Karnak, Monarch of Death

With the imperial decree granted, Karnak immediately held a council with the leaders of the imperial army.

Sir Chaplin, the commander of the imperial knights, General Levelt of the fourth legion, General Hendrik of the fifth legion, Archbishop Jotun of the Katera Order representing the Church of the Seven Goddesses, and Baykel, head mage and a mage of the Tower of Dawn, all gathered in one place.

"As I have already explained, our ultimate goal is to detonate the Shadow of Doom that the cultists are guarding." However, this could not be considered the sole purpose of their offensive on Thea Krahan. "Driving out the cultists and reclaiming the capital and the imperial palace is undoubtedly one of our goals as well."

It was not a matter of prioritizing one over the other. Both needed to be clearly established objectives.

"Only then can we force them to make a choice." The cultists would already suspect that Karnak's party was after the Shadow of Doom. They would keep that in mind even as the empire launched its counterattack. "That means their overall defense of the capital will weaken, and in that gap, we will strike decisively to shatter their forces."

Of course, there was also the very real possibility that a martial king or archmage might personally intervene. If that happened, Karnak's party would infiltrate the central sanctuary and target the Shadow of Doom directly.

From the perspective of the Cult of the Black God, it would be equally disastrous whether the capital fell or the defensive line around the Shadow of Doom was breached.

"Forcing them into that delicate balancing act is the true goal of this operation."

To accomplish this, they would need to coordinate with the Twilight Church, which was operating secretly within the empire.

Archbishop Jotun of the Katera Order flared up at the mention. "The Twilight Church? Are they not evil practitioners of necromancy?"

From his perspective, the Cult of the Black God and the Twilight Church were equally heretical scum. In contrast, Sir Chaplin, the legion commanders, and the mage Baykel seemed to consider it acceptable.

"I see."

"It would certainly make things easier to have allies on the inside."

They nodded in agreement but quickly glanced toward Archbishop Jotun. "Of course, that does not mean we acknowledge the Twilight Church, mind you."

The enemy of one's enemy was, by nature, an ally. The imperial army had been fighting with the Cult of the Black God all along. It wasn't unacceptable for them to join hands with the Twilight Church, especially given the present circumstances.

They simply could not say so openly under the watchful eyes of the Church of the Seven Goddesses, but in truth, there was little aversion left.

Here, Karnak gently coaxed the archbishop. "The empire's greatest enemy right now is the Dark God and his minions, not necromancy itself."

He did not bother to reveal that he was the head of the Twilight Church. He was merely emphasizing the necessity of joining forces with the Twilight Church as the Evil-Slaying Mage.

"Punishing heretics is a matter for after the empire has been secured, is it not?"

He continued to tie it back to the empire's fate. Even the archbishop could not stubbornly object. "That is true..."

In the end, with the approval of the Church of the Seven Goddesses in hand, Karnak brought up the main issue. "Then, with the Twilight Church's cooperation, let us begin planning the campaign to reclaim the capital."

***

Countless imperial troops gathered within Fort Harlan. Among them were quite a few faces Karnak's party recognized. The western forces of the Brigade of Purification was one of them.

"It has been a while, Lord Karnak!"

"Truly, you have accomplished much in that time!"

Stronoff and Leocolt greeted Karnak's party warmly.

They were members of the Brigade of Purification who had fought alongside Karnak during the so-called Incident of the Old Witch. Everyone was delighted to reunite with Karnak, and they looked curiously at his companions.

"Your group has become rather... unique, I see."

"It was unique before, but still."

Even before, they had found it strange that he traveled with a child like Lapicel. Now, however, there was a boy even younger than Lapicel once was, and he was even holding a white cat in his arms. They could not fathom what circumstances had led to such a composition.

"Meow!"

They were pleasantly surprised to see how much Lapicel had grown. "Miss Lapicel has truly become a fine young woman."

"But this person here..."

They both looked at the red-haired beauty with uncertain expressions.

"Could you be... Sir Serati?"

It was not as though it was their first time seeing Serati, so Karnak and Serati wondered why they were acting like this, but there was a reason.

"You have become so beautiful that we hardly recognized you."

Serati and Karnak both froze.

"Me?"

"She was always beautiful, right? Why are you acting surprised?"

"Well, yes, but..." Given that it was somewhat inappropriate for a knight to comment on a lady's appearance, Leocolt trailed off. "It's simply that the atmosphere surrounding you has changed greatly."

After exchanging greetings, the two left, and Serati turned to the party with a puzzled look. "Have I really become so different?"

Karnak and Varos tilted their heads.

"How should I know? I see you every day."

"Same here."

Both of them were men who were better at recognizing skull structures than human faces, so their reactions were vague. Even Leven, being a man, was oblivious to such changes, and although Lapicel was a woman, she was of no particular help in this matter.

"You have always been beautiful, sister!"

"Th-thank you, dear."

Drel, Milia, and Dios had joined too late to know what Serati had been like before.

Karnak shrugged. "Maybe your makeup just turned out well today."

"Do you really think I'm the sort to wear makeup? I live off of my sword."

"That's true."

They were about to laugh it off as a joke when Milia suddenly spoke up with a serious expression. "Isn't it unusual to look as if you're wearing perfect makeup when you haven't even applied any?"

"Now that you mention it..."

