Chapter 413: The State of the War (1)

The battle in the Hulat region ended in an overwhelming victory for the allied forces. Not only were the three fallen popes defeated, but even Beltia, the Martial King of Darkness, had passed on to the other shore. The legion of the dead, numbering in the tens of thousands, had also been mostly annihilated.

It was a victory great enough to bring hope to those who had fallen into despair. In addition, there was an astonishing piece of news. At last, a new martial king had been born.

She was a prodigy of martial prowess, talent bestowed by the heavens, who had reached the realm of the golden blade while still being a teenage girl. She was Lapicel Allen, the Martial King of Zestrad.

As the Saintess of Twilight rose to prominence, Lapicel had begun publicly using her master Serati's surname. After all, Crotium had originally been Beltia's surname, and it carried too much risk of misunderstanding.

"Huh? Zestrad? That's our territory, isn't it?"

"Well, Lapicel is a knight of the Zestrad barony."

"Good grief. How did our backwater countryside become this famous?"

Varos and Serati felt a bit awkward about it, but since it was customary for a martial king's title to follow their place of origin, it was only natural. News of the youngest martial king in history spread rapidly, not only across the Seven Kingdoms but even into the Lacania Empire.

Grateria contemplated over this matter. For their plan, they needed Serati and the Twilight Order to rise to fame above all else. If Lapicel's reputation overshadowed that, it could interfere with their plans.

However, it proved to be an unnecessary concern. Those who heard the news of the new martial king interpreted it like this.

"Wasn't she originally the disciple of the Twilight Saintess?"

"So Serakal guided her onto the path of a martial king!"

In truth, that explanation sounded far more plausible. No matter how heaven-blessed a genius might be, how could a mere child reach the exalted realm of a martial king without the intervention of something transcendent?

And it wasn't entirely wrong. There had indeed been some transcendent influence involved. Rumors of a similar nature had already been circulating for some time. The Saintess of Twilight and her companions were all far too young for their level of power.

Dios was a ninth circle mage, but he looked strikingly young. Karnak, Varos, and Leven were barely in their early to mid-twenties. Milia, the so-called Twilight Angel was also a teenage girl like Lapicel. Drel, in his early thirties, was the oldest among them. Yet, all of them possessed strength rivaling the greatest on the continent.

How could such a thing be possible unless the Twilight Goddess had taken a liking to them and granted them special power? The Twilight Order had already been known for generously bestowing power. Thus, many people readily believed the rumors.

As a result, Serakal of Twilight and Chaos began to acquire the image of a war goddess, even a goddess of battle. Originally, warfare had been the domain of Katera, the Goddess of Flame, but even that territory was now being encroached upon. Those seeking power increasingly knocked upon the doors of the Twilight Order.

Grateria was pleased with this development.

—The faith in Twilight has grown even stronger.

However, Serati looked troubled. "Is this really okay? It feels too materialistic somehow."

A religious expansion built on such opportunistic faith might flare up quickly, but it would never last. Grateria dismissed her concern.

—It doesn't need to last. Once Tesranach is stopped, it will all be over.

If they failed, not only the Twilight Order but all of human civilization would be destroyed. If they succeeded, it would not matter if the Twilight Order declined afterward. The world would already have been saved.

Serati nodded in understanding. Ah... you're looking at this from a completely different perspective.

Perhaps because he had protected the entire world for thousands of years, his view was truly magnanimous in scale. Licking his forepaw, the dragon emperor continued in a serious tone.

—In any case, this is a good pace. At this rate, we may catch up faster than expected.

***

With their crushing defeat in the Hulat region, the Black God's Church lost nearly all influence over the seven kingdoms.

There were still remnants of necromancers scattered here and there, but they could be managed by the kingdoms. There was no longer any need for Karnak's group to hunt them down one by one.

Thus, they set a new goal and proclaimed it to the world: In the name of Serakal, we seek to save the world. Those with conviction, take up your swords beneath the banner of Twilight!

Many answered the Saintess's call. Powerful individuals, nearly ten thousand, gathered from all across the seven kingdoms.

Their forces ended up shrinking in number, but the quality of their forces was entirely different. Now, they were an elite force composed solely of powerful knights, mages, and priests. Considering the matter of supplies, they possessed both the strongest and most efficient army.

The army of ten thousand elites of Twilight crossed the Baracant Mountains with great momentum. Their destination was Harlan, a fortress city in the western reaches of the empire. It was where Elezar, the traitor of the empire and the fallen archmage, was stationed with tens of thousands of undead under her command.

***

Elven archers loosed arrows infused with darkness from atop the massive walls. Countless shafts poured down like rain. And yet, they could not touch the lone girl.

Lapicel's entire body was wrapped in aura as she rushed forward at terrifying speed. Every arrow that flew toward her was deflected and scattered by it. The brilliant radiance illuminating the battlefield drained the color from the elves' faces.

The aura covering the young girl shimmered golden. It seemed the rumours were true. She really was a martial king.

In an instant, the ash-haired girl reached the base of the wall and kicked off the ground. She ran up the wall as if it were flat ground, leaping dozens of meters into the air. In a single bound, she rose above the heads of the elven archers.

Croterian Sword, Blooming Rose!

A dazzling light cast harsh brilliance over their pale faces. Golden blades bloomed in all directions. Blood and screams mingled as a storm of carnage erupted.

