Chapter 421: The Deceived and the Deceiver (1)

Karnak deliberately drew the battle into scattered engagements in order to balance the power between the enemies and his allies as close as possible.

Martial King Dreltein, Malican Thun, Leven Straus, as well as Archmage Elezar and Diogres Kolon were all now locked in combat against evenly matched opponents. Even Giyen Ren had been tied down by their hidden card, Batalok, so it could be said the situation was unfolding quite well.

It was going well, except Serati took issue with it. "Wait a second, let's talk about Sir Batalok."

Karnak replied, "What about Batalok?"

"No matter how helpful he might be, turning a living person into a death knight is a bit much, don't you think?"

"What do you mean a bit much? he wasn't even alive to begin with." That was true. By the time he had fallen, he had already been turned into a death knight by Giyen Ren. "Besides, it's not like I forced him. I clearly asked him, didn't I?"

—Do you wish to take revenge on Giyen Ren?

—If I can have my revenge, I will pay any price!

—Then I shall raise you as a death knight!

"And that's how it went. No problem, right?"

"Maybe...?" Now that she thought about it, maybe there really wasn't a problem.

In any case, Rigail of the Wind had been left to the two archliches and Alius, so it could be said that they had made most of their limited strength. As for Jedex, the Fallen Pope of the Sun? He had already been taken care of by circling around the capital walls blowing horns.

***

Jedex's stronghold was located northeast of the grand cathedral.

"Damn it." He gnawed at his nails, growing increasingly anxious. "What the hell are they planning?"

Terrifying explosions were erupting all across the capital. Even from this distance, he could clearly feel the shockwaves of battle. And yet, no one came his way.

They were pushing with full force elsewhere, yet blatantly ignoring him. Should he mobilize now to reinforce the others? But could he really abandon this stronghold? Wasn't that exactly what Karnak wanted? But what would even happen if he left?

His thoughts spiraled into chaos, and yet, he couldn't act rashly. He had been fooled too many times already, and even now, everything about this situation felt suspicious.

In the end, Jedex's choice followed exactly as Karnak had predicted. He would faithfully carry out his assigned duty, just as Tesranach had ordered him to do.

At the very least, I won't be tricked again!

***

"See? Took out Jedex without even using a single soldier."

Karnak continued across the temple streets with a smug smile. Serati and Varos followed behind, keeping watch on their surroundings. After leaving Giyen Ren behind, they advanced swiftly toward the heart of the grand cathedral.

All of the Black God's forces were already engaged across the capital with the Twilight Army. There was nothing left to stop them.

At last, a massive steel gate stood before them. It had once been the place where three orders of the goddesses sealed the Shadow of Doom gathered from across the continent. Now, it was the place where the Black God's Cult sought to summon the Astra Shunaph. This was Tesranach's vault of darkness.

"Open it," Karnak commanded.

"Yes, sir!" Varos immediately drew his aura blade and swung.

The massive steel gate was cleanly cut into two with a single strike, the two pieces crashing into the ground with a loud thud. As they stepped through the broken entrance, they saw a blond, middle-aged man standing at the center of a hall steeped in darkness.

Varos let out a blank murmur. "Huh. Still using my face?"

It was Tesranach, the fallen guardian. He still bore the appearance of Varos from his days as death knight lord.

He swept his gaze over Karnak and his companions with a faint smile. "How unexpected. I knew you'd come quickly, but i did not expect you to stand before me so... unscathed."

It was a lie. Wasn't Tesranach himself the one who had been most anxious about something happening to Karnak? But he didn't know that Karnak had already grasped the truth.

He didn't know that Grateria's soul was still intact and safe. And to keep this hidden, Karnak's party had to appear as though they knew nothing.

After steadying her voice, Serati stepped forward. She leveled her blade at the god of death. "Tesranach, cease your actions at once! This world belongs to the living! It must not become a realm ruled by death!"

Crimson-black flames surged over Serati's entire body, the manifested Grace of Twilight realized.

"The Twilight Saint?" Sensing her presence, Tesranach clicked his tongue. "Remarkable, to think what I did could lead to such a result."

But it was nothing he needed to be wary of. "Foolish humans, mistaking yourselves for justice as you march toward your own ruin."

A black current rose from Tesranach's body as well. A dreadful death energy and malice spread outward, pressing in on them. "For I am salvation itself."

Karnak and Varos assumed battle stances while resisting the mounting pressure. Serati too wrapped her blade in crimson aura.

Watching them, Tesranach murmured as if in sorrow, "Though you do not realize it."

Serati let out a bitter smile inwardly. What do you mean we don't know?

She had already heard the worst of what Karnak had done—truly inhumane, disturbing acts—before the time regression. The problem was that, even knowing, she had no choice but to pretend she didn't.

***

Tesranach could not be defeated by strength alone. No matter how much Serati had grown or how refined their strategy became, the fundamental gap between them was simply too great. But according to Grateria, there was exactly one way to win.

—It is possible if I return to my body.

More precisely, Grateria had to possess Tesranach's current body once more. Tesranach had stolen Grateria's body using a time-regression technique. The dragon emperor had been taken unaware, forced to abandon his body and flee after desperately resisting.

However, it meant that under similar conditions, Grateria could also seize Tesranach's body. But this was not something he could accomplish alone. Though he was the dragon emperor, he had not reached such a level in necromancy. Even Tesranach himself had only barely succeeded by using the technique Karnak had left behind.