Karnak paused, recalling the first time he had met Serati. When he first met her in Derath City, she had already been quite famous. She was a beauty, and on top of that, she was an aura user.

She was indeed considered beautiful, but it had been more of a reaction of surprise that such a young and beautiful woman could be so strong. Recently, however, no matter where they went, people were openly admiring Serati's beauty itself.

Is there really something going on?

Come to think of it, there was that time when Serati had asked him for skin care advice, and he had passively cast a spell exclusive to vassals on her.

—But it shouldn't be this effective...

Listening nearby, Leven and Milia glared at him.

—You did what now?

—Then why haven't you done it for us?

—You never asked, did you?

—We're asking now!

Milia, in particular, was desperate.

—Could you maybe get rid of freckles too?!

—I've never felt the need to do that, so I wouldn't know?

In any case, it didn't really matter right now whether Serati's beauty had bloomed or not. Karnak continued to move forward, steadily implementing his plans. He mapped out the route for the march on the capital, set the timing, organized strategies and tactics, and discussed them with everyone.

He was working so diligently that even Varos was a little surprised. "What's gotten into you? You were never the type to throw yourself into things like this."

"Do you think I'm doing this because I want to?"

If the enemies were merely ordinary conquerors or just another evil force seeking to rule the world, he would have stopped caring long ago. A world ruled by them would indeed become a hell for the powerless, but for someone as strong as Karnak, it would not make living particularly difficult.

But this time was different. What did the descent of Tesranach truly mean? It means someone like the old me would appear and do exactly what I used to do.

HIs desperation wasn't born out of some noble sense of responsibility.

No. I can't leave this to someone else. I have to handle it myself.

***

The imperial army had been rebuilt in Fort Harlan to the west. The surviving fourth and fifth imperial legions, along with other remnants, had regrouped to form a new legion. They succeeded the name of the now-extinct first legion, and their numbers totalled eight thousand.

The surviving imperial mages had also united their strength. Not all members of the imperial magic towers had betrayed the emperor. Many survivors joined forces with the Tower of Dawn to rebuild an imperial mage corps of five hundred.

The imperial knights had also recovered to nearly three hundred strong. This included the Kretas Knights who had not turned traitor, as well as knights from noble families across the empire. They all rallied under the imperial banner, and under the command of Sir Chaplin, they formed a new imperial knight order. Additionally, the priests of the Church of the Seven Goddesses numbered around eight hundred.

"This is the current strength of the new imperial army." Pointing at the map, Giyen Ren spoke to a man in his fifties. "What shall we do, Master Diogres?"

Diogres Kolon studied Fort Harlan marked on the map and replied with a question of his own. "Sir Beltia and Lord Valeria were near this area, were they not? Should we send them first to gauge the enemy's strength?"

A young man shook his head. "They alone will not be enough."

It was Emil Strauss, the incarnation of Tesranach. "They have the Evil-Slaying Mage on their side."

The fact that Karnak's party had joined the emperor's side was already well known to the Cult of the Black God. For reasons unknown, Karnak had not bothered to hide his identity in front of others.

Giyen Ren and Diogres nodded in agreement.

"He's a troublesome one."

"So is his party."

"They'd only get defeated one by one."

For a moment, they considered summoning the two fallen popes from the south, but quickly abandoned the idea. Even if they did, it would not significantly improve their odds.

Diogres offered his opinion. "Perhaps it would be better to call them to the capital."

"That would only delay things too much."

Beltia and the three fallen popes were currently focused on spreading chaos across the empire, with the purpose of diminishing the faith in the Seven Goddesses. If they were called to the capital, who would continue the work of slaughtering the clergy?

"In truth, this is not something we need to deliberate over so deeply." Emil shrugged. "The forces currently in the capital are more than sufficient to face the imperial army."

Even so, the reason they were so wary was, of course, because of Karnak's presence. They could already guess what he was aiming for.

Giyen Ren clicked his tongue. "He's planning to detonate the Shadow of Doom and scatter it everywhere."

But that would only happen if Karnak was truly prepared to turn the empire into hell.

"Could he really become that ruthless?"

"It would not be an easy decision for someone known as the Evil-Slaying Mage..."

Emil let out a quiet laugh. The two looked at him, puzzled.

"Hmm?"

"Why do you laugh?"

"Pay it no mind." Waving his hand dismissively, Emil Strauss raised his right index finger. A faint light circled his fingertip. It was the grace of Tesranach. "Our faith is still being built. We need more collapse."

Thus, he could not afford to pull in external forces to the capital. He came to a conclusion. "Fortifying our defenses around the capital is our best course of action."

If the Cult of the Black God and the imperial army continued to engage in a drawn-out war centered around the capital while faith in the Church of the Seven Goddesses continued to erode across the land...

The result would be the descent of Tesranach.

"This is a battle we will win simply by buying time."

***

Karnak, too, had arrived at a conclusion similar to Emil Strauss's. They needed to retake the capital as swiftly as possible. The longer they dragged things out, the higher the risk that Tesranach would descend.

But the enemy knew this as well, and would do everything they could to buy time. So, what should they do?

"Let's buy time."

Serati looked at him, bewildered. "You just said the longer this drags on, the worse it will get for us, didn't you?"

"Strictly speaking, that's not quite accurate." He had never said it would put them at a disadvantage. He had only said it would become dangerous. "There's a difference between something becoming dangerous and it becoming disadvantageous."