The opposite wall had already been breached halfway. The twilight army surged forward without pause through the shattered gates. They roared with momentum while following behind the red-haired beauty at the front.

A heavily armored dwarf squad moved to block their advance. All of them raised massive helmet-shields and charged in unison. "We'll crush you all!"

It was the dwarves' fearsome signature tactic, the head-banging phalanx. The sight of hundreds of massive helmets swirling in front of them was utterly terrifying.

Shouts rang out from the twilight army, preparing to brace for impact. However, it turned out to be unnecessary. Serati stepped in first.

The red-haired beauty, her body wrapped in a dark crimson glow, shot forward like a cannonball. Then she delivered a single kick straight into the front of the dwarven formation. The shockwave rippled outward, scattering nearly half the formation in every direction.

Even before deliberately gathering Grace, Serati had been strong enough to smash through enemies with a simple kick. And now? She had amassed an overwhelming amount of twilight Grace. Her power couldn't be compared to before.

Twilight Swordsmanship, Evening Shadow!

The elongated blade of dusk battered the dwarven legion relentlessly. Each time the massive sword, over ten meters long, cleaved through the battlefield, dwarven soldiers were flung through the air like toys.

The dwarves in the rear muttered in disbelief.

"Good heavens... did a dragon take human form?"

"Otherwise, how could anyone possess such strength?"

One human mage in the battalion trembled as he retorted, "Even if a dragon took human form, it couldn't do that!"

"And how would you know?"

"Because I am a dragon!"

At once, the mage transformed into a dragon and took flight. It was not to attack Serati. I—I need to run!

To flee before a human was an unforgivable disgrace for a dragon. But no matter how one looked at it, that red-haired woman was not human. As the dragon spread its wings and fled in a frenzy, two figures watching from the battlements clicked their tongues.

"This leaves us with no options."

"Indeed."

They were Rigail Hunt, the Fallen Pope of Saisha, and Archmage Elezar.

Rigail surveyed the battlefield and asked, "What will you do?"

"What else can we do?" Elezar looked resentfully toward the southern wall. "As long as that man is here, we have no choice."

A black-haired young man stood atop a massive golem, continuously swinging his wand. "Come forth, those who uphold the world!"

The four great elemental giants, earth, water, fire, and wind, appeared all at once. Then, they charged straight into the undead legion before them. Low-tier undead like zombies, skeletons, and ghouls were swept away like straw.

Even so, Karnak did not stop. "Come again, you who uphold the world!"

He invoked spirit magic once more. Again, elemental giants of earth, water, fire, and wind surged forward, trampling the undead.

"While we're at it, why don't we go another round?!"

A total of twelve elemental giants ravaged the surroundings, reducing everything to ruin. The overwhelming spectacle sent the morale of the Twilight army soaring.

"Charge! Charge forward!"

"Slay every last one of those vile heretics!"

For Karnak, there were already plenty of techniques he could use in front of others without resorting to necromancy, including spirit magic, necromantic magic, and high-tier magic.

And yet, he deliberately relied on spirit magic on the battlefield. It carried a far better image in many ways. Ordinary soldiers would think they had powerful allies, but to the educated clergy of the church and the mages, Karnak's spirit magic carried an entirely different meaning.

"Good heavens!"

"How can he command that many spirits at once?"

Alius, who had been casting divine magic from the rear, muttered with pride, "Why else would they call Lord Karnak the Evil-Slaying Mage?"

After all, spirit magic could only be wielded by those of upright and pure character. Were not those countless elemental giants undeniable proof that Karnak was a true hero?

Because of that, Karnak, standing atop his golem, felt rather awkward.

—Wow... I feel a bit guilty hearing them.

Varos, guarding him, gave him a look as if this were nothing new.

—Really? Wow, young master, you've really become quite the decent person.

***

Less than half a day passed since the battle began when Fort Harlan collapsed on three sides. It was an absurdly swift fall, especially considering the might the Black God's army had shown thus far. That was because Elezar and Rigail, their true pillars, had merely stood by and watched.

"If I could, I'd like to at least tear off a few of that man's limbs..." Elezar smacked his lips in frustration. "But if we ended up like Valeria or Beneville, that would be a problem."

They had lost Martial King Beltia and three fallen popes to Karnak. This was not simply a matter of losing a battle and dying.

Under normal circumstances, even if they died, they should have returned to Tesranach. Yet somehow, Karnak had unraveled and reverse-engineered Tesranach's spell.

He wasn't merely exploiting a flaw. Tesranach had already anticipated his interference and prepared countermeasures. Yet, even those had been broken through. If they died here, they might not return to Tesranach.

"Let us withdraw."

"We shall."

Their figures slowly vanished into the shadows of the battlements. With its leadership gone, the Black God's army collapsed rapidly. Countless necromancers, undead, and soldiers were swept away in a brutal tide of slaughter, scattering like bloody foam.

Half a day after the assault on Harlan, the Twilight banner was finally raised high atop the tallest watchtower.

Serati knelt beneath it and traced the sign of the cross. "O Serakal, I offer this victory unto you..."

A soft glow of sunset light spread from her body as she prayed. The sight was so sacred that cheers erupted all around, praising the Twilight Goddess and her saintess.

Of course, Serati's true feelings were very different. Ugh... this is so embarrassing...