Karnak, Monarch of Death

Thousands, tens of thousands, of zombies and skeletons surrounded the Great Temple of Sellas. A woman with a sword in hand leapt forward and planted her foot atop a zombie’s head.

With a light kick, she propelled herself onward. Her movements were so weightless that even as she stepped across undead one after another, there was hardly any wavering in her balance.

A streak of golden light cut across the battlefield. Like a swallow skimming over water, she closed hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye. The knights who witnessed the sight turned pale. The golden hue surrounding her could only mean one thing. This woman was a martial king.

There was only one woman among the martial kings of the present age, so it wasn’t hard to identify her. It was Martial King Beltia.

Leaping over undead hordes and buildings in succession, Beltia reached the western wall of the Great Temple of Sellas in an instant.

The temple knights trembled as they drew their aura blades.

”Damn it...”

”To think the Martial King of Cyphras would appear...”

They too were aura users renowned for their skill, but they could never compare to a martial king. They knew with absolute certainty that they were no match. Their deaths were inevitable. Could they truly fight?

The temple knights did not retreat. They called out to Alium. Driving away their rising fear with faith in the goddess, the knights launched their attack all at once. Dozens of aura blades painted the air around Beltia in brilliant streaks.

Her expression remained indifferent.

Croterian Swordsmanship: Blooming Rose.

The golden sword flickered, and a massive flower of light blossomed. It was a flower of destruction that annihilated everything it touched. With not the slightest hesitation or disruption, her slashes swept through the knights’ necks one after another.

It took only a few minutes for every knight on the western wall to become nothing more than restless spirits. Beltia briefly gazed at where the knights had fallen. Longswords lay scattered across the ground where they had been wielded.

These will do.

After planting the sword she had been using into the ground, she brought both hands together. Golden aura vibrated violently and sent out massive ripples. Dozens of scattered longswords rose into the air all at once.

”Advance.”

The longswords glowed gold simultaneously before their tips turned toward a single point. They were aimed at the defensive line of the great temple that was still desperately holding.

”Pierce.” At her command, dozens of golden trails shot forward, filling the skies above the great temple.

Then the brutal slaughter began. Swords of light rained from the heavens, mercilessly tearing through the great temple. Almost no one could withstand that relentless bombardment. Swords snapped, shields shattered, and armor broke into fragments.

In the end, the western side of the grand temple collapsed in devastation beneath the meteoric rain of swords. Toward the shattered defenses surged the undead hordes and the Angels of Radiant Wings.

The dying priests cried out in despair. They called her a demon and questioned why a martial king would abandon the goddesses.

However, Beltia paid them no heed. Right now, there was only one thing that mattered to her. Golden streaks followed her scoff, severing the necks of the priests one after another. Fountains of crimson blood erupted, staining the walls red.

Watching from afar, Valeria wore a satisfied expression. ”As expected of Sir Beltia. Truly clean and efficient.”

She then extended her hand to the girl beside her. ”Shall we go as well?”

The child clasped her hand. Like close sisters, the two girls began walking forward together through the countless piles of corpses.

***

Death filled every direction. Standing before the countless corpses of knights, priests, and soldiers, Beltia looked up into the empty air. Black currents were slowly rising throughout the great temple.

Darkness gathered into a single point. Then it drifted toward the small girl holding Valeria’s hand and seeped into the child’s body.

The girl released Valeria’s hand and ran toward Beltia. ”Mother!”

Lifting the child into her arms, Beltia asked in a worried tone, ”How does your body feel, Lapicel?”

Nodding her head, the girl answered with feigned composure, ”I feel fine now, mother.”

Indeed, after absorbing the darkness, the child’s complexion had improved significantly compared to before.

The child examined Beltia from head to toe with a worried expression. ”What about you, mother? Are you alright?”

Even while suffering herself, the little girl was worried about her mother. What a truly remarkable daughter she was.

Beltia smiled softly and pulled the child closer into her embrace. ”Of course! Your mother is strong.” ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Gently patting the child’s back, she fixed her gaze toward the far side of the grand temple. Her eyes gleamed strangely as she looked upon the world filled with death. ”Just endure a little longer. Soon, Tesranach will make sure you no longer feel any pain, my baby.”

One of the necromancers watching the scene quietly asked Valeria, ”Is this really alright?”

”We never lied to her.” After answering calmly, Valeria raised her voice. ”I will go ahead, Sir Beltia.”

With that, she immediately led her necromancers into the depths of the Great Temple of Sellas. They were searching for the sealed chamber located deep within the great temple.

According to their information, that was where the Order of Alium had sealed a large quantity of the Shadow of Doom over the years. However, Valeria’s expression soured when she reached her destination. ”What is this?”

The chamber was empty. Or rather, to be precise, there was still a small amount of sealed darkness remaining. But it was far too little for something the Order of Alium had supposedly gathered over several years.

Only after interrogating one surviving low-ranking priest did she learn the reason. ”It was stolen?”

And not recently. It happened nearly a year ago. The absurdity left her speechless. ”Just who the hell stole it?”

***

The Black God’s cult did not target only the Lacania Empire. What they sought was the Shadow of Doom, which was scattered evenly across the continent. That meant not only the empire but also the Seven Kingdoms Alliance had become their targets.

