that the slave just so happened to be a fanatical believer of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s official religion who also happened to possess the superhuman ability of [Prophecy].


    ¡­But that mindset had to change after witnessing the spectacle unfolding before his very eyes.


    Currently, Rahamma was standing on top of the city¡¯s outer wall. As he continued to stare agog at the scene playing out before him, he sucked in a deep breath.


    The white-coloured legion as spoken about the soothsayer¡­


    An undead army numbering at least one thousand combatants¡­


    The creatures breathing out azure-white divinity were now standing in rank and file.


    The light in their eyes glowed ominously.


    While professionally maintaining their ranks, they raised their shields and pointed with their spears. Monstrous howls and screeches reverberated out as the swords and maces were gripped tightly in their hands.


    Boom, booooom!


    The earth below trembled next. The ancient guardians, Cyclops Golems, began raising their huge bodies. There were ten of them in total; their hands gripped large greatswords and their lone eyes were glowing in the unmistakable crimson hue.


    Rahamma couldn¡¯t see a single error or a slip-up anywhere. Those things¡­ they were different from the usual creaky, doll-like summoned undead. Every single one of them moved perfectly as if they possessed ego.


    And in front of this ¡®heroic¡¯ undead army, one boy stood tall while wearing a mountain goat¡¯s skull on his head.


    He summoned a skeleton horse and climbed on it.


    What the soothsayer had said was correct.


    That existence down there¡­ He was the disharmonious creature.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The undead soldiers raised up their weapons, then slammed them on the ground. Their jaws split open and monstrous screeches exploded out.


    As the combined roars of the undead resounded out, the Aslan army grew stiffer and stiffer from nervousness. The faces of the living soldiers grew tenser as sweat drops trickled down their faces.


    Their breathing grew faster and more laboured, and even their legs began trembling weakly, as well.


    The boy didn¡¯t say a single word.


    He simply pointed his finger at the Aslan army, and nothing more.


    But then, all sounds seemed to come to a dead stop with a ¡®snap!¡¯


    This eerie silence only served to instil an even greater level of fear in the hearts of Aslan¡¯s soldiers.


    The undead army suddenly cocked their heads, and as the light in their eyes glowed brightly, they took a step forward.


    The march of the holy undead army had begun.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    Only then did the army of Aslan regain their wits.


    ¡°All personnel, get ready for combat!¡±


    ¡°C-call for additional support! Contact the main army, now!¡±


    Signal flares went up from the Aslan camp to alert the main army stationed elsewhere.


    Meanwhile, the Aslan commanding officer hurriedly looked around.


    The undead army was gradually closing in. They were walking slowly for now, but that story didn¡¯t apply to the chariots and mounted troops.


    The skeleton horses shook their heads. Their glowing eyes glared at their living targets as their gallops got faster and faster.


    Clak-clok, clak-clok, clak-clok¡­


    The undead horses raised their speed higher and higher.


    Rough breaths containing divinity gushed out from their bony maws.


    Skeletons riding on the chariots cracked their whips in the air and readied their spears and bows.


    -Kkiiiiaaaaahk!


    They screeched out so loudly that their jaws almost came loose. The advance guards were roaring out to announce their presence.


    ¡°The enemy¡¯s chariot regiment and mounted troops are coming!¡±


    ¡°Hurry up and set up the pike wall! Now!¡±


    Long spears ¨C pikes ¨C were raised up within the Aslan camp. One pair of soldiers controlled one pike about three metres in length. Many of them were thrust forward and held down.


    ¡°Necromancers, support the frontline, too! Decrease the enemy¡¯s advancing speed as much as possible!¡±


    The Necromancers chanted their spells and summoned out their skeletons. The undead creatures screeched and rushed out. They were meant to slow down the chariots and the mounted troops, even if only by a little.


    ¡°Archers, fire! Siege weapon battalion, aim for the Golems!¡±


    The Aslan army roared out loudly.


    Bows and crossbows were set up behind the pike wall.


    Not just various arrows and crossbow bolts, but even the prepared catapults fired their cargo at the targets.


    Ballistas fired their huge missiles as well.


    -Ku-oooooh!


    A huge boulder destroyed a holy chariot and crushed the cavalry soldiers. Ballista bolts and other projectiles pierced right through the mounted troops. However, other cavalry and chariot riders turned and changed their heading at the last second to barely dodge the incoming attacks.


    Their eyes glowed brightly.


    The skeletons summoned by the Necromancers were spread out like a wall of annoying hindrance.


    The holy undead horses neighed in irritation. The mounted troops leaned further forward and pointed with their lances.


    These skeletons belonging to the Necromancers weren¡¯t good enough to serve as momentary hindrances.


    The holy undead simply crushed and trampled past the weak demonic enemy undead. The shattered and broken bone shards got kicked around by the galloping hooves.


    Arrows and bolts from the Aslan army continued to fly in. The projectiles collided with the thick armour of the holy undead.


    Sparks danced as the projectiles bounced away.


    In the midst of the march, some bolts managed to strike the chariots¡¯ wheels, and arrows struck the skeleton horses in the gaps of the thick armour, causing the riders to crash to the ground.


    However, none of that proved to be effective. The fallen skeletons rolled on the ground before simply jumping back up and running on their feet, instead.


    Their numbers didn¡¯t decrease at all.


    The ground rumbled noisily, and the chariots accompanied by the cavalry broke through the desert¡¯s sandy winds to reach the Aslan army.


    Rather than slowing down, they had gotten even faster than before.


    Truly imposing, like staring at an unstoppable giant tsunami wave!


    That was the impression the soldiers manning the pike wall felt.


    But that was obvious. The incoming army consisted of undead. Never mind not feeling any fear, they were a part of the undying legion that could not be killed. In other words, they were monsters that relentlessly marched forward while radiating out a sacred aura!


    The pike-wielding soldiers came in pairs. The one at the back, the assistant, shouted out to the soldier in front aiming the pike.


    ¡°Resist against the incoming death!¡±


    ¡°For the glory of Aslan-!¡±


    ¡°Oh, ooooooh!¡±


    The balaclavas covering their faces, meant to block out the winds of sand, couldn¡¯t hide their eyes opening wider.


    Cries of both fear and determination came out from here and there.


    While their bloodshot eyes barely managed to stay open against the winds, they gripped the lengthy spears with all they had despite their hands continuously trembling away.


    They silently prayed inwardly that their long spears were enough to stop the incoming cavalry, because that would be the only way for them to survive this encounter!


    By now, all of them had realised that retreating at this point would still result in their deaths. So, they roused up every bit of strength they could muster, supported their weight on their legs, and strengthened their back muscles.


    And in that moment when the chariots and cavalry got close, the Aslan soldiers squeezed their eyes shut.


    CRUNCH!

 Chapter 146 - 079. Hashashins and King Rahamma -3 (Part Two)

    The spear shafts over three metres long failed to penetrate the armour on the undead. No ¨C the weapons shattered into bits, instead.


    At the same time, the chariots and the cavalry collided with the pike wall. The noises of explosions rocked the night sky.


    Aslan¡¯s pike soldiers were flung hard away in random directions.


    The unlucky ones caught in front were mercilessly crushed by the skeleton hooves, while the ones standing to the left and right got shredded to bloody bits by the hooks attached to the wheels of the chariots.


    ¡°Infantrymen, advance!¡±


    ¡°Necromancers, summon the Bone Golems, now!¡±


    ¡°We need slaves! The supply of slaves¡­!¡±


    Necromancers quickly grouped up and chanted their next spell. Slaves were dragged towards them in the meantime. The dark magicians used up the lifeforce of the slaves as the offering for demonic energy.


    Skeletons were summoned, before they meshed into one giant creature. A Bone Golem about three metres tall was created, and it stood before the incoming chariot.


    BOOM-!


    The Bone Golem managed to stop the four skeleton horses. Although the giant¡¯s feet dug into the ground as it got forced back little by little, there was no doubting the fact that it had succeeded in slowing down the enemy.


    This caused the chariot to overturn.


    When the Bone Golem proved to be effective, the complexions of the Aslan soldiers brightened for a brief moment. Unfortunately for them, their relief didn¡¯t last for long.


    Because a towering stone statue had entered the fray.


    1


    The Cyclops Golems about five metres tall strode into their view. The giant stone statues took mighty swings with their greatswords and completely swept aside not just the Bone Golems, but even the unlucky human soldiers standing nearby.


    Shards of broken bones were flung everywhere, while human bodies were knocked flying in the air like a bunch of ragdolls.


    The complexions of the Necromancers became deathly pale in an instant.


    ¡°A-attack with magic!¡±


    ¡°What is the siege weapon regiment doing?! Stop those things!¡±


    The Necromancers hurriedly chanted attack magic next. Balls of flame materialised in the air before crashing into the giant stone statues. Meanwhile, ballistas were aimed at the Golems before firing their projectiles.


    Bang! Boom! Thud!


    The flames burned on the bodies of the statues, and after getting struck by the projectiles, they stumbled and faltered as if they would fall down. However, that was all that happened to them.


    The lone eye of a Cyclops Golem sizzled before shooting out a beam of light.


    ¡°R-run¡­!¡±


    The Necromancers trying to flee were hit by the petrification magic and turned into stone, while the siege weapons in the surroundings solidified and became inoperable, looking as if a layer of concrete had been poured on them.


    ¡°Ahhh, it¡¯s too hot! H-help me!¡±


    A Necromancer with only a portion of his leg turned to stone screamed desperately. His head yanked back from the indescribable pain of his flesh burning up, but then, he got crushed into meat paste by the giant stone statue¡¯s stomping foot.


    The stone statues continued to swing around their large greatswords, causing the explosive gusts of dust winds to kick up. Dozens upon dozens of Aslan soldiers were flung into the air.


    ¡°Hang on! We can¡¯t stop something like that!¡±


    ¡°All of you, break off from the formation and disperse!¡±


    ¡°Prepare the spears and chains!¡±


    The Aslan soldiers hurriedly moved out.


    They tossed their steel chains at and around the stone statues, but that was an act of foolishness. Rather than managing to tie the Golems down, the soldiers got dragged around by the chains now gripped in the hands of the statues, instead.


    Dozens of soldiers got thrown into the air by the chains before crashing back down to the ground to meet their instant deaths.


    -Fuu-woo! Fuu-woo! Fuu-woo!


    Meanwhile, the mummies rapidly dashed in. Their destination was the middle of Aslan¡¯s formation. And with nimble, smooth movements full of stunning technique, they swung their scimitars to perform the dances of death.


    Every time their blades danced, Aslan soldiers lost their limbs and lives, dyeing the ground crimson in their blood.


    Of course, it wasn¡¯t as if the Aslan army was one-sidedly being massacred here. They managed to bring down the holy undead as well.


    The Bone Golems stopped the advancing cavalry and chariots, causing the riders to fall to the ground. The waiting soldiers then hacked away at them.


    They also entered a messy melee with the skeleton legion rushing in.


    But the undead proved to be persistent. If their arms were cut off, they used their maws to bite. Even if their legs were cut off, they still crawled on the ground to kill their enemies.


    So, even though the numbers of the undead were steadily decreasing¡­


    ¡°W-why aren¡¯t they decreasing in numbers?!¡±


    ¡­The living soldiers didn¡¯t get that impression at all.


    The formation of Aslan¡¯s army steadily crumbled away. The soldiers were too tightly gripped by fear, and their fighting spirit hit rock bottom.


    The situation had devolved into a chaotic mess. And with their desire to fight as good as broken, commanding them seemed nearly impossible at this point.


    The commanding officer looked to the distant front.


    Boom, boom, boom!


    He could see about thirty or so Bone Golems, at least three metres tall, over yonder. They were completely covered in plate armour from head to toe.


    On top of their heavy armouring, they also carried sturdy tower shields in their left hands, while the right wielded huge maces.


    The heavily-armed ¡®infantry¡¯ division was now protecting the boy and the carriage behind him.


    The commanding officer swallowed back his dry saliva.


    ¡®We can¡¯t break through that.¡¯


    With what method could they kill a being hidden behind the impregnable steel wall?!


    ¡®We need help. What about the hashashins?¡¯


    The commanding officer turned his head.


    The hashashins he was searching for were not making any moves at the moment.


    Even though their demonic energy reserve or their skill set would be more than enough to break through the Bone Golems and reach the enemy leader, those damn demi-humans weren¡¯t doing anything.


    ¡®Are they abandoning us?!¡¯


    The flustered commanding officer yelled out, ¡°P-prepare a wide area spell! We need to buy more time until the main army led by the feudal lords arrives at this¡­!¡±


    ¡°Sir, it¡¯s dangerous!¡±


    Someone cried out, and the commanding officer raised his head to look up at the sky.


    Arrows of pure-white light were raining down from above.


    ¡­Arrows that were brimming full with divinity.


    Banshees with the appearance of fair maidens were firing their arrows into the sky.


    ¡°S-shields!¡±


    The Aslan soldiers hurriedly raised shields made out of either wood or metal. Several shields were set up all around the commanding officer.


    Soon afterwards, arrows loudly collided with the shields.


    The wooden shields were easily penetrated through. As for the metal shields, they managed to barely deflect the arrows as sparks lit up on their surfaces.


    The commanding officer screamed.


    He had just witnessed the soldiers around him turn into sieves from the incoming baptism of arrows and die miserably.


    ¡°R-retreat¡­!¡±


    The commanding officer¡¯s tiny voice leaked out of his mouth. But the unending chaotic noises of war buried his voice altogether, preventing it from reaching his subordinates.


    He could see that the Aslan soldiers were rapidly decreasing in number.


    ¡°Retreat, now-!¡±


    The commanding officer yelled out so loudly that the veins bulged on his throat.


    Could it be that the soldiers were waiting for that order? They hurriedly looked at their officer.


    ¡°R-retreat?¡±


    ¡°Run away, now!¡±


    ¡°We need to get to where the main army is¡­ Hurry!¡±


    The Aslan soldiers turned their backs to their enemies and urgently fled from the battlefield. Thousands of soldiers discarded their weapons and began running away.


    However, the holy undead weren¡¯t planning to let them off the hook that easily. No, they actually chased after the fleeing humans.


    This was a type of warning. A warning to all would-be pursuers, telling them to give up by instilling this fear deep into their hearts!


    The Seventh Imperial Prince was planning to engrave that fear deep into their marrow today.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    King Rahamma silently watched all these events unfold.


    The whole of the undead army was focused solely on the Aslan army¡¯s formation. Meanwhile, the carriage with the Imperial Family members was gradually creeping forward.


    If this continued on, it¡¯d be almost the same as Aslan opening the door and letting them leave without putting up a proper fight.


    ¡°I see. So, the Crown Imperial Prince wasn¡¯t the real problem.¡±


    Rahamma slowly rubbed his face down.


    Indeed, the Crown Imperial Prince was not the issue. That man could be suppressed by Rahamma alone, or with the combined efforts of the feudal lords, after all.


    Just what was an army?


    Normally, they would be nothing more than expendable pawns meant to break the enemy formation and march forward while the truly strong generals and warriors dealt with the monsters from the opposing sides.


    This couldn¡¯t be helped, since there existed a clear difference in power levels between the army and the powerful warriors. So, the army had devolved into a group of pawns meant to trample on the enemy territory.


    However, what about that Prince before Rahamma¡¯s eyes?


    He was commanding not just the holy undead, which were all highly skilled and powerful, but even the giant Golems as well.


    What would happen if someone like that joined up with the Theocratic Empire¡¯s main army? The balance of power would crumble down in an instant.


    And Aslan would either be destroyed, or end up as an enslaved kingdom to the empire.


    ¡®I made the right call by coming here.¡¯


    Indeed, he needed to deal with that boy first, not the Crown Imperial Prince. That being was still a young boy. If he were allowed to mature even further, then without a doubt, he¡¯d exceed the Crown Imperial Prince in the level of threat he posed. No, maybe he¡¯d become even worse than Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse himself!


    -This is because you will be responsible for calling the ¡®angel¡¯ to this land.


    Rahamma recalled what the soothsayer had told him, then turned his head. Hashashins had gathered around him before anyone had noticed it, and were bowing their heads at him.


    ¡°I shall deal with him personally. In the meantime¡­¡± Rahamma reached behind him and extracted the huge mace slung on his back. ¡°¡­All of you, go and apprehend the remaining Imperial Family members.¡±


    The hashashins bowed deeply to indicate their understanding.


    King Rahamma strengthened his legs.


    He planned to reach his target in the blink of an eye. Even before that undead legion had a chance to surround him, he¡¯d go and kill that bastard!


    Rahamma¡¯s figure exploded forth from the top of the city¡¯s wall.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV)


    Just as I suspected, Amon¡¯s skull alone didn¡¯t place a lot of burden on my body. Fatigue was washing over me, sure, but it wasn¡¯t at the intolerable level.


    As long as I managed my divinity reserve right, we should be able to break through the Aslan army¡¯s encirclement and get out of here safely.


    I sighed in relief under the mountain goat¡¯s skull.


    But then, while I was barely maintaining my consciousness, a sudden chill ran down my spine.


    I sensed this truly horrifying level of demonic energy and turned my head in its direction. At the same time, a spot on top of the city¡¯s outer wall literally exploded, and ¡®something¡¯ flew off from there.


    The Bone Golems synced with my mind immediately responded to the incoming ¡®threat¡¯ by standing in front of me. They used their huge bodies to block the path and raised their shields in many layers to create a sturdy metal wall.


    This defensive wall should be strong enough to withstand the attacks of even the strongest cavalry in the continent.


    However¡­


    BOOM!


    The Bone Golems weren¡¯t strong enough to withstand the monstrous force behind that charge. Along with a loud metallic crunch, the shields twisted until they broke apart into pieces.


    3


    Even the Golems holding onto the shields were cracked apart and blown away.


    ¡°What the f*ck?!¡±


    I had to doubt my own eyes at that nonsensical display of pure strength.


    A man revealed himself from among the mess of twisted steel and bone shards. He was a man with an angular face and eyes as sharp and unforgiving as a wild beast.


    [Name: Rahamma Aslan.


    Age: 55


    2


    Attributes: Crushing, destroying, a man with great ambition, the disposition of a tyrant, a foolish king, overwhelming physical ability, massive pool of demonic energy, excellent combat abilities.


    + I shall become history¡¯s greatest king!]


    While I stared at this muscular dude, muscles around my eyes began twitching nonstop.


    The king of Aslan, Rahamma¡­


    The last boss of the enemy nation had shown up without warning!


    3


    While he was blowing away my Bone Golems, the sharp gleam in Rahamma¡¯s eyes seemed to flicker brightly.


    He then glared straight at me. ¡°I see. So, you¡¯re the one that that soothsayer spoke about¡­¡±


    More Bone Golems quickly surrounded him, then swung their maces and shields down.


    Rahamma instantly scanned his surroundings, accurately saw every single weapon flying in towards him, and quickly spun on his heels.


    He then systematically crushed and destroyed the Bone Golems with his own huge mace.


    An incredible amount of demonic energy gushed out from that mace of his. The aura at complete odds with divinity flooded out from his body to blanket the surroundings.


    I clenched my teeth at the aura of death.


    ¡°So, you are¡­¡± King Rahamma stared at me and muttered out as if he was recalling something, ¡°¡­that ¡®angel¡¯ from the prophecy.¡±


    1


    < 079. Hashashins and King Rahamma -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 147 - 080. Aslan’s saviour -1 (Part One)

    ¡°So, you¡¯re that ¡®angel¡¯ from the prophecy?¡±


    An incredible amount of killing intent was unleashed along with his words.


    The demonic energy acted as if it was linked to his emotions, and spread out from his body to all around his vicinity.


    This pitch-black colour rapidly dyed the ground with him in the centre.


    Suddenly, Rahamma vanished from my view. I hurriedly scanned my surroundings, but couldn¡¯t see that bastard anywhere.


    Even then, I still intuitively realised that something was scything through the air to reach me.


    This deathly chill ran down my spine. My instincts were screaming about the incoming danger. One wrong move, and I¡¯d end up as dead meat!


    Bones exploded out from the ground and rapidly attached themselves to my body. The bone armour was summoned in an instant, and I roused up even more divinity.


    Next up, I injected divinity into my eyes and reinforced my senses to make them sharper than ever before.


    It felt like how I perceived ¡®space¡¯ had changed. Every object in my perception was now moving agonisingly slowly. And my eyes finally got to see an individual rapidly and violently rushing towards me. His feet were kicking the ground as he flew in closer while wielding a huge mace that reminded me of a steel beam found in construction sites.


    The weapon closed in while scything the air apart.


    The ground all around us was collapsing and crumbling.


    My eyes caught the figure of Rahamma glaring at me murderously.


    It was just one all-out strike, yet I realised it wouldn¡¯t be easy to deal with the attack at all.


    I opened my eyes much wider under Amon¡¯s skull. Numerous weapons such as a sword, a spear, a mace, a greatsword, a shovel, and a scythe were pulled out from the item window and I activated [Divine Aura] to enhance them all.


    The twelve hands sprouting out from my back like wings gripped the weapons and defended my front with everything I had.


    Rahamma¡¯s mace and the twelve weapons collided.


    Creeeeak!


    Sparks slowly exploded out. At the same time, all twelve weapons began breaking apart.


    1


    The explosive power caused the air around us to blow up.


    Holy cow?!


    Are you telling me that just one attack from Rahamma was enough to break all the weapons carefully crafted by the dwarves and enhanced by my [Divine Aura]?!


    All twelve weapons got completely obliterated, and Rahamma took a step closer towards me. He was still so bloody quick that the slowed-down time around us seemed a bit pointless.


    I stared at Rahamma¡¯s mace. Reddish black demonic energy was gushing out from that thing.


    Why did I get the feeling that my bone armour wasn¡¯t strong enough to withstand the incoming strike???


    ¡°D-i-e, a-n-g-e-l!¡±


    Rahamma¡¯s voice sounded slow and stretched out. But in complete contrast, his movements remained super-quick.


    I hurriedly summoned Amon¡¯s staff next.


    [Amon¡¯s staff.


    Ability: Depending on the user¡¯s stats, demonic energy amplification by minimum of 50% to 200%. Increase of 10% added to the recovery rate. Additional 10% to effectiveness of all skills.]


    Next up, I enhanced it with [Divine Aura].


    The demonic energy amplification rose up to ¡®100 to 400%¡¯, while the recovery rate became ¡®20%¡¯, and the skill effectiveness increased up to 15%.


    And one more skill was added on top ¨C ¡®One-time nullification of the opponent¡¯s skill¡¯, with a cooldown period of one day.


    I clenched my teeth.


    The summoned Amon¡¯s staff was now gripped tightly in my hands. Just doing that alone made my body feel twice as heavy compared to before. Even my consciousness threatened to abandon me.


    The crappy sensation of heavy burden overlapped with my already-bothersome fatigue. It was almost as if someone or something was angrily pushing me down!


    Now I had no choice but to withstand all these side effects.


    I locked my glare at the incoming mace through the eye holes of Amon¡¯s skull. While injecting divinity, I took a swing with the staff.


    Divinity and demonic energy collided.


    With me and Rahamma serving as the border, the terrain beneath our feet split in half. One side of the ground permeated with divinity, while the other side transformed into the land of demonic energy.


    ¡°Y-o-u s-t-o-p-p-e-d i-t?!¡±


    Rahamma spoke in the slowed-down speech, the look of astonishment clearly visible on his face. He withdrew the mace, then took another swipe with it. I also swung my staff at the same time in the direction of the incoming mace.


    The two weapons collided again and caused a massive explosion this time.


    The debris of the exploded earth bounced and deflected in all directions. Every time the two opposing forces of divinity and demonic energy collided, the resulting shockwaves spread out to the surroundings and destroyed everything in the near vicinity.


    Each of the attacks was stupidly heavy, and I was getting forced back gradually.


    I had enhanced my perception and reinforced my body with divinity, then used two of Amon¡¯s relics, yet all of them combined were still not enough to force Aslan¡¯s King Rahamma back.


    This is way too dangerous.


    The longer this battle gets drawn out, the more disadvantageous it¡¯d get for me.


    I summoned twelve muskets on the wing-like arms behind me, then took aim at Rahamma before firing away.


    Divinity crazily swirled and a barrage of bullets stormed towards the target. All sorts of skills, including ¡®Spread Shot¡¯, ¡®Burst Fire¡¯, and even ¡®Snipe¡¯, were activated in order to hit the bastard.


    Rahamma hurriedly swung his mace, then flung himself away from the spot to dodge the incoming barrage.


    I snapped my fingers again. The ground split open and arms made out of dozens of bones grew out like whips. They flew in from all directions to restrict Rahamma¡¯s movements.


    However, the bastard swung his mace to shatter the whips and continued to swiftly dash about to duck and weave out of the trajectories of the musket barrages.


    Each and every single holy bullet was fast and powerful, but I couldn¡¯t hit him once.


    The more I fired the bullets, the greater the depletion of my divinity became. My body was getting heavier and heavier. I could instinctively tell that I didn¡¯t have a lot of time left.


    I gotta beat his ass up quickly and get outta here!


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Rahamma was growing more and more anxious as time passed.


    How long had it been since the last time he had to rely on his own demonic energy reserve?


    All thanks to this fight, he could acutely sense his lifespan rapidly declining.


    His skin was withering and shrivelling up, while physical strength was gradually ebbing out of his whole body.


    He roused up even more demonic energy to compensate and forcibly maintained the power output, but doing that meant he had to keep paying the cost.


    ¡®I need to finish this quickly!¡¯


    At this rate, he¡¯d end up dead after all of his lifespan got exhausted, instead. He needed to kill this bastard as soon as humanly possible.


    The problem was that doing so proved to be a lot harder than he initially bargained for.


    Whenever divinity and demonic energy collided, this sensation of immense weight got transmitted to him.


    This boy possessed a similar level of power to the Crown Imperial Prince. Despite fighting one on one with Rahamma, he was not being pushed back one inch here.


    Did that mean the boy wasn¡¯t a mere Necromancer?!


    Not only could he command a legion of holy undead, his own individual martial prowess was also overwhelming as well. Yet another reason to make sure that the boy didn¡¯t survive today was added to the list.


    1


    Rahamma dodged the incoming barrage of holy bullets and briefly shifted his gaze elsewhere.


    ¡°Hashashins, offer yourselves up as sacrifices!¡±


    His voice rang out, and out of one hundred hashashins, sixty of them stepped back. They knelt down and bowed their heads to offer their prayers.


    Almost at the same time, their lifespan began decreasing at a rapid pace. In return, Rahamma¡¯s demonic energy output was amplified.


    He compressed demonic energy from the sacrifices, then added it on top of his own already-compressed demonic energy paid for by his lifespan.


    The aura of death invaded the land of divinity occupied by the angel. A satisfied grin crept up onto Rahamma¡¯s face as he witnessed that sight.


    ¡®The load will be great, but¡­¡¯


    He strengthened his leg muscles. The penalty from using demonic energy placed a tremendous level of burden on his whole body.


    ¡®¡­But if I don¡¯t go all out, I¡¯ll be the one dying today!¡¯


    Veins bulged on his legs. At the same time, his skin ripped and blood gushed out. Rahamma¡¯s face rapidly aged. But in return, he became a great deal stronger.


    Just before he could explode forward like a bomb, though, the angel made his move first.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wrap this up quickly.¡±


    With that one sentence from the angel, he was already right in front of Rahamma¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    The muskets on his back vanished, only to be replaced by twelve weapons that swung down ruthlessly at Rahamma.


    The king of Aslan quickly took a look and analysed the movements of the weapons. He then struck back with his mace to shatter and break the incoming weapons, but more appeared to replace them in an instant.


    ¡®What in the world¡­?!¡¯


    The staff held in the angel¡¯s hand thrust forward towards the king. Shockwaves brimming full with divinity powerfully slammed into Rahamma.


    POW-!


    Rahamma vomited out a mouthful of blood.


    As his body got flung away, weapons flew in from seemingly every direction and hacked away at his figure. His skin got ripped open, while his flesh, reinforced through demonic energy, got shredded and torn to ribbons. Even his bones were shattered and split apart.


    ¡°No, not yet! Not yet!¡±


    Rahamma continued to swing the mace and destroyed the incoming weapons, then pounced on the angel. He spun his body and chopped down the mace from above.


    At the same time, the angel¡¯s staff dug into Rahamma¡¯s unguarded torso.


    The two of them struck each other¡¯s body simultaneously.


    The staff skewered straight into Rahamma¡¯s left shoulder at an angle. The shoulder muscles and bones were shredded apart in an instant. If he hadn¡¯t reinforced his body, his shoulder would¡¯ve been completely wiped out of this world without a trace remaining.


    Rahamma vomited out yet another mouthful of blood.


    ¡®Dammit, just where did a monster like this bastard show up from¡­?!¡¯


    He shifted his gaze back to his opponent, the angel. His mace had also successfully landed on the boy¡¯s shoulder.


    The familiar acrid stench wafted out from under the mountain goat¡¯s skull as if he had also vomited out some blood.


    At that moment, the angel¡¯s body faltered and stumbled back.


    ¡®I knew it ¨C he¡¯s weak in close-quarter combat!¡¯


    Rahamma smiled deeply.


    Indeed, his opponent today was strong. However, he should still be able to¡­?!


    It happened right at that moment.


    Rahamma¡¯s head turned urgently in pure instinct.


    With a hardened face, he stared at the carriage currently being blocked by the hashashins.


    What was this? What could be the source of this ominous, creepy sensation?


    A bizarre, unexplainable aura began taking a hold of his senses.


    And at that exact moment, for some inexplicable reason, he began recalling what the soothsayer had said.


    -You will be responsible for calling the ¡®angel¡¯ to this land. In addition, you have sired the child who will be chosen by the angel.


    1

 Chapter 148 - : 080. Aslan’s saviour -1 (Part Two)

    **


    ¡°Uwaaaahk! D-do you have any idea who I am?! I¡¯m Ruppel Olfolse! I¡¯m the Third Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire!¡±


    Ruppel loudly cried out. Even in the middle of crying out in fear, he somehow managed to swing a sword around indiscriminately.


    Even a third-rate mercenary would tut at that unsightly spectacle. However, the amount of divinity gushing out of him was still more than enough to be described as shocking.


    As a matter of fact, the divinity flooding out from his sword was what had managed to stop the advances of the hashashins up until now.


    Hans¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at that sight. ¡°But I heard that the Third Imperial Prince was an incompetent mama¡¯s boy?¡±


    2


    He had heard about some information regarding the Imperial Family, so this scene came across as rather surprising to him.


    But then again, Ruppel did achieve successive victories as a slave gladiator, didn¡¯t he? And even if the rumours said he was incompetent, one shouldn¡¯t forget that he was the Holy Emperor¡¯s grandson.


    His skill set, fostered within the Imperial Family¡¯s rather unique environment starting from his young age, was still quite considerable.


    Tina shouted out, ¡°Now isn¡¯t the time to be impressed, Mister Hans!¡±


    Her summoned plants had barely managed to catch the hashashins, thereby temporarily sealing away their movements. Large sweat drops were trickling down on her forehead.


    She continued to shout. ¡°We¡¯ll surely get captured if you remain dazed like that! Don¡¯t you have any magic tools we can use to overcome this situation?¡±


    Hans could only make a troubled expression at her question. ¡°Even if you ask me that, I¡¯m a non-combatant, you know?¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ just buy me some time, please. I¡¯ll find a way to stop them for sure!¡±


    After hearing the last part of her declaration, Hans quickly began rummaging through his bag. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have an item that seemed perfectly suited for the situation they were in.


    She had asked him to buy some time, so he pulled out smoke bombs and flash bangs. When injected with Mana, the former would pour out lots of smoke while blinding rays of light would burst out from the latter.


    ¡°Tina, stop resisting and surrender.¡±


    ¡°Stop disappointing our father.¡±


    ¡°Hand over the Imperial Prince. Our father may acknowledge your contribution and allow you to join our ranks.¡±


    ¡°We do not wish to fight against you.¡±


    Hashashins continued addressing Tina. Their tone of voice was monotonous, but a slight hint of sorrow could still be sensed from the way they spoke.


    These assassins were, once upon a time, her brothers and sisters who underwent life-or-death training together with her, while Damon oversaw their growth as their training instructor.


    They couldn¡¯t let Tina leave from this place since their father had ordered them. However, the story might change if she apprehended the Imperial Prince herself and handed him over.


    Tina shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°Tina, we¡¯re saying this out of our concern for you. If our father captures you, then¡­¡±


    ¡°I wish to live on. That¡¯s why¡­ I won¡¯t stop fighting back.¡±


    The hashashins lowered their postures.


    ¡°You¡¯re being foolish till the end.¡±


    But, before they could rush in towards her¡­


    ¡°Close your eyes!¡± Hans shouted out, and Tina urgently closed her eyes.


    Just as Ruppel tilted his head while muttering, ¡®Eh?¡¯, Hans threw down the flash bang on the ground with everything he had.


    BANG-!


    Bright light exploded out and the hashashins urgently covered their eyes.


    ¡°Aaaahk?! Eyes, my eyes!¡±


    Ruppel screamed while shielding his eyes, then began thrusting and swinging his sword blindly at the empty air.


    1


    For the encore, Hans chucked smoke bombs on the ground next. The smoke spread quickly and blocked the view.


    Hans stammered, ¡°Th-this is enough, isn¡¯t it? Let¡¯s hurry and escape from here.¡±


    But Tina shook her head. ¡°We can¡¯t leave behind Lord Angel.¡±


    ¡°Wha? The likes of us won¡¯t be any help to him right now, you know?! No, we¡¯ll just get in his way!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    She bit down on her lower lip.


    Getting in his way, was it? She couldn¡¯t allow that.


    Didn¡¯t she clearly state it earlier? That she¡¯d not become a hindrance to Lord Angel?


    Not only was he the sacred angel, but more than that, he was the benefactor that saved the lives of Tina and the subjects of this kingdom. She might not be strong enough to repay that kindness, but that didn¡¯t mean she¡¯d abandon him here and run away by herself.


    ¡°I shall use the summoning magic.¡±


    ¡°Summoning magic, you say?¡±


    Hans¡¯s brows shot up high.


    He knew why Tina decided to tag along with Allen Olfolse ¨C to learn the ways to summon the holy undead. To master that magic, she¡¯d been asking Allen this and that during their travels and got to learn a few things.


    ¡°H-hang on. Can you actually summon holy undead, though?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Tina shook her head.


    The ¡®divinity¡¯ residing within her was a ¡®new¡¯ type of energy and quite different from the regular divinity. It was currently in a bit of an ambiguous state where divinity and Mana had been blended into one.


    This power might possess a similar nature to what Allen Olfolse wielded, but due to Mana in the mixture, she couldn¡¯t summon the ¡®pure¡¯ holy undead.


    Maybe summoning the holy undead was the authority granted solely to Lord Angel and no one else.


    Was that why? What Tina managed to summon earlier on Evelyum¡¯s streets was a different existence compared to the beings Allen often called out to this world.


    She took out the flower pot from the baggage and placed it on the ground. Then, she raised up her staff.


    Even she knew the theory behind summoning the undead. However, something about how Allen did it was different from how others did it. What he summoned were not the usual undead filled with hatred and rage towards the living, but pure and uncorrupted existences that stood in stark contrast to them.


    Tina recalled all the stories she heard during their trip to the city.


    The principles on warp magic as explained by Hans, then Allen¡¯s version of Necromancy summoning technique¡­


    Not some simple evil phantoms or souls, but existences brought into this world through divinity and his will¡­


    Now was the time to put those things into practice.


    Tina recalled the sensation that Allen talked about.


    -I just imagine it in my mind.


    ¡®Yes, I must imagine it.¡¯


    She pictured the image of the being, the one she wanted to summon to this world, in her mind.


    -What the summoned undead will look like, what its ability will be, and the amount of divinity spent summoning one.


    ¡®I must think about its appearance, its ability, and its attributes.¡¯


    She thought about the attributes that spoke to her and her companions.


    -Like¡­ how the undead with ego answer my call and show up.


    ¡®I must ask about their intentions.¡¯


    When she reached this point, it felt as if she had entered a pure-white space.


    She began sensing their presence coming from beyond the wall of dimensions. What she sensed was spirits possessing pure, child-like wills.


    They looked back at her and their eyes opened wider in surprise. But eventually, they began tilting their heads in confusion.


    Tina reached her hand out to them.


    ¡®Please, help us!¡¯


    These mischievous-looking ¡®children¡¯ stared at her hand for a little while, before reaching out to her as if to answer her calling.


    Tina¡¯s eyes shot open.


    The existence she wanted to call forth to this world¡­


    And the existence that answered her call¡­


    It was¡­


    The pot with the weed growing in it shattered and at the same time, roots rushed out to all sides.


    The weed was gone by then, replaced by a massive wooden ¡®pillar¡¯ rising up in its spot. The roots broke through the ground and spread out instantly in all directions. Then, tree stems and branches rapidly spread out to the heavens, adorned by abundant green leaves dancing in the winds.


    1


    And with this huge tree as the centre, all sorts of vegetation began sprouting out on this withered land.


    On this barren landscape dyed in the hues of death, vitality and Mana¡¯s aura suddenly gushed out and overflowed in every direction.


    Tina, Hans, and even the hashashins all stumbled back at the sight of this huge tree at least eight metres tall.


    Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. This tree was on another level compared to the existence she originally intended to summon.


    This tree, this existence that boasted thick arms and legs, as well as a wrinkled face of a person¡­


    The huge ¡®tree man¡¯ slowly raised its body up.


    -You must be the one who called forth our children.


    A melodious voice came from the tree.


    The wrinkles denoting the passage of unaccountable time gently arched as if to express the feelings of the tree.


    Its expression shifted like a real person, and the green-coloured irises slowly moved and landed on Tina.


    The thick branches bent as if they were its arms.


    The existence with slow, leisurely movements, yet giving off a snug and inviting aura¡­


    Tina muttered out while staring in stupefaction at the creature, ¡°The tree spirit¡­?¡±


    The guardian of the forest thought to be lost back in the ancient era had returned to plant its roots on the barren wasteland.


    2


    < 080. Aslan¡¯s saviour -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: Only one chapter today and tomorrow.)

 Chapter 149 - 81. Aslan’s Saviour -2 (Part One)

    -Along with the sacred angel, the chosen princess will bring salvation to Aslan¡¯s lands.


    The prophecy made by the soothsayer was right.


    With the summoned tree spirit as the centre, all types of grass suddenly grew on the withered land, turning it into a verdant field.


    To Aslan, this sight was her dream, her path to salvation ¨C and now it was coming to reality.


    The tree spirit looked down at Tina on the ground. An expression of deep intrigue floated up on its wrinkled face as the creature slowly stroked its beard-like trunk.


    -You are one of the fairy races, I see. But to think that I was summoned by a Dark Elf, not the usual High Elf. I also sense not just Mana, but even divinity permeating in you. That is quite a unique power you have there, child.


    The tree spirit then turned its head, and after spotting Allen Olfolse under his bone armour, a look of surprise appeared on its face next.


    -Was it because of that person¡¯s influence? Is that why Mana and divinity were combined as one?


    Tina¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. That¡¯s because what she intended to summon to this world was not a tree spirit, but the spirits of ¡®nature¡¯ instead.


    When the tree spirit lowered its head, a pleasant aroma of fresh grass lightly tickled Tina¡¯s nose.


    She gasped out in stupefaction. ¡°But, how did the tree spirit¡­?¡±


    -Ah, I see¡­ What you were calling wasn¡¯t me, but the other children, wasn¡¯t it?


    All sorts of little spirits began jumping out from the lush leaves adorning the tree spirit.


    The spirit of wind had the appearance of a bird; the spirit of fire with the appearance of a little child; the spirit of the earth that looked like a snake; the spirit of water with the appearance of a turtle, etc¡­


    They either flew around the tree spirit, or hid themselves back within the lush leaves and glanced curiously at Tina.


    -Come, children. You should greet your contractor.


    At the tree spirit¡¯s urging, the little spirits cautiously approached Tina. She lowered her head and stared at them.


    The spirits climbed up to her knee and looked up at her, their eyes sparkling brightly.


    -Huhuhuh, since a child capable of summoning spirits has finally appeared for the first time in two thousand years, I came here to see for myself out of curiosity. Of course, the resulting backlash is as severe as expected, but still¡­ it was worth it.


    The tree spirit raised its head back up and smiled with its eyes.


    ¡°May I ask, who are you?¡±


    She sensed a truly sacred aura coming from this tree. This existence couldn¡¯t have been a regular tree spirit at all.


    -Oops, it looks like I forgot to introduce myself. I am called Yggdrasil. I¡¯m also the world tree that maintains the balance of the world.


    Tina¡¯s jaw nearly hit the ground.


    1


    Once upon a time in the ancient era, there supposedly existed a tree of life that connected all the worlds into one. It formed the centre of the worlds and acted as the foundation of the great mother nature. It could also control different facets of nature as well.


    And the name bestowed unto the world tree was¡­


    ¡­Yggdrasil.


    And the tree spirit said that that was its name.


    ¡°B-b-but, the books say you¡¯re a huge tree only existing in the spirit world, so how¡­¡±


    The records did say that the world tree was a gigantic and ancient tree several kilometres tall.


    -This body is merely a clone. Even for me, breaking through the dimensional wall is still too difficult. I can only recreate a small portion of my actual body like this.


    ¡°A-are you saying that I succeeded in summoning a portion of the world tree?!¡±


    The tree spirit shook its head.


    -No, that¡¯s impossible. It has been truly a long time since someone called out to our children from another dimension. I decided to come here out of curiosity, that is all.


    The huge tree spirit then turned its gaze away, and stared at the barren and withered landscape all around them.


    A desert with cracked soil and dried sand stared right back at it with no detectable signs of life anywhere.


    The tree spirit shifted its gaze once more, and looked at the stand-off between the human radiating the aura of life around him, and another human with the aura of death gushing out from his body.


    The tree spirit¡¯s eyes narrowed to slits as it observed this scene. Then it glanced at Tina before saying something.


    -I now understand what you¡¯ve been feeling when calling out to our children. However, I can never take away someone¡¯s life. Maybe others can, but not me¡­


    The tree spirit raised its hand, and then slammed it right down to the ground.


    THUD-!


    The land resonated and quaked.


    The earth below split open and water began gushing out like a burst geyser. Streams of water quickly flooded in every direction.


    The once-withered ground was soaked in water and stems of various plants began sprouting out. A huge lake was soon generated as greenery continued spreading out even further.


    The surrounding landscape started changing rapidly. It felt like this whole area was transforming into a brand new world when compared to only a few minutes ago.


    -¡­I can certainly scatter seeds of life in this land.


    Tina became completely stupefied as beautiful mother nature sprouted out all around her. The origin of Mana, the world tree, had combined itself with the origin of life, divinity, quickly dyeing the surrounding land in the rich verdant hue.


    ¡°The world tree¡­¡±


    The hashashins took off their steel masks while their jaws all went slack from shock. They could vividly sense the aura of pure nature on their skin. They knelt down and began stroking the ground in disbelief.


    The ground no longer resembled the barren wasteland they were used to, but a living grassland that felt soft to the touch and green to their eyes.


    Faint but inviting scents of grass and fertile earth were rapidly unfurling itself to the surroundings, refreshing breezes and warm early morning sunlight accompanied them.


    -As I am nothing more than a clone, I cannot remain in this world for long. This is all I can do for you. That¡¯s why¡­


    The tree spirit looked down at the still-dazed Tina on the ground.


    -We should quickly finish what you wanted to do.


    The spirit powerfully stomped the ground with its foot. That foot transformed into tree roots and dug deep into the ground below.


    The tree spirit closed its eyes and its wrinkled face gradually ¡®hardened¡¯. And eventually, the spirit at least eight metres tall was planted in front of the city of Evelyum as a giant tree.


    But at the same time, a huge wave of Mana spread out from the giant tree¡¯s vicinity. And unsurprisingly, the Mana wave even affected the two humans colliding against each other while using the auras of life and death as well.


    ¡°What in the world¡­?!¡±


    King Rahamma freaked out at the shockwave of Mana reaching him.


    -The land of death that no other kings in history managed to solve, it will soon feature hues of green so lush and blessed that no other lands can ever rival it! Yes, it shall turn into the chosen land instead!


    The words of the soothsayer from that day rang so clearly in Rahamma¡¯s mind ¨C followed soon after by the echoes of ¡®history¡¯s worst king, the foolish and arrogant king¡¯.


    He hurriedly cast his gaze below. Plant stems were travelling up his legs, trying to reach his torso.


    A chill ran down on his spine.


    If everything the soothsayer had said was correct, then he would be¡­


    Rahamma urgently shook off the plant stems. But when he turned his gaze back to his front¡­


    ¡°What the¡­?¡±


    The tree stems began wrapping around the body of the angel.


    Mana resonated in the surroundings as if to protect him.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t make any sense¡­!¡± Rahamma gritted his teeth before loudly shouting out at the hashashins, ¡°All of you! Sacrifice yourselves to me! I require all of your life ener¡­?!¡±


    Rahamma couldn¡¯t finish the rest of his sentence.


    The hashashins were all kneeling down to offer their prayers already. However, they weren¡¯t praying to him, but to the huge tree right next to Tina.


    They were demi-humans, after all. They were people of nature who worshipped the elemental spirits and swore to protect the world tree.


    Rahamma¡¯s expression crumpled unsightly.


    He turned his head once more and discovered that the tree stems had finished enveloping the angel¡¯s entire figure, and an incredible amount of Mana began writhing ominously.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    My fatigue was being washed away. Even the heavy pressure crushing down on me was dissipating. And then, this fragrant scent of grass cleansed and purified my murky consciousness.


    What¡¯s going on here¡­? Maybe recovery magic?


    It felt like a large chunk of the penalties when using Amon¡¯s relics had been taken off.


    While feeling really surprised by this development, I quickly turned my head to stare at Tina. There she was, resolutely holding a staff and standing in front of a huge, ancient-looking tree while lots of little spirits flew around her.


    -Uh? I did it!


    I remembered that she tried to summon holy undead back in Evelyum. But from the looks of things, what she managed to summon back then wasn¡¯t an undead, but a spirit instead.


    Holy cow, what an incredible power this was. So incredible that even I was rendered speechless. To think that it¡¯d be powerful enough to lessen the side effects of using Amon¡¯s relics.


    Not only that¡­


    -Do you want us to help? Ng? Should we?


    The little spirits were circling all around me. It felt like I was looking at a group of innocent children from the way they giggled away.


    I stared back at them and asked, ¡°Help me? How?¡±


    -Yup, we¡¯ll help you!


    The fire spirit with the appearance of a little kid bounced around energetically before stroking Amon¡¯s staff in my grip with both of its hands.


    Almost right away, intense flames enveloped the staff. The spirit of wind wrapped around my whole body while the spirits of both earth and water continued circling all around me.


    Were they granting me with elemental attributes?


    The spirits¡¯ powers permeated into my body as the equipment on me kept getting upgraded higher and higher. This seemed like a different type of enhancement ability when compared to [Divine Aura].


    ¡°How dare a measly little slave¡­!¡±


    I turned my head and stared at Rahamma.


    His face was filled with unchecked rage. To make matters worse, he wasn¡¯t even staring at me anymore, but shooting a murderous glare in Tina¡¯s direction.


    This as*hole was looking at his own daughter with a shocking level of hatred in his eyes.

 Chapter 150 - 081. Aslan’s Saviour -2 (Part Two)

    ¡°I¡¯m the king, yet you dare¡­!¡±


    His legs muscles bulged with pure strength in the next moment.


    ¡°¡­Make a mockery out of me?!¡±


    Rahamma, while lifting up his mace, exploded forward from his spot and flew straight towards Tina.


    To eliminate both her and the giant tree at the same time, he took an almighty swing with that large blunt weapon of his.


    ¡°Protect Tina.¡±


    I stomped my foot on the ground. The spirits of earth and water floating around me quickly dashed forward.


    The spirit of water created waves and pounced on Rahamma, and he got sucked into the crashing tides. At the same time, the ground shot up in front of Tina to create an earthen wall.


    However, Rahamma didn¡¯t stop. Despite being trapped in water as if he had fallen into a lake, he didn¡¯t stop moving. He even temporarily held his breath while swinging the mace in his hands.


    When the huge earthen wall was struck by the weapon, it exploded into bits. Even the water entrapping him blew apart and dissipated away.


    But that was already enough for me. The bastard¡¯s speed had dropped sufficiently by then.


    I strengthened my legs and dashed towards where Tina was. Because the spirit of wind had already boosted my speed, I arrived at where the destroyed earthen wall used to stand in the blink of an eye. I glared squarely into Rahamma¡¯s eyes.


    Tina and her large, surprised eyes were staring at me from behind.


    ¡°You bastard-!¡±


    Rahamma roared out, raised the mace, and slammed it down.


    I raised my staff in response and blocked his downward swing.


    One mace and one staff collided mid-air.


    At the same time, the flames wrapped around the staff erupted out. The mace permeating with demonic energy was instantly heated up as Rahamma¡¯s hands gripping the weapon got burnt pitch-black.


    ¡°Heuh-euph!¡±


    Rahamma somehow managed to withstand the intense pain despite the flames burning him.


    1


    However, I could tell that the state of his body wasn¡¯t normal. It seemed this bastard was gradually dying as this battle wore on.


    Without a sacrifice nearby, he would have to put up his own life force as the cost for his incredible power. The longer he kept pouring out such an incredible level of strength, the quicker he¡¯d reach his own demise.


    ¡°Stop him.¡±


    Two words from me were enough for the spirits to make their next moves. The spirit of earth grabbed Rahamma¡¯s legs and dragged him underground.


    The spirit of fire danced around the king¡¯s figure and began burning him with an even hotter flame.


    As for the spirit of wind, it turned the winds into sharp, invisible blades and started inflicting countless wounds on his body.


    In the meantime, the spirit of water wrapped around Rahamma¡¯s face and began cutting off his oxygen supply.


    Despite all of these, King Rahamma still didn¡¯t falter or retreat.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    He opened his mouth underwater and muttered something out. However, I couldn¡¯t hear what he wanted to say.


    Even then, I could kind of tell that he was going for the last hurrah here. All of his demonic energy began condensing and gathering on his mace.


    And from the surroundings, the aura of death violently and explosively gathered towards his weapon.


    This aura caused the grass near Rahamma¡¯s feet to wither into blackened colour and die instantly.


    His previously middle-aged face rapidly transformed into an old man, and his hair lost all colour and turned snow-white.


    Even his healthy-looking and rippling muscles withered away, leaving behind only his skin and bones.


    ¡°Ooh! Oooooooh!¡±


    Rahamma cried out a loud battle roar.


    Eventually, every single drop of demonic energy he possessed filled up his big mace.


    Well, there¡¯s his one last shot. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s itching to unleash that on me.


    I raised my staff in response.


    Honestly, I had been thinking that this would be the perfect time. The perfect time to test the performance of this staff, that was.


    ¡°Die along with everyone else!¡±


    Rahamma¡¯s muffled roar barely managed to escape from the watery prison around his head as he slammed down with his mace. At the same time, I too swung my staff.


    Our weapons collided once more.


    ¡°This is the end, you stupid king.¡±


    Unfortunately for him, all that stupendous demonic energy permeating in his mace simply dissipated in the blink of an eye.


    The thing I wanted to test out was ¡®skill nullification¡¯, the additional skill granted to Amon¡¯s staff after I upgraded it with Divine Aura. A skill that lets me nullify a single attack from my enemy, and featuring the cooldown time of one day.


    1


    Thanks to this skill¡¯s effect, I got to block Rahamma¡¯s final attack without putting up much of an effort.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    My staff dug into the mace that no longer boasted the might of all that demonic energy. The incredibly sturdy weapon began cracking apart like a fragile biscuit.


    The king of Aslan, Rahamma, stared at this spectacle with pure astonishment as if he couldn¡¯t believe it.


    He muttered out, ¡°I¡­ I am¡­!¡±


    My staff completely shattered his mace. And it went on to slam straight into Rahamma¡¯s unguarded head.


    BOOM-!


    My final attack crushed the face of Aslan¡¯s king.


    His cheeks burst open while his cheekbones and jaw all shattered before caving in. His neck cracked and bent in the wrong way before his whole body, now resembling an old man, spun like a ragdoll as he was sent flying away to a distance.


    1


    He rolled on the verdant field for a dozen or so metres before eventually coming to a stop in a collapsed heap.


    There was no sign of movement. Either he lost consciousness, or¡­


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡±


    I used the staff as a crutch. At the same time, the bone armour wrapped around me went away. I took off Amon¡¯s skull from my head and stored it away in my item window.


    My legs were wobbling unsteadily. Sure, the spirits did help me, but it seemed that even their aid was not enough to overcome the penalties of using the relics.


    When I plopped down on my butt, Tina hurriedly held me up from behind. ¡°A-are you feeling alright?¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡±


    While saying that, I sensed my eyelids getting heavier.


    Sleepiness was washing over me. My body was demanding some time off to recover from the consequence of fighting an intense battle.


    ¡°Hey, look after my body for a while, okay?¡±


    After saying that, I closed my eyes.


    I thought I could hear Tina whispering into my ear just then, ¡°You can leave it to me. And thank you for all your hard work.¡±


    While feeling relieved by her words, I fell into another bout of deep slumber.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Tina leaned her back against the trunk of the huge tree, all the while still holding onto Allen. She then shifted her gaze over to the unmoving figure of Rahamma.


    This would be their second meeting.


    That man used to be her father once upon a time, and also the king of a nation, yet now, he laid face down on the dirt as a frail-looking old man.


    The hashashins gathered around the fallen Rahamma. They stared at him before shaking their heads.


    And since Tina knew what that gesture meant, she held Allen even tighter than before. She raised her head and looked up at the tree behind her ¨C at the large tree that used to house the tree spirit.


    A ¡®clone¡¯ of the world tree had taken root in this land now. As long as this tree was here, this barren wasteland would surely be covered in the hues of green sooner or later.


    A powerful ray of hope had now appeared on this land of death.


    Just as Tina smiled brightly at this realisation¡­


    ¡°Tina, our father¡¯s army has arrived.¡±


    One of the hashashins addressed Tina in a flat voice. She flinched in surprise and hurriedly turned her head.


    Indeed, King Rahamma¡¯s main army was approaching from afar.


    The sounds of pulsing war drums resounded out. Skeletons, dullahans, and ghouls summoned by the Necromancers were standing orderly in formation. Aslan¡¯s forces, which consisted of elite warriors, were getting closer to her location, all the while the light in their eyes burned ominously.


    She could even spot the feudal lords commanding them as well.


    It really was Aslan¡¯s main army led by the feudal lords!


    All colour instantly drained out of Tina¡¯s complexion.


    ¡°Oh no! Tina, we need to run now! S-sir, you said you¡¯re the Imperial Prince, didn¡¯t you!? What should we do now? Sir?!¡±


    Hans yelled out while hugging his head.


    Despite his desperate questioning, Ruppel, who was standing next to him, didn¡¯t mutter out a single word.


    The Third Imperial Prince dazedly walked over to where Tina and the slumbering Allen were. He stood a little distance away and stared at his younger brother for a long while. The events he had witnessed so far made it exceptionally hard for his mind to process them all.


    A mangnani who assaulted women and got banished for blasphemy, had somehow summoned a whole legion filled with holy undead. He then fought one on one against Aslan¡¯s king Rahamma, only to emerge victorious at the end.


    This boy, he¡­ He was destined to become stronger than even Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse himself.


    Ruppel stared at Allen and felt some renewed strength seep into his clenched fist. Even though it was faint, he sensed ¡®hope¡¯ for the future now.


    ¡®Allen, if it¡¯s you, then maybe you can¡­¡¯


    ¡°Your highness! We need to escape now! Sir!¡±


    Hans¡¯s urgent cry snapped Ruppel back to his senses, and he quickly shifted his gaze over to Aslan¡¯s army.


    Those combatants were on a whole other level compared to the small fries Allen had fought off earlier. This was a highly trained and united army. Not only was Ruppel hopelessly inadequate to resist this force, he even got the feeling that he wouldn¡¯t be able to escape from them either.


    However¡­


    ¡°¡­Actually, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a need for us to escape.¡± Ruppel smiled wryly and shifted his gaze elsewhere. ¡°It seems that our reinforcement has finally arrived.¡±


    When he said that, Tina, Hans, and even the hashashins all turned their heads in the direction he was staring at.


    Rahamma¡¯s main army also stopped marching just then. The commanders leading the troops took in the beautiful greenery with their widened eyes.


    Unfortunately for them, this break in action had to be cut short.


    From the left side of their marching direction, another army was approaching them. The feudal lords discovered the second army and fear rapidly dyed their expressions.


    ¡°The Theocratic Empire¡­!¡±


    Boom¡­! Boom¡­! Boom¡­!


    The beating of the war drums resounded out while accompanied by a sacred-sounding hymn matching the rhythm reverberating throughout the sky.


    Numerous Priests held up their staves high as they sang the hymn aloud, while the Paladins, kitted out in heavy armour despite the crippling heat, were silently marching in a perfectly-ordered formation.


    The symbol of the Theocratic Empire, the golden cross, gleamed sharply under the light.


    Divinity began spreading to all surroundings and stoked the army¡¯s fighting spirit.


    A small number of Paladins wearing golden armour could be seen; the Order of the Golden Cross.


    The Heresy Inquisitors wearing crimson robes and bird-beak masks, the Order of the Crimson Cross.


    The pursuit specialists wearing green robes and balaclavas, the Order of the Verdant Cross.


    The Imperial Court¡¯s imperial guards wearing silver-coloured armour, the Paladin Corps.


    And then, the legion consisting of one thousand dedicated Paladins, the Heavenly Army.


    Besides them, the dwarven legion as well as the elite soldiers of the empire numbering well over ten thousand individuals¡­


    Finally, one man wearing a golden armour and commanding the Theocratic Empire¡¯s impressive army, the Sword King Oscal Baldur.


    Next to him was the head of the Order of the White Cross, Charlotte Heraiz, there to support him from the side.


    3


    They had entered the battlefield.


    < 081. Aslan¡¯s Saviour -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 151 - 082. Aslan’s Saviour -3 (Part One)

    **


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve entered a warzone.¡±


    An old man kitted out in brilliant golden armour grinned deeply.


    He turned his head to the side and asked the head of the Order of the White Cross, Charlotte Heraiz, ¡°How did you find the war so far, Charlotte?¡±


    ¡°It was horrible, my lord.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why I keep saying you¡¯re still insufficient. You see, this thing called the battlefield is¡­¡± Oscal Baldur unsheathed his sword, and while smirking away, finished the rest of his sentence. ¡°¡­Something to be enjoyed.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°You will feel yourself growing stronger as you break through one battlefield after another. You will never forget the ecstasy of those moments. And most importantly of all, only when you are carrying out the order of the Imperial Family do you truly sense the purpose of your life.¡± Oscal quietly closed his eyes. ¡°When you act according to his majesty¡¯s noble commands, the sense of rapture will wash over you.¡±


    He pulled at the reins of the horse he was riding on, the horse came to a stop. The impressive army of the Theocratic Empire also halted its march behind him.


    ¡°The great one¡¯s commands are the same as the oracle from the gods.¡±


    His words rang out within the suddenly-still battlefield.


    He narrowed his eyes and smiled wryly. ¡°The great one is the proxy who serves the gods. He is the holy emperor appointed by the gods themselves. As such, we the members of the clergy must absolutely obey his every command. However¡­¡±


    Oscal¡¯s wry smile was suddenly wiped away. Rage and hatred quickly replaced his previous expression as a choking murderous aura gushed out from his entire figure.


    ¡°¡­I failed to carry out the command his majesty had bestowed unto me.¡±


    Divinity began flooding out from his body. With his figure at the centre, the stormy winds of divinity whipped out.


    All of the Paladins and Priests paid attention to Oscal¡¯s next words.


    ¡°There cannot be another mistake. I shall faithfully carry out the commands issued by his majesty the Holy Emperor. If the enemy surrenders, then I shall accept it, but if they don¡¯t¡­ Only death awaits for them.¡±


    Oscal Baldur glared at the distant Aslan army. He clenched his teeth so hard that blood leaked out from the gums.


    He then raised his left hand, and at the same time, blares of the warhorns resounded out. The war drums¡¯ beats steadily matched the rhythm.


    Boom, boooom, boooom!


    That was the signal to urge the other side to surrender.


    However, the Aslan army didn¡¯t display any response whatsoever. That was their own way of declaring their intention to not surrender.


    The Holy Emperor did say this ¨C that all those who refused to surrender should receive the gift of death.


    ¡°Oh, the god of war Heim.¡±


    Divinity began rapidly gathering on Oscal¡¯s blade.


    ¡°Grant this servant the strength to punish the heretics.¡±


    He then raised his sword high up in the air to unleash a tidal wave of divinity from the blade.


    ¡°Raise the flags.¡±


    When he gave the order, the imperial army¡¯s flags went up simultaneously.


    ¡°Advance!¡±


    The sounds of the warhorns reverberated throughout the sky.


    The cavalry atop the horses gripped the reins tightly.


    The Paladins breathing out heavily under the helms in anticipation unsheathed their swords.


    The Priests wearing robes over their whole body raised their heads higher.


    ¡°Execute¡­ all the heretics!¡±


    Oscal held the reins in one hand, and swung the sword in the other.


    He and his ride broke into a sprint.


    Once their lead began sprinting forward, the cavalry also started dashing forward and grouped up around him.


    The ground beneath rumbled as the riders got into a wedge formation. As brilliant rays of light reflected off their gleaming armours, the Paladins and Priests all roared out in unison.


    ¡°It¡¯s the sword king! Oscal Baldur!¡±


    ¡°Bloody hell! All of you, follow me!¡±


    By then, the feudal lords had also finished preparing for the battle. Aslan¡¯s own mounted troops gathered around the lords to move out.


    ¡°For the glory of Aslan!¡±


    The feudal lords whipped their horses and rushed forward and the mounted troops followed them close by. Awakened demonic energy oozed out from them.


    ¡°Oooooohhhh-!¡±


    Two opposing camps of cavalry rushed towards each other with infantrymen following them from behind.


    There were no such things as tactics or strategies. The only thought ruling their minds as their bloodshot eyes locked onto their enemies was to ¡®slaughter¡¯ the opposing side.


    Divinity continued gushing out from Oscal¡¯s sword as he tugged at the horse¡¯s reins. His ride leapt up in the air.


    ¡°For the great Theocratic Empire-!¡±


    Waves of divinity exploded out from his whole figure.


    ¡°For the empire-!¡±


    ¡°We shall slay the heretics-!¡±


    Powerful rays of light also burst out from the Paladins¡¯ figures. Unstoppable rays of divinity spread out in all directions.


    The soldiers of Aslan had to close their eyes at that searing light. Their sight was blinded by the brilliant glare coming from the Paladins while their ears were deafened by the madness-infused roars of their enemies.


    A thick smile floated up on Oscal¡¯s lips as he began swinging his sword.


    **


    ¡°Is it over?¡±


    A man, whose whole body seemed to be in tatters, was standing tall on top of the city¡¯s outer wall.


    Bloodstains were dirtying his head while the traveller¡¯s robe on his body was torn in various spots. In his hand was the severed head of a feudal lord he¡¯d been bitterly fighting earlier on.


    The Crown Imperial Prince, White Olfolse, stared at the distant battlefield with a pair of very wide eyes.


    The Paladins bursting out in splendid light were battling the Aslan army. Every time Oscal the sword king took a swipe with his sword, the ground before him exploded and dozens upon dozens of Aslan soldiers were flung into the air.


    The Aslan feudal lords tried everything to stop him, but unfortunately for them, the captains and vice captains of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s five main forces had entered the fray by then. They gradually pushed the Aslan generals on the back foot.


    From the get-go, this couldn¡¯t even be called a battle.


    The Theocratic Empire boasted individuals with overwhelming strength. On top of that, they also held the numerical advantage of such powerful beings as well. It was already inevitable that the Aslan army would suffer a comprehensive defeat before long.


    ¡°Eeeiya~, that¡¯s pretty amazing, alright. Vice captain Sir Oscal still seems to be quite sprightly even now. I mean, he¡¯s over one hundred years old, yet he¡¯s still so full of energy, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    Something must¡¯ve happened to the old man because he seemed to be acting crazier than usual. Despite the distance, White thought he could hear Oscal¡¯s hearty laughter even from where he was standing.


    ¡°Besides all that¡­¡±


    White shifted his gaze.


    His eyes landed on the Seventh Imperial Prince, who was slumbering along in the care of a Dark Elf girl below the huge, expansive tree. He looked on at his youngest son while a complicated set of emotions danced in his mind, before shifting his gaze away once more.


    King Rahamma remained collapsed and unmoving on the verdant field. His hair had turned completely white while his body now resembled a wrinkled and skinny old man. Plant stems were coiled all around him.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince had defeated the one and only King Rahamma.


    ¡°¡­Never mind eleven, it feels like it¡¯s been two decades since I left home.¡±


    The boy was only seventeen years old this year. The Seventh Imperial Prince had only barely stepped into adulthood, yet not only did he survive fighting against Rahamma, he even managed to pull off a remarkable victory in the end, too.


    This had to be a miracle of all miracles.


    No, hang on ¨C this was neither a miracle nor was it luck at play. Allen worked hard to become stronger, and he defeated Rahamma using his own strength.


    1


    As proof, take a look at how he utilised a bizarre power to raid and overtake this city¡¯s fortress.


    ¡®Still, no matter how fast one¡¯s growth is, this is already on the level of a monster. Even more so than my father, who¡¯s been often called the strongest Holy Emperor in history.¡¯


    Could the boy have received the grace of the gods?


    A troubled expression floated up on White¡¯s face. ¡°Hang on. Now that I think about it, didn¡¯t the rumour say that the Theocratic Empire developed a way to distinguish Vampires from normal people?¡±


    For the past several thousands of years, there was no way to spot a Vampire. But for a method to do exactly that simply appeared out of nowhere¡­? In all honesty, that sounded pretty similar to the advent of the Saint or Saintess.


    Could it be that Allen was actually a Saint?


    If that was true, then White needed Allen¡¯s assistance.


    1


    The Crown Imperial Prince looked at his son and wryly smiled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Allen. Rather than helping you, it seems that I¡¯ll be needing your help soon, instead.¡±


    White definitely needed Allen¡¯s powers if he wanted to end his eleven-years-long quest to locate his ¡®son¡¯.


    3


    **


    The stench of blood wafted in the air.


    The knot tying her silver hair came undone, freeing up her hair strands to dance in the air. And as if to match the flickering light reflected off from her hair, the pure-white blade fleeted and danced alongside as well.


    Blood sprayed all over the place every time the blade flashed past.


    Aslan¡¯s soldiers sucked in their breaths.


    They saw a figure of a maiden riding on a white horse. A young girl with silver hair, kitted out in white armour while holding a white sword.


    When the Aslan soldiers looked into her sharp, blood-coloured eyes, they all sensed fear while being moved by her beauty at the same time.


    They looked at her and declared thus.


    ¡°It¡¯s the White Reaper!¡±


    Charlotte attacked with her sword.


    The blade permeating in divinity¡¯s aura slaughtered Aslan¡¯s soldiers without mercy.


    She pulled on the horse¡¯s reins, and the reared hooves ruthlessly trampled on the soldiers below.


    Her horse was called the ¡®Unira¡¯, a species of legendary warhorse that was apparently descended from the mythic creature, ¡®Unicorn¡¯.


    The white horse possessing seemingly-endless stamina and overwhelming physical strength viciously neighed and galloped forward, crushing all enemy soldiers caught in its path.


    Aslan¡¯s soldiers wielded their swords and thrust forward with their spears.


    ¡°Oh, the goddess of life, Gaia.¡±


    When she offered a prayer, divinity flooded her divine sword. As her crimson eyes glared at the enemy soldiers, she took a powerful swing.


    She couldn¡¯t even detect the sensation of cutting another human being down. Her sharp divine sword one-sidedly massacred the hapless soldiers.


    Blood splattered onto her face.


    ¡°Dammit, let¡¯s head to Evelyum!¡±


    ¡°We need to go to the city!¡±


    ¡°We have to join up with the soldiers inside the city!¡±


    A portion of the Aslan army, a section of its mounted troops, broke off from the formation and began dashing towards Evelyum¡¯s city gate with the giant tree standing in front of it.


    ¡°It¡¯s the hashashins!¡±


    ¡°We must join up with them.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, what are¡­ those? Who are those people?¡±


    The main Aslan army, still oblivious to the events that had transpired in the battlefield, could only feel confused by what they saw.


    Charlotte heard their puzzled voice and turned her head to look as well. Her view faintly opened up for the brief moment within the countless moving bodies.


    And that¡¯s when she got to see several people near the gigantic tree.


    She saw a young Dark Elf girl and a slumbering boy held within that girl¡¯s arms.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    Charlotte sucked in her breath.


    There it was, the familiar face.


    The person she so longed to see. Her benefactor and the saviour of her life. The Imperial Family¡¯s Seventh Prince, the one she had been trying to find for so long while wandering through the various battlefields.


    Allen Olfolse. He was right over there.


    (TL: Another chapter will be released in GMT 15:00 PM.)


    1

 Chapter 152 - 082. Aslan’s Saviour -3 (Part Two)

    Charlotte gritted her teeth.


    Her grip on the divine sword strengthened even further.


    ¡°S-stop that Paladin!¡±


    ¡°Block the White Reaper!¡±


    Aslan¡¯s soldiers rushed in from all sides to surround her, trying to stop her from advancing forward. From the regular infantrymen to cavalry, and even Necromancers, they all doggedly pounced on her.


    Swords and spears came flying in her direction. Their eyes burned in madness as thick bloodlust flooded out from them.


    Towards the incoming Aslan warriors, Charlotte had only one thing to say.


    ¡°Get out of my way.¡±


    Along with her icy voice, a powerful storm of divinity gushed out from her figure. White aura swirled violently on the sword gripped tightly in her hand.


    She roused up even more divinity, and her ride, the white horse Unira, responded to the divine energy.


    A massive explosion suddenly went off. The explosion of divinity flung away countless Aslan soldiers.


    Blood from the severed limbs and torsos of the Aslan¡¯s once-mighty warriors scattered in all directions.


    The Paladins and Aslan warriors who were engaged in battles throughout the battlefield all flinched nastily and turned their heads.


    As if to prove that she indeed was the White Reaper, death and destruction were spreading all around her. Countless enemy soldiers fell away after their bodies were cut and sliced apart.


    Harman, who was also participating in the war, could clearly see her current state.


    He groaned loudly. ¡°Bloody hell!¡±


    Charlotte had lost her rationale once more and started yet another rampage. And that caused the focus of the opposing army to fall on her.


    Many countless enemies pounced on her position in the next moment.


    Whenever something like this happened in the previous battles, she¡¯d charge recklessly into the battlefield with her Unira horse.


    ¡°Lord Harman!¡±


    A Paladin called out to Harman and the latter nodded his head. ¡°Paladins, on me! We must protect the head of the White Cross!¡±


    His loud call prompted Paladins to quickly gather around him. They urgently scythed through the ranks of Aslan soldiers and headed to where Charlotte was.


    Meanwhile, swords and spears continued flying in her way.


    Her cheek was cut open, and a spear stabbed into the Unira below her.


    Even then, she didn¡¯t hesitate for a second.


    ¡°I said¡­! Get out of my way!¡±


    Her roar contained Spirit Speech.


    She forced her way through an encirclement of dozens, nay, hundreds of enemy soldiers.


    She clenched her teeth. Various nicks and damages gradually accumulated on the white armour bestowed unto her by the Imperial Court, and eventually, an enemy¡¯s strike caused it to break apart.


    Blood trickled down from her wounds. However, she still continued to cut down the Aslan army little by little before finally breaking free from the encirclement, and she resumed her sprint forward.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    The once-proud warriors of Aslan began stumbling back from fear. The fear of this White Reaper caused them to avoid her at all cost.


    Now that the path had opened up, she could push her horse to run at its fastest speed. She pursued after the Aslan cavalry headed to the city¡¯s outer gate.


    When Charlotte injected divinity to the Unira, the horse¡¯s hooves pounded on the ground even faster than before.


    The creature heeding its master¡¯s command dashed powerfully towards their destination.


    ¡°It, it¡¯s the White Reaper!¡±


    The complexions of Aslan¡¯s mounted troops paled in an instant. They were supposed to be seasoned warriors, yet even to them, the White Reaper was an existence that evoked pure fear.


    That display of her martial prowess earlier on couldn¡¯t have belonged to a mere human, that¡¯s why!


    ¡°Dammit, uwaaaahk!¡±


    The cavalrymen realised that escaping from her was now impossible, so they yanked on the reins to turn their mounts around to face the incoming Charlotte Heraiz.


    They urgently attacked with their lances. However, she simply deflected and evaded the outpouring attacks, and began killing the Aslan cavalry one by one.


    ¡°Dammit, dammit, dammiiiiit! Hashashins! What are you all doing?! Kill the White Reaper now! She¡¯s a bloody monster!¡±


    One of the Aslan cavalry members finally reached the vicinity of the giant tree, he loudly yelled out. But the hashashins didn¡¯t display any signs of heeding his call.


    No, they just glanced at him indifferently before shifting their gazes behind him.


    The mounted soldier felt an ominous chill on his skin when the demi-human hashashins looked past him like that. It was at that moment he heard the familiar sounds of hooves and a presence of another person from behind him.


    Just before he could turn around to look, his head went flying from his neck. The lifeless body rolled off the horse and collapsed on the ground.


    After defeating the last of the cavalry, the female knight in white armour pulled on the reins to slow her mount down.


    While breathing heavily, she turned her head and took in the sight of a boy slumbering away under the shade of the giant tree.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    A soft sigh escaped from her lips.


    She slowly dismounted from the horse and began walking towards him.


    The hashashins tried to block her advance, but Tina quickly called out to them, ¡°Please, let her be.¡±


    The demi-humans stepped aside and distanced themselves from Charlotte at those words.


    Tina observed the human girl with silver hair.


    From the top of her hair to the bottom of her white armour, her whole body was drenched in the crimson hue of blood. All sorts of injuries marked her figure.


    Yet, she still strode forward without wavering or faltering once.


    Charlotte felt the heavy knots crushing down on her heart come undone with every step taken. Although her body felt as heavy as a soaked sponge, her mind was progressively getting lighter.


    She glanced at the Dark Elf hugging the boy. The pointy-eared child seemed to be protecting the Imperial Prince.


    Charlotte had absolutely no doubt in her mind that his highness had been protecting this child. And that¡¯s why she was also doing her best to protect him in return, as well.


    Charlotte shifted her gaze back to the boy. The aura of divinity coming from him was faint and his face was full of little wounds.


    He must¡¯ve forced himself to use too much divinity again. To protect someone else, he probably had to utilise the power he couldn¡¯t quite deal with just yet again.


    Just like how he had saved Charlotte, he must¡¯ve saved someone else this time as well.


    She stood before the slumbering boy. His eyes were closed peacefully in a deep sleep. This happened always; he would wreck himself to protect the others, and then fall into a deep slumber for a long while.


    3


    It happened in the past, and the same thing would happen again in the future. And she swore that she¡¯d be beside him whenever such a thing occurred. That¡¯s why she persevered so much. That¡¯s why she gained this much strength in the first place.


    However, why did it feel like she failed to uphold her own oath every single time?


    This insidious murmur in her mind threatened to blight her heart once more.


    Charlotte¡¯s previously ice-like expression finally crumbled down. She knelt down before the slumbering boy as she raised her voice, ¡°The head of the marquis house of Heraiz, and the captain of the Order of the White Cross¡­¡±


    She bowed her head deeply.


    ¡°The first Paladin of your highness, the Seventh Imperial Prince¡­¡±


    Her voice trembled. Wanting to hide her emotions somehow, she deliberately raised her voice even louder.


    ¡°Charlotte Heraiz, greets your highness, Allen Olfolse!¡±


    Her loud shout echoed in the surroundings. It was her last-ditch attempt to disguise her voice wavering in a flood of emotions.


    Harman arrived belatedly and witnessed this scene from behind. He stood there in silence for a little while before spotting the Seventh Imperial Prince, then began walking over to the boy¡¯s location. His subordinate Paladins followed after him.


    Once they got near the sleeping boy, they all knelt down in unison before bowing their heads.


    Paladins also loudly shouted out their greetings that adhered to the established decorum. They thought that this was the only way to hide a young girl¡¯s quiet sobbing.


    Charlotte cautiously reached out, and gently held the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s hand.


    It was now time for him to return.


    To his home back in the Theocratic Empire.


    **


    ¡°He¡­ he really was the Imperial Prince.¡±


    Hans stood there watching while his slack jaw nearly dropped to the ground.


    Ruppel standing next to him sighed in relief, knowing that he¡¯s finally safe.


    1


    Now that the Paladins were here, he should be able to return to the Theocratic Empire in one piece as well.


    He muttered out softly, ¡°Fuu-woo, how fortunate we are. We managed to survive this ordeal somehow.¡±


    2


    While feeling greatly relieved, he approached the Paladins paying their respects to the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    There was no need for him to cower anymore. After all, the dependable back-up that would support him had gathered here. Plus, it seemed that the Theocratic Empire was enjoying an overwhelming superiority on the battlefield as well.


    The only thing remaining was to return home. He¡¯d get to live in comfort once more after regaining his status as the Imperial Prince.


    Ruppel strutted towards the Paladins and raised his voice, ¡°Vice captain of the Paladin Corps, Harman! What good timing this is. Start escorting me immediately. And also¡­¡±


    It was then, Charlotte abruptly raised her head and spoke up, ¡°Sir Harman.¡±


    Ruppel flinched in surprise and stared at her.


    He felt unhappy at the fact that she dared to cut off an Imperial Prince trying to say something. Just as he was about to rebuke her for it, he belatedly realised the nuance in her words seemed odd.


    Did she talk down to the vice captain of the Paladin Corps just now?


    Because Ruppel knew the faces of every captain in charge of the empire¡¯s five main forces, he couldn¡¯t help but be puzzled by this event.


    Harman was surprised by it as well. He turned his head and stared at Charlotte. That¡¯s because she had never addressed him without polite speech until now.


    Since her back was turned towards him, he couldn¡¯t quite see her expression, but the dense killing aura oozing out from her spoke plenty enough for her current emotions.


    She was enraged.


    ¡°The instigator of this entire event¡­¡±


    Her tone of voice implied that she was suppressing her emotions.


    A voice as cold as snowy winter slowly reverberated throughout the surroundings.


    ¡°¡­Sir Harman, you shall now apprehend the traitor, Ruppel Olfolse.¡±


    Harman shot up from his kneeling position. He realised that although Charlotte was suppressing her emotion as much as possible, he must act right now if he wanted to prevent the summary execution of Ruppel Olfolse, who was suspected of being the mastermind behind this entire event.


    ¡°H-hold on! What are you even¡­ A traitor?! I am¡­!¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s complexion paled in an instant.


    ¡°I shall obey.¡±


    Harman unsheathed his sword and placed the blade right next to Ruppel¡¯s throat. The Third Imperial Prince¡¯s expression hardened like a rock.


    Harman stared at him and declared loudly, ¡°Ruppel Olfolse, from this moment henceforth, you shall be judged not as an Imperial Prince, but as a traitor to the empire. It¡¯ll be the same for the currently missing Second Crown Princess Consort, Rose Darina. You are¡­¡±


    The Paladin took in a deep breath before continuing on.


    ¡°¡­Now under arrest for the suspicion of high treason.¡±


    < 082. Aslan¡¯s Saviour -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: Sorry about the slight delay.)

 Chapter 153 - 83. Ruppel Olfolse -1 (Part One)

    **


    One month had passed by since King Rahamma¡¯s death.


    Imposing drum beats resounded out, and the marching band performed their piece to the matching rhythm of the booming noises.


    All of Aslan¡¯s subjects flooded out to the streets and knelt towards the royal palace before prostrating on the ground.


    Meanwhile, the members of the Aslan aristocracy were rushing to enter the palace, fearing that they might not get there in time. While on their way, they took in the sight of the kingdom¡¯s capital city.


    They spotted Paladins stationed in between the buildings, as well as in all the avenues, streets, and even on some rooftops.


    In front of them were Aslan soldiers, now unarmed, kneeling on the ground while putting their hands on their heads. Some were even crouching completely to the ground too.


    The Aslan nobles could only shed thick, cold sweat drops and shudder in fear. They still hadn¡¯t gotten used to the massive upheaval that was currently taking place in their own kingdom.


    Soon, the nobles lined up on either side of the palace¡¯s royal audience chamber.


    ¡°Just what is going on? Are we announcing our intent to surrender? And a coronation at the same time as well? Since I was in the frontier region until recently, I have no idea what had transpired during my absence.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Just take a look around you. This is supposed to be our capital city, yet to think that the Paladins have occupied it¡­!¡±


    ¡°His majesty, King Rahamma, has fallen in the battlefield. And the one who will succeed the throne, is¡­¡±


    The nobles who were chatting to each other hurriedly clamped their mouths shut. That¡¯s because they could hear heavy, rhythmic footsteps resounding out from the outside the chamber.


    Soon, the Paladins kitted out in white armour strode inside in an orderly formation, before standing on the left and right sides of the carpeted path.


    They placed their hands on the hilts of their swords and waited. Their silent yet imposing dignity caused the Aslan nobles to shrink back.


    Despite this place being Aslan¡¯s royal audience chamber, not a single one of the kingdom¡¯s soldiers were present. Even though this was an illogical situation in any other normal circumstances, no one here dared to bring up the strangeness of it all.


    Unfortunately for them, they had no choice in the matter.


    Because they were the ¡®defeated¡¯. The victors were the rulers, and they enjoyed the right to decide everything.


    And the one to represent this stark fact was¡­


    A Paladin made a loud pronouncement, ¡°The great and noble Seventh Imperial Prince from the Theocratic Empire¡­!¡±


    The other Paladins shot probing glares at the Aslan nobles from underneath their helms. Divinity gushed out from them as they started pressuring the nobles, forcing them to kneel down and bow their heads.


    ¡°The one possessing the noble status of the Saint, his highness Allen Olfolse, has graced us with his presence!¡±


    The Seventh Prince of the Imperial Family brazenly strode into the enemy kingdom¡¯s royal palace. And not just any regular part of the castle either, but the king¡¯s royal audience chamber no less.


    He walked forward while his cape flapped grandly in the air, with two Paladins acting as his guards. One was a young girl, while the other was a middle-aged man.


    The Aslan nobles sensed a dignified aura oozing from the prince with every step he took. Despite being a boy in his teens, the charisma they could feel coming off of him possessed this mythical quality, making them swallow back their humiliation and bow their heads deeply.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince walked over and settled down on the king¡¯s throne at the back of the audience chamber.


    The nobles stared at the prince, and as more cold sweat trickled down their faces, another person made her entrance to the audience chamber.


    ¡°Her majesty, Tina Aslan, is now gracing us with her presence!¡±


    A young girl entered the audience chamber filled up with this persistent heavy atmosphere. She was none other than Tina Aslan, currently wearing a beautiful robe befitting a princess. The hashashins were following right behind her.


    The nobles and remaining surviving feudal lords on the sides of the audience chamber sent her less-than-welcoming glares.


    This occasion was supposed to be a coronation, as well as to declare the kingdom¡¯s defeat and subordination to the empire.


    But because Aslan¡¯s culture was heavily male-centric, these nobles naturally felt dissatisfied by the fact that a mere girl, and also a Dark Elf that would be nothing more than a slave in any other times, had managed to succeed the throne.


    However, they couldn¡¯t disobey this decision.


    The one who chose her as the new ¡®king¡¯ was the Theocratic Empire¡¯s Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, after all.


    The reason for her selection was simple enough; King Rahamma¡¯s entire family was charged with the crime of starting the war and got purged without mercy.


    The only blood relations of the previous king to survive the cull were the demi-humans, those designated as tools of battle.


    They were all treated as weapons, and even worse, as slaves despite being Rahamma¡¯s children. Which was why the holy emperor thought that if such a demi-human climbed to the throne, ruling over Aslan would be a far more ¡®efficient¡¯ process overall.


    With a demi-human as a king ¨C or a queen in this case ¨C the royalty¡¯s authority would fall compared to before. The royal faction and the feudal lords would soon enter the relationship of keeping each other in balance for the sake of their own benefits.


    And since Tina Aslan was receiving the grace of the Seventh Imperial Prince, she was like the ¡®pawn¡¯ of the Theocratic Empire. The Aslan feudal lords were well aware of this fact and even tried raising their voices of objections, but then¡­


    -Is there a reason why a child inheriting the king¡¯s blood can¡¯t ascend to the throne? If you¡¯re unhappy about something, do speak up. I promise to listen to all of your opinions.


    This one ¡®considerate¡¯ allowance from Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse was enough to shut the mouths of the Aslan feudal lords.


    Left with no choice, they decided to look forward to the future instead.


    As long as a Dark Elf sat on the throne as their sovereign, they should be able to pressure her into becoming their puppets. But if she proved to be too headstrong, then they should also be able to replace her with someone else without much difficulty. That¡¯s what they told themselves.


    At the very least, she should be easier to manipulate than the symbol of fear itself, Rahamma.


    ¡°But this¡­ this is a subordination contract, isn¡¯t it?!¡±


    ¡°Is our Aslan about to become a slave state¡­?¡±


    ¡°A princess who sold her own country away? How can this be allowed to happen?!¡±


    The nobles were shuddering away in indignation.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince who had been silently observing them smiled wryly. The culprit responsible for the current state of this kingdom was actually Rahamma.


    The only reason why the reparation demands extended only this far was all thanks to Tina and her connection to the Seventh Imperial Prince. If not, the holy emperor¡¯s rage would¡¯ve scorched all of Aslan¡¯s nobles to death by now.


    Tina continued to walk forward. She saw the Imperial Prince sitting on the throne and gently smiled.


    After kneeling down, she bowed her head. ¡°The inheritor of Aslan¡¯s throne, Tina Aslan, offers her greeting to the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, his highness Allen Olfolse.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t just a simple greeting. No, she was paying respect as a servant for the second time in many months.


    This greeting might be meant for the Imperial Prince, but at the same time, also a prayer made towards her Lord Angel.


    The prince could only sigh under his breath while observing her.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    Why oh why do I even have to sit here?


    Now normally, either Ruppel or father should be doing this, but¡­


    Ruppel was arrested for the suspicion of treason, while that deadbeat father of mine was also locked away for abandoning the position of the holy emperor and merrily gallivanting around the continent.


    Thanks to their indiscretions, I now had to do what they were supposed to be doing in the first place.


    Aaah, my lamentable life.


    Oh, dear Gaia! I don¡¯t care even if it¡¯s only a few days, so can¡¯t you, like, grant this poor lamb a much-deserved break to rest his weary soul?!


    I prayed so fervently in my heart but I already knew that the dear goddess wouldn¡¯t listen to my voice.


    Charlotte, who was standing to my left, whispered in my ear, ¡°Your highness, you must proceed.¡±


    ¡°Even if you say that, I don¡¯t know where to even begin.¡±


    ¡°All you have to do is to read out aloud the documents, your highness.¡±


    This time, it was Harman on my right side whispering to me.


    I stared at the document and began reading its contents aloud. It contained the Theocratic Empire¡¯s demands.


    One, to send a certain amount of tributes every year. Two, release all of the empire¡¯s citizens captured as slaves until now. Three, hand over the rights to mine a portion of all of Aslan¡¯s natural resources. Four, hand over the rights to command the Aslan army to the Imperial Family for a period of time, and then¡­


    ¡­Huh, all of them were pretty one-sided, weren¡¯t they? But then again, stuff like this shouldn¡¯t come as a surprise to the vanquished nation.


    Since Tina ascended to the throne only just now, she¡¯d be blamed for this slavery-like contract. The nobles would badmouth her and even try to rebel against her rule.


    A pretty long and arduous road lay before her, but I felt confident that she¡¯d be able to rule them well.


    That¡¯s because¡­


    -Oh my goodness! The trees, the trees are growing!


    -Is¡­ is nature finally returning to Aslan?!


    -We may be able to plant and grow something at last! Oh, thank you! Thank you, your highness the princess!


    ¡­Thanks to her, mother nature began returning to Aslan¡¯s withered lands, that¡¯s why.


    The kingdom¡¯s subjects supported her.


    In a kingdom where procuring even a single drop of water used to present a great challenge, rivers had begun flowing and even lakes appeared.


    People who had to eke out a living through mineral ores and slave trade were finally blessed with lands they could actually cultivate.


    Something their previous King Rahamma failed to achieve, she had made it possible.


    Even if the nobles baulked at the idea of her rule, Aslan still needed to pay tribute every year, so they needed her power to create verdant fields.


    And over time, they would end up more and more reliant on her.


    ¡°And so, I declare the enthronement ceremony and the acceptance of the subordination contract, complete.¡±


    I loudly proclaimed the successful end to the proceedings. Fatigue had already taken a hold of me and I was rubbing my temples hard.


    Charlotte quietly whispered in my ear again. ¡°Thank you for your hard work.¡±


    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s you who had to work hard. Anyways, should we get out of here?¡± I responded while standing up. ¡°It¡¯s time to go home.¡±


    She smiled faintly at my suggestion.

 Chapter 154 - 083. Ruppel Olfolse -1 (Part Two)

    **


    I stepped outside the audience chamber.


    Tina remained inside to make her speech to the Aslan nobles. Although I wanted to stay and listen till the end, my body was still too exhausted to continue. The side effects from using Amon¡¯s relics still lingered and I needed to take a good rest first.


    While walking on the palace¡¯s corridors, I glanced outside one of the windows. ¡°Wow, so she really had that thing moved all the way out here.¡±


    1


    The giant tree left behind by Yggdrasil, the world tree, was now visible in the palace¡¯s garden.


    The tree with lush green colour continued radiating dense Mana everywhere as it brought nature back to life.


    [The World Tree¡¯s Branch.


    Ability: a small part of the world tree that will become another world tree permeating with great nature once it fully matures. When summoning the spirits of nature, or even the tree spirit itself, it will grant a 50% Mana amplification bonus to Shamans. It will also help with maintaining the amplified Mana.]


    Now that¡¯s some amazing ability.


    Just one tree alone was enough to turn this withered terrain into wide-open fertile fields of green. If my grandpa, the holy emperor saw that, he might have drooled all over it.


    What a relief it was that he hadn¡¯t issued the order to bring the tree to the empire at any cost.


    ¡°But then again, no one else besides Tina can look after that tree anyways.¡±


    From what I heard, only the chosen High Elf was allowed to tend to the world tree. Although, in the current situation, it¡¯d be Tina the Dark Elf instead.


    3


    I resumed my strolling. My new destination was the palace¡¯s VIP chamber, which was currently under heavy guard.


    Paladins were stationed in long lines along the corridor leading up to the chamber. When Charlotte and I walked past, they all saluted back at us.


    We reached the VIP chamber¡¯s door and Oscal the sword king, currently stationed there, bowed and greeted me, ¡°How is your body feeling, your highness?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not bad, thanks to you. Before all that, where is my brother and father?¡±


    1


    ¡°They are both inside, your highness.¡±


    ¡°I wish to converse with them for a little while.¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course.¡±


    Oscal smiled rather smoothly and opened the door. The figures of two men could be seen inside.


    One of them was lying on bed, presumably asleep with the sheets pulled up over his head. He must be having a nightmare judging from how he was writhing around like that.


    ¡­Ruppel Olfolse, the Third Imperial Prince, was currently under arrest for the suspicion of high treason.


    I shifted my gaze elsewhere.


    ¡°Ohh! You¡¯re here, son? I¡¯m telling you, traditional Aslan cuisine is really great! Sure, it¡¯s a bit of a hostile place to live in, but there¡¯s a good reason why this kingdom is a famous tourist attraction.¡±


    The other dude was busy biting and ripping a chunk off the back leg of a large roasted pig.


    Who else could he be other than White Olfolse? The one and only Crown Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire.


    Now normally, it wouldn¡¯t be so strange to find these two locked up in prison cells, but they were being treated quite well all thanks to me lodging a request to the holy emperor earlier.


    I had plenty of questions to ask these two, after all.


    For Ruppel, it would be questions relating to his reason for the ¡®rebellion¡¯.


    As for White, his whereabouts for the past eleven years or so.


    I took a seat in front of White by the dining table.


    ¡°There you go, son. Try this meat. It¡¯s really good I tell ya!¡±


    I was completely dismayed from how he was snickering away without a care in the world. This guy, just where had he been all this time, busy abandoning his children and the Crown Princess Consorts?!


    Where was he when the Vampires infiltrated the imperial court and defiled it? Where was he when the First Crown Princess Consort was murdered? This idiot wasn¡¯t where he was supposed to be.


    White would no doubt be made to shoulder the responsibilities of his actions.


    I cleanly ignored the roasted meat he pushed towards me and addressed him curtly, ¡°Where have you been until now?¡±


    ¡°Mm? Ah, that. I¡¯ve been here and there. Lome kingdom, Aihrance, and also¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you telling me that you¡¯ve been on a journey?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    He nodded oh-so matter-of-factly.


    How could I not get pissed off from that irresponsible answer?


    To begin with, this guy left behind way too much crap for others to deal with. And I had been mopping up a sizeable portion of that.


    I couldn¡¯t hold back anymore. But before I got to yanking out a musket and firing a bullet on his sorry ass¡­


    ¡°¡­I was actually trying to find your older brother, you see.¡±


    Wha? My older brother?


    Since he had been searching for the past eleven years, he obviously didn¡¯t mean either Ruppel or me.


    I deeply pondered what he could be talking about here. Other than Luan, Ruppel, and Hilda, I hadn¡¯t really had run-ins with my other siblings until now.


    The thing was, though, I also hadn¡¯t heard that one of my siblings was currently missing, either.


    ¡°¡­Who are you searching for, then?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for Ruppel. But I had no luck so far. Which means I now have no choice but to ask the Imperial Family for assistance. It seems that searching for that kid all by myself was too much of an undertaking in the end.¡±


    2


    I ended up frowning deeply.


    He wasn¡¯t making much sense here. Searching for Ruppel? For the past eleven years, no less? Just what on earth was he even talking about?


    I glanced at Ruppel currently sleeping on the bed next to ours.


    White noticed that and formed one of those ¡®Oops¡¯ expressions. He smiled awkwardly next.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you have no idea what I¡¯m talking about here. The truth had to be kept under wraps until now, after all. But well, I can no longer keep it a secret since I need your help.¡± He stared at me before continuing on, ¡°The one I¡¯m looking for isn¡¯t the Third Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse. Actually, it¡¯s¡­¡±


    His expression abruptly changed. He became gravely serious while finishing the rest of his sentence.


    ¡°¡­The Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse.¡±


    My own expression hardened at this revelation.


    When he said the Second Imperial Prince, could he mean¡­


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve been searching for the Third Imperial Prince¡¯s older brother.¡±


    He was talking about the still-born baby of the Second Crown Princess Consort, Rose Darina.


    **


    Inside a dark cave somewhere.


    Sticky and humid air seemed to resonate in the surroundings.


    Glass-like flasks well over one metre in length were each filled with a viscous liquid of some kind. Their contents were ¡®human children¡¯.


    A white-haired old man with an unkempt beard, and wearing a leather outfit that seemed to wrap around him too tightly, was madly scribbling and drawing something on the ground.


    However, he was not human. Not only was he nearly three metres in height, his back was also bent monstrously to resemble a hunchback.


    His whole body was filled with stitched-up wounds and other assortments of bizarre tumour-like growths.


    This creature was both an Alchemist and a Progenitor Vampire. A creature that was granted the peerage of ¡®Count¡¯ from the Vampire King was busy cracking and loosening its neck muscles.


    His name was Timong, and he was using a magic crystal to maniacally draw a bunch of rune letters on the ground.


    ¡°Woo-euph-!¡±


    In the middle of the magic circle was a bound and gagged clergyman, currently crying out through the rag covering his mouth. Blood trickled down from his whole body and began seeping into the rune letters.


    Count Timong stared at this sight and cried out in elation, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s finally complete!¡±


    He burst out in a hoarse cackle clearly belonging to a madman, then greedily rubbed his hands covered in leather gloves. Next up, he gathered demonic energy on his hands and directed it towards the rune letters.


    All colour drained out from the complexion of the bound clergyman as he cried out in terror, ¡°Euph-euph?! Wuu-wwwueuph-!¡±


    Demonic energy emanated from the magic circle, and at the same time, divinity gushed out from the clergyman¡¯s figure.


    Count Timong¡¯s eyes shot open wide. He madly shouted out while looking clearly excited about something, ¡°Ahahaha! This will be my warp experiment number three thousand and one! Well then, dear Priest! Show me your powers!¡±


    Demonic energy and divinity collided in the air.


    The rune letter in between the collision maintained the precarious balance and continued to attune the two disparate powers. As space and time began distorting visibly, the clergyman¡¯s body began breaking down into tiny particles.


    This was warp magic at work. Specifically, a warp gate constructed by divinity and demonic energy.


    The two opposing powers continued gathering, and eventually¡­ the clergyman blew up.


    Bits of torn flesh and blood splattered everywhere, and the laboratory was soon coated in the familiar crimson hue.


    Count Timong stood there in a daze before his expression crumpled unsightly. ¡°Uwaaahk?! Dammit, dammit!¡±


    He stomped and kicked the ground while howling out in pure rage.


    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t it work?! I¡¯ve already succeeded a couple of times before, so why am I failing over and over again?!¡±


    While he vented out his frustration, a staggering ghoul approached him from behind. It pushed forward a written communique towards the irate Vampire Count.


    Timong, who was screaming out while holding his head, flinched a little and regained his composure before snatching the communique away. After reading its contents, his brows shot up higher and his jaw fell from sheer astonishment.


    ¡°What happened, Count Timong?¡±


    The Vampire Alchemist flinched again and turned his head around.


    A young boy was walking out from the pitch-black darkness. He seemed to be around twelve years of age.


    The boy with blood-coloured hair and eyes was snickering mischievously for some reason.


    Timong replied, ¡°King Rahamma is dead.¡±


    ¡°What? That monster-like human died? How?¡±


    The boy asked back with a stunned expression.


    He stood on his tip-toes and struggled mightily to take a peek at the communique held in Count Timong¡¯s hand.


    The latter continued on, ¡°It seems the Imperial Family has finally killed him.¡±


    ¡°Holy Emperor Kelt, was it? Wow, that geezer is still a monster, I see.¡±


    ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t him, but some other being. But that person¡¯s identity is not known at this stage. No way of finding out for now, actually.¡±


    ¡°Holy cow! Someone else took care of Rahamma?¡± Even a bigger shocked expression floated up on the boy¡¯s face. But that lasted only for a second or two as a creepy grin replaced it. ¡°In that case, it must¡¯ve been the Crown Imperial Prince.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good possibility.¡±


    ¡°Meaning, he¡¯s still alive.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, that bastard will tenaciously cling onto his life until he gets rid of you for good,¡± said Count Timong, while staring meaningfully at the boy. ¡°¡­Second Imperial Prince of the Imperial Family, Ruppel Olfolse.¡±


    The red-haired boy, Ruppel, burst out into a boisterous laughter. ¡°Ahaha! You¡¯re still bringing up that ancient history?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Have you forgotten that I¡¯m not a member of the Imperial Family anymore? And also¡­¡± The boy smiled creepily with his eyes. ¡°My current father is someone else. Yup, his majesty¡¯s my real father now.¡±


    ¡°But, his majesty probably sees you as nothing more than a mere puppet?¡±


    ¡°No one can look down on me. If you can¡¯t acknowledge me, then I¡¯ll just make you,¡± the boy muttered that out before taking another glance at the communique. ¡°Any other interesting news?¡±


    Count Timong dryly replied to the boy¡¯s question, ¡°Oh, and the Third Imperial Prince Ruppel Olfolse has been apprehended.¡±


    The boy winced a little from that before looking back at Timong with an intrigued expression on his face. ¡°Ruppel? How come?¡±


    He even theatrically tilted his head this way and that. Timong responded while staring at the boy¡¯s reaction. ¡°High treason. He had been a useful little unwitting inside helper until now, so that¡¯s too bad. Although, that fool was more like the chain that connected Rose Darina to us. In any case, he¡¯s been arrested.¡±


    ¡°Hey, wouldn¡¯t things become troublesome if he gets executed?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s lost most of his usefulness already. It¡¯s the Second Crown Princess Consort we¡¯d been colluding with all this time, after all. Actually, it¡¯ll be good for us if the numbers of those damn Imperial Family members decrease.¡±


    ¡°Oh, in that case, that idiot¡­¡±


    The boy raised his head up.


    The corners of his lips curled up into a grin as thick bloodlust wafted out from his small figure.


    A crazed expression had formed on his face.


    ¡°Can¡¯t I have him? I¡¯m in need of a new body anyways. So, if it¡¯s my younger brother, then¡­¡± The boy grinned deeply with his eyes and stared at Count Timong. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t he serve as a good replacement?¡±


    2


    < 083. Ruppel Olfolse -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 155 - 084. Ruppel Olfolse -2 (Part One)

    I could tell Ruppel was flinching under the sheets. He must¡¯ve been listening to our conversation while pretending to be asleep.


    White seemed to have noticed it too, because he was glancing at Ruppel as well.


    As for me, well, I was having hard time processing what the Crown Imperial Prince had told me just now. He was searching for the stillborn Second Imperial Prince?


    ¡°Hang on for a minute. Brother Ruppel¡¯s sibling? When you say the Second Imperial Prince, then¡­¡±


    I stopped muttering there and stiffened up instantly. That¡¯s because the absolute worst possible scenario had wormed its way into my head.


    Harman told me this story a while ago, didn¡¯t he?


    The Second Imperial Prince died during birth, then Rose Darina, the Second Crown Princess Consort, revived him as a ¡®zombie¡¯. And the father, White, had to deal with the aftermath.


    I stared at him and asked, ¡°But father, I thought you personally dealt with the issue back then?¡±


    White grinned bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s what I originally intended to do, but in the end, I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to do it.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t force himself to eliminate his own child. When he dithered about still undecided for the next several days, one of the archbishops of the Theocratic Empire voluntarily offered his assistance, apparently unable to look on anymore from the sideline.


    ¡°Yes, he was one of the five archbishops, a man named Walter. He told me that he¡¯d personally take care of the funeral arrangements for the Second Imperial Prince.¡±


    This archbishop named Walter was then tasked with handling this delicate matter. The conversation back then went something like this.


    -Your highness, if you¡¯re unable to do this, allow me to deal with it. Please don¡¯t force yourself.


    -But, I¡­


    -Please leave it to me. I¡¯m planning to retire next month anyway, and live a quiet life with my daughter in the countryside.


    -¡­


    -I¡¯d like to lend my assistance to your highness for one last time. Please consider granting this one his last act of loyalty.


    The Crown Imperial Prince had no choice but to nod his head at the archbishop¡¯s offer, and handed the zombie baby over.


    But he should¡¯ve noticed the archbishop¡¯s strange state back then. The latter was shedding thick, cold sweat drops while his whole body was faintly trembling.


    Back then¡­ White mistook those signs as the nearly-unbearable weight of guilt felt by a man about to ¡®kill¡¯ a prince from the Imperial Family.


    ¡°The archbishop told me that the funeral went well, that he even made a headstone and buried the baby somewhere in the mountains. And after his retirement, he really moved to a village in the countryside where his daughter was. There was no reason to not believe him back then. I even offered prayers by the headstone he showed to me before his departure.¡±


    But then, a serious problem reared its head. This tale happened about eleven years ago.


    Around the time the Third Imperial Prince, Ruppel, had turned fourteen, a report reached White¡¯s desk. It spoke about how a roving group of Aslan bandits had been raiding the villages in the border region. During those years, plenty of small-scale skirmishes often broke out between Aslan and the empire, so the Crown Imperial Prince decided he¡¯d personally head out to subdue those bandits.


    He was scheduled to become the Holy Emperor through the enthronement ceremony in the coming days, so as the new emperor, he wanted to send a stark warning to the kingdom of Aslan by dangling a few severed heads of their bandits on the border wall.


    But this event served as a chance for him to learn the truth.


    ¡°There were no bandits when I arrived in the village in question. No, that¡¯s not quite correct¡­ I did find them there, except that they were all¡­¡±


    ¡­Already corpses.


    Hundreds of villagers were dead, and so were the dozens of the bandits. And among all these mountains of dead, one child was greedily devouring a corpse.


    White stared at this child. It was a boy around eight years of age with distinctive red hair and red eyes.


    The boy said something that instantly made White freeze up on the spot.


    -It¡¯s been a while¡­


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    ¡°¡­Father.¡±


    White remained unmoving as he took a closer look at the child.


    Although he only looked to be around eight years old, he was consuming blood and meat like a real Vampire.


    ¡®This child is a Vampire?¡¯


    Generally speaking, it was extremely rare for children to become Vampires. If a Progenitor wanted to create a blood-creation of its own, then it must share some of its strength via blood and demonic energy transfusion. However, a regular child wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the shared power and survive the process.


    Despite that widely-accepted fact, the child before White¡¯s eyes seemed perfectly fine. This point alone was difficult to understand, but to call him ¡®father¡¯ on top of that, too?


    White growled menacingly. ¡°What rubbish are you talking about?¡±


    On this day eleven years ago, the Crown Imperial Prince, White Olfolse, accompanied by a contingent of Paladins, found himself glaring at an unidentified boy.


    The boy seemed to flinch in surprise from White¡¯s angry voice, then he formed a sorrowful expression. ¡°This is too much, father. Not only did you discard me, you¡¯ve even forgotten about me, too? Is that how it is?¡±


    The boy reached out with both hands and waddled towards White like a little toddler. If one judged the situation based solely on this scene alone, then one would be lulled into falsely believing that this boy really missed his father.


    White angrily yanked his sword out and pointed the blade at the boy¡¯s throat. ¡°You better stop your nonsense, or else.¡±


    White did this because he knew. He knew that to the Vampires, humans were nothing more than some ¡®livestock¡¯.


    The story remained the same for a Vampire staring at his former family members. There was no such thing as familial affection or love for these creatures. Unless you were also a Vampire, you¡¯d be livestock no matter what.


    Because White knew this well, he would never let his guard down.


    He wouldn¡¯t take it easy or feel sympathy just because his opponent was a child this time.


    The boy made a tearful face while slowly lowering his head. ¡°You¡¯re one truly unfair father. Because of you¡­¡±


    He then raised his head back up again, this time with a bright smile etched on his face.


    ¡°¡­All these Paladin uncles are dead now.¡±


    Blood-coloured spikes exploded out from the ground. The Paladins accompanying White were impaled in an instant.


    Although White quickly swung his sword in defence, the horse he was on got impaled cleanly through and he ended up crashing to the ground. He urgently jumped back up to his feet and injected divinity into his blade. By then, numerous zombies had gathered around the boy¡¯s sides.


    ¡°I always wanted to fight you at least once, father. The son of the Holy Emperor feared even by the one and only Vampire King. I¡¯ve been so curious about your true strength, you see. So¡­¡± The boy smiled brightly and continued on, ¡°¡­Why don¡¯t we have a fight now? The loser gets the other one¡¯s body. How about it?¡±


    White glared at this clearly-insane boy Vampire and spat out an expletive, ¡°You damn abominable monster.¡±


    He and the boy then began a bitter battle.


    White slaughtered the zombies in the surroundings, and eventually forced the boy on the back foot.


    ¡°As expected of you, father.¡±


    The boy¡¯s flesh was cut down; the divinity-infused blade mercilessly hacked away at the Vampire¡¯s body.


    From the messed-up boy¡¯s body, a small wriggling ¡®baby¡¯ crawled out. However, its appearance was truly bizarre to behold. Rather than a human baby, this thing resembled a monster¡¯s offspring, instead.


    Its whole body was dyed in a crimson hue, while its flesh was either rotting away here and there, or tumorous growths pockmarked it in several spots.


    The most noticeable part was found around its neck area, which was deeply caved in as if an umbilical cord had been wrapped around there.


    ¡°I would¡¯ve won if only I had a proper body,¡± the ¡®baby¡¯ spoke in a resentful voice as it glared at White.


    When the Crown Prince finally got to look at the face of this monstrous baby, he called out its name, ¡°¡­Ruppel.¡±


    **


    (TL: Back in 1st person POV.)


    ¡°That thing was, without a doubt, the Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel. I felt it in my soul the moment I laid my eyes on that baby.¡± White moaned in pain and held his forehead. His voice, now tinged with great agony, began cracking apart. ¡°Not only that, it was a baby with intellect as well. Not a zombie, but a Vampire. Someone had turned that baby into a bloody Vampire. And not just any regular Vampire either, but as a creature possessing the might and class of a true Progenitor too. Dammit-!¡±


    All this happened around the time the Second Imperial Prince would¡¯ve turned sixteen years old if he was still alive. It was quite a bit of stretch for a zombified baby to learn how to speak like a living human in ten years, and gain enough knowledge and power to become a Vampire that could make clear judgements regarding the situations surrounding it.


    However, such a thing wasn¡¯t completely impossible either.


    Indeed, it was possible if another being deliberately injected demonic energy and knowledge into the zombie. Even if such a case was only doable through an extremely dangerous application of ¡®dark magic¡¯.


    I ended up recalling the events back in Ronia fiefdom up north.


    The Vampire Count that invaded Ronia. That thing somehow became a Progenitor Vampire by gathering a ton of demonic energy through Amon¡¯s skull.


    I became speechless.


    ¡°In the end, I failed to kill the baby and it escaped from my grasp. It actually used warp magic to flee. After that day, I wanted to find the truth so I had the grave dug up. Nothing was inside. I sought out Archbishop Walter for answers, but he couldn¡¯t be found either. Even his daughter was missing. Without a doubt, they must¡¯ve been murdered.¡±


    It was likely that Archbishop Walter¡¯s daughter had been taken hostage, and he had to hand over the zombified baby over to the Vampires.

 Chapter 156 - 084. Ruppel Olfolse -2 (Part Two)

    White took out the latest reports on the Vampires he received from the Imperial Family, and along with the information he had uncovered during his travels, spread them all on the table between us.


    I scanned the documents and my eyes caught something among the pile. ¡°This¡­?¡±


    After spotting the report regarding Yulisia, the First Crown Princess Consort, I shifted my gaze back to White.


    ¡°The news regarding Yulisia¡¯s fate came to me while I was making my way through the kingdom of Lome that was embroiled in a civil war.¡±


    Specifically, what he heard was a rumour that had reached his location about a month after Yulisia¡¯s passing.


    The rumour spoke of the crimes the Vampires had committed ¨C that they had murdered the Crown Imperial Princess Consort and cursed the First Imperial Prince.


    Understandably, White was enraged by the news and he came back home as soon as he could to ¡®infiltrate¡¯ the imperial palace.


    He tried to find out more about the creature that took Yulisia away from this world and cursed the First Imperial Prince. He slipped inside Luan¡¯s room and saw the boy suffering from a nightmare-filled slumber. White confirmed that the demonic energy causing the curse closely resembled the energy belonging to the Second Prince.


    ¡°Count Fomor¡¯s house, the one uncovered by the Imperial Family¡­ It seemed they had a hand in letting the Vampires infiltrate the Imperial Palace. Ruppel was among the Vampires.¡± White pushed forward a different document containing more information. ¡°The Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse. Although he¡¯s different from the other Vampires, remember that he¡¯s good enough to attack the imperial palace along with blood-creations and then escape scot-free. Back then, he was quite strong already, but he must¡¯ve gotten much stronger now.¡±


    I received this new information and read through it.


    ¡°He was also responsible for Luan¡¯s curse. Even I had no methods to heal Luan. I assumed that it was some kind of a warning. A warning from the Vampires to the Imperial Family.¡±


    That was obvious. The moment anyone tried to heal Luan, his heart would¡¯ve exploded.


    ¡°The only hope was to locate the Second Imperial Prince. By locating that bastard, I¡¯d have uncovered a way to undo Luan¡¯s curse, and also figure out who his backer is. At the same time, I could rout out all the Vampires hiding inside and around the Imperial Palace, too.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you inform the Imperial Family?¡±


    White stared at me as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. ¡°Don¡¯t you remember that the atmosphere back then was truly indescribable? My father, your grandfather, was beyond enraged by Yulisia¡¯s murder. Can you imagine what might have happened if he also learned about the Second Imperial Prince evolving past a zombie and straight into a Vampire, and that the whole affair was connected to a missing Archbishop?¡±


    There was already a huge problem within the Imperial Family. But what if the rumour of some Vampires messing up the imperial court got around to the public as well? Things might have spiralled out of control.


    The public would¡¯ve gotten scared and their trust towards the imperial court would¡¯ve fallen. Not only that, an indiscriminate ¡®purge¡¯ would¡¯ve been initiated by the Imperial Family as well.


    ¡°Even though Archbishop Walter had been threatened and had no choice, everyone related to him would¡¯ve been executed despite their lifelong loyalty and devotion to the Imperial Family. The Darina household would¡¯ve also been held responsible for turning the Second Imperial Prince into an undead.¡±


    Everyone from the households of Archbishop Walter and the Darina bloodline would¡¯ve been killed off for the crime of defiling the Imperial Family¡¯s blood, despite their lifelong devotion to the imperial court.


    That would have included men, women, old, and even the young.


    White back then had honestly wanted to protect the loyal retainers and his beloved wife.


    ¡°But now¡­¡±


    While saying that, he stared at the most-recent information uncovered by the Imperial Family and angrily rubbed his temples.


    ¡°¡­To think that Rose was colluding with the Vampires all along. I¡­¡±


    His eyes grew gradually bloodshot. He clenched his fists so hard that nails dug in to break his skin.


    ¡°¡­To think that I actually loved and cared about a human garbage who was blinded by jealousy, colluded with the Vampires, cursed her own son, and even turned him into a bloody Vampire!¡±


    White was clearly suffering from anguish.


    Even I was getting this bitter taste in my mouth now. It was no longer possible to say this matter had nothing to do with me. I¡¯ve already become deeply entangled in the matters of the Imperial Family by now, after all.


    I asked him, ¡°Were you unaware of it until now?¡±


    ¡°If I knew, then I would¡¯ve already done something by now.¡± White raised his head and looked up. ¡°I¡¯d have ripped them apart right there and then. I¡¯d have made them beg for forgiveness in front of Yulisia¡¯s grave until tears of blood came falling down from their eyes.¡±


    So much killing intent could be sensed from every word he said.


    That just proved how angry he was. Even though he knew that the Third Imperial Prince, Ruppel, was next to us eavesdropping, he still failed to rein in his emotions.


    ¡°¡­What about my brother, then?¡± I asked while pointing briefly at Ruppel on the bed.


    The sheet covering him flinched noticeably again.


    White glared at him before opening his mouth. ¡°Ruppel wasn¡¯t even fifteen years old back then. He was probably being used by Rose. Of course, I still have plenty of things to ask of him regarding Yulisia¡¯s matter. We won¡¯t be able to escape my father¡¯s wrath, and on top of that, well, I also need to have a father-to-son conversation with Ruppel anyway.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    White tried to control his emotions by breathing deeply in and out for a little while. After he calmed down again, he pushed forward some other information towards me.


    ¡°Besides, the matters have ballooned past the level where I can deal with them by myself. Indeed, it was the right call to investigate further.¡± He began telling me what he had uncovered so far, ¡°The bastards have been growing more crafty recently. They also seemed to have become much better organised, more systematic. Not once in the continent¡¯s history did the Vampires unite and form an organisation of this nature.¡±


    White hunted down the Vampires hidden in all corners of the world, interrogated them, and then chased after other Vampires hidden somewhere else.


    ¡°The Vampires are targeting the Imperial Family. To be more precise, they scheme to bring down the entire Theocratic Empire. Their reason is quite simple.¡±


    White raised his head away from the documents. His face was flushed red with visible veins bulging on his forehead, his teeth still grinding noisily as if he was working hard to suppress his emotions.


    ¡°They wish to turn all living humans into livestock and establish their own kingdom.¡± While saying that, he gathered up the documents on the table, unfurled a large map, and then began pointing at various places one at a time. ¡°The empire might think it has successfully expelled the Vampires, but it only brought about a far less desirable result instead.¡±


    He marked various nations surrounding the Theocratic Empire on the map. The marks indicated the Vampires, and it felt like they were practically found in every location.


    It was almost as if the Vampires in various nations had surrounded the empire in the middle. It reminded me of¡­


    ¡°¡­A spider web.¡±


    Right, this whole thing looked like one giant spider web, and the Theocratic Empire was a prey caught in the middle.


    I muttered to myself and glanced at the information once more.


    The individual suspected of being the ringleader by none other than White himself and as noted on the information¡­


    The name of this individual was¡­


    ¡°The Vampire King, King Vlandmir.¡±


    The so-called king of all Vampires, as crowned by the other Vampires.


    ¡°That creature is trying to devour the Theocratic Empire. And not too long from now¡­¡± White stared straight at me and continued speaking, ¡°¡­the invasion of the Vampires will begin.¡±


    **


    Late into the night.


    This was when the darkness had completely taken over the world and the aura of demonic energy was at its strongest.


    In fact, the moon high up in the sky had been dyed crimson from all the demonic energy in the air.


    Many Paladins were stationed throughout Aslan¡¯s royal palace.


    This was still the enemy nation¡¯s capital and its palace. Even if the empire had achieved victory in the war, they were still in the middle of the enemy territory, and as such, the Paladins maintained watertight security detail around the area.


    Aslan¡¯s citizens living in the capital cautiously minded the moods of such Paladins and did their best to avoid making unnecessary contact. Even if these holy knights were sticking to their discipline so far, the Aslan people were well aware of how abhorrent the actions of the victors could be.


    There was no reason to give the Paladins pretext here.


    However, some individuals were actually approaching the Paladins on guard. A dozen-plus group with a young boy in the centre were walking towards the royal palace.


    The Paladin on guard furrowed their brows and unsheathed their sword before pointing it at the unannounced guests.


    ¡°Halt! Who goes th¡­¡±


    ¡°Where did you learn such rude manners of pointing a blade at an Imperial Prince?¡±


    When the Paladins heard that, they all tilted their heads in confusion.


    The small-statured boy grinned brightly and continued on, ¡°It¡¯s your fault. Because of you alone¡­¡±


    A blood-coloured spike suddenly impaled a Paladin. The spike shot up from the ground to impale its victim, then dangled him in the air.


    ¡°¡­All of your comrades are about to get killed, you know?¡±


    The boy, Ruppel, snickered insidiously before shifting his gaze towards the royal palace.


    ¡°Well then. Time to get my hands on a new body. Gentlemen?¡±


    The boy looked behind him and addressed the group.


    The ones accompanying him all pulled back the hoods attached to their robes. These beings were also snickering away as the winds flapped their robes around. Unusually lengthy and pointy fangs jutted out from their lips.


    The other surviving Paladins stiffened in their spots from that sight.


    The boy continued snickering while staring at the Paladins, ¡°Slaughter them all. Humans are livestock, anyways. Aren¡¯t they fresh meat for us? So, all of you¡­¡±


    With the crimson moon shining behind him, the boy with blood-coloured eyes gleaming in sinister light grinned deeply at his victims.


    ¡°¡­Will die today as livestock.¡±


    He was the Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse.


    He began his assault on Aslan¡¯s royal palace.


    5


    < 084. Ruppel Olfolse -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 157 - 085. Ruppel Olfolse -3 (Part One)

    Blood began shooting out like fountains in front of the royal palace¡¯s entrance.


    Desperate screams rang out as spikes of blood mercilessly impaled the Paladins on guard.


    The Vampires immediately ripped into the corpses of the Paladins, and drank their blood before injecting demonic energy into their victims.


    Just as the Vampires began roaring out with demonic laughters, the corpses reopened their eyes. The dead Paladins were reanimated into zombies as they staggered back up their feet.


    ¡°Ahaha! Lord Ruppel, what should we do now? Do we force our way into the palace itself? Or¡­¡±


    ¡°I told you, didn¡¯t I? Just slaughter whatever you come across. Actually, you guys should just remain here and act as distractions. If you see any livestock around, kill them and turn them into zombies. That¡¯s your role.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The Vampires all formed troubled expressions at that order.


    ¡°As for me, I¡¯ll enter the palace on my own. This body of mine won¡¯t last for long. All of you are going to hunt some fresh livestock and make sure that my quest to acquire a new body will be trouble-free. Understand?¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ us alone, sir?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Ruppel stared at the Vampires in slight confusion.


    They stared back at him and smiled awkwardly.


    ¡°We heard that both Oscal Baldur the sword king and the Crown Imperial Prince are here.¡±


    ¡°And we also heard that they are weird perverts who go out of their way to rip off the heads of Vampires to add to their collection¡­¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t be strong enough to fight them with just us¡­¡±


    Second Imperial Prince Ruppel continued tilting his head. ¡°So what are you trying to say?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t do it?¡±


    The boy¡¯s unflinching crimson eyes were issuing an absolute command. The ends of his lips might be currently curled up in a grin, but the muscles around his eyes remained the same as before.


    His chilling expression prompted an outbreak of cold sweat to flood down the backs of the Vampires, and they hurriedly bowed their heads.


    ¡°W-we shall obey.¡±


    ¡°Of course you will. Yup. You should¡¯ve done that from the beginning, you know? Besides, I never planned to make you do something impossible in the first place. I just want you lot to buy me some time, that¡¯s all. When Oscal and White show up, just turn tail and run away from here. In the meantime, I will¡­¡±


    Ruppel snickered insidiously as he stepped into the royal palace.


    ¡°¡­Sneak into this palace and steal my little brother¡¯s body.¡±


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I hurriedly blocked my nose.


    Gee whiz, how long has it been since I picked up a stench this bad?


    This distinctive scent could¡¯ve only come from demonic energy, and to make matters worse, it belonged specifically to rotting corpses.


    So then¡­ This energy had to belong to¡­


    I quietly held my forehead.


    Ah, aaah, dear Gaia! Are you still unwilling to give me some time off? Is that how it is?


    ¡°Those stinking Vampire motherf*ckers! Can¡¯t they just give it a bloody rest already?!¡±


    I exploded in indignation.


    White, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table, flinched in shock and stared at me.


    He looked puzzled by the sudden change in my attitude. ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you, Allen? Why all the¡­¡±


    Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!


    Suddenly, sounds of bells and horns meant to warn the palace¡¯s residents urgently rang throughout the structure.


    Torches were being lit up from various places in the palace, and the Paladins were hurriedly rushing off to somewhere.


    It was at this point in time that knocking sounds came from the door. Oscal Baldur opened the door and peeked his head in. Which only served to amplify my worries even further.


    ¡°It seems that some Vampires have decided to raid the palace,¡± Oscal informed us.


    ¡°Tsk.¡±


    Those f*cking as*holes!


    I angrily massaged my temples.


    Man, I thought those bastards were behaving themselves nowadays, but here we go again. Look at how they started yet another crap!


    No, hang on a sec. Before all that, those fools must be completely insane.


    There¡¯s no way that they didn¡¯t know about the sword king and the members of the empire¡¯s five forces being present in the palace, yet they still chose to raid this place?


    They weren¡¯t even some low-rent S*icide S*uad copycats or something, so why were they so hell-bent on killing themselves?


    ¡°Vampires, you say?¡± White looked quite stunned before he shifted his gaze back to me. ¡°Hold on, Allen? How did you even know that the Vampires launched a surprise raid on the palace? Could it be that the empire really found a way to distinguish the Vampires?¡±


    ¡°I had a hunch, that¡¯s all. In any case, can you stop them, Sir Oscal?¡±


    I came up with some random excuse at White¡¯s questioning and shifted my attention over to Oscal instead.


    The old man replied with a relaxed smile as if this event was nothing to be concerned about. ¡°These Vampires won¡¯t present any problems whatsoever. As you know, many hardened Paladins are encamped within the palace. Although one of the creatures is using a technique that¡¯s a little troublesome, we can still deal with them quite easily, your highness.¡±


    I became so much more relaxed by Oscal¡¯s answer.


    What a relief that there didn¡¯t seem to be anyone strong among the invading Vampires. In that case, the Paladins should be able to suppress the incoming undead. Of course, things would become even simpler if a man who¡¯s been feeling rather pissed off at the Vampires decided to personally step up here.


    ¡°This is actually rather convenient,¡± said White, while standing up from his chair. He cracked his knuckles and loosened his wrists, his expression crumpling unsightly in anger. ¡°I¡¯ll collect the heads of those Vampire bastards. Interrogating them should net us some new information.¡±


    I sensed rage permeating like bubbling magma in his voice when he chewed those words out. That emotion must be from his desire for retribution.


    I still asked Oscal just to be sure, ¡°You don¡¯t need my help, right? Are you sure that there really aren¡¯t any dangerous-looking Vampires present?¡±


    What I was honestly feeling inside didn¡¯t want to come out of my mouth. Let¡¯s be real here, I just want to take a break and not get dragged in.


    ¡°No, your highness. It¡¯ll be alright. Although the report mentions a bastard capable of manipulating blood, his highness the Crown Prince and myself alone should suffice.¡±


    Well, that¡¯s good to hear.


    If we were dealing with regular Vampires, then the five forces of the Imperial Family should be more than enough to handle them. And even if some annoying bastards did show up, the sword king and the Crown Imperial Prince should be able to easily get rid of them.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be on my way, then. Allen, why don¡¯t you stay here and chat with Ruppel in the meantime?¡±


    After White said that, he left the room along with Oscal.


    Once the room became quiet again, I stared at Ruppel still lying on the bed for a little while. ¡°Okay, so¡­ Brother, what¡¯s your plan for the future?¡±


    The thing was, I still hadn¡¯t heard the full details of the crime Ruppel was accused of. All I¡¯ve been told so far was that he was suspected of committing high treason.


    Rose Darina was suspected of assassinating Yulisia and colluding with the Vampires, while her son Ruppel was suspected of conspiring with Aslan. Because of this thing about ¡®guilty by association¡¯, I wasn¡¯t sure whether he¡¯d get to keep his life or not.


    Although Ruppel was pretending to be asleep, his body still shifted around uncomfortably. I could hear the faint sounds of sobbing coming from under the sheets covering him.


    It must¡¯ve been despairing for him.


    Not that surprising, really. Because of Rose¡¯s actions, Ruppel¡¯s everything had been completely ruined, after all.


    He was unlikely to live through what¡¯s to come. Even if I, White, and the other siblings petitioned the holy emperor, the end result would be unknown at this stage, likely to be still unfavourable.


    I continued staring at Ruppel for a little while before sighing softly under my breath. Wanting to get some fresh air, I threw open the window panels.


    The wind blew in and my once-agitated mind cooled down soon afterwards.


    The world tree planted in the palace¡¯s garden caught my eyes. Looking at that thing really helped me settle my mind.


    My gaze drifted lower and eventually noticed a boy walking towards the world tree in the palace garden.


    I muttered to no one in particular, ¡°Maybe that boy is a servant?¡±


    The boy looked to be around twelve years old, with red hair and red eyes.


    Since his attire was that of a manservant, I initially didn¡¯t think much about him, but something about that kid felt a little off.


    All the other servants and maids were screaming and running around like a bunch of headless chickens, yet that boy was different. He was way too relaxed, and that only reinforced this air of disharmony oozing around him.


    I recalled the incident with Count Fomor. Back then, I couldn¡¯t sense any demonic energy nor any associated stench from him. That was how difficult it was to differentiate Vampires from regular humans.


    Just to be sure, I activated [Mind¡¯s Eye] and checked out the boy¡¯s status.


    [Name: Ruppel Olfolse.


    Age: ???


    Attributes: Rotting body, a Progenitor Vampire. Peerage of marquis granted by the Vampire King. Massive demonic energy reserve, ability to manipulate blood, cruel and vicious personality.


    + Argh, my body is rotting away. I need to acquire a new body immediately! And soon, I shall take over Ruppel¡¯s body and¡­]


    My jaw dropped to the floor. ¡°F*ck me sideways.¡±


    6


    I became utterly dismayed.


    Are you seriously telling me that the very bastard White had been scouring the whole continent for the past eleven years had just strode brazenly into my proverbial front yard?


    No, hang on a second here. That bastard looked like a little kid. Even if that thing stood right before White, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to tell whether it was a Vampire or not.


    I stared at Ruppel and wondered if I should call for White and Oscal. Oscal wouldn¡¯t have any problems, but would White really be able to kill that thing without hesitation?


    Just as I began pondering that quandary¡­


    I couldn¡¯t help but notice that both Charlotte and Harman were now standing in front of the red-haired ¡®boy¡¯. And some distance away, there they were, Dark Elf Tina and the company of hashashins providing her with protection.


    I figured that they were evacuating Tina to a safer location. But during their journey, they had run into the wandering boy Vampire and stopped in their tracks after finding the latter to be way too suspicious.


    Charlotte and Harman seemed to be interrogating the boy and were walking up to the Vampire.


    That undead monster was a bit too challenging for the two of them to handle.


    I glanced at the world tree again. Back when I had to utilise the powers of both Amon¡¯s skull and the staff multiple times against Rahamma, that tree¡¯s recovery ability greatly reduced the backlash of the relics to a manageable degree.


    I remembered back to when I killed the Black Dragon, and then summoned Amon¡¯s grimoire.


    Although it was rather uncool to clean up the crap left behind my father, I still figured that taking care of this loose end would be for the best in the long run.


    Besides, I also wanted to find out by how much the world tree¡¯s powers could lessen the backlash from using Amon¡¯s relics, too.


    And so, I opened Amon¡¯s grimoire.


    2

 Chapter 158 - 085. Ruppel Olfolse -3 (Part Two)

    **


    The ¡®Second Imperial Prince¡¯, Ruppel Olfolse, flinched nastily and raised his gaze up at the giant tree at least eight metres tall.


    1


    It didn¡¯t look like any old regular tree, judging from the strange feeling it gave off. And he found it truly displeasing to behold, too.


    Just as he began thinking that to himself, two Paladins suddenly blocked his path. One was a girl yet to mature into a woman, while the other was an older man with a hardened face.


    Ruppel stared at the two as the expression of ¡®Oops!¡¯ floated up on his face.


    ¡®Did I act too conspicuously?¡¯


    He scanned his surroundings. Servants and maids were running around in fear and panic, or were hiding themselves away in their private chambers. A young servant boy like him waltzing around without a care in the world would obviously stand out like a sore thumb.


    ¡®In that case, there was no point in dressing up like a servant in the first place, was there?¡¯


    The other Vampires should be able to attract most of the attention elsewhere. In the case of Oscal the sword king, he¡¯d personally step up in order to stabilise the situation in the palace as soon as possible, and as for White, he¡¯d practically lose all of his rationale at the mere mention of Vampires.


    Since Ruppel made sure to bring in enough ¡®manpower¡¯ to bait those two out, they should be able to buy some time for him, even if it¡¯s only by a little.


    However, these Paladins weren¡¯t willing to look past a simple boy servant? They should know about how hard it was for children to become Vampires due to their natural characteristics, but even then, they still didn¡¯t lower their guard at all.


    Who¡¯d have thought that the noble Paladins were this suspicious of the other people?


    Ruppel put on a scared face and addressed the people before him, ¡°W-why are you looking at me like that, sir Paladins?¡±


    His expression was absolutely spot-on, a convincingly tearful face that perfectly matched the kids of his age group. He had already become an expert at pulling this kind of act meant to fool the regular humans.


    Harman stared at the red-haired boy and furrowed his brows. But that lasted only for a brief moment. As if he wanted to calm a frightened child, he lowered his back and matched his eye line with the boy¡¯s.


    Then, he smiled and spoke up, ¡°Let me ask you something.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Earlier in the morning, servants and maids were issued with a certain message. Do you know what that was?¡±


    While saying that, Harman rested his hand on the sword¡¯s hilt.


    Ruppel¡¯s expression hardened at the question.


    What the hell was this¡­? Could the humans have established a code word just in case Vampires decided to infiltrate?


    Ruppel¡¯s eyes urgently rolled around. ¡°Uh, t-that is¡­ I heard it but, uh, I forgot it. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m not very smart, you see¡­ T-that¡¯s why my brothers and sisters make fun of me all the time.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± Harman smiled bitterly before politely asking Charlotte, ¡°Ma¡¯am, should we confirm again, just in case?¡±


    Charlotte quietly glared at Ruppel, her sharp eyes unwaveringly locked on the boy.


    Ruppel felt the sharpness of her glare and cold sweat drops began trickling down his face. He wasn¡¯t sure why, but this ominous feeling began creeping into his mind.


    Suddenly, Charlotte snorted derisively.


    At the same time, a flash of light flew in towards Ruppel.


    A sword containing divinity swung towards the boy¡¯s throat, and as if to match that, a spike of blood shot out from the ground to block the incoming blade.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    As Charlotte¡¯s unsheathed sword was digging into the spike of blood, an expression of shock and astonishment filled up Ruppel¡¯s face.


    He gasped out in confusion. ¡°Eh? Huh?!¡±


    She coldly growled out, ¡°There never was anything like a code word, Vampire.¡±


    What was that?!


    Ruppel was flustered. Not because he was deceived, no, but he was simply dismayed by the fact that this girl unhesitantly swung her sword at him just because of one innocent-sounding mistake.


    ¡°You crazy b*tch! A young kid like me might not have known anything, you know?!¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning to cut off your neck. I¡¯d have stopped the blade in time.¡±


    ¡®Holy cow, did I really get fooled by her?!¡¯


    Ruppel had indeed been deceived by the girl¡¯s intense level of murderous intent.


    Charlotte grasped the hilt with both hands and injected more divinity. Beautiful whitish aura enveloped the blade and sliced deeper into the spike of blood.


    ¡°What¡­?!¡±


    Ruppel panicked and hurriedly leapt back to create some distance. The spike got sliced apart at that very same moment.


    Although faint, a cut wound opened up on his cheek. The stinging divinity began burning his skin.


    ¡®What is the meaning of this? I never heard about the presence of such a girl before!¡±


    Ruppel hurriedly distanced himself even further away. While doing so, he didn¡¯t forget to shoot several more spikes of blood from the ground.


    Charlotte swiftly weaved past them all, while Harman used his sword to defend against the spikes as he stepped back.


    Ruppel stared at the two Paladins displaying levels of skill far exceeding his initial estimation and could only form a shocked expression.


    The man was one thing, but this girl, she was seriously high-calibre. Especially her divinity ¨C that thing was incredibly dangerous!


    ¡°You two, just what the hell are you¡­?!¡±


    While saying some things in disbelief, Ruppel¡¯s gaze shifted to the side.


    The world tree was busy unleashing waves of Mana, and he could see the energy seeping into both Charlotte and Harman.


    The energy of life was protecting them, acting as if it was a blessing granted by mother nature itself.


    That very same energy was precisely what Ruppel had found so disgusting earlier.


    He muttered out in disbelief some more, ¡°¡­Just what the hell is going on here?¡±


    All the spies installed within the Theocratic Empire, the blood-creations, had been purged alongside Count Fomor, and that had cut off the flow of information coming from the imperial palace.


    The Vampires had managed to coax several humans into collaborating with them recently, but even then, Ruppel had not heard anything about the existence of these individuals before.


    ¡°Sir Harman.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°Please protect her majesty Lady Tina.¡±


    Harman frowned slightly at Charlotte¡¯s new order. ¡°But, ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°I will leave the matter in your hands.¡± She glanced at Harman. ¡°This is an order.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Do not worry. I won¡¯t die today.¡± Charlotte controlled her breathing and strengthened her body with divinity. ¡°As long as his highness is here, I will not die.¡±


    Harman nodded at her confident declaration, and then turned around to dash towards where Tina was. Before he could start explaining the situation to her, Tina was already staring at Ruppel with fierce intensity.


    She spoke with a tense voice, ¡°This is my palace.¡±


    Her staff powerfully slammed into the ground the next moment.


    ¡°And I¡¯m the current queen of Aslan.¡±


    The ground swelled up, and tree roots broke the surface to gather into one. They bunched up to create several humanoid shapes.


    Eventually, five metre-high humanoids made out of wood stood up ¨C these were woodmen, classified as lower-ranked tree spirits.


    They all stood tall around Charlotte.


    The hashashins also pulled out their individual weapons and got ready. Their demonic energy roused up and they prepared themselves to attack Ruppel at a moment¡¯s notice.


    ¡°What the hell. These punks¡­¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s fluster was getting steadily worse. Somehow, this whole situation had spiralled way out of his initial plans.


    The regular Paladins weren¡¯t the problems. But what¡¯s happening right now was that, instead of the expected small fries, actual monster-like individuals had popped out of nowhere.


    But¡­ since when?


    Just as Ruppel¡¯s jaw began to drop, Charlotte strode forward confidently.


    Divinity gushed out from her body and the purest-white aura imaginable completely blanketed her sword.


    She addressed Ruppel as her glare as sharp as her blade locked on him, ¡°Are you ready to die, Vampire?¡±


    Ruppel stumbled back while more cold sweat trickled down his face.


    Just from where did all these monsters he¡¯d never even heard or seen before come flooding out from¡­? What exactly happened in the empire after the Imperial Family purged the Vampires out of the imperial court?!


    It hadn¡¯t even been a year, yet how could these many monsters suddenly show up without any warning?


    Should he escape? If it¡¯s the warp magic developed by Count Timong, then¡­


    Ruppel clamped his mouth shut.


    No, wait. These individuals before his eyes were still measly humans. Yet he was thinking of running away from them?


    What a laughable notion that was.


    ¡®No need to get frightened. They are still measly little humans, after all.¡¯


    Ruppel clenched his teeth tightly.


    He was a Progenitor Vampire who had been granted demonic energy and peerage by none other than the Vampire King himself.


    Indeed, he was a grand existence that reached this noble bloodline from a zombie in only around ten years. As a Vampire with the peerage of marquis, he should never entertain the idea of backing off because some measly livestock threatened him.


    ¡°Alright, fine. I¡¯ll have some fun with you all. I¡¯ll finish this well before Oscal Baldur and White show up.¡±


    The ground around him began cracking apart and split open. Rune letters materialised simultaneously and pillars of blood began gushing out.


    These pillars of crimson liquid gave off a sinister aura as it rose up high in the air.


    ¡°You¡¯re still livestocks at the end of the day. Take it as an honour. Because I, Ruppel Olfolse, will¡­¡±


    The pillars of blood swirled viciously all around him.


    He spread open his arms wide and smiled insidiously with his eyes.


    ¡°¡­gladly consume your blood as delicious food.¡±


    < 085. Ruppel Olfolse -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 159 - 086. Ruppel Olfolse -4 (Part One)

    **


    Inside a dark cavern located somewhere.


    Numerous large pots were installed in this particular section of the cavern where heavy amounts of demonic energy flowed about freely.


    Count Timong, along with the assistance of other Vampires, opened the lid of a large pot and checked out the contents inside.


    Many zombified children inside tilted their heads this way and that, before reaching up with their hands and flailing ungainly about.


    Count Timong stared at the zombie children and muttered out indifferently, ¡°They need to be ripened a little bit further, but since Ruppel¡¯s body won¡¯t last long, we don¡¯t have much of a choice. I¡¯ll just pick one to replace his body.¡±


    Each of these numerous pots found within the cavern were meant to safely store away the zombified children, as they were replacements for Ruppel¡¯s ever-rotting body.


    Temporary body replacements could be crafted by pouring large amounts of thickly-flowing demonic energy and toxins into the pot alongside the suitable zombies. This place was the manufacturing plant where the undead were left to ripen for a dozen-plus years in that condition until they reached the desired maturity.


    In a way, this process was similar to artificially creating a Progenitor Vampire. Of course, the length of time necessary to create a Progenitor was insanely longer in comparison.


    ¡°Hey, you. Go and summon Ruppel. He needs to have his body replaced.¡±


    Count Timong¡¯s order caused the Vampires to visibly wince. They exchanged glances with each other before replying with troubled expressions.


    ¡°T-the thing is¡­ Lord Ruppel¡­ currently isn¡¯t here.¡±


    ¡°What was that?!¡±


    ¡°He told us that he¡¯d be going out to hunt some livestocks.¡±


    Count Timong¡¯s expression crumpled to an unbelievable degree as he tutted loudly. ¡°He¡¯s still going outside to hunt some prey?! This is why children shouldn¡¯t become Vampires, they are just too thoughtless!¡±


    While saying that, he reached inside the pot and pulled out one of the zombified boys. The undead creature flailed about while dangling in the air.


    Timong carried on with the inspection of the zombie¡¯s status, only to pause briefly when a thought suddenly occurred to him. He then turned his head and asked the Vampires, ¡°Hold on. Where did he go to hunt the livestocks this time?¡±


    His questions promptly shut the mouths of all the Vampires present.


    ¡­Because Ruppel made them swear not to divulge that information.


    ¡°You are all my assistants, not Ruppel¡¯s servants.¡±


    Count Timong growled with thick bloodlust in his voice, and the Vampires began trembling as cold sweat trickled down their faces.


    They exchanged yet more glances with each other, and eventually replied with some difficulty.


    ¡°He¡­ he told us that he¡¯d be heading to Aslan¡¯s royal palace.¡±


    Timong¡¯s expression became utterly blank in an instant. But that lasted only for a brief moment before his whole face crumpled hideously. ¡°Uwaaaahk?! That stupid, stinking little brat! How can his learning ability be this sh*tty?!¡±


    His hunchback-like back suddenly straightened up and he held his head in anguish.


    That Ruppel, he was always far too impulsive.


    He became a zombie as a newborn baby, then he had been left abandoned as one for the next ten years until he ended up in the hands of the Vampire King.


    Despite the King personally injecting demonic energy and knowledge into the boy¡¯s head, the latter¡¯s mental age was still no better than seven, maybe eight years old.


    Moreover, Vampires didn¡¯t necessarily enjoy any further ¡®mental growth¡¯ after becoming an undead, so in that regard, Ruppel was literally a little kid even now, as evidenced by his utter lack of self-restraint on display.


    Ruppel was always running away from White, yet the boy tried so hard to enrage the latter no matter what. Just to piss the Crown Imperial Prince off, Ruppel raided and razed villages of the Theocratic Empire, slaughtered the empire¡¯s subjects, and even murdered Yulisia in the imperial palace. All so that he could ¡®ridicule¡¯ White Olfolse.


    He was doing it all out of ¡®hatred¡¯. Vampires hated the fact that once upon a time they used to be humans as well ¨C after all, humans were treated like livestocks by the undead.


    And that was why most of those who turned into Vampires would either choose to devour their former family members or just kill them outright.


    ¡°That trash brat! A punk who won¡¯t even live for a year without me finally has gone and did something stupid! I¡¯m telling you, all the youthful Progenitors are just too brainless! Too brainless!¡±


    Count Timong tutted unhappily.


    It seemed that the side effects of turning a measly little zombie into a Progenitor in one breath were running rampant here.


    The boy¡¯s soul was clearly broken, while his body couldn¡¯t handle the load and had to be constantly replaced. On these points alone, he would¡¯ve been treated as a defective product.


    Yet such a creature was so full of himself just because the Vampire King granted him some blood and demonic energy.


    The boy didn¡¯t even have a lot of experience in fighting proper battles. No, all he had ever done was to hunt frail and defenceless livestock up until this point. Even then, his penchant for talking a big game was unrivalled.


    Veins bulged on Count Timong¡¯s forehead.


    He shot a murderous glare at the Vampires and issued a new order, ¡°Make preparations for warp magic.¡±


    ¡°S-sir?¡±


    The Vampire assistants tilted their heads in confusion before finally remembering something and nodding in sync.


    ¡°Ah, you mean for the interdimensional warp experiment? Should we prep the captured clergymen to be used as the living sacrifices?¡±


    ¡°No, not that. We¡¯ll just be moving to another location. We are going to leave this place for a while.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be moving to another location?¡±


    The Vampires became even more puzzled by what Count Timong had told them. This would be his first time leaving the cavern in several decades, after all.


    The Vampires nodded in unison before asking a question.


    ¡°Where should we set the coordinates for?¡±


    Count Timong shook around the young zombie in his hand while making his response, ¡°Aslan¡¯s capital city. We¡¯ll be taking as many Vampires as possible to the royal palace.¡±


    ¡°The royal palace, you say?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯ll need plenty of offerings, so go and gather many humans. Since the distance itself is quite considerable, we will require a great deal of demonic energy to warp that far.¡±


    The Vampires nodded in understanding.


    ¡°Understood. We shall go and round up around fifty humans as sacrifices.¡±


    ¡°Bloody hell. It doesn¡¯t matter whether that brat dies or not, but¡­¡±


    Count Timong muttered unhappily, then glanced at the zombified child in his hand. Suddenly, the hunchbacked Vampire¡¯s mouth opened incredibly wide. His jaw dislocated and the cheeks grotesquely tore open.


    The now-huge maw crushed the zombie¡¯s head and began munching on it.


    The skull shattered, and along with the chilling noise of meat being chewed away, bits of blood dripped down from the corners of his lips.


    ¡°¡­Because his majesty treats the brat as his personal pet, I can¡¯t have him die, now can I?¡±


    Indeed, the issue here was that the Vampire King wanted to keep the Second Imperial Prince Ruppel around. The reasoning itself was pretty simple; only the boy was capable of transferring to different bodies and taking over his victim¡¯s flesh at will.


    Meaning, the boy would serve as a truly wonderful source of nutrition once he matured enough to be served as ¡®sustenance¡¯ for the Vampire King.


    To the Vampires, Ruppel still remained a useful creature.


    **


    The pillars of blood continued swirling madly around Second Imperial Prince Ruppel¡¯s vicinity.


    Despite the location being in front of the immature world tree, the aura of life still dissipated away, only to be replaced by the power of demonic energy.


    The once-green garden rapidly began rotting. Even the leaves of the world tree were dyed in darkness.


    Numerous servants and maids nearby screamed and urgently ran away from the vicinity of the battle.


    Charlotte, the woodmen, hashashins, Harman, and Tina, all glared at Ruppel inside the centre of the tornado of blood.


    The boy grinned deeply.


    Sure, he was flustered just now, but eliminating these humans before his eyes shouldn¡¯t prove to be all that difficult.


    ¡®Five minutes. If I don¡¯t finish them off within that time frame, I¡¯ll end up in grave danger.¡¯


    Now that he had activated his demonic energy, both White and Oscal should have sensed him. Before those two showed up, Ruppel needed to kill all these people, abduct the Third Imperial Prince, and escape from here.


    But then, just before the tornado of blood could slaughter the humans blocking his path¡­


    Ruppel flinched nastily and furrowed his brows. He sensed a strange presence and turned his head towards the royal palace.


    ¡®What was that?¡¯


    He had caused this much commotion, yet other than some minor disturbances, there was not one sign of human activity coming from the building. It was almost as if all those people who should be inside the palace had evacuated to somewhere.


    Paladins should be urgently moving about to create an encirclement in order to stop him, but there wasn¡¯t even a hint of that happening, either.


    Could they have all run away in that short amount of time?


    Their response was swifter than what Ruppel had bargained for. Maybe someone noticed his presence even before he started his rampage and alerted everyone else?


    But, even if that was the case, what about the Paladins? They weren¡¯t the kind of people to run away in fear, now were they?


    ¡®Does this mean the Third Imperial Prince has also escaped, too? That¡¯s no good.¡¯


    A puzzled expression floated up on Ruppel¡¯s face. But then, his face gradually hardened until it was completely filled up with pure shock and astonishment.


    ¡°What the hell is that now?!¡±

 Chapter 160 - 86. Ruppel Olfolse -4 (Part Two)

    Ruppel¡¯s eyes caught the sight of the gushing stream of divinity. A truly vast quantity of divinity was gathering in the palace. So vast, in fact, the gathering divinity swallowed up all the demonic energy Ruppel had emitted so far, and it was still able to spread out to the surrounding air without any hindrance whatsoever.


    Just breathing alone made Ruppel feel that his lungs were burning away.


    He couldn¡¯t accurately figure out the location of the source of all that divinity. However, it was clear that somewhere within that palace, a large-scale divine magic was about to be activated.


    ¡°Insane son of a¡­!¡±


    Goosebumps broke out all over Ruppel¡¯s skin.


    No matter how he cut it, the speed of divinity gathering up was just too quick. Could it be the sword king? No, it couldn¡¯t be.


    Maybe it was White Olfolse? But that couldn¡¯t be it either.


    Those two were physical-type warriors, after all. They wouldn¡¯t do something as cumbersome as hiding away to gather extra divinity.


    ¡®What does that mean then? Could there be someone else?¡¯


    Ruppel was dumbfounded.


    He was quite confident of defeating all these people before his eyes, even if they attacked him at the same time. However, the monster busy gathering divinity somewhere within the palace was not an existence he could do anything about.


    -King Rahamma was killed.


    Ruppel recalled what Count Timong had told him earlier.


    It can¡¯t be¡­? It wasn¡¯t White who killed King Rahamma?!


    ¡®My plan¡­ it¡¯s all gone wrong!¡¯


    Ruppel¡¯s original plan was to put on a servant¡¯s attire so that no one would suspect him of anything, and then silently infiltrate the palace to abduct the Third Imperial Prince before leaving just as quietly.


    He was fairly confident of pulling it off, too.


    1


    It was the same tactic he used six years ago back in the Theocratic Empire¡¯s imperial palace, after all. Sure, Count Fomor did lend a helping hand back then, but Ruppel still managed to safely escape from the palace in the end.


    That act alone was enough to deeply enrage White and ridicule the Theocratic Empire. He believed that he¡¯d get to experience the same electrifying thrill he felt back then after successfully pulling off today¡¯s feat.


    Abducting the Third Imperial Prince should have been a far easier task than what he did back in the empire. But now, this¡­


    ¡®Dammit, just what were the spies doing all this time?! Why couldn¡¯t they have relayed the information of such a monster¡¯s existence beforehand?!¡¯


    1


    Ruppel screamed inside his head.


    He realised that now wasn¡¯t the time to fool around with a bunch of livestock. Indeed, he needed to escape from here immediately.


    Ruppel cast his gaze to the ground. A portion of the blood swirling like a tornado around him scattered on the ground, creating rune letters.


    He was planning to inscribe a warp magic circle taught to him by Count Timong.


    However¡­


    Once he sensed a presence rapidly closing in, he had to quickly raise his head.


    Charlotte had already dashed in towards him by then. Her sword brimming full with divinity unleashed a powerful divine aura.


    At the same time, the wind spirits Tina had summoned materialised all around Charlotte¡¯s figure.


    Winds enveloped her blade, and the combined attack slammed straight into the tornado of blood.


    Her blade collided noisily against the swirling blood, easily shattering the latter and scattering it all over the place.


    Ruppel winced a little, but a confidence-filled smile still crept up on his lips. ¡°You can¡¯t kill me with something weak like that.¡±


    Along with a clump of extra demonic energy gathering up, the streams of blood rushed into Ruppel¡¯s hand. But before he could do anything, a giant woodman pounded on top of him.


    The creature¡¯s hand made out of tree roots slammed down and blew apart the gathered blood.


    ¡°Tch¡­!¡±


    Ruppel urgently leapt back to dodge. But his body was impaled by daggers connected to steel chains. The short but sharp blades dug deeply into his flesh; the hashashins were responsible for this round of attack, and they began pulling at the chains connected to the daggers.


    Ruppel¡¯s body staggered. His current body was a temporary housing put together without much care, and as such, he couldn¡¯t exert much strength at all.


    But he still managed to gather enough demonic energy to summon more streams of blood, severing the chains binding him. However, he had to frown during the process.


    The flow of demonic energy wasn¡¯t natural. No, it was quite unstable, actually. Ruppel cast his gaze at the world tree, and then at the royal palace.


    ¡®How irritating!¡¯


    Mana oozed out from the world tree as divinity was gathering all around the palace itself ¨C these two things were combining to create a disadvantageous situation for him right now.


    The streams of blood continued to swirl madly around him in protective layers.


    ¡°Seriously, you are all so bloody annoying!¡±


    The blood went crazy all of a sudden and lashed out violently. It split apart and curled like whips before smashing down in all directions.


    The bodies of the woodmen were ruthlessly hacked apart by the blood whips; the exterior of the royal palace was cut and sliced apart whereas the garden was destroyed in an instant.


    The hashashins hugged Tina and quickly evacuated from there, while Harman too stepped back from the arc of the attacks. As for Charlotte, she remained within the blood tornado and dodged the incoming attacks with barely any room to spare.


    With every passing second, Ruppel¡¯s anxiety level rose higher. Three minutes had passed by already. Not too long from now, White and Oscal Baldur should show up here.


    Was that all?


    No, he still hadn¡¯t located the monster preparing for something major inside the royal palace yet, either. If all these individuals cooperated together, then Ruppel would get done in without being able to lift a single finger.


    Seconds continued to tick by, and the word ¡®death¡¯ got driven into his head deeper and deeper.


    Ruppel felt his breathing getting clogged up. His faintly-beating heart was now anxiously pounding away.


    The fear of death ¨C the fear of a full-stop being stamped on his false life ¨C quickly took a hold of him.


    ¡®No, I won¡¯t die here.¡¯


    He couldn¡¯t afford to die here yet. There were still too many things left for him to accomplish.


    For instance, bringing down the Theocratic Empire, and then¡­


    The one who made him this way, Crown Princess Consort Rose Darina, her son Ruppel, and the father who abandoned him, White Olfolse¡­


    As well as every single Imperial Family member sharing some blood with him¡­


    Until Ruppel had killed them all, he could not afford to die here today.


    He quickly splashed some blood on the ground and finished drawing the magic circle for the warp spell. He didn¡¯t care about the end coordinates anymore. It didn¡¯t matter if the warp magic was going to be unstable, either.


    He didn¡¯t care where he¡¯d end up, as long as he got to escape from here.


    ¡°Eeeyaa~, it¡¯s really nice to finally meet you, older brother.¡±


    The ground with the warp magic circle on it suddenly exploded into bits, and the echo of a gunshot rang out belatedly afterwards.


    Ruppel watched his hand burn away and clamped his mouth shut.


    As he stood there frozen, some words that distinctly sounded like the declaration of his death sentence drifted into his hearing.


    ¡°You know, I had no idea that we¡¯d get to meet each other like this, big brother.¡±


    Ruppel slowly raised his head up as cold sweat trickled down his face. That¡¯s when he finally spotted a boy standing by the palace¡¯s balcony looking at this side. On his right hand was a musket rifle, while on his left hand was a sinister-looking grimoire.


    Fear rapidly dyed Ruppel¡¯s eyes.


    He finally found it. He found the source of the massive divinity.


    All that stupendous amount of divinity was gathering on that one boy.


    ¡®H-hold on. Is that human? Is he¡­ really human?¡¯


    The boy looked fairly young.


    He must¡¯ve been just barely over seventeen years old. Yet, a young human like that was capable of wielding so much divinity?


    What kind of a nonsensical bullsh*t was this?!


    If one compared that boy to an undead that had to gather demonic energy for hundreds of years just to become decently stronger, then without a doubt, a monster like him should not be allowed to even exist in this world.


    1


    Ruppel became deeply terrified. His expression now genuinely resembled that of a frightened child. ¡°What are you?! Just who¡­ Who or what are you?!¡±


    Ruppel cried out in sheer terror.


    But his reaction only elicited a satisfied grin to break out on the face of the boy standing on the balcony. He leisurely opened his mouth. ¡°Me? I¡¯m your youngest brother, Allen Olfolse.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m a very kind, generous brother who¡¯ll take good care of your funeral arrangement. So¡­¡±


    The boy closed the grimoire while saying that. And at the same time, a portion of the royal palace spectacularly crumbled.


    A huge hand made out of bones gently lifted up the boy in its palm and raised him higher. Meanwhile, a deluge of holy water flooded out from the gaps of the crumbling Aslan royal palace.


    A huge skull broke through the crumbling debris. And a noble-looking crown was adorning it. Its gigantic torso made out bones followed right after, then four equally-large bone hands showed up to complete the outer appearance of this holy undead.


    Second Imperial Prince Ruppel stood there completely frozen as he bore witness to this unbelievable sight.


    The previously-crimson moonlight vanished and the pristine, pale-blue light cast down to the ground below.


    Divinity waves spread out around the palace¡¯s surroundings, and the holy water filled up the ground like flood water breaking free from the levee.


    Ruppel¡¯s feet began burning away immediately after getting submerged in the holy water. He staggered unsteadily before falling to his knees.


    He looked up at the upper torso of the massive skeleton king while the moon shining with purified light illuminated the giant from behind.


    Ruppel gasped out in horror. ¡°¡­Oh my dear god¡­¡±


    The skeleton king extracted a huge sword from the lake of holy water. The sword made out of gold and bones was now firmly gripped in the giant undead¡¯s hands.


    The creature¡¯s glowing eyes, seemingly burning in white flames, looked down at Ruppel as if the latter was just a minor annoyance.


    As for the boy, Allen, he stood atop the skeleton king¡¯s hand and spoke with a generous smile on his face.


    ¡°You can now be at peace and meet your end, dear big brother.¡±


    2


    < 086. Ruppel Olfolse -4 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: Only one chapter today.)

 Chapter 161 - 087. Ruppel Olfolse -5 (Part One)

    **


    Aslan¡¯s nobles, manservants, and maids were fleeing from the royal palace. Even the empire¡¯s Paladins stationed inside had evacuated in haste as well.


    The members of the Order of the Crimson Cross stared at the palace while restricting the Third Imperial Prince.


    Oscal Baldur and White Olfolse had to temporarily stop their Vampire hunt, their expressions gradually hardening.


    All of them stood on the spot and stared at the apocalyptic sight of a portion of Aslan¡¯s royal palace collapsing, then a skeleton king¡¯s massive figure making its appearance among the falling debris.


    ¡°What on earth is that now?!¡±


    White was in the middle of yanking a Vampire¡¯s head off from its torso when this happened. His jaw dropped to the floor as astonishment filled up his mind.


    On the other hand, Oscal was making a somewhat indifferent expression. ¡°¡­The undead king, is it?¡±


    He knew quite well what that humongous undead was. Well, he was one of the participants in the final battle against the Necromancer King fifty years ago, and as such, he did come face to face with the undead king back then.


    However¡­


    ¡°That creature¡­ is permeating with divinity, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Oscal¡¯s muttering prompted White¡¯s slack jaw to clamp shut quickly.


    An undead permeating with divinity? There could only be one individual capable of summoning such a creature. And he¡­


    ¡°Looks like his highness has done something outrageous once more!¡±


    White shifted his gaze away at those words and spotted Hans hurriedly running towards him, all the while pushing aside the crowd of servants and maids evacuating from the palace.


    Since White was somewhat acquainted with the merchant-cum-Alchemist, he decided to ask the latter for some clarification on the matter, ¡°Did Allen summon that creature?¡±


    Hans looked up at the distant skeleton king, and then looked back at White. He now knew the latter was indeed the empire¡¯s Crown Imperial Prince, so he replied more politely than before with a flustered voice, ¡°You didn¡¯t know, sir? He hunted the black dragon down with that undead. You know¡­ that dragon you fought against¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Wait what? He hunted that dragon down?¡± White the Crown Prince became astonished once more. No one had bothered to tell him about this.


    ¡°I should ask his highness for permission to analyse that creature properly later,¡± said Hans while putting on the pair of goggles that analysed magical tools.


    As a man who researched the truth of the world itself, the existence of the holy undead proved to be just too intriguing to ignore. Finding more about them was one of the reasons why he was planning to take a trip to the Theocratic Empire¡¯s imperial palace later on.


    While he was staring at the skeleton king and observing it, he detected a strange little flow of energy from nearby.


    He turned his gaze at this surprisingly intricate, detailed, and even complicated flow.


    Wasn¡¯t this¡­ magical flow associated with a warp spell?


    Hans¡¯s puzzled gaze eventually landed on the entrance of an alleyway quite some distance away. And that¡¯s when he spotted a group of men in black robes gathered around there.


    They were also frozen stiff in their spots after witnessing the advent of the skeleton king.


    ¡®Are they sorcerers or something?¡¯


    Hans wondered to himself, but then realised that the flow his goggles had picked up didn¡¯t belong to Mana, but demonic energy instead.


    In that case, Necromancers maybe¡­?


    Just as he began thinking, ¡®Makes sense, Necromancers are a common sight in Aslan, after all,¡¯ the trace of demonic energy coming from them simply vanished like a fading mirage.


    Hans clamped his mouth shut at that.


    A group capable of instantly hiding their demonic energy? There could only be one such group capable of pulling off such a feat.


    Vampires.


    All colour drained out of Hans¡¯s complexion.


    **


    Count Timong, who was standing in the alleyway at that very moment, was genuinely freaking out as he stared at the skeleton king. ¡°Is that a t-titan?!¡±


    No, wait ¨C that being wasn¡¯t one of the sealed creatures.


    That thing was¡­ an undead. Not just any, but an existence possessing ¡®divinity¡¯!


    Timong the Alchemist¡¯s jaw dropped to the floor. ¡°Incredible! But¡­ this doesn¡¯t make any sense. No! Such a thing shouldn¡¯t even be possible! A perfect harmony of Necromancy and divine-type magic?!¡±


    He urgently shook his head from side to side, hoping to reject reality before his eyes.


    But then, a certain chain of thoughts abruptly popped up in his head.


    ¡®Hold on!¡¯


    Chaotic confusion quickly made a mess of Count Timong¡¯s mind. His pool of knowledge swirled madly and all sorts of terms fleeted in and out of his consciousness.


    An extraordinary phenomenon. A contradiction. Harmony of demonic energy and divinity. Gods, the titan races, different dimensions¡­


    ¡­And then, warp magic.


    Timong¡¯s face hardened gradually, but that state lasted only for a little while. An expression of rapture rapidly formed on his face as he spread open his arms wide. His hunched back straightened up as well.


    His expression was filled up with the glow of pure ecstasy as a loud yell jumped out of his mouth, ¡°I¡¯ve figured it out!¡±


    He was basically crying out, ¡®Eureka!¡¯


    His emotions had gotten the better of him and he inadvertently activated Spirit Speech during his shout. The other Vampires flinched in shock and hurriedly stared at Count Timong before turning their gazes away.


    Was it because Timong¡¯s voice was permeating with demonic energy?


    No, perhaps not; a human wearing a pair of goggles had been staring at them before the yell and was already crying out, ¡°Vampires!¡±


    Thanks to his scream, the cordon of Paladins on standby in front of Aslan¡¯s royal palace simultaneously turned their heads. That also included Oscal and White as well.


    The single word, ¡®Vampires¡¯, caused their expressions to harden, madness swirling nearly out of control in their eyes.


    Their gazes that were previously taking in the sight of the skeleton king had already locked on to the Vampires, causing the complexions of the latter group to pale in an instant.


    Two nightmare-like existences to Vampires were currently staring at them ¨C the perverted Crown Imperial Prince, rumoured to derive much pleasure from collecting severed Vampire heads and interrogating them, and then the zealot sword king, also known to be a connoisseur of raw Vampire flesh.


    3


    The Vampires predicted that one of these two would be facing off Ruppel, while the other would be occupied with hunting down the undead that had arrived earlier, but as it turned out, their prediction was wide off the mark.


    If the empire¡¯s forces had been spread out, then the Vampires would¡¯ve stood a good chance of rescuing Ruppel from this mess, but it was practically impossible now.


    The sword king and the Crown Imperial Prince, then the unknown giant holy undead¡­


    Now was the time to escape from here.


    ¡®Dammit¡­!¡¯


    The Vampires cried out in fear and anxiety.


    ¡°We need to flee!¡±


    ¡°Escort Count Timong! Hurry!¡±


    The Vampires urgently grabbed onto Count Timong.


    However, he had always been obsessed with all things related to Alchemy and as such, he was now completely lost in madness while taking in the sight of the contradictory truth playing out right before his eyes.


    He extended his hands and flailed ungainly about. ¡°Aaaaah! The truth, it¡¯s right over there! Just a little bit more! A little more!¡±


    ¡°No! We need to escape from here, sir! Before we get our heads yanked out and tortured by that pervert, we need to hurry¡­!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too late for Lord Ruppel now!¡±


    ¡°Ha, hahah! Ooooh, oooooooooh-!¡±


    Unlike the desperate Vampires, Count Timong had a crazed smile as he continued roaring out in elation. His lengthy, bizarre-looking hands reached out towards the skeleton king.


    His eyes were gleaming brightly. ¡°I¡­ I may finally get to complete it. The eternity that I¡¯ve been researching all my life, soon I can¡­!¡±


    ¡°Warp, now! Warp!¡±


    The Vampires urgently headed back into the empty house that they had come out of earlier. They breathlessly jumped on top of the warp magic circle drawn on the floor.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have any offerings with us!¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. Instead of offerings, we¡¯ll just utilise our own demonic energy.¡±


    After saying that, Vampires began rousing up their demonic energy.


    ¡°Uwaaahk!¡±


    A scream suddenly exploded out, and the gathered Vampires quickly turned their heads in that direction.


    Their comrades, a little tardier in their attempt to escape, were collapsing in heaps as blood gushed out from their bodies.


    Behind them were the smiling sword king wielding a gleaming sword, and the Crown Imperial Imperial busy yanking off the head of a Vampire.


    Their eyes glowed eerily within the darkness of the night.


    Holy cow! How could they have traversed that distance so quickly?!


    ¡°Heeeiiik?!¡±


    ¡°Everyone, offer up your lives! If you don¡¯t want your head yanked out and tortured, then¡­!¡±


    The frightened Vampires gave their all and wrung their demonic energy dry. Even if they get extinguished out of existence, they simply had to escape from this place.


    1


    Despite their urgent situation, Count Timong didn¡¯t even bother to stare at either White Olfolse or Oscal Baldur.


    He was still continuously smiling away while looking through the abandoned house¡¯s window. He stared at the skeleton king and guffawed out. ¡°Aaaah! It¡¯ll soon be completed! My warp gate of truth!¡±


    The sword king and the Crown Imperial Prince dashed forward.


    ¡°Uwaaahk!¡±


    The Vampires unhesitatingly offered up their lives. A few of them experienced their demonic energy going out of control and even burst into flames.


    But their efforts were not in vain ¨C with only a hair¡¯s breadth apart, the warp activated and the Vampires disappeared from the spot.


    ¡°Tch.¡±


    The sword king and White stood before the magic circle and could only tut loudly.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    The collapsed debris from the royal palace rained down.


    The skeleton king revealed its impressively huge frame within the collapsing building, using its two hands to shield me from the falling debris.


    1


    Its third hand pressed against the ground to balance itself while the fourth was pulling out its sword from the holy lake.


    Wow, it feels like my divinity reserve was being sucked dry.


    Fatigue rushed in too, but since it was still at a tolerable level, it should be fine.


    But the important thing was, I got to control my divinity without blacking out like the last time. That single fact alone caused a smile to automatically creep up on my lips.


    ¡®Sure, I¡¯ll probably have to go through pretty severe muscle pain for a while, but even then, how great is this?!¡¯


    2


    I glanced at the world tree. As expected, that thing¡¯s effect was top notch. The tree had managed to greatly soften the backlash of Amon¡¯s relic.


    Unlike back when I ended up losing my consciousness while fighting against the dragon, I felt confident of staying awake until the end this time.


    If I matured just a little bit more, then I should be able to freely wield this power as I wish. Without a doubt, I was growing stronger. I could definitely feel that.


    Even before being conscious of it, I was covering my grinning mouth with my hand.


    The more I mastered new magic spells and summoned all sorts of colourful undeads, the more I felt this strange ecstasy and elation.


    This sense of satisfaction was impossible to describe, really.


    Even I could tell that this was seriously concerning.


    1


    This sensation couldn¡¯t have been caused by the unique attributes of a Necromancer. And it sure as heck wasn¡¯t part of a Priest¡¯s nature either.


    No, this¡­ this sign of madness had to be hiding within the imperial bloodline itself.


    ¡®I think I know why the Imperial Family is so dang obsessed with hunting down Vampires.¡¯


    One¡¯s faith? Religious doctrine? Because those things preyed on innocent people? In order to protect the empire¡¯s subjects?


    Nope, none of the above.


    Right, they were all excuses as far as I could tell.


    There would be no better creatures than Vampires to ¡®upgrade¡¯ yourself as quickly as possible. Because they existed in this world, the Imperial Family got to experience the scope of their own powers.


    Vampires required hundreds of years to become powerful, but the members of the Imperial Family could catch up to them in the matter of a decade or two.


    This group of religious quacks were obsessed with power. No, hang on. I should correct myself and say that the Imperial Family had become blinded by this powerful sense of accomplishment born out of getting ¡®stronger¡¯.


    ¡®I ain¡¯t gonna end up as one of them, I hope?¡¯


    3


    I tried so hard to deny the worrisome possibility in my mind as I locked my gaze on Second Imperial Prince Ruppel.


    Wow, that dude really looks like a terrified little kid, doesn¡¯t he?


    His unstable body was breaking apart at a visible rate, the holy water lake overflowing like a biblical flood easily melting him down.


    He did look pretty pitiful, this older brother of mine. He was thrashing about in anguish and pain.


    That¡¯s why¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to rest for all eternity, older brother.¡±


    ¡­I should send him ¡®gently¡¯ away.


    1


    (TL: Also only one chapter tomorrow as well.)

 Chapter 162 - 087. Ruppel Olfolse -5 (Part Two)

    The skeleton king¡¯s huge jawbone popped open and a whitish blue breath gushed out from the open maw.


    The golden bone sword soon permeated with the aura of divinity so dense that it would¡¯ve melted down a regular Vampire if one happened to be nearby.


    The sacred and pure-white aura crazily swirled around the weapon. The skeleton king¡¯s glowing eyes shifted and locked on to Ruppel down below.


    The golden bone sword gradually rose up.


    ¡°Tina.¡±


    I turned my gaze over to the side. Charlotte and Harman had quickly retreated to some distance away, while the hashashins were evacuating from the vicinity altogether, carrying Tina away.


    She was staring at me with a dazed look on her face.


    I looked back and could only smile wryly at her. ¡°Sorry about this but, uh, I¡¯m gonna wreck your castle a bit more.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The moment my apology came to an end, the skeleton king¡¯s sword came crashing down.


    The blinding white aura sliced the winds apart and a single huge blade fell like a meteor.


    The colours drained out from Ruppel¡¯s face as he took in this spectacular sight.


    He should be able to tell. With a strike like that, not only would his physical body burn away to nothing, even his soul would be purified out of existence as well.


    However, wouldn¡¯t you agree that this was actually a wonderful funeral? I mean, this was basically a cremation and cleansing of one¡¯s soul at the same time, right? I¡¯m telling you, there shouldn¡¯t be a younger brother who worries more about the welfare of his older brother than me in this world.


    3


    Ruppel shuddered while crying out, ¡°You! You think I¡¯ll die today?!¡±


    It seemed that the final resistance of the unwilling had begun.


    I watched Ruppel desperately gather demonic energy in him.


    ¡°I¡­ I died while struggling from the pain of asphyxiation,¡± Ruppel said in a tearful voice. The little boy doggedly cried out as streams of blood began swirling all around him. ¡°I wanted to live!¡±


    I know. I¡¯m sure you wanted to live back then. No living creature out there would want to die as soon as they were born, after all.


    Also, if they had no choice but to die, then they would¡¯ve preferred to die without experiencing pain and anguish.


    However¡­


    Ruppel continued to shout at me, ¡°My own mother turned me into a zombie!¡±


    The streams of blood spun like a tornado and blew away the holy water pooling around him on the ground. The blood went onto become all sorts of weapons ¨C from swords to spears, axes, maces, etc, etc¡­


    ¡°And then, my father threw me away, just like that!¡± Ruppel¡¯s expression distorted from pure rage. ¡°Until I have my vengeance¡­ Until then¡­!¡±


    The weapons of blood flew out. They stretched out like whips and collided against the skeleton king¡¯s golden bone sword.


    Explosion noises resounded out and the weapons of blood burst apart into oblivion.


    The final struggles of the living dead proved to be meaningless in front of the sacred sword.


    ¡°That damn livestock who abandoned me, but treasured and cared about my other siblings, I¡­!¡± Ruppel¡¯s mouth suddenly clamped shut before splitting open again. Tears of blood trickled down his cheeks as he stared at the descending blade. ¡°¡­I only wanted to kill them all.¡±


    With an expression of indifference, I stared at Ruppel. ¡°Rest well, brother.¡±


    The sword slammed into the ground.


    Streams of blood exploded and got purified out of existence.


    A portion of the palace got crushed from the giant sword coming down. The same applied to Ruppel¡¯s physical body, also crushed flat by the huge blade.


    A deafening explosion rocked the night sky.


    I didn¡¯t take pity on him nor did I lower my guard.


    My opponent was none other than the second prince of the Imperial Family. There was obviously no way I¡¯d let him escape.


    Besides all that, he was also a Vampire. All the things he had done until now were not something I could forgive or overlook, after all.


    I was different from White. I didn¡¯t even see this creature before my eyes as a family member of mine, someone hailing from the same bloodline.


    If it was Luan or Hilda, they probably would¡¯ve hesitated. But to me, this punk was a complete stranger. I had no thoughts of sparing a bastard who might potentially cause a huge headache later down the line.


    The skeleton king¡¯s strike was absurdly powerful.


    The attack had not only destroyed a portion of the royal palace, but the shockwave even caused the surrounding buildings to crumble down as well.


    The vicious dust storm blocked the view and I had to frown deeply as I got caught in the middle of it.


    I waved the dust away and looked below me. The lake of holy water, split in half by the strike, was undulating madly while filling back up once more.


    ¡®Huh. It¡¯s stronger than I thought.¡¯


    I had no clue since I blacked out during the battle against the dragon, but this time around, I got to properly witness the skeleton king¡¯s destructive power.


    What a relief it was that I had the foresight to evacuate everyone from the royal palace beforehand with my skeleton helpers.


    I looked at where the sword had landed and saw Ruppel¡¯s body there.


    A figure of a young boy was burning away into ashes. And among the scattering ashes¡­


    -Kkiiiaaaahk! Aaaaahk!


    ¡­An ¡®infant¡¯ screeching out like a monster revealed itself.


    Its whole body was crimson in colour. It should¡¯ve been a stillborn human infant, yet its appearance could only be described as a horrifying monster.


    The small monster submerged in the lake of holy water continued thrashing about in sheer anguish.


    This creature resembling a newborn monster yelped out in a bizarre-sounding voice, ¡°C-Count Timong! Dammit, dammit all to hell¡­ Count Timong-! Come and save me¡­!¡±


    I furrowed my brows at that. Was it because he was a marquis-class? He somehow managed to survive that strike.


    I stood on the skeleton king¡¯s hand as it lowered towards the floor. Once it touched the firm ground, the gigantic undead entered the lake and began disappearing from this world.


    I glared down at Ruppel and asked him, ¡°Oh? So there are other Vampires around, is that it? And not just any, but a count? Too bad for you, it¡¯ll be difficult for them to come.¡±


    ¡°W-what are you¡­?¡±


    The Second Imperial Prince¡¯s glaring eyes rose up to meet mine.


    I kept looking down on him as the corners of my lips curled up. ¡°I mean, you do know that the sword king and the Crown Prince are right outside, don¡¯t you? Besides, even if they weren¡¯t here, I¡¯m not so weak that I¡¯ll fail to handle one unstable Vampire and a Count-class undead.¡±


    I picked up Ruppel in one hand. His body, which was burning away from the effects of the holy water even now, trembled weakly in my grip.


    His body¡¯s recovery rate seemed quite slow to me. Huh, this punk, was he really a marquis-class Vampire?


    He was way weaker than I expected, that¡¯s for sure. Maybe it was because his body was so unstable?


    Still, we should be able to fully ¡®utilise¡¯ this little punk.


    It was then that I sensed a presence nearby.


    I immediately summoned my musket and accurately aimed it at White, who just so happened to be approaching us from the side. ¡°Don¡¯t come any closer. Please.¡±


    White flinched a little and stopped in his tracks. I could see Oscal and the Paladins behind him.


    I looked at White once more and addressed him, ¡°You have an undeniable responsibility in this matter. I pray that you won¡¯t become too emotional and do something rather unwise.¡±


    I didn¡¯t call him ¡®father¡¯ as I didn¡¯t plan to let him act as he wanted and create more headaches in the future.


    White closed his slack jaw for a moment before asking me something, ¡°Are you going to kill Ruppel?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll perform his funeral myself. But before that¡­¡± I shifted my gaze over to the monster infant, Ruppel the former Second Imperial Prince. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll have him confess to everything he knows.¡±


    Ruppel flinched from that.


    The organisation of Vampires? If those bastards invaded the Theocratic Empire, then you can bet your bottom dollar that things would get really troublesome for me.


    1


    No, hang on. Maybe it¡¯d be a good thing if they did.


    By preparing thoroughly beforehand for the upcoming invasion, we might get a chance to completely wipe out the Vampires once and for all.


    As far as I could tell, it seemed that our enemies weren¡¯t all that clued up on the situation of the Theocratic Empire.


    The current forces of the empire should be plenty strong enough to stop the invasion of the Vampires, or so I figured.


    We had the Holy Emperor, the Crown Imperial Prince, the sword king, and the five forces of the Imperial Family. And finally, me.


    Oh, and also the archbishops, too.


    The moment they showed up, only a one-sided slaughter would be waiting for those Vampire bastards.


    White¡¯s expression hardened. ¡°Allen, could it be¡­!¡±


    ¡°Oscal!¡±


    I called out and Oscal Baldur walked up before bowing his head to me.


    ¡°Yes, your highness. This servant awaits your orders.¡±


    ¡°We shall transfer the Second Imperial Prince back to the Theocratic Empire. However, I do not want anyone to get close to him. Do you have any ways to ensure that not even White will be able to interfere?¡±


    I deliberately omitted the ¡®Crown Imperial Prince¡¯ title and went with his name, ¡®White¡¯, instead.


    Right now, what I wanted was the ¡®jurisdiction to imprison¡¯ that not even the authority afforded by the position of the Crown Imperial Prince could reverse.


    I asked just in case, but as it turned out, I made the right call.


    Oscal Baldur gave me quite a satisfactory answer. ¡°Yes, your highness. There is a place where his majesty the Holy Emperor personally imprisons and interrogates the captured Vampires. Not only is his eminence the archbishop present there, we the Order of the Golden Cross has set up a camp there as well. His majesty frequently pays visits as well, ensuring that no one will be able to approach the location.¡± Oscal glanced at White before continuing on, ¡°Unless one is the Holy Emperor, even someone like his highness the Crown Imperial Prince wouldn¡¯t be allowed to step foot inside.¡±


    Oscal wasn¡¯t aware of the Second Imperial Prince¡¯s story. Even then, he chose to follow my lead. He must¡¯ve thought that I knew more about today¡¯s raid than White, and that¡¯s why he decided to listen to me.


    ¡°We will take this creature to that location. I shall personally get his majesty¡¯s permission.¡± I shook around the monster infant in my hand. ¡°Torture this bastard until he spits out everything he knows. And once he finishes telling us everything, execute him. No, hang on. Call me first. I shall personally handle his funeral.¡±


    ¡°This servant understands.¡±


    After getting Oscal¡¯s confident reply, I indifferently whispered to Second Imperial Prince Ruppel¡¯s ear, ¡°Brother. As a Vampire, you¡¯ve been granted the peerage of a marquis, haven¡¯t you? In that case, you should be rather knowledgeable on the movements of your fellow Vampires.¡±


    The infant Ruppel visibly froze up.


    I continued addressing him, ¡°Brother, you are quite something else. To think that you¡¯d personally deliver yourself in order to hand over information regarding the Vampires, all for the sake of the Imperial Family. Overall, I¡¯d say the end result is great, considering that we¡¯d now get to learn more about all the Vampire-related matters thanks to your moronic actions. Once you tell us everything you know, things will get so much more¡­ comfortable for you.¡±


    Only one future remained for him ¨C torture at the hands of the Order of the Crimson Cross, and then death.


    The Second Imperial Prince Ruppel¡¯s face grew incredibly pale. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t want to-!¡±


    ¡°Charlotte, Harman.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness.¡±


    ¡°We await your orders, your highness.¡±


    ¡°We shall return to the Theocratic Empire as quickly as possible,¡±


    I addressed them while handing over Ruppel to Oscal.


    ¡°¡­And we shall start preparing for war against the Vampires.¡±


    < 087. Ruppel Olfolse -5 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: Back to two chapters a day from tomorrow.)

 Chapter 163 - 088. Church of Caiolium -1 (Part One)

    ¡°No! Let me go! Don¡¯t hurt me!¡±


    The Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel, was screaming out desperately.


    Unfortunately, he was still placed inside a small chest.


    The chest in question was made with ¡®Eltera¡¯, the type of metal that boasted high resistance against magic. A Vampire who lost much of its strength wouldn¡¯t even be able to resist when trapped inside.


    Oscal and several Paladins stood tall around the chest. They were going to keep an around-the-clock surveillance during the trip, starting from this moment onwards. Since they were dealing with the Second Imperial Prince, they needed to strictly keep out anyone wishing to come closer.


    Several carriages were lined up before us. One of them held the arrested Third Imperial Prince Ruppel, and White was also riding with him in the same carriage. With this, our preparation to depart to the Theocratic Empire was completed.


    I shifted my gaze away from the carriages and stared at the Aslan royal palace.


    ¡­A portion of the structure had completely collapsed.


    Even if it belonged to the vanquished country, well, what I did was basically the same thing as blowing up a friend¡¯s house. As proof, Tina was still staring at her palace in a dazed, soul-left-her-body kind of expression.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m really sorry.¡±


    I apologised to her once more.


    The skeletons summoned by Necromancers were in the middle of repairing the palace. The job shouldn¡¯t take too long, but until then, Aslan would remain unstable.


    Tina was jolted awake, then quickly flailed her hands urgently to express that she didn¡¯t mind it. ¡°N-no, it¡¯s fine. Once Damon arrives, we should have enough funds to pay for the repairs. I should be glad that no one was hurt all thanks to you, Lord Angel.¡±


    Oh, I see that Damon who was managing the¡­ ¡®believers¡¯ back in the ancient Aslan tomb has decided to come here. Well, quite a lot of the dragon¡¯s relics could be found there, so it made some sense.


    I figured that the treasure trove should be more than enough to pay for the palace restoration, and still have plenty left over after that.


    ¡°But¡­ You¡¯re really leaving us¡­ I was truly surprised back when you first told me that you are an Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire,¡± said Tina while looking at the row of carriages with a bitter smile on her face. She glanced at me and carried on, ¡°I still haven¡¯t been able to repay any of my gratitude yet.¡±


    ¡°Never mind gratitude, you still have to deal with the yearly tribute problem, don¡¯t you? Actually, I¡¯m also sorry about that. That wasn¡¯t something I could mediate on, unfortunately.¡±


    ¡°I believe everything will work out fine, Lord Angel. It may be difficult for us right now, but without a doubt, the situation will improve for us in the future.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you say so.¡±


    I smacked my lips ruefully. What a positive child she was.


    Tina continued on, ¡°Please call on us anytime if you need help. I promise to do my best within my powers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll happily accept the sentiment, at least.¡±


    Honestly speaking, I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be in a serious need for Aslan¡¯s aid in the future. Even if a war against the Vampires did break out, there was no way the Theocratic Empire would crumble down so easily.


    More than anything else, Tina would be too busy with managing the unstable Aslan for a good while.


    ¡°Your highness.¡±


    I turned my head.


    Charlotte walked up to me and whispered in my ear, ¡°The investigation into the warp magic circle the Vampires used to escape is still ongoing. Sir Harman has a report to make.¡±


    I slightly nodded at her report and headed to an abandoned house some distance away from the palace along with her.


    Paladins were on full alert all around us.


    We eventually arrived at the empty house located fairly deep in an alleyway. Even at a casual glance, you could tell that this shabby, rundown house had been abandoned for a long time.


    A warp magic circle was engraved on the ground.


    More Paladins were guarding the building¡¯s perimeter, while Harman and several Alchemists were investigating the magic circle together.


    ¡°Your highness, you¡¯ve arrived.¡±


    Harman saw me enter and lowered his head.


    I scanned the house¡¯s vicinity, as well as its walls. All sorts of rune letters were written everywhere like some kind of esoteric graffiti.


    Even I couldn¡¯t tell what they were about.


    ¡°How is it going?¡±


    I asked, but that only elicited a groan from Harman¡¯s lips.


    ¡°Your highness. It seems that this warp magic circle has been installed here since a long time ago.¡±


    My brows furrowed all on their own from that. The ¡®long time ago¡¯ bit implied that the Vampire bastards had prepared several warp magic circles in various parts of Aslan, and that they did it quite a while ago, too.


    I asked, ¡°Does that mean the Vampires have been freely using warp magic whenever they want?¡±


    ¡°The possibility of more Vampire warp magic circles being installed besides this location is quite high, your highness. It¡¯s likely that these things were prepared ahead of time in case they needed to escape in emergency situations. To make matters worse, the technology behind the circle is quite considerable as well. According to the Alchemists, they have not seen a magic circle technique this exquisite before.¡±


    I heard that the Vampires had activated the warp spell without the use of sacrifices.


    This ¡®warp gate¡¯ utilised different rune letters compared to the scroll made by Alchemist Hans. Actually, this thing was similar to the one employed by Nasus the Lich, instead.


    Which implied that the user of this circle could freely travel to anywhere they pleased.


    I asked again, ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll find these things in the empire, too?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, I believe we will, your highness. As a matter of fact, I¡¯d wager that there are quite a few of them.¡±


    Well, that sure sounded like a lot of trouble.


    I mean, we just found out that the Vampires had placed installations enabling them to come in, rampage around, and merrily go on their way whenever they want. If that¡¯s not trouble, then what is?


    Harman groaned and continued on, ¡°Also, it¡¯ll be near impossible to figure out the coordinates they have escaped to, your highness.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    This was a warp magic circle with rune letters written on it. Meaning, it was connected to another warp circle on the other side somewhere.


    As long as we figure out the coordinates for the other circle, we should be able to find out where the hideout of the Vampires were, but now¡­


    ¡°We can¡¯t decipher the end coordinates, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Are you telling me that we can¡¯t figure out the Vampires¡¯ location?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The coordinates seems to be etched on the circle itself, that¡¯s for certain, but the formula is just too complex and¡­¡±


    Harman stared at the Alchemists.


    They were sweating bullets while alternating their flustered gazes between the warp magic circle and some books.


    ¡°They say that they don¡¯t have a way to decipher the coordinates. The warp circle itself seems to be based on an ancient sorcery technique, and the technical prowess behind it is just too otherworldly that they can¡¯t seem to wrap their heads around it, your highness.¡±


    These Alchemists were supposedly quite renowned in their field of expertise, but even their combined attempt to decipher the magic circle resulted in them shaking their heads in helplessness.


    I could only feel rueful at this sight. If only we knew where they were hiding; we¡¯d be able to hit them right back.


    But it couldn¡¯t be helped since finding out was next to impossible.


    ¡°Uhm, excuse me¡­¡± It was at that moment that Hans, who was spectating on the proceedings from the corner, suddenly spoke to us, ¡°I think I can decipher the magic circle.¡±


    The gathered Alchemists flinched in shock from that declaration, and openly shot hostile glares at Hans.


    Well, these folks were renowned Alchemists within the Theocratic Empire. They must¡¯ve been feeling flabbergasted, and not in a good way either, when some no-name, no-achievement merchant-wannabe said he¡¯d decipher something they failed to do so.


    Since I was in front of them, they couldn¡¯t raise their voices too high and only grumbled under their breaths.


    ¡°Nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Busy saying rubbish.¡±


    ¡°These are ancient letters at least a few thousand years old. How can some Alchemist from the sticks¡­¡±


    I roundly ignored what they were grumbling about. ¡°Hey, Hans.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir?¡±


    ¡°How long do you need to decipher this thing and figure out the end coordinates?¡±


    Hans¡¯s eyes opened wider at my question.


    Did he feel happy that I believed him? He must be, since he suddenly yelled out with a bright expression, ¡°Four months, sir! No, wait! Three months. Yes, three months should suffice, sir!¡±


    Huh, that¡¯s longer than I thought.


    ¡°Can you accurately pinpoint their location?¡±


    ¡°As long as I decipher it, reverse warping into the location will be more than doable, sir! Of course, you¡¯ll need a lot of energy to do so, but still.¡±


    Well, that¡¯s good to hear.


    Because it meant that we could send an army of Paladins there in the near future.


    ¡°You sure you can do this?¡±


    ¡°Yes! I¡¯m confident of it as long as I have access to enough data!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll grant you permission to utilise the imperial palace¡¯s library. If you wish, I¡¯m also willing to support you with everything you need.¡± I pointed at the gathered Alchemists and finished the rest of my sentence, ¡°You can also ask these fellas to be your assistants, too.¡±


    Hans animatedly nodded several times at that.


    It was then that one of the Priests approached Harman and whispered something in his ear.


    Harman¡¯s expression hardened from the report, and he suddenly began glancing at me as if to gauge my mood first.


    I stared at the dude who just didn¡¯t have any talent in lying and asked him straight, ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Harman?¡±


    He looked back at me with a somewhat dazed expression and responded, ¡°Your highness, it¡­ seems to have begun.¡±


    ¡°What has begun?¡±


    ¡°His majesty¡¯s¡­¡± Harman shifted his gaze over to the distant carriage containing Ruppel and quietly muttered out, ¡°¡­Purging of all the traitors, your highness.¡±

 Chapter 164 - : 088. Church of Caiolium -1 (Part Two)

    **


    Pleasant notes belonging to a musical score gently drifted within the imperial palace.


    Kelt Olfolse had his eyes quietly closed while listening to the music.


    A band continued to play a gentle, soothing melody, and a singer sang a sacred hymn that matched the music.


    ¡°Pant¡­ pant¡­ Keok¡­ cough, cough!¡±


    However, noises disharmonious to the gentle music suddenly entered the Holy Emperor¡¯s ears.


    He slowly opened his eyes and stared at the imperial audience chamber he was currently in.


    This sacred area was supposed to be pristine and pure at all times, yet a bloodied and battered old man was kneeling on the floor while breathlessly panting away.


    He was one of the five archbishops of the Theocratic Empire named Gale. And on either side of him were Paladins standing tall and pointing their swords at the archbishop¡¯s throat.


    ¡°Y-y-your majesty! I really, truly do not know anything. Please, have mercy¡­!¡±


    With a face full of terror, Gale repeated himself over and over again.


    Holy Emperor Kelt stared at him and asked in an indifferent tone of voice, ¡°Is he telling the truth, Raphael?¡±


    Archbishop Raphael, who was standing next to the emperor, sighed deeply and presented a document. Kelt took that, perused its contents, and furrowed his brows.


    ¡°The information garnered by the imperial court is rather different from your testimony, Gale.¡± Kelt leaned back on the throne and interlocked his fingers. ¡°I shall ask you about some matters pertaining to the Crown Imperial Princess Consort and the Third Imperial Prince, as well as those who have collaborated with them.¡±


    The Holy Emperor¡¯s eyes narrowed to slits as he tossed the document in his hand at Archbishop Gale.


    The latter¡¯s eyes trembled grandly when the document fell before his face.


    Kelt carried on, ¡°Is Cardinal Mikael behind the ones conspiring against the throne?¡±


    Archbishop Gale firmly shut his mouth. His body shuddered as his head faltered lower.


    Kelt accepted this bout of silence as a tacit acknowledgement and nodded his head in understanding. ¡°I see what emboldened the traitors Rose Darina and Ruppel into collaborating with Aslan. Vampires, Aslan, and now even the traitorous bastards hiding within the empire, too¡­ Truly now, this is not much different from a bloody sewer, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Holy Emperor Kelt stood up from the throne.


    He lightly waved his hand, prompting the Paladins and the musicians to bow deeply before leaving the imperial audience chamber.


    After they had all left, the grand door firmly closed shut. The only remaining people were Kelt, Raphael, and Archbishop Gale.


    Once Gale saw how no one was around to listen to the proceedings anymore, he hurriedly planted his head on the floor before crying out urgently, ¡°Your majesty! I¡­ I merely did as his eminence Cardinal Mikael ordered me. It, it never was my intention to¡­!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Could it be that he promised to aid you in the next cardinal election if you did as he said?¡±


    Kelt leisurely walked forward. He then reached down and grabbed the kneeling Archbishop Gale¡¯s head.


    ¡°I guess the archbishops are getting too old these days. To think that they would do something this moronic after being blinded by greed. Unfortunately, Gale, you jumped on the wrong ship.¡±


    ¡°Y-your majesty! Just give me one chance! One chance, and I¡­¡±


    The sound of something being crushed apart resounded out. The crimson carpet on the audience chamber¡¯s floor got soaked in various bodily liquids.


    While wiping his bloodied hand on the helm of his robe, Kelt called out, ¡°Raphael.¡±


    Archbishop Raphael walked up next to Kelt and lowered his head.


    Kelt wordlessly stared at the holy man, and then began fixing the latter¡¯s attire for some reason.


    However, his hand was still bloody and that only stained the clergyman¡¯s robe, so naturally, Raphael started frowning deeply instead. ¡°Your majesty, please stop it and withdraw your hands. You¡¯re making my robe dirty. This is a precious robe that my granddaughter has gifted me with.¡±


    Even though his fellow archbishop was killed right in front of him, Raphael wasn¡¯t bothered in the slightest. No, he seemed far, far more displeased by the fact that the Holy Emperor was soiling his robe.


    But such a thing only served to relax Kelt instead. ¡°You know, I like that fact that you¡¯re so honest.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m too honest if I say so myself. So honest that back when we were still young, you used to beat me and Oscal up regularly.¡±


    Kelt grinned at that.


    He glanced at the dead archbishop and then shifted his attention back to Raphael. ¡°Alright. So which ship are you riding on now? Is it mine, or Mikael¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°What ship are you even talking about, your majesty? Even the position of cardinal is meant to serve the Imperial Family. Besides all that, I¡¯m scheduled to become the next cardinal without lifting a finger anyways, your majesty. Is there a need for me to get on anyone¡¯s ship?¡±


    After listening to Raphael¡¯s grumbles, Kelt cocked his head to the side and asked, ¡°Hmm. Raphael?¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty?¡±


    ¡°How old are you this year?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m one hundred years old.¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s Cardinal Mikael¡¯s age?¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s one hundred and five.¡±


    ¡°It seems that he¡¯s quite unwilling to retire from his post, wouldn¡¯t you agree? In that case, when will you get promoted to the rank of cardinal, I wonder? If I remember correctly, the two remaining archbishops are much younger than you, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Raphael grinned bitterly at that astute observation.


    Indeed, the Holy Emperor was correct. No matter how famed the Theocratic Empire was for its subjects enjoying lengthy lifespans, realistically speaking, Raphael wasn¡¯t too long for this world.


    Even if he did become the cardinal tomorrow, he wouldn¡¯t be able to stay in the position for long.


    Kelt continued on, ¡°I¡¯ve never really liked them in the first place. Back during the Necromancer King Amon incident, weren¡¯t they all busy shivering away and wetting their pants in some dark corner of a room somewhere?¡±


    ¡°But your majesty, we achieved victory because of their support.¡±


    ¡°Their support amounted to nothing more than war funds, did it not? A bunch of talentless hacks somehow managed to seize power, and even now, they spend their days idling away in a safe haven. They have become too corrupted and disorderly.¡±


    The politically-powerful entity independent of the Imperial Court, the Church of Caiolium, was an organisation full of problems.


    A group of archbishops had come together to create the Church a long time ago, and its original job was to stand tall as an organisation meant to prevent the Holy Emperors from becoming corrupt, and at the same time, to train future Priests so that they may walk the virtuous path.


    Throughout its history, it see-sawed between being the clean, righteous organisation filled with devout believers, and the most corrupt, disorganised gathering of power-hungry individuals.


    The reason for that was the voting system to elect the next cardinal.


    From a certain moment on, people desiring political influence began ingratiating themselves on the archbishops that managed to seize power.


    ¡°I¡¯ve anticipated such a thing to a degree,¡± Kelt said.


    Despite all its failings, the Church managed to maintain itself all because it possessed a portion of political power of the Theocratic Empire, not to mention the truly enormous wealth to back it up.


    The Church desired to be fully independent from the empire. They probably schemed to use the war with Aslan to their advantage ¨C manipulate the Third Imperial Prince and extract all the benefits they can get in the process.


    No doubt, they must¡¯ve planned to end the war when the time was right, and then share the spoils with Aslan afterwards.


    ¡°Too bad for them, they¡¯ve crossed the line.¡±


    Kelt growled out, and Raphael next to him silently agreed.


    The latter placed much importance on being incorruptible, so he desired to reform the Church once he became the next cardinal, but in all honesty, he knew that it¡¯d be difficult to go along with the voting system the higher-ups in the Church favoured.


    ¡°We¡¯re living in a world where powerful monsters roam unchecked. It¡¯s hard to predict what will happen in the future. With my grandchildren about to rise up to this occasion, I will not stand by and let this empire turn into a damn sewer pit. I wish to cleanse everything during this opportunity. So I ask you¡­¡± Kelt quietly stared at Raphael before continuing on, ¡°¡­Raphael. Don¡¯t you want to help me by becoming the next cardinal and cleaning up the mess in the Church of Caiolium?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Raphael¡¯s brows shot up high.


    ¡°The ones sworn to serve the Imperial Family have instead conspired against us and even sullied our honour. So I ask you, what can they possibly be in such a case?¡± A meaningful smile crept up on Kelt¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what they are. They are nothing more than heretics out to enrich themselves. As such, you shall now¡­¡±


    The corners of Kelt¡¯s lips curled up even higher.


    ¡°¡­Cleanse them for us.¡±


    ¡°Your majesty, are you thinking of declaring war against the Church of Caiolium?¡±


    2


    ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I? I¡¯ve already killed an archbishop of the Church, haven¡¯t I?¡± Kelt turned around and began walking away. ¡°Come with me.¡±


    Raphael followed the Holy Emperor and exited from the imperial audience chamber.


    The duo walked across the palace¡¯s grand corridor. The Holy Emperor glanced outside the window and took in the spectacle happening on the streets of Laurensis.


    Loud cheerings could be heard. Flower petals were scattered in the air while citizens were out and about in the streets to revel in happiness.


    As if to match the grand occasion, a parade of the empire¡¯s army entering the capital city from one of its giant gates was in progress.


    That parade served dual purposes, one being the usual victory celebration while the other being a military parade.


    For the past several days in a row after the war with Aslan came to an end, celebrations continued on unabated throughout the capital.


    Soon enough, the army led by Oscal the sword king would reach the city as well. Once that happened, the unity binding the citizens should become even stronger than before.


    The location Kelt and Raphael eventually reached was a balcony with a perfect view of the imperial palace¡¯s plaza. The entirety of the plaza could be seen from up here.


    They looked at the ground below, and saw the ranks of Paladins and Priests that had gathered for the military parade.


    ¡°To his majesty, the great and noble Holy Emperor!¡±


    The energetic roar came from below.


    The plaza was now filled with people kitted out in gleaming silver armours or pristine white robes.


    There were orders of Paladins and Priests wielding lengthy spears, swords, shields, maces, and staves.


    ¡°We pledge our eternal loyalty, and¡­!¡±


    Various flags were raised.


    ¡°¡­We offer our humble greetings to his majesty!¡±


    The Paladin captains stepped out in front of their respective ranks and began shouting out in sequence.


    ¡°Loyalty! One hundred and fifty seven members of Herbert Fiefdom¡¯s Leyharden Paladin corps, reporting in! We¡¯ve gathered to answer his majesty¡¯s call!¡±


    ¡°Loyalty! Seventy eight members of Deharte Fiefdom¡¯s Shaina Paladin Corps, reporting in! We¡¯ve gathered to answer his majesty¡¯s call!¡±


    ¡°Loyalty! One hundred twenty monks of the Sererina Order, reporting in! We¡¯ve gathered to answer his majesty¡¯s call!¡±


    The series of reports so loud that they reverberated within the plaza came in one after another.


    Indeed, no other pretext was as good as a military parade when wanting to quickly gather a combat force. The size of this force wasn¡¯t all that large and its ability also wasn¡¯t as good as the weakest of the five forces of the empire, the Heavenly Army, but even then, they should still prove to be more than adequate enough.


    ¡°Alright, fine. Let¡¯s do this.¡± Holy Emperor Kelt smiled naturally with his eyes, but the corners of his lips were curling up in a more sinister manner. ¡°Looks like Third Imperial Prince Ruppel has fulfilled his filial duty as a grandchild. He created a wonderful pretext for me to work on, after all. In that case, I should reward his hard work properly.¡±


    The stars seemed to have aligned themselves so wonderfully. The betrayal of Rose Darina¡¯s family, the victory against Aslan, the celebration, the banquet, and the re-emergence of the Crown Imperial Prince¡­


    As for the task Kelt needed to take care of from now on? It was far too simple in nature.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this the perfect time to get rid of all the trash?¡±


    Indeed, the timing couldn¡¯t have been better to fix everything.


    Kelt was certain that he needed to bring about a sea change to the upper management of the Church of Caiolium. They had remained as a thorn on his side for far too long.


    At the very least, wasn¡¯t he duty-bound to create a peaceful environment for one of his grandchildren about to ascend to this position?


    The reason why he deliberately hid Ruppel¡¯s crime of treason until now was all for this moment. Kelt wanted to deal with them all in one fell swoop before they had a chance to get organised.


    The Holy Emperor looked over to Raphael and spoke to him, ¡°Invite the members of the Darina household, and all those aboard the same ship as them to the imperial palace. The pretext will be to celebrate our victory against Aslan, and for me to personally express my gratitude to them for providing financial assistance during the war.¡±


    Raphael smiled bitterly at the emperor¡¯s new order and bowed his head.


    ¡°And not too long from now, you shall be installed as the new leader of Caiolium.¡±


    Yet another bloodbath was about to visit the imperial palace.


    Kelt¡¯s benevolent expression suddenly distorted into that of a tyrant.


    ¡°I shall make all of you regret bitterly for looking down on the Imperial Family. With your lives.¡±


    He finished issuing his order as a thick murderous intent permeated in his voice.


    ¡°And so, Raphael. Go and bring me the heads of all the heretics.¡±


    7


    < 088. Church of Caiolium -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 165 - 089. Church of Caiolium -2 (Part One)

    Chapter 165: 089. Church of Caiolium -2 (Part One)


    The Church of Caiolium¡¯s headquarters was located in the southern region of the Theocratic Empire.


    The holy temple constructed amidst the lush forest was meant to educate and train various members of the clergy. It was to serve as a safe haven where one could receive the training regarding one¡¯s faith.


    The building was constructed all those years ago so that Gaia could be worshipped in peace but now, in this once-sacred place, a deeply obscene and sacrilegious spectacle was taking place.


    ¡°Here, here, here~! Here comes the booze~!¡±


    An aged clergyman in his birthday suit was bouncing around in a drunken stupor. His fellow priests stared at him and guffawed out uncontrollably.


    They didn¡¯t hold back with their consumption of various fine liquor and nonchalantly tossed gold coins around. All sorts of obscene and indecent chatter were exchanged among them.


    Cardinal Mikael, their leader, was among the group.


    Unlike the rest, he was dressed formally and properly in a gorgeous golden robe while holding a wooden crosier.


    He took some distance away from the rest of his subordinates currently enjoying the unholy disorder, and studiously read the contents of various documents in his hand.


    They were reports detailing the current ongoings within the Theocratic Empire. One part in particular caught his attention.


    ¡°¡­Holy undead?¡±


    Mikael contemplatively rubbed his chin before frowning slightly.


    Since he was initially worried about the report being wrong, he had it double, triple checked for authenticity. However, the reports on the sightings of various holy undead continued to pile up before him.


    Which could only mean that these holy undead really did exist.


    As for the one who summoned them¡­


    ¡®¡­The Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen Olfolse.¡¯


    None other than the heir to the Imperial Family bloodline had summoned those creatures.


    Mikael swallowed back his dry saliva.


    What in the world¡­! Holy undead?! What an ominous, odious so-called holy magic that no Saints or Saintesses in history managed to pull off!


    No, it definitely was no holy magic, but just some demonic curse!


    Mikael gritted his teeth. Because of these so-called holy undead, he could feel the Imperial Family¡¯s influence growing stronger every single day.


    This sort of thing couldn¡¯t be good news for the Church of Caiolium at all.


    After all, the Church wished to become fully independent from the empire. And that¡¯s why Mikael sought to manipulate the Third Imperial Prince during the war against Aslan.


    The kingdom down south craved fertile, verdant land, and the Third Imperial Prince desired the throne of the Holy Emperor. Meanwhile, the Church of Caiolium wanted independence and political influence.


    All the parties involved had something they sought.


    The plan was to hand over a portion of the empire¡¯s territory to Aslan during the ceasefire negotiation, had the invasion proved to be successful.


    Then, Third Imperial Prince Ruppel would¡¯ve been pushed forward as the protagonist responsible for ending the war through diplomacy. His achievement would¡¯ve been acknowledged, and the Church would have wholeheartedly supported him so that he could become the next Holy Emperor.


    Finally, the Third Imperial Prince would have granted the Church its full independence.


    Everything seemed to be on track for a successful resolution, when it all suddenly went off the rails in quick order.


    The Imperial Family achieved total victory in the war, thereby solidifying its power base and garnering the support of the masses, while Ruppel Olfolse had been charged with treason and was currently under arrest.


    On top of that, the Imperial Family made another move; it lured the Darina household and all the nobles affiliated with them to a banquet, and then slaughtered more than half of them on the spot. The remaining ones were currently being tortured, in order to ferret out any other potential traitors still hiding in the Imperial Court. That¡¯s what the reports had said.


    In other words, Kelt Olfolse had begun his purge.


    ¡®However, we still have an opportunity.¡¯


    The Church of Caiolium had been the backer of Third Imperial Prince Ruppel, and as such, they had no more room to retreat at this stage.


    ¡®We shall oppose the Holy Emperor.¡¯


    The Church possessed enough strength to defend against the Holy Emperor. Mikael briefly rolled up his sleeve and looked at his hand. More specifically, he stared at the golden runic letters engraved on the skin of his hand, which seemed to extend all the way to the core of his body.


    It was a copy of the ¡®Aztal Rune¡¯, miraculous runic letters that Goddess Gaia had supposedly bestowed on a Saint in the ancient times.


    This powerful runic ¡®tattoo¡¯ had been finally completed after a long and arduous research. The original plan was to use this power to keep the Holy Emperor at bay.


    ¡®Besides, we also have a pretext.¡¯


    A pretext the Church could use to suppress the Imperial Family!


    And that was¡­


    ¡°The Seventh Imperial Prince has signed a contract with the devil.¡±


    A smile crept up on Mikael¡¯s face.


    Being able to summon holy undead? The status of a Saint? Resurrection enabled by the miracle of the goddess?


    All of these miracles would¡¯ve been perfect for extolling the greatness of Goddess Gaia. However, they were also nothing more than some delusions as well.


    A wry chuckle leaked out from his lips.


    Transforming all those miracles into ¡®falsehood¡¯ was easier than snatching candy off a baby¡¯s hands


    The members of clergy were devout believers. And what they were most hostile against was none other than the undead. It didn¡¯t really matter whether they were summoned through sacred means or not, as the priests wouldn¡¯t be able to get rid of their repulsion of the undead creatures.


    Without having experienced it first hand, the priests would no doubt be motivated to ostracise and persecute the Seventh Imperial Prince, with their justification being, ¡®he has signed a contract with the devil¡¯.


    And once the rumours of the Seventh Imperial Prince being the cause of the unfortunate war against Aslan spreads, it¡¯d become very difficult to turn back the public sentiment in the Imperial Family¡¯s favour.


    To top it all off, the Imperial Family was doing their best to hide the truth at the moment. Which meant that the potential for spreading around countless unsettling conspiracy theories were truly limitless.


    If the whole matter was orchestrated properly, then it could also become a possible justification to force the current Holy Emperor to abdicate as well.


    Mikael felt that his dream was creeping ever closer to becoming reality.


    His dream of creating a faith-based organisation that possessed a separate, distinct political influence from the Imperial Family. And that he¡¯d become the one with absolute authority that ruled over such an organisation.


    ¡®I shall be the next pope.¡¯


    That was the position Mikael dreamed of becoming.


    The Holy Emperor possessed the authority of both an emperor and a pope. But if his plan worked out, then Mikael would acquire the authority of the pope for himself.


    It was then that the grand door to the conference venue was flung open.


    Mikael frowned deeply and turned his head.


    A young Priest stepped inside while panting laboriously, and everyone in the venue shot him a sharp glare. They felt rather unhappy at the fact that their entertainment had been disrupted so rudely like this.


    However, the young Priest paid no heed and quickly made his announcement, ¡°Y-your eminences, something major has happened! Archbishop Raphael has come while leading a combat force! He¡¯s saying some rubbish about a conspiracy to overthrow¡­!¡±


    ¡®So¡­ he finally came.¡¯


    Mikael clenched his fists tightly.


    The ¡®Aztal Rune¡¯ engraved on his flesh glowed subtly in a golden hue.


    Even if it was nothing more than an imitation of a powerful relic only seen in a legend, its destructive power was almost on par with the real deal.


    Actually, this was for the better. Since Archbishop Raphael was someone who had faced off against Necromancer King Amon once upon a time, he should prove to be an ideal candidate to test the power of this rune.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    The carriage clunked noisily.


    Inside the noisy carriage was me, White, and Third Imperial Prince Ruppel.


    The awkward air continued to fester within the heavy silence.


    Since I couldn¡¯t stand the boredom anymore, I took over the ¡®care¡¯ of the Second Imperial Prince from Oscal once more. Inside this chest made out of special metal called ¡®Eltera¡¯ was the Vampire Second Imperial Prince.


    I raised the chest and placed my ear to it, but couldn¡¯t hear any sounds nor detect any presence within.


    In that case¡­


    I violently shook the chest around.


    ¡°S-stop! Stop it! Are you a heartless devil?! What are you doing to your older brother?!¡±


    Older brother? Don¡¯t make me laugh, will ya?


    I snickered at the voice coming from inside the chest.


    Judging from how okay his voice sounded just now, he must still be alive and kicking inside the chest. As expected of a Vampire.


    He had been locked up inside this thing for several days straight, yet he was still all fine and dandy. A regular person might have lost their sh*t by now.


    A thought suddenly occurred to me and I blocked the chest¡¯s air hole. Ten seconds passed by, then thirty. Eventually, a minute.


    After some more time passed, another round of screaming burst out from the chest.


    ¡°I can¡¯t breathe! You heartless devil! How can you call yourself a holy man when you¡¯re like this?! If you want to kill me, just do it already!¡±


    I loudly banged on the chest several times to add to his misery.


    Man, it¡¯s so much fun taunting this little bastard. I wonder, would I be criticised for keeping a Vampire as a pet?


    I spat out some words of admiration, ¡°Vampires can be so strange, you know? You¡¯re an undead, so why do you even breathe, and why does your heart still beat, too?¡±


    Probably the reason why it was called ¡®false life¡¯, I¡¯m assuming.


    I put the chest down and used it as my footstool.


    White, who had been observing my antics for a while, displayed some hints of discomfort. ¡°Allen, he might have become a Vampire, but he¡¯s still your older brother. How about¡­¡±


    ¡°You want me to treat him like my brother? From what I heard, Vampires treat their family members no better than livestock. If that¡¯s the case, then I¡¯m gonna do the exact opposite. I see Vampires as nothing more than some game to hunt down, that¡¯s all.¡±


    My curt response prompted White to clamp his mouth shut for a while.


    He stared at the metal chest stuck below my feet before saying something else, ¡°Allen. I was wondering¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°Just like how you saved Luan, maybe you could use the resurrection magic on Second Imperial Prince Ruppel, and¡­¡±


    ¡°Nope, it¡¯s impossible.¡±


    I slammed my foot down on the chest.


    Every time I banged on the metal chest, Second Imperial Prince Ruppel cried out in agony, ¡°Stop it! My ears are ringing! Stoooop!¡±


    ¡°This Vampire brother of mine? His body has rotted away too much by now. But even if his flesh was fine, he¡¯s already become an undead. Even if it¡¯s me, I can¡¯t revive someone who¡¯s been turned into an undead, or someone who¡¯s been dead for longer than ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Besides, the whole notion of reviving a dead person is quite a bit problematic in terms of faith, anyway.¡±


    If it was reviving someone who could potentially be saved, then sure, why not? But bringing a ¡®totally dead¡¯ existence back to life went against Gaia¡¯s will. This was one of the major reasons why the Theocratic Empire hated the Vampires so much.


    ¡°But instead of worrying about the dead brother, we should be worrying about the living one first, don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    I said that while glancing at Third Imperial Prince Ruppel sitting next to me. He flinched in surprise, and then alternated his flustered gaze between White and me.


    The dude who used to be so full of himself and also talkative to a fault, now looked utterly depressed out of his mind at the moment.


    But that was understandable. When we eventually reach the Theocratic Empire, he¡­ probably wouldn¡¯t get to keep his head for long.


    Although our relationship wasn¡¯t what you¡¯d call good, he was still a blood relation to this body, and more than that, we had gone through some major stuff together, too.


    Obviously, I couldn¡¯t help but feel quite unhappy about this.


    ¡°I fear it¡¯ll be next to impossible.¡± White rubbed his temples hard as if his mind was too chaotic to think right now. ¡°Of course, I shall do everything I can in my power. But this situation, this whole affair¡­ it¡¯s not something that can simply be overlooked.¡±


    That¡¯s right. We were talking about treason, after all.


    Not just any type of treason, either; Ruppel was accused of being a traitor who threatened his own nation by manipulating the enemy kingdom, Aslan.


    Setting a precedence of letting someone like that live would rouse up a great deal of rebuke and turmoil from the aristocracy as well as the clergy. Just as importantly, it¡¯d go down in history as a humiliating incident that the Imperial Family should have never allowed in the first place.


    ¡°The gravity of the situation means that the purging of the entire Third Prince¡¯s family wouldn¡¯t nearly be enough. As things stand, there¡¯s very little we can do.¡±


    I could only sigh deeply at what White had said.


    It was then that someone knocked on the window pane of the carriage.


    ¡°Your highness, we are about to reach the capital.¡±


    Well, it looked like we¡¯ve finally arrived. That was Charlotte riding horseback alerting me of the current situation. I opened the window pane and took a look outside.


    I could see the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital, Laurensis, in the distance.


    That place was now my backyard. Where my home was.


    The empire that I missed so much ¨C we had finally come back home.

 Chapter 166 - 089. Church of Caiolium -2 (Part Two)

    **


    The victory celebration was in full swing in the city.


    The subjects were cheering on and flower petals were being scattered in every direction.


    I have to say, the overall vibe here was on another realm when compared to Aslan¡¯s dreary atmosphere filled with basically nothing but sand and depressed slaves.


    Here was a city brimming full with vitality and humanity. The vibes that I hadn¡¯t felt for a long time put my mind at ease. I might not be all that keen to see the Imperial Family itself, but it was another story altogether for this city¡¯s vitality. I really adored it.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    That¡¯s what I thought. Right up until I witnessed the spectacle waiting for us.


    ¡°Pant, pant¡­! Pant¡­ just, just kill me already-!¡±


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡±


    ¡°W-we don¡¯t know anything!¡±


    The location I was currently staring at used to be the imperial palace¡¯s carefully groomed and maintained plaza. Normally, it was a beautiful place featuring an ornate fountain and gorgeously manicured lawns.


    I used to take naps here whenever I felt mentally pooped out, but now¡­ This whole place had turned into an open-air torture chamber stained with blood everywhere.


    Numerous nobles, buck naked from head to toe, were currently bound to chairs designed for torture.


    1


    They were surrounded by the bare-chested, balaclava-wearing torturers doubling as interrogators while freely wielding red-hot branding irons.


    ¡°¡­What the heck is going on here?¡±


    I muttered out to no one in particular, and as soon as I said that, someone called out to me.


    ¡°Ohh, Allen! It¡¯s been a while. Thank goodness that you¡¯re alright!¡±


    It was First Imperial Prince Luan. He was standing in the middle of the blood-stained plaza and waving his hand at me, all the while smiling so brightly and innocently.


    I somehow got the impression that he was already used to this kind of spectacle. I could only roughly massage my temples at the same sight, though.


    Humanity, my ass! I¡¯ve always thought this, but the people in this goddamn place are all freaking nuts!


    1


    Luan was about to address me again, but his expression hardened immediately as his gaze shifted to my side.


    His eyes were filled with murderous contempt when glaring at Third Imperial Prince Ruppel, and with complicated emotions when looking at White Olfolse.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, son! Luan, you¡¯ve really grown up a lot, haven¡¯t you? I¡¯ve heard the news, but it¡¯s still a relief to see you all healthy and strong. You¡¯re now a full-fledged man, aren¡¯t you? Ah, hang on. You already reached adulthood a while ago, right? Hahaha¡­¡±


    White blabbed on before laughing awkwardly.


    However, Luan was unable to say anything, and simply chose to stare at his father. But then again, his reaction didn¡¯t come as a surprise to me, since he ran into the son of Rose Darina, the murderer of his mother, and the father who had abandoned him and his mother then for some reason left the imperial court altogether.


    ¡°¡­His majesty wishes to speak to you,¡± said Luan.


    He obviously had a lot of things to ask White, but even I could see that he was doing his best to suppress his emotions.


    A bitter grin floated up on White¡¯s lips before he asked me, ¡°Allen, what are your plans from now on?¡±


    I roughly shook the chest around as a part of my reply. The Second Imperial Prince¡¯s loud screams came from the inside.


    ¡°I need to take this punk to his majesty. To make sure that you don¡¯t attempt anything inadvisable, father.¡±


    A forlorn expression formed on White¡¯s face after hearing my response. ¡°Can I¡­ speak to the Second Imperial Prince for one last time before that?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not. Who knows what accident you might end up causing next?¡±


    He spat out a lengthy sigh.


    Oscal Baldur and Harman took Third Imperial Prince Ruppel away while Charlotte escorted me and White to the imperial palace¡¯s audience chamber.


    I stood before the chamber¡¯s grand doorway while holding the metal chest. The Paladins on guard grew quite alert for a moment there, but they still opened the door for us.


    At that very moment, there was a sudden flash of light and White¡¯s head crashed straight into the floor.


    ¡°¡­?!¡±


    I jumped up in shock and belatedly turned my head to look.


    Incredibly powerful divinity was gushing out of Kelt Olfolse¡¯s whole body like some kind of lightning bolt. I caught the sight of him grabbing White¡¯s head and slamming it down to the pristine floor.


    As a result, the stone floor exploded and White screamed in pain, accompanied by the deafeningly loud thunderclap shortly afterwards.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk?!¡±


    ¡°It really has been a while, White Olfolse. My dear son!¡±


    The muscles around Kelt¡¯s eyes were twitching ominously. He didn¡¯t let go of White¡¯s head and simply lifted the latter off the ground.


    ¡°H-hold on, fath¡­ N-no, I mean, your majesty!¡±


    ¡°Your sin this time is truly unforgivable. Not only did you abandon your duties as the Holy Emperor, you even dared to soil the imperial court¡¯s honour, too? Yet you still have the balls to show your face around here as if everything¡¯s all good and well?!¡±


    Even I could tell that Kelt was genuinely pissed off. Lightning bolts were materialising and swirling violently all around the two men.


    But then, the emperor¡¯s gaze ever so slightly shifted to the side¡­ towards me.


    I ended up involuntarily flinching at that.


    Kelt¡¯s movements were incredibly fast. As a matter of fact, he was so fast that I couldn¡¯t even see him approach us. If I had my eyes reinforced with divinity, then I might have perceived his movements, but without that, I wouldn¡¯t even be able to react in time.


    As expected of the man called history¡¯s strongest Holy Emperor.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s been a while, your majesty.¡±


    Now normally, the established decorum dictated that I should bow my head at the very least, but I just didn¡¯t have the leeway to do that.


    ¡°Indeed, child. Were you well during your trip?¡±


    Rather surprisingly, Kelt¡¯s expression was a lot gentler than I expected. But that lasted only for a second or two; his glare got super-sharp again and he tightly clenched his fist.


    More divinity focused on the clenched fist, and all colour drained from White¡¯s complexion. I could see him quickly injecting divinity into his body to prepare himself.


    I quickly averted my gaze. And almost at the same time, the sound of the air exploding and White¡¯s pained scream rang out in the corridor.


    Wow, this moving family reunion is starting to fog up my eyes.


    1


    I furrowed my brows deeply while staring at these two Imperial Family members busy coating themselves in blood.


    1


    ¡°Hey, Charlotte.¡±


    She walked up to me and bowed slightly. ¡°Please speak, your highness.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already given my greeting to his majesty, so let¡¯s just return to my quarters.¡±


    2


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Who knows what might happen to me if I remained here for too long?


    Yup, resting inside my room for the time being would be for the best. I still needed to investigate more about Second Imperial Prince Ruppel as well.


    I turned around to leave. White¡¯s screams, pleading me to save his sorry ass, came from behind me as more explosion noises resounded out, but I completely ignored that.


    It was time for me to take my much-deserved break. This long journey had taken a lot out of both my body and mind.


    The war with Aslan was over and Ruppel was arrested for treason, but in all honesty, the handling of those events was not something I could interfere with.


    I should take some solace in the fact that I still managed to capture Second Imperial Prince Ruppel and got to find out more about the Vampires¡¯ schemes.


    As for the invasion of the Vampires, White would surely be able to explain that to the emperor better than me, so I should just kick back and relax for a while.


    Right, that was my plan. Unfortunately¡­


    1


    That evening, some news from the Church of Caiolium reached the imperial palace.


    The Holy Emperor summoned me.


    I figured it was a good thing, since I still needed to hand over the tiny Vampire baby inside the chest, the Second Imperial Prince, to the emperor anyway.


    But when I reached the audience chamber¡­


    ¡°Reporting in, your majesty!¡± A bloodied and battered Paladin was speaking up in an exhausted tone of voice, ¡°The total number of Paladins and Priests dispatched to the Church of Caiolium, four hundred and fifty seven. Among them, two hundred fifty seven are killed in action, one hundred eighty three are injured, and seventeen are missing in action, your majesty. As for the fate of Archbishop Raphael, it¡¯s also unknown!¡±


    The Paladin, despite all his injuries, still kept his head up and continued his report. ¡°The Church of Caiolium has declared its full independence. And it demands the immediate abdication of your majesty, immediate pardon and release of Third Imperial Prince Ruppel and the Darina household. And finally¡­¡±


    The Paladin then began hesitating slightly. He glanced at me for some reason before bowing his head. ¡°¡­And finally, it demands the clarification of his highness the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s sins of corruption!¡±


    I inadvertently dropped the metal chest after hearing that report. Second Imperial Prince Ruppel inside it loudly swore at me again, but I ignored that for now.


    It was quite hard to figure out why the Paladin mentioned me in his report.


    I dazedly stared at him and asked, ¡°Hang on a second here. Why are they talking about me all of a sudden?¡±


    The Church of Caiolium, was it? I had no connection to that organisation whatsoever, so what gives?


    ¡°That is because¡­¡± The Paladin groaned and responded, ¡°¡­They claim that your highness has signed a contract with the devil.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°There is also the blasphemy against Goddess Gaia, causing unrest in the imperial palace during the last Vampire incident, the war with Aslan, acts of violence against the scions of nobility, and your highness¡¯s questionable lifestyle that brought dishonour to the Imperial Family¡­¡±


    All sorts of charges were being thrown in my face.


    Truth be told, all those things were indeed connected to me. Of course, I had no recollection whatsoever about the last bit, but no one else knew about that.


    2


    Now that I heard the string of charges laid out against me, even I had to admit that only a mangnani could¡¯ve done all those things.


    The folks at the Church were demanding this one thing from me. No, hang on. It was more like an order at this stage.


    And that was¡­


    ¡°They demand that his highness the Seventh Imperial Prince be stripped of his title and be judged in the court of heresy inquisition!¡±


    ¡­Me getting judged as a heretic.


    < 089. Church of Caiolium -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: Sorry about the late release. I thought I set the timer earlier but¡­)

 Chapter 167 - 090. The Inquisition of the Seventh Imperial Prince -1 (Part One)

    **


    It was late at night. I had an audience with the Holy Emperor and he told me all about the Church of Caiolium.


    Not only did this religious order desire to be fully independent of the imperial court, it was also the hidden backer of Third Imperial Prince Ruppel as well.


    After giving custody of the Second Imperial Prince to the emperor, he informed me about the fate regarding Ruppel and White. While the latter was placed under ¡®house arrest¡¯, the former was currently locked away in the underground prison.


    This discussion of ours took place three days ago.


    And now, I was currently walking along the imperial palace¡¯s corridors.


    Whenever servants and maids ran into me, they jumped up in surprise before hurriedly bowing their heads. It seemed that all of them were frightened of me.


    ¡®Isn¡¯t that obvious, though?¡¯


    The Seventh Imperial Prince tried to force himself on the archbishop¡¯s granddaughter. He then blasphemed against Gaia, and after getting banished, he even made a deal with the devil out of despair.


    He used despicable Necromancy to summon evil spirits and even got intimate with the princess of the enemy kingdom, Aslan.


    The war against Aslan was nothing more than a ploy to install that princess as the ruler of that kingdom, and he was planning to snatch up the accomplishment of ending the war and using it to become the next Holy Emperor.


    Many rumours saying similar things as the above were busy doing its rounds within the Theocratic Empire. And I have to say, all those crap did sound rather reasonable. Since several points were lining up way too conveniently, those claims should sound that much more convincing to a layman.


    -Holy undead? Can something like that even be possible?


    The portion of the clergy said that. At least when it came to the matters of the holy undead, they sneered in contempt at the notion itself.


    But testimonies and evidence began emerging one after the other, and that led to increasingly more members of the clergy harbouring distrust towards the Imperial Family.


    ¡°Hah-ah. This was why I wanted to hide the fact that I know Necromancy¡­¡±


    The empire wouldn¡¯t punish you no matter how many Necromancers you¡¯ve killed. That¡¯s how bad the sentiment towards Necromancy was in this nation.


    Yet here I was, not some low-ranked Priest, but an actual Prince of the Imperial Family using Necromancy. No wonder the whole empire was turned on its head.


    If it weren¡¯t for my status as an Imperial Prince, I¡¯d have become the subject of the Crimson Cross¡¯s ¡®inquiry process¡¯ a long time ago.


    The milk had spilt already, sure. But the thing was, matters had escalated so much even before the Imperial Family had a chance to do something about them.


    I stood on the imperial palace¡¯s balcony and stared outside.


    ¡°Wow, there are so many protesters outside today, too!¡±


    In front of the imperial palace were about three hundred or so members of the clergy and a thousand-plus citizens in a gathering. They were all on their knees with their heads bowed, still trying to get their ardent pleas across.


    ¡°We need clarification on the Seventh Imperial Prince!¡±


    ¡°Your majesty, please lend your ear to the voices of the faithful!¡±


    ¡°Please punish the Seventh Imperial Prince responsible for causing the war with Aslan!¡±


    Well, how nice it was to see them all so lively like that. No matter what, this was still way more preferable to the subdued, depressed atmosphere in Aslan.


    I smacked my lips and paid no more heed to their calls.


    I continued walking down the corridor and somehow ended up reaching the imperial audience chamber. I sneaked a glance inside.


    Various voices belonging to nobles were coming out from there.


    ¡°If it¡¯s all true, then the Seventh Imperial Prince has committed a truly unforgivable sin, your majesty!¡±


    ¡°A contract with the devil?! It¡¯s true that we must punish the Church of Caiolium, but at least in this instance, their assertion is correct, your majesty!¡±


    These people knew full well how terrifying the Holy Emperor could be, yet they didn¡¯t hesitate to raise their voices.


    Apparently, these nobles and clergy had no relations to the Church itself. According to Harman, they were the true loyal retainers that wholeheartedly served the Imperial Family.


    I also confirmed their attribute of ¡®deep loyalty¡¯ through Mind¡¯s Eye. But it seemed like that these folks, who would absolutely obey the Holy Emperor¡¯s decree without any question, couldn¡¯t overlook the accusation of me using ¡®Necromancy¡¯, and dared to bare their fangs.


    ¡°So¡­ This is what the Church of Caiolium was banking on, is it?¡±


    Rather fitting for a religious order that managed to survive for the past several thousand years, they possessed an unbelievable financial muscle and enjoyed political and social influence rooted deep in tradition over the masses.


    The Theocratic Empire was currently mired in an unending chain of crises right now. There was the appearance of a Vampire Count in the northern region, then more Vampires had been found hiding within the imperial court; next up was the lycanthropes, and finally, the war with Aslan.


    Naturally, all the chaos would shake up the public sentiment of the empire¡¯s subjects, slowly eroding away their trust in the Imperial Family.


    The Church of Caiolium took advantage of the situation and generously spread around their wealth in order to make themselves look good. They performed various charity work such as distributing food to the poor and healing the sick for free.


    And that¡¯s when they spread around the false rumours about me, it seemed. It was easy to incite the masses since the Church had been acting all benevolent and the like with the people.


    Was it because I stood in a daze while staring into the audience chamber? Charlotte silently approached me from behind and covered my ears with both of her hands.


    ¡°Those are merely words of foolish and disloyal retainers, your highness. Please do not mind them.¡±


    I could only smile wryly while feeling her hands¡¯ warmth.


    Charlotte, it¡¯s too bad, but those so-called disloyal retainers are more loyal than anyone to the Imperial Family, you know? The Holy Emperor also knows that and that¡¯s why he¡¯s still listening to them like this.


    I was pretty sure that the emperor wouldn¡¯t take these punches lying down, though. The preparation for the subjugation was already in full swing at the moment.


    The old man was getting enough troops ready to completely upend and root out the entirety of the Church of Caiolium.


    In fact, he had even issued the sword king a new decree earlier. The army dispatched to Aslan would be re-deployed again after they took a brief period of rest and finished the maintenance of their equipment.


    ¡®The problem here is that this event will plunge the Theocratic Empire into a major chaos.¡¯


    The whole thing might end up spiralling out of control if we haphazardly hit the Church of Caiolium.


    Countless citizens might see the current Holy Emperor not as a ¡®benevolent and wise ruler¡¯ but as a ¡®tyrant¡¯ that relied on brute force and fear to rule. The nobles and the clergy would start distrusting the emperor as well.


    Heck, there might even be some kind of civil unrest, too.


    Someone on the level of Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse¡¯s wouldn¡¯t have much trouble eliminating the Church of Caiolium all by himself, but the aftershock would definitely spread out to the rest of the empire.


    Since we needed to prepare for the Vampire invasion in the near future, it¡¯d be for the best if the empire remained as stable as possible.


    ¡®In a way, this is close to a civil war, isn¡¯t it?¡¯


    A civil war against the Church of Caiolium that was using the empire¡¯s subjects as its shield.


    The longer things dragged on, the more advantageous it would get for them. And they would not stop demanding their complete independence from the imperial court.


    ¡®However, their tantrum shouldn¡¯t last for long.¡¯


    While thinking that to myself, I headed to the palace¡¯s library. I figured that things should be quieter in there.


    I found Raphael¡¯s granddaughter, Alice, sitting in the library as usual. But she seemed to be out of it, utterly dazed. Her distant gaze was aimlessly staring at her front, while her hands were mechanically flipping through a book¡¯s pages.


    She came here to study out of habit, but even I could tell that nothing was registering in her mind at the moment. Which was understandable, considering her grandfather¡¯s fate was unknown at this stage.


    She too was stewing in her worries and anxieties of the future.


    I pondered what to do for a while before taking a bottle of wine out from the item window.


    While holding the bottle, I stood before her. She finally regained her wits with a noticeable flinch and stood right up from the chair.


    I lightly shook the bottle around and asked her.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s been a while. Want to share this with me?¡±


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Alice managed to regain her wits while staring at the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    She snapped out of her daze and hurriedly got up from the chair. Though, her urgent actions caused the chair to tumble back and fall.


    She quickly bowed her head and offered her greeting, ¡°The granddaughter of his eminence Archbishop Raphael, Alice Astoria, offers her greeting to¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m sure you have a lot on your mind, so no need for formalities.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince chuckled lightly and placed a couple of cups and a bottle of wine on the table. She couldn¡¯t tell where he took them out from.


    Alice quietly stared at him. This boy, he¡­ was carrying a considerably relaxed smile on his face.


    How could he be so carefree when all sorts of unsavoury rumours about him were doing its rounds outside?


    Such a reaction was unimaginable to her when remembering back to how he was so full of tears and snots during the time he got banished to the frontiers.


    Could it be that he was pretending to be fine? With his position being what it was, he could very well be keeping up a pretence in order to maintain a princely dignity.


    ¡°¡­Your highness. You must ignore all the current rumours about you.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince stared at her.


    She bowed her head again and continued on, ¡°This is merely nothing more than the Church of Caiolium¡¯s last desperate struggle. Because they can¡¯t retreat anymore, it¡¯s likely they wish to resist with all their strength. They must think that they have a chance at victory by doing this.¡±


    Alice spoke of her own opinion.


    She wished to put the prince¡¯s mind at ease, at least by a little.


    He responded to her. ¡°You¡¯re right about that. Those folks do know that too, yet they¡¯re still fighting back like this. Whatever happens, this problem will be sorted out as long as his majesty steps up. However, the real issue will be with what happens afterwards.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the public sentiment.¡±


    Alice clamped her mouth shut.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s observation was right. After all, he really did use Necromancy. Every miracle he had achieved so far could be twisted into the devil¡¯s tricks instead of Goddess Gaia¡¯s work.


    And to protect the Seventh Imperial Prince, the Holy Emperor would have to burn through a considerable amount of his influence.


    Alice asked him, ¡°I heard that an inquisition will commence soon. By any chance, are you planning to attend it, your highness?¡±


    ¡°I am. It ain¡¯t my style to run away.¡±


    ¡°Just in case¡­¡± Alice, wondering what if, cautiously asked something else, ¡°¡­Can you really summon holy undead, your highness?¡±


    She was still curious about that topic. Back during Luan¡¯s revival incident, she unfortunately failed to get a good look.


    As Raphael¡¯s granddaughter, she possessed a considerable level of knowledge on magic. She thought that such magic should be impossible to pull off. Yet this very impossible magic was¡­


    ¡°Yup, I sure can.¡±


    ¡­Eminently possible with just a snap of the prince¡¯s fingers.


    Alice¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when a glowing rune letter suddenly engraved itself on the library¡¯s floor, and a pure-white skeleton was summoned instantly.


    ¡°You can really summon it?!¡±

 Chapter 168 - 090. The Inquisition of the Seventh Imperial Prince -1 (Part Two)

    Alice gasped out in shock involuntarily before covering her mouth. ¡°M-my apologies, your highness.¡±


    ¡°No need to apologise. Actually, there¡¯s something I wanted to ask you.¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince was staring straight at Alice. His gaze proved to be a bit too intense for her so she avoided meeting his eyes.


    ¡°What do you feel? I meant the holy undead. Do you feel repulsed by it?¡±


    ¡°Repulsed¡­ is it?¡±


    Alice shifted her gaze over to the skeleton. The undead creature tilted its head this way and that when she stared intently at it.


    Her eyes sparkled brightly as she began inspecting the skeleton much closer than before. She cautiously and gently ran her hands on the eye sockets of the skull, the neck bones, the spine, the rib cage, the arm bones and even the hip bones.


    ¡°¡­Amazing.¡±


    While muttering that, her gaze drifted back to the Seventh Imperial Prince. The girl possessing the status of a Saintess spoke of her honest impression.


    ¡°I feel¡­ no sense of repulsion from it, your highness.¡±


    Her words brought about a deeply satisfied smile on his face. ¡°Is that so? Well, I¡¯d like to hear more about your opinion on this matter.¡±


    ¡°You can ask me anything, your highness. As long as it¡¯s within my means, I¡¯ll try my best to counsel you.¡±


    Alice bowed her head.


    Her first run-in with the Seventh Imperial Prince was absolutely the worst. But ever since then, she ended up owing him a debt that might not be repayable at all.


    And as such, she wanted to provide him with as much aid as possible.


    ¡°What if I go to that inquisition and¡­¡±


    Alice raised her head.


    ¡°¡­And show this skeleton to the Priests and the nobles? You think I will be able to convince them somehow?¡±


    Her brows shot up higher at what he said.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I stepped outside the library.


    Alice¡¯s advice proved to be rather satisfactory, if I say so myself.


    -I believe it¡¯ll be difficult, your highness. Without a doubt, there is no sense of repulsion. No, what I felt was the greatness of Goddess Gaia resonating within me when I observed this holy undead. If the other Priests also get to witness this creature, they will feel the same emotion as I have.


    She spoke what was really on her mind.


    -However, the members of the clergy and the aristocracy can be quite conservative. They have this tendency to deny and reject all disharmonious matters that betray their beliefs. That¡¯s why¡­


    And she also handily advised me.


    -You must convincingly explain all the misunderstood points to them. Fights and conflicts cannot resolve everything. If you speak genuinely from your heart, then I believe the members of the aristocracy and clergy will react positively to you, your highness.


    As expected of a Saintess blessed with a god¡¯s fragment. Her mind worked differently from other people. It seemed that she was brimming full with Gaia¡¯s love and mercy from top to bottom.


    Not fights, not conflicts, but use words to convince them, was it?


    For some reason, I kind of believed her.


    Too bad, I wasn¡¯t exactly blessed with a gift of gab, so convincing them with words would be a tall order for me.


    I carefully pondered my options. What would be the most optimum way to convince the nobles and clergy who will show up during the inquisition?


    1


    Well, it could be¡­


    ¡°Your highness!¡±


    It was then, Harman hurriedly rushed to my side. He pushed forward a document tightly gripped in his hand towards me.


    ¡°The date for your inquisition has been set.¡±


    I stared at him and asked, ¡°Okay, when is it?¡±


    ¡°Two days from now. Not only that, it¡¯ll be held late at night as well. The location will be the imperial palace¡¯s audience chamber.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? That¡¯s sooner than I thought. They don¡¯t want to give me enough time to prepare, is that it?¡±


    The inquisition would take place in the palace¡¯s audience chamber, was it?


    It seemed that the Holy Emperor was planning to protect me.


    I glanced at Harman and asked again, ¡°What about his majesty?¡±


    ¡°He will obviously participate.¡±


    ¡°Tell him not to bother.¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±


    ¡°Oh, and Charlotte.¡±


    Charlotte, who was next to me, lowered her head. ¡°Please give me your orders.¡±


    ¡°I want you to withdraw the troops manning the front gate of Laurensis, as well as the walls near it. No, actually, minimise their numbers as much as possible, and issue an order forbidding them to make a move no matter what happens on the day of the inquisition. I¡¯ll have to go outside the capital to take care of something first.¡±


    I gave her some instructions. Harman, who was listening on the sidelines, formed a somewhat worried face. ¡°But your highness. What about the inquisition¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not running away. I will definitely show up to this inquisition. However, since they are accusing me of being a devil worshipper, I¡¯m just gonna show up as one. Let¡¯s see what they have to say about that.¡±


    Harman¡¯s eye muscles continued to twitch in anxiousness. ¡°Your highness, just what are you trying to¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s obvious, ain¡¯t it? I¡¯m going to convince them. Not through words, but through actions.¡±


    Alice told me to not hold back and wholeheartedly convince them.


    Well, in that case, I should do exactly as she said.


    ¡­Through a method uniquely mine, that is.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV)


    Two days later, in the capital city of Laurensis.


    The hours were getting late. The pale moonlight was illuminating the surroundings while the soldiers carrying lit torches were staying vigilant despite the lateness of the night.


    However, the Paladins in charge of the city¡¯s front gate and the walls surrounding it couldn¡¯t help but be puzzled by the fact that security seemed much laxer compared to how it usually was.


    ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s quieter than usual today.¡±


    ¡°I heard that there¡¯s going to be another military parade today.¡±


    Even though the massive gate was fully open, the merchants or the travellers queuing up, as well as the other citizens, were all directed towards the smaller side gate where they were inspected first before being allowed inside the city.


    The large main gate was usually reserved for a military parade.


    ¡°A military parade, you say? But wait, why so late at night? Also, didn¡¯t the festival come to an end like, two days ago?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why myself. Dunno all the details, but the Imperial Family has issued the order. Apparently, some soldiers will start gathering outside any time now, so we shouldn¡¯t wet our pants and just let them through the gate.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s not gonna work, is it? We still gotta confirm their identities first. That¡¯s our duty.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m guessing that everything will work out fine if we just stick to the usual procedure.¡±


    Thanks to that unusual order, they ended up accepting the travellers even late into the night. Which wasn¡¯t such a bad development for the citizens, at least.


    Since security was laxer than usual and the state of the Theocratic Empire was somewhat chaotic right now, the soldiers on duty tonight still knew that they needed to keep their wits about them.


    They continued to scan the surroundings.


    The forest on the opposite side to Laurensis, currently covered in the veil of darkness, seemed to be rustling about all of a sudden. The soldiers frowned slightly and focused their attention there.


    Then, some kind of bright light began flooding out from a spot in the forest.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on over there?¡±


    ¡°Oiii! Can you see something in the forest?¡±


    The soldiers asked a Paladin manning one of the tall watchtowers, but the reply they got in return was, ¡°I can¡¯t see anything!¡±


    They shifted their gaze back. The forest, which was previously hidden beneath the veil of darkness, was gradually being dyed in a sacred light.


    The Paladins observing the developing situation were initially feeling puzzled, but shortly afterwards, they began freaking out.


    The travellers and merchants being directed into the side gate also stopped moving and looked back.


    An unidentified group was slowly marching out of the forest, accompanied by the distinct metallic click and clack of their boots.


    The group, completely covered in pure-white armour from top to bottom, were marching proudly forward.


    The group¡¯s number totalled over one thousand. They came to a stop and formed an orderly rank and file.


    The Paladins panicked and cried out.


    ¡°Who are they?!¡±


    ¡°An invasion?!¡±


    ¡°R-ring the bell!¡±


    They were clearly flustered. However, before they could ring the warning bell, someone blocked their path.


    The Paladins stared at a silver-haired girl kitted out in white armour.


    ¡°Marquis Charlotte, ma¡¯am!¡±


    They quickly knelt down and bowed their heads.


    Charlotte lightly waved her hand and reassured them. ¡°Do not fret, they are not invaders.¡±


    ¡°B-but, ma¡¯am¡­¡±


    ¡°Now, take a closer look.¡±


    All the soldiers present turned their heads.


    After confirming that the warning bells had not been rung, the legion began making their move. And as they drew in closer and closer, the Paladins gradually began realising what those armoured ¡®people¡¯ making up the legion were.


    What the Paladins were looking at was a legion made out of soldiers displaying pure-white bones in between their armours.


    ¡°¡­Undead!¡±


    This was no ordinary legion. No, it was the holy undead legion!


    Bleeeeeeeet-!


    A mummy tightly wrapped in bandages blew on a warhorn.


    Boom-! Boom-! Boom-!


    The imposing beatings of leather war drums powerfully rang out.


    The undead¡¯s marching band played their instruments while banshees with the appearances of fair maidens sang sacred hymns.


    The legion was about one thousand and five hundred strong.


    Its infantrymen were outfitted with heavy-looking armour sets.


    Cavalry boasting thick armours atop the skeleton horses lined up perfectly.


    Even several five-metre-tall giant stone statues draped in metal armour matched the parade¡¯s marching speed while trudging forward.


    It was as if all of them were one single being; their movements were in a perfect sync.


    And finally, the one leading this holy undead legion had made his entrance. The man who was both a Priest and a Necromancer at the same time.


    He was riding on a chariot pulled along by two pairs of skeleton horses. It was a figure wearing a mountain goat¡¯s skull and covered entirely in bone armour ¨C he was the sovereign of this holy undead legion.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen Olfolse.


    An unmistakably sacred aura was gushing out from him.


    The light shining from these beings were illuminating the pitch-black darkness.


    ¡®God¡¯s divine legion¡¯ was approaching the city like a group of saviours on a mission.


    Charlotte observed the army of holy undead in the distance before shifting her gaze back to the soldiers. ¡°They are not here to invade us.¡±


    They dazedly looked back at her after getting the feeling that she seemed to know more about this event then what she had told them so far.


    ¡°This is the sacred parade that¡­¡±


    And she readily offered the answer to their unasked questions.


    ¡°¡­His highness the Seventh Imperial Prince has initiated.¡±


    The holy undead legion was marching towards the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital city, Laurensis.


    < 090. The Inquisition of the Seventh Imperial Prince -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 169 - The Inquisition of the Seventh Imperial Prince -2 (Part One)

    **


    The Priests sent in by the Church of Caiolium were secretly performing religious work on the streets of the capital city, Laurensis.


    They stayed in the slum districts to heal the sick and provide provisions, as well as drinking water to all comers.


    The citizens living in these slum districts naturally thanked the Church of Caiolium¡¯s Priests for their merciful aid.


    ¡°The Seventh Imperial Prince is a devil worshipper deserving of divine punishment!¡± A Priest was fervently preaching from a raised platform in one of the back alleys. ¡°What do you think is the reason for your current misery? It¡¯s all because of the Seventh Imperial Prince!¡±


    Their main goal was to secretly slander the Seventh Imperial Prince at every opportunity they could find.


    ¡°His majesty is shielding such a devil worshipper within the imperial court. Even if the sinner is his grandson, his actions will ensure that the curse tormenting you all will continue on unabated!¡±


    The poor with no hope for the future were getting swept up in the words of the Priests extending hands of salvation towards them.


    ¡°The Seventh Imperial Prince, responsible for attracting war and plague to our lands is¡­¡±


    The Priest from the Church of Caiolium suddenly detected something and immediately stopped preaching. He raised his head up and looked around.


    ¡°Lord Priest?¡±


    The gathered crowd listening to him all felt puzzled by the Priest¡¯s sudden actions and also turned their heads.


    Their gazes soon landed on the alleyway connecting to the much larger street beyond.


    A short while later, the people living in the slum district also started sensing this strange aura. They saw the bright light chasing away the darkness between the buildings and the rooftops adorning the alleyway connected to the main street.


    That light was caused by none other than divinity.


    ¡°What is this? What is up with this divinity¡­?¡±


    The Priest furrowed his brows, leapt off from the platform, and dashed towards the light. The people of the slum district also followed after him.


    Countless citizens of Laurensis could be seen filling up the main street. They stood there unmoving with eyes wide open in a dazed stupor.


    Because there were too many people here, the Priest couldn¡¯t see the front of the crowd. The devout believer of the Church of Caiolium pushed, pulled and shoved his way past the stupefied crowd.


    ¡°You! Get out of the way! Out of my way, now! How dare you block my path! Move out of the way!¡±


    Although he roughly shoved people aside, no one voiced their displeasure. No, they simply stood around in a daze, continuously staring at their front.


    The Priest from the Church of Caiolium felt his suspicion grow only larger and continued to dig past the crowd. He eventually emerged past and stepped into the front.


    And when he did, his brows shot up instantly.


    Boom-! Bang-! Boom-! Bang-!


    The first thing he heard was the constant rhythmic beating of the war drums. Then he saw the heavily-armoured legion marching forward in perfect sync to the drum beat.


    Boom-!


    The eyes of the Priest trembled powerfully.


    -Aaaaah!


    The spectres resembling maidens, the banshees, continued singing hymns containing Spirit Speech.


    This spectacle currently laid out before the Priest¡¯s eyes¡­


    ¡­It was none other than the parade of the undead legion.


    Existences referred to as the walking dead and evil spirits ¨C skeletons, banshees, skeleton horses, and many others of their kind ¨C were marching forward in perfect unison.


    They were kitted out in white-coloured armour while an eerie glow burned within the eye holes of their helms.


    Although faint, each and every single one of these creatures was emitting an unmistakably sacred aura. And over a thousand of such creatures had currently gathered into one large group, which resulted in a powerful wave of divinity flooding their surroundings.


    The citizens didn¡¯t feel afraid. They were arrested by this sight and simply couldn¡¯t tear their eyes away.


    ¡°Just what is going on here? What in the name of the goddess is happening right now?!¡±


    The Priest from the Church of Caiolium cried out as he stared agog at the march of the holy undead legion, just like everyone else beside him.


    The city without lit torches was naturally blanketed by the pitch-black darkness, yet the sacred light brought on by the marching legion easily illuminated the surroundings as if it was the middle of the day.


    A contradictory and seemingly impossible miracle was happening right before the Priest¡¯s eyes at this very moment.


    ¡°Oh my goddess, this¡­ isn¡¯t this?!¡±


    The Priest hurriedly raised his head.


    A bone golem at least three metres tall, and a giant stone statue around five metres tall were walking along with the legion.


    Tall shadows cast by them loomed over the Priest¡¯s head. The ground beneath rumbled as the imposing giants trudged forward.


    The Priest lowered his gaze towards the ground once more.


    Fifty or so skeleton mages were raising their staves in unison before slamming them down on the ground.


    A powerful aura of divinity spread out rapidly from the staves.


    They were casting a healing spell. Not some simple spell meant for one specific target, but a truly indiscriminate wide-area spell that targetted everyone in the range.


    The citizens in the surroundings were being healed. From the smallest injuries to even plagues, every physical illness imaginable was being cured and driven away.


    As divinity continued to spread around, the Priest from the Church of Caiolium sensed a miracle taking place within him.


    His faith which had withered away so long ago began echoing louder and louder as divinity continued to writhe all around him.


    The sacred aura was resonating with him!


    The power of faith making him praise the greatness of Goddess Gaia was now getting deeply engraved in his bones.


    Emotions began overwhelming him.


    A powerful, electrifying thrill shot through his entire body like an earthquake.


    ¡°Ah, aaaah-!¡±


    The Priest from the Church of Caiolium fell to his knees.


    His gaze slowly shifted elsewhere.


    He stared at the one leading the goddess¡¯s legion forward. At the one riding on a chariot pulled along by the skeleton horses.


    A mountain goat¡¯s skull was adorning his head while the bone armour enveloped his entire figure. He was emitting pure-white aura.


    Never mind calling him a devil worshipper, it¡¯d be only normal to think that such an appearance would belong to the incarnation of the devil itself.


    However, not one person present dared to call that figure a devil worshipper or the devil incarnate.


    Instead, his bizarre appearance only seemed to magnify his greatness.


    The holy aura and splendour befitting a king; the commander leading forth the goddess¡¯s divine army¡­


    How should one go about describing such a person?


    A Saint? The proxy of the gods? The undead sovereign?


    No, none of those.


    What he actually was¡­


    ¡°¡­The divine king.¡±


    The Priest¡¯s mouth opened all on their own.


    He cried out at the top of his voice.


    ¡°He is the divine king! This! This is the goddess¡¯s legion!¡±


    The citizens all fell to their knees.


    They knelt before the goddess¡¯s legion and bowed their heads. Their hands came together as they began offering their heartfelt prayer.


    They readily accepted this disharmonious contradiction. Their faith dyed them in the colours of unyielding conviction.


    That figure no doubt belonged to the divine king that led the goddess¡¯s army.


    The Priest from the Church of Caiolium became even more frenzied at the sight of the kneeling, praying citizens.


    He raised both of his hands up high and cried out, ¡°The divine king carrying the will of Gaia has descended upon us!¡±


    He no longer harboured any distrust. His belief in the Imperial Family became even firmer than ever before.


    He felt the power of divinity. He experienced and witnessed the goddess¡¯s miracle with his own flesh. Receiving such a glorious honour like this must surely be once in a lifetime occurrence!


    ¡°Theocratic Empire, hooray-!¡±


    A highly-excited voice came from the mouth of the Priest who belonged from the Church of Caiolium.


    ¡°The Imperial Family, hooray-! His highness, the Seventh Imperial Prince, hooray!¡±


    And then¡­


    ¡°Allen Olfolse, his majesty the divine king, hooray-!¡±


    His entranced gaze stared longingly as he began exalting the commander of the goddess¡¯s army.


    **


    ¡°What on Gaia¡¯s name is going on out there?!¡±


    Holy Emperor Kelt¡¯s brows rose up high.


    He stood on the imperial palace¡¯s balcony and witnessed the march of the holy undead legion.


    The booming drum beats and the sacred hymns could be heard even from where he was. The floor beneath his feet seemed to tremble rhythmically from their marching footsteps.


    All those noises were thickly permeating with divinity. On top of that, the skeleton mages were casting powerful healing magic while divinity gushed out from them.


    It was like looking at a parade of Paladins and Priests.


    Kelt involuntarily covered his mouth as he continued staring at this unfolding spectacle. Goosebumps broke out all over his skin as an electrifying chill ran down his spine.


    ¡®Allen is responsible for all that?¡¯


    But how was this possible? How did he come to possess such power?


    Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be only capable of summoning a few dozen, maybe a couple hundred holy undead at most?


    Kelt did receive a report saying that Allen managed to fell Aslan¡¯s king, but in all honesty, the emperor had been secretly suspecting that the Crown Imperial Prince was involved in the victory somehow.


    However, he was wrong. That miraculous victory was achieved through Allen¡¯s true power. The power that he had been hiding all along.


    The power he was showing off right now was already well past the status of a Saint.


    ¡®Allen, was this what you¡¯ve been aiming for?¡¯


    The Holy Emperor shifted his gaze over to the empire¡¯s subjects.


    The goddess¡¯s legion was illuminating the pitch-black darkness of the night away, and the citizens could be seen among the undead, busy offering their prayers.


    The ones who so badly rejected the boy¡¯s very existence were now fervently praying to him, and some even began to worship him.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince rejected Kelt¡¯s participation during the inquisition. Then the emperor heard that the boy was planning to stage a strange parade as well.


    Kelt couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the boy was planning to do something as outlandish as what his grandfather might do, but the things happening right now easily exceeded the old man¡¯s expectation.


    The nobles and Priests witnessing this sight would not be able to disobey the boy¡¯s orders now.


    Kelt called out, ¡°Grand chamberlain!¡±


    The grand chamberlain standing next to the emperor was currently staring at the march of the holy undead in a stupor as well.


    ¡°Grand chamberlain Wills!¡±


    Only after Kelt loudly called out his name did the grand chamberlain recover his wits. ¡°F-forgive me, your majesty. T-this servant shall obey.¡±


    ¡°Prepare me a special attire. Also, bring in professionals capable of putting up a convincing disguise.¡±


    Kelt Olfolse turned his head away from the grand chamberlain.


    ¡°I shall be attending the inquisition after all.¡±

 Chapter 170 - 091. The Inquisition of the Seventh Imperial Prince -2 (Part Two)

    **


    The Seventh Imperial Prince wearing Amon¡¯s skull on his head and a bone armour around his body, was silently staring at a tree branch held in his hand.


    [Branch of the world tree]


    This little item not only greatly recovered the physical and mental state of the one wielding it, but could also greatly reduce the side effects of all the negative status ailments affecting him as well.


    Its effective duration was only about ten minutes. However, by using Divine Aura on it, the item¡¯s duration could be extended greatly.


    Tina had gifted him this special branch before his departure from Aslan.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince shifted his gaze away.


    All the subjects of the empire he could see were kneeling before him. Their eyes were quietly closed while they continued offering their heartfelt prayers.


    A Priest among them was even shedding emotional tears as he cried out in exaltation.


    Action definitely spoke louder than hundreds of words.


    Saintess Alice advised the prince to convince the doubters with all of his heart. As such, the Seventh Imperial Prince chose to convince them through his actions.


    This was the method unique to the one and only Allen Olfolse. He wished to bring to light the truth that he wasn¡¯t a harmful existence, and do that in a way that didn¡¯t involve fights or conflicts.


    ¡®It¡¯s working a lot better than I thought.¡¯


    Indeed, the reactions of the masses were far more favourable than he had originally anticipated.


    ¡®The citizens have personally witnessed and experienced it now, so they should accept this whole thing without any repulsion. In that case, it¡¯s now time to take care of the remaining ones.¡¯


    Which would be the members of the aristocracy and clergy ¨C to convince them, he now needed to act out of his skin.


    The parade headed to the imperial palace.


    Harman on standby near the palace¡¯s imposing front gates was also standing around in a daze due to the approaching spectacle. Still, he barely managed to regain enough of his wits to open the gates on time.


    The undead legion numbering fifteen hundred strong stood in rank and file on the imperial palace¡¯s plaza, and the Seventh Imperial Prince, the commander of the goddess¡¯s divine army, stepped off from the chariot.


    He began heading towards his destination on foot and ten holy undead knights escorted him by his side.


    No one dared to stop their advance.


    He brazenly strode in the palace¡¯s corridors and eventually reached the Holy Emperor¡¯s audience chamber.


    The holy undead knights stepped up to directly open the huge entrance.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince confidently walked inside.


    The eyes of every noble and the clergy gathered inside the audience chamber nearly popped out of their sockets while witnessing this sight.


    The luxurious red carpet on the floor was trampled on by the bone armour.


    Even though the boy prince headed straight to the throne, no one thought to stop him from going there.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince reached the throne, and without saying anything, sat down on the seat meant for the Holy Emperor.


    The holy undead knight accompanying him stood on either side of him and placed their hands on the hilts of their swords. They knelt down on one knee and bowed their heads.


    When the Seventh Imperial Prince took off the mountain goat¡¯s skull, the imposingly-sized bone armour disappeared from the view almost at the same time as well.


    Allen Oflolse, now sitting comfortably on the throne, glared at the gathered members of aristocracy and clergy with cold eyes.


    ¡°All of you.¡±


    And then, his voice¡­


    ¡°How long are you planning to stand still like a bunch of dummies?¡±


    His voice containing Spirit Speech caused all the nobles and holy men to freeze up in their spots.


    Undeniable chills overtook them, and one by one, they began kneeling down and bowing their heads.


    ¡°We offer our greetings to your highness, the Seventh Imperial Prince!¡±


    Their initial stupefied state didn¡¯t last for long, though; they flinched in surprise and clamped their mouth shut.


    This was supposed to be an inquisition. An occasion meant to prove the sins of the seventh grandson of the Holy Emperor, Allen Olfolse, and make him answer for them.


    But this¡­ wasn¡¯t this like¡­


    ¡®Isn¡¯t this like we¡¯re here to pay our respect to the Holy Emperor?!¡¯


    Indeed, wasn¡¯t that throne meant for the Holy Emperor to sit?


    And yet the boy prince was sitting on it so nonchalantly as if it belonged to him in the first place!


    ¡°Well then. We shall commence with this inquisition.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince declared loudly for all to hear, and the gathered nobles and the clergymen clamped their mouths shut.


    He was clearly leading the inquisition now.


    On top of that, he was even sitting askew on the throne in an arrogant manner too. He relaxed his cheek on the back of his hand and leisurely asked the gathered nobles.


    ¡°Is there anyone among you wishing to question me?¡±


    Everyone in here kept their mouths shut.


    An atmosphere none of them could disobey was quickly filling up the audience chamber.


    The cordon of the holy undead knights surrounding the Seventh Imperial Prince was busy unleashing divinity in scary amounts. He scanned his audience first before opening his mouth.


    ¡°First order of the business. Blasphemy against Goddess Gaia.¡±


    The nobles flinched at that.


    ¡°Go and bring Harman in.¡±


    Some Priests hurriedly left the audience chamber and fetched Harman.


    He knelt down and bowed his head before the throne.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince addressed him, ¡°I shall be asking you first. I have blasphemed against Goddess Gaia. As a result, I was banished to the frontiers. You bore witness to it all, did you not?¡±


    Those words were spoken in a still-immature voice coming out from a boy with a small, slender physique. Yet the dignified aura it contained easily overwhelmed everyone present in the audience chamber.


    ¡°Yes, this servant has witnessed them.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. Can an individual who is despised, unloved by Gaia, and has apparently signed a contract with the devil be able to utilise divinity this freely?¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince spread open his arms and asked. More specifically, he pointed at the bowing holy undead knights next to him.


    Harman replied, ¡°No, he cannot. It¡¯s impossible.¡±


    ¡°In that case, how can I wield this much divinity yet also cast Necromancy? What could possibly be the reason?¡±


    ¡°It is because of the greatness of Goddess Gaia. And her blessing has been granted upon your highness, that¡¯s why.¡±


    ¡°You may take your leave.¡±


    Harman kept his head bowed as he backed away into the crowd of the nobles behind him.


    The Imperial Prince shifted his gaze. ¡°Next. The act of violence against the scions of nobles in the academy. The noble families in question, step forward.¡±


    All the nobles collectively winced a little at that.


    The representatives of the aforementioned duke and marquis households gingerly stepped forward.


    ¡°I shall question you now.¡±


    ¡°W-we are at your service, your highness.¡±


    ¡°How do we normally punish criminals found guilty of assaulting and raping commoners, as well as insulting the monarch?¡±


    The representatives clamped their mouths shut and lowered their heads. It was obvious that the ones guilty of such crimes wouldn¡¯t be able to keep their heads anymore. And even if they were spared from execution, a huge punishment would still be in store for them.


    ¡°However, I chose not to punish them and simply had their private forces appropriated all for the sake of protecting the empire¡¯s subjects and to stop the invasion of Aslan. Do you have any dissatisfaction towards my judgement?¡±


    ¡°No, your highness. We do not.¡±


    ¡°You may take your leave.¡±


    The nobles¡¯ representatives quietly stepped back into the crowd.


    ¡°And so, the charges of being intimate with Aslan¡¯s princess, and scheming to start a war that will eventually lead me to the position of the Holy Emperor.¡± The Seventh Imperial Prince spoke while narrowing his eyes, ¡°Do you really think that I¡¯ll do something as annoying as killing King Rahamma in the first place to achieve such a goal? And also, if Aslan¡¯s princess is indeed fond of me, then isn¡¯t this a wonderful opportunity for us to influence an enemy nation as we see fit?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    More silence ensued.


    The nobles were not saying a single word to refute him. Honestly, they couldn¡¯t even if they wanted to.


    All of them had been thinking that the Seventh Imperial Prince was a devil worshipper. Since he used Necromancy, he had to be a heretic who sold his own soul.


    But the truth was starkly different.


    He was a devil worshipper? An incarnate of the devil himself, you say?


    What a nonsensical notion that was, one that didn¡¯t even deserve a polite little chuckle.


    The truth was the complete opposite of the said accusation.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince spoke up once more, ¡°I shall ask all of you now.¡±


    The nobles flinched in surprise and stared at him.


    ¡°The Darina household that collaborated with the Vampires, and the corrupt Church of Caiolium that still backs them after the truth was revealed.¡±


    His voice containing Spirit Speech streamed towards the listeners like a sacred river.


    ¡°And then, me, Allen Olfolse, his majesty, the Holy Emperor¡¯s seventh grandson, one who can command the walking dead by borrowing the powers of Goddess Gaia.¡±


    The nobles, now entranced by his voice, found themselves unable to tear their gazes away from the Seventh Imperial Prince on the throne.


    Every single one of them was thinking the same thing while staring at him.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince before their very eyes, he¡­


    The boy prince narrowed his eyes once more and asked them, ¡°Who do you think is the truly corrupt one between us?¡±


    He was the one who¡¯d become the next Holy Emperor as the man inheriting Gaia¡¯s will.


    4


    < 091. The Inquisition of the Seventh Imperial Prince -2 (Part One and Two)> Fin.

 Chapter 171 - 092. Kasim Derian -1 (Part One)

    The heavily disguised Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, was currently hiding among the nobles.


    His emotions fluctuated all over the place while staring at his seventh grandson, who was currently perched up arrogantly on the throne.


    Just how long had it been since the last time he came across a moment so thrilling and satisfying like this one?


    His seventh grandson, the mangnani, Allen Olfolse, the child who tried to rape a lady-in-waiting and blasphemed against Goddess Gaia¡­


    That individual had long disappeared by now.


    No, wait ¨C his former self must¡¯ve been a ruse all along. Without that explanation, the current situation could not be explained at all.


    The boy merely losing his memories couldn¡¯t have been the truth. As expected, he had been hiding his true self all along.


    That had to be it. Because the Seventh Imperial Prince before Kelt¡¯s eyes came across as the most ideal candidate to become a ruler of a nation. He must¡¯ve been hiding his sharpened fangs only to bare them at this very moment.


    Kelt remained hidden within the ranks of the nobles and quietly observed their atmosphere.


    All the nobles were completely out of it. Even then, their eyes were gleaming in the light of confidence.


    Because, they also knew.


    They knew that the boy before their eyes would be the one to shoulder the burden of the Holy Emperor¡¯s position in the future.


    Every single one of them had become entranced by the boy¡¯s charismatic display unfolding right before their eyes and could no longer deny his greatness.


    ¡®It¡¯s been decided.¡¯


    The successor to the Holy Emperor¡­


    White Olfolse was definitely unsuitable. He was simply too wishy-washy.


    What about Luan, then? Or Hilda? There was no doubting that those two possessed the qualifications to become an excellent Holy Emperor.


    However, they hadn¡¯t yet displayed such a strong charisma capable of entrancing everyone like this, nor did they prove that they possessed unrivalled strength.


    The one who could drive out the Vampires, maintain absolute authority and at the same time, possess enough strength to protect his subjects¡­


    The one with the status of a Saint, and even beloved by Goddess Gaia.


    ¡°¡­Allen Olfolse.¡±


    Even if Kelt chose to hand over the throne of the Holy Emperor to his seventh grandson right now, there shouldn¡¯t be any problems as far as he could tell.


    Kelt grinned deeply while tightly clenching his fists.


    ¡°Who do you think is the truly corrupt one between us?¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince asked.


    The intimidated members of aristocracy and clergy paid close attention to every word the boy spoke as their faith grew larger and larger.


    They then started eagerly answering his call.


    ¡°Without a doubt!¡±


    The surrounding gazes focused on the nobleman who chose to speak up. He was one of the loyal retainers who had served the Imperial Family for a very long time.


    While bowing his head, the nobleman finished the rest of his sentence. ¡°They are guilty of perverting the truth. They have gone against the will of Gaia and committed too many acts of impropriety!¡±


    Once one person spoke up, the rest swiftly followed suit as well.


    ¡°Although we must concede that their connection to the Third Imperial Prince isn¡¯t fully confirmed, they still opposed Archbishop Raphael and his troops who were dispatched by his majesty the Holy Emperor as his trusted envoy. That crime alone amounts to treason!¡±


    The once-divided nobles were uniting under one banner. It was the same story for the members of the clergy, as well.


    Without a doubt, the Priests sent by the Church of Caiolium must be hiding among their ranks right now. However, even they had become entranced by the boy prince.


    They were all entranced by the miracle taking place before their eyes, and by the majestic air he emitted.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince corrected his sitting posture on the throne after listening to the loyal retainers. He scanned the nobles and asked them once more, ¡°In that case, what do you think we must do?¡±


    The retainers all spoke in one voice.


    ¡°We must punish the Church of Caiolium, your highness.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince smiled.


    He extended his hand forward and made a declaration. ¡°Send a communique to the Church of Caiolium at once. I shall grant them a grace period of ten days.¡±


    His voice reverberated throughout the imperial audience chamber.


    ¡°Order them to surrender quietly.¡±


    All of the nobles raised their heads and stared at the boy prince.


    He enunciated each and every word clearly as he continued to address them, ¡°They dared to slander the grandchild of the Holy Emperor, labelling me as a heretic. Even their deaths will not be sufficient enough to pay for their sins.¡±


    He stared back intently at every noble present, deliberately holding their gazes as he spoke what¡¯s on his mind.


    ¡°However, I shall be merciful by lightening the sentences of those willing to surrender peacefully.¡±


    The boy prince was decisive.


    The ones surrendering would still be punished, but their sentences would be less severe. However, if the Church of Caiolium chose not to surrender, then¡­


    ¡°If anyone wishes to oppose me, they shall die at the hands of the very holy army that they fear so much.¡±


    ¡­Then, the commander of the holy army right before their eyes, Allen Olfolse, would personally step up and subjugate them without mercy. That¡¯s what the nobles thought.


    ¡°And finally, the three cardinals of the Church of Caiolium responsible for this event shall be made to shoulder all the responsibilities. Is there anyone among you who wishes to express their dissent?¡±


    Allen¡¯s voice reverberated throughout the chamber, prompting the members of the aristocracy and clergy to bow their heads in unison and speak in one voice.


    ¡°No, we do not, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Very good. With that, I declare the conclusion of this inquisition.¡±


    Flinch!


    The nobles and the priests all went rigid in their bowing posture.


    Meanwhile, the Seventh Imperial Prince stood up from the throne and walked dauntlessly right past them, the sounds of his footsteps softened by the red carpet below.


    The holy undead knights scattered away as brilliant light particles dissipated from existence.


    Harman broke away from the ranks of the nobles and followed the Seventh Imperial Prince out the door.


    Only after those two had left the audience chamber did the nobles and priests finally realise something ¨C that this occasion was supposed to be the prince¡¯s inquisition¡­!


    They had completely forgotten about it.


    All they could do now was to belatedly turn their heads and stare dazedly at the doorway the Seventh Imperial Prince used to exit.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I glanced at the shut doorway to the audience chamber and sighed deeply in relief. While doing that, I couldn¡¯t help but notice the muscle ache already starting to hit me from every corner of my body, which forced an unhappy tut to leak out of my mouth.


    ¡°I knew it. A single branch isn¡¯t as effective as the actual world tree itself.¡±


    I was already acclimatised to Amon¡¯s skull to some extent by now, but even then, I barely managed to withstand its backlash despite borrowing the power of the world tree¡¯s branch.


    Oh well¡­ At least it¡¯s perfectly usable during short bursts, so there¡¯s that.


    I started walking down the corridor while feeling slightly rueful, and Harman followed me from behind.


    He addressed me, ¡°That was amazing, your highness.¡±


    ¡°What was?¡±


    I glanced back at him.


    He grinned widely and replied. ¡°I¡¯m referring to how you managed to captivate the opposing nobles and clergymen, your highness. Not only that, you¡­¡±


    Harman shifted his gaze towards one of the palace¡¯s windows. The holy undead legion stationed at the palace¡¯s plaza was dissipating away while scattering brilliant motes of light.


    Despite the late hours, the subjects of the empire were still gathered around the palace gates and outer walls. They were all kneeling and still praying with their hands held tightly before them.


    ¡°You even managed to captivate the subjects as well.¡±


    ¡°I got the idea after remembering what happened back in Aslan, you see.¡±


    I recalled what happened during the fight against Nasus the Lich, the leader of the Black Order. More specifically, what he said back then.


    He said the existence of the holy undead was more than enough to make him question his own beliefs.


    In addition, all of the slaves held captive in the temple started calling me ¡®Lord Angel¡¯ and worshipped me after I defeated the grim reaper version of Nasus.


    My ¡®could it work?¡¯ idea turned out to be the right answer.


    The holy undead might be disharmonious existences to the denizens of this world, but there¡¯s no doubt that they also possessed a mystifying and sacred aura.


    Such creatures had made their grand entrance as the guardians of the Imperial Family, who were charged with the protection of the empire¡¯s citizens, so it wasn¡¯t all that surprising to see the masses mistakenly believe that the holy undead were indeed an army sent by the goddess.


    I muttered softly, ¡°I¡¯m sure their awe will dissipate soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Soon enough, your highness?¡± Harman smiled awkwardly. ¡°But faith, once engraved deep within a person¡¯s heart, won¡¯t change so easily.¡±


    ¡°Faith my foot. I¡¯m neither a god nor a Saint.¡±


    I decided to not pay too much heed to what he said.


    With this, the only remaining business at hand was to enjoy my much-deserved break.


    We finally reached the doorway to my quarters. I spotted Charlotte before the door, smiling gently and bowing her head to me. She must¡¯ve arrived here ahead of us and waited.


    She spoke up, ¡°Thank you for your hard work, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Hey, thanks for your help earlier.¡±


    I expressed my gratitude to her. It was due to her efforts that I didn¡¯t run into any friction with the Paladins guarding the city¡¯s gate.


    Charlotte opened the door to my quarters.


    But it was right at that moment Harman decided to say something else, ¡°By the way, I guess it¡¯ll get very busy for you soon, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Busy with what?¡±


    I turned my head and stared at Harman.


    He replied with a wry smile on his face. ¡°The matter with the Church of Caiolium, of course. They will not surrender, after all.¡±


    ¡°Probably. But what does that have to do with me?¡±


    The Holy Emperor should have no trouble handling the matter with the Church of Caiolium all by himself. Now that the opposition from the subjects and priests have been thoroughly taken care of, I figured no one would mind even if the old man slaughtered the Church¡¯s higher-ups after the latter group unwisely decided to not surrender.


    That¡¯s what I thought.


    But then, Harman began tilting his head this way and that. ¡°Your highness, didn¡¯t you say it yourself?¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    My head suddenly became blank after his question hit me in the brain. Because, I had abruptly recalled what I said back in the audience chamber.


    The holy army would subjugate the Church of Caiolium.


    Hang on, wasn¡¯t it the right thing to say at the moment?


    I mean, if it¡¯s the Holy Emperor¡¯s army, they should easily be able to¡­


    ¡°¡­Ah.¡±


    Huh. I made a seriously stupid mistake just now, didn¡¯t I?


    Which was¡­


    -If anyone wishes to oppose me, they shall die at the hands of the holy army that they fear so much.


    That statement could be misunderstood as me wanting to personally step forward and subjugate the Church of Caiolium.

 Chapter 172 - 092. Kasim Derian -1 (Part Two)

    **


    Three days later, the events of the capital city had finally reached the Church of Caiolium¡¯s headquarters. And the ones reporting the truth happened to be none other than the Church¡¯s own Priests.


    Not just any Priests either, but the ones Cardinal Mikael had personally sent to the capital, no less.


    These people, they were¡­


    ¡°This was our fault!¡±


    ¡°We must repent! We must ask for forgiveness right away!¡±


    ¡­All clearly deranged.


    The Priests sent in as the saboteurs had this distant, longing look in their eyes while loose smiles were etched on their lips.


    They spread open their arms and shouted at the members of the Church of Caiolium still engaged in the life of debauchery.


    ¡°The Seventh Imperial Prince has spoken. He who is a Saint and the divine king, has issued a decree!¡±


    ¡°If you acknowledge your sins and bow your heads, he shall forgive your crimes!¡±


    ¡°We must heed the words of the noble being who has descended to this world to preach the will of Goddess Gaia!¡±


    ¡°Everyone, it¡¯s still not too late. Yes, it¡¯s not too late!¡±


    The Priests of the Church, who were still enjoying themselves in various indecent conducts as usual, could only exchange glances with one another while listening to the rants of their colleagues returning from the capital.


    These Priests, sent to infiltrate the capital¡¯s streets, slums, and even the imperial court, were instead preaching to the Church of Caiolium now.


    The ranting Priests turned their heads towards the leader of the Church wearing a gorgeous golden robe and holding a wooden crosier.


    They glared straight at Mikael and rebuked him.


    ¡°Also, you have crossed the line.¡±


    ¡°Your eminence, Cardinal Mikael. It¡¯s not too late for you. Bow your head and implore his highness.¡±


    ¡°If you do, you shall receive salvation and forgiveness in the form of your eternal respite!¡±


    Those words caused the corrupt, naked Priests drowning themselves in fine liquor to freeze up on their spots.


    The insanity of the returning Priests seemed to be worse than they initially thought. So much so that it was Cardinal Mikael who got flustered instead.


    These returning Priests were supposed to be his loyal subordinates, while their faith in him and the Church should have been unshakeable.


    Yet, they had returned after going through a ¡®metamorphosis¡¯.


    1


    ¡°Repent, your eminence!¡±


    ¡°Oh, the corrupt one who perverted the teachings of Gaia! Repent!¡±


    The muscles around Cardinal Mikael¡¯s eyes started twitching uncontrollably.


    These returning Priests had said something that really got on his nerves.


    He had no problem letting most of the insane ramblings slide. But the assertions of him going against Gaia¡¯s teachings and being corrupt definitely touched his reverse scale.


    1


    Mikael shot up from his seat as rage spread on his face.


    He took aim at the returning Priests with his crosier, injected his divinity into the staff, and unleashed it.


    The bodies of the Priests exploded.


    1


    Bits of blood and flesh landed everywhere after their torsos were blown cleanly apart. Their lower halves slowly faltered to the floor.


    The other Priests screamed in shock.


    Mikael simply ignored them and muttered to himself, ¡°Just what happened back in the capital?¡±


    He stared at the dead Priests as cold sweat trickled down his spine.


    What exactly did they witness? Just what happened to them that they ended up changing this much?


    3


    Even before these Priests made their way back to the Church, Mikael had already heard about the general gist of the situation.


    He heard that the Priests and subjects protesting on the streets of the capital had suddenly gone quiet. They instead began defending the Seventh Imperial Prince and demanded that the Church of Caiolium be punished.


    This abrupt change happened literally overnight.


    And now, all connections to the Priests in the capital who happened to be on friendly terms with the Church had been cut off.


    Cardinal Mikael chewed on his nails.


    His legs began trembling on their own from a sense of restlessness.


    Eventually, he managed to come up with a theory.


    ¡°Brainwashing, is it?¡±


    The Priests of the Church of Caiolium flinched a little when he murmured that out, and they hurriedly approached him.


    ¡°Brainwashing, your eminence?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that, sir?¡±


    Mikael glanced at them before clarifying himself, ¡°The Seventh Imperial Prince has made a deal with the devil, has he not? Which means he should be an expert at wielding Necromancy by now, too. So, I was wondering if he resorted to brainwashing the masses through black magic.¡±


    ¡°But how can that be?!¡±


    The complexions of the Priests paled instantly.


    This was nothing more than speculation at this juncture.


    First of all, such a brainwashing technique was impossible to pull off unless you broke the target¡¯s mind first, and secondly, brainwashing not just one or two people but tens of thousands in one go was also theoretically impossible as well.


    But through this encounter, it became certain that there was ¡®something¡¯ at play here.


    If the atmosphere of persecuting the Seventh Imperial Prince had been reversed for real, then the Church of Caiolium would no doubt be punished as the organisation of heretics instead.


    Mikael couldn¡¯t let that happen without fighting back.


    ¡°Bring me all the reports related to the Seventh Imperial Prince at once!¡±


    Soon, numerous documents piled up in front of Mikael. He carefully perused their contents. Eventually, his eyes narrowed to fine slits.


    ¡°A shovel?¡±


    Apparently, during his banishment period, he defeated some zombies using a shovel.


    ¡°A musket?¡±


    He then freely wielded a musket rifle, which was basically nothing more than an expensive ornament, in order to hunt down Vampires and lycanthropes.


    Besides that¡­


    ¡°He lost to Princess Hilda during various sparring sessions?¡±


    Did this mean that he was weak in close-quarter combat? No, wait. Princess Hilda was uncommonly strong in that regard, wasn¡¯t she?


    Well, she did enjoy the pastime of hunting lycans down for fun, so¡­


    In any case, this avenue definitely needed to be looked at.


    Mikael browsed through the incidents that happened in Humite next.


    ¡°He summoned the Blue Devils?¡±


    However, what about the records of the Seventh Imperial Prince engaging in close-quarter battles?


    Mikael couldn¡¯t find any.


    Most notably, it seemed that Harman from the Paladin Corps and Marquis Charlotte almost always accompanied him whenever he was fighting his enemies.


    He¡¯d summon the holy undead through Necromancy, then while using them as his shields, he¡¯d fight from the rear of the formation. That seemed to his preferred style.


    A grin floated up on Mikael¡¯s face. ¡°So that¡¯s how it was.¡±


    The target, the Seventh Imperial Prince, knew only Necromancy and nothing else. And his main weapon was a musket, a ranged weapon.


    1


    His overall combat ability might be excellent, yes, but he was glaringly insufficient in close-quarter battles.


    Mikael perused the next report. It seemed that the stories of who the next Holy Emperor could be were now doing the rounds among the aristocracy.


    ¡°Looks like there still is a way to stop them, after all.¡±


    Mikael got up and headed to another location.


    His new destination was the underground prison located below the Church of Caiolium¡¯s headquarters. Countless prisoners were currently locked away in this place.


    Cardinal Mikael silently walked past them before coming to stop. He then took a glance to his side.


    ¡°Pant¡­ pant¡­¡±


    The cell he looked into contained an aged Priest, currently covered with still-flowing blood from his head to toe. Shackles made out of Eltera, metal naturally resistant to magic, were bounding the wrists and ankles of this old man. His eyes and mouth were also covered up.


    1


    It was none other than Archbishop Raphael.


    This man still had plenty of uses left. When Mikael rose up to the position of the pope, he¡¯d be able to utilise Raphael¡¯s influence to his advantage.


    But as things stood, Raphael had no value as a hostage.


    ¡®The Holy Emperor won¡¯t hesitate to discard his loyal retainers and his children. That¡¯s just who he is.¡¯


    Indeed, that insane emperor would threaten the ones trying to threaten him instead ¨C while saying that if the hostages were not promptly released, or worse, if they got hurt even by a tiny little bit, then he¡¯d ruthlessly massacre all of his enemies.


    1


    ¡®However.¡¯


    A chink in the Holy Emperor¡¯s armour had finally shown up.


    And that was¡­


    ¡®¡­The boy who will become the next Holy Emperor!¡¯


    The Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen Olfolse.


    By taking him hostage, the situation would change quite drastically.


    1


    Not only was he a precious grandson, he was also seemingly destined to become the next Holy Emperor. Without a doubt, his value should be higher than anyone else.


    6


    Mikael turned his gaze away and continued walking deeper into the darkness. He eventually reached the cell at the deepest part of the underground prison.


    A prisoner who should¡¯ve been executed a long time ago was shackled inside.


    His face, barely visible through the sturdy steel bars, seemed to be that of a middle-aged man in his mid forties.


    There were some wrinkles on his face and his unkempt beard had withered badly, but his physique was still amazingly robust.


    This man used to be a member of the Order of the Golden Cross once upon a time. More than that, he was almost chosen as the inheritor of the title of the next sword king as well.


    But he became a criminal after going against the Holy Emperor¡¯s decree and slaughtered three hundred citizens suspected of being Vampires.


    This man, who slaughtered over a hundred of Vampires and cut down one thousand Aslan warriors in his lifetime, was¡­


    ¡°Kasim Derian.¡±


    The man raised his head when his name was called.


    ¡°I shall grant you freedom. And a chance to exact your vengeance on the Imperial Family as well.¡±


    Mikael grinned brightly and addressed the man.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have you go and capture the Seventh Imperial Prince for me.¡±


    5


    < 092. Kasim Derian -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 173 - 093. Kasim Derian -2 (Part One)

    Late at night.


    A torrential downpour had come to visit the streets of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital city, Laurensis.


    The gloomy clouds overhead had swallowed up the moon a long time ago, making it difficult to survey the surroundings with just the light coming from the many fire pits and lit torches placed on the city¡¯s outer wall.


    A man kitted out in a set of golden armour walked out from the pitch-black darkness outside the city¡¯s wall.


    ¡°You there, halt!¡±


    The Paladins on guard raised their swords still sheathed in their scabbards, and stood before the golden knight, impeding his progress. They were supposed to be patrolling the vicinity of the city¡¯s wall, so they couldn¡¯t help but furrow their brows at this event.


    That armour belonged to the Order of the Golden Cross, seemingly proving that this lone knight was a member of that famed knight order.


    ¡®However, he¡¯s alone?¡¯


    Didn¡¯t they usually move in groups? More importantly, why did this knight show up here of all places, the middle of the wall where there weren¡¯t any checkpoints or gateways to enter the city itself?


    Normally, they would¡¯ve let such suspicions slide by without much concern, but with the current timing being what it was, they simply had to confirm this knight¡¯s identity first.


    The Paladins cautiously approached the golden knight.


    The mystery knight was easily over two and half metres tall. And with the golden armour adorning that hulking physique of his, it was like looking at a real giant.


    The Paladins had to raise their heads to look at him.


    A withered-looking beard stuck out under the helm covering the golden knight¡¯s face.


    ¡°What brings you here, sir?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, could it be that you¡¯re carrying out a secret mission?¡±


    Despite the Paladin¡¯s questioning, the golden knight didn¡¯t say anything or move a muscle.


    When the eerie silence continued on, the Paladins frowned even deeper.


    ¡°Are you from the Order of the Golden Cross?¡±


    The Paladins grew tenser and placed their hands on the hilts of the swords.


    Only then did the golden knight start tilting his head this way and that. With just the movement of his head, he scanned his surroundings.


    His unfeeling eyes darted around under the helm.


    He confirmed the presence of four Paladins in front of the wall, then seven more on top of the wall itself.


    But what about the surroundings? No other combatants could be seen near or on top of the wall that seemingly stretched on forever. Probably because the Paladins¡¯ shift change had happened not too long ago.


    The information provided by Cardinal Mikael proved to be spot-on.


    Most important of all, the moonlight had been obscured. Even the falling deluge ensured that the torches didn¡¯t illuminate much.


    Both vision and hearing had been blocked off.


    The golden knight lowered his head.


    The Paladin was making an uncomfortable face. ¡°If you persist like this, it¡¯ll be troublesome for us. Please provide your identity docu¡­¡±


    ¡°I heard that he made a deal with the devil.¡±


    ¡°¡­I beg your pardon?¡±


    A dazed expression floated up on the Paladin¡¯s face.


    The golden knight grasped the hilt of the sword tied to his hips. It must¡¯ve been at least two metres in length.


    He began drawing it out.


    The Paladins flinched in surprise and tried to yank their weapons out in response ¨C and that was when the golden knight finished what he wanted to say.


    ¡°From now on, the Seventh Imperial Prince who has signed a contract with the devil shall be judged as a heretic.¡±


    By the time the blade fully emerged into the rainy night sky, the upper halves of the Paladins before the golden knight had already split apart from their lower halves.


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    The Paladins flinched and looked down at their bodies. Crimson liquid trickled down from the gaps of their silver-hued armour.


    ¡°Wha¡­!¡±


    Their torsos toppled over as they died on the spot.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on down there?!¡±


    ¡°Ring the bell! Intruder!¡±


    Just as the Paladins on the wall urgently tried to ring the siren, the golden knight made another move.


    When he took a step forward, everything in the world slowed down.


    The relentless downpour suddenly fell so much slower.


    The Paladins were trying to ring the warning bell or blow the whistles they carried around in slow motion.


    The golden knight kicked the ground and dashed up, then extended his hand to grab the wall.


    Everything moved so slowly, yet only his movement remained fast and explosive.


    His fingers dug into the wall¡¯s surface, and his figure powerfully leapt up. In the blink of an eye, he landed on top of the wall tens of metres high. The golden knight tightly grasped the giant sword with his right hand.


    There was no other movement beside that.


    ¡°What the¡­!¡±


    The heads of all seven Paladins on top of the wall flew off. At the same time, the falling raindrops expanded before exploding.


    The lifeless bodies of the Paladins crumbled to the floor. No screams came from them to disturb the heavy downpour.


    Kasim Derian didn¡¯t even bother to assume the position of swinging around a sword. He simply raised his head to look.


    He could see the Theocratic Empire¡¯s imperial palace in the distance.


    That was where the Seventh Imperial Prince could be found. The one who had made a deal with the devil.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    ¡°I¡¯m screwed. My damn mouth did it again!¡±


    1


    I was currently inside the library holding my head in despair.


    Goddammit!


    Those bastards at the Church of Caiolium! They obviously had no thoughts of surrendering, did they?!


    Enough time had passed by, but the Church didn¡¯t send any communication whatsoever.


    How could I not despair in light of that?


    Tomorrow was supposed to be the tenth day in the grace period. If there was no response by then, I would have no choice but to lead an army of holy undead and subjugate them.


    ¡°How the heck did the situation end up like this?¡±


    1


    From the get-go, I had nothing to do with this organisation called the Church of Caiolium. But for some reason, they started picking fights with me as soon as I came back home from Aslan. And then, they tried to start some nonsense with an inquisition, and now, I might have to go on a forced military expedition, too!


    ¡®Even though that last bit was my own fault, but whatever!¡¯


    If they hadn¡¯t provoked me first, none of this crap would¡¯ve happened.


    At first, Ronia up north. Then the Vampires, followed by the lycans, and now, an internal conflict too?


    What a bunch of battle-hungry lunatics these people were.


    1


    ¡°Urgh¡­¡±


    I recalled the Holy Emperor¡¯s expression from some time ago.


    This happened shortly after the inquisition. He personally came to visit me.


    His face back then was quite different from when he was mercilessly beating the living snot out of his son. No, it was a benevolent smile meant for his beloved grandson. With such a nice smile on his face, he said the following words to me.


    -Once you¡¯re ready to set off on your expedition, let me know. I shall aid you in any way I can.


    1


    Dear grandfather, is that something you should say to your youngest grandson?!


    1


    I knew that this world was insane, but just how many people out there would be as happy as he was to send their grandson to a warzone?


    ¡­But then again, the holy undead legion numbered past fifteen hundred, so there was that. A combat force boasting such a scale should easily sweep aside the Church of Caiolium, and then some.


    The Holy Emperor had also summoned the five main forces of the empire in the central plaza of Laurensis, just in case.


    The plan was for me to join them and set off sometime tomorrow, our destination being the Church of Caiolium¡¯s headquarters.


    And I was to be the commander of all five forces, to boot.


    If he was really worried about his grandson, then he could¡¯ve ordered Oscal the sword king to come with me! I mean, to me, he looked like the type to thoroughly enjoy fighting.


    I knew that complaining hundreds of times over wasn¡¯t going to change anything. Everything was already set in stone.


    Without a doubt, the Church of Caiolium would not surrender. No, they should¡¯ve already gathered some forces to set up a cordon around their headquarters just to make my life difficult.


    ¡°I wonder, will they surrender if they see my holy undead?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but wonder. Wasn¡¯t I able to change the minds of the citizens and nobles of Laurensis?


    ¡°You may be able to do so, but I fear it¡¯ll not work with Cardinal Mikael.¡±


    I shifted my head to my side at that voice.


    It was a girl with golden locks and blue eyes ¨C Alice Astoria.


    ¡°Here, your highness. This tea will clear up your head.¡±


    She poured red-coloured tea in a cup and placed it on top of the table.


    ¡°Ah, sorry about that. Did I disturb you during your study?¡±


    She smiled awkwardly at my question and shook her head.


    I raised the teacup to take a sip, but another question popped up in my mind first. ¡°You say that that cardinal won¡¯t surrender?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Cardinal Mikael¡¯s conviction is strong. As such, he will surely stick rigidly to his beliefs and enforce it no matter what.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but recall Nasus the Lich after listening to her explanation.


    That undead opposed me back then while being lost in its beliefs and loyalty towards Aslan. So lost, in fact, that it even resorted to using a power that eroded away its soul.


    One¡¯s faith and belief system would depend on their convictions, or so I figured.


    ¡®Wait, now that I think about it, I haven¡¯t summoned a Lich yet, have I?¡¯


    I took out the Necromancer grimoire I acquired back in the dragon¡¯s lair ¨C or should I call it Aslan¡¯s ancient tomb?


    Anyways, all sorts of knowledge on summoning undead creatures were contained in this book. One of them happened to be related to Liches, but there were other just as interesting creatures to be found within as well.


    Such an existence could strengthen this weak ol¡¯ me. A guardian strong in close-quarter combat, where I wouldn¡¯t have to resort to hitting the enemy with sheer numbers.


    2


    This creature that required a physical body was¡­


    Diiing-! Diiing-! Diiiiing-!


    Suddenly, the bells¡¯ tolls resounded out.


    I looked outside the windows at the ground below.


    Paladins were hurriedly rushing around in the palace¡¯s corridors.


    I asked in confusion, ¡°What¡¯s going on out there?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, your highness. What could it be¡­?¡±


    Even Alice was tilting her head in confusion.


    It was right then that knocks came from the door of the library. It opened a short while later and Charlotte, who was charged with my protection, peeked her head inside.


    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°It seems that an intruder has broken in through the city¡¯s eastern wall. He murdered all the Paladins stationed there and scaled over the wall, your highness.¡±


    A sneak attack at a time like this?


    ¡°Who is he? Hang on, could it be a Vampire?¡±


    ¡°We still haven¡¯t located the criminal yet. However, according to the reports, he seems to be a considerably skilled swordsman.¡±


    It seemed to me that they still needed more time to investigate.

 Chapter 174 - 093. Kasim Derian -2 (Part Two)

    I stood up from the spot.


    Whether it was a Vampire or someone from the Church of Caiolium, the one daring to attack the capital shouldn¡¯t last too long.


    I mean, really. This was a den of monsters populated by the likes of the Holy Emperor, the sword king, and even the Crown Imperial Prince.


    1


    ¡°Will you be heading out?¡±


    I turned to look at Alice when she asked that. She flinched a little and got visibly flustered.


    She hurriedly bowed her head and addressed me, ¡°T-tomorrow, will you be setting off to the Church of Caiolium¡¯s headquarters?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice. It¡¯s already been decided, after all.¡±


    Although it was annoying as heck, it¡¯d be better to sort this mess out as soon as possible. And it might be a good idea to ask Oscal for his assistance, just in case.


    ¡°This servant begs of you, your highness.¡± Alice got up, then held the ends of her dress. She worked so hard to hide her emotions while speaking to me. ¡°Please confirm the fate of his eminence, Archbishop Raphael Astoria.¡±


    As I thought, she was deeply worried about him even till now.


    I smiled bitterly and nodded silently.


    There was no need to say anything here. Hoping in vain would end up hurting a lot worse later on, after all.


    ¡°Well, uh. Sleep tight.¡±


    I waved at her and exited through the library¡¯s doorway.


    The whole imperial palace was noisy right now.


    Paladins kitted out in golden armour ran towards us from the end of the dark corridor with their lit lanterns. They politely saluted Charlotte first before addressing me.


    ¡°Your highness, we shall escort you.¡±


    ¡°Allow us to guide you safely to your quarters.¡±


    I inwardly clicked my tongue at these members belonging to the Order of the Golden Cross.


    Strangely enough, the number of guards around me had increased after the inquisition¡¯s conclusion.


    I naturally rejected it since it didn¡¯t feel all that nice, but even then, the Holy Emperor insisted on deploying the bare minimum I could accept.


    It wasn¡¯t as if I couldn¡¯t guess the reason for it, of course. Still, I fervently prayed that my guesses were wrong.


    1


    I groaned a little.


    ¡°Shall we get going, your highness?¡±


    Charlotte lightly bowed her head and prepared to escort me.


    It was at that very moment that I picked up a weird feeling.


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    I took a closer look to our front.


    Maybe the heavy downpour outside was to blame for all that darkness pervading the interior of the imperial palace.


    But for some reason, I could sense a strange presence hiding within that darkness.


    It seemed that I wasn¡¯t the only one to pick up on that, as Charlotte and the Golden Cross members all stood in front of me in a protective cordon.


    Her hand now rested on the sword¡¯s hilt, while the Golden Cross Paladins unsheathed theirs.


    They raised their lanterns higher and cast the light towards the end of the corridor, then began stepping forward cautiously.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±


    The Golden Cross Paladins called out.


    Right at that moment, I saw a man with a hulking physique wearing the exact same golden armour as the Paladins step out from the end of the corridor.


    He was so tall that his head nearly scraped the ceiling of this large passageway.


    It was someone from the Order of the Golden Cross?


    My tension left me as soon as I confirmed his appearance.


    However, it was still strange. Why was he hiding his presence like that?


    The hulking golden knight locked his gaze on me. His eyes seemed to gleam sharply under his helm, then he muttered something out.


    ¡°Found you.¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s eyes narrowed to slit. But that lasted only for a second; her expression stiffened and her eyes shot open wide.


    ¡°Your highness, danger-!¡±


    She shielded me and threw both of us against the library¡¯s door.


    At the same time, I used divinity to enhance my eyesight.


    Everything slowed down to a crawl like a video clip being played in slow motion.


    My eyes caught the sight of a formless blade flying in.


    The members of the Golden Cross responded to the sudden attack by raising their swords up and injecting them with divinity.


    For a brief moment there, I thought they managed to repel that formless blade, but then, their swords shattered, followed by their bodies and limbs being torn apart.


    The blade continued on and barely missed my and Charlotte¡¯s head by a hair¡¯s breadth.


    That was no ordinary sword. It was actually a wind acting like a blade, created by the rapid swing of a sword.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    BANG!


    The door to the library broke open, and both my and Charlotte¡¯s bodies crashed on the floor.


    Only a blink later, the doorway and the surrounding wall was split apart smoothly without any resistance whatsoever.


    Ka-boom!


    A loud explosion echoed out next.


    Countless books got shredded apart and torn paper bits crazily blew around in the library. The wall collapsed while the bookshelves exploded and bounced away from the wind pressure.


    ¡°What¡­?!¡±


    Alice, who was still sitting inside the library, jumped up in shock and shielded her head.


    In the meantime, Charlotte picked me up off the floor. ¡°Your highness, we¡¯re escaping.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    My gaze shifted back to behind us. I saw the golden armour almost obscured by the corridor¡¯s pitch-black darkness.


    The golden knight didn¡¯t even hesitate to swing his sword and kill the remaining living members of the Golden Cross suffering from grievous wounds.


    That man¡­ he just murdered his own colleagues.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t he from the Order of the Golden Cross?!¡±


    ¡°No, your highness. He¡¯s not. He is¡­!¡±


    Charlotte stopped speaking and turned her head.


    The hulking man lifted up his humongous sword once more.


    That¡¯s all he did.


    To the eyes of an ordinary person, it must¡¯ve looked like that¡¯s all he did just then.


    However, I could clearly see his real movements through my sight enhanced by divinity.


    He was moving inside the greatly slowed-down time. While leaving behind a series of afterimages, he cocked his sword before bringing that huge weapon back to where the afterimages began.


    All of that happened at a truly unbelievable speed.


    BOOM-!


    The air exploded.


    At the same time, the blade of wind formed and flew in towards where we were.


    With me slung over her shoulder, Charlotte raised up her divine sword. She powerfully took a swipe with her weapon in the direction of the incoming formless blade.


    KA-BOOM-!


    The air exploded even louder.


    Charlotte and I were struck hard by the impact force from the exploding air. Our bodies bounced away on the library¡¯s floor and crashed into the still-remaining bookshelves. But that wasn¡¯t enough to kill our momentum, and we slammed into the window sill before breaking through the wall altogether.


    We were now falling towards the ground dozens of metres below us.


    ¡°Your highness!¡±


    Charlotte quickly wrapped her arms around me. While doing so, we looked back to the library.


    The first thing we saw was Alice shielding her head, followed by the golden knight abruptly appearing behind her.


    ¡°¡­Ah.¡±


    Charlotte made an ¡®Ah, dammit!¡¯ face just then.


    I immediately summoned my musket. But by the time I tried to inject divinity into the weapon, it was too late.


    It just took too long to materialise a holy bullet.


    Alice flinched in surprise and turned her head. The golden knight was raising his sword up. A look of fear formed on her face.


    But just before the blade of wind came down¡­


    Her eyes sharpened abruptly.


    Bang-!


    Her leg slammed onto the floor below, and her fist, now laden with divinity, was cocked back.


    ¡°Huh?!¡±


    I was flustered by that sight.


    No way?


    The golden knight fired yet another round of the wind blade. At the same time, Alice punched forward with her divinity-laden fist.


    The two forces collided violently and exploded in mid-air, sending Alice¡¯s body away. She vomited a mouthful of blood, but thankfully, she didn¡¯t die.


    A part of the library¡¯s wall exploded and her figure also started falling to the ground below.


    ¡°Bloody hell!¡±


    I quickly snapped my fingers.


    Rune letters materialised on the ground of the imperial palace below, summoning a bunch of skeletons. They safely caught the falling trio of Charlotte, Alice, and me.


    I quickly took a look at Alice¡¯s condition.


