Karnak, Monarch of Death

The Lacania Empire occupied the center of the continent. To the east, it shared a border with the Berus Federation—a city-state nation ruled by the fairy races—as well as with Dragon Land.

Strictly speaking, the Berus Federation existed in a scattered form across various parts of Dragon Land, but since the dragons themselves laid no claim to any official state, the borders were defined as such for convenience.

The Pellantia Mountains, running north to south, and the Duma River flowing southward, formed the natural borders in the east, serving as the empire's eastern frontier.

Ment Citadel was a massive border fortress built at Mentad Canyon, a strategic chokepoint where the Pellantia Mountains and the Duma River intersected. Befitting its critical role in guarding the empire's eastern reaches, it was surrounded by towering, thick walls and manned by the finest elite soldiers. It was a place of impenetrable defense that had never once fallen in the centuries since its construction.

Yet despite this, Lord Connox, the current lord of Ment Citadel, was in utter despair. "Gods above, I never imagined I would witness a war break out here..."

The dragons dwelling in Dragon Land rarely showed any interest in outsiders. If intruded upon, they would attack humans and fairies alike without hesitation, but otherwise, both were no different to them than pebbles on the roadside. For such dragons to willingly leave their territories to attack the empire was simply unthinkable.

And even in the rare instances when they attacked, it was never more than one or two at a time. Dragons were creatures of immense power, but humanity was by no means weak.

Young dragons that had yet to fully mature or gain intelligence were not foes to fear. With a sufficiently large army, they could be repelled with relative ease. Even adult dragons with intelligence, though undoubtedly fearsome, were manageable foes to the imperial army, given that they were individual dragons.

In truth, the real threat for this border fortress was the Berus Federation, the alliance of fairy races. Yet the Berus Federation was pathetically weak in comparison to the Lacania Empire.

It was not that elves and dwarves were easy prey. Elves, who lived for 500 years, and dwarves, who lived for 300, possessed countless advantages beyond the reach of humankind, not least of which was the vast difference in experience they accumulated.

Their average combat capabilities were indeed far superior to those of humans. However, the issue was sheer numbers. Even if one were to gather all the fairies of the Berus Federation, their total population would not reach even half that of the Seven Kingdoms Alliance, let alone compare to the Lacania Empire. Moreover, they were scattered across numerous city-states, making effective cooperation difficult.

Had these high-caliber races united their strength, they could have become a force the empire could not ignore. But as long as they remained fragmented and loosely allied, they were not a threat to be feared.

So much so that Ment Citadel's primary duty was not to watch for the fairies, but rather to monitor humans crossing the border. It was not uncommon for criminals from the empire to sneak into the Berus Federation in hopes of illegally hunting rare elves and dwarves.

Given such circumstances, war was thought nearly impossible on the empire's eastern border. The reasons for constructing Ment Citadel had been, firstly, that it was still a border that could not be left unguarded, and secondly, because monsters sometimes raided during the winter months when food became scarce.

Even then, those monster raids were small in scale and easily repelled. It was no wonder the fortress was deemed impenetrable. After all, no enemies capable of taking it had ever appeared, making its status as impregnable almost a given.

When Lord Connox was appointed to this post, his acquaintances had even consoled him, saying it was a form of exile.

"To think I would see the largest enemy force of my life here..."

Connox let out a hollow laugh as he looked out beyond the fortress walls. Monster raids? Those were commonplace. But to see their numbers reach into the thousands was something he had never witnessed before.

And to think that these thousands of monsters were being commanded by elven mages and dwarven warriors? Everything in his sight defied common sense. But it did not end there.

Nearly twenty dragons slowly circled overhead, in the dark blue sky above. While most were young dragons, a few adult dragons were among them.

He was certain, for dragons could be roughly aged by their size. There were at least four fully grown adult dragons among them.

Lord Connox turned his gaze toward the one responsible for this entire calamity. Though too far away to clearly identify, the figure's attire and insignia were unmistakable.

The supreme guardian of the fairies and the head of the Golden Branch Society, one of the continent's three greatest magical schools. It was the pursuer of the Tenth Circle, the Archmage Giyen Ren.

***

Thousands of monsters surrounded Ment Citadel. And from among that vast horde, a single figure stepped forward. He was a strikingly handsome elf, his long green hair cascading down to his waist and his golden robe flowing lightly around him. A wooden staff crowned with blue leaves rested in his hand.

At a glance, his beauty bordered on androgynous. Elves, by nature, had no body hair except for their eyebrows and hair, regardless of gender. Because of that, elven men almost always appeared androgynous to human eyes. The elf, Giyen Ren, began to cast a spell.

His pointed ears twitched slightly, and his voice, amplified by magic, echoed across the air and reached high above the fortress. "To the humans of Ment Citadel, I deliver this message. Kneel before the great God of Death and submit. These are the words of Tesranach."

The people inside the citadel were thrown into chaos. Giyen Ren, the great archmage himself, was a cultist? Though shocking, the discovery put all the pieces together. Everything started to make sense.

He had managed to command thousands of monsters and even force elves, dwarves, and dragons, beings that would never stand together, into his ranks. He must have used methods that defied the natural order itself.

A trembling adjutant turned to Lord Connox. "W-what should we do, Commander?"

Connox remained silent. He could not easily answer his subordinate.

The empire's military law was strict. If they surrendered without a fight, they might save their lives for the moment, but afterward, they would face a fate worse than death. They would lose everything, including their honor.

