Chapter 415: The State of the War (3)

Malican Thun, the Martial King of Caelum, had once stood alongside Leven Strauss, Dreltein Thelix, and Lapicel Crotium.

The current predicament originated back to after Karnak had brought all four archliches under his command. While spreading the ordinary faith in the Twilight Order, he had casually ordered that the present-day Malican Thun be located as well. It was to prevent the Black God's Cult from securing him and taking over his body.

To be precise, his original plan had been to beat them to it. He would summon the future Malican Thun and rewrite his slave contract. However, he changed his mind after being scolded by Serati.

Karnak had completely forgotten about his order since then, thanks to the numerous incidents that took place. However, Demphis had faithfully carried out Karnak's order.

Even while spreading the Twilight faith across the continent, managing regional branches, disseminating necromancy, and rushing to join battles whenever Karnak summoned, he had ultimately succeeded in finding Malican Thun.

Milia and Dios murmured in admiration.

"He really lives diligently..."

"Is it simply the way of the world that the capable are working the hardest?"

Malican Thun hailed from the remote eastern region of the empire, Caelum. He first took up the sword at the age of twenty as the disciple to Tao'nan, a purple knight. He had an unusually late start compared to many others. Even so, a genius blessed by the heavens was different.

Within just three years of wielding a sword, he awakened aura. From there, he continued breaking through his limits, and after about a decade, he surpassed even his master to become a silver knight.

Once there was nothing more to teach him, his master let him go. Thus, Malican left his eastern sanctuary and wandered the continent, walking the path of the sword. Under normal circumstances, he would have encountered the world's strongest, steadily honed his sword, and eventually ascended to the rank of martial king.

But the world had changed. The entire continent was suffering under the tyranny of the Black God. It was no longer a time to leisurely pursue the path of the sword. Instead, he fought the cult while traveling across the empire and saved people wherever he went.

As his name began to spread in earnest, he was eventually caught in Demphis's information network.

"I went to recruit him immediately," reported Demphis.

"Well done. Really, well done, but..."

Karnak hesitated. He watched as the black-haired man dominated the battlefield with his brilliant silver aura, and frowned in confusion. "Why is he wearing our order's emblem?"

The cloak Malican Thun wore looked oddly familiar. It bore the crest of Twilight.

As if it were obvious, Demphis replied, "Because he is a member of the Twilight Order."

"The Martial King of Caelum joined our order?"

"Well, to be exact, he's not yet the Martial King of Caelum."

Malican Thun would only become a martial king several years later. For now, he was merely an ordinary silver knight.

Intrigued, Karnak asked again, "Even so, how did this happen?"

"I preached to him with utmost sincerity. In a time like this, where else could Sir Malican turn?"

Do you wish to grow stronger? Do you wish to fight the strong? Do you wish to save the world? Then join the Twilight Order! Twilight is the ultimate answer! The Twilight Order had everything, including strong allies, formidable enemies, and righteous cause.

"That said, he hasn't become a deranged fanatic like Desteran." It seemed even Demphis knew Desteran was not exactly normal. "He's only registered with the order's registry."

Indeed, even in front of Serati, Malican displayed only proper courtesy. He was composed and dignified. It was a stark contrast to Desteran, who had made a spectacle of himself. "My name is Malican Thun. It is an honor to meet the incarnation of the goddess."

With a doubtful look, Leven muttered, "Anyway... he's on our side, right?"

Drel shrugged. "In times like these, if someone's alive, they're usually on our side."

After all, the enemy was trying to turn everything that breathed into something that didn't.

"Looks like fortune is with us." A smile formed on Karnak's lips. "With Malican joining, the balance of power should even out a bit."

***

Even after defeating Giyen Ren, Serati and the Twilight army continued to sweep through the southern empire while battling the forces of the Black God. Soon, they came across the army of Dreltein Thelix. Once again, the Twilight army claimed victory.

Dreltein had fled the moment he encountered Karnak's group without even bothering to look back. While everyone else praised Serati as the goddess of victory, only Karnak's group looked troubled. There was simply no way to stop them from running away. They even went as far as to have Karnak provoke him, hopeful it might work as it had with Beltia.

—Dreltein Thelix, you who once bore the unworthy title of martial king! Your cowardly and despicable actions will no longer be tolerated! I shall defeat you here and prove that justice still lives!

It didn't work at all.

—The command of Lord Tesranach is absolute.

With that, he simply fled in earnest, and there was no way to stop him. Under normal circumstances, one could form an encirclement or send a pursuit force to capture a fleeing enemy. But what if the opponent was an absolute powerhouse like a martial king or an archmage?

If the encirclement was too wide, they would simply break through it. And so, only someone as strong as those in Karnak's inner circle could block their path, but how could they predict where such an enemy would flee?

Karnak and Varos clicked their tongues.

"Tch, this is something we used to do..."