    ¡°Ouch, that hurts¡­!¡±


    She was moaning in pain while holding her fist with some skinned knuckles.


    Eh? That¡¯s all?


    Sure, she did inject lots of divinity, but she still blocked the wind blade with only a bare fist, you know?!


    Wow, even if she was a Saintess possessing a god¡¯s fragment, wasn¡¯t this, like, a bit too over the top?


    I muttered to no one in particular, ¡°Huh. So this is what happens when a Saintess falls head over heels with hand-to-hand combat?¡±


    Alice jumped up in surprise at what I said and stared at me.


    She spoke with a stupefied face, ¡°But, how did you¡­?¡±


    I stopped looking at her and glanced up. The golden knight was staring at us, his head peeking out from the gap of the crumbled wall.


    Even if I wanted to use [Mind¡¯s Eye] and learn more about him, that stupid helm got in the way and made it unnecessarily tough.


    2


    ¡°Why is a monster like him going on a rampage inside the imperial palace?!¡± I cried out while feeling frustrated.


    Charlotte responded to me, ¡°That¡¯s the former vice captain of the Order of the Golden Cross, Kasim Derian. He was the successor to Lord Oscal once upon a time. And also, a person that he wanted to sweep under the rug as well.¡±


    ¡°Huh?!¡±


    The successor of that sword king? Why was someone like that attacking me in the first place?


    Charlotte must¡¯ve read my mind because she continued on with her explanation despite the cold sweat caking her face, ¡°He¡¯s a criminal who disobeyed orders and slaughtered three hundred civilians. I heard that he was tried by the Church of Caiolium¡¯s court and was executed, however¡­¡±


    ¡°So, it¡¯s those Caiolium idiots in the end.¡±


    Kasim up there was gripping his sword again.


    I quickly summoned some mummies. They appeared all around the library and quickly raised their scimitars.


    Dozens of undead creatures rushed towards their target, but this act of resistance turned out to be a futile waste of time.


    Just him raising his sword a little was enough to completely chop apart the mummies in his surroundings.


    ¡°Is that magic?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, just his swordsmanship technique.¡±


    I tutted unhappily at Charlotte¡¯s answer.


    ¡°It¡¯s the intruder!¡±


    ¡°Protect his highness!¡±


    I heard the voices of Paladins coming from the interior of the library. The golden knight nonchalantly turned around and took a swipe with his sword again.


    The first thing that happened afterwards was the sound of the air exploding, followed almost simultaneously by the splattering of blood.


    I clamped my mouth shut at that.


    The urgently-put-together group of Paladins were getting slaughtered without being able to put up a proper resistance.


    1


    At the very least, we needed people on the level of the Golden Cross tasked with escorting the Holy Emperor.


    Since the explosion noises resounded out, those folks and the old man should make a move soon. At minimum, they should get here in around three minutes.


    Unfortunately¡­


    ¡°Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen Olfolse.¡±


    ¡­The hulking dude didn¡¯t seem too keen on waiting that long.


    I winced a little and stared up at him.


    ¡°The one who made a deal with the devil. I shall¡­¡±


    He leapt up from the hole in the palace¡¯s wall. Despite the distance being dozens of metres, he landed without any issues at all.


    His large figure caused the ground to rumble while several bits of debris flew up.


    He extended his sword and pointed at me.


    His thick but cracked voice reverberated throughout the palace.


    ¡°¡­Punish you as a heretic.¡±


    His eyes were burning fiercely under his helm.


    It was burning with rage.


    That was rage against those who relied on Necromancy.


    < 093. Kasim Derian -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 175 - 094. Kasim Derian -3 (Part One)

    **


    Kasim Derian¡¯s piety was truly unparalleled.


    For the sake of good, he was more than willing to take on the role of evil. And according to his conviction, no sacrifices were too great or off-limits if it directly led to the subjugation of heretics that went against his faith.


    His beliefs were truly contradictory. However, he religiously stuck to his conviction nonetheless.


    As such, he didn¡¯t suspect the veracity of the claims of heresy or even hesitate to subjugate what he perceived as evil.


    For him, it didn¡¯t matter if a few hundred had to be slaughtered in the process of locating that single evildoer hiding in their midst.


    That was his belief. That was his unyielding faith.


    Kasim glared at the Seventh Imperial Prince from under his helm.


    He was enraged.


    He heard all the necessary stories. He heard that everyone who had witnessed the Seventh Imperial Prince summon a bunch of undead abominations were exalting and praising the boy for it.


    They said that it was the sign of Gaia¡¯s greatness.


    However, Kasim¡¯s thoughts were quite different. He thought that the pureness of the goddess had been defiled by such claims.


    A being tasked with protecting life itself was now commanding the walking dead? What a truly odious, insidious claim that was.


    As for the boy? He had to be a devil in disguise, a heretic who falsely claimed to have received Gaia¡¯s love.


    That was how Kasim judged the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    He raised his sword high and his eyes gleamed murderously. It was as if he had transcended the concept of time and space itself; the raindrops all around him began falling agonisingly slowly.


    Kasim rapidly pulled his sword back. The afterimage of him just before he pulled at the sword still remained. He injected divinity into the weapon before powerfully slashing down towards where the afterimage was.


    BOOM-!


    The air expanded greatly.


    The wind blade created out of divinity exploded forward quickly and mercilessly.


    ¡°Your highness, duck!¡±


    The girl with silver hair shoved the boy prince aside. She yanked out her divine sword and defended against the wind blade.


    The moment the formless blade of air sliced into her defence, Charlotte was powerfully forced back.


    The girl possessed truly excellent skills.


    Just how many others in her age group living in this world would be able to match her level of skill?


    Kasim thought that to himself and shifted his attention back to the boy.


    ¡°I gotta take out the relic¡­¡±


    While saying that, the boy was trying to do something.


    -Do not allow him to use magic. If he casts any magic, it¡¯ll only defile your piety even further.


    That¡¯s what Cardinal Mikael had told him.


    Kasim¡¯s eyes shot open.


    He lowered his posture and his legs powerfully kicked the ground. His whole figure exploded forward like a tightly-wound spring being released.


    He didn¡¯t rely on the wind blade, but was personally slamming down with his sword at the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    ¡°Son of a¡­!¡±


    The boy prince hurriedly waved his hand in the air, and out of nowhere, a shovel showed up on his grip. Not only that, a mysterious rune letter was engraved itself on the shovel¡¯s shaft at the same time.


    Wasn¡¯t that¡­ Divine Aura?


    Kasim¡¯s once-wide eyes narrowed down to slits.


    Although that was the same Divine Aura as what he used, it also looked different from his version that utilised ¡®wind¡¯.


    Kasim¡¯s expression crumpled unsightly under the helm.


    He was blessed with this sacred power, yet the damnable heretic before his eyes also held the same ability. That realisation gave rise to an indescribable disgust in his heart.


    ¡®This is pure blasphemy!¡¯


    He strengthened his grip even further, and slammed the greatsword down on his target.


    CRUNCH!


    The shovel broke apart.


    The Imperial Prince sucked in a cold breath.


    Just as the greatsword was about to slice apart the boy prince¡¯s figure in two halves, he suddenly leapt back.


    Only the tip of the blade managed to dig into his shoulder and injure him. Was the wound fatal? No, it was far too shallow of a cut.


    Rather unexpectedly, the boy prince¡¯s movements were quick.


    When Kasim narrowed his eyes once more and glared at the boy¡­


    ¡°Stop him-!¡±


    The Imperial Prince summoned even more undead abominations.


    From skeletons to banshees and even dullahans, quite a variety had shown up.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince did that in order to stop Kasim¡¯s rampage, but it only had the opposite effect instead.


    The burly golden knight glared at the walking dead summoned before him as his emotions shot past the state of rage into genuine hatred.


    ¡°Uwoooooooh-!¡±


    He raised his greatsword up high, and began shooting a continuous chain of wind blades.


    Boom-! Boom-! Boom-!


    The hundreds of undead blocking his path were mercilessly cut down. One of the stray wind blades was heading towards the flustered Imperial Prince.


    ¡°Oh, sh*t-!¡±


    He managed to barely dodge the first wind blade.


    He certainly seemed to possess a pair of sharp eyes. Unfortunately, the rest of his body wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up for long.


    The second wind blade flew towards him. This time, it was squarely and intentionally aimed at the prince¡¯s throat.


    Kasim grinned victoriously, but Charlotte suddenly appeared before the Seventh Imperial Prince and deflected the formless blade with her own sword.


    ¡°You foolish child!¡±


    Kasim ended up grinding his teeth.


    These two¡¯s resistance proved to be tougher than he bargained for.


    He turned his head slightly and glanced at the imperial palace. More Paladins were hurriedly arriving in this location as the fight dragged on.


    ¡°Protect his highness!¡±


    Arrows began flying in from all directions. Several Paladins yanked their swords out and rushed towards Kasim.


    However, none of it mattered. He could afford to ignore all of these small fries.


    He took a simple swing with his sword. The air expanded and the Paladins by the windows of the palace got sliced to ribbons.


    Even the rushing Paladins were split apart into several bloody chunks.


    Blood was raining down seemingly everywhere.


    Kasim narrowed his eyes. He had been constantly counting the length of time he wasted after infiltrating this place.


    Two minutes had already passed by since he was discovered and the Imperial Prince began putting up his resistance. In less than a minute, two minutes if Kasim was lucky, the empire¡¯s five forces should arrive here en masse. The possibility of that happening was too great to ignore.


    Meaning, he had to finish his task before that.


    Charlotte, who was breathing heavily, hurriedly looked at the Seventh Imperial Prince behind her.


    ¡°Ouch, that f*cking hurts!¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    She held her breath. The Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s shoulder had been caved in and blood was welling up nonstop from the wound.


    ¡°Your highness!¡±


    She was about to say something, but he simply shook his head.


    He instead placed his hand on the wounded shoulder and activated healing magic. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    He then summoned Amon¡¯s relics and held them tightly. But just as he raised his head in preparation to use them, he clenched his teeth.


    Charlotte was surprised by the sudden approach of a presence and urgently looked back.


    It was Kasim rapidly moving towards them. Despite his hulking figure, he was incredibly agile. Not only that, he was spookily silent, too.


    ¡°Die.¡±


    He raised his greatsword up.


    BOOM-!


    Without a shred of hesitation, he fired another wind blade at the Seventh Imperial Prince and Charlotte.


    She raised her divine sword to defend while the boy prince placed his hand on her shoulder.


    Both of them roused up their divinity at the same time.


    The wind blade exploded right in between the trio, and all of them ¨C Kasim, Charlotte and the Imperial Prince ¨C were flung away in opposite directions.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    Charlotte and I bounced and rolled on the ground.


    ¡°Are you alright?!¡±


    She quickly regained her balance in the middle of all that rolling motion, caught me mid-air before stabilising our bodies, and urgently asked.


    ¡°I told you, I¡¯m fine! Worry about yourself first!¡±


    I checked Charlotte¡¯s condition.


    She was covered in blood. Thankfully, that hulking bastard¡¯s sword hadn¡¯t hit her so far, but all of his frequent ranged attacks inflicted quite a lot of minute injuries on her.


    I really wanted to use healing magic on her right away, but¡­


    I turned my head away.


    There he was, the man named Kasim, walking toward us with that huge-ass sword of his as the crazy downpour continued pummeling us relentlessly.


    It was kinda like staring at the final boss in a raid.


    ¡®Right now, I can¡¯t use either my musket or magic.¡¯


    ¡­If I tried to use even a little bit of magic, he¡¯d attack us immediately.


    But fighting him with undead summoned through chantless casting wasn¡¯t going to work.


    ¡®This is bad.¡¯


    The bleeding from my shoulder was getting worse. I was getting light-headed too.


    ¡®Right, I gotta somehow summon the holy undead knights.¡¯


    At the bare minimum, I needed creatures on the level of holy knights, or something greater, to fight that bastard.


    ¡®The problem is, without properly gearing up first, it¡¯ll be hard to maintain the summoning.¡¯


    Even back during the inquisition in the imperial audience chamber, I was barely holding onto my consciousness.


    There was no way that bastard would stay still and wait for me to gather enough divinity to summon the holy undead knights.


    The story wasn¡¯t any better with Amon¡¯s relic, since it required me to mutter out the activation phrase first.


    The moment I tried to say the phrase out aloud, that bastard would pounce on me with everything he got.


    While the heavy downpour continued on, I scanned our surroundings. More and more Paladins were showing up even now. They were rushing towards Kasim, but it was all meaningless.


    Their blood danced and scattered in the air.


    Those Paladins, who were strong enough to barely defend against the wind blades, could only moan in pain on the ground, hardly able to do anything else.


    I stared at them and shouted out loudly, ¡°Everyone, back off-!¡±


    We¡¯d only have more casualties if they persisted on stepping up here.


    What we needed right now were the Holy Emperor, the sword king, or even the Crown Imperial Prince. If that wasn¡¯t possible, then the combined might of the five forces, at least!


    While such thoughts raced in my head, my gaze landed on a particular spot.


    Eh?


    I saw a blonde girl over there. She was in hiding, and by the look of it, she was offering a prayer with her eyes closed.


    Divinity was spreading out from her whole body in the next moment.

 Chapter 176 - 094. Kasim Derian -3 (Part Two)

    ¡°Ha, hahah¡­¡±


    A hollow chuckle involuntarily leaked out of my mouth.


    Even I could tell what she was trying to do over there.


    Her magic wasn¡¯t even all that amazing, really. It was just the plain ol¡¯ body reinforcement spell.


    However, the divinity¡¯s flow in her body that I analysed through Mind¡¯s Eye proved to be truly exceptional. Her divinity was precisely controlled and much more stable than anyone else¡¯s.


    Her entire body was basically a treasure weapon and a sturdy shield at the same time.


    ¡®I do remember seeing her slam the head of a lycan on the ground all those months ago.¡¯


    Compared to back then, her growth rate could only be called monstrous.


    Could that be chalked up to her being a Saintess, I wonder?


    Saintess Alice Astoria stood up from her hiding place while clenching her fists. Her expression told me how scared she was right now.


    But even then, she didn¡¯t back off an inch.


    That¡¯s probably because she knew that the man standing before her was an agent of the Church of Caiolium. Through him, she might get to learn more about Raphael¡¯s fate. That¡¯s what she must¡¯ve thought.


    Kasim seemed to have finally sensed her presence, and turned to look at Alice.


    ¡°Charlotte,¡± said I.


    Charlotte turned her head to look at me.


    ¡°Buy me time. Thirty seconds. No, wait. Twenty will suffice. Stop him from moving during that period. That¡¯s all I ask.¡±


    With the combination of Charlotte and Alice, they might be able to hold down that hulking monster for a little while.


    All I needed was twenty seconds.


    With that time, I should be able to heal my body and use Amon¡¯s relics.


    ¡°I shall obey your orders,¡± Charlotte replied.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare push yourself beyond your capabilities. Even if you can¡¯t endure it anymore, I¡¯ll do something about it so don¡¯t force yourself, got that?¡±


    She smiled gently at my order and nodded in affirmation.


    Her legs kicked the ground and her figure quickly dashed forward, and at the same time, Alice on the opposite side pounced on her target.


    Kasim glanced at the two girls rushing at him and lightly leaped up in the air. His greatsword was raised up high.


    BANG-!


    The wind blades began showering down from the air in every direction.


    In the meantime, I pulled out a bottle of holy water and spread it all over my body before putting Amon¡¯s skull on my head.


    Man, it hurts so much that I can¡¯t even concentrate properly.


    It didn¡¯t mean that I couldn¡¯t do it, though. I forcibly roused up my divinity. If I failed here, everyone would fall into grave danger.


    ¡°I am¡­¡±


    I shifted my gaze to the side.


    Kasim had already flown in right before my nose.


    Like some crazed serial killer from a slasher flick, his madness-filled eyes were glaring straight at me.


    He raised his sword, but Alice¡¯s kick slammed into his back just then.


    ¡°Keok-!¡±


    For the first time ever, a gasp of pain escaped from his mouth. His whole body flinched as he raised his head.


    ¡°¡­the legion.¡±


    Kasim didn¡¯t give up yet. He forced himself up and tried to pounce on me once more.


    This time, Charlotte stood in his path.


    He took a mighty swipe with his sword, but she ever so slightly shifted her head out of the way and dug into an opening.


    That humongous greatsword brushed past her cheek with a gap narrower than a hair¡¯s breadth.


    She managed to get close and thrust forward with her divine sword. The blade impaled deeply into Kasim¡¯s unguarded side.


    The golden armour shattered and blood gushed out, but he simply sucked in a deep breath and clenched a fist instead.


    He punched hard at Charlotte below him.


    Her figure slammed into the ground before bouncing up. Blood spluttered out of her mouth.


    I gritted my teeth.


    ¡°And I¡¯m¡­¡±


    Kasim¡¯s maddened eyes gleamed murderously as he spun his head in my direction. He grabbed Charlotte and threw her in my direction. I caught her figure, but the momentum behind the throw forced me off my feet and we ungainly rolled on the ground.


    While hugging her sagging, unconscious body, I looked up.


    Kasim was before us, raising the greatsword with his hands as if he wanted to skewer both of us at the same time.


    ¡°Die, heretic!¡±


    Even as he began thrusting his sword down at us, I kept my eyes locked on him and said the following words.


    ¡°¡­Gaia¡¯s inheritor.¡±


    **


    The bone armour rapidly enveloped me.


    I spat out a heavy breath and the blue-coloured air escaped from below Amon¡¯s skull.


    Emotions in my chest bubbled up uncontrollably. I wonder¡­ Have I ever gotten this pissed off at someone ever since arriving in this world?


    Yup, this had to be the first time.


    I tightly held Charlotte¡¯s unconscious figure. I touched her cheek with my bone-covered hand.


    She was full of wounds.


    I told her not to force herself, yet she didn¡¯t listen and ended up in such a wretched state.


    What did she believe in so fervently that she was willing to support and protect me like this?


    I just couldn¡¯t understand it.


    Was it because I was an Imperial Prince? So that she could climb up the social ladder?


    Nope. That definitely couldn¡¯t be it. And that¡¯s what made me feel even more confused.


    I just couldn¡¯t figure out her motivation. Maybe, it was as simple as what she had told me earlier ¨C that she just wanted to become a Paladin to protect someone.


    I raised my head up.


    ¡°Are you the devil itself?¡± Kasim asked.


    The twelve bone hands extending from my back were currently stopping Kasim¡¯s greatsword mid-air. I silently glared at Kasim¡¯s unmoving figure before shielding Charlotte¡¯s head.


    My hand, much larger now after getting covered in the bone armour, began injecting divinity into her body.


    Her wounds started healing at a visible rate.


    I made sure to not leave behind even the tiniest scar on her body.


    Kasim¡¯s eyes bulged out of their sockets. Even then, he was getting more enraged. He roared out, ¡°Don¡¯t use the sacred power with the appearance of a devil!¡±


    Don¡¯t make me laugh. Was this insane bastard before my eyes really judging people based solely on their outer appearances?


    Well, it didn¡¯t really matter at the end of the day.


    That¡¯s because, this bastard was about to¡­


    ¡°¡­Die by my hands, anyway.¡±


    I summoned Amon¡¯s staff and slammed it into the ground.


    BOOM-!


    Divinity spread out to the surroundings. The ground below rumbled and quaked.


    Undead kitted out in pure-white armour ¨C the holy undead knights ¨C broke through the surface and emerged into the open.


    They raised their heads in unison. White glow exploded forth from their eye sockets, and breaths just as white whooshed out from their mouths.


    ¡°What are these abominations now?!¡±


    Kasim had become even more flustered.


    ¡°Kill this bastard.¡±


    One order from me, and all the holy undead knights rapidly moved out. They pounced on Kasim; all sorts of weapons like swords, spears, greatswords, and even maces flew in his direction.


    Kasim sucked in a cold breath. He yanked his sword back, lifted it up, and began firing that wind blade of his in every direction.


    The holy undead knights pouncing on him got sliced apart, chopped up into chunks, and dissipated from the world. Even then, a spear had impaled Kasim¡¯s back.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    He spun around and slammed his greatsword down on the holy undead knight behind him. At the same time, bolts flew in from almost every direction imaginable.


    These projectiles, brimming full of divinity, penetrated straight into his arms, legs, chest, and hips. Chains were connected to the ends of the bolts, thereby confining Kasim to the spot.


    ¡°How dare these measly undead abominations sully my noble figure?!¡±


    Kasim roared out in a frenzy. He powerfully swung the greatsword to sever the chains binding him.


    He then dealt with all the holy undead knights rushing in at him from every direction one by one. Even then, his body continuously got hacked and stabbed from every angle.


    More arrows impaled his legs while a sword cut open his waist.


    His knees buckled, but he didn¡¯t give up. He didn¡¯t let up and continued defeating the holy undead knights while gradually inching forward towards his target.


    Kasim was a man of conviction, of unyielding religious belief. Even though his beliefs were contradictory, he still poured his entire being and even his soul into upholding his ideals.


    Eventually, a powerful swing of a mace landed on Kasim¡¯s head, breaking the golden helm apart.


    ¡°Pant, pant¡­!¡±


    He destroyed the very last holy undead knight in front of him.


    He then finally reached before me and fell on his knees.


    ¡°Pant, pant¡­¡±


    His breathing was heavy, laboured. As if it¡¯d cut off at any second now.


    Kasim grasped the greatsword¡¯s hilt with his trembling hands.


    ¡°I¡­ I must¡­ judge the heretic¡­¡±


    He gritted his teeth and forced himself so much that actual veins were visibly bulging on his scalp. He managed to get back up on his feet in the end.


    His sword rose up in the air.


    ¡°Judge¡­ the heretic-!¡±


    The twelve weapons held in my bone hands impaled Kasim¡¯s body right there and then.


    His greatsword came to a stuttering halt in front of my face.


    I extended my staff and pointed it at his unguarded chest.


    ¡°You hate me that much, huh?¡± I spoke up.


    Kasim¡¯s eyes began quaking greatly just then.


    ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t matter to me. Because, you¡­¡±


    I injected a ton of divinity into the staff.


    The divine energy explosively shot out from the weapon¡¯s tip and Kasim¡¯s chest blew apart.


    His flesh was ripped open, his ribcage shattered to bits, all of his internal organs ruptured and blew apart, and his spine, along with his back skin, tore right open.


    ¡°Keo-urhk¡­¡±


    His figure faltered before slumping forward without much energy.


    I reached out and grabbed his head before lifting it up.


    I stared straight into his fading eyes and cocked my head.


    ¡°You shall be turned into my puppet that will destroy the Church of Caiolium for good.¡±


    < 094. Kasim Derian -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 177 - 095. Judgement of the Heretic -1 (Part One)

    In a basement floor located below the imperial palace.


    In this place that was normally used as storage, Harman and the accompanying Paladins were furrowing their brows.


    A large bookshelf located near the wall by the corner had been destroyed beyond repair. The wall there had crumbled, revealing a hole that led to an underground passageway.


    The surroundings were dyed in blood, and servants in charge of managing this storage were gruesomely murdered.


    Harman thought to himself. ¡®Did he infiltrate through here?¡¯


    This secret underground passageway led to a staircase connected to the exterior of the imperial palace.


    However, the interior of the passage was constructed like a complicated maze. Not to mention, all sorts of traps were installed there, as well.


    In addition, barriers constructed through magical means were set up within the secret passage, ensuring that in case an intruder managed to break in, a warning siren would go off.


    It was supposed to be a secret escape tunnel known only to the Holy Emperor and some members of the Golden Cross tasked with guarding him.


    But it had been turned into a hole in the defences that aided an enemy to infiltrate the palace, instead.


    ¡®His majesty¡¯s resolute confidence was used against him as venom.¡¯


    Just who in their right minds would¡¯ve imagined that a former member of the Order of the Golden Cross ¨C not just any, but the greatest swordsman in the imperial court who was supposed to have been executed ¨C would transform into an assassin?


    2


    Harman observed the status of one of the dead servants. The poor man¡¯s jaw seemed to be dislocated, while his fingers had been severed. Even a portion of his face had been ripped open as well.


    The condition of the corpse seemed fairly similar to the results of a torture technique employed by the Crimson Cross. That must¡¯ve been done in order to find out about the current situation in the palace.


    Judging from the remaining trace of magic, all sounds seemed to have been cut-off, as well.


    Harman sighed and issued an order. ¡°Take care of their remains.¡±


    **


    Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse had been in a buoyant mood up until not too long ago.


    That was because, in a few hours, the Seventh Imperial Prince was scheduled to head to the Church of Caiolium and attack it with an army.


    It would¡¯ve been the boy¡¯s very first military campaign. To put it another way, the first military achievement of the successor to the throne.


    He couldn¡¯t help but feel quite attached to his seventh grandson since it seemed like the boy was trying to console his grandfather from the pain of losing Raphael.


    3


    That¡¯s why Kelt Olfolse made thorough preparations.


    Even though he was the Holy Emperor, he personally stepped up to conduct and conclude the reorganisation procedure of the five forces of the empire, which was currently gathered in the capital city¡¯s main plaza.


    The defeat of Raphael and the accompanying five hundred Paladins and Priests indicated that the Church of Caiolium had made sufficient preparations to fight back.


    As such, Kelt wanted to properly aid his grandson just in case.


    But now, what was the meaning of this?


    A crisis happened while he was absent from the imperial palace.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    The Holy Emperor¡¯s booming voice reverberated throughout the imperial audience chamber.


    The gathered nobles hurriedly lowered their heads. However, none of them were able to say something.


    ¡°A lunatic sent by the Church of Caiolium dared to intrude my imperial palace?¡±


    For a period of five minutes, Kasim Derian had turned the imperial palace upside down.


    Even if the five forces of the empire had been concentrated on the capital city¡¯s plaza, even if Oscal was accompanying the Holy Emperor at the time, such a thing shouldn¡¯t have been allowed to happen in the first place.


    The nobles, frightened even more than before, lowered their heads.


    ¡°Y-your majesty. The intruder was none other than Kasim Derian. His strength is renowned for being equal to that of Oscal the sword king from the Golden Cross.¡±


    ¡°Also, as a former member of the Order of the Golden Cross, he knew the layout of the imperial palace as well as the weaknesses in its defence, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°And because he went around in the disguise of a Golden Cross Paladin, almost none suspected him of being¡­¡±


    The Holy Emperor angrily unleashed his divinity. ¡°Who said I¡¯m in the mood to listen to your excuses?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Everyone present clamped their mouth shut.


    The Holy Emperor could only massage his temples while staring at the nobles. He knew that now wasn¡¯t the time to vent his anger on these people.


    Indeed, he was responsible for lowering his guard out of his excitement.


    ¡®We cannot hold back any longer.¡¯


    The reorganisation of the troops that had been previously deployed to Aslan was concluded already. It was now time for them to move out for another battle.


    ¡°Get ready.¡± Kelt Olfolse stared at the nobles. ¡°I shall personally subjugate the Church of¡­¡±


    BANG-!


    The door of the audience chamber was abruptly shoved open. The gazes of everyone inside shifted towards the entrance.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen Olfolse, was striding inside.


    Kelt Olfolse cooled his rage just a tad when he saw his grandson.


    The boy stood before the platform where the throne sat. Even though he was an Imperial Prince, he didn¡¯t even bother to mind the correct etiquette in front of the Holy Emperor.


    He simply stood tall and looked up at Kelt on the throne.


    However, Kelt Olfolse derived immense satisfaction from the boy¡¯s actions, instead.


    ¡°The grace period.¡± The Seventh Imperial Prince grinned. ¡°It¡¯s been ten days, your majesty. Meaning, it¡¯s over.¡±


    He looked calm outwardly, seemingly trying his best to hide his boiling emotions, but his voice couldn¡¯t keep up with his attempt. His Spirit Speech, laden with divinity and clear rage, was causing the surrounding air to sink down like lead.


    ¡°So, to make it clear just in case, wiping out that corrupt religious organisation is no longer a problem. Isn¡¯t that right, your majesty?¡±


    What the Seventh Imperial Prince said brought about a calm expression on Kelt¡¯s face.


    Could it be that the boy still wanted to personally step up? If so, the Holy Emperor had no thoughts of interfering.


    Kasim Derian would¡¯ve been the final card the Church of Caiolium had placed their bets on.


    Kelt spoke to the boy, ¡°I shall lend you Oscal and the five forces.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± The Seventh Imperial Prince shook his head. ¡°Please prepare only the minimum necessary combat personnel who possess the highest possible mobility. And also, some high-class healers as well.¡±


    Kelt narrowed his eyes. ¡°That cannot be allowed. You shall soon be in the position of¡­¡±


    ¡°I shall personally¡­¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince abruptly cut Kelt off. The latter stared at his grandson. Veins were bulging on the boy prince¡¯s forehead.


    ¡°¡­Rip their heads off, your majesty.¡±


    2


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I exited from the audience chamber.


    No matter how hard I tried to control my boiling emotions, the anger deep inside my chest just didn¡¯t want to die down.


    Not only did they spew bullsh*t about me, those as*holes even dared to harm those around me. I¡¯ve been facing all sorts of dangers up until this point, but never did something like this happen to me before.


    Charlotte was on standby right in front of the audience chamber, her head bowed. I could only smile bitterly at that sight.


    It hadn¡¯t even been two hours since she regained consciousness, so this¡­


    ¡°You should rest for a little while longer. Your injuries were pretty deep, you know,¡± said I.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already rested plenty, your highness. As for my injuries¡­¡± She looked at me and smiled faintly. ¡°You¡¯ve already healed me, so it¡¯s fine now.¡±


    I¡¯ll have you know, healing the physical body and resting one¡¯s mental fatigue aren¡¯t the same thing.


    She was straining herself right now. Even then, she no doubt wanted to follow me. She came here and waited, fully knowing that I¡¯d set out to strike the Church of Caiolium soon.


    Even though I knew that, I still had to ask, ¡°Are you planning to tag along?¡±


    ¡°Of course, your highness.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s going to be tough, you know?¡±


    ¡°The biggest pain I¡¯ve ever experienced already happened back when we first met, your highness.¡±


    I chuckled hollowly at that.


    Now that I thought about it, didn¡¯t we basically try to kill each other when we first met?


    Man, I miss those days.


    1


    ¡°We¡¯re moving out.¡±


    ¡°I await your orders, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Our group will consist of combatants possessing great mobility, plus several top-class healers. We must hit those bastards before¡­¡± I began walking down the imperial palace¡¯s corridor. ¡°¡­They have time to flee.¡±


    Twenty healers were mobilised. They were the best healers working for the Imperial Family, and as expected, Alice was also included in the group.


    As for the minimum number of the highly-mobile combat force, thirty Verdant Cross members joined our group. As far as mobility was concerned, almost none would be as good as they were.


    Every single one of us was supplied with Unira horses, the descendants of the legendary unicorn that had been reared by the Imperial Family.


    Charlotte and I also rode on the Uniras and dashed towards our destination.


    The distance to the Church of Caiolium¡¯s headquarters from the capital was about ten days of normal travel. But we could reduce that to four if we absolutely minimised our rest stops.


    The Unira horses neighed and snorted as their hooves pounded on the ground. We broke through the rough, persistent downpour and dashed towards the Church of Caiolium, which was located south.


    Our breaks were short and so was our sleep, and at the end of what seemed like an endless marathon, we finally reached the Church¡¯s headquarters located within the dense forest.


    There it was, a beautiful cathedral standing tall on a hill covered in lush vegetation.


    The members of the Verdant Cross used telescopes to observe the current situation of the Church of Caiolum. The folks belonging to the Church looked like they were busily moving around at the moment.


    The darkness of the evening came swiftly and they lit several torches and fire pits to illuminate the surroundings.


    We spotted the hastily-put together regiment of Paladins and Priests setting up a cordon at the foot of the headquarters¡¯ fortress-like outer wall, as well as on top of it.


    They were so disorganised that their defence seemed non-existent. This was a perfect example of an army made out of small fries that had no battle experience to speak of.


    Such an appearance was also typical for a religious organisation that started decaying thousands of years ago.


    While drinking water out of a canteen, I glared at the distant Church¡¯s headquarters.


    One of the Verdant Cross members approached me, bowed his head, and made a report, ¡°About five hundred enemy forces are present outside the cathedral, your highness. We estimate that eight hundred further enemy combatants are hiding within the church¡¯s interior.¡±


    That figure was lower than I thought.


    From what I heard, the total number of priests affiliated with the Church of Caiolium was close to ten thousand. The reason for the lower-than-expected number must be that the missing priests were currently spread throughout the continent at the moment.


    That was also the reason why this corrupt organisation could influence so much of the Theocratic Empire.


    ¡°What are your orders, your highness?¡±


    Charlotte asked me after listening to the report.


    Without saying anything, I turned my head to look at her and the Verdant Cross member. The light burning in their eyes displayed no agitation whatsoever.


    I figured that with one word from me, they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to attack the Church of Caiolium. But even I knew that these thirty-plus combatants were simply too little for the job at hand.


    ¡°All of you, be on standby here.¡±


    I didn¡¯t request for the minimum number of combatants because I had underestimated my enemy. The truth was, they were here to act as my ¡®supporters¡¯ who would assist me from the rear.


    During my battle against Kasim, I came to realise what my weakness was. It was close-quarter combat.


    I had no problem dealing with regular soldiers. Even if highly-skilled swordsmen showed up, I could just push them back with lots of undead summoned through chantless casting.


    However, the story radically changed when fighting against the true ¡®monsters¡¯.


    If those that had exceeded the limitations of human flesh managed to successfully sneak-attack me and engage me in close-quarter combat, then I¡¯d be royally screwed.


    2


    Even if hundreds of undead set up a camp in front of them, it¡¯d still be pointless. The truly powerful ones would simply massacre the undead and get to where I was, then make sure that I wouldn¡¯t have enough time to use Amon¡¯s relics and magic.


    That was my weakness as the holder of both the Necromancer and Priest classes. However, that story applied only to when I wasn¡¯t given enough time to use proper magic.

 Chapter 178 - 095. Judgement of the Heretic -1 (Part Two)

    ¡°Fuu-woo.¡±


    I took out both Amon¡¯s skull and the staff from my item window.


    All I needed was a couple dozen seconds. If I used my relics first, then my shortcomings, my weaknesses, would no longer matter one jot.


    Whether it was Kasim or King Rahamma, I was confident of stopping them dead in their tracks.


    Charlotte approached me. ¡°Your highness, please make sure not to strain yourself.¡±


    I smiled wryly at her counsel. She wasn¡¯t even a healer, yet it felt like she knew my current condition better than anyone.


    Honestly, I was still feeling light-headed. Even if it was only for a short while, I did use these relics against Kasim, and then there was the fatigue from the long trip to consider as well.


    However, I knew for sure that there wouldn¡¯t be any problems dealing with those corrupt Priests over yonder.


    ¡°Thirty minutes.¡± I stared at Charlotte, Alice, and the Verdant Cross currently gathered around me. ¡°I shall finish them off in thirty minutes.¡±


    That was the maximum amount of time I could operate. And it¡¯d also be ample enough time for me to completely annihilate the Church of Caiolium, too.


    The Verdant Cross would come into play just in case an unseen variable reared its head, while the healers would heal me when I collapsed from the backlash of the relics afterwards.


    I extracted Kasim Derian¡¯s corpse from the item window.


    Thud!


    The corpse landed on the ground with a loud thud. A giant over two and half metres tall knelt down before me, his head lowered and unmoving.


    I put the skull on, and then pointed the staff at Kasim¡¯s head.


    Kasim Derian. Here was a Paladin who suffered from a madness-infused overzealous devotion to his beliefs.


    He¡¯d become my new guardian, as well as my new puppet.


    Divinity travelled through the staff and seeped into Kasim Derian¡¯s dead body. The hazy strands of divinity began filling up his empty chest cavity and wrapped around his entire figure.


    From now on, the Church of Caiolium would learn the bitter truth.


    The truth of who they have unwisely pissed off.


    ¡°I am the legion.¡±


    The mountain goat¡¯s skull seemed to suck in my head and grip it tightly.


    ¡°And I am Gaia¡¯s inheritor.¡±


    Kasim¡¯s closed eyes snapped open abruptly.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    The Church of Caiolium was currently mired in chaos itself.


    ¡°How does it make any sense?!¡±


    ¡°Assassinating the Imperial Prince?! An assassination?!¡±


    Inside the cathedral¡¯s humongous hall, many clergymen were roaring at their cardinal, Mikael.


    He helplessly massaged his temples.


    Kasim Derian¡¯s madness turned out to be a lot worse than he bargained for.


    Mikael tried to coax the golden knight to capture the Imperial Prince and bring the boy here so that he could be judged as a heretic, but the madman tried to murder the prince the moment they ran into each other.


    Thanks to that, all avenues of negotiation with the Imperial Family had been severed. It was impossible to buy more time or flee from here. The moment Mikael or any of his subordinates left the church¡¯s grounds, they would be relentlessly pursued and hunted down.


    ¡®However, it¡¯s still safe in here.¡¯


    The church¡¯s grounds were his territory. One thousand-plus priests were here, and there were also the ¡®Aztal¡¯ runes belonging to the goddess inscribed on the interior of the cathedral itself. Ones installed by Mikael himself, no less.


    At the very least, this cathedral was his ¡®sanctuary¡¯.


    ¡°We need to escape from here, your eminence!¡±


    ¡°Even if we declare our surrender and repent for our sins now, the Imperial Family will not accept it!¡±


    That was bloody obvious. Killing the influential Imperial Prince who was destined to become the next Holy Emperor was the same thing as declaring their intentions to antagonise the whole Imperial Family.


    Right now, the Church¡¯s members were seen as rebels. They were now also labelled as traitors. The entirety of the Theocratic Empire ended up becoming the Church¡¯s enemy in one fell swoop.


    Any priest affiliated with the Church of Caiolium was now in danger of being called a heretic and persecuted by the public.


    Mikael loudly spoke up, ¡°If we decide to flee, we will not be able to shake off their pursuit.¡±


    In order to safely seek asylum, assistance from another kingdom was a necessity. Fortunately, there was someone who could extend a helping hand toward them.


    ¡®Indeed, there is a perfectly suitable person, isn¡¯t there?¡¯


    Mikael pulled out a piece of communique. It contained a report concerning the whereabouts of the ringleader of the conspiracy that the Theocratic Empire was searching high and low for.


    ¡®¡­Rose Darina.¡¯


    The Second Crown Princess Consort was still alive. The report said that she was nestled somewhere within the kingdom of knights, Lome, currently embroiled in a civil war that had lasted for three years already.


    She was warped to Aslan, but through the timely assistance of a ¡®helper¡¯, she had safely travelled to Lome kingdom.


    ¡°For now, we must bide our time.¡±


    The Second Crown Princess Consort and the unknown helper assisting her were the sole lifeline that could save Mikael and his cronies.


    He had sent a communique to them already. Now, he was waiting for their favourable reply.


    To think that he now had no choice but to rely on that insane Second Crown Princess Consort for his survival.


    The priests heard Mikael and sighed helplessly.


    One of them spoke up, ¡°But your eminence, this is not a problem that being patient can resolve. We don¡¯t know when the Imperial Family will suddenly attack¡­!¡±


    ¡°Even if the sword king himself shows up¡­¡± Mikael cut the priest off. The others flinched a little and stared at him. He continued on, ¡°They can¡¯t threaten me as long as I¡¯m inside this sanctuary.¡±


    What he said just then managed to shut the mouths of the priests present.


    Mikael rolled up his sleeve and exposed the golden-coloured rune letters inscribed on the back of his hand. ¡°The Aztal rune! Did you not all witness the might of this rune?¡±


    This overwhelming power was even capable of subduing Archbishop Raphael.


    ¡°As long as we have this, we¡­!¡±


    -Oh, ooooooooh!


    The expressions of the priests and Mikael froze up instantly.


    The entirety of the cathedral was resonating. The surrounding air reverberated as a divinity-laden Spirit Speech howled out from somewhere outside.


    ¡°What on earth¡­?!¡±


    The Priests¡¯ complexions grew deathly pale.


    Even if the strength of divinity contained within the Spirit Speech was faint, how could it still be able to blanket the whole cathedral?!


    ¡°They¡¯re here!¡±


    The punitive force sent by the Imperial Family had arrived.


    Cardinal Mikael gritted his teeth and hurriedly left his seat. The other priests urgently followed him from behind. They were heading to a balcony.


    On the way, Mikael began biting into his nails out of anxiousness.


    ¡®No, it¡¯s going to be alright. I have the Aztal rune. And this place is my sanctuary. I have received the goddess¡¯s grace. Goddess Gaia will surely protect me.¡¯


    He repeatedly chanted those thoughts in his head. He self-hypnotised himself and soothed his frayed nerves.


    They eventually reached the balcony and took a good look at the front of the cathedral. Those measly Paladins from the Theocratic Empire dares to¡­


    That¡¯s what he initially thought.


    Unfortunately¡­


    ¡°Uwaaaahk?!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this?! What in the world is this?!¡±


    ¡°Your eminence! Cardinal-!¡±


    The Paladins and Priests of the Church of Caiolium standing near the barricades set up outside the cathedral were currently in a full-on panic mode. Their terror-filled eyes were staring at their front.


    Despite the night being pitch-black, bright light was flooding out from somewhere in the distance.


    A divine army was marching forward.


    The beating of the war drums that shook the listener¡¯s heart resounded out.


    A legion of heavily-armoured skeletons and dullahans wielding longswords were advancing in rank and file, their glowing eyes eerily shifting in their sockets.


    Their shields were raised up and their spears were pointing forward as they relentlessly advanced.


    Bone Golems and massive stone statues were also accompanying them. The ground rumbled from their steps while banshees darted in and out among the gaps of the Golems as they began nocking their arrows.


    Mikael¡¯s mouth clamped shut.


    The report definitely said that the Seventh Imperial Prince was capable of summoning many holy undead creatures. It also said that all the citizens exalted him and worshipped him for it.


    Even if it was for a fleeting moment, Mikael had rejected such a notion. He believed that the scale of summoning would be no greater than those feudal lords of the Aslan kingdom.


    Without a doubt, the boy must¡¯ve resorted to some other tricks.


    But as it turned out, his thoughts were truly foolish.


    The miracle taking place before his eyes¡­


    The legion blessed with the greatness of the gods¡­


    And the commander leading the legion itself¡­


    A being outfitted in a mountain goat¡¯s skull and a set of bone armour was riding on a skeleton horse on a hill over yonder, cold light glowing from within his eyes.


    He held his head high as the aura of divine power gushed out from him.


    This being and Mikael¡¯s eyes met each other¡¯s.


    ¡®Oh, my goddess¡­¡¯


    The cardinal instinctively realised who that being was.


    That man was the possessor of the Saint¡¯s status as well as the seventh grandson of the Holy Emperor. Not to forget, someone praised by the former enemy kingdom, Aslan, as the ¡®angel¡¯ as well.


    His name was Allen Olfolse.


    He had personally come here to judge Mikael.


    ¡°C-Cardinal Mikael!¡±


    Two other cardinals assisting Mikael hurriedly addressed him. The youngest of the two pointed with his trembling finger at the centre of the undead legion. More specifically, at the one leading the legion right now.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t, isn¡¯t that¡­?!¡±


    Thirty or so Paladins wearing armour of light ¨C holy undead knights ¨C were marching forward as undeniable dignity oozed out from them. And there was a giant of a man wielding a massive greatsword standing before them.


    -Ooooooooh!


    This man howled out like a monster.


    The giant was at least two and half metres tall¡­


    A man wielding a humongous greatsword in his right hand, while his entire body was covered in radiant golden armour¡­


    ¡°Kasim¡­ Derian?!¡±


    The one Mikael had sent as a kidnapper, then turned into an assassin, had now returned as a crazed warrior.


    < 095. Judgement of the Heretic -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 179 - 096. Judgement of the Heretic -2 (Part One)

    **


    The pulsing drumbeats resounded out. Banshees were singing the sacred hymns. Their gorgeous Spirit Speech caused the souls of the clerics in the surroundings to resonate and fall into a state of trance.


    The aura of divinity that even managed to change the hearts of the priests belonging to the Church of Caiolium was now spreading and echoing within the cathedral now.


    However, there was one crucial difference this time.


    What¡¯s being sung was no beautiful, calming melody filled with love and mercy. Only clear ¡®hostility¡¯ emitted by the divine legion permeated the song.


    The clerics of Caiolium could clearly sense that. And that was why they were swallowing back their dry saliva.


    The divinity inside their bodies were trembling. Their emotions were taking a hold of them to such an extent that they became lost in their fear and began stumbling backwards.


    From the top of the palisades, they could see.


    They could see the mad warrior, the berserker, Kasim Derian.


    He was gradually getting closer to them.


    Once upon a time, he was referred to as the knight of radiant light. And he was persecuted for being a madman whose piety had crossed the line.


    ¡°Fire! Fire your arrows, now!¡±


    ¡°Magic! We need to cast magic¡­!¡±


    A loud commotion broke out on the top of the palisades. However, none of them dared to even think about attacking first.


    They were too afraid right now. Afraid that if they started attacking first, it¡¯d be them getting killed off instead.


    Unfortunately for them, only idiots would hesitate in the middle of a battlefield.


    Kasim Derian, who was leading the holy undead knights, opened his mouth.


    -Ah, aaah¡­


    He exhaled breaths made out of divinity. A content smile floated up on his lips.


    A wonderfully peaceful feeling was washing over the berserker. He never had experienced such a warm, inviting rest before in his life.


    This was salvation. This was the reward for his steadfast belief. This state was his wish, born from his bottomless piety, being answered.


    1


    By dying, he had been reborn. Reborn as a soul of divinity materialised through piety itself.


    His ardent wish had finally come true. No, wait ¨C not all of his wishes had come true just yet.


    Kasim¡¯s eyes shifted. His gaze landed on the so-called believers of the Church of Caiolium.


    1


    They disgusted him so much. What a bunch of rotten and corrupt beings they were.


    Kasim opened his mouth and addressed them.


    -Oh, hear ye, you false believers who went against faith.


    His cracked voice reached his targets.


    -Oh, you corrupted lambs.


    His eyes narrowed to slits.


    -We shall¡­


    His sword slowly rose up.


    -¡­Now pass judgement on you!


    In an instant, everything slowed to a crawl.


    He pulled his sword back before slamming it down.


    BOOM-!


    The air expanded. It compressed for a moment and suddenly exploded forward. The blades of wind violently flew out and mercilessly collided against the palisades.


    The clerics¡¯ eyes bulged nearly out of their sockets. They hurriedly took a look below at the palisades they were standing on, only for huge explosions to go off at the same time.


    The palisades, which were about ten metres tall, exploded and crumbled like a sand castle. Sharp wooden shards impaled the heads and bodies of their unfortunate victims.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡±


    ¡°H-healer! Save me!¡±


    The Priests urgently tried to rush towards the scene, wanting to save their colleagues, but then¡­


    Boom-! Boom-! Boom-!


    The powerful beating of war drums entered their hearing and shook their hearts. The clerics all hurriedly turned their heads.


    The legion of holy undead in the distance had begun moving again.


    While their eyes glowed eerily in the night, they began marching forward to kill all of their enemies.


    ¡°We, we need to run¡­¡±


    ¡°You must stop them!¡±


    The clerics looked up at that voice. Their gazes landed on Cardinal Mikael, who was currently on the cathedral¡¯s balcony upstairs.


    ¡°You are all devout believers blessed by the goddess! Do not cower from the likes of mere undead creatures!¡±


    Every cleric present opened their eyes wider. They stared at Mikael, waiting for his next words.


    ¡°Your beliefs will soon become your true power. We have the word of the goddess on our side! The goddess¡¯s will is with us! Gaia is with us!¡±


    1


    Mikael rolled up his sleeve. Rune letters could be seen engraved on his skin. The golden-coloured runes began emitting brilliant light.


    ¡°The goddess¡¯s grace shall be bestowed upon you all!¡±


    Mikael¡¯s loud roar spread out to the surroundings. As his Spirit Speech containing divinity echoed out the area, the goddess¡¯s rune ¨C the Aztal rune ¨C began responding to his call.


    The entirety of the cathedral was dyed in a brilliant golden hue. The light came from ¡®Aztal¡¯ runes that had been engraved into various parts of the building.


    And this light served as the declaration of the holy war.


    A flood of divinity permeated the surrounding terrain. Meanwhile, divinity sleeping within the clergy of the church of Caiolium began resonating with the divine energy on the outside.


    Their fear began to recede little by little, as their eyes trembled.


    However, Mikael, who was observing their reactions, could only groan under his breath. As he thought, a miracle brought to life without proper preparations was not impactful enough.


    1


    He raised his crosier and loudly declared, ¡°Rescue your colleagues and prepare to defeat the incoming undead! We shall perform the ceremony to unleash the Aztal rune within the cathedral!¡±


    The priests were looking back at him. He was the top holy man in the Church of Caiolium, and someone they believed was destined to become the pope of the new religious doctrine he¡¯d establish soon.


    Such a man was loudly declaring for all of them to hear, ¡°We are the ones blessed with the goddess¡¯s will. And thus, we shall protect the holy ground where the worship of Goddess Gaia first began!¡±


    The two cardinals listened and looked at Mikael from his side, only for their eyes to nearly pop out of their sockets just then.


    That¡¯s because they got to see it.


    ¡­The sight of Cardinal Mikael ever so faintly trembling.


    Even if it was a mere replica, the imitation of the Aztal rune was in his possession. A weapon written with the language of the gods.


    Yet a man in possession of such power was secretly fearful of the legion of undead marching forward right before their eyes.


    ¡°All of you¡­ defend this holy land!¡±


    The clerics of the Caiolium all gritted their teeth.


    Even the youngest cardinal joined in and began shouting out, ¡°Yes, we have the Aztal rune! We cannot let ourselves cower before some undead abominations!¡±


    2


    If they were forced to leave here, then they wouldn¡¯t be able to survive anymore. They would be relentlessly hunted down by the Theocratic Empire, labelled as heretics, and get ostracised by the public.


    In that case, they needed to struggle hard and survive.


    Indeed, they simply had no choice but to struggle and survive this crisis, so that they could establish a new religious sect. If it was Cardinal Mikael, the holder of the Aztal rune¡­ He would be able to perform the role of the new pope perfectly as long as he became one later.


    The roars of the cardinals, and the divinity flowing out from the cathedral itself¡­


    All these things began ruling over the emotions of the clerics present. The light in their eyes, previously dyed in fear, had now been transformed.


    The Paladins bravely stepped forward, while the Priests lifted up their injured colleagues.


    ¡°Head to the cathedral¡­!¡±


    ¡°Yes, we must return to the sanctuary! It¡¯s safe over there!¡±


    ¡°We must stop them! Stop the advance of the Necromancer and his army!¡±


    The Paladins stood in front of their fleeing colleagues in a defensive line before raising their shields.


    Through the Aztal rune, Cardinal Mikael¡¯s emotions were currently being shared with them. They could sense his trust in them.


    If it was Cardinal Mikael, no, Pope Mikael, then he¡¯d surely be able to protect them!


    The commander of the undead legion riding on a skeleton horse, his appearance hidden beneath the mountain goat¡¯s skull and bone armour ¨C the Seventh Imperial Prince ¨C shifted his gaze and scanned the clergymen.


    He could see through their characteristics. They possessed all of the attributes any self-respecting corrupt clerics must have, such as lust, greed, hedonistic tendencies, and various other selfish natures. At this rate, it¡¯d be more fitting to call them a bunch of religious quacks, instead.


    But then, their attributes were gradually and rapidly changing. Their characteristics were now given the trait of ¡®faithful¡¯ after they began resonating with Mikael¡¯s voice.


    Their emotions heightened and their fear gradually faded away.


    Even their divinity reserves were getting bigger.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince turned his head and took a look at the cathedral.


    From the magnificent cathedral that first started worshipping Gaia according to history books, an incredible amount of divinity was flooding out nonstop.


    ¡®That¡¯s one unique power, alright.¡¯


    Was that a power that gushed out from the cathedral itself?


    No, hang on. That wasn¡¯t the whole story, was it?


    His gaze shifted over to Mikael afterwards.


    Cardinal Mikael was utilising the divinity of the entire cathedral for himself.


    [Name: Mikael Kastia.


    Age: 105


    Attributes: Unshakeable belief. Expansive divinity, the holder of Aztal rune. Honest. Pure, clean faith.


    + Humans must be true to their emotions. Even pleasure and greed are states of emotions that the gods have blessed us with. Only by being honest with one¡¯s emotions can you claim to be a true, unyielding believer!]


    ¡®Unshakeable belief, is it?¡¯


    That man was totally different from all the other clerics here; never mind not being corrupt or unfaithful in his heart, his piety was pure and not stained by a single speck of uncleanliness.


    Such a thing came across as quite surprising to the boy prince. How could the leader of such an organisation mired so deeply in corruption, misconduct, and political greed be this clean?


    That man¡­ he genuinely believed his ¡®justice¡¯ was the correct one.


    He wished to establish a new religious view that he believed to be the truth, and lead this flock of corrupt clerics there. That man had not a shred of evil intent in him.


    If one judged solely on the attributes alone, then Mikael¡¯s piety and his devotion towards the goddess exceeded those of even Archbishop Raphael.


    Wasn¡¯t this truly ironic?


    To think that such a man was now the enemy of the Theocratic Empire.


    However, the fact remained that he had crossed a line. He had provoked an existence that he should never have provoked in the first place.


    ¡°Kill them.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince pointed with his finger. When he did, the legion of undead screeched out and dashed forward.


    The opposing Paladins roared out loudly.


    ¡°Shiiiields-!¡±


    Countless shields were raised up to form a barrier.


    ¡°Piiiikes-!¡±


    Next up, lengthy spears were pointed forward.


    The living Paladins breathed heavily from under their helms and from in between the shields.


    They were coming. The knights shining in light ¨C the holy undead knights and the one leading them, Kasim Derian ¨C were coming¡­!

 Chapter 180 - 096. Judgement of the Heretic -2 (Part Two)

    ¡°Oh, oooooh!¡±


    The living Paladins roared out their battle cry.


    At the bare minimum, they needed to patiently fight back until all the members of the clergy had entered the cathedral and offered their prayers in order to fully activate the ¡®Aztal¡¯ rune¡¯s true powers.


    This was going to be a defensive battle. Until they managed to activate the goddess¡¯s miracle, they needed to defend their positions.


    Just like back when they fought against Archbishop Raphael.


    -Oh, hear ye, you heretics!


    Kasim Derian¡¯s roar resounded throughout the forest.


    He stepped on the ground, and at the same time, the other holy undead knights prepared to follow after him.


    -You shall all be judged!


    Like a bullet exploding forward, Kasim¡¯s figure dashed forward rapidly.


    The Paladins¡¯ eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. In the blink of an eye, the knights of the divine light had already appeared right before their position.


    The undead knights swung their weapons in the very next moment.


    Explosions ensued. Human flesh ripped apart and rained down on the surroundings, almost as if the shields and armour covering their victims weren¡¯t even there in the first place.


    -Aaaaaaah!


    Banshees singing sacred hymns began priming their bows. Arrows infused with divinity flew up in the air. Each of these arrows then split into dozens of pieces, and eventually, hundreds, thousands of arrows of light bombarded the ground.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk?!¡±


    The arrows penetrated straight into the backs of the clerics running inside the cathedral.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The ground rumbled, signalling the Bone Golems and giant stone statues setting off towards their targets.


    ¡°Fire your magic, now!¡±


    The clergymen cast their magic spells. Arrows of light made out of divinity accurately struck the Bone Golems and stone statues, but they failed to do anything against the Golems that boasted strong resistance against magic.


    The lone eye of the giant stone statue, the Cyclops Golem, burned bright red. Beams of light shot out and turned the bodies of the clerics into hardened stone. Meanwhile, the Bone Golems went on a rampage and wildly swung their greatswords and maces around, flinging numerous Paladins and Priests up in the air.


    The battle was overwhelmingly one-sided.


    These clergymen without any proper battle experience were getting slaughtered in a one-sided fashion.


    However, their problems didn¡¯t end there. The Seventh Imperial Prince leisurely approached the cathedral while riding on the skeleton horse. But then, he summoned a staff out of nowhere and slammed it down to the ground.


    Divinity spread out everywhere. The murdered clergymen began staggering back up to their feet.


    The clerics and Paladins of the Church of Caiolium defending against the undead froze up on the spot, their expressions hardening at this sight.


    ¡°What¡­ what is the meaning of this?!¡±


    The fallen clergymen, who used to be their allies only a few moments ago, had turned into ¡®zombies¡¯.


    -Kkiiiiaaahkk!


    Their sunken eyes rolled around in their eye sockets before glaring at the Paladins before them. These holy zombies advanced forward and pounced on the living knights.


    All semblance of colour drained out from Paladins¡¯ faces as they desperately shoved back the holy zombies with their shields.


    ¡°This, this¡­!¡±


    This was calamity itself.


    Mikael gritted his teeth.


    The believers were dying in droves. If things continued on in this fashion, his church would be decimated in no time!


    He urgently shouted at the younger cardinals next to him, ¡°Look, our believers are being defiled! What about the Aztal rune?!¡±


    ¡°T-the preparation is still ongoing, your eminence!¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯ve already finished preparing the wide-scale magic spell. We can kill that devil right now!¡±


    Many clerics by the cathedral¡¯s windows were currently offering their prayers. They were getting ready to launch a massive-scale attack magic spell.


    Finally, it was activated.


    The darkness of the night sky was cleanly pierced through; bright motes of light radiated into the heavens above.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince raised his head to look at it. A gigantic sword of light at least ten metres long and made out of divinity was now floating high up in the sky.


    He muttered out in a puzzled voice, ¡°What¡¯s this now?¡±


    It was the so-called god¡¯s divine strike, materialised through the prayers offered by five hundred and fifty five clergymen hidden inside the cathedral ¨C the Heavenly Sword(Ì섦).


    The massive attack began its descent and fell on top of the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    The gigantic sword split the air apart and viciously slammed down as if to crush every single undead into fine meat paste.


    After witnessing this descent, the banshees, the giant stone statues, and even Kasim Derian, combined their might and attacked the Heavenly Sword, but all of their attacks were simply deflected away.


    ¡°Die, you devil!¡±


    The clergymen roared out.


    As for Cardinal Mikael on the balcony, a look of indifference floated up on his face. He was certain that an attack of such magnitude would be more than enough to defeat the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    The Heavenly Sword descended on top of the boy and violent winds whipped madly all around it. However, the Seventh Imperial Prince didn¡¯t even bother to escape, and had instead chosen to face the incoming attack head-on.


    He was nonchalantly raising his head up to stare.


    Was it because he had given up?


    Just as the Heavenly Sword was about to crush down on him, the Seventh Imperial Prince lightly waved his staff at it.


    Tap-!


    Even before the Heavenly Sword could touch him, cracks rapidly developed on the blade. In an instant, they spread out to the rest of its body of light like a spider web.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    Not just the Priests watching on from the cathedral¡¯s windows, but even Cardinal Mikael on the balcony stared at this spectacle in utter disbelief.


    The Heavenly Sword was cracking apart. The goddess¡¯s divine strike had shattered into million bits.


    The coalesced divinity broke apart and dissipated from the world.


    ¡°W-what was that¡­?¡±


    It was the effect of a special skill belonging to the staff the Seventh Imperial Prince was currently wielding, manifested whenever he temporarily upgraded it through Divine Aura.


    [Skill nullification].


    ¡°What kind of nonsense¡­¡±


    Cardinal Mikael stumbled back in pure shock. But he still managed to regain some of his wit and continued observing the unfolding situation below.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince stopped approaching the cathedral, and instead, the stone statues lined up next to him. The giant statues around five metres tall were all gripping massive lances as long as themselves.


    Cardinal Mikael¡¯s mouth clamped shut at that sight.


    ¡®Wait, could he be trying to¡­?¡¯


    The giant stone statues leaned their torsos back while gripping the lances. They were assuming throwing postures.


    1


    ¡°¡­! Oh my goddess!¡±


    Mikael urgently turned around and rushed back inside the cathedral. Almost at the same time, the stone statues threw the lances.


    A huge lance crashed into the balcony and went through the structure.


    The barrage of lances caused a portion of the cathedral to break apart and crumble down.


    ¡°S-save me-!¡±


    Many of the priests trying to enter the cathedral were crushed to death by the falling debris.


    However, the lance didn¡¯t stop there and continued to dig into the balcony¡¯s narrow entrance, mercilessly crushing the two younger cardinals to death.


    Not only that, even Mikael¡¯s lower torso was ripped apart from the impact force.


    ¡°Uwaaaaahk!¡±


    ¡°Your eminence! Cardinal Mikael!¡±


    The Priests who were already inside the cathedral rushed towards him and managed to drag him away. However, his lower half was already gone and blood was uncontrollably gushing out from his fatal wounds.


    ¡°Uwaaahk!¡±


    Mikaels screamed from the pain that he had never experienced before, until the shock almost caused the whites of his eyes to show.


    He gasped out. ¡°A-Aztal rune! Is it ready¡­?!¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is!¡±


    As soon as he heard the Priest¡¯s reply, Mikael sucked in a deep breath.


    ¡°Oh, Gaia-!¡± He began offering his prayer. ¡°I beg of thee to protect this lamb from his death. Through your grace, I beg of thee to regenerate this torn body!¡±


    Mikael shouted as loudly as he could and begged earnestly. And as if to answer his prayers, the goddess¡¯s miracle took place.


    The blood pooling on the ground began gathering where he was. His torn flesh was being restored at a visible rate.


    The completely-crushed lower half was reconstructed to its previous state.


    1


    Mikael, with his eyes threatening to close as his consciousness faded away, realised that all of the soul-wrecking pain had disappeared. Even his fading mind regained its clarity.


    1


    He carefully got up from the ground.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡±


    He deeply breathed in and out for a few moments.


    It was right then that the wall in front of him crumbled without warning. Another lance had impaled it.


    The giant lances were breaking through and destroying several parts of the cathedral, and one of them even reached right in front of Mikael¡¯s nose.


    ¡°How foolish!¡±


    He roused up strength from his entire body. He then extended his hand, pushing back at the tip of the incoming massive lance trying to impale him with nothing but his bare palm.


    BOOM-!


    The lance¡¯s tip was crushed. And the lance shaft itself shattered into bits as the projectile was shoved back instead.


    He displayed a truly nonsensical level of physical strength for a single human being.


    ¡°Oh, Gaia! I beg of thee to restore the first holy ground that worships thine glory!¡±


    The moment Mikael roared out, all the lances impaling the cathedral were gradually pulled out. Even the destroyed building began restoring itself.


    ¡°And also, save thine faithful flock, oh dear Gaia!¡±


    The motes of light scattered and landed on the injured and the dying inside the cathedral, completely healing them.


    Mikael observed this spectacle closely.


    The members of the clergy cheered out fervently after personally experiencing this miracle. This was the divine miracle brought to reality by their declaration of the holy war.


    This was the power of the Aztal rune!


    The power that greatly amplified the strength of the clerics, the power that could create miracles!


    Mikael headed to the balcony once more. He glared at the devil leading all those undead abominations outside the cathedral.


    ¡°Allen Olfolse!¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince looked rather surprised and stared back at Mikael when the latter roared out his name.


    ¡°Oh, hear ye, you accursed devil commander! You shall never be able to defile this holy ground! As long as Aztal rune exists, we¡­!¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ The Aztal rune, is it?¡±


    An ominous, cracking voice brimming full with divinity came from beneath the mountain goat¡¯s skull.


    Mikael flinched nastily at that and stared back at the boy.


    The eyes barely visible within the skull¡¯s sockets were clearly filled with rage. But that was unsurprising, since Mikael was the ringleader responsible for orchestrating his assassination attempt.


    But then, a change of emotions could be seen in those eyes at the very next moment.


    ¡°Well, now. That¡¯s¡­¡±


    And Mikael soon understood what that emotion was.


    It was greed.


    That boy, the Seventh Imperial Prince, was¡­


    ¡°¡­One hell of a nice item, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡­Desiring to acquire the rune letters engraved on Mikael¡¯s flesh.


    2


    < 096. Judgement of the Heretic -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: Unfortunately, only one chapter today. However, I¡¯ll make it up with a mini-mass release tomorrow. Pls look forward to it.)

 Chapter 181 - 097. Judgement of the Heretic -3 (Part One)

    Mikael felt a chill run down his spine after listening to the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s observation.


    The boy must¡¯ve witnessed the might of the Aztal rune, yet he didn¡¯t display a single hint of shrinking back or getting scared by it. He actually stared back at the cardinal as if the latter happened to be a product on sale.


    1


    ¡®N-no, he¡¯s simply bluffing! Yes, that has to be it!¡¯


    Even as such thoughts swirled in his head, Mikael¡¯s mouth had already clamped shut.


    The undead army around the boy was screeching out bizarrely.


    He had managed to summon an army with over one thousand combatants all by himself. And then, his power allowed him to easily extinguish even the Heavenly Sword¡­


    The Seventh Imperial Prince before his eyes possessed powers that defied all common sense. Without a doubt, him killing Aslan¡¯s king, Rahamma, wasn¡¯t a lie.


    But would Mikael be able to kill Rahamma under the same condition?


    Cold sweat trickled down the cardinal¡¯s face.


    ¡®No, wait. I must not waver in my conviction.¡¯


    The ceremony to activate the Aztal rune was completed and their holy war had been declared already.


    However, the rune¡¯s effectiveness would run out soon.


    He had been waiting for this moment so that he could fulfil his dream of becoming the next pope. He just couldn¡¯t afford to fall here. Rather than waiting for his death, he chose to bitterly struggle and survive this ordeal.


    ***


    Allen¡¯s eyes shooting a sharp glare at Mikael narrowed down to slits.


    ¡®Fifteen minutes left, huh.¡¯


    1


    After that, the backlash from Amon¡¯s relics would start hitting him hard.


    The divinity in his body would be exhausted by then, he¡¯d lose his consciousness, and become utterly defenceless.


    Charlotte and the Verdant Cross were here to protect him in such a case, and Alice Astoria was tasked with healing him afterwards, but all of them combined was still inadequate to deal with Cardinal Mikael.


    That¡¯s why¡­


    ¡®¡­I gotta finish that bastard off inside the remaining fifteen minutes.¡¯


    ¡°Kasim Derian!¡±


    Allen roared out, and Kasim kicked the ground to leap up. The holy undead knights nearby also followed after him.


    The group agilely and rapidly climbed up towards the cathedral¡¯s balcony.


    Mikael shifted his gaze and stared at the ones appearing in his vision.


    Kasim¡¯s eyes were gleaming murderously. He raised his greatsword, then while activating his ¡®Divine Aura of wind¡¯, fired a wind blade.


    BOOM-!


    The air expanded and the deadly-sharp aura pounced on Mikael.


    However, the cardinal simply roared out instead, ¡°How foolish!¡±


    A barrier made out of divinity suddenly materialised all around him, easily deflecting the wind blade. More divinity entered Mikael¡¯s physical body, enhancing all of his senses to the extreme.


    He clapped his hands, and that simple action materialised several blades of light.


    ¡°Destroy those undead abominations!¡±


    The blades of light flung out and pierced straight through the holy undead knights. Kasim Derian defended against the attack using his greatsword, but then, Mikael personally leaped up towards the hulking golden knight.


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia!¡±


    Mikael tightly clenched his fist.


    ¡°Grant thine blessing on this faithful servant. Bestow thine iron mace to this servant, so that he can¡­¡±


    Divinity rapidly coalesced on his fist and created a gauntlet of light.


    ¡°¡­Defeat our enemies!¡±


    The fist glowing with divinity smashed powerfully into Kasim¡¯s head.


    Divine energy exploded and the golden knight¡¯s neck broke, twisting at a weird angle. At the same time, his body was flung away and crashed right next to the Seventh Imperial Prince before bouncing away like a rag doll.


    Allen turned his head and glanced at Kasim.


    -Fuu-woo¡­


    The hulking golden knight staggered back up to his feet.


    As expected of the former successor to the sword king; as befitting his moniker as a berserker, the mad warrior, he possessed quite a high defence.


    Allen glanced back at Mikael.


    The cardinal roared out, ¡°You think I¡¯ll just take all of your beatings lying down?!¡±


    Some Priests approached Mikael from the sides and changed his bloodied robe for a new one.


    1


    In the meantime, the cathedral¡¯s entrance opened up. Paladins and Priests that had escaped inside leapt back out while fully kitted in various equipment.


    Allen used [Mind¡¯s Eye] and analysed the flow of their divinity.


    The distinctive golden aura oozing out from the cathedral was blanketing all of the clergymen.


    His eyes beneath the mountain goat¡¯s skull narrowed once more. ¡°Well, this¡­ might get annoying.¡±


    ¡°Oh, fellow clerics who worship our goddess, our time to rebel has finally come!¡± Mikael raised his crosier up high before leaping off from the balcony. ¡°We shall punish the evil, and uphold the good!¡±


    Every single one of the Church of Caiolium¡¯s clerics had become blessed soldiers. Their emotions heightened even further.


    ¡°I am the chosen proxy of the goddess.¡± An armour of light materialised and enveloped Mikael¡¯s entire body. ¡°And I am the pope that shall judge and punish all evil!¡±


    He raised his crosier high.


    ¡°I shall punish the heretics that defile Gaia¡¯s noble intentions!¡±


    He roared out loudly. Along with his Spirit Speech, the aura of light rapidly spread out from his body.


    His raised crosier came down to the ground, hard. Divinity rapidly wrapped around the shaft and transformed into a lengthy spear.


    On the tip of it was a semi-transparent flag made out of divinity, waving heroically in the air.


    When he roared out at the top of his lungs, Mikael even vaguely resembled a spear-wielding Saint of the legends. ¡°Believe in the word of the goddess! I, Pope Mikael, shall lead from the front!¡±


    He pointed the bladed tip of the light spear at the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    ¡°Our target is the corrupt Seventh Imperial Prince! By killing this devil worshipper, we shall prove to the rest of the world that our faith isn¡¯t false! We shall truly confirm that Goddess Gaia is indeed watching over us!¡±


    At Mikael¡¯s loud roar, the Paladins began marching forward. Meanwhile, the Priests were raising their staves, getting ready to fire their magic.


    ¡°We shall heed the command of his holiness, the pope, and kill the devil worshipper, the Seventh Imperial Prince!¡±


    ¡°Believe! Roar out our battle cry! Defeat our fears! We shall emerge victorious, and we shall continue carrying out the goddess¡¯s will!¡±


    ¡°Waaaaaaaah-!¡±


    All of the Paladins and the Priests roared in unison.


    Their fighting spirit was now overflowing. As if to match that, divinity flooded out from their bodies in droves.


    The god¡¯s rune, ¡®Aztal rune¡¯, had been activated, and now, the only thing waiting for them at the end would be their resounding ¡®victory¡¯.


    That¡¯s what they truly believed.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go-!¡±


    Mikael kicked the ground and dashed forward. The Paladins and Priests followed him from behind.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince watched them and could only sigh in lamentation.


    As expected of the top cardinal of the Theocratic Empire. His actions truly befitted a man whose ambition was to become the next pope. If only such a man had sworn his loyalty to the Imperial Family, he¡¯d surely have contributed greatly towards stopping the Vampire menace.


    ¡®Yeah, it¡¯s a waste to throw such a guy away.¡¯


    But what could he do?


    That cardinal was fated to die today.


    Allen snapped his fingers.


    His zombies screeched out and pounced on Mikael.


    The skeletons built a wall out of shields and pointed their spears at the cardinal. The Dullahans aimed their swords at him, and even the Bone Golems, the giant stone statues, and banshees, had set up a cordon.


    Double, triple, quadruple layers¡­


    The undead army quickly established multiple layers of defence.


    Towards the fifteen hundred undead creatures, a living army made of one thousand rabble with barely any combat experience in warfare rushed in.


    When looking at this scene from that point alone, then a fairly obvious result should happen, but¡­


    ¡°Uwoooooh! Gaia¡¯s glory be with us!¡±


    Mikael¡¯s frenzied roar was accompanied by him throwing his spear of light.


    The spear shot straight through the air and pierced into the ranks of the zombies. The Paladins leapt into their midst in the next moment.


    ¡°Waaaaaaah-!¡±


    They roared out and swung their weapons.


    Their swords cut off the heads of the zombies, while their maces crushed the skulls of the undead.


    Zombies were skewered by spears and lifted up into the air.


    The Paladins raised their shields and created a protective cordon, then prevented the zombies from surrounding them from the left and right sides before shoving the undead back.


    ¡°Protect the Paladins!¡±


    The Priests shouted out loudly.


    They offered their prayers and casted their magic spells. Arrows of light materialised in the air and penetrated straight through the zombies.


    -Ku-ooooooh!


    However, a zombie managed to grab a Paladin. The undead shoved the knight¡¯s head aside, dragged his shoulder in, and began ripping into the tender neck flesh.


    The Paladin¡¯s throat tore open and blood sprayed out like a fountain.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡±


    The Paladin¡¯s eyes shook powerfully. But his shock lasted only for a brief moment; the deeply gouged-out neck was instantly restored to its previous state.


    Muscles grew out like feelers around the torn part of the neck, and new skin rapidly covered him. Everything healed perfectly and didn¡¯t even leave behind a single scar.


    The moment his pain disappeared, the Paladin kicked the zombie away, swung his sword urgently, and split the head of the zombie apart.


    ¡°Oh-hoh¡­!¡±


    Allen watched this spectacle with great interest.


    1


    Such a wound would¡¯ve been impossible to heal with normal healing magic cast by a regular Priest. What you needed was a spell cast by someone on the level of an archbishop.


    Yet such level of magic was being showered on every single living ¡®soldier¡¯ currently on the battlefield.


    They were receiving the blessing of the sanctuary through the Aztal rune. Even if their throats were sliced halfway open, even if their hearts were impaled, even if their limbs were ripped off¡­ All of them recovered quickly on the spot.


    Meaning, unless their heads were completely lobbed off or their bodies were completely ripped apart, they would continuously regenerate to full health no matter what.


    Without a doubt, this was the miracle of the gods.


    ¡®An immortal army, is it?¡¯


    Not like the walking dead, but instead, living, breathing immortals.


    Allen grinned under the mountain goat¡¯s skull.


    ¡®Even after excluding that declaration of sanctuary thing, it still has some pretty substantial abilities, doesn¡¯t it.¡¯


    He shifted his gaze over to Mikael.


    By using Mind¡¯s Eye to see through the armour of divinity covering the cardinal, the boy prince got to check out the Aztal rune¡¯s properties.


    [Aztal rune.


    Ability: Will allow its user to resonate with other people and share a portion of the user¡¯s ability. The user will be bestowed with a miracle. If the user declares a holy war, the location will turn into a sanctuary and can bring about various miracles, including the ¡®miracle of recovery¡¯, ¡®miracle of divinity amplification¡¯, etc.]


    ¡°Punish the undead abominations!¡±


    Mikael wielded his spear of light. The horde of zombies in front of him were ripped apart into pieces.


    He raised his head to look; after going through the zombies, the next thing to greet him was the skeleton legion.


    Mikael chucked the spear at them. The air blew apart as the spear flew viciously, landing on the ground and exploding spectacularly.


    The cardinal broke through the skeletons¡¯ ranks and advanced forward. Dozens, nay, hundreds of weapons flew in from all directions, but the goddess¡¯s blessing protected him.


    Not a single weapon could touch him and they simply got deflected away.


    He kicked the ground and leapt up in the air. He could see the Seventh Imperial Prince riding on a skeleton horse right before his eyes.


    ¡°Oh, you foolish imperial prince, time to pay the price for defiling Gaia¡¯s teachings!¡±


    Spears of light materialised rapidly all around Mikael. His aim was the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s life.


    1


    (TL: Merry Christmas!)

 Chapter 182 - 097. Judgement of the Heretic -3 (Part Two)

    Dozens of spears shot toward the boy prince.


    ¡°Truly excellent, Cardinal Mikael.¡±


    However, the spears of light were penetrated cleanly through by rays of light and dissipated out of existence.


    Mikael¡¯s brows shot up high as he glared at the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    The twelve bone hands extending from the boy¡¯s back held a colourful array of musket rifles, all of them trained on Mikael¡¯s figure.


    [Skill, ¡®Spread Shot¡¯ has been applied.]


    [Skill, ¡®Snipe¡¯, has been applied.]


    [Skill, ¡®Burst Fire¡¯ has been applied.]


    Divinity swirled madly within their muzzles. Intense, eye-searing light began flooding out from the weapons.


    The holy bullets pierced right through Mikael¡¯s entire body.


    ¡°What¡­?!¡±


    Almost immediately, his figure began exploding in various places. His arms and legs got blown apart, while half of his head literally disappeared without a trace.


    1


    Bloody holes pockmarked his whole body and he now resembled a torn rag.


    The remaining half of his brain barely managed to function, allowing his lips to bob precariously. ¡°Ga¡­ Gaia¡­ This poor lamb¡­ Heal this¡­ lamb!¡±


    His exploded flesh began regenerating at a rapid pace. It was as if his cells were dividing and multiplying; bones, muscles, and skin were regenerating in the missing parts of his body.


    Mikael regained his fading consciousness and gritted his teeth.


    ¡®That was dangerous!¡¯


    No matter how stupendous the recovery ability of the rune was, it still wasn¡¯t complete immortality.


    The more his flesh was damaged, the more his mind got devastated, and eventually, his soul would become too damaged to be repaired.


    If that kept up, just one slip-up could make it impossible to recover from the wounds.


    Mikael looked at the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    ¡°Truly amazing, Mikael. Allow me to express my respect towards you.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince let out some words of appreciation. He even applauded sincerely. However, the baptism of holy bullets didn¡¯t stop.


    An unending series of gunshots rang out from the muskets¡¯ muzzles.


    Mikael quickly offered another prayer when more of these bullets made out of divinity flew in his way. A barrier consisting of divinity materialised before the cardinal and blocked the projectiles.


    Crunch!


    However, each of the holy bullets proved to be heavy, powerful. As a matter of fact, each bullet posed a similar level of threat to several years¡¯ worth of an average priest¡¯s divinity reserve.


    The barrier gradually broke down.


    ¡®What on earth¡­ Just what is going on here?!¡¯


    1


    He possessed the god¡¯s rune, the Aztal rune, so how could he be losing like this?! Especially when his opponent was busy clapping his hands while looking so utterly relaxed and carefree?!


    This¡­ This just didn¡¯t make any sense.


    ¡°As expected, a cardinal of the Theocratic Empire is a cut above the rest, is that it?¡±


    Allen was feeling genuinely impressed right now, contrary to Mikael¡¯s inner thoughts.


    He was currently using two of Amon¡¯s relics ¨C the skull and the staff.


    Even if he was merely utilising their options of greatly amplifying his divinity, Cardinal Mikael was still managing to withstand the barrage.


    Sure, some part of them was due to the amazing power of the Aztal rune, but Mikael¡¯s own strength also had shot way past the level of your average clergyman a long time ago, and had stepped up to a new realm.


    Allen¡¯s eyes narrowed to slits.


    Honestly speaking, he wanted to observe for a little while longer, but he didn¡¯t have a lot of time remaining.


    ¡°I only have around five minutes remaining, so¡­¡±


    In that case¡­


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I add one more thing?¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince extracted Amon¡¯s grimoire. He only activated its option of amplifying divinity and nothing else.


    But that simple action was enough to boost the destructive powers of the muskets by another level.


    BOOM-!


    Mikael¡¯s barrier shattered in one breath. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as the holy bullets mercilessly tore through his body.


    ¡°Ku-waaaahk?!¡±


    His head blew up, his fingers broke into many pieces in their joints, while his upper and lower torsos actually split apart.


    Flesh splattered all over the place. The rate of regeneration just couldn¡¯t keep up, and his half-intact head fell to the ground. It landed with a meaty plop and his body began regenerating right away.


    ¡°Kuaaahk! No¡­! No! Not yet!¡±


    Mikael tried to get back up on his feet, only for someone to ruthlessly stomp down on his back. It was Kasim Derian. The hulking golden knight used his knee to press down on Mikael¡¯s back before tightly grasping the cardinal¡¯s shoulders.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince dismounted from the skeleton horse and stared at the restrained Mikael with apathetic eyes. ¡°Finally. It¡¯s all over for you, Cardinal Mikael.¡±


    ¡°All over?! Huh! What a foolish notion that is! I still have my faithful¡­!¡±


    ¡°Oh, them? They have been taken care of already.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince replied nonchalantly, causing Mikael to flinch in surprise and struggle to turn his head to look at his faithful followers.


    They were currently being hacked mercilessly away by the skeletons. Their arms and legs were being severed, while spears stabbed and impaled their torsos.


    Even then, the skeletons did not stop their attacks. They simply continued attacking, and attacked some more when the bodies of their victims regenerated.


    This extremely powerful recovery ability meant to protect them had instead turned into a sentence of endless hell for Mikael¡¯s followers.


    The cardinal¡¯s eyes opened incredibly wide.


    This was basically the same thing as a massacre. His faithful followers were being inhumanely tortured right now.


    ¡°But, but how can this be¡­!¡±


    ¡°No matter how extreme your power of recovery is, we¡¯re clearly a step above you in terms of skill set and the power of immortality,¡± said the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    Mikael¡¯s trembling eyes shifted over to the group of skeleton mages. Those things had been reconstructing the destroyed skeletons all this time.


    1


    Although both camps possessed immortality-like abilities, there was one crucial difference separating them.


    And that was none other than ¡®pain¡¯, or their lack of ability to feel it.


    As these undead were far more skilled, overwhelmingly so as a matter of fact, it wasn¡¯t all that surprising to see them easily trample on the clerics of the Church of Caiolium.


    Mikael gritted his teeth and glared at the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    There was still a chance. The sanctuary was still in play, giving him near immortal-like vitality and an incredible power at the same time. That¡¯s why¡­!


    ¡°As long as the Aztal rune is¡­!¡±


    ¡°You know, I¡¯ve been curious about something.¡± The Seventh Imperial Prince stared at Mikael pinned to the ground, and smiled with his eyes under the mountain goat¡¯s skull. ¡°If I completely rip your body apart into pieces, which part will start regenerating first, I wonder?¡±


    Mikael¡¯s face hardened in an instant. ¡°What, what are you even¡­¡±


    ¡°From now on¡­¡±


    The cardinal¡¯s eyes urgently shifted around and saw the zombies gathering all around him.


    ¡°¡­You will be devoured alive.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°The thing is, my summoned undead are somehow connected to my item window, as it turns out. So who knows what might happen?¡± While saying that, the Seventh Imperial Prince turned around. ¡°As soon as my zombies devour you, that rune letters of yours might become mine.¡±


    ¡°W-wait! Hold on¡­!¡±


    Mikael¡¯s complexion paled instantly.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince before his eyes was planning to let loose these abominable zombies on him, ending his life by turning him into a fodder for the undead!


    ¡°Are you trying to defile me too?! Just kill me by cutting my head off!¡±


    ¡°With this, your sins have been fully paid up, Cardinal Mikael Kastia.¡±


    The zombies crept increasingly closer. The eerie light in their eyes glowed ominously while their maws split open so wide that their cheeks tore up and their jaw bones almost got dislocated.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take good care of the Aztal rune from now on.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s back grew further away in Mikael¡¯s vision. The cardinal struggled mightily, but Kasim simply broke Mikael¡¯s arms and legs.


    A tragic scream left Mikael¡¯s mouth, ¡°You devil! Allen Olfolse! I¡­ I curse you¡­!¡±


    Just before he could urgently summon a spear of light as his last ditch attempt, Kasim, who was still restraining the cardinal, grabbed Mikael¡¯s head and ruthlessly smashed it into the ground below.


    His face exploded from the impact and his body convulsed violently.


    He wasn¡¯t dead yet. Unfortunately for him, though, he couldn¡¯t form a coherent thought in his head nor could he move a muscle on his body.


    Mikael¡¯s head regenerated, only for Kasim to mercilessly burst it open over and over again.


    At the same time, hundreds of zombies pounced on Mikael¡¯s convulsing body and began ripping him apart.


    The Aztal rune was shredded into pieces and entered the stomachs of the undead.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince observed that scene for a little while before muttering out in a snarky tone of voice, ¡°I pray that the blessing of Gaia be with you, Mikael Kastia. Find your happiness¡­ in hell.¡±


    This was the final moment of the one who schemed to be the next pope, Mikael Kastia.


    **


    Four days later, in the imperial palace of the Theocratic Empire.


    Two pieces of news reached the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse.


    The first one spoke of the successful subjugation of the Church of Caiolium. As for the second news¡­


    ¡°Rose Darina is still alive, I see.¡±


    It was about the survival of the Second Crown Princess Consort, Rose Darina. Not only was she alive and well, she had apparently sought asylum in another kingdom.


    1


    As for the location she was suspected to have escaped to¡­


    It was the kingdom of the knights, a close neighbour to the empire.


    The kingdom of Lome.


    Kelt slowly leaned his back on the throne. ¡°The rebels of Lome are apparently providing her with a safe haven, is that it?¡±


    He raised his head and stared at the nobles in the imperial audience chamber before him. His eyes focused on the person standing in the middle of them, the man was currently being showered with their attention ¨C he was the First Imperial Prince, Luan Olfolse.


    As this occasion was all about having an audience with the Holy Emperor, one was expected to suppress their emotions to the best of their abilities, but at least this time, Luan remained true to his feelings.


    Veins were bulging on his forehead. He was clenching his fists so hard that his nails broke the skin, and blood was seeping out.


    Kelt felt reassured by that sight as he knew what Luan was going through in his mind. Since his first grandson was itching to get revenge for his mother¡¯s death, he¡¯d surely be able to take care of this matter properly.


    ¡°You are hereby given permission to capture her. However, if she resists, then you¡¯re also permitted to summarily execute her. Capture her, bring her here, and then¡­¡±


    Kelt stared at Luan with remote, indifferent eyes.


    ¡°¡­Put her under the guillotine.¡±


    < 097. Judgement of the Heretic -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: next chapter will go live in one hour¡¯s time.)

 Chapter 183 - 098. Third Imperial Prince’s Wish (Part One)

    **


    ¡°Uwaaahk! Just kill me already! Kill me!¡±


    Inside a location completely cut-off from the outside world.


    It was a prison where even the members of the Order of the Crimson Cross had to cover their eyes and block their ears if they wanted to gain access to it.


    And this was where the Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse the Vampire, was currently being tortured.


    His small body was placed on top of a torture device. A fountain nearby gushed out holy water and continued to burn his flesh, while silver stakes had impaled him to the device, making sure that he wasn¡¯t going anywhere.


    ¡°Can you hand me the scalpel?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s use pincers to pull it out.¡±


    While chatting among themselves, two Crimson Cross torturers busily moved their hands. And every time they did, the Second Imperial Prince roared out in anger and pain. ¡°I already told you! I told you everything I know! I, I really don¡¯t know anything else¡­!¡±


    Ruppel continued to shriek tearfully, but the Crimson Cross members simply ignored him.


    Instead, they actually increased the intensity of the torture,.


    Noises far more gruesome and tragic than before rang out.


    The torture continued on for quite some time, and at the end of it, one of the Crimson Cross members asked his colleague.


    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s take a break.¡±


    ¡°Good idea. How about we eat something?¡±


    They took off their blood-stained gloves and washed their hands clean. Hell, they even began sharing light-hearted banters while taking out lunch boxes.


    The Second Imperial Prince bore witness to this spectacle and could only shiver. Even from the perspective of a Vampire, these humans had several screws loose in their heads.


    How could they calmly consume their meal in a place where they had been inhumanely torturing a Vampire?!


    Ruppel¡¯s eyes shifted around urgently while he gritted his teeth. This chamber was surrounded by sturdy stone walls at all sides, yet even then, he could hear the screams of other Vampires and lycans coming from beyond them.


    In other words, countless others besides Ruppel had been dragged into this place and were getting mercilessly tortured right now.


    ¡®This place¡­ it has to be hell!¡¯


    Only now did he understand why Count Timong was so afraid of the Imperial Family. Without a doubt, these humans were a bunch of lunatics. A group of fake holy men that loved torturing monsters for fun!


    Didn¡¯t matter whether you were a Vampire or a lycan, getting trapped in here meant you¡¯d end up as neither alive or dead.


    ¡®I¡­ I need to escape from here!¡¯


    But how?


    Second Imperial Prince Ruppel deeply pondered his options before glancing at the two Crimson Cross members enjoying their meal.


    ¡°H-hey, over here!¡±


    The two torturers shifted their gazes over to Ruppel.


    ¡°D-don¡¯t you two wish to live on forever?¡±


    The two Crimson Cross members¡¯ eyes beneath their masks opened wider.


    Ruppel smiled at their reactions. ¡°If you want it, I can grant it for you! An everlasting life and a physique that will never age! If you wish to acquire such a thing, then¡­¡±


    Ruppel spoke with a voice overflowing with dignity.


    However, the Crimson Cross members simply scratched their heads before leisurely getting up from their spots.


    They pushed aside their lunch boxes and put their gloves back on.


    ¡°¡­Eh?¡±


    The light in their eyes began gleaming ominously as they walked closer.


    Ruppel became frightened by their demeanour. ¡°H-hold on¡­!¡±


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to enjoy our meal a little later.¡±


    ¡°Where should we start this time?¡±


    ¡°Well, we can start from the head and slowly go lower.¡±


    They reached out towards the many tools designed for torture.


    Second Imperial Prince Ruppel¡¯s complexion paled in fright at the unfolding scene and desperately screamed.


    He had unwisely said something that got on the nerves of his torturers.


    And so, yet another session of merciless torture commenced, and eventually, Ruppel declared his defeat.


    ¡°I get it! I get it! I¡¯ll tell you anything you want! Anything! Just stop already!¡±


    The Crimson Cross temporarily stayed their hands and looked down at Ruppel.


    He opened his mouth while teardrops pooled around his eyes, ¡°T-there is someone called Count Timong among the Vampires.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    Ruppel swallowed back his dry saliva and responded, ¡°W-what do you mean, and? And what?¡±


    ¡°¡­Slice him open.¡±


    More blood splattered on the device.


    Ruppel screamed some more, ¡°I get it! I¡¯ll tell you more! I don¡¯t know the details, b-but¡­¡±


    The Crimson Cross torturers narrowed their eyes.


    ¡°Count Timong¡­ that eccentric blockhead was researching warp magic!¡±


    ¡°Warp magic?¡± The torturers tilted their heads in confusion. ¡°And the reason is?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    At those words, the tools of torture were set loose upon Ruppel once more and viciously stabbed into him.


    He vomited out blood and cried out, ¡°H-he said he will warp the Imperial Family away!¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡± The two Crimson Cross members furrowed their brows under the masks. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°He said he wants to warp that m-monster Holy Emperor Kelt and the rest of the Imperial Family away. Send them away to another dimension, maybe to another world altogether!¡±


    The Crimson Cross members opened their eyes wider. They glared at Ruppel and urged on, ¡°We need more details.¡±


    Ruppel barely managed to reply with a tearful voice, ¡°The spirit realm, referred to as the world of fantasy, the titan realm where the titans had been imprisoned by the fearful gods, and the purgatory where the dead go to, plus lots of other dimensions besides those three¡­!¡±


    His shouting voice became hoarse.


    ¡°Timong said he¡¯d seal away the whole Imperial Family somewhere in one of those!¡±


    The Crimson Cross members diligently jotted down everything Ruppel said on a parchment. Once the Vampire infant began talking, a proverbial floodgate had opened and he held back nothing.


    ¡°Timong is planning to send the Imperial Family to another dimension through warp magic and seal them there. That blockhead count said that once he succeeds, we will have nothing to fear from. The Vampire King thinks it¡¯s all some time-wasting nonsense, but Count Timong said he¡¯s really close to perfecting the spell¡­!¡±


    ¡°¡­Warp magic, to another world¡­¡±


    Since these Order of the Crimson Cross members knew the theory behind the warp magic spell, they thought that what Rupple confessed to just now was absolutely impossible.


    However, there was someone, a Vampire Count at that, who said such a feat was indeed feasible.


    ¡°What should we do? What are the odds of this being false information?¡±


    One of the Crimson Cross members reached out and checked Ruppel¡¯s pulse and replied to his colleague, ¡°Minimal. The Vampire had no time to manipulate its body, so its pulse couldn¡¯t have been falsified.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s the truth?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily, but even then, we need to report this in.¡±


    The two Crimson Cross torturers nodded in unison and temporarily halted the fountain of holy water attached to the torture device.


    Once the fountain stopped spewing that damnable holy water, Ruppel was able to catch his breath. Relieved by the fact that the seemingly-unending pain had come to an end, albeit temporarily, he began making bizarre sobbing noises.


    ¡°This is the reward for your answers. We shall permit you a temporary respite.¡±


    The Crimson Cross members said that and then moved outside the chamber.


    They now had a duty to report back to the Holy Emperor regarding what Ruppel had told them.


    **


    Harmon was walking down the corridor of the imperial palace at the moment.


    It had been a month since the commotion that shook the entire palace. The work to repair the destroyed portions had been completed by now, and the secret underground passage utilised by the Golden Cross had its layout altered as well.


    Archbishop Raphael had been safely rescued from the cathedral and was installed as the new cardinal, while all the top executives of the Church of Caiolium were sent to the gallows.


    As for the remaining, surviving believers, they were dispatched to the region of Ronia for three years of hard labour.


    Everything seemed to be returning to normal at a glance.


    ¡®¡­That is, as long as I exclude the upcoming invasion of the Vampires and the Second Crown Princess Consort incident.¡¯


    Harman groaned under his breath.


    Indeed, those two things were big problems on their own, but on top of that, even the execution of Third Imperial Prince Ruppel had been announced as well.


    He was now feeling rather lost on how he should break this news to the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    His steps finally took him to the quarters of the boy prince. Charlotte, who was standing guard, performed a light nod of her head as a greeting.


    Just before Harman could knock on the door, he caught a faint whiff of burning human flesh.


    He couldn¡¯t help but tilt his head in confusion, and Charlotte next to him smiled awkwardly while explaining what was going on, ¡°His highness is currently with Mister Hans. He told me that they were going to research the Aztal rune together¡­¡±


    Harman¡¯s emotions became even more complicated at that revelation. Still, he knocked and opened the door. ¡°Your highness?¡±


    The sight greeting him through the open doorway was a boy with his shirt off, and another man currently engraving tattoos on the boy¡¯s back and arms.


    Several documents with various rune letters jotted down on them were strewn about messily in the room, while pieces of Eltera, often referred to as the metal blessed by the spirits, as well as magic stones of various sizes, were rolling around unclaimed on the floor as well.


    The boy, the Seventh Imperial Prince, deeply furrowed his brows at the bouts of stinging pain, but he still waved his hand at Harman as soon as he spotted the latter entering his room. ¡°Oh! Harman. Nice timing.¡±


    Harman smiled wryly at how energetic the Seventh Imperial Prince was.


    Indeed, the boy seemed positively overflowing with life, almost to the point of making the Paladin think that his worries were ultimately for nothing.

 Chapter 184 - 098. Third Imperial Prince’s Wish (Part Two)

    **


    I greeted Harman with a bright expression.


    He made a puzzled face while asking me, ¡°Your highness, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Oh, this? I¡¯m just getting that Aztal rune or whatever it¡¯s called tattooed on me.¡±


    Of course, it was just a portion of the runes.


    I had gathered bits and pieces of Mikael¡¯s torn-apart corpse and copied the rune letters, showed them to Hans, and asked him to research it. And after about a month of intense research, he finally figured out an extremely small portion of the runic symbols.


    I asked Hans, ¡°How long do you think you¡¯ll need to decipher the rest?¡±


    He pushed up the goggles on his face, placed the tweezers on the bowl containing holy water, and glanced at the document with runes written on it. ¡°Even if it¡¯s an imitation, it still boasts a considerably complex structure, your highness.¡±


    Hans sounded really excited.


    But then again, we were dealing with the so-called god¡¯s language here. For an Alchemist like him, this whole thing must¡¯ve been really intriguing.


    ¡°If I work together with the Imperial Family¡¯s high-ranked clerics, as well as the Church of Caiolium¡¯s Alchemists and clerics, then at the latest, three months should suffice, your highness. Plenty of related information was unearthed during the investigation of the Church itself. That¡¯s why I estimate it to be no more than three months, sir.¡± While saying that, Hans continued to peruse the document. ¡°However, even if we successfully recreate this imitation, it¡¯ll still be very difficult to find someone capable of fully wielding this item. Unless we¡¯re talking about someone on the level of an archbishop, that person¡¯s body will fail to handle the power and simply explode.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to sweat over that one. I can control it just fine.¡±


    Hans nodded in agreement at my casual response.


    Although, I thought I heard him mumble almost inaudibly, ¡®Well, yeah. If it¡¯s his highness who¡¯s capable of hunting a dragon¡­¡¯


    After brushing that aside, I asked him something else, ¡°What about the Vampire¡¯s warp magic? Isn¡¯t it going to overlap with the research into these rune letters?¡±


    ¡°Ah, no, sir. I believe it¡¯ll be fine. We¡¯ve had some real progress in that topic recently. We should get a concrete result soon, your highness.¡±


    The corner of my eyes caught the figure of Harman, who had been eavesdropping in my and Hans¡¯ conversation, walking over to the window.


    He cautiously studied the atmosphere in the room before asking me, ¡°Your highness, have you heard the news yet?¡±


    I looked back at him. ¡°What news?¡±


    ¡°The one regarding the Second Crown Princess Consort, your highness.¡±


    I got up from the chair and walked to the window Harman was using to stare at the outside.


    At the moment, First Imperial Prince Luan was heading to where that woman was. In addition, White had also been released from prison so that he could accompany his son.


    They were leading one of the five forces of the empire, the ¡®Heavenly Army¡¯. The whole procession was marching bravely out of the imperial palace and the capital itself.


    I muttered, ¡°They¡¯re heading to the kingdom of Lome, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    Harman nodded silently.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that kingdom going through a civil war right now? Is it alright for another country to interfere in their internal conflict like this?¡±


    ¡°The reports did say that the rebels are shielding the Second Crown Princess Consort, after all. Your highness, the kingdom of Lome should no doubt be aware of the fact that giving shelter to a woman accused of high treason within their borders isn¡¯t the wisest move. Also, the royal court of Lome has been requesting our assistance as well.¡±


    I muttered to myself at his reply, ¡°The kingdom of Lome must be feeling pretty great about this. What with the Imperial Family lending them aid and all.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they will hand over the appropriate compensation for it, your highness.¡±


    I nodded slowly at his reply.


    Harman glanced at me and asked a question, ¡°Are you alright with this, your highness?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t that hard to guess why Harman asked that question. It must¡¯ve been because of the matter of revenge for this body¡¯s mother, Yulisia.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not really sure.¡±


    I deliberately tried to sound vague.


    Yeah, the matter with Yulisia was an unfortunate one. However, someone like me shouldn¡¯t stick his nose into it. I should just let the ones truly involved have their deserved vengeance.


    I mean, the two people who genuinely hated the Second Crown Princess Consort had already stepped up to the plate here. Well, sure, White might end up dithering about being unable to decide, but I was certain that Luan would unhesitantly cut her head off on the spot.


    Harman stared at me for a while before saying something else, ¡°Actually, your highness¡­ I came to see you because there¡¯s a matter related to the current event that I¡¯d like to discuss with you.¡±


    I shifted my gaze over to him.


    ¡°The Third Imperial Prince, Ruppel¡­ He wishes to have an audience with you, your highness.¡±


    ¡°My brother? What for?¡±


    Actually, I could guess that one pretty easily too.


    I smacked my lips.


    Now that an excuse made itself available, maybe it¡¯d be a good idea to pay him a visit. I mean, the Third Imperial Prince didn¡¯t have all that long to live anyways.


    **


    The prison was damp and filled with a mouldy stench.


    Pained moans from the imprisoned convicts leaked out from various cells. Ahead of me was a bare-chested torturer wearing a hood and wielding a lit lantern; we were currently walking through the gloomy corridor.


    Charlotte and I silently followed him while scanning our surroundings.


    The prisoners, convicted of heavy crimes, were glaring at us with burning eyes. Every single one of them had been sentenced to death for their sins.


    Someone cried out that they were wrongly convicted, while some begged us to save their lives. Some even openly hurled all sorts of expletives in our way, or simply guffawed like a madman.


    Holy cow, what a scary place this was! Third Imperial Prince Ruppel was imprisoned in a place like this?


    Eventually, we reached our destination.


    The torturer raised up the lantern and addressed the convict in the cell, ¡°You have a visitor, traitor Ruppel. It¡¯s his highness the Seventh Imperial Prince, so show some respect.¡±


    The bare-chested man finished saying that and pushed forward the key to the cell.


    ¡°Well, then. If something happens, just call for me, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Ah, sure. Thanks.¡±


    The torturer lightly bowed his head and left us.


    I turned to stare into the cell and raised my lantern higher. Third Imperial Prince Ruppel could be seen within the darkness.


    Back when I met him for the first time, his face came across as kinda handsome and annoying to look at, but now¡­


    ¡­He had morphed into a cripple.


    Unkempt beard had almost completely covered the lower half of his face, while his visible skin and lips were dry and cracked.


    His emaciated body was still shackled even now, robbing him of his freedom of movement despite being inside a prison cell.


    It was hard to tell from his current appearance that he used to be an Imperial Prince once upon a time.


    I could only smile bitterly at how Ruppel looked now.


    Even if we didn¡¯t have what you¡¯d call a healthy brotherly relationship, I still felt complicated when seeing a sibling of mine imprisoned like this.


    I did my best to rein in my emotions and smiled brightly.


    While lifting up a basket of fruits in my hand, I spoke to him, ¡°Brother, I came to visit you!¡±


    I used the key the torturer handed over to open the cell door before stepping inside.


    Ruppel had this dazed, far-off look on his face.


    ¡°Hello? Brother?¡±


    I waved my hand in front of his face. However, he remained the same as before and didn¡¯t move an inch.


    Huh. He¡¯s not really all there in his head, now is he?


    Left with little choice, I placed my hand on top of Ruppel¡¯s head and injected a little bit of divinity.


    A short while later, he jolted awake and began staring at me in stupefaction.


    ¡°Okay, now. Brother, you wanted to see me, so I¡¯m¡­¡±


    ¡°Allen!¡±


    Ruppel urgently grasped my shoulders.


    At the same time, Charlotte¡¯s eyes sharpened considerably. She rapidly unsheathed her sword and placed it near Ruppel¡¯s throat. ¡°Do not touch his highness with your filthy hands.¡±


    He got frightened by her murderous glare and quickly let go of my shoulders.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± said I.


    Charlotte wordlessly withdrew her sword.


    It seemed that she still had some animosity towards Third Imperial Prince Ruppel even now. Her anger stemmed from her belief that he was one of the culprits responsible for sending me to Aslan.


    Maybe that was the reason for her rather sensitive reactions lately whenever she detected something that could pose a threat to my wellbeing.


    I straightened my attire and stared at Ruppel.


    He was squatting on the ground as a look of despair could be seen clearly on his face. Which wasn¡¯t all that surprising, really.


    He had been sentenced to death. There was no more hope left for him.


    I smiled and spoke in a gentle voice, hoping to change the atmosphere somewhat, ¡°What did you call me here for, brother?¡±


    ¡°Allen, Allen¡­!¡±


    Ruppel hugged his head and repeatedly cried out my name.


    After asking Charlotte to step back, I then crouched on the prison cell¡¯s floor. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m here. Brother, I¡¯m here.¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s eyes were shaking unsteadily. He urgently spoke to me, ¡°I, I have a favour to ask you. M-my mother, Rose Darina¡­¡±


    ¡°I refuse. I cannot help you in that regard, brother.¡±


    I immediately refused Ruppel¡¯s plea even before he had a chance to say what it was. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that he was asking me to save Rose.


    But that was one favour that I just couldn¡¯t humour.


    Rose wasn¡¯t just some random unimportant passerby, but a traitor to the empire. There was no reason to spare her life. She was the main instigator in the war with Aslan, and the culprit behind letting the Vampires infiltrate the imperial palace. On top of that, she even tried to have me assassinated.


    Not only had I no thoughts of saving her life, I also didn¡¯t want to get labelled as her accomplice or some such, either.


    Why should I take on such a risk in the first place?


    Ruppel¡¯s expression crumbled even more at my quick response.


    He reached out and grasped the hem of my clothes.


    He began sobbing as his head faltered. ¡°I know. I know it, Allen. My mother won¡¯t be able to stay for long in this world. The Imperial Family has no thoughts of sparing her. I know that even if it¡¯s you, helping her will put you in hot water. However¡­!¡±


    More strength seeped into his hands gripping my clothes.


    ¡°If it¡¯s either our brother, First Imperial Prince Luan, or our father, they¡¯ll definitely try to execute her the moment they find her.¡±


    Ruppel gritted his teeth.


    ¡°As your brother¡­ No, wait. As the son of a woman about to die, I¡¯m begging you for this favour.¡±


    He slowly raised his head. Tears trickled down his dirty cheeks. He pleaded with me as his expression distorted.


    ¡°One minute¡­ No, it¡¯s fine even if it¡¯s only a few seconds. Before she dies, let me see her one last time.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t ask you to save her or even spare her life. This fate, it¡¯s mine and my mother¡¯s to pay. I know that I¡¯m being shameless for even asking you something like this. However, I truly wish to see her face at least one last time.¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s head faltered again and he buried his face in my chest.


    ¡°This¡­ this is my first and last wish, Allen.¡±


    He began trembling even harder.


    ¡°Please¡­ let me see my mother.¡±


    He sobbed silently.


    A man with not much time left was making an ardent plea. No words of comfort would work on such a man, I figured.


    I could only make a bitter smile at Ruppel¡¯s feeble figure.


    Right, I was still his little bro, so I should at least say something to comfort him.


    I carefully pushed Ruppel back and stared straight into his eyes.


    ¡°Brother.¡±


    He stared back at me.


    And at his despair-filled face, I resolutely replied.


    ¡°I refuse.¡±


    < 098. Third Imperial Prince¡¯s Wish (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 185 - 099. The Blackened Village -1 (Part One)

    Ruppel pleaded with me.


    The sole wish he had was not to keep his life, but to meet his mother as her son. He kept repeating that to me over and over again.


    I could sense the desperation from both his voice and expression.


    The first and quite likely the very last request made by my older brother while even resorting to bending his pride¡­


    To such a request, I only had one thing to say.


    ¡°I refuse.¡±


    Yup, I said no.


    Ruppel flinched grandly and stared at me. ¡°W-what?¡±


    I smiled refreshingly and responded, ¡°It¡¯s truly unfortunate, but I lack the sufficient strength to help you, brother. I¡¯m sure you already know this, too. Both First Imperial Prince Luan and our father White have stepped up. And well, what can I say? Their stubborn streaks are second to none, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°B-but, can¡¯t you stop them if it¡¯s you?¡±


    Sure, I might be able to stop them.


    After all, Ruppel did witness with his own two eyes my intense battle against King Rahamma. But back then, I was relying on the powers of the relics. And let¡¯s not forget, I have absolutely no reason to whip those relics out against White and Luan.


    ¡°Why should I even stop them?¡±


    Rose tried to have me assassinated, and she also happened to be the one who murdered ¡®my¡¯ mother, too. Meaning, never mind sparing her life and bringing her back here, I had plenty of reasons to kill her right there and then.


    Ruppel must¡¯ve realized that fact because his complexion paled greatly.


    He remained silent for a little while, but eventually, opened his firmly-shut mouth once more, ¡°The Imperial Family¡¯s treasure¡­¡±


    I glanced at him when he began muttering to himself as if he was in a trance.


    ¡°I shall give that to you. That¡¯s right¡­ I¡¯ll give that to you!¡±


    ¡°¡­What are you even talking about, brother?¡±


    Ruppel lifted his head and stared at me. ¡°Allen. I know that you¡¯ve been collecting all sorts of rare and valuable magic tools. Since you¡¯re a Necromancer, you must¡¯ve been seduced by the allure of an even greater power!¡±


    Uhm, no. That isn¡¯t even remotely true.


    Let¡¯s be clear about one thing here. All the relics in my possession just so happened to be already there when I showed up to a location, and they ¡®somehow¡¯ landed on my lap one way or the other.


    It was unknown whether or not Ruppel knew what kind of thoughts were percolating in my head, but he continued on regardless. ¡°The relic left behind the very first Holy Emperor, Ordin Olfolse. I shall tell you the whereabouts of that item!¡±


    Ruppel sounded so earnest and desperate.


    ¡°If you somehow help me meet my mother, then I shall tell you the coordinates and the name of the location. When you come to possess that relic, nothing in this world will be able to stop you.¡±


    A treasure wielded by the very first Holy Emperor?


    And he can tell me where it is?


    Ruppel asked me with an expression filled with expectation, ¡°H-how about it? You want to help me now, don¡¯t you?¡±


    I stared dazedly at Ruppel and replied.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s still a no.¡±


    **


    I stepped outside the prison.


    ¡°Uwaaaaaahk!¡±


    A noisy scream exploded out from somewhere in the prison. It belonged to Ruppel, obviously.


    Eeeiya~, as expected of my brother. It sure was entertaining to make fun of him.


    I glanced back at the prison and slowly shook my head.


    Still, seeing him throw a tantrum like that, I figured that he had plenty of energy left in that emaciated frame of his.


    I thought he was all depressed and stuff, but by the looks of things, I didn¡¯t have to worry too much about him anymore.


    While I was chuckling to myself, Charlotte next to me bowed her head a little. ¡°You did the right thing, your highness. Without a doubt, he must¡¯ve been scheming something.¡±


    I lightly flicked my finger on her forehead as if knocking on a door. Her eyes opened wider and she shielded her face in a slight fluster.


    My expression was different from her¡¯s, though.


    ¡°Nah. He wasn¡¯t lying.¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s face hardened at my reply.


    ¡°Besides, the desire for a child to be with their parent¡­ You also know that feeling, don¡¯t you?¡±


    I spotted her eyes trembling. She seemed to have recalled her past.


    ¡°Can you get me all the information related to Third Imperial Prince Ruppel and Rose Darina? Ah, and also, I think it¡¯ll be a good idea to gather as much info on Ordin Olfolse as well.¡±


    ¡°Your highness, could it be that¡­¡± A worried expression floated up on Charlotte¡¯s face. She cautiously spoke up. ¡°You must be careful, your highness. Ruppel is no longer the Third Imperial Prince. If you do something that could be construed as abetting his cause, then the crime of high treason might¡­¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    I know full well already, okay?


    And that¡¯s why I wanted to make sure.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be too late to decide after checking out the information, right?¡±


    For sure, it wouldn¡¯t be too late by then. Not too late to decide whether I should help Ruppel out or not.


    Before anything else, though, I needed to find out what kind of person Ruppel was first.


    From that day on, I basically holed myself inside the library. And with the aid of Charlotte, Harman, and even Alice, I managed to gather all the relevant info.


    The tale of Third Imperial Prince Ruppel¡¯s life from his birth till now, and every single testimony spat out by the family members of the Darina household¡­ all of them were combined into one narrative.


    Even the stories told by the manservants and maids were collated too, and eventually, I reached one single irrefutable conclusion.


    ¡°¡­He was a puppet, huh.¡±


    I sensed a bout of migraine beginning its assault on my head.


    After leaning against the backrest of my chair, I looked up at the ceiling. My eyes felt tired by then, so I started massaging my temples.


    ¡°What a foolish man you¡¯ve been, brother.¡±


    Third Imperial Prince Ruppel had been living as a complete puppet of Rose Darina. In order to swallow up the whole Imperial Family, she had been cooking up all sorts of underhanded schemes, and whenever her plans fell apart, she used her own son, the Third Imperial Prince, as a shield from the storm.


    But whenever Ruppel tried to do something, anything, for his mother¡¯s sake¡­ forget about being praised, she¡¯d violently beat him up instead.


    Rose was solely responsible for Yulisia¡¯s murder as well as the Vampires infiltrating the imperial court. Even the war with Aslan, Ruppel was simply going along with what she ordered him to do.


    This guy, he¡­ He spent his whole life yearning for his mother¡¯s approval, but was discarded by her in the end.


    A devil-like b*tch of a mother, and a foolish son who stuck to her till the very end. In a way, I couldn¡¯t help but see it as quite ironic.


    ¡®Well, even that¡¯s coming to an end now, isn¡¯t it?¡¯


    Ruppel was destined to lose his head under the guillotine¡¯s blade, while Rose Darina would die by Luan¡¯s hands.


    It¡¯d be rather tough to bring the final reunion between a mother and her child to reality at this stage. Even while thinking that, I shifted my gaze to the side of the table. Countless letters were piled up there.


    ¡­Letters sent to Ruppel from all corners of the empire.


    I picked up a few of them and perused their contents.


    ¡®Dude, if you were a coward and a wannabe villain, you should¡¯ve lived your whole life that way.¡¯


    I dropped the letters back on the table.


    ¡°¡­Well, I guess it¡¯s time to make my decision.¡±


    I put aside the gathered intel and stood up from the chair.


    Charlotte, Harman, and Alice nearby focused their attention on me.


    I smiled back at them and spoke up, ¡°Let me go and have another chat with my brother.¡±


    **


    I headed back to the prison in order to speak to Ruppel once more.


    But when I got there, his current appearance behind the prison bars really surprised me. ¡°Eeeya, brother! Something about you¡­ has gone a bit down hill, hasn¡¯t it?¡±


    A dirty rag was currently shoved inside Ruppel¡¯s mouth, his eyes were blindfolded, and restraints were also wrapped tightly around him, too.


    I was told that after I left, he went on a real rampage. He was being tied down like this because of the wounds he suffered back then might get worse if he went crazy again.


    It was like staring at a mental patient in a straight jacket locked in a padded cell.


    ¡°Euh-wuuph!¡±


    Ruppel shouted out under the gag.


    His muffled voice sounded quite resentful, I have to say. But then again, he must be hating my guts after I said no to all that ardent pleading earlier.


    I smirked deeply and whispered into his ear, ¡°Sorry about this, brother. I¡¯ve given your offer some serious consideration, but it seems that I cannot spare Rose Darina¡¯s life.¡±


    ¡°Euh-euh-heuph!¡±


    ¡°She has committed far too many crimes. She is fated to die. Most likely slain by Luan and White.¡±


    Ruppel shuddered under the restraints.


    He had no more dreams and hopes left in his heart. Right, the only thing remaining there would be despair and dejection.


    It wouldn¡¯t be strange for him to go mad at this point.


    Well, I guess this should be enough.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have come here to see you again just to tell you that, though.¡±


    I placed the letters I brought with me on the floor of the cell. The letters issued soft little rustles as they settled down.


    ¡°Here are the voices of the subjects from all corners of the empire, brother. Voices that support you.¡±


    Ruppel flinched and his head drooped towards the floor. His eyes, although blindfolded, were now staring in the general direction of the letters.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell if this side of you is the real deal or a facade you¡¯ve put up, but¡­¡± I picked up one of the letters and continued on, ¡°¡­But, they are still genuinely grateful for everything you¡¯ve done, brother.¡±


    I read out aloud the letter¡¯s address of origin, ¡°Evelyn, director of Benikin Church.¡±


    That was the name of the orphanage Ruppel had established.


    I picked up other letters. ¡°Xanna from Venia Church, Histon from Gastian monastery, Sein from Vezan Church, plus twenty three other kids, etc, etc¡­¡±


    I continued reading off the names on the letters one by one.


    They belonged to many orphanages found throughout the Theocratic Empire. Ruppel used his authority as an Imperial Prince to heal those suffering from sickness and various injuries for free. He even spared no expenses in building many orphanages and supporting their upkeep.


    One of the clerics involved posited that maybe, he was seeking comfort and solace his own mother failed to provide him with, through these acts of generosity.


    Rupple wordlessly dropped his head even lower.


    ¡°I can¡¯t help you, brother.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I too have plenty of ill will towards Rose. Which shouldn¡¯t be all that surprising to you since she tried to have me killed. Did she not?¡±


    The corners of my lips curled up while I talked to Ruppel, almost as if I was a devil whispering in his ear.


    ¡°And so, I was thinking of getting my own vengeance instead.¡±


    Only then did he show some reaction.


    Ruppel¡¯s whole body arched, but the restraints made sure that he couldn¡¯t do anything. Without them, he would¡¯ve viciously pounced on me, judging from the vibe he gave off.


    ¡°I decided to make her¡­¡± I stared straight at Ruppel and spoke, ¡°¡­Go through the proper procedures, and then, execute her.¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s whole body froze up before his head shifted in my direction. Since he couldn¡¯t see, he was determining the direction through my voice.


    ¡°Who knows what will happen? Whether it¡¯s you or Rose, you may get to see each other at least once.¡±


    I reached out and took off the dirty rag gagging Ruppel¡¯s mouth, and settled down in front of him.


    ¡°A-Allen, are you, are you really helping me?¡±


    ¡°No, no, no, of course not. I¡¯m not helping you, but merely trying to get my revenge. Besides all that, dear brother. You owe me a lot on a variety of things, don¡¯t you? It¡¯s time you pay me back with something of equal value.¡±


    ¡°P-pay you back?¡±


    I narrowed my eyes to slits and stared at Ruppel.


    ¡°The relic of the first Holy Emperor, Ordin Olfolse. Where is it located?¡±


    (TL: Only one chapter today.)

 Chapter 186 - 099. The Blackened Village -1 (Part Two

    **


    I stepped outside the prison. Charlotte on standby near the exit bowed her head and asked me, ¡°What will you do now, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Well, we did make a deal, so¡­¡±


    Ruppel agreed to tell me the current location of the relic belonging to the first Holy Emperor, Ordin Olfolse. And the price for acquiring that knowledge was to make sure that Rose went through the proper channels before getting her head lopped off under the guillotine.


    ¡°Prepare for a little trip, Charlotte.¡±


    ¡°To the kingdom of Lome, your highness?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°However, no one knows for certain where the Second Crown Princess Consort is currently hiding.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, no one knows for sure. However, I did get a hint from him.¡±


    I recalled the last part of my conversation with Ruppel. He told me some stuff about Rose and her maidservant, then even informed me where the Second Crown Princess Consort could possibly be found as well.


    -I shall tell you the likeliest location of my mother.


    As he followed around her all the time, Ruppel knew quite a lot about the people within Rose¡¯s inner circle.


    -If you¡¯re talking about a potential helper, then it must be the First Prince of the Lome kingdom, Barus Victoria.


    That was the name of the leader of the rebellion, the one who murdered the king of Lome to take over the throne.


    -The First Prince has been tasting defeat over and over again in the civil war, which means he now has only one avenue left.


    Ruppel sucked in a deep breath and continued on.


    -The village named Rost. That¡¯s where the royal court¡¯s top knight Raiden lives. He¡¯s famed for facing off and killing a dragon, and as a result, he¡¯s often referred to as the dragon slayer. The First Prince and my mother will most likely ask for his aid. That¡¯s why, if you go there¡­


    According to him, I might run into her there.


    I issued an order to Charlotte.


    ¡°We¡¯ll depart as soon as possible. Our destination is¡­¡±


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    The village of Rost.


    It was a small settlement located in the northern region of the Lome kingdom.


    Supposedly, it was a village of farmers filled with much vitality, but the young man coming to visit this place couldn¡¯t help but get a completely different first impression instead.


    ¡°Is this really the village in question, Rost?¡±


    The young man, who had turned twenty this year, was none other than the First Prince of Lome, Barus Victoria. He was currently standing in front of the village¡¯s entrance along with a contingent of escorting knights.


    Even if it was fairly late in the evening, the village itself was cast in an unnatural amount of darkness.


    The prince turned his head. He could see some farmers staggering among the fields dyed in the golden-amber hue of the setting sun.


    One of the escorting knights shouted towards the farmers, ¡°Oii! You over there! Yes, you! I want to ask you about something!¡±


    The staggering farmer reacted to the call and turned his head towards the knight.


    ¡°Is this the village of Rost?¡±


    The farmer opened his mouth at the knight¡¯s question, only to close it shut right afterwards.


    No voice came out.


    He was so silent, in fact, that Barus got this weird feeling instead.


    Rather than saying something, the farmer raised his hand slowly and pointed at the village.


    The knight distorted his expression in displeasure at that response. ¡°You insolent fool! Whose presence do you think you are in front of?! Daring to point with your damn fingers¡­!¡±


    When the knight displayed signs of unsheathing his sword and pouncing on the farmer, Barus reached out and grabbed his escorting knight¡¯s shoulder, then shook his head to say no.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, the hours are getting late. We are merely visitors to this land, so we shouldn¡¯t bother our subjects when they are still working diligently like this.¡±


    The knight could only shoot some dissatisfied glare at the farmer before bowing his head to Barus.


    Barus shouted out, ¡°Thank you!¡± to the farmer and began walking forward once more. The farmer stared at the prince and his knights with a pair of sunken eyes.


    While walking closer to the village, Barus quietly studied its perimeters.


    Around three hundred people were supposed to live here, yet he couldn¡¯t sense any presence whatsoever.


    He walked up to a nearby hut and knocked on the wooden door. ¡°I beg your pardon, is anyone home?¡±


    There was not a sound nor a hint of response coming from the inside.


    In that case, could it be an abandoned house?


    Hold on, could it be that the hundred-plus houses found in the village were all empty?


    Just as Barus began frowning, a drop of water fell on his head.


    He looked up, only to discover that the murky, gloomy clouds had swallowed up the moonlight before anyone had noticed it.


    Raindrops began falling one by one before it became a heavy downpour.


    ¡°What should we do, your highness?¡±


    A knight asked and Barus groaned before replying, ¡°For now, let¡¯s seek a shelter in an inn. Surely there must be some people there, we can ask around where Raiden is living.¡±


    Barus and his escorting knights headed to the village¡¯s inn.


    Thankfully, some light was leaking out from its windows. While feeling somewhat relieved, Barus pushed the building¡¯s door open. But when he stepped inside the fairly large interior of the inn, he ended up furrowing his brows even more.


    There was no one inside the inn as well, only a bunch of lit candles chasing away the darkness.


    Barus called out loudly, ¡°Waiter!¡±


    More silence.


    Whether it was a waiter or the owner of the inn¡­ no one showed up.


    Barus glanced at the escorting knights and they quickly spread out. Some cautiously headed towards the inn¡¯s kitchen, while some went upstairs and began rummaging through the guest rooms.


    While Barus stood there feeling nervous, someone suddenly addressed him from behind.


    ¡°There¡¯s no point, unfortunately.¡±


    The prince quickly turned his head. He saw a boy and a girl standing by the inn¡¯s entrance, soaked in rain from head to toe.


    The boy kitted out in a robe strode nonchalantly and settled down on one of the unoccupied tables as if it was the most obvious thing to do, then pulled out a bottle of liquor seemingly out of nowhere.


    While lightly shaking the bottle around, he addressed Barus, ¡°I also arrived in the village not too long ago and had a brief look around, but well, I couldn¡¯t find anyone in the end.¡±


    The escorting knights were about to roar out in anger at the behaviour of the boy as well as his manner of speech, but Barus stopped them. He walked over and settled down on the opposite side of the boy. ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±


    Barus quietly studied the two people before his eyes. The boy seemed to be around seventeen, maybe eighteen at a push. The robe he had on looked very expensive.


    What about his companion next to him?


    ¡®She¡¯s no doubt a knight.¡¯


    The girl seemed to be around eighteen or nineteen.


    The odds of her being a trainee knight were quite high. Although her traveller¡¯s robe hid it, Barus did spy white-coloured armour that looked very luxurious covering her torso.


    In that case, was this boy a scion of a noble house?


    But for him to have a young female knight as an escort and not some experienced, battle-hardened knights¡­ his taste must¡¯ve been particular, to say the least.


    Barus got a feeling that the boy was a pampered son of a noble who had never sneaked out of his house before.


    ¡°You say there¡¯s no one in this village? What do you mean by that?¡±


    At Barus¡¯s question, the boy made a troubled expression and poured himself a cup of that liquor. ¡°Ah, you mean here? Honestly, I also don¡¯t know much myself. We only arrived here not too long ago, after all. What I heard before coming here was that this village is filled with vitality, that wheat is its speciality product, and it¡¯s famed for its beautiful scenery. So I figured I¡¯d come here to sightsee and also humour my older brother¡¯s request at the same time, but now¡­¡±


    The boy shrugged his shoulders.


    The village had been ruined. That was the first thought popping up in Barus¡¯s head.


    He asked, ¡°Can you guess as to why?¡±


    ¡°Maybe the civil war is to blame.¡±


    At the boy¡¯s reply, Barus could only grit his teeth.


    He didn¡¯t expect the ripples from the civil war would reach this far in the outskirts of the kingdom.


    ¡°Unfortunately, this whole thing is too artificial for that explanation.¡±


    However, what the boy said afterwards ended up making Barus puzzled.


    ¡°This place has already become a zombie village, you see? Not just any, but one with a seriously bad stench too.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°Your highness!¡±


    Barus flinched in surprise at the knight¡¯s call and hurriedly turned his head.


    The knights were yanking their swords out, their glares currently locked on the outside of the inn. They could see the villagers staggering towards the building.


    However, their faces were bitten off in some places, while some part of their bodies had rotten away to reveal their bones underneath.


    Crimson light burned in their eye sockets as their jaws split open, ripping apart their rotting cheeks in the process.


    Barus stared at them and muttered in stupefaction, ¡°Zombies¡­?¡±


    ¡°Well, then. Barus Victoria.¡±


    When his name was brought up, Barus turned his head towards the source of that voice.


    The boy, Allen Olfolse, raised his head up from his cup and smiled refreshingly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you.¡±


    < 099. The Blackened Village -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 187 - 100. The Blackened Village -2 (Part One)

    **


    The day after Third Imperial Prince Ruppel gave me the hints I needed, Charlotte and I set off towards the village of Rost.


    Since the kingdom of Lome was a direct neighbour to the empire, the distance we needed to cover wasn¡¯t all that much, and the village itself was located north of the kingdom¡¯s territory, which meant that reaching there didn¡¯t take all that long for us.


    We rode on the skeleton horses, and after travelling non-stop with no breaks in between, we were able to reach our destination in ten days.


    1


    The village was fairly large and famous for being a tourist attraction with gorgeous scenery, so my initial plan was to find out the dragon slayer¡¯s current whereabouts and then leisurely wait for the arrival of the First Prince. But now¡­


    ¡°Well, what a great stroke of luck this is.¡±


    Who could¡¯ve guessed in their right minds that as soon as I arrived in the village, Prince Barus would run straight into us?


    Not only that¡­


    ¡°Stop them!¡±


    Barus¡¯s escorting knights hurriedly picked up the inn¡¯s tables and began blocking the building¡¯s exit. The windows shattered and the zombies¡¯ flailing arms invaded the interior. The knights urgently thrust and swung their swords to keep the undead from entering.


    ¡­Who would¡¯ve guessed that the whole village had ended up as a den of zombies?


    Yup, this seemed like a pretty serious situation.


    The knights were roaring out while swinging and stabbing with their swords. Some used their body weight to prop up the door, while some continued to defend near the windows.


    1


    Their lives were on the line here, but the thing troubling them didn¡¯t concern me in the slightest since I was capable of hunting down Vampires.


    ¡°I was searching for you,¡± I addressed Barus while pouring the liquor in the cup. ¡°Please settle down and have a drink with me.¡±


    I extracted another cup from my item window and placed it on the table. With a refreshing grin on my face, I stared at his face.


    ¡°You¡­ how do you know me?¡±


    Barus stepped back while clearly on edge, his hand resting on the hilt of the sword mounted on his hips.


    Unlike his meticulous self, though, the other knights were beginning to buckle under the pressure.


    ¡°You bastard! Just what or who are you?!¡± A knight cried out while yanking his sword out and pointing it at me.


    Huh. That¡¯s a big mistake, you know?


    Charlotte¡¯s expression turned incredibly cold in an instant.


    She easily sliced apart the pointing sword of the knight, then her left hand rapidly moved to grab his throat before lifting him up cleanly off the floor.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    Barus¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    She must¡¯ve looked like a girl yet to enter adulthood to him. So it wasn¡¯t that surprising to see him failing to hide his shock when her frail-looking hand lifted up an adult man by the throat without any problem.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t seek you out to fight, dear prince.¡±


    While saying that, I stared deeply at Barus.


    [Name: Barus Victoria.


    Attributes: Outstanding swordsmanship, a pampered flower in the greenhouse, lacks decisiveness, believes that he is in the right.


    + I am not the criminal who murdered my father! I¡¯m being wrongly accused!]


    I confirmed his status through Mind¡¯s Eye.


    Barus was supposed to be a traitor, a rebel, someone who took the life of his king. But his attributes were saying otherwise.


    I recommended the alcohol to him one more time, ¡°For now, let¡¯s enjoy this drink, shall we?¡±


    Honestly, though, I didn¡¯t really care whether he murdered the king or not, or that the charges against him were false.


    After all, I only had one business to take care of in this place ¨C to apprehend the Second Crown Princess Consort, Rose Darina. That¡¯s it.


    1


    Barus shifted his gaze over to the knight currently gripped in Charlotte¡¯s hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright now.¡±


    Charlotte let go of the poor man after I reassured her.


    The knight fell on his butt and wheezed in pain.


    ¡°Your highness, we must make our escape now!¡±


    One of the knights fighting off the zombies cried out.


    It was understandable, considering the great numbers of zombies had shown up outside.


    From the look of things, I figured that not just the villagers but even the unfortunate travellers had become victims as well.


    Barus shed thick, cold sweat drops as he alternated his gaze between his knights fighting off the zombies and me on the opposite side of the table.


    I held his gaze and addressed him in a relaxed manner, ¡°As they say, there isn¡¯t much time left, it seems.¡±


    ¡°¡­What is it that you want from me?¡±


    Barus sat back on the chair. He received the cup I had pushed towards him and dazedly stared at its contents.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t put any poison in it.¡±


    ¡°How can I trust you?¡±


    ¡°If I wanted to kill you, or kidnap you even, then I¡¯d have done so already.¡±


    Barus sneaked a glance at Charlotte and her resolute silence.


    Since he had already witnessed her monstrous strength and skill, he should be able to figure out that she was overwhelmingly stronger than any of his escorting knights.


    ¡°Alright, fine. What is it that you want? Did the rebels send you?¡±


    ¡°Rebels?¡±


    I tilted my head this way and that. But a short while later, a thought popped up in my head and I clapped my hands with an ¡°Aha!¡±


    The ¡®rebel¡¯ in Barus¡¯s view was probably Derian Victoria, the Second Prince of Lome who currently held the ruling authority in the kingdom.


    The two of them had been calling themselves the rightful heir to the throne until now, after all.


    I replied back to him, ¡°Nah, I¡¯m not related to them. I only wanted to ask you a question, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°A question, is it?¡±


    I rested my chin on my hands and asked Barus directly, ¡°The Second Crown Princess Consort, Rose Darina. Do you know her?¡±


    Barus¡¯s expression hardened at the mention of Rose Darina¡¯s name.


    He alternated his sharp gaze between me and Charlotte. It seemed that he finally realised who we were. Maybe he thought we were ¡®Paladins¡¯ dispatched from the Theocratic Empire or some such.


    More cold sweat trickled down Barus¡¯s face. ¡°How did you find me?¡±


    ¡°Actually, I just got lucky. And I believe it¡¯ll be better for you to answer my question.¡±


    I pointed at the entrance of the inn.


    Bang-! Bang-! Crunch-!


    The doorway that was blocked off by a table was gradually breaking down.


    Barus sounded quite anxious as he addressed me, ¡°Even if you are Paladins from the Theocratic Empire, just the two of you cannot possibly stop all those zombies. We must combine our forces to¡­¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this. Do you know who Rose Darina is?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not important rig¡­!¡±


    ¡°Charlotte.¡±


    Charlotte rapidly grabbed the back of Barus¡¯s head and slammed him down to the floor. His expression distorted from the pain.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask again. Do you know who Rose Darina is?¡±


    ¡°Your highness!¡±


    The escorting knights tried to rush in, but when Charlotte placed her sword on Barus¡¯s throat, they froze up in their tracks.


    It was right at that moment that the door finally broke down. Zombies began crawling inside.


    ¡°These measly zombies dare to!¡±


    The knights quickly wielded their swords and slashed down on the undead. They seemed to have some experience in dealing with zombies, seeing how they accurately aimed only for the heads.


    Unfortunately¡­


    Slam-!


    The sword was stopped by a thick layer of rotting flesh.


    The knights stiffened up and raised their heads.


    A gigantic zombie around two and half metres tall was grabbing onto the knight¡¯s sword in its left hand, while an axe in its right hand was rising up in the air.


    ¡°A zombie warrior¡­?!¡±


    -Ku-ohhhh¡­


    The zombie warrior slammed its axe down. Another knight urgently blocked the attack with his weapon and stumbled back.


    I stared at the knights and tilted my head in confusion.


    These guys were weaker than I thought. How could the strength of the knights tasked with escorting and protecting a royal prince be this bad?


    Or could it be that the Paladins of the Theocratic Empire were abnormally strong?


    Even though I felt puzzled, I still shifted my gaze back to Barus. ¡°Are you just going to watch your subordinates get killed off?¡±


    Barus¡¯s eyes shook powerfully just then. He squeezed his eyes shut and cried out, ¡°Of course I know who Rose Darina is! She¡¯s the Second Crown Princess Consort of the Theocratic Empire! She came to visit the kingdom in the past for diplomatic purposes!¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me where I can find her?¡±


    ¡°I do not know! Of course I wouldn¡¯t know where she is. She only came to see me briefly three years ago. I haven¡¯t run into her ever since then!¡±


    ¡°I heard that you, as the leader of the rebellion, were providing her with a place to hide.¡±


    ¡°And I heard that she¡¯s accused of plotting high treason! It¡¯s already too taxing for me to deal with the Second Prince, so you tell me this, what will I possibly gain by attracting the Theocratic Empire¡¯s ire?!¡±


    Barus cried out urgently.


    His complexion paled after spotting the zombies creeping gradually closer.


    He was right about that. The First Prince of Lome, Barus Victoria, was on a losing streak right now. It¡¯d be quite unwise for him to help the Second Crown Princess Consort in his current circumstances, that¡¯s for sure.


    1


    However, Rose Darina still had her status, which meant that there would be plenty of uses left for her. For instance, she could seek asylum in another country and grow her forces there. She could even stake a claim in the right to inherit the throne of the Theocratic Empire, too.


    It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that the forces wanting to take advantage of such points would be tripping over themselves to get to her.


    So, there was no guarantee that Barus wouldn¡¯t do something like that either.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡±


    We looked over to the inn¡¯s entrance.


    One of the knights had been surrounded by the zombies, and the axe swung by the zombie warrior had chopped down into his shoulder, spraying a lot of blood in the air.


    I guess this should be enough.


    ¡°Alright, fine. We shall discuss the rest later. For now¡­¡±


    It was time to hunt these undead down.


    Charlotte and her expression-less face tilted this way and that. ¡°Should I deal with them?¡±


    ¡°Nah, let me do it.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t sense any Vampires nearby. If it¡¯s just some measly zombies like these, then it should be a cakewalk.


    I summoned a musket and let out a breath into its loading chamber.


    ¡°Oh, Gaia¡­¡±


    It sure had been a while since I last prayed like this.


    Without a doubt, we got really lucky with finding Barus as soon as arriving here. Maybe the dear goddess had a hand in it, silently helping us out and all that. Like how some people might say.


    Although I wasn¡¯t exactly a fan of the gods of this world¡­


    ¡°I express my gratitude for your love once more, and¡­¡±


    ¡­It wouldn¡¯t be such a bad idea to say thanks at least this one time, right?


    ¡°Please grant this servant your grace to pierce through the walking dead.¡±


    The corners of my lips curled up as I began snickering.


    [Divine Aura has been used.]


    [Your equipment will temporarily be upgraded.]


    [Your upgraded equipment has been granted ¡®Burst Fire¡¯ skill.]


    Divinity rapidly swirled within the musket¡¯s muzzle.


    I took aim at my front. My targets? The undead creatures right in front of my eyes.


    Didn¡¯t big sis Hilda say it sometime ago? That nothing was¡­


    ¡°Amen.¡±


    ¡­As entertaining as ¡®hunting¡¯ out there.

 Chapter 188 - 100. The Blackened Village -2 (Part Two)

    **


    At the same time, inside a monastery located on top of a hill outside the village of Rost.


    The head of Goddess Gaia¡¯s statue had been severed, while buckets of blood defiled the once-sacred interior of the monastery.


    The zombies were staggering around on their feet, while other undead such as ghouls and dullahans were silently ¡®guarding¡¯ this monastery.


    A monster wearing a priest¡¯s garb was standing tall on top of the raised platform inside which was meant for one to preach the word of the gods.


    This creature had thick arms and hands, while grey-coloured hide covered its entire maggot-like body. It did have a face, but its mouth resembled more like saw toothed wheels.


    Even though the blood-creations of Vampires generally resembled humans outwardly, this rule didn¡¯t apply to Progenitors and their exteriors.


    The monstrous, bizarre exterior that had gone beyond the limitations of humanity ¨C that was their true appearance.


    This Progenitor Vampire was currently tearing into human flesh, greedily consuming it. The creature ripped open the victim¡¯s abdomen to devour the internal organs found within, and once finished, it raised its head back up in satisfaction.


    Baron Lava Labert. That was the name of this Progenitor Vampire, his peerage bestowed unto him by none other than the Vampire King.


    ¡°Aaah, so good.¡±


    The creature¡¯s blood-stained mouth curled into a snicker. He picked up the leg of the dead zombie and tossed it to a distant corner.


    When the corpse went flying in the air, the lycans being reared by Baron Lava Labert leapt up to bite into it.


    The noises of flesh being ripped apart and bones being crushed rang out. Baron Lava grinned deeply in satisfaction once more.


    He then turned his head to look to the front.


    The villagers had been turned into zombies that wielded farming and woodcutting tools, as well as hunting bows. However, these creatures looked too sloppy and disorganised to be called an army.


    ¡®But that doesn¡¯t really matter.¡¯


    Indeed, it didn¡¯t matter. The number of undead Baron Lava could command was limited to begin with, anyway.


    He had only one role to play here ¨C slaughter the civilians and cultivate the army of undead. That was it.


    For the successful invasion of the Theocratic Empire, Baron Lava Labert was tasked with making these sorts of preparations.


    1


    ¡®There¡¯s no better place than a kingdom suffering from the chaos of war to create a sizeable combat force, now is there?¡¯


    Even though a village in the outskirts had vanished from the map, the kingdom of Lome didn¡¯t seem to care. All he had to do now was to work together with the other Vampires and gradually take over this kingdom.


    While he was thinking that, the monastery¡¯s door opened and a lycan stepped inside before approaching him. The creature bowed its head and spoke up.


    -M-my lord, Baron Lava. Intruders have appeared in the village!


    Baron Lava¡¯s eyes narrowed at the lycan¡¯s report.


    It was not that uncommon to see travellers or mercenaries stop by at the village. In fact, they were the perfect candidates for bolstering the number of the undead army, and also to serve as ¡®feed¡¯ for the undead as well.


    However, such an occurrence wasn¡¯t important enough to warrant a report every single time.


    -M-monsters have shown up this time, my lord!


    ¡°Monsters?¡±


    -It¡¯s clerics. A group of clerics!


    A group of clerics, was it?


    The baron¡¯s expression crumpled unsightly. Did those dirty and vulgar bastards really intrude upon his domain?


    ¡°How many are there?¡±


    -Seven males, and a lone female, my lord.


    Baron Lava narrowed his eyes again in contemplation.


    Those were fresh meat. How delectable would their flesh taste like after he got his hands on them? More importantly, though, wasn¡¯t the meat of a devout cleric renowned for its heaven-defying taste?


    1


    These types of clerics were often under the delusion that they were pure, uncorrupted beings. There were only a few things as entertaining as killing such idiots, defiling their souls and flesh before turning them into zombies.


    Baron Lava grinned slyly.


    Well, things were getting boring lately, anyways. Hunting down these clerics could prove to be an amusing distraction.


    He asked the lycan, ¡°Where are those humans right now?¡±


    **


    Barus had to doubt his own eyes.


    When the musket was fired¡­


    BOOM-!


    ¡­An explosion went off.


    Along with the eye-searing light, the inn¡¯s entrance exploded and the structure collapsed with a loud bang.


    The intense winds slammed into the zombies everywhere and they collapsed powerlessly like some kind of spineless molluscs.


    -Ku-ooooh!


    The zombie warrior was the only one to withstand the impact force and remained standing on its feet. But just as its staggering body could take another step, its chest, abdominal region, and all four of its limbs simply exploded simultaneously.


    The ear-ringing gunshot resounded out belatedly.


    The upper and lower torsos of the zombie warrior turned into ashes and ceased to exist from this world. Only its head remained and rolled around on the ground, but it got crushed into nothingness by a merciless stomp of a foot.


    ¡°¡­What on earth is this?¡±


    That zombie warrior¡¯s huge figure had been vaporised as if it was nothing. But was that all? No, even the entrance of the inn had been blown apart!


    ¡®What was that just now?! A musket? Did a musket really do that?!¡¯


    An item no better than some decorative ornament sought out by maniacal collectors was now unleashing the kind of power that should belong to a weapon of mass destruction.


    Barus¡¯s face hardened like rock as he stared into the dust cloud.


    ¡°Ah, hang on. ¡®Amen¡¯ is a word used back in my old place, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    1


    Barus¡¯s eyes could make out the silhouette of a single Priest within the fog of dust obscuring his vision.


    The First Prince¡¯s expression stiffened even further.


    Amen?


    He had never heard of such a word before. Even then, he instinctively understood that it was definitely not a word used to exalt Goddess Gaia within the Theocratic Empire.


    ¡°Well, I guess it doesn¡¯t really matter in the end. Me being able to use divinity indicates that our goddess is quite happy with my word choice.¡±


    The boy Priest began making a distorted grin at the horde of undead before him. From the way his eyes gleamed dangerously, or the way he snickered insidiously like that, Barus got the impression that he was staring at an actual devil.


    ¡°Uwaaahk?!¡±


    Barus hurriedly turned his head. His escorting knights had been struck by the flying debris of the destroyed inn and were currently writhing around in pain.


    That boy, he didn¡¯t seem to have thought about the potential damage to his allies.


    ¡°Look here, you¡­!¡± Barus roused up his courage and cried out, ¡°Just what are you even¡­!¡±


    ¡°Relax. I don¡¯t have a hobby of killing people for fun, you know? However¡­¡±


    The boy Priest raised the lengthy barrel of the musket. Hot steam expelled from the muzzle as he took aim at his next target.


    ¡°¡­It looks like I¡¯ve developed a hobby of hunting down the undead, instead.¡±


    Holy bullets indiscriminately exploded out from the muzzle. Along with a series of explosions, the bodies of the undead were penetrated clean through.


    He began walking forward with purpose, and every time gunshots rang out, many walking corpses got vaporised out of existence.


    The massacre was so one-sided that even Barus ended up thinking that the zombies flinched and froze up whenever the boy Priests raised his musket to take aim.


    ¡°Oh, Gaia¡­¡±


    He offered another prayer containing his exaltation of the goddess.


    ¡°Grant this servant the holy bullets to pierce through the undead, and¡­¡±


    [Skill, ¡®Spread Shot¡¯, has been granted.]


    ¡°¡­And the power to heal your faithful flock.¡±


    1


    [Skill, ¡®Cure¡¯ has been granted.]


    The boy suddenly raised his musket and fired the weapon into the empty sky. The holy bullet flew high up into the heavens above.


    The zombies, frozen stiff until then, began moving again from that point onwards. Their jaws dropped open and they staggered closer with their flailing arms.


    From every direction, hundreds of zombies pounced on this one extremely powerful cleric.


    Barus shouted out, ¡°You¡¯re in danger!¡±


    The boy Priest was defenceless right now. Even Barus¡¯s escort knights were immobilised at the moment. No one could protect the boy.


    ¡°Look, miss! Your master is in danger! Why are you standing around in a daze and doing nothing?!¡±


    Barus shouted at Charlotte, but she simply stared back at him before looking up at the sky. He chased after her gaze and looked up as well.


    In the meantime, the corners of the boy Priest¡¯s lips curled up. ¡°I pray that the goddess¡¯s grace be with you all.¡±


    1


    In that very moment, holy bullets of light rained down from the sky.


    The undead below were mercilessly pierced through.


    Dozens, nay, hundreds of small but lethal bullets stormed the ground below and utterly massacred the undead. Their rotting flesh burned to ashes, while their defiled souls were purified away.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk?!¡±


    The injured knights hurriedly shielded their heads. It was the same story for Barus as well. These projectiles were powerful enough to pierce through the undead, so if he tried to block them with his body, he too would end up like them as well.


    It was right at that moment that a bullet pierced through him.


    An explosion noise loudly resounded out, and a zombie nearby got vaporised into ashes and scattered away in the air.


    The boy Priest slung the musket over his shoulder and leisurely walked forward.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk! I, I, I¡¯m dying! I¡¯m dying! It, it hit meeee!¡±


    Barus cried out and hurriedly patted his body. However, he couldn¡¯t find any wounds on him.


    While panting laboriously, he quickly took a look at the knights around his vicinity. Even though they were still screaming, the pieces of wood stabbing them were being expelled out of their bodies, and their wounds were being healed at a visible rate without leaving behind a single scar.


    Barus¡¯s brows shot up high at this spectacle. ¡°O-oh my god¡­¡±


    He wasn¡¯t a religious man and didn¡¯t believe in the gods.


    To be honest, he had always thought that the powers wielded by the clergymen were simply another way of utilising Mana found within mother nature, like how the knights wielded it.


    But now, he had to revise his thoughts.


    Gods did exist, and there were some people capable of carrying out their divine miracles.


    1


    One of them was¡­


    ¡°Barus Victoria.¡±


    Barus raised his gaze and stared at the smiling boy.


    ¡°How about we have a relaxed and amiable discussion from now on?¡±


    ¡­The Priest right before his eyes.


    < 100. The Blackened Village -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 189 - 101. The Blackened Village -3 (Part One)

    **


    Baron Lava Labert was able to witness the Priest¡¯s feats through a zombie¡¯s eyes.


    When the boy Priest offered a prayer to the goddess, powerful magic began indiscriminately raining down.


    Flashes of blinding light exploded, then hundreds of zombies were completely slaughtered into oblivion while every single wounded knight was healed to their full health.


    That had to be advanced-class magic.


    Baron Lava, currently hidden on top of the forest located on a hill, was standing there trembling in shock all the while holding a blood-stained bible in his hand with its cover open.


    ¡®That human is definitely a dangerous existence.¡¯


    The skill level of the other knights was nothing to write home about, but that boy Priest alone was powerful enough to do the job of a hundred-plus of them.


    Did this mean Baron Lava wasn¡¯t dealing with a normal, run-of-the-mill Priest?


    Now that things had come to this, he had a choice to make: either he does nothing and allow them to leave the village, or take on the risk and try to eliminate them all.


    There was no doubt that after they left, the matter of this village would become public knowledge. The kingdom of Lome would start investigating the cause, and that would lead to Baron Lava¡¯s plan going down the drain.


    He carefully weighed his options for a little while before coming to a decision.


    The zombie army had to be created regardless of what happened. Location-wise, it¡¯d be hard to find another one as ideal as this village. And if he decided to withdraw now, then there was a good chance that the ¡®marquis¡¯ would force him to take responsibility for this failure.


    This meant that he should just eliminate the Priest.


    ¡®And I do have a way to deal with him.¡¯


    He had seen ¡®it¡¯ when the boy Priest was casting magic.


    Just before the boy could cast magic, he would offer a prayer.


    Meaning, he was unable to move for at least a dozen-plus seconds. So, Baron Lava should aim for that opening.


    However, there were quite a few knights around him.


    In order to kill the boy Priest¡­


    ¡®¡­I¡¯ll have to eliminate those knights first.¡¯


    Lava glared at the knights in the far-off distance. He then poured his demonic energy into the blood-stained bible before beginning his chant.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I forcibly dragged Barus out of the village.


    We headed to my carriage parked by the forest near the village¡¯s outskirts. I figured that the smartest thing to do right now was to get out of here as soon as possible, since the village had been decimated and there didn¡¯t seem to be any survivors left.


    Once we reached an opening in the forest, I shoved Barus there and one-sidedly asked him a question, ¡°Do you really not know? I mean, the Second Crown Princess Consort, Rose Darina.¡±


    I even pulled out a portrait of her and showed it to him. He stumbled back a little in discomfort when I pressed the portrait real close to his face.


    The knights next to us exploded in a fit of dissatisfaction.


    ¡°How insolent! Even if you¡¯re a holy man from the Theocratic Empire, who do you think you are in the presence of, to dare act this way!¡±


    Just as the knight raised his voice higher, Barus urgently cried out to counter him, ¡°Sir Himel! Stop right there!¡±


    The knight named Himel promptly shut his mouth.


    Barus began admonishing the knight, instead. ¡°Mind your manners right now! Who do you think this person is, anyway?!¡±


    After finishing his words, he quickly went down on one knee with his head bowing down deeply towards me.


    ¡°The rightful heir to the throne of Lome kingdom, First Prince Barus Victoria, offers his greeting to the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire.¡±


    The escorting knights were stunned silly by his declaration and urgently knelt down as well.


    Actually, even I was surprised as well. ¡°You know who I am?¡±


    ¡°I heard that your highness is the only Priest in the Theocratic Empire capable of using a musket as his main weapon.¡±


    I looked over at Charlotte.


    Since when did I become this famous?


    She approached me and whispered in my ear, ¡°Rumours regarding your feats have already spread throughout the continent, your highness.¡±


    ¡°¡­What kind of rumours are we talking about here?¡±


    Naturally, I became curious as to what people were talking about me.


    ¡°They say that you prefer to use a musket as a weapon even though it¡¯s merely an ornament, and also, you¡¯re a Priest capable of commanding the holy undead. Of course, only a very few believe in the rumours.¡±


    Huh, such rumours were doing its rounds among the aristocracy in various kingdoms? But then again, it would¡¯ve been weirder still if stuff like that hadn¡¯t spread around by now.


    However, it had only been two months since the official announcement regarding the holy undead was made, so I couldn¡¯t help but be rather surprised by the speed of these rumours spreading around.


    I shifted my gaze back to Barus kneeling on the ground. ¡°The way I hear it, the Second Crown Princess Consort has been receiving assistance from Lome¡¯s rebels. Is that true?¡±


    Barus cautiously stood back up on his feet. A troubled look floated up on his face. ¡°We also wish to find out the whereabouts of the Second Crown Princess Consort, your highness.¡±


    His manner of speech had noticeably changed. Even his actions became much more cautious.


    ¡°That way, we¡¯ll be able to hand her over to your side and prevent the Theocratic Empire from intervening in our domestic affairs.¡±


    With the face of a man being wrongly accused, Barus sounded rather anxious at the moment.


    I glanced at Charlotte, but she quietly shook her head. There was no way of knowing whether he was lying here or not.


    Dang it, was this a waste of time? This whole thing was rapidly turning into finding a needle named Rose in a massive haystack.


    At this moment, there was no way of finding out where she was hiding.


    I glanced back at Barus and asked, ¡°In that case, do you know any nobles connected or related to Rose?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s¡­¡± Barus shifted his gaze and stared at the village of Rost below the hill. ¡°I heard that the dragon slayer, Raiden, is a close acquaintance of the Second Crown Princess Consort.¡±


    Really? But then, the dragon slayer was nowhere to be found. And his village had also morphed into a den of zombies.


    What a strangely suspicious turn of events this was.


    Whatever the case might be, I needed to locate this dude named Raiden if I wanted to catch Rose Darina.


    Even though he was a retired hero, this Raiden dude was still a famous person, so I figured it¡¯d be far easier to track him down than Rose.


    It was around then that the heavens opened up on us once more.


    The rainy winds became quite strong and the surrounding trees began shaking around violently. Even if we wanted to get a move on, the weather made it nearly impossible to do so.


    ¡°What are your orders, your highness?¡±


    Charlotte asked, and I groaned under my breath before responding to her, ¡°For now, let¡¯s just take a break.¡±


    After a lengthy, nonstop journey, we finally reached our destination only to start a zombie hunt right away.


    Running into Lome¡¯s First Prince was a stroke of good luck, but he had no hints to give regarding Rose¡¯s whereabouts, so I couldn¡¯t help but feel deflated by this whole thing.


    Both my body and mind felt fatigued. Now was the time to rest for a bit.


    ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll camp here for the night. Your name is Barus, correct? Come with me, we still have a few more things left to discuss.¡±


    I needed to figure out whether he was being truthful or not. If he displayed even a hint of doing something suspicious, then well, I¡¯d have no choice but to get rough with him.


    Barus flinched a little at my ¡®suggestion¡¯ and asked back, ¡°Y-you mean, we¡¯ll camp here?¡±


    He nervously glanced at the village of Rost below the hill. He seemed to have recalled the zombies that attacked him and his group.


    I replied nonchalantly, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Zombie hunting is a pretty simple affair, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Right, it wasn¡¯t a problem even if a crap ton of zombies suddenly raided us.


    It seemed that Barus remembered the sight of me wielding a musket not too long ago, because he began nodding in acceptance next.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Charlotte and Barus¡¯s escorting knights stood guard around the carriage.


    The knights could only sneak uncomfortable glances in Charlotte¡¯s way when she practically glued herself to the vehicle¡¯s side.


    They were doing that because they had no way of finding out what was happening to their master inside the carriage.


    ¡®Who knew that the boy was the Imperial Prince of the empire?¡¯


    He was supposed to be the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire. It might be possible that Barus managed to convince him and undo the misunderstanding, thereby eliminating the need for the empire to intervene in Lome¡¯s affairs.


    However, the knights also had to consider the possibility of taking the Imperial Prince hostage if things went south from here.


    They glanced at Charlotte again.


    She had this straight, firm posture; her silver hair was neatly combed back, while a pure-white armour covered her figure.


    At a casual glance, she came across as a frail daughter of a noble house, but the knights knew they wouldn¡¯t be able to best her even if they attacked together.


    The Imperial Prince being capable of easily sweeping away hundreds of zombies was one thing, but even this girl knight was able to smoothly slice apart a sword made out of forged steel. Without a doubt, she couldn¡¯t be an ordinary person either.


    Both of them were still so young, too. Could it be that the Theocratic Empire was overflowing with monsters of their calibre?


    Thanks to today¡¯s event, they got to learn the stark difference in the level of skill and talent existing between them.


    The knights could only sigh.


    It was around then that one of the knights, Himel, felt a strange gaze lingering on him. He turned his head and looked into the depths of the forest.


    ¡®What is that¡­?¡¯


    There was a pitch-black shadow-like silhouette. It was well over two metres tall.


    The silhouette belonged to a huge ¡®insect¡¯ with a greyish hide, visible through the gaps of a robe usually worn by the monks residing in a monastery.


    Its body resembled a maggot, while a pair of eyes protruded from what must¡¯ve been its face. Rows of serrated teeth could be seen on the hollow part below the eyes.


    Himel¡¯s expression hardened instantly. He was about to yank his sword out and urgently shout, but then¡­


    ¡°Mons¡­!¡±


    But then, Himel¡¯s eyes ran into the monster¡¯s gaze.


    The creature murmured something in an unfamiliar language; demonic energy streamed out and promptly shut Himel¡¯s mouth up.


    The light in the knight¡¯s eyes slowly dulled.

 Chapter 190 - 101. The Blackened Village -3 (Part Two)

    Instead of a monster, a figure of a lovely maiden could be seen standing in the forest. She was truly beautiful. As a matter of fact, she was the most ideal version of a woman he had in his mind.


    Not only that, she was completely naked to boot. With a gentle, inviting smile, she beckoned towards him.


    His hair suddenly turned grey in an instant and his body began moving all on its own.


    ¡°Sir Himel? What are you doing¡­?¡±


    Another knight next to Himel shifted his gaze over to the forest even before he could finish his question. The light in the eyes of the other knights also dulled and they began trudging towards the forest in slow gaits.


    ¡°What are you all doing?¡±


    Charlotte asked the knights in alarm. However, none of them bothered to look back at her.


    She reached out and grabbed one of them, but the knight angrily shook his hand free from her grasp. He even yanked his sword out and pointed it at her while crying out, ¡°Do not stop me!¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    Charlotte frowned deeply at these strange behaviours coming from the escorting knights. Still feeling suspicious, she shifted her gaze towards the forest.


    And it was at that exact moment that she got to see it.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince was in the forest. While in his birthday suit, he was beckoning at her with a gentle smile on his face.


    1


    Charlotte became completely stupefied by that sight. Her head was getting foggy and confused at the same time. Something was trying to invade her mind right now.


    Wasn¡¯t this demonic energy?


    It had to be a type of illusion magic.


    She urgently pressed her temples, hard. While doing that, she calmly addressed the Seventh Imperial Prince inside the carriage. ¡°Your highness?¡±


    His voice came from inside the vehicle, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    Charlotte inwardly breathed a sigh of relief at his response. ¡°The situation on the outside seems to have become somewhat precarious, sir.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince heard her calm voice and opened the carriage¡¯s door. ¡°How so?¡±


    When she saw his face, a thought popped up in her mind.


    ¡®I knew it. His highness would never make such a slimy face like that illusion.¡¯


    1


    She expertly hid her inner thoughts and replied to him, ¡°Your highness, another ¡®you¡¯ is currently standing over there.¡±


    Charlotte pointed to the interior of the forest. By then, the escorting knights were already stepping into the darkness of the forest. And Barus, who belatedly poked his head outside, could only look on in shock.


    The reason was that he managed to catch the sight of his knights dazedly wandering towards the gaps of the trees.


    ¡°O-oii! Where are you all going?!¡±


    Barus hurriedly shouted at them. He jumped out of the carriage and hurriedly walked over in order to stop his knights, but instead, they threatened him back.


    Charlotte grabbed the back of Barus¡¯s collars and pulled him back to provide protection.


    She spoke, ¡°It¡¯s illusion magic. It seems that every one of your escorts have fallen under the spell.¡±


    The Imperial Prince watching this event unfold asked her. ¡°Hang on. Did you say I was standing over there?¡±


    When he stared straight at her, Charlotte couldn¡¯t help but make a troubled face. Even if it was her, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to say that yes, a naked version of him was standing over there and even tried to seduce her with a rather slimy expression.


    So, she changed the subject. ¡°Should I subdue the knights?¡±


    With her skill set, it¡¯d not be all that difficult to suppress them by tying up their arms and legs.


    ¡°If not¡­¡± Charlotte continued with her question while unsheathing her sword, ¡°Should I eliminate the culprit instead?¡±


    ¡°Can you do it?¡±


    ¡°This is merely a low-ranked spell, your highness. Although the emitted demonic energy seems strong, the creature itself is definitely weak.¡±


    Allen shifted his gaze and looked at the distant village. ¡°You¡¯re right. Judging by the standards of the zombies back then, the bastard must be a weakling. Hmm¡­¡±


    He glanced back at her and asked, ¡°Are you sure you can handle it?¡±


    ¡°If you give me your orders, then yes.¡±


    She responded with a bow of her head.


    ¡°Alright, then. Get rid of the bastard.¡±


    Charlotte nodded without hesitation. She walked towards where the knights had been lured into while gripping her unsheathed sword.


    Allen watched her distancing back and muttered out softly, ¡°I guess we should get ready too.¡±


    Barus made a puzzled face at the boy Priest¡¯s murmur. ¡°What do you mean, sir?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you find it odd?¡± The Seventh Imperial Prince pointed in the direction where the knights had disappeared to. ¡°Only the knights have been placed under the spell and lured away from here. What do you think is the reason for that?¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s pretty simple.¡±


    A suspicious grin floated up on the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s face.


    ¡°To eliminate us.¡±


    It was at that exact moment.


    Several undead creatures began appearing around the carriage. However, these things were different from the regular zombies. Not only were there ghouls and dullahans, even lycans were mixed in among the group.


    Barus¡¯s complexion paled instantly at this sight.


    But Allen was simply shrugging his shoulders.


    ¡°See? I was right.¡±


    **


    The knights were currently swimming in a pleasant illusion. They reached out to touch the beautiful maiden.


    However, she continuously evaded their attempts by shaking off their extended hands. She mumbled some words towards them.


    -I¡¯m afraid.


    What she said prompted a confused tilting of heads from the knights, but they didn¡¯t need long to understand what she meant.


    They began removing their armaments. They threw away their weapons and took off their armour. Once they were finished with ridding themselves of protection, they reached out towards her again.


    Finally, they caught her.


    She felt so smooth and supple.


    When they embraced her, her cool skin settled their nerves down even more.


    ¡°Oh, my dear lady. Can you tell me what your name is?¡±


    The knights asked this question while raising their heads. And that was when they got to see the maiden¡¯s face.


    The face of the large maggot, that was.


    ¡­With a pair of protruding eyes and serrated teeth adorning its mouth.


    This monster was none other than Baron Lava Labert.


    He grinned with his hideous eyes. ¡°Thanks for the meal.¡±


    Those bizarre, monstrous-looking serrated fangs opened wide with a loud ¡®splat!¡¯ Disgusting saliva strands could be seen dangling and extending between the sharp fangs.


    The knights¡¯ expressions hardened at that sight.


    But, just before Baron Lava could swallow up the head of a knight whole¡­


    ¡°So, it was you.¡±


    The Vampire flinched in surprise and shifted his gaze back to the front.


    Charlotte was slowly walking towards him with her sword drawn.


    Only then did the knights regain their wits and began screaming at the top of their lungs while stumbling back ungainly. Some even plopped down on their butts.


    ¡°A-a monster! It¡¯s a monster!¡±


    Baron Lava sighed ruefully and locked his gaze at Charlotte. ¡°Oh, so the illusion magic didn¡¯t work on you, is that it? Looks like this little miss has a fairly tough mind.¡±


    Even though he spoke in a sarcastic tone of voice, cold sweat had already begun trickling down his back. Which was understandable, considering that no human had ever withstood Baron Lava¡¯s illusion magic until now.


    ¡°Such low-grade magic won¡¯t work on me,¡± said Charlotte while pointing with her blade. She lowered her torso a little to get into an attack stance.


    Baron Lava slowly rubbed his chin. ¡°You¡¯re not afraid even after taking a good look at me?¡±


    The Theocratic Empire¡¯s clerics should possess quite a lot of information on Vampires. Meaning, she should¡¯ve realised by now that Lava was a ¡®Progenitor¡¯ just from how far removed he looked from a human being. Actually, anyone should be able to guess that from how monstrous his figure was.


    Even then, the girl wasn¡¯t scared at all.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve realised by now that I¡¯m a Progenitor?¡±


    ¡°Of course I can see that.¡±


    Charlotte nodded; although faint, a thin smile could be spied on her near-expressionless face.


    ¡°And that¡¯s why I have chosen to come here.¡±


    A Vampire was standing right before her eyes. Not just any, but a Progenitor no less. In other words, it was a rare prey.


    This would be her first solo battle against a Vampire since the encounter against the Count back in the Ronia fiefdom. She thought it¡¯d be a wonderful opportunity to test her current strength.


    Charlotte¡¯s cold, sharp glare locked firmly on Baron Lava. ¡°What is your rank?¡±


    That question was meant to uncover the Vampire¡¯s peerage.


    Baron Lava slightly cowered back without even realising it because of Charlotte¡¯s unwavering confidence. He began feeling nervous from the way she remained so unperturbed even in front of his presence.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m a baron.¡±


    Charlotte froze up a little at that reply. Her expression hardened as well.


    Baron Lava smiled inwardly at that sight, feeling a little relieved now.


    ¡®Damn it, I was nervous for no reason!¡¯


    As expected, the Paladin before his eyes seemed to have finally gotten terrified now. She probably thought that he was just a Progenitor Vampire without a peerage.


    That¡¯s right, this girl was simply bluffing all along!


    That¡¯s what Baron Lava thought.


    Unfortunately for him¡­


    ¡°You were just a baron¡­¡±


    He noticed the light gleaming in Charlotte¡¯s eyes just then.


    And that was the light of disappointment. Her disappointment at how ¡®shabby¡¯ her prey had turned out to be.


    ¡°I wanted to fight against a Count-class, at least¡­¡±


    Charlotte injected divinity into her treasure sword. The aura of divine energy began gushing out from her entire figure. That powerful aura sent a deathly chill down Baron Lava¡¯s maggot-like back.


    ¡°Still, you will surely prove to be useful in your own way.¡±


    She approached Baron Lava step by step. On the other hand, the Vampire began stumbling back.


    ¡°You shall be made to confess in regards to what transpired in this village, and also the matters related to the one his highness has been searching for, the dragon slayer, Raiden.¡±


    Baron Lava was taken over by terror and couldn¡¯t even utter a single word out. Just staring at Charlotte¡¯s figure stung and burned his eyes.


    Only then did the Vampire finally realise the truth.


    The truth that the prey being hunted down wasn¡¯t the girl, but himself.


    She finished the rest of her sentence. ¡°¡­Even if that means your life must be forfeited.¡±


    A massive amount of divinity enveloping the sword violently raged on.


    < 101. The Blackened Village -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 191 - 02. The Blackened Village -4 (Part One)

    Baron Lava Labert became terrified by the massive storm of divinity.


    Bloody hell?! That boy Priest wasn¡¯t the most dangerous one here, this girl was!


    Lava hurriedly opened the blood-stained bible¡¯s cover and injected demonic energy into it. The pages urgently flipped open as he began chanting his spell.


    It was magic meant to summon the undead.


    Skeletons and zombies broke through the ground and emerged out in the open.


    -Ku-oooooh!


    The eerie glow in their eye sockets gleamed sharply as they raised their weapons high. Swords and spears fashioned out of bones reflected the light.


    To deal with just one young girl, hundreds of skeletons and zombies had set up a cordon around her, with countless arrows made out of bones now trained in her direction.


    Even then, they were still nothing more than some low-grade undead. They couldn¡¯t even serve as hindrances to her.


    As the deluge continued falling, the undead rushed towards Charlotte, trying to take her life. Arrows made out of bones were fired towards her.


    She silently stared at the incoming projectiles. She didn¡¯t even feel the need to dodge them.


    The trajectories of all those arrows that had been fired haphazardly flew to everywhere, the falling deluge disturbed their trajectories and the volleys missed their target without her needing to do anything.


    She dashed straight into the ranks of the horde of undead.


    The zombies and skeletons all looked down and saw her compact, lowered posture as she rotated 360 degrees with her unsheathed sword.


    CRUNCH-!


    The knights of Lome watched this scene unfold and became utterly entranced. This beautiful sight prompted gasps of admiration to leave their mouths.


    The arc left behind the sword was silky smooth, uninterrupted.


    While leaving behind visible afterimages, the sword gleaming in pure white light split apart the bodies of the undead around her. And almost at the same time, all the affected creatures were turned to ashes, ceasing to exist altogether.


    Charlotte continued to step forward. Like an expert dancer, she smoothly and gently guided her blade around.


    Hauntingly gorgeous arcs of blade afterimages were engraved in the night sky as her figure darted in and around the gaps of the undead.


    The walking dead continued to wield their spears, swords, and maces made out of bones, but she didn¡¯t feel the need to defend herself. She minimised all unnecessary movements and easily evaded all the attacks.


    ¡°T-this can¡¯t be¡­?!¡±


    Baron Lava was flustered beyond words while Charlotte¡¯s gleaming, cold eyes remained locked on the panicking Vampire.


    Every time she took a step, dozens of undead got exterminated.


    She advanced quickly without facing any serious resistance. But then, a huge zombie warrior suddenly blocked her path.


    This huge, two-metres-tall creature extended its hand out and tried to crush her. However, she simply swung her sword upwards.


    The flicker of a sword light later, the zombie warrior was split apart into two halves and got exterminated as well.


    ¡®I, I need to do something here!¡¯


    Baron Lava quickly lifted up the blood-stained bible, and its protruding eyes rolled around this way and that.


    He read out aloud the chants for another illusion magic spell.


    He knew he needed to resort to something much more powerful, something much more expansive than before.


    The Progenitor Vampire desperately roused up his demonic energy. His brain got overloaded almost to the point of melting down.


    He glared at Charlotte. She was getting closer and closer. She wielded her sword and broke through the ranks of the undead soldiers with ease. She continuously wielded her sword, all so that she could cut off his head.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    Baron Lava¡¯s eyes shot wide open.


    But right at that very moment, Charlotte¡¯s ruthless and unhesitant movements came to an abrupt stop.


    It happened the moment her blade was just about to reach Baron Lava¡¯s throat. The girl managed to completely cut down all the undead in what seemed like a blink of an eye and had reached the front of the baron.


    ¡°Heo-urhk¡­?!¡±


    Baron Lava swallowed back his dry saliva and gasped in shock. He could feel the blade touching his Adam¡¯s apple, and it had already started burning his flesh.


    He cautiously reached up and grasped the blade. The divinity permeating her sword burned his fingers, but he didn¡¯t care about that. That¡¯s because, with just one slip-up, his head would go flying away from the rest of his body!


    ¡®Careful. Careful¡­!¡¯


    Baron Lava succeeded in pushing the sword away and retracting his head back. He sighed in relief as his protruding eyes arched in a grotesque grin.


    He stared at Charlotte¡¯s face; her reddish eyes were lacking in focus.


    She had fallen under the Vampire¡¯s illusion magic.


    Baron Lava looked into the blood-stained bible. It displayed the illusion she was currently under.


    Charlotte was looking at her ¡®parents¡¯ right now ¨C her father and mother who became zombies and died. The two of them were gently smiling at her.


    Baron Lava guffawed out and extended his hand out. His saw-toothed wheel-like fangs bobbed up and down.


    -Ahhh, my beloved daughter!


    She should currently see his outer appearance and hear his voice as her parents and their voices.


    Charlotte dazedly stared at Baron Lava, then began gradually inching towards him.


    Hints of tears began pooling near the edges of her eyes. Her longing started echoing loudly within her heart.


    Baron Lava opened his sharp rows of fangs wide.


    This girl was a seriously dangerous existence. He had already expanded a lot of demonic energy and maintaining this illusion for long would be difficult, so he had to kill her in one fell swoop and¡­!


    But right at that moment, she opened her mouth. ¡°This is wrong.¡±


    Charlotte gripped her sword tightly. Her eyes that lacked vibrant colour were now angrily glaring at Baron Lava.


    Thick murderous intent began crushing down on the flustered Vampire.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    She pulled her sword back and sucked in a deep breath. Her clouded eyes began regaining their sharp, clear light once more.


    Baron Lava screamed inwardly at this unbelievable sight. She undid the illusion magic by herself?!


    ¡°How can this be?!¡±


    The Vampire hurriedly stumbled back, but right at that moment, Charlotte swung her sword. The strike travelled diagonally downwards, cleanly slicing off Baron Lava¡¯s right hand that held the blood-stained bible.


    The severed arm went flying in the air. Ashes, along with the rotten blood and countless writhing maggots, spewed out from the open wound.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡±


    Baron Lava sucked in his breath. Both his throat and face suddenly ballooned up. He then spat out a pitch-black smoke from the hole serving as his mouth.


    Powerful toxins spread out in every direction and dyed the surroundings like black fog.


    The knights hurriedly ran off from the area, but Charlotte remained behind. She held her breath and quickly scanned her vicinity.


    Baron Lava could be seen escaping into the forest.


    After spotting the Vampire¡¯s fleeing back, she began massaging her temples. That undead dared to insult not just some random thing, but the precious memories of her parents.


    That disgusting Vampire, a measly little undead no less, dared to imitate not just his highness, but even her father and mother who were no longer in this world.


    ¡°I will not forgive you.¡±


    Charlotte gritted her teeth.


    With her expression distorted in rage, she dashed after Baron Lava.


    **


    Meanwhile, at the open space in the forest where the carriage was located.


    Not just the zombies, but dullahans, ghouls, and even lycans were here. They were all mid- to upper-tier undead.


    Amongst them, the lycans possessed the highest level of intellect, and they were currently feeling quite nervous.


    They were glaring at a boy and young man before their eyes. Zombies were low-tier undead, but even if that was the case, the fact remained that the boy Priest they were facing possessed a monstrous level of divinity capable of sweeping away hundreds of them in one go.


    Letting down one¡¯s guard or hesitating for even a second was not an option against such a dangerous individual.


    -We must kill him in one strike.


    -Go for his throat. Rip it apart.


    -He has already used magic back in the village. Either his divinity has run out or he¡¯s too fatigued to fight. As such, we shall kill him right away.


    The lycans strengthened their bodies; their muscles began bulging in a grotesque manner.


    Their figures ballooned to over three metres in height, while breaths thickly laden with demonic energy escaped from their maws.


    They got low to the ground and howled loudly into the night sky.


    Barus witnessed the unfolding spectacle and yanked his sword with a trembling hand before shouting out loudly at his companion, ¡°What will we do now?! The knights meant to protect us are no longer here!¡±


    Allen scanned his vicinity and calmly replied. ¡°I told you, I already knew these idiots would show up.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince raised his musket, a firearm with a lengthy barrel. Even though it was supposed to be nothing more than a decorative ornament in this world, it became a lethal weapon in his hands.


    Allen possessed [Divine Aura], an ability to ¡®upgrade¡¯ any item to their next level.


    While holding the musket, he let out a breath into its loading chamber. The lycans witnessing this scene opened their eyes.


    -Now!


    -The bastard is trying to offer a prayer!


    -He will be defenceless for several seconds. Attack him now¡­!


    The lycans strengthened their legs, and veins bulged in their leg muscles.


    The ground below their feet caved in and the undead pounced forward like released springs. They leapt in the air before extending their arms out to support their weight on the ground.


    They dashed in on all fours with a frightening turn of speed from every direction.


    ¡°Your highness, it¡¯s dangerous!¡±


    Barus gripped his sword tightly and stood in front of Allen. He needed to buy some time for the latter to finish his prayer. Only then would they have a chance to overcome this crisis!


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s been a while since things got this interesting.¡±


    Barus flinched and looked behind him.


    The corners of Allen¡¯s lips had curled up so much that they threatened to rip his cheeks open at the moment. Although his overall expression seemed pure like a child discovering a new toy to play with, what Barus¡¯s eyes saw just then was the face of a ¡®devil¡¯ completely lost in pure ¡®madness¡¯ instead.


    ¡°What on earth¡­?!¡±


    Allen suddenly used his leg to trip Barus off his feet. Then, he waved his hand in the empty air. A short sword appeared in his grip and he promptly attached it to the end of the musket.


    Allen then kicked the ground and leapt up towards an approaching lycan.


    The lycans were stunned by this sight, as they hadn¡¯t expected their target to actually come toward them.


    Just as the undead flinched in surprise and froze up for a moment¡­


    Allen thrust forward the bayonet attached to the musket.


    Stab-!


    The thick head of a lycan was torn apart by the rough thrust of the bayonet. Its forehead was cleanly stabbed through, and divinity permeating the blade completely blew apart the skull into bloody bits.


    The other lycans flinched in shock and turned their heads. Allen was standing right in front of them now.


    He gripped a musket in his right hand. On his left hand was yet another musket, but with a slightly different shape.


    Divinity was injected into these two lethal ornaments.


    Chantless casting, with no prayer offered; only two and half seconds were needed to breathe into the weapons. The muskets were aimed at the heads of the lycans to his left and right.


    The lycans¡¯ faces were drained of all colour at this sight.


    -R-run away¡­!


    Ka-boom-!


    The heads of two lycans exploded at the same time.


    In the proverbial blink of an eye, three lycans had been killed off. The surviving lycans hurriedly distanced themselves away from him.


    ¡®The attack power just now wasn¡¯t that high.¡¯


    Indeed, his attack power was far lower than back when he offered prayers first before using the musket.


    Even then¡­


    The lycans glanced at the corpses of their fellow undead, which were currently turning into ashes and disappearing from this world.


    Cold sweat trickled down their backs.


    ¡®Each and every shot is still lethal!¡¯

 Chapter 192 - 102. The Blackened Village -4 (Part Two)

    -Ku-ooooooh!


    Zombies, ghouls, and dullahans lacked intelligence, and as such, they simply approached the living as their instincts dictated.


    Allen stood between the corpses of lycans and stared at his front. An army of undead several hundred strong was coming for him.


    If the same thing happened in the past, he¡¯d have been freaking out by now. But to the current him, this whole thing came across as laughably cute.


    No, hang on ¨C the truth was, he was actually getting excited.


    Allen sniffed the air.


    The bone-chillingly cold deluge was still coming down incessantly, yet the stench of the undead, the ashes from their death, and the acrid smoke from the musket¡¯s muzzle, had still managed to stimulate his olfactory senses.


    He shivered as heat suffused his skin. A powerful sense of excitement had begun intoxicating him.


    Allen couldn¡¯t help but feel this sense of defeat at his own emotions and closed his eyes.


    ¡®So, it¡¯s not possible to fool one¡¯s bloodline, is that it?¡¯


    Even if this body wasn¡¯t his, there was no denying the fact that the blood of the Imperial Family coursed through his veins.


    The family of ¡®clerics¡¯ who ¡®reveled¡¯ in their own inhuman strengths while hunting down the ones living false lives; the instinct of such a bloodline began ruling over his rationale.


    He didn¡¯t want to admit it, but he was deriving too much pleasure from hunting the undead down.


    The corners of his lips curled up in a smirk once more. He put away one musket in the item window and wielded the remaining one. He got ready to offer his prayer.


    -Do not allow him to offer a prayer!


    -Do whatever it takes to kill the bastard!


    The lycans witnessing this sight urgently rushed towards him. Zombies, ghouls, and dullahans also pounced on him.


    Allen stood there and watched them getting closer.


    ¡°Oh, Gaia¡­¡±


    A group of ghouls arrived first and jumped on him. Their maws split open wide and their sharp claws were swung in the air.


    However, Allen simply looked away while extending his hand out. Suddenly, golden-coloured runes engraved themselves on his entire figure.


    The ghouls grabbed his head and crushed it. Everything above his neck seemed to disappear and his body fell to the ground.


    But then¡­


    ¡°Allow this servant to be with your grace.¡±


    The golden runes on his body radiated even more brilliantly.


    The Aztal rune.


    Normally, countless Priests had to offer their prayers and the ¡®declaration of sanctuary¡¯ must be made first, but when enhanced with Divine Aura, Allen could reinforce his entire body without going through all those steps thanks to the new options added on top of the rune¡¯s effects.


    Even if the Aztal rune was relatively unstable right now, it was still possible to utilise it in this situation.


    Lycans opened their maws wide, and one of them succeeded in biting into the musket, yanking it out of the boy¡¯s grasp.


    Claws brushed past Allen¡¯s cheeks and body. A sword strike from a dullahan sliced open a huge wound on his back.


    Blood gushed out from all of his injuries. But that was only for a little while, as the Aztal rune simply healed them all.


    ¡°Please grant your¡­¡±


    He used his bare hands to crush the limbs of the undead. After retrieving the musket, he used the bayonet to cut the undead down.


    The bodies of the fallen undead that hadn¡¯t died yet steadily accumulated on the ground.


    Allen used the still-writhing undead as his stepping stones and climbed up to the peak of a hill made out of their almost-dead corpses.


    He lowered the muzzle of the musket at the hill, and the gazes of the writhing, clamouring undead all focused on the weapon.


    And then, from the quivering muzzle¡­


    ¡°¡­Love and mercy to these undead.¡±


    A storm of divinity exploded out.


    The blinding light pierced straight into the small hill of undead and spectacularly exploded.


    Hundreds of mid- to high-tier undead monsters were extinguished along with this dazzling light, disappearing from existence in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°¡­!?!¡±


    Barus, who was bearing witness to this sight, hurriedly clamped his slack mouth shut.


    All those undead¡­ even the lycanthropes that the knights feared so much, had failed to inflict a single grievous wound on the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    Not only that, even after spending so much divinity until now, this young Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire was still perfectly fine.


    All those injuries that used to pockmark him had disappeared, not even leaving behind a scar.


    He was standing on top of a pile of ashes that used to belong to the corpses of the undead, a thick smile etched on his face.


    Barus looked at that expression, and rather than the feelings of relief, terror washed over his emotions instead.


    ¡®¡­Impossible.¡¯


    This¡­ this was the Theocratic Empire.


    A nation consisting solely of clerics who were all monsters, each and every single one of them.


    Barus thought about the leader, the First Imperial Prince, of this empire of devout believers dispatched by the emperor to apprehend him all the while lending support to the Second Prince of Lome, Derian.


    If those people decided to earnestly step forward, then the concept of an ¡®army¡¯ would lose all meaning.


    The ¡®revolutionary army¡¯ that Balus was leading would ruthlessly be crushed without being able to offer up any resistance.


    ¡°There¡¯s¡­¡±


    Allen suddenly said something.


    Barus flinched nastily in surprise and stared at him.


    ¡°¡­Still one more remaining, eh?¡±


    Allen¡¯s gaze shifted towards the forest. He strengthened his eyesight with the aid of divinity. He spotted a maggot-like Vampire escaping in the distance.


    That thing was clearly in a hurry.


    From the looks of things, it must be trying to escape from Charlotte.


    Allen summoned a musket with a long barrel. He activated Divine Aura and added the ¡®Snipe¡¯ skill to the weapon.


    Both its penetrative power and accuracy significantly went up.


    He then took aim at the escaping Vampire.


    ¡°I still have one more round remaining in the chamber, you see.¡±


    Indeed, the hunt wasn¡¯t over yet.


    **


    Baron Lava was hurriedly running away. He didn¡¯t even bother to look behind him.


    ¡®I need to get out of here! Forget about my duties or whatever, my survival comes first!¡¯


    Who would¡¯ve imagined that a cleric of such calibre decided to show up out of nowhere in a small village out in the sticks?


    Something was definitely wrong here.


    Could it be that the Theocratic Empire knew something about the Vampires¡¯ plan? Was that why they came here to find him?


    ¡®It can¡¯t be¡­¡¯


    Baron Lava gritted his fangs.


    That ¡®woman¡¯ accompanying the marquis¡­ The Second Crown Princess Consort of the Theocratic Empire, Rose Darina!


    What if that woman had lied to them?


    ¡®It¡¯s possible that she did!¡¯


    She was the second wife of the Crown Imperial Prince, White Olfolse, who was infamous for his hobby of collecting severed Vampire heads. Yet, such a woman was collaborating with the Vampires?


    Since Baron Lava wasn¡¯t privy to the details of the arrangement, he couldn¡¯t help but suspect that woman.


    ¡®Whatever it is, I still need to get out of¡­?!¡¯


    It was at that moment that he instinctively turned his head. Something in the far off distance flashed brightly.


    And ¡®it¡¯ came flying in.


    ¡®Death.¡¯


    That word got engraved in his head.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk?!¡±


    Baron Lava instinctively constructed a magical barrier around him in order to survive. However, the barrier he built with all of his strength shattered into bits so, so easily.


    The holy bullet pierced straight through his chest. And one third of his body simply blew apart in a spiral-like shape.


    Baron Lava couldn¡¯t even scream properly as he collapsed face-first into the dirt below.


    ¡°Keo¡­ eurk. Uh¡­ uhk¡­¡±


    He extended his hands and grasped at the soil below. But the downpour had transformed the dirt into damp, slippery mud, making it impossible to even crawl away.


    Something emitting bright light suddenly stood tall behind Baron Lava. He flinched in surprise as cold sweat drenched his whole body.


    The unmistakable divinity could be sensed coming from somewhere behind him.


    Like a broken doll, Baron Lava¡¯s head creaked and stuttered as he looked back.


    A pure-white undead with divinity gushing out from its whole body ¨C a single skeleton was standing tall right behind him.


    Baron Lava had to doubt his own eyes at this surreal sight.


    ¡°H-holy undead¡­?¡±


    He flinched and hurriedly dug inside his robe, eventually pulling out a blood-stained parchment. It was the ¡®watch list of dangerous individuals¡¯ distributed among the Vampires.


    The Vampires participating in this task were the only ones in possession of this list, which denoted the ¡®dangerous individuals¡¯ they needed to look out for.


    The ¡®marquis¡¯ said these words while handing this list over to Lava back then.


    -You must avoid the one who commands the holy undead at all cost.


    At first, he took that as some kind of a joke.


    The Vampires had been stuck living inside the dark, dank caves for too long, so he thought that they had developed a weird sense of humour only they could understand.


    But he had been wrong. A real holy undead was standing right before his eyes.


    Baron Lava hurriedly opened the list and looked at the descriptions of the boy Priest¡¯s facial features and comments contained within.


    ¡®Allen Olfolse, the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire who has hunted down a Vampire Count with a musket.¡¯


    His saw-toothed wheel-like fangs went slack from shock.


    That boy had hunted down a count?


    And Baron Lava had provoked such a monster?


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Baron Lava froze up on the spot and slowly shifted his gaze back again. The glowing lights in the eye sockets of the holy undead arched like a pair of new moons.


    While smiling, the creature reached down and grabbed Baron Lava¡¯s leg.


    ¡°W-wait! S-spare me¡­!¡±


    Only two things awaited for him now.


    And those were torture and death.


    < 102. The Blackened Village -4 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 193 - 103. The One Called the Saint (Part One)

    **


    I didn¡¯t know any exquisite and detailed torture methods like the people from the Order of the Crimson Cross usually resorted to.


    However, I certainly knew how to set the similar kind of vibe.


    Currently, dear Baron Lava was dangling upside down in the air. His maggot-like body was struggling ungainly from side to side.


    Right below him was a dug-out pit filled with holy water. As for the chains tightly binding and hoisting the Vampire Baron up? They were manned by my skeletons, obviously.


    ¡°Let¡¯s play a little game.¡±


    To bolster our terror-inducing atmosphere, I deliberately quoted a line from a thriller movie. Baron Lava flinched nastily and stared at me with trembling protruding eyes.


    We were inside a completely closed-off space where only the pit of holy water was emitting enough light to illuminate the darkness away.


    ¡°There¡¯s only one way for you to spare yourself from the suffering. And that is to answer my questions truthfully.¡±


    While saying that, I perused the list of names recovered from Baron Lava¡¯s possession. It contained most of the people in the Imperial Family.


    Rose Darina¡¯s name was among them.


    ¡°And your answer is?¡±


    ¡°H-how dare a measly livestock¡­!¡±


    I snapped my fingers.


    The skeletons tasked with holding the chains let go.


    Baron Lava¡¯s body fell headlong towards the ground and plunged under the surface of the holy water pit.


    His flesh burned away and he began screeching out a bizarre scream. Ashes and acrid smoke quickly filled up the space.


    The skeletons grabbed the chains and pulled him back up.


    Baron Lava was hoisted back up in the air and his burning flesh quickly regenerated. That unique-to-Vampires regenerative ability sure was something else, alright.


    What I initially planned for was one of those water torture thingies, but somehow, it ended up as painful as an acid torture for the Vampire.


    While suffering from asphyxiation and the pain of his flesh burning away, Baron Lava repeatedly screamed for mercy, begging me to spare his life.


    ¡°Do you know about Rose Darina?¡±


    ¡°I, I don¡¯t¡­¡±


    I snapped my fingers again.


    Baron Lava was dunked into the holy water pit once more.


    A series of the same actions repeated themselves in a cycle for a while. I had him pulled out, asked him a question, and when he said he didn¡¯t know anything¡­


    One more time in the drink, then.


    Without taking a break, I repeated it over and over again.


    If I failed to get any hints in this place, then it¡¯d be a complete dead-end for me, unable to go anywhere fast. I had plenty of time to kill, anyway ¨C at least, until the execution of my brother Ruppel, that was.


    Three and half days of non-stop dunking later, Baron Lava and his beet-red face finally relented and opened his hole-mouth. ¡°I-I¡¯ll, tell, you everything¡­ Every¡­ thing¡­ P-please, just, just stop¡­¡±


    Only then did I break out in a smile.


    **


    I strode outside the closed-off storehouse found in the village of Rost.


    In front of the building were the First Prince of the Lome Kingdom, Barus Victoria and his escorting knights, plus Charlotte on standby.


    I shifted my gaze over to her.


    She still had a rather dissatisfied expression.


    I figured that her pride was still wounded by the fact that she fell under the illusion magic cast by the likes of a measly little baron-class Vampire, and also, she was probably feeling rueful about me managing to snatch up her prey before she could deal with it.


    I addressed them, ¡°I know where Rose Darina could be.¡±


    More correctly, the helper who was providing her with a safe haven.


    The first person whose complexion noticeably perked up from my declaration was First Prince Barus. He obviously wanted to avoid the Theocratic Empire¡¯s intervention in his kingdom¡¯s affairs no matter what.


    ¡°D-does that mean that this incident being unrelated to the kingdom has finally been revealed?¡±


    With my authority as the Seventh Imperial Prince, I could definitely withdraw the Heavenly Army dispatched to this kingdom. That¡¯s what Barus was hoping for.


    Too bad for him ¨C I shook my head resolutely. The actual truth was the exact opposite to his hopes.


    I replied. ¡°Sorry, but it¡¯s deeply related to your people.¡±


    To be more specific, Barus wasn¡¯t related to Rose Darina¡¯s case. However, the kingdom of Lome was. And by quite a lot, too.


    Barus looked stunned by my reply.


    ¡°The one protecting Rose is none other than¡­¡± I glared straight at him. ¡°¡­the dragon slayer, Raiden.¡±


    The First Prince of Lome shut his mouth and didn¡¯t say anything for a little while. His complexion grew paler than a sheet of paper.


    If what I said was true, then it would practically be the same as the Lome Kingdom sheltering Rose Darina. This revelation could even be used as a pretext for a full-scale invasion.


    ¡°B-but, please wait. Don¡¯t you think something is wrong here?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°A Vampire told you all these, didn¡¯t he? How can a Vampire know about the whereabouts of the Second Crown Princess Consort, and also her relationship with Raiden¡­¡±


    Barus¡¯s question that seemed to go on for a bit gradually petered out towards the end. His jaw went slack from the mental shock as he grew quieter.


    That¡¯s because he had finally realised the truth.


    Raiden, Rose Darina, and the Vampires¡­


    ¡°After all, they are all connected to each other.¡±


    Indeed, they were all co-conspirators, that¡¯s why.


    **


    The skeleton horses pulled our carriage along. The escorting knights were moving alongside our vehicle.


    I was busy recalling what Baron Lava had told me earlier.


    -Rose Darina, she was our informant. Not only did she give us information regarding the Theocratic Empire, she even helped us to get in touch with the blood-creations.


    Rose¡¯s role was to act as the connecting bridge between the Vampires and the nobles who wished to become Vampires themselves to enjoy an everlasting life.


    Unfortunately, Baron Lava also didn¡¯t know all the details.


    That was solely down to the fact that even though he was a Progenitor Vampire, he had lived most of his life inside a dark cave somewhere, and this would be his first time being involved in a mission after receiving his peerage.


    Baron Lava confessed to some other things as well.


    -Also, the command of this mission has been taken up by a marquis.


    ¡®Marquis¡¯. It wasn¡¯t a noble rank found among human societies but a ¡®peerage¡¯ system the Vampires used to denote one¡¯s station among the pecking order.


    -Raiden Behemoth. He is the Vampire Marquis in charge of this mission.


    I slowly swept my head back while recalling the rest of Lava¡¯s words.


    -Because he wanted it, it was easy to turn him into a Vampire.


    Two conditions had to be fulfilled in order to become a Vampire.


    One, the blood of a Progenitor was a necessity to turn someone into a Vampire. And the other one was you wishing to become a Vampire and offering up your own soul as the price.


    If the subordination contract was successfully formed, then you¡¯d live on as the ¡®servant¡¯ of the Progenitor Vampire.


    When Raiden¡¯s age reached around eighty years old, he felt his physical body grow rapidly weaker. The days of his advanced age were stained by the persistent pain brought on by the grievous wound he suffered during the life-or-death battle against the dragon in the distant past.


    And to someone like him¡­


    -Rose Darina seduced him.


    Rose gave him a way to ¡®live¡¯ again. To live a false life, and to live for all eternity.


    She helped him be reborn as a Vampire that possessed the power to deny natural death itself.


    -His majesty, the Vampire King, acknowledged him as the powerful human who had hunted a dragon down. As such, his majesty personally shared his own blood with Raiden, raised the latter¡¯s status up to the Progenitor, and granted the peerage of marquis.


    -Okay, fine. Where is Raiden, then?


    -I really have no clue about that! The marquis usually sends out his orders through communiques. I am merely a puppet on a string, tasked with carrying out his orders! That¡¯s all!


    After getting the answers to some of my questions, I took care of Baron Lava for good.


    While we rode on the carriage, I racked my brain trying to understand what the Vampires were angling for here.


    But why would they? And how come?


    Why were the Vampires still shielding Rose Darina even now?


    Shouldn¡¯t she be like a disposable pawn for them?


    Maybe Rose still had some other uses left or something?


    I couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    However, there was one thing that kept popping up my mind ¨C the black-haired ¡®maidservant¡¯ that stuck around Rose Darina.


    During the banquet in Humite, Ruppel abruptly asked me about that woman for some reason. But when I checked her out through [Mind¡¯s Eye], she didn¡¯t seem all that remarkable, and neither was she someone blessed with extraordinary talents.


    Even then, Vampires were providing shelter to both her and Rose even now, so that could only mean that the two of them still had their uses left.


    I swept my hair back again.


    Back to square one, was it?


    My new task was to locate this Vampire named Raiden. But how was I supposed to find out where he hid himself inside the kingdom of Lome?


    Still, it wasn¡¯t as if all available avenues had dried up.


    For instance, the First Prince of Lome was sitting right before my eyes ¨C I definitely needed Barus¡¯s help here. After all, not many people out there would have as much in-depth knowledge in the current state of the Lome kingdom as him.


    That¡¯s why I¡­


    ¡°But how could this be¡­!¡±


    I shifted my gaze over to Barus. He was staring outside the carriage with a face full of despair.


    Even my brows were furrowed all by themselves too. A familiar but still disgusting stench began stabbing my nose in the next moment.


    What greeted our travelling group as soon as leaving the forest¡¯s highway was the sight of a devastated cityscape.

 Chapter 194 - 103. The One Called the Saint (Part Two)

    A large city fairly close to the village of Rost had been burned down to the ground, practically wiped off from the map.


    The city didn¡¯t have outer walls or palisades to begin with, meaning the citizens would¡¯ve been left utterly defenceless against the marauding band of soldiers coming to ransack them.


    Sights of burnt-down buildings and their skeletal remains, countless piles of corpses, and broken weapons stabbed into the ground could be seen.


    This was the reality of the warzone created by the civil war taking place within the Lome kingdom.


    Writhing zombies were wandering around the sites of wanton destruction. Those things hadn¡¯t been created by Vampires ¨C no, it was simply this world¡¯s ¡®law of nature¡¯ at play.


    A portion of the people who died in Negative Fields like battlefields would inevitably end up as an undead. The scene playing out before our eyes was one such case.


    The civil war of Lome kingdom had ended up producing the undead.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s a carriage!¡±


    Even within the devastated cityscape where the undead freely roamed about, survivors still existed. These survivors, basically refugees, spotted our carriage and urgently ran towards us.


    ¡°Please, save us!¡±


    ¡°Help us! We don¡¯t have anything to eat¡­ My child, my child is¡­!¡±


    ¡°There are undead roaming around here. Please save us!¡±


    The refugees quickly surrounded our carriage.


    Although some of them were hesitant at first after spotting the skeleton horses, their attention was soon shifted away and focused on the living knights escorting the carriage as well as us riding inside the vehicle.


    The escorting knights tried to push the refugees back.


    ¡°Everyone, get back! Now!¡±


    ¡°How insolent! Who do you think you are in the presence of!¡±


    Unfortunately for them, what the knights had said produced the exact opposite effect to what they desired.


    Because the refugees thought that if the person inside the carriage was someone important, then he¡¯d surely save them from this predicament.


    The knights urgently looked around and saw the zombies shuffling towards the carriage¡¯s location. Unable to stay calm anymore, they even began unsheathing their swords.


    That only sowed even more chaos among the crowd.


    At this rate, we might end up seeing casualties with one wrong move somewhere.


    The crowd numbering only a few dozen soon ballooned past a hundred-plus in no time at all.


    I scanned the faces of the refugees. From old people in their seventies all the way to children younger than ten were among the mix.


    All these people were the weak who managed to somehow survive the warzone. But their future remained bleak.


    Their homes were gone. They didn¡¯t have anything to eat nor drink. All they could do for now was to run around trying to evade the roaming undead.


    Charlotte could only ruefully look on at the tearful crowd.


    As for Barus, he just sat in his seat with a tightly-clamped mouth. He seemed to be in a dilemma, trying to decide whether or not he could afford to take care of all these people.


    I addressed him, ¡°Are you planning to forsake all these people? Even though you are a prince of their kingdom?¡±


    Barus was jolted awake from his train of thoughts by my abrupt question. His head then faltered. ¡°We might be able to shelter them. Our camp isn¡¯t too far away from here, after all. However, we just don¡¯t have enough medicine to treat the injured among them. And also, not enough provisions and drinkable water¡­¡±


    ¡°All excuses, I see.¡±


    Barus smiled bitterly at my observation. ¡°Yes. Indeed, all excuses. However, if I try to save one person, it might end up killing two others.¡±


    ¡°Your side surely has some information pertaining to Raiden¡¯s whereabouts, am I right?¡±


    He turned his head and looked at me.


    I continued on, ¡°Even if he¡¯s a Vampire now, he must have someone helping him so that he could safely hide somewhere. I want you to hand over that information.¡±


    He nodded at my abrupt demand. ¡°But of course. If that¡¯s what it takes to prevent the Theocratic Empire from intervening, then all the more so. But, why are you¡­?¡±


    ¡°Very good.¡±


    I stepped outside the carriage and then lightly snapped my fingers.


    Rune letters were engraved on the ground all around us. Soon, well-armed skeletons and staff-wielding skeleton mages were summoned to this world.


    The refugees all screamed at this sudden event.


    Even Barus looked shocked by what he saw. Which was understandable, since this would be his first time seeing me summon the holy undead.


    Skeletons went out to hunt down the zombies shuffling closer towards our location. Meanwhile, skeleton mages put some distance between themselves. Eventually, thirty or so undead mages had the hundred-plus refugees surrounded from all sides.


    ¡°W-what are you trying to do?!¡±


    ¡°He, he¡¯s a Necromancer! He¡¯s using Necromancy!¡±


    ¡°Is he trying to murder us all?¡±


    The refugees began crying out in fear and nervousness. Charlotte worked hard to calm them down somehow.


    I took a sweeping look at the skeleton mages surrounding the group of refugees.


    A great opportunity had presented itself. This should be an ideal time to take the ¡®Aztal rune¡¯ out for a test drive, wouldn¡¯t you say?


    Skeleton mages knelt down and pressed their foreheads on the staves held in their hands. Soon, prayers and hymns began leaving their mouths.


    The refugees¡¯ eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when the beautiful hymn resounded out to the surroundings.


    Their confused, chaotic clamouring grew quieter.


    The sacred hymn cleansed away the fear clogging up their murky, confused minds.


    Not only that, they dazedly stared at the skeleton mages as if they had become entranced by the aura of divinity rising up from the undead.


    This aura of divinity spread out like ripples on a calm lake¡¯s surface.


    Skeleton mages, who could be called Priests at this stage, raised up their staves filled with gathered divinity.


    This sacred aura¡­


    The sanctuary where the goddess¡¯s miracle could become reality¡­


    ¡°I declare the creation of a sanctuary.¡±


    1


    ¡­Had been activated on this location.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Skeleton mages slammed their staves down.


    3


    Bang-!


    The ground below trembled seemingly from the impact. Rune letters radiating golden aura spread out from all around them.


    Beautiful, brilliant light gushed out from the ground.


    A sense of awe quickly filled up the hearts of the refugees standing on top of the Aztal rune engraved on the ground.


    Some of them abruptly began checking out the state of their bodies. Their once-heavy bodies began feeling lighter, more languid than before.


    Those suffering from diseases were cured, while even the little scratches on their bodies were taken care of ¨C every single wound was rapidly being healed away.


    The undead shuffling towards them melted away from existence, while those that were still far away shielded their eyes after witnessing the golden light.


    But was that all?


    ¡°Oh my goodness¡­! How, how is this even possible¡­?!¡±


    One of the refugees was freaking out of his skull while staring at his child.


    The child¡¯s arm had been severed during the war. The wound, currently wrapped around in some dirty rags in order to stem the bleeding, was steadily healing back to how it was.


    And no, it wasn¡¯t some simple healing either ¨C the pain haunting the child steadily went away, while the severed bone began rising up from the stump.


    Joints were being recreated, then blood vessels and muscles extended out all around them before intertwining with each other. Finally, new skin appeared to cover them all.


    ¡®Complete regeneration¡¯ had taken place right before everyone¡¯s wide-open eyes.


    The child¡¯s trembling eyes looked down at his new hand. Perhaps still finding this miracle too difficult to believe, he repeatedly clenched and unfurled his fist. Then, he grew tearful after realising that his lost arm had grown back.


    ¡°Daddy!¡±


    The child embraced his father. He felt his father¡¯s body warmth with his new arm. On the other hand, the father could feel the strength of his child¡¯s new arm holding onto him.


    ¡°This¡­ this¡­ it¡¯s a miracle!¡±


    Emotions welled up powerfully in his heart.


    The father dazedly held his child. Even while doing that, he somehow managed to move his eyes currently soaked in his tears and stare at the Priest over yonder.


    The boy didn¡¯t even look like he had reached adulthood. Yet such a boy had created this miracle.


    A miracle that seemed completely out of common sense, no less.


    Barus and his escorting knights watched on, utterly stupefied as well.


    The First Prince of Lome opened the carriage¡¯s door and stepped outside while looking like an entranced man.


    His heart was galloping away as his emotions fluctuated wildly.


    It seemed that he was stuck in the perpetual state of being surprised as he stayed next to this young Imperial Prince.


    When the boy was hunting the Vampire down, he gave off the vibe of someone cruel and merciless, yet when he was dealing with the weak, Barus felt a sense of benevolence coming from him.


    ¡°Your highness, are all the Priests of the Theocratic Empire capable of pulling off such miracles?¡±


    One of the deeply-awed knights asked that question, but Barus shook his head as a part of his reply. ¡°No, that¡¯s not it.¡±


    Of course such a thing couldn¡¯t be true. Barus was certain of it. After all, he had heard plenty of things about the empire¡¯s Seventh Imperial Prince by now.


    He heard about the boy¡¯s rather scary-sounding title of the ¡®slaughterer of Vampires¡¯ or the ¡®butcher of lycanthropes¡¯. But there was one other title that happened to be at complete odds with those titles.


    ¡°He is¡­¡±


    All the refugees began kneeling down. They gathered their hands before their chest and bowed their heads.


    While sobbing away, they offered their earnest prayers to express their gratitude.


    They sent their gratitude towards a boy standing tall before their eyes.


    ¡°¡­The Holy Son(Â}×Ó).¡±


    Towards the Saint, Allen Olfolse.


    < 103. The One Called the Saint (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: I¡¯m not sure whether it was intentional or not, but the author used the Hanja letters ¡°Â}×Ó¡± in the second last paragraph. In Korean Hangul, both the ¡°Holy Son¡± and ¡°Saint¡± are pronounced the same ¨C ¡°seong-ja¡± ¨C but the Hanjas associated are different. For reference, the Hanja letters for ¡°saint¡± are ¡°Â}Õß¡±. The ¡°Holy Son(Â}×Ó)¡± is, of course, Son of God in the Holy Trinity.)

 Chapter 195 - 104. Rose Darina

    **


    A carriage was passing through a coarse road in the countryside.


    The skeleton horses neighed roughly every time the carriage they were pulling along clunked noisily. At the same time, refugees were quietly following the vehicle from behind while doing their best to lend support to each other.


    Their number hovered around two hundred.


    At first, there were only around one hundred people but the number kept growing little by little whenever the procession went past a village.


    The survivors begged and pleaded to be saved, and after personally experiencing the ¡®miracle¡¯, they swallowed up their grievances and dissatisfaction to silently join the procession.


    Every once in a while, they sneaked glances at the Seventh Imperial Prince, who was riding on a skeleton horse. Their gazes were filled to the brim with awe.


    Charlotte observed the behaviours of the refugees and couldn¡¯t help but feel complicated inside.


    The Imperial Prince, who was labelled as a mangnani once upon a time, had transformed into someone adored and worshipped by seemingly everyone now.


    She felt gratified and proud that she had been the first person to see his true nature before anybody else. But on the other hand, she became worried that he was growing further away from her as time went on.


    ¡®Lord Angel, the Saint. And even the divine king¡­¡¯


    Those were the new titles people called him with.


    She had been steadily growing stronger, but at the same time, it seemed like he had been getting further away from her reach.


    She shifted her gaze back to Allen. He was currently riding on the skeleton horse and not inside the carriage like usual, after saying that he¡¯d like to get some fresh air.


    While riding on the undead creature, he spotted a dead crow on the road and commanded one of his skeletons to pick it up for him.


    Allen placed his hand on the dead bird and injected divinity into it.


    Wiggle¡­


    The crow opened its eyes and began flapping its wings. He had revived the creature as an undead.


    Feeling curious now, Charlotte asked Allen about it. ¡°Is that a zombified crow?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Necromancers tend to use these little guys as either scouts or to send letters to others.¡±


    The Imperial Prince took out a small rolled-up parchment on his person and tied it to the leg of the zombie crow before commanding it to fly.


    The crow beat its wings and flew away.


    Charlotte asked again. ¡°Where are you sending it to, your highness?¡±


    ¡°To my oldest brother and father.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°We now know that the kingdom of Lome is involved with Rose¡¯s matter, but the flow of the events is heading in a completely unexpected direction. One wrong move somewhere, and the entire Heavenly Army might end up being toyed around by the schemes of Rose and the Vampires.¡±


    And that¡¯s why he was planning to make the Heavenly Army retreat back to the border region of the Theocratic Empire.


    Although Allen¡¯s authority alone wouldn¡¯t be enough to move the Heavenly Army, convincing Luan should do the trick.


    ¡°Does that mean the Theocratic Empire will no longer intervene in Lome¡¯s affairs?¡± Barus suddenly shoved the carriage¡¯s door open and peeked outside, asking urgently.


    The carriage should¡¯ve been sealed pretty tightly, yet the First Prince seemed to have eavesdropped on the conversation between Allen and Charlotte.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a stopgap measure, nothing more. Also¡­¡± The Seventh Imperial Prince stared at Barus and continued on. ¡°The two opposing camps of Lome will need to stop fighting for a little while.¡±


    The two camps ¨C one for First Prince Barus and the other belonging to the Second Prince, Derian ¨C had been fighting this battle for supremacy for a long time.


    Making them stop fighting all of a sudden wouldn¡¯t be an easy task at all, but it should still be possible to halt the warfare for a little while if the Theocratic Empire strongly pressured both parties involved.


    Barus¡¯s eyes opened much wider. His expression suggested that he didn¡¯t expect the Seventh Imperial Prince to openly intervene in the matters of the kingdom of Lome.


    Allen continued on, ¡°If not, the Theocratic Empire¡¯s intervention will only get worse.¡±


    This whole incident was deeply connected to the Vampires.


    Even if Raiden Behemoth, the dragon slayer, had retired from public life, he was still affiliated with the kingdom¡¯s leadership. And if he was really providing shelter to Rose while hiding themselves in Lome, then the empire would never let this situation quietly slide by.


    After all, the Theocratic Empire was gearing up for the possible invasion of the Vampires, and as such, it was inevitable that any matters related to the undead would receive its full attention.


    In the worst possible scenario, the empire¡¯s full-strength army would cross the border between the two nations. Barus was well aware of this point.


    ¡°I want the two camps to behave themselves until the investigation comes to an end.¡±


    Barus could only nod slowly with a slightly-dazed face at Allen¡¯s ¡®suggestion¡¯.


    The First Prince of Lome had been tasting defeat over and over again for a while now, so this news was indeed a good one for him, and it¡¯d also prove to be a small ray of hope for the refugees as well.


    While listening to the Seventh Imperial Prince, Charlotte looked up at him. She noticed that his gaze was scanning the refugees even now.


    ¡®I was right.¡¯


    The villagers up in the northern frontier, the fiefdom of Ronia, First Imperial Prince Luan, and both Humite and Aslan ¨C and even the Third Imperial Prince, Ruppel.


    Even if one could label his emotion as ¡®pity¡¯, he still found all sorts of excuses as his ¡®justification¡¯ to help them out.


    He couldn¡¯t pretend to not see the people suffering from hardships.


    And that was why all those people had become captivated by him.


    Luan, Hilda, Harman, the Holy Emperor, and all those countless subjects of the empire¡­


    From their perspective, Seventh Imperial Prince Allen really did come across as the saviour sent by the goddess herself. At least, that¡¯s what she believed.


    Charlotte clenched her fists tightly.


    ¡®Just a little bit more.¡¯


    In order to get closer to him, even if it¡¯s only by a little bit, she simply had to get stronger.


    She still needed more power.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I was confident that when my letter reached Luan and White, the empire¡¯s forces would immediately cease all intervention-type ¡®activities¡¯ in Lome¡¯s civil war.


    The kingdom itself would also stop the fighting in order to not piss off the Theocratic Empire, and to prevent any sudden about-turn in the empire¡¯s attitude, the kingdom¡¯s leadership would do their absolute best to find out Rose¡¯s current whereabouts.


    I glanced at the refugees following us.


    All thanks to the effects of the Aztal rune, it seemed that their overall stamina had received a great boost. Even though the sanctuary declaration duration had ended some time ago, their steps looked fairly light and energetic. Oh, and their bodies were fully healed as well.


    However, a problem still existed; drinking water could be dealt with my holy water somehow, but procuring food was another headache altogether.


    It¡¯d be tough for these folks to travel for long.


    But then, while staring at the refugees, I felt something was off here. Why did it look like their numbers had gone up compared to before? And for some weird reason, why were they looking back at me with all those sparkling eyes?


    What the heck? Now that¡¯s a bit uncomfortable, isn¡¯t it?


    I avoided meeting their eyes. I could sense all those gazes pricking my skin, but I resolutely ignored them all.


    Ahem, where was I? Right. And with this, Barus now owed me big time.


    Not only did I rescue all these refugees, I even gave him a thin thread of hope that he could hold onto as well. For the sake of his kingdom¡¯s future survival, he now had no choice but to wholeheartedly support my investigation into the Rose Darina incident.


    ¡°How much further do we have to go?¡±


    When I asked that question, one of the escorting knights flinched a little in surprise and quickly looked at me. The knight, who was apparently named Sir Himel, looked up at me with respectful eyes. ¡°We should arrive at our destination very soon, Lord Saint.¡±


    Saint, is it¡­? Wow, it sure has been a while since someone called me that title.


    While I was thinking this, our procession reached the section of the highway located on the top of a hill, and almost immediately, a silhouette of a distant fiefdom could be spotted way over yonder.


    It was surrounded by many farmsteads and rural villages, and in the centre of them all, a fortress stood tall.


    There it was, the village named Benice as mentioned by the leader of the revolutionary army, First Prince Barus Victoria.


    I shifted my gaze over to him.


    ¡°Alright then. Oh, the First Prince of Lome, Baris Victoria.¡±


    There was this one thing I gotta do from this moment on.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to fully cooperate with my investigation.¡±


    I needed to get properly started on searching for Rose¡¯s whereabouts.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Five days later.


    In the camp of the Second Prince, Derian Victoria of the kingdom of Lome.


    Derian, who was inside his office, was staring at his conversation partner with a pair of wide-open eyes. ¡°What did you mean by that, your highness?!¡±


    His conversation partner was none other than Luan Olfolse, the First Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, who had, along with his father the Crown Imperial Prince, led the Heavenly Army to Lome.


    At first, Derian was deeply pleased by the fact that the First Imperial Prince showed up here. He knew that if the Theocratic Empire decided to butt in, then the rebellion in Lome would be squashed in no time at all.


    However, contrary to his expectations, the Theocratic Empire¡¯s forces did not participate in the battlefield.


    It wanted clear, irrefutable proof first, and thus, launched their own investigation. Still, Derian believed that, ¡®No, it doesn¡¯t matter. Them being here is already enough!¡¯


    Indeed, the Theocratic Empire sticking its nose in would surely pose an immense threat to the rebels. But now, even that became meaningless.


    There was only one reason why First Imperial Prince Luan paid a visit to Derian today. It was to announce his intention of, ¡°We are withdrawing our forces.¡±


    ¡°May I inquire as to why?¡± Derian asked while he did his absolute best to suppress his emotions that nearly forced him to shout out.


    Unlike him sweating buckets of nervous sweat, Luan was the perfect picture of peace and tranquillity.


    He replied nonchalantly, ¡°Apparently, Rose Darina is not with the rebels.¡±


    He didn¡¯t even bother to stare at Derian. Actually, his languid gaze was mostly fixed on the maidservants next to them.


    The maids realised that Luan was staring at them, and while blushing furiously, they lowered their heads.


    ¡°B-but, that can¡¯t be true. There¡¯s absolutely no doubt that my older brother, First Prince Barus, is protecting Rose!¡± Derian said while enduring the humiliation of being ignored like this.


    Luan lightly waved his hand at the maids before glancing back to Derian and speaking up, ¡°My youngest brother, Allen, has personally caught up with the First Prince of Lome, Barus.¡±


    Derian¡¯s mouth clamped shut.


    ¡°According to his investigation, Barus was not involved. Of course, this matter requires a further, more thorough investigation, but still¡­¡± Luan took out a document he had compiled earlier and pushed it towards Derian. ¡°We¡¯d also like the kingdom of Lome to declare a temporary ceasefire. We¡¯ve concluded that there exists a troubling connection between this kingdom and Rose Darina, the ringleader of the conspiracy of high treason, as well as the Vampires.¡±


    Derian¡¯s complexion paled even more after hearing that. ¡°H-how could that be¡­!¡±


    ¡°In case you decide to go against our wishes¡­¡± Luan interlocked his fingers and smiled refreshingly. ¡°I believe that you know better than anyone that by choosing to go down this route, you¡¯re giving us, the Theocratic Empire, a very good pretext to intervene in your internal conflict. Oh Derian Victoria.¡±


    Luan didn¡¯t bother to beat around the bush. He directly pressured Derian without holding back.


    Although the term he used was ¡®intervene¡¯, what he was threatening with was the full force of the empire potentially crossing the border without permission and invading the kingdom.


    This was the power of the one ruling over the whole continent ¨C the power to look down on a royal prince who might one day ascend to the throne of his kingdom, and ruthlessly suppress such a person.


    That was the Theocratic Empire.


    Derian had no choice but to bow his head at Luan¡¯s powerful pressure, all the while fighting off a tide of shame rising up in his heart. ¡°¡­P-please, give me some time to consider.¡±


    He was only nineteen this year. He didn¡¯t have the necessary confidence to oppose the Theocratic Empire on top of already battling his older brother.


    Derian gritted his teeth and held his head.


    ¡°Very well.¡± Luan nodded to express his consent. ¡°I¡¯ll give you three days.¡±


    Derian flinched at that and looked up.


    Luan snickered as he finished what he wanted to say. ¡°Please do your best to come to a favourable decision during that time period. Well then. Ladies, may I request all of you for your kind assistance?¡±


    Luan and the maidservants soon left the office.


    Derian wordlessly stared at the door Luan had left through.


    One minute, three, then eventually, five minutes had gone by in silence.


    Once he determined that the First Imperial Prince was gone for good, he angrily flipped his desk.


    ¡°Uwaaaaahk!!!¡±


    He violently kicked the chair he was on, then even yanked his sword out and began slashing and cutting down everything his eyes could see.


    The expensive-looking couch was torn apart while various flower vases shattered into bits. He roared out in anger for a while before holding his forehead and panting laboriously.


    ¡°How did this happen?! Answer me, Raiden Behemoth!¡±


    Derian angrily shouted out again.


    The darkness of the shadow cast by the walls suddenly began wiggling like a worm before taking on the shape of a person. The shadow manifested into an actual, physical body of a man, and he stepped forward into the light.


    He seemed to be in his early to mid forties.


    This man was the dragon slayer who sold his soul to the Vampires and acquired everlasting life in return.


    ¡­The one and only Raiden Behemoth.


    He bowed his head at the Second Prince, who should¡¯ve been nothing more than a livestock to him. ¡°It seems that the attempt to assassinate the First Prince has ended in failure.¡±


    ¡°You told me that we could kill him by using the Vampires!¡±


    The First Prince, Barus, had been on a losing streak. Out of desperation, he would¡¯ve been forced to grasp at straws. As a result, he should¡¯ve been on his way to Rost, hoping to get the ¡®dying of old age¡¯ Raiden on his side.


    Once Raiden the Vampire had heard about such information, he commanded Baron Lava to turn every living being found in that village into zombies.


    Unfortunately for them, though¡­


    Raiden muttered out, ¡°¡­It seems that the fool failed his mission.¡±


    The individual feared the most by the Vampires, Seventh Imperial Prince Allen Olfolse, seemed to have decided to butt in.


    With things like this, assassinating the First Prince of Lome would be next to impossible now.


    ¡°The Theocratic Empire might invade us at this rate. Bloody hell! Before something like that happens, I might as well¡­ the Second Crown Princess Consort¡­!¡±


    It was right at that moment.


    The bookshelf of the office trembled briefly and slid to the side.


    Derian flinched in surprise and clamped his mouth shut. His tense face turned towards the secret passage revealed by the moving bookshelf.


    ¡°What about me, your highness?¡±


    A seductive older woman stepped out of the passageway and walked closer to him. She asked Derian with a troubled expression on her face while stroking her cheek.


    ¡°N-no, that¡­ that was¡­¡± Derian shook his head. He avoided meeting her gaze and lowered his head. ¡°It was nothing important, my lady.¡±


    The woman, Second Crown Princess Consort Rose Darina, walked forward with light, cheery steps. She got close to Derian and gently stroked his cheek. ¡°Don¡¯t be too tense, your highness.¡±


    ¡°H-however¡­¡±


    ¡°We have a bright future ahead of us.¡±


    Rose leaned in closer and gently smoothed over Derian¡¯s hair.


    He moaned under his breath. ¡°Future, you say? But the Theocratic Empire has already realised that the Vampires are connected to this matter. One wrong move from us, and the royal household of Lome might get¡­¡±


    ¡°Please calm your worries. They won¡¯t live for long, after all. On the other hand, your highness will soon become a new Vampire, and¡­¡± Rose softly held Derian¡¯s chin and turned his face closer to hers before whispering in his ear, ¡°¡­Such things won¡¯t apply to you anymore.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°At the shortest, ten years. But at the longest, twenty. By then, the Theocratic Empire would¡¯ve surely become ours.¡±


    Derian¡¯s trembling hands barely managed to push Rose¡¯s seductive hands away. ¡°How can you be so certain about this?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you see that it¡¯s plainly obvious? Wouldn¡¯t you agree, Sharin?¡±


    Rose called out to her ¡®maidservant¡¯ standing in the darkness of the secret passage behind her.


    The maid gingerly stepped forward with a deeply pale complexion.


    Her head was lowered while cold sweat constantly trickled down her skin. Her hands that were visibly trembling from fear, were cautiously holding her swollen belly.


    Derian swallowed back his dry saliva at this sight.


    Rose leaned in again and whispered into his ear.


    ¡°After all, we have the inheritor of the Imperial Family¡¯s bloodline, the child of the Third Imperial Prince, by your side, don¡¯t we?¡±


    < 104. Rose Darina > Fin.

 Chapter 196 - 105. Clues (Part One)

    **


    Late at night.


    On a night where the moonlight had been swallowed up by the gloomy clouds above, several assassins were making their moves.


    They had only one purpose.


    ¡®Barus Victoria.¡¯


    It was to assassinate the First Prince.


    The order had been issued by the Second Prince of Lome Kingdom, Derian.


    -Go and take the life of my older brother. However, you must never harm the Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire. Remember that we cannot deal with their wrath if you do!


    The negotiation for the ceasefire was still ongoing.


    But¡­ to enter a ceasefire when certain victory was practically right before his nose? It was unsurprising that Derian grew anxious from this turn of events.


    If the agents of the Theocratic Empire started their in-depth investigation of Lome Kingdom¡¯s affairs, then there was an uncomfortably high chance of numerous truths being uncovered, such as who actually murdered the previous king, or all the underhanded dealings Derian was involved in.


    He found himself in a situation where he couldn¡¯t afford to give the rebels even the slightest advantage. Before the ceasefire could commence, he had to kill Barus by any means possible.


    By removing the First Prince from the picture, this civil war should come to a swift end.


    -Do not leave behind any evidence.


    1


    In case the Theocratic Empire demanded an explanation and ruthlessly pressured him, he planned to pacify them somehow even if he had to resort to kowtowing to them. Everything was acceptable as long as he could ascend to the throne.


    He was even prepared to give up a portion of the kingdom¡¯s territory if that helped his case.


    The empire had quickly become one faction that Derian didn¡¯t want to get tangled up with.


    The assassins moved swiftly. They crossed the village where everyone was asleep for the night and headed towards the sewer entrance near the fortress.


    Using Mana-infused daggers, they carefully cut open the steel bars blocking the entrance. They infiltrated the underground sewer filled with a nauseating stench while wearing balaclavas.


    Above the ground, soldiers patrolling the vicinity with the aid of lit torches and fire pits thought they sensed someone¡¯s presence and took a look around, but¡­


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    The patrolling soldiers confirmed that nothing seemed amiss by the sewers and relaxed their tense neck muscles.


    It must¡¯ve been nothing.


    The security around the fortress found in the village of Benice was quite strict, but since it was still a small fortress built on the countryside, plenty of openings existed.


    These assassins were quite highly skilled and could infiltrate the fortress rather smoothly. They emerged through the lavatory connected to the sewer, and quickly changed their attire.


    They were now dressed like regular servants and maids. To finish off their disguise, they sprinkled perfume on themselves to mask the stench.


    From this moment on, they had around five minutes. They needed to murder Barus within that time period and escape to successfully pull off this mission.


    They silently began walking in the corridors.


    The soldiers patrolling the fortress¡¯s passageways saw the assassins dressed up as servants and waved their hands at them. ¡°Work hard, everyone.¡±


    ¡°Yes, thank you. You too.¡±


    The assassins smiled and replied nonchalantly.


    The soldiers nodded and were about to walk past, but a seriously powerful stench assaulted their nostrils and they couldn¡¯t help but tilt their heads in confusion. When they turned around¡­


    ¡°Halt. What is up with this smell¡­¡±


    Their mouths were blocked up, and at the same time, daggers were thrust into their throats. The assassins quickly dragged the sagging soldiers into an empty room nearby before stuffing the corpses inside a closet and under a bed.


    Once they were done with hiding the evidence, they resumed their search. Although they had liberally sprinkled perfume on themselves, it was still hard to completely mask the stench from the sewers.


    They took out a map that displayed the layout of the fortress.


    ¡®We¡¯ll search through all of the state guest rooms.¡¯


    They peeked around the corner and stared at the very first guest room. They spotted a girl kitted out in pure-white armour standing guard there with her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.


    The assassins tilted their heads from this unusual sight.


    ¡®What¡¯s this?¡¯


    This seemed far too easy. Even if the security was lax, to think that it¡¯d be this poor¡­


    The assassins exchanged glances, wondering if this had been a trap all along.


    However, the castle itself seemed far too quiet for that.


    Could it be that the people here had let their guard down due to the ceasefire agreement? If that wasn¡¯t it, then maybe there was something else they believed in?


    The assassins looked at the girl once more.


    ¡®She¡¯s still young.¡¯


    ¡®Any information on her?¡¯


    They quickly perused through the intel prepared for the mission, but couldn¡¯t find anything on this silver-haired girl.


    ¡®Still, do not let your guard down.¡¯


    Their opponent was only one person.


    Since security was lax, they planned to finish this in an instant.


    The assassins silently yanked out their daggers, and rapidly dashed out from behind the corner and thrust their sharp blades at the girl¡¯s throat.


    But right at that moment, Charlotte¡¯s eyes shifted towards them.


    She didn¡¯t even bother to unsheathe her sword. No, she simply clenched her fists and punched at the incoming assassins.


    1


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    Way too many piles of documents were stacked up inside the office that Barus had prepared for our usage.


    1


    All these bits of paper contained various information on the nobles from the rebel¡¯s side, as well as intel gathered by the spies Barus had implanted in Lome Kingdom¡¯s royal court.


    For the past week or so, Barus and I had been studying them closely while secluding ourselves in this office.


    Knowing that his fate was hanging in the balance here, Barus continued perusing the documents despite his face clearly showing how fatigued he was right now.


    ¡°Your highness, we haven¡¯t found anyone suspicious yet. It¡¯s been over five years since Raiden announced his retirement. Yes, several nobles did approach him, but none of them seem capable of lending aid of such a scale.¡±


    Although all we had to do was to find people connected with Raiden Behemoth, that alone was proving to be harder than I thought.


    I could only groan under the breath at Barus¡¯s tired voice.


    Man, was this all a waste of time?


    Brother, I¡¯m truly sorry but it seems that I won¡¯t make it before your execution. But please do know that I tried my best.


    I pray that you enjoy your eternal rest now.


    I cracked a joke or two in my head and took a look at another document.


    Actually, we still hadn¡¯t investigated one particular person yet. Someone who also happened to enjoy a very close connection to Raiden, just like Barus.


    The Second Prince of Lome Kingdom, Derian Victoria.


    That¡¯s right, that guy definitely needed to be checked out, too.


    At that very moment, someone knocked on the door and Charlotte stepped into the office. While wiping away the remnants of blood on her gauntlets, she forced three men and a woman on their knees.


    ¡°Keo-uh-uhk¡­¡±


    I stared at them in slight confusion before looking at Charlotte with eyes asking, ¡®What¡¯s all this?¡¯


    She replied, ¡°They are assassins.¡±


    It¡¯s good that she didn¡¯t beat around the bush.


    I used [Mind¡¯s Eye] to confirm the kneeling quartet¡¯s attributes.


    ¡®Assassination, concealment, tight lips, unyielding conviction¡­¡¯


    Also, their resolute determination was denoted with the usual ¡®+¡¯ in the resulting stat windows.


    [Even under the threat of death, we shall never divulge our secrets!]


    ¡°Well, at least they are not Vampires, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    They were indeed regular human assassins. Not only that, ones with pretty tight lips too.


    ¡°By the way, what¡¯s the matter with them?¡±


    Their faces seemed to be fine, and I couldn¡¯t see any injuries on them, either.


    Even then, blood still stained Charlotte¡¯s gauntlets and the assassins were panting like people on the verge of croaking out.


    ¡°That¡¯s because¡­¡± Charlotte made an awkward face. ¡°I tried to¡­ interrogate them myself, your highness.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I openly stared at her.


    She got flustered a little and clenched her fist before pretending to very gently punch the air. ¡°I¡¯ve only¡­ merely hit them slightly.¡±


    Forget interrogation, it was probably more like torture to these people.


    I didn¡¯t have to be there to know that she must¡¯ve beaten them to bloody pulps with that Superwoman-like strength of hers.


    However, she was not proficient in torturing and most likely couldn¡¯t control her strength properly, which resulted in her beating them up until they were literally on the brink of death, and she had to heal them back before that happened.


    I inwardly tutted and looked down at the kneeling assassins. ¡°Still, an assassination attempt at a time like this, huh¡­¡±


    A ceasefire negotiation was currently underway in Lome kingdom.


    After three days of consideration, Second Prince Derian announced his intentions to agree to the ceasefire for the safety of Lome. Which meant that the only thing remaining in this negotiation was for First Prince Barus to sign the official document.


    With that, the civil war in the kingdom would enter a temporary ceasefire. Without a doubt, someone who didn¡¯t want to see that happen must¡¯ve had a hand in this nonsense.


    Several candidates stood out as the likely culprits ¨C Raiden, Rose, or even Second Prince Derian himself.


    Whoever they were, I was fairly sure that they weren¡¯t targetting me.


    For one, either Raiden or Rose wouldn¡¯t send assassins of such low calibre in my way. Which left the likely ringleader as Derian Victoria. Not to forget, no matter how powerful Lome was as a kingdom, it still wouldn¡¯t have the balls to assassinate an Imperial Prince on its own soil.


    So¡­ this meant that the odds of Barus being their target were way too high.


    The one behind the attempt did it while probably thinking that as long as no evidence was left behind, it¡¯d be easy to feign ignorance.


    What an idiot that guy was.


    ¡°Is my guess correct?¡±


    I spoke my thoughts out loudly to my audience.


    The assassins continued panting away without saying anything while looking at the floor.


    It seemed like they weren¡¯t going to answer me no matter what.


    ¡°I¡¯ve tried to interrogate them, but they didn¡¯t say anything, your highness.¡±


    Charlotte repeatedly clenched and unfurled her fist as if she wasn¡¯t entirely happy about something. However, the assassins visibly flinched whenever her gauntlets made metallic creaks.


    ¡°If I knew something like this would happen, I should¡¯ve brought the Crimson Cross agents here with me.¡±


    Since the assassins were living people, I couldn¡¯t torture them with holy water.


    I took another look at them. Their mouths were currently blocked with gags by Charlotte to prevent them from killing themselves.


    They wouldn¡¯t divulge their secrets even under the threat of death.


    ¡°¡­In that case, will they be more forthcoming after dying?¡±


    The assassins flinched greatly at what I said and stared at me.


    I took out one of the Necromancer grimoires recovered back in the ancient Aslan tomb. It contained the ¡®evil spirits manipulation technique¡¯ which was a part of the ancient Necromancy skill set.


    This technique basically allowed one to bind a soul, arrest, and torture it. In addition, one could hex a target and greatly weaken the victim, and even make the spirit take possession of someone else.


    ¡°Well then. Should I try that one out?¡±


    I glanced at the assassins, took out my musket, and aimed the muzzle at them. Their eyes opened so much wider at that.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re all tight-lipped individuals¡­¡±


    What a relief it was that they weren¡¯t Vampires. Because, with humans¡­


    ¡°¡­All I have to do now is pry open your mouths, am I right?¡±


    I could use Necromancy on them.


    2


    (TL: Happy new year! Fingers crossed that 2021 will be better than 2020!)


    (Also, only one chapter today.)

 Chapter 197 - 105. Clues (Part Two)

    **


    -Prince Derian ordered us.


    -Our target was Prince Barus.


    -He said that he simply was not brave enough to kill you, master. He told us not to harm you in the slightest.


    Four semi-transparent souls floating in the air said those things to me.


    As for that ¡®master¡¯ bit, it seemed that they were talking about me.


    I couldn¡¯t hide my own surprised face while staring at the souls of the assassins.


    They were currently made out of divinity, but hell, forget about being under intense ¡®torture¡¯ as the ancient Necromancy grimoire had said, it looked more like they had finally become free in my eyes.


    I was actually having a conversation with the purified souls right now.


    1


    ¡®The thing I couldn¡¯t do back in Ronia fiefdom, I finally got to do it here.¡¯


    I recalled the Witch Morgana incident from back then. I wanted to interrogate her after she turned into an undead, but my skill level was waaay too low and I was unable to converse with the dead at the time.


    I gotta say, this was one heck of a useful technique. At least with this, interrogating humans should become so much easier in the future.


    Besides all that, though¡­


    ¡°What an impudent bastard.¡±


    My expression crumpled even before I knew it.


    It wasn¡¯t just some random stranger, but the Theocratic Empire itself had gotten directly involved in the mediation for the ceasefire.


    But then, the Second Prince of Lome, Derian Victoria, ignored the clear-cut order and tried to have Barus assassinated. Even if he got blinded by the throne¡¯s allure, his actions could be construed as directly spitting in the divine empire¡¯s face.


    Did that idiot think that he could easily weasel his way out of this as long as he left behind no physical evidence?


    This was clearly him flipping the bird at the Imperial Family.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that we could converse with purified souls,¡± said Barus while dazedly staring at the semi-transparent souls.


    Yup, even ¡®regular¡¯ people could see them now. Originally, you¡¯d call these souls ¡®evil spectres¡¯, but uh¡­ what should they be called in cases like this one?


    Technically speaking, were they now ¡®holy ghosts¡¯?


    I reached out and grasped at the holy ghost. Right at that moment, I felt a strange sensation.


    [Concealment skill at a low proficiency level has been temporarily added.]


    [Assassination skill at a low proficiency level has been temporarily added.]


    Although faint, I heard messages announcing the addition of new skills ringing in my head. But when I let go, they stopped altogether.


    Hang on a second here¡­ this might come in handy, don¡¯t you think?


    I shifted my gaze over to Barus. ¡°You still haven¡¯t signed the ceasefire agreement, right?¡±


    Barus nodded while looking somewhat out of it. ¡°Yes, I haven¡¯t. It¡¯s not something I can decide on my own. The matter needs to be discussed with the nobles under me, and I predict that we may need one week to¡­¡±


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s get going.¡±


    Barus tilted his head in confusion. ¡°Go¡­? Where exactly?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean ¡®where?¡¯. To your little brother, obviously. I mean really, it doesn¡¯t look like we¡¯ll find what I¡¯m looking for by sitting here and investigating stuff in this manner. I might as well kill two birds with one stone by making sure that the ceasefire agreement goes through, and get Second Prince Derian to cooperate with me at the same time.¡±


    Barus¡¯s eyes opened wider.


    He looked pretty shocked right now. Well, I basically told him to head to the middle of the enemy¡¯s camp, so that wasn¡¯t all that surprising.


    However, this arrangement was more convenient for me. Being able to keep my eyes on both brothers at the same time would certainly make it easier.


    Besides, I should meet up with Luan and see if he uncovered anything so far.


    ¡°Remember this. To me, neither you nor Derian is my ally. You two are just a way to find out where Rose is hiding,¡± I told that to Barus¡¯s face before addressing Charlotte, ¡°Prepare to depart right away. It¡¯s time to put the fear of god in Derian since he dared to look down on the Theocratic Empire. Let¡¯s make sure that he doesn¡¯t do anything annoying later.¡±


    Charlotte nodded in silence.


    Soon, our carriage was prepared and the trio of Charlotte, Barus, and I, headed to where Second Prince Derian was ¨C the capital of Lome kingdom, Lomania.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Derian felt deeply anxious.


    He was restlessly pacing inside his office. He even chewed on his nails until some blood seeped out.


    ¡®Why hasn¡¯t there been any news yet?!¡¯


    Three weeks had gone by since he had dispatched the quartet of assassins. They had been trained since young to become exceptional killers.


    They were the type to never spill the beans and instead choose to die to protect their secrets. So, even if they failed to assassinate an important target, just like their current assignment, there shouldn¡¯t be any blowback to Derian.


    Despite knowing that, he just couldn¡¯t calm the anxiety stewing in his head.


    If they had succeeded, then the rebels would¡¯ve fallen into confusion by now. But if they had failed, then the talks regarding the ceasefire negotiation should have at least resumed.


    However, it was way too quiet right now.


    Although he knew that it couldn¡¯t be true, Derian even entertained the idea of his assassins deciding to forfeit and running away after receiving some money.


    While he was waiting for any news to come his way, a guest came to see him.


    Knock, knock-.


    Derian glanced at the office door.


    ¡®Who could it be? No, wait. I shouldn¡¯t worry about that. The really important matter right now is¡­¡¯


    Bang, bang-!


    The knocking noise became harsher, rougher.


    He flinched a little and looked at the door once more.


    BANG-!


    He heard someone kicking the door from the outside. Derian felt his heart nearly tumble down to the pit of his stomach.


    A commotion was taking place outside the office. However, it seemed that no one out there could stop the person from kicking the door again and again.


    Eventually, the office door broke into bits.


    Derian flinched even more and hurriedly stared at the doorway.


    The kicker turned out to be the First Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, Luan Olfolse.


    The man who didn¡¯t even bother to hide his lecherous grin at every woman he saw, was now looking utterly pissed off, judging from his beet-red face.


    1


    ¡°Derian Victoria!¡±


    While making a face of a scary demon, Luan strode forward.


    Derian flinched yet again from that low, heavy growling voice and stumbled backwards. ¡°W-what¡¯s gotten into you, your highness?!¡±


    Luan¡¯s hands shot out and grabbed Derian by the latter¡¯s collars.


    Veins were visibly bulging on Luan¡¯s face as he stuck uncomfortably close to Derian¡¯s.


    It was hard not to sense how angry Luan was at this point. ¡°You bastard. What have you done?!¡±


    Derian¡¯s flinching continued as he hurriedly clamped his mouth shut.


    Could it be that his assassination attempt had been discovered? No, wait. Even if that was true, the Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire before his eyes had no reason to be this incensed about it.


    If Barus was indeed dead, then the rebellion would come undone and that would result in the kingdom uniting under one banner to regain her stability once more. Which in turn should aid in the investigation of the Theocratic Empire as well.


    Just what could be the reason for Luan¡¯s rage?


    ¡®Could it be¡­?!¡¯


    Derian¡¯s complexion paled instantly after he pictured the worst-case scenario.


    ¡­Which would be the assassins mistakenly harming the Seventh Imperial Prince, or even straight up murdering him.


    That would become a clear-cut pretext for war.


    ¡°Is it true that you dared to dispatch assassins?¡±


    ¡°N-no, please hold on¡­!¡±


    ¡°If you were planning to murder my little brother, then I will gladly rip you apart limb from limb this instant. You dared to look down on us? Are you really looking down on the Imperial Family?! Will you feel content only after the entirety of your kingdom has burnt down to ashes?¡±


    Luan possessed the trait of a tyrant. In his rage, he began lifting up Derian by the latter¡¯s collars.


    The Second Prince of Lome grew even paler than before.


    He realised that this matter couldn¡¯t be brushed aside. He simply had to deny everything no matter what.


    But, just before he could open his mouth¡­


    ¡°Brother, that¡¯s enough.¡±


    An unfamiliar voice came from behind Luan. Derian flinched yet again before quickly shifting his gaze over to the destroyed entrance of his office.


    A boy stood there.


    ¡°Allen,¡± said Luan before releasing Derian.


    The latter plopped down on the ground while coughing and wheezing loudly. He then turned his head again and stared at this boy named Allen.


    That boy, he¡¯s Allen? Allen Olfolse?


    The Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire?


    But, wasn¡¯t he¡­?


    Derian thought that he was with Barus, so how come he was here?


    And what were Derian¡¯s soldiers doing, not informing him of the arrival of such an important person?!


    Derian cursed inwardly.


    However, he noticed that the light in the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s eyes, which were locked firmly on him, were somewhat strange. That gaze contained what could only be described as ¡®amusement¡¯ as the young prince continued to stare at Derian.


    The truth was, Allen had been using [Mind¡¯s Eye] to check up on Derian¡¯s current status.


    [Name: Derian Victoria


    Age: 19


    Attributes: temperament of an underhanded schemer, treacherous, a demagogue, arrogant and conceited, compulsive, egotistical in nature, disposition of a tyrant.


    + I have nothing to fear from by using the Second Crown Princess Consort and the Vampires!]


    His status window showed several attributes that contained some pretty strong ¡®sinister thoughts¡¯.


    1


    Allen came here while thinking of getting the Second Prince¡¯s aid, but who would¡¯ve guessed that the latter would end up as such an amazing helper in reality?


    The corners of Allen¡¯s lips curled up.


    ¡°Eureka.¡±


    3


    That one word sent a deathly chill down Derian¡¯s backside.


    < 105. Clues (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: Only one chapter today and tomorrow.)


    3

 Chapter 198 - 106. Lomania -1 (Part One)

    I would¡¯ve never imagined that this fool was someone this honest to his desires.


    However, that made things extra easy for me. So much so that I ended up feeling hollow inside, after realising that running into the First Prince was indeed just a waste of my time.


    1


    I looked down at Derian who was still on the floor and grinned deeply.


    ¡°Thanks to your ambition, things have become a lot easier now,¡± said I before calling for Luan to come closer to me so that I could ask him a question, ¡°Where is the Heavenly Army situated now, big brother?¡±


    ¡°As you¡¯ve requested, they are in the middle of their preparation to move out to the border region. However, as it is now, they are still stationed near Lomania in case of an emergency.¡±


    Now that¡¯s good to hear. Excellent, even.


    I nodded theatrically. ¡°That¡¯s perfect! In that case, big brother.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°Let us utilise the Heavenly Army. Have them surround the royal palace and the capital city.¡±


    Derian¡¯s face hardened instantly at what I said.


    On the other hand, Luan looked puzzled while staring at me. His expression was asking me, ¡®Why are we going that far?¡¯


    So, I told him, ¡°This punk over here, he¡¯s totally connected to the Vampires and Rose.¡±


    ¡°What was that?!¡±


    Luan¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Then, he began alternating his meaningful gaze between me and Derian.


    That probably didn¡¯t sound all that convincing.


    However¡­


    ¡°The thing is, I can see it.¡± I pointed to my eyes and then pointed at Derian next. ¡°This bastard is the collaborator currently giving shelter to the Vampires and Second Crown Princess Consort, Rose.¡±


    ¡°¡­Is this true?¡±


    Luan glared at Derian. The Second Prince of Lome with a deeply pale face seemed to be urgently pondering what to say here.


    What a relief it was that the fool was so poor at hiding his emotions.


    Luan¡¯s brows shot up after confirming Derian¡¯s face, and he looked back at me. ¡°Hold on, Allen. Could it be that not only you can detect Vampires, you can also recognise their collaborators?¡±


    I shook my head.


    [Mind¡¯s Eye] wasn¡¯t omnipotent. It was impossible to distinguish someone that perfectly. However, I could still see how much their innermost ¡®thoughts¡¯ were leaning towards their desires.


    This would be the first time since my fight against Nasus the Lich that the attribute window openly displayed the target¡¯s ambition.


    If this was Mikael from the Church of Caiolium, for instance, I wouldn¡¯t have thought that he was an enemy in hiding.


    ¡°Besides, there¡¯s something else as well.¡±


    Even without resorting to [Mind¡¯s Eye], I would still have ended up suspecting this punk. I sniffed the air and turned my gaze towards a bookshelf.


    There were lots of books tightly packed on the shelf, and a brick wall was behind it.


    A seriously heavy ¡®evil stench¡¯ was wafting out from somewhere there. It belonged to the ¡®living¡¯ corpses ¨C an unmistakable odour of death emitted by the undead.


    I summoned the musket, injected it with some divinity, and fired it at the bookshelf. It exploded and exposed an empty cavity beyond.


    ¡°A secret passage?¡±


    Luan exclaimed and I nodded in satisfaction.


    ¡°Big brother.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Can you entrust me with the authority to command the army?¡±


    Luan tilted his head this way and that.


    I smiled brightly and stared back at him. ¡°Just like what I did back in the imperial palace, I¡¯d like to¡­ sort this place out as well.¡±


    When I said ¡®sort out¡¯, I wasn¡¯t obviously talking about anything complicated.


    I now knew that Derian was connected to the Vampires. Which meant that the Theocratic Empire¡¯s authority could now be fully unleashed despite it still being inside the Lome Kingdom.


    I shall ferret out Rose and the Vampires hiding within this place. And then, we shall investigate in-depth what the hell they had been aiming for here.


    Luan made a slightly awkward face. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, it¡¯ll be done. However, do remember that this isn¡¯t our imperial palace. If we haphazardly mobilise our forces¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, that? That will be taken care of once we get Prince Derian¡¯s cooperation.¡± I shifted my gaze to Charlotte, who was standing near the office¡¯s doorway. ¡°Charlotte?¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Lead the Heavenly Army and take over the royal palace.¡± I stared straight at her and spoke, ¡°This is an order of a heresy inquisitor.¡±


    She deeply bowed her head.


    I turned my head back to Derian. ¡°Well then. Dear Prince? Looks like I¡¯ll have to ask you for your cooperation.¡±


    Derian flinched grandly and looked up at me. ¡°C-cooperation, you say! What do you even mean by that, your highness? You¡¯ve been saying something I can¡¯t understand for a while now, too¡­!¡±


    I ignored him and instead addressed the Paladins standing guard outside the office door, ¡°Do not let anyone get close to this office.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness!¡±


    The Paladins bowed and closed shut the broken door to their best abilities. Before the door closed, I spied the scene of Lome soldiers and servants protesting the unfairness of this situation outside, but none of them dared to come closer after the Paladins had set up camp there.


    I didn¡¯t have a lot of time here. I had to do this quickly before the word of our actions reached the ears of the nobles and the captains of the various knight orders in Lomania.


    ¡°Let us finish this in five minutes.¡±


    I closed the curtains. The office became dark, but in contrast, Derian¡¯s face became so much paler.


    Luan and I glared at Derian inside this closed-off space.


    I spoke up first, ¡°Prince Derian, all you have to do now is to answer my questions.¡±


    That¡¯s right, I just wanted to question him.


    However¡­


    ¡°However, I¡¯d like to remind you that if your answers prove to be unsatisfactory, then you might get injured by some unsavoury accidents.¡±


    Luan picked up Derian and forced the latter to sit on a chair.


    Having sensed that the atmosphere had become gravely heavy, Derian cried out in fear, ¡°Y-you can¡¯t be thinking of torturing me! Even if you¡¯re the Imperial Princes of the Theocratic Empire, this goes against the law of the continent, and¡­!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be alright as long as there¡¯s no evidence. Wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡± I replied while injecting divinity into my fist. Then, I glanced at Derian. ¡°If there are no injuries on your person, no evidence of wrongdoing will exist, am I right?¡±


    By then, no colour remained on Derian¡¯s terrified face.


    1


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    A short while later, an official document from Derian that said he¡¯d fully cooperate with the empire¡¯s demands had been issued.


    Charlotte received it and immediately mobilised the Paladins.


    A huge commotion soon broke out in the capital of Lome Kingdom, Lomania. Paladins numbering one thousand had assembled in the central plaza of the city.


    ¡°This is the decree from the Seventh Imperial Prince.¡±


    Charlotte was standing in the middle of them all. She had been given one single order ¨C do not allow even a single mouse to leave the capital.


    ¡°Cut off all the entrances connected to the capital.¡±


    The one thousand elite Paladins started making their moves. They quickly took over all the city¡¯s gates.


    ¡°Place the royal palace under a lockdown.¡±


    Charlotte issued another order, prompting the Paladins to surround the palace.


    However, Lome¡¯s nobles and the captains of the knight orders showed up to protest to Charlotte when the Heavenly Army abruptly took over the capital.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?!¡±


    A volatile atmosphere filled up the surrounding air.


    Even then, no orders came from the higher-ups of their government.


    Since the Paladins didn¡¯t do anything antagonistic, that meant Lome¡¯s soldiers couldn¡¯t decide whether to retaliate or not for the time being.


    Charlotte stared at the gathered nobles and knight order captains before addressing them directly, ¡°Vampires have infiltrated your royal palace.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    The nobles and the captains opened their eyes wider in shock.


    Charlotte didn¡¯t stop there and pushed forward the official document with Derian¡¯s personal seal stamped on it. ¡°We are currently providing protection to his highness Second Prince Derian. Also, all members of Lome¡¯s nobility are hereby ordered to gather in the royal audience chamber immediately. This is not only the will of the Imperial Family, but also Second Prince Derian Victoria¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°H-his highness has actually permitted this?!¡±


    ¡°Of course he did. Without his cooperation, how can things be this quiet?¡±


    The nobles and knight order captains exchanged glances with each other at Charlotte¡¯s explanation.


    Meanwhile, the Paladins surrounded them.


    Charlotte continued on, ¡°Also, we urge all of you to go along with the task of ferreting out the Vampires. The possibilities of Vampires wearing human skin and roaming around in the palace are just too great right now.¡±


    ¡°I-if it¡¯s for such a cause.¡±


    Even to these nobles, Vampires were objects of terror. Those monsters might possess outer appearances of human beings, but they desired to suck your blood out and consume your flesh, and went as far as to even seduce your soul away.


    Several rumours had been doing its rounds within Lome Kingdom at the moment. One of them said that First Prince Barus, while providing protection to the Second Crown Princess Consort, had invited Vampires into their midst.


    Which was why these nobles began thinking that maybe First Prince Barus was behind this incident as well.


    The official document had Derian¡¯s personal seal, and since the Theocratic Empire had said they could detect Vampires, they had no choice but to believe them and go along with the decree for now.


    The Paladins guided the nobles.


    Once the situation had somewhat stabilised, Charlotte led some Paladins and headed back to Derian¡¯s office. Or more correctly, to where the secret passageway was, which was revealed after the bookshelf had been blown apart.


    ¡°There should be undead inside. Capture a portion of the Vampire¡¯s blood-creations as physical evidence. And also, if we discover Rose Darina¡­¡± Charlotte glanced at the Paladins. ¡°Arrest her without inflicting a single wound on her.¡±


    She then stepped forward with her group and entered the secret passage.


    What greeted them was an unlit stone staircase going down. The stench of blood thickly wafted in the air. And when they got to the bottom where all sorts of excrements and filth could be found, zombies, ghouls, and lycans were waiting for them.


    Charlotte and the Paladins set a cordon around them and systematically hunted them down. They continued advancing forward little by little until eventually, they found a room at the end.


    They reached out and opened the door made out of metal.


    What they saw inside, were¡­


    Inside the room with drab furniture were two women.


    One of them was the maidservant, Sharin. She was on her feet, shivering away from fright while hugging her swelling tummy.


    And the other woman was none other than the Second Crown Princess Consort, Rose Darina. She was relaxedly sitting on a chair while sipping on tea.


    She must¡¯ve heard all the commotion taking place outside. Despite the Paladins arriving before her after killing all those undead, not a single hint of nervousness could be spied on her expression.


    No, she actually smiled seductively and greeted them.


    3


    ¡°Welcome, everyone.¡±


    Charlotte furrowed her brows deeply at that.

 Chapter 199 - 106. Lomania -1 (Part Two)

    **


    When Lome kingdom¡¯s nobles arrived in the audience chamber, they were greeted by the sight of First Prince Barus and Second Prince Derian kneeling on the floor.


    ¡°Y-your highness¡­?!¡±


    I figured that this scene must¡¯ve seemed rather incomprehensible to these nobles.


    The leader of the rebels, the First Prince, being here was one thing, but then, the sight of the Second Prince kneeling like this must be quite shocking to them, as well.


    The Paladins brandished their holy spears and pointed them at the gathered nobles.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?!¡±


    ¡°Could it be that the Theocratic Empire is trying to invade our Lome Kingdom¡­?!¡±


    It was right at that moment; the door to the royal audience chamber was pushed open.


    -Ku-aaaaah!


    The nobles promptly clamped their mouth shut.


    They could see a single lycan in shackles being dragged in by the Paladins. Not just the undead creature alone, but even Rose Darina with her arms and legs shackled tightly was being dragged in along with her maidservant as well.


    Derian¡¯s complexion paled even more at this sight.


    I remained seated on the throne, and after resting my cheek on the back of my hand, I addressed them all, ¡°As you all can see, your Second Prince Derian has been working with the Vampires all along and even provided shelter to Second Crown Princess Consort.¡±


    The eyes of the nobles opened wider.


    ¡°This is an act of high treason that clearly goes against the rules of the continent. Not to forget, this is also the conduct of a devil worshipper that defies the laws of the gods.¡±


    It didn¡¯t matter whether you were a prince or a member of the Imperial Family, you wouldn¡¯t be able to keep your head from such a serious crime.


    ¡°Is there anyone who¡¯s not convinced now?¡±


    The nobles stared at Derian with looks of disbelief clearly etched on their faces.


    I used [Mind¡¯s Eye] to check out the gathered nobles, but as expected, it wasn¡¯t possible to find out if there were any other collaborators hidden among them. And there were no Vampires either.


    I glanced at Rose Darina next.


    She lightly bowed her head at me and offered a simple greeting, ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Seventh Imperial Prince Allen Olfolse.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but frown at her current attitude.


    She was rather relaxed for some reason. She must¡¯ve known that once we dragged her back home, her head would go flying away. And yet, I couldn¡¯t see a single hint of anxiety or nervousness from her at all.


    I turned my head and stared at Charlotte.


    She shook her head side to side before approaching me.


    After leaning in closer, she whispered, ¡°It¡¯s far too easy, your highness.¡±


    I had to agree with her assessment.


    ¡°Definitely.¡±


    This was strange. Not only was it way too easy, it felt too simple as well. This sour-tasting and ominous foreboding took a hold of me in no time at all.


    Why was this? I thought the Vampires were protecting Rose Darina? Was I wrong?


    Why were they handing over Rose this easily? What about Prince Derian? Was he nothing more than a disposable pawn?


    But¡­ to achieve what exactly?


    Was it really as simple as them exploiting the civil war in the Lome Kingdom to increase their forces?


    I had no way of finding out. No way of knowing what the Vampires had been scheming, what they ultimately wanted to achieve.


    I tried to remember what Derian had told me earlier.


    -O-of course it was me who sent the assassins. However, I was merely told to do it, that¡¯s all!


    Apparently, it wasn¡¯t his decision alone to send the assassins.


    -It was Raiden. He told me to do it. He said that it¡¯s the best way to unite the Lome Kingdom into one¡­ He even told me that he could do something about the Theocratic Empire by himself!


    Hang on, Raiden did what?


    A dazed expression floated up on my face.


    Derian, Rose, and those low-calibre assassins.


    This feeling that the Vampires simply handed everything over to me¡­


    ¡­As if they were just bait in the end.


    Bait?


    ¡°Hang on a second here.¡±


    I swallowed my dry saliva.


    The information on Rose¡¯s whereabouts had been leaked out way too easily, didn¡¯t it? And after receiving that news, the scions of the Imperial Family, burning with flames of vengeance, personally stepped up to handle the subjugation effort.


    And right now¡­


    ¡°It can¡¯t be¡­¡±


    Two members of the Imperial Family, the ones that the Vampires feared so much, were currently in the kingdom of Lome ¨C Crown Imperial Prince White, and his son Luan Olfolse.


    Lome embroiled in the civil war would surely prove to be easier than¡­


    ¡°Did they deliberately lure us out here¡­?¡±


    ¡­The Theocratic Empire if the Vampires were planning to eliminate them.


    Charlotte¡¯s expression hardened at my observation.


    **


    A bat watching the proceedings from high up in the skies of Lomania flew towards a forest over a hill some distance away from the capital city. After it reached its destination, the creature scattered away into ashes and disappeared.


    ¡°How can this be!¡±


    A bizarre-looking monster muttered out loudly in clear excitement.


    It turned its head and looked at Raiden standing next to it.


    The monster with wrinkled face, pale-white hide, sharp and prominent eyes, and white hair was none other than the Progenitor Vampire named Marquis Kirum.


    He rubbed his eyes with his lengthy fingers. ¡°It¡¯s truly amazing! Amazing, I say! He was quicker than we suspected him to be! We hadn¡¯t anticipated this turn of events. It seems that we¡¯ve been underestimating the Seventh Imperial Prince until now!¡±


    This Vampire had goblin-like facial features while its arms and legs were abnormally lengthy. As for its attire, it was dressed like a clown with chequered patterns.


    Actually, Marquis Kirum was already referred to as the ¡®insane clown¡¯ even among the Vampires.


    He looked quite awed at the moment. Having watched the Seventh Imperial Prince in action through its bat familiar until now, he could only speak in admiration of the boy. ¡°Not only does he have a way to detect Vampires hidden among humans, he also possesses another method to detect collaborators working for us. Coaxing the Second Prince just in case turned out to be the right call in the end!¡±


    ¡°Indeed, he¡­ acted faster than I have anticipated.¡±


    Raiden didn¡¯t expect the boy to act this quickly. That boy didn¡¯t simply pressure Derian for the suspicion of the assassination attempt, but even seemed to have gained insight on the Second Prince¡¯s connection to the Vampires and Rose Darina in an instant.


    In other words, the Seventh Imperial Prince was ¡®certain¡¯ that Derian was an accomplice working with Rose and the Vampires.


    And with this, the Vampire had become certain of it.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince was able to see ¡®something¡¯. No, wait ¨C to be more precise, he was seeing through one¡¯s heart. As if he could read what¡¯s in a person¡¯s mind.


    But then, Marquis Kirum spoke up what was in his mind, which proved to be slightly different from Raiden¡¯s thoughts. ¡°However, whatever that method is, it¡¯s not perfect. It seems there¡¯s some kind of restrictions on it. If that wasn¡¯t it, he wouldn¡¯t have resorted to torturing Derian like that earlier.¡±


    The boy could glean into one¡¯s thoughts, but was unable to find everything out ¨C that was the conclusion the Vampire had come to.


    With an expression of a man who had stumbled across something genuinely intriguing, Marquis Kirum began rubbing his hands gleefully like some kind of a fly. ¡°This is truly interesting. Ah, ah¡­ That livestock sure is tempting, isn¡¯t he? As expected of someone called the Saint. It seems that the rumours of him being blessed by Gaia weren¡¯t false. Oh, how I wish to keep him as a pet and enjoy drinking his blood for a long, long time!¡±


    1


    Raiden glanced at Marquis Kirum next to him.


    ¡°However, he possesses eyes that allows him to discern us, making him even more dangerous than the Holy Emperor himself. We got lucky this time. To think that he¡¯d willingly leave the Theocratic Empire. Our original targets had been just the First Imperial Prince Luan and the Crown Imperial Prince, after all.¡±


    By leaking out information with Rose as the bait, both Luan and the Crown Imperial Prince, burning with flames of vengeance, would no doubt blindly latch onto it.


    By using Derian, those two could be tied down in the capital of the Lome Kingdom, Lomania. The pretext of needing to investigate the rebels would certainly buy ample enough time, and once they figured out that the ¡®Vampires¡¯ were involved in the matter, they wouldn¡¯t want to leave the kingdom anytime soon.


    ¡°It¡¯s great that¡­¡± Marquis Kirum¡¯s eyes gleamed sharply. ¡°¡­We can now kill them all at the same time.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    This was the end goal of their plan.


    The reason why they kept Rose Darina around when she was no longer useful was to serve her up as the ¡®sacrifice¡¯. However, they didn¡¯t expect the Seventh Imperial Prince to interfere as well.


    But this was actually for the better.


    Marquis Kirum¡¯s lips curled up so much that his cheeks almost tore open. ¡°About two hundred thousand citizens live in Lomania. The number of the capital defence force is about seven thousand and five hundred. One thousand Heavenly Army Paladins. Although this is a fairly strong combat force, they are still ¡®prey¡¯ that we can eliminate no problem.¡±


    Raiden glanced behind the clearly-excited Marquis Kirum.


    Several Vampires emitting bizarre, monstrous auras but still retaining the outer appearances of humans leisurely walked out from the forest.


    Marquis Kirum cackled hoarsely. He elegantly waved his hand at the Progenitors that had made their entrance and spoke, ¡°Dear Marquis Raiden, please say hello. These fine folks are the nobles entrusted with the task of today¡¯s ¡®slaughter¡¯.¡±


    He then pointed to individual Progenitor Vampires and introduced them.


    ¡°Baron Jenis, Baronet Berunie, Viscount Logher, Baron Tiru, Count Guibert, plus thirty knights from the knight order directly under his majesty the Vampire King.¡±


    The Progenitor Vampires¡¯ sharp eyes gleamed coldly.


    The number of the ¡®undead army¡¯ they had gathered from throughout the kingdom of Lome was around two thousand, plus they could summon three thousand more of mid- to upper-tier undead as well.


    ¡°We have an undead army five thousand strong with us.¡± Marquis Kirum turned his head and stared at the distant capital city of Lome kingdom, Lomania. ¡°Not only that, two hundred thousand citizens who will serve as our livestock are waiting for us. Every time we kill them, they would become a part of the growing zombie army. With this, we should be able to¡­¡±


    1


    Marquis Kirum glanced at Raiden briefly.


    ¡°¡­Kill all the scions of the Imperial Family. Wouldn¡¯t you agree, Marquis Raiden?¡±


    ¡°¡­Indeed. We will, Marquis Kirum.¡±


    2


    Sure, the Crown Imperial Prince was there, but Raiden was tasked with dealing with him. That¡¯s why he was here, after all. If the battle became unfavourable, then other Progenitors would participate as well.


    1


    As for Marquis Kirum, he should be able to handle the Seventh Imperial Prince and First Imperial Prince Luan.


    4


    Raiden turned his head and looked at Lomania. He then recalled the face of Prince Derian.


    The former dragon slayer clenched his teeth hard. Blood seeped out from between his teeth.


    He had to bow his head not to the Vampire King that he swore his loyalty to, but to some measly little livestock. Oh, how humiliating that was.


    But now, the time had come to vent his anger.


    ¡°I knew it, she was just bait.¡±


    It was then, a voice suddenly came to the Vampires, and Raiden¡¯s eyes shot wide open. He quickly turned his head in the direction of that voice.


    A man was walking out of the forest.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking that the situation in Lome looked weird all along, you see?¡± The man muttered in clear dissatisfaction while scratching the back of his head. ¡°So I investigated the whole kingdom just in case and discovered that quite a few villages and territories not in the war zones had disappeared from the map. Not only that, the residents there had all turned into the undead, too.¡±


    This man didn¡¯t look scared at all even though bizarre monsters were nearby.


    1


    ¡°I¡¯ve been chasing after you creeps for ten years already. And guess what? I¡¯ve run into this sort of trap plenty of times before.¡±


    The Progenitor Vampires shed cold sweat drops and stumbled back in fear.


    ¡°However, you bastards sure have gone out of your way to prepare this, haven¡¯t you? That¡¯s certainly surprising! I knew that you were getting more systematic and organised lately, but to think that it¡¯d be on this scale.¡±


    Storms of divinity began swirling around the man. Swords of light materialised and took aim at the Vampires.


    Marquis Kirum looked at the man and cried out in shock, ¡°It¡¯s the head collector!¡±


    The man furrowed his brows unhappily. ¡°Hey, my name is White Olfolse. Who are you calling the head collector here?¡±


    1


    Indeed, he was none other than the Crown Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire.


    White smiled refreshingly and waved his hand at the Vampires. ¡°Whatever the case may be, it¡¯s still nice to meet you all like this, Vampires. And also¡­¡±


    Suddenly, the light in White¡¯s eyes grew deathly frigid.


    ¡°¡­This is a goodbye, too.¡±


    2


    The swords of light impaled the Vampires.


    1


    < 106. Lomania -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 200 - 107. Lomania -2 (Part One)

    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡±


    One of the Vampires burst into flames and instantly turned into ashes.


    The Progenitor Vampires witnessed the death of their comrade and their already-pale skin became even paler in shock.


    ¡°You monster!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s clearly insane!¡±


    The Progenitors stared at White Olfolse and loudly yelled out.


    The Crown Imperial Prince had brazenly strode into the middle of the enemy camp. All by himself to boot!


    Even a blind man should be able to see that there were a bunch of Progenitor Vampires possessing high-tier ranks standing right before him, and yet, White displayed not a single shred of hesitation.


    He wasn¡¯t scared in the least. He simply smiled away like a hunter who was out to enjoy some game hunting.


    ¡°Ahaha, thanks for the praise.¡±


    White guffawed happily, then pressed his hands together to offer a prayer. And when he prayed towards the god of his choice, the god of abundance, Tomer, countless many blades of light quickly materialised all around him to take aim at the Vampires.


    The Progenitors gasped and shivered in fear.


    ¡°You! You think just you alone can fight us all?!¡±


    One of the barons ended up yelling out of anxiety.


    But right at that moment, the baron¡¯s open mouth was instantly impaled by a blade of light. His head got extinguished while his body burst into flames and turned into scattering ashes.


    The Vampire nobles witnessing that sight all clamped their mouths shut.


    ¡°I never said I¡¯d kill you all.¡± The corners of White¡¯s lips quivered in a derisive smirk while he stared at the Vampires. His eyes were carefully scanning each and every undead standing before him. ¡°It¡¯ll be enough for me to kill about half of you before getting out of here, you know? Even if it¡¯s me, dealing with two marquises at the same time will be a bit too much.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Marquis Kirum¡¯s expression crumpled unsightly.


    What White was trying to achieve here was to ¡®fragment¡¯ the undead forces that had been gathered so far. No matter how many undead were here, the whole plan would be as good as dead and buried if the beings capable of commanding them had been killed off.


    ¡°This¡­ is rather troublesome.¡±


    Marquis Kirum glanced at Lomania in the distance.


    The Vampires had to make a move now.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince was an individual with unknown potential. This plan must come to fruition before he was given enough time to think up a response.


    Just how much planning and work did the Vampires put in just to lure the members of the Imperial Prince to that city? At this rate, everything would be for naught even before they had a chance to utilise the civil war taking place in the kingdom of Lome.


    Marquis Kirum clenched his fists tightly.


    ¡®That cannot be allowed.¡¯


    The Vampires had been hunted down by these measly livestock for the past several millennia. They had been suppressed, had stakes driven into them, and even got hacked to pieces.


    ¡®We must repay all the humiliation we have suffered until now!¡¯


    They finally had come across an opportunity to escape from those acts of ruthless suppression and enjoy their freedom. They simply could not afford to end this mission in failure.


    Veins bulged on Marquis Kirum¡¯s forehead, but that expression lasted only for a brief moment. He sucked in a deep breath, and while calming his mind, he changed his train of thought.


    ¡®No, wait. This is actually for the better.¡¯


    Kirum glared at White Olfolse and smiled with his eyes.


    ¡®Without a doubt, we should be able to kill him if everyone here fights together.¡¯


    Indeed, they could kill White here. However, their chances of success were fairly slim if the Crown Imperial Prince was determined to make his escape after killing a few Vampire nobles. None of them would be able to stop him.


    The worst case scenario for the Vampires would be them failing to hunt down the Imperial Family¡¯s scions, and also failing to construct their massive undead army.


    Those events simply had to be prevented at all costs.


    And that¡¯s why¡­


    ¡®We shall get our hands on all three.¡¯


    White Olfolse, the scions of the Imperial Family, and even the completed undead army¡­


    All of them!


    Marquis Kirum called out, ¡°Marquis Raiden.¡±


    Raiden glanced at Kirum at the call.


    The ¡®insane clown¡¯ Vampire addressed the former dragon slayer, ¡°Leave the Crown Imperial Prince to me.¡±


    Raiden asked, ¡°Will it be fine with you alone?¡±


    Even if Marquis Kirum was someone personally acknowledged by the Vampire King, it¡¯d be next to impossible to deal with White Olfolse alone.


    But Kirum simply nodded with a faint smile on his lips. ¡°Yes, it will be. Although, if I find the situation has become untenable, then I¡¯ll just flee from here. We cannot afford to fail today¡¯s mission.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    Raiden also nodded while looking at the rest of the Vampires.


    The Vampire nobles and knights were already starting to inch back little by little.


    White frowned deeply while observing their sneaky actions. ¡°Who said you can leave as you please?¡±


    He shot a glare at the Vampires trying to flee from the combat zone.


    It was right at that moment Marquis Kirum stepped in front of them. He swallowed his dry saliva and clapped his hands loudly.


    Soon afterwards, he formed a bizarre smile.


    ¡°Ah, I almost forgot. White Olfolse, there¡¯s something I¡¯ve been meaning to tell you if we ever had an opportunity to run into each other.¡± Kirum spread open his arms wide and elegantly bowed his head. ¡°It seems that the Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse, has safely returned home.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡±


    White immediately froze up on the spot after Marquis Kirum said those words.


    The Vampire raised up his head as a thick, slimy smile floated up on his face. ¡°That zombie? It was I that smuggled it out from the empire¡¯s borders.¡±


    White¡¯s expression hardened instantly.


    But that reaction only brought up a grin on Marquis Kirum¡¯s face. It was so wide that the corners of his lips threatened to tear open his cheeks. His sharp fangs could be seen protruding out from his goosebumps-inducing grin.


    ¡°I had to work fairly hard to coax that Archbishop back then. Indeed, it was quite difficult to take his granddaughter as my hostage. But it all paid off in the end, didn¡¯t it? Who knew that I¡­¡± Kirum slowly stroked his own cheek. His pale complexion began flushing deeply as an entranced expression formed on his face. ¡°¡­would have the honour of turning the scion of the Imperial Family into a Vampire-!¡±


    In that instant, White¡¯s figure disappeared from the view.


    By the time Marquis Kirum detected his movement, White was already standing right before the Vampire¡¯s stunned eyes.


    ¡°Oh, the god of abundance, Tomer¡­!¡±


    White offered a quick prayer.


    He extended his hand and instantly materialised a powerful sword of light.


    ¡°Dammit!¡± Marquis Kirum cried out after getting a bone-chilling premonition. He reflexively pulled his body back.


    ¡°I won¡¯t let you escape.¡±


    White took a swift swing with the sword of light. The brilliant streak of light cut through the forest and Marquis Kirum¡¯s body split into two halves.


    The fatal-looking sword strike had landed, but¡­


    ¡®Too shallow.¡¯


    White furrowed his brows.


    The two split halves of the Vampires suddenly transformed into a colony of bats and quickly scattered away, before gathering on the bottom side of a tree branch in the forest nearby.


    Marquis Kirum reformed his physical body, and while hanging upside down on the branch, began guffawing out. ¡°Ahaha! White Olfolse, as expected of the Crown Imperial Prince! How scary you are. You being labelled as the second most frightening monster after the Holy Emperor was not an exaggeration! I only lost track of you for a blink, yet you¡­¡±


    Kirum promptly clamped his mouth shut.


    That¡¯s because dozens upon dozens of blades of light had already been materialised all around him, aiming to pierce through his body.


    ¡°¡­Hah, haha¡­¡±


    The swords of light flew out and began stabbing into Marquis Kirum.


    **


    Meanwhile, Raiden and the other Progenitor Vampires were urgently dashing away from the scene of the battle.


    They rapidly advanced forward by utilising their physical abilities that had transcended the level of what regular humans were capable of.


    Now wasn¡¯t the time to worry about White. They needed to focus their attention on just one thing right now ¨C taking over the capital city of Lome Kingdom, Lomania.


    They were going to slaughter the two hundred thousand livestocks living in that city, bathing the cityscape in their blood ¨C in addition, acquiring a large-scale undead army in the process as well.


    No matter how strong the boy prince was, he wouldn¡¯t be able to maintain his divinity reserve while dealing with such an overwhelming number of enemies.


    Eventually, he¡¯d collapse out of exhaustion.


    Although the Vampires would have to let the Crown Imperial Prince go, the two remaining Imperial Princes should end up as sacrifices tonight.


    Raiden dashed forward with all of his being as the light in his eyes burned fiercely. He glared at the capital of the kingdom of Lome in the distance ¨C the city that used to be his old home, the place where he used to serve Lome¡¯s royal family.


    He roared out, ¡°I shall ask you, my fellow nobles.¡±


    The Vampire nobles and knights following after him shifted their gazes over to him.


    ¡°What is it that you wish to do tonight?!¡±


    Madness quickly began taking over the Vampires.


    They roared out their reply, ¡°It¡¯s to hunt!¡±


    Indeed, even Raiden agreed with that desire.


    He had been suppressing himself until now. He had been suppressing his impulses to suck the blood of living humans and consume their flesh.


    But now, the time had finally come to let go of his restraints and unleash his instincts.


    Finally, the time to feel the pride of a Vampire had come for him!

 Chapter 201 - 107. Lomania -2 (Part Two)

    ¡°Well then. Taste them to your heart¡¯s content. After all, we have over two hundred thousand livestocks here!¡±


    The Vampires shuddered from sheer excitement at Raiden¡¯s words.


    ¡°Light up the flames, and howl out!¡±


    Soon, ¡®it¡¯ would reverberate everywhere.


    ¡°Let them know what true fear is!¡±


    ¡­¡¯It¡¯ being the screams of the livestocks, the sounds of their ardent wish to be liberated from the torturous pain through death!


    ¡°Drink their warm blood, and enjoy biting into their fresh meat!¡±


    And also, the roar of the noble and great army of Vampires too!


    ¡°Kkiiiiiiaaaaaak-!¡±


    The Vampires gathered demonic energy and summoned the undead.


    The ground beneath broke open as zombies, ghouls, giant zombies, dullahans, and even Death Knights rose up into the open air.


    They pushed themselves out from the dirt below and raised their heads high.


    More zombies responded to the gathering demonic energy and began crawling out from the distant forest, while the lycans rushed out of the darkness of the night to follow the Vampires.


    Their numbers continued to increase.


    At first, one thousand.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Then, three thousand.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Eventually, five thousand.


    They howled and screeched out loudly while rushing forward.


    All so that they could devour the tasty prey, and eliminate the members of the Imperial Family that had ruthlessly suppressed them and hunted them until now!


    ¡°Go forth-!¡±


    They all rushed towards Lomania.


    **


    The capital of the Lome Kingdom had been plunged into chaos.


    An order came from the royal palace, and it said to ¡®prepare for the invasion of Vampires¡¯.


    And so, a city-wide evacuation order had been issued to all civilians.


    But not too long after the order had been delivered, a whole bunch of existences with burning crimson eyes began showing up from the distant darkness outside the city.


    Their numbers alone seemed to breach the five-thousand mark.


    This horde split apart into five groups, each with one thousand individuals, and were marching towards the city from seemingly all directions.


    Charlotte watched this spectacle unfold while standing on top of the city¡¯s outer wall.


    She muttered grimly to herself, ¡°Even if it¡¯s his highness, he won¡¯t be able to stop them all.¡±


    Back when the Vampire Count showed up in Ronia, it had been commanding over twenty thousand undead, but that army was mostly made up of the lowest-tier zombies while their rush was concentrated on one spot.


    Defeating them was all possible thanks to the presences of various other Priests as well as the convicts who were already heavily-drilled in the art of defensive battles.


    However, the story was different this time.


    The undead horde this time ranged from low-tier zombies to even mid- to high-tier creatures. Lomania was also mostly filled with regular soldiers who had never encountered, let alone fight, a Vampire before.


    Finally, the Seventh Imperial Prince would have no way of defending against the undead army if they split into five groups with one thousand individuals each which attacked from different directions.


    Soon, the capital city of the Lome Kingdom would turn into the city of death.


    Charlotte issued her new order, ¡°All members of the Heavenly Army, retreat. We shall head back to the royal palace. Do not forget to evacuate the civilians along the way.¡±


    When the Paladins began making their moves, the Lome soldiers watching on hurriedly lodged their complaints.


    ¡°Hold on! What do you expect us to do if the Theocratic Empire¡¯s forces withdraw from here?!¡±


    A captain leading one of Lome¡¯s knight orders shouted out, but Charlotte replied in a calm but cold voice, instead. ¡°Even if we¡¯re the Heavenly Army, our strength will not be enough to stop them here. However, the story will change if we¡¯re back in the royal palace.¡±


    It would be different in the royal palace?


    The knight order captain became puzzled by that statement and asked her. ¡°What do you mean by that, ma¡¯am?¡±


    ¡°If you wish to save your citizens, then¡­¡± Charlotte replied, ¡°Stop the undead with everything you have, survive, and then make your way back to the royal palace.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°If you do, his highness will resolve everything.¡±


    ¡°What kind of a nonsensical¡­¡±


    The knight order captain stopped his sentence mid-way after he stared into Charlotte¡¯s eyes.


    Despite the march of the undead army numbering in the thousands, there was not a single hint of fear in her eyes.


    No, the light in her eyes was actually filled with an unshakeable determination, and that in turn prompted the captain to shut his mouth altogether.


    That was absolute faith on display.


    She said that the Imperial Prince would somehow resolve this situation.


    Goodness¡­ how could anyone realistically believe and follow some young boy in a situation like this?


    The knight order captain gritted his teeth.


    The Lome soldiers approached him in the meantime.


    ¡°What should we do, sir?¡±


    ¡°¡­They are professionals when it comes to hunting Vampires down. We don¡¯t have any choice but to trust their judgement.¡±


    By now, the Vampires had already surrounded the city. Meaning, the Paladins wouldn¡¯t be able to escape from here anyways.


    However, they must¡¯ve had something to believe in.


    That¡¯s why¡­


    ¡°My family has been defending this royal capital, Lomania, for generations.¡±


    The captain who had served the kingdom of Lome¡¯s royal family all his life understood that at the very least, he needed to do this one thing.


    ¡°Give it your all and defend against the undead!¡± He loudly yelled out. ¡°Buy as much time as possible, and prepare to evacuate to the royal palace!¡±


    The soldiers quickly got to work after receiving his orders. While doing that, they also glanced at the city behind them.


    That was where their families, friends, and precious loved ones were staying.


    That was their home. Where their roots laid. The place they couldn¡¯t abandon or forsake.


    They simply could not permit these ¡®monsters¡¯ to devour this place up without them putting up any resistance whatsoever.


    ¡°Protect our hometown! Defend our precious families and friends! We are the swords and the shields of this kingdom! We are the knights of Lome, the kingdom of brave knights!¡±


    The gathered soldiers raised their spears and swords. The archers clenched their teeth while nocking and taking aim with their bows and arrows.


    ¡°Do not let those monsters look down on us!¡±


    The soldiers all roared out in sync.


    Around the same time, First Prince Barus and his younger brother, Second Prince Derian, were watching this scene play out while standing on one of the royal palace¡¯s balconies.


    Strength abandoned their legs and they faltered to the floor.


    ¡°The Vampires are invading us¡­¡±


    ¡°Raiden, that bastard has betrayed the royal family!¡±


    Barus despaired while Derian became enraged.


    The number of combatants making up the regular army stationed in the capital was about seven thousand and five hundred in total. And none of them were unskilled amateurs, either.


    Indeed, they were the elite soldiers and knights who had tempered their skills within the cauldrons of various battlefields.


    However, it was still too much of an ask for them to stand up against the Vampires. That¡¯s because they were about to fight against the ¡®immortal¡¯ army.


    There was also the fact that the soldiers dying at the hands of the Vampires would only end up bolstering the number of the undead army.


    Luan Olfolse stared briefly at the two forlorn-looking princes before shifting his gaze back to the city streets below.


    Two hundred thousand citizens were desperately rushing towards the royal palace to escape from the undead.


    However, not all of them would make it in time. That¡¯s how quick the Vampires were. That¡¯s how starving they were, too.


    ¡°Soon, this city will turn into hell.¡±


    Luan angrily clenched his fists. The Vampires that he hated so much would soon arrive here, yet he felt a sense of powerlessness after realising that he couldn¡¯t do anything about this situation.


    ¡°Yes, the city will turn into hell, but¡­¡±


    Luan turned his head at that voice.


    He spotted Allen walking out into the balcony. He leaned against the balcony¡¯s railing and began scanning the rest of the royal palace. It was as if he was trying to take rough measurements of the structure¡¯s overall dimensions.


    ¡°¡­But that¡¯s not going to happen to this palace, at least.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that you can stop them?¡±


    Even if the Heavenly Army was here, and even if Allen was strong enough to kill Aslan¡¯s king Rahamma, it was still unknown whether or not he could deal with the ever-growing number of Vampires.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s actually quite doable.¡± Allen stared at the distant undead army approaching the city and furrowed his brows. ¡°It might get too close for comfort, though.¡±


    It was at that moment that Luan saw it.


    He saw that many skeleton mages had been stationed in various parts of the royal palace.


    These holy undead creatures were offering their prayers while tightly gripping onto their staves. And as they prayed, more and more divinity gradually gathered around them, and golden-hued rune letters started engraving themselves nearby.


    Luan witnessed all that and shifted his gaze back to Allen. ¡°¡­What are you going to do this time?¡±


    ¡°This city will turn into hell where Vampires roam free. However¡­¡± Allen pointed to the ground below. More correctly, at the palace he was standing on. ¡°However, this palace will be the exact opposite.¡±


    ¡°When you say the exact opposite¡­?¡±


    Allen replied with a meaningful smile on his face. ¡°It will become the holy ground that those bastards fear the most. Most importantly, if this event was the handiwork of that dragon slayer, then¡­¡±


    2


    The Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s eyes narrowed to slits just then.


    ¡°¡­Then, we should give him a grand welcome befitting all the hard work he put in, don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    1


    Allen¡¯s Aztal rune reacted to his call and began glowing in a brilliant golden hue.


    < 107. Lomania -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 202 - 108. Lomania -3 (Part One)

    The surrounding air was being altered by the onset of demonic energy.


    Under the moonlight that had become crimson in hue, the Vampires began howling out like the monsters that they were.


    Many flashy, billowing flames rose up from various parts of Lomania, the capital city of the Lome kingdom.


    They were from many fire pits and torches, burning arrows and siege weapon projectiles coated in oil.


    The burning projectiles were launched in the air.


    All the Vampires witnessed this unfolding spectacle with entranced expressions on their faces.


    Everything up in the sky was a signal to declare the beginning of the battle.


    All those things were the flames that declared the Vampires¡¯ presence to the rest of the world!


    ¡°Let¡¯s go-!¡±


    The Vampires ably ducked and weaved past the barrage of burning projectiles. The Zombies were struck by the flaming arrows and staggered unsteadily on their feet. However, their march didn¡¯t stop despite their bodies being set alight.


    The Vampires constantly shifted their gazes around and evaded all incoming projectile attacks.


    In the blink of an eye, they reached the vicinity of the city¡¯s outer wall.


    ¡°They do not have siege weapons!¡±


    A knight order captain roared out.


    Tonight¡¯s invading enemies were Vampires, and they didn¡¯t seem to possess any siege weapons as if their army had been hastily put together.


    Which meant that they couldn¡¯t possibly scale the city¡¯s outer wall and¡­!


    Right at that moment, a Vampire leapt towards the outer wall. His feet clung to the wall¡¯s surface, and as if he was completely ignoring gravity, the undead creature rapidly began dashing up.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The Vampire leapt up in the air. While making a chill-inducing smirk, he swung his hand. A hand that didn¡¯t even carry any weapons.


    The knight order captain¡¯s head flew away and a fountain of blood gushed up from his neck.


    The Vampire caught the severed head and grabbed the headless body to hungrily bite into it.


    The thirst he had been suppressing for too long had finally been quenched, albeit only temporarily. The excitement and ecstasy swiftly took over the Vampire¡¯s rationale.


    ¡°Yes, this is it! This is the taste that I¡¯ve been waiting to experience for so long!¡±


    Indeed, this fresh blood!


    When would this Vampire get another chance to gorge himself on fresh meat like this?! Now that he was here, there should be no reason to hold back anymore.


    No, all he needed to do from now on was to enjoy drinking blood and slaughtering everything he saw!


    However, right at that moment, a spear made out of Mana flew in and impaled the Vampire¡¯s back. The soft flesh was cleanly pierced through. Even the bones underneath were penetrated without much resistance.


    The Lome soldiers felt the distinct sensation of stabbing through flesh in their hands and further strengthened their grips.


    Unfortunately for them¡­


    ¡°Hahahah!¡±


    Rather than screaming out in pain or torment, the Vampire roared out in laughter, instead. The undead creature¡¯s head began turning back. Along with a loud crunching, creaking noise, his head actually spun 180 degrees on his neck and began glaring at the soldiers.


    The Vampire¡¯s eyes glowed menacingly before a crazed laughter exploded out from his mouth once more.


    The Lome soldiers became as pale as sheets of paper at the undead monster¡¯s freakish skill on display.


    ¡°What a bunch of weak livestock you are.¡±


    Vampires were monsters in the truest sense.


    Not only were they a race borne out of darkness, they also worshipped the god of death. Yet, they were contradictory existences that desired to become gods themselves in the end.


    ¡°You are all nothing more than some measly livestock, yet you fools dare to oppose us?!¡±


    1


    This Vampire, a knight in rank, turned his body around and leisurely approached the Lome soldiers.


    The Lome knights and soldiers continued to pepper the Vampire with Mana-infused attacks. The undead¡¯s body was sliced up and pierced by spears over and over again. But even then, no change took place on the Vampire¡¯s expression other than some twitching of the muscles around the creature¡¯s eyes.


    The Vampire took a look at the tips of the spears before glaring at the Lome knights and soldiers. ¡°These aren¡¯t even silver-tipped spears.¡±


    His tone of voice was clearly meant to mock his human attackers.


    The Vampire then raised his fingers up. His fingernails were sharper than any of the blades the Lome knights wielded.


    ¡°Do you really believe that a bunch of humans who can¡¯t even use divinity to burn our skin¡­¡±


    Not only that, the Vampire¡¯s fangs were as tough as steel hammers that could easily crush rocks.


    ¡°¡­Can oppose us Vampires?!¡±


    A Vampire¡¯s body was nearly immortal as it could regenerate endlessly.


    ¡°You pathetic, lowly fools. You are nothing but our livestock! That is why¡­!¡±


    The Vampire opened his mouth wide.


    ¡°Get obediently devoured!¡±


    This creature was an evil monster that hunted and devoured humans.


    Desperate screams resounded out.


    The capital city of Lomania was burning down as flames swept across its skyline. Ashes were dancing and scattering in the night sky.


    The knight order captain that lost his head and got his blood sucked out suddenly staggered back up to his feet. He grabbed his severed head as lifeless eyeballs began darting about this way and that.


    ¡°It, it¡¯s a dullahan!¡±


    The Lome knights hurriedly swung their swords at their dead captain and tried to oppose it.


    Meanwhile, zombies were busy grabbing and ripping into Lome Kingdom¡¯s soldiers in seemingly every corner of the slaughter field.


    One zombie went on to create yet another one.


    ¡°Open the city gates!¡±


    The Vampire nobles headed towards the city¡¯s gates. Not too long afterwards, the once tightly-shut gates began creaking open.


    Lyncathropes rushed into the city in the blink of an eye and quickly scattered in all directions. They rapidly tracked down the evacuating civilians and soldiers, and then attacked from behind to bite and tear them apart.


    ¡°Devour them all!¡±


    ¡°Let us enjoy this hell-!¡±


    ¡°Ku-hahahahaha!¡±


    Laughters infused with pure madness resounded throughout the city.


    ¡°Fight back!¡±


    ¡°Defend our capital!¡±


    ¡°Evacuations haven¡¯t been completed yet!¡±


    The soldiers of the Lome Kingdom bravely blockaded the city streets. However, they couldn¡¯t stop the overflowing hordes of zombies shuffling towards them in order to devour all living creatures.


    Sniff, sniff.


    The Lycans sniffed the air and began seeking out humans hidden throughout the city.


    Soon, maimed corpses littered almost every street.


    Blood thickly coated the ground as it spread out like eerie crimson lakes.


    ¡°This is our world now!¡±


    ¡°This is our first step to establish the pride of all Vampires-!¡±


    ¡°Under the guidance of the God of Death, Yudai, his majesty the Vampire King will also ascend and become a new god¨C!¡±


    From this moment on, there wouldn¡¯t be a need to hide and sneakily hunt humans in darkness, and there shouldn¡¯t be a reason to evade humans and run away, either.


    It should be the exact opposite.


    From this moment on, they would be free to seek out the hiding humans, hunt them down, and feast on them.


    The humans would finally realise the true terror of the Vampires and shiver away in fear.


    Finally, the advent of the Vampires¡¯ world had begun!


    The world that the Vampires wanted to create¡­


    And that would be a literal hell on earth itself.


    The Vampire nobles, each leading undead armies of one thousand combatants, started gathering near the royal palace where the refugees had hidden themselves away.


    ¡°Oh, oh! Viscount Loger.¡±


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve also arrived, Baronet Berunie?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Baron Tiru is also here!¡±


    The Vampire nobles ran into each other at an avenue. Blood was straining their lips, while their hands were holding onto various severed body parts of human victims that they had devoured on their way here.


    It certainly had been a while since they wantonly enjoyed hunting humans like this. They drank fresh human blood and gorged themselves on fresh meat.


    The only thing remaining now would be to raid the royal palace where the humans had gathered.


    Count Guibert and Marquis Raiden were yet to join them, but really, was there a need to mind manners at this point in time?


    The Vampire nobles and knights stared at the royal palace not far from their position. Its walls were tall, while the castle gates were firmly shut.


    And inside that structure¡­ a hundred thousand-plus living humans were trapped.


    Creepy grins formed on the Vampires¡¯ faces.


    The stench of blood wafting in from the city and the monstrous bellows of the undead were agitating them, exciting them.


    It was rather obvious that they wouldn¡¯t be able to hold on to their rationale in this fantastic hellscape where they could revel within pure ecstasy.


    The Vampire nobles exchanged glances with each other before bursting into eerie cackles.


    ¡°It seems that we will be able to attack the palace with ourselves alone.¡±


    ¡°In that case, shall we get to it right away?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t afford to let Marquis Raiden hog all the glory, now can we?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. The holders of the Imperial Family¡¯s bloodline are hiding in there. We might never get another chance to drink such tasty blood in the future.¡±


    The Vampires began marching forward. They led the undead army and headed towards the royal palace.


    Soon, they stood proudly before the palace gates.


    The whole structure was shrouded in darkness.


    ¡°Can you hear it?¡±


    The Vampire nobles focused their ears, and they could hear it clearly.


    They could hear the voices trembling in fear coming from somewhere within the royal palace. The soldiers moaning in pain, people screaming in terror, and children holding their tears.


    All of them were no different from measly livestock waiting to be slaughtered. And they had all gathered in there.


    1


    The Vampires¡¯ desire to consume grew even more fervent after realising that fact.

 Chapter 203 - 108. Lomania -3 (Part Two)

    ¡°Open this gate, now-!¡±


    ¡°If you wish to escape from this hell, do not resist!¡±


    The Vampire nobles spat out some words in Spirit Speech that were filled with demonic energy.


    ¡°We promise that whoever decides to open the gates shall be spared!¡±


    That was a lie.


    Not a single one of the measly humans in this city would survive the night. They would all die after their blood was sucked dry.


    However, humans were animals that allowed their emotions to make decisions for them. There was no doubt that they would struggle pathetically in order to survive after failing to hold onto their reasoning in this extreme situation.


    It was right then ¨C the castle gates actually opened up.


    ¡°Ahaha, as expected, they have given up.¡±


    ¡°But of course. They might as well throw open the gates wide and welcome¡­ us¡­?¡±


    Just as the triumphant Vampires shifted their gazes to the front¡­


    The darkness enveloping the palace was suddenly dyed in bright light.


    The Vampire nobles hurriedly shielded their eyes. But the undead army behind them had already stared into the light, and thus they began screaming in torment while clutching at their burning eyes.


    The entirety of the royal palace was bathed in the blinding light. At the same time, waves of divinity reverberated and spread out everywhere.


    -Ah, aaaaah!


    A sacred hymn echoed throughout the palace and golden rune letters were engraved on the structure.


    The Vampire nobles hurriedly shifted their gazes back to the open castle gates.


    One thousand Paladins kitted out in silver-hued armour and pure-white capes were emerging from the bright light while holding sturdy shields and brandishing their holy spears up high.


    And one individual firmly stood in front of them all.


    ¡°Welcome, welcome.¡±


    It was none other than the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure this is your first time being in heaven, am I right?¡±


    1


    Allen Olfolse¡­


    He was smiling broadly at the Vampires.


    **


    ¡°Under the grace of the Saint, Lord Allen Olfolse-!¡±


    The golden-coloured rune letters began gushing out pure-white aura. The white energy strands began entering the Paladins¡¯ figures.


    The divine blessing permeated their spears and shields, their physical bodies, and even their souls.


    They slammed down the rectangular shields hard on the ground.


    1


    BANG-!


    Their eyes under the helms seemed to glow sharply as they pointed their blessed holy spears at the Vampires before them.


    ¡°The Heavenly Army is now ready to engage in combat-!¡±


    1


    The voices reverberating in Spirit Speech caused the undead creatures to block out their ears.


    ¡°¡­W-what is the meaning of this?!¡±


    ¡°These bastards, what are they¡­?!¡±


    All of the Vampires stumbled back while glaring at the Paladins. Even though the human holy knights were wearing helms, their burning spirit could still be sensed.


    They were all¡­ grinning.


    Their rough, heavy breathing which was stoked by the excitement, could be clearly heard.


    These ones were quite different from the army of livestock that the Vampires had been expecting to fight today. As a matter of fact, these beings were the complete opposite.


    They were ¡®hunters¡¯ who had been hunting Vampires down for the past several thousands years.


    2


    ¡°Hiiiieeek?!¡±


    ¡°D-do not be frightened. We are still in an overwhelmingly advantageous position!¡±


    The forces of the undead had ballooned by now. What started as an army of five thousand was now closer to ten thousand in numbers. And then, there were Vampire nobles present as well.


    With these kinds of numbers on their side, they should be able to kill off all these holy men tonight without much trouble.


    After all, the Paladins only numbered a thousand.


    Those Imperial Family bastards had been ruthlessly hunting down their fellow Vampires. But now, it was time to avenge all¡­?!


    It happened right at that moment.


    Blinding rays of light flashed up in the sky.


    One of the Vampire knights pointed up and cried out, ¡°W-what the hell is that thing¡­?!¡¯


    The Vampires urgently looked up.


    ¡°It must¡¯ve been terribly tough for you all to get here.¡± The Seventh Imperial Prince thickly smiled. ¡°As such, I should roll out the red carpet treatment for you all, right?¡±


    A massive sword created out of amassed divinity was currently floating in the sky.


    And that was¡­


    ¡°The Heavenly Sword?¡±


    One of the Vampires, who had combed through the intel on the magic attacks of the Theocratic Empire stored in his memories, gasped out in shock.


    That was a wide-scale magic attack cast by many Priests working together ¨C a divine sword of retribution materialised in order to destroy all evil.


    ¡°This is your judgement, fellas.¡±


    With that snarky sentence from the Seventh Imperial Prince, the massive sword of light began descending towards the ground below.


    There was no stopping it, just like how no one could stop a falling meteor.


    ¡°R-retreat-!¡±


    The Vampires tried to run. But by then, it was already too late.


    The humongous sword plunged into the ground, and a gigantic explosion went off. All the undead creatures that were sucked into the blast got instantly pulverised out of existence while scattering away into ashes.


    The sword shattered apart and the divinity forming it spread out in the surrounding air.


    The undead that breathed in the divinity-infused air began vomiting out blood, and for those with open eyes, their eyeballs suddenly caught fire and burned away.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡±


    The Vampires barely managed to re-open their burnt eyes and hurriedly looked around their vicinity. And that¡¯s when they witnessed it.


    ¡°Under the grace of his highness the Imperial Prince-!¡±


    They witnessed the marching Paladins in their resplendent silver armour and capes flapping magnificently in the wind.


    1


    ¡°We shall hunt down all of the Vampires-!¡±


    They began wielding their lengthy holy spears in the next moment.


    1


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    The Aztal Rune was unstable.


    The time needed to prepare it was around thirty minutes, while its duration was only around twenty minutes, tops.


    During that time, this royal palace would become a divine temple, while the area surrounding it would turn into a holy sanctuary.


    Those Vampires were putting up some fierce resistance, though.


    1


    They deployed their undead army to fight against the Heavenly Army. But too bad for them, that wasn¡¯t going to be enough. Even if a Paladin was gravely injured, their wounds would instantly heal back in just a moment.


    Despite the Vampires¡¯ claws being full of toxins, despite their fangs carrying deadly curses¡­ Under the power of the divine blessing, all those things would end up being neutralised.


    Actually, those that tried to bite the Paladins had their mouths melt down instead. And the ones trying to stab with their claws would see their hands burn away in holy flames.


    There was not a single casualty on the human side. And the one-sided massacre dished out by the Paladins continued on unabated.


    A short while later¡­


    ¡°What the hell happened here?!¡±


    An unfamiliar voice resounded out.


    I settled down on the throne that the Heavenly Army had prepared for me. I was right in front of the palace gates as if to block the entrance, and the Paladins were standing tall all around my sitting figure.


    I drifted my gaze to my front at that voice.


    The heads of countless undead creatures and Vampires were impaled on a thousand holy spears and were put up as ¡®display¡¯. I spotted a couple more Vampire nobles leading forth another undead army through the gaps of these impromptu stakes.


    The Vampire leading them all was a ¡®knight¡¯ kitted out in a set of flashy armour which boasted a blood-like crimson colour scheme.


    That was the Vampire Marquis who the people of Lome used to call the dragon slayer. With a hardened face, he stared at the severed heads of his fellow Vampire brethren that had been hunted down.


    ¡°Raiden Behemoth.¡±


    That was the instigator, the ringleader of this event. This whole mess should come to an end after I get rid of that bastard.


    I pulled out Amon¡¯s skull before putting it on. Next up, I opened Amon¡¯s grimoire in order to perform a certain summoning spell, and then slung Amon¡¯s staff over my shoulder.


    I called out to Raiden, ¡°I¡¯ve prepared this stage for you. So, why don¡¯t you¡­¡±


    I had already uttered out the activation phrase for the grimoire by then.


    The Aztal Rune was explosively amplifying my divinity. On top of that, I had the skull on and even held the staff, too.


    Everything was perfectly ready.


    And now¡­


    ¡°¡­Show me how your legend of slaying a dragon has come about?¡±


    All I had to do now was to summon an existence that suited a lofty Vampire like him.


    I shouted out the spell activation phrase before slamming the staff down, hard.


    The pages of the grimoire flapped open angrily.


    The ground below powerfully quaked and the aura of divinity loudly resounded out.


    Raiden¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    The land began splitting apart.


    Holy water rose up from the cracks on the ground, shooting up to the sky.


    Ba-dump¡­


    A portion of the royal palace¡¯s outer walls crumbled down from the tremor. However, the one thousand Paladins didn¡¯t even budge an inch and maintained their formation.


    In the meantime, massive front limbs made out of bones rose out from the ground before securing themselves on the solid surface to stabilise the body attached to it.


    Ba-dump¡­


    The one rising up was a creature from the legends, a lifeform acknowledged as the strongest in the world.


    Every time this creature¡¯s heart powerfully pulsed, an incredible wave of divinity rippled and spread to the surroundings.


    That heart was covered by its expansive ribcage, providing it with protection.


    A pair of wings protruding out from its back¡­


    1


    A long, elegantly arched spine and a tail attached at the end¡­


    Its bony body, gleaming in the ivory colour, slowly pushed itself up.


    And finally¡­


    The maw of the dragon opened up wide to howl out a monstrous roar containing Spirit Speech.


    -KU-OOOOOOOOOOH!


    Raiden¡¯s expression froze up as he ungainly stumbled back.


    4


    He hurriedly raised his head and stared at this creature.


    ¡­The bone dragon.


    4


    The legendary creature revealed its magnificent splendour.


    < 108. Lomania -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 204 - 109. The Dragon Slayer (Part One)

    Raiden¡¯s expression froze up.


    For the first time in his life, he got to drink human blood and devour human flesh. Even in the midst of enjoying himself, he still didn¡¯t forget about his task and led the undead army numbering past ten thousand over to the royal palace along with Count Guibert¡¯s help.


    But, but¡­ just what had happened here?


    A spectacle laid out before their eyes, it¡­


    ¡­It truly resembled hell.


    Hell for Vampires, that was.


    One thousand-plus spears were stabbed into the ground, while severed heads of the Vampire nobles alongside numerous undead creatures were impaled on top of these make-shift stakes to create a gruesome display.


    They weren¡¯t dead yet as their lips limply flapped about. Meanwhile, their surroundings were filled with the remains of the undead that hadn¡¯t gotten fully purified and had yet to extinguish from this world.


    Marquis Kirum definitely did say this, didn¡¯t he? That this plan was all about the Vampires murdering the scions of the Imperial Family.


    However¡­


    ¡®Is that even possible at this stage?¡¯


    Marquis Raiden raised his head and looked up at the bone dragon ten metres high and twenty-five metres long. He had never heard about such a monster being present in this location!


    When Raiden just stood there frozen in shock, the bone dragon decided to make a move first.


    The undead creature¡¯s pair of wings began flapping. These wings, made out of bones, continued to beat and sent out immense ripples of divinity waves everywhere.


