Chapter 1216

'Did my magic improve without me noticing?'

A mage's skill could grow even during moments when they were not consciously aware of it.

And most of Einroguard's professors were powerful mages.

For mages this strong, with nowhere left to climb except the realm of an archmage, it was difficult to become stronger through ordinary training or research.

Their rate of growth became extremely gradual.

Because of that, it was more common to break through something that had been blocked through some experience or realization...

'I have been through quite a lot lately.'

A friend, a junior professor, and a student flashed rapidly through Professor Kirmin's mind.

This semester had truly been a brutal one filled with all kinds of incidents. Worse, not a single one of the three people above listened to Professor Kirmin.

If all that emotional suffering had unconsciously loosened some blockage in Professor Kirmin's magic, then it made sense.

It would mean there was still a little order left in the world.

I'll kill you! I'll kill you all! My domain! My palace! My slaves!

You're howling like that just because your domain is burning? Then I suppose you never deserved to have a domain in the first place.

"!"

The Yaksha King's powerful provocation was no longer especially surprising, but something else certainly was.

'The domain is burning?'

"There was a separate strike force!"

The professors of Einroguard finally realized the Yaksha King's stratagem.

No wonder the king had seemed far too relaxed. There had been a separate force moving independently.

'Wait. Then who's leading that strike force?'

A question arose in Professor Kirmin's mind.

What mage was there who could lead a separate strike force in the Yaksha King's place?

***

Hierdan kept a tight grip on the reins of the yaksha forces with carrots and sticks.

-Lord Hierdan. We destroyed the Blood-Mist Grave Basin.

"Excellent. As expected, the yakshas of Great Iron-Wall Mountain are the finest."

-Thank you! It is also our honor to receive the command of a great archmage!

Carrots for simple yakshas.

-W-we took casualties, but we captured the Tower of Heart-Thirst...

"You yakshas of the Seventh Golden Mountain are to return to your original post. Those like you are not even worthy of receiving commands."

-...Please give us just one more chance! I swear upon my true name that we will redeem ourselves!

And the stick for arrogant yakshas.

Not much time had passed, yet every last yaksha had come to obey Hierdan deeply.

-It seems we've destroyed all the places where the evil god's power was especially strong. Do you think it noticed?

"It will soon. But it doesn't matter."

Hierdan drew a short symbol in the air. A spatial gate opened, and objects poured out from a subspace warehouse.

They were evil-god worshipers of the Sanguros Order who had been captured alive in the Empire.

"Make these evil-god worshipers drink the potion."

-???

-Understood!

The yakshas were confused by the incomprehensible order, but obeyed for the time being.

'Is he trying to turn them into fodder for battle? But they're too weak to be of much use anyway.'

'Maybe he intends to sacrifice them.'

The evil-god worshipers were forced to drink the potion, but nothing happened.

They remained so unchanged that not only the yakshas, but even the evil-god worshipers themselves became confused.

What in the world was this?

Ignoring their gazes, Hierdan stepped in front of the captured worshipers and spoke.

"Beg your Sanguros to save you."

"You dare...! Our master will punish a mere mage like you with power beyond anything you could possibly imagine!"

"Good. Keep going."

"A blood curse will fall upon you!"

"Keep going. What are you doing?"

Hierdan called the yakshas over.

The yakshas, who had been staring blankly, asked back in confusion.

-Y-yes?

"I said provoke them so they keep begging."

Apparently deciding he had demonstrated enough, Hierdan stepped back several paces.

It felt almost as though he were saying, 'Now do what you just watched and learned.'

The yakshas were bewildered, but moved anyway.

-Y-your Sanguros is no more than an insect before the wisdom wielded by our king!

"You worthless verminous monsters! The Regent will never forgive creatures like you!"

Fortunately, the evil-god worshipers flew into a rage even at such pathetic provocations and displayed their faith.

The yakshas, initially awkward, gradually gained momentum.

-Raaagh! I'll chew Sanguros alive and eat its flesh!

"???"

"Wait."

Hierdan, listening from behind, called over the yaksha who had just spoken.

For some reason, the yaksha felt intimidated as it stood before Hierdan.

"Provoke them in a way they can understand. A god isn't a sheep raised by a shepherd. Saying you'll chew it alive and eat its flesh is hardly a metaphor that will resonate with them."

-S-sorry.

"If you understand, that's enough. Try again."

The yakshas resumed their provocations with renewed effort.

Of course, Hierdan did not simply let them proceed unchecked. Whenever a yaksha gave a weak provocation, Hierdan immediately called it over and reprimanded it.

If they had received this kind of scolding at the beginning, even their loyalty to the king would not have prevented them from resisting, but the yakshas were already thoroughly cowed before Hierdan and could not utter a word in protest.

-I'll remember that. Please forgive me.

-I'll provoke them harder!

The yakshas hurled insults with such fierce enthusiasm that one might have thought they had encountered the mortal enemies of their race.

Their fervor became so intense that even the evil-god worshipers, who had little but madness left, began to lose ground.

'Why in the world are we doing this?'

The commander of the yaksha forces from Great Iron-Wall Mountain could barely contain curiosity.

They were doing it because they had been ordered to, but the purpose remained completely incomprehensible.

-Lord Hierdan. Why do we have to torment these weaklings?

In the end, the yaksha could not hold back and asked.

