Karnak, Monarch of Death

The standard method of combat for priests was like this: They would wrap themselves in a barrier and bunker down, diligently granting blessings and healing spells to their allies while cheering them on to victory.

But in life, there were inevitably times when they had to fight alone. For that reason, most priests would at least learn some basic martial arts. In fact, Alius possessed rather excellent swordsmanship, and Milia had learned staff techniques, though she rarely found occasion to use them.

Of course, no matter how hard they trained, they could never match true experts. Especially against aura users, facing them with martial arts was as foolish as challenging a priest to a contest of healing.

Thus, when priests fought alone, they typically adhered to a particular method. First, they would wrap their entire body in an absurdly strong barrier...

"Alium, let the light of your blessing descend!"

...and then conjure a divine weapon to strike their foes!

"May the goddess' mace crush my enemies!"

Completing the divine spell, Relfiana extended her right hand toward Drel. A massive mace of light flew toward him at high speed. Drel responded with his silver aura, meeting the attack. His aura blade and the divine mace intertwined, tracing intricate trajectories in the air.

Relfiana's mace moved with precise, martial precision, as if guided by a skilled warrior, perfectly adjusting to Drel's sword path. This was the difference between priests and mages.

Weapons conjured through magic were extensions of projectiles. The higher the skill, the more accurately they could aim, the greater the destructive force, and the faster they could strike. Some spells could even execute complex defensive maneuvers, but they were still, for the most part, automated.

Priests, however, could move the weapons they conjured with their own will, wielding them with complexity. While the destructive power and speed could not match those of pure magic, the weapons they conjured could employ martial techniques.

"I'll crush your skull!" With Relfiana's shout, the mace of light flew in, striking at cunning angles. Dodging the onslaught, Drel shifted his sword stance.

Crossing his silver aura diagonally, he executed a cross slash!

Counter Force!

His plunging strike absorbed the force carried by the mace and deflected Relfiana's attack.

Her expression tightened slightly. It won't work...

As expected, the goddess' mace alone was insufficient. No matter how skilled a priest was in martial arts, they could never truly compare to a silver knight. But what if it was combined with necromancy? "Awaken! Let the cruel tongues of flame pierce my enemies!"

Flames shot up at Relfiana's feet, their tendrils reaching to strike Drel from all sides. Drel's calm expression stiffened slightly, though it was not fear of Relfiana's necromancy that unsettled him. Damn, my stamina...

His legs trembled, and his breathing grew ragged. Even though he had deployed his aura with maximum efficiency, his inadequately trained body was beginning to reach its limit. It was fine. Karnak had accounted for this when he split the team.

He called out, "Miss Milia!"

As if she had been waiting for this moment, she raised her prayer. "Latiel, grant your servant the blessing of light!"

Light enveloped Drel's entire body, restoring his stamina. The wavering silver aura once more shone brilliantly.

"Thank you!" Expressing his gratitude, Drel calmly struck down the approaching tongues of flame.

Truly, the realm of a silver knight had not abandoned him. His graceful swordsmanship emitted dazzling arcs of light as it continuously cleaved through the flames.

Through the gaps, Relfiana's attacks continued. "May the radiance of the moon be bestowed upon my hand!"

A massive white flash of light flew straight toward Drel. It was a time-delayed attack that struck the moment he created an opening by cleaving the flames, leaving him no room to dodge.

Then I'll counter it head-on!

Ignis Effect!

Scarlet flames flowed along the silver aura, striking the white flash directly. The two streams of power collided in the air, exploding in a dreadful blast.

Through the explosion, Drel staggered backward. His entire body ached. He had overused his aura, and his stamina was plummeting. "Miss Milia!"

"Yes!"

Once again, Latiel's healing wrapped around Drel.

"Thank you!"

Watching this scene, Relfiana's face twisted with frustration. What kind of lunatic is this?

There was no doubt that Drel was incredibly strong. He was a master warrior and an expert of the highest caliber. And yet, he would unleash a single massive attack only to start trembling. Then, after another powerful strike, both his legs would wobble.

She couldn't tell if he was strong or frail! If I could just push a little harder, I might be able to win....

But she couldn't manage just a little more. As a priest herself, she was naturally stronger in defense than offense. In the end, too much time had passed. Serati and Lapicel had defeated all the other cultists, and they were now sprinting toward Relfiana's position.

It was already overwhelming to deal with Drel and Milia, but if those two joined the fight now? It would be a dangerous situation for her to handle alone. She needed reinforcements.

Relfiana glanced toward the opposite side of the courtyard. What's happening with Leoslav?

***

At that same moment, Leoslav was thinking the exact same thing. What's happening with Relfiana?

He, too, was desperately in need of support. No, his situation was far more urgent than Relfiana's. A massive blond knight was approaching him, swinging a silver aura blade while unleashing a terrifying barrage of strikes.

—Delphiad Swordsmanship, Storm King's Barrage!

Each strike was powerful enough to tear human flesh like paper with even the slightest graze. Leoslav hastily summoned his barrier with all his might. Silver aura rained down upon the shield, bombarding it mercilessly.

Leoslav barely managed to withstand it, but Varos continued his assault. "Take this! And this! And this, too!"

With bizarre cries that may or may not have been battle shouts, he kept pounding on the barrier. Though Leoslav was holding on, the situation was entirely different from before. Previously, he had been able to withstand the strikes with his barrier, deflect them, and even launch counterattacks. Now, he was barely managing to hold on with his full strength, and that was all he could do!