    The undead army was sent flying away from the winds generated by divinity. The dragon¡¯s bony maw split open wide and flames of golden hue began amassing there.


    That was¡­


    ¡°¡­Breath!¡±


    It was the legendary dragon¡¯s breath.


    Raiden urgently turned around and fled without saying anything else.


    ¡°M-Marquis Raiden?!¡±


    Count Guibert¡¯s voice came to him from behind, but it didn¡¯t carry on for long. That was because the white-coloured bone dragon had spewed out its flames by then.


    The golden-hued flames swept across the grounds before the creature and quickly spread out to the surroundings while emitting eye-searing bright light.


    The army of undead also turned around and tried to flee from there, which naturally included Count Guibert, who was rapidly pushing his somewhat-round body of his to quickly run away.


    But then, the flames mercilessly swallowed all of them up.


    ¡°Marquis Raiden! Please, save me¡­!¡±


    Count Guibert extended his hand out.


    His arm stretched out like a whip and was about to grab Marquis Raiden¡¯s shoulder, but the latter unhesitantly swung his sword and chopped down the former¡¯s arm.


    The golden flames pounced on Count Guibert and turned him into a pile of ashes in the blink of an eye.


    The flames continued on and completely swallowed up the surrounding topography. Choking dust clouds and blinding light blanketed everything.


    And as the rain pummelled down from above, the bone dragon flew out from the smokes rising up from the destruction with its wide-open maw to pounce on Marquis Raiden.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    Clamp!


    He barely managed to dodge the dragon¡¯s clamping maw.


    The dragon¡¯s skull with sharp jutting bones and fangs brushed past his position. Raiden quickly loaded demonic energy into his sword and swung it, managing to just barely deflect the bone dragon¡¯s huge skull.


    ¡°Dammit!¡±


    The bone dragon flew up again. Golden-coloured rune letters suddenly materialised all around it.


    Right after that, a bombardment began ¨C blocks of ice and balls of flames began raining down indiscriminately as if they had no set target.


    The magical bombs rained down on the city of Lomania, utterly pulverising and destroying the wandering undead on the streets below.


    Raiden hurriedly slammed his sword on the ground and roared out powerfully, ¡°Oooooooh!¡±


    Shadows made out of demonic energy stretched out and quickly enveloped him to create a barrier. However, cracks began developing on the shadow barrier as it continued to defend against the bombardment of magic projectiles.


    The bone dragon descended rapidly from the air and slammed its front claws at that crack.


    BANG-!


    Shatter-!


    The barrier cleanly shattered and Raiden inside raised his sword to block the incoming claws. The ground he stood on caved in and crumbled from the weight.


    He exerted so much physical strength that veins began bulging on his throat, forehead, arms, and legs, but even then, the dragon¡¯s front limb still gradually pressed him down.


    ¡®Just what is this bastard¡­?!¡¯


    Divinity was oozing out from the bone dragon¡¯s front limb.


    Raiden¡¯s lungs burned away every time he tried to take a breath.


    The bone dragon¡¯s eyes arched up in the crescent moon shapes, clearly making a smile that mocked how laughably pathetic the Vampire¡¯s resistance was.


    The undead monster suddenly raised itself up before slamming its whole body down once more with powerful flaps of its wings.


    Its considerable weight was fully transmitted to Raiden below.


    ¡°Wu-wuuuk-!¡±


    The Vampire Marquis¡¯s physical body began breaking down.


    The bones in his legs broke apart and tore through his skin to jut out in the open. Even his spine near his lower back area began getting crushed into powder.


    His arms wielding the sword also began breaking down as the dragon¡¯s attacking claws gradually closed in.


    If this continued¡­ Raiden would die for sure!


    ¡°You think I¡¯ll die here?!¡±


    He chose to become a Vampire so that he could keep on living.


    It took all of his being to slay that dragon and to earn the noble title of the dragon slayer, yet¡­


    Yet, the only things gifted to him at the end of all of his struggles was a broken body, and a bunch of nobles looking for a way to use him despite his natural demise creeping ever closer. Even the gazes of the royal family that looked over him remained cold, frigid.


    -The one and only dragon slayer.


    Some even began to ridicule that title, opening wondering if it had been made-up or not.


    ¡°Alright, fine. I shall prove it to you all.¡± Raiden sucked in his breath. ¡°I shall show you that I¡¯m indeed the real dragon slayer.¡±


    He¡¯d show them all.


    He¡¯d show his true power to the royal family and the nobles of Lome who were nothing more than livestock now.


    ¡°Ooooooooh-!¡±


    ¡®Rouse up my demonic energy¡­!¡¯


    His sword was quickly filled up with demonic energy.


    ¡®And focus all of my being.¡¯


    He concentrated demonic energy throughout his entire body.


    ¡®Finally, fight with everything on the line. Even if I have to sacrifice my soul, I must¡­!¡¯


    Kill this dragon!


    His whole body swelled up. He was a Progenitor Vampire, and therefore, he had exceeded the limitations of a human¡¯s body.


    Demonic energy enveloped him; thick scales covered his back.


    Claws grew lengthier on his hands which were gripping the sword.


    His jaw split open and scales covered the rest of his face, making him look monstrously bizarre. He gritted his teeth and struggled mightily before finally deflecting the dragon¡¯s claws away.


    ¡°I shall kill this dragon!¡±


    With this act, he¡¯d prove the worth of his existence.


    Raiden¡¯s glare rose up towards the dragon¡¯s head.


    He flung himself up and flew towards his target. When he got close enough, he quickly swung the sword and sliced at the dragon¡¯s cheekbone area.


    A crack ran through the dragon¡¯s skull.


    -Ku-oooooh!


    The bone dragon opened its maw wide and tried to chomp down on Marquis Raiden in the air.


    CLANG-!


    His blade stopped the fangs from closing in. He stepped on the spaces between the creature¡¯s teeth and continued pushing back against the sharp fangs with his sword.


    Meanwhile, the bone dragon¡¯s heart powerfully pounded away; divinity was boiling up and the licks of golden flames travelled up the dragon¡¯s bony throat to gather inside its open mouth.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    The dragon¡¯s breath set Raiden ablaze in an instant.


    ¡°Uwaaaaaahk!¡±


    Both his body and soul were being burned away. His monstrous-looking body literally began melting down.


    CRUNCH!


    And finally, the dragon clamped its maw shut, trapping Raiden and crushing him inside. His arm and leg were instantly severed by the sharp fangs.


    ¡°I would no doubt perish at this rate. However¡­¡±


    ¡­However, he¡¯d at least destroy this dragon before that happened.


    Raiden used his remaining arm and leg to crawl deeper inside the dragon¡¯s mouth. By relying on the Vampire¡¯s special trait, he was able to ignore gravity; he travelled along by grabbing onto the dragon¡¯s spine and ¡®flew¡¯ towards where the undead¡¯s heart was.


    ¡®As long as I destroy that thing¡­!¡¯


    That ¡®thing¡¯ being the dragon¡¯s beating heart.


    As long as he managed to attack and blow up the heart that contained a massive amount of divinity and maintained the dragon¡¯s body¡­


    ¡®I can prove to everyone that I am indeed the dragon slayer!¡¯


    ¡°Ku-oooooooooh!¡±


    Raiden opened his mouth wide. With his arm and leg gone, there was only one thing he could do ¨C bite into the dragon¡¯s heart with his own teeth, which were strong enough to crush metal.


    ¡°With this¡­¡±


    He should prove that he¡­


    ¡°That I¡¯m the dragon slayer¡­!¡±


    It was at that exact moment Raiden¡¯s eyes shifted to his side. More correctly, at the boy wearing a mountain goat¡¯s skull while sitting on the throne, relaxedly spectating at the unfolding situation.


    Raiden saw the boy breathe into a musket rifle.


    And then, he also saw the boy¡¯s lips move.


    -Thanks for the show, mister dragon slayer. Your legend was real, after all.


    It was as if those words had been delivered directly to his head ¨C he could instantly understand what the boy was saying.


    -However¡­


    The boy took aim with his musket, his eyes clearly smiling away.


    -I can¡¯t afford to lose this dragon that I acquired after going through so much crap, you see?


    Then he pulled the trigger.

 Chapter 205 - 109. The Dragon Slayer (Part Two)

    Divinity swirled in front of the muzzle, and a piercing ray of light exploded out from the weapon. The holy bullet flew in between the bone dragon¡¯s ribs and accurately struck Raiden¡¯s head.


    CRUNCH-!


    Half of the Vampire Marquis¡¯s head blew apart, and his maimed body limply dropped towards the bottom of the rib cage, having failed to destroy the bone dragon¡¯s heart that lay right in front of him.


    Raiden¡¯s body tumbled down between the rib bones and crashed straight into the ground below.


    ¡°Y-you, how dare¡­ interfere in¡­ a sacred¡­ duel¡­¡±


    Raiden turned his half-remaining head to the side as fury took over him.


    The boy, the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, walked leisurely over with a wide grin etched on his face. ¡°A stinking little Vampire is busy mouthing off about a sacred duel and whatnot now?¡±


    He squatted next to Raiden¡¯s wrecked body and smirked derisively at the Vampire.


    ¡°Besides, Raiden Behemoth. You¡¯re wrong about something. A duel? Sure, you¡¯re right about that one. This was indeed a one on one duel between you and me. However, here¡¯s the thing¡­¡±


    The Imperial Prince snapped his fingers, prompting the bone dragon to raise up its front limb high.


    ¡°This dragon is one of my summons, making it a part of my arsenal. Which makes sense, considering¡­¡± The boy prince leaned in closer and whispered in Raiden¡¯s remaining ear, ¡°¡­that I¡¯m a Necromancer.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    Raiden somehow managed to shift his still-trembling eye.


    His opponent was supposed to be a Priest of the Theocratic Empire. Yet, he was also a Necromancer who went against the logic of this world.


    An existence of contradiction that worshipped both Gaia and the God of Death Yudai at the same time.


    To all the Vampires out there, this boy was ¡®fear¡¯ personified.


    Raiden abruptly roared out, ¡°You bastard! Could it be that you and the God of Death¡­?!¡±


    The Imperial Prince stood back up. ¡°Raiden, thanks for the re-enactment of how your legend came to be. However¡­¡±


    The boy prince shot a cold glare at Raiden on the ground before a wry grin filled his expression in the very next moment.


    ¡°It¡¯s all over now.¡±


    The dragon¡¯s front limb mercilessly stomped down on the Vampire Marquis.


    **


    Marquis Kirum vomited out a mouthful of blood.


    ¡®Urgh, dammit. How many times have I died so far? Things are getting really dangerous here.¡¯


    His consciousness was growing fainter, almost ready to black out. His favourite attire had turned into bits of torn rags at this point, and he couldn¡¯t even repair it using demonic energy anymore.


    He hastily turned his head and looked away from the forest. He could sense divinity gushing out from the capital city of Lome kingdom from the distance.


    Marquis Kirum¡¯s eyes opened much wider at that sight.


    ¡®Oh my god, it can¡¯t be¡­?¡¯


    Did they fail the mission?


    The Vampire Marquis¡¯s expression crumpled in an instant. They had to work so hard for this mission, and had even managed to rope in the dragon slayer to their side, yet to think that it all ended in failure¡­


    ¡®What is the reason? Could it be that the Seventh Imperial Prince is the culprit?¡¯


    Marquis Kirum¡¯s eyes quivered.


    This could not be allowed.


    The Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, was dying of old age.


    The most feared existence to the Vampires and the symbol of the Theocratic Empire was about to kick the bucket, so the emergence of another powerful existence seemingly from out of nowhere to take over that old man¡¯s role couldn¡¯t be seen as welcome news at all.


    This was literally the advent of calamity for the Vampires.


    ¡®Now that things have gotten to this stage¡­¡¯


    In that case, he should try to ¡®acquire¡¯ the Crown Imperial Prince, at the very least.


    Marquis Kirum turned his head back to the forest. White Olfolse could be seen walking up to the Vampire with his bloodshot eyes wide open in anger.


    ¡®Killing him is impossible. In that case¡­¡¯


    The other option would be to win him over.


    Kirum quickly disguised his true expression. He now resembled a mischievous clown while playfully cackling away. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re so scary. Dear Crown Imperial Prince, White Olfolse. Let me tell you, fighting is no good, you know? If we can help it, why don¡¯t we hold a civilised conversation and¡­¡±


    Marquis Kirum assumed the pose of extending his hand for a handshake. But it was at that exact moment a sword of light impaled that very extended hand.


    He flinched nastily in surprise and hurriedly withdrew his limb, but at the same time, White materialised yet another sword of light and held it tightly before thrusting it straight into the Vampire¡¯s solar plexus.


    ¡°Cough!¡±


    Marquis Kirum vomited out yet another mouthful of blood. His trembling hand reached up and grasped White¡¯s, which was holding the blade.


    The Crown Imperial Prince growled menacingly. ¡°Be still and greet your demise, Vampire. For I shall wring out all the pain from you that your comrades would¡¯ve felt if they had been here to share it with you.¡±


    ¡°Hah, haha¡­¡±


    At this rate, the only thing waiting for Marquis Kirum would be his death. That¡¯s why he simply had to sweet talk White Olfolse.


    While fighting to stop his consciousness from slipping away, Marquis Kirum pulled White into an embrace and whispered quietly, ¡°White, is the reason why you chase us really for ¡®vengeance¡¯?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Marquis Kirum focused demonic energy into his mouth and activated Spirit Speech that melted right into White¡¯s hearing.


    ¡°When you met Ruppel again after all those years, what was your first feeling?¡±


    White glanced at Marquis Kirum.


    ¡°The emotion you felt, was it really rage? Or could it have been¡­¡±


    The corners of Kirum¡¯s lips curled up.


    ¡°¡­A type of yearning?¡±


    White¡¯s expression froze up. He pulled out the sword of light and stabbed the Vampire again in the abdomen.


    Marquis Kirum vomited another mouthful of blood.


    ¡°In that case, let me change the question.¡± The Vampire gave it his all to pull White into another embrace, continuing to whisper into the latter¡¯s ear despite the danger of his erasure from this world, ¡°What did you feel when you saw Raiden?¡±


    The sword was pulled out before stabbing the Vampire again.


    Marquis Kirum screamed in pain, but somehow managed to endure it and continue on, ¡°A wrinkly old man in his eighties regained his youth, as you must¡¯ve seen for yourself. The life of absolute immortality where you won¡¯t die of old age. Don¡¯t you want that too?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me laugh, you damn¡­¡±


    ¡°That is true salvation.¡±


    White¡¯s brows shot up.


    ¡°Eternal life where even the dead can be revived. That is us, Vampires. We¡¯re death itself! We can even become gods! An existence worshipped by humans! That¡¯s why¡­¡± Marquis Kirum held White¡¯s shoulders and stared into the latter¡¯s eyes with a rapturous smile on his face. ¡°You should join us. If you do, you shall receive the gift of eternal li¡­!¡±


    White grinned before powerfully swinging the sword of light without a shred of hesitation to cut off Marquis Kirum¡¯s head.


    The Vampire¡¯s head bounced away, and White stomped on it with his foot.


    ¡°You know, I agree with you. Death is indeed salvation. That¡¯s why¡­¡± White strengthened his leg muscles. ¡°¡­Just die already.¡±


    The head exploded into gory bits.


    ¡°Hahahaha!¡±


    White turned his head and spotted Marquis Kirum hanging upside on a tree branch some distance away.


    ¡®This is too risky. If I die again, I won¡¯t be able to revive myself anymore,¡¯ the Vampire thought as cold sweat trickled down his body.


    All the internal organs in his body had melted into a puddle from all that divinity. It had gotten so much harder to maintain his physique. If this kept up, then¡­


    ¡®I¡¯ll be extinguished!¡¯


    Marquis Kirum had to work hard to hide his inner thoughts. He expertly managed his expressions so that White wouldn¡¯t realise how scared he was.


    With an expression fully befitting a clown, he placed a hand on his chest and bowed deeply.


    ¡°Let us end our little game here. Our mission is clearly a failure, and it also seems that coaxing you to join our side will be difficult as well. However, I have not lied to you until now.¡± Marquis Kirum glanced at White before continuing on, ¡°Rose Darina should be in the capital, Lomania, right now.¡±


    White flinched slightly in surprise before furrowing his brows.


    The Vampire marquis cackled as if he found that reaction rather amusing to behold. ¡°Once you meet Rose and chat to her, you will realise three things.¡±


    Kirum then raised up three of his fingers.


    ¡°Firstly, the ugliness of humans.¡±


    He folded the index finger.


    ¡°Secondly, the frailty of humans.¡±


    He then folded his ring finger.


    ¡°And thirdly, you who will come to accept those points.¡±


    Lastly, he beckoned with his middle finger while pointing at White. However, his messing around only earned him another impalement by a sword of light.


    But then, the Vampire marquis turned into countless bats and scattered away into the night sky. His voice echoed throughout the forest at the same time. ¡°I hope that you don¡¯t forget what I said to you today. We are god-like existences, we are the very concept of salvation itself-!¡±


    White watched Marquis Kirum disappear before spitting out a lengthy groan.


    ¡®Looks like I still have a long way to go.¡¯


    To think that he got swept up in his emotions and let the Vampire slip through his fingers¡­


    Still, they must¡¯ve suffered quite gravely from this incident, that¡¯s for sure. Many Vampire nobles got killed and they also failed to amass an army. White believed that the undead would behave themselves for the foreseeable future.


    ¡®Which means that only Rose¡¯s matter requires my attention now.¡¯


    While tightly clutching the sword of light, he shifted his gaze over to Lomania in the distance. He gritted his teeth as anger simmered in his heart.


    Rose Darina.


    The woman he loved once upon a time, but now, she was someone he truly detested.


    Only one thing remained ¨C and that was to ¡®execute¡¯ her with his own two hands.


    < 109. The Dragon Slayer (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: Unfortunately, only one chapter today. However, I¡¯ll make it up with a mini-mass release tomorrow. Pls look forward to it.)

 Chapter 206 - 110. The End and the Beginning (Part One)

    Crown Imperial Prince White Olfolse headed towards his next destination while holding a sword of light.


    Zombies were still teeming within the capital city¡¯s streets. But they were soon impaled by the sword of light and got exterminated.


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill her.¡±


    The Crown Imperial Prince gritted his teeth.


    A wife he held so dear to his heart, a woman he cared deeply for¡­


    But now, a villainess so corrupted that for her own profit, she wouldn¡¯t hesitate to defile the imperial palace, and even turn her own son into an undead to use him in her schemes.


    Rose Darina.


    White simply could not forgive her.


    ¡°Father?¡±


    The Crown Imperial Prince turned his head at that voice. He discovered that his first son, Luan, was currently leading the Heavenly Army as well as the soldiers of Lome kingdom to clean up the capital¡¯s streets.


    White, feeling deeply relieved to see his son unscathed, walked up to him and asked a question, ¡°I heard that Rose is in the royal palace. Is this true?¡±


    Luan smiled bitterly and nodded. ¡°Yes. Allen is currently protecting her.¡±


    White¡¯s expression crumpled instantly. What that clown Vampire had told him turned out to be true.


    Luan saw his father¡¯s expression and closed his mouth for a short while before saying something else, ¡°A maidservant named Sharin was accompanying the Second Crown Princess Consort, father. We¡¯re still investigating the matter, but well, she used to serve Ruppel back home and¡­¡±


    While listening to Luan¡¯s description of the events so far, White¡¯s expression gradually became stupefied. He remained that way for a while before turning away to leave.


    He soon broke into a powerful sprint.


    While rubbing his temples, he began grinding his teeth.


    ¡®Rose, just what did you do¡­!¡¯


    Eventually, he arrived at the royal palace.


    The Paladins in front of the royal audience chamber tried to prevent him getting any closer, but White simply ignored their attempts and shoved the door open.


    And that¡¯s when he saw it.


    ¡­The scene of Rose on her knees, Allen sitting on the throne meant for Lome¡¯s king, and next to them, Charlotte and the maidservant in question, Sharin.


    White¡¯s eyes locked on the maid. On her swollen belly.


    That was¡­


    His gaze shifted once more.


    Rose turned her head around to stare at White, an expression of rapture quickly filling up her face.


    She spread open both of her arms wide and cried out, ¡°Ah, aaah! My dear Crown Prince! You¡¯re finally here, I wanted to see you so much!¡±


    She rose up to her feet. Shackles bound her arms and legs, making her wobble unsteadily, but she still managed to stand back up and extend her hands out.


    White flung himself forward. He swung the sword of light straight at her throat.


    ¡°Charlotte!¡±


    Allen shouted out at that very same moment and Charlotte instantly appeared right before Rose. She unsheathed her divine sword and deflected White¡¯s blade.


    However, his left hand rapidly shot out and grabbed Rose¡¯s slender neck, instead. At the same time, Charlotte¡¯s divine sword rested against White¡¯s throat.


    ¡°¡­White Olfolse. I demand that you release her. This is an order of his highness,¡± Charlotte said while coldly glaring at White.


    He shifted his gaze and looked at Allen.


    The boy prince was back up on his feet in front of the throne with furrowed brows. As for the maidservant named Sharin, she was squatting on the floor while shielding her head and trembling in fright.


    ¡°Allen, order this Paladin to withdraw her sword at once.¡±


    ¡°No, you withdraw your hand first, Crown Imperial Prince.¡±


    White immediately realised that Allen deliberately chose not to call him ¡®father¡¯ and felt his heart sink even lower. He spoke up again, ¡°Are you planning to keep Rose alive?¡±


    ¡°I only merely wish to go through the proper procedures and have her executed back in the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Do you not hate this woman?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do despise her as much as you do.¡±


    White¡¯s eyes trembled as he stared at his son.


    Allen, how can you remain so calm even now? Here is the culprit, the evil villain responsible for murdering your own mother, placed a curse on your brother, and even tried to assassinate you, so how come you¡­


    It was at that moment Rose suddenly opened her lips. ¡°Do you wish to kill me?¡±


    White looked back to Rose. Rather than a look of terror, she still had the same rapturous expression on her face as before.


    ¡°Very well. Dying at the hands of the one you love is also a wonderful end, isn¡¯t it? After all, you¡¯ll remember me for the rest of your life.¡±


    Rose reached up and lovingly stroked White¡¯s hand gripping her throat. She even began blushing deeply as well. Her expression resembled a shy maiden in love, but one could clearly see signs of madness burning in her eyes.


    ¡°Please, use this warm hand to wring my throat, and memorise the sensation of choking my life away for as long as you can. And every time you recall this moment, please remember me, too.¡±


    White could only stare at her in an utter daze.


    ¡°I wish nothing more to die by your hands, my love.¡±


    This woman, she¡­


    ¡°Even if it pains you and hurts you, I wish that you will never forget about me. I will always love you, White Olfolse. My dear Crown Prince!¡±


    ¡­She was insane.


    ¡°I¡­¡± White glared at Rose as he replied, ¡°¡­do not love you.¡±


    Rose¡¯s expression froze up. ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±


    ¡°I did love you once upon a time. But now, I do not. I shall forget about you.¡±


    Rose was destined to die. And he¡¯d be the one to end this madness once and for all.


    Her expression distorted and her complexion became beet red.


    But that lasted only for a brief moment as laughter exploded out from her lips.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter anymore!¡± She then pointed at her maidservant, Sharin. ¡°You¡¯ll never be able to forget about me as long as my bloodline continues on! Even if it¡¯s you, you won¡¯t be able to stop the execution of the Third Imperial Prince, but your grandchild will still live on!¡±


    White¡¯s eyes shook powerfully.


    Rose reached out with both of her hands and stroked White¡¯s face. ¡°You¡¯ve always been caring but indecisive. And as such, as long as your blood and my blood remains in that child, you will never forget about me.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    White stared at Rose¡¯s face and recalled what Marquis Kirum had said.


    -Firstly, the ugliness of humans.


    ¡°Yes, the Third Imperial Prince will die. I will also meet the same fate as him. However, that child will live on. And in the future, he will become a great and noble Holy Emperor. If he¡¯s alive and I manage to survive, then I¡¯ll do whatever it takes to make him the future Holy Emperor! That¡¯s why¡­¡±


    The Vampire was right. Humans were truly ugly in their hearts.


    There it was, the true nature of humanity on full display right before his eyes.


    White opened his previously-shut mouth. ¡°Do you even know the name of the Third Imperial Prince?¡±


    Rose stopped her rambling at his question. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°What is the Third Imperial Prince¡¯s name?¡±


    ¡°Well, that is¡­ that is¡­¡± Rose began tilting her head in confusion and stared at White with her brows arched up. ¡°¡­Did I have another son other than the Third Imperial Prince?¡±


    White quietly closed his eyes.


    ¡°Uh? Uhm? H-hold on. Second Imperial¡­ Third? Imperial Prince? Name. Name? He had a name? My child¡­?¡± She continued tilting her head side to side and then began covering her head with her trembling hands. ¡°B-but, that¡¯s so strange. Why are the Second and Third Imperial Princes¡­ Ruppel, Ruppel? Who is Ruppel?¡±


    -Secondly, the frailty of humans.


    Indeed, humans were frail. Too weak.


    Her entire nature changed because of the shock of losing her son.


    She became obsessed with her dead child, and that obsession eventually changed its target to White. In the process, she even lost herself.


    A frail and foolish woman, Rose Darina.


    And the man who couldn¡¯t protect her or console her sorrow, White Olfolse.


    Humans were¡­


    -Thirdly, you who will finally come to accept those points.


    ¡­Too frail.


    ¡®Am I planning to run away yet again?¡¯


    White clenched his teeth.


    Forget all about her?


    No, it must be the exact opposite of that.


    He must not forget her.


    He must not forget about Rose, Ruppel, and Yulisia.


    All these things began with him, and as such, he must be the one to end them. And just as important, he must remember them all until his dying day.


    That¡¯s why¡­


    White pointed the sword of light at Rose¡¯s heart.


    He would end this with his own hands.


    ¡°Please stop.¡± Allen walked over and grabbed White¡¯s hand. ¡°Don¡¯t do it if it pains you so much.¡±


    He glanced at White¡¯s face, at the man¡¯s current expression. The latter¡¯s facade had completely broken down by then. Tears streamed down his face as he silently sobbed.


    Rose saw this too and her own madness fell away, leaving only a dazed expression behind.


    ¡°Rose is right. This matter must come to an end by my hands. This is my sin. That¡¯s why¡­ that¡¯s why¡­¡±


    ¡°Father. This is older brother Ruppel¡¯s last wish.¡±


    White shifted his gaze back to Allen.


    ¡°His wish¡­ he wanted to see his mother one last time before his death.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine to humour your son¡¯s last wish?¡±


    All strength seeped out from White¡¯s hands upon hearing what Allen said.


    ¡°Besides¡­¡± Allen muttered softly while looking over at the maidservant, Sharin. She was still trembling away while hugging her head. ¡°Older brother Ruppel doesn¡¯t have a child.¡±


    The maidservant¡¯s figure suddenly seemed to crumble. She began throwing up what was actually inside her swollen belly.


    2


    A scheme cooked up by the Vampires in order to bring Rose to their side was being undone right at that moment ¨C a scheme to disguise the maid so that it looked like she had Ruppel¡¯s unborn child in her womb.


    Second Crown Princess Consort Rose remained as a foolish woman lost to her own delusions right till the end.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    Rose was escorted back to the empire¡¯s prison.


    As for the maidservant, Sharin, she confessed to everything.


    While serving Rose, she got to witness every scheme the Second Crown Princess Consort was a part of.


    Sharin¡¯s dream was to become an empress regent by seducing Ruppel through blackmail, relying on her knowledge of Rose¡¯s wrongdoings.


    Unfortunately for her, though, things had gotten out of hand way too quickly. The Second Crown Princess Consort began scheming a rebellion and got in bed with Aslan before she knew it.


    The Theocratic Empire continued with their relentless pursuit, which left Sharin with only one way to survive this ordeal.


    -I thought that Lady Rose would protect me if I said I was carrying his highness¡¯s child.


    And that was to rely on the Second Crown Princess Consort. It proved to be easy to fool a woman with a broken mind.


    Since Rose witnessed Sharin seducing Ruppel almost all the time, she must¡¯ve assumed that the two of them had already ¡®consummated¡¯ their relationship, so to speak.


    1


    On top of that, these two women got entangled with the Vampires and their magic was cast on Sharin, the deception became even more indistinguishable.


    That one single lie ended up fooling both Rose and even the Second Prince of the Lome Kingdom, Derian Victoria.


    Even I would¡¯ve been stewing in shock for a long while if Ruppel hadn¡¯t told me the truth about this matter back when we had a chat in prison.


    And now, I was back in that very same prison, staring at Ruppel.


    ¡°Are you afraid of dying?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Honestly, I am.¡±


    Ruppel replied earnestly, his eyes were sunken and withdrawn. Although, his overall expression seemed to say that he was feeling relieved in his heart. I figured that that was because all the pressure crushing down on him had been finally lifted from his back.


    Tomorrow was his execution day.


    Rose was scheduled to be beheaded. However, I utilised my authority so that Ruppel would be hanged instead. There would be less damage to his body that way.


    3


    Both of them¡­ wouldn¡¯t be pardoned or get to keep their lives.


    Their crimes of high treason and collaborating with the Vampires were some of the most serious sins you could think of.


    I stood up while staring at Ruppel¡¯s expression.


    Charlotte, who was behind me, bowed before stepping back, and brought Rose inside the prison cell.


    Ruppel¡¯s face hardened. He became visibly tense as he wordlessly stared at his mother.


    Rose¡¯s eyes were lifeless, unmoving.


    She should¡¯ve begun acknowledging it by now ¨C all the things she had done, and the cruel fact that her son and the rest of her bloodline would no longer exist in this world.


    ¡°Whatever you wanted to say to her, I don¡¯t have any guarantees that Rose will be able to hear you.¡± I glanced at Ruppel and spoke up, ¡°But still¡­ Be with her for tonight. This will be my last act of goodwill for both of you.¡±


    With that, I left the cell.


    I could hear Ruppel in the distance. He was sobbing.


    I hoped that he¡¯d be able to say all those things he couldn¡¯t say to her.


    One night would prove to be far too short for them, though.


    Once this night came to an end and tomorrow morning arrived, they wouldn¡¯t get to meet each other anymore.


    And that would be their final moments of this life.


    (TL: Merry Christmas!)


    4

 Chapter 207 - 110. The End and the Beginning (Part Two)

    **


    The following morning.


    The beheading was carried out.


    Rose stood in front of the guillotine installed within Laurensis¡¯s plaza.


    She dazedly looked up at the sky. The sun¡¯s bright rays made her narrow her eyes.


    Her hearing didn¡¯t seem to be working properly. The citizens gathered in the plaza began throwing stones at her and angrily yelled at her.


    Their voices were filled with resentment.


    However, Rose couldn¡¯t hear them at all.


    A voice belonging to someone else entirely continued to swim within her ears and her mind even at this very moment.


    -Do you remember, mother? That one time, there was a fierce thunderstorm. You held me and comforted me back to sleep. Did you know how warm and safe I felt back then? I still recall that moment often whenever things get too difficult for me.


    Whose¡­ voice did it belong to?


    She was so sure that the voice came to her last night.


    Along with that voice, someone gently embraced her shoulders.


    -On the year I turned ten, I brought you a wild flower I plucked from a field, mother. But you scolded me instead, saying that I¡¯ve dirtied my clothes. Hahaha¡­ I felt so hurt back then.


    That person continued to speak gently to her and stroked her hair.


    -Honestly, I¡¯ve always resented you, mother.


    Just whose voice was it?


    -However, I¡­


    Ah, right. This voice, it¡­


    Rose¡¯s figure was pushed down to the guillotine by the executioner.


    Her hands began trembling.


    But someone reached out and grasped her hands.


    It was White Olfolse, and he was tightly clenching his teeth. He was here to witness the final moments of a woman he once loved.


    -¡­I also loved you, mother.


    Rose¡¯s eyes opened wider and wider.


    A figure of a child slowly appeared in her head. It was a young baby boy. She cared for him; she fed him, raised him, and even taught him many things.


    The baby became a child, the child became a boy, and this boy became a young man.


    His face, previously obscured by the darkest fog imaginable in her mind began to reappear little by little. And she got to see that face last night.


    The son she had given birth to.


    Tears slowly trickled down from the corners of her eyes.


    ¡°Ru¡­ppel.¡±


    ¡°Execute!¡±


    And then¡­ the guillotine fell.


    The woman who used to be the Second Crown Princess Consort was placed inside a nondescript coffin. Her final fate was to be buried in an unmarked grave in a mountain located somewhere behind the palace she used to live, not inside the crypt meant for the Imperial Family.


    The next execution to be carried out was hanging.


    Ruppel was led up to the deck.


    He stared at the coffin containing his mother and consoled his heart. Even then, he smiled wryly at the sight of the citizens hurling stones at him.


    This was understandable, considering that he was responsible for starting a war.


    Even if Rose had ordered him to, he did try to sell out his own nation. It was time for him to pay for his crime.


    The executioner placed the rope around Ruppel¡¯s throat. It was at that moment fear suddenly took a hold of him.


    He was going to die. Without a doubt, this was the just punishment for his crime. Yet¡­


    ¡°Ahaha. Wow, I¡¯m quite a hypocrite, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    He wanted to live.


    Ruppel started trembling from fear.


    His breathing got rougher and heavier as he cast his gaze to the floor.


    In a short moment, this wooden floor supporting his weight would give way and his body would fall through the opening.


    The rope would tighten around his neck and break the bones found there. He¡¯d struggle during the asphyxiation and gradually die.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    That horrifying imagery slammed him in the head and his teeth began clattering all of a sudden.


    ¡°This is your punishment.¡±


    Ruppel flinched in surprise at the voice and looked behind him.


    Allen was sitting on a chair with his arms across his chest above a raised platform. Behind him were the other siblings of the Imperial Family, as well as White Olfolse.


    ¡°Did you come here to witness my final moments?¡± Ruppel asked.


    Allen didn¡¯t reply to that.


    Ruppel ended up guffawing hollowly at that response. ¡°Ha, hahaha¡­ You too are a rather vile person, aren¡¯t you? Allen?¡±


    This goddamn younger brother of his¡­


    He was merely a mangnani, but somehow, he had morphed into a man cheered on by the empire¡¯s subjects.


    ¡°It would¡¯ve been nice if I was like you.¡±


    ¡°Brother, you better recant that statement. You might end up going through hell if you don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha!¡±


    Ruppel looked up at the sky. Even before he noticed it, the sunset had come to bathe the world in an amber hue.


    Around the same time, the preparation for hanging was completed.


    Ruppel¡¯s heart began pounding away.


    ¡°Allen.¡±


    When Ruppel called out to him, Allen glanced back.


    He turned his head towards his younger brother and forced a smile on his face. ¡°If there¡¯s indeed a next life, I¡­¡±


    The executioner lifted up his axe and aimed it at the rope that was secured to the floor.


    ¡°¡­I wish to live like you.¡±


    ¡°Execute!¡±


    The axe came down and severed the rope.


    Ruppel¡¯s vision was violently upturned. The view containing Allen rapidly disappeared and he crashed towards the ground below.


    Crunch!


    The rope tightened around his neck.


    ¡°Euh-ahhh¡­¡±


    His vision grew dimmer.


    He couldn¡¯t breathe. The pressure on his neck grew and it felt like all of his blood was rushing up to his head.


    Ah, ah¡­


    Ruppel¡¯s eyes shifted to the side.


    He faintly could see and hear the resentment-filled cries of the countless gathered subjects.


    The punishment for the crime he committed ¨C he was paying the price in full.


    ¡°Oh, dear goddess¡­¡±


    Dear merciful Gaia. Maybe, just maybe, if you give me a chance¡­


    ¡°Keok¡­¡±


    In my next life, I beg of you¡­


    ¡°Ah¡­ ah¡­¡±


    ¡­Please give me a chance to live my life for the citizens.


    Ruppel¡¯s eyes gradually closed shut.


    His body went limp.


    On this day, the Third Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire¡­


    Ruppel Olfolse had died.


    **


    Clank, clunk¡­


    A carriage with piles of hay stacked up on its cargo bay was slowly travelling across the coarse surface of the rural highway.


    Its driver, wearing a straw hat, used his whip and the horse neighed unhappily before shaking its body.


    For a moment there, the carriage became ever so slightly airborne. The impact from that disturbance prompted a young man laying among the piles of hay to open his eyes.


    His consciousness remained foggy while his vision was blurry and indistinct.


    The first thing to greet him was the warm light; the young man extended his hand towards the blinding rays of sun.


    ¡°Is this¡­ heaven?¡±


    ¡°No. It¡¯s neither heaven nor hell.¡±


    The young man gasped out in surprise and hurriedly pushed his upper torso up. He then urgently rubbed his neck.


    There¡¯s nothing? Not even a wound or scar?


    ¡®N-no, hold on. Before all that, I¡¯m still alive?¡¯


    But what about the execution?


    Was that a dream?


    No, it couldn¡¯t be. That was definitely not a dream. All the emotions and the physical sensations he felt back then¡­


    ¡­They had been real.


    The young man turned his head and stared at the carriage driver who had addressed him just now.


    ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve finally woken up.¡±


    The driver, the vice captain of the Paladin Corps, Harman, took off the straw hat and looked behind him.


    The young man dazedly stared at Harman and muttered out, ¡°What is the meaning of¡­¡±


    ¡°It was his highness¡¯s decree.¡±


    His highness¡¯s decree? What did that even mean?


    ¡°You have already died once. And now¡­¡±


    ¡­He was revived.


    The young man, Ruppel, opened his eyes so much wider.


    ¡°His highness told me that it was mighty troublesome to revive you. He¡¯s probably suffering from severe muscle pain as we speak.¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s slack jaw clamped shut.


    Harman glanced at him again. ¡°And also¡­ he said that you should live your life not as someone¡¯s puppet, but as your own.¡±


    ¡°W-what, but¡­?¡±


    ¡°There is a small monastery up north.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°A well-known mangnani used to work there as a gravekeeper, but now, that post has been left vacant. It¡¯s the perfect place for a traitor who sold his own country to be banished there, don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    Ruppel¡¯s brows shot up high.


    Harman grinned and put the straw hat back on. ¡°This is the last message his highness the Seventh Imperial Prince has for you.¡±


    -You wanna live like me?


    While listening to Harman, Ruppel began recalling the Seventh Imperial Prince. The sly-as-fox grinning mug of Allen floated up oh-so clearly in his mind.


    -In that case, why don¡¯t you work your ass to the bone?! Let¡¯s see how a frail little flower raised in a greenhouse will fare in the outside world! Take care of the rotting corpses, bury them, and when the time comes, try to stop the waves of death once every year. Work for next to no compensation for the sake of your subjects. That will be¡­


    Allen wagged his finger.


    -¡­Your last chance to atone for the rest of your life.


    Ruppel slowly covered his face. ¡°Harman.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Is it fine for me to live on?¡±


    ¡°That is your choice to make.¡±


    ¡°That means¡­ it¡¯s fine.¡± Ruppel began sobbing again. ¡°Indeed, I¡¯ll live on. And not only that¡­¡±


    He began clenching his fists tightly.


    ¡°¡­I shall live my life for the subjects.¡±


    Harman smiled faintly under the hat at Ruppel¡¯s declaration.


    His current task was to accompany Ruppel to the monastery up north.


    ¡°Soon, winter will come.¡± Harman glanced back at Ruppel once more. ¡°It¡¯s going to get really tough for you. You better prepare yourself.¡±


    **


    Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse was listening to the reports regarding what happened within the Theocratic Empire, as well as the events of Lome Kingdom.


    ¡°¡­Cough, cough!¡±


    He suddenly broke out in a fit of coughs.


    Cardinal Raphael, who was standing next to him, patted his back. Kelt waved his hand to indicate that he was fine.


    It was at that moment that the door to the imperial audience chamber was pushed open. Kelt turned his head and looked at the Seventh Imperial Prince striding closer.


    ¡°Oh, Allen. Welcome back.¡±


    Kelt smiled gently at his grandson.


    He had been deriving much pleasure lately from watching over this grandson of his. He¡¯d have nothing more to ask for and simply die in peace if he got to see this boy keep racking up more achievements and earn his status, and also earning the support of the masses in the process.


    And that status obviously meant the title of the Holy Emperor.


    That¡¯s why¡­


    ¡°Ehem!¡±


    The sound of Cardinal Raphael clearing his throat came from Kelt¡¯s side. The Holy Emperor frowned slightly.


    ¡°It¡¯s too early, your majesty.¡±


    What a stingy guy he was.


    Kelt shot a dissatisfied glare at Raphael.


    But then again, he did have a point; his grandson certainly lacked the etiquette befitting an Imperial Family member, as well as all sorts of other knowledge on refinement necessary for a Holy Emperor.


    Not only did he need to learn more about politics, he also needed to learn all the dark secrets of the Imperial Family one at a time as well.


    That¡¯s why¡­


    ¡®Well, having him become the divine king should be alright.¡¯


    A position that hadn¡¯t existed before ¨C the status meant for the number one candidate to inherit the throne of the Holy Emperor, someone even higher in rank than the Crown Imperial Prince¡­


    There should be no problem to bestow such a position to the boy.


    Raphael nodded slightly, indicating that he had no objections to that idea.


    Kelt also nodded in return and looked back at Allen.


    The boy opened his mouth first. ¡°Your majesty, I came to speak to you as I have a favour to ask of you.¡±


    Kelt¡¯s eyes shone slightly in the light of surprise at what Allen had said.


    A favour?


    His grandson was asking for a favour?


    Not once did this boy ask for a favour until now. But to think that he¡¯d come first and ask for one like this.


    ¡°What is it that you seek, boy?¡±


    ¡°May I have some vacation time, please?¡±


    ¡°Vacation, is it?¡±


    Allen nodded silently.


    Kelt interlocked his fingers while looking back at the boy.


    Indeed, it wouldn¡¯t be strange to see the Seventh Imperial Prince collapse from overwork when considering all the trials and tribulations he had gone through recently.


    He not only apprehended both the Second Crown Princess Consort and Ruppel, but was also there to witness their execution. The shock to his mind must¡¯ve been great, and therefore, he probably wanted to rest his weary soul.


    ¡°How long do you need?¡±


    ¡°I believe about three months should suffice, your majesty.¡±


    Three months? That was certainly longer than expected. However, there was no reason not to grant it either.


    Just the achievement of massacring all those Vampires in Lome Kingdom alone should be acknowledged and rewarded accordingly. That incident would¡¯ve put a major dent in the Vampires¡¯ plan to invade the empire, after all.


    ¡°Very well. But why three months?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking of going on a trip, you see.¡±


    ¡°A trip?¡±


    Allen nodded and smiled suspiciously. ¡°I¡¯d like to head to the kingdom of magic, Aihrance. Apparently¡­¡±


    The treasured item of Ordin Olfolse, the first Holy Emperor, as mentioned by ex-Third Imperial Prince Ruppel¡­


    ¡°¡­A treasure is waiting for me there.¡±


    He was planning to go there and get it.


    < 110. The End and the Beginning (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: next chapter will go live in one hour¡¯s time.)

 Chapter 208 - 111. An Adventurer’s First Step (Part One)

    At the forest of demonic beasts located somewhere in the kingdom of Aihrance.


    A single carriage was speedily rushing along on a coarse-surfaced road.


    An old man gripping a cane riding on the vehicle glanced inside. Inside the carriage was a steel cage filled with bound young men and women, old folks and even children. Not only that, their eyes and mouths had been covered as well.


    This old man, a Necromancer, grinned deeply while looking at all these sacrifices.


    These people had been abducted from a nearby village, to serve as sacrifices in the upcoming ¡®experiment¡¯.


    The carriage eventually came to a stop in the middle of the forest teeming with demonic beasts. The old Necromancer waved his hand to send a signal, prompting more Necromancers to walk out from the darkness of the forest.


    They guided the carriage deeper into the forest, and soon, entered a cavern located somewhere in its depth.


    -Ku-aaaahk!


    All sorts of monsters were trapped within the steel cages inside the cavern ¨C Orcs, Ogres, Minotaurs, and many others besides. These ferocious monsters were screeching and roaring away, their eyes clearly bloodshot.


    The Necromancers ignored the monsters and imprisoned the abducted villagers inside other steel cages.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to perform the ceremony.¡±


    The Necromancers began gathering in a chapel located somewhere deep within the cavern. An altar was installed here, and all around it were many bleeding sacrifices hung up in the air.


    The centre of the altar was filled with many rune letters written in blood. The Necromancers knelt towards a portrait illuminated under the dim candle lights and began offering their prayers.


    ¡°Oh, the great and noble inheritor of Yudai, the God of Death.¡±


    The figure drawn up within the portrait¡­


    He had a mountain goat¡¯s head, wore a cape that seemed to be made out of wool, and a lengthy staff was gripped in his right hand while his left held a grimoire.


    He was the king of death who, once upon a time, covered the entire continent in death and destruction. He was the culprit responsible for destroying half of the Theocratic Empire.


    ¡°We pray that the glory of our noble Lord Amon be everlasting¡­!¡±


    The Necromancer King, Amon.


    And these Necromancers were the members of a cult that worshipped Amon.


    They slammed their staves down. The rune letters written in blood began emitting a crimson glow.


    Souls yanked out from the humans that had been served up as sacrifices began bunching up into one large mass, and the space they occupied started to distort visibly.


    The space expanded, and from it, the souls¡¯ screams resounded out.


    Hands made out of bones began extending out from the distorted space. They grabbed onto the edges of the opened space, struggling hard to escape through it.


    The eyes of the Necromancers gleamed brightly. They stared at the entrancing world beyond the opening that was connected to the concept of ¡®death¡¯ itself.


    The space between the dimensions was opening up. The space that existed between this world and the world of the dead, that was.


    Countless souls trapped within ¡®purgatory¡¯ tried to flood out. Dozens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands¡­


    The distortion in space was about three metres in diameter, yet these souls, which were still screaming horrifically, reached out to force their way out of this opening.


    But this lasted only for a short while; dark shadows appeared out of nowhere and began dragging all those souls back.


    The God of Death was in charge of maintaining its own dimension and clearly had no desire to let these souls roam free.


    Protecting the balance of dimensions, that was the role of the gods.


    The expanded space got extinguished and disappeared without a trace.


    The Necromancers who witnessed this scene could only stay silent with their wide-open eyes. Eventually¡­


    ¡°Dammit!¡±


    Some Necromancer angrily punched the ground they were kneeling on.


    ¡°It¡¯s another failure?¡±


    ¡°We need many more sacrifices.¡±


    ¡°The slaves and abducted humans from rural villages are simply not enough for our purpose. Even if we use monsters, we¡¯re still at our limit.¡±


    Necromancers then shook their heads.


    ¡°However, it isn¡¯t as if we don¡¯t have any other methods available, right?¡±


    They stared at each other¡¯s faces.


    ¡°The wall between the dimensions is gradually getting weaker. But that¡¯s only obvious since we managed to shatter it many times by now. And dragging souls out from the other side will not prove to be that difficult.¡±


    ¡°As long as we drag out the dead without physical bodies, then yes, it¡¯ll be quite doable.¡±


    The task they had been devoting themselves for the past fifty years was to spread ¡®death¡¯ to the rest of this world, which happened to be the Necromancer King¡¯s mission in life that he ultimately failed to achieve in the end.


    ¡°Then, we shall target the fiefdom of Elusha.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. We will succeed if we utilise all the sacrifices living in that city.¡±


    Elusha. A city of magic that boasted a population second only to Aihrance kingdom¡¯s capital city. Countless magicians resided in that place as well, which meant that the energy the Necromancers had been searching for should be found in abundance there.


    ¡°We shall¡­¡±


    ¡°Open the warp gate there.¡±


    These Necromancers were part of the cult called ¡®Nemesis¡¯. Heretics that had inherited the ideals and beliefs of the Necromancer King, Amon.


    **


    Alchemist Hans was currently trying to gather firewood inside the forest of demonic beasts.


    ¡°Eh-whew. Why am I working my butt off in the middle of nowhere like this?¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince suddenly said that he wanted to go on a journey. His destination was the kingdom of magic, Aihrance.


    Hans certainly did share the same kind of curiosity and spirit of inquiry with the boy prince, but even then, he initially didn¡¯t have any plans to accompany Allen on this journey.


    Wherever the Seventh Imperial Prince went, incidents and accidents continued to happen. Which meant that even a dummy could guess that something big would undoubtedly happen this time, too.


    That was why he wanted to reject any and all invitations to tag along, but then¡­


    -I¡¯m thinking of heading to the tomb of Ordin Olfolse, the very first Holy Emperor in history. A crap ton of treasures must be hidden there, don¡¯t you think?


    ¡­Well, he couldn¡¯t say no in the end.


    ¡®We¡¯re talking about the first Holy Emperor here. The very first one!¡¯


    Ordin Olfolse was the very first ¡®pioneer¡¯, a trailblazer who apparently managed to unite all the different teachings of Gaia under one umbrella all those years ago. He was an individual who created countless miracles and gathered many, many disciples to establish a nation of devout believers.


    The ¡®treasured item¡¯ once wielded by such a person was more than enough to rouse up the spirit of exploration in Hans.


    Just seeing it up close would be an indescribable honour in and of itself. How wonderful would it be if he could actually touch it, too?


    ¡®I must¡¯ve gone insane. Have I already forgotten about what happened back in the ancient Aslan tomb?¡¯


    How many times did he narrowly miss the jaws of death back then?


    The group encountered a giant golem, battled a horde of mummies, and in the end, even had to confront a damn dragon.


    One might think that sounded like a fable of an exciting adventure similar to a fairytale, but to him, it was more like a nightmarish experience full of life-threatening moments.


    However, it also remained as one of the most addictive, satisfying things he had ever done in his memory. After all, he had never been on an adventure like that before.


    ¡®¡­Very well. I won¡¯t overreact like a fool this time.¡¯


    As long as he didn¡¯t lose his rationale from agitation, all should be fine.


    Indeed, everything should work out safe and sound as long as he obediently followed after the Imperial Prince and took care of the sundry chores.


    That¡¯s why he¡­


    THUD-!


    It happened right then.


    The ground trembled just a little. Hans froze up in the middle of picking up firewood and slowly lifted his head up.


    -Ku-ooooh¡­


    A hulking physique that reached four metres, at least.


    Brownish fur that covered its muscular frame.


    An existence possessing the head of a bull with a pair of lengthy horns, and distinctive bovine hooves¡­


    Hans dropped the gathered firewood. ¡°M-M-Minotaur?!¡±


    Why was that thing even here?! And why him, when he wasn¡¯t even doing anything over the top and just minding his business, which was doing simple chores?!


    The Minotaur roared out before lowering its massive head. It dug into the ground with its legs before exploding forward.


    Hans hurriedly turned around and fled from the spot.


    ¡°I bloody knew it. I shouldn¡¯t have coooooome!¡±


    He screamed out loudly.


    **


    The cardinal¡¯s granddaughter, Alice Astoria, was currently feeling quite tense.


    Sleeping bags and a burning campfire could be found nearby. And she was staring at a boy, who could be called both her past trauma and current benefactor, now tending to the campfire and placing a pot on top of it.


    Her expression remained stiff as she observed the Seventh Imperial Prince busy with himself. It was unknown where he got them from, but well, he produced some vegetables out of somewhere and began cutting them into smaller pieces.


    Since she was the lady-in-waiting, Alice volunteered to do that, but the boy prince insisted that he¡¯d do it instead and persuaded her not to interfere.


    ¡®When did he learn to cook?¡¯


    In all honesty, his cooking skills were quite commendable. Plus, the way he cooked was also a bit different as well.


    Alice continued to observe him with some intrigue before finally opening her mouth. ¡°Your highness, what happened to the lady knight who accompanies you all the time?¡±


    She wanted to undo the uncomfortable atmosphere, and that¡¯s why she asked that, but even then, she still needed quite a large dose of courage to do so.


    Unlike the deeply tense Alice, the Imperial Prince remained rather relaxed during his reply. ¡°Oh, her? She got herself a vacation as well. Her adopted father lives in the northern frontier, you see.¡±


    While smiling away, he dropped the finely-chopped vegetables into the pot.


    ¡°Winter will be here soon, so the people up there need to prepare for that. An acquaintance of mine is also staying in a monastery up there, too. So I thought I could ask her to drop by and say hello.¡±


    He seemed to have recalled something, because his smile took on a subtle shade of bitterness for a moment there.

 Chapter 209 - 111. An Adventurer’s First Step (Part Two)

    Alice found this version of the Seventh Imperial Prince before her eyes truly mystifying.


    A person labelled as a mangnani had transformed so much.


    Someone who perpetrated random acts of violence for fun and even tried to assault women had somehow acquired the support of the empire¡¯s subjects.


    Her grandfather, Cardinal Raphael, once told her that the boy now possessed the ¡®right to inherit the throne¡¯ of the Holy Emperor.


    As proof, the Theocratic Empire was preparing to bestow the position of ¡®Holy King¡¯, which was one step below the Holy Emperor, to the boy. The Imperial Prince himself had no idea about it, but a huge surprise was in store for him when he returned to the imperial palace later.


    It¡¯d be a surprise gift from Holy Emperor Kelt himself.


    Alice suddenly became rather curious about what kind of face the Imperial Prince would make after the peerage of ¡®Holy King¡¯ was bestowed upon him.


    ¡®Without a doubt, he deserves it.¡¯


    The Seventh Imperial Prince possessed ample qualifications to become the future Holy Emperor, judging from his previous accomplishments alone.


    Holy Emperor Kelt would feel relieved and abdicate his throne to the boy without any regrets.


    ¡®Not only that¡­¡¯


    Alice¡¯s brows furrowed slightly all by themselves.


    ¡®He knew about me.¡¯


    An existence that possessed a god¡¯s fragment and was also capable of fighting Vampires off¡­ the Saintess. Her being one was a secret no one in the empire knew. And that¡¯s because she had deliberately hid the truth.


    Not only had she perceived how inadequate she was in too many areas, she also understood that the Vampires would target her and try to eliminate her right away if they learned about her status.


    -Huh. So this is what happens when a Saintess falls head over heels with hand-to-hand combat?


    That¡¯s what his highness muttered out when she managed to block Kasim Derian¡¯s attack, the former inheritor of the sword king title.


    In other words, the Seventh Imperial Prince was aware of her being a Saintess.


    ¡®Which means¡­¡¯


    She began suspecting that his highness was a Saint as well. Only a Saint should be capable of sensing another Saint or Saintess, and be able to sniff out Vampires hidden among regular people, after all.


    Could it be possible that his highness was also blessed with a god¡¯s fragment?


    The possibility for it was great when taking into consideration his abnormal growth speed, his strange magical ability that broke common sense, as well as various other points.


    More than anything else¡­


    ¡®The incidents and events that continue to happen all around him.¡¯


    Many events took place with the Seventh Imperial Prince as their focal point. It was as if he was moving under the guidance of the divine to act as their ¡®proxy¡¯ and pass on the judgement to those who went against the will of the gods.


    In actual truth, the Saints and Saintesses were the bringers of balance who were supposed to subjugate all the beings disrupting the world¡¯s balance.


    If the Seventh Imperial Prince was indeed a Saint like her, then he was merely performing his role as intended.


    Alice continued to ponder deeply for a while, but then, her shoulders suddenly slumped lower.


    ¡®By the way, hand-to-hand fighting is just a hobby of mine and a way to protect myself¡­¡¯


    She suddenly grew worried that the Imperial Prince now perceived her as a violent hot-head of a woman, and felt somewhat rueful about that.


    ¡°I now even have a new identity, so it¡¯s time to enjoy a new way of life,¡± said Allen.


    Alice made a slightly awkward face at that.


    For some reason, he seemed to be in a good mood ever since departing from the Theocratic Empire¡¯s borders. Probably because he was in full-on vacation mode right now.


    ¡°I always wanted to travel around the world, you see? To wander around this wide open world, and not be confined to the stuffy imperial palace and worry about those infernal Vampires all the freaking time. I wanted to find out what¡¯s up with this world and enjoy what it has to offer, know what I mean?¡±


    To put it simply, he wanted to go on a sightseeing tour.


    The truth was, Alice also wholeheartedly agreed with that sentiment. She too desired to travel outside the imperial palace, and when she heard of the tale of the first Holy Emperor, a powerful urge to go on an adventure welled up inside her.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince prepared meticulously and intensely for this journey. He personally purchased all sorts of items and equipment meant for lengthy journeys, studied and memorised maps of the locations, and even had a new identity prepared to perfectly hide the fact that he was an Imperial Prince.


    ¡°This nation has a profession called ¡®adventurer¡¯. Apparently, they explore dungeons and fight off monsters. Compared to fighting against Vampires, well¡­ It¡¯s probably only on the level of some goblins and slimes or something. So, like, I was thinking of registering as an adventurer myself. If I do that, then¡­¡±


    He was like an innocent little kid being really enthusiastic about the prospects of the upcoming adventures. Alice couldn¡¯t help but smile gently at that.


    But then¡­


    ¡°Ruuuuun away!!!¡±


    Hans¡¯s fleeing figure leapt out of some bushes behind Alice.


    She flinched in surprise and quickly looked back while the Imperial Prince extracted a musket despite his surprised expression.


    BANG-!


    A Minotaur roared into the night sky. The creature¡¯s bull-like horns were thrust forward. These slightly bent but still razor-sharp horns at least one metre long rapidly closed in on Alice.


    ¡°Huh?!¡±


    She reflexively leapt back and extended her hand out at the same time. Divinity quickly awakened inside her, and her left hand powerfully grabbed the incoming horn.


    Her feet dug into the ground to support her weight, and she managed to stop the Minotaur¡¯s violent charge dead in its tracks.


    Pure astonishment quickly filled up the face of the Minotaur. It couldn¡¯t believe that such a small-statured girl managed to stop it so easily.


    In the meantime, Alice raised up her right hand.


    ¡°Heu-euph!¡±


    She sucked in a deep breath before slamming her fist down, hard.


    CRUNCH-!


    A loud, gruesome exploding noise resounded out and blood splattered everywhere. Its horn broke in her grip as the huge body at least four metres tall was ruthlessly crushed into the ground below.


    The monster spasmed periodically, but that was all it did.


    It had been instantly killed off. She actually obliterated a monster four metres tall with a single punch.


    Just as Alice began calming her breathing, she felt a pair of strange gazes landing on her back. She looked behind her.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince and Hans were staring at her in pure stupefaction.


    ¡°¡­Aht! Uhm, this¡­ Well, it¡¯s, uhm¡­¡± Alice hurriedly hid her hands behind her back, completely oblivious to the fact that blood had already splattered onto her face. She forced out an awkward smile and said something. ¡°Y-you¡¯re correct, your highness! I¡¯m also looking forward to it. T-this journey, I mean!¡±


    She belatedly tried to reply to what the Imperial Prince had said earlier. But he and Hans muttered out their honest impression of this event instead.


    Firstly, the Seventh Imperial Prince: ¡°By any chance, have you seen the Fighter in the Wind?¡± [1]


    And then, Hans speaking in an impressed voice: ¡°I¡¯ve already heard that the Priestesses of the Theocratic Empire are truly fearsome individuals, but even then, your strength is truly otherworldly, my lady!¡±


    While listening to their opinions, Alice could only make a depressed face.


    **


    The fiefdom of Elusha was famed for being the land of adventurers.


    This territory was located quite close to the capital of a nation renowned for its magic, and as such, quite a lot of magicians called this place their home. In addition, mercenaries, adventurers, and countless travellers frequently visited the fiefdom as well.


    Not only that, the area next to the territory was commonly referred to as the ¡®forest of demonic beasts¡¯, due to how often monsters popped up from there.


    Perhaps that was the reason why adventurers always flocked to Elusha.


    ¡°Have you heard? The news regarding the Lome Kingdom¡¯s civil war.¡±


    ¡°Oh, the one about how the Second Prince there was in bed with the Vampires all along?¡±


    ¡°I hear he got his head chopped off after being judged guilty by the heresy inquisition.¡±


    ¡°Looks like the civil war over there came to an end all thanks to you know who.¡±


    ¡°Right. I heard that it¡¯s all because of that person.¡±


    ¡°That person, you say?¡±


    The conversing mercenaries seemed a little confused, so the adventurer chatting to them nodded and explained it, ¡°You know, the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire.¡±


    The mercenaries clamped their mouths shut.


    ¡°T-that¡¯s right. I heard about that. He alone went around slaughtering the Vampires, didn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not all. He even subjugated an undead army numbering tens of thousands, apparently.¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ve been thinking this every time I hear about him, but they all sound like a really tall tale, don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    The mercenaries chuckled hollowly. Of course they had all heard about the rumours by now.


    The stories from the Theocratic Empire, some more coming from Aslan, and now, the tales were coming out of Lome Kingdom too.


    And the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire was at the heart of all these rumours shaking up the continent right now.


    Many of the rumours sounded way too over the top; such as him saving an Imperial Prince from a deadly curse, then installing a discarded princess as the next ruler of Aslan, or even saving a kingdom on the brink of destruction brought on by a bloody civil war, etc, etc¡­


    In all honesty, all those things sounded like feats straight out of a fairytale. They sounded like a far-too common fantasy found pretty much everywhere. But perhaps, that was the reason why these stories held such a power to entrance its listeners.


    As the mercenaries and adventurers chatted away, a group of visitors arrived at the adventurer guild.


    The gathered masses¡¯ gazes were directed towards the source of heavy clunking noises, followed by metallic clacks.


    The adventurers¡¯ eyes opened much wider.


    A knight kitted out in silvery-white armour from his head to toe was standing by the entrance.


    The adventurers spotted rune letters engraved on the white armour¡¯s surface and sighed in admiration.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t those¡­ magic armaments?¡±


    ¡°I guess he¡¯s a scion from a wealthy family?¡±


    They then glanced behind this knight. A girl and a young man were following him from behind.


    The girl seemed to be in the latter half of her teens, with golden locks and the attire of a Priest. Her hands were equipped with gauntlets.


    The other man seemed to be in his late twenties, with a slender physique and carrying a considerably large luggage on his back.


    A white knight, a monk, and perhaps a peddler. What a peculiar combination this was.


    The adventurers were curious about who they were, but their curiosity didn¡¯t last for long. They simply retracted their gazes and resumed their conversations.


    The knight in the silvery-white armour strode towards one of the Adventurer Guild¡¯s counters. And while taking out the horn of a Minotaur from seemingly out of nowhere, he asked the receptionist, ¡°I want to register as an adventurer.¡±


    The guild¡¯s receptionist standing behind the counter was a physically imposing man. He couldn¡¯t help but stare at the Minotaur¡¯s horn with wide-open eyes, then sneaked a glance at the knight in silver-white armour. ¡°Your name?¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince under the dwarven white armour¡­


    Allen wanted to enjoy his stay in the city of magic, Elusha, not as an Imperial Prince, but¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s Allen. Allen Rufus.¡±


    ¡­As just another adventurer.


    < 111. An Adventurer¡¯s First Step (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: ¡°Fighter in the Wind¡± in [1] is actually a South Korean martial arts biopic released in 2004 that tells the story of Choi Yeong-Eui/Masutatsu Oyama, who travelled to Japan during WW2 and later founded the school of now-famous Kyokushinkaikan Karate. Fun fact: Mr. Karate from SNK¡¯s fighting games are based on him.)


    (TL: Also, I¡¯ve decided to change ¡°divine king¡± to ¡°Holy King¡± to be more consistent with ¡°Holy Emperor¡± theme.)

 Chapter 210 - Monsters of the Sewer -1 (Part One)

    **


    The burly dude behind the adventurer guild counter formed an unreadable expression. ¡°Oh, so you have a surname. Are you from a noble house?¡±


    I replied with a line that I had thought up of beforehand. ¡°Ruined, actually.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, affiliated with which kingdom?¡±


    ¡°Lome.¡±


    ¡°You a knight in training?¡±


    ¡°Something like that.¡±


    From the get-go, this man didn¡¯t even bother to use polite speech.


    He probably couldn¡¯t get a good look at my face because of the dwarven-made full-body armour set that covered my noggin. He might be able to guess that I was still young from my voice alone, but figuring out how young exactly would be quite tough.


    Besides, the name ¡®Allen¡¯ was fairly common among boys, too.


    The receptionist groaned under his breath before shifting his gaze to the two people some distance behind me.


    Alice was looking around the interior of the adventurer guild with sparkling eyes as if everything here was so strange and exciting to her.


    As for Hans, he was standing near the entrance where the request board stood tall. He scanned its contents as if he was there to place a request of his own.


    The receptionist asked, ¡°Are those two also going to register?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the idea.¡±


    ¡°Being an adventurer isn¡¯t a child¡¯s game, so what the hell¡­¡±


    He said something that was considerably rude to us. He probably thought that since I was from a ruined noble house, there was no need to mind his manners or some such.


    ¡°Still, as you¡¯re from a noble house, I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve managed to pick up on a couple of swordsmanship techniques. Correct?¡± The receptionist tapped on the Minotaur¡¯s horn and glanced at me again. ¡°Did you really hunt this monster down? I mean, you need at least five proper knights to just barely hunt down a single Minotaur.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    I nodded nonchalantly.


    The receptionist looked as if he didn¡¯t have much of a choice in the matter. He then pushed forward a wooden plaque towards me. ¡°Very well, you¡¯ll be registered as a ¡®Wood¡¯ rank for now.¡±


    It seemed that he still wasn¡¯t fully convinced by our little group. That¡¯s too bad, but I didn¡¯t have another way to prove our strength without exposing ourselves. Nothing I could do about it for now.


    Besides, becoming an adventurer was my idea of fooling around. In other words, it was a fun way for me to pass my time during this vacation. There was no need to get too invested in it.


    At the beginning, you¡¯d receive a wooden plaque like mine which denoted the beginner rank. That¡¯s right, both adventurers and mercenaries had their own ranking system.


    Starting from Wood, the ranks were Stone, Iron, Eltera, and finally, Orichalcon.


    Adventurers up to Iron rank were pretty commonplace, but apparently, ones with Eltera rank or higher were quite rare. I heard that only around one thousand people with such ranks existed in the entire continent.


    The receptionist carried on, ¡°Remember that your rank will fall or simply get revoked outright if you don¡¯t do anything for a long time. You must complete at least one request within a month of your first registration.¡±


    Wow, this does kinda feel like I¡¯m in a game, doesn¡¯t it? That¡¯s why it¡¯s so fun!


    In any case, I was planning to enjoy the next two months of this trip at my own relaxed pace. As for the remaining month, my intention was to spend it on searching for the first Holy Emperor¡¯s relic.


    I took a look around the adventurer guild. It was sure noisy, alright.


    A group of burly men sitting on a table nearby were chatting away with someone who looked like their client, while some other adventurers were busy clinking their alcohol-filled mugs and listening to the minstrel¡¯s songs.


    There was a huge noticeboard set up by the entrance, where I could see adventurers and mercenaries perusing the available requests before picking up the request forms that piqued their interest.


    Alice and Hans were standing before it, too. And they were attracting quite a lot of attention at the moment.


    In the case of Alice, it was due to her obvious good looks. And as for Hans, his huge luggage.


    ¡°Which noble house is she from? Should I like, chat her up or something?¡±


    ¡°It might be your last chance. If they decide to head into the forest of demonic beasts, they¡¯ll surely end up as Minotaur snack. Go right ahead, man!¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! Now I¡¯ve seen everything. Even a peddler wishes to become an adventurer these days?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll give up after a day or two of pretending.¡±


    I could hear the mercenaries and adventures say some disparaging remarks about them.


    However, these folks had no idea. No idea that one of those two was a martial arts expert strong enough to crush a Minotaur¡¯s head with her bare hands, while the other one was a top-class Alchemist who even confronted a dragon only seen inside legends.


    I simply ignored these fools and walked up to Hans and Alice. ¡°Found any fun-sounding requests yet?¡±


    We were on a journey, and it was our sworn duty to have a good time. Let¡¯s treat it as an open-minded, ¡®learn many new things on the way¡¯ type of experiential journey.


    I asked the two, but they simply shook their heads. So I took a look at the noticeboard myself.


    One name among the requests immediately jumped at me ¨C Benikin Church. And the director of said church, a nun named Evelyn.


    Now¡­ that name seemed awfully familiar. Hang on, wasn¡¯t it from one of the letters delivered to the Imperial Family in the past?


    That¡¯s right, the church¡¯s name belonged to one of the orphanages Ruppel had been supporting, wasn¡¯t it?


    **


    Benikin Church was located right at the edge of the city of Elusha. The church building itself was small and quite shabby. Its director, Sister Evelyn, was an old nun in her seventies.


    She was the only guardian taking care of the children in this orphanage, but at the moment, she was lying on the bed with an injured back.


    Alice treated the nun while Hans was entertaining the kids by distributing some toys to them.


    I took a closer look at the church¡¯s state in the meantime. Mildews and fungi were seemingly growing everywhere, while some walls had already collapsed. Several pillars of the building had rotted away and it was hard to tell just when they would give in.


    So¡­ Third Imperial Prince Ruppel had been supporting such a place financially, huh?


    I perused the request document one more time. Its content was quite simple.


    A young child had accidentally dropped a doll inside a sewer, and another orphan, a girl named ¡®Yuria¡¯, went to retrieve it, only to go missing herself. That happened about a day ago.


    ¡°Excuse me, Lord Allen?¡±


    Alice walked up to me and whispered in my ear what she found out so far.


    As it turned out, the incidents of kids going missing seemed to be happening rather frequently in Elusha as of late.


    Not only that, weird things were continuously happening within the sewers. Such as, the sewer cleaners suddenly going missing during work, or every guard that ventured in there to investigate also disappearing without a trace.


    The smell coming from the sewers was getting worse everyday, and apparently, signs uncomfortably similar to an outbreak of a plague had been detected there as well.


    The fiefdom of Elusha had been urgently gathering enough forces to form another investigation unit, a more substantial one this time, but the progress on that front was on the tardier side of things. This force should be ready to set out in two, maybe three days¡¯ time, but that was too slow.


    Leaving a young girl inside such a sewer alone for that long was too risky.


    That was the extent of the information Alice had gathered so far. And I came up with a conclusion based on what was on the request form and her intel.


    There was something ¡®untoward¡¯ hiding in the underground sewers.


    ¡°I went to inquire with the city garrison, but all they were willing to say was that they still needed to gather more personnel to start the investigation. They didn¡¯t seem willing to divulge any detailed information, but it felt like the matter is quite dangerous in nature. That¡¯s why I sought out adventurers or mercenaries¡­¡±


    The old nun explained herself, and I grew puzzled while listening to her.


    The underground sewers of a major city were dangerous?


    No matter where I looked in this city, its public order was firmly in the camp of ¡®satisfactory¡¯. Which could only mean that there must¡¯ve been something seriously suspicious going on if no subjugation forces had been dispatched by now.


    ¡°As you may have guessed, I can only give you a small amount as a reward. If it¡¯s not enough, I¡¯ll take on extra debt to repay you. That¡¯s why, please, I beg of you. Yuria¡­ Cough, cough!¡±


    The old nun coughed heavily and Alice gently patted her on the back.


    Miss Saintess then glanced at me. ¡°What should we do, sir?¡±


    I shrugged my shoulders. ¡°We¡¯ll take care of it.¡±


    I figured that it wouldn¡¯t be a bad thing to make my brother owe me yet another one.


    **


    We didn¡¯t even need to prepare a whole lot.


    We simply got some information from the adventurer guild and heard some stories about witnessing ¡®gigantic sewer rats¡¯ from the soldiers on guard duty.


    Some rumours said that monsters called ¡®Ratmen¡¯ were hiding in the sewers. These monsters were usually found living under a city, or in natural Negative Fields located inside forests. Their diet mainly consisted of all sorts of excrements, filth, and even rotting corpses.


    It was omnivorous and possessed a fairly violent streak. It¡¯d be considerably dangerous for a young girl to be left alone in the underground sewers for a day or more when such things were scurrying around in there.


    ¡°Are we going to catch a rat now, sir?¡± Hans asked while tilting his head.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. But it ain¡¯t a regular rat. Apparently, it¡¯s called a Ratman.¡±


    The top brass of the adventurer guild and the leaders of Elusha deliberately withheld this information from the citizens living in the fiefdom. Well, not many people would be chuffed to learn that a whole bunch of half-rat, half-man monsters were scurrying somewhere below their largely-peaceful city, now would they?


    They obviously wanted to get rid of the monsters before those things had a chance to cause a massive headache if the circumstances allowed it. One of the things they were worried about was the fact that Ratmen were renowned for spreading deadly plagues.


    So, it was in everyone¡¯s interest to eliminate them as soon as possible.

 Chapter 211 - 112. Monsters of the Sewer -1 (Part Two)

    The three of us, Hans, Alice, and I, stepped into the staircase going down into the sewers located near Benikin church.


    ¡°¡­It smells horrible.¡±


    Alice blocked her nose in dissatisfaction while scanning our surroundings.


    The interior down here was quite dark, so both her and I used divinity to enhance our vision to get a good look at where we were. It was the middle of the day outside, but here, not a sliver of light could infiltrate this damp and smelly Negative Field.


    I groaned softly, ¡°Even I didn¡¯t expect the stench to be this bad.¡±


    In my case, I had all sorts of dwarf-made devices installed on the armour. If I wanted to neutralise the air that had been contaminated with toxins or some other pollutants, all I had to do was to inject divinity into the armour and it¡¯d start the purification process all on its own.


    ¡°Still, what a relief it is that we¡¯re here to catch some rats,¡± said Hans while looking around the area himself, wearing those magic-detecting goggles of his.


    I tried to correct him. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, we aren¡¯t dealing with regular rats here.¡±


    I peered into the darkness and spotted some live rats. Except, these rats were not what you¡¯d call ¡®normal¡¯ by any stretch of imagination.


    These rats had bushy, stiff black fur on top of their heads. They were around one metre in height while they walked around on their hind legs like humans. They were even carrying things like sticks and rusted knives.


    Alice immediately froze stiffly on her spot as if indescribable chills had completely immobilised her just then, while Hans stood there with his jaw about to hit the floor.


    I, on the other hand, stared at these Ratmen with some interest. ¡°See? I told you. They aren¡¯t your regular rats at all, am I right?¡±


    To be honest, I certainly didn¡¯t expect them to show up while wielding knives, sticks, and even clubs.


    And why was this? I picked up on demonic energy, as well as some kind of toxin, wafting out from them. Either there were some undead mixed among their group, or some Ratmen might be capable of using demonic energy.


    ¡°I guess rats in this world do prefer to walk on their two feet.¡±


    Another thing to note here was that their numbers had to be well over a few hundred. I wonder, was it because their nature forced them to form a large herd? And perhaps their nature also granted them enough intelligence to wield weapons on top of that?


    There were so many here that the sewer entrance veiled in darkness was completely blocked up by them.


    -Screeeeech!


    The furs on all those Ratmen stood on end. Hundreds of eyes gleamed murderously in the darkness as they began rushing towards us on all fours, all the while their jaws held onto the knives and sticks.


    Rumble, tumble-!


    Dozens, nay, hundreds of large rats were now dashing madly through the sewer filled with streams of excrements and filth.


    Yup, even I was getting goosebumps looking at this spectacle. It¡¯s like staring at an ocean of cockroaches scurrying towards me.


    And to make matters worse, the stench coming from them was the absolute worst. All sorts of filth and crap could be seen staining the monsters¡¯ furs.


    ¡°¡­W-what should we do?¡± Alice asked while sounding rather scared.


    Wait, what? Because of some rats? Or could it be because of the higher-than-expected numbers?


    Oh, none of the above.


    She was frightened simply because they were so filthy.


    I mean, really now. This girl was a Lady Martial Arts Master capable of one-punching a Minotaur to death, so there was no bloody way she¡¯d get scared here.


    Heck, even I wanted nothing to do with these dirty-ass rats.


    I quickly summoned a musket and let out a breath into its chamber. Since there were no eyewitnesses down here, it should be fine to do whatever I want for the time being.


    As such¡­


    ¡°Time to hunt some rats.¡±


    I aimed my musket at the incoming horde of Ratmen.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    The fourteen year-old girl living in Benikin Church¡¯s orphanage, Yuria, was currently walking alone inside the sewer while clutching onto a teddy bear. She looked to be in bad sorts right now.


    It was so gloomy and smelly down here. She had nothing to quench her thirst nor to appease her hunger. The tiredness of the mind and body continued to weaken her.


    She was so tired that she couldn¡¯t even properly recall how she managed to spend the day trapped down here.


    Not only that¡­


    ¡°¡­Heuph!¡±


    Yuria gasped out in surprise and almost dropped the teddy bear. A rotting corpse was floating down the filthy sewer water right before her eyes.


    A corpse that had been badly maimed by the fangs of all sorts of beasts, no less. Yuria covered her face from this gruesome sight and stumbled back several steps.


    She hated this.


    How did things turn out like this?


    -Big sis, please go and get my doll!


    That was one of the immature little siblings of hers throwing a tantrum. It seemed that the child carelessly dropped her doll inside one of the sewer openings while pretending to be on an adventure.


    Since it was getting late in the day, Yuria decided to go and get the doll. If not found in time, then it was obvious that the child would continue throwing her tearful tantrum for the rest of the day.


    Besides, it was dangerous for a little child to enter the sewers alone.


    But her decision to come down here turned out to be the beginning of her troubles.


    -Uh? How come¡­?


    The entrance she used to enter the sewers had been shut tightly.


    Bang! Bang!


    She pounded on the gate but no one opened it from the outside.


    She did hear stories of the guards deciding to lock up all the sewer entrances due to the spate of dangerous events happening recently, but even then, she didn¡¯t expect something like this would happen to her.


    And to make matters much worse¡­


    -Screech?


    The monsters called Ratmen had taken residence in the sewers. Yuria fled and barely managed to lose them.


    The stench of the sewers had hidden her own smell, while the Ratmen didn¡¯t possess all that good of an eyesight, so they simply devoured whatever they happened to come across.


    Yuria sobbed silently all alone.


    She continued to struggle in order to get out of this place, but the number of Ratmen seemed to balloon up over time and placed so much pressure on her. She had to flee for her life several times, hid in the darkness, and had to lose them in the labyrinth of the sewers.


    At times, she had to hold her breath and enter the flowing sewerage to lose them.


    But now, it felt like all hope was lost. She was too tired to even walk. She knew that at this rate, it was only a matter of time before she ended up as monster rat food.


    Just as she began to sob softly again¡­


    Boom-!


    An explosion noise could be heard.


    ¡®What was that?¡¯


    Yuria shifted her gaze to the end section of the sewerage tunnel she was in. A flash of brilliant light suddenly brightened the passage there before chunks of what used to be Ratmen were flung back, their blood thickly coating the sewer walls.


    As she stood there staring at that spectacle in shock¡­


    Tumble, splash¡­


    A wave of sewer water tumbled out from the deeper part of the tunnel behind her. She turned to look, only to spot a massive monster rat at least five metres tall ¨C one massive enough to scrape the ceiling of the sewer tunnel.


    A Giant Ratman.


    Yuria sucked in her breath at the appearance of this huge monster. She even forgot about screaming.


    -Ku-aaaaaahk!


    It screeched out violently.


    Its maw split wide open as if to swallow up the small-statured Yuria in one go.


    She tightly clutched the teddy bear and closed her eyes.


    ¡®It¡¯s over!¡¯


    It was at that very moment that she heard the distinct click-clack of metallic boots. Something or someone was quickly rushing towards where she was while noisily splashing the sewer water.


    Just before the Giant Ratman¡¯s fangs closed in to rip her apart, a lengthy barrel of a musket was shoved into the monster¡¯s throat.


    A bright spark lit up in the muzzle, followed by the back of the giant rat monster¡¯s head exploding into gory bits. Blood and chunks of flesh rained down on the surroundings.


    Yuria, who was still holding onto the teddy bear, flinched nastily in surprise and quickly raised her head.


    She saw a person covered in a set of white armour from top to bottom. This unknown individual was wielding a musket rifle about one and half metres long.


    A sacred aura oozed out from his whole body and ensured that even if his figure became drenched in blood, he¡¯d never be tainted by uncleanliness.


    Yuria dazedly stared at this unfamiliar holy knight and muttered softly, ¡°Lord Paladin?¡±


    ¡°Are you Yuria?¡±


    The returning voice was soft, and yet, it was still filled with confidence.


    The Paladin extended his hand towards Yuria.


    ¡°I¡¯ve come to take you home.¡±


    < 112. Monsters of the Sewer -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: Only one chapter today and tomorrow.)

 Chapter 212 - Monsters of the Sewer -2 (Part One)

    Chapter 212: 113. Monsters of the Sewer -2 (Part One)


    **


    Thankfully, the girl named Yuria was still alive.


    I checked out her status. Her attributes were fairly average for a girl around fourteen years of age. However, the part about her calmness, resourcefulness, kindness, and nimbleness still caught my eye.


    On top of that, she was suffering from fatigue and was inflicted with some kind of toxin, not to mention having contracted a plague as well.


    In other words, the toxins and demonic energy freely flowing within this sewer had infected her. If left alone, her condition would surely get worse and her lifeforce would have gradually withered away.


    I reached out to grab her arm while my eyes under the helm vigilantly observed the tunnel behind her.


    Some things popped out from the surface of the filth covering the sewers. This time, we were greeted by monsters with somewhat different external appearances.


    They were two metres in height, almost looked like humans, and were completely bipedal as well. However, their heads were still those of rats with sharp fangs. Everything about them, from their lengthy claws to firm muscles, were unnecessarily memorable, I have to say.


    They were ¡®Red Ratmen¡¯ that, as one might¡¯ve guessed, had red fur.


    It was kinda like someone had stuck the head of a rat on top of a bodybuilder.


    Holy cow, they sure are pretty creepy to look at. Are you telling me that the city¡¯s sewers are teeming with these kinds of creatures?


    -Kiiiiaaaahk!


    The Red Ratmen screeched, and while spreading their arms wide open, began dashing towards our location. They were much faster than the regular Ratmen.


    Judging from that alone, I guessed that their physical strength should also be higher than the rest of their kind, too.


    I couldn¡¯t figure out how the hell such monsters ended up building a nest down in the sewers of a major city like Elusha.


    I quickly pulled Yuria by her arm and retreated from there.


    ¡°Any other survivors down here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I, I don¡¯t know. But there shouldn¡¯t be anyone.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±


    I covered Yuria¡¯s eyes with my hand. After hoisting the musket on my back, I summoned a bottle of holy water and poured the contents into the girl¡¯s mouth.


    The temperature on her body began rising up quickly. Her breathing grew laboured as well. Since she was already contaminated by the toxins and demonic energy, it was unsurprising to see this type of negative reaction flare up in her.


    But that lasted only for a little while; her tormented expression soon became much more tranquil.


    She must¡¯ve felt safe and relieved to be held by someone ¨C or maybe she was just too exhausted, I couldn¡¯t tell ¨C because she became limp and fell asleep in my arms.


    But that didn¡¯t matter, anyhow. She said there were no eyewitnesses or survivors down here, so¡­


    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s wrap this up, shall we?¡±


    Bright light exploded from some place behind my back.


    Just before the crazy-eyed Red Ratmen could pounce on me, arrows of light stabbed cleanly through their figures.


    Splash, splosh¡­


    Metallic armour caused the dirty water to splash about.


    A legion emitting bright light suddenly materialised in the sewer. They were outfitted with dwarf-made sets of armour, and equipped with shields and spears. Meanwhile, banshees wielding bows and arrows were behind their formation.


    Back in the adventurer guild, there was a request personally signed off by the feudal lord of Elusha, asking for adventurers and mercenaries to investigate the sewers as well as to subjugate the monsters living down here.


    It wasn¡¯t as if I had accepted that request, but I figured no one would mind if I stepped up to finish it and get the reward later.


    Well, the job of rescuing a girl wasn¡¯t even nearly enough to satisfy me. That¡¯s why¡­


    ¡°Sweep them away.¡±


    ¡­I might as well clean this place out, too.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    -Screech! Hiss!


    A group of Ratmen around one metre in height were hurriedly scurrying along the sewer tunnel. They were fleeing at their fastest speed while cold sweat thickly coated their bodies.


    Their furs were shuddering from pure fear.


    These creatures, born in the darkness of the sewers, thought that this place was a paradise. Not only was it warm down here, all sorts of excrement and filth filled this place up, as well. And every now and then, prey even willingly showed up down here, ensuring that the Ratmen colony could eat their fill.


    And if there weren¡¯t enough to eat, they would simply devour their own kin. That was how they developed and evolved. They grew their forces and before long, even came to gain enough intelligence to wield weapons.


    Their queen, the sovereign ruling in the sewers, told them this:


    -We shall grow our forces and rise to the surface world. Spread out the plague, and once our weak prey have fallen, we shall devour them all.


    What an amazing turn of events this was!


    The Ratmen that should¡¯ve usually hidden themselves in darkness of the underground somehow grew intelligent, propagated greatly in numbers, and became so much stronger.


    Not only that, they even got to escape from the humiliating days of being lab rats of some strange ¡®magicians¡¯ as well.


    However, it was also true that their queen had come to acquire powerful strength, toxins, and truly unstoppable reproductive powers thanks to those ¡®magicians¡¯.


    In only around three months, hundreds and thousands of Ratmen had been born. At this rate, it shouldn¡¯t be all that strange for them to start dreaming of founding a kingdom that the ¡®humans¡¯ often talked about. Maybe, founding an empire wouldn¡¯t be out of question either!


    The kingdom of rats ¨C a world ruled by the Ratmen would soon become a reality!


    ¡®We are smarter than humans!¡¯


    ¡®We are stronger than humans!¡¯


    ¡®Our first step towards greatness starts from here!¡¯


    These were the thoughts of the na?ve creatures trapped within the cage. However, they foolishly thought that they were correct. While harbouring dreams and hopes of a better future, they prepared their wings of flight from this place.


    But then, an ¡®invader¡¯ had shown up in this underground city of rats.


    The Ratmen looked behind them.


    Click, clack, click¡­


    A legion made out of hulking figures at least two metres tall while kitted out in gleaming armour was relentlessly advancing forward.


    They held shields and brandished their pointy spears.


    The Ratmen tried to fight back, but these invaders were overwhelmingly stronger. They shoved the monsters back with their shields, trampled them with their metal boots, and stabbed with their spears.


    Arrows of light raining down indiscriminately slaughtered the Ratmen. The monsters became deeply terrified. Not even once had they run into creatures of such calibre down here in the sewers.


    Could this legion be a part of the human armies existing on the surface?


    Could the human armies really be this incredible?


    -Uwaaaaah¡­


    The Ratmen began spewing out their unique toxins, but they didn¡¯t stop there and even began vomiting out what was in their stomachs into the sewer water below.


    From their mouths, poisonous fog and vomit containing all sorts of deadly plagues began flooding into the sewer. Surely no living army would be able to withstand those two deadly factors combined.


    In fact, all the humans who had shown up here so far had all fallen powerlessly from this type of attack.


    So it should work this time as well¡­


    The Ratmen¡¯s eyes widened in shock.


    The invaders, with their eyes shining eerily under their helms, were not affected in the slightest by the attack. Instead, white smoke was rising up from all those places they had stepped on.


    The Ratmen flinched in surprise and hurriedly looked at the ground where the army had marched past. The sewer water found on all the places where the white army had stepped on was being purified.


    All sorts of excrements and filth got cleaned up in an instant.


    Goosebumps broke out on the Ratmen¡¯s hides as they stumbled backwards in shock.


    To think that this legion was capable of purifying all those dirty, disgusting filth so easily! It was as if the invaders planned to completely crush the Ratmen¡¯s home today.


    The monsters began fleeing from this place. They screeched loudly to each other.


    ¡®Run away!¡¯


    ¡®Let¡¯s go to where our queen resides! We must report back to her!¡¯


    ¡®Our city, our kingdom is in danger!¡¯


    It was right then ¨C the corner in front of the fleeing group of Ratmen suddenly crumbled down.


    Ku-oooooh¡­


    A huge figure covered in metal plate-like armour at least three metres in height strode out from the corner.


    The Ratmen got to see into the space under the armour thanks to their much lower height. And what they saw was an undead made entirely out of bones.


    It was a Bone Golem.


    All semblance of colour drained out of these Ratmen. They raised their heads up and stared at the armoured existence lifting up its large mace.


    ¡®O-oh, dear queen!¡¯


    ¡®Please come and save us¡­!¡¯


    The mace mercilessly slammed down.


    The army of undead numbering in the hundreds had taken over the sewer system. All the filth found here got purified as they marched past.


    The thing was, though, these undead were working quite quickly at the moment. It was all because of the order their master had given them.


    -Sweep them all away before anyone notices you guys. Wipe them all out and scrub this place as clean as you can.


    The undead operated systematically as their master had ordered.


    They hunted down all the monster rats scurrying about in this area before other people showed up down here, and along the way, used divinity to purify all the plague and filth clogging up the sewer water.


    Their sovereign¡¯s word was absolute.


    The undead legion then began glaring at the location where the underground sewer system linked up to.

 Chapter 213 - Monsters of the Sewer -2 (Part Two)

    **


    That place was, when judged from the standards of humans, a disgusting and truly horrid location. It was where rotting food thrown away by humans and excrements would end up. Even the corpses gnawed on by rats could be found in there.


    For the Ratmen, however, it was where some of the finest meals ¨C all sorts of filth ¨C would gather up.


    The ¡®queen¡¯ borrowed the human language and started calling this place its royal palace.


    The queen of the Ratmen possessed an eight metre-tall physique with red fur covering its entire body. It outwardly resembled a feral rat and spent most of its time giving birth to new Ratmen in order to proliferate its kind.


    Its abilities had become so much greater than regular Ratmen all thanks to the ¡®magicians¡¯ that performed experiments on the monster, giving it incredible physical strength in the process.


    The Ratman Queen continued to breed nonstop. It gave birth to more cubs and devoured all the ¡®food¡¯ that washed in along with the filthy sewer water.


    It also worked hard to create the most optimal environment where its offspring could flourish.


    Suddenly, numerous Ratmen rushed into the royal palace from all directions.


    -Screech!


    -Screeeech!


    -Screech!


    All these Ratmen were trembling in fear. The queen also got to see something else at the same time. It saw the maimed corpses of its Ratmen kin and their blood floating down on the sewer water¡¯s surface.


    The queen¡¯s fury grew explosively and it angrily raised its head.


    It was at that moment that an army marched into the ¡®palace¡¯ using the central tunnel. The undead soldiers tried to communicate to the Ratman Queen by clattering their teeth rhythmically.


    But what were they even trying to say?


    The queen had no way of understanding these undead. However, it could not stand by and watch its queendom get trampled on by these invaders.


    The queen rose up and got ready to roar out, but right at that moment, the undead pounced on the creature.


    The eyes of the undead that wielded spears were arching like bright crescent moons.


    Countless weapons ruthlessly hacked the queen apart.


    Only a tragic screaming echoed within the sewer tunnels.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I left the underground waterways while carrying Yuria on my back. Kids rushed up to us once we arrived back on the church¡¯s grounds.


    Even though our bodies must¡¯ve stank to the high heavens, the kids didn¡¯t care and were only worried about Yuria¡¯s condition. The orphanage¡¯s director, the old nun, Sister Evelyn, emotionally embraced the young girl tightly.


    After their reunion was over, she then entrusted Yuria over to Hans and Alice¡¯s care before leading me into the church building.


    When we got inside, she knelt down and bowed her head, gathered her hands, and began praying. ¡°I¡¯m greatly indebted to you, your highness.¡±


    ¡°You know who I am?¡±


    Well, that¡¯s surprising.


    How did she even figure it out?


    Was it because of my name, Allen? No, that couldn¡¯t be. I mean, it¡¯s a reasonably common name. It¡¯d be difficult to make a guess with that alone.


    Evelyn soon resolved my curiosity. ¡°Yuria told me that you used a musket rifle in the sewers, your highness. This church used to enjoy close ties to none other than the Theocratic Empire. I¡¯ve heard about all the rumours that have come from the empire.¡±


    ¡°¡­Does anyone else know?¡±


    ¡°No, sir. Musket rifles are an unfamiliar weapon to most commoners. In Yuria¡¯s case, she knew what a musket was because she heard about it from a passing peddler in the past.¡±


    ¡°What about a shovel?¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon? A shovel?¡±


    Oh, it seems that the stories about me being familiar with a shovel and using it often haven¡¯t reached this far yet.


    Then again, I hadn¡¯t used a shovel all that much ever since leaving the northern territory, so there¡¯s that to take into consideration.


    I never planned to fully hide my real identity, but in order to avoid anything too annoying, it seemed that I now needed to be more mindful about using my guns in public.


    ¡°Allow me to express my gratitude to you. Thank you for watching over the final moments of his highness the Third Imperial Prince,¡± said Evelyn.


    Only Charlotte, Harman, and I knew about Ruppel¡¯s survival. Not even the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, or the other members of the Imperial Family knew about the truth.


    Well, it was a seriously dangerous act to let a traitor live, after all.


    ¡°I do not know what brought you here, your highness, but I have no doubt that you are here to do something important.¡±


    Uhm, actually, I was just working as an adventurer for fun during my vacation. However, I got the feeling that such a thing shouldn¡¯t just be blurted out in the open, so I didn¡¯t.


    Evelyn offered to reward me with the request fee, but I naturally declined. I¡¯d just get the reward from brother Ruppel later on. Although, I wasn¡¯t sure whether we¡¯d get to meet again in the future.


    In any case, even a meeting like this was fate.


    I pushed forward a bottle of holy water to the old nun. ¡°Once every year, dilute a small portion of this in drinking water and distribute it to the kids. When you do, they will remain healthy for the whole year without falling ill.¡±


    ¡°B-but, another wonderful gift like this¡­¡±


    Evelyn bowed her head to thank me.


    Meanwhile, Alice and Hans walked up to us to report that Yuria had fallen asleep now.


    ¡°Yuria expressed her wish to speak to you. Aren¡¯t you going to meet her?¡±


    Alice asked me that, but I just shook my head. ¡°Well, if we¡¯re destined to meet again, then we will. If not, we won¡¯t.¡±


    Anyways, I was going to stay in this city for two months. We should run into each other sooner or later.


    I was done with confirming that the girl was fine, so that left me with only one other thing to take care of ¨C and that was to see if the rat extermination had concluded successfully.


    We headed back to the entrance of the sewers near the church.


    Thud!


    A huge toe and a claw attached to it landed with a thud in front of the entrance. Blood continued to trickle from the torn part as if it had been forcibly ripped off.


    The undead knelt down and bowed before gradually disappearing from this world in their kneeling position.


    I smiled while grabbing the rat queen¡¯s rather humongous toe.


    And so, my first job as an adventurer was complete.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Everyone¡¯s attention was focused on this one group.


    Blood was still dripping out from the Ratman Queen¡¯s toe around one metre long. When the trio entered the adventurer guild while dragging that thing in, every adventurer inside froze up stiff in their spots.


    The mercenaries that mocked the group earlier silently stood up from their chair, their lips firmly clamped shut.


    This trio of adventurers, mere hatchlings who got their ranks only on the day before yesterday¡­


    Everyone thought that they were simply a trainee knight from a noble family, a Priestess, and a peddler working together. But now, they were placing a huge ¡®toe¡¯ one metre in length on the counter.


    The burly receptionist of the adventurer guild hurriedly swallowed up his dry saliva, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. He then quickly looked back at the knight who had become a Wood-rank adventurer not too long ago


    The knight asked, ¡°So, what will our reward fee be like with this thing?¡±


    The receptionist sneaked a glance at the request form the feudal lord of Elusha had personally put up. The contents in it were¡­


    -Form a party of fifty that consists of adventurers and mercenaries. They will be dispatched as an investigation party to the underground waterways along with fifty soldiers and four magicians under the contract of the city. Their role will be to defeat the monsters.


    A party of over one hundred combatants was scheduled to go on an expedition of discovery in the sewers. That¡¯s how dangerous the situation in the sewers was deemed to be.


    Yet, here was a man and his companions standing right before the receptionist who had managed to clear out said sewer system.


    The burly receptionist kept his gaze locked on to the knight in white armour. ¡°My apologies for asking this again, but can you tell me your name once more?¡±


    His tone of speech had noticeably changed.


    The knight was still wearing his helm, so it was impossible to see his face, but for some reason, it kind of felt like he was smiling right now.


    The knight opened his mouth.


    ¡°My name is¡­¡±


    **


    ¡°Allen Rufus, was it?¡±


    The sewers investigation party consisting of fifty soldiers of the fiefdom was currently walking along the underground waterways with masks covering their faces.


    They were in the middle of investigating the central area where dozens of the sewer tunnels converged into one.


    Among them was an adventurer who had been assigned as the leader of this investigation party. His name was ¡®Adolf¡¯ and his adventurer rank was ¡®Iron¡¯. At the moment, he was reading the report with widened eyes.


    He muttered in disbelief, ¡°A Wood-ranked rookie really did this?!¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. It looks like he registered only recently.¡±


    Adolf listened to the soldier¡¯s follow-up report, and then cast his gaze down below.


    The sewer tunnels should¡¯ve been filled to the brim with all sorts of filth and excrement. Yet¡­ clean water was streaming down the waterways right now.


    All those filthy substances had settled down on the bottom.


    Since there were hundreds of thousands of people living in the city, the sewers being filthy was an inevitability. However, it was the complete opposite of ¡®filth¡¯ in this place.


    No, it was simply too clean here and that made Adolf somewhat freaked out. On top of that, he could even detect a sacred aura coming from the water as well, although it was quite faint.


    Adventurer Adolf used to be one of the ¡®convicts¡¯ who served his sentence up in the northern region, so it wasn¡¯t all that hard for him to figure out that the sewer water had somehow turned into holy water.


    Besides, he became able to use divinity from about a year ago as well, which was another reason why he didn¡¯t have any trouble sensing this change.


    He shifted his gaze back to the central location of the underground waterways.


    ¡°Well, no doubt it would¡¯ve been too easy for that guy. If he¡¯s the same guy as the one I¡¯m thinking about, that is.¡±


    The corpse of a massive rat at least eight metres in length that had been ripped to pieces, could be found there. Here was a monster that a dozen-plus Ogres wouldn¡¯t be able to win in a fight even if they worked together.


    It was a demonic monster that even a party of one hundred combatants would¡¯ve had a really tough time trying to fight it. Yet, a trio of newbie adventurers managed to do exactly that?


    Adolf could only chuckle wryly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll find out whether he¡¯s the same guy or not when I meet him.¡±


    He cast his gaze on the portrait of a knight in full-body armour contained in the report.


    < 113. Monsters of the Sewer -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 214 - A Minor Connection -1 (Part One)

    **


    Inside the forest of demonic beasts.


    Alice, while currently kitted out in an easy-to-move Priestess uniform, was quickly dashing through the forest.


    She smacked away the tree branches in her way with her gauntlet-equipped hands and nimbly darted over the thick tree roots below.


    She glanced to her side and that¡¯s when ¡®something¡¯ appeared right next to her side.


    -Ku-aaahk!


    This thing, a monster, had green skin and tusk-like fangs that jutted out sharply from an ugly, scary-looking face. Its body was also far more muscular than any human out there.


    It was an Orc.


    There wasn¡¯t just one Orc either, but many of them; they wore worn-down armour and each of them brandished a variety of bladed weapons like swords, spears, and axes.


    Alice tutted inwardly at that. These Orcs were faster than she had anticipated.


    She shifted her gaze back to her front only to gasp and flinch in surprise. She then hurriedly ducked her head lower.


    A sword sliced through the air and missed her hair by nary a gap to spare.


    More swords and spears flew in from seemingly everywhere. While holding her dancing hair, Alice expertly and easily dodged all the incoming attacks.


    ¡°J-just a little bit further.¡±


    She was thinking deeply to herself.


    ¡®The location Mister Hans told me about¡­¡¯


    She could sense a lot of presences coming after her from some place behind her.


    A large horde of Orcs were trying to pounce on her position. They numbered around a hundred.


    And then, one crimson-coloured Ogre was also approaching her position while crushing past the forest¡¯s vegetation. It had two heads and it seemed to be at least one and a half times bigger than regular Ogres.


    ¡°There¡¯s even an Ogre here?¡±


    Her eyes widened from surprise, since there had been no mention of an Ogre being in this area in the adventurer request she and her companions had accepted.


    The red-skinned Two Headed Ogre began to indiscriminately swing a huge tree trunk held in its grasp as if it was merely a wooden stick. The Orcs running in front of it got crushed into meat paste.


    More Orcs fired arrows, hoping to kill Alice that way, but she nimbly dashed and weaved among the trees to evade the projectiles.


    Not too long after that, she escaped from the confines of the forest and went into the wide-open grasslands.


    In front of her was Hans wearing a robe and waving a burning torch from left to right.


    Alice spotted a large patch of dirt on top of the grasslands before him that seemed artificially covered up. She leapt over it and landed next to Hans before quickly taking a look behind her.


    -Ku-aaaahk!


    -Human meat!


    The horde of Orcs and their bloodshot eyes angrily rushed across the patch of dirt. And right at that moment, the bamboo sticks acting as the dirt¡¯s foundation quaked unsteadily and completely gave away.


    The ground caved in and both the horde of Orcs and the red-skinned Ogre fell into the trap.


    The Orcs painfully tumbled down to the bottom, then began sniffing the mud coating their bodies. Along with the acrid metallic stench, some kind of viscous liquid was mixed in with the dirt.


    Wasn¡¯t this¡­ oil?


    The Orcs¡¯ complexions paled instantly.


    They began flailing about, trying to escape from the trap. But right at that moment, Hans tossed the lit torch in his hand.


    In almost an instant, the flames spread out inside the trap.


    One hundred or so Orcs were burned to death as tragic screams left their mouths.


    They had completely fallen for the trap.


    Hans and Alice exchanged glances with each other and began sighing in relief, only for the red-skinned Ogre to jump out of the hole in the ground right at that moment. Its whole body was coated in oil and flames were burning on it, yet it was still alive.


    This mutated Ogre, the Two Headed Ogre, opened both of its mouths and began roaring out in anger.


    -Humans, we hate! We hate you magicians, using us in experiments¡­!


    But right at that moment, a ¡®Paladin¡¯ kitted out in silver-white armour strode out from the forest. He was wielding a two metre-long greatsword in both of his hands.


    That weapon was none other than the treasured sword that the former inheritor of the sword king title used to wield.


    The ¡®Paladin¡¯ gripped the huge sword tightly and softly whispered under his helm, ¡°Kasim.¡±


    When he did, a transparent mass of divinity suddenly gathered behind him. It morphed into a soul of a hulking human being.


    It was a holy ghost.


    This ¡®creature¡¯ entered the greatsword.


    [Divine Aura has been activated. The equipment will be temporarily upgraded.]


    [A skill has been added. ¡®Divine Aura of Wind¡¯ has been generated.]


    The Paladin¡¯s two-handed grip on the sword became stronger.


    This was kind of like ¡®possession¡¯ ¨C the holy ghost entered and took possession of the weapon itself. Although the overall power output would only be one-tenth of when the undead was directly summoned to the living world, this much was still acceptable in this situation.


    He then cocked the greatsword back before thrusting it forward to where it used to be a second ago.


    BOOM-!


    The wind condensed before exploding forward. The air turned into storm currents, and formless blades flew out to split apart the burning Two Headed Ogre¡¯s back hide.


    -Kuwaaaaahk!


    Blood spewed out like a gory fountain. The huge monster with two heads faltered and collapsed on its faces. It reached out with its hand, hoping to somehow save itself, but then, the Paladin grabbed that hand and looked coldly at the monster.


    ¡°With this, our current job is complete.¡±


    His greatsword lifted up high in the air, and then slammed down to sever the Ogre¡¯s finger.


    **


    There was this one individual that had become the talk of the adventurer¡¯s guild recently; the Paladin in the silver-white armour.


    A ruined noble from the kingdom of Lome, who also happened to be a holy knight that followed the teachings of the gods.


    In other words, this hot topic was none other than Allen Rufus and his two companions.


    The receptionist of the guild that served both the adventurers and mercenaries was currently staring agog at the huge ¡®finger¡¯ left behind by the trio.


    ¡°This is what the pinky finger of the Two Headed Ogre looks like?¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t! It¡¯s the size of my thigh.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this weird? He took the job of hunting down some Orcs, so why did he hunt down a Two Headed Ogre instead?¡±


    The contents of the request was definitely about hunting down a horde of Orcs that had been raiding rural villages and abducting the villagers living there. And yet, this trio went and hunted down a Two Headed Ogre along the way.


    Was that all?


    Previously, when they took on a job to clean out a swamp occupied by a group of Lizardmen, they somehow ended up hunting down a mutated five-headed Hydra.


    And there was the incident with the Ratmen that happened about a month ago as well. As it turned out, a humongous Ratman Queen had been leading those monsters. Yet, not only did the Paladin and his group hunt all those critters down, they even proceeded to clean out the sewers to such an extent that the whole underground waterways had become completely purified.


    ¡°Incidents seem to be increasing in numbers lately for some reason.¡±


    The receptionist failed to hide his feeling of inexplicable helplessness.


    Even though the jobs the Paladin took on were supposed to be minor things, they still seemed to spiral out of control, only for him to find a way to sort them out with no problem in the end.


    It wasn¡¯t any different this time as well.


    A job to hunt down some Orcs ballooned into a much bigger hunt of a mutated Two Headed Ogre.


    With things like this, it was inevitable that all sorts of rumours about them would start propagating.


    One of them was the rumour of the trio faking the various incidents.


    ¡°It¡¯s way too weird, isn¡¯t it? No matter what, they must¡¯ve faked this whole thing.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, it couldn¡¯t have been done with his real ability. And he must¡¯ve dumped a crap ton of holy water in the sewers.¡±


    In other words, other people began suspecting that the trio had faked the incidents to earn fame as newbie adventurers.


    However, who in their right mind would ¡®add¡¯ a Two Headed Ogre in their Orc hunting request? Or for that matter, who would be insane enough to come up with the idea of ¡®adding¡¯ a Hydra in their Lizardmen hunting request?


    Most of all, no one in this world would be crazy enough to dump enough holy water just to temporarily purify the sewerage system serving hundreds of thousands of oblivious citizens.


    Simply put, this rumour was just some nonsense spewed out by jealous adventurers, that¡¯s all.


    However, another rumour suggested that the Paladin must¡¯ve been a member of a royal family of some kingdom somewhere.


    ¡°They could be from the royal family of some kingdom, you know? The girl¡¯s a princess, the Paladin is her escorting knight, and the peddler is actually her attendant.¡±


    That explanation sounded the most plausible of them all.


    ¡°The adventurer named Alice is actually a princess from a forgotten kingdom, while the Paladin used to be a royal guard. As for the peddler, he was a chamberlain.¡±


    Of course, there was no basis for this assumption.


    The receptionist of the adventurer guild could only make a troubled expression while eavesdropping on the murmurs of others.


    The trio was the very first group of individuals to rise from Wood-rank to Eltera, a rank which only one thousand people in the whole continent were rumoured to possess, in only around a month. This was indeed far too unprecedented.


    The receptionist ended up racking his brain trying to figure out how he should go about treating the Paladin in silver-white armour and his two companions in the future.


    While he was groaning to himself, someone walked over to the receptionist.


    It was a muscular man kitted out in armour, an adventurer named ¡®Adolf¡¯.


    ¡°Oh! Mister Adolf.¡±


    The receptionist waved his hand. Adolf reciprocated the greeting before shifting his curious gaze over to the finger that used to belong to the Two Headed Ogre.


    The receptionist smiled wryly and explained, ¡°Oh, this thing? Eltera-ranked adventurers left it here. Eeeya~, it feels like the world is getting more scary, isn¡¯t it? Damn rats were teeming in the sewers not too long ago, a bunch of Orcs were going on a rampage, and even some Lizardmen tried to attack the fiefdom not too long ago. What¡¯s going on here, I wonder?¡±


    Adolf rubbed his chin while listening to the receptionist.


    The latter was right. The areas near the fiefdom seemed to be rather unsettled these days for some reason.


    But the overall number of casualties wasn¡¯t that high considering the types of commotions being raised. It wouldn¡¯t have been strange to see hundreds of adventurers and mercenaries lose their lives during these events.


    It was all thanks to the Paladin in silver-white armour stepping forward.


    Adolf had come across quite a few tales happening within and around the fiefdom, so he asked the receptionist about something he felt curious of. ¡°Just when did the monsters start acting up like this?¡±


    ¡°Ng? Ah, I guess everything started about a month ago? Well, the Ratmen incident did show some signs of trouble a month before that, but the things happening back then were too minor to draw much attention.¡±


    Adolf nodded slowly at the explanation.


    So, then, the monsters grew more active and threatening after the silver-white Paladin arrived in the city. The timing seemed way too convenient to explain as pure coincidence.


    Adolf muttered, ¡°I see. Something is indeed happening in this place. And that¡¯s why he decided to come here.¡±


    ¡°Something is happening here? And who¡¯s he?¡±


    ¡°Do you know where I can find that adventurer right now?¡±


    While asking the receptionist, Adolf grasped the sheepskin parchment in his hand. It was a letter sent to him from the royal court of Aihrance.


    They were asking him to have a face-to-face chat with this Eltera-rank adventurer.

 Chapter 215 - 114. A Minor Connection -1 (Part Two)

    **


    ¡°Cheers!¡±


    We were currently in the inn called the ¡®Abundant Pitstop¡¯.


    This was a shelter for the fiefdom¡¯s citizens to freely chat to each other about the difficult days they had to endure, while a minstrel played a pleasant song in the background.


    In this cosy place, I lightly clinked the beer mug as big as my head with Alice¡¯s and Hans¡¯s own mugs.


    Gulp! Gulp-!


    I flipped open the jaw area of the helm and gulped down the beer without any hesitation.


    So goooood!


    Sure, its taste fell some way behind the liquor brewed personally by the dwarves in Hilda fiefdom, but it was still perfect to get lightly drunk regardless.


    ¡°Hahaha! As expected of Miss Alice. You were so quick back then. All those Orcs were completely out of breath, yet you didn¡¯t even break a sweat!¡±


    Alice seemed to have become embarrassed from Hans¡¯s praise, her face reddening slightly while she scratched the back of her head.


    She still glanced in my way. ¡°By the way, Sir Allen. What will we do next?¡±


    Her tone of voice sounded considerably brighter. And that was because she too had been enjoying our adventures. Which didn¡¯t come as all that surprising to me, since life back in the imperial palace must¡¯ve been seriously stuffy for her as well.


    A restricted, confined lifestyle where all you did was master etiquette, and was expected to keep up with the refined behaviour befitting an esteemed daughter of a nobility at all times.


    She must be feeling liberated now that she no longer had to worry about such things here. Hell, she seemed to have no problem chatting to me lately as well, considering that I used to be the worst villain who tried to harm her in the past.


    ¡°Hmm, I wonder. I was thinking of taking it easy from now on.¡±


    We had been resolving one request per week up until now. So I figured that it¡¯d be good to take a break from here onwards.


    It was at that time that a new visitor came to the inn. The sound of the doorbell chiming rang out.


    I stopped drinking the beer and glanced at the doorway.


    A hulking male adventurer was stepping inside. I used [Mind¡¯s Eye] to check out his attributes.


    ¡®Straightforwardness, honest, crude divinity control, and a quick growth rate, is it?¡¯


    Was he a trainee Paladin or something?


    While I was thinking that to myself, the adventurer looked around the interior of the inn¡¯s dining hall before discovering me, then started walking up to our table.


    After reaching us, he spoke up, ¡°Sir Allen Rufus?¡±


    I looked back at him. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    I had never seen him before, but the fact that he could use divinity was making me worry ever so slightly.


    The man smiled and replied, ¡°I¡¯d like to have a chat with you if you have some free time. Will it be alright with you?¡±


    ¡°A chat, is it?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s because¡­¡± The adventurer, Adolf, took out a parchment from inside his vest and pushed it towards me. ¡°We need to discuss this letter sent by the royal court of Aihrance Kingdom.¡±


    **


    We moved up to the first floor of the inn¡¯s tavern and found an isolated spot.


    This adventurer ¨C or should he be seen as a mercenary? ¨C named Adolf, was a veteran in his field who had even taken on jobs issued by the royal court in the past.


    And that same royal court had issued him another request, which was to investigate me.


    ¡°For now, let me introduce myself. My name is Adolf, and I¡¯m originally from the Theocratic Empire. Also¡­¡± Adolf glanced at me while continuing on, ¡°I¡¯ve spent about a year in the northern frontier of the empire as a criminal slave.¡±


    That must¡¯ve been another reason why Aihrance¡¯s royal court entrusted the job of investigating my background to him. They probably figured he had a connection to me somehow.


    He continued on, ¡°Well, I only stole some loaves of bread, but things escalated from there and that¡¯s how the cookie crumbled for me. Anyways¡­¡±


    I picked up my beer mug and took another swig of it.


    Meanwhile, Adolf went ahead with the reminiscence of his past, ¡°And so, during my ¡®tenure¡¯ as a criminal slave up north, I got to witness the feats of a certain Saint. He saved my life when I was at death¡¯s doorstep.¡±


    I tilted my head slightly.


    I saved his life? When?


    ¡°Back then, my abdomen had been ripped open and the demonic energy had spread to all of my internal organs. I was about to die, but then, Sir Saint, who was wearing a bird-beak mask, used holy water on me.¡±


    Aaah. So this dude was that guy who passed out after his stomach got sliced wide open?


    Huh, so he managed to survive? In that case, his lifeforce must¡¯ve been pretty resilient.


    I silently listened to Adolf¡¯s story, but noticed that my beer had run out, so I called for a waiter for a refill.


    ¡°That Sir Saint fired a musket and used a shovel to hunt down the undead. All the while taking the lead in the frontlines, of course.¡±


    That¡¯s weird. I don¡¯t remember standing in the frontlines, though?


    All I did back then was simply firing some holy bullets while standing on top of the fortress walls, set up a hunting ground by the broken-down section of the walls, and then extricated myself from there.


    It seemed that this dude named Adolf had put on a pair of heavily rose-tinted glasses here.


    From a certain point on, Adolf began speaking with the attitude of a man who had been a part of our group from the beginning. ¡°I also got to witness Sir Saint personally step up to hunt the Vampire Count down as well. For the sake of saving the fiefdom¡¯s soldiers, he even took it upon himself to lure that monster away from the battlefield.¡±


    Even though he was talking about me, his stories sure made me squirm uncomfortably in my seat. The truth was, I was going for a sneak attack when I fired that shot, but when that didn¡¯t work, I just high-tailed outta there.


    Adolf¡¯s tone of voice gradually crept higher and higher in excitement while he regaled us with his recollections. Alice and Hans were listening intently, looking very much invested in the stories from my past.


    It was getting a little too much listening to these tales so I quickly waved my hands and spoke up, ¡°Okay, so. Where are we going with this?¡±


    ¡°¡­Ah, oops. Forgive me on this one. It seems I¡¯ve ended up digressing.¡± Adolf sheepishly scratched his head. ¡°I have seen the holy water Sir Saint had created back then. I mean, a lake of holy water was created to stop the undead, so it would¡¯ve been difficult to miss something that big in the first place. And the holy water back then was quite similar to the water now found in the sewer system. No, wait. It actually seems to be stronger by a wide margin.¡±


    A few points regarding the incident of the sewer became a bit of a problem in the end. All I did back then was to setting the holy undead to ¡®auto-hunt¡¯ mode, but who could¡¯ve possibly guessed that they even purified the entire sewerage system in the process?


    The Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire was currently in the kingdom of Aihrance for who knows why. Obviously, the royal court must¡¯ve been pissing themselves right about now. And that¡¯s why this dude had been asked to investigate the situation. Probably.


    Adolf didn¡¯t beat around the bush. ¡°I know I¡¯m being insolent here, but I¡¯d like to directly ask you. Could it be that, you, Sir Allen¡­¡±


    He took a deep breath and stared straight at me. Nervousness could be seen clearly in his eyes.


    He then asked me about who I was, ¡°¡­Are you the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, Allen Olfol¡­¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± I smiled deeply and took a hearty swig of the beer before slamming the mug down on the table. ¡°I¡¯m Allen Rufus, an adventurer.¡±


    A look of stupefaction floated up on Adolf¡¯s face. But that didn¡¯t last for long as a wry grin replaced his initial expression. ¡°¡­I¡¯m sure you have your reasons for replying like that. In that case, I shall relay what you¡¯ve said here to the royal court.¡±


    It seemed that he was now certain of me being the Seventh Imperial Prince. Well, he did sense what my holy water was like, after all. He was in the northern frontier back then, so he should have some clues about what my personality was like.


    ¡°I¡¯ll report that you have nothing to do with the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic¡­¡±


    ¡°And also, I mainly use a musket rifle and a shovel. You can tell them about that, too.¡±


    Adolf¡¯s eyes opened wider, looking quite confused at the moment. His expression indicated that he couldn¡¯t quite figure out whether I wanted to ¡®hide my true identity¡¯ or to ¡®tell the truth¡¯.


    ¡°You can report exactly what you see to the royal court, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°¡­Exactly what I see? Will that be fine with you, sir?¡±


    Adolf sounded cautiously worried as if I was his real benefactor. Judging from the air he was giving off right now, he¡¯d have unhesitantly lied to the royal court if I asked him to do so.


    Instead of responding, I simply drank some more beer.


    ¡°¡­I see. Understood.¡± Adolf seemed to have taken that as my tacit approval. He got up from the chair and bowed deeply in my direction. ¡°Ah, and although it¡¯s already quite late, I still would like to express my gratitude, sir. And¡­ If you are indeed investigating the strange events occurring in the fiefdom, then I¡¯d like to offer my help. If you need my assistance, please call on me any time.¡±


    Strange events in the fiefdom?


    Hang on a sec, there¡¯s been stuff like that here?


    Huh. I think I did hear the adventurer guild receptionist complaining about how it became rather noisy lately around the vicinity of the fiefdom.


    ¡°No need to be grateful. Even if I didn¡¯t save your life, someone else would¡¯ve done it, anyways.¡±


    I lightly waved my hand again.


    Back then, the Priests were going full throttle trying to save his life despite him being a convict. So yeah, they would¡¯ve eventually saved him by either using healing magic or even resorting to cutting out his internal organs or some such.


    Adolf smiled wryly again. ¡°Well, yes, that is true. But what I owe you is something else that I¡¯d never be able to repay even through a lifetime of servitude, you see¡­¡±


    A debt that couldn¡¯t be repaid even through a lifetime of servitude?


    While I stared at him in confusion, he continued on with his explanation, ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to you, Sir Allen.¡±


    Adolf raised his hand up to his chest and smiled brightly.


    At the same time, my eyes opened wider.


    ¡°Because, even though I was a lowly convict¡­¡±


    The pure-white aura of divinity¡­


    ¡°¡­I somehow ended up being able to use divinity, you see.¡±


    ¡­Began rising up from his hand while radiating bright light.


    < 114. A Minor Connection -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 216 - A Minor Connection -2 (Part One)

    **


    Inside the headquarters of ¡®Nemesis¡¯, located somewhere deep within the forest of demonic beasts.


    A Necromancer was nervously chewing on his nails before biting deeply into one and yanking it out completely.


    Meanwhile, his fellow Necromancers were barely holding their rage back, their faces deeply red and veins visibly bulging on their foreheads.


    ¡°But how?! How did it fail?!¡±


    They held onto this dream for the past fifty years ¨C the dream of making the Necromancer King¡¯s lifelong wish come true.


    To achieve this grand goal, they hid themselves from the eyes of the Theocratic Empire and diligently made preparations.


    But now, all of their decades-long efforts had come crashing down in an instant.


    Firstly, the Ratmen queen.


    They devoted themselves to creating a monster that would serve as a biological weapon capable of spreading all sorts of toxins and plagues. They released such a creature in the fiefdom¡¯s sewers without anyone finding out and patiently waited for three months.


    Since its reproductive rate was strong, the Necromancers predicted that Ratmen numbering in the hundreds, nay, thousands, would start spreading an unstoppable plague throughout the city in no time at all.


    But never mind spreading plague, the whole sewerage system got cleanly purified, instead. And the Ratman queen was killed off so easily.


    Secondly, the Lizardmen.


    The plan was to have these monsters attack and possibly abduct the travellers arriving or leaving the fiefdom¡¯s surroundings.


    The base of operations had been set at a swamp, and by using black magic, the Necromancers managed to brainwash the Lizardmen to do their bidding, but then, some random Paladin showed up from nowhere to throw a wrench in that plan.


    All thanks to this unexpected variable, the mutated Hydra the Necromancers had carefully nurtured in order to destroy Elusha fiefdom was killed off, too.


    Finally, the Orcs and the Two Headed Ogre.


    Their brainwashed Orcs all fell into a trap and got killed off, while the mutated Two Headed Ogre that the Necromancers had paid a hefty price to manufacture kicked the bucket after its back got sliced wide open by the same Paladin.


    All those monsters that they managed to create by sacrificing so much and paying incalculable wealth in the past several decades had been destroyed in only a matter of days.


    ¡°This is all that Paladin¡¯s fault!¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the handiwork of that insane fool! We need to rip him apart to shreds!¡±


    The aged Necromancers loudly roared at each other.


    Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t have a way to kill the Paladin. For one, that man was a certifiable monster capable of massacring all the actual monsters the Necromancers had prepared so far.


    They just couldn¡¯t think of a way to deal with someone that strong.


    ¡°This Paladin, is he really a member of some ruined nobility from the Lome Kingdom?¡±


    The Necromancers shifted their gazes to one particular Necromancer, the man referred to as the Necromancer King¡¯s first-ever believer.


    He was a magician named Rudis, an old man with a bent back resembling a hunchback. His hands were gripping a crude bone walking staff.


    He spoke up again, ¡°That cannot be true. We¡¯ve already investigated and established that there had never been a noble house called Rufus in Lome. His identity has to be fake.¡±


    ¡°Which means¡­?¡±


    ¡°It means that the Theocratic Empire has dispatched a hunting dog. They must¡¯ve picked up on our scent.¡±


    The Necromancers exchanged worried gazes.


    They had come to Aihrance, the kingdom of magic, in order to evade the empire¡¯s pursuit, but those damn imperials chased after them all the way out here?


    ¡°Even then, they will not stop our grand plan.¡± Rudis swept his gaze over the other Necromancers while propping his weight on the walking staff. ¡°We are the faithful believers of the Necromancer King. We shall spread death according to his will.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°We shall open the warp gate connected to the purgatory in Elusha.¡±


    ¡°Sir? In Elusha?¡±


    ¡°But we don¡¯t have a way right now, sir. Every time we come up with a plan, that damn Paladin¡­¡±


    Necromancers began raising their concerns while glancing at each other, but Rudis simply smiled away. ¡°No, we do have a way.¡±


    He extended his hand to his side and pulled back a piece of dirty rag. A man in his early to mid forties was revealed behind it. He was staring at the ceiling in a silent daze while spit drooled down from the corner of his mouth.


    There were clear signs of his head having been cut open only to be sewn shut.


    ¡°This is Elusha¡¯s feudal lord, Viscount Atonse. After I ever so slightly fiddled with his head, he has become so much more willing to humour our demands.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°If monsters aren¡¯t going to work, then we shall simply resort to using humans. We might not be able to physically kill the Paladin, but we can certainly expel him from the fiefdom, even if it¡¯s only temporary.¡± Rudis reverted his gaze back to the Necromancers. ¡°We shall risk our everything to this plan. Only death awaits if we do not succeed this time!¡±


    Rudis pointed with his staff and loudly declared.


    ¡°The Necromancer King, Lord Amon¡¯s blessing shall be with us-!¡±


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I ran into this guy named Adolf after the Two Headed Ogre incident and we ended up chatting for a while.


    What he said back then proved to be seriously shocking to me.


    -It must¡¯ve happened about one year after I was saved by you, Sir Saint. I suddenly became able to use divinity. However, it¡¯s still only on the level of a little hatchling compared to real Paladins.


    He basically implied that he could use divinity just because I had ¡®healed¡¯ him earlier.


    And according to him, he wasn¡¯t the only one either.


    -Although the order of awakening is a bit out of kilter, many of those who received holy water from you, Sir Saint, they¡­


    I wandered around the streets of Elusha while rubbing my chin. According to Adolf, the people back in the northern frontier who drank my holy water, as well as those who got healed by me¡­


    ¡­They ended up possessing some amount of divinity, although most of them only had a faint little amount.


    Compared to the Theocratic Empire¡¯s Paladins, their level was much lower. Some among them hadn¡¯t even awakened their ability to wield divinity yet, either.


    ¡°¡­Aht! Sir Paladin!¡±


    When I pondered some more, a couple of things related to this matter popped up in my head ¨C or more correctly, a couple of people. My escorting knight Charlotte, and Aslan¡¯s current queen, Tina.


    Those two also somehow ended up being able to use divinity.


    Not only could they wield divinity when they couldn¡¯t before, they even boasted an abnormal growth speed as well.


    Sure, they had a heap of talent to begin with, but it seemed that my influence on them was far bigger than I thought.


    Adolf¡¯s growth speed was slower than those two girls. But it must¡¯ve been the difference in the overall knowledge they possessed and the level of talent.


    In Charlotte¡¯s case, she acquired a transcendental physique while precariously hanging on the edge of life, and as for Tina the Dark Elf, she received life-or-death training from the hashashins from the moment she was born.


    Hang on a minute. I almost forgot about my older brothers, Luan and Ruppel. What will happen to those two, I wonder?


    ¡°Excuse me, Sir Paladin!¡±


    -All thanks to you, even those who didn¡¯t believe in the religion now exalt Gaia and you, Sir Saint. And even I¡¯ve become one of those converts.


    That¡¯s what Adolf said.


    I never intended for that to happen, but somehow, I still ended up having a hand in increasing the number of Gaia¡¯s believers.


    I figured that that part shouldn¡¯t pose a problem later down the line, but even then¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but wonder just how many lives I have saved so far. Hundreds? Thousands? I couldn¡¯t quite remember.


    One thing¡¯s for sure, though¡­ That number couldn¡¯t be small at all.


    In the Theocratic Empire, Aslan, and back in Lome kingdom, too¡­


    I healed quite a lot of people and even distributed holy water. So, if what Adolf had said was true, then all those people¡­


    It was right then, a girl with long black hair and matching black eyes suddenly blocked my path.


    I tilted my head while looking at this girl.


    She faltered for a moment there from how tense she felt, then an awkward expression floated up on her face. ¡°H-hello there.¡±


    This girl kind of looked familiar.


    Where have I seen her before?


    I thought about it for a while, but only after checking out her status window through Mind¡¯s Eye did I finally recall who she was.


    She was the orphan living in Benikin Church who went missing about a month ago, and we took on the job of searching for her.


    ¡°Are you Yuria?¡±


    The girl jumped up in shock when I said that, but she still made a bright expression. ¡°You do remember me!¡±


    Well, uh, sorry about that. I¡¯ve actually forgotten about you.


    I quickly put a gag on my urge to blurt out what was on my mind and glanced at her hand.


    Yuria was currently carrying a shopping basket. I figured that she was on her way to do some grocery shopping.


    ¡°I wanted to meet you and give you my thanks in person, but you must¡¯ve been busy because whenever I went to the adventurer¡¯s guild, you weren¡¯t there.¡± Yuria smiled brightly before curiously looking at the empty spots at either side of me. ¡°By the way, the Lady Priestess and Mister Peddler aren¡¯t with you today?¡±


    Was she talking about Alice and Hans?


    In Alice¡¯s case, it seemed that the two girls somehow missed each other. It hadn¡¯t been all that long since Alice headed to Benikin Church, saying that she¡¯d like to perform voluntary service there as well as to pray to the goddess.


    As for Hans, he remained in the inn to decipher the warp magic rune left behind by the Vampires. He told me to prepare thoroughly for it, since he was this close to completely analysing the whole thing.


    ¡°They said they have their own matters to attend to.¡±


    When I said that, Yuria looked up at me. ¡°Does that mean you¡¯re having a day off?¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess so.¡±

 Chapter 217 - A Minor Connection -2 (Part Two)

    Her eyes opened wider, but her mouth was clamped shut.


    She seemed to be pondering something for a bit, before finally opening her mouth again. ¡°If¡­ you don¡¯t have any promises made for dinner, would you like to stop by at our church later?¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°I-I mean, you are my life¡¯s saviour but I haven¡¯t even repaid you properly yet, so¡­ E-even if my cooking isn¡¯t good enough to serve a noble like yourself, Sir Paladin¡­¡±


    Oh, she¡¯s inviting me to dinner?


    I thought about her offer for a moment there, and then I suddenly recalled Adolf¡¯s face once more.


    The people I had healed could use divinity to some degree now. That fact was still bugging me even as we stood here.


    ¡°Alright, I will. I have plenty of time to kill, after all.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll see you later in the¡­¡±


    I looked up at the sky.


    The sun was still up there, shining brightly. I figured that it¡¯d be around a good four to five hours before it got dark enough to say that evening had come.


    Well, it wasn¡¯t like I had any other business to take care of.


    ¡°Were you in the middle of running errands?¡±


    When I asked her that, Yuria flinched a little and hurriedly nodded.


    ¡°This is good. I shall accompany you.¡±


    ¡°Y-you will?¡±


    Yuria¡¯s eyes went round from surprise, resembling a rabbit¡¯s.


    ¡°I was planning to purchase items for travelling. Also, I have some things to ask you.¡±


    She nodded with a slightly dazed face, but soon trotted ahead of me with cheery steps as if she felt happy about something.


    I followed after her, but also didn¡¯t forget to sneak a glance behind me.


    For some reason, I¡¯ve been picking up this strange sense of presence. But I couldn¡¯t be sure whether it was just my current mood acting up or someone was really tailing me right now.


    Well, the truth should come out sooner or later.


    While walking along the way, I took a good look at our surroundings.


    The marketplace was quite lively. The shopkeepers were selling all sorts of items, and even some performing troupes were putting up stage plays or other types of entertainment to distract the shoppers.


    I stopped walking for a bit and stared at one of the streetside performances. Yuria also stopped next to me and stared at the actors staging a play.


    I asked her, ¡°What are they re-enacting?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s about Lord Saint from the Theocratic Empire. You know, the most famous person right now, the Seventh Imperial Prince.¡±


    I was surprised by her answer and paid closer attention to the play.


    The actor who seemed to be playing me recited some lines that contained way too many cringe-worthy nonsense, then began swinging around a spear to cut down another actor playing the part of a Vampire.


    ¡°¡­A spear?¡±


    ¡°I heard that Lord Saint uses a spear and a magic staff to hunt down the Vampires.¡±


    I ended up chuckling wryly after feeling a bit hollow inside.


    My mains were a shovel and a bunch of muskets, though¡­


    Well, the rumours seemed to have mutated somewhat before reaching this place, which was unsurprising, really. Not only was Aihrance some distance away from the Theocratic Empire, but to these people, a musket still remained a decorative ornament while a shovel was a simple tool meant to dig up the earth. This sort of dramatic licence-taking was inevitable.


    And not to forget, this was the kingdom of magic, so people here probably determined that the musket¡¯s internal structure made it impossible to hunt down a Vampire.


    The people here must¡¯ve chosen to go with the most plausible-sounding weapons that resembled a shovel and a musket, which would be a spear and a magic staff.


    As I thought, one shouldn¡¯t readily trust rumours.


    The play was certainly thrilling to watch. It told the tales of me hunting down the Vampires, saving an Imperial Prince¡¯s life, and even rescuing the princess of an enemy nation.


    The me in the play was easily the most righteous, honourable warrior in the whole world with boundless hopes for the future.


    ¡°He¡¯s so cool, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    I glanced at Yuria next to me.


    She was clapping her hands in appreciation.


    ¡°Without a doubt, he must be a benevolent prince who loves and deeply cares for his countless subjects.¡±


    ¡°You might be wrong on that one.¡±


    I immediately denied the possibility.


    It seemed that the rumours of me being a mangnani had long stopped circulating by now.


    Yuria looked up at me and smiled awkwardly. Her expression said that she didn¡¯t expect me to refute her so quickly.


    Judging from her demeanour, it seemed that the orphanage¡¯s director, Sister Evelyn, hadn¡¯t told her the truth about me.


    I decided to not mind that and we walked away from there.


    ¡°Young miss over there, why don¡¯t you have a go at this game to win some prizes? First two tries are for free!¡±


    A stall keeper called out to Yuria as we walked through the market and she turned her head.


    I looked as well. It seemed that this world also had those games where one could win dolls as prizes. You know, the one where you throw something at the doll, a toy dagger in this case, and if you manage to hit one, then you get that doll.


    Yuria cautiously sneaked a glance at me, and I nodded to say, go ahead.


    Even though there was no need for her to seek my permission, she still asked me. She then cheerily headed to the stall.


    ¡°The kids back in the church love dolls like those.¡± Yuria picked up a toy dagger. ¡°Zenis likes teddy bears, while Berin prefers wooden figurines.¡±


    While saying that, Yuria loosened her wrist muscles. And with a smooth, practised movement, she got into a throwing position and threw the wooden dagger. The toy blade accurately struck the doll, but the power behind the throw seemed to be somewhat lacking as the toy didn¡¯t fall off the shelf.


    Yuria made a disappointed face at that.


    ¡°Do you, by any chance, know how to wield divinity?¡±


    When I asked her that question, Yuria looked stunned for a moment and quickly looked back at me. ¡°D-divinity, you say?¡±


    I crossed my arms in front of my chest and nodded silently.


    Yuria was healed by me. That was why I couldn¡¯t help but wonder ¡®what if¡¯, but she shook her head to say no. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t know how to.¡±


    Hmm, was I wrong, then?


    No, hang on. This should be how it was.


    It had been just over a month after I healed her. So it¡¯d be way too over the top if she managed to awaken the ability to wield divinity and start using it already.


    Adolf said it took him one whole year before that happened, so maybe I was asking for too much from her so soon.


    ¡°But I¡¯m studying right now to wield it in the future, sir. There¡¯s a textbook to become a trainee Priest back in the church. Sister Evelyn really treasures that book, saying that it¡¯s really expensive. I¡¯ve been studying a lot by using that book for the past two years.¡±


    Yuria gripped the second toy dagger tightly.


    ¡°I¡¯m still not sure how, but¡­ Mm¡­ Like this¡­¡±


    She held the dagger with both hands and closed her eyes.


    ¡°The textbook said I must pray with all my heart first.¡±


    I observed Yuria closely as she began offering a prayer.


    ¡°Oh, dear goddess of love and mercy, Gaia¡­¡±


    Wriggle¡­


    Although it was really faint, pure-white aura started leaking out from her..


    My brows shot up under my helm when I noticed that.


    I began rubbing my chin and studied the phenomenon taking place.


    There wasn¡¯t a lot of pure-white aura leaking out of her, and not too long afterwards, it scattered away and dissipated from existence.


    Judging from her bitter, disappointed expression, it seemed that Yuria herself failed to detect the aura due to how faint it was.


    ¡°The book said that I¡¯d get to ¡®sense a really sacred aura soon¡¯, so I must keep exalting Gaia, but it doesn¡¯t seem to work for me.¡±


    ¡°¡­Who was the author of that textbook?¡±


    Yuria tilted her head this way and that. ¡°It was a person named Raphael Astoria.¡±


    Well, damn. That geezer being the top dog in magic within the Theocratic Empire must be true all along¡­


    ¡°Go ahead and try again,¡± I said.


    Yuria tilted her head some more, but she eventually nodded and began offering another prayer. She brought her hands together and the toy dagger remained in her grip.


    I silently placed my hand on her shoulder. She flinched a little, but her focus didn¡¯t waver.


    I began adjusting the divinity oozing out from Yuria¡¯s body through my hand. The faint aura of divinity that had been trembling weakly began to slowly and steadily find its equilibrium.


    Her divinity, which was pretty much the same as mine, resonated and responded to my control.


    Sweat drops formed on Yuria¡¯s forehead. She was clearly having a tough time.


    However, this was still not enough.


    The amount of divinity permeating in her could only be described as pitiful. So, I decided to inject more divinity through my hand gripping her shoulder.


    Yuria¡¯s eyes opened wider at that.


    More aura of divinity gushed out of her body as the divine energy spread out to the rest of her body. A portion of the energy enveloped the toy dagger.


    She stared at the dagger before sucking in a large breath. With a stunned look on her face, she alternated her gaze between me and the toy in her hand. ¡°E-excuse me, but what is going on?¡±


    I simply urged her on. ¡°Throw it now.¡±


    ¡°Y-you mean, this thing?¡±


    Yuria stared at the toy dagger now containing divinity with amazed eyes, then assumed a position, loosened her wrist, and threw it at the doll before her eyes.


    Boom-!


    The air in front of her exploded, and¡­


    POW-!


    The doll was cleanly pierced through before blowing up into bits. The doll¡¯s stuffing rained down everywhere and the shelf collapsed noisily from the impact.


    The doll shop owner stared at this spectacle in unbridled shock. Yuria remained frozen in a throwing posture, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.


    On the other hand, I couldn¡¯t help but grin broadly.


    With this, I became certain.


    I could spread my divinity to ¡®other people¡¯ and grow the number of ¡®clerics¡¯ that way.


    ¡­Almost similar to how the undead would increase their numbers, in other words.


    Yuria stared at me in a silent daze, but I simply patted her head and said the following words to her.


    ¡°Congratulations on becoming a cleric, Yuria.¡±


    < 115. A minor connection -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 218 - Big Eyes -1 (Part One)

    That was more powerful than I expected.


    The toy dagger managed to not just pierce through the doll, but it even destroyed the shelf as well.


    Some part of it was down to me injecting divinity inside her body, but this result should mostly be chalked up to Yuria¡¯s diligent training for the past two years.


    But even then, how could something like this even be possible?


    Was it related to my game-like system? That couldn¡¯t be it¡­


    It shouldn¡¯t be possible for me to use this sort of ability while relying on the game system. There was also the Necromancer profession¡¯s unique nature to consider here, so yeah, it shouldn¡¯t work at all.


    Which could only mean¡­


    ¡°¡­This phenomenon is linked to this world¡¯s laws.¡±


    I muttered without even realising it and Yuria tilted her head after hearing my words.


    It was at that moment we heard someone sobbing their eyes out.


    We turned our heads and stared at the shop owner, who was currently kneeling on the ground lamenting his terrible luck while picking up the pieces of his dolls.


    It was obvious that he¡¯d be in a lot of pain after witnessing the dolls he had personally crafted get ripped to pieces.


    Yuria flinched in shock and hurriedly bowed her head to apologise. ¡°I, I¡¯m so sorry!¡±


    I walked up to the shop owner. ¡°Sorry about this.¡±


    We unintentionally ended up using his precious place of business for my little experiment.


    ¡°Although this might not be enough to cover the losses of your precious dolls, do take it.¡±


    I placed some gold coins in the owner¡¯s hands. This should be enough to pay for not just his wrecked shop, but also the destroyed dolls as well.


    ¡°O-oh my goodness, such a large sum of money¡­!¡±


    The shop owner¡¯s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, he then began happily laughing away despite all the tear stains still visible on his cheeks.


    Well, at least he looked satisfied, so it should be all good.


    Yuria and I put the shop behind us and headed to the biggest merchant group in Elusha. This group offered a courier service where they delivered packages or letters for a price.


    I didn¡¯t know where it was located, so I asked Yuria to take me there.


    ¡°How did you do that earlier? I really used divinity back then, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    She asked me with an excited voice like a pure, still-naive child.


    Honestly? I had no idea how I should go about answering her. After all, I too couldn¡¯t explain this phenomenon.


    But still, the destructive power on display was quite considerable. It was way too much to just gloss over and say everything¡¯s alright.


    If me healing someone was enough to ¡®install¡¯ divinity in them, then the degree of danger accompanying this whole thing was far too large to ignore.


    Since this whole mess happened unintentionally, it now became critical in finding out whether or not I could ¡®contain¡¯ and ¡®control¡¯ this outbreak.


    I mean, there was no guarantee of someone I had treated not getting drunk on their awakened power and proceeding to do all sorts disgusting, vile things.


    ¡®Their awakened power isn¡¯t that great in overall destructive power, so they shouldn¡¯t be able to cause huge problems. But¡­¡¯


    Yuria guided me to the merchant association building.


    Even during our walk over to here, I continued to glance behind me. That unknown presence was still there.


    I knew it, a tail had stuck onto us.


    ¡°How can we assist you, sir?¡±


    ¡°I wish to write a letter and have it delivered.¡±


    The merchant association employee guided me to an office with a friendly smile so that I could write my letter in private.


    After settling down, I stared at the pen and paper resting on top of a table.


    Well, here I am. I was supposed to be on a vacation, but now I had to worry about what might be happening back in the Theocratic Empire.


    What I needed to do from now on was pretty simple ¨C investigate the backgrounds of all the people that I healed and those that had received my holy water.


    Checking out every single person would be impossible, but surely a handful of individuals would still stand out.


    I figured using them as guinea pigs could be a good idea.


    I finished writing the letter and paid to have it delivered to the Theocratic Empire.


    I could only hope that the officials back in the empire would be able to conclude the investigation up to a certain degree by the time I returned home.


    ¡°Aht! You¡¯re here.¡±


    I exited from the merchant association building and found Yuria anxiously waiting for me. She smiled brightly in my direction.


    Just as she began walking up to me, a procession of merchant carriages marched through the marketplace.


    Soldiers belonging to the fiefdom of Elusha were escorting these carriages, and judging from that, I figured that the feudal lord had hired this group of merchants.


    The carriages being escorted by them clunked and shook around a bit. I spied steel cages beneath the flapping fabric covers, and the things contained within were¡­


    ¡°¡­Monsters?¡±


    That¡¯s right, this procession of carriages were transferring ten-odd monsters.


    Judging from their direction, it seemed that they were headed to the feudal lord¡¯s castle in the centre of the fiefdom.


    What were they planning to do with all these monsters? As lab rats for some curious magicians?


    ¡°Wow, there are more of them? But I saw carriages just like them yesterday,¡± Yuria said.


    ¡°There were more?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s like, well, several of them have been frequently coming and going from the city for the past few days.¡±


    Hmm. Since the fiefdom¡¯s soldiers were with the carriages, there shouldn¡¯t be any issues, but if those monsters were somehow set loose on the streets, then things would escalate pretty quickly past the level of ¡®we can deal with this¡¯.


    The soldiers themselves seemed to know that as well, judging from their rather complicated expressions.


    ¡°By the way, Sir Paladin? Isn¡¯t it, you know, uncomfortable to wear your armour the whole day?¡±


    Yuria asked that.


    I had been wearing this full-body armour whenever I roamed around outside the inn.


    I simply shrugged my shoulders at her question. ¡°No. It¡¯s surprisingly comfortable. Talented dwarven artisans created this set, you see.¡±


    ¡°Dwarves? Are you referring to those short statured fairies?¡±


    Yuria¡¯s eyes sparkled brightly. She looked really excited while asking that.


    Well, in a way, this was also considered a fated meeting, wasn¡¯t it?


    I took out a couple of grimoires written by Raphael from my item window and placed them inside Yuria¡¯s shopping basket.


    She asked in a flustered voice, ¡°Uhm, what are these¡­?¡±


    ¡°Magic theories.¡±


    These tomes were merely a small portion of books originally found in the monastery up north, plus some others that I found back in the imperial palace. Yuria had no way of knowing that, but she still knew that grimoires like these ones were precious and rare.


    ¡°B-but, such precious items¡­¡±


    Honestly speaking, I was simply curious.


    I wanted to confirm whether it was really the effect of awakening or something else at play here.


    Since Yuria stayed in the church most of the time, it¡¯d be possible to monitor her in the most optimum environment that I could think of.


    It was right at that moment someone blocked our path.


    ¡°Are you Sir Allen Rufus?¡±


    And the ones in front of us was a group of soldiers tasked with protecting Elusha fiefdom.


    Yuria flinched in surprise and got flustered.


    I asked them, ¡°What is it?¡±


    It seemed that the tail following us from earlier were these folks.


    ¡°Your other companions have already accompanied us to the castle, sir. The truth is, his lordship, the feudal lord of Elusha, has ordered us.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°Sir Allen Rufus. You are now under arrest for the suspicion of murdering your fellow adventurer.¡±


    I furrowed my brows deeply at that.


    **


    A corpse of an adventurer, a newbie with merely a Wood-rank, was discovered last night.


    Plenty of stab wounds inflicted by blades could be found on the remains, and someone apparently ¡®testified¡¯ that they saw me near the corpse or some such.


    Unsurprisingly, I was thrown inside the prison.


    Shackles bound my wrists and my armaments had been undone. However, I made sure to store my weapons inside my item window before anyone could take them away, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem later.


    Hans and Alice were locked up in the same cell, waiting for my arrival.


    ¡°Ohh! You guys were here already?¡±


    I addressed them in my usual nonchalant manner.


    Hans was at the inn still studying his Alchemy when the soldiers burst inside and arrested him for the suspicion of researching forbidden ancient magic. As for Alice, she was being accused of deceiving the director of the orphanage, Sister Evelyn, and stealing valuables from the church itself.


    Wowsers, what¡¯s up with these lame trumped-up charges?


    ¡°How did this even happen?! I was this close to deciphering the secret code, you know?!¡±


    Hans tearfully complained.


    He must¡¯ve been almost finished with deciphering the warp spell runes left behind by the Vampires. Seeing how energetic he was right now, I figured that he hadn¡¯t been subjected to anything untoward during my absence.


    That made sense, since no one would be brave enough to mess with an adventurer boasting an Eltera-rank.


    I shifted my gaze to Alice and asked her, ¡°And what about you? Are you alright?¡±


    She looked surprised as if she didn¡¯t expect me to ask about her wellbeing.


    A faint wry smile crept up on her face as she shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m unhurt, your highness, but I am worried about the kids in the church. They were so frightened when the soldiers showed up. In any case, what do you think has happened?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I wonder. Could it be because of me?¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    That¡¯s right. It could be because of my true identity.


    The identity of not Allen Rufus, but that of Allen Olfolse.


    That one reason that could explain away this nonsense was¡­


    The royal court of Aihrance had decided to go with the path of ¡®rejecting¡¯ me.


    ¡®That sure is going to be problematic.¡¯


    This was turning out differently from my expectations.


    I deliberately went with the fake identity of an adventurer. I also chose to go with an easy-to-see-through name and acted conspicuously all the time. All of these were done in order to see what kind of a choice Aihrance¡¯s royal court would make.


    ¡­To see whether they would ¡®invite¡¯ me over, or ¡®reject¡¯ me after discovering my true identity ¨C that was the goal.


    ¡°What do you mean by that, your highness?¡±


    Alice asked me that, so I was going to explain, but then¡­


    ¡­Someone¡¯s loud laughter resounded ¨C accompanied by a nose-stinging disgusting stench at the same time.


    The stench was way too familiar. I shifted my gaze over to the prison¡¯s exit way over yonder.

 Chapter 219 - 116. Big Eyes -1 (Part Two)

    **


    Elusha¡¯s feudal lord was currently in the castle¡¯s audience chamber.


    He sat on the throne with a dazed look on his face. Next to him was a magician kitted out in a robe, while his staff was tightly wrapped in some kind of fabric to hide its outer appearance.


    ¡°We¡¯ve finished arresting the Eltera-ranked adventurer named Allen Rufus, my lord.¡±


    A soldier made that report and the magician standing next to the feudal lord licked his lips.


    He initially ordered ¡®expulsion¡¯, but cooking up a pretext to expel an Eltera-ranked adventurer from the fiefdom with an immediate effect proved to be quite difficult in the end.


    And it seemed that the trio wasn¡¯t planning to leave for the next few months, so there was no other choice but to do it this way.


    But still, the end result proved to be quite satisfactory.


    After all, the Eltera-ranked adventurer was stripped of his armaments, and shackles were put on him to make sure that he wasn¡¯t going anywhere.


    His subordinates were also likewise unable to resist anymore. The only thing remaining for this ¡®magician¡¯ to do would be to exact his vengeance on the adventurer.


    The magician, Rudis, smiled insidiously.


    ¡®Besides, it will not matter whether he¡¯s an Eltera or Orichalcon-rank. Once the gate to purgatory opens, no one can stop us.¡¯


    The source of the calamity that would blanket the entire world would soon open up in Elusha. Death would dye this city black, and even the capital of Aihrance not too far from here would crumble down in no time at all.


    The Theocratic Empire would no doubt urgently dispatch an army to stop the release of purgatory, but it¡¯d be too late by then.


    Rudis was planning to leisurely spectate this historical accomplishment play itself out from a close vantage point. He grasped the feudal lord¡¯s shoulder to lean closer and whispered into the latter¡¯s ear.


    The focusless eyes of the feudal lord aimlessly shifted around. ¡°All of you did well.¡±


    ¡°My lord. Is this right? Without a doubt, that Eltera-ranked adventurer is our benefactor who has clearly been protecting our fiefdom.¡±


    A soldier and other knights began raising their voices of discontent. The magicians serving the fiefdom were included in the group.


    Their feudal lord had been saying crazy things while exhibiting odd behavioural signs recently. Not only that, he even kept a very suspicious-looking magician by his side as well.


    The court-hired magicians found those points just too suspicious to ignore, so they sneakily observed the feudal lord¡¯s condition, but they couldn¡¯t readily come to any concrete conclusion.


    That was how exact and undetectable Rudis¡¯ puppetry technique was.


    The feudal lord didn¡¯t reply to the questioning voices of his soldiers. After all, he was a mere ¡®puppet¡¯ where the only thing functioning in his body was his beating heart.


    The feudal lord with his damaged brain could only respond to what the Necromancer, Rudis, said to him.


    ¡°Do not be worried. Whether it¡¯s that benefactor of yours, or for that matter, you lot¡­¡± Rudis smirked deeply and addressed them, ¡°¡­You are all going to die.¡±


    The moment his words came to an end, monstrous howls rose up from the many corners of the castle. They came from the monsters which were supposed to be imprisoned within the building.


    These creatures began rampaging violently within their steel cages.


    ¡°What the hell?! What¡¯s going on here!¡±


    The soldiers grew deeply wary and hurriedly pointed with their unsheathed swords and spears.


    The ¡®magicians¡¯ tasked with minding the steel cages suddenly threw the cage doors wide open before taking off their regular magician garbs to reveal their true identities as Necromancers.


    Countless monsters escaped from the cages and pounced on the flustered soldiers.


    The soldiers fought back, and the magicians of Aihrance lent their aid.


    The horde of monsters went on a rampage inside the castle, but the forces currently present were more than enough to deal with them.


    Unfortunately, that remained true only when dealing with the monsters currently found inside the castle.


    After finishing with sowing confusion, the Necromancers of Nemesis quickly gathered in the feudal lord¡¯s audience chamber.


    They then issued orders to their summoned creatures to gather up the corpses of the soldiers, and to capture the maids and servants trying to escape before bringing them into the audience chamber.


    ¡°Gather all the corpses!¡±


    ¡°We shall immediately start the summoning magic activation sequence.¡±


    The Necromancers gathered the blood of the dead soldiers and began inscribing rune letters with it. The terrified servants and maids were to be used as sacrificial offerings.


    The warp magic circle was created, and the Necromancers began injecting demonic energy.


    ¡°We must stop him!¡±


    Knights and magicians rushed towards Rudis, trying to stop him in his tracks.


    ¡°Ahahahaha! This is only the beginning! This place shall be the starting point where the lifelong dream of the noble Necromancer King Amon becomes reality!¡±


    Rudis raised his walking staff up before slamming it down.


    The warp gate began opening up.


    A line as thin as a piece of paper drew in the empty air before the space itself began splitting open.


    The reddish-dark space about five metres big slowly widened. And dozens upon dozens of eerie eyes could be seen inside.


    Tentacles suddenly shot out from this distorted space to capture the knights and magicians, dragging them inside.


    Horrifying screams resounded out.


    The surviving knights and magicians hurriedly stumbled back as all blood drained out from their complexions.


    They lifted up their heads and witnessed it.


    They saw the tentacles seemingly blanketing the entire audience chamber, and then, countless eyeballs floating in the air.


    The main body featuring all those things finally revealed itself.


    A hideous roundish lump of flesh that would easily rouse the feeling of disgust was ¡®crawling out¡¯ from the opening in the space.


    Hundreds of eyeballs seemingly floating in the empty air darted around rapidly.


    The roundish flesh split open to reveal hundreds of eyes, which looked as if it was shoved in there, darting around like some kind of freakish nightmare. Meanwhile, rows of sharp, serrated fangs spread open within the mouth-hole of the creature.


    One of the magicians who was witnessing this sight cried out, ¡°Big Eyes!¡±


    It was an ancient demon, a monster referred to as the gatekeeper of hell.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have enough sacrifices.¡± Rudis roared out while undoing the fabric covering his bone staff. ¡°Turn this place into a Negative Field. Unleash the undead and drag in more sacrifices to this very ground. This place shall¡­¡±


    The summoning magic was activated as he spoke.


    ¡°¡­Become our starting point!¡±


    The warp spell was connected to the headquarters inside the forest of demonic beasts, and a large wave of monsters was set loose upon the unsuspecting city.


    Countless monsters dashed along the city¡¯s streets and began hunting down the fiefdom¡¯s citizens.


    The fiefdom¡¯s defence forces quickly rushed out to fight against the horde of monsters. But in the midst of the defensive battles, the soldiers and magicians flinched nastily and ungainly stumbled back in shock.


    Dozens of huge crimson-coloured monsters were now standing before them.


    ¡°R-red Ogres!¡±


    The Red Ogres grabbed the soldiers and ripped them apart with their ravenous fangs.


    Blood began dyeing the fiefdom of Elusha.


    Rudis, who was spectating on this spectacle, heartily guffawed out.


    ¡®A little bit more. Yes, just a little more!¡¯


    So, so many souls were gathering up here.


    All around him were the mangled, torn corpses of knights and magicians killed by the Big Eyes.


    ¡®Death¡¯ continued to gather here, and the warp gate connected to purgatory gradually widened to match the incoming death.


    More undead flooded out from the opening.


    Dozens, hundreds, thousands of undead, their bodies made out of bones and souls, continued crawling out.


    The ones that deeply resented the living were now being freed from their prison.


    And so, as long as this gate was maintained, undead would continue to flood out infinitely from beyond.


    ¡­As long as the gate was maintained by offering enough sacrifices, that was.


    ¡°Soon, this place will transform into a living purgatory!¡±


    This land would soon turn into a world of death.


    **


    (TL: Back to 1st person POV.)


    Even if we were inside an enclosed space, the muffled screams from the outside still managed to come through the walls.


    Inside this prison filled with sickly dampness and a mouldy smell, I stared at my new visitor standing outside the cell.


    A nose-stinging stench, and the attributes appearing on his status window as displayed by my Mind¡¯s Eye¡­


    Yup, an old Necromancer was gracing us with his presence.


    His face was full of wrinkles while his hand gripped onto his staff.


    He cackled like a madman and kept pointing his bony finger at us. ¡°Ohh, the Paladin of silver-white! This look suits you well! Everything you have done, I shall make you regret every single one of them from this moment on!¡±


    ¡°Everything we have done?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! The Ratman Queen, the mutated Hydra with five heads, and even the Two Headed Ogre! All those were glorious achievements we have carefully prepared for the past several decades. Yet, you dare to wreck them all?!¡±


    The Necromancer angrily waved his walking staff around and skeletons were summoned around him.


    They wielded spears fashioned out of bones while their jaw bones clattered in noisy laughter.


    The skeletons opened the cell¡¯s door and pointed their bone spears at us.


    ¡°Allow me to stab you all over your body! Your hands and feet are bound so you can¡¯t even put up any resistance. Quietly turn into a skewered lump of meat, and¡­¡±


    I silently injected divinity inside me and twisted my arms a bit. The shackles made out of steel easily got crushed and fell apart.


    From the looks of these things, they must¡¯ve been magic restraints capable of confining even Eltera-ranked adventurers. However, they couldn¡¯t even last three seconds against me.


    While the Necromancer geezer was flinching in shock, I reached out and grabbed the skeleton¡¯s skull before crushing it.


    The undead without a head collapsed on the floor in a heap before disappearing.


    ¡°I gotta say, I¡¯m relieved by this.¡±


    I raised my head away from the skeleton and stared at the Necromancer.


    Meanwhile, my own rune letters began engraving on the floor. As divinity began flooding out, the holy skeletons broke through the prison¡¯s dirty floor and howled out loudly.


    What a relief it was to learn that the ¡®decision¡¯ hadn¡¯t been made by the royal court of Aihrance. They must¡¯ve been still keeping their wary eye on me, all the while procuring more information and ¡®investigating¡¯.


    In that case, what I¡¯m about to do shouldn¡¯t pose a problem.


    I didn¡¯t know what the current situation was like on the outside, but even a moron could tell that something major was going down.


    I¡¯d be making the Aihrance royal court owe me a big one by cleaning up the mess.


    ¡°Did you just tell me to become a skewered lump of meat?¡±


    That¡¯s why¡­


    ¡°Even I¡¯m kind of curious about what that will look like.¡±


    My skeletons raised their steel spears and glared at the Necromancer.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we find out by using you?¡±


    < 116. Big Eyes -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 220 - 117. Big Eyes -2

    Adolf¡¯s rank was ¡®Iron¡¯, which made him somewhat highly ranked in the pecking order. It was also one of the reasons why he stepped up to command his fellow adventurers and mercenaries.


    Their job was to evacuate the citizens trapped within the city and eliminate the monsters along the way.


    The Red Ogres were indeed difficult creatures to contend with, but they weren¡¯t on the level of impossible to kill, as long as the magicians affiliated with Elusha fiefdom worked together with the adventurers.


    They managed to gradually kill off the monsters roaming around the city. But in the midst of their operation, the adventurers and mercenaries suddenly began raising a noisy ruckus.


    They pointed at the feudal lord¡¯s castle where monsters were pouring out and screamed in shock.


    ¡°What the hell is that thing?!¡±


    Adolf also quickly turned his head to look at the castle, and when he did, he had no choice but to open his eyes wide in shock.


    Darkness was enveloping the entirety of the castle. Gloomy, ominous clouds began swirling in the skies above as terrifying thunderbolts went off one after the other.


    The tragic screams of people escaped from the windows of the castle while reddish-black shadows could be seen writhing along the corridors, devouring everything in their paths.


    Soon after, writhing, wriggling tentacles exploded out from every opening of the castle and began wrapping around the structure.


    It was as if the tentacles were trying to swallow up the entire building.


    ¡°What the hell¡­?¡±


    Just what was going on in there?


    The horrifying spectacle taking place right now was something one might see in their worst nightmares.


    When Adolf muttered that question out to no one in particular, a magician assisting him replied with a hardened face. ¡°That¡¯s the Big Eyes.¡±


    ¡°Big Eyes? What¡¯s that?¡±


    Adolf could proudly boast that his pool of knowledge regarding monster bestiary was better than ¡®adequate¡¯. But even then, he had never heard of the name ¡®Big Eyes¡¯ before.


    ¡°It¡¯s an ancient monster often referred to as hell¡¯s gatekeeper. It can regenerate indefinitely as long as there is enough prey to devour. Its main body is a huge eyeball, and also¡­¡± The magician swallowed back his dry saliva while staring at the castle. ¡°¡­That monster is specialised in protecting something.¡±


    A horde of undead began trudging out from the entrance of the castle. They were the evil spirits that managed to escape from purgatory.


    These creatures glared with their murderously gleaming eyes at the adventurers of Elusha.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    We left the Necromancer, who was now very dead after turning into a human meat skewer, behind in the cell and walked outside the prison.


    Since the storage for confiscated items was right next to the prison, we didn¡¯t have much trouble retrieving Hans¡¯s luggage and Alice¡¯s gauntlets.


    I checked the city¡¯s current status outside through the castle¡¯s window. Monsters were running rampant on the city streets.


    It seemed that all those monsters brought here by the feudal lord had been freed. What a relief it was that this city was full of adventurers.


    Elusha¡¯s defence forces were working together with the adventurers and mercenaries to suppress the monsters, albeit with some difficulty. And they were gradually creeping in closer to this castle, which was the source of all this trouble.


    They had probably figured out that something weird was going on here.


    I put the silver-white armour back on and then placed the helm on my head. With my trusty musket in my grip, I started walking down the corridor of the castle. Hans and Alice followed me from behind.


    ¡°What do you think is going on here, your highness?¡±


    Alice asked me after glancing at the prison one last time.


    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it obvious? What with a Necromancer appearing before us and all.¡±


    Yup, these fools must be up to something no good again.


    I wonder, could this whole thing be somehow connected to Aslan?


    That couldn¡¯t be it.


    That kingdom was now a subordinate nation to the Theocratic Empire, which meant that their actions would be closely monitored.


    The feudal lords of Aslan might rebel against their new queen¡¯s rules, but even then, they wouldn¡¯t dare do something this big out in the open.


    So¡­ the only other possible explanation would be a faction not affiliated with Aslan making their move.


    If we were dealing with just an organisation and not another kingdom¡¯s government, then I didn¡¯t see a reason why I shouldn¡¯t handle this matter in my own way.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡±


    ¡°R-run away!¡±


    Knights and magicians could be seen breathlessly running towards us from the end of the corridor. I figured that some monsters were chasing after them or something.


    I positioned my skeletons in front of us. The holy undead put up their shields and pointed with their spears.


    The knights and magicians hurriedly running away stumbled on their feet, their eyes opening wider in panic. ¡°U-undead¡­?!¡±


    But just as they hesitated, the space behind them distorted without warning.


    -Ki-hihihihihihik!


    Bizarre, goosebump-inducing cackles resounded out as large eyeballs began popping out from the distorted space.


    The unidentified monster shifted those disgusting eyeballs around to look at the fleeing knights, the magicians, and finally, us three.


    I got a feeling that the creature was trying to smile with those eyeballs, probably thinking that it had found tasty snacks or some such here.


    At the same time, something reddish-black rapidly extended out from around the corner.


    Alice¡¯s, Hans¡¯s, and my face all hardened in an instant.


    That something turned out to be writhing tentacles. It wasn¡¯t just a single one either, but a whole tsunami wave of them!


    The tentacles¡¯ tips split open and revealed sharp fangs inside before swallowing up the knights and magicians. The other tentacles used their heavy weight to pulverise their victims into fine meat paste.


    The only noise we could hear now was a crunching sound. Not even a single trace of their victims remained.


    ¡°It¡¯s the weird ass monster¡¯s turn to show up now?!¡±


    I took aim with my summoned musket.


    However, Alice was looking as pale as a sheet of paper after taking a good look at the horrendously repulsive eyeballs and tentacles. Hans was frozen stiff while mechanically backing away from his spot.


    The two of them cried out almost at the same time.


    ¡°Big Eyes!¡±


    ¡°Eh? What are you¡­?¡±


    Just before I could finish my question, the reddish-black tentacles suddenly bunched up into one. They morphed into a snake-like figure and then split open its mouth area before pouncing on us.


    What the heck? Did it not have any fixed shape or something?


    ¡°Stop that thing.¡±


    My holy skeletons jumped up and thrust their spears forward.


    The deadly weapons easily pierced through the creature¡¯s hide, blowing it apart.


    Demonic energy flooded out from the pierced body parts and flung my skeletons away. The monster¡¯s wounds rapidly regenerated at a visible pace.


    My attacks contained plenty of divinity, yet the tentacle monster easily withstood them.


    For my next attack, I took aim with my musket and fired it.


    The holy projectile scythed through the air and penetrated straight through the tentacle monster¡¯s ¡®body¡¯.


    -¡­?


    The monster writhed and cocked its head in confusion, only for it to blow apart in a straight line and disintegrate from this world.


    -Ki-hihihihihi!


    That bizarre cackle was now coming from seemingly everywhere.


    I shifted my gaze over to the walls.


    The bricks making up the wall should¡¯ve been hard and tough, yet the gap between them seemed to melt and twist before another huge eyeball popped up in there.


    Dude¡­ I can legit boast about my nerves of steel being tougher than most people, but even I couldn¡¯t help but shudder at this sight.


    I frowned a bit and quickly attached the bayonet to the end of the musket before impaling the eyeball.


    It seemed to ¡®die¡¯ for a moment, but then, dozens more eyeballs floated out of the walls at the same time.


    ¡°¡­F*ck me.¡±


    The walls began falling down and more tentacles broke through the falling debris.


    I stepped back and let the holy skeletons cut down the approaching tentacles.


    ¡°We need to run away from here!¡± Hans shouted out with a deeply-pale face.


    He knew that I was capable of hunting down a dragon. But even then, he said we gotta escape from here.


    Are you telling me that this thing, whatever it was, was more dangerous than a legendary dragon?


    Hans hurriedly pulled out a handful of medicine bottles from his luggage and then scattered their contents on the floor.


    The floor itself began writhing and wriggling like a living entity.


    Hans gasped out. ¡°I knew it¡­!¡±


    I asked him, ¡°You know something about this monster?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and we need to flee from here right now! If we don¡¯t, this whole place will turn into its¡­¡±


    ¡°Watch out!¡±


    Alice¡¯s hand shot out, grabbed Hans¡¯s head, and shoved it down to the floor. With nary a gap to spare, a tentacle with a bladed tip brushed past where his head used to be.


    Alice punched with her divinity-laden fist and blew that tentacle apart. She then finished what Hans wanted to say while keeping his head down, ¡°This entire castle will turn into its belly. The Big Eyes is an ancient gatekeeper, a demon that transforms its surrounding environment into its stronghold!¡±


    ¡°¡­Huh.¡±


    I took a look at the tentacle¡¯s exploded flesh that Alice had punched to oblivion just now.


    The exploded tentacle chunks ballooned up and gradually tainted the surroundings.


    Holy sh*t. It was like staring at an alien¡¯s nest in some Sci-Fi horror movie.


    Hans spoke up while holding his head, ¡°Lady Alice is correct. If we fail to escape from this building in time, we¡¯ll end up being trapped inside its body and gradually get digested. That¡¯s why¡­¡±


    Right at that moment, the floor below his feet caved in.


    Tentacles shot out and grabbed both Alice and Hans¡¯s legs before dragging them down.


    ¡°Dammit!¡±


    I reached out and grabbed Alice, and then tried to grab Hans with my other hand.


    ¡°Save me¡­!¡±


    But I missed his extended hand by a hair¡¯s breadth.


    Hans and his despair-laden face was sucked into the darkness of the ground below.


    ¡°Go and rescue him!¡±


    My holy skeletons threw themselves into the open gap in the floor. Almost at the same time, more tentacles erupted out to blanket the broken ground.


    I began firing indiscriminately on the floor with my musket. The holy bullets penetrated through the tentacles and punctured several holes, but they were filled back up only after a couple of moments later.


    ¡°What the eff is up with this damn monster¡­?!¡±


    My holy bullets had no effect whatsoever.


    Even if the tentacles¡¯ surface burnt away, other tentacles simply increased their volume and filled up the void.


    Would Hans be alright?


    He¡¯s a lucky son of a gun, and my skeletons went after him as well, so¡­ he should be able to hold on for some time.


    But I couldn¡¯t dilly-dally here.


    Which meant that I needed to kill this monster before Hans loses his life.


    ¡°Lord Allen!¡±


    Alice cried out at me.


    I urgently turned my head around and saw a whole bunch of tentacles rushing out from the corner up ahead. All sorts of undead creatures were also mixed in among them.


    Seriously?! Just what the hell is this monster?!


    I extracted Amon¡¯s skull from my item window. While putting on the mountain goat¡¯s skull, I could only furrow my brows in unhappiness.


    I just wanted to enjoy my vacation. My plan was to enjoy the simple pleasures of being an adventurer and create some fond memories to reminisce later down the line, but this¡­


    Who the f*ck is behind this sh*t?! Who dares to interrupt my vacation time?!


    I don¡¯t know who you are, but know this¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna utterly crush you.¡±


    I shouted out the activation phrase.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    ¡°Yes, we finally did it!¡±


    ¡°The Big Eyes has been successfully summoned. Although it can¡¯t go outside, as long as it¡¯s here, no one can stop the opening of purgatory!¡±


    The doorway to purgatory was opening up.


    Most of the survivors inside the castle had already become the Big Eyes¡¯ meal by now. The demon¡¯s body would expand according to the amount it had devoured, while regenerating itself from any damage inflicted on it.


    Meanwhile, the seemingly infinite walking dead was streaming out from the warp gate connected to purgatory. They would soon convert this fiefdom of Elusha into a city of death.


    The souls of the people getting killed were sucked into purgatory, becoming an energy source that maintained the warp gate. With this arrangement in place, the infinite loop of death would continue on and on.


    ¡°And now¡­ we can die.¡±


    They had been longing for this day.


    A world where no one suffered. A world where everyone could ¡®live on¡¯ forever!


    A world where everyone was equal before mighty death itself!


    This was the Necromancer King¡¯s long-held wish becoming reality at the moment!


    ¡°Ohh, our lord, Necromancer King Amon! We have finally done it!¡±


    As the Necromancers began revelling in pure bliss in the corridors, they suddenly heard a strange noise reverberating all around them.


    They flinched in surprise and turned their heads in the direction of that sound¡¯s origin.


    Someone was walking up to them from the section of the castle that the Big Eyes had already devoured.


    Bright light was coming out from that direction.


    Every time this person took a step, waves of divinity spread out ruthlessly. The ripples of divinity blew apart the tentacles attached to the walls and completely purified them out of existence.


    The Necromancers swallowed back nervous saliva at the truly enormous waves of divinity they sensed.


    Who could it be? Who was capable of unleashing this much divinity?


    Could it be that an archbishop decided to personally step up?


    The Necromancers grew really tense and tightly gripped their staves.


    As cold sweat drops trickled down their faces, they focused their demonic energy into their staves. However, what appeared next made them doubt their own eyes.


    ¡°Uh? Huh¡­?!¡±


    ¡°H-hang on a second here.¡±


    The eyes of the Necromancers nearly popped out of their sockets. They then began stumbling back in shock and confusion.


    The existence leisurely walking up to them while radiating bright light, he was¡­


    ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    Their jaws dropped to the floor.


    The being they served and worshipped fifty years ago was currently walking towards them.


    That being had descended back to the living plain with a mountain goat¡¯s skull on his head, bone armour covering his entire figure, plus a ¡®greatsword¡¯ crafted out of bones gripped in his hand.


    Their master from the past.


    The king of death that ruled over countless evil spirits and commanded them to march forward¡­


    ¡°It, it¡¯s the Necromancer King!¡±


    ¡°L-Lord Amon has returned!¡±


    ¡°The Necromancer King has made his glorious descent!¡±


    How could there be such a miracle? How was it even possible?


    The existence that personified their lifelong dreams and hopes had appeared right before their eyes.


    The Necromancers broke down emotionally and began approaching the figure.


    Not even once did they entertain the idea of using magic to attack him. They simply fell to their knees, reached out with their hands, and cried out their exaltations.


    ¡°Oh! Oh! Dear Necromancer King! Ah, aaaah! Our dear master!¡±


    ¡°We¡­ we did our best to bring your dream into reality!¡±


    ¡°This world is being transformed into a land of death, my lord! No, it¡¯s changing to death itself! The world without suffering, the world where everyone is equal, the world you desired to create, it¡¯s finally¡­!¡±


    The Necromancers raised one hell of a commotion. So much so that one might be tempted to believe that the Necromancer King had really escaped from purgatory as well.


    Their ¡®master¡¯ finally showed some reaction to their clamouring.


    ¡°Kasim.¡±


    A heavy yet soft murmur resounded out.


    The Necromancers flinched in surprise and looked up at the ¡®Necromancer King Amon¡¯.


    A soul of a hulking man briefly appeared behind the figure covered in bone armour, before rapidly getting sucked into the massive greatsword.


    Then, Necromancer King Amon raised this huge weapon up.


    ¡°M-master¡­?¡±


    Even then, the Necromancers couldn¡¯t quite understand what Amon was trying to do. They simply watched on with stupefaction.


    That was their end.


    The greatsword was pulled back before being thrust forward.


    The air exploded and every single Necromancer around him was ripped apart into tiny pieces.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    The other Necromancers who were rushing towards this location in happiness froze up in their spots some distance away.


    ¡®Amon¡¯ slammed his greatsword on the floor and spoke up, ¡°Do you wish for death?¡±


    Ripples of divinity rapidly enveloped the greatsword.


    Holy water began trickling out from the floor the blade had stabbed into and soaked the surroundings.


    ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, then¡­¡±


    The Big Eyes¡¯ tentacles withered instantly before being extinguished altogether.


    Meanwhile, wind gathered around him and began compressing tightly.


    The Necromancer King¡¯s eyes gleamed sharply underneath the skull.


    ¡°¡­Then, let me give you all the gift of death.¡±


    Wind exploded out and the formless blades pounced on the confused Necromancers.


    < 117. Big Eyes -2 > Fin.

 Chapter 221 - 118. Big Eyes -3 (Part One)

    **


    The place Hans fell down to couldn¡¯t be called a part of the castle anymore.


    All the walls were now covered by the tough, sinewy ¡®flesh¡¯, while the windows and doors were all blocked off.


    No light entered this space as access to the outside had been cut off. Hans pulled out a lantern from his luggage, applied oil, and lit it up.


    The light cast from the lantern revealed countless corpses strewn about seemingly everywhere. All of them were victims murdered by the Big Eyes.


    They were all currently covered by the tentacles, slowly and gradually melting away.


    Hans became as pale as a sheet of paper at the gruesome sight.


    ¡®This¡­ this place is hell!¡¯


    He urgently looked around his vicinity.


    The holy skeletons were still guarding him, but¡­


    -Kkiii-aaaaaahk!


    The countless walking dead leaping out from the darkness were gradually decreasing the number of holy skeletons one by one.


    Hans confirmed one more time that the holy skeletons, despite their unsteady tottering, were still somehow eliminating the undead. He couldn¡¯t help but swallow back his dry saliva.


    It had already been fifteen minutes since he fell down here.


    Even though this was literally inside the stomach of the Big Eyes, he was miraculously still alive.


    ¡®I got lucky. The Big Eyes hasn¡¯t tried to kill me just yet. But what¡¯s the reason for that, I wonder?¡¯


    Hans turned his head around and stared at the tentacles currently filling up the passageways to his left and right.


    This whole castle had been taken over by the Big Eyes. The demon was capable of freely manipulating the shape of its flesh, so it wouldn¡¯t be all that surprising to see tentacles with fangs or sharp blades suddenly shoot out from the walls to slice Hans apart to death.


    He shuddered and quickly shook his head at his own terrifying imagination.


    -Ki-hihihihi!


    The creepy cackle came to him from somewhere in the darkness.


    Hans flinched nastily in shock and quickly focused his attention to his front.


    The space there distorted for a moment and an eyeball popped up. At the same time, the tentacles on the walls began writhing and moving towards him.


    In other words, the Big Eyes¡¯ earnest hunting had finally begun.


    ¡°I bloody knew it, I shouldn¡¯t have come!¡±


    Hans held his head and screamed while hurriedly fleeing.


    The holy skeletons tried to protect him by defending his rear, but their actions ultimately proved to be meaningless. They couldn¡¯t withstand the tentacles¡¯ barrage flying in from seemingly everywhere and got destroyed pretty quickly.


    Hans turned around to flee to elsewhere, but a huge eyeball suddenly materialised right in front of him.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    He instinctively stopped making any and all movement. He even held his breath to the absolute best of his abilities.


    Hans stood there frozen stiff like a statue, but the Big Eyes began studying him from various angles as if it had found something rather amusing to behold. In the meantime, tentacles were slowly creeping closer to Hans¡¯s location.


    The sharp fangs and blades as pointy as the stinger of a scorpion, were now aimed at Hans.


    ¡®I¡¯ll surely get killed at this rate! Oh, oh, dear Goddess Gaia, I beg of you, please send someone, anyone, to save me!¡¯


    He fervently prayed to the goddess, but he was hoping for something impossible here.


    Unless you were either the summoner of the Big Eyes or someone connected to the summoning process, you¡¯d inevitably end up as its ¡®food¡¯ if you failed to escape from a location the demon had taken over.


    All the knights and magicians of Aihrance, as well as the servants and maids that used to work in the castle, should have been killed and devoured by now.


    And the same fate was in store for him, too.


    Cold sweat drops trickled down Hans¡¯s face. He was rapidly reaching the limit of holding his breath.


    In the end, he couldn¡¯t endure it anymore and gasped out for air. And when he moved, the Big Eyes also reacted accordingly.


    The tentacles instantly pounced on Hans.


    ¡°Get down!¡±


    Hans heard a familiar voice and reflexively shielded his head before crouching on the ground.


    A barrage of arrows of light flew in and blew apart the tentacles.


    Hans raised his head and stared at the tattered tentacles tottering precariously before shifting his gaze away.


    He saw a group of undead radiating an unmistakable sacred aura at the end of the corridor some distance away. The group consisted of holy skeletons equipped with all sorts of armaments, as well as Banshees aiming their bows in this direction.


    And a blonde girl standing at the front of the holy undead was quickly dashing to where he was.


    ¡°Lady Alice!¡±


    Hans recognised her and urgently called out her name.


    Alice clanged the gauntlets equipped on her fists.


    CLANG-!


    More tentacles shot out from seemingly every direction her eyes could see, but Alice evaded them all using dexterous movements. She spun around gracefully and blew a tentacle apart with a roundhouse kick.


    She thrust her hand out, grabbed another tentacle, and roughly ripped it off from its base.


    She then proceeded to grab the huge eyeball floating in the air above, squeezing it hard until it burst apart with a loud pop.


    Bits of flesh splattered onto her face, but she didn¡¯t even mind it. She instead picked up Hans like a piece of luggage and placed him on her shoulders.


    He was deeply impressed by her ¡®manly¡¯ figure and couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Oh, my goodness! How did you even find me, Lady Alice? Indeed, gods have to be real! They actually answered my prayers! Wait, could it be that Lady Alice is secretly an angel sent by Goddess Gaia herself?¡±


    ¡°Now isn¡¯t the time to be impressed!¡±


    Alice urgently dashed back towards the holy skeleton legion that had set up a defensive formation over yonder. The tentacles gave chase, but the light arrows from the Banshees accurately shot them down.


    She ducked and evaded the storm of tentacles in a truly electrifying manner.


    Hans, who was up on her shoulder, cried out towards her, ¡°Where is his highness right now?¡±


    ¡°¡­He¡¯s acting as bait at the moment!¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    Hans blankly stared for a bit before finally realising what she meant by that.


    Being stuck inside the belly of the Big Eyes meant that, even if you were a dragon, you¡¯d still get exhausted from the endless battles and get devoured in the end.


    That¡¯s because of the countless tentacles shooting out from practically everywhere, plus the demon¡¯s near-infinite regenerative capability.


    As such, surviving would be too difficult no matter the type of army you brought along, as long as you were stuck inside the demon.


    However, the Big Eyes had a tendency to focus its attacks on the individual it deemed to be ¡®the most threatening existence¡¯ currently inside its body.


    That should be the likely reason why Hans had been mostly left alone until now.


    Alice continued on, ¡°His highness will attract the Big Eyes¡¯ attention as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°I-in that case, where is his highness¡­?¡±


    Alice finally managed to join up with the legion of holy undead and placed Hans back on his feet.


    ¡°He¡¯s searching for the monster¡¯s main body right now.¡±


    **


    The Necromancers of Nemesis had been overflowing with confidence.


    They knew all about the characteristics of the Big Eyes, so they firmly believed that the warp gate they had created through so much effort would remain undisturbed no matter who or what attacked it.


    Unfortunately for them, that was nothing more than their empty hopes at the end of the day.


    ¡°But why?! How come¡­?!¡±


    ¡°Oh, our dear Necromancer King! Why are you attacking us like this?!¡±


    These Necromancers had fallen into a deep pit of despair.


    Those who dared to raise their voice got pulverised into bloody meat by the formless blades.


    They couldn¡¯t even leave behind intact corpses.


    The absurdly enormous clump of divinity proceeded to completely grind them to fine specks of blood-drenched dust.


    The narrow passageway exploded spectacularly and the debris of the wrecked building tumbled down noisily.


    ¡°Lord Amon!¡±


    ¡°Please come to your senses! Please!¡±


    This was a one-sided massacre.


    The Necromancers of Nemesis begged and pleaded.


    They begged their master from the past, Necromancer King Amon.


    The existence kitted out in bone armour stood tall as whitish breath leaked out from beneath the mountain goat¡¯s skull. While resting the greatsword made out of bones on his shoulder, he shot a sharp glare at the Necromancers standing before him.


    The Necromancers stared back at this ¡®Necromancer King¡¯, and began shaking their heads in confusion.


    Something¡­ something was off here.


    That being was not Necromancer King Amon.


    The appearance and powers on display certainly were similar, but there was simply no way that Amon possessed such a pure, clean aura like this individual.


    Rather than the trace of death wherever he walked, ripples of holy water were spreading out.


    And then, holy undead continued to rush out from that pool of holy water.


    That was definitely a different type of power from Amon¡¯s.


    Even though all of the gathered Necromancers recognised this fact, they couldn¡¯t bring themselves to mount any form of resistance.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to fight back now?¡±


    The ¡®Necromancer King¡¯ extended his left hand that didn¡¯t hold anything. However, chains made out of bones that were connected to a bone dagger suddenly materialised there.


    ¡°Jeron, Jiid.¡±


    Those were the names of the very first people to be turned into holy ghosts, the assassins from Lome Kingdom dispatched by Derian Victoria.


    Their souls were engraved into the bone dagger. On top of that, Divine Aura and divinity were also injected into it.


    [Assimilation percentage has been generated.]


    [Assimilation percentage: 60%]


    He then flicked his left hand. The bone dagger flew out and the bone chains attached to it stretched tautly.


    Bang-!


    (TL: Happy new year! Fingers crossed that 2021 will be better than 2020!)


    (TL: Also, only one chapter today.)

 Chapter 222 - 118. Big Eyes -3 (Part Two)

    The bone dagger did a lot more than just rip past the limbs of the Necromancers, it even proceeded to tear straight through the walls behind them. The connected chains destroyed the surrounding walls and everything came crashing down.


    The Necromancers couldn¡¯t help but freak out at the weapon containing a truly absurd level of divinity.


    They began fleeing in pure panic.


    ¡°No, no! That man is not Necromancer King Amon!¡±


    Indeed, that man didn¡¯t cast any magic. He instead relied on a greatsword, a dagger, and other assortment of techniques.


    However, his destructive power was still utterly outrageous.


    Allen continued to advance forward as the dust cloud rose up all around him.


    The concurrent application of Amon¡¯s relic and the holy ghost possession brought about quite a satisfactory result.


    ¡°For sure, the output is on another realm when using the relic, huh¡­¡±


    An assimilation percentage of sixty. In other words, three-fifth of the original¡¯s power could be utilised in this state. And on top of that, the attack¡¯s destructive might would double when Allen injected his enormous reserve of divinity as well.


    -Kki-aaaaahk!


    Suddenly, eyeballs began materialising everywhere.


    The Big Eyes glared at Allen, but rather than its usual eerie cackle, it was now screaming back at him.


    Tentacles rushed towards him from every direction, but Allen rapidly swung the greatsword to mercilessly pulverise them.


    The holy undead thrust their swords at the walls and began gouging them out. The entirety of the castle quaked hard as if it was trembling in pain.


    Allen recalled what Alice had told him before they went their separate ways.


    -The Big Eyes will try to hide its main body, which acts as its heart.


    This place was the belly of a demon that regenerated itself almost indefinitely, while also acting as an ever-shifting maze as well.


    This creature possessed the ability to alter its surroundings. It could change the layout of the passageways and stop anyone from approaching its main body.


    However, it being capable of infinitely regenerating itself and blocking the pathways with walls didn¡¯t mean that it was also immune from pain. And crucially, the demon couldn¡¯t stop Allen from inflicting a lot of it either.


    He issued a new order, ¡°Destroy the entire castle.¡±


    Skeletons and skeleton horses emerged from the puddle of holy water.


    ¡°Locate its main body.¡±


    The heavily-armed cavalry raised their heads higher.


    ¡°Inflict as much pain as possible and make it taste the bitterness of regret.¡±


    The skeletal cavalry began dashing within the castle¡¯s interior while slamming their lances into the walls. Meanwhile, Bone Golems raised their mighty hammers and began pounding and hacking away.


    Hundreds of holy undead proceeded to destroy the castle from the inside.


    The Big Eyes never would have expected something like this.


    This raucous commotion should be enough to divert the Big Eyes¡¯ attention away from both Alice and Hans. They should both be able to escape from here just fine.


    While the mayhem was still going on all around him, Allen abruptly turned his head. A portion of the undead he had summoned finally reached the location of the monster¡¯s ¡®main body¡¯.


    He learned where it was through sharing the undead¡¯s vision.


    ¡°Found it.¡±


    Allen grinned deeply under the mountain goat¡¯s skull.


    And now, he¡¯d get to see the mug of the one responsible for this mess.


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you what real hell looks like.¡±


    The one who ruined his vacation plans would pay dearly for this indiscretion.


    **


    Rudis was currently panting heavily away.


    He propped himself against the bone staff and barely managed to maintain his balance, before staring at the scene taking place in front of his eyes.


    The holy undead were dissipating while scattering away brilliant motes of light.


    ¡®Holy¡­ undead?¡¯


    Even though Rudis didn¡¯t really stay up to date with the current affairs of the world, he still had come across some stories regarding recent events. Stories that were related to the Theocratic Empire.


    More correctly, the stories regarding the only person in the world who could summon and command the holy undead!


    Could it be that the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire had come to visit this place?!


    Rudis shuddered from a sense of unknown fear, but before he could say something, the Big Eyes next to him spoke up first.


    -What is the meaning of this? What is that monster?!


    The Big Eyes, a massive eyeball about five metres in diameter with all the tentacles seemingly connected to it, began screeching out.


    Mouths that were found on the grotesque lumps of flesh attached to every wall screamed out at the same time, which prompted Rudis to hurriedly block his ears and gasp out in pain.


    Honestly speaking, it was Rudis who wanted to ask that question first. He had no way of finding out just what was happening inside the castle at the moment.


    The Big Eyes had been writhing in pain for some time now, while the thunderous noises of the portion of the castle collapsing could be heard coming from afar.


    And then, some mysterious undead possessing an unexplainable power even showed up before him just now.


    For the first time in his life, a terrible bout of anxiety began assaulting him.


    -A monster is coming here!


    The Big Eyes¡¯ huge eyeball began trembling in fear.


    As long as it could hide its main body somewhere, this demon could easily devour a dragon. However, such a demonic gatekeeper from the ancient times had become deeply frightened at this moment.


    Rudis shifted his worried gaze towards the warp gate.


    Inside the distorted space way bigger than five metres in diameter were the countless walking dead busy flailing their arms about, clamouring to escape to the living world. There was a transparent barrier placed around this opening, restricting the gate from enlarging even further.


    The Necromancers of Nemesis had placed a restriction on the warp gate connecting to purgatory so that they could maintain the spell for as long as possible.


    ¡®We should¡¯ve undid the restrictions a bit more.¡¯


    Their initial plan was to release a flood of undead at once to utterly devastate the city of Elusha, but Rudis felt that the events were currently heading in the wrong direction.


    He thought that the warp gate needed to be widened even if he had to strain himself.


    Just as Rudis extended his hand to open the warp gate¡¯s doorway even wider¡­


    -He¡¯s here! The bastard has arrived!


    The Big Eyes¡¯ iris grew larger as it cried out.


    Rudis hurriedly spun his head around.


    A section of the wall covered up with the flesh of the Big Eyes was suddenly split wide open by a greatsword.


    Rudis urgently raised his bone staff higher.


    A person forcing their way through to where the Big Eyes¡¯ main body was could only be an enemy and nothing else. As such, Rudis needed to stop that bastard no matter what it took.


    The split flesh was forcibly pried open by a pair of hands, and the culprit responsible for wrecking the Necromancers¡¯ plan finally revealed himself.


    Rudis froze up like a statue after taking one good look at the figure.


    The latter¡¯s heavy footsteps echoed in the space.


    Many holy undead screeched and howled monstrously while ripping open the split flesh even further to follow their master.


    ¡®That man¡­¡¯


    The assailant relaxed his greatsword on the ground and continued to walk closer. The one wearing the mountain goat¡¯s skull was glaring straight at Rudis.


    The ¡®Necromancer¡¯ leading the legion of holy undead was here.


    Rudis remained frozen stiff on the spot, unable to say a single thing after feeling the majestic aura and powerful sense of presence emitted by his enemy.


    Even the inside of his head had blanked out completely as well.


    He was trying to reject reality itself.


    ¡®Oh my god. How, how can such a thing even¡­?!¡¯


    Rudis immediately recognised that ¡®face¡¯.


    That Necromancer King Amon¡¯s head, and the set of bone armour that he used to wear back then.


    The being from fifty years ago that Rudis revered with absolute fervour, the Necromancer King who didn¡¯t even bother to glance at Rudis¡¯s way once, had somehow revealed his presence in this place.


    ¡®The Necromancer King? No, that¡¯s wrong. That¡¯s a completely different person!¡¯


    Rudis could tell instinctively. He could tell that the contents contained within all that bone armour was something else entirely.


    It was sacred and pure energy. In other words, it was divinity, not the usual demonic energy.


    The one who stood diametrically opposed to the Necromancer King.


    An absolute being that led the holy undead legion to take his spot before Rudis and the Big Eyes¡­


    The individual possessing the status of the Saint, as declared by the Theocratic Empire itself¡­


    ¡°You¡­ you bastard¡­!¡± Rudis swallowed back his dry saliva and muttered out the title that had entered his mind just then, ¡°¡­You are the Holy King, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Nope. You¡¯re wrong.¡±


    The other party stopped walking when Rudis muttered out that question.


    He then pointed his greatsword at the old Necromancer and finished the rest of what he wanted to say.


    ¡°I¡¯m just an adventurer.¡±


    Allen smirked deeply while staring at Rudis.


    < 118. Big Eyes -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 223 - 119. Big Eyes -4 (Part One)

    **


    ¡°An adventurer?¡±


    A dazed expression floated up on Rudis¡¯s face.


    He might not be up to date with all the rumours currently circulating within the continent, but even someone like him had heard about the ¡®special¡¯ individual hailing from the Theocratic Empire.


    And he also heard about the rumour of the Skeleton King making an appearance in the kingdom of Necromancers, Aslan, as well.


    Rudis¡¯s first reaction after hearing that rumour was to scoff derisively.


    Just what was the Skeleton King? It was the legendary undead, the strongest evil spirit that only Necromancer King Amon could summon to this world.


    The notion of someone actually summoning such a creature? To him, such a thing was a stupid nonsense that could never happen in a million years.


    However, the one standing before him would have little trouble summoning the Skeleton King.


    More than that, the Necromancers of Nemesis would even start believing that this being was the reincarnation of the Necromancer King himself.


    That was why Rudis felt so incensed.


    To think that this person, while wearing the head of the noblest of all noble beings in history, unhesitantly referred to himself not as something notable as the Holy King, but as a lowly adventurer!


    ¡°An adventurer? You say you¡¯re an adventurer?!¡±


    Veins bulged visibly on Rudis¡¯s forehead.


    ¡°Big Eyes, what do you think you¡¯re doing?! Why haven¡¯t you ripped off the mouth of that liar and killed him already?!¡±


    The Big Eyes¡¯ iris quivered greatly.


    -I¡¯ll kill him. I¡¯ll definitely kill him!


    Tentacles gathered around the demon before shooting towards the target. Their sharp blades and fangs pounced on Allen as if to devour him whole in one go.


    -Ku-oooooh!


    The holy undead stepped up. The skeleton horses with their large bodies reared up before slamming down their front hooves.


    The heavily-armoured cavalry began rushing forward.


    They swung their lances to deflect away and impale all the incoming countless tentacles.


    The eerie glows underneath their helms were murderously glaring at the Big Eyes.


    The ancient gatekeeper demon screamed out and urgently shifted its large eyeball behind it. It found itself unable to retreat due to how all of its flesh were still connected to the building, and could only ungainly flail about.


    Rudis shed a bucketful of cold sweat at this sight. The holy undead were far stronger than he had anticipated.


    Now that the demon¡¯s weakness, its main body, had been exposed, it was only a matter of time before it got killed off.


    His hand began gripping the bone staff harder and harder.


    Rudis was now left with no other option but to make ¡®that decision¡¯ here.


    He wanted nothing more than to witness with his own two eyes the advent of ¡®his¡¯ ideal world, where everyone was equal in death. But how lamentable this was ¨C judging from the current flow of events, he wouldn¡¯t get the chance to do that.


    ¡°If things continue on like this, our long-cherished dream won¡¯t come true.¡±


    Their cherished wish for the past fifty years¡­


    Rather than watching it fail, he might as well¡­!


    Rudis glanced at the Big Eyes.


    The nourishment from hundreds of humans were already stored inside the demon¡¯s body. Meaning, it¡¯d be fine to use it as fuel to maintain the warp gate.


    ¡°Oh, Big Eyes,¡±


    The demon¡¯s large eyeball shifted over to Rudis.


    ¡°It seems that you and I were destined to become living sacrifices today.¡±


    The Big Eyes¡¯ trembling iris opened wider.


    Rudis extended his hand towards the restriction barrier cast around the warp gate and recited an incantation.


    His demonic energy entered the barrier, causing it to gradually break apart. The warp gate, which was now no longer restricted, widened much further and began spitting out even more walking dead to the living world. However, it also started behaving like a black hole that sucked in the living things. This also included Rudis and the Big Eyes as they were around the gate¡¯s immediate vicinity.


    Rudis spread open his arms wide while still holding the staff. A crazed peel of laughter exploded from his mouth.


    -Nooo! Stop, stop!


    The Big Eyes desperately shook its body around. The ¡®black hole¡¯ had already begun sucking in the demon¡¯s body.


    The flesh it had been maintaining through the lives of humans were being ripped apart. Not just its large body, but even parts of the castle were gradually being sucked into the pitch-black distorted space.


    -Uwaaaaahk!


    ¡°Hahaha! Oh, the walking dead! Turn this world into a living purgatory!¡±


    The restriction barrier completely shattered.


    The undead fully emerged from the gate and grabbed Rudis before throwing him into the black hole.


    The aged Necromancer¡¯s body was almost instantly ripped apart to tiny shreds. His soul was transformed into an energy source for the warp gate and completely ceased to exist altogether.


    Meanwhile, the freed evil spirits began screeching out monstrously.


    Hands made purely out of souls and bones grabbed the eyeball of the Big Eyes and began dragging it in.


    The demon¡¯s eyeball was ripped apart and tears of blood began rolling down its flesh.


    -Ku-aaaaaah!


    The demon used its tentacles to yank away the walking dead attacking it, but dozens, hundreds more descended on the Big Eyes, completely overwhelming it.


    The holy undead rushing forward came to an abrupt stop. Allen too had stopped what he was doing to observe the unfolding situation.


    The pitch-black space had completely taken over the spot above the warp magic circle drawn on the floor.


    It broke the walls down and even began absorbing the ceiling.


    In the blink of an eye, hundreds of walking dead were spat out from there. The massive lumps made up of the undead from purgatory had been set free.


    The space continued distorting and more eyeballs resembling the Big Eyes began popping up almost everywhere.


    Allen looked around him. There seemed to be around ten ¡®Big Eyes¡¯ now. He then shifted his gaze back to the warp gate.


    Just like how it was with the holy water lake he summoned, the undead continued to emerge from that black space. However, he couldn¡¯t see the source that supplied demonic energy anywhere.


    Meaning, the stored energy was maintaining the warp gate right now. It would stay open until all that energy was completely spent.


    -Behold, a world of death has come for you.


    -We shall save this world from the torment called life.


    Several beings wearing jet-black robes emerged at the gate of purgatory. They wielded bone staves and emitted an incredible amount of demonic energy.


    Liches.


    The liches, five in total, extended their hands but then, the dimensional wall stopped their advances. However, the warp gate continuously weakened the wall that forbade the intrusion of the Liches to this world. They soon managed to cross over.


    ¡°Well, this sure has become a big problem.¡±


    Allen shifted his gaze back to the gate of purgatory.


    He could even spy the ¡®grim reaper¡¯ brandishing a scythe deeper within the hole. However, something must¡¯ve been restricting it as the creature couldn¡¯t force its way through yet.


    The ones coming out so far were skeletons, dullahans, and zombies. They walked out from the gate with bodies that were manifested through demonic energy.


    Since Liches had made their appearance, it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that the grim reapers and possibly some other existences far more dangerous than them would pop out soon.


    Things would become way too difficult to handle when that happened.


    ¡°Get into formation.¡±


    Allen issued a new command and stabbed the greatsword on the floor.


    Bone hands sprouted out from his back and twelve muskets were summoned into their grips. He then wielded both Amon¡¯s grimoire and staff in his hands.


    ¡°We shall destroy that warp gate.¡±


    The holy skeletons overlapped their shields into several layers.


    Holy water rapidly spread out from beneath Allen¡¯s feet. More holy undead were summoned and rose up from the water¡¯s surface.


    The crimson-black warp gate met the pool of holy water emitting sacred light; powerful ripples from the resulting collision rocked the castle.


    ¡°Kasim.¡±


    Allen extended his hand and summoned Kasim¡¯s body from the item window before dropping it on the floor. The soul permeating the greatsword left the weapon and entered the corpse.


    The ¡®revived¡¯ Kasim opened his eyes and stood back up, then began making an enraged face while staring at the undead crawling out from purgatory.


    -You abominable creatures!


    Kasim stepped up to the front and took over command.


    The holy undead followed after his lead.


    -All those abominations that distort the balance of this world¡­


    Kasim gripped his greatsword tightly as he glared at the group of Liches and multiple Big Eyes.


    -¡­We shall subjugate them all!


    ¡°Go.¡±


    One word from Allen, and the legion of Kasim and the holy undead made their moves.


    -Undead possessing divinity? You are the disharmonious ones.


    The Liches from the warp gate began pointing their bony fingers in an indignant manner.


    -Pay for your sins through true death!


    They summoned death knights; these powerful undead knights rushed forward to meet the incoming enemies.


    Meanwhile, the Big Eyes began thrusting and slamming their tentacles like whips as well.


    And so, a war between life and death broke out in this location.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    Divinity and demonic energy viciously whipped about.


    The two opposing armies of undead entered into a messy melee.


    Ones with reddish-black colours got entangled with the ones emitting pure-white light, and their weapons noisily collided against each other.


    -Ku-oooooh!


    The heavily-armoured cavalry from the holy undead side rushed forward. They took a detour and tried to get closer to the warp gate, but the Liches used magic to summon a bombardment of flames and ice to rain down on them.


    Countless explosions went off and the cavalry was flung away from the shockwaves.


    The castle walls collapsed, but the Big Eyes quickly regenerated the broken sections.


    It was obvious that they were trying to isolate their opponents and make sure that no one would escape from here.


    I looked back at the warp gate.


    Those damn Necromancers went and did something seriously troublesome, didn¡¯t they?


    Distance-wise, there was about one hundred metres between me and that gate.


    ¡®Should I declare sanctuary here? What about summoning the Skeleton King? No, what about the Bone Dragon¡­¡¯


    The Aztal Rune was still not stable.


    If I wanted to successfully declare the establishment of a sanctuary, it must be done in a place without demonic energy and in the most stable environment possible.


    Summoning either the Skeleton King or the Bone Dragon just took too much time, too.


    If I wasted time trying to summon them, then the warp gate would no doubt open up even more, and the grim reapers and worse monsters would definitely emerge from there.


    That would be the absolute worst possible situation imaginable.


    ¡°Yup, I gotta personally step up here.¡±


    I decided to make a move. After summoning a skeleton horse, I quickly mounted it.


    The undead horse neighed loudly.


    ¡°Open the path and provide cover for me!¡±


    I roared out a command and Kasim followed that up with a roar of his own.


    -Create a path! Our sovereign is planning to march forward!


    The holy undead got into a wedge formation and tried to force an opening. I dashed between their ranks. The holy undead knights riding on their own skeleton horses accompanied me.


    The sounds of heavy hooves pounding away resounded out.


    Auras of divinity rippled out and began purifying the defiled energy radiating from the surroundings.


    Everything would be sorted out as long as I destroyed that warp gate!


    -Oh, you foolish ones!


    The Liches blocked our path.


    Just as they began chanting their next spells, I fired the muskets dangling on my back and shot down the Lichs.


    Two of them had their skulls cleanly penetrated through and got destroyed, but the other three barely managed to activate their magic in time.


    A humongous fireball landed in our midst while the floor froze up in an instant to trip the skeleton horses¡¯ legs.


    The holy undead knights were thrown off from their mounts.


    -Be together with death!


    The Liches saying that waved their bony hands in a weird way.


    When they waved their hands like some kind of an orchestra conductor, the ground surrounding the holy undead knights suddenly melted down to resemble a sticky swamp. The damp-looking ¡®swamp¡¯ then easily swallowed up the holy knights.


    I rolled ungainly on the frozen floor for a bit before standing up, then hurriedly extended the staff forward.


    [Skill nullification]


    I managed to nullify one of the Liches¡¯ magic, the swamp.


    However, I couldn¡¯t do anything about the fireballs flying in towards me; they collided against my torso.


    The bone armour¡¯s surface cracked apart. It felt like my whole being was burning away. Even though I wore the bone armour, the heat was cooking me up inside and caused my blood to start evaporating.


    I couldn¡¯t breathe. The pain was threatening to rob me of my consciousness.


    ¡®No, I gotta endure it.¡¯


    I barely managed to activate the Aztal Rune and healed my wounds, and even reinforced my body at the same time.


    I took a step forward and dug into the Liches¡¯ formation. They freaked out and hurriedly swung their staves.


    More swamps materialised all around them and countless hands made out of bones leapt out to envelop me. They grabbed onto my arms, legs, torso, and even my head to try and drag me down.


    They acted like chains to steal away my freedom of movement and sucked me into the ground.


    The Liches were protecting the rune letters of the magic circle as if it was their mission in life to prevent anyone from approaching the warp gate.


    Goddammit! Things will get even more troublesome if the real grim reapers come out of there, just like during my fight against the Lich, Nasus.


    -Get crushed to death!


    Countless bones from the walls and floor, plus the walking dead that broke through the ranks of the holy undead legion, jumped on top of me and began solidifying into one large lump.


    The bones completely surrounded me and began compressing tighter. As the pressure rapidly built up, I put Amon¡¯s staff back into my item window and summoned the greatsword.


    ¡°Kasim!¡±


    Kasim¡¯s body suddenly crumbled down during his battle against the undead. His soul quickly flew in and entered the greatsword in my hands.


    -¡­!!!


    Just before the Liches could stumble back, I pushed divinity in the greatsword to its absolute max and swung it, hard.


    The wind exploded and formless blades utterly shattered the lump of bones into pieces. I slammed my foot on the ground to anchor myself, and spun my whole body around to dissect the Liches nearby in halves.


    I then fired the muskets to obliterate the remaining Liches out of existence.


    -The path to death has opened.


    The warp gate was fully opened by then.


    The black hole continued spitting out more undead; the grim reapers were trying to reveal their terrifying aura from among them.


    ¡­Sorry, but this place ain¡¯t for as*holes like you!


    I threw myself towards the warp gate.

 Chapter 224 - 119. Big Eyes -4 (Part Two)

    Chapter 224: 119. Big Eyes -4 (Part Two)


    The grim reapers still inside the boundary of the gate waved their hands about.


    Even though they hadn¡¯t actually crossed over to this dimension yet, they could still exercise their authorities here.


    The rotting hand of a titan suddenly emerged from the swamp summoned by the Liches. That huge hand tried to snatch me up, but I quickly swung the greatsword to smack it away.


    Air compressed before exploding forward; the formless blade sliced apart the titan¡¯s fingers.


    The decomposing flesh splattered everywhere, but even those bits continued wiggling around before pouncing on me.


    Those bits of flesh landed on my body, and the decomposing demonic energy collided with divinity to cause explosions.


    My body began faltering.


    This resistance from them¡­ it was heavier than I thought. Did these undead really want to invade this world that badly?


    Right at that moment, the grim reapers¡¯ scythes, which should¡¯ve been stuck within the boundaries, leapt out. Dozens of curved blades flew in my direction.


    ¡®Fine, let¡¯s see who¡¯ll win today!¡¯


    I forced my body to move.


    While still carrying all those bits of rotting flesh, I slowly inched forward, all the while evading the incoming scythes of the grim reapers.


    The bone armour was crumbling away. Even Amon¡¯s skull developed a crack.


    But I still endured. I endured against the storm of scythe blades and crept towards the rune letters making up the warp gate.


    ¡°This, is, the, end-!!!¡±


    I thrust the greatsword in the magic circle with everything I¡¯ve got.


    The blade sunk in deeply. Almost at the same time, the rune letters violently quaked before spectacularly exploding.


    Divinity and demonic energy messily tangled up and formed a hurricane, instantly turning all the undead coming out from the warp gate into ashes and destroying them.


    At the same time, one of the grim reapers¡¯ scythe blades that was extending out from the black hole came to a stop mere millimetres away from my forehead.


    The grim reapers were captured by the black ¡®hands¡¯ shooting out from the wall between the dimensions.


    Cold sweat trickled down my back. Holy cow, if I was late by a millisecond, my head would¡¯ve been impaled by a dang scythe of all things!


    The guardians maintaining the wall between the dimensions began dragging away the grim reapers.


    Those grim reapers were glaring back at me.


    -One day¡­


    Their voices sounded rueful.


    Despite the black hands dragging them inside the warp gate, which was currently in the process of shutting down, the grim reapers were still smiling away.


    -¡­We shall be freed from this place.


    The warp gate gradually got extinguished.


    As if to match that, my bone armour also began disappearing.


    I plopped down on my butt and leaned against the greatsword still stabbed on the floor. When I looked behind me, the holy undead were busy getting rid of all the remaining walking dead.


    The Liches were gone now, and the number of undead was decreasing quite quickly, so I figured that it¡¯d be only a matter of time before they were fully taken care of.


    ¡°It¡¯s over.¡±


    The tension was leaving my tired body.


    Gee whiz. I only wanted to act like a simple adventurer and enjoy my vacation time here, but¡­


    ¡°Well, at least I got to rampage around like crazy, so there¡¯s that, I suppose.¡±


    Yup, this vacation sure has turned into something completely unforgettable, hasn¡¯t it?


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Adolf was running along the interior of the castle, accompanied by other adventurers as well as magicians affiliated with the fiefdom.


    The Big Eyes seemed to be dead, judging from the creature¡¯s flesh withering away and disappearing.


    ¡°Lady Alice? Sir Hans?¡±


    In the middle of running, they ran into Alice and Hans. The two of them had considerably fatigued faces.


    Adolf heard from the magicians earlier that, even if you were an Eltera-ranked adventurer, you still wouldn¡¯t last ten minutes inside the belly of the Big Eyes.


    Even then, those two managed to survive.


    He could see Alice and Hans making awkward faces while waving their hands. Adolf hurriedly asked them, ¡°Where is Lord Allen?¡±


    Alice pointed behind her and replied, ¡°He¡¯s gone to eliminate the Big Eyes.¡±


    When Adolf heard that, he became certain about something.


    ¡®I knew it. He must¡¯ve suspected that something like this might happen in this place.¡¯


    He couldn¡¯t help but see things that way.


    The Saint, Allen Olfolse, seemed to seek out locations where incidents were taking place so that he could solve them.


    Without a doubt, he must¡¯ve come to this city after detecting that something bad was about to happen here.


    Adolf and his group, now joined by Hans and Alice, headed to the feudal lord¡¯s audience chamber.


    The status of the chamber, which was located on the very top floor of the castle, could only be described as wretched.


    Walls had crumbled down while the ceiling had a huge hole in it. There were also the corpses of all sorts of bizarre, monstrous undead practically overflowing here.


    ¡°¡­Are all these things undead?¡±


    The adventurers, including Adolf himself, could only look on with a look of astonishment firmly frozen in their faces.


    Huge lifeless eyeballs belonging to several Big Eyes were rolling around on the floor, while many other undead were gradually dissipating away even as they stood there in shock.


    Adolf stared at the disappearing undead and swallowed back his dry saliva.


    Just one person had killed off all these countless undead, which also included the multiple Big Eyes.


    ¡®He¡¯s grown much stronger compared to back when he was in the northern region.¡¯


    Adolf turned his head.


    A boy was slumbering away while leaning his back against a greatsword above a shallow lake of holy water.


    As he slumbered away, particles of divinity gently radiated from his figure.


    That sight was truly mystical and sacred to behold.


    As if¡­


    ¡°¡­He¡¯s like a brave warrior from a fairy tale, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    It was as if he was the brave hero who vanquished the demon king.


    Alice quickly walked up to Allen and checked his condition. Thankfully, he was merely asleep from the accumulated fatigue.


    He wasn¡¯t suffering from divinity exhaustion like in the past. He wasn¡¯t even injured either. Without a doubt, it must¡¯ve been all thanks to the effects of the Aztal Rune.


    Alice quietly held Allen¡¯s hand. She then glanced at the undead ¡®dying¡¯ away, and recalled all the incidents that this boy prince had resolved up until this point in time.


    ¡®As I thought.¡¯


    Maybe, his highness could really be¡­


    ¡®¡­The Saint.¡¯


    The Seventh Imperial Prince could very well be the real Saint possessing the ¡®god¡¯s fragment¡¯.


    **


    Aihrance¡¯s capital city, Irion.


    Currently, a central committee conference was taking place in the nation¡¯s royal palace.


    Understandably, the entirety of Aihrance¡¯s royal court was in an emergency mode due to the Big Eyes incident.


    High-ranking nobles and the royal court magicians were gathered in front of the round table. All of their attention was currently focused on the parchments of data held in their hands.


    And all of them were deeply terrified. The reason for that was quite simple: the warp gate connected to ¡®purgatory¡¯.


    The technical know-how to cross dimensions was already shocking enough to behold, yet the more unbelievable part of this story was that all of them were still alive and breathing, despite a pathway to the actual purgatory had opened up practically next door to the capital city.


    ¡°As you can all tell from the data¡­¡±


    The magicians of the royal court explained to the gathered nobles.


    ¡°Logically speaking, this warp gate¡¯s structure should not be possible to construct, sirs. Even if Aihrance¡¯s magic tower pours all of their resources into researching it, just deciphering a portion will take a decade, maybe even more.¡±


    The magicians who were affiliated with the magic tower had to eat some humble pie while explaining the situation.


    Even they couldn¡¯t hide their shock at the fact that an organisation of Necromancers managed to create a warp gate of this magnitude.


    The nobles¡¯ complexions while listening to the explanations grew increasingly paler.


    ¡°In that case, what are the odds of the survivors of this organisation called Nemesis opening another warp gate?¡±


    ¡°We believe that it¡¯ll be impossible, sirs. The structure of the gate is just too complex. It¡¯ll be difficult to complete such a spell even if our nation decides to focus all of its resources, and as such¡­¡±


    ¡°Then how did they create it in the first place?!¡±


    The nobles asked back, but the magicians could only shed cold sweat drops.


    Their silence caused a commotion to break out among the nobles.


    However, an old lady in the middle of their ranks finally decided to say something. ¡°Vampires could have potentially supported them.¡±


    The nobles quickly shifted their attention over to her. The once-noisy conference hall instantly became deathly quiet.


    They were now staring at the master of the magic tower, who was also the master of Aihrance itself¡­


    Queen Rox Aihrance.


    She was an old woman with a gentle but slightly wrinkled face framed by her golden locks, but in truth, she was already well over eighty years old.


    Aihrance¡¯s Queen slowly interlocked her fingers.


    The nobles paid close attention to her next words.


    They had been monitoring the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire in order to uncover his reasons for entering the kingdom.


    Everywhere he went, he seemed to start various incidents, only for him to ultimately resolve them in the end.


    From the empire to Aslan, and even the matter of the Lome Kingdom too¡­


    A hidden faction was trying its hardest to upset the balance of the continent, and the young prince was going around wrecking their plans almost single-handedly.


    And the meaning behind such a prince now showing up in Aihrance could only be¡­


    ¡°¡­Your majesty, are you suggesting that Vampires are hiding within our nation?¡±


    The nobles had no choice but to think that way. And that thought caused them to pale even further than before.


    ¡°So that¡¯s the reason why those Necromancers knew about such a warp gate¡­¡±


    ¡°The possibility of them acquiring Vampires¡¯ research data that spans several millennia is undoubtedly high.¡±


    ¡°B-but, does that mean Vampires are indeed hiding within our nation?!¡±


    When the nobles began raising their panicked voices, their queen calmly spoke up again.


    ¡°The odds are, they are hiding not just in our nation¡¯s borders but also within this very royal palace as well.¡±


    The nobles hurriedly clamped their mouths shut at her observation.


    The Vampires that sucked out one¡¯s blood and devoured human flesh were hiding within the royal palace?


    Just imagining it sent shivers down their backsides.


    ¡°And so, we now need to decide on what we should do about the matter of the Seventh Imperial Prince.¡±


    Queen Rox Aihrance spoke while scanning the nobles¡¯ faces in the conference hall.


    A considerably smooth smile floated up on her face.


    ¡°I wish to invite him to the royal palace.¡±


    < 119. Big Eyes -4 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 225 - 120. Aihrance’s Underground Labyrinth -1 (Part One)

    **


    The Orichalcon rank.


    To an adventurer, reaching that rank would be like a dream come true. One who achieved this rank would be considered as an existence at the peak of their profession.


    Only twenty people in the entire continent were known to possess this glorious rank, which was only granted to those who had achieved feats as notable as saving a nation from the brink of destruction.


    But now, an adventurer had achieved the unprecedented accomplishment of reaching that very rank in only about one month.


    ¡°See? I told you, didn¡¯t I? They¡¯re important nobles from a forgotten kingdom!¡±


    The adventurers were discussing this topic with much fanfare.


    The tales of an adventurer named ¡®Allen Rufus¡¯ were quickly propagating within the halls of Elusha¡¯s adventurer guild.


    But that was obvious when considering the rank of Orichalcon being the object of their admiration, and the person who had acquired that rank happened to be the hero responsible for protecting their fiefdom.


    ¡°Lady Alice is surely a princess, while Sir Allen Rufus is her escorting knight and Mister Hans is the chamberlain! I¡¯m telling you!¡±


    These sorts of rumours had now become almost facts among those who talked about it. Although everyone initially had a hard time trusting such a rumour, they no longer had a choice now but to believe it.


    After all, the Big Eyes was involved in this matter.


    That was a scary demon capable of trapping a dragon in its belly and slowly digesting it. Yet, the Paladin killed off such a demon and even proceeded to utterly crush a large faction of Necromancers.


    Was that all? No, he alone stood against the flood of thousands of undead that no one knew where they had come from and managed to defeat them.


    There were far too many witnesses who had seen the aftermath in the audience chamber to call it a baseless rumour at this point.


    Such a hero wouldn¡¯t just suddenly fall from the heavens without warning, so rather unsurprisingly, people began spreading the rumour that the trio were actually members of a ruined kingdom¡¯s royal family, and they were on a journey to revive their fallen nation.


    That sure was an amazing level of imagination befitting adventurers.


    ¡°If that¡¯s true, then wow, were we actually fighting alongside a royalty?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by we fought alongside? He alone sorted everything out, didn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°Oh hey, I heard that remunerations will be handed out soon. It¡¯s gonna be a lot of moolah, right?¡±


    The entire adventurer guild was currently in a hive of activity.


    The invasion of the Big Eyes, monsters, and the undead had left the guild without its roof, and one of its walls had also collapsed as well, allowing plenty of fresh air to enter its hallways.


    It wasn¡¯t just the adventurer guild though, but many places throughout the fiefdom of Elusha were currently going through reconstruction efforts.


    It was around this time that someone paid a visit to the adventurer guild.


    All he did was walk forward.


    Even then, his entrance in the building attracted the gazes of everyone, and their expressions instantly hardened.


    The adventurers quietly stood up from their seats. With deeply tense faces, they bowed their heads at the Paladin in silver-white armour to express their respect.


    This Paladin didn¡¯t pay any attention to the adventurers and stood before the guild¡¯s receptionist.


    ¡°A-ah, hello there. Y-you¡¯ve come, sir?¡±


    The nervous receptionist stuttered due to how stiff he was. He was inwardly telling himself that dealing with nobles was far easier than this.


    ¡°I¡¯ve come here after hearing that my reward payout is now ready.¡±


    The receptionist shed cold sweat at the Paladin¡¯s uncaring tone of speech. He quickly began rummaging below the shelf. Then, he began placing the reward money paid out by the kingdom of Aihrance on the table.


    The eyes of the adventurers watching on grew larger and larger. Pouches containing coins were gradually piling up on the table¡¯s surface.


    ¡°J-just how much is that¡­?¡±


    The receptionist was grunting out of breath as he placed the rest of the money. While wiping his sweat away, he addressed Allen, the Orichalcon-ranked adventurer. ¡°This is your reward handed out by the queendom of Aihrance, sir.¡±


    Allen reached out and grabbed the money pouches. Since he had his item window, he didn¡¯t even have to bother carrying all these bulky things around.


    And when all those piles of coin pouches filling up the counter suddenly vanished without a trace, the adventurers watching on began whispering to each other once more.


    They thought that magic was involved, considering the sudden vanishing act of all those pouches.


    But before the imaginations of the adventurers could spiral out of control, other guests also paid a visit to the adventurer guild.


    The upper Iron-ranked adventurer, Adolf, was currently leading a contingent of knights and magicians dispatched by the royal court of Aihrance.


    Adolf walked over in front of Allen, and knelt down on one knee just as the latter was getting ready to leave.


    The eyes of the other adventurers who were watching on nearly popped out of their sockets at that.


    It was a matter of course for an Iron-rank adventurer to show respect towards an Orichalcon-rank. However, what took these adventurers by surprise wasn¡¯t Adolf¡¯s actions.


    No, it had to do with the royal court knights and magicians also kneeling in front of the Paladin in silver-white armour.


    In fact, their gestures were both cautious and courteous, almost as if they were now speaking to someone of royalty.


    ¡°This lowly adventurer, Adolf, pays his respect to Lord Allen, and¡­¡± Adolf cautiously raised his head and looked up at Allen. ¡°¡­The royal court of Aihrance wishes to extend their invitation to you, sir. Will you accept it, my lord?¡±


    When Allen heard that, a grin floated up on the lips hidden underneath his helm.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I returned to the inn.


    Adolf and the escort party sent by the royal court of Aihrance were on standby outside the establishment, having formed a ¡®protective¡¯ cordon around the entrance.


    I observed that sight from my room¡¯s window for a bit before turning around to look at Alice and Hans.


    I spoke to them, ¡°The royal court of Aihrance sent us an invitation. Since they are inviting us, we should go and say hello. Besides, I also have business to attend to in their royal palace¡¯s basement, anyways.¡±


    I pulled out several coin pouches from my item window and placed them on the table.


    ¡°And these are our remuneration from the Big Eyes incident. Even though no one lodged a request for it, the royal court still saw fit to pay out these rewards nonetheless.¡±


    Honestly speaking, I didn¡¯t need the money. I had the necessary authority to utilise the Theocratic Empire¡¯s funds in any way I deem appropriate, so I was basically swimming in wealth right now.


    Not to forget, I was a part of a group that ¡®raided¡¯ the ancient Aslan tomb, so you could say that I didn¡¯t feel much temptation towards money at this point in time.


    Even Hans, a man who was obsessed with acquiring wealth, showed practically no reaction to the coin pouches.


    Instead, he was growling out. ¡°I¡¯ll definitely decipher you! You sons of b*tches, my family line has been researching warp gate magic for generations! Just how did those bastards come to acquire this level of technology?!¡±


    2


    His brows were furrowed in concentration while he glared murderously at the rune letters. He was in the middle of deciphering the rune letters left behind by Nemesis ¨C or more correctly, the Vampires¡¯ warp gate.


    I shifted my gaze over to Alice. She was staring at the pouches in an obvious daze.


    I spoke to her, ¡°You can use them in any way you want.¡±


    ¡°R-really, your highness?¡±


    Her eyes opened real wide. She then reached out and embraced the small bags filled with gold coins .


    A gentle smile floated up on her lips. ¡°This is perfect timing. The church¡¯s building Sister Evelyn has been looking after has partly collapsed recently. This amount should be more than enough to fully rebuild the church.¡±


    She certainly had a good heart, didn¡¯t she? She wanted to use the money not for herself, but for other people, eh?


    Not that surprising, considering that she was the granddaughter of an archbishop. Money probably held very little meaning to her.


    Now that I thought about it, Yuria was living there, wasn¡¯t she?


    Right, I needed to carefully observe what¡¯s happening to that girl, too¡­ Such as, her growth speed and the types of powers she could use. Stuff like that.


    Alice took the coin pouches away, but then, she formed a somewhat intrigued expression in the next moment. She looked back at me and asked, ¡°By the way, your highness? When you said that the royal court invited us¡­?¡±


    ¡°They probably wanted to treat us well since we are now Orichalcon-ranked adventurers. If it¡¯s not that, then well¡­¡± I shifted my gaze outside the window and looked at the escort party sent by the royal court before continuing on, ¡°They invited us knowing that I¡¯m the Imperial Prince.¡±


    The royal court of Aihrance had extended this invitation to us and I was planning to accept it.


    After all, that ¡®item¡¯ I wanted to get my hands on was waiting for me in the ¡®basement¡¯ of Aihrance¡¯s capital, Irion.

 Chapter 226 - 120. Aihrances Underground Labyrinth -1 (Part Two)

    **


    We travelled to Irion, the capital of Aihrance, in a carriage.


    Cool breezes entered through the open windows.


    I shifted my gaze outside the carriage and spotted a large river connected to the ocean. Irion looked like an island from how all those waterways surrounded it. Tall buildings stood around in what looked like circles within the city limits.


    Trade ships had filled up seemingly every inch of the harbour, while countless carriages were entering and leaving the city.


    Hans, who was riding along in the carriage, was currently laid out flat on his back while massaging his forehead, probably due to motion sickness.


    However, Alice was just fine. And she was currently asking me with a puzzled face, ¡°There¡¯s an underground labyrinth below the royal palace?¡±


    I nodded at her question. ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s where it¡¯s been sleeping all this time ¨C the treasured ¡®tool¡¯ of the first Holy Emperor, Ordin Olfolse, as mentioned by my older brother Ruppel.¡±


    The now-deceased head of the Church of Caiolium, Cardinal Mikael, discovered the traces of Holy Emperor Ordin during his research into the Aztal Rune. And it seemed that Ruppel lucked into acquiring that information.


    Back then, Ruppel had placed his bets with the Church, thinking that the latter would emerge victorious.


    He took that trace as the starting point of his ¡®investigation¡¯ and figured out the location where the treasure had been buried away. And that location turned out to be the underground labyrinth right underneath the capital of the Aihrance Queendom.


    The ¡®Titalos¡¯.


    Alice asked incredulously, ¡°There was such a thing underneath the royal palace of this queendom of magic?¡±


    ¡°Aihrance¡¯s royal court has kept it as a national secret, but yeah, the story goes that this labyrinth below the palace is made up of all sorts of mazes.¡±


    Not only that, different types of lifeforms apparently existed down there as well; creatures that were born out of the side effects of frequent magic casting, or something like that.


    The Aihrance royal court was keeping everything hush-hush and down low, so the amount of information I could find was quite limited in scope.


    ¡°Honestly, I chose the adventurer profession so that I could gain smooth access to that place. Well, I was also hoping to get noticed by the Aihrance royal court, too.¡±


    ¡°Being an adventurer is related to it?¡±


    Alice tilted her head in confusion.


    It seemed that she was having a bit of an issue understanding the connection here. She probably was thinking along the lines of why I needed the identity of an adventurer when my real identity was an Imperial Prince.


    ¡°Of course, I could¡¯ve requested the Aihrance royal court with my identity as an Imperial Prince.¡±


    However, the timing was a bit delicate right now.


    ¡°The neighbouring kingdom of Lome is in an uproar thanks to those Vampires. It shouldn¡¯t surprise anyone that Aihrance is on edge right now. So can you imagine how they will respond when an Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, a sworn enemy to the Vampires, wants to enter their territory?¡±


    Rather obviously, they would be less than welcoming. More correctly, they would actually be quite scared by the prospect.


    ¡°As an Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, my presence here can be interpreted as a diplomatic visit. However, right now I¡¯m an adventurer affiliated with Aihrance. You do understand where I¡¯m going with this, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Alice pondered it for a while before answering me, ¡°Does that mean the royal court doesn¡¯t have to consider their diplomatic position?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. For them, this situation has become a bit ambiguous. An Imperial Prince faked his identity to enter their nation. That implies that they have a choice on whether to treat me as an ¡®Imperial Prince¡¯, or as an ¡®adventurer¡¯. But what happens now that I¡¯ve willingly called myself an adventurer?¡±


    ¡°¡­They can now treat you as an adventurer?¡±


    I nodded at her.


    The identity of being an Imperial Prince made it cumbersome to move around freely. Everything I said and every little action I took would be linked to diplomacy between the two nations.


    Aihrance and the empire might have been allies in the past, but now, the two of them were ¡®somewhat¡¯ at odds due to the conflict of pride arising from ¡®faith¡¯ and ¡®magic¡¯. As such, it was not all that easy to openly approach the Aihrance royal court.


    If my side sent in a request that said, ¡®Oh hey, I¡¯d like to have access to your labyrinth¡¯, then without a doubt, they would respond with, ¡®Well, in that case, we have conditions of our own.¡¯


    ¡°That¡¯s not all. The Imperial Prince at the centre of the ¡®incidents¡¯ is now in their territory. That should¡¯ve made Aihrance quite nervous. They¡¯re probably starting to wonder if Vampires have already infiltrated their royal palace, too. And that¡¯s why they are inviting us over.¡±


    Alice nodded at my explanation as if to agree with me. ¡°They don¡¯t want to owe the Theocratic Empire, but they must be also shivering in fear at the possibility of Vampires hiding in their midst. If it was me, I¡¯d have lodged a request to the adventurer guild¡­¡±


    Bingo. She hit the nail in the head.


    This was precisely why I chose to call myself with an easily-discoverable name, and also why I didn¡¯t try to hide in my powers too much either. I was hoping that the royal court of Aihrance would cotton onto the truth first and invite me over to the royal palace on their own.


    The one unexpected variable in that plan had been my fight against the Necromancers. But thanks to that, the Aihrance royal court now owed me a big one.


    I had met all the conditions necessary to enter the labyrinth and then some.


    While we were busy chatting away, our group finally arrived at Irion. The river continued to flow within the capital city and I spotted tourists riding on canal boats above the gentle-flowing water.


    I too had a good time enjoying the sights offered by the city.


    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived.¡± The royal court knight stood at full attention and cautiously opened the carriage door. ¡°Allow me to guide the way, Lord Allen Rufus.¡±


    I became certain of it from the way this knight was addressing me. The other side was planning to treat me as a high-ranked ¡®adventurer¡¯.


    Alice, Hans, and I followed the knight and walked on the wide corridors of the royal palace. All sorts of exquisite statues could be found lining up this place. I noticed that the magicians walked with a lot more sparkle in their eyes compared to their knight counterparts.


    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived, sirs and ma¡¯am. Please go on and enter.¡±


    The royal court knights opened the doors to the audience chamber from the sides.


    We were greeted first by the sight of an opulent-looking carpet laid out on the floor and then, nobles and magicians were waiting on their feet on either side of said carpet.


    It was hard not to notice how tense they looked right now.


    While walking down the middle, I sneaked some glances at the gathered nobles.


    Only a portion of those who met eyes with mine flinched slightly in shock and hurriedly bowed their heads to greet me. However, the rest were actually furrowing their brows.


    ¡®Looks like only a handful knows about me.¡¯


    I shifted my gaze back to the front where the audience chamber¡¯s throne was located. An old lady was sitting there.


    She wore a dress with a skirt that spread out abundantly; her hand gripped a staff made out of some kind of crystal.


    I stood upright on the spot, while Alice and Hans acted according to decorum by kneeling down and bowing their heads.


    ¡°¡­What is this?¡±


    ¡°What is he doing?¡±


    ¡°How dare that lowly¡­!¡±


    The nobles began raising voices of discontent when a mere adventurer, me, didn¡¯t bother to kneel down before their queen. However, the magicians next to them quickly began pacifying the noisy bunch.


    I stared at the old lady on the throne.


    [Rox Aihrance


    Age: 82


    Attributes: weak physique, transcendental Mana reserve, expansive knowledge base, genius-level talent in magic, neutral disposition.


    + Is dear Lord Kelt still healthy, I wonder?]


    ¡­Was the queen of Aihrance worrying about my grandpa?


    Maybe the two of them had some kind of relationship in the past?


    The master of Aihrance, Queen Rox, locked her gaze on me and spoke, ¡°Welcome, Allen Rufus ¨C the Orichalcon-ranked adventurer.¡±


    She got up from the throne and strode unhesitantly towards me.


    Now standing right before me, she lightly grasped the corners of her abundant dress, raised it ever so slightly, and along with a graceful movement, bowed her head and offered her greeting.


    ¡°This one is Rox Aihrance, the queen of this nation.¡±


    I could only smile bitterly at her actions.


    It¡¯d be incredibly tough for anyone in the queen¡¯s position to bow her head to someone. Especially more so when in front of high-ranking nobles and magicians of her queendom, too.


    I took off my helm, placed a hand on my chest, and bowed deeply to answer her. ¡°This one¡¯s Allen Rufus. It is my honour to make your acquaintance, your majesty.¡±


    Queen Rox smiled gently and reached out with her hand.


    Although she stopped herself for a brief moment there, in the end, she still began stroking my cheek.


    ¡°You look just like him.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    She withdrew her hand that contained a trace of lingering yearning and addressed me more officially, ¡°There was a reason why we had to summon you here. Even if it may sound like an unreasonable favour to ask, I still would like to lodge a request to you, dear adventurer. Will you accept it?¡±


    The queen smiled rather relaxedly, so I asked her for more information, ¡°May I ask about what kind of a request it could be first?¡±


    She quietly closed her eyes and responded, ¡°It is to filter out the Vampires.¡±


    An unsettled clamouring rose up within the audience chamber.


    The nobles began gasping and looking quite flustered by this development, and the royal court knights and magicians tried to pacify them once more.


    I didn¡¯t find it all that surprising to see them getting this agitated, though.


    ¡°If you accept, then we shall prepare a separate reward for you. One that will match your identity as an adventurer¡­ or even your other identity, if you so choose.¡±


    Queen Rox quietly opened her eyes again.


    The light in her eyes was far sharper and more piercing than before.


    ¡°Will you say yes? Oh, hero of Elusha.¡±


    < 120. Aihrance¡¯s Underground Labyrinth -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 227 - 121. Aihrance’s Underground Labyrinth -2 (Part One)

    **


    Aihrance¡¯s nobles inside the royal palace became restless.


    Vampires? Such monsters were hiding somewhere inside their royal palace?! Something like that hasn¡¯t happened to the queendom of Aihrance that managed to protect her peace for the past fifty years.


    The nobles immediately lodged their protest to their queen.


    ¡°Your majesty, there¡¯s no basis for such a thing.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s indeed correct, your majesty. These are merely unfounded worries, that is all.¡±


    ¡°Ahaha! This is somewhat embarrassing, if I say so myself. We¡¯ve come here under the pretext of holding a celebration for our hero, but to think that her majesty would lose our trust in this manner.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re correct. I¡¯m saddened by this development.¡±


    The nobles shook their heads as if they were disappointed about something, and continued to voice their displeasure.


    However, a certain section of their ranks were shuddering away in anxiety at the moment, instead.


    ¡®B-but, how come¡­?!¡¯


    ¡®Why is the Seventh Imperial Prince in this place?!¡¯


    The blood-creations ¡®manufactured¡¯ by the Progenitor Vampires, the ones wearing the facade of regular humans, opened their eyes wider in shock.


    They were now taking in the unexpected sight of the Seventh Imperial Prince having a meeting with Queen Rox Aihrance.


    They initially thought that the boy¡¯s face seemed uncannily familiar, only for the realisation of him being the Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire to dawn on them.


    They gathered here after believing that this occasion was to recognise and celebrate the ¡®hero¡¯ responsible for saving the city of adventurers, Elusha. Queen Rox issued the summons to everyone so they came here hoping to build new bridges, but now, they were staring at the number one most dangerous individual that all Vampires had to avoid at all costs.


    ¡®Dammit, to think that I¡¯ve fallen for a trap dug out by measly livestock¡­!¡¯


    One of the blood-creations began biting his nails.


    Just to be on the safe side, he launched an investigation of his own on the identity of the hero of Elusha, but never in a million years did he imagine that the queen would openly request the boy prince like this.


    The Vampires glared at Queen Rox, rage quickly filling up their eyes.


    ¡°Ah, filtering out the Vampires, you say? But, even though I am an Orichalcon-ranked adventurer, I don¡¯t have the power to ferret out any hidden Vampires.¡±


    The Imperial Prince said some things that hinted at his refusal.


    The Vampires hiding among the nobles breathed a sigh of relief at that.


    This was a fortunate turn of events. Which actually made some sense since an Imperial Prince wouldn¡¯t have any reason to aid Aihrance in the first place.


    And this development should prove to be a good one in the long run. Queen Rox would surely lose some of the aristocracy¡¯s trust through this incident.


    If her authority was weakened, then it¡¯d only make it easier for the Vampires to¡­


    ¡°Ah, but I do have a pretty sharp intuition. Oh, yes.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The Vampires flinched in surprise and raised their heads.


    The moment they instinctively focused their stares on the Seventh Imperial Prince, he too looked right back at the gathered nobles.


    The corners of his lips were curling up now. The light in his eyes considerably sharpened as if he was searching for some ¡®game¡¯ to hunt.


    The Vampires froze up on their spots and began recalling a certain communique that came to them not too long ago.


    -Watch out for the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    The communique clearly stated this.


    -It¡¯s unknown what method he uses, but he¡­


    Right at that moment, their gazes met.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince immediately pounced.


    -¡­has a way to ferret out Vampires.


    He suddenly threw himself at the nobles¡¯ ranks. The latter group didn¡¯t even have enough time to scream in fright.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince grabbed hold of a head belonging to a noble, then forced the individual down onto his knees.


    ¡°Uh¡­ Uh?!¡±


    The Vampire¡¯s brows shot up high and he quickly looked up at the boy prince.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince hadn¡¯t done anything yet. All he did was stare down at the Vampire as his eyes burned in the light of madness.


    As soon as the emotion called ¡®fear¡¯ engraved itself deeply in the Vampire¡¯s bones, he began screaming desperately, ¡°P-please, spare me! I¡¯m not a Vampire. S-soldiers, what are you doing?! S-stop this insolent person!¡±


    The royal court knights and magicians flinched in shock before moving to try and stop the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    However, Queen Rox slammed her staff down and prevented the royal court¡¯s soldiers from acting any further. ¡°All of you, stay your hands.¡±


    The Vampire quickly shot a glare at her and urgently cried out, ¡°Your majesty! This is completely insane! This action goes against the laws of our own nation!¡±


    ¡°We are currently in an emergency situation. Do you not know what kind of end our neighbouring kingdom, Lome, had experienced?¡± Queen Rox scanned the nobles present in the audience chamber and continued on, ¡°Because of the civil war caused by the Vampires, their king lost his life while the siblings waged a bloody war against each other, leaving over a tenth of their citizens to become an undead. I am also informed that all of these incidents were the handiwork of the dragon slayer who used to serve their royal court.¡±


    ¡°E-even if such incidents happened, our peaceful nation has¡­!¡±


    ¡°Please receive the inspection of this Orichalcon-ranked adventurer. I shall take all responsibility.¡±


    Queen Rox quietly closed her eyes, demurely gathered her hands near her heart, and bowed slightly. The nobles expressed their discontent again but didn¡¯t raise their voices anymore.


    It was simply because they too were afraid. If ¡®Vampires¡¯ were indeed hiding among the nobles, then no one knew when they would get ¡®bitten¡¯ to death, that¡¯s why.


    The Vampire shifted his gaze back to the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry, oh dear important noble. I¡¯m only going to inject a bit of divinity deep inside your skull, that¡¯s all. If you¡¯re a regular person, you will become really healthy. However, if you really are a Vampire¡­¡± The Seventh Imperial Prince grinned coldly with his eyes. ¡°You¡¯ll burn down to ashes.¡±


    What kind of a crazy, nonsensical situation was this?!


    Not only was Queen Rox present, this boy who was also standing before everyone¡¯s eyes happened to be the Seventh Imperial Prince of the empire.


    Even if people used to call him a mangnani, he should still be careful with every single little thing he did when he was out in public, but to think that he¡¯d act so impulsively like this¡­?!


    ¡°Y-your highness, Seventh Imperial Prince! This is insane, sir! This act borders on diplomatic discourtesy so I urge you to¡­!¡±


    What the Vampire said just then roused up stunned reactions from the unaware nobles. A portion of them began murmuring at the mention of the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    ¡°Seventh Imperial Prince, you say? But¡­ where is he?¡±


    The Vampire shed thick cold sweat drops.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince leaned in closer and whispered into the Vampire¡¯s ear, ¡°Didn¡¯t her majesty say it? I¡¯m just an ¡®adventurer¡¯. And this is merely an act perpetrated by a lone adventurer.¡±


    ¡°S-such an unreasonable¡­?!¡±


    ¡°Your majesty, Queen Rox of Aihrance.¡±


    Queen Rox looked at the Seventh Imperial Prince after he called out to her.


    He said, ¡°For my reward as an adventurer, are you willing to grant me anything?¡±


    ¡°As long as it¡¯s within my authority, yes. As long as it doesn¡¯t harm our nation, I¡¯m willing to grant anything.¡±


    ¡°Well, in that case. Your request¡­¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince began amassing divinity in his hand.


    The Vampire¡¯s body caught on fire, starting from his head which was still gripped in the boy prince¡¯s hand. A brilliant burst of flames rose up to illuminate the nobles¡¯ faces as a desperate screech rang out.


    The Imperial Prince let go and the Vampire ungainly flailed about as his body continued burning away.


    The boy prince leisurely bowed at the queen and finished the rest of his sentence, ¡°¡­I shall accept it, your majesty.¡±


    The nobles watched this unfolding spectacle with hardened expressions.


    As for the other Vampires, they had already fallen into the clutches of fear by now.


    ¡®¡­Marquis Kirum was right.¡¯


    ¡®The Seventh Imperial Prince can accurately differentiate Vampires from regular people. We must relay this news back to Count Timong!¡¯


    ¡®He must¡¯ve come here after sniffing out our scent! Our hidden branch in this queendom is in danger!¡¯


    The burning Vampire finally fell on his knees before collapsing on the ground. ¡°S-save¡­ me¡­¡±


    Along with a bone-chilling ¡®Puff!¡¯, his whole body completely disintegrated into piles of ashes.


    The Vampires hiding among the nobles shed a bucket full of cold sweat.


    Their current opponent was strong enough to hunt down two ¡®marquis¡¯-class Vampires. There was no way that these blood-creations could resist such an individual when they weren¡¯t even Progenitors. Escaping from here would also be impossible.


    ¡®In that case¡­¡¯


    ¡®We only have one option left!¡¯


    The Vampires strengthened their whole bodies by rousing up their demonic energy.


    They began shooting a glare at Queen Rox.


    ¡®We must take the queen hostage!¡¯


    The Vampires leapt out from among the crowd. They revealed their true colours and pounced on their new target ¨C from their fangs jutting out of their mouths to their sharp claws, and even their hideously contorted faces with veins bulging out¡­


    ¡°Kiiiiaaaaahk!¡±


    They screeched out monstrously and were about to reach Queen Rox, but then, Alice stepped in front of them.


    She sucked in a deep breath before punching powerfully, shattering the skull of a Vampire.


    A series of quick-fire heavy punches from both her right and left fists flew out and the incoming Vampires were blown apart one by one.


    ¡®¡­What the hell?!¡¯


    ¡®We never heard that there was such a girl in the empire before!¡¯


    The Vampires had heard about the boy prince¡¯s escorting knight that used a sword, but this would be their first time finding out that a fistfighter Priestess was also a part of his company as well.


    Just as the Vampires stopped rushing in and started hesitating, a loud gunshot reverberated throughout the audience chamber.


    A holy bullet cleanly penetrated through a Vampire¡¯s head.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince was leisurely smiling away while holding a musket in one hand.


    The Vampires remaining within the ranks of the nobles could no longer even entertain the idea of resisting anymore.


    Somehow, this place had turned into a ¡®spiderweb¡¯. Resisting would only result in their quick death.


    There was no escape.


    Queen Rox stared at the piles of ashes shaped like a corpse before turning her gaze away. ¡°Is anyone still feeling dissatisfied?¡±


    She glanced at the rest of the nobles.


    The members of the Aihrance nobility maintained their silence and continued to exchange their gazes as they gradually created some distance from one another.


    Those nobles who enjoyed close ties with the Vampires felt an icy chill run down their spines. They wordlessly scanned their surroundings and began suspecting everyone nearby.


    Irrefutable proof had shown up before their very eyes.


    And it was the same thing as letting them know that a national-level threat had emerged from the darkness.


    However, several brave ones among the nobles cautiously stepped up. One of them, still dripping in cold sweat drops, stared at the piles of ashes before turning to look at Queen Rox. ¡°¡­Your majesty, were you expecting to see this sort of result today?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We have detected several unusual happenings taking place within our borders, so we had begun suspecting it. We simply didn¡¯t have proof until now, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Which means we are indeed in an emergency situation.¡±


    The peace that lasted for fifty years had been shattered at this very moment. When the nobles realised this truth, they shifted their gazes over to one specific person.


    They were now staring at the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    ¡°How do we ferret out the rest of the Vampires, your highness?¡±


    That one question managed to drain all remaining colours from the Vampires¡¯ complexions.

 Chapter 228 - 121. Aihrances Underground Labyrinth -2 (Part Two)

    **


    It became late at night before anyone had noticed the passage of time.


    I went through all of the nobles present at the audience chamber and ferreted out the Vampires hidden among them. Some of them did resist, which was expected, but we still managed to capture them alive in the end with no problem.


    Since the royal palace was teeming with magicians, they should serve as pretty good¡­ lab rats, I¡¯d imagine.


    Queen Rox invited me over for a private dinner, and now, I found myself sitting in the balcony located in her room with a great view of the stars dotting the night sky above.


    ¡®Aihrance kingdom was mentioned in the intel that White showed me before, but this¡­¡¯


    I had no idea that so many damn Vampires had already infiltrated the royal palace belonging to this queendom of magic. No, hang on a second, that shouldn¡¯t be all that surprising. It didn¡¯t matter whether it was a queendom or an empire, those damn pests would still find a way to infiltrate and covertly hide themselves among humans.


    And that went to show how obsessive these Vampires were in searching for any ¡®opportunities¡¯. Opportunities to invade the Theocratic Empire, that was.


    While sipping on the prepared tea, I recalled Queen Rox. Now that I thought about it, she kind of reminded me of Kelt.


    They seemed to have some similarities in regards to their unstoppable vigour. And their demeanour also felt quite similar, too.


    While I was thinking that, the door to the room opened, and along with a maidservant, Queen Rox strode inside.


    She settled down on my opposite side while minding the hems of her impressive dress.


    Meanwhile, the maidservant placed our dinner on the table between us.


    ¡°First of all, I¡¯d like to express my gratitude in accepting my request for the sake of this nation, your highness the Imperial Prince.¡±


    It was ¡®adventurer¡¯ before, but now it¡¯s ¡®Imperial Prince¡¯?


    I brought the teacup to my lips and kept my gaze on Queen Rox, who was happily smiling away.


    Although wrinkled, her face was still attractive. And I spied a hint of reminiscence of the past in her expression.


    I replied to her, ¡°It wasn¡¯t anything notable, your majesty. I only merely took action at the promise of a substantial reward, after all.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t as if I managed to ferret out every single Vampire. All I did was uncovering those hiding in and near the capital city. There was a good chance that many other Vampires still unaccounted for were hiding within other territories.


    Just like how it was with getting rid of cockroaches, you just couldn¡¯t kill every single one of them.


    ¡°In that case, shall we start with the discussion regarding your reward? Pray tell, what is it that you want from us, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Allow me to speak frankly in the diplomatic capacity of the Seventh Imperial Prince.¡±


    Aihrance¡¯s debt towards me was practically overflowing right now. I was in a position to basically demand anything from them. I better thank the Big Eyes and Vampires since I had no idea they would contribute so much to my cause.


    ¡°Of course. Please, go ahead, your highness.¡±


    I stared at Queen Rox and smiled refreshingly. ¡°How about forming an alliance with the empire, your majesty?¡±


    Her eyes opened wider as if she was quite surprised by my suggestion.


    ¡®Magic¡¯ and ¡®religion¡¯ were two opposing concepts. The position of magicians was that one could use magic through knowledge and logic, while the members of clergy maintained that magic came from the grace of the gods.


    Both factions had deciphered the origin of their powers in their own way, but the actual conflict between the two sides arose from the idea of, ¡°Which of the two is the superior one?¡±


    What a childish, yet an obvious end this was.


    Honestly speaking, I didn¡¯t come here for the sake of forming an alliance with Aihrance. However, the Vampires were scheming to invade the Theocratic Empire, so I figured it wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to rope in as many surrounding nations as possible.


    ¡­As a shield, and a blade, too.


    ¡°Very well, I accept.¡±


    She said yes much easier than I anticipated.


    I stopped sipping the tea and stared at her in a bit of a surprise. ¡°You seem to be making this decision a little too hastily, your majesty.¡±


    If that wasn¡¯t it, maybe she had been thinking about it even before I showed up?


    Queen Rox lightly shook her teacup. ¡°Of course, the decision first needs to be passed through the conference of the nobles. However, it has already been determined from the Vampire incident earlier that we indeed need the aid of the Theocratic Empire. After all, the members of the empire are the only true experts out there when it comes to the matter of hunting down Vampires.¡±


    I licked my lips ruefully before saying something else, ¡°And also, the matter of magic stones¡­¡±


    ¡°We shall provide a steady supply of it to the empire. We will strive to meet your demands as much as possible at the fairest price for both sides. I believe that this trade will also greatly benefit our nation.¡±


    Huh. Our talk was going along swimmingly well, wasn¡¯t it?


    This was a lot different from what I heard before coming here.


    I was led to believe that the queendom of magic was in a bit of an antagonistic position with the Theocratic Empire. No, hang on a sec, other than Queen Rox herself, that might still be true.


    We discussed other things besides the matter of the alliance, and she reacted positively to all of them. Of course, our talk proceeded in a manner where any ¡®offer¡¯ that might harm the wellbeing of her nation was brushed aside rather slyly by her.


    While sipping on my tea, I glanced at Queen Rox one more time. The way she continued to grin broadly like that, it kinda reminded me of a grandma looking at her grandson or something.


    I ended up touching my own face at that. ¡°Is there something on my face, your majesty?¡±


    ¡°No, not at all. It¡¯s just that I recalled Lord Kelt in his youth, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°By any chance, were you and my grandfather a cou¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, then. What would you like to receive as your reward as an adventurer?¡±


    It seemed that Queen Rox was trying rather hard to steer the topic elsewhere here. Maybe she didn¡¯t want to discuss it?


    I was getting even more curious, but I was in no position to force an answer from her. So I chose to match her pace, instead.


    The main reason I came to Aihrance was something else entirely, after all. Honestly speaking, the handling of diplomatic ties was not a part of my skill set anyway, so I should just let the Holy Emperor and my siblings deal with it.


    I directly told Queen Rox, ¡°I¡¯d like you to grant me the access to¡­¡±


    Queen Rox¡¯s sudden change in reaction was clearly visible. She was narrowing her eyes at me.


    ¡°¡­the dungeon Titalos, located beneath this capital city. Will you allow it, your majesty?¡±


    ¡°¡­Do you know what kind of a labyrinth that place is?¡±


    ¡°Yes, more or less. It¡¯s a place where ancient monsters run free, and also the mining area of the magic stones.¡±


    Lifeforms from the distant past thought to have gone extinct were still alive down there. And it was also the source of the magic stones that played the key part in supporting the fortunes of Aihrance, the queendom of magic.


    ¡°That¡¯s where I¡¯d like to enter, your majesty.¡±


    Queen Rox interlocked her fingers and smiled bitterly. ¡°Unfortunately, that is something I cannot agree to, your highness.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    Now that¡¯s surprising.


    She was willing to accept the rest of the demand, but the underground labyrinth was off-limits? Was she trying to say that my request had stepped past the acceptable line of diplomacy or some such?


    ¡°Do you know why we haven¡¯t made the knowledge of the underground labyrinth public, your highness?¡± She slowly shook her head while addressing me. ¡°It¡¯s because that place is too dangerous.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°As you¡¯ve said, ancient lifeforms exist down there. One wrong step and you will lose your life in an instant. I certainly cannot allow the grandson of a benefactor walk into a pit of danger.¡±


    ¡°But you must¡¯ve heard a lot about me by now, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°Even those Vampires fear that location, your highness.¡±


    ¡­What the heck. Was it a nest of dragons or something?


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there a way?¡±


    When I asked that, Queen Rox quietly stared at me for a while.


    She seemed to be agonising over her decision as she let out a long sigh. ¡°May I ask for your reason why you wish to enter that place?¡±


    As I expected, she finally asked me for my reason.


    I replied with a grin, ¡°It¡¯s just to satisfy a hobby of mine, ma¡¯am. After becoming an adventurer during my vacation, I began getting this desire to hunt down some ancient lifeforms, you see? Also, I¡¯m somewhat intrigued by the idea of finding something mysterious in the underground labyrinth. Why is the origin of the title ¡®queendom of magic¡¯ currently applied to Aihrance? I¡¯d love to¡­¡±


    ¡°I know the real reason.¡±


    Queen Rox abruptly cut me off.


    When I looked back at her in confusion, she didn¡¯t beat around the bush and spoke directly, ¡°I know why you wish to enter Titalos, your highness.¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m not sure I understand you.¡±


    She took a sip of her tea.


    ¡°You came here to take possession of¡­¡± After putting the tea cup down, she finished her sentence with a knowing smile in her eyes, ¡°¡­the ¡®angel¡¯ currently asleep in there, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    < 121. Aihrance¡¯s underground labyrinth -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 229 - : 122. Aihrances Underground Labyrinth -3 (Part One)

    The very first Holy Emperor, Ordin Olfolse.


    He was the first one to plant the seed of ¡®faith¡¯ in this continent, and then went onto establish a religion based around that very faith.


    Furthermore, he founded the very first incarnation of the faith-based theocratic nation, and commanded twelve thousand Priests to craft a certain item, a task that took several decades to complete.


    And that item was the treasured tool capable of summoning an ¡®angel¡¯. A sacred sword of the gods, also commonly referred to as the greatest relic in the land.


    However, that was nothing more than an ancient mythical tale.


    No detailed explanation on what it looked like or what its exact ability had been passed down.


    I was currently in the library located inside the Aihrance royal palace. Alice and Hans were accompanying me.


    Right now, she was diving deep into the pool of magical knowledge found in this place in order to satisfy her near-unquenchable curiosity. All those grimoires authored by magicians with value systems and thought processes quite different from Raphael¡¯s could be found just about everywhere in this place, and she was fully exploiting this opportunity to gain access to them.


    As for Hans, he was searching for any knowledge related to warp gates. From what we¡¯ve heard, one of only a handful of magicians in the whole continent capable of casting warp magic lived in this queendom, so there should be more than enough data on the spell to be found in this library.


    I too was currently searching for information in this place ¨C the records detailing the ¡®angel¡¯ that Queen Rox had brought up.


    -At the end of the library on a shelf marked ¡®5785¡¯, you will find records pertaining to the angel.


    She revealed to me during the dinner that she had personally witnessed the angel¡¯s prowess.


    I roamed around this helical-shaped library where hundreds of thousands of books had been stored. After checking out the rows of numbers on the shelves, I raised my head up high to look up.


    ¡°¡­Well, that¡¯s pretty high, alright.¡±


    The top of these shelves could barely be seen from down here.


    I procured a ladder, propped it against the shelf, and slowly climbed up.


    ¡°Found it.¡±


    I took out the tome that Queen Rox had told me about and flipped it open. It contained records of the queen¡¯s journey in the labyrinth, Titalos, and the events that happened forty years ago.


    -That place is like a completely different world; it boasts a new and different ecosystem from ours.


    The place featuring an environment and lifeforms of the ancient past, is it?


    -My father and I led an army and launched an investigation on the labyrinth. We finally deciphered the ancient rune letters found there. Only after it took us several years to reach this stage did we finally realise the truth. Before the Aihrance royal palace was built on top of it, this place was actually one massive tomb created by someone.


    I flipped through some more pages.


    My eyes grew larger and larger with every page flipped through.


    -We discovered the truth. We finally figured it out. This place, it¡­


    It was the tomb of the first Holy Emperor, Ordin Olfolse.


    -A truly horrifying and monstrous ¡®item¡¯ lays in slumber within this ancient ruin. This thing, which possesses a humongous figure, fired out thousands of arrows and spears of light, all the while lashing out with hundreds of hooks at the same time. And¡­


    I swallowed back my dry saliva.


    -Nearly five hundred knights and magicians, plus two and half thousand regular soldiers were killed in action. During this event, the ruler of this nation, his majesty and my father, had to pass from this world.


    Not one person could inflict a single injury on that mysterious yet noble ¡®angel¡¯ and it went on to display its majesty to everyone present on that day.


    This being, apparently far stronger than any dragon, truly befitted the title of an angel guarding the throne of a god.


    I closed the book.


    What I learned from this record was that things weren¡¯t as simple as a nice little treasure sleeping quietly in a tomb somewhere, and this ¡®creature¡¯ called the angel was guarding said tomb.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not good.¡±


    ¡°What is?¡±


    I turned my head to Alice after she asked me that question.


    She was in the middle of reading books large and thick enough to hide even her face. And such books were forming small hills on the table, too.


    ¡°I learned a bit more about this thing called angel.¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes instantly became round dots resembling a shocked rabbit¡¯s.


    She was filled with curiosity towards theology as well as magical knowledge. As such, any mention of the term ¡®angel¡¯ would have proven to be quite stimulating for her curiosity.


    She even volunteered to come with me the moment she heard the term ¡®first Holy Emperor¡¯, so yeah, I was getting really tempted to praise her unyielding drive to acquire more ¡®knowledge¡¯.


    ¡°The angel really exists?¡±


    She was so shocked that she wobbled unsteadily and nearly dropped the book in her hands, but managed to regain her balance in the end. She sighed in relief and awkwardly smiled at her own clumsiness.


    I asked her, ¡°Hang on, you know something about the angel?¡±


    ¡°¡­Even if you ask me like that, there are a lot of different types and myths accompanying them, so I¡­¡±


    ¡°What about those myths related to Holy Emperor Ordin?¡±


    Alice put the books away on a nearby shelf, then began combing through her memories while placing her fingertip on her chin.


    ¡°There aren¡¯t all that many records, but¡­¡± She glanced at me and continued to speak. ¡°They all say that he was a god and a devil, your highness.¡±


    I furrowed my brows.


    ¡°The records note that, when he waved his hands around, the ¡®surrounding terrain was altered, his believers were saved, and the villains all cried out in despair¡¯.¡±


    Why did that description sound so grand for some reason?


    However, we were talking about the very first Holy Emperor here. There¡¯s a good possibility that the records of his exploits had been heavily embellished.


    Except that, when comparing those records with Queen Rox¡¯s own accounts, it became harder to say that such descriptions had indeed been heavily dramatised.


    Let¡¯s say there¡¯s a dragon going up against the elite forces of the magic queendom. Even if it was a feared dragon, it¡¯d still find eliminating three thousand knights and magicians exceedingly difficult to pull off. Besides, the dragon would also be inflicted with injuries a lot more serious than mere simple scratches, too.


    ¡°If the description within those myths are real, then I wonder, will we be able to win against the angel?¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes opened wider at my question that was directed to no one in particular.


    She didn¡¯t seem willing to verbally answer me, since all she did was shake her head while keeping her mouth firmly shut.


    She was definitely signalling no.


    I rubbed my chin in silence.


    While I pondered my options, Alice quietly stared at me. Her lips parted a little as if she wanted to say something, but it seemed that she couldn¡¯t find enough courage to do so.


    This state of hers went on for a little while, so I glanced at her to ask, ¡®what¡¯s up?¡¯


    Only then did she finally open her mouth. ¡°By any chance, your highness. Are you really a Sa¡­¡±


    ¡°I finally figured it out!¡±


    Alice winced and clamped her mouth shut.


    Hans was shouting at the top of his lungs while scattering the documents all around himself. ¡°That¡¯s right! Just who am I?! I¡¯m the genius Alchemist Hans, whose family has been researching warp magic for generations already!¡±


    He then exploded in a peel of crazed laughter.


    ¡°Those stinking Vampire bastards! You can live for thousands of years for all I care! We have the knowledge and wisdom passed down through the generations of my ancestors! Hahahahaha!¡±


    His eyes were sunken with bags under them. Blood even began trickling down from his nostrils. The whites of his eyes rolled up and he slowly fell down on his back.


    ¡°Mister Hans!¡±


    Alice cried out in alarm and hurriedly dashed over to him, then quickly cast healing magic on the guy.


    Hans continued mumbling stuff like, ¡®I did it. Sons of b*tches, this is a victory for humans, you damn Vampires¡­¡¯


    It kind of looked to me that he had been working himself to the bone for the past couple of days.


    ¡°This dude, how many days has he stayed up already?¡±


    Alice sighed deeply before replying back to me, ¡°I think it¡¯s been about a week, your highness. From the look of things, he must¡¯ve drank a lot of holy water to force himself to stay up.¡±


    Well, I gotta hand it to him for his tenacity, at the very least.


    Even though you could drink holy water to heal your physical fatigue, your mind wouldn¡¯t be able to stay up for that long, you know?


    I shifted my gaze away to his table. That¡¯s where I discovered a piece of memo and a warp magic circle Hans had drawn.


    He had finally figured out the end coordinates of the warp magic the Vampires used.


    ¡°Being a genius has nothing to do with one¡¯s station, it seems.¡±


    Hans alone figured out something that hundreds of magicians and Alchemists that called themselves the best in the Theocratic Empire had failed to do. Not to forget, he also deciphered the Aztal Rune, so yeah, this guy was one of those rare geniuses that might show up once in a century or so.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to give him a special bonus later on. Let¡¯s wait until he recovers. We¡¯ll head to Titalos afterwards.¡±


    ¡°Are you really planning to head to the Holy Emperor¡¯s tomb, your highness?¡±


    ¡°Well, I was thinking of visiting my ancestor¡¯s resting place to pay my respect, you see¡­¡±


    ¡­And to rob the tomb at the same time as well.


    Although I didn¡¯t say the latter part of my plan out aloud, Alice must¡¯ve seen through me because a troubled expression was now forming on her face.


    I needed the help of both Hans and Alice in order to recover Ordin¡¯s relic. My plan was to head straight to the labyrinth as soon as these two¡¯s conditions fully recovered.

 Chapter 230 - 122. Aihrances Underground Labyrinth -3 (Part Two)

    **


    Queen Rox failed to hide her fluster while staring at the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s young face after the latter had come to speak to her once more.


    Her mood would improve greatly every time she saw the grandson of Kelt Olfolse, her old acquaintance, but at least in this moment, she wanted to anxiously pace up and down if she could.


    ¡°Are you really planning to go down there?¡±


    She and the Seventh Imperial Prince were having dinner on the same balcony as before.


    Queen Rox asked the boy prince again out of concern.


    She brought up the records from forty years ago while hoping to change his thoughts, but it seemed that the Imperial Prince¡¯s determination had only gotten firmer, instead.


    He said, ¡°I won¡¯t ask you to lend me some soldiers, your majesty. However, as I¡¯ve heard that it¡¯s a labyrinth, I was hoping that you could provide me with some kind of hints to help us avoid getting lost in the tomb itself.¡±


    His stubborn and unreasonable personality was remarkably similar to Kelt Olfolse¡¯s, which didn¡¯t come as all that surprising to her.


    She replied with, ¡°That place¡¯s environment constantly shifts as if it¡¯s a living maze. However, ancient rune letters can be found there, and you need to decipher them if you wish to progress forward.¡±


    ¡°Hans and Alice will accompany me. If it¡¯s those two, deciphering some ancient rune letters should not present us with any issues, your majesty.¡±


    Although it was commendable that he implicitly trusted his subordinates and made his decisions accordingly, the fact still remained that there were only three of them.


    Just three people wished to enter a location where three thousand knights, magicians, and elite soldiers had been slaughtered without mercy?


    Queen Rox quietly stared at the Seventh Imperial Prince for a while. The light burning in the latter¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t even sway once.


    She pressed her hand against her forehead and sighed at length.


    It had been the same with Kelt back then. She wasn¡¯t confident of dissuading his youngest grandchild, either.


    Even if she forced him to give up, the boy was definitely that man¡¯s grandson, so he¡¯d no doubt resort to sneaking in if that allowed him to carry on with his adventures.


    ¡°I understand. In that case, allow me to call upon a magician to act as your guide within the labyrinth.¡±


    ¡°Will that be fine, your majesty?¡±


    This was a labyrinth they were dealing with. It wouldn¡¯t be too much of an issue for everyone to head in together and reach the vicinity of the tomb, but after that¡¯s done, this magician would have to exit the labyrinth by him- or herself alone. That would be next to impossible to pull off.


    However, this was Aihrance, the queendom of magic.


    Dozens of magicians could be ordered to be on standby in the royal palace with a warp magic circle at ready just so that one person could safely warp out of the labyrinth.


    Queen Rox replied, ¡°Warp magic will be used, after all. So yes, it should be fine.¡±


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯m much obliged, your majesty.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince smiled deeply.


    Looking at the boy¡¯s smiling face lifted up Rox¡¯s mood in turn.


    ¡°However, you must promise me,¡± Queen Rox then spoke in a firm, unyielding tone of voice. ¡°Promise me that if something happens down there, you must escape right away. Understand?¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince nodded with a slightly stunned face.


    A while later, the dinner came to an end and he left the room. The maid standing silently next to Queen Rox cautiously asked her ruler.


    ¡°Will this be alright, your majesty?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the grandson of his majesty the Holy Emperor. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    Rox replied as such, but even then, she was still feeling worried inside.


    Her body shivered a little. The ¡®angel¡¯ she witnessed all those years ago was like the devil itself.


    There was no guarantee that the Seventh Imperial Prince would emerge unscathed after encountering that monstrous thing.


    Queen Rox got up from her chair, walked up to a mirror in the room and stared at the reflection.


    The face looking back at her was wrinkled, aged. Even her body had become a lot more frail compared to her past, while her overall stamina had fallen by a lot as well.


    She did her best to maintain them all, yet compared to her prime, her current state only made her sigh in lamentation. However, her current skill level in magic had grown so much that her prime wouldn¡¯t even be able to hold a candle to her.


    ¡°¡­Head maid.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡±


    The maid bowed her head.


    ¡°In adventuring, one¡¯s age is nothing more than just a number, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    The head maid¡¯s eyes opened wider. ¡°Y-your majesty, are you¡­?¡±


    ¡°I will have to vacate the royal palace for a little while, it seems.¡±


    ¡°But, your majesty¡­¡±


    The corners of Queen Rox¡¯s lips curled up into a grin.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be my first adventure in ages.¡±


    She felt her heart beating faster as if she had reverted back to being a na?ve young girl.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    The preparations took around a week to complete.


    Various luggage, food, and magic tools supplied by Aihrance queendom were safely stored away in my item window.


    Hans looked completely recharged right now as if he had been enjoying a pretty relaxing break from all the action during the past week. Even Alice was raring to go while unconsciously bumping her gauntlets together. A clearly-excited expression could be seen on her face.


    Both of them didn¡¯t even bother to hide their anticipation stemming from the prospect of witnessing the ancient lifeforms and rune letters, as well as the tomb of the first Holy Emperor.


    And also¡­


    ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care, your highness. My name is Norman, a magician. I¡¯ll be your guide.¡±


    An old man was chosen to act as our guide.


    His back was bent forward from his advanced age, while his lengthy robe was dragging on the floor. He was wielding a walking staff made out of crystal.


    From what I heard, he was the number one magician in the entire royal palace.


    ¡°We¡¯ll also be in your care.¡±


    While saying that, I offered my hand and Norman shook it silently.


    Under the guidance of knights and magicians, we headed to the entrance of Titalos.


    We went down the staircase and entered underground. In the location we finally reached after walking for what felt like ages was a massive steel gate waiting for our arrival.


    The knights proceeded to undo many locks and chains binding the steel gate, while the magicians chanted away to lift the sealing barrier placed on it.


    The gate slowly opened up afterwards.


    ¡°By the way, what kind of place is this underground labyrinth?¡±


    I tried recalling my memories. Wasn¡¯t there also a labyrinth named ¡®Titalos¡¯ in either Greek or Roman mythologies?


    That maze supposedly featured man-made walls surrounding the passages, but since we were about to enter an underground location, I figured that this labyrinth should resemble a naturally-formed cavern of some kind, instead.


    The thing was, though, the records I read from the books painted a rather different picture. They said that it was a whole other ¡®ecosystem¡¯. Even though it was ostensibly a labyrinth, it was practically a completely new world despite existing under the surface.


    While I stood there thinking that to myself, Norman, with a kind smile on his face, addressed me, ¡°Yes, it is a labyrinth. But it is also¡­¡±


    The gate opened and the damp yet fresh air began leaking out from beyond the opening. That took me by surprise.


    ¡°¡­A completely different world where the rules of nature have been reinvented, your highness.¡±


    The sight waiting for me beyond the gate made my eyes nearly pop out of their sockets.


    Yup, all those records had been correct. The so-called labyrinth really did look like another world even to my eyes.


    We should definitely be underground. But then¡­


    ¡°¡­There¡¯s a sky overhead?¡±


    Yup, there was a sky over our heads.


    No, hang on. That was actually a lake so vast that it resembled a sky, instead.


    That massive lake seemed to be defying gravity from the way it was enveloping the entirety of the ceiling. No wonder I was momentarily confused into thinking that there was a sky above our heads.


    Several pterodactyl-like creatures were flying near and around that lake, then whale-like creatures also broke through the surface to devour them.


    As for the maze below, it was not one surrounded in walls, but one encased in an expansive forest featuring huge trees.


    Packs of unidentifiable insects, which also happened to be way too big for my liking, were crawling around on the trees.


    Here was a world where an abundant amount of divinity and Mana could be found dispersed in the air, all the while forgotten ancient lifeforms roamed free.


    ¡°This is Titalos.¡±


    I looked over to Norman.


    ¡°We call this place a different world, your highness.¡±


    < 122. Aihrance¡¯s Underground Labyrinth -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 231 - 123. The Tomb’s Guardian -1 (Part One)

    Queen Rox Aihrance disguised her true appearance with a type of magic called ¡®illusion¡¯ and stepped into Titalos along with Allen and his companions.


    The identity of ¡®Norman¡¯ was, of course, a fake. In truth, there was no such magician employed by the royal court.


    Queen Rox stepped on the soft blades of grass. The air containing divinity and Mana cleared up the inside of her head and refreshed her mind.


    She stared at the large, lush trees ahead, and at the expansive lake that had completely covered the ceiling.


    This place was like a fantasy world only found inside a fairytale.


    However, staring at this place made her recall the events from the past, and along with this sense of wonderment, she also felt fear encroaching her heart.


    While this place was certainly a world of mythical wonderment, it was also the domain of the unknown. Plus, the monsters found in this place were absurdly strong, as well.


    Queen Rox shifted her gaze behind and looked at the gate. The royal court guard corps and magicians could be seen on standby within the gap, their faces visibly filled with worries.


    Eventually, the steel gate closed shut with a thud.


    ¡®I may have made them worry a little too much, it seems.¡¯


    Allen also turned his head and stared at the shut steel gate. It was surrounded by the kind of bedrock usually found within naturally-formed caverns. Judging from that, this place was definitely underground.


    And then¡­


    ¡°Is that a monster?¡±


    Allen muttered to no one in particular, but Queen Rox flinched nastily from that and hurriedly turned her head.


    The direction she looked towards was somewhere within the forest with dense foliage and even denser fog. Some kind of a creature was hiding there, its eyes gleaming sharply at them.


    ¡°A monster?¡±


    Alice asked back.


    Hans stared into the forest with a pair of intrigued eyes as well.


    As for Queen Rox, she grasped the edge of her conical mage¡¯s hat and addressed the group. ¡°It seems that we¡¯ll have to start running from the get-go.¡±


    Start running?


    Everyone shifted their gazes over to Rox. Of course, they were looking at the visage of ¡®Norman¡¯, and not the queen of Aihrance.


    She began rousing up her Mana and injected it into her legs, which made her robe flap about and her body float up in the air.


    ¡®Even if this trio is strong, it¡¯ll be too difficult to fight against that monster. For now, we must escape from¡­¡¯


    It was right at that moment that the monster revealed itself.


    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±


    Alice and Hans raised up their frozen faces to look at the creature.


    It was an ¡®ancient dragon¡¯ with hard scales covering its entire body, and boasting a powerful and large maw. It was walking on two absurdly-muscular hind legs.


    Queen Rox instantly grew tense at this monster¡¯s entrance.


    However, it was also at that moment that she heard Allen¡¯s intrigued-sounding voice, ¡°Wow, it¡¯s like I¡¯m looking at a T-Rex.¡±


    She stared at Allen, and discovered he had already summoned a musket and was in the middle of injecting divinity into it.


    She did hear the rumours, but to think that he really was going to use a musket!


    The other part of the rumour said that he was able to kill a count-class Vampire with such a weapon. And she did witness it herself, didn¡¯t she? After all, the boy prince did shoot down a Vampire inside the audience chamber.


    However, rumours were always destined to be embellished to some degree. It might not be difficult to deal with small-fry Vampires with a musket, but it¡¯d be a tall order for him to fight off a real monster like that ancient dragon.


    ¡°We need to escape from here, your highness. The ancient dragon is no pushover.¡±


    The scales of these creatures boasted magic resistance and they were so tough that breaking through them with regular weapons was incredibly difficult. The best way to stop an ancient dragon like that from chasing you was to trick it with illusion magic.


    The ancient dragon suddenly roared out loudly enough to almost rupture their eardrums. The birds in the surroundings quickly flew away in fright, and the ground below them seemed to tremble quite noticeably.


    Allen¡¯s eyes opened wider at this development.


    ¡®Was that Mana?¡¯


    He sensed Mana from that roar, that¡¯s why.


    That wasn¡¯t all, however ¨C the entire body of that large monster was rapidly being enveloped in Mana as well. Its body became reinforced, then it began charging at the quartet of humans.


    This would be Allen¡¯s first time seeing a monster capable of reinforcing its body through Mana.


    Its resulting agility and speed were not something such a huge body should be able to produce. The ancient dragon opened its maw wide and pounced on Hans.


    ¡°Uwaaahk?!¡±


    The sharp fangs at least thirty centimetres in length adorning the maw threatened to rip Hans into pieces, but right at that critical moment, Alice rapidly punched out. Her fist broke through the layers of air and directly slammed into the side of the ancient dragon¡¯s face.


    BANG-!


    Alice heard the loud, refreshing sound of impact and formed a satisfied expression. She definitely felt the unmistakable weight from her fist.


    She even confirmed the cheek flesh of the ancient dragon bursting open.


    Meaning, this one punch should be more than enough to¡­!


    Unfortunately for her¡­


    The ancient dragon¡¯s eye shifted over and began glaring at her. The direction of its open maw suddenly changed and all those sharp fangs rapidly chomped down on her.


    Chomp-!


    She got trapped within the maw.


    ¡°Euh-euhk¡­¡±


    Her gauntlet-wearing hands managed to somehow prop up the ancient dragon¡¯s maw in an open position and prevented it from closing shut.


    Queen Rox could only freak out inwardly while witnessing this scene.


    ¡®She managed to stop the ancient dragon¡¯s fangs?!¡¯


    The creature¡¯s jaw strength was strong enough to crush boulders. Not only that, this particular ancient dragon had even strengthened itself with Mana, so there was no point in even mentioning how strong it had become right now.


    Yet, Alice still managed to prevent those fangs from closing in on her.


    Queen Rox couldn¡¯t hide her astonishment anymore at this development. But her current state could last only for a short moment and she had to open her eyes even wider. Her lips clamped shut as she hurriedly looked to her side.


    Divinity was crazily swirling there.


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia¡­¡±


    Allen was offering a prayer. A blue-coloured rune letter floated above the musket gripped in his hands while golden-hued rune letters materialised on his skin.


    The former was [Divine Aura], the power that could be wielded by only those chosen by the gods, while the latter was the [Aztal Rune], the word of the gods itself.


    His divinity was rapidly amplified through those two.


    A holy bullet materialised within the musket, and he took aim at the ancient dragon.


    ¡®Those are ancient rune letters!¡¯


    Just as Rox gasped out in more shock¡­


    He pulled the trigger, and almost instantly, the skull of the ancient dragon was cleanly pierced through by the holy bullet. And right after that, the monster¡¯s entire head exploded to gory bits.


    Rox had been feeling deeply tense and was getting ready to flee at a moment¡¯s notice, so this spectacle came across as just too unbelievable to behold.


    ¡°He really used a musket¡­¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a magic staff like in the play?!


    Rox heard about the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s tales only through her retainers, so this scene was just too flabbergasting to her.


    Meanwhile, the ancient dragon¡¯s huge body crumbled to the ground. This creature boasted fairly strong magic resistance, yet its skull had been blown to bits until it couldn¡¯t even be recognised anymore.


    Alice crawled out from the still-open maw of the ancient dragon.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s stinky inside.¡±


    She was making a tearful, depressed face, which was understandable considering how her whole figure was drenched in the monster¡¯s saliva and blood.


    However, her expression didn¡¯t have one trace of tension in it.


    ¡®¡­I see.¡¯


    It seemed that Allen¡¯s declaration of only three of them raiding this labyrinth wasn¡¯t an empty boast, after all.


    ¡°You said your name is Norman, yes?¡±


    Rox looked back at Allen when he asked her.


    ¡°How much do you know about me?¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ve heard plenty of rumours regarding your exploits, your highness.¡±


    If she was being honest here, almost all of those rumours were too ridiculous to take at face value.


    One said that he used muskets. Another one said that he could create holy water out of nothing, and the hardest one to believe of them all was his ability to summon ¡®holy undead¡¯.


    The contents of those rumours distorted the common sense held by everyone in the world.


    Sure, it¡¯d be possible to use muskets if he relied on ¡®Divine Aura¡¯ and the ancient rune letters. However, it should be utterly, completely impossible to materialise holy water or summon the holy undead.


    That¡¯s what Rox believed until now.


    ¡°Since we are now in a land where even an army of three thousand found it difficult to traverse¡­¡± Allen muttered while nonchalantly striding forward.


    More rune letters were engraved in the surroundings. Soon, ¡®hands¡¯ began breaking through the surface of the soil covered in various vegetation.


    Rox, who was bearing witness to this spectacle, forgot to breathe just then.


    She focused her attention at the undead beings crawling out from the ground. Those things were made out of divinity. However, the equipment surrounding their exteriors were not created purely out of divinity like their bodies, but things that actually existed in the material plane.


    This meant that the summoned creatures were being equipped with real armaments stored away in an unknown space as they manifested into this world.


    ¡°¡­Oh my goodness.¡±


    Rox¡¯s whole body swayed from the powerful mental shock. She barely managed to prop herself up using the crystal staff.


    ¡®It was all real!¡¯


    This was the moment when she saw the law of this world breaking down with her very eyes. She even felt that all the knowledge she had acquired up until this moment began shaking precariously in their foundations.


    A legion of holy undead about three hundred strong had been summoned.


    They quickly spread out into a formation, and Allen summoned four more skeleton horses before climbing onto one.


    ¡°Well, then. Norman, please take care of guiding us.¡±


    Rox¡¯s eyes muscles were twitching slightly as she stared at the boy prince. She was beginning to think that Kelt¡¯s grandson wouldn¡¯t be an easy person to deal with.

 Chapter 232 - The Tombs Guardian -1 (Part Two)

    **


    Without a doubt, Titalos was a world filled with unknown mysteries.


    But coming down here was the right call to make in the end.


    That¡¯s because, all sorts of wonderful items were practically overflowing in this place. For instance, how many opportunities would I get in the future to procure fangs and hides of ancient dragons like these?


    Besides, the bones of these ancient dragons interested me quite a lot, too.


    ¡®Necromancers from ancient times allegedly knew how to control these bones, didn¡¯t they?¡¯


    I couldn¡¯t understand several parts of the ancient Aslan Necromancy grimoires, but now, I felt enlightened after looking at the bones.


    Those fellas even tamed dragons back then. Not only were they capable of rearing these ancient dragons, they probably also used the corpses of these creatures.


    ¡®For sure, they¡¯re pretty strong.¡¯


    Not too long ago, our group got unlucky and ran into ancient dragons that had formed a herd. They utterly crushed my skeleton legion and we had to flee from there as if our asses were on fire.


    We even ended up wandering aimlessly while one dangerous event after another kept pummelling us, not even giving us enough time to take a proper breather.


    However, as if to match our hardship, we did earn quite a lot in return. Not only did we get our hands on rare and valuable items, we even managed to greatly raise our skill proficiencies.


    We spent about a week searching for the correct path and hunting down these ancient dragons.


    I was running out of vacation time here.


    The skeletons marched forward and chopped down the overgrown vegetation to create a path for us.


    The reason why the surrounding environment in this place was called a maze was because of the dense fog, or so I figured.


    We progressed forward by searching for ancient ruins in the vicinity, and deciphering the rune letters engraved on them to determine exactly where we were.


    Eventually, we discovered an ancient city under Norman¡¯s guide.


    This expansive ruin was covered up in vines and branches of various vegetation. We took over one of the ruined structures as our camp site.


    ¡°What truly exquisite rune letters these are!¡±


    Hans¡¯s eyes were sparkling all the time as his inner fire continuously burned away at the sights of all these ancient ruins.


    We gathered some firewood and got a fire going.


    My skeletons, looking like the fairly-spooky undead creatures that they were, surveyed the area surrounding our camp site with sharply-gleaming eyes.


    I looked up at the ¡®sky¡¯ above. More correctly, at the ceiling made out of a lake.


    The ceiling had been emitting bright light up until not too long ago, but it was now getting dyed in darkness.


    ¡°Nights do really exist in this place, huh¡­¡±


    This was one of the things that I found so weird for the past week or so.


    I settled down on a spot and Alice sat next to me. Norman the magician sat on our opposite side.


    I spied Alice¡¯s ears perking up the moment she heard Hans loudly shouting out ¡®rune letters!¡¯, but I got the impression that she was trying her best to suppress her own emotions for some reason.


    She then stared at me and cautiously spoke up, ¡°Uhm, excuse me¡­¡±


    I naturally looked back at her.


    Alice was fidgeting nervously with her fingers. She even tried to control her breathing for a little while and sneaked a glance at Norman.


    She then whispered so softly that she might as well have been talking to herself. ¡°By any chance, do you know anything about a Saintess?¡±


    ¡°A Saintess?¡± I tilted my head and asked her back. ¡°That¡¯s you, ain¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°¡­That was too straightforward, you know¡­¡±


    Alice massaged her forehead.


    Ah, right. Come to think of it, didn¡¯t things get a bit noisy back in the Theocratic Empire with everyone starting to call me a Saint or whatever? But no such things happened to Alice, so how come?


    Actually, I could more or less figure out why that was.


    She was hiding the fact that she was a Saintess.


    ¡°How did you know that I was a Saintess, your highness?¡±


    ¡°You know, just.¡±


    ¡°Is it your intuition again?¡±


    I nodded in silence. If I told her the truth that I relied on the same method to ferret out Vampires to see through her, then uh, she might get an unpleasant mental shock, so I should refrain myself here.


    Alice roughly massaged her temples. ¡°I was agonising on how to break the news, but your highness, you just rammed right through it¡­¡±


    ¡°Why were you hiding your status as a Saintess, anyway?¡±


    ¡°¡­Because, I¡¯d have ended up as prey for the Vampires. Only Saints and Saintesses are capable of differentiating Vampires.¡±


    Oh, does that mean Alice can also spot those Vampires hiding within the empire now?


    She must¡¯ve read my inner thoughts through my facial expressions, since she quickly provided more explanation. ¡°I¡¯m still not there yet, your highness. But in two, maybe three years¡¯ time, I¡¯ll definitely get there.¡±


    Alice then sneaked another glance at Norman. The aged magician didn¡¯t look like he heard our whisper-quiet conversation.


    Alice sighed in relief and continued on from where she left off, ¡°In that case, please permit me to speak directly without reservation. Your highness, are you a Saint as well?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    Alice looked utterly confused then.


    How should I know whether I was a Saint or not?


    Was there a way to differentiate that? Honestly speaking, I kinda felt curious about this.


    I asked Alice about it, but she simply shook her head.


    She then explained further. ¡°There¡¯s no other way beside you realising it yourself. But in the empire, you can receive a test once you reach a certain age. And when you are determined to be either a Saint or a Saintess, you can officially earn that position.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯ve never received the test, so why is everyone calling me a Saint?¡±


    ¡°Well, you perform miracles that go against the common sense of this world, don¡¯t you? I mean, that¡¯s more than enough proof, your highness.¡±


    She did have a point there. A game-like system was indeed Goddess¡¯s miracle when viewed from the perspective of this world¡¯s denizens.


    I could basically create something out of nothing, and although my job was supposed to be a Priest, I was also a Necromancer.


    I could even differentiate Vampires on top of that, so some people would definitely see me as a Saint.


    ¡­Hang on, maybe I really am a Saint?


    ¡°Normally, a case of a Saint and a Saintess appearing at the same time shouldn¡¯t be possible. That¡¯s why I was wondering all along¡­¡±


    Alice murmured to herself.


    Oh, really? In that case, I was probably not a Saint, then.


    After all, not only did I not get such a feeling from myself, these so-called miracles were the handiwork of my game-like system.


    Even then, there were quite a few things that couldn¡¯t be explained. For instance, my truly absurd growth speed. Such a thing didn¡¯t exist back in the game.


    Not only that, I could spam quite a large variety of magic and my firepower had long surpassed the game¡¯s version, too.


    Based on all the magic knowledge I¡¯ve come to acquire in this world, even I could tell now that I was a contradictory existence.


    While chatting away with Alice, I ended up meeting Norman¡¯s gaze. He stared back at me and gently smiled.


    Looking at him made me rather suspicious.


    ¡®Hmm. Is this why he¡¯s the number one magician in the royal court?¡¯


    I tried to look through [Mind¡¯s Eye], but his information didn¡¯t want to come out.


    There could be only one reason why my usually-reliable Mind¡¯s Eye was restricted to this degree: hiding one¡¯s face.


    If it was a simple transformation magic, I should still be able to see through it with no problem, but the story would become a bit more complicated if it was an ¡®illusion¡¯ type spell.


    If he had hidden his face away using a considerably high-level illusion spell, then it¡¯d be really hard to analyse him.


    Norman asked me. ¡°Is there something on my face, your highness?¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, I was just wondering to myself if illusion-type magic happened to be your speciality or not.¡±


    Norman froze up momentarily from surprise, his eyes opening much wider at the same time. ¡°You knew, sir?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your reason for hiding your face?¡±


    ¡°¡­The burn scars on my face are quite severe, that¡¯s why, sir.¡±


    I continued to stare suspiciously at him, but Norman didn¡¯t explain any further.


    He even tried to change the topic and asked me a question, instead. ¡°May I ask, what¡¯s your impression on Titalos so far, sir?¡±


    ¡°That opinion of this place being a different world? Yeah, it was right all along.¡±


    A large variety of lifeforms lived in this place.


    From the likes of carnivorous plants that preyed on other animals, to the swarms of massive insects, and even those ancient dragons and their huge bodies, all of those things could be found down here.


    However, what interested me the most were the wyverns.


    Acquiring some bones of these wyverns, which were reputedly the descendants of dragons, was one hell of a good fortune for me.


    And the story about even the Vampires not wanting to come here? That sounded about right as well. Even those undead would find it pretty tough to survive in this place.


    I asked him. ¡°How long until we reach our destination?¡±


    We had already spent a week in this place, but we still hadn¡¯t discovered the location as to where this ¡®angel¡¯ was hiding away. Nope, the only things we¡¯ve found so far were trivial little ruins.


    But then, Norman tilted his head in confusion. ¡°We¡¯ve already arrived, sir.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡±


    When I asked back in a fluster, he pointed at the large ruin currently being investigated by Hans over yonder. ¡°It¡¯s over there, sir.¡±


    The place he pointed to was in the central section of the city of ancient ruins, where a single altar could be seen.


    ¡°That¡¯s where the angel is hiding.¡± Norman glanced in my direction. ¡°And it¡¯s also an incredibly dangerous location. Do you still wish to take a look inside?¡±


    ¡°Hang on, can we go inside now?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Yes, we can. I¡¯m quite certain that once your highness witnesses that monstrosity, you will change your mind rather swiftly. As long as we do not step past the doorway and into the burial chamber itself, we should be safe.¡±


    Just what was waiting for us in there for him to say that?


    Still, I guess there was no need to agonise over it.


    According to Queen Rox¡¯s records, the layout of the tomb was such that even if you entered it, you should still be able to safely escape from it later.


    In that case¡­


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get going.¡±


    I figured that it wouldn¡¯t be such a bad idea to take a gander.


    **


    Under Norman¡¯s guidance, we found the staircase hidden below the altar and walked further down underground.


    The path at the end of the stairs branched off into several passageways.


    ¡°That existence is truly a horrifying monster¡­ no, more correctly, I should say it¡¯s a terrifying ¡®tool¡¯.¡±


    Norman led our group forward while emitting light from his crystal walking staff.


    We came across more ancient rune letters, but Norman, Hans, and Alice worked together to rapidly decipher them all. And thanks to their effort, we were able to choose the correct path.


    ¡°That single ¡®tool¡¯ was enough for the first Holy Emperor, Ordin Olfolse, to be called the son of the gods.¡±


    Norman pushed away a wall blocking our path.


    ¡°It is said that every king of the human nations fell to their knees in despair at the mere sight of his ¡®sword¡¯.¡±


    The wall began sliding to the side and yet another passageway revealed itself to us.


    ¡°This place, where the royal palace of Aihrance sits above, used to be a territory belonging to the Theocratic Empire in ancient times. In truth, it was actually the empire¡¯s capital back then.¡±


    Our group consisting of Norman, Alice, Hans, and myself stared at the revealed path.


    ¡°The guardian protecting the throne of Gaia, the sword and shield of the goddess¡­ While there are many varied titles reserved for it, I¡­¡±


    What greeted us was a massive doorway at least ten metres tall, featuring intricate and varied carvings depicting mythical tales on the surface.


    Norman reached out with his hand and injected Mana into the door. It reacted to the Mana and began opening up automatically.


    The doorway ten metres tall issued loud grinding noises as it split left and right.


    And then, light began seeping out.


    Aura purely made up of divinity began flooding out like waves of a vast ocean.


    ¡°¡­I call it with this name.¡±


    Through the open gap of the doorway, we¡­ We saw the interior of a temple casting off bright light. A throne could be seen.


    On it was the ¡®individual¡¯ suspected of being Ordin Olfolse, the first Holy Emperor. He was just a skeleton now, hardened like a fossil; golden armbands hung loosely on his bony arms, while a gorgeous ceremonial robe and a magnificent crown adorned his figure perched upon the throne.


    And right in front of the throne, an imposing giant was literally floating in the air.


    Hans, Alice, and I dazedly looked up. We had to look up to take in the sight of this ¡®grand and noble existence¡¯.


    Its huge body was at least twenty metres tall and fifteen metres wide. A torso without legs covered in thick armour and a pair of heavy-looking arms attached to it was floating up there.


    Its surrounding airspace was filled with various cogwheels that were slowly spinning away.


    Countless spears and blades were attached to it, and the first impression I got was¡­ It looked like a small airborne fortress.


    Hundreds of crystal spheres embedded in the ¡®thing¡¯ emitted bright light and continued sending out waves of divinity.


    This divinity formed the basis of twelve wings that had been spread wide open to keep this giant afloat in the air.


    Inside its imposing helm, the glowing light of the ¡®golem¡¯ shifted in our direction and began shooting a bone-chilling glare.


    ¡°The King of the Heavenly World, Metatron. That¡¯s the name I¡¯ve given it.¡±


    As it turned out, the ¡®angel¡¯ summoned by the first Holy Emperor was actually a giant-like mobile fortress.


    I stared at this giant-like fortress in a trance.


    Not a single word I could think of was enough to describe the overwhelming pressure that thing gave off.


    However¡­


    ¡°Yup, coming here was the right call.¡±


    It was indeed worth my time to come all the way here in the end.


    And I will¡­


    ¡°That¡¯ll be mine.¡±


    ¡­get my hands on that thing.


    < 123. The Tomb¡¯s Guardian -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 233 - 124. The Tomb’s Guardian -2 (Part One)

    It felt like the air was being tautly pulled here.


    Without a doubt, the thing leaking out from the open doorway was divinity. But I was getting this sense of repulsion instead from how overwhelming it was.


    I looked up at the giant-like fortress up in the air.


    It didn¡¯t even move an inch. All it did was stare down at us with an eerie glowing light visible under the helm.


    It didn¡¯t bother with invaders that hadn¡¯t entered through the open doorway. Quite literally, it was the guardian protecting the throne inside the tomb.


    ¡°I¡¯m really tempted now.¡±


    When I muttered that out, both Alice and Hans stared at me.


    The treasured tool of the first Holy Emperor, Metatron. My desire to acquire it grew only stronger while being subjected to the angel¡¯s grand, overwhelming splendour.


    My greed actually broke past the level of simple ¡®desire¡¯ to reach a realm previously unseen, and I even began shivering in excitement.


    Norman was staring at me with a dismayed expression. ¡°How can you say that after witnessing that thing, your highness?!¡±


    ¡°You said that we should be fine as long as we don¡¯t cross the doorway, right?¡±


    I had no doubt that it wasn¡¯t an ordinary little golem. Hell, that thing scared me so much that my body was getting numb all over from simply staring at it even as we stood here. Just the sheer pressure it emitted alone was enough to make me feel this much ¡®fear¡¯.


    Which also meant that its strength should be quite considerable.


    ¡®Let me test your powers, dear guardian angel tasked with guarding a god¡¯s throne.¡¯


    I summoned my undead.


    Ranging from skeletons kitted out in heavy armour to dullahans riding on skeleton horses, as well as banshees with bows, and even Bone Golems ¨C an army of undead about three hundred strong had appeared.


    They broke through the floor and completely filled up the passageway around us. Their heads were raised up to glare at the angel floating in the air.


    ¡°Go.¡±


    One word from me, and all of my holy undead broke into a sprint.


    Weapons were unsheathed.


    The undead cavalry rode on the skeleton horses, banshees darted around in the air, and the Bone Golems advanced forward while sending tremors through the ground.


    They had only one job this time, and that was to help me confirm how strong that ang¡­


    BOOM-!


    I immediately froze up.


    Right in front of my nose¡­ The moment a skeleton horse crossed the boundary line beyond the doorway, a spear of light impaled the heavily-armoured undead rider.


    A spear well over two metres in length easily pierced through both the skeleton rider as well as the skeleton horse beneath, blowing them both apart.


    The shattered bits of bone shards scattered away in all directions.


    -Ku-oooooooh!


    Almost at the same time, the other skeletons dashed past the doorway.


    More spears of light came flying in.


    Dozens of skeletons got impaled by the spears of light and blew apart into pieces.


    The power behind those projectiles made me mistakenly think that they were being fired from siege weapons or something. And the accuracy showcased here also sent shivers down my spine.


    The temple¡¯s interior floor got caved in and bits of it exploded everywhere. Loud explosion noises resounded out and thick smoke danced in the air.


    The remaining skeletons scythed past the smoke and continued to dash forward.


    I looked up at the giant floating fortress, Metatron, once more.


    Those cogwheels floating all around it began to spin ominously. Dozens of spears embedded between their teeth were fired out towards the undead.


    These spears of divinity easily impaled my legion.


    One of the skeleton horses was destroyed, and the dullahan riding on it was thrown off. It crashed on the ground and rolled forward several times before getting back up on its feet to dash forward in anger.


    It picked up its separated head and the light in its eye sockets quickly darted around. A spear of light flew in its way, and the undead swung its sword to deflect it.


    The sword noticeably trembled before a crack ran through its blade.


    That was a sword crafted by a master artisan. A dwarf poured all of his heart to forge the sword, but all it could do was barely endure the impact from the spear made out of divinity.


    Bang-! Bang-!


    The Bone Golems made a ruckus as they dashed out. The large crossbows in their hands were aimed at the ¡®archangel¡¯, Metatron.


    The triggers were pulled and taut strings snapped loose. Bolts flew out right away, and just as it looked like they would successfully hit Metatron¡¯s body, they instead collided against a formless wall and shattered into bits.


    ¡°¡­A barrier?¡±


    Alice gasped out in shock.


    I too was stunned by what we just witnessed.


    That thing¡¯s huge body was at least twenty metres in height. Who would¡¯ve thought that a protective barrier made out of divinity was encasing such a big thing?


    Was this the reason why the Aihrance army failed to inflict even a single scratch on that thing?


    The glowing light in Metatron¡¯s eye rapidly shifted around, then it grasped the positions of each and every undead currently spread out trying to attack it from all directions.


    The cogwheels in its surroundings spun around even faster. And as if to match that, countless crystal spheres embedded in Metatron¡¯s body began leaking out bright light.


    And then¡­


    Beams of pure light flooded out in every direction like some kind of fireworks. Or more precisely, an attack foregoing all semblance of accuracy had commenced.


    Hundreds upon hundreds of light projectiles flew up in the air before indiscriminately pounding the ground below.


    This was literally a¡­


    ¡°¡­bombing raid?!¡±


    A chain of explosions rang out. Noises loud enough to burst my eardrums resounded everywhere, and billowing flames instantly enveloped the entirety of the temple¡¯s interior.


    The army of holy undead got swallowed up by the flames and were extinguished from existence as piles of ashes.


    My undead legion numbering three hundred individuals couldn¡¯t even last ten minutes before getting utterly annihilated.


    Even though the interior of the temple was going up in flames, the giant floating fortress that was at least twenty metres tall still didn¡¯t budge from its spot. It simply stared down at us without even lifting a finger, perhaps determining that we might be the next ones to invade.


    The flames inside the temple gradually died out. But then, golden-hued rune letters suddenly engraved the body of the ¡®angel¡¯ and the temple¡¯s burnt-out interior was rapidly repaired.


    ¡°¡­The Aztal Rune.¡±


    I stared at Metatron¡¯s body. All those letters engraved on it were not ¡®fake¡¯ like mine, but the ¡®real¡¯ language of the gods.


    And those things fully restored the interior of the temple.


    At the same time, a light spear flew in and brushed past my head. My cheek got cut open and blood trickled down.


    That was clearly a warning.


    A warning to let us know that even if we didn¡¯t cross the doorway, the ¡®angel¡¯ wouldn¡¯t be so nice the next time I chose to attack it again.


    The guardian protecting the throne, Metatron, looked down on us from the air. The angel held its head high up in a confident manner as if doing so was the most obvious thing in the world. The gaze it sent in our direction could only be described as ¡®arrogant¡¯.


    I began furrowing my brows at that.


    What a cheeky bastard that thing was.


    However, that only poured more fuel to my burning desire to acquire it.


    ¡°You. You just sit tight and wait for me.¡±


    Because I¡¯ll definitely get my hands on you.


    **


    We left the tomb of Holy Emperor Ordin and took up residence in one of the ruins.


    Once we were finished with setting up camp, Norman turned his attention to me and asked, ¡°Now do you understand, your highness? That monster cannot be subdued through the strength of humans.¡±


    When I first looked through Queen Rox¡¯s records, I was under the impression that the annihilation of the three thousand Aihrance troops were partially due to the lifeforms living in this place.


    However, now that I¡¯ve witnessed the angel¡¯s firepower, pulling off such a feat would be more than doable for that machine bastard. That giant could easily fight off an entire army all by itself and then some.


    It was even more dangerous than a dragon. Even my skeleton king would find it difficult to fight against that airborne golem.


    And to be honest, I wasn¡¯t sure whether or not I¡¯d be able to control it if even I did manage to somehow acquire the angel. No, hang on a minute ¨C never mind controlling it, the current me wouldn¡¯t even be able to summon the damn thing in the first place.


    ¡°As expected of a treasure constructed by twelve thousand-plus Priests.¡±


    It was definitely the sword of the god. But that only made it all the more worthwhile to get my hands on that thing.


    Even the marquis-class Vampire version of the dragon slayer possessed enough strength to hunt down a dragon. It would be safe to assume that Vampires with higher ranks should be even stronger than him. Much stronger.


    The ¡®angel¡¯ was a powerful tool that the Theocratic Empire definitely needed.


    The ability to create a domain of absolute defence¡­


    It certainly possessed powerful-enough strength to stop the invasion of the Vampires.


    As expected. I now understood the reason why the kings of other nations had to kneel and submit to the dear old ancient Holy Emperor.


    I mean, seriously. Who in their right mind would even think about resisting when facing such a monstrosity like that?


    ¡°Can we really win against such a thing?¡±


    Hans asked me. He sounded deeply anxious.


    Well, that angel was at least twice as large compared to my Bone Dragon or the Skeleton King. In front of its overwhelming splendour, us humans would come across as frail as heck, that¡¯s for sure.


    I replied to him. ¡°There¡¯s no reason why we can¡¯t.¡±


    Of course, we¡¯d need to thoroughly prepare first.


    I recalled the tomb of the Holy Emperor. Divinity was permeating every nook and cranny of that place.


    Such an environment was actually advantageous for me.


    Even if I summon either the Bone Dragon or the Skeleton King, the resulting backlash should be halved due to the environmental factors. Unfortunately, though, just one wouldn¡¯t be enough for the job. The angel was far too strong for that.


    That¡¯s why¡­


    ¡®¡­I gotta summon at least both of them.¡¯


    That¡¯s right, I needed the strength of both the Bone Dragon and the Skeleton King.


    ¡®But if I do that¡­¡¯


    My body wouldn¡¯t last for long.


    Even if I used the world tree¡¯s branch that Tina had given me, activated the divinity amplification of the imitation Aztal Rune, and even resorted to using its sanctuary declaration in order to negate the backlash as much as possible, there was still no guarantee of me surviving the aftermath.


    Although, I might have a small chance if the actual world tree back in Aslan was here with me.


    Feeling rather rueful here, I ended up muttering to myself, ¡°Isn¡¯t there an optimal way to prevent divinity from going out of control?¡±


    ¡°Uhm, excuse me¡­¡±


    I shifted my gaze over to Alice.


    While I was musing to myself, she had placed some skewers on the fire, and once they had been sufficiently cooked, took one out and presented it to me. ¡°For now, please take your time thinking about it while eating this, your highness.¡±


    I took over the meat skewer and bit into the chunks.


    The meat came from the ancient dragon. Not only did it taste pretty good, Norman also informed us that the Mana permeating the meat would help with the recovery from fatigue.


    ¡°If you¡¯re talking about divinity going out of control, could it be divinity deviation¡­?¡±


    I glanced at Alice again while chewing the meat skewer.


    When our gazes met, she scratched her cheek and avoided staring into my eyes.


