Chapter 372: The Ultimate Form of Necessary Evil (1)

It was day thirteen of the imperial army's assault on the capital, Thea Krahan. Today, as always, the imperial army was launching attacks across the city. Karnak's party was, as usual, scattered among the various divisions.

But today's plan was slightly different from the days before. Karnak and Serati were with the fourth regiment of the imperial army. The two watched the movements of the other regiments as they conversed.

"What happens if your prediction is wrong, Lord Karnak?"

"The imperial army will suffer heavy losses."

"We'd be caught up in that too, you know."

"Well then... we'll have to run for it."

Truly, he was consistently himself. To say so casually that he would abandon his allies and flee? Yet Serati found herself seeing it positively. He hesitated when he said it!

At least he's developed enough of a conscience to realize that abandoning your allies might be something to be ashamed of?

For a man whose moral standards were so low they'd dug a basement beneath the bottom, this was truly astonishing progress.

"You're right. I hope your prediction turns out to be correct, Lord Karnak."

As she turned her head, she heard the shout of Sir Chaplin, captain of the imperial knights. "All units, commence the assault!"

Each regiment swiftly advanced toward the capital. They entered the city through different routes, moving toward their designated strongholds. The army of the Black God responded with waves of undead troops. Fierce battles erupted across the streets of the capital.

Up to this point, it was the same as always. But today, there was a change.

"Dragons!"

"There are dragons!"

The dragons, who had so far remained firmly stationed around the grand cathedral, took flight and directly entered the city streets. And it wasn't just them. Elven mages, necromancers, once priests of Ta'all, and all other reserve forces of the Black God's army were deployed in full force.

At first glance, it seemed almost irrational. Wouldn't the temple itself be left empty if they committed so many forces elsewhere?

"Today is the day!"

"The light of Lord Tesranach will descend upon this land!"

As they watched the fanatical forces of the cult surge forward, Sir Drel clicked his tongue. "It's going exactly as Lord Karnak predicted."

***

Thanks to Karnak's scheme, the army of the Black God had been unable to cull the faith of the Seven Goddesses Church for some time. With all the priests within the empire having vanished, it would take considerable time to find and kill them all.

However, there were priests whose locations were well known, and not just any priests either. There were high-ranking priests of great faith even among the church in the imperial army.

They were carefully selected from among the strongest priests in the empire, possessing powerful divine power and great influence over the faith of the people. Killing them would sufficiently reduce the church's faith to summon Tesranach's descent.

Naturally, the cult would now do everything it could to slaughter the imperial army. Upon hearing this, Karnak's companions came to a conclusion.

"Indeed."

"Even Martial King Batalok and the two archmages will leave the temple..."

"And in that moment, we'll slip in and detonate the sealed Shadow of Doom."

It was a perfectly logical judgment. Yet Karnak wore a frown. "Huh? You think they'll leave?"

"Won't they?"

"Come on, they're not going anywhere."

No matter how hard they were pressed, there was no way the likes of Giyen Ren or Diogres Kolon would abandon the temple.

To Karnak, who had once been the Monarch of Death, it was common sense that the strongest should protect the most important object, and since they were once his subordinates, they wouldn't stray from that logic. In fact, it was the opposite.

"Everyone but them will rush out."

***

Across the capital, the imperial army advanced toward their designated strongholds, cutting down and destroying countless undead as they fought fiercely onward. Up to that point, it was as usual.

As soon as they barely managed to secure their objectives, merciless magical bombardments rained down upon them from atop the temple's towers, the work of the two archmages, Giyen Ren and Diogres Kolon.

That too was as usual. But as the imperial army narrowly survived the magical onslaught, something different awaited them. Today was different from the days before.

This time, the forces of the Black God did not allow the imperial army to retreat quietly. Dozens of dragons soared over the capital, spewing breath after breath. Merciless flames, thunder, frost, and poison filled the streets.

"Damn it!"

"It's a breath attack!"

"Block it, somehow!"

The priests raised their prayers in unison. "May the light of the Goddess descend upon this place!"

A white veil unfolded, blocking the dragons' breaths. Light and draconic magic collided, shaking the air with explosions. Amid the shockwaves, the unharmed imperial soldiers emerged into view.

Fortunately, most of the dragons that appeared were still juveniles. Unlike fully grown dragons, they wielded draconic power purely by instinct, making them manageable for humans to withstand.

"Those damned winged lizards!"

"Bring them all down!"

The imperial magic corps immediately launched a counterattack, unleashing all manner of destructive spells toward the dragons above.

Burn to ashes, Flame Strike!

Essence of searing fire, Explosion Burst!

Encircle and strike, Lightning Bolt!

Flames, explosions, and lightning intertwined chaotically. The air around the dragons boiled, and fierce winds roared. But the dragons did not fall so easily. With fearsome roars, they tore through the storms of magic. Their cracked and battered scales shimmered faintly as they slowly healed.

