Karnak, Monarch of Death

There was no surviving restaurant to be found. Who in their right mind would run a restaurant in a city where undead still roamed the streets? However, there was no shortage of ingredients. And they found someone who could turn those ingredients into portable meals. Stocking up on hearty packed lunches, they departed Astlin City.

Serati gave a stern warning. "Floke, if you mess with our packs again, you're really going to get it next time!"

The little white hatchling dragon flew around her, chirping cutely. Within the city, they had kept Floke transformed into a cat to avoid drawing attention. But now that they were on the imperial road with no one else around, they allowed it to return to its dragon form for a while.

What if someone happened to see it? They had five aura users among them. When they extended their detection fields, it covered several kilometers with ease.

They would sense anyone approaching immediately. Of course, if someone approached while hiding their presence, it might go unnoticed, but if someone was skulking around in broad daylight on a public road, Karnak could simply persuade them to stop being a problem.

The group continued northward. They had each received a horse from the expeditionary force, making the journey much easier.

Leven rode up to Karnak and asked, "Are we heading to Master Diogres now?"

"That's the plan," answered Karnak.

Thanks to the interrogation of Leoslav, they had managed to piece together Tesranach's plans. The ultimate goal of the cult's forces, led by Giyen Ren, was the imperial capital of the Lacania Empire, Thea Krahan.

But it wasn't as though the emperor himself was their target. The headquarters of three goddesses' orders—the Goddess of Star, Parnel, the Goddess of the Sea, Atima, and the Goddess of Fire and Battle, Cater—were located in the capital. As temples situated in the world's greatest city, they were renowned for their vast size and grandeur.

And, befitting such grand temples, they also sealed away the greatest amount of the world's accumulated Shadow of Doom, collected by inquisitors from across the continent. The cult planned to use that vast darkness as fertile ground to plant the World Tree, Astra Shunaph, in this land, thereby summoning the God of Death, Tesranach, to descend upon the world! This was the grand plan of the Cult of the Black God.

Rubbing his chin, Karnak muttered, "If Elezar and Dreltein had still been alive, there wouldn't have been a thing we could do."

If those two, who effectively ruled the capital, had suddenly turned traitor, not even the emperor would have had any way to counter it.

"Lucky for us, there's still a window to strike back."

"So, in summary..." Milia nodded. "All we have to do is stop them from planting the tree in the capital, right?"

Karnak questioned her. "Isn't that a bit too summarized?"

But it wasn't wrong either. Now that they knew the enemy's plan, Karnak's group had their next course of action set.

First, they would inform Diogres Kolon of the cult's true objective within the empire. Naturally, they couldn't go around spouting talk of the future or temporal regressions, so they would keep those parts under wraps.

Then, they would stir up a fight between the empire and the Cult of the Black God, and in the chaos, they would find the perfect chance to smack Giyen Ren in the back of the head and bring it all to a close.

"And after that, I can finally retire to my territory and live in peace." As he imagined the idyllic life of leisure he had always dreamed of, Karnak let out a sly grin. "Diogres, huh..."

Varos frowned and called out to him. "Young master."

"What is it?"

"There's something that's been bothering me."

According to Leoslav, Giyen Ren had been taken down by something as simple as a handshake. He hadn't suspected Emil Strauss in the slightest.

"Isn't Diogres in exactly the same situation?"

There was no reason for him to suspect Emil either. Even though they had fought alongside the Cult of the Black God, Karnak hadn't shared the secret of temporal regression with Diogres or Desteran.

"And the Emil Strauss who became the avatar traveled all the way to the Berus Federation to meet Giyen Ren."

This meant he had crossed the Seven Kingdoms Alliance, passed through the Lacania Empire, and traveled all the way to the eastern edge of the continent.

"Given that route, he could have easily stopped by Thea Krahan..." At Varos's pointed observation, everyone's expressions turned grim. "Would it really have been that hard for him to stop by and shake Diogres's hand on the way?"

***

In the western Lacania Empire, Cherendil Plains, across the vast wilderness, the cult army led by archmage Giyen Ren clashed fiercely with the imperial forces led by the martial king Taledo, Batalok.

"Charge! Charge!"

Knights clad in steel armor charged forward on their warhorses, while sturdy dwarf warriors swung their massive axes to meet them head-on. Brilliant auras tangled and flashed, scattering blood in every direction.

Behind them, the empire's heavy infantry and the cult's undead legions followed, respectively. Thousands of troops were entangled in a chaotic, desperate struggle.

When the archers of Taledo darkened the sky with their arrows, the elf mages of the Golden Branch retaliated, only to be countered once more by the human mages of Tower of Dawn and the empire's magic tower with precise counterspells.

The necromancers of the Cult of the Black God were fearsomely powerful in their own right, their shadowy spells wringing screams and wails from the battlefield. Under a sky choked with smoke and flame, the earth was soaked in blood.

All across the battlefield, massive shadows swept over the land, sending the soldiers into panicked screams.

"Dragons!"

"Dragons are coming!"

If they let the dragons run wild, the devastation would be unimaginable.

Diogres Kolon raised his right hand, and the Dawnshroud Staff in his grasp blazed with radiant light. "Let what must burn, burn."

A tempest roared to life. Dozens of whirlwinds transformed into towering pillars of red flame, surging upward to strike the oncoming dragons. The heat was so intense that the air across the entire plain pulsed and shimmered.

Giyen Ren countered with his own spell. "What belongs to the sky, return to the sky. What belongs to the earth, return to the earth."