    ¡°I can control divinity and tune it just right for you, your highness.¡±


    My brows rose up high at what she said.


    She saw my reaction and quietly whispered back, ¡°I¡¯m a Saintess, after all.¡±


    That¡¯s right, Alice was the Saintess who possessed a god¡¯s fragment, wasn¡¯t she?

 Chapter 234 - 124. The Tomb’s Guardian -2 (Part Two)

    **


    Alice glanced at Allen, who was now staring back at her with a pair of surprised eyes.


    This lasted for a few seconds, and after finding his stare a bit too much to handle, she quickly avoided meeting his gaze.


    As far as divinity control was concerned, she could legitimately claim to be second only to her grandfather, Raphael.


    And as her family had been serving the Imperial Family for quite a long time, she knew almost better than anyone the ¡®special traits¡¯ of those carrying the Imperial bloodline.


    ¡®His majesty the Holy Emperor, the Crown Imperial Prince, and the Imperial Prince¡­¡¯


    Every single one of them had this tendency to crazily pour out a ridiculous amount of divinity. They seemed to forget about the threat of divinity depletion and tend to completely lose themselves in the madness to hunt down Vampires.


    1


    But that was the reason why the Imperial Family members were feared so much and seen as threatening existences in the Vampires¡¯ view.


    That was perhaps the reason why the ¡®Astoria¡¯ family existed for them ¨C a family of ¡®Priests¡¯ who supported the Imperial Family from the back.


    Especially in the case of Alice ¨C she was the Saintess with a god¡¯s fragment inside her. She possessed truly outstanding talent and strength even when compared to the rest of her family.


    Now normally, her strength should¡¯ve been reserved only for the sake of the Holy Emperor, but¡­


    ¡®There isn¡¯t anyone watching here, so¡­¡¯


    She owed the Seventh Imperial Prince for fully healing her patient in the past. And it also seemed that his majesty had already decided to make his youngest grandson the next Holy Emperor, anyway.


    Long story short, there shouldn¡¯t be a problem here.


    Of course¡­


    ¡®If my grandfather gets wind of it, he might faint from shock¡­¡¯


    3


    Cardinal Raphael might collapse while clutching the back of his neck if he saw the sight of his dear granddaughter lending her assistance to the Seventh Imperial Prince from the back, considering that the boy prince almost succeeded in raping her in the past.


    ¡°Hang on, you can tune divinity, you say?¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness. It¡¯ll be similar to resonance. Something like the one your highness performed back in Laurensis.¡±


    ¡°I did what now?¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince tilted his head in confusion, and Alice could only make a cramped smile.


    Back then, the legion of skeleton mages he had summoned went on to cause a resonance of divinity. All the Priests nearby would¡¯ve felt as if they were experiencing a miracle when that happened.


    Which shouldn¡¯t be all that surprising, since their divinity resonated and would¡¯ve been enhanced by a great deal for a while.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯ll be like a type of tuning or intervention, your highness, similar to offering a prayer. The idea is to enhance the output of divinity all the while minimising its expenditure as much as possible.¡±


    On top of that, they could even share divinity.


    ¡°Of course, the range of actions I can make will become greatly restricted in the process.¡± Alice glanced at Allen while continuing on with her explanation, ¡°However, achieving resonance won¡¯t be difficult if you can provide me with sufficient protection, your highness. I can minimise both your divinity depletion and divinity deviation as much as possible.¡±


    Allen¡¯s expression showed that he was contemplating this new option.


    He then shifted his gaze over to Norman. ¡°What do you think will happen if I attack it from beyond the doorway?¡±


    The aged magician replied with a smile, ¡°It won¡¯t be the same as last time, your highness. It certainly won¡¯t end with a simple warning, I¡¯d wager.¡±


    This meant that no petty tricks would work here.


    Alice quietly waited for Allen¡¯s decision.


    She didn¡¯t say anything and stared at him for a while, and eventually, he let out a long sigh.


    ¡°Well, in that case¡­¡± He looked back at Alice. ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care.¡±


    She grinned brightly at that.


    **


    Hans began inscribing a rune letter on a huge piece of parchment. He used ink containing the powder made out of ground magic stone to draw a complicated-looking rune.


    He then cautiously placed a lit torch over it and proceeded to melt down the magic stone powder. Some time later, the rune letter solidified.


    ¡°Alright, the rune for the defensive magic is now complete. Next up is¡­¡±


    Hans then dangled some lumps of ancient dragon meat over the parchment, as well as some tree branches.


    The group waited for the monsters to take the bait.


    Blood dripped noisily as Alice stood on top of the parchment itself.


    Even though she was clanging her gauntlets to say she was ready, a tense expression still remained on her face.


    She asked, ¡°Will this really be alright?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Just who am I, miss?¡± Hans pounded on his chest and expressed how confident he was. ¡°Am I not the greatest Alchemist in the world? It should work just fine!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®it should¡¯? Isn¡¯t that too irresponsible¡­?¡±


    While muttering that to herself, Alice shifted her gaze to the bush where Allen and Norman should be hiding.


    It was somewhat reassuring to know that those two were there, but still¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, my barrier magic will be potent enough to withstand the angel¡¯s bombardment magic, so you mustn¡¯t wor¡­¡±


    It was right at that moment that the ground rumbled with a loud ¡®Thud-!¡¯


    Alice and Hans both turned their heads at the same time. They initially wondered if another ancient dragon had shown up, but they couldn¡¯t see anything.


    No, wait ¨C they did see something, but instead, it was a huge flower.


    It was about three metres high and boasted rather thick stems.


    Just as Hans began tilting his head, something hidden just beneath the earth writhed and shifted. Vines of a ¡®tree¡¯ suddenly grabbed hold of his ankles and lifted him up in the air.


    The centre of the gorgeous-looking flower split open with a wet ¡®splat¡¯. At the next moment, an undeniably sweet scent wafted out and a pool of flower ¡®sap¡¯ could be seen inside its mouth. To Hans, though, that mouth looked like a tunnel leading straight to hell.


    ¡°Uwaaaaahk?!¡±


    He screamed desperately.


    The vines swung like a bunch of whips and the thick tree branches nearby were shattered into bits. The creature¡¯s power was quite considerable; in a way, it was even stronger than the ancient dragon¡¯s fangs.


    One of the vines flew towards Alice¡¯s direction, she was still standing on top of the rune. Right at that moment, the rune emitted bright light and an invisible wall easily blocked the incoming vine.


    Alice was surprised by what she saw, while Hans, who was still dangling in the air, clenched his fist triumphantly. ¡°Nice! Now, take a look! Even if it¡¯s an imitation, a barrier generated from the improvised Aztal Rune can¡­¡±


    Right at that moment, Hans was swallowed up inside the carnivorous plant¡¯s mouth.


    1


    And as if to match the timing, the body of the plant creature exploded spectacularly. Allen had shot it down with his musket.


    He and Norman emerged from their hiding place somewhere inside the bush.


    The latter began tapping the barrier that had protected Alice with his walking staff, an awed expression etched on his face. ¡°¡­It is rather surprisingly sturdy, isn¡¯t it? To think that the hardness of a barrier created not out of magic, but simple Alchemy, would be this strong¡­¡±


    ¡°I guess he really is a genius.¡±


    While Norman and Allen chatted away, Hans crawled out from the soggy mess of the plant creature¡¯s corpse. He covered up his nose before saying something, ¡°Didn¡¯t I say it, everyone? It took me three days and nights to design and construct that barri¡­ Euw-wuph¡­¡±


    He suddenly began vomiting, but even then, he still reached out with his hands and began rummaging through the plant creature¡¯s exploded body.


    ¡®I bloody knew it. I shouldn¡¯t have come. Still¡­¡¯


    Hans extracted the sap and seed before putting them away inside a leather pouch. Despite the smell being on the horrendous side, he was still smiling away inside nonetheless.


    ¡®I should be able to make some incredible medicine with these.¡¯


    1


    All sorts of Alchemic theories rapidly fleeted in and out of Hans¡¯s head.


    This sap contained Mana. Hans was thinking that the sap could turn into a truly excellent medicine by adding pure holy water created by the Seventh Imperial Prince, which contained no impurities whatsoever.


    ¡°Wow. Your stomach sure is made out of pure A-grade steel, isn¡¯t it? Seriously, though. Are you feeling alright?¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince asked, and as his reply, Hans shook around the leather pouch containing the flower sap. ¡°It might come in handy one day, sir.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°After all, it¡¯s all for you in the end, sir.¡±


    Hans wasn¡¯t lying there.


    Although he felt deeply unhappy about getting dragged into these sorts of dangerous situations, he was fully cognisant of the fact that he owed the Imperial Prince a huge debt as well.


    1


    The boy prince saved his life during the Orc¡¯s raid in the Aslan desert, and even fought a dragon off during their exploration of the ancient dungeon-slash-tomb.


    1


    Hans got to discover and study ancient runes, and also ended up going on a journey throughout the world.


    And finally, the Seventh Imperial Prince didn¡¯t care about Hans¡¯s status and only looked at the latter¡¯s true nature and talent, giving him the kind of treatment that he deserved.


    Thanks to these events, Hans¡¯s view of the world had changed.


    He was living a dream that no simple peddler would ever get to experience. And the Seventh Imperial Prince had given him the opportunity to live this dream.


    Of course, Hans was planning to repay this debt.


    ¡°Well, then. Our preparations are now complete.¡±


    Allen said that while staring at the rune letter that had protected Alice.


    Hans¡¯s barrier was verified to be working properly. And Allen too would do his very best to protect Alice.


    Meanwhile, it would be her job to support him.


    She¡¯d begin the resonance of divinity with him, and through that, he would try to summon two absolute monsters, which was something he had never attempted before.


    The highest existence among the undead, the Skeleton King.


    The strongest creature from legends, the Bone Dragon.


    He¡¯d summon both of them at the same time.


    He couldn¡¯t afford to make any mistakes here. And after coming this far, he couldn¡¯t afford to back off, either.


    Since they had come to this ¡®dungeon¡¯ as adventurers, they must¡­


    ¡°Our goal is this one thing.¡±


    Everyone shifted their gazes over to Allen.


    He grinned deeply and finished the rest of his sentence.


    1


    ¡°And it¡¯s to steal the ancient Holy Emperor¡¯s favourite toy.¡±


    No adventure would be complete without acquiring a treasure or two, now would it?


    < 124. The Tomb¡¯s Guardian -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 235 - 125. The Tomb’s Guardian -3 (Part One)

    The very first Holy Emperor, Ordin Olfolse, who established the main religion of the empire over a lengthy span of time. And the ancient temple acting as his tomb, currently being guarded by the ¡®archangel¡¯.


    I was planning to challenge that place once more.


    Along with Alice, Hans, and Norman, I stood in front of the huge doorway.


    The interior of the temple was brightly illuminated by hundreds and thousands of crystal spheres, and the mechanical archangel could be seen floating in the centre.


    That existence was at least twenty metres high and used twelve wings to fly¡­


    It was also equipped with divinity-laden weapons¡­


    Metatron.


    The archangel was looking down at us from the air.


    ¡°Are you really going to do it, sir?¡± Hans asked me while looking rather tense.


    You¡¯re asking me now if I was really going to do it?


    Obviously. I had no intentions of backing down.


    I¡¯ve already made up my mind on this one.


    I muttered out, ¡°We will do it right this time.¡±


    Since we were doing it, we might as well do it properly.


    Metatron leisurely floated in the air and observed me. It probably didn¡¯t perceive us as ¡®invaders¡¯ yet since we hadn¡¯t crossed the doorway.


    I couldn¡¯t be sure whether or not that thing had any ego, but¡­


    I swear, Imma smash that laid-back attitude of yours for good very soon.


    After summoning Amon¡¯s skull, I put it on my head.


    ¡°I am the legion.¡±


    I roused up my divinity.


    Ripples of aura made up of divinity spread out and shook the surroundings. Alice, who was standing next to me, had her eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. This would be her second time seeing me use one of Amon¡¯s relics, wasn¡¯t it?


    Also¡­


    ¡°I am Gaia¡¯s inheritor.¡±


    Today should be her first time seeing the completed version up close like this.


    Along with the waves of holy water spreading out from the tips of my feet, many bone pieces rose up from the surface of the water.


    Bone pieces began enveloping my entire frame.


    The heavy-looking bone armour enclosed me, and twelve bone hands spread open behind me like my own wings.


    ¡°¡­The angel.¡±


    Alice¡¯s dazed muttering brought a wry smile on my face. Tina also displayed a similar reaction back then, didn¡¯t she?


    The holy water lake continued to spread out like tsunami waves and crossed the threshold of the doorway. Even the passageways around us were completely filled up, and from the wavering water¡¯s surface, all sorts of undead began rising up.


    I raised my head and stared at Metatron.


    Not yet.


    The archangel hadn¡¯t attacked us so far.


    Which was rather satisfying, really. We¡¯d fully utilise all the leeway it so generously granted us in this upcoming archangel raid.


    ¡°Alice, get ready.¡±


    My voice went through the skull helm and became lower, heavier than how I usually sounded.


    Alice jumped up in surprise and hurriedly nodded.


    The girl kitted out in a lightweight Priestess robe and matching light armour brought her gauntlet-clad hands together. Her golden hair began dancing in the air as she offered a prayer.


    A hymn with a beautiful melody soon left her lips and reverberated throughout the surroundings.


    The resonance had begun.


    The ripples of divinity were starting to seep into me.


    And to follow up on that, skeleton mages quickly occupied their spots near us. While wielding their staves, they went down on their knees and bowed their heads, pressing their bony foreheads on their staves to offer their prayers alongside Alice.


    Golden rune letters rapidly engraved themselves near our surroundings. It was at that moment that Metatron seemed to flinch just a little. The archangel that didn¡¯t move an inch up until now had finally shown some reactions.


    It must¡¯ve felt that something was off by now. It sensed the aura of divinity, and also the power of the Aztal Rune now being activated along with the Saintess¡¯s blessing.


    ¡°Declaration of sanctuary.¡±


    When I said that, the glowing lights in the eye sockets of the skeleton mages seemed to burn even fiercer than before. They slammed their staves down.


    The ground rumbled and the holy water lake¡¯s surface undulated. The interior of this huge temple was soon blanketed by golden coloured-rune letters.


    This location would turn into my sanctuary. Not only would being inside this place amplify our divinity, it¡¯d also grant us immortal-like regenerative capabilities.


    But still¡­ Not yet.


    I gripped Amon¡¯s staff in my right hand, while my left extracted Amon¡¯s grimoire.


    Next up, I used my [Divine Aura] on these Amon¡¯s relics ¨C now items worthy of being called the sacred artefacts.


    Finally, I summoned ¡®it¡¯, the lifeform from various legends, an existence of terror in many myths in existence.


    ¡°Bone Dragon.¡±


    The golden-coloured runes reacted to my call.


    The interior of the temple began crumbling. The ground split open and the holy water filling up the floor violently undulated.


    A large front paw made out of bones braced itself on the ground.


    A solidly-built spine emerged from the water¡¯s surface like a rising snake.


    The dragon¡¯s head, which boasted sturdy horns, provided secure footing for me while lifting me up in the air.


    The dragon heart surrounded by the ribcage pulsated powerfully as the Bone Dragon spread open its wings wide.


    -Ku-ooooooooooh!


    The dragon¡¯s loud roar caused Metatron¡¯s glowing eye to grow bigger.


    Finally, the huge ¡®golem¡¯ had shown some tangible reaction.


    Without a doubt, we hadn¡¯t crossed the doorway yet. Even then, Metatron began making its moves after we displayed our ¡®intentions to attack¡¯ just now.


    The cogwheels around Metatron were spinning away. Spears and arrows attached to them began flying in our direction.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    I grabbed onto the dragon¡¯s horn and rode on the Bone Dragon¡¯s skull as it powerfully beat its wings.


    This would be my first time flying in the air.


    The air pressure from the stunning acceleration ruthlessly pushed down on my whole body. I barely managed to catch myself before I got flung away.


    I glared at Metatron with sharp light gleaming in my eyes.


    Hundreds and thousands of spears and arrows flew towards my way.


    I slammed my staff down and fixed it to the Bone Dragon¡¯s skull. The twelve bone hands attached to my back were used as shields to cover my front.


    Spears and arrows collided against the Bone Dragon. They also crashed into my bone armour and sparks flew off everywhere.


    The weapons containing powerful divinity caused cracks across my armour.


    However, I simply had to endure this.


    I still needed to summon one more.


    The Bone Dragon roared out and beat its wings. The glare from its eyes sharpened as it flew up high to rush towards Metatron.


    The giant undead dragon that was about half the overall size of Metatron finally got close enough to take a swipe with its sharp front claws.


    Only then did the archangel golem move its huge body.


    Metatron, which had been faithfully guarding its spot for the past several thousands of years, began raising up its heavy-looking arms.


    It crossed those heavy hands and defended against the dragon¡¯s claws. The loud metallic screech rang out as more sparks danced in the air.


    Metatron powerfully swung its arm and shoved the Bone Dragon away, but almost at the same time, a flood of flames poured out from the dragon¡¯s open maw ¨C it unleashed a powerful Breath attack.


    However, the barrier made out of divinity blocked off the dragon¡¯s Breath.


    I could only grit my teeth at that. Not even the dragon¡¯s Breath can break through that damn barrier?


    Metatron raised its weighty arm and smashed down on the Bone Dragon¡¯s head.


    BOOM-!


    The air exploded.


    Along with an ear-deafening explosion noise, the dragon¡¯s body crashed down to the ground and got buried there. The lake of holy water surged even more as debris from the crash flew out everywhere.


    I was still on top of the Bone Dragon¡¯s head. Even though I was staggering from the impact, I still focused my attention on the grimoire.


    Just a little bit more.


    The metallic noise resounded out again.


    While making an eardrum-rupturing noise, Metatron brought both of its hands in one place, then interlocked its fingers to smash down on the dragon once more.


    The impact force was transmitted to me in full.


    I was feeling quite queasy deep inside my belly. In other words, the backlash had begun in earnest.


    Despite having already summoned the Bone Dragon, I was now trying to summon something else even more powerful in tandem. Even a moron should be able to tell that enduring the resulting backlash would not be a cakewalk.


    However¡­


    ¡°Oh, dear Goddess Gaia¡­¡±


    Alice was supporting me on that front.


    She continued to offer her prayers. The divinity about to run amok grew calmer, quieter. However, that wasn¡¯t all.


    Thanks to the sacred power of the Saintess, the divinity in the surroundings fell under ¡®control¡¯ as well. The undead matched her voice singing the sacred hymn and made their moves.


    Divinity resonated and the undead¡¯s actions became much faster. Each and every undead dashed forward while relying on nimble movements.


    Banshees fired their arrows, while Bone Golems closed the distance to confront Metatron in close-quarter melee.

 Chapter 236 - 125. The Tomb’s Guardian -3 (Part Two)

    Even the movement of the dragon had changed.


    Broken bits of bones were being regenerated quickly.


    The Bone Dragon pounced on Metatron once more and managed to tilt the archangel to the side. The fangs of the dragon bit into the golem¡¯s body as it proceeded to shoot its Breath in the next moment.


    Metatron¡¯s huge figure went up in flames, and the choking heat even reached me. It was hot as hell.


    Without a doubt, my Bone Dragon remained a massive threat, yet¡­


    Metatron¡¯s glare was not directed in the dragon¡¯s way, but at Alice over yonder. Even as its body was breaking down, Metatron still managed to endure the dragon¡¯s Breath.


    It was also even reaching out with its massive hand.


    It must¡¯ve determined that the small girl over there was far more of a threat than my Bone Dragon.


    The cogwheels around it spun around, and another barrage of spears and arrows rained down.


    Their target was the defenceless Alice.


    ¡°Not on my watch!¡±


    I snapped my fingers. The skeletons¡¯ bodies rapidly crumbled and their bones coalesced into one mass, morphing into a huge wall in front of her.


    The defensive bone wall ably blocked off all the spears and arrows.


    However, the crystal spheres on Metatron¡¯s body began emitting bright light. The magic bombardment of condensed divinity was about to be poured out in every direction.


    The indiscriminate bombardment quickly commenced.


    The Bone Dragon, still biting and tearing into Metatron¡¯s body, was directly struck and exploded into bits. While flames and smoke billowed out from its open maw, the dragon crashed back down to the ground.


    As for me still riding on the dragon¡¯s skull, I too got struck by the light projectiles and got sucked into the massive explosion.


    My bone armour shattered and my battered body fell to earth. While vomiting a mouthful of blood, I urgently shifted my gaze to Alice.


    The magic bombardment was also falling on top of her.


    The projectiles¡¯ destructive power was too incredible. The defensive bone wall wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand an attack of this level.


    This meant that I couldn¡¯t protect her.


    I dunked myself into the lake of holy water before urgently crying out, ¡°Hans!¡±


    ¡°I know, sir!¡±


    Hans stood before Alice and spread open a large parchment.


    The Aztal Rune responded to the Saintess¡¯s power and instantly created a transparent barrier to defend against the bombardment.


    But the undead on standby all around her got sucked into the explosions and blew apart into pieces.


    I pushed myself back up as the lake of holy water tumbled violently all around me.


    My bone armour, soaked by the holy water, creaked noisily as I picked up the grimoire.


    When I turned my head, I saw Metatron¡¯s huge palm descending in my direction. The palm which had been super-heated by the bone dragon¡¯s Breath mercilessly closed in.


    The damn thing seemed to be planning to crush Alice, Hans, Norman, and me in one go, seeing as it came flying in without a shred of hesitation whatsoever.


    However, it¡¯s too late for you.


    I was finally done with my preparations.


    The rune letters inscribed within the grimoire began emitting bright light. And as the pages began flapping wildly on their own, I loudly called out, ¡°Skeleton King!¡±


    The strongest, most powerful undead in existence, and the king of all undead that only the Necromancer King could summon.


    ¡°Donn O Donnchadha.¡±


    THUD-!


    A huge hand made of bones emerged from the lake of holy water and grabbed Metatron¡¯s descending hand.


    The waves of holy water tumbled violently.


    And in the midst of the tumbling waves, I was smiling away.


    I heard the sound of metal being crushed coming from Metatron¡¯s hand.


    -To answer the call of my master¡­


    Spirit Speech permeating in divinity loudly reverberated throughout the interior.


    The remaining three hands emerged from the holy water lake and secured themselves on the ground. The gigantic and imposing skeleton tore open the gap between the dimensions and revealed itself to the world.


    -This servant, the Skeleton King¡­


    Just as Metatron tried to withdraw its hand, a spike made out of bone jutted out from the ground and impaled the arm. Now resembling some sort of a mechanical hedgehog, the archangel¡¯s arm became firmly stuck in that location and was now unable to budge.


    -¡­Has descended.


    The Skeleton King continued to heavily breathe divinity out from its skull that was adorned with a crown.


    It pushed its ten-metre-high giant torso up from the holy water lake.


    Metatron¡¯s figure visibly froze up right then.


    Heh. It probably hadn¡¯t expected its super-sturdy hand to be crushed like that.


    I smirked deeply under the skull helm and spoke up. ¡°Well. It¡¯s about time that we start a proper battle, oh dear archangel.¡±


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Metatron faithfully carried out its role as the sword of god, as well as the guardian of the throne for a very long time.


    After all, it was the divine command from the Holy Emperor.


    Holy Emperor Ordin Olfolse addressed Metatron, as the latter did possess some semblance of an ego.


    -Oh, archangel. When I die¡­


    Ordin spoked with such a bright smile on his face.


    -Continue to protect this land. And, just in case¡­


    The first Holy Emperor continued muttering away, and Metatron committed the will of its noble, sacred master to its core. This turned out to be his last testament and his final command.


    Eventually, the first Holy Emperor passed on from this world and Metatron carried on protecting his tomb.


    It had never experienced defeat; intruders showed up every so often in the past several thousand years, but every single one of them met their ¡®death¡¯ the moment they crossed the doorway.


    No one was permitted to defile this sacred place.


    No one was permitted to destroy this place, either.


    This place was the territory of the absolute guardian. As long as Metatron existed, no one would successfully intrude upon this sacred location.


    It believed that since no creature surpassing it existed in this wide world, it¡¯d forever be able to guard its master¡¯s side.


    However¡­


    Metatron¡¯s glowing eye grew so much larger.


    Its hand got gripped by another which was made out of bones. The giant golem froze right up when it heard creaking metallic noises.


    Even its forearm had been impaled by a spike of bones. Cracks developed on this large spike before smaller skeletons leapt out from there to destroy Metatron¡¯s arm.


    The mechanical archangel stared at its own arm before shifting its gaze over to the Skeleton King. Even though it was only for a moment, Metatron had suffered from an impact force strong enough to temporarily immobilise it.


    Just what on earth¡­


    ¡­was this the ¡®devil¡¯?


    Metatron sensed a truly enormous power emanating from the Skeleton King. If the mechanical archangel could speak in human tongue, it would¡¯ve definitely screamed out aloud by now.


    But that made sense, since the Skeleton King before Metatron was still ¡®hiding¡¯ most of its true power.


    Metatron¡¯s eye looked down to where the Skeleton King¡¯s lower torso should be. It was currently ¡®sealed away¡¯ within the holy water.


    The strength this undead had displayed so far was not on a truly threatening level. However, it still clearly could exhibit a far greater level of power than this despite half of its body currently being sealed away in another dimension.


    The holy water lake was acting as a type of a shackle at the moment. But if the Skeleton King forcibly distorted the dimensions and managed to undo the sealing shackles, then Metatron was certain that it wouldn¡¯t survive the ensuing battle against this giant undead.


    In that case, there was only one solution to this predicament.


    This monstrosity had to be eliminated before it gained its ¡®completed¡¯ strength.


    Metatron¡¯s eye shifted over to the ones responsible for summoning this monster, Allen, and the one helping the boy, Alice.


    These two were just too dangerous. If those two were allowed to leave this place with their lives intact, then there was no doubt that Metatron would be defeated by them in the future.


    The concept of ¡®defeat¡¯¡­


    Metatron was the proud combat treasure of Holy Emperor Ordin Olfolse. As such, there could be no such thing as defeat for god¡¯s sword.


    It¡¯d pour out everything at its disposal on the next attack.


    Metatron forcibly twisted its captured arm. The bone spike that impaled its arm shattered and broke apart, allowing the archangel to finally retract its limb.


    The archangel rapidly flew up again as the cogwheels all around it began spinning a lot faster. Sparks spat out from the wheels as Metatron¡¯s entire body seemed to dye in a reddish hue colour.


    It wasn¡¯t planning to take this beating lying down. It wanted to extinguish every single one of them without leaving behind any traces in order to protect this land.


    That was the sacred duty of the guardian assigned to protect the throne.


    The cogwheels¡¯ spinning speed grew faster and faster.


    More divinity exploded out from Metatron¡¯s entire figure as it pressed its hands together. As if to offer a prayer of its own, the archangel bowed its head.


    ¡®In the name of the noble Holy Emperor¡­¡¯


    Large sparks came off from Metatron¡¯s body.


    ¡®As the sword of the noble and grand Heavenly World¡­¡¯


    Metatron¡¯s pressed hands were gradually forced apart.


    Its hands were shaking around as if the golem was experiencing a seizure. A humongous mass of divinity was coalescing in the space between its hands at the same time.


    ¡®¡­I shall judge these demons.¡¯


    But, just before Metatron could unleash its final attack¡­


    ¡°The beauty of a magician is her patience.¡±


    Metatron¡¯s gaze quickly shifted away.


    An old woman who had been hiding away until now suddenly revealed her true self. An old woman wielding a crystal staff ¨C Queen Rox Aihrance, raised up her staff high in the air.


    ¡°To think that I¡¯d get an opportunity to avenge my father¡¯s passing.¡±


    Almost at the same time, the space above Metatron¡¯s head began distorting. The empty space was forcibly twisted before being ripped apart.


    Arcs of intense electricity buzzed out from the black hole, and the previously-bright interior of the temple suddenly became dyed in darkness.


    Metatron slowly looked upward.


    Boom-!


    A humongous object was now completely filling up the temple¡¯s ceiling.


    This was the result of the highest-class magic that distorted the dimension itself to summon a piece of an astral body ¨C the legendary ¡®Meteor¡¯ spell.


    A huge meteor was shoving aside a copious amount of air as it descended towards its target.

 Chapter 237 - 126. The Tomb’s Guardian -4 (Part One)

    Loud noises rocked the interior of the temple as black smokes gushed out from the descending meteor. The humongous piece of astral rock emitted an ominous crimson hue as it tore through the ripped-open space in order to descend below.


    Even if it was Metatron boasting a large frame around twenty metres tall, it looked shabby and insignificant compared to the falling meteor.


    Metatron¡¯s glowing eye grew wider.


    This was a magic spell?


    How could a measly little human use such a power?!


    Metatron urgently turned its body around after changing its target to the meteor. If that gigantic rock fell, then the resulting shockwave would definitely obliterate Holy Emperor Ordin¡¯s tomb.


    ¡®Can it be stopped in the first place?¡¯


    Metatron further compressed the already-condensed lump of divinity floating between its hands.


    ¡®No, the concept of impossibility does not exist for an archangel!¡¯


    The legendary combat treasure crafted by over twelve thousand members of the clergy¡­ the archangel.


    To the one fulfilling the duty of guarding this tomb, nothing was impossible.


    ¡®I shall show all of you a God¡¯s miracle!¡¯


    The choking heat filled the air. Metatron, who boasted a gigantic frame, felt its entire figure getting increasingly heavier as if the effects of gravity had finally caught up with it, all the while the ripples coming from the descending meteor crashed into the archangel¡¯s surface.


    However, it still forced itself to move.


    ¡®Oh, Holy Emperor Ordin¡­¡¯


    And at the meteor summoned through the distortion of dimensions, Metatron fired the lump of divinity compressed within its hands.


    ¡®I shall faithfully¡­¡¯


    The lump of compressed divinity violently collided against the meteor.


    ¡®¡­Carry out the task you have entrusted me with.¡¯


    Hans, Alice, ¡®Norman¡¯, and Allen stood on their spots and witnessed this spectacle.


    Without a doubt, the ¡®Meteor¡¯ was a terrifying spell. If that rock managed to land on the ground, then even these quartet wouldn¡¯t be safe from the aftermath.


    However, they forgot about getting out of the area of impact and simply watched on in stupefaction. There was a very good reason for that, though.


    Metatron was managing to push the meteor back.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡±


    The clearly-dazed Queen Rox muttered to no one in particular.


    Her magic was able to summon a massive astral body by distorting the space and time itself. The Meteor spell possessed enough power to completely devastate an entire city, yet the archangel was capable of defending against such an attack?


    At this rate, the meteor would be shoved back inside the open portal of the distorted dimension.


    No, wait ¨C that wasn¡¯t even the end of this story.


    The meteor itself was breaking apart.


    The lump of compressed divinity was breaking through the dead-centre of the falling rock. The meteor began breaking apart into countless pieces before spectacularly exploding.


    Debris fell everywhere and licks of flames flared up from the bombardment of the rock shards.


    Whiiiiiiiirrrr!!!


    The cogwheels spun around viciously.


    Metatron didn¡¯t breathe, but these cogwheels did a similar job for the golem.


    This level of damage was acceptable. As long as the tomb wasn¡¯t completely destroyed, it could be miraculously repaired through the power of god¡¯s letters.


    That¡¯s why¡­


    Metatron¡¯s burning gaze shifted over to the intruders.


    They needed to be eliminated right away. If not, Metatron¡¯s powers might go out of control and stop functioning altogether, and then¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s now.¡±


    Allen raised his head up.


    ¡°With this¡­¡±


    Metatron hurriedly scanned its vicinity.


    ¡°¡­We have our winner.¡±


    A violent storm of flames gushed out from the maws of the Bone Dragon hovering right behind Metatron.


    -Oh hear ye, the one possessing similar power as us but serving a different master.


    The Skeleton King¡¯s four bone hands grasped the hilt of its massive sword.


    Metatron stumbled back.


    -We shall grant you an eternal respite.


    The Bone Dragon¡¯s flames and the Skeleton King¡¯s sword descended on their target at the same time.


    **


    Allen stared at Queen Rox. That spell must¡¯ve taken a big toll on her, because she was barely keeping herself upright while leaning against her crystal staff.


    He had no idea that she had disguised herself and joined in on the adventure.


    ¡°But right now isn¡¯t the time to mind that.¡±


    Allen quickly shifted his gaze over to Metatron.


    That thing possessed enough power to even destroy a meteor. However, it must¡¯ve paid a great cost to pull off such a feat.


    This was the very last chance they would get. The combined might of the Skeleton King and the Bone Dragon should be more than enough to subjugate Metatron.


    But then, particles of light began coming off from the bodies of both the Skeleton King and the Bone Dragon.


    Wasn¡¯t that¡­?


    That phenomenon happened only when the summoned beings were about to vanish from this world.


    Allen¡¯s eyes shot open wide under Amon¡¯s skull. He failed to hide the shock he was experiencing due to what was going on here. He then quickly looked over to Alice.


    She was still singing a hymn with her hands gathered before her, but her body was visibly wobbling right now. Her unyielding legs were doing their best to barely prop the rest of her up.


    ¡®Is that why?¡¯


    The backlash on Allen for summoning both the Skeleton King and the Bone Dragon wasn¡¯t as harsh as he initially feared. But it seemed that Alice had been dealing with the most of the burden all this time alone.


    ¡®It¡¯ll get troublesome if you falter here.¡¯


    A regular run-of-the-mill Priest or Priestess would¡¯ve collapsed from the exhaustion by now.


    ¡®Since we decided to do this together¡­¡¯


    Allen quickly rushed over to Alice.


    ¡®¡­You will have to reach the end with me, oh Alice Astoria!¡¯


    ¡°Alice!¡±


    Allen cried out to her.


    She was panting laboriously. Someone seemed to be calling out to her, but even making a simple response proved to be too taxing.


    Her entire body felt heavy like a wet sponge. An indescribable fatigue crept up and was disorienting her vision. She felt queasy enough to throw up, so she hurriedly covered her mouth to hold it back.


    Her legs finally lost all of their strength and she fell to her knees within the holy water lake.


    ¡®No, not yet¡­¡¯


    It was getting too hard to hold on.


    She had no idea that the strength of the divinity deviation would be on this level. Had his highness, the Imperial Prince, been enduring this level of burden all by himself up until now?


    ¡®I must endure.¡¯


    Alice muttered to herself in her mind.


    Metatron was still functioning. If she fell here, then both the Skeleton King and the Bone Dragon would disappear.


    With them gone, there would be no other way to defeat Metatron, a golem powerful enough to even stop a falling meteor.


    ¡®Oh, dear Goddess Gaia, grant me a little bit more strength to¡­¡¯


    Alice pressed her forehead on her gathered hands and earnestly prayed.


    Her voice, which was still coming from her lips, was growing weaker as it unsteadily trembled. Her singing was also getting out of tune.


    The divinity in the surroundings was steadily escaping from her control.


    ¡®I must not give up.¡¯


    She must keep singing and offer her prayers.


    ¡®Only then¡­¡¯


    Alice¡¯s eyelids were getting heavier.


    And right then and there, she heard a noise similar to a ¡®Snap!¡¯.


    Her tired eyes shot open wide in shock.


    She had reached divinity depletion.


    The divinity¡¯s melody which was resonating with her had abruptly stopped. And the divinity ruling over the interior of the temple began going out of control.


    ¡®N-no!¡¯


    The aftermath caused Alice to vomit out a mouthful of blood. Even the little scraps of divinity remaining in her body began circulating backwards.


    As a result, the movements of both the Skeleton King and the Bone Dragon were getting duller. Blinding light radiated from them as they began to disappear from this world.


    An expression of despair floated up on Alice¡¯s face as her body gradually tilted to her side.


    She tried so hard to reach out. The scenes of both the Skeleton King and the Bone Dragon vanishing from existence entered her vision.


    ¡®I can¡¯t give up here¡­¡¯


    Her body was about to hit the holy water¡¯s surface with her consciousness abandoning her. But then, someone held her hand and stopped her falling body.


    Alice forced her drowsy eyes to open and looked to her side.


    Allen, kitted out in a mountain goat¡¯s skull and bone armour, was propping up her figure.


    ¡°Alice Astoria.¡±


    Her eyes grew wider and wider.


    Strength seeped into the boy prince¡¯s hands still supporting her.


    ¡°As you are a Saintess supporting the Imperial Family¡­¡±


    The twelve ¡®wings¡¯ growing out of his back wrapped around Alice¡¯s figure.


    ¡°¡­I shall also support you.¡±


    Divinity rippled; the divine energy within their bodies resonated and spread out everywhere.


    The severed harmony was re-established once more. The faint yet distinct notes of a sacred hymn began leaving Alice¡¯s lips.


    Balance was met and the tuning of divinity resumed.


    Resonance had been reached again.


    Alice was about to pass out a second ago, but now, her heavy breathing regained its stability.


    But at the same time, the backlash began to bore down on both Allen and Alice. The two of them were now sharing each other¡¯s burden.


    While gritting their teeth, Allen and Alice shifted their gazes and stared at Metatron.


    They were really in the home stretch now.


    **


    The Bone Dragon spewed out its destructive flames in order to melt down Metatron¡¯s back panels.


    The archangel swung its arm around to grab the Bone Dragon¡¯s skull before slamming it down.


    But it was right at that moment that an ominous foreboding struck Metatron¡¯s senses. The archangel quickly shifted its gaze and glared at Allen and Alice.


    The two of them were supporting each other.


    The singing voice of the Saintess echoed within the interior and affected the Skeleton King. The glowing eyeballs of the gigantic undead burned even fiercer than before.


    A truly stupendous level of aura gushed out from its frame. The Skeleton King opened its huge jaw and breathed deeply into its bone-and-gold sword.


    -I shall gift this¡­


    The four bone hands tightly grasped the huge sword and pulled it back.


    ¡®Dangerous!¡¯


    Metatron stumbled back. An attack boasting a destructive might exceeding everything that had come so far was about to strike it.


    -Eternal respite to you!


    The Skeleton King¡¯s waist spun rapidly to swing the bone sword diagonally upwards.

 Chapter 238 - 126. The Tomb’s Guardian -4 (Part Two)

    Explosion noises loudly went off in the surroundings and the huge blade blew apart the atmosphere while flying towards Metatron.


    The mechanical archangel crossed its heavy arms.


    ¡®I shall defend against it!¡¯


    If it failed to defend this attack, then this tomb would be¡­!


    -Uwo-ooooooooh!


    Along with the loud yell coming from the Skeleton King, the edge of the blade crushed the arms of Metatron.


    The armour covering the arms broke apart. The arms which were created by trapping divinity under the armour plating were getting severed.


    The sword strike brimming full of divinity sliced apart the entirety of Metatron¡¯s body.


    Metatron¡¯s glowing eye opened wider in shock.


    It was¡­ beautiful to behold.


    The sword that sliced it apart swung past while leaving behind a series of afterimages, and waves of aura belatedly exploded along its trajectory.


    Metatron and the wall of the temple behind it were cleanly sliced apart and began crumbling down.


    ¡®Unable to function¡­¡¯


    Three unfamiliar words that it had never experienced before were deeply engraved within Metaton¡¯s ego.


    ¡®My duty of guarding this tomb for the past thousands of years¡­¡¯


    -Continue to protect this land. And, just in case¡­


    The final command from Holy Emperor Ordin, and also his last will, entered Metatron¡¯s consciousness. Its fading gaze shifted over to Alice, and then at Allen.


    -If a person wielding a sacred power who can defeat you shows up, then¡­


    The bone armour crumbled away and the boy took off the skull helm. Metatron now got to properly register the boy¡¯s face, one that somehow seemed to resemble Holy Emperor Ordin¡¯s.


    -¡­You must take that person as your new master.


    ¡®¡­has come to an end.¡¯


    Metatron¡¯s glowing eye disappeared. Its imposing body began crumbling down.


    The huge armoured figure crashed down on the temple¡¯s floor as it slowly dissipated, bright light particles scattering from its silhouette.


    The same thing also happened to the Bone Dragon; it too disappeared from the view while scattering away light particles.


    As for the Skeleton King, it got sucked back inside the holy water lake while gripping its bone sword.


    Hans stood there in a pure daze and witnessed these spectacles unfold for a long while. As it turned out, a considerable amount of time was needed for an archangel around twenty metres in height to vanish from existence.


    A short while after everything was gone, Hans was finally jolted awake from his reverie and cried out in alarm, ¡°Oh my goodness?! We really did it! Just what are the real identities of his highness and Lady Ali¡­ Huh?¡±


    He got even more shocked and tilted his head in confusion.


    ¡°Y-your majesty, Queen Rox?!¡±


    Queen Rox was breathing a sigh of relief while leaning against her crystal staff. She had spent most of her Mana reserve and was suffering from heavy exhaustion.


    She shifted her gaze around.


    Inside this wrecked temple¡¯s interior were some remnants of the holy water lake. A pair of a young boy and girl could be seen on its surface.


    This would be her first time journeying with the boy, but even then, she couldn¡¯t help but say that¡­


    ¡°His majesty sure has got himself an absurd grandson, hasn¡¯t he?¡±


    While saying that, Queen Rox could only smile wryly.


    The boy and the girl were slumbering away while leaning against each other.


    **


    A few days later, inside the imperial palace of the Theocratic Empire.


    Holy Emperor Kelt was reading a letter while resting on his throne. The sender of the letter was his seventh grandson, Allen.


    Kelt coughed loudly but continued to carefully read the contents of the letter. It started off with a simple greeting before delving into the crux of the matter.


    If the contents were to be simplified, then it¡¯d be¡­


    ¡­To ¡®increase¡¯ his vacation days.


    [I¡¯m still recuperating within the queendom of Aihrance at the moment. I beg of you to graciously understand this point, your majesty.]


    Kelt coughed again.


    He felt a bit frustrated and used a handkerchief to cover his mouth.


    When he continued to shift his heavy-feeling body around in an uncomfortable manner, Cardinal Raphael, who was standing next to the throne, looked at him with worried eyes and tried to ask something, ¡°What was written on the letter, your majesty?¡±


    ¡°¡­It seems that my grandson wishes to take a nice, long break.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t help but wonder, your majesty, just what exactly is his highness Allen doing during his travels?¡±


    Kelt shrugged his shoulders at that question before making a verbal reply. ¡°He must be protecting world peace or some such.¡±


    As it was his one and only seventh grandson¡¯s vacation, Kelt chose not to interfere and let the boy do whatever he wanted to.


    He was planning to treat the boy with respect befitting the one to inherit the Holy Emperor¡¯s throne.


    The thing was, though¡­ the ¡®rumours¡¯ Kelt kept hearing about were all quite absurd to behold. From the incident of the Big Eyes and the subsequent opening of purgatory, to the incident with the Vampires in the Aihrance royal palace¡­. And as if those weren¡¯t enough, the boy also seemed to have gone on an adventure inside the legendary underground labyrinth, Titalos.


    ¡°Rather than a vacation, it¡¯s more like a business trip overseas at this point, isn¡¯t it? Those matters should¡¯ve been handled by us, but we just ended up putting my grandson through a wringer, instead.¡±


    The summoning of the Big Eyes and the pathway to purgatory opening up were grave matters that required the mobilisation of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s forces. Well, all the incidents involving the undead fell under the empire¡¯s jurisdiction, that¡¯s why.


    It was the same story for recovering the ancient treasure of the Imperial Family, as well.


    ¡°Well now. I¡¯ve lost my chance to that boy, haven¡¯t I?¡±


    Kelt could only smack his lips here.


    The legendary labyrinth, Titalos, and the archangel hidden somewhere within¡­


    Kelt always wanted to get his hands on the latter, which was a treasured tool of the Imperial Family. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t just vacate the imperial palace for an extended period like that. Several incidents kept happening lately, which also forced him to largely stay put in the capital. That had been his excuse for not doing anything about the ancient treasure, but this¡­


    ¡°¡­And I really wanted to have a throwdown with the archangel myself¡­¡±


    There was something else he wanted to do.


    Kelt looked back to the letter.


    [Her majesty, Queen Rox of Aihrance, also wishes to convey her greetings to you, your majesty.]


    He wanted to meet Queen Rox one more time during his trip.


    Kelt ruefully folded the letter and put it away, then leaned his back against the throne. ¡°Extend Allen¡¯s vacation, Raphael. Let him be free for as long as he wishes to rest. How unfortunate this is, since I wanted to personally witness the coronation of the Holy King. Oh well.¡±


    ¡°I understand, your majesty.¡± Cardinal Raphael bowed before saying something else, ¡°By the way, his highness the Seventh Imperial Prince has entrusted the Imperial Family with a certain investigation, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°¡­Investigation? Regarding?¡±


    ¡°He sent us a letter earlier through a merchant group hailing from Elusha.¡± Raphael began scratching his chin while making a complicated expression. ¡°The investigation is regarding the current statuses of the defence force in the northern region, plus all those individuals in the other nations that his highness has saved so far. Although the other locations are still under investigation, the one taking place in and around Ronia has been recently concluded.¡±


    ¡°Alright. What¡¯s the conclusion?¡±


    Raphael began rubbing his temples hard.


    The contents of the report he received not too long ago was just too absurd and couldn¡¯t be understood by his logic, so he ended up hesitating.


    Kelt tilted his head in confusion, which prompted Raphael to finally break his silence. ¡°W-well, your majesty. The convicts are¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°¡­Now capable of wielding divinity, apparently.¡±


    Kelt became somewhat dazed by that reply.


    His state didn¡¯t last for long, however. His brain finally digested that statement and his brows shot up high.


    **


    Twenty-fifth of December, the day that Necromancer King Amon was killed.


    This date was a nationally celebrated day back in the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital, but the story was quite different in the fiefdom of Ronia in the northern region.


    ¡®The Tide of Death.¡¯


    That date denoted the peak of the month where a near-unending stream of undead descended on the fiefdom in order to go on a rampage and kill all living beings. It also happened for a whole month, no less.


    The demonic energy belonging to the Necromancer King still lingered in the land, and continued to spread its insidiously powerful influence to the rest of the continent. And it was up to the ¡®prisoners¡¯ of Ronia to stop these undead trying to spread the ¡®infection¡¯ to the rest of the world.


    And right now, in the middle of October, that activity had become much livelier.


    ¡°Stop them!¡±


    The prisoners were crying out.


    However, these people weren¡¯t some random, ragtag bunch of misfits. They were warriors who fought against the Vampire Count¡¯s invasion and had survived the close brush with death.


    Perhaps more notably, they had all become ¡®soldiers¡¯ equipped with proper armaments under the support of the Theocratic Empire.


    ¡°Lord Saint is with us!¡±


    ¡°We are his blessed believers!¡±


    They all used to be felons convicted of various crimes. Some didn¡¯t even believe in the gods in the past.


    But now, they all had become¡­


    ¡°Offer your prayers-!¡±


    ¡­Devout believers.


    The convicts all cried out in unison.


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia-!¡±


    The undead were crawling up on the outer wall.


    ¡°Please grant us the strength and courage to¡­!¡±


    Although their physical bodies were weak, the powers of divinity were now seeping into their flesh.


    ¡°Under the blessing of Lord Saint Allen Olfolse, help us judge the undead-!¡±


    The power of divinity spread throughout their bodies.


    Their physical abilities were rapidly enhanced, and as if to match that, the corners of the prisoners¡¯ lips also curled upwards.


    They no longer felt fear. They unhesitantly yanked out their weapons to subjugate the incoming waves of undead.


    ¡°What on earth¡­?!¡±


    Among them was a certain ¡®convict¡¯ volunteering his services.


    His name used to be Ruppel Olfolse. But now, he no longer had a surname and was a simple ¡®gravekeeper¡¯ named Shuppel living his new life.


    He was currently watching this scene unfold in stupefaction.


    It wasn¡¯t just him, though. The two other individuals standing near him ¨C Harman and Charlotte ¨C were also staring dazedly with shocked expressions on their faces.


    The shock was even greater on Charlotte¡¯s face. She was paying a visit to her hometown after being away from it for so long, and even got to meet her adopted father Gril, once more.


    And that man, Gril, he¡­


    ¡°I shall subjugate these undead abominations. Hahahaha!¡±


    ¡­He was standing tall atop the piles of undead corpses with his sword raised up high, a loud peal of laughter leaving his mouth.


    Charlotte muttered in stupefaction at this sight. ¡°¡­This doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡±


    Every single person who received Saint Allen¡¯s salvation¡­


    They were using ¡®divinity¡¯ to defend the northern region.


    < 126. The Tomb¡¯s Guardian -4 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 239 - 127. Queen Rox -1 (Part One)

    **


    Somewhere in the northern region of the Theocratic Empire. More specifically, within the Land of the Dead Spirits located past the Sacrificial Castle, Ronia.


    A group of convicts were currently walking on a snow-covered hill. The icy atmosphere and frozen trees were blocking their paths.


    Even though these convicts were tasked with scouting duties, they were still filled to the brim with dissatisfaction at the terrible condition of the mountain paths and icy winds rubbing against their skins.


    ¡°Blooming hell, we¡¯re still in the middle of Autumn, so why is it snowing so much already?¡±


    ¡°What are you complaining about when you can see piles of snow even in Summer in this place?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying, you know.¡±


    The convicts were tutting loudly among themselves. While complaining, though, they silently shifted their gazes to their front.


    These people were proud of the physical stamina acquired through performing military ¡®service¡¯ in this place, but even they had to admit their shortcomings when comparing themselves to the young man leading them.


    ¡°In any case, why isn¡¯t that dude getting tired by now?¡±


    ¡°I hear that he¡¯s a gravekeeper, but blimey, his stamina is top-notch, innit?¡±


    ¡°A gravekeeper? Don¡¯t make me laugh, fella. Have you ever seen a gravekeeper using divinity before? Well, have you?¡±


    ¡°Uh? Doesn¡¯t Lord Saint fit that category?¡±


    ¡°Ah. You¡¯re right.¡±


    The convicts continued to stare at the individual named Shuppel.


    The story was, this young man had been dispatched to this northern region about four months ago. The other rumour the convicts heard recently was that he hailed from a ruined noble house, but no one seemed to be able to verify that claim.


    Shuppel scanned his front as white breaths left his lips. The fog and the heavy snowfall were nearly blinding him.


    Although his eyes couldn¡¯t see, his senses still picked up on the presences of some beings, alongside the demonic energy coming from them.


    This feeling he was getting? They had to be undead for sure.


    Shuppel then unsheathed the sword from his hips.


    ¡®Damn it, I¡¯m getting all tense here.¡¯


    His real combat experiences so far came from that time back in Aslan when he was forced to participate in the martial art ¡®tournament¡¯, plus the battles against the undead here in the northern region.


    Even though he had been fighting the walking dead for a while now, he just couldn¡¯t get used to it.


    ¡°Everyone, be on guard,¡± said Shuppel.


    The convicts flinched in surprise and quickly pulled out their weapons as well. Soon, several dozen silhouettes began staggering out from the snowy fog.


    They were at least two metres tall, had green skin, and rather muscular bodies.


    Orcs.


    ¡­However, all those ripped-out bite wounds found all over their bodies and their sunken, lifeless eyes looked quite wrong, for a lack of a better description. All those things served as proof that these ones were no longer with the living, but merely shuffling zombies now.


    ¡°Gimme a break. How many times has it already been today?!¡±


    ¡°Still, they¡¯re just zombies, aren¡¯t they? We¡¯ve got nothing to fear since they aren¡¯t living Orcs. Especially when they¡¯re so slow and lumbering, too.¡±


    The convicts took aim with their weapons as confidence filled up their expressions.


    Their previous selves from a while ago would¡¯ve been shaking in their boots as soon as these walking dead showed up.


    After all, these monsters still moved even after you cut them down with swords and stabbed them with spears.


    However, the story went rather differently these days.


    They had all personally received a miracle under the grace of Lord Saint. And now, they all firmly believed that even Goddess Gaia would look after them and protect them in times of need.


    That¡¯s why there was only one thing they needed to do in this place. And that was to exterminate the lost undead and purify their tainted souls in order to save them. And they would be atoning for their crimes by saving as many souls as possible.


    This was the duty given to them. Their sacred calling.


    Shuppel suddenly raised his head. He seemed to be staring at a spot in the skies for some reason, but then, began frowning quite deeply.


    He froze up instantly before beginning to stumble back. ¡°E-everyone¡­ escape from here, now!¡±


    ¡°Wha?¡±


    Shuppel turned around and broke into an urgent sprint.


    ¡°What are you talking about?! Mister gravekeeper, our opponents are some Orc zombies. Sure, their physical strength is monstrous, but we can still fight these slow and¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s another monster here!¡±


    Shuppel quickly grabbed the arm of one of the dazed convicts and forcibly dragged him away. The other convicts became a bit lost at that, but they still followed after him in the end.


    They all felt puzzled by Shuppel¡¯s actions, as he was obviously in a great hurry to flee from this place while cold sweat caked his face.


    Wondering what¡¯s gotten into him, they turned their heads and looked behind them. Only then did they notice ¡®something¡¯ with a slender and lengthy torso quickly dashing out from the snowy fog.


    ¡°A Ghoul?¡±


    ¡°I see! Even we can¡¯t possibly take on a Ghoul, after all!¡±


    The convicts hurriedly began sprinting away as well.


    But Shuppel, while still breathlessly running away up ahead, cried out to them, ¡°No, I didn¡¯t mean those things when I said there¡¯s a dangerous monster here!¡±


    Shuppel turned his head slightly and looked up again. He was staring at the sky.


    ¡°What the bloody hell is that thing¡­?!¡±


    Shuppel¡¯s complexion became paler than the falling snow.


    The other convicts also turned their heads to look, and almost simultaneously, their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    Because, inside the dense fog and the heavy snowfall¡­ There was a humongous silhouette approaching them.


    It boasted an expansive face, equally broad shoulders, and thick arms and legs.


    The terrain rumbled noisily with a loud ¡®Thud, boom!¡¯ every time this creature took a step forward.


    Shuppel¡¯s mind subconsciously recalled the tomes he read back in the imperial palace all those years ago. One of them contained mythical fables from the bygone eras.


    The spirit realm where fairies were supposed to live, the purgatory where the souls of the dead were sent to, and finally¡­


    The titan realm, apparently sealed away by the fearful gods.


    ¡°¡­J?tunn.¡±


    3


    A giant creature only seen in a mythical tale was standing tall on this snow-covered northern region.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    Warm rays of the sun entered through the windows of the Aihrance royal palace and illuminated my room.


    I was currently reading a letter while sitting up on a bed.


    [Dear Imperial Prince.]


    The sender was Charlotte.


    She was currently carrying out her duties in Ronia.


    Only about a month remained until the twenty-fifth of December. She and the others should be incredibly busy trying to prepare for the upcoming Tide of Death.


    Normally, the majority of the undead showing up there should be no more than some low-tier creatures, but it still warranted some caution since there was the precedence of a count-class Vampire attacking the fiefdom without any warning whatsoever.


    Charlotte was inquiring about how well I was. With questions like, was I healthy? Was I straining myself or not, or even whether I was eating on time or not¡­


    Her questions did put a smile on my face. It seemed like her personality hadn¡¯t changed, considering how she was worrying about other people¡¯s wellbeing here.


    2


    While reading the letter, my head began tilting to the side more and more.


    The main topic of the letter could be found after those short but sweet opening paragraphs.


    [The soldiers and the convicts of the northern region¡­ most of them can now use divinity, your highness.]


    How could I not make a somewhat flustered expression at that?


    However, it was just as I thought.


    I already had some suspicions while observing Yuria, who was still living in the orphanage. What surprised me, though, was the number of people up in the northern region who went through the ¡®cleric awakening¡¯. The number alone was much higher than I anticipated, at least according to Charlotte¡¯s reports.


    The rough estimate put the number of divinity wielders at around eight hundred. Five hundred of them were convicts while the remaining three hundred were the regular troops stationed in Ronia.


    ¡®Still, it¡¯s a bit weird, isn¡¯t it?¡¯


    3


    Never mind trainee Priests, every single one of the awakened was still on the level of mere hatchlings. However, a force of this size was far too big for anyone to simply brush aside as a minor matter.


    Just what could be the reason for the Theocratic Empire to not notice the phenomenon of a mass cleric awakening?


    ¡°Was someone trying to hide it?¡±


    Only one person could potentially command all the convicts and soldiers stationed up in Ronia.


    ¡°Huh. The dude commanding the northern region¡­ Who was it again?¡±


    While rubbing my chin, I dug deep into my memory banks until I finally recalled the feudal lord of the Ronia fiefdom.


    Wasn¡¯t it Count Jenald Ripang? Yeah, it¡¯s definitely him.


    Since this feudal lord and I defended the fiefdom together, it wasn¡¯t all that difficult to eventually recall his name.


    I put the letter down and stared outside the window.


    We were at the tail-end of October already. To match the Autumnal weather, the wind was cold and leaves were falling on the outside.


    Why did Count Jenald, the feudal lord of Ronia, choose to hide this fact?


    I couldn¡¯t figure it out. I didn¡¯t think he was the type to entertain any unwise ambitions just because he was granted the peerage of count. Besides, Charlotte and Harman visited the northern region fairly often, so it should be pretty difficult to evade the eyes of the Theocratic Empire.


    I just couldn¡¯t understand why.


    It¡¯s fine, though. I¡¯d get to find out once I reach there, anyway.


    I took another glance at the last part of the letter.


    [Also, we need your assistance, your highness.]


    My eyes narrowed to slits. Charlotte wouldn¡¯t normally ask for my help like this. Meaning, there was something happening up there that must¡¯ve been pretty serious in nature.


    [According to the reports, a Progenitor Vampire seems to be residing somewhere in the Land of the Dead Spirits. And a mysterious gigantic lifeform was also¡­]

 Chapter 240 - 127. Queen Rox -1 (Part Two)

    Vampires in the Land of the Dead Spirits, was it? This too, was a puzzling element requiring some investigation. Surely the quality of the undead found up there was too poor to create an imposing undead army, so why were the Vampires present in the north?


    Maybe they were trying to do something bad by utilising the annual Tide of Death?


    And a mysterious giant had been seen as well, so¡­


    I definitely needed to investigate all those matters.


    ¡°Not only that¡­¡±


    I read the information regarding warp magic that Hans handed over to me earlier. The coordinates were also pointing to the northern region.


    This also meant that the group of Vampires that raided the Aslan royal palace, the ¡®colleagues¡¯ of the former Second Imperial Prince Ruppel, were hiding there somewhere.


    ¡°Can I directly travel to Ronia if I warp from here?¡±


    I tried to think of a simpler way of reaching there, but soon shook my head. Warping from here to there was next to impossible.


    I heard that I¡¯d need a crap ton of energy in order to warp that far. We weren¡¯t talking about a short hop here, but travelling between two different countries. Only someone like an archmage could pull that off.


    I initially wondered if I could ask Queen Rox for her help, but she was currently too ill from the aftermath of firing that Meteor spell, so it seemed that this option was unrealistic at this stage.


    ¡°¡­By the way, what about your condition?¡±


    I turned my head to my side. That¡¯s where Alice was, silently peeling the skin off of a fruit.


    It had been two weeks since we managed to clear the underground labyrinth, Titalos. My condition hadn¡¯t fully recovered yet, so here I was, still lying on a bed, yet this Lady CQC Saintess was trying to take care of me as if nothing was wrong with her.


    I was beginning to think that maybe she was straining herself a little too much while pretending to be all fine and dandy.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, your highness.¡±


    Even though that¡¯s what she said, there were some droplets of sweat visible on her forehead. Although it was nice to see a healer who devoted herself to the care of her patients, I¡¯d still prefer not to see her strain herself so much like this.


    ¡°Oops, I almost forgot. Mister Hans asked me to give this to you, your highness.¡±


    Alice opened the leather bag resting on the floor and pulled out a bottle before presenting it to me. The gourd-shaped bottle was made out of transparent glass, and its contents looked like some kind of green-coloured viscous liquid. Judging from the colour, it might be related to the plant sap he got from the carnivorous plant found in Titalos.


    Hans, that weirdo. He created something strange again, didn¡¯t he?


    Alice continued on with her explanation, ¡°Mister Hans said that we should pour some holy water you created in the bottle, your highness.¡±


    ¡°My holy water?¡±


    I thought back to the current state of Titalos. What about all the holy water overflowing in there, though?


    ¡°He said that only freshly-created holy water will have the desired effect. Apparently, no foreign substances should be present in the water itself¡­¡±


    I took the lid off the bottle and extended my fingertip in there, then guided my summoned stream of holy water inside.


    Soon, the green-coloured liquid changed to a purplish hue.


    I asked while feeling a bit suspicious, ¡°What the heck?¡±


    Even Alice was shaking her head while looking perplexed herself. It seemed that she had no idea either.


    I lightly shook around the gourd-shaped bottle.


    Could it be poison?


    Nah, that wasn¡¯t possible, since there was holy water in the mix.


    While we were wondering to ourselves, the door to my quarters were abruptly shoved open.


    It was Hans, and he was crying out with a jubilant expression on his face. ¡°I finally decoded it, your highness!¡±


    I furrowed my brows at that.


    Wait, what? Wasn¡¯t he already finished with deciphering the warp runes?


    Just as I began thinking that to myself, Hans shoved a golden-coloured bangle in my direction and spoke in an excited voice, ¡°I¡¯m talking about god¡¯s letters, the Aztal Rune, sir!¡±


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Queen Rox was currently recuperating under the careful assistance of her maidservants.


    She sat on the royal palace¡¯s balcony and stared at the outside scenery.


    Birds were flying by. Her subjects were out and about in the capital¡¯s streets, seemingly enjoying living their lives.


    However, that was only a facade. The queendom of Aihrance that looked peaceful outwardly had already been taken over by the Vampires.


    It was no longer possible to view this nation as ¡®safe¡¯ anymore.


    Not only that, her own condition also wasn¡¯t all that great.


    The Theocratic Empire¡¯s leadership had been hiding this fact, but according to the intel gathered by the Aihrance royal court, Vampires were already spread out to basically everywhere on the continent at this stage.


    They had already infiltrated the hearts of various nations and were quietly ¨C or overtly ¨C raising their forces.


    Without a doubt, they were getting ready for war.


    As it turned out, the civil war of Lome was due to the handiwork of the Vampires. There was no guarantee that the Aihrance queendom wouldn¡¯t suffer similar indignity in the future.


    ¡®And that¡¯s why we need to prepare.¡¯


    She had gotten old and her physique had become too frail. To think that she¡¯d be this sickly after casting one Meteor spell.


    ¡®The war with the Vampires, and also¡­¡¯


    Queen Rox gently closed her eyes before murmuring to herself, ¡°I heard that Kelt has chosen the Seventh Imperial Prince as his successor.¡±


    She opened her eyes and looked at the letter clutched in her grip.


    ¡°But I can¡¯t yield this matter to him, now can I?¡±


    This document with her pledge was actually written in her blood, and was even branded with the royal seal as well.


    Queen Rox smiled wryly before cautiously folding the document. She placed it inside a luxurious envelope.


    ¡°Your majesty.¡±


    A maidservant called out to her and Rox shifted her attention.


    This maid gracefully brought her hands in front of her skirt and bowed deeply. ¡°His highness the Seventh Imperial Prince is preparing to depart, your majesty.¡±


    Queen Rox could only grin bitterly at the report.


    It hadn¡¯t been all that long since they met each other, yet they had to go their separate ways already?


    She still hadn¡¯t done anything worthwhile for the Seventh Imperial Prince as of yet, too.


    ¡°So¡­ Is this how you will depart, child?¡±


    She had a great time all thanks to Kelt¡¯s grandson.


    The adventure back in Titalos was filled with fun and excitement rather than the state of constant fear. And during the battle against the archangel, not only did she get the chance to avenge her father¡¯s passing, she also got to experience the type of thrill that she had not felt before in her entire life.


    That thrill had almost, but not quite, rivalled the emotions from back when she was a young woman going on adventures together with Kelt.


    She definitely needed to thank the Seventh Imperial Prince for gifting these wonderful memories to someone with not much lifespan remaining.


    Also¡­


    ¡°I need to give this letter to him.¡±


    Queen Rox looked at the envelope and smiled gently with her eyes.


    It contained the last gift she could give to the Seventh Imperial Prince. The fate of the entire Aihrance queendom was also hanging in the balance with that important document.


    **


    (TL: Back in the 1st person POV.)


    I stared at the bangle that Hans showed to me.


    I tried to take a better look through [Mind¡¯s Eye], but for some reason, I couldn¡¯t check out its functions at all.


    Then, I noticed a small crack running on the surface of this ridiculously important item meant to summon the one and only archangel.


    No freaking way. Is it broken?!


    This had to be the reason why I couldn¡¯t see a thing through [Mind¡¯s Eye] just now.


    I got genuinely worried and hurriedly studied the bangle from this and that angle. That¡¯s when I sensed a faint little amount of divinity gathering on the crack itself.


    Hans spoke up, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry, sir. It seems that the bangle is repairing itself.¡±


    I was relieved to hear that.


    This thing called magic sure was convenient, wasn¡¯t it?


    I mean, seriously. This wasn¡¯t even manufactured with some Sci-Fi nanomachine technology or something, yet to think that it was actually repairing itself.


    In any case, what a relief it was. If we failed to get our hands on Holy Emperor Ordin¡¯s treasure after going through all that crap, then I might have gone stark raving mad from the unfairness of it all. Probably.


    In any case¡­


    ¡°¡­Why don¡¯t you put them away for now, Hans?¡±


    I stared at Hans. He was in the middle of setting up some ink containing the metallic powder of ground Eltera, a tattooing needle, and a small furnace that had been heated up already.


    He kind of reminded me of a mechanic, what with the goggles on his face and the pair of leather gloves on his hands. Although, the light burning in his eyes made him look more like a lunatic at this point.


    ¡°Sir? Weren¡¯t we going to engrave the rest of the Aztal Rune on your body?¡±


    Huh. Why did it sound like he was having fun tattooing me?


    I shook my head while staring at the clearly-excited Hans.


    Sure, it¡¯d be good to enhance the capabilities of the Aztal Rune, but I thought that if Hans tried to transplant more rune letters on me right now, I¡¯d most likely collapse on my face and black out.


    I spoke to him, ¡°My condition isn¡¯t good enough for that.¡±


    ¡°¡­Ah, I see.¡±


    Hans nodded in disappointment.


    It was around the same time that knocks came from the door.


    Alice looked at me with a look that was asking for my permission, so I nodded to indicate yes. She got up and opened the door, and I saw Queen Rox through the open gap of the doorway.


    ¡°Your majesty?¡±


    She was wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a simple dress. While looking like a lady from a well-to-do family, she spoke to me with a letter held in her hands.


    ¡°Seventh Imperial Prince, would you kindly spare me a moment of your time?¡±


    < 127. Queen Rox -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 241 - 128. Queen Rox -2 (Part One)

    **


    Not a speck of clouds could be seen dotting the sky.


    Quite a crowd was out and about in the city¡¯s streets.


    We were currently strolling in the avenues of the local marketplace.


    Queen Rox raised her head while holding the edge of her wide-brimmed hat. ¡°¡­It¡¯s been so long since I last walked outside the royal palace like this!¡±


    It kinda felt like I was watching a lady from the sticks going on her very first sightseeing tour of the big city.


    ¡°But ma¡¯am, don¡¯t you go on inspection tours of the capital?¡±


    ¡°I do that as the queen of the nation while riding on carriages, your highness. The subjects kowtow to me as well, so¡­¡±


    Queen Rox smiled bitterly and walked ahead of me. She stopped before a shop and began chatting to the shopkeeper.


    I didn¡¯t say anything and silently followed after her.


    She asked me earlier if I had some time to spare, and what she had in mind turned out to be a stroll through the city¡¯s streets. But that couldn¡¯t be everything. She probably had something else planned.


    A couple of kids were running around the gaps of the canvas-roofed stalls. One of them tripped and fell head-first. Queen Rox bent down and helped the child up, gently comforting the boy.


    Plenty of people were present in the streets and she was basically defenceless right now.


    No, hang on a minute. I guess that¡¯s not really true?


    I glanced at the crowd all around us.


    ¡°Oh! There are a lot of shoppers around today for some reason!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably because of the nice weather, fella.¡±


    I chuckled hollowly at the conversation between the shopkeepers.


    Adventurers, magicians, and even mercenaries could be seen ¡®window shopping¡¯ at the moment. A familiar face was among them.


    It was Adolf, the upper Iron-ranked adventurer. And then, there were knights of the royal court, magicians under the employ of the royal family, etc¡­


    Quite a large contingent of combatants, disguised as simple window shoppers, were providing protection to Queen Rox.


    Before I had a chance to notice it, Rox was carrying a basket of fruits.


    She muttered softly, ¡°The head maid and maidservants will enjoy this,¡± before pointing at the distant end of the street we were on.


    The location she pointed at wasn¡¯t the usual road paved for horse-drawn carriages, but the well-maintained canal and docks where the boats were moored.


    She grinned and spoke to me, ¡°I¡¯ve never ridden on a boat that small before. How about we take a trip in one?¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s what you wish, your majesty.¡±


    I smiled back in reply.


    We were getting ready to depart from this country. It wouldn¡¯t harm anyone If I went on a brief sightseeing tour of the capital of the Aihrance queendom, which was rather famous for being one of the best tourist destinations in the continent.


    I paid some money to the oarsman and climbed aboard the canal boat first. Then I helped Queen Rox come aboard the boat herself.


    The oarsman began rowing his oar and the boat slowly set off.


    I glanced at the dude. His previously friendly face meant to welcome his customers was nowhere to be seen now, instead replaced by a pair of incredibly sharp eyes diligently surveying our surroundings.


    Huh. Even the oarsman was a guard in disguise.


    I shifted my attention away from him and addressed Queen Rox, ¡°Your majesty, it seems that your retainers care a great deal about you.¡±


    She closed her eyes as if to fully enjoy the gentle breeze stroking her skin. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped as I¡¯m the sole carrier of the royal bloodline. If something happens to me, those nobles will no doubt break into fighting over who inherits the throne. And when that happens¡­¡±


    Well, I¡¯m sure it¡¯d turn into a civil war.


    Queen Rox, who was sitting across me, opened her eyes and smiled back. ¡°And that¡¯s why I¡¯m searching for a successor even as we speak.¡±


    ¡°When you say a successor, have you already chosen someone, by any chance?¡±


    She looked up at the sky above. ¡°No, not really. I must choose someone soon. After all, I¡¯m not that young anymore. However, I do have a few people in mind.¡±


    A bitter grin formed on her face next.


    ¡°The house of Marquis Demique, the house of Duke Brine, the house of Duke Selerry¡­ They are descendants of the royal bloodline, even if the actual purity of the royal blood coursing through them is negligible. Unfortunately, selecting one of them¡­ If something goes very wrong, then it will invite yet another major turmoil to Aihrance.¡±


    All those folks were distrusting and jealous of each other. Every single one of them wanted to climb up the ladder and become the next ruler.


    In a nutshell, that was what the nobles who inherited a bit of royal blood were like.


    Queen Rox knew that very well, and from where I was sitting, it seemed as if she couldn¡¯t readily select the next successor to the throne precisely because of their faults.


    She continued on, ¡°The one with the least backlash should be me adopting a child, but¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­But the bloodline will cause an issue.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t cause a civil war, but the resistance from the nobles will be severe. And there¡¯s also a good possibility that the new ruler might end up as someone¡¯s puppet.¡±


    ¡°Your majesty, don¡¯t you have any other family members? Maybe even a relative?¡±


    ¡°Other family members, is it¡­?¡±


    Queen Rox elegantly waved her index finger around in the air. She moved gracefully like an orchestra conductor, and caused the surrounding air to expand and stretch tautly.


    All the noises from our surroundings, like the sound of the canal, the callings of the shopkeepers in the streets, the footsteps of the passersby, got blocked off.


    I looked over to her in a slight puzzlement.


    She returned my gaze and smiled quite gently. ¡°There is indeed someone who has inherited my bloodline.¡±


    My brows rose up high.


    Before coming here, I did some investigation on the royal court of Aihrance. However, there hadn¡¯t been a single mention of a blood relation to Queen Rox.


    I asked, ¡°Does that mean you have a family member somewhere?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Although it¡¯s supposed to be a secret,¡± she replied with a bright grin. ¡°I did have a lover many moons ago.¡±


    A lover? But, uh, calling a lover your family?


    I pondered this only to freeze up in my spot.


    ¡­H-hey, hang on a sec. Isn¡¯t this going to tread on risky ground here?


    Why does it feel like I just heard a scandal involving a queen of a nation, who everyone assumed to be single all this time?


    ¡°Is it alright for me to complain a little about something?¡±


    I had to nod at her ¡®request¡¯ since the atmosphere didn¡¯t feel like it¡¯d permit my refusal.


    ¡°Thank you. This is a tale from long ago.¡±


    A story from when Queen Rox was much younger, huh.


    She told me that, while studying magic inside the royal palace, she¡¯d often idolise the tales involving brave warriors or magicians going on adventures. Tales where they rescued others in grave dangers and went on fantastic adventures.


    She deeply romanticised them.


    ¡°Even though I was no longer a child, I still acted immaturely and sneaked out of the royal palace.¡±


    She wandered around in the forest of demonic beasts near Elusha. Her excuse was to procure materials for her magic experiments, and satisfy her thirst for adventure, as well.


    ¡°During one of my misadventures back then, I lost my way and ended up wandering blindly for a few days. And just as I began reaching my limit fending off constant attacks from monsters, I met a man.¡±


    He was a really powerful Paladin with a heroic personality.


    That was the very first time Rox felt her heart truly flutter.


    It seemed like she was fully immersed in the reminiscent of the past, as a look of deep longing clouded her eyes. ¡°Oh, how simple I was back then. A handsome warrior rescuing a princess in distress. Maybe it was my romanticised ideals to blame, because I fell head over heels at first sight.¡±


    She immediately got permission from the royal court and set off on a journey with this Paladin. They travelled all over the continent and started a brief relationship, which eventually led to them falling in love for good.


    Her story continued on. ¡°The whole royal court was thrown into disarray when I returned home. In a way, such a reaction was inevitable. The princess of a nation came home pregnant, after all. I still remember how flustered I became after seeing my father¡¯s stupefied expression. We couldn¡¯t afford to reveal the father¡¯s identity, so we employed every means at our disposal to hide my pregnancy.¡±


    Queen Rox giggled and lightly waved her hand around. But all I could do at the moment was make a cramped, awkward grin.


    Uhm, dear queen of Aihrance? I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s something you can smile about like that¡­


    Maybe all of the royalties living in this world had some disposition of a mangnani? I mean, whoever they were, they seemed to be pretty similar when it came to making their retainers deeply worried.


    Queen Rox raised both of her hands and assumed a position of holding a baby in the empty air as a content smile floated up on her face. ¡°But holding my baby for the first time was the happiest moment in my whole life. The joy of being a mother¡­ I felt genuinely happy that the child of my loved one was now with us. However¡­¡±


    She locked her gazed on me.


    ¡°¡­That child is now with his father. Due to the difference in our status, that child still has no clue about the truth of his origins. And that¡¯s why I¡¯d like to ask you for a favour, your highness.¡±


    Queen Rox pushed forward a letter in my direction.


    ¡°May I entrust the safekeeping of this letter to you?¡±


    Naturally, my brows shot up high as I hesitantly received the letter.


    Why was she giving this to me?


    I quickly noticed that this letter, packaged with care inside the luxurious envelope, featured not only the royal seal of the Aihrance queendom, but even some kind of protection-type magic spell.


    ¡°That letter contains details regarding that child¡¯s identity. Please give it to him.¡±


    ¡°But your majesty, you don¡¯t want the Aihrance royal court to do it, but me?¡±


    ¡°In case something happens to me, it¡¯ll become impossible to trust anyone else, but you¡¯re the sole exception, your highness.¡±


    It¡¯d be a cinch to locate her successor by utilising the power of the Imperial Family. Since the father was a Paladin, he must¡¯ve been affiliated with the Theocratic Empire.


    I didn¡¯t think there would be a lot of obstacles in finding both the father and her child.


    But still, why did she trust me to this extent? Where was her confidence coming from?


    Queen Rox interlocked her fingers and continued on. ¡°I¡¯m entrusting this task to you because I believe in my old travel companion, his majesty Kelt Olfolse.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Will you deliver it to my child?¡±


    I studied her for a bit. Her gentle face was subtly filled with satisfaction.


    She must¡¯ve not met her own child for decades, so how could she even make a face like that, I wonder?


    ¡°How about meeting your son directly, ma¡¯am?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Because I¡¯ve already¡­¡± A warm grin floated up on her face as she replied, ¡°¡­met his son, after all.¡±

 Chapter 242 - 128. Queen Rox -2 (Part Two)

    **


    The next day, my group left the capital of Aihrance while Queen Rox bade us goodbye.


    We rode on the carriage the Aihrance royal court had prepared for us.


    As the carriage clunked noisily and marched forward, I couldn¡¯t help but recall Queen Rox.


    What a strange feeling this was.


    I looked down at the letter she had given me before asking Hans, ¡°Hey, Hans. Can you tell me what kind of magic is cast on this letter?¡±


    A magic spell was cast directly on the letter. My [Mind¡¯s Eye] couldn¡¯t check it out as it wasn¡¯t a magical item.


    Hans, who was riding in the carriage along with me, glanced at the envelope. He was busy putting on a pair of leather gloves. ¡°It¡¯s a curse, sir.¡±


    ¡°Eh? A curse?!¡±


    Despite seeing me flinch in surprise, he replied in an unconcerned manner. He was even putting on a leather apron as if he was getting ready for an operation. ¡°Yes. However, it¡¯s designed to be undone when something happens to the wellbeing of the caster, sir. The only danger here is the letter combusting when someone tries to forcibly open it.¡±


    ¡­Well, that¡¯s a relief.


    Which meant that this letter couldn¡¯t be opened unless something happened to Queen Rox.


    I put my thoughts in order before staring at Hans.


    Cold sweat drops stained his forehead, probably because of motion sickness. His hands were shaking unsteadily as well.


    ¡°W-well, then. Should we get started, your highness?¡±


    ¡°¡­Are you really planning to engrave the Aztal Rune on my body in your current state?¡±


    Hans picked up the tattooing needle with his gloved hands and adjusted the goggles on his face. He checked out my back and began snickering. ¡°But sir, isn¡¯t this what you wanted?¡±


    ¡°Make sure it doesn¡¯t hurt, alright?¡±


    ¡°Should I anaesthetise you, in that case? Of course, there¡¯s a slight side effect of all the pain manifesting at once later. As a matter of fact, a regular person might faint from it.¡±


    ¡°¡­No thanks, then.¡±


    I¡¯d prefer to get this done after setting up a camp somewhere, but that would take too long.


    Hans got down to tattooing the rune letters on my bare back. It seemed that he managed to create the real deal after checking out the rune letters that appeared on Ordin Olfolse¡¯s treasure earlier.


    However, it was now my turn to break out in cold sweat. Stinging pain came from my back and I could feel my flesh burning.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t worry, sir. There won¡¯t be any scars.¡±


    Hans seemed to be talking to himself and I could only groan softly at that.


    Alice, who was sitting next to me, started wiping away my sweat. Hoping to forget about the pain coming from my back, I tried to talk to her. There was a matter I had almost forgotten about that needed to be discussed.


    ¡°Alice.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness?¡±


    She lightly tilted her head.


    If it¡¯s her, she might have some idea.


    ¡­An idea on the cause of all those people who went through an awakening after I injected some divinity into them.


    I told her the stories regarding the convicts in Ronia.


    Alice¡¯s eyes opened progressively wider. ¡°Such a thing was even possible, your highness?!¡±


    ¡°Huh. So you also don¡¯t have a clue?¡±


    That¡¯s too bad. I figured Alice might have some idea as to why this unusual phenomenon was happening, but it seemed that I had set my expectations a bit too high.


    Could it be that such a way to awaken Priests was impossible according to the laws of this world? If so, should I blame this game system of mine¡­?


    ¡°Ah, please wait.¡±


    Alice called out to me and I shifted my gaze over to her.


    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s not completely improbable¡­¡±


    The end of her sentence blurred as she sneaked a glance at me.


    I asked her, ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°There used to be two different ways of making someone awaken to divinity, your highness. One is the widely-accepted method currently in use, and the other one is¡­¡±


    The current way was for one to study the cleric¡¯s textbook, train, offer prayers everyday, and gradually come to awaken their ability to wield divinity.


    But there was one more way.


    ¡°And it¡¯s the method utilised in the ancient past, your highness. Which was to drink holy water and fervently pray to the gods.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°This method involves drinking holy water that boasts very high purity during breakfast, lunch, and dinner.¡±


    This ancient method was to forcibly awaken oneself by making a person drink a ton of powerful divinity. In wuxia terms, it¡¯d be like swallowing up lots of elixirs.


    ¡°Of course, that alone cannot completely explain this phenomenon, your highness. The number of people who can awaken through such a method are too few and this process is just too inefficient, so no one relies on it in modern times.¡±


    Meaning, we still had no idea on the cause.


    Just as I began smacking my lips in disappointment¡­


    I spied Alice clutching her fist tightly.


    She was silently contemplating something.


    At the end of her deep pondering, she cautiously opened her mouth. ¡°There is a story that comes from the ancient times.¡±


    I tilted my head at her sudden story-telling.


    ¡°It¡¯s a story about a miracle performed by a Saint.¡±


    ¡°A miracle, is it?¡±


    ¡°That person used the miracle granted by Goddess Gaia to heal people, and all those who received his healing expressed their gratitude by believing in the gods.¡±


    Began believing in the gods, is it?


    That means¡­


    ¡°Yes, the number of the believers increased explosively back then. And although only a little bit, some of them started using divinity.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°This is one of the miracles that takes place whenever the world finds itself in great turmoil, your highness.¡±


    Quite a few gods existed in this world. And they would occasionally send people with their fragment to the mortal realm, hoping to restore the balance of the world.


    ¡°That is the task of the Saint and the Saintess.¡±


    Alice quietly whispered that.


    Whenever the world experienced countless calamities, Saints and Saintesses would be born.


    They answered the will of the gods to correct the order of the world, subjugated the ones trying to break the balance, and offered salvation to the masses.


    And the ones trying to upset the balance of the world right now, were¡­


    Alice began nodding as if she had made her mind up over something. ¡°I¡¯ve become sure of it now after listening to you, your highness. That power to increase the number of believers, it¡­¡±


    She stared straight at me.


    ¡°Your highness, you¡¯re definitely a Saint with a god¡¯s fragment.¡±


    I became speechless after her declaration.


    **


    I had no awareness of me being a Saint whatsoever. Besides all that, it didn¡¯t matter to me whether I had a god¡¯s fragment or became Gaia¡¯s proxy or whatever.


    I¡¯d get my proper answer once we reached the northern region, anyway.


    ¡°It¡¯s all done, sir! We¡¯re finished with a portion of it for the time being.¡±


    Hans lifted up a mirror. I took a look at my back through the reflection. The golden-coloured rune letters were emitting faint glow on my skin.


    I grinned at that sight.


    There they were, the god¡¯s letters.


    With the imitation, I could only perform complete regeneration and divinity amplification, but the story was going to be a lot different now.


    There was another ability that I hadn¡¯t touched yet.


    ¡®Ability transfer.¡¯


    That was the ability Mikael, the former leader of the Church of Caiolium, used to great effect.


    But since my Aztal Rune was the real deal, its effect should be far more eye-opening, that¡¯s for sure.


    And I was getting this powerful itch to test it out.


    While the carriage continued to clunk away, I extracted a piece of bone I got from Titalos.


    Alice asked, ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°The bone of a Wyvern.¡±


    It was one of the ancient dragon species that happened to be capable of flight in Titalos.


    No matter how diligent the ancient Necromancers applied their knowledge gained from the grimoires, they still required quite a considerable level of mastery if they wanted to control an ancient dragon.


    However, my story would be a bit different from theirs with the Aztal Rune now in the mix.


    ¡°Stop the carriage.¡±


    Hans called out to the carriage driver sitting in front of the cab, and the carriage came to a stop. We went outside.


    I dropped the Wyvern bone on the ground, then summoned holy water through my fingertip. The water seeped into the bone.


    At the same time, the Aztal Rune tattooed on my skin began emitting golden light.


    [Divine Aura has been used.]


    The ground broke apart and bones made out of divinity rapidly gathered before us.


    A pair of thick legs firmly stood on the ground. A lengthy spine connecting the neck and the tail materialised next.


    The undead raised its snake-like skull as a pair of bone wings spread open wide.


    A blue-coloured rune letter was engraved on the Wyvern¡¯s skull.


    With this, I finally managed to ¡®upgrade¡¯ my undead by another level through [Divine Aura], which wasn¡¯t possible before.


    I didn¡¯t even need to be in contact with the undead, either. The ¡®ability transfer¡¯ of the Aztal Rune was more than enough for the job.


    Hans flinched in shock and froze up on the spot, while Alice was quietly muttering to herself in a daze, ¡°A Bone Wyvern¡­¡±


    A Wyvern was believed to be the descendant species of a dragon.


    I extended my hand. The Wyvern lowered its large skull towards me and began rubbing itself on my palm.


    ¡°The northern region is still pretty far from here.¡±


    I turned my head towards Hans and Alice, and grinned brightly at them.


    ¡°So, wanna take a ride?¡±


    < 128. Queen Rox -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 243 - 129. Ronia of the Northern Region (Part One)

    Translated by: A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by: RED


    **


    The Land of Dead Spirits was a place of constant dense fog and vicious snowstorms lashing out seemingly endlessly.


    Toward the end of this land was a frozen ocean and a barren plain covered in nothing but thick layers of snow.


    And on top of the densely-piled snow were staggering zombies wandering around aimlessly. Their numbers seemed to be well past tens of thousands ¨C no, maybe hundreds of thousands, if the ones scattered in the vicinity were all taken into account.


    A group of Vampires kitted out in robes were currently treading on this land where the undead, usually found scattered throughout the continent, were naturally drawn to.


    Not only were these Vampires strongly resistant to cold, the demonic energy emitted by the Land of the Dead Spirits actually made them feel a sense of belonging to this place.


    They were led by a Lycanthrope who had been charged with a mission.


    This being had been acknowledged by the Vampire King himself and was no longer seen as a mere pet by the Vampires, but as an actual member of the Vampire hierarchy.


    Its hulking body was at least three metres tall. Its fangs were sharp, and his claws were deadly.


    Its name was Helk, and its rank was ¡®count¡¯.


    The creature raised its head and stared at the imposing ¡®ice castle¡¯ standing tall amidst the snowy terrain.


    ¡°¡­So, that¡¯s the former fortress of the Necromancer King?¡±


    The grand fortress-like structure apparently constructed by the Necromancer King, Amon, all those years ago¡­


    It was partially destroyed as if to serve as a stark reminder of the intense battle fought against the Theocratic Empire in this very location.


    Right now, it was also Count Timong¡¯s base that doubled as a lab where all sorts of heinous experiments were being carried out even at this very moment.


    Count Helk and the group of Vampires stepped inside the Necromancer King¡¯s fortress.


    When they strode past the open fortress gates, a dullahan that seemed to be a puppet of the Vampires appeared to block their path. It carried its head in one hand, while a lit lantern was in the other.


    The eyeballs in that severed head shifted around. The undead was considerably large, but when compared to Helk, it came across as relatively shabby.


    Helk spoke up first. ¡°I¡¯ve come to meet Count Timong.¡±


    -This¡­ way¡­


    The dullahan replied with a cracked voice and turned around to lead the way.


    Count Helk and the Vampires followed after the undead and walked inside the fortress, but they still didn¡¯t forget to survey their new surroundings.


    ¡°It seems that the rumours of him going insane must be true.¡±


    Blood-stained rune letters were inscribed in various places in the fortress.


    Helk had heard that Timong often abducted Priests in order to use them as research material in his warp gate experiments, but to think that he still persisted with such a vile hobby even now.


    Unfortunately, even that would come to an end soon.


    The Vampire King no longer wished to delay the war. He wanted to gather all the Progenitor Vampires and wage a full-on war against the Theocratic Empire.


    And Count Timong¡¯s presence was an absolute necessity during this war. After all, the ¡®maturing jars¡¯ he had invented could force the undead stuck inside to evolve to something even stronger.


    Those things would become absolutely essential in increasing the number of Vampires.


    Count Helk continued to walk forward inside the partially destroyed fortress while thinking that to itself, only for it to tilt its head in confusion.


    There was a large and empty plaza inside the fortress, but it had a huge hole in the middle. And all sorts of undead creatures were busy digging the earth out to widen the pit even further.


    Why were they excavating the ground like that?


    ¡®It¡¯s impossible to figure out what¡¯s in the head of an insane Alchemist.¡¯


    It was right at that moment that a massive hand suddenly extended out from the hole. It proceeded to slam down on the undead nearby.


    The undead getting crushed into bloody meat paste looked like small, insignificant insects compared to the hand¡¯s sheer size. The hand then scooped the crushed undead up before disappearing under the ground once more.


    Helk, who witnessed that spectacle, froze up in its spot.


    ¡®What the hell did I just witness?!¡¯


    ¡°Did his majesty the Vampire King send you?¡±


    Helk turned its head at that voice.


    The Progenitor Vampire with a bent back like a hunchback that was at least three metres tall, and boasted stitched-up scars and bizarre-looking tumorous growths all over its skin, was standing not too far from the lycan.


    It was Count Timong. He was kitted out in leather gloves, an apron, and a pair of goggles.


    ¡°A mere pet is a Count now¡­? I can only express how impressed I am at his majesty the Vampire King¡¯s boundless generosity.¡±


    Helk shot a displeased glare at Count Timong. But it soon withdrew the glare and pointed at the huge hole in the ground. ¡°What is that?¡±


    Count Timong stared at the pit dug out by the undead and snickered insidiously. ¡°It¡¯s a jar, of course.¡±


    ¡°A¡­ jar?¡±


    An undead was thrown inside such a huge pit so that it could be matured? It seemed that a monstrous existence required by the upcoming war was being ¡®tamed¡¯ inside there.


    Helk felt a bout of intense curiosity to find out what the unknown creature looked like, but it somehow managed to suppress its urges and addressed Count Timong, instead. ¡°His majesty has sent a message. He has commanded all of us to gather to prepare for the war. As such, Count Timong, you must¡­¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t be going.¡±


    Helk¡¯s brows rose up.


    The order was issued by not just anyone, but the one and only Vampire King. The mere notion of ignoring the order from his majesty was utterly inconceivable.


    Timong continued on, ¡°I was given a separate mission. And that is to craft an item, a tool, that can utterly crush the Imperial Family. His majesty the Vampire King has directly ordered me.¡±


    ¡°That mission has been rescin¡­¡±


    ¡°If you wish to order me around, bring along a Progenitor with a marquis rank or a higher peerage with you. I¡¯m in no mood to entertain the barking of a pet creature.¡±


    Helk¡¯s eye muscles twitched in anger.


    This foolish Alchemist had been saying some things that touched the lycan¡¯s reverse scale for a little while now.


    Helk began loosening up its muscles. ¡°I¡¯ve been tasked with gathering all the Progenitors by none other than his majesty. However, if anyone dares to disobey¡­¡±


    The lycan¡¯s figure began ballooning up. Its muscles grew larger and veins bulged on its hide.


    The sharp claws lengthened and curved inward like meat hooks.


    Count Helk¡¯s physique had ballooned past four metres in height, and now, it was tall enough to glare at Timong from above. ¡°¡­I shall drag that fool away.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    Count Timong looked up at Helk before studying various parts of the lycan¡¯s body.


    The corners of his lips curled upwards. ¡°The meat of a wild beast, is it¡­? Yes, it indeed is a nice offering.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Helk momentarily froze up at that.


    However, Count Timong simply snapped its fingers as his response. ¡°J?tunn.¡±


    Thud¡­ Thud¡­!


    A huge shadow was suddenly cast over Count Helk.


    The lycan found this situation somewhat hard to understand and raised its head to look up. And that¡¯s when it discovered several giants with massive physiques at least eight metres tall walking out of the fortress.


    The ground cracked apart from the footsteps of these creatures, caused by their heavy weights. Their rotting skin, visible between their tough muscles, was seemingly frozen solid.


    ¡°Wha¡­ what the hell?!¡±


    Helk stared at the zombified J?tnar and unwittingly stumbled back in shock.


    ¡°Hey, you.¡±


    Helk lowered its gaze at that voice.


    Count Timong, the owner of said voice, was now pointing at the hole in the ground. ¡°How about volunteering to become the next offering?¡±


    **


    Ding-! Ding-! Ding-!


    Loud alarm bells were going off in the distance.


    Charlotte, who was slumbering quietly away until then, hurriedly raised her upper torso up on the bed. She quickly shook her head full of bed hair.


    Knocks came from the door and maidservants rushed inside her room.


    ¡°The undead have begun their raid, my lady.¡±


    The maids informed her of the current situation.


    Charlotte addressed them, ¡°I¡¯ll be setting off. Assist me.¡±


    The maids busily moved about at her command. They helped her with putting on the set of white armour.


    After the Paladin¡¯s armour was placed on her, she attached the divine sword on her hips and quickly left the residence. She rode on a horse and urgently headed towards the city¡¯s outer walls.


    ¡°They have come. Do not let your guard down!¡±


    Harman was already present, issuing commands from above the outer wall.


    The normal enlistd soldiers operated the large siege weapons, while the convicts rushed up to the outer walls while wielding bows, spears, swords, and maces.


    They glared sharply at the ground some distance away, which was currently shrouded in a veil of darkness.


    -Ku-eeeeeehk!


    Along with the encroaching icy chill, the undead horde was approaching the northern fiefdom of Ronia.


    Their monstrous howls sent shivers down the spines of all who listened, and their collective footsteps were loud and raucous enough to rock the ground below.


    All anyone could see right now were countless glowing crimson eyes inside the darkness.


    ¡°Fire!¡±


    Harman roared out his command. The arrows were soaked in oil and lit up before being let loose. The burning arrows rained down on the ground outside the walls, striking the zombies and lighting them up in bright flames.


    Despite all their staggering, they didn¡¯t stop advancing until their whole bodies were too damaged to move by the flames.


    The types of undead showing up were varied, but still mostly limited to skeletons, zombies, and ghouls. All of them were low-tier undead.


    However, various monsters and demi-humans had been zombified along with the usual human zombies, which imparted a strange sense of uniqueness to the incoming horde.


    For instance¡­


    ¡°Bloody hell, it¡¯s an Ogre!¡±


    (TL: ¡°J?tnar¡± is a plural of ¡°J?tunn¡±.)

 Chapter 244 - 129. Ronia of the Northern Region (Part Two)

    Translated by: A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by: RED


    **


    Zombie Ogres were renowned for their physical strength.


    One of them tottered towards the fortress gate, rolled up its fist, and punched at the gate itself.


    BANG-!


    The gate shook around noisily.


    ¡°Prop it!¡±


    Support beams had already been placed on the gate, but the whole thing would eventually break if the Ogre continued to pound on the gate from the outside.


    Convicts rushed towards the gate and propped it with everything they had in order to ensure that the gate wouldn¡¯t break down.


    In the meantime, the top commander of Ronia, feudal lord Jenald was climbing up to the top of the outer wall.


    Convicts saluted him while slamming their weapons on the floor. While standing in a line, they glanced at the zombies approaching the outer walls and whispered among themselves.


    ¡°Just how many have shown up now?¡±


    ¡°¡­Can¡¯t be sure because of how dark it is, but it must be at least around five thousand.¡±


    The convicts maintaining their formation glanced at their colleagues.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, that¡¯s more than last year, isn¡¯t it?! We¡¯re still in the middle of November, yet if it¡¯s this bad already, then that means¡­¡±


    ¡°Yup, we¡¯ll be in dire straits come December twenty-fifth.¡±


    The convicts all groaned under their breaths. However, although they felt tense, none of them were feeling scared at the moment.


    They had become quite seasoned already by now. They knew full well that they could fight back if their opponents were merely slow-moving zombies.


    Most importantly¡­


    CRUNCH-!


    ¡°The gate¡¯s been breached!¡±


    The convicts turned their heads and stared at the fortress gate. A zombified Ogre was trying to force its way inside while flailing its arms about.


    The convicts then shifted their attention over to their feudal lord, Jenald Ripang.


    He unsheathed his sword and declared loudly. ¡°I now permit the usage of your divinity.¡±


    ¡­They could fight back, since all of them were now capable of utilising divinity!


    ¡°Everyone, gather up!¡±


    The convicts quickly gathered into a formation in a spot some distance away from the gate.


    ¡°Offer your prayers!¡±


    The Ogre and other zombies began flooding out of the breached gate like some kind of a swarm of disgusting insects.


    Feudal lord Jenald Ripang and the convicts stood tall on this spot a bit away from the undead. They all deeply sucked in their breaths before exhaling out.


    They temporarily put their armaments down on the ground and went down on their knees. While still in their unguarded state, they brought their hands together and began praying.


    ¡°Oh, the goddess of mercy and love, Gaia.¡±


    The convicts murmured softly.


    Zombies were still approaching them even then.


    Putting your weapons down despite knowing that zombies were right in front of you was akin to committing mass suicide.


    All the praying convicts knew this, so a flood of cold sweat inevitably broke out on their skin.


    ¡®Concentrate, concentrate!¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯ll be fine. Those things are slow moving, anyway.¡¯


    They inwardly muttered that to themselves and prayed fervently with their mouths outwardly.


    ¡°Please grant your protection to us, the ones who have received the grace of Lord Saint.¡±


    They began sensing the power of divinity from somewhere deep in their bodies. All of their fatigue vanished, and their tense, tight muscles relaxed.


    At the same time, strength began overflowing throughout their bodies.


    Smiles floated up on the faces of the convicts after sensing the sacred power welling up inside them.


    Feudal lord Jenald glanced at the others before locking his glare on the zombified Ogre that had come fairly close.


    The living began picking up their weapons once more.


    ¡°Under the grace of Lord Saint, his highness Allen Olfolse¡­¡±


    Feudal lord Jenald gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands and raised the blade up high.


    To match him, the convicts also gripped their weapons tighter.


    ¡°¡­We shall now subjugate these undead-!¡±


    The convicts all raised their heads in unison and roared out into the night sky.


    ¡°Oooohhhhhh!¡±


    ¡®We gotta psych ourselves up!¡¯


    ¡®Lord Saint is with us.¡¯


    ¡®Even if we die, Saint Allen Olfolse¡¯s blessing will accompany us!¡¯


    Divinity exploded forth from them.


    Small clumps of divinity coming off of their bodies had gathered in one location to become so much larger in scale, and burst forth towards the incoming undead.


    Feudal lord Jenald swung his sword at the faltering zombie and instantly crushed the undead¡¯s head.


    The zombie Ogre reached out towards him, but he agilely dodged that and darted in between the undead¡¯s large legs.


    His sword, now brimming full with concentrated Mana, danced in the air to slice apart the zombie Ogre¡¯s leg flesh. The large undead tottered unsteadily, only for countless arrows to fly in and turn the creature into a hedgehog in an instant.


    The zombie Ogre lost its balance and crashed down to its knees. The spearmen thrust their spears forward, impaled the creature, and finally brought it down.


    ¡°Climb on top of it!¡±


    The convicts jumped on the downed creature and began hacking away.


    ¡°There¡¯s another Ogre!¡±


    The convicts shifted their gazes. An even bigger Ogre was lowering itself to enter through the much-smaller opening of the gateway. It was carrying a huge club in its hand.


    ¡°Son of a¡­!¡±


    Feudal lord Jenald let out an expletive.


    The Ogre took a massive swing with its club, sending a group of shield-wielding soldiers up in the air.


    Not even Jenald would dare to confront such a monster!


    ¡°Get out of the way!¡±


    He quickly shifted his gaze at that loud yell. A Paladin kitted out in radiant pure-white armour was rushing over here while riding on a horse.


    ¡°It¡¯s Marquis Charlotte!¡±


    She unsheathed her divine sword and injected divinity into the blade, unleashing a flood of powerful aura from it.


    The Ogre swung its club in the direction of Charlotte rushing headlong towards it.


    ¡°Dodge that-!¡±


    Feudal lord Jenald urgently cried out, but Charlotte didn¡¯t bother to dodge. She instead directed her horse to leap up and dig even further into the Ogre¡¯s defences.


    Slice-!


    The Ogre¡¯s club and its large body were split into halves and collapsed on the ground.


    Charlotte dismounted from her horse, and after firmly planting her feet covered in boots of forged steel, she stood alone to block the exit of the breached fortress gate.


    Her glare shifted to the front.


    A horde of zombies around five thousand strong was flooding through the open gap in the gateway. Even if it was Charlotte, she¡¯d find it difficult to stop them for an extended period of time.


    Some amount of sacrifice would be unavoidable at this rate.


    But, just as she grasped the divine sword tightly while making a tense face¡­


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia¡­¡±


    She flinched at that voice.


    A voice she was so intimately familiar with was reverberating throughout the night sky.


    ¡°Grant us¡­¡±


    The convicts quickly raised their heads to look up, before pointing at the spot in the sky.


    ¡°What the heck is that?!¡±


    ¡°¡­A Bone Wyvern?¡±


    ¡°Oh my goddess, Wyverns exist for real?¡±


    A ¡®sky dragon¡¯, only a small speck right now, could be seen flying up there. But then, something rapidly descended from its back.


    Charlotte¡¯s eyes progressively grew larger and larger. Before long, an individual kitted out in silver-white armour landed right in front of her.


    His heavy-looking set of armour rocked the ground upon his flashy landing.


    3


    He breathed into his lengthy musket, then muttered out softly as if he was talking to himself. ¡°¡­Your grace and the necessary strength to purify all these undead.¡±


    He took aim at the undead horde.


    Charlotte¡¯s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as she stared at the back of this individual.


    ¡°Your hi¡­!¡±


    He pulled the trigger.


    A bright flame exploded from the muzzle of the musket.


    The projectile made out of divinity instantly pierced through the undead and extinguished them from existence. The aura of divinity spread around like ripples to the surroundings, scorching the flesh of the undead horde.


    Charlotte subconsciously reached out to him, only to jolt herself awake and hurriedly retract her extended hand.


    2


    She took several quick breaths to barely calm her heart pounding away in excitement and anticipation.


    She was a Paladin serving the Imperial Prince, a member of House Heraiz meant to serve the Imperial Family. Personal feelings must not be allowed to take control of her.


    She engraved those words multiple times in her mind.


    Charlotte went down on one knee and lowered her head. ¡°Charlotte Heraiz of the Order of the White Cross¡­¡±


    She assumed the correct etiquette to greet the one she so longed to see.


    ¡°¡­Pays her respect to your highness the Imperial Prince.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. It¡¯s been awhile, hasn¡¯t it?¡±


    The familiar voice managed to shake up her heart once more. She raised her trembling eyes and stared at him.


    ¡°How have you been?¡±


    The man kitted out in the set of impressive armour took his helm off. He then turned around to show her the face she missed so much.


    ¡°¡­Charlotte?¡±


    Allen looked back at her and smiled brightly.


    < 129. Ronia of the northern region (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 245 - 130. Feudal Lord Jenald -1 (Part One)

    Chapter 245: 130. Feudal Lord Jenald -1 (Part One)


    Translated by: A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by: RED


    **


    ¡®It really is His Highness.¡¯ Charlotte smiled faintly after seeing Allen¡¯s face.


    The rich emotions waking up deep inside her chest made her body react on its own. But before she could get up and approach him, someone grasped out in stupefaction first.


    ¡°Y-Your Highness? The Seventh Imperial Prince?¡±


    Charlotte turned her head towards the source of the voice.


    It belonged to her adoptive father, Gril, who was currently standing near the fortress gate.


    However, his seemingly small muttering caused an avalanche of shock.


    ¡°It¡¯s Lord Saint! The real Lord Saint has shown up!¡±


    After one person cried out, everyone¡¯s attention instantly focused on Allen.


    ¡°L-Lord Saint?!¡±


    From the common convicts to the regular soldiers, even the newbie convicts who had arrived in the northern region not too long ago, they were now all staring at the Seventh Imperial Prince!


    Allen flinched in surprise and quickly looked around.


    Everyone in Ronia was now staring at him with gazes filled to the brim with awe and respect, but that only caused a flustered expression to form on Allen¡¯s face.


    It was kind of unsurprising, really, considering that complete strangers began crying out, ¡°Lord Saint!¡± while looking at him, even though no one had prompted them to do so.


    There should be something else even more fluster-inducing for him right now as well.


    ¡®¡­Most of those who received His Highness¡¯s healing can now wield divinity.¡¯


    The Seventh Imperial Prince had asked Charlotte a favour: investigating the ongoings in the northern fiefdom, Ronia.


    It had turned out that the investigation itself wasn¡¯t difficult at all.


    That was because the top commander of the northern frontier tasked with managing this hostile land, Count Jenald Ripang, had already concluded the investigation!


    He didn¡¯t hold back and every bit of data collected was made available to Charlotte. After she had a look at the intel, though, she ended up getting greatly shocked.


    Around eight hundred men had awakened an ability to wield divinity!


    The Seventh Imperial Prince should be feeling quite confused after reading her follow-up report, and flustered after personally witnessing this sight with his own two eyes.


    The fact still remained that this was another of the miracles His Highness had performed so far. As such, she needed to be more on guard than ever before!


    Charlotte tightly gripped her sword and glared at the feudal lord of Ronia, Jenald Ripang, who was currently staring at, and walking over to, Seventh Imperial Prince Allen.


    Despite the emergence of all the ¡®divinity awakened¡¯ present in his fiefdom, he had hid this fact from the rest of the empire. That meant he must¡¯ve been cooking up a scheme of his own!


    In order to guard Allen, Charlotte quickly made her way over to him.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    The unified roars of the convicts were ringing out loudly.


    Every single one of them was chanting out my name and calling me the ¡®Lord Saint¡¯, but too bad for them, I couldn¡¯t even recognise most of them and I certainly had no inclination to care about this Saint business or whatever you wanted to call it.


    I turned my head to look at Harman, who was still up on the outer wall. He bowed his head slightly in greeting.


    Okay, so. Where is my older brother, then¡­?


    I couldn¡¯t spot Ruppel nearby.


    I had entrusted Ruppel to Harman, but as the situation right now was critical, he probably had no time to mind my brother¡¯s well-being right now.


    Besides, I never gave him a direct order to keep his eyes on Ruppel, anyway. He was probably leaving Ruppel to his own devices, like how he largely left me alone back then.


    My Bone Wyvern landed near the outer wall, allowing Alice and Hans to dismount.


    ¡°Is anyone injured?¡± Alice asked Harman, and he guided both her and Hans over to where the injured had been gathered.


    In the meantime, Lord Jenald was quickly walking up to me.


    The lord placed his hand on his chest, bowed his head, and offered a simple greeting, ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Your Highness.¡±


    His greeting was quite short, probably due to the urgency of the current situation.


    It was also around that time that Charlotte reached my side as well. Her alert eyes were locked on Lord Jenald while she assumed her duty to provide me with protection.


    She must¡¯ve been suspecting Jenald as well¡­


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s been a while,¡± I lightly greeted him back, and put my helm back on before slinging the musket over my shoulder. ¡°However, right now doesn¡¯t seem to be a good time for a relaxed catching-up, wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡±


    More undead were stepping over the rapidly-disintegrating corpses of their fellows strewn around the open gateway, slowly marching on our position.


    Even at a quick headcount, there must¡¯ve been well over four thousand of them here! Since the fortress gate had been breached, we probably would have to wage a frontal battle from now on.


    Lord Jenald shouted at the convicts while nodding sagely for some reason. ¡°What are you all doing? Barricade the gate, now!¡±


    His loud call jolted the convicts awake, and they hurriedly got moving once more. Wielding large shields, they rushed forward to block the open gateway. Swords were swung and spears were thrust forward in between the gaps of the shields to stop the advancing undead, while a new barricade was haphazardly but quickly being put together behind them.


    ¡°Lord Saint has come!¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have anything to fear now!¡±


    ¡°Psyche yourselves up properly! We can¡¯t afford to show him something unsightly now!¡±


    The convicts roared out even louder. Their fighting spirit was clearly overflowing now.


    That was a complete turn-around compared to their past selves, who grew pale with fright and wet their pants the moment some undead showed up.


    They had been polishing up their skills through actual combat situations. Although faint, I could sense divinity coming from them as well.


    They were all basically ¡®young hatchlings¡¯ who had become ¡®Priests¡¯ not too long ago.


    Sure, I read Charlotte¡¯s report before coming here, but to think that so many could really use divinity to this extent¡­


    -Man, I can¡¯t tell whether or not it¡¯d be possible to even control all these people¡­-


    ¡°Your Highness, I heard that you can control the undead,¡± said Jenald.


    I shifted my gaze away from the fortress gate and looked back at him. He was currently staring dazedly at the Bone Wyvern now perched up on the outer wall.


    ¡°You never saw me Summoning them before?¡±


    ¡°I did get some brief glimpses, but never an opportunity to get a concrete confirmation, sir.¡±


    The middle-aged uncle who was frightened by the appearance of the undead was now smiling brightly back at me with a blood-stained face.


    ¡°¡­Count Jenald Ripang.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m honoured that you remembered my name, Your Highness.¡±


    I glared at him. ¡°I¡¯ve been hearing that those who have recently awakened their ability to wield divinity exist here.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I will ask you about your reason for not reporting their existence to the Theocratic Empire later on.¡±


    Count Jenald bowed his head while breaking out in cold sweat. ¡°Yes, milord. Of course!¡±


    After getting his reply, I turned around to get ready for the undead subjugation. It was then that his voice reached me one more time from somewhere behind.


    ¡°All of that was for your sake, Your Highness.¡±


    I turned my head back to him, but by then he had already dashed off to elsewhere.


    I couldn¡¯t help but think about his rather meaning-laden declaration, but then a familiar voice woke me back up. ¡°Your Highness.¡±


    It was from Charlotte, standing tall behind me.


    All I could do after seeing her in that pure-white heavy armour was grin wryly. ¡°You know, I sent you on a vacation so that you could get your much-deserved break, but in the end, you are still working overtime like this. Did you get to catch up with Gril, at least?¡±


    My question prompted a troubled look to float up on her face. She then silently pointed at the fortress gate for some reason.


    ¡°Just who am I?!¡±


    At the location her finger was pointing right now was a middle-aged man busy roaring at the top of his lungs.


    The convicts around him shouted out in unison, ¡°Gril! Gril! Gril!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯m the Paladin with a daughter who is also the head of a Marquis House!¡±


    In his right hand was a huge double-bitted axe, while his left held a sturdy shield. He clanged the axe and the shield together while standing before the incoming horde of zombies.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Gril Heraiz!¡±


    Convicts blocking the zombies with the shields began withdrawing. When the undead rushed in at the same time, Gril sucked in a deep breath.


    The shaft of the axe gripped in his hand made leather-creaking noises. He must¡¯ve been tightening his grip even more on the weapon.


    And then¡­


    ¡°Uaaaaaak!¡±


    He let out a loud spirited yell and swung his axe. The huge blade flew around, tearing the limbs of the incoming zombies apart.


    Supporting him from behind, spears were thrust forward to stab and shove back the zombie hordes.


    ¡°¡­Huh. That¡¯s really Gril?¡± It was like I was staring at a rampaging Viking or something.


    With a lost expression on her face, she facepalmed, ¡°Y-yes, Your Highness.¡±


    Judging from how she stuttered slightly like that, she must¡¯ve been feeling quite flustered as well.


    I recalled Gril¡¯s words. When I thought about him¡­ -Hey, didn¡¯t I use quite a bit of divinity on the guy?-


    I did a Blessing on him, and even made him drink my holy water. Back in his house, the combat manuals of the Imperial Family that I gave to Charlotte should still be there.


    At this rate, quite literally, I had indeed created a trainee Paladin!

 Chapter 246 - 130. Feudal Lord Jenald -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by: A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by: RED


    ¡°Still, I don¡¯t remember granting him the peerage of a Paladin, though?¡± While saying that, I shifted my gaze over to Charlotte.


    ¡°He¡¯s simply calling himself that, Your Highness.¡±


    Did he really want to become a Paladin, then? I thought he was terrified of zombies?


    The dude who only knew how to blow some hot air back in his rural village now possessed similar abilities to real Paladins. I ended up chuckling wryly at the revelation.


    Well, this should be enough of me spectating passively, then.


    ¡°All of you, step aside.¡± I commanded while walking over to the gate.


    The convicts were taken aback, before shouting out loudly, ¡°Lord Saint has commanded us!¡±


    ¡°Everyone, step back! Now!¡±


    -Seriously, can¡¯t I do something about Lord Saint this or Lord Saint that?-


    Even though I was making a dissatisfied face, I still stood before the breached fortress gate and Summoned my holy undead.


    New undead creatures broke through the ground¡¯s surface to follow me. To minimise the divinity consumption as much as possible, I extracted the greatsword from the item box and had Kasim take possession of it.


    The convicts were taken by surprise at the undead crawling out from the cold, hard earth, and quickly stumbled back.


    However, they soon cottoned onto the fact that these undead possessed divinity, and their wariness vanished instantly, to be replaced by pure astonishment filling their expressions.


    ¡°Holy undead?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Holy King¡¯s army! You know, the one from all those rumours coming out of the capital!¡±


    The holy undead army blocked the access to the gate. As for me leading them from the front, I gripped the greatsword tightly and pulled it back.


    My glare under the helm was directed at the scene before me, at the four thousand undead.


    Their souls would soon receive salvation in this place!


    I fully cocked the greatsword back. At the same time, my holy undead also lowered their stances, as well.


    I sucked in a deep breath before activating the ¡®Divine Aura of Wind¡¯.


    Winds began condensing on the greatsword.


    And I¡­


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡±


    ¡­unleashed them all!


    The formless blades of wind instantly pulverised all the undead filling up the gateway and extinguished them from existence. Not even their previous shells remained.


    Not a piece of bone or lump of flesh remained, either. All of them were turned into ashes and were completely extinguished.


    I took a small step forward. At the same time, the holy undead on standby behind me rushed ahead. The white divinity leaking out from the large horde of the holy undead drove the darkness away.


    This was merely a zombie hunt. These low-tier undead with slow, lumbering movement couldn¡¯t possibly be an opponent to my holy undead!


    I felt the gazes of the convicts on top of the outer walls staring at me and the holy undead.


    ¡°¡­That¡¯s the real divinity?¡±


    I shifted my gaze and glanced back at them. They were looking down at their own hands.


    The expressions of joy previously etched on their faces after sensing their faint little amount of divinity were gone. Now, their expressions were stiff.


    They probably had witnessed the gap in the power between them and me. Which was actually for the best, really.


    I didn¡¯t know what Count Jenald was cooking up at the moment, so I figured it might be a good idea to instil this sense of sheer pressure in them.


    Well, in this world overwhelming power would be an absolute necessity if I wanted to control a large group of people, after all.


    I slung the greatsword on my shoulder and Summoned a skeletal horse for myself. Various bits of bones rapidly gathered up and constructed a horse automatically.


    I mounted the undead horse and along with the rest of the undead cavalry, dashed towards the incoming zombies before taking a huge swing with my sword.


    The low-tier zombies found here in the northern region weren¡¯t even good enough to serve as minor side distractions. I even felt apologetic toward the enemies I had been fighting up until now after daring to compare them to these lowly creatures.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll just let them do whatever they want, though!¡±


    It was the duty of the Imperial Family to purify evil spirits!


    I kicked the side of the skeleton horse, and made it gallop even faster.


    **


    The morning sun was rising.


    I was still riding the skeleton horse. My greatsword drooped to the ground.


    The very last moving zombie was still crawling down there. The skeleton horse I was riding on reared up and slammed down with its hooves to crush it, utterly extinguishing it.


    With that, the invasion of the undead had come to an end.


    However, they might show up again soon. Whether that would be later today, maybe tomorrow, or even the day after, nobody knew.


    One could never let their guard down against the Tide of Death, after all. I mean, it was quite possible for yet another monster boasting the strength of a Count-class Vampire to be born amidst the Tide.


    I shifted my gaze to the side.


    Charlotte walked up to me and bowed her head deeply. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that you have travelled a long way, Your Highness. I recommend that you take a short break in the residence of¡­¡±


    ¡°I wish to confront Count Jenald before that.¡±


    She raised her head and looked up at me.


    While tilting her head side to side, she cautiously confirmed, ¡°Your Highness¡­ you wish to question Count Jenald?¡±


    I simply nodded in reply.


    Right now, we should be focusing our attention on the upcoming invasion of the vampires, but there was a cloud of uncertainty hanging over our heads¡­ uncertainty regarding the potential outbreak of internal strife within the Theocratic Empire¡¯s borders, no less.


    I needed to get an answer for that first!


    Without a doubt, Count Jenald was someone to keep an eye out for now that he had a Count¡¯s title and had been given the full command of the forces of the northern region.


    ¡°Please go and set up the meeting for me,¡± I asked, and Charlotte nodded to indicate her understanding.


    Harman took over the mop-up operation of any undead potentially still moving. Several were wounded during the battle, so Alice and Hans took it upon themselves to treat them.


    ¡ª


    A little while later, I was walking down the corridors of the lord¡¯s residence under Charlotte¡¯s guidance. Eventually we reached the lord¡¯s office and entered.


    Count Jenald Ripang welcomed me in, waiting for my arrival.


    Before I could say something, he knelt down first.


    He bowed his head to greet me, the Imperial Prince, according to established custom. ¡°The head of the House of Ripang, as well as the commander of the northern region of Ronia, Count Jenald Ripang, pays his respects to Your Highness, the Seventh Imperial Prince.¡±


    Outwardly he looked like a loyal retainer. But that only made me more suspicious of him.


    I was suspicious as to whether or not this feudal lord, who used to be a scaredy-cat in the past, began harbouring unwise ambitions of his future after coming into some authority and status.


    Without getting the count¡¯s consent, I took a seat in one of the sofas in the office. ¡°Take a seat, Jenald.¡±


    I deliberately called out his name.


    That¡¯s all I did, but Jenald made a gratified expression and settled down on another sofa directly opposite mine.


    As for Charlotte, she stood behind me, just like always. However, I did spy her hand resting on the hilt of her sword, just in case.


    ¡°Jenald. I¡¯m not the type to beat around the bush.¡±


    Ronia¡¯s defence force¡­


    The official count of the enlisted men and the convicts who had awakened their ability to wield divinity, referred to as the divinity awakened, was around eight hundred in total.


    ¡°According to the report, they all seem to have awakened their divinity ability about one or two years ago. However, you have not reported this matter to the Imperial Family yet. Do you have a reason for this?¡±


    Count Jenald stared back at me, maintaining his silence for a little while. I began furrowing my brow at his silence, which prompted a bitter grin to form on his face next.


    He scratched the back of his head. ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t have any special reason, Your Highness. We only wished to¡­¡± he lowered his head and muttered as if he was talking to himself. ¡°¡­be some kind of help to you, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    The Count of Ronia, Jenald Ripang, raised his head slightly before continuing.


    ¡°It was to¡­¡± The corners of his lips slowly curled up, ¡°¡­make Your Highness into the new master of the Theocratic Empire.¡±


    It was like I was staring at a man entranced by ¡®something¡¯ right now.


    ¡°To make you the next Holy Emperor, Your Highness.¡±


    Lights of madness seemed to burn in his eyes as he said that.


    < 130. Feudal Lord Jenald -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 247 - : 131. Feudal Lord Jenald -2 (Part One)

    Translated by: A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by: RED


    **


    ¡°Charlotte.¡±


    Charlotte needed only one word from Allen to yank out her sword and point it at the Count of Ronia, Jenald Ripang.


    However, the Count didn¡¯t falter as the sharp blade was pointed at him. He remained unwavering while facing her sword, instead.


    Allen furrowed his brow while observing Count Jenald¡¯s reaction.


    ¡®What a gutsy attitude that is¡­¡¯


    After the accomplishment of defeating the undead in Ronia, Jenald must¡¯ve overcome his natural tendency to be scared and had become something greater.


    ¡®Well, this just became real troublesome.¡¯


    Allen did his absolute best to suppress the urge to massage his temples.


    Who¡¯d have imagined in their wildest dreams that an easily-scared Count was scheming a revolt of this magnitude?


    ¡®Not only that, what else did he say? It¡¯s all for my sake?¡¯


    Now that was a seriously dangerous declaration!


    ¡®That makes it sound like I¡¯m the boss of the rebels now!¡¯


    What would happen if this little tale reached the ears of Holy Emperor Kelt without any alteration?


    ¡®I might end up in the gallows, just like my dear brother Ruppel.¡¯


    Allen swallowed, his throat dry, and spoke up while pretending to be remain cool. ¡°Me as the Holy Emperor? What a funny notion that is. Why are you even dreaming of such nonsense?¡±


    Count Jenald smiled wryly at that. He interlocked his fingers and leaned his forehead into them. ¡°After the Vampire Count was successfully killed off, a celebratory banquet was held.¡±


    Indeed, a Vampire Count had attacked Ronia, and they were able to defeat the undead creature and its army.


    A celebratory banquet was held in the empire¡¯s capital, Laurensis, and naturally, Jenald was invited to attend it as the Count.


    ¡°That¡¯s when I witnessed it, Your Highness.¡± Jenald stared at Allen, his expression distorting. ¡°¡­What I saw was everyone ignoring and looking down on you.¡±


    Count was deeply stunned by what he had seen back then.


    Here was a hero who personally stepped forward to defeat a Vampire Count and saved thousands, nay, tens of thousands of lives in the process. Yet¡­


    The nobles only sent glares of rebuke and whispers of ridicule in such a hero¡¯s way.


    But, was that all? No, even the Holy Emperor himself roundly ignored his own grandson!


    Even the boy¡¯s oldest brother, the one sharing the same blood as his mother¡¯s, had gone mad from the influence of a curse. Well, he did crazily rush in to kill the Seventh Imperial Prince and even requested a duel, didn¡¯t he?


    In the end, the Seventh Imperial Prince had to suffer the indignity of being locked up in prison.


    A pitiful little Imperial Prince who had neither authority nor status! It wouldn¡¯t have been strange to see the boy get banished again, or even lose his life to assassination after getting caught up in the struggle for political power.


    Not one person had supported him. Not one wanted to become his backer.


    He had to exist all alone in loneliness.


    ¡°And that was my reason, Your Highness.¡±


    Count Jenald spoke of what he felt back then, and raised his head to meet Allen¡¯s stare without looking away.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I wished to become Your Highness¡¯s backer.¡±


    To achieve his aim, Count Jenald had worked tirelessly.


    After getting his peerage upgraded to Count, he began getting sizable financial support from the imperial court. With the enormous budget and the annually-supplied goods, and even the convicts who had begun awakening their powers while getting gradually more and more training¡­


    Everything was getting ready.


    Every single enlisted soldier and convict that the Count had been training all single-mindedly supported the Seventh Imperial Prince!


    In case the boy prince was cast aside during the struggle for power and his life was threatened, they wanted to become his shield. Even if such a thing was in danger of being seen as a rebellion, they didn¡¯t care.


    Who would be a better, more perfect fit as the new Holy Emperor than the Seventh Imperial Prince!


    But now¡­


    ¡°¡­All those efforts were in vain.¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince rejected it.


    Count Jenald could only smile wryly at that and nod slowly.


    In vain. That seemed about right.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince wasn¡¯t as weak as Jenald had imagined. Not only did the boy break out from the prison using his own strength, he had even saved his own cursed brother, who wanted nothing to do with him other than fight to the death. He then went on to hunt down the Vampires in hiding, as well.


    He rescued a princess during the war in Aslan, achieved the glorious feat of felling the enemy nation¡¯s tyrant king, then returned home to personally bring down the leader of the corrupt, rebellious Church of Caiolium, Cardinal Mikael!


    Next up, he had stopped the bloody civil war taking place in the kingdom of Lome, and from what Jenald had heard, the boy prince seemed to have done something extraordinary in Aihrance, as well!


    The more he piled up one accomplishment after another, the more the citizens¡¯ support for the Seventh Imperial Prince grew. Now, even Holy Emperor Kelt had appointed him as his successor!


    There was no more need for Jenald to step up anymore.


    ¡°Indeed, that¡¯s what happened. It seems that I have been greatly underestimating you, Your Highness.¡±


    Jenald was genuinely happy to see the Seventh Imperial Prince grow stronger and earn the acknowledgement of everyone using his own strength.


    Even so, he did feel somewhat bitter knowing that all of his own efforts had been in vain. Not only that, he was getting crushed by the weight of his guilt at potentially harming the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s cause by arousing suspicion of inciting an insurrection.


    This would be a difficult charge to brush aside, indeed. The Imperial Family would certainly not let this slide without repercussions.


    Not just Count Jenald, but even the convicts would be punished for the crime of insurrection!


    He began clenching his fists tightly.


    ¡®Instead of being a help to His Highness, we ended up being a hindrance to him.¡¯


    Jenald had raised a combat force without the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s knowledge, and news of it had finally reached the ears of the Imperial Family.


    Without a doubt, other nobles would ardently lodge a plea to the Holy Emperor to immediately subjugate such a faction.


    As for the Seventh Imperial Prince, he might even get kicked out of the successor¡¯s position, the one that he had reached with so much hard work.


    Count Jenald could only lament deeply in his heart when such thoughts rolled around in his head.


    ¡®I shouldn¡¯t have¡­¡¯


    It was right at that moment that the Seventh Imperial Prince opened his mouth. ¡°It¡¯s true that the army you have raised can bring about great chaos in the Theocratic Empire. However¡­.¡±


    Count Jenald looked at Allen.


    ¡°It can also lend a great aid to the Imperial Family, as well.¡±


    Jenald¡¯s brows rose.


    Allen smiled faintly and stood up from his spot on the sofa.


    Without a doubt, this matter was a major event, yet he was now speaking in an unconcerned voice. ¡°Compile a detailed report and have it immediately submitted to the Imperial Family. However!¡±


    Allen placed his hand on Count Jenald¡¯s shoulder, and strengthened his grip.


    ¡°Do not forget to add that what you have done was to secretly foster an army capable of defending the northern territory and deterring the vampire threat.¡±


    Jenald nodded with a somewhat strange expression on his face.


    Even he could tell that such an explanation wasn¡¯t going to convince anyone. The cultivation of Priests had begun long before that, after all!


    However, the Theocratic Empire was in a desperate need for more personnel at the moment, and it would certainly need some time to ponder its options.


    ¡°I¡­ uh, I shall do so, Your Highness. However, won¡¯t that put you in a tight spot, my lord?¡±


    ¡®¡­Oh, and you are thinking about that only now?!¡¯


    Allen was shaking his head inwardly.


    He was already in a tight spot, anyway. But that didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d abandon all the ¡®seeds¡¯ he had planted to their own devices.


    ¡°Nothing will improve for you by pleading your case with me. Only the Holy Emperor has the authority to decide your fate.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Also, Count Jenald Ripang¡­ I shall speak on your behalf to His Majesty regarding your possible sentencing.¡±


    This Count from the northern region was one of a handful of acquaintances of the Seventh Imperial Prince. Not only that, he had sworn his allegiance to Allen, making him an invaluable soldier in the upcoming battle against the vampires.


    The army of awakened Priests that had begun taking proper shape only recently would be rendered meaningless if Count Jenald was discarded here.


    However, he should be fine in the end; by bringing forward all of his accomplishments so far, the Imperial Family should be willing to show mercy and hold back on any heavy punishment.


    Holy Emperor Kelt wouldn¡¯t be too pissed if this army was handed over without any fuss.


    Sure, the old man could be rather impulsive at times, but he was still the Holy Emperor, who placed the welfare of his nation first and foremost.


    ¡®Of course, I¡¯ll have to try hard to convince him first.¡¯


    The one who had requested an investigation in the first place was Allen. As such, the Imperial Family must¡¯ve investigated the ongoings of the northern region and figured out what was going on here. They should have a pretty good idea of the cause by this point.


    ¡°If something similar to this event happens again in the future, I want you to consult me first. Otherwise, you¡¯re going to put me in a bit of a spot.¡±


    The shoulders of Count Jenald¡¯s slumped forward as he replied, ¡°I shall take that to heart, Your Highness!¡±


    Allen shifted his gaze over to Charlotte next. ¡°For now, have Count Jenald arrested. As he is currently under suspicion, he can¡¯t be left alone for the time being.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Charlotte bowed.


    Allen got ready to leave, but before exiting the office, he turned to look at Jenald one more time and said something else. ¡°You¡¯ll have to ardently plead your case to His Majesty if you want to keep your life after this.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Do your best to convince him.¡±


    Allen stepped outside the office and Charlotte sheathed her sword.


    ¡ª


    Count Jenald watched the sword return to its scabbard, and as the tension ruling his body seeped away, he sagged powerlessly against the back of the couch while beads of cold sweat coated his face.


    ¡®Am I still alive?¡¯


    In all honesty, he couldn¡¯t quite understand what made him act so confidently earlier.


    The complicated emotions of happiness at being able to meet the Seventh Imperial Prince again, sadness at realising that he might have harmed the boy prince, and the resolve with a dash of relief that he didn¡¯t mind dying at the boy¡¯s hands, got messily entangled in his head.


    Now that Allen was no longer here, the terror of almost dying belatedly jumped into the mix as well!


    ¡®I ended up causing him harm again, instead.¡¯


    There wasn¡¯t a whole lot that a Count hailing from some peaceful backwoods could do for an Imperial Prince.


    Jenald sighed at length. One of two results would be decided after he wrote up that report.


    Either banishment or disposal!


    But there was a silver lining to it all. He might be a goner, but at least the convicts and the soldiers of Ronia wouldn¡¯t be punished.


    ¡®This too is the benevolence of Goddess Gaia and her Lord Saint.¡¯


    Count Jenald brought his hands together and prayed. As a devout believer in someone, he planned to follow the one he worshipped until the end.


    That would be Gaia, as well as the current Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen Olfolse!

 Chapter 248 - 131. Feudal Lord Jenald -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by: A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by: RED


    **


    ¡°This is totally nuts.¡±


    I shook my head while walking down the residence¡¯s corridor.


    In the past, Jenald, the Count of Ronia, had been chased off to this northern region for tax evasion. However, it was later revealed that he had been framed and the Holy Emperor ordered the count¡¯s former territory returned to him. But then, he had requested that he be allowed to remain in Ronia, instead.


    ¡®To think that his reason for doing so was for something like this¡­


    ¡®Besides, what the heck was up with his attitude earlier? It was like staring at a religious zealot, wasn¡¯t it?¡¯


    He was so utterly lost in his beliefs that not a shred of fear existed in his heart. Yeah, totally like a religious nutcase, who rushed along at top speed without applying any brakes whatsoever.


    Although not hostile towards me, he still unhesitantly went and did something that could potentially endanger me!


    ¡°What Alice said was totally right.¡±


    She had said that one of the Saints from the ancient times was capable of ¡®creating¡¯ believers. However, what we had here seemed a lot worse than the things she had told me while flying on the back of the Bone Wyvern.


    At this rate, I wouldn¡¯t be able to control the situation. The Imperial Family would have to keep both of its eyes on this matter and remain wary at all times.


    ¡°Hang on a sec, it¡¯s not just this place, now is it?¡±


    I rubbed my chin while walking down the corridor.


    The slaves held by the Black Order back in Aslan had to be affected to some degree. Princess Tina was capable of wielding divinity, so it should be more or less the same story for them, as well!


    Also, the refugees I saved back in Lome kingdom, too¡­


    ¡°Wow. There are so many¡­¡±


    My head was pounding now.


    I didn¡¯t hold back on divinity when saving people before now, but to think that my own power would be this troublesome to control.


    I had always believed that I knew all there was to know about my own skills. I had been far too conceited about this matter.


    While thinking about this and that, I continued to walk down the corridor before shifting my gaze outside the windows.


    On a spot a bit removed from the residence were the rows of convicts marching about in an orderly fashion. Since they were all carrying shovels, I figured they were ordered to remove snow from the fields or something.


    It was right then that this one dude caught my attention.


    ¡°¡­Brother?¡±


    It was Ruppel.


    No, hang on a sec; Harman told me that Ruppel got himself a new identity with the help of Count Jenald, didn¡¯t he?


    What was his new name again?


    [Name: Shuppel


    Age: 27


    Attributes: Has turned over a new leaf, excellent spearmanship, excellent physique, powerful divinity, attributes of a wise king.


    + Only the atonement for my sins matters. I must set myself a goal, and save people on the way.]


    I used [Mind¡¯s Eye] and stared at Shuppel¡¯s distant back. His attributes had changed.


    ¡°¡­Wow, turning over a new leaf was real after all.¡±


    I studied his attributes with a bit of a shocked face. Even his name had changed as well; was this what happens if you decide to change your name for good?


    Just as I stood there thinking about that, Hans came walking down from the other side of the corridor, holding a gourd-shaped bottle. ¡°Huh? Your Highness! What good timing this is!¡±


    I turned my head to look at him as he quickly ran towards me.


    That gourd seemed to be the one that he requested I pour some holy water into. You know, the one containing the sap of the carnivorous plant from Titalos.


    Hans lightly shook the bottle around before pushing it towards me. ¡°Please drink this!¡±


    ¡°¡­What the heck is this?¡±


    I took over the gourd and popped open the cork, only for an amazingly disgusting stench to quickly fill up the corridor.


    Servants and maids some distance away from us furrowed their brows deeply and glanced in our direction.


    I too crumpled my expression at this terrible smell. ¡°Holy cow, this is way more disgusting than the stench of rotting corpses!¡±


    ¡°You think so too?¡± Hans covered his nose and grinned in a deeply proud manner. ¡°Please drink it!¡±


    ¡°Hey, you. Are you trying to get revenge on me for putting you through a wringer?¡±


    I shot a glare at him, and he quickly waved his hands in denial. ¡°Of course not! That¡¯s actually a wonder drug that¡¯s definitely good for your body!¡±


    ¡°¡­A wonder drug, is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll help with recovering from fatigue as well as boosting one¡¯s natural healing factor. Also, it should aid with one¡¯s rate of growth, as well. Ah, of course it might not be much of a help to you, Your Highness. You¡¯re already ridiculously powerful, after all¡­¡±


    ¡°Rate of growth?¡± I repeated, tilting my head.


    Hans replied with a nod, ¡°You know, Priests sometimes do this, don¡¯t they? To boost their rate of growth, they drink holy water and train themselves¡­ Although, it doesn¡¯t have much of an effect on high-ranking Priests.¡±


    Sure, that did happen. However, that holy water was too expensive and the method itself wasn¡¯t all that effective to begin with, so most Priests were unwilling to rely on it.


    ¡°This liquid should be at least twice as effective as that method.¡±


    ¡°What about clinical trials, though?¡±


    ¡°Just who am I, sir? Aren¡¯t I a certifiable genius?¡± Hans straightened his back and pounded his chest confidently. ¡°If I say it¡¯s fine, it will be fine for sure, sir!¡±


    ¡°¡­Why don¡¯t you drink it first, then?¡± I pushed the gourd back to him and he began frowning deeply.


    However, he still took the bottle back. ¡°Seriously, sir. How many years have we known each other? To think that you¡¯d still suspect me like this.¡±


    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been all that long since we met, though.¡±


    ¡°Now watch closely, sir. Look how wondrous this medicine is¡­¡±


    Hans took a mouthful of the liquid in the bottle. He then sloshed it around in his mouth before gulping it down.


    And then¡­


    ¡°Woooo-wuphk!¡±


    He hurriedly covered his mouth.


    Hans¡¯s face suddenly resembled that of a man who was about to throw up. He hurriedly opened the window and leaned his head outside as if he was about to empty his stomach there.


    However, he tried his absolute best to hold it in and covered his mouth with both of his hands.


    ¡°¡­I thought it was a valuable medicine? Is it okay to puke it out like that?¡±


    ¡°I-it is just too disgusting, that¡¯s why¡­ Besides, sir. I haven¡¯t puked it out. You¡¯re indeed correct that this medicine is too valuable, and it will be very difficult find more of it in this world.¡±


    Hans leaned against the wall, having lost a lot of energy.


    I summoned a maidservant and had her help him up. Then I shook my head at Hans¡¯s current condition. ¡°I don¡¯t need it, though. Besides, you said it won¡¯t have much of an effect on me, anyway.¡±


    Hans, helped up to his feet by the maidservant, replied with some difficulty, as cold sweat dripped down his face. ¡°W-well, yes. That¡¯s true. However, I was thinking more along the line of gifting it to an acquaintance of yours, sir.¡±


    ¡°¡­You want people to curse me for life?¡±


    I took the bottle back from Hans and shook it lightly. While doing that, I glanced outside the window.


    I couldn¡¯t see my older brother anymore. He probably had gone away somewhere to do his job.


    Since the task of removing the corpses of the undead was in full swing, he was most likely dispatched there as extra manpower.


    I pondered that for a bit, before asking Hans something else, ¡°You said this medicine is good for alleviating one¡¯s fatigue, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. I did. However, its taste is too painfully disgusting, that¡¯s all.¡±


    A mischievous grin floated up on my face.


    I figured that it¡¯d be fun to pull a prank or two on my brother. It had been a while, after all.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    The sun was setting below the horizon.


    As the darkness came to visit the land once more, the convicts busy cleaning out the undead corpses outside Ronia began trickling back inside the castle¡¯s walls.


    ¡°Oiii, mister gravekeeper over there! Things get dangerous during the night! Wrap it up and get back inside!¡± one of the convicts called out to Shuppel.


    Even then, Shuppel continued placing the corpses on the wagon and tried to finish his job.


    ¡°I¡¯ll join you inside a little while later.¡±


    Sweating profusely, Shuppel still replied in a calm tone of voice. Other convicts stared at him before exchanging glances with one another, then shrugged their shoulders.


    ¡°That fool¡¯s gone insane.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s like someone possessed, isn¡¯t he? Doing nothing but work, and then he does more work afterwards.¡±


    ¡°From what I hear, he committed a huge crime before being sent here. Not sure what kinda crime it is, but he¡¯s working his butt off to repent for that, apparently.¡±


    The convicts returned inside the castle one by one.


    The sun had completely set in the meantime. Now that night had fully descended, Shuppel pulled the wagon and also headed back toward Ronia. Even for him, being outside the castle at night would still be too dangerous to handle.


    Right then he flinched in surprise, and his whole body tensed up. He let go of the wagon and quickly unsheathed the sword at his hip.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± He glared at the darkness in front of him.


    A person was walking out of the dense darkness; it was a Priest wearing a white robe, and a bird-beak mask. He was also holding a gourd-shaped bottle.


    ¡°Who am I, you ask?¡± the man under the bird-beak mask spoke while lowering his voice. He cocked his head to the side and shook the gourd bottle lightly. ¡°Just an extra Priest passing by!¡±


    Allen grinned mischievously under the mask.


    < 131. Feudal Lord Jenald -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 249 - 132. An Extra Priest -1 (Part One)

    Translated by: A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    ¡°Excellent. Who would¡¯ve guessed that the demonic energy reserve of a mere pet would prove to be of such great assistance!¡± Count Timong spoke loudly as the volume of his voice grew even louder. He was currently staring at the large pit on the ground of the ice castle.


    The pit itself was quaking violently at the moment.


    The terrain rumbled and a monstrous howl escaping from the hole reverberated thunderously in the sky.


    The giant sealed down there was throwing a mighty tantrum, trying to escape from its confines. However, other J?tnar were preventing its escape attempts by blocking the pit with sturdy chains secured to the stakes driven into the ground.


    ¡°Be more patient, oh dear Mist Calf. It¡¯s still too early for you to wake up from your slumber.¡±


    This being was created out of mud by one of the kings of the titan race. It was a mud giant named Mist Calf.


    Out of the few J?tnar who had managed to cross the dimensions from the Realm of the Titans, this creature was easily the most powerful.


    If Timong could feed this mud giant enough demonic energy and mature it, ensuring that it grew to even greater strength¡­


    1


    ¡®I can use the giant¡¯s heart and shatter the doorway between the dimensions!¡¯


    He¡¯d be able to realize the perfected power of the warp gate!


    The method to eternally seal away something, casting away even the living to another dimension ¨C with such magic¡­


    ¡°We will be able to eliminate Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse.¡±


    History¡¯s strongest human and also its worst Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse! He¡¯d be sealed away forever.


    1


    As long as that man was removed from the picture¡­ then it didn¡¯t matter whether it was the Crown Imperial Prince or the Sword King, none of them would be an opponent for the Vampire King.


    2


    That was the sole reason why the noble Vampire King hadn¡¯t personally marched into the Theocratic Empire as of yet.


    ¡°However, it still lacks enough energy.¡±


    Count Timong rubbed his chin in contemplation.


    He was a true Alchemist at heart, so he strove to achieve only absolute perfection. That meant he had no desire to release the half-baked mud giant and utilize its heart.


    In order to further perfect the mud giant, many more offerings would have to be brought in.


    ¡°¡­?¡± Count Timong shifted his gaze and stared into the distance. An army of zombies staggering about were heading somewhere.


    ¡®Now that I think about it, somewhere near here is¡­¡¯


    There was a fortress of the living called Ronia near here; a fortress created to appease the rage of the undead, apparently. That location was protected by a ragtag bunch of convicts pretending to be soldiers.


    ¡®If I remember correctly, that place is referred to as the Sacrificial Castle, isn¡¯t it?¡¯


    A sinister grin floated up on Count Timong¡¯s lips.


    What a fitting name that was.


    ¡®It sounds like a perfect place to turn into a den of sacrifices, doesn¡¯t it?¡¯


    1


    Indeed, it should be relatively simple enough to turn all the humans living in that location into sacrificial offerings.


    ¡°Oh hear ye, my dear J?tnar!¡±


    Count Timong called out and the J?tnar slaving away began gathering around him.


    About thirty massive J?tnar came together, their steps rocking the land. At around eight metres tall, they towered over Count Timong, so they ended up looking down at him.


    The Vampire raised his head up to them and issued a new order, ¡°Go and occupy the Sacrificial Castle. Offer up every single human living there as sacrifices. And then¡­¡± Madness crept into Count Timong¡¯s shouting voice, ¡°Bring forth the glory of opening the world¡¯s very first perfected warp gate!¡±


    Zombies gathered into a horde and began shuffling ahead to kill the living.


    Count Timong began shattering various hidden jars that had been maturing for untold dozens of years inside the ice castle.


    Various undead tumbled out from the broken jars and joined up with the horde of the zombies.


    The J?tnar marched along with them.


    Their destination was the Sacrificial Castle, and the fiefdom of Ronia.


    **


    Shuppel furrowed his brow, staring at the masked man before him.


    ¡®An extra?¡¯


    ¡®What was that? Could it be a name?¡¯


    He had no idea what the term even meant, and assumed it to be the name of this Priest.


    This person before his eyes didn¡¯t seem to be hostile towards him, but the smiling eyes barely visible beneath the bird-beak mask were getting on his nerves somewhat.


    1


    Shuppel kept his sword ready, but before he could say something, the man under the bird mask broke the tense silence first, pointing with his finger. ¡°You know, it¡¯s quite dangerous for you to keep pointing that thing at me.¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡± Shuppel tilted his head in confusion, but that lasted only for a second or two.


    The ground next to him suddenly shot up. He quickly spun his body around and spotted a ¡®monster¡¯ standing tall amidst the snow, which was now falling back down like dust.


    Greyish hide covered its tall frame, while a hideously melted-down head was held in its left hand. In this undead¡¯s right hand was a badly-chipped sword.


    It was a dullahan!


    The creature buried underneath the pile of snow had woken up from its slumber after the sun went down.


    Shedding cold sweat, Shuppel tried to dodge, but by then, the undead¡¯s sword was already flying his way. The rough yet still sharp, chipped blade unhesitatingly flew in towards Shuppel¡¯s unguarded chest.


    ¡®I can¡¯t dodge this!¡¯


    He tried to block by raising his sword. However, he realized he was too late. It was going to be difficult to avoid getting a grievous wound from this dastardly sneak attack!


    But right at that moment, someone grabbed the scruff of Shuppel¡¯s neck and tossed him to the ground.


    He hurriedly shifted his eyes and stared at the Priest that had yanked him down. Shuppel might no longer be in the dullahan¡¯s reach, but the Priest was now standing before the undead, instead.


    ¡°Listen to me! That thing¡¯s too dangerous! Escape from here!¡±


    A dullahan was a mid-tier undead. A rookie Priest who was only around the level of ¡®average¡¯ would find it exceedingly difficult to deal with such a creature.


    Just as the thought began forming in Shuppel¡¯s head, the dullahan started its second attack.


    The blade was swung towards the bird-masked Priest. The latter injected divine energy into his hands and lightly swung his fist.


    The blade and the fist collided, and the chipped weapon was flung away.


    ¡°What the¡­?!¡±


    Before Shuppel could finish his gasp of surprise, the Priest took a little step forward with his left foot, steadied himself, and punched the midriff of the dullahan hard.


    Bang-!


    The surrounding air exploded with the powerful impact noise, and the dullahan¡¯s body flew up before crashing back down on the snow-covered ground.


    The undead flailed its limbs about like an overturned insect and howled out monstrously.


    ¡°Can¡¯t even dodge a dullahan¡¯s sneak attack yet? Man, that is so disappointing.¡± The bird mask shot a glare at Shuppel next. ¡°What was the point of getting revived, if that¡¯s the case?¡±


    Shuppel froze in surprise, before shooting a meaningful glare back at the mystery Priest.


    ¡®Who is this? Wait, could he be Allen?¡¯


    The people with knowledge on his revival and resurrection were limited to Allen and his close confidantes.


    Shuppel had heard that the Seventh Imperial Prince had come to visit Ronia, but he didn¡¯t even dare to entertain the idea of going to see his little brother. He didn¡¯t feel he was in any position to meet an Imperial Prince.


    ¡®However, if this man really is Allen, he shouldn¡¯t have a reason to hide his face. No need to hide his identity at all.¡¯


    Just as important, a prince from the Imperial Family wouldn¡¯t have enough leeway to casually visit Shuppel in the first place.


    It was around at this point that the bird-masked Mister Extra shrugged his shoulders as if he had sensed Shuppel¡¯s suspicious glare. ¡°His Highness the Seventh Imperial Prince has sent me.¡±


    That explanation only roused Shuppel¡¯s suspicions even further.


    ¡®Did Allen have a confidante named Extra?¡¯


    In the meantime, the bird-beak masked man walked past Shuppel and stopped some distance away. ¡°What are you doing, still looking so dazed?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°That dullahan. It¡¯s not dead yet.¡±


    Shuppel spun his head around to look at the dullahan.


    The undead was slowly getting back up to its feet. Its midriff had burned away from divine energy, and all sorts of rotting intestines had tumbled out of the gaping opening. But befitting its moniker as an undead, it continued to glare at the living while lifting up its sword.


    ¡°Go on. Fight it.¡±


    Shuppel shot a glare at the bird-beak masked man.


    The man was standing back, his arms crossed in front of his chest. The eyes under the mask were smiling away again.


    It was like he was looking at a lab rat right now, and Shuppel felt quite displeased.


    ¡°I¡¯m merely here to confirm any changes to you post-resurrection. To observe if there have been any notable effects, even on a former Priest such as yourself.¡±


    ¡®So that¡¯s how it is.¡¯


    Shuppel finally understood this situation.


    The man named Extra was indeed a confidante of Allen, and had come here under the latter¡¯s orders. His job must¡¯ve been to confirm if there had been any side effects from the resurrection.


    ¡®Even though we used to bicker a lot, that Allen¡­ Does he still care about me?¡¯


    The reason why the Seventh Imperial Prince didn¡¯t come personally and sent his confidante instead must¡¯ve been in consideration of his own position, Shuppel thought.


    ¡ª


    Meanwhile¡­


    ¡®Treating normal people turned them into awakened Priests.¡¯


    Allen, wearing the bird-beak mask, was closely observing Shuppel.


    ¡®It¡¯ll be a smart thing to confirm if there had been any other notable changes or not when a Priest was healed by me.¡¯


    (TL: ¡°J?tnar¡± is plural of ¡°J?tunn¡±. ¡®Mist Calf¡¯ isn¡¯t a weird mistranslated name, but an actual mud giant that appears in Norse mythology.)


    1

 Chapter 250 - 132. An Extra Priest -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by: A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Although Allen never really had a chance to observe the level of Shuppel¡¯s combat strength before now, he did get to see the latter¡¯s martial prowess back in Aslan, which was¡­ good enough to stop the hashashins charged with escorting Aslan¡¯s king from getting too close to him.


    Allen wanted to see just how much Shuppel had changed after his revival. And also, in an act of a half-prank of sorts, he wanted to test out the wonder drug of Hans on his brother as well.


    ¡°Bloody hell¡­¡±


    Shuppel spat out an expletive, before raising his sword and starting on the dullahan¡¯s defences.


    The undead swung its sword viciously, but Shuppel evaded that as if he was sliding on ice and swung his own sword to utterly shatter the head in the creature¡¯s left hand.


    Both the hand and the head were blown apart, and the dullahan¡¯s body slumped forward lifelessly.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡± Shuppel spat out a sigh of relief, before turning around to face the mystery Priest. ¡°Look here. Did Allen really send¡­¡±


    Shuppel¡¯s head was suddenly grabbed from behind, and something was forced into his mouth.


    ¡°Euh-wuph¡­?!¡±


    ¡°For sure, your divinity reserve seems to have increased. Your physical abilities have improved a little bit, too. However, it¡¯s only by a little.¡±


    Shuppel¡¯s eyes urgently shifted down to the gourd filling his mouth. A truly vile stench wafting out from something travelled through his mouth and began assaulting his olfactory nerves.


    And then, a taste most disgusting and hateful, like nothing he had ever experienced in his life, was forced down his throat.


    ¡°Wuu-wuph?!¡±


    The gourd was pulled out of his mouth and he started retching right away, but the bird-beak masked Priest forcibly blocked Shuppel¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°W-whub r ou!¡­¡±


    Even though Shuppel¡¯s voice had been muffled by the hand covering his mouth, the Priest still understood what was being said.


    ¡°It¡¯s good for your body, so drink it.¡±


    ¡®It¡¯s good for my body? What nonsense is he talking about?!¡¯


    The pain Shuppel felt was akin to his tongue melting down.


    The horrid, rancid stench caused his consciousness to go dim, while the pain shifted from his tongue to his throat, and he was eventually beset with a torturous sensation akin to his innards burning away.


    This¡­ this had to be poison, without a doubt!


    ¡®Dammit, he wasn¡¯t Allen¡¯s confidante?!¡¯


    Maybe he was an assassin? If not, a spy sent by the Vampires?!


    Just as all sorts of thoughts began tumbling around in his mind, the hand covering his mouth suddenly let go.


    The bird-beak masked Priest stepped back. Shuppel coughed and wheezed. Seeing how he wasn¡¯t dead yet, that accursed liquid didn¡¯t seem to be poison.


    He urgently inserted his finger in his mouth, trying to puke out what he had just ingested, but other than some dry retching, what he swallowed didn¡¯t want to come out.


    ¡°It¡¯s already been absorbed in full?¡± the man calling himself Extra muttered in a surprised tone of voice.


    Shuppel roared out in a hoarse voice while glaring at Extra, ¡°What have you done to me?!¡±


    ¡°Activate your divinity.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?!¡±


    Extra suddenly summoned a greatsword out of nowhere and took a casual swing with it.


    Shuppel jumped up in surprise and hurriedly blocked the attack with his own sword. Their blades collided after he barely managed to block in time, and his body began tilting back from the weight of the attack.


    The bird-beak masked Priest spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m telling you to try controlling your divinity again.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m saying, what are you¡­!¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t, you¡¯ll die today.¡±


    Divinity began oozing out from Extra¡¯s hands, enhancing his physical strength. He gradually began forcing Shuppel lower and lower.


    The greatsword in the Priest¡¯s hands was now gradually breaking Shuppel¡¯s rather shabby sword.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡®Dammit, just what is this guy planning to do?!¡¯


    There was a limit to Shuppel¡¯s patience. He had been holding back since this Extra seemed to be Allen¡¯s confidante, but from this moment on, he¡¯d no longer be as agreeable as before!


    ¡°Uwaaaaah!¡± Shuppel roared out a warcry.


    He focused divinity into his hands and wielded his sword¡­ and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    The divinity flowing out of him didn¡¯t scatter away like usual, but stuck rigidly to his sword. The divine energy seeped in between the gaps of his breaking sword and instantly boosted the weapon¡¯s sturdiness.


    The blade became stronger and sharper than ever before.


    The moment Shuppel sent more strength down to his hands, his sword began cutting into the Priest¡¯s greatsword.


    In the blink of an eye, the greatsword¡¯s blade was sliced apart and sent flying in the air.


    Extra stepped back and stared at his greatsword with the broken blade. Shortly after that, he shifted his gaze over to Shuppel and muttered in an impressed voice. ¡°¡­Holy cow! The steroid worked like a charm, didn¡¯t it?¡±


    He spoke in his usual manner of speech without realising it, but Shuppel was too preoccupied right now to even notice it. Shuppel was busy alternating his shocked gaze between his shabby sword and his hand.


    Even his breathing had stabilised at the moment. His head was getting clearer, while his divinity control had become much more proficient than ever before.


    ¡°I heard that the drug¡¯s effects would be incredible, but to think that it¡¯s also instantaneous, too!¡± Extra muttered seemingly to himself, prompting Shuppel to turn his head and stare at the bird-beak mask-wearing Priest.


    That tone of voice; why did it sound like his original plan was to experiment ¡®something¡¯ on Shuppel?


    Shuppel naturally didn¡¯t like the implication of that, so while rousing up his wariness to the maximum level, he leveled his sword once more. ¡°You bastard, just what have you done to me? And what was that potion you fed me?!¡±


    Extra totally ignored Shuppel¡¯s questions and instead spoke what was on his mind. ¡°Come here again at the same time tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to scrutinise the effectiveness of the drug in more detail, after all.¡±


    Effectiveness of the drug?


    Shuppel hesitated at that, but as if to drive the final nail home, Extra said one other thing. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to become even stronger, Shuppel?¡±


    That question froze Shuppel up on his spot.


    Allen glanced at the empty gourd-shaped bottle rolling around on the ground, then smiled underneath the mask.


    ¡®With that¡­¡¯


    He might get to create a whole bunch of ¡®proper¡¯ soldiers now.


    **


    Inside the assigned VIP room of the feudal lord¡¯s official residence¡­


    Hans¡¯s expression hardened as he began freaking out inside.


    As a matter of fact, he was so shocked that he ended up screaming out at the top of his lungs. As it was in the middle of the night, his screaming commotion caused the servants and maids to hurriedly descend on his room in a fluster.


    Hans sent all of them away immediately, then firmly closed the room¡¯s door. He then stared at the gourd-shaped bottle still in his hand.


    He circulated his Mana once more and the look of shock floated up on his face again.


    ¡®I¡­ I¡¯ve grown stronger!¡¯


    Goosebumps broke out all over his skin. Chills ran down his spine, and he was getting legitimately frightened.


    Even though he was the creator of this drug, never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that it would exhibit such a nonsensical level of effectiveness.


    ¡®This is way beyond my calculations!¡¯


    He initially added the highest-grade holy water brought from the Theocratic Empire to the carnivorous plant¡¯s sap, then took a gulp of the resulting liquid. The taste was absolutely horrendous, and the boost to his rate of growth was best described as negligible, so much so that he¡¯d have to observe for a few years to notice any actual gains.


    However, that much would already be a shocking-enough item to behold.


    But when compared to that earlier effort, the sap combined with the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s holy water came across as overwhelmingly superior in every aspect.


    ¡®Dangerous. It¡¯s way too dangerous!¡¯


    Unlike the voice crying out in his mind, the corners of Hans¡¯s lips were curling up in a deep smirk.


    ¡®If this gets known, I¡¯ll either get abducted or outright murdered!¡¯


    In this world, strength was divided between those who didn¡¯t have and those who did along the lines of talent and effort.


    However, anyone who drank this wonder drug would come to possess a rate of growth far surpassing people blessed with those factors!


    What if a nation managed to monopolise this drug?


    ¡®¡­World domination won¡¯t be a mere pipe dream, then.¡¯


    That nation would be able to create the world¡¯s mightiest army¡­ and Hans had created a means to achieve it!


    He was suddenly overcome with ecstasy and a sense of accomplishment as the Alchemist responsible for creating this historical elixir.


    ¡®Yes, my technique played a large role, but the impressiveness of His Highness¡¯ holy water is also otherworldly, too.¡¯


    At this rate, it should no longer be referred to as ¡®holy water¡¯, but he might as well call it the ¡®god water¡¯ created by a god himself.


    Knock, knock¡­


    Someone was knocking on the door Hans was leaning against, but he was too immersed in thought and failed to hear it.


    ¡®What should I? Do I need to get rid of it?¡¯


    This was not something that should exist in this world.


    No, wait¡­ it might be possible to keep it through careful management. This potion wouldn¡¯t be effective unless the holy water freshly created by the one and only Saint Allen Olfolse was added to it right away.


    In other words, the Seventh Imperial Prince could easily monopolise this whole thing.


    Knock, knock¡­


    ¡®Yes, I want to repay my debt to him, but this item¡¯s power is just too great.¡¯


    Bang, bang!


    ¡®What should I do? Really, what choice do I¡­¡¯


    BANG-!


    The door was forcibly shoved open and Hans crashed to the floor face-first.


    He got up to a squatting position and quickly looked behind to discover the Seventh Imperial Prince looking back at him.


    ¡°Hey, you alright?¡±


    When the Seventh Imperial Prince asked that, Hans quickly nodded. Actually, this intrusion did help him in sorting out the mess in his head.


    Allen checked Hans¡¯s condition before opening his mouth. ¡°Hans, can you get me more of that wonder drug?¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡± Hans ended up making a puzzled face. Even then, he cast his dazed gaze on the gourd bottle still gripped in his hand, before subconsciously pushing it towards Allen. ¡°Here. This is the sap prepared earlier. All you have to do is add your holy water into it, sir.¡±


    Allen received the bottle. Shaking it around lightly, he smiled in satisfaction.


    ¡°Your Highness, did you call for me?¡±


    It was at that exact moment that Charlotte walked in from the corridor.


    Allen didn¡¯t pay attention to her question and instead focused himself on opening the cork of the bottle and pouring his holy water into it.


    The liquid¡¯s colour changed to a purplish hue, and he shook the bottle around a little more.


    The disgusting stench gradually wafted into their surroundings, and Charlotte had to work very hard to suppress the urge to cover her nose.


    But even she couldn¡¯t prevent her brows from furrowing deeply.


    ¡°Hey, Charlotte.¡± Allen suddenly reached out and grabbed her shoulder.


    Charlotte flinched a little at that. She was getting a somewhat apprehensive feeling while staring at his hand.


    She stared wordlessly at his hand for a bit, then shifted her gaze back to his face. Allen was lightly shaking the gourd bottle around, smiling suspiciously with his eyes.


    ¡°Would you like to have a sip of this wonder drug?¡±


    < 132. An Extra Priest -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 251 - 133. An Extra Priest -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    In the training hall of the Count¡¯s residence¡­


    There was no roof here, allowing the snow to cover the floor in pure white.


    Charlotte was currently covering her mouth, while wobbling unsteadily on her feet on top of this lightly-packed layer of snow.


    She usually sported a taciturn, expressionless face, but at this very moment, a heavy frown filled her face, while tears were forming on the edges of her eyes.


    In the end, she couldn¡¯t endure and leaned against the training hall¡¯s wall, before sinking to the floor powerlessly.


    I muttered quietly, ¡°¡­I guess the drug really is pretty nasty.¡±


    This would be my first time seeing her this out of sorts.


    She didn¡¯t have to force herself and drink the dang potion, but when I told her about its effects, she just chugged the whole bottle down without any hesitation whatsoever.


    I felt sorry about that, so I walked over to her and squatted down to match her eye level. While lightly waving my hand in front of her face, I asked, ¡°Are you alright? You want me to give you some holy water? It can clear out even the most potent of hangovers, you see.¡±


    ¡°N-no, I¡¯ll be alright, Your Highness.¡±


    Charlotte held her head as if it was hurting to the point of shattering like glass, then began forcing herself back to her feet. She used her sword like a crutch to balance herself, then shot a resentful glare in my direction.


    ¡°Fine, fine. At least drink this first.¡± I summoned some holy water in my hands and pushed it towards her so that she could at least wash the inside of her mouth out or something.


    Charlotte took a gulp of the holy water cupped in my hands, and her complexion immediately improved to some degree.


    Just as I bent down a little to gently pat her on her back, Hans walked up to us while holding a parchment and a pen.


    ¡°Are we going to test the medicine¡¯s effects from now on, sir?¡± Hans asked, looking quite excited at the idea.


    I figured that he just couldn¡¯t wait to record how incredible his own concoction was. I replied, ¡°Let¡¯s do that a bit later, after Charlotte recovers a bit more.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m feeling fine, Your Highness. Although I do feel a little lightheaded, it¡¯s on a level that I can manage without any issues,¡± Charlotte replied, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. She glanced at me, and I noticed the fire burning in her eyes. She seemed to have regained some of her vigour now.


    If what Hans said was true, then the effects of the medicine would be only minor when used on someone already boasting a great deal of strength.


    We had to pay close attention to Charlotte, and see how much of an effect the medicine had on her. There was only one sure-fire way to confirm that.


    I walked to the centre of the training hall, then stood on the side opposite Charlotte. After summoning the greatsword, I gripped it loosely and rested it against the snow-covered floor. ¡°Okay, now, Charlotte, how about we spar for a little while?¡±


    She flinched noticeably, then with a complicated yet weird expression on her face, began staring at me intently. ¡°Did you say ¡®spar¡¯, Your Highness?¡± She seemed quite surprised by my suggestion.


    But that was probably down to us never having sparred before. Back during my banishment period, I was what you¡¯d call ¡®blessed with two left feet¡¯, and had no talent in wielding swords, so I was understandably reluctant to spar with her.


    But now that Kasim was with me, even someone like me could now more or less fight in close-quarter battles. That¡¯s why I wanted to have a spar with Charlotte at least once.


    ¡°How about it?¡±


    ¡°Very well. I accept, Your Highness!¡±


    The tone of her voice grew higher. I wasn¡¯t sure why, but the corners of her lips were curling up ever so slightly. I could only guess that she was happy about something here.


    Well, my opponent gave her consent, so¡­ ¡°Kasim!¡± ¡­I might as well get started properly, then.


    Kasim¡¯s soul was summoned and entered the greatsword.


    Not just my physical abilities, but even the necessary skill in battle entered my mind through the large weapon gripped in my hands.


    I sucked in a deep breath, raised the greatsword, and leveled it at Charlotte.


    As if to reply to that, a smooth grin floated up on her lips and she bowed her head a little, as per the established etiquette. She then stood opposite me and unsheathed her sword from its scabbard.


    Her refined posture, her precise movements as she drew her sword out while kitted out in that figure-hugging white-coloured armour¡­ Seriously now, it was like I was staring at a gorgeous portrait or something.


    2


    White snowflakes quietly piled up on her silver hair. Her crimson irises were reflecting my image.


    After pulling out her sword, she lowered her stance and began glaring at me. The surrounding atmosphere seemed to suddenly transform.


    This still silence flowed all around us, and I even fell into an illusion of the air getting progressively heavier.


    I ended up blurting out something at the sheer pressure she emitted. ¡°Please go easy on me, will ya?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give it all my all, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡­Huh. Maybe she wanted payback for the medicine?


    I glanced at Hans, urging him with my eyes to give us the signal for the spar¡¯s start. He seemed to have understood the meaning behind my gaze, because he nodded and raised his hand up.


    He slowly lowered his hand and shouted out, ¡°Begin!¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s slender, frail-looking foot stepped on the ground lightly.


    She lowered her posture even further and just as the light burning in her eyes sharpened considerably, her figure vanished from my sight.


    ¡°¡­?¡± For a moment there, I thought I had lost her.


    By the time I picked up on her movement, she was already right in front of my nose.


    What followed after that was a delayed sonic boom. A snowstorm exploded right behind her.


    My panicking face was now reflected in her irises. I cried out, ¡°What the heck?!¡±


    Charlotte planted her foot on the ground, and with her foot as the pivot, she spun around 360 degrees while raising her sword.


    I desperately raised the greatsword and barely managed to block her blade.


    CLANG-!


    A loud, violent metallic clangour rang out as sparks danced in the air.


    My muscles and even the bones in my joints were screaming in shock.


    She hadn¡¯t even used any divine power yet. Her current strength was purely a result of just her physical stats alone.


    Just her physical strength alone was enough to numb my arms and make them feel like they would burst apart at any moment now.


    ¡°¡­What¡¯s up with this ogre-like strength?!¡± I muttered without even realising it, but that only made her glare sharper than before. Her sword lowered, then slashed upwards.


    Clang-!


    That metallic clang was only the beginning; dozens upon scores of the sharp notes of metal colliding exploded out afterwards.


    Charlotte wielded her sword from all sorts of angles at a genuinely frightening rate of speed.


    I managed somehow to hold on, and retreated from her.


    Even though I was relying on Kasim¡¯s reflexes and his understanding of sword techniques, as well as his combat experience, I was still being overwhelmingly pummelled by her attacks.


    Was it due to the effects of the wonder drug?


    ¡®No, hang on. She hasn¡¯t even used her divinity yet, has she?¡¯


    Which meant that this development was solely due to her hard work and nothing else.


    ¡°Okay, fine. Let¡¯s get serious.¡±


    I got some distance from her before rousing up my divinity. The divine energy coursed through my veins and spread throughout my body.


    The Aztal Rune began emitting its beautiful golden light, and exhibited its power to greatly boost my physical prowess and reflexes.


    All of my senses were greatly heightened; I could now follow Charlotte¡¯s movements. Even the powerful blizzard slowed down to gently drifting snowflakes at this point. Hans¡¯s movements became oh-so slow, as well.


    In the midst of time slowing down to a crawl, only Charlotte remained agile and nimble.


    Her movements were as smooth and refined as if she were dancing right now. The blade of her divine sword came flying in towards my waist.


    I injected divine energy into the greatsword and deflected her blade away.


    I wasn¡¯t going to sit back and obediently take her beating, however!


    [Divine Aura of Wind!]


    Winds began compressing about my greatsword.


    I created more distance before drawing the big sword back. If it was this attack, even Charlotte would have trouble defending against it.


    ¡°Here we go!¡± I slashed with the compressed air gathered about the greatsword.


    The snowstorm exploded apart and the formless blade flew straight toward Charlotte.


    ¡°¡­¡± Only then did she utilise her divinity.


    Faint but still pure-white aura oozed from her. Particles of light rapidly gathered to the sword tightly gripped in her hand before wrapping around the blade and becoming one with it.


    She held the hilt with both hands and raised the weapon up high.


    She sucked in a deep breath as her eyes lit up.¡±Fuu-heuph!¡±


    Her crimson irises locked on the incoming wind blade, then she hacked down with all of her strength.


    The formless greatsword made out of wind collided with her divine sword and got cut in two. It split apart left and right, brushed past her, and crashed into the wall of the training hall behind her, promptly exploding in a spectacular fashion.


    Her figure dashed out from the blizzard and the blinding snow scattered in the air. She dug in with a lowered posture while a bright smile meant for me was etched on her face.


    She said, ¡°This time¡­¡±


    The moment I heard her voice, my view flipped upside down.


    Before I realised how, I was staring at the sky above. After turning my head to look below, I noticed that Charlotte used her leg to trip me up and destroy my balance.


    Not content with that, she was even pressing me down to the ground with her left hand on my chest.


    Once I was completely flat on the ground, she subdued both of my hands with her knees, then pressed her left hand firmly down on my chest.


    As for her right hand, it held the sword which was now clearly pointing toward my throat.¡±¡­It¡¯s my win. Isn¡¯t it, Your Highness?¡±


    For a fleeting moment there, her gentle voice tickled my eardrums. I could only dazedly stare at her on top of me, still pointing her sword.


    Her expression had already stiffened up by then, as if she was trying to imitate a sheet of ice or something. Even I could tell that she was trying hard to suppress her emotions, but the corners of her lips were still quivering away.


    She was genuinely pleased about defeating me today, it seemed.

 Chapter 252 - 133. An Extra Priest -2 (Part Two)

    Chapter 252: 133. An Extra Priest -2 (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    This kid, she had grown a lot stronger while I wasn¡¯t looking. Sure, that wonder drug could¡¯ve had some effect on her, but it was most likely all of her effort paying off handsomely right now.


    A once-in-a-generation talent, naturally-gifted physical prowess, and an unyielding drive ¨C by having all of those things, Charlotte really did possess the natural disposition of a perfect Paladin.


    I recalled the first time we met. ¡°Weren¡¯t we also in a similar position back then, too?¡±


    When I said that, Charlotte flinched a little, then began smiling wryly. She got off me, stood up, and extended her hand to me. ¡°Yes, we were.¡±


    I grabbed her hand and stood back up.


    I felt rueful. Actually, I was a bit unhappy, too.


    I thought I¡¯d be able to put up a decent challenge by using Kasim¡¯s soul, but to think that I¡¯d be this outmatched by her¡­ and so overwhelmingly, to boot.


    I stabbed the greatsword into the training hall¡¯s floor, then loosened my aching muscles. While doing that, I glanced at both Charlotte and Hans.


    The latter was walking up to her to ask, ¡°How did you find the medicine¡¯s effects, ma¡¯am?¡±


    Charlotte shook herself to loosen up, then spoke her honest impression, ¡°Certainly¡­ it feels like there was some kind of an effect. I feel that my body has gotten lighter, while my head feels clearer, as well. There¡¯s also a noticeable improvement on my ability to control the divine power. However, I get a rather strong sense that it¡¯s only temporary¡­¡±


    ¡°Although only by a little, the effects should overlap, ma¡¯am. The effectiveness will only get more pronounced after some time has passed by. That I¡¯m sure of!¡±


    Hans continued to jot down on the parchment, looking clearly excited. Her testimony had indicated that, although small, she did experience some improvement.


    After watching their interaction for a bit, I turned my head away to look at the bottles of gourds piled up at the side of the training hall. Every single one of them contained the plant sap that Hans had refined.


    According to him, he¡¯d need around a week to refine a single bottle. But the required time should be reduced a good deal if other Alchemists joined him to help with the mass production.


    That all meant that our only remaining problem would be the existing reserves of the carnivorous plant¡¯s sap. The quantity of that material was limited, and to procure it, one had to visit Titalos.


    ¡°Charlotte, it really did have an effect on you, right?¡± I turned my head and stared at her.


    She nodded vigorously, as if energy was overflowing inside her. ¡°Yes, Your Highness. There definitely was an improvement.¡±


    Even her voice indicated how pleased she was. I had no idea that she¡¯d be a fan of sparring to this degree. It seemed that from now on, I better humour her every once in a while.


    I put the gourds away.


    A new task had just landed on my lap: raising up an army.


    ¡ª¡ª


    I headed back to Count Jenald¡¯s office.


    Since he was currently confined to a prison cell, even if it was a temporary measure, all management authority had been automatically handed over to me.


    After I arrived in the office, I spread open a parchment on the desk and began wielding my pen.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s been proven to be effective, the smart move would be to utilise the medicine right away.¡±


    I was writing a communique. The recipients had already been decided: Luan and Hilda of the Imperial Family, Queen Tina of Aslan, the Girl Priestess Yuria back in Aihrance, etc, etc¡­


    Saintess Alice should also be considered, but she was already here in Ronia and spending most of her time in the library anyway, so I could just personally deliver the medicine to her later.


    All these were people that I could trust, people who wouldn¡¯t start abusing their powers all of a sudden.


    Also, they were the people who¡¯d become the shields protecting the Theocratic Empire in the near future. I wrote my communiques to all of them.


    ¡°You will all become a great help to the empire soon.¡±


    ¡ª


    I glanced at the completed letters. Only one remained to be completed.


    However, I hadn¡¯t put down my signature yet.


    Things could get troublesome if my name was involved in this matter. The vampires seemed to be making some moves to spy on my actions recently.


    I was sure of it after going through the events surrounding the kingdoms of Lome and Aihrance. Since that was the case, I had an urgent need for a way to hide my identity for the time being.


    [From Extra, a Priest of the Imperial Family.]


    I grinned in satisfaction while writing that little line of postscript.


    The last letter I wrote was for Holy Emperor Kelt. Its content was pretty simple: to alert him to the ¡®cultivation¡¯ of the Priests.


    ¡°It kinda feels like I¡¯m suggesting the ¡®one hundred thousand soldiers program¡¯ here, doesn¡¯t it?¡± I murmured to myself. [1]


    Of course, our numbers wouldn¡¯t get that high, but still.


    ¡ª


    I finished up the last letter, then took a glance at a gourd resting on the desk.


    ¡°Besides all that, is this really that good for your body?¡±


    ¡®Weeeeell, I don¡¯t really care about how it tastes as long as it really is good for me¡­¡¯


    I injected my holy water into the bottle and shook it around, and the disgusting stench promptly wafted out.


    ¡®Right, what¡¯s good for one¡¯s body is supposed to taste really bitter, isn¡¯t it?¡¯


    I covered my nose, then dumped the liquid in my mouth.


    **


    ¡°Yes, this is just me being curious. I don¡¯t have any plans to meet anyone specific. Yes, that¡¯s it.¡±


    Muttering that to himself, Shuppel came to visit the Count¡¯s residence.


    There were soldiers stationed here, but when he told them that he¡¯d like to speak to Harman, they let him through pretty easily. They knew that Shuppel and Harman, who was from the Paladin Corps, were acquaintances.


    Shuppel ¡®infiltrated¡¯ the residence while this bubble of anxiety began ballooning inside his mind.


    That ¡®wonder drug¡¯ he had drank before was a very suspicious item, indeed.


    It greatly enhanced both his reserve of divine power, as well as all of his physical attributes, yet there didn¡¯t seem to be any side effects at all.


    Such an item wouldn¡¯t just fall out of the sky one day.


    Either Allen did something crazy and created it, or that deeply suspicious Extra or whatever his name was responsible for cooking it up.


    ¡®However, I definitely don¡¯t remember hearing about Allen having a close aide named Extra.¡¯


    He had investigated all the people around Allen way back when. From Charlotte to Harman, then Hilda and Luan, Count Jenald, Queen Tina, and quite a few others besides them¡­


    Allen enjoyed a fairly wide set of acquaintances. However, none of them were named ¡®Extra¡¯. Without a doubt, the odds of that name being an alias were uncomfortably high.


    ¡®This is merely a brother worrying about his sibling, that¡¯s all. It¡¯s definitely not my curiosity acting up.¡¯


    He was really curious about the real identity of this unknown Priest.


    ¡­Curious that yet another talented individual was hiding within the Theocratic Empire.


    ¡®By the way, didn¡¯t I hear a scream just now?¡¯


    He thought he heard a familiar voice screaming out when entering the residence earlier, but after looking at how relaxed the guards were, he figured that his nerves were to blame here, instead.


    Shuppel glanced outside the windows while walking down the manor¡¯s corridor.


    Yet another night was coming to visit the fortress.


    The promised hour with Extra was getting nearer, and Shuppel grew even more anxious at that. If his luck was bad, then they might end up missing one another.


    ¡°Wonderful! Yes, its effects are definitely proven now. Argh, what a miss, what a miss! I should¡¯ve procured lots more plant sap from Titalos back then.¡±


    Shuppel¡¯s gaze wandered outside the windows, and eventually landed on the grounds of the training hall, which had layers of snow piled on top of it.


    That¡¯s when his steps came to a stuttering halt.


    He nearly freaked out of his skull when he stared at Hans still there in the training hall. The man was sitting down while leaning back against a greatsword stabbed into the cold, hard ground. His pen was busy darting about on top of a parchment at the moment.


    ¡°But I need more test subjects to confirm the effectiveness some more. That¡¯s what His Highness the Imperial Prince probably wishes, too.¡±


    Despite muttering to himself, his voice was quite loud. It seemed that he wasn¡¯t even conscious of his surroundings due to the sheer excitement he felt.


    Shuppel froze while staring at Hans.


    That greatsword Hans was leaning against, and the gourd next to him¡­ Those two were quite familiar to Shuppel¡¯s eyes.


    ¡®Could it be that he¡¯s¡­¡¯


    ¡­Extra?


    Shuppel¡¯s brows shot up as he took a closer look at Hans¡¯s build.


    The Alchemist was fervently jotting something down on the parchment. Even from this distance, the great passion a researcher had for Alchemy could be sensed from him.


    Judging from how he subconsciously mentioned ¡®His Highness¡¯ like that, one could also discern his loyalty towards the Imperial Family, as well.


    ¡®Was there a man like that?¡¯


    If Allen were to speak about Shuppel¡¯s resurrection to someone, then he¡¯d certainly trust his confidantes to keep a secret for him.


    Shuppel carefully combed through his memories before finally recalling an individual.


    ¡®That¡¯s right, there is someone. One of Allen¡¯s close aides, Hans the Alchemist!¡¯


    Shuppel had heard that Hans was a peddler of sundry goods that Allen had run into during his adventure back in Aslan.


    Although Hans¡¯s ability as an Alchemist was known to be quite excellent, to think that he was also capable of wielding a greatsword and even using divinity, too!


    That man had attained a truly shocking realm of martial prowess, it seemed!


    There he was, yet another hidden talent of the Imperial Family. Shuppel engraved the true face of ¡®Extra¡¯ deeply in his mind.


    It happened at that exact moment.


    Clang-! Clang-! Dang-!


    Shuppel flinched in surprise and urgently turned his head.


    Servants and maids working in the residence were hurriedly moving about, and even the guards were dashing to somewhere.


    Shuppel called out to one of the guards, ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡±


    The guard¡¯s face was currently as pale as a sheet of paper. He stared at Shuppel and cried out. ¡°Can¡¯t you tell after hearing the bell? That¡¯s the alarm to alert us of the undead attacking! Mister gravekeeper, quickly get your gear and head towards the outer wall!¡±


    Shuppel nodded in understanding.


    The ringing of the bell was indeed familiar. However, what he heard just now seemed to be on a different scale compared to the regular alarm bell he had heard before.


    Even this guard looked deeply worried. Just what kind of creatures could cause this sort of commotion?


    Shuppel sent a final glance at Hans, before turning around to leave. He too was a defender of this fortress, and he had a duty to carry out.


    **


    The complexions of every convict standing on top of the outer walls were as pale as one could get. They were all so stupefied that their jaws were hanging limply, as if they had all turned into a bunch of invalids.


    These people used to calmly deal with the previous assaults of the undead. They also used to offer prayers while calling out to Gaia and the name of their Lord Saint.


    But such people had frozen stiff in their spots, unable to think a single thing right now.


    ¡°What the hell is the meaning of this¡­?¡±


    They were currently staring at the horde of undead shuffling closer through the darkness beyond the outer wall.


    At first, they saw zombies, ghouls, and dullahans, then even mummies and lycans could be seen among the mix, as well.


    Sure, they were mid- to upper-tier undead, but the full force of Ronia¡¯s army should be able to stop them. However, the incoming horde boasted a ridiculously high number of individuals, and one could reasonably expect to see an extensive amount of losses at the end of the battle.


    ¡­If it had been only them showing up, that was.


    One of the convicts, cold sweat streaming down his face, muttered to no one in particular. ¡°¡­It¡¯s a giant.¡±


    The howl of a massive creature could be heard among the screeches and roars of the undead.


    The ground trembled, and Mother Nature¡¯s blizzard collided against something massive in the darkness.


    Humanoid-type monsters that reached at least eight metres in height. They seemed to number around thirty.


    Their hard muscles reminded one of tough armour, with thick and large fingers, and legs reminiscent of stone pillars.


    Whitish breaths leaked out as their chiselled jaws split open ever so slightly.


    That was a J?tunn!


    The zombified giants were marching towards Ronia.


    < 133. An Extra Priest -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: The ¡°one hundred thousand soldiers program¡± was a suggestion made by one of Joseon¡¯s politicians named Yi I, prior to the start of the Imjin War of 1592. Actually, I couldn¡¯t find an official English translation for it, so I had to make one up for this chapter.)

 Chapter 253 - 134. The New Ones (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Charlotte was feeling quite pleased at the moment.


    Even if the Seventh Imperial Prince wasn¡¯t very good at close-quarter fighting, she still won the duel. As someone striving to get closer to his realm, she felt that this victory was an important validation of all of her growth so far.


    Just as a faint little smile formed on her lips¡­


    The only person in the feudal lord¡¯s residence who showed a reaction to that small, almost inaudible scream was Charlotte.


    She flinched in surprise and dashed towards Count Jenald¡¯s office, flinging the door there open. ¡°Your Highness?!¡± she shouted in alarm.


    She feared that he might have fallen victim to a sneak attack, but that turned out to be wrong. A truly horrid stench filled the office and an empty gourd rolled towards the open doorway.


    Charlotte looked at that bottle and could only smile wryly.


    Did His Highness actually drink this? If so, him screaming like that would be a pretty obvious end result.


    An Imperial Prince with not much resistance to speak of willingly drank something that horrible? It was unsurprising to see him screaming out of his mind.


    It was at that moment that she heard the loud ringing bells that served as a warning to alert everyone of an undead invasion.


    Charlotte furrowed her brows and stared at the corridor.


    Many soldiers were rushing about.


    Those warning bells sounded far louder and urgent than usual. It seemed that far more dangerous creatures than before had shown up this time.


    If it was nothing more than another undead raid on the Fortress of Ronia, then Harman and herself would be more than adequate enough to deal with it, but¡­


    She just couldn¡¯t shake an ominous foreboding.


    ¡®¡­The J?tunn.¡¯


    The giant from the legends that the ex-Third Imperial Prince, Ruppel, had spotted during one of his reconnaissance missions.


    It was unknown whether such a creature really existed or not at this stage, but if they existed for real and they were coming to invade, then this battle would be a very challenging one.


    ¡°Your Highness, we need to make a move now¡­¡±


    It was unfortunate, but from the look of things, the Imperial Prince wouldn¡¯t have the luxury of time to recover. Right now, everyone needed his help.


    Charlotte shifted her rueful gaze back into the office, but then¡­


    ¡°¡­Your Highness?¡±


    The boy prince hadn¡¯t blacked out or puked his innards out despite having drunk that¡­ wonder drug.


    While calling his name out in a puzzled tone of voice, Charlotte ever so carefully stepped back.


    A mysterious and slightly frightening aura was slowly oozing out from the office itself. She then noticed whitish dust particle-like things beginning to dance all around her, and reached out to them.


    ¡®¡­Snowflakes?¡¯


    She quickly realized she was mistaken. These were actually particles of divinity that resembled snowflakes.


    Charlotte shifted her gaze back into the interior of the office.


    Bones created entirely out of divine power were being constructed rapidly within the office. They tumbled and interlocked like an intricate spiderweb to encase their surroundings.


    And the Seventh Imperial Prince was the centre of it all.


    He said, ¡°This thing was supposed to have almost no effect on me, but that was completely wrong.¡±


    The golden light of the Aztal Rune was gushing out from his neck, face, and the gaps of his flapping clothes. Fragments of divinity floated up like weightless snowflakes before quietly settling down to pile up in thick layers.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that there¡¯s no effect on me, but¡­¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince was sitting in a meditative position in the middle of the bones spread out about him like the spiderweb.


    ¡°It was actually a perfect match. Because, I am me.¡±


    His eyes were closed; he was muttering quietly to himself.


    ¡°And thanks to that¡­¡±


    Allen extended his left hand. In his grasp was an ancient Necromancy grimoire he had acquired back in Aslan.


    ¡°¡­Now I can finally activate it.¡±


    1


    His eyelids cracked open just a sliver and he stared intently at the Necromancy grimoire. He calmly flipped through page after page.


    Every time he did that, the particles of divine power piled up like snow about him gradually gathered and transformed into bones.


    These bones slowly gathered up to form a figure.


    The particles continued to dance and radiate in the air as the bone hand, still soft and malleable, as if it was the side effect of being born not too long ago, rose from the floor of the office.


    1


    A skull was created, followed soon after by the neck and the spinal column.


    A lengthy transparent robe, also created out of divinity, flapped elegantly, and the holy undead slowly lifted itself up off the ground from its prior supine position.


    This was the existence that all Necromancers yearned to become in the end. It was also a creature that everyone in Aslan had to bow to in respect and awe.


    Charlotte¡¯s brows shot up high as she muttered out, ¡°A Lich?¡±


    An undead lich draped in a lengthy robe was now silently standing tall there. A fog containing a great deal of divinity settled down on the floor and gradually spread out.


    Finally, a pair of glowing eyes lit up within the skull.


    -How can this be¡­


    A calm voice came from the undead¡¯s jaw. The Lich looked down at its own hand.


    -I¡¯ve gained a new body.


    The undead creature reached out towards the pool of holy water resembling a pile of snow made up purely of divinity particles.


    While its whitish breath whooshed out from its jaw, the creature¡¯s bony hand slipped into the dense pile of ¡®snow¡¯ of divine power and pulled something out that was neither a sword nor a magic staff.


    It was a musket possessing a long, sleek barrel; the longest firearm in Allen¡¯s arsenal, reaching about two metres in length.


    Grasping the weapon like a walking stick, the Lich staggered a little and stood before Allen. The creature knelt down and pressed its forehead on the musket, then bowed its head as if to offer a prayer.


    -Oh, my new master¡­


    A sense of puzzlement seeped into Charlotte¡¯s mind. She stared at the Seventh Imperial Prince, and an expression of unrest formed on her face.


    Something like this happened every now and then; a swordsman, magician, or even a Priest would sometimes come down with a major epiphany without warning.


    They would then go on to acquire a great deal of strength from that awakening process.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince was able to wield a truly massive reserve of divinity before now, but his control over it wasn¡¯t what you¡¯d call ¡®sufficient¡¯. He¡¯d often use up every single drop of divine power until he was completely drained, and without the aid of the relics, he couldn¡¯t Summon anything stronger than the holy undead knight.


    But the story had changed now.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince had broken through his own limits and experienced an awakening!


    He raised his head, as if finally reacting to the alarm bells ringing noisily outside. ¡°What good timing this is.¡±


    He reached out and placed his hand on the Lich¡¯s skull.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be needing your help.¡±


    -Anything you order us, master.


    The Lich made a move; it slightly raised the musket gripped in its hands and slammed it down on the floor.


    2


    Bang-!


    Divinity rumbled and reverberated, causing other existences to slowly rise up from the floor, covered in the snow-like particles of divine energy.


    They were skeleton mages, except that they were not holding their usual magic staves, but muskets!


    And on these figures of all the Lich and the skeleton mages¡­ the ¡®Aztal Rune¡¯ began engraving onto their bones!


    [The Aztal Rune¡¯s ¡®Ability Transfer¡¯ has been used.]


    [Divine Aura has been activated.]


    [Muskets are being upgraded.]


    The corners of the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s lips curled up. He stared at the Lich with a deeply satisfied expression on his face and asked the creature, ¡°And your name is-?¡±


    The Lich raised its head and held its master¡¯s gaze. The glowing light balls in its eye sockets arched like crescent moons. Its jaw came apart to speak its name.


    -I am Nasus, master.


    This was the moment that the existence responsible for the downfall of the old Aslan was born anew with a new faith.


    2


    **


    ¡°It¡¯s coming! Dodge it!¡± one of the convicts on top of the outer wall cried out.


    Harman, who was commanding the convicts on the outer wall, reacted to that shout and quickly turned his head.


    In the darkened sky where the sun had long set and the blizzard was madly lashing down, a huge boulder was hurtling towards the walls.


    ¡®Is that a lump of corpses?¡¯ Harman¡¯s thought briefly lingered on that possibility.


    Back in the battle against the Vampire Count, an army of undead of similar scale did come to assault the fortress. The siege projectiles used back then were ¡®lumps¡¯ of packed corpses, mainly comprised of various zombies.


    But it wasn¡¯t the same story this time.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s a normal boulder?!¡± Harman¡¯s brows shot up high.


    The incoming boulder was at least four metres in diameter. Even the sturdy outer walls of the Fortress of Ronia would find it hard to withstand the impact from a boulder of such a size.


    ¡°Get away from there, now! Get away from the walls!¡± Harman urgently shouted out and flung himself away. That prompted the other convicts to hurriedly flee from there as well.


    Seconds after that, the huge boulder slammed straight into the outer wall. The solidly-built wall exploded and crumbled down to pieces at the impact.


    ¡°H-help me¡­!¡±


    The convicts still on the wall were thrown aside before getting crushed to death.


    2

 Chapter 254 - 134. The New Ones (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The wall collapsed spectacularly into a heap.


    Harman stared at the caved-in portion of the outer wall that now resembled a crater for a moment before urgently shifting his gaze away.


    He could see the giants advancing in the darkness a distance away. They were all carrying large boulders at least half of their torso in size.


    ¡°Oh my god¡­¡±


    They chucked a boulder that size from such a distance away? Just what was with the monstrous power that propelled such a large boulder?!


    That physical power must¡¯ve been dozens, nay, hundreds of times greater than an ogre¡¯s!


    Such power seemed rather fitting for the race of Titans that was allegedly sealed away in another dimension by the fearful gods!


    ¡°Each and every single one is at least Viscount-class or higher.¡±


    These monsters would occupy at least the ¡®Viscount¡¯ class if they were to be rated in the vampire ranking system. And there were thirty of them, to boot!


    Even Harman would find it too much to deal with all of them.


    ¡®Just where have all those monsters been slumbering away until now only to emerge at once like this?¡¯


    ¡°We need to stop them.¡± If Ronia fell today, then the nearby villages and other territories would fall into grave danger.


    If something went wrong here, then maybe even the sword king, or worse, His Majesty the Holy Emperor would have to step up.


    ¡°Fire the siege weapons!¡±


    ¡°You stinking giant bastards!¡±


    The convicts roared out and tried to take aim with the ballistas and catapults, but as it turned out, the giants were not even within range yet.


    But it was still a problem, even if they were.


    A large ballista bolt had impaled a J?tunn¡¯s torso. But the giant didn¡¯t even stagger, and continued to advance. The creature yanked out the bolt, then threw it back hard.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    One of the towers operating the siege weapons was struck cleanly, and blew apart into pieces.


    ¡°Marquis Charlotte hasn¡¯t arrived yet?¡± Harman wiped his cold sweat away.


    The undead had begun flooding into the fortress before he had the time to react. They used the opening in the outer walls to step inside.


    The first ones to rush in were the lycans. The nimble-footed creatures easily jumped over the debris of the walls.


    The convicts had never seen a lycan before, and immediately became frightened out of their wits. Not only were these monsters faster and more agile than your average zombies and ghouls, their outer appearances alone were monstrous enough to make them the objects of terror.


    ¡°W-we must pray¡­!¡±


    The convicts stumbled back and hurriedly lowered the weapons in their hands.


    They were still hopelessly inadequate and inexperienced, and in order to offer a prayer, they had to put their weapons down to bring their hands together and concentrate.


    Unfortunately for them, the undead monsters wouldn¡¯t overlook such an opening.


    -Ahaha! You stupid livestock!


    -Are they surrendering? To think that they would actually discard their weapons!


    The half-man, half-beast monsters nimbly pounced on the convicts and grabbed their victims with their muscular arms. The helpless humans were thrashed and thrown around.


    In the meantime, zombies broke through the wall and began spreading through the gaps of the lycans rampaging around.


    The living soldiers were grabbed and bitten to death. Their screams sounded out, and more boulders continued to fly in without mercy through the night sky.


    ¡°Everyone, get back!¡±


    Alice, arriving on the scene as quickly as she could after hearing the alarm bell, clanged her gauntleted fists loudly. She rushed forward and punched the incoming lycans to blow them away.


    ¡°The wall is coming down again!¡±


    Harman was descending the steps of the outer wall, heard that shout, and stopped in his tracks to turn his head.


    One by one, portions of the outer walls were exploding and crumbling down. More undead creatures were flooding in through the breaches. It seemed that these things weren¡¯t even aware of the gate¡¯s existence.


    For them, destroying the pesky obstructing walls would be equal to achieving a victory. As long as they killed the living, the numbers of their comrades would continue to increase. Now that powerful high-tier undead and even giants were accompanying them, they probably believed that overwhelming victory would be theirs.


    ¡°Our chain of command is insufficient!¡± Harman froze up in indecision. The inside of his head had gone blank.


    They needed Count Jenald, but he was currently imprisoned in the official residence¡¯s dungeon.


    ¡°What about His Highness? Or Marquis Charlotte?¡± Harman muttered in a daze before clamping his mouth shut.


    ¡®You fool!¡¯ Depending on those two and waiting for them to show up wouldn¡¯t solve the problem right now. Since when did he become this weak, anyway?


    ¡°Get into formation, now!¡± Harman roared out at the top of his lungs. He held his sword tightly and dashed towards the collapsed portion of the outer wall before swinging his weapon hard. ¡°Stop them with your shields and attack with your spears! Lycans can¡¯t fight properly if they are bunched up in a group!¡±


    The screams of his dying subordinates rang out, but Harman didn¡¯t stop shouting his commands in order to organise the troops.


    ¡°You must stop them! Subjects are still within the city limits. We must defend our position until they are safely evacuated first!¡±


    Unfortunately for him, doing that was far easier said than done.


    As if to drown out Harman¡¯s shouting, the lycans began letting out loud howls. Terror spread like a plague, only serving to worsen the chaos and confusion.


    The tragic screams of humans filled the battlefield.


    -Yes, be frightened, oh you humans!-


    -Our masters will become the new rulers of this world!-


    -Be honoured that you will be served up as our sacrifices!-


    The lycans howled out noisily.


    Among them was a particularly large individual that suddenly dashed with frightening speed towards Harman. It slaughtered every convict found in its way, then leapt up high towards the Paladin.


    -So, you are the commander of these humans!- The creature held its claws up high before hacking down. Harman raised his sword and defended against the attack.


    The claws and the blade collided, and sharp sparks exploded out.


    One relied on his divinity-infused strength to hold his sword up, while the other used its brute physical strength to force its claws down.


    -Greetings, human Paladin!- the lycan smirked insidiously.


    Harman, still caked in his cold sweat, further strengthened his legs and back as those ridiculing words entered his hearing.


    ¡®What incredible strength¡­!¡¯


    The lycan noticed Harman¡¯s incredulous expression and smirked again.


    -My name is Warbell, the leader of the Rubiru tribe that serves Count Timong.-


    Harman¡¯s sword was injected with divinity, but even then, it still trembled from the pressure. The claws of the lycan gradually forced his blade down.


    -You¡¯re fated to become sacrifices today. Stop resisting and accept your death!-


    ¡°Sacrifices?¡± Harman asked back and got the lycan to grin with its eyes.


    -That¡¯s right, you shall all become sacrifices that complete the warp gate Count Timong speaks so passionately of!-


    Harman¡¯s brows shot up, but even then, he didn¡¯t forget to force the corners of his lips to curl up.


    ¡®What a stupid beast this creature is.¡¯


    It so easily blabbed out the true intentions behind raiding this place. This had to be the reason why the lycans would never surpass the vampires.


    They might mouth off some things about reaching the apex or whatever, but in the end, they were nothing more than some beasts imitating the ways of men, that¡¯s all!


    Real vampires would never blurt out their true intentions this easily!


    In any case, Harman had learned the truth behind tonight¡¯s raid. He wouldn¡¯t have minded listening to some more of this undead beast flapping its gums, but¡­


    ¡®¡­But, I guess that¡¯s going to be impossible.¡¯


    More cold sweat trickled down Harman¡¯s back.


    Lycans overwhelmed even vampires in raw physical strength. Harman pushing such an undead back with his own power would be akin to asking for a miracle here.


    His physical body, even reinforced with divine strength, was gradually pushed down. His sword was continuously shoved back and eventually touched his shoulder.


    His expression distorted from the pain of his own blade digging into his shoulder.


    -Give up your blood and flesh to Mist Calf. Then we shall¡­!-


    -Oh hear ye, it is time to offer your prayers.- A loud, divinity-laden Spirit Speech resounded out into their surroundings. The large lycan quickly raised its head at the unknown voice.


    Confusion also rapidly spread among the convicts, as well. Even though they were giving their all trying to block the lycans and undead with their shields, they still cast their glances behind themselves.


    -We are the devout believers who worship his noble being.-


    Feet of bones were striding forward across the snow-covered ground. They began breathing into the lengthy barrels of their muskets next.


    -We might only be newly-created beings, but¡­-


    A portion of convicts widened their eyes and looked up at the night sky.


    Snow was falling from the darkness above. But these snowflakes were different from Mother Nature¡¯s blizzard. The large and pure white flakes of snow gently settled down on their open palms and slowly melted down to become ¡®holy water¡¯.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    The convicts froze up as their gazes focused on one location. In that location was a road leading into the city. More convicts had been desperately defending this road, but they soon carefully stepped to the left and right to create a path.


    -We shall obey our master¡¯s will, and¡­-


    A group armed with muskets was walking out from the crowd of convicts. The ends of their robes dragged along the snowy ground and revealed the naked bones underneath.


    Skulls could be glimpsed under the large hoods obscuring their faces. Pure white glowing balls of light burned fiercely within their eye sockets.


    -¡­Subjugate the undead.-


    All convicts stopped moving.


    They were now completely lost to unbridled astonishment. It wasn¡¯t just them, as even the lycans forgot all about attacking, as well.


    As for the other undead, their bodies were currently burning away to ashes after touching the divine snow now falling from the heavens.


    One of the convicts dazedly muttered out to no one in particular, ¡°A¡­ musket regiment?¡±


    With Nasus the Lich as their lead, the skeleton mages formed up in an orderly line on either side of their leader and raised up their muskets to their shoulders.


    Claaack-!


    They assumed the shooting position in a perfect unison and stomped hard on the ground. Their muzzles lowered to take aim at the undead in perfect sync with their movements.


    -My name is Nasus!-


    And lastly, the lich injected divinity into the musket held high up, then elegantly took aim at the undead.


    -All of you, shall¡­-


    Its robe flapped noisily against the wind as the Aztal Rune¡¯s golden glow flooded out from the lich¡¯s skull.


    -¡­start serving our new master, Allen Olfolse!-


    As the snowstorm continued to lash out, the musket regiment made up of a lich as well as skeleton mages unhesitantly squeezed the triggers.


    < 134. The New Ones (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 255 - 135. Resolution -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°What will happen to me, I wonder?¡± Count Jenald Ripang spat out a lengthy groan.


    He was currently squatting on the floor of his cell and feeding his new companion, a rat, with the food given to him during lunch.


    ¡®It¡¯ll be an execution, no doubt.¡¯ He could only break out in a bitter smile.


    The Holy Emperor was rather sensitive towards any and all treasonous acts, so he probably wouldn¡¯t go easy on Count Jenald.


    He shifted his gaze around to look at the prison he was in, but all he saw were the steel bars protecting the other empty cells. It seemed that all potential combatants besides him had been mobilised just now.


    That probably meant that the undead raid this time was a serious one, but now that His Highness was here, there shouldn¡¯t be a reason to be worried.


    While he was thinking that to himself¡­


    He heard footsteps. He turned his head again to look at the front of his holding cell, and discovered Charlotte looking down at him on the floor from beyond the steel bars.


    She spoke, ¡°Count Jenald.¡±


    Jenald chuckled a little at her elegant voice and met her cool gaze. ¡°What can I do for you, Marquis Charlotte?¡±


    ¡°His Highness has granted you temporary freedom.¡±


    Jenald¡¯s eyes opened wider in an instant.


    Charlotte didn¡¯t mind that and opened the cell¡¯s door with a key, then addressed him, ¡°Your role is to command the convicts.¡±


    ¡°But, will that be fine, ma¡¯am?¡±


    For now, he was under the suspicion of insurrection. A problem might arise later if he was given authority to command the soldiers.


    Charlotte turned around to leave, but still glanced back at him. ¡°Now is an emergency situation.¡±


    The key to undo his shackles fell to the cell floor. Charlotte spun around coldly and disappeared from view.


    Count Jenald watched her disappearing back and smiled bitterly again. Her attitude towards him was quite cold.


    But that seemed rather reasonable, considering that what the Count had done was no different from hindering the Imperial Prince¡¯s path, and even resulted in a potentially precarious situation for the young prince.


    No matter how convincing the report was, the Imperial Family would still treat this matter as a big problem.


    ¡°Still, as it¡¯s His Highness¡¯s order¡­¡±


    Jenald undid the shackles and noticed how creaky his body felt after only a few days of confinement.


    He rubbed and loosened his wrists while leaving the prison. He spotted Charlotte waiting for him by the exit. All his necessary equipment was sitting on a shelf next to her.


    She was leaning against the wall, sending him silent signals with her eyes. Jenald understood her, and quickly put his armour on, then buckled a sword to his hips.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready. Let¡¯s get going, ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡ª


    Count Jenald and Charlotte mounted waiting horses and quickly rushed to their destination.


    The emergency alert bells were still ringing quite noisily even now. That meant something major had to be going on.


    ¡°By the way, what should be my role when commanding the convicts?¡±


    After Count Jenald asked that, Charlotte muttered without slowing down, ¡°¡­Providing assistance.¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    ¡°You are to provide His Highness with your assistance.¡±


    It was right at that moment an explosion loud enough to rupture one¡¯s eardrums erupted ahead of them.


    Count Jenald and Charlotte both flinched in surprise and reflexively pulled on their reins to stop the horses. Their mounts seemed to be agitated by that noise as well, rearing up beneath them.


    Jenald ended up covering his ears without even realising it. ¡°Marquis Charlotte, that noise earlier¡­?¡±


    However, his question went unanswered.


    An upset expression formed on her face as she began gritting her teeth, ¡°Why was I happy about winning earlier?!¡±


    Count Jenald flinched again in surprise, then stared at her.


    Her head faltered, and her grip on the reins suddenly grew a lot heavier. The reins, made by weaving tough leather strips together, ripped apart.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m still nowhere near him yet.¡±


    2


    ¡°W-what are you even¡­¡± Jenald didn¡¯t get to finish the rest of his sentence as his head snapped back to look ahead.


    In the distance far away, a large white dust cloud rose up to hover near the horizon.


    Taking in that sight, his eyes grew wider and wider.


    **


    The light from the falling snowflakes and the layers of snow resting on the ground chased away the pitch-black darkness of the night skies.


    The divinity snow danced and blew around in the air, brightly illuminating the surroundings. The convicts standing on the layer of snow failed to hide their shock.


    ¡°Snow made out of divine power¡­???¡±


    Even though they knew they were in the middle of a battle, their gazes still slowly drifted towards the gently-falling snow. And then, they shifted their dazed gazes back down to earth.


    The lich wielding a lengthy musket, its robe flapping in the winds, spoke as its teeth clattered, its jawbone eerily bobbing up and down, -Fire!-


    Its boney finger pulled the trigger.


    Powerful divine energy swirled within the muzzles of the perfectly lined-up muskets, and over a dozen rounds were discharged at once.


    The cacophony of the gunfire shattered the still silence of the night. The convicts instinctively covered their ears and hurriedly fell down on the ground.


    At the same time, the undead were blown apart.


    In the blink of an eye, their torsos exploded in a spherical shape before being blasted out of existence.


    Even though each musket fired only one round, the holy bullets still penetrated cleanly through flesh and bones of the leading undead to strike the other undead behind them.


    Just one round of attacks, and the incoming wave of the undead were blown away.


    -W-what is this?- The lycan locked in the contest of strength against Harman muttered, its eyes trembling in shock.


    -Reload!-


    At Nasus the Lich¡¯s command, the skeleton mages uniformly raised up their muskets in a practised, professional manner. They breathed divine power into the loading chambers.


    Divinity condensed to form new holy bullets.


    The expression of Warbell, the leader of the lycans, hardened instantly at this sight.


    The snow falling from the heavens was burning the lycans¡¯ fur. It was getting painful to even breathe, but despite all that, now wasn¡¯t the time to mind such little things.


    This regiment wielding some sort of strange staves¡­ they were the truly dangerous ones here!


    All the fur on Warbell¡¯s body stood on end, and the creature roared out urgently, -Stop them! They are trying to use their magic again! Stop them now!-


    They were a lich and skeleton mages. They would need some time in order to use magic again.


    -You must not give them the opportunity! They are nothing more than a magician squad, that¡¯s all!-


    The lycans disregarded the convicts in front of them and rushed forward. Their new target was the bizarre magician squad.


    They simply had to eliminate these¡­ magicians, at any cost!


    The lycans were terrified right now, and befitting scared wild beasts, they were bringing out greater physical strength than ever before. Hideous veins bulged on their leg muscles.


    Their clawed feet trampled on the ground to accelerate their bodies in order to reach the lich over yonder.


    -Ku-oooooh!-


    To forget that they were terrified, they resorted to howling loudly next. Nasus watched them come and sneered derisively with its glowing eyes.


    It temporarily stopped breathing into the musket, and slammed the weapon¡¯s butt plate on the snow-covered ground.


    -Stop them!-


    Hands of bone exploded out from the snowy surface.


    Skeletons rose up, wielding large shields and nothing else. They formed the first line of defence, with their shields out in front of the skeleton mages.


    The holy undead proceeded to stack their shields and lowered their postures. Even more skeletons appeared behind them to support them. They got into a close order formation and began glaring at the incoming lycans.


    1


    -Summoning magic?! Dammit, are they trying to buy more time?-


    The lycans swung their claws and flung the shields aside. The undead beasts¡¯ sheer physical strength easily shattered and broke the skeletons and their bones.


    The lycan¡¯s eyes glared at the lich and the skeleton mage regiment that had used other skeletons as their shields.


    One by one, the reloaded muskets were raised up. One by one, the muzzles began taking aim.


    -N-no, wait!- The lycans began freaking out even more then. Just as their terror-stricken eyes fixed on the muzzles¡­


    -Fire!-


    The second volley was launched.


    KA-BOOM!


    As the noise of the explosion echoed forth, the holy bullets went straight through the skeletons acting as shields. The projectiles of condensed divinity spun in vicious spirals, penetrating everything in their paths.


    The skeletons shattered and one of the holy bullets breaking past the bones reached a lycan¡¯s eyeball. The undead beast¡¯s head simply blew apart into gory bits.


    -Uwaaaaahk!-


    The exploded flesh turned into ashes, while the splattering blood turned into powder before being wiped from existence.


    The beast¡¯s large body faltered as if it would crash to the ground, only for more holy bullets to fly in and utterly rip the creature apart, until it couldn¡¯t be recognised anymore.


    -What is the meaning of this?! Just what is going on here!-


    The lycans all fell into unbridled panic, and yelped loudly in fright. However, their voices failed to reach their own ears.


    The lycan still locking horns with Harman, Warbell, also fell deep into the pit of fear and stumbled back.


    Their extremely acute hearing was being deafened by the loud gunshots, while their sensitive noses were filled with stench of purified corpses until they became disoriented and lost.


    Only their eyes remained as their sole functioning perceptive organs, but even then, the only thing they could see right now were the other undead rapidly getting cleansed from this world.


    -S-summon the J?tnar, now!- Warbell cried out, and the lycans boasting some level of intelligence stumbled back to begin their escape.


    ¡°Just what on earth is happening right now?¡± the convicts muttered to themselves while shedding a copious amount of cold sweat.


    They could sense the sacred aura emanating from the robed undead. Without a doubt, these creatures must be allies Summoned by the Imperial Prince.


    Despite knowing that, they still couldn¡¯t help but be frightened right now.


    They all knew about what a musket was. Well, they had witnessed the Imperial Prince use one before, after all. But it was quite a different story when a terrifying platoon all using muskets hunted down the undead and half-man, half-beast monsters.


    The loud gunshots and the sight of hulking lycans capable of human speech turning into a bunch of beehives and dying tragically was more than enough instil terror and near-unrecoverable mental shock in their hearts.


    1

 Chapter 256 - 135. Resolution -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°It¡¯s a lich¡­¡± Alice¡¯s jaw dropped to the floor while staring at Nasus.


    The lich, an object of terror to all living humans, referred to as a magician closest to Death, was standing right in front of her eyes.


    ¡°Alice!¡±


    She flinched in surprise and quickly turned her head.


    That¡¯s when she discovered the Seventh Imperial Prince riding up on a skeleton horse. His face emitted the unmistakable golden glow of the Aztal Rune, while his hand was holding a musket.


    He looked down at her from his mount and spoke firmly, ¡°I request you start the Resonance.¡±


    Her brows shot up high at his command.


    ¡°We shall purify every single undead that has shown up here tonight,¡± he spoke in a resolute voice, and she nodded at his command.


    She then brought her hands together and began singing the sacred hymn. The Spirit Speech laden with divinity quickly spread into their surroundings.


    The convicts were surprised by the sudden singing and focused their hearing on Alice¡¯s singing voice.


    Hearts painted with terror began to calm down. It didn¡¯t stop there, either; the small amount of divinity within their bodies reacted to her singing and began trembling strongly.


    ¡°What a beautiful voice¡­¡±


    Just as the convicts were staring at her in a trance¡­


    ¡°Offer your prayers, now!¡±


    They quickly shifted their gazes and discovered Count Jenald rushing over to them while riding on a horse.


    He yanked his sword out and took command. ¡°Offer your prayers, and let¡¯s teach these abominable undead the greatness of our Theocratic Empire!¡±


    The convicts exchanged glances before nodding in agreement.


    The lycans were still trying to flee from here. The divinity snow falling from the skies was oppressing the undead, even as they stood around like this.


    Now would be their only opportunity!


    The convicts put their weapons down and began offering their prayers.


    Allen, still atop the skeleton horse, shifted his gaze over to Nasus. ¡°Follow me, Nasus.¡±


    -We shall obey our master¡¯s command!-


    Nasus took a step forward as bones rapidly coalesced beneath its feet to become a Summoned skeleton horse. Other skeleton mages wielding their muskets also rose up on skeleton horses to follow their master¡¯s lead.


    In the meantime, the convicts finished their prayers and began picking up their weapons.


    Even though cold sweat still trickled down their faces, their expressions were firm and resolute. However, their eyes still trembled a little when staring at the massive giants beyond the outer walls, the J?tnar.


    ¡°Do not fear.¡± Allen spoke up while breathing into his musket. He could see the J?tnar in the distance closing in steadily. ¡°A Saint and a Saintess are fighting together with you all.¡±


    When he said that, the convicts all jumped up in surprise, their eyes threatening to pop out of their sockets.


    They hurriedly alternated their gazes between Allen and Alice as powerful astonishment swept over them.


    ¡°Gaia¡¯s grace is now with you all, so¡­¡± Allen whispered quietly, yet every convict present could hear him clearly.


    Their divinity was getting a mighty boost after receiving Alice¡¯s Resonance. Bright light remained within the convicts, and the terror staining the deepest part of their hearts was washed away.


    Their passionate emotions morphed into a body-shuddering thrill and excitement, and they began gripping their weapons even harder.


    The convicts all stared at Allen as if they were waiting for his command.


    He looked back at them, and loudly shouted out, ¡°Go and wipe out the undead!¡±


    Allen spurred the skeleton horse and charged ahead, springing over the debris of the fallen outer wall. Nasus and the skeleton mages accompanied him closely.


    Their Lord Saint had stepped into the frontline!


    Count Jenald loudly cried out at that sight, ¡°Lord Saint and Lady Saintess are with us-!¡±


    The convicts reacted to his shout. They roared out in unison as excitement took a hold of their senses, ¡°Gaia¡¯s glory be with us-!¡±


    They all rushed past the wrecked remnants of the outer walls.


    Alice interlocked her fingers and pressed her forehead to her hands, singing the hymn continuously.


    Harman followed after Jenald, and dashed past the outer wall as well.


    A large group emanating pure-white light drove away the persistent darkness and began hunting down the undead.


    ¡®Insane! They have all gone insane!¡¯ the leader of the lycans, Warbell, panted breathlessly as it ran away, but it still looked behind itself, just in case.


    Humans were flooding out from the broken-down sections of the outer walls. Divinity gushed out from them, and not a hint of hesitation could be seen on their face. It was as if they were a part of a tsunami wave!


    ¡®What the hell?! How can this be! Most of them are using divinity!¡¯


    Could those humans be from one of the main forces of the Theocratic Empire that the undead often heard about, the Heavenly Army?


    No, wait; compared to the ones in the rumours, those humans were definitely far shoddier!


    Even then¡­


    -They are not scared at all!-


    Warbell continued to flee as cold sweat streamed down its face. If it could, it would¡¯ve liked to scream out loudly at this horrifying nightmare, too.


    Their human opponents no longer harboured any fear. They were instead taken over by madness and filled to the brim with fighting spirit.


    ¡®We need to run away! I, I need to report this!¡¯


    Warbell had to report this truth back to Count Timong and let the vampire know about the situation in this place.


    If not, the ice castle would fall into dang-!


    Right at that moment, something punched completely through Warbell¡¯s shoulder. The holy bullet went through the lycan¡¯s flesh and bones to completely blow away its shoulder and the arm attached there.


    -Euh, euh¡­!- It didn¡¯t even have enough time to scream.


    A barrage of holy bullets struck it soon after. The projectiles ripped the lycan completely into pieces, and the torn flesh burned to ashes mid-flight.


    As the lycan¡¯s corpse crashed to the snowy ground beneath it, a skeleton horse ruthlessly trampled it right into the ground.


    Allen was riding on the undead horse, and raised his gaze. A J?tunn was roaring out monstrously. The giant, at least eight metres tall, bent down before taking a swipe with its large arm.


    The giant¡¯s large palm swept across the ground, causing dozens of convicts to be flung into the air.


    ¡°We shall deal with the J?tnar!¡±


    Allen shouted out and lifted up his musket, then offered his prayer.


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia¡­¡±


    -Oh, dear Gaia¡­- Following him closely, Nasus mirrored him and prayed at the same time.


    ¡°Through your blessing¡­¡±


    -Through your blessing¡­-


    Divinity began to rumble and writhe ominously. The holy bullets, after getting even more precise through their prayers, spun viciously within the chambers of the muskets.


    ¡°Grant us the strength to¡­¡±


    -Grant us the strength to¡­-


    Allen and Nasus, plus the dozens of skeleton mages, all raised their weapons and took aim at the J?tunn.


    ¡°¡­Judge those who deny their own deaths.¡±


    The triggers were pulled.


    With Allen in the lead, dozens of holy bullets exploded forth from the muskets of Nasus and the skeleton mages, flying toward the J?tunn.


    The arms and legs of the giant undead, and even its torso, began exploding into large chunks.


    Many spiralling explosions punctured holes in the gigantic body, causing the frozen flesh to shatter and crack apart.


    The first of the huge J?tnar crashed to the ground after its body was wrecked from a single volley.


    ¡°That takes care of one.¡± Allen muttered before shifting his gaze over to the remaining twenty-nine J?tnar. He tutted unhappily, ¡°Still a long way to go, eh. Still¡­¡±


    He then took aim with his musket, a smirk floating up on his lips.


    ¡°¡­We ain¡¯t gonna lose this game, anyway.¡±


    He made sure to line up the target perfectly, then pulled the trigger once more.


    **


    Charlotte was steering her mount Unira, a descendant of the legendary unicorns.


    She unsheathed her sword and injected divinity into it. A beautiful aura danced around the edges of her blade.


    Every place she dashed past and in every place she swung her sword purified undead were cleanly cloven by her gorgeous strikes.


    Fluent and confident as always, any undead trying to stop her would end up purified with a single, clean strike.


    ¡°As expected of Lady Charlotte!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go! Lady Charlotte is fighting by our side now, too!¡±


    The convicts cheered loudly and proceeded to hunt down the undead. To them, the Marquise Charlotte freely and fearlessly roaming through the battlefield was like a legendary heroine.


    However¡­ the more she undead she felled, the greater the sense of inadequacy inside her became.


    ¡®Still too weak¡­¡¯


    Charlotte glanced at the top of the outer wall. Alice was up there, still diligently praying with her hands held together.


    ¡®She wasn¡¯t a simple lady-in-waiting.¡¯


    Charlotte naturally knew that Alice was the granddaughter of Cardinal Raphael. Not only that, the girl was an excellent healer, who had also exhibited her outstanding close-quarter combat ability during Kasim¡¯s invasion of the Imperial Palace.


    Her outstanding skills, martial prowess that verged on being the work of art, and then, even her genius-level talent¡­


    And finally, she was even a Saintess, as well.


    ¡®Just like His Highness¡­¡¯


    Charlotte gripped her weapon even harder.


    Alice was currently sustaining the Resonance. The soldiers of Ronia were all reacting to the power she had deployed. Their divinity was amplified, giving them the necessary courage and at the same time, their fighting spirit soared even higher.


    That power, that miracle, was not something Charlotte could imitate nor even activate.


    Just Alice alone was more than sufficient enough to protect the Seventh Imperial Prince and aid him whenever necessary. Charlotte was no longer needed here.


    Alice¡¯s status, even her abilities¡­ they were all so much better than Charlotte¡¯s.


    She bit down on her lower lip. ¡®Why was I so pleased about earlier?¡¯


    She had felt so happy about besting the Imperial Prince during their sparring.


    ¡®I¡¯m still hopelessly inadequate.¡¯


    However, if His Highness had fought seriously, then she wouldn¡¯t have gotten anywhere close to him.


    ¡®Egotistical¡­¡¯


    The worst part of her instincts acted up and she began feeling jealousy just then. Her personal feelings went on to disrupt her thoughts and made her head chaotic.


    She shifted her gaze back to what was before her.


    Allen, seated atop that skeleton horse, was still commanding the musket regiment over yonder. He was hunting the J?tnar down one by one, bringing them down systematically.


    He seemed to be at a distance well beyond her reach.


    A J?tunn swung its large hand and crushed a portion of the musket regiment, extinguishing them from existence. Allen gritted his teeth and did something quite reckless next, weaving past the J?tunn¡¯s unguarded legs.


    That looked incredibly dangerous. He was being reckless, putting himself in danger like that.


    Charlotte sobered herself up at that sight.


    ¡®¡­I won¡¯t give up.¡¯


    She¡¯d protect him. That¡¯s what she swore to do. That was her goal.


    No matter what, she¡¯d achieve her goal in the end. And in order to reach her goal, she had to make another resolution, as well.


    Charlotte stared at her own sword.


    ¡®¡­If I wish to achieve something, then I must know how to give up on something else, too.¡¯


    She bit her lower lip again and spoke up, ¡°Unira, run forward. Run hard!¡±


    Her horse, Unira, pounded hard on the ground with its hooves and dashed forward. It continued to accelerate faster and faster.


    She lowered her posture and secured her grip on the sword. When they reached a J?tunn¡¯s location, she took a mighty swing with her weapon.


    The sword permeated with divinity sliced apart the giant undead¡¯s leg, causing its huge upper body to topple in an ungainly manner.


    She and her mount leapt over the collapsing giant and chased after the Imperial Prince¡¯s back.


    ¡°Your Highness!¡± Allen looked behind at her call. She continued on, ¡°Allow me to escort you!¡±


    He smiled back at her. ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll be in your care!¡±


    Charlotte made her mind up the moment she heard his reply.


    ¡®I¡¯ll discard my swordsmanship.¡¯


    What she swore to do was to protect His Highness. As such¡­


    ¡®I shall become his shield!¡¯


    Charlotte reaffirmed her resolution for the last time, and took a swing with her sword at another J?tunn.


    < 135. Resolution (Part One and Two) -1 > Fin.

 Chapter 257 - 136. Resolution -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    The sun rose above the horizon.


    Countless corpses were strewn about in a gory fashion on a land beyond the outer walls. The convicts who were still alive were standing around dazedly on top of this grisly sight.


    They lifted up their tired heads and stared at the rising sun before muttering softly, ¡°¡­It¡¯s over.¡±


    All of the invading undead had been killed off.


    Even though their ears were deafened by the screams of the dying evil spirits not too long ago, even though their throats ached from the loud, spirited yelling that came from the sheer excitement they felt¡­


    They no longer had the mind to worry about such piffling little pains or fatigue.


    A stirring emotion was welling up from deep within their hearts. This emotion engraved a truly fantastic word, VICTORY, in their hearts. Soon after that, the convicts all felt this indescribable elation and began raising their voices one by one.


    ¡°We, we¡­!¡±


    ¡°We won!¡±


    ¡°We defeated the undead again! Hahaha!¡±


    They began guffawing out loudly.


    The loud cheers of happiness resounded throughout the battlefield.


    Charlotte stared at the Seventh Imperial Prince standing quite a distance from the centre of the battlefield.


    ¡°Imperial Prince-nim, hooray!¡±


    The convicts picked up the tired Imperial Prince and began tossing him up in the air to celebrate.


    One could tell from his expression that he really didn¡¯t like this, but stopping them must¡¯ve been even more annoying to him because he just let them carry on as they pleased.


    ¡°Lady Priestess, hooray-!¡±


    Next up was Alice, and she too was lifted into the air.


    ¡°Lord Saint, hooray!¡±


    ¡°Lady Saintess, hooray, hooray!¡±


    ¡°Our Theocratic Empire will live on forever-!¡±


    The more she heard their loud cheering, the deeper Charlotte¡¯s bitter smile grew.


    She could only play a very small part in this battle. Most of the contributions belonged to the Seventh Imperial Prince and Alice Astoria.


    Charlotte was nearly overcome by this feeling of bitterness born out of what seemed like the unbridgeable chasm between him and her.


    ¡°You¡¯ve grown even stronger while I wasn¡¯t looking, haven¡¯t you, Allen?¡­¡±


    A voice suddenly came from her side, and Charlotte turned her head to look. She spotted Shuppel, currently plopped down on the ground, as if he was too tired to even stand up.


    He drank water from a leather waterskin while making a bitter face.


    For some reason, his face came across as rather familiar to her. It was like¡­


    ¡­like his expression resembled hers.


    An expression of ¡®wishing¡¯.


    An expression of someone still chasing after another person in a far-off distance, well out of one¡¯s reach.


    Shuppel glanced at Charlotte. ¡°Lady Paladin. Do your best to serve Allen well.¡±


    When their gazes met briefly, Charlotte flinched a little and shifted her gaze away. She stared at the Imperial Prince once more.


    He continued on, ¡°That punk, he might be really powerful, but he¡¯s also the type to do something reckless by himself. Unless you or someone else lend him their support, he might falter and come crashing down sooner or later.¡±


    This man was the former Third Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, and a culprit responsible for endangering Allen¡¯s life.


    Whenever she recalled the events of Aslan, she found herself unable to forgive this man.


    Charlotte gritted her teeth, and turned away from him coldly. ¡°Of course I will.¡±


    Without someone telling her about it, she¡¯d do it, anyway. To her, the Seventh Imperial Prince was her life¡¯s purpose, and she had made the conscious choice to be by his side, after all.


    She had already made up her mind. To reach her goal, she was even willing to discard her mastery over the sword, acquired through so much of her own blood and sweat. That was the very first thing she had to do.


    Charlotte turned around and walked towards Castle Ronia.


    She now had to acquire the correct type of equipment to put her determination into action. In order to do that, she needed to send a request to the top armoury in the whole of the empire, Hilda fiefdom.


    1


    Charlotte headed straight towards the fiefdom of Ronia. Allen belatedly spotted her departing back and watched her leave.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    ¡°As expected of you, Your Highness! You are truly the one chosen by Goddess Gaia. I¡¯m sure of it!¡±


    While riding on our horses to get back to the Count¡¯s residence, I was given no choice but to listen to Jenald go on and on with his maddeningly embarrassing praises of me.


    I spat out a lengthy groan and replied, ¡°Why don¡¯t you stop there and take charge of the mop-up operation, instead?¡±


    ¡°But Your Highness, will that be alright?¡±


    When I said ¡®take charge of mopping up¡¯, I meant that he should take over command of the convicts. The outer walls had been destroyed in several places, so we urgently needed to repair all those damaged sections, plus the convict troops needed to be reorganised quickly.


    Our command structure was suffering from a distinct lack of manpower, so someone like Count Jenald was an indispensable individual.


    ¡°I have no one but you to rely on in this situation.¡±


    Jenald formed an expression that indicated that he was deeply honoured by the command, and replied, ¡°Understood! Then I shall speak to you later, Your Highness!¡±


    He bowed his head, looking quite happy, then turned his mount around to rush towards the outer walls.


    ¡®For a dude who¡¯ll get imprisoned again later, he sure is overflowing with energy.¡¯


    I watched his receding back for a bit, before heading to the manor.


    I could see the figure of Charlotte, who had arrived there some time before me. Next to her were ten carriages and the regular soldiers of Ronia, all lined up in front of the manor.


    Those guys were part of the supply corps tasked with resupplying the troops by travelling between Ronia and Hilda.


    I stopped a distance away and watched Charlotte chatting to the driver of one of the carriages parked in front of the residence.


    The driver was nodding and saying something. ¡°To confirm, I must deliver this letter to Her Imperial Highness, Hilda?¡±


    Charlotte was handing a letter over to him. ¡°Yes, I entrust you with this role. Please deliver it as swiftly as you can.¡±


    ¡°Understood, ma¡¯am. The Tide of Death is about to hit us, so we shall urge them to prepare as quickly as possible.¡±


    The driver confirmed the letter¡¯s seal before securing it away in his inner pocket.


    Charlotte watched that and nodded, then left the driver behind to enter the manor.


    I felt a bit curious about that exchange, so I quickly walked up to the driver and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    He flinched in surprise and hurriedly tried to show his respect through a clumsy display of etiquette. I stopped him there. ¡°It¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry about it. In any case, you guys are heading to my older sister¡¯s territory, right?¡±


    The master artisan ¡®fairies¡¯, the dwarves, lived in Hilda¡¯s fiefdom. Why was Charlotte sending a letter there, I wonder?


    It must¡¯ve not been a secret, because the driver replied to me quickly enough, ¡°Her Ladyship was requesting they craft a piece of equipment for herself.¡±


    ¡°Equipment, is it?¡± I tilted my head a little and the driver nodded in response.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re also in need of restocking our supplies anyway, Your Highness. Since we¡¯re going there to get the new batches of equipment for the soldiers, Her Ladyship Marquis Charlotte took this opportunity and made a request for the creation of another type of equipment for herself.¡±


    ¡°What kinda equipment are we talking about?¡±


    ¡°Regrettably, even I don¡¯t know what exactly, Your Highness¡­¡±


    The driver cautiously pulled the letter out. It seemed that its contents had something to do with the mystery item. Obviously I couldn¡¯t just tear open the seal and read what was in it.


    The driver looked kind of nervous about me taking that letter away from him, too.


    I recalled Charlotte¡¯s equipment. The metal armour that fit her figure, then the divine sword passed down through the generations of the Heraiz house. That was the extent of her stuff.


    Hmm. What else does she need as a Paladin?


    Maybe she was thinking of a new type of armour, or even a new sword? That could be it.


    I glanced at the driver and asked, ¡°In that case, let me also ask you for a favour, too.¡±


    ¡°Sir?¡± The driver tilted his head in confusion.


    I extracted a dragon fang from the item window and placed it securely within the back of the carriage along with the other luggage.


    The dragon fang itself was pretty light, but it was still huge that when I put it down, a loud thud rang out.


    The driver¡¯s eyes bulged nearly out of their sockets.


    ¡°Deliver this to my older sister.¡±


    ¡°¡­W-what kind of a bone is this, sir? It looks like a fang of some kind, but there should not be a monster boasting fangs of such size out there¡­¡±


    The driver stared at the dragon fang with a deeply curious face.


    I resolved his curiosity for him. ¡°It¡¯s a dragon fang.¡±


    The driver¡¯s face hardened instantly, then while looking back at me, asked in a quiet voice, ¡°Sir, you must be joking.¡±


    ¡°Nope, it¡¯s the real deal. Ah, as a bonus job, I¡¯ll give you a dragon scale as well. Give it to my sister, too.¡±


    ¡°Oh my goddess¡­?!¡±


    Maybe because he was someone tasked with resupplying our equipment or something, the driver became greatly intrigued by the bone. He stared at that dragon¡¯s fang as if he was in a trance, unable to tear his gaze away from it.


    I spoke to him again to break him out of trance, ¡°Deliver them to my sister, okay? Tell her that I want them used for the purpose of crafting Charlotte¡¯s equipment. Since these are top-notch materials, I¡¯m sure an armament matching their quality will be created.¡±


    2

 Chapter 258 - 136. Resolution -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°Y-yes, sir. Understood. B-but, just where did you even acquire such things¡­?¡±


    This wasn¡¯t just your average dragon bone, but a piece straight from the toughest part of the dragon: a fang that didn¡¯t melt even after getting struck by its Breath attack.


    The legends said that such a fang¡¯s hardness even rivalled that of orichalcum.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll leave it to you in your capable hands, then. Tell my sister that since it¡¯s going to be a gift, ask the craftsmen to do their absolute best.¡±


    The driver nodded at what I said.


    It was right around then that the manor¡¯s surroundings suddenly became noisy. I turned my head and stared at a pathway leading to the manor itself.


    ¡°You bastard! Behave yourself and be still!¡±


    ¡°What the hell, why is it so bloody strong?!¡±


    ¡°Be careful! Let your guard down and you¡¯ll be done for in the blink of an eye!¡±


    Dozens of convicts were shouting out. In the middle of them was a lycan busy roaring out while trying to rampage around.


    Many spears were threatening it, and the creature¡¯s limbs had been bound and shackled, while the steel chains tied around it meant it couldn¡¯t even escape from here, yet¡­


    Dozens of convicts were struggling mightily from the creature¡¯s physical strength alone.


    Harman was in charge of the convicts, and rode up on his horse to reach the manor.


    ¡°Your Highness.¡± He dismounted and walked up to me. ¡°There are some things I must inform you of.¡±


    Judging from the tone of his voice, I guessed that he must¡¯ve discovered something.


    I asked Harman just in case, ¡°Hang on. Were vampires behind last night¡¯s raid?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m afraid so. And not only that¡­¡± Harman nodded and wiped away his cold sweat. ¡°¡­It seems that the undead are preparing for something quite troublesome as well, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Whatever those undead are doing, it¡¯s highly suspicious, Your Highness. Especially considering that J?tnar have shown up, and a lycan even brought up the matter of warp magic earlier. As for the details, we still need to¡­¡±


    Harman turned his head and glanced at the lycan.


    I asked him sharply, ¡°How long do you think you will need to dig out the info?¡±


    ¡°¡­At minimum, two weeks to a month, Your Highness. There is also some information related to this matter compiled back in the Imperial Court, so we also need to take into account the necessary time to fetch that.¡±


    ¡°One week. Can you do everything in that time frame?¡±


    Harman bowed deeply and replied, ¡°I¡¯ll try my best.¡±


    I sighed deeply again and stared at the lycan being dragged into the residence. ¡°I hope I¡¯m not getting tangled up in something troublesome here.¡±


    1


    My expectations on that were pretty low, though, considering that giants from the ancient legends called J?tnar had already shown up!


    Well, I did expect that something like this might happen to some degree. The warp magic coordinates Hans figured out were somewhere up in the northern region, after all.


    So I thought that as soon as we found out what those vampire bastards were up to in the northern regions, we better take care of them for good right away.


    **


    In the fiefdom of Hilda, often referred to as the Theocratic Empire¡¯s top armoury¡­


    The First Imperial Princess Hilda was reading a letter delivered to her. It had been dispatched about a week ago, judging from the timing.


    2


    As for its author, the girl named Charlotte Heraiz had written it. She also happened to be the head of the Order of the White Cross.


    The letter¡¯s contents, past the opening words of respectful greeting, were rather simple. She didn¡¯t beat around the bush and delved straight into the matter at hand.


    It was like she was making demands through her words. At a glance, one could say that she was being far too impudent to an Imperial Princess.


    However, there was this one sentence that touched Hilda¡¯s heart quite deeply.


    -I wish to protect His Highness the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    Although short, that sentence was also long enough to convey the girl¡¯s earnest desire. A grin floated up on Hilda¡¯s lips as she read that line.


    She put the letter down and glanced to her side, where the carriage driver from the supply corps could be found. Then her eyes drifted towards the dragon¡¯s fang and its scale, wrapped up carefully in silk, resting on top of the desk before him.


    The driver bowed deeply and delivered the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s message, ¡°His Imperial Highness wishes to present his precious confidante with a gift, ma¡¯am. He requested that the equipment be crafted with the utmost care.¡±


    Hilda got up from her chair. ¡°That¡¯s obvious. My little brother has requested this of me, so I shall make it happen.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    She left her castle and headed to the mining area of the fiefdom of Hilda.


    This area was where all types of smithies could be found, and also the location where the race of the master blacksmiths, the dwarves capable of crafting a treasure sword befitting the Imperial Family in around ten days, were plying their craft as well.


    Hilda walked with purpose in her steps. The members of the Verdant Cross followed her in silence.


    ¡°Oh, oh! Lady Hilda, a great morning to you!¡±


    ¡°Today¡¯s beer, please look forward to it!¡±


    Dwarves greeted her enthusiastically while carrying the ore extracted from various mines. Hilda lightly nodded her acknowledgement and walked past them.


    Her destination was a large smithy utilising a blast furnace powered by the volcano¡¯s energy.


    ¡ª


    The moment she opened the smithy¡¯s doors, a powerful gush of hot air rushed up against Hilda¡¯s skin.


    Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!


    The loud metallic clangs continued to reverberate, seemingly expanding the air with every blow.


    Although each hit sounded pristine and perfectly rhythmic, it was also powerful and loud enough to be mistaken for explosions.


    The blacksmith responsible for creating such rhythmic noises was short in height and possessed a bushy beard covering the lower part of his face. This leader of the dwarves, Belrog, was working away while kitted out in a pair of goggles and leather gloves.


    Hilda stood within the scorching heat and crossed her arms in front of her chest before calling out loudly, ¡°Belrog!¡±


    Belrog the dwarf jumped up in surprise and quickly looked behind himself. He cried out in alarm after finally noticing Hilda inside the smithy and hurriedly dropped what he was doing. ¡°What¡¯s this?! Lady Hilda! I told you so many times not to enter this place! Your smooth skin might get burned by this place¡¯s heat, you know!¡±


    He ran up to Hilda, then began pushing her back to get her out of the smithy.


    ¡°Oiii, Verdant Cross! What are you all doing?! How could you escort Lady Hilda to such a dangerous place like this?!¡± Belrog roared out as if he was a parent worried about his daughter¡¯s welfare. His behaviour and manner of speech prioritised his concern for her rather than minding the correct etiquette meant to address royalty.


    2


    Hilda spoke up, ¡°I came to speak to you as I have a request!¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. Whatever your request is, my lady, I¡¯ll listen to it. But for now, please get out of this place first. You haven¡¯t even gotten married yet, so to have your skin damaged in this place is¡­¡±


    The muscles around Hilda¡¯s eyes twitched for a moment. She fake-coughed to clear her throat and glanced at Belrog, who was still pushing her back. ¡°I¡¯ve procured the fang of a dragon.¡±


    Belrog flinched in surprise and looked up at her. ¡°¡­Are you joking with me, miss?¡±


    Hilda snapped her fingers lightly, prompting the Verdant Cross members to bring out the huge dragon bone.


    ¡°Oh my gods! Really?!¡±


    Belrog¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He completely forgot about pushing Hilda out of the smithy and fixed his stunned gaze on the dragon fang.


    The light burning in his eyes took on an unmistakable hue of entrancement.


    What kind of an armament would be born if he refined this fang? Just imagining it sent shivers down his spine.


    Hilda observed all the changes in Belrog¡¯s expression and curled up the corners of her lips. ¡°So? How about it? Are you going to humour my request now?¡±


    ¡°O-of course this one will do whatever it is, if it¡¯s Lady Hilda¡¯s command. But, uh, what should I create?¡±


    Hilda fixed her posture. She stood tall with her legs open about shoulder-width and crossed her arms again, then while holding her head up, spoke in a confident tone of voice that even the most grizzled old male generals would be proud of.


    ¡°Use this dragon bone to craft a piece of equipment.¡±


    Belrog¡¯s brows rose up higher.


    Hilda unfurled her finger and slowly poked the dwarf on his forehead. With a mischievous grin on her face, she finished the rest of her command, ¡°Since it¡¯s going to be my little brother¡¯s special gift to someone he holds dear, do make sure to put your backs to it.¡±


    1


    Belrog heard her command and nodded while making a somewhat dazed face. He didn¡¯t need to be told that, since he was planning to do so, anyway.


    He certainly couldn¡¯t afford to waste a precious material like this one, after all!


    She asked, ¡°How long will you need for this task?¡±


    The Verdant Cross members handed the dragon¡¯s fang over to Belrog. The latter couldn¡¯t immediately regain his balance due to just how large the bone was, and wobbled around for a second.


    ¡°W-well, that depends on what I¡¯m supposed to craft, my lady. However, it should be completed within ten days.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quicker than I thought.¡±


    ¡°Taking longer to make something doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯ll get a better product in the end, after all.¡±


    A human¡¯s standard and that of a dwarf¡¯s differed noticeably.


    It seemed that for dwarves, using up the least amount of time to craft and refine an item resulted in the best quality possible.


    Once one got to the refining process of the ores, one needed to heat it up and smelt it to shape. So, by taking the shortest time necessary during that process, one could minimise the damage and craft an even stronger and more exacting end product.


    Belrog was getting intrigued. What kind of an item was he supposed to craft with this dragon fang entrusted to him?


    ¡°My lady, what type of equipment should I create?¡±


    His question was answered by Hilda¡¯s deep smile.


    ¡°A shield.¡± She looked down at Belrog and ordered confidently, ¡°Craft the world¡¯s strongest shield, please!¡±


    2


    < 136. Resolution -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 259 - 137. Slaughterer (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Clang¡­!


    Stifling heat filled up the room.


    Clang-!


    A large hammer slammed down.


    Clang-! Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!


    Dozens of dwarves were hammering away with powerful blows. The muscles on their thick arms trembled.


    Their hammers continued to strike down on the large fang that had been heated until it had taken on a crimson hue.


    ¡°We need to melt this fang down-!¡±


    ¡°Increase the heat!¡±


    ¡°Raise the furnace¡¯s temperature even higher-!¡±


    The short-statured dwarves bellowed loudly while hurriedly running around here and there.


    They manipulated the blast furnace powered by the molten lava flowing from the volcano and increased the heat even further. Even though the forge had been sealed shut from the rest of the world, a darkish crimson glow still escaped from the gaps to illuminate its surroundings.


    Belrog commanded his fellow dwarves, ¡°We need to finish our task quickly so that the dragon fang can come alive once more!¡±


    A bone of a legendary dragon¡­ and not just any bone, but its fang, no less! They simply could not afford to waste a material this precious.


    However, despite the concerted efforts of the dwarves, the fang showed no signs of melting.


    ¡°Dammit!¡± Belrog spat out an expletive while staring at the fang currently dipped inside the molten lava-like liquid within the furnace.


    That bone was capable of withstanding a dragon¡¯s breath attack, so they needed a far hotter and fiercer flame in order to melt this thing down.


    ¡®How many days has it been already?¡¯


    It almost felt like a year had passed by at this point.


    The dwarves were getting anxious as the refining process went on. If they failed to smelt the fang as soon as possible, then the resulting product would end up a failure.


    ¡®This is none other than a dragon¡¯s fang.¡¯


    It was different from all the other bones of a dragon, making the process to smelt and refine it that much more difficult. It was near impossible to shatter it, so a dragon¡¯s special trait had to be utilised here.


    The fang might be absurdly sturdy, but it still had the characteristic of melting down when subjected to a temperature far exceeding a dragon¡¯s breath attack.


    And at the moment that happened, one had to quickly shape it into the desired form, widen it, and beat it to the desired state.


    ¡°We shall resort to alchemy, then! Forcibly increase the temperature of the furnace!¡±


    At Belrog¡¯s loud command, several dwarves wearing robes began pouring additives from jars into the furnace¡¯s molten liquid.


    Glug, glug¡­


    Once those unidentified liquids were added to the furnace, explosions began going off one by one. Flames gushed up and the dwarves kitted out in protective leather clothing stumbled back.


    ¡°What can a dwarf hope to achieve when he¡¯s scared of a little flame?!¡±


    Belrog roared out and walked up to the blast furnace.


    When he looked inside, the fang contained within seemed to be breaking down, little by little.


    ¡®Yes. It¡¯s working!¡¯


    The heat was sufficiently high! Their job now was to beat it into shape and cool it down.


    ¡°¡­We shall use His Highness¡¯s holy water to quench it.¡±


    A huge pair of pincers creaked and came down like a machine to grab the fang, then raised it out of the molten liquid to place it on a large anvil.


    ¡°Beat it, now!¡±


    All the dwarves rushed towards the fang. A cacophony of loud hammering noises resounded out next.


    They maintained steady breathing and matched each other¡¯s rhythm to pound away at the fang.


    And the dragon¡¯s fang eventually¡­


    ¡°Bring in the ore of the spirits, Eltera!¡±


    The metal powder boasting resistance to magic was liberally scattered on the fang.


    ¡°And then, His Highness¡¯s holy water!¡±


    The water, drawn from the lake of holy water created back when the Seventh Imperial Prince was hunting lycans down, was used to rapidly cool the fang and harden the material.


    Time continued to tick by.


    The faces of the dwarves were getting burnt black.


    ¡®Just how long has it been?¡¯


    Belrog wiped away the trickles of cold sweat from his face. It sure felt like two years had flown past him by now. He often thought about it, but well, it felt as if his sense of time would get warped whenever he became too focused on his work.


    His extreme level of concentration had created the illusion of a different time flow.


    Belrog gritted his teeth. ¡®I will not fail at creating the greatest masterpiece of my life!¡¯


    ¡°Heat it up again!¡±


    Faster, quicker than ever before, but with the utmost care!


    ¡°Temper it!¡±


    They needed to shorten the time as much as possible. If not, the fang, the dragon bone itself, would ¡®die¡¯ again!


    ¡°Cool it with holy water!¡±


    They simply had to craft the greatest item this world had yet seen with the hands of these master craftsmen.


    ¡®Five days? Six? Or even more than that?¡¯


    Time continued to march forward.


    It felt like three years had passed by already.


    The dwarves fell victim to exhaustion, one at a time.


    Which was understandable, considering that they kept hammering away the whole day while stuck inside this stifling, choking heat. They couldn¡¯t eat, drink, nor even get some sleep.


    It felt like ages since they last witnessed the rays of sunlight from outside the forge. Even back when they were slaves, they never had to force themselves to this extent!


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m at my limit.¡±


    ¡°Bloody hell, why is it¡­ so tough?¡±


    One by one, dwarves began collapsing from exhaustion.


    ¡®Not yet!¡¯


    Belrog¡¯s legs were wobbling. Even then, he grasped his large hammer tightly with both hands.


    His arms and legs spasmed sporadically, and he had to endure an intense pain that felt like his spinal discs had slipped.


    Even then, Belrog did not stop his hammering. He paid the utmost attention with every hammer strike and focused all of his senses on the task before him.


    Other dwarves stared at Belrog and chatted among themselves.


    ¡°Dammit, just how many days has it been?!¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be ten days already, right?¡±


    ¡°Stop talking rubbish, will ya?!¡±


    In order to breathe a new life into the dragon¡¯s fang, to craft an even sturdier, more precise end product¡­ they needed to complete the armament in question in the shortest amount of time possible.


    ¡°All of you, stop flapping your gums and get back to work!¡± Belrog roared out, but he could feel his lips tremble just then. A certain type of fear began rising in his mind.


    ¡®We might really fail here!¡¯


    The negative thoughts gradually eroded away at his confidence.


    ¡®Please, please, make it a success! Please!¡¯ Belrog ardently prayed in his heart. It wasn¡¯t just him, though; every dwarf inside the forge prayed for the same thing.


    ¡®No, we cannot fail here.¡¯


    Her Highness had personally requested this of them. They simply could not afford to betray her high expectations of them.


    ¡°For the sake of Her Highness¡­¡± Belrog muttered to no one in particular, but that prompted the exhausted dwarves on their knees to raise their heads.


    ¡°For the sake of Her Highness-!¡± Belrog roared out again, and the dwarves all gritted their teeth.


    They resumed hammering away.


    ¡°For the sake of Her Highness-!¡±


    ¡°For our Lady Hilda-!¡±


    Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!


    ¡°We shall complete the world¡¯s greatest shield-!¡±


    Belrog struck down with his hammer for the last time.


    And right at that moment, a powerful explosion rocked the forge.


    The dwarves jumped up in shock before throwing themselves on the floor, while Belrog was swept up in the explosion and got flung away.


    The firmly-shut steel doors of the forge were blown outside, along with Belrog¡¯s body.


    A sudden rush of incoming air stoked the flames inside the forge, but the jars containing holy water placed on the shelves shattered almost at the same time and poured their contents out to quell the flames before they could rage out of control.


    Dense steam quickly filled the interior of the forge.


    Other dwarves standing outside the forge counting the time down all gasped in shock and hurriedly stared at Belrog lying tossed onto the ground.


    He moaned in pain and coughed out blackish smoke while lying among the wreckage of the broken steel doors.


    ¡°Is that¡­ Belrog?¡±


    ¡°What the hell? What was that explosion just now¡­?!¡±


    The dwarves on standby outside hurriedly stared into the forge. Its interior was cloaked in a thick veil of darkness and dense steam, which obscured their view. The complexions of the dwarves grew pale-white at that sight.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?! Oh my goodness¡­¡±


    ¡°Could it be that Belrog¡­ He¡¯s finally come outside the forge after all this time?!¡±


    Dwarves shifted their gazes back to Belrog. They were muttering away while sounding somewhat unconvinced.


    Belrog heard their muttering and stopped moaning with a noticeable flinch. However, a despairing expression quickly filled his face.


    He turned his head and stared at the dwarves around him.


    The moment their stiff expressions entered his vision, he instinctively realised that something had gone wrong.


    ¡®Oh no, could it be that more than ten days have passed by already?!¡¯


    Belrog was quickly overcome with fear.


    He urgently shouted a question at the other dwarves. ¡°Days! How many days has it been?!¡±


    According to his own senses, it must¡¯ve been three years, at least! That¡¯s how painful the length of time he had spent inside was. He even had to spend every drop of his energy.


    But how many days passed by in reality? What if it had been over ten days¡­?


    All of their efforts would be in vain in that case!


    Just as he began spiralling into despair, one of the dwarves nearby finally opened his mouth. ¡°¡­It¡¯s been three days.¡±


    Belrog flinched at that reply before freezing up on the spot. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    He turned his head and scanned the other dwarves for confirmation.


    The nearest dwarf to him muttered as if he was talking to himself. ¡°I told you, it¡¯s been¡­ three days.¡±


    The dwarves slowly turned their heads and stared at the forge once more. Even Belrog dazedly stared at the mouth of the workshop that had flung him outside.


    The morning sun was rising.


    The pristine, clear rays of sunlight began illuminating the interior of the forge obscured by the darkness.


    Dwarves lying on the floor of the forge were rising unsteadily back to their feet.


    The thick steam was gradually settling down and dissipating in the air, while the warm rays of the sun caused a sacred pure-white light to glow brightly from within.


    A shield shaped like an inverted triangle and a cross melded together, and boasting patterns engraved with bluish powder, was reflecting the light while soaked in the holy water.


    A shield that could withstand even the hottest flames and reflect any impact; it was the ¡®dragon shield¡¯, brimming with divinity.


    ¡°Oh my gods.¡±


    Belrog¡¯s irises grew larger and larger.


    He stared at that hauntingly beautiful shield and muttered out in a trance, ¡°That¡­ that is my life¡¯s greatest work.¡±


    The other dwarves seemed to agree with him because they clamped their mouths shut, unable to raise any objections.


    And Belrog spoke with unwavering certainty. ¡°We really have crafted the strongest shield out there.¡±


    This was the moment of the greatest shield in the history of this continent being born.

 Chapter 260 - 137. Slaughterer (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    ¡°The investigation has been completed, Your Highness.¡±


    Inside Count Jenald¡¯s manor.


    I was sitting inside the conference room, listening to Harman¡¯s report. Alice, Hans, Count Jenald, and Charlotte were with us.


    ¡°Our opponent this time is a Vampire Count named Timong.¡±


    Here in the northern region was a castle of ice that used to be the Necromancer King¡¯s headquarters. Right now, it was home to a Progenitor Vampire, this Count Timong, who allegedly had been working together with Second Imperial Prince Ruppel.


    I received the documents Harman handed over and scanned their contents. They consisted largely of the new information acquired through torturing the captured lycan, as well as the things learned by torturing the Second Imperial Prince back in the Theocratic Empire¡¯s secret prison.


    I continued to peruse the documents while Harman resumed his report, ¡°It seems that Count Timong has been researching the warp gate for more than one thousand years.¡±


    Hans reacted the most to that report. His brows shot up, and he began poring over the information on the documents.


    ¡°Their plan is to use their findings to open a doorway between different dimensions, and¡­¡± Harman glanced in my direction before continuing on. ¡°¡­bring ruination to the entire Imperial Family.¡±


    ¡°Like, opening up Purgatory?¡±


    I interlocked my fingers and leaned against the back of the sofa.


    The warp gate, the dimensional doorway¡­ those terms really bugged me.


    That doorway to Purgatory back in Aihrance? Such a thing opening up elsewhere would present a massive headache that even I would have a hard time trying to stop.


    But now it sounded like this Count Timong was planning to complete something even worse than a doorway to Purgatory itself.


    ¡°And also, it seems that the vampires have almost completed the process. They are at the final hurdle at the moment.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s impossible!¡± Hans shouted out, shooting up from his seat. He shook his head wildly in agitation. ¡°Some mere vampires completed such a warp gate?! Such a thing, that¡¯s completely, utterly¡­!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget that these bastards gave the necromancers back in Aihrance the info on the magic. Those necromancers used that info to cast the warp magic connecting to Purgatory.¡±


    Hans flinched at what I said and froze up. He looked back at me.


    ¡°So, you still think the Vampires can¡¯t pull it off now?¡± I continued.


    Hans clenched his teeth as if he didn¡¯t want to acknowledge it. But a short bit of silence later, he slowly admitted, ¡°¡­Yes, it¡¯s possible. Honestly speaking, I¡¯ve already accepted my defeat in that regard.¡±


    Hans held his forehead and sat back down in his chair.


    I glanced at him for a moment before shifting my attention back over to Harman. ¡°Okay, so? What exactly are they planning to do? Open another pathway to Purgatory or something?¡±


    ¡°No, Your Highness. It doesn¡¯t seem that way, but we just don¡¯t have enough information. However, if that is indeed their plan, then¡­¡±


    The ends of Harman¡¯s sentence grew quieter.


    He probably wanted to say that, if that was what the vampires were planning, then the Theocratic Empire would be in grave danger.


    We shouldn¡¯t forget that the Tide of Death would soon flood this place. The curse of the Necromancer King, which sought to dye the entire continent in demonic energy, would begin.


    Before that happened, we needed to do something.


    I fidgeted around with my interlocked fingers, before rubbing my face after checking out the contents of one of the documents Harman had handed over.


    It didn¡¯t contain the information related to the vampires, but a report concerning the current situation back in the Imperial Palace.


    The Imperial Family was enjoying a period of peace, but Holy Emperor Kelt¡¯s body was exhibiting some strange signs lately.


    He was quite vigorous for a man his age, but lately, he¡¯d get fatigued by his daily routines and even fall asleep often during work.


    The symbol of the Theocratic Empire, the strongest man on the planet, and also the object of pure terror for the vampires, was gradually getting weaker.


    The end of one¡¯s life, which couldn¡¯t be altered even with the holy water or abundant divine energy¡­


    Kelt¡¯s life was steadily reaching its end.


    Even then, this wasn¡¯t just some random nobody, but the one and only Kelt Olfolse. It¡¯d be another ten years before he departed this world for the side of dear Goddess Gaia.


    That¡¯s what I firmly believed. For the time being, I needed to focus on the vampire threat.


    ¡®But once we deal with this matter, I better quickly return to the Imperial Palace¡­¡¯


    I looked around at everyone present in the conference room. ¡°These punks managed to create that warp gate connecting to Purgatory.¡±


    Everyone focused their attention on me.


    ¡°No one knows what else they might do next.¡±


    The Tide of Death, December 25th, was rapidly approaching us.


    That¡¯s why¡­ ¡°We are going to hit them first.¡± I scanned everyone in the room and continued, ¡°As soon as the supply corps returns, we organise the convicts and attack the ice castle.¡±


    Even if the convicts weren¡¯t all that skilled, it shouldn¡¯t be too hard for them to subjugate the undead in the Land of the Dead Spirits with Count Jenald commanding them, while Alice, Harman, and Charlotte travelled alongside.


    As for me¡­


    ¡°Hey, Hans.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, sir?¡± Hans tilted his head as a puzzled look floated up on his face.


    ¡°Get the warp magic ready. I¡¯m going to wipe them out from the inside.¡±


    Hans was stupefied for a bit, before crying out in alarm, ¡°Y-you want to try the warp magic, sir?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible, right?¡±


    ¡°O-of course, sir. But I need some time to¡­¡±


    ¡°How long do you need?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Hans held his head and fell into silent contemplation.


    His eyes were darting around. He muttered to himself in some indecipherable language, as if he was mentally calculating something.


    Eventually, he clapped his hands and yelled out. ¡°December 24th! It will be completed by then.¡±


    ¡°¡­One day before the Tide of Death, is it?¡±


    Now that was cutting it really close.


    But that also meant I¡¯d have some time to deal with the vampire punks hiding in there. My plan now was to wipe those bastards out completely in one night.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll leave it up to you. I¡¯ll be directly infiltrating their headquarters using the warp magic.¡±


    Hans nodded at my words.


    **


    ¡°Hurry and get the weapons!¡±


    ¡°We ain¡¯t gonna stay here as sitting ducks anymore!¡±


    I watched the convicts busily moving about outside from the window of the manor. They were bursting at the seams with fighting spirit, probably because they were anticipating our total victory.


    ¡°Will it be really alright, Your Highness?¡± Charlotte asked me, her voice full of concern.


    She had tried very hard to dissuade me after learning that I¡¯d step into the middle of the enemy camp by myself.


    I settled down on the office¡¯s sofa and replied to her while munching on a snack, ¡°Can¡¯t be helped, since Hans¡¯s warp circle can only send one person at most.¡±


    Hans was right next to us, and flinched visibly in the middle of drawing the warp magic circle on the floor.


    He snuck a glance at me and said testily. ¡°¡­Please search around the rest of the continent, sir. See how many people you can find out there who are capable of completing a warp circle like me.¡±


    I waved my hand at him lightly, trying to cool his ire.


    In any case¡­ vampires were far too dangerous to let them escape. I learned how dangerous this warp magic could actually be back in Aihrance, so I was planning to stop at nothing and do whatever it took to put a screeching halt to their plans.


    From this moment on, I¡¯d be infiltrating their inner sanctum and start massacring some vampires.


    If any of the survivors made a run for it, then the convicts laying siege to the ice castle would simply deal with them outside.


    And since it was only a Count-class vampire, I alone was enough to deal with that vampire. There might be other unexpected threats inside, but I didn¡¯t have a choice here. I needed to deal with them as they happened.


    Well, both Alice and Charlotte were going to participate, so they would surely support me if something dangerous happened to me.


    ¡°Whatever the case may be¡­ I¡¯ll believe in you, Charlotte.¡±


    ¡°B-but¡­¡± Before she could say something, I pushed a piece of biscuit in her mouth and stopped her.


    Charlotte stopped talking and munched on the snack while staring at me.


    ¡°No need to worry about me.¡±


    ¡°¡­Understood.¡±


    She seemed to have finally given up, judging from her depressed expression. However, she still snuck glances in my direction, and there were obvious signs of hesitation in her eyes.


    Charlotte took her time before finally opening her mouth. ¡°Not too long from now, the supply corps will return, Your Highness. The ice castle is about half a day¡¯s travel away.¡±


    Her gaze remained quiet, yet focused. ¡°I pray that you stay safe until then.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s obvious.¡± I smiled brightly back at her to assuage her worries.


    ¡°It¡¯s complete, sir!¡±


    I turned my head and stared at the warp magic circle Hans had drawn on the floor.


    ¡°All you have to do is to inject your divinity into it. The transfer will become safer the more divine energy you dump into it, sir!¡± Hans said while stepping away from the warp magic circle.


    Unlike him, I was stepping into the circle, instead.


    ¡®But, uh, I¡¯m getting a bit nervous here¡­¡¯


    I recalled what happened back in Aslan. ¡®Back then, I was totally surrounded by enemies, wasn¡¯t I?¡¯


    ¡°¡­You sure it¡¯s safe?¡±


    I stared at Hans, and he gave me a thumb-up and a loud, confident shout on top as well. ¡°Of course, sir! Just who am I!? Aren¡¯t I the genius Alchemist?¡±


    ¡®¡­Well, I sure hope that the end result matches your confidence.¡¯


    ¡°Oops! By the way, take this with you, sir.¡±


    Hans pushed a crystal sphere to me. It was the same explosive sphere he had used against the orcs way back in Aslan¡¯s desert.


    ¡°It will have the same effect as exploding holy water, sir.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a useful item.¡±


    I took the crystal sphere and sucked in a deep breath. I then pressed my palm down inside the warp magic circle and began injecting divinity into it.


    ¡°Well, then¡­¡±


    Bright light emitted from the magic circle next.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m off.¡±


    And then, my body broke down into tiny particles.


    **


    The vampires under the command of Count Timong were not specialised in combat, but more in magic research and alchemy.


    Before their vampirification, they were already renowned researchers in their respective fields, and upon turning, they had gathered in one place and performed all sorts of experiments together.


    The one field of research they were all interested in was, of course, warp magic. Especially the part about creating a doorway that led to another world; the possibility of that allowed the Alchemists and Magicians to dream and have visions of what it would be like.


    ¡ª


    In the basement of the ice castle¡­


    There were dozens upon dozens of warp magic circles connecting to the rest of the continent to be found here.


    The Vampires kitted out in leather aprons and goggles tilted their heads and began gathering near a particular warp magic circle.


    This circle had begun emitting light, which was the expected reaction when someone used warp magic to reach this ice castle.


    ¡°Who can it be?¡±


    ¡°Is anyone scheduled to visit us today?¡±


    They exchanged glances and continued to tilt their heads in confusion. After scanning through the list of the scheduled arrivals, they were left even more confused.


    ¡°No, no one¡¯s scheduled to come today, and I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be Count Timong¡¯s guest, either, whoever it is.¡±


    They confirmed the list of arrivals and became certain that no one was scheduled to come. The vampires naturally became wary and began grabbing various weapons hanging on the nearby walls.


    Just as they got ready¡­ they flinched in surprise and clamped their mouths shut.


    It was because the gentle aura of divine power began spreading from the warp magic circle.


    The bright white aura quaked and undulated like ripples of water.


    ¡®What¡¯s this? Divinity? This is a Vampire-exclusive warp magic circle, so how come divinity is¡­?¡¯


    The Vampires began stumbling back as their pasty complexions grew even paler.


    Right at that moment, the disparate particles began gathering rapidly on top of the warp magic circle written in ancient runes.


    The vampires felt their hearts tumble to the pits of their stomachs at the sight.


    Clack-!


    A metallic creature was taking a step forward.


    No, wait; it wasn¡¯t a creature made out of metal, but a person covered entirely in metal armour, instead.


    An existence wielding a musket in his right hand and a huge shield wrapping around him on his left was walking out from the magic circle.


    That wasn¡¯t all, however ¨C more Paladins kitted out from head to toe in armour also accompanied him, as well. And every single one of them was holding onto a musket!


    ¡°W-what the¡­?¡±


    Paladins? Never mind that for now, why were they all wielding muskets¡­?


    Dozens of them stood in a line, then raised the muzzles of their weapons.


    The vampires failed to understand the unfolding situation. Why did dozens of Paladins suddenly step outside the vampire-only warp magic circle and not only that, while brandishing muskets, too?


    ¡®H-hold up, muskets?¡¯


    Only then did some of the vampires recall a rumour they had heard in the recent past. Their complexions promptly became completely devoid of all colour.


    The existence they called the Slaughterer of Vampires and the Butcher of Lycans¡­


    The Seventh Imperial Prince, from the empire of devout believers, who was capable of hunting Progenitors down with a mere musket¡­


    ¡°The Holy King, Allen Olfol¡­!¡±


    Right at that moment, the head of a vampire exploded into bits. The undead, now headless, was instantly enveloped in bluish flames and began the process of being purified out of this world.


    The headless body flailed about in torment, while the remaining vampires urgently turned their terrified gazes back to the warp magic circle.


    Hot smoke came from the musket wielded by the one in front of the Paladins. That served as the signal and the holy undead, their glowing eyes burning even more fiercely than before, began breathing into their muskets as well.


    The musket regiment slowly and steadily stepped outside the warp circle.


    As the dense smoke wafted about, dozens of holy undead began aiming their muzzles at their new targets.


    The Paladin at the head of the pack stepped up, then opened the mouth hidden beneath his helm. ¡°Well now. Vampires¡­¡±


    The vampires all flinched nastily.


    The Paladin raised that large shield and hid himself behind it. But the musket in his right hand was still aimed at the Vampires.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s time to hunt.¡±


    That one sentence caused the vampires to scream their lungs out.


    < 137. Slaughterer (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 261 - 138. A Small Clue -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    The leader of the dwarves, Belrog, dearly wanted to deliver his masterpiece personally. So he quickly packed up his luggage and joined the Ronia supply corps. He even jumped up on the carriage driver¡¯s seat and drove the vehicle himself.


    His gaze landed on the outer walls of the castle in the far-off distance.


    ¡°So, that¡¯s Ronia, is it!¡±


    Belrog broke out in a wide grin before taking a glance behind him. His eyes took in the sight of a single white-coloured shield wrapped in fabric, currently secured within the wagon.


    ¡®That¡¯s the gift I must hand over to His Highness.¡¯


    Belrog was thinking of handing over that shield to the Imperial Prince and confirming its performance with his own two eyes.


    Ronia¡¯s gates opened up and the dozen-plus carriages delivering the supplies proceeded to enter the city.


    Belrog, sitting on the driver¡¯s seat, made a surprised face at what he saw next.


    The City of Convicts, the Haven for the Undead, the Sacrificial Castle, etc¡­


    Several different labels were often used to describe this fiefdom of the northern region. However, unlike those negative labels indicated, this whole city seemed to be overflowing with vitality.


    Villagers from nearby villages were coming and going through the open gates, while the avenues were filled with various stalls. Several people, hard to tell whether they were convicts or regular soldiers, were busy dashing around, as well.


    When Belrog reached the city¡¯s plaza, he got to witness yet another surprising spectacle.


    ¡°All troops, get in formation!¡±


    ¡°Sir!!!!¡±


    What he saw was a battalion of soldiers at least five thousand strong gathering in the plaza. Excluding the regular forces meant to defend Ronia, all the other combatants had gathered here.


    They didn¡¯t make a single mistake or a misstep in their movements.


    These convicts, filled with military discipline, were all standing tall, like some sturdy, unshakeable statues.


    A man walked up and stood on a podium in front of them. He was none other than the feudal lord of this place, Count Jenald Ripang.


    He began his speech.


    He mentioned the Seventh Imperial Prince, then spoke some things about the Saint and Saintess before pumping his fist in the air. A loud cheer followed right afterwards.


    Their fighting spirit was positively overflowing.


    ¡°Are they really convicts?¡± Belrog¡¯s jaw dropped at the sheer shock of it all.


    Forget about calling them ¡®convict soldiers¡¯, they came across more like proper enlisted combatants of the Theocratic Empire instead!


    ¡°Are you Belrog?¡±


    As he stood there stewing in his own shock, a young woman walked up to him. She had a striking head of silver hair, crimson eyes, and pure white metal armour.


    Belrog took a good look at her and was surprised one more time.


    ¡®I see. So this young lady is Charlotte Heraiz?¡¯


    He immediately realised who she was, since her armour had been personally crafted by him.


    Unfortunately¡­


    ¡®¡­I screwed up.¡¯


    He was supposed to match the equipment¡¯s size to the girl named Charlotte Heraiz, but he made an elemental mistake of not setting the shield to the correct size.


    Belrog ended up sneaking a glance at the shield inside the carriage. It was simply far too large and heavy for a slender girl like her to wield!


    1


    Cold sweat trickled down his forehead as a distraught expression formed on his face. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. My name is Belrog, the head of the dwarves that serve Her Highness, First Imperial Princess Hilda. May I enquire where I can find His Highness?¡±


    He wanted to personally deliver the shield to the Imperial Prince. He also wanted to discuss with the latter on what could be done to rectify his mistake, as well.


    Charlotte¡¯s gaze followed after his and shifted over to the carriage, before her brows shot up.


    Although a piece of large fabric was wrapped around the sacred shield, such a layer proved to be inadequate to block off the gentle and bright glow coming from the equipment in the end.


    A familiar aura was coming off from it: the aura of divine energy. Not just any divinity either, but¡­


    ¡®That¡¯s His Highness¡¯s own divinity.¡¯


    Charlotte was puzzled by that.


    Why was His Highness¡¯s divinity permeating that item?


    ¡°Is that the one?¡±


    ¡°Pardon? Ah, yes. That¡¯s correct, ma¡¯am. It¡¯s the shield that His Highness personally requested from us.¡±


    ¡°His Highness did?¡±


    Charlotte stared back at Belrog with a stunned face.


    He tilted his head in confusion. ¡°You didn¡¯t know, ma¡¯am? He even sent a precious dragon fang and requested it from us.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°He said that it¡¯s supposed to be a present to someone dear to him, so we had to give it our all when crafting it.¡±


    A change gradually appeared on Charlotte¡¯s face.


    Her previously hard and icy expression gently melted away. Her eyes went round, and her lightly trembling lips couldn¡¯t say anything.


    That face of hers looked rather unnatural, but Belrog could more or less figure out that she was feeling genuinely happy right now.


    ¡®But to think that I messed up this badly.¡¯


    The greatest masterpiece in his life, you say? Everything would be for nought if the intended master couldn¡¯t even use it properly!


    There was simply no way a slender girl could even lift up a shield so large that even four grown men would have trouble lugging it around.


    1


    As Belrog began thinking that to himself, Charlotte wordlessly walked right past him and climbed up into the carriage¡¯s loadbay.


    ¡®This is His Highness¡¯s present to me¡­¡¯


    Her eyes remained round as she cautiously reached out to the shield.


    Belrog watched her and tried to say some things that sounded like him making excuses. ¡°W-well, we ended up making a bit of a mistake, ma¡¯am. Because we were so absorbed in our work, the weight and the size of the¡­¡±


    While he said that, he continued watching Charlotte¡¯s hand reach out, only to sense the carriage¡¯s centre of mass tilt to one side, causing it to teeter for a moment there.


    His eyes rapidly grew larger and his expression stiffened from sheer astonishment.


    Charlotte had actually lifted up the sacred white shield.


    Even though it was as tall as she was, the girl¡¯s left hand effortlessly picked up the shield that was shaped like an inverted triangle joined with a cross.


    Belrog gasped out. ¡°Holy cow!¡±


    What crazy physical strength that was!


    Belrog had to hurriedly put a gag over the voice of his mind trying to jump out of his mouth.


    Charlotte¡¯s gaze drifted away, towards a chest near the shield next. The familiar aura was also coming from there.


    ¡°Ah, that is¡­¡± Belrog quickly climbed onto the loadbay and pulled out another item from the chest. ¡°It¡¯s been crafted out of the dragon¡¯s scales. I think they originally came from a black dragon¡¯s hide, but because of the holy water¡¯s effects, the colour changed to white¡­¡±


    What Charlotte received next was a pure-white cape. It was thin, yet soft and supple like silk. Her fingertips could clearly feel the softness of the cape.


    She carefully held it in her bosom.


    This cape and the shield were the very first gifts His Highness had ever given her.


    1


    Meanwhile, Belrog had turned his head to look at the convict soldiers present in the plaza. They were arming themselves with equipment being taken out from the loadbays of carriages.


    He even spotted siege weapons being mobilised, and figured that they were about to enter a big battle soon.


    Belrog turned his head back to Charlotte and asked her, ¡°¡­Are you all planning to fight a war, ma¡¯am?¡±


    She was currently spreading open the pure white cape and letting it flap in the wind.


    She then draped the cape over her armour, and secured the shield as tall as she was on her left hand. Her right hand reached down and rested on the hilt of the divine sword by her waist.


    Belrog watched her hold her head up high, and felt a magnetic charm quite different from Hilda¡¯s emanating from this young woman.


    She was commanding and majestic to behold. But at the same time, she also gave off a sacred vibe and was arrestingly beautiful, too!


    1


    ¡®If a heroine from a fairy tale comes to life, would she look like this young lady?¡¯


    Charlotte shifted her gaze back to Belrog and answered, ¡°We are to march to the ice castle.¡±


    ¡°The ice castle, you say?¡±


    Wasn¡¯t that a structure that the Necromancer King had constructed?


    ¡°And we shall¡­¡± Charlotte gently caressed the shield and smiled brightly, ¡°¡­go and bring His Highness home.¡±


    1


    **


    The ice castle in the northern region was built to a considerable scale.


    Just the outer walls alone were fifteen metres in height. The whole structure was so large and imposing that one could easily spot it from many kilometres away.


    However, there weren¡¯t all that many creatures currently residing within the massive structure.


    Only some undead, like zombies and other vampires who quietly buried themselves away in their research, could be found in here. That was exactly what Count Timong liked the most about this place.


    Almost nothing was as good as being able to carry on his research in such silence.


    He was currently standing on one of the balconies of the ice castle. He placed his hands behind his back, bent forward like a hunchback. His eyes were locked on the gigantic pit dug out in the middle of the ice castle.


    Bang-! Bang-! Bang-!


    The ground rocked violently.


    The stakes driven into the ground all around the pit¡¯s mouth, and the steel chains connected to them, were shaking precariously.


    ¡°Looks like it can¡¯t be held back anymore.¡±


    Count Timong rubbed his chin, thinking that it¡¯d be difficult to maintain the seal on the mud giant, Mist Calf, for much longer.


    ¡®What¡¯s happening with the sacrifices, anyway?¡¯


    It had been several days already, so how come there was no news at all?


    1


    ¡®Could it be that the undead got wiped out?¡¯


    But that couldn¡¯t be. The J?tnar went along with that lot.


    ¡®Most likely, they must be having too much damn fun and lost themselves to wanton slaughter and destruction¡­¡¯


    1


    ¡°This is why I shouldn¡¯t have entrusted the command to a lycan,¡± Count Timong tutted unhappily.


    2

 Chapter 262 - 138. A Small Clue -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    It¡¯d be December 25th later this evening.


    The mud giant, Mist Calf, would become ¡®drunk¡¯ on the demonic energy permeating the Land of the Dead Spirits on that day. That in turn would make the creature even more powerful.


    If it consumed living sacrifices while in such a state, then its heart would possess an even greater level of energy. If Timong used that¡­


    ¡­He¡¯d get to open up the warp gate connecting to another dimension!


    Count Timong began shuddering in excitement at his own thoughts.


    Finally, the end goal of all Alchemists, the power to rule over the gateway leading to other dimensions, would fall into his hands!


    His actions would be the same as intruding upon the domain of the gods!


    ¡°Finally, my long-held wish is¡­!¡±


    Right at that moment, the still silence flowing within the ice castle was suddenly shattered into pieces.


    KA-BOOM-!


    Count Timong flinched in shock and looked below, leaning against the balcony¡¯s railing.


    Thick smoke was gushing out from somewhere inside the ice castle.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here¡­?¡±


    Just as he began tilting his head this way and that, a vampire urgently rushed up to him. ¡°My lord! Count Timong, sir!¡±


    Timong looked behind himself and saw that a pale-faced Vampire standing in the passageway connecting to the balcony was busy shouting for him. ¡°We have intruders!¡±


    ¡°Intruders?¡±


    What did he mean by ¡®intruders¡¯? Was there a human mad enough to enter this place?


    Count Timong grew puzzled, but then abruptly flinched.


    There hadn¡¯t been any news from the undead army dispatched to Ronia. Could it be¡­?


    Timong hurriedly scanned the vicinity of the ice castle. No matter where he looked, though, he couldn¡¯t see any human soldiers anywhere.


    That meant that it wasn¡¯t an invasion.


    Count Timong looked back at the vampire and demanded, ¡°How many intruders are there?¡±


    The latter replied with a stutter, ¡°W-we estimate there to be around one hundred.¡±


    Such a large number had invaded the castle? But they shouldn¡¯t have a way to sneak in like that¡­


    Count Timong fell deep into thought, then suddenly covered his mouth in shock. ¡®No, it can¡¯t be! Warp magic?!¡¯


    But, what about the coordinates? Could it be¡­ through their own warp circles?!


    But it should¡¯ve been impossible for humans to decode the vampires¡¯ warp magic circles. Beyond that, one hundred combatants infiltrating through warp magic should be even more impossible!


    ¡°Also, they are wielding muskets, as well!¡±


    Loud gunshots suddenly rang out within the ice castle, followed up by the sound of equally loud explosions. Layers of frost covering the structure came loose and tumbled down.


    Finally¡­


    ¡°¡­It seems that they used our own warp magic circles to invade us, my lord!¡±


    Count Timong clamped his mouth shut at those words.


    **


    The frozen-solid steel door was blown apart.


    Vampires standing on the frost-layered corridor flinched nastily in shock, while staring at the entrance of the staircase leading to the basement.


    What followed next was a gunshot.


    At almost the same time, the heads of the vampires were blown apart while their bodies were turned into beehives full of holes.


    ¡°Uwaaaaah?!¡±


    ¡°M-my leg! Ah, my waist, my waist, too¡­!¡±


    Their bodies were burning away.


    A vampire who still managed to survive screamed loudly, and stared at its lower torso dissipating from existence.


    The sounds of metallic clacking could be heard among the dense smoke.


    Clack, claaaack-!


    Those noises came from the Paladins kitted out in heavy armour.


    The ones in front of the group carried large shields and swords. Without hesitation, they slammed their blades down at the still-alive vampires crawling desperately away on the floor.


    The knights behind them carried muskets, and pulled their weapons¡¯ triggers whenever they spotted vampires trying to flee in the distance.


    ¡°Uwaaaaahk!¡±


    ¡°H-hide somewhere!¡±


    The vampires couldn¡¯t put up any decent resistance at this sudden onslaught. They either hid themselves inside some dark room and shivered in fear, or just hurriedly ducked behind a corner somewhere and hoped for the best.


    Unfortunately for them, the Paladins marching through the corridors ferreted out the hiding vampires and systematically killed them all.


    ¡°We need to push them back!¡±


    ¡°Kill the intruders!¡±


    Eventually, the Vampires began mounting a proper resistance. They put on some armour and picked up their weapons.


    ¡°Unleash the chimeras!¡±


    The hybrid lifeforms created through alchemy, the chimeras, were released from various corners of the ice castle.


    Vampires covered in cold sweat leaned against the corners of the corridors and took a peek at the legion of the Paladins approaching them from the other end.


    It looked like they were gradually making their way up from the basement. They continued to relentlessly press forward, as if they were planning to not let a single vampire escape from here.


    ¡®You honestly think we¡¯ll just take the beating lying down?!¡¯


    The vampires shifted their gazes back to the chimeras filling up the corridors behind them. ¡°Go and devour the intruders!¡±


    The hybrid monsters immediately charged ahead at the vampire¡¯s command.


    Zombie Golems, created through combining countless many zombies, marched forward with great tottering steps.


    Many beast-type monsters featuring tiger¡¯s limbs but with the heads of lions pounced forward, while bizarre creatures boasting lycan¡¯s bodies but with minotaur heads joined them.


    Paladins raised their heads at the sight of the monstrous chimeras rushing at them.


    ¡°Get into a close formation,¡± one of the Paladins suddenly ordered.


    Their shields were rapidly overlapped, and the Paladins wielding them arranged themselves in an organised line. Behind them were dozens of other Paladins, leaning against them to provide additional support.


    Not a single mistake could be spied in their defence. They quickly created a sturdy, strong wall of shields.


    -Ku-aaaaaaahk!-


    Chimeras collided into the shields.


    The rows of Paladins were pushed back a little from the resulting impact, but that was all.


    ¡°Pikes.¡±


    Spears were thrust forward from behind them to impale the Chimeras and shove them away.


    Chimeras were dangling in the air, impaled by dozens of spears. Muskets were aimed at them next.


    ¡°Fire.¡±


    BANG-!


    Chimeras were turned into torn rags and purged from existence.


    However, one of the dying chimeras took a last-ditch swipe with its front paw. It struck the helm of a Paladin in the front, destroying it.


    The Paladin¡¯s face could now be seen under the broken bits of the helm. It was a skull with a new claw mark running across it.


    Vampires witnessing this sight from behind the corners screamed at the top of their lungs.


    ¡°¡­Holy undead?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really him! The Holy King has really come!¡±


    The culprit who had murdered so many Progenitors had come! There was no way that these vampires could win against an opponent of such calibre!


    It was at that moment that one of the holy undead suddenly tossed a crystal sphere at the corridor¡¯s intersection.


    The sphere rolled along the ground and reached the corner, glowed with a crimson light, then exploded loudly.


    Thick smoke spread out in an instant, and when it touched the vampires nearby, their skin began melting. Even breathing in the smoke caused them to vomit blood.


    ¡°Uwaaaaahk!¡±


    ¡°R-retreat! We, we must get to Count Timong¡­!¡±


    The surviving vampires hurriedly fled. What was happening right now was like a horrifying nightmare come true!


    The one commanding the holy undead, Allen, took his helm off and cast his gaze on his Summoned creatures filling up the corridor.


    ¡°Go and procure any and all information you can find.¡±


    More warp magic circles had been engraved in various parts of the ice castle.


    ¡°The things that cannot be confiscated, burn them down. Destroy them!¡±


    The data Vampires had compiled while researching various subjects practically overflowed in this location. This data would soon become a source of knowledge that improved the Imperial Family¡¯s strength even further.


    ¡°And then, hunt down any vampires you come across.¡±


    The holy undead Paladins all slammed their weapons down in unison. Their eyes glowed a nightmarish hue under their helms.


    Frost containing divinity whooshed out from the gaps of the helms, as if they were breathing out heavily.


    They split into several teams and scattered throughout the castle. Soon, the tragic screams of vampires began echoing along the ice castle¡¯s vast corridors.


    Allen walked down on the passageway as his skeletons continued to deliver the freshly-collected data to him. He unilaterally shoved all of it into his item window.


    ¡®Things are going well.¡¯


    The vampires had fallen into a panic. Rather than escaping outside the castle, they were actually climbing up higher.


    If he continued to kill them off systematically in this manner, then everything should come to an end pretty soon, unless he ran into some unseen problems.


    Allen grinned at that thought, and continued collecting the data.


    He noticed that quite a few interesting research topics had entered his hands.


    [Bloody Golem], [Synthesised Lifeforms], [Other Dimension Warp Gate], [Multiple Dimensions Theory]¡­


    This was all information on magic that the vampires had been researching for thousands of years. Soon, they would all become a part of his power.


    ¡®Well, Hans will be quite pleased by this¡­¡¯


    Quite a lot of the books the holy skeletons had recovered were related to the topic of warp magic. Even Hans¡¯s goal was to understand the truth behind the warp itself, so he should be chuffed to get his hands on the Vampires¡¯ research data.


    Allen continued to collect the recovered data. But when he nonchalantly reached out to the next item brought in by his undead¡­


    ¡®¡­What the hell is this?¡¯


    He was so stunned that the inside of his head blanked out completely.


    ¡®Why is this thing here?¡¯


    Allen swallowed back his dry saliva.


    He extended his hand again, and lifted up the ¡®item¡¯ his holy skeleton had brought to him.


    [A Story of a Ring.]


    The item in question was a book. A mere novel, at that. Except that it was¡­.


    ¡°¡­Korean?¡±


    ¡­a novel written in Korean.


    < 138. A Small Clue -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 263 - : 139. A Small Clue -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    It had happened a really long time ago.


    A large game company held a public event, which also doubled as an experiment of sorts.


    The whole thing was being broadcast live, and they recruited volunteers like myself, who were ushered into the large open capsules.


    ¡°Argh, don¡¯t be nervous, now,¡± I heard someone say, and shifted my gaze over to a dude wearing a scientist-like lab coat next to me.


    Although the temperature inside this location was okay-ish, this guy was still soaked in cold sweat from top to bottom, while he was continuously manipulating the complicated machinery I was lying in.


    This man, who happened to be one of the game developers, finally saw me staring at him.


    He said, ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous and just breathe in, breathe out, Johan.¡±


    Huh, not even bothering with polite speech, are we? Besides all that¡­ Johan? That wasn¡¯t my name.


    ¡°Excuse me, but I¡¯m not Johan.¡±


    The developer flinched a little and awkwardly waved his hands around. ¡°Ahaha! I-I know. I¡¯m Johan.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Fuu-wuu-! You know, I¡¯m getting really nervous here. This is my first time being in a live stream, you see. Let¡¯s not forget, we¡¯re about to unveil the world¡¯s first-ever virtual reality game, aren¡¯t we!¡±


    The developer began rubbing his hands like some kind of a fly. Maybe he was trying to lessen his anxiety that way.


    But watching him act like that only made me nervous, instead.


    ¡°¡­You guys have done enough testing beforehand, right?¡±


    ¡°E-eh? Of¡­ course. If we haven¡¯t, we sure as heck wouldn¡¯t broadcast any of this live, you know. You can rest easy.¡±


    I saw how he took his time answering me just now, and that awkward, cramped smile on his face, doubled my anxiety level in an instant.


    Even though he was telling me to relax, how could I do that now?


    I glanced around and spotted what looked like doctors performing medical checks on the people inside the other capsules.


    ¡°W-well, if you¡¯re still feeling nervous, please read this in the meantime. I¡¯m sure it will help you brighten your mood.¡±


    The developer named Johan handed a book to me so that I could at least stay occupied during this standby period.


    [A Story of a Ring.]


    That¡¯s a famous fantasy novel from overseas.


    The old-school classic had been revised for this latest edition. They had even made movies based on the book, too.


    I accepted the novel.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be on my way now.¡± After he said that, the developer walked away from my side.


    I opened the cover of [A Story of a Ring] and started reading the novel¡¯s contents.


    I heard the announcement from the speakers, ¡°Well, then! Let¡¯s get this show on the road. Everyone, be on standby! Ten minutes before the live broadcast!¡±


    Just as the door to my egg-shaped capsule closed up, I quickly put the book on the shelf next to me. The book fell upside down and I got a glimpse at its publication date.


    The publication date was 20XX April 28th.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re on air!¡±


    The capsule¡¯s door sealed shut. Minutes ticked by.


    The overall flow outside sounded like the broadcast was well underway now.


    I did as the guiding message in my ear instructed and chose my in-game profession.


    It was right then that an emergency bell loud enough to deafen me suddenly went off.


    An urgent voice could be heard next, shouting out ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    My whole body was getting hot for some reason, too.


    ¡°What the hell?! What¡¯s going on over there?!¡±


    ¡°Stop the broadcast! Cut the feed, now!¡±


    ¡°Who the f*ck placed a faulty capsule over there?!¡±


    ¡°Who worked on that capsule?!¡±


    ¡°F-fire! Fire extinguisher!¡±


    The capsule was sealed tight, so I couldn¡¯t even leave. Its interior quickly filled up with black smoke, and I couldn¡¯t even breathe.


    As if that wasn¡¯t enough, a horrifying pain similar to electricity coursing through my whole body overwhelmed my senses.


    Finally¡­


    ¡®Is that¡­ a black hole¡­?¡¯ This sensation of being sucked in, as if something or someone was forcibly squeezing my body and yanking me inside.


    I was sucked inside an unknown space. My darkened vision was rapidly spinning around.


    I no longer had a body by then, only my soul tumbling nonstop in this space.


    I flew past what seemed like an endless stream of darkness, only to be flung into what looked like a tunnel bathed in bright light.


    By the time I regained my consciousness¡­


    ¡°Keo-uuuuuhrk?!¡±


    I was being hung by my neck in a forest filled with the undead.


    ¡°Kuwaaaahk!¡± Blood rushed to my head. My fingers dug into the rope, trying to pull at it.


    My neck couldn¡¯t endure the tightening pressure. My dangling feet kicked the empty air as I struggled.


    But at the same time, all sorts of knowledge suddenly popped up in my head: magic, the Necromancer Class, necromancy, skills¡­


    This choked-up, gasping voice leaked out of my lips almost instinctively. ¡°Re¡­ resurrection of the dead.¡±


    When I muttered that out, a rotting corpse limply crawled out from the ground below me.


    ¡°Save¡­ me¡­ Help¡­ me!¡±


    The zombie¡¯s eyeballs shifted around before it reached out with its rotting hands. It grabbed the rope tied around my neck, then ripped it apart.


    ¡°Haaaak¡­¡± Cold air rushed into my lungs.


    I collapsed on my back on this cold ground and stared up into the sky.


    As my vision faded away, I saw it.


    This place was filled with vegetation that I had never seen or heard of before.


    A completely unfamiliar world that I didn¡¯t recognise.


    Those were my memories of the moments after I arrived in this world.


    **


    Back in the ice castle¡¯s corridor¡­


    I rubbed my face while staring at this novel. The loose fragments of my past memories were clicking into place.


    ¡°I remember now.¡±


    I turned the book over and looked at its back cover.


    The publication date was 20XX April 28th.


    This book was the same one that I read. It came from the same place I had.


    ¡®Ahhh, you son of a b*tch¡­¡¯ I ended up cursing inside my head.


    My hand was already rubbing and massaging my temples by then. Chaos was filling up my head.


    What the hell was going on here? Could it be that this warp thing was connected to me somehow?


    ¡®Hang on, maybe the reason why I ended up in this world was¡­?¡¯


    ¡°Stop the subjugation.¡±


    The holy undead spreading out to all corners of the ice castle stopped moving right then.


    I kept massaging my temples while glancing at the novel, then issued another command, ¡°Capture all the vampires alive.¡±


    The fierce glowing balls of light in the skeleton¡¯s heads shook around.


    ¡°Do not leave a single one behind, and capture them all.¡±


    No, I wasn¡¯t planning to spare any vampires here. It¡¯s just that now I had questions to ask them, that¡¯s all.


    ¡°And then¡­ interrogate them.¡±


    All of my undead heard my orders and began moving once more. The screams reverberating throughout the ice castle grew even louder and more tragic.


    The holy undead put away their swords and spears, replacing them with maces and shields, instead. Rather than muskets, they now wielded crossbows and bows while relentlessly advancing inside the castle.


    ¡°S-spare me!¡±


    Holy skeletons smashed their maces on the vampires. The bloodsuckers were being dragged around by their legs, while some ended up resembling hedgehogs from the barrage of arrows and crossbow bolts. Those boasting tenacious lifeforce were dragged before me.


    Then, I interrogated them. While showing them the novel, I asked them what this was. But the vampires all shook their heads and said that they didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°Dammit.¡±


    The small fry found here didn¡¯t seem to know anything.


    Right, what I needed wasn¡¯t some blood-creations, but a true Progenitor. The culprit who constructed the warp gate in the first place, in other words.


    ¡°Find this Count Timong.¡±


    That guy was a Count-class Vampire, so regular undead wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against a monster like that.


    ¡°Kasim, Nasus!¡±


    I stomped down on the floor. The lake of holy water was immediately summoned there, and Kasim and Nasus pushed their soaked bodies out from its depths.


    They knelt down before me and bowed their heads.


    ¡°Go and capture the Vampire Count.¡±


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Count Timong was busy packing away all the data related to warp magic in his bag.


    Although he had already committed it all to memory, these things were still far too valuable to be stolen away by some measly little human being.


    ¡®Someone managed to decode the warp that I created!¡¯


    The odds of an Alchemist, not a Magician, activating the warp were uncomfortably high, judging from how one of Timong¡¯s own warp circles had been utilised.


    This just didn¡¯t make any sense to him, though. Just which insane bastard was it?!


    Timong had barely managed to create this warp magic by researching it for the past thousand-plus years. On top of that, he had even encrypted everything in an ancient language.


    ¡®Yet, whoever it was, he managed to decode it all!¡¯


    That man must¡¯ve been a genius that might appear once in a millennia or some such!


    ¡®If I lose my valuable research data to that bastard, then¡­¡¯


    Then, someone other than Timong would come to possess authority over the warp magic, instead.


    Such a thing could not be allowed! Only he, Timong, was qualified to peek into the domain of the gods and decipher the truth, and no one else!


    ¡°Yes, I must flee from here.¡±


    The research data could not just be destroyed. Timong had to gather other researchers interested in the warp gate and continue on with the research somewhere else, using this data as their foundation. That was the only way to save himself another several decades.

 Chapter 264

    Chapter 264: 139. A Small Clue -2 (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Count Timong quickly began drawing a warp magic circle on the floor.


    ¡®Yes, I¡¯ll flee to somewhere far away. No, even further away than that!¡¯


    Simply using the warp magic alone was still not safe. If that bastard had indeed really decoded the warp runes, then it didn¡¯t take a genius to realise that he¡¯d chase Timong down even after using the warp itself.


    That meant that Timong had to start running on foot the moment he successfully warped somewhere.


    ¡®Dammit, dammit! And the end goal was right in front of my nose, too!¡¯


    He finished drawing the magic circle, then injected his demonic energy into it.


    For a moment there, the magic seemed to be activating, but then, the demonic energy was suddenly expelled from the circle.


    ¡°What the¡­?!¡±


    That had to be warp interference magic of some kind!


    ¡®Oh, no! He even brought along a Magician capable of disrupting warp magic?!¡¯


    Just how thoroughly did the other party prepare for today?!


    Count Timong clenched his teeth.


    His escape route of using the warp magic had been blocked off now, meaning he had to physically escape from here!


    He picked up his bag and hurriedly dashed towards the balcony.


    But when he peered over the railing, he was quickly reminded that this place was at the top of the ice castle, probably around 120 metres off the ground.


    The winds blowing here were bone-chilling, and snow fell constantly.


    Count Timong tightly grasped the railing as cold sweat trickled down his body.


    ¡°¡­Would I be unscathed if I jumped down from here?¡±


    Even with the excellent regenerative ability of a vampire, that idea seemed too dangerous to try. Besides, Timong wasn¡¯t even a combat-type vampire, was he?


    ¡®No, wait! Now isn¡¯t the time to hesitate like this!¡¯


    He grit his teeth, then climbed onto the railing.


    But then¡­ BANG-!


    The loud noise of air exploding suddenly echoed out.


    Count Timong reflexively turned his head, and at the same time, something flew towards him, scything viciously through the air.


    The ¡®blade of wind¡¯ cleanly severed his leg.


    ¡°Huh¡­?¡±


    He lost his balance.


    His bag clattered against the railing and fell towards the bottom of the ice castle. Count Timong¡¯s body also fell, but his destination was inside the balcony, instead.


    Something rapidly approached him, then grabbed the vampire¡¯s head with great strength. The huge hand belonged to a man around two and half metres tall, who was radiating bright light from his whole body.


    ¡®¡­A berserker?¡¯


    Kasim Derian brutally slammed Count Timong¡¯s head on the floor.


    Ka-boom-! The balcony¡¯s floor began crumbling. It tilted to the side rather precariously.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk?!¡± Count Timong hurriedly shifted his gaze.


    What the hell was this? A dead man? Or was he alive?


    ¡®N-no, a holy undead¡­? Ha, hahah! To think that I¡¯d get to witness one up close!¡¯


    The corners of the vampire¡¯s lips curled up automatically. Despite his current situation, his inquisitive mind was going out of control.


    Even though his head was about to be shattered into bits, he was still a true Alchemist right down to his soul, and the moment he saw a holy undead, his whole being rapidly filled up with genuine happiness.


    ¡®N-no, wait! Now really isn¡¯t the time to be like this!¡¯


    Yes, he must escape from here, now! His calling in life was to perfect the inter-dimensional warp gate!


    Count Timong slammed his palm down on the balcony¡¯s floor. His five lengthy fingers began darting about in a bizarre fashion, shaving away the floor and drawing a new magic circle.


    The circle would bring forth a magic powerful enough to blow away this berserker knight.


    But just before Timong could activate it¡­ Crunch-!


    A holy bullet flew in and blew apart Count Timong¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Uwahk?!¡± The Vampire¡¯s eyes rolled back to reveal their whites.


    A Lich wearing a lengthy robe, Nasus, was standing over yonder, aiming with a musket.


    ¡®A musket¡¯s power is this strong?!¡¯


    Even when he was subjected to intense pain, an enraptured expression filled Count Timong¡¯s face. Impossible miracles were taking place right before his eyes, after all!


    This would be the first time in the past three years, ever since he succeeded in opening the warp gate, that he felt as elated as this.


    ¡°So, you are Count Timong.¡±


    He hurriedly shifted his gaze around.


    A boy walked past Nasus the Lich and stepped onto the balcony.


    Kasim Derian moved next; he lifted up Count Timong¡¯s head, and dangled the vampire over the balcony¡¯s railing.


    The vampire was now dangling freely in the empty air, and he got the full view of what was below the balcony itself.


    In the far-off distance was the huge pit where the giant was currently sealed away, while directly below him was nothing but frozen ground.


    If he was dropped from here, there was some chance of surviving the fall.


    Count Timong stared at Allen and smirked insidiously. ¡°¡­Oh, are you planning to drop me from here, human?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll probably survive the fall anyway, so I won¡¯t do that, vampire.¡±


    Allen thrust his hand out, and pierced right through Count Timong¡¯s back.


    ¡°Wuuuu-wwwuk?!¡±


    Allen¡¯s fingers tore through the Vampire¡¯s hide and even crushed the Vampire¡¯s spine. He then grasped the Vampire¡¯s heart.


    ¡°However, you¡¯ll definitely die if you fell from here after your body¡¯s been purified.¡±


    Allen drove his divinity into his hand.


    ¡°U-uwaaaaahk!¡± Count Timong¡¯s internal organs began burning away. Even his skin was melting now.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to ask you some questions.¡±


    Allen pulled out a book with his free hand and showed it to Count Timong.


    ¡°This novel, where did you find it?¡±


    The vampire, clearly suffering from the intense pain of its body burning away, barely managed to shift his gaze.


    He stared at the book currently held in Allen¡¯s hand, the one with yet-to-be-decoded symbols printed on its pages.


    Not only had the vampires failed to figure out what kind of material was used to create such a book, they hadn¡¯t even decoded the contents of the book itself yet, either.


    However, that book was also a reminder, an end product, of Count Timong¡¯s very first successful warp gate attempt. As a matter of fact, it was one of the items that the Vampire Count treasured the most.


    Timong guffawed to himself. ¡®Ah, I see. So, it was this bastard.¡¯


    He stared at Allen and clicked his tongue. ¡®This bastard was the one who decoded my warp circle. That must be the reason why¡­ why he wanted to know more about this unidentifiable book.¡¯


    Well, its pages and bindings were made of high-quality materials that this world couldn¡¯t possibly have produced, after all.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. How should I know?!¡±


    Timong believed that only him being able to open the inter-dimensional warp gate, and no one else, was more than enough already.


    There was no bloody way that he¡¯d tell the truth to this human bastard!


    Allen drove divinity into his hand once more.


    Count Timong vomited out a mouthful of blood. But the puked-out blood turned into ashes and dissipated almost instantly.


    He moaned in pain, but laughter followed soon after. ¡°Ahaha! Torture me all you want. You think the firm belief that I held onto for over a thousand years will crumble down that easily?¡±


    Timong was the first one to open up the dimensional doorway in the modern era. He was far too absorbed in the sense of superiority, born from knowing that he was one step ahead of every other Alchemist out there!


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re dying of curiosity now.¡±


    Count Timong glared at Allen.


    ¡®Yes, you must be feeling quite anxious now.


    ¡®That book is an undeniable proof that the dimensional transfer is indeed possible!


    ¡®Achieving that is the ultimate aim of all Alchemists, after all!¡¯


    ¡°I shall never tell you how that novel ended up arriving in this world! You hear me? I shall never¡­.¡±


    Count Timong¡¯s passionate roaring petered out as his eyes grew larger and larger. A sudden chill swept across what remained of his body next.


    His brain had begun processing every single word that Allen had spoken so far.


    Trickles of cold sweat broke out on Count Timong¡¯s skin as he asked the human, ¡°¡­How do you know that book is a novel?¡±


    It was written in unknown letters.


    Of course Timong had tried to translate the book, but he hadn¡¯t made any headway during the past three years.


    Without a doubt, he was looking at a concise alphabet system, with clear repeating patterns. However, they also seemed far too simplistic as well, so in the end, he determined that these letters were symbols of some kind.


    But that didn¡¯t mean he could figure out whether this book was a textbook on theology, some sorts of analysis on culture, a dissertation, a novel, or even a collection of art.


    Yet this boy in front of his eyes had already determined that this book was a novel. Even though he must¡¯ve seen it for the first time today!


    ¡°¡­You. What¡¯s your real identity?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ what? What are you¡­?!¡± Count Timong began flailing his only remaining arm. He reached out and grabbed Allen¡¯s shoulder, before crying out in a desperately pleading voice, ¡°Tell me! I wish to know what that thing is!¡±


    He had already thrown away his pride of a vampire. He simply had to ask right now.


    Ask for the clue. The clue that would lead him towards his dream, his wish!


    ¡°Please, tell me! The other dimension, y-you know about it, don¡¯t you? What kind of a place is the other dimension?! What kind of¡­!¡±


    ¡°If you answer me, I¡¯ll tell you.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, I¡¯ll tell you anything. Everything!¡±


    Count Timong became excited beyond words.


    He had finally found his clue.


    His years as a human being was seventy. Then as a Vampire, one thousand and two hundred years or so.


    His hope, his ardent wish, had been burning in his heart for the past one thousand, two hundred and seventy years in total.


    And this boy before his eyes held the answer to his everything!


    Of course he¡¯d lose his rationale in an instant.


    ¡°On July 32nd!¡±


    Allen flinched a little as his brows shot up high. That date was when he came to possess this body in this world.


    Count Timong spoke of the things buried in his mind, ¡°For the first time ever, I managed to bore through the space. I managed to open a warp gate that connected to another world. Another world that¡¯s not Purgatory, not the Spirit Realm, and also not the Titan Realm!¡±


    Count Timong recalled the events of that day.


    All sorts of experiments on warp magic were underway on that day as well. In the middle of one of the experiments, the dimensional gate abruptly opened up. It all happened without any warning.


    It wasn¡¯t as if the vampires used a powerful energy source, nor did they offer up a whole bunch of sacrifices, either.


    It was just a regular warp magic circle, yet an interdimensional warp gate capable of breaking through the space-time continuum had suddenly opened up.


    No one could tell whether this was a coincidence or an inevitability. Actually, one could say that it was far closer to being a divine miracle, instead.


    The warp gate sucked something in, then spat something else out.


    ¡°A piece of unidentifiable metal, burnt beyond recognition, with some strange wires!¡±


    Mixed among the debris was the novel called [A Story of a Ring].


    Most of what ended up on this side was too big and they got broken apart, but this one book alone had arrived completely intact. It had passed through the narrow gap between the dimensions somehow.


    ¡°And finally, one soul, too!¡±


    Read latest Chapters at WuxiaWorld.Site Only


    Allen¡¯s eyes opened wider.


    ¡°A soul that didn¡¯t come from the purgatory, but from another world, instead! We stored away all the unidentified objects, but for the soul itself¡­¡±


    That was it.


    That soul was none other than¡­


    ¡°It got deflected away and disappeared somewhere! Either it¡¯s still wandering around without a place to stay, or was extinguished by now.¡±


    ¡­Allen himself.


