Chapter 397: Oh! My Goddess (1)

It had been a month since the colossal dragon first blotted out the skies above the capital. Those who had received Tesranach's command each led the armies of the Black God and ravaged the entire world.

Humanity and the fairies were trampled before their atrocities, powerless to resist. The forces of Martial King Beltia and the fallen popes alone had reduced regions across the empire to wastelands.

The two archmages, Giyen Ren and Diogres Kolon, had possessed strength great enough to force the emperor to abandon the capital and flee. And now, the might of the Black God's army was even more overwhelming than before.

Martial King Leven Strauss and Dreltein had returned after being defeated and cast from this world. Archmage Elezar and the Fallen Pope Jedex had returned as well.

Even Martial King Malican Thun, who had been unable to return through space-time regression due to a lack of preparation, now stood in this era with a new body granted by Tesranach's power.

The forces of the Black God's army had been fully restored, including the Three Archmages, the Four Martial Kings, and the Fallen Popes. The only exceptions were Leoslav and Relfiana, who had been cast into the beyond by Karnak. Even Tesranach wasn't able to revive them.

Their mission was to gather once more the Shadow of Doom scattered throughout the world. There were three ways to collect the Shadow of Doom.

The first was to gather the third-rate necromancers who already took the darkness within them and absorb their power. Countless necromancers who had rampaged about, trusting in their half-baked strength, met miserable deaths at the hands of the Black God's army.

This made it seem as though they were doing something good for the world. The real problem lay with the remaining two methods. The second method was to be naturally chosen by the Shadow of Doom and gain its power. That method was left entirely to chance, making it impossible to attempt deliberately.

Thus, they chose the third. In Tesranach's name, they scattered pain and death across the entire world. When the Shadow of Doom overflowed as the result, it would naturally flow toward the Black God, just as water flowed from high to low.

They made no distinction between good and evil. They made no distinction between light and darkness. They simply slew and harvested all who breathed, even those who belonged to the same darkness. An indiscriminate hell unfolded, and no one could stop their advance.

In the western reaches of the Lacania Empire stood the fortress city of Harlan. This fortress, the emperor's final stronghold, was now being consumed by the flames of war.

***

On a cloud-choked night where even the moon failed to rise, a clear woman's voice shattered the silence. "Go, soldiers of the Black God."

At the languid command, the earth trembled. The piled corpses began to move all at once, merging into a single massive motion.

Skeleton soldiers gripped rusted swords and shields. Zombies swung their rotting limbs. Ghouls charged forward with filthy teeth bared. Countless undead advanced toward the fortress walls while voicing silent roars.

The imperial knights upon the walls glared at the sight, grinding their teeth. "Cursed monsters..."

"When will this hell ever end...?"

The undead clung to the walls like swarming ants with a single goal in mind: climbing upwards. Soldiers repeatedly thrust their long spears to halt the advance of the undead. Screams and shouts rang out from every direction.

"Hold them back!"

"Do not fall back!"

Soon after, arrows from the imperial army poured down beyond the walls like rain. Countless arrows sliced through the darkness, piercing the undead. However, they did not fall.

Even with their bones snapped, they advanced. They pressed forward despite their flesh being pierced. Their bodies, already dead, paid no heed to arrows. But the imperial army did not panic. They had already fought countless undead before.

Imperial mages stepped forward and began chanting. "O fire, descend upon the arrowheads!"

The arrows lodged within the undead ignited all at once. Those arrows had merely been catalysts to wield the flame spell more efficiently. This was the true attack.

Flames reduced bone and flesh to ash. Surging fire rolled over the fortress walls. The screams and groans of the dead shook the night sky.

Yet the Black God's army did not suffer passively. Necromancers emerged from the rear ranks of the undead. Soon after, black projectiles came hurtling through the air. Massive stones, driven by dark mana, were launched in rapid succession.

Each collision made the fortress walls shudder violently. Fragments of stone broke away, and cracks spread across the structure. Soldiers hurled themselves aside in panic to avoid the falling debris. "W-watch out!"

No matter how many undead were cut down, there was no end. The aura of darkness rose without limit, and each time it did, the undead soldiers only grew more savage. Even so, the imperial knights never retreated.

Behind them stood the emperor. Behind them stood the empire. How could they possibly dare to fall back!?

They urged one another on, forcing courage from their hearts. "We are already used to fighting the undead!"

Staring at the hellish army blanketing the horizon, they released a fierce roar. "Long live the empire!"

And then death descended upon them from above. There were dozens of dragons with wings fully spread. The dragons swept across the skies above Fort Harlan, gliding overhead. Moments later, dragon breaths rained down from all directions.

No matter how accustomed they were to battling undead, they were not accustomed to attacks raining down from the sky. Bloodcurdling screams erupted throughout the fortress.