Hence, he made a request of Karnak.

—Create it. A necromantic technique that can produce the same result.

It was an absurd demand that defied common sense, but Karnak had once been the Monarch of Death. "I see. I hadn't thought of such a way."

He analyzed the method by which a future self had invaded a past self, and began reverse-engineering it. He realized that if time regression were inverted into a reverse temporal regression, it would be possible for a past self to possess a future body.

Of course, the current Karnak no longer possessed the power to perform such a large-scale technique. But he had something else, the Anti-Time-Space Transcender. If he used that artifact, could he apply the time-regression technique in reverse to enact the same effect?

The conclusion was simple. "It should work."

Even so, there was still a problem. If Tesranach realized what they were doing, he would prepare for it, and the moment he was prepared, the method would become useless. After all, the future dragon emperor had repeatedly driven off his past self after becoming Tesranach.

A key could open a lock, but only if there was a keyhole. If the opponent anticipated the action and blocked the keyhole, it would become meaningless.

In other words, they needed to create a definite opening. They had to force him into a state where he had no capacity left to prepare himself, even if he knew what was coming. Only then would they succeed.

—So you must drive him to the point where he returns to his true form. That will be proof that he is using his full power.

Serati looked dazed. "What did you say?"

They had to push that fallen dragon emperor far enough to revert to his true form? That massive, 500-meter-long dragon? The white cat let out a long sigh, as if reading her thoughts.

—There is no other way. This is the only method.

***

Pitch-black currents flowed outward from Tesranach and the pressure grew heavier by the moment. Varos took action before the pressure mounted any further. Silver aura erupted from him and transformed into massive chains linked to his blade. He unleashed a dazzling flurry of strikes.

Desteran-Style Chain Blade: Three-Legged Crow!

A dizzying barrage of slashes engulfed Tesranach, akin to dozens of serpents striking at once.

Tesranach dismissed the attack with a scoff and a light wave of his hand. A casual sweep of his hand through the air summoned a curtain of darkness that wrapped around all the chain blades. The aura chains shattered into countless pieces within the darkness.

Varos staggered back in shock and clicked his tongue. "Tch, figures cheap swordsmanship wouldn't work."

If Desteran heard that, he would've unleashed a torrent of curses. After all, Varos had been using it nonstop up until now. What was he complaining about? That said, even techniques on the level of a martial king didn't fare any better.

The ultimate techniques of Leven, Dreltein, and Malican Thun struck the curtain of darkness in rapid succession, causing the barrier to quiver slightly. But that was all. The attacks proved futile. They weren't powerful enough to break through the defense.

Karnak and Serati immediately joined the fray as well.

Karnak cast magic using his chaos mana. "Detonating Abyssal Arrows!"

Serati infused her blade with the grace of twilight and brought it down.

Twilight Swordsmanship: Prelude of Night!

Gray mana bolts rained down like a storm, and a massive pillar of flame swept over Tesranach. Terrifying destructive power poured in from three directions without pause.

And yet, Tesranach did not move.

"This is lacking." As if toying with them, he waved his right hand, drawing upon the Black God's Grace to repel everything.

Shockwaves erupted in succession, crashing into the three of them. Varos and Serati were blown back. They launched attack after attack, yet Tesranach didn't so much as flinch.

He was like an immovable fortress. He stood his ground while only sending out ripples of darkness.

Karnak, having taken comparatively less impact, frowned. "You're awfully relaxed, aren't you?"

A calm reply echoed softly through the hall. "There's no reason to exert myself for something so trivial."

It was the bearing of an absolute being, something only one with overwhelming power could display.

But inwardly, Tesranach was not as at ease as he appeared. Holding back like this is exhausting.

Why not just go all out? What if something happened to Karnak in the process? The moment Karnak lost a limb and thought, Well, this life is over, everything would spiral into hell. He had to subdue Karnak while keeping him fully intact.

The ideal outcome would be to isolate Karnak and expel him via spatial transfer, but that was easier said than done. Opening space, fixing coordinates, and moving a target required considerable time, and the buildup was apparent.

In other words, he couldn't just fire off some kind of teleportation beam and send him across the continent in an instant. Only after fully subduing Karnak could he use spatial transfer. But even that wasn't proving easy with Varos and Serati interfering.

So Tesranach waited. Others would soon arrive to subdue these troublesome pests.

***

Varos suddenly paused mid-swing and turned his head. Serati, who had been unleashing her twilight strikes, wore a similar expression. What is that?

Something was approaching them from beyond the darkness. However, the ominous presence gave off both a familiar yet unfamiliar feeling.

A smile crept across Tesranach's lips. "I have prepared suitable opponents for you."

Two knights emerged from the darkness. Their eyes were rolled back, drool dripped from their mouths, and their movements were stiff. They were like zombies in every sense. But they weren't zombies. Their hearts were clearly beating. They were breathing.

"Sir Desteran?!"

"Even Sir Chaplin?!"

Spatial transfer required thorough preparation, so even Tesranach couldn't immediately summon subordinates engaged in battles across the capital. As such, he had prepared countermeasures in advance.

Letting out eerie groans, Chaplin and Desteran drew their swords. Their silver aura blades flared with intense power.

Karnak and Varos were taken back. What was Tesranach thinking? A hostage situation, now of all times? It was completely absurd. Did he really think hostages would work on them?

"You two, of course, wouldn't even bat an eye." Tesranach knew that well. "But can you say the same for that woman?"