    < 139. A Small Clue -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 265 - : 140. A Protective Shield -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    I had finally learned the truth of how I got to this world. However, something still didn¡¯t feel right to me.


    Before the warp gate activated, I felt the sensation of my whole body burning away. I was trapped inside the VR capsule and eventually met my demise in the other world.


    The capsule burned down, the warp was activated, and I got sucked inside. The sensation back then was kinda like someone or something was sucking me inside.


    That sensation felt vaguely different from the ¡®normal¡¯ warp magic I¡¯ve experienced so far.


    I thought back to the warp gate connected to Purgatory back in Aihrance. More specifically, the grim reapers trying to invade this world via the warp gate, and the black hands that had stopped them from doing so.


    Back then, those grim reapers were trying hard to cross the dimensions, only for the black hands to block their attempts and pull the undead back inside.


    Without a doubt, there was something in this warp magic.


    ¡°The black hands inside the warp tunnel. What could those things be¡­?¡±


    ¡°Hands? W-what are you even talking about?¡±


    I was only muttering to myself, but Count Timong displayed a very sharp reaction to what I had said. Even though he was currently suffering from a lot of pain, he still formed a puzzled expression. But his whole face stiffened up shortly afterwards.


    Then, pure astonishment took over his expression as his eyebrows shot up high. ¡°Y-y-you bastard, have you really seen the Mediators?! J-just where? Could it be, during the warp itself?!¡±


    ¡°Mediators?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! They are the ones who maintain the balance of the world!¡±


    Of course I had no idea what Count Timong was even talking about.


    Just before I opened my mouth again, I looked over the balcony and spotted Ronia¡¯s army in the distance. They were felling the undead scattered around this place one by one, while steadily marching towards the ice castle.


    I looked up toward the sky. The sun was setting over the horizon, and night was about to visit us.


    After tonight, it¡¯d be December 25th. The Tide of Death would be flooding over us. When that happened, all the zombies scattered around this place would possess an even greater level of strength.


    ¡°¡­Although I still have a lot of questions to ask you, we¡¯re running out of time, so let¡¯s wrap this up, shall we?¡±


    I had found out what I wanted to learn, anyway. This Count Timong was no longer useful to me.


    No, hang on a sec. This guy was way too dangerous to be left alone, wasn¡¯t he?


    ¡°I, I told you everything you wanted to know. Now, tell me! Tell me how you know about the object from another dimension! C-could it be that you had a glimpse at this other dimension?¡±


    Count Timong was clearly in a highly agitated state.


    What Hans told me was right. The ultimate goal of all Alchemists was the warp gate; their dream, and even their life-long wish.


    I snickered and stared at Count Timong.


    My remaining doubts and concerns would be resolved for sure if I used all the data collected from this place, with Hans helping me decode it.


    I drove in more divinity into Count Timong¡¯s heart. It exploded, and the vampire¡¯s whole body began melting down promptly.


    I leaned in closer and whispered in his ear, ¡°You are no longer useful to me.¡±


    Count Timong¡¯s eyes shot open wider even as incredible pain came over him.


    ¡°I have nothing else to say to you. Still, thanks for your earnest replies, vampire.¡±


    Timong¡¯s face began twitching in indignation. His expression distorted to an indescribable degree from his rage. ¡°Y-you bastard-!¡±


    I pulled my hand out from his melting body.


    As expected of a Progenitor vampire; his head was still intact, so despite his heart being shattered, he was still capable of moving around.


    But, it didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°Throw him away.¡±


    Even if he was a Vampire, he¡¯d no doubt die if his head hit the ground first and exploded.


    Kasim tossed Count Timong over the balcony. And just in case something happened, I had Nasus take aim with his musket as well.


    ¡°You punk-! How dare you lie to me! I, I shall never forgive you! I shall have my vengeance!¡±


    Count Timong¡¯s tragic screams followed him. His voice was stained in resentment and hatred.


    To put an end to it, Nasus began breathing into the musket next.


    Too bad for the vampire, he wasn¡¯t going to get a chance to get back at me. I mean, a dead vampire wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything, anyway.


    I turned around and tried to step away from the balcony and into the interior of the castle, but then¡­


    THUD-!


    My steps came to a stuttering halt, leaving me frozen on the spot. A thick stench of demonic energy wafted in and pricked my nose.


    I turned my head and slowly walked up to the edge of the balcony before grabbing onto the railing.


    THUD-!


    The frozen ground below could be seen splitting apart like a spider¡¯s web.


    There was a massive open pit in the plaza of the ice castle below the balcony. Stakes and steel chains were arranged to resemble runes, forming a powerful barrier of some sort down there.


    What the heck is that?


    ¡°¡­A sealing barrier?¡±


    Snap-!


    The chains were breaking loose.


    My whole body froze up instantly. The stench of demonic energy previously wafting out lazily suddenly transformed into a typhoon and slammed into me.


    A ridiculously massive demonic energy pool was breaking out of the sealing barrier. A massive hand suddenly emerged from the pit.


    What the hell? What kind of a hand could be that big?


    The emerging arm¡¯s muscles seemed wet and soggy, while bits of bedrock were dotted around the arm itself.


    The huge hand snatched up Count Timong¡¯s head and the remaining part of his melting body, which meant Nasus was unable to hit the Vampire with his holy bullet.


    -Kwuoh-ooooooooooh¡­!


    An unidentifiable yet still monstrous roar exploded out from the pit.


    Something was crawling out from there while destroying the earth. Its massive right hand was holding onto Count Timong¡¯s head, while its left slammed down on the ground outside the pit.


    A head made out of sticky, sloshy mud then emerged from the pit. Its torso followed next, then its legs landed with a loud bang on the ground.


    It was like I was staring at a land mass getting up and walking around. That¡¯s how imposing this creature was.


    The huge figure was at least eighteen metres tall, even at a casual glance. This giant was almost comparable to the archangel Metatron in its sheer size alone.


    Its muscles and flesh were made out of mud, yet it was putting on pieces of bedrock around itself like some kind of armour.


    Its bent back straightened up, and a thick dust cloud was spat out from its mouth, as if it was breathing out.


    ¡°Bloody hell-! My masterpiece is¡­ Even though it¡¯s this close to completing its maturing process!¡± Count Timong, writhing on the palm of the mud giant, cried out. ¡°But, it doesn¡¯t matter! You, you Holy King! When this mud giant devours you, it¡¯ll come to possess an even greater level of power!¡±


    Even though his lungs and the vocal cords capable of producing his voice were all gone now, Count Timong¡¯s remaining head still continued to mutter like a madman.


    ¡°Oh, my Mist Calf, kill that Holy King. Devour that stinking bastard! I shall witness the other dimension with my own two ey¡­?!¡±


    Count Timong¡¯s face gradually hardened as he spoke. That¡¯s because the giant palm he was on was heading directly towards the mud giant¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Huh?! W-wait¡­!¡±


    The large mouth split open with a loud, wet ripping sound.


    A strand of mud dripped out of the split-open mouth as if that was the creature¡¯s drool. As for its teeth, they were ultra-sharp stones. And while exhaling a breath laden with dust¡­


    ¡°D-don¡¯t eat me-! I¡¯m your master, you fool¡­!¡±


    ¡­the giant creature tossed Count Timong inside its mouth.


    The vampire¡¯s head was too small to even chew, so the mud giant just swallowed it down.


    The giant, referred to as Mist Calf by the vampire before his demise, began scanning its surroundings. Its eyes soon landed on the zombies wandering around in the ice castle¡¯s plaza.


    The giant¡¯s body seemed to writhe, then the parts of its muscles made up of mud suddenly shot out like sticky strands of spider web.


    Zombies found everywhere were suddenly impaled by spikes of mud. They were then dragged towards the giant. The mud rapidly crushed and broke the zombies down and absorbed them.


    ¡®What the hell? What were the vampires even sealing down there?!¡¯


    It was like watching a piece of land shift around whenever Mist Calf took a step forward. It slowly raised its head and stared at me.


    While resembling a wild beast gone mad from its hunger, the creature glared at me with eyes made out of rocks.


    -You look like a fine meal.-


    The damn thing even said something. This guy, it even had an ego.


    The corners of the mud giant¡¯s lips curled upwards.


    The mud-like muscles forming the giant¡¯s arms suddenly expanded as it clenched both of its fists tightly. It then raised its arms up high, as if it was planning to do something crazy.


    ¡°That¡¯s gonna be dangerous¡­¡±


    I instinctively retreated away from the railing.


    ¡°Kasim! Nasus!¡±


    Kasim raised his greatsword higher, while Nasus took aim with his musket.


    The blades of winds cut into Mist Calf¡¯s head while the holy bullet penetrated straight into the giant¡¯s forehead. But the giant head only showed a lukewarm reaction and simply absorbed all the impact force, instead.


    -Come crumbling down, now!-


    Mist Calf slammed down with both of its hands.


    With the giant in the centre, the ground cracked and split apart like a spider web spreading out. In the blink of an eye, large boulders jutted out violently from the fissures in the ground.


    The rising rocks destroyed the fortress walls, and even proceeded to shatter the ice castle¡¯s foundation.


    BANG-!


    The layers of ice covering the ice castle tumbled down. Countless cracks ran up the walls and eventually, the imposing castle lost its equilibrium and began crumbling.


    I staggered precariously and hurriedly grabbed onto the railing.


    ¡°¡­Crazy son of a b*tch!¡±


    I looked down at the ground from the top of this ice castle now falling down into pieces.


    The terrain had been altered.


    The frozen wasteland was now surrounded by large boulders, while choking dust clouds had enveloped the land as far as eyes could see.


    This giant was altering Mother Nature herself. Muscles around my eyes began twitching at this sight.


    There was one saving grace here, though.


    ¡°What an idiot.¡±


    And that would be this creature not being all that bright in its head.


    The ice castle was about 120 metres high. The tall structure was tilting on its side, gradually crashing down to earth, right above Mist Calf itself.


    The falling surface of the ice castle began crushing down on the mud giant next. As expected, its huge body was flattened under the structure.


    By now it was far too late for me to summon the Bone Wyvern. Kasim quickly wrapped his arms around me while Nasus cast a protective barrier magic around us.


    -Master, prepare for a hard impact,- Nasus warned me, and I sucked in a deep breath before locking my gaze ahead.


    The top of the ice castle was falling towards the ground at a frightening rate now.


    I squeezed my eyes shut at the sight.

 Chapter 266 - : 140. A Protective Shield -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    ¡°Push them back! Other than their large numbers, they are nothing more than measly zombies!¡±


    Ronia¡¯s armed forces made their move.


    Count Jenald analysed the unfolding situation while continuously commanding them.


    The scattered zombies had discovered the army of the living and had begun congregating here. The convicts raised their shields and got into a tight formation, then proceeded to systematically kill off the incoming zombies.


    These undead didn¡¯t know any combat skills, nor did they boast some form of armament. So, subduing them should not pose much problem.


    Except that¡­ ¡°There are a lot more than I thought.¡±


    The zombies spread throughout the Land of the Dead Spirits were far too numerous to even count. Which was unsurprising, since these undead had come from all corners of the continent.


    As a result, Ronia¡¯s troops had fallen behind schedule, much more so then what had been initially planned.


    Count Jenald looked up at the sky.


    The amber lights of the setting sun had dyed the heavens, and the night was steadily closing in.


    ¡®What should we do now?¡¯


    In only a few hours it would be the twenty-fifth of December. Ronia¡¯s convict soldiers would be in grave danger when the Tide of Death arrived in full force.


    As their commander, it was Jenald¡¯s duty to think about the well-being of his subordinates, but His Highness was literally right in front of their noses, right over there in the ice castle.


    They just couldn¡¯t abandon him, either!


    ¡°What a relief that we haven¡¯t spotted any vampires trying to run away from there.¡±


    Indeed, they hadn¡¯t discovered any vampires fleeing from the ice castle so far. If some had tried, then the human troops wouldn¡¯t have a way to capture them, thanks to all these zombies blocking the way.


    ¡°We shall march forward a little faster!¡±


    Jenald issued a new command, and the convicts began roaring out in unison, ¡°Advance! Forward!¡±


    ¡°For the glory of His Majesty the Holy King-!¡± The shield soldiers let out a spirited roar and shoved aside all the zombies blocking their path. Spears came flying in from behind them to accurately stab the undead¡¯s heads.


    Alice¡¯s job was to provide support to the convict soldiers pushing themselves beyond their normal limits. She was currently riding on an altar being pulled along by a two-horse carriage.


    She was on her knees and praying ardently while staring at the symbol of the Theocratic Empire, which roughly resembled a Chinese symbol for ¡®wood¡¯.


    The beautiful melodies of a sacred hymn continued to drift from her lips. Her Spirit Speech contained divinity, and invigorated and strengthened the soldiers.


    ¡°This is far more amazing than I thought. If someone told me that I was witnessing the actual Theocratic Empire¡¯s army in action, then I¡¯d have believed that person, that¡¯s for sure. Not only that, these folks seem to be extremely devoted to His Highness, as well.¡±


    Belrog was riding on one of the carriages, and spoke of his honest impressions so far to Charlotte, who was escorting him.


    She was riding on her Unira, while her new shield was slung over her back diagonally.


    The thing was, her mount Unira seemed to be staggering somewhat. Even though it was a descendent of the legendary Unicorn, Belrog had this sneaking suspicion that the poor creature might need quite a bit of time to get used to the shield¡¯s great weight.


    The dwarf blacksmith could only break out in a wry grin, while glancing at Unira struggling to cope with all the extra weight.


    ¡°They have all received His Highness¡¯s grace. This is an obvious result.¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s expression didn¡¯t even change a little while she said that. However, at least her voice indicated how buoyant her mood was at the moment.


    She probably felt happy that her master was being praised here. Belrog smiled faintly at the thought and carried on.


    ¡°What the hell is that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a giant! A freaking giant! B-but, what is up with that size?!¡±


    The convicts grew agitated and pointed at the ice castle.


    ¡°¡­A J?tunn?¡± the gravekeeper travelling with Sir Harman, Shuppel, dazedly muttered to himself.


    Charlotte flinched and quickly shifted her gaze over to the ice castle. She could see a huge mud giant beyond the tall castle walls.


    Belrog also witnessed the towering creature and his expression hardened in an instant.


    ¡°Oh my gods¡­ Isn¡¯t that Mist Calf?!¡±


    How was an ancient J?tunn even standing over there¡­?!


    A legendary creature described in the pages of the ancient records was standing tall before their very eyes!


    That mud giant was supposedly created by one of the countless kings of the giants: the king ruling over ice, the king ruling over fire, the king ruling over earth, etc.


    That creature was nature itself, capable of controlling the Element of Earth. It was a rather different existence from the Elemental spirits, but somewhat similar at the same time.


    That unbelievable existence was standing near the ice castle right now!


    ¡°Your Highness¡­?¡± Charlotte muttered in stupefaction, just as the ice castle suddenly began collapsing. Her expression sharpened considerably in an instant.


    She pulled out the shield on her back and equipped it on her left hand. While holding the reins tightly with her right hand, she pressed her forehead to Unira¡¯s neck and whispered quietly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I know it¡¯s difficult, but¡­ Please, run for me.¡±


    Unira reared up and neighed loudly in response to her request.


    Its hooves slammed down hard on the frozen terrain, and the horse accelerated. It easily leapt over the close formation the convict soldiers had been maintaining diligently.


    ¡°Lady Paladin?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead first. His Highness is in danger!¡± She roared out as she and her mount utterly trampled and shield-bashed any zombies in their way.


    Convicts watching her receding back froze in their spots.


    ¡°¡­His Highness is in danger?¡±


    ¡°Wait, Lord Saint is in danger, you say?!¡±


    Their words spread out to everyone else at a breakneck speed.


    ¡®Lord Saint is in danger.¡¯


    ¡®The one blessed by Goddess Gaia is in danger!¡¯


    The more those words got engraved in their heads, the greater their agitation became.


    The same applied to Count Jenald, as well.


    ¡°What are you all doing?!¡± The convicts turned their heads to stare at their commander.


    The mounted Count Jenald yanked his sword out.


    With a distorted expression, he shouted loudly enough for the veins in his throat to bulge visibly, ¡°The Lord Saint is waiting for our arrival! Are you still going to stand around in a daze like this?!¡±


    The convicts all snapped their heads back forward.


    Weren¡¯t they issued with an important mission, to lay siege to that ice castle? Yet these measly zombies were hindering their path!


    Convicts began shooting enraged glares at the undead.


    ¡°We are all blessed believers.¡±


    They began marching forward again, one step at a time. Their emotions were surging higher and higher.


    They shoved the zombies aside with their shields, and used their spears and swords to cut down any undead before them.


    The formation gradually broke down. Even if a zombie began biting into their fellow convicts, they ignored it and continued to swing their weapons.


    ¡°We are all believers in the Lord Saint, Allen Olfolse!¡±


    They clenched their teeth and glared at the collapsed ice castle with their bloodshot eyes.


    ¡°We shall serve him, and we shall protect him-!¡±


    A loud roar that contained a trace of madness exploded forth from the believers and reverberated throughout the land.


    Their marching speed increased, and they gradually closed the distance to the ice castle.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    ¡°Give me a freaking break.¡±


    I regained consciousness within the debris of the ice castle.


    The icy frost had turned into a dense fog. It was so cold here that my whole body was shivering away uncontrollably.


    After successfully creating the magic barrier, Nasus was crushed under the large debris of ice and extinguished from the world. As for Kasim, he was still holding onto me, but several ice shards had penetrated his back and he was currently lying on his side, unmoving.


    I figured that it¡¯d be quite some time before I could summon them again.


    I staggered unsteadily while getting back up. I touched my head and discovered trickles of blood there.


    ¡®So dizzy¡­¡¯


    It could¡¯ve been really bad if I hadn¡¯t Summoned Nasus and Kasim ahead of time. Still, what a relief it was.


    Ronia¡¯s army had arrived, so all that was left to do now was to go home and¡­


    BOOM-!


    A chill ran down my spine.


    BOOOOOM-!


    The debris of the ice castle bucked and tumbled all around me.


    Goosebumps broke out all over my skin and I urgently turned my head in the direction of the commotion.


    Rumble, tumble, craaaash-!


    The mud giant was lifting its body up from under the ruins of the ice castle. It stood within the dense dust spreading out and stared down at me.


    Even after getting crushed flat by an ice castle at least 120 metres tall, this guy walked away without a scratch. It just shook its head around a bit, and some mud drooped out of its open mouth, that¡¯s all.


    After seeing that reaction, I understood why it chose to destroy the ice castle despite standing right next to it. To this monster called Mist Calf, such an impact was nothing more than some kid¡¯s play.


    -I won¡¯t let you go!- Its bassy, scratchy and cracked voice reverberated all around me, as the creature reached out with its massive hand.


    However, my situational awareness had been dulled by the injury to my head.


    Bloody hell¡­?!


    Mud shot out from Mist Calf¡¯s palm. It was the same ¡®technique¡¯ it used to impale the zombies to drag them in and absorb them.


    Dozens of mud spikes extended like snakes as they flew towards me. I tried to retreat, but couldn¡¯t maintain my balance and lost my footing, instead.


    My leg muscles didn¡¯t seem to have any strength left, and it was really hard to dodge.


    ¡®But I need to stop this somehow!¡¯


    Even as the dizzy spell took over me, I still summoned my undead. They stood in front of me to act as protective shields, but the mud spikes easily shattered through all of them, as if they weren¡¯t even there in the first place.


    The mud spike flew in at a frightening speed in order to impale me.


    ¡®Dammit-!¡¯


    At this rate, I wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid a grievous injury.


    Right at that moment, I heard the sounds of a horse¡¯s hooves. Something or someone was leaping down, followed by urgent panting.


    Just as I turned my head towards those sounds, a white cape flapped past my eyes.


    That something or someone grabbed me tightly next. At the same time, a large shadow stood before us.


    It belonged to a shield.


    BANG-!


    The mud spike was deflected away.


    The large shield trembled once. I turned my head and saw the girl embracing my shoulders.


    Her silver hair and crimson eyes, as cold as ice, yet her beauty was as ethereal as her demeanour.


    ¡°Charlotte?¡±


    She was holding me tightly.


    < 140. A Protective Shield -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 267 - 141. A Protective Shield -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Loud shockwaves came from the white shield.


    I stared at Charlotte.


    It must¡¯ve been difficult for her, because she was gritting her teeth while trying hard to maintain the shield¡¯s balance.


    She had broken past the physical limitations of a human being and attained a transcendental body. Even then, she was still not quite strong enough to block off just one small spike from the mud giant.


    ¡°Euh-euhk¡­¡± A quiet little moan escaped her lips.


    Her metal armour began creaking noisily, and on top of that, I thought I could even hear faint cracking noises coming from the muscles and bones in her arms.


    ¡°Charlotte!¡± I cried out to her, and she reacted to my call. But that was all she could do.


    If this kept up, then she wouldn¡¯t last for long. In that case¡­


    ¡®¡­Cut that thing down!¡¯


    It felt like her thoughts got transmitted to me somehow.


    I placed my hand on her shoulder and drove my divinity in to heal her body. At the same time, Charlotte pulled back the shield gripped in her left hand as if she was yanking it away.


    Her left hand was viciously knocked to the right side with a frightening amount of force. It served as a stark reminder of how powerful the mud spike had been.


    Charlotte rapidly yanked her sword out with her right hand and sliced the incoming spike apart.


    ¡°Your Highness, you must escape¡­!¡± Charlotte cried out urgently.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s gonna be way too difficult.¡± While replying to her, I glared at the mud giant called Mist Calf.


    The massive creature was frowning rather deeply. I figured that that thing¡¯s pride was wounded after its attack didn¡¯t work on us.


    -You mere insects dare to?-


    Mist Calf raised its torso up completely. It clenched its super-large fist and cocked its torso back.


    -You dare to oppose me, the one personally created by the king of the giants?!-


    The creature¡¯s stone eyes were glaring murderously at us. From the look of things, it seemed to be planning to pummel us to death with its fist.


    Even Charlotte wouldn¡¯t be able to defend against that!


    ¡°¡­I shall try to buy you time, Your Highness.¡±


    Wait, what?


    She kicked the ground. Her metal boots dug deep into the ground and her body flew up like a tightly-wound spring being released.


    She was now airborne. Mist Calf¡¯s glare turned to lock on her, instead.


    The incoming fist changed direction and flew towards her instead, and I quickly summoned Amon¡¯s skull.


    Charlotte faced the giant¡¯s fist flying in. Her eyes narrowed to slits, and both her body and sword spun around in the air.


    Her divine sword deflected the fist covered in bedrock, and using the force behind the attack, she jumped up even higher. Her figure staggered precariously, but still managed to evade the fist by a gap narrower than a hair¡¯s breadth.


    Seeing how she was wobbling like that, she must¡¯ve suffered some serious damage just now. She then tried to thrust her sword into the back of the fist in order to injure the creature, but she only managed to inflict a little knick.


    ¡®It¡¯s just too big.¡¯


    1


    Her thoughts were transmitted to me once more.


    While watching her struggle, I put on the mountain goat¡¯s skull.


    ¡°I am the legion.¡±


    Mist Calf¡¯s other hand slammed down on its own back of the hand, as if he was trying to squash an annoying bug flat. Charlotte rapidly dodged it, moving from the giant¡¯s hand to its wrist. She was still wobbling from the force of the impact, however.


    It all looked far too dangerous.


    ¡°And I am¡­¡±


    When I got to that part of the activation phrase, Mist Calf finally caught onto what I was doing.


    The giant shifted its eyes in my direction, and yet another mud spike fired out from its body.


    ¡°¡­Gaia¡¯s inheritor.¡±


    1


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Charlotte rapidly dashed forward, even as she snuck a glance behind her.


    If she had been one step too late, then she would¡¯ve lost her life, crushed under the giant¡¯s palm. She swallowed back her dry saliva.


    ¡®No, there¡¯s no reason to be scared,¡¯ she calmed herself down.


    She took complete control over her emotions, then gripped her sword and shield tightly.


    It was right at that moment that she heard a loud gunshot. She quickly shifted her gaze down to the ground below.


    She spotted Allen down there, currently kitted out in Amon¡¯s skull and the bone armour.


    ¡®¡­Your Highness?¡¯


    He was even holding Amon¡¯s staff in his right hand, while his left held Amon¡¯s grimoire.


    Greyish smoke wafted out from the muzzles of twelve muskets held in the bone hands sprouting from his back.


    The muskets rose up and unleashed their loads on the giant¡¯s arm.


    The holy bullets travelled through the air and collided with the giant¡¯s ¡®flesh¡¯. The bedrock surrounding the arm exploded, and was shoved back.


    What happened next was that even the mud underneath blew apart and the bits glooped down like thick viscous liquid. An open wound gaped there now.


    Charlotte¡¯s eyes took in that sight, and were suddenly filled with the light of understanding.


    It¡¯d be hard to damage the rocky skin, but that wasn¡¯t necessarily true for the mud underneath!


    ¡°Fuu-heuph¡­!¡± Charlotte sucked in a deep breath. She relaxed her muscles and got into her stance. She then stabbed her divine sword into the mud below before seemingly letting it hang loose.


    She then covered the front of her body with the shield in her left hand.


    ¡®Forward¡­!¡¯


    Her next move was to dash along the giant¡¯s arm.


    Her sword gripped ¡®loosely¡¯ behind her followed along and began splitting the mud apart. As she dashed forward, mud spewed out like splattering blood from the massive gap she was slicing open.


    -Ku-oooooooooh!!!- Mist Calf howled out monstrously, and tried to smack her away with its other hand, but Allen provided timely fire support whenever that happened.


    ¡®Forward¡­!¡¯


    Spikes shot out from the mud and flew out viciously, trying to impale her. She held her shield at an angle to either deflect them away, or yanked the sword out from the mud to slice apart the incoming spikes.


    ¡®Go beyond, and¡­!¡¯ She dashed past the giant¡¯s arm and reached its shoulder before leaping up with all her power.


    1


    The shield covering her body was slung to her back, and she raised her sword high.


    The giant¡¯s face was making a freaked-out expression, and it completely filled her view.


    The creature¡¯s eyes seemed to be shaking, displaying how stunned it was. Its previous arrogant demeanour was nowhere to be found. Right now it was very flustered and feeling the rare and heady sensation of fear.


    This giant was filled with nothing but hot air, it seemed!


    And that¡¯s why¡­


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡­it would lose to humans today!


    Charlotte roared out a battle cry. Her sword, now one with the pure-white aura of divinity, flew in directly at the mud giant¡¯s eyeball.


    1


    CLANG-!!!


    The tip of her blade collided with the hard surface of the eyeball. Her hand shook from the impact.


    The blade began sinking into the mud giant¡¯s eyeball, melting through its surface. Eventually, it fully impaled the eye.


    Staaaab-


    -Kuaaaaaaaaaah!-


    More mud burst out from the wound in the creature¡¯s eye. A typhoon of dust exploded out from the giant¡¯s mouth at the same time.


    ¡®I did it¡­!¡¯


    Elation filled Charlotte¡¯s face. But that only lasted for a second or two. Her eyes met the giant¡¯s remaining eye just then.


    The glare in that gigantic frowning eye was stained deeply with hatred and rage.


    Charlotte¡¯s expression froze at that sight.


    Her attack was too weak. Even if she had successfully stabbed deep into the creature¡¯s eye, her size in comparison to the mud giant meant that it¡¯d be about the same as pricking the creature with a mere needle!


    ¡°Charlotte-!¡±


    The Imperial Prince¡¯s loud cry came to her. At the same time, a huge shadow loomed right next to her position.


    When she turned her head, she saw a huge palm descending on her.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    Her eyes naturally lowered to the ground where Allen was. He was raising his head up to stare back at her.


    ¡°Your Hi-¡±


    Ka-boom!


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    Even I became momentarily dazed.


    I didn¡¯t have enough time to summon either the Skeleton King or the Bone Dragon.


    Charlotte¡¯s body was flung away, only to rapidly descend to the ground.


    I kicked the ground hard to leap up and hurriedly caught her falling body before bringing her head closer. Our bodies crashed into the cold, hard ground.


    I didn¡¯t bother with the dust kicked up by our crash landing, and instead hurriedly checked her condition first. Blood was streaming down from her head. She was still holding onto her shield and sword, but then, her hands let go and her armaments tumbled from her grip.


    She wasn¡¯t breathing.


    Son of a b*tch!


    An uncontrollable rage began taking over my rationale.


    No, hang on. I must not. If I lose my rationale now, I¡¯ll really end up losing her here.


    Don¡¯t f*cking making me laugh, goddammit! I won¡¯t let you die like this!


    3

 Chapter 268 - 141. A Protective Shield -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    I pressed my hand on her head and drove my divinity into her body, but there was no effect. A simple healing magic spell wasn¡¯t going to cut it anymore. What I needed here was Resurrection.


    Meaning, I only had five minutes or so left. Beyond that, I wouldn¡¯t be able to revive her. Not only that, the damage to her physical body was quite extensive, too.


    I heard thunderous footsteps behind me. Mist Calf was striding closer.


    ¡®I can¡¯t concentrate like this.¡¯


    Resurrection was not a skill I could easily use even if I had a huge divinity reserve. I was trying to bring a life back, so I needed a correspondingly high level of concentration to pull it off. Also, enough time was critical, too.


    At the bare minimum, I need something to stop Mist Calf for a little while¡­!


    ¡°Protect His Highness-!¡±


    Something broke through the dense curtains of rising dust.


    A huge ballista bolt used during siege battles flew in and pierced straight into Mist Calf¡¯s hardened skin of stone.


    -What is the meaning of¡­?- The giant sounded flustered again.


    ¡°Provide support fire!¡±


    ¡°Pepper that thing with siege weapons!¡±


    ¡°Archer battalions, fire at will!¡±


    Countless projectiles fired from various siege weapons flew in. A large boulder slammed into Mist Calf¡¯s face, while the ballista bolts continued to stab into the giant¡¯s chest.


    I stared at that sight, before lowering my head to see Ronia¡¯s convicts rushing closer to the mud giant within the dust fog.


    They had used various siege weapons to restrict Mist Calf¡¯s movements. As for those regular soldiers without the large calibre weapons, they got closer to the mud giant on foot and deliberately yelled out loudly to distract it.


    ¡°You stinking giant bastard!¡±


    ¡°Who the hell do you think you are?!¡±


    They fired their arrows and even threw their spears at it, but their projectiles were harmlessly deflected away by its hard stone skin.


    They were acting as bait. In order to draw the giant¡¯s attention away, they were even willing to risk their lives.


    ¡°Bloody hell, I¡¯ve never been someone this brave, you know?!¡± Shuppel cried out before throwing his spear at the giant.


    ¡°¡­Stepping into a battlefield is already an act of bravery,¡± Harman nearby replied to him before firing an arrow.


    Every time more projectiles hit Mist Calf, the giant furrowed its brow and angrily swung its hand about. Dozens of humans were sent flying in the air.


    ¡°Your Highness!¡± Count Jenald rushed to my side on his horse. ¡°Please hurry and escape from here!¡±


    I looked at him and shook my head.


    These people were trying to do the impossible. They were swept up in the madness of the moment, only to throw their lives away.


    To this mud giant, humans were nothing more than some ants.


    ¡°No, Your Highness. We are not just mere ants.¡± Count Jenald looked down at me from his horse.


    Did he read my mind or something? Or was it because of Alice¡¯s resonance affecting everyone here?


    ¡°At the very least, we should be like fire ants to that giant, my lord!¡± Even though his life was clearly in danger, Jenald had a gentle smile on his face.


    **


    Mist Calf roared out monstrously and stumbled back.


    As a giant, the amount of pain it felt from the attacks of these puny humans would have been not even worth mentioning, yet¡­


    -Y-you monsters!-


    Mist Calf was actually shuddering from fear right now. On the other hand, Ronia¡¯s convict army wasn¡¯t scared in the least.


    The giant had been suppressed by the raucous roars and fighting spirit of the convicts.


    ¡°It¡¯s exactly as the ancient records say.¡± Hans travelling among the Ronian army muttered out and made a hopeful expression. ¡°The cowardly Mist Calf!¡±


    He recalled the stories from the ancient records. Although a king of the giants had created this creature a long, long time ago, it was always seen as a failure.


    It certainly did possess a far greater strength than other giants, but¡­


    ¡°However, the mud giant was created with a heart of a mare, according to the ancient legends.¡±


    The myths spoke of how, during the construction of the mud giant, a mistake was made and the heart of a giant mare found in the titan realm was unintentionally used as the creature¡¯s heart. It made the creature surprisingly timid and a coward.


    It seemed that legend was actually true.


    ¡°Compared to how large it is, it¡¯s just an easily-scared giant, that¡¯s all!¡±


    Ronia¡¯s convicts roared out loudly, and the frightened Mist Calf flailed its arms about. Whenever that happened, the convicts retreated to create some distance and gradually lured the mud giant away.


    ¡°Over here, you bastard!¡±


    The cavalry raised lit torches and waved them around fiercely, drawing Mist Calf¡¯s attention to them.


    With that, safety for their Lord Saint had been secured.


    Allen got down on one knee and slammed the staff down on the ground. He then flipped open the pages of Amon¡¯s grimoire.


    He was planning to initiate the Resurrection skill. Also, he needed to find the quickest, surest way to defeat that mud giant.


    Summoning either, or both, the Skeleton King and the Bone Dragon would surely do the job, but it¡¯d take too long to summon them.


    ¡®Although I haven¡¯t done this before¡­¡¯


    Allen was about to use the same skill that the former version of Nasus the Lich resorted to back in Aslan in order to overwhelm him.


    ¡®The Grim Reaper transformation.¡¯


    Nasus sacrificed the lives of one thousand slaves in the Black Order¡¯s headquarters to gather enough demonic energy. But right now, Allen possessed more than enough divinity to pull this transformation off by himself.


    ¡®Also, I gotta restrict that thing.¡¯


    He might not be able to perfectly confine that creature, but it should at least be sufficient enough to stop the giant from moving anymore!


    He was planning to overlap all three skills and activate them at the same time.


    Allen¡¯s bone armour-covered hand gently wrapped Charlotte¡¯s head. ¡°Charlotte, this is my first command to you,¡± he directly commanded her.


    ¡°You must come back to me alive.¡±


    The twelve bone hands coming out of his back like six pairs of wings gently enveloped her next.


    [Aztal Rune has been activated.]


    [Ability transfer has been used.]


    [Skill, Resurrection, has been initiated.]


    [Skill, Grim Reaper Transformation, has been initiated.]


    **


    It was inside the deepest darkness imaginable. Only the still silence and nothing else existed in this space.


    Charlotte was silently floating in this place, all alone.


    Her body gradually felt heavier.


    Death. It was coming for her.


    The deep darkness acted like a swamp, and her body was sinking deeper and deeper into it. The more she sank, the fainter her memories became.


    ¡®Just what was I doing until now¡­?¡¯


    {Charlotte.}


    A voice suddenly came to her.


    It was so very familiar to her. A voice she missed so much!¡­


    {You must come back to me alive.}


    Charlotte flinched at that.


    Someone grabbed her hand and began pulling at her, as if to forcibly drag her away from the darkness of death.


    She cautiously cracked open her eyes. Her eyes took in the sight of her current surroundings.


    She was still inside the deep darkness.


    Yet, there was bright light above her, up there in the ¡®sky¡¯. Everything below her was filled with that same inky darkness.


    It was like she was inside the depths of an ocean.


    Charlotte looked at her own hand. Someone was definitely pulling her away from here.


    That someone was¡­


    ¡®¡­Your Highness?¡¯


    It was Allen.


    She tried to move her body and match that sensation of being pulled away. However, something else suddenly reached out to her from the depths of this dark ocean.


    Those things were the hands of countless dead spirits. Those things reached out and grabbed her feet.


    She flailed about with her legs. The frustration of being unable to breathe quickly overtook her.


    {Charlotte.}


    The voice was getting further away. Her body was sinking even lower, about to get buried within this darkness below.


    ¡®Let me go!¡¯


    Charlotte kicked at the hands grabbing onto her feet.


    {Charlotte!}


    She could only grit her teeth. Right at that very moment, the Aztal Rune was engraved onto her face.


    The bright golden light gushing out from the Runes drove the dead spirits away, and they released their grip on her. They tried to shield themselves from the light with their hands and retreated back into the darkness.


    Charlotte kicked at the darkness and swam towards the light above.


    His Highness told her this.


    He told her to come back to him alive.


    ¡®That¡¯s why¡­ I¡¯ll live on!¡¯


    She grit her teeth, then reached out with her hand for that bright light.


    **


    ¡®How dare these mere insects¡­?!¡¯


    Mist Calf continued to stumble around.


    Its chest was aching for a while now. Something deep within itself was writhing away uncomfortably. Rage had almost completely taken over the mud giant¡¯s mind. It inwardly swore that it would not take all these beatings lying down without doing something about them.


    Mist Calf grasped its hands together tightly.


    It got ready to deploy the same attack that it had used to bring down the ice castle earlier. That should be more than enough to kill off the majority of humans here!


    -All of you lot¡­!- Mist Calf grinned viciously at the humans below. -It¡¯s time to die!-


    But, just as it tried to slam its fists down, chains radiating with a golden light suddenly shot out from seemingly everywhere.


    They wound around Mist Calf¡¯s arms tightly and completely prevented it from moving.


    -¡­?!-


    The battlefield suddenly became deathly quiet.


    The convict soldiers roaring out loudly, and even Mist Calf howling out monstrously in fear, all clamped their mouths shut in shock.


    Their gazes immediately shifted to another location.


    The twelve wings wrapped around Allen spread open wide to reveal another person in there.


    She was a Paladin.


    Her platinum-silver hair, glistening like pure-white snow, flowed down all around her like a white robe.


    On her left hand was a huge shield, while in her right was a greatsword made purely out of divinity.


    As she radiated pure-white particles of light, her eyes slowly reopened to the world.


    < 141. A Protective Shield -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 269 - 142. A Protective Shield -3 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    A long time ago, Charlotte heard a story from Oscal the Sword King.


    He had told her, ¡°Humans cannot win against a giant.¡±


    A giant?


    Charlotte looked over at him.


    It was currently late at night, somewhere in a rural village in Humite¡¯s vicinity.


    Oscal, having acknowledged her for the first time earlier in the day, was setting up the firewood. It was around the time that he had begun teaching her her first swordsmanship technique.


    He turned his head to Charlotte and continued on from where he left off, ¡°That¡¯s right. A long time ago, I had an opportunity to fight the Necromancer King. Back then, I had to fight off countless monsters, as well as the king of all undead he had summoned.¡±


    The king of all undead boasting a gigantic body a dozen-plus metres tall. It possessed four bone hands and swung around a massive sword with them.


    Oscal had experienced several very close brushes with death at this creature¡¯s incredible power.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t win.¡± And also¡­ ¡°But I didn¡¯t lose, either.¡±


    Oscal¡¯s mission was to carve open a path so that Kelt Olfolse could fight against the Necromancer King. In order to fulfil the imperial decree given to him, he stepped forward to defend against all the attacks of the king of the undead.


    That creature not only boasted a humongous body, but its strength also surpassed a human¡¯s by an incalculable margin as well. No matter how much Oscal reinforced himself with divine strength, he just couldn¡¯t compare to that creature¡¯s overwhelming combat power.


    Humans were inherently weak. However, they still hunted monsters down.


    ¡°Even then, we of the Imperial Family still confront these frightening monsters and emerge victorious in the most overwhelming manner. Do you know why that is the case?¡±


    The reason why the Imperial Family was able to defeat both the Necromancer King and the vampires was¡­


    ¡°The diametrically opposed natures of divinity and demonic energy.¡±


    A powerful explosion would go off when divinity and demonic energy collided against each other.


    ¡°If you use that,¡± Oscal locked his gaze on Charlotte and finished explaining, ¡°You can offset any attack coming your way.¡±


    **


    The moonlight had been dyed in a crimson hue by the overflowing demonic energy.


    A bone-chillingly cold current dominated the atmosphere, and as the night deepened, yet another day drew to a close.


    And so, the date became the twenty-fifth, the date where the Tide of Death awakened by the demonic energy would rouse itself.


    Thick fog spread out all over the ground. The entire continent was about to get blanketed by demonic energy, and every undead would become stronger from it.


    This also applied to Mist Calf, who possessed demonic energy, as well.


    However¡­


    -Why? Why is this?-


    Even though the mud giant was in the centre of the Tide of Death itself, the creature could not use its full power. The chains emitting a sacred golden aura had confined it, stolen away its freedom and dulled its movements.


    All this happened only a few minutes ago.


    It was like the force of gravity applied to the mud giant had been increased dozens of times. Its body felt incredibly heavy.


    Mist Calf grew terrified at this phenomenon, which was outside its scope of understanding.


    But what it feared the most was something else. It was the existence radiating the gentle light within this world dyed in the crimson hue!


    She was merely a small Paladin.


    Even though she had been flung aside from the mud giant¡¯s attack earlier, she now stood in front of the human wearing the mountain goat¡¯s skull, all alive and well.


    That female should be less significant than an insect, yet¡­


    ¡®Why? How come¡­? Why do you possess such an aura?!¡¯


    Charlotte lowered her gaze and stared at the armaments in her current possession ¨C the metal armour she wore, and the duo of shield and sword.


    Every single one of them was engraved with the Aztal Rune, and she was even ¡®wearing¡¯ a robe manifested through nothing but pure divinity.


    A truly expansive amount of divinity was ¡®maintaining¡¯ her body right now.


    At first, the inside of her head was in a daze. But memories gradually came back to her, and she realised what must be done right now.


    She glared at Mist Calf, currently tied down by the golden-coloured chains.


    ¡®I must stop that thing!¡¯


    Stopping the mud giant before her eyes, and protecting the others around her. Those were the duties she must carry out!


    She kicked the ground hard. Her figure shot forward like a bullet, and a loud sonic boom belatedly exploded in the air behind her.


    Mist Calf felt threatened as Charlotte rapidly closed the distance.


    -A pathetic little sealing attempt like this¡­!-


    The mud giant¡¯s arms creaked noisily. Smoke poured out from the gaps of the golden chains of light.


    It tried to forcibly extricate itself, causing various injuries to appear on its body. However, it could still rip these chains off if it really tried.


    Eventually, the chains were ripped apart. Cracks formed on the rocky skin of the giant¡¯s body, but their hardness didn¡¯t seem to have changed.


    Now that it had regained its freedom, Mist Calf shot a glare at Charlotte next.


    She leapt up in the air, and the mud giant grinned in a sinister manner.


    No matter what happened, a human was still no better than an insect. Just one swipe with the giant¡¯s hand, and she¡¯d be squashed flat.


    Mist Calf opened its palm wide. -Die as a mere smudge, human!-


    The mud giant even leapt off the ground and used the momentum from the rotation of its waist to take a mighty swing with its hand.


    Charlotte watching that scene recalled what Oscal had told her back then.


    {Divinity and demonic energy possess natures diametrically opposed to each other. However, it might be too much for you.}


    Divinity permeated her shield. The Aztal Rune greatly amplified the divine energy, and a pure white aura enveloped the shield next.


    ¡®If I use that principle to my advantage¡­¡¯


    {That technique is dependent on how powerful one¡¯s divinity is. If you do possess divinity strong enough for it, then, well¡­}


    The giant¡¯s palm scythed through the air. It was like watching a humongous boulder falling right on top of her, and it was just as scary to behold.


    ¡®But, I can block this!¡¯


    {You should be able to block it, that¡¯s for sure.}


    Charlotte swung her shield in mid-air.


    A wall containing divinity immediately flared in front of Mist Calf, and collided with the mud giant¡¯s palm.


    And then, the giant was bounced back.


    -¡­?!- Mist Calf¡¯s glare automatically shifted to its own hand.


    It even felt numb, too


    Even before its palm could reach the airborne girl, it had smashed into something in the air and bounced away.


    ¡®What was that¡­?¡¯


    Mist Calf¡¯s incredulous gaze then shifted back to its front, where Charlotte was still present. Sharp light shot out from her eyes as her robe flapped grandly in the wind.


    {Your sword has become one with divinity.}


    She gripped the divine sword tightly.


    {You must reach the heights where you can freely wield that. Once that becomes possible for you, then, child¡­}


    Divinity sizzled within her greatsword.


    {You have earned the right to be called as the next Sword King.}


    Her greatsword was swung diagonally upwards.


    A sword light purely made out of divinity exploded forth from the swing. It was different from the blade of wind Kasim Derian fired off by relying on his Divine Aura.


    1


    This strike consisted purely of divine power, and nothing else.


    Mist Calf flinched grandly in shock and crossed its arms in front of himself while stumbling back.


    The sword light and the back of the mud giant¡¯s arms collided to create an almighty explosion.


    -¡­-


    Mist Calf¡¯s brows shot up high. The armour of stone covering its arms was breaking apart into pieces!


    -What are you, human?! Just what are you¡­?!-


    ¡°Everyone, commence firing!¡±


    A voice came from somewhere below. Mist Calf immediately lowered its lone eye.


    That voice had come from the one wearing the mountain goat¡¯s skull that had been standing near the female Paladin.


    The mud giant urgently shifted its gaze again.


    One word from the skull-wearing man, and countless ballista bolts and boulders came flying in from seemingly everywhere.


    ¡®Those measly siege weapon projectiles, they won¡¯t even leave a scratch on my bedrock, so I¡­¡¯


    Crunch-!


    A ballista bolt impaled itself into Mist Calf¡¯s chest, while boulders flew in at a frightening rate.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I was giving it my all.


    The damage to Charlotte¡¯s body was far too extensive to bring her back to life, so I chose to use the Aztal Rune to repair her wounded body at the same time.


    While sealing Mist Calf¡¯s movements, I also simultaneously applied the Grim Reaper Transformation skill to Charlotte.


    All these phenomena happened because I was obsessively trying to save her life. The resulting power proved to be quite considerable.


    I watched Charlotte. She deflected the mud giant¡¯s attack, and struck with her sword light to shatter the lithic armor on its arms.


    The power she exhibited far surpassed Nasus¡¯s back in Aslan.


    The Aztal Rune amplified her divinity and reinforced her physical body, and it even transferred the Divine Aura¡¯s ability to her. The Grim Reaper Transformation was thrown into the mix, too, and it all resulted in her displaying an absurd level of combat power right now.


    1


    ¡°¡­Oh, and not to forget, there¡¯s Alice¡¯s Resonance, too.¡± I turned my head as Alice¡¯s hymn continued to enter my ears.


    ¡®Whatever the case might have been, she¡¯s one tough girl, alright.¡¯


    Charlotte was strong to begin with, yet I had managed to even further awaken her, turning her into an existence that far surpassed the limits of a human being.


    ¡®By the way, the Aztal Rune¡¯s divinity consumption right now is no bloody joke.¡¯


    Although I was mostly focused on Charlotte, I had also transferred some of the rune¡¯s powers to a small number of the siege weapons of the regiment, as well.


    I upgraded and strengthened their siege weapons. Their overall firepower might be nothing to write home about, but I figured that they should still threaten the giant at least a little bit.


    I now had two things to do here.


    One, strengthen the sealing and restrict its movements.


    And two¡­


    ¡°Wrap this event up in one strike.¡±

 Chapter 270 - 142. A Protective Shield -3 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Mist Calf¡¯s heart was pounding away madly inside his chest.


    ¡®Why is this?¡¯


    It hurriedly shifted its remaining eye to chase after the female Paladin¡¯s figure.


    She was moving incredibly fast. The mud giant¡¯s mud spikes continued to chase after her, but every time they got near, she agilely dodged them and closed the distance to her target.


    ¡®Why?!¡¯


    The mud giant clenched its fist. It grit its teeth, then punched with all of its power at Charlotte, who had managed to get near its foot down below.


    ¡®Why aren¡¯t my attacks working on you?!¡¯


    It dumped a massive amount of demonic energy into its attack. A dense aura enveloped the fist seemingly made out of nothing but granite.


    {Search for the optimal time.}


    Charlotte recalled Oscal¡¯s teachings once more.


    {The best timing for deflecting your opponent¡¯s strike.}


    Her crimson eyes seemed to gleam brightly just then.


    The humongous fist descended on her position. It contained the power of demonic energy.


    {It will work even against a regular attack. However, if you¡¯re going up against demonic energy, then the effect will be doubled.}


    She recalled the technique that would completely neutralise the opponent¡¯s attack, while she herself didn¡¯t suffer from the resulting impact.


    She raised her shield, then controlled her breathing.


    Just before the giant¡¯s fist reached her, just as the demonic energy within it wavered¡­


    Right at that exact moment, she injected divinity into the visible gaps in the fist and demonic energy, then swung her shield confidently.


    The barrier of divinity wrapped around the shield expanded, then smoothly slipped into the narrow gap between the fist and the flow of demonic energy.


    For a moment there, Mist Calf¡¯s fist seemed to be mere inches from hitting her, yet the air suddenly expanded and the giant¡¯s hand was flung away as if it had been swept up in an explosion.


    -¡­!- The area around Mist Calf¡¯s eye twitched uncontrollably.


    It couldn¡¯t afford to let this continue. Otherwise, it¡¯d be defeated for sure!


    Trying to hit this female with a frontal attack wasn¡¯t working. Something in the air was continuously deflecting the giant¡¯s attacks away.


    In that case, there was one other method to try: not going with direct attacks in the first place!


    The mud giant clenched its fist, then pounded the ground. Charlotte flinched in surprise and hurriedly stepped back.


    Stone debris shot up and landed everywhere, forcing her to agilely dodge them or to cut them down with her greatsword made out of divinity.


    Mist Calf grinned after seeing that. It had finally figured out a way to attack her, and now it was time to counterattack!


    No need to contemplate what kind of an attack, either. The mud giant curled its thick fingers and raised up its huge fists overhead¡­ but the golden-coloured chains shot up to hinder its movements whenever it tried to do that.


    However, this was nothing more than some lukewarm sealing attempt, that was all. The spellcaster wasn¡¯t even trying to completely seal the giant¡¯s movements, but did just enough to hinder its movements.


    No doubt they were scheming to kill it right here.


    ¡®Oh, you foolish little humans!¡¯


    Mist Calf was the masterpiece of the king of the giants!


    Did they really think that such a being would fall to not some gods, but to some puny humans?!


    The mud giant forcibly ripped and tore the golden chains of light apart. Its movements were dulled. Various projectiles from siege weapons continued to fly in and damage the giant, but the creature ignored them all.


    The muscles of mud forming its thick arms began ballooning up. Demonic energy encased its clenched fists and whipped about in the air violently.


    The creature sucked in a deep breath, and sent all of its strength to its fists.


    Mist Calf smirked viciously. -¡­Die, you puny humans!- and slammed them down with all its might.


    Fists burning up in black flames combined into one and came crashing down in the ground below.


    This one attack would split the terrain apart, make the rocks shoot out and completely wipe out every human standing nearby. The mud giant was certain of this.


    Charlotte flinched in shock and looked up. She discovered ¡®something¡¯ up there in the sky and grit her teeth.


    ¡®His Highness has prepared that attack.¡¯


    She couldn¡¯t afford to waste something that important.


    There were countless soldiers in the vicinity. If Mist Calf was allowed to go through with its attack, then every single person in this place would be killed off.


    His Highness had stepped up to the plate so that he could save all these people. Not to mention, they had all been prior recipients of his acts of benevolence, too.


    Protecting the subjects by fighting together with His Highness¡­


    ¡°¡­That is the role of a protector!¡±


    Charlotte raised her head and glared at the Mist Calf¡¯s two fists coming down.


    ¡®Peer through the flow of demonic energy.¡¯


    It was swirling madly at a crazy pace. She couldn¡¯t see any gaps there.


    No, wait. She simply had to find the opening.


    She swore to find it no matter what.


    ¡®Heighten my senses even further.¡¯


    It felt like the blood coursing through her entire body was boiling.


    Her sharp vision pierced straight through the flowing demonic energy. All traces of agitation in her sharp glare instantly vanished.


    Concentrate. Focus. Focus!


    Find the gap within the demonic energy, swirling and spitting as violently as a typhoon!


    ¡®¡­I see it!¡¯


    Charlotte stepped back and balanced herself. She lowered her posture, gripped her shield hard and brought it closer.


    ¡®Right there, in that gap¡­¡¯


    She wrapped the wall of divinity around her shield.


    ¡®¡­I will break through!¡¯


    She swung her shield with all her strength.


    The condensed wall of divinity dug deep into the gap she had found within the flow of demonic energy.


    The ¡®wall¡¯ began expanding in the middle of the swirling, spinning demonic energy, causing it to get jumbled up with divinity, and when that happened¡­


    KA-BOOM-!


    The two opposing powers expanded until they exploded.


    Mist Calf¡¯s clenched fists tore apart and were shoved away. Its sturdy fingers made of hardened stone shattered into bits, and mud underneath rained down everywhere.


    -Bloody hell¡­?!-


    Mist Calf¡¯s huge body staggered unsteadily as its remaining eye opened wider. It tried hard to regain its balance, slamming both its two feet on the ground.


    It left far too big of a gap open just now. A truly powerful counterattack from the female Paladin would be coming its way quickly. It had to get ready to defend against¡­!


    ¡°This is the end of the road for you.¡±


    Mist Calf flinched in surprise, and hurriedly raised its head up at the sky.


    That¡¯s where it discovered a sword made of solid light floating high up there. This sword, seemingly dozens of metres long, radiated divinity as it silently hovered in the air.


    Allen stated while taking Amon¡¯s skull off, ¡°Heavenly Sword.¡±


    The Sword of Heaven¡¯s Will, an attack that could only be created through the prayers of countless Priests!


    While taking in that weapon¡¯s appearance, Mist Calf¡¯s eye began quaking uncontrollably.


    ¡°With this strike, you will sleep for all eternity, you bastard.¡±


    The sword of light floating in the sky tilted, then began falling straight down toward the ground below.


    It cleaved right through the storm-like winds and descended towards Mist Calf¡¯s head.


    -I, I must block it!- Mist Calf screamed loudly, and tried to cross its arms in the air towards the sky, but its lone eye nearly popped out of its socket.


    Its hands had already been obliterated to bits earlier. Its protection of hard stone was gone now, only soft mud below dripping down.


    -¡­Ah.-


    Just as Mist Calf shifted its eye of stone back to the Heavenly Sword, the blade of light reached the mud giant¡¯s forehead and sank in.


    It broke through the surface, then impaled straight into its forehead, its slack mouth, and down its throat to completely cleave the giant¡¯s torso.


    Violent spasms broke out on Mist Calf¡¯s face.


    -Ah, aaaaaaaahk?!-


    The aura of divinity rapidly spread out.


    -I, I am¡­!-


    Mist Calf¡¯s eye of stone slowly rolled back and its whole body suddenly went limp. Eventually, the huge figure began breaking down.


    All the hard stone wrapped around its body began tumbling down. As if its hide and muscles were melting down, the mud oozed and flooded out next.


    ¡°Everyone, get out of here!¡±


    Mud tumbling down like a flash flood forced the nearby convicts to hurriedly flee.


    Charlotte quickly created some distance by quickly darting back.


    Once they got to a safe distance, the convicts stared at the dead Mist Calf with wide eyes. A brave one among them stabbed his spear into the liquid mud below.


    There was no reaction.


    The giant couldn¡¯t be recognised anymore. The only remaining trace left of it was its cloven head, left behind on the mud¡¯s surface like some kind of a grotesque statue.


    It really had died.


    ¡°¡­The J?tunn is dead.¡±


    They had snatched victory away from a titan only seen in legends!


    This wasn¡¯t just some vampire hunt, but as it turned out, they actually took part in the creation of a new heroic tale for all the ages!


    ¡°We, we¡­.!¡±


    ¡°We won!¡±


    All the convict soldiers roared out in elation.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡± Alice leaned against the Theocratic Empire¡¯s symbol as if all strength had left her by now. Hans approached her to hand over some healing medicine.


    Harman and Shuppel plopped down on the ground to chuckle away in disbelief and happiness, while Count Jenald commanded the convict soldiers to drive away the undead still trying to approach the army.


    ¡°Ha, haha¡­¡±


    Allen looked around him.


    He spotted Charlotte nearby, plopped on the ground as if all strength had left her legs now. The greatsword made out of divinity had dissipated and returned to being her normal divine sword. Even the white robe was gone now.


    The sacred divinity enveloping her gradually disappeared, but Charlotte still was smiling away faintly.


    ¡®Hang on, she¡¯s still feeling fine?¡¯


    If it was Allen, he¡¯d had blacked out by now.


    What a superhuman level of mental power that was. But what a good timing it was, too, since he also felt pretty exhausted, as well.


    Allen walked up to her and settled down before leaning his back against hers. ¡°Hey. You did real good today.¡±


    Charlotte flinched a little and clamped her mouth shut.


    ¡°The soldiers are alive all thanks to your hard work. That¡¯s me included, too,¡± said Allen while extracting a bottle of holy water from the item window. He pushed it towards her. ¡°Drink. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re feeling dizzy right about now. Looks like you¡¯re in the divinity depletion state. Drinking this and replenishing some of your divinity will alleviate your symptoms a bit.¡±


    Charlotte hid her face and received the bottle containing holy water. For a while there, a bout of silence filled up the space between them.


    As the soldiers continued to cheer in elation, Charlotte quietly whispered to him, ¡°Was I¡­ a help to you, Your Highness?¡±


    ¡°I told you, didn¡¯t I? I¡¯m alive, all thanks to you.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Allen raised his head and stared at the sky above.


    The crimson moon was obscured by the dark clouds, making their surroundings even darker.


    He felt her trembling. He couldn¡¯t tell whether it was a result of her smile or her tears, but one thing was for certain¡­


    ¡°Let¡¯s go home.¡±


    ¡­Now was the time to get some much-deserved rest.


    **


    Kelt found himself in a strange space.


    A bright light wavered in front of his eyes. It felt like a gentle breeze was brushing past him. He wasn¡¯t restricted by the laws of gravity, either.


    It was like he was floating in the air. As for that bright light, it gave off a truly sacred feeling.


    How fantastic would it be if he could reach out and touch the light with his hand?


    When he thought like that and reached out, Kelt was roused from his sleep.


    ¡°Your Majesty?¡±


    He heard Cardinal Raphael¡¯s voice coming from his right side.


    Kelt had been subconsciously reaching out with his hand. He realised that he was still inside the Imperial Palace, and smiled wryly.


    He muttered quietly, ¡°It seems that I fell asleep again.¡±


    He looked over to Raphael and smiled benevolently, but only a worried expression could be seen on Raphael¡¯s face. That wasn¡¯t surprising, considering that he probably knew what was going on here.


    Honestly speaking, Kelt was planning to stick around for another ten, maybe twenty years more in this role, but it seemed that the time for his retirement was rapidly approaching.


    ¡®Retirement, is it¡­ Spending the remainder of my life in some quiet little village doesn¡¯t sound so bad. Should I go on a trip to Aihrance in that case, then?¡¯


    He rubbed his chin while staring out through the room¡¯s large window.


    Warm rays of sunlight could be seen basking the world outside. What feel-good weather this was. How wonderful would it be to abdicate the throne on such a beautiful day?


    ¡°H-hmm.¡±


    Kelt shifted his gaze to his left.


    That¡¯s where Oscal the Sword King could be seen peering at the parchment still gripped in Kelt¡¯s hand.


    ¡°¡­Ah, I see. How absent-minded of me. I¡¯ve forgotten about this thing.¡±


    Kelt unfurled the parchment, which happened to be a communique sent by the Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen.


    As for its contents¡­


    ¡°¡­To nurture five thousand Priests? And for a period of a year, too?¡±


    Oscal the Sword King froze up, while Raphael cleared his throat loudly.


    Kelt blinked, before letting out a wry chuckle or two. ¡°Rather than rooting out all the vampire menace, it seems like that boy is planning to conquer the rest of the continent, instead!¡±


    ¡°¡­Please don¡¯t jest about such matters, Your Highness,¡± Raphael retorted sourly.


    1


    The cardinal knew almost better than anyone that the people of the Imperial Family were not quite right in their heads. If they decided that conquering the continent indeed sounded nice, then without a doubt, they would foster a huge-scale army and have a go at it later!


    ¡°I¡¯m jesting? Well, indeed. It should be near impossible with only five thousand troops. Besides, only a year of training, too!¡±


    Still, they were talking about a maximum of five thousand Priests. The implication here was that it was possible to nurture a powerful divine army reaching that number in only one year.


    The evidence of that would be the convicts of Ronia.


    Some story about an insurrection or whatever came out from that, but Kelt just laughed that notion out of the room. Why would his dear grandson start a rebellion in the first place, anyway? No, it¡¯d be the exact opposite of that.


    Kelt even entertained the notion of the boy sensing the incoming danger to the Theocratic Empire early on and coming to a decision a long time ago to prepare a secure footing to mount a counterattack.


    Ronia would be the result of that preparation. Such a result was more than sufficient for Kelt to make his own decision.


    The corners of his lips curled up. ¡°If this project succeeds, then those damn vampires will never think of invading us ever again.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°My grandson is planning to return in a month¡¯s time. Prepare to welcome him home.¡±


    Kelt got up from his throne and casually extended his hand towards the window where the rays of sun seeped in. The warmth of the sunlight buoyed his mood.


    ¡°Also,¡± He turned his head over to Raphael and Oscal. ¡°We shall proceed with the enthronement ceremony of the Holy King.¡±


    A gentle smile floated up on Kelt¡¯s lips.


    ¡°He shall be installed as the number one successor candidate to the throne of the Holy Emperor.¡±


    2


    < 142. A Protective Shield -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: My bad for being late. I thought I did schedule the chapter release yesterday¡­)

 Chapter 271 - 143. An Enthronement and a Celebration -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Two weeks after the felling of Mist Calf¡­


    Around the time the effects of the Tide of Death had more or less subsided, a search party had been dispatched from Ronia. It consisted of five hundred or so convict soldiers.


    They sifted through the collapsed ice castle and dug around the inert pile of mud that used to be the now-dead Mist Calf.


    {Please recover the heart of Mist Calf, sir! The demonic energy contained within it began dissipating the moment it died, that¡¯s for certain, but a humongous amount of energy should still remain in it. It will provide a great help later down the line, sir!}


    After listening to what Hans had to say, the Seventh Imperial Prince issued a direct command. He commanded the convicts to search for and recover all the data related to the warp magic, as well as the mud giant¡¯s heart.


    One of the convicts rummaging through the debris of the castle brightened his face. ¡°Found it!¡± he called out. He had stumbled across a large torn bag. It was filled with the data related to the warp magic.


    ¡°I also wanted to participate in the subjugation battle, though¡­¡± Gril muttered, smacking his lips in disappointment while performing his job as the member of the search party.


    He recalled the face of his adopted daughter, Charlotte, before she set off for the decisive battle.


    {It¡¯ll get dangerous, so stay behind and protect Ronia, please!}


    She said those words while wagging her finger and massaging her forehead. Although her expression back then could be described as indifferent, Gril still found her attitude quite adorable anyway.


    ¡°Mm. Yes, one should definitely have a daughter.¡±


    Just as Gril began smiling like a content dad, he spotted a crimson jewel sparkling away within the mud. It was so large that it didn¡¯t fit in a man¡¯s palm.


    Gril lifted it out of the mud. ¡°I wonder, just where would something like this be of use?¡±


    He placed the crimson jewel inside his bag. There were quite a few large shattered jewel shards inside already.


    ¡°Not enough¡­¡±


    Gril turned his head after hearing someone muttering that out.


    Harman, who was in charge of the search party, was currently standing on top of Mist Calf¡¯s corpse and looking around with a slightly concerned face.


    ¡°What do you mean, Sir Paladin?¡±


    ¡°According to Mister Hans, the jewel is supposed to be at least one metre in diameter. It shattered into pieces so its size might have gotten smaller than before, but still, it¡¯s too small.¡±


    They had been digging through the mud and under the fallen bedrock for the past few days. But all they had recovered so far had been shards of shattered jewels of varying sizes.


    Harman thought that for a heart around one metre in diameter as Hans had described, the resulting pile of shards seemed a little inadequate overall.


    ¡°I can only pray that it¡¯s my mood affecting my judgement.¡± Harman felt rueful about it, but he still shouted out at the convict soldiers, ¡°We shall conclude the search!¡±


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I climbed aboard the carriage headed to the capital of the empire, Laurensis. Our plan was to head back to the Imperial Palace with Count Jenald in tow, now that we were finished taking care of the aftermath of the defensive battles in Ronia.


    The carriage provided by the Imperial Palace was quite large inside, but various items of luggage filled it up, making it seem rather cramped.


    While I was sitting inside, a knock came from the door.


    ¡°Are you going to open the door, sir?¡± Hans asked while holding piles of documents in both of his hands. He was sitting near mountains of other documents.


    ¡°¡­Do you have to look at them here? Besides all that, why are you even riding in my carriage in the first place?¡±


    Hans waved around the documents detailing the data on warp magic, which I had given him permission to look at, and giggled brightly. ¡°How can I not take a gander when such amazing and wonderful pieces of information are now available to me, sir? And also, I was wondering if you¡¯ve heard something from Count Timong, as well.¡±


    ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you a dedicated Warp enthusiast.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long-held dream of every Alchemist after all, sir!¡±


    I recalled the mug of Count Timong, then extracted a book from my item window and tossed it lightly to Hans. ¡°Here, take it.¡±


    He caught the book in an awkward manner, and almost immediately, his brows shot up high.


    Since his discerning eyes were so highly attuned, he probably latched onto the fact that the book¡¯s quality and the letters written on it were foreign to this world in a matter of seconds.


    ¡°The material quality is something I¡¯ve never seen before, sir. How was this book manufactured in the first place? Not only that, the ink and the letters themselves are so precise and consistent, too¡­¡± Hans resting his chin on his hand and pondering this new quandary, suddenly hardened his expression. ¡°¡­Wait a minute, which era did this book come from? W-what kind of a title is it, what material¡­? I, I don¡¯t recognise any of it. Oh my goodness¡­! An ancient language that even I don¡¯t recognise?!¡±


    Knock, knock¡­


    I reached out and grabbed the carriage¡¯s door handle. ¡°That¡¯s not a book of this world.¡±


    Hans flinched and froze up when I said that. His gaze hurriedly locked on me, and I grinned mischievously while pointing at the novel in his hand. ¡°It¡¯s a book that has crossed dimensions.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an item you Alchemists dream of acquiring. It¡¯s a gift, so take it.¡±


    Hans¡¯s eyes shook powerfully. But before he had a chance to say something, I opened the door.


    Harman, riding on horseback, was right outside.


    ¡°Oh! Harman, you managed to join us.¡±


    I figured he¡¯d arrive later due to him being in charge of the search operation up north, but he joined us on time in the end.


    He seemed to have something to report, because after offering a short greeting, he turned his head to look behind him. A wagon carrying the data collected from the vampires, plus crimson jewel shards inside a large leather bag, could be found there.


    ¡°These are the data and the parts of Mist Calf¡¯s heart recovered during the search, Your Highness. We did our best to find them all, but some portion seems to be missing, my lord.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    I signalled with my hand, and Harman had a portion of the data and the crimson jewel transferred to my carriage. Hans received them and laid them out on the floor, making the already-cramped carriage even more cramped.


    Hans fidgeted around as if there was a seriously bad itch he wanted to scratch right now. He sneaked a glance in my direction. ¡°Excuse me, sir, what were you saying earlier¡­¡±


    Harman closed the carriage door.


    I glanced back to Hans and replied, ¡°That¡¯s what Count Timong said. I don¡¯t know all the details.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Hans¡¯s shoulders slumped visibly, as if all of his energy went flying out the window just now. It was probably because he knew that Count Timong was devoured by the mud giant Mist Calf.


    He seemed to be trying to comfort his aching heart or something, because he began fidgeting around with the data and the shards of the crimson jewel Harman had brought over.


    He put the data away in an orderly fashion before taking the shards of the jewel to piece them back together, like some kind of a jigsaw puzzle.


    I asked him. ¡°By the way, Harman said there¡¯s a portion of the heart missing. Will that be alright?¡±


    ¡°Ah, that. Yes, it should be fine, sir. I¡¯m almost certain that some zombies or other undead took them away. As this is an item containing demonic energy, even those undead without functioning ego would still be attracted to them instinctively.¡±


    ¡°And what are the odds of vampires taking them away?¡±


    Hans continued to stack the jewel shards, while replying to my question in an unconcerned tone of voice. As a matter of fact, most of his attention seemed to be focused on carefully joining up all the shards at the moment. ¡°They were most likely planning to use this J?tunn¡¯s heart to complete the Warp Gate, but with it shattered so completely, opening one up now would be next to impossible, sir.¡±


    ¡°Impossible, you say?¡±


    Hans nodded before looking back at me. ¡°If that Count Timong or whatever his name was, was still around, then sure. But now that he¡¯s dead, it¡¯ll be exceedingly difficult to bring their Warp Gate to reality no matter how smart they are, sir.¡±


    ¡°But, doesn¡¯t that mean it¡¯s still possible to make it happen?¡±


    Hans froze up when I said that. A bitter grin floated up on his lips soon after as he stared at the crimson jewel-shards he had stacked together by then. ¡°What those vampire bastards were trying to create isn¡¯t simple warp magic, sir. It was to create a pathway that leads to another dimension. A doorway that doesn¡¯t just lead to the Titan Realm, Spirit Realm, or Purgatory, but a completely new world beyond them, only accessible by boring a hole straight through space itself. That¡¯s what they must be aiming for.¡±


    He resumed stacking the shards while continuing on, ¡°And its purpose isn¡¯t simply to summon souls or things similar in nature, but for them to directly travel there. I¡¯m sure that is what they wish for, sir.¡±


    Wasn¡¯t that the ultimate dream of all Alchemists, though? An unknown, different world that none of them had seen nor heard before, and being able to travel there.


    They saw that as seeing the truth of the world.

 Chapter 272 - 143. An Enthronement and a Celebration -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°Unfortunately, that Count Timong fella is dead, and the heart of the mud J?tunn has been shattered into bits, sir. Even the demonic energy contained in it has dissipated.¡± Hans shrugged his shoulders and continued on, ¡°With this, one might still¡­ probably open the doorway to either the Purgatory or the Spirit Realm at most, sir.¡±


    I replied, ¡°¡­Meaning, yes, they can still open the Warp Gate if they are serious about it.¡±


    ¡°Of course, except that you¡¯d need someone like Count Timong, who has researched this subject for a thousand-plus years, sir. Otherwise, it will remain a tall order for them, and even if they do open the gateway, no living creature would be able to cross over, anyway. They are just too large.¡±


    Well, that was a relief to hear.


    Hans was still staring at the book I gave him as if he had developed a lingering attachment to it already. From his expression, I got a feeling that he wanted to achieve the ultimate dream of all Alchemists, dimensional transfer, as well.


    I spoke to him, ¡°That¡¯s a novel, by the way.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Sorry?¡±


    ¡°Its title is [A Story of a Ring].¡±


    ¡°H-h-hold on, sir?! What are you even¡­!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s as much as I know.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s what you said a minute ago!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you the truth, though?¡± I guffawed at the sight of the clearly flustered Hans.


    **


    Around a week after we left for Laurensis¡­


    The day was getting darker, announcing the night¡¯s impending visit. Our carriages came to a stop, and we set up camp for the night.


    We should arrive in the imperial capital around tomorrow.


    I climbed out of the carriage, wanting to get some fresh air.


    ¡°Allow me to escort you, Your Highness,¡± Charlotte offered, so I lightly nodded in consent.


    I found Alice getting ready to cook our dinner by a campfire, while Harman was nearby overseeing the soldiers setting up various tents.


    I turned and stared at the wagon. Before anyone had noticed, Hans had finished putting Mist Calf¡¯s heart together and restored it to almost its original size.


    Hans himself was standing before the heart while rubbing his chin. His face seemed rather serious at the moment for some reason.


    I walked up to him and asked, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    He faltered a little and stammered out his answer. ¡°S-sir? Ah, that. No, well, uh¡­¡±


    All sorts of emotions and thoughts visibly tumbled around in his expression. He then rubbed his whole face and grinned right back at me. ¡°No, sir. It should be nothing. No, wait¡­¡± He nodded while making a confident-enough face. ¡°There are no problems, sir.¡±


    ¡°¡­Is that so?¡±


    Hans finished his not-so convincing explanation, then looked back at the large jewel that was nearly a metre in diameter. A noticeable part of it was missing, roughly big enough to fit a person¡¯s head.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-


    The next morning¡­


    Our procession got going again. Morning came and went, and it was afternoon.


    Along with her knocking on the door, I heard Charlotte¡¯s voice coming from outside the carriage, ¡°We¡¯ve arrived in Laurensis, Your Highness.¡±


    I opened the carriage¡¯s door and peeked my head outside.


    A wide-open plain spread out before my eyes. A spacious highway ran through it between many small villages. At the end of this road was a huge gateway built into the tall and magnificent outer walls of the city.


    The imperial capital, Laurensis.


    We had finally returned home after such a long time away.


    **


    Clang¡­! Clang¡­!


    Bells were ringing loudly. Someone up in the tall outer walls was scattering flower petals in the air.


    My eyes almost threatened to pop out of their eye sockets as I stared at the citizens visible through the open doorway of the carriage.


    Every house we passed by had their windows open, while countless people had streamed out into the streets.


    There must¡¯ve been hundreds of thousands of people here, and they were all crying out in elation, ¡°It¡¯s His Highness, the Imperial Prince!¡±


    ¡°Your Highness!¡±


    ¡°Please look this way!¡±


    Paladins were lined up on either side of our procession to restrict the citizens from rushing in. But they were grunting and panting heavily away while trying to stem the tide of the sea of humans.


    All I could do while stuck inside their raucous cheering was to make a stupefied face.


    ¡°Gaia¡¯s blessing be with you, Your Highness¡­!¡±


    A portion of the gathered masses were Priests offering prayers while holding their hands, and regular subjects of the empire could be seen following their example.


    ¡°We pray that God of Death Yudai¡¯s favour be with you¡­¡±


    There were some folks wearing steel masks mixed in among the crowd, too. They were the Necromancers, hashashins affiliated with Aslan.


    ¡°The Holy King has finally come back home! We shall devote ourselves to him and welcome him back!¡±


    That loud yelling came from the clergymen of the Church of Caiolium, my one-time enemy. These people, wearing their trademark robes, were loudly cheering us on like a bunch of zealots.


    ¡°Lord Saint is here!¡±


    ¡°Thank you for saving us all!¡±


    ¡°Lord Saint-!¡±


    Even the refugees from the kingdom of Lome had travelled a long way to appear before my eyes this day.


    An Imperial Prince of the Imperial Family, me, was returning to the imperial capital. So yeah, I kind of expected to receive some type of a welcome.


    But, uh, something here felt a wee bit wrong to me.


    But why? How come? Why did all these people from other countries decide to brave the lengthy journeys to get here?


    ¡°Hey, Charlotte.¡±


    She visibly winced when I called out her name. She even avoided meeting my gaze and turned her head away.


    ¡°¡­Is there anything you¡¯d like to tell me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m under the strictest orders of the Vice Captain, so I can¡¯t really¡­¡±


    The only person Charlotte would use the term ¡®Vice Captain¡¯ to describe would be Oscal the Sword King.


    ¡°Okay, so what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    I still pressed on, and Charlotte sneaked several glances in my direction. She eventually relented, and cautiously opened her mouth to say, ¡°¡­There will be an enthronement ceremony soon.¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°A ceremony to enthrone the Holy King, Your Highness.¡±


    The Holy King, you say? Hang on, did we even have a position called the Holy King in the first place? I contemplated this matter deeply while rubbing my chin.


    ¡°It¡¯s to designate the number one successor candidate for the Holy Emperor, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Aha. I see.¡± I nodded in understanding.


    Could it be that damn father of mine, White Olfolse, was about to get upgraded to the position of Holy King?


    It sounded to me like the whole position had been hastily thought up, though.


    The idea probably was to install him as the Holy King and gradually turn public sentiments in his favour, and at the same time, eliminate any negative sentiments the subjects might still have of him, since he had already absconded from his duty as the Holy Emperor once before.


    As for keeping it a secret from me, well, the Imperial Family must¡¯ve figured that doing so would prevent me from raising any vocal objections, as I didn¡¯t have a good impression of that irresponsible guy.


    If that was the case, then yeah, everything made some sense.


    Was it because I didn¡¯t look as surprised as expected? Charlotte got slightly flustered and asked me a question, ¡°Did you already know, Your Highness?¡±


    ¡°Oh. No, it¡¯s just that it all made sense to me, that¡¯s all.¡±


    She breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Then, may I assume that you are not dissatisfied at all?¡±


    ¡°Well, I am dissatisfied, alright. By a lot, too. I mean, that position is meant to be a placeholder for the next Holy Emperor, right? It¡¯s a super-important role, in other words. So it won¡¯t do for some irresponsible dude to occupy it, you know?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true at all. Your Highness, you¡¯re an excellent person!¡±


    ¡­Hey, you. Why are you mentioning me all of a sudden?


    No, hang on a minute. Maybe it¡¯s not White, but one of my siblings of the Imperial Family ascending to the position of the Holy King, instead.


    ¡°Are you concerned, Your Highness?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Charlotte stared at me with eyes filled to the brim with heroic determination. ¡°Please do not be concerned. I swear to become a trustworthy support for you, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    I tilted my head this way and that.


    ¡®Why do I get the feeling that we were not exactly on the same wavelength here?¡¯


    Besides all that, I kept hearing the people shouting out, ¡°Your Majesty, the Holy King!¡± my way.


    Now that I thought about it some more¡­ didn¡¯t the convicts back in Ronia fiefdom also call me the Holy King or some su¡­


    ¡­I was suddenly overcome with this bone-chilling anxiety.


    Something had gone wrong here.


    ¡°¡­H-hey, Charlotte.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness?¡± She looked back at me in a calm, composed manner.


    Although her expression was best described as taciturn, there were some twinkling lights within her eyes, indicating how happy she was inside.


    ¡°Can you tell me who the inheritor of the Holy King¡¯s position is?¡±


    Charlotte broke out in a flustered expression. ¡°But, Your Highness, that¡¯s¡­¡±


    She cutely tilted her head from side to side, then fired the decisive kill shot in my direction.


    ¡°¡­the Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen Olfolse. It¡¯s you, Your Highness.¡±


    < 143. An Enthronement and a Celebration -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 273 - 144. An Enthronement and a Celebration -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Currently, at a conference venue in an unknown location¡­


    ¡°The majority of blood-creations that have infiltrated the Aihrance royal palace have been eliminated.¡±


    Never mind one lit torch to illuminate the surroundings, not even a single drop of candle wax could be found in this place. Only the impenetrable veil of darkness existed here.


    In the middle of the venue was a large round table and creatures boasting truly bizarre outer appearances had gathered around it.


    It was a meeting of vampire nobility, consisting only of Progenitors, except that most of the Marquis-class vampires were not present. There was no need to even ask if Duke-classes and Archduke-classes were here, either.


    Most of the ones in attendance were either Count-class or lower in peerage. Among them was Marquis Kirum, dressed like a court jester, currently covered in a thick layer of cold sweat.


    For a little while now, he had been conveying the current situation to the other Progenitor vampires present with a communique he had received earlier.


    He continued on, ¡°All contact with Count Timong up north has been lost as well.¡±


    These beings were supposed to be noble, fearless creatures. These beings, who always treated humans as mere livestock, all fell into a severe bout of panic and fear the moment one person¡¯s name was brought up.


    ¡°All these acts were perpetrated by the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, Allen Olfolse!¡±


    The vampires present all felt a deathly chill creep up their skin, and shuddered in fear.


    A thick strand of cold sweat trickled down Marquis Kirum¡¯s cheek. His normally playful tone of speech was long gone by now. He only resorted to that manner of speech when he was in an excited state, or when he was trying to confuse his enemies.


    He certainly couldn¡¯t afford to sow further chaos in the current group of vampire nobles, now could he?


    ¡°Also, a new Saintess named Alice Astoria has been discovered in the Theocratic Empire, as well. The Seventh Imperial Prince is protecting her. According to the report, after he finished dealing with Count Timong up north, he and his entourage have returned to the capital, and he is currently in the middle of the preparation to ascend to the position of Holy King.¡±


    The vampires grew agitated upon hearing this news.


    ¡®A new Saintess?¡¯


    ¡®This Alice, she¡¯s one of the ladies-in-waiting. A granddaughter of Cardinal Raphael, no less.¡¯


    ¡®Does that mean she has been hiding her true power all along?¡¯


    ¡®Not only that, the Holy King? What in the world is¡­?!¡¯


    As the commotion and unrest among them grew, more sweat trickled down Marquis Kirum¡¯s hands after he took another look at the report. The idea of needing to read the next part of the report sent a chill down his spine.


    Still, he had to continue on regardless. ¡°Also, the Seventh Imperial Prince is planning to personally foster five thousand Priests.¡±


    ¡°Five thousand?!¡±


    ¡°Not some regular soldiers, either?¡±


    The number of Priests currently in the Theocratic Empire was suspected to be near fifteen thousand. They weren¡¯t just Priests in their job title, but people capable of wielding divinity to some extent.


    But now five thousand additional Priests were about to be nurtured on top of that as well!


    Not just regular Priests, either; from the wording of the report, it seemed that this was done for a military purpose!


    This meant that the Theocratic Empire¡¯s existing power would greatly be enhanced quite soon.


    ¡°T-that, that¡¯s not possible!¡± One of the Progenitor vampires with a beast¡¯s head cried out. ¡°No, such a thing cannot be true! Marquis Kirum, my lord! That must be a falsified report for sure! A forgery cooked up by the Theocratic Empire to threaten us!¡±


    Too bad for this vampire, another Progenitor, this time with a hulking physique that had been stitched up like a zombie, denied that very notion by saying, ¡°This isn¡¯t an impossibility.¡±


    Marquis Kirum was fully aware of the reality facing them. That inconceivably vast amount of divinity he felt back in Lome Kingdom¡­


    The Seventh Imperial Prince used that to fight against a Marquis-class. No, to be more precise, that man had achieved an overwhelming victory.


    He had slaughtered the dragon slayer, and made the undead army, boasting countless monstrous creatures, fall to their knees.


    Not only could he see through a vampire¡¯s disguise, he could even sense spies planted among the humans, too.


    Worst of all, if he was given enough time to activate his full suite of powers, then he¡¯d become horrifyingly strong!


    He had to be one of the most dangerous Saints ever in the recorded history of this world.


    ¡°About eight hundred Awakened humans appeared in Ronia. Apparently, it was the handiwork of the Seventh Imperial Prince.¡±


    A deathly silence quickly filled the conference venue.


    The eyes of the vampires, filled with emotions of wanting to reject the unfolding reality, were now focused on Marquis Kirum.


    ¡°If that report is true, then we will never win against the Theocratic Empire.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse is still alive, and the Sword King is also sprightly, as well. Both the Crown Imperial Prince and Cardinal Raphael present considerable threats, too.¡±


    Here was a group filled with absolute powerhouses. Despite their advanced ages, they could still easily deal with several Progenitor vampires, and then some!


    How many vampires were brave enough to fight a bunch of devils in human disguise who enjoyed torturing vampires and collecting their severed heads as a hobby?


    ¡°Not only that, the Seventh Imperial Prince is about to ascend to the position of the Holy King. When he gets his hands on that authority and political power¡­¡±


    He¡¯d no doubt step up his efforts to foster a powerful combat force.


    What if the vampires still insisted on invading such a group of people? The end result would be rather obvious.


    Total annihilation!


    A known slaughterer of vampires was about to ascend to the throne of Holy King, which was a clear sign of their intention to intensify the crackdown on the vampires.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince was capable of sensing hidden vampires. After he ascended to Holy King and got enough time to develop even further, then the kind of slaughter the likes of which the vampires had never experienced before would begin, without a doubt!


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of sending a communique to His Majesty the Vampire King.¡± Marquis Kirum scanned the other Progenitor vampires present and continued on, ¡°I¡¯m thinking of suggesting that we delay the invasion for another one hundred and fifty years. By then, all threatening existences should have died out.¡±


    The Progenitors all slumped at that suggestion.


    This was how it usually went for them. They could not overcome some measly little livestock, and had to flee for their lives.


    Now they were fated to hide once more and wait to be subjugated by the damn humans again. They would be confined to the darkness somewhere, and continue to live their days shivering away in fear within their chosen Negative Fields.


    ¡°The kingdom of blood that we¡¯ve been yearning for all these years¡­!¡±


    Some began shedding tears of blood. Some began howling in sorrow, while some others fell into despair.


    One of the Progenitors who managed to keep their rationale asked in a tense voice, ¡°What about the dukes and archdukes? Have the other marquises agree to your proposal, Marquis Kirum?¡±


    ¡°Of course they won¡¯t agree with me. That¡¯s why I¡¯m thinking of directly speaking to His Majesty by myself.¡±


    ¡°But if you do that, Marquis Kirum, you might¡­¡±


    Kirum quietly closed his eyes before replying, ¡°I¡¯d be held responsible and get devoured by the dukes and archdukes, most likely. However, someone has to do it, otherwise it will be all over for us.¡±


    1


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°We need to grab hold of opportunity in this dire situation. I must suppress His Majesty¡¯s urges by sacrificing myself and ensure that our kind will survive.¡± Kirum opened his eyes again. ¡°Even if the fate waiting for me is a wretched one, I must¡­¡±


    ¡°Only rats hide away in a hole, so how can you call yourselves the noble vampires while thinking of doing that?¡±


    Marquis Kirum turned his head after hearing those words. Other Progenitor vampires also shifted their gazes in the direction of that voice.


    A Progenitor vampire was glaring at the other nobles from the darkness. Its skin had melted away, leaving behind a truly wretched appearance. Its whole body was wrapped in bandages, while its back was bent forward like a hunchback.


    Its hand was gripping a large crimson jewel, too.


    3


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I didn¡¯t think of this.


    No, hang on. I did expect that something like this might happen. However, deciding on something this important without consulting the person in question was just uncool, man. Way uncool!


    It¡¯s the position of the Holy King!


    They created a role that didn¡¯t even exist before, then they schemed to install me in that role. But, what could be their reason for it?


    Actually, I could more or less understand why.


    I had been making lots of waves for the Theocratic Empire without consciously doing so. I ended up stacking up quite a few achievements along the way.


    Holy cow. All I wanted to do was to protect the house I was living in, and protect my innocent subjects while I was at it, you know? Yet my actions resulted in my current situation.


    2


    ¡°¡­I gotta get out of here, pronto.¡±


    When I went to say hello to Holy Emperor Kelt, he was smiling so benevolently at me.


    The letter from the capital said that he¡¯d often fall asleep, and that his condition seemed precarious, but what I felt during our meeting was the majesty of the absolute power occupying the throne.


    This old man would easily stay strong for at least the next three years, I¡¯d wager.


    Back in my room, I was hurriedly packing my bag. I already finished swiping and procuring all the grimoires and magic textbooks found in the Imperial Palace¡¯s library.


    I stuffed what I thought was important inside the item window, then lifted up the rest of the luggage myself. If they start pursuing me, then I had to leave behind fake traces for them to follow.


    ¡°What do you mean by you¡¯ll run away, Your Highness?!¡±


    Charlotte was in a full-on panic mode.


    Even I could tell that she was really pleased with me ascending to the position of the Holy King. But it was completely opposite for me.


    ¡°Charlotte, let¡¯s prepare for a journey.¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon?!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s head to Aslan. It¡¯s been a while, so why don¡¯t we go there on a sightseeing tour?¡±


    Charlotte smiled wryly at that. ¡°But Your Highness, this matter won¡¯t be brushed aside so easily.¡±


    Sure, it¡¯d be a huge problem if I ran away now.


    Holy Emperor Kelt was personally overseeing the event. No, hang on. This wasn¡¯t just an event, but an ascension ceremony and a dry run for the future Holy Emperor coronation, as well!


    Countless subjects would be cheering it on, while numerous nobles from our neighbouring nations would¡¯ve been invited to attend.


    Well, it¡¯s gonna be too bad for them all, but I was in no mood to be considerate towards their feelings right now.


    I definitely had no desire to become this Holy King, never mind the bloody Holy Emperor!


    ¡°I¡¯m a mangnani, so even if I do something like this, they¡¯ll probably think it¡¯s nothing strange.¡±


    Honestly, I wanted nothing more than to get banished again as my sentence, and watch from the sidelines as the position of the Holy King was handed over to one of my other siblings.


    If I ascended to Holy King, then well, you didn¡¯t have to be a genius to figure out that I¡¯d be basically confined to the Imperial Palace, never to roam around freely ever again.


    I mean, you only had to look at Holy Emperor Kelt for an example of that, no? The only time he came outside the Palace was to participate in the war against Aslan. That was it!


    ¡°What do you mean, mangnani, Your Highness? When was the last time people called you that?¡± Charlotte replied, looking quite dismayed.


    ¡°In any case, get ready, okay? Even if I¡¯m destined to become this Holy King, it won¡¯t be anytime soon. We¡¯re leaving right away.¡±


    While saying that, I flung the door to my room wide open.


    What greeted me next was the scene of Paladins outfitted in golden armour standing in two rows on either side of the passageway.


    These folk, filled to the brim with military discipline, were standing there like some kind of statues while holding their shields and resting their hands on the hilts of the swords.


    2


    The Order of the Golden Cross?


    (TL: Only one chapter today¡­)

 Chapter 274 - 144. An Enthronement and a Celebration -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    I was stupefied at the sight.


    Oscal Baldur was standing in the middle of them. He smiled like a kind old man and said to me, ¡°The Vice Captain of the Order of the Golden Cross and the holder of the title of the Sword King, Oscal Baldur, wishes to escort His Highness the Imperial Prince. May I inquire, where were you thinking of heading to, sire?¡±


    ¡°¡­I changed my mind. I¡¯m staying in.¡±


    I closed the door while the muscles around my eyes twitched nonstop.


    Escorting me, my foot. He was here to keep an eye on me!


    ¡°¡­Out through the balcony, then.¡±


    Leaving through the front door was clearly impossible. There was no way I¡¯d fool the eyes of the Sword King. So, leaving through the balcony might be a better idea at this point. Unfortunately¡­


    I flung open the door to the balcony, and stepped onto the railing.


    When I looked down to the ground, the Orders of the Crimson Cross and the Verdant Cross, plus the Paladin Corps members, were standing there, right in front of my eyes.


    Harman was in charge of them. He turned around and met my stupefied gaze. ¡°Your Highness? Is something wrong?¡±


    I threw the luggage in my hand at Harman¡¯s face and slammed the balcony door shut.


    Crap, I was already surrounded.


    Only now did I figure out why they had put me in a room so close to the ground floor. It was probably to prevent me from using my trusty Bone Wyvern to fly out of here!


    Holy Emperor Kelt, that old man was dead-set on raising me to the position of the Holy King.


    ¡°Your Highness, the Holy King coronation will be in three days¡¯ time. You only have to endure until then. Even including the formal military parade and the accompanying banquet after that, the whole event should not exceed three hours. It¡¯ll be over in a blink of an eye.¡±


    Unlike her usual self, Charlotte sounded deeply flustered as she tried to dissuade me.


    ¡°But that¡¯s what I don¡¯t want to go through, you know?!¡±


    ¡°But, Your Highness. Getting acquainted with the nobles now would prove to be a great help to you later when you¡­¡±


    I flinched grandly and stared straight at Charlotte. I was not sure when she started doing it, but she was actually trying to persuade me. ¡°No, hang on. Even you¡­?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°You, do you also want to see me become the Holy King?¡±


    Charlotte suddenly went silent, but she was obviously saying yes to my question.


    1


    While feeling this sense of betrayal wash over me, I began massaging my temples in anger. ¡°Call both my oldest brother and sister. They are here, right?¡±


    We were about to hold the Holy King coronation, so at the very least the Imperial Crown Prince, the First Imperial Prince, and the First Imperial Princess should be around the place.


    I called for the latter two, and a short while later, Luan and Hilda were escorted to my quarters by a maidservant.


    ¡°Ah, my beloved little brother, congratulations are in order, it seems!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been too long, so how about we share a drink? Belrog sent this fine liquor as a celebratory gift.¡±


    Luan promptly settled down on the sofa and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, while Hilda walked up and ruffled my hair before pushing a bottle of booze in my face.


    I stared at the two of them with a serious face. ¡°I have a favour to ask of you.¡±


    If it was these two, then they could definitely make the Holy Emperor rethink this whole thing. There were plenty of pretexts, as well.


    For one, I was still way too young, at only eighteen years old. Sure, anyone past sixteen was treated as an adult in this world, but there was no doubting the fact that I was a youngster.


    On top of that, I was as clueless as you could get. Never mind the matters of governance, there was also economics to consider. It wasn¡¯t just these two topics, either. I simply lacked knowledge or experience in every conceivable field.


    If they used those points as the reasons, then surely it¡¯d be possible to overturn the Holy Emperor¡¯s decision.


    I seriously spoke to the two of them. ¡°Please lend me your support, First Brother, First Sister.¡±


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Hans was currently staring at the heart of Mist Calf.


    The crimson jewel shards had been joined back together. But a portion around the size of an adult¡¯s head was missing from the edge of the large jewel a metre in diameter.


    ¡®¡­The demonic energy within it is still dissipating.¡¯


    Even though the remaining amount was still considerable, it was only barely enough to open the gateway to Purgatory. But even that would be impossible to pull off if more time passed by.


    ¡®It won¡¯t even matter, though.¡¯


    Even if the vampires proceeded to open the gateway to Purgatory once more, it shouldn¡¯t present any notable problem, anyway.


    Soon, the Seventh Imperial Prince would ascend to the position of the Holy King. He¡¯d get his hands on the necessary authority and political power. He¡¯d be given the right to mobilise the empire¡¯s powerful army.


    He¡¯d enjoy the authority to mobilise not just the Sword King, but also the Imperial Crown Prince, too.


    Heck, he could even call on the Church of Caiolium to summon over ten thousand of their Priests, currently spread all around the continent, as well.


    Most importantly, the holy relic currently in possession of the Seventh Imperial Prince¡­


    The archangel that used to belong to the first Holy Emperor, Ordin Olfolse, was in his possession. As long as that thing was fully repaired, nothing would present a problem to him.


    ¡®Yes, my worries are unfounded. I should be more concerned with selecting the right celebratory gift for His Highness, instead.¡¯


    Hans¡¯s career path to a brighter future would open up wide the moment the Seventh Imperial Prince ascended to the Holy King.


    He¡¯d surely become the Holy King¡¯s closest confidante and leave behind various achievements that would be celebrated throughout history.


    Here was a moment that the family of Hans, which didn¡¯t even have a surname, was being recorded in the annals of history.


    ¡®¡­What those bastards are aiming to achieve is the sealing of the Imperial Family.¡¯


    However, Hans¡¯s mind wandered back to worrying before long. He couldn¡¯t help but pore through the data from Count Timong.


    This vampire turned out to be someone far more incredible than Hans had initially bargained for. Even though he and his family members were often praised as geniuses, only by utilising all the knowledge they had accumulated, as well as that handed down by their ancestors, could he somehow match the knowledge level of Count Timong.


    It shouldn¡¯t be possible, but¡­


    But, if the vampires had another being possessing a similar level of knowledge as Count Timong among them¡­


    ¡°¡­Aha, hahah! Why am I so worried about, anyway? E-eii, there¡¯s just no way.¡±


    1


    Hans shook off all the distracting thoughts from his mind. He got up from his seat and began rummaging through his luggage.


    He found the novel that the Imperial Prince had given him, and took it out of the bag. That wasn¡¯t all, but he also saw the unknown metallic debris and wiring messily tangled up in a pile, as well.


    All of them had been recovered from the ruins of the ice castle.


    Without a doubt, they were not materials found in this world. Hans knew that, and that allowed him to also know that Count Timong had once successfully created a warp gate.


    Hans gritted his teeth as a sense of defeat took over him. ¡°To think that I lost to a damn vampire¡­¡±


    1


    He roughly massaged his temples. He rapidly inhaled and exhaled to get a grip on his emotions, before standing straight up.


    A bitter grin floated up on his lips when he looked at the book in his hand. ¡°Should I go and ask His Highness? Yes, there¡¯s a chance that he might know something else!¡±


    He walked quickly towards the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s quarters.


    The Order of the Golden Cross had set up a camp in the corridor, and Hans could hear a bit of a commotion happening behind the closed door.


    That door was suddenly flung open and the Seventh Imperial Prince¡¯s shouting voice could be heard next. ¡°If you ain¡¯t gonna help, get the hell out of here!¡±


    The First Imperial Prince and First Imperial Princess were quickly vacating the room with mischievous grins on their faces.


    A wine bottle suddenly flew out of the doorway and Hans had to hurriedly duck his head lower in surprise.


    ¡°We shall come again!¡±


    ¡°The Holy King coronation. We¡¯re looking forward to it!¡±


    Luan and Hilda left the room, while Hans stared at the Seventh Imperial Prince. He was panting like a bull while trying to slam the door shut, before finally noticing Hans¡¯s presence and tilting his head. ¡°Hans? What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Ahaha! Well, sir. I have something to discuss with you,¡± Hans said energetically, then showed the novel to the Imperial Prince.


    The latter shook his head. ¡°I told you, I don¡¯t know anything about it.¡±


    ¡°Ah, is that so, sir? Still, maybe you can, somehow¡­?¡± While asking that, Hans naturally stepped across the doorway.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s not like Count Timong is alive to tell us the truth anyway, so how can I¡­¡± the Imperial Prince replied while waving his hand dismissively.


    Hans watched the boy prince¡¯s back, then after closing the door, he quietly spoke up, ¡°Your Highness, sir.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince, Allen, looked behind and stared at Hans. The latter had frozen up in place.


    His expression showed how serious he was, too. He put the book in his hand down on a nearby table, then held Allen¡¯s gaze. ¡°I¡¯m not certain if my cowardly nature is to blame for my worries, sir.¡±


    He simply had to talk about this.


    If his suspicion on what the vampires were trying to do was correct, then he and everyone else would need to be fully focused on it.


    ¡°I might even be burdening you with a needless worry, as well.¡±


    However, if his prediction turned out to be on the money, then it had to be stopped, no matter what. And only himself and Prince Allen before him were capable of pulling this off.


    ¡°Even then, I am compelled to speak to you regarding this matter.¡±


    Hans proceeded to say what was on his mind.


    Charlotte, standing next to them, gradually widened her eyes, while Allen settled down on the sofa and paid close attention to everything Hans said.


    From the missing part of Mist Calf¡¯s recovered heart, to its demonic energy gradually dissipating, and the time remaining until all of it was completely gone¡­


    Hans spoke in a worried voice. He mentioned the danger that might come to pass. And then, he made a declaration, ¡°If I¡¯m right about what they are planning to do, then that will become a truly dangerous situation for all, sir. However, you and I can put a stop to their plan. If we succeed¡­¡±


    The light in Hans¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t waver once as he finished after a pause, ¡°This will become a great opportunity to deal a huge blow to the vampires!¡±


    < 144. An Enthronement and a Celebration -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 275 - 145. In the Name of the Holy King -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    The banquet got underway inside the flashy hall.


    Maybe because it was the day before the coronation, many important people continued to enter the banquet hall, one after another.


    From the gentle, soothing background music, to the various luxurious cuisine laid out¡­


    ¡­I had no time to enjoy any one of it.


    That¡¯s because the moment I stepped inside the banquet hall, I was instantly mobbed by a throng of people.


    ¡°How do you do, Your Highness! This servant is Count Pudin, hailing from the County of Orun!¡±


    ¡°How do you do? Do you perhaps remember me, Your Highness? I¡¯m Celia!¡±


    The heads of the various noble houses, and the scions and esteemed daughters of nobility, all crowded me.


    They continued to shove glasses filled with fine liquor in my face, and I could only accept them all with an awkward grin.


    As soon as I began gasping for breath and showing signs of struggling to cope, Charlotte, acting as my escort, quickly stood in their way. ¡°His Highness wishes to take a rest. Please everyone, you must¡­¡±


    ¡°Oho! Aren¡¯t you Her Ladyship Marquis Charlotte?¡±


    She flinched and turned her head. A rotund nobleman was bowing his head to greet her, his hand pressed to his chest. It wasn¡¯t just him, though, as more sons and daughters of the noble houses began gathering around her, as well.


    ¡°W-wait a second¡­!¡±


    Before long, Charlotte was dragged away from me.


    She was a member of none other than the Heraiz house. I wasn¡¯t all that clued up on what the special thing about her lineage was, but from the looks of things, her family seemed to be well-regarded by the other nobles.


    This development certainly took some of the burden off my shoulders, though. Charlotte was pressed further away from me while floundering like a drowning woman.


    ¡°¡­No suspicious movements so far, sir?¡± Hans whispered to me from behind, after confirming that the coast was clear and walking up to me. Right now he was actually clean-cut and smartly dressed.


    I scanned the gathered nobles using my [Mind¡¯s Eye]. ¡°Nope, none at all. They are all humans. Of course, I don¡¯t have a clue if there are human spies mixed in among them.¡±


    What Hans was most worried about was the sealing of the Imperial Family, using the heart of Mist Calf. In other words, the Warp Magic.


    Opening a gateway to another dimension and sending lifeforms there required a specific technique. It should be impossible to pull off since Count Timong was dead¡­ but there was always that one in a million chance.


    Hans had said this during their discussion earlier: {¡°Three days, sir. All we have to do is to endure for the next three days, until the coronation.¡±}


    That was how long until all the demonic energy from Mist Calf¡¯s heart dissipated. Meaning, the vampires had a time frame of three days where they could potentially try something underhanded.


    Hans mumbled softly, ¡°Of course, if those vampires have functioning brains, they wouldn¡¯t dare try something stupid now.¡±


    ¡°I agree with you on that one.¡±


    The threat Hans spoke about? The odds of it happening were around one percent, tops. Even then, both Hans and I had made preparations, just in case.


    I glanced at Hans. His eyes were bloodshot, while thick black bags were hanging below his eyes.


    Man, he looks like crap, that¡¯s for sure.


    ¡°¡­Hey, man, you feeling alright?¡±


    ¡°I was preparing the whole night, sir. That¡¯s why.¡±


    ¡°I pity you. We don¡¯t even know if they will really show up here or not.¡±


    ¡°But, sir. You¡¯ve also been making preparations for that off chance, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. And thanks to that, it looks like I won¡¯t be able to weasel out of becoming the Holy King now.¡±


    ¡°Just do it, sir. Some people are frothing at the mouth while trying so hard to move up in the world, you know,¡± Hans retorted in a manner wholly unsuitable for the occasion.


    The nobles near us frowned deeply at his attitude.


    Surely these folk must¡¯ve done their investigations on Hans by now. They were looking down on him and trivialised him simply because his background was that of a commoner.


    What an unfortunate thing that was, though. Disregarding a bona fide talent of a century just because of his lowly birth.


    ¡°Besides, sir, the easiest time for the vampires to make their move should be tomorrow,¡± Hans added.


    Even if they were the so-called noble vampires and whatnot, they still wouldn¡¯t have the balls to infiltrate the Imperial Palace. That meant that they had only one chance they could potentially seize: during the coronation of the Holy King.


    More specifically, during the pilgrimage to the statue of Goddess Gaia located in the city¡¯s main plaza, which involved me and the others leaving the Imperial Palace.


    They would surely aim for that.


    ¡°In any case, you are implying that if nothing happens by tomorrow, it¡¯ll be peaceful for us, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct, sir.¡± Hans nodded, but he kept staring at me. ¡°Please don¡¯t forget, you must make it as flashy as possible, like we¡¯ve talked about. What was it again¡­? Ah, right, like when you were showing off your military prowess back during the Church of Caiolium incident. Just like that, sir.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easier said than done, you know.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a preventative measure, sir. Please do your best!¡±


    ¡°The idea of suffering from intense muscle aches while trying to prevent something doesn¡¯t sound so appealing to me, though.¡±


    I drank the wine from my glass.


    Hans stared at me in silence for a little while, before finally asking, ¡°Aren¡¯t you at least a little bit apprehensive, sir?¡±


    ¡°Regarding what?¡±


    I looked back at him, and he dry-coughed as if he was flustered just now, ¡°Even though I¡¯m a genius¡­ Just like we discussed earlier, the odds of them attacking us are only around one percent, sir. Even then¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re getting ready precisely because there¡¯s a one percent chance of it happening. I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s not possible, but if Count Timong is still alive somehow, then that mistake is on me. I¡¯ll take care of my own mess.¡±


    ¡°But sir, aren¡¯t you a bit too gullible? Is it alright for you to listen to the advice of a commoner?¡±


    You know, Hans? I often think this, but uh, it feels like you keep forgetting that I¡¯m an Imperial Prince, you fool.


    If it was any other noble, they would¡¯ve chopped your head off already for impudence.


    While glancing in dissatisfaction at Hans, I took out a parchment from my item window.


    ¡°The esteemed daughter of the family of guardians protecting the noble Theocratic Empire, Alice Astoria, is gracing us with her presence!¡± the grand chamberlain loudly announced.


    The banquet hall¡¯s door opened, and Alice strode inside.


    Silence immediately descended on the venue, and I could spy the nobles beginning to get flustered. Some among them, those folks with deep religious convictions, even began praying the moment they clapped their eyes on Alice.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s the Lady Saintess!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the granddaughter of Cardinal Raphael, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°Apparently she hid the fact that she¡¯s a Saintess until now.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I hear His Majesty the Holy Emperor will personally confirm whether she¡¯s a Saintess or not after the coronation.¡±


    The silence was quickly shattered by all their whispering, which grew loud enough to overtake the background music in the banquet hall.


    This reaction certainly didn¡¯t qualify as ¡®good¡¯, I¡¯d say.


    Alice seemed to be flustered as well, as I could see her falter a bit just now. I muttered to no one in particular, ¡°Well, that¡¯s gonna be troublesome.¡±


    She had been hiding the truth of her being a Saintess before now, all to prevent vampires coming to hunt her down, as well as to grow stronger in a safe location while no one was paying much attention to her.


    But I ended up exposing her secret so carelessly up north in Ronia. I was definitely at fault, since I got too greedy with trying to minimise the sacrifices and protect the lives of the convict soldiers back then.


    I looked back down to the parchment in my hands, then called out to Hans, ¡°Hey, Hans.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir?¡±


    I pressed the parchment to his chest. He ended up receiving it, looking rather puzzled.


    ¡°You said something about advice from a commoner, right? With this, there¡¯s no more reason to say crap like that.¡±


    Hans confirmed the contents of the parchment, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. ¡°J¡­ Jerurami?¡±


    The parchment contained my decree, granting him a surname, and also bestowing a peerage that allowed him to use a residence within the capital.


    ¡°It¡¯s the peerage document. With my authority, I can only grant you the rank of viscount, however.¡±


    A commoner suddenly became a viscount. Sure, the other nobles would get pretty vocal about this, but I was planning to ignore them all.


    I was a mangnani, and not to forget, I was about to ascend to the role of the Holy King. Who would dare raise a voice of objection regarding this issue?


    I looked at Hans. ¡°I¡¯ll raise your peerage to something better at a later stage. You¡¯ve already accomplished more than enough to earn it, after all.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Enjoy the banquet, okay?¡± With that, I walked away.


    I sensed his gaze landing on my back, but I ignored it.


    My steps took me to a spot right before Alice, where I stood tall like a statue. She flinched in surprise and stared back at me, and I extended my hand to her. ¡°Wanna dance?¡±


    The whispering of the nobles came to an abrupt halt. Even the music in the banquet hall changed.


    The nobles got into pairs at the turn of the music and began dancing to the rhythm. The gazes directed at Alice were dispersed for the time being.


    She made an awkward expression and answered, ¡°This one¡¯s etiquette is still sorely lacking, and as such, I¡¯m not certain if I can satisfy your expectations, Your Highness¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, since I also suck at it, too. So, why don¡¯t you teach me? Like how you taught me magic in the past.¡±


    A faint smile formed on her face. It seemed that she no longer felt repulsed by me.


    We held hands and began dancing around clumsily, but still got to enjoy the banquet nevertheless.


    Tomorrow was my coronation.


    I predicted that it¡¯d turn out to be a very tiring day, indeed¡­

 Chapter 276 - 145. In the Name of the Holy King -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    The night came and went.


    The bright sun rose to announce the arrival of the new morning to Laurensis, the imperial capital of the Theocratic Empire.


    The ocean of people was so vast that it was impossible to count them all. It filled up the various wide roads of the city.


    Travellers and nobles coming from all corners of the continent arrived today to witness the coronation of the noble Holy King.


    At the same time, in an abandoned house somewhere in Laurensis¡­


    The Progenitors, who had taken up residence here, were putting on a facade of regular humans.


    Infiltrating the imperial capital was incredibly tough. Perhaps due to the coronation of the Holy King, the entry inspection proved to be very strict.


    Priests had set up camps in front of the outer gates, and proceeded to do something utterly insane to every person wanting to enter: injecting divinity into their heads!


    A blood-creation would¡¯ve screamed from the sheer torment, which would¡¯ve led to them being beheaded right there and then.


    The Progenitors barely managed to infiltrate nonetheless by sucking up the intense pain. But now, they were planning to do something even more reckless.


    ¡°¡­You want to attack the Holy King?¡±


    The pasty complexions of the Progenitors paled even further.


    The Count-class and higher vampires had already fled from the capital a while ago. The remaining eight Progenitors were merely Barons, Viscounts, and Marquis Kirum. That was it. One of them was even gradually wasting away now.


    The Progenitors turned their heads and stared at the creature in question, the one still holding that distinctive crimson jewel.


    ¡°¡­Are you really Count Timong?¡±


    1


    His flesh had melted down. Vampires boasted an exceptional regenerative ability, yet his hand, his feet, and even the rest of his body were basically bones.


    Right now he resembled an aged zombie that had lost most of its old appearance.


    Despite boasting the noble peerage of Count, he couldn¡¯t even do anything about his current hideous appearance, and had to suffer the indignity of stuffing himself inside a jar loaded onto a wagon so that he could slip into the city.


    Bandages were tightly wrapped around almost his entire body, allowing him to barely maintain his still-melting body.


    The sound of a portion of his spine, still bent like a hunchback, collapsing and breaking apart could be heard.


    This creature, he¡­ was slowly dying.


    ¡°Who do I look like, then?¡± Count Timong retorted while scanning the gathered vampire nobles.


    His eyes were stained raw with madness, but somehow he had still managed to hold onto his rationality. He was trying quite hard to rein in his emotions so that he¡¯d get the chance to vent his rage and hatred.


    He continued on, ¡°And besides, we are not attacking the Holy King, but the one who¡¯s about to become it.¡±


    While saying that, Count Timong staggered weakly, and had to sit down on the spot. He panted laboriously and vomited out a mouthful of blood.


    The blood contained demonic energy, and instantly caught fire as soon as it was exposed to the air, evaporating. The Progenitors watching this scene paled even further.


    ¡°You wish to seal the Holy King?! Do you think such a plan is even logical?!¡±


    ¡°Leave me out of this plan of yours!¡±


    The plan being put forward here was to Seal away the candidate to the position of the Holy King, Seventh Imperial Prince Allen Olfolse.


    {Rather than thinking of living like some rats in a hole, show the world the pride of Vampires by sacrificing our lives. Be a hero, and seal the Holy King away! When you do, His Majesty the Vampire King shall remember you all!}


    The Progenitors had been entranced by Count Timong¡¯s powerful declaration and had come here. But after thinking about it some more, it became clear to them that this whole thing was an act of pure madness.


    Not only were they stuck in the middle of the enemy territory, they were now being told to seal the figurative leader of the human monsters, the Holy King!


    Was such a thing even possible in the first place?


    Marquis Kirum, sitting on a worn-down chair with his fingers interlocked, continued to stare at Count Timong. ¡°This sealing of the Holy King. Is it really possible?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is possible. It is! Demonic energy might be leaking out of this thing, but the gateway to Purgatory can still be opened. And with my alchemical skill, I can still send at least one person to that side, in this case the Holy King!¡±


    Marquis Kirum narrowed his eyes. ¡°Aren¡¯t you being too blinded by your desire for revenge?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I won¡¯t deny your accusation. But Marquis, hear me well. I¡¯m an Alchemist. I act based not on my emotions, but my rationality.¡± Count Timong shot a pointed glare in Marquis Kirum¡¯s direction. ¡°The sealing of the Holy King, it¡¯s not an impossible task. Not at all.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°You must¡¯ve seen it, too. The power of the Holy King¡­ That horrifying power; that vicious, merciless personality!¡±


    Marquis Kirum didn¡¯t deny that. The Seventh Imperial Prince was indeed powerful and vicious, after all.


    ¡°Now tell me, can we afford to leave such a human unchecked? I¡¯m asking you all this favour. Lend me your strength. I won¡¯t live for long. I will soon break down to ashes and die. But before that happens, give me a chance to exact my revenge on the bastard that has spat on my beliefs and on my life that has lasted one and a half millennia!¡±


    Count Timong went down on his knees. He even planted his head on the floor.


    As tears of blood trickled down from his eyes, Timong even began pleading as well. ¡°I beg of you, please help me, Your Excellency, Marquis Kirum!¡±


    Other than the Vampire King, Count Timong had never used the honorifics of other vampires. Such a man was discarding his lofty pride to earnestly beg them right now.


    Marquis Kirum watching this scene shed even more cold sweat than before. He now had to make a decision.


    Whether to wait for the next hundred fifty years while suffering intense oppression, or seal that damn Holy King away and become heroes that welcomed the advent of a new world for the vampires.


    ¡°¡­Marquis, sir. It¡¯s already time.¡±


    ¡°Their pilgrimage will soon begin.¡±


    Their only opportunity was during the pilgrimage itself. The Imperial Family members should be blinded by their arrogance, born out of the heavy security and their own absurd level of strength.


    As such, they would no doubt show many openings and let down their guard. That opening was the only chance the vampires would ever get to seal the Holy King away.


    3


    Marquis Kirum sucked in a deep breath. He had finally come to a decision.


    ¡°¡­We¡¯ll do it.¡±


    The Progenitors froze up. Their bodies began trembling from fear.


    Marquis Kirum glared at them. ¡°Didn¡¯t we all say we¡¯d do it, already?¡±


    His Spirit Speech forced the bodies of the other Progenitors to move against their will.


    ¡°Hold on, Marquis Kirum.¡±


    Before Kirum could leave the dilapidated house, he turned around to look at Timong.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t step forward during this operation. However¡­¡±


    Kirum stared at Count Timong in slight puzzlement.


    ¡°I have another favour to ask of you.¡±


    **


    Vampires melted into the huge sea of humans on the streets. They were now biding their time.


    Their plan was to attract attention, and the moment the Seventh Imperial Prince got too complacent, Count Timong would use Mist Calf¡¯s heart to seal that boy away.


    ¡®And they are indeed being careless right now.¡¯


    Behold the state of the streets right now! There were only the bare-minimum necessary Paladins manning their posts.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince had taken the lives of so many Progenitors before now. He had become far too confident of his own combat prowess, which had resulted in him climbing up to the role of Holy King.


    ¡®We shall strike him when he¡¯s the most defenceless.¡¯


    ¡®According to the reports, he¡¯s merely a strong human if he doesn¡¯t use his relics.¡¯


    The vampires were getting tense. Despite trembling in fear, they still pushed the crowd of people aside and continued to advance.


    The road leading up to Goddess Gaia¡¯s massive statue in the main plaza was restricted by the Paladins. The sea of onlookers still rushed in from the left and right side of the road, however.


    Bells started ringing next, and the people carrying flower baskets began scattering flower petals everywhere.


    Marquis Kirum, still in his court jester get-up, and Count Timong, under a thick robe, also dug into the large crowd of onlookers.


    There were plenty of opportunities. The cheering of the crowd would grow more raucous when the Seventh Imperial Prince made his entrance, which in turn would bury most other noises, making it easier for the vampires to act.


    The breathing of the vampires grew heavier and faster. They focused their thoughts, preparing themselves so that they could rouse their demonic energy at a moment¡¯s notice.


    ¡®He only has to come near us.¡¯


    ¡®Just one chance. One opening, that¡¯s all!¡¯


    ¡®Our role is to simply distract him. Everything will be solved when we¡­¡¯


    Suddenly, all cheering abruptly came to a halt.


    The vampires flinched and clamped their mouths shut.


    The eerie silence suddenly descended everywhere after every single person present stopped making any sound.


    ¡®What¡¯s this? What happened?¡¯


    The flower petals falling from the heavens vanished, only to be replaced by ¡®snow¡¯. At the same time, faint sounds could be heard coming from afar.


    That sound was actually a sacred hymn being sung.


    The subjects of the empire standing before the entrance to the Imperial Palace slowly raised their heads.


    Boom¡­ Boom¡­ Boom-!


    Marquis Kirum was utterly stupefied by what he saw next. He had also raised his head up to see, just like the humans around him.


    The eyes of a young child among the crowd went round in surprise as he shouted something out loudly, ¡°Mommy, it¡¯s a dragon!¡±


    Almost at the same time, Marquis Kirum gasped out as well, ¡°Oh, my dear lord Vampire King!¡±


    BOOM-!


    The well-polished road¡¯s surface began breaking apart. Thick, large claws dug in and shattered the ground as the creature marched on.


    Its large heart was pounding away loudly. Every single beat of the heart sent out waves of divinity into its surroundings.


    This legendary creature that boasted the lengthy spine and an equally-long tail connected at the end, the horn and sharp fangs oozing with majestic dignity, and the wings made out of bone¡­


    ¡­It was the Bone Dragon!


    This legendary creature was taking the lead in the pilgrimage.


    A throne was placed on top of this creature, and a person was seated upon it.


    Behind the Bone Dragon were rows of undead marching forward in a well-drilled manner. Flags attached to the ends of the spear shafts they held up danced in the winds. The eyes of the musket-wielding undead were glowing sharply, even under the sunlight.


    Undead were also carrying a sedan chair, and Alice, riding on top of it, was singing a sacred hymn for all to hear.


    A Bone Wyvern was flying in the air, and swooped low towards the ground. The empire¡¯s subjects, rendered speechless before now, all erupted in loud cheers.


    They extended their hands towards the Seventh Imperial Prince. Their loud calls and clamouring in turn deafened the vampires hidden among them.


    Marquis Kirum and Count Timong felt their consciousness grow fainter from this spectacle.


    Hans, walking among the marching undead, used a magic tool and broadcast his voice for all to hear.


    ¡°Now behold. Take a look, you abominable vampires!¡±


    These humans already knew it.


    ¡°This is our noble and grand power!¡±


    They knew that vampires were planning to sneak attack them.


    ¡°Engrave this scene to your memory and be fearful. Hide away, and shiver in your terror!¡±


    Marquis Kirum clenched his teeth. They had failed. They needed to flee from here right now.


    Letting down their guard? Sealing the Holy King away? No, that bastard had not let his guard down at all.


    Sealing him would be an impossibility now.


    But that was no longer surprising, because he was¡­


    ¡°He is the emissary of the goddess who will pass judgement on the false lives! He is the true¡­¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince sitting on the throne, Allen Olfolse, slowly raised his head.


    ¡°¡­Holy King!¡±


    2


    Marquis Kirum took in the boy prince¡¯s figure and shuddered in fright. ¡°Allen Olfolse¡­¡±


    The one about to ascend to the Holy King¡¯s throne had revealed his full majestic grandeur in front of the vampires.


    < 145. In the Name of the Holy King -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 277 - 146. In the Name of the Holy King -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    The Bone Wyvern flew low to the ground to scan the empire¡¯s subjects before passing them by.


    The holy undead held their flag poles and muskets high, as if they wanted to pierce the heavens above.


    ¡°The Seventh Imperial Prince, hooray-!¡±


    ¡°Hooray, His Majesty the Holy King, hooray-!¡±


    ¡°Our Theocratic Empire will last forever-!¡±


    The citizens continued to cheer on.


    Before long, large snowflakes falling from the sky dyed the pilgrimage road white. My Bone Dragon stomped through the snow created out of divinity.


    {¡°Please make it very noisy. And also as flashy as possible, sir.¡±} That¡¯s what Hans told me.


    {¡°What we¡¯re looking to achieve is ¡®prevention¡¯, sir. In three days¡¯ time, those bastards won¡¯t be able to do anything. Three days.¡±}


    The expiration date for using the heart of Mist Calf lasted until today, the day of the coronation. It would lose its power to open up the dimensional gateway after that.


    That¡¯s why¡­ ¡°Hopefully, this much will be enough.¡±


    Seated on the throne mounted on the Bone Dragon, I rested my chin on the palm of my hand.


    We would be arriving at the main plaza pretty soon. All I had to do was to pray for around five minutes to the massive statue of Goddess Gaia located there, then return to the Imperial Palace.


    ¡°Man, I¡¯m starting to ache already.¡±


    Judging from all the ominous squirming of my body, I figured that painful muscle aches were in store for me later tonight.


    Alice was using her Resonance, while I resorted to activating the Aztal Rune, the Throne¡¯s Armrest, Amon¡¯s Grimoire, and even Summoned the Bone Dragon, too.


    The pilgrimage should go on for another twenty minutes or so. In other words, I had to keep this up for a little while longer.


    I activated [Mind¡¯s Eye] and continued to scan the throngs of onlookers. But there were just too many people here, and that made differentiating them difficult. Some even had their faces covered, as well.


    Either the vampires were not here in the first place, or were about to flee after witnessing this spectacle. If there were not here, Hans and my worries were probably for nothing.


    While I was thinking about stuff like that, the statue of the Goddess Gaia in the distance finally entered my vision. The thing was at least twenty metres tall.


    We finally reached the front of the imposing statue of our dear goddess. At Charlotte¡¯s command, the Paladins already on standby began the preparations for the prayer ceremony.


    Meanwhile, my holy undead surrounded the perimeter of the plaza, standing there in rank and file.


    The Bone Dragon came to a stop in front of the statue and lowered its head.


    I stood up from the throne and walked down the Bone Dragon¡¯s spine, its neck, and lightly jumped off from its skull.


    My gaze slowly drifted up the goddess statue.


    The goddess had long, straight hair, a helm with plumes sticking out was on her head, while an intricate yet extraordinary armour covered her figure. Finally, a sword was hanging from her hip.


    I gotta say, from what angle does she look like the goddess of love and mercy, or the goddess of life itself?


    Man, even the goddess herself looks like a battle maniac.


    As expected of a violence-loving religious organisation. What a bunch of bloodthirsty savages, if you ask me¡­


    Charlotte walked up to me and whispered in my ear, ¡°Please offer your prayers, and we will be finished after that.¡±


    A gorgeously decorated altar was placed before the statue, while an impressively gilded holy book was resting on top of said altar. Decorations made from countless flowers were lined up on the left and right of the altar, too.


    I silently walked over there and stood tall before the goddess statue, prompting the loud cheering of the crowd to gradually die down. The atmosphere became solemn rather quickly.


    Only Alice¡¯s singing was ringing out gently in my surroundings.


    I brought my hands together, locked my fingers, and went down on one knee.


    The holy undead, the Paladins, and even the citizens all knelt to offer their prayers, as well.


    In the middle of my prayer, though, I cracked my eyelids open a sliver.


    ¡®It¡¯s now. The only chance the vampires would get if they want to attack. So, what are you all going to do now?


    Will you risk your lives in a suicidal act, or get frightened out of your wits and withdraw?


    Whatever you choose to do today, it¡¯ll still be¡­


    ¡°¡­the confirmation of your defeat.¡±


    I curled up the corners of my lips and closed my eyes again to continue with the prayer.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Marquis Kirum was hidden among the huge crowd, kneeling down as well. He interlocked his fingers and bowed down to pretend that he was praying too.


    How humiliating this was!


    Getting terrified by the Holy King wasn¡¯t humiliating enough, but now, he even had to kneel and bow his head to the goddess of life.


    He felt like shedding tears of blood from the misery of it all.


    ¡°It¡¯s now¡­!¡± He heard a quiet whisper within this still silence. Marquis Kirum flinched in surprise and turned his head.


    Count Timong was glaring at the Seventh Imperial Prince kneeling before the goddess statue with bloodshot eyes.


    Judging from how he was shuddering away like that, it was rather clear that his rationality had failed to keep up with his surging emotions.


    ¡®Dammit, Count Timong has lost his rationality!¡¯


    Right now was the time for them to withdraw, yet Timong had become completely blinded by his desire for revenge.


    Count Timong tried to get up, but Marquis Kirum quickly reached out and grabbed the enraged Alchemist¡¯s arm, silently shaking his head.


    The moment Count Timong stood up, they would pounce on him without mercy!


    ¡®Take a good look!¡¯


    It might not be the case with the others, but at least with the holy undead, they were all just pretending to be praying right now. They might be kneeling and bowing their heads, but their hands had never let go of their weapons.


    Even the Bone Dragon was scanning the crowd with its brightly-glowing eyeballs. It was like they were searching for any vampires.


    Everyone was on their knees, praying. Standing up in such a place would instantly paint a target on your back.


    ¡°No matter what, I¡¯ll still end up dying, marquis.¡±


    When he heard that reply, Marquis Kirum¡¯s gaze shifted over to the hand gripping Count Timong¡¯s arm. He distinctly felt the sensation of flesh melting away underneath the loose-fitting robe.


    The powerful divinity was still melting the vampire¡¯s whole body down and gradually killing him. He even had to listen to a Saintess singing a sacred hymn, so his demise was pretty much guaranteed now.


    ¡°As such, I choose to struggle, even if it¡¯s all by myself.¡±


    The light of determination burned fiercely in Count Timong¡¯s eyes. He was determined to land at least one sucker punch to the bastard, even if doing so would cost his life!


    It seemed to be impossible to change his mind at this stage. It couldn¡¯t be helped anymore.


    Marquis Kirum quietly closed his eyes. ¡°Very well. In that case, Regis, Beramin, Grawn¡­¡± he called out to the other Progenitors hidden within the crowd using Spirit Speech filled with demonic energy.


    Progenitor vampires that were hiding among the onlookers in various locations flinched in surprise. Matching the new disturbance, the holy undead responded in unison.


    Hundreds of holy undead and the Bone Dragon glared at Marquis Kirum. They had detected the flow of demonic energy!


    ¡°Marquis Kirum?¡± Count Timong¡¯s eyes opened wider in shock.


    ¡°This is an order.¡± Marquis Kirum used Spirit Speech once more.


    The holy undead all stood up, and gripped their weapons tighter.


    ¡°Hurry up, and attack Holy King Allen Olfolse right n¡­!¡±


    CRUNCH-!


    Count Timong¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    That was because, in less than a blink of an eye, the Bone Dragon¡¯s large maw had ripped Marquis Kirum¡¯s upper torso in half!


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Count Timong gasped out in shock.


    At this time, the empire¡¯s citizens near Marquis Kirum finally sensed that something was off. They began cracking open their eyes a little.


    The sight greeting them was the remnant of someone¡¯s lower torso going up in bluish flames. They were initially dazed by this scene, but blood-curdling screams resounded out soon after.


    ¡°K-kyaaaaaaahk?!¡±


    ¡°A p-p-person is on fire?!¡±


    The prayer session came to an abrupt halt. All the nearby citizens screamed and fell into a bout of panic.


    Count Timong clenched his teeth.


    This was his opportunity. The sole opportunity Marquis Kirum managed to create by sacrificing his own life.


    Right at this moment¡­!


    ¡°I shall seal the Holy King away!¡±


    Timong glared at Allen currently kneeling in front of the goddess statue. Even though the vampires had revealed themselves and the citizens had all fallen into a panicked state, he didn¡¯t pay any heed and had not moved from the spot.


    Complete indifference.


    It looked as if he was continuing his prayer, as dictated by his deeply pious heart.


    At the same time, he was clearly looking down on the vampires right now, too!


    ¡°B-bloody hell?! My body, it¡¯s moving on its own¡­?!¡±


    The hidden vampires began raising up their demonic energy against their will after Marquis Kirum¡¯s Spirit Speech affected them.


    That focused the attention of the holy undead to them. The eerie creatures gripped their weapons tightly. They glared at the vampires with burning eyeballs, then took aim with their muskets.


    ¡°W-wait a minute¡­!¡±


    Holy bullets containing healing magic were fired in a loud cacophony, and the vampires hidden among the citizens were killed off after turning into beehives, all full of holes.


    Their entire bodies were riddled with gunshot holes, and their corpses went up in flames.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have a choice now! Attack the Holy King-!¡±


    They had been discovered already.


    Marquis Kirum had been blessed with a type of Divine Aura called [Glib Tongue of Bedazzlement]; this skill exerted a power that none of the vampires, brainwashed by him for a long time, could disobey.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go-!¡±


    The surviving vampires leapt up from their spots. The glares of every undead were locked on them in the next instant.

 Chapter 278 - 146. In the Name of the Holy King -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    -For the eternal extermination of all false lives!-


    1


    A man kitted out in a set of radiant armour stepped away from behind the Bone Dragon.


    The Berserker Kasim Derian swung his huge greatsword and sliced apart an incoming vampire.


    -Let there be neverending glory for our master!-


    Nasus, wielding a musket, fired a holy bullet.


    Charlotte raised her shield and placed her sword on top, making sure to protect Allen¡¯s unguarded back. Her sharp glares landed on the vampires next.


    And so, Count Timong was finally given the opening he wanted so desperately.


    ¡°I cannot back away now. Now is the time to¡­!¡±


    This would be the moment that the era of prosperity for all vampires finally began, after thousands of years of ruination.


    And he would become¡­


    ¡°I shall be the hero recorded in the annals of history!¡±


    Count Timong¡¯s lengthy fingers quickly darted this way and that, drawing a warp magic circle on the ground. His target was right behind the unguarded back of the Holy King.


    The gap between him and Charlotte was narrow, but it should still be possible to land the spell there!


    The Warp Circle was rapidly completed. He slammed his palm down and injected demonic energy into it.


    Count Timong¡¯s body broke down into tiny particles and his vision darkened momentarily. By the time he regained his sight, he was already right behind Prince Allen¡¯s back.


    At the same time, the Seventh Imperial Prince had finished his prayer. He said, ¡°Yup, Hans was right.¡±


    He waved his hand and summoned a musket.


    Charlotte flinched in shock, spun around, and instantly took a swing with her sword.


    Count Timong yanked out a crimson jewel from under his robe and pointed it at the back of Allen¡¯s head. ¡°Do not move!¡±


    His shout brought about an instant halt to Charlotte¡¯s sword swing. Her divine sword had severed a portion of Timong¡¯s throat by then.


    The musket Allen had Summoned was pointing at Count Timong¡¯s face, as well.


    Still exposing his back, Allen turned his head slightly and glared at the vampire.


    ¡°I, I said, don¡¯t move a muscle!¡± Count Timong cried out, while breathing laboriously.


    The crimson jewel in his hand was the missing part of Mist Calf¡¯s heart. Powerful demonic energy was swirling madly within it.


    Allen glanced at that and furrowed his brow.


    ¡°The moment you use your divinity, this heart will show a reaction,¡± declared Timong. What he failed to mention just then was that, even if he died right now, it was engineered so that the dimensional gateway would still open. ¡°If you do, this whole place will turn into literal hell!¡±


    Timong continued panting breathlessly. It felt like his body was finally breaking down out of his control.


    ¡°You bastard, you will be trapped inside Purgatory, and the undead in there will emerge on this side.¡±


    The vampire curled the corners of his lips up.


    Even if this bastard had made preparations, the Seventh Imperial Prince was still too careless. He probably didn¡¯t expect his enemies to get this close to him.


    However, the Seventh Imperial Prince answered with a completely disinterested expression on his face, ¡°You think that¡¯s actually going to work?¡±


    Count Timong began shedding cold sweat at that. A sword was piercing into his neck, while the muzzle of a musket was aimed at his face right now.


    Alice¡¯s hymn was also making his head dizzy.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. It might not work. Even if a bastard like you was sealed away, as long as Holy Emperor Kelt is alive, the gate to Purgatory will be closed in the end. However!¡±


    However, today¡¯s action would be¡­


    ¡°This will be our first victory!¡±


    ¡­The vampires¡¯ first victory!


    Not just any victory either, but the successful sealing of an object of terror, Holy King Allen Olfolse! Once this news spread to the rest of the continent, countless vampires would be encouraged to start an uprising of their own.


    The age of revolution would soon descend on this world!


    ¡°I shall become a hero, the ray of hope that will save my kind hidden throughout this world!¡±


    Timong was destined to disappear from this world without achieving the glorious feat of opening a gateway to another dimension. If he was going to die anyway, then he might as well die as a hero, instead!


    But then, Allen suddenly began snickering. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    Count Timong was rendered speechless.


    ¡°Charlotte? Step aside for a minute.¡±


    Charlotte hesitated when Allen spoke to her.


    ¡°It¡¯s an order.¡±


    She cautiously extracted the sword cutting into Count Timong, then stepped back while lowering her blade and raising her shield up. She was ready to intervene at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Count Timong glared at the Seventh Imperial Prince.


    ¡®He withdrew his underling?¡¯


    Just where was his confidence even coming from?!


    ¡®No, do not be scared. I¡¯ve already lost everything. It¡¯s foolish to be scared of a gamble when I¡¯ve nothing left to lose!¡¯


    Allen opened his mouth, ¡°You seem to be deluding yourself, Mister Count. You say your desire is to seal me away and achieve the first victory for the vampires?¡±


    He snorted derisively as if what he heard just now had failed to impress him.


    ¡°Have you thought about what will happen when you fail?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°Are you even aware of what kind of an occasion this is?¡±


    The Seventh Imperial Prince got back to his feet, causing Count Timong to falter and stumble back.


    Allen looked behind him, not a single sign of hesitation in his actions.


    Even though the heart of Mist Calf that could seal him away was right in front of his nose, he acted as if he didn¡¯t care. He was actively provoking the other side.


    ¡°This is the coronation of the Holy King.¡±


    Count Timong flinched.


    Allen dropped the musket to the floor and spread open his arms wide. ¡°And a few scared vampires tried to attack the coronation. But what if you all failed? What then?¡±


    Timong¡¯s eyes gradually widened. His head creaked and turned as he took in the sight of his surroundings.


    All the other Progenitors had been slain by now. As for the empire¡¯s subjects, they were obviously scared silly.


    However, none of them had fled.


    Their expressions might be filled with fear, but there was also a hint of expectation, an ardent wish, mixed in their faces as well. All these countless people, humans who had come from all corners of the continent¡­


    They were staring at the Holy King who had descended to this world, and the lone surviving vampire trying to stop him.


    So, if Timong ¡®lost¡¯ during this encounter, then¡­


    A twisted grin floated up on Allen¡¯s lips. ¡°Looks like your brain has finally begun to function properly.¡±


    ¡­Then, it¡¯d be practically the same as acknowledging the wide-scale defeat of the vampires.


    A powerful lump of fear welled up in Count Timong¡¯s heart. This terror took over his rationality in an instant. Just he alone was now the deciding factor in the defeat of the entire vampire race.


    ¡°Keep racking your brain. Do your best to struggle.¡± Allen held his head up high and retorted snarkily. ¡°Think about how to overcome this crisis, Mister Count.¡±


    Count Timong¡¯s eyes shook hard. His teeth clattered noisily.


    His opponent held knowledge on Warp Magic. No, wait; it was more like, his degree of understanding on the items of the other dimension was far, far higher than Timong¡¯s.


    Just what did that signify?


    ¡®He¡¯s already prepared a countermeasure for the Warp!¡¯


    It was right at that moment that Count Timong sensed a distinct presence behind him. It came from a Lich breathing heavily.


    Nasus was taking aim with his musket right now. This undead must¡¯ve been responsible for interfering with the Warp Magic back in the ice castle.


    ¡®Does his confidence come from this Lich?¡¯


    No, that didn¡¯t seem right. Even if it was a Lich, it¡¯d only add more chaos to the demonic energy in Mist Calf¡¯s heart once the crimson jewel was activated.


    It could be that the bastard was thinking of deciphering and cancelling Timong¡¯s Warp Gate as soon as it was initiated.


    This human boy, he¡­ he was blinded by his arrogance. Timong had no choice but to think that way.


    ¡®It¡¯s impossible. This punk will never decipher my Warp!¡¯


    There was no way anyone could match the knowledge Timong had accumulated for the past fifteen hundred years.


    The Vampire Count opened his eyes wider and glared at Allen. His breathing became even more rough and laborious. ¡°Fuu-woo¡­ Ha-ah, ha-ahk¡­ Uwaaaaaahk!¡±


    Count Timong injected his demonic energy into Mist Calf¡¯s heart.


    In response to his action, the crimson jewel suddenly went berserk. The nearby surrounding space distorted and warped. A line as thin as a piece of paper suddenly materialised in the empty air.


    It was the dimensional gateway, a Warp Gate connected to Purgatory.


    And it began opening up!


    ¡°I shall seal you away, you bastard!¡±


    Count Timong quickly calculated; using all the accumulated knowledge in his head, he rapidly engraved rune letters in the air and encrypted the access code to the dimensional doorway.


    ¡°And with this, I shall announce to the rest of the world!¡± Count Timong¡¯s body was now crumbling away for good. ¡°I declare that, we the vampires, our kind, have finally grasped victory!¡±


    The thin line split open noisily as if it was a maw of a living creature.


    Allen¡¯s brows shot up high as he stared inside the Warp Gate.


    It was a literal hell inside, a world dyed in monotone grey hue.


    The entirety of the terrain seemed to solely consist of grotesque flesh, while oceans and lakes made out of blood could be seen.


    Withered, dried-up trees were moving around, while bizarre corpses of non-human creatures resembling zombies were rolling around or crawling about to cannibalise their own kind.


    Screams were echoing throughout the grey sky, while a humongous ship made out of bones easily a hundred metres-plus in length sailed past his view.


    It was a completely different world. This perfected dimensional gateway was quite different from what the Necromancers had managed to open back in Elusha.


    The doorway to Purgatory had finally opened up in this world!


    ¡°You really opened it¡­?¡± Witnessing this scene, Allen looked stupefied, before his head fell lower.


    Count Timong watched that reaction and broke into a loud peal of laughter. Indeed, this fool had been putting on an act!


    This human was planning to scare Timong into not completing the Warp Gate today!


    ¡°Oh, hear me, Holy King! Be frightened! Your accursed power, your accursed flesh, they will all be sealed away in¡­!¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much, Count Timong.¡±


    Allen held his forehead, all the while slowly raising his head. A smile was etched on his face, but it was an indescribably cruel and twisted smile.


    He said, ¡°What you, you moron, have done is¡­¡±


    His appearance, it¡­


    ¡°You opened the gateway to Hell that the vampires will travel through very soon.¡±


    ¡­It was like looking at the face of a demon king from a fairy tale.


    < 146. In the Name of the Holy King -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 279 - 147. In the Name of the Holy King -3 (Part One)

    Translate by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The gateway to Purgatory materialised right in the middle of the plaza. The empire¡¯s subjects started screaming loudly in terror.


    A world so horrifying and disgusting to behold, where lands were made out of writhing flesh and bizarre screams reverberated throughout the sky.


    Zombies roamed around freely, devouring their own kind, while a ship of death was floating on the ocean of blood.


    Unlike his screaming subjects, however, Allen was smiling deeply. He swept his gaze over the crowd. Their attention was completely focused on the Warp Gate right now.


    This was what he had been waiting for all along.


    ¡°Now behold, my subjects!¡± Allen roared out as loudly as he could. ¡°This is the world the vampires wish to create!¡±


    What? What was he even talking about?


    Count Timong¡¯s gaze shifted over to Purgatory. That hellish place was so horrifying that not even vampires could survive there for long.


    Yet, this boy was saying something about vampires wanting to create such a world?


    ¡°What these bastards want to see is our world turning into hell! I ask all of you, do you wish to live in a hellish world like that?!¡±


    A sudden deathly chill ran down Count Timong¡¯s spine just then.


    ¡®Oh, my gods. This, this¡­!¡¯


    This was a trap!


    This boy, he had deliberately allowed the gateway to Purgatory to open up. All so that he could turn every single vampire into an object of terror and drive that idea deep into the hearts of everyone in this world.


    What this bastard was aiming to achieve right now, was¡­!


    ¡°We shall stop these monsters!¡±


    It was to show to the world the scene of him closing the gate to Purgatory, and completely crushing the vampires!


    It was to prove that the Imperial Family were the absolute beings!


    ¡°Nasus!¡±


    The Lich named Nasus stepped forward, then it held its musket up to fire a projectile.


    The gateway that was gradually opening wider was struck by the holy bullet and stopped growing. The Lich indeed stopped the Warp Gate¡¯s expansion, but its effort wasn¡¯t perfect.


    The ancient runes, encrypted by Count Timong himself, were impossible to decipher in such a short period of time.


    ¡®T-that¡¯s right. It¡¯s impossible, I tell you! It¡¯s utterly impossible!¡¯


    Even if it was a Lich, all it could do right now was to buy some time. As such, now was Timong¡¯s chance.


    ¡®Seal the bastard away, now!¡¯


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­!¡± Count Timong raised both of his hands, and slammed them down on the ground with every ounce of energy he could muster.


    That caused the gateway to the Purgatory to expand even further. It swirled and spun around as if it wanted to suck something in.


    Countless hands made out of bones suddenly shot out from the gateway to grab at Allen¡¯s body. Almost instantly, his body began breaking apart into tiny particles.


    ¡®Yes, I did it!¡¯


    Count Timong¡¯s expression brightened, but that lasted only for a short moment.


    Allen was just standing there, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He wasn¡¯t budging from his spot.


    Timong was overcome with anxiety at this sight. ¡®Just what¡¯s making you feel so confident like this?!¡¯


    This was a sealing technique. Yet the bastard about to be sealed away wasn¡¯t putting up any resistance whatsoever, nor did he even try to decipher the secrets of the Runes. No, he was simply¡­ accepting it?


    But, what could possibly be his reason¡­?


    ¡°Viscount Hans Jerurami!¡± the Holy King suddenly called out, and another human stepped out into the open. Count Timong¡¯s eyes automatically shifted over to him.


    This young man was accompanied by many Paladins, who were carrying a huge crimson jewel, the heart of Mist Calf, as they stopped before the Warp Gate.


    ¡®What¡¯s this?¡¯


    The human named Hans placed the heart of Mist Calf in front of the Warp Gate, then injected his Mana into the crimson jewel.


    ¡®No, could it be¡­?!¡¯


    ¡°Sir, I shall now start the decoding process. And then¡­¡±


    Count Timong¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    Hans continued in a confident voice, ¡°I shall close the gateway to Purgatory!¡±


    **


    Hans was soaked in cold sweat right now.


    His fear-filled face was all too clear for everyone to see.


    The advice he gave to Allen back then, was this:


    {Sir, please do everything you can to prevent the vampires from opening the gateway to Purgatory.}


    That was to prevent the vampire bastards from activating the Warp Gate.


    However, things had gone way past what was acceptable in his view right now. The Seventh Imperial Prince was putting up possibly the performance of his lifetime in front of all the gathered subjects of the empire.


    {Let¡¯s say a Warp Gate opens up. Are you able to close it?}, the Seventh Imperial Prince had asked.


    Hans replied confidently with, ¡°Of course, sir! Just who am I? Aren¡¯t I a certifiable genius, sir?!¡±


    He was being serious there. Sure, he might have lost to the vampires, but he still wanted to declare that he was a step ahead of those blood-sucking undead bastards.


    The Seventh Imperial Prince grinned after hearing that reply. The end result of that grin was this development unfolding right now.


    ¡®Aaargh, bloody hell!¡¯


    As expected of the Imperial Family! None of them were sane!


    Hans heard a story from Alice during their adventure in Aihrance. She said that whenever they were dead sure about something, the members of the Imperial Family had this tendency to not ask any questions and simply bulldoze ahead.


    The ¡®Allen¡¯ of right now neatly fit that description. There was a risk of him getting sealed away. There was also the risk of the Theocratic Empire falling into grave danger.


    Allen knew all this, yet why did it look like he didn¡¯t care about that and was enjoying himself at the moment?


    ¡®Wait, he¡¯s actually having fun?¡¯


    Hans stared at Allen before shaking his head.


    That couldn¡¯t be it. The Seventh Imperial Prince was less than enthusiastic about becoming the Holy King. So there was simply no way that a person like him would be having fun while doing something this dangerous.


    This whole thing must¡¯ve been him trying to perfectly wrap up this loose end, the mistake he made by letting Count Timong escape with his life earlier. Yes, that had to be it.


    ¡®His Highness has entrusted me with this mission.¡¯


    Hans stared at the mouth of Purgatory. A portion of Allen¡¯s head had disintegrated into particles and was getting sucked in there.


    Even in the midst of that, Allen was staring at Hans without any wavering in his eyes.


    Trust. Only that could be sensed within the light burning in his eyes.


    ¡®Yes, yes! I¡¯ll do it! Dang it, you can only overwork someone to a degree until it¡¯s no longer acceptable, you know?!¡¯


    Hans clenched his teeth and put on a pair of goggles. He then quickly put on the next part of his attire, leather gloves and a lab apron. His clothes flapped in the winds.


    While glaring at the mouth of Purgatory, he extended his left hand towards Mist Calf¡¯s heart and his right in the direction of the Warp Gate.


    ¡®However, I won¡¯t be satisfied by the peerage of viscount, sir! You better bestow the rank of Count, no wait, Marquis or even a Duke, sir! Because I will be¡­¡¯ Hans¡¯s brows shot up high. ¡®¡­accomplishing a feat good enough for it!¡¯


    He immediately got down to decoding the Warp Gate.


    He saw through the flow of demonic energy using his trusty goggles. The encrypted rune letters flowed freely within.


    He pictured a certain image in his head. It was of him staring at a doorway. Its sturdy lock had been encrypted. Hans grabbed his imaginary set of keys and began slotting them into the keyhole, one at a time.


    It didn¡¯t fit.


    Next.


    Didn¡¯t fit, again!


    Next!


    He slotted what seemed like countless keys in the keyhole over and over again. More cold sweat trickled down his skin.


    In the meantime, about half of Allen¡¯s body had been sucked away.


    ¡®No, this measly little thing won¡¯t¡­!¡¯


    A key slotted itself perfectly into the keyhole.


    ¡®It fits!¡¯


    He undid the lock and opened the door.


    The authority to control a portion of the demonic energy flowing within the Warp Gate was now given to him.


    ¡®Next.¡¯


    Hans opened the door and stared at the next locked doorway.


    One door after another, he continued to forge ahead and deciphered the code. Not only was he swift, he was sure-footed as well. He was precise and showed no openings.


    Hans¡¯s eyes became bloodshot and blood began trickling down from his nostrils from the fatigue.


    ¡ª


    ¡®Is he¡­ really human?¡¯


    Astonishment quickly filled Count Timong¡¯s expression.


    That human was systematically solving the encrypted codes that had been layered on top of one another!


    ¡ª


    ¡®¡­This is the last one.¡¯


    Hans stared at the last set of encrypted Runes. It was like he was staring at a massive fortress wall.


    He grit his teeth and extended both of his hands, waving them around in the empty air. He was now trying to control all the Runes and the flow of demonic energy.


    The demonic energy of Mist Calf aligned with his Mana and they moved together.


    ¡®Faster. Much faster!¡¯


    The time span of only a few seconds felt like several hours. It was moving so very slowly.


    Hans¡¯s hand movements as he deciphered the code suddenly came to a halt. Charlotte¡¯s eyes shot open wider at this sight, but Allen watched silently.


    Hans¡¯s hands limply fell to his sides. His shoulders slumped even lower, and his whole figure plopped down to the ground. While panting with some difficulty, he looked up at the Warp Gate with a lost and tired expression on his face.


    ¡ª


    Count Timong had become dazed for a short while just then, but he suddenly exploded into a fit of laughter. ¡°Hah, hahaha! T-that¡¯s right, it¡¯s impossible for the likes of you!¡±


    The trembling eyes of the vampire were glaring at Hans.


    ¡°A mere human can never decipher the ancient Runes that I personally came up with. One and a half millennia, that¡¯s the length of my life! You, you thought you could decode my life itself?! Utter nonsense! It¡¯s your loss today!¡±


    Hans winced at that, and stared at Count Timong.


    ¡°Did you say ¡®loss¡¯?¡± While saying that, he raised his hand. ¡°You know, that¡¯s my line.¡±


    He then snapped his fingers.


    ¡°It¡¯s your loss, you damn vampire.¡±


    Black hands suddenly emerged out of nowhere and grabbed the mouth of Purgatory opened up by the Warp Gate.


    Timong¡¯s eyes grew wider in an instant.


    It was the Mediators! They were forcibly closing the Warp Gate!


    Hans shifted his gaze back to Count Timong and retorted, ¡°Knowledge accumulated over one and a half thousand years, is it? Indeed, you bastard probably do possess a knowledge base as vast and impressive as that number suggests. However! You see, I¡­¡±


    He grabbed Timong by the collar and slammed his forehead against the latter¡¯s head.


    ¡°I am the possessor of the pool of knowledge passed down through the generations of my ancestors. Tell me, between dozens of my ancestors and a single vampire, which side do you think is stronger? Stop looking down on us humans, you stinking vampire!¡±


    Count Timong¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. ¡°¡­You, you bastard, just what are you?!¡±


    Hans straightened his back, and replied confidently. ¡°I¡¯m an Alchemist from a rural backwater. And now¡­¡±


    He turned his head and glanced at Allen. As the Warp Gate closed, the Prince¡¯s body, which had been breaking apart in particles, began regaining its previous shape once more.


    ¡°I¡¯m Viscount Hans Jerurami, who serves His Majesty the Holy King, Count!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°This has been a good battle, vampire. And today, you have lost to a human.¡±

 Chapter 280 - 147. In the Name of the Holy King -3 (Part Two)

    Translate by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Count Timong chuckled hollowly after hearing that.


    A genius. No, wait. For this human monster, the term ¡®genius¡¯ seemed hopelessly inadequate.


    ¡®How could a human reach such a lofty height like this one has?¡¯


    Timong was called a genius back in the ancient days when he was still alive, yet this human had surpassed him by an incalculable measure.


    The pool of knowledge inherited through the generations of his ancestors? What a funny notion that was. Even if that was true, such a pool would¡¯ve totalled no more than one thousand years at most.


    What won today was the knowledge accumulated by a human, his talent, and all the effort he had put in to get to where he was.


    That¡¯s what led to Timong¡¯s defeat.


    What about him, compared to this human?


    He even sold his soul and became a vampire in his pursuit of alchemy, yet in the end, he couldn¡¯t even surpass this one measly living human!


    ¡°You¡­ You think I¡¯ll accept this?¡± Count Timong ground his teeth noisily. ¡°No, I¡¯ll never accept it!¡±


    It had been fifteen hundred years. Just how hard had he been working during that infinity-like span of time to achieve his goal?


    But now, a mere human dared to¡­?!


    ¡°You bastard!¡±


    Count Timong mustered up the remaining scraps of his energy and opened his jaw wide. But before his sharp fangs could reach the neck of Hans¡¯s, who was still holding onto the vampire¡¯s collar, someone viciously grabbed Timong¡¯s head from behind.


    ¡°You still have something left to do, Count.¡±


    This person then easily lifted Count Timong up, before slamming the vampire¡¯s head straight into the mouth of the Purgatory Gate, which was gradually closing up.


    ¡°Uwaaaaaaaahk!¡±


    The vampire¡¯s tragic scream rang out. Count Timong¡¯s head began splitting apart into tiny particles.


    However, he wasn¡¯t getting sucked into the Warp Gate, but actually getting wiped from this world due to the error in the warp magic itself.


    Soon afterwards, his head was gone for good.


    Allen, still holding onto the now-headless neck of the vampire, lifted up the corpse high in the air. And as the countless subjects of the empire stared at him, he loudly declared to all who could hear, ¡°We are the believers of Goddess Gaia!¡±


    Now look, vampires. If you¡¯re still out there alive, then hear these words well and commit them to memory.


    ¡°We are the hunters of the vampires.¡±


    This is the Imperial Family. We possess a power that you can never surpass.


    ¡°And in the name of Holy King Allen Olfolse, I issue a new decree.¡±


    And now, through this occasion I shall declare¡­


    ¡°We shall begin the continent-wide vampire hunt!¡±


    3


    I declare war against all of you, vampires!


    **


    Among the innumerable ocean of people was Marquis Kirum, still in his court jester get-up.


    He currently had a dazed face. From the moment his clone was destroyed until to this very moment, he had witnessed everything.


    1


    ¡°We won!¡±


    ¡°He killed the vampire!¡±


    ¡°His Majesty the Holy King, hooray-!¡±


    ¡°Yes, humanity will never lose!¡±


    ¡°We will definitely topple the vampires-!¡±


    Holy King Allen lifted up the dead Count Timong up in the air.


    It was a horrifying scene of a vampire burning away to ashes, yet the cheering of the humans continued unabated.


    They were deeply stained by madness. This scene of them completely abandoning all of their fear and terror and entrusting themselves to the Holy King¡­


    As for the Holy King himself, as the madness-filled gazes of these zealots focused on him, he gallantly stepped onto the Bone Dragon¡¯s skull. He was using Count Timong¡¯s burning corpse as an advertisement.


    How could a Priest even think about doing something like that?! That was definitely not something you could willfully do in front of the sacred goddess statue!


    That boy was displaying a personality far more cruel and vicious than all the demon kings found inside the fairy tales.


    With this, it had been decided. The vampires were defeated, while humanity found their leader.


    There was little doubt that among this crowd of humans, some must¡¯ve been longing to become vampires themselves. After all, a vampire as an existence didn¡¯t suffer from any known disease, didn¡¯t die of old age, possessed incredible strength, and lived its life only for pleasure.


    Outwardly at least, there could be no other creatures as perfect as vampires.


    However, those people¡¯s minds would¡¯ve changed the moment they clapped their eyes on the mouth of Purgatory, and when the vampires were so mercilessly killed off.


    The hatred of the vampires they felt, and the fear of being gruesomely murdered by the Holy King if you became a vampire, would¡¯ve been engraved deep into their consciences by now.


    Those humans who stood in awe of vampires and wished to become one would now turn their backs on that idea and begin exalting the Imperial Family, instead.


    On the other side of fear was awe, after all.


    {Hold on, Marquis Kirum. You shouldn¡¯t step forward during this operation. However, I have another favour to ask of you.}


    Kirum recalled what Count Timong had told him before setting out.


    {That bastard is getting stronger even as we speak. If we fail to seal him away today, then we¡¯ll have to resort to some other means.}


    He rubbed his pulsing temples, hard.


    The very last favour Timong had asked of him¡­


    The Vampire Count was worried about ultimately failing today¡¯s operation, and passed on his ¡®duty¡¯ over to Kirum.


    {You must create an army.}


    The Holy King was planning to create an army. As such, the vampires also needed an army to fight against him. A force more powerful than the army the Holy King was planning to raise!


    {Raise an army of blood with only the cruelest, vilest beings you can find, ones who are stained to their core with desire. Create an army that worships the night, one capable of dragging the God of Death Yudai down to the depths of the netherworld, and one that will make us all gods in return!}


    {But if that proves to be still inadequate, then in the north-west of the continent¡­ There is a sealed doorway.}


    {The ones sealed away by the gods¡­ Undo their sealing. One year. I recommend that you finish all this preparation in one year. That will be¡­}


    Marquis Kirum glared sharply at the Holy King standing tall above the Bone Dragon.


    {¡­the only way we can win.}


    ¡°Very well, oh Holy King of the empire.¡± Kirum¡¯s rage-filled eyes burned fiercely as he glared at Allen.


    ¡®At least for today, I acknowledge our defeat.¡¯


    However, this would not be the end.


    ¡®We shall advance even further. We shall become even stronger than ever before.¡¯


    And when that time arrived¡­


    ¡°We shall emerge victorious.¡±


    Marquis Kirum silently disappeared into the crowd of people.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    The whole of the Imperial Palace entered emergency mode when the vampire incident happened, but too bad for me, the Holy King coronation went ahead regardless.


    I returned to the palace, and knelt in front of the Holy Emperor. He placed a crown on my head, then declared loudly that I was now the Holy King.


    Countless nobles present in the audience chamber roared out loudly, and all I could do at that moment was making a stupefied face.


    ¡®Holy cow. What have I done?¡¯


    While I was beating myself up with such thoughts in my head, night eventually came to visit again.


    ¡°You were wonderful today, Your Highness.¡±


    While listening to Charlotte praising me, I jumped into bed.


    My whole body threatened to sag like a wet sponge from all the fatigue. If it was possible, I¡¯d love to scream loudly, too.


    We managed to stop what the vampires were scheming to do, but it had resulted in me ascending to the position of the Holy King.


    Heck, I was even temporarily granted Holy Emperor Kelt¡¯s authority!


    Humans are animals easily swayed by the mood; I couldn¡¯t help but recall the words spoken by some psychologist.


    ¡®Right, that¡¯s the crucial thing here, the mood.¡¯


    When dealing with the vampires, I ended up getting too heated up. I exerted myself to summon the Bone Dragon and hundreds of holy undead, then maintained them out in the open for a while.


    Then, there was Alice¡¯s sacred hymn and the loud cheering of the empire¡¯s subjects.


    All these factors combined to steal away my reasoning and made me far too excited for my own good.


    ¡°I must¡¯ve gone totally nuts. Why did I even make such a ruckus back then?!¡±


    I recalled the mug of Count Timong.


    For the sake of looking all dignified and the like, I didn¡¯t even move a finger back then. My reason for that was fairly simple. If I hadn¡¯t done that, then it would¡¯ve become pretty hard to get such an explosive reaction out of the crowd.


    Thanks to this incident, citizens were still cheering loudly in unbridled excitement, while partying up a storm on the streets of the capital despite the deepening night.


    The poor old me just wanted to get some sleep and recover from my fatigue, so I had to cover my ears with the pillows.


    ¡°But sir, you went too far! That was far too big of a gamble, Your Highness! Even if I was a certifiable genius¡­¡± Hans complained while sagging into the nearby sofa. He then covered his eyes with the back of his hand.


    ¡°A gamble?¡± I retorted to what he said. ¡°What do you mean by that, I wonder?¡±


    Hans barely forced himself to sit up from the sofa, and addressed me in a protesting tone of voice. ¡°How could you say that, sir? I¡¯m talking about the Warp Gate, of course. The Warp Gate! What would you have done if I failed to close up that thing¡­?!¡±


    ¡°But, you weren¡¯t going to fail, were you?¡±


    Hans¡¯s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.


    ¡°I knew you were fully capable of closing the gate. And that¡¯s why I entrusted it to you in the first place.¡±


    ¡°B-b-but sir! Aren¡¯t you too trusting of me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that surprising for someone to believe in their retainers, now is it?¡±


    Hans clamped his mouth shut.


    I stared at him for a bit before lying on the bed spread-eagled. ¡°Those damn vampire bastards. Now I have a lot more to do because of them.¡±


    ¡°But, isn¡¯t this for the best? Your Highness, you¡¯re the Holy King now. With this, the pathway to the throne of the Holy Emperor is yours,¡± said Charlotte while sounding genuinely pleased.


    Hey, you. What do you mean, this is for the best? It¡¯d already be a minor miracle if I don¡¯t get chained to the Imperial Palace at this rate!


    ¡°Whatever. Anyways, you two get ready, too.¡±


    Hans and Charlotte stared back at me.


    I returned their stare and clarified myself, ¡°My grandfather asked me this: what will be my first act as the Holy King?¡±


    Charlotte cautiously replied with a question of her own, ¡°And what was your answer, Your Highness?¡±


    ¡°My answer? Well, I said¡­¡± I laid back down and stared at the ceiling. ¡°Raising ten thousand troops.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°Not five thousand as I said before, but now I¡¯m thinking of raising ten thousand soldiers, instead.¡±


    Both Charlotte and Hans raised their brows up high.


    While still lying on my back, I turned my head slightly to stare at them. ¡°And the training time will be one year.¡±


    The Imperial Family had more than enough wherewithal to raise an army strong enough to utterly crush the vampires now.


    I grinned like an idiot and addressed the pair, ¡°I¡¯ll be needing the help of you two.¡±


    1


    < 147. In the Name of the Holy King -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 281 - Train like it’s the Real Deal -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Holy Emperor Kelt was walking down the Imperial Palace¡¯s corridor, Cardinal Raphael keeping him company.


    The palace, a sacred place, placed importance on maintaining its quiet stillness and a serious atmosphere, so much so that servants and maids were taught to walk without making a sound as their first lesson in basic etiquette.


    A small commotion breaking out nearby was instantly noticed, as a result.


    Kelt looked outside the window. The Imperial Palace was shielded on all sides by the tall outer walls. On its massive and wide practice grounds, thousands of people were gathered.


    The task the Seventh Imperial Prince wanted to start, the nurturing of ten thousand Priests, had begun in earnest.


    Kelt stopped walking and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you find this miraculous?¡± Raphael bowed his head a little and listened. ¡°A boy, a mangnani, has spread the fame of the Imperial Family far and wide, throughout the continent.¡±


    The coronation of the Holy King, and the vampires¡¯ sudden raid on the ceremony after they were frightened by him, had managed to transform the atmosphere throughout the continent.


    The influence and strength of the Imperial Family had become renowned throughout the continent, and requests for Paladins to be dispatched to help came in more frequently than ever before.


    The ferreting out of the traitors in cahoots with the vampires, or those suspected of doing such things, had begun in earnest, in other words.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this truly commendable? The idea of unifying the races and religions into one,¡± Kelt commented further, and Raphael nodded in silent agreement.


    The army of Priests Holy King Allen wished to create had no discrimination whatsoever.


    The only restriction it had imposed on itself was the number of people, at ten thousand, but things like one¡¯s race or the religious background didn¡¯t matter one jot.


    Also, there was no discrimination based on one¡¯s station, either. As long as your character had been verified and you were deemed to possess an unyielding drive, all were welcome to join.


    ¡°¡­The main god, the goddess of life and love, Gaia.¡±


    And then Tomer the God of Abundance and Farming, and Heim, the God of War, etc, etc¡­


    ¡°And even the God of Death, Yudai.¡±


    Up until now, each individual had fastidiously placed emphasis on their own beliefs, while disparaging the faith of others. But now, the walls standing between such religious views were coming down.


    These people, who resented and hated others who did not follow the same doctrine as them and willingly turned their backs on others, and despite the memories of previous war hanging over their heads, their disparate religious views were gradually unifying under one banner.


    The reason for that was the Dark Elf Princess Tina¡¯s coronation. Through the appearance of the World Tree, Aslan had turned into the land of abundance. Allen¡¯s role in that incident was undeniably great.


    It had resulted in believers worshipping Gaia emerging from Aslan.


    ¡®We also have the exact opposite of that, too.¡¯


    Indeed, many believers that worshipped the God of Death had also emerged from within the Theocratic Empire. This was the result of Allen wielding Necromancy openly.


    There was no bitter conflict here, just devout theologians from various nations coming together to passionately discuss their beliefs and grow closer in the process.


    ¡°The world has begun unifying under one banner.¡±


    Nothing remotely close to something like this had occurred during the past several millennia in the continent¡¯s history. But there was no denying the fact that this kind of solidarity played a crucial role in driving out the vampire menace for good.


    ¡°However, ten thousand¡­¡± Emperor Kelt muttered, frowning deeply.


    No matter how excellent the financial health of the Imperial Family was, it¡¯d still be a challenge to come up with enough funds in the short time span of one year to support such a large number of people.


    ¡°¡­Your Majesty, His Imperial Highness has requested that the supplies be ready on time.¡±


    Raphael¡¯s cautious reminder caused Kelt to powerfully massage his temples.


    Supplying enough provisions, armour, and even weapons and other sundry equipment for the entire duration of one year. That¡¯s what the boy had requested.


    Of course, it was not an impossibility if the Imperial Court decided to open up its treasury, but even then, the cost involved was enormous.


    ¡°However, it¡¯s too late to go back on my word now,¡± Emperor Kelt sighed.


    He had his pride as the Holy Emperor. Besides, the grandson he was so proud of was about to embark on his first wide-scale operation, so it would not be good if the supposedly-doting grandfather decided to stand in the boy¡¯s way, now, would it?


    ¡°Raphael. Open the Imperial Palace¡¯s treasury. Then we should be able to meet our financial obligation.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty¡­ The funds have already been prepared, my lord.¡±


    Kelt¡¯s brows shot up high at that. He quickly turned around and stared at Raphael.


    The cardinal could only groan softly under his breath as his reply, ¡°¡­His Highness the Seventh Imperial Prince has provided the necessary funds, Your Majesty.¡±


    3


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I was walking down the palace¡¯s corridors, accompanied by Hans and Charlotte, who were following right behind me.


    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be any problem with the funds,¡± I said.


    That¡¯s right, absolutely no problem on that front.


    Money? Such a thing was nothing to me. I still had all those treasures I had, uh, retrieved from the ancient Aslan tomb in my possession, after all.


    ¡°And I guess the recruitment process won¡¯t be an issue, either.¡±


    Here was an opportunity for them to raise their status. Not just serfs, but commoners and mercenaries hailing from all corners of the continent, and perhaps even runaway slaves¡­


    I had bet they¡¯d flock here.


    If there was a potential problem here, then it¡¯d be with their character and their tenacity, their drive not to give up. That¡¯s what they needed to be tested on.


    ¡°I ended up asking for an impossible favour from my oldest sister, though.¡±


    I smiled wryly after remembering something. Before Hilda left for her own territory, I had basically demanded enough equipment to outfit ten thousand people from her, stuff like chain mail, swords, spears, arrows, maces, and shields, etc, etc¡­


    We weren¡¯t talking about one type of each armament, either, but every variety imaginable.


    {Don¡¯t you worry. Three months will be enough!} Hilda told me, while giving me a rather manly thumb-up.


    Well, at this point all I could do now was to pray that the poor dwarves didn¡¯t keel over from overwork.


    1


    I stopped walking down the corridor and stared at those currently gathered in the practice grounds of the Imperial Palace. Under Harman¡¯s command, the new recruits were standing around in sloppy approximations of rank and file. Some were even yawning grandly. I couldn¡¯t spot a single lick of fighting spirit anywhere.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s like I¡¯m looking at the Tang Dynasty¡¯s army.¡±


    ¡°¡­Tang Dynasty?¡± Charlotte repeated softly, tilting her head in confusion.


    I noticed a couple of familiar faces among the recruits. One of them happened to be Gril, from Ronia. You know, Charlotte¡¯s adopted father.


    ¡°Hang on, did Gril also volunteer?¡±


    ¡°¡­I tried to talk him out of him, but he insisted.¡± Charlotte shook her head and held her forehead as if a migraine had suddenly begun assaulting her.


    Well, if that dude was dreaming of becoming a Paladin, who was I to say no to him?


    If he was suddenly overcome with a desire to move up in the world despite his age, then I had no thoughts of dissuading him.


    1


    The other familiar faces belonged to Adolf and Yuria from Aihrance. I had sent special letters of recommendation for those two, actually.


    I smiled faintly while staring at the two. ¡°Still, changing your status won¡¯t be as easy as they think.¡±


    I turned around to face Hans and Charlotte. What we needed were capable soldiers, not some delectable prey that would only serve to stoke the enemies¡¯ fighting spirit.


    ¡°What are you planning to do with them, my lord?¡± Charlotte asked me seriously, and I briefly glanced back at the would-be soldiers.


    It didn¡¯t matter whether they swung their swords hundreds of times in the air or trained tirelessly inside a definitely-not dangerous greenhouse, they¡¯d still fall way short of the soldiers who had experienced real combat.


    ¡°They are supposed to go up against the vampires.¡±


    So, I figured it¡¯d be good to make them earn some real-world experience.


    ¡°Send a communique to Queen Tina of Aslan.¡± When I suddenly mentioned Aslan¡¯s ruler, both Charlotte and Hans began tilting their heads in more confusion. ¡°Tell her that we¡¯re going to utilise the walls of the border region. We shall move this army over there.¡±


    What we¡¯d find there should be ¡®wonderful¡¯ opportunities to let them experience real combat situations.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    It had been two weeks since the new recruits came in.


    They continued to build up their stamina through regular training. Just as they became more or less used to the training regime, they were supplied with their own equipment.


    After receiving his, Gril could only make a stupefied face.


    The equipment resting before him was old and shabby. Not even the abandoned weapons found in some rural farmstead would be this rusty.


    Gril hesitantly picked up an axe with its blade dyed mud brown, as well as a wooden shield that had rotted until there were holes in it. ¡°What are we supposed to do with these things?¡±


    ¡°I wonder about that myself.¡±


    Gril shifted his gaze to his side. He spotted the former mercenary, Adolf, picking up his sword.


    That sword¡¯s blade had been chipped so badly that forget about cutting something with it, using it like a club would be a far faster way to kill an enemy instead!


    ¡°And this is mine¡­¡±


    Gril heard that soft murmur and looked around Adolf¡¯s frame. He noticed a young girl tightly holding onto a shortsword there.


    He couldn¡¯t help but comment when he saw her, ¡°What the¡­ I heard that you have to be eighteen or older to join up, so why is there a shorty like her here?¡±


    Yuria furrowed her brow, then suddenly kicked Gril on his shin. He grunted in pain and hurriedly rubbed his aching limb.


    ¡°I came here after getting a letter of recommendation, you know!¡±


    ¡°A letter from who?¡±


    Adolf¡¯s question was answered energetically by Yuria, ¡°The Orichalcon-ranked mercenary, Lord Allen, of course!¡±


    Adolf instantly clamped his mouth shut. What she said just now implied that the Seventh Imperial Prince, no wait, the Holy King himself, had personally written the recommendation for this girl. ¡°Ah. I see¡­¡±


    Which also meant that Adolf was in no position to look down on Yuria, since he too came here with such a letter of recommendation.


    ¡°By the way, a lot of people have gathered here,¡± commented Yuria, staring at the others currently standing around in the practice grounds.


    Adolf replied to her observation, ¡°I heard that the first batch of the recruits numbers around two thousand and fifty or so. The plan is to accept up to ten batches of recruits.¡±


    ¡°Ten batches, you say?¡± Yuria ended up tilting her head at that revelation. Did that mean rather than ten thousand, now it¡¯d be twenty thousand, instead?


    Adolf shook his head to say he wasn¡¯t sure, either.


    ¡°Whatever the case may be, we¡¯re all classmates, so to speak, so let¡¯s work together to get through this!¡± Gril extended his hand energetically.


    ¡°Ah, yes. Of course. Let¡¯s give it our all, together.¡± Adolf grabbed and shook Gril¡¯s extended hand.


    Yuria also cautiously reached out and placed her hand on theirs, prompting Gril to quip again, ¡°But, it might be too much for a little girl like you, tho¡­¡±


    Which promptly earned him another kick in the shin.

 Chapter 282 - 148. Train like it’s the Real Deal -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Eventually, the noisy equipment distribution came to an end. At the end of the distribution, Harman began issuing new commands to the recruits. ¡°Everyone, get ready. Your new training shall start from¡­¡±


    Right at that moment, Paladins suddenly marched into the practice grounds.


    Harman stopped talking in surprise and confusion. One of the Paladins walked up to him to whisper something in his ear.


    ¡°¡­Real combat training? Where? The border region to Aslan?¡±


    The Paladin nodded silently at Harman¡¯s question. Meanwhile, the other Paladins stepping inside the practice grounds were dropping a large rucksack in front of each confused recruit.


    ¡°Wha-what the heck? Why are they so heavy?¡±


    The recruits were already kitted out in their newly supplied armour. Now a leather bag filled with luggage was being given to them. Its contents were food and water meant to last a week, an outdoor tent, a blanket, a simple first aid kit with some bandages, and even a small shovel as well.


    2


    ¡°From now on, we begin our march.¡± The recruits stared at Harman, their faces stunned. ¡°Our destination is the border region with Aslan, where our border wall rests. We have a two-week march to reach there.¡±


    TWO WEEKS?!


    The eyes of all the recruits widened greatly in an instant.


    Even riding on carriages, it would take two weeks to get to the border. But now, this many people had to walk on foot to reach there in less than two weeks?!


    ¡°Those who fall behind will have their qualification to become the empire¡¯s proud soldiers revoked.¡± Harman shouted out while scanning the faces of the recruits. ¡°What are you all doing? Pick up your bags!¡±


    1


    The recruits hesitantly lifted up their bags.


    With Harman at the front, the recruits formed somewhat orderly lines and marched out of the Imperial Palace.


    ¡ª¡ª


    And so, their long march began.


    However, winter hadn¡¯t ended yet and snow still fell from the heavens. The Paladins leading the wagons closely observed the new recruits toiling away.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­ Fuu-woo¡­¡± Gril was breathing heavily as he struggled with his bag.


    Adolf shifted his gaze over to Yuria, marching next to him. ¡°Are you doing alright?¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t worry. I can definitely do this,¡± Yuria replied while carrying a bag larger than she was. She was also grunting in some difficulty, however.


    ¡°In any case¡­¡± Adolf furrowed his brow. ¡°When are we supposed to take a break?¡±


    Eight hours of nonstop marching, then two hours of break, followed up by yet another eight hours of gruelling march.


    The tiring, unforgiving march continued on in this manner. They had to sleep during those two hours of breaks, as well. It wasn¡¯t surprising to see all the recruits were exhausted.


    ¡°The ones you¡¯re about to face in the future are vampires, who do not sleep at night!¡± Harman was walking on the road and shouting at them. ¡°So, you must get used to this. If you fail to endure, then forget about becoming a Paladin, you won¡¯t even become a cleric!¡±


    Gril listened to Harman¡¯s shouts, panting laboriously.


    Even though the Paladin was roaring at the top of his lungs and commanding the troops while marching alongside them, he didn¡¯t even look remotely tired.


    Just what was up with his monstrous stamina? That man was once Charlotte¡¯s superior officer, although he somehow ended up as her subordinate these days.


    ¡°Bloody hell, just who am I?! I¡¯m the proud father of a daughter serving as a Paladin! You think I can¡¯t endure this little bit of hardship?!¡± Gril gnashed his teeth and continued to forge ahead.


    ¡°Argh, what a bother!¡±


    Adolf flinched a little at that angry-sounding yell, and glanced to his side.


    Yuria and her deeply crumpled expression was glaring at Gril walking ahead of her. ¡°An uncle like that is doing it, so I can definitely do it, too!¡± She chased after Gril with determination to spare.


    ¡°¡­Well, they are overflowing with tenacity, at least.¡±


    Adolf turned his head at that voice, and promptly froze in surprise. ¡°Fella, isn¡¯t that a bit too uncomfortable to wear?¡±


    A rather peculiar individual among the recruits was walking next to him.


    This person was kitted out in the set of heavy chain mail and a surcoat while carrying the rucksack on his back. On these points alone, he didn¡¯t seem all that different from any other recruits. Other than the fact that a bird-beak mask was covering his face, instead of the usual helm that everyone else had to wear, that was.


    ¡°Nope, not at all,¡± said this peculiar bird-beak masked recruit with a shake of his head.


    This guy was not even bothering with polite speech from the very beginning. Adolf thought inwardly that indeed, the world was full of eccentric people like this guy. ¡°We will be comrades moving on, so we should at least exchange our names, don¡¯t you think? My name is Adolf.¡±


    Adolf extended his hand, and the eccentric recruit shook it firmly and replied, ¡°I¡¯m Extra, an apothecary.¡±


    5


    ¡ª¡ª


    The march continued on, and half of the original group eventually dropped out.


    Around the time the second week was coming to an end, the recruits finally could see their destination in the distance.


    ¡°I, I see it!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the border wall!¡±


    They excitedly pointed at the wall standing tall and proud at the border region. They stared at the tall and imposing structure and rejoiced.


    Harman took a deep breath and exhaled softly. He seemed to be tired as well, because he had to shake his head once before he could shout at the recruits, ¡°Prepare to set up camp!¡±


    Even though everyone was exhausted, they still went ahead and prepared camp.


    ¡°Finally, it¡¯s over.¡±


    ¡°No, wait a minute. We still have to go back, right?¡±


    ¡°Dear goddess! Goddess Gaia, please save our souls¡­!¡±


    ¡°S-still, we should at least get a good night¡¯s sleep tonight.¡±


    The recruits vented their dissatisfaction.


    Meanwhile, Gril, Adolf, and Yuria worked together to prepare for the night. They gathered firewood and set up their tents.


    While staring at the tall border wall, Gril let out an exclamation of awe, ¡°Wow! So that¡¯s the border wall that kept Aslan out all this time.¡±


    That wall signified the border to the nation of Aslan, the one that Charlotte had crossed over to wage war in the not-too distant past.


    ¡°Uncle? Your mouth,¡± Yuria called out to Gril, and he hurriedly clamped his slack jaw shut.


    As they got back to work, Adolf walked up to them. ¡°I received our share of food and water.¡±


    The week¡¯s worth of provisions they had received at the start of the march had long run out during this two week-long journey. Maybe that was the reason why new provisions were being distributed by the fortress near the border wall.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this a lot?¡± Yuria asked, while her brows shot up.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s also for another week?¡± Adolf replied, rubbing his chin. He didn¡¯t forget to sneak a glance at other recruits nearby, however.


    Some of them were gorging themselves, while a few others were splitting a portion of the new provisions and cautiously packing them away in their luggage for safekeeping.


    ¡°¡­It seems that food and water will remain important in the future, too,¡± Adolf muttered to no one in particular.


    ¡°That should be the case. It¡¯ll be smarter of you to eat sparingly from now on,¡± a voice suddenly came from the side, and Adolf turned his head to look.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you. Uhm, so¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Extra.¡±


    ¡®What a¡­ unique name that is¡¯, thought Adolf. ¡®Also, a fairly easy name to forget, as well¡­¡¯


    Gril stared at the man wearing the bird-beak mask and just had to say something. ¡°Now that¡¯s a weird mask you got there, fella. If you aren¡¯t a former cleric, then you must be a real oddball.¡±


    Yuria promptly retorted to him, ¡°¡­But uncle, you¡¯re the real oddball here, you know?¡±


    ¡°Hey, you. You have a problem with me or something?!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who started it first!¡±


    Gril and Yuria began bickering away.


    Extra ignored those two and turned his attention back to Adolf. ¡°Is it fine to join you?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Adolf nodded back.


    Although this masked recruit looked rather weird, he didn¡¯t come across as a bad person, at least. More importantly, though, if he was an apothecary, then he might prove to be helpful later on.


    Adolf turned his head and watched Gril, Yuria, and Extra chatting away. Even in the middle of their chat, they still glanced in the general direction of the border wall behind them.


    Priests donning the distinctive white robes had gathered there, but there were some others who looked like magicians wearing black robes in front of them, as well.


    ¡®Are they Necromancers?¡¯, Adolf wondered inwardly.


    Aslan had become a vassal nation to the Theocratic Empire after the war. As such, it would not be that surprising to receive support from the Necromancers.


    The real question was, though, why were they here in the first place?


    ¡°Everyone, rest up well for tonight! Today¡¯s training will end with the conclusion of the march!¡±


    The recruits roared out in elation at Harman¡¯s words.


    But Adolf was making a wary expression, instead. ¡°Is that for real?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    When Yuria asked that, Adolf looked back at her and replied, ¡°I was talking about our training.¡±


    Gril butted in, ¡°Nah, it should be fine. Lord Harman might have a stiff upper lip and makes a lot of wrong assumptions like an idiot, but let me tell you this.¡±


    Harman suddenly fake-coughed for some reason in the distance¡­


    ¡°He sure can be flexible when it comes to it,¡± Gril declared quite confidently.


    Yuria asked him while sounding rather surprised, ¡°Uncle, are you acquainted with that Lord Paladin?¡±


    ¡°Of course! I may look this way, but I¡¯m acquainted with lots of people in high places, girlie!¡± Gril stood tall and proud as he answered. Yuria stared at him with an uncertain expression on her face.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be a good idea to get some sleep now.¡± The trio¡¯s gaze shifted over to the man wearing the bird-beak mask. He was advising them for some reason. ¡°Things will get really hectic from tomorrow on.¡±


    Those words seemed to contain some other deeper meaning. However, both Gril and Yuria didn¡¯t think too much about it. Only Adolf continued to stare at Extra.


    ¡°Well, then. Lights out!¡±


    With the exception of the recruits doing the nightwatch duties, the rest went to bed.


    ¡ª¡ª


    As the night deepened, the Necromancers began wielding their staves. They used demonic energy to summon some fog to cover the ground, and the fog slowly seeped into the tents of the sleeping recruits.


    And so, the next morning¡­


    A nasty surprise was in store for the recruits after they woke up, causing them to open their eyes real wide.


    ¡°Cough! Cough!¡±


    ¡°Bleeeergh!¡±


    Several recruits suddenly broke out in high fever. Some even coughed and wheezed nonstop, while vomiting as well.


    ¡°What the heck?! What¡¯s going on here???¡±


    Gril, Adolf, and Yuria stared at this sight in a daze.


    Of the one thousand remaining recruits, about fifty of them were plopped down on the ground while vomiting away. Their panting sounded so laborious that they might keel over at any given moment.


    Adolf checked out the black spots appearing on those recruits¡¯ faces.


    ¡®Wait, could that be¡­?¡¯


    ¡°It¡¯s a plague,¡± Extra muttered.


    Adolf automatically gasped, ¡°¡­A plague?¡±


    A plague had spread out overnight through the camp.


    Adolf hurriedly looked around and saw the Priests in the distance, but none of them were making a move.


    He quickly approached Harman and asked him. ¡°Lord Paladin, it¡¯s a plague! Sir, if it¡¯s not treated right away¡­!¡±


    Harman glanced at him before replying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°¡­What do you mean?¡± Yuria and Gril had also come over to ask.


    Harman continued on, ¡°It¡¯s nothing more than a non-life threatening plague. Of course, we don¡¯t know what will happen once the illness becomes worse, but if that happens, we shall make our move.¡±


    When Adolf heard that reply, he automatically recalled the Necromancers he had seen late last night.


    ¡®No, it couldn¡¯t be¡­?¡¯


    Harman swept his gaze over the recruits. ¡°This is your next training.¡± He then called out loudly to everyone, ¡°Survive the plague!¡±


    The faces of Gril, Adolf, and Yuria paled in an instant at that order.


    < 148. Train like it¡¯s the real deal -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 283 - 149. Train like it’s the Real Deal -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    While still in my disguise as ¡®Extra¡¯, I continued to observe the new recruits closely.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that insane?! You want us to survive a plague?!¡±


    Unsurprisingly, they began protesting vociferously, but Harman simply shook his head and countered them, saying, ¡°We¡¯ve already told you this. Instances of casualties arising from our training methods will almost never happen. You must cooperate with your comrades to endure this trial. That is your training this time.¡±


    ¡°Almost?! What do you mean by ¡®almost¡¯?! Isn¡¯t that basically the same thing as you admitting that someone will die?¡±


    Well, this sure turned into a fine mess¡­


    I could tell that everyone was terrified out of their wits. Some were even saying that they¡¯d rather give up the training here.


    ¡°How pathetic.¡±


    There were quite a lot of dropouts. More than I expected, at least.


    Too bad, as I wasn¡¯t even considering lowering the difficulty level of the training regime. The thing was, this training they were asked to do? It was the most basic of all basic training that all the Heavenly Army members had to go through.


    Here¡¯s the thing: vampires didn¡¯t get tired. They didn¡¯t care whether it was day or night.


    It was natural that we¡¯d resort to a forced march to build up the new recruits¡¯ stamina. The claws and fangs of the vampires carried toxins and were also capable of spreading plagues, as well. So this training of enduring plagues was meant to build up one¡¯s resistance against the illnesses and learn how to adapt as quickly as possible.


    Of course, it was also to foster even closer camaraderie, too.


    The first fifty ¡®recruits¡¯ to contract the plague? They were actually members of the Order of the Crimson Cross, one of the loyal forces of the Theocratic Empire.


    Whether these recruits would attack or abandon their sickly comrades, or nurse them back to health and take care of them¡­ That would be where these people would be judged.


    Vampires were very strong. You couldn¡¯t beat them with one or two sloppily-trained soldiers. That¡¯s why teamwork was crucial and the sense of belonging to a group was an absolute necessity.


    For the next week or so, we were planning to observe their behaviour.


    And so, time ticked by pretty quickly.


    ¡ª¡ª


    The plague continued to spread. If someone contracted it, then the new recruits distanced themselves from that person, even though they were supposed to be comrades in arms.


    Too bad for them, they would be disqualified.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were an apothecary?!¡±


    It was getting late at night. Someone shouted in my direction, so I turned my head to look. A group of recruits was walking towards me in a huff.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have any healing medicine or something?!¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, no.¡±


    ¡°What about the mask you¡¯re wearing, then? I heard that it can prevent the plague from infecting you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. It has such functions, but I only have this one mask.¡±


    The gazes of the nearby recruiters all focused on us.


    One of the group reached out and grabbed my collar. ¡°Since you have that mask, you might also have some other medicines to deal with this plague, am I right?! Hurry up and cough it out. My comrade is dying right now!¡±


    He sounded pretty anxious at the moment.


    I replied to him calmly, ¡°Your comrade should give up, then. The Priests on standby will treat your friend in that case.¡±


    ¡°Dammit, that idiot won¡¯t give up, and that¡¯s the whole problem here! Even back at home in the village, he kept making all those big boasts, you know?! Even when we were young, he kept mouthing off about becoming a knight or whatever! But now, he¡­!¡±


    Harman walked up to us and asked in a grave voice, ¡°Oii, you. Soldier over there. What are you doing?¡±


    The recruit groaned under his breath and let go of my collar.


    I spoke up again, ¡°It¡¯s too bad, but other than some salves to apply to external wounds, the one we received as a part of our supplies, I don¡¯t have any treatments for plagues like this one. As for the rest of my stuff, they were confiscated.¡±


    ¡°What about your mask, then?¡±


    ¡°They said they don¡¯t mind if I use it as a healer¡¯s mask.¡±


    The recruit clicked his tongue before leaving in dissatisfaction.


    Hmm. That guy, he definitely got a passing grade just now. Not only did he care about his comrade, he also acted rationally, despite the situation being urgent.


    I entered the tent where Gril¡¯s group was staying.


    ¡°Cough! Cough!¡±


    Gril was coughing away, and suffering from a high fever.


    Yuria wiped his sweaty forehead with a handkerchief soaked in water. As for Adolf, he was melting the snow found outside to restock the drinking water supply now running dangerously low.


    These three were also getting full passing marks from me.


    ¡°Uncle, please, just give up. You might really die if you keep this up, you know?¡± Yuria said in a worried voice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me laugh! My Charlotte became a Paladin. My daughter became one, so why can¡¯t her father do it, too?!¡±


    ¡°I think that¡¯s enough of your delusions of grandeur.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, I¡¯m not delusional!¡±


    Gril continued to deny what Yuria was saying to him. Adolf took Gril¡¯s wrist to check the pulse before injecting some divinity into him.


    ¡°You know medical techniques?¡± I asked Adolf in some surprise.


    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s just some emergency first aid stuff that most other mercenaries also know about. Its effectiveness is negligible at best. I can¡¯t even heal a common flu, you see.¡± Adolf looked back at me and asked instead, ¡°By any chance, do you know any treatment methods? I know you said that other than what¡¯s been supplied to us, everything else of yours got confiscated, but you¡¯re still an apothecary, so you must know how to diagnose someone, at least.¡±


    I took out a gourd-shaped bottle from my inner pocket.


    What great timing this was. My initial plan was to use this alias of [Extra] to write a letter and send it to these folks along with the elixir concocted by Hans, but now that we were already acquainted like this, I might as well give it to them right now.


    ¡°If you want medicine, well, I do have this.¡±


    ¡°¡­What kind of a medicine is this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a real cure-all wonder drug. Except that it¡¯s got a nasty stench.¡± While saying that, I popped the cork open.


    The soul-shuddering stench quickly filled the interior of the tent. Heck, the smell must¡¯ve gotten outside too, because we could hear the other recruits beyond the tent¡¯s flaps swearing loudly.


    Gril was currently suffering from a high fever, meaning he was greatly weakened right now. The stench alone must¡¯ve been enough to churn his stomach the other way around, because he suddenly turned his head and began throwing up inside a nearby leather rucksack.


    Yuria¡¯s face paled instantly at that sight. ¡°¡­That¡¯s my bag!¡± She angrily smacked the back of Gril¡¯s head, before making a tearful face while staring at her ruined rucksack.


    Adolf was also covering his nose while frowning deeply. His face told me how hard he was trying to keep the meal he had eaten earlier down in his stomach right now.


    I spoke to him, ¡°This potion is created by combining the sap of some plants and holy water. Not only is it effective against plagues, it¡¯ll also make your body feel so much lighter. In a few days, you may even gain some level of immunity against plagues, too.¡±


    Adolf had a contemplative expression after listening to my explanation.


    I added one more thing, ¡°Oh, and also, it doesn¡¯t contain any toxins.¡±


    ¡°¡­I know.¡± Adolf took the gourd from me and pushed it towards Gril.


    ¡°Oii, Mister Adolf, you are not suggesting that I drink that thing, now are you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s to prevent the spread of the plague. Gril, drink it.¡±


    ¡°Oh my goddess! I¡¯d rather get quarantined by myself. Besides, this tent is mine, anyway! There will not be any problems if all three of you get out of¡­?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too late for that.¡±


    Adolf simply shoved the sloshing gourd into Gril¡¯s mouth. The latter struggled and flailed about, prompting Yuria to quickly restrain his arms and legs while grunting at the difficulty.


    ¡°Oh, and one more thing. You get the best effect when drinking the whole thing.¡±


    When I said that, Adolf shoved the gourd even further down inside Gril¡¯s mouth. The latter continued to struggle, but eventually, his eyes rolled over and his whole body went limp.


    ¡°¡­Is he dead?¡± Yuria asked in a worried voice.


    ¡°No, he just blacked out. However, his condition seems to have improved,¡± Adolf answered, after placing his hand on Gril¡¯s forehead. He sighed in relief after confirming that the high fever had gone down now. ¡°The efficacy of the drug has been confirmed with this. But seeing how its effects manifest so instantly, the drug must be quite valuable¡­ Mm?¡±


    I pushed forward two more bottles at Adolf and Yuria. ¡°You two should also drink them.¡±


    ¡°You want us to drink something this horrible?! No, I don¡¯t want to!¡± Yuria hurriedly shook her head.


    But Adolf was staring at me intensely, instead. It was as if he wanted to peer into my head or something. ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll drink it.¡±


    ¡°Eh? You will?¡± Yuria was stunned by Adolf¡¯s declaration, but he simply pressed one of the bottles over to her. He then took his bottle and began shaking it lightly. ¡°This can definitely prevent the plague, yes?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± I replied.


    ¡°¡­Yuria, drink it.¡±


    ¡°B-but¡­¡±


    ¡°You told me that your dream was to become a Paladin and revive your monastery, didn¡¯t you? If you contract the plague now and get kicked out, then all you¡¯ve achieved so far will be for nothing.¡±


    ¡°¡­I understand.¡± Yuria firmly squeezed her eyes shut, popped the cork open, then dumped the whole thing in her mouth. Adolf also drank the potion in one go.


    They began groaning in pain, like someone getting tortured. Judging from their paling complexions, they must¡¯ve found the taste of the elixir totally disgusting.


    ¡°Every medicine that¡¯s good for you is supposed to taste bad, you know?¡± I grinned deeply and gifted them with that piece of sagely advice before leaving the tent. ¡°Okay, get some rest now.¡±

 Chapter 284 - : 149. Train like it’s the Real Deal -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°Hold on.¡± Adolf staggered back up to his feet and called out to me. ¡°I¡¯d like to have a word with you. Us two alone.¡±


    I tilted my head slightly at that. But then¡­


    ¡°Everyone, get up! Right now!¡± Harman loudly roared out. The sleeping recruits all woke up from their slumber and stared at him. ¡°I shall all give you an opportunity!¡±


    He stared at the confused recruits, his eyes cold and unwavering.


    ¡°An opportunity to give up! An opportunity for you all to return to your old regular lives before you are burdened with even more terrifying memories for the rest of your days! Anyone who wishes to give up now, show us your hands, then climb aboard the waiting carriages over there! We shall allow you to travel back to your homes!¡±


    The recruits began sneaking glances at each other while listening to Harman¡¯s announcement.


    Give up, he said?


    Was he seriously telling them to give up now, after they had endured the relentless march and even the plague? What a laughable notion that was!


    The recruits kept their silence, and Harman continued on with the next part of his announcement. ¡°I see. I¡¯ll take your silence as your consent to participate in the next part of the training.¡± He sucked in a short but deep breath. ¡°You are hereby ordered to climb to the top of the border wall. That¡¯s where your next training will begin!¡±


    ¡°Next training?¡± Adolf muttered in confusion.


    He probably couldn¡¯t believe the fact that they were being forced to start the next part of their training, even though the plague hadn¡¯t been dealt with yet.


    Too bad for him, though, he was worrying about the wrong issue here, because the recruits would be at their best physical condition during the next part of the training.


    I turned to look at Adolf and addressed him, ¡°That talk you wanted? Let¡¯s have it on top of the border wall, shall we?¡±


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Adolf climbed up to the top of the border wall. Gril also managed to reach the top with Yuria¡¯s support, even though he was still sniffling away constantly and rubbing his nose.


    The morning sun was rising up beyond the wall to brighten their surroundings.


    The eight hundred or so ¡®survivors¡¯, now standing on top of the tall wall, stared at the sight greeting them there, gasping in surprise. Their dazed gazes were now scanning the territory of Aslan beyond the border.


    ¡°¡­Which moron was it? The one who said that Aslan is the land of death?!¡±


    Aslan. It was definitely a mysterious land.


    One half of it was a barren desert, while the other half was covered in expansive greenery as far as the eyes could see. Houses made out of trees, forming villages and ranches, were visible in the far-off distance.


    The so-called land of death was gradually transforming into a world of life right now.


    ¡°What an excellent place to live, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Adolf turned his head after hearing that question and stared at Extra.


    The latter also turned his head to lock his gaze with Adolf¡¯s. ¡°Alright, so. What did you want to talk about?¡±


    ¡°I was curious about something.¡±


    ¡°Curious, you say?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I wanted to ask you about how many more training courses are left after this one.¡±


    Extra tilted his head in confusion. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°We endured the gruelling march and the plague. Then we even climbed up the border wall, too. From here on, I¡¯m expecting the next part of the training to be all of us rapidly descending from the top. Basically, we¡¯d be training to jump down from the wall itself. But if I consider the difficulty of the training so far¡­ Could it be that we must do this training without any safety equipment?¡±


    ¡°You speak as if I¡¯m a training instructor, or maybe even a judge.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s how you come across to me.¡± Adolf didn¡¯t hold back as he continued, ¡°While on our way here, I made sure to study all the people around me.¡±


    He took note of those who didn¡¯t seem to get tired during the march. He figured that they were all going to be comrades pretty soon, so it¡¯d be a good idea to get acquainted with the stronger people.


    ¡°And I noticed that some people during the march were strangely tough.¡±


    Adolf was quietly confident of his own abilities, acquired through his days as a mercenary. Even someone like him got tired towards the end, but quite a few people finished the march without any noticeable issues.


    ¡°Oh-hoh? So what?¡±


    ¡°I believed that those people would be able to complete all of the training. But then, they suddenly contracted the plague.¡±


    ¡°¡­Carry on.¡±


    The very first set of people to come down with the plagues were a group of fifty or so. They cried out about how terrible the pain and suffering were, and gave up on the whole thing after failing to endure for five days.


    They were the same people who withstood the gruelling march without seemingly breaking a sweat. Yet, they gave up so easily, because of a plague?


    As for the plague that kept spreading through the ranks of the recruits, although it was indeed outrageously vile, the symptoms seemed a lot milder than the ones who had first contracted it.


    Which made Adolf think that what happened so far was simply a ¡®distraction¡¯, so to speak.


    ¡°Finally, you are wearing that mask to prevent the plague from infecting you, are you not?¡±


    ¡°¡­But, this is just for show, though.¡± Extra smacked his lips in reply. ¡°Correct, your guesses are on the money, Adolf.¡±


    The mysterious masked man didn¡¯t even try to lie and admitted to it all. Adolf¡¯s expression began to gradually distort.


    ¡°However, you¡¯re mistaken about something. The reason you were all ordered to climb up the border wall wasn¡¯t so that you could train in the art of rapidly descending the wall yourself.¡±


    It was exactly at that moment that some commotion broke out on top of the wall.


    ¡°H-hey, it¡¯s the Lady Saintess!¡±


    ¡°Lady Saintess!¡±


    Gril and Yuria jumped up in surprise when the recruits began calling out loudly, and hurriedly looked below the wall themselves.


    Alice was down there, waving her hand at the recruits up on the wall to cheer them on.


    The light of confusion immediately swirled in Adolf¡¯s eyes. ¡°But, why is Lady Saintess even here¡­?¡±


    Extra snarkily retorted, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Alice took some steps away from the border wall. With her as the center, other Priests surrounded her from all sides, forming a protective wall.


    They stopped being on passive standby mode and got down on their knees before offering their prayers. To match them, Alice began singing the sacred hymn.


    ¡°Adolf.¡± Adolf flinched in surprise at his name being called and stared at Extra.


    The latter was backing away to create a lot of distance away from the former mercenary. ¡°As you said, I¡¯m indeed a judge of the proceedings. And also¡­¡±


    Extra could be seen making an eerie grin under the mask as he raised his hand. ¡°I¡¯m also an observer who¡¯s here to find out just how well you and your comrades endure the training.¡±


    He then snapped his fingers.


    With Extra as the center, the golden runes that formed the Aztal Rune spread out like a huge spider web. It even reached down to where Alice was, by the foot of the border wall, and began gushing out powerful waves of divine power.


    ¡°Declaration of Sanctuary.¡±


    A stupendous amount of divinity whipped around them viciously. Adolf and all the other soldiers near Extra were swept up by the storm of divinity and had to hurriedly step back.


    Adolf had to shield his face with his hands, just as his brows shot up high.


    Oh my goddess, this divinity, wasn¡¯t it¡­?!


    ¡°No way, the Holy K¡­?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the undead!¡± one of the new recruits screamed loudly.


    Everyone¡¯s gaze automatically shifted away from Extra to Aslan¡¯s territory beyond the border wall. A white-coloured army began crawling out from the land now bathed in the rays of the rising morning sun.


    Creatures made out of bleached bones and kitted out in white armour, with eerie glows coming out of their hollow eye sockets¡­


    The new recruits froze up on the spot and unconsciously muttered, ¡°Holy¡­ undead?¡±


    Over one thousand holy undead had appeared before them. One person was commanding them from the front. Her lengthy white cape flapped magnificently in the winds. A Paladin kitted out in a set of form-fitting armour and wielding a huge cross shield and a divine sword stood tall and imposing.


    It was none other than Charlotte Heraiz.


    She was commanding the holy undead to advance towards the border wall. However, this was no ordinary undead army. Although it was made up of low-tier undead, they possessed siege weapons.


    Their formation seemed to suggest that they were here to forcibly take over the border wall!


    The undead gripped their muskets and began taking aim. Muskets that had been [upgraded] by the Aztal Rune, no less! The skeleton mages glared at the new recruits on top of the wall, while their bony fingers rested on the triggers.


    Adolf urgently turned his head and stared at Extra. ¡°No, it can¡¯t be¡­ The training we¡¯re about to do is¡­?!¡±


    Right at that exact moment, a holy bullet cleanly pierced through Adolf¡¯s arm and blew it apart.


    ¡°Huh¡­?!¡± His eyes opened wider in shock as he watched his severed arm spin through the air.


    ¡°This is your next training, Adolf.¡±


    The former mercenary¡¯s gaze shifted back to Extra in shock.


    ¡°Protect the border wall from the holy undead.¡± Extra ever so slightly shifted his mask to a side. His expression could be spied from the exposed gap. ¡°The time limit is one hour. The training subject this time, is¡­¡±


    There they were, his eyes arched like a pair of new moons, and the corners of his lips creepily curling up so much.


    ¡°It¡¯s the ¡®castle defence¡¯.¡±


    Adolf thought for a moment there that this man¡¯s expression was truly cruel and vicious to behold.


    < 149. Train like it¡¯s the real deal -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 285 - 150. Train like its the Real Deal -3 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Three weeks ago, inside the Imperial Palace¡¯s library¡­


    Just like always, Alice was in the library, studying magic.


    In the mornings, she¡¯d focus on training her physical body, while during lunch time she¡¯d research magic. In the afternoons, she would do image training, while her evenings were taken up with close-quarter combat drills. Another round of studying magic followed, which lasted well until the wee hours before she went to bed.


    She didn¡¯t forget to squeeze in her prayer sessions and learning more about the duties of a lady-in-waiting during her busy schedule, either. This whole process was how her daily life usually went.


    To her, this was a normal and peaceful daily pattern. Unfortunately, someone was disturbing this comfortable daily routine of hers lately.


    ¡°Eh-whew¡­ Lady Alice. Lady Alice?¡±


    The sigh was so drawn out and heavy that it might cave in the earth below. It proved to be hard for her to ignore.


    Alice was unable to let it go unanswered, so she put down the book she was reading and shifted her gaze to her side. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Lord Hans?¡±


    When she gently spoke, Hans planted his forehead on the desk and answered, ¡°He told me to come up with a new weapon, ma¡¯am. A new weapon type! How does that even make sense?! Seriously now, you can only overwork someone to a degree, you know? How am I supposed to know what a cannon is, anyway? Sure, there¡¯s some kind of an ancient record of someone inventing it in the distant past, but it supposedly possesses dozens, nay, a hundred times the firepower of a musket! How does that make any sense?!¡±


    Alice could only smile awkwardly at that. It felt like she heard the exact same complaint coming from him dozens of times a day for a while now.


    ¡°He said I¡¯d get a fat bonus if I succeed in this task, but eh-whew! If he was talking about piles of cash, I¡¯m already sitting on them after joining the Imperial Family¡¯s ranks. I¡¯m no longer as obsessed about making money as before, you know!¡± Hans continued to grumble and express his discontent.


    ¡°Oh, you wanna be unemployed, then?¡±


    Hans flinched at the sudden voice.


    Allen opened the library¡¯s door and stepped inside, prompting Hans to fake chuckle to hide his awkwardness. ¡°Of course not, sir! I was merely joking there, Your Highness. No, wait a minute. It¡¯s now Your Majesty, isn¡¯t it, sir? In any case, you know I was simply jo¡­¡±


    Before Hans could finish, Allen ground his fist against the top of the Alchemist¡¯s head, hard.


    Alice watched the duo and inwardly sighed in relief. Now that Allen was here, surely Hans would leave the library. Meaning she should be able to focus on her studies now.


    ¡°Hey, Alice?¡± Alice looked up at Allen when he called out her name. There was a somewhat mischievous grin on his face. ¡°I need your assistance.¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±


    ¡°I was preparing for a simple simulated reality training, but it got a bit difficult, you see.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°Train like it¡¯s the real deal. And treat the real thing like the real deal, know what I mean?¡± Allen grinned brightly at her. ¡°Please help.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, and as a bonus¡­¡± Allen lightly shook around a gourd-shaped bottle in front of Alice¡¯s eyes. ¡°Drink this, too.¡±


    **


    Alice recalled the events from three weeks ago and shook her head slowly. The contents of that bottle were ridiculously disgusting to experience, so much so that she had to wonder if Allen had reverted back to his old mangnani ways and decided to play a nasty prank on her.


    However¡­


    ¡®It¡¯s not difficult at all.¡¯


    She didn¡¯t feel any fatigue while performing the divinity resonance. This was the effect of the elixir she had drunk three weeks ago.


    She had drunk it and immediately entered divinity control mode to offer a prayer. Her divinity reserve was amplified, and its effectiveness had improved by a great margin.


    She had been feeling frustrated lately, after sensing her own growth stagnating, but just a single elixir managed to completely and utterly reinvigorate her to an absurd degree.


    A regular Priest would be crying out in elation, proclaiming that this was a god¡¯s miracle. They might remember this incredible debt for the rest of their lives, but Allen seemed to be rather indifferent about it.


    ¡®Honestly, I can¡¯t tell what¡¯s really in his mind.¡¯


    Alice looked up at the man wearing the bird-beak mask up on the border wall and grinned softly. Although her ears were catching the screams of some other people, she believed that he did this for the sake of everyone here.


    ¡®Everyone, do your best!¡¯


    For Alice, offering her prayer was the sole method of cheering she could provide to these new recruits.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk?!¡±


    Adolf stared at his severed hand flying away. Blood sprayed out from the wound.


    However, that lasted only for a few seconds; bones suddenly sprouted out from the severed stump of his arm. Blood vessels and muscle fibres then wrapped around his new bones like some kind of wiggling feelers, before new skin covered them all.


    ¡°W-what the hell?! What¡¯s going on here?!¡±


    This bizarre phenomenon only made Adolf even more terrified. His destroyed arm suddenly grew back; he had only heard about something like this in some far-fetched rumours. This would be his first time experiencing it for real.


    He even had to wonder whether or not this was an illusion caused by him falling into a panicked state.


    ¡°It, it¡¯s coming-!¡± one of the recruits cried out loudly.


    A huge boulder was flying in towards the border wall. It was a projectile fired by a catapult.


    ¡°Ah¡­!¡±


    Some hapless recruits were struck by that boulder. Their bodies were ripped apart and they tumbled down below the wall.


    Death. Getting hit by something like that would obviously mean instant death!


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry now. You won¡¯t die.¡±


    Adolf hurriedly turned his head.


    Extra had put his mask back on and began backing away even further. Why did it feel like he was smirking under the mask, though?


    ¡°When you¡¯re in this sanctuary, you can¡¯t die even if you want to. Well, as long as your entire head doesn¡¯t get smashed to smithereens, that is.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    He said that they couldn¡¯t be killed. He said that the great divine power would restore life itself, which seemed rather contradictory.


    ¡°Be a good soldier and defend your positions. Risk your lives and protect this wall. That is your duty this time.¡± When Extra said that, Adolf, Gril and Yuria all looked below the border wall.


    Skeletons wielding muskets were pulling the triggers again. Projectiles flew up before descending like shooting stars, turning the recruits into figurative beehives full of holes.


    It was a truly horrifying sight.


    This couldn¡¯t be ¡®training¡¯ at all. No, it was a one-sided massacre!


    ¡°All of you, get into defensive lines!¡± Harman roared out at them.


    Gril, who had enjoyed some friendly repertoire with the Paladin, worked up his courage and asked Harman. ¡°H-hold on, sir Paladin! Nobody told us that we¡¯d be going through training like this before!¡±


    ¡°Gril, go and defend your original position. We must not lose this defensive battle, no matter what!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, we mustn¡¯t lose?! Just who are we even fighting against, anyway?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Marquise Charlotte.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Gril and his puzzled face began scanning the ground below the border wall once more. Only then did he finally notice a Paladin in white armour leading the equally-white undead army.


    Charlotte was waving her sword around, commanding the undead behind her.


    ¡°What is she doing down there?!¡± Gril dazedly muttered out.


    ¡°Uncle, now isn¡¯t the time to say something weird! We gotta run!¡± Yuria shouted at him and yanked at Gril¡¯s clothes.


    He stumbled and plopped on his butt, only to witness a huge boulder narrowly brush past his head.


    His jaw fell down to the floor. ¡°¡­This isn¡¯t the life of a Paladin I dreamed about, you know?¡±


    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t fight back, our opponents are ready and willing to fight us.¡± Harman spoke up, glaring at Charlotte. ¡°If you don¡¯t resist, then only pain and misery awaits!¡±


    His words caused the complexions of all the nearby recruits to pale instantly.


    **


    Charlotte was also lacking in combat experience; in this case, what she lacked was the ability to command an army.


    {Come and occupy the border wall. That¡¯s your job this time.}


    Allen had said that while ordering the holy undead to follow her commands. They really acted and moved according to her orders.


    ¡°Use the siege weapons to attack the top of the border wall! The rest, advance!¡±


    The undead heeded her command and ran forward. They then summoned ladders made out of bones to climb up on the wall.


    ¡°Do not allow them to reach the top!¡± Harman¡¯s roar resounded out.


    The recruits, despite still being stuck in a state of panic and confusion, began displaying hints of reacting to his commands.


    ¡°Fire the arrows!¡±


    The recruits gripped their bows tightly and peeked over the edge of the border wall. Charlotte discovered them and issued another order. ¡°Commence firing!¡±


    About fifty or so members of the musket regiment on standby simultaneously pulled their triggers.


    A loud cacophony of gunshots rocked the air and whitish smoke spread out everywhere. At the same time, the bodies of the recruits up on the wall were ruthlessly pierced through.


    ¡°This is too easy,¡± Charlotte muttered to herself.


    Even though the recruits were currently being commanded by Harman, who had plenty of combat experience, they were still a disorganised mess. There was simply no way they could defend against Allen¡¯s army.


    ¡®However, today should prove to be a good experience for them in the end.¡¯


    Allen had previously said that he didn¡¯t need some soldiers who¡¯d get killed off too easily. No, what he was looking for were powerful clerics who swore to protect their mother nation and their loved ones.


    He was planning to filter out all those candidates filled with useless ambitions of their future and desire to move up in the world, before they had a chance to bloom.


    The holy undead were deliberately avoiding attacking the vital parts of the recruits. This was a part of Allen¡¯s orders, but despite that, Charlotte was still thinking of doing things realistically.


    ¡°Mace regiment, go and take over the border wall!¡±


    The skeletons wielding maces heeded her command and climbed up to the top of the border wall. They swung their maces around to force back the recruits.


    ¡°Shield soldiers, defend the ladders!¡±


    Skeletons carrying shields created sturdy walls by stacking themselves together, and defended the ladders.


    ¡°Spears soldiers, form a pike wall!¡±


    The pike wall of sharp spears jutted out and completely forced back the ranks of the recruits.


    They flinched nastily in shock, while Harman was facepalming himself. ¡°Dammit, it¡¯s too late.¡±


    The shields created impregnable walls while the lengthy spears threatened their human opponents.


    ¡°Forward-!¡±


    The skeletons began stepping forward one step at a time when Charlotte issued her next command.


    The recruits, not knowing what they were supposed to do here, started backing away, and the distance to the cliff-like edge of the border wall gradually narrowed.


    The faces of Gril, Adolf, and Yuria all paled greatly.


    Just as the tips of the spears reached their faces and they took one last step back, their feet dangled in the empty air.


    The recruits all began falling from the top of the border wall. They crash landed on the hard, unforgiving ground below.


    Thud-!


    They all experienced horrifying pain, but none of them died. Instead, their broken and shattered bones recovered rapidly.


    Their gazes, dazed and blurry from the impact to their heads, were directed at the top of the border wall. The holy undead began vanishing from this world, scattering away into motes of radiant light.


    Harman massaged his temples while looking at the eight hundred or so recruits laying on their backs on the ground below. He shouted at them loudly, ¡°¡­Today¡¯s training will conclude here!¡±


    Adolf, Gril, and Yuria waited for Harman¡¯s next instruction with trembling eyes.


    ¡°However, we shall fight another defensive battle tomorrow!¡±


    This¡­ this was an endless loop of Hell!

 Chapter 286 - 150. Train like it’s the Real Deal -3 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Around two hundred people declared their intentions to give up. That meant six hundred or so remained behind. They gradually started to act and move according to Harman¡¯s commands.


    ¡°Our enemies are strong, but the terrain advantage is with us! Use that to its full extent!¡± Harman called out loudly.


    Gril simply roared back at him, ¡°Don¡¯t make me laugh!¡±


    They held the terrain advantage here?


    Their opponent was a holy undead army that didn¡¯t feel any fear, and was armed to the teeth with proper equipment. The recruits were having a horrible time trying to oppose such beings with their chipped swords, rusted axes, and rotting shields full of holes.


    Not only that, these undead were deliberately avoiding the heads or the hearts of the defenders and attacked everywhere else. Meaning, they were going easy on the living humans.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna pass this trial with flying colours and stand proudly before my daughter!¡± Gril roared out again.


    Harman stared at him, and rather than frowning, smiled faintly instead.


    He, and everyone else, might be full of dissatisfaction, but they were still fully following Harman¡¯s commands.


    ¡°Destroy the ladders!¡±


    Gril smashed his axe down on the bone ladder.


    The ladder broke apart, causing the undead climbing up to tumble down to the bottom of the border wall.


    Muskets fired their projectiles in Gril¡¯s direction, but Adolf¡¯s shield defended him just in time. Although the shield itself was large, the projectiles still punched many holes through it, forcing it back.


    ¡°Commence firing!¡± Harman roared out, and Yuria and the others held up their crossbows. Perhaps due to the weapon¡¯s weight, she was sweating buckets while trying to aim and hit the skeletons below.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Time continued to tick by. The castle defence battle repeated itself day after day¡­ and the recruits continued to fail to defend the wall.


    Fail, fail, fail, fail¡­


    The ¡®training¡¯ that used to happen once a day, became a twice-a-day occurrence. It didn¡¯t matter whether it was during the day or late at night, the undead raid mercilessly tormented the recruits.


    And so, about two weeks later¡­


    The recruits gradually grew more or less familiar and numb to the fear of death. Their familiarity with the various weapons also improved significantly. Their instinctive revulsion towards the undead also gradually disappeared as well.


    Eventually¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s been one hour! The training will conclude here. I congratulate you on defending the wall! It¡¯s our victory!¡± Harman loudly announced, and the recruits all plopped down on their butts.


    ¡°We won¡­¡±


    ¡°We did it!¡±


    They had finally succeeded in defending this ¡®castle¡¯. But rather than happiness, the recruits were chuckling hollowly away, instead.


    This training was finally over. They couldn¡¯t even recall how they managed to endure it for so long. They simply moved according to instinct now.


    They followed Harman¡¯s orders so that they could protect their comrades as much as possible. They kept enduring and fought back.


    The end result of all that fighting was that they had managed to hold on for one hour.


    Extra, who was watching this development silently, felt a great deal of satisfaction.


    The number of recruits remaining was on the low side, but with this, they were now ready. They were now seasoned soldiers and all they needed from this moment on was a systematic training regime. They would no doubt serve as fine vessels that would become a new generation of Paladins in the near future.


    ¡°My lord, you were too cruel this time,¡± said Harman while walking up to Extra. He had to be feeling tired as well, because he sat down on the ground. ¡°How many more times do we need to repeat this process, sire?¡±


    ¡°Throughout the rest of the year.¡±


    ¡°May I confirm if your intention is to kill me through overwork?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t feel too bad,¡± replied Extra, looking at the resting Harman. ¡°You aren¡¯t the only one working their butts off, you know.¡±


    Alice, Hans, Charlotte, and even Allen AKA Extra were included in this assessment. They might enjoy little breaks every now and then, but even then, all of them would have to suffer a great deal for the remainder of the year.


    ¡°Sire, I¡¯ll definitely lodge a request for a long, long holiday later.¡±


    ¡°Of course. After this training is over, take a good rest for a week or so before heading back here.¡± Extra scanned the soldiers either sagging limply or sprawled on their backs on top of the border wall, and chuckled in a pleased tone, ¡°What a relief that no one died.¡±


    ¡°But Your Majesty, you made sure that didn¡¯t happen, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Why are you calling me Your Majesty? I¡¯m still not used to that title, you know?¡± While retorting like that, Extra lightly tossed a gourd-shaped bottle in Harman¡¯s direction. ¡°You drink that, too, and distribute the potion to all those who passed the last training. We don¡¯t have a lot to spare, so it¡¯s fine to distribute a smaller amount to them.¡±


    ¡°¡­I was under the impression that this potion is quite valuable. Is it fine to do that, sire?¡±


    ¡°These soldiers will fight for our empire. What¡¯s the point of holding back on our support in that case?¡± Extra replied, before turning around to leave. ¡°Return to the capital tomorrow. Carriages will be provided, so take a good rest during the journey back to the Imperial Palace.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sire.¡± Harman bowed his head.


    ¡ª¡ª


    With this, the successful candidates from the first batch that would become a part of the new ten thousand-strong Crusader Army had been found.


    Their final number: 557.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Gril, Adolf, and Yuria climbed aboard the waiting carriage.


    They looked outside the moving vehicle and discovered a new batch of recruits over yonder marching towards the border wall.


    ¡°¡­Oh my goddess.¡± Gril¡¯s jaw nearly hit the floor of the carriage. ¡°H-hey, they can¡¯t be from the second batch, right?¡±


    These new recruits were crossing paths with the first batch leaving the scene.


    The expressions of the second batch of recruits brightened considerably. They were happy to see the first batch heading back to the Imperial Capital on carriages.


    ¡°Yes, our destination is right in front of us!¡±


    ¡°There it is, the border wall!¡±


    ¡°Finally! Our march is over.¡±


    ¡°Looks like they¡¯ll let us ride carriages on our way back!¡±


    The first batch of recruits kept their silence while staring at the second batch, inwardly praying for their souls.


    2


    Charlotte was standing on top of the border wall, studying the incoming second batch of recruits. As she stood there in silence, one of the Paladins walked up to her and whispered something in her ear.


    She nodded, then walked over to Extra, who was sitting rather precariously on the wall¡¯s edge, to speak to him. ¡°Your Majesty, Viscount Hans has succeeded in the experiment.¡±


    Extra turned his head to look at her.


    ¡°He has successfully manufactured the item called ¡®cannon¡¯, Your Majesty.¡±


    **


    Inside the Aslan royal palace¡­


    ¡°Your Majesty, do you think this makes any sort of sense?!¡±


    One of the twelve feudal lords of Aslan, Rehton, expressed his discontent to the ruler of Aslan, Royal Princess Tina. [1]


    ¡°Even if we¡¯re now a vassal state of the empire, training in our border region?! How can such a thing be logical, ma¡¯am?!¡±


    Trees and plants were growing seemingly everywhere, not just inside this grand audience chamber, but even throughout the entirety of the royal palace.


    As the stream of water flowed gently by, a man with a rotund physique was bellowing loudly at Royal Princess Tina. ¡°Those bastards are planning to invade us! Without that reason, they wouldn¡¯t have done¡­¡±


    ¡°Lord Rehton, please calm down,¡± Tina¡¯s clear voice rang throughout the audience chamber.


    Rehton flinched at her Spirit Speech, brimming full of divinity, but he didn¡¯t back away. No, he actually stepped forward, instead.


    But then, the special squad made up entirely of demi-human species wearing steel masks that hid their faces, the hashashins, quickly surrounded Tina in order to protect her.


    Rehon¡¯s steps came to a stuttering halt after noticing the hashashins. ¡°My queen, this is not a matter that I can stay calm about!¡±


    ¡°What are you so worried about, Lord Rehton?¡±


    The queen¡¯s question caused a flood of cold sweat to break out on Rehton¡¯s skin. ¡°The Theocratic Empire¡¯s influence grows stronger every single day, Your Majesty! They even began raising an army! Without a doubt, they will soon embark on the conquest of the entire continent!¡± Rehton¡¯s words became harsher and louder. ¡°Aslan will become their first target! Those bastards, with the pretext of hunting down the vampires, will¡­!¡±


    ¡°Aslan won¡¯t be in any danger.¡±


    ¡°How can you be so sure, Your Majesty!?¡±


    ¡°It is because I know His Majesty the Holy King well. If he indeed held some kind of ambition to conquer the continent, then our nation would¡¯ve been destroyed a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°¡­But ma¡¯am, our subjects are living in fear!¡±


    Royal Princess Tina blinked several times, before standing up from the throne to walk towards one of the windows located on the left side of the audience chamber.


    Through this window, located high-up on the royal palace itself, she took in the sight of the streets of Aslan¡¯s capital down below. ¡°You say they are living in fear?¡±


    The city was overflowing with vitality. Verdant leaves covered practically everywhere, while the energy of the living abundantly flowed within the avenues. Every citizen she could see was smiling brightly away.


    Tina turned her head back and stared at Rehton. ¡°To my eyes, they seem far more content then when my father was ruling them.¡±


    ¡°¡­Words just don¡¯t get through to you. This is why damn Elves are¡­!¡±


    The hashashins were about to make a move to punish Rehton¡¯s insolent words, but Tina stopped them.


    ¡°You will regret this!¡± Rehton spun on his heels and left the audience chamber in a huff.


    ¡®Dammit! It¡¯s not going as planned!¡¯ Rehton grit his teeth.


    The reasons why Tina was allowed to become the ruler of Aslan were threefold: one, the Theocratic Empire did ¡®politely¡¯ demand it; two, she was Rahamma¡¯s descendent; and finally, the other nobles figured she would be an easy puppet to manipulate.


    Indeed, the nobles had predicted that all political power of the kingdom would naturally fall into their hands by manipulating her from behind the scenes, but then¡­


    The hashashins continued to follow her, and before long, all power became concentrated on her, instead. Even a portion of the nobility broke ranks and sided with her, while the citizens were supporting her, as well!


    As long as the World Tree existed, her authority would remain untouchable.


    ¡®How dare a measly little demi-human¡­ A lowly Elf dares to rule over humans?¡¯


    All demi-humans were slaves. That was the ancient custom, the old mindset, deeply ingrained in the Aslan culture. As such, Rehton openly expressed his dissatisfaction at a mere Elf doing whatever she liked with Aslan.


    He eventually arrived at his quarters and closed the door behind him. ¡°I shall definitely take your head one of these days, you little Elf b*tch! I am the one who should¡¯ve been the king of Aslan. Me, Rehton¡­!¡±


    ¡°Well, in that case, why don¡¯t we make it happen, then?¡±


    Rehton froze instantly. As a flood of cold sweat went down his back, he quickly shifted his gaze over to a sofa located on the corner of the room.


    A middle-aged man in his mid to late fifties was sitting there. His abundant, yet rough and unruly hair was spread out like a lion¡¯s mane. He even had wild-looking beard as well, while his entire body was covered in muscles as hard and sturdy as the best armour available.


    This man, with crimson hair and eyes, was¡­


    ¡°¡­C-Count Duran.¡±


    The Progenitor Vampire, Count Duran.


    The vampire smiled meaningfully and spoke up, ¡°What you wish to accomplish, I can make it happen for you.¡±


    2


    < 150. Train like it¡¯s the real deal -3 > Fin.


    (TL: Changed from Queen Tina to Royal Princess Tina to match the author¡¯s change.)


    1

 Chapter 287 - 151. The Approaching Darkness -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Rehton and three other feudal lords of Aslan were walking through a cave bathed in the inky-black darkness.


    It felt like their innards were tumbling. Their heads were spinning dangerously, while their eyes couldn¡¯t see through the curtain of darkness and forced them to walk blindly here.


    They felt around with their hands and found the walls, then injected demonic energy into their eyes, finally giving them some view of what was in front of them.


    ¡°¡­It wasn¡¯t a normal cave, after all.¡±


    Their hands came in contact with some kind of viscous, sticky liquid. An acrid metallic stench came from it.


    It was blood. The entire inner wall of the cave was covered in thick coats of blood.


    The complexions of Rehton and other feudal lords paled instantly.


    ¡°My apologies. A Count capable of casting excellent warp magic has died, you see. Some idiotic blood-creations were used to operate this warp magic, so the aftereffects will be intense for you all. We will also need about a month¡¯s preparation to open the warp gate for you to return.¡± Duke Duran was leading the feudal lords along. ¡°Keep following me.¡±


    The nobles did indeed follow, even though cold sweat was trickling down their bodies. Duke Duran was one of the Progenitor Vampires that they had been negotiating with previously.


    This was the final card against the Theocratic Empire the now-deceased former king of Aslan, Rahamma, had prepared, just in case.


    The inky-black darkness gradually turned crimson in hue. A cacophony of noises could be heard now as well.


    Rehton and the other feudal lords, still diligently following Duke Duran, shifted their gazes over to the right side.


    There was a huge opening by the cave wall; sharp sparks could be seen dancing in the air. The quartet peeked through this opening to see what was going on.


    ¡°Oh my gods?!¡±


    What they heard was the harsh clangour of metal.


    Below them was a stiff cliff face. They could see a crater-like area at the bottom where molten lava was flowing out. Meanwhile, goblins were hurriedly darting here and there, carrying steel around. Ogres were swinging large hammers to temper the heated metal.


    Hundreds of goblins and dozens of ogres were currently manufacturing weapons.


    A goblin collapsed from overwork; a nearby ogre simply ripped the poor goblin apart and devoured it.


    The goblin¡¯s upper torso was gone now, while its bleeding lower torso was placed on top of the heated metal, before the large hammer came down on it.


    Standing next to the ogre was a goblin shaman silently mouthing some kind of a spell.


    ¡®¡­Cursed weapons, made with blood!¡¯


    ¡°Lord Rehton, look to your right!¡±


    Rehton heard his colleague calling out to him, so he peeked out further past the opening in the cave¡¯s wall. ¡°¡­What the hell is that, now?¡±


    He could see some kind of a ¡®swamp¡¯ down there, except that he could also tell that it was created from decomposed corpses, judging from all the rotting meat and bones floating around on its surface.


    Countless humans stood before it, but orcs kitted out in armour were preventing them from approaching it.


    The humans were slaves, convicted criminals, deserters, old men on the brink of death, or deeply ill patients.


    In other words, they were humans who willingly came here after being disillusioned by the unfairness of the world.


    ¡°Fine. Rather than getting chased down and dying miserably later, I might as well become a monster and get my revenge!¡±


    They willingly chose to become monsters, and walked into the swamp of corpses. As they approached it, something dragged them inside.


    ¡°This is a process to manufacture blood-creations. Normally, they need to receive the blood of a Progenitor, but unfortunately that takes far too long.¡± Duran explained.


    One of the humans already inside the swamp, who looked to have spent a dozen-plus days in there, strode out of it and cried out loudly, ¡°I can feel it. I can feel this incredible power-!¡±


    The back muscles of this man, who was now boasting a mountainous physique, began writhing in a grotesque manner. Orcs on standby began distributing equipment to him.


    These creatures were currently creating an army, an army that far surpassed anything the Vampires had raised before now.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just this place. We are raising a great army in various locations throughout the continent. It seems that Marquis Kirum has ardently pleaded with His Majesty the Vampire King for this,¡± Duran explained further.


    Rehton could only swallow nervously, his mouth dry. Even then, he continued to follow Duran.


    Eventually, Rehton and company reached the end of the cave and entered a humongous hallway.


    The moment they set foot in this place, the jaws of all the feudal lords dropped right down to the floor. They then began screaming, too.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s a monster!¡±


    ¡°A s-snake? Or is it a dragon?!¡±


    All that shouting prompted Rehton to widen his eyes in surprise. He then gasped out in an impressed tone of voice to express his awe, ¡°It¡¯s a Basilisk.¡±


    It was a gigantic snake that reached fifteen metres high just by raising its head up a bit. Whitish scales covered its abdomen area, while its back was covered in what looked like a crustacean¡¯s outer shell.


    It opened its large maw wide, while its reptilian eyes glared sharply at the human nobles as its snake-like tongue flicked this way and that.


    ¡°This is merely a pet I¡¯m rearing,¡± said Duke Duran calmly.


    The Basilisk scanned the nobles, then slithered right in front of Rehton before opening its maw even wider. A truly disgusting stench came from its mouth. Toxins mixed in with its breath were so strong that Rehton felt like his skin was melting away.


    Duke Duran settled down on the throne in front of the Basilisk. He held his head high with a truly arrogant demeanour and ripped into his own arm. Blood gushed out, and so did powerful waves of demonic energy from the wound.


    ¡°And so, what will you do now?¡± Duke Duran asked.


    Rehton stared at the Progenitor Vampire, entranced by the scent of the blood.


    ¡°Are you still planning to form an alliance with us?¡±


    ¡°O-of course. H-however, as long as Royal Princess Tina is around, the rest of Aslan will support her. Eliminating her will only invite confusion and chaos, instead. Indeed, the Necromancers will not follow us if we do. Even the citizens will¡­¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there already a most optimum way to form the alliance? The most efficient way will utterly eliminate all opposition from the citizens and nobles of Aslan. Also, I hold no aversion towards the noble blood flowing within Royal Princess Tina.¡±


    Rehton¡¯s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. ¡°Are you perhaps suggesting a political marriage?¡±


    ¡°If all feudal lords agree to it, then yes, it¡¯ll be possible to pull it off. We only seek to form an alliance with you. All ruling authority will be handed over to the nobles, while the Dark Elf will remain as a puppet. This is the opportunity that you¡¯ve been waiting for, the one where you get to finally become the ¡®king¡¯ that holds all the power. So, what say you?¡±


    Rehton walked up to Duke Duran.


    The other feudal lords reached out as if to stop him, but he shook their hands off violently.


    Duran spoke again, ¡°You should know by now what it means to become a vampire. The everlasting life, and becoming an apex predator that stands at the top of the food chain.¡±


    Rehton swallowed drily once more.


    He continued to stare at the blood oozing from Duke Duran¡¯s hand like a man in a trance, and reached out with his own trembling hands.


    Duke Duran¡¯s crimson-hued eyes began to burn even deeper in red. ¡°That¡¯s why you should follow me, Lord Rehton.¡±


    Rehton went down on his knees.


    He extended both of his hands to catch Duran¡¯s blood before bringing it into his mouth.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I was sitting inside my office in the Theocratic Empire¡¯s Imperial Palace, busy compiling a document.


    Here it was, the perfect plan. And it was none other than¡­


    ¡°¡­The Loaded Unemployed Bum Plan.¡± [1]


    Charlotte next to me heard my muttering and frowned deeply. ¡°If I may inquire, what do you mean by that, Your Majesty?¡±


    ¡°You know, I heard about White¡¯s current situation.¡±


    White, as soon as he ascended to Holy Emperor, ran away from the Imperial Court under the pretext of searching for the missing Second Imperial Prince Ruppel. Sure, his personality meant that he probably was really thinking of finding his missing son, rather than finding the affairs of the Imperial Court too burdensome to sit through.


    Whatever the case might have been, the main takeaway from that story was this: he skipped town as soon as he ascended to the throne.


    And now, look at him. What kind of a life was he living right now?


    Even if the Imperial Family wanted to saddle him with some kind of administrative duties, White had all of his authority revoked, so there was basically nothing he could officially do.


    Most of the time, he¡¯d just stay in his room idling his days away, or he¡¯d go out to satisfy his favourite pastime, vampire hunting, every now and then. Oh, and he¡¯d also get dispatched to other nations along with Paladins for missions.


    To put it simply, that dude was enjoying living his free life.


    ¡°¡­But Your Majesty, do you really not wish to become the new Holy Emperor?¡± Charlotte asked me.


    ¡°Why do you think I¡¯m working this hard right now?¡±


    From a certain moment in time, I had become an agent of the Imperial Family. I was working my butt off for them, and voluntarily rolled up my sleeves to get deeply involved, just so that I could protect the empire¡¯s subjects.


    It was almost like I acted subconsciously, out of instinct, etc, etc.


    Some part of that could be blamed on the Imperial Family¡¯s blood coursing through my veins and making me hate vampires with passion, but the thing was, I also just couldn¡¯t sit back and do nothing while innocent people were ending up as snacks for some disgusting, vile monsters.


    But at this rate, I¡¯d never be able to escape from the prison called the Imperial Palace.


    Sure, the throne of the Holy Emperor sounded rather enticing, but your freedom would be taken away just as much. To put it in simpler terms, I would end up like just Kelt. Other than participating in some future wars, I¡¯d be confined to the Imperial Palace for the next hundred years or so.


    The real reason why I was going out of my way to raise an army of ten thousand Crusaders was to make my life so much easier in the future.


    (TL: The literal translation of the [1] would¡¯ve been the ¡°Golden Bum Plan¡±. I changed it slightly to avoid the inevitable ¡®bum¡¯ jokes.)

 Chapter 288 - 151. The Approaching Darkness -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°I¡¯ve already declared war on the vampires hiding throughout the continent. They are being hunted down even as we speak through the wide-scale dispatching of Paladins.¡±


    The vampire suppression effort had begun in earnest. Never mind waging war, those bloodsuckers should probably be scrambling to hide in a deep hole somewhere right about now.


    For sure, as long as Kelt and I were still around, this peace should continue. But once he was no longer with us, the vampires would no doubt rise up and fight back.


    The ten thousand-strong Crusaders were meant to prevent that from happening.


    These combatants were definitely not what you¡¯d call ¡®regular¡¯ in any measure. Even when compared to regular knights, this group of fighters would easily win in an overwhelming fashion.


    Vampires were terror personified. So, the best method to prevent a war with them was to scare them into giving up in the first place.


    I could threaten them perfectly well even if I wasn¡¯t the Holy King. Me being simply around somewhere in the Theocratic Empire would work wonders, too. Meaning, I might get to live a peaceful life inside a perfectly peaceful world if everything went well.


    ¡°I would love to see it, though. Lord Allen becoming the next Holy Emperor.¡±


    I could sense Charlotte feeling rueful about it from her voice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about that. I¡¯ll bounce right after I ascend, you see.¡±


    The ruling authority was already with me. Even Oscal the Sword King would follow my orders now. If a net was placed to stop me from escaping, then I could just undo it myself.


    The Holy Emperor¡¯s throne would automatically go to White, or even to Luan, in that case. Both of them possessed the traits of a wise ruler, so in a peaceful world with no conflicts to worry about, they would surely work hard for the subjects of the empire.


    It was around this time that I heard someone knock on the door. It opened, and Alice, dressed like a lady-in-waiting, stepped inside before bowing her head. ¡°Lord Hans requests you that you attend the test firing of the cannon, sire.¡±


    ¡®Huh, so she chose to go with the stiff, all-business tone, eh?¡¯


    I got up from the chair. Finally, the time to spectate our new weapon had come.


    **


    The raising of the Crusader army was truly epic in scale. It needed to possess an overwhelming combat prowess as long as I was around.


    It would be the sixth force that was fully loyal to the Imperial Family, and thus could be trusted wholeheartedly¡­


    I ordered a portion of the Aztal Rune to be engraved on their bodies.


    ¡°The request for the assistance of Cardinals Urael and Raphael to help with the process of engraving the Aztal Rune on the entirety of the sixth force has been lodged, sire.¡±


    Our current location was somewhere a bit of distance away from Laurensis, the capital.


    We could see a hill, which had been prepared for the express purpose of training the handlers of siege weapons.


    While we were heading there on horseback, Charlotte continued to report, ¡°It seems that that task will be completed within one year, Your Majesty.¡±


    That would make the current combat force even stronger than before, and with that, further guarantee the absolute safety of the empire¡¯s citizens.


    Combatants wouldn¡¯t suddenly exhibit the same level of combat prowess as Cardinal Mikael just because the Aztal Rune was now engraved on their bodies, but it¡¯d still grant them divinity amplification, as well as a regenerative ability similar to immortality.


    We were using the absolute minimum number of Rune, in order to cause the least amount of backlash. If it was only that, I figured the physical and psychological toll on the combatants wouldn¡¯t be as bad.


    While reading the book [Undead Synthesis Method, Composition of Chimeras] and listening to Charlotte¡¯s explanations, we reached the practice grounds where the siege weapons were being operated.


    I headed to the shooting range under Charlotte¡¯s guidance and eventually the figures of Hans and his fellow Alchemists and Magicians came into view.


    And there it was, the huge new weapon, resting in front of them.


    ¡°¡­Wow, this cannon is pretty substantial.¡±


    Rather than a cannon, it looked more like a small tank to me. The thing consisted of a main body with a gun barrel around two and half metres long, and wooden wheels supported the whole thing. Judging from the many runes plastered all over it, it seemed that quite a high level of skill was needed to operate this weapon.


    I stared at the large hunk of metal. Hans was in the middle of the group of dozens of Alchemists and Magicians, busy issuing various commands.


    He discovered we had arrived and walked up to us while looking completely drained by fatigue. ¡°Welcome to the firing range, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°¡­How many nights did you stay up this time?¡±


    ¡°I think it was the whole month, sir. This product might have been invented hundreds of years ago, but we tried to create something even better by using the data from back then. How about it, sir? Would you like to see?¡±


    I nodded in reply.


    Back when I first used a musket, the sheer firepower I had experienced really shocked me. Since a cannon was expected to produce the destructive power several times, nay, several dozen times, higher than a musket, I couldn¡¯t help but look forward to what was about to happen.


    Hans ordered the Magicians to inject Mana into the cannon. Mana started spinning inside the barrel, condensing a cannon shell.


    The preparation time was around ten minutes.


    ¡°Alright, then. Fire!¡± Hans waved his arm grandly.


    Along with a smallish sound of fireworks going off, sparks gushed out from the muzzle of the cannon. Although there was some grey smoke pouring out, even they came across as lacklustre.


    And that was it.


    The cannon, basically a hunk of metal, didn¡¯t even tremble once.


    As for the shell, it couldn¡¯t even hit the target waiting about five hundred metres away, simply dissipating in the air.


    I became dismayed and muttered something out. ¡°¡­What the¡­ is this a puffed rice machine or something?¡±


    ¡°Puffed rice?¡± Hans made a puzzled face, only for it to be quickly replaced by a considerably satisfied expression next. ¡°Ahaha! Yes, I¡¯m a genius, indeed! Your Majesty, I¡¯m sure you felt disappointed by what you witnessed just now, but this test actually served as a perfect proof, instead!¡± Hans placed his hand on my shoulder. ¡°A genius calculates for every little eventuality in his head, sir. Now please use your Divine Aura next, sir! The Aztal Rune has been connected to the weapon, so the attack will become considerably more powerful.¡±


    The Alchemists and Magicians around us furrowed their brows while staring at Hans. They probably thought that his actions were bothering on impudence.


    I didn¡¯t mind it and did as Hans told me, using the Aztal Rune. The cannon was soon upgraded.


    ¡°Alright, then! Get ready again!¡±


    At Hans¡¯s command, the Alchemists and Magicians put on some leather gowns, goggles, and earplugs.


    ¡°Your Majesty, I advise that you put them on as well.¡±


    Hans pushed the goggles and the earplugs my way, so I put them on.


    Meanwhile, the Magicians began injecting Mana into the upgraded cannon again. This time, the process took only around five minutes.


    The golden light of the Aztal Rune was mixed with the blue light of the Divine Aura. Mana swirled viciously within the cannon, and Hans nodded his head once and shouted out loudly. ¡°Fire!¡±


    KA-BOOM!


    I flinched in shock as my eyes threatened to bulge out of my face.


    The cannon was shoved back. At the same time, a blinding flash of light exploded from the muzzle, and the shell flew out at a frightening turn of speed.


    The target was struck solidly, and a massive explosion went off there. The ripples of Mana slammed into its surroundings.


    The terrain rumbled ominously, and even though we were five hundred metres away, I still faintly sensed the waves containing Mana reaching us.


    ¡°To operate this weapon, we need a minimum of five high-class Priests, sir. They need to be trained intensely if they wish to hit the target accurately every single time. As for the preparation time, it¡¯s around five minutes, sir. At the very least, if vampires or undead are hit by this thing¡­¡± Hans grinned deeply while staring at me, ¡°unless it¡¯s a Progenitor, everything within the five-metre radius will be dead, sir. Any others in the vicinity will be flung away by the shockwave.¡±


    ¡°Excellent!¡± I clapped my hands vigorously. This firepower was beyond my expectation.


    I energetically pounded on Hans¡¯s back.


    Nicely done. What an excellent weapon this was!


    The existence of a weapon like this should greatly scare the vampires. No, hang on a minute; never mind vampires, no kings in this continent would dare to look down on us now!


    This weapon would prove to be a powerful card in maintaining the peace.


    ¡°Can you show me the blueprint?¡± I asked Hans.


    He presented me with the cannon¡¯s blueprint. After scanning it once, I realised that its structure wasn¡¯t all that complicated, so I promptly memorised the blueprint itself.


    After I was done, I called out to him again, ¡°Viscount Hans Jerurami.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty?¡± A happy grin was etched on Hans¡¯s face. He must¡¯ve found my reaction quite satisfactory.


    ¡°I shall now grant you the Title of Count.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Hans¡¯s jaw dropped.


    I let him be and placed my hand on the experimental cannon. The weapon suddenly split apart into particles before vanishing from the world.


    Actually, I just stored it in my item window.


    While we were in the middle of conducting the cannon tests, a Paladin at the foot of a hill in the far-off distance waved a flag to catch our attention, then hurriedly approached us on horseback.


    ¡°It¡¯s an emergency situation, sire!¡±


    He was carrying a missive. He loudly called out to us while closing the distance, and quickly dismounted from the horse. He knelt down before me and presented the document to me. ¡°Sire, a seditious activity has been detected within Aslan!¡±


    I furrowed my brow and took the missive. Its contents were quite simple: three thousand or so Orcs, around three hundred Necromancers, and another five thousand slave soldiers were apparently stationed at the border region.


    Wait, monsters?


    I read the rest of the report in a daze.


    ¡°It¡¯s civil war, sire. A civil war has broken out in Aslan!¡±


    The feudal lords had started a rebellion.


    Aslan was getting swept up in the flames of war once again¡­


    < 151. The Approaching Darkness -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 289 - 152. The Approaching Darkness -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Fourteen days before Aslan¡¯s civil war¡­


    Tina sitting on the throne received a report. It said that seditious movements of the feudal lords had been detected.


    ¡°Rehton is currently gathering forces, ma¡¯am. What will you do, Your Majesty?¡± Damon asked her. He was once upon a time her teacher, and now he was installed as one of the feudal lords himself. ¡°Will you report this to His Majesty the Holy King?¡±


    He had also been saved by Allen and granted his divinity. His devotion to the Holy King easily matched the level of Tina¡¯s loyalty.


    The best-sounding option seemed to be sending a report to the Holy King and mobilising the necessary troops. Preparations to hit the feudal lords at any time Tina gave her order had already been made.


    ¡°Lord Damon, please report this matter to the Theocratic Empire.¡±


    ¡°Understood, ma¡¯am.¡±


    For the sake of Aslan¡¯s subjects, the strength of the feudal lords was a necessity. The funds and authority they possessed had a calming effect on the populace, and they were a crucial factor in controlling the behaviour of the Necromancers, as well.


    However, if they were really planning a rebellion, then such a development could not be brushed aside quietly.


    ¡°¡­Strike them.¡±


    One command from Tina, and Damon silently nodded. His gaze shifted over to the hashashins, who bowed deeply before stepping back.


    Just before they almost fully melted into the darkness to disappear from view, Tina called out to them, ¡°If you think it¡¯ll get too dangerous, please withdraw.¡±


    ¡°¡­Understood, Your Majesty.¡±


    The hashashins, once her brothers and sisters, vanished into the darkness. Their role was to assassinate the rebelling feudal lords.


    ¡ª¡ª


    They rushed out into the darkness of the night. The murky, gloomy clouds hid even the sharpest moonlight in the ghostly wee hours.


    The hashashins ran silently towards the private residences of the nobles within Aslan¡¯s capital city.


    Their opponents this time were powerful. King Rahamma believed that only the strong deserved to become nobles, after all.


    But no matter how strong you were, you¡¯d leave an opening behind when you slept.


    They slipped silently into the residence and instantly suppressed the security guards on duty.


    Each and every one of their steps left no sound behind.


    Once the Dark Elf hashashins succeeded in infiltrating the manor, they cast noise-blocking magic. Then, the dwarves burst through the door. At the same time, windows shattered.


    Were-cats and were-dogs, specialised in close-quarters combat, quickly slipped in through the broken doorway, their claws already coated in poison. But then, they flinched in surprise and stopped moving altogether.


    ¡°Welcome, all of you.¡±


    A man with bulging muscles, crimson hair that resembled a lion¡¯s mane and red eyes, welcomed them.


    ¡°Duran?¡±


    ¡°¡­A Vampire Duke!¡±


    The expressionless faces of hashashins were overcome with sudden changes.


    All emotions had been exorcised out of these hashashins through the horrifying level of brainwashing performed by King Rahamma. But these people without emotions became agitated and their complexions paled instantly when they saw what lay waiting for them.


    ¡®This was a trap!¡¯


    Which meant¡­


    ¡®Queen Tina is in danger!¡¯


    ¡°What excellent prey you are.¡±


    Just as the hashashins began stepping back, Duke Duran grinned deeply.


    **


    Members of Aslan¡¯s twelve feudal lords, Rehton and three other lords, were currently leading their forces somewhere.


    ¡®Oh, ohhh! Truly excellent.¡¯


    This was deep in the middle of the night. The gloomy clouds had swallowed up the moonlight, yet Rehton could see what was in front of him as clearly as if it was the middle of the day.


    Even his hearing had become so much sharper. He could actually hear the sounds of insects crawling on the ground.


    ¡®So, this is the power granted through the blood of a Progenitor, a Vampire Duke?!¡¯


    Rehton glanced at the ones following him, a group hiding themselves under thick robes.


    Soldiers made up of blood-creations, orcs, and his own private mercenary Necromancers were all advancing forward with him.


    Rehton and the group finally paused before the royal palace. He then spoke confidently to his followers. ¡°Attack. Go and ¡®protect¡¯ our dear Queen.¡± A thick and slimy grin floated up on his face. ¡°Protect her from the traitors, that is.¡±


    With that one order from Rehton, his soldiers madly rushed inside the palace grounds. Soon, the noises of weapons clashing and screams rocked the darkness of the night.


    Several explosions went off to indicate that magic had been used as well, and black smoke plumes billowed up.


    ¡ª


    Lights came on to brighten the streets of Aslan¡¯s capital. Citizens watched the royal palace with worried eyes.


    ¡°Just what is going on¡­?¡±


    ¡°Her Majesty Tina is in danger!¡±


    ¡°What are the royal guards doing?!¡±


    Their worried murmuring continued to grow louder.


    In the meantime, Rehton walked along the palace¡¯s corridors and reached the audience chamber¡¯s doorway. He flung the doors wide open. Tina could be seen furrowing her brow, while Damon blocked Rehton¡¯s path.


    ¡°Rehton, what is the meaning of¡­!¡±


    ¡°How foolish of you, Damon! For you to scheme a rebellion like this!¡±


    Damon¡¯s brows shot up high.


    Rehton ignored him for now, and shifted his gaze over to Tina, now sitting on the throne and gripping her staff tightly.


    He bowed his head towards her. ¡°Your Majesty, my queen. Please be rest assured. This servant, Rehton, will deal with this traitor.¡±


    ¡°What nonsense are you spewing right now?!¡± Damon roared out.


    Rehton leisurely stood back up and tilted his head theatrically. ¡°Let me ask you, Damon. Who do you think will be branded as the traitor in a civil war?¡±


    ¡°What did you say?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s simple, really. The one who managed to get his hands on the person with the noblest bloodline is the rightful patriot, while the one who failed to do so is the traitor.¡±


    Damon¡¯s expression crumpled instantly and he quickly roused up divinity.


    This bastard was planning to turn Tina into a puppet! How dare he drool over the daughter of the king¡­!


    ¡°You bastard-!¡±


    Damon pounced forward, but Rehton¡¯s fingernails suddenly extended like meat hooks. He swiped his hand powerfully, deflecting the incoming Damon away. The latter was flung away and painfully crashed right next to Tina¡¯s throne, rolling away on the floor.


    ¡°Keo-huhuhk!¡±


    His face was sliced open, while a deep claw wound opened up from his chest right down to his abdomen.


    Tina¡¯s hardened gaze was locked on Rehton¡¯s ¡®fingernails¡¯.


    Those were no longer a human¡¯s nails.


    ¡°¡­Could it be that, you¡­?¡±


    ¡°Royal Princess Tina, this thing called being a vampire, it¡¯s¡­¡± Rehton¡¯s eyes began glowing in an eerie crimson hue. ¡°¡­A truly magnificent thing, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Tina slammed her staff down on the floor.


    Branches of trees began rushing into the audience chamber, then morphed into a humanoid made out of wood standing at least five metres tall ¨C the woodman.


    While this was happening, some more tree branches extended to wrap around the foot of the unconscious Damon before silently dragging him away.


    Rehton stumbled back at the sight of the woodman. Despite becoming a vampire, he still found the presence of this creature hard to bear. He couldn¡¯t win as long as Tina was under the grace of the World Tree.


    However¡­


    ¡°Ahaha! Such a lowly creature of wood will not¡­!¡±


    The ground rumbled noisily and part of the royal palace began collapsing.


    The soldiers following behind Rehton were crushed to death by the falling debris of the palace. The ground caved in and a white snake-like creature instantly shot up from the resulting hole.


    The Basilisk chomped down on the woodman, obliterating it completely.


    ¡®From underground¡­?¡¯


    Tina glared at Rehton. Was this the reason why monsters like orcs were inside the royal capital?


    Rehton powerfully kicked off the floor and dashed forward. In the blink of an eye, he managed to break through her defence and cover her mouth with his large hand. His other hand grabbed and twisted her arm, making her drop the staff.


    He glanced at where Damon had been, but that man was gone by then.


    ¡®He ran away?¡¯


    ¡­No, maybe not. Did she ensure his safe escape?


    Rehton shifted his gaze back to Tina.


    Her boundless love for her retainers seemed to be going strong even now. But this was actually for the best. Things would get so much easier when a clear ringleader of the rebellion was presented to the world, after all.


    Rehton¡¯s smile deepened even further. ¡°And so, I¡¯m the new king from this moment henceforth, my dear queen. As such¡­¡±


    Tina¡¯s eyes sharply glared at him.


    ¡°I pray that you stay docile and be a good puppet.¡±


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    ¡°The civil war broke out fourteen days ago?¡±


    I was back in the Imperial Palace now. To find out what the hell was going on, I was perusing through the report but its contents were a disorganised mess, as if it had been compiled in a hurry.


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. Our side needed a lot of time to sort out the correct information, as well as to determine when the information itself had been dispatched,¡± Charlotte replied.


    Her explanation sounded about right; you¡¯d need that much time to reach Laurensis from Aslan¡¯s royal capital on horseback, if you travelled nonstop without taking any breaks.


    There were other methods of communication, like carrier birds or communication crystals, but their stability depended on the prevailing weather conditions.


    So, then. The hordes of orcs, Necromancers, and slave soldiers, etc., by the border region? Apparently, they were under the orders of Tina, too?


    And the one being blamed as the traitor was someone among the twelve feudal lords, Damon?


    ¡°What a load of bullcrap this is.¡±


    I knew full well what kind of a person Damon was. Not only was he a teacher who cared about Tina like a doting father, he was also a retainer with a truly immeasurable loyalty to her, too.


    ¡®But now, he has started a rebellion? Don¡¯t make me laugh!¡¯


    Charlotte standing behind me opened her mouth. ¡°According to the report, most of the feudal lords are currently pursuing Damon, along with the assistance of Queen Tina. And also, they say that this rebellion was instigated by the Theocratic Empire¡­¡±


    My steps came to a halt. I turned around and stared at her. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°They claim that the Theocratic Empire used the man named Damon to drive out Queen Tina with the intention of installing him in the position of King, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s supposed to be the reason for that?¡±


    ¡°To display the absolute authority of the Holy King, they say, Your Majesty.¡±


    Why were they involving me in that nonsense?


    When I stared at her without saying anything, Charlotte checked my mood before cautiously continuing, ¡°Apparently the pretext they have come up with is that, now Your Highness the Imperial Prince has ascended to the position of the Holy King, you wish to display the might of your influence to each of the countries on the continent. Not only did you openly train your army by the border wall, you also wish to flaunt to the world that you can easily change the ruler of Aslan if you wanted to. Such incitements are¡­¡±


    ¡°Who said that?¡±


    ¡°The report says that Queen Tina issued that decree.¡±


    Huh. Meaning, some other bastard was the one inciting this whole thing. Seeing how Tina¡¯s name got brought up over and over again, she must be still safe for the time being.


    They were still using her as a nice-looking puppet, no doubt.


    ¡®But, how did this thing happen, anyway?¡¯

 Chapter 290 - 152. The Approaching Darkness -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    A rebellion, was it? How could something like that even succeed in the first place?


    The ruling authority of Aslan rested with the twelve feudal lords, but only half of them sided with Tina. The support of the citizens, as well as the Necromancers, was also going through the roof right now. Which wasn¡¯t surprising, considering that Aslan had been saved by the World Tree she was looking after.


    As such, turning her into a puppet should have been a pretty tall order. Not only that, the nobles would¡¯ve found her difficult to defeat as long as she had her Elemental Spirits to help her.


    While thinking about this and that, I finally reached the Imperial Palace¡¯s audience chamber.


    I calmed my breathing before entering. Although faint, I could sense the aura of divinity plus an odd pressure seeping out from the gaps of the doorway.


    ¡°¡­What is His Imperial Majesty the Holy Emperor¡¯s mood like?¡± I asked Charlotte, but she couldn¡¯t bring herself to verbalise the answer.


    She instead raised both of her hands and silently formed a pair of horns sticking out over her head, a clear sign that the Holy Emperor was currently feeling greatly pissed off.


    ¡°Gee whiz. Gimme a freaking break.¡±


    Seriously? I¡¯m beyond ¡®occupied¡¯ with the task of raising an army right now, you know?


    I opened the door to the audience chamber.


    ¡°His Majesty the Holy King, has graced us with his presence-!¡±


    The grand chamberlain¡¯s loud announcement was accompanied by the Paladins standing in perfect lines on the left and right side of the chamber proudly raising their heads high.


    On the other hand, the nobles present all lowered their heads.


    I silently walked down the centre of the audience chamber. My feet strode down the crimson carpet before I looked up at Kelt.


    He was sitting on the throne, his face deeply distorted by rage. ¡°Aslan has raised the flags of rebellion.¡±


    ¡°I have just heard it, Your Imperial Majesty.¡±


    ¡°They expressed their wish to escape the fetters of a vassal state by yelling out independence. They are also trying to besmirch the honour of the Imperial Family by claiming that this act was our doing. Perhaps, were you indeed involved?¡±


    ¡°Your Imperial Majesty, if I was really involved there, then Aslan would¡¯ve been wiped off the map by now,¡± I deliberately replied with some exaggeration added in.


    One needed to be unwavering when trying to convince Holy Emperor Kelt. Since there was the precedence of the Ronia incident up north, there was a chance that Kelt suspected me of actually instigating this whole thing.


    However, my worries seemed to be for nothing because what I feared might happen didn¡¯t happen in the end.


    Kelt suppressed his anger. He rubbed his temples hard and coughed gruffly. A short while later, he shook his head as if he suffered from lightheadedness just now. ¡°This matter¡­ what are you planning to do about it, Holy King?¡±


    He didn¡¯t use my given name of Allen. He called me the Holy King for the record keepers, it seemed. He probably wanted to find out how I, not as his grandson, but as the Holy King, would deal with this matter.


    I replied, ¡°There is a good chance that Queen Tina has been turned into a puppet, Your Imperial Majesty.¡±


    ¡°I see. However, how is it possible for Aslan to wage a coup d¡¯etat so easily like this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible if vampires are involved.¡± The nobles present inside the audience chamber all visibly winced when I said that. ¡°I¡¯m assuming that the feudal lords have joined forces with the vampires.¡±


    Kelt suddenly stood up from the throne and straightened his back slowly. The absolute sovereign walked down from the throne and approached me. It felt like tidal waves of divinity were flooding out with every step he took.


    As he began speaking again, every word spoken in Spirit Speech reverberated powerfully in the audience chamber. Kelt, whose figure seemed slight and slender, but in actual truth, was a towering man, looked down at me. ¡°Which means, Aslan as of now has fallen into the hands of the vampires.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± I quietly closed my eyes. This¡­ no longer could be helped. ¡°Your Imperial Majesty.¡±


    ¡°You may speak.¡±


    ¡°I shall conquer Aslan.¡±


    1


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Even though it hasn¡¯t even been ten years, they still chose to point their swords at us. Even if they did so for the sake of their coup, it still clearly is an act of taking us lightly. Thus, allow me to trample on their territory, and turn their lands into¡­¡± Kelt narrowed his eyes, but I still finished the rest of the sentence. ¡°¡­into the territory of the Theocratic Empire.¡±


    This was unavoidable now.


    Through this event, Aslan would end up as nice prey for the vampires. This wasn¡¯t some faraway place we were talking about, but our direct next-door neighbour. We simply couldn¡¯t afford to let vampires set up their base camp there.


    Kelt formed a considerably satisfied smile. ¡°Very well. I shall allow it. That¡¯s right, even though you have inherited both the political standing and the necessary authority, I have not given you a suitable territory yet, haven¡¯t I?¡± He stared deeply into my eyes and spoke up. ¡°I shall hand Aslan over to you.¡±


    I sucked in my breath. He wasn¡¯t giving me time to interject here.


    ¡°Get ready to mobilise.¡±


    ¡°¡­Understood.¡±


    ¡°You may leave now. Get some good rest first.¡±


    I bowed silently and stepped back.


    Charlotte followed me outside the audience chamber.


    The moment the doorway was closed shut, I couldn¡¯t help but blurt out some choice words. ¡°That damn snake-like geezer!¡±


    I could more or less guess what Kelt had been angling for just now.


    He probably wanted to see the person about to become the next Holy Emperor, the one designated as his successor, achieve a massive feat and earn a territory through his (my) own hard work.


    He probably wanted to witness everything happen with his own two eyes before he kicked the bucket, in other words.


    Before all that, though¡­ hitting Aslan at this stage wasn¡¯t going to be easy. Sure, them going on and on about independence or whatever, and them stationing an army by the border region were enough pretexts to start a war, but even then, we couldn¡¯t just hit them for just those two reasons.


    Rampant fake news was being spread around at the moment, and as such, it¡¯d be pretty hard to avoid the subjects growing distrustful of the war itself.


    Surely the other nations would stoke the flames of misunderstanding, the one about us raising an army to conquer the rest of the continent under the pretext of a war against the vampires.


    Kelt was planning to see how I would go about resolving all this. All the plans I came up with were circling down the drain because what was going on.


    ¡®My¡­ my peaceful life, it¡¯s¡­!¡¯


    Just as I held my head and began groaning unhappily, something else happened.


    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Hans hurriedly ran up to us with a deeply pale face. He dashed towards me so quickly that he actually ran out of breath by the end. He then grabbed my shoulders and shook me around. ¡°Your Majesty! Sir!¡±


    Charlotte must¡¯ve found this scene too insolent to tolerate, because she suddenly grabbed the scruff of his neck and pulled him away from me.


    ¡°What is it this time?!¡±


    Right now my mind was a complicated mess. I just didn¡¯t have the mental leeway to listen to Hans¡¯s whining. I needed to get ready for war, and come up with a way to safely rescue both the Aslan citizens and Tina.


    Hans flailed his arms about and gasped out. ¡°H-he¡¯s here, sir!¡±


    ¡°He? Who?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, you know! That person!¡±


    I furrowed my brow. Hans sneaked glances around us. Maids, manservants, and ladies-in-waiting were walking around minding their own business, while guard soldiers were standing here and there.


    He scanned all these people, then shook off Charlotte¡¯s hand on his neck before whispering in my ear, ¡°Damon! It¡¯s him! He¡¯s here!¡±


    My eyes bulged at the news.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    ¡®I feel better already. Although the stench is disgusting, this healing potion is indeed the real deal. As expected of His Majesty the Holy King¡¯s potion, it¡¯s truly wondrous.¡¯


    Damon stared at the gourd-shaped bottle containing the ¡®wonder drug¡¯ and fell into a reminiscence of the past. He recalled the events of him and Tina getting dragged away to the Black Order¡¯s headquarters as slaves, then the battle between Nasus the Lich and the Holy King, the intense confrontation against the black dragon, and even Aslan¡¯s revolution, as well.


    ¡®I must inform him of the truth.¡¯


    Damon had secretly slipped past the border wall and stepped into the Theocratic Empire. In that process he had overcome several close brushes with death.


    He stole a horse and injected divinity into it. When the horse collapsed from fatigue, he¡¯d steal another one from passing merchants. He had continued to travel without a moment¡¯s rest.


    Eventually he had arrived in the capital, Laurensis, and infiltrated into the crowd of people living here. He was once the instructor of the hashashins, so such a thing proved to be rather simple to pull off.


    However, he didn¡¯t dare infiltrate the Imperial Palace. His path was blocked by the skilled Paladins guarding the palace, so he resorted to writing a letter, instead.


    The recipient of the letter? Hans Jerurami.


    Since he and Damon were acquaintances, the Alchemist would surely help him out, or so he reasoned.


    And so, he did get to meet with Hans and received this wonder drug, then found a quiet little street by Laurensis¡¯s slums to sit down and wait in.


    ¡®Meeting with His Highness in this situation will only complicate matters.¡¯


    Damon was being labelled as the instigator of the rebellion, acting under the orders of the Holy King. So him meeting His Majesty openly in the current situation could turn the false rumour into the real thing.


    While he was thinking that, he heard footsteps closing in. Damon raised his head and noticed that someone was standing tall before him.


    This someone was wearing a robe. He was someone he hadn¡¯t met for the past three years or so, and had shed his previous boy-like visage. He was now an imposing young man.


    Damon instantly felt an irrepressible happiness and guilt the moment he saw this young man. He urgently went down on his knees. ¡°One of the twelve feudal lords of Aslan, Damon¡­¡± He brought his hands together in the gesture of offering a prayer. ¡°¡­pays his respect to Lord Angel!¡±


    Damon then bowed his head deeply.


    But then, Allen suddenly opened his firmly-shut mouth. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about this, Damon. But your Aslan¡­¡±


    Damon flinched a little and raised his head.


    His eyes shot open wide at what he saw. The Holy King and his indifferent face were now standing before him.


    1


    ¡°¡­will have to be destroyed now.¡±


    < 152. The Approaching Darkness -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 291 - 153. The Approaching Darkness -3 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    I continued to read the tome on undead hybridisation and creation of chimeras while traveling in my carriage.


    Experimenting on what I had read, I opened the carriage door and waved my finger around in the air. A holy undead was summoned outside the moving carriage.


    Bones broke through the surface of the ground, the first set forming some legs. Right after that, a horse¡¯s body materialised, but rather than a horse¡¯s head, a regular humanoid skeleton¡¯s upper torso was attached to it.


    A set of armour wrapped around it rapidly, and the undead creature gripped onto a lengthy polearm as sharp light burned in its eye sockets.


    ¡®I did it!¡¯


    It was the result of all my experiments for the past few days while riding in the carriage. I could bring about quite an eye-popping performance now.


    An undead with a lower body from a horse boasted excellent mobility, complementing its upper torso of a humanoid soldier. I had managed to alter the structure of a regular undead quite noticeably, and now I could create a brand new legion of undead.


    Just as I was feeling quite pleased at the result¡­


    ¡°Y-your Majesty, my lord!¡±


    I turned my head and stared at Damon.


    He was shivering away under his robe, his hands interlocked in a pleading posture. ¡°T-this servant earnestly begs Your Majesty to reconsider your decision.¡±


    His trembling eyes were pleading with me. Even I could tell that he was shivering in fear. Which was understandable, considering what I told him earlier about my plan: the destruction of Aslan.


    But their fate had already been decided.


    ¡°It¡¯s too late now,¡± I replied.


    If I handled this matter too nicely, then no doubt the vampires would target other countries, too. I thought the events back in the kingdom of Lome and the Holy King coronation would serve as perfect deterrents, but it seemed they weren¡¯t effective enough.


    There were still some humans willing to cooperate with vampires, which meant that they were falling for all that sweet talk coming from the bloodsuckers. That also meant that some idiots were looking down on the Theocratic Empire, as well.


    Since that was the case, I needed to show off our overwhelming might, one so shocking and absurd that it would easily suppress such temptations.


    ¡®I need to show the world that the Theocratic Empire can easily trample on another country if we want to.¡¯


    There was no avoiding it. This world¡¯s cultures, values, and mindsets were different from that of Earth. Terror was another word for respect, and also the symbol for peace that would maintain law and order.


    ¡°Aslan raised the flags of rebellion to the empire not just once, but twice in less than five years.¡±


    ¡°B-but, that¡¯s because of the vampires¡­¡±


    ¡°Vampires being involved does not change matters. No, hang on. It¡¯s precisely because those undead are involved that we cannot let this event go by unpunished.¡± I stared straight into Damon¡¯s eyes. ¡°Although it is unfortunate for Tina, she will have to step down from the throne.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Damon got up from his seat and knelt down on the floor. He bowed his head and addressed me. ¡°We at Aslan have no desire to go against the will of Your Majesty the Holy King. Especially Her Majesty, the Queen of Aslan.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°If you wish, we do not mind Your Majesty taking over Aslan. However, I beg of you, please spare Her Majesty Queen Tina¡¯s pitiful life¡­¡±


    The carriage came to a stop.


    Charlotte dismounted from her horse and addressed me through the carriage¡¯s open doorway. ¡°Your Majesty, we¡¯ve arrived at the border wall.¡±


    I got up from my spot and turned my head to take a glance at Damon. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing this to save her and the citizens of Aslan, after all.¡±


    Those bastards hadn¡¯t yet managed to unify the whole of Aslan. If we hit them before they finished rallying and gathering all of their troops, then we should be able to minimise the losses from war as much as possible.


    Damon¡¯s eyes gradually widened. He then bowed his head even lower. ¡°If that is your will, this servant shall follow, Your Majesty.¡±


    I ignored him and went along with Charlotte to the command tent. The Paladin Captains of all six forces representing the Imperial Family had gathered there by the time we entered, with the sole exception of Oscar the Sword King, who had led the army during our previous incursion into Aslan.


    ¡°We greet Your Majesty the Holy¡­¡±


    I roundly ignored them and headed straight to the operation map laid out on the central table. I scanned all the chess pieces placed on top of the map, then picked up a ¡®knight¡¯ piece located by the border wall before slamming it down where Aslan¡¯s capital was.


    I declared loudly, ¡°Ten days!¡±


    The leaders of the Paladins bowing their heads flinched in surprise and hurriedly raised their heads.


    I swept my gaze over them and said again, ¡°We shall destroy Aslan in that period of time.¡±


    The distance between the border wall and Aslan¡¯s capital was around seven days¡¯ travel. What I said could be construed as the army now having only three days to conquer all the territory between here and the capital.


    That was basically asking for the impossible.


    However, there was this one other way to make that a reality, and that was to ignore all the territories and cities, and simply conquer the capital, instead.


    This action would mean that the army had to forego securing the supply route behind them and perform a forced march, accumulating a lot of fatigue in the process. The level of difficulty here was so high that a common soldier wouldn¡¯t be able to endure after being worn down by fatigue and hunger.


    However, that¡¯s what I planned to try, forcibly if that¡¯s what¡¯s required. I definitely wasn¡¯t going to sit back and let the vampires bring to life whatever underhanded scheme they had cooked up.


    ¡°But sire, that will burden the soldiers too greatly!¡±


    ¡°Our forces will be more than enough to conquer the enemy¡¯s capital city, but the losses to our own side will be just as extensive, sire!¡±


    When the Paladin Captains raised their objections, I replied with, ¡°Simply laying siege to the capital will be more than enough.¡±


    Regardless of what the plan of the vampire bastards was, it was my role to invade the capital and rescue Tina. What I wanted to achieve here was preventing another undead-ification of the entire capital, like what had happened back in the kingdom of Lome, through the presence of the empire¡¯s army.


    So, I figured that the army could just surround the Aslan capital and rest while biding their time for that opportune moment.


    ¡°They have not rallied together, anyway. Their citizens are distrustful, while many Necromancers are not following them yet, either.¡±


    Just one look was enough to tell anyone with a brain that the enemy forces stationed by the border wall weren¡¯t the part of Aslan¡¯s regular army.


    The ones behind this whole event didn¡¯t have enough influence to rally the entire country. As such, this was our chance. Such a thing was only possible because Tina wasn¡¯t the one issuing these orders in the first place.


    ¡°If we don¡¯t conclude this war as soon as possible, the ones to suffer the most will be the common people.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Lead the army to the capital. As for the person standing in front of the pack¡­¡± I looked up from the map and scanned the captains once more, ¡°¡­I shall take the lead.¡±


    After saying that, I left the command tent.


    A sigh automatically left my lips. This sense of fatigue was making my head hazy, too.


    ¡°This must be a part of the training, right?¡±


    ¡°Yup, it has to be.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, we¡¯re supposed to ¡®train like the real deal¡¯, so¡­¡±


    I turned my head after listening to those murmurs.


    If you included the new recruits, the number of combatants currently stationed by the border wall was close to twenty thousand. The murmurs came from the trio of Gril, Adolf, and Yuria making dazed faces. They had been staying in the campsite for the troops on standby.


    Judging from how they were absentmindedly poking at the burning firewood with sticks, I figured that they were still suffering from the residual side effects of the intense training they had gone through.


    Charlotte walked up to me and asked, ¡°Your Majesty, how about taking a short break?¡±


    ¡°More people will die the longer we rest,¡± I replied.


    Right about now, the Aslan capital should be a pit of confusion and turmoil. If the vampires had really taken over the ruling authority, then it wouldn¡¯t be all that surprising to see a festival of blood already unfolding there.


    I muttered again, ¡°But you know, something about this feels weird.¡±


    ¡°Regarding what, Your Majesty?¡±


    ¡°Why would vampires do something like this?¡±


    Sure, they might possess enough destructive power to bend a country to their will, but in order to exercise that power, they would have to make thorough preparations, as monumental in scale as the task at hand.


    For instance, during the incident back in Lome, two Marquis-class and many more Progenitor Vampires had been mobilised. The vampires ended up receiving a heavy blow upon the failure of that operation.


    Well, they had lost one marquis and many other nobles back then, after all. I had no doubt that this event was only possible because a vampire of marquis or higher peerage got the ball rolling in the first place.


    ¡°I can¡¯t figure out what those bastards are thinking.¡±


    What exactly were they aiming for here? Could it be as simple as sowing chaos in the Theocratic Empire?


    But the price for such a result seemed a bit too high, didn¡¯t it? If they failed this attempt as well, then they would really lose the foundation needed to create a kingdom of vampires.


    ¡°Your Majesty, those bastards are arrogant,¡± said Charlotte, taking her cape off to drape around my shoulders after judging the weather a bit too chilly. ¡°Although they are cunning, their weakness lies with their arrogance, which causes them to look down on humanity. That¡¯s how we¡¯ve been winning against them, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Looking down on humanity, is it?¡± I raised my head to look up. A bitter smile slowly spread across my face as I took in the sight of the moon illuminating the night sky. ¡°It would be nice if that¡¯s really the case.¡±

 Chapter 292 - 153. The Approaching Darkness -3 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Next morning, within the formation of Aslan troops stationed by the border¡­


    ¡°You think it¡¯s true?¡±


    ¡°What, you mean the story about vampires¡¯ involvement this time?¡±


    ¡°Right, that one. Don¡¯t you think something¡¯s really smelly here? A sudden coup d¡¯etat, and¡­ wasn¡¯t it Lord Damon who resolutely stayed by the side of our princess even after King Rahamma discarded her? But now, why would he¡­?¡±


    Large-scale defensive barricades were hastily being constructed at the moment. Necromancers standing on top of the barricades¡¯ platform were sharing their suspicions of this event.


    Orcs and ogres, who possessed far greater physical strength than humans, were responsible for stacking processed logs to build the barricades. As these monsters continued to build the defensive wall, the Necromancers watching them work couldn¡¯t help but share their misgivings.


    Seriously now, just where did so many orc slaves come from? And it wasn¡¯t just the orcs, either. Goblins and ogres were in the mix as well!


    Other than humans, the only other entities capable of raising these many monsters were vampires!


    ¡°Perhaps Lord Damon wasn¡¯t behind the rebellion, but Lord Rehton, instead¡­?¡±


    ¡°Oiii! You soldiers over there!¡±


    The Necromancers flinched in surprise and raised their heads.


    There, on top of the command tower doubling as a watch tower as well, was a nobleman in his mid-fifties. He loudly shouted at the Necromancers below, ¡°If you have time to yap idly away, do more work, instead! Or will you be more obedient after your throats get ripped out first?!¡±


    This man was around two metres tall and his whole frame was filled with rippling muscles. His name was Jeram. He was also one of the twelve feudal lords who had, along with Rehton, joined hands with Duke Duran.


    Although Jeram spoke with much confidence and authority, inwardly he was not feeling the same. Deep inside, his heart was currently being rocked by the waves of fear.


    {You must delay the advance of the Theocratic Empire, no matter what. At most, ten days! We should be finished negotiating with the vampires by then, and the army of blood should then be dispatched to Aslan soon. When that happens, you too will receive the glorious honour of becoming a new vampire yourself. If you wish to live forever in a new era, you must do as I say.}


    Rehton had said those words to Jeram earlier.


    Jeram shifted his gaze over to the Theocratic Empire¡¯s border wall some distance away. Talk was cheap in this case, that was certain; this very spot was where the Aslan army, over ten thousand strong, was completely obliterated by a single person only a handful of years ago.


    That single person was none other than the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse!


    Jeram definitely did not want to experience that man¡¯s nonsensical and overwhelming might ever again.


    ¡®Even if it was me, there¡¯s no way I can fight against Holy Emperor Kelt by myself.¡¯


    Kelt was someone so absurdly strong that, despite fighting against not only King Rahamma but also the combined forces of the feudal lords all by himself, he didn¡¯t have to retreat even once.


    No, the truth was that it was the Aslan forces that had to turn tail and run away from him instead!


    So, how could Jeram stop someone like that by himself?


    ¡°Urgh, is eternal life that good, anyway?¡± Jeram could only groan under his breath.


    At almost the same time, the large gateway in the border wall suddenly opened.


    When those large doors began opening up left and right, Jeram involuntarily flinched and stumbled backwards. The images of Kelt from a few years ago popped up in his mind again, and the terror ingrained deep into his soul welled up in his chest.


    Not just the Holy Emperor, either; the other side also had the Sword King, the Crown Imperial Prince, and even the Holy King as well! No one could predict just what kind of monsters would pop out from there.


    As Jeram¡¯s tension soared, his eyes shot open wider after noticing a single Paladin riding on horseback, waving a yellow flag as he approached Aslan¡¯s camp.


    ¡°Lord Jeram, sir! That¡¯s a messenger! The yellow flag means that the Theocratic Empire requests a dialogue first! What will we do now, sir?¡±


    Jeram heard the report while observing the incoming Paladin. He was breathing a sigh of relief inwardly. ¡®Well, that¡¯s fortunate.¡¯


    If the other party wished to engage in some kind of discussion, then that meant Jeram would get to waste even more time.


    The Paladin eventually reached the foot of the hastily-erected defensive barricades. This knight was kitted out from head to toe in the Paladin armour, the shining metal engraved with many runes.


    Judging from that, the knight must¡¯ve been from an extraordinary background.


    ¡°Hmph, aren¡¯t you a gutsy fellow?¡± Jeram muttered to no one in particular.


    At a casual glance, this knight seemed to be a scion of nobility, yet he came here to request a dialogue, without any escorts? Could it be that he was looking down on the might of Aslan?!


    Jeram addressed the soldiers, ¡°Open the defensive barricade¡¯s gate. I shall personally speak to that bastard.¡±


    The orcs opened the gates.


    Jeram mounted his horse and rode out, while his escort of knights followed him. He stopped before the Paladin, held his head up high, and sat up tall and proud in the saddle. ¡°What brings you here, oh the Paladin of the Theocratic Empire! If you want a dialogue, we can take it slowly and¡­¡±


    ¡°Hear me now, oh the people of Aslan-!¡±


    Jeram and the escorting knights flinched in surprise and focused their attention on the Paladin even more.


    His Spirit Speech-laden voice reverberated loudly in the vicinity of the barricades. ¡°I advise you all to surrender immediately! I suggest that you take these defensive barricades down this instant, cast your weapons aside, and willingly become prisoners of war. But in case you disregard this suggestion, know this! The Theocratic Empire¡¯s army, personally commanded by the Holy King, will march into your lands-!¡±


    Cold sweat trickled down Jeram¡¯s face. ¡®Did he say the Holy King?! Son of a b*tch!¡¯


    When this Paladin said the ¡®Holy King¡¯, did he mean Allen Olfolse? THAT Holy King? The monster who slaughtered hundreds of Aslan soldiers in the city of slaves, Evelyum, and even went on to kill King Rahamma afterwards?


    Worst of all, that man was known to go around slaughtering vampires simply because that was his hobby. He was a known war fanatic, a lunatic who willingly sought out places where vampires were hiding.


    1


    Hell, he had even declared war against vampires not too long ago!


    Against the Holy King, this sort of shabby little defensive barricade wouldn¡¯t even last two days!


    ¡°¡­We will not surrender. However, we¡¯re willing to negotiate,¡± said Jeram.


    ¡°There are no negotiations. You will simply surrender now.¡± The Paladin was unwavering.


    Jeram sneaked a glance at the escorting knights behind him.


    He was a member of Aslan¡¯s twelve feudal lords. At the very least, he needed to put up a dignified presence in front of an enemy.


    So, he unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the Paladin. ¡°You dare to spew such nonsense! This is Aslan! We have been waging war with you bastards for thousands of years, yet you want us to bow our heads to you?! What a truly unfunny joke that is!¡±


    When Jeram roared that out, sounds of laughter could be heard coming from above the defensive barricades. Even the orcs, goblins, and ogres were chuckling away.


    As the jeering laughter continued, the Paladin¡¯s head began cocking to the side. ¡°So, is that your answer, then?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Very well, why don¡¯t I behead you right here, right now, and throw your lifeless head over the border wall? Allow me to give you an opportunity to wallow in regret, and blame the Holy King for sending you here today! Ahahaha!¡±


    ¡°Well, don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t give you a chance, dear Mister Jeram.¡±


    ¡°Ahaha! ¡­Eh?¡± Jeram began tilting his head in confusion.


    Did this Paladin say ¡®I¡¯ just now? Besides all that, he had also called Jeram by name, too.


    But, how could this bastard know his name¡­?


    Just as Jeram¡¯s head tilting intensified some more¡­


    Ripples of divinity viciously pulsed out from the Paladin¡¯s position. Right below the hooves of the horse he was riding, waves made purely out of holy water spread out rapidly.


    Jeram¡¯s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, then he hurriedly yanked on the reins of his own horse to send it stumbling back. Even the escorting knights fell into an unbridled panic and started freaking out.


    The holy water rushed towards them like tidal waves; their surroundings were deeply flooded in an instant. The water even gushed past the open gateway of the barricades and rapidly spread beyond them, as well.


    ¡°In the name of Allen Olfolse the Holy King, I¡­¡± the Paladin slowly removed his helm.


    Jeram¡¯s jaw matched the Paladin¡¯s movement speed and slowly fell as well, sheer terror shaking his eyes.


    ¡°¡­I shall judge you all today.¡± The Paladin took out the skull of Amon.


    Jeram inwardly screamed, ¡®Holy sh*t! It¡¯s the Holy King, Allen Olfolse¡­!¡¯


    A deathly chill ran down his spine. He hurriedly pulled the reins of his horse and turned it around, but it was too late by then.


    Hands of bone shooting out from the lake of holy water quickly grabbed onto the hind legs of his horse. Jeram¡¯s mount reared in shock and threw him from the saddle.


    He crashed straight into the pool of holy water below helplessly.


    He came in contact with the holy water, and the hands made out of bones rising from the lake¡¯s surface grabbed onto Jeram next.


    ¡°U-uwaaahk?! R-release me, this instant!¡±


    He hurriedly roused his demonic energy, but that only invited a rather horrifying result: the adverse reaction when demonic energy and divinity collided.


    His demonic energy touched the holy water¡¯s divinity and exploded loudly. Jeram¡¯s body was flung away violently, and he crashed into the defensive barricade.


    ¡°Keu-aaahk¡­!¡± He vomited out a mouthful of blood and stared at the Holy King with trembling eyes. ¡°W-what are you all doing, he¡¯s all alone! Hurry, close the barricade and kill¡­!¡±


    Jeram¡¯s roars were met with the Holy King¡¯s retort, ¡°Alone, you say? My bad, but I¡¯m not alone.¡±


    Jeram froze. He hurriedly turned his head towards the Holy King once more.


    The Theocratic Empire¡¯s Holy King was spreading his arms wide. ¡°You see, I am the legion.¡±


    Almost at the same time, all sorts of undead began crawling out from the lake of holy water spread all around him. No, make that the sea of holy water, instead!


    From centaur-like cavalry to skeleton soldiers boasting four arms, a Bone Wyvern, and even a monster resembling a centipede with its spine connected to its feeler-like bones¡­


    This was a legion of monsters several thousand strong!


    The Holy King¡¯s eyes burned eerily within the sockets of the mountain goat¡¯s skull as he stood proudly amid this horde of monsters.


    He declared to them all, ¡°Remember this: you brought this upon yourself, oh foolish lord of Aslan.¡±


    < 153. The Approaching Darkness -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 293 - 154. In the Name of the King -1 (Part One)

    Translated by a Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    ¡°Uwaaaaahk!¡± someone screamed out.


    Others firmly clamped their mouths shut. Their eyes shot open wide, but their minds wanted so badly to reject the reality happening right in front of their eyes.


    ¡®This, this has to be a dream.¡¯


    ¡®T-that¡¯s right. Our peaceful Aslan is suddenly experiencing a civil war?¡¯


    ¡®Not only that, isn¡¯t it too strange for us to protect our border with orcs?¡¯


    ¡®Most importantly, though¡­¡¯


    The Necromancers and slave soldiers standing on top of the barricades¡¯ platforms could only swallow with their suddenly dry mouths


    ¡®¡­There¡¯s no freaking way we can resist monsters like that!¡¯


    This spectacle laid out right before their eyes¡­


    An azure ocean of holy water had spread out seemingly everywhere, and bizarre monstrosities were crawling up from its surface. Their numbers began in the dozens, but soon swelled past hundreds and into the thousands.


    Every single one of them was a monster that had shed any pretense of being a humanoid creature. No wait, it was more accurate to say the rough outlines of humanoids had been haphazardly added to their construction, which only made them look even more terrifying.


    These monsters made out of bones began screeching loudly. The tones containing the Spirit Speech of divine power slammed into the ears of Aslan soldiers and they simply froze up on the spot.


    Just as they gradually regained their wits, Jeram¡¯s loud voice resounded out, ¡°Oh, hear ye, brave warriors of Aslan, stop these abominations-!¡± He was glaring at the Holy King, even though he himself was still buried in the barricade. ¡°The murderer of our king, Rahamma! Beat the war drums, and command the army!¡±


    The various commanders finally pulled themselves together after Jeram¡¯s roars reached them. They then shouted out themselves, ¡°Prepare for combat!¡±


    ¡°Beat the drums, now-!¡±


    Boom-! Boom-! Boom-!


    The drum beats reverberated throughout the area of the defences. However, the noise only managed to drive the Aslan soldiers and monsters, already suffering from great fright, further into the grip of terror.


    The drum beats sounded like the marching footsteps of the powerful monsters, instead!


    ¡°For the sake of Aslan-!¡± a commander standing above the barricade cried out. The soldiers around him also roared out, rousing their faltering courage, but they still couldn¡¯t do anything about their paled complexions even now.


    ¡°Fire!¡±


    Orcs, ogres and goblins began moving. These creatures couldn¡¯t retreat even if they wanted to; it was their fate to fight until they lost their lives, as they were under the spell of the vampires.


    ¡°Load-!¡±


    Orcs pulled on their bowstrings, while goblins began operating the siege weapons. The arrow tips were aimed at the sky, while the tips of the ballista bolts pointed at the holy monsters on the ground.


    ¡°Fire-!¡±


    The orcs up on the rough walls fired the arrows, while the ballistas were shoved back by the recoil from firing their bolts. The arrows drew arcs in the air before descending to the ground, while the powerful ballista bolts brushed past the monsters.


    Bones shattered when arrows hit them. The bolts punched right through the undead, shattering them into millions of pieces.


    However, rising as if to overcome their decreasing numbers, even more of the holy undead were gradually added to their ranks, causing the terror in the Aslan soldiers to grow even worse.


    ¡°Go.¡± One word from the Holy King, and the monsters pounced forward.


    The ground below their feet rumbled. They rushed forward, their feet splashing the surface of the lake of holy water.


    Arrows and siege weapon projectiles continued to fly in, but those obstructions only caused a brief stagger in the progress of the holy undead and failed to stop their advance.


    -Kkiiiaaaaahk!-


    Thousands of undead spread out in a wide area and rapidly closed in on the barricades, including the skeleton centipede moving at a frightening turn of speed.


    ¡°C-close the gate! You idiots, close it, now!¡±


    Ogres heeded the Necromancer¡¯s order and quickly closed the barricade¡¯s gate. But when the gateway was slammed shut, the skeleton centipede simply burrowed straight into the ground by using its dozens of finger bone-like legs.


    Water sprayed up into the air, before the holy water rapidly filled up the hole dug out by the undead monster.


    ¡°Gone? Centipede, monster? Where?¡± the orcs watching this scene muttered, while their eyes opened wider. As they dazedly stared at the ground, the ground behind the barricade they were standing on suddenly broke open, and the skeleton centipede shot out from the hole, its glowing eyes gleaming sharply.


    ¡°Kuoh-ooooh!¡±


    One of the ogres tried to swing its club, but the skeleton centipede rapidly dashed forward and wrapped around the giant creature like a snake. The sharp claws attached to the ends of those finger bone-like legs stabbed deep into the ogre¡¯s flesh. The skeletal head tore open its victim¡¯s throat and its blade-like ribs tore the struggling monster¡¯s hide apart.


    The ogre screeched tragically and collapsed lifelessly to the ground.


    The orcs watching this scene lost all colour from their faces. An ogre, a creature far larger and stronger than they were, was instantly torn into bloody rags.


    Meanwhile, goblins were crying out urgently, ¡°Coming, coming! Monsters, coming!¡±


    Orcs turned their heads forward again and saw the skeleton soldiers with four arms closing in.


    Ladders made out of bones were pressed against the barricades. The undead creatures used their four arms and two legs to climb the ladders at shocking speed. But that wasn¡¯t even the end of the story. Some didn¡¯t even bother with the ladders and simply crawled up on the surface of the barricades like some kind of insects.


    This scene was truly horrifying to behold. Orcs bashed their spears down to shatter the bones of the undead below them.


    But then one of the skeleton soldiers grabbed the incoming spear with its free hand, and used the orc¡¯s weapon as a make-shift rope to climb up even faster instead!


    Once this skeleton soldier reached the platforms on top of the barricades, it unsheathed all four of its swords and began swinging them around indiscriminately.


    Four blades flew about. To defend against it, the orcs raised their shields. The first blade was indeed blocked, but the second, third, and fourth aimed for the new opening and stabbed cleanly through the orc.


    Other skeleton soldiers reaching the platform soon after simply spun around like tornadoes while brandishing all four of their swords.


    ¡ª


    The Holy King calmly observed the unfolding situation. Behind him were the skeleton ¡®cavalry¡¯ that closely resembled the mythical creatures, centaurs.


    Allen took a good look at the surprisingly sturdy barricades before bringing out Amon¡¯s grimoire. He then began chanting the summoning spell for a certain creature.


    ¡°Dammit, my duty is to defend this place!¡± Jeram had finally managed to extract his embedded body from the barricade.


    He needed to endure this assault for at least three days. Only then could he earn the grace period of ten days Rehton had mentioned and prevent the imperial bastards from reaching the royal capital.


    Even if he was to die here, he¡¯d unhesitantly sacrifice himself if that meant he¡¯d regain the glory of Aslan.


    ¡°For Aslan-!!!¡± Jeram yanked his sword out and roused up his demonic energy. His eyes became bloodshot, and the muscles all over his body ballooned up.


    He glared murderously at the Holy King holding a grimoire in the distance. In order to kill that bastard in one powerful strike, Jeram even chose to shave off his own lifespan.


    ¡°Wooo-ooooh-!¡±


    He kicked the ground with great power and dashed forward. The holy water on the ground spun up as if a storm was coming.


    But, the moment Jeram¡¯s sword was about to slam into Allen¡¯s forehead, goblins on the barricade¡¯s platforms screamed out in pure terror, ¡°A great being! A great being comes!¡±


    Huge claws emerged from the holy water¡¯s surface and slammed down on the ground, followed soon after by the skull of a dragon.


    The instinctive, indescribable fear stopped Jeram¡¯s sword dead in its tracks.


    ¡°Kasim.¡±


    As Jeram was faltering in shock, Allen summoned a greatsword and easily deflected the Aslan feudal lord¡¯s sword away. Bone armour was rapidly wrapped around the Holy King¡¯s frame. Claws that resembled meat hooks shot out and grabbed Jeram by his throat, lifting him clean off the ground.


    ¡°Keo-urhk¡­?!¡±


    ¡°The great being! The great being, oh, oooh!¡± Goblins and orcs kept screeching, trembling in pure terror. Some of them fell to their knees and bowed their heads deeply, or began shaking their heads desperately after failing to escape.


    ¡°Stop that thing-! Don¡¯t just stand around like idiots, you damn orc bastards-!!!¡± Necromancers loudly roared out, and got ready to cast their spells.


    But even they still couldn¡¯t help but falter a little after witnessing the mythical Bone Dragon only seen in distant legends. While they dithered about, the undead dragon slammed its skull straight into the barricade.


    The sturdy defensive wall broke apart like it was made of cookie crumbs. The Necromancers on top of the platforms plunged to the ground and died after being impaled or crushed by the debris.


    Scorching flames filled the Bone Dragon¡¯s maw, then spewed out to burn every single monster standing before it.


    ¡°Kuwaaaaaaah-!¡±


    All the Necromancers and slave soldiers witnessing the unfolding spectacle held their breaths.


    Orcs managed to flail about within the ocean of draconic flames for less than two seconds. In that short blink of a time, their bodies simply burned away. They were completely erased from this world, not even their skeletons remaining.


    One of the slave soldiers dazedly shifted his gaze over to the shattered hole in the barricade. Dust clouds kicked up as skeleton cavalry rushed in through the open gap. A lengthy spear was swung through the air, instantly chopping the slave soldier¡¯s head off.


    The skeleton cavalry spread out in all directions. Their hooves even trampled past the orcs that boasted larger physiques than humans. The undead didn¡¯t discriminate between orcs, goblins, or humans; they hunted them all down as long as they were on or near the barricades.


    Every time the undead swung or stabbed with their spears, a life was reaped away, without exception.


    -Ku-oooooooh!-


    The Bone Wyvern flying in the air spread its wings wide. Skeleton mages riding on top of the creature took aim with their muskets. They accurately picked out the pockets of resistance still daring to fight back and sniped the enemies to death one by one.


    A portion of the slave soldiers discarded their weapons and fled after witnessing the merciless march of the monstrous holy undead. One of them tripped on something and fell awkwardly to the ground.


    This soldier hurriedly looked behind him and discovered a skeleton centaur-like creature pouncing on him. The glowing eye sockets of the undead gleamed murderously within its skull. Its jaw split open as it exhaled bluish air, a bizarre cackling noise escaping from it at the same time.


    It was like staring at the messenger of death closing in.


    ¡°H-hold on, d-don¡¯t kill me! I surrender! I surrender-!!!¡± The slave soldier shielded his head and cried out.


    When that happened, the undead cavalry simply brushed past him. It stabbed its spear at a nearby Necromancer trying to wield his staff, lifting him off his feet before discarding the lifeless corpse away to the side.

 Chapter 294 - 154. In the Name of the King -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by a Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The slave soldier watched it all happen, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He briefly stared at the weapon he had discarded, before urgently crying out to his comrades. ¡°Throw your weapons away! They won¡¯t kill you if you surrender!¡±


    The other slave soldiers gasped in surprise before hurriedly discarding their weapons.


    That caused the Necromancers to shout at them in anger, ¡°What are you all doing?! If you back off now, our Aslan will peri¡­?!¡±


    A large shadow loomed over that Necromancer¡¯s head. Flames were burning within the Bone Dragon¡¯s maw right above him.


    The Necromancers all clamped their mouths shut.


    One of them tried to cry out his spell and raise his staff up, only for the flames to completely and utterly wipe him out of existence without leaving so much as a single trace behind. His colleagues next to him were scorched by the flames and died too.


    The remaining Necromancers watched this scene unfold and hastily threw their staves away. They even raised their hands up high to indicate their surrender.


    The Bone Dragon ignored them and stomped straight past them.


    The battlefield was sorted out in the proverbial blink of an eye, and silence gradually returned to the scene.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    Jeram, his throat still grabbed by the Holy King, glared at Allen.


    The Holy King wore bone armour and the skull of a mountain goat. His eyes were glowing eerily while bluish breath leaked out from his slightly parted lips.


    How could anyone call this being the ¡®Holy¡¯ King? It was like staring at a true devil!


    What an overwhelming power this was; as expected of the one who killed King Rahamma!


    The Holy King looked up at Jeram and asked, ¡°Who is behind this? Which vampire is responsible?¡±


    Jeram¡¯s throat was twisted even further. Blood vessels bulged on his face and his complexion turned crimson. ¡°Just kill me! I¡¯m one of Aslan¡¯s proud twelve feudal lords! I have nothing to say to the likes of you!¡±


    ¡°Oh, the so-called proud feudal lord sold his country out for an eternal life? Is that how it is?¡±


    ¡°This is all for the sake of Aslan! You think I don¡¯t know what you bastards are scheming? You want to wage a war against the vampires?!¡± Jeram sneered mockingly. ¡°No, you just used that as a pretext to raise an army. After you purge all vampires, your next target would¡¯ve been us, isn¡¯t that true?! Starting from way back in ancient history, it was you bastards that kept attacking us. That¡¯s why things would¡¯ve been the same this time, too! You crazed war fanatics!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the same story for Aslan, too, though?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! And that¡¯s why we can never be allies. A vassal state, you say? No, there can only be a total annihilation for one side! Rather than bowing our heads to you¡­!¡± Jeram glared murderously at the Holy King. ¡°I will sell my soul to the devil and walk the path of mutual destruction along with you lot! And that was the will of our King Rahamma, too!¡±


    He was completely stained by madness at this point. It was as if he never acknowledged Tina, the descendant of that dead king, as his queen.


    In a way, Tina was also a traitor who aided in the killing of Rahamma. One could argue that she was a puppet queen who only managed to ascend to the throne through the Theocratic Empire¡¯s assistance.


    The push-back from the nobles must¡¯ve come from that fact.


    ¡°Well, alright, then. Let me ask you something else.¡± The Holy King brought Jeram¡¯s face closer. ¡°If, say, King Rahamma personally commands you, are you willing to follow him?¡±


    Jeram¡¯s expression froze up in an instant.


    The Holy King looked behind him and called out. ¡°Damon!¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. Please speak.¡±


    Damon had left the border wall and was standing in the middle of Aslan camp even before Jeram had noticed him. At the same time, twenty thousand soldiers were pouring out from the open gateway of the empire¡¯s border wall under Charlotte¡¯s command.


    ¡°You know where Rahamma¡¯s remains are buried, don¡¯t you?¡± the Holy King asked.


    ¡°Yes, sire. I do.¡±


    ¡°Guide me there.¡±


    Jeram glared at the Holy King and roared out in rage, ¡°You, you bastard! Are you planning to defile our King?!¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just trying to give you a final chance.¡± The Holy King pulled Jeram¡¯s face real close and stared straight into the latter¡¯s eyes. Jeram¡¯s whole body instinctively shrunk back when he stared at those eerily-burning eyes. ¡°Now, choose. Live on by submitting to me, or die.¡±


    Jeram, dyed deep with terror by the Holy King¡¯s threat, faltered and lowered his head.


    **


    Inside a dark, damp prison cell somewhere¡­


    ¡°Why won¡¯t you drink it?!¡±


    Rehton was currently glaring at a shackled and chained Dark Elf inside the cell. The Dark Elf was the Queen of Aslan, Tina Aslan.


    Rehton didn¡¯t give up and tried to coax her into drinking the blood contained in a bowl before her eyes. ¡°Only by you drinking this will Aslan regain her peace!¡±


    ¡°Are you telling me to become a vampire, Rehton?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Only by doing so can we receive the promised eternal salvation! The eternal life itself! The glory of all the citizens of Aslan becoming vampires will become ours, too! Yes, our land will become the very first kingdom of vampires. And you¡­¡± Rehton grabbed Tina¡¯s collar and lifted her up. ¡°¡­are destined to become a duchess. Yes, the wife of Duke Duran!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Tina quietly closed her eyes, silently rejecting the ¡®invitation¡¯.


    Rehton cursed loudly.


    Two conditions had to be fulfilled before one could become a vampire. One, the blood of a Progenitor. Two, the willingness of the party about to drink the blood.


    This subordination contract could only be concluded successfully if the one willingly chose to become a vampire.


    But Tina was rejecting the second half of that requirement.


    ¡°You damn little¡­!¡± Just as Rehton raised his hand to slap Tina¡¯s face¡­


    ¡°It won¡¯t do for you to rough up my future fianc¨¦e, now will it?¡±


    Rehton¡¯s hand froze in mid-air. He turned his head and stared at Duke Duran. ¡°Master.¡±


    Rehton had become a blood-creation and as such, he was now obediently submitting to Duran¡¯s commands. He was frightened out of his wits and bowed his head before quickly stepping back.


    Duran opened the cell¡¯s door and entered before looking down at Tina. ¡°Are you still thinking of rejecting me?¡±


    ¡°What is your reason for wanting me?¡±


    ¡°Simple. Aslan can only truly be mine when you become mine, too. And also, I get to defile the World Tree.¡±


    Tina furrowed her brow deeply.


    ¡°No matter how much I burn the World Tree or try to stain it with blood, nothing I do works. My strength alone isn¡¯t enough to stop the sacred power emanating from that tree. However, the story should be different if it¡¯s the Elf bound to the tree.¡± Duke Duran bent over and matched Tina¡¯s eye level. ¡°I wish to possess that power. The power of the defiled World Tree, that is.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I need your help after you¡¯ve turned into a vampire. It¡¯s not a bad proposition for you. After all, it¡¯s a glorious chance to inherit the blood of the noble, great me.¡±


    Duke Duran proclaimed his own blood to be noble, of a great heritage. His arrogant speech was overloaded with the boundless ego of being a vampire.


    Tina resolutely replied, ¡°I decline.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Duke Duran¡¯s expression crumpled. ¡°In that case, I don¡¯t have a choice but to make up my mind, too. I¡¯ll just cut your head off and turn you into an undead, instead. Although it may take several centuries, slowly and gradually turning you into a Progenitor might be an entertaining distraction. Rehton.¡±


    ¡°Yes, master.¡± Rehton bowed his head.


    ¡°We will proceed with my marriage to the queen.¡±


    ¡°My lord, you mean¡­?¡±


    ¡°We shall commence with the corruption ceremony.¡± The corners of Duke Duran¡¯s lips curled up. ¡°Summon all the livestock living in the city to the royal palace. Execute the queen before their eyes; we shall use the blood of all the livestock to turn her into an undead.¡±


    Tina¡¯s face hardened immediately.


    ¡°Oh, my dear queen. Enjoy the process of your soul being defiled by the blood of the subjects you hold so dear.¡±


    Tina¡¯s eyes shook strongly, but that lasted only for a second or two. She then frowned slightly as her gaze shifted over to Rehton.


    He was trying to hide it, but his legs were shaking and he was biting into his nails.


    She asked, ¡°Why are you being so impatient like this?¡±


    There was no visible change in Duke Duran¡¯s expression, but Rehton standing next to him was sweating buckets of cold sweat while clearly being jittery.


    ¡°¡­Could it be?¡± Tina addressed them with a hint of mockery in her voice. ¡°Has His Majesty the Holy King arrived?¡±


    ¡°How dare you still speak!¡±


    Before Rehton could roar out some more, though, Duran didn¡¯t try to hide it and told her the truth, ¡°Indeed. I hear that the Holy King has broken through the border region already.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡± Tina¡¯s face brightened immediately.