After ravaging the western regions of the empire, Tesranach’s forces crossed the Baracant Mountains in massive numbers. The Kingdoms of Eustil and Atringen, which bordered the mountains, were brought down by their assault.

Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Felmayer, the Fallen Pope of Hatoba, Beneville, threw the western territories of the Seven Kingdoms Alliance into chaos.

Ordinary wars usually followed familiar patterns. They involved seizing territory, inflicting heavy casualties upon enemy forces to gain advantage in diplomatic relations, or conquering entire nations and annexing them into one’s own.

But the Black God’s Cult was different. They did not urge surrender, nor did they seek treaties. They simply killed and killed again. They were like swarms of locusts. They were like devouring plagues that consumed everything with endless greed, like natural disasters that brought nothing but ceaseless death.

Before such a catastrophe, one beyond reason, the Seven Kingdoms Alliance was helpless. Those who barely survived fled from death again and again.

The one who rescued those fleeing survivors was Alius. Since his first step had been gathering the survivors of the Order of Hatoba, Alius’s allied force essentially took on the nature of a rescue unit.

They avoided direct confrontation with enemy forces whenever possible. Their objective was to secure as many survivors as they could. Battle was merely a byproduct of that mission. People praised Alius as the Saint of Salvation.

Though the title embarrassed him, Alius did not reject it. Even if it was only a facade, having a reputation made it easier to rescue people. And so he traveled throughout the Seven Kingdoms, saving people, gathering survivors, and fighting against the Black God’s detachments.

They always avoided the main forces led directly by martial kings, archmages, or fallen popes, for they had no chance of victory against such monsters. However, that did not mean the smaller detachments were easy opponents.

***

The Tula Mountain Range divided the southern border of the Eustil Kingdom and the northern border of the Atringen Kingdom.

Alius’s allied forces had taken refuge at the canyon fortress of Kasukent, located at the entrance of the mountain range. After gathering the remnants of defeated troops, they had continued moving south, avoiding battle and searching for a safe location.

Fort Kasukent was not particularly renowned for its defensive strength. However, the surrounding terrain was so rugged that the geography alone provided a significant strategic advantage.

Even the allied force’s meager numbers should have been enough to repel most armies in a place like this. But things did not unfold as they had hoped.

Of all opponents, the Fallen Pope of Katera, Splendia Vitus, had personally arrived with a massive army.

”I ignored you as insignificant, yet you’ve grown far too troublesome. It’s about time to deal with you.”

In a way, this outcome had been inevitable. The rise of Alius’s reputation also meant he had interfered with Tesranach’s operations many times.

A vast undead army numbering in the tens of thousands surrounded Fort Kasukent in multiple layers and began launching fierce assaults. The undead surged forward like a tidal wave. Terrifying necromantic spells flew relentlessly. The fallen pope’s powerful sorcery shattered sections of the fortress again and again.

Even so, Alius and the allied forces endured desperately. For more than three days, they held their ground without the fortress falling. But that was only a temporary measure. They could not overcome the overwhelming difference in strength.

The allied forces’ casualties steadily increased, and Alius’s expression grew ever more strained. What am I supposed to do?

At this rate, the fall of the fortress was only a matter of time. Then, on the fourth night, as despair deepened, the long call of a war horn echoed from beyond a forest of broadleaf trees glowing beneath the setting sun.

Soon after, the forest shook violently as a force burst forth. It was an army composed of both the living and the dead, and they numbered roughly three thousand.

At first glance, they might have seemed no different from the Black God’s army, but there was an unmistakable difference. In the Black God’s army, the overwhelming majority consisted of monsters and undead, with only a small number of living necromancers.

But these forces were different. The living, the dead, and monsters were all evenly mixed. Not only necromancers, but knights, mages, and even priests, could be seen among them. Those who should never have been able to coexist were gathered beneath a single banner.

”What’s that banner?”

Upon seeing the crimson banner painted with the colors of sunset, the allied soldiers atop the fortress walls burst into cheers.

”It’s the Twilight Order!”

”The Twilight Order has come to save us!”

The three-thousand-strong force became a single massive spear, charging into the flank of Splendia’s main army. The tens of thousands of enemy troops split apart helplessly, divided cleanly in two.

Ordinarily, no matter how sudden the ambush, it would have been a difficult task to break through a powerful, massive army. But the Twilight Order’s forces were different. At their forefront stood the mightiest spear of all.

It was a young beauty clad in crimson armor. Her beauty was like that of a goddess, her brilliant crimson hair rippled like the colours of sunset, and a sacred aura emanated from her entire body. Wherever she passed, countless undead turned to ash and scattered.

From among the Twilight Order came fervent cries of devotion.

”Let all give praise!”

”The incarnation of Serakal drives back all evil!”

”The Saintess of Twilight has descended!”

Watching from atop the fortress walls, Alius let out a bitter smile. They’re deeply steeped in fanaticism.

Calling an ordinary human an incarnation of a goddess and all that? Though, considering he himself was called the Saint of Salvation, he supposed he was hardly in a position to criticize.

So that woman is the so-called Saintess of Twilight who’s been making waves lately?

Since she was an ally for now, he thought he should at least familiarize himself with her appearance and observed her carefully. Then, suddenly, Alius froze in surprise. ”Huh?”

The woman’s face looked familiar. No, not merely familiar. This was someone he knew well. He called out in confusion. ”Sir Serati?”