No courage or oath could overcome the agony of flames consuming the entire body. Knights, soldiers, and mages alike scattered in every direction as they burned. The defensive formation collapsed in an instant. The walls fell, and the army of the dead surged into the fortress interior.

That sight was clearly visible even to the man and woman commanding the undead from the plains outside the fortress.

"It's over."

"They held out longer than expected, though."

They were Rigail Hunt, Fallen Pope of Saisha, and Archmage Elezar, resurrected by Tesranach.

Rigail questioned, "But is it truly fine for us not to step in ourselves?"

"We're winning anyway," responded Elezar.

"Even so, it's taking too long. At this rate, the emperor might escape..."

Suddenly, Elezar raised her hand into the air. "We're giving him time to flee."

Black currents gathered endlessly at her fingertips. The pain and despair of all who had died here were taking form as the Shadow of Doom.

With a faint smile, she murmured, "Hope must remain for despair to grow deeper."

***

Deep within Fort Harlan, Gottfried II held his forehead, lamenting. "So the thousand-year empire ends here..."

The defensive lines had already collapsed. Inside the fortress, knights were desperately blocking the enemy's advance, but the tide had long since turned.

The emperor despaired. "I have no face to show my ancestors..."

As the emperor despaired, his ministers pressed him urgently.

"This place is dangerous!"

"You must evacuate at once, Your Majesty!"

The emperor shook his head. "Where would I even go from here?"

He had already been driven from the capital and chased all the way to the borderlands. And now he was to flee even farther? Was he meant to seek refuge in the Seven Kingdoms Alliance? In the lands of the traitors?

The ministers raised their voices.

"Your Majesty is the sun of all people!"

"Even if the sun sets, it will rise again!"

"You must survive and remain the center of the empire!"

A mocking smile crept onto the emperor's lips. "The sun, you say..."

He was nothing more than a single human. He had only taken the throne because he was born to the right parents. What kind of sun of the people was he supposed to be? "Or are you perhaps telling me to be burned at the stake, merely saying it in roundabout words because you think I wouldn't notice?"

The emperor's self-mocking remark left the ministers momentarily speechless.

At that moment, a single mage stepped forward. "Your Majesty."

It was Stronoff, a mage of the Brigade of Purification. With a solemn expression, he looked straight at the emperor and spoke. "All people see Your Majesty as their center. Your Majesty's actual abilities have nothing to do with it."

"What did you say?"

"Even if a stone were placed upon the throne, if everyone regarded it as their king, would it not become a king?"

The emperor frowned. It was an outrageously irreverent statement. Had this been the imperial palace in the capital, he would have summoned guards and had the man dragged away at once.

But this was not the imperial palace, and there was no one here to drag that mage away.

The irreverent words continued. "As long as you are the emperor, whether you like it or not, Your Majesty cannot help but serve as the center of all people. So stop worrying about trivial matters like qualifications or ability, and please fulfill your duty at once."

The emperor's expression softened slightly. They were words he did not want to hear, yet strangely, in this moment, they also brought him a measure of comfort.

Qualifications and ability were merely trivial concerns. He would be fulfilling his duty as emperor simply by surviving.

Gottfried II let out a faint, powerless laugh. "Yes... I am the emperor. Not exactly an occupation that grants the luxury of dying beautifully."

He rose from his seat. "I will struggle until the very end."

The ministers escorted the emperor out of the office. The fortress stood on the brink of falling, so they had to hurry. As he followed them, the emperor sank into thought.

Where should he go? And what should he do now?

How in the world can this dreadful nightmare be stopped...?

***

Serati made her decision. "We have to stop Tesranach!"

The others in the group agreed.

"That's right!"

"Tesranach is an incompetent failure!"

"We can't entrust the fate of the world to someone like him any longer!"

Only the dragon emperor within Floke gave an ambiguous response. "Well... uh... that Tesranach is ultimately my future, so if he's incompetent, then that means I am too, hm..."

In any case, Grateria also agreed that Tesranach had to be stopped. However, there was just one small problem.

"So..." Leven pointed it out. "How exactly are we supposed to stop him?"

Just because one wished to do something did not mean it would simply happen. They needed to find an actual method to achieve the result they wanted. No matter how many failures Tesranach had suffered, that did not make him a trivial existence.

He was the strongest dragon who had lived for thousands of years, and every dragon on the surface obeyed him. By the authority of the dragon emperor alone, no being on earth dared oppose him.

Even Karnak had been unable to deal with him in life. He had only managed to defeat him after becoming the ultimate undead, Astra Shunaph.

And now that dragon emperor had obtained even the destiny of the Monarch of Death. Even the mighty martial kings and archmages were nothing more than his loyal subordinates.

This was not the time to worry about some distant future apocalypse. They needed an immediate solution to the crisis before them. The strongest being in the world, commanding the strongest force in the world, was trying to dye the world in death. How could they possibly stand against that?