Karnak, Monarch of Death

After coming under the occupation of the army of the Black God, Thea Krahan had fallen into absolute chaos.

It was the largest city on the continent, with hundreds of thousands of residents. No matter how overwhelming the cult's might was, managing this vast capital would have been impossible without considerable administrative power.

So, what did the cult of the Black God do? The answer was simple. They just didn't manage it.

They burned down only the most important strongholds—the imperial palace, the mansions of the high nobility, the temples of the church—and then left everything else alone.

Afterward, they concentrated the bulk of their forces at the three temples of the goddesses, sent undead patrols to keep an eye out for any signs of rebellion, and gave up entirely on things like governance and maintaining order.

It wasn't exactly a desirable way to handle things. The cult's goal was to grow Tesranach's faith, and handling things this way would only breed resentment among the citizens of the capital. Naturally, if faith in Tesranach fell rather than grew, that was counterproductive.

But they had no choice. Those who were supposed to oversee the capital were Elezar and Dreltein, and they were dead. There simply was no practical alternative.

With law and order gone, the capital fell into anarchy. Looting and arson broke out across the city in small pockets.

For now, it was kept from erupting into full-scale riots only because not much time had passed since the fall, and the undead patrols still roamed the streets. But it was only a matter of time before it exploded into widespread violence.

Yet, the Cult of the Black God paid it no mind. Everything would end once Tesranach descended anyway. Moreover, even if Tesranach's faith did not grow, it wasn't as if faith in the church would solidify further in response.

Even if people ended up despairing of both sides and cursing the world, that outcome was still acceptable from Tesranach's perspective. However, there was one thing the Cult of the Black God had failed to consider. This was only true if there were only two options left in the world.

***

On a dark night, within a crumbling building in the capital, a secret gathering was taking place. In that ruin, where a faint strand of moonlight barely pierced the gloom and only a few candles lit the darkness, dozens of figures with hoods pulled over their faces knelt in prayer.

"Look upon us with mercy..."

"Save us from this calamity..."

They were worshippers of Serakal, the Goddess of Twilight. Originally, the Twilight Church had been a place where those opposing the Cult of the Black God gathered. But now, things were different.

Nobles and merchants of the capital, the poor and the abandoned, the strong and the weak—all knelt together, bowing their heads before the beautiful statue of the goddess. Indeed, the Twilight Church was expanding its influence at a frightening pace.

Human hearts were frail. Not everyone could walk forward relying on their own strength alone. Sometimes, they needed something to lean on.

However, the church had failed to care for these people. And yet, they could not bring themselves to worship the Black God, who was responsible for this catastrophe.

So then, what if, in that moment, someone risked their life to save them? How could they not believe in and follow such a person? Most of those gathered here had been rescued by the Twilight Church. More precisely, they had been saved by the Thea Krahan branch of the Twilight Church.

A silver-haired man in a robe led the mass, continuing his sermon. "Darkness has covered the light, and the age of twilight has come. Soon, she will lift our souls to the heavens..."

To the outside world, the Thea Krahan branch of the Twilight Church was better known as Search Black, and this was their leader, Desteran.

Once, he had walked the path of sin as a criminal, but after encountering the truth of twilight, he had been reborn. Now, he was striving with all his might to proclaim the will of the great goddess upon this earth. The believers offered their sincere prayers to the Twilight, who had saved them and opened a new path for them.

"Serakal..."

"Please, show us the way..."

When the mass ended, the Twilight worshippers quietly slipped away from the ruins. Desteran also removed his robe and returned to his base.

He moved with careful steps, avoiding the eyes of the undead patrols, sighing as he slipped through the darkness. "Hah, I've managed to protect the believers so far, but I truly don't know what we should do from here."

The power and influence of the Cult of the Black God was too overwhelming. Even as a silver knight, he could think of no countermeasure. It was as he returned to the hideout to take a brief rest that it happened.

A low-ranking member of Search Black came looking for him. "Um, Boss Desteran?"

Desteran did not respond. The low-ranking member, puzzled, called out again. "Boss...?"

The senior members standing nearby quickly shot him sharp looks.

Hey. Use your brain.

Only then did the low-ranking member realize his mistake, hastily correcting his words. "Bishop Desteran, sir."

Desteran responded immediately, as if he had been waiting, looking quite pleased with the corrected title. "What is it?"

The underling cursed inwardly at the ridiculousness of it all. However, he'd be dead if he said it aloud. He handed over a small slip of paper. "A secret message just came in."

Desteran's expression brightened as he took the note. "Oh! The Saintess has arrived here? Let us hurry!"

***

Inside an abandoned house on a street in western Thea Krahan was a small group in hiding. The moment Desteran saw the red-haired beauty among them, he bowed deeply. "Forgive me, O Saintess. I have failed to carry out the holy task you bestowed upon me."

He had been entrusted with the critical mission of guiding Diogres Kolon toward the true teachings. With things ending up as they had, how could he dare to lift his head before the Saint?

Serati wore an awkward smile. "Ah, well, you see..."

In truth, she had only said it offhandedly to stop Desteran from following her so persistently. Why does it feel like I've become a scammer even though I never scammed him?