It was the dragons' inherent regenerative ability. Aura, mana, divine power, and even necromantic energy, forbidden as it may be, humans and elves refined the energy of heaven and earth to the extreme, specializing it in a single direction. That was magic, aura, divine power, and necromancy.

Dragons, on the other hand, did not use refined magic. Draconic power was an unshaped, blended force. It could become destructive like magic, heal like divine power, or strengthen the body like aura.

Flying low above the imperial army, the dragons unleashed another wave of breath. Massive torrents of destruction set the capital's streets ablaze in thick flames. Under the horrific scars of destruction, the imperial army lay exposed, many groaning as they fell, bleeding.

A dragon that had swept past drew a wide arc in the sky before lowering its altitude to dive for another assault.

"They're coming back!"

At the moment when terror flickered in the eyes of the fallen soldiers, a powerful, almost regal cry rang out. "How dare mere beasts lay a hand on humanity!"

A man soared into the sky. His entire body radiated with silver aura. It was Sir Drel. He was a man destined to become a martial king in the future. Gathering all his terrifying talent and the experience he had amassed until now into a single point, he struck with his sword.

Kretas Swordsmanship: Celestial Thunder!

A blade of light split the sky. The dazzling strike pierced the dragon's heart in an instant, and a dreadful scream erupted from the dragon's maw.

The dragon's massive body, its draconic power and formidable regenerative abilities meaningless in the face of the blow, plummeted to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust with a thunderous crash. All were stunned by Drel's martial prowess, bringing down a dragon with a single strike.

"My god!"

"With just one blow?!"

Even for a silver knight, they had not expected him to be so powerful.

"But that swordsmanship looked familiar..."

"Is he from the Kretas Knights?"

Yet Drel's expression was far from pleasant. "Ow, my back..."

He had used too much force at once. Though his aura remained ample, the strain on his body was immense, and his legs trembled like saplings in the wind.

But collapsing like a sick chicken in front of the soldiers would deal a heavy blow to morale. Thankfully, it did not come to that. Having sensed his weakness beforehand, Milia rushed over to cast a healing spell just in time.

"O Latiel, grant your light unto this place!"

As strength returned to his body, Drel let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Miss Milia."

"Don't mention it—ah!"

Unfortunately, there was not even a moment to spare for warm gratitude. A bombardment of magic followed the dragon's fall. It was the work of Diogres Kolon, launching long-range attacks from the grand cathedral.

Dozens of fireballs shimmered high in the sky before beginning their descent. Each held enough destructive power to obliterate stone buildings with ease. The dreadful calamity rained down upon the imperial forces, including Drel and Milia.

"Damn it, curse my own miserable hide!" With an odd curse, a young boy threw both hands high into the air. "Let the overlap and the intertwining transform the void into thread, and let it descend here!"

A seemingly impossible amount of mana blazed forth from the boy's small body. A vortex of light swept around the falling bombardment and transformed into dozens of threads of lights.

The threads pierced each fireball one by one. It was as if a massive necklace of light had been woven in the sky, and the trajectories of the falling fireballs shifted, redirected toward the empty, uninhabited parts of the city.

Explosions rang out in rapid succession, causing the ground to turn over as if an earthquake had struck. The destructive force contained in the fireballs was absurd in its sheer scale.

The boy who had blocked that absurd destruction, Dios, clutched his head and let out a groan. "Ugh, this headache..."

He, too, was in a situation similar to Drel. After becoming one of Karnak's vassals, he had quickly regained his magical powers by accepting chaos mana. Unlike Drel, who carried the soul of a silver knight, Dios had been an archmage from the start, granting him a vastly greater capacity to wield power. The problem was that the body hosting this power was far inferior even to Drel's.

"Mi-Miss Milia, a little help here too..."

Milia quickly approached the groaning boy and cast a healing spell on him.

Dios weakly shook his head after catching his breath. "Thank you, hah..."

Milia did not respond with humility. She, too, was gasping for breath, struggling to steady herself. Casting healing spells repeatedly, and in such a rush, took a significant toll on her.

Exasperated, Milia clicked her tongue. They're the ones fighting, so why do I feel like I'm the most exhausted?

***

High atop the grand cathedral, Giyen Ren let out a breath of admiration while looking down over the capital of Thea Krahan. "They're not to be taken lightly."

Unlike usual, he had deployed far more forces than before. Yet, the imperial army was still persisting. "They are truly strong."

The imperial army's strength was remarkable, but the efforts of Karnak's party played an especially significant role. In some ways, they were inflicting more damage upon the Black God's cult than the imperial army itself.

Even so, Giyen Ren maintained his smile. He had pushed his opponents to the limit. He was convinced that there were no more surprises coming his way. There was no way the imperial army still had unexpected reserves up their sleeve.

He raised his staff, Golden Branch, high above him. "I can press the attack without worry now."

A powerful command surged down the tower, flooding the entirety of the grand cathedral.

—Go forth, servants of Tesranach! Slay the hounds of the goddesses and offer them to our god!