But no matter how terrifying future punishment might be, it could not outweigh the certainty of death standing before them now. The garrison of Ment Citadel numbered barely five hundred. In desperation, they had armed ordinary civilians from within the walls, but even then their total strength did not reach a thousand.

In peacetime, that was not a small number. It was more than enough to monitor the borders and hold back monster incursions. Even if a larger conflict arose, they could still endure for a period of time by fortifying themselves around the citadel.

But what about now? Before their eyes stood thousands of monsters, as well as dozens of dragons. It was a disparity so overwhelming that it couldn't be justified simply as a difference in strength. Even with the empire's strict military laws, surrender was the only logical choice in such a situation.

But that's not an option here...

If they were simply pitted against Giyen Ren, the archmage, he would have chosen to surrender without hesitation. Even if they were later punished under military law, the sheer imbalance of power might have earned them some leniency.

But their enemy was not the archmage, but Giyen Ren, a cultist of the Black God. The moment they surrendered, they too would be branded as heretics and enemies of the Church of the Seven Goddesses. Their souls would suffer torment even in death.

Connox hardened his resolve. "There will be no surrender!"

He urged the others to stand and fight. "Do you really think they'd spare us if we surrendered? They serve the God of Death!"

If they surrendered, they would all be slaughtered and turned into undead. The cult would undoubtedly spout their usual nonsense about gifting them the eternal life in the embrace of Tesranach.

"There's no choice left to us! All we can do is fight!"

The soldiers and even the conscripted civilians snapped back to their senses. "Y-yes, sir!"

Indeed, that was a common tactic among the Black God's cultists.

"Let's fight!"

"The Seven Goddesses will watch over us!"

Connox then played his final card, invoking one last shred of hope to raise their morale.

"I won't ask for much," he began, giving a rousing speech before the soldiers gripping their spears and swords. "Word has already been sent to the capital. If we hold out for just one day—one single day—reinforcements will arrive!"

From the depths of despair, a faint glimmer of hope flickered to life. Their voices trembled, but they shouted with all they had.

***

Watching the scene unfold, Giyen Ren clicked his tongue. "As expected, they won't surrender."

He had truly intended to spare those who yielded. That way, he could compel more to surrender in the next battle. But thanks to the atrocities committed by the Black God's cult up to now, no one trusted their promises anymore.

Giyen Ren shook his head. "Elezar and Dreltain should've shown some restraint... At this rate, no one will ever surrender."

Still, it wasn't much of a problem. The empire was vast, and there were plenty of fortresses ripe for conquest. Surely, at least one would surrender, and once others saw those spared, the situation would change.

But for now, he could not spare his enemies. He had to make it clear that refusing to surrender meant only one thing: death.

Giyen Ren gestured behind him. "Erase all life from that place."

A dwarf warrior with pale blue skin bowed deeply. "As you command, Saint of Destruction."

***

In the lord's office of Zestrad Manor, Karnak sat with a grave expression as he ate pudding with Varos.

He muttered, "Giyen Ren has invaded the empire under the name of Tesranach..."

There was no need to ponder the reason. It was almost certainly the future Giyen Ren who had returned through time regression. It wasn't as if this was the first or second time something like this had happened, so there was surprise.

However, there was something he couldn't understand about the current situation. "When exactly did they manage to swap Giyen Ren out?"

According to the archliches, three things were required to summon a soul from the future: An Anti-Time-Space Transcender, a necromancer to perform the ritual, and the current body of the subject.

Of these, the easiest to find was the necromancer. If one prepared a proper altar and a skilled necromancer, the summoning itself wasn't particularly difficult.

"They must have found a way to create an Anti-Space-Time Transcender on their own," continued Karnak.

He pulled out a black cube from his pocket. It wasn't the one he originally possessed, but the one that Elezar had held. He had found it in the remnants after she turned to dust and disappeared.

It seemed they had planned to summon the future Diogres on the spot once they captured him. Thanks to that, Karnak had secured another Anti-Time-Space Transcender.

"But who managed to secure Giyen Ren? He's an archmage, after all."

Varos tilted his head. "Wasn't it Elezar and Dreltein working together?"

As they had seen with Diogres, if that were the case, even Giyen Ren would not have been able to resist.

But Karnak shook his head. "It was far too quiet for that to have happened."

There was no way that a battle between the empire's martial king and archmage against the great archmage of the elves would not have spread as rumors.

"Well, let's say they somehow ambushed him and succeeded. Let's also assume that's how they managed to summon Giyen Ren's soul into the present."

It still felt awkward and left many questions. If Giyen Ren was already present in this era, Elezar and Dreltein would not have needed to go after Diogres alone. After all, if Giyen Ren had been involved, Karnak's group would have been utterly powerless to resist.

Varos made a suggestion. "Maybe they left out Giyen Ren for a reason we don't know?"

Karnak retorted. "Varos, you fought them too, didn't you? You saw it yourself. They didn't seem to know that Giyen Ren had already returned."

If they had known, they would have let something slip, at least in their tone.

Varos presented a counterargument. "So you're saying he returned after they died? Isn't that strange too?"

Elezar and Dreltein had been the two greatest powers of the Black God's Cult. If Giyen Ren had been summoned only after those two were defeated by Karnak, it only left one explanation.

"That would mean someone else subdued Giyen Ren, not a martial king or an archmage." Varos clicked his tongue. He couldn't believe it. "Does such a person even exist on the continent right now?"