    ¡°That happened ten days ago. The report says his army is marching towards the royal capital with a terrifying momentum. I¡¯m sure they will arrive here either later today or tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Which means¡­!¡± Tina was inwardly relieved.


    She thought that the horrifying plan these vampires had cooked up would now be stopped.


    ¡°Unfortunately for you, even if the Holy King¡¯s army arrives here, they can never conquer Aslan¡¯s capital,¡± Duke Duran grinned in a sinister manner. He turned around and left the cell, while Rehton undid the chains binding Tina and brought her to the royal palace¡¯s audience chamber.


    ¡®Soon, the army of blood will arrive,¡¯ thought Duran.


    The army of blood led by Marquis Kirum was currently marching towards Aslan¡¯s capital as well. Duran had heard that they should be arriving very soon.


    He had also heard that the sovereign of blood himself, the Vampire King, was personally participating in the proceedings this time!


    What an incredible honour this was turning out to be!


    Duran had provided the very first footing for the kingdom the Vampire King wished so dearly to create.


    No matter how strong the Holy King was, not only would he not win against Duran, he¡¯d also lose soundly against the Vampire King, too.


    Duran fully believed in that notion, not doubting it even once.


    Just as he grinned deeply in satisfaction, a blood-creation rushed up to him and cried out, ¡°Sir, I bring you an urgent report!¡±


    Duke Duran turned his head and stared at the creature.


    ¡°A-an army has reached the vicinity of Aslan¡¯s royal capital!¡±


    Yet another satisfied grin floated up on Duke Duran¡¯s face after listening to that report. It seemed that his allies had arrived. ¡°Is it the army of blood, then?¡±


    ¡°¡­No, sir. Our allies are nowhere to be seen!¡±


    ¡°What did you say?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Holy King¡¯s army! His army has arrived at the capital first!¡±


    Duke Duran¡¯s expression froze instantly.


    < 154. In the Name of the King -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 295 - 155. In the Name of the King -2

    Translated by a Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Duke Duran hurriedly changed location. Only after climbing to the top of the tallest tower in the royal palace did he finally get to see the army that had arrived himself.


    That army had now completely surrounded Aslan¡¯s royal capital.


    Paladins kitted out in white armour and troops numbering past twenty thousand were currently setting up camp beyond the city¡¯s outer walls.


    Duke Duran¡¯s trembling eyes scanned his surroundings.


    Where was the army of blood?


    Where was His Majesty, the Vampire King?


    Duran looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to set beyond the horizon. The night was creeping closer, ready to blanket the world in darkness.


    But, he had definitely received a report from Marquis Kirum, hadn¡¯t he? The latter said that the Vampire King was personally leading the army of blood to invade Aslan!


    ¡°¡­What about the army of blood?¡± Duke Duran turned his head and asked a blood-creation nearby. But the latter was instead soaked in cold sweat.


    It bowed its head deeply while shuddering away. ¡°We¡­ we sent out scouts, sir. But we couldn¡¯t find the army of blood led by His Majesty the Vampire King! They are nowhere to be found in the territory of Aslan!¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡± Duke Duran¡¯s brows shot up.


    Could it be¡­?!


    His expression distorted hideously from pure rage. ¡°You¡­ You deceived me, Marquis Kirum!¡±


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    Under Damon¡¯s guidance, I headed to an unnamed temple located some distance away from Aslan¡¯s capital. Charlotte was dragging along the bound Jeram.


    I enhanced my eyesight with divine power in order to see through the darkness and walk safely ahead. The entire structure was built out of brick, and lush vegetation of various types was growing everywhere.


    All sorts of traps were also installed in the passageways, but Damon easily found and disabled them all.


    ¡°Hang on. We aren¡¯t going to fight a dragon or something similar in here, now are we?¡± When I asked that, Charlotte flinched in surprise and quickly reached for the hilt of her sword.


    ¡®Huh. Does she want to have a go at a dragon that badly?¡¯


    While I was thinking that, Damon, who was walking ahead of us, shook his head. ¡°Of course not, sire. Although I would¡¯ve loved to keep one here, not only was there no spare dragon lying around, we also couldn¡¯t raise one, sire.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Look at this dude, saying something pretty horrifying so casually like that.


    I raised my head and looked ahead after sensing a bunch of presences. Some individuals covering their faces with steel masks at the end of the corridor stopped us.


    They were hashashins. They all bowed to Damon.


    He asked them, ¡°How many survivors?¡±


    ¡°Fifty-seven, sir.¡±


    ¡°More than half lost their lives¡­¡± Damon rubbed his temples angrily. ¡°¡­What about Her Majesty, Queen Tina?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s currently confined to a prison cell. According to our intel, they are preparing for some kind of a ceremony. Citizens and the feudal lords are being summoned to the royal palace.¡±


    ¡°Is the preparation to raid them complete?¡±


    ¡°We have finished gathering, sir.¡±


    Damon nodded at that. ¡°Please, let us continue on.¡± He pointed at the end of the passageway.


    Opening the door there led us into a brightly-illuminated space, which turned out to be a wide hallway.


    Streams of water gently trickled by on the floor, while countless flowers blooming practically everywhere bathed the surroundings in a visual symphony of bright colours.


    The ceiling was wide open, letting the bright moonlight in to illuminate the interior.


    When I stepped inside, an unexpected sight greeted me. Five hundred or so priests wearing monk¡¯s attire were bowing their heads in my direction while standing in the fields of flowers.


    I simply had to ask. ¡°¡­And who are these people?¡±


    Damon replied calmly, ¡°They are the ones Your Majesty saved in the past, sire.¡±


    In other words, they were the five hundred slaves imprisoned by the Black Order. They now possessed divinity, and were undergoing various types of training within this temple as some kind of priests.


    ¡°To our Lord Angel, who has gifted the ones without light with the rays of salvation¡­¡±


    ¡°We shall devote our bodies and souls to you¡­¡±


    I could hear their soft whisperings. They were praying right now.


    ¡°You bastard! Have you been raising this kind of combat force in secret?! Damon! You really were planning to rebel, weren¡¯t you?!¡± Jeram roared out loudly.


    Damon simply glanced at him dismissively. ¡°This is His Majesty¡¯s personal troop. I might have trained them, yes, but I¡¯m unable to command them as I wish.¡±


    I was utterly flabbergasted by the crap coming out of Damon¡¯s mouth. ¡®Bloody hell, I was not responsible for raising this kind of army, you know?!¡¯


    1


    Besides all that, the ones gathered here all looked far stronger than the recruits I had been training recently.


    1


    Was it because of the effect of all that dragon meat and blood they had consumed? Also, Damon had trained them for a few years, so this might be an obvious end result, too. Well, he used to be the instructor of the hashashins, after all.


    2


    I shifted my gaze over to a coffin located in the centre of this hall. The moonlight flooding in from the hole in the ceiling brightly illuminated this coffin.


    I¡¯m guessing that thing is¡­


    ¡°¡­Where King Rahamma¡¯s remains rest.¡±


    I began walking towards it.


    ¡°You bastard, are you really going to defile our king¡¯s grave?!¡± Jeram roared out and tried to rush forward, only for Charlotte to block his path. He began shouting at Damon instead, ¡°Damon, think about this again! You don¡¯t know what that devil will do once you hand over the king¡¯s remains! Because of that bastard, our Aslan will¡­!¡±


    ¡°Yes, our Aslan will end up being destroyed,¡± Damon muttered almost absentmindedly, causing Jeram to flinch nastily and lock his gaze on him. ¡°However, perhaps that is the best course of action for the sake of Lady Tina.¡±


    ¡°You, you bastard-!¡±


    Jeram began struggling again, so Charlotte brought him down and used her shield to press him to the floor, preventing him from moving entirely.


    I ignored Jeram¡¯s struggles and shifted my attention back to the lid atop the coffin.


    A single white lily had been placed on top of the coffin, which was resting on top of an altar. Judging from how withered it was, I figured that the flower had been left up there for a while.


    Damon walked up and told me,¡±Her Majesty paid a visit to this place late at night, every single day, sire.¡±


    I could only smile wryly at that revelation. The meaning behind the white lily¡­ Wasn¡¯t it pure love? A love that doesn¡¯t change?


    ¡°Even though he was an idiot father who discarded his own daughter¡­ Yeah, she¡¯s a good kid, alright.¡± While saying that, I slowly rubbed the surface of the coffin, and then carefully brushed off the flower petals piled up on the lid. ¡°Oh, you foolish king who didn¡¯t realise it until your death¡­¡± I stopped brushing the coffin, opened my hand wide, then slammed it down on the lid. I began driving divinity deep into it. ¡°It¡¯s now time for you to right all the wrongs you¡¯ve committed.¡±


    Divine power rapidly spread out everywhere. The petals that had scattered in every direction were pulled up into the air by the strong gusts of wind.


    The believers raised their heads and stared at the coffin. Even Jeram, a member of the twelve feudal lords, stared at it with a hardened face.


    The ground rumbled for a short while, but then, everything suddenly became quiet.


    Staring at the coffin, I slowly cocked my head to the side.


    As the still silence continued on, a pure-white hand suddenly broke through the coffin. This hand, trembling ever so faintly, grasped the withered white lily.


    Divinity began oozing from the tips of the bony hand. The withered flower slowly regained its vigour and white colour as the sacred power filled it up.


    The white lily had been brought back to life.


    As if that was a signal, the coffin suddenly exploded into countless pieces. The thick dust cloud danced in the air as I continued looking on.


    A being kitted out in steel armour, its white skull wrapped in ragged fabric, emerged from within.


    ¡°A Death Knight¡­?!¡± Damon gasped out in shock.


    At the same time, Jeram¡¯s jaw was dropping to the floor. His whole body began spasming as he gradually entered a freaked-out state.


    ¡°R-release me this instant!¡± He shoved Charlotte aside, but only because she didn¡¯t try to stop him.


    Jeram hurriedly rushed up to the Death Knight before kneeling in front of it. His adoring gaze looked up at his king, now revived before his eyes. ¡°M-my king, King Rahamma!¡±


    Even though he cried out, Rahamma didn¡¯t pay him any attention. No, he simply held that single white lily while tilting his head this way and that.


    -Even after death, I remained in my flesh.-


    Jeram jolted nastily at Rahamma¡¯s voice.


    -Despite inheriting my blood, she was a useless tool. As such, I turned her into a slave and threw her away. Yet such a slave looked after my flesh.-


    Rahamma carefully inserted the lily inside his armour.


    -She came to seek out this foolish king every single day, late at night. She offered flowers, and brought her hands together to pray for me. She¡­-


    Rahamma then slowly shifted his gaze towards me.


    -¡­is my daughter.-


    His glowing eye sockets suddenly burned even more fiercely than before within the skull under the hood.


    1


    -My daughter¡­ Tina Aslan. Where is she now? Tell me, oh my master.-


    3


    **


    (In 3rd person POV.)


    Many Aslan citizens had been summoned to the royal palace. They numbered roughly around a thousand.


    The reason for the summons was fairly simple.


    {Queen Tina has an announcement to make to all of you!}


    The citizens were curious; curious to find out whether their queen was still safe, and they also wanted to find out what fate had in store for their country.


    It was now time for them to see their queen for themselves, and listen to her words.


    But when they arrived in the expansive royal audience chamber¡­


    ¡°What¡­ what is the meaning of this?!¡±


    ¡°Our, our sacred palace has become¡­?¡±


    ¡°Aslan¡¯s royal palace, it¡­!¡±


    Normally, a pristine river should¡¯ve been flowing here, along with lush, verdant vegetation growing abundantly in every nook and cranny.


    But now, look at it!


    The entire palace was stained in the colour of blood. Corpses of the soldiers who had resisted were still strewn about everywhere, while Queen Tina could be seen on her throne, bound and tied up.


    ¡°Your Majesty!¡±


    ¡°Oh my goodness, just how could this be¡­!¡±


    ¡°Who, who dares to do this to someone so young¡­!¡±


    All these people, the residents of Aslan¡¯s royal capital, ached in their hearts for the current pitiful state of their dear queen. But they also shuddered in fear at the orc soldiers currently surrounding the perimeter of the royal audience chamber.


    ¡°That thing¡­ that¡¯s a vampire, isn¡¯t it?!¡±


    ¡°Could it be that the feudal lords and the vampires have conspired together¡­?!¡±


    ¡°You bunch of human scum!¡±


    The citizens began gritting and gnashing their teeth while staring at the crimson-eyed vampires, their sharp claws and fangs standing out among the orc soldiers.


    ¡°Just what happened here?¡±


    ¡°Could it be that you bastards were the traitors, instead?!¡±


    The citizens then began shouting at the Necromancers accompanying them. The latter group urgently shook their heads, denying that notion.


    ¡°N-no, wait! We also didn¡¯t know such a thing would happen¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much, oh you bunch of livestock,¡± Duke Duran suddenly spoke up, then reached down to stroke the chin of Queen Tina, sitting there on the throne with her arms bound. ¡°I¡¯ve merely invited you all here for the sake of your queen. You should all be honoured, instead.¡±


    Duran then shifted his gaze over to Rehton.


    The latter waved his hand, and the orcs began bringing in and installing a large guillotine.


    Watching this scene unfold, Duran silently clicked his tongue. ¡®Although I didn¡¯t want to resort to doing this¡­¡¯


    He wanted to manipulate the powers of the World Tree. He believed that when the Dark Elf was turned into a vampire and became his subordinate, he¡¯d be able to freely control the power of the World Tree and defile this entire world as he saw fit.


    But now, he no longer had enough leeway to pull that off.


    ¡®Marquis Kirum. To think that he managed to deceive me.¡¯


    What could be the reason for that insane clown to send Duran to Aslan, while even daring to bring up the name of His Majesty, the Vampire King?


    Marquis Kirum told Duran to seduce the feudal lords of Aslan and create a sure footing for the eventual establishment of their kingdom of blood, but never mind the Vampire King, not even that jester¡¯s shadow could be seen anywhere nearby!


    That also applied to the Army of Blood, as well!


    Without a doubt, something somewhere had gone wrong.


    Now that the Holy King¡¯s army had laid siege to the royal capital, Duke Duran needed to resort to a method that could delay their advance. That method was to turn Queen Tina into an undead creature, and enhance her demonic energy through the blood of the gathered subjects of Aslan. Duran then planned to use the necrofied Queen Tina as his puppet to command the rest of Aslan¡¯s army. While the army confronted and bought time against the Holy King¡¯s legion, he¡¯d take Tina and flee from here.


    ¡®Marquis Kirum, I shall tear you into thousands of pieces the moment I see you. I shall drink all of your blood and make sure you can¡¯t revive anymore!¡¯


    Just as Duke Duran gritted his teeth in humiliation, Rehton loudly declared for all to hear, ¡°From this moment on, we shall commence with the marriage ceremony between Duke Duran of the Blood Kingdom and the Queen of Aslan, Tina Aslan!¡±


    Rehton finished shouting, and forcibly dragged Tina down from the throne before placing her on the guillotine.


    ¡°Oh, no! Your Majesty!¡±


    ¡°Oh my gods!¡±


    The citizens tried to get closer, but the orc soldiers stopped them in their tracks. The monsters yanked their swords out and swung them around angrily, threatening the citizens.


    ¡°Please stop!¡± Tina shouted out.


    The orc soldiers snickered and stepped back at her order.


    ¡°If only you had quietly become a blood-creation like we told you, you would¡¯ve avoided your fate and not suffered this humiliation, oh dear queen,¡± Duke Duran spoke from where he stood next to the guillotine.


    Tina¡¯s neck was secured to the frame.


    The vampires confirmed she was secure, and drew several Runes all over the place before rousing their demonic energy.


    With that, the corruption ceremony meant to defile this place was underway. Once Tina¡¯s head was cut off and the citizens were murdered, their tormented souls would rush into Tina¡¯s severed head, turning her into a powerful undead.


    ¡°A lowly slave should start as a slave, indeed. Oh, Queen of Aslan, become my slave,¡± Duran smirked at her.


    Tina clenched her teeth. But right at that moment, her gaze suddenly shifted over to the window of the royal palace.


    She noticed an unidentifiable object flying around in the air.


    ¡®¡­Is that a wyvern?¡¯


    It was indeed a wyvern, a Bone Wyvern. And someone was riding on top of it, as well.


    The strange pair flew up rapidly and disappeared from the view of the skies afforded through the window.


    ¡°And now, the marriage between these two noble beings will commence! The sacrificial offering for the ceremony will be¡­ one thousand livestock!¡± Rehton roared out, clearly excited. ¡°With this act, we now declare the eternal master-servant relationship between Duke Duran and Queen Tina, as well as the alliance between Aslan and the Blood Kingdom!¡±


    He raised his extended claw towards the rope connected to the guillotine¡¯s blade.


    Duke Duran then muttered one word: ¡°Execute!¡±


    ¡°Ahaha! I shall now become the king of Aslan!¡± Rehton guffawed, and swiped with his claw to sever the rope.


    Duran smirked deeply and stared at Tina, who had both of her eyes closed tightly.


    But just as the guillotine¡¯s blade could slam down¡­


    -Who said I would hand over my daughter to you?!-


    1


    The ceiling of the royal palace caved in with a spectacular boom, and someone slammed down powerfully to the floor.


    ¡°Wha¡­?!¡± Duke Duran hurriedly waved his hands around to dispel the choking dust, only to spot an object coming for him.


    The thing flying in at him with such shocking speed was a mace. No, it looked more like a large lump of hardened steel, rather than a proper weapon.


    Duran¡¯s face was utterly smashed in. The force of impact spun his head 360 degrees, while his entire body bounced haplessly away on the floor.


    ¡°Keo-uhuhk¡­?!¡±


    Duran crashed into the floor some distance away and grunted in pain. His trembling hands reached up towards his crushed face, and he touched it carefully.


    His face was already regenerating. His eyeballs grew back, giving him his sight back, which also allowed him to see the individual who had struck him.


    The silhouette of the guillotine was inside the cloud of dust, but the falling executioner¡¯s blade had been stopped mid-way by a hand covered in a thick metal gauntlet.


    Every single citizen inside the royal audience chamber sucked in their breath. Even the Necromancers could only look on in utter shock, their eyes threatening to pop out of their faces.


    The creature possessed an imposing physique, over two metres tall. His entire figure was covered in heavy armour, while his pure-white skull was wrapped in fabric that now resembled a hood.


    -Who dares to call himself a king in My Presence?-


    1


    The ¡®king¡¯ strengthened his grip and easily shattered the guillotine¡¯s blade, then lightly waved his hand around to deflect the scattered shards from falling on Tina.


    -Now, kneel!-


    The ¡®king¡¯ picked up his daughter in an embrace.


    -And worship.-


    He swung the great mace, over two metres long, around with a powerful hand, and cleared out the dust cloud.


    -I am the King of Aslan, Rahamma Aslan! And I shall bid you all farewell.-


    The glowing eyeballs inside the skull were now locked on the vampires.


    -Offer your souls to the God of Death, Yudai!-


    King Rahamma.


    This was the moment of Aslan¡¯s once-absolute sovereign returning to his former royal palace.

 Chapter 296 - 156. Aslan in Chaos -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    A shocked expression formed Tina¡¯s face while she was still inside the cloud of dust. She looked up at the person holding her.


    He wore a set of heavy armour, with ragged cloth wrapped about his head like some kind of a hood. Then she noticed a familiar white lily hidden beneath the armour.


    ¡°¡­Father?¡±


    Flustered, she even forgot about their stations and uttered a title that was still somewhat unfamiliar to her. As she grew even more flustered, the undead carefully raised his hand and patted her on the head.


    His glowing eye sockets were staring at her, but he solemnly maintained his silence.


    ¡®Could it be, Lord Angel¡­?¡¯


    Only the Holy King, Allen Olfolse, was capable of reviving the former king Rahamma as a holy undead like this. Without a doubt, Allen had awakened the former king in order to rescue her.


    Duke Duran was also feeling rather shaken at the moment. ¡®Why is King Rahamman in this place¡­?!¡¯


    A drop of cold sweat trickled down his face.


    The Death Knight emerging from the curtain of dust was definitely King Rahamma Aslan. Not only that, he even possessed divine energy.


    There was little doubt that this creature was the handiwork of the Holy King himself. But never in Duran¡¯s wildest imagination had he believed that a human possessed a level of power monstrous enough to successfully revive King Rahamma!


    ¡®But, where is the Holy King?¡¯


    A portion of Duran¡¯s brain was crushed by that strike to his face, and it was still undergoing regeneration. He couldn¡¯t think properly at the moment, but even then he knew the first thing he had to do was to find out where the most threatening existence to his survival was hiding.


    However, he couldn¡¯t spot the Holy King anywhere.


    Perhaps that was for the best. The undead before Duran was none other than King Rahamma. Just dealing with him was going to be a difficult task. The Vampire Duke was not confident of fighting the Holy King at the same time and leaving here in one piece.


    ¡®For now, I shall try to buy myself some time.¡¯


    Duran swore that he¡¯d kill the undead Rahamma standing before his eyes as soon as his brain had fully recovered.


    ¡°I certainly didn¡¯t expect to meet the true king, Rahamma Aslan, again like this. It certainly is an honour!¡± Duke Duran exclaimed while standing up, his face now fully regenerated.


    His whole body was dyed in the crimson hue of blood. It looked like he had been drenched in blood. Armour of blood materialised around him, and he reached out to grasp a sword congealing there, also made out of blood.


    ¡®Although I wanted to fight him at least once, that was back when he was still a human being,¡¯ thought Duran.


    King Rahamma was one of the only two humans that the Vampire King had kept a wary eye on, the other one being Emperor Kelt Olfolse.


    He could unleash powerful abilities in combat that didn¡¯t lose out even when compared to the likes of the Sword King or the Crown Imperial Prince. No, it would be more correct to say that he easily exceeded either of those two if he used his demonic energy without any restrictions holding him back.


    Now King Rahamma was no longer under the fatal restriction called a ¡®lifespan¡¯. Meaning that he should be even stronger than back when he was still alive.


    Failing to deal with this undead King quickly would only make things quite disadvantageous for Duran.


    King Rahamma finally opened his mouth to speak.


    -Oh, hear ye, my former subjects.-


    The Aslan citizens gathered in the audience chamber all flinched and stared at King Rahamma.


    -Leave this place.-


    While saying that, King Rahamma picked up a piece of the shattered guillotine blade and chucked it towards a window, shattering the glass there. He then grabbed the scruff of Tina¡¯s neck, and effortlessly tossed her lightly outside.


    ¡°F-father?!¡±


    -Tina. Go to the side of my master. Go and protect the subjects of Aslan.-


    Tina fell from the Royal Palace¡¯s high window, but the Bone Wyvern swooped in to catch her and flew away. At the same time, the citizens quickly began escaping from the audience chamber.


    The orcs and Rehton were currently frozen stiff, placing their undivided attention on the mighty form of King Rahamma.


    ¡®These stupid bastards!¡¯ Duke Duran cursed to himself before roaring out loudly. ¡°Come, my Basilisk! Devour them all!¡±


    The palace¡¯s floor caved in, and a huge snake emerged from the resulting hole. It opened its maw wide and bared its sharp fangs.


    But just before it could pounce on the fleeing citizens with its gaping maw, yet another existence broke through the high window with the broken glass.


    It was actually the skull of a huge dragon. Its bony maw opened wide and chomped down on the Basilisk¡¯s throat. The white snake¡¯s neck was twisted aside as a stream of toxins spewed out from its mouth, defiling the palace.


    Duke Duran¡¯s jaw went slack, a feeling of sheer stupefaction washing over him. ¡®Even a Bone Dragon?!¡¯


    The Holy King had summoned more than one monster and was controlling them at the same time?! Just what exactly was he, to pull off something like this¡­!


    Duke Duran began stumbling backwards without realising it.


    He needed to flee from here. This whole affair smelled worse than a rotting fish now.


    The reason why Marquis Kirum was nowhere to be seen¡­ Maybe that insane clown had already predicted this outcome.


    Right at that moment, King Rahamma made a move before anyone else could. His figure dashed forward and his mace came flying in at Duran¡¯s face once more.


    As his eyes burned fiercely, Rahamma spoke, -The one with a vulgar soul, who attempted to murder Tina¡­-


    Duran hurriedly raised his blood sword.


    -I shall break you into a million pieces!-


    The blood sword and the mace collided, causing the entire floor to buckle and collapse.


    **


    Late at night, at the camp of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s army, brightly illuminated by rows of blazing torches and burning braziers¡­


    Tina rode on the Bone Wyvern and landed in the middle of the camp belonging to the Holy King¡¯s army.


    Charlotte was on standby. She squared her shoulders, placed a hand on her chest, and bowed gracefully in silence, an act of established decorum when greeting royalty from another nation.


    As she did so, Alice ran up to them from somewhere behind Charlotte and urgently checked Tina¡¯s condition out.


    ¡°Thankfully, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any issues,¡± Alice sighed in relief, and looked behind her.


    Tina looked over there as well, and finally discovered Allen standing there, Amon¡¯s skull and the bone armour already adorning his figure. Standing to either side of him were Damon and Jeram.


    Tina was instantly filled with happiness and worry the moment she saw Holy King Allen. Worried, because this incident, this coup, was the result of her incompetence. No doubt the Theocratic Empire would not overlook this event.


    ¡°Your Majesty the Holy King.¡± Tina hurriedly went down to her knees and bowed her head. ¡°I beg for your forgiveness. This event was due to my incompetence. All responsibility lies with me. That¡¯s why, I beg of you, ensure that no other events of such nature will take place in Aslan¡­¡±


    ¡°It already has been decided.¡±


    Tina flinched at the reply.


    ¡°Aslan cannot avoid her destruction anymore.¡±


    The eyes on Tina¡¯s bowed head grew wider.


    In the end, the country she deeply cared for had still managed to earn the wrath of the Theocratic Empire. It was an obvious end result. Aslan had pointed its sword twice at the Empire in less than five years, so it wasn¡¯t all that surprising to find out that the other side wasn¡¯t willing to let this go on any longer.


    Tina squeezed her eyes shut. But then¡­


    ¡°However, with your help, we may be able to ensure the safety of her subjects.¡±


    She opened her eyes again and lifted her head up.


    Allen had reached out to her by then. ¡°Lend me your aid, Tina.¡±


    Tina automatically reached out and took his hand.


    He helped her get on a skeleton horse, then he himself climbed up on the saddle. He turned his head and swept his gaze over the Theocratic Empire¡¯s army.


    Over twenty thousand troops were getting ready to advance.


    He roared out to them. ¡°Kill all those who resist, but do not harm the ones who surrender. Our true purpose is to hunt down the vampires!¡±


    Queen Tina was with them now, meaning the Aslan army would probably not oppose them.


    ¡°Also, continue to be vigilant of our surroundings.¡± While issuing that order, Allen silently recalled what Jeram had told him earlier.


    {An army of blood is heading towards Aslan¡¯s royal capital even as we speak. They should be very close to reaching there, as a matter of fact. I advise you to send some scouts ahead to search the surroundings areas, then quickly take over the royal capital to protect the citizens inside.}


    According to the feudal lord¡¯s intel, an Army of Blood was headed to this location. An army created by the vampires, no less.


    Which meant Allen now had to come up with a strategy to deal with them, too.


    Once King Rahamma became his follower, Jeram willingly began following him, as well. It wasn¡¯t just because his king had awakened, however.


    Jeram¡¯s eyes showed that he had become ¡®entranced¡¯ already. Entranced by a power that had even revived the long-dead king. It had to be the power of the gods!


    His value system and his faith all had been converted by what he witnessed. That was unsurprising, considering that he was a feudal lord of a nation who also used to worship the God of Death.


    Allen looked behind him once more to confirm that the twenty thousand troops had completed their preparations to move out.


    ¡°Advance! With this, Aslan will fall, and¡­¡±


    Allen took the lead, and the great army of twenty thousand began moving forward as well.


    ¡°¡­And this land will become a new territory of the Theocratic Empire.¡±


    At the end of this war, Allen would become the new, undisputed king of Aslan.


    1

 Chapter 297 - 156. Aslan in Chaos -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    The Aslan soldiers located on the city¡¯s outer walls were in a panicked state right now.


    Explosions were going off in the Royal Palace¡¯s direction, and plumes of smoke could be seen rising from there. Then a huge dragon and snake began battling each other in the palace¡¯s vicinity, too.


    ¡°H-how can demonic beasts like that be near the palace¡­?!¡±


    ¡°W-what should we do, sir?¡± the soldiers asked the nearby Necromancers.


    The meaning behind the Royal Palace being in danger was simple: their queen was also in danger!


    The Necromancers turned their heads to look outside the city. The Theocratic Empire¡¯s army was approaching. The Holy King was leading them at the front.


    The man kitted out in a set of bone armour and the skull-helm of a mountain goat was fully displaying his majesty, a pure white Aura gushing out from his entire body.


    Right behind him was a company of Paladins. Their combined fighting spirit seemed to increase the weight of the air itself, ruthlessly crushing down on the Aslan soldiers.


    This army emanated a white Aura that drove away the darkness and advanced upon the walls.


    If they decided so, it would prove to be too simple to break through the defences of the outer wall, currently paralysed by the unstable command structure, and enter the city itself.


    In all honesty, defending the outer wall seemed like a waste of time.


    ¡°That¡­ That is¡­¡± Before the Necromancer could say something, he saw something that made him doubt his own eyes. He quickly took out a telescope to take a closer look at the Holy King.


    That was when he confirmed the figure of a Dark Elf riding on the same skeletal horse as the Holy King.


    ¡°Her Majesty the Queen¡­???¡±


    The Necromancer shifted his telescope, only to spot two of the feudal lords, Jeram and Damon, riding along on either side of the Holy King.


    ¡°What on earth is going on here?!¡±


    The two feudal lords and Her Majesty the Queen were all with them?


    In this sort of situation, what exactly should the Aslan troops do? No orders had come in from the higher-ups, even now.


    The Necromancer became afraid that this was simply an act of subterfuge, and told his fellow Aslan soldiers to get ready, but a short while later, he ended up witnessing the sight of Queen Tina receiving a tree branch from the Holy King. A branch of the World Tree, no less.


    Tina lightly swung the branch around. A tree suddenly rose from the grass field before taking on the rough shape of a humanoid: a Woodman.


    ¡°¡­She¡¯s the real deal.¡±


    Only Queen Tina was capable of Summoning a tree spirit like that.


    The Necromancer lowered the telescope. ¡°Open the gates.¡±


    ¡°Sir? B-but, the feudal lords ordered us to defend¡­¡±


    ¡°Her Majesty, our Queen, is right over there, on their side! So is there a reason to listen to the orders of the feudal lords at this point?!¡±


    The rumours of the feudal lords potentially being the actual traitors had long been circulating among the Aslan soldiers by this point. And the truth had just been confirmed to them.


    Their Queen was currently accompanying the forces of the Theocratic Empire. The fact that she even Summoned the Woodman indicated that she was fully cooperating with them.


    ¡°We shall follow Her Majesty.¡± The Necromancer issued his order, and the large gateway of the outer wall opened up.


    The Necromancers and soldiers stood on either side of the gateway and bowed their heads deeply.


    The Holy King stepped into the capital, then loudly roared out, ¡°Set up the defensive formation along with the soldiers of Aslan! As soon as the scouts discover the location of the army of blood, report to me at once!¡±


    His roaring words reverberated throughout the night sky.


    The Empire¡¯s Paladins quickly climbed up to the top of the outer wall. They continued to spread out and didn¡¯t bother to threaten any of the Aslan soldiers who offered no resistance.


    ¡°As for you, the believers, you are to come with me!¡± He pointed at the five hundred monks raised by Damon, and the fifty hashashins that served Tina.


    ¡°We shall kill Duke Duran and occupy Aslan¡¯s throne!¡±


    Allen dashed towards the Royal Palace, leading them from the front.


    **


    ¡°What, what should we do now, in your opinion?¡±


    ¡°Are you asking me because you already don¡¯t know?! Rehton told us to defend this place. He also told us that the army of blood will arrive sometime today, didn¡¯t he!?¡±


    ¡°Today, you say?! Just when?! Take a look, the night is drawing to a close already! It¡¯ll soon be morning! Are you telling me to wait until then?!¡±


    The opinions of the feudal lords, currently tasked with defending the outer walls of the Royal Palace, had reached an impasse.


    One of the bickering lords looked up at the sky. Even now, the huge Bone Dragon and the Basilisk were still fighting fiercely, occasionally colliding with the palace itself. Stone debris tumbled down from their violent struggle.


    ¡°Our king, Rahamma, has returned!¡±


    ¡°You feudal lords, kneel in obedience before him! Go and assist him right away!¡±


    The Aslan citizens that had successfully escaped from the Royal Palace began shouting out to them from the grounds inside the castle walls.


    The feudal lords asked in confusion, ¡°What kind of crazy talk is this?¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we go and see Duke Duran, and find out what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t we already dispatched some soldiers for that purpose?¡±


    ¡°But none of them have returned so far!¡±


    The feudal lords remained undecided despite everything. The news of their former king coming back to life was making them shudder in fear.


    {King Rahamma has become a Death Knight, and protected Her Majesty the Queen.}


    Treating that news as fake seemed difficult when the Necromancers that were fleeing the Royal Palace, along with a thousand citizens, were all saying the same thing.


    That news was basically the same as the former king personally acknowledging Queen Tina as his legitimate successor.


    These feudal lords had dared to raise the flag of rebellion against the legitimate successor. To make matters worse, they had even joined hands with the vampires, which was practically the same thing as going against the will of the God of Death as well!


    With everything they had done so far, these feudal lords now found themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.


    ¡°We should open the castle gates now. It¡¯s not too late. The Theocratic Empire is cordial towards Her Majesty, and as such, we also need to join hands with them. If we say we were threatened with death¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll believe such a lie?¡±


    ¡°The Holy King¡¯s legion has already reached us. Can¡¯t you tell from just looking? The army of blood?! Those bastards have abandoned us!¡±


    Just as the three feudal lords began bickering with each other, one of the soldiers urgently cried out to them, ¡°They are here! T-the Holy King! The Holy King is here!¡±


    The feudal lords quickly turned their heads.


    There he was, the Holy King, now approaching the castle. In his embrace was Tina, while hundreds of monks were following steadily behind him.


    ¡°Her Majesty the Queen¡­¡±


    The soldiers grew agitated after seeing this scene. But on the other hand, the orc soldiers defending the Royal Palace began roaring out raucously, instead.


    ¡°What should we do, sirs? Defend, or open the castle gates?¡± the soldier asked, but the feudal lords couldn¡¯t reply, their lips trembling nonstop.


    Their reasoning had frozen and they couldn¡¯t come to a decision. But then, one of the feudal lords managed to roar out suddenly, ¡°Stop them!¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°The army of blood will definitely come. We, we will get to enjoy eternal life after becoming vampires! That¡¯s why¡­ That¡¯s why we must stop them here! The Theocratic Empire will obviously try to annihilate us all, while using this event as a pretext, anyway!¡±


    The shouts of this feudal lord managed to convince his fellow lords. They all nodded in unison.


    The orc soldiers raised their weapons, while the human soldiers heeded the orders of the feudal lords and began tugging on their bow strings, even though they tightly clenched their teeth.


    ¡°As long as we have the castle wall, we can endure for some time!¡±


    ¡°Once the morning sun comes¡­ The army of blood will arrive!¡±


    The feudal lords hadn¡¯t lost all hope yet. They continued to hold on to the contradictory delusion that the vampires would definitely arrive, even though the undead generally avoided appearing in the morning.


    Just as they yanked out their weapons¡­


    ¡°Nasus, Kasim.¡±


    A Lich and a Berserker were Summoned, and mounted on their own skeletal horses. Even as they were charging forward, they raised their heads to look up.


    ¡°Go and handle the feudal lords.¡±


    These two undead were now tasked with handling the three rebelling feudal lords of Aslan.


    As for the Holy King, Allen¡­


    ¡°And I¡¯ll be¡­¡±


    He sucked in a deep breath, and extended his right hand.


    Bones began sprouting forth from his hand, constructing a larger hand of bone around it. This ¡®hand¡¯ grew to an abnormal size, then sank heavily towards the ground.


    Inside this enlarged frame of bones was a huge metallic barrel. Allen pointed the cannon manufactured by Hans at the castle gate.


    Divinity rapidly filled the cannon.


    The powerful divine energy began swirling around within the weapon, before violently shooting towards its target.


    The huge projectile of pure divinity slammed straight into the castle¡¯s gateway, melting the gates of solid steel before completely obliterating them in a massive explosion.


    The gates were completely broken apart under the overwhelming assault!


    Even as the feudal lords began freaking out, Allen said something that everyone around could hear, ¡°And now, I shall hunt down Duke Duran.¡±


    He broke through the choking dust and stepped onto the grounds of the Royal Palace.


    < 156. Aslan in Chaos -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 298 - 157. Aslan in Chaos -2

    Translated by a Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    ¡°Tina, you head to the World Tree,¡± Allen directed.


    Tina dismounted from the skeletal horse. The hashashins escorted her to their new destination, while the monks followed Allen to break into the royal palace.


    Orc soldiers showed up on every floor to block their progress.


    ¡°We, must stop them-! Master said so! Master ordered! Stop them!¡±


    These orcs were brandishing all sorts of weapons.


    The monks rushing along in the narrow corridor quietly whispered under their hoods, ¡°Under the name of Goddess Gaia, Holy King Allen Olfolse¡¯s Blessing be with us.¡±


    Under the mountain goat skull-helm, Allen¡¯s face displayed his surprise when he heard that.


    These monks were praying, but they weren¡¯t simply praying to Gaia. They also mentioned Allen¡¯s name during their prayers.


    A white aura gushed out from the figures of the monks as they recited their prayers. They wielded their staves and held their heads high.


    A staff overflowing with divine power was ruthlessly swung around to sweep an orc off its feet, and then the sharp end of the weapon was thrust into the helm of the downed monster.


    Blood splattered everywhere, and the orc went limp.


    Another monk dodged the weapon swung around by an orc, grabbed the monster¡¯s wrist, and bent it in the wrong direction. He then snatched the orc¡¯s weapon away and killed the orc with it.


    The five hundred or so monks quickly spread throughout the royal palace to suppress the thousand-plus orcs present inside the building. As expected of monks trained by none other than Damon, they were truly multi-talented with how excellent their martial techniques were, as well as their proficiency in handling various weapons.


    ¡°Humans! Stop them!¡±


    ¡°Shields, formations!¡±


    More orcs hurried into the royal palace¡¯s corridors. Kitted out in heavy armour that humans would¡¯ve found too heavy to wear, they quickly overlapped their forged steel shields, each weighing at least thirty kilograms, to create a sturdy shield wall, then pushed their spears through the small gaps in this wall.


    The monks took in this sight before stepping back.


    Allen pointed the cannon mounted on his right arm at the new obstruction while his eyes glowed even more fiercely. ¡°Get out of my way.¡±


    The holy projectile exploded forth and tore through the orcs mercilessly. The steel armour and the flesh of the monsters were literally erased from existence.


    The ensuing explosion caused angry flames to spread out. The nearby windows all shattered, and many orcs were thrown out of the palace altogether from the force of impact.


    Debris fell from the quaking ceiling.


    Orcs lying half-dead in the obliterated passage of the palace vomited out mouthfuls of blood. They raised their faltering heads and stared at the human walking towards them from the end of the corridor.


    This being with a mountain goat¡¯s skull for a helm and a set of bone armour surrounding him, framed by the backdrop of billowing flames behind him¡­


    On his right arm was a gigantic cannon over two metres in length, all encased in bones. It was so long that it extended past the tip of his hand and well, well past his shoulder.


    ¡°A devil. A devil¡­!¡±


    The orcs were utterly terrified. But when they turned around to try and flee, the spells of obedience the vampires had placed on them activated, causing their bodies to suddenly balloon up, before exploding into gory bits.


    The orcs witnessed their kin die in such a gruesome fashion and began shaking their heads frantically, as if to reject their current reality.


    If they tried to fight, the Holy King would murder them. But if they tried to run, the vampire¡¯s spell would blow them up, instead.


    They couldn¡¯t flee either way. Only death awaited them!


    The cannon aimed at the head of another orc next.


    ¡°Ah, keu-aaaaaahk!¡±


    The orc roared out and tried to pounce on the human, but a blinding flash of light wiped the poor creature from existence, starting from its head.


    **


    ¡°Truly excellent, King Rahamma Aslan.¡± While saying that, Duke Duran panted heavily to get a grip on his breathing.


    His wrecked helm was being reconstructed with blood and securely enclosed his head once more.


    Duran snickered, then glared at King Rahamma, currently on one knee while maintaining his balance with his mace.


    ¡°Even then, did you really think you can win against us, the noble vampires, just because you were revived?!¡±


    The once-sacred royal audience chamber of the ruler of Aslan had been thoroughly defiled by now. Toxins from the Basilisk had deeply stained every visible corner, while blood corrupted by the demonic energy had splashed and spread everywhere.


    Orcs were standing and waiting, while Rehton was injuring his own flesh to extract blood from it. The demonic energy from the surrounding area was rapidly being sucked into Duran.


    Despite his confident tone, though, there was a strand of sweat trickling down his cheek. ¡®You goddamn monster!¡¯


    He needed the assistance of his blood-creations in order to fight evenly against King Rahamma. But even after receiving the boost from their blood and demonic energy, Duran could only barely suppress Rahamma.


    ¡®I shouldn¡¯t have turned Rehton into a blood-creation.¡¯


    If him dividing a portion of his strength off in order to seduce a feudal lord could be seen as the root of his current problem, then yes, it certainly was!


    ¡°If you are an undead, be a good undead and go back to hell, Rahamma!¡± Duran roared out and gripped his blood sword tightly before thrusting at Rahamma¡¯s forehead.


    It was at that point Rahamman¡¯s jaw broke the weighty silence he had been observing.


    -Back when I was still the King of Aslan, I believed I could win against you. However, that was wrong, it seems. Indeed, you are strong. I now acknowledge it.-


    Duran furrowed his brow at that. The personality of King Rahamma he remembered was not like this. For him to reject his own strength, and then to acknowledge someone else¡¯s power?


    -But with this, now I know for sure.- Rahamma raised his head up, and his glowing eye sockets arched like new moons, an eerie cackle leaving his bony jaw. -I know for sure now that my master is stronger than you.-


    A deathly chill ran down Duran¡¯s spine. That was because he had detected a massive amount of divinity somewhere behind him.


    He urgently turned his head around and stared at the firmly-shut door, only for his jaw to drop. ¡°Crazy son of a¡­!¡±


    KA-BOOM-!


    A cannon shell made out of light came flying in like a shooting star. It broke through the doorway and obliterated Duran¡¯s upper body. His remaining lower torso stumbled back.


    King Rahamma tried to get back to his feet, but his body crumbled and he had to fall back to the floor.


    In the meantime, the remaining orcs and Rehton jumped up in shock and hurriedly retreated. Duran¡¯s lower half began writhing around at the same time, and his body started regenerating.


    The destroyed spine sprouted up from the hips before the ribs, arms and hands, and finally, the neck and the skull grew out from there. New flesh started reforming to cover them all, and Duran¡¯s trembling eyes shifted over to the audience chamber¡¯s doorway.


    Rahamma too also turned his head towards the doorway and deeply bowed his head. -Master. You¡¯ve arrived.-


    The doorway with a big melted hole in it, was flung wide open. Around five hundred monks entered, dispersing to the left and right sides of the chamber. These monks, clad in robes that dragged on the floor, stood tall and proud before slamming their staves down.


    ¡°So, you were the one.¡±


    Boots covered in bones stepped on the floor. Glowing eyes under the skull of a mountain goat glared sharply at Duke Duran, still in the middle of his regeneration.


    ¡°The one responsible for this event.¡±


    The Holy King, Allen Olfolse. He had finally shown up!


    The muscles around Duran¡¯s eyes that had just finished regenerating began twitching. His whole body even shuddered a little from instinctive fear. ¡®This is too dangerous!¡¯


    To think that he¡¯d actually have to confront the Holy King in this manner!


    ¡®Marquis Kirum, you stinking bastard! Just where the hell are you-?!¡¯ Duran inwardly cursed out while finishing up the last of his regeneration. He sucked in a deep breath.


    At the same time, he also stared back at the Holy King and spotted the cannon with divinity swirling within it taking aim at him again.


    ¡°As expected. You¡¯re different from a Count-class. To think that you¡¯d still be alive after your body blew into pieces. In that case¡­¡± The glowing eyes under the mountain goat¡¯s skull arched in a creepy grin, ¡°¡­why don¡¯t we experiment on how many times you must die before you are really dead?¡±


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I sucked my breath in deeply before exhaling.


    Duke Duran was in the middle of regenerating himself, completely bathed in blood.


    Wowsers, I guess he¡¯s really different from the other, ¡®regular¡¯ vampires, then. His body got obliterated into bits and pieces, yet here he is, still alive.


    The divinity contained in my attack should¡¯ve greatly restricted a vampire¡¯s regenerative ability, yet this bloodsucker was strong enough to overcome that. A normal person who didn¡¯t know how to wield divinity would never be able to kill this Duke-class vampire.


    This was the reason why this continent required the Imperial Family¡¯s presence.


    I injected more divinity into my portable cannon. The holy shell expanded before condensing even further.


    One of the twelve feudal lords who had raised the flag of rebellion first, Rehton, urgently cried out, ¡°M-master, what should we do now?!¡±


    Even then, he didn¡¯t forget to hold his bizarre-looking claws up high, getting ready for another round of battle. The orcs next to him also raised their weapons and glared threateningly at the monks.


    This tense silence seemed to stretch on for a bit, before Duke Duran finally said, ¡°Attack them! We don¡¯t have an escape path left anyway! If you wish to live on, kill them and survive!¡±


    At the same time, I also spoke up, ¡°Kill them. This is a territory of the Theocratic Empire. My territory.¡± I finished reloading the cannon and aimed it at Duke Duran¡¯s face. ¡°I will not tolerate some vulgar vampire daring to soil my own territory!¡±


    Flames spat out from the cannon, and the blinding shooting star flew straight at Duran.


    ¡°Danger¡­?!¡±


    Duran¡¯s body suddenly split apart into droplets of blood before dispersing everywhere. They seemed to float up, before coalescing in one spot to reconstruct his body.


    ¡®Man, what a tricky, rat-like bastard!¡¯


    The twelve bone hands on my back spread out. Muskets were summoned into their grips and I took aim at the quickly-regenerating Duran over there. Holy bullets rapidly condensed before firing at their target.


    Duran looked quite flustered as he dispersed his body once more, and was sucked into a puddle of blood on the floor.


    ¡°Protect Duke Duran, now!¡± Rehton roared out, prompting the orcs to rush towards me.


    But the monks quickly stood in their way. They wielded their staves and began to wage a messy melee against the orcs and Rehton.


    Meanwhile, Duran¡¯s body was rapidly reconstructed from the puddle of blood soaking the floor, which I also happened to be standing on top of at the moment.


    He dug deep into my defences. ¡°For the glory of our great Vampire King-!¡± He raised his sword high before thrusting it towards my heart.


    The twelve bone hands let go of the muskets and at the same time, spears, swords, and maces were summoned into their grips to defend against the incoming blood sword, overlapping with one another.


    ¡°¡­?!¡± Duran gasped out, while I took a hard swing with the cannon in the air. From right below its muzzle, a blade belonging to my greatsword shot out towards the vampire.


    I braced myself on the ground and pivoted around. My right hand continued to swing the greatsword poking out from under the cannon muzzle.


    ¡°You monstrous basta¡­!¡±


    Duran quickly withdrew his blood sword to block the incoming greatsword.


    Clang-!


    The two blades collided noisily. Divinity and demonic energy clashed and exploded from the impact. Despite that, neither I nor Duran were blown away. We held our positions and glared into each other¡¯s eyes.


    The floor beneath our feet began buckling and breaking down.


    My physical ability, amplified by divinity, was also bolstered by the strength exerted by the hundreds of bones, and was enough to overwhelm Duke Duran¡¯s own monstrous physical prowess.


    The greatsword was gradually pressing the blood sword down.


    ¡°H-how can a human be this strong¡­?!¡±


    Duran¡¯s sword of blood shattered. Even his armour of blood broke apart, and his figure was flung helplessly away.


    He rolled around on the puddles of blood on the ground, splashing them all over the place. ¡°Aaaahk¡­¡±


    All the blood in his surroundings began gathering on Duke Duran again. It looked to me as if he was trying to recover by absorbing the blood from the orcs and Rehton.


    I summoned holy water from the tips of my feet. The blood containing demonic energy violently rippled before exploding everywhere about me.


    At the same time, the blood being sucked into Duran¡¯s body also exploded, leaving his body in tatters. ¡°You, you monster-!¡±


    ¡®Oiii, who you calling a monster here?!¡¯


    I quickly sprinted towards Duran as he forced himself up.


    ¡°I, I don¡¯t have enough blood¡­!¡± He muttered, urgently looking around his vicinity. Eventually his searching gaze landed beyond the broken-down wall of the audience chamber.


    The Bone Dragon and the Basilisk were still fighting outside, viciously tearing into each other. The poison and tainted blood from the white-scaled snake monster spewed out everywhere.


    ¡°¡­That¡¯s it!¡± Duran extended his hand.


    Blood was rapidly extracted from the Basilisk and gathered around him.


    He then confidently glared in my direction. ¡°A mere human dares to¡­!¡±


    I flinched in surprise and stopped getting closer. After urgently Summoning a whole bunch of bones, I stacked them in front of me to create a sturdy shield wall.


    CRUNCH-!


    A stake of blood drilled straight past the shield but I managed to retreat in time to avoid the attack by a whisker.


    ¡°From now on, I¡¯ll start fighting you seriously!¡± Duran proclaimed, as his flesh began writhing rather ominously.


    His body suddenly ballooned up as he finally shed all pretence of looking like a human being. A pair of bat-like wings broke through the skin on his back, while his human legs blew apart, only to be replaced by a pair of hooved legs similar to a horse¡¯s.


    Even his once human-looking face changed to something resembling a lion, while all the muscles on his torso took on this distinct crimson hue, as if they were super-heated stones.


    He had become a literal monster standing at least three metres tall. The way he looked kinda reminded me of a devil, too.


    A greatsword of blood materialised within the grip of the new devilish Duran. When he took a casual swing with the weapon, blood drops spread around like dancing flames, and spewed out powerful poisons.


    ¡°Oh hear ye, you stinking livestock! You should not have opposed me!¡± The devil-ified Duran slammed his blood greatsword on the floor hard.


    The holy water was corrupted instantly, and the ground was stained by the blood once more. It didn¡¯t stop there; clones bearing the same appearance as when Duran still resembled a human began rising up from the surface.


    There were a total of six of them, and they all wore the same armour of blood and held the blood swords as well. Their murderous glares locked onto me.


    ¡°Even if you are the Holy King, you are still no match for me, the noble one who was granted the Title of a Duke!¡± He pointed that blood greatsword in my direction as the light in his eyes sharpened considerably. ¡°Know your place, you damn livestock-!¡±


    I ignored him for now and glanced to my side. I could see King Rahamma standing back up, seemingly finished recovering. Kasim the Berserker and Nasus the Lich were also entering the audience chamber behind me, having disposed of the trio of feudal lords outside.


    ¡°Hmm. Our headcount is still on the low side, isn¡¯t it.¡± While saying that, I raised my left hand and snapped my fingers lightly.


    A portion of the blood staining the floor was shoved back once more by my holy water. The two got mixed up and undulated wildly.


    My monster legion began leaping out from the holy water¡¯s surface. From the skeleton centipede, to the skeleton cavalry featuring the lower half of horses and upper half of skeleton soldiers, followed up by the four-armed skeleton infantrymen¡­


    My bizarre monster army made entirely out of bones emerged into the open, making the audience chamber a rather cramped space. The monks still fighting intensely against the orcs stopped and withdrew in smart formation.


    The orcs and Rehton also retreated.


    And just like that, our two opposing camps started a glaring contest.


    ¡°M-master, all those monsters¡­!¡± When Rehton gasped that, the devil version of Duran shifted his gaze over to the former feudal lord of Aslan.


    A sneer suddenly formed on Duran¡¯s face. He reached out to grab Rehton¡¯s head, then used his blood greatsword to chop the latter¡¯s torso in half.


    He lifted the bleeding upper torso up high, gulping down all the falling blood with his gaping mouth. Yet another clone materialised as a result.


    Duran discarded Rehton¡¯s body and began loosening his muscles. His hooved feet stomped loudly on the floor, while he bent his back like a hunchback.


    The devil Duran roared out in anger, ¡°For the glory of the Vampire King-!¡±


    His roaring drove his clones into action. The orcs also roared out and charged forwards.


    I aimed with my cannon and issued my orders, too, ¡°Go and hunt down the filthy vampires!¡±


    Kasim, Nasus, Rahamma, the monks, and the monster army all rushed forward at the same time.


    Both sides charged with all their might, trained their weapons at their targets, and began swinging away.


    < 157. Aslan in Chaos -2 > Fin.


    (TL: Only one chaptet today, 16th of Feb¡­)

 Chapter 299 - 158. Yet Another King -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    The holy undead, the monks, orcs and Duran¡¯s clones began a messy melee.


    Divinity and demonic energy spread throughout the area. Blood splattered everywhere, along with chaos and destruction.


    The Aslan royal audience chamber had long lost its former splendour by this point.


    Thud, thud-!


    Duran, now looking like a real devil, stomping down hard with his hooved feet. His feet, moving one step at a time, broke into a crazed dance before long.


    I enhanced every single one of my physical abilities with divinity, and even activated both my Divine Aura and the Aztal Rune. Next up, I fused both Amon¡¯s Staff and the Grimoire with the bone frame supporting the cannon.


    Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion, with the exception of Duran and I. We moved at much faster speed, as if we existed in a different time flow.


    Duran swept his greatsword back before swinging it forward powerfully. The powerful strike sent out a tidal wave of flame-like blood containing deadly poison as well as choking heat.


    I took aim at the incoming flame wave of blood with my cannon before firing a shot. The blood flame exploded spectacularly.


    When I breathed in, I sensed demonic energy seeping into my lungs.


    ¡°Ku-oooooooh-!¡±


    This vampire, he even stopped sounding like a person, and began making some weird-ass monster noise.


    Duran rushed at me and took another swing with that blood greatsword.


    I met him mid-way with my own greatsword, located below the cannon¡¯s muzzle.


    The vampire¡¯s blade made out of blood clashed against my steel blade. Divinity and demonic energy collided and scattered in every direction.


    For sure, this bastard had become a lot stronger after he shed his human facade for good. I heard my shoulder bones creak, as if they were about to pop out of their intended positions.


    ¡®Man, I should¡¯ve learned that deflecting skill that Charlotte used so freely back then¡­¡¯


    The twelve muskets on my back aimed at the vampire bastard and fired indiscriminately into his body. Holy bullets pierced straight through him, causing Duran to stumble back before falling to one knee.


    But just by sucking in a deep breath, all the wounds on his body regenerated. The blood being shed all over our surroundings from the dead orcs was being absorbed into him. At the same time, one of his clones suddenly broke down and was sucked back into him, as well.


    Duran fully recovered immediately after that.


    I muttered, ¡°Aha, so that¡¯s how it is. The number of your clones represent how many lives you have left.¡±


    Duran flinched in surprise and tried to get up, but I was a beat faster than him, and I managed to stab my greatsword, then the muzzle of the cannon, into his abdomen.


    As the blade ripped straight into his flesh, divinity quickly coalesced within the cannon. I planted my feet covered in the bone boots firmly. The floor cracked apart beneath me as I used brute force to shove Duran¡¯s huge body back.


    ¡°Ku-oooooh! You monster bastard!¡±


    ¡°Oh hey, so you can still speak human, after all.¡±


    Right after I quipped, I fired the holy shell from the cannon. A portion of Duran¡¯s torso was blown apart.


    ¡°Ku-uuuuuuh-!¡± The vampire swung his greatsword around and tried to shake me loose. I quickly distanced myself from him.


    Duran vomited out a ton of blood. ¡°Ku-aaaah-!¡±


    Suddenly, his blood rose up like water from a fountain. The blood droplets floated up in the air, only for them to descend rapidly like bullets.


    ¡°Evade-!¡± I froze up for a millisecond before crying out loudly.


    A portion of my bone monster army collapsed and was rebuilt again in a flash. A huge umbrella-like shield was created in an instant to protect the monks.


    As for me, I raised the cannon above my head to block the blood bullets.


    In the meantime, another one of Duran¡¯s clones disappeared, only for the vampire¡¯s body to completely recover.


    ¡°I, I still need more blood,¡± Duran muttered, urgently scanning his vicinity.


    He probably was thirsting after some more Basilisk blood right about now. The only reason why he could win against the undead King Rahamma was due to the help provided by all the blood.


    I pressed my hand into the holy water on the floor and swirled it around. The water splashed and scattered in a large arc, landing on the hole in the wall, the ceiling, and the other parts of the floor.


    Bones sprouted from the holy water, completely covering up the hole in the wall.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    Duran hurriedly swung his blood greatsword around to break the wall down, but it was all a waste of time. Which made some sense, because¡­


    ¡°Looks like Tina has reached the World Tree.¡± I muttered, causing Duran¡¯s jaw to drop.


    A large number of plant roots had been steadily encroaching into the royal audience chamber. The vegetation absorbed and purified all the blood coming in contact with them.


    My divinity and the Mana from the World Tree merged, making the roots even tougher and stronger. Duran¡¯s clones stumbled back in an ungainly manner, while the orcs were struck by the roots and got blown apart, dying in droves.


    When the roots absorbed my holy water, they become even larger than before. A portion of the roots bunched up and became Woodmen, then the newly-summoned creatures pounced on Duran¡¯s clones.


    One by one, the clones were killed off.


    Witnessing this scene, Duran gasped out in a trembling voice, ¡°No, not yet!¡±


    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s already over for you.¡± As I said that, I walked up to Duran.


    He suddenly began swinging that blood greatsword in a frenzy, as if his instinctive fear had taken over him.


    I either dodged or deflected his sword swings before slamming my cannon into his torso, then left numerous slashes all over his flesh with my own greatsword attached below the cannon¡¯s muzzle.


    His blood splattered everywhere. A portion of his blood coalesced and tried to return to him, only for the various plant roots spreading out to all corners of the palace to absorb it and get rid of it for good.


    ¡°That damn Dark Elf-!!!¡± Duran cursed loudly.


    He gripped the blood greatsword with both hands, then began spinning his entire body around. I used my cannon to block his attack. However, the bone frame supporting it was breaking apart from the pressure. Cracks also developed on the cannon¡¯s muzzle.


    But I amplified my divinity even further through Amon¡¯s Staff, the Grimoire, and the Aztal Rune, then instantly repaired all the damaged parts.


    This repair ability was powerful enough to restore the headquarters of the Church of Caiolium, so this much was nothing at all.


    Duran could only shudder at this sight. ¡°H-how can such a restorative ability belong to a¡­?!¡±


    In a way, this power to restore and repair was far more powerful than that which the vampires possessed. Even if demonic energy tried to curtail this power, the ¡®words¡¯ of the gods should still come across as an absurdly horrifying power from the perspective of the vampires.


    ¡°I can sense it now,¡± I said, glaring at Duke Duran before glancing around at the vampire¡¯s clones.


    Every time I ¡®killed¡¯ this punk, one clone disappeared, and that in turn made it easier for Rahamma, Kasim, and Nasus to defeat the remaining clones.


    ¡°You¡¯re losing your strength.¡± I grinned from under the mountain goat¡¯s skull.


    That¡¯s right, this punk was losing his power gradually.


    ¡°How dare a mere livestock¡­!¡±


    This idiot vampire was still blinded by his ego. He held the rank of a Duke, though, so I should commend him for his unyielding pride, at least.


    Too bad for him, it was nothing more than putting on some hot air at this point.


    Duran glared murderously at me. ¡°I shall offer you up to His Majesty, the Vampire King!¡±


    He suddenly spread his wings wide, then charged towards me.


    I sensed demonic energy violently raging within his heart. At the same time, his whole body began burning with a bluish flame.


    Wasn¡¯t that the sign of a vampire about to combust to ashes? Huh, was he trying to blow himself up along with me?


    ¡®Sorry, but that¡¯s not gonna happen.¡¯


    Because I knew something he didn¡¯t. I could sense a presence beyond the wall currently blocked off by my bones and the plant roots.


    ¡°You will never reach me, vampire.¡±


    That wall suddenly came down, hard. A dragon¡¯s bony skull broke through and opened its maw wide.


    Duran looked behind himself and discovered a huge open maw unstoppably tearing into the audience chamber¡¯s interior. He screamed the moment he spotted the sharp fangs of the dragon closing in.


    His action of pouncing at me suddenly morphed into him trying to escape in my direction, instead.


    Unfortunately for him, it was too late by then. The dragon¡¯s jaws opened even wider, and chomped down on Duran¡¯s fleeing figure.


    ¡°Kuu-aaaaaahk!¡± He screamed as the dragon¡¯s fangs dug into him. His whole body began burning even more. ¡°Release me! No, this can¡¯t¡­ It cannot be-!¡±


    The sharp fangs bit down viciously, and tore Duran¡¯s body in half. His upper torso tumbled down to the ground, while the rest of his lower half was extinguished in blue flames.


    ¡°I, I¡¯m dying¡­ But it, it cannot be¡­!¡± Duran gasped out and tried to prop himself up on the floor.


    His devilish appearance disappeared, to be replaced by his prior human-like facade.


    He crawled away as tears of blood trickled down from his eyes. I reached down and grabbed his head, then dragged his sorry ass towards the hole in the wall.


    I held him up by the hole and let him enjoy the view of the outside.


    The morning sun was already rising in the distance. The bright amber glow of the sun was gradually illuminating the world.


    We were greeted by the sights of the Basilisk¡¯s corpse on the ground, ripped apart by the Bone Dragon; the huge World Tree and its verdant leaves dancing in the winds; the vast sprawling city beyond it; and finally, the Theocratic Empire¡¯s army gleaming in white, standing atop the outer walls of the city.


    Countless citizens and Necromancers, plus other soldiers from the Theocratic Empire, were visible in the vicinity of the royal palace, and they were all staring at us.


    ¡°Hey, do you see it, Duran?¡±


    The sunlight touched Duran¡¯s body. He began screeching even louder.


    ¡°This is the Theocratic Empire.¡±


    Even a weak blood-creation of the vampires could withstand the sunlight, yet Duran could not. His face, his whole body, began melting down. His eyes rolled over to stare at me, filled with fear.


    Yup, that¡¯s the right kind of look for a vampire.


    I took off Amon¡¯s Skull, which prompted the bone armour, the greatsword, and the cannon to disappear from my body.


    I settled down on the debris of the wrecked wall. ¡°And this is the final moment of a moron who invaded my territory.¡± I summoned a musket and pointed its muzzle at the vampire¡¯s melting head. ¡°I should thank you for that. Thanks to you, the Theocratic Empire just gained new territory.¡±


    Duran¡¯s brows shot up high.


    I simply smirked back at him. ¡°And with this, the empire¡¯s strength will become even greater. Soon, I shall send the Vampire King on his way, as well. Patiently wait for him in hell, okay?¡±


    ¡°Holy King, you devi¡­!¡±


    I pulled the trigger.


    His head exploded and disappeared completely.


    ¡°You bastards can¡¯t win against us,¡± I muttered coldly.


    Duran¡¯s headless torso tumbled down and quickly dissipated into ashes, not leaving behind even a single bit of flesh.


    I shifted my gaze back to my front, and stared at the capital of Aslan bathed in the morning sun¡¯s rays.


    The air felt fresh and pleasant, while the sunlight on my skin was warm and gentle. For sure, a land with a World Tree had something different about it.


    Even if that was the case¡­


    ¡°¡­What am I supposed to do after taking over this place, though?¡±


    Just thinking about what needed to be done in order to properly manage this place made me groan deeply under my breath.

 Chapter 300 - 158. Yet Another King -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Five days passed by after we dealt with Duran and his gang.


    Under Tina¡¯s command, the Necromancers quickly took action. They absorbed life force from various livestock, not human but actual animals, and summoned skeletons to immediately start working on reconstructing the royal palace as quickly and efficiently as possible.


    ¡°These men dared to rebel against our Queen Tina!¡±


    The survivors among the rebelling feudal lords were dragged out into the city¡¯s main plaza, before being placed on the guillotine.


    ¡°W-wait! We were just¡­!¡±


    ¡°We were only listening to Rehton¡¯s¡­!¡±


    ¡°Execute them!¡±


    The guillotine¡¯s blade mercilessly came down and chopped their heads off. The citizens angrily kicked the severed heads around or spat at the corpses.


    As for me, I was sitting on a hastily-constructed throne located in the wrecked audience chamber of the palace. Its wall still had a gaping hole, and a rather pleasant breeze was blowing inside.


    2


    I was receiving the reports on the current situation of Aslan while enjoying the fresh air. ¡°Hmm. The punishment of Queen Tina, is it¡­¡±


    Sure, the coup d¡¯etat was initiated by Rehton and the feudal lords, but Tina was ¡®at fault¡¯ for failing to prevent it in the first place. And it was now my job to decide what her punishment would be.


    Her getting stripped of her throne was obvious, but she still needed to be further punished somehow. Her guilt in this case was rather large, but she was Aslan royalty, so that should count favourably for her.


    ¡°What should I do?¡±


    While I was stuck in the dilemma trying to decide on Tina¡¯s punishment, I got a peek into Rahamma¡¯s vision being shared with me. I had summoned him earlier, and he was currently sitting on one of the World Tree¡¯s roots along with Tina.


    He was solemnly maintaining his silence, although Tina, in his embrace, was busy weaving some flowers together to create a wreath to decorate his skull.


    Plenty of awkward air was wafting around between the father and daughter, but Tina seemed to be genuinely happy, so I decided to let them be together for a little while longer.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m tired.¡±


    Summoning King Rahamma for even a short period of time exhausted a lot of my divinity. I had to shake my head hard at the dizziness creeping up on me.


    I then summoned a certain item from the item window, a golden bangle. This was the treasured tool of the very first Holy Emperor, Ordin Olfolse.


    The cracked parts had been completely repaired by now. I wondered if it was possible for me to use it right away.


    ¡°I should ask Hans about it later.¡±


    I might end up breaking it again if I carelessly used it in the wrong manner.


    While I was thinking about that, the doorway to the royal audience chamber was urgently pushed open, and Charlotte, her face quite pale, ran up to me. ¡°Your Majesty-!¡±


    I was startled by her voice, and quickly looked back at her. It was so rare to see her get so flustered.


    Could it be that she had learned something new about the army of blood that was supposed to be marching towards the Aslan capital?


    If so, that would certainly complicate the matters a great deal.


    It was already taxing enough to get a handle on this place¡¯s situation after dealing with Duke Duran¡¯s matters. But now, we also had to defend against the army of blood, too?


    I stood up from the throne. ¡°Is it the army of blood?¡±


    Charlotte nodded and started to reply, but she still seemed to be in a fluster, because she ended up stuttering a little, ¡°T-those bastards have reached our capital, Your Majesty.¡±


    I massaged my temples.


    ¡®These damn vampire bastards, they just don¡¯t want to give me some time to rest, now do they?¡¯


    They were getting their butts whooped every single time, so why were they still throwing tantrums like this?


    Now I needed to get ready to mobilise the twenty thousand troops on standby. But what Charlotte said next made me freeze up on the spot.


    She stared at me with trembling eyes and reported, ¡°¡­They have attacked Laurensis, the capital of our Theocratic Empire, Your Majesty!¡±


    I had no choice but to freeze up at that report.


    **


    Inside the audience chamber of the Holy Emperor¡­


    Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse had put on a set of radiant golden armour.


    ¡°Your Majesty. You look truly dependable, sire!¡±


    1


    Oscal Baldur the Sword King, kitted out in a similar set of golden armour, bowed deeply as he addressed his emperor.


    There was a look of satisfaction written all over Oscal¡¯s face.


    He had never imagined in his wildest dreams that one day he¡¯d get to witness the Holy Emperor put on his golden suit of armour once more.


    Kelt glanced at Oscal for a bit before guffawing, ¡°Is that so? It certainly has been a while since I last put this on for something serious.¡±


    Unlike these two nonchalant old men, Raphael, standing next to them, was groaning under his breath. ¡°¡­Your Majesty, may I remind you that our enemies are at our doorstep?¡±


    ¡°I know that already. You have told me that dozens of times by now, Raphael. However, I¡¯m still curious. How did these bastards get this far?¡± Kelt shifted his puzzled gaze over to Raphael.


    ¡°A demonic beast from Hell dug a passageway underground, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Oh-hoh! A demonic beast from Hell, is it? That sounds rather interesting. But they didn¡¯t dig into the capital itself?¡±


    Raphael bowed his head. ¡°¡­I assume they were wary of being found out by Your Majesty¡¯s senses. Just one mistake would have resulted in them being buried alive, after all.¡±


    ¡°Mm, you¡¯re right about that. But they sure sucker-punched me real good on this one. To think that the commotion down in Aslan was nothing but bait. The vampire who planned this whole thing out, that bastard will be a rather cumbersome opponent, indeed.¡±


    After listening to Cardinal Raphael¡¯s report, Kelt began loosening his neck, then picked up his trusty warhammer resting against his throne. Its huge hammer head left the hilt looking comparatively puny.


    ¡°However, that bastard is also rather cocky, isn¡¯t he? Not targeting my grandson but me, instead.¡±


    Kelt slung his massive warhammer over his shoulder easily.


    He was none other than Kelt Olfolse, the strongest Holy Emperor in history, and the founder of the Order of the Golden Cross. Such a man was now taking a step forward towards his next great deed.


    ¡°This is my first time stepping onto a battlefield after the war in Aslan. But I didn¡¯t even need to put on my armour back then,¡± the Holy Emperor muttered to himself, as he started walking down the crimson carpet.


    ¡ª


    His group left the audience chamber and walked down the Imperial Palace¡¯s corridors. They arrived on the highest balcony located on the palace¡¯s top floor.


    Kelt rested his hand on the railing and stared in some amazement at the skies above a valley far, far beyond the outer walls of the capital of Laurensis. ¡°Hmm. The morning sun, it¡­ has vanished.¡±


    Crimson fog resembling storm clouds had spread all over the skies above. Kelt shifted his gaze and stared at the huge hole in the mountain range on the opposite side. That¡¯s where the demonic beast of Hell was standing tall.


    This monstrosity was at least fifteen metres high. Three angry-looking canine heads that resembled wolves were attached to the hulking body, seemingly burning in undying flames. Thick and viscous saliva dripped from those heads like molten lava.


    It was Hell¡¯s guardian, Cerberus!


    Meanwhile, the royal guardian knights that answered only to the Vampire King, along with other vampire nobles and the lycans they had reared all strode out from the gaping chasm on the ground. It didn¡¯t stop there, as an army with around fifty thousand low to mid-tier undead crawled out from the hole after them, too.


    The undead continued to rise from the gap as if a gateway to Hell itself had opened up underground.


    Kelt stared at this spectacle with an indifferent face, then asked, ¡°What are the Crown Imperial Prince and Luan doing?¡±


    ¡°They have taken over command of the outer walls, Your Imperial Majesty. Also, the other territories have heard the news and are urgently mobilising their troops as well.¡±


    ¡°I see. Although my son is an idiot, he¡¯s still good at fighting, so he should do a good job even if we let him be. Also, my grandson should be on his way now, after receiving this news.¡±


    Holy Emperor Kelt shifted his gaze over to an individual standing right in front of Cerberus.


    This figure had a ragged cloak flapping around his shoulders, while the body underneath was wrapped tightly in bandages. A dense crimson fog was circling around in his vicinity.


    His muscular body was at least three metres tall. His lengthy crimson hair was whipping in the winds, and he was wielding a lengthy staff that almost matched his height.


    It was the king of all vampires, King Vlandmir!


    A trickle of cold sweat fell down Raphael¡¯s face. Even though the vampire was doing nothing but simply standing there, the pressure emitted by his presence alone travelled such a vast distance to harshly prick at Raphael¡¯s skin.


    ¡®That bastard is the Vampire King that His Highness the Crown Imperial Prince mentioned¡­¡¯


    The existence referred to as the strongest Vampire King in history, ever¡­


    1


    Kelt stared at the Vampire King in the distance and was somewhat surprised. ¡°Well, now¡­ that¡¯s quite unpleasant, isn¡¯t it?¡± He then shook his head. ¡°Raphael, it seems that I lack the qualification to be the Holy Emperor.¡±


    Raphael glanced back at Emperor Kelt.


    ¡°I should be more concerned with the safety of my subjects, yet¡­¡± Kelt spun the warhammer in the air before pointing at the Vampire King. ¡°¡­Yet, all I feel right now is sheer joy.¡±


    2


    Sparks suddenly jumped off from his body as his nearly-unstoppable power tried to erupt out of him.


    A cruel smile slowly spread across Kelt¡¯s face next. ¡°After all, I suddenly find myself with an opportunity to collect the skull of a Vampire King before I die of old age!¡±


    3


    < 158. Yet Another King -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 301 - 159. Yet Another King -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The vampires were tense.


    Their excellent eyes could see the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, standing on the Imperial Palace¡¯s highest balcony in the far distance.


    That was the Holy Emperor, one of the most fearsome beings in their thousands of years of history, ruthlessly suppressing and hunting down vampires.


    Not only that, the man was also referred to as the strongest monster ever in the long line of the Holy Emperors.


    Because of that man, their kin were hunted down to have their heads chopped off, and skewered by stakes.


    Such an absolute being didn¡¯t even get flustered by their invasion, but was grinning away madly instead.


    The vampires raring to go only a second ago suddenly all went pale.


    Marquis Kirum took a close look at Kelt in the distance before lowering his head. ¡°As expected¡­ it¡¯s still unrealistic, sire. Even if the Holy King isn¡¯t here, Holy Emperor Kelt is still going strong.¡±


    He was addressing his liege, the Vampire King.


    Kirum was responsible for planning this event, but only because the Vampire King had expressed his unwillingness to delay things any longer.


    This matter had escalated to the point where the Vampire King himself chose to get involved, so there had to be a matching price to pay.


    Duke Duran was that sacrifice.


    The Vampire King, covered in the torn rags and bandages tightly wrapped around his body, wordlessly raised his spear, then slit his wrist lightly, just enough to draw some blood.


    He then held his bleeding arm towards Marquis Kirum. ¡°I shall now bestow on you the peerage of a Duke, Kirum. Now that we no longer have Duran with us, we need you to fill the void in the ranks of the Dukes.¡±


    ¡°Such an honour! B-but Your Majesty, Holy Emperor Kelt is right before us, so for you to split off a portion of your power like this¡­¡±


    ¡°A small ¡®power¡¯ will serve no purpose in front of a man like that,¡± the Vampire King replied.


    Kirum bowed his head with an enraptured expression, then cupped his hands to catch the falling blood to drink.


    The Vampire King stared at his own spear. Its color grew even redder after coming in contact with his blood. ¡°Grand Duke Ivaldi, it seems that the time to test your creation, this spear, has finally come.¡±


    He slowly shifted his attention to the side, and stared at a man filled with rippling crimson muscles all over his two metre-tall frame.


    His head was covered in an unkempt beard and hair, while a pair of horns protruded out from his crown. In his hands were a pair of tongs and a hammer used by a blacksmith.


    Grand Duke Ivaldi held his head high despite being in the presence of the Vampire King. ¡°That spear has been allowed to drink the blood of one hundred sacrifices annually. And that tempering process has lasted for the past five hundred years. As such, I can proudly say that its performance will not fall behind the treasured tools of the Imperial Family.¡±


    ¡°Excellent.¡± The Vampire King strode forward.


    ¡°What are you all doing, not getting ready to attack?!¡±


    ¡°Where is your pride?! We are the apex predators, so do not be cowed by some measly livestock!¡±


    Two Duke-class vampires were roaring out now. The royal knights and the vampire nobles heeded their orders and stood in orderly files.


    Once the organising of the troops was completed, the two Duke-class vampires bowed their heads deeply in the Vampire King¡¯s direction.


    He scanned his fellow vampires, over five hundred Progenitors, before asking a question, ¡°If we fail at this task, how much more time will we need to waste again, Kirum?¡±


    Kirum bowed deeply as well and replied, ¡°Although it¡¯ll depend heavily on the unfolding situation, if we work under the assumption that both of our Dukes survive, then around four hundred years, Your Majesty.¡±


    The Vampire King turned his head and stared at Holy Emperor Kelt in the distance. Their glares collided mid-way.


    ¡°We no longer have any more room to retreat. I shall not sit back and watch my brethren get slaughtered any further.¡± He pointed with his spear. ¡°We shall turn this place into our territory; turn every human found inside into our livestock, and we shall all ascend to become the new gods!¡±


    At the loud roars of the Vampire King, all the other vampires cheered raucously, while the other undead screeched out loudly.


    ¡°I shall lead from the front. Prey on the blood of the livestock, rip the limbs off the bastards, and turn them into undead!¡± the Vampire King roared out again and jumped up, landing lightly on top of one of Cerberus¡¯s heads. ¡°And with that, we shall leave behind a legendary feat that will be remembered for generations to come!¡±


    He valiantly waved his spear. ¡°Let¡¯s go! For the glory of the Blood Kingdom-!¡±


    ¡°Yes, for our Vampire King-!¡± the vampires roared loudly in return, then began dashing forward.


    Cerberus also broke into a frenzied sprint; the Vampire King riding on the demonic beast stared ahead with his sharply gleaming eyes. Around the same time, blood drops started falling from the crimson-hued storm clouds blanketing the skies above.


    ¡°Kill them all-!¡±


    ¡°Hunt down all the livestock-!¡±


    Over fifty thousand undead creatures charged towards Laurensis, the capital of the Theocratic Empire.


    **


    Drip¡­ drip¡­


    The Paladins standing tall and in silence on top of the city¡¯s outer walls raised their heads to look up.


    The crimson storm clouds were blocking out the rays of the sun. A rain of blood was dripping down from them. However, it wasn¡¯t just any rain, but one that contained demonic energy. There was also a deadly toxin mixed in into each drop.


    Humans would suffer torment simply by breathing in, and if there were corpses around, they would turn into undead without exception, not to mention how the rain would greatly enhance the strength of the vampires.


    The citizens staying within the city trembled in fear as the rain of blood fell. They had all heard the news by now; that an army made up of horrifying evil creatures was setting up a camp outside the city walls, and that an army full of creatures that drank blood and consumed human flesh had come to invade their city.


    The citizens hid themselves in their homes at this nightmarish reality. They shut the windows tightly and embraced their families in a huddle while shivering in fear.


    But a loud call rang clearly within their hearing.


    ¡°His Majesty the Holy Emperor, hooray-!¡±


    The sounds of metallic armour clanging reverberated throughout the city. Although faint, the ground seemed to rumble as well.


    The citizens cowering along with their families heard the sounds and hesitantly raised their heads.


    ¡°Oh, hear ye! Subjects of the empire, do not be afraid-!¡±


    Rays of golden light could be seen beyond the shut windows of the unlit rooms.


    The citizens worked up their courage and reached out with their trembling hands to open the window panes. Right at that moment, their eyes caught the sight of a procession radiating a brilliant golden hue.


    A shining legion clad in golden armour was marching forward. Their armour was imposing and grand, while all sorts of weapons were gripped in their hands.


    Every step they took shook the ground, while the rain of blood simply evaporated before it could even touch them.


    A trio of old men were leading them forth.


    Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse was accompanied by Cardinal Raphael Astoria and Oscal Baldur the Sword King. The Order of the Golden Cross followed behind them.


    ¡°His Majesty the Holy Emperor, hooray-!¡±


    The closer they got to the outer wall, the louder and more powerful the calls grew, until they echoed throughout the area.


    Thousands of devoted monks had gathered in the city¡¯s main plaza, and went down on their knees. They brought their hands together and began praying ardently to Goddess Gaia¡¯s statue.


    Holy Emperor Kelt roared out, ¡°Be courageous, oh my people!¡± His gentle yet powerful Spirit Speech rang deeply within the ears of his subjects. ¡°We shall never be defeated by the likes of these evil creatures leading false lives!¡±


    The Holy King¡¯s procession finally arrived before the goddess statue.


    ¡°We are the victors. The goddess¡¯s care will protect us all!¡± He roared out once more, prompting the prayers of the monks to intensify even further.


    Raphael also opened his mouth, and began singing a sacred hymn.


    Sparks began dancing over Kelt¡¯s warhammer. He held it up high in the air. ¡°Oh my subjects and you vampires! Behold!¡±


    He slammed the hammer down on the altar placed before the goddess statue with all his strength. ¡°This is the power of the Imperial Family-!¡±


    The altar crumbled from the warhammer¡¯s strike.


    As if to match that exact timing, a streak of lightning bolt broke through the crimson storm clouds.


    The azure hue of the sky gradually spread open amid all those crimson clouds above them. The crimson clouds began dissipating, starting from the empire¡¯s capital as the centre.


    As for the power of lightning leaking out from the warhammer and the lightning bolt falling from the heavens, they enveloped the goddess statue.


    The jaws of all those citizens who had opened their windows to take a look fell to the floor.


    Their eyes grew wider in shock, and their whole bodies were overcome with convulsion.


    ¡°G-G-Goddess¡­ Gaia?!¡±


    The goddess statue at least twenty metres tall began moving. It secured its armour, and even put on its helm. The statue, a shield slung on its back and a sword resting on its side, moved forward as if it was a living entity.


    The goddess statue strode forth over the ground, placing its hand on the hilt of its sword, then pulled it out. The friction of the blade being pulled out sent forth sparks to dance in the air.


    ¡°Our goddess has descended among us-!¡± the monks called out loudly.


    The statue lowered its empty hand, and Kelt stepped onto it.


    The gigantic goddess statue headed towards the city¡¯s outer wall. The citizens hiding in their homes looked on their Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse and cheered fervently.


    They were no longer afraid. Their deepening faith prompted them to offer even more ardent prayers, instead.


    ¡°Pray with all of your hearts. All of your prayers will soon become our strength-!¡±


    The soldiers on standby above the outer walls had also prepared their weapons. They slammed their chosen weapons down on the ground, and the resulting noise reverberated throughout the sky, rousing their spirit for battle.


    ¡°Alright, then! Let¡¯s have a showdown, oh you foolish vampires-!¡± Kelt guffawed heartily, while the Paladins roared out at the top of their lungs.

 Chapter 302 - 159. Yet Another King -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°His Majesty the Holy Emperor has arrived-!¡±


    ¡°Roar and cheer forth! We must not let the screeches of the undead reach the ears of the citizens!¡±


    Both the Crown Imperial Prince, White Olfolse, and the First Imperial Prince Luan Olfolse, shouted out at their men.


    The royal guards in charge of defending the Imperial Palace now stood in orderly rank and file up on the outer walls. They nocked arrows and bolts coated in holy water.


    Ballista bolts with gleaming tips made of silver took aim at their targets.


    ¡°Lift them up! Hurry!¡±


    Several symbols of the Theocratic Empire, emitting gentle rays of light that resembled the Chinese character for ¡®wood¡¯, were installed in various spots along the outer walls.


    Priests were praying, while the Magicians were chanting their spells.


    Crown Imperial Prince White shifted his gaze away from them and to his front, outside the wall.


    He could see fifty thousand undead, spread out across a wide area and rushing towards the city, with many vampires mixed in among them.


    White loudly roared out, ¡°Fire!¡±


    The ballista bolts of silver, arrows coated in holy water, and various magic spells were launched indiscriminately.


    The approaching undead were instantly extinguished without a trace.


    Lengthy trails of fire guided by the magic spells landed on the ground and exploded, yet two Progenitors leapt out from the explosions unscathed. ¡°We shall open up a path!¡±


    These two Duke-class vampires quickly discarded their human facades. One of them was called Duke Agares, who boasted a lower half resembling a crocodile, while his upper torso looked like an old man. He slammed his palm down on the ground.


    The earth below rumbled and began splitting apart.


    Cracks ran up on the sturdy outer wall and the soldiers standing on top staggered unsteadily.


    ¡°Ku-ooooooh!¡± the other Duke howled out. This creature possessed the gigantic head of a lion, yet there was no torso. Five beastly limbs sprouted out from the head like a windmill. This vampire¡¯s name was Duke Buer.


    He rolled along on the ground, and everywhere he rolled past was gouged out and caught on fire.


    His body crashed straight into the sturdy wall, causing it to rock even more, yet the structure didn¡¯t come down.


    The two Dukes became flustered. ¡°How can this be? Why didn¡¯t it break down?!¡±


    To think that the outer walls surrounding the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital were this sturdy!


    They stared at the part of the outer wall with cracks running on it. They then noticed runic letters containing silver and Eltera powder engraved in the cracks.


    ¡°¡­Defensive runes?¡±


    ¡°Sheer insanity! Does this mean they cast this sort of magic on the entirety of the outer walls?!¡±


    It was at that moment that the Vampire King riding on the Cerberus entered the fray.


    The Paladins up on the outer walls cried out, ¡°Target that creature!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Vampire King!¡±


    The ballista bolts and arrows descended on the three-headed hellhound, but before they could reach their target, the Vampire King held his spear up. Droplets of blood rapidly formed on the weapon¡¯s surface.


    He swung the spear, sending out a wave of spear light that utterly obliterated the platform on top of the outer wall.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    The Paladins flinched nastily and stared at their comrades who had been blown apart to death.


    -Ku-aaaaaahk!- The dead knights turned into ghouls and began pouncing on their former comrades immediately.


    ¡°We will break through!¡± the Vampire King commanded while tugging at the reins of the Cerberus.


    The three-headed monster slammed its entire body against the cracked outer wall. The structure rocked before collapsing in a heap.


    But right at that moment, a huge stone sword flew out from beyond the collapsed portion of the wall. The edge of the blade brushed past one of the cheeks of the Cerberus.


    The Vampire King raised his head, and the other vampires rushing towards the outer walls all flinched and stopped in their tracks. They imitated their king and also raised their heads to look up.


    ¡°¡­But, we never heard about something like that existing before?!¡±


    They could see that, beyond the collapsed outer wall, there was now a gigantic goddess statue at least twenty metres tall. In its right hand was a stone sword, while its left was carrying Kelt Olfolse, who himself was wielding a large warhammer.


    The eyes of the Vampire King under the bandages grew wider. ¡°Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse.¡±


    ¡°Vampire King Vlandmir.¡±


    These two absolute beings glared at each other as grins spread on their lips.


    Their madness-filled glares locked on each other as their weapons took aim. The biggest hindrances to each of their goals were now standing right before their eyes.


    ¡°To think that I¡¯d get the chance to cut off the head of the Holy Emperor so soon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tear your skull off and show it to my grandkids later!¡±


    Cerberus charged forward. The goddess statue also pounced towards its target, while Kelt leapt from the statue¡¯s hand and took a mighty swing with his warhammer.


    The Vampire King deftly wielded his spear to deflect the incoming hammer.


    Meanwhile, the goddess statue took a step back, pulled out the shield mounted on its back, and slammed it against Cerberus¡¯s head with incredible force. The head in the middle groaned in pain, while the other two on the left and right tried to bite the statue.


    Every time the huge monster and the goddess statue did something, their surroundings were destroyed.


    ¡°We seem to have run into a rather troublesome existence.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t even mention it. It feels like there are just no peaceful days in this place.¡±


    Oscal the Sword King and Cardinal Raphael quipped to each other while glaring at the crumbled section of the outer wall. A ¡®blacksmith¡¯ with a hulking physique, a vampire ranked as a Grand Duke, was walking into the city through the open gap.


    This creature was easily over two metres tall, and its whole body was crimson in color. A pair of horns adorned its head. Its right hand held a hammer one might see in a smithy, and in its left was a pair of tongs.


    Although his weapons seemed a bit crude, the demonic energy leaking out from this creature was completely on another level compared to every other vampire Oscal or Raphael had fought against before.


    ¡°And who you two might be?¡± Grand Duke Ivaldi glared at the duo of the Sword King and the Cardinal.


    ¡°I¡¯m Oscal Baldur.¡±


    ¡°Raphael Astoria.¡±


    Ivaldi was taken aback by the replies of the two humans before him, but that state lasted only for a few seconds as a creepy grin formed on the vampire¡¯s lips. ¡°I wonder. What kind of a masterpiece will I get to create if I use the blood of you two?¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    At the same time¡­


    Crown Imperial Prince White and First Imperial Prince Luan were standing on top of the outer wall, frowning deeply. But that was because a pair of monsters, Duke-class no less, were blocking their path.


    ¡°Luan, you think you can deal with one?¡± White asked his son.


    Luan could only tut unhappily. ¡°I¡¯m not a monster like my younger brother, father. Maybe if I trained diligently for the next ten years or so, then yes, it might be possible. But it¡¯s a bit of a stretch right now.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! I guess you¡¯re right. In that case, I¡¯ll leave command of the troops to you.¡±


    Luan worriedly looked at his father. ¡°Can you emerge victorious?¡±


    ¡°Obviously¡­ not. But just who am I? I¡¯m one of the best at fleeing, don¡¯t you remember? If it gets too much, I¡¯ll escape, so don¡¯t you worry, son.¡±


    ¡°¡­I shall pray for your good fortune.¡±


    ¡°You too, Luan.¡±


    Luan stepped back, while White confronted the two Duke-class vampires with his sword drawn.


    Fifteen thousand troops currently stationed in Laurensis versus fifty thousand members of Army of Blood¡­


    The war between the two forces finally got underway.


    **


    Meanwhile, somewhere in the basement of the Imperial Palace¡­


    Duke Kirum used the confusion of the war and infiltrated the Imperial Palace under the guise of a regular human being.


    He had another task to carry out at the moment.


    ¡®The majority of the imperial forces are focused on the battle outside. It¡¯s now or never, in other words!¡¯ While thinking that, Kirum swallowed drily out of sheer nervousness.


    His heart was pounding madly away, dreading the idea of the Imperial Family members suddenly sneak attacking him out of nowhere.


    ¡®I will not be able to sneak in here unless it¡¯s now!¡¯


    The corpses of members of the Order of the Golden Cross, charged with the security of the palace, were strewn about in front of the vampire. However, there was still a survivor, leaning against a wall, and his eyes were dull and glazed.


    Kirum grabbed the throat of this member of the Golden Cross and demanded, ¡°I¡¯ll ask you again politely. Where is he?!¡±


    ¡°¡­Ah, ah, ah¡­¡± The Golden Cross Paladin¡¯s body convulsed. Just as his lips parted and some words threatened to leak out, ¡°¡­For the glory of His Majesty¡­¡±


    He tried to bite his tongue, but Kirum quickly blocked the attempt with his finger.


    The vampire¡¯s expression contorted in displeasure. To think that this human tried to commit suicide, instead!


    Things could not be delayed any longer. Kirum discarded his human facade and revealed his lengthy arms and even longer legs.


    He reverted back to looking like a bizarre clown with an emaciated body. He leaned in closer and whispered into the ear of the Golden Cross Paladin like some kind of a devil, ¡°I asked you, where is he! Answer me, livestock!¡±


    He now spoke in Spirit Speech.


    Kirum possessed the ability to seduce humans and brainwash them into doing his bidding. Even then, this Golden Cross Paladin didn¡¯t want to tell him what he wanted to hear.


    ¡®What a bunch of stubborn bastards!¡¯


    Just how deep their devotion and loyalty ran, anyway?!


    Kirum¡¯s expression displayed how fed up he was right now, but he still shouted at the Paladin nevertheless, ¡°Out with it! Where is¡­!¡±


    Right at that moment, the eardrums of the Paladin burst apart and blood began pouring out from his eyes, nostrils, and mouth. ¡°¡­Underground¡­ f-forty¡­ fourth floor¡­ location¡­¡± The Golden Cross Paladin opened his mouth and muttered his last words, ¡°That¡¯s where¡­ Second¡­ Prince Ruppel¡­¡±


    Kirum released the Paladin at the end of the sentence. The lifeless body sagged against the wall as a creepy grin floated up on the vampire clown¡¯s face.


    And so, it was now time to make preparations to welcome back the Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse.


    < 159. Yet Another King -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 303 - 160. Yet Another King -3 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Two days had passed by since the vampires launched their assault.


    No, more correctly, today would be the third day.


    Count Hans Jerurami was currently hiding in a room located inside the Imperial Palace.


    The flames of war were still blazing fiercely outside. Despite the palace being far away from the outer walls, he could still hear the continuous stream of screams coming from there.


    ¡®Just how long am I supposed to hide like this?¡¯


    Hans calculated all sorts of things in his head. By now, the news of the Army of Blood¡¯s invasion should¡¯ve reached Aslan. Although it depended on the prevailing weather conditions, this news should reach its intended recipient as quickly as possible by using communication crystals as well as messenger birds.


    ¡®Alright, now let¡¯s see. Let¡¯s assume His Majesty the Holy King sets off immediately after receiving the news. If I consider the Bone Wyvern¡¯s flight speed as well as the weather conditions, then calculate when he might get here, assuming he doesn¡¯t take any detours or breaks¡­ Tomorrow? Or maybe, tomorrow evening?¡¯


    Hans continued to mutter to himself while huddling under a desk.


    The vampires tunnelled underground to reach the outskirts of the capital and launched their assault after waiting for four days by the mountain range. So, it¡¯d be seven days after adding the three days of bitter fighting.


    The undead bastards proved to be near-unstoppable and merciless after they were given enough time to finish their thorough preparations. Even now, the numbers of victims were climbing rapidly.


    Right then, several loud bangs sounded out from the door after someone pounded on it. The noise was loud and sudden, and Hans shrank away in fright.


    ¡°Count Hans! Are you in?¡±


    ¡®Sir Harman?!¡¯


    Yes, I can live!


    Hans hurriedly shot up from his hiding spot and flung the door wide open.


    Harman was panting heavily, as if he had been running through the Imperial Palace¡¯s halls. More Paladins were standing silently behind him, while an old Priest was accompanying them all.


    ¡°Sir Harman! What has happened so far? Can we stop the vampire menace?¡±


    ¡°Before that, we need you to accompany us, sir.¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    Harman reached out and grabbed Hans¡¯s arm, before pulling him outside. The Paladins surrounded the confused Alchemist and escorted him.


    Hans asked. ¡°W-what is going on that you need me¡­?¡±


    ¡°We found traces of a vampire infiltrating the Imperial Palace.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°Also, this creature seems to be considerably skilled. Several members of the Golden Cross have been killed so far.¡±


    An even more confused expression floated up on Hans¡¯s face.


    Why was he being told of this news?


    While he was thinking about that, Hans got a feeling that the Paladins and Harman were guiding him underground.


    ¡®Aha, so that¡¯s what it was. We are evacuating.¡¯


    That was what Hans thought, but then Harman said something that betrayed his expectation. ¡°I was informed that Your Lordship was entrusted with the redesign of the underground prison, Count Hans.¡±


    Hans couldn¡¯t help but tilt his head.


    The place he redesigned? That could only be¡­


    ¡°Ah, yes. Well¡­ uh, soon after His Highness the Seventh Imperial Prince ascended to the position of the Holy King, I was urgently summoned before His Imperial Majesty, yes.¡±


    Hans recalled the words the Holy Emperor had said back then.


    {I¡¯ve been informed that you are the one my grandson trusts the most, beside Marquis Heraiz. And also, that you¡¯re the number one in the continent in terms of alchemic technique.}


    Hans back then could only chuckle wryly at that.


    The number one in the continent? Indeed, Hans thought of himself as such, but hearing that directly from the Holy Emperor sure made him feel strange.


    {That¡¯s why I had an idea. There is something I¡¯d like you to do for me. It¡¯s a very simple matter, as well.}


    That was when Hans was allowed inside the underground labyrinth that, other than a handful of people who included the Holy King and the Holy Emperor, none could ever hope to gain entrance to.


    ¡°Count Hans, sir. We do not know the layout of the interior. That¡¯s why¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute. You can¡¯t be asking me to guide you down there, are you? Sir Harman?¡±


    Harman sneaked a glance in Hans¡¯s way, before nodding silently.


    ¡°How strong is the vampire infiltrating the palace, Sir Harman?¡±


    ¡°¡­We estimate it to be above Marquis in rank.¡±


    Hans¡¯s steps came to an immediate stop. ¡°Oh my gods, do we even have enough combat strength to deal with a vampire of such calibre?!¡±


    His shocked cry prompted the old Priest to step forward and take a slight bow. ¡°My name is Cardinal Urael.¡±


    Hans was stunned by the revelation of the latter¡¯s status, which was incredibly high, then hurriedly bowed his head. Even then, a thought still popped up in his head and he simply had to ask away. ¡°I beg your pardon, but¡­ Have you ever hunted vampires before, Your Eminence?¡±


    Cardinal Urael took his time before cautiously replying, ¡°I have prior experience hunting a Baron-class.¡±


    ¡®We are screwed. At this rate, I might meet my maker before my time!¡¯


    Hans rubbed his temples hard. But he didn¡¯t need long to regain his reasoning, and began tilting his head a little. ¡°Wait. If it¡¯s that underground prison, then I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a reason for us to go down there.¡±


    Harman and Cardinal Urael stared back at him with puzzled faces.


    ¡°Sure, that labyrinth was already like a deadly maze even before I remodelled it, and uh, I did install various traps down there. But well¡­¡± Hans recalled a few of the traps down there and continued speaking, ¡°No vampire will escape from there unscathed. I created a special guardian and placed it there, you see.¡±


    **


    ¡®Dammit, just where is he?!¡¯


    Kirum utilised the physical attributes of a vampire to dash around inside the underground labyrinth.


    His entire surroundings were seemingly made out of nothing but walls. There were small holes in them, and although faint, Kirum could sense divine power and energy belonging to some kind of Runes.


    The longer he ran inside this labyrinth, the colder the chill running down Kirum¡¯s spine grew.


    ¡®These traps¡­ they are not activating?¡¯


    It felt as if he was being lured in even deeper.


    The members of the Imperial Family were clearly insane. If a vampire dared to infiltrate their home base, surely the normal thing to do would be to stop or chase the intruder away, yet he was being pulled in even deeper?


    Not to forget, the Imperial Family had this nasty hobby of torturing vampires in the worst, most deplorable ways. Nothing was out of bounds for these despicable humans!


    ¡®No, it¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ve received the power of His Majesty the Vampire King, after all.¡¯


    Having become a Duke-class now, he boasted far more resilient life force than ever before. Even if he was killed here, his spare lives would surely come to his rescue.


    It was at this very moment that Kirum picked up the familiar scent of blood. The smell of his kin was wafting through the air. That indicated that he had finally reached his destination.


    Such thoughts entered Kirum¡¯s mind, but when he turned around a corner¡­


    ¡°¡­What is that thing?¡±


    For a moment there, he was overcome with delusion that his own breath was clogging up.


    That was because he had discovered a liquid monster around five metres in height right in front of his nose. This bizarre monster had a humanoid silhouette, its limbs were extremely thick, and its body rippled and wavered like slime.


    Its surface, meanwhile, was filled with bones and rotting flesh.


    ¡®Oh my gods, isn¡¯t that¡­?!¡¯


    All semblance of colour fled from Duke Kirum¡¯s complexion.


    This acrid metallic stench that stung his nose, and the demonic energy emitted by the ¡®golem¡¯ before him¡­


    ¡®It¡¯s a Bloody Golem!¡¯


    It was a guardian entity that Count Timong had tried to construct back in his northern lair.


    Goosebumps broke out all over Kirum¡¯s skin. His mind was trying to reject this reality, too.


    Why was such a monster inside the labyrinth right below the Imperial Family¡¯s palace?!


    This guardian monster utilised demonic energy, and required a high degree of technique to construct, too.


    The Bloody Golem that Count Timong had worked so hard to make into reality¡­


    Even Count Timong couldn¡¯t think of an object capable of maintaining the Golem¡¯s body, and in the end, he had failed to produce this monster.


    Kirum¡¯s incredulous gaze landed on the crimson ¡®rock¡¯ deep within the Golem¡¯s liquid-like body.


    That was the heart of Mist Calf. Mana was writhing out violently from there. Mana and demonic energy were combined together to help this monstrosity move.


    The damn Imperial bastards managed to complete this monster by adding the blood and flesh of vampires and lycans to that heart!


    ¡°They are all mad¡­!¡±


    What kind of horrifying zealots were these people?!


    They outwardly showed off clean-cut images of worshipping their gods, yet they didn¡¯t hesitate to create something as horrifying as this.


    These Imperials, they were¡­


    ¡°You sons of devils-!¡±


    ¡­all devils!


    The Bloody Golem suddenly opened its mouth wide. Broken shards of rib bones spread open like rows of sharp fangs.


    -Ku-eeeeeeeehk!-


    The viscous monster rushed towards Kirum. Blood containing demonic energy spluttered and rose up, before extending like a whip to smash into the vampire hard.


    Kirum hurriedly extended his own claws and tried to block the incoming strike. He heard the sound of bones being crushed coming from his arm.


    It didn¡¯t stop there; ¡®bones¡¯ protruded from the whip of blood shooting out from the Bloody Golem. They were actually the fangs of a lycan, and their sharp tips punctured straight into Kirum¡¯s arm.


    The vampire looked down at his own arm. Blood trickled out from all those puncture wounds, and the Bloody Golem was absorbing all the lost blood.


    1


    ¡®Dammit!¡¯


    Kirum was a vampire who specialised in infiltration and interrogation. He might possess specialised techniques for fleeing or violating someone, but truth be told, he was definitely not a combat type.


    ¡®It¡¯ll take too long to get rid of this Golem.¡¯


    Most importantly, the Paladins must¡¯ve noticed things by now. If they showed up here, then that would make the matters much more complicated.


    Kirum yanked his arm away and quickly retreated. He turned around and urgently fled from there.


    The Bloody Golem chased after him; its body seemed to crumble all of a sudden, only for its outline to shift into that of a lion. Its hind legs kicked the ground with great strength to push the creature up into the air.


    Its maw split wide open. Dozens of broken rib bones inside began spinning around as if it wanted to grind and devour its prey.


    Kirum screamed in shock.


    The Imperial Family! What a bunch of horrifying monsters they were!

 Chapter 304 - 160. Yet Another King -3 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    The soldiers of the Theocratic Empire were getting fatigued. They shifted their gazes over to the waves of the Army of Blood still rushing in.


    No matter how many undead the soldiers killed, their numbers kept increasing, instead.


    The Progenitor Vampires continued to summon more and more undead in the distance.


    ¡°Crazy sons of b*tches, don¡¯t they get tired, at least?!¡±


    The soldiers roared in a fit of anger and thrust their spears to shove a zombie off the top of the outer wall. They looked around themselves afterwards.


    The goddess statue and Hell¡¯s Gatekeeper were still fighting away, their bodies riddled with wounds. As for the Holy Emperor and the Vampire King, they had also been fighting each other nonstop for the past three days. There was no end in sight for their battle, as their strength turned out to be about equal.


    -Ku-aaaaah!-


    Just as the soldiers were distracted and looked away, a monster with its wings spread wide open swooped in from the sky. This monster was actually a statue of a demon, its whole body covered in a shell as hard as stone.


    The gargoyle pounced on the distracted soldier to bite at him and swing its deadly claws.


    ¡°The outer gate! It¡¯s been breached!¡± someone cried out, and the soldiers up on the outer walls hurriedly headed to the gateway in question.


    Indeed, it had been breached. A humongous battering ram crafted out of bones and forged steel had finished breaking through the gate, and was already in the process of pulling back.


    Tens of thousands of undead stood before the open gateway.


    Standing valiantly before them were Paladins in white armour and soldiers wielding swords and spears in both hands.


    Spears over three metres long were aimed at the undead, while the Paladins drove their divinity into their swords. Their determined eyes were glaring at the undead army.


    ¡°Come, you damned evil undead!¡±


    -Ku-aaaahk!-


    The undead horde advanced on them.


    Soldiers also rushed forward, brandishing their spears. The Paladins rapidly charged out to meet their enemies first.


    The lengthy spears pierced through the undead and held them up in the air. Paladins wielded their swords to sever the heads of the walking corpses.


    ¡°Endure for a bit longer!¡±


    Meanwhile, near the gaping hole in the ground by the mountain range, the Progenitor Vampires were still summoning undead in great quantities.


    They had been focusing on doing nothing but summoning undead for the past three days. The initial plan was to tire out the Paladins and break through that way, but¡­


    ¡®What a bunch of monsters!¡¯


    The Paladins of the Imperial Family were still holding on gallantly on the third day of the assault. They continued to fight back without a break and repeatedly killed off the incoming waves of undead.


    ¡®However, it¡¯ll be over soon¡¯, the vampires thought. The gateway had been breached, and the non-combatant livestock were living in the city beyond. Those would turn out to be a wonderful source of undead for the vampires.


    While they were thinking that, one of the Progenitors turned its head to the side. That¡¯s because there was someone sitting on a boulder with interlocked fingers some distance behind the Progenitors.


    It was a vampire wearing a mountain goat¡¯s skull-helm on his head.


    1


    ¡°Oiii, what are you doing there in a daze?¡± the Progenitor asked, walking up to this vampire.


    The latter looked utterly relaxed. To think that he was taking a nice little breather sitting on a boulder, even daring to show off a golden bangle on his wrist!


    Seriously now, his kin were working so hard to summon more undead, to the point of even throwing up blood, yet this guy¡­


    This individual was simply sitting there, holding a staff over his shoulder while flipping open the covers of a chained grimoire.


    The man wearing the skull-helm shifted his attention over to the vampire. ¡°Ah, you mean me? I only arrived just now and I needed to catch my breath for a bit, you see. That¡¯s why I¡¯m taking a short break.¡±


    Indeed, this man was panting heavily. He was also wiping some of his sweat off.


    ¡°All of our kin are giving their all right now. But the more you laze around, the harder it will get for the others! Hurry up and start summoning more undead!¡±


    1


    ¡°Huh. So¡­ you want me to summon undead. Is that right?¡±


    1


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still a bit too tired, though. But I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be able to get cracking after a bit of a rest, you know? Can¡¯t I, like, rest for two or three more minutes?¡±


    ¡®What the hell, is this guy insane or what?¡¯, the Progenitor inwardly tutted.


    With the exception of several blood-creations, most of the vampires had been living for hundreds of years already. It wasn¡¯t all that strange to see one or two wackos in their ranks.


    ¡°Of course not! Go and help your comrades! There is no time to rest!¡± the Progenitor spoke unhappily, but then, he began getting this weird feeling.


    He was getting a strange sense of repulsion from this individual in a robe. Most of all, there was this thing attracting the Progenitor¡¯s attention.


    There was a golden bangle on the wrist of this person wearing a mountain goat skull-helm. For some strange reason, the aura of divinity could be felt from it¡­


    ¡°¡­Who the hell are you?¡±


    The Progenitor¡¯s expression gradually hardened, and in turn, the man¡¯s body seemed to tremble.


    ¡­as if he was laughing under the skull.


    ¡°I am the legion.¡±


    1


    The Progenitors getting fatigued by the task of continuously summoning undead flinched in surprise, and hurriedly looked behind them.


    ¡°And I am Gaia¡¯s inheritor.¡±


    The eyes of the vampires grew wider.


    A tidal wave was coming.


    A wave of holy water slammed into the Progenitors standing on the hill.


    ¡°What the hell?!¡±


    The bodies of the vampires now bathed in holy water caught fire and burned away. As for the Progenitor nearest to the mountain goat skull, he was a Count-class and was able to barely survive the holy water dunking.


    ¡°Ahaha!¡±


    A satisfied laugh sounded out, prompting the Count-class Progenitor to lock his trembling eyes on the man before him.


    This man spread open his arms. He muttered some words that could be either a chant for a spell, or even a prayer.


    But one thing was for certain, it had to be a ritual to summon something!


    Something gigantic would surely show up now. Whatever it was, such an event had to be prevented at all costs!


    ¡®¡­Prevent it? But how?¡¯


    Indeed, they couldn¡¯t stop it. Because, their opponent this time was¡­


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s the Holy King!¡± one of the surviving vampires cried out. That caused the other vampires to gasp out in terror.


    The Holy King? THAT Holy King?!


    But how could the Holy King even be here¡­?! Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be in Aslan?!


    ¡°So, the Vampire King is over there?¡± Allen the Holy King muttered as his eyes glowed eerily under the mountain goat¡¯s skull-helm. When he shouted out the spell incantation, the vampires fell into a frenzy and tried to pounce on him. ¡°In that case, I better go all out and wipe every single one of you out.¡±


    Holy undead leapt out from all around Allen and blocked the vampires¡¯ attacks.


    In the meantime, the summoning ritual continued on. His divinity rapidly spread throughout the area, and the people bitterly fighting by the outer walls began reacting to it one by one.


    ¡°This aura, isn¡¯t that¡­?¡±


    Kelt turned his head slightly to glance at the mountain range. The Vampire King also turned his head before his brows shot up high.


    Holy King Allen could be seen by the mountain range, performing some kind of a summoning ritual!


    ¡°That¡¯s dangerous¡­¡± the Vampire King muttered.


    That bastard came back much sooner than Kirum had anticipated.


    The Vampire King¡¯s strength was about the same as the Holy Emperor¡¯s. But if the Holy King was added to the mix, then the vampire would have no chance of victory here.


    ¡®Where¡¯s Kirum?¡¯


    There was still no news from the clown.


    That left the Vampire King no other choice. He stared at the Cerberus. ¡°Create a path.¡±


    The three-headed hellhound slammed into the goddess statue and forced it back.


    Panting heavily, the Gatekeeper of Hell used its front limbs and all three of its heads to dig out the ground. It even fired flames of hell from its maws to melt the ground beneath.


    Even the gargoyles circling in the air descended rapidly to the ground to start digging, as well.


    Dense smoke and dust obscured everyone¡¯s vision.


    Kelt gripped his warhammer tightly while watching this scene unfold.


    The speed of these monsters digging away was incredibly fast. However, he couldn¡¯t afford to let the Vampire King escape.


    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going?!¡± Kelt roared out and pounced at the Vampire King.


    Lightning bolts descended on his warhammer, and that destructive power was directed at the king of all vampires.


    The Vampire King pulled his spear closer in response. The blood scattered throughout the battlefield rapidly gathered on the weapon, making the spear blade much tougher and sharper.


    The two individuals went all in with their final attacks.


    **


    The jaws of the vampires by the mountain range fell to the ground.


    They no longer entertained any thoughts of getting closer to the Holy King. The hundreds of holy undead blocking their path simply had no openings to allow that.


    More than anything else, though, the summoning ritual had already been completed, anyway.


    The Holy King held his head high. This man, filled to the brim with sheer overbearing arrogance, began smiling under the mountain goat¡¯s skull. His smile sent shivers down the spines of all who could see it.


    ¡°Archangel,¡± he opened his mouth to speak. ¡°Metatron.¡±


    2


    Suddenly, a deafening roar loud enough to rupture the eardrums exploded forth. The noises of cogwheels spinning around reverberated throughout the land.


    The vampires hastily covered their ears. Even though they were under great torment, they still looked up at the sky.


    Time and space were distorting visibly.


    Heavy-looking gigantic hands extended out from the distortion and began tearing at the empty air.


    The space was forcibly distorted and the being beyond it displayed its great power.


    One of the terrified vampires opened its mouth. ¡°That, that¡­¡±


    From the distorted space, a ¡®head¡¯ covered in metal slowly emerged.


    ¡°¡­That is ¡®calamity¡¯ itself¡­¡±


    A gigantic figure at least twenty metres in length, with many, many spinning cogwheels floating all around it¡­


    There was no lower torso, only its upper half floating in the air. Its total height alone easily surpassed thirty metres.


    Twelve wings made out of divine power spread out magnificently, and white feathers gently drifted and scattered everywhere.


    The Archangel Metatron was now entering the battlefield.


    1


    < 160. Yet Another King -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 305 - 161. The Return of the King (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Vampires were doubting their own eyes.


    The spectacle unfolding before their eyes was like their worst nightmare imaginable brought to life.


    The thick crimson fog summoned by the Vampire King was dissipating, and bright sunlight was pouring down from the heavens above.


    The rain of blood also disappeared, replaced by white feathers of divinity falling from the sky.


    ¡°W-what should we do?! Tell us, what should we do!?¡± the Progenitor Vampires urgently shouted at their commander. This commander, a Count-class Vampire, couldn¡¯t say anything, however.


    Why was he charged with making a decision here, anyway? No one had anticipated a situation like this!


    The holy water produced by the Holy King had already risen up to the ankles of the vampires standing on the top of this mountain. There was a giant at least twenty metres high floating in the air, while below it was an army of holy undead clad in heavy armour.


    No matter how the commanding vampire analysed this situation, it looked like he and his kin would never win here.


    In front of them was the camp of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s army, while the Holy King had attacked them from the rear.


    That meant there was no place for them to escape to!


    The Vampire Count hurriedly turned his head and stared at the distant outer walls of the city.


    That place was also mired in a pit of confusion. The sudden entrance of the Holy King left the vampires extremely anxious. Even the summoned undead were moving around lost and listlessly, as they were synchronised with the emotions of their masters.


    On the other hand, the soldiers of the empire were roaring out in elation.


    ¡°Yes, His Majesty the Holy King has come home-!¡±


    ¡°He has returned after conquering Aslan-!¡±


    ¡°Prepare to welcome His Majesty back home-!¡±


    The tide of the battle was turned in an instant. The living soldiers, fatigued and dying before now, began pushing the undead back with renewed momentum.


    In the midst of this chaos, the gigantic monster, Hell¡¯s Gatekeeper Cerberus, continued to dig into the ground.


    The goddess statue finally got back up to its feet and pounced on the three-headed creature, interrupting its attempt to dig at the ground. The horde of gargoyles that had been dominating the skies also came down to continue digging away.


    They were specialists in excavating, so these creatures should be able to create an escape path without a problem. The odds of the vampires¡¯ survival would improve drastically with more time.


    At the very least, as long as the Vampire King managed to survive, then¡­


    ¡®¡­The kingdom of blood can be re-established later!¡¯


    Even if that took hundreds, or thousands of years into the future!


    ¡°Stop him!¡± The vampires flinched in shock and stared at the Count. He wiped his cold sweat away and clenched his teeth. ¡°Buy enough time until His Majesty can escape from here!¡±


    The Count immediately shed his human facade. His right arm transformed into a snake, while his whole body swelled to well over three times that of his original size.


    Now looking like a hulking mass of muscles, the vampire extended his snake arm and roared out. ¡°We must kill him! Our target is the Holy King, Allen Olfolse! Stop him at any¡­!¡±


    The Count¡¯s upper torso exploded into bits. The Progenitors all froze in place.


    A spear made out of divinity had flown in and killed the Count in a single strike.


    The Progenitors, their faces stiffened in shock, slowly shifted their gazes over to the floating giant.


    The way this mechanical giant levitated off the ground made it look at least thirty metres in height. Scattered around it were several cogwheels viciously spinning away.


    Spears, swords, and arrows made out of divinity suddenly poured out from those spinning cogwheels.


    ¡°E-everyone, run-!¡±


    The rain of blades, spear shafts and arrows landed on the ground, causing a series of loud explosions. Even if the vampires managed to dodge the weapons made of light, the shock waves from the explosions alone tossed them around like helpless rag dolls. They lost their arms and legs, and as tears of blood flooded down their eyes, they screamed in despair.


    ¡°T-those things are moving!¡±


    The army of the armoured holy undead began marching forward just then. These beings standing proud in their white armour formed the tortoise formation with their sturdy shields. Meanwhile, skeleton mages stood behind them and rested their musket barrels on the shoulders of the undead standing before them.


    BANG-!


    They commenced firing, and the holy bullets bore straight through the bodies of the vampires.


    ¡°Shields! Create some shields!¡±


    The vampires hastily summoned their own undead to deploy them as shields.


    At the same time, behind the holy undead army, Banshees raised their nocked arrows in the air, while Bone Golems manoeuvred large cannons into position. Skeleton mages chanted their spells and injected divine power into the cannons.


    One of the Bone Golems aimed the cannon high up in the air. With a loud report, a shooting star was launched in the sky.


    It joined dozens of shooting stars launched from the other cannons, all of them landing in the middle of the undead horde.


    Everything within the five-metre radius of the explosion was instantly killed off, while those caught in the eight-metre radius were blown haplessly away.


    The explosions caused wild flames to rage on, and the stench of burning corpses filled the air.


    Just as the surviving vampires staggered back to their feet, they felt the ground beneath rumble ominously.


    Their vision had been obscured by the blood trickling past their eyes, but even then, they still could make out the silhouettes of some creatures breaking through the curtains of dust to charge towards them.


    ¡°Cavalry¡­?!¡±


    The cavalry on skeletal horses raised their lances and slammed straight into the vampires.


    ¡ª¡ª


    On the opposite side of the battle, the soldiers of the Theocratic Empire were also driving the undead back.


    ¡°Yes, His Majesty the Holy King has come¡­!¡±


    From both the front and back, the armies of light gradually devoured the army of dark crimson.


    ¡°Fuu-wu-huk¡­!¡±


    The Vampire King, still hidden under his ragged cloak and wrapped in bandages, was vomiting a mouthful of blood out. He glanced down at his torso.


    A large warhammer permeating with divinity had slammed into his side. Arcs of lightning energy were coursing through his entire body, making him feel like his internal organs were about to melt.


    He had already lost count how many times he had ¡®lost¡¯ his life due from this attack.


    However¡­


    ¡®I also succeeded in my attack!¡¯


    The Vampire King confirmed that his Spear of Blood had stabbed straight into Kelt¡¯s chest. As a matter of fact, the shaft had punctured the thick armour and accurately penetrated the old man¡¯s heart.


    With this, the Holy Emperor was¡­!


    ¡°You think I¡¯ll die just because my heart was destroyed?!¡±


    Right at that moment, Kelt suddenly raised his head. Despite blood pouring out of his mouth, he still sneered at his foe.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    The Vampire King¡¯s brows shot up and he tried to retreat, but Kelt was a step faster; he let go of his warhammer, grabbed the spear with his left hand, and pushed the weapon even deeper into him.


    He went forward and reached out with his right hand to tightly grab the top of the Vampire King¡¯s head. ¡°Ahaha! I shall add your skull to my collection!¡±


    Kelt¡¯s eyes burned with sheer madness. Despite his heart being pierced by a spear, despite his whole body being in tatters, he still had the face of a man completely unfazed by it all.


    A deathly chill ran down the Vampire King¡¯s spine. For the first time in thousands of years, he felt a strand of fear take root in his heart.


    ¡°You insane old bastard!¡± The Vampire King roared and extended his claws. He grabbed Kelt¡¯s arm and tried to break or sever it, but rather than the old man¡¯s skin tearing off, the vampire¡¯s own claws began cracking apart, instead.


    ¡°Let me boast to my grandson for once, vampire-!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re an old bastard, so die quietly already, you stinking Priest-!¡±


    Both Kelt and the Vampire King tried to inject divinity and demonic energy into the bodies of their opponent. The two opposing energies naturally reacted negatively to their attempts and exploded, yet the two didn¡¯t let go of one another.


    ¡°Oh, our King! Sire-!¡±


    The Vampire King shifted his gaze at the call. His fellow vampires were looking back at him in expressions filled with despair.


    The eyes of the Vampire King gradually widened.


    He finally realised how many of his brethren were dying on this battlefield. They were burning down to ashes, being wiped out of existence, only leaving behind their tragic cries.


    His gaze shifted over to the distant mountain range. The floating mechanical giant was descending from there, beating its twelve wings and accompanied by an army in white armour.


    The cogwheels surrounding it spun rapidly; flames arced and danced in the air as numerous sparks spread everywhere around it.


    The archangel¡¯s body suddenly took on a crimson hue. The giant brought its large hands together and joined them. It even bowed its head as if it was praying.


    -In the name of my new master.-


    The Vampire King clamped his mouth shut when he heard the mechanical giant speak.


    -As the Sword of the Heavens¡­-


    The mechanical hands clutching each other seemed to convulse violently and slowly parted open. And in between the parting hands was a large lump of heavily condensed divinity.


    -I shall judge the demons.-


    ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    The lump of divinity in Metatron¡¯s hands spread out like ripples. The terrain beneath it cracked and split apart, burning with fierce flames.


    The undead couldn¡¯t even scream before they were wiped out of existence. Even the vampires, looking and desperately reaching out towards the Vampire King, were touched by the light and instantly evaporated from view.


    It was just one attack. Yet over one thousand undead, and fifty vampires alongside them, were destroyed in an instant!


    ¡°¡­You stinking bastards-!¡±


    This was no longer a war. No, it had morphed into a wanton slaughter, instead!


    The king of all vampires, Vlandmir, glared murderously at the Holy King over yonder.


    That Holy King, riding on a skeletal horse and commanding the divine undead army while making his way down the mountain¡­


    ¡°I¡­ I swear that one day you¡­!¡±


    It was right at that moment that the sounds of bones being crushed came from the Vampire King¡¯s skull. Vlandmir urgently shifted his gaze.


    ¡°Time to die, oh dear Vampire King.¡± A cruel grin spread on Kelt¡¯s face.


    At the same time, the Words of God began shining brightly on his body.


    It was the Aztal Rune. All the wounds inflicted on his body were rapidly healing.


    The Vampire King witnessed this sight and sighed softly under his breath, ¡®¡­What a monster.¡¯


    This old man. Even though he was getting old, his strength didn¡¯t seem to have waned, only getting stronger with time.


    The skin around Vlandmir¡¯s neck began ripping apart as if his skull was about to be torn off. He even sensed his neck bones were twisting away now.


    Death. It was swiftly coming for him.

 Chapter 306 - 161. The Return of the King (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°How disappointing you are, oh my king.¡±


    Without warning, Kelt¡¯s right hand was crushed by a blacksmith¡¯s hammer. He flinched in surprise and turned his head.


    He discovered a Grand Duke-class vampire with crimson skin and a pair of horns on his head, Ivaldi. This undead was using his hammer to crush Kelt¡¯s right hand.


    ¡°You bastard-!¡± Kelt roared out as his left hand let go of the spear shaft.


    He reached out to grab Grand Duke Ivaldi, but the latter acted first and kicked Kelt in his chest, then used his tongs to grab and yank out the spear.


    The Holy Emperor stumbled back from the kick¡¯s force and a fountain of blood gushed out from his chest, but his body recovered in an instant.


    Ivaldi¡¯s eyes narrowed at this sight. This thing called the Word of God, it was proving to be extremely dangerous. ¡°This¡­ we won¡¯t win like this.¡±


    ¡°Grand Duke.¡± The Vampire King took a look at Ivaldi¡¯s current condition.


    A deep wound was visible on the Grand Duke¡¯s chest, and blood streamed down continuously from his waist. His injuries were so grievous that even the superb regenerative ability of a vampire was rendered useless.


    Ivaldi spoke up again. ¡°Oh my king, you¡¯re a disappointment. To think that you¡¯d give up so easily.¡± He then stopped the Vampire King from collapsing and supported the latter with his sturdy frame. ¡°Our escape path has been secured.¡±


    The vampire blacksmith pointed to the hole dug out by the gargoyles in the ground.


    ¡°You think I¡¯ll let you leave so easily?!¡± Kelt roared out and stepped forward, only for more Progenitor Vampires to block his way.


    Even though their faces were as pale as they could get, they still confronted the enraged Kelt Olfolse nevertheless.


    ¡°How dare a bunch of mosquitoes¡­!¡±


    ¡°U-uwaaaaahk!¡± The Progenitors practically threw themselves at him.


    Kelt waved his hand dismissively, causing a deluge of sparks to erupt out. The Progenitor Vampires were turned into piles of ashes and wiped out of existence.


    The heavily-wounded Cerberus blocked his path next. Kelt picked up his discarded warhammer from the ground.


    Grand Duke Ivaldi watched Kelt before shifting his gaze back to the Vampire King. ¡°We have lost.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The vampire blacksmith helped the Vampire King towards the hole dug out by the gargoyles, and they entered it together.


    ¡°However, we should not despair over this event.¡±


    The gargoyles on standby there lowered themselves and placed the Vampire King on their backs.


    A horrifying screech exploded from behind them, and one of the heads of Cerberus slammed down at the mouth of the hole. The side of this head had been crushed to bits, and its tongue was dangling limply out of its slack maw.


    ¡°We were always on the losing side, only fighting back for the promise of a future victory.¡± The Grand Duke also climbed aboard a gargoyle. ¡°As such, we shall continue to survive and fight back for our future.¡±


    He stopped talking there, prompting the gargoyles to begin flying into the hole in the ground.


    The goddess statue dragged the corpse of Cerberus away from the mouth of the hole, allowing Kelt to stand tall there. His eyes glared into the darkness of the underground tunnel.


    The Progenitor Vampires defending the hole all howled out at the top of their lungs.


    ¡°Protect our Vampire King!¡±


    ¡°We need to buy time!¡±


    ¡°¡­What a bunch of impudent punks.¡± Kelt tutted unhappily and gripped his warhammer tightly.


    The Paladins kitted out in golden armour rapidly surrounded him. They had come to escort Kelt now that the battlefield had been sorted out to some degree.


    ¡°Wipe them all out. We shall give chase.¡±


    After issuing his order, Kelt leapt into the hole, and the members of the Golden Cross followed fearlessly after him.


    Soon afterwards, the desperate cries of the dying vampires exploded out from the hole.


    ¡ª-


    ¡°Ha, haha¡­ I¡¯m still alive.¡± White panted heavily while staring at the Duke-class vampire before him. This creature with a lion¡¯s head was burning in blue flames. ¡°Man, to think that one day, I¡¯d get to kill a Duke-class.¡±


    He really got lucky this time.


    Allen¡¯s sudden entrance had thrown the whole battlefield into chaos, and one of the two Dukes left the scene, saying it would go and help out the Vampire King.


    Thanks to that development, the fight suddenly became one on one. White had barely managed to eke out a victory.


    He shifted his gaze down below the destroyed outer wall. ¡°¡­Huh. I guess a Grand Duke is indeed ridiculously strong, then.¡±


    Both Oscal the Sword King and Cardinal Raphael were collapsed on the ground, utterly spent. Even though those two powerful old men had attacked together, the Grand Duke still shook them off and went to aid the Vampire King.


    Oscal the Sword King spat out some blood as his eyes gleamed murderously. ¡°I swear to cut off your neck next time we meet!¡±


    He sounded utterly furious.


    But that made some sense, since they had still lost despite ganging up together on a single enemy. If Allen hadn¡¯t shown up to sow such chaos and confusion in the battlefield, then it was quite possible that the two old men wouldn¡¯t have survived.


    ¡®Ah, wait a second. That¡¯s the same story for me, isn¡¯t it?¡¯ White thought to himself, while wiping the back of his hand on his forehead.


    The once-noisy battlefield gradually calmed down. The undead horde had all been wiped out, and the Paladins began hunting down any remaining vampires.


    These Paladins of the empire were now looking down at the vampires through their helms. They watched the Progenitors helplessly crawling around on the ground.


    The Paladins proceeded to place shackles on the ankles of the surviving vampires, and began dragging them away, despite all the screams filled with torment coming from the undead.


    The empire¡¯s soldiers roared out, ¡°We are victorious!¡±


    The vampires were then bound to the symbols of the Theocratic Empire that resembled the Chinese character for ¡®wood¡¯, before the contraptions were raised up to be placed throughout the battlefield.


    ¡ª¡ª


    While the ten thousand or so soldiers were stepping on the corpses of undead horde to display the surviving vampires on the symbols, a certain individual finally reached the city¡¯s outskirts.


    This existence who commanded the holy army and the gigantic archangel¡­


    The soldiers watched the Holy King wearing his mountain goat skull-helm and bone armour and proudly riding on the skeleton horse come closer to them, and knelt down, one by one.


    ¡°We greet Your Majesty the Holy King-!¡±


    The conqueror of Aslan, and the one who put an end to this war¡­


    The Holy King had returned!


    **


    Kirum was still stuck in the underground labyrinth, and was panting breathlessly away.


    He sneaked a glance beyond the corner, and spotted the Bloody Golem busy turning its head around some distance away, evidently looking for something. It was searching for its prey and was currently wandering around aimlessly.


    Kirum shifted his gaze towards the end of the corridor he was in.


    He had finally arrived at the location of the Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse.


    ¡®Dammit. I had to go through such humiliation just to find some little tyke?!¡¯


    Wouldn¡¯t he be more of a help by participating in the war, instead?


    Kirum felt conflicted, but he still shook his head. There was no point in regretting now.


    Even if they defeated Holy Emperor Kelt today, the vampires still needed to raise more forces in order to attack the remaining Holy King. In order to do that, they needed the strength of Second Imperial Prince Ruppel.


    The vampires would be able to greatly strengthen their forces by waking up the sealed J?tnar in the north-west of the continent, making the king of the giants submit, then inserting Ruppel into the creature to take over its body.


    ¡®Although, it¡¯s still unknown whether that¡¯s possible or not¡­¡¯


    The gods had sealed the J?tnar away. As such, it¡¯d not be an easy task to steal their king¡¯s body. The vampires would have to prepare thoroughly beforehand.


    ¡®His Majesty the Vampire King will somehow deal with Kelt Olfolse. No matter how fast the Holy King is, he will still need some time to reach here.¡¯ Kirum flung the steel door open at the end of the corridor. ¡®Before that happens, I shall leave with Ruppel in tow.¡¯


    The doorway opened into a space filled with inky-black darkness but to Kirum¡¯s eyes, this place was as bright as the middle of the day.


    He was now standing on a long passageway, both of its sides filled with steel bars and doorways. The distinct stench of vampire blood wafted out thickly.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­¡±


    ¡°Could it be¡­?¡±


    ¡°It, it¡¯s a Progenitor! A Progenitor has come to rescue us!¡±


    Vampires rushed closer to the steel bars and reached out through the open gaps. They began crying out to be saved.


    Kirum could only furrow his brow. This ¡®prison¡¯ was filled with blood-creations, Progenitors, and lycanthropes.


    After imprisoning Kirum¡¯s fellow brethren down here, the Imperial bastards no doubt would¡¯ve leisurely watched the undead like some kind of zoo animals, then tortured them and performed all sorts of heinous experiments on them.


    But that would come to an end today!


    Kirum extended his claws and easily broke the cell door made of steel bars. However, he wasn¡¯t doing that for the sake of comradeship. Actually, what he needed right now was bait to lure the Bloody Golem outside away from here.


    ¡°Thank you, my lord!¡±


    ¡°M-may I ask what your name is, sir¡­?¡±


    Kirum ignored their question and asked them back, instead. ¡°I have something to ask you. Have you seen a Progenitor infant in this place?¡±


    ¡°Pardon? N-not sure, sir¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, now that I think about it, I do remember seeing the Crimson Cross bastards bringing in such a baby before. A creature that looked like a fetus¡­¡±


    Kirum stared at this blood-creation. Not only was it buck-naked, all sorts of wounds riddled its body, as well. It had lost all of its vigour as a vampire and couldn¡¯t even heal itself.


    Kirum asked this pathetic-looking blood-creation, ¡°Where was it taken?¡±


    ¡°In that direction, sir.¡± The blood-creation pointed towards the far end of the passageway. There was a noticeable steel door with thick chains in front of it.


    Kirum shifted his gaze over to a nearby table. There were keys strewn about on top.


    ¡®¡­Something is wrong here.¡¯


    The security in the underground labyrinth should¡¯ve been stronger than this. Yet for some reason, Kirum got the feeling that the security was the most lax where the vampires had been imprisoned.


    The Imperials had only installed a lone Bloody Golem here?


    Besides, what could be the meaning of all those keys carelessly left there on the table? It was as if he was being lured into freeing all the imprisoned undead here.


    Kirum scanned the other creatures and spoke, ¡°Go and free the others.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, sir!¡±


    The blood-creations used the keys to open the prison cells. Meanwhile, Kirum headed to the very last cell. Even then, his gaze continued to wander towards the nearby walls.


    ¡­Walls that had various holes seemingly everywhere on their surfaces.


    Without a doubt, some kind of Runes were engraved in there, but Kirum just couldn¡¯t figure out what they were meant for.


    He finally reached the last cell and used his extended claws to break the door down.


    His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets after he looked into the cell.


    ¡°¡­Oh my gods¡­¡±


    < 161. The Return of the King (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 307 - 162. Yet Another Beginning (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    A baby resembling a monster was dangling on the wall.


    Chains bound its limbs tightly, while streams of holy water filled the cell¡¯s floor.


    There was a fountain near the infant¡¯s head that gushed out holy water constantly.


    Kirum sensed that Second Imperial Prince Ruppel was still faintly breathing.


    ¡®He¡¯s still alive!¡¯


    In all honesty, Kirum had not been feeling all that confident of their odds. He heard that without Timong¡¯s aid, the baby¡¯s body wouldn¡¯t even have lasted one year before melting down into a puddle.


    So it wouldn¡¯t have been all that surprising for Ruppel to have broken down into some sticky goo by now, yet here he was, still somehow clinging to life despite going through all those torture sessions.


    Although, he sure looked like he¡¯d die soon anyway, from the way he had withered so much.


    This process was what the Priests called a Purification Ceremony.


    They were doing this horrible thing under the pretext of purifying the corrupted soul, but the truth was, to vampires, their death signified their complete erasure from existence itself.


    The moment they died, their souls would be imprisoned in Purgatory. The God of Death residing there would erase their souls for good.


    In other words, this type of ceremony was meaningless, and would only torture its victims unnecessarily.


    ¡®To think that that old bastard would actually torture his own grandson like this.¡¯


    Kelt Olfolse, that devil!


    Kirum, while thinking such things, focused his attention on the words written right above Ruppel.


    < You are already no longer living. >


    Kirum¡¯s expression hardened at those ominous words. ¡°What does that even mean¡­?¡±


    But then, his eyes suddenly widened. He lowered his eyes and stared at the steel door he had broken down just now. That¡¯s when he noticed the Runes engraved into the severed hinges of the doorway.


    This trap was designed to activate when the letters had been severed.


    ¡°¡­Oh, crap.¡± Kirum quickly looked up.


    The ceiling suddenly came down. It was falling at considerable speed.


    In less than a blink of an eye, everything in the cell would be crushed flat. That also included Ruppel.


    Kelt, that insane old man! Torturing his own grandson wasn¡¯t enough for him, and he even decided that, rather than have someone steal the baby away again, he¡¯d rather crush it to death, instead!


    ¡°Fuu-wook-!¡±


    Kirum¡¯s claws lengthened like whips. He severed Ruppel¡¯s arms, then pierced the baby¡¯s torso. The clown vampire¡¯s hand rapidly reeled the Second Imperial Prince in.


    Kirum clutched the baby and hurriedly leapt out of the room, just as the noise of the ceiling landing on the ground with a loud thud came from behind him.


    Spears made out of silver had jutted out from the ceiling to stab into the floor. If Kirum was one breath slower, he¡¯d been impaled down into the floor filled with holy water, unable to move.


    ¡°What happened?!¡±


    The vampires turned their heads and looked at Kirum. But then¡­


    Crunch-!


    A silver arrow flew out from one of the holes in the wall and obliterated a vampire¡¯s head.


    Kirum¡¯s disbelieving eyes stared at the spectacle happening in front of him. From all those holes in the walls, hundreds, nay, thousands, of silver arrows poured out.


    ¡®These kind of childish pranks won¡¯t even¡­!¡¯


    Kirum urgently dashed forward while deflecting the silver arrows with his claws. But when his gaze shifted over to the only exit in the prison, a wall suddenly came down to close the doorway.


    ¡°Dammit-!¡±


    Kirum accelerated even more, but he was still too late in the end. The exit was completely blocked off by the solid wall by the time he got there.


    Just as he reached out to touch the wall, holy water flooded out from the holes in the ceiling like waterfalls.


    ¡°U-uwaaaaahk!¡± The vampires drenched by the holy water began burning up in blue flames.


    Kirum looked at the floor. The holy water had already risen past his feet by then. The speed of the water filling up the place was extremely fast. At this rate, it would only require twenty or so minutes for the water to submerge him completely.


    ¡°You devilish bastards-!¡±


    Those Imperial bastards were really planning to liquefy him to death here!


    Kirum hurriedly slashed at the wall with his claw. He managed to crack its surface a little.


    ¡®Yes, I might have a chance here!¡¯


    A flickering light of hope lit up in Kirum¡¯s heart. He began exerting all of his strength to create a hole in the wall. It began breaking slowly apart.


    Bits and pieces of stone tumbled and fell. He continued to break it down.


    Kirum grew progressively more and more frenzied. The tragic screams of his kin continued to sound out from behind him, but with the passage of time, even those noises gradually died down.


    From a certain moment on, only eerie silence remained in the prison filling up with holy water.


    Every one of them had died.


    Kirum didn¡¯t bother to look behind him, continuing to swing his claws nonstop. He struggled mightily in order to survive somehow.


    His claws slashed at the surface of the wall again. Just as the stones crumbled down, his claws shattered.


    Kirum¡¯s stupefied eyes were now looking at what had been lying underneath the wall¡¯s surface, a shining Rune engraved using the powder of the metal Eltera.


    It was a temporary barrier emitting gentle rays of light, which happened to be strong enough to defend against an attack from the Archangel Metatron.


    ¡°¡­Ah.¡±


    His feet were completely submerged in the holy water by then. A short while later, Kirum staggered as his eye level suddenly began sinking lower and lower.


    His body had melted up to his knees while he stood there dazedly staring at the defensive Rune.


    Bloody stains were visibly spreading in the holy water.


    Kirum stared at Ruppel in his grasp. The baby monster was barely breathing right now.


    ¡°Ruppel, Ruppel!¡± The vampire clown grabbed Ruppel¡¯s throat and slammed the latter against the wall.


    The baby¡¯s eyelids flipped open and his eyes stared dazedly at the ceiling. His jaw slackened and a strand of spittle drooled down from the corner of his lips.


    He was clearly out of it even now.


    ¡®This stupid little tyke!¡¯


    Even right until the end, he proved to be utterly useless!


    ¡°Now listen very closely. I won¡¯t be able to survive this place.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°However, you still can.¡±


    Kirum began carving out the surface of the wall with what remained of his claws. He was trying to etch the Runes for warp magic on the surface.


    ¡®This warp will not be stable.¡¯


    With Count Timong gone, there weren¡¯t all that many individuals left who were capable of activating warp magic freely. Even if they wanted to use it, a ridiculous amount of demonic energy and the requisite technical know-how were still necessary to pull it off.


    All Kirum could do right now was to send Ruppel, whose volume was comparatively tiny, to a forest nearby. That was all.


    He began whispering his Spirit Speech into the infant¡¯s ear. Using the strength of the Duke-class, he imprinted an order in Ruppel¡¯s consciousness. ¡°Survive no matter what. Find His Majesty the Vampire King.¡±


    Even as he spoke, Kirum began staggering ever more precariously. The holy water had already reached his abdomen.


    Kirum unleashed all of his demonic energy reserve and drove it into the miniature warp magic circle, then pressed Ruppel against it.


    ¡°For everyone¡¯s sake, for our vengeance¡­ For the sake of¡­¡±


    The warp magic circle activated. Ruppel¡¯s body began splitting apart into tiny little particles.


    ¡°¡­His Majesty the Vampire King. You must¡­ Ah?¡±


    Kirum¡¯s words came to an abrupt halt as his brows shot up. He sensed a certain type of ¡®aura¡¯ coming off from Ruppel just now.


    This faint but distinct repulsion he felt¡­ Wasn¡¯t that¡­?


    ¡°¡­No, it can¡¯t be?¡± Kirum stared at Ruppel with deeply enraged eyes.


    ¡®You imperial bastards, just what have you done¡­?!¡¯


    Before he could say anything else, though, Ruppel¡¯s figure completely disappeared into the warp magic.


    Kirum shuddered as unbridled shock ran through his whole body. Goosebumps broke out on his skin. That one thing that should not be sensed from a vampire could be felt from Ruppel.


    He had to tell himself that it was merely a mistake on his part and held his forehead. ¡®Yes, that¡¯s utterly impossible.¡¯


    Indeed, he probably felt something that wasn¡¯t really there, since he was currently drowning in the holy water.


    ¡°¡­Dammit.¡±


    Kirum swiped out roughly with his claws to destroy the warp magic circle. He was doing so to stop the Imperial Family from tracking Ruppel down.


    ¡®What are the odds of Ruppel surviving out there?¡¯


    It was at that moment that the holy water rose up to his neck. Kirum flinched nastily and leaned against the broken wall.


    ¡°Oh, my Vampire King-!!!¡±


    He screamed nonstop at the top of his lungs. Eventually, the holy water rose past his neck and completely submerged his head.


    He couldn¡¯t breathe. Every time he kicked out or flailed about in sheer torment, and tried to scream out loud, more and more holy water entered his mouth.


    ¡®¡­Ah.¡¯


    Bluish flames burned on his body. That was the sign of a vampire about to be wiped from existence, yet Kirum didn¡¯t die.


    Just as he thought he was dead, he was revived once more, only to drown in the holy water.


    And so, he became stuck inside this prison where he was forced to experience death over and over again¡­

 Chapter 308 - 162. Yet Another Beginning (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    ¡°His Majesty the Holy King, hooray-!¡±


    The raucous cheering of the citizens reverberated throughout the city.


    They had endured a hellish week. So perhaps unsurprisingly, the Holy King who had put an end to this hellish war came across as a hero and became the subject of their adulation.


    Well, to be honest I¡¯ve already grown used to it by now.


    Even though the Paladins were doing their best to hold the citizens back, they were still reaching out to me, hoping to get noticed by me.


    I waved my hands at them, but a bitter smile didn¡¯t want to leave my face.


    ¡®The losses have been pretty extensive.¡¯


    The citizens were cheering on, but I still could see several among them sobbing away as well. They probably lost their loved ones during the war.


    They would no doubt be compensated adequately enough, but their deep scars would still need a long time before they had a chance to heal properly.


    ¡°Still, we might get to welcome the beginning of truly peaceful days, thanks to this war,¡± I muttered to myself.


    No other vampires in history had prepared as thoroughly as this horde had in order to establish their own country. Since that was the case, their failure this time should result in them no longer possessing enough wherewithal to establish the Blood Kingdom or whatever it was called for a good while.


    Surely they wouldn¡¯t dare to rampage around so carelessly now¡­


    ¡ª


    ¡°Ohhh! Your Majesty, I¡¯ve been waiting for your arrival!¡±


    When I arrived back in the Imperial Palace, Hans approached me from the entrance. He was hurriedly running up to me with his arms wide open, and I barely managed to push him back. ¡°¡­What about His Majesty the Holy Emperor?¡±


    Harman bowed his head and replied, ¡°He¡¯s currently pursuing the escaped enemies, sire. Both Lord Oscal and His Eminence Raphael, plus His Highness the Crown Imperial Prince, are accompanying His Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Even after kicking the Vampire King¡¯s ass, he still has enough energy left to chase after them?¡±


    Hey, Mister Kelt Olfolse, just how much energy do you even have? Are we sure that he was really dying of old age?


    I helplessly shook my head.


    It was at that moment that Hans whispered something in my ear, ¡°A vampire ranked above Marquis seems to have infiltrated the palace, sire.¡±


    I glanced at him. ¡°Where is he?¡±


    ¡°We think the vampire headed to the underground labyrinth. We discovered traces of the traps being activated as well.¡±


    ¡°That dude must be dead, then.¡±


    Either crushed flat like a pancake, or melted down to death, no less.


    I mean, the traps Kelt had cooked up were designed to torture anyone unlucky enough to get caught in them before killing them, after all. What a cruel and bloodthirsty geezer he was.


    ¡®But that might be the reason why he¡¯s the Holy Emperor, though.¡¯


    I urged him, ¡°Anyways, let¡¯s go take a look.¡±


    ¡ª


    Hans guided me to the underground labyrinth. The Bloody Golem standing tall by the entrance greeted us.


    It sure looked like a freaky monstrosity from how all those sharp bone shards and fangs jutted out from its body. All the blood of vampires and flesh of the lycans jumbled up together to create its body didn¡¯t improve my impression of it all that much, either.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m assuming that this is your handiwork?¡±


    ¡°W-well, His Majesty the Holy Emperor commanded me, so¡­¡± Hans lowered his head a little.


    I might be the one who handed over the information related to the Bloody Golem to Hans, but hell, this dude really went and created a bona fide monstrosity, didn¡¯t he?


    I brushed past the Bloody Golem while thinking to myself, ¡®Hmm, I wonder. Can I store this thing in my item window?¡¯


    I thought that it might be doable, since the thing wasn¡¯t a living creature. If not, then well, it¡¯d be enough to store only its heart, at least.


    ¡ª


    We eventually reached the prison located in the labyrinth. Harman and other Paladins, plus Cardinal Urael, followed us on the way.


    While everyone was getting tense, Hans began manipulating the Runes engraved on the walls in order to cancel the traps.


    The wall blocking our path rose up rapidly, prompting a flood of holy water to gush out to the floor we were on. We were greeted by a figure barely visible through the open gap.


    It was a tall, lanky vampire, still barely managing to stand on its feet despite its whole body having melted down like a slimy mud.


    I used my Mind¡¯s Eye, then called out the vampire¡¯s name, ¡°Kirum, is it?¡±


    ¡°Kkiiiiaaaahk-!¡±


    Kirum extended his claws and charged at me, his whole face distorted hideously. I lightly dodged the attack, grabbed the vampire¡¯s head and slammed it straight down on the floor.


    ¡°Restrict him-!¡± Harman shouted out, and the Paladins thrust their spears to impale Kirum¡¯s arms and legs.


    ¡°Holy King, you bastaaaard-!¡±


    ¡°Huh, he¡¯s still alive?¡± I was surprised by this revelation and stared at the vampire while still holding his head down.


    To think that he managed to survive drowning in holy water. Now that was some vitality, alright.


    How many lives did this guy possess, anyway?


    ¡°What should we do with him, sire?¡± Harman asked me.


    ¡°Your Majesty, over here!¡±


    Before I could answer, Hans called out to me. He was pointing at a surface of a wall, where a damaged warp magic circle could be seen.


    Hans continued, ¡°I may need around a week to restore the circle and track down the coordinates, sire.¡±


    I spat out a groan. ¡°What do you mean, what should we do? It¡¯s obvious, isn¡¯t it?¡± I narrowed my eyes and looked at Kirum still restrained on the floor. ¡°¡­We find out what this punk was trying to do down here.¡±


    **


    It was late at night.


    The news of the vampires trying to assault the empire¡¯s capital had spread throughout all the surrounding villages.


    It prompted Laurence and his wife, who had travelled the breadth of the continent as merchants, to cut their travel short and head back home.


    ¡°We travelled such a long way, so why do we have to suffer such hardship, I wonder¡­ Oh dear Gaia, please extend your protection to us, as well.¡±


    The wagon belonging to the married couple was currently travelling along the rough roads in an unnamed forest somewhere.


    Laurence scanned the forest, now covered in the veil of darkness. He could just about hear the growling and howling of wolves coming from there.


    ¡°Dear, will it be alright? What with the vampires invading the capital earlier and all¡­¡± His wife asked him worriedly.


    He looked back at her. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine. They are none other than the Imperial Family. The higher-ups surely will take care of it without a problem. As for us simple folks from the rural outskirts, we only have to hurry up and go back to our hometowns, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°But, what will we do after going back home, dear? We don¡¯t have anything else to¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, we have saved up enough money to buy some land, haven¡¯t we? Let¡¯s just start a farm and live a peaceful life that way.¡± While saying that, Laurence shifted his attention back to the forest.


    He noticed some shadows flitting about beyond the trees.


    Weren¡¯t those¡­ wolves?


    A pack of wolves was congregating on a spot, as if they had discovered something interesting.


    Laurence narrowed his eyes and used the moonlight to see. That¡¯s when he noticed something wiggling on the open field over there.


    ¡­which happened to be a small baby.


    ¡°Oh, no!¡± Laurence hurriedly stopped the wagon and picked up the lit torch hanging from the vehicle.


    ¡°D-dear?¡±


    ¡°Look, there¡¯s a child¡­ A child¡­!¡±


    At Laurence¡¯s prompt, she also shifted her gaze to the forest and noticed a baby with dark crimson skin writhing and flinching away on the ground. Wolves were slowly gathering around the baby.


    These creatures bared their fangs and displayed how bad their hunger was right now.


    ¡°You beasts-!¡±


    Laurence roared out and waved the torch around to chase the wolves away. Meanwhile, the wife hurriedly walked up and wrapped the baby in a cloth before picking it up. ¡°D-dear!¡±


    ¡°Dammit, what¡¯s wrong with these damn creatures?!¡± Laurence smacked away one of the wolves trying to pounce on him with the torch.


    ¡°Oh my goodness¡­ This baby is badly injured!¡±


    The wife¡¯s cry prompted Laurence to urgently roar out. ¡°Just what kind of heartless bastards would abandon a child here?!¡±


    ¡°L-look, this baby¡­¡±


    Laurence glanced at the baby.


    The child¡¯s outer appearance looked like a bizarre monster. There was no need to speculate anymore; the baby¡¯s parents must¡¯ve been disgusted by his appearance and discarded the child here in the forest.


    ¡®Those scum, how dare they!¡¯


    ¡°Dear¡­¡±


    ¡°Slowly back away into the wagon, dear.¡±


    Laurence continued to wave the torch around as the pack of wolves slowly closed in on him and his wife.


    The horse pulling the wagon parked nearby also neighed and tried to back away after being scared by the wolves.


    ¡°Hurry, get inside!¡± The woman quickly scampered up into the wagon. Laurence threw the lit torch at the pack of the wolves before jumping up on the vehicle himself.


    ¡°Giddy-up!¡±


    The wagon broke into a fierce sprint. Wolves chased after them.


    ¡°This child is hurt really badly!¡±


    The wife cried out in shock, and Laurence quickly replied to her, ¡°We should have some holy water in the load bay. Using that might help.¡±


    She quickly rummaged through the luggage in the load bay and found a bottle of holy water. She pressed the tip to the baby¡¯s lips, but the latter shook its head as if rejecting the holy water.


    ¡°It¡¯s for your survival, child. You must drink it to live.¡±


    The baby slowly cracked its eyelids open. The woman gently smiled back.


    ¡°There¡¯s a good child. Now drink it. There, there.¡±


    She gently stroked the baby¡¯s head, and with trembling eyes, the latter reached out to grasp the holy water bottle.


    As if it was drinking mother¡¯s milk, it cautiously sipped on the holy water.


    ¡°Cough, cough!¡±


    But the baby spat out the water almost immediately.


    ¡°Oh no, you must¡¯ve drank it too fast. Take it slowly. Slower. There.¡± The wife carefully tipped the mouth of the bottle and let only a small trickle of holy water enter the baby¡¯s mouth. ¡°Now there¡¯s a good child. Yes, there you go¡­¡±


    The woman continued to gently stroke the baby¡¯s head, while Laurence, having confirmed that the wolves were no longer chasing after them, breathed a lengthy sigh of relief.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry and get out of this forest. I¡¯m genuinely sick and tired of all this travelling now.¡± Laurence looked back at his wife. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to our hometown in Frants kingdom and start a peaceful farming life there, dear.¡±


    Laurence¡¯s wife nodded in agreement. Even then, she continued to gently hold the baby.


    She patted the back of the baby and began singing a lullaby as well.


    Her soothing voice singing the song, a hymn no less, managed to slowly close Ruppel¡¯s eyes in a peaceful slumber.


    ¡­As if he was in the comforting embrace of his mother.


    < 162. Yet Another Beginning (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 309 - 163. The Ariana Family -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Hilda was currently riding in the carriage, a pouting expression dominating her face.


    With her arms across her chest, she was muttering away in clear displeasure, ¡°Didn¡¯t get to hunt a vampire. Didn¡¯t even get a chance to stuff a lycan, either! With things like this, what¡¯s the point of even going there?¡±


    The leader of the dwarves sitting on the carriage driver¡¯s seat, Belrog, could only chuckle wryly at her complaints. ¡®Yup, she¡¯s sulking again.¡¯


    The Imperial Capital of Laurensis had suffered a large-scale invasion from the vampires. According to the report, around five hundred Progenitors and over fifty thousand undead had initiated a massive war.


    Most importantly of all, even the Vampire King had shown up, which could only mean that the vampires were dead serious about bringing down the Holy Emperor this time.


    Too bad for the undead, though¡­


    ¡®They failed.¡¯


    Hilda and the dwarves quickly got ready to mobilise, but then, on their way to the Imperial Capital, they were greeted by the news of the situation already being sorted out.


    Which meant that the combat force headed to the capital as military support ended up being a supply corps going there to help out with the reconstruction efforts, instead.


    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t this more preferable, Your Highness? The war concluding quickly means the citizens will have suffered less losses overall. Indeed, this is a better result, ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. I shall agree with that sentiment.¡±


    The corners of Hilda¡¯s lips curled up as if she felt buoyed by the idea.


    Belrog guffawed loudly at her reaction. Her swaying emotions swinging back and forth was like watching a cute daughter unable to make up her mind, at least in his eyes.


    ¡°¡­Mm?¡±


    It was at that moment that he witnessed a large procession of carriages traversing the road heading to the city of Laurensis. But it didn¡¯t look like a regular noble escort party to him.


    There were dozens of knights and a thousand-plus soldiers accompanying them.


    Belrog instantly tensed up. Why was a large scale combat force heading to the empire¡¯s capital at this delicate time?


    However, he quickly changed his mind after finally noticing the crests etched on the carriages in the front of the caravan.


    The crest of a shield and a spear overlapped together¡­ That belonged to the Kingdom of Frants, a nation allied to the Theocratic Empire.


    Belrog tilted his head while looking at the procession. ¡°The Kingdom of Frants? And not only that, those carriages belong to the royal court, too¡­ No, hang on. Is that the kingdom¡¯s royal army? If they are from the Frants royal court, then could they be Lady Hilda¡¯s¡­?¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    Hilda shoved Belrog¡¯s head down and peeked her head outside. Her face brightened in an instant.


    The procession belonging to the Kingdom of Frants had also discovered Hilda¡¯s carriage and came to a stop.


    Hilda jumped out from her vehicle and stared intently at the front, watching the door to the Frants royal family¡¯s carriage open.


    A beautiful middle-aged woman with striking red hair and equally red eyes stepped down from the vehicle.


    Hilda¡¯s expression brightened even further at this woman¡¯s appearance.


    The royal family of Frants kingdom enjoyed very close diplomatic ties with the Theocratic Empire. And that was because¡­


    ¡°Mother!¡±


    This woman was Runan Ariana, the descendant of the Frants royal family, as well as the younger sister of the kingdom¡¯s current king, Zayner Frants.


    Also, she was Hilda¡¯s mother and Crown Imperial Prince White Olfolse¡¯s wife, as well.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    ¡°Gee whiz, why are there so many of them?¡±


    I was sitting inside the Imperial Palace¡¯s office. It had been ten days since the vampire war had come to an end.


    As if to reflect the extensive damage caused by the vampires, there were literally mountains of documents piled up in front of my eyes.


    Charlotte was standing next to me to provide much-needed mental support, while Alice and Hans were bringing in more and more piles of documents inside the office while grunting away from all the hard labour.


    ¡°¡­Hang on, am I supposed to deal with them all by myself?!¡± I shot a glare filled with dissatisfaction at Charlotte.


    She picked up one of the documents resting on top of the desk and scanned its contents before smiling wryly back at me. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped, sire. If we do not deal with them as soon as possible, the citizens will experience much difficulty.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess it really can¡¯t be helped in that case. But I gotta tell you now, I only picked up some stuff by watching the others take care of this sort of stuff, so there¡¯s no guarantee that I can do this properly.¡±


    ¡°Nothing is more important than putting in your maximum effort, sire.¡±


    Man, it really sucked to not even get a brief break¡­


    I spat out a long groan, and with a crumpled expression, stared at the piles of documents.


    It was true that the damages suffered this time were quite extensive. Only after we finished taking care of the reconstruction could we hold something like a celebratory banquet or parties or even go on a lengthy vacation.


    Uh? Hang on a second here.


    ¡°¡­There¡¯s some stuff about Aslan here, too?¡±


    Not just any document, but a direct appeal made to me, no less.


    Aslan was currently unstable; after conquering it, I basically had abandoned it to its own devices to come here. And that left the place in a lot of chaos.


    As it was an emergency situation, Charlotte had to bring a portion of the troops originally dispatched to Aslan along with her, and the remaining few Priests were left in charge of the temporary management of the kingdom down south.


    It was unsurprising to see the dissatisfaction of the Aslan citizens flaring up. Wanting to stop that festering any further, and also hoping to get a hold of the situation somehow, I temporarily handed ruling authority over to Tina, but then the surviving nobility began raising a ruckus instead.


    They were arguing about how a queen who lost her throne could get to rule them again.


    These idiots, they didn¡¯t seem to know what ¡®temporary¡¯ even meant.


    ¡°Sire, once you¡¯re finished here, you must urgently return to Aslan to handle the outstanding matters on that side, as well. That is Your Majesty¡¯s personal territory, after all,¡± said Charlotte.


    ¡°¡­How come things are getting even more hectic for me after I got rid of the damn vampires? I bloody knew it. Governance isn¡¯t something I should get involved in.¡± I rested my forehead in my hand, then pretended to be staggering unsteadily. ¡°Urgh, I feel so lightheaded right now. Can you deliver some of these documents over to my older brother, Luan? Thanks.¡±


    I pointed at some piles of the documents.


    Charlotte made a surprised face. ¡°Your Majesty, are you alright?¡±


    I was lying. Sure, I did suffer from the aftermaths of summoning Metatron, but that suffering amounted to me being confined to a sickbed for three days straight, that¡¯s all.


    Right, I only briefly suffered from a bout of murderous muscle aches and strong fever. Nothing I couldn¡¯t handle, really.


    And now, I was no longer under the side effects of the summoning process. However, I did enjoy seeing Charlotte¡¯s flustered reactions, so I was just messing with her here. ¡°The lightheadedness from summoning the Archangel is still sticking around, you know? I think it might get in the way of doing my job.¡±


    Charlotte worriedly shifted her gaze over to Alice. But the latter smiled wryly and glanced back at me.


    She then shook her head. ¡°There is no problem with His Majesty. Even if you wish to dump the responsibility on His Highness the First Imperial Prince, he too is resting from overwork right now. It¡¯s not possible to saddle him with more work at the moment, sire.¡±


    As expected of a healer. Faking illness wouldn¡¯t work on her.


    I pushed my chair back and leaned against the wall behind me. A small commotion could be heard coming through the window so I turned my head to take a look.


    Jars containing holy water were being carried out from the Imperial Palace to be loaded onto the waiting wagons so that they could be distributed to the citizens. Probably to treat the injured, or those who had contracted the plague and other illnesses, I figured.


    ¡°I wonder, will doing that be alright?¡±


    I didn¡¯t mind treating the citizens. Actually, I welcomed it. I mean, we had more than enough holy water to go around, after all.


    My issue with this idea, though, was with the fact that that holy water was mine. I created it. We might have a hard-to-deal-with situation on our hands later if we carelessly distributed my holy water to the citizens.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine, sire. Everyone will grow to worship and look up to you, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡­Hey, Charlotte? You do know what you just said was very dangerous and quite frightening, right?


    She knew what my holy water could potentially do, yet she still said such things.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to become a loaded bum, not the leader of a cult, you know?¡±


    Just imagine every single person in the capital morphing into zealots that focused only on me. Now that was as creepy as hell.


    In a way, this was like my ten thousand troops plan was proceeding along swimmingly without my knowledge.


    ¡°Still, it¡¯s not like everyone will Awaken, so there¡¯s that.¡±


    In the case of the northern region, the convicts were constantly exposed to danger, so they ended up Awakening in order to survive. The former slaves of Aslan became monks through Damon¡¯s intense training, while I hadn¡¯t heard any notable news coming out of Lome kingdom yet.


    The latter probably indicated that it would be hard for regular folks to experience Awakening without training.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to continue with the ten thousand troops plan a bit later.¡±


    When I said that, Charlotte looked at me in surprise. ¡°Your Majesty? You¡¯re still planning to go through with that, sire?¡±


    ¡°Of course. You are supposed to prepare for war during the peaceful times, you know? We shouldn¡¯t let our guard down just because the vampires lost their foundation for establishing their kingdom of blood. Most importantly¡­¡± I placed my elbow on the bookshelf and rested my head on my hand. ¡°The Vampire King is still alive, after all.¡±

 Chapter 310 - 163. The Ariana Family -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    In the end, Emperor Kelt had failed to chase the fleeing Vampire King down.


    That enraged the old man greatly, and he proceeded to imprison all the surviving vampires down in the underground labyrinth to, uh, indulge in his favourite pastime for the past few days.


    We got our hands on a Duke-class this time, too, so he probably was trying out all sorts of experiments on that poor vampire by now.


    I was deeply curious about why that vampire named Kirum was trying to rescue Ruppel in the first place. What was he trying to achieve by saving the Second Imperial Prince, who was already at death¡¯s doorstep?


    There was one other point that left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth too, and that was the Duke-class vampire¡¯s reactions.


    {Just what have you done to him?! That, that was practically the same thing as contradicting your own gods, the one you claim to care so much about! Just what kind of experiments did you even¡­!}


    That guy was roaring at the top of his lungs.


    I couldn¡¯t tell whether this guy had misplaced a few of his screws after drinking too much holy water, or he just wanted to reject his current reality.


    I had been to the underground labyrinth a few times before, but I had never tried to check out Ruppel¡¯s situation on my own.


    ¡°Hey, Hans?¡± Hans was perusing documents, and looked away from them to stare at me. I narrowed my eyes and asked him, ¡°Just what did you do to Second Imperial Prince Ruppel?¡±


    He flinched a little, then his eyes darted around urgently. His expression showed how troubled he was right now. ¡°Ah, that, well¡­ H-His Imperial Majesty said it was simply an experiment, sire.¡±


    ¡°Simply an experiment? What kind?¡±


    ¡°Using the blood of the Imperial Family to, uh¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay? Using it for what?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The more I questioned him, the deeper Hans shrunk back.


    Judging from his irises trembling like that, he seemed to be hesitating about something here.


    Even I could tell that the Holy Emperor had done something other than pure torture to Ruppel. Knowing that only made me much more suspicious.


    I glared at Hans and pressured him through this weighty silence, but other than breaking out in buckets of cold sweat, he didn¡¯t say anything.


    This punk, he seemed to have learned how to keep his mouth shut after becoming a Count recently.


    It was right then that knocks on the door broke the silence.


    Charlotte opened the office¡¯s door and found a Paladin there; I could see him whispering something into her ear.


    She blinked her eyes a few times at the report, before her brows shot up in surprise.


    She quickly walked up to me and quietly informed me of the news. ¡°Your Majesty. The members of the House Ariana seem to have arrived in the Imperial Palace.¡±


    ¡°¡­House Ariana?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s one of the blood descendants of the royal family of the Kingdom of Frants. The head of the Duke House, Duchess Runan Ariana, has arrived in the palace, sire.¡±


    ¡°¡­Ah, now I remember.¡±


    Harman had handed over a list of the Imperial Family tree to me in the past, and that name was on it. She was Hilda¡¯s mother, the younger sister of Zayner Frants, the current King of Frants, and the third wife of the Crown Imperial Prince, White Olfolse.


    I couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback.


    This vampire incident must¡¯ve been a huge deal, that¡¯s for sure.


    ¡°To think that a lady who didn¡¯t even bother to show up for the execution of the Third Imperial Prince or the coronation of the Holy King decided to come for this one.¡±


    From what I could remember hearing, the Third Imperial Princess Consort was an extremely strong-willed individual, who could become unhealthily obsessed over something.


    She was apparently very close to my own mother, Yulisia the First Imperial Princess Consort, even treating her like a real sister. On the other hand, she was practically a hated rival to the Second Imperial Princess Consort, Rose Darina.


    She also deeply hated Rose¡¯s son, Ruppel, and the rumour also said that she was less than keen to associate herself with me, who had acted like a damn mangnani and dragged Yulisia¡¯s good name through the mud.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not true, Your Majesty. Rather, it¡¯s more like she¡¯s unable to leave the kingdom on her personal authority,¡± said Charlotte. When I stared back at her, she lightly scratched her cheek and continued on, ¡°The area where the vampires have been most active in our continent has always been the Kingdom of Frants, sire. And that¡¯s why she¡­¡±


    Charlotte blurred the end of her sentence.


    I tilted my head a little.


    ¡°¡­She has been personally conducting the vampire hunt, and that duty has kept her incredibly busy until now, sire. At least that¡¯s to my knowledge.¡±


    After hearing her brief explanation, my thoughts began wandering a bit.


    These vampires. Weren¡¯t they more like a bunch of pitiful bastards who couldn¡¯t call any place home?


    ¡°Even though she¡¯s not one of the Imperial Family?¡± I asked back.


    ¡°Although the territory of the Kingdom of Frants territory is small, they are renowned as the second most active vampire hunting nation, sire. In actual reality, they have three times more vampire incidents, compared to the Empire.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why, according to my knowledge, His Imperial Majesty the Holy Emperor went ahead with the political marriage, believing that she was quite a good fit as an Imperial Princess Consort. The report I received says that she came to Laurensis this time to provide military assistance.¡±


    I interlocked my fingers and leaned back against the chair. ¡°Meaning, she¡¯s just like my older sister, Hilda. A tough, powerful lady, in other words.¡±


    As she was literally a famous hero, she probably came here to command the troops and help beat the vampire menace back.


    Well, as expected of Hilda¡¯s mother.


    I got up from the chair. ¡°¡­I guess I better keep a low profile for a while.¡±


    There was no doubt in my mind that Runan Ariana the Third Imperial Princess Consort and I were not compatible. Like, not at all.


    Even if my public reputation had improved a great deal of late, a person¡¯s emotions weren¡¯t all that easy to change, after all.


    ¡°Sire, well¡­ I think it¡¯s already too late for that.¡± Charlotte sighed softly, then pointed towards the office¡¯s doorway. That¡¯s when I noticed a certain young woman peeking her head a little into the office and waving her hand at me.


    ¡°¡­Eh? Is that First Sister Hilda?¡±


    That was the first thought popping up in my head after looking at the woman¡¯s face. But then, I realised they were different.


    From the vibe she gave off, and even to her expressions¡­


    In a distinctively contrasting manner to Hilda, this woman¡¯s expression was quite lively with a hint of mischievousness, while her overall vibe came across as rather gentle and easy-going.


    ¡°Hi, Allen. It sure has been a while!¡±


    The young woman stepped into the office without waiting for my permission.


    I urgently used my [Mind¡¯s Eye] to confirm her name, then called out to her, ¡°Seran?¡±


    She was the daughter of Crown Imperial Prince White, and also my older sister, Seran Ariana.


    ¡°I came with Marvel and Marcel to pay you a visit, Allen!¡± The young woman, Seran, looked behind her. That was when I saw a pair of twins standing beyond the open doorway.


    No matter how I looked, they looked like teenagers no more than fourteen or fifteen years of age.


    Their names were Marvel Ariana and Marcel Ariana.


    The twin brothers were shooting very sharp glares in my direction, all the while looking way too uncomfortable right now, too.


    Hang on a minute, they were my older brothers? Really?


    Even though their surname was Ariana, they were still seen as the Second Imperial Princess, and the Fourth and the Fifth Imperial Princes of the Theocratic Empire.


    ¡°Can we chat for a little while?¡±


    When Seran said that with a carefree smile on her face, I ended up holding my forehead.


    **


    Meanwhile¡­


    Harman and a company of Paladins were currently pursuing the escaped Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel.


    They reached the coordinates from the damaged warp magic circle that Hans had reconstructed. It was in the middle of a forest quite a distance away from Laurensis.


    Harman bent down and picked up a burnt torch. Another Paladin was running his hand on the nearby grass. ¡°Sir. There are traces of wild animals. There are also some faint but definite bloodstains here, as well.¡±


    ¡°Either he got devoured by the animals, or someone picked him up. Is that it?¡± After saying that, Harman looked around. He could see an unpaved road not too far from their position.


    That path was infrequently used by people, due to many ferocious wild beasts appearing in this location. Most travellers tried to avoid using this road in the past. However, there were two important things to consider for this road: one, it was fairly close to the capital, and two, the recent war against the vampires caused considerable confusion and chaos, prompting many travellers and even refugees to use it to flee.


    ¡®It¡¯s not possible for the Second Imperial Prince to escape from here all by himself.¡¯


    From what Harman heard, Ruppel¡¯s mind was so damaged that he couldn¡¯t have possibly moved on his own volition, not to mention the extensive damage to his physical body, as well.


    Which meant that either vampires, or some other travellers, took him away.


    Harman massaged his forehead before groaning under his breath. ¡°This is going to get real troublesome, trying to track him down.¡±


    In all honesty, he might as well come out and say that there was no real way to track him down in the first place.


    ¡°What should we do now, sir?¡± the Paladin asked him.


    Harman groaned again. ¡°Call the Verdant Cross. We shall do our best to pursue our quarry. Thoroughly analyse and investigate everyone who might have travelled on the road over there in the last ten days. Also, uncover anyone who might have travelled past the nearby villages in that time frame, as well.¡±


    He locked his gaze on the withered, burnt torch.


    ¡°We must track Ruppel down no matter what it takes.¡±


    < 163. The Ariana Family -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 311 - 164. The Ariana Family -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Emperor Kelt¡¯s heart was not at peace.


    The most worrisome existence he had met in his entire life¡­ That was the King of all Vampires, Vlandmir. Yet he couldn¡¯t catch the one existence that could truly threaten the Theocratic Empire.


    And that wasn¡¯t even the end of the story; a delegation from the Kingdom of Frants was standing right before his eyes, as well.


    Their justification was to provide military support against the vampire invasion, but truth be told, that was more like an excuse.


    ¡°Mm¡­¡±


    White¡¯s wife, Runan Ariana. A woman who never left the territory of Frants actually came to see Kelt like this.


    She was wearing a gorgeous red dress, while a rapier was hanging from her waist. She bowed elegantly and greeted the Holy Emperor according to established custom. ¡°I am grateful that you deigned to meet this one despite your busy schedule, Your Imperial Majesty.¡±


    His busy schedule, she said. She was right about that.


    Kelt was stuck in a seemingly-endless loop of taking care of all the neglected documents that had piled up during the daytime, while at night, he used the vampires to let off some steam.


    Since some stability had returned to the Theocratic Empire, his tightly-wound mind was slowly relaxing, but now that he was seeing Runan like this, a lengthy drawn-out sigh automatically escaped from his lips.


    ¡°Raphael,¡± Kelt muttered softly.


    Cardinal Raphael quietly bowed, and as befitting a man with quick wits, he had all the retainers currently present in the Imperial Audience Chamber leave.


    Paladins, members of the nobility and even the clergymen left the chamber, and once the last person was gone, the doorway was firmly closed shut behind them.


    Only Emperor Kelt sitting on the throne, as well as Raphael and Oscal standing on either side of him, remained behind.


    Emperor Kelt, waiting in silence until everyone was gone, finally opened his lips. ¡°There must¡¯ve been a reason for the one charged with the protection of Frants to come this far. Now I ask of you, what could be that reason?¡±


    ¡°We were informed that the vampires had invaded, Your Imperial Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that did happen. And unfortunately for us, we failed to completely root them out.¡±


    They did manage to hurt the vampires quite badly. Not just Duke Duran, but even Duke Kirum and another Duke with a lion¡¯s head were killed off, while almost three hundred of the original group of five hundred Progenitors were slaughtered without mercy. Around fifty of them had been captured alive and were being used as lab rats in magic research and experiments.


    However, Second Imperial Prince Ruppel went missing during the commotion, which unfortunately meant that Kelt wouldn¡¯t get to see the end of his little experiment. Still, that creature¡¯s mind had basically become an invalid by now, while his physical body had been rendered mostly useless, so even if Ruppel managed to survive somehow, he¡¯d be weaker than a blood-creation.


    That matter shouldn¡¯t pose too much of an issue.


    But now that Runan had personally travelled from the Kingdom of Frants to meet him like this, there had to be yet another grave threat on the horizon.


    Runan Ariana spoke up, ¡°The Vampire King has been defeated, true. But it was he who acted as the restraining hand on the vampires. There can be no other, more threatening existences to innocent citizens than soldiers abandoning their defeated army, Your Majesty.¡±


    Indeed, the Vampire King had been reining in the Progenitors up until now. But now that central pillar of control had broken down, all the other vampires dispersed throughout the continent would no doubt start behaving in unhinged manners.


    Kelt¡¯s expression remained indifferent even after hearing her, however.


    What she said just now wasn¡¯t what he wanted to hear from her. There was no way Runan chose to come this far to say something that Kelt already knew.


    He kept his gaze locked on her and asked, ¡°What did King Zayner see this time?¡±


    The Kingdom of Frants was on paper, an allied nation, but in actual reality, it was more like a vassal state that had been serving the Theocratic Empire for a long time. That was especially true with a certain arrangement where the Royal Family of Frants would sometimes inform the Imperial Family of some important matters.


    And that would be¡­


    ¡°Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. He has indeed seen something.¡± Runan bowed her head lightly, before raising it back up to hold Kelt¡¯s gaze on her. ¡°He has witnessed this world being led to its ultimate destruction.¡±


    ¡­The king¡¯s ability to look into the future through the Divine Aura he possessed, called [Foresight].


    Kelt¡¯s eyes widened in an instant. ¡°Ultimate destruction, you say¡­? Despite the defeat and retreat of the Vampire King?!¡±


    ¡°A rat pushed to a corner is bound to bite back even more ferociously, Your Majesty.¡±


    Kelt¡¯s face crumpled and his complexion grew flushed from his rage. Sparks erupted from his body, and the throne began breaking down.


    He shot to his feet, and while rubbing his temples, he tried very hard to maintain his rationale. ¡°I should not have allowed that bastard to escape!¡±


    ¡°This destiny isn¡¯t one we can avoid simply by killing the Vampire King, Your Majesty. No, that would¡¯ve only made it worse,¡± Runan replied, causing Kelt¡¯s brows to furrow deeply.


    Even as he listened to her, strength seeped out of his legs and he nearly faltered to the floor. Raphael quickly supported him.


    Kelt worked quite hard to calm his mind, then looked back at Runan. ¡°Let me ask you again, oh Duchess of Frants, and Crown Imperial Princess Consort of the Theocratic Empire.¡± He managed to get a grip on his emotions and continued to speak, ¡°The ultimate destruction will still occur even with my presence?¡±


    ¡°In the future we have witnessed¡­ Your Majesty the Holy Emperor was nowhere to be seen.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s not a distant future, but something quite close.¡± Runan quietly closed her eyes, then bowed deeply. ¡°Informing you of this news was the true purpose of this trip, Your Majesty.¡±


    Kelt was stupefied by what he had heard. But that state lasted only for a little while, and the corners of his lips gradually curled up.


    His shoulders began quivering all of a sudden, and eventually, he guffawed out loudly. ¡°So, that¡¯s how it is. I won¡¯t be around when that happens, is that it!¡±


    He laughed as if he felt truly refreshed by the revelation.


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s supposedly the destruction of our world, there is still a way to stop it. And that¡¯s why you have come here, is it not?¡± While asking that, Kelt settled back down on the damaged throne. A pleased smile remained on his lips as he continued on. ¡°I see. You came here to tell me that I should just entrust the task to the next generation.¡±


    Runan wordlessly bowed.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard the message of the King of Frants loud and clear. Tell him that I¡¯m much obliged.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Your Majesty.¡±


    Kelt slowly rubbed his chin.


    He was just told of his own impending death. The message said that his life would be over in the near future, and he¡¯d disappear from this world.


    But rather than be worried or scared, he felt quite refreshed, instead. As a matter of fact, it felt like he had been liberated.


    ¡®I guess the only remaining thing now is to die peacefully and head to the Heavenly World.¡¯


    The world of the gods where only ones free of sin could enter. He didn¡¯t have many days left until leaving this world for the Heavenly World.


    However, he still had something left to do before that. His life didn¡¯t have much time left, so shouldn¡¯t he try to enjoy it to its fullest?


    ¡°Raphael.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty?¡± Raphael smiled bitterly as he looked back at Kelt.


    But the Holy Emperor was making a benevolent face, instead. ¡°Prepare for a trip for me.¡±


    ¡°¡­May I ask, to where, sire?¡±


    Kelt had spent the majority of his life inside the Imperial Palace. Now, time had come for him to leave all of this behind.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of going on a journey, Raphael. I¡¯d like to tour the peaceful Aslan, the one not mired in conflict. And I¡¯d like to see the Kingdom of Lome no longer gripped by a civil war. Finally¡­¡± Kelt pondered for a little while, then continued on. ¡°I wish to head to the Queendom of Aihrance, where an old acquaintance of mine is waiting for me.¡±


    His grandson had achieved all those feats. He wanted to take them all in with his own eyes.


    ¡°A short vacation, in other words. Isn¡¯t it fine for me to go on one? Raphael?¡±


    When Kelt casually asked that, Raphael silently bowed his head in agreement.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    ¡°It¡¯s just as I remembered. The Theocratic Empire is truly a wonderful place, isn¡¯t it? Our home back in Frants is also nice, but you can tell that this place is so much better, with how vibrant the citizens are.¡±


    With a bright smile on her face, Seran Ariana was roaming around the streets of Laurensis. I was following closely behind her, while hiding my face under a hood.


    My twin older brothers glared at me for a second before chasing after Seran.


    ¡°Most importantly, just take a look at the expressions of the subjects! Look how bright and lively they are. It has to be because His Majesty the Holy Emperor and you, Allen.¡± Seran looked back at me and smiled brightly.


    Charlotte was walking along with us, making a deeply troubled and uncertain face. Her face was also well-known, so she had to hide herself under a thick hood as well. She urgently walked up to Seran and whispered to her, ¡°Your Highness¡­ You must act more cautiously around here, ma¡¯am. As Lady Seran is His Majesty the Holy King¡¯s older sister, there is your station to consider¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. Allen¡¯s now the Holy King, isn¡¯t he?¡± Seran shifted her gaze over to me, then lowered her head. ¡°Should I be more respectful towards you, Your Royal Majesty?¡±

 Chapter 312 - : 164. The Ariana Family -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The passersby on the same avenue began paying us more of their attention at her theatrical display. I pulled my hood even deeper, while the bright grin on Seran¡¯s face grew even brighter.


    [Name: Seran Ariana.


    Age: 23


    Attributes: Benevolent, can be very mischievous, a high degree of empathy, outstanding swordsmanship, Foresight.


    + The end of the world is approaching us.]


    Now those were rather concerning attributes, alright. Foresight and the end of the world?


    Those two bits weren¡¯t included in the characteristics of Seran that Harman had told me in the past. Even the story with these twin older brothers of mine were in the same vein as well.


    Marvel and Marcel. These two looked way younger than me, and they boasted several rather unique attributes on top of their odd appearances.


    Never mind the ¡®Outstanding Swordsmanship¡¯ bit found on both of their attributes, they also possessed [Visual Hallucination] and [Auditory Hallucination], plus the [Elf¡¯s Protection].


    I quickly waved my hand at Seran. ¡°You don¡¯t have to mind the etiquette when we¡¯re not acting in an official capacity. That will only make me rather uncomfortable, actually.¡±


    ¡°You see? I got his permission.¡± Seran brushed Charlotte hair all of a sudden, only to gasp out in surprise, then began earnestly stroking the latter¡¯s silver hair. ¡°Oh my goodness me! Look how beautiful your hair is. I want to brush it like Sister Hilda¡¯s!¡±


    ¡°Sister, let¡¯s just go back to the Imperial Palace.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right, sister. It¡¯s dangerous outside, and we don¡¯t even have any escorts with us,¡± Marcel and Marvel chimed in just then.


    Wowsers, these two¡­ They looked and acted exactly the same. Sure, they might be twins, but even then they didn¡¯t show any hint of individual personalities. Like, none at all.


    ¡°If you¡¯re worried about escorts, don¡¯t we already have this lady knight with us?¡± Seran replied while still stroking Charlotte¡¯s hair, and the latter was now looking at me with the slightly flustered expression of someone who couldn¡¯t figure out how to respond in a situation like this one.


    ¡°More than anything else¡­¡± Seran then locked her gaze on me. ¡°We have the most secure escort in His Majesty the Holy King, don¡¯t we?¡±


    The twins shot a pair of sharp glares in my way when she brought me up.


    ¡°What can a mangnani like him even do?¡±


    ¡°Sure, there are lots of rumours about him, but is he really that strong, anyway?¡±


    From the look of it, the twins seemed to find me as an eyesore.


    I shrugged my shoulders, then looked back at the two shorties and retorted, ¡°At the very least, I¡¯m stronger than you two older brothers.¡±


    ¡°What was that?!¡±


    ¡°This punk, is he trying to pick a fight just because he¡¯s now the Holy King?¡±


    The twins instantly exploded in dissatisfaction.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get too cocky just because you¡¯re the Holy King, got that?!¡±


    ¡°We also are eligible to become the next Holy Emperor if we want to. Don¡¯t you forget that!¡±


    I lightly patted the two on their shoulders, then looked to my left. ¡°Please do that for me, Brother Marcel.¡± And then, I turned my head to my right. ¡°You too, Brother Marvel. Honestly speaking, I¡¯m more than satisfied by my current position of the Holy King, you see.¡±


    Marvel and Marcel flinched noticeably.


    Seran stared at me with a shocked face. ¡°You can actually tell them apart?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just relying on my gut feeling.¡±


    The twins piped up at the same time, ¡°It has to be a coincidence!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. There¡¯s no way he can accurately tell. Hey, you. Try to guess who¡¯s Marvel and Marcel again. If you get it right, we¡¯ll give you a present.¡±


    ¡°A present, you say?¡±


    That sure pricked my curiosity just then.


    The twins heroically nodded away.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯ll show you a visual hallucination.¡±


    ¡°And we can even let you hear an auditory hallucination, too.¡±


    Holy cow, really? Just looking at them like this was already making my head spin, yet what else did they have in store?


    Seran was giggling away behind us as if she too found this scene rather amusing.


    ¡°Alright, now. Close your eyes.¡±


    I groaned, then closed both of my eyes. The sounds of shuffling footsteps came to me next. Yup, they were switching positions, weren¡¯t they?


    ¡°All done.¡±


    I heard one of the twins speak, so I opened my eyes.


    The twins were silently, intently staring back at me. But why did they look so expectant for some reason?


    I dismissively pointed to right, then left, while speaking up. ¡°Brother Marvel, then Brother Marcel. The end.¡±


    The expressions of the twins stiffened up, because it was the correct answer.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s a coincidence.¡±


    ¡°R-right. It has to be. A coincidence.¡±


    I drilled my knuckles on top of their heads. ¡°Please stop behaving like kids.¡±


    ¡°Who you calling kids here?!¡±


    ¡°Us two are perfectly fine adults, we¡¯ll have you know!¡±


    ¡°But don¡¯t you two act and speak like a couple of kids all the time?¡± I continued to drill my knuckles on their noggins while chuckling away.


    Seran looked even more impressed. ¡°That¡¯s amazing. Neither mother nor I can tell them apart, you know?¡±


    I looked back at her. ¡°Even though you are family?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Despite us being family, we just can¡¯t. I mean, they are far too similar to each other, aren¡¯t they? Their personalities, manner of speech, even their actions. I can perceive who¡¯s who to a degree, but even then, I get it wrong plenty of times.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Well, that¡¯s not that surprising, since I cheated a bit and figured it out through my [Mind¡¯s Eye].


    I groaned at length again and replied to her, ¡°In any case, let¡¯s keep going. Let me introduce to you a rather nice little eatery.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± Seran replied with that trademark bright smile of hers.


    The location I took the Ariana trio to was a bakery that happened to be quite famous in the capital.


    We settled down around a table. Charlotte wanted to stand next to us, but I forced her to sit down, then ordered a round of soup and some bread.


    Not too long after that, loaves of freshly baked savoury bread were brought out, and the scent of warm soup tickled our nostrils enticingly.


    Seran tasted the soup, then gave her impression, ¡°It¡¯s really good! I need to tell Sister Hilda later about this place.¡±


    She sounded quite impressed, but the twins were still shooting me some fierce glares even now.


    ¡°Try to guess again.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, who¡¯s Marvel and Marcel? Can you tell?¡±


    ¡°¡­Right is Marvel, left is Marcel.¡± I replied, causing the twins to clamp their mouths shut.


    I also noticed that their sharp glares had gotten a tad softer as well.


    Seran seemed to be amused by something, because with a warm smile, she began stroking the heads of the twins. ¡°Looks like your moods have improved a little. You were pouting so much at the prospect of meeting Allen again, too.¡±


    Huh. These two hated me that much?


    Charlotte leaned in and whispered quietly in my ear, ¡°Apparently, Your Majesty used to kick them and rough them up in the past. While saying that since they were so small, it was easy to bully them.¡±


    I keep thinking that all the time, but uh, Charlotte is one seriously quick-witted girl, isn¡¯t she?


    ¡°¡­These two. Are they really my older brothers? I mean, they are really small and all.¡±


    Everyone in the Imperial Family had accepted the story of me losing all of my memories by now. Asking a question like this shouldn¡¯t seem unnatural.


    ¡°From what I investigated, the twins have received the Elf¡¯s Protection, sire.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    The ¡®Elf¡¯s Protection¡¯.


    Apparently, the twins had freed an enslaved High Elf when they were much younger. As a sign of gratitude, the High Elf bestowed this Protection thing, which turned out to be the gift of extended youth.


    Huh. Nominally it was the ¡®gift¡¯ of youth, but to me, that sounded much closer to ¡®curse¡¯, instead.


    The physical and mental growth might slow down like an Elf¡¯s, but that didn¡¯t actually mean their lifespan had been extended or anything like that.


    The High Elf probably considered humanity¡¯s trait of seeking out ¡®youth¡¯ when handing out this gift, but to these two young ones, this was practically the same thing as returning kindness with a sucker punch to their guts, instead.


    I slowly rubbed my chin. Was that the reason why they looked and acted like children?


    By the way, why did Charlotte mean when I ¡®kicked and roughed¡¯ them up? ¡°Huh. What did I do to Sister Seran, then?¡±


    ¡°Apparently, there were incidents of Your Majesty trying to douse her with water, or knock the teacup out of her hands while she was trying to enjoy her tea.¡±


    ¡°I guess I really was a bastard back then.¡±


    Even then, I didn¡¯t sense one iota of animosity coming from Seran. Could she have treated all those terrible actions of her younger brother as nothing more than just some childish pranks?


    If true, then her attributes of ¡®Benevolence¡¯ and ¡®Empathy¡¯ made a lot of sense.


    It was right then that Charlotte continued with her explanation, ¡°I heard that she took that as an attempt at a prank, and got her revenge on you, Your Majesty. Like, uhm¡­ dumping you into a river, or lacing your tea with laxative, and¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Ah. So she was the type to get you back two or three times worse. As expected of Hilda¡¯s younger sister, I guess.


    While thinking that, I glanced at Charlotte. This kid, just how much did she investigate about me?


    Sure, it was fine to do a thorough investigation on all personnel for the sake of the Imperial Family¡¯s safety, but I was getting a bit scared by how excellent she was as a retainer.


    I shifted my gaze back to Seran while mulling on some of my petty dissatisfaction. ¡°May I ask the reason why you came to see me?¡±


    ¡°Ng? We just came to hang out with you, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Really?


    I was still thinking back to the [Foresight] and the [end of the world] bit from her Attribute Window. There was also the matter of the current grave atmosphere in the Imperial Palace to consider as well, which didn¡¯t seem to gel with the claim of the Ariana family coming here for a spot of fun.


    I decided to ask her directly. ¡°Could it be that you came to see me after something has happened in the Kingdom of Frants?¡±


    Seran visibly flinched. A bitter smile crept up on her lips next. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct. Actually, my mother came here for a specific reason, but my reason for seeking you out is wholly separate. We need your help.¡±


    ¡°When you say my help, does it concern the vampires?¡±


    ¡°Correct, but that is also a little bit wrong, too.¡± Seran put down the loaf of bread she had been chewing, then wordlessly stared at me for a long while. Then she bowed her head as her manner of speech suddenly changed, ¡°Seran Ariana, from the Ducal House Ariana affiliated with the Kingdom of Frants, officially requests the assistance of Your Majesty the Holy King.¡±


    Her head slowly rose back up.


    ¡°I beg of you to hunt the one abducting our subjects every night. The one referred to as The Farmer.¡±


    < 164. The Ariana Family -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 313 - 165. The Ariana Family -3 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    In the Dukedom of Ariana in the Kingdom of Frants, and more specifically, a rural village located somewhere in its outskirts¡­


    ¡°I beg your pardon? It¡¯s really so cheap?¡±


    The former merchant, Laurence, had returned to his hometown in the Kingdom of Frants. His actual place of birth was the capital city of Francis, but the price for a plot of land there was quite expensive. In the end, he decided to find a place to call home somewhere a little distance away from the capital in the Dukedom of Ariana, instead.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, you don¡¯t like it?¡± asked the village chief.


    Even though it was the rural outskirts, he had been expecting the land price to remain quite high, since they were still fairly close to the capital, but¡­ the price was not even half of what he had anticipated.


    Laurence was staring at the village chief before him. The old man in his seventies gave off a favourable impression, thanks to deep wrinkles lining up his face, but overall, he had the air of someone rather fastidious in character, as well.


    ¡°What I told you is indeed the price for a plot of land here. But if you don¡¯t like it, then well, nothing I can do about it.¡±


    Laurence could only stare at the village chief in some suspicion. He had been working as a merchant for a long time, so naturally suspicion was the first thing to pop in his head when facing an abnormal-sounding transaction like this one.


    He asked again, ¡°Is there a reason for the land price to be so low, perhaps?¡±


    ¡°The reason, you say? It¡¯s rather simple, actually.¡± The village chief sighed at length. ¡°That¡¯s because the Dukedom of Ariana has been beset with a few missing persons cases lately.¡±


    ¡°¡­Missing persons?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. Two, even three people go missing every single week. From what I hear, it¡¯s the handiwork of a bizarre demon called The Farmer.¡±


    Now that sounded very dangerous. He had finally learned the reason for such a low land price.


    When Laurence began displaying some hints of reluctance, the village chief glanced at him and continued on, ¡°If you aren¡¯t sure about it, then don¡¯t bother. You won¡¯t find anywhere where you can buy a piece of land this cheaply. I don¡¯t know if you are aware of it already, but the population of the Dukedom is well over one hundred and thirty thousand people. Do you know what that means?¡±


    The village chief pointed at Laurence, ¡°Incidents of dying from plagues or getting hurt during your job happens far more frequently than you think. And who knows, even the missing persons cases might actually be nothing more than people getting involved in those accidents.¡±


    1


    Certainly, such accidents did happen rather frequently when living fairly close to a city, and it was possible that this creature called The Farmer was nothing more than an imagined existence only found in baseless rumours, just like a demon from a fairy tale.


    ¡°So, what will you do?¡± the village chief asked again.


    Laurence¡¯s dilemma didn¡¯t last long. ¡°I will purchase it.¡±


    He revealed his intent to buy the land to the village chief, and was temporarily given a deserted house to stay for the night from the old man.


    ¡ª


    After the talk was over, he went to the deserted house, where his wife was waiting for him.


    ¡°Well, it certainly is derelict, isn¡¯t it?¡± Laurence muttered while inspecting the shabby deserted house.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Having a roof over our heads is already a relief, anyway.¡± his wife replied with a sing-song voice while carrying the baby in her embrace.


    He glanced at the child in question. The baby looked quite grotesque. Not only was his skin withered and cracked as if he had been burned alive, his physique was also unbelievably small.


    Laurence then looked at his wife¡¯s face. She was smiling contentedly while giving her all to care for this baby. She was unable to have children, and that perhaps made her treat this baby, randomly picked up from the forest by sheer chance, as her own child.


    ¡°Have you looked for a suitable child care institution, dear?¡± Laurence asked his wife, while sitting down on a spot opposite her.


    She nodded and replied, ¡°There¡¯s a church nearby. It was apparently created by Second Imperial Prince Ruppel Olfolse in the past.¡±


    ¡°¡­What, that traitor?¡±


    ¡°Dear, please be more mindful of what you say.¡±


    Laurence hurriedly clamped his mouth shut.


    His wife was right. You might get into big trouble later if you carelessly spoke ill of the higher-ups. Especially when they were the residents of the Empire¡¯s allied nation, the Kingdom of Frants.


    The wife continued on, ¡°The church is currently being supported by His Majesty the Holy King. I¡¯ll be working there from now on.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    Did she say she¡¯d be working there? She wasn¡¯t going to entrust the child there, instead?


    Laurence made a troubled face, but had to relax his expression a short while later after studying his wife. She was gently poking the baby while making a happy smile.


    Well, as long as she was feeling happy¡­


    Laurence got back up to his feet.


    She asked him in a puzzled voice, ¡°Where are you going, dear?¡±


    ¡°I only stopped by to see how you were doing, dear. The village chief said he¡¯d explain the lay of the land to me, and I also need to check out the plot of land we are planning to buy.¡±


    ¡°Even though it¡¯s already so late in the evening?¡±


    ¡°Well, what could possibly happen in a rural village like this?¡± Laurence reassured his wife. ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon. Don¡¯t wait up for me, dear.¡±


    3


    ¡°¡­Please be careful. I heard that the area nearby has become a lot scarier recently.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    1


    He left the house while thinking, a lot scarier recently? But there were over one hundred and thirty thousand people living in the Dukedom. The so-called missing persons cases frequently happening here should be no more serious than another routine occurrence to the commoners living in this day and age¡­


    ¡ª


    Laurence headed directly to the village¡¯s meeting hall, where the village chief was supposedly waiting for him.


    He knocked on the door, and the village chief wearing a strange-looking monkish attire opened the front door.


    The old man stepped aside, allowing Laurence to enter. The latter, initially puzzled by that strange get-up on the village chief, soon froze up stiff where he stood.


    ¡°Welcome, welcome. We were waiting for you.¡±


    Laurence¡¯s eyes took in the sight of other men standing behind the village chief. There were ten of them, and they too wore the similar priest-like garb as the chief.


    In the middle of them was a Rune inscribed in blood, and a naked man, tightly bound and gagged, was struggling away on top of that blood Rune.


    Laurence swallowed back nervously, then looked at the village chief.


    ¡°Welcome, Laurence. Unfortunately, you¡­¡±


    This old man, he¡­


    ¡°You must go to the ¡®underground world¡¯ for us.¡±


    ¡­He was a demon worshipper!


    Laurence hurriedly turned around only for a club held by another man standing behind to slam into his head.


    1


    He crashed to the floor and as his consciousness faded away, the village chief¡¯s voice entered his ears. ¡°From this moment on, you¡¯ll have to struggle with all your might to survive in the underworld.¡±


    A sinister grin was etched on the village chief¡¯s face as he looked down on the unmoving Laurence. ¡°Only then will our Lord Farmer be pleased, you see.¡±


    2


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    ¡°The ¡®Farmer¡¯, you say?¡±


    I stared at Seran while munching on the bread.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s what we call it. No, wait. That¡¯s what the villagers living near the area are calling it, actually.¡±


    I crossed my arms and asked her. ¡°Could it be that we¡¯re dealing with a vampire in disguise of a regular person? If that¡¯s the case, then it¡¯ll be tough, even for me. It¡¯s practically impossible to scan all those people and¡­¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it.¡± Seran shook her head left to right. ¡°This vampire isn¡¯t in the disguise of a person.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    She pulled out a rolled up parchment from her inner pocket, then pushed it towards me. I took a look at the unfurled document, and discovered a drawing on it.


    It depicted a monster with a bald head and not a single speck of hair, lengthy and spindly fingers, a long and hooked nose, and finally some very large ears.


    It kind of reminded me of an overgrown goblin, if I was honest. What was this, though?


    ¡°It¡¯s the appearance of The Farmer,¡± said Seran.


    ¡°¡­Well, that¡¯s a very good drawing, I have to say.¡±


    ¡°You think so? I drew it, actually.¡± Seran sat up tall and proud. It seemed that she was rather talented in art, as well.


    I continued to stare at her. ¡°However, if it doesn¡¯t even resemble a regular person, shouldn¡¯t it be easy to hunt this thing down? If that¡¯s not the case, could it be that the creature is unexpectedly strong¡­?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know if it¡¯s really that strong. No one has seen it before, after all.¡±


    What a contradictory story this was turning out to be. No one had clapped their eyes on it before, yet a drawing like this existed?


    Seran put the parchment down on the table and kept pushing it towards me. ¡°The Farmer never reveals itself in the open. Even then, people still get abducted and get confined underground.¡±


    ¡°What is the method of the abduction?¡±


    ¡°Some humans worship this creature and serve its needs.¡±


    Huh. Were they like vampire worshippers, then?


    ¡°What do they do with the abducted victims?¡±


    ¡°They make the victims fight each other.¡±


    I furrowed my brow at that.


    ¡°That monster refers to this process as ¡®farming¡¯. It confines people underground, makes them fight each other, and then devours the survivors. Something like¡­ harvesting its farm produce.¡±


    ¡°¡­That sounds like a terrible hobby, then.¡±


    ¡°You know what vampires are like. Although, we don¡¯t even know whether it¡¯s a vampire or not.¡±


    1

 Chapter 314 - 165. The Ariana Family -3 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    I picked up the parchment.


    Okay, so to organise what Seran had told me so far: she had not seen this creature called The Farmer herself, and not only that, she couldn¡¯t even find its traces, so she came to me for my help.


    However, she also knew about the creature¡¯s characteristics, which made her request sound rather contradictory.


    I looked deeply at her, but that bright smile remained on her face even now.


    I gave out a lengthy groan and replied, ¡°For the time being, I shall dispatch people I trust as advanced scouts.¡±


    If the target was hiding underground, then even I had no way of locating the sucker. Meaning that I needed someone to go first and search the area until they found the creature.


    ¡°And then, I shall dispatch the Crimson Cross, as well.¡±


    Since they were the number one group of people when it came to hunting down vampires, they should handle this matter well, without any potential blowback.


    Seran looked surprised at what I said and asked, looking clearly flustered. ¡°You are not going to help us personally?¡±


    ¡°But sister, this isn¡¯t a matter where I should step in personally, now is it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s going to be troublesome for us, though.¡±


    I looked at her, feeling a bit puzzled by her reply.


    ¡°You must personally get involved. I¡¯ll directly lodge a request to His Majesty the Holy Emperor later, so please accompany us back to Frants.¡±


    ¡°Is there a reason why I must get directly involved?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard all the rumours about you, but it¡¯s difficult to make judgements based purely from some rumours, you know? I want to witness your true strength with my own eyes. To find out if you¡¯re really strong as they say.¡±


    You know, something about this conversation sounded like we were not exactly on the same wavelength here. It felt like some important information had been left out.


    I tapped on the parchment and asked her again. ¡°Could it be there¡¯s something else besides the Farmer that you¡¯re not telling me? If so, you gotta tell me first. Otherwise I will not help you.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Seran suddenly went quiet.


    The twins cautiously studied my mood before chiming in.


    ¡°Allen, we can¡¯t tell you that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Even His Imperial Majesty the Holy Emperor doesn¡¯t know about¡­¡±


    It was then that Seran suddenly sucked in a deep breath. ¡°No, I¡¯ll tell you. You¡¯ll come to know about it sooner or later, anyway. As the member of the Ariana family, Seran Ariana will tell you the truth, Your Majesty.¡±


    She firmly locked her gaze on me.


    ¡°I am a blood descendant of the Frants Royal Family. As the one inheriting their bloodline, I can also peek into the future.¡±


    ¡°I already knew you could, sister.¡±


    ¡°Huh? But how? B-but, only His Majesty the Holy Emperor and the Frants Royal Family know about¡­¡± She became deeply stupefied while muttering in protest.


    I cut her off. ¡°In any case, what about it, sister? Wait, is that related to the end of the world thing or whatever it was?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Please just come out and say it. Don¡¯t hold anything back. The atmosphere in the Imperial Palace is already suspiciously heavy right now, anyway.¡±


    This time it was the turn of the twins to get flustered.


    ¡°¡­Wow, the rumours were right. They said you can sniff out vampires and even look into the hearts of their collaborators, too. Could it be that you can read people¡¯s minds?¡±


    I shrugged my shoulders. ¡°If I could do that, then I wouldn¡¯t have asked those questions in the first place.¡±


    Seran stared at me for a long while, before opening her mouth. ¡°Honestly speaking, I only learned about the Farmer through my ability. I¡¯ve inherited a portion of the ability belonging to His Royal Majesty Zayner, the current King of Frants, you see. The incident with the Farmer is simply to check out your true capabilities. I want to confirm it with my own eyes, you see.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The Farmer thing is just an excuse. We do have another reason. Although, it¡¯s incredibly important and very hard to explain in simple words.¡± Seran raised her hands and patted the twin¡¯s heads. ¡°But, we can show it to you through both the Visual and Auditory Hallucinations.¡±


    ¡°You mean, using the Divine Auras of the twins?¡±


    ¡°¡­You really do know everything, don¡¯t you? I mean, only His Imperial Majesty the Holy Emperor is supposed to know about the abilities of the Frants Royal Family¡­ In any case, fine. Are you willing to close your eyes? Marvel and Marcel told you this before, right? They said they¡¯ll give you a present. We¡¯ll show you the abilities of these two, and let you hear it. The real purpose of our visit, that is.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness¡­¡± Charlotte, having sensed that the atmosphere had rapidly gotten weird, called out to Seran.


    But I raised my hand and stopped Charlotte.


    Seran watched me as a bitter smile spread on her lips. ¡°In reality, though, it¡¯ll be the complete opposite of an actual present.¡±


    ¡°That sure sounds ominous, sister.¡±


    ¡°Can I ask you for this favour? Please close your eyes.¡±


    I stared at her for a while, before quietly closing my eyes.


    Let¡¯s just say that she managed to fool me into doing this thing or some such. But I also kind of felt curious about what Seran and the twins were about to show me, too. Without a doubt, they probably were thinking of relying on the twin¡¯s [Divine Auras] to do something.


    ¡°Relax your mind and body, Allen.¡± Seran¡¯s rhythmic breathing could be heard. ¡°Let yourself be at ease, and focus on my voice.¡±


    My vision remained dark. Only Seran¡¯s voice, and the sound of her patting the twin¡¯s heads continued to enter my hearing.


    ¡°Soon, you will see an unexpected phenomenon.¡±


    I tilted my head a little, my eyes still closed.


    ¡°The skies will become red¡­¡±


    When Seran said that, my mind imagined the scene she talked about. A crimson sky suddenly popped up in my head.


    ¡°And then¡­¡±


    And then¡­?


    ¡°¡­You will hear screaming.¡±


    ¡°Kkyaaaaahk-!¡±


    I abruptly shot my eyes wide open.


    The crimson skies were still above my head. But now, I was inundated by the screams of countless people coming from every direction. Screams that had been so loud that my ear drums nearly burst open.


    {Countless giants will rise from their slumber¡­}


    Seran¡¯s voice grew deeper, heavier, and the fake sounds became ¡®real¡¯ in my ears, instead.


    ¡°You bastards! Don¡¯t you know what gratitude means, you damn giants?!¡± The Vampire King was roaring at the top of his lungs while wielding his spear.


    Several creatures casting pitch-black massive shadows all over him began snickering away while looking down at the vampires.


    {The vampires wish for vengeance, but they can¡¯t control the giants.}


    I watched on as the Vampire King was captured by a giant. Meanwhile, other vampires got trampled by the giants and were killed off in gruesome fashion.


    {They will battle each other, but in the end, the vampires will submit and do as they are told.}


    The Vampire King was on his knees. He kowtowed, then had to experience the humiliation of kissing the foot of a giant.


    {The giants will proceed to destroy the civilisation we have built up.}


    The horde of giants began marching forward. They were laughing loudly and cruelly.


    {They will devour and crush humanity.}


    Giants reaching a dozen-plus metres began slaughtering humans. They scooped humans up and devoured them, or simply trampled on them as if they were stepping on insects.


    {The first to fall will be our Kingdom of Frants.}


    The sight of the Kingdom of Frants going up in flames greeted me next. Countless refugees were fleeing from the advance of the giants.


    {The second to fall will be the Queendom of Aihrance.}


    ¡°Everyone, retreat-! I said, retreat, now-!¡±


    Crown Imperial Prince White was trying to fight back against the tide of giants with his blood-stained sword.


    {The third will be the Kingdom of Lome.}


    ¡°N-no, let me go! Don¡¯t kill me, I beg of you! I don¡¯t want to d¡­!¡±


    Barus Victoria, who had succeeded the throne after the civil war, was captured, ripped apart, and devoured by the giants.


    1


    {And eventually, even the Theocratic Empire.}


    The horde of giants marched towards the empire¡¯s doorstep.


    Their numbers were in the dozens. Hundreds. Thousands.


    Creatures cloaked in the veils of darkest shadows were grinning creepily as their eyes gleamed murderously.


    {No one can stop them. No, we shouldn¡¯t try to stop them, because none of us would be prepared enough by then.}


    All the acquaintances, the connections I had built up until now, were being severed one by one, only to disappear forever.


    {We are destined to be the sacrifices. Offerings. To buy enough time for the Theocratic Empire to save the rest of humanity. That¡¯s all we can do.}


    My eyes gradually grew wider and wider.


    There was an individual standing tall in the paths of the marching giants.


    1


    {The one who can stop them is¡­}


    This individual was wearing Amon¡¯s mountain goat helm, plus the distinctive bone armour on his body.


    Behind him was an impressive army of Paladins clad in blinding white armour.


    1


    {¡­is the Saint chosen by the gods.}


    The one standing there was the Holy King.


    No, hang on a sec.


    That¡¯s not the Holy King, but the Holy Emperor.


    Holy Emperor, Allen Olfolse.


    My future self was standing before the invading giants.


    3


    < 165. The Ariana Family -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 315 - 166. A Minor Preparation (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    A chorus of loud roaring could be heard everywhere.


    The Priests were singing a hymn in unison, and the Paladins were brandishing their weapons while shouting out at the top of their lungs.


    The current location was a vast battlefield with deafening noises reverberating throughout the land.


    In this place, Holy Emperor Allen Olfolse was raising his head high.


    Below the cape flapping in the winds were twelve bone hands spreading open like wings. That brought the battle cries to a sudden stop.


    Everyone on the battlefield was now paying their undivided attention to their Holy Emperor.


    ¡°The climax of the world¡¯s destruction has arrived.¡±


    The ground below was rumbling as the quiet hymn drifted in the air. The earth below their feet was faintly quaking.


    The giants howled out monstrously as they continued to march forward.


    ¡°We¡¯ve experienced far too many sacrifices to reach this point. Therefore¡­ we cannot retreat any further.¡±


    The Holy Emperor began walking forward, while the golden spear in his hand pressed against the ground. He reached the top of a hill where he stood tall, then pointed at the incoming horde of giants with the spear.


    ¡°We possess the necessary strength now.¡± As he spoke, sparks danced from the tip of the spear. He held his head high as he continued on. ¡°Strength that no one can disdain.¡±


    Divinity rumbled and vibrated all around him.


    ¡°We are the guardians of this continent¡­¡±


    Golden Runes began igniting on his body one by one.


    ¡°And we¡¯re also the inheritors of Gaia¡¯s will.¡±


    Divinity tore through the land and spread out everywhere, wrapping tightly around the feet of the Priests and the Paladins.


    A woman with a striking head of silver hair raised her shield in one hand and brandished a sword in the other. Strands of her hair danced wildly as a robe and hood materialised purely through divine power enveloped her. Meanwhile, her sword was transformed into a greatsword of light, emitting blinding rays of light.


    Another woman with golden hair took the lead in singing the hymn, while a young-ish man cracked his neck muscles before taking over the command of the artillery regiment.


    The captains of the various Paladin orders roused up their divinity as well.


    ¡°In the name of our gods¡­¡±


    The Sanctuary Declaration was performed on this land. Golden Runes were engraved on the armour of every single Paladin present.


    The Aztal Rune¡¯s effects were activated on everyone on the battlefield, turning them into Saints that transcended the limits of human beings.


    ¡°We shall judge these bastards-!¡±


    The marching steps of the giants gradually sped up.


    Paladins held their swords with both of their hands and raised them up high.


    The Holy Emperor drew in a deep breath as the glow in his eyes under his helm sharpened considerably.


    The tip of his spear touched the ground below as he broke into a sprint.


    As he ran forward, a wild dance of sparks erupted from the ground gouged by the tip of the passing spear in his hand.


    ¡°Defend!¡±


    Hundreds of cannons set up in formations began firing countless shooting stars into the air.


    ¡°And then, protect!¡±


    The ground exploded and caved in.


    ¡°Because, we are the hope of all mankind-!¡±


    The Holy Emperor leapt up in the air. The large hand of a giant reached out to him; the golden spear in the Holy Emperor¡¯s grasp was swung hard towards the attacking giants.


    It was right at that very moment that the whole world was suddenly filled with cracks, like a pane of broken glass.


    The illusion shattered and air rushed into my clogged lungs.


    I gasped and panted laboriously.


    ¡°Your Majesty!¡±


    Charlotte sitting next to me hurriedly patted me on the back. She then used a handkerchief to wipe away the flood of cold sweat on my face.


    My vision returned to take in the sight of the bakery, the place that I had brought Seran to.


    While I was listening to her story, the twins allowed me to experience the Visual and Auditory Hallucination of the ¡®future¡¯.


    I shifted my gaze and stared at Seran.


    She noticed my gaze and said in a sad voice, ¡°That¡¯s as far as I know. I¡¯m sorry. Sorry that I can¡¯t be more of a help. But, this too, must be the divine will of the gods.¡± She didn¡¯t try to shy away and directly addressed me, ¡°That¡¯s why we now know this one thing.¡±


    The voice coming from her quietly-opening lips sounded confident and certain.


    ¡°You are our last hope, Allen.¡±


    **


    ¡°Your Royal Majesty.¡±


    Nobles, manservants and maids in the surroundings bowed their heads and greeted me. I walked past them while lightly waving my hand at them.


    We were currently walking along the corridors of the Imperial Palace; Charlotte was accompanying me, while Seran and the twins were urgently chasing after us.


    ¡°The air around him changed.¡±


    I could hear Seran¡¯s quiet little whisper to herself, but I ignored it for now.


    It¡¯s changed, you say? Not really.


    However, even I could tell that this crisis was incredibly grave. We could not afford to let this situation go by unanswered.


    I called out to her, ¡°Sister!¡±


    Seran quickly walked up to me.


    ¡°Does His Imperial Majesty the Holy Emperor know about this matter?¡±


    ¡°Since my mother is having a meeting with him, he should¡¯ve been informed of it by now, or at least some parts of it. But¡­ there isn¡¯t all that much he can do about it, in the end.¡±


    ¡°No, wait. There is.¡±


    That¡¯s right. There was something.


    I clenched my teeth. It felt like veins were bulging on my forehead.


    We arrived before the Holy Emperor¡¯s audience chamber. The Paladins on standby were opening the doorway far too slowly, so I decided to not wait and simply shoved the doors open with both of my hands.


    The sight of the long hallway greeted me. The high-ranking nobles and the members of the clergy were standing on either side. The Paladins recognised me and bowed their heads to welcome me into the chamber.


    I shifted my gaze to my front.


    Emperor Kelt was sitting on the throne. However, he was not wearing the usual ceremonial robe that the Holy Emperor should be wearing, but a regular traveller¡¯s outfit that you might commonly find on people walking on the streets outside.


    I could even see travelling bags behind the throne, while both Raphael and Oscal were donning similar types of clothing as their boss.


    My eyes narrowed to slits. Was this old man planning to go somewhere? Maybe his thoughts and mine aligned?


    I stepped forward and walked until I reached the foot of the stairs connected to the dais where the Holy Emperor and his throne were situated.


    ¡°Welcome back, grandson.¡±


    He spoke in a voice that didn¡¯t contain a single trace of the dignity befitting the Holy Emperor. No, it was a gentle voice that a grandfather would commonly use to talk to his grandson.


    I took in his attire and asked, ¡°Your Imperial Majesty, are you going somewhere?¡±


    The Holy Emperor glanced at Seran and the twins behind me. Charlotte and the Ariana trio knelt down and bowed their heads according to accepted etiquette.


    The old man smiled in contentment and replied to my earlier question, ¡°Yes. I¡¯m thinking of going on a trip.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I knew it. He was thinking of the exact same thing as me.


    There was only one thing that Emperor Kelt could do as he was now.


    ¡°For that purpose, the throne will be left vacant for the time being.¡± The Holy Emperor slowly stood up and caressed the throne. ¡°Until that moment, I¡¯ll leave it in your capable hands.¡±


    He was practically declaring his intent to step down from the throne of the Holy Emperor and hand all authority over to me.


    ¡°¡­Your Imperial Majesty. I have Aslan to take care of.¡±


    ¡°Aslan is also now a part of the Theocratic Empire, isn¡¯t it.¡± Emperor Kelt Olfolse stared straight at me and continued on. ¡°This will be my last trip, so let me act immaturely for a while, my grandson.¡±


    Hearing him say that made my entire body tense up. ¡°But, Your Imperial Majesty.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s too much for you, then I¡¯ll leave it to Luan and White for a little while.¡±


    ¡°¡­As you command.¡±


    It sounded like he had already made up his mind. I also didn¡¯t have a reason or pretext to stop Emperor Kelt here.


    The old man began moving. The first thing he did was to pick up the warhammer resting behind the throne. It was the treasured weapon that had been passed down through the generations of Holy Emperors, throughout the empire¡¯s history.


    Emperor Kelt stepped down from the platform to hand that weapon over to me. The treasure containing the power of [Lightning], just like Kelt¡¯s own powers.


    I silently received the warhammer.


    It was imposing. Far heavier than I expected, too.


    I had to hold it with both of my hands, yet the Holy Emperor only used one hand to push the heavy thing in my direction.


    ¡°Allen, I¡¯ll leave everything to you,¡± the soft whisper came from him. A whisper that announced his intention to step down from the throne of the Holy Emperor.


    I closed my eyes and muttered back, ¡°¡­I understand, grandfather.¡±


    Emperor Kelt guffawed loudly at my reply. ¡°Well now. A journey after such a long time! Raphael, Oscal!¡±


    The two old men followed after Kelt.


    ¡°Let us enjoy our adventures to their fullest extent!¡±


    His laughter echoed throughout the chamber, and eventually, it grew further away.


    The doorway of the Imperial Audience Chamber closed shut, leaving the stunned nobles, the clergy, and the Paladins inside. Their eyes were wide open, while their undivided attention was focused on me.


    I didn¡¯t find their shock all that surprising. After all, Emperor Kelt had just handed over the Imperial Family¡¯s treasured tool to me in their presence.


    The meaning behind that action was clear for all to see.


    ¡°The Holy Emperor, is it¡­¡± I slung the warhammer over my shoulders.


    I began walking forward. Each of the steps felt quite heavy. Maybe, the weight was coming from all the burden I would have to carry in the future.


    I settled down on the empty throne, and looked up.


    The countless nobles present knelt down, bowed their heads, and offered their formal greetings.


    I scanned them all, then quietly opened my mouth. ¡°His Imperial Majesty the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, has vacated his position for a short while.¡±


    The end of the world I saw in the twins¡¯ illusion¡­


    The absolute worst scenario where humanity was driven to the brink of complete annihilation¡­


    ¡°From this moment on, all authority will be passed over to me temporarily.¡±


    We would get ready to counter that future.


    ¡°I, the Holy King Allen Olfolse, command you.¡±


    In this place, the centre of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s beating heart, I made my first declaration as its ruler.


    ¡°From this moment on, we shall stop the advent of Ragnarok.¡±

 Chapter 316 - 166. A Minor Preparation (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Ragnarok.


    That was the name given to the event known as the ¡®Twilight of the Gods¡¯, found in the Northern European myths.


    The legend said that when the end of the world began, the gods tried their best to stop its advent. They struggled so hard, yet in the end, their world still fell, heralding the dawn of a brand new era.


    That¡¯s why I came up with that title, with that legend as the basis.


    However, there was one crucial difference from that story to ours. This was a different world. A world not populated by the gods, but mere mortals.


    ¡°Everyone below the rank of Marquis, vacate the audience chamber immediately. However, all Archbishops and Cardinals, you shall remain.¡±


    I issued a command, and the nobles hurriedly obeyed. The Paladins also started moving as well, leaving the audience chamber in an orderly fashion.


    Once they were all gone, I then revealed the advent of the end of the world to the highest-ranked nobles of this empire. They froze up stiff where they stood after listening to my explanation.


    ¡°Your Majesty, is this really true?!¡±


    They stared at the members of the Frants Royal Family with distrusting eyes, but their suspicions didn¡¯t last for long. The Holy Emperor suddenly vacating the throne, then temporarily handing the position of the Holy Emperor to his successor, were ample enough proof for them.


    ¡°Leak only the littlest information to the other, lower-ranked nobles. Your aim is to eliminate the voices of dissent as much as possible,¡± I ordered.


    I had already brought up Ragnarok before everyone. The lesser nobles would surely fail to understand the meaning behind that term, and seek to find the answers from the high-ranking nobles.


    They would be wanting to know just what was going on here.


    But if they learned the truth, a major commotion would surely break out. That¡¯s why we needed to hide the truth as much as possible while leaking only the bare-minimum necessary information to restrict the potential unrest.


    I continued on, ¡°Summon all the nobles of the empire.¡±


    Gods existed in this world, but it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that they would never get directly involved.


    ¡°Send a secret communique to other nations. Warn them of the major crisis about to hit them, and to get ready for it.¡±


    We lacked enough power to stop the giants right now.


    ¡°And announce this to the rest of the continent. We shall be summoning any and every skilled Priest and Alchemist, as well as those possessing a variety of talents. Announce that we shall not hold back on our support to these people.¡±


    As such, we simply had no choice but to reinforce our combat strength.


    ¡°Charlotte.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°My ten thousand troops plan, we shall restart it right away. Prepare enough holy water, plus the wonder drug, as well.¡±


    Charlotte, having noticed that the atmosphere had gotten very heavy, bowed her head deeply. ¡°As you command, sire.¡±


    ¡°Another thing. I bestow the rank of Marquis to Hans Jerurami.¡±


    Charlotte flinched a little, and raised her head to look back at me.


    The nobles were also starting to say something, but I simply grasped the warhammer¡¯s handle with both hands, before slamming its large head on the floor.


    I injected my divinity at the same time it landed, causing a deluge of sparks to flood out.


    ¡®So, this is the lightning bolt¡­¡¯


    The floor cracked from the impact, and the arcs of electricity coursed throughout the audience chamber, rumbling loudly.


    The nobles staggered unsteadily before stumbling back.


    ¡°The end of the world is coming for us. I implore all of you not to be blinded by the idea of petty little benefits. If not¡­¡± I held my head high and glared straight down at the gathered nobles, ¡°¡­do you have a problem with me?¡±


    They obediently lowered their heads.


    Sure, I had just made a former commoner into a Marquis. Opposition to this move would surely be quite vocal. However, I needed Hans¡¯s strength if we were to successfully repel the invading giants. No, let me be clear, it wouldn¡¯t just be Hans alone, but Charlotte and Alice, too.


    Not only that, Luan and White, and even Shuppel would prove to be a major help later down the line.


    Even if I had to become unreasonable and forcibly make it happen, we simply had to reinforce our troops. Our neighbouring nations would vocally oppose this, and our citizens would grow worried about the military build-up.


    Even then, I wasn¡¯t planning to back down.


    ¡­Even if this was the path of a tyrant, I must¡­


    I sucked in a deep breath and declared loudly, ¡°We shall not stop at nothing and will try every method at our disposal. But if anyone wishes to oppose or obstruct our decision, then tell them to come and directly address me. If it¡¯s for the sake of the Theocratic Empire and they manage to convince me, then I shall react favourably to them. But if not, if their voice of dissent comes from their obsession over their petty benefits, then¡­¡± I made myself loud and clear to all the nobles present, ¡°You shall not escape severe punishment!¡±


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    ¡®The air about him has completely changed.¡¯


    That was the thought currently filling the heads of Seran and the twins.


    The overriding impression they got from their initial meeting with Holy King Allen Olfolse after such a lengthy absence was pretty much ¡®ordinary personified¡¯. The vibe he gave off was similar to a commoner you could easily find in a city¡¯s avenues.


    Not a shred of the refinement, grace, or dignity befitting a member of the Imperial Family could be felt from him.


    But now, everything about him had changed. Every step he took carried this indescribable weight. After he settled down on the throne, he displayed a level of charisma so powerful that he even managed to arrest and keep the attention of all the high-ranking nobles.


    The meeting came to an end, and the nobles retreated from the audience chamber. Even Charlotte left Allen¡¯s side.


    Seran couldn¡¯t even hide her stunned expression while staring at Allen sitting on the throne. But before she could say something, her eyes caught the sight of him holding his forehead and sighing deeply.


    ¡°Man, I¡¯m tired.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    She smiled wryly at this sight. It seemed that he was pushing himself.


    But then again¡­ He was now filling the position of the Holy Emperor. Not only that, he had even witnessed the beginning of the end of the world, and his own future self standing as the spearhead to stop the world¡¯s impending destruction. His reaction now seemed wholly understandable.


    It was the same thing as him suddenly needing to answer the call of protecting the many kingdoms found on this continent and the countless lives living in those nations.


    ¡°I apologise for burdening you like this, Your Royal Majesty the Holy King.¡±


    Seran observed the correct decorum when addressing Allen. She held the corners of her dress delicately and elegantly bowed her head.


    But Allen simply waved his hand at her display of etiquette befitting the esteemed daughter of a noble family. ¡°Please don¡¯t, sister. I¡¯m already feeling tired as is. At the very least, speak to me as you would normally, please.¡±


    ¡°But Your Royal Majesty¡­¡±


    Now that his ascension to the Holy Emperor¡¯s throne had been all but verbally confirmed, she had to observe the correct etiquette. Most importantly, though, the impression he gave off now was too deeply engraved in her psyche to treat him the same as before. He really looked like the sole ray of hope that could stop the end of the world.


    ¡°I beg of you, sister. Please don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°¡­Alright, got it. When we are in a private setting, at least.¡± Seran smiled faintly back at him.


    Allen massaged his forehead roughly before taking another glance at her. ¡°Oh, and sister.¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about this, but judging from the flow of the events, I don¡¯t think I can deal with the incident with the Farmer. I¡¯ll only get busier from now on, so when looking at the severity of that situation, it¡­¡±


    Seran resolutely shook her head. ¡°Sorry, but I can¡¯t yield on that one.¡±


    Allen furrowed his brow at that.


    She quickly waved her hands in a fluster. ¡°Ah, wait. Don¡¯t misunderstand me. I¡¯m not saying this because of some petty emotions or anything like that. I told you, didn¡¯t I? The Farmer incident is just an excuse. When I saw the Farmer, I also saw the future of the world. The only reason why I could see those two visions at the same time must¡¯ve been because the Farmer incident is somehow related to the end of the world.¡±


    ¡°Which means¡­?¡±


    ¡°The end of the world is connected to this vampire called the Farmer. If that¡¯s not it, then there¡¯s some other connecting thread between the two.¡±


    The thread of fate extended back from the end of the world to either the Farmer, or one of the humans that the creature had abducted. That¡¯s what Seran wanted to emphasize.


    ¡°We may find a hint there on how to stop the end of the world. That¡¯s why I believe my Divine Aura had activated in that manner.¡±


    ¡°¡­I see.¡±


    There was no more reason to hesitate, in that case.


    If there really was a connection between this incident and the advent of the world¡¯s destruction, then he definitely couldn¡¯t afford to waste time anymore.


    Allen addressed Seran, ¡°I shall summon the Order of the Crimson Cross.¡±


    However, they weren¡¯t going to be your regular Crimson Cross members, because every single one of them had been tattooed with the Aztal Runes.


    ¡°They shall directly ferret out all the demon worshippers.¡±


    < 166. A Minor Preparation (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 317 - 167. Heresy Inquisitors -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Laurence, who had been abducted by the devil worshippers, finally regained consciousness, and urgently took a look around himself.


    Just where was he now?


    He seemed to be inside some kind of a cave. He could only see darkness ahead of him. His feet were standing on something wet and soggy, while bizarre screeches and hisses were coming from seemingly everywhere.


    Laurence picked up a rock from the floor. This would have to do as his make-shift weapon for now.


    He recalled the events that had taken place just before he ended up in this strange cave. He went to speak to the village chief, and had learned that some of the villagers were devil worshippers.


    But then something hit him in the head, causing him to lose consciousness. By the time he woke back up, he had already been imprisoned in this dark cave.


    Panting heavily away, he tried to heighten his senses as much as possible.


    ¡®Dear, please wait for me a little while longer. I¡¯ll survive this situation and return to your side no matter what.¡¯


    His eyes shifted around this wide-open space until they came to a stop in front of him. There it was, a flickering but bright-enough light over yonder.


    Could that be a lit torch? Yes, it was!


    Now that he thought about it, wasn¡¯t there someone else who got dragged in here just like him? Indeed, there had been a bound and naked man in the middle of the devil worshippers, hadn¡¯t there?


    Laurence hurriedly ran towards where that light was coming from, but his running steps came to an immediate stop.


    That was because the torch was rolling around on the floor, casting its amber light on the darkness of the surrounding cave.


    The illumination revealed a place filled with bones and bits of rotting flesh. All sorts of weapons and equipment were scattered around, but no living humans were using them.


    All Laurence could see were corpses¡­ corpses of people, their dead faces filled with terror and tear stains rolling down from their lifeless eyes. Plus, some monsters were busy devouring those corpses.


    ¡°¡­G-ghouls?¡±


    The walking dead featuring hideously-melted and disfigured faces, spindly arms and legs, plus super-sharp claws on both their hands and feet¡­


    The ghouls were greedily devouring the intestines of a corpse. But even more horrifyingly, the corpse itself began writhing about as its eyes rolled around.


    It had become a zombie.


    ¡®Oh my goddess¡­ Maybe this place is Hell?!¡¯


    Laurence began stumbling back, only for his foot to trip on an old bone, cracking it. A small but audible noise echoed inside the previously-silent cave.


    The ghouls twitched simultaneously. They turned their heads and glared at Laurence.


    He turned around to flee while yelling at the top of his lungs, ¡°Ah, aaah! G-goddess Gaia! Please save me!¡±


    The ghouls chased after him.


    He breathlessly panted away while squeezing his eyes shut. ¡®Just¡­ just wait for me, dear! A little bit longer! I, I¡¯ll survive this somehow and go back to you!¡¯


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I was riding in the Frants Royal Family¡¯s carriage.


    Our travelling group went past countless villages and towns, eventually leaving the Empire¡¯s border altogether.


    First, we travelled past the Kingdom of Lome that was regaining its stability little by little after the end of the civil war. Next up was Aihrance. We kept travelling northwest.


    I was jolted awake from my nap at the sound of our carriage clunking away from the rough road surface. Wanting to get some air, I opened the window pane.


    The members of the Order of the Crimson Cross were riding escorts to us outside the carriage on their horses.


    ¡°Thank you for coming with us like this.¡±


    I turned my head at that voice and looked opposite me.


    Seran was sitting there, while the twins were resting their heads on her lap from either side of her, peacefully dozing away.


    She gently brushed the twins¡¯ hair before looking back at me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about the Theocratic Empire. My mother chose to remain, after all, and surely First Brother Luan and First Sister Hilda will properly oversee everything. Ah, and let¡¯s not forget about our father, too.¡±


    Seran chose to mention our father dead last, huh.


    ¡°I¡¯m not worried, actually. Honestly, this is an excellent opportunity to cool my head at least a little bit, so it¡¯s all good for me,¡± I replied to her, and leaned my back against the seat cushion.


    My complicated thoughts were gradually cooling down while I made this short journey.


    ¡°But, is this fine? Not bringing your escort? You sounded really obstinate back then.¡±


    When Seran asked me that, I ended up recalling Charlotte. She wanted to come with us, but I firmly dissuaded her. She had to work together with Harman to train the army, after all.


    I replied, ¡°Well, she has another task to handle, you see.¡±


    Seran smiled happily, then pointed outside the window. ¡°We¡¯ve arrived, Allen. Welcome to the Duchy of Ariana.¡±


    I followed her finger and shifted my gaze outside the window. The first thing I saw were rolling green hills, then a road stretching along a gentle hill.


    As for the city itself, there was no outer wall surrounding it. There were several large and small villages in the vicinity of the city, and beyond them were scattered farmland.


    That was the territory of Ariana, as Seran had introduced just now.


    **


    I entered the Duchy¡¯s citadel.


    Well-trained knights were standing at every corner of the castle¡¯s corridors, while servants and maids were moving about busily here and there.


    While walking through the corridors, I continued to scan the contents of the documents Seran handed over to me. ¡°Two to three people going missing every week? That¡¯s quite a considerable loss, isn¡¯t it? You must be deeply worried about your subjects.¡±


    A bitter, helpless smile formed on Seran¡¯s face. The twins walking alongside her yawned at length, as if they hadn¡¯t fully woken up yet. ¡°We are doing our best, but we have nothing to show for our efforts at the end of the day. Our subjects have to suffer in silence, that¡¯s all. Not only that¡­¡± She then handed over the next set of documents.


    I perused its contents before frowning deeply. ¡°¡­Wait, what? Even Paladins got abducted?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They were out patrolling.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°These bastards are getting bolder with every passing day,¡± swore Seran.


    I pointed out the village that had been affected the worst so far as denoted in the reports. ¡°It seems that the incidents happen most frequently in this village called Venia.¡±


    ¡°Yes. We believe that¡¯s the likeliest hiding place for the Farmer, as well. However, finding where the devil worshippers are hiding isn¡¯t easy at all.¡± Seran helplessly shook her head. ¡°There are no traces of magic being used, and the villagers living there show no signs of having learned magic, either. In fact, most of them are devout believers who attend the local church diligently. We even tried to search the houses of the suspects, but we couldn¡¯t uncover any evidence, only earning the citizens¡¯ ire, instead¡­¡±


    Did that mean our quarry was being extremely cautious?


    As we chatted away, we finally reached the citadel¡¯s audience chamber. The doorway to the simple and plain chamber opened up, revealing a man seated on the throne and a young man standing next to him.


    By using my [Mind¡¯s Eye], I figured out the man on the throne was the King of Frants, who must have come to visit the Duchy of Ariana. He was in the later part of his forties, while a set of crimson hair and an unkempt, abundant beard covered his face.


    As for the young man next to him providing assistance to the king, he seemed to be one, maybe two years older than me. His name was Marcus Ariana.


    And yeah, he was also my older brother.


    It seemed that they came to the Duchy after receiving the news of me heading here.


    ¡°Welcome to the Kingdom of Frants, Your Majesty Holy King Allen.¡±


    King Zayner Frants got up from the throne, placed his hand on his chest lightly, and bowed slightly to greet me. Marcus stood next to him and assisted his king, then bowed as well.


    They had the apathetic eyes of someone who didn¡¯t have much of an impression of me.


    I also bowed a little to greet them back, as per established decorum. However, I still whispered softly at Seran, ¡°Is he not feeling well?¡±


    Seran bowed while standing next to me to greet the king, but whispered her reply to me at the same time, ¡°It happened sometime ago. While leading a vampire hunt, he ended up getting cursed. Although the curse itself was undone, a little bit of its after-effects still linger and affect him psychologically.¡±


    Psychologically, is it¡­


    If it was a physical problem, then I was confident of fully healing a patient about to cross death¡¯s doorstep, but even I had no way of treating a psychological problem.


    The King of Frants, Zayner Frants, looked at me and smiled politely, ¡°It must¡¯ve been taxing to travel so far, Your Majesty.¡± He then glanced at Seran next to me. ¡°I hope dear Seran here has explained the situation sufficiently to you.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty King Zayner. Not only did I hear it, I even got to see it, as well.¡±

 Chapter 318 - 167. Heresy Inquisitors -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    King Jayner Frants smiled wryly at that and replied, ¡°From this moment on, we at the Kingdom of Frants will not hold back on our support of the Theocratic Empire. Also, if you so wish, we shall not interfere in the slightest in the handling of this Farmer incident, Your Holy Majesty.¡±


    ¡°That means you will turn a blind eye to whatever I¡¯m planning to do?¡±


    The King of Frants expressed his silent consent with a slight nod of his head.


    Seran behind me softly whispered, ¡°Please keep it at a level where the citizens aren¡¯t harmed unnecessarily.¡±


    The corners of my lips curled up as I replied to her, ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    Yes, this was all for the sake of their innocent subjects, and since the devil-worshippers weren¡¯t really included in the category of ¡®innocent subjects¡¯, it should be fine.


    ¡ª


    I left the audience chamber and was guided to the state guest room, while the twins returned to their own private quarters.


    Only Seran accompanied me, and after we arrived in my temporary quarters, she ordered the maids to bring us some tea.


    I picked a scenic spot by the room¡¯s balcony and settled down on a chair there. The Ariana Citadel was located on top of a hill, and the state guest room was located on the castle¡¯s top floor, so I was afforded a pretty great view of the entire Duchy.


    The hours were getting late, yet I still could see the King Zayner Frants climb aboard a carriage and leave the citadel. In the distant villages, I could see the torches belonging to the Paladins and Duchy¡¯s soldiers going on patrol.


    Seran asked me, ¡°It¡¯s rather tiny compared to the Empire, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°The soldiers are working hard, it seems.¡±


    ¡°Ng. Everyone is doing their best. Sometimes, Marvel and Marcel also accompany them on patrols, but it¡¯s still tough.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, those twin brothers of mine also do that?¡±


    ¡°Their growth might be slower due to the High Elf¡¯s Blessing, but their skills are still excellent, after all. They can respond instantly if a vampire decides to show up.¡± Seran sat opposite me, and began pouring the red tea a maid had brought in into our cups. She stared at me as if she found something rather entertaining. ¡°By the way, how are you planning to find them? The devil-worshippers, I mean. Of course, the Order of the Crimson Cross features the absolute best vampire hunters in the whole of the Theocratic Empire, but that¡¯s the tale when they are acting as Heresy Inquisitors, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    As she implied, the members of the Crimson Cross were specialised in pursuing heretics. Sure, their discerning eyes might be excellent, but it wasn¡¯t as if they could see through everything.


    ¡°In the beginning, I was thinking of using my holy undead,¡± I replied. My plan was to summon up some holy undead and share my Mind¡¯s Eye with them. ¡°However, I figured that there is no reason to put the already worried citizens even more on edge.¡±


    That was why I had thought up a new plan.


    ¡°So, I¡¯m now thinking of bestowing a miracle on the members of the Crimson Cross tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°A miracle?¡± Seran tilted her head.


    ¡°Yes, sister. A miracle,¡± I smiled brightly back at her, then got up from the chair.


    Leaning against the railing, I took a look below the balcony. The Crimson Cross members could be seen down there, currently inspecting and maintaining their equipment. Their weapons came in all shapes and sizes, such as scythes, saws, spears with barbs meant to restrict and bind the movements of their targets, and even shovels. You know, the scary kind.


    ¡°I¡¯m planning to bestow on them the eyes of a god.¡±


    Seran¡¯s head tilting only increased after what I said.


    I looked back at her and continued further, ¡°Your innocent subjects will not be harmed. But if they do end up in trouble, then it¡¯s most likely because they happen to be family members of the devil worshippers.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s not much that can be done about that, if such things happen. I would like you to be aware and understanding of such possibilities.¡±


    Seran went silent after listening to me. It was her way of expressing her consent in silence.


    I shifted my gaze back to the city and the surrounding villages of the Duchy, then narrowed my eyes. ¡°Things might get a bit rowdier¡­ tomorrow.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C


    The next morning¡­


    I was staring at the fifty members of the Order of the Crimson Cross.


    These folks, clad in their distinctive crimson robes and hoods, as well as the bird-beak masks hiding their faces, were kneeling in front of me, their heads deeply bowed.


    ¡°All of you, remove your masks.¡±


    They obediently took their masks off. The revealed faces displayed a wide range of ages, ranging from the early twenties to even the late fifties.


    Not stopping there, they even possessed all sorts of different talents as well. Assorted Runes could be seen tattooed on their faces and necks using the powder of Eltera.


    That was the Aztal Rune. With his ability, Hans could¡¯ve tattooed the Runes far more discreetly, so that they wouldn¡¯t show. But the Crimson Cross members all felt honoured and proud to be the recipients of the word of god, so they requested that the Runes be fully visible at all times.


    Their faith, and their undying loyalty to the Imperial Family, could easily be measured from this.


    The corners of my lips curled up as I took a good look at them. It was now time to use their faith.


    I thought about what a religious con man might say in situations like this one, then opened my mouth. ¡°From this moment on, I shall reveal to you a portion of my powers.¡±


    The members of the Crimson Cross looked at me, their eyes stunned.


    Not minding them, I began rousing my divinity. The Aztal Rune tattooed on my face and the rest of my body responded, and the golden Runes began glowing to life upon me.


    ¡°I shall grant you eyes that can differentiate between normal people and the devil-worshippers.¡±


    As if to react to what I said, the golden Runes were also engraved on the members of the Crimson Cross.


    ¡®Ability Transfer, activated!¡¯


    At that moment, holy golden lights shone from within the eyes of the Crimson Cross members. Their brows slowly rose in astonishment.


    Their eyes urgently shifted around to look at the Paladins standing nearby. Doing that showed that they should be able to see it.


    The ¡®it¡¯ being, of course, the name, age, attributes, and beliefs of the person they were now looking at.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Now you all possess the eyes of a Saint.¡±


    What I had done here was to temporarily grant them the [Mind¡¯s Eye].


    Their jaws were falling to the floor.


    ¡°Oh my gods¡­¡±


    ¡°This, this is¡­!¡±


    They should be feeling confused and stunned right now. Not only did they gain access to the target¡¯s information, but even the deepest thoughts bubbling away inside, as well.


    The members of the Crimson Cross, their expressions completely frozen up, looked up at me. Even their previously hard, uncaring faces slowly melted away, the corners of their lips curling up in sheer excitement.


    They looked enraptured, their expressions now clearly filled with madness.


    I asked them calmly, ¡°What can you see?¡±


    ¡°Reporting to Your Majesty. We can see the names of our targets, and their beliefs!¡±


    It seemed that unlike me, they could only see a portion of the information. The age and attributes seemed to be missing. That made some sense when I thought about it, since the Aztal Rune wouldn¡¯t be so ridiculously overpowered as to transfer the Mind¡¯s Eye in its totality.


    I asked them once more, ¡°What can you see about me?¡±


    ¡°Reporting, sire. We do not see anything from you.¡±


    Now that was very satisfactory.


    The Mind¡¯s Eye wasn¡¯t effective on the original player, me. Well, it was meant to be used against the NPCs in the game, after all.


    I looked at the Crimson Cross with considerable satisfaction, then spread open my arms wide.


    ¡°Now that you have experienced it¡­¡± I asked them. ¡°What do you think about the miracle of the gods?¡±


    The Crimson Cross members began shuddering deeply. They brought their hands together to pray quickly, as if their faith had grown even firmer.


    Sure, I did feel a bit guilty for exploiting their deep faith, but this result should be considered a good one since they were all visibly happy.


    ¡°And so, let us begin.¡± I smiled with my eyes as I addressed them. ¡°It¡¯s time to subjugate some heretics.¡±


    **


    ¡°Each of you will form a squad. One Crimson Cross member will take command of one Paladin and ten regular soldiers!¡± I shouted out while walking past the Crimson Cross.


    They began mounting their horses, one by one.


    The Paladins of the Duchy of Ariana stared with some awe and respect at the people donning the crimson robes and hoods as well as their bird-beak masks.


    ¡°If you find someone suspicious, capture them. If they are indeed devil-worshippers, then they should be stained by their wickedness and unhealthy obsessiveness!¡± I also mounted a horse and continued to roar my commands at them. ¡°Their very own thoughts will prove to be the sure-fire evidence that they are our enemies!¡±


    That¡¯s right, no one would be good enough to fool the Mind¡¯s Eye. And that included vampires as well, so there was simply no way that a human would prove to be an exception to that rule.


    ¡°Go and hunt the demon!¡±


    The Crimson Cross members all pounded their chests with their fists and roared out, ¡°We shall obey the command of Your Majesty, Holy King Allen Olfolse-!


    ¡°We shall not fail in subjugating and punishing the devil worshippers-!¡±


    They soon led the troops of the Duchy away and scattered through the city¡¯s streets, as well as into the surrounding villages.


    And so, the Heresy Inquisitors possessing the Mind¡¯s Eye began their hunting of the Duchy¡¯s heretics.


    < 167. Heresy Inquisitors -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 319 - 168. Heresy Inquisitors -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Lengthy crimson robes flapped in the winds.


    The member of the Order of the Crimson Cross, his face hidden beneath his bird-beak mask, dashed furiously ahead on his horse, accompanied by the Duchy¡¯s soldiers.


    ¡°What the heck, without any warning¡­?!¡±


    ¡°Be careful!¡±


    Citizens travelling on the thoroughfare jumped up in surprise and hurriedly ran out of the way of the charging steed.


    In that brief moment of him passing them by on his horse, the Crimson Cross member shifted his eyes, rapidly scanned the faces of the citizens, and confirmed their information.


    And then¡­


    ¡®¡­Found one!¡¯


    The Crimson Cross pulled on the reins and brought his mount to a halt. The horse neighed roughly and reared up, kicking the air with its front hooves.


    ¡°Heot!¡±


    The individual this Crimson Cross member was focusing on was an ordinary-looking peddler with a rather rotund physique.


    [Name: Rani


    Ag-: 5-


    Attributes: ¨C, Greedy, ¨C, ¨C, Selfish perso-.


    + Fo- o- Lord Farmer! The Glory ¨C Lord Farmer wi- grant us all etern- life!]


    The information itself came in fragments. However, the [Mind¡¯s Eye] still accurately peered into and displayed this fat peddler¡¯s information regardless.


    Rani the peddler broke out in buckets of cold sweat. He realised that the Crimson Cross member had singled him out and immediately sensed that something had gone wrong here. ¡°H-how may I help you, good sirs?¡±


    The peddler couldn¡¯t help but stutter just then. He even bowed his head before asking his question, to avoid rousing suspicion as much as possible.


    It should be fine. There was no way that the Crimson Cross knew about him being a devil worshipper¡­


    His opponent was merely a Paladin, that¡¯s all. Without any proof, this holy knight wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything to Rani in the middle of a public road like this.


    Unfortunately for him¡­


    ¡°So, you¡¯re a heretic.¡±


    The ¡®Paladin¡¯ in the red robe was confident of his finding.


    Rani the peddler flinched in shock, and hurriedly raised his head. That was when he noticed that the Crimson Cross member had already raised his shovel up high.


    The weapon mercilessly slammed down hard on the fat peddler.


    Rani crashed to the floor. The nearby citizens all screamed, while the soldiers accompanying the Crimson Cross member also flinched and froze in their places.


    The Heresy Inquisitor dismounted from his ride.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡± The peddler writhed on the ground from the pain of being struck on the head by the flat side of a shovel. ¡°H-help me! A lunatic is going on a rampage!¡±


    ¡°We now possess the eyes of our Lord Saint. Oh hear ye, you foul devil worshipper! Do not dare to hide your corrupted soul!¡±


    ¡°N-no wait! That¡¯s not true! I¡¯m not a devil worshi¡­!¡±


    The Crimson Cross member grabbed Rani the peddler¡¯s arm. ¡°You still dare to spout lies when we can see through everything?! ¡®For our Lord Farmer, the glory of Lord Farmer will grant you eternal life¡¯, is that not your true inner belief!¡±


    The peddler¡¯s jaw fell to the ground. He then urgently shook his head as if to deny it.


    The eyes of the Crimson Cross beneath the mask narrowed to slits. ¡°I¡¯ll get rid of that belief of yours, heretic.¡±


    He then broke the peddler¡¯s arm on the spot.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk?!¡±


    Rani was shoved down to the ground without mercy.


    ¡°Let us all witness how long your beliefs will last.¡±


    The Crimson Cross member yanked up the broken arm even higher in the air. Tragic screaming sounded out, while the nearby citizens began shouting out in shock and disbelief.


    ¡°What is the meaning of¡­?!¡±


    ¡°Hey, soldiers! What are you all doing, not stopping that madman?!¡±


    The complexions of the soldiers were getting paler by the second. They didn¡¯t have the authority to stop the Crimson Cross.


    The Order of the Crimson Cross was directly under the command of the Imperial Family. If any one of them tried to step in and stop this event, then they wouldn¡¯t be able to escape the inquisition process of these crimson-robed people, either.


    ¡°Now, speak! Reveal who you truly are!¡± The Crimson Cross member ruthlessly pressured the peddler.


    Rani¡¯s eyes rolled over, but he hadn¡¯t blacked out yet.


    ¡°I asked you who you are!¡±


    Finally, the peddler¡¯s beliefs began changing.


    {Aaah, it hurts! I, I want to live! I, dammit, I shouldn¡¯t have worshipped the Farmer!}


    ¡°Y-yes, I¡¯m a devil worshipper! You¡¯re right! Bloody hell, p-please release my arm¡­!¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s the proof that you¡¯re one of the devil worshippers?¡±


    ¡°O-ouch¡­ U-under my back skin, the words worshipping the Farmer¡­¡±


    The eyes of the nearby citizens opened wider. Even the soldiers were stunned by that testimony and put away their weapons. They no longer had to debate on whether to stop the Crimson Cross member or not.


    The Crimson Cross pressed the peddler flat to the ground, and used his hands to rip open the back of the latter¡¯s clothes. Then, he used a dagger to cut open the skin on the fat man¡¯s back, revealing a set of hideous scars branded into the exposed muscles.


    The scarred symbols meant to worship the devil could be seen by everyone!


    The soldiers stood there utterly frozen, shock and astonishment filling their expressions.


    Holy cow, what kind of madman would engrave runes under their skin? This was the reason why they couldn¡¯t find any evidence until now!


    The Crimson Cross member, having confirmed the proof for himself, quietly closed his eyes. ¡°Oh, our dear Holy King-!¡±


    Now behold! Here was the proof of their Lord Saint¡¯s greatness! The omniscience of their Saint, who could even see straight through someone else¡¯s beliefs!


    As expected, that noble personage knew everything!


    The Crimson Cross member opened his eyes again. The corners of his lips curled up under the bird-beak mask. ¡°Oh, our Lord Saint. Under your name, I shall carry on with the judgement of the heretics.¡±


    He then grabbed the scruff of the downed peddler¡¯s neck.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Soon, tragic screams began ringing out from all corners of the city.


    The soldiers were aiming their spears at a married couple. They stepped forward and forcibly separated the husband from his wife.


    The Crimson Cross member leading them then glared at the wife.


    ¡°N-no! Sir, I¡¯m not a devil worshipper! I¡¯m speaking the truth¡­!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right, sir! My wife cannot be one! Our son went missing only recently and she had been drowning in sorrow¡­!¡± the husband desperately cried out.


    But the Crimson Cross member held his head high and replied in a disinterest voice. ¡°I have heard that devil worshippers are even capable of selling their own children to vampires.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°So, you even used your own son as an offering?¡±


    The wife¡¯s expression hardened.


    The husband seemed to have suffered considerable mental shock just then, but he still stared pleadingly at his wife. ¡°N-no, there¡¯s¡­ there¡¯s no way¡­ Dear, please say it¡¯s not true. It must be a misunderstanding, isn¡¯t it? Dear!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    All she could do was to tremble faintly away after her face went pale as snow.


    ¡°Please say something!!!¡±


    ¡ª


    At around the same time¡­


    Local hoodlums hiding in a back alley were gripping their weapons. They were shabby, make-shift things consisting of some daggers and other farming equipment.


    ¡°We need to fight back.¡±


    ¡°Wha?! What bullsh*t are you saying? Those people are the Crimson Cross, man! They are one of the six main forces of the Theocratic¡­¡±


    ¡°So what? You want to sit back and wait until you get hunted down? Out of everyone they have captured so far, some of them must know about us, too! If they prattle on us after getting tortured, then we¡­!¡±


    Crunch!


    The sound of a wooden panel shattering suddenly rocked the alleyway.


    The hoodlums jumped up in fright, then hurriedly looked behind them, only to discover a grim reaper-like existence standing there, right at the entrance to the alleyway.


    It was a Heresy Inquisitor, fully kitted out in their bird-beak mask and a crimson robe, carrying a large scythe easily over his shoulder.


    The hoodlums swallowed nervously when they saw this.


    One of them managed to speak. ¡°W-what brings a noble Heresy Inquisitor such as yourself to this loca¡­¡±


    ¡°You are all heretics, then.¡±


    The eyes of the Crimson Cross member, hidden under the darkness of his helm, gleamed sharply.


    The hoodlums got even more scared and stumbled backward. ¡®¡­He saw right through us!¡¯


    The Crimson Cross pointed the tip of his scythe at the hoodlums and asked, while holding his head up high, ¡°This is a heresy inquisition. And so, I shall now ask you some questions.¡± He paused for grim effect. ¡°Where is The Farmer?¡±


    ¡°¡­Kill the bastard!¡±


    The hoodlums rushed forward, but the Crimson Cross simply gripped his scythe tightly while pulling the weapon back. He used his waist to snap his arched weapon around in a powerful swing.


    A sharp light flashed for a moment there, and the legs of the hoodlums were severed.


    ¡°¡­Huh?!¡±


    They couldn¡¯t even feel any pain, yet their bodies still tilted and fell to the ground.


    The eyes of the Crimson Cross member inside the mask arched up like a pair of new moons. ¡°Receive your judgement, you devil worshippers.¡±


    The scythe was raised up, then stabbed down into a hoodlum¡¯s shoulder. One by one they were dragged away while screaming tragically.

 Chapter 320 - 168. Heresy Inquisitors -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°N-not sure why, but they said our neighbour Mister Hamus was a devil worshipper!¡±


    ¡°Say what? Wait, wasn¡¯t his whole family in mourning after their child went missing not too long ago?¡±


    Citizens began gathering in the city¡¯s plaza. That¡¯s where the people accused of being devil worshippers had been brought together.


    They numbered thirty in total. All sorts of parchments with Runes for devil worshipping, as well as the idols of a devil were thrown among them, while various symbols and signs could be seen etched directly onto their bodies.


    Those things were evidence of their guilt.


    The matters were taken care of quite rapidly, with not even a single mistake anywhere.


    Seran was so shocked that she ended up covering her mouth, while the twins Marcel and Marvel looked on with hardened expressions and tightly-shut mouths.


    Some among the devil worshippers were people they knew. While they were out patrolling, these ¡®innocent¡¯ citizens greeted the trio and even shared some food with them sometimes.


    ¡°But, this doesn¡¯t make any sense¡­ They really were¡­?¡±


    ¡°We have proof.¡±


    Seran turned her head after hearing that reply. Allen was approaching her on horseback.


    His glare landed on the devil worshippers splayed on the ground. ¡°However, this is merely a portion of them. We haven¡¯t concluded the search outside the city limits, after all.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°The Crimson Cross should be searching through the villages found outside the city as we speak. I¡¯m sure they will speedily apprehend all the remaining devil worshippers.¡± Allen grinned widely and shifted his gaze back to Seran. ¡°So, what do you think, sister? Although it may not be enough to completely ferret out every single one of them, isn¡¯t it still the best way to exterminate the devil worshippers in the end?¡±


    ¡°Just how¡­ Can you really see¡­ something?¡±


    ¡°Please think of it as my Divine Aura.¡±


    Seran nodded, then looked at the devil worshippers again. ¡°It¡¯s true that we may never have found all these devil worshippers through normal methods. However, the citizens will be even more scared now.¡±


    ¡°Scared, you say? Yes, they should be. But even that emotion will be suppressed by their overwhelming rage, instead.¡±


    Seran was stunned by what Allen said, and hurriedly turned her head to look.


    ¡°You demons-!¡±


    ¡°Dammit, are you saying my daughter was abducted by these bastards?!¡±


    ¡°My dad! Where is my dad! Answer me, where is he?!¡±


    The citizens were clamouring to get closer to the devil worshippers, but the Duchy¡¯s soldiers were barely managing to keep them at bay using their large shields.


    Their families had gone missing, abducted by these devil worshippers and used as offerings to The Farmer.


    Allen silently scanned the captured devil worshippers. Through his [Mind¡¯s Eye], he peered deep into them.


    {Dammit, I shouldn¡¯t have served the Farmer!}


    1


    {I wanna live! I want to live!}


    {Ohh, Lord Farmer, please save us. Punish these sinners and grant us your everlasting life!}


    None of them seemed to be reflecting on their sins. All Allen could see was their petty obsession of wanting to live on no matter what. But all that meant was that these bastards only amounted to this much in the end.


    ¡°They shall be judged according to the laws of the Theocratic Empire. It shouldn¡¯t be an issue since we have apprehended them, I hope?¡± Allen asked Seran.


    She nodded. ¡°¡­It¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Very well, then.¡±


    Allen dismounted with the ease of much practice and walked up to the devil worshippers.


    He chose the one among them with the most selfish attributes and the worst obsession over his life, then grabbed this individual by the throat and lifted him clean off the ground.


    Allen asked, ¡°Do you wish to live?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, I do! I want to live!¡±


    ¡°In that case, tell me this. Where can I find The Farmer?¡±


    ¡°T-that¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you want to die and be revived as an undead?¡±


    Holy undead were abruptly summoned all around Allen.


    The man saw these bizarre creatures and stuttered haplessly. ¡°I, I, I don¡¯t know!¡±


    ¡°¡­You don¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t know! Of course we don¡¯t really know anything. All we did was just abduct people, hand them over, and create evidence and eyewitnesses for plausible excuses, that¡¯s all!¡±


    ¡°Who did you hand the victims over to?¡±


    ¡°I-in the village of Tinia! The village chief and his group over there have been serving The Farmer for a very long time. I-if it¡¯s them, they might know!¡±


    Allen shifted his gaze over to the Crimson Cross members present.


    One of the crimson-robed heresy inquisitors lowered his head and spoke. ¡°Your Majesty. Five of our members have been dispatched to that village. They should have completed their subjugation efforts by now.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Allen released his grip on the man. ¡°Transfer them.¡±


    ¡°As you command, sire!¡±


    As the Crimson Cross members dragged the devil worshippers off somewhere, Seran walked up to Allen and asked him, ¡°What will you do now?¡±


    He lightly stretched his neck muscles and replied to her, ¡°I¡¯ll be heading out to this Tinia village. Where is it located, sister?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not too far from here. About ten minutes away on horseback, I think.¡±


    ¡°In that case, we¡¯ll head out there immediately.¡± Allen mounted his ride.


    ¡°Let me come along with you.¡±


    Allen shifted his gaze back over to her.


    ¡°I wish to see the vampire that has been tormenting our subjects with my own eyes. And also¡­¡± She inhaled deeply and continued on. ¡°The hint to stop the end of the world. I wish to learn about it, as well.¡±


    ¡°¡­Understood.¡±


    Allen reached out to Seran. She took his hand and climbed up on the saddle behind him.


    **


    Laurence¡¯s wife was shuddering in deep worry while carefully holding onto the baby.


    Out of the blue, some people wearing crimson robes with hoods and bird-beak masks had descended on the village. Screams followed soon after, and some people, including the village chief, were forcibly dragged out to the centre of the village, only to be thrown into a heap there.


    One of the Crimson Cross members turned his head and glanced at Laurence¡¯s wife. Through the power of the [Mind¡¯s Eye], he confirmed her information.


    [Name: Alina.


    Age: 4-


    Attributes: High de- of empa-, ¨C, ¨C, instinctive maternal love, ¨C


    + Laurence, my dear¡­ Just where are y-? Please don¡¯t aband- us. I pray that y- are safe¡­]


    The Crimson Cross member¡¯s eyes narrowed as he stared at the baby in her arms. But the child was wrapped up in fabric and he couldn¡¯t get any information on it.


    But then again, the baby must have been the offspring of this woman, Alina, and her husband named Laurence. It seemed rather certain that she was yet another victim of the Farmer incident as well.


    ¡®Indeed, she¡¯s not one of the devil worshippers.¡¯


    He turned his head away from the woman and the baby, then glared at the devil worshippers on the ground. But right at that moment, he sensed a very faint holy aura coming from somewhere behind him.


    He flinched a little in surprise, and tried to look back, but then¡­


    ¡°We, we shall worship Lord Farmer until our last breath-!¡±


    The Crimson Cross member turned back and locked his gaze on the village chief.


    ¡°We shall be rewarded with eternal liiiife!¡±


    The old man was already halfway through death¡¯s doorway. He had probably started serving The Farmer out of fear of his own encroaching demise.


    Too bad for him, though, the vampire was merely using them as its tool. It would not do something like granting a portion of its strength to some random villager and turn them into a blood-creation.


    This Crimson Cross member waved his hand curtly as a signal, and his colleague grabbed the village chief¡¯s head before planting it hard on the dirt below.


    After watching that happen, he looked behind him, where he had sensed that holy aura just now. He could see the worried faces of countless villagers watching the proceedings.


    The Crimson Cross member could only frown at that. He was unable to sense that aura anymore. He glanced at his colleagues, but they didn¡¯t seem to have noticed it. Which wasn¡¯t all that surprising, since that aura had been so tiny.


    Could it be that he was simply mistaken?


    No, it was always better to make sure.


    He began scanning the faces of each and every one in the crowd.


    ¡°Oh, dear Goddess Gaia, please protect my husband Laurence and our child¡­¡±


    The Crimson Cross member heard Alina¡¯s prayer and turned to look at her and the baby in her arms. He then silently walked up to her.


    After taking a closer look at her face once more, he tried to stare at the baby still wrapped in fabric. But then¡­


    The village chief with his head pressed to the dirt suddenly cried out. ¡°Ohhh, our Lord Farmer! Please come and help us!¡±


    The ground began rumbling ominously.


    The Crimson Cross members flinched in surprise and stared at the ground below.


    The earth was splitting apart, and this unknown aura began erupting out, writhing violently.


    In the blink of an eye, something shot out from the cracks in the ground and stabbed cleanly through the Crimson Cross member¡¯s torso.


    That something was a lengthy ¡®leg¡¯ of an insect. It was covered in some kind of hard shell, while its surface bulged out here and there like sharp sawtooth.


    The Crimson Cross member vomited a mouthful of blood and stared into the splitting crevasse in the ground.


    There it was, a monster with long and hard insect legs extending out from its back.


    The Farmer was now glaring at the Crimson Cross.


    < 168. Heresy Inquisitors -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 321 - 169. The Farmer (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The evil creature possessed a huge torso, a long and thick nose, and two wide, thin ears.


    The Farmer.


    Insectile legs with claws at the end were extending forth from its back. It looked very different from the appearance of The Farmer that the Holy King had told them about.


    The Crimson Cross member who had been impaled by one of the insectile legs stared at the monster with trembling eyes.


    ¡®It has changed?¡¯


    This vampire called the Farmer was deliberately changing its body to become even stronger. Since it didn¡¯t answer to the Vampire King, it must¡¯ve freely preyed on the blood of humans to strengthen itself.


    This creature was at least a Count-class. No, wait. Maybe even greater than that!


    ¡®Just how many humans did it devour to reach this point¡­?¡¯


    The Crimson Cross member roared out, ¡°Prepare for combat! Our target is a Count-class or higher Progenitor Vampire!¡±


    The ground split apart further and The Farmer rose up to its full height. The Crimson Cross member pulled out a dagger and stabbed it into the insect leg impaling him.


    Crunch-!


    The hardened shell shattered and blood splattered everywhere. The Farmer screeched loudly and threw the impaled victim away. He rolled around out of control on the ground for a moment, but slammed his palm down and stopped himself from sliding any further, regaining his balance.


    The Farmer scanned the agents of the Order of the Crimson Cross and smirked insidiously, ¡°So, you bastards were a bunch of clergymen? Not only did you dare to invade my territory, you even tried to snatch away my slaves¡­ Hmm?!¡±


    The creature¡¯s eyes opened wide in surprise.


    The Crimson Cross member who had been impaled through the chest by the insect-leg was standing back up. Runes glowing in golden light had activated on his skin, and the gaping hole in his body was quickly filled back up with new flesh.


    ¡®¡­Maybe they are not humans?¡¯


    Although slow compared to vampires, that regeneration speed was still way too fast for a mere human being.


    The Farmer glared at the Crimson Cross members in sheer disbelief. ¡°You bastards, just what are you really?!¡±


    ¡°Kkyaaaahk!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a vampire!¡±


    ¡°A demon has appeared!¡±


    The villagers began screaming their heads off.


    The fifty Ducal soldiers accompanying the Order of the Crimson Cross quickly retreated and helped with evacuation of the civilians.


    The Crimson Cross member who had been searching through the crowd earlier briefly turned his head around to look again, but Alina and her baby had disappeared with the fleeing villagers by then.


    ¡°Are you bastards really humans? Your recovery speed cannot belong to a human, after all. Even then, you are not undead either. I can sense divinity coming from all of you, so what is going on here¡­?¡± the Farmer muttered in a deep, tense voice.


    The members of the Crimson Cross began pulling out and gripping all sorts of weapons, from a scythe to a shovel, a saw, a dagger, and even a crossbow.


    ¡°A Count-class, or just below a Marquis-class. Do not let your guard down. Our role is to safely evacuate the citizens and hold our ground until His Majesty the Holy King arrives.¡±


    ¡°¡­You bastards, are you looking down on me right now?!¡± the Farmer growled, and took a step forward. Its back wriggled hideously, and another insect-like leg sprouted out from him.


    The Crimson Cross members watched four such legs appear on the creature¡¯s back, then lowered themselves into their battle stances.


    The Farmer steadied itself on the ground with both of its hands, then its four insect-like legs shook about briefly before its body shot forward with great speed and power.


    The creature scythed through the air and flew rapidly towards the Crimson Cross members.


    ¡®Fast!¡¯


    ¡®However, we now possess the Word of the Gods¡­!¡¯


    Their eyes narrowed in concentration. The Aztal Rune amplified their divinity, enhancing all of their senses to their fullest and allowing them to track the incoming Farmer, regardless of its speed.


    ¡°Offer your prayers-!¡±


    ¡°In the name of our Lord Saint!¡±


    ¡°We shall subjugate the demon-!¡±


    A crossbow imbued with divinity fired its load at the incoming creature, and the bolt accurately pierced the Farmer¡¯s shoulder. The monster flinched in surprise and stared in shock at where the attack had landed.


    The bolt continued to spin, and then completely punched through the monster¡¯s flesh.


    ¡®Huh?!¡¯


    Its body threatened to twist around, but it forcibly withstood the impact¡¯s momentum from diverting it, and continued to charge forward.


    The four other Crimson Cross members were suddenly enveloped in pure white light. They kicked the ground hard and also surged to greet the incoming Farmer.


    The scythe, shovel and the saw were swung around, and three of the insectile legs were severed instantly.


    ¡°What is this?!¡±


    The last Crimson Cross member, wielding a dagger coated in holy water, agilely swung up onto the Farmer¡¯s back, severed the remaining leg, then stabbed the creature¡¯s broad back.


    The Farmer sensed the holy water entering its body through the wound and screeched out loudly, ¡°I said, what is this?!¡±, then threw the crimson-robed man off itself. ¡°Just what are you bastards!?¡±


    The Crimson Cross members quickly distanced themselves from the creature. They themselves looked somewhat stunned as they took off their gloves. They stared at the Aztal Rune tattooed on their bodies, extending all the way down to the backs of their hands.


    ¡®¡­This¡­¡¯


    ¡®¡­This is the power Lord Saint granted us!¡¯


    The Farmer glared at the crimson-robed humans. ¡°I, I shall not go easy on you anymore! I swear, I shall drink every last drop of your blood!¡±


    The severed stumps of the insect legs dropped from its back, then six even thicker and larger pairs of legs sprouted from it.


    The Farmer¡¯s entire body began ballooning up as well. The Crimson Cross members flinched in surprise and retreated quickly.


    The monster was shedding its human facade completely now, transforming into an insect. The six pairs of legs planted themselves firmly on the ground to raise its enlarged body up.


    Its lengthy hind legs supported its rotund torso. Its belly had become far more bulbous and much heavier, while the upper torso of the Farmer still retained the appearance of its smaller form. The lower half now boasted a huge spider¡¯s head and maw, and dozens of eyes dotting that grotesque head.


    The upper torso remained The Farmer, but the lower half had become a spidery monster!


    ¡°Ku-oooooooooh!¡± The Farmer screeched out monstrously. Responding to its call, ghouls began crawling out from the split crevasse in the ground below. It was like looking at a mass hatching of spider eggs that had been buried underground, and the resulting offspring were now pouring out en masse.


    The agents of the Crimson Cross gripped their weapons tighter.


    ¡°Can we do this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll get difficult, yes.¡±


    ¡°However, we certainly cannot back down.¡±


    The Farmer snickered derisively and glared at the Crimson Cross. ¡°Now come and do your worst, you foolish holy men!¡±


    **


    Laurence sucked in his breath. He shrunk his body as much as possible and hid between the boulders.


    How many days had it been already?


    He had survived by catching and eating rats he found in the cave, and quenched his thirst by drinking drops of water falling from the ceiling. Even then, it was a miracle he had survived this long.


    ¡®Maybe it is the goddess¡¯s grace at work¡­¡¯


    That was what Laurence chose to believe as he leaned his back against a boulder while trying to calm his heavy breathing.


    ¡®I¡¯m at my limit. I must get outside, above ground somehow¡­¡¯


    Laurence looked up at the cave¡¯s ceiling, visible through the gaps of the boulders. He could see what looked like hundreds of ghouls crawling all over the ground, the walls, and the ceiling, trying to escape to the outside world.


    The ceiling itself had been broken wide open. That hole had been opened up by the creature called The Farmer, or whatever its name was.


    What if he used that hole¡­?


    ¡®¡­I¡¯ll be above ground again!¡¯


    Unfortunately, the ghouls were climbing up first. Would he be able to survive even if he went outside in that case?


    It was then, he heard some screams. They came from other survivors still trapped underground. They were discovered by the ghouls and hunted down.


    Their abdomens were ripped open and their intestines were being devoured right now.


    ¡®¡­Yeah, as I thought. It¡¯s impossible for me.¡¯


    Laurence grew pale with fright. He shifted his gaze back to the hole leading to the surface, and inwardly prayed, ¡®Oh, dear Goddess Gaia, I beg of you. Please save me¡­!¡¯


    **


    ¡°Maintain your formation!¡±


    Ghouls surrounded the members of the Crimson Cross and circled around them. The crimson-robed men pressed their backs against those of their colleagues. They breathed quickly and heavily under their bird-beak masks.


    One of the ghouls pounced on the group. Its head was instantly stabbed by a scythe and the undead was brought down hard to the ground.


    But making such a large movement would invariably leave a wide gap, and another ghoul rushed in. The Crimson Cross member in the center of the formation fired his crossbow and shot straight through the incoming ghoul.


    Another undead was rushing in from the other side, but it was smacked away by a shovel.


    ¡°Please save us!¡±


    The Crimson Cross shifted their gazes towards where the pleading voice came from. The ghouls had begun hunting the villagers.


    The ducal soldiers were trying their damnedest to fight back, but it was an impossible task for them to stop the tide of the undead.


    That momentary distraction allowed the ghouls to get in close and pounce on the Crimson Cross.


    The Farmer sneered and roared out, -Struggle unsightly in suffering!-


    The claws of a ghoul sliced past the shoulder of a Crimson Cross member.


    -Die and become another zombie that serves me.-


    Another member¡¯s wrist was bitten, and his hand was ripped off.


    -Beg. Plead to be saved. Pray for your suffering to go away.-


    The five Crimson Cross members gradually grew tired and were forced into a corner.


    -When that happens, I shall grant you an opportunity. An opportunity to become my slaves!-

 Chapter 322 - 169. The Farmer (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The Farmer waited for the Crimson Cross members to scream and beg for their lives. No other sound was as pleasing to listen to as some measly livestock¡¯s tragic cries.


    Their screams were directly linked to the creature¡¯s own enjoyment, after all. But oddly enough, the crimson-robed ones didn¡¯t scream.


    ¡°This is nothing more than a trial Gaia has bestowed upon us.¡±


    ¡°Pain is proof of our devotion, our belief.¡±


    The muscles around the Farmer¡¯s eyes twitched. These humans, they were all insane!


    1


    The toxins from the ghouls must¡¯ve spread throughout their bodies by now and caused intense suffering, yet they were converting all that pain and fear into the fuel for their belief, instead.


    -You¡¯re all crazy. Death swiftly approaches you, yet you still dare to put on an act like this?-


    The Crimson Cross members clenched their teeth under their masks. Their legs were punctured, and their arms were being ripped off. The Aztal Rune continued to heal their wounds, but the recovery speed was well behind the rate of enemy attacks. If this continued, they would soon be devoured by these monsters.


    It was at that moment that they saw something within the forest over yonder. Gentle rays of pure light were gathering there.


    The members of the Crimson Cross were momentarily dazed by that sight, only for the corners of their lips to curl up.


    ¡°Death, you say?¡± One of them glared at the Farmer while not even bothering to stem all the bleeding on his body. ¡°That¡¯s coming for you, not us.¡±


    -What did you say?-


    At that very moment, part of the Farmer¡¯s head exploded.


    A gunshot belatedly rang out in the air, and only then did the monster show some reaction. It screeched monstrously, but it couldn¡¯t even touch its damaged head due to the sheer pain and could only reach out with trembling hands.


    Thud!


    Boots made out of bones and metal stomped on the grass-covered ground.


    Clack, clack-!


    Wielders of muskets maintained a formation and took aim with their weapons in perfect unison.


    The Farmer flinched in shock and hurriedly looked behind itself at them. -What, what is the meaning of this?!-


    The Crimson Cross members collapsed to the ground in exhaustion and muttered softly, ¡°In the presence of the great Holy King¡­¡±


    The undead legion, glowing with a bright light, was standing in rank and file in the forest, taking aim with their muskets.


    ¡°¡­greet your demise, vampire!¡±


    The Farmer¡¯s eyes trembled the moment it heard the strained muttering of the Crimson Cross, who were closing their eyes now.


    The muskets began unleashing their volley simultaneously. Loud gunshots rocked the surroundings.


    Holy bullets spun around energetically inside the lengthy barrels before exploding forth. The blinding flashes of light escaping the muzzles, along with dense puffs of smoke, pierced straight through the ghouls and flew towards The Farmer.


    Dozens of ghouls were destroyed in an instant. At the same time, the Farmer¡¯s legs were also shattered, causing its body to crash to the ground.


    The dozens of eyes on The Farmer¡¯s body trembled in shock.


    -This, could this be¡­!-


    ¡°Struggle in vain from the pain.¡± A man was striding out of the forest, also wielding a musket. He was breathing into the weapon. ¡°Die and be incinerated into a pile of ashes.¡±


    He raised the musket high up in the air, then lowered it to point at The Farmer.


    ¡°Beg and plead for your life. Crawl on your face and beg for your pain to go away.¡± Allen smirked and threw what The Farmer had said right back at the monster. ¡°If you do, I shall grant you an opportunity. An opportunity to die without further pain, that is.¡±


    -You, a measly human dares to¡­!-


    The musket¡¯s trigger was pulled, and The Farmer¡¯s head exploded completely.


    The creature¡¯s arms flailed about all over the place where its head used to be. It struggled and kicked wildly, like an overturned insect, thrashing about in an ungainly manner.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s now! Everyone, evacuate!¡± Seran cried out while jumping out of the forest.


    A few of the ghouls had pounced on her and took a swipe with their claws, but she lowered herself and evaded the attack smartly.


    She quickly yanked out a rapier, and its slender needle of a blade accurately stabbed into the front of the ghoul¡¯s skull.


    Rotten blood splattered on her face, but she didn¡¯t even bat an eye, pulling her rapier out and shoving the ghoul away with her foot. ¡°Hurry, everyone-!¡±


    Her shouts woke up the soldiers from their stupor and they urgently guided the villagers to Seran¡¯s location.


    In the midst of the fleeing villagers was a woman holding a baby. She was breathlessly running away just like everyone else. The fabric wrapped around the toddler came loose and his outer appearance was revealed to the world. It was a baby with dark, scorched skin and a small, withered torso.


    The woman and the baby ran right past next to Allen, and he got a good look at both. He even used [Mind¡¯s Eye] right at that moment and accurately saw the baby¡¯s information.


    ¡°¡­Huh.¡±


    ¡°Allen. Allen?¡± Seran behind him shook his shoulder. He looked back at her as she asked a question. ¡°All villagers have evacuated, but¡­ what¡¯s the matter?¡±


    She made a worried face, so Allen smiled brightly and replied, ¡°Nah, it¡¯s nothing major.¡±


    He then breathed into the musket once more, while glaring at the Farmer squirming and writhing around on the ground.


    -Kkyaaaahk!-


    Ghouls were trying to rush towards him, but his holy skeletons pounced on them first. They proceeded to kick the rotting undead away, aimed with their muskets, and fired their bullets mercilessly. Bayonets attached to the muzzles of the weapons were driven deep into the undead to shove them away.


    Meanwhile, holy water was summoned forth from the ground as Allen walked past, spreading out seemingly to everywhere. This flood of holy water poured into the hole in the ground The Farmer had dug through, melting down every ghoul trying to emerge from there.


    This allowed Seran to quickly approach the hole and look inside the wide opening. That was when she discovered the survivors inside the underground cave urgently running towards the hole.


    ¡°Hurry and rescue them!¡± Seran ordered the soldiers, and they dropped a rope into the hole. They worked together and pulled up the struggling victims one by one.


    Allen stepped on the Farmer¡¯s large spider-like head as the survivors were being rescued. ¡°Was it enjoyable to torment my subordinates?¡±


    The creature¡¯s lower abdomen, where its large spider¡¯s head was located, split open to speak.


    -You bastard! Yes, I¡¯ve heard the rumours about you. The Holy King who drove away the Vampire King!-


    The Farmer was shuddering now. Dozens of its eyes were now focused on Allen.


    -D-don¡¯t kill me. I beg of you. I¡¯ll do anything you want, so p-please¡­-


    ¡°I¡¯m not stupid enough to trust a bug that likes to prey on people.¡± Allen aimed the musket at the Farmer and retorted snarkily, ¡°We are hunters. And you¡­¡±


    He pulled the trigger.


    The creature¡¯s body was pierced straight through and it got flung away from the impact.


    ¡°¡­You are merely a lowly beast about to get hunted, that¡¯s all.¡±


    The Farmer howled as its body was instantly enveloped in bluish flames. It burned down to ashes, and was extinguished from the world.


    Allen slung the musket over his shoulder and walked up to the five downed Crimson Cross members. They were currently lying in the pool of holy water. He addressed them, ¡°How are you all feeling?¡±


    One of the downed Crimson Cross members brought his trembling hands together and assumed the praying position. ¡°¡­Let there be Gaia¡¯s favour and Lord Saint¡¯s glory¡­¡±


    Allen smiled bitterly at that reply. ¡°I guess you¡¯re feeling alright, then. You did well. Get some rest.¡±


    At the end of those words, the praying hands of the Crimson Cross member fell to the ground. The holy skeletons placed the unconscious crimson-robed men on their backs.


    Seran stared at The Farmer¡¯s body burning down to ash. She nervously chewed on her fingernails while scanning the faces of every person emerging from the underground cave.


    ¡®¡­There is nothing?¡¯


    Her irises trembled unsteadily as she continued to confirm each and every survivor.


    None of them possessed divinity.


    She wondered if one of them was a hidden talent or someone possessing the status of a Saint, just like Allen. At the very least, she thought that this person, whoever it was, was still in the middle of their growth and therefore, not noticeable yet.


    But there was no one like that.


    Every survivor was an ordinary person.


    ¡°None of them¡­ But, why? How come¡­? Without a doubt, the hint to stop the end of the world¡­ Could it be that the Foresight was¡­ wrong?¡±


    1


    If that wasn¡¯t it either, then maybe she had simply failed to recognise the hint in the first place?


    Just as Seran started to hurriedly climb down to the underground cave, Allen rushed in and grabbed the hem of her dress to stop her.


    ¡°Allen?¡±


    ¡°Sister, there¡¯s no reason for an esteemed daughter of a Duke¡¯s household to get covered in dust. Well, getting splattered in blood is the part of the job description of being an Imperial Family member, so that part can¡¯t be helped, I guess.¡±


    Allen used his handkerchief to wipe the blood from Seran¡¯s face. He then nodded briefly at his holy skeletons, directing them to enter the underground cave to rescue any still-trapped survivors down there.


    ¡°B-but, the hint to stop the end of the world is still¡­¡± Seran stuttered out her reply.


    Allen used his [Mind¡¯s Eye] to scan the rescued people. He then noticed a man hurriedly running towards the evacuated villagers by the nearby forest.


    ¡°Alina?! Oh, dear goddess! Are you safe? Oh, thank you. Thank you Goddess Gaia!¡±


    Allen stared at the man¡¯s wife, then back at him.


    [Name: Laurence.


    Age: 45.


    Attributes: Benevolent, high degree of empathy, unshakeable will, gift of gab, deep faith.


    + Alina, wait just a bit longer for me. I¡¯ll definitely protect you and the baby!]


    Allen silently observed the man named Laurence and the woman he walked up to, plus the baby held in her arms.


    ¡°Laurence! Oh my gosh, you are safe! I¡¯m so relieved. Look, our baby is also safe as well. He¡¯s even smiling!¡±


    Allen watched this scene for a bit longer before opening his mouth, ¡°Well, we found it, alright.¡±


    Seran flinched in surprise and looked at him.


    A deep smile formed on his face as he continued on, ¡°¡­That hint you were talking about, sister.¡±


    < 169. The Farmer (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 323 - 170. The Sealed Ones (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Inside the Duchy of Ariana¡¯s executive office¡­


    Seran handed a piece of parchment over to me. ¡°This is all the information on the man named Laurence and his family.¡±


    I took a sip of my tea, then received the document. Its contents were brief and concise.


    Laurence, along with his childhood friend Alina, left their hometown of Frants¡¯ royal capital to embark on the life of a wandering merchant. They plugged away at this lifestyle for over twenty years, and in the process, they got hitched and spent many happy years together.


    However, they found out that Alina couldn¡¯t have children, which had plunged the couple into sadness.


    In the middle of this, the war between the Theocratic Empire and the vampires began, and the couple returned to the Kingdom of Frants in order to flee from the conflict.


    ¡®It lines up with the report Harman submitted earlier,¡¯ I thought to myself, then put the teacup down on the office¡¯s desk. I then turned to look at Seran. ¡°Sister, the report came in faster than I expected. It¡¯s well organised and very concise, too.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ve been helping my mother out since I was young, and I¡¯ve become a bit of a pro at these sorts of things.¡±


    It seemed that she really was talented in multiple things.


    ¡°By the way, just what is the hint regarding the end of the world, Allen?¡± she asked me again, while tilting her head.


    I figured that she was really curious about it.


    While not saying anything back, I recalled the ¡®baby¡¯ Laurence and his wife were taking care of.


    ¡­Which happened to be the Second Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, Ruppel Olfolse. I was dead sure about that.


    But I couldn¡¯t tell what his exact condition was right now.


    Just as I got ready to reply to her, knocks came from the office¡¯s door. The door opened up and the twins stared at me through the open doorway. ¡°¡­Allen, the people you spoke about are here.¡±


    ¡°Ah, is that so?¡± I got up from the chair.


    Beyond the open doorway were a couple of familiar faces. One was Alice Astoria, lightly lifting the helm of her dress and bowing her head in a dignified manner. Marquis Hans Jerurami was next to her, bowing his whole body ninety degrees, while a bucket of cold sweat nervously dripped down from his face.


    I smiled deeply at the two. ¡°Welcome, welcome.¡±


    Us three then headed off to another location. Not wanting to be discovered, Hans, Alice, and I all hid ourselves under some robes and hoods. As for Seran, she still had a ton of work left to do, so she chose to remain in the citadel.


    We entered the city in the centre of the Ariana Duchy. Despite the hour being late, quite a few citizens were still out and about.


    Some were mourning the losses of their family members, while some others were celebrating the news of the devil worshippers and The Farmer all being either apprehended or killed off.


    ¡°E-excuse me, Your Majesty? I, uh, I really don¡¯t have anything to report to you, sire,¡± said Hans.


    Even though I hadn¡¯t asked him anything yet, he was oddly shrinking back as more cold sweat streamed off of him.


    I ignored that for now and headed to the inn where Laurence and his wife were currently staying. When I quietly pushed the inn¡¯s door open, we were greeted by the sight of a sizeable crowd gathering inside the building.


    A large number of people had completely filled up the dining hall of the inn. However, the place remained quiet despite the presence of all these people.


    Only one person among them was speaking out loudly, ¡°And then, what happened was, I ended up stepping on the bone and cracking it! And when I did that, all those ghouls just went ¡®Swish!¡¯ and turned their heads at the same time. Goodness me, that was so scary back then¡­!¡±


    It was Laurence. He gulped down some booze and continued on with the recounting of his misadventure to these city folk.


    The crowd was obviously deeply absorbed by his story and gave him their undivided attention.


    ¡°I beg your pardon, dear customer. We don¡¯t have any openings at the moment and¡­¡± the inn¡¯s proprietor walked up to us and pleadingly rubbed his hands while addressing me.


    ¡°Maybe you can do something for us?¡± Alice sneakily slid forward a single gold coin and smiled gently. ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, of course, miss!¡± The inn¡¯s proprietor suddenly grew flushed, then hurriedly brought out a table and some chairs out from the kitchen, creating a spot for us.


    I settled down on the chair, while Alice and Hans took their seats at my left and right.


    ¡°I thought, oh no, I¡¯m really going to die this time. So I offered my final prayer to Goddess Gaia, but then! Goodness me, a flood of holy water just came down like a rainfall from the hole in the ceiling! Yes, like a waterfall! And then, and then¡­! Lady Seran was reaching down with her hand! If that¡¯s not salvation, then what is? Goddess Gaia definitely granted us a miracle back then!¡±


    People let out a sigh of admiration or started praying when Laurence got to that part.


    I shifted my gaze over to the staircase leading up to the inn¡¯s first floor, and watched Alina come down while carrying the baby.


    ¡°Hey, Hans?¡± I muttered quietly.


    Hans froze right there and then.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to make a report.¡± I pointed at the baby within Alina¡¯s embrace. ¡°Tell me just what that baby in her arms is.¡±


    Hans¡¯s head turned to the side, creaking noisily like a broken machine. His gaze finally landed on the baby in Alina¡¯s care.


    Through the gap of the fabric carefully wrapped around the baby, a thin and withered arm could be seen.


    This baby¡¯s arm reached up towards Alina. A happy giggle could be heard coming from the baby, too.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Ruppel Olfolse, isn¡¯t it, sire¡­¡±


    The Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse.


    I already knew that the baby was him. But that¡¯s not what I was asking here. ¡°I¡¯m asking you what exactly he has become.¡±


    ¡°¡­He¡¯s nothing more than a vampire, sire.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really? Is that all?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Hans must¡¯ve heard what was being said while Kirum was being tortured.


    {Just what have you all created?! That, that was no longer a vampire!}


    ¡­And he must¡¯ve also realised something back then.


    Hans squeezed his eyes shut. ¡°A-at least, the last time I saw him, he was definitely a vampire.¡±


    ¡°And now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to check to make sure, sire. It¡¯s impossible to tell just by looking at him from a distance.¡±


    There was no point in checking it out, though. I had checked Ruppel¡¯s data out already, anyway.


    I recalled the info I had seen while killing The Farmer.


    [Name: Roy.


    Age: ¨C


    Attributes: Weak divinity, idiot-ification, vampire vampirism.


    + Mom, dad, I¡¯m really happy!]


    That was a fairly brief set of information. Also, that ¡®vampire vampirism¡¯ thing in his attribute window? I couldn¡¯t figure what that was all about.


    Even his name had changed, while all of his abilities seemed to have been reset.


    I heard that Ruppel had turned into an invalid and his mind had been completely lost. As for the change to his name, I figured that that was because the married couple gave him a new name.


    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for his appearance, I¡¯d have thought I was looking at a different person altogether.¡± I shifted my gaze over to Hans and asked him, ¡°You punk, just what kind of experiments did you and my grandfather do on him?¡±


    Hans took his time before barely opening his lips. ¡°¡­It was something the ancient Holy Emperors have been experimenting on for a very long time, sire. The¡­ creation of a completely different existence to vampire.¡±


    A completely different existence to vampire, was it? He was talking about experimenting on the vampires using the blood of the Imperial Family.


    ¡°His Imperial Majesty said that if we managed to succeed, then there would not be a need for war anymore.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°And His Imperial Majesty also ordered me not to¡­ tell this to anyone.¡±


    ¡°Including even me?¡±


    ¡°¡­Yes. At least, not until you ascended to the throne, that is¡­¡±


    ¡°Even though I¡¯m acting as his proxy now, with all of his authority?¡±


    Hans kept his mouth shut.


    This guy¡­ He used to have a really loose pair of lips in the past, but he seemed to have finally learned how to keep his trap shut. It probably was part of his desire to respect Holy Emperor Kelt¡¯s wishes, though.


    I got up from the chair.


    ¡°Laurence, could you please keep it down? Our baby can¡¯t sleep because of all the ruckus.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Sorry about that, dear. But look, even our baby loves to listen to me talk!¡±


    Laurence smiled as he looked at the baby in his wife¡¯s arms. The crowd all smiled in content as well at the couple.


    He poured more booze into his mug and shouted out, ¡°In any case! Let me continue on with my tale! It happened right then! His Majesty the Holy King raised this weapon, the musket or whatever it was called, and then¡­?!¡±


    I pushed the hood back. Laurence regaling the crowd with his story saw my face and froze up stiff on the spot.


    Clatter¡­


    The noises of someone shoving the chair back in surprise could be heard next. The citizens inside the inn were shocked into silence, and hurriedly kowtowed on the floor.


    Laurence also sobered up in an instant and tried to prostate himself, but I held my hand up and signalled that he didn¡¯t have to bother.


    He made a stupefied and unsure face, while Alina was alternating her own stunned gaze between me and her husband.


    I ignored them and walked up to the baby in her arms. ¡°Hey. It¡¯s been a while, brother.¡±


    The baby¡¯s eyes shifted over to me. His roundish eyes visible among the scorched-black skin quietly took in my face¡­ before they began shaking.


    Fear quickly dyed the baby¡¯s expression, then he began flailing about with his arms and legs while bursting into a loud wailing.


    ¡°Wuuu-eeeeeehng¡­!¡±

 Chapter 324 - 170. The Sealed Ones (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°Ah! W-what¡¯s the matter, Roy? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Alina hurriedly tried to calm the baby down.


    As for me, I could only make a wry expression. This sort of a reaction seemed rather predictable, actually.


    I mean, the baby had come face to face with the culprit who had tried to crush him with the huge sword of the Skeleton King, then imprisoned him in the torture chamber later on, too.


    Even if he had become an invalid, that instinctive fear of me should still be there in his heart even now.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, everything will be fine, Roy¡­¡±


    ¡°Can you shield the baby¡¯s eyes for a second?¡± I asked her, but Alina shot me a very wary gaze in my direction, instead.


    Laurence, gauging the mood from the side, cautiously reached out and covered the baby¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Hans, Alice,¡± I called out, and the two of them walked up to us.


    They checked Ruppel¡¯s condition before their expressions hardened noticeably. Seeing their reactions was enough for me. It should be fine to listen to their analysis and explanations later on.


    I sucked my breath in deeply, before biting my thumb to draw some blood.


    When I presented my blood to Ruppel, the baby sniffed the air for a second or two before shaking his head side to side. His small, frail-looking hands tried to push my hand away as if he was rejecting the blood itself.


    ¡°¡­He doesn¡¯t want to drink the blood.¡±


    Alina gasped out in surprise when I muttered that to myself. ¡°B-blood, sire? But, what do you mean by¡­?¡±


    She pulled the baby closer and stepped away from me.


    I asked her, ¡°What does that child eat?¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡±


    ¡°Does he drink blood? Or the usual mother¡¯s milk?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Alina tried to read my mood before answering. But Laurence standing next to us did it for her, instead. ¡°He¡­ sometimes consumes meat, sire.¡±


    ¡°Even though he has no teeth?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes. Although it¡¯s only a small amount, he does consume meat. Well, he¡¯s very unique and different from other children, after all¡­¡±


    ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°He loves holy water as well. For some reason, if he doesn¡¯t consume holy water, he comes down with a strong fever, so¡­ Thanks to that, we have to spend a lot more money than we initially expected, Your Majesty.¡±


    Hans¡¯ expression hardened even further, while Alice¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    With his testimony, the results were in. Ruppel was no longer a vampire, but something else entirely now.


    ¡°What¡¯s the name?¡±


    ¡°I, I¡¯m Laurence, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Not you. The baby,¡± I asked for the sake of appearance.


    ¡°It¡¯s Roy, Your Majesty.¡± This time, Alina replied first.


    I nodded slightly. ¡°How pitiful. This baby will end up experiencing unhappiness throughout his life.¡±


    Laurence and Alina both flinched at that and stared at me.


    ¡°With how he looks, others will definitely try to avoid him in the future.¡±


    ¡°No, that won¡¯t happen.¡± Alina glared at me in anger. ¡°I can¡¯t speak for the others, but Laurence and I will be there for our child. Roy will definitely have a happy life.¡± She sounded determined, unyielding. ¡°Because, we are family.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    These two were good people. I could see that.


    Kirum was responsible for Warping Ruppel away somewhere, which in turn led to him encountering Laurence and his wife. I came to the Kingdom of Frants in order to help Seran, and rather coincidentally, ran into the couple.


    But to call this purely coincidental¡­ pieces had fallen into their places just too conveniently. Maybe we really were acting according to the will of the gods or something.


    If that was the case, then the gods were probably trying to ¡®experiment¡¯ on something here again. There must¡¯ve been a reason for them to facilitate a meeting between me and Ruppel like this, at the very least.


    I reached out. Alina stumbled back and tried to get even further away, but I stopped her by grabbing her arm. And then, I placed my hand on the tummy of the baby whose eyes were still covered up.


    I needed one final confirmation. If he was really no longer a vampire, then¡­


    ¡°¡­Then, you won¡¯t die from this, brother.¡±


    I roused up my divinity and drove it into Ruppel/Roy. The divine energy gently wrapped around the baby¡¯s body. The eyes of both Laurence and Alina bulged out of their faces as they stared at this phenomenon.


    ¡°Y-Your Majesty¡­?¡±


    The sound of palpitations could be heard coming from the baby. Although faint, my hand picked up on the aura of life bubbling within.


    I looked at the baby and spoke, ¡°You¡¯ve run into really wonderful people, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    The baby¡¯s blackened skin slowly turned to ashes and crumbled away, to disappear from this world.


    ¡°Even if this life ends up being short¡­¡±


    His withered skin slowly filled back up with living flesh, and pure-white skin grew to cover them.


    ¡°¡­I pray that you live a happy life.¡±


    I took my hand away.


    Laurence reached out towards the baby with trembling hands, while Alina covered her mouth. The baby in her embrace now looked like a perfectly ordinary infant.


    ¡°D-dear, look! Roy, his appearance¡­!¡±


    ¡°This, this is¡­ A-another miracle¡­!¡±


    Tears flooded down their cheeks almost immediately.


    ¡°Thank you! Your Majesty, I, I don¡¯t even know how to repay this kindness¡­!¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sire! Thank you so much!¡±


    The two of them kowtowed on the ground. The citizens watching us from the surroundings became so stunned that they all became speechless.


    As for me¡­ I simply stood there, smiling bitterly away.


    Their elation would surely be a brief one.


    If what Seran said was correct, then Ruppel¡­ No, hang on, that baby named Roy would become the key in halting the advent of the end of the world.


    Meaning, their happiness would not last for long.


    I addressed Laurence and his wife. ¡°I heard that you were trying to purchase some land and start a farm. However, how about you try another line of profession, instead?¡±


    They looked back at me in some confusion.


    ¡°As it turns out, my older sister Lady Seran is looking for a servant at the moment. So, how about it?¡±


    ¡°S-such a thing, sire?! T-thank you, thank you! Oh my goodness¡­ H-how can anyone be this generous¡­!¡±


    Laurence clamped his hands together and urgently prayed.


    I patted him on the shoulder and spoke, ¡°Take good care of that baby. He¡¯s a blessed child. I pray that you all enjoy happy lives.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sire. I thank you from the bottom of my heart!¡±


    I turned around to leave, but still didn¡¯t forget to quietly whisper into Hans¡¯s ear, ¡°Hey, Hans?¡±


    ¡°Y-y-yes¡­¡± he stuttered nervously.


    ¡°Do not hold back on supporting this family. Periodically supply them with holy water and your wonder drug. And even if it¡¯s a minor matter, make sure that every single thing happening to them will be reported back to me.¡±


    ¡°¡­As you command, sire.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and also. This matter regarding my older brother¡­¡± I glared deep into Hans¡¯ face. ¡°I¡¯ll have you explain everything in detail.¡±


    **


    Somewhere in the northwestern region, in a frozen mountain range filled with glaciers¡­


    Vlandmir, the king of all vampires, slowly rubbed his abdomen. Traces of divinity slowly wafted out from under the bandages tightly wound around his torso.


    Whenever that happened, a horrifying pain would besiege him.


    The deadly wound inflicted on him by the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, still remained, although it seemed to have weakened now.


    ¡®How dare measly livestock¡­!¡¯ Vlandmir burned inwardly in pure rage.


    Kelt¡¯s divinity was still eating him away from the inside even now, and it would be a long, long time before the wound was completely healed.


    ¡®However, Kelt you bastard. It¡¯s also over for you.¡¯


    Vlandmir had tested Kelt¡¯s strength through direct combat and confirmed that the latter didn¡¯t have too long to live. Soon, the Holy Emperor would depart from this world.


    That would mean the elimination of their biggest hurdle.


    No, wait. One other hurdle still stood in their way.


    ¡°The Holy King, Allen Olfolse¡­¡±


    That bastard was still there, the abominable monster who had gleefully slaughtered Vlandmir¡¯s brethren.


    The Holy King would no doubt continue to get stronger. The more he hunted vampires, the more powerful he¡¯d get. In the end, he¡¯d be able to acquire a level of strength equalling that of Holy Emperor Kelt. No, maybe even greater than that old man¡¯s!


    In that case, there was only one way remaining to fight against the Imperial Family.


    Vlandmir shifted his gaze over to what lay before him. Masses of ice covered just about everywhere, while a set of frozen chains could be seen tightly wrapped around a huge steel gateway nestled within all that ice.


    There it was, the sealed doorway. There was a noticeable crack running through the door itself now.


    It looked as if the sealing wouldn¡¯t endure for long, and it¡¯d come undone on its own.


    ¡®That seal would¡¯ve broken down sooner or later.¡¯


    But nothing much would change simply by bringing the eventual outcome a little sooner than scheduled, now would it?


    Bang, bang-!


    Many vampires were labouring away tirelessly. They had shed their human facades some time ago, and focused solely on breaking all the ice encasing the doorway.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been on the losing side for far too long. However, it¡¯ll be a different story from now on.¡±


    The existences allegedly sealed away by the fearful gods a long, long time ago¡­


    ¡°If we can¡¯t have it, then we shall simply destroy it.¡±


    The only entrance created as the doorway to another world, different from the Warp Gate¡­


    ¡°The J?tnar.¡± Vlandmir slammed the haft of his spear down on the ground. ¡°We shall henceforth ¡®borrow¡¯ your strength-!¡±


    Jets of blood rose up from seemingly everywhere, and began destroying the ice encasing the doorway. Large pieces of ice tumbled and fell to the ground. The nearby vampires hurriedly escaped the area.


    Demonic energy belonging to the Vampire King snaked itself around the steel door. The seal placed there by the gods gradually weakened, and the once firmly-shut door began to crack open a little.


    The frozen chains stretched tautly, and a storm of dust exploded from the open gap.


    ¡°Everyone, step back-!¡±


    The sudden storm of sand pounced on the vampires, crushing them flat. Other vampires, trying to escape from that storm, leapt up high, only to be frozen solid in the air by the rush of bone-chilling air.


    ¡°H-help me¡­!¡±


    Next up, a wave of flames exploded out from the open gap in the doorway, utterly incinerating more vampires that had failed to distance themselves away from there in time, reducing them into nothing but piles of ashes.


    The Vampire King¡¯s brows shot up and he stumbled back, unbeknownst even to himself. A powerful aura that he couldn¡¯t even dare to get closer to wafted out from the doorway.


    The surviving vampires swallowed back nervously and stared at the door.


    As this choking silence continued on, the bone-chilling air, blinding dust storm, and the intense heat from billowing flames all rushed out from the open gap of the doorway.


    And from the darkness beyond it, a gigantic eye could be seen.


    < 170. The Sealed Ones (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 325 - The Preparations for the Future -1 (Part One)

    Chapter 325: 171. The Preparations for the Future -1 (Part One)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Seran was floating in an unknown empty space, with no gravity to anchor her down. She gasped in surprise, and quickly looked around her new surroundings.


    It was dark here. A still silence so eerily quiet filled this space up. She tried to open her mouth, but her voice didn¡¯t want to come out.


    She began touching her throat; her head spun around dizzily, as if she had too much to drink. Even her body felt incredibly heavy, like a soaked sponge.


    All these sensations¡­ Indeed, she had grown quite familiar with them a long time ago. That was because they belonged to¡­


    ¡®¡­[Foresight]!¡¯


    The moment she realised that, someone¡¯s voice suddenly came to her from below.


    ¡°Back then, your skin was pitch-black, son. During our travels, we sought someone to heal you, but that person told us that something was wrong with your body. We were told that you didn¡¯t even have half a year left to live. But we didn¡¯t lose hope.¡±


    Seran¡¯s eyes grew wider.


    Inside this deep darkness, she noticed a lake emitting light right below her. A scene was being reflected in the water¡¯s surface.


    It belonged to a happy-looking family. She then noticed that the man currently speaking was Laurence, the commoner she had encountered a few days ago.


    ¡°And that¡¯s when we met him. After the Farmer incident, we ended up meeting His Majesty the Holy King. That noble person bestowed a miracle onto your body, son.¡±


    That man Laurence was sitting by a table and chatting to a young boy near him.


    ¡®What is this? Why am I foreseeing a prophecy of such a scene?¡¯, Seran thought to herself.


    However, there was always a reason for everything, including with Foresight. That unknown reason was why she was seeing this scene right now.


    The boy looked to be around ten years of age. He was sitting opposite to Laurence and while sighing, he shook his head.


    ¡°Mm? What¡¯s the matter, Roy?¡±


    ¡°Ng? Ah, no it¡¯s nothing, dad. Just feeling hungry, that¡¯s all!¡± the boy named Roy smiled awkwardly.


    ¡°That¡¯s not surprising. Dear, you¡¯ve been repeating the exact same thing for the past five years. Every time you open your mouth, it¡¯s His Majesty the Holy King this or His Majesty that. Can you imagine how fed up Roy must feel by now?¡± Laurence¡¯s wife, Alina said while placing what looked to be breakfast on the table.


    Seran began guessing some things after hearing her speak. Could it be that five years had passed since the Farmer incident? She tilted her head in some confusion.


    But, wasn¡¯t the baby named Roy only around one, maybe two years old right now, in the present timeline? Yet he had already grown into a boy in his early teens in five years?


