Mages of the subjugation army soared into the sky around Strauss Fortress. Wands raised, each of them unleashed their most powerful destruction spells.

"Fireball!"

"Energy Bolt!"

"Explosion!"

Even fourth or fifth circle spells packed considerable destructive power. A direct hit could easily breach even the thick fortress walls. But it was no use. Strauss had mages of their own.

"Raise the magic defenses!"

"Deploy the shields!"

Translucent, purple barriers appeared over sections of the fortress wall, intercepting the incoming destruction spells. Explosions erupted across the fortress.

The air shook, and the noise was deafening. Yet the walls themselves remained intact. Most of the spells had exploded in midair, never reaching their targets. Ironically, the subjugation army’s catapults were proving to be far more effective.

“Fire!" Four catapults hurled boulders one after another.

Magic barriers, after all, were designed to defend against magic. They could do nothing against the sheer mass of enormous boulders propelled by pure physical force. The boulders struck the walls with thunderous impacts, shaking the fortress.

There had been a time, long ago, when the advancement of magic had led to siege weapons like ballistae, battering rams, and catapults being considered relics of the past. A powerful mage could rival the destructive power of siege engines, only they were faster, cheaper to maintain, and far more versatile.

If you could just hire a mage, why bother hauling around these heavy contraptions? But as magic continued to advance, the need for siege weapons resurfaced once more. It was due to the fundamental difference between magic and physical weaponry.

You couldn’t shoot down an incoming arrow with another arrow. But you could intercept an incoming spell with another spell. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a matter of using the same spell to counter it.

Magic, by its nature, maintained a symmetry between attack and defense. If you wanted to block a sixth circle offensive spell, you could simply deploy a sixth circle defensive spell. Since magic involved restructuring the world's energies to manifest them into reality, as long as you could dismantle those energies in reverse, you could neutralize the magic.

Physical attacks, however, didn’t follow the same rules. You couldn’t deconstruct a physical attack with magic alone. You had to rely on a purely physical defense barrier. And that was where the difficulty skyrocketed.

A boulder launched by a catapult carried destructive force equivalent to roughly a sixth circle spell. But to block it without damage required at least a ninth circle physical defense spell.

The gap between offense and defense was simply too vast.

This was precisely why, despite the abundance of mages—walking human bombs in their own right—catapults still remained in active use. While a defensive magic barrier could block siege spells of an equivalent tier, blocking or shattering a flying boulder with magic was something even high-ranking mages could barely manage.

Thus, the standard strategy for breaching a fortress usually went like this: First, shake the walls with catapults. Then, have the mage corps bombard the enemy mages with offensive spells, forcing them to divert their power into defense.

If you left enemy mages idle, they would return fire at your siege forces with destructive spells of their own.

In that opening, aura users would lead the soldiers in scaling the walls. Aura blades were slightly more effective at breaching magic barriers compared to spells. Since both relied on manipulating energy, the aura’s force weakened just as magic would. But in this case, it was supplemented by the user’s raw physical power.

Even if the aura infused in the blade was neutralized, the blade itself remained intact, and so did the fact that someone was swinging it.

Following this textbook method, the subjugation army launched their assault on Strauss Fortress. Unfortunately, the results were far from satisfactory. To be blunt, it was closer to a complete failure.

There was good reason for that.

They’re relying too much on obvious tactics. From future Leven’s perspective, every move was one he knew inside and out. It was oddly familiar, almost strangely so.

These humans, who had countered his necromancy with such deftness, were somehow using only the most predictable, textbook strategies when commanding their own troops.

And there was another reason everything felt so predictable. Is it just me, or are they deliberately choosing only the kinds of tactics I would’ve used?

***

Watching Karnak, Serati muttered under her breath. "This feels like a dogfight."

"Wow, that’s a bit harsh, Sir Serati.” Clicking his tongue, Varos added with mock disapproval. "Even if it’s true that our young lord lacks the moral superiority over an actual dog, that’s a bit much..."

"No, that’s not what I meant.” Serati shook her head, then paused, wondering if Varos had actually insulted Karnak just now.

Either way, she hadn’t meant it as criticism. She had simply been reminded of dog fights she’d seen as a child. Both sides were skirmishing across the walls, yet neither side was truly pressing the offensive. Instead, they kept their main forces in reserve while simply watching and waiting.

It was just like watching two hostile dogs, each restrained by a leash, barking furiously at each other across a wall.

"Barking their heads off, but not biting,” Serati commented.

Karnak shrugged. "Well, it can’t be helped. We both know what the other wants, and I can’t afford to fall for it."

He cast a bitter smile toward the fortress. "And they know my objective just as well. That’s why they’re acting like this."

***

Future Leven had set a simple goal for this battle. He would remain holed up in the fortress and lure Karnak and Leven Strauss inside. He had no doubt they would come.

Leven had to save his father, Gellard, and Karnak was his liege lord. What’s more, Karnak was a man who had staked everything on stopping the Black God's Cult. There was no way he would stay away.

What future Leven hadn’t expected was that Karnak would take command of the entire subjugation army.

Resting his chin on his hand, future Leven grumbled in frustration. "And because of that, nothing’s going according to plan."