The clouds above tore open, releasing blinding beams of light that clashed with the pillars of flame, igniting them further.

Power collided with power, shaking the entire plain. The power of the tenth circle truly surpassed human comprehension. The air in the entire area had turned into a viscous soup of concentrated mana.

Nothing could endure within this surging vortex. Even the massive dragons began to drift helplessly, like leaves in a storm.

Through the midst of this fearsome magical clash, a streak of golden light cut forward. It was Martial King Batalok.

With a single step, the ground beneath him caved in, propelling him forward by dozens of meters. As he stomped again, the earth exploded beneath his feet, launching him high into the air. In just two steps, a mere human now stood eye to eye with the dragons in the sky.

"You oversized lizards think you're something special?"

With a triumphant cry, a golden slash split the sky. The sword light, spanning dozens of meters, cut and cleaved through everything in its path. The dragons' agonized roars tore through the air.

***

After cutting down the dragons, Batalok landed back on the ground and took a steadying breath. Fortunately, the tide of battle was in their favor. Giyen Ren's forces were strong, but they weren't strong enough to withstand the combined assault of a martial king and an archmage.

It's about time to end this. Batalok charged directly into the heart of the enemy lines with the imperial knights. This was a plan coordinated with Diogres Kolon.

—We will pierce through the enemy center! Follow behind us, Master Diogres, and finish them off!

They had once been bitter enemies, Batalok and Diogres Kolon. For decades, they had been at each other's throats, each wanting nothing more than to kill the other.

It was no longer the case. Perhaps it was because the empire was in crisis, but Diogres Kolon had begun to follow Batalok's commands faithfully. Thanks to that, much of the animosity between them had faded.

Now that the two titans, the martial king and the archmage, had united as one, there was nothing left to fear.

"Charge, all units!" Leading the imperial knights, Batalok unleashed a fearsome assault.

Like a sharp spear splitting the enemy lines, the charge tore through, causing Giyen Ren's forces to collapse into disarray. It was the perfect opportunity. If Diogres would launch a follow-up attack now, they could secure complete victory.

Batalok shouted, "Diogres!"

But there was no follow-up. Even as Batalok and the imperial knights plunged into the heart of the enemy lines, there was nothing. Diogres?

An incomprehensible scene unfolded before Batalok's eyes. Diogres finally cast a spell, a powerful tenth circle incantation befitting an archmage. But it blazed forth toward the imperial army, not the cultists.

A massive inferno engulfed the imperial knights. Terrible screams rang out in every direction.

"W-what is this?!"

"What the hell is happening?!"

Batalok was thrown into chaos. Diogres suddenly betrayed us? Why?!

From afar, Giyen Ren watched with a cold smile.

"Loyal servants of Tesranach." As if he had been waiting for this moment, he gave the command to his entire army. "Capture the foolish tiger caught in the trap."

Undead swarmed from every direction. Dragons swooped in from above. Elves, dwarves, necromancers—all closed in on him, unleashing a torrent of auras, spells, and dark powers.

"Damn it all!" Swinging his golden sword aura, Batalok raged like a mad beast, but there was no way out. They had struck at a moment of perfect vulnerability, leaving no path of escape. Yet, he could not afford to fall so easily. "Do you think I will fall here?!"

The wounded tiger roared and thrashed violently, blood spilling endlessly. "I am the Martial King of Taledo!"

At that moment, two men appeared before him.

It was the elf archmage, Giyen Ren. "Yes, you are indeed a martial king."

And the human archmage, Diogres Kolon. "But a mere human martial king is far too feeble to stand against the majesty of Tesranach."

"Diogres, you bastard!" Batalok roared, glaring at him. A distinct black aura was flowing around Diogres's entire body.

It was the Shadow of Doom. "You've stooped so low as to become a filthy cultist for this treachery, blinded by your grudge against me?!"

For a moment, Diogres's expression turned to one of disbelief. "A grudge against you?"

A smile curled at his lips. "What a foolish misunderstanding."

It was a truly cold, mocking laugh. "As if I would still be holding on to something as petty as feelings from decades ago."

***

It was three days after leaving Astlin City that Karnak's party heard the news of the imperial army's crushing defeat.

Karnak voiced a question. "Diogres Kolon betrayed them?"

The young man who brought the news nodded. He was one of the imperial twilight cultists who had been hiding in the area. "Yes. It turns out he was truly a cultist of the Black God all along."

Many imperial soldiers had seen with their own eyes Diogres wielding necromancy on the battlefield, leaving no room for doubt. "Batalok is dead, and most of the imperial army was annihilated."

The problem was that it did not end there. "The dead martial king was resurrected as an undead, and now, leading the undead imperial knights, he has joined the cult's army. The empire's fate now hangs by a thread."

What was even more serious was the emperor's response. Claiming that Elezar and Dreltein had been right all along, he had reinstated the Kretas Order and the mages of the imperial magic tower. In their place, many of the mages from Tower of Dawn had been arrested.

Karnak pressed a hand to his forehead. "Unbelievable."

From the emperor's perspective, it was likely an attempt to root out cultists within the capital, but in truth, the mages of Tower of Dawn had almost no connection to the Cult of the Black God.

Meanwhile, the Kretas Order and the imperial magic tower had long been riddled with cultists nurtured by Elezar and Dreltein.

Varos shrugged and let out a bitter laugh. "Why is it that bad premonitions never turn out to be wrong?"