    ¡®Could it be because of Allen¡¯s influence?¡¯


    Or, there could be something else she didn¡¯t know about at play here¡­


    The boy named Roy stepped outside his home. While holding onto Laurence¡¯s hand, he walked down the street of a small village, a happy smile etched on his face.


    Despite experiencing that horrible incident involving the Farmer, Laurence had chosen to stay in that village.


    Their surroundings soon opened up to farmlands. Laurence and Roy waved their hands to greet the farmers and asked about their wellbeing.


    From the looks of things, both Roy and Laurence seemed to be servants. They were certainly dressed like servants, too. The next scene reflected in the lake showed them walking towards the Ariana citadel to start their morning work.


    Vitality and life filled the city streets. Travellers were busy walking along the streets, while the peddlers and shopkeepers were smiling away happily as they conducted their business.


    It was the very picture of peace itself.


    Laurence and Roy observed this scene, and grinned at each other.


    ¡®So, the Kingdom of Frants in five years will be peaceful¡­¡¯


    A happy expression gradually filled Seran¡¯s face.


    Clang-! Ding-! Dang-!!!


    The crowd in the streets flinched at the noises and raised their heads. Those noises echoing through the cityscape were actually alarm bells.


    They were only activated during the monster raids or an onset of war, however.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°A war, maybe¡­? Or monsters?¡±


    ¡°No way. It¡¯s been really quiet for the past few years, after all. Someone must¡¯ve rang it by mistake or something.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Some kids have been sneaking into the bell tower every now and then, haven¡¯t they?¡±


    The citizens brushed the matter aside nonchalantly. Their reasoning was that some kids managed to climb up the bell tower and rang the warning bell there as a prank a few days ago.


    However, cold sweat began trickling down Laurence¡¯s face for some reason.


    Roy asked in a puzzled voice, ¡°Dad?¡±


    ¡°Mm? Ah, it¡¯s nothing, son. This is the Kingdom of Frants, after all. As long as the Theocratic Empire exists, there won¡¯t be an outbreak of war, and if we¡¯re dealing with monsters, then our brave soldiers will handle them soon enough.¡±


    Roy nodded in understanding at his father¡¯s answer.


    ¡°Ah. Look, Roy. Over there¡­¡±


    Laurence pointed to a spot further up ahead on the street. An old man in his seventies and wearing a butler¡¯s outfit was waving his hand at Roy and Laurence from the middle of the marketplace.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that Mister Klare the butler? Let¡¯s quickly go and say hello.¡±


    ¡°Alright, dad.¡±


    Seran, watching on from above the lake, was surprised. Butler Klare was a loyal retainer who had been serving the House Ariana with unyielding devotion for nearly fifty years.


    ¡®He hasn¡¯t changed at all in five years, has he?¡¯ She smiled gently at this sight.


    Roy bowed his head towards the butler, ¡°Hello, Mister¡­¡±


    But then something happened.


    SPLAT-!


    ¡°¡­Klare?¡±


    Roy¡¯s eyes caught sight of a huge boulder crushing Butler Klare to death.


    Seran¡¯s expression froze stiff in an instant. The boulder responsible for crushing the old butler continued to roll forward and destroyed the marketplace.


    Ka-boooooom!


    Explosive noises suddenly rocked the city.


    DANG-! DING-! DAAANG-!


    The noisy alarm bells continued to ring on and on.


    ¡°Kkyaaaaahk!¡±


    ¡°A p-person was crushed!¡±


    ¡°What was that?! Where did that boulder even¡­?!¡±


    ¡°H-help me! My leg¡­ My leg¡­!¡±


    Roy and Laurence froze up in their spots.


    Seran, watching all these things happen through the pool, quickly covered her mouth with her trembling hands.


    That boulder suddenly flying in generated screams and tragic cries from seemingly everywhere. The street was instantly bathed in blood, and a person who got his leg crushed under the large rock pleaded with the others to save him.


    Roy cautiously looked up. He was greeted by the sight of countless boulders descending on the city.


    ¡°Ah¡­!¡± He hurriedly grabbed Laurence¡¯s arm and ran away from there.


    CRUNCH-!


    Boulders began pummelling the ground; more screams could be heard coming from behind the fleeing duo.


    ¡°H-help me-!¡±


    The powerless citizens minding their own business on the streets earlier were crushed to death by the falling boulders, their blood and flesh splattering everywhere. The buildings collapsed and blew apart, trapping even more people under the debris.


    ¡°Kkyaaaaahk!¡±


    ¡°Run, ruuuun-!¡±


    ¡°What is going on here?!¡±


    The once-peaceful city was transformed into a pandemonium of blood in the blink of an eye.


    ¡®Oh no!¡¯ Seran inwardly cried out. She hurriedly reached out and dipped her hand under the pool¡¯s surface, but she wasn¡¯t allowed to interfere. All she could do for now was to passively watch the future unfold.


    ¡°Hurry and run, dad!¡±


    ¡°Huff, huff¡­!¡± Laurence panted roughly away as they ran.


    Right at that moment, a carriage suddenly pulled up and blocked their path.


    ¡°You two, hurry up and get in!¡±


    ¡°Lord Harman!¡± Roy cried out the name of the Paladin riding on the carriage driver seat.


    ¡°Just what is happening here, sir?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the details later on. Hurry up and get inside already!¡±


    Roy and Laurence boarded the carriage.


    ¡°Mom? What about my mom!¡± the boy cried out again.


    Harman quickly replied, ¡°Other Paladins have already been dispatched to your village. They will ensure the safe evacuation of the villagers there.¡±


    Roy relaxed a little at the Paladin¡¯s reply, only to flinch in surprise and freeze up once inside.


    ¡°Sister. Are you alright?!¡±


    ¡°S-sister, please hold on! At this rate¡­!¡±


    He discovered that the twin brothers, Marvel and Marcel, and in the middle of the duo, Seran, were already inside the carriage.


    ¡®¡­What¡¯s going on?¡¯


    Seran took in the sight of how pitiful her future self looked through the lake, her eyes trembling in shock.


    The ¡®Seran¡¯ of five years in the future had no focus in her eyes, her head remained faltered. Her normal personality was energetic and outgoing, so why was she making such a miserable expression right now?


    Why did her eyes look so¡­ dead?


    Just as Seran¡¯s puzzlement threatened to grow even deeper, she got her answer.


    ¡°Uncle¡­ Mom¡­ Marcus¡­¡±


    Her expression hardened when she heard her future self mutter those words.


    King Zayner, then Runan Ariana, and her younger brother Marcus¡­


    Those three, they had been¡­


    ¡®No, no!¡¯ Seran screamed, only for it to echo in her mind and nowhere else.


    ¡°We¡¯re departing!¡± Harman roared out and drove the horses forward.


    The carriage broke into a sprint as more boulders rained down from the sky.


    The horses, clearly terrified by the destruction taking place all around them, dashed this way and that to evade the boulders.


    ¡°Just a little bit further¡­!¡±


    The exit that led outside the city limits could be seen right in front of them.


    ¡°We did it!¡± Harman cried out just as the carriage escaped from the city. Almost at the same time, however, the ground rumbled ominously.


    Roy turned around and urgently yanked open the carriage¡¯s fabric flap. That was when he got to see them.


    ¡°Wha¡­ what are those¡­?¡±

 Chapter 326 - 171. The Preparations for the Future -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    A deafening roar reverberated throughout the heavens.


    And then, giants, their heights ranging from ten to well over fifteen metres tall, were advancing forward ceaselessly. All of them seemed to be carrying huge boulders, and continued to throw the huge rocks into the center of the city.


    Those boulders crash-landed and rolled around, destroying the city. Dozens upon dozens of people were crushed to death.


    The giants invaded the city, trampled on it, picked up struggling humans and ripped them apart before devouring them.


    And the biggest giant of them all¡­


    This creature¡¯s entire figure was covered in ice. Every time it took a step forward, this bone-chilling air spread out to its surroundings and literally froze everything in the giant¡¯s vicinity.


    It even shoved aside and flung away some giants nearby, as if this humongous creature found their presence annoying.


    -All of you, turn into blocks of ice!-


    The huge giant raised both of its hands before slamming them down on the ground. The earth split apart and huge ¡®icebergs¡¯ exploded from below the surface.


    These icebergs, dozens of metres high, destroyed the surrounding villages and trapped the fleeing villagers in ice.


    -Ahahahahaha!- the Frost Giant roared in cruel laughter. But then, it suddenly flinched before lifting its hefty head up. Its glare met with Seran¡¯s gaze, looking through the pool.


    ¡°¡­!!!¡± Seran gasped in pure shock and stumbled backward. The Frost Giant furrowed its brow, then extended its massive hand up into the empty air.


    It was reaching across space itself!


    The lake that allowed her to see into the future instantly froze up and shattered. A humongous hand appeared around Seran¡¯s position after breaking straight through the fabric of time and space connecting her to the future.


    ¡®But, how¡­?!¡¯


    Her body shivered uncontrollably at the sudden rush of the cold air. This creature¡¯s incredible power was even distorting time and space!


    Seran shrunk back and held herself. Whitish breath leaked out from her slightly parted lips.


    No.


    ¡°¡­NO-!¡±


    And then¡­ the giant¡¯s hand closed in on her, grabbing her.


    ¡­¡­.


    ¡­.


    ¡­


    -¡­Escaped, huh.-


    ¡ª¡ª-


    ¡°Hah¡­!¡± Seran¡¯s eyes flew wide open.


    Thick droplets of sweat trickled down her forehead. Her shaky eyes were now taking in the sight of a familiar ceiling.


    She was back in her own room, where her two younger brothers, the twins, were sleeping on either side of her. They had thrown some childish tantrums and claimed they wanted to stay by her side earlier.


    Seran¡¯s trembling hands shielded her face, then she curled up into a ball and began sobbing away.


    That deathly cold air she felt within her dream¡­ It engraved an unspeakable terror deep into her soul.


    The end of the world. It was rapidly approaching them!


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    It had been a month since the Farmer incident came to an end.


    The Theocratic Empire was being governed without any incidents by the combined efforts of Luan, White, and Seran¡¯s mother, Runan Ariana. As for Aslan, Hilda paid a ¡®friendly¡¯ visit down there and took the army by the horns, then quickly stabilised things, according to the report I received.


    As for the Duchy of Ariana¡­


    I was still stuck in Seran¡¯s executive office. Hans was right next to me, busy inscribing a warp magic circle on one of the office¡¯s walls.


    In the middle of his scribbling job, Hans suddenly started chatting to me. ¡°The experiment the ancient Holy Emperors initiated, sire¡­ In truth, it began around five hundred years or so ago.¡±


    I leaned against the couch¡¯s back, then rested my cheek on my fist. My other hand brought the teacup near my lips while I watched Hans diligently draw the warp magic circle.


    I had been asking him about the Second Imperial Prince¡¯s matter for the past month, and Hans seemed to have finally cracked under the pressure.


    He continued on as a sheen of cold sweat coated his face. ¡°But all those experiments ended up as failures, sire. However, there were no individual rights to speak of, even as recently as one hundred years ago, so¡­ our predecessors were able to come to several findings in their research conducted through such unethical experiments.¡±


    ¡°What kind of experiments are we even talking about here?¡±


    After I pointedly asked that, Hans¡¯s hands, which were still scribbling the magic circle, came to a stuttering halt and he visibly hesitated. In the end, however, he still cautiously opened his mouth. ¡°The¡­ sanctification of vampires, sire.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Vampires, existences of pure contradiction that, even though they worship their chosen god, they still desire to kill that very god and ascend to godhood themselves. The plan was to make them completely submit and have the Imperial Family tame them. That is¡­¡± Hans resumed drawing the magic circle. ¡°¡­the Holy Vampire Initiative, as coined by our predecessors, sire.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Such a thing would be impossible to pull off, if we follow the natural laws of this world. Well, it¡¯s practically the same thing as bending the contradiction of all contradictions one more time, you see¡­¡±


    Absorbing the demonic energy found in nature to use magic, and preying on the blood of humans to become even stronger. That was a vampire in a nutshell.


    To these creatures, human blood was like their lifeline, while the gods were merely positions they believed they would ascend to sooner or later.


    So, rejecting human blood and worshipping the gods honestly would mean death itself for them.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s completely impossible, isn¡¯t it?¡± I muttered back.


    ¡°Yes, sire. It should be impossible, normally speaking. However, the pathway to potential success has opened up recently with the appearance of a common sense-breaking individual.¡±


    ¡°¡­A common sense-breaking individual, is it?¡± I asked in a puzzled voice.


    Hans stopped drawing the magic circle, turned around to look at me, then frowned rather deeply. His expression practically blared, ¡®Sire, are you asking me that because you honestly can¡¯t tell?¡¯


    ¡°I¡¯m talking about Your Majesty the Holy King. None other than Allen Olfolse, of course.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°You could argue that the whole Imperial Family is an organisation of superhumans who have transcended the limits of regular human beings. The blood belonging to this family is included in the category of ¡®very, very rare¡¯. And finally¡­¡± Hans spat out a lengthy groan and resumed his magic circle drawing. ¡°Your Majesty¡¯s holy water is also quite beyond common sense, as well. Goodness me¡­ Where would you even find holy water that makes everyone who drinks it turn into zealots that worship Your Majesty and exalt the gods? Even through the very best alchemic techniques available, such a substance is simply impossible to create.¡±


    Hans shuddered theatrically.


    ¡°That¡¯s almost on the level of brainwashing, you know? Just as importantly, do you think it makes any sort of sense for holy water to push someone to the brink of awakening their ability to wield divinity just by drinking some of it?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Even if you¡¯re a Saint, all these things are simply too unprecedented in the history of this continent, sire!¡±


    Yup, I was sure that was the case.


    There was the power of the Saint at play here, sure, but then my game-like system was added on top of it as well, pushing that holy power to the extremes as a result. That¡¯s what I believed had happened here.


    I smacked my lips ruefully.


    ¡°When Your Majesty showed up, His Imperial Majesty the Holy Emperor became hopeful again and tried the experiment one last time, sire. The end result is what you saw.¡±


    The birth of a Holy Vampire, in other words. Definitely not a human being, but still a top-tier predator nonetheless, which drank holy water and devoured other vampires.


    ¡­The absolute and undeniable natural enemy to all vampires out there.


    The Imperial Family had been continuously researching for the last five hundred years, hoping to create an existence like that. It had finally succeeded with the vampire that had inherited the Imperial Family¡¯s bloodline, with a healthy dose of Hans¡¯s expertise in alchemy heaped on top to make it happen.


    The resulting product was Second Imperial Prince Ruppel Olfolse, currently the infant named Roy.


    ¡°¡­What a devil that old man is. To think that he¡¯d even use his own grandson for research purposes.¡±


    ¡°His Imperial Majesty said that the moment Ruppel became a vampire, it was no longer his grandson.¡± A satisfied smile formed on Hans¡¯s lips as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. It seemed that he had finally completed the warp magic circle. ¡°And then, His Imperial Majesty told me something else, as well.¡± Hans turned around to look at me. ¡°In order to become the Holy Emperor, one must become a merciless devil first.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    As long as the end result was favourable, one should not mind the process of getting there or the level of sacrifices one must make. That was the unwritten rule of the Imperial Family.


    1


    That would be my fate too, after being installed in that position later.


    Knock, knock¡­


    Just as I began falling deeper into contemplation, the sound of someone knocking on the door filled the office. I got up from the couch and walked over to open the door.


    I discovered Seran with a faltering expression standing there.


    ¡°¡­Please help.¡± Her sobbing voice caused my lips to clamp shut instantly. ¡°Help me, Allen.¡±


    She grabbed my shoulders and her head rose back up. As tears continued to stream down her face, she began pleading with me.


    ¡°Please, please¡­ protect my family.¡±


    < 171. The Preparations for the Future -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: Only one chapter today.)

 Chapter 327 - 172. The Preparations for the Future -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    I summoned the Bone Wyvern and climbed up on its back. Alice climbed up on the creature as well and assumed a somewhat amateurish position behind me.


    ¡°Allen?¡±


    I looked behind and spotted Seran and the twins.


    She was still sniffling away, but tried to speak to me while dabbing her tears away with a handkerchief. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was too rash. Please forget what I said last night.¡±


    Embarrassment seemed to have overcome her rather belatedly, as her face was beet-red and her words came out in stuttering pauses.


    Last night, she told me all about the Frost Giant. Earlier this morning, the twins took her verbal explanation and turned it into both the Visual and Auditory Hallucinations.


    That helped us identify the rough time frame of the giants¡¯ future attack.


    The J?tnar would begin their march in five years¡¯ time. That was also the moment of the Frants Kingdom¡¯s destruction.


    The sudden attack was led by the Frost Giant. That humongous creature mercilessly slaughtered the innocent citizens and destroyed the city.


    Despite knowing this, Seran had told me this last night: {Please do not interfere.}


    She belatedly said some things that contradicted her earlier plea to save her family.


    {I¡¯m sorry¡­ I asked you to do something impossible. No matter what, you must never interfere with the future itself. The Foresight is a communication from the gods themselves. Going against their will only invites the absolute worst disaster, instead. That¡¯s why our job is simply to prepare for what will happen in the future.}


    I figured that Seran wanted to accept the Foresight as it was. She said that it was the will of the gods, indicating that she¡¯d accept the fate of her family dying.


    She even said that going against their will and potentially creating a different outcome would set in motion the worst possible scenario, something that could never be undone.


    However, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder after listening to her. Was that what the gods really wanted in the first place?


    I interpreted this whole thing the other way around. We now knew what might happen, so we simply had to prevent that from happening.


    However, one thing she said still bugged me. That bit about things ¡®getting even worse¡¯.


    If that was the case¡­


    ¡°It means, we gotta let things play out in a similar fashion to the potential future events. Man, what a bother¡­¡±


    Also, I figured that it shouldn¡¯t really matter regarding what happened before or after her vision of the future. Weeeell, Seran didn¡¯t get to witness what exactly happened before or after the events her [Foresight] chose to show her, after all.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Seran asked in a puzzled voice.


    I looked back at her and shook my head with a subtle grin. ¡°Nah, it¡¯s nothing. In any case, I got it. I¡¯ll engrave your advice into my heart. I swear.¡±


    ¡°¡­Thanks,¡± she replied, even as more tears formed around the edges of her eyes. Her hands rose up to shield her face as she started sobbing again.


    The twins quickly embraced her and started crying alongside her, as well.


    Their mental shock must¡¯ve been great.


    Then again¡­ Hans told me some things about the Frants Royal Family earlier. As people blessed/cursed with unusual and unique power sets, their mental states weren¡¯t what you¡¯d call stable.


    In the case of Seran, she was often given a vision of horrifying future events, so it would have been hard for her to keep herself sane. Her pillar of support all this time had been her family. So for her to learn about their demise¡­


    I sighed softly under my breath, then addressed the twins, ¡°Brothers, please climb aboard as well.¡±


    ¡°Why us?¡± The twins looked at me.


    ¡°We need you two if we are to successfully persuade the ambassadors from other nations. Your abilities will be a great help during training, as well.¡±


    Without a doubt, I needed both Marvel and Marcel. Right now our job was to warn all the current monarchs of this continent about the oncoming Ragnarok, and also to prepare for the end of the world, too. As such, the twins¡¯ abilities were absolutely crucial in persuading them.


    They climbed up on the Bone Wyvern.


    Seran called out to them, ¡°Be careful, you two!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about us, sister!¡±


    ¡°Yes. Get some much-needed sleep and don¡¯t worry about us!¡± the twins replied to her energetically.


    Now that that was out of the way, the Bone Wyvern flapped its wings powerfully and began flying higher. We rose to quite an altitude in the air, yet Seran could still be seen standing on the same spot. But she soon fell to her knees, as if strength had abandoned her legs.


    I could see servants and maids hurriedly supporting her from the side.


    ¡°¡­Dammit.¡±


    ¡°J?tunn or whatever those things are called, we won¡¯t let them off the hook!¡±


    Marvel and Marcel chewed out some expletives under their breath, before shooting a sharp glare in my direction while sticking tightly to Alice¡¯s back.


    ¡°Allen, are you really going to pretend that you didn¡¯t see anything?¡±


    ¡°Sister is right about not going against the Foresight. However, those people are our precious family members, you know?! We can¡¯t just let them die like that!¡±


    I groaned at the twins egging me on.


    Man, what a pair of persistent tykes they were. Of course I wasn¡¯t planning to sit on my butt and do nothing. ¡°That event will happen in five years. What we¡¯re trying to do right now is to prepare against it.¡±


    Only then did the expressions on the twins soften a tad. ¡°¡­Thanks.¡±


    Did they finally stop hating my guts now, at least by a little bit?


    I shrugged my shoulders. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°What about Lord Hans?¡± Alice asked from behind me.


    ¡°He will come home on a carriage after he¡¯s finished constructing the warp magic circle.¡±


    ¡°Warp magic circle, Your Majesty?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s going to connect the Kingdom of Frants to the Theocratic Empire.¡±


    Hans was currently setting up a warp ¡®bridge¡¯ that would allow near-instant travel between two nations. However, only a handful of people would be able to utilise it. You needed a crap ton of energy to activate the warp magic circle, after all.


    Unless you possessed a Progenitor-level vampire¡¯s energy pool, you might as well forget about it.


    ¡°I see,¡± Alice replied, but then noticed the direction of the Bone Wyvern¡¯s flight and began tilting her head. That was because our current flight path had deviated from the direction that would¡¯ve taken us straight back to the Theocratic Empire. ¡°Your Majesty, aren¡¯t we returning to our home country?¡±


    ¡°Not yet. We have somewhere else we must stop by first.¡±


    Alice¡¯s head tilting intensified, ¡°Where to, sire?¡±


    ¡°Aslan.¡± There was something I had to do there first before starting anything else. ¡°Hold on tightly, everyone. I¡¯m going to increase our speed.¡±


    The Bone Wyvern accelerated even more.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Jeram was living in a slum area.


    While all of his fellow feudal lords of Aslan had their heads chopped off for treason, only Jeram was allowed to keep his. The reason for that was fairly simple.


    It was because he chose to kneel in submission after witnessing the revival of King Rahamma. Also, he provided the Holy King with information pertaining to the Army of Blood.


    In a way, one could say that he managed to barely save himself by betraying all of his fellow feudal lords.


    ¡®That¡¯s right. I only managed to keep my neck, that¡¯s all.¡¯


    His demonic energy reserve had been destroyed, turning him into a cripple. Forget about casting magic, he couldn¡¯t rouse even a lick of demonic energy now.


    All he could do these days was to squat on some street corner and keep begging the passersby to earn just enough coin to keep his life going for yet another day. That was all.


    The pride of having been one of Aslan¡¯s twelve feudal lords was long gone by now. His sin of betraying the queen, acknowledged by King Rahamma, was just too grave. He believed that this was his rightful punishment for being blinded by the false promise of an eternal life.


    {We won¡¯t take your life. Please live on. That will prove to be even more painful, after all.}


    Those were the last words Queen Tina had said to Jeram.


    Recalling them made him break out in a hollow chuckle.


    What a black-hearted little queen she was. That¡¯s probably why she got betrayed like that in the first place.


    1


    Just as Jeram began shaking his head, a sizeable gold nugget clattered into his empty begging bowl.


    ¡°¡­?!¡± Jeram jumped up in surprise and hurriedly looked up, only for his expression to crumple immediately. ¡°What brings the new and undisputed true king of Aslan to this humble one¡¯s spot?¡±


    The new ruler of Aslan could only be the Holy King, Allen Olfolse. Sure enough, Allen was standing before him, his figure and face hidden under a thick robe and a hood.


    ¡°I was looking for you, actually.¡± Allen shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Besides, I ain¡¯t no undisputed king or whatnot. I mean, really now. I¡¯ve abandoned this country and wandered around here and there all the freaking time, anyway. Honestly speaking, I¡¯m not qualified to be called a king at all.¡±


    Jeram chuckled and while fidgeting with the gold nugget, replied, ¡°I heard that you achieved a total victory against the vampires. Congratulations.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the sentiment.¡±


    ¡°I guess that now leaves you with the matter of conquering the rest of the continent, then.¡± Jeram retorted while looking up at Allen.


    The latter sat down in front of the former feudal lord. ¡°World conquest? Why would I do something that is so exhausting and annoying?¡±


    ¡°Because someone like you possesses more than enough strength to become the supreme sovereign that rules the entire continent.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m already preoccupied with so many things, so I sure don¡¯t have the time for that.¡±


    ¡°¡­You seem to lack manly ambition, then.¡± Jeram leaned against the wall behind him and asked again, ¡°Alright, then. Why has the newest king of Aslan decided to grace this beggar with his presence?¡± He then spread his arms wide and spoke in a snarky manner, ¡°Surely, you haven¡¯t come here to mock this poor one?¡±


    ¡°Let me ask you something. Are you thinking of wasting the rest of your life like this?¡±


    Jeram tilted his head in puzzlement. ¡°I¡¯ve already lost my status as a feudal lord. I betrayed Her Majesty Queen Tina, after all. Honestly speaking, I would¡¯ve lost my head a long time ago if I had insisted on sticking with my fellow feudal lords. The only reason I¡¯m still breathing is due to Her Majesty¡¯s mercy, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Well, this is a bit too cruel to be called merciful, wouldn¡¯t you say? Your ability to wield demonic energy has been destroyed, turning you into a useless cripple who can only beg like this to eke out a living.¡±


    Jeram furrowed his brow. ¡°Even though I¡¯ve lost my warrior¡¯s pride, to think that you¡¯d behave so tastelessly like this. It seems that a Holy King has a lot of free time to kill these days.¡±


    ¡°Nah, I told you, I¡¯ve got a crap ton of things to do. Way too damn many things need my attention, and that¡¯s why I¡¯m too damn busy. Even now, I gotta dash to somewhere else as soon as I¡¯m done talking to you. As for the reason why I came to find you? It¡¯s pretty simple.¡± Allen grinned deeply. ¡°Tina will be reassigned to the military.¡±


    1


    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 328 - 172. The Preparations for the Future -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°She will be stripped of her title as the queen, then she will be made to serve in the military for the next thirty years to assist me. That is her punishment for failing to stop the insurrection.¡±


    Jeram was inwardly relieved to hear that. A forced conscription to the military, was it? At least she didn¡¯t end up as a slave again, which was a fortunate thing, indeed.


    Not only that, she should be stationed somewhere far away from the frontlines, all thanks to her abilities. That meant that it would be quite unlikely for her to get hurt during combat situations.


    ¡°And now, I¡¯ll give you a chance to help Tina out.¡±


    Jeram¡¯s eyes widened at what Allen said.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have enough people to train the army, you see.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°I heard that out of the twelve feudal lords, you were one of the stronger ones. Even Damon acknowledged you as a good drill instructor.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, yes. It¡¯s true, although you defeated me in just one hit.¡±


    1


    ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, why don¡¯t you join our cause? Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure your annual wages are really juicy and dripping with fat.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    A hollow chuckle leaked out of Jeram¡¯s mouth.


    ¡®Dear lord, where would anyone find a king with no dignity whatsoever like this guy?¡¯ Seeing the Holy King chat away without a care like this almost made Jeram think that they were long-time buddies or some such. ¡°I¡¯m a cripple now. I no longer possess the power to utilise the demonic energy, therefore I¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, because it¡¯ll be possible with divinity.¡±


    Jeram¡¯s expression hardened as he stared at Allen.


    ¡°Just like I did with Tina, I¡¯m going to plant divinity into you. I¡¯m thinking that at minimum, in half a year¡¯s time, you will have about the same amount of divinity as your lost demonic energy pool.¡±


    ¡°¡­Just what are you planning to do here? Are you sure you aren¡¯t really planning to conquer the world?¡±


    Allen shook his head as a bitter grin floated up on his lips. ¡°I only have one reason for doing all this.¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°I need an army to stop the advent of the end of the world.¡±


    ¡°¡­The end of the world?¡±


    ¡°This is what I want you to do. Nurture and train another five hundred or so of¡­¡± Allen¡¯s head cocked to the side as he continued on, ¡°¡­monks similar to what Damon managed to nurture.¡±


    **


    Inside the Imperial Palace¡¯s executive office¡­


    Luan looked like he was stained deeply to the core with exhaustion. Dark bags hung loosely below his eyes, and his head faltered on its own as sleepiness kept creeping up on him.


    ¡®I shouldn¡¯t have fooled around with those three maids last night¡­¡¯


    1


    All thanks to his indiscretions, he couldn¡¯t even get to enjoy a decent night¡¯s sleep, yet he had still had to wage a bitter battle against mountains of documents for the past several days.


    ¡°This is the next set of reports,¡± said Charlotte, who was currently standing next to him. After Allen¡¯s departure, she was left in charge of the army¡¯s training, as well as assisting Luan with his work. ¡°The plan to raise ten thousand troops is progressing smoothly as we speak, Your Highness. Also, the mass production of the cannons developed by Marquis Hans has commenced, as well.¡±


    Luan shifted his gaze over to the reports.


    Around five thousand ¡®Priests¡¯ had been successfully nurtured by now. Only about another five thousand left to go, in other words. Around two hundred more cannons were being manufactured currently, as well.


    All of these things could only be utilised as tools of battle if Allen was present, however. Cannons and muskets would prove to be nothing more than some fancy toys without Allen¡¯s Divine Aura.


    Something found among the documents caught Luan¡¯s attention just then. ¡°¡­And what exactly is this item, now?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a magical tool that His Majesty the Holy King mentioned in the past, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°That magic tool, was he talking about this set of armour?¡± Luan picked up the document and his head began tilting to one side.


    There was only one drawing on the parchment. It depicted a figure covered from head to toe in plate armour, each of those armour pieces featuring a rune engraved on its surface.


    The document was actually a blueprint for a set of magic armour.


    Luan muttered to himself, ¡°¡­Even then, this armour is much larger in bulk than regular armour, isn¡¯t it? Is he planning to manufacture small golems or something?¡±


    ¡°He said he wants to outfit the Paladins with them.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Just for what purpose were all these preparations for? Luan just couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    Not only did the members of the Frants Royal Family suddenly show up, Holy Emperor Kelt vacated his position out of the blue as well. Despite achieving an overwhelming victory against the vampires, the nurturing of the army only intensified even more.


    Everything was a mystery to Luan right now. He heard about the ¡®end of the world¡¯ from Allen before, but it still didn¡¯t sound all that realistic. As such, the neighbouring nations were raising one hell of a ruckus, accusing the empire of raising an army to invade them in the future.


    It was up to Luan to come up with a way to silence their discontent, but that was easier said than done.


    His thoughts only grew more complicated, and he leaned his pouting face on the back of his hand.


    ¡®Argh, my stress level¡­¡¯ He then sneaked a glance at Charlotte next to him. ¡®Although it¡¯s pleasing to have such a beauty assist me in my affairs, I can¡¯t exactly lay my hands on my younger brother¡¯s personal knight, now can I¡­¡¯


    Most notably, though, Charlotte¡¯s attitude when addressing Luan was very cold. It was like he was dealing with an Ice Princess or something.


    It seemed that the biggest factor to blame here was Allen leaving her behind while he went off on another one of his adventures, making her ¡®somewhat¡¯ unhappy.


    ¡°¡­Oh, dear Charlotte Heraiz. You sure can make my heart palpitate.¡± Luan cracked a little joke, hoping to change the cold, stiff atmosphere.


    ¡°This is the next set of reports regarding the nurturing of the army, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°¡­Please do me a favour and at least pretend to humour me. For the past ten days I¡¯ve been doing nothing but administrative work on less than two hours of sleep. Allen just straight up abandoned his duties and ran away, you know? So like, can¡¯t you humour me with a witty remark or something, at least?¡± Luan helplessly reached out.


    1


    However, Charlotte shot him a glare as if she just discovered an insect to squash. ¡°He did not run away, Your Highness. He went there to perform his duties.¡±


    Luan was suddenly overcome by a hallucination where his arm was chopped off by a sword, so he quickly withdrew his hand.


    How scary. Allen was indeed amazing to keep an Ice Princess like her around by his side, without meeting any accidents.


    1


    Luan spat out a groan, and turned his attention back to the documents. But then, the outside of the office became rowdy for some reason.


    He raised his head and looked at the door, only to hear loud ¡°Bang, bang, bang!¡± pounding noises coming from over there.


    ¡®What is it now?¡¯


    Now normally, whoever was outside should¡¯ve politely knocked on the door, so how come¡­?


    ¡°Your Highness! Y-your Highness, His Highness the Seventh Imperial Prince has¡­ No wait, His Majesty the Holy Emperor has returned to the palace!¡±


    That report instantly loosened up Luan¡¯s tense face.


    ¡®Yeesss, I¡¯m finally free! Now that Allen¡¯s here, my workload should decrease by a lot!¡¯


    Just as his thoughts reached that part, he heard the sound of something falling to the floor and he turned his head.


    It was Charlotte. She had inadvertently dropped her documents just now. ¡°Ah, my apologies.¡±


    The corners of her lips were quivering away. It seemed that she was forcibly suppressing a smile from trying to break out on her lips. She must¡¯ve been really happy to hear the news, then.


    Luan got up from the chair, but at the same time, the office door was flung open as well.


    ¡°Your Highness! We have a big problem, sir!!!¡±


    ¡°A big problem?!¡± Luan locked his gaze at a group of nobles standing before his eyes. They must¡¯ve ran to get here as soon as possible, because cold sweat had utterly soaked them from top to bottom.


    Luan couldn¡¯t help but tilt his head in confusion while looking at them, and the nobles quickly spoke up. ¡°His Majesty the Holy King, he¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    ¡°¡­He is addressing the ambassadors of the other nations in the appearance of the Commander of the Goddess¡¯s Army!¡±


    The faces of both Luan and Charlotte hardened instantly at that report.


    **


    Aihrance¡¯s Queen, Rox Aihrance, was currently heading towards the underground labyrinth of Titalos.


    A request to procure a large quantity of the ancient plant creature¡¯s sap had come from the Theocratic Empire. To answer that request, the queendom decided to open up the labyrinth and hired a bunch of adventures.


    Some of those hired were definitely more than capable enough to survive the labyrinth, and then some. They were a trio of old men.


    Their fame had spread quite quickly around the continent. The first place they had showed up in was Aslan. The rumours said that the three of them managed to hunt down a horde of Orcs over five hundred strong that had raided a village.


    Next up was the Kingdom of Lome. They showed up there to subjugate some bandits taking advantage of the unrest of the civil war, then went on to massacre the remnants of the rebels who still hadn¡¯t surrendered yet.


    And finally, the trio had reached Aihrance.


    Currently, they were sitting on top of an ancient dragon they had beaten down, found only inside the labyrinth of Titalos.


    Queen Rox, hidden under a robe and hood, quietly observed the trio of old men.


    A snap of fingers summoned a barrage of lightning to fall from the heavens. One swing of a sword, and apparently hundreds of Orcs were sliced apart and killed on the spot. When one of them prayed, countless rays of light descended from the sky to utterly evaporate the hapless bandits.


    She had heard all those rumours countless times already, and she was able to guess a few things about the trio after listening to all of those stories.


    There weren¡¯t all that many people in this world capable of performing such feats. That¡¯s why she had personally come down here to confirm the truth, and that¡¯s how she had the chance to meet him like this.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s been a long while.¡± The old man sitting on the head of the downed ancient dragon addressed her.


    Queen Rox¡¯s eyes flew wide open. Her trembling hand rose up to cover her mouth.


    ¡°How have you been?¡± The old man turned his head, revealing a familiar face under his own hood.


    ¡°¡­Kelt.¡±


    ¡°It sure has been too long, Rox.¡±


    Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse.


    He was smiling gently at her.


    1


    < 172. The Preparations for the Future -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 329 - 173. The Preparations for the Future -3 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The heads of the twin brothers, Marvel and Marcel, were lowered deeply while their whole bodies were frozen stiff.


    It had taken them a whole month to visit Aslan and return to the Theocratic Empire, despite travelling as fast as humanly possible. The weather conditions made it difficult to fly on the back of the Bone Wyvern all the time, so sometimes they had no choice but to travel on carriages instead.


    The twins shuddered away. They were deeply fatigued by their lengthy itinerary, yet there was no time to rest.


    It wasn¡¯t just the twins who were frozen stiff and rooted to their spots, however.


    Inside the Imperial Audience Chamber¡­


    Paladins were standing in orderly rank and file. These brave knights, who wouldn¡¯t normally budge an inch from anything, were all dripping with cold sweat under their helms at the moment.


    On their left and right sides were members of the empire¡¯s aristocracy, as well as the clergy. All of them were also frozen stiff, their heads lowered deeply.


    In the centre of them all, on top of the crimson carpet, were the ambassadors sent from various other kingdoms.


    ¡®What exactly has happened?¡¯


    ¡®Why, especially in front of us, representing the empire¡¯s allies¡­?¡¯


    They were joined by the leader of the dwarves, as well as the top blacksmith of Hilda¡¯s fiefdom, Master Belrog. Even the leader of the Paladin Corps, Harman, was also present.


    ¡®He¡¯s gotten way stronger then back when he last paid a visit to Lady Hilda¡¯s territory.¡¯


    ¡®¡­Is he angry about something? Maybe, because I failed to find any leads on Ruppel?¡¯


    Belrog was inwardly sighing in admiration, while Harman could only shed thick drops of cold sweat in silence. He hadn¡¯t yet heard about Ruppel¡¯s matter in the Kingdom of Frants, after all.


    One of the ambassadors worked up his courage and cautiously lifted his head a little. His consciousness threatened to abandon him just then, a bout of powerful lightheadedness taking over him.


    But his blurry vision still took in the sight of a certain individual.


    ¡®That¡­ that is the Holy King!¡¯


    A man kitted out in the mountain goat¡¯s skull helm and bone armour was perched arrogantly up on the throne. Just staring at the pure white streams of air oozing out of him made the ambassador feel that his whole body had grown so much heavier from the sheer pressure alone.


    On his left side was the Death Knight version of King Rahamma, wearing pitch-black armour and a hood, wielding a large mace with both of his hands. On his right side was an undead Lich covered in a thick robe and hood, gripping onto a musket at least two metres long.


    ¡®It¡¯s like staring at Oscal the Sword King and Cardinal Raphael.¡¯


    As for the Holy King himself, it was like staring at the demon king from a scary fairy tale or some such. No, wait; he might be even worse than those imaginary beings, in all honesty!


    Rounding out this trio were twin brothers standing on the either side of the throne. They seemed to be deeply nervous as well, because they kept their heads bowed and their shoulders occasionally flinched uncomfortably.


    -You dare to raise your head tall in the presence of the undisputed king?!-


    Rahamma held his head high and roared out threateningly. Two glowing eyeballs burned fiercely within his skull.


    The dense killing aura he emitted sent chills down the spines of all the gathered ambassadors. The one who cautiously raised his head hurriedly lowered it again.


    Nasus spoke up as his teeth clattered, -Kneel down, oh you humans.-


    Everyone present instinctively went down to their knees. They shuffled about and hesitantly placed their hands on the floor to kowtow even deeper.


    It would have been fine for the ambassadors to simply bow their heads, but such actions now felt like a form of discourtesy after they oh-so naturally started kowtowing like this.


    Terror had paralysed their reasoning.


    ¡°Everyone else, leave.¡±


    One command from the Holy King, and the empire¡¯s Paladins and nobles began filing out of the chamber.


    ¡®N-no, don¡¯t leave!¡¯


    ¡®Don¡¯t leave us alone in here!¡¯ the ambassadors cried out in despair inwardly.


    Unfortunately for them, though, the others with deep-seated fear of the Holy King still abandoned them inside the Imperial Audience Chamber.


    The chamber¡¯s doorway closed firmly shut.


    The ambassadors felt their hearts wildly pound away as this sense of desperation filled them up.


    THUD¡­


    The noise of the doors closing shut signalled the beginning of a spooky silence inside the Audience Chamber.


    One of the ambassadors began panting laboriously. He thought he might lose consciousness from the sheer pressure alone.


    ¡®N-no, keep it together, man!¡¯ he cried out inwardly, but without him realising it, his words leaked out of his mouth. ¡°K-keep it together¡­¡±


    The other ambassadors flinched nastily in surprise, and their expressions hardened. They glared murderously at their fellow ambassador who had muttered those words just now.


    At the same time, though, the silence was shattered for good.


    ¡°I know full well why all of you have gathered here today. It¡¯s because the Theocratic Empire has been raising a mighty army recently.¡±


    The weighty voice came from the Holy King, and none of the ambassadors dared to reply. All they could do for now was to bow their heads even deeper and express their agreement.


    ¡°However, be at ease. We do not plan to invade you. We simply desire to stop Ragnarok. To stop the advent of the end of the world.¡±


    ¡°E-end of the world?¡± The ambassadors couldn¡¯t quite process what they heard just now.


    Did he say the ¡®end of the world¡¯? Even the term ¡®Ragnarok¡¯ sounded foreign, too.


    When judged solely by the situation they found themselves in, it was not all that surprising for these ambassadors to get confused. The part about stopping the end of the world hadn¡¯t even registered with them.


    To them, the Holy King before their eyes seemed more likely to bring about the destruction of the entire world, instead!


    ¡®The Holy King is scheming to take over the entire continent!¡¯


    ¡®Oh my gods! Does he really wish to conquer the whole world?!¡¯


    ¡®He¡¯s definitely an existence similar to the demon king from the fairy tales. There is no guarantee that he won¡¯t do it.¡¯


    Just as the confusion of the ambassadors spiralled nearly out of control, the Holy King loudly declared, ¡°We shall show it to you, then. Marvel, Marcel.¡±


    He didn¡¯t call the twins his older brothers. This was an official occasion. As such, Allen held a far higher position than them.


    The twins flinched in surprise, and their trembling eyes shifted over to Allen.


    The Holy King held his head high. ¡°Show it to them, and let them hear it. Let them experience what will happen during the end of the world.¡±


    The twins squeezed their eyes shut. When they activated their abilities, the ambassadors began screaming at the top of their lungs.


    They held their heads, remained prostrate on the floor and trembled pathetically away.


    They must have seen it, it being the horrifying scenes of the giants ruthlessly slaughtering humans and destroying the civilisation humanity had built up over thousands of years. They must have heard it, too.


    Heard the name of the sole existence capable of stopping them!


    ¡°T-that is¡­¡±


    ¡°His Majesty the Holy Emperor!¡±


    Right at that moment, the ambassadors regained their wits. As tears streamed down their cheeks, they collapsed on the spot. They totally forgot to observe the correct etiquette in front of the Holy King, too.


    Their dazed faces soon shifted over to Allen.


    ¡°How was it?¡± The Holy King¡¯s dignified, solemn voice rocked the audience chamber. ¡°That is Ragnarok.¡±


    The eyes of all the ambassadors trembled uncontrollably. They sucked in deep, deep breaths, and tried to relax their tense bodies.


    ¡°The monstrous giants, led by the Army of Blood, will soon invade us.¡±


    The vile, evil undead and the J?tnar would devour the entire continent.


    ¡°My goal is to stop them. That is precisely why I need your strength, too.¡±


    The ambassadors had personally witnessed that horrifying scene. Only the Theocratic Empire was capable of stopping that future.


    ¡°For the sake of humanity, we need your strength.¡±


    All these ambassadors had been dispatched by countless nations around the continent. Not only were they the appointed representatives of their respective nations, these diplomats were also in the position of deciding the fate of their homelands, as well.


    They sobered up right away and fixed their attire in silence. They then knelt smartly again and observed the correct etiquette.


    ¡°¡­Please tell us what we need to do, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Do not hold back on supporting our cause. We shall become not only your shields, but your swords, as well.¡±


    The ambassadors hesitated slightly before cautiously raising their voices. ¡°We have personally witnessed the advent of the end of the world, Your Majesty. However, we foresee that our own monarchs will claim it to be lies and not agree to your terms.¡±


    ¡°In such cases, it will be even simpler.¡± The Holy King interlocked his fingers and addressed them. ¡°If you fail to convince your leaders, then convey them your ¡®guesses¡¯ of the Theocratic Empire secretly scheming to invade them in the near future.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The ambassadors all stiffened up where they knelt.


    ¡°When you do, surely your leaders would be a lot more willing to prepare for war.¡±


    ¡°B-but Your Majesty¡­¡±


    ¡°Our war will commence in five years¡¯ time. Until then, you must nurture strong knights, train powerful magicians, develop better weapons, and research new magic spells.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Those acts will become the necessary strength to protect humanity. Can you do that much, at least?¡±


    The ambassadors bowed their heads deeply. ¡°As you command, Your Majesty.¡±


    The Holy King shifted his gaze and stared at Belrog and Harman behind the group of ambassadors. ¡°Leader of the dwarves, hear my words.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Belrog got back up to his feet stiffly, walked to the front of the group, and knelt down again.


    ¡°You have a new job you must perform for me.¡±


    ¡°Please give me your command, sire.¡±


    The Holy King lightly waved his hand in the air, and almost at the same time, a weighty tumbling noise came from right in front of Belrog.


    The dwarf raised his head to look, only for his brows to shoot up high.


    In front of him was the warhammer Holy Emperor Kelt used to wield, plus Amon¡¯s staff and the grimoire that the Holy King used.


    ¡°I shall entrust all of these to you.¡± The Holy King pointed at the legendary tools of battle with his bone-covered finger. ¡°Forge a spear that I can wield, using them.¡±

 Chapter 330 - 173. The Preparations for the Future -3 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Belrog became so flustered that his head shot up.


    The glowing eyes of the Holy King under the skull-helm were firmly locked on the dwarf even then. ¡°Surely someone like you can do it?¡±


    ¡°It, it¡¯s impossi¡­¡±


    ¡°No, it is possible.¡±


    The Holy King was sure of it. In Seran¡¯s [Foresight], he had been wielding a spear. Not only that, the Holy Emperor version of future Allen was using Kelt¡¯s [Lightning], which was the power the old man activated through his warhammer.


    On top of that, Allen wasn¡¯t using either Amon¡¯s staff or the grimoire in the vision. There must¡¯ve been a reason why he wasn¡¯t, or couldn¡¯t, use them.


    All those things would happen for sure in the future. As such, the crafting of the spear would definitely be a success.


    ¡°I ask you again. Can you succeed?¡±


    Belrog¡¯s mouth clamped shut when the Holy King asked again. The dwarf stared at the weapons wordlessly, and a strand of cold sweat trickled down his face.


    Countless thoughts flitted in and out of his head just then. ¡°Y¡­ yes, Your Majesty. It should be possible.¡±


    ¡°How long will you need?¡±


    ¡°I estimate around four years, sire.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s longer than I thought.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t take long to complete the spear, but¡­¡± Belrog bowed his head as he replied. ¡°¡­It will take quite some time to convince an acquaintance of mine first, sire. You can leave it to me, however.¡±


    ¡°Very well. The moment the spear has been completed, have it sent to the Duchy of Ariana in the Kingdom of Frants.¡±


    ¡°As you command, sire. That acquaintance I told you about stays near Frants as well, so¡­ I¡¯m certain it shouldn¡¯t be that difficult, Your Majesty.¡±


    The Holy King was in no rush.


    The Foresight came from the gods themselves, and as such, there must¡¯ve been a reason for Seran to witness it. Besides, there was definitely an advantage to knowing what would happen for real in the future.


    The Holy King then looked at Harman. ¡°Paladin Harman.¡±


    ¡°I await your command, sire,¡± Harman replied, but a bucket of cold sweat still flooded down his face.


    ¡°Up in the northwest, more specifically in the Duchy of Ariana in the Kingdom of Frants. That¡¯s where the quarry you¡¯ve been searching for can be found.¡±


    Harman flinched in surprise and looked up at the Holy King.


    ¡°I must apologise to you in advance, but for the next five years, I want you to stay there. You will be dispatched there as an undercover trainee Paladin. Your role is to report back to me every little thing that happens there in detail.¡±


    ¡°¡­As you command, sire.¡±


    The Holy King, Allen Olfolse, wordlessly tapped on the throne¡¯s armrest with his fingers.


    With this, the ¡®conditions¡¯ had been met to a certain extent. Now only one thing remained on the to-do list: wait.


    Indeed, the remaining task was to strengthen their forces and patiently bide their time.


    Allen glanced to his sides and noticed the twins still shuddering away in fright. He placed his hands on their heads and patted them. ¡°¡­Thank you for your hard work, brothers,¡± he addressed them in a hushed whisper. That stopped the twins¡¯ trembling.


    In the meantime, the ambassadors from different nations hurriedly left the imperial audience chamber through the now-open doorway.


    They had been suffering from intense pressure and nervousness for some time. It was only obvious that they would be greatly parched. Just as they started thirsting after some water, they discovered Charlotte standing before the audience chamber¡¯s door. There was a plate held in her hands, which carried several bottles of water.


    ¡°Ah, isn¡¯t this Marquis Charlotte? How do you do, ma¡¯am?¡±


    Charlotte bowed her head slightly, her face expressionless, returning the greetings to the ambassadors. ¡°Please, drink these to quench your thirst, sirs.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±


    The ambassadors picked up one bottle each, which actually didn¡¯t contain normal water, but holy water created by Allen. Oblivious to this fact, these men soaked in sweat from top to bottom went on their way while chugging down the holy water to rehydrate themselves.


    Charlotte silently watched their departing backs, then turned around towards the Holy King visible through the open doorway of the audience chamber. She bowed her head again.


    ¡®¡­What a meticulous kid she is.¡¯


    Allen smacked his lips under the mountain goat¡¯s skull-helm.


    Even if these ambassadors were treated to the scenes of the end of the world, and ¡®fear¡¯ had been deeply engraved into their hearts through Amon¡¯s relics, five years was still quite a long time period. There was a chance of the ambassadors changing their minds.


    However, making them drink holy water ensured that they would remain favourable towards the Theocratic Empire to some degree, even if they did change their minds later on.


    Even though no one had told her to do it, Charlotte smartly took care of things on her own nevertheless.


    ¡ª


    Eventually, the ambassadors left the Theocratic Empire to head back to their homes. Belrog headed to the Kingdom of Frants, or to be more specific, to a mountain range well past its borders. Meanwhile, Harman went to the Duchy of Ariana.


    With that, his preparations were more or less coming to an end.


    **


    Three months later¡­


    Belrog and several other highly-skilled dwarves travelled past the Kingdom of Frants and reached an unnamed mountain range frozen in permanent ice. They wandered around in the tall peaks for a while.


    On this land located somewhere far northwest, large snowflakes continued to fall ceaselessly. The dwarves, clad in thick wool coats, ploughed onward under the barrage of bitter snowstorm, whitish breaths leaking out of their lips.


    They were carrying luggage far larger than their own bodies while treading on the rough mountain paths.


    ¡°Seriously, boss! Are you sure that a skilled blacksmith is living in a remote mountain range like this one?¡±


    Belrog replied to that question. ¡°Yes, there is. A human who is far more skilled than me, no less.¡±


    ¡°What?! A human?! A human is more skilled than you, boss?!¡±


    ¡°Holy cow! But, that won¡¯t do, boss! Where is your honour and pride as a dwarf?¡±


    Belrog¡¯s fellow dwarves grew quite noisy.


    ¡°Hey you lot! Take a better care of the weapons instead! You lose them and there will be hell to pay! Every single one of them are legendary items that His Majesty the Holy King has entrusted us with. When we get there, you better keep your eyes peeled, because that man is a truly, scarily skilled artisan. You will learn a lot from him.¡±


    While roaring that out, Belrog couldn¡¯t help but shed some cold sweat himself. Even he had to admit that he was nowhere as good as that human when it came to blacksmithing.


    ¡°Learning from a human?¡±


    ¡°But we have our pride too, boss.¡±


    ¡°The person we¡¯re going to meet is actually the Master Blacksmith.¡±


    That one sentence from Belrog greatly stunned the rest of the dwarves.


    ¡°The Master Blacksmith?!¡±


    ¡°Oh my gods! You can¡¯t seriously believe in such superstition, boss!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right. There¡¯s no way that the Master Blacksmith really exists, boss.¡±


    The dwarves tutted away, unimpressed.


    The ¡®Master Blacksmith¡¯. An existence treated as legendary folklore by all the blacksmiths out there.


    The weapons he created were exalted as the works of the gods themselves. Some even said that a normal, unremarkable person could rise up to become a king simply by wielding this blacksmith¡¯s weapon.


    Some rumours doing the rounds even said that this legendary blacksmith was responsible for crafting the weapons of the former Necromancer King, Amon¡­ the very staff and the grimoire they were now carrying.


    ¡°No, he definitely exists. Way back when I was trying to run away from the life of a slave, I received the Master Blacksmith¡¯s help, you see.¡±


    The dwarves all froze up nervously at that. They could see that Belrog wasn¡¯t joking around here.


    They continued to walk forward, and Belrog, continually looking up, eventually discovered the silhouette of a small hut within the fierce snowstorm.


    ¡°¡­Found it.¡±


    Belrog¡¯s walking pace sped up greatly. But when he got to the front of the hut, he grew deeply tense. He swallowed nervously, then knocked on the door.


    There was no answer.


    Belrog cautiously grasped the door¡¯s handle.


    ¡®Wait, he couldn¡¯t have died, right?¡¯


    Their meeting happened such a long time ago. It must¡¯ve been well over twenty-five years by now, so there was a good chance that that old man had perished from his advanced age.


    Belrog grew even more nervous and opened the door. He was greeted by the sight of an empty hut¡¯s interior.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? There¡¯s no one here.¡±


    ¡°There isn¡¯t even any furniture in here, either.¡±


    Just as the dwarves began expressing their dissatisfaction, Belrog started guffawing in happiness, instead. ¡°Ahahaha! I knew it! That guy, he¡¯s still alive! As I thought, he¡¯s one tenacious man. That¡¯s how a blacksmith should be!¡±


    Although the hut was empty inside, he still could sense some warmth coming from within. That meant that the Master Blacksmith was definitely still alive!


    ¡°And who are you fools supposed to be?¡±


    It was right at that moment that a voice Belrog wanted to hear came from behind the group of dwarves.


    Belrog smiled brightly and turned around. That¡¯s when he discovered the legendary existence among the blacksmiths standing there.


    A figure in the latter half of his seventies, with a face filled with lots of wrinkles. But even as an old man, he boasted an imposing physique, filled to the brim with rippling muscles. There was a game slung over his back that he must have hunted just now.


    ¡°Master Blacksmith!¡±


    ¡°¡­Huh, is that you, Belrog?¡±


    The ¡®Master Blacksmith¡¯¡­


    The vampire under the facade of being human, Grand Duke Ivaldi, was deeply furrowing his brow. [1]


    < 173. The Preparations for the Future -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: In [1], there has been what I assume to be an intended pun at work. The Korean word for ¡°Grand Duke¡± is the same as ¡°Great Artisan/Master Craftsman¡±, or in this novel¡¯s case, the Master Blacksmith.)

 Chapter 331 - 174. Encounters and Farewells (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    It had happened around two thousand years ago.


    {Advance! Attack!}


    Back then, the whole continent was mired in the Age of Chaos.


    Flames of war continued to rage on, and corpses were liberally discarded all over the various battlefields.


    The dead followed the natural laws of the world and soon became the undead. The job of bringing those zombies down belonged to the Theocratic Empire.


    {What are you all doing?! You¡¯re bait, so do your job properly, slave!}


    The empire back then was quite literally an organisation of tyrants, filled to the core with thugs tainted deeply by corruption and madness.


    Such people were shouting out angrily, {Go and lure the zombies in!}


    Avaldi was deeply terrified. He tried to run, but his unsteady footing caused him to tumble down. He looked back and discovered hundreds of staggering, shuffling zombies closing in on him. [1]


    There was not a whole lot that an old man like him could do in a situation like that, especially so when he had spent all of his life as a blacksmith in some forgotten rural village, and most of his vigour was gone at his advanced age.


    Even then, he was forcibly conscripted into the military, and became bait to lure zombies in. The reason he was thrust into this role was because of ¡®debt¡¯.


    His most ardent wish was to craft battlegear, right up until his dying day. But in order to achieve that dream, he needed lots of capital, and that eventually led to his forced conscription.


    {Elder Avaldi!}


    Avaldi shifted his gaze at that call. A young man in his early twenties rushed up to the old man and helped him back to his feet.


    {Vland?!}


    Just as Avaldi called out the young man¡¯s nickname, a zombie chomped down on the old man¡¯s ankle. Blood splattered all over the place.


    {Aaaahk!}


    {Dammit, you abominable bastards!}


    Vlandmir thrust his spear and shoved the zombie back. But just before he could help Avaldi escape quickly from there, both of them froze in place.


    That was because a group of Paladins was standing before their eyes. These so-called holy knights grinned in a sinister manner, and shattered large pots. Oil gushed out from there and soaked the grass below. One of the Paladins even tossed a pouch of oil in Vlandmir¡¯s direction, as well.


    {This is an order. Be a good bait and get purified alongside the undead.}


    {W-what are you even¡­!}


    {Someone bitten by a zombie will spread plague around. We have no more use for slaves like you lot.}


    {N-no, wait! We have families to look out for! M-my younger sister, she¡¯s¡­!}


    {Don¡¯t you worry, fella. We will take a very good care of your younger sister for you.} The Paladins tossed several lit torches forward as insidious sneers formed on their faces.


    Vlandmir hurriedly shoved Avaldi out of the way.


    Flames rapidly spread out and enveloped the young man in an instant. His arms flailed about, trying to put the fire out, but it spread too quickly over his body, instead. Even in the midst of his struggles, zombies still pounced on the duo.


    {Y-you sons of b*tches!!!}


    Avaldi panted laboriously as the zombies bit into his flesh. Even as he suffered from the excruciating pain, his eyes shifted around to look around himself. He could see Vlandmir¡¯s burning figure being devoured by the zombies.


    The young man wielding a spear cried out at the sneering Paladins in the distance, {I curse you all. I¡¯ll kill you, I¡¯ll kill all of you¡­!!!}


    {Curse away, slave. Too bad for you, we are all blessed with Gaia¡¯s grace, anyway. Ahahaha!}


    The Paladins then retreated from there.


    Soon, screams could be heard coming from a village nearby, the village that both Vlandmir and Avaldi hailed from.


    Not too long afterwards, eerie silence was the only thing coming from the village.


    The torrential rain continued to fall from the heavens.


    Vlandmir was dead, now merely a burnt-black corpse. Avaldi had also lost his life from excessive loss of blood.


    Some time later, they became undead themselves and were ¡®revived¡¯.


    They shuffled around without any functioning ego and eventually arrived at their burnt-down village. Every villager who used to live there was now dead.


    The Paladins had gone on a killing and looting spree, using zombie hunting as their pretext. The village¡¯s men were turned into playthings and killed, while women suffered indescribable humiliation before being discarded as corpses themselves.


    The zombified Vlandmir tilted his head this way and that. He had finally reached his family home, which had also been burnt down to the ground. His younger sister¡¯s burnt corpse could be seen within the wreckage.


    But the Vlandmir of now couldn¡¯t feel any emotion even after discovering her. He simply walked right past the gruesome sight.


    As for Avaldi, he was roaming around in his former workshop. He also tilted his head, because even before he could understand how it happened, a hammer and a pair of tongs used during the manipulation of heated metal were gripped firmly in his zombified hands.


    {¡­}


    The two men, now merely another pair of walking dead, aimlessly drifted around the continent. They instinctively headed to where demonic energy was at its densest, and if they encountered any living humans, they attacked and consumed fresh flesh.


    They gradually evolved and eventually became Progenitors. When Vlandmir finally became a vampire, all of his old memories came flooding back to him.


    He roared out in despair and raged in madness. He then swore upon his life in front of Avaldi, {I swear to destroy the Imperial Family! I shall create a home that belongs only to us!}


    That was Vlandmir¡¯s most ardent wish.


    However, Avaldi was different. He wished to continue on as a blacksmith, and wanted to find out just how far his new-found strength could take him.


    Vlandmir proved to be a good partner in bringing Avaldi¡¯s wish to reality.


    Vlandmir the vampire secretly strengthened himself and his followers without the Imperial Family finding out, and then began waging various wars against the Theocratic Empire.


    Vampires invaded the empire¡¯s borders, burned the villages and territories down, and freely killed and looted.


    But whenever that happened, the vampires were hunted down. They were impaled in the stakes, got beheaded, and met gruesome deaths.


    The members of the Imperial Family proved to be simply too strong.


    {There is a man named Amon. Create armaments for him.}


    Avaldi, who had been exclusively focused on crafting a spear for a very long time, received an order from Vlandmir. The latter had chosen to utilise the strengths of Aslan¡¯s Necromancers in order to get his revenge. His plan was to manipulate the one referred to as the strongest Necromancer in history to oppose the Imperial Family.


    That was the moment of the Necromancer King¡¯s entrance to the world¡¯s stage.


    Amon proved to be ridiculously powerful. No one could stop him. Not even Vlandmir, who was already being called the Vampire King by then, was able to deal with him.


    Avaldi was truly satisfied by this development. This was basically the same as his armaments being proven as the greatest of all time, after all.


    But then¡­ Amon lost.


    Kelt Olfolse, the leader of the Imperial Family, was responsible for tearing off the Necromancer King¡¯s skull and shattering the latter¡¯s body to pieces, all the while using a treasured tool of the Imperial Family, no less!


    What a humiliating thing that was.


    Avaldi was overcome by a sense of defeat. For the past thousand-plus years, he had believed no one could better his creations, yet someone did exactly that.


    That was why he began wanting Vlandmir to soundly defeat Kelt Olfolse. With the spear of blood Avaldi had created, it should only be a matter of course to kill the Holy Emperor for good.


    Doing so would be the ultimate proof of his weapons being the greatest of all time!


    But¡­ Vlandmir was defeated, too. And then, the foolish Vampire King didn¡¯t want to use the spear of blood anymore.


    {Oh King of Vampires, what are you planning to do now?}


    The Vampire King was now staying in the frozen mountain range.


    {I shall awaken the J?tnar. I shall use them to attack the Imperial Family.}


    The Vampire King should have been focused on rebuilding the Army of Blood and reinforcing their combat strength, yet he had no thoughts of doing such things. He had already tasted a resounding defeat in the last war, so it only made sense to make preparations to quickly shore up his weakened side, yet Vlandmir was thinking of relying on an external power that he couldn¡¯t even handle.


    {By making the giants submit to us, we shall finally get our hands on the necessary power to defeat the Imperial Family!}


    But, that was wrong.


    Did the Vampire King no longer wish to test out Avaldi¡¯s greatest work?


    Why had Avaldi chosen to follow Vlandmir all this time? To get his revenge on the Imperial Family? Of course not. The Vampire Blacksmith¡¯s lifelong wish was just this one thing: creating the greatest weapon, and being acknowledged as the greatest craftsman in the world in the process.


    That would serve as proof that there would never be anyone else who could exceed his skills in the continent¡¯s history. That was the only reason why Avaldi continued to exist.


    ¡°¡­Master? Master Blacksmith?¡±


    Avaldi, who had been sitting in the corner of the hut and reminiscing his past, finally opened his eyes and frowned rather deeply.


    ¡°Alright! Cheers!¡±


    The interior of this small, cramped hut was filled with a group of dwarves who were raucously knocking back their favourite brew.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Their laughter was rough and manly.


    These uninvited guests had intruded upon Avaldi¡¯s once-quiet hut to gleefully munch on the meat of an animal that the vampire had hunted earlier.


    The dwarves. Their meat was way too tough, while their blood tasted as bad as drinking rotten sewer water. They were basically the lowest-ranked and worst possible livestock one could imagine.


    Such beings had been staying in the hut for the past few days, not even bothering to leave Avaldi alone.


    ¡®¡­Should I just kill them all?¡¯


    1


    (TL: Avaldi in [1] is actually Grand Duke Ivaldi, but the author inexplicably changed his name. I assumed they made a mistake since the Korean alphabets for ¡°I¡± and ¡°A¡± are right next to each other on the Korean keyboard, and thus ignored it in the previous chapter, but from this chapter onwards, the author keeps using ¡®Avaldi¡¯. Hence we¡¯ll stick with the changed name, as well.)

 Chapter 332 - Encounters and Farewells (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Just as he seriously began mulling this option, his gaze landed on the items the dwarves had brought along with them.


    They were anvils and hammers, crafted with so much care and stained with not even a speck of dust.


    ¡®¡­Hmph, better than measly livestock, I guess.¡¯


    Avaldi¡¯s mood gradually thawed after seeing those things. He didn¡¯t care about other things, but even he had to admit that the products of the dwarves¡¯ blacksmithing skills were works of art in themselves.


    ¡°So, how about it? Are you feeling better after getting some sleep? Why don¡¯t you share some booze with us!¡± Belrog pushed a mug of booze in Avaldi¡¯s way, then while sheepishly grinning away, said something else. ¡°After we finish our shots, why don¡¯t we dive straight to our work? Yes, let¡¯s create the greatest armament the world has ever seen, together!¡±


    Belrog, his face now in the shade of healthy pink, pointed at the weapons carefully tucked in luxurious fabric resting in another corner of the hut.


    Those things were the ¡®legendary¡¯ weapons: the treasured tool of the Imperial Family, plus Amon¡¯s relics.


    The treasure of the Imperial Family was apparently crafted by a distant ancestor of the dwarves, while Amon¡¯s relics were Avaldi¡¯s own creations.


    That meant that Avaldi had been defeated by Belrog¡¯s ancestor. While thinking about useless things like that, he stared at Amon¡¯s relics and the muscles around his eyes began twitching.


    ¡®¡­How bloody absurd.¡¯


    The armaments he had created possessed abilities to amplify the wielder¡¯s demonic energy. But quite weirdly, the aura of divinity was now wafting out of them.


    It seemed that their nature had been transformed simply by being in the Holy King¡¯s hands for a long time.


    ¡­Just like the warhammer Kelt Olfolse used to swing around.


    Even if he handed all those things over to the Vampire King, the latter wouldn¡¯t be able to use them. No, wait. There wouldn¡¯t be a need for the King of Vampires to even use Avaldi¡¯s weapons, anyway.


    If the Seal binding the J?tnar came undone for good, then the vampires would have no need to use his items, after all. The only one with the qualifications to wield Avaldi¡¯s weapon, the Vampire King, had lost his pride and strength, choosing to throw his lot in with the giants, instead.


    That meant that the King of all vampires had lost his right to use Avaldi¡¯s armaments.


    He stared at Amon¡¯s relics and fell into deep contemplation.


    Should he destroy them? Avaldi muttered to himself, ¡°There¡¯s no reason for an unusable item to exist, after all.¡±


    ¡°Sorry?¡± Belrog tilted his head in confusion.


    Avaldi ignored that and continued to ponder, his fingers interlocked and his head leaning forward.


    In all honesty, was there really a need to destroy them in the first place? Those things were his own masterpieces. Although they were now defiled by divinity, their powers still remained absolute.


    Nothing would be more foolish than willingly destroying one¡¯s own creations after they had been crafted through so much care and dedication. Besides, a blacksmith was a creator of things, not a destroyer.


    Belrog spoke up again, ¡°So? How about it, eh? Master, let¡¯s do it together. We¡¯ll assist you. It might be too much for you alone, but if we combine our strengths together, it¡¯ll be possible!¡±


    Avaldi shot a glare in Belrog¡¯s direction.


    What a cheap provocation that was.


    The vampire blacksmith spat out a soft little groan, and muttered his reply, ¡°I have no plans of doing anything.¡±


    ¡°Eheeiii, would you listen to this narrow-minded old man? An old friend of yours is asking so nicely for a favour here, so how can you act like this? Ehng? Aikoo~~, yes, yes. You¡¯re indeed a very important genius. Yes.¡± Belrog sounded utterly wasted, judging from how slurred his speech was. He sauntered over to his fellow dwarves and clanged his mug with theirs. Then he sneaked a glance in Avaldi¡¯s direction. ¡°I won¡¯t give up, though. We¡¯ll sit tight right here and wait until you decide to make your move.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Avaldi kept his silence.


    He just felt hollow inside. All he wanted to do for now was to silently wait until the day someone started using his weapons again.


    **


    In the labyrinth of Titalos¡­


    Kelt found himself standing on a wide and empty plain, looking up dazedly at the ¡®sky¡¯ above. The entire ceiling was covered in rippling water, and rivers were flowing into it as if they were ignoring the effects of gravity.


    A dark silhouette of a huge lifeform swam around in the water before disappearing from his view. As he watched the water¡¯s rippling surface, his eyes slowly lost focus.


    His eyes were no longer filled with the sights of the labyrinth of Titalos, but another world.


    He could see a sky. A pure-white sky. A place filled with gentle light.


    That was the world only purified souls could reach, known only to those who studied theology.


    The Heavenly World, the world of the gods¡­


    The sound of a gentle breeze seemed to ring in his ears. The fresh scent of grass tickled his nose. Would all these things also exist in the Heavenly World, too?


    ¡®It¡¯s time, isn¡¯t it.¡¯


    This was an unavoidable fate. Soon he¡¯d depart from this world.


    Just as he extended his hand up towards the sky¡­


    Someone gently held his hand back.


    Kelt flinched a little and turned his head to look.


    ¡°Were you thinking of leaving?¡±


    Queen Rox had walked up to his side and was making a lonely smile. She held his hand tightly, as if she was trying to prevent him from leaving.


    Kelt gently clasped the hand holding onto his own. Their wrinkled skin brushed against each other. ¡°My time has come. According to the rules, I must answer the call of the gods.¡±


    ¡°And you will leave my side once more.¡±


    Kelt and Queen Rox shared a short but truly deep connection. They had once met each other inside the forest of demonic beasts and set off on many adventures together.


    They competed against one another, they smiled with each other, and they spent a joyous time together. During their journeys together, they had formed a deep bond.


    Time passed, and they had to drift apart. They each had places to be, and as a result, they had to part ways.


    This state had lasted for decades.


    Eventually, Kelt came to realise that his lifespan was almost over. That was why he had decided to enjoy what was left of it.


    He went on adventures and travelled around, and just like that, met with his old acquaintance once more.


    He didn¡¯t regret anything about his life, and he spent his last days in happiness, as well.


    Kelt pressed his forehead against Rox¡¯s and gently smiled back at her. ¡°I¡¯m merely going away, just like before. This encounter and farewell was for that purpose, after all. We can¡¯t go against our fate.¡±


    Queen Rox quietly closed her eyes. Drops of tears formed on the edges of her eyes, eventually trickling down her cheeks.


    Kelt¡¯s own eyes opened wider ever so slightly. His vision was dyed in bright whiteness.


    Rox¡¯s sorrowful face disappeared from his view, leaving behind only the pure white light. All he could hear at the moment was her soft breathing, and feel her warmth throughout his body.


    He whispered, ¡°It¡¯s¡­ wonderful.¡±


    Using nothing but his sense of touch, he tightly held Rox¡¯s body close.


    She felt so thin and frail.


    She might have gotten old and wrinkly, but to Kelt, Rox remained the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world.


    ¡°Whenever¡­ I¡¯m in your warm, gentle embrace, I start thinking about this.¡± Kelt¡¯s eyelids gradually closed as strength began seeping out from his arms. ¡°I wonder if I¡¯m already in heaven or not. I¡­I feel rather sleepy now. If I fall asleep within your arms, then I¡­¡±


    Kelt¡¯s body slowly went limp. Rox supported his crumbling body.


    ¡°¡­ I¡­ may really¡­ go to heaven¡­¡±


    His words came to an end. At the same time, even his soft breathing stopped.


    Queen Rox¡¯s eyes opened very wide. As her irises trembled, teardrops began falling.


    ¡°What a terrible person you are.¡± She brought Kelt even closer and held him tightly. ¡°You are a truly terrible person.¡± She reached up and carefully caressed Kelt¡¯s face as a sad grin spread on her lips. ¡°If it¡¯s really fated¡­¡±


    Rox carefully laid Kelt on the grassland.


    As she caressed his face again, Mana began leaking out from her body.


    ¡°¡­Then, we¡¯ll just have to be together. I won¡¯t let you be lonely anymore. I too, will be by your side, Kelt¡­¡± She buried her face on his chest. ¡°With you, always¡­¡±


    Her eyes quietly closed.


    ¡ª


    Cardinal Raphael looked up at the sky. Another night had come to the labyrinth of Titalos.


    After Kelt asked for some alone time with Rox, he agreed to let them be for a while. However, too much time had passed now.


    Raphael was the trusted adviser to the Holy Emperor, so he naturally grew worried. He walked through the forest and eventually reached an open field of grass. He froze in place and stared at the scene before him.


    At the top of this verdant field, two lovers lay on their backs, their hands held together. With content smiles on their faces and their foreheads pressed against one another.


    They were in eternal slumber, together.


    **


    Allen was finishing up some documents in the office. He suddenly flinched in surprise and raised his head.


    This weirdly hollow feeling suddenly began washing over him.


    ¡°Your Majesty?¡± Charlotte asked in a puzzled voice from her place next to him and Allen silently turned to look at her. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, sire?¡± she asked again, tilting her head in worry.


    For a long time there, Allen remained dazed, unable to answer. ¡°I¡­ uh, it¡¯s just¡­¡±


    He rose from his chair and headed to the balcony connected to the executive office. He looked up at the night sky far above.


    He stared at the wane moonlight for a long while, only for his brows to abruptly shoot up. He almost reflexively retrieved Queen Rox¡¯s letter from the item window, the one he¡¯d been safekeeping until now.


    The wax seal on the letter was disintegrating in gentle flames, unsealing the document. It could only mean that Queen Rox¡¯s magic had come undone.


    Which also meant that¡­


    ¡°¡­Charlotte.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±


    Allen opened the letter and confirmed its contents.


    And now, it was time to¡­


    ¡°Go and find Crown Imperial Prince White Olfolse.¡±


    ¡­fulfill the request Queen Rox had entrusted to him.


    < 174. Encounters and Farewells (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 333 - 175. The Beginning of the Destruction -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    I couldn¡¯t help but feel these weird gazes fixed on me as I walked down the Imperial Palace¡¯s corridor.


    ¡°Who is Marvel, and¡­¡±


    ¡°Who is Marcel? Can you tell?¡±


    I glanced behind me just as the twins threw me a question.


    Despite sensing an onset of powerful migraine, I still pointed to each of the twins and replied, ¡°Right is Marcel, and left is Marvel.¡±


    After we returned to the Imperial Palace and finished warning the ambassadors, the twins kept asking me similar questions to this one every chance they got.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    The twins smiled brightly back at me. However, I kept getting this strong feeling of disharmony from them. It was like they were acting all spoiled and such just to help them cope with their deep-seated sorrow.


    After the twins left my side, Charlotte walked up and addressed me, ¡°The two princes seem rather taken by Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s kinda burdensome for me, actually.¡±


    It seemed that they had become rather addicted to this routine now.


    That wasn¡¯t all that surprising, considering that even their family members had a hard time trying to differentiate the two. They probably ended up developing a favourable impression of someone capable of perfectly ¡®guessing¡¯ who was who.


    However, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if they had gotten waaay too nice to their little brother, whom they had previously disparaged rather greatly.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s because the two princes are hiding their sorrow, Your Majesty. Her Highness Seran can¡¯t be next to them, and more than anything else¡­¡± Charlotte stopped there, unable to continue on.


    She couldn¡¯t bring herself to mouth the event that had happened in the Imperial Palace recently.


    A wry, hollow grin also floated up on my lips.


    A few days ago, I gave an order for White Olfolse to be located. He had been dispatched to another country for a vampire hunt. On the same day he returned from his overseas business trip, news of Kelt, who had departed from the Theocratic Empire some months ago, finally reached us.


    The news was of Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse¡¯s passing.


    Oscal and Raphael returned to the Imperial Capital of Laurensis, along with a coffin containing white lilies.


    The news spread and the grief-stricken citizens wailed in sorrow, while White, who had returned urgently from his deployment, walked around with a dazed expression on his face for a long while.


    Not too long after that, all the siblings of the Imperial Family gathered together to hold the Holy Emperor¡¯s state funeral. Even Shuppel was seen snooping around the Imperial Palace, trying to hide his face under a hood. He must¡¯ve heard the news, as well.


    Laurence of the Duchy of Ariana also brought his adopted son Roy to the capital for a visit. I heard the report that they, along with other citizens, placed funeral flowers on the altar located in the city¡¯s central plaza.


    A small commotion swept through the Theocratic Empire afterwards. After some time passed us by, things gradually regained their stability.


    It was around this time that White was finally given the letter. The letter contained the secret held by the ruler of the Queendom of Aihrance and involved White¡¯s birth.


    In the end, he headed off to Aihrance. That was because, as Rox¡¯s only son, he had been chosen to inherit the throne of the country.


    While I was thinking about this and that, Charlotte cautiously gauged my mood before raising her voice. ¡°Your Majesty, we must get going now. All the preparations have been completed already.¡±


    ¡°Huh. So it¡¯s that time already?¡± I began rubbing the back of my neck after listening to Charlotte¡¯s urging. I hadn¡¯t slept properly for the past few days, and my whole body felt stiff as a result.


    ¡°¡­Please pardon this rudeness, Your Majesty.¡± Charlotte walked up behind me, reached out and began massaging my shoulders.


    Her massaging attempt was amateurish. However, she kept pressing down on my shoulders, and that did loosen up all the tense knots up there.


    I didn¡¯t even realise that my hardened expression was gradually coming undone. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°I only merely did what an escorting knight must do, Your Majesty,¡± she replied with a gentle smile.


    Huh, I didn¡¯t know that an escorting knight was required to know how to massage their liege¡¯s shoulders, but whatever.


    She addressed me again, ¡°We really have to get going, Your Majesty.¡±


    I nodded in silence. As if to match her words, the Imperial Palace was also deathly silent as well. There was not even a shadow of Paladins, servants, or maids to be found in the corridors.


    Only Charlotte and I walked forward wordlessly towards our destination in this heavy silence.


    Step, step¡­


    Every step we took caused noises to echo, which in turn made me quite tense, but the sounds of Charlotte following me from close by calmed me down.


    Eventually, we arrived before the Imperial Audience Chamber. Paladins were standing in front of the doorway, but they weren¡¯t in their usual armour. Lengthy white robes adorned them instead.


    They bowed deeply and cautiously opened the door.


    We were immediately greeted by the long, crimson carpet laid out on the floor. On the left and right sides were the members of the Empire¡¯s aristocracy and clergy in white robes, their heads deeply bowed.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I tried to get control of my breathing by inhaling deeply and letting all that air out. The nervousness soaked my back in sweat. I shifted my heavy legs and continued to forge ahead.


    Right in front of the throne were Raphael, Oscal, and Alice. I stopped in front of the throne, and heard Charlotte kneeling down behind me.


    I followed her example and went down on one knee.


    Oscal was carrying the Imperial Crown, hidden underneath a luxurious cloth. Raphael brought his hands together to offer a prayer, then cautiously picked up the crown with both hands.


    He then carefully presented it to his granddaughter and spoke up, ¡°Lady Saintess, please.¡±


    Alice flinched ever so slightly at the unfamiliar title, but she quickly hid her discomfort and gracefully bowed once before accepting the Imperial Crown.


    She then approached me. ¡°According to the laws of the Theocratic Empire¡­¡±


    I bowed my head.


    ¡°Along with the blessings of the gods, the creed of the Emperor and Pope shall now be succeeded.¡±


    She carefully placed the crown on my head.


    ¡°And I hereby declare¡­¡±


    All Priests and nobles raised their bowed heads simultaneously. They seemingly became one entity, staring only at me.


    ¡°¡­That the Holy King, Allen Olfolse, has ascended to the throne of the Holy Emperor.¡±


    I too raised my head and watched Alice extend her hand towards me. I took the offered hand and slowly got back up to my feet.


    ¡°Your Imperial Majesty, Holy Emperor Allen Olfolse!¡±


    While saying that, Alice knelt down demurely before me, her hand still holding mine.


    I scanned my surroundings with a stupefied expression etched on my face. Raphael, Oscal, the nobles and the Priests all knelt down at the same time.


    ¡°You are now¡­¡± Even though I hadn¡¯t fully digested this reality yet, Alice¡¯s voice still entered my hearing nonetheless, ¡°¡­the Empire¡¯s absolute monarch.¡±


    **


    Horns blared loudly, ringing out in every corner of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital city. At the same time, the celebratory bells rang loudly in the air.


    Hundreds of thousands of Imperial citizens gathered in front of the Imperial Palace and voiced their passion while cheering.


    I stood on the palace¡¯s balcony and waved my hand at them. But within this chaos, a wry grin was filling up my face.


    All these people, they were expecting a lot from me.


    ¡°This is troublesome.¡±


    When I muttered that, Charlotte and Alice, who were providing me with assistance from behind, flinched slightly in surprise before tilting their heads in confusion.


    I continued on while narrowing my eyes. ¡°My plan is going down the drain now.¡±


    That¡¯s right, my plan had gone down the drain. However, I had no choice but to accept this fate now. I was in no position to go against it.


    ¡ª-


    In the end, I settled down on the Holy Emperor¡¯s throne and lorded over the Theocratic Empire. My siblings provided counsel and helped me out, so I didn¡¯t face all that many challenges.


    Not too long after that, a piece of news came from Aihrance.


    {Crown Prince White Aihrance has ascended to the throne.}


    His previous surname of Olfolse was gone, replaced with Aihrance in its place. The nobles there raised one hell of a ruckus in opposition to this move, and that brought a period of massive chaos to the Kingdom of Aihrance. I figured that things were getting rather hectic for White over there.


    Meanwhile, the training of the Empire¡¯s army continued on, unabated.


    One month, two, three, and eventually, half a year later¡­


    An army of ten thousand trainee Priests was finally completed. By using the Aztal Rune, the Musket Brigade, as well as an Artillery Brigade consisting of members from the Theocratic Empire¡¯s six main forces, were formed.


    With that, the one year mark came and went. The second year came around.


    The ten thousand trainee Priests experienced hellish real combat situations and gradually morphed into a powerful army of Paladins.


    Eventually, they became an army capable of hunting vampires down.


    During the third year¡­


    Hans managed to improve the Aztal Rune somehow and came up with a new item: armour sets engraved with the runes. He used the basic structure of the Cyclops Golems we encountered back in the ancient Aslan tomb to come up with the armour.


    The invention of the ¡®Rune¡¯ armour gave the Theocratic Empire¡¯s six main forces enough wherewithal to oppose the giants.


    He didn¡¯t stop there, and even succeeded in mass-producing communication devices as well. By relying on their new Rune-engraved armour sets, each troop would now be able to communicate with each other, provided that they were within a certain distance.


    And eventually, during the fourth year¡­


    Our preparations were still not quite enough. The giants were coming to destroy our world. I kept getting the feeling that what we had prepared so far wasn¡¯t enough to stop those bastards.


    I mean, we were talking about the end of the world here. So we definitely had to prepare everything perfectly.


    While sitting on the throne, I began staring at the ¡®Loaded Unemployed Bum¡¯ plan that I had cooked up all those years ago.


    1

 Chapter 334 - 175. The Beginning of the Destruction -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Although I had called it a plan, in reality it was more like a list of all those destinations around the world that I wanted to visit as a tourist, while travelling in comfort as a valued member of the Imperial Family.


    ¡°¡­I guess I¡¯ll have to defer it to another time, then.¡±


    I carefully folded the document and stored it away in my item window.


    Now that that was done, I got up from the throne.


    ¡°Let me accompany you, Your Majesty.¡± Charlotte, who had her silver hair neatly coiled in a pony style behind her head befitting a mature and dignified woman, addressed me from the side.


    But I waved my hand lightly, then pressed forward a list of orders that she needed to perform for me in the future.


    ¡°This is¡­?¡± she tilted her head in confusion.


    I smiled and replied to her, ¡°For the next year or so, please take care of things for me. I¡¯ve already spoken to Luan and Hilda, so things won¡¯t get too hectic around here.¡±


    Charlotte stared at me with a stunned face.


    Leaving her behind, I headed to my destination by myself. That place happened to be the labyrinth located in the deepest part of the Imperial Palace¡¯s basement floors.


    Hans was on standby there already, with the Bloody Golem standing next to him. He bowed his head deeply in my direction and spoke, ¡°Your Majesty. Preparations have been completed.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    We headed to the deepest part of the labyrinth itself. The place we eventually arrived at was an enclosed space where countless Runes had been engraved seemingly on every visible surface.


    A single vampire was imprisoned in here. A vampire in a jester get-up, with lengthy and spindly limbs.


    Marquis Kirum.


    The moment he saw my face, he was frightened out of his wits and hurriedly scrambled back. He crouched in the corner of the enclosed space and shielded his head.


    ¡°Your Majesty, are you really planning to go through with this?¡± Hans cautiously asked me.


    I replied while taking off my clothes. ¡°I won¡¯t die at least, so don¡¯t you worry. Well, in the future where my fate has been set in stone by the gods, that is.¡±


    Of course, merely having knowledge of the future events could potentially alter one¡¯s destiny in some ways. But then again, the gods wouldn¡¯t have been so sloppy with their planning that this little action of mine would have a devastating butterfly effect later on.


    I chucked my clothes on the floor. Hans quietly stepped back and closed the door to this enclosed space, sealing it tightly.


    Behind me was the Bloody Golem that had devoured vampires and lycans to become a completed being. The crazed clown, Kirum the vampire, was the only one left before my eyes.


    ¡°W-w-what are you going to do?! Are you here to torment this lowly vampire once more?!¡± Kirum began screaming at me. Even then, he didn¡¯t forget to cover his face in ¡®despair¡¯. ¡°Oh, ohhh! How scary, aigoo, so scary~! A Holy Emperor who loves to bully the weak! By the way, why did you undress all of a sudden? Could it be? Do you have such a horrible hobby?!¡±


    What a snarky, sarcastic manner of speech that was. It was Kirum¡¯s unique way of yapping away, too.


    But it was nothing more than him putting up a brave front in order to suppress his own fear. Also, it was his way of showing some form of resistance. He was even using his Spirit Speech to ¡®seduce¡¯ me right now, too.


    I cracked my neck and addressed the vampire, ¡°I¡¯m not going to beat around the bush. Hit me with your Curse, Kirum.¡±


    Kirum¡¯s expression hardened in an instant. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s exactly as it sounds. Use your demonic energy and try to wreck my body.¡±


    ¡°Just what are you even¡­ Wait, what are you scheming to do this time?! I have already told you everything I know. Just stop it and kill me already! I, I can¡¯t¡­!¡±


    Kirum suddenly began blabbering away after fear took him over completely.


    ¡°Start your desperate struggles, vampire.¡±


    Snap.


    One sentence from me, and Kirum¡¯s mind snapped, plunging him into a pit of fear. He suddenly pounced in my direction.


    I felt his demonic energy. It emitted a seriously nauseating stench.


    However, it was still too weak. This guy wasn¡¯t a combat-type vampire and as such, he was rather weak for a vampire of his tier.


    Something on this level wasn¡¯t enough to wreck my body at all.


    ¡°¡­Get rid of him.¡±


    The Bloody Golem finally made its move. It raised its hand up; the fangs and bone shards of lycans gathered together, transforming its hand into a hook.


    It slammed down on Kirum.


    Crunch-!


    The vampire¡¯s blood splattered everywhere.


    ¡°Kuwaaaahk!¡±


    Kirum continued to thrash about even as the hook impaled him. The Bloody Golem brought the struggling vampire towards its abdomen.


    The golem¡¯s stomach area split open wide, revealing dozens upon dozens of fangs containing demonic energy that were spinning away like a saw-toothed wheel.


    Kirum was sucked inside the Golem, which was filled to the brim with various curses and toxins.


    ¡°W-wait¡­!¡± Kirum continued to thrash around as his feet gradually got ground to bits. ¡°Uwaaaahk?!¡±


    His lower half was disappearing; his abdomen was split apart, and his chest was ripped apart next.


    ¡°You¡­ You demon¡­!¡±


    Soon, even Kirum¡¯s head and his extended hand were all devoured, gone from my view for good.


    The Bloody Golem¡¯s power grew even stronger after absorbing the demonic energy of a Marquis-class vampire.


    The creature turned around to face me.


    And I issued a simple order to the golem. ¡°Devour me.¡±


    In that instant, the Bloody Golem¡¯s torso split open and swallowed me up.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    A massive earthquake suddenly rocked the frozen mountain range.


    Avaldi sensed something was wrong. He had a pretty good guess on what had caused all that shaking, so he quickly stepped outside the hut, leaving the dwarves behind.


    It had already been almost five years since Belrog and his companions came to visit him.


    Avaldi rapidly climbed the peak of the frozen mountain range, still decorated by countless snow-capped mountains and glaciers. When he got there, he finally got to see a certain spectacle.


    ¡°¡­Vlandmir.¡±


    A figure, his whole body tightly wrapped in bandages, was on his knees. He put the spear of blood down on the ground, then bowed his head deeply.


    In front of him were several large shadows. The smallest seemed to be around eight metres tall, while the largest one was over thirty.


    They belonged to the J?tnar.


    The gigantic existences had finally broken free of their Seals!


    -Now, kneel, and swear your loyalty to me!- one of the J?tnar demanded.


    The Vampire King could be seen clenching his teeth before kissing the toe of that gigantic creature.


    ¡®What are you doing, Vlandmir?!¡¯ Avaldi, staring at this unfolding sight from the top of the mountain, shifted his gaze over to his spear. ¡®Why aren¡¯t you even thinking of fighting back?¡¯


    Why wasn¡¯t he using that powerful weapon? That was the greatest armament Avaldi had created, yet¡­


    ¡°I shall acknowledge our defeat. We cannot win against your group.¡±


    The Vampire King once proudly declared that he¡¯d make the giants submit to him. But now, he had discarded his pride and self-respect to kowtow before another creature.


    ¡®No, Vlandmir! You haven¡¯t been defeated yet. Use that spear! Do you not possess the greatest weapon of all? Have I not gifted you with a weapon that required one thousand years of forging and refining with the blood of humans?!¡¯


    A vampire was not defeated until it was killed and extinguished from this world. As long as it was alive, and as long as it wished to continue fighting back, then Avaldi would gladly continue to craft another weapon.


    A weapon that was far stronger, far greater than any other in history.


    Avaldi grit his teeth.


    ¡®I beg of you, my king. Do not disappoint me. Pick up that spear. Use that spear to defeat both the giants and the Imperial Family¡­!¡¯


    ¡°I beg of you, oh the J?tnar. Go and destroy the Imperial Family.¡±


    Avaldi¡¯s brows shot up at what the Vampire King said just then. For a short moment there, the vampire blacksmith was left stupefied by what he had heard, but then, his teeth began clattering from sheer rage.


    The Vampire King had become blinded by his desire for vengeance. The more he lost himself, the further he got away from Avaldi¡¯s lifelong wish.


    -We are neither the destroyer nor the agents of your vengeance.-


    The J?tnar snickered away.


    -We are saviours. Saviours who will return everything to the embrace of Mother Nature. Everything will revert back to the embrace of the beginning-!-


    The J?tnar raised their heads high, opened their arms wide, and began roaring out at the top of their lungs. The snowstorm worsened in an instant, while flames mixed with particles of sand spread out into their surroundings.


    The Vampire King kept his head bowed, but there was a faint little smile etched on his face.


    For the sake of his revenge, he decided to let go of the spear.


    ¡°Oh you foolish king¡­¡± Avaldi muttered as his trembling hand began pressing down on his forehead and temples. He was still in his human facade, and the pressure from his fingers caused his wrinkled skin to tear open, drawing blood. ¡°You dare¡­¡±


    The blood trickled down past his eye, his cheek, then eventually reached his chin to drip to the ground.


    Avaldi exploded in rage. ¡°¡­to betray me?!¡±


    -Let¡¯s go. Prepare to move out!-


    The J?tnar began smashing their fists into the mountain range surrounding them. Boulders and blocks of ice tumbled down.


    -Crush everything that dares to block our path!-


    The ground split apart.


    The giants began marching forward while destroying the frozen mountain range.


    The ranks of the J?tnar split into two and headed to their new destinations while breaking through the mountain range. One group, heading to east, while the other, to south.


    -Let us march forward!-


    The Kingdom of Frants was to the east, while¡­


    -Let us revert everything back to their beginning.-


    The Kingdoms of Aihrance and Lome could be found south of here.


    -We are the saviours, and we shall also become the gods that rule over the beginning of everything!-


    The J?tnar. The bringers of the destruction of the world.


    And so, the march of the destruction had begun in earnest.


    < 175. The Beginning of the Destruction -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 335 - 176. The Beginning of the Destruction -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Somewhere on top of a frozen mountain range¡­


    Belrog and his fellow dwarves stood there, their eyes opened wide. They were clad in thick wool coats to ward off the bitter snowstorm.


    They were currently being treated to an unforgettable spectacle.


    A spectacle of great Mother Nature crumbling and being destroyed.


    The ground rumbled in an ominous earthquake, causing the frozen mountains to crack apart and crumble to pieces. The layers of compacted snow shattered, and soon, avalanches roared down the slopes.


    Huge, dark shadows emerged from the deepest valley of the mountain range.


    They belonged to the J?tnar. The bringer of the world¡¯s destruction had begun their march!


    ¡°B-Belrog! Belrog, it¡¯s them! It¡¯s the giants!¡± One of the dwarves pointed to the bottom of the valley with his trembling finger.


    ¡°To think that they were hiding within this mountain range!¡±


    The J?tnar weren¡¯t even planning to tread across the mountain range, by the look of things. It was like they chose to destroy everything that dared to block their path, instead. Indeed, they destroyed parts of the mountain range hundreds or thousands of times bigger than they were, just to carve out a forward path for themselves.


    ¡®What is up with this absurd¡­?!¡¯ Belrog was cowed instantly.


    The mountains were coming down. Every time those giants swung their fists out, the terrain around them was altered. The J?tnar continued to spit out heavy, rough breaths as their eyes glowed ominously.


    They weren¡¯t only going in one direction, either; they scattered in every direction, seemingly determined to utterly destroy the mountain range.


    Once they broke through the natural barriers of mountains and reached the plains, their traveling speed would increase dramatically.


    One of the dwarves, who must¡¯ve been feeling deeply anxious, cried out loudly, ¡°Belrog!¡±


    ¡°¡­I know. The closest settlement from here is the Duchy of Ariana. Go and deliver this news to them right away. There should be the duchy¡¯s scouting party nearby, so go and ask for their help!¡±


    ¡°I-I got it!¡±


    That dwarf hurriedly dashed away from there to climb down the mountain. However, nobody knew how long he would need to get to the Duchy with his short, stumpy figure.


    It was a mistake on the dwarves¡¯ part to release their horses when their mounts couldn¡¯t endure the icy conditions of the mountain range.


    All they could do for now was to pray that the dwarf would get to an outpost as soon as possible.


    ¡°The end of the world was all real.¡±


    ¡°Boss, what should we do now? His Majesty the Holy Emperor ordered us, right? But we already wasted another year, on top of what you promised.¡±


    Since there hadn¡¯t been any communication from the Imperial Family, Belrog decided that he¡¯d spend another year waiting here so that they could craft an even better, more perfect weapon than before.


    However, it was too late now.


    Belrog took his time answering his colleagues, ¡°Let¡¯s not forget, His Majesty the Holy Emperor, Allen Olfolse, has been missing for the past year or so.¡±


    About a year ago, Holy Emperor Allen Olfolse suddenly went missing, his whereabouts unknown. Marquis Hans Jerurami was the one who conveyed the news.


    Charlotte Heraiz, the emperor¡¯s personal escort knight, seemed to have accepted that revelation without too much fuss. The First Imperial Prince was acting as the emperor¡¯s proxy after he was temporarily given ruling authority.


    Despite the Holy Emperor¡¯s whereabouts being a mystery, the Theocratic Empire didn¡¯t fall into the clutches of chaos. It was all thanks to the Holy Emperor making sufficient preparations beforehand.


    Belrog clenched his teeth. ¡°It¡¯s too late now. We can¡¯t afford to rely on the Master Blacksmith anymore.¡±


    They were left with no choice now. They simply had to refine the weapon with their own strength and abilities.


    ¡®But how?¡¯


    The Holy Emperor had entrusted three different types of armament to Belrog. One was a magician¡¯s staff, the second was a grimoire, and finally, a warhammer.


    How were they supposed to refine those things into a single spear?


    ¡°Ten days. We shall craft the armament His Majesty had commanded us in that time period.¡±


    The J?tnar should need some time to break through the frozen mountain range. The dwarves could use this short opening to refine the weapon, bringing out much of its potential in the process.


    Belrog and company hurriedly returned to the hut where the armaments were resting. But when they threw open the door, they discovered the Master Blacksmith was already inside.


    The trio of weapons were in front of him.


    ¡®Dammit!¡¯


    Belrog inwardly cursed out. For some reason, he began resenting the towering Master Blacksmith.


    ¡®No, wait. Why am I resenting him in the first place? It¡¯s my fault for relying on him without his permission.¡¯


    Belrog blamed himself. He believed that if he had worked together with the Master Blacksmith, then they would get to create a truly complete armament, the likes of which this world had never seen before. But his expectation ended up ballooning far too high.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about this, Master. But we won¡¯t rely on you anymore.¡± Belrog reached out towards the trio of armaments. ¡°I shall do something about them, so¡­¡±


    It was right at that moment that the Master Blacksmith suddenly grabbed Belrog¡¯s wrist. The harsh pain, akin to his wrist getting crushed to bits, struck the dwarf without warning.


    Belrog gasped out in pain and turned his head to look, only for his whole body to flinch and shudder as this nasty chill crept down his skin.


    ¡°Do not touch the armament that I have created, Belrog.¡±


    A glare filled with dense killing intent and madness locked on Belrog. The other dwarves were also frozen stiff in place.


    ¡°M-Master¡­ Blacksmith¡­?¡±


    Just as Belrog began trembling in fear, Master Blacksmith Avaldi released the dwarf¡¯s wrist. ¡°Get out of my sight. You¡¯ll only be a hindrance.¡±


    ¡°W-what?¡±


    ¡°The level of your abilities will only get in my way. You will only damage the armament.¡±


    ¡°¡­What are you thinking of doing, Master?¡±


    The Master Blacksmith grabbed all the armaments, then headed to the entrance of the basement workshop located in the corner of the hut. ¡°I shall do what you wanted from the beginning.¡±


    Did that mean¡­?


    Just as Belrog¡¯s face brightened with elation, the Master Blacksmith continued on, ¡°However, don¡¯t you dare interrupt me. Don¡¯t even linger around in the surroundings, you hear me? You will only bother me.¡±


    Belrog was unable to refute what the other party was saying, because it was all true.


    The skill level of Belrog or his colleagues couldn¡¯t even reach the toe-end of the Master Blacksmith, after all. Even then, they couldn¡¯t afford to back off here.


    While the dwarves were specialised in refining metal through their advanced metallurgy in the shortest time frame as possible, human smiths were known to take their time in refining weapons.


    It was already too late now to entrust the creation of the weapon to the Master Blacksmith.


    But even before Belrog could say something, Avaldi stopped his steps taking him down to the basement. ¡°Do not fret.¡±


    Veins on Grand Duke Avaldi¡¯s forehead were pulsating.


    ¡°I only need two days.¡± He turned his head back and glared at Belrog. ¡°Do you honestly think I haven¡¯t mastered the dwarves¡¯ refining and alchemical techniques?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t even need three days to craft Amon¡¯s armaments back then.¡±


    Belrog began smiling awkwardly at that revelation, a strand of cold sweat trickling down his face.


    Holy cow, that legend was actually a historical fact?


    A blacksmith who crafted the Necromancer King¡¯s weapons?! And besides all that, he only needed three days?


    That was the maximum time limit the dwarves accepted when they wanted to avoid unnecessarily damaging the armament being created.


    ¡®Huh. He has utterly crushed the pride of us dwarves, hasn¡¯t he?¡¯


    Belrog instinctively clenched his fists tightly. Although it was vexing, he had no choice but to believe in the Master Blacksmith. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll leave it up to you, then.¡±


    Belrog and fellow dwarves left the hut as if they were being chased away.


    Avaldi entered the basement forge, then studied the trio of armaments closely: the staff, the grimoire, and the warhammer.


    He then began recalling ¡®it¡¯.


    ¡­It being Vlandmir¡¯s betrayal.


    Even though the Vampire King wielded Avaldi¡¯s spear, he was still defeated by the giants. It meant that that spear was not enough to kill the giants.


    Giants that even the gods had allegedly feared.


    In that case¡­


    ¡®I shall create a weapon that even surpasses the giants, then!¡¯


    Avaldi¡¯s figure suddenly ballooned in size. Rippling crimson muscles filled his flesh, while horns rose on his head.


    ¡®A perfect weapon that I¡¯ve offered up all my being to create¡­¡¯


    He used his right hand to grab his horn, and broke it. His left hand sliced open his own chest to extract his heart.


    The flames permeated in the broken-off horn, while the heart burned up in demonic energy accumulated for the past thousand years and more.


    ¡®I shall complete a true masterpiece even if it costs my soul!¡¯


    Avaldi began his hammering on the three armaments.


    **


    Hans was feeling quite anxious.


    It had already been five years.


    He knew that the invasion of the giants would commence in five years, but he didn¡¯t know exactly from when, where, and how those bastards would start their invasion. The only thing he knew for sure was that they would start attacking some place in the Kingdom of Frants first.


    ¡®Is His Majesty still down in the underground labyrinth¡­?¡¯


    Charlotte had already departed for the Kingdom of Frants, with the army in tow. Holy Emperor Allen had given her the order to do so after the one year mark of his absence arrived.


    Hans took his time deliberating, but in the end, he headed to the underground labyrinth.


    ¡®I might end up interrupting him.¡¯


    However, he was left with no other choice.


    ¡®Even if he¡¯s down here training to get stronger, his method is already abnormal to begin with.¡¯


    The members of the Imperial Family grew stronger by fighting against the vampires. Their physical bodies would get ¡®destroyed¡¯ by attacks containing demonic energy, and by healing such wounds through divinity, their bones and muscles would become even more developed than before.


    This was the reason why the Imperial Family members could become sufficiently strong in only a few short decades to fight against vampires who had been living for several centuries.


    ¡®Out of them all, His Majesty Kelt and Marquis Charlotte are two unique cases.¡¯


    Their whole bodies were ripped apart by the curses of demonic energy, yet they had still managed to survive. That led them to possess transcendental physiques which allowed them to hunt vampires without relying on divinity, but on just pure physical strength alone.


    Allen also wanted to possess such a physique. That¡¯s why he had willingly stepped up on to the experimental table.


    ¡®Even if the vampires are all gone and he couldn¡¯t fight them anymore, this was still too rash.¡¯


    After the war against the vampires came to an end, the opponents he could potentially fight against had practically vanished overnight. He couldn¡¯t grow stronger anymore, so he had chosen to artificially strengthen himself this way.


    ¡ª


    Hans eventually reached the underground labyrinth. He touched the massive wall blocking his path, and several runes engraved on its surface began to shine. The wall lifted up, revealing the enclosed space beyond.


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    Only the Bloody Golem stood tall there. Hans could see that Allen wasn¡¯t inside the golem¡¯s body, either.


    ¡°Where¡­ did His Majesty even go to¡­?¡± Hans muttered out to no one in particular, but the Bloody Golem still answered, pointing at the entrance Hans was standing in.


    He turned his head to look, and his gaze went past the exit leading outside of the labyrinth itself. The warp magic circle he had installed there could be seen.


    That was the ¡®bridge¡¯ that led directly to the Kingdom of Frants.


    Allen had already left the labyrinth sometime ago!

 Chapter 336 - 176. The Beginning of the Destruction -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Five years had passed since the Farmer incident.


    The Kingdom of Frants had welcomed the advent of an era of true peace since then. After the death of the Farmer, the frequency of the vampire incidents decreased so much that travellers and even merchants began stopping by the Duchy of Ariana more often.


    In the middle of the city street¡­


    ¡°Are we training again today, too?¡±


    A large crowd of people were out and about in the city¡¯s marketplace. A band of soldiers walking among them were yawning out grandly.


    They made sure to inspect their equipment, got into orderly lines, and began their patrol routine. While doing all this, they still expressed their dissatisfaction.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think this is strange? Why are we receiving such a strict training regime these days?¡±


    ¡°Not only that, it¡¯s like we¡¯re preparing to fight against big monsters, like ogres or something. I mean, most of our training involves castle defence or the operation of siege weapons! Heck, even the citizens are being asked to participate in evacuation drills recently.¡±


    ¡°Maybe that rumour was true all along? You know, the one about the end of the world and stuff. I keep hearing about that thing in my local pub all the time lately. Other kingdoms are also raising a lot of ruckus over it, apparently. They are all saying that the end of the world is about to hit us.¡±


    The soldiers busily chatting away suddenly grew quiet, but a short while later, they broke out in loud guffaws.


    ¡°Ahaha! Now that¡¯s funny. If the end of the world really happens, I¡¯m gonna brand my palm or something!¡±


    3


    It was at that moment a man hiding himself under a white robe and hood brushed past the chatting soldiers.


    ¡°Huh? Wasn¡¯t that a musket?¡± One of the soldiers pointed at the man in the white robe.


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. And it¡¯s a really lengthy one too, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    The musket seemed to be about two metres in length. The soldiers¡¯ eyes stared at the back of the man wielding the large-muzzled musket.


    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s a Priest from the Theocratic Empire?¡±


    ¡°Aha, you mean, from that musket regiment or whatever?¡±


    ¡°Ahaha! A musket regiment without the Holy Emperor around is basically like a stick regiment, isn¡¯t it? From what I hear, they can¡¯t even shoot anything without the Holy Emperor¡¯s Divine Aura or something? And the emperor himself is nowhere to be found for the past year or so, which means¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey, man! Watch what you say. That¡¯s lese-majeste, you know!¡±


    The soldiers hurriedly clamped their mouths shut. They sneaked a glance at the white-robed man and flinched visibly after realising that he was staring back at them. The soldiers stiffened up smartly in place.


    That man in the white robe was a Priest from the Theocratic Empire. If he was indeed a member of the musket regiment, then he belonged to the six main forces of the Imperial Family, too. Each and every person belonging to that regiment possessed a status higher than your average nobleman.


    ¡°A-ah, w-we should get back to our patrols!¡±


    The soldiers hurriedly left the area, almost running away.


    The white-robed man stared at their distancing backs for a moment before looking behind him. He tilted his head slightly after noticing a group of kids standing before the bell tower. They were looking up with troubled expressions on their faces.


    ¡°Hey, guys. What are you all doing?¡± the man asked while walking up to them.


    The kids pointed towards the sky and replied, ¡°Our balloon!¡±


    ¡°¡­A balloon?¡± The man looked up.


    There it was, a balloon stuck on the bell tower, the rays of the morning sun casting on the structure itself.


    ¡°Mom gave it to me as a present, you see¡­¡±


    When one of the kids said that, the rest of the group became tearful all of a sudden.


    ¡°¡­Huh. So this world also has balloons.¡± The white-robed man thought to himself, ¡®I think I¡¯ve seen them before during the festivals¡¯, then addressed the kids. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go and fetch it?¡±


    ¡°But mister, the doorway is locked.¡±


    The man shifted his gaze over to the bell tower¡¯s entrance when the kids said that. Indeed, they were right. A huge lock had clamped the entrance down tight.


    The man could only furrow his brow at that sight. ¡°But, how come?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ because we often went up there and rang the bell as a prank, so that¡¯s why¡­¡±


    After listening to the honest confession of the kids, the white-robed man nodded to indicate that he understood the gist of the situation.


    A village¡¯s bell tower was more often than not used to warn the residents about impending emergency situations. The bell would only be rung during monster raids or to signal the outbreak of a war.


    But a bunch of kids had been ringing the bell for fun lately, so the residents would have expressed their deep dissatisfaction about the whole situation. That led to the bell tower¡¯s doorway being locked shut.


    ¡°With things like this, though, no one can now ring the bell in emergency situations¡­¡± The white-robed man scratched his head.


    He looked around and spotted a guard post nearby. A realisation dawned on him just then. Maybe one needed permission from the guard on duty if one wanted to open the door?


    ¡°How about getting permission from the guard?¡±


    ¡°The guard uncle was still asleep, though¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Heh, I guess it¡¯s been really peaceful around here, then,¡± the white-robed man chuckled awkwardly, and the kids smiled sheepishly along with him. He then patted the kids on their heads before reaching out towards the bell tower¡¯s door. He grasped the large lock, then gripped it hard.


    Crunch¡­!


    The lock bent unnaturally, before breaking apart into pieces.


    The eyes of the kids opened wide in shock. Even the white-robed man stood there in a bit of daze as well. He stared at his own hand and began repeatedly clenching and unfurling his first. ¡°¡­Kinda feels like I¡¯ve become a superhero or something.¡±


    ¡°A superhero?¡± The kids tilted their heads in confusion.


    ¡°Ah, that. It¡¯s nothing major. Let¡¯s quickly pop in and leave. I¡¯ll just pay the repair fee later.¡±


    The white-robed man opened the door and climbed the bell tower¡¯s staircase. The group of kids followed after him.


    They eventually reached the top of the tower, and the man wrapped the thread tied to the balloon around his musket to reel it in.


    The balloon was finally returned to the kids. ¡°There you go.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, mister!¡±


    The man grinned widely.


    In the meantime, one of the kids turned his head and began scanning the scenery visible outside the bell tower. This kid began tugging at the man¡¯s robe next. ¡°Uncle?¡±


    ¡°¡­Hey kid, I¡¯m not old enough to be called an uncle yet, you know.¡±


    The man turned his head at the kid, and the latter pointed to the distance. ¡°What¡¯s that over there?¡±


    The man shifted his gaze in the direction the kid was pointing at, and his facial expression hardened in an instant.


    In the far-off distance, where a verdant grassland that lay beyond the Duchy of Ariana was located, he could see a large dust storm.


    Some things, large things, were running towards the city. The silhouettes within the dust clouds seemed humanoid, but they were definitely not humans.


    The smallest one was around eight metres tall, while the largest was about fifteen metres.


    Giants!


    And every single one of them was carrying huge boulders that had to be at least half the size of their torsos.


    ¡°H-help me! Help!¡±


    In front of the horde of giants was a scout riding on a horse. He must¡¯ve been dispatched to deliver the news, but too bad for him, he couldn¡¯t last for long before getting trampled to death by the giants¡¯ stomping feet.


    A horse wasn¡¯t fast enough to outrun the giants, as it turned out.


    Soldiers atop the watch towers also realised that something was wrong and began murmuring to each other.


    The white-robed man in the bell tower stared at the unfolding spectacle with widened eyes before hurriedly scanning his surroundings.


    He was definitely in the bell tower, while the villages remained quiet and peaceful.


    ¡­There were no sounds of a ringing bell.


    But in the [Foresight] witnessed by Seran Ariana, the destruction of the Duchy began with the loud ringing of the warning bell.


    The white-robed man was currently on the top floor of the bell tower, the one supposed to send out the warning signals.


    ¡°Ah¡­ I see.¡± The man facepalmed himself as if he finally realised something here. ¡°Holy cow. So, this was what the gods wanted in the first place? It¡¯s supposed to be an ¡®inevitable¡¯ fate, but the way it so perfectly fits is kinda pissing me off. Sister Seran told me not to interfere, but this is the exact opposite, isn¡¯t it?!¡±


    The destiny that was bound to happen.


    The white-robed man was probably in Seran¡¯s [Foresight] as well, except that she failed to spot him in it.


    ¡°I see. So, I¡¯m the one who¡­¡± The man grabbed the rope connected to the bell. ¡°¡­sent out the warning signal.¡±


    He yanked down on the rope hard.


    Dang-! Dang-! Claaaang-!!!


    The bell rang extremely loudly. The kids jumped up in shock and hurriedly covered their ears.


    The white-robed man turned his head and glared at the incoming giants. That sight was the clear proof.


    Seran¡¯s [Foresight], and what the gods wanted from him¡­


    That was for him to¡­


    ¡­to rescue the Royal Family of Frants!


    The man, Allen Olfolse, discarded his white robe.


    < 176. The Beginning of the Destruction -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 337 - 177. The Beginning of the Destruction -3 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Thirty minutes before the giants¡¯ invasion¡­


    Seran woke from her slumber in the early morning. She rubbed her eyes even as the drowsy expression refused to leave her face.


    She quietly stared at her younger twin brothers on either side of her on the bed, still deeply asleep. They had been behaving like spoiled kids again last night.


    The butler opened the door and stepped into the room, so she turned her head towards him. ¡°Mister Klare?¡±


    An old man in his seventies stood before the doorway. Despite his age, the butler still had an arrow-straight back. But his wrinkled countenance was still that of a kind, wise old man. ¡°My lady, His Majesty and Lord Marcus have arrived.¡±


    ¡°¡­Really?!¡± Seran jumped up in surprise at what Klare the butler had said, and hurriedly got off her bed. She opened the window panes and peeked her head outside.


    Indeed, she could see a single carriage passing through the citadel¡¯s gate. The King of Frants staggered out of the carriage, while Marcus was assisting him.


    Behind them was Seran¡¯s mother, Runan.


    Seeing that, Seran¡¯s expression could only stiffen.


    ¡®But, why are they¡­?¡¯


    Why did they even come here? And without any prior communication, too!


    They were now in the fifth year. The J?tnar¡¯s invasion should begin soon. Any unnecessary actions could distort the flow of fate negatively; that¡¯s why they had to be extra cautious in everything they did, yet¡­


    ¡°Just what were they even thinking¡­!¡± She couldn¡¯t help but get angry for some reason. But that state lasted only for a brief moment as it was replaced by an ominous foreboding, instead. ¡®Could it be¡­?¡¯


    She covered her mouth as if something had shocked her beyond belief.


    ¡°My lady? Y-your clothes¡­!¡±


    Despite Butler Klare¡¯s cry, Seran still hurriedly left her room in her pyjamas.


    Fifteen minutes to go until the giants¡¯ invasion¡­


    She urgently headed to the castle¡¯s entrance and greeted the King of Frants.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Seran?¡± Zayner, the King of Frants, tilted his head in confusion after seeing Seran panting hard before him. He was supporting himself with a cane in his right hand, and Marcus helping him from the other side.


    Seran quickly replied to him with a question of her own, ¡°What brings you here, Your Majesty?¡±


    ¡°I came to ask you about something important.¡±


    ¡°Something important?¡±


    Zayner, the King of Frants, frowned a little and began explaining his reason for being here. ¡°Seran, please do reconsider. I understand your heart well, but it¡¯s wrong to go against our assigned fate. We are already prepared to accept what fate has in store for us. But if you ask the Theocratic Empire¡¯s help at this current point in time, it¡­¡±


    ¡°P-please hold on, Your Majesty. What do you mean?¡± Seran asked in surprise.


    The King of Frants also seemed a little puzzled. ¡°The Theocratic Empire has dispatched an army, and they have crossed the borders without my permission.¡±


    Seran¡¯s expression hardened.


    ¡°Their top commander is Marquis Charlotte Heraiz. She is leading one of the six main forces of the empire, the Heavenly Army, and they are headed to the Duchy of Ariana as we speak. When they were crossing the borders, they mentioned you by name. There must¡¯ve been a reason for this, I presume?¡±


    Seran was utterly stupefied by this. She had no knowledge about this at all!


    Why was Charlotte leading the Heavenly Army to this place? Not only that, while bringing up Seran¡¯s name, too!


    Understandably, she fell deep into a bout of confusion.


    The Theocratic Empire¡¯s army that had crossed the borders, and the trio of the King of Frants, Marcus, and her mother Runan showing up here to inquire about that very matter¡­


    Could it be¡­?


    ¡°K-Klare! Where is Mister Klare, our butler!¡±


    Seran even forgot about guiding the King of Frants to the VIP chamber and hurriedly ran around the interior of the citadel. Her urgent cries startled the maids and one of them replied to her, ¡°M-Miss Seran, Mister Klare departed for the marketplace just now. He said he wanted to shop for supplies.¡±


    Seran¡¯s complexion was instantly drained of all colour. That old butler, he could¡¯ve left that job to the servants and maids, yet he still stepped up to perform something so cumbersome.


    That earnestness of his would ultimately cost him his life.


    ¡°N-no, it can¡¯t be¡­¡±


    Strength abandoned her legs. She collapsed on the floor, an expression of despair etched on her face.


    Everything was falling into place.


    That could only mean¡­


    ¡°S-sister?¡±


    ¡°Older sister? What¡¯s the matter?!¡±


    The twins Marvel and Marcel hurriedly ran up to her.


    ¡°The citizens¡­! We must evacuate our citi¡­!¡±


    Dang-! Clang-! Claaang-!


    Time left until the giants¡¯ invasion: zero minutes.


    It had begun!


    BOOM-!


    A loud noise reverberated throughout the land, followed right after by a small earthquake.


    Seran¡¯s face hardened as she turned her head. Through a nearby window of the citadel, she could see the streets of the city below.


    A large boulder had fallen in the city. Screams broke out, as well as panicked commotion.


    Her mouth clamped shut.


    It had really begun. The invasion of the J?tnar¡­


    The end of the world¡­ It had commenced for real!


    It was right at that moment that she heard the echoes of hurried footsteps ringing in the citadel. Seran turned her head and discovered her family.


    ¡°Oh my gods¡­¡± The King of Frants, Zayner, stared at the events taking place outside the window with a bitter smile on his face. ¡°¡­I see. So it has begun.¡±


    ¡°U-uncle, it¡¯s not too late. Y-you can still escape¡­!¡±


    Seran had already long forgotten about established custom or manners at this point.


    Just as she reached out to King Zayner, Seran¡¯s mother, Runan, issued an order to the escorting knights. ¡°We shall leave Seran, Marvel, and Marcel under your care.¡±


    The knights stepped forward and forcibly began dragging the Ariana trio away by their arms.


    ¡°Mother!¡±


    ¡°Your heart¡¯s too weak, my child.¡± Runan quietly shook her head, then walked up to Seran to hold her tightly. ¡°I pray that you survive this calamity.¡±


    ¡°No, mother! P-please¡­!¡±


    Seran cried out in despair. The twins, their whole bodies trembling from anxiety, could only alternate their worried gazes between Seran and their family members now growing further away from them.


    The King of Frants watched them leave, rubbed his face down, then asked Runan, ¡°Aren¡¯t you scared, sister?¡±


    ¡°In my eyes, my dear older brother, you look far more scared than I am.¡±


    ¡°¡­Marcus,¡± Zayner called out to his nephew.


    Marcus turned his head to stare at his king.


    ¡°You will also make your escape from here.¡±


    Marcus¡¯s eyes grew wider. ¡°But Your Majesty¡­¡±


    ¡°Going against fate will certainly invite the worst possible situation. However¡­ us two should suffice here today.¡±


    The knights on standby then also grabbed Marcus by his arms.


    ¡°But, Your Majesty!¡±


    ¡°Please take care of Seran and the children.¡±


    Harman, sitting on the carriage driver¡¯s seat, was waiting for their arrival by the citadel¡¯s gates.


    The twins called out his name, ¡°Harman!¡±


    Harman had been spending the past five years or so in the Duchy of Ariana. He looked at Seran and the twins before muttering grimly, ¡°¡­Please get inside.¡±


    **


    Two hours before the invasion of the J?tnar, in a small village near the Duchy¡¯s capital city¡­


    Laurence was rubbing his neck. The first thing he did after waking up was to let out a long, drawn out yawn. He then got dressed.


    He stepped outside his house and washed his face with water he had drawn from the well yesterday. His whole body felt heavy and sluggish, though. He dearly wanted to take a nice long holiday, but he knew he had to go to work today.


    He was a servant of a noble house, and as such, he had to do his best.


    He needed to do his job well so that his son could also get a job as a butler, or maybe even receive a letter of recommendation after he got older. If the latter happened, then his adopted son, Roy, might even become a trainee Paladin someday!


    ¡®That¡¯s right, Roy is a blessed child. His Majesty the Holy Emperor himself has personally blessed the child, after all!¡¯


    After he finished washing up, Laurence opened the door back to the house and spotted a familiar child waiting for him. It was a boy with black hair and black eyes, about ten or so years of age in appearance.


    However, the boy¡¯s real age, as far as Laurence knew, should have been only around five. For some strange reason, this child¡¯s growth rate was a lot faster than other kids his age.


    The boy brought his hands together and bowed his head in greeting. ¡°Did you sleep well, father?¡±


    ¡°Ah, you are up as well, Roy?¡± Laurence smiled gently at his adopted son, Roy.


    The family enjoyed their usual breakfast.


    ¡°And then, His Majesty the Holy Emperor did¡­!¡±


    Roy smiled awkwardly as Laurence said that.


    This part of their morning routine had been the same for as long as he could remember. His father, Laurence, would repeatedly praise His Majesty the Holy Emperor about this and that, despite the person in question having gone missing for a year now.


    Whenever Roy heard those stories, though, he always came down with this¡­ unsettled feeling.


    ¡®I feel uneasy.¡¯


    Allen Olfolse. Just hearing that name alone made Roy¡¯s whole body shiver like a lone leaf in the wind. Even then, he couldn¡¯t help but be curious.


    ¡®He must be someone incredible, right?¡¯

 Chapter 338 - 177. The Beginning of the Destruction -3 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The person he admired the most, his father, had been praising that Holy Emperor nonstop for so long, so it was perhaps inevitable that Roy would also grow curious about how wonderful of a person this Allen Olfolse was like in reality.


    The things said about him sounded like the stuff of fantastic fairy tales. Even then, listening to those tales made Roy feel rather uncomfortable. Most of all, he hated that name, ¡®Allen Olfolse¡¯. He couldn¡¯t explain why, but this sense of¡­ repulsion he kept getting felt almost instinctive at this point.


    However, all the other kids around Roy¡¯s childhood also idolised that Holy Emperor a great deal as well. So even he ended up developing some level of awe and respect in the end.


    Roy, along with Laurence, chatted with the other villagers on their way to the Ariana citadel. Soon the duo stepped into the city¡¯s marketplace.


    ¡­Five minutes until the invasion of the J?tnar.


    ¡°How about learning swordsmanship from Lord Harman, Roy?¡± Laurence asked his son as they walked down the street hand in hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m on the fence about it, dad.¡± Roy smiled back awkwardly, then recalled the face of the Paladin named Harman.


    Apparently he was a trainee Paladin who had been working out of the Ariana citadel. For some reason, though, he showed an abnormal level of interest in Roy¡¯s welfare, often asking the boy if he wanted to learn how to wield a sword, or urging him to drink some weird-smelling medicine, etc, etc¡­


    Although Harman didn¡¯t have any malice in his actions, Roy still felt strangely uncomfortable about the whole thing.


    Clang-! Clang-! Claaang-!


    It was right at that moment that bells began ringing loudly. People already on the streets started whispering and muttering to each other.


    Laurence suddenly began feeling this unexplainable anxiety creep up on him. But that¡¯s because he had noticed this uneasy air pervading the Ariana citadel recently.


    It couldn¡¯t be that there really was a war brewing now, could it?


    ¡°Dad?¡±


    ¡°Mm? Ah, it¡¯s nothing, son.¡± Laurence shook his head. He then noticed someone familiar in the distance and pointed to the street that person was on. ¡°Ah. Look, Roy. Over there.¡±


    An old man in seventies wearing a butler¡¯s outfit could be seen at a spot some distance away from the marketplace. He was the old butler, Klare, and he was waving his hand at Laurence and Roy.


    ¡°You should say hello back to him, son,¡± encouraged Laurence.


    Roy faced the old man and bowed his head a little. Although they were some distance away and his voice wouldn¡¯t even reach the old man, he still reflexively began muttering out, anyway, ¡°Hello, Mister¡­¡±


    Zero minutes left until the invasion of the giants.


    It began right then. A creeping chill ran up Roy¡¯s spine.


    ¡°¡­Klare?¡±


    When the boy raised his head back up¡­


    A humongous boulder crushed Butler Klare seemingly to death.


    BOOOOM-!!!


    The boulder continued to roll around and destroyed the buildings in the surroundings. Countless people were crushed and their blood splattered and spread everywhere.


    Screams of people resounded out. ¡°S-someone got crushed!¡±


    Roy¡¯s trembling eyes were fixed to his front. ¡®M-Mister Klare?!¡¯


    The old butler was in the grip of an unknown individual, a Paladin kitted from head to toe in gleaming white armour.


    A musket was slung around his back and sticking over his right shoulder.


    ¡®Who is that¡­?¡¯


    But now wasn¡¯t the right time to question that.


    Roy¡¯s head automatically rose. Countless more boulders were seemingly flying in the sky. It looked like they were falling in slow motion to the boy¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Fuu-heuph!¡± Roy sucked in his breath, grabbed Laurence¡¯s hand, and began escaping from there. Not too long after that, many boulders rained down and crash-landed on the spot they had been standing on earlier.


    ¡®W-we gotta get out of here somehow!¡¯


    What kind of a calamity was this¡­?!


    ¡°Ah, aaah! Dear Goddess Gaia! And His Majesty the Holy Emperor! Please protect us!!!¡±


    Roy turned his head to look at his father when he heard that prayer. Laurence was still running right behind the boy, a despairing expression on his face.


    How could he even think about praying to the goddess in the current situation?


    ¡®Dad, even if you¡¯re feeling desperate, gods won¡¯t help us in a situation like this one, you know? So you shouldn¡¯t¡­?¡¯


    This happened right then.


    Just as Laurence began staggering unsteadily after his stamina had run out, a carriage came to a screeching halt in front of the fleeing duo.


    Roy jumped up in shock and took a look at the person riding on the driver¡¯s seat. It was none other than the trainee Paladin, Harman.


    ¡®Holy cow, did the goddess really answer my dad¡¯s prayers?!¡¯


    Just as Roy reflexively gasped out in amazement, Harman cried out to him, ¡°You two, hurry up and get in!¡±


    **


    ¡°Well, that was a close call. Wouldn¡¯t you agree, Mister Butler?¡±


    Butler Klare was frozen stiff while staring at the boulder that had practically whooshed past right in front of his nose. Like a broken machine, his head creaked noisily as he turned around to stare at the Paladin who had pulled the old butler back in the nick of time.


    ¡°W-w-who?¡±


    The Paladin was kitted out in a set of white armour from head to toe; it also featured Rune engravings on its surface.


    Klare next looked beyond the Paladin. More specifically, at the creatures behind the knight.


    It was a skeleton horse that emanated a sacred feeling. Some local kids were riding on top of the creature as well.


    ¡®A-a holy undead? No, wait. Could he be¡­?¡¯


    Klare was stupefied for a moment there, but he quickly regained his wits and realised who the Paladin under the helm was. He loudly cried out, ¡°Y-Your Majesty the Holy Emperor!¡±


    The old man was about to kowtow on the ground, so Allen quickly reached down to stop the butler, pulling the man back up.


    He wrapped his arm around Kare¡¯s waist, urgently mounted the old butler on the skeleton horse, and then he himself jumped up on the undead creature.


    He roared out, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    The skeleton horse broke into a fierce sprint. Boulders continued to rain down right behind them.


    Klare urgently looked above him. ¡°W-what is the meaning of¡­?!¡±


    It was like he was now staring at a hailstorm, except that, instead of hails, boulders ranging in size from three to five metres were falling on the city.


    ¡°Everyone, evacuate right now!¡±


    Soldiers stationed on the city¡¯s streets were urgently waving their hands around to guide the citizens. The soldier manning the guard post by the bell tower had woken from his slumber by now, and was urgently ringing the bell in panic as well.


    However, that only caused the citizens to fall into a panicked state themselves.


    ¡°Y-Your Majesty, just what is happening right now¡­?!¡±


    ¡°You can listen to Seran¡¯s explanation later on.¡± While saying that, Allen snapped his fingers. Various large glowing Runes suddenly appeared on the ground all around him.


    Bones broke through the surface and rose up, becoming summoned skeleton horses and skeleton soldiers.


    Allen roared out, ¡°Evacuate everyone, now!¡±


    The holy undead creatures grabbed the panicking citizens and placed them on the skeleton horses, but somewhat understandably, the scared people tried to push the skeletons back or even outright escape from being ¡®captured¡¯. Still, most were caught before long.


    The skeleton horses carrying people began dashing away to safety. But the boulders falling like hailstorm still crushed the fleeing undead, turning them and the humans riding on them to bloody meat paste.


    No matter how hard Allen tried, it was impossible to rescue everyone!


    ¡°Give me a freaking break.¡± Allen yanked his musket off his back. ¡°Dear Goddess? It¡¯s been a while since I last prayed, but be kind and please take good care of me.¡±


    He breathed deeply into the musket¡¯s loading chamber. At the exact same time, the skeletons riding along with the evacuating citizens also pulled out their muskets in unison.


    ¡°Oh, dear Gaia¡­¡±


    Klare was riding behind Allen when he realised that a large shadow was looming over them. The old man hurriedly looked up and ended up screaming in shock as a flood of cold sweat gushed down his forehead. ¡°Y-Your Majesty! T-t-there¡¯s a massive boulder¡­ a boulder¡­!¡±


    ¡°Please grant your servant the necessary power to¡­¡±


    Divinity began swirling and spinning within the musket¡¯s muzzle.


    The local children also riding on the skeleton horse trembled in terror while hugging their heads.


    [Divine Aura is activating.]


    [Spread Shot ability has been granted.]


    [Equipment will temporarily be upgraded.]


    [The Aztal Rune has been activated. The granted ability will now be transferred.]


    ¡°¡­protect these poor lambs through your¡­¡±


    Glowing runes appeared to engrave themselves on the muskets wielded by the skeletons.


    ¡°¡­grace-!¡±


    Allen aimed the musket at the boulder falling on top of him and pulled the trigger. The spinning divinity fired out of the lengthy barrel and scythed through the air.


    The holy bullet split apart into dozens upon dozens of rounds and pierced straight through the boulder.


    KA-BOOM-!


    A loud explosion went off, and small bits of broken rocks rained down. Skeletons raised their shields to block the pelting stones.


    And just like that, the skeleton horses carrying the citizens managed to safely leave the city limits. On the other hand, the skeleton horse carrying Allen and Klare headed straight to the city¡¯s citadel, instead.


    They saw a boulder crashing into the citadel¡¯s wall, breaking it down.


    Klare cried out, ¡°B-b-but, My Lady and His Majesty are all inside the¡­!¡±


    ¡°I know already. But before that, we are not out of the woods yet.¡±


    Soon, that creature would show up here.


    The Frost Giant!


    And then, the calamity that thing would cause¡­


    -All of you, turn into blocks of ice!- a loud and heavy voice suddenly roared out from somewhere far away.


    Allen cried out to Klare behind him, ¡°Hold on tight-!¡±


    Right at that moment, the ground they were running on froze in an instant, and broke apart as an iceberg tore through from below the surface.


    < 177. The Beginning of the Destruction -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 339 - 178. The Frost Giant -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Bone-chilling air that was cold enough to freeze the bottom of our shoes quickly rushed after us. The skeleton horse was breaking apart and the surrounding terrain was being altered rapidly.


    The buildings were collapsing while blocks of ice thrust up into the air in the literal blink of an eye.


    I was instantly creeped out by the sharpness of these ¡®icebergs¡¯.


    ¡®Give me a freaking break!¡¯


    I hurriedly summoned the Bone Wyvern and tossed the old man, Klare, high up in the air. The undead creature caught him in its maw and flew away.


    ¡°Y-Your Majesty?!¡± Klare shouted out towards me.


    You shouldn¡¯t worry about me, dear Mister Butler. The sky filled with flying boulders is far more dangerous than the freezing ground I¡¯m on, you know!


    ¡°Your job is to aid King Zayner, Runan, and Marcus with their escape from this place!¡± I roared back, and Butler Klare hurriedly nodded.


    The Bone Wyvern flew towards the citadel.


    In the meantime, the frost bergs continued to shoot up, freezing me from the bottom of my feet all the way up to my head. I was eventually encased in ice, just as blocks of ice several hundreds of metres wide froze the entirety of the duchy¡¯s capital from its centre. The whole thing now looked like a literal ice mountain.


    Countless many citizens who had failed to evacuate on time, just like me, were trapped inside and instantly froze to death.


    ¡®Jesus, it¡¯s freaking cold!¡¯ The blood in my body was freezing up, and even my soul seemed to have solidified in ice, as well. Consciousness threatened to abandon me.


    That Frost Giant, what an absurd monster it was. As expected of the bringer of destruction, capable of destroying the whole world!


    While I was inwardly thinking up of some words of ¡®praise¡¯ for it, my frozen eyes caught a certain spectacle still playing outside.


    I could see that the giants were still messing around with the boulders right outside the city limits. And then, there it was, one particular J?tunn that stood so much taller than the rest.


    Its height shot past the thirty metre-mark. It was the Frost Giant!


    Maybe the sense of disharmony was to blame here, because I thought I was looking at a moving mountain of ice found in the great outdoors or something.


    Cold air circulated all around it, while ice encased the creature¡¯s entire body, like some kind of armour. Under all that ice was compacted snow that looked like silky-smooth muscles.


    This thing was quite similar to the mud giant I encountered some years ago. However, the sense of disharmony I got from this one was different.


    Yup, this one was far, far stronger than that one¡­


    It was as if¡­ this thing was not an artificially created being, but the mother nature manifesting itself.


    [Name: Hr¨ªmr.


    Age: Unknown.


    Attributes: Crushing, squashing, impaling, creating ice mountains, freezing everything, cruel and vicious disposition.


    + I shall revert everything back to the beginning!]


    The attributes of the creature I saw through my [Mind¡¯s Eye] were all specialised in destroying and wrecking stuff.


    While still trapped in ice, I continued to watch the Frost Giant make its next move.


    The creature lifted its arms back up after it had finished smashing them down on the ground. As the whitish air leaked out of its mouth, the Frost Giant suddenly looked up in the air, then its expression distorted as if it had seen something up there.


    It reached up, then by using some unknown power that could either be magic or just sheer physical strength, it twisted time and space itself.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    What kinda absurd dogsh*t was that?!


    I kind of figured out why the gods chose to seal the J?tnar away. That kind of power simply broke all common sense. No wonder the gods wanted to get rid of them somehow, since they possessed such incredible power, and let¡¯s not forget, their instinctive need to demolish everything standing in their way.


    The extended fingers of the Frost Giant broke through the transparent wall of space. I instantly realised what that ¡®thing¡¯ was.


    ¡­The wall of time and space that connected to the past. The pocket world existing within [Foresight] that Seran had been in.


    The Frost Giant, Hr¨ªmr, was trying to capture Seran from the past right now.


    ¡®Move!¡¯


    Muscles all over my body began writhing and wriggling. I used divinity to thaw all the frozen blood vessels in my body. Blood quickly began circulating again within me.


    ¡®If it was Kelt or Charlotte, they would¡¯ve easily broken through this sort of ice by now.¡¯


    I used the Bloody Golem to curse my body. My flesh was wrecked several times over, but I was revived by divine power in what felt like an unending loop. So, I should have acquired a transcendental body that had broken through the limits of a human being, just like those two people.


    Cracks formed on the ice encasing me.


    Shatter-!


    The ice encasing my right hand, which was still gripping the musket, shattered and broke apart. That allowed me to take aim at the Frost Giant, Hr¨ªmr.


    I couldn¡¯t breathe into the loading chamber, so the materialised bullet should be unstable. Its firepower should be too low to do anything much, but I was confident of hitting my target nonetheless.


    ¡®Oh, Gaia!¡¯ I even began praying inwardly. ¡®Please pass your judgement on these¡­¡¯ My left hand also broke through the ice, freeing itself. My body was gradually regaining its freedom, and I could now grab the musket with both hands. ¡®¡­bringers of destruction who dare to break the balance of this world!¡¯


    I pulled the trigger.


    Bang-!


    The ice shattered, and the holy bullet scythed past the howling winds to fly towards the Frost Giant at a frightening turn of speed.


    Boom-!


    And then, it accurately struck the right cheek of the giant. Frost Giant Hr¨ªmr¡¯s head was tilted to the side.


    But that was all. Still, that distraction was more than enough.


    The extended hand fell out of the distorted time and space. The Frost Giant staggered a little, then spread open its clenched fist.


    -¡­Escaped, huh.-


    Hr¨ªmr the Frost Giant clamped its mouth shut, before smacking its lips. Its expression shifted as the smooth, compacted layers of snow making up its face moved around.


    The giant looked somewhat flustered. Which wasn¡¯t surprising, since it probably didn¡¯t expect anyone to interrupt it like I had done.


    Hr¨ªmr the Frost Giant looked up at the sky once more.


    -I can¡¯t catch that human anymore.-


    Its head came down, then its eyes landed right on me.


    A snicker formed on its lips while it stared at me, still somewhat trapped within the ice in the middle of the city¡¯s street.


    -You dare interrupt me, human?!- Hr¨ªmr suddenly lifted his head up and opened its mouth wide. It then shoved its hand inside its throat. Its jaw looked like it was getting dislocated, while its throat bulged outward like a balloon.


    It was grabbing something in there and forcibly yanking it out.


    What emerged from the Frost Giant¡¯s mouth was a long and massive spear. It was easily well over fifteen metres in length.


    ¡®Son of a b*tch!¡¯


    I amplified my divinity and completely shattered the ice trapping me, then urgently extracted Amon¡¯s skull from the item window.


    But¡­ how was I supposed to fight this thing?


    My opponent this time was the Frost Giant. The only thing that could potentially fight against that monster was either the Bone Dragon or the Skeleton King.


    However, I didn¡¯t have the grimoire specialised in summoning magic with me. I also didn¡¯t have the staff with me, so I couldn¡¯t greatly amplify my divinity, either.


    Which meant that I had to shoulder all the backlash and forcibly summon one of them by myself somehow.


    ¡®Man, how did it turn out like this?¡¯


    Belrog, that geezer! He said he needed around four years, so where the hell did he disappear to?!


    I continued to badmouth Belrog in my mind while putting the skull-helm on my head. ¡°I am the legion.¡±


    Hr¨ªmr suddenly jerked its body back. It gripped the ice spear so hard that I could actually hear the sounds of it cracking under pressure.


    ¡°And I am Gaia¡¯s inhe¡­¡±


    -Die, punk.-


    Hr¨ªmr thrust its left foot out before stomping on the ground. It threw the spear in its hand towards me.


    My eyes opened wider under the skull.


    The massive spear punched cleanly through the massive ice mountain in the blink of an eye.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    The ice spear accurately struck the ice mountain, shattering it completely.


    Hr¨ªmr breathed out grandly while watching the huge blocks of ice crash and tumble down noisily.


    -Fuu-wuu¡­-


    The corners of its lips arched up as it began snickering again.


    -Ahahat! Yes, it¡¯s a bull¡¯s eye! What perfect accuracy!-


    The Frost Giant clapped its hands, then shifted its gaze over to the giants nearby.


    -Oii, how was it? Didn¡¯t I perfectly hit my target or what?-


    The giants flinched in surprise and hurriedly began clapping their hands as well to appease Hr¨ªmr, before his mood could sour.


    It was around at this point that the Frost Giant sensed something trickling down its cheek, alongside some heat coming from there. It was startled by this sensation and quickly touched its right cheek.


    -I was wounded?-


    Water with some layers of frost trickled down from its cheek. It felt so warm that even the cold air innate to the Frost Giant failed to freeze it instantly.


    To think that there was an existence in this world capable of inflicting a wound on the Frost Giant!


    Could it be that that puny human earlier was something like the vampires or whatever? Or, maybe he was something else that the vampires couldn¡¯t even hope to defeat?


    What a shocking turn of event this was!

 Chapter 340 - 178. The Frost Giant -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    -Well, it doesn¡¯t really matter anyway.-


    Hr¨ªmr pressed down hard on its cheek to freeze the wound closed, then shifted its gaze down at the portion of the city encased in ice.


    -How does it look? Will this area serve as a wonderful location to build our ice castle?-


    Hr¨ªmr rubbed its chin in contemplation. It addressed the giants around itself, none of them tall enough to even reach up to its waistline.


    These giants flinched again, and hurriedly nodded along.


    -Well, that¡¯s good to hear, then. This northern region will now serve as my territory. I¡¯m sure the other kings will not protest in dissatisfaction regarding my choice of location.-


    Hr¨ªmr shifted its gaze beyond the city limits and towards the verdant grasslands in the distance. Humans riding on skeleton horses, as well as several carriages, could be seen fleeing.


    Those humans had somehow managed to escape from the city.


    Hr¨ªmr looked behind itself, and spotted the vampires breathlessly chasing after the giants and belatedly arriving at the city limits.


    The Frost Giant tutted while staring at these undead. ¡®How pathetic. Such weaklings were proclaiming that they would become gods in the future?¡¯


    Measly little insects that would get so easily killed simply by squashing them in a giant¡¯s fingers dared to drool over the position of godhood?


    How laughably ridiculous that notion was!


    Hr¨ªmr slightly raised its foot before stomping the ground. Spikes of ice broke through the ground and impaled a portion of the vampires.


    ¡°Heeeeiiik?!¡±


    The vampires, who had now become nothing more than slaves of J?tnar, cried out in fear.


    Hr¨ªmr glared at them as if they were disgusting bugs and roared out, -Go and chase the humans down. If you let even a single one escape, I shall freeze the lot of you and devour you!-


    ¡°U-understood!¡±


    The Progenitor Vampires urgently rushed away in the direction the evacuees had gone off to.


    -Well, now. What should I do next?-


    Hr¨ªmr¡¯s gaze then shifted over to the citadel located in the centre of the city. That location seemed ideal for the Frost Giant¡¯s ice castle to be constructed. However, that tiny little human castle was getting in the way.


    -Well, I can simply tear it down and build my own castle from the ground up!-


    Hr¨ªmr¡¯s jaw slowly opened, and a tongue made out of ice slithered out to lick the vicinity of its lips. With a sinister grin on its face, the Frost Giant strode over to the citadel.


    **


    ¡°Just¡­ just what is the meaning of all this?!¡±


    The King of Frants still remained in the citadel. King Zayner was rooted to the spot, unable to move from the sheer shock of it all. He was currently taking in the sight of the city through the window.


    All those soldiers, and even the powerless subjects of the kingdom, couldn¡¯t even let out a single scream before they were imprisoned in ice, their faces frozen in despair and horror for all eternity.


    King Zayner nearly collapsed at this unprecedented slaughter, where not one person could offer up any meaningful resistance.


    ¡°Oh, oh, dear gods¡­!¡±


    He had already accepted his fate. He even accepted that all these sacrifices were meant to buy that crucial extra time for the rest of humanity. That was why he resolved himself to fight against the J?tnar, the giants of myth that had apparently even tried to oppose the gods.


    But this¡­ They couldn¡¯t even buy any time at all!


    Look, look! In the blink of an eye, they were all annihilated!


    There were thousands, tens of thousands, of lives here, yet¡­


    The entire army of the Duchy was rendered powerless in an instant, without being able to do anything. It was like saying that all that hard training the soldiers had gone through was for nothing, a waste of time!


    Humans simply couldn¡¯t win against these marauding giants!


    ¡°Y-Your Majesty, Your Majesty-!¡±


    King Zayner turned his head and noticed a familiar butler rushing towards him. That old man was the butler employed by the House Ariana, but Zayner couldn¡¯t remember his name.


    ¡°Klare?¡± Runan called out the old butler¡¯s name.


    Butler Klare urgently ran up to King Zayner and his group of escorting soldiers. He panted breathlessly after forcing his aged body to move so fast. ¡°Y-You must escape from here, everyone! It¡¯s the order of His Imperial Majesty, the Holy Emperor!¡±


    ¡°W-wait, are you trying to say that His Imperial Majesty has personally come here?!¡±


    If so, that sound of a gunshot earlier?¡­


    ¡°Where is His Imperial Majesty, then?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Klare clamped his mouth shut, and quietly shook his head.


    ¡°¡­It can¡¯t be. He has already been defeated?¡±


    King Zayner fell into even deeper despair, but he still turned his head to the side to look at his younger sister, Runan.


    She was someone who didn¡¯t even bat an eyelid in front of a powerful vampire. Yet her complexion was pale white right now. The indescribably overwhelming might emanating from the Frost Giant had even made her drop her rapier.


    King Zayner saw this, and gritted his teeth. He made up his mind there and then. He reached out and grabbed Runan¡¯s hand, ¡°Marquis Runan, I hereby order you to escape from here.¡±


    ¡°Older brother?! But the fate¡­!¡±


    ¡°The future Seran saw did not contain the scenes of our death. Meaning, it will work out somehow.¡± King Zayner then shouted out a new order at the soldiers. ¡°Go and secure a carriage right away!¡±


    The soldiers nodded and urgently turned around. But just as they began dashing through the corridor¡­


    BOOM-!


    The location the soldiers were running through suddenly caved in and collapsed in rubble. A humongous hand made of seemingly nothing but ice brushed past that location.


    Just that simple action had caused a portion of the citadel to be completely ripped apart.


    The soldiers, along with the debris of the citadel, were squashed by the ice hand, and literally vanished from the view.


    King Zayner Frants and Runan¡¯s mouths clamped shut in shock.


    The citadel¡¯s side had caved in to resemble the end of a cliff, and a huge face now could be seen from the opening. That face was also covered in ice and snow.


    All those compacted layers of snow making up its frozen face began shifting around to change its expression, as if it was a human being.


    -Oho, I can see a little crown on your head! Does that make you the king of the insects, then? Ahaha!-


    Hr¨ªmr the Frost Giant guffawed loudly. Pure white frost wafted in the air, making King Zayner to shiver from the cold. He wrapped his arm around Runan.


    Klare urgently grabbed the two and addressed them. ¡°Please, Your Majesty, my lady! You two must flee!¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s too late now.¡± King Zayner unsheathed his sword.


    -No, no, no. You still have a chance. Even if you poke me with that little needle of yours, you still won¡¯t harm me in the slightest. So, you better start running away, oh the king of little insects!-


    Zayner gritted his teeth and urgently looked behind him. Unfortunately for him, though, the Frost Giant¡¯s other hand crashed through that side of the corridor, caving it in as well.


    And just like that, both ends of the corridor were gone, making them look like cliffs.


    -Deary me, looks like your escape path is all gone now!-


    With a hardened expression, King Zayner glared back at the Frost Giant. It was as if the massive giant was a little kid messing around with a bunch of ants.


    -I wonder, what kind of squeaky noises will insects make when I slowly freeze them to death? Heh, this is so interesting.-


    The Frost Giant thrust its hands inside the both ends of the cut-off corridor. Bone-chilling air began gushing out from both of those palms of ice.


    King Zayner, Klare and Runan, now caught in the middle, began shivering away from the cold.


    Hr¨ªmr sneered mockingly at them, the corners of its lips curling up.


    -A male and a female insect, plus an old one, too. I wonder how you all will taste when I¡­-


    -I shall now ask you a question, oh the King of Ice.-


    Hr¨ªmr flinched in surprise and quickly withdrew its hands, then hurriedly scanned its vicinity.


    -Are you afraid of death?-


    An unknown voice was coming from somewhere.


    Hr¨ªmr furrowed its frozen brow. Where was this voice coming from? Just from where?


    -As you are a king yourself, I shall now inform you of my own name.-


    ¡°¡­The Skeleton King.¡±


    The Frost Giant flinched again when he heard that other voice, and looked down at the ground.


    Right below him was another small, measly little lifeform. He was standing before the wreckage of the citadel. There was a skull of a mountain goat on his head, while a set of bone armour was equipped on his body.


    A lake of holy water was spreading out rapidly all around this puny being.


    -My name is¡­-


    ¡­Donn O¡¯Donnchadha!


    2


    Hr¨ªmr felt this ominous feeling creep down its spine just then.


    The moment it reflexively pulled itself back, two hands made out bones shot out from the lake of holy water and grabbed both of the Frost Giant¡¯s legs.


    At almost the same time, a sword gleaming with golden light exploded out from the water¡¯s surface and thrust into Hr¨ªmr¡¯s torso.


    The Frost Giant¡¯s chest was impaled clean through!


    The giant stared at the lake of holy water below with trembling eyes. The water down there swirled around in a spiral, and the sealed upper torso of a certain creature slowly rose up from there.


    -That is¡­-


    This creature¡¯s hands were gripping onto that massive sword made seemingly out of gold and bones. The holy water gushed and fell like a powerful waterfall.


    A huge skull adorned with a golden crown and an even larger bone torso finally revealed itself amidst all the falling holy water.


    -¡­My name.-


    The Skeleton King¡¯s eyes burned fiercely within its eye sockets as it glared up at Hr¨ªmr above.


    -Oh the King of Ice, I hereby declare your death today!-


    The Frost Giant and the Skeleton King glared at each other, one spitting out breaths laden with frost, while the other exhaled the thick aura of divine power.


    < 178. The Frost Giant -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 341 - 179. The Frost Giant -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The muscles around the eyes of the Frost Giant Hr¨ªmr twitched silently. The creature grabbed the golden bone sword impaling its chest with both of its hands.


    -How dare a rotten bag of bones¡­!-


    The soul-chilling coldness permeated into the huge sword, freezing it instantly.


    The Frost Giant forcibly yanked the huge golden weapon out of its chest. Both Hr¨ªmr and the Skeleton King were shoved back, their arms trembling unsteadily, as if they were suffering from convulsions.


    The golden bone sword was pulled out, and snow and water exploded out through the open wound on the Frost Giant¡¯s chest like a powerful waterfall.


    That scene left me quite speechless.


    My Skeleton King lost out in physical strength?


    Hr¨ªmr suddenly vomited out a mouthful of melted water, bits of frost mixed within. Its face distorted into an expression of pain, indicating that it had suffered a considerable amount of damage.


    ¡°Donn,¡± I called out, and the Skeleton King looked down at me there on the ground.


    I placed my hand on the massive undead¡¯s spine still immersed in the lake of holy water, then injected my divinity. The archangel¡¯s tool around my wrist amplified my divinity greatly.


    ¡°Get rid of that thing.¡±


    -As you command, master.-


    The Skeleton King¡¯s hands, still holding onto Hr¨ªmr¡¯s ankles, released their grip, and grabbed the golden bone sword instead. A great amount of divinity travelled along its four arms to enter the huge weapon.


    Hr¨ªmr flinched grandly in shock and screamed out loudly, -You monstrous bastard!-


    The Skeleton King pulled the sword back before viciously swinging it out diagonally. The Frost Giant leapt up in the nick of time.


    The huge creature went airborne, a dozen-plus metres in the air, creating well over a hundred metres of distance between itself and its opponent as it did. In the process, the city centre was utterly demolished.


    -Fuu-woo¡­-


    Hr¨ªmr heavily exhaled thick breaths laden with frost, and stared at its severed fingers. Then it began grinding its icy teeth in rage. -You accursed bastard!- it roared out, only to come to a faltering pause after realising that the Skeleton King hadn¡¯t moved yet.


    When the gigantic undead continued to remain in the same spot, the Frost Giant snapped out of its dazed state rather quickly and stared at the lake of holy water, a sneer spreading on its lips.


    -Aha, so you can¡¯t even move from that spot? Yet you wish to fight against me?!-


    Hr¨ªmr didn¡¯t need long to figure out that the Skeleton King could not move outside of the lake of holy water.


    The gigantic undead looked below and while staring at the lake containing its body, its bony jaw clattered open.


    -You shouldn¡¯t worry about me, oh King of Ice!- The Skeleton King dipped its hands under the holy water lake¡¯s surface. -Because this body of mine can travel anywhere I wish!-


    1


    The undead swung its arms around and began splashing the holy water all around its vicinity. It was like tsunamis of holy water were sweeping through the surrounding cityscape.


    Once the lake of holy water had spread all around the city, the Skeleton King dove beneath under the surface, disappearing from view.


    And then¡­


    Hr¨ªmr urgently turned around and swung its arm powerfully. Its frozen arm smacked away the golden bone sword shooting out of the holy water¡¯s surface.


    1


    -¡­!!!-


    Hr¨ªmr cautiously scanned his vicinity. The holy water¡¯s surface continued to ripple, circling all around the Frost Giant.


    The golden bone sword shot out from the surface once more, stabbing at the giant made out of ice and snow.


    1


    The huge blade clattered against the frozen arm, scattering fragments of ice all over the place.


    The two ¡®kaijus¡¯ were now engaged in a proper fight over there. I figured that it¡¯d be fine to let the Skeleton King handle Hr¨ªmr for the time being.


    I sucked in a deep breath and looked up at the collapsed citadel. I leapt up and ran up the structure¡¯s wall. I landed on one of the wrecked corridors and finally located King Zayner and Runan.


    ¡°Y-Your Imperial Majesty?! J-just what on earth is happening outside¡­?¡±


    He seemed to be too dazed at the moment, unable to process anything. I stomped on the floor, causing bones to sprout out of the wrecked corridor¡¯s chasm, creating an impromptu bridge. ¡°Hurry and escape.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    For a moment there he seemed to be hesitating over something, but soon, a determined expression formed on his face. He grabbed Runan¡¯s hand and dashed along on the bridge. Before he disappeared from the view, he said, ¡°We pray that the fortunes of war be with you.¡±


    ¡°Same to you.¡±


    He seemed to know that neither he nor Runan would be much of a help here and hurriedly evacuated this place. Butler Klare also bowed his head to me and chased after the fleeing duo.


    I picked up my musket and breathed into it. My target was obviously Hr¨ªmr. I had to hit that bastard in the head again.


    But, just as I took aim at the Frost Giant¡­


    This creepy chill suddenly ran down my backside and I hurriedly turned my head to my left. A huge boulder was flying my way.


    ¡°Oh, sh¡­!¡±


    Sh*t!


    I jerked the muzzle away and pulled the trigger. The holy bullet struck the boulder cleanly, shattering it to bits. Even then, the debris still carried the rock¡¯s momentum, and that of the explosion was added on top. The shrapnel spread out over a wide area, directly slamming into the rest of the citadel.


    The already-damaged castle collapsed and crumbled even more. Dangerous-looking fissures ran through the floor I stood on, making me lose my balance. I nearly fell headlong to the distant ground below, but managed to grab the broken wall nearby in time.


    When I looked around me¡­


    -Kill that insect, now!-


    Other J?tnar were joining the fray now, their sizes ranging from eight to fifteen metres. There were around fifty of them, too.


    All of them had humanoid bodies. Maybe they were influenced by the Frost Giant or something, because these suckers were all clad in the ice armour too.


    If there was one crucial difference between them and Hr¨ªmr, then it should be the fact that they were actual living entities with blood flowing through their veins. They were similar to how humans would be if they were forcibly enlarged to such sizes.


    ¡°¡­Man, you don¡¯t want to make it easy, huh!¡±


    Here was the moment that I really began missing the peaceful days of the past five years.


    -Ku-ooooooh!- The J?tnar roared out and began rushing to my location. They didn¡¯t forget to chuck all those boulders my way, either.


    I hurriedly jumped up and rushed atop the walls of the citadel as a flood of cold sweat dribbled down my face.


    I ran up and up and up towards the top of the citadel, since my life depended on it. Everywhere my feet rushed past was accurately struck by a boulder flying in. The debris of the citadel danced and fell in my direction, and I just barely managed to evade it.


    I would have loved to summon a large number of holy undead and hit those giant bastards with them, but that would make maintaining the Skeleton King¡¯s summoning quite difficult. Besides, regular holy undead wouldn¡¯t be able to fight against the J?tnar, anyway.


    If it were Rahamma, Kasim, or Nasus, then it might be doable¡­


    ¡°But the biggest issue here is the burden of summoning them will be too great.¡±


    Right, if only Alice was here to provide me with her Resonance. That would¡¯ve been great¡­


    BOOM-!


    The citadel shook unsteadily. I looked down and saw those damn giants were beginning to climb up the sides of the collapsing structure.


    I took aim at the bastards and pulled the trigger.


    A J?tunn, its head pierced clean through, tumbled off the side of the castle and dropped to the ground.


    ¡°¡­Now isn¡¯t the time to sweat the small details, I guess!¡±


    I would definitely love to decline the opportunity to become finely-squashed meat paste courtesy of a giant¡¯s massaging attempt. I finally reached the top of the citadel, then unhesitantly summoned the three undead existences.


    ¡°Rahamma.¡±


    First, Aslan¡¯s former undisputed king.


    ¡°Kasim.¡±


    Next up, the former successor of the Sword King title.


    ¡°Nasus.¡±


    And finally, Aslan¡¯s former grim reaper.


    Rahamma, clad in his pitch-black armour, was summoned into the open clutching his huge mace, while Kasim in his gleaming golden armour bore his greatsword and held his head proudly.


    Nasus, hidden under his robe and hood, appeared last while raising his musket, glaring down at the J?tnar below.


    The giants were startled silly and stopped climbing just then, their expressions hardening.


    That wasn¡¯t all that surprising, since even I used to be sh*t scared of this trio back when they were not on my side. I figured that the story wouldn¡¯t be too different with the J?tnar, either.


    -Oh, my master.-


    -Give us your¡­-


    -Command, for we shall carry it out.-


    The three undead asked me in unison, so I duly replied to them, ¡°Hunt these J?tnar down. With the least amount of damage to their bodies, too.¡±


    My three undead leapt off the top of the citadel towards the J?tnar below.


    At the same time¡­


    [Your Majesty.]


    I momentarily came to a stop. Those words being directly transmitted to my brain made me turn my head, and my eyes gradually opened wider.


    [Under your command, we have finally reached our destination, Your Majesty.]


    I chuckled hollowly at that report. ¡°Really now, she¡¯s one heck of a diligent kid, alright.¡±


    Then I activated the Aztal Rune.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Hr¨ªmr grunted in pain.


    Bang-!


    The ice armour on its back split apart.


    BANG-!


    A deep sword gash opened up on its great arm made out of ice.


    BAAANG-!


    Eventually, Hr¨ªmr faltered and fell to its knees, its body full of wounds. It used its large hands to shield its head and curled up on the ground.


    The creature was surrounded on all sides by swirling currents of holy water. The Skeleton King was somewhere below the water¡¯s surface, choosing to thrust and stab its golden bone sword into the giant from the safety of its hiding place.


    It was like Hr¨ªmr had become trapped inside a tornado of blades right now.


    ¡®At this rate, I¡¯ll be killed for sure!¡¯


    Just what was the identity of its opponent, really?


    Was it a J?tunn? No, that couldn¡¯t be, it was definitely a different type of existence.


    Maybe it was a creature from the Spirit Realm? If not, then perhaps Purgatory?


    Hr¨ªmr had no way of knowing. But then again, there was no need to find out, either.


    There was no doubting it at this point. The opponents that the undead, that Vampire King or whatever he called himself, had begged the giants to kill, the targets of that man¡¯s revenge¡­ this giant bone creature had to be one of them!


    Without a doubt, the Vampire King was strong. Even though he was fighting against three kings of the giants at the same time, he had still managed to inflict a variety of small and large wounds on the giants.


    Also without a doubt, it made sense for a mere Vampire to lose against this sort of bone creature.


    ¡®However, that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll lose like this!¡¯


    If Hr¨ªmr tasted defeat today and ran away with its tail between its legs, then it would surely end up a laughing stock to the other kings.


    Hr¨ªmr took another look at the rippling surface of the holy water. That bone giant moved around using that. Since that was the case, it¡¯d be a good idea to get rid of the bone giant¡¯s travelling route!


    -Oraaa!- Hr¨ªmr let out a spirited roar, and thrust both of its arms into the holy water before pouring out its bone-chilling cold aura. The swirling, rippling surface of the holy water all around the creature instantly froze up.


    At the same time, the hands of the Skeleton King shooting out of the water¡¯s surface also came to a grinding halt.


    ¡®It¡¯s now!¡¯


    Hr¨ªmr quickly created some distance. It opened its mouth and shoved its right hand inside its throat. It pulled out an ice spear from within, but then, it also shoved its left hand in and yanked out another identical spear!


    After grabbing the two spears securely, Hr¨ªmr leapt up into the air.


    1


    -Ahaha! Try to block this, dear Skeleton King!-


    2

 Chapter 342 - 179. The Frost Giant -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The Skeleton King barely managed to raise its golden bone sword in time. The two spearheads collided against the raised blade, causing a massive explosion.


    The giant undead staggered unsteadily.


    Meanwhile, Hr¨ªmr moved its huge body in a shockingly agile manner, displaying great nimbleness.


    Its feet danced around as if it was having fun, and it continued to swing around its spears. The ice spears were well over twelve metres long, and they crossed, danced, and sliced, utterly demolishing their surroundings. Everywhere they swung past, frozen mountains of ice shot up.


    Eventually, one of the ice spears managed to deflect the Skeleton King¡¯s sword away.


    -It¡¯s now!-


    An opening had finally presented itself.


    The other ice spear instantly stabbed into the unguarded ribcage of the Skeleton King. The undead¡¯s glowing eyes widened greatly. On the other hand, a thick and slimy smile formed on Hr¨ªmr¡¯s lips.


    -Explode!-


    Spikes of ice exploded within the Skeleton King¡¯s torso. The bone giant¡¯s body creaked noisily before completely freezing over, unable to move any more.


    Only its glowing eyeballs could shift around to stare at Hr¨ªmr.


    The Frost Giant guffawed. -What¡¯s this? You¡¯ve been talking big, yet only after this much¡­!-


    The Skeleton King¡¯s free hand punched straight into Hr¨ªmr¡¯s gut just then. The giant¡¯s frame, at least thirty metres tall, was lifted clean up off the ground.


    -¡­You bastard!-


    Hr¨ªmr grabbed the Skeleton King¡¯s skull and slammed it into the ground in retaliation. The Frost Giant¡¯s fingers of ice dug deeper and deeper into the skull.


    After making sure that the huge skull had been driven deep into the ice-covered ground, Hr¨ªmr heaved forward, smashing the Skeleton King¡¯s head into the frozen iceberg before it.


    -Fuu-wuu¡­-


    Hr¨ªmr watched on in satisfaction as the Skeleton King was trapped under the crumbling ice mountain.


    The Frost Giant let down its guard for a moment. At that very instant, a spike made out of bones thrust out from the ground and impaled Hr¨ªmr through the torso.


    Snow spewed out from Hr¨ªmr¡¯s mouth like blood, and the giant¡¯s expression distorted greatly.


    -How persistent are you, you measly bag of bones!-


    -That¡¯s what I should say to you, oh King of Ice!-


    Whenever these two massive kaiju-like creatures made a move, the city around them was demolished even further. But there were no survivors around anyway, meaning the Skeleton King didn¡¯t have to hold back anymore.


    ¡®What in the hell is¡­!¡¯


    Hr¨ªmr couldn¡¯t help but furrow its brow while dealing with the Skeleton King¡¯s attack.


    This undead was powerful. As a matter of fact, it was getting even stronger with every passing second. But it was different from the concept of ¡®becoming stronger¡¯, but more like it was releasing more and more of its previously-sealed strength!


    Hr¨ªmr¡¯s glare shifted to the lower torso of the Skeleton King. The Frost Giant sensed this unexplainable ¡®power¡¯ emanating from beneath the frozen holy water¡¯s surface.


    That had to be the source of the undead¡¯s strength!


    Hr¨ªmr loosened itself. -I see now. If I drag your body out of there, then¡­-


    7


    ¡­Then, it¡¯d become that much easier to subdue this undead!


    Hr¨ªmr rushed up to the Skeleton King, grabbing onto it. The giant¡¯s right hand found a secure hold on the skeletal giant¡¯s shoulder.


    The snow-covered giant began pulling at the giant of bones in order to forcibly yank the latter out into the open.


    BOOM-!


    The ice below shattered, and the Skeleton King¡¯s upper torso was dragged out even further, but that was about it.


    There was a loud thud, and something stopped it from coming out.


    -Bloody hell! Stop thinking of hiding away! You proclaimed to be a King, so you better reveal the rest of yourself!-


    Hr¨ªmr¡¯s left hand thrust into the frozen lake of the holy water where the Skeleton King¡¯s lower body should be.


    The bone giant stared at the Frost Giant and narrowed its glowing eyeballs.


    -Are you confident of not regretting your decision?-


    The Skeleton King suddenly warned it. It was promptly ignored by the Frost Giant.


    -There is no point to your struggles, undead! To me, you are merely¡­?!-


    Hr¨ªmr¡¯s fingers began distorting and tearing at space. Thinking that it had finally found the opportunity, the Frost Giant forcibly ripped the fabric of space apart.


    And it was right at that moment Hr¨ªmr¡¯s expression truly froze.


    -¡­Ah.-


    It even let out a dumbfounded gasp.


    The distorted space that seemed to be connected to the Skeleton King¡¯s upper torso¡­


    It turned out to be the depths of the abyss, where not even a speck of light could reach. It was darkness itself.


    But then, Hr¨ªmr still could see ¡®something¡¯ within all that pitch-black darkness. Fear instantly filled the Frost Giant¡¯s face. Its eyes rattled uncontrollably, and its jaw fell as a terrified scream escaped from its mouth.


    -W-w-what is that?!-


    Massive hands suddenly erupted out from the jet-black space. These hands made out of bones grabbed onto all four of Hr¨ªmr¡¯s limbs to pull the giant in.


    Right into that distorted, jet-black space¡­


    The dragging force was truly, indescribably strong.


    This¡­ this could not be allowed! If Hr¨ªmr got sucked in there, it would definitely¡­!


    -You, you bastard!-


    Hr¨ªmr drove its feet into the ground and froze the surface in ice in an attempt to secure its footing, but even the ice shattered helplessly, and the giant was still dragged inside.


    Rather ironically, Hr¨ªmr was getting sucked into the mouth of the space it had ripped open.


    The Skeleton King lowered its gaze. From the lake of holy water where its lower half was contained, a truly horrifying noise could be heard.


    The noise of something being crushed. Shattered. Sounds of something being eaten away resounded from below.


    Hr¨ªmr¡¯s despairing scream could be heard rising next.


    -Uwaaaaaahk!-


    Hr¨ªmr¡¯s hand shot out from within the distorted space. It clutched onto the ground, and the Frost Giant mustered every ounce of its energy to pull itself out from there.


    Countless skeletons were clinging to the giant¡¯s body. These undead were gnawing away at the giant¡¯s ¡®flesh¡¯ like some kind of parasitic bugs.


    Hr¨ªmr fearfully looked back at the interior of the holy water, where its lower half was still stuck.


    ¡®That, that is not possible!¡¯


    Something inside that pitch-black space could be seen shifting around ominously. Just what the hell could that thing even¡­?!


    The legs of the Frost Giant were suddenly grabbed by something within that abyss.


    This could not be allowed to happen! Hr¨ªmr knew instinctively that getting dragged in there would be its death.


    The Frost Giant screamed in terror, and chose to sever its connection to the nerves of its own legs. The two legs made out of ice and snow were ripped off its body, allowing the giant to finally escape from the distorted space.


    Almost at the same time, the mouth of the space closed shut.


    Hr¨ªmr crawled on the ground pathetically, howling out like a madman, -Monster, monster!!!-


    The expression of the Frost Giant was deeply twisted by sheer terror of it all. Not too long afterwards, snow piled up on where its legs used to be, froze into recognisable shapes, and the limbs were restored in full.


    But Hr¨ªmr had shown its back by now. It no longer held the drive to continue on with this battle.


    The Skeleton King held its head high. But just as it raised its golden bone sword up¡­


    -Not yet! I, I¡¯m still alive!-


    Hr¨ªmr staggered back up to its feet.


    -As long as I live, I can get my revenge! Y-yes, that¡¯s right! If I join forces with other kings, then you, you bastard! I will¡­!-


    The Frost Giant quickly retreated from there while glaring at the Skeleton King.


    -¡­I will kill¡­?!-


    KA-BOOOOM!


    Hr¨ªmr¡¯s head was enveloped in a vicious explosion. Thick black plumes of smoke rose up.


    -Ku-aaaaahk?!-


    Hr¨ªmr toppled down as water containing frost vomited out from its mouth. The Frost Giant¡¯s shaking eyes shifted over to the side.


    In the far distance¡­ It could see a human army beyond the city limits.


    -What are those things now?!-


    The army was made up of soldiers clad from head to toe in pure-white armour with Runes engraved on their surfaces, and about fifty or so large cannons arranged in a formation.


    They were being led by a woman with silver hair riding on a magnificent horse.


    That was none other than Charlotte Heraiz.


    Hr¨ªmr was deeply enraged by their sudden appearance.


    **


    Her neatly tied silver hair danced in the howling winds. Her sharply-furrowed brow and crimson eyes were glaring at Hr¨ªmr the Frost Giant.


    She wasn¡¯t late.


    The command Charlotte had received from His Majesty said that on the fifth year from the prophecy, she must lead the army forth and set up a camp around the capital city of the Ariana Duchy.


    Her job was to prepare for the possible invasion of the giants. She was to be on standby here for the next year or so.


    However, there was no need to be on standby anymore, all thanks to the J?tnar choosing to make their moves first.


    Now, she only had one job to do here.


    To massacre the giants!


    -You bastards dare¡­! You mere insects¡­!- the Frost Giant roared out, but Charlotte didn¡¯t even pay any attention to it.


    She issued a new command, ¡°Fire away!¡±


    The fifty or so cannons spat out intense flames. Shells made out of divinity drew mesmerising arcs in the air like some kind of shooting stars. They rose high, high up, before falling back to earth.


    -N-no, wait!-


    Hr¨ªmr took the full brunt of the bombardment, and its whole body began breaking down. The legs of snow and ice that had been regenerated earlier were destroyed once more, causing the massive giant to fall face first to the ground.


    Its ice armour was cracked and split apart, and the intense flames burning on it melted the ice down.


    Hr¨ªmr screamed as a horrifying pain it had never experienced before in its entire life assaulted it relentlessly.


    Charlotte pulled at her mount¡¯s reins. The Unira, the descendant of the legendary Unicorns, neighed and reared up powerfully before dashing forward at a breakneck speed.


    Her neatly-tied silver hair danced behind her head.


    ¡®He¡¯s somewhere here.¡¯


    She could feel it. She could sense his aura.


    With a shield on her left hand and a sword in her right, she leapt towards the collapsed Frost Giant flailing awkwardly about in the demolished cityscape.


    -You, you measly insect¡­!-


    ¡°Oh, goddess of the world¡­¡±


    Hr¨ªmr¡¯s jaw opened wide. It used more snow to reconstruct its destroyed legs, then lunged at her.


    ¡°Grant this servant your Grace¡­¡±


    A robe and hood of divinity materialised over her leaping figure, and even the sword in her hand was encased in divine power, becoming a humongous greatsword of light.


    The Grim Reaper Transformation was now active.


    A powerful aura of divinity gushed out from her whole body.


    Hr¨ªmr, water leaking out from its eyes, nostrils, and mouth like blood, desperately grabbed for her, but the Skeleton King¡¯s sword impaled the Frost Giant from behind first.


    ¡°Grant this servant a sturdy shield, and¡­¡±


    Charlotte viciously swiped with the shield on her left hand.


    Hr¨ªmr¡¯s large head was greeted by a powerful explosion, and was jerked away to the side, exposing its unguarded neck.


    ¡°¡­and a sword to slaughter your enemies!¡±


    The greatsword of light in her right hand rose up to pierce the heavens. Divinity and the blade, now acting as one entity, came down in one almighty strike.


    A brilliant flash of sword light exploded out, and cleanly severed Hr¨ªmr¡¯s head from its torso.


    -Ah¡­ ah¡­-


    The severed head of the giant fell and rolled around on the ground. It was still alive somehow, and it continued to moan pitifully away as icy tears streamed down from its eyes.


    Charlotte landed on top of the severed Frost Giant¡¯s head. She pushed back the strands of her dancing hair and looked up.


    Her eyes took in the sight of a citadel about to collapse, and a figure on top of that very structure.


    She could see Allen currently fighting against the J?tnar over there.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Her sharp brows softened ever so slightly. A hint of gentle smile floated on her lips as the light in her eyes betrayed just how much she had missed him.


    ¡°The shield and the sword of the Imperial Family, Charlotte Heraiz,¡± she spoke in a whisper so soft that the intended audience would never get to hear her. Despite knowing that, she still murmured on, ¡°¡­will now participate in the hunt for the giants as well, Your Majesty!¡±


    She climbed aboard the Unira once more and rushed towards Allen¡¯s location.


    < 179. The Frost Giant -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 343 - 180. Avaldi’s Armament (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    I looked down at the situation on the ground below from the top of the citadel. The Heavenly Army was entering the city limits.


    The soldiers were clad in the Rune armour that boasted impressively large frames. Each unit exceeded well over two metres, making me momentarily think that I was staring at mech suits found in a sci-fi movie, or even smallish golems.


    The golden light emanated from the Aztal Rune. As if that was the signal, the Paladins wielding muskets aimed their muzzles at the J?tnar in perfect unison.


    ¡°Fire-!¡±


    The barrage of holy bullets fired all at the same time, and punched through the J?tnar cleanly. The giants flailed about awkwardly and stumbled back. The Paladins matched that by striding forward while slinging the muskets on their backs.


    They then gripped shields in their left hands, and their right hands yanked out their gleaming swords.


    ¡°Fuu-wuu¡­¡±


    Their deep, heavy breathing leaked out from beneath their helms. The surcoats slung around the large armour flapped noisily in the wind.


    Their steady but slow steps gradually picked up pace, eventually turning into a full-blown sprint.


    ¡°For the glory of our Theocratic Empireeeee-!¡±


    They gallantly leapt up towards the J?tnar. Hundreds of Paladins landed on each and every J?tunn like leeches. Their divinity-infused swords swung mercilessly around to hack and chop the giants all over.


    When the J?tnar flailed their arms about to throw these human holy knights off of them, sturdy chains flew in and wrapped around the giants¡¯ limbs. The J?tnar flinched in shock and hurriedly shifted their gazes to the nearby ground. Dozens more Paladins were grabbing onto the chains to pull at them.


    The golden runes engraved in their armour glowed brightly, and particles of divine energy floated up from their figures like some kind of gentle steam.


    ¡°Pull-!¡±


    The captured J?tnar staggered, before falling to their knees. The giants were actually being suppressed in the strength department now!


    One of the J?tnar roared out and viciously swung its arm around. As if they were waiting for that, dozens of Paladins quickly gathered in a group and raised their sturdy shields together.


    ¡°Parrying-!¡±


    A transparent barrier materialised in front of their shields and deflected away the incoming giant¡¯s arm at an angle, completely negating the impact force in the process.


    While all this was happening, cannons were positioned behind their lines.


    [Evade, now!]


    A voice was transmitted to the Paladins, just like wireless communication. Orders were being sent out through the refined Aztal Rune that Hans had researched and developed.


    The Paladins hacking away at the J?tnar quickly retreated.


    ¡°Fire!¡±


    KA-BOOOOM¨C!


    The cannons were shoved back from the recoil, and their shells blew the heads of the giants clean apart.


    I could see that the J?tnar were quickly being subdued.


    ¡°Evacuees have fled from the city, but the vampires are chasing them as we speak. Go and protect the innocent citizens.¡±


    I heard a voice I had missed a lot just then. There she was, Charlotte riding on the Unira, commanding the troops while heroically swinging her sword around.


    A portion of the Paladins split off from the army and rapidly moved their heavy-looking suits to leave the city limits. Probably to help out the evacuees, I figured.


    Charlotte seemed to have sensed my gaze on her, because she turned her head and looked at me with a surprised expression on her face. She even hesitated for a bit.


    Eventually, though, she dismounted from the horse and approached me. After placing a hand on her chest, she knelt on one knee. ¡°It¡¯s been too long, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been a year, Charlotte.¡±


    She¡¯s still as stiff as ever, huh.


    But that was so like her, which was nice to see.


    I extended my hand. Charlotte stared at my offered hand for a bit, before accepting it. She stood back up to her feet.


    A gentle smile floated up on her lips, while I chuckled lightly away, ¡°Thanks. Thanks to you, I get to keep my head for another day.¡±


    The J?tnar continued to scream tragically as they fell one by one. In the end, they were all hunted down. It didn¡¯t take the army that long, either.


    As expected of the Rune armour, though. Since these sets of armour had been based on the internal structure of the Cyclops Golem found back in the ancient Aslan tomb, the power they offered to their users was quite considerable.


    To complete them, we needed to work with many famous Alchemists hailing from all corners of the continent, as well as the top magicians of Aihrance. We also received near-endless financial support from the countless allied kingdoms, too.


    All that hard work was paying off handsomely right now.


    I looked over to the Skeleton King. Now that their tasks had been completed, the Skeleton King, Rahamma, Kasim, and Nasus dissipated from the world. At the same time, tidal waves of fatigue and drowsiness crashed into me.


    I plopped down on the ground and leaned my back against a nearby demolished wall.


    Charlotte was immediately flustered by that. ¡°Your Majesty?!¡±


    ¡°I gotta take a quick nap. It¡¯s been a long while since I went all out like this, and that pooped me out a lot, you see.¡±


    If only I had my staff and the grimoire with me, things wouldn¡¯t have been this taxing on me. I felt like a wet sponge right now.


    Still, I figured sleeping for two, maybe three days straight would do the trick.


    Charlotte could only smile bitterly before gesturing with her hand, issuing new orders. Paladins hurriedly rushed up to us and began setting up a tent for me, then went onto create barracks as well.


    ¡°Please, take a much-deserved break, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll leave the rest of the mop-up operation to you.¡±


    **


    A carriage that had safely escaped from the Duchy of Ariana was quickly travelling across a rural road. Fortunately, the people riding on this carriage had been able to evade the giants.


    The knights accompanying the carriage felt relieved, but not too long after that, a new problem reared its ugly head.


    A soldier riding on the carriage driver¡¯s seat scanned the surrounding forest.


    The sun had set, and that signalled the monsters of the night to begin their speedy pursuit from within the forest¡¯s darkness.


    ¡®¡­Vampires!¡¯


    The bastards had begun sneak-attacking the fleeing survivors. They chased after the refugees that had successfully escaped from the city limits, hunted the humans down, and drank their blood.


    Now, it seemed that they were getting ready to hunt the important personage riding on this carriage as well.


    ¡°How dare a stinking undead¡­!¡±


    A knight yanked out his sword. He hurriedly pulled on the reins of his horse and glared sharply at the forest, but his head was ripped apart in an instant after a vampire pounced on him.


    ¡°Keep running! It¡¯s difficult to hunt the undead down without Priests!¡± the soldier on the carriage driver¡¯s seat yelled out. His head snapped back to ahead on the road, only for his expression to harden.


    There was a vampire with an upper torso of an old man and a lower torso of a crocodile up ahead on the road.


    ¡®Oh my gods!¡¯


    The existence of several vampire ¡®nobles¡¯ became widely known after the war against the vampires. Among them was a Duke-class Progenitor who had fought against the former Crown Imperial Prince White.


    Duke Agares! That very creature was now standing in front of their carriage.


    The vehicle couldn¡¯t be turned around anymore, nor could it be stopped now. Since that was the case, it simply had to plough through.


    ¡°Company of knights-!¡±


    The knights rode up ahead of the carriage.


    ¡°Get ready-!¡±


    They raised their lances and pointed them. Their horses charged forward at top speed. They gripped the lances¡¯ handles tightly, and braced the weapons by using their waists and elbows.


    The knights lowered themselves even further in their saddles.


    ¡°Chaaarge-!¡±


    The hooves roughly pounded on the unpaved surface. Their spirits were powerful and wild enough to seemingly crush even someone like Duke Agares.


    ¡°Did you really think you can win against me, when¡­¡± Duke Agares¡¯s lower torso, the crocodile, suddenly lifted up its legs. ¡°¡­You are not even Paladins, never mind offspring of the Imperial Family?!¡±


    Those monster-like legs slammed down hard on the ground, rocking the earth below.


    The terrain split apart, causing the horses to tumble and the knights to fly out of their saddles. The same thing happened to the carriage, its wheel falling into the fissure on the road, and it overturned.


    ¡°Protect the Young Master!¡±


    The knights hurriedly rushed over to the carriage, but more vampires jumped out from the surrounding forest to rip them apart. As the tragic screams of the dying knights reverberated throughout the night sky, Duke Agares closed his eyes and lost himself in the pleasure of it all.


    ¡®Yes, this is what it means to be creatures of night.¡¯


    All the humiliation they had suffered until now¡­


    They were hunted down by the likes of measly livestock. They had to taste defeat and be constantly on the run. And now, they had to grovel before the J?tnar as slaves, too!


    It felt like their trampled pride and honour were being restored at least a little bit today.


    ¡°Well then. It¡¯s time to enjoy my meal.¡±


    It certainly had been a while since Agares got to enjoy fresh meat. Although the blood of human nobles was no different from the other, more mundane livestock, a young master or mistress from a noble household should still taste rather delectable nonetheless.


    Agares strode over to the carriage, reached out and yanked the vehicle¡¯s door wide open. Right at the same time, a sword came flying out from the inside and stabbed into the vampire¡¯s shoulder.


    Duke Agares crumpled his expression and glared at the culprit responsible, only for his mouth to clamp shut.


    ¡°Huff¡­ pant¡­ A measly vampire¡­ dares to¡­¡±


    The occupant of the carriage turned out to be a bleeding young man in his mid-twenties. And it was none other than the Sixth Imperial Prince of the Imperial Family, and the son of Duchess Runan from the Kingdom of Frants.


    Marcus Ariana, blood trickling down profusely from his head, was glaring murderously at Duke Agares.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The expression on Agares¡¯s face while taking in the sight of Marcus was a lot closer to despair than sneer at this point. ¡°What rotten luck is this? Why did it have to be you, of all people¡­?!¡±


    To think that its raid target was someone from the Imperial Family¡¯s bloodline!

 Chapter 344 - 180. Avaldi’s Armament (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Agares felt a deathly chill run down his spine and couldn¡¯t help but facepalm himself. Even though a sword was stabbing his shoulder and blood poured out from it, he didn¡¯t feel any pain from it whatsoever.


    His focus was entirely devoted to analysing the fact that he had attacked an Imperial Family member.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, sir?¡±


    When Agares did not immediately kill the bleeding human, other Progenitors grew curious as to why and walked up to the vampire duke. Their eyes also grew wider after recognising Marcus.


    ¡°This human¡­ Wait, could he be¡­?¡±


    Duke Agares nodded away while dripping buckets of cold sweat. ¡°Indeed. It¡¯s Marcus Ariana, Holy Emperor Allen Olfolse¡¯s older brother.¡±


    That one name caused the complexions of all the Progenitors to pale instantly. They even stumbled back instinctively in fear.


    Agares couldn¡¯t help but recall the vampire war that had taken place in the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital.


    There was no doubting the fact that the vampires were marching towards a certain victory. Along with a colleague, Agares had been relentlessly pressuring the former Crown Imperial Prince White, while the outer gate of Laurensis had been breached, allowing the vampires to enter the city limits.


    Victory. It was practically right in front of the vampires. Here was the historic event where the vampires finally got to flip the script of the thousands of years of humiliation they had suffered from.


    Agares didn¡¯t doubt for one second that a new era for the vampires was finally dawning on them.


    Unfortunately for him, though, it didn¡¯t take all that long for him and his kins to realise that it was nothing but a delusion.


    It took only one person. Allen Olfolse had completely shattered their dream.


    The culprit who had summoned an archangel capable of unleashing a truly nonsensical amount of divinity, and freely slaughtered the vampires.


    The demon king who had sneered mockingly away as he massacred thousands of vampires and undead¡­


    What Agares had done today was sneak-attacking the older brother of such an existence.


    One of the vampires swallowed nervously before asking Agares, ¡°W-what are we going to do, sir?¡±


    The vampire duke replied quietly, ¡°¡­We can¡¯t pretend that this didn¡¯t happen.¡±


    They had already attacked a member of the Imperial Family. As the Vampire King utterly hated the guts of these Imperials, the vampires couldn¡¯t just let this human go. But what would happen if he was to be killed right here?


    ¡®¡­The Holy Emperor will chase us down in pure rage and madness, that¡¯s for sure!¡¯


    These hapless vampires would be captured and mercilessly tortured alive, making them bitterly regret what they had done today.


    Still, wouldn¡¯t it be better to kill this Imperial Prince right now? This could be a good opportunity to land a blow to those Imperial bastards in this ongoing war, even if the blow itself would be minor¡­


    ¡°Rather than get my blood sucked out by you bastards¡­!¡± Marcus roared out, then pulled his sword out from Agares¡¯s shoulder. He tried to slit his own throat with the weapon, jolting the vampire duke out of his thoughts.


    Agares quickly reached out and grabbed the blade, stopping it mid-way. His other hand grabbed Marcus¡¯s head and slammed it hard into the ground.


    Crunch-!


    ¡°¡­Oops.¡±


    Blood splattered as if Marcus¡¯s head had been burst wide open. His whole body went limp afterwards. The power was more than enough to crack open a regular person¡¯s skull.


    Was he even alive?


    Thankfully, Marcus seemed to be still breathing. Being a member of the Imperial bloodline sure helped out in this case, making Marcus much more resilient than regular humans.


    Agares lifted up Marcus, now bathed in so much blood.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll kill you¡­ All of¡­ you¡­ will¡­ be hunted down by the Holy Emperor¡­¡±


    What a chill-inducing curse that was.


    The madness-filled eyes of Marcus chased after the vampires, but the undead avoided locking eyes with him, even including Agares.


    Duke Agares was rather timid and cowardly, even among the ranks of the Progenitor vampires, so he just couldn¡¯t muster up enough courage to murder the older brother of the Holy Emperor. ¡°Bloody hell¡­ Fine. We will bring him with us. Since he¡¯s a sibling of the Imperial Family, he might prove to be useful as a hostage or something.¡±


    ¡°In that case, where should we head to, sir?¡±


    ¡°We shall return to where the Frost Giant is.¡±


    It happened around at that moment.


    Lycans belatedly joining the vampires were breathlessly rushing up to where Agares was. Their expressions showed how frightened they were.


    ¡°We must run!!!¡±


    Agares looked behind himself and looked at the lycans, only to notice that some things were chasing the undead down.


    ¡°The army of the Imperials¡­!¡±


    Silver arrows whistled in and pierced cleanly through the unguarded backs of the lycans. But that wasn¡¯t all; chains connected to the ends of the arrows were pulled taut and the struggling undead were dragged back.


    ¡°It, it¡¯s them! The army of the Imperial Family, the Heavenly Army, has arrived! They even hunted the Frost Giant down¡­!¡±


    Lycans screamed at the top of their lungs.


    Agares¡¯s face was drained of all colour at that report. He could now see the Paladins clad in their Rune Armour by the hill over yonder.


    The burning eyes of those holy knights gleamed murderously under their helms. They began chatting away as the particles of divinity spat out from the gaps of their helms.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s Lord Marcus.¡±


    ¡°A blood relation to His Majesty the Holy Emperor?¡±


    ¡°Capture them all! Do not let a single one escape!¡±


    The Paladins began marching forward one step at a time. Golden runes glowed brightly on their armour and unchecked divinity flooded their surroundings.


    This intense pressure they gave off¡­!


    Every single one of those Paladins possessed strength exceeding Progenitor Vampires!


    ¡®W-what is this? Those armour¡­?!¡¯


    The Paladins were kitted out in a set of armour that brought to mind the images of the ancient combat golems.


    Agares instinctively muttered, ¡°¡­Run away from here!¡± The vampires around him flinched in surprise, and he shouted out even louder in a shrill, scream-like voice. ¡°I said, run away from here, everyone!¡±


    ¡°Hunt the vampires doooown¨C!¡± the Paladins roared out and began rushing in.


    The vampires, deeply frightened now, hurriedly scattered away.


    ¡°The bastards don¡¯t have horses! That means we hold the advantage in speed! Do not hesitate and simply run away!¡±


    ¡°But, where to?!¡±


    Agares and another vampire escaping alongside him continued to address each other urgently.


    ¡°We head to Lome in the south!¡±


    Another group of J?tnar were heading there. That was the group that the Vampire King was travelling with, as well. Actually, he was planning to head to Aihrance, but in order to get there, he needed to cross the Kingdom of Lome first.


    ¡°We shall join up with the rest of the J?tnar there!¡±


    Agares continued to run, still carrying Marcus.


    **


    Belrog was getting restless.


    He and his colleagues had set up some tents near Avaldi¡¯s hut and remained on standby for the past several days.


    He silently looked up at the sky. It was late at night, and a moon hung coldly up in the sky.


    By now, the Duchy of Ariana should¡¯ve been reduced to a devastated wasteland.


    ¡®We can¡¯t afford to wait any longer.¡¯


    Belrog was left with no choice. He walked up to the hut and pulled its door open. He headed to the staircase leading to the basement.


    ¡®Even though Avaldi told us not to interfere¡­¡¯


    From a certain moment on, he could no longer hear the familiar hammering noise. Considering the Master Blacksmith¡¯s age, it was possible that his aged body could have developed some kind of an issue or two.


    While thinking that, Belrog lit a torch and entered the basement workshop only to be greeted by a nasty surprise. ¡°V-vampire?!¡±


    There was a creature on its knees with its back turned towards Belrog. This being had rippling muscles covered in crimson skin.


    Belrog stared at the vampire that had shed its human facade, then hurriedly scanned the rest of the forge, before calling out loudly. ¡°Master! Master Blacksmith!¡±


    That old man was nowhere to be found.


    Could it be that this damn vampire had devoured the Master Blacksmith?!


    Belrog hurriedly picked up a hammer lying on the ground nearby. ¡°You abominable vampire bastard!¡±


    He remained vigilant and cautiously approached the vampire, but then¡­


    ¡­The creature suddenly spoke. ¡°It¡¯s finally complete¡­¡±


    Belrog froze up.


    That was a rather familiar voice.


    Could it be¡­?


    The dwarf swallowed back in nervousness, and while tilting his head, cautiously called out, ¡°Master¡­ Blacksmith?¡±


    ¡°Belrog, I¡¯ve done it.¡±


    Belrog jumped up in surprise and hurriedly went to the front of the vampire. That¡¯s when he finally got to see Grand Duke Avaldi¡¯s face.


    Although his outer appearance had changed so much, there was still no mistaking who he was.


    Streams of blood flowed down from his eyes, yet a bright grin was etched on his face.


    ¡°Now, behold, Belrog.¡± Master Blacksmith Avaldi lifted up the weapon held in both of his hands. ¡°I have finally succeeded! Count Timong has failed to fulfil his lifelong wish, but I¡­ I have achieved it.¡±


    Belrog stared at the item being held in Avaldi¡¯s hands. What this Grand Duke-class vampire bore was a golden spear about two metres in length.


    The metal making up the warhammer had been compressed to an extreme degree before being fashioned into a spear blade. Amon¡¯s Staff was then transformed into the spear shaft bearing the blade secured on top, while the various runes found in the grimoire had been engraved all over the completed spear.


    Not stopping there, Avaldi¡¯s horns were then combined with the weapon, while the demonic energy that he had accumulated for nearly two thousand years was used to keep the flames of hell burning, ensuring that the refining process would succeed in the end, albeit just barely.


    Divine power swirled all around this spear, but there were streaks of demonic energy gushing out from it, as well.


    Chaos where two opposing forces were existing in balance; this was that kind of a weapon.


    ¡®¡­What on earth is this?! How can such an item even exist!¡¯


    Belrog¡¯s skin was overcome with indescribable goosebumps. That¡­ that looked like a suspiciously ominous weapon. As if it was even capable of killing a god!


    A weapon like that belonged in the domain of the gods, a realm that not even Belrog¡¯s ancestors could breach, even if all of them had to work together.


    ¡°This is the pinnacle of all weapons.¡± Avaldi¡¯s body suddenly caught on fire. Bluish flames erupted all over his body, a sure sign of death coming to take him away. ¡°Even though you are nothing more than livestock, you still proved to be an invaluable help.¡±


    Belrog stared at Avaldi as the vampire¡¯s body gradually dissipated from this world.


    ¡°My lifelong wish, the desire I held for the past one thousand and many hundreds of years¡­ It¡¯s been finally realised.¡± Avaldi smiled truly brightly away. ¡°For that, I thank you, Belrog.¡±


    And just like that, Avaldi¡¯s body crumbled in an instant.


    CLAAANG-!


    He became a pile of ashes, and the spear clattered down on top of the pile.


    1


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Belrog watched this scene silently, then carefully brushed the ash off the spear. He had no idea what just transpired in this place, but even then, he remained wordless for a long, long while.


    Eventually, though, he reached down, wrapped his hand around the spear shaft, and tried to lift it up.


    Heavy!


    Even someone like him, who boasted tough and well-trained muscles worthy of a top blacksmith, couldn¡¯t properly lift this spear. That¡¯s how heavy it was.


    He needed both of his hands just to raise it high enough. Now that it was up in the air, he was able to pay closer attention to the ancient runic alphabets engraved on the spear itself.


    It was the Master Blacksmith¡¯s name.


    This was it.


    This was the spear that His Majesty the Holy Emperor was talking about.


    Its name was¡­


    ¡°¡­Avaldi¡¯s Spear.¡±


    This was the moment the greatest armament in the history of mankind was born.


    < 180. Avaldi¡¯s Armament (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 345 - 181. Spies -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    I was staring at the sky above as white breath leaked out of my mouth.


    Large snowflakes were drifting down from the heavens. Even though winter was still some months away, the overall temperature was rather cold. ¡®Probably because of the Frost Giant¡¯, I surmised.


    I shifted my gaze and stared at the figure of said giant, Hr¨ªmr. The huge creature, its head severed, was laying lifelessly on the devastated city centre, streaks of frozen tears still staining its face.


    A bone-chilling cold was wafting out of its corpse even now.


    ¡°Your Majesty. The weather is still frosty. Please head back inside,¡± Charlotte spoke up from behind me while placing a warm fur coat over my shoulders.


    I looked back at her and smiled wryly, before shifting my attention back to the city still encased in ice. ¡°I¡¯d like to do that myself, but I still have to finish the work first.¡±


    Hundreds of holy undead had been summoned to help out the refugees. The number of people who had managed to flee in time was past several thousands and well into the tens of thousands. All these people had lost their homes and had nowhere left to go.


    They weren¡¯t the only ones, though, as more and more people from other areas began showing up here to ask for our help after they heard the news of us being here.


    The Kingdom of Frants was no longer safe. Although the Frost Giant Hr¨ªmr was dead, the invasion of the giants was far from over.


    Charlotte hesitated slightly at my reply, then cautiously informed me, ¡°The Kingdoms of Aihrance and Lome south of here have been invaded, Your Majesty.¡±


    I nodded in acknowledgement.


    While we were engaged in the life-or-death struggle against the Frost Giant and its gang, those two nations had to bear the brunt of the giants¡¯ invasion. The attack they had to deal with was on another scale altogether compared to what the Frost Giant Hr¨ªmr had done.


    Those damn giants and their tireless marching had left those two kingdoms utterly devastated in less than three weeks.


    White was still engaged in a bitter defensive battle in Aihrance, but Lome wasn¡¯t so fortunate, as it was still suffering from the after-effects of the civil war. As a result, its capital was easily overrun, and the whole kingdom was now on the brink of complete annihilation.


    According to the reports, the king of Lome, Barus Victoria, had fought valiantly against the giants, but was still devoured in the end.


    ¡°There was no order to the invasion,¡± I muttered while massaging my temples, the scenes of [Foresight] Seran had shown me all those years ago floating back up in my mind.


    Frants, Lome, and Aihrance¡­


    There was no such thing as an order of invasion. Other than some negligible time differences, the giants invaded those countries almost simultaneously, and began pillaging and destroying everything.


    ¡°And not to forget, we are not in a good space, either.¡±


    There were two ways to return to the Theocratic Empire from here. One was to take the normal route of going through Aihrance and Lome. The alternative was to cross a mountainous region, which cut through the Kingdom of Lome. But that route required us to go on a rather reckless, arduous march in order to reach the border of the Empire.


    Either would¡¯ve been doable for the army, but we had a serious problem on our hands: what to do with the tens of thousands of refugees under our care. Thanks to this issue, we in the Frants kingdom were basically isolated from the rest of the Empire for the time being.


    ¡°Your Majesty, it¡¯s impossible to protect everyone. A portion has to be abandoned, sire,¡± Charlotte said softly.


    ¡°Yeah, I get that.¡±


    Those giants should mostly focus on wrecking the big cities. Like, the capitals of Frants, Lome, Aihrance, and so on. The proof of that was that they had been targeting only the major cities so far.


    Since their most beloved form of entertainment was destroying stuff, they should derive a bigger pleasure by wrecking big cities instead of smaller villages. We should exploit that fact.


    It was unfortunate that not everyone could be saved, but¡­


    ¡°¡­We¡¯ll try to save those that can be saved.¡± I should at least try to save the ones my eyes could see. ¡°And for that purpose, I might as well use that thing.¡±


    I shifted my gaze over to Hr¨ªmr¡¯s severed head.


    The head of a giant, eh? I figured such a thing could work fairly well as a warning to other J?tnar. At least, it should work as a nice little bait to aggro those giants who boasted excessive levels of pride.


    ¡°My lady. Marquis Charlotte?¡± A Paladin clad in the Rune Armour walked up to Charlotte. He presented a rolled-up parchment and quietly whispered a report in her ear.


    A troubled expression floated up on her face as she listened, then she stared at me.


    I asked her, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty. We have completed our preparations to evacuate from this area. We can leave at any time you give us your command. And also¡­¡± Charlotte handed the parchment from the Paladin over to me. ¡°¡­We found the whereabouts of Lord Marcus, as well.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The Sixth Imperial Prince, Marcus Ariana. A guy who could be seen as my older brother¡­


    I heard the news that he was captured by some vampires while trying to flee from the Duchy. The Paladins had tried to give chase, but they couldn¡¯t catch up to the vampires, who boasted superior mobility.


    Still, it seemed that the Paladins had managed to pursue them right till the end and found out some information.


    I unfurled the parchment, read its contents, then clamped my mouth shut. What it said wasn¡¯t some information that the Paladins had unearthed, but an offer made by the vampires.


    ¡°¡­An exchange, is it?¡±


    The vampires were requesting a trade. Since it was not a negotiation, I figured that the leader of that vampire group came to a decision on its own and sent this communique to us.


    So, the ringleader of this whole thing was a Duke-class vampire named Agares?


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. They demand that we release Duke Kirum and the Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel, from our custody. Only then will they release Lord Marcus.¡±


    Kirum? But that bastard had been dead for a while now¡­


    Not only that, Second Imperial Prince Ruppel, too? Too bad, that dude was no longer the same being the vampires previously knew of.


    Since the information pertaining to the Imperial Palace would never be revealed to the vampires, it made sense that they had no clue on what had happened to those two.


    I slowly rubbed my chin in silent contemplation.


    So weird¡­


    Why were all these vampires so¡­ obsessed with securing Second Imperial Prince Ruppel?


    He was also involved in the vision of [Foresight] meant to help us with stopping the apocalypse. You know, the one Seran saw as the part of the Farmer incident back then.


    Judging from those two factors, there really must be something about him that would stop these marauding giants dead in their tracks.


    I asked, ¡°Where is Ruppel right now?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s currently staying in a small village nearby, Your Majesty. His Majesty the King of Frants, Duchess Runan, Lady Seran and finally, Lords Marvel and Marcel are also staying there,¡± Charlotte replied.


    ¡°And their security detail?¡±


    ¡°Sir Harman and a company of the Heavenly Army are in charge of securing the area. You can rest assured, sire.¡±


    Which meant that there was no problem in that regard. I asked another question, ¡°Is there no other way to reach the Theocratic Empire from here?¡±


    ¡°There is another one, but we must cross the mountain range first, sire. This route will take us to a territory located on the border of the Kingdom of Lome. However, this route will be an arduous trek¡­¡±


    Charlotte sounded cautious about that. If we weren¡¯t careful, we might get many stragglers and dropouts from our group during the journey. Still, feeding the exhausted people with my holy water should ensure that they could endure the journey a bit better.


    ¡°What territory is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the fiefdom of Chaves, sire. Its current situation post giants¡¯ invasion is that the vampires have already taken over this border region for fear of a retaliatory invasion by the Theocratic Empire.¡± [1]


    ¡°Taken over? Does that mean¡­?¡±


    ¡°Citizens of Lome kingdom are trapped in there, Your Majesty. Our estimate puts the number of survivors at around three thousand. We also estimate that around twenty thousand undead are currently in the fiefdom¡¯s territory as well.¡±


    Were the vampires thinking of using all those people as their shields if and when the Theocratic Empire invaded them?


    How foolish those vampires were. Thinking of using hostages against the Imperial Family, was it?


    ¡°What about the J?tnar?¡±


    ¡°At the moment, we haven¡¯t spotted them in the lands of Chaves, sire.¡±


    Now that was a good sign, only vampires being present there and no giants around. I didn¡¯t foresee anything that might present an issue. ¡°Is it possible to contact the Empire?¡±


    ¡°Although it¡¯s heavily dependent on the prevailing weather conditions, it should be doable by relying on communication crystals and message pigeons.¡±


    ¡°In that case, get in touch with our home base as quickly as possible.¡± I ordered, since there was something I wanted to discuss with Hans. ¡°Oh, and tell the vampires that I¡¯m willing to trade.¡±


    ¡°What are your plans, sire?¡±


    I stared at Charlotte and tilted my head. ¡°That¡¯s obvious, innit? Imma kill them all.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Tell the suckers to come to Chaves. And also don¡¯t forget to tell them that if they dare to even leave a single scratch on my older brother Marcus, I¡¯m going to rip their heads off right there and then.¡±


    Charlotte silently nodded her agreement.


    There would be no negotiation with the vampires whatsoever. We didn¡¯t even have what they wanted in the first place, anyway.


    We simply had to eliminate the fools, recover Marcus, and find our way back home, that¡¯s all.


    ¡°Still, the vampires have taken over that place, so we might need some info on the survivors there. Pick someone trustworthy and have them infiltrate this Chaves fiefdom.¡±


    Charlotte nodded smartly. ¡°I shall get right to it, Your Majesty.¡±


    She silently stepped away, leaving me alone.


    I began absentmindedly fixing the fur coat slung around my shoulders, then shifted my gaze back to the refugees, only to notice a familiar face.


    A group of dwarves was hurriedly making their way out from the refugees over there, their destination clearly me. One of them happened to be the familiar face I was talking about.


    ¡°Belrog?¡±


    (TL: Chaves in [1] is pronounced ¡°Sha-veh-z.¡± It¡¯s a real town in Portugal, by the way.)

 Chapter 346 - 181. Spies -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    That¡¯s right, it was the leader of the dwarves, Belrog. The dwarves, each of them carrying backpacks larger than their bodies, hurriedly ran up to where I was standing.


    Belrog, panting and huffing heavily, stood before me before kneeling down. However, rather than him trying to observe the correct etiquette of greeting the Holy Emperor, I got a feeling that he was simply collapsing on his knees from sheer exhaustion, instead.


    ¡°The craftsman affiliated with the territory of Hilda, Belrog, greets Your Imperial Majesty the Holy Emperor.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Belrog. It¡¯s been four years already, hasn¡¯t it? No wait, it¡¯s more like five now.¡±


    Belrog flinched a little at that, then a bitter grin spread on his lips. He should know better than anyone that the time frame he had promised me had long passed us by.


    I was feeling a bit sour at this whole thing at the moment. If only Belrog had shown up sooner, I could¡¯ve had an easier time subduing the Frost Giant.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re here¡­ I¡¯m guessing there is a good reason for that.¡±


    Belrog bowed his head when I said that and replied solemnly, ¡°We¡¯ve managed to finish our task, Your Majesty.¡± He proceeded to drop his backpack, then pulled out a lengthy object wrapped in luxurious cloth. He quietly presented it before me. ¡°This is the weapon that Your Majesty commanded us to create.¡±


    I received the weapon and unwrapped the cloth. My brows instantly shot up.


    It turned out to be a golden spear with countless runes engraved on its surface. It was around two metres in length, and its bladed spearhead was incredibly sharp.


    Gentle waves of divinity wafted from it, but I also picked up another type of energy that happened to be a complete opposite of that divine power.


    [Avaldi¡¯s Spear.


    Abilities: Depending on the standard of the user, demonic energy amplification by between 150% to 700%. Increase of 50% added to the recovery rate. Additional 20% rise in all abilities related to demonic energy. 15% reduction in the consumption of energy related to summoning. Ability to cast lightning bolts.]


    What the hell was up with this god-tier item?!


    My old Amon¡¯s relics couldn¡¯t even be compared to the specs of this bad boy. Just what kind of a monster was the blacksmith responsible for creating an item of such a calibre?!


    ¡°Where is the blacksmith responsible for making this?¡± I asked Belrog.


    A talented individual capable of crafting stuff on this level was someone we at the Empire definitely needed. It didn¡¯t matter whether they were humans or dwarves; as long as this individual was with us, we¡¯d be able to mass-produce powerful weapons!


    I stared expectantly at Belrog, but he simply flinched and bowed his head even lower. ¡°That person has departed from the world of living after completing that masterpiece, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh, is that so. What happened to his remains?¡±


    ¡°We performed the funeral rites and cremated him, sire.¡±


    Cold sweat dripped off from Belrog¡¯s bowing head. Even his voice trembled noticeably. He must¡¯ve been seriously fatigued, or so I figured.


    ¡°I owe that person a lot, then. I¡¯ll place a flower on the grave at a later stage.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that idiot would¡¯ve been quite pleased to know that the armament has reached the hands of its rightful owner, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°You did well, Belrog. And I shouldn¡¯t forget to express my gratitude to my sister, who lent me your strength for a while. If you have anything you desire, do let me know at a later stage. If it¡¯s something within my powers, I will make it happen.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m grateful to hear that, sire.¡±


    I focused my attention on the spear. Just by holding it like this gave off this incredible feeling.


    ¡®Avaldi¡¯s Spear, is it?¡¯


    I began recalling the events from during the coronation of the Holy King all those years ago.


    ¡°If it¡¯s this¡­¡±


    More specifically, I began thinking about the gateway to Purgatory that Count Timong had opened up in front of all those countless people.


    Maybe¡­


    ¡°I might be able to open that myself.¡±


    1


    My eyes narrowed to slits as I lifted the spear higher.


    **


    Charlotte proceeded with selecting several trustworthy individuals from the ranks of the Heavenly Army.


    She needed those with deep faith and blessed with more than an adequate level of ability, someone who possessed an unyielding drive that wouldn¡¯t lose out even to the vampires, and also boasted a considerable amount of real-world combat experience, as well.


    She began recruiting people that fit such criteria, but in the end, Charlotte was left with no choice but to facepalm herself. ¡°How come¡­¡±


    She frowned deeply and stared at the man standing before her eyes.


    He was a middle-aged man who just so happened to have a very familiar face to her.


    ¡°Ahaha! Charlotte, you can definitely look forward to it! I shall achieve a glorious feat this time around!¡±


    This man was deemed exceptionally skilled even among the ten thousand Crusaders, and consequently, he got promoted to the Heavenly Army. Brown hair and a scruffy beard of the same hue adorned his face.


    Not only did he hail from the northern region, he even used to be a farmer all those years ago, too. He had even aided Allen in holding several funerals for the dead.


    It was none other than Gril.


    Charlotte stared at her adopted father and spat out a lengthy groan, ¡°No, you cannot¡­¡±


    ¡°B-but, why not?!¡± Gril reflexively cried out.


    Charlotte grabbed him by his collar and began grinding his head. ¡°Definitely not!¡±


    ¡°Ouch?! Charlotte, that hurts! You¡¯re being too much here. I¡¯m still your father, you know?!¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s precisely why you can¡¯t. You¡¯ll only make me worried.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh? My daughter is worried about me, I see. As your father, I must say, I¡¯m rather pleased.¡± Gril smiled happily despite suffering from some pain.


    It was then, someone kicked him in the shin from the side. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, this uncle¡­ Please try to differentiate private and the official matters!¡± The kicker, a young girl standing next to Gril, smartly bowed her head and addressed Charlotte. ¡°I¡¯m also volunteering for this infiltration mission. My name is Yuria, ma¡¯am.¡±


    Charlotte studied this girl named Yuria. She had also been accepted to the ¡®ten thousand Crusader army¡¯ after Allen had personally recommended her. As for her actual skill level, she was indeed more than adequate enough.


    She was quite proficient with crossbows and at an expert level wielding shortswords, while her agility was far above other people, as well.


    Not only did she achieve excellent results during training, she had even enjoyed a prior record of hunting down three blood-creation vampires, as well!


    ¡°I too wish to volunteer, ma¡¯am.¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s gaze shifted over to the spot next to Yuria. A middle-aged man who seemed to be one, maybe two years older than Gril, stood there.


    A former convict soldier of the northern region, and also a mercenary hailing from Aihrance¡­


    His name was Adolf. His record indicated he had killed a Progenitor Vampire.


    Compared to these two¡­


    Charlotte shifted her gaze back to Gril. ¡°¡­Father, you just don¡¯t have any achievements to speak of.¡±


    ¡°Oh, come on! You never gave me the chance, you know! I mean, you made sure that I¡¯d always be excluded from anything dangerous, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I also made sure to have you assigned to the capital defence corps, so why are you even here, father?¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, uh, I wrote a letter to Sir Harman, you see. I asked him if he could help me join the Heavenly Army¡¯s operation this time.¡±


    Charlotte recalled Harman¡¯s face, and groaned deeply again.


    She had Gril assigned to a role within the capital defence corps for his safety, but this¡­


    He had somehow ended up participating in this war without her knowledge.


    ¡°Besides, this is the fiefdom of Chaves we¡¯re talking about, right? I know the lay of the land there pretty well.¡±


    Gril, who had lived in the northern frontier of the Theocratic Empire, knew what now?


    Charlotte stared at her adopted father, prompting him to explain himself. ¡°Back when I was young ¡®un, my parents took me on a journey in that place, you see.¡±


    ¡°And just how long ago was that, father?!¡± Charlotte retorted in dismay.


    But Gril was still not discouraged. ¡°Of course, that isn¡¯t the sole reason why you should let me go. I know someone in Chaves fiefdom. An old acquaintance, as a matter of fact.¡±


    ¡°An acquaintance, you say?¡± Charlotte asked in surprise.


    ¡°Yup. If that guy¡¯s still alive, then we will be able to learn a lot more about that place¡¯s current situation.¡±


    It was possible to receive some kind of information from the fiefdom of Chaves even now. That was how Charlotte had learned about the existence of the survivors, but even then, it¡¯d be very difficult to act freely in that area.


    For the purpose of more free-flowing information, the army simply had to dispatch spies capable of sending information out. This trio had the Aztal Rune tattooed on them, so such a task should definitely be possible to pull off.


    As Charlotte grew even more troubled regarding what to do here, Gril spoke to her in a resolute manner, ¡°Please believe in me, Charlotte. I shall bring home a proper achievement this time. Let¡¯s be honest here, you think there¡¯s anyone else out there who¡¯s as skilled as me, knows the lay of the land, and even knows an acquaintance?¡±


    He was right. The number of people who could better Gril¡¯s qualifications of enough strength, knowledge of the terrain and even knew someone from the area, would be extremely low. On top of that, he even possessed a means of communication as well, so he was pretty much the best qualified for the job at hand.


    Charlotte glanced at Gril worriedly, but in the end, she sighed in acceptance. She spoke the following words in a heavy voice, ¡°¡­I pray that you remain safe.¡±


    1


    Gril gave her a hearty thumb-up the moment she gave her permission. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about a thing! Just who am I? Aren¡¯t I your father!?¡±


    The hurriedly-put-together band of spies, now tasked with infiltrating the fiefdom of Chaves: Gril, Adolf, and Yuria.


    These three individuals now had to sneak into Chaves to gather intel.


    < 181. Spies -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 347 - 182. Spies -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Inside a forest near the fiefdom of Chaves¡­


    Gril, Adolf and Yuria, their faces hidden under robes and hoods, continued to forge ahead. They trudged and shuffled past the thickets blocking their path.


    After they left the Kingdom of Frants and entered Lome¡¯s territory, the falling snow transformed into rain, showing that the influence of the Frost Giant on the weather no longer applied here.


    It now felt too warm and humid. There was very little they could do about their level of discomfort and unhappiness gradually building up.


    ¡°Geez, I didn¡¯t think that the weather could get this hot,¡± Gril groaned while looking up at the outer walls of the city of Chaves, hot sunlight seeping through the rainy forest.


    Armed zombies could be seen staggering around on top of the outer walls. They were probably soldiers employed by the fiefdom once upon a time. After the vampires took over, they were most likely murdered and turned into undead.


    They could also see several lycans in charge of commanding the zombies, although there weren¡¯t that many of them


    ¡°Urgh, seriously?! Those are lycans!¡± Yuria muttered in displeasure.


    The reason for her unhappiness was understandable, though: lycans were great at picking up human scents, after all.


    ¡°Let¡¯s coat ourselves in excrement,¡± said Adolf.


    He pulled out a pouch filled with crap and began coating his body with its contents.


    ¡°Urgh, that stinks. My constitution isn¡¯t cut out for this¡­¡± Gril complained while staring at the pouch of excrement in a slight daze. But then, liquefied sh*t dribbled down from the top of his head without warning.


    Yuria was emptying a bag of crap above Gril¡¯s head. With a cold and critical eye, she sneered at him, ¡°Stop complaining, uncle. If you¡¯re not feeling up to it, why did you even volunteer in the first place?¡±


    ¡°Suuure thing. I won¡¯t complain anymore.¡± Gril threw the pouch of sh*t on Yuria¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s pretty simple why I volunteered; it¡¯s because I haven¡¯t done anything for Charlotte so far.¡±


    Back when they were in the village up north, he never got to protect his daughter. No, it was Charlotte who protected him.


    Other than accepting her as his adopted daughter, what else had he done for her?


    Charlotte continued to achieve one feat after another, then even sent money to him back in the northern region. He had done nothing of note for her, yet she paid so much attention to his welfare, as if to say she really, really cared about him.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I just want to be some kind of help to her. Even if it¡¯s only by a little bit.¡± Gril continued to explain himself while not forgetting to empty the pouch of sh*t all over Yuria.


    ¡°¡­I see. I think I understand you now.¡± Yuria replied with a nod, then began throwing a handful of sh*t at Gril¡¯s face.


    The two began bickering once more. Thanks to that, Adolf felt all of his built-up tension fly out the window and could sigh a little in relief. He wasn¡¯t sure about other people, but at least with his friends, the mission itself shouldn¡¯t be too frightening to pull off.


    ¡°Alright, both of you. Get ready. From this moment on,¡± the trio¡¯s gazes locked on the outer walls surrounding the city of Chaves up ahead. ¡°¡­We infiltrate the enemy lines.¡±


    They tightened their backpacks. The Rune armour sets inside the bags clanged noisily.


    Adolf spoke up again, ¡°Circulate your divinity.¡±


    The trio began activating their divinity.


    ¡°Since His Majesty the Holy Emperor isn¡¯t near us, we can¡¯t rely on the Aztal Rune, the Rune armour, or the muskets to save our hides. Do not forget that.¡±


    ¡°Ah, y-you are right. I¡¯ll remember that,¡± Gril muttered back.


    Yuria immediately facepalmed at his stuttering reply, a deep frown spreading on her face. ¡°Aaand I¡¯m really worried now.¡±


    Adolf could only chuckle hollowly at that. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get going.¡±


    They rapidly moved out of their hiding spot. They used only the absolute minimum amount of divinity required and quickly sprinted towards their target. Their footsteps didn¡¯t make any discernible noises as they ran.


    They successfully evaded the eyes of the zombies and lycans up on the outer walls, and pressed themselves tightly against the wall¡¯s surface.


    Adolf shifted his gaze lower, to the entrance of the underground sewer that led into the city beyond the walls.


    The sewage floating out from there was mixed in with plenty of blood; the disgusting stench was wafting out heavily from the flowing filth. They still silently entered the sewer¡¯s stream.


    Adolf pulled out a sword, closed his eyes, and began offering a prayer. ¡°Oh, dear Gaia¡­¡±


    Divinity seeped into the blade. He very slowly pressed the weapon against the steel bars blocking the sewer entrance connected to the city.


    The bars slowly melted down and were quietly severed. Adolf passed through, followed right after by Gril and Yuria next.


    They continued to wade through the sewer as all sorts of excrement and blood, plus many corpses, floated by on the surface.


    As the trio continued to trudge through the sewer, Gril¡¯s complexion grew progressively paler and paler, while even Adolf ended up blocking his nose. However, Yuria remained unperturbed, as if this was nothing new to her.


    Gril, wanting to lessen the tension he was currently under, asked Yuria in a provocative voice, ¡°Oh hey, you sure have a strong stomach for this, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Yuria replied with some pride in her voice, ¡°I¡¯m really experienced with sewers, you see.¡±


    ¡°¡­Experienced with what now?¡±


    ¡°Back then, this really cool Mister Paladin went ¡®Ta-da!¡¯ and made his entrance to rescue me, you see. He was like, the brave hero from a fairy tale or something.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re on about.¡± Gril stared at her with a face that silently asked, ¡®Hey, aren¡¯t you omitting too much from your explanation?¡¯


    Just before Yuria could say something else, though, Adolf shushed them by placing a finger on his lips. ¡°Shh. We¡¯re going above ground now. Get ready.¡±


    They shifted their gazes ahead and spotted a stairwell leading up to the surface. They silently walked up it, and cautiously lifted up the plank blocking the access to the street.


    Adolf, Gril and Yuria were able to see the situation on the street of Chaves.


    ¡°¡­Oh my gods!¡± Gril¡¯s jaw fell nearly to the floor.


    The situation on the street reminded them of pure hell.


    Decomposing corpses were strewn about everywhere, with lots of rats freely gnawing on them. Among all the carnage were plenty of zombies staggering around aimlessly.


    ¡°Huff, pant¡­!¡±


    A person who looked to be a survivor could be seen breathlessly running away. His complexion was purplish, indicating that he was suffering from some kind of disease.


    He was barely dodging and weaving past the zombies while carrying some food in his hands.


    ¡°Ahahat! That livestock sure knows how to run, doesn¡¯t he!¡±


    ¡°Should we just devour him?¡±


    ¡°Nah, he¡¯s clearly diseased. Devouring someone like that will only sour our delicate palettes. However¡­¡±


    Some vampires could be seen nearby. They were still using the facade of regular humans, but even then, they were also pointing at the fleeing survivor while sneering insidiously.


    ¡°He¡¯s perfectly adequate for pet food, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Lycans suddenly leapt out from the narrow alleyway and pounced on the survivor.


    ¡°Uwaaaahk!¡±


    This poor person¡¯s limbs were bitten by the fangs of the undead beasts and he was dragged away. The sharp claws began ripping him apart, his torso slamming hard into the ground.


    Vampires continued to cackle away in great amusement.


    Adolf was deeply shocked by this sight and couldn¡¯t say a single word.


    ¡°Sons of b*tches¡­¡± Yuria quietly cursed under her breath next to him.


    And so, the trio quietly infiltrated the hellish city of Chaves.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    The refugees were currently trudging towards the fiefdom of Chaves. They were obviously in some distress as they tried to tread through the mountain range.


    Dark, gloomy clouds hung above our heads. Thick rain drops pelted us, while various dangers continued to rear their ugly heads as we braved the sharp, jagged path of the mountain range.


    People lost their footing on the slippery mud. The ground itself became weakened from so many people walking on it, causing various small to large accidents.


    I observed the lengthy procession of refugees while riding on my skeleton horse. ¡°There are more people here now.¡±


    They must¡¯ve heard the stories and came here seeking refuge, because the procession had grown in scale. That was bad. A procession of such a scale would invariably be more dangerous than it was safe.


    Charlotte approached me and whispered in my ear, ¡°Your Majesty, they won¡¯t be able to endure much longer at the current rate.¡±


    She was right. Even if we fed them holy water, there was still a limit to how much they could endure both physically and mentally.


    It had already been three weeks since we started braving this mountain range. Things were inevitably getting delayed by how large the procession had become.


    There were close to ten thousand refugees here. If it was at all possible, I would have liked them to remain behind in the Kingdom of Frants, because that would¡¯ve been safer for these people.


    Unfortunately, fear and anxiety had this tendency to make you rely on other people.


    But then again¡­ even the King of Frants and Seran had joined up with the refugees and were all heading back to the Theocratic Empire right now. The king of a nation had abandoned their home and was fleeing as well, so how would their subjects feel in that case?

 Chapter 348 - 182. Spies -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a break here!¡± I commanded, and the soldiers quickly moved out.


    The refugees all made ¡°I¡¯m saved!¡± faces and began setting up their tents.


    I dusted myself off and shook my rain-soaked hair before dismounting from the skeleton horse. While stepping into the tent the soldiers had set up for me, I asked Charlotte, who was following closely behind me, ¡°What about the spies?¡±


    ¡°The party, consisting of Adolf, Yuria, and Gril, has succeeded in infiltrating the city of Chaves, sire.¡±


    ¡­Huh. Could we really trust that group to succeed?


    Although I did feel somewhat concerned, they were well-trained and also possessed quite a lot of field experience, so it should work out somehow¡­


    I began taking off my wet clothes and tossing them aside.


    Charlotte froze up, and hurriedly turned around. ¡°It became possible to communicate with the party after we drew close enough to the fiefdom of Chaves, sire. They are currently analysing the situation.¡±


    ¡°How long until they figure out the location of the survivors?¡±


    ¡°One week, sire. At the longest, two weeks.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but reflexively frown at that. One to two weeks, was it?


    In terms of evacuating refugees, that time frame was just too long for my liking. One slip-up somewhere, and many people might lose their lives. Especially so as our provisions were dwindling rapidly, too.


    ¡°Okay, so what have they discovered so far?¡± I continued asking her while putting on new clothes, which were basically shabby traveller¡¯s attire. On top of that outfit, I threw on a robe with a hood attached to ward off the rain.


    She replied, ¡°They said it¡¯s a literal hellscape inside the city.¡±


    ¡°Hellscape, is it?¡±


    ¡°Currently within the city of Chaves¡­¡±


    Charlotte continued on with her report.


    Apparently, the whole city was filled with corpses everywhere, while the survivors were confined to their homes, unable to come outside. Plagues were making the rounds, and the vampires would use the living humans as their playthings, prey to be hunted basically whenever they felt bored.


    ¡°Unless we supply them with a large quantity of holy water, we estimate that the survivors there will experience great difficulty trying to hold on, sire.¡±


    Not just the decomposing corpses, but even zombies freely wandered about in that place. Toxins and plagues were rampaging around, so even I could tell that the people there would be in dire straits by now, surviving each passing day turning into a life-or-death struggle for them.


    ¡°What about my older brother, Marcus?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still missing, sire. Our agents are still investigating as we speak. The whereabouts of the Vampire Duke named Agares are also uncertain, and¡­¡±


    While listening to her, I stepped outside the tent and looked up at the sky. The rain kept falling, and I began tilting my head.


    I asked her, ¡°What¡¯s your opinion?¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon, sire?¡± Charlotte also began tilting her head.


    ¡°What should we do in order to achieve the best possible result?¡±


    ¡°¡­Your Majesty. We must conquer the fiefdom of Chaves, even at the cost of sacrificing a few.¡±


    In order words, we must utilise the Heavenly Army, huh.


    Her recommendation was that we conquer the fiefdom of Chaves, sacrificing the survivors still alive there in order to save a lot more people.


    Although cold-hearted, it did sound the most logical thing to do. Ironically, that was the best way to minimise the sacrifices, and also the most sure-fire way, too.


    Even I couldn¡¯t think up anything else right now.


    Rubbing my face, I continued to ponder my options, only for my expression to crumple at the word ¡®plagues¡¯. ¡°¡­Hmm. There might be another way, after all.¡±


    ¡°There is, Your Majesty?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I nodded at her.


    The rain drops traveled down my face. The weather was rather unstable, even coming across as ominous. Each and every drop felt warm to the touch.


    I held my hand out and felt the raindrops on my skin.


    ¡­For sure, this was no ordinary rain at all.


    It felt like boiled water was now falling from the sky. Winter was supposed to be around the corner, yet the weather felt simply too toasty to be natural.


    ¡°Has Hans got in touch yet?¡±


    When I asked, Charlotte shook her head. ¡°He has received the news and according to the reports, he is currently on his way to this region, sire. However, it¡¯s not possible to accurately gauge where he is.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll just communicate through the Aztal Rune later on.¡±


    While conversing with her, we climbed up a tall hill. Once we arrived at the peak that afforded us a greater view of the mountain range, we took in the sprawling sight below us.


    In the far-off distance, I could see the outer walls of the capital of Chaves fiefdom. To make sure, I scanned the vicinity of the city one last time.


    There was no trace of the J?tnar anywhere near Chaves.


    It seemed that the information was right. I felt relieved that the one thing I was most worried about, the threat posed by the giants, was not present here.


    ¡°Hey, Charlotte.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± She slightly bowed her head.


    ¡°If the J?tnar suddenly attack us, are you confident of repelling them?¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡­¡±


    ¡°While I¡¯m not around, that is.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Charlotte stared at me silently for a while. Eventually, her gaze shifted to the city of Chaves over yonder. It seemed that she had already more or less figured out what I was planning to do here.


    ¡°As long as we rely on the Rune Armour, it should be possible for us to buy enough time, sire. Although we won¡¯t be able to protect all of the refugees in the process.¡±


    I shifted my gaze over to the refugees at her reply.


    Their procession really seemed endless from up here. We definitely needed a place, a city preferably, for them to take a break. The capital of the Chaves fiefdom should meet the size requirements pretty nicely.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m going to enter the city as a spy myself.¡±


    ¡°¡­Your Majesty, you wish to do what, sire?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t waste any more time on this. All I need to do here is to quickly figure out where the most of the survivors are located in the city, then prepare a location where they can be safely evacuated. That¡¯s all.¡±


    While protecting the survivors, I¡¯d be attacking from the inside, just as the Heavenly Army started attacking from the outside. That should make the conquest of the fiefdom of Chaves a cinch.


    ¡°Are you really planning to go there, sire?¡±


    ¡°There is no better way, though?¡± I extracted my bird-beak mask from the item window. ¡°Besides, the plague, huh¡­¡± I turned to look at Charlotte, and smirked at her. ¡°Well, that¡¯s my speciality, you see.¡±


    I was a Necromancer. Dealing with plagues was a cakewalk for me.


    ¡°¡­?¡± Charlotte made a puzzled face, not understanding what I was saying.


    I found her expression funny and laughed out loud, before putting on the mask. ¡°I shall leave the military and the people under your care.¡±


    Very soon, a new plague would circulate within the fiefdom of Chaves.


    A plague that blessed the living while cursing the vampires, that is.


    **


    Currently in the capital city of the Kingdom of Lome, Lomania¡­


    The night was deepening. Darkness had blanketed the world.


    The whole city was enveloped in flames. Everything the eyes could see was burning away, while countless corpses had turned into burnt cinders at this point.


    Within this burning cityscape were many giants trudging around, seemingly minding their own business. They were sweating profusely at the choking heat dominating everything, yet at a certain prompt, they all focused their attention on a single spot.


    A humongous existence that dyed the pitch-black darkness of the night in a crimson hue was slowly shifting around there. Its whole body was made out of hardened bedrock, yet from the gaps and the joints of its body, fierce flames still gushed out.


    This huge J?tunn was made out of flames and wielded a lengthy whip.


    Whenever this thirty metre-tall giant moved, the ground rumbled and quaked ominously. The ground it stepped on melted down and lava flowed out.


    When this creature expelled heat from its body, its surroundings became even hotter than before.


    ¡°O-oh, the King! The King of Fire!¡±


    A lycan hurriedly rushed up to the giants.


    The Fire Giant looked down at the ground to see this lycan kowtowing before it, some distance away from its feet.


    ¡°T-the Frost Giant was killed!¡±


    The Fire Giant began tilting its head in confusion.


    ¡°T-those bastards, the ones responsible for killing the Frost Giant, are heading to the fiefdom of Chaves, and¡­ Ah?!¡±


    Even before the lycan could finish its report, it flinched nastily and hurriedly stumbled back. That was because the Fire Giant was walking up to the undead beast.


    Even though the giant was merely getting closer, the lycan found it almost impossible to even breathe. The undead beast, suffering from agonizing torment, tried to back away, but the Fire Giant grabbed the creature before that.


    ¡°U-uwaaaaahk!¡± The lycan¡¯s whole body was set on fire. The creature screamed out in sheer pain and torment.


    -So, are you saying that Hr¨ªmr has been killed?-


    ¡°Y-yes, that is cor¡­¡±


    The lycan couldn¡¯t finish the rest of its sentence before its body was completely burned out of existence.


    The Fire Giant lightly dusted off its hands of the ashes of the lycan before raising its head back up.


    -Hmm. Hr¨ªmr has died, is it?-


    Who could have killed the Frost Giant¡­?


    It was hard to tell. To think that there was an existence living in this world capable of opposing the giants to that degree.


    -Let¡¯s go! I shall confirm the one who killed Hr¨ªmr with my own eyes!


    The giants all roared out raucously in unison.


    The Fire Giant turned around to leave the burning city. Its new destination was this fiefdom called Chaves.


    In order to burn everything down¡­


    It began its march!


    < 182. Spies -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 349 - 183. Spreading Plague -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    It wasn¡¯t all that hard to infiltrate the capital of the Chaves fiefdom. I used the same method that Gril and his group had used.


    However, there was one problem here, and that would be me needing to wade through the underground sewer, which resulted in all sorts of literal crap thoroughly bathing me from top to bottom.


    I passed through the sewer and quietly climbed up to the surface level. It was late at night. I entered a deserted alleyway and frowned heavily while staring at my clothes, now stained deeply with sh*t.


    ¡°I¡¯m supposed to be the Holy Emperor, yet I have to be in this crappy situation¡­¡±


    I sniffed the air only to be punched in the gut with the disgusting stench. I hurriedly took my clothes off and chucked them away, then changed into new duds.


    Just as I took my mask off and began washing my face with the holy water¡­


    ¡°S-someone, anyone! Please help me!¡±


    I heard a person¡¯s desperate cry. I nimbly jumped up to a nearby building¡¯s roof. After lowering myself to the tiles below, I scanned the street up ahead.


    That¡¯s when I spotted a man breathlessly running along the street, some kind of an object wrapped in cloth held in his embrace.


    ¡°It¡¯s some prey!¡±


    ¡°Who knew there would be a dumbass willing to wander around in the middle of the night!¡±


    Half-man, half beast monsters dashed out from the darkness.


    They all boasted physiques well over two metres in height, their waists slightly bent, and their limbs were long and sharp.


    Lycans.


    This man continued to run through the streets covered in the veil of darkness, crying out to anyone who could hear him, ¡°Anyone! Please, help me!¡±


    I scanned all those windows on the houses by the street. I could sense gazes of people coming from there, but not a single one tried to help the man out. No, they pulled the curtains shut or boarded their windows even tighter than before.


    ¡°I, I have children back home! These medicines are for them, I must¡­!¡± the man cried out, pleading and begging in desperation. The chasing lycans sneered derisively at him.


    I hurriedly climbed down from the root and entered an alleyway, then called out to where that man was running. ¡°Oiii! Over here!¡±


    The man looked over to me, and I urgently waved my hand at him. The man¡¯s despairing expression gained just a hint of colour.


    Here I was, hidden under a bird-beak mask and a nondescript robe and hood. Yup, I looked really suspicious. Even then, the man seemed to be a little bit more hopeful that someone was willing to help him out.


    ¡°T-thank you!¡±


    When he came close enough, I reached out and grabbed his hand before sprinting away from there. We ran even deeper into the alleyway.


    While running, I glanced up at the rooftops near us. Lycans could be seen rapidly dashing along on the rooftops on either side of the alleyway. They glanced down at us as slimy grins floated up on their faces.


    They were clearly enjoying this.


    But that wasn¡¯t so surprising, considering that to them, chasing around such helpless prey that couldn¡¯t even fight back would be akin to an amusing game hunt or some such.


    The man¡¯s complexion paled as we entered another alleyway. ¡°N-no, wait! If we stay on this path, then¡­!¡±


    My feet pounding on the pavement came to a stuttering halt. We had run into a dead end.


    That prompted the lycans running on the rooftops to leap down to the ground and block the only exit out of here.


    ¡°Huh, that one¡¯s got a strange looking get-up, doesn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°Hey you punk, what are you supposed to be?¡±


    These two lycans stepped forward nonchalantly. Not a shred of wariness could be seen on them.


    They had been hunting powerless prey that couldn¡¯t put up any decent resistance until now, so I figured that they were overflowing with confidence at the moment. At the very least, they knew that no one would come to our rescue in this blocked-off back alley.


    Of course, that tale applied to the lycans in this case.


    ¡°Oh, you are asking me what I¡¯m supposed to be?¡±


    While replying, I extracted my shovel from the item window. For the first time in a long, long while, I felt its familiar grip once more.


    Gee whiz, just how long had it been since I last used a shovel?


    Lycans faltered visibly when they saw the shovel.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a strange magic trick.¡±


    ¡°Is he a Magician, then?¡±


    They looked quite surprised by the fact that I had pulled a shovel out of thin air.


    They began growling at me, so I replied to them, ¡°No, I¡¯m a Priest. You can call me Mister Extra.¡±


    The glaring light in the eyes of the lycans sharpened considerably when they heard the word ¡®Priest¡¯.


    ¡°A damn Priest!¡±


    ¡°To think that there was one still alive!¡±


    The bodies of the undead beasts began ballooning up. Their claws also grew longer and sharper. Their fangs jutted out while hideous veins bulged on their hides.


    Their fur stood on end as they stomped on the ground, and they were about to pounce on me, but then¡­


    I dug into their unguarded fronts first.


    ¡°¡­?!¡±


    The lycans couldn¡¯t react in time. All they could do was slowly roll their eyes lower and stare at me crouching below their waists.


    Just as the confusion began taking over them¡­


    I swung the shovel upwards against the lower torso of one of the lycans. The edge of the tool began slicing up the creature¡¯s abdomen, chest, and even its head as if it was a block of tofu.


    ¡°¡­Heeeeiiiick?!¡±


    Only after the lycan was split clean in half did the other one next to it display a reaction. It jumped up in shock and tried to howl loudly, but I shoved the shovel into the fool¡¯s mouth first.


    My right hand wielded the shovel while my left grabbed the creature by its throat, then I slammed it against a nearby wall.


    ¡°Keo-uuuuhk! W-what kind of strength is¡­?!¡±


    I didn¡¯t even use divinity to enhance my physical strength here. Thanks to my superhuman physique, I could suppress a lycan quite easily now.


    I glared at the undead beast and asked, ¡°Okay, so. Where is the one called Duke Agares?¡±


    **


    It was rather easy to find all the info I needed.


    There were still about three thousand or so survivors remaining in the city, and they were all hiding within their houses at the moment. Every night, vampires would hunt a small portion of them as a source of entertainment and sustenance.


    The reason for all these survivors being largely left alone was as expected: to be used as meat shields to stop the Theocratic Empire¡¯s advance. Also, the news of the Heavenly Army led by yours truly travelling from the Kingdom of Frants had reached the ears of the vampires in charge of this place, putting them on high alert.


    {His Lordship the Duke has issued a decree that says humans need to be used as hostages, so we must hold back on hunting them.}


    That was the order handed down by Duke Agares.


    Hmm. Thanks to him, three thousand people got to keep their lives. Who knew that vampires could be helpful in a situation like this one?


    I mulled on the whereabouts of Duke Agares and Marcus, as revealed by the lycan.


    {His Lordship is still on his way here.}


    That was probably because I sent the communique to that sucker saying that the hostage trade would take place in the city of Chaves.


    ¡°Thank you, thank you! I didn¡¯t know that Sir Priest would still be alive even now!¡±


    The dude I saved guided me to a half-destroyed church nearby. It turned out that several survivors were holed up in there.


    There were quite a few elderly women and young children. The man began distributing the medicines wrapped under the cloth to the kids, then spoke to me again, ¡°You saved my life, but I don¡¯t even know how to repay you, sir.¡±


    I took in the sight of the messed-up state of the church, then looked back at the man. ¡°Your name?¡±


    ¡°Ah, my name is Rover, sir. I offer you, Sir Priest, my gratitude and¡­¡± The man named Rover sighed in relief, then drew the holy sign in the air. ¡°I pray that the grace of Goddess Gaia be with you. Are they any other Priests besides you, sir?¡±


    ¡°No. I actually came from the outside.¡±


    ¡°F-from outside, sir?¡± Rover made a shocked face.


    But that lasted only for a brief moment as he hurriedly scanned behind the curtains covering the windows. He confirmed that no one was outside and sighed in relief again.


    He looked back at me and warned me in no uncertain terms, ¡°Sir Priest, the truth about your presence must never be known, even within this place.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± I asked back in slight puzzlement. Truth be told, though, I could kind of guess as to why.


    ¡°¡­Because, there might be a vampire in the guise of a normal person hiding in here, sir.¡±


    I knew it. Vampires were hiding among the potential hostages. It would make monitoring and controlling the humans that much easier.


    However, that wouldn¡¯t be much of an issue for me since I could sniff out vampires easily, anyway. The real problem was something else.


    That would be the normal people, not vampires, who were willing to cooperate with the undead. You know, the kind that would sell out their fellow humans just to guarantee their own survival.


    Those types existed pretty much everywhere, and were the reason why I chose to infiltrate while wearing this bird-beak mask.


    I needed to avoid the possibility of my real face being seen, which could unnecessarily agitate the vampires and prompt them to kill the hostages.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind, then.¡±


    Rover nodded silently, then asked again, ¡°But, when you say you¡¯re from the outside¡­?¡±


    I checked out Rover¡¯s attributes. His stat window said that he was earnest, trustworthy, and very caring, plus a few other similar characteristics.


    This man was a commendable person in terms of his humanity. That meant he was well qualified to be my helper here.


    So, I decided to be honest. ¡°I¡¯m from the Theocratic Empire. I¡¯m here for the purpose of reclaiming this fiefdom of Chaves from the undead.¡±


    ¡°Oh my goodness! Is that true?! Oh, ohh! Thank you, dear Gaia! Thank you, His Majesty the Holy Emperor!¡±


    The hope of survival had Rover genuinely rejoicing.


    I studied him for a bit before addressing him, ¡°By the way, there¡¯s something I want to ask you.¡±


    ¡°Yes, please ask away, sir. I¡¯ll do my best to help you in any way I can.¡±

 Chapter 350 - : 183. Spreading Plague -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Rover thought about it deeply for a bit before shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir, but I don¡¯t recognise those names.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    I figured that those three must be working their butts off somewhere. Also, Gril said that he knew an acquaintance in this place, so they should be fine.


    I was pretty certain that they were collecting intel in their own way. We should just get in touch at a later stage.


    ¡°Cough, cough!¡±


    I heard someone coughing helplessly and turned my head in that direction.


    The elderly women and the children had been grouped together to a side of the church. Their skins had turned purplish in hue.


    It was the plague at work. A heavy amount of contagions wafted around in the surrounding air and unclaimed corpses were discarded everywhere, so it was not surprising to see diseases flare up like this.


    Rover had somehow managed to procure some medicine at great difficulty, but I could tell that that wasn¡¯t going to be enough.


    I walked up to them. ¡°How are you all feeling?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m alright,¡± a kid replied with a bright, carefree grin. However, it looked like he was forcibly suppressing the pain he was in.


    I stared at him, but then spotted a pile of small bones belonging to an animal discarded in the corner. That made me pause for a bit. Those bones and bits of fur belong to mice, indicating that the survivors here had been subsisting on rats to survive. Next to the pile was a cage with some rats trapped inside.


    ¡°¡­Are you guys facing a shortage of provisions?¡± I asked Rover.


    He grimly nodded. ¡°Yes, sir. We don¡¯t have anything to eat. The best we can do is catching and eating rodents found nearby.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good that they aren¡¯t zombified rats, at least.¡±


    Still, that would be more than enough to spread around various diseases. I was pretty sure that the vampires were aiming for this, as well. It would only be possible to control the hostages completely when they were literally powerless to resist, after all.


    ¡°Cough, cough¡­¡± The kid began coughing again. He couldn¡¯t withstand the high fever and plopped down on the floor.


    I addressed Rover again. ¡°I¡¯m going to inspect this child for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, of course.¡±


    I extended my hand to the kid.


    ¡°N-now that I think about it, Sir Priest, I haven¡¯t even asked you for your name yet.¡± Rover asked cautiously.


    While patting the kid on his head, I replied, ¡°What, my name?¡±


    I gently injected divinity into the child. The particles of light quickly filled up his body.


    ¡°I¡¯m Allen Olfolse.¡±


    1


    The eyes of Rover, the child, and an elderly lady tending to the boy grew wider and wider.


    The light spread around rapidly. The purplish skin on the child¡¯s body gradually disappeared. His fever went down and his sickly-pale complexion began regaining its vitality in no time at all.


    The child stared at me with a shocked face. ¡°Magic¡­? Uncle, are you a Magician?¡±


    I ended up chuckling at that.


    **


    ¡°A m-miracle¡­¡± Rover muttered.


    The elderly lady flinched in shock and hurriedly kowtowed before me.


    ¡°Y-Your Majesty the Holy Emperor!¡±


    Even Rover was about to roar out at the top of his lungs, so I quickly shook my head at him. ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me to be more cautious just now?¡±


    He froze up, looking as if he didn¡¯t know what to do here.


    I stared at the elderly lady and she stood back up awkwardly. ¡°M-my apologies.¡±


    ¡°W-what should we refer to you as, s-sir?¡±


    ¡°Just use my alias of Extra.¡±


    If I used that name, Adolf should definitely latch onto it, and realise that I was here in the city.


    ¡°¡­Understood, sir!¡± Rover nodded quickly.


    I shifted my attention to the cage and the rats trapped within. They were definitely diseased by the looks of things.


    I recalled the event that had happened all those years ago in the villages by the northern frontier. More specifically, the incident of the plague spread around by the zombie rats.


    And then the blessing I had granted Gril and everyone, too.


    Now was the time to test ¡®that¡¯ out.


    ¡°Rover.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, Your Ma¡­ I-I mean, Sir Extra.¡±


    I turned to look at him and grinned brightly, ¡°Would you like to find out what the plague of a Priest looks like?¡±


    **


    The lycans standing on top of the outer walls surrounding the city of Chaves were currently feeling quite anxious, tense.


    They raised their heads and scanned the vicinity of the mountain range over yonder.


    There it was, a huge procession of refugees, and Paladins kitted out in the Rune armour setting up a camp in front of them.


    ¡®Holy cow, that¡¯s the Theocratic Empire!¡¯


    Those damn humans had arrived at the fiefdom of Chaves far too quickly. Outwardly at least, they looked to be setting up a camp to take a break, but even then, they continued to ooze this dangerous, threatening atmosphere of getting ready to attack Chaves at any given moment.


    The tense expressions of the lycans suddenly brightened just then.


    ¡°Look! It¡¯s his lordship, Duke Agares!¡±


    In the far-off distance, up over the hill, a group of vampires was marching towards the city. The party consisted of Duke Agares, whose lower half looked like a crocodile, his upper torso resembling an old man, while various vampire knights followed along behind him.


    A mobile prison, modified from a regular carriage, could be seen transporting the imprisoned Marcus Ariana from the Kingdom of Frants.


    Lycans saw their confident, proud appearances and began howling out loudly. They believed that as long as they held a valuable hostage, the Theocratic Empire would not dare to attack them.


    Agares entered the city limits through the open gateway, but also didn¡¯t forget to glance at the camp of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s Heavenly Army by the foot of the mountain range. Cold drops of sweat trickled down the vampire¡¯s face.


    ¡®Stinking bastards.¡¯


    Just knowing that the Holy Emperor was somewhere within that camp sent deathly shivers down the Vampire Duke¡¯s spine.


    What might happen if the empire¡¯s forces decided to sacrifice the hostage, and simply summoned that otherworldly archangel to sweep everything away?


    It would be total and complete annihilation for the vampires and the other undead!


    ¡®However, it should still be fine. It¡¯s not just one or two humans, after all. We have his sibling and three thousand living hostages in our grasp.¡¯


    That meant that not even the Holy Emperor would dare to make a rash move.


    Duke Agares stepped inside Chaves, and immediately felt relieved as a familiar smell wafted into his nose. It was the stench of decomposing corpses and iron in spilt blood soaking the ground below.


    Aaah, what a delectable aroma this was!


    Agares felt his anxiety and tension come undone, and his heart calmed down.


    Sniff, sniff¡­


    ¡°Mm?¡±


    Agares looked down. He discovered a rodent trying to bite into his leg, but the rodent¡¯s fangs couldn¡¯t break through the thick crocodile hide.


    ¡°Huh. This is why these brainless vermin can never¡­¡±


    The rats of this world didn¡¯t seem to have the word ¡®fear¡¯ in their vocabulary. It didn¡¯t matter what the size of their target was, these vermin had a tendency to start gnawing at stuff as long as they saw it as edible.


    Agares stomped his foot and crushed the rat to death, then started walking again.


    Now that he was more relaxed, he began feeling hunger gnawing at his belly. He didn¡¯t have much of an opportunity to hunt living livestock for the past few days, so he thought that he might as well enjoy a veritable feast in this city.


    ¡°P-please, spare me! I beg of you!¡±


    Agares was heading to the city¡¯s fortress only to hear someone¡¯s pleading voice, and turned his attention to an alleyway nearby. Vampires were driving some human survivors to a corner there.


    The vampire duke grinned in satisfaction at that sight.


    ¡®Now, behold! This was what ¡®normal¡¯ should look like.¡¯


    Vampires were meant to hunt humans down. The destiny of all humans was to not put up any resistance and be obediently devoured.


    ¡®This here is the correct order of the world, indeed! The world of vampires, that is!¡¯


    Agares quietly closed his eyes. His hearing caught the despairing cries of the humans.


    Aaah, what a pleasant sound that was.


    That desperate cry was¡­


    ¡°Kkyaaaaaahk-!¡±


    ¡­ the scream of a vampire?!


    Agares flinched in surprise and hurriedly opened his eyes so that he could look at that alleyway once more.


    ¡°B-but, how come¡­?!¡±


    A vampire who had sunk his fangs into a human victim suddenly began stumbling back, clearly in torment. This undead desperately clutched at his throat as veins visibly bulged on his face. Then, a flood of blood gushed out from his eyes, nose, mouth, and even ears.


    This vampire entered a full-on panicked state. While watching this scene, Agares could only stand still, utterly frozen to his spot.


    It didn¡¯t take long before¡­


    Splat-!


    ¡­ the vampire¡¯s body exploded.


    ¡°¡­!¡± Agares clamped his mouth shut in shock.


    That vampire, its upper torso blown to gory bits, soon caught on bluish flame and went down on its knees.


    The undead corpse was burning down to ashes, and at the same time, Agares picked up a truly detestable aura from it.


    It was none other than divinity!


    The Vampire Duke¡¯s dazed eyes shifted over to the other parts of the street. His brows gradually rose, and his expression was filled with sheer terror next.


    -Uwaaaaahk!-


    Lycans were howling out loudly in pain and suffering, while vampires were falling to their knees as blood poured out from their orifices, ultimately collapsing to the ground, never to move again.


    The desperate, deathly cries of vampires rose from seemingly every corner of the city.


    ¡°H-help me, Lord Duke¡­!¡±


    One of the vampires stumbled closer to Agares. However, the undead¡¯s body was gradually ballooning up. Before he could reach the Vampire Duke, he exploded right in front of Agares.


    Bits of torn flesh and blood splattered all over Agares¡¯s stunned face.


    He felt his mind blanking out. He just couldn¡¯t figure out what was going on in this chaos.


    ¡®J-just what is going on here¡­? What the hell is happening here right now?!¡¯


    Just as the inside of his head turned completely blank, a single thought abruptly brushed past his consciousness.


    ¡®The Theocratic Empire¡­!¡¯


    And the sole existence capable of unleashing this type of power¡­ was the Holy Emperor, Allen Olfolse!


    The image of that man¡¯s mocking, cackling face floated up in Agares¡¯s mind.


    ¡®This¡­ this has to be the Holy Emperor¡¯s handiwork!¡¯


    ¡°Holy Emperor, you baaaastard-!¡± Agares howled out as if he was trying to scream.


    And so, a holy plague began spreading through the city of Chaves.


    1


    < 183. Spreading Plague -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 351 - 184. Spreading Plague -2

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Agares headed to the Chaves fortress in the city urgently.


    His mind was falling deeper into chaos as he kept hearing tragic screams coming from several places in the city.


    ¡®Just what the hell?! What am I even dealing with here?!¡¯


    Once he arrived at the fortress, the Vampire Duke personally shoved Marcus Ariana into a prison cell before roaring out, ¡°You better tell me what the hell is going on out there!¡±


    He was shouting at the top of his lungs, and veins bulged visibly on his forehead from the sheer rage he felt.


    He grabbed Marcus¡¯s throat as if he was ready to kill the human prince right there and then, but¡­


    Marcus Ariana glared back at the vampire with a sneering face, ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s as you¡¯ve already guessed.¡±


    Agares flinched in surprise and clamped his mouth shut.


    ¡°Without a doubt, His Majesty the Holy Emperor has done something. He shall start hunting you bastards down very soon-!¡±


    ¡°You insane fool of a Priest!¡± Agares slapped Marcus¡¯s face. The man flew away and slammed into the wall of the prison cell before collapsing in a heap on the floor.


    ¡°Shackle him, now!¡±


    Lycans hurriedly entered the cell and began placing shackles on Marcus¡¯s limbs.


    ¡°And someone report to me this instant. Tell me the current situation of this bloody city, now¡­!¡±


    Under Agares¡¯s commands, the vampires began their investigation of the unfolding situation within the fiefdom of Chaves. That led them to uncovering a shocking truth.


    ¡°¡­A plague, you say?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, Your Lordship. It¡¯s true.¡± This report was being made after two days of intense investigation. His subordinate vampire continued on. ¡°The plague is spreading among our kin, Your Lordship. We estimate that the outbreak began from the ones who devoured humans.¡±


    The more Agares heard this report, the more creeped out he became, and he had to hug himself from all the goosebumps breaking out on his skin.


    ¡°In the cases of blood-creations, it means instant death. Even Progenitors will grow progressively weaker until their lives are left hanging in the balance, Your Lordship.¡±


    Agares angrily rubbed his forehead.


    ¡°Also, killing humans presents a serious problem now, sir. That¡¯s because we¡¯ve detected divinity coming from their blood. We face the danger of a new outbreak if we try to hunt humans now, sir.¡±


    ¡°And you honestly expect me to believe all this?!¡± Agares roared angrily.


    Even the vampire making the report looked flustered by what he was saying.


    Just what was a plague? Wasn¡¯t it a type of disease that spread among only the frail living humans and beasts?


    Plagues were diseases that greatly weakened their victims, and when they got too serious, they would kill their carriers outright. Such a disease was now circulating within the ranks of vampires?


    ¡®Oh my gods¡­¡¯


    It seemed that the end of the world was really here. To think that a day would come where the vampires were no longer allowed to drink human blood and had to cower from some kind of a plague that only affected them¡­


    Just what kind of atrocious thing did the Imperial Family even¡­?!


    The world had gone absolutely mad, that was for certain!


    Agares bellowed, ¡°Those cruel, insane bastards!¡±


    ¡°Sir, it¡¯s too dangerous to leave the hostages be. How about we dig a mass grave and bury all of them alive¡­?¡±


    ¡°N-no, never-! We must definitely not do that!¡± Duke Agares hurriedly shook his head.


    What was happening here was obviously a warning sent by the Theocratic Empire. They seemed to be saying that no more hostages would die from this moment on.


    So it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that, were the vampires to massacre all hostages in such a fashion, the Theocratic Empire would start marching into the city to utterly annihilate the undead!


    ¡®Or¡­ maybe they are scheming something else?¡¯


    It was also possible that they were trying to coax the vampires into killing all the hostages here, because that would make it so much easier for them to act.


    When Agares thought about it some more, he remembered that the Imperial Family bastards were basically a group of insane mass murderers.


    How did he even forget about what happened back in Aslan?! The empire actually went in and utterly destroyed several Aslan cities just because a couple of Imperial Princes were ¡®held hostage¡¯ by the Aslan royal court.


    Hell, the Imperial bastards even declared that Aslan would be wiped from existence if the Imperial Princes were not released immediately, or they were found to be injured in some way.


    Only now did Agares realise that it was rather¡­ abnormal to expect to see a regular hostage drama play out against opponents like that.


    ¡°¡­We shall stop the spread of this plague first.¡±


    ¡°But sir, we don¡¯t know how¡­¡±


    ¡°A plague of this scale surely couldn¡¯t have come from the outside, but originated from inside.¡± Agares issued a new order to his subordinate vampires. ¡°There must be saboteurs at play! Go and find them, now!¡±


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    It was oh-so-easy to spread a kind of plague that would work perfectly against the vampires. By utilising the survivors and the overflowing packs of vermin, as well as the well-constructed sewage system, it was shockingly easy to circulate a fast-acting plague.


    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was in the middle of day or late at night, the desperate cries of vampires could be heard. Lycans grew sick one by one, while zombies began disappearing from our view.


    The process to purify this city had begun in earnest before anyone had noticed it.


    ¡°Over here, sir. This person is Carreira, who can be trusted, sir. He¡¯s an excellent follower of Goddess Gaia¡¯s teachings!¡±


    Rover brought many trustworthy survivors to me during the day while doing his best to evade the eyes of the vampires and lycans. What I did to them was to heal their diseases, and at the same time I cast my Blessing on them.


    The people receiving my Blessing became uber-healthy and filled with overflowing vitality. As a bonus, their blood was temporarily imbued with my divinity, which caused much pain and torment, or even outright death, to those foolish vampires trying to prey on them.


    ¡°Uncle, I caught some, too!¡±


    Kids caught many vermin and brought them over to me. I Blessed the rats as well.


    After releasing them, they would go out to bite and gnaw at the undead, thereby infecting the vampires with divinity.


    The rats that were supposed to bring about a calamity to the people through various diseases were now granting Blessings to humans while gifting the vampires with plagues that made the undead vomit out blood and die miserably.


    At most, a week. That¡¯s how long my Blessings would remain active for. That should be enough to sow much confusion and chaos, though.


    I stared at the interior of the church. Before long, lots more people had shown up here to offer their ardent prayers, their hands tightly locked together in praying gestures.


    [Your Majesty.]


    As I continued to gift the survivors with my Blessing, Charlotte¡¯s faint voice entered my ears. Due to the adverse effect of the abnormal weather, it was a lot harder than expected to hear her words.


    We couldn¡¯t get in touch too frequently. Still, she had managed to get in contact with Gril¡¯s team and was able to provide me with some updates.


    [I¡¯ve heard about the current situation in there through Gril¡¯s report, sire. He said that there is a plague spreading around through¡­ granting Blessings?]


    I kinda sensed that Charlotte was getting flustered while talking to me. But then again, she must¡¯ve found it rather odd that a Blessing could spread around like a deadly plague.


    The thing was, a holy Necromancer itself was a contradictory and common sense-breaking existence to begin with.


    I replied to her, [Where are they?]


    [They have just got in contact with the acquaintance in question and are about to find out the situation and the layout of the feudal lord¡¯s castle, sire. Also, Duke Agares has apparently entered the castle recently.]


    It was rather nice to communicate through the Aztal Rune like this, but there were some limitations to consider. For instance, the weather played a big factor, and I could connect to only a finite number of people.


    Right now, I could only connect to Charlotte. If I wanted to chat to a lot of people at once, we had to be in a very close proximity to one another.


    [Okay, got it. What about my brother, Marcus?]


    [It seems that Duke Agares has brought him to the city, as well, sire.]


    With that, we had more or less figured out the situation of this place.


    ¡®Marcus is in the city¡¯s fortress, huh?¡¯


    In that case, all that was left to do was to infiltrate the fortress, extract Marcus, take command of the survivors, and evacuate them to somewhere safe.


    The biggest issue I could foresee with that plan was with the vampire bastards staying quiet and not doing anything crazy. That meant that I needed to start an incident so big that they would be paralysed by confusion and chaos.


    ¡­Meaning, I better create the ¡®chaos¡¯ itself.


    [Also, Your Majesty, Marquis Hans Jerurami has arrived in the near vicinity of the fiefdom of Chaves, sire. I believe it will be possible to contact him now.]


    [I see. Thanks. I¡¯ll try to call him up on my own.]


    [Understood, sire.]


    The connection to Charlotte cut off.


    While keeping my fingers crossed, I sent out a call to Hans. [Hey, Hans.]


    There was no response.


    [Hans?]


    [¡­It seems that Your Majesty has taken it upon yourself to murder this little old me. I¡¯m merely a lowly Alchemist, yet you wish me to face a Vampire Duke, sire?]


    That dissatisfied voice I hadn¡¯t heard in a long while finally came through the magic communication line.


    I ended up chuckling out loud, causing the people in the church to stare at me while tilting their heads.


    I addressed him again, [I guess we can communicate normally now.]


    [That¡¯s because I¡¯m near the city of Chaves, sire. However, the weather is really, really hot here. There¡¯s a serious danger of the communication cutting off abruptly.]


    [Actually, I wanted to ask you about something.]


    [Regarding what, sire?]


    I finally asked Hans about this thing I had been curious about for a long while. [I want to know more about Purgatory, Hans.]


    [Purgatory, Your Majesty?]


    [Yeah. That Purgatory.]


    While chatting to Hans, I continued to keep myself occupied by Blessing the survivors. I even revived the dead vermin as zombies, making them snoop around the surroundings for me in order to figure out a way to infiltrate the city¡¯s fortress.


    It shouldn¡¯t have been that hard to figure that out, but then, the vampires had grown deathly wary of the plague and made it near impossible for a zombie rat to sneak into the castle.


    Man, it¡¯d been so much nicer to learn the interior layout of the fortress¡­


    While I was thinking about that, the eyes of a zombie rat caught something interesting, and transmitted the scene to me.


    It was about a group of people cautiously walking into the underground sewage tunnel, currently filled with holy water. The group consisted of Gril, Adolf, and Yuria, plus one other person acting like a guide.


    ¡®Oho? That must be that acquaintance Gril was talking about.¡¯


    They must¡¯ve heard about the current situation from Charlotte and were currently sussing out a suitable infiltration route right now.


    I began pondering something after seeing them. And then, I directed the zombie rat to chase after Adolf. Although it was dangerous, there was something they needed to do for me.


    That was to infiltrate the fortress itself. Right now.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Gril, Adolf and Yuria were walking in the sewer tunnel. The person guiding them through the waterworks was the acquaintance of Gril, a man named Paelon.


    ¡°Thank, Paelon. I appreciate that you¡¯re helping us out like this, even though it¡¯s really dangerous!¡± Gril spoke up, but Paelon could only smile awkwardly.


    He then scanned the underground waterways with a stunned face. Not a speck of light could enter here, so this whole sewer system should be covered in pitch-black darkness, but instead it was glowing brightly.


    All thanks to the flowing holy water, of course.


    ¡°W-well, I¡¯m doing my best to survive out here, after all. However, I have to say, you guys are really incredible Priests. To think that you can even spread plagues that only affect the vampires!¡± Paelon replied, causing troubled expressions to float up on Yuria and Gril¡¯s faces.


    Honestly speaking, they had no idea how a plague of this kind came to circulate within this city. They did hear something from Charlotte through the communication, but¡­


    {Someone else has infiltrated the city as well. I pray that you don¡¯t unduly trouble that person during your mission.}


    Since Charlotte, who was a Marquis, sounded quite respectful when talking about that mystery person, he or she must¡¯ve been someone of a very high station. Both Yuria and Gril were puzzled by the revelation, but Adolf could more or less guess who that person might be.


    ¡°If you keep going this way, you¡¯ll reach the tunnel that directly connects to the fortress, everyone.¡± Paelon pointed to a tunnel up ahead and spoke to the group.


    ¡°Thanks, man! I really appreciate it.¡± Gril hugged his acquaintance tightly, then spoke to Adolf next. ¡°Adolf, you should report to Charlotte right away!¡±


    He then tilted his head in puzzlement.


    That was because he could see Adolf squatting on the floor, intently staring at a little mouse in front of him.


    ¡°¡­I had no idea that Uncle Adolf could speak to rats,¡± said Yuria.


    ¡°Y-yeah, you¡¯re right. Me neither.¡±


    Adolf stood back up after picking up the mouse. He then looked back at Gril and Yuria. ¡°We have a new mission.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Really?¡±


    Did he chat to Charlotte, even though he looked like he was playing with a mouse?


    ¡°This time, the command has been issued directly by His Majesty the Holy Emperor.¡±


    The expressions of both Yuria and Gril hardened.


    ¡°We are to get captured by the vampires in order to infiltrate the castle.¡± Adolf continued on, then stared at Paelon next. ¡°And you, sir, are to inform the vampires of our presence.¡±


    Paelon was absolutely stupefied at Adolf¡¯s words.


    **


    Solid shackles were placed on the arms of Adolf, Gril and Yuria. They were then dragged to the underground prison of the Chaves fortress.


    Gril began pouring out all sorts of insults at his friend through the prison bars. ¡°You stinking traitor bastard! I swear, I¡¯m gonna bury you in the slime sh*t pit later!¡±


    ¡°You did well, livestock,¡± a lycan sneered and addressed Paelon.


    He rubbed his hands subserviently. And while trying to gauge the lycan¡¯s mood, he replied, ¡°T-thank you, sir.¡±


    ¡°As your reward, we¡¯ll let you live for a bit longer.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Paelon continued to bow and kowtow while cold sweat caked his face. He then snuck a glance at Gril, looking rather worried as he did so.


    ¡°¡­Well, we somehow got inside, and without too much trouble either,¡± said Yuria after Paelon and the lycan left. She smacked her lips. ¡°But there¡¯s not a lot we can do here.¡±


    The infiltration part of the mission was rather easy. Paelon prattled about the group to the lycans, and the undead swiftly showed up to arrest them.


    Adolf, Gril, and Yuria obediently put their weapons down, then surrendered without any resistance. They had managed to enter the prison, but now¡­


    The problem came after that. All of their equipment had been confiscated. Even if they had received intense training, there was still very little they could do in this place without any proper equipment.


    ¡°I guess all that¡¯s waiting for us now is getting tortured. Now that I think about it, I really hated going through those anti-torture training sessions back then¡­¡± Yuria muttered out.


    Gril groaned at that. ¡°Even then, we gotta do something.¡±


    ¡°No. This is enough,¡± Adolf replied positively for some reason.


    Yuria shrugged her shoulders, then asked him, ¡°What are you going to do?¡±


    Adolf pulled out a rat from inside his clothing and placed it on the floor.


    Gril and Yuria stared at this little critter and tilted their heads in confusion, before shifting their gazes back to Adolf, their expressions clearly asking, ¡®Have you finally lost your mind?¡¯


    ¡°¡­What¡¯s up with this little guy?¡± Yuria finally asked.


    ¡°What were you planning to do by releasing a rat?¡± Gril followed with a question of his own.


    ¡°This is no ordinary mouse,¡± said Adolf with a meaningful smile. ¡°It¡¯s actually His Majesty¡¯s mouse.¡±


    The zombie rat escaped through the prison bars and quickly scampered around the prison¡¯s corridors. This creature¡¯s vision was currently being shared with Allen, and it began scanning each and every cell through the bars.


    One contained a cold corpse, another held an emaciated prisoner. They weren¡¯t what he was looking for.


    Not here?


    In that case, somewhere deeper in the prison, then!


    The rat continued to scurry down the corridor, eventually reaching a certain location right at the end of the prison: a steel door.


    The zombie rat climbed up this steel door and peeked its head through the hole meant to observe the situation inside the cell.


    Allen, still sharing the vision with the zombie rat, grinned deeply. ¡®Found him!¡¯


    There he was, a young man collapsed on the floor, his limbs bound in steel shackles.


    Marcus Ariana. He was in this cell!


    < 184. Spreading Plague -2 > Fin.


    (TL: Only one chapter today¡­ 19-March-2021)

 Chapter 352 - 185. Naglfar -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    While walking in the sewer tunnel, I flipped open a bible.


    It was just ol¡¯ regular bible you might find in every church around here. All those books, like this one, contained the topic I was interested in.


    Information about Purgatory, a world where countless evil spirits lived.


    Apparently, this world was covered in an ash-coloured sky, and grim reapers could be seen wandering around everywhere. Zombies filled every nook and cranny your eyes could see, while warships made out of bones cruised on lakes filled with blood.


    This bible featured an illustration depicting this kind of scene within its pages. Yup, it looked eerily similar to what I saw when the warp gate to Purgatory was opened up during the Holy King Coronation.


    Whoever the author of this tome was, he did a pretty solid job with the illustrations, at least!


    ¡°Halt! Who the hell are you?¡±


    My steps taking me forward in the tunnel came to a halt and I looked up and away from the book. There were a couple of lycans present in the sewers, even though holy water was flowing down here.


    Huh. They must have been acting as guards since this part of the sewers led directly to the fortress. As for the cloth wrapped around their faces, it must¡¯ve been to prevent them from breathing in the holy water vapours.


    I was so absorbed in thinking about Purgatory that I didn¡¯t even notice that I had reached my destination.


    I stared at the two lycans absentmindedly. Mm. In situations like this one¡­


    ¡°Howdy!¡±


    Since it had been a while, why don¡¯t I go with a playful approach here?


    I could see the Lycans flinch slightly before lowering their guard.


    ¡°Looks like he¡¯s a loon.¡±


    ¡°We even have a lunatic showing up in this place now.¡±


    Here was a suspicious-looking guy wearing a bird-beak mask and a robe nonchalantly strolling all alone through the underground sewer tunnels. I had even happily greeted the lycans, too.


    Of course they would think that I had lost most of my marbles.


    ¡°What do you mean, I¡¯m a loon? You¡¯re being rude.¡± I took off my bird-beak mask. ¡°Do you even know who I am to say stuff like that?¡±


    The lycans frowned deeply, but then, they flinched grandly after realising who I was. In sheer shock, they tried to stumble back, but then¡­


    The head of the first lycan exploded.


    In my right hand was the bible, while my left held a musket aimed at the dead undead beast. I grinned brightly. ¡°I pray that Goddess Gaia¡¯s blessing be with you lot.¡±


    ¡°H-H-Holy Em¡­!¡±


    Blam-!


    I made sure to blow up the other lycan¡¯s head, too.


    Since we were in the underground tunnels, surely the gunshot wouldn¡¯t be heard outside.


    I stared at the staircase leading up to the fortress.


    Marcus¡¯ current location had already been discovered. Once I rescued him, there would be nothing holding me back.


    ¡°Well, then.¡± I sent out a communication to Hans. [Hey, Hans. Do your best to buy lots of time, alright?]


    Time to begin my Operation: Hostage Rescue.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    A carriage trundled along on the road. Escorted by several Paladins, the row of wagons following behind this vehicle carried provisions and supplies meant to feed the countless refugees.


    Hans Jerurami was riding in the carriage, and stared at his legs, which were trembling with sheer anxiety. Charged with being the Empire¡¯s chief negotiator, he was on his way to ¡®negotiate¡¯ with Duke Agares.


    As they neared the capital of Chaves fiefdom, the communication crystal ball clutched tightly in his hand suddenly began emitting a bright glow.


    [Hey, Hans. Do your best to buy lots of time, alright?]


    ¡®Well, sire. Even if you say that, I¡¯ll have you know that I¡¯m an Alchemist, not a bloody negotiator!¡¯


    Hans held his forehead helplessly. He had been grilled by His Majesty on all matters related to Purgatory, but now, he was even told to sit face to face with a Vampire Duke?


    Wasn¡¯t this too much?


    ¡°Are you nervous, Lord Hans?¡±


    Hans glanced next to him. A young woman with a mature, dignified air about her sat there. She had deep blue eyes and wavy golden hair.


    However, she was clad in a set of light armour, not some attendant¡¯s attire, in preparation for the upcoming battle. Gauntlets were fit to her fists, while her lengthy hair had been tied neatly behind her head.


    ¡®It¡¯s a relief that a Saintess is accompanying me, at least!¡¯ Hans thought to himself, before speaking up, ¡°Lady Alice, aren¡¯t you nervous as well?¡±


    ¡°Of course, very much so. Without a doubt, His Majesty must¡¯ve done something outlandish and reckless once more,¡± Alice replied with a short groan under her breath.


    The Astoria family had been charged with aiding the Imperial Family for what felt like an eternity. Nothing would change just because she started grumbling now.


    Hans looked outside the carriage¡¯s window. His vehicle had split off from the rest of the wagons as the procession headed towards the refugee camp under Charlotte¡¯s command, aiming to finish their job of delivering supplies.


    Only the carriage ridden by Hans and Alice continued on towards the capital of Chaves fiefdom.


    The gateway in the city¡¯s defensive outer wall opened up.


    ¡°It¡¯s finally begun,¡± Alice murmured softly and Hans nodded in silence.


    Vampires surrounded the carriage and escorted it along.


    Since Hans was here as the Empire¡¯s negotiator under the pretext of a hostage trade, the undead wouldn¡¯t try to harm him during the negotiation process.


    ¡®At least, that¡¯s¡­ what I need to tell myself.¡¯ Hans licked and chewed his dry lips.


    The procession left the city centre and eventually reached the fortress. The vampires glared at the carriage with intense eyes.


    The vehicle¡¯s door opened up, and Hans exited, followed by Alice.


    ¡°Come this way, livestock.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Hans wordlessly nodded and followed after the guiding vampire. Alice, acting as his escort, stuck closely to his side.


    The destination they were led off to was the fortress¡¯s VIP chamber. When the doorway opened up, Hans instinctively froze.


    ¡®So, that¡¯s the Vampire Duke¡­¡¯


    A creature with the lower torso of a crocodile and the upper torso of an old man stood there. Maybe it was impossible for him to sit down, because he remained standing on the luxurious cloth laid out on the floor. In front of him was an empty couch.


    When Hans stood there in daze and didn¡¯t move, Alice prompted him, ¡°Lord Hans.¡±


    He nodded belatedly and settled down on the couch, directly opposite Agares. And then¡­ the negotiations began.


    There were no such things as greetings or exchanging pleasantries.


    Unlike bargaining with humans, the vampires were existences that simply had to be killed, no matter what. It was the same for the vampires, as well.


    So, both parties tacitly agreed to forego any useless ceremony.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see Ruppel and Duke Kirum with you. How come?¡±


    Agares knew who he was dealing with today. This human was none other than Hans Jerurami, currently one of the top ten most influential individuals in the Theocratic Empire .


    He was deeply trusted by the Holy Emperor, and was acknowledged as the expert in all sorts of alchemical techniques. He was also responsible for increasing the Empire¡¯s military might by thirty percent in the past five years.


    As far as the vampires were concerned, this human was a target that simply had to die, no matter the cost!


    Hans crossed his arms in front of his chest and replied in an unperturbed voice, ¡°You must show us first that His Highness Lord Marcus is still safe.¡±


    ¡°Have you forgotten that we have plenty of other hostages? Marcus Ariana, three thousand survivors in this city, and the spies you fools sent here. Do you not understand who holds the advantage in this negotiation?¡±


    ¡°What will you do if we decide to abandon the hostages?¡±


    ¡°If that was the case, you wouldn¡¯t even have shown up here in the first place. Besides, aren¡¯t you too much of a coward who doesn¡¯t have the guts to do that?¡±


    ¡°What makes you so confident of such a thing?¡±


    The corners of Agares¡¯s lips curled up derisively, and he pointed at Hans. ¡°The proof is you, shivering away in fear like that.¡±


    Hans froze up, and lowered his head to look at his own legs. They were trembling away without him even being conscious of it.


    ¡°On top of that, you¡¯re also sweating, too.¡±


    Indeed, a trickle of cold sweat dribbled down Hans¡¯s cheek.


    ¡°Unlike your reputation, you¡¯re rather cowardly, aren¡¯t you? Surely, you wouldn¡¯t have volunteered for this task, either. Does that mean the Holy Emperor has decided to get rid of a pawn?¡±


    ¡°Ah, mm, well, that is¡­¡± Hans looked flustered and lost for a moment there. He sucked in some air to control his breathing, then replied, ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate for you, but I¡¯m not so gutless that I¡¯d get scared by some mosquitoes.¡±


    ¡°Huh. That¡¯s an entertaining way to bluff.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°In reality, aren¡¯t you nervous? Nervous that, right now, right in this place¡­¡±


    Vampires and lycans began ambling around suspiciously near the couch.


    ¡°¡­we might try to reap your lives?¡±


    Despite all that bloodthirsty pressure heaped on her, Alice remained unperturbed, her hands demurely gathered in front of her.


    Hans saw her example, then swallowed down his dry throat. ¡®Right, this bastard is deliberately trying to scare me.¡¯


    The really scared ones should be the vampires, instead. Well, there was an outbreak of a deadly plague doing the rounds in this city, after all.


    Besides, the Heavenly Army had also set a camp outside the city limits. The vampires should be feeling really anxious, since they were basically trapped inside a prison with no way out.


    The proof of their anxiety was Agares yapping on and on, obviously trying to scare him like this.


    [Hans. It¡¯s done.]


    A familiar voice came from the communication crystal ball in his inner pocket. Alice seemed to have heard that, because she slowly separated her gathered hands, then clenched her fists.


    ¡°Nervous, you say? Ahaha. Yes, you¡¯re right. Nervous. That¡¯s right,¡± Hans spoke up while exaggeratedly nodding away several times. He then loosened his collar a little. ¡°Of course I¡¯m nervous. I mean, my job was to keep you occupied in this room for the time being, after all. But then again, you did quite well to waste time by not seriously negotiating but picking fault with me, instead. Oh, dear stupid mosquito.¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    Just as Agares began cocking his head in puzzlement, the door to the VIP chamber was flung wide open.


    ¡°D-Duke Agares, sir!¡±

 Chapter 353 - 185. Naglfar -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The Vampire Duke turned his head and stared at that doorway.


    A vampire, its body riddled with injuries, cried out urgently, ¡°Someone infiltrated the fortress, sir! Not sure how he knew, but that bastard went straight for the cell with Marcus Ariana inside, and¡­!¡±


    Agares¡¯s eyes widened.


    Could it be?


    The Vampire Duke glared back at Hans sharply.


    ¡°I heard that His Majesty told you this in his communique to you.¡± Hans rose cautiously from the couch and stepped back. ¡°If His Highness Lord Marcus was found to be injured in any shape or form, then¡­¡± He did his best to force his nervous frown to shift into a grin. ¡°¡­he¡¯d rip all of your heads off personally.¡±


    Could it be that these humans were simply distractions?!


    ¡°You bastard-!¡±


    Agares kicked the floor and shot forward, his arm reaching out towards the human. But at the same time, the scruff of Hans¡¯s neck was grabbed by someone and he was yanked back out of the vampire¡¯s reach.


    Alice¡¯s left hand was pulling Hans back, while her right was curled up into a fist. Powerful divinity gushed out from her gauntlets as she sucked in a deep breath.


    She directly punched Agares¡¯s extended hand.


    KA-BOOM¨C!


    A loud explosion went off in the VIP chamber. The doorway and the windows blew apart and the vampires were flung back.


    As the choking dust cloud filled up the corridor, Alice dashed out from the room carrying Hans under her arm. She urgently dashed away from there.


    Agares swung his crocodile tail to sweep away the dust cloud, then stared at his hand. The wrinkled arm of the old man was literally melting down.


    That divinity-laden punch was quite fierce, indeed!


    Agares roared out, ¡°You dare to make a mockery out of me?!¡±


    Other vampires around him quickly piped up, ¡°We shall give chase, sir!¡±


    However, Agares began alternating his glare between the corridor Alice was running away in and the other corridor leading to the underground prison.


    Who should he go after in this case? The bloodline of the Imperial Family, or those two livestock?


    There wasn¡¯t much time to agonise over this dilemma, either.


    ¡°We shall head to the prison-!¡± Agares spun around and headed towards the prison area. Since the Imperials went to this much trouble to plan this whole thing out, that hostage must¡¯ve held a tremendous amount of value. Marcus could not be allowed to slip through the vampires¡¯ fingers, in that case!


    Hans, still clinging to Alice for his dear life, pulled out the communication crystal ball. ¡°Your Majesty, it¡¯s now-! Those bastards have¡­ Eh? Where are you now, sire?¡±


    [Nice work, Hans. We¡¯ve¡­]


    **


    At the same time, in the underground sewer tunnels¡­


    The Aztal Rune was radiating its brilliant golden light all around Allen, who was still wearing his bird-beak mask.


    [We¡¯ve managed to make our escape just now.]


    He was urgently running through a sewage tunnel, with Marcus, Adolf, Gril, and Yuria in tow.


    The rescue operation was a success. And when he¡¯d send out his signal¡­


    All the remaining survivors in the city would start moving, according to Rover¡¯s instructions. But for the sake of their safe evacuation, a massive amount of chaos was an absolute necessity.


    Allen extracted Avaldi¡¯s Spear, now radiating a beautiful golden light. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s your turn to step up, oh former head of the Church of Caiolium.¡±


    That¡¯s right, that dude who, in his desire to become the next Pope, had started a rebellion all those years ago. The one who had also used the Aztal Rune¡­


    ¡°Mikael.¡±


    Allen plunged the Avaldi¡¯s Spear into the flowing holy water below.


    **


    ¡°Dammit all to hell¨C!¡± Agares cursed in sheer rage. He held his head while staring at the empty prison cell. ¡°Go after them! Chase them down, noooow!¡±


    He roared out his command, but his fellow vampires could only reply in faltering voices, ¡°B-but, sir. They fled through the underground sewer system, which is currently filled with holy water, and that¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°You dare to use that as your excuse?!¡± Agares¡¯s arm shot out and grabbed the head of the vampire who had dared to reply. ¡°Just how the hell did you position our combat forces that we¡¯ve ended up in this mess?! Why didn¡¯t you buy more time until I got here?!¡±


    ¡°S-sir, it was the Holy Emperor. The Holy Emperor, sir!¡±


    Agares froze in shock.


    ¡°The one who infiltrated the fortress was¡­ the Holy Emperor¡­¡±


    All strength abandoned Agares¡¯s hand grip on the vampire¡¯s head. His irises were trembling as he rubbed his face. All manner of nightmarish thoughts flitted in and out of his head nonstop.


    The Holy Emperor had snuck into the city and spread around some kind of a plague to stop the undead from killing the hostages. He had also somehow figured out where Marcus Ariana was being held and rescued his older brother, too!


    With that, there was nothing holding the Holy Emperor back.


    It should soon start. Soon, the empire¡¯s attack would¡­!


    ¡°Get ready for battle immediately! Their invasion will begin at any¡­?!¡±


    BOOM-!


    The ground below their feet rumbled ominously. The vibration was powerful enough to rock the whole fortress.


    Agares used all four of his crocodile legs as well as his tail to secure himself to the floor. ¡°¡­What was that?!¡±


    An earthquake?


    An unexplainable worry quickly took over his thoughts. A stench so detestable that it sent shivers down his spine suddenly began stinging his nostrils. That smell belonged to holy water.


    ¡°¡­We need to figure out the current situation outside!¡±


    Agares hastily turned around to leave the prison. The other vampires followed him as well.


    The Vampire Duke headed to the highest floor of the fortress. He flung the door open and discovered it was merely a storage room. He threw the window open to look outside.


    The vampires following him discovered the spectacle taking place beyond the windows and clamped their mouths shut in shock.


    ¡°T-t-the waves of holy water¡­?¡±


    The sewers were exploding like geysers from all corners of the city of Chaves. The holy water jetted out from the sewer access holes found on the streets and began utterly flooding the interior of the city.


    Zombies were washed away by the waves of holy water and instantly vaporised, while the vampires were set alight in bluish flames. Almost in the blink of an eye, nearly twenty thousand undead combatants were wiped out of existence.


    Agares looked lower and noticed that the waves of the holy water were crashing into the fortress before being repelled. Thankfully, the waves weren¡¯t strong enough to break down the solid walls of the fortress.


    Agares¡¯s eyes shook even harder than they had earlier. With this, they no longer had an escape path!


    ¡°¡­Get ready to wage a castle defence!¡± Agares ordered.


    ¡°S-sir, are you planning to fight?¡±


    Of course they had to fight. That was the only choice they had left at this point in time!


    Agares shifted his gaze over to the outer wall of the city some distance away. The gates leading outside were wide open, and the survivors were hurriedly escaping through them.


    Trying to capture them and control them was an impossibility now. That meant that the vampires really had no choice but to dig in and defend this fortress.


    ¡°We shall fight until the end!¡± Agares roared out. ¡°Yes, fight until the end of your lives! The Vampire King¡¯s glory will be with us all! And if we die alongside those Imperial bastards, then it will become the honour and glory for our Vampire King!¡±


    The Vampire Duke didn¡¯t stop there, and even roused up his demonic energy when roaring out his next command.


    ¡°All of you, prepare for battle!¡± His Spirit Speech echoed throughout the fortress of Chaves. ¡°Do not forget your pride, and fight for the honour of our Vampire King¨C!¡±


    He roared out loudly so that the fighting spirits of the vampires would be stoked. His voice did indeed rouse the vampires up and get them ready.


    To them, the Vampire King was an absolute being. Now that His Majesty¡¯s name had been brought up, there was no need for them to hesitate or falter.


    Vampires and lycans all roared out in unison. They thrust their weapons high up, opened their maws wide and cried out together.


    ¡°For the glory of our Vampire Ki-?!¡±


    BOOM-!!!


    The ground rumbled once more.


    The vampires all forgot about roaring out at that moment and urgently grabbed onto the nearby railings to secure themselves. Their gazes shifted over to the ground outside the fortress, currently submerged in holy water.


    BOOM-!


    The holy water¡¯s surface rippled grandly.


    One of the vampires dazedly looked over to the outer gates, and noticed that they were slowly closing up.


    When the interior of the city was completely isolated from the outside, even more holy water began filling up the enclosed space.


    Ka-booooom-!


    The well-manicured ground suddenly rose up and exploded spectacularly. Bricks and nearby buildings flew up before crashing back down as piles of debris. The gigantic water spout rose up several hundred metres into the air.


    And the ¡®thing¡¯ that could be spied among the cascading waterfall, was¡­


    ¡°A¡­ ship?!¡±


    It was a battleship!


    The brows of all the vampires shot up high in astonishment.


    As the waves of holy water spread out, a battleship over one hundred metres long rose up from beneath the surface of the water before settling down. It crushed the ground and destroyed what remained of the surrounding buildings.


    Agares couldn¡¯t help but swallow nervously at this spectacle.


    -Now, offer your exaltations!-


    A Spirit Speech imbued with divinity resounded out from the deck of the warship.


    -Here is a miracle of the gods!-


    This white ship was actually constructed solely out of bones. Hundreds of lengthy oars stretched out from its hull and plunged into the water¡¯s surface. It rode on the waves of holy water to surge forward.


    -Know his greatness, and shiver in fear from his omnipotence!-


    Boom!¡­ Boom!¡­ Boom!¡­


    Dozens of cannons were lined up on either side of the vessel.


    -Kka-aaaahk!-


    Countless mummies showed up on deck, howling and screeching raucously, their hands wielding various muskets and scimitars.


    -I, the founder of a brand-new religious order¡­!-


    The sails of the battleship unfurled grandly, and the tattered cloth making up the huge sails flapped in the air, announcing its maiden voyage.


    A certain eye-catching figure could be seen standing amidst all the mummies on the bone deck. It was a grim reaper covered in pure white robes and hood, and wielding a frightening scythe.


    -¡­Mikael shall command thee!-


    This creature¡¯s robes flapped in the winds as the glowing eyeballs within its skull flared up brightly. Its scythe was now pointing at the fortress where the terrified Agares was currently hiding.


    -Kneel before His Holy Majesty, and sing hymns of exaltation to him!-


    The battleship of the dead, the Naglfar.


    The ship of the dead began its assault against the fortress.


    < 185. Naglfar -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: Naglfar is pronounced ¡°Nah-gl-far¡± in case you¡¯re unsure. It¡¯s also the mythical ship originating from the Norse mythology that shows up during Ragnarok.)

 Chapter 354 - 186. Naglfar -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The battleship of the dead, Naglfar.


    It was now setting off on its maiden voyage, but not out on the ocean, but on land. More specifically, within the city of Chaves, currently submerged in holy water!


    -Fuu-wuu¡­ Fuu-wuu¡­-


    Many skeletons below deck were rowing the oars as whitish breath gushed out from their bony jaws. The mummies clinging to the ropes connected to the sails cackled ominously as they were pulled up.


    The worn-down, shabby fabric making up the sails flapped grandly in the air as the great ship forged ahead. All the buildings in its way were mercilessly destroyed and leveled to the ground.


    -Now, sing! Sing the melodies exalting his greatness!- Mikael roared out, and at his command, the holy undead began howling and screeching out to ¡®sing¡¯ a bizarre tune that no one living could possibly understand.


    It was at that moment that Allen set foot on the ship¡¯s deck, now teeming with activity.


    The cackling of the undead came to an abrupt halt. The grim reaper covered in the ice-white robe, Mikael, jumped up in surprise and looked behind him. He rejoiced after noticing Allen under the bird-beak mask.


    -Oh, ohhh! My noble and great master!-


    Mikael flew in the air to reach Allen¡¯s position, and went down to his knees. He put the trademark scythe of a grim reaper down next to him, raised both of his hands high up, and cried out in reverence, -Oh, my master, who deigned to save this lost and wandering soul, please command me!-


    The mummies all wrapped tightly in their bandages also knelt down and bowed their heads.


    For a while there, a quiet stillness flowed across the ship¡¯s deck, the only sound being the holy water tumbling down like a waterfall.


    Torrential rain began falling from the heavens once more, raindrops pelting the surface of the ship with ferocious momentum.


    Allen wished to sit down, prompting bones to rise up from the deck to create a bone throne for him to settle down on. Once seated, he spoke up, ¡°Mikael.¡±


    -Yes, master.-


    The grim reaper Mikael bowed his head even deeper. He brought his hands together and began praying before Allen¡¯s feet.


    The Holy Emperor shifted his gaze and glared at the fortress in the distance. He spotted the face of Duke Agares in one of the top floor windows. That creature might have been a proud vampire once upon a time, but now, he was making the truly feeble face of a wane old man.


    The vampire¡¯s fighting spirit had been broken. The bloodsuckers were all filled to the brim with fear right now.


    That¡¯s why¡­


    ¡°The ones who lead false lives dared to insult me.¡±


    ¡­It was time to pass judgement on them!


    Mikael flinched and carefully raised his head up. The mummies also raised their bowed heads in unison as if they shared one body and mind with him, their glowing eyes all focused on Allen.


    ¡°Not only did they dare to imprison my family member, they even physically harmed him. And although it¡¯s another nation, they also dared to use innocent people¡¯s lives as their playthings. Now¡­¡± Allen slammed the end of Avaldi¡¯s Spear on the floor and commanded them, ¡°¡­teach them an unforgettable lesson on who we really are!¡±


    -We shall abide by Your Majesty the Holy Emperor¡¯s holy decree, and¡­- Mikael slowly rose back to his feet while picking up his scythe. He swung the frightening weapon around and roared at the battleship¡¯s crew members, -¡­begin the reign of looting and pillaging!-


    The holy undead broke out in eerie, pirate-like cackles.


    The ship of bone advanced towards its destination at its top speed.


    The vampires in the fortress fell into a state of panic as the Naglfar rapidly drew closer.


    ¡°Your Lordship! Sir!¡± one of the vampires urgently called out to Duke Agares. ¡°Please, sir! Give us your orders!¡±


    Agares still had a stupefied expression on his face.


    ¡®How did things end up in this manner?¡¯


    The vampires had caught a valuable hostage. They then arrived at the location of the negotiation. Since the negotiator from the human side looked scared, Agares thought that he was holding the advantage.


    He began believing that he¡¯d get to taste victory against the Theocratic Empire, and also against the one and only Holy Emperor, but now¡­


    In the end, this was the end result.


    ¡°We¡­ we wage a battle¡­ of castle defence.¡± Agares wiped away all the sweat caking his forehead with his trembling hand. ¡°The bastards only have a single battleship! Do not forget that we are on land. There¡¯s no way that a ship like that can freely move about on land!¡±


    ¡°I-I see.¡± the vampire nodded away after realising that it had forgotten about where they were: on dry land.


    ¡°Use this fortress¡¯s siege weapons! We shall¡­¡± Agares locked his glare on the bone ship filled with the holy undead and roared out, ¡°¡­Sink that undead vessel!¡±


    The rest of the vampires hurriedly got to work at Agares¡¯s command.


    ¡°Prepare the siege weapons!¡±


    ¡°Bring in the ballistas and catapults! Now!¡±


    Lycans dashed around while yelling out, commanding the zombies to shuffle towards the fortress¡¯s siege weapons. Soon, the ballistas took aim at the ship of the dead in the distance.


    Lycans took over the precise aiming from there, their murderous glares locked on that eerie vessel. As long as it entered their firing range, fifteen ballistas and ten catapults would surely sink the ship of the dead for good!


    That¡¯s what they thought, but¡­


    -Turn towards starboard side!- Mikael roared out. Mummies grabbed onto the ship¡¯s large helm and spun it to starboard.


    The sails quickly changed angle, while the oars sticking out from the port side began rowing even faster.


    The warship was changing its heading. The lycans were left flustered by this sudden manoeuvre.


    ¡°They changed their direction?!¡±


    ¡°Are they trying to escape after spotting our siege weapons?¡±


    One of the vampires reacted quite differently from the undead beasts, his complexion paling instantly. ¡°N-no, wait! They are getting ready to attack us!¡±


    -Prepare to shell the enemy location!-


    The cannons lined up on the sides of the warship now pointed at the fortress. Mummies split their mouths open wide at the cannons. Their withered skin stretched as they breathed into the weapons.


    Through the power of the Aztal Rune, divinity flooded into the cannons.


    -Fire!-


    KA-BOOOOM¨C!


    The ship of the dead shook from the recoil. Well over a dozen-plus cannons spat out ferocious flames at the same moment. In the blink of an eye, shells resembling shooting stars reached the fortress walls.


    ¡­And they exploded spectacularly.


    ¡°Uwaaaaahk!¡±


    The wall blew apart and debris tumbled down. The undead who were directly struck by the shelling were vaporised in an instant. Meanwhile, those who were caught in the blast radius were flung back helplessly, only to be thrown down from the walls.


    -Sing the melody!- Mikael roared out again, then began singing the hymn. Mummies matched him and also started screeching and howling out fervently.


    The Ship of the Dead rode on the rippling waves and spread a pure white aura all around it. The cannons fired their shells relentlessly, smoke pouring out from their muzzles.


    The incoming shells destroyed the fortress mercilessly, steadily chomping away at its defences. The ship circled around the fortress¡¯s position and continued to fire its cannons.


    ¡°What are you doing?! Fire our weapons, too!¡±


    Lycans hurriedly took aim with their ballistas and catapults. They were aimed frantically, and their projectiles fired into the air. Large boulders and ballista bolts rained down near the Naglfar.


    One of the boulders struck the ship, utterly destroying the skeletons rowing the oars there. However, new skeletons showed up to fill up the gap and started rowing once more.


    ¡°What the hell? These bastards¡­¡±


    ¡°T-they are getting closer to us?¡±


    Like a ship stuck in a whirlpool, the ship of the dead was gradually nearing the fortress, moving in a spiral pattern. It was right then that a loud gunshot rang out in the air, and the head of a zombie operating a siege weapon was blown apart.


    The vampires flinched nastily and stared closely at the Naglfar. Mummies could be seen standing on its deck, taking aim with their muskets.


    ¡°T-they are within firing range now!¡±


    ¡°Fire back with our own weapons!¡±


    Arrows and crossbow bolts were fired towards the ship.


    ¡°The distance has closed up sufficiently! Let¡¯s board that ship!¡±


    Lycans backed off before sprinting forward with all their might from the top of the fortress walls. They leapt powerfully up from the edge.


    Even while flying through the air, the scared lycans couldn¡¯t help but look below them. A sea of holy water could be seen crashing into the fortress walls like waves. If they fell in there, without a doubt their bodies would instantly melt down to nothingness.


    They clenched their teeth and successfully landed on the ship¡¯s deck, only to be greeted by mummies wielding scimitars.


    ¡°¡­These bastards, they aren¡¯t slowing down at all? Are they planning to kill themselves along with us or something?!¡± Duke Agares, still standing on the highest floor of the fortress, watched the battle unfold with trembling eyes.


    That huge warship showed no signs of slowing down while circling around the fortress, and was quickly closing the distance.


    If the two collided, then it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that neither of the two sides would emerge unscathed.


    ¡°We shall go down and join the battle!¡± Agares roared out, and hurriedly jumped down from the window. The moment his crocodile legs landed on the solid ground, he raised up his front two legs. ¡°This is dry land!¡±


    It didn¡¯t matter whether or not the Holy Emperor summoned a stupid amount of holy water to artificially create an ocean. There was simply no way that he could win against Agares in this sort of terrain.


    ¡°This is my territory!!!¡± Agares roared out, and stomped his two front legs hard on the ground.


    THUD¨C!


    1

 Chapter 355 - 186. Naglfar -2 (Part Two)

    Chapter 355: 186. Naglfar -2 (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The entirety of the fortress shook at the impact.


    Lycans who had managed to board the Naglfar to fight a bitter melee turned and raised their heads in shock. Even the mummies fighting them turned to look at the unfolding situation.


    Demonic energy of considerable scale began spreading all around the fortress, followed by a period of eerie silence.


    The ground suddenly began rumbling, causing a violent earthquake next. The waves of holy water outside were disturbed by all that shaking, eventually becoming a massive tsunami.


    The water rose up tens of metres in the air and rushed towards the ship of the dead!


    ¡°W-wait a second! What about us?!¡± Lycans aboard the ship of the dead screamed desperately and stumbled back.


    Mikael slammed the bottom of its grim reaper scythe on the ship¡¯s deck, his eyes narrowing to slits.


    -Your struggles are all in vain!-


    The tsunami crashed into the ship of the dead. A massive spray of water exploded as the ship was forced back.


    All the lycans on the ship¡¯s deck instantly melted to death, while the mummies clung to the railings.


    Agares stared at that wave of holy water even taller than the fortress walls and grinned insidiously. With this, that accursed ship would either sink beneath the waves, or get pushed far back until it collided with the city¡¯s outer wall in the distance.


    Unfortunately for him, though¡­


    -Neeeiiiiiighhhhh!-


    The neighing of many horses suddenly rocked the sky. Agares clamped his mouth shut at that instant.


    The vampires standing on top of the walls looked on in horror, their eyebrows shooting up high. The battleship broke through the huge spray of holy water; hundreds of charging skeletal horses were leashed to the front of the vessel and they were dragging it forward.


    Those skeletal horses dashed across the surface of the holy water ocean. They pulled the massive ship of the dead behind them and slammed straight into the fortress walls.


    CRUNCH¨C!


    The skeleton horses were crushed. The inertia sent the Naglfar slamming straight into the walls as well.


    Vampires screamed at the top of their lungs, and¡­


    -The gods¡¯ blessing shall be granted unto you all, ahahaha!-


    The moment Mikael spread his arms wide and guffawed loudly¡­


    The battleship collided head-on against the fortress wall.


    KA-BOOM-!


    The wall instantly exploded and crumbled down. The ship of the dead forced itself through the once-sturdy wall and shoved the debris aside.


    Zombies, vampires, and lycans were ruthlessly crushed under the hull of the bone ship. Despite the insistent rain, thick dust clouds still rose up to block everyone¡¯s view.


    The surviving vampires and lycans rose unsteadily to their feet, shaking their heads to get rid of the cobwebs, but then¡­


    They witnessed the Naglfar pressed up against the fortress, unmoving. However, the cannons sticking out from the sides of the vessel promptly began spitting out flames.


    In no time at all, the surrounding area of the fortress became a sea of fire and death.


    Muskets wielded by the mummies peeked out from the deck and began shooting at their targets, while other groups of mummies disembarked by sliding down the ropes hanging from the ship¡¯s sides. They raised their scimitars and began hunting for vampires and lycans.


    -Go and rob them of their souls!-


    Mikael flew up in the air, his glare locking on Duke Agares, currently fighting off a bunch of mummies on the ground below.


    -I shall present your severed head to His Majesty the Holy Emperor!-


    Agares had also discovered Mikael by then. ¡°How dare a measly undead¡­?!¡±


    The Vampire Duke gritted his teeth. So, that¡¯s how it was. That grim reaper had to be the captain of that ship of the dead!


    In that case, destroying the bastard would deal a sizable blow to the Holy Emperor!


    Agares strengthened all four of his crocodile legs. ¡°Even at the cost of my soul being erased from existence, I¡­!¡± Demonic energy gushed out from all over his body. ¡°I shall strike the Holy Emperor at least once!¡­!¡±


    Now was the time to repay the debt of humiliation he had suffered up until now. Even if he couldn¡¯t beat the Holy Emperor, he¡¯d still drag that grim reaper along with him to the abyss of hell!


    Veins bulged visibly on his crocodile hide. Muscles rippled and ballooned all over his body, until the veins actually began bursting open and unleashing fountains of blood.


    ¡°For the glory of His Majesty the Vampire King!!!¡±


    Mikael¡¯s glowing eyeballs arched up into a pair of new moons as he took in this scene. He inwardly praised the vampire while grinning with his eyes. ¡®How commendable. I shall acknowledge your deep devotion towards the Vampire King. However¡­¡¯


    The grinning eyes suddenly began burning even more fiercely than before. Mikael raised the scythe high. Divinity flooded the weapon, and the curved blade began to grow even larger.


    A divine aura completely dominated their surroundings.


    -Your deep devotion and my unyielding faith. Let us find out whose belief is deeper between us!-


    Mikael lowered his torso and dashed forward, while Agares also charged towards the incoming holy grim reaper.


    The two of them faced each other moments before their collision.


    ¡°Ohhhhh!¡±


    Agares¡¯s physique suddenly ballooned past four metres in height, his eyes glaring murderously at Mikael. The vampire clenched both of his fists, planning to completely obliterate the grim reaper before his eyes with this one powerful attack.


    However, the power accumulated within his attack was more than enough to destroy the entire city. If Agares unleashed that attack, then the place meant to shelter the refugees the Holy Emperor had guided here would vanish from this world, as well.


    That alone would count as a successful counterattack for the vampires!


    Agares punched down with his tightly-clenched fist, while Mikael the grim reaper powerfully swung his scythe.


    The blade of divinity collided against the vampire¡¯s fist.


    ¡°Oh, my Vampire Kiiiing!¡±


    -Oh, my Holy Emperor!-


    The two roared out at the same time, and¡­


    A massive explosion went off. With the two of them as the epicentre, literally everything around them was destroyed and blown apart.


    Agares¡¯s brows shot up as he witnessed his fist gradually being shoved back by the grim reaper¡¯s scythe.


    The Vampire Duke¡¯s lips trembled open. ¡°¡­Oh, Your Majesty Vlandmir¡­¡±


    His arm was cleanly severed and flung away through the air.


    -It¡¯s my victory, oh Vampire Duke!-


    Mikael¡¯s figure rapidly spun around in the air and his scythe was swung around once more. Just like that, the great curving blade reaped Agares¡¯s head.


    The severed head flew up in the air before landing with a wet thud on the ground. Soon after that, the huge headless body of the vampire limply collapsed where it stood.


    Mikael swung its scythe around and roared out. -Truly commendable, Vampire Duke! However, my faith is absolute!-


    The grim reaper began offering a prayer while still wielding its scythe.


    **


    Time passed by.


    The refugees stared at the outer gates of the city of Chaves with worried faces.


    Without any warning, the gates were shoved open, revealing the state of the city inside.


    Total devastation was the only thing they could see. It was like seeing the aftermath of a powerful tornado; most of the buildings had been crushed flat.