"Yeah, and it's annoying when someone else does it."

Perplexed, Serati asked, "Then couldn't you just use your past experiences against them?"

It was something Karnak had done to enemies plenty of times before.

Varos shook his head. She was referring to situations where they had failed. "The situation is a bit different. We've never once failed to escape ourselves."

They had never once failed to flee, so they had no idea how to stop an enemy from fleeing either. In any case, the enemy would escape, then reappear elsewhere to continue their slaughter while diligently gathering the Shadow of Doom.

Grateria spoke in a serious tone.

—This won't do.

Serati was certainly growing stronger. Each time the enemy fled, the undead forces they left behind were converted in large quantities into the Grace of Twilight.

—But Tesranach is also continuing to gather the power of darkness.

With their current strength, Karnak's group could not completely halt Tesranach's collection of darkness. At best, they could only slow it down. Sooner or later, Astra Shunaph would descend. So they had to stop it before then.

—But determining that moment is not easy.

***

Having cleaned out the southern empire, the Twilight army paused its advance and regrouped. Serati was overworked playing the role of the saintess, so she took this opportunity to finally get some well-deserved rest.

Two men were locked in an intense sparring match in the courtyard of a noble's estate in the Valour territory.

It was Leven Strauss and Malican Thun. Both were silver knights and prodigies destined to become martial kings.

However, Leven was nearly ten years younger than Malican. By all logic, Leven should have been at a disadvantage, but it was Malican who was being pushed back.

Despite being only in his early twenties, Leven's combat experience was astonishing. Malican prided himself on his own battlefield experience, yet he couldn't gain the upper hand against Leven. Resolving himself, Malican unleashed his trump card.

Tenebrae Art, Frozen Cataclysm!

A mist of cold spread out and engulfed the surroundings. Leven's expression turned strange. Ah, this one.

He planted his left foot back as a brace and drove his aura into the ground. A surge of heat erupted and swept away the cold mist entirely.

Malican's expression stiffened. He blocked that so easily!

The slightest mistiming or misdirection would have caused Leven's counter to fail. What Leven had done was an impossible feat unless he had completely and thoroughly seen through Malican's technique.

Leven felt awkward seeing Malican's visible shock. I already know that technique.

Varos had often used techniques copied from other martial kings. As a result, Leven had seen and experienced them countless times. So this is how Sir Varos felt when sparring with me, thought Leven.

Afterward, Malican faced Drel. This time, he discarded even the slightest complacency and immediately fought at full strength.

Tenebrae Art, Lamenting Thunder!

Aura-infused slashes crackling with lightning streaked across the air. Even so, the outcome wasn't much different from when he faced Leven. When Drel saw Malican's sword, he wore the exact same expression Leven had. Ah, this one.

Varos hadn't only exposed those techniques to Leven. Malican was continuously pressed before eventually becoming overwhelmed and knocked away. The spar with Varos that followed became even more absurd.

Tenebrae Art, Scorched Nightmare!

An aura imbued with fire shot toward Malican. Indeed. It wasn't Malican Thun who used the technique—it was Varos. How could someone seeing his swordsmanship for the first time use it so skillfully? Worse, Malican himself had never even known such a technique existed.

Malican Thun couldn't hide his shock. "Wait. What is that?" It was unmistakably Tenebrae Art. The flow of aura and its intent were identical. However, such a technique did not exist within Tenebrae Art.

Varos shamelessly admitted how such a technique existed. "It's a technique you will develop in the future."

"In the future?"

"Yes. The Goddess of Twilight showed it to me."

"What kind of nonsense is that...?"

"Then what trick could I possibly use to perform a sword technique of yours that hasn't even been created yet?"

It was so absurd that it almost made sense. "W-well, when you put it that way..."

Did the goddess truly do this? Then again, considering all the miracles the Saintess of Twilight had displayed lately, foreseeing the future didn't seem entirely impossible.

The last person Malican Thun sparred with was a gray-haired girl meekly holding her sword. "My name is Lapicel. Let's have a fair fight!"

At a glance, she looked nothing more than a cute girl. But Malican had already sensed the terrifying power hidden within her. Sothis is the Martial King of Zestrad...

Just how strong was someone who had reached the realm of a martial king? Carrying both anticipation and fear, he charged in, and paid dearly for his curiosity.

"As expected, you're strong." Her words were gentle, but her sword was anything but. "At this rate, you will soon reach the realm of the gold sword."

Contrary to her polite praise, she beat him mercilessly. Before long, Malican Thun lay sprawled in the courtyard like a rag. Gasping for breath, he stared blankly up at the sky. A hollow laugh escaped him.

In his homeland, there had been no one who could rival him. He had surpassed even his master in just over a decade. Since then, he had traveled the world and yet encountered none who could truly match him. However, his confidence was quickly crumbling. I was just a frog in a well!