According to the original plan, if they remained holed up inside the fortress like this, their enemy would inevitably come to a certain conclusion.

—As long as the necromancer’s head remains intact, his limbs will continue to regenerate endlessly. Therefore, we must infiltrate the fortress in secret and eliminate Emil Strauss!

Fight many against many? Unless they held an overwhelming numerical advantage, the living army was destined to lose in a battle of attrition against the dead. Thus, the textbook strategy for fighting a necromancer was to form a small, elite team and carry out a swift, surgical strike.

It was no coincidence that tales of necromancers always featured a few mighty heroes facing off against liches or vampires one-on-one. And because of that, necromancers expecting to be targeted always filled their strongholds with traps, prepared for such assaults.

The same held true for the Leven within Emil. These days, even an average commander had some degree of familiarity with necromancy.

No matter how incompetent the subjugation army’s leadership, if the fortress was this impregnable, they were bound to consider infiltration and assassination as the surest method of victory.

And yet, they still stubbornly tried to break through the fortress walls. Future Leven could even guess why. Sometimes, when you’re too competent, you end up thinking this way.

The problem was that Karnak knew necromancy too well. In truth, the siege had not left Strauss entirely unscathed. The walls still stood firm, but the necromantic domains scattered throughout had been significantly damaged.

At first, he had thought it was a coincidence, but by now, he was sure. He’s been deliberately targeting them.

This meant Karnak not only had the means to detect the hidden necromantic domains but also understood their purpose. It was incomprehensible.

I knew he wasn’t an ordinary necromancer, but I never imagined it would be to this extent.

Even so, future Leven was confident Karnak wouldn’t remain passive forever. After all, it was the lives of the living that continued to dwindle. Strauss, on the other hand, suffered no real losses.

Well, strictly speaking, the Strauss family itself had taken significant damage, but the Black God's Cult had lost nothing. The dead knights had risen as undead, and the fallen soldiers too had returned to fight once more.

The cult’s necromancers remained safely hidden behind the fortress walls. That was why future Leven had ordered that the outer barriers not be repaired.

Once enough of the traps are disabled, he won’t be able to resist charging in.

***

Facing Varos, Serati, and Leven, Karnak spoke with a disinterested tone. "This is, essentially, a fight between a spider and a wasp."

The spider weaved its web and lay in wait. The wasp had to thread its way through the intricate web to sting the spider. If the wasp managed to avoid the web entirely, it would win. If it got caught, the spider would feast.

"I know it’s a trap. But even knowing that, I still have to force my way in and strike at the heart."

The problem was, Karnak found relying on this kind of tactic deeply unpleasant. Why? Because it was the same tactic his enemies had always used against him. And not once had any of them succeeded.

If even one had, the world would have been at peace long before Karnak rose to become the Monarch of Death.

"From my perspective, I’ve only ever seen this method fail. Can you blame me for not wanting to try it?"

Yet, there wasn’t much choice. Karnak had to capture the Leven within Emil. It was the only way to uncover their plans and thwart Tesranach.

Hearing this, Serati let out a dry chuckle. "So basically, both sides have to catch the other, but neither wants to risk a loss. It really is a dogfight."

What made matters worse was that both sides knew each other’s strategies all too well. Future Leven was using Karnak’s own tactics, while Karnak was using future Leven’s.

Because they were so tangled up in each other’s methods, any move was immediately read, leading to a cycle of anticipating and countering until everything returned to square one.

"In that case, shouldn’t we push forward, even if it means overextending a bit?" Leven suggested.

His proposal was instantly dismissed.

"That’s the mistake everyone who lost to me made," Karnak replied.

Many heroes of the future had ended up as pawns of the Monarch of Death after being desperate to advance, even at risk.

Leven nodded. ”Right... that doesn’t sound good.”

"Well, I do have something in mind," Karnak said, shrugging. In their current situation, if they wanted to advance without overextending, there was only one way. "We have to create a situation where they’re forced to use the necromancy we’re familiar with."

Serati narrowed her eyes, doubtful. "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

***

That evening, a sinister group known as the Twilight Order visited the subjugation army.

"We are servants of Serakal, the Goddess of Twilight! Children of the Goddesses, we have come to aid you in defeating the corrupt Strauss!” Demphis boldly declared.

The church was instantly thrown into an uproar.

"What audacity, for them to come here of all places!"

But it seemed the uproar was limited to the church alone. The other knights of the subjugation army reacted quite differently.

"Oh, Lord Demphis! It’s been a while."

"Lord Maloka as well!”

Strangely enough, they greeted each other like old acquaintances. Unexpectedly, many of the King's Orders from various nations had past dealings with the Twilight Order.

Even Karnak was surprised enough to discreetly ask about it.

—Demphis, how do you know him?

—I saved his family a few months ago.

—Maloka, what about you?

—Ah, I bribed their town just last month.

—Wow, you two have been very busy. Impressive!

Karnak welcomed the Twilight Order and its four governors with genuine delight. At last, the reinforcements he had been waiting for had arrived. If you were a wasp with no hope of dodging the spider’s web to strike at the spider itself, what could you do?

“Simple. You call in another spider and have that one tear through the web for you."