    Charlotte stared at this scene with a stunned expression for a little while, but hurriedly sucked in a deep breath to calm herself down and spoke up, ¡°It seems that we can at least avoid the rain for now. Go and secure any usable housing so that the refugees can rest!¡±


    The empire¡¯s soldiers hurriedly got to work at Charlotte¡¯s command.


    It was also at that moment a Paladin quickly approached her and called out to her, ¡°Your Excellency, Marquis Charlotte!¡±


    She turned to look at him, and the Paladin and his pale face walked up to her and whispered something in her ear.


    Her expression gradually hardened at the report, then she urgently rode on her horse to head towards the fortress in the distance.


    ¡ª-


    ¡°Your Majesty! Were you trying to kill us as well?!¡± Hans was noisily complaining to Allen.


    The Naglfar was slowly dissipating from view. Mikael was kneeling on the ground and was also gradually disappearing in motes of light.


    Allen was sitting on a nearby boulder, stretching his limbs as a feeling of fatigue washed over him. ¡°Of course not. I genuinely had no idea that you and Alice were still stuck inside the castle, I swear.¡±


    ¡°But Your Majesty, you didn¡¯t even give us enough time to escape from the fortress, you know,¡± Alice smiled wryly and began massaging Allen¡¯s shoulders.


    She was trying to help him by alleviating the muscle pain he was currently suffering from after exhausting his divine energy reserve far too much.


    Allen waved his hands in the air apologetically, then recalled Avaldi¡¯s Spear. ¡®For sure, that thing¡¯s performance was really good.¡¯


    The holy water amplification effect was quite considerable. The amount of divinity he exhausted today would¡¯ve left him unconscious in the past, but right now, he thought that he could still endure it to some degree.


    ¡®Still, the burden on my physical body is just too much.¡¯


    He didn¡¯t expect the burden to be this great even though he had attained a transcendental body.


    Allen continued to loosen his aching muscles, all the while thinking about the refugees that would soon occupy this city.


    He was thinking of having them rest here for at least a week or so before guiding them over the border of the Theocratic Empire. Things would really get hectic from that moment on.


    Well, he had to prevent the invasion of the giants and also prepare to hit them back, after all.


    ¡°Your Majesty!¡±


    It was at that moment he heard someone call out to him. Charlotte, riding on her Unira, was quickly rushing up to where he was.


    She swiftly dismounted from the horse and went down on one knee, her head bowed deeply. ¡°Sire. How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. I¡¯m feeling more or less fine.¡± Allen nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.


    Doing that caused a little bit of pain to shoot through his senses, but compared to how it was in the past, this much was nothing at all.


    ¡°Sire, I have something urgent to report.¡±


    He stared at her, frowning. He couldn¡¯t help but always get worried whenever Charlotte said those exact words.


    She seemed to be hesitating somewhat as her lips parted, only to shut again. But after taking a few moments to sort out her heavy breathing, she finally came out with it. ¡°The giants are marching towards this location, the fiefdom of Chaves, sire. Their numbers are estimated to be around three hundred strong.¡±


    There it was, his ominous prediction from a second ago coming true.


    Allen¡¯s lips clamped shut.


    Three hundred giants?


    ¡°Our opponent this time is the Fire Giant.¡± She raised her head and stared at him. ¡°It¡¯s name is Surtr.¡±


    < 186. Naglfar -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 356 - To the Theocratic Empire (Part One)

    Chapter 356: 187. To the Theocratic Empire (Part One)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    In the main plaza of the city of Chaves¡­


    I was sitting down inside the commander¡¯s barracks.


    A large map of the surrounding land was spread out on a table. it showed the locations of the Kingdom of Lome and its capital, as well as the fiefdom of Chaves on the border regions.


    Inside the barracks was Hans, Charlotte, Alice, Harman, and the King of Frants.


    I swept my gaze at them and began speaking, ¡°The Fire Giant is currently marching towards our position.¡±


    Really now, we weren¡¯t even given enough time to take a breather here. For some reason, that Fire Giant bastard was directly marching towards this place while completely ignoring other territories.


    If you could call this a saving grace, then that would be with the fact that J?tnar were simply trudging along at the moment. However, the length of their footsteps couldn¡¯t be compared to that of regular humans. Also, they didn¡¯t need to rest, and didn¡¯t care whether it was the middle of a day or night. That meant their marching speed was truly absurd to behold.


    ¡°Charlotte,¡± I called out.


    She nodded smartly and pointed to the map. ¡°Judging from their walking speed, they should arrive at our location in around six days.¡±


    Humans would¡¯ve needed to travel without taking any breaks on speedy horses to cover that distance in the same amount of time, yet the giants only needed to trundle along.


    ¡°When that happens, the fiefdom of Chaves will be engulfed in flames of destruction, sire.¡±


    So far, we¡¯d only managed to spend two days in this city to rest. But if we didn¡¯t want to get caught up in the giants¡¯ pursuit, we¡¯d have to lead the refugees across the Lome Kingdom¡¯s border starting tomorrow morning, at the very least.


    ¡°In that case, let us depart right away, and¡­¡± Hans quickly spoke up, sounding a bit frightened.


    Too bad for him, though, Alice shook her head. ¡°No, that¡¯s not going to be realistic. I¡¯ve been taking care of the sickly within the camp, but it¡¯s not just them. Everyone else is suffering from too much fatigue, Your Majesty. They have all reached their limits, both mentally and physically. We need to rest for at least another two days, sire.¡±


    It seemed that departing now was impossible. Everyone was too exhausted to do so.


    ¡°B-but, at this rate!¡­¡± Hans spoke up in a helpless voice.


    Harman carried on from there, his arms crossed in front of his chest. ¡°¡­They will definitely catch up to us.¡±


    Escaping the borders of the Lome Kingdom and entering the Theocratic Empire¡¯s territory should take the refugees around seven days. Thanks to how large our procession of refugees was, the giants would quickly catch up to us with their ridiculous movement speed.


    ¡°How about assigning a portion of the combat force to buy more time?¡± the King of Frants offered his opinion. He thanked me for saving his family, then continued on, ¡°Luring them away by dispatching a regiment of mounted troops could work, Your Imperial Majesty.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not going to work. The giants do not get tired and more importantly, they are too fast for that,¡± I sighed.


    Sure, the cavalry should be able to lure the giants away. But that would mean the sure death of the cavalry troop.


    Most importantly, there was the Fire Giant to consider. Just being around that creature would make it hard to breathe, which in turn would exhaust the horses that much faster.


    In the end, they would get caught in only a matter of a few hours, resulting in unnecessary sacrifices.


    ¡°For now, we don¡¯t have any other alternative but to run.¡±


    Even I didn¡¯t feel confident at fighting off the Fire Giant and the three hundred J?tnar following it, plus other sundry vampires that might show up alongside them. The same story would apply to the Heavenly Army, too; not even they would be able to endure this ridiculous assault.


    I made up my mind. ¡°We shall depart the first thing tomorrow morning.¡±


    We had basically only two days of rest in the city of Chaves. And now, over ten thousand refugees had no choice but to embark on a seven days-long reckless trek across hostile terrain.


    ¡°And in case the Fire Giant does catch up to us¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say at the end of my sentence.


    When I remained quiet, Charlotte piped up in my place, ¡°In the worst case scenario, someone will most likely have to remain behind to stop the enemy.¡±


    Everyone gathered in the conference venue made stunned faces.


    ¡°And I¡¯m most suited to stopping their advances,¡± said Charlotte while bravely stepping forward. But I simply shook my head.


    After she said her piece, others also spoke up as well, saying that they would like to volunteer to stay behind.


    ¡°¡­All meaningless sacrifices.¡±


    One sentence from me, and everyone went silent.


    Even if someone were to stay behind, they would only stall the giants for a dozen-plus hours at most. The damn giants would catch up to us soon again after that.


    ¡°Nothing will change by sacrificing yourself. Someone staying behind is the absolute worst case scenario, anyway.¡±


    To be honest, I really, really didn¡¯t want to play that card if I didn¡¯t have to. I hated the very idea of losing someone I knew. If someone were to stay behind and stall the J?tnar, then it would have to be someone who could do the most effective job.


    That¡¯s right, there was no one other than me who could stop them the longest. Me staying behind should be the best method available to improve our odds of survival.


    It was at that moment that I sensed this peculiar gaze lingering on me.


    I glanced around and noticed Alice quietly staring at my face. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You have something to add as well, Alice?¡±


    ¡°No, sire. It¡¯s nothing.¡± She shook her head side to side.


    I tilted my head a little, then addressed everyone else. ¡°Do not let the refugees know about what¡¯s going on. We need everyone to be as settled and stable of mind as possible, after all.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me¡­¡± Hans raised his hand. ¡°What should we do about the supplies, sire?¡±


    Hans had brought along enough supplies and provisions that, according to our original plan, should¡¯ve allowed us to camp in the fiefdom of Chaves for about a week. That meant there was a lot of stuff. A heck of a lot.


    ¡°Do we need to abandon it all, sire?¡±


    If we set off tomorrow, then other than the bare-minimum necessary amount for the forced marching, we¡¯d have to throw the rest away. They would just get in the way of the evacuation efforts, after all.


    ¡°No, don¡¯t. Distribute the supplies right away. The best way to settle people down would be to let them enjoy a relaxing night¡¯s rest with full bellies.¡±


    The refugees had been starving. I figured that it¡¯d be a good idea to distribute enough food to fill their bellies up to the brim and grant them relatively comfortable places to sleep tonight.


    Hans nodded in understanding at my order.


    ¡°Okay. Now that things are sorted out, this meeting is done and dusted. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all feeling tired, so get some much deserved breaks.¡±


    **


    ¡°His Imperial Majesty has released provisions for us all!¡±


    The city¡¯s main plaza was currently in a celebratory mood.


    Tables were brought out from the abandoned houses found inside the city and were lined up in a row. Plates of food were then placed on top.


    We weren¡¯t even talking about luxurious food, either; just about every food type available was things like hard bread that didn¡¯t spoil easily, soup that was mostly water, and those easy-to-eat army provisions.


    But to these refugees who had been starving for the past few days, even this sort of food would come across as god-sent.


    Refugees settled down together and shared the food amongst themselves. They chugged the water down while enjoying themselves considerably.


    I wore a nondescript robe and hood to hide my identity so that I could survey the situation in peace. The tense faces of the refugees seemed to have softened, which was a good sign.


    It indicated they were relaxing more.


    If they were in a panicked state and couldn¡¯t get a proper rest because of that, tomorrow¡¯s march would¡¯ve been negatively affected. I wanted them to at least enjoy full bellies and get some good rest tonight, at least.


    ¡°Allow me to thank you all.¡±


    I heard a familiar voice coming from somewhere nearby and shifted my gaze over there. That¡¯s when I spotted Gril, Adolf, and Yuria in front of one of the army tents. Marcus was standing with them.


    ¡°Although I can¡¯t reward you right now, once we make our way back to the Theocratic Empire, I shall speak to His Majesty the Holy Emperor on your behalf.¡±


    Yuria rejoiced greatly and asked back, ¡°Seriously, sir?¡±


    ¡°Haha, now Charlotte will seriously look at me as her father!¡± Gril spoke up while standing tall and proud.


    But Adolf just sat there, silently drinking booze out of a mug.


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at them, and walked over to their position.


    Adolf discovered me first and the booze in his mouth spewed out. ¡°T-The Ho¡­!¡±


    I pressed a finger to my lips, indicating that he should keep it down. It was meant to tell him that I didn¡¯t want to raise a ruckus right now.


    Gril¡¯s eyes widened as well after recognising me, while Yuria curiously looked up at me, her head tilting this way and that. She even muttered out, ¡°Feels like I¡¯ve seen your face somewhere¡­¡±

 Chapter 357 - 187. To the Theocratic Empire (Part Two)

    Chapter 357: 187. To the Theocratic Empire (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    She had never really seen my face up close. I always wore the Paladin armour and the helm during my adventures back in Aihrance, and I wore the bird-beak mask while I was rescuing Marcus, after all. So the only time she saw me would¡¯ve been during the Holy Emperor coronation, when I stood on the palace¡¯s balcony to wave my hands at the crowd. But I¡¯d been very far away from her at that time.


    ¡°Your Majesty the Holy Emperor,¡± Marcus introduced softly after dropping his voice.


    It was right then that the booze mug slipped out of Yuria¡¯s grasp; she was deeply stunned by that revelation. ¡°Ah?! Y-Y-Your Majesty? D-do I need to, you know, follow decorum?¡±


    I could see that she was clearly flustered, so I waved my hand lightly. ¡°Nah, there¡¯s no need.¡±


    Yuria could only stare at me with a dazed face.


    Gril smirked at her reaction, the corners of his lips quivering happily. Then he addressed me in a very friendly way, ¡°Your Majesty! It¡¯s been a long while, sire!¡±


    In this wide world, Hans and Gril were probably the only people who could speak to me in that familiar fashion.


    Ah, wait a minute. There were also Luan, Hilda, and Seran too, weren¡¯t there? On top of that, my other older brother Shuppel¡­


    ¡®Wow, that¡¯s more than I thought, actually.¡¯ I grinned wryly to myself.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to express my gratitude to you for saving my family, Your Majesty,¡± Marcus spoke up while bowing his head.


    ¡°We are family, so I only did the obvious thing that anyone else would¡¯ve done, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Although Marcus was my older brother, the current situation meant that I didn¡¯t have to use polite speech here.


    I turned my head back to Adolf and his group. ¡°You all did good work back there. I¡¯ll make sure to bestow you all with suitable rewards later.¡±


    ¡°T-thank you, Your Majesty!¡± The three of them bowed deeply before me.


    I nodded slightly in reply, then picked up a mug of booze for myself. While sipping on it, I scanned our surroundings once more and spotted a couple of familiar faces.


    They were Laurence and Roy. The two of them were walking around the plaza hand in hand, while munching on their meal.


    Roy was making a truly happy face. As for Laurence, his face displayed how fatigued he was, but even then, he didn¡¯t stop smiling.


    It seemed that Roy really did meet good parents.


    Now that I thought about it¡­


    ¡®What happened to White, I wonder?¡¯


    All the news coming out of Aihrance was cut off after the whole kingdom was overrun. White was still biologically my father, so I couldn¡¯t help but get curious about the news about him.


    Not to forget, I also was acquainted with Queen Rox, so it would¡¯ve been a lie to say that I wasn¡¯t worried at all.


    ¡®Well, since it was that dude, he¡¯d probably do something to save his own hide at least, that¡¯s for certain.¡¯


    The corners of my lips curled up while taking in the sights of the refugees in the plaza smiling away, small but distinct hope being kindled in their hearts.


    ¡°I have to say, this scene does calm me down a lot.¡±


    At the very least, watching them helped me get rid of some of the anxiety in my mind.


    **


    The next morning¡­


    The procession of the refugees set off once more.


    We had to prepare ourselves to cross the border to the Theocratic Empire as quickly as possible. If not, the only thing waiting for us would be despair.


    I climbed up on the skeleton horse and Charlotte got ready to escort me, but then¡­


    ¡°Your Majesty.¡± Alice stood next to me and bowed her head. There was a carriage with its door open behind her, clearly on standby. ¡°Please, sire. Climb aboard the carriage.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s alright. I¡¯m more comfortable like this.¡± I pointed to my skeleton horse. ¡°Besides, if you have a spare carriage that I can use, you should let someone else ride in it, instead. That would boost our travelling speed, at least by a little bit.¡±


    Alice made a troubled expression at my refusal.


    Charlotte stared at her and asked, ¡°Is there something wrong, Lady Saintess?¡±


    ¡°Actually, I was hoping to inspect His Majesty¡¯s physical condition, Marquis Charlotte.¡±


    Charlotte faltered visibly at those words.


    I furrowed my brow, though. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    Alice stared straight at my face. ¡°It¡¯s to confirm something, sire. Please.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Since she was being so serious here, I found it hard to say no to her. In the end, I boarded the carriage, and once the door was closed, I took off my top.


    Alice touched my back here and there and began her examination of my physical condition.


    ¡°Okay, what¡¯s going on here?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to do an in-depth examination first to figure it out, sire,¡± Alice replied, having already reverted to her usual manner of speech.


    ¡°How long will this take, though?¡±


    ¡°¡­Around five hours, maybe.¡±


    Holy cow, I¡¯m supposed to stay like this for that long?


    I could only groan under my breath.


    Alice seemed to be already fully concentrating on her task, her hands quietly pressed against my back. I could sense divinity entering and coursing through my body.


    I smacked my lips ruefully and shifted my gaze to the floor of the carriage. There were quite a lot of books placed there. I had asked Hans earlier to secure tomes related to the ancient J?tnar, and these were the ones he had found for me.


    Since I had nothing better to do, I picked up one of the books and flipped open its cover.


    This particular book contained a tale from the ancient times. More specifically, a tale related to the J?tnar.


    There were four ¡®kings¡¯ of giants in total.


    The Frost Giant, Hr¨ªmr.


    The Fire Giant, Surtr.


    The Earth Giant, Hrungnir.


    And finally, the Magic Giant, Utgar.


    According to the tome, they wielded different types of powers.


    They were originally created by the gods for the purpose of keeping the balance of the world, and also to protect it. However, their arrogance knew no bounds and they started calling themselves the real gods. They desired to annihilate all living things and return the world to the state of primordial nature.


    That world would be filled with nothing but ice, flames, and whipping sand, a withered and dead planet where no living creatures existed. That was their ultimate aim.


    The gods were enraged by their rebellion and proceeded to seal the giants away. But this had happened such a long time ago that the seal had grown too weak, allowing the vampires to break that seal wide open in the end.


    ¡°And among them, Hr¨ªmr was the lowest ranked, huh?¡±


    The Frost Giant, Hr¨ªmr. Not only was it the lowest ranked among the four Giant Kings, its influence was also supposed to be the weakest as well.


    Holy cow. I was required to summon the Skeleton King and then pummel that thing with cannons in order to kill it, yet it was the weakest of the lot?


    Seriously, how absurdly strong were the other Giant Kings, then?


    The next up in rank was Surtr. It wielded a whip of fire, and naturally burned everything down. It loved to burn and torture the living for fun, and the bibles even described the bastard as a devil given form.


    We were getting pursued by that giant right now.


    It was right at that moment that Alice, who had been diligently checking my physical condition, muttered in a dazed voice, ¡°It¡¯s all broken.¡±


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    ¡°It¡¯s all broken,¡± Alice murmured as a dazed expression floated up on her face. ¡®It¡¯s going out of control?¡¯


    She realised now that the current condition of Allen¡¯s body was quite grave. It seemed that he had deliberately destroyed and artificially regenerated his body somehow.


    In less than a month, he had been forced to unhesitantly pour out his divine power against both the Frost Giant and Duke Agares. And then he had even used a legendary weapon on top of everything else!


    The burden on his body had multiplied as a result.


    ¡®Even now, he¡¯s still pushing himself recklessly when his body is like this¡­¡¯


    The Holy Emperor was whipping himself mercilessly. It was already a miracle that he had managed to endure it until now.


    ¡°¡­Your Majesty.¡±


    Allen was jolted out of his thoughts and turned around to stare at Alice. She quietly pressed her forehead to his shoulder and murmured to him, ¡°If the Fire Giant catches up to us, what are you planning to do, sire?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I guess I¡¯ll have to go out and fight it.¡±


    ¡°By yourself, sire?¡±


    Allen suddenly went quiet. That made Alice really angry.


    This was so obvious. He would most likely try to do everything by himself. Just like how he had done so far, he¡¯d try to resolve everything through his own powers.


    ¡°No, you mustn¡¯t.¡±


    Alice tightly clenched her fists. If this went on, an uncontrollable divinity deviation might occur, irreparably damaging his body in the process.


    Not just his physical self, but even his soul would be damaged, too!


    Allen found her reaction odd and asked her, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Please, I beg of you. Don¡¯t push yourself.¡± She raised her head and stared directly into his eyes during her reply. ¡°Your Majesty, please do not forget. I¡¯m from the House Astoria. But not only that¡­¡± She then placed her hand on her chest. ¡°I¡¯m also the Saintess tasked with assisting you in this era. I¡¯m Alice Astoria, sire.¡±


    Her voice sounded resolute, determined.


    ¡°I, Alice Astoria, swears to fight by your side. That¡¯s why¡­¡± She then buried her face on his back once more. ¡°Please. Please I beg of you. Rely on me. Allow me to help you, sire.¡±


    < 187. To the Theocratic Empire (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 358 - 188. The Job of the Bait -1 (Part One)

    Ch. 188 ¨C The Job of the Bait -1, Part One


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    He might have been a mangnani a long time ago, but now, he was not.


    To Alice, he was a man worthy of all the respect and adulation he received.


    After being banished to the northern frontier, he became a new man. He personally hunted down a witch who had spread a deadly plague in the villages up there, and defended Ronia against a Vampire Count¡¯s invasion.


    He then guarded the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital, stopped the warmongers of Aslan and then unified it under his banner, then even went on to influence many other countries on top of that.


    Now, he had even been identified by the royal family of Frants Kingdom as the Saviour and was trying his best to protect the world, too.


    But in the process, he was abusing and overworking himself. No one was supporting him and no one was trying to listen to his worries and dilemmas. To make matters worse, he was not the type to voice his dissatisfaction and didn¡¯t easily speak his thoughts to other people.


    He simply wished to step up to the front lines and protect as many people as possible.


    ¡®It¡¯s the same this time, too.¡¯


    Ten thousand refugees!


    Here was a procession of refugees that defied one¡¯s imagination, yet he was still unwilling to give up on them. If he managed to lead all these people safely across the border and to the empire¡¯s capital, then it would really be Goddess Gaia¡¯s miracle.


    The Holy Emperor had achieved many miraculous feats before now, but even by his standards, he was currently in the middle of a reckless adventure.


    Without a doubt, Holy Emperor Allen would choose to remain behind by himself if the Fire Giant caught up to the refugees.


    That was why Alice pleaded with him to rely on her. She believed that she was strong enough to share at least a little bit of the weighty burden on his shoulders.


    ¡°¡­Of course I will. I¡¯m always relying on you and everyone else, though.¡±


    He was lying. Didn¡¯t he always throw himself into all those dangerous adventures by himself before now?


    Alice protested as such, but¡­


    Allen replied with a surprised face, ¡°Is that what you really think? But you and the others have always saved my hide every single time, though?¡±


    Alice frowned deeply, but he just poked her creased forehead lightly.


    He continued on from there, ¡°It¡¯s just that you guys haven¡¯t been aware of it, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°But, sire¡­!¡±


    ¡°Thanks to you, my brother Luan was able to live on.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°And because you helped me out back in sister Hilda¡¯s domain, I got to unleash my magical abilities even more effectively.¡± Allen began putting his shirt back on. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t helped me to get stronger, then I¡¯d have definitely died back in Aslan, too. Let¡¯s not forget what happened during the Kasim incident, and also, you helped me a lot with making some great memories in Aihrance, as well.¡± A deep smile was etched on his face as he stared at her. ¡°Thank you. Honestly speaking, I don¡¯t know how I¡¯m going to repay you for everything you¡¯ve done for me.¡±


    ¡°S-sire, but that is¡­!¡± Alice desperately shook her head.


    None of what he said made sense. Her so-called help couldn¡¯t have been as grandiose as he was implying here.


    He coincidentally ran into her during those times in the library, and she simply answered his questions since it was a fun thing to do. She had just happened to be nearby when he was dealing with dangerous situations. Not once did she willingly step up to help him out.


    Even though she was a member of the House Astoria, she had never been of much help to him.


    ¡°And that¡¯s exactly how you¡¯ve been helping me.¡±


    Alice was rendered speechless at what Allen said next. Her chest ached and her emotions grew more agitated.


    ¡°Well, if it bothers you so much, then how about just chat with me for a while?¡±


    ¡°R-regarding what, sire?¡±


    ¡°You know, like how it used to be, back in the library. If I have a question, then you answer. That¡¯s what I need.¡± Allen spoke to her. ¡°That alone helps me out a great deal, Alice Astoria.¡±


    Alice was left stupefied for a little while. Eventually, though, she slowly lowered her head and replied to him, ¡°Of course, sire. If you¡¯re curious about something, I shall endeavour to answer you to the best of my abilities, Your Majesty the Holy Emperor, Allen Olfolse.¡±


    ¡°In that case, there¡¯s this thing about Purgatory that I¡¯m kind of¡­¡±


    Alice smiled back at him.


    Even as she answered his questions, she inwardly swore to herself. She swore that, as a member of the House Astoria and the Saintess of the current era, she¡¯d assist him right up until the end. No matter what trials and tribulations lay ahead of them, she¡¯d remain by his side to help him.


    For the first time in a long while, she got to chat to him throughout the night without taking a break.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    Alice was making a really concerned face at me. Although I was somehow able to undo this heavy atmosphere through us communicating like adults, but¡­


    Was it really that bad? It kinda felt like I was experiencing a bit of muscle ache, though?


    Sure, something did feel a bit amiss somewhere, but it wasn¡¯t bad enough to make me worry. But it shouldn¡¯t be such a bad idea to listen to the advice of the family physician, at least.


    So, I followed Alice¡¯s advice and rested inside the carriage. I also didn¡¯t forget to chat to her along the way.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    And so, our procession marched on for the next five days or so.


    We kept chatting until dawn every day, and it became natural for Alice to fall asleep next to me. It also became a daily occurrence for me to cover her with a blanket as she dozed off.


    After she fell asleep, I stepped outside the carriage and took a look up at the sky. The night was still deep.


    As for the ten thousand refugees, they were also slumbering away without a campsite to shelter them.


    ¡°Sire? Are you not planning to continue with your rest?¡± Charlotte asked me. She was acting as a guard around the carriage.


    Actually, that was what I wanted to ask her, instead. ¡°What about you, then? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve even seen you get some shut-eye before.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine even if I don¡¯t sleep for two weeks, sire.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a good way to maintain your peak condition.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve inherited the title of the Sword King from Lord Oscal. If my skill gets dull simply because of some lack of sleep, then I might as well give up on the title instead, Your Majesty.¡±


    Gee whiz, that¡¯s pretty amazing, that title of the Sword King.


    I also possessed a transcendental body, but that didn¡¯t mean I felt confident enough to stay up for a few days and still be alright.


    ¡°What about the Lady Saintess? She¡­¡± Charlotte stared at the carriage for a while.


    ¡°She¡¯s asleep,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I see.¡±


    I turned my attention back to the refugees. They were all enjoying their sweet dreams, completely unaware of the Fire Giant hunting them down even now. ¡°We¡¯ve had some deserters so far, haven¡¯t we?¡±


    Charlotte turned her gaze away from the carriage and nodded in confirmation.


    In the end, what we were doing here was a forced march. Obviously some people would desert us. They gave up on their own volition and left the procession.


    It was already a miracle that the deserters didn¡¯t number more than two hundred so far.


    ¡°I hope the ones who left us can remain safe,¡± I muttered to myself.


    ¡°Sire, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be safe. Definitely,¡± Charlotte spoke to me as if to say I shouldn¡¯t worry too much about them.


    Honestly, though, I wasn¡¯t sweating over it too much. I had already experienced so many battles leading up to this day and watched many deaths during those moments, after all.


    If I was still bothered by every single lost life, then my mind wouldn¡¯t be able to stay in one piece.


    ¡°What about the Fire Giant?¡±


    ¡°Sire. According to the scouts¡¯ reports, the giants have reached somewhere very close. Most likely, around tomorrow morning, they¡­¡±


    ¡°Is that right?¡± I nodded slowly. In around one hour, the refugees would have to set off again, and in less than a handful of hours later, the J?tnar would still catch up to them.


    ¡°Your Majesty. It¡¯s time to make your decision, sire¡­¡± Charlotte directly addressed me. ¡°If it¡¯s too difficult, then I shall personally¡­¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t even see the trace of their shadows yet, so how come you¡¯re saying stuff like that already?¡±


    That¡¯s right, they were still some distance away. As long as we couldn¡¯t even see their shadows, there was no reason to leave someone behind.


    Besides, if Charlotte was too far away from me, it would become harder for her to activate the Grim Reaper transformation, which would in turn make her battle against the Fire Giant that much harder.


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s really hot and stuffy, isn¡¯t it?¡± I fanned myself with my hand. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go somewhere nearby and take a bath in holy water. Alice also said that was the best way to decrease the burden on my body, too.¡±


    Charlotte must¡¯ve heard about my physical state from Alice. Was that the reason why?


    ¡°Allow me to escort you, sire.¡±


    She didn¡¯t even hesitate for a second there.


    ¡°¡­I said, I¡¯m going to take a bath.¡±


    Charlotte tilted her head in confusion. ¡°No, it¡¯ll be alright, sire. I¡¯m simply trying to escort you.¡±


    She was saying that without a single flicker of expression on her face.


    I ended up facepalming there. ¡°But I¡¯m not gonna be alright, you know.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I might take around a hour or so. So keep that in mind.¡±


    ¡°But sire, one hour to take a bath?¡±

 Chapter 359 - 188. The Job of the Bait -1 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°That¡¯s right. According to Alice, that¡¯s how long it should take.¡±


    It matched the time of the refugees waking up and starting their march.


    ¡°In that case, sire, in a place visible at all times¡­¡±


    I lightly rapped my knuckles on her forehead. ¡°Charlotte Heraiz, this is an order. Be on standby here.¡±


    ¡°¡­As you command, sire.¡± Her shoulders drooped ever so slightly.


    She must¡¯ve been feeling dejected just now. Without being near her for a long time like I had, you¡¯d never have understood that reaction.


    ¡°¡­Thanks,¡± I told her and strolled into the nearby forest.


    I summoned some skeletons to dig out a pit on the ground and poured my summoned holy water into it.


    ¡­And then, the skeletons proceeded to scrounge up some branches from nearby to mock up a silhouette of a person and dunked it in the pool of holy water.


    Meanwhile, I put on a robe with a hood attached to it, quickly prepared a letter and left it near the pit where it¡¯d be easily found.


    ¡®Okay, so, that¡¯s about it, then?¡¯


    Around ten hours from now¡­ Yeah, that¡¯s how long the Fire Giant would take to reach the refugees.


    That¡¯s why¡­


    ¡°¡­Time to do the job of the bait properly, then.¡±


    I better buy some time for them, even if it¡¯s only a little bit.


    I summoned the Bone Wyvern.


    {Sire, you must not overwork yourself.}


    I recalled what Alice had told me. The family doctor might get angry at me, so I thought it¡¯d be a good idea to not strain myself and take it easy while buying some time.


    I smiled faintly and climbed aboard the Bone Wyvern.


    **


    ¡°We shall get ready to depart! Everyone, wake up!¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s vigorous voice reverberated throughout the air.


    Alice silently woke up at that loud call and carefully opened her eyes. Her drowsy vision caught the sight of an empty seat opposite her own inside the carriage.


    ¡°Lord Allen?¡±


    He told her using his name made it more comfortable during private settings, so despite the potential discourtesy, she chose to do exactly as he wished.


    She rubbed her still-drowsy eyes with the back of her hand, then lightly swept back her dishevelled hair. A gentle smile formed on her lips after confirming the blanket covering her.


    ¡®This happened every time, didn¡¯t it?¡¯


    Why was it, though? Their current situation was more than enough to inspire anxiety and tension, yet she found chatting to him every night so much fun to the point that she was now looking forward to it.


    She pulled the blanket even deeper around herself, then opened the carriage¡¯s door. The figures of the refugees busily moving about greeted her.


    Alice slowly climbed down from the carriage and scanned her surroundings.


    Allen was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°Lady Saintess. You¡¯ve woken up,¡± Charlotte greeted her with a slight bow of her head.


    Alice reciprocated the greeting with her own bow. ¡°Do you know where Al¡­ His Majesty has gone off to?¡±


    ¡°His Majesty should be taking a bath with holy water at the moment.¡±


    Alice was genuinely pleased to hear Charlotte¡¯s reply. Not many things would be as good to hear as a patient taking his doctor¡¯s advice to heart and doing exactly as he was told, at least to Alice.


    ¡°That¡¯s where he is?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lady Saintess. I¡¯ve dispatched some soldiers to locate him. He has already stayed in the holy water for around one hour, so the fatigue piled up in his body should be more or less¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, did you say one hour?¡±


    But, she told him that around thirty minutes should be plenty sufficient enough? Staying in there for one hour straight wouldn¡¯t improve matters, anyway.


    Alice tilted her head in puzzlement, only for her complexion to pale.


    ¡®¡­Could it be?¡¯ She hurriedly jumped up on a nearby horse.


    ¡°Lady Alice?¡±


    She ignored Charlotte¡¯s question and scanned their surroundings once more from higher up. But as expected, Allen was still nowhere to be seen.


    ¡®Again, he¡­!¡¯


    This was why the members of the Imperial Family could be so¡­!


    Alice gripped the reins tightly.


    Disappointment and a certain sense of betrayal flooded her heart. She pleaded with him so much, asking him to rely on her and everyone else, yet¡­


    Why did he have to go and betray her faith in him like this?


    Alice swept her gaze over the refugees. Most of them were visibly exhausted. There were a lot of injured and sickly among their ranks, as well.


    Their march could not be stopped, however. They had to return to the empire as soon as possible and receive the proper care from qualified Priests right away.


    But, Lord Allen, he¡­!


    ¡°¡­Marquise Charlotte.¡±


    Charlotte stiffened up.


    Alice directly addressed her, ¡°Please take care of the refugees.¡±


    Charlotte finally realised that something was very wrong at the Saintess¡¯ grave-sounding words. ¡°Could it be that His Majesty has¡­?¡±


    ¡°The job of the bait we talked about before? Allow me to do it.¡±


    Alice pulled on the horse¡¯s reins and clenched her teeth.


    She was supposed to be the Saintess. Not only did she train for a long, long time, she had also grown stronger through Allen¡¯s influence. She even got to drink that wonder elixir of his, all in preparation for this day.


    That¡¯s why¡­


    ¡°I can definitely do this!¡±


    She would definitely be a help to him this time!


    Alice quickly rode towards her destination on the horse.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    The body of a giant thirty metres tall was trudging forward. The ground below rumbled and the frightened birds took flight from the nearby forests.


    The Fire Giant, Surtr, glanced at the birds flying up. In that very moment, the wings of the animals caught on fire; all of them fell crashing back to the ground.


    Every step the giant took turned the land into molten lava, while the forest went up in flames around it.


    A whip seemingly made purely out of fire and at least around seventy metres in length was being dragged on the ground behind the giant. As for the smaller giants around it, they were all clad in the armour of hardened bedrock and wielded weapons enveloped in flames.


    ¡°Oii, over there! Hello, Mister Flame Head!¡±


    Spirit Speech containing divinity suddenly rocked the sky.


    Surtr displayed some reaction to that and glanced to its right. More specifically, at the top of a hill surrounded by a dense forest about two hundred metres away.


    A man was sitting there on top of something quite large wrapped in some kind of a picnic cloth-like fabric. For some odd reason, his immediate area was encased in frost.


    Surtr narrowed its eyes. Who was that now? That puny little lifeform?


    The Fire Giant cocked its head this way and that, but eventually decided that there was no need to pay attention to that puny thing anymore.


    An insignificant insect like that would burn to death simply by walking past it, after all.


    What Surtr was aiming for was the existence responsible for killing Hr¨ªmr. That existence had to be in the distant location where it could sense the auras of all those lifeforms.


    The Fire Giant¡¯s goal was to make that existence taste bitter regret. It would gift the torment of burning down to ashes to whoever that being was, then even exterminate that fool¡¯s soul from this world!


    Surtr ignored that puny human and walked away.


    ¡°Man, that¡¯s rude, you know? You¡¯re actually ignoring me, even though I¡¯m the Holy Emperor?¡± Allen shouted out loudly.


    Surtr¡¯s eyes were about to shift away from Allen, but then¡­


    ¡°Surtr!¡±


    The Fire Giant¡¯s steps came to a halt.


    That puny human knew its name? Now feeling somewhat intrigued, Surtr turned its attention back to Allen.


    ¡°Whew, you are finally paying me your attention, aren¡¯t you?¡± Allen stood back up on the ground while leaving that large thing wrapped in fabric by his side.


    -What does an insignificant insect want with me, then?-


    ¡°Hey, who are you calling an insect here? I even went out of my way to prepare a gift for you, you know? You¡¯re hurting my feelings here.¡±


    -A gift?-


    That roused Surtr¡¯s curiosity. To think that a measly little insect could remain so defiant even in front of the Fire Giant!


    Allen pointed at that large object covered in cloth. ¡°Can you guess what this thing is? You see, I stored this thing in my item window to keep it nice and fresh, just so that I could present it to you today. And this is¡­¡±


    He yanked the fabric away from the object.


    ¡°¡­the severed head of the Frost Giant, Hr¨ªmr.¡±


    It was a huge piece of ice. More correctly, the head of Hr¨ªmr, its expression forever frozen in tear stains and crying out in despair.


    Surtr¡¯s heated eyeballs shuddered as it took in that sight. Molten lava began oozing out from its eyes and trickled down its cheeks.


    -You dare¡­!-


    But that lasted only for a short moment. It began expelling a breath-clogging level of heat from its entire body as its expression crumpled hideously.


    -You dared to kill my little brother!-


    Flames suddenly spread out all over its surroundings. Rocks encased in flames fell from its body, causing a series of explosions everywhere. Plumes of black smoke danced ominously as the entire area became a sea of molten lava.


    Allen tensed up and swallowed nervously down his dry throat.


    ¡®Oh, so they were brothers?¡¯


    Still, he got himself some useful information. Who could¡¯ve guessed that the concept of siblings existed even among the J?tnar?


    His job just became a little bit easier thanks to that little revelation, though. Now he met the requirement to provoke this bastard.


    ¡°Oh, hang on a second. You guys were brothers? Wow, sorry about that!¡± Allen put on a fake apologetic face, before clapping his hands as if a great idea just came to him. ¡°Aha, how about this, then? Surtr, listen.¡± He began speaking in a playful tone of voice. ¡°Let me send you away to hell, too. When that happens, the heartfelt reunion of the giant brothers will surely become a reality, right? Oh my goodness me~! Now where would you even find such an emotional and moving reunion? And so, Surtr¡­¡±


    Allen raised his head up and began snickering away.


    ¡°Don¡¯t resist, and just obediently die at my hands, okay?¡±


    < 188. The Job of the Bait -1 (Part One and Two) >

 Chapter 360 - 189. The Job of the Bait -2 (Part One)

    Chapter 360: 189. The Job of the Bait -2 (Part One)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°Lady Saintess!¡±


    Charlotte was left deeply shaken as she watched Alice urgently ride away.


    She quickly issued a new command to a small number of Priests and Paladins, ¡°Go and provide protection to the Lady Saintess!¡±


    ¡°Understood, ma¡¯am!¡± They quickly mounted their horses and chased after Alice.


    Meanwhile, Charlotte hurriedly headed to her new destination.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, ma¡¯am?¡± Hans stopped loading the wagon and asked her, sensing that the atmosphere had become rather heavy all of a sudden.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to find that out myself,¡± Charlotte responded.


    Her destination was the forest that she had seen Allen walking into earlier.


    Eventually, she arrived in the open clearing in the middle of the forest. That¡¯s where she found the Paladins meant to fetch Allen had gathered. However, their Holy Emperor was nowhere to be seen.


    There was a figurine of a person mocked up with some branches sitting in the pool of holy water. The Paladins were standing next to it, a letter clutched in one of their hands.


    A complicated mixture of emotions and thoughts washed up over Charlotte after seeing this scene, and she began rubbing her face.


    She knew it! Without a doubt, Allen must¡¯ve sneaked out of here in order to stop Surtr.


    She couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty, thinking that she might have said something unnecessary and made him act this way.


    ¡°¡­Ma¡¯am. This is a list of orders from His Majesty the Holy Emperor.¡± The Paladin presented the letter to Charlotte.


    She opened it and confirmed the contents within. They turned out to be fairly simple in nature.


    He said that he was going to buy as much time as humanly possible, so she should lead the refugees and return to the Theocratic Empire as soon as possible. He also didn¡¯t forget to end the letter with, ¡°This is an order!¡± as well.


    ¡°¡­An order.¡± Charlotte began frowning deeply. ¡°My apologies, sire, but at least this time, this servant will disobey.¡±


    She carefully folded the letter away. Naturally she was also planning to head off to where the J?tnar were.


    Hans was well qualified to lead the refugees, while she could temporarily yield command of the troops to the King of Frants. With her near Allen¡¯s side, she believed that she should be able to help him out to some degree, at the very least.


    But then, something happened.


    ¡°Marquis Charlotte! Ma¡¯am!¡± A Paladin who was dispatched as a scout earlier hurriedly rushed up to her and cried out while she was making her way outside the forest. ¡°Several vampires and twelve giants of fire are currently approaching our location!¡±


    Some other J?tnar, excluding Surtr, were coming from another direction, he reported to her.


    Charlotte¡¯s expression distorted in anger.


    Paladins flinched nastily when they saw her scary expression, but still they managed to quickly recover themselves. The scout continued with his report, ¡°They are relentlessly marching towards this area, where the refugees are still camped! It seems that they are planning to delay us until Surtr arrives, ma¡¯am!¡±


    ¡°V-vampires!¡± The frightened cries of the refugees could be heard rising now.


    Charlotte turned her head and stared at them.


    Their complexions were deathly pale after the news spread among them so quickly. They were urgently packing their belongings, but it¡¯d still be another thirty minutes before they could get moving again.


    They were not about to deal with some random creature, but twelve giants of fire. The King of Frants¡¯ commands wouldn¡¯t be enough to successfully repel them.


    That meant it was up to Charlotte to stop them.


    She tightly clenched her fists and barely managed to speak up. ¡°Prioritise¡­ the protection of our citizens!¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡± The Paladins nodded in unison. They then dispersed and began roaring out, ¡°Hurry up, all of you!¡±


    The refugees began murmuring to one another in fear.


    ¡°They say vampires are coming!¡±


    ¡°Hurry and pack up your things!¡±


    They moved much faster, as if their lives depended on it.


    In the midst of them was Laurence, urgently climbing up to the carriage driver¡¯s seat. He reached down towards Roy next, ¡°Roy, hurry and climb in!¡±


    ¡°Yes, dad!¡±


    As he climbed up on the carriage, though, he suddenly turned his head around. He could somehow sense some things were approaching the refugees from the forest.


    The feeling he got was at once repulsion and disgust. But at the same time, he also felt lightheaded from the sudden bout of thirst, as well.


    For a brief moment there, Roy¡¯s eyes glowed in a distinct crimson hue.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    The morning sun was already rising.


    Surtr was standing in the middle of the fiercely-burning forest, shuddering in rage.


    -I, I shall kill you! I shall burn your whole body down, capture your soul, and let you taste the torment of burning down for all eternity!- The Fire Giant roared out monstrously in sheer rage. My ears were getting numb from all the ringing.


    The bulging eyes of the giant were filled to the brim with murderous intent.


    I began dripping in cold sweat at this sight. The temperature had shot up to an extreme level and it became quite hard to breathe properly, yet a cold shudder still ran down my spine, making me think that my own body temperature had gone down, instead.


    ¡®Holy cow, did I provoke this guy a little too much?¡¯ I only planned to attract its attention for a bit and stop them from marching forward, so I was kind of caught off guard at how pissed off the Fire Giant had become.


    ¡°Heh, I guess you really cared about your little brother, then. But hey, what can I do?¡± I patted Hr¨ªmr¡¯s severed head lightly. While doing that, I shifted my gaze over to Surtr and continued to sneer. ¡°Collecting heads of monsters runs in the family, you see.¡±


    -Shut your mouth!- Surtr suddenly raised up that whip of flames. The thick and burning weapon rose up in the air. -Get smashed to death!-


    That seventy-meter long whip cracked like thunder.


    I urgently stored Hr¨ªmr¡¯s severed head back in my item window, summoned the Bone Wyvern, and flew up high in the air.


    That overlong whip split apart the land right below us. The forest went up in the billowing flames spreading out from either side of the weapon.


    In the blink of an eye, the ground for seventy metres in length was chopped in half, melting down into a pool of lava right before my eyes.


    Despite being up on the back of the Bone Wyvern, the incredible heat still reached me. My skin burned, causing some burn wounds to appear on my body.


    ¡°Gee whiz, too damn hot!¡±


    I was getting irritated here. I quickly materialised some holy water and splashed my face and the rest of my body. My physical self was fully healed from that, but my breathing remained heavy and laboured.


    ¡®Crazy son of a b*tch!¡¯ Why did I get the feeling that getting anywhere remotely close to that thing would mean instant death by burning down to ashes?


    In comparison, one could at least get close enough to physically damage Hr¨ªmr. The situation with Surtr was way too different. One would just be burnt to death even before they had the chance to attack it from up close.


    ¡°Yup, me coming here was the right call in the end.¡±


    Others wouldn¡¯t be able to endure this situation at all!


    If it was Charlotte, well, then she might have been able to deflect that earlier whip attack, sure. But she¡¯d still end up suffering a grievous wound from the insane heat.


    Fine. I should just focus on buying time here. Wasting that sucker¡¯s time for one or two days should do the trick.


    The Bone Wyvern flew in the opposite direction from where the refugees were.


    -Go! Chase after him! Bring him down from the air!-


    The J?tnar pounced into action when Surtr roared out.


    Boom, boom, boom, boooom-!


    The ground rumbled as the giants chased after me with a shocking turn of speed. Licks of flames gushed out from their mouths in heavy breaths.


    Holy cow. Three hundred J?tnar running hard in order to capture this ol¡¯ me was one hell of a spectacle to behold!


    -We won¡¯t let you get away!-


    One of the J?tnar shot me a glare filled with madness. It opened its maw wide and spat a mass of molten lava into its hand. Clutching it in a certain recognisable position, the corners of the creature¡¯s curled up ominously.


    What the Hell? Hang on a minute!


    -Die, punk!-


    The J?tunn threw that burning mass of lava in the air. That scorching hot mass hurtled in my direction.


    I hurriedly materialised a bone shield to block the incoming lava. I succeeded, but the shield melted down instantly. I had no choice but to discard it.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, isn¡¯t that way too insane?!¡±


    I was riding on a bloody Bone Wyvern here. Its speed was far beyond that of a horse, yet those damn giant bastards were gradually closing the distance. Not only that, they could hit me with long-distance attacks, too?!


    ¡°Stop them!¡±


    In order to fool the eyes of the mob of J?tnar, I deliberately flew lower towards the forest. At the same time, I began Summoning my holy undead.


    Hundreds of holy undead appeared within the forest below and began screeching out while wielding a variety of weapons.


    -Small insects!-


    -Crush them all underfoot!-


    The giants of fire swiped out with their hands. Their stomping feet utterly crushed the holy undead. The skeletons were easily melted down to nothing, completely wiped out of existence.


    BOOM¨C!


    A loud cannon fire resounded out, and the shoulder of one of the giants exploded, causing the creature to stumble. Its damaged shoulder was mangled, and lava trickled down from there like blood.


    The giant of fire frowned deeply and howled out in rage. It then threw a spear of fire in its hands. The skeletons operating the cannon were instantly pulverised into bits and pieces, and even the cannon itself gradually melted down.


    Hundreds of holy undead failed to inflict any proper damage on the pursuing fire giants.


    ¡°I knew it. Fighting them off here is asking for a lot.¡±

 Chapter 361 - : 189. The Job of the Bait -2, (Part Two)

    Chapter 361: 189. The Job of the Bait -2, (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    I was momentarily tempted to summon either the Skeleton King, the Bone Dragon, or even Metatron, despite the potential strain that would put on my body. However, I wasn¡¯t dealing with only Surtr here. I didn¡¯t feel confident at all about dealing with all three hundred giants of fire by myself.


    For now, my role was to buy time. Now wasn¡¯t the right time to spend my energy unnecessarily.


    But then¡­


    -Ku-oooooh!-


    A large shadow loomed over the flying Bone Wyvern. I quickly looked up.


    A J?tunn about eight metres tall was jumping up in the air. In its right hand was a sword of flames, while its left held a shield made out of sizzling bedrock.


    I summoned a musket, pointed at the bastard, and pulled the trigger. The divinity had been gathered hastily without any proper casting procedure. Naturally its firepower wouldn¡¯t be so good.


    The holy bullet was deflected away by the giant¡¯s rock shield. It swung its sword down hard, so I quickly brought out Avaldi¡¯s Spear instead and swung back.


    CLAAANG-!


    ¡®I did it!¡¯


    That¡¯s what I thought, but then something else happened.


    The Bone Wyvern couldn¡¯t endure the new addition to its load and fell from the air.


    The J?tunn used its entire body weight and the strength behind its strike to force us down. The Bone Wyvern carrying me was slammed straight into the ground below.


    BOOM!


    The Bone Wyvern was shattered into million pieces, but I managed to summon a platform of bones in time to support my feet.


    -You¡­ stopped me?- the J?tunn gasped out in a shocked voice.


    I roused up my divinity and enhanced all of my physical abilities. The divine power wrapped around Avaldi¡¯s Spear and destroyed the J?tunn¡¯s sword.


    -What kind of strength¡­?!-


    I re-summoned the musket into my left hand and took aim at the giant bastard¡¯s face. This time, I wasn¡¯t going to miss.


    As soon as I pulled the trigger, the J?tunn¡¯s head exploded.


    The headless giant body tumbled back, never to move again. However, I was now treated to the scene of the other three hundred surviving J?tnar still chasing after me.


    ¡®Maaan, gimme a freaking break!¡¯


    I turned around urgently to flee, but almost at the same time, flames spread all around the forest near me, cutting off my escape path.


    It became harder and harder to move as the land grew hotter and hotter.


    Soon, the giants of fire had me surrounded. I stumbled back clumsily while staring at them.


    ¡®Gee whiz, this is like being inside a bloody steam bath, isn¡¯t it? Are these bastards thinking of steaming me to death or something?¡¯


    -How dare a measly insect kill one of our own!-


    -Do not let your guard down. He managed to murder Lord Hr¨ªmr, after all.-


    -No, that must be a lie. He doesn¡¯t look all that strong.-


    The giants of fire were gradually closing in on me from all sides.


    What should I do here? I couldn¡¯t really see any easy way out of this predicament.


    In the end, I didn¡¯t have a choice but to strain myself, huh. Well, I did manage to buy some time, so¡­


    I sucked in a deep breath, then summoned holy water beneath my feet.


    The waves of water spread out with me in the centre and crashed into the feet of the J?tnar, causing steam to rise up.


    -Oh, that¡¯s refreshing!-


    -You think this little water can douse our flames, insect?-


    The giants of fire snickered away, ridiculing my efforts.


    ¡°Nah, that¡¯s not it.¡±


    Sure. Snicker away, you fools. I ain¡¯t gonna be the one to fight you bastards, anyway.


    -Wait, what is¡­?-


    The giants of fire finally noticed that something was wrong here.


    There were bits of ice floating around on the holy water. Pieces of icy flesh, actually.


    The chopped-up corpses belonging to the giants of ice, the ones led by Hr¨ªmr when they were still alive, suddenly floated up to the surface next. The severed body parts began gathering and connecting into intact arms and legs. They froze into solid masses, and eventually, the frost J?tnar that had been trapped in the holy water as corpses slowly pushed themselves back to their feet.


    -Fuu-woo¡­!-


    These icy undead breathed whitish frost from their mouths as they picked up various weapons, their bodies now encased in armour of ice.


    The fire giants were flustered and stumbled back.


    -A-aren¡¯t they¡­?-


    -Oh, our brethren! How could this be¡­?!-


    These were my new zombie J?tnar, created from the giants of frost.


    The cold lights burning in the eyes of the ice zombie J?tnar gleamed sharply.


    -Ku-oooooooh!-


    They lowered their postures, split their frozen mouths wide, and screeched out thunderously.


    I had the frost J?tnar corpses recovered from the Kingdom of Frants and chopped to pieces, then stored them in my item window. This was the reason we hunted those giants down with a minimal amount of damage to their bodies.


    When the frost J?tnar displayed hostility, the J?tnar of fire grew even more flustered.


    -These things, they are all corpses!-


    -You dare to defile the souls of our brethren, too?! You damn insect!-


    The next thing these J?tnar of fire did was glare at me murderously, rage filling them up.


    ¡°Kasim, Nasus, Rahamma.¡±


    Three more existences were Summoned around me.


    I entrusted my protection to the trio, and got ready to summon the Skeleton King.


    I realised that I couldn¡¯t just go easy on these giant bastards and simply buy time. No, if I could inflict some serious damage to them before breaking out of their net and escaping outta here, I should be able to stop their march dead in its tracks.


    That was the line of thinking in my head as I slammed Avaldi¡¯s Spear on the ground, and I gathered up more divinity.


    I even put on Amon¡¯s Skull. Gentle rays of light began engraving themselves one the surface of the holy water.


    For a moment there, though, I felt something inside my chest snap loose.


    ¡°¡­?¡±


    I briefly tilted my head this way and that, wondering what had just happened, but after confirming that there were no other strange signs, I focused on the summoning process.


    -What are you all doing?-


    Surtr was slowly approaching our location. It raised up its lengthy whip again and smashed it down.


    Several frost giants were instantly shattered into bits.


    -Take him down, now!-


    The fire giants pounced forward. The ice J?tnar howled out loudly as they fought back, while Kasim, Rahamma, and Nasus joined them to push our enemies back.


    ¡°I am the legion.¡±


    One of the fire giants huffed and panted heavily as it tried to pounce on me. I fired my musket and shot that damn thing down.


    ¡°And I¡¯m Gaia¡¯s¡­¡±


    Another fire giant, its mouth wide open, rushed at me from behind, as if it wanted to swallow me up whole.


    I turned around urgently and pointed my musket at the open mouth of the J?tunn, only to sense a familiar aura nearby.


    Someone was sprinting rapidly through the burning forest. She broke through the walls of flame and her figure spun around in the air.


    ¡°Fuu-wuu¡­¡±


    I heard the familiar sound of her taking a deep breath. A woman, fitted with a pair of gauntlets, her blonde hair whipping in the air¡­


    ¡®Alice?¡¯


    Alice¡¯s figure spun around in the air, and her foot stomped down hard on the J?tunn trying to jump on me. The giant¡¯s head slammed into the ground and shattered into bits.


    Just as I stared at her in shock¡­


    She turned to look at me and cried out, ¡°Don¡¯t stop!¡±


    Well, I¡¯ll be. She sure can be a wild child, can¡¯t she? Weren¡¯t you trying to dissuade me earlier, though?


    I controlled my breathing and finished the rest of the activation phrase, ¡°¡­Inheritor!¡±


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Before anyone had noticed it, the sun had sunk below the horizon.


    The darkness visiting the sky once more was illuminated by the lone moonlight, but the ground below was brightly lit up by the burning land and the gentle glow coming from the holy water lake.


    Alice quietly opened her lips and the beautiful melodies of a hymn came from her. The Resonance caused the divinity in him to amplify.


    ¡°Skeleton King,¡± muttered Allen, still under Amon¡¯s skull.


    The J?tnar of fire that had managed to bring down the giants of ice reacted to the harmonious song and stared at Alice.


    ¡°Donn O Donnchadha.¡±


    Surtr witnessed the advent of a truly shocking event and its movement came to a standstill.


    The Fire Giant could sense ¡®it¡¯. It could sense this eerily familiar presence, an aura so scarily cold that it could even freeze one¡¯s soul.


    The Skeleton King slowly raised its torso up from the lake of holy water, its four arms spreading open.


    -I am the King of Death.-


    The Skeleton King bent forward, extended its hand, and dipped it below the surface of the holy water.


    -I can take as my own the powers of the ones that I have defeated.-


    What the gigantic skeleton pulled out wasn¡¯t its usual golden bone sword, but the severed head of the Frost Giant, Hr¨ªmr.


    The Skeleton King¡¯s bony jaw clattered open wide. It swallowed up the severed frozen head, and then¡­ began munching on it.


    Suddenly, a layer of frost quickly spread on the entire body of the gigantic skeleton.


    A set of ice armour materialised in between its ribcage. The four arms even extracted spears made out of ice from the lake of holy water.


    -Who can emerge victorious against me, the true conqueror!-


    The glowing eyes of the Skeleton King burned fiercely as it glared at Surtr.


    -Oh, hear me, my brethren!-


    Surtr the Fire Giant was jolted out of its stupefaction. It began stumbling back as if it wanted to reject the current reality.


    -Let us become one being!-


    Soul-chilling frost gushed out from the bony jaw of the Skeleton King.


    < 189. The Job of the Bait -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 362 - 190. Donn O’ Donnchadha (Part One)

    Chapter 362: 190. Donn O¡¯ Donnchadha (Part One)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    All the J?tnar froze in place. There was no need to even mention Surtr¡¯s current state, either.


    An eerily familiar presence could be felt coming from the Skeleton King¡¯s figure, right before their eyes.


    -But how? How can this even¡­?-


    Only one being in this entire world could emit that distinct aura. It was none other than the Frost Giant, Hr¨ªmr!


    Indeed, this presence belonged to that creature, one of the four Kings of the Giants..


    Surtr¡¯s eyes trembled unsteadily. Its gaze landed on the space visible beyond the Skeleton King¡¯s icy armour and the ribcage.


    A powerful aura encased in frost was swirling and spinning around inside there. A thing resembling Hr¨ªmr could be seen imprisoned within, crying out desperately.


    The Frost Giant¡¯s soul had been trapped within the Skeleton King¡¯s body, its power gradually being stolen away.


    Surtr shook its head as if it wanted to reject this reality, but that didn¡¯t last for long. Unchecked rage overtook the giant right away.


    -You dare to devour my brother?!- The Fire Giant¡¯s entire body shuddered in fury. It opened its maw wide and roared out monstrously.


    Alice was singing her hymn, but was shocked out of her concentration and had to stare at the Skeleton King as well. Not only did the humongous undead emit this powerful and sacred aura, it had even forcibly manipulated the dead giant¡¯s soul and sealed it away.


    This was the King of Death, and it was displaying its ability to collect the souls of the others to absorb their strength.


    Alice¡¯s surprise didn¡¯t last long, and she quickly shifted her gaze over to Allen next. He was already wearing Amon¡¯s Skull and the suit of bone armour.


    Anyone else would¡¯ve seen his overflowing majesty and aura of an absolute being capable of ruling the entire world. But Alice could see something else.


    She could tell his divinity flow was unstable. It was clearly in disorder.


    ¡®I knew it. He¡¯s straining himself.¡¯


    Alice clenched her teeth and increased the volume of her voice. She worked extra hard so that Allen would have an easier time unleashing his power through her Resonance.


    Meanwhile, he raised Avaldi¡¯s Spear up high, before slamming its end down into the ground.


    As if to match that, the burning eyeballs of the Skeleton King glowed even brighter.


    -Be trapped in ice!-


    Four spears of ice pierced into the ground. Huge blocks of ice exploded out from the burning forest and all that lava flooding the land.


    A portion of the J?tnar of fire were imprisoned within the rising ice. Even Surtr was trapped in one of the larger ice blocks, its entire body freezing up instantly.


    -All this ice, isn¡¯t it¡­?!-


    -It¡¯s Lord Hr¨ªmr¡¯s authority over nature!-


    -That bastard has defiled our king¡¯s soul!-


    The J?tnar of fire were enraged.


    -We must burn that bastard down to ashes!-


    -Yes, we must free Lord Hr¨ªmr¡¯s soul!-


    The J?tnar of fire were displaying massive outrage to the Skeleton King. But just as they clenched their weapons tightly and tried to pounce on the Skeleton King¡­


    Allen slammed Avaldi¡¯s Spear down once more. A pristine, gentle sound reverberated throughout the land, causing the J?tnar to turn their attention over to him, instead.


    Surrounding him were Kasim, Nasus, and Rahamma, standing tall.


    Even if it was the one and only Skeleton King, facing off against three hundred J?tnar was still a very tall order.


    Allen glared sharply at the giants, then beckoned at them with his finger. ¡°Come and get some.¡±


    The J?tnar of fire all crumpled their expressions in anger, and then charged his position.


    And so¡­ the Skeleton King handled Surtr, while Allen dealt with three hundred irate fire J?tnar. He summoned countless more undead from the lake of holy water. The undead monster legions, comprising of all sorts of bizarre bone combinations, leapt out from the water¡¯s surface to fight back the giants.


    -What a beautiful voice she has.-


    -Rather than an insect, isn¡¯t she more like a skylark?-


    Alice, still singing the hymn, had to turn her head at those comments. Several giants were snickering away while looking down at her.


    The ancient J?tnar had a tendency to enjoy pleasant music, so much so that the old legends said that the giants would be charmed by one capable of singing beautifully and abduct them, even if the singer happened to be an insignificant human being.


    However, these J?tnar were displaying naked hostility rather than curiosity right now. In fact, one of the J?tnar hoisted a mace made out of fire and slammed it down towards the ground without hesitation.


    Alice, still singing the hymn, quickly flung herself to the side to evade the attack. She sucked in a deep breath and continued to sing the melody.


    ¡®It¡¯s getting harder to breathe.¡¯


    Her surroundings had become enveloped in flames, and there was not enough air to go around. Due to the high temperature, fatigue was also quickly washing over her, far sooner than usual.


    ¡®However, it¡¯s not to the point that I¡¯d be defeated by these J?tnar!¡¯


    Alice bumped her fists. Her gauntlets let out a clear, pristine clanging noise, and were swiftly encased in divinity.


    One of the J?tnar slammed its hand down at her, but Alice only stood still and watched it draw near.


    ¡®If I¡¯m to block the attacks of J?tnar, my footing needs to be sturdy.¡¯


    She stomped her feet on the ground. Her divinity spread out, solidifying the earth below her.


    As she watched the huge palm descend on top of her, the gleam in Alice¡¯s eyes sharpened even further.


    ¡®And also, to decrease the J?tunn¡¯s hitting power to its absolute minimum¡­¡¯


    She needed to locate the flow of Mana hidden within the giant¡¯s scorching palm, somewhere among all those flames burning ferociously within its bedrock armour.


    She confirmed its location, and punched forward, hard.


    What she was attempting to pull off right now was the ¡®parrying¡¯ technique that Marquis Charlotte used freely.


    Divinity and Mana collided, and the J?tunn¡¯s hand was deflected away. The giant put on a stunned face, but on the other hand, Alice was frowning deeply.


    Her arm was numb and aching. Her defence was still a long ways off compared to Charlotte¡¯s perfect parrying technique. It was still too sloppy.


    However, she couldn¡¯t deny that it had proved to be effective, nevertheless!


    She kicked up from the ground and leapt high. Her body spun around before she punched out once more. The J?tunn¡¯s head was pulverised into mush, and its large body was flung backwards.


    The other J?tnar were taken aback by this scene, but they still snickered arrogantly.


    -Oh, not bad.-


    -I shall be the one to burn that skylark to ashes!-


    Cold sweat trickled down Alice¡¯s face. It was already quite hard to contend with one or two J?tnar, yet there were¡­


    ¡°Alice!¡±


    She quickly turned her head at that familiar voice. That¡¯s when she spotted Allen looking directly at her while stepping back.


    ¡°Come this way!¡±


    She broke into a sprint in his direction and the J?tnar began chasing after her.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡±


    Allen¡¯s heavy breaths gushed out from beneath Amon¡¯s Skull. At the same time, his arms were transforming. More bones covered them, morphing into a cannon, and he aimed the weapon at the incoming J?tnar. The twelve skeletal hands on his back were wielding muskets as well.


    That wasn¡¯t all, though, as behind him was the musket regiment one hundred strong, and twenty cannons, all rising up from the surface of the holy water.


    ¡°Take aim, and¡­¡±


    The muskets were trained on their new targets.


    Alice¡¯s eyes widened, while the J?tnar behind her were shocked into stopping and faltering where they stood.


    ¡°¡­Fire!¡±


    Alice hurriedly kissed the ground.


    There were earth-shattering explosions, and dozens of J?tnar started collapsing and falling back lifelessly. The thick smoke of the gunfire and cannon shelling obscured her sight like a dense fog.


    Even then, the gunshots didn¡¯t let up. That was because even more undead wielding muskets continued to emerge from the holy water¡¯s surface.


    -Defend yourselves!-


    The J?tnar began using their fallen brethren as shields, and continued to advance.


    Despite the barrages from the muskets and cannons destroying and blowing the corpses apart, the giants managed to creep closer and closer to Allen and Alice¡¯s position.


    ¡°Huh, to think that they would actually use their own kin as meat shields.¡±


    -They would be overjoyed by our choice, actually!- The J?tnar continued to snicker contemptuously.


    Meanwhile, the Skeleton King was glaring sharply at Surtr, who was still trapped within the block of ice. The undead¡¯s glowing eyes narrowed to slits, before it thrust its ice spear forward with great strength.


    Right at that moment, Surtr raised its head. Numerous cracks ran through the ice block before it shattered into bits. The Fire Giant grabbed the incoming spear with its bare hand.


    Intense heat and cold collided, sending out choking steam everywhere before exploding vigorously.


    -You bastard!!!- Surtr roared out while gritting its teeth.


    -Do not resist your death, oh King of Fire!-


    Both the Skeleton King and Surtr glared murderously at each other.


    The three remaining ice spears flew directly at the Fire Giant¡¯s torso. The weapons impaled Surtr¡¯s large body, causing countless spikes of ice to explode out from it.


    The Fire Giant screamed thunderously.


    This¡­ this was Hr¨ªmr¡¯s ability! But, that wasn¡¯t all.


    The Skeleton King splashed holy water everywhere as it retreated. It then materialised yet more ice spears, which the undead began swinging around. The glowing eyes of the giant undead arched up into a creepy grin.

 Chapter 363 - 190. Donn O’ Donnchadha (Part Two)

    Chapter 363: 190. Donn O¡¯ Donnchadha (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The Skeleton King tilted and twisted its body left and right as if it was dancing around happily. At the same time, all four ice spears crossed this way and that, ruthlessly chopping and hacking away at Surtr.


    The Fire Giant stumbled back from the impacts. The blades of ice spear sliced the giant¡¯s chest open, scattering lava everywhere. Another spear stabbed deep into its side, and huge flames billowed out from the open wound.


    All the body parts cut up by the spears then began to freeze up quickly afterwards, grievously wounding Surtr even more.


    -You, you bastard! You really have¡­!- .


    This was how Hr¨ªmr used to fight. This undead bastard had copied not only Hr¨ªmr¡¯s abilities, but even the habits and the fighting style of the Frost Giant as well, and was using them as its own.


    Surtr¡¯s glare shifted towards the Skeleton King¡¯s chest. The Fire Giant thought that it could faintly see Hr¨ªmr¡¯s soul crying out in despair, just beyond the undead¡¯s ice armour and the ribcage.


    -Oh, my younger brother! Hold on for a little while longer, for I shall make sure to liberate you soon!-


    Surtr yanked up its whip before slamming it down hard. The whip wrapped around the Skeleton King¡¯s ice spear. The two opposing forces collided, causing another great explosion. The spear shattered into thousands of pieces.


    Surtr retrieved its whip, then cocked the weapon back again. It swung it forward rapidly once more.


    The whip coiled and danced like a snake. The weapon slammed into the Skeleton King¡¯s torso mercilessly.


    The ice armour shattered and the giant undead staggered back unsteadily.


    Even though the whip was truly humongous, it continued to lash out as if Surtr was planning to strike its enemy hundreds of times in a span of only a few minutes.


    It was at that moment that a great bone spike suddenly exploded out from the ground and impaled Surtr. In addition, more frost spread out from the wound, freezing the Fire Giant once again.


    -Uwaaaahk!- Surtr howled out in pain and its head shot up, only for the Skeleton King to reach out and grab the raised head of the Fire Giant. The head made out of burning lava and bedrock was slammed into the surface of the holy water, where steaming chunks of ice still floated around.


    Hot steam gushed out. The holy water was continuously being replenished, however, and began eating away at Surtr¡¯s flames.


    -You bastard!!!-


    Surtr opened its maw wide. Flames filled the inside its mouth.


    When it spewed that out, a massive explosion went off inside the holy water, flinging Surtr¡¯s whole body up into the air.


    The Skeleton King retreated away. A rain of holy water and flames descended seemingly everywhere.


    Surtr landed back on the ground, breathing laboriously. Its trembling eyes remained locked on the Skeleton King.


    The huge undead slowly sat back up. Its own burning eyeballs were glaring back at Surtr without a hint of hesitation.


    Just why was that undead monster so powerful?


    ¡®I need to finish this quickly!¡¯


    If things continued on in this manner, then forget about liberating Hr¨ªmr¡¯s soul, even Surtr would end up as an offering to this undead bastard instead!


    In that case, there was only one way to resolve this. That was to go all out and attack with everything Surtr had. The Fire Giant had to hit the enemy so hard that the other party could never get back up, that its soul would be burned into nothingness!


    -Fuu-woo!-


    Surtr sucked in a deep breath. It strengthened its entire body and also began circulating the lava flowing around inside it even faster than before.


    Next up, it raised its whip high in the air. The weapon waved and undulated like a snake.


    -Try to block this, oh King of Death!-


    Flames erupted out from all over Surtr¡¯s body, and the dancing whip was suddenly encased in fiery bedrock, solidifying in one layer after another.


    The whip had transformed into a huge sword. Large bursts of flames began gushing out from its blade.


    -Receive this strike that will burn even your soul, you bastard¡­!-


    Surtr gripped the gargantuan flaming sword with both of its hands. The massive weapon was seventy metres in length, and now it was crashing straight down on top of the Skeleton King.


    The giant undead crossed its ice spears above its head and tried to defend against the incoming whip-sword. The flaming blade slammed straight into the overlapped ice spears.


    But then the spear shafts began cracking and shattering apart. The massive flames melted the ice down, evaporated the holy water, and quickly pushed down.


    Eventually, the sword of flames chopped into the Skeleton King¡¯s shoulder, right down to its ribcage.


    -Did you say you are the King of Death?- Surtr grinned insidiously. -In the end, you were nothing more than a small hatchling.-


    Allen, who had been relentlessly pouring out attacks against the J?tnar until then, suddenly froze up. He turned his head and looked up at the Skeleton King.


    The giant undead had been defeated by Surtr. Particles of light were scattering away from its body as it began to disappear from this world.


    As if that wasn¡¯t enough, Surtr grabbed the Skeleton King¡¯s skull, then tried to rip it off from the undead¡¯s spine.


    ¡°¡­It lost?¡±


    It was right at that moment something in his chest creaked and went out of alignment.


    Allen grasped Avaldi¡¯s Spear tightly. ¡°¡­It¡¯s not enough.¡±


    He didn¡¯t have enough strength to defeat Surtr. In that case, there was only one other way remaining.


    Allen recalled the stories he heard from both Hans and Alice on a certain subject. They were tales related to Purgatory.


    {Wait, Your Majesty? You wish to know more about Purgatory? But then¡­ Well, sire, haven¡¯t you been using that all this time?}


    That¡¯s what Hans had told him.


    The passageway that connected to the one and only Purgatory, it happened to be¡­


    {Yes, sire. I¡¯m talking about your holy water. It is kind of like the passageway that your undead use to come to this side. I¡¯m not sure what kind of mechanism it operates on, but well, if you use that, then I¡¯m sure you can open the gateway to Purgatory, sire.}


    That was Hans¡¯s opinion.


    On the other hand¡­


    {That¡¯s what Lord Hans has said, but that place cannot be Purgatory, sire. I mean, divine power comes out from the summoned holy water, doesn¡¯t it?} Alice shook her head and came up with a different opinion. {The place your holy water connects to shouldn¡¯t be Purgatory, but most likely¡­}


    Allen slammed Avaldi¡¯s Spear on the ground. The holy water reacted to his calling.


    He roused up every single ounce of divine power residing in his body.


    Something in his chest went out of alignment again.


    {A different world from Purgatory. That must be¡­}


    The Skeleton King suddenly stopped moving. Its eyes, which had steadily been getting dimmer, began burning once more. Its two free hands reached up and grabbed Surtr.


    -Fuu-wooooo¡­-


    As it breathed out heavily, the Skeleton King¡¯s two other hands pressed down on the surface of the holy water.


    BOOM-!


    The lake of holy water rippled and undulated fiercely.


    BOOM-!


    The huge undead was trying to forcibly pull the rest of its body outside the holy water.


    Alice had to shift her attention away from dealing with the J?tnar at the commotion, and stared at Allen. He was currently on one knee, leaning against his golden spear.


    A truly vast quantity of divinity was flooding out from his body to enter the holy water below.


    Alice¡¯s complexion paled in an instant. ¡°N-no, you mustn¡¯t! If you strain yourself like that, your body¡­!¡±


    Allen couldn¡¯t hear her, as he was still recalling what she had said to him earlier.


    {That place could very well be¡­ the Heavenly World, sire.}


    -Ku-ooooooooooh!- The Skeleton King¡¯s bony jaw opened up in a thunderous roar as it finally dragged itself out.


    The lake of holy water exploded spectacularly all around it. Surtr jumped up in shock and hurriedly retreated.


    Thousands, nay, tens of thousands of holy undead began pouring out from the holy water¡¯s depths, along with the Skeleton King¡¯s previously-trapped lower half.


    All those holy undead screeched and howled loudly. Even the J?tnar became terrified and shivered despite themselves when tens of thousands of holy undead continued to leap out from the holy water, utterly filling up the land.


    They were like a voracious swarm of insects, endlessly pouring out from somewhere deep within the holy water. Not just skeletons, but even souls were flying around everywhere, eerily singing the sacred hymns.


    -Did you say I was small?-


    Huge hooves similar to a horse¡¯s stepped firmly on the surface of the holy water. The water rippled and undulated, crashing and rising up.


    -In that case¡­ now, behold!-


    A set of horse armour, seemingly crafted out of nothing but bones, clacked and flapped in the winds. All those damaged bones of the Skeleton King began rapidly regenerating.


    The lower body that continued on from its spine defied one¡¯s attempts at identifying just which creature it belonged to. There were four legs with horse-like hooves.


    In a way, its lower half seemed similar to that of a horse, yet it was also completely different. Thick bones jutted from either side of its lower torso as if they were large blades, while another crest of bone stood upright on its back like a fin. Its long tail was that of a dragon¡¯s.


    The Skeleton King put on that horse armour, its own barding, while holding its head up high. Its glare was now locked on Surtr down below it.


    The King of Death unleashed its full unstoppable majesty and dignity. Unlike its terrifying and abominable outer appearance, though, this absolute being emanated truly sacred power.


    -This is my true appearance!-


    The Skeleton King, Donn O Donnchadha, had finally revealed its splendour to this world.


    < 190. Donn O Donnchadha (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 364 - 191. The Boundary Between Life and Death-1 (Part One)

    Chapter 364: 191. The Boundary Between Life and Death-1 (Part One)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    A long time ago, Allen had an opportunity to browse a book related to the topics of Purgatory.


    That event took place inside the Imperial Palace¡¯s library.


    Allen, perched up on the top of a ladder that was leaning against a tall bookshelf so that he could check out this particular book, asked Alice below, ¡°You know something?¡±


    ¡°¡­?¡± She looked up at him on the ladder.


    ¡°The ¡®Purgatory¡¯ often described as Hell doesn¡¯t really exist.¡±


    He got to see the truth for himself in Aihrance, and during the Holy King coronation as well..


    Alice nodded in agreement. She could also faintly remember seeing it during the coronation. ¡°In reality, Purgatory is Hell, Your Majesty. It is ruled by the God of Death, Yudai.¡±


    Hell, a place where those who committed sins would end up. But Allen found that part of the explanation somewhat suspicious.


    The Necromancers worshipped the God of Death. When they died, they would become dead souls and become trapped in Purgatory, in other words.


    When Allen brought this point up, Alice shook her head. ¡°No, sire. It¡¯s a different story for the Necromancers or those who worship the God of Death.¡± She rubbed her chin in deep contemplation before continuing on. ¡°They see themselves as true believers who will assist the God of Death and co-exist with him within Purgatory.¡±


    Apparently, the Necromancers believed that when they experienced an honourable death, or even when their natural lifespan came to an end, they would naturally go to the side of the God of Death.


    ¡°Does that mean there¡¯s Heaven, then?¡±


    ¡°Heaven, sire? You mean, the Heavenly World?¡±


    Allen nodded at Alice¡¯s return question.


    He had heard a lot about Purgatory, but for some reason, there wasn¡¯t all that much talk about this Heavenly World thing.


    After Kelt passed away, the members of the clergy kept bringing up the Heavenly World over and over again, even while burying his coffin. Of course Allen would get curious after that.


    He wondered if something like that really existed.


    ¡°Of course, sire. Except that¡­¡± Alice replied while closing the bible she was reading, then carefully stroking its cover. ¡°Purgatory and the Heavenly World are almost one and the same.¡±


    The two worlds existed on either sides of a boundary. This boundary, as thin as a piece of paper, split the Heavenly World and Purgatory, according to her explanation.


    The dead souls in Purgatory could enter the Heavenly World by paying for their sins and being purified, thereby gaining an opportunity to earn a new life. On the other hand, committing a crime in the Heavenly World would get you sent to Purgatory to become one of the walking dead instead.


    Alice got up from her chair and began searching through a distant corner of the library. She eventually found a certain book. It looked very old. She dusted its cover off carefully and then had to gently blow some cobwebs away, too.


    She cautiously flipped open its pages and showed the contents within to Allen.


    ¡°The reason why the Heavenly World doesn¡¯t get mentioned often despite its existence is simple, Your Majesty.¡± She formed a wry smile and continued on, ¡°It is because that place is supposed to be quite similar to Purgatory.¡±


    There was an illustration on the pages of this book. It depicted both the Heavenly World and Purgatory, but the latter had a dark and ominous background, while the former had a pure white one.


    The members of clergy in the ancient times didn¡¯t want to acknowledge this. They loathed the fact that Yudai, the ruler of Purgatory, and Gaia, the ruler of the Heavenly World, were existing side by side with only the slimmest boundary splitting them.


    They just couldn¡¯t accept that the Heavenly World was not the paradise they thought it was, a place of abundant riches. That was why they tried to hide the truth even now.


    ¡°If there was one distinct difference between the Heavenly World and Purgatory, then it would be that while one is a world covered in rotting flesh and blood, the other is a world of life filled with fragrant grass and life-giving water, Your Majesty.¡±


    **


    ¡®Uh?¡¯


    Allen began staggering unsteadily. His consciousness dimmed without any warning.


    The divinity within his body was rapidly draining out. Strength abandoned his legs, and he even went down on his knees.


    His focus was getting blurrier as his vision rapidly grew darker.


    ¡®What is this? What¡¯s wrong with me all of a sudden?!¡¯


    His breathing clogged up, and his entire body felt heavy and lethargic. His mind was sinking quickly into pure darkness.


    ¡®Alice did warn me before, but I had no idea it¡­¡¯


    He was now beset by incredible pain, akin to his whole body being ripped apart.


    ¡®¡­Would be this painful?!¡¯


    His hearing was next to go numb.


    He smelled a thick metallic odour in his nostrils, and began tasting blood in his mouth. Crimson tears of blood even began trickling down from his eyes.


    Both Amon¡¯s Skull and Avaldi¡¯s Spear were going out of control. They continued to amplify his divinity, but his body could no longer keep up.


    ¡®No, I must endure it! At least until I kill that bastard Surtr!¡¯


    Death was swiftly coming to visit him.


    **


    For a moment there, Surtr mistakenly thought that it was being choked to death. The Fire Giant raised its head up and stared at the Skeleton King, before clumsily stumbling backwards.


    This undead creature towered over forty metres high. Blades fashioned from bones jutted out from its lower torso and repeatedly opened and snapped shut, as if they were fangs of a ferocious insect.


    The undead lifted up its hooves and kicked the ground. In the meantime, tens of thousands of undead leapt out from the surface of holy water, screeching and howling out loudly.


    -What the hell are they?!-


    -They are merely insects! Stomp them all to death!-


    The giants belonging to Surtr¡¯s forces roared out and pounced bravely on the undead rushing in at them like tidal waves. Unfortunately for them, though, the undead really were like an unstoppable tsunami wave rising up high.


    The wall of undead reached dozens of metres high, and began shoving the J?tnar back ruthlessly. These undead creatures clung to the giants and began biting and tearing at their victims.


    Initially, the giants believed that these measly little undead insects couldn¡¯t possibly do much against them, but then hundreds of them had latched on and began gouging out the flesh of the giants little by little, causing unspeakable pain to their victims.


    Most importantly of all, the giants could sense a bone-chilling cold aura emanating from all of these undead.


    That attribute was capable of freezing all things, and was eerily similar to Hr¨ªmr¡¯s¡­


    These undead also possessed it!


    In the end, the giants began to fall one by one. Their flames went out and they were frozen solid. But they didn¡¯t stay down for long after getting bitten to death, as they began standing back up again. They had been revived as zombies, their eyes burning eerily now.


    ¡®W-what is this¡­? Hell? Is this hell?!¡¯


    Surtr was treated to a vivid spectacle of its kin being brutally murdered. It then turned its head to look in front of itself.


    Ghosts were flying all around the Skeleton King, singing sacred hymns. The huge undead breathed out heavily while standing tall among the deluge of undead.


    Ripples of a pure white aura were spreading out.


    A golden sword leapt out from the surface of the holy water, and the Skeleton King snatched it up.


    ¡®That, that has to be a true monster! It¡¯s using some kind of strange magic, too!¡¯ Surtr gripped its own sword tightly.


    Should it run away?


    No, that didn¡¯t seem possible now. Judging from the overall appearance of the gigantic undead¡¯s lower torso, its mobility should be far superior to Surtr¡¯s.


    In that case, the only way for the Fire Giant to survive this crisis was to kill the undead creature right before its eyes!


    ¡®Yes, I shall use that again!¡¯


    Surtr was thinking of going with its final all-out attack one more time.


    Even if all the Mana circulating inside its body was to be exhausted and as a result the giant ended up burning down to nothingness by its own flames, it simply could not afford to let this incredible undead be.


    If left alone, the giants¡¯ plan of reverting the world back to its primordial nature would come crumbling down in one breath.


    Surtr sucked in a deep breath and raised its sword up high.


    Fiercely-burning flames enveloped the giant as its eyes glared murderously at the Skeleton King. Eventually, the flames even permeated the huge blade.


    ¡®I shall imbue it with a fire capable of destroying this world!¡¯


    Nothing in this world could not be burned down, and not a thing in this world could withstand being burned out of existence, either!


    -I am the King of Fire!-


    Surtr leapt up high, both of its arms raised up.


    -Even death can be burned down by fire itself! And that will be the true end of everything!-


    The skies turned crimson. Everything in the vicinity was set alight.


    Countless undead below reached out towards Surtr and began rising up in the air as well, but the choking heat melted them down first, extinguishing them from existence.


    -I am the true death, so hear me, Skeleton King! You should just melt down and cease to exist altogether!-


    As if to answer that, Skeleton King¡¯s four hands tightly grasped his golden sword.


    -Oh King of Fire, you are labouring under a foolish delusion.-


    The four hooves firmly drove into the ground to support the undead¡¯s huge body.


    -No matter what kind of flame it is, it is bound to die. End exists for all things, and that is the true meaning of death.-


    The golden sword was swung powerfully upwards.


    The two blades angrily collided in mid-air.

 Chapter 365 - 191. The Boundary Between Life and Death-1 (Part Two)

    Chapter 365: 191. The Boundary Between Life and Death-1 (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The entire world seemed to be split apart by the collision of the fierce flames and divinity, causing a massive explosion.


    The Skeleton King¡¯s bones began to melt down, but at the same time, Surtr¡¯s flames were guttering and going out.


    -Oh, oooooooh!- Surtr roared out a spirited cry. Its body began ballooning up next.


    Vicious flames erupted out from its back, forcing the giant forward. The sword of fire was gradually pushing the golden sword back.


    ¡®Yes, I¡¯m winning! I can do this! Because I am the fire, and I am the true death!¡¯


    Just as Surtr began breaking out in a smirk¡­.


    The Skeleton King¡¯s body was suddenly enveloped in thick layers of frost and seemed to freeze over. At the same time, the golden sword also became encased in ice, freezing up Surtr¡¯s sword solidly in the process.


    -¡­!!!-


    It didn¡¯t stop there, as both of Surtr¡¯s arms began rapidly freezing solid as well.


    ¡®No, this can¡¯t be!¡¯


    At this rate¡­!


    The sword of flame shattered into bits and pieces, while the golden sword continued to thrust forward and penetrated deep into Surtr¡¯s side.


    -Oh, King of Fire!-


    Its impaled side instantly froze up before cracking apart. Putting up its final resistance, Surtr pushed down at the golden sword with its frozen hands.


    -Your soul, I shall¡­-


    But then Surtr¡¯s hands also shattered to bits. Its body eventually cracked apart, splitting into its upper and lower halves.


    -¡­gladly devour it!-


    The Fire Giant screamed hoarsely.


    Its two halves, now free of each other, crashed back down to the ground. The Skeleton King didn¡¯t stop there, however, and reached out to grab hold of Surtr¡¯s head next.


    The Fire Giant¡¯s brows shot up high in shock. It watched the Skeleton King¡¯s jaw open wide.


    The whole jawbone seemed to disconnect as if the undead wanted to swallow Surtr¡¯s head whole in one go.


    -N-no, wait! Stop! You bastard, let go of me right now! N-no wait, I beg of you! I, I don¡¯t want to die¡­ No!-


    Surtr erupted in flames and desperately flailed about with its arms to fight back, but all of its struggles were useless in the end.


    The Fire Giant¡¯s head slipped inside the Skeleton King¡¯s mouth, and was crushed ruthlessly.


    Almost immediately, the Skeleton King¡¯s figure began transforming. A set of ice armour manifested on its bony body, and black flames enveloped the armour¡¯s surface next.


    Two souls, one imbued with frost and the other with fierce flames, thrashed about in torment deep within the Skeleton King¡¯s body.


    The giant undead¡¯s eyes gleamed sharply and it suddenly cast its gaze lower to the ground. It was now staring at Allen some distance away.


    -¡­¡¯It¡¯ has gone out of alignment, I see.-


    Right at that moment, blood splattered out from underneath Amon¡¯s Skull, currently perched on Allen¡¯s head. He faltered on his knees before collapsing to the ground. Alice hurriedly rushed up to him to support him.


    -Oh, my master. I pray that¡­-


    The Skeleton King¡¯s glowing eyeballs arched up like a pair of new moons as it grinned deeply.


    -¡­you survive this ordeal.-


    The giant undead¡¯s huge body began vanishing from the world. The countless walking dead freely roaming the burning land disappeared from the view as well.


    ¡°Lord Allen! Allen!¡± Alice desperately called out his name.


    His bone armour automatically dissipated. But when she managed to yank the mountain goat¡¯s skull off his head, Alice was so shocked that she almost lost her grip on him.


    Blood was trickling out from his eyes, nose, and even his mouth.


    He was unconscious, all the while the divinity in his body was going wildly out of control and leaking outside.


    He had to have exhausted his divinity reserve, yet the divine energy continued to flood out of him, and it was even beginning to shave away at his lifeforce.


    Alice hurriedly pressed her ear to his chest. His heart had stopped beating.


    ¡®N-no!¡¯


    She urgently laid him flat down on the ground and began pumping his chest. She performed mouth-to-mouth and injected divinity into him, but there was no sign of him getting better.


    ¡®Dear Goddess Gaia, I beg of you, it¡¯s still too early! It¡¯s not yet time for him to go to your side!¡¯


    Alice continued to pump Allen¡¯s chest while inwardly praying desperately.


    ¡®Please, please¡­!¡¯


    It was right then that his heart began to faintly beat again.


    ¡®I did it!¡¯


    Alice became hopeful, but not too long after that, her complexion darkened once more.


    His heartbeat was too weak. His body was gradually getting colder, as well. If his body couldn¡¯t absorb and maintain its divine power, then without a doubt, Allen would die.


    ¡°No¡­ not yet!¡±


    She started pumping his chest again and forced his heart to beat faster. She breathed into his mouth again and injected more divinity to continue healing him.


    Over and over again, she tried. However, he still showed no signs of reviving. His heart stopped beating numerous times, only for her to barely get it going again. This process kept repeating itself.


    However, Allen was still dying.


    Alice¡¯s irises trembled as an emotion close to despair quickly washed over her.


    It was impossible to heal him. In that case¡­


    ¡®Resurrection¡­ Yes, if it¡¯s Resurrection¡­!¡¯


    That¡¯s right, Lord Allen managed to resurrect His Highness Luan. In that case, I can also¡­!


    Alice tried to recall the theory behind ¡®Resurrection¡¯, only to completely freeze up in place. In reality, only Allen was capable of using that ability.


    The theory behind it was to combine a Priest¡¯s ability to wield the divinity that brought about life, and a Necromancy technique to shackle the departing souls.


    But Alice could not use any Necromancy technique that could shackle souls!


    ¡®I, I have no way of saving him?!¡¯


    ¡°Dear Goddess Gaia, please! I beg of you. Lord Allen, he¡­¡±


    All the strength seeped out from Alice as despair quickly took complete hold of her. Tears formed on the edges of her eyes. She covered her face with both of her hands and began lamenting in despair. But right at that moment¡­


    {It was an experiment performed by the ancient Holy Emperors, Your Majesty.}


    She came to a stop.


    {They believed that if they succeeded, the war against the vampires would come to an end.}


    Alice suddenly recalled what Hans had said some time ago.


    He definitely said it, didn¡¯t he? The Theocratic Empire¡¯s Second Imperial Prince, who should¡¯ve been a vampire, had now become¡­


    {What His Majesty the Holy Emperor wished to do, was¡­}


    Alice¡¯s eyes grew larger and larger.


    {A Holy Vampire. It was to create such a being, sire.}


    There was a way. A way to revive him!


    An existence that could use Necromancy but also possessed divinity. And it was none other than¡­


    ¡®¡­Roy!¡¯


    She desperately needed that boy¡¯s help, the one who happened to be the Holy Vampire.


    **


    -There are so many insects here!-


    -Burn them all down!-


    The J?tnar of fire charged toward the location of the refugees.


    They began punching and swinging their arms around. But Charlotte raised her shield up to deflect the incoming attacks, jumped up, and accurately stabbed into a giant¡¯s throat with her sword.


    One of the J?tnar collapsed lifelessly.


    As the other J?tnar began marching forward, Paladins on horseback rushed out to inflict countless sword wounds on the giants¡¯ legs. Once the J?tnar lost their balance and went down to their knees, countless spears came hurtling in to impale their bodies.


    Although the Paladins couldn¡¯t fully utilise their Rune Armour right now, there were a thousand of them here, so they didn¡¯t encounter much difficulty in subduing the twelve J?tnar.


    Except that¡­


    ¡°We found you, livestock!¡±


    ¡­they couldn¡¯t stop all of the incoming vampires.


    The vampires began summoning their own undead. These shuffling creatures pounced on the refugees, and panicking humans screamed out loudly in terror and hurriedly fled from there.


    Laurence was sitting on the carriage driver¡¯s seat and continued to yank at the reins of the horses, but the vehicle¡¯s wheel had fallen into a pothole and didn¡¯t want to budge an inch. Seeing that there was no other choice left, he hurriedly climbed down from the carriage and grabbed Roy¡¯s hand to pull the boy away.


    ¡°Let¡¯s escape from here, Roy! Hurry!¡±


    But the boy was making a dazed expression, instead. ¡°Dad?¡±


    Laurence came to a standstill just then.


    The light burning in Roy¡¯s eyes sent shivers down the older man¡¯s spine.


    ¡°Dad, I¡­ I¡¯m thirsty.¡±


    ¡°W-what are you talking about, son?¡±


    Roy had taken a drink of holy water only a few moments ago, while complaining of a sudden bout of thirst. But that didn¡¯t alleviate his inexplicable craving.


    It was right at that moment that a vampire suddenly pounced on Laurence from behind. The creature¡¯s jaws split open as it grabbed the man¡¯s shoulders. But just before its sharp fangs could sink into the unguarded neck flesh¡­


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m thirsty.¡± Roy¡¯s eyes glowed in a distinct crimson hue.


    The boy jumped up, and in the blink of an eye, he ripped the vampire¡¯s head clean off.


    The headless body began spewing blood like a fountain before catching on bluish fire.


    The other vampires nearby all flinched in surprise and stared at Roy.


    Crunch, munch¡­


    Even though the severed vampire head was burning up in blue flames, Roy was still chomping and munching it down nevertheless.


    The vampires witnessing that all froze still in place.


    ¡°W-what the hell is that bastard?¡±


    ¡°He¡­ He¡¯s devouring a vampire?¡±


    Roy¡¯s glare shifted over to the other vampires standing around dazedly. He muttered loudly, ¡°¡­I¡¯m still thirsty.¡±


    That one short sentence managed to drain all colour from the complexions of the vampires.


    Roy¡­ he was the Holy Vampire.


    A predator who drank the blood of vampires!


    1


    < 191. The Boundary Between Life and Death -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 366 - : 192. The Boundary Between Life and Death -2

    Chapter 366: 192. The Boundary Between Life and Death -2


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Charlotte roared out her order, ¡°Hurry, protect them!¡±


    Paladins heeded her call and quickly got into position. Gripping their shields tight, they formed sturdy shield walls.


    Meanwhile, brave cavalrymen raced around on their mounts to slice and dice the legs of the giants. When the huge creatures were toppled, the Paladins on standby thrust forward their spears to turn the giants into a bunch of hedgehogs.


    If only Allen was here, their Rune Armour and muskets, as well as the cannons, could¡¯ve been used to easily subdue the giants, but¡­


    Since their Holy Emperor wasn¡¯t here, those things proved to be just dead weight for now. The Paladins had to rely solely on their skills alone to defeat the J?tnar..


    Charlotte reined in her heavy breathing. ¡®Yes, we can stop them!¡¯


    The J?tnar might have been strong, but there were only a few of them. The Heavenly Army was more than sufficient enough to stop such a low number of giants.


    Unfortunately¡­


    ¡°Kkyaaaaahk!¡±


    ¡­she could hear desperate screams coming from the refugees.


    Charlotte turned her head and surveyed the situation with the refugees. Harman was currently leading some Paladins to fight back the incoming vampires.


    She gritted her teeth. ¡®We don¡¯t have time for this.¡¯


    Allen had to be facing off against the Fire Giant Surtr by now. Quite a lot of time had passed by already, yet the refugees couldn¡¯t evacuate yet, and their enemies had managed to successfully delay them.


    Charlotte was being crushed under the immense pressure of her own thoughts questioning her of not only failing to help Allen out, but also ending up as hindrance to him right now.


    She roared out. ¡°Go and stop the vampires! I can stop the giants by myself, so you¡­ Huh?¡±


    ¡°Kkyaaaahk?!¡±


    It was right at that moment that the ripped-off arm of a vampire landed in front of Charlotte¡¯s position, along with a deathly scream entering her ears.


    She looked away from the arm with a hardened face. Several vampires among the panicking refugees were going up in bluish flames.


    Their limbs had been ripped off, their blood jetting up into the air.


    ¡°W-w-what is that?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a m-monster!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a devil in disguise of a child over there!¡±


    The refugees were pointing to a place. In the location they pointed to was a certain someone who had killed a vampire to drink its blood.


    ¡®Roy¡­?¡¯


    Allen had told her about that boy in the past. Not only was he previously the Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse, but Harman had been specially dispatched to the Ariana Duchy to keep an eye on him.


    That boy easily ripped a vampire¡¯s head off, then drank the blood coming from the wound.


    ¡°I¡¯m still thirsty¡­ I still need more. More!¡± Roy staggered back up to his feet and glared at the vampires.


    Charlotte felt goosebumps breaking out on her skin after taking in the boy¡¯s blood-stained visage.


    Was he a human? Or a vampire?


    Just as Charlotte stood there in a fluster, she noticed Hans cautiously shuffling away in the corner of her eyes.


    He climbed into one of the wagons, then began fidgeting around a large jewel-like stone. ¡°Alright, if I do it like so¡­¡±


    That was the heart of the Mud Giant. It was the magic stone that was also used as the heart of the Bloody Golem.


    A Rune suddenly engraved on the stone¡¯s surface, causing the blood from the dead vampires to rise up in the air. They then gathered into a single mass around the stone.


    The wagon was ripped apart violently and the large Bloody Golem stood up from amidst the wreckage.


    Vampires took in the sight of this abominable creature and cried out, ¡°W-what is that?!¡±


    ¡°Dammit, I knew it! We shouldn¡¯t have messed with the Imperial Family!¡±


    The flustered vampires retreated from there. However, they had their orders and couldn¡¯t run away from here. They had no choice but to buy as much time as possible.


    It was at that moment that one of the vampires took a closer look at Roy and began furrowing its brow. Eventually, though, it sensed a familiar presence coming off of the boy.


    The vampire¡¯s brows shot up. ¡°Oh my gods¡­! That, that thing¡­ is Marquis Ruppel!¡±


    ¡°What did you say?!¡±


    All the vampires in the vicinity hurriedly stared at Roy at the same time.


    The boy flinched visibly at the name ¡®Ruppel¡¯. Only then did Roy regain his wits. He looked around and realised that vampires were staring agog at him.


    They began gasping out and chatting to each other.


    ¡°For sure, this presence belongs to Lord Ruppel!¡±


    ¡°B-but, look! He definitely now possesses divinity! And he looks totally different, too!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened here, but it¡¯s obvious that the Imperial Family bastards have done something to him! There¡¯s no doubt that he is Lord Ruppel!¡±


    Roy stared at the vampires as the confusion in his mind grew and grew. The sight of that only reaffirmed the opinions of vampires.


    This small existence before their eyes was definitely Ruppel, the Second Imperial Prince, and also a Vampire Marquis who had been granted the blood of the Vampire King!


    Currently the vampires¡¯ strength had weakened considerably. And there was a consensus among their ranks that Ruppel¡¯s power was an absolute necessity in order to stop the J?tnar, too.


    Taking all those facts into consideration, the vampires came to a conclusion that Ruppel before their eyes was not someone they could afford to let slip through their fingers.


    ¡°That¡¯s not good! Go and protect Roy, now!¡± Harman roared out, prompting a portion of Paladins to sprint towards the boy.


    ¡°You Imperial bastards! It¡¯s so bloody obvious that you did something to Lord Ruppel!¡±


    ¡°Stop them! Protect Lord Ruppel, now!¡±


    Vampires summoned numerous undead and blocked the Paladin¡¯s advance. However, the holy knights were all highly trained, so it was obvious that the undead wouldn¡¯t be able to last for long.


    A Progenitor who happened to be a Baron-class hurriedly approached Roy. ¡°Lord Ruppel, you must come with us. His Majesty the Vampire King anxiously awaits your arrival.¡±


    Roy stumbled back but still ended up muttering out, ¡°¡­Father is waiting for me?¡±


    He reflexively covered his mouth right after saying that.


    The vampires were all smiling thickly now.


    Roy¡¯s eyes began shaking unsteadily. What was he even talking about? His father was Laurence, wasn¡¯t he? And White¡­ White Olfolse? Who was that person?


    Besides all that, the Vampire King?


    Roy was overtaken by confusion.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct. The Vampire King Vlandmir! Have you not been following and serving His Majesty as if he was your true father, Lord Ruppel?¡±


    While Roy was preoccupied with talking to this Vampire Baron, other vampires began approaching him from the sides. They cautiously moved one step at a time, acting extremely carefully, as if they didn¡¯t want to frighten a small defenceless animal.


    ¡°Lord Ruppel, please hurry and join us. You are the only one who possesses the ability to steal away the body of the J?tunn, and¡­¡±


    It was right at that moment Laurence suddenly showed up to wrap his arms around the boy. ¡°You, you vampire bastards! What are you trying to do to my son?!¡±


    It was unknown where he got his hands on one, but Laurence was now busy waving around a farming tool in a threatening manner.


    ¡°D-dad?¡±


    Just as Roy¡¯s eyes opened wider, a vampire¡¯s fingertip was ever so slightly sliced open by the waving of the tool.


    The injured vampire crumpled its expression in an unsightly manner, then swiped with its claws. Five bloody lines suddenly ran down on Laurence¡¯s face.


    ¡°Uwaaahk?!¡± He screamed in terrible pain. He seemed to have lost his sight now, because he crouched lower with his eyes closed and urgently wrapped his arms around Roy, then continued to roar out. ¡°G-get away from us, you abominable monsters! Aren¡¯t you afraid of Goddess Gaia¡¯s wrath?!¡±


    ¡°How dare a stinking little livestock touch that noble personage?! That person you dare to lay your hands on is a Progenitor who received the noble blood from none other than His Majesty, the Vampire King! That¡¯s Marquis Ruppel Ol¡­¡±


    CRUNCH-!


    The Vampire Baron who had been indignantly yapping on was suddenly slammed down to the ground by a scarlet-coloured ¡®jelly¡¯.


    -Ku-ooooooh!-


    The Bloody Golem easily lifted up the dazed Vampire Baron. The viscous creature¡¯s abdomen split open and hundreds of bone shards buried in there began spinning around rapidly.


    The captured Vampire Baron screamed in shock. It struggled mightily to free itself, but in the end, it was still sucked into the Golem¡¯s abdomen to get absorbed.


    The vampires in the surroundings witnessed this sight and stumbled back while nervously swallowing hard.


    ¡°¡­The Imperial Family even possesses a monster like that?¡±


    ¡°For now, we retreat! We must prioritise reporting our findings to His Majesty!¡±


    After coming to an agreement, the vampires haltingly turned around. But one of them didn¡¯t forget to stare at Roy and say something. ¡°Marquis Ruppel. We shall come for you later on, sir.¡±


    The group of vampires fled into the forest.


    Roy¡¯s shaking eyes quickly shifted over to Laurence. ¡°Dad!¡±


    ¡°Euh¡­ euh-euhk¡­¡±


    The skin on Laurence¡¯s face had been ripped off.


    Roy saw all that blood coming out from his father¡¯s wounds and hurriedly took out a bottle of holy water from the carriage, quickly pouring it on his father¡¯s face.


    The horrifying injury was healed almost instantly, but perhaps because of the pain, Laurence had lost consciousness.


    ¡®Thank the goddess.¡¯


    Roy looked at the bottle of holy water in his hand. This water came from His Majesty the Holy Emperor. Thanks to this liquid, Roy was able to heal his father¡¯s injuries without leaving behind a single scar.


    The boy thought that maybe Laurence was right about the Holy Emperor being someone really amazing.


    Just as he began thinking that¡­


    ¡°That, that thing over there, that¡¯s a vampire!¡±


    A stone came flying in towards Roy. It coincidentally struck him in the head, causing the boy to stagger. When he raised his head to look, refugees were grabbing more stones to pelt him from a distance.


    ¡°Y-you vampire bastard!¡±


    ¡°It, it¡¯s him! He¡¯s in cahoots with the vampires! He must¡¯ve brought the other vampires with him!¡±


    The refugees were roaring out.


    Stones continued to fly in, so Roy quickly pulled Laurence¡¯s head into his embrace and crouched down deeply as if he wanted to protect his father.


    It was at that moment someone stood as a shield in front of Roy. It was a woman. A stone hit her in the head and blood began trickling down. The mob throwing the stones all froze up in surprise.


    ¡°Who dares to throw rocks at an Imperial Princess?!¡±


    A pair of twin brothers hurriedly ran up to the front of the woman, followed soon after by the Paladins setting up a cordon around the trio.


    ¡°Y-your Highness? But why¡­?¡± Roy asked in confusion.


    Seran turned around and while wiping the blood away from her face, replied to him, ¡°Of course I¡¯ll protect you. People were stoning my family¡¯s workers, after all.¡±


    She smiled brightly, but Roy could only tightly clamp his mouth shut.


    Harman belatedly showed up and commanded the Paladins and soldiers to disperse the mob of refugees crowding around. ¡°What are you all doing?! The giants will soon be upon us! Hurry up and pack your belongings, now!¡±


    The refugees obeyed Harman¡¯s order and began packing their stuff, but they still stared in Roy¡¯s direction with frightened eyes.


    It was like they were staring at a monster.


    Roy began shuddering from all those gazes landing on him.


    But then, Seran embraced Roy, and gently stroked his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s alright. You are not a monster, Roy. In fact, you are a part of my family.¡±


    Her warm words stopped Roy¡¯s shuddering.


    ¡ª-


    Charlotte finished off the last fire J?tunn and reined in her heavy breathing.


    It was at that moment that the thickets within the forest were disturbed.


    She quickly raised her shield and sword, while the Paladins also became alert, their swords tightly gripped in their hands.


    However, it turned out to be a woman and a man riding on a horse urgently bursting out from the thicket, instead.


    ¡°Lady Alice?¡± Charlotte muttered out in surprise. And then her gaze drifted to Allen, currently clutched within Alice¡¯s embrace. ¡°Your¡­ Majesty?!¡±


    Charlotte face hardened.


    Allen Olfolse was slumped in Alice¡¯s arms, unmoving. Blood coated his face and it didn¡¯t even seem like he was breathing.


    Alice was forcibly driving her own divinity into him in order to maintain his life. He was almost at the death¡¯s doorstep now.


    Alice yanked on the horse¡¯s reins. The horse reared up and neighed noisily. Just as the inside of Charlotte¡¯s head blanked out, Alice shouted at her. ¡°Roy! Where¡¯s Roy?¡±


    Charlotte stared up at the Saintess dazedly.


    ¡°We need him right now to revive Lord Allen! Hurry, and prepare for the Resurrection!¡±


    Those words made Charlotte reflexively turn around. Her eyes searched and located Roy next to Seran behind the figures of the refugees obscuring her view.


    Charlotte sheathed her sword and placed her shield on her back, then slapped her face hard with both of her hands.


    The pain shooting from her cheeks sobered her right up. She strode forward and loudly commanded the soldiers, ¡°Set up a resting quarter, and gather all Priests here, now! And also¡­¡±


    Her steps came to a stop in front of Seran and Roy.


    Seran looked absolutely stunned by Allen¡¯s current state when she saw Alice holding him. ¡°Al¡­ Allen?! W-what happened to him, Charlotte?!¡±


    ¡°Allen, Allen!¡± Even the twins stiffened up considerably. They quickly ran up and cried out his name, but there was no response.


    Charlotte looked lower, and stared at Roy, still holding onto the unconscious Laurence. She mouthed his name, ¡°¡­Sir Roy.¡±


    The boy flinched a little. He was surprised by the fact that a noble Paladin with a station far outstripping his suddenly chose to address him with a title and in a polite tone, no less.


    ¡°We need your help, sir.¡±


    ¡°S-sorry? But, what are you even¡­?¡±


    Alice, still holding onto Allen and injecting her divinity into him, urgently addressed the boy, ¡°Roy, please, we need your help! We need your ability, right now!¡±


    Roy¡¯s mouth clamped shut at what they said. His gaze shifted over to the unconscious Allen in her arms.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    From my left side, the calming sounds of gentle waves could be heard. The fragrant scent of grass tickled my senses.


    Right in front of my eyes was a vast ocean seemingly filled with clear, pristine water. Behind me was a dense forest filled with many trees.


    On my right side, though, the rotting stench tried to overwhelm my senses. Not only that, the familiar acrid odour of steel was mixed in there, and even screams were audible to my ears.


    The skies over on that side were ash-grey in hue, while the ocean was made out of endless crimson blood.


    On my left and right, boundary lines running for seemingly hundreds of metres were visible. And here I was, stuck right in the middle, sitting on the warm sand of the beach.


    I could only make a less than impressed face at my current situation, then looked down at my hand. That incredible pain was now gone.


    ¡®I¡¯m¡­ fine?¡¯


    I clenched my fist and unfurled it several times, but I couldn¡¯t feel anything.


    ¡®Huh. I guess I¡¯m not fine, after all?¡¯


    Although my sense of smell, hearing and vision were working, I had no sense of touch. What the heck, what kind of an ominous sign was this?


    I heard from somewhere that even the dead could still hear things. Was this one of those cases, then?


    I raised my head to look at the two very different worlds on my left and right side. One side was an ocean of blood, while the other, a blue ocean. Up in the skies, transparent dead souls were flying around.


    ¡°Mm¡­ This place has to be¡­¡±


    Maybe it was Hell? No, hang on. Maybe it was the Heavenly World. It was said that when Priests die, they would go to the Heavenly World, after all.


    ¡®But, uh, I¡¯m also a Necromancer, too.¡¯


    Right, I was also a Necromancer who dealt with the undead.


    In that case, this place had to be¡­


    ¡°¡­The boundary line?¡±


    Yup, it was the neutral zone between the Heavenly World and Purgatory, the boundary line.


    I was instantly thrown into confusion.


    Holy sh*t¡­ Sure, I did ignore what the family physician had told me, but really? I died just like that?!


    Hang on, did that mean I was not ready to deal with the backlash of undoing the Skeleton King¡¯s seal completely?


    No, maybe this was just a dream of mine.


    Right, there was no way a person could die this easily.


    Just as I sat there in pure stupefaction¡­


    ¡°What are you doing, looking so stupid like that? You¡¯re making the exact same face as back when you heard your sentence of banishment.¡±


    A very familiar voice hit me in the ears and I stiffened up in sheer shock. Gentle footsteps brushing past the sand came to me next.


    ¡°What were you thinking, coming here so soon, when you¡¯re still such a young man? Tsk, tsk. And I even entrusted everything to you, thinking that you¡¯d handle them well enough.¡±


    I slowly turned around, and my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    An old man with snow-white hair and beard was standing there. His wrinkled face looked benevolent, while his body was surprisingly frail.


    However, the sheer pressure emanating from his regal figure¡­


    This was the former Holy Emperor, who had practically ruled over the world as its absolute sovereign not too long ago.


    ¡°G-grandfather¡­?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Been a while, grandson.¡±


    Kelt Olfolse.


    He was standing behind me with a smile on his face.


    < 192. The Boundary Between Life and Death -2 > Fin.


    (TL: Only one chapter today and tomorrow¡­)

 Chapter 367 - 193. The Boundary Between Life and Death -3

    Chapter 367: 193. The Boundary Between Life and Death -3


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The Kingdom of Aihrance had fallen to the J?tnar.


    Its verdant terrain was now gone, replaced by shifting sands, thick mud, and barren rocks. It was like looking at a barren planet with no lifeforms living on it.


    There was no point in even mentioning the current state of Aihrance¡¯s capital. All the buildings there were covered in mounds of sand. The environment had been changed to one where no vegetation could ever grow.


    In front of the Aihrance royal castle was the Magic Giant, Utgar, grinning insidiously at his deeds.


    -If someone among you manages to lift this cat up, I shall let all of you live.- .


    Utgar, boasting a physique around thirty metres tall and seemingly made out of mud and tree vines, was staring at a group of humans before it.


    All of them were magicians who looked emaciated and sickly. They were standing around frozen in place.


    The magicians, who had been pushed to the brink of insanity from thirst, stared at a cat before Utgar. This little animal was sticking its belly tightly to the ground. At a casual glance, it didn¡¯t even look thirty centimetres in length.


    One of the magicians staggered towards this cat and tried to pick it up. However, it was like trying to lift a boulder; the damn thing didn¡¯t even budge from the spot.


    ¡°H-how can it be this heavy¡­?¡±


    -Oops, my bad. I forgot to say this earlier. All those who fail to lift the cat up¡­- Utgar¡¯s insidious grin deepened. -¡­will become my nourishment.-


    The Magic Giant raised its hand and lightly snapped its fingers.


    At his gesture, the body of the magician who tried to pick up the cat suddenly floated into the air.


    ¡°W-what is going on?! What¡­ What are you¡­?!¡± The magician gasped out and stared at his own hands, then at the rest of his body.


    He was being broken down into particles of sand, only to be slowly sucked into Utgar¡¯s mouth.


    -You shouldn¡¯t fret, for you¡¯re merely returning to the embrace of pure Mana.-


    ¡°N-no, wait! Nooo¡­!¡±


    In the end, the magician was literally wiped from the world. Only his empty clothes remained to fall to the ground in a heap.


    The other magicians, currently bound in ropes as if they were slaves, stiffened up even further.


    -Ahaha! I really like this place. Plenty of Mana, and that means lots of nourishment for me. Mmm, I¡¯ll probably miss this place a lot when the world reverts to primordial nature later.-


    Utgar voiced its thoughts aloud before shifting its gaze over to the other magicians.


    -Alright, next. You, pick up the cat. Then I shall let you live.-


    Just as the magicians cowered in fear, the oldest veteran among them stepped out from their ranks. ¡°Y-you liar of a J?tunn, are you trying to deceive us all?¡±


    -Oh? What do you mean?-


    The old veteran, his face covered in cold sweat, pointed at the cat. ¡°Stop thinking of deceiving us. That is no ordinary cat, is it not?¡±


    -Oh-ho!- Utgar exclaimed in genuine admiration. The mud and wrinkled vegetation making up its face shifted around to create a human-like expression.


    -Yes, that¡¯s the correct answer.-


    The Magic Giant lightly waved its hand around.


    At that same moment, the ¡®cat¡¯ suddenly ballooned up.


    The magicians stumbled back ungainly. In front of them now was a huge coiled snake lying on its belly. The creature was at least five metres in height, but almost eighty metres in length.


    This giant snake was constructed out of mud and intertwining branches and vines. As for the ¡®cat¡¯, it was merely a small part of this huge creature¡¯s tail.


    -You have managed to solve the puzzle of Hjorth, I see!-


    Hjorth seemed to be the name of this snake.


    -As the reward for the correct answer¡­- Utgar clapped its hands lightly, -I shall now grant you an opportunity.-


    Almost in the blink of an eye, a Warp magic circle was drawn up all around the magicians.


    -I shall warp you all out of here. However.- Utgar narrowed its eyes to slits. -It all depends on you whether you can survive or not.-


    The magicians were broken down into light particles, and their view instantly changed. All they could see now was sand-covered terrain.


    ¡°W-where is this?¡±


    The old veteran magician hurriedly looked around and spotted the capital of Aihrance in the far distance.


    One of the magicians cried out, ¡°W-we are outside the city, Tower Master!¡±


    The old veteran sighed in relief.


    Although he was aware of how unpredictable a J?tunn¡¯s whims could be, he never imagined in his wildest dreams that the giant would let them go this easily.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry and escape from here! We should head to the Theocratic Empire at once. His Majesty said that he¡¯d go there, so we must also¡­!¡±


    The magician, referred to as the Tower Master by the others, issued new orders. But just as the group began hurriedly moving through the desert¡­


    They all flinched in surprise and stared at the scene before their eyes. The shifting sands were slowly gathering up and soon, morphed into a massive tornado.


    This sudden tornado¡¯s fierce winds then began rumbling directly towards the magicians.


    ¡°¡­R-run away!¡±


    ¡°But, to where?!¡±


    The Tower Master looked around urgently, but there was no other place to go, except back toward the capital city. In the end, the magicians had no choice but to make the difficult journey back to the city.


    But then, their view suddenly changed once again.


    Utgar was standing before them once more!


    -Welcome back.- The Magic Giant pointed to a thin old man this time. -If you win in a wrestling match against this old man, I shall grant you all your freedom.-


    The complexions of the magicians all grew deathly pale. They already knew that the old man was in fact, a giant that had been made to look small through illusions.


    Just as Utgar was continuing on with its pranks, sand began rushing towards a spot. Even the boulders rolled in and combined into a solid mass, eventually creating a giant almost forty metres in height.


    -Utgar!-


    When its name was called out, Utgar replied with a slightly sullen expression on its face, -Been a while, Hrungnir. Has it been around a month now?-


    -You fool, just how long are you planning to keep these insects alive?- Hrungnir pointed at the humans below. -Kill them all, now. Are they not disgusting, hateful insects?!-


    -¡­What¡¯s wrong with what I¡¯m doing? It¡¯s rather entertaining to keep around a few insects, after all.-


    -You fool, you are not scheming of doing something behind our backs, now are you?!-


    -No, of course not! Why would I?- Utgar dismissively shrugged its shoulders.


    -Because, you punk, you love ¡®nature¡¯, don¡¯t you?-


    -That¡¯s right. What I love is nature, not humans.- The Magic Giant shot back at the Earth Giant, Hrungnir.


    The latter was about to say something in its defence, only for Utgar to suddenly flinch and stop. It raised its hand and stopped the Earth Giant from speaking.


    -Hold on. Surtr¡¯s aura¡­ it has been severed.-


    -What did you say?!-


    Utgar waved its hand in the air. Sand swirled and spun around in a vortex before disappearing, only to be replaced by a lake filled with pristine water.


    The Magic Giant stared at the water¡¯s surface. -Hmm¡­ Surtr has been killed.-


    -What are you talking about?! You bastard, have you gone senile all of a sudden?! And you even said that Hr¨ªmr died not too long ago, too!-


    -Truly incredible! Could there be someone in this world strong enough to fight against us?-


    -¡­You were being truthful?-


    Utgar¡¯s eyes trembled in shock. -How powerful! Far, far stronger than us, no less!- Just as Hrungnir grew rather confused, Utgar began tilting its head this way and that and muttered, -However, also rather frail, too. That being seems to be unstable, incomplete.-


    -Just who are you talking about?-


    -It¡¯s this one.-


    Utgar shuffled away from the spot, allowing the Earth Giant to peer into the surface of the lake and see a certain human male.


    He lay unmoving as if he had died already, while someone else was urgently pressing down on his chest to perform first aid.


    Hrungnir asked, -Is he a J?tunn?-


    -No, he isn¡¯t.-


    -Oh? Then, a very tall human? About thirty metres tall?-


    -He¡¯s probably not even two metres in height.-


    The Earth Giant deeply scrunched up its face. -An insignificant insect, then.-


    -Indeed, an insect. However, the power he wields is quite peculiar. Only one being can wield that kind of power, and that¡¯s him. This punk possesses the ¡®authority¡¯ of the gods. Authority, to control both life and death.- Utgar narrowed its eyes. -Not only that, this monster can even steal away our own authority, too.-


    -What do you mean by that?-


    -Both Surtr and Hr¨ªmr have been devoured by this punk. Meaning, if we leave that human alone until he can recover, then we will be devoured next.- Utgar turned its head over the snake made out of mud and vegetation named Hjorth. -Go, and devour that human!-


    The gigantic snake, Hjorth, raised its head as if to say it understood, then began burrowing into the ground rapidly.


    -We should also get ready. Let us march out.-


    -Hmm, you are suddenly overflowing with enthusiasm,- the Earth Giant Hrungnir spoke with a somewhat surprised face.


    That prompted the Magic Giant Utgar to reply sourly, -If Hjorth fails in its task, then we will have only one chance left.-


    While saying that, Utgar snapped its fingers. Sand gathered in one mass before water was added to create thick mud. The giant began carving and shaping it.


    It was obvious that Utgar was trying to create something. While in the middle of its task to create a mud doll, the Magic Giant turned its head. -You fools should also get ready to mobilise.-


    Utgar¡¯s gaze shifted lower and stared at a certain vampire below. -Oh, the king of all vampires.-


    The Vampire King, Vlandmir, grasped his spear tightly.


    **


    ¡°Everyone, leave! You¡¯ll only be a hindrance!¡± Alice yelled out while shoving other people outside the hastily-constructed barracks.


    Charlotte hesitated, an expression of worry still etched on her face.


    Alice addressed her resolutely, ¡°Please believe in me.¡±


    Charlotte nodded silently and exited the barracks as well.


    On the other hand, a large contingent of Priests donning the distinctive bird-beak masks streamed inside. They lifted up their staves before slamming them down on the floor to signal the start of their prayers.


    Divinity gushed out from them, helping to extend Allen¡¯s life.


    ¡°E-excuse me, what about us, ma¡¯am¡­?¡± Laurence asked cautiously, with Roy standing behind him.


    Inside the large tent, Allen was lying on an altar, while Priests were standing on either side of him. Laurence and Roy were progressively getting more flustered by this heavy and awkward atmosphere.


    ¡°As you can see, your son Roy is nervous right now. You need to stay with him to calm him down,¡± said Alice.


    ¡°I-I shall do so, my lady. H-however, Roy is a just normal child. Surely he can¡¯t do something strange as you have said¡­¡±


    ¡°No, not true. Your son is a very special person.¡±


    Even during her replies, Alice didn¡¯t let go of Allen¡¯s hand. Cold sweat drenched her body as she continued to drive divinity in his body.


    ¡°I¡¯m s-special? B-but, I¡¯m just a regular servant, miss,¡± said Roy.


    He wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.


    All those bird-beak masks looked scary, and even though today should be his first time seeing this person called the Holy Emperor, he still felt this instinctive fear.


    Alice reached out with her free hand and grasped the boy¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Roy, we need your help. You must call His Majesty¡¯s soul back.¡±


    ¡°But, how can I do that¡­?¡±


    ¡°Roy, you¡¯ve been studying magic in the local church, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    The boy nodded. Although his family was poor, for some reason both the Frants Royal Family and the Theocratic Empire supported his studies.


    Not only did he receive an endless supply of holy water, he was even gifted several valuable books containing magical knowledge, and a Paladin named Harman even taught him swordsmanship techniques, too!


    ¡°B-but, I¡¯m still not good at anyth¡­¡±


    ¡°And now, I¡¯m going to tell you about the theory behind Necromancy.¡±


    Alice patiently explained the simplified version of the theory. It shouldn¡¯t be too complicated, since the boy¡¯s role was to simply bring Allen¡¯s soul back.


    As the boy used to be a vampire, he should be able to control souls, at least subconsciously. Her job was to make Roy realise that.


    ¡°E-excuse me¡­ Lady Saintess? I know my son is a genius, but even then, he still won¡¯t understand that quickly just by listening to the explanatio¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­I understand it all now.¡±


    Laurence was taken aback by Roy¡¯s reply, and looked at his son. Even the boy himself was inwardly flustered. He wondered how he could have already known about such things.


    ¡°Very good. From this moment on, you have only one role.¡± Alice nodded before shifting her attention over to the Priests.


    One of them pushed forward a silver bowl filled with holy water; water created by Allen. It was basically the same as the gateway connecting to the Heavenly World.


    ¡°Please, you must call out to His Majesty Allen¡¯s soul.¡±


    ¡°B-but, I¡­¡±


    ¡°You can do this!¡± Alice spoke in a firm tone. But when Roy¡¯s expression stiffened, she inwardly went ¡®Oops!¡¯ and quickly took a deep breath to slow herself down. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was being too emotional just now.¡±


    ¡°N-no, it¡¯s fine.¡± Roy shook his head, then turned to look at Laurence.


    The boy recalled all those stories his father told him over the years. Like how the Holy Emperor rescued Laurence from the lair of a vampire called the Farmer, and how he had saved Roy from the potential misery of living with a broken body.


    It was all thanks to the Holy Emperor that Roy got to hold his father¡¯s hand like right now, or how he got to see his mother¡¯s happy smile.


    Roy gripped Laurence¡¯s hand tightly, before speaking up in a determined voice, ¡°I¡¯ll try!¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Alice smiled faintly, then held Allen¡¯s hand even tighter. She pressed her forehead against the back of his hand. ¡®I pray that you safely return to our side, Your Majesty.¡¯


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    I glanced down at my right hand.


    It kinda felt like someone was holding my hand. Was I mistaken, though?


    I returned my gaze back ahead of me. There was nothing here beside sand, and that got old real fast.


    I couldn¡¯t help but quip, ¡°¡­You know what, grandfather? I enjoy travelling and sightseeing, but never in my wildest imagination did I think that I¡¯d get to sightsee the attractions of Hell like this.¡±


    I was still sitting on the beach, and Kelt was standing next to me.


    ¡°Not only that, a reunion with my dead grandfather, too.¡±


    Technically speaking, he was my grandpa only biologically, but still.


    I smacked my lips a little. Even though the soul in the body had been swapped out, to think that the appearance would remain the same¡­


    Did this qualify as a fortune among misfortune, then? If not, I could¡¯ve experienced some serious¡­ ¡®friction¡¯ with Kelt right about now.


    ¡°All of this is the will of the gods.¡±


    I looked at Kelt after he said some things I couldn¡¯t quite understand.


    After taking a good look at his current state, I realised that he looked completely fine to me.


    ¡°Grandfather, you¡¯re not a skeleton.¡±


    Kelt shrugged his shoulders. ¡°In Purgatory, you are left with only your bones. The sinners have had their flesh stripped away from them and become the walking dead, the creatures who are lost to their hunger and primitive instincts. However¡­¡± He pointed beyond the boundary, to the Heavenly World that was infinitely brighter than the opposite side. ¡°When you go that side, you acquire a new body. Either the body you used to possess back when you were still alive, or a new one that you will reincarnate into. That is how the cycle of life works, grandson.¡±


    I glanced at the Heavenly World beyond the boundary.


    For sure, the energy of life overflowed in that place. Divinity also existed there, too. I could see some souls occasionally flying around, but I didn¡¯t spot anyone with solid physical bodies made out of divinity.


    Actually, most of them seemed to be souls formed out of Mana.


    ¡°¡­Are there no skeletons in the Heavenly World? But, I¡¯ve been summoning those types of undead a lot, you know?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you are a special case. I mean, really. You summon the dead through the will of divinity, don¡¯t you?¡±


    I suddenly remembered the Dark Elf, Tina. Now that I thought about it¡­ Didn¡¯t she tell me something similar back then? After she had a chat with one of my holy undead?


    Right, she told me that those holy undead didn¡¯t have souls bound to them, and that they were soldiers constructed through the will of divinity.


    ¡°And in the case of Rahamma, Kasim, Nasus and Mikael, you summoned their souls after purifying them, so they are now bound to you.¡±


    Man, so complicated¡­


    While listening to Kelt, I looked up at the sky dazedly. But rather than an actual sky, there was a surface of water brightly glistening up there.


    It almost felt like I could hear this strangely nostalgic voice calling out to me.


    ¡°In any case, am I dead, grandfather?¡±


    ¡°What, you?¡± Kelt shook his head. ¡°No, you are not. However, you¡¯re indeed stuck at the boundary between the worlds of life and death.¡±


    ¡°Well, that sends a nasty chill down my back, alright.¡±


    Did that mean I could cross the boundary at any moment now?


    Well, damn. Then again, considering everything I had done so far, it would be more strange for me to not die, actually.


    ¡°Indeed, grandson. You are currently¡­¡± Kelt narrowed his eyes, ¡°¡­in a very precarious state.¡±


    < 193. The Boundary Between Life and Death -3 > Fin.

 Chapter 368 - 194. The Boundary Between Life and Death -4 (Part One)

    Chapter 368: 194. The Boundary Between Life and Death -4 (Part One)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    The refugees became a lot more relaxed after learning that the pursuit from the J?tnar had ceased. Supervising and commanding them became much easier after their confusion and anxiety lessened greatly.


    Now that the enemy had decided to stop their pursuit for the time being, Charlotte found herself with some wiggle room to take a much-deserved break.


    She laid down on the bedding to get some sleep, but in the end, couldn¡¯t keep her eyes closed.


    It had been a week already. Yet Allen had failed to wake up even now.


    ¡®No, he will be fine.¡¯ .


    His Majesty was someone who fell down all the time, only to stand back up even stronger. He didn¡¯t know the meaning of giving up, so without a doubt, he¡¯d definitely get back on his feet this time as well with a big grin etched on his face.


    However¡­


    She pushed her upper body up from the bed.


    A maid on standby within the darkness tilted her head before asking, ¡°Ma¡¯am? Are you unable to sleep?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°But ma¡¯am. Your heart must remain resolute. Lady Charlotte, you are the head of the Heraiz House, after all.¡±


    Charlotte silently nodded at what the maid had said.


    Of course she was aware of it. She was the sword and the shield of the Holy Emperor.


    However, there wasn¡¯t much she could do about her heart being agitated. This horrifying thought that His Majesty might really die this time around prevented her from falling asleep.


    ¡°I need to clear my head. Bring me my armour.¡±


    The maids assisted her with putting on her armour. After she finished gearing up by putting on some gloves, Charlotte picked up her shield and buckled her sheathed sword on her hip.


    She left the barracks and headed to a nearby forest. That¡¯s where she ran into a familiar face in the middle of the forest¡¯s clearing.


    Charlotte tilted her head and asked, ¡°Sir Harman?¡±


    ¡°Ah, Marquis Charlotte.¡±


    Harman was in the middle of practice-swinging his sword, but sheathed his weapon after discovering Charlotte¡¯s presence.


    He had this fatigued look on his face, indicating that he couldn¡¯t fall asleep, either.


    What a deeply loyal person he was. Harman had been serving the current Holy Emperor for far longer than Charlotte had, hadn¡¯t he?


    Harman was the first to break the silence between them. ¡°Ma¡¯am? You couldn¡¯t sleep either?¡±


    She formed an awkward expression and replied, ¡°There is no need to be that respectful when there are only two of us, Harman.¡±


    ¡°I see. I shall remember that.¡±


    She grinned a little at his reply. Compared to the old days when he used to be so inflexible, Harman had certainly become a lot better these days.


    Charlotte pulled out her sword. ¡°How about a spar?¡±


    ¡°You must be kidding me. You want me to spar with THE Sword Queen?¡± Harman freaked out in an exaggerated manner. He didn¡¯t feel all that confident enough to spar with the holder of the current ¡®Sword King¡¯ title.


    Charlotte had this rueful expression on her face at his reply and Harman could only chuckle hollowly.


    But right at that moment, she flinched nastily as this creepy chill ran down on her spine. She carefully scanned her surroundings as the chill continued to run on her skin. ¡°¡­Sir Harman. Something is coming.¡±


    ¡°Seriously?¡± Harman yanked his sword out while hurriedly scanning the vicinity. ¡°Vampires, ma¡¯am?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°In that case, the J?tnar?¡±


    ¡°Not them, either.¡± A strand of cold sweat trickled down her face as she replied. Her gaze drifted lower to the ground below. The soil was ever so faintly rising and falling. ¡°¡­It¡¯s something even larger than them.¡±


    The ground was clearly rumbling now. Harman continued to search his vicinity with his eyes.


    The surroundings might have been covered in dense foliage, but he should still be able to immediately sense it if any giants had been approaching their positions. However, he could not sense any of those accursed J?tnar anywhere.


    Indeed, Charlotte did say the incoming thing was not a giant, but something else entirely. Since the ground was rumbling, it had to be an incredibly huge creature making its way towards them.


    Right at that moment, Charlotte¡¯s eyes shot open wider. ¡°Underground¡­?!¡±


    She urgently shoved Harman far away from there.


    BOOOOOM¨C!


    The ground split apart and a massive mud snake exploded out from the ground. Harman stumbling back cried out in alarm, ¡°Charlotte!¡±


    The snake rose up at least fifty metres into the air. Hjorth tried to swallow down the prey it had snatched up, but a large shield prevented it from closing its jaws shut.


    Charlotte was crouching within the span of the shield while unsheathing her sword. ¡°Fuu-wuu¡­¡±


    She drove divinity into her weapon and when it began radiating in blinding white aura, she swung it around powerfully.


    BANG-!


    Hjorth the Mud Snake¡¯s body began ballooning up suddenly.


    -Ku-eeeeeeehk!!!- the huge monster screeched out in torment and thrashed around before spitting Charlotte out. She was now falling from over one hundred metres up in the air almost uncontrollably. Gritting her teeth, she held her shield tightly.


    The moment she was about to land on the ground, she wielded the shield and cast the barrier made out of divinity. The divine energy and the solid ground below made contact, significantly reducing the impact force.


    Even as she grunted in pain, Charlotte still didn¡¯t forget to cry out to Harman. ¡°Sir Harman! This is an order! Go and evacuate His Majesty the Holy¡­!¡±


    However, Harman was looking up at the gigantic snake Hjorth at that moment.


    This creature, seemingly made out of mud, was still screeching out while violently thrashing about. The refugees must¡¯ve seen this commotion by now. Hans and the King of Frants should be evacuating the refugees on their own without being alerted, thanks to all this commotion.


    ¡°I shall fight by your side, Charlotte.¡±


    ¡°Us two alone do not stand a chance!¡±


    Harman faltered at that. Indeed, they didn¡¯t have the Rune armour on, and it¡¯d be impossible to fight against this sort of a monster without it.


    Just as Harman stood there gritting his teeth in hesitation, Charlotte ordered him again, ¡°Other vampires and J?tnar might show up as well! Our absolute priority rests with ensuring His Majesty the Holy Emperor¡¯s safety!¡±


    Those words finally made Harman move. He quickly stepped back and replied to her, ¡°I shall bring reinforcements as soon as possible!¡±


    He rapidly retreated from there.


    Hjorth¡¯s tongue flickered about as it glared at Charlotte down below. The monster¡¯s massive maw split open and gusts of sand whooshed out.


    She fixed her grip on her shield and raised it up as she stood firmly before the gigantic snake. ¡°¡­Come and fight me, oh foul snake of sand!¡±


    **


    Roy was sucking in laboured gasps. His breathing remained heavy as sweat continued to drip down his body.


    Both of his hands hovered above the surface of a large bowl made out of silver. His eyes were closed in deep concentration.


    This had been going on for the past week already. He was trying so hard to locate the Holy Emperor¡¯s soul, but he simply couldn¡¯t find it anywhere.


    ¡°Anymore than this is impossible, Lady Saintess! Roy can¡¯t hold on for much longer!¡± Laurence pleaded while holding his son¡¯s shoulders.


    However, Alice couldn¡¯t hear his pleading. Right now she was too focused in praying while gripping Roy¡¯s hands, her lips mouthing the verses from the scripture.


    The boy heard his father¡¯s worried voice and spoke up, ¡°I¡¯m still fine, dad. I can still go on.¡±


    ¡°B-but, Roy¡­¡±


    ¡°Please, let me do this. I¡¯d like to concentrate now, dad.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Laurence clamped his mouth shut. Not too long after that, though, his gaze was drawn towards the entrance of the tent.


    For some reason, the outside seemed to have become quite noisy.


    Laurence quietly walked over and pushed open the tent¡¯s flap. But when he got outside, he realised that the refugees were hurriedly running around seemingly everywhere.


    Could it be¡­? Did the J?tnar or vampires come to attack them again?


    Just as such thoughts began entering his head¡­


    He heard the loud howling and screeching of a monster. He was startled out of his thoughts and hurriedly turned around, only to be treated by the spectacle of an absolutely massive snake made out of mud thrashing about in the distance.


    ¡°Oh, my goddess¡­!¡± He hurriedly dashed back inside the tent. ¡°Roy, we must escape from here! Roy¡­ Mm?¡±


    Laurence was dazed by what he saw.


    Roy¡¯s eyes were deeply closed and he was just¡­ standing there. It was as if he could no longer hear his father¡¯s voice.


    Right now, Roy was staring at this pitch-black darkness. His mind gradually grew drowsy and he fell deep into a pit of sleep.


    From this moment on, he needed to find a path. He needed to find something to rely on, and needed to move forward according to whatever he found.


    -Kki¡­ ah¡­ ah¡­ ah¡­-


    A soft little noise registered in his hearing. Was it coming from somewhere over there?


    ¡®Fine, let¡¯s go and take a look.¡¯


    Roy stepped forward. He thought that he simply had to locate the being connected to the holy water, and that¡¯s why he relied on his sense of hearing to guide him.


    And what he eventually heard was¡­


    -Kki-aaaaaaahk, kkyaaaahk!-


    ¡­A scream?!

 Chapter 369 - 194. The Boundary Between Life and Death -4 (Part Two)

    Chapter 369: 194. The Boundary Between Life and Death -4 (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Roy¡¯s eyes shot wide open. His foot reaching out landed on the ground made out of flesh and blood. The boy was instantly frightened nearly out of his wits and he hurriedly looked around himself.


    The land he found himself on was comprised entirely out of flowing blood and flesh. In the distance was an ocean of blood, while the sky above was in an ash-grey hue.


    ¡°Hiieeek?!¡±


    For a moment there, Roy thought he could no longer breathe. Even then, his eyes continued to shift around. He noticed the roaming zombies while the skeletal dead beings were digging into the fleshy ground.


    This place¡­. was Purgatory!


    ¡®I¡­ I came to the wrong place!¡¯


    He was supposed to follow the energy flow of holy water, but ended up depending on his hearing too much and stepped into the wrong path.


    Just as he stood there soaked in cold sweat, the dead beings turned their heads and stared at Roy.


    -It¡¯s a living person.-


    -The soul of a living person!-


    All those zombies and skeletons staggered around and began shuffling towards him.


    -Give me your flesh!-


    -I¡¯m so hungry! Hungry!-


    -Your body, I want it!-


    They broke into a maddened sprint.


    Roy stumbled back before he began urgently running away from there. His fleeing steps eventually took him into a forest full of bizarre trees that used flesh as fertiliser and blood as nourishment.


    He breathlessly ran through this forest with not a single leaf present, only for him to fall into a lake of blood.


    Right at that moment, countless hands of bones belonging to the dead broke through the surface of the crimson liquid to grab at him.


    -Give me your flesh!-


    -Your body¡­!-


    -A new life¡­!-


    Roy flailed about. ¡®N-no! At this rate, I¡­!¡¯


    He¡¯d end up losing his body; once he woke back up from his sleep, his body would be taken over by the dead!


    ¡®I, I gotta wake up!¡¯


    Roy gritted his teeth. Although he felt bad about Lady Saintess, it was not possible to locate the Holy Emperor anymore. This place was Purgatory, after all; no way the soul of someone like the Holy Emperor would be stuck in such a place.


    But it was right at that moment.


    -Hurry, grab this!-


    A rope was tossed towards the helplessly flailing Roy. He flinched in shock and looked at the one who threw that rope.


    It was a skeleton hiding itself under a hooded robe riding on a boat of bones.


    -Hurry, child!- the skeleton spoke urgently.


    Roy grabbed the rope, and the dead being pulled at the rope to drag the boy closer, then helped the latter to climb aboard.


    The hands of all those dead extending from the lake¡¯s surface gradually sank back below.


    Just as Roy sighed in relief, the skeleton gently wrapped its arms around the boy.


    -What a relief it is, child. Thank the gods¡­-


    Roy was getting this strange feeling all of a sudden. The skeleton spoke with an unfamiliar woman¡¯s voice, yet it also sounded inexplicably nostalgic at the same time. He couldn¡¯t understand it at all.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    The skeleton froze up when Roy asked it.


    The dead being hurriedly let go of the boy, then wordlessly stared at the child for a long while. The skeleton then demurely brought its hands together, looking somewhat hesitant.


    -¡­Child. How did you arrive in this place? This is no place for a living like you.-


    ¡°¡­¡± Roy could only smile bitterly at that. Was he really a living person, though?


    The refugees looked at him with those eyes, then began pelting him with stones while calling him a vampire. It was true that he did drink the vampires¡¯ blood, too.


    When he thought about those points, then without a doubt, he couldn¡¯t have been a normal child at all.


    Roy took his time while staring at the skeleton.


    For some reason, this dead being before his eyes was very cautious around him. It was as if ¡®she¡¯ didn¡¯t want to scare him and was speaking and acting in an alert, careful manner.


    Wasn¡¯t it alright to believe in someone like her?


    Roy soon decided to ask for her help. ¡°I¡­ I was searching for His Majesty the Holy Emperor.¡±


    -His Majesty the Holy Emperor, you say?-


    ¡°Yes, his name is Allen Olfolse. I think he¡¯s somewhere in the Heavenly World and not here, though. Do you perhaps know how to get there?¡±


    Those words caused the glowing eyeballs of the skeleton to widen in surprise.


    **


    ¡°Set up a defensive cordon, now!¡± Harman roared out and yanked his sword out. The Paladins quickly got into formation while raising their sturdy shields up.


    ¡°Priests, prepare to fire your magic!¡±


    The Priests on standby held up their staves and began offering prayers.


    The Mud Snake Hjorth glared at all these humans, before pouncing on them with its wide-open maw. It was none other than Charlotte who stood before the snake monster.


    ¡°Fuu-heuph!¡±


    She sucked in a deep breath and held her shield up. Divinity permeated her eyes and she accurately analysed Hjorth¡¯s movements. Mana was vibrating and undulating. She observed the vivid flow of the magical energy that occurred with every movement of the gigantic monster.


    She could definitely stop it!


    She imbued divinity into her shield and kicked the ground hard to jump up. She then swung her shield with all her power into the gap of the Mana¡¯s flow.


    BOOM-!


    The lower jaw of the Mud Snake, Hjorth, was enveloped in an explosion and its head was deflected away viciously. Its huge body became airborne for a moment there, but then, its lengthy tail whipped around in the direction of the Heavenly Army.


    ¡°Everyone, brace for impact!¡± Harman roared out.


    The Paladins lowered their backs, and braced themselves against the ground. They raised their shields and drove their divinity forward in order to perform the parrying manoeuvre.


    BANG-!


    Dozens of Paladins were forced back as they vomited blood. As for the snake¡¯s tail, it staggered as it was deflected away.


    Hjorth screeched out and opened its maw wide again. Sand rapidly gathered within its humongous body. All that sand solidified into a huge boulder and travelled through its throat to shoot out from its mouth.


    ¡°Evade!¡±


    The ranks of Paladins quickly split left and right to dodge the incoming boulder, only for the tail of Hjorth to slam down on the ground once more.


    ¡°Parry it¡­!¡± Harman cried out, but it was too late by then.


    Paladins on the ground hurriedly lifted their shields up and tried to imbue them with divinity, but they still ended up as pounded meat paste by the snake¡¯s tail. As for the other Paladins in the vicinity of the impact zone, they were helplessly thrown up into the air.


    ¡°Dammit! Yuria, do something already!¡± Gril shouted angrily


    ¡°I am doing something!¡± Yuria took aim with her crossbow. She fired bolts containing her divinity, and her shots were landing accurately on the huge snake monster¡¯s hide, but none of the attacks proved to be lethal in the slightest.


    ¡°This sucks! If only we had our muskets¡­!¡± Yuria grumbled while reloading her crossbow.


    When Hjorth¡¯s tail came crashing in towards her general direction, Adolf dashed forward to grab her and evaded the incoming attack by a hair¡¯s breadth.


    The Mud Snake was only glaring at Charlotte, however. That was because this small insect was blocking and evading all of its attacks so far.


    With things persisting like this, it might not get to complete the command Utgar had given it.


    Hjorth¡¯s tongue continued to flicker around as its head shifted over to the large camp of refugees beyond the forest. More specifically, at the biggest tent among them.


    Paladins were protecting it.


    It had to be over there, the location where the monster, the one Utgar had commanded Hjorth to kill, was sleeping.


    If it aimed for that place¡­!


    Hjorth began burrowing into the ground again. It rapidly dug out an underground passage.


    Just as Charlotte, Harman and the rest of the army including Adolf¡¯s group flinched in surprise, Hjorth¡¯s head broke through the ground right below the refugee camp.


    Powerful gusts of wind blew the tent¡¯s flap wide open. Laurence freaked out and hurriedly shielded Roy, while the Priests all froze in their places. Alice was also taken aback and urgently embraced Allen in her arms.


    Just as the Mud Snake Hjorth opened its maw wide and tried to swallow the tent¡­


    ¡°¡­Magic corps!¡±


    Hjorth faltered at that loud shout and turned its head.


    Some humans riding on horses were breaking out from the forest. They were actually magicians kitted out in robes and hoods and wielding magic staves. Not just any magicians, either, but ones from Aihrance, no less.


    ¡°Deploy the spell!¡±


    Mana flowed according to their commands, and a magic circle began taking shape all around Hjorth next. The Mud Snake¡¯s eyes opened wide in alarm before it glared at the one riding in front of the incoming group of magicians.


    ¡°Gravity magic, activate!¡±


    THUD-!


    The space distorted and Hjorth¡¯s body instantly grew much, much heavier. The Mud Snake was ruthlessly pressed down to the ground.


    -Kkya-aaaaahk!-


    Just as Hjorth screeched out in pain, the hood obscuring the face of the man riding in front of the group flew back. At the same time, blades of light were summoned into the air above him.


    The man roared out. ¡°I¡¯ve seen you bastard before!¡±


    He was once upon a time, the Imperial Crown Prince of the Theocratic Empire. He was also the king of Aihrance Kingdom, now left in utter devastation.


    Indeed, he was none other than White Aihrance!


    ¡°You abominable monster who wrecked my country!¡± He leapt up high into the air. ¡°Oooh, dear Gaia! Grant me your strength to¡­!¡±


    He grabbed one of the blades of light as he offered up a prayer.


    ¡°¡­impale this evil, vile snake!¡±


    White roared out in anger, and slammed the sword of light on top of the Mud Snake Hjorth.


    < 194. The Boundary Between Life and Death -4 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 370 - 195. The Boundary Between Life and Death -5 (Part One)

    Chapter 370: 195. The Boundary Between Life and Death -5 (Part One)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Hjorth screeched deafeningly in sheer agony. It thrashed viciously from the pain as the blade of light pierced cleanly through its body.


    Even though the magicians had hastily constructed defensive barriers around the creature, its violent thrashing shattered them all and began destroying the refugee camp.


    When their spells were forcibly cancelled like that, the magicians experienced reverse Mana flow, causing them to vomit copious amounts of blood and fall down from their horses.


    White, his face covered in cold sweat, urgently distanced himself away from the Mud Snake Hjorth.


    ¡°Really now, we went through hell trying to traverse the desert and burning lands, but we now run into the very culprit responsible for ruining our homeland in this place?¡±


    White began gritting his teeth, and almost at the same time, Paladins began rushing out of the nearby forest.


    Charlotte discovered him and looked quite surprised.. ¡°Your Majesty!¡±


    ¡°Is that you, Charlotte? Does that mean Allen is somewhere, too? Well, how has he been doing lately, then?!¡± White greeted her and didn¡¯t waste too much time catching up. Even as he did so, he made sure to keep his eyes locked on the body of Hjorth.


    He urgently roared out. ¡°Sorry about this, but our side also has quite a few refugees as well. We¡¯d like you to protect them, since the number of injured are¡­¡±


    ¡°His Majesty the Holy Emperor has been incapacitated, sire!¡±


    White instantly became stupefied by her words and stared at Charlotte. His eyes drifted over to the large tent that Hjorth had been trying to attack earlier.


    The gigantic Mud Snake¡¯s violent thrashing had torn and shoved aside the tent¡¯s flaps, revealing the occupants within. White was now granted the full view of the Saintess Alice, diligently praying while holding the hand of the unconscious Allen, as well as the shivering Laurence desperately holding onto Roy with his whole body.


    ¡°Wha¡­?!¡±


    ¡°We need to protect His Majesty the Holy Emperor!¡±


    White couldn¡¯t quite figure out what was going on here, but Charlotte¡¯s shout brought him back to his senses.


    ¡°¡­I see.¡± He turned his head and glared at Hjorth.


    The Mud Snake had finally freed itself from the gravity barrier, and raised its head up high to let out a thunderous shriek. It glared murderously at White, who had managed to inflict a wound on the snake¡¯s body.


    -You bastard! A measly little insect dares to injure me?!-


    ¡°Oh hey, you even know how to talk, huh?¡± White quipped while yanking out his physical sword.


    **


    There was a boulder floating on the ocean of blood. Sitting on it was a grim reaper hidden under a black robe and hood, its hand firmly holding the large scythe and its glowing eyes burning eerily away.


    A small boat passed by in front of the boulder. A skeleton clad in a tattered robe, its stomach bulging under the fabric, was silently working the oar to make this boat move forward.


    The darkness was chased away by a lantern attached to the passing boat, and as it drifted past the boulder, the grim reaper silently fell into slumber.


    Once it toppled over, the skeleton began resting its hand on its chest as if it could finally relax somewhat, although it no longer had a heart and could only feel its bare ribcage by doing so.


    The skeleton¡¯s old habit from when she was still alive was to blame for this gesture.


    -Everything is alright now. You can come out.-


    Held in the skeleton¡¯s embrace and hidden under the fabric, Roy heard her and cautiously stepped aside. When he looked around, though, all he could see was the pitch-black darkness surrounding him.


    He couldn¡¯t see anything at all. Even sound itself seemed to have vanished as well, causing a seedling of fear to re-sprout within his heart.


    Wondering about something, Roy peeked over the side of the boat at the ocean of blood. He could see souls flowing towards somewhere like streams of water, below the clear scarlet surface.


    Skeletons were roaming the depths as well. They suddenly raised their heads and met Roy¡¯s gaze. Their eyeballs glowed ominously as they tried to reach out towards him.


    Roy gasped out in shock and stumbled back, and the skeleton accompanying him quickly grasped his shoulders. -That is the ocean of blood, child. If you look for too long, the dead beings will drag you under.-


    ¡°This place¡­ it really is Hell.¡±


    -Indeed, it is. A place where the sinners gather to pay for their crimes. It¡¯s the same story for me as well, child.-


    ¡°Auntie, you¡­¡± Since the skeleton spoke in a woman¡¯s voice, Roy assumed it had to be a woman. He looked at her straight and asked, ¡°¡­What kind of a crime did you commit?¡±


    -I committed a truly horrible crime, child. I was blinded by greed and ended up harming my own family,- the skeleton replied in a hollow voice. -And now, the God of Death, Yudai, has entrusted me with a task that will ultimately purify my sin.-


    ¡°Task? And purify?¡±


    -Yes. It is to guide the souls that had been purified, from here in Purgatory to the location connected to the Heavenly World.-


    ¡°For how long are you supposed to do that?¡±


    -Around three hundred years.-


    Roy¡¯s mouth clamped shut. She needed to stay in Purgatory for that long?


    ¡°¡­Isn¡¯t it difficult?¡±


    -Well, it is the price of my sins, after all.- The skeleton spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.


    ¡°¡­Can you help me, though? I need to go to the Heavenly World right now, you see!¡±


    -Although it is not allowed, normally speaking¡­- the Skeleton replied in a sad voice, -¡­I shall specially help you.-


    ¡°Sorry?¡±


    -It¡¯s been a long time since I was able to chat with someone like this, after all. It¡¯s a gift of gratitude from me, child.-


    The skeleton began working the oar. The boat quietly drifted along through the darkness, and a short while later, some kind of a wall could be seen in the distance.


    ¡°What is¡­ that?¡±


    Roy¡¯s brows shot up high. His eyes were now taking in the sight of a transparent boundary line up ahead. Just beyond that was a beach filled with pristine white sand, as well as Allen sitting down on the ground and an old man standing next to him.


    -There you go, child. You must hurry and go on.-


    The skeleton grabbed Roy and carefully pushed him beyond the boundary line. But something else also happened at the same time.


    -Halt!-


    The skeleton turned her head around to look. A grim reaper was flying above the surface of the ocean of blood, directly heading in her direction. It raised its scythe up while its eyeballs burned angrily.


    -You are not allowed to send a living soul across!-


    -Hurry, child! You must leave at once!-


    The skeleton pushed Roy across the boundary line and almost at the same time, chains shot out from seemingly nowhere to tightly bind her.


    ¡°Auntie!¡±


    -How dare you break the law governing the officers of death?!-


    The grim reaper¡¯s scythe stabbed right through the skeleton¡¯s body. She cried out in pain.


    The grim reaper didn¡¯t stop there, however, and began glaring at Roy, now standing on the beach beyond the boundary line. When the boy faltered, the undead reached out towards him.


    Its bony hand began digging past the transparent boundary line. Even though its hand caught on fire, it still struggled mightily to grab Roy.


    -Hurry, child! Run!-


    Roy stumbled back. ¡°Your name, auntie! Please tell me your name!¡±


    The skeleton¡¯s eyeballs grew wider just then. Her jawbone clattered as she told him her name.


    Roy engraved that name in his heart and shouted back at her, ¡°Thank you for everything!¡±


    When the boy ran away from him, the grim reaper had to withdraw its hand. It plunged its burning hand under the ocean¡¯s surface, and all the injuries were healed in an instant.


    The grim reaper was clearly enraged as it cast its glare at the skeleton.


    -What you¡¯ve done today deserves a severe punishment. I declare that another one hundred years will be added to your sentence!-


    Four hundred years¡­


    The skeleton now needed to spend that additional amount of time in Purgatory to pay for her sins. Despite the grim reaper¡¯s ruling, though, the skeleton didn¡¯t try to argue. She simply stared at Roy getting further away, her hands slowly reaching towards him.


    -Go. Hurry to your destination, child.-


    A tear of blood quietly trickled down from her eye socket.


    -My child, Ruppel Olfolse¡­-


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    ¡°I¡¯m in a precarious position, you say?¡± I tilted my head side to side at what Kelt said just now.


    ¡°Indeed. The proof is with how your ¡®body¡¯ is stuck in this place, which is kind of halfway inside the boundary line.¡± Kelt replied, then grinned deeply. ¡°In any case. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s rather chaotic back on the other side, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    He spoke in an amused voice, as if we were discussing something happening in a distant foreign country or something. This dude, he used to be the guardian of the entire continent once upon a time, so I didn¡¯t quite get why he was making such an amused smile right now.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a complete mess, grandfather. The Kingdom of Frants has been isolated all by itself, while both Aihrance and Lome have fallen. As for me, I was in the middle of running away only to have a throwdown with a giant named Surtr and ended up in this half-dead state, as you can see.¡± At the end of my reply, I shrugged my shoulders.


    ¡°That¡­ sounds rather entertaining.¡± Kelt sighed and made a rueful face.


    1

 Chapter 371 - The Boundary Between Life and Death -5 (Part Two)

    Chapter 371: 195. The Boundary Between Life and Death -5 (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    What the heck, this old man¡­ He¡¯s so desperate to fight something, isn¡¯t he? If it was like this, maybe he should¡¯ve given up on going to the Heavenly World and instead, head straight to Purgatory and raise hell over on that side.


    I decided to keep the lid on my inner thoughts and got up from the sand. After dusting myself off, I asked him, ¡°Okay, anyways. If I want to wake up, where should I head off to, grandfather?¡±


    Kelt pointed to the sky above. ¡°That leads to the world of living. All you have to do is go through there.¡±


    I followed his pointing finger and stared at the sky.. There was a pool of water covering the sky really high above. It kind of looked like holy water, emanating the unmistakable sacred aura.


    Aaah, I see. My holy water was connected to this place, then?


    However, that was far too high up in the sky. I had no way of reaching up there. Even if I now possessed superhuman strength, it was still asking for the impossible to jump up that high, and summoning holy undead to create a ladder would not work, either.


    Hmm. Did that mean I had to perform the Grim Reaper transformation on myself or something?


    Suddenly I became curious about something. ¡°By the way, grandfather? What brings you to this place?¡±


    ¡°I was wondering why you suddenly popped up in here, that¡¯s all. So I crossed over from the Heavenly World.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, is that even allowed?¡±


    ¡°Honestly? Definitely not, since crossing over the boundary is seen as a heavy crime. But well, I have some status in this place, so I¡¯m sure it will work out favourably in the end. Goddess Gaia is a rather benevolent being, so yes, it should be fine. But if things don¡¯t work out as nicely, then I¡¯ll probably get chased away to Purgatory. Nothing more serious than that. Ahaha! I guess that might be a good thing in its own way!¡±


    Kelt guffawed out gallantly at his own words.


    Huh. He sounded like an old man completely immersed in enjoying his downtime after giving up the throne of the Holy Emperor.


    Maybe the uber-peaceful Heavenly World wasn¡¯t to his liking, after all?


    ¡°I got to chat to my grandson after so long, huh.¡± Kelt stared at me and made this rueful, lonesome face. ¡°But now, it¡¯s time for you to go home, child.¡±


    ¡°Sorry?¡±


    Just as I tilted my head in confusion, someone suddenly grabbed me. I flinched a little and turned around to discover Roy holding my hand.


    ¡°I found you!¡±


    ¡°¡­Roy? What are you doing here?¡±


    Hang on, were you killed off, too?


    No way, that didn¡¯t seem right.


    Just as I started to get even more flustered, Roy asked me something else, ¡°A-are you really the Holy Emperor?¡±


    ¡°Ah? Y-yeah, that¡¯s me. Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°Really? But why are you taking it easy in here?! You died, you know!¡±


    Oh? But no one told me straight that I was dead, though?


    ¡°Do you know how hard we had to work to revive you for the past week?¡±


    ¡°Wait what, a week?!¡±


    I looked at Kelt in confusion, but the old man shrugged his shoulders and spoke nonchalantly, ¡°The time flow of the world of living and this place aren¡¯t the same, grandson. They fluctuate and shift around all the time. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower. Something like that.¡±


    Roy lifted his head to look at Kelt next. The boy instinctively grew fearful and stumbled back. ¡°W-who is this old man, Your Majesty?¡±


    I replied, ¡°Well, he¡¯s your grandpa.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Roy got flustered, prompting Kelt to break out in a wry smile. ¡°It¡¯s time, grandson.¡±


    It was at that moment that my mind grew hazy. Along with Roy, I began floating up.


    ¡°Meeting like this is also fate, child.¡± Kelt reached out towards me.


    I reflexively reached out to grab his hand. Our fingertips touched, only to part ways soon after.


    ¡°Whenever you find it too difficult to move forward¡­¡±


    My body seemed to get lighter, only for it to grow heavier almost instantly. It was as if gravity was applying the other way around and my figure rose rapidly into the air.


    ¡°¡­Call on me, child.¡±


    The whole world was suddenly flipped around. Up became down; my figure was flung down and I plunged into the pool of water that used to be up in the sky.


    -Lord Allen!-


    I thought I could hear a voice.


    It belonged to Alice.


    Roy and I flailed about in the sacred water, then swam towards where that voice was coming from. Feelings slowly returned to my body: vision, taste, smell, hearing, and even my sense of touch¡­ Every one of them felt vivid and real, as if I was still alive.


    -Lord Allen, Allen¡­!


    It was right at that moment that my vision brightened. Air was sucked deep into my lungs, and in return, they screamed in pain.


    This incredible pain suddenly stabbed me all over my body and I was tempted to scream out aloud, but I clamped my mouth shut.


    The reason for that was simple; there was someone next to me gently holding my hand and praying away for my sake.


    A woman with faintly-glistening tears pooling at the edges of her eyes was next to me. It seemed that she was trying her best to suppress her tears.


    I reached out with my other hand and held Alice¡¯s hand. She was jolted out of her prayer and stared at me with wide eyes.


    I grinned and addressed her, ¡°Been a while, Alice.¡±


    She smiled back brightly with tears freely trickling down her cheeks. ¡°Welcome back, Lord Allen.¡±


    **


    ¡°Ku-aaaahk! Ptooey!¡±


    White spat out some blood pooled in his mouth. Charlotte was not too far away from him, and was breathing heavily in fatigue, as well.


    The Paladins in their surroundings had to retreat. This was a fight between those two and a massive monster and as such, the others just couldn¡¯t find the necessary courage to join in.


    -You bastards, you are both monsters! How, how! With such small bodies, you¡­!-


    Hjorth spat out gusts of sand. Its body was now in tatters. Even the J?tnar couldn¡¯t beat it, yet these two humans could fight it on equal terms somehow.


    -Get out of my way! If you don¡¯t, then I¡­!-


    If Hjorth failed in its task this time, then without a doubt it would be treated as a failed product, and then be discarded. It would be just like how it was with the Mud Giant, who was discarded into this world all those years ago.


    Hjorth could not afford to let such a thing happen.


    The Mud Snake screeched loudly again. All the sand from the surroundings was sucked up and absorbed into Hjorth¡¯s body.


    White tutted unhappily while staring at the Mud Snake restoring its damaged body. ¡°Man, this is even harder than back when I had to fight a dragon!¡±


    ¡°I shall provide you with cover, Your Majesty,¡± said Charlotte as she held up her shield.


    Both of them were exhausted right now. They hadn¡¯t had a chance to rest properly during the forced march, and that meant that they couldn¡¯t guarantee their victory against Hjorth standing tall before their eyes.


    However, they certainly couldn¡¯t let this creature do as it pleased, either, because it was obviously aiming for Holy Emperor Allen Olfolse¡¯s life.


    The J?tnar had finally cottoned onto the Holy Emperor¡¯s existence, it seemed. That meant their earnest attack would soon commence.


    No doubt they would start their invasion of the Theocratic Empire very soon.


    -Die, you insignificant insects!-


    Hjorth opened its maw wide and pounced on Charlotte. She raised her trusty shield and got ready to deflect the Mud Snake¡¯s attack.


    But then¡­


    [I now permit the usage of the Aztal Rune!]


    A declaration entered her head. Her eyes shot open wide in shock at that very familiar voice.


    Her raised shield was lowered ever so slightly as her eyes shifted towards the half-torn tent over yonder.


    There he was, a man wearing Amon¡¯s Skull, his hand firmly gripping a golden spear. Even before he could finish securing the mountain goat¡¯s skull on his head, his lips could be seen bobbing up and down. [Charlotte Heraiz.]


    Charlotte confirmed his figure, and roused her divinity.


    [This is an order.]


    The ribbon neatly tying her hair came loose, and her silver locks whipped in the air. The transparent hood materialised through her divinity, and began to gently surround her head.


    [Go, and utterly slaughter this snake of mud!]


    The sword in her hand was enveloped in divinity as well, transforming into the greatsword of light, while the armour of light materialised all around her body.


    She attached the shield to her forearm, then held the greatsword created through divinity with both of her hands. Particles of divinity radiated and freely scattered all around her.


    A smile was etched on her lips as she raised her voice. ¡°I shall obey His Majesty the Holy Emperor¡¯s decree, and¡­¡±


    She held up the greatsword of light high in the air, the glint in her eyes getting much, much sharper. The blade of light seemed to pierce the heavens above.


    ¡°¡­utterly¡­¡±


    She roared out.


    ¡°¡­annihilate our enemy!¡±


    Truly blinding rays of light exploded forth from her sword.


    The divine power went on overdrive, turning her greatsword into the sword of heaven.


    The Heavenly Sword that had slaughtered even the Mud Giant in one strike¡­


    Hjorth saw this spectacle and its eyes trembled in fear. Its whole body shuddered from instinctive terror.


    Charlotte stepped forward firmly. With a loud, spirited roar, she brought the sword of heaven down with every ounce of her energy.


    < 195. The Boundary Between Life and Death -5 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 372 - 196. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -1 (Part One)

    Chapter 372: 196. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -1 (Part One)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    I continued to observe the events taking place before me.


    Charlotte slammed her sword down with all of her strength. A powerful gust of wind exploded out from all around her.


    The Mud Snake Hjorth screeched monstrously, as if it wanted to match the timing of the brilliantly-radiating sword of heaven coming down. It opened its maw wide and used its sturdy fangs made out of hard rocks to stop the Heavenly Sword.


    BOOM!


    The ground beneath the huge snake monster cracked apart, and then caved in completely.


    Hjorth didn¡¯t stop there, even spitting out a storm of sand from its maw.. It struggled mighty hard to push the glowing Heavenly Sword away using its sand-flaying breath, but too bad, the weapon continued to come down on the creature.


    Hjorth¡¯s eyes grew wider and wider, its irises quaking in fear. Not even the Mud Giant Mist Calf could defend against the sword of heaven, so this Mud Snake choosing not to evade but to defend against it head-on¡­


    It had made the most unwise choice, then.


    The gigantic blade of light chopped straight through Hjorth¡¯s maw, all the way down to the ground.


    There was a blinding flash of light, and the Mud Snake¡¯s two halves, the entirety of its maw, throat and belly, split open wide. Hjorth¡¯s eyes rolled over, and a storm of sand gushed out from it before its entire body crumbled down to piles of dirt.


    -Ku-oooooh¡­.!- The Mud Snake Hjorth let out one final monstrous howl as its body disintegrated completely.


    Charlotte was panting heavily, but not even minding that, her trembling eyes remained locked on the Heavenly Sword gripped in her hands. The gigantic blade of light was slowly breaking down into motes of light, starting from the hilt.


    All those particles of light danced and floated up high in the air, only to be carried away by the winds and fall back down over a wider area.


    The refugees all fell into a confused clamour.


    The falling light particles chased the darkness away and descended, landing on the injured and sick among the refugees to heal them. The particles even soothed their frayed nerves and banished their fear. One by one, the refugees began shifting their gazes over to Charlotte, and brought their hands together to pray.


    To them, she must¡¯ve looked like a heroine chosen by the gods, just like the Saintess.


    ¡°Fuu-wuu¡­¡±


    I watched Charlotte reining in her heavy breathing. Her transparent hood of divinity flapped gently in the winds as she turned her head to look in my direction.


    She started walking up and eventually she stopped right in front of me.


    ¡°Your Majesty¡­¡± she spoke up, only to abruptly cut herself off.


    Judging from her troubled expression, I figured that she wasn¡¯t sure of what to say here.


    I recalled what Roy had told me earlier. We had been forced to stay in this location for a whole week because of me. The army probably couldn¡¯t get the procession going again because my treatment had to take precedence over anything else in their eyes.


    Considering that point, it was practically the same as me inconveniencing everyone greatly.


    ¡°Thank you, Charlotte,¡± I thanked her earnestly, and her eyes widened.


    She bowed her head slightly, and I could spy a faint smile of happiness on her lips.


    ¡°I¡¯m still not sure what happened here, but¡­¡±


    It was at that moment that, along with a familiar voice, a man with a too-familiar face walked up to me.


    There was not much I could do about my forehead creasing up all by itself just then. ¡°¡­What are you doing here, father?¡±


    ¡°Well, see, a lot has happened so far. Before all that, though, please do me a favour, son.¡± White pointed at the forest some distance away.


    Now that the deadly commotion had died down, people were cautiously stepping out from the depths of the forest.


    ¡°¡­Refugees?¡±


    ¡°Sorry about this, but I need to ask for the Theocratic Empire¡¯s assistance this time. No, hang on. I shouldn¡¯t be asking you like this, right?¡±


    Those refugees came from Aihrance. They numbered only around two thousand at most, but still, it was quite something for them to reach this place while evading the pursuit of the giants.


    White stabbed his sword into the ground, then asked courteously, befitting the official nature of his request. ¡°As the king of Aihrance, this one humbly requests the Holy Emperor of the Theocratic Empire. Please¡­¡± He bowed his head deeply and finished his request, ¡°¡­save my subjects.¡±


    **


    The next morning, I boarded a carriage.


    Our procession commenced once more.


    Alice was sitting opposite me, quietly dozing off. Probably too exhausted to stay up, I figured.


    I opened the carriage¡¯s door a little and took a look outside. Roy, slumbering away in his adopted mother¡¯s arms, could be seen riding on a wagon not too far away.


    It seemed that he was affected by the rebound of the Resurrection.


    I was suffering from the after-effects of it as well, judging by the frequent bouts of anaemia that came and went without warning. According to the stern advice of my family physician, who was Alice, I should refrain from using divinity for a while.


    There was the burden on my body to consider, but she also said that my soul wouldn¡¯t be able to endure it, either.


    It was then that I ended up staggering from anaemia once again.


    ¡°Your Majesty? Are you still feeling exhausted, sire?¡± Charlotte asked me in a worried voice.


    This kid, she¡­ was completely fine even now.


    I mean, really? She participated in a forced march, fought against the Mud Snake Hjorth, and in the process, had to endure the burden of the Grim Reaper transformation, so how could she be this sprightly and full of energy?


    She really possessed physical specs that were incomparably better than mine, it seemed. Without a doubt, the athletically gifted were a breed apart from us regular folks.


    ¡°¡­Nah, I¡¯m alright.¡±


    After replying to her, I scanned the refugees around us.


    They were currently shuddering in fear. Even though the sudden raid of the J?tnar and the vampires had been successfully repelled, they had still been attacked by a humongous monster snake called Hjorth in the end. They must¡¯ve been scared of the possibility of yet another attack happening soon.


    However, there was no need to worry, at least for the time being.


    Charlotte, riding on her Unira, scanned the path ahead. Her eyes began sparkling from what she saw. But it wasn¡¯t just her.


    Even the complexions of the refugees brightened considerably.


    ¡°Sire, we¡¯ve arrived.¡±


    I heard her call out to me, so I peeked my head out the window.


    There it was, a massive city with stupidly tall outer walls surrounding it from all sides.


    We had finally arrived.


    After a lengthy journey, we had reached the border region of the Theocratic Empire, the place I called home.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Theocratic Empire, sire.¡±


    The gateway to the city opened up, and Paladins hurriedly lined up in rank and file. Standing before them were Cardinal Raphael and Sword King Oscal.


    ¡°Welcome back, sire.¡±


    ¡°We came to welcome you back to the Empire, sire.¡±


    They bowed deeply in greeting. I could hear the raucous cheering of the Empire¡¯s subjects coming from all around me.


    Well, this was the long-awaited return of their Holy Emperor, after all. They probably felt really happy to have me back.


    The refugees stepped inside the capital city of the fiefdom by the border, their expressions finally showing signs of their buoyant moods. They were genuinely happy after surviving all the ordeals to get here.


    As for me, I headed directly to the fortress of the city. The moment I entered the impressive structure, I was unfortunately greeted by the throng of ambassadors dispatched from other nations waiting for my arrival.


    They brought their hands together to pray in my direction, then got right down to crying out with despair-filled faces. Their nations were now under intense assault by the giants, they said.


    They wanted me to accept their citizens under my protection.


    They didn¡¯t have any means to resist the marauding J?tnar on their own. Just a horde of fifty giants would be more than enough to completely erase a kingdom off the face of the planet.


    What counted as a good thing was that I managed to warn them beforehand, and they had wisely strengthened their forces enough to face off against the J?tnar for a bit. They had received training befitting that purpose, so at the very least, they should¡¯ve bought enough time for the evacuation of their citizens.


    We needed to get ready, as well; we had to prepare ourselves to stop their advances and launch our own counter-offensive, in other words.


    It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that those bastards would soon march towards the empire¡¯s capital. Well, Seran¡¯s [Foresight] did predict that eventuality, after all.


    ¡°We shall do everything in our power.¡±


    That¡¯s all I could say to the ambassadors. They persistently requested more from me, but for now, I ignored them.


    The J?tnar had already designated me as their target. The Mud Snake Hjorth was the sure proof of that. All the other kingdoms were surely nothing more than some mild distractions unfortunate enough to be stuck in the giants¡¯ paths, that¡¯s all.


    I settled down on the throne of the fortress¡¯s audience chamber. Raphael and Oscal stood before me.


    I addressed them, ¡°The giant bastards will surely make their moves soon.¡±


    Frants, Aihrance, and Lome had been destroyed. They would surely come to the Theocratic Empire next. Other, smaller kingdoms wouldn¡¯t even serve as adequate distractions for them at this stage.


    They had cottoned onto the fact that an individual capable of killing Surtr, Hr¨ªmr, and Hjorth existed here. I figured that they would put everything else on the back burner and relentlessly march towards the Theocratic Empire to kill the most dangerous being known to them, which was me, and would also destroy the Empire in the process, too.


    But it wouldn¡¯t just be the J?tnar, though. Surely the vampires would tag along, too.


    The scale of the upcoming conflict would be in another realm altogether when compared to the war against the vampires a few years ago.

 Chapter 373 - 196. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -1 (Part Two)

    Chapter 373: 196. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -1 (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°How goes the preparation for the army?¡± I asked the two men.


    ¡°Every available force of the Imperial Family, plus the ten thousand Crusaders, as well as fifty thousand enlisted soldiers, are currently stationed in the Empire¡¯s capital of Laurensis, Your Majesty. Also, General Jenald Ripang of the Northern Region has organised an elite force comprised of two thousand convict soldiers. With the support of our allied nations, an allied army numbering about one hundred and fifty thousand strong has been formed, sire. Just one command from you, and they shall mobilise without hesitation.¡± Cardinal Raphael reported to me.


    I nodded before turning my attention over to Sword King Oscal. ¡°What about Aslan, then?¡±


    ¡°The Necromancy Corps with one thousand Necromancers, and the siege weapon regiments comprised of two thousand operators, plus fifty thousand slave soldiers as back-up, are on standby as we speak, sire.¡±


    Our preparation was as good as it could get..


    However, we were not dealing with the assault of one or two hundred J?tnar here. It¡¯d be a huge conflict featuring well over a thousand giants, at the very least.


    Let¡¯s not forget, the vampires must¡¯ve managed to create an undead army that should easily surpass the fifty thousand they had raised in the past, all thanks to using Aihrance and Lome as their sacrificial offerings. The undead army they led would be at least several hundred thousand strong by this point, I¡¯d wager.


    If we fought in protracted warfare, then it would be us in the disadvantageous position.


    Even though we worked our butts off to prepare, our enemies were still so powerful that they still easily overwhelmed us. But that didn¡¯t mean we couldn¡¯t stop them at all, of course.


    Here in the Theocratic Empire, we had an abundance of heroes, after all.


    ¡°We shall return to the Imperial Capital at once. Do not forget to issue the evacuation order to not just this border region, but to every other fiefdom, as well.¡±


    ¡°As you command, sire.¡±


    When I got this far, I abruptly recalled my predecessor, Holy Emperor Kelt. ¡°One other thing.¡±


    I looked over at Raphael. The old cardinal tilted his head slightly and looked back at me.


    ¡°I shall also head to the tomb of His Majesty the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse.¡±


    Raphael¡¯s expression visibly hardened when he heard that.


    **


    Somewhere near the Kingdom of Aihrance¡¯s border region¡­


    White Aihrance¡¯s royal decree had reached these areas as well. It ordered the residents living in every corner of the kingdom to evacuate to the Theocratic Empire as if their lives depended on it.


    Most did as they were told and left Aihrance, but some still chose to remain behind in their hometown.


    This was their motherland, their home, so just where could they even go to, anyway? If they were destined to die anyway, then they wanted to die in their home, at least.


    That¡¯s what the survivors told themselves, but after some time had passed them by, they started regretting their decision.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing here. No food, not even water!¡±


    Aihrance was now covered in sand. Procuring food or water was as hard as picking stars from the night sky at this point. Several of the survivors tried to dig around the arid landscape, but not a single drop of water could be found.


    All they could do in this despairing situation was to grit their teeth. If this continued on, they would surely die of starvation, only to become withered corpses in this accursed desert.


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave.¡±


    ¡°But to where?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? To the Theocratic Empire, of course. They said it¡¯s safe over there, didn¡¯t they? So, if we go there¡­¡±


    The man making his opinion known abruptly flinched in surprise and raised his head.


    The too-harsh sunlight cast on the ground was suddenly covered up by a tall, pitch-black shadow. The rays of the sun brightly illuminating the surroundings were swallowed up by the blackened storm clouds.


    Rain? Could it be that rain was about to come?


    The complexions of the survivors brightened considerably.


    Drip¡­ drip, drip¡­


    Indeed, drops of rain began falling from the heavens. The survivors rejoiced and reached their hands to the skies.


    They opened their mouths to drink the rain water, but what they tasted wasn¡¯t the clear and refreshing water, but the acrid metallic stench of blood instead.


    ¡®Huh?¡¯


    Just as the survivors grew more and more confused, the rain of blood worsened instantly and became a crazed deluge. Only then did they scream out in terror.


    At the same time, the ground rumbled ominously, its vibrations seemingly reaching everywhere.


    ¡°H-hide, now!¡±


    This tremor¡­


    They were intimately familiar with it. It came from the footsteps of the destroyers who had utterly wrecked the homelands of these survivors earlier.


    The surviving humans quickly dove into the pits they had dug out and hid themselves. They fearfully peeked outside to confirm the situation above ground.


    Their eyes shot open wide, their mouths firmly clamped shut.


    Boom-! Thud-! Boom-!


    The J?tnar were beating their drums. Truly imposing noises rocked the surroundings.


    Vu-wuuuuu-!


    The horns bleated out loudly enough to rupture the eardrums of all the listeners.


    The J?tnar, clearly filled to the brim with vigour, grinned insidiously or guffawed out cruelly.


    ¡°Sing away!¡±


    They were carrying ¡®bird cages¡¯ constructed out of steel, and the humans trapped in them were crying out in their attempts to sing.


    ¡°Yes, the insects are singing! They are singing in beautiful noises-!¡±


    ¡°And we shall march forward-!¡±


    ¡°March! Advance, forward-!¡±


    The J?tnar hummed out of tune and sang along.


    Following behind them was a massive army of the undead, noisily screeching and hissing away.


    The Progenitor Vampires leading them yelled out, ¡°A brand new era is about to dawn upon us-!¡±


    The undead were marching forward in orderly rank and file, without a trace of error or mistakes anywhere.


    Most of them were zombies; they seemed to be constructed out of a high level of demonic energy, and to make matters worse, these zombies were also armed to the teeth.


    The citizens of Lome and Aihrance had been hunted down, their blood was sucked out by the vampires, and they were turned into zombies.


    Besides them, ghouls could be seen dashing forward on all fours. Dullahans rode on top of them while brandishing their swords.


    ¡°Our vengeance of thousands of years, we shall finally achieve it-!¡±


    Lycans were pulling various chariots and carriages along, while the Progenitor Vampires riding on them continued to crack their whips.


    The land they marched past instantly rotted away and turned even more barren, completely lifeless. Meanwhile, the rain of blood continued to fall from the sky. The blood inevitably began pooling inside the pits housing the survivors, causing their complexions to get paler and paler.


    It was like they were about to drown in a flood of blood.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­?¡±


    ¡°¡­Yeah, that¡¯s the Vampire King.¡±


    Hundreds of zombies were hoisting up a massive sedan chair. Sitting on that vehicle was the Vampire King, occasionally slamming the bottom of his spear down.


    The gaze of the survivors drifted upwards, at another being following behind the Vampire King.


    The surviving humans involuntarily shivered as they continued to stare at the absolutely gigantic shadow.


    BOOM-! BOOM-!


    It was a humongous ferocious beast. Its body was made out of mud, while its manes were fashioned from branches and vines. Its scales and fangs were created out of hardened bedrock. It even featured a truly enormous maw, as if it was meant to devour everything in this world.


    Sitting on top of this ginormous ferocious beast was a giant at least thirty metres tall. It proudly yelled out, -Behold, my latest masterpiece!-


    It was none other than the Magic Giant Utgar, waving around its magic staff. Next to it was the Earth Giant Hrungnir, marching forward in utter silence.


    A ginormous monster over one hundred metres high, and a J?tunn actually riding on top of it; the survivors took in this ridiculous sight as their jaws slowly fell to the ground.


    ¡°We¡¯re doomed¡­¡±


    There didn¡¯t seem to be an end to this monster procession.


    Dozens, hundreds, thousands of J?tnar¡­


    And then, thousands, tens of thousands¡­ Hundreds of thousands of the walking dead!


    These creatures were the destroyers destined to obliterate this world. The bringers of the apocalypse that the humans had heard about in the rumours, the ones that would start Ragnarok!


    No existence in this land could ever hope to stop these marauding monsters.


    The survivors stumbled back in fear within their pits.


    Lycans sniffed the air and shifted their gazes over to the pits, insidious grins floating up on their faces. ¡°Well, now. We got ourselves more of the good food, then!¡±


    The lycans opened their maws and howled out loudly before pouncing into the pits. They swung their sharp claws ruthlessly against the powerless survivors.


    ¡ª-


    The Progenitor Vampires reverentially raised up several shields. Corpses of humans that had been freshly hunted just now were placed on top.


    ¡°We offer these tributes to Your Majesty, the Vampire King.¡±


    The Progenitors presented the bloody meal to their king.


    The Vampire King Vlandmir grabbed the severed arm of a human and began devouring it. As he chewed, his glare shifted to the distance far ahead of him. ¡°Our time of vengeance is nigh.¡±


    The light burning in his eyes gleamed even more fiercely.


    His quest for vengeance that began nearly two thousand years ago was about to be fulfilled for good.


    The Imperial Family that had burned him to death¡­


    It was time for them to burn down themselves and vanish from this world altogether!


    ¡°Hunt them to your hearts¡¯ content!¡±


    The Apocalypse. It was approaching ever closer for them.


    < 196. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 374 - : 197. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -2 (Part One)

    Chapter 374: 197. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -2 (Part One)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    I had finally returned home.


    Our procession reached the Imperial Capital of Laurensis, and with that, our truly lengthy itinerary had come to an end, too.


    ¡°His Majesty the Holy Emperor, hooray!¡±


    ¡°Let the glory of our Theocratic Empire be eternal-!¡±


    While being bathed in the adulation of countless citizens, I shifted my gaze around to take a look at the status of the army stationed in and around the capital.


    Paladins and Priests were teeming on top of the city¡¯s outer walls with nary a gap visible among them, while enlisted soldiers were assisting them. I noticed that some soldiers were discreetly mixed in among the cheering citizens as well.


    ¡°I hear His Majesty rescued the King of Frants and after taking pity on that kingdom¡¯s citizens, he accepted them under his wings..¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not all, buddy! He even went and saved his father in the Kingdom of Aihrance, too! And not just him, but even some refugees on top of that!¡±


    ¡°Indeed, our emperor is a merciful ruler.¡±


    I¡¯m merciful, is it?


    Too bad, that was far from the truth.


    The Theocratic Empire wasn¡¯t so well off that we could simply accept everyone under our so-called wings. Even though we worked very hard to prepare for the past five years or so, we just weren¡¯t prepared enough, nor did we enjoy the luxury of time, either.


    It was already taking a lot out of us to feed a hundred and fifty thousand allied forces. It was such a strain that I even thought it¡¯d be nice for the damn J?tnar to hurry up with their marching and arrive here as soon as possible.


    If they didn¡¯t, then we might end up dealing with the war against the J?tnar and the undead with a whole bunch of starving soldiers instead, a fine way to fight Ragnarok¡­


    I walked ahead, my group consisting of Charlotte, Alice, Hans, Raphael, and Oscal following right behind me.


    Well-built Paladins saluted us, then opened the doorway to the Imperial Audience Chamber.


    ¡°Let us be blessed by the Goddess of Life itself, Gaia-! His Majesty the Holy Emperor graces us with his presence¨C!¡± the Grand Chamberlain¡¯s voice resounded out in the chamber.


    Inside the massive chamber were the lords governing various fiefdoms of the Theocratic Empire, plus the members of high clergy. Among their ranks were my siblings Luan and Hilda. But it weren¡¯t just them; I also spotted Seran and the twins, who had travelled ahead of me to reach the capital, as well as Marcus, who was accompanying the King of Frants. Finally, even White was here.


    They had all been waiting for this moment. In order to stop the advent of Ragnarok, they had been doing their best to strengthen themselves.


    I sucked in a deep breath, then stared at that throne over yonder. The one that I still hadn¡¯t gotten used to, no matter how many times I looked at it or sat on it.


    I willed my legs and walked over rather stiffly. Everyone on the path bowed their heads deeply.


    My steps took me past the luxurious crimson carpet, and I settled myself on the throne, then took my time observing my retainers.


    The ones accompanying me stopped at the centre of the audience chamber and knelt down, their heads bowed deeply.


    The Holy Emperor. As the protector of this continent, the time for me to step up and do my job had finally arrived.


    ¡°From this moment on, we commence our plan to guard our continent.¡±


    I now had to command all these people.


    That was my role, my duty. It was the fate of the one sitting on this throne, the destiny of the Holy Emperor!


    **


    The next week or so proved to be a really tough going for me.


    It wasn¡¯t as if I could learn everything there was about being a Holy Emperor in the short five years since my coronation. From things like politics to military strategies, to acting gracefully and dignified as befitting a member of the Imperial Family, noble etiquette, etc, etc¡­ I was lacking in all of those things.


    All I was capable of doing was facilitating opportunities for people to more efficiently display their abilities by discerning and fostering their talents, as well as through building friendships with various nobles.


    That¡¯s all I did, but Charlotte didn¡¯t hold back on her praise of me even then. ¡°Sire, that is already quite an excellent feat.¡±


    When I made a slightly sullen face at that, Raphael, who had never had a good impression of me, decided to add something else. ¡°Although several parts are still lacking, Your Majesty, you have done well, sire.¡±


    Raphael was the type to say something that needed to be said, so I felt a bit more relieved by his words just then.


    It was really hard to pretend to be outwardly aloof and lofty, as well as fearless. I¡¯d often fall asleep on my throne from sheer exhaustion after a long day¡¯s work. Whenever that happened, Charlotte would assist me and take me to my quarters. This soon became almost a daily occurrence.


    On this particular night, I decided to slip out of my quarters without bothering to summon the chamberlains after feeling the need for some fresh air. It wasn¡¯t my first time doing so.


    Honestly, I found that strolling incognito by myself in and around the Imperial Palace to feel the breeze on my face was quite effective at improving my mood. One of the routes that I usually took to help in that regard was stopping by the palace¡¯s library.


    It was business as usual; Alice was already present, reading a book and studying as the night deepened. We ended up chatting about this and that for a bit.


    When I returned to my quarters, Luan, Hilda, Seran, and the twins were on standby with bottles of booze in their hands. Charlotte was making an apologetic face at me, her expression implying that she was unable to stop them.


    Even though I was the Holy Emperor, we all acted and horsed around as if one¡¯s station didn¡¯t really matter in private settings.


    Gradually, our daily lives seemed to meld together.


    Eventually, though¡­ the news I had been waiting for finally came in.


    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Harman, his face soaked in cold sweat, addressed me urgently. ¡°The movements of the J?tnar have been detected, sire!¡±


    Sure, we were kept busy until now, but¡­ this was the moment that our peaceful daily lives had come to an abrupt end.


    Refugees numbering in the hundreds of thousands had crossed into the Theocratic Empire¡¯s border regions. According to their testimony, the J?tnar had trampled through the Kingdom of Lome¡¯s lands.


    The reason their marching had taken longer than expected was to strengthen the vampires¡¯ army even more, apparently.


    We were running out of time here.


    ¡°We at Aslan have heeded the call of His Majesty the Holy Emperor, and this servant, Tina Aslan, has completed mobilisation of the one thousand members of the Necromancy Corps!¡±


    The Dark Elf who used to be Aslan¡¯s queen, Tina, had arrived in the empire¡¯s capital with her troops. However, having a large number of Necromancers entering the Imperial Capital only worsened the level of fear and anxiety within the hearts of the common citizens.


    There was a clear limit to how much I could control the masses.


    I was standing on the palace¡¯s balcony and taking a look at the capital¡¯s situation for a while. When that was done, I spoke up what was on my mind. ¡°We need someone qualified as a symbol to lessen their anxiety somehow. Raphael, I¡¯d much appreciate it if you do that favour I asked you about earlier.¡±


    Right now, the Imperial Capital and its citizens needed a hero. Not just anyone, but a symbol of terror for the vampires and at the same time, probably the most trustworthy person of all time to the empire¡¯s denizens.


    Kelt Olfolse. We needed him.


    Raphael sighed painfully under his breath after he heard me. He bowed his head deeply and replied. ¡°Please, sire. I urge you to reconsider this matter. The previous Holy Emperor wishes to rest, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m quite sure that that¡¯s not the case.¡±


    Raphael raised his head and stared at me in confusion, so I told him what had happened back at the boundary line between life and death.


    ¡­That I actually met Kelt in there.


    ¡°I thought my grandfather looked rather bored over there. It seems he wants to get involved in a huge fight.¡±


    ¡°Should I say that sounds just like him? Wait, before that¡­ Your Majesty, are you saying that His Majesty was causing a ruckus up in the Heavenly World as well?!¡±


    Raphael¡¯s expression crumpled big time and he began grumbling away. He even added that it was no good without him, as well. Despite all the complaints, though, I could kind of tell that he missed my grandfather.


    As such, it was my sacred duty to reunite these two good friends. ¡°He gave me his express permission. He said, I should call on him in times of need.¡±


    ¡°¡­I understand, sire.¡±


    Raphael guided me to a certain location. As for our travelling companions, Charlotte was my escort while Alice took on the role of my assistant.


    Soon, we reached the burial site of the Holy Emperor, which was at the highest point of the Imperial Palace. Rather than buried, it was more like his coffin had been placed in the attic or something.


    According to custom, the coffin would be placed at the highest point in the building for seven years so that the dead could stay as long as possible in the Heavenly World.


    Our leisurely strolling steps took us to the top floor of the Imperial Palace, which was actually a roofless garden. I could see a sarcophagus built out of stone resting among the colourful array of flowers. Sitting on top of it were bowls of holy water and copies of the sacred scriptures, plus records of all the feats Kelt had accomplished during his life.


    ¡°Here we are, sire. If you need anything, please summon me at once, Your Majesty,¡± Raphael said to me before leaving us alone.


    I walked up to the sarcophagus and quietly brushed its surface, then read the records of Kelt¡¯s accomplishments. Charlotte stood next to me and continued to stand watch, while Alice silently tidied up Kelt¡¯s resting place.


    He was called a tyrant once upon a time, and a wise ruler at other times. Throughout his life, he waged war against the vampire menace, and he achieved victory every single time.


    I couldn¡¯t help but smile while reading his records.


    Some time later, I slowly got back up to my feet. It was already late at night. Cool moonlight shining down from the sky was illuminating us.


    ¡°He was a dude who fought many battles throughout his entire life, so why does he wish to fight some more, I wonder? Does he really miss that kind of life that much?¡±


    He was a born fighter, it seemed. No, hang on a minute¡­ every single person with the blood of the Imperial Family were like that, weren¡¯t they?


    Yup, all of them were polar opposites of me, who wished for nothing more than to quietly live my life in peace.


    Alice walked up to me. ¡°Sire, are you¡­ planning to wake him up?¡±


    ¡°Well, he did tell me to call on him, so¡­¡±


    ¡°But is it even possible to do so?¡±


    She sounded genuinely puzzled. She did have a point, though; the types of souls that could be ¡®awakened¡¯ through Necromancy were limited in scope.


    They included evil spirits who either were filled with resentment or died because of their corruption; souls of people who were murdered or died from plagues; even those who died from unfortunate accidents, etc, etc¡­


    It was only possible to summon those types of dead spirits who did not get to enjoy a natural death, or the full lifespan that their life had to offer.


    In the case of Kelt, he had died of natural causes; reached the end of his lifespan, in other words. So, it should be impossible to summon him as a dead spirit, normally speaking¡­


    ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯ll be impossible to bring him back as a dead spirit.¡±


    However, it should be possible if it wasn¡¯t as a dead spirit, per se.


    Alice¡¯s head tilted this way and that in confusion at what I said.


    I ignored the gesture and continued to brush the sarcophagus¡¯s surface. ¡°We need your help, grandfather. That¡¯s why¡­¡± my hand tightly grasped Kelt¡¯s final resting box, and I drove my divinity inside, ¡°¡­please, lend us your strength, oh protector of this world.¡±


    Divine power gradually spread out. Gentle rays of light reached out seemingly everywhere and brightly illuminated our surroundings.


    I watched a formless soul gently rippling about on top of the sarcophagus and grinned deeply.

 Chapter 375 - 197. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -2 (Part Two)

    Chapter 375: 197. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -2 (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Refugees from various other nations had finally reached the border regions of the Theocratic Empire. Many different races were mixed in among the fleeing masses.


    They were all deeply stained with fatigue. Their complexions were gloomy; they were starving, and some were suffering from disease as well.


    The Theocratic Empire wasn¡¯t in such a good shape that it could easily accept all these people, however.


    ¡°You know, I just don¡¯t get why His Majesty ordered us to accept all these refugees.¡±


    ¡°But not accepting them will create just as big a problem.¡± .


    The army of vampires was also marching towards this place. If the Empire didn¡¯t accept the refugees, they would no doubt be hunted down by the vampires. They would then become zombies invading the Empire.


    Accepting refugees was the same thing as trying to prevent the number of the undead from increasing too much.


    ¡°However, I¡¯m still nervous here.¡±


    The soldiers scanned the refugees as cold sweat trickled down their faces. Without a doubt, vampires had to be hiding among the evacuating masses.


    Every incoming refugee was made to drink diluted holy water, but there was a limit to doing that. The number of those who silently infiltrated this city in the border region by using the commotion of the refugee procession had to be rather high.


    There was no doubt that several sneaky vampires and their insidious smiles had burrowed deeply into the Theocratic Empire¡¯s border city by now.


    They were probably waiting for the chaos to begin. The moment the J?tnar started attacking from the outside, the vampires hiding among the masses would summon undead and start the task of raising even more combatants for their side.


    ¡°I can only pray that we can safely survive today.¡±


    The soldiers on duty drew the holy sign in the air and offered their prayers.


    Night soon fell. The moonlight illuminating the area was devoured by the gloomy clouds above. Soldiers lit torches to chase away the pitch-black darkness.


    The darkness came to visit and the soldiers on duty, already suffering from anxiety and fatigue, began feeling thirsty.


    The Paladin commanding the soldiers picked up a waterskin in order to drink some water.


    ¡°Oh, oooooh-! The ancient devils have come to punish our foolish ways-!¡±


    The Paladin was taken by surprise at that sudden outburst and ended up losing his grip on the waterskin. He frowned deeply and glared at the one responsible among the incoming refugees.


    It happened to be a shivering old man, his arms spread open wide. ¡°I have witnessed it clearly. I have seen their march! Monsters too powerful to oppose have begun their march to destroy humanity once and for all!¡±


    There was always someone like that. Someone whose sanity had abandoned them, and also utterly incapable of reading the mood.


    The refugees were already scared out of their pants. So why would anyone deliberately want to make them scared even more¡­?


    The Paladin tutted unhappily. He then yelled at the soldiers by the foot of the outer wall. ¡°What are you all doing, not stopping that fool?!¡±


    The soldiers quickly approached the insane old man.


    The Paladin shook his head and reached out towards the dropped waterskin, but then¡­


    ¡­he noticed the pool of water that had leaked out from the waterskin was trembling faintly.


    His eyes grew wider in surprise. He hurriedly took off his helm and pressed his ear to the floor.


    ¡°Sir Paladin?¡± Some soldiers walked up to him and asked, but the Paladin hurriedly held up his hand and signalled them to shut up.


    He could faintly hear the rumbling on the ground as the eerie silence wafted all around them.


    Boom¡­ boom¡­ boom¡­!


    Thud¡­ thud¡­!


    Boooooom-!


    ¡°¡­!¡± The Paladin hurriedly raised his head. ¡°Enemy attack-!¡±


    His shouting froze all the soldiers in the vicinity. Even those who had been walking over to the insane old man flinched in surprise and looked up at the outer wall where the Paladin was.


    ¡°The enemy is closing in!¡±


    This vibration was definitely not natural.


    The Paladin gritted his teeth; there had been no reports from the scouts.


    But it was obvious why; they must have died already!


    The Paladin in charge hurriedly released the carrier pigeons, then issued a new order. ¡°Hurry up and bring the refugees inside!¡±


    The citizens yet to evacuate began screaming. Even as the chaos intensified all around him, the old man continued to cry out, ¡°You cannot stop this calamity! If you wish to live, you must beg them for your lives! Beg, plead, beg¡­!¡±


    Right at that moment, a large shadow loomed over this old man¡¯s head.


    ¡°¡­Uh?¡±


    Just as the old man lifted his head in confusion, a huge boulder crushed him to death.


    SPLAT-!


    Blood and bits of flesh splattered everywhere.


    It didn¡¯t stop there; more boulders, all of them humongous, began raining down on the refugees.


    ¡°Kkyaaaaahk!¡±


    Screams rocked the night, and the whole place instantly turned into pandemonium.


    The Paladin urgently yelled out while taking in the sight of the boulders flying in towards the outer wall, ¡°Activate the magic barrier, now!¡±


    Magicians on top of the outer walls chanted their spells to life. The defensive structures responded to their call, and a transparent film of light materialised all over the outer walls.


    The incoming boulders, each of them over five meters in width, flew in ferociously, only to crash into the wall and shatter, or were even outright deflected away.


    This barrier had been constructed by a nobleman named Hans.


    The Paladin in charge looked ahead.


    -It¡¯s food!-


    The J?tnar could be seen rushing in, with countless undead sprinting along below the giants¡¯ feet. From the likes of Dullahan riding on the backs of ghouls, to vampires cracking their whips on the lycans¡­


    They crashed in like a tsunami wave, as if they wanted to stain half of the world in pure darkness.


    The army of the apocalypse had come!


    The Paladin alternated his gaze between the refugees yet to step past the outer wall and the invaders.


    ¡°What are your orders, sir?¡±


    The soldiers who had been panicking earlier had regained their calm by now. They had been extensively trained, after all. They were all well aware of how many people would die if they made even a single mistake.


    ¡°Close the gates! And¡­¡±


    They must not be taken over by their emotions. If they tried to save all those refugees, everyone else might end up dying instead!


    ¡°¡­we abandon the border and retreat!¡±


    The soldiers all nodded at the Paladin¡¯s orders.


    Their task now was simple; do their best to evacuate the refugees, then observe the situation of this border region while defending it to the best of their abilities.


    The outer walls were now shielded by the defensive barrier. It shouldn¡¯t be easy for their enemies to break through. That¡¯s what the Paladin thought to himself as he climbed down from the top of the outer wall.


    He watched the gates slowly close, then turned around to look elsewhere only for his eyes to grow wider.


    A group of refugees hidden under robes and hoods had gathered there. Fangs and lengthy claws could be seen extending from beneath their robes, however.


    ¡°I knew it. We couldn¡¯t filter all of them out in the end, huh.¡±


    The Paladin yanked his sword out. The soldiers also got ready for battle.


    The vampires grinned insidiously and pounced on the group of soldiers led by the Paladin.


    ¡ª


    The outer gates slowly opened again.


    Countless refugees, now turned into zombies, staggered and shuffled to enter beyond the wall.


    The Theocratic Empire¡¯s border city was overrun in less than half a day, instantly turning into a city of death.


    A rain of blood was falling.


    Amid the crimson deluge, the Kings of the Bringers of Apocalypse finally set foot in the territory of the Theocratic Empire. However, their march didn¡¯t stop there, while their forces continued to grow even stronger.


    Sand and death blanketed the lands of the empire they marched past. Gradually, the empire¡¯s territory was lost to devastation. This fact was reported to the Imperial Capital of Laurensis, and eventually, to the ears of the Holy Emperor Allen perched up the throne there.


    Even then, Allen didn¡¯t make a move. He simply focused on bringing all their combat forces over to the Imperial Capital.


    Such a movement wouldn¡¯t have gone unnoticed by the Kings of the Bringers of Apocalypse. The aura of all life was currently headed to Laurensis, after all!


    Allen, his hand firmly gripping his golden spear, slowly scanned the ranks of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s various lords.


    ¡°The bastards are coming.¡± The corners of his lips curled up. ¡°However, let us observe for now.¡±


    As he continued to smile, all the others were arrested by his charm. They could tell that their emperor held not one speck of fear or hesitation.


    ¡°Let us observe how the end of the Apocalypse will play out!¡±


    This young Holy Emperor was so, so similar in his demeanour to his predecessor, Kelt Olfolse.


    **


    Ronia, in the empire¡¯s northern region¡­


    The convicts were making a bit of a ruckus while picking up their weapons. They secured their chain mail on themselves, then put the white surcoat emblazoned with the crest of the Imperial Family around their shoulders next.


    The feudal lord of Ronia, Jenald Ripang, sucked in a deep breath.


    Two thousand mounted troops had been prepared for this day. Every single one of them was capable of wielding divinity after receiving the blessing of the Saint.


    But that wasn¡¯t all; all these people were highly-skilled elites among the elites that had been stopping the Tide of Death for the past five years.


    They had consumed the wonder drug during their growth into seasoned warriors, and so, all these soldiers were now skilled enough to rival the Heavenly Army.


    ¡°I pray that the grace of Goddess Gaia be with you all!¡±


    Once the convict soldiers finished their preparations to move out, they raised the symbol of the Theocratic Empire, knelt in front of it, and brought their hands together to pray earnestly.


    ¡°Under the blessing of Lord Saint¡­¡±


    Their voices grew louder and louder.


    ¡°We pledge to judge all evil spirits, and¡­¡±


    The convict soldiers began standing up one by one.


    ¡°We swear to even sacrifice our souls for the sake of our Lord Saint-!¡±


    Their fervor-filled shouts rang noisily in the air.


    With deep grins etched on their faces, they easily shrugged off their fear.


    Jenald Ripang, their feudal lord, finished his quiet prayer and headed to the stables, where an unpleasant smell wafted out.


    ¡°All preparations have been completed. His Majesty the Holy Emperor is waiting for us. Are you also ready to fight?¡± Jenald asked a certain man waiting inside the stable.


    This man, who had been stroking a horse¡¯s manes, silently chugged down a bottle of holy water. Just like the other convict soldiers, he was also kitted out in the chain mail and white surcoat. He also carried a spear on his back.


    ¡°¡­Of course I¡¯m ready.¡±


    Once upon a time, he used to be someone in a lofty, noble position. An Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, as a matter of fact. But he became a criminal after attempting an insurrection.


    He ¡®died¡¯ and became a gravekeeper, and now, he was just another convict soldier of the northern region.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been training for this very day and became stronger, after all. This life, I¡­¡±


    He was Ruppel Olfolse. The one who now went by the name of Shuppel raised his head and stared at the feudal lord of Ronia, Jenald Ripang.


    ¡°¡­I shall gladly offer it up for His Majesty the Holy Emperor.¡±


    Two thousand heavily-armoured mounted troops of Ronia, the Berserker Legion!


    They had completed their preparation to travel to the Imperial Capital.


    < 197. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 376 - 198. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -3 (Part One)

    Chapter 376: 198. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -3 (Part One)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    **


    Ding-! Clang-! Dang-!


    Bells began ringing within Laurensis, the capital of the Theocratic Empire.


    A scout on a horse was racing ahead at their top speed towards the Imperial Capital. Behind them were countless commoners, running breathlessly towards the city, as well.


    ¡°Open the gates-!¡± One of the Paladins stationed over the outer wall roared out, and the outer gate leading into Laurensis was quickly opened up. The pulleys and gears creaked and turned, and the massive doorway spread open to the left and right.


    The scout waved a flag as he flew past the doorway with every ounce of his energy. ¡°Get out of the way! Get out!¡±


    The crowds in the streets were taken by surprise and hurriedly jumped out of the scout¡¯s way..


    The scout rapidly travelled along the city¡¯s avenues and entered the Imperial Palace. He eventually reached the Imperial Audience Chamber.


    Paladins clad in pure-white armour smartly opened the doorway, and the scout took in the full view of what lay waiting for him beyond the gap in the opening doors.


    The vast, expansive audience chamber, Paladins standing in lines on either sides, and then¡­


    The one sitting on the throne in the middle of them all.


    The Holy Emperor, Allen Olfolse!


    The scout saw the ruler of the empire and swallowed nervously. Despite simply sitting down, the sheer pressure emanating from the Holy Emperor completely justified his title as the absolute sovereign. There couldn¡¯t be any doubt about that.


    The Holy Emperor locked his gaze on the scout and asked, ¡°What have you seen?¡±


    His voice sounded too heavy and dignified to be coming from a young man.


    The Holy Emperor¡¯s Spirit Speech burrowed into the head of the scout, finally snapping the latter out of his reverie. He hurriedly knelt down and, even though his heavy panting didn¡¯t want to leave him, he still made his report. ¡°The Bringers of Apocalypse, they have arrived, sire!¡±


    That answer was sufficient enough. No need to listen anymore.


    Holy Emperor Allen stood up from the throne.


    Step, step¡­


    He stepped down and gallantly strode forward.


    The time had finally come!


    ¡°The time has come to sever the ties of this really tiresome fate.¡± Allen summoned Amon¡¯s Skull, and as he put it on, he muttered the activation phrase, ¡°I am the legion.¡±


    Pieces of bones began materialising from beneath his feet, traveling up his legs.


    ¡°And I am¡­¡±


    The bone armour encased his entire body next. The Paladins all around him unsheathed their swords in unison.


    ¡°¡­Gaia¡¯s inheritor!¡±


    Underneath Amon¡¯s Skull, his eyes gleamed sharply.


    1


    **


    ¡°Retreat, retreaaaat-!¡±


    The Hedron fiefdom, about thirty minutes¡¯ distance away from the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital¡­


    This place had been reduced to pure pandemonium.


    ¡°The evacuation of all the citizens is finished! We must leave right now, too!¡± The eldest son of Count Hedron¡¯s family, Heis Hedron, yelled out as loudly as he could. As a matter of fact, he was actually getting tearful from fright.


    He was currently swimming in confusion. Although he was taught how to use a sword, that was nothing more than just some surface-level knowledge. He might have come from a Count¡¯s household, but he had only barely managed to get his graduation certificate from the academy. His skill level wasn¡¯t high enough to fight against a real undead.


    As for his father, Count Hedron, he had left the official residence while saying that he¡¯d go and take a look at the situation himself. However, there had been no news about him ever since then.


    In the end, all command had fallen to Heis¡¯s shoulders.


    The territory¡¯s soldiers heeded Heis¡¯s yells, and began running around like a bunch of headless chickens.


    BOOM-! Crunch!¡­


    It was right then; the noise of something breaking echoed out from somewhere.


    Heis urgently turned his head around and stared at the tall outer walls of the city, which were quite some distance away from where he was right now. He could see a truly huge hand grabbing the top of the tall outer wall.


    Heis¡¯s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. A strand of cold sweat trickled down his cheek next.


    A short while after that, the face of a J?tunn showed up above the wall. It belonged to a giant seemingly covered in nothing but sand and earth. When this creature¡¯s gaze and Heis¡¯s ran into each other, the latter instantly froze up where he stood.


    1


    The J?tunn cruelly grinned with its eyes next.


    Heis¡¯s shaking eyes began scanning the areas surrounding the outer walls.


    There was more than one giant; there were dozens, nay, hundreds of them climbing up over the outer walls. But there were other giants that were so massive that their faces could still be seen over the walls just by them standing still on the ground.


    Heis was utterly stupefied by what he saw, and ended up letting out a stupid-sounding gasp, ¡°Uh¡­ Eh?¡±


    This was the attack of the J?tnar. The bastards were invading right now. They had finally reached this far after burning and destroying countless other territories!


    ¡°Euh¡­ uwaaaaahk?!¡± Heis cried out and urgently climbed up on his horse, before kicking it into a desperate sprint. Almost at the same time, the outer walls bulged unnaturally, then blew apart in a powerful explosion.


    Stone debris began raining down everywhere like a shower of meteors. The screams of the territory¡¯s soldiers echoed throughout the land.


    The knights mounted their horses and gave chase after Heis, then provided protection to their young master from his side. They pressed down on their heads, worried that their helms might fly off.


    The J?tnar were no doubt quite a distance away, yet the huge boulders continued to slam down on the ground up ahead of the fleeing humans.


    The buildings around them were crushed and demolished, spewing out smoke and dust.


    Heis sucked in his breath hard after realising that the boulders weren¡¯t the only thing blocking their escape path. ¡°Oh my gods, isn¡¯t that¡­?!¡±


    He had to doubt his own eyes for a moment there.


    Thick dust clouds were rapidly gathering up and began churning into whirlpools. Those winds¡­ they couldn¡¯t have been generated naturally. It had to be magic at work!


    The dust continued to swirl around in stiff winds, and became huge tornadoes in the city¡¯s vicinity. They began destroying and devouring everything in their path.


    Heis screamed again as his vision was obscured by the dust. Sand and dust entered his mouth and made it hard to shut his jaw now.


    The life he had been living so far passed by his eyes like a revolving lantern.


    He was born as the eldest son of the family, and his father had expected many great things from Heis. But he ended up making a mistake at the academy and was sent to the northern region.


    When he had to face off against the Tide of Death, he believed everything was over for him. But then, he had witnessed the Imperial Prince blessed with the status of a Saint, and he had felt hopeful again.


    All sorts of memories flitted in and out of his mind.


    It was right at that moment someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder. ¡°Is it you, Heis?!¡±


    ¡°F-father?¡±


    His blurry vision caught the sight of someone else on a horse riding right next to him. The dust cloud made it hard to discern that person¡¯s face, but the voice definitely belonged to his father.


    ¡°Our citizens have already evacuated now. Our job now is to survive this ordeal, son!¡±


    ¡°Father, father!¡± Heis desperately cried out to his father.


    Ka-boom-!


    His voice was buried under the commotion of all the boulders still crash-landing everywhere. The monstrous screeches of the undead were coming from somewhere his obscured vision couldn¡¯t see.


    One by one, the knights providing protection to Heis were captured and dragged away inside the dust cloud, never to be heard from again.


    The howls of lycans, and the mocking sneer of vampires could be heard now. There was no need to mention the horrifying noises of bones breaking and blood splattering all around them as well.


    Vampires had invaded the city to rapidly hunt down any living humans, but Heis¡¯s eyes still couldn¡¯t see anything amidst all the swirling dust. All he could hear were tragic screams.


    ¡°Be strong, son! Do not stop praying, as this is merely another trial for us to overcome! Goddess Gaia, and His Majesty the Holy Emperor, will definitely save us, that¡¯s why¡­!¡±


    Heis decided to heed his father¡¯s advice and began praying. He pressed his head on the horse¡¯s neck and muttered out loudly, ¡°Oh, dear Gaia. Gaia! Gaia! And His Majesty the Holy Emperor, please come and save us!¡±


    How unsightly this was. He felt like he had regressed to being a little kid. But all he could do right now to ensure his survival was to pray away.


    They continued to flee for a while. The noises of vampires catching up could be heard coming from somewhere behind them.


    But then, rays of light began breaking through the choking dust. Heis¡¯s father broke through the dust and took in the sight waiting for them up ahead. His brows shot up, and his cheeks quivered as if this powerful emotion had taken over him. ¡°¡­Now behold, my son!¡±


    All the commotion taking place behind them were buried under his gentle voice. Heis found himself faltering a little at his father¡¯s calm words.


    ¡°Son, the gods have not forsaken us.¡±


    Heis slowly raised his head and tried to stare into the light with his blurry eyes.


    The light remained bright and powerful. This heavenly light broke through even the pitch-black darkness.


    ¡°This is the Theocratic Empire, son.¡±


    His blurry vision suddenly grew clear. All those emotions stained by terror gradually regained their composure, but at the same time, Heis grew more and more excited, and began to shudder uncontrollably.


    He could see it now.


    He could see the huge army of light standing gallantly above the wide hills up ahead.


    1

 Chapter 377 - 198. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -3 (Part Two)

    Chapter 377: 198. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -3 (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Paladins clad in sets of armour gleaming in red, green, gold, silver, and white had lined up there. Beyond them were over one hundred thousand soldiers on standby, waving the flags of the Empire.


    Cannons were already installed and ready to fire, while many other soldiers were wielding muskets. Priests and magicians were praying or chanting their spells into reality.


    The flags of the Theocratic Empire flapped powerfully in the stiff winds.


    There was a lone figure standing tall in front of this vast, imposing army. This man wore a mountain goat¡¯s skull on his head, while his whole body was clad in his unmistakable bone armour. Twelve ¡®wings¡¯ spreading out from his back danced in the wind like a cape, radiating a brilliant light.


    The man gripping the golden spear while radiating the pure-white aura to his surroundings was the Holy Emperor, Allen Olfolse! .


    He had personally stepped in the front of the army.


    The vampires giving chase to Heis¡¯s group were instantly frightened. They shivered and shook their heads as if in denial, before retreating more quickly than they¡¯d come.


    All those vampires, too many to even count, suddenly reversed direction and withdrew. This scene was like the bright light beating the darkness back.


    Heis thought he had witnessed yet another miracle.


    Yes, that man was ¡®it¡¯. That noble being, was the hope itself!


    ¡°Now pray, son,¡± his father spoke in a composed, bassy voice that rang clearly in Heis¡¯s ears. ¡°Worship that noble emperor, and exalt his greatness!¡±


    Deep faith cried out from his heart and echoed within his soul.


    ¡°We are the sons of the Theocratic Empire, and the living god who serves Gaia herself!¡±


    Heis, his emotions now taken over by unshakable faith, began roaring out, ¡°For the glory of Gaia! For the glory of His Majesty the Holy Emperor-!¡±


    The father and son duo continued to ride ahead, towards the place with light and hope.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    The Priests were tirelessly singing the sacred hymns. As they did, drums continued to beat loudly.


    Over a hundred thousand soldiers roared in unison and raised their flags high up.


    As the deafening roars rocked the battlefield, I stood silently before everyone and studied the situation unfolding up ahead.


    Survivors were rushing towards us while letting out spirited roars, as well.


    When I spread open my twelve bone hands, the aura of divinity gushed out, and the roars of the soldiers were abruptly cut off, as if all that noise had been just an illusion.


    The deep, heavy silence wafted all around us.


    It was exactly as the twins had shown me back then.


    ¡°The climax of the world¡¯s destruction has arrived.¡±


    The hymns got going again, and the beautiful melodies filled the air.


    The ground beneath my feet was rumbling faintly. Thick dust clouds could be seen rising up in the distance¡­ The J?tnar were approaching.


    ¡°We¡¯ve experienced far too much sacrifice to reach this point. Therefore¡­ we cannot retreat any further.¡±


    My spear sank into the ground as I stepped forward. I stood on top of the hill and pointed Avaldi¡¯s Spear at the incoming J?tnar.


    ¡°We possess the necessary strength now.¡±


    The energy flowing within the spear exploded out. Arcs of electricity as ferocious as lightning bolts cracked and whipped out into the surroundings.


    ¡°Strength that no one can dismiss.¡±


    I had been preparing for this.


    For the past five years, I had worked my ass off while literally breaking my own body down several times. The time had finally come to taste the fruits of my labour.


    I strengthened my whole body and sucked in a deep breath.


    I started praying loudly, so that everyone could hear me; so that their nervousness and anxiety could transform into courage.


    ¡°We are the guardians of this continent!¡±


    The J?tnar stopped advancing then, and the retreating vampires gathered near their feet.


    ¡°And we¡¯re also the inheritors of Gaia¡¯s will!¡±


    Golden light from the Rune engraved on the ground began spreading all around me; gentle rays of light enveloped the bodies of all the soldiers on our side, signifying the activation of the Aztal Rune.


    Charlotte raised her shield and gripped her sword tightly. The Grim Reaper transformation activated, changing her treasure sword into a huge greatsword of light, while a robe and hood made out of divinity covered her body.


    Alice was singing her sacred hymn. Through her Resonance, I sensed countless miracles coming to reality.


    Hans was commanding the artillery regiment over yonder. Divinity filled the cannons and the members of the musket regiment began breathing into their weapons.


    ¡°In the name of our gods¡­¡±


    I declared the establishment of our sanctuary. The entirety of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital was transformed into a holy land.


    ¡°We shall judge those bastards-!¡±


    Gripping Avaldi¡¯s Spear, I strengthened my body even further. My spear slowly lowered as the muscles on my legs expanded.


    ¡°Defend!¡±


    I flung my whole body forward as I broke into a rapid sprint.


    At the same time, hundreds of cannons that had lined up began spitting out fierce flames.


    ¡°And then, protect!¡±


    Electricity continued to flow out from the tip of the spear to split the ground beneath me, but the cracks were instantly filled back up with my summoned holy water.


    ¡°Because, we are¡­¡±


    Holy undead began gushing out from the surface of holy water. From skeleton horses clad in barding to other skeletons kitted out in heavy armour riding atop them¡­


    They gripped their lances tightly and followed my example to charge ahead madly.


    ¡°¡­the hope of all mankind!¡±


    1


    **


    ¡°All troops, follow His Majesty-!¡±


    Heis and his father leading their group towards the Imperial Capital, roared out in unison. When the Holy Emperor rushed past them, they also yanked on their reins to turn their mounts around.


    They had forgotten about their fear for a while now.


    Their Holy Emperor always created miracles and continued to safeguard the peace of this land. The time had come to experience it once more!


    ¡°Chargeeee-! Forward-!¡± their knights roared out as well; Heis and his father followed after the Holy Emperor, while the entire force of the Imperial Family closely followed right behind them.


    Despite wearing their heavy Rune Armour, they still ran quite rapidly.


    Cannons fired an endless stream of shooting stars up into the sky, their recoil rocking the land below.


    The Holy Emperor¡¯s golden spear split the ground below as he ran. Holy water gushed out from the broken ground and spread out rapidly. Holy undead leapt out from the water¡¯s surface and began running alongside the Holy Emperor.


    -What are those things?!-


    The J?tnar were flustered and stumbled back.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Imperial Family! Those bastards are coming over here!¡±


    ¡°They have been preparing for us? You monstrous bastards!¡±


    The vampires all fell into the clutches of terror. Never mind stumbling back, they actually turned around and started fleeing from the area.


    -Stop running, you bunch of cowards!-


    -They are merely insects! We can easily stop them all!-


    -Defensive formations!-


    The J?tnar lined up in front.


    Boom, boom, boom-!


    They slammed their feet down, then overlapped their sturdy shields and held them up firmly. Their free hands gripped huge clubs made out of stone.


    These were the feared J?tnar. They were warriors meant to kill the gods!


    They obviously wouldn¡¯t be scared of some measly insects. No matter how boldly these pathetic little things came at the giants, they wouldn¡¯t be able to break this shield wall down.


    Just as the J?tnar broke out in grins, however¡­


    Thick and gloomy clouds rolled in and blanketed the skies above. The roars of thunderclaps reverberated throughout the world, making the giants flinch in surprise and raise their heads up to look.


    -Thunderclouds?-


    -Did the Vampire King create those?-


    The eyes of the J?tnar began trembling next, because they could sense the aura of divinity coming off from all those lightning bolts arcing within the clouds.


    That¡­ didn¡¯t seem right. Those clouds could not have been created by the Vampire King!


    -It can¡¯t be¡­!-


    Just as the J?tnar froze up on their spots, the lightning finally struck.


    One of the heads of the giants was ripped apart, followed by a massive explosion. The J?tnar nearby were thrown back from the impact.


    All these huge creatures, each a dozen-plus metres tall, had to kiss the ground with their butts. Their flabbergasted gazes soon turned into glares that locked on the Holy Emperor rushing towards them.


    -What the hell are you all doing?! Defensive formations, now!-


    The Holy Emperor leapt up high in the air. The J?tnar belatedly got in line and overlapped their shields again.


    ¡°Break through them, Avaldi.¡±


    The power sleeping within Avaldi¡¯s Spear went on overdrive. Avaldi¡¯s ¡®heart¡¯, buried deep within the weapon itself, began gushing out a vast quantity of demonic energy.


    The divine energy enveloping the spear responded to that sudden eruption of the opposing force and an adverse reaction was created.


    Chaos was their end product; black and white swirled and blended together chaotically.


    The Holy Emperor jerked his whole body back before throwing the mighty spear forth. A J?tunn¡¯s sturdy stone shield was easily penetrated straight through, but the weapon didn¡¯t stop there. It also punched straight through the giant behind it, too.


    The moment the spear stabbed into the ground, waves of holy water exploded forth. More holy undead leapt out from within them.


    The vampires standing behind the J?tnar screamed in terror.


    At that exact moment¡­


    ¡°Forward, as fast as you can¡­!¡±


    Someone¡¯s spirited roar prompted the vampires to turn their heads urgently. They discovered Heis, his sword already unsheathed, leaping into the air atop his horse.


    Right behind him was a cavalry force of holy undead several hundreds strong, all of them clad in heavy armour. He was being accompanied by a legion of skeleton knights!


    1


    The Army of Light pounced on the vampires.


    < 198. The Beginning of the Apocalypse -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 378 - 199. At the End of the Apocalypse -1 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The head of a vampire was split in half by Heis¡¯s descending sword.


    Meanwhile, the holy undead cavalry pressed forward; the vampires were ruthlessly crushed under the hooves of the skeleton horses and trampled to gory bits, while the rest of the bloodsuckers were impaled by the thrusting spears and lances.


    The human knights swung their swords around to assist the holy undead.


    Just as the J?tnar started getting flustered at the intense battles taking around their feet, many humans began leaping up towards the giants.


    ¡°We shall heed His Majesty the Holy Emperor¡¯s command, and¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­.hunt down the giants-!¡±


    They were the Order of the Crimson Cross, clad in the red Rune Armour. Their scythes slashed down and sliced into the arms of J?tnar. When the giants stumbled and staggered around, the members of the Order of the Verdant Cross clad in green Rune Armour, took aim with their muskets and accurately punched shots through the heads of the huge creatures.


    Many J?tnar, their heads blown apart, started to collapse one by one.


    ¡°Draw your weapons!¡±


    Next up were the Paladins clad in golden Rune Armour, the Order of the Golden Cross. It included the likes of former holder of the Sword King title, Oscal Baldur, and his pupil Charlotte Heraiz.


    The eyes under their helms burned with the thirst for battle. The sheer pressure emanating from them was indescribable.


    Everywhere they surged past, the J?tnar were chopped and sliced apart by sword lights that the giants couldn¡¯t even track properly.


    Meanwhile, short-statured beings occupied the locations that the mounted troops had left behind.


    ¡°For the glory of Her Highness-!¡±


    Dwarves kitted out in heavy armour raised up their war axes with scary-looking blades on either side. Using brute physical strength, easily twice as strong as other humanoid races, they chopped the legs of their enemies off and slammed their weapons down to crush the skulls of all the downed invaders.


    Vampires continued to cry out tragically within the chaos.


    The bloodsuckers hurriedly looked around themselves, but all they could see were the deaths of their kind.


    ¡°C-counter attack, now! Fight back!¡±


    Dying without fighting back like this was basically the same as insulting His Majesty the Vampire King¡¯s honour. And that was why a Baron-class vampire had yelled out loudly, but then¡­


    Boom¡­ boom¡­ boom¡­!


    Huge shadows loomed large over them.


    The Baron-class vampire raised its head up, only for all colour to drain from its complexion. ¡°¡­You accursed Aslan bastards!¡±


    The shadows belonged to humongous elephants.


    The armoured elephant corps from Aslan had joined the fray; every swing of their lengthy tusks caused countless zombies to fly up in the air. An elephant raised its thick foot, then ruthlessly crushed the cursing vampire Baron to a fine mush.


    Slaves riding on top of the elephants were cracking their whips.


    ¡°Behold, you damn vampires! This is the glory of Aslan on full display! Oh, dear Yudai! I swear to destroy the souls of these undead living false lives!¡± one of the twelve former feudal lords of Aslan, Jeram, guffawed loudly as he directed the rampaging elephant.


    He pressed his hands on the huge animal¡¯s neck area and drove his divinity in. He had acquired this power from Holy Emperor Allen. Although that brat was responsible for destroying his homeland, Jeram had to agree that there was no better power than this!


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    The elephants roared raucously and charged forward. The animals slammed straight into the J?tnar.


    Their tusks not only impaled the giants, but even went on to rip right through them like pieces of paper. To the J?tnar, these Aslan elephants were like enraged wild boars going on a killing spree.


    At the same time, shooting stars fired by the cannons began their descent from the heavens, crashing into the ground below.


    ¡°Adjust the trajectory to avoid hitting allied forces!¡± Hans calmly commanded the artillery regiment.


    ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s time for this old man to get in on the action, then!¡± Cardinal Raphael threw off his top to reveal his well-toned and rippling muscles. He tightly grasped his crosier in his hands.


    A storm of divinity rapidly flooded throughout his surroundings, and gifted all living beings with incredible strength and stamina.


    Aslan¡¯s former queen, Tina, was riding on a horse charging forward. Many monks were following close behind her.


    Damon, who had assisted and guarded Tina all of her life, roared out, ¡°Protect the Royal Princess!¡±


    Aslan¡¯s monks rushed forward to form a protective cordon with Tina in the middle. She lowered her staff, fashioned out of a branch of the World Tree, and touched the ground below as they continued to charge ahead.


    All sorts of vegetation sprouted out from the land touched by her staff. The trees and vines tumbled and intertwined to form humanoid shapes, creating small giants around seven to eight metres tall.


    The Woodmen summoned by Tina leapt up on the J?tnar and overwhelmed the giants, then more vines wrapped around their victims¡¯ throats to choke them to death.


    -You puny bastards, you really think you can win against me?!- The biggest J?tunn of them all roared out. It must¡¯ve been almost twenty-five metres tall.


    When this massive giant took a swipe with its arm, dozens of people were flung into the air. Even muskets didn¡¯t work on this monster.


    ¡°Bone Dragon.¡±


    One quiet muttering later, the ground below split open. The front limbs of the dragon burst through, before it dragged its entire bony body out.


    Divinity contained within its pounding heart rippled out everywhere.


    The undead dragon spread its wings wide open and with its maw split open, it howled monstrously in the air.


    Just as the huge J?tunn faltered, the Bone Dragon chomped down on the giant¡¯s head and spewed out its mighty Breath.


    This battle was too overwhelmingly one-sided.


    Vampires, lost to their despair, began looking behind them in the direction of the Hedron fiefdom, which was still obscured by the plumes of thick dust clouds.


    They needed to retreat to there. The Vampire King and the kings of the giants must¡¯ve arrived by now. Their combined army was the only force capable of defeating these abominable Imperial bastards!


    ¡°Retreat, retreat-!¡± Vampires urgently cried out.


    They summoned more undead to serve as their shields and dashed back towards Hedron with all of their power.


    ¡°¡­We are sinners.¡±


    One of the fleeing vampires felt this chill run down its spine just then. Its mind had been taken over by fear during its escape, and it had failed to observe the situation unfolding around itself. Even then, this vampire still got to see ¡®it¡¯ regardless.


    The reason for that was simple enough.


    ¡°We are guilty of taking others¡¯ misfortunes as our own happiness.¡±


    The beings in front of the vampires were too numerous in number to escape notice. Not only that, they were standing in a formation to the left of the dusty hill the vampires were running towards.


    These new entrants were clad in chain mail and white surcoats.


    There didn¡¯t seem to be any rhyme nor reason to them; they wielded all manners of weapons as they cracked their necks in anticipation. Watching the vampires urgently fleeing towards them, they began licking their lips expectantly.


    They were none other than two thousand members of the Berserker Legion, all of them convicts that had been trained in the northern region of the empire, Ronia, to become mounted troops.


    Their feudal lord, Jenald Ripang, had his hand pressed to his chest; his eyes were closed and his lips were quietly mouthing some words as if he was confessing his sins.


    ¡°The day when we find ourselves imprisoned in Purgatory to repent for our sins will definitely come, but for now¡­¡± Jenald soon opened his eyes. His rage-filled glare locked on the fleeing vampires. ¡°We shall endeavour to lessen our sins, at least by a little bit.¡±


    Ruppel next to him muttered out, ¡°Let Gaia¡¯s grace be with us.¡±


    Jenald nodded, then yanked his sword out. ¡°Finally, we¡­!¡±


    The convicts began shuddering. They were indeed acting like short-fused berserkers who were itching for a fight.


    ¡°The time has come to repay the favour that Lord Saint has granted us!¡±


    Jenald Ripang picked up a bugle with his free left hand. ¡°All of you, get ready!¡±


    He sucked in a deep breath, then blew into the bugle with all of his might.


    Vu-wuuuuuu-!


    That was the signal to charge into their enemies. The convicts all began grinning deeply.


    Jenald moved the bugle away from his face and roared, ¡°Charge!!!¡±


    He lifted up the horse¡¯s reins before whipping them down, and at the same time, his feet dug into the lower abdomen of his mount.


    The horses of the Berserker Legion reared up grandly and snorted. These creatures, especially trained by feeding them with holy water, grew instantly agitated and glared at the vampires.


    The convict mounted troops set off one by one.


    Click, clack¡­


    Clip, clop, clip¡­


    Their advancing speed grew faster and faster.


    The convicts lowered themselves in their saddles.


    Two thousand mounted troops began charging fearlessly into the midst of the fleeing vampires.


    ¡°Oh-oooooh-!¡±


    ¡°Spears-!¡±


    Vampires heard the incoming roars.


    ¡°Run, ruuuun-!¡±


    The bloodsuckers fled even faster, squeezing out every last ounce of their energy. They concentrated all of their remaining demonic energy to their legs. They flailed about comically as they ran.


    They simply had to escape from here.


    Just a little further away. A little bit more!


    The dust cloud was, figuratively speaking, right in front of the vampires¡¯ noses. A hopeful expression floated up on a vampire¡¯s face, its hand reaching out with a thought that it would survive this ordeal¡­


    ¡­only for its body to suddenly ¡®vanish¡¯ from the view. The cavalry crashed into the hapless vampire, and dozens of hooves trampled the undead into very fine meat paste.


    The mounted troops continued to charge ahead while treating the dust cloud as their boundary, and cut off the vampires¡¯ path of retreat.


    The J?tnar were ruthlessly killed off, while vampires were slaughtered without exception.


    When the last vampire fell, and the final J?tunn was chopped into pieces, Jenald Ripang raised his sword high in the air and declared loudly, ¡°Victory! We have won!¡±


    The soldiers all cheered out raucously at his declaration.


    While everyone was celebrating, Allen was yanking his Spear out from the forehead of a dead J?tunn. He shifted his gaze over to the dust cloud densely spread all around the Hedron fiefdom.


    Under the goat¡¯s-skull helm, his eyes widened first before narrowing down to slits. ¡°It¡¯s not over yet.¡±

 Chapter 379 - 199. At the End of the Apocalypse -1 (Part Two)

    Chapter 379: 199. At the End of the Apocalypse -1 (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    One short sentence from the Holy Emperor reverberated throughout the battlefield. The celebrating soldiers were puzzled by that. They slowly shifted their gazes to the dust cloud over yonder.


    Lightning cracked within the dark clouds, but even louder noises were coming from the curtains of dust. Demonic energy filled the air, and a rain of blood began falling to the ground.


    The crimson rain rapidly dissipated the dense dust clouds, and the resulting sight froze everyone in their spots.


    ¡°Just how in the world¡­¡± .


    Jenald yanked on the reins to stop his horse.


    His eyes now took in the sight of the army of blood spread over a wide plain. A zombie army, well over four hundred thousand strong even at a casual glance, was waiting for the living.


    But, was that all? No!


    The outer walls meant to defend the Hedron fiefdom had been broken and crumbled down, revealing an army of J?tnar around two thousand in number. The giants were spreading out over a wide area as well.


    Behind them was a gargantuan beast over one hundred metres tall, shuffling closer while carrying a King of the J?tnar on its back.


    Just looking at them made one mistakenly think that the half of the world had been stained in a dark crimson colour.


    Ruppel discovered a certain individual riding on a huge sedan chair among all the zombie hordes. ¡°¡­The Vampire King!¡±


    ¡°¡­Just how many people did they even slaughter, to achieve this number¡­?¡± Tina the Dark Elf muttered dazedly to no one in particular.


    The enemy had shown up with at least twice the numbers of the forces the Theocratic Empire had managed to put together. Worse still, the longer this war dragged on, the greater the strength the undead would get to exhibit.


    The ¡®immortal¡¯ army¡­


    One that didn¡¯t need any provisions, nor did it experience fatigue. Hordes of zombies that suffered from zero emotions, therefore fearing nothing¡­


    Individually they might be weak, but they were still more scary than any other undead when they formed a large horde to rush in at you.


    Even Alice, tirelessly singing the sacred hymns until then, abruptly stopped her melodies. Despite being a Saintess, fear began budding deep within her heart.


    [Alice, please continue with the hymn.]


    She faltered a little at that. Her gaze shifted over to Allen in the middle of the battlefield.


    He was looking back at her while sending another message. [I need you to do this, dear Saintess.]


    ¡°¡­If that is your command, Your Majesty.¡±


    Allen¡¯s injuries hadn¡¯t been healed yet, and he was still suffering from some hidden aftereffects. She needed to ensure that he¡¯d not be burdened any more than necessary.


    Alice began singing once again.


    However, despite her voice echoing throughout the battlefield, the soldiers remained agitated, their complexions pale with fright; so much so that they seemed to have even forgotten about fleeing.


    ¡°Ahahaha! Look at those fools! They are all frozen with fear!¡±


    The vampires riding on chariots were cracking their whips on the lycans pulling at their vehicles. The chariot regiment charged forward, the dullahans riding on ghouls sticking closely to the vampires¡¯ vehicles.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, you¡¯re all livestock to us! We are the true new dominant species¡­!¡±


    The loud yelling of the vampires finally slapped Ruppel awake, and he cried out loudly, ¡°E-everyone, prepare for com¡­!¡±


    Allen suddenly raised his Spear up before slamming it down. ¡°Archangel, Metatron!¡±


    The skies above began ripping apart. A humongous figure forced itself out from the fissure as many cogwheels rapidly spun around there.


    The archangel, equipped with huge hands, thick metallic armour covering its entire body, and twelve wings on its back, revealed itself.


    Metatron brought its hands together as arcs of electricity freely coursed through its figure. The cogwheels spun even faster, and the mechanical giant¡¯s body grew crimson in hue as sparks danced and exploded from it.


    Its hands drifted apart and a powerful attack that had even crushed the great magic spell Meteor began coalescing there once more.


    ¡°Blow them all away.¡±


    One command from the Holy Emperor, and¡­


    The archangel raised its hands up high, and then a lump of truly vast divinity flashed in blinding light before going berserk.


    The light was so strong that it could have blinded everyone who dared to look at it, and such a beam of light utterly pierced through the land.


    All the vampires rushing in were pulverised to fine dust from the sonic boom alone, while the ones further away from the attack¡¯s trajectory were instantly enveloped in scorching flames. The light cleanly penetrated right through the gargantuan beast over one hundred metres tall.


    Just as everyone silently stood still in sheer stupefaction, Holy Emperor Allen smirked deeply, ¡°The one who gets the first strike always wins.¡±


    Belatedly, a monstrous boom loud enough to rupture eardrums exploded out, followed soon after by the despairing cries of vampires.


    Even the gargantuan beast started screeching tragically, its whole body quivering uncontrollably. The attack had cleanly penetrated through its torso, and a massive amount of sand was pouring out from the gaping hole.


    It was like witnessing Moses¡¯s miracle; the path of Metatron¡¯s attack had utterly divided the army of blood in half.


    All those triumphant vampires froze in their places, while the combatants of the army of light stood there with their mouths agape.


    Just how many thousands of undead were annihilated by that single attack?


    ¡°Hmm, there are still a lot of them left.¡± Allen¡¯s voice reached their ears just then. ¡°There is only one way to end this war.¡±


    Allen¡¯s glare locked on the Kings of J?tnar, then at the Vampire King sitting on the sedan chair fashioned into a throne around the giants¡¯ feet.


    ¡°¡­And that is to kill the Kings.¡±


    The Holy Emperor strode forward; the Bone Dragon in front of him lowered its head to the ground. He climbed on its skull, and the huge undead creature raised its head up once more.


    Only then did Ruppel finish the rest of his yell from earlier. ¡°E-everyone, prepare for combat, now!¡±


    ¡°Get in formation!¡±


    The army of light quickly got into their formations again. They raised their shields up, and the cavalry gripped their reins tightly in anticipation.


    The Bone Dragon flew up in the air.


    The Vampire King, silently witnessing all of this unfold, narrowed his eyes and finally spoke up, ¡°Oh, mighty Kings of the J?tnar, what will you do now?¡±


    -You asking us what we will do? Of course we will all turn them into piles of sand! What about you, Utgar?- the Earth Giant Hrungnir asked its kin, the Magic Giant Utgar.


    The latter was busy casting its magic on the panting gargantuan beast it had been riding. -To think my masterpiece would end up in this state!-


    The gargantuan beast flailed in an ungainly manner before forcing its body back up. Utgar mounted the beast again and glared at the army of light that had now gotten into a formation.


    -Kill them all! Leave not one alive!-


    Vampire King Vlandmir grinned deeply. ¡°Very good, oh dear kings of J?tnar. In that case, let us all march together!¡±


    The vampire raised his hand and sent a signal, prompting the zombie army to start shuffling forward. They flailed and jerked around unnaturally, and in order to devour all living things, they began their march.


    ¡°All personnel, follow His Majesty the Holy Emperor-!¡± Charlotte loudly roared out as the Bone Dragon took to the air.


    The Bone Wyvern was summoned in right next to it, carrying skeletons wielding muskets. Their glowing eyeballs gleamed sharply.


    ¡°Oooooooh-!¡±


    The army of light followed behind them, while the army of blood faced their incoming opponents and also rushed forward.


    The two opposing forces¡­


    ¡­collided.


    Zombies and soldiers running in front of their respective packs crashed against each other, and were seemingly crushed. The sounds of weapons clashing, screams, and death throes resounded out.


    The soldiers, believing in the roars of victory, continued to swing their weapons at the undead.


    Metatron in the air poured out countless arrows and spears of light as its cogwheels spun around nonstop. In the midst of its attacks, the huge mechanical angel raised its head to look.


    -You, fight me!-


    The archangel stared at the gargantuan beast that somehow managed to survive its attack, then at Utgar riding on top of said creature.


    -You bastard, a measly oversized lizard dares to oppose me?!-


    A humongous boulder came flying in at the Bone Dragon¡¯s flight path. It dived lower to avoid getting hit, but that allowed Hrungnir, the one responsible for throwing the boulder in the first place, to grab the throat of the Bone Dragon.


    The force of that impact threw Allen off from his ride. He rolled on the ground several times, but still pushed himself back up while using his spear as a crutch.


    He shifted his glare over to Hrungnir and the Bone Dragon. The two huge monsters were waging an intense battle up there.


    ¡°I have been waiting for this moment.¡±


    Allen turned his head in the direction of that voice. He discovered Vlandmir perched up on the sedan chair being hoisted by hundreds of zombies. The Vampire King was pointing its spear at the Holy Emperor.


    ¡°I shall burn you, and all of your kin, down to ashes today, and thus finally severing this chain of grudges!¡± Vlandmir growled in a voice filled with rage and hatred.


    Crimson blood rapidly gathered all around him, and a cage of blood suddenly materialised around Allen, cutting off his potential escape paths.


    Vlandmir glared at Allen and began rousing up his demonic energy. ¡°I shall claim your head as mine!¡±


    The Vampire King¡¯s figure broke down and was absorbed into the blood cage. Suddenly, Allen tilted his body to the side as a spear of blood flew in at him from behind.


    Vlandmir reappeared right behind Allen, then stomped on the ground with great force. The earth below split apart as the vampire¡¯s muscles expanded.


    He sucked in a deep breath and thrust his spear of blood forward again with all of his strength. The air was torn apart as this powerful attack rapidly closed in on Allen.


    It was also right at that moment that the Holy Emperor decided to speak. ¡°Vampire King. Back when we first met¡­¡±


    For a moment there, Vlandmir locked glares with Allen. The latter¡¯s eyes were arcing up like a pair of new moons to create an eerie grin.


    ¡°¡­I made a promise, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    Allen clenched his fist. A storm of divine power madly whipped around the surroundings. A transparent holy ghost materialised behind his back, and gently grasped his shoulder next.


    And right at that moment, his fist slammed down on the incoming spear of blood.


    KA-BOOM-!!!


    The impact was unbelievably heavy; the spear was driven straight into the ground. The sheer weight of the impact from the spear broke all the bones in Vlandmir¡¯s arms, and it even ruptured the blood vessels, causing small fountains of blood to gush out.


    It felt like divinity was viciously coursing through the Vampire King¡¯s whole body!


    ¡°Euhk?!¡± Vlandmir gasped from the shocking pain, but then, his ears caught a rather familiar voice next.


    ¡°Indeed, I made a promise to present your skull to my grandson as a gift.¡±


    1


    Creepy goosebumps broke all over Vlandmir¡¯s skin, and the vampire instinctively created distance between himself and his opponent. His eyes began quaking from disbelief. ¡°You¡­ You! Who the hell are you?!¡±


    1


    Allen spread his arms wide open. As if he was completely looking down on his opponent, he began striding forward, utterly defenceless.


    He even began guffawing heroically as well, before holding his head high up to make his reply. ¡°Did you really ask me who I am?¡±


    Vlandmir could faintly see it; a soul, glistening with light, floating behind Allen like some kind of a guardian.


    That soul had a wrinkled face, white hair, and a beard. This soul spread open its arms wide just like his grandson had done and began guffawing loudly. His laughter had this power to utterly piss off his opponents, too.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you already fought me before, oh dear Vampire King?¡±


    The muscles around Vlandmir¡¯s eyes began twitching uncontrollably.


    The human who should¡¯ve died and disappeared from this world was now present before his eyes once again.


    ¡°¡­Kelt Olfolse!¡±


    The former Holy Emperor had made his return!


    < 199. At the end of the Apocalypse -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.


    (TL: I¡¯ll be releasing the final batch of five chapters tomorrow. Please look forward to it.)

 Chapter 380 - At the End of the Apocalypse -2 (Part One)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    The ¡®Evil Spirit Summoning¡¯ technique.


    Originally, this technique was a part of the school of Necromancy. However, if the caster possessed the divinity of a high-ranking Priest, like me, then this ability would become something else entirely.


    It was now the ¡®Holy Ghost Summoning¡¯; basically, one would be calling forth a holy ghost from the Heavenly World to serve as one¡¯s guardian.


    I used Kelt¡¯s resting place as the medium to summon his soul to my side.


    In the middle of this chaos-filled battlefield, I glared at the Vampire King while his blood cage was spread out all around us.


    All the broken bones jutting out of his flesh were rapidly recovering, while the burst blood vessels healed up at a visible pace, returning him to his original state in no time at all. .


    My attack was overflowing with divinity, more than enough to cancel out the regeneration ability of a vampire, yet the bastard managed to completely heal himself.


    Man, what an awe-inspiring regenerative ability that was.


    ¡°Fuu-wuu¡­¡±


    I regulated my breathing just as my body began moving without my input. It was like the Holy Ghost version of Kelt and I had become one being, making everything feel rather natural.


    -Well, then. Let us¡­-


    ¡°¡­finish what we couldn¡¯t last time, now shall we?¡± Kelt¡¯s voice was transmitted through me.


    I lightly loosened my fist that had smacked the blood spear down, then grabbed Avaldi¡¯s Spear. ¡®My¡¯ stance looked rather sloppy, though.


    That wasn¡¯t all that surprising, since my warhammaer-wielding grandfather now had to swing around a spear instead. But it wasn¡¯t a problem for me at all, since I had become rather familiar with handling a spear now.


    After seeing the future in the Foresight, I had only used spears for the past five years. My physical body should instinctively remember the correct methods of holding a spear.


    Kelt¡¯s rich battle experience and my body would combine to utterly suppress this Vampire King bastard for sure!


    As if on cue, the Vampire King roared out, ¡°You monster-!¡±


    He gripped his spear with both of his hands and charged straight at me.


    He leapt up dramatically in the air to swing his spear down, while I swung my own spear upwards.


    My golden spear and the spear of blood collided in mid-air, causing divinity and demonic energy to radiate out with massive force.


    We glared at each other as noises of destruction exploded all around us.


    The ground caved in and choking dust rose up everywhere.


    The Vampire King and I spun away from each other and created some distance before dashing back in to thrust and swing our spears.


    Our weapons collided several times in the blink of an eye. Sparks danced in the air, and in a span of only a few seconds, we crossed our spears hundreds of times.


    ¡°Stop struggling in vain and die already, you bloody livestock!¡±


    Honestly, that¡¯s what I wanted to say to this fool.


    This vampire bastard was strong. Even though Kelt had taken over my body and I had obtained transcendental strength, he was still fighting me on equal terms.


    Most likely, he too had been training his butt off, and drank lots of human blood in the past five years, to grow even stronger than before. For the purpose of his vengeance, he must¡¯ve been polishing his skills.


    ¡­Just so that he could kill me, then kill these J?tnar later!


    Unfortunately for him, though¡­ ¡°I also didn¡¯t waste the past five years doing nothing, you see?¡±


    The twelve bone hands attached to my back gripped various weapons, from a scythe to a shovel, a sword and a mace, a spear and a morning star, and of course, a musket, too.


    All of my weapons flew in at the Vampire King. His eyes rapidly darted around and scanned my twelve weapons. ¡°That will never work¡­!¡±


    He gripped his spear with both hands, and spun it around to deflect all the weapons and the holy bullet coming in.


    However, making such flashy moves would inevitably leave behind gaping openings.


    I secured my footing on the ground, licking my lips under my skull-helm as a grin floated up on my face. I grasped Avaldi¡¯s Spear tightly, then thrust strongly forward at the opening created by the Vampire King swinging his weapon around.


    Staaab-!


    The speartip pierced through the flesh and split bones apart. The Vampire King vomited out blood.


    But this wasn¡¯t going to be enough. I immediately shouted out the incantation for Dead Summoning.


    The ground below split open; dozens of arms shot out, each of them wielding different weapons. All of them started swinging away, hacking and slicing the Vampire King apart.


    ¡°Kelt Olfolse, Allen Olfolse!!!¡± the Vampire King¡¯s mouth split open as he howled. He tore off a part of his body and left it behind while creating some distance away from me.


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­¡±


    I had time to catch my breath, but the Vampire King would not have any time to rest, even for a second. I had already summoned my holy undead.


    Kasim, Nasus, Rahamma and Mikael had been summoned and were pouncing on the vampire. The four undead heroes thrust their weapons to impale the Vampire King¡¯s body and restrain him to the spot.


    ¡°Grandpa, please do your thing.¡±


    I roused up more divinity. Electricity began buzzing all over Avaldi¡¯s Spear. Kelt Olfolse¡¯s soul behind me guffawed loudly.


    ¡°Not just any, but with a proper bang, too!¡±


    -Alright, grandson! Let¡¯s do this, then!-


    The twelve bone ¡®wings¡¯ spread open. Demonic energy and divinity swirled around Avaldi¡¯s Spear to create chaos. The powerful combined energy flowed down and focused on the speartip.


    The Vampire King flinched in surprise and glared at me. ¡°You bastard-!¡±


    ¡°With this¡­ it¡¯s over.¡±


    I charged towards him.


    ¡°Do not come here¨C!¡± the Vampire King roared out desperately. Blood gathered from all directions and flew in like bullets at me. Hundreds of blood strands extending like snakes flew in, and I did my best to dodge them all.


    The ground beneath me was pierced through and caved in. I stepped on the rising debris and quickly sprinted forward. However, I could not dodge every single one of them. Some brushed past my arms, legs, chest, and even my cheeks.


    The demonic energy within them contained powerful Curses, and began changing the colour of my whole body, yet I did not stop. Despite the severe pain akin to my flesh being flayed alive, I was grinning away under Amon¡¯s Skull.


    Kelt¡¯s soul and the blood of the Imperial Family coursing through me¡­


    ¡­They were thoroughly enjoying this battle!


    ¡°This is the end!¡±


    I drove divinity into my feet and flung my body forward. I moved so fast that for a moment there, I even broke through the shackles of time and space.


    I literally teleported myself to the spot right in front of the Vampire King. Sparks danced all over the spear and my body. I jerked my waist back, and cocked Avaldi¡¯s Spear ready.


    ¡°Kuwaaaaaaahk-!!!¡± The Vampire King¡¯s expression distorted viciously.


    He forced the four holy undead heroes off of him and pounced on me. He too drew his spear back before stabbing it in my direction.


    Our spears brushed past each other.


    Then, they impaled their targets.


    Blood splattered everywhere.


    **


    The Bone Dragon¡¯s fangs sunk deep into Hrungnir¡¯s face. Those sharp fangs, combined with the strength of its jaws, dug in deep while trying to crush the giant¡¯s head. With loud cracking sounds, the skin made out of sand crumbled away.


    But that was all that happened.


    -Hey, that stings!-


    Hrungnir grabbed the skull of the Bone Dragon and forcibly pried it off. Despite the fangs tearing off its skin, the J?tnar simply frowned somewhat in response. It didn¡¯t display much sign of distress at all.


    The Earth Giant¡¯s huge hand gripped the Bone Dragon and slammed it straight into the ground, then it followed that up by raising its foot to stomp on the undead¡¯s skull.


    BOOM-!


    The Bone Dragon screeched loudly. Hrungnir raised its foot again and stomped down, hard. Although the undead dragon¡¯s skull developed some cracks, it didn¡¯t shatter. The skull was driven hard into the soil below and got buried there, instead.


    This undead was sturdy. What in the world was up with this stupid level of sturdiness!?


    -In that case, one more time!-


    Crunch-!


    It stomped one last time, finally managing to shatter the Bone Dragon¡¯s skull. The undead went limp, as if to signal that it was no longer active.


    Hrungnir panted and huffed away, then stumbled back while patting its chest. Sand was gushing out from the huge wound there opened up by the Bone Dragon¡¯s claws.


    -Bloody hell. And I really liked this skin, too!-


    Hrungnir began tearing off its outer skin. All the compacted sand began falling off its frame.


    When the skin made out of sand fell away, hardened stone took over the duty. ¡®Metal¡¯ plating suddenly enveloped its entire figure; these new layers of stone in dark-red hue acted like armour and shielded it from head to toe.


    The stones were actually ores of ¡®Orichalcum¡¯, known as the strongest and best type of metal in the world. Even the dwarves could only refine a small amount of it at once, and not only that, they were forced to rely on Alchemy to soften the metal so that they could hammer it into shape.


    Yet such stones were embedded all over the giant¡¯s body. As for the minute gaps between those ores, they had been securely covered up by the stones of the spirits that possessed innate resistance to magic, Eltera.


    In other words, Hrungnir¡¯s body was the strongest shield in the world and at the same time, the greatest weapon that could destroy everything.


    It was the King of all J?tnar, ranked number one!

 Chapter 381 - 200. At the End of the Apocalypse -2 (Part Two)

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Hrungnir shifted its gaze over to Utgar over yonder, still engaged in a bitter struggle against Metatron.


    The mechanical angel punched at the gargantuan beast. Sparks exploded viciously as that punch landed squarely on its intended target.


    The head of the gargantuan beast jerked to the side, and it vomited out a copious amount of sand. Its cheek, made out of plant roots, was crushed into mush.


    Utgar riding on top of the beast was flailing about.


    -W-what kind of a barbaric nonsense is this?!-


    It seemed that the Magic Giant didn¡¯t expect the so-called masterpiece it had created through magic, the gargantuan beast, to be so helpless today. .


    Hrungnir watched that scene and its expression distorted deeply. It lowered itself, pressed its hands against the ground and then secured its footing like a sprinter.


    -Fuu-woo¡­!- The Earth Giant sucked in a deep breath, then it clamped its mouth shut.


    Its huge figure shot forward.


    BOOOOM-!


    A huge explosion went off; all the J?tnar and humanoids in the surroundings were blown away.


    Hrungnir¡¯s arms swam back and forth as its feet rapidly pounded on the ground to propel it forward.


    Metatron turned its head and glared at the incoming Hrungnir. The archangel raised both of its hands, gathered divinity, then fired the lump of energy.


    The powerful beam of light flashed and collided with the charging Hrungnir.


    -Uuuurgh!-


    It hurts! It hurts so much!


    It felt like Hrungnir¡¯s entire body was melting down or something. And in reality, the Orichalcum in the shoulder section was indeed melting down.


    -Uwaaaaaahk!-


    The beam of light cleanly pierced through its shoulder, but Hrungnir ignored it and continued to charge forward. It used its entire body to ram into Metatron.


    BAAANG-!


    Crunch-!


    The loud noises of metal cracking resounded out and Hrungnir grinned deeply. The Earth Giant had felt it just then; Metatron¡¯s metal armour plates were being crushed.


    But then, the archangel wrapped its arms around Hrungnir and began releasing electricity. The Earth Giant¡¯s body, made out of ores and rock, was gradually heating up.


    -You bastard! Dammit!-


    Hrungnir urgently grabbed Metatron¡¯s shoulder and side, then applied its stupendous gripping power.


    -Get crushed to junk!-


    The Earth Giant¡¯s body ballooned up as it increased its power. Metatron¡¯s body was slowly cracking and breaking apart. Even the heat being released by the mechanical angel gradually cooled down.


    Eventually¡­


    -Oh, ooooooh!-


    Hrungnir¡¯s two large hands completely crushed and broke Metatron¡¯s armour. The mechanical angel was bent and contorted at a weird angle.


    The Earth Giant pried off the unmoving machine and threw it down on the ground.


    -Huff¡­ pant¡­ fuu-woo¡­!-


    Hrungnir spat out in exhaustion, his breathing laboured, and stepped back. It alternated its gaze between the collapsed and unmoving Bone Dragon and Metatron, then drily swallowed down.


    -You were right, Utgar.-


    Although it didn¡¯t want to acknowledge it, what the Magic Giant had said earlier was right.


    It would have been the giants getting killed here today if they had let their guard down even by a little bit.


    -Indeed, some bastards were capable of opposing us.-


    -Didn¡¯t I tell you, Hrungnir? Surtr and Hr¨ªmr didn¡¯t just die for no reason.-


    Utgar was still sitting on top of the gargantuan beast as he replied to the Earth Giant, but then, it began tilting its head while taking in the sights of both Metatron and the Bone Dragon.


    Something didn¡¯t feel right about this situation.


    For sure, these two things were capable of fighting against Surtr, but if they really did¡­ They seemed far too pristine and undamaged for that.


    -¡­No, wait! These weren¡¯t it!-


    Chill ran down on Utgar¡¯s spine. It realised that these two things were not responsible for defeating Surtr.


    There was something else! Indeed, something else had devoured the souls of both Surtr and Hr¨ªmr!


    -¡­! That human? Where is he¡­? And where is the Vampire King?!-


    Utgar urgently shifted its head around, but all it could see was an expansive battlefield filled with chaos. It was not an easy feat to locate a small human with all the dust obscuring its view.


    -Hrungnir! Locate that human!-


    -Huh? Who are you talking about?-


    -That insect¡­ no, wait! The ruler of these humans! The sovereign of all the humans!-


    Utgar was in a genuinely flustered state. It was crying out in fright, as well.


    Hrungnir also became flustered by its brother¡¯s reaction and hurriedly scanned its surroundings. However, no matter how hard it looked, it couldn¡¯t find that human. Every single one of them were small and they all looked the same to its eyes.


    It was right then that the Magic Giant finally managed to detect the aura of divinity.


    What it felt was a level of divine power that no human could even hope to match up to. Divinity exercising absolute power, as if it had even reached the realm of the gods!


    -Found him!-


    Utgar¡¯s gaze shifted to a spot in the middle of the battlefield. In the midst of the chaos, a group of holy undead with sturdy shields were standing around in a protective cordon over a certain figure.


    This human stood tall in the centre of their cordon, his figure reminiscent of a devil covered in bones.


    Next to him was the Vampire King on his knees, his whole body slowly burning away.


    He had to be the one!


    -Yes, it¡¯s that bastard over there!-


    The sovereign of humanity was currently preparing some kind of magic right now. Not just any magic, but a powerful and massive-scale summoning magic, to boot!


    That bastard was undoubtedly the one responsible for murdering Surtr and Hr¨ªmr before stealing their souls!


    Letting that man live would come back to bite them in the rear; Utgar cried out, reason almost abandoning the giant, -You must eliminate that bastard right now!-


    -Stop ordering me around.-


    Despite replying sullenly like that, Hrungnir still got into position to sprint forward, just like before.


    ¡®I shall crush that fool in one go!¡¯


    The Earth Giant glared at its target in the distance and gritted its teeth.


    When the two Kings of Giants showed suspicious movements, Alice, still singing the sacred hymn, detected it before anyone else. She sent out telepathic messages to everyone.


    [Please stop the giants!]


    Her voice allowed Charlotte, Oscal, Raphael, Ruppel, Hans and Jenald to become aware of what the giants were planning instantly.


    ¡°Fire-!¡±


    At Hans¡¯s command, hundreds of shells were fired into the air. Each of these shells contained dense divinity, and slammed hard into Hrungnir¡¯s head, torso, arms, and legs. The Earth Giant felt prickling pain from all the explosions going off.


    ¡°Stop that Giant bastard!¡± Ruppel roared to anyone who could hear him. Paladins nearby rushed in to swing their swords at Hrungnir¡¯s legs, but their weapons simply bounced off the giant¡¯s skin.


    The Earth Giant ignored them all.


    The most important thing right now was that existence Utgar was scared of. As long as that bastard was killed, this world would soon return to the state of primordial nature.


    -I shall crush you!-


    Hrungnir burst into motion, causing a massive explosion. Ruppel, who had been nearest, was swept up in the explosion and got blown far away.


    The Earth Giant rowed its arms back and forth; it raised its back straight up and sprinted at its highest speed. Its eyes were locked on that small human and nothing else besides.


    It even held its breath, its thoughts fully focused on crushing its target.


    Faster. Faster!


    Its whole body seemed to catch fire as if it had transformed into a meteor running across the ground.


    The Magic Giant Utgar grinned deeply at this sight. With Hrungnir¡¯s charge, everything should be over even before their opponent had the time to complete his summoning magic.


    It was right at that moment that Raphael stood before Allen. The old man roared out and held up his crosier. ¡°Oooh, dear Gaia! I shall offer my soul to you! I beg thee, hear your believer¡¯s prayer!¡±


    Charlotte and Oscal stepped in front of Raphael. The Cardinal slammed his crosier down, then placed his hands on the shoulders of the two people before his eyes. ¡°Through your power, the hope of all humanity and the hands of salvation-!¡±


    Raphael¡¯s Resonance had begun.


    Charlotte and Oscal both clenched their teeth and dashed forward. She held her shield up, while he pulled his sword out. The two Sword Kings drove their divinity into their respective armaments.


    Their glares locked on Hrungnir racing towards them. The flow of Mana viciously swirling around the giant¡­ They would break through that!


    Successfully pulling that off would be the mark of the true¡­


    ¡­Sword King!


    The thoughts of both Charlotte and Oscal aligned just then. They simultaneously leapt up in front of Hrungnir.


    The Earth Giant narrowed its eyes. A hindrance suddenly presented itself, but it was nothing more than two measly little insects. It absolutely didn¡¯t stop its charge.


    As the heat continued to gush out, the giant charged straight on ahead.


    ¡°Parrying-!¡± the two humans roared out at the same time. Their shield and sword were swung around simultaneously.


    The barrier and the sword light of divinity accurately dug in between the gaps of the flowing Mana and blew it apart. Right at that moment, Hrungnir lost its circulation of Mana and promptly lost its balance.


    The expanding heated air exploded, flinging Hrungnir back.


    -What the hell¡­?!- The Earth Giant faltered in total confusion, a look of disbelief forming on its face.


    -You idiot! Don¡¯t stop!- Utgar cried out.


    But Alice, still diligently singing away, could feel it. As the divine power resonated forth, she felt an incredible burden trying to crush her whole body.


    It¡¯s here!


    The humongous, truly enormous summoned creature was here!


    It was right at that moment that Allen also held his head up and slammed his spear down. ¡°Skeleton King.¡±


    A vast lake of holy water spread out beneath his feet.


    ¡°Donn O¡¯Donnchadha!¡±


    The Bone Dragon dissipated, while Metatron also disappeared into motes of lights as well. However, those lights all gathered as one and were sucked into the lake of holy water.


    The amalgamation of the Bone Dragon and Metatron¡­


    The completed form of the Skeleton King began revealing its grand figure from the truly vast quantity of divinity.


    < 200. At the End of the Apocalypse -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 382 - 201. At the End of the Apocalypse -3 (Part One)

    Chapter 382: 201. At the End of the Apocalypse -3 (Part One)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    ¡°Fuu-woo¡­ fuu-woo¡­ huff¡­¡±


    Heis was huffing and panting laboriously. His anxiety level and fear had reached their limits; the more fatigued he became, the heavier his sword felt in his grip. .


    ¡®This is crazy!¡¯


    ¡°Keep fighting back-!¡± Heis¡¯s father was roaring out while wielding his sword. Why was someone at his age still full of vigour like that?


    No, wait¡­ even his father was probably having a difficult time enduring this battle, too. That was likely the same story for everyone else here.


    A person screamed as a zombie bit into him.


    Soldiers were giving their everything to resist the waves of zombies.


    But two hundred thousand allied forces resisting the four hundred thousand strong zombie army was still too much to ask in the end.


    ¡°Ahaha! Look, the livestock are all tired now! Our victory is right in front of our eyes!¡± a Progenitor Vampire riding on a chariot guffawed loudly.


    Lycans continued to dash around and rip soldiers to death, while vampires riding on the chariots swung their polearms around to hunt the living. Their curses then revived the dead soldiers as zombies.


    ¡°Our left flank has been breached!¡±


    Heis heard that desperate cry and gasped in surprise as he turned his head towards the left flank. The zombie army and the J?tnar had indeed broken through there, and began surrounding the allied forces.


    If this continued on, the living army would soon be surrounded with no way to retreat. That would hand a decisive advantage to the enemy.


    That wasn¡¯t all, either. Nearly forty thousand zombies and thirty J?tnar were rapidly advancing towards the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital right now!


    The capital didn¡¯t have all that many defensive forces stationed there, so things would get really terrible if the city was attacked right now!


    ¡®Oh, dear gods¡­!¡¯ Heis prayed. ¡®Grant us the courage to keep fighting them. Grant us a miracle so that we can continue on!¡¯


    He used his sword as a crutch and forced himself back to his feet. Gritting his teeth, he began wielding his weapon once more.


    A zombie¡¯s head was roughly severed; it flew up in the air before falling to the messy ground. But at the same time, two other zombies pounced on Heis.


    They bit into his shoulders. His flesh was gouged out and blood splattered from the wounds.


    ¡°Uwahk?!¡±


    ¡°Lord Heis!¡±


    Knights hurriedly swung their swords at the zombies, but they were also too tired to attack properly.


    Zombies were like vicious predators that didn¡¯t let go of their prey once they started biting. Their toxins began spreading within Heis¡¯s body. He was terrified at what would happen next; was his destiny also to become another undead?


    But then, something happened.


    Zombies flinched all of a sudden; they released the teeth sinking into Heis¡¯s flesh and raised their heads up before looking behind them.


    ¡®¡­Now!¡¯


    Heis used that opening to kick the zombies away. Knights near him slammed their swords down on the undead¡¯s heads. Rotten blood splattered about as their skulls were shattered.


    The knights were also breathing roughly as they turned their heads in the direction the zombies were looking in just now.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Heis walked up to them and placed his hand on a knight¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°¡­Sir, it¡¯s¡­ an Emissary,¡± the knight muttered out his reply in a dazed voice. Heis shifted his gaze forward as well. ¡°The gods have sent their Emissary to us, sir.¡±


    Everyone present on the battlefield stumbled back. The eyes of Paladins and Priests were wide open in shock, while the countless soldiers of the allied forces were letting out gasps of awe from their jaws hitting the ground.


    On the other side, the vampires were shivering in sheer terror right now. As for the zombies, they simply burned away to ashes just by laying eyes on that emissary.


    In the middle of the chaotic battlefield was a lake of holy water. A humongous being was pushing itself out from its surface.


    -I heed the call of my master to¡­-


    Heis felt a powerful awe and respect well up from deep in his heart.


    -¡­descend to this world once more!-


    Eventually the being pulled its lower torso out from the holy water lake.


    This was Heis¡¯s first time seeing this existence, the mighty creature called the Skeleton King. It was a being made entirely out of huge bones.


    Within the ribcage of the Skeleton King was the beating heart of a dragon. A pure white aura spread out into its surroundings every time the heart pulsed.


    The Skeleton King took off its crown, only for bones to rush up there and create a dragon¡¯s skull, turning it into a new helm of bone.


    -Bloody hell, it¡¯s this creature! This bastard is the one who has devoured our brothers!- Utgar cried out as its brows shot up high.


    Just before the metal armour began covering the humongous undead creature, the Magic Giant had caught the sight of the two souls belonging to Hr¨ªmr and Surtr within its ribcage. Those souls were crying out in despair and torment, begging to be saved as their illusory arms reached out.


    -¡­Well, this just became quite troublesome.- Hrungnir swallowed drily. For the first time ever in its existence, the Earth Giant felt a deathly chill run down its spine.


    1


    The metal armour belonging to Metatron screeched noisily as it covered the Skeleton King¡¯s ribcage. At the same time, sparks danced off from the four massive hands of the creature. Cogwheels were spinning all around it now.


    Hrungnir instinctively retreated and created a lot of distance when that happened.


    Metal armour also gathered to cover the Skeleton King¡¯s four hoofed legs, then the undead pushed itself up as its mighty dragon-like tail swayed from side to side.


    The Skeleton King continued to speak. -For the demise of all of you¡­-


    The crown melted down and morphed into a lengthy spear, while the remaining three unoccupied hands plunged into the surface of the holy water.


    -For the sake of balancing and safeguarding this world!-


    One hand pulled out a spear of ice, just as the holy water¡¯s surface froze up. The other hand pulled out a whip of flames as the water¡¯s surface boiled over. Finally, the last hand extracted a golden sword gleaming with holy light.


    The four treasure weapons were spread out in a threatening manner. The completed Skeleton King looked down at the Kings of the J?tnar below it.


    It was at that moment that Heis and everyone else in the battlefield began thinking the same thing: that the gods¡¯ Emissary had indeed descended to this world.


    **


    (TL: In 1st person POV.)


    My body felt really heavy.


    My breathing was getting short and wheezy, too.


    Even as the sacred aura spread out, it still felt so painful that it was like my lungs were quickly rotting away.


    I went down on one knee, but barely managed to keep myself upright by stabbing my spear into the Skeleton King¡¯s shoulder to support myself.


    I shifted my gaze around and stared at Alice down on the ground way over there. She seemed to be in a bit of distress as well. It wasn¡¯t just her, though; many Priests were surrounding her in a group to pray away, as well.


    They continued to sing the sacred hymn, and the beautiful melody went on to resonate with our divinity.


    Still, I couldn¡¯t afford to drag this one out for long. With this, I had to put an end to everything. The apocalypse would come to an end right here, and a new era would dawn upon this world.


    -We are retreating, Hrungnir! That monstrosity is not something we can win against!- Utgar cried out as the Magic Giant began dripping cold sweat.


    Hrungnir silently glared at me as I stood on the Skeleton King¡¯s shoulder, then got ready to charge. It secured its footing on the ground and like an Olympic sprinter getting ready, it lowered itself and planted its hands on the ground, too.


    -Do not make me laugh, Utgar! You think I, the King of the Beginning, am scared of a measly little insect like him?! I¡¯ll just crush him flat and that will be the end!-


    -Don¡¯t be foolish, Hrungnir!-


    -If we retreat from here now, we¡¯ll still be hunted down and get killed later.-


    Well, the Earth Giant was right about that. Even if the giants decided to flee from here, we would definitely chase them down to the end of the planet if it needs to be, and kill them!


    We would show them, and to everyone else, that what it really meant to declare war against the Theocratic Empire.


    Utgar stumbled back in sheer fright. -I¡¯m different from you. I choose to live on! I finally regained my freedom, yet you want me to die in this place?!-


    -Very well. If that¡¯s what you wish, I won¡¯t try to stop you.- Hrungnir replied in a flat voice, but that only made Utgar grit its teeth instead.


    Was Utgar really planning to flee now? The truth was, after we killed Hrungnir today, it¡¯d become as easy as pie to hunt down the sole remaining King of the J?tnar.


    Our influence would continue to grow greater, while Utgar would gradually get weaker instead. There was no real need to force the Magic Giant into a corner right now, in other words. Well, it wouldn¡¯t be a good thing to drive a rat to the point where it started biting back at the cat, after all.


    However¡­


    ¡°¡­What a laughable notion that is.¡±


    I had no desire to drag things on any further. We¡¯d simply kill them all here today by giving it our everything, every ounce of strength remaining in our bodies.


    That¡¯s what we prepared for during the past five years. That was what all the sacrifices leading up to today meant.


    Hrungnir roared out. -All J?tnar, hear me, and fight with everything you¡¯ve got! This bastard, this monster, means to kill us all, so show them the true might of us J?tnar!-


    Over a thousand remaining J?tnar secured their grips on their weapons. They howled and roared out before charging in at the Skeleton King.


    ¡°Assist His Majesty the Holy Emperor! Block the J?tnar at all cost!¡± Charlotte cried out, prompting the soldiers to charge towards the J?tnar, as well.


    ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s end this.¡± I drove my divinity into the tip of my spear. The divine energy travelled through the weapon¡¯s shaft and entered the Skeleton King¡¯s shoulder before spreading over to the rest of its huge body. ¡°It¡¯s time to announce the dawn of a new era!¡±


    -KU-OOOOOOOH-!!!- The Skeleton King¡¯s jaw split open as it roared thunderously. The horse-like hooves on its lower torso reared up before the gigantic undead lunged forward.


    My whole body was buffeted by the immense wind pressure right away.


    -For the glory of all J?tnar!-


    J?tnar rushed up to us and raised their weapons to strike. The Skeleton King swung its flame whip and tore through the limbs of many J?tnar.


    -You bastard!-


    One of the giants leapt up towards us, but the Skeleton King simply threw the ice spear at the airborne creature. The frozen weapon pierced through the sky and plunged deep into the giant¡¯s heart.


    -I am the King of Death!- The Skeleton King¡¯s jaw clattered open as its voice resounded out, -I devour the souls of the dead and make their strength my own!-


    The gigantic undead¡¯s Spirit Speech reverberated throughout the vast battlefield.


    As if to respond, the slain J?tnar began standing back up almost immediately.


    -Oh hear me, army of the dead! Arise! Through your strength, hunt down the ones who dare to block my path!-


    The Skeleton King¡¯s roars caused the zombified J?tnar to pounce on their living counterparts. Their zombie mouths opened wide and they began to voraciously devour their own kind!

 Chapter 383 - 201. At the End of the Apocalypse -3 (Part Two)

    Chapter 383: 201. At the End of the Apocalypse -3 (Part Two)


    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    -Defensive formation!-


    The J?tnar overlapped their shields. Dozens of the giants stood firm to block the tide of the zombified J?tnar coming in, but the Skeleton King mercilessly charged in at that crowd. Its gigantic body crashed straight into them.


    Zombie J?tnar and the living giants wielding stone shields were all flung away in pieces. Those giants that dared to block the undead King¡¯s path were ruthlessly trampled to death by its hooves.


    The flaming whip cracked around, while the golden spear and sword worked together to chop and slice apart any obstructions that got in the undead¡¯s way.


    -¡­.I see. It makes sense that both Surtr and Hr¨ªmr died to that thing.- Hrungnir¡¯s trembling voice entered my ears just then.


    I could also see Utgar, who said it¡¯d run away from here, pressing its hand on the Earth Giant¡¯s back.


    -I shall grant you extra strength!- Utgar¡¯s hand could be seen waving about, engraving something on Hrungir¡¯s back. -I shall transfer all my remaining Mana to you!-


    -I thought you wanted to flee?-


    -This is for my sake, too! Buy as much time as possible!-


    Hrungnir grinned deeply. Once a vast quantity of Mana entered the Earth Giant, Utgar urgently turned around to flee from here on its gargantuan beast.


    Huh, so that dude wants to use Hrungnir as its shield, is that it? Sorry, but I ain¡¯t gonna let you go¡­


    ¡°Donn, I command you.¡± Through Avaldi¡¯s Spear, I sent a torrent of electricity into the Skeleton King. Then I loudly roared out, ¡°Annihilate the enemy in one sure strike!¡±


    -As you command, my master.-


    The Skeleton King crossed its weapons. The cogwheels floating around the undead began spinning even faster; its whole body turned crimson in hue as arcs of electricity began whipping and dancing like vicious storm winds.


    Light continued to flash blindingly as bolts of electricity cracked and slammed into its surroundings.


    -I shall obliterate our enemy!-


    The Skeleton King¡¯s charge accelerated even further. It ploughed ahead while sending out lightning bolts everywhere to burn the J?tnar to death.


    In the meantime, I could tell that Hrungnir was focusing all the Mana inside itself. The ground supporting this weighty giant exploded, then caved in.


    -I shall end this with one strike!- The Earth Giant glared at me and the Skeleton King with a face filled to the brim with determination. -I shall use all the Mana in me, even that supporting my life, to wage this one final strike-!!!-


    Right at that instant, the huge giant vanished from the view. The ground where it used to stand belatedly exploded in response.


    I used divinity to push all of my reflexes to their extreme.


    I could see it. The bastard was running towards us!


    Its arms pulled back and forth, while its legs pounded unstoppably on the ground. The eyes of regular people wouldn¡¯t even be able to detect the movement of such a humongous body. That¡¯s how fast it was, and also how strong its final attack was, the one performed at the cost of sacrificing its own soul.


    Very well, come! Allow me to return it right back at you!


    Because I too, will go all out against you!


    My lips opened wide as I roared as loud as I could. At the same time, the Skeleton King¡¯s jaw opened to let out a thunderous howl with me.


    Everything seemingly came to a standstill, as if time and space were no longer aligned together. In the midst of this stoppage, the two kaijus charged towards one another.


    -Uoooooooooh!-


    Hrungnir crossed its arms to defend against the Skeleton King¡¯s weapons. As the two kaiju collided in slow motion, sparks danced wildly all around us. Just as slowly, cracks began developing on Hrungnir¡¯s arms.


    The four weapons gripped in the Skeleton King¡¯s hands were gradually breaking through the Earth Giant¡¯s defences.


    The ore of Orichalcum, the toughest and strongest metal ore in the world, was shattering into bits and pieces from the force of impact.


    Hrungnir¡¯s eyes grew wider and wider. It even opened its mouth, too.


    -¡­!-


    It probably wanted to say something just then, but it was too late now.


    The Skeleton King¡¯s weapons froze, stabbed through, crushed, and burned the Earth Giant¡¯s arms. The gigantic undead reared up, then kicked straight at Hrungnir¡¯s head.


    The undead charged ahead while leaving behind afterimages of nothing but pure light, completely breaking past Hrungnir in the process.


    The Earth Giant¡¯s huge body shattered into bits and pieces before raining down everywhere like a meteor shower.


    ¡°Euh¡­ wuuk-!¡±


    Right at that moment, I picked up the acrid stench of blood in my nose and mouth. My body couldn¡¯t endure the backlash. At this rate, the remaining giant might escape from here for real!


    I raised my head to look.


    -Huff¡­ pant¡­ huff¡­!- The last King of J?tnar was currently showing its back to me and fleeing desperately.


    Only Utgar remained now.


    **


    (TL: In 3rd person POV.)


    Utgar breathlessly fled from the battlefield while thinking to itself, -I will live! Yes, I¡¯ll survive!-


    Would it get a chance to counterattack some day? If it managed to get away and keep its life somehow, would it get a chance to repay this humiliation?


    Nope. Completely impossible. There was just no way to stop those bastards now!


    Surtr, Hr¨ªmr, and now even Hrungnir had been killed. There was no way that Utgar could win against a monster like that!


    The Magic Giant glanced back and witnessed Hrungnir shattering into pieces. It didn¡¯t end there, though, as the Skeleton King picked up pieces of the Earth Giant and began shoving them down its bony jaw to devour them.


    Utgar was terrified even more by that sight. Its eyes could clearly see Hrungnir¡¯s soul being consumed.


    Soon after that, Orichalcum ores rapidly enveloped the Skeleton King¡¯s body like an additional layer of armour.


    -How can that be?!-


    The giant undead was creepily smiling away with its eyes. It lowered its posture and four hooves secured itself to the ground.


    That posture, it was eerily reminiscent of Hrungnir getting ready to charge.


    -N-no, wait a minute!-


    If it was that giant¡¯s speed¡­!


    KA-BOOOOM-!


    The hooves kicked the ground.


    ¡­Utgar would be caught instantly!


    The Skeleton King screeched out monstrously and swung its four weapons through the air. The ice spear blew apart the leg of the gargantuan beast Utgar was riding on. Huge blocks of ice jutted out from below.


    When its legs froze up, the gargantuan beast naturally came to an abrupt stop. Thanks to the sudden stop, Utgar was thrown from the top and crashed on the ground, only to roll about in an ungainly manner.


    The Magic Giant urgently looked behind and witnessed its gargantuan beast being mercilessly hacked apart by the Skeleton King¡¯s weapons. That didn¡¯t take too long, though, and the gigantic undead shifted its gaze over to Utgar next.


    Those creepy glowing eyeballs arched up like new moons. Those eyes¡­ they belonged to a hunter who had just discovered a new and tasty prey!


    -N-no¡­-


    The undead thing was approaching. It was raising up its weapons.


    All four limbs of Utgar were nailed to the ground, impaling the giant on the spot.


    -Uwaaaaahk!- the giant screamed in pain, but it still continued to watch the event taking place in front of itself.


    The Skeleton King¡¯s jaw began splitting open wide as it leaned in closer in order to swallow Utgar¡¯s head.


    Just as the Magic Giant began shuddering from dread, it suddenly began sensing something.


    It sensed divinity scattering away!


    Almost at the same time, the Skeleton King stopped moving altogether.


    Utgar¡¯s brows shot up in disbelief as it watched the particles of light begin scattering away from the Skeleton King¡¯s frame, then the undead slowly disintegrated from the view.


    -Ah¡­ ha, hahaha! Ahahahaha!- Utgar guffawed in happiness and relief.


    That¡¯s right, this monstrosity must¡¯ve exhausted all of its strength. It must¡¯ve reached its final limit trying to maintain such a humongous body. Even the summoner himself shouldn¡¯t be left unscathed.


    However, Utgar had managed to survive. It had survived this hellish battlefield! All the other Kings of J?tnar were dead now, so that left Utgar as the strongest J?tunn alive, too!


    Panting heavily in relief, Utgar glared at the one riding on the disappearing Skeleton King¡¯s head.


    He was just some small human, no better than an insect.


    -Oh King of Humanity, the ruler of this world! This is your loss. You cannot possibly kill me now!-


    The human bastard was clearly a spent force. He was on his knees and huffing breathlessly away. Even the bone armour encasing him was breaking down and disintegrating.


    The golden spear grasped in his hand more than likely required a massive supply of divinity to wield, too. No matter how one saw it, this puny human didn¡¯t look like he had any energy left to keep fighting anymore.


    This was Utgar¡¯s chance.


    The chance to kill this bastard!


    The Magic Giant began chanting a magic spell inwardly.


    But then, Allen threw off the mountain goat¡¯s skull on his head. He continued to breathe heavily, yet he leapt off from the Skeleton King and landed on Utgar¡¯s chest.


    -Oh? Human, what are you planning? You certainly don¡¯t have enough strength to kill me, so why would¡­-


    The human suddenly summoned a musket.


    Utgar froze.


    ¡°Oh Gaia.¡± The human breathed into the loading chamber and started offering a prayer.


    ¡®No, wait! This puny bastard still has enough power left to fight!¡¯


    -W-wait, oh King of Humans, h-hear me out fir¡­!-


    ¡°Under the blessing of Gaia, the one who celebrates life¡­¡±


    A vast quantity of divinity condensed on him next.


    -Y-you accursed insect bastard!-


    Utgar exploded in fury and opened its mouth to cast its magic. But right at that moment, the disintegrating Skeleton King¡¯s still-intact hand shot forward and grabbed the Magic Giant¡¯s jaw, before tearing it right off.


    The four weapons were still pinning its limbs down, while the pain from its torn jaw meant that Utgar couldn¡¯t even chant its magic spell now.


    ¡°Grant me the decisive hand to judge the one who dared to distort and twist this world.¡±


    The particles of divinity began coalescing behind Allen¡¯s back. They soon formed the silhouette of a woman, who gently embraced his shoulders.


    The Blessing of the Goddess he had once displayed all those years ago back in Ronia had manifested once more.


    The musket¡¯s muzzle was now aimed right at the middle of Utgar¡¯s brow.


    The irises of the Magic Giant trembled in fear.


    -D-don¡¯t¡­ kill me¡­!- Utgar cried out desperately, but Allen simply grinned creepily with his eyes, the corners of his lips curling up.


    That devil-like grin only made Utgar scream even louder. -P-please let me live! If you let me go, I¡¯ll do anything you want! Anything! That¡¯s why¡­!-


    ¡°Amen.¡±


    Allen, still grinning away, pulled the trigger.


    BANG-!


    Utgar¡¯s head exploded; there was only a small hole in its forehead, but the back of the giant¡¯s head now had a huge, gaping hole.


    The vines on its body went limp, and all the compacted sand making up its body began sliding down. Utgar, its tongue flopping loosely out of its mouth, slowly closed its eyes.


    Allen fell on his back and lay there spread-eagled on Utgar¡¯s disintegrating chest.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s finally over.¡±


    He looked up at the sky. The bright sun could be seen beyond the murky clouds above.


    The noisy, chaotic battlefield had become utterly silent, as if everything that had happened so far had been a lie.


    But this state didn¡¯t last for long; the still-living J?tnar and the vampires began urgently fleeing from there in panic and fright.


    ¡°After them!¡± Charlotte issued a new command, and the allied forces roared out, their spirits now fully reinvigorated.


    The battlefield was certainly raucous. Yet for some reason, Allen found all the noise rather enjoyable to listen to.


    It was because those were the roars of the victors. Yes, that must¡¯ve been why.


    Allen smirked softly and closed his eyes.


    1


    < 201. At the End of the Apocalypse -3 (Part One and Two) > Fin.

 Chapter 384 (END) - 202. Epilogue – The End and the Beginning

    Translated by A Passing Wanderer


    Edited by RED


    Trudge, trudge¡­


    Ashes were settling on the ground. Every time I took a step, thick dust clung to my shoes.


    I scanned my surroundings. As the zombie army, once several hundred thousand strong, disintegrated and dissipated from this world, their ashes danced in the winds and floated up towards the sky. I extended my hand towards them before once again fixing my gaze forward.


    In the midst of many soldiers, one being still remained, his body going up in bluish flames even now.


    The living soldiers stood around this burning figure while shedding thick drops of cold sweat, their lips clamped shut. They were still deeply tense as they trained their weapons on him.


    The sole remaining existence that was burning down and disintegrating away¡­


    The immortal king who hated the Imperial Family, was enraged by it, and so chose to lead the army of vampires to wage war¡­


    Vlandmir was on his knees, burning away in flames.


    I walked up to him.


    Warm sunlight shone down on us from high up in the heavens as the soldiers spread out left to right, doing their best to sort out the battlefield.


    I stared at the Vampire King and tilted my head this way and that. ¡°You are still not dead yet?¡±


    Just in case, I was still gripping my musket.


    The Vampire King¡¯s head shuddered, and he looked up at me. His eyes were filled to the brim with murderous intent. ¡°And so, I burn once more, just like back then.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Back when I was still a human, the exact same thing happened to me. My younger sister was violated and killed by you Imperial Family bastards. Then you burned me to death, too.¡±


    ¡°But I wasn¡¯t responsible for any of that, though?¡±


    ¡°Your bloodline, your ancestors did it.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I frowned slightly and began breathing into the musket. My divinity reserve was practically empty right now, but I still had enough in the tank to send away a nearly-dead vampire.


    ¡°History will soon repeat itself with you bastards.¡±


    I sensed the holy bullet materialising, so I aimed the musket¡¯s muzzle at the burning Vampire King.


    ¡°Do you really think peace will come just because we¡¯re all gone?¡± the Vampire King began cackling away, his body quivering visibly. Then he glared murderously at me and everyone around us, as if he was trying to curse us all. ¡°You are all beasts enslaved by your greed. Truly evil beings lost to your own desires. So, peace for bastards like you? Do not make me laugh.¡±


    The Vampire King fixed his glare on me once more.


    ¡°It¡¯s the same story for you, oh Humanity¡¯s King, who is also stained by greed! You might have saved this world, but without a doubt, you will also be tainted by the pursuit of power, its temptation! Without a doubt, you are a bastard who will pillage this world, and eventually, bring utter destruction to this wor¡­!¡±


    I shoved the muzzle inside the Vampire King¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Sorry about this, but¡­¡± I retorted to him while narrowing my eyes. ¡°I¡¯m the type to not give a rat¡¯s ass about stuff like that, you see.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    For a moment there, the Vampire King¡¯s eyes shook hard. But they regained their composure, clarity even, pretty soon.


    {I see,} his final words rang inside my head.


    I pulled the trigger; a loud gunshot rang out, and the back of this bastard¡¯s head exploded.


    The Vampire King¡¯s body finally burned down completely into ashes, and scattered away in the winds.


    The King of all Vampires was now dead. I hoped that with this, the surviving vampires would behave themselves and stay quiet.


    I mounted a horse. I gripped the reins as Charlotte propped me up from behind, just in case I collapsed from exhaustion.


    We slowly made our way back to the capital city of Laurensis.


    When I took a look at the foot of the tall outer walls, I noticed corpses of all sorts of zombies were lying around or clinging to the walls. Even the J?tnar were collapsed on the ground, unmoving.


    Meanwhile, Harman, all covered in blood, saluted me. He seemed to have been waiting for my arrival by the outer gates of the city.


    Behind him were Luan and Hilda. Despite being an Imperial Prince and an Imperial Princess, their current appearances were a total mess. It seemed that they had to wage some serious castle defence in order to protect the capital.


    I even spotted Roy hiding behind Laurence, cautiously staring at me entering the outer gates.


    ¡°Allen-!¡±


    The Ariana twins, as well as Seran, were waving their hands at me from above the outer wall. Looking bloodied and battered, the King of Frants, Marcus, and White were standing next to them.


    They sure were some resilient folks, weren¡¯t they?


    I turned my head and looked into the distance. I could see the massive Imperial Palace waaay over yonder.


    That place was now my home. My hometown, if you would.


    The place I should go back to.


    ******


    Half a year had passed since the conclusion of the War of the Apocalypse, Ragnarok.


    Warm sunlight was coming down in the Imperial Palace¡¯s garden. In this stillness, the chirping of birds could be heard quite vividly.


    As for me, I was sitting below a huge tree while kitted out in some over-the-top cumbersome attire. The robe was completely white, while golden embroidery and accessories were draped all over it. A flashy crown was adorning my head, too.


    I had to sit on a mock throne while gripping Avaldi¡¯s Spear, my head held up high and lofty.


    Meanwhile, Cardinal Raphael was in front of me, busy flicking his paintbrush around. His other hand held a painter¡¯s palette as he expertly splashed various paints on a white paper resting on an easel.


    This had been going on for two hours straight. Not being able to move for that long made my muscles itch like crazy.


    ¡°¡­Raphael. I had no idea that you had a talent in painting.¡± While saying that, I glanced at the spot next to Raphael.


    Alice was there, giving me an awkward, cramped smile, as if to say I should endure for a little bit longer.


    ¡°Your Majesty, I shall have you know that I was responsible for painting the portraits of your predecessors. Alice will take over that duty in the future, of course.¡±


    ¡°Really? Alice is talented in art, too?¡± I turned my head to look at her again.


    She nodded silently, although she looked a bit bashful about that.


    Unlike her, though, Raphael seemed rather displeased by this little interaction and suddenly cocked his eyebrow. ¡°Your Majesty, please don¡¯t move.¡±


    The corners of my lips quivered slightly. ¡°In any case, why my portrait all of a sudden¡­?¡±


    ¡°I am duty-bound to record the Empire¡¯s history, Your Majesty,¡± Raphael replied, then suddenly put the paintbrush down. He wiped his sweat away with the back of his hand and continued to speak. ¡°Why don¡¯t we take a short break here, sire?¡±


    He then picked up a pen. He brought out a rather thick book from the table next to him and began jotting something down on its pages.


    Raphael Astoria¡­


    He served the throne of the Holy Emperor, and recorded their feats and accomplishments. He was also the Cardinal who commanded countless clerics affiliated with the Church of Caiolium.


    In the future, though, Alice would no doubt be asked to take over all of his duties.


    She was a diligent, honest kid, that¡¯s for sure; as if she wanted to watch and learn from his example, Alice remained right next to her grandfather¡¯s side and carefully observed everything.


    These two people seemed to have their hearts set on serving the Imperial Family, from the ancient past into the distant future.


    I took off the cumbersome robe and chucked it to the Paladins nearby. They awkwardly caught the robe while looking somewhat flustered.


    I pressed my finger to my lips to signal that they should keep it down, and they indeed clamped their mouths shut for me.


    To ensure that Raphael wouldn¡¯t notice, I lightly tapped Alice on her shoulder. She looked at me for a bit, so I gestured for her to go ¡®outside¡¯.


    She saw my hand sign and glanced back at Raphael before nodding silently.


    She was first to vacate the premises, so to speak.


    ¡°Ah, by the way. Your Majesty, a report came in from the northern region.¡± Raphael addressed me while putting his pen down. But he still seemed to be focused on something on the book, since his eyes never left it. ¡°Ronia¡¯s feudal lord, Jenald, says that the report contains the plan to stop the next Tide of Death, sire. That¡¯s why he wishes to receive aid from¡­¡±


    ¡°Got it. I shall discuss it with my brother Luan and decide on what to do.¡±


    I too left the garden while making sure not to alert Raphael.


    ¡°By the way, Your Majesty? The next agenda requiring your attention is¡­¡±


    His voice continued to rise up behind me, but I ignored it.


    After leaving the garden, I began walking through the corridors of the Imperial Palace. Alice had something to take care of first, so I wasn¡¯t able to spot her during my walk.


    While striding in the corridor, I took a look outside at the practice grounds brightly illuminated by the sunlight.


    ¡°Keep swinging your swords!¡±


    A familiar woman¡¯s voice rose from out there; Charlotte was roaring out like the heroic warrior that she was. Even though there was no discernible expression on her face, she still came across as imposing and manly.


    ¡°Swing for the next ten minutes! However, one hour will be added to any dropouts!¡±


    Wow, now that¡¯s harsh¡­


    She never showed such a side to me whenever I was around, though¡­


    Sitting on a chair next to her was Oscal, resting his hands on his sword. There was a content expression on his face as he oversaw his disciple training the troops.


    Oscal Baldur the Sword King had already retired. He told me that he¡¯d like to spend the rest of his life watching his disciple Charlotte growing even stronger.


    ¡°Uwaaahk, I might die at this rate! My arms, it feels like they might fall off!¡±


    I spotted a few more familiar figures among the trainees.


    Gril was wheezing away breathlessly. He must¡¯ve swung around that sword with iron ingots attached to the blade for thousands of times, because he looked clearly pooped out right now.


    ¡°Keep swinging, anyway!¡± Yuria next to him yelled at him.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    As for Adolf, he couldn¡¯t even say anything with how exhausted he was.


    That trio had been accepted into the Heavenly Army now. Well, they had already received medals of honour for hunting down countless zombies and even vampires on the battlefield during Ragnarok, after all.


    Since all three of them wanted to become Paladins, you could say that they had basically attained their dreams now.


    I sneakily sent a telepathic message, [Hey, Charlotte.]


    Charlotte flinched a little, then looked up at me by the window. I bobbed my lips a little to mouth some words, then pointed to the end of the corridor.


    She cautiously glanced at Oscal to gauge his current mood, although a troubled expression still floated up on her face. She then sent me a reply, [I¡¯ll be right there.]


    I grinned deeply before nodding back. My steps took me to my quarters in the Imperial Palace.


    However, some people were already waiting for me there.


    ¡°Ho-hay! My beloved little brother~!¡± the stupidly-drunk Luan called out to me. He was even waving around a booze bottle. He tried to hug me, but the stench of booze was too much to handle so I pushed his face away.


    Luan was pursuing a life full of vice and earthly pleasures these days. The people around us began calling him a mangnani, but well, I wasn¡¯t so sure about that.


    At the bare minimum, I wouldn¡¯t have gotten any work done as the Holy Emperor without Luan¡¯s assistance. He was that good.


    I looked around the interior of my room. Since it was a suite meant for the Holy Emperor, it was humongous and luxuriously appointed, with expensive furniture arranged tastefully everywhere.


    However, the room currently resembled the location of a drunken party.


    Empty booze bottles were rolling around on the floor, while the Ariana twins were snoring away in drunken sleep on my bed. As for Marcus, he seemed to have been knocked unconscious by alcohol, judging from how his forehead was kissing a table¡¯s surface.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here, little brother?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re here, Allen!¡±


    Hilda was sitting in front of a dresser, while Seran was behind her, combing her older sister¡¯s hair.


    I took in this sight, and slowly facepalmed myself. ¡°What are you all doing here?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, what? We¡¯re here to have a party with lots of booze!¡± Luan replied with a pair of very drunken eyes.


    Seran took over from there. ¡°Honestly, though, we¡¯re here to make a trade. Related to our kingdom, of course.¡±


    I nodded at that.


    It had already been half a year since Ragnarok had come to an end. The Kingdom of Frants was driven to near destruction, while Aihrance was completely obliterated. Rebuilding those two nations would be a tough task, indeed.


    They probably came here to request integration of their kingdom into the Theocratic Empire, so that they could rely on our resources to rebuild. Marcus was probably the royal family¡¯s representative, while Seran and the twins just tagged along for a holiday.


    The King of Frants was pretty good at taking care of his duties, so we weren¡¯t worried about him all that much.


    ¡°Sorry about this, but I¡¯m kinda occupied at the moment.¡± As I was replying to her, I began rummaging below my bed for something.


    Luan watched me for a bit, then after recalling something, held his forehead. ¡°Oopsie. Today was that day?¡±


    ¡°You were the one who promised me, so how could you forget?¡±


    ¡°That day? What day?¡± Hilda asked us, while tilting her head.


    ¡°Well, yes, here¡¯s the thing.¡± I finally found a bag stashed below the bed and pulled it out. I took out the monk¡¯s outfit from within and put it on. ¡°I was thinking of going on a vacation for a short while, you see.¡±


    The eyes of both Hilda and Seran nearly popped out of their sockets at that.


    I left my room cheerfully. Luan promised me that he would take care of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s business while I was gone. He still owed me a lot, so this would be the same thing as paying off his debt to me.


    I walked down the corridor only to flinch in surprise, and had to pull my hood deeply over my head. White was walking towards me from the other way while chatting with some magicians.


    He was probably here to get assistance for the rebuilding of his own kingdom.


    I kept my head low and walked past White¡¯s group.


    He had been giving his everything for the sake of the destroyed Aihrance. Rumours said that he had even collapsed from overwork, too. For a mangnani father, I figured that that wasn¡¯t so bad.


    It just showed how much the country left to him by Queen Rox meant to him.


    Although he still seemed to be in a bit of an awkward space when talking to Luan, maybe their relationship might get more¡­ natural through this opportunity.


    I finally stepped outside the Imperial Palace and walked along the capital¡¯s streets.


    Passersby saw my monk¡¯s attire and stopped their journeys just so that they could offer a prayer in my direction. I reciprocated their gesture with a light greeting and drew the holy sign in the air for them.


    The city¡¯s avenues were overflowing with vitality.


    Even though a horrifying war had taken place only half a year ago, everyone looked just too bright and happy. Maybe they were all putting on an act to forget the painful memories of that day.


    That¡¯s how many trials and tribulations this nation had to go through, but it still emerged victorious against them in the end. From there, it would surely develop even further.


    I noticed someone familiar in the street just then. Ruppel, hiding his face under a hood, was buying a lily from a nearby flower shop.


    He¡­ probably came here to visit his mother¡¯s grave near the capital, and to take care of it.


    ¡°Thank you. Please come again!¡±


    And then I saw Roy working in the flower shop.


    I came to a halt at that sight, and urgently alternated my gaze between Ruppel and Roy.


    Holy cow! I did hear that Roy¡¯s family had opened up a flower shop in the capital, but what were the odds of Ruppel stopping by at that very shop?


    What an unexpected reunion of the brothers this was. However, the situation remained a bit weird, since they didn¡¯t recognise each other.


    Ruppel smiled gently, nodded a little and went on his way. Roy stood there in a slight daze and stared at the back of his younger brother. Laurence showed up just then, and patted his son¡¯s head.


    Roy smiled back with a happy grin.


    Seeing those interactions automatically perked my mood up.


    Who cares whether they didn¡¯t recognise each other or what? As long as they were happy in their new lives, all was fine. I had no thoughts of butting in on their new lives, anyways.


    Still¡­


    ¡°Can you get me a flower?¡±


    ¡­It should be fine to ask for a bit of help from the shop. What I meant by that was buying a flower, obviously.


    Roy looked rather flustered, but I brushed that aside without a care.


    ¡°Thank you!¡±


    Although I should¡¯ve bought only one, uh, I ended up buying a lot, all thanks to me feeling rather good at the moment.


    What should I do with them now?


    I continued to walk down the street and spotted the Paladins going on patrol around the city. Harman and Tina the Dark Elf were leading them on their patrols.


    Still the Guardian of the World Tree, Tina, had been enlisted in the Empire¡¯s army. She was ordered to guard the Imperial Capital.


    She was diligently carrying out her task even now, it seemed. She was chatting to Harman as they walked the streets.


    It looked to me like they were also doing well. I was basically imprisoned in the Imperial Palace for the past half year to do paperwork, so there was little to no chance to find out how well all of my acquaintances were doing.


    I smiled softly and brushed past Tina. While doing that, I also sneakily placed a flower on her ear.


    She froze up, and looked at me. I turned my head slightly and held her gaze, before grinning brightly at her.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    I could hear Harman asking her something, so I walked away. If Mister Inflexible, by-the-book Harman discovered me, no doubt I¡¯d be sent back on my way to the Imperial Palace.


    ¡°E-eh? No, well, that¡¯s because, His Ma¡­¡±


    [Shh-!]


    Tina flinched and stiffened up when my telepathic message reached her. She was a little flustered, but still shook her head. ¡°N-no, it¡¯s nothing important.¡±


    My steps remained light. I was now free from the warfare, endless battles, and even the oppressive atmosphere of the Imperial Palace.


    Honestly speaking, some vampires still remained in the continent. The stories I¡¯d heard said that they were still secretly congregating and cooking up more nefarious schemes even now.


    However, they shouldn¡¯t be too big of a problem. There was no individual like the Vampire King to bring them together and unite them under one banner, after all.


    Before long, I had stepped past the outer gates of the capital. What greeted me was a wide-open field. I spotted a certain parked carriage there.


    Charlotte had arrived before me, and was standing by next to it. Alice was already inside the vehicle and waving her hand at me, while Hans was inspecting the wheels for their sturdiness.


    I grinned and walked up to them. Charlotte climbed aboard, then extended her hand to me.


    I also climbed inside, and didn¡¯t forget to hand over a flower to Charlotte. She made a puzzled face. ¡°What¡¯s this flower for, sire?¡±


    ¡°A present.¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    For the first time in a while, Charlotte¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. She stared at that flower for a long time.


    Hans settled down on the carriage driver¡¯s seat and shook the reins around a bit. ¡°You know, sire, I had a ton of stuff I wanted to research, but this¡­¡±


    He made his dissatisfaction known. He was still obsessed with interdimensional warp magic. His goal was to open that gateway someday.


    He hadn¡¯t changed, in other words.


    The horses got going. I looked back at the sight of the Theocratic Empire¡¯s capital gradually getting further away from us and let out a hearty chuckle. ¡°Ahaha! Man, we really went and did it, didn¡¯t we!?¡±


    Charlotte made a wry face. ¡°My teacher and Cardinal Raphael will no doubt fly into a rage, sire.¡±


    Even then, she still held the flower closer to her.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s a vacation after a long, long while, after all!¡±


    While feeling quite pleased about myself, I took out a certain piece of paper tucked away safely within my item window all these years.


    The time had come to put my plan into practice.


    Alice next to me asked a question. ¡°What¡¯s that, sire?¡±


    ¡°Oh, this?¡±


    I grinned and stared at the words on top of the paper. Words written in Korean, no less.


    [Golden Loaded Bum Plan].


    I had compiled this ¡®list of actions¡¯ a long time ago. Although it all sounded rather grandiose, it was actually nothing more than a travel guide of sorts.


    It was a guidebook for all those places I wanted to stop by in this world. A guide that would take me to the unknown world that I still hadn¡¯t seen properly yet.


    ¡°It¡¯s the names of the kingdoms I¡¯d like to pay a visit to.¡±


    I was running away from home. No, hang on; this was a vacation, wasn¡¯t it? Right, and since it was going to be a very short one, I might as well¡­


    ¡°¡­Travel around the world, then!¡±


    It was now time to go on an adventure somewhere in the world that I hadn¡¯t been to yet.


    < 202. Epilogue ¨C The End and the Beginning > Fin.


    (TL: Thank you everyone for sticking with us during this journey. It has been an honour to translate this novel for Shadow-kun, not to mention I had fun in the process, as well.. Although this journey has come to an end, a new one will soon begin. Until then, goodbye!)