Grinding his teeth as he was relentlessly pushed back, Leoslav cursed internally. Damn it all!

In truth, Karnak hadn't completely disabled his barrier. The foundation of Leoslav's shield was, after all, divine magic. No matter how formidable Karnak was, he was still a mage and a necromancer. As long as he was not a priest, he could do nothing about divine magic.

What Karnak had disabled was the necromancy, the dark side of the barrier. That alone was enough. The reason Leoslav's shield had been so powerful until now was because the divine power and necromantic energy had overlapped, amplifying each other's effects.

Strictly speaking, Varos's earlier comment had been inaccurate. At this point, Leoslav wasn't so much a turtle without a shell as he was a soft-shelled turtle, or perhaps a crayfish with a softened shell.

"Hah, pounding on a helpless guy like this is pretty fun." Varos, exhilarated, swung his aura blade down heavily through the air. "Alright, let's take a leg first!"

Leoslav frantically slammed his hands down, reinforcing the lower part of his shield as much as he could. Suddenly, the aura blade shifted its trajectory mid-air, curving upward and slicing toward his upper body!

The shield, now relatively weakened, could no longer block Varos's silver aura blade. The shield shattered, and Leoslav's right arm was severed from below the shoulder. With a desperate scream, Leoslav was flung backward, spraying blood.

And yet, even in that moment, he immediately restored the shattered shield, proving that his skill was indeed worthy of the title of fallen pope. Leoslav barely managed to stanch the bleeding with holy power while clenching his teeth.

A leg, he said! He said he'd take a leg!

"You bastard, you tricked me?!"

"We're not exactly on trusting terms now, are we?" Varos replied with a bright, teasing smile as he readjusted his grip on his sword.

He had driven Leoslav this far. It was about time to take his head. And that wasn't all.

Off in the distance, Leven Strauss was now approaching calmly. "I'm all finished here."

Him, too... Even in the midst of the excruciating pain, Leoslav forced himself to think calmly. There was no longer any hope for support from Relfiana, it seemed. Given that there had been no word from her, things likely weren't going well on her side either.

In that case, the only option left is... There was still one final measure remaining. Leoslav unconsciously touched the cube hidden in his robes with his remaining hand. No, I can't use this.

He couldn't waste it carelessly. This was a power to be used only when fulfilling the mission entrusted to him by Tesranach. Besides, hadn't he already expended a significant amount of energy using it once before? If he were to consume any more power here, Tesranach's plans would begin to unravel.

Just then, a thought flashed through Leoslav's mind like a lightning bolt. No, there's still one option left.

Why had he, despite commanding such a vast force, been driven into such a corner? It was because all his troops had fallen for Karnak's deception and had been pinned down.

Because he had ordered them to remain at the walls, wary of a diversion, none of the reinforcements had been able to leave the walls, leading to this desperate situation. If that was the case, then couldn't Leoslav simply head toward the reinforcements himself?

You may have thought far ahead, Karnak, but you didn't account for this, did you? With a triumphant smile, he began chanting a holy spell. A massive explosion erupted on the ground between Karnak's party and Leoslav.

Dust and smoke billowed, clouding their vision. Taking the chance, Leoslav lifted himself into the air with necromancy.

A dark shadow shot off into the distance in the blink of an eye. And yet, Karnak's party did not panic. They simply nodded with calm.

"Oh, he's actually running, young master."

"Told you he would," Karnak said lazily, casting Wind Walk over his entire body. "Let's go after him."

***

A man raced across the deep night streets of Astlin, his body enhanced by necromancy as he leapt swiftly over rooftops, heading toward the city walls. Just as he vaulted over yet another roof, suddenly, flames roared up at his feet.

A trap? A domain activating? Startled, Leoslav jumped backward. Fortunately, it wasn't a particularly strong spell, so he wasn't injured. Still, he couldn't help but be shaken. What the hell is this doing here?

A voice called out behind him. "Got you."

It was Karnak, Leven, and Varos. They had already caught up with Leoslav.

Karnak threw a mocking smile toward Leoslav, who had turned to look back. "Obviously, you'd try to run the moment you were disadvantaged. Did you really think I wouldn't have at least one trap set?"

In confusion, Leoslav scanned the dark streets of Astlin. He couldn't even begin to guess how many more powerful traps lay hidden beyond that thick darkness. To have prepared this thoroughly... just how much force did he commit to this?

There was no way he could even flee toward the walls like this. If he moved recklessly and fell into a truly deadly trap, it would be an irreversible disaster.

Watching Leoslav frozen in place, Leven inwardly clicked his tongue. Wow, Lord Karnak is so dirty.

A truly deadly trap? There was no such thing. The trap Leoslav had just triggered was the end of it. What, did he think Karnak could just set traps wherever he pleased?

There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. To set up a powerful domain took a great deal of effort and cost. That was why Karnak had simply set up a ring of weak explosive barriers around the administrative building. That way, wherever Leoslav tried to flee, he would step on at least one of them.

Of course, if Leoslav decided to make another break for the walls, that would indeed be a headache. But would he dare to move? He didn't know how much worse it might get if he did.

Leoslav wavered. What am I supposed to do now...?

Karnak offered him a cold smile. Now, there's only one path left for you to take, isn't there?