Well, she had told him to keep an eye on Diogres, and this was how things had turned out, so technically, it was a mission failure.

Karnak lifted Desteran to his feet and asked, "Can you give us a clear picture of the situation?"

"I haven't been able to grasp everything, but..."

Desteran adjusted his posture and nodded. "I will tell you everything I know, pope."

As usual, he had been diligently visiting Diogres' residence to deliver his teachings—or so he called them. But one day, Diogres began to distance himself from Desteran. It wasn't simply that he had changed his mind or lost interest.

"How should I put it... it was as if he had become a completely different person. Somehow, it seemed he didn't even recognize me..."

More precisely, he did recognize him, but appeared clueless about everything that had happened between them until now.

Shaking his head, Desteran sighed in utter confusion."I just can't understand what in the world happened."

"I see," Karnak replied.

At that point, Karnak decided to share part of the truth with Desteran. There was no longer any reason to hide it. Of course, he did not reveal everything.

He left out the stories of himself and Varos entirely, as well as the fact that the other companions were Karnak's vassals. He explained it simply: an entity called Tesranach, once known as the Monarch of Death in a parallel future, was invading this world with the martial kings, the archmages, and other powerful beings from that timeline.

There were a few inconsistencies, but he managed to easily smooth them over. "And so, the Goddess of Twilight, Serakal, began spreading her teachings upon this land to stop them."

The devout Bishop Desteran accepted the story without question. "Oh! So that was it!"

Next to him, Leven and Varos whispered to each other.

—This actually works on him?

—With zealots, mention of their deity will get you through almost anything.

Sensing the change in Diogres, Desteran had distanced himself from him. Survival in the criminal underworld required a sharp instinct for reading the atmosphere.

"I intended to observe quietly and grasp the situation, but I never got the chance," explained Desteran.

Before he could even begin investigating, Diogres left the capital, leading the imperial army with Martial King Batalok to confront Giyen Ren. A former criminal could hardly trail the imperial army , so Desteran had stayed put, waiting in Thea Krahan.

But the opportunity never came. When Diogres Kolon returned, he had already become one of those monsters, beyond any chance of approach.

"I had always wondered what in the world happened..." Sighing, Desteran traced a strange star-shaped sign in the air. "Now I finally understand."

Karnak's companions began whispering again.

—What's with that

—The Twilight Church has its own sign of the cross?

—Did he just make that up?

—Is this really okay...?

In any case, even after the fall of the capital, Desteran and Search Black had not fled. If it had been in their old days as a crime syndicate, they would have left the capital without a second thought. But now, they served the holy Goddess of Twilight.

"How could I, as a faithful servant of Serakal, abandon the poor people and flee to save my own life?"

"Ah, yes..."

To an outsider, it might have looked like the poor members of Search Black were suffering under a boss gone mad with religion, but that was not quite true. Search Black had now become the Thea Krahan branch of the Twilight Church.

The fact that it could be called a branch meant that the number of true believers had grown considerably. It made sense, in a way. The Twilight Church granted real power to its loyal followers, even if that power came in the form of necromancy.

Necromancy was attractive to the powerless, and even more so to the unscrupulous. So for low-ranking members without power or conscience, it was an irresistible offer. Most of the henchmen who had once sworn loyalty to Desteran had now converted to the Twilight Church.

Humans tended to follow the beliefs of those they respected without even realizing it. This was the principle behind how most cults expanded their membership. If their boss chose a path, they would follow it.

It was something seen in any organization. Besides, whether they used necromancy or not, the Twilight Church was clearly fighting to save people and resist the Black God's forces. It was a cause worthy of trust and belief.

Of course, not every member of Search Black had become a Twilight believer. In any gathering of humans, there was never perfect unity. There were many traitors as well.

They were the ones who chose to lower their heads and submit to the Black God's Cult, believing it was better to preserve their lives than to oppose the terrifying force that had crushed even the empire. Such individuals were handled appropriately.

After all, making traitors disappear without a trace was what Search Black had always done best. Within this mix of fear and fanaticism, righteousness and the desire for social recognition—a combination that should never have gone together—Search Black worked tirelessly to save the citizens of the capital from the hands of the Black God.

In truth, the Cult of the Black God did not bother to touch the ordinary people. Thus, those they saved were mostly nobles, merchants, and priests. All such people were members of the upper class.

In the process of rescuing these individuals, they received a significant portion of their wealth as holy donations and used those funds to care for their poorer believers, performing good deeds. Most of those rescued ended up joining the Twilight Church. Though in reality, it was less about sincere faith and more about a desperate means of survival in the moment.

Desteran did not care. "Even if they joined under false pretenses, once they hear the words of twilight, they will come to understand the truth."

The priests of the Seven Goddesses, for their part, could never truly accept the Twilight Church, but they didn't cause any trouble. And what could they do if they didn't accept it? They could only offer up a quiet prayer of repentance while eating the meals provided to them, hiding away in silence.

Thus, hidden in the darkness, they took care of the citizens while gathering as much information about the enemy as possible.

"This is it." Desteran pulled out a large map and spread it out in front of the group. It was a map detailing the current situation of the cult forces occupying the capital.