Its eyes kept nervously watching Hierdan, worried that Hierdan might become enraged and punish it.

Contrary to that fear, Hierdan explained kindly.

"The faith they send is directly connected to the evil god. That means if we contaminate that faith, we can harm the evil god as well."

Sanguros, having awakened an ego, had bluffed that it no longer needed faith, but the power of belief sent by its followers was still connected to it.

If it truly had no need for that faith, it would never have created this kind of domain or built these places in the first place.

Before coming here, Hierdan had already captured evil-god worshipers alive together with the Skull Principal and manufactured alchemical potions for them to consume.

-It is possible to contaminate faith!?

"You're interpreting the word 'contaminate' too strongly. If that's difficult to understand, you may think of it as confusion instead."

Temporarily amplify the power of the believers' souls, then confuse their doctrine.

For example, the core doctrine of the Sanguros Order was sacrifice.

'Sacrifice something and gain power' was the central doctrine.

What if sacrifice was confused with prayer instead?

The concept of offering prayer and gaining power was not particularly difficult, which also made it easy to induce confusion.

"An ordinary divine being would not care even if its doctrine changed. It would not consciously perceive how its own power functioned. But Sanguros is different. Every time the power within itself is altered, it will experience confusion."

-Amazing!

"Normally I would not have explained it, but since the yakshas of Great Iron-Wall Mountain are the finest among you, I could hardly keep it from you."

The yaksha commander stared at Hierdan with deep emotion.

This mage truly had discerning eyes!

-You've seen us exactly right!

"Then you can provoke the other evil-god worshipers like this within the remaining time, can't you?"

-O-of course!

The yaksha commander was slightly worried, but could not bring itself to sound weak in front of Hierdan, so it shouted boldly for now.

They would do it somehow!

'We can manage it. Surely we won't fail.'

"Then go do it. I'll bring out new evil-god worshipers, so make them pray earnestly."

Watching the yaksha commander run off with renewed enthusiasm, Hierdan sank into thought.

If the yakshas slowed down again, another method of motivating them would be necessary.

'I should think of one in advance.'

What would work?

***

The evil god howled from pain it had never experienced before in its existence. It lashed out with power in every direction, but the pain did not diminish.

In front of it, all kinds of enemies were driving chains and wedges into it while inflicting alien sensations, while somewhere far away an unknown enemy was destroying the domain and contaminating its faith.

It was an unbearably frustrating battle.

Not once had Sanguros imagined that a fight against mages would unfold like this.

It had expected them to bleed against each other head-on and aim for one another's hearts...

Move aside!

Despite the roar, the Yaksha King did not move.

The wounds from which blood dripped rapidly closed, and in return, a vajra flew toward the evil god.

To think I want to get out of here and kill every last mage, yet I'm stuck like this!

With a howl, the evil god concentrated its power.

For now, it intended to break through this encirclement.

But then time slowed.

The evil god instinctively sensed that time around it had slowed as though someone were pulling on it.

You...!

Enraged, the evil god searched for the surrounding magic and attempted to restore the flow of time, but the others did not simply allow it.

The Yaksha King and the Death Knights rushed in and drove attacks into its body.

Several knights were forcibly unsummoned by the evil god's rampage, but it had no effect whatsoever on the state of the battle.

The evil god grew even more enraged.

Aaaaaaaagh!

Suddenly, the evil god's enormous form split into several pieces.

By any ordinary logic, it was incomprehensible self-harm.

If anything, it should have been gathering and condensing its strength, yet instead it dispersed itself like this.

Worse, forcibly splitting itself in such a way damaged its own power as well. It was self-harm in the truest sense.

-What's it thinking?

-Is it trying to break through by dispersing itself? Stop it! It's already weakened, and now it's split itself up.

The Death Knights were puzzled, but moved immediately.

Responding was not difficult.

They had endured by striking and retreating even when the main body was rampaging. Against divided avatars weakened by the split, there was even less cause for concern.

-One is heading toward the professors too!

-It doesn't matter. After all...

The knight who had been about to say that Professor Voladi was there and would handle it stopped short.

Something felt wrong.

'Professor Voladi is being pushed back?!'

The clash between the avatar and Professor Voladi clearly had the professor on the defensive.

Instead of the sharp movements normally displayed, Professor Voladi was being driven back while barely managing to defend, and the knights were startled.

For a moment they wondered whether the professor was laying a trap and deliberately luring the enemy in, but it did not seem that way either.

What in the world?

-It must have pulled some trick. Support them! If Professor Bagreg gets pushed back, Professor Kim will be in danger too. Send word to the king!

The Death Knights sent a signal toward the Yaksha King, who was holding down one of the evil god's avatars and gleefully pummeling it with golden fists.

-Your Majesty! Help the professors!

But the Yaksha King did not answer.

Instead, it seized the avatar it had been beating and struck it as though wringing the life out of it.

The Death Knights became furious at the sight.

'That yaksha bastard!'

They had always thought it suspicious, and now it seemed the king was finally revealing its true colors.

-Your Majesty! Don't ignore us!

I've prepared everything, so don't interfere. I need to finish off this avatar now.

-What did you prepare...?!

Rumble!

When the avatar fighting the professors suddenly reeled beneath a burst of lightning, the knights belatedly remembered that there was one student here as well.