Demphis and the four governors, or rather, the four elders of the Twilight Order, were locked in fierce battle throughout Strauss Fortress against the aura users of the Strauss family. The four elders were legendary monsters in their own right as archliches and masters of the ninth circle. However, the Strauss knights were no easy opponents either.

Among them, Tirafar in particular was fighting an exceptionally difficult battle. He was facing none other than Kairon, one of the strongest warriors in the Seven Kingdoms Alliance.

His skeletal hands swept through the air, weaving magic as he drew a dark formation. "Serpent of eight heads, sink your fangs of death into my enemy!"

Eight streaks of darkness shot forth like arrows from the black magic circle. Kairon kept his gaze fixated on the oncoming dark serpents and swung his silver blade in response.

—Delphiad Swordsmanship: Storm King’s Barrage!

It was one of the secret techniques of the Strauss family, a technique often favored by present Leven as well. It unfolded through the blade of the silver knight, and as expected, its power was on a completely different level from Leven’s. With nine consecutive strikes, he shattered all of the serpents’ heads. Then, he continued his assault and charged straight for Tirafar.

Ah! Tirafar turned deathly pale as he hurriedly cast a defensive spell. Of course, he wasn’t actually pale, since being pale or flushed was only a feeling for a skeleton, but still.

"Shield of the Blood God!"

The silver blade hammered relentlessly against the blood-red shield. Even though he had deployed the barrier with full force, cracks spiderwebbed across it, and his whole body trembled under the relentless assault.

The strikes pierced him down to the bone—though in fairness, bone was all he had left. Though the thought was long, it all happened in an instant.

With a thunderous crash, Tirafar was flung backward. In other words, he had survived Kairon’s assault. Had Kairon’s aura blade pierced him, he wouldn’t have been knocked away. He would have been turned into a skeletal skewer.

Tirafar clicked his nonexistent tongue while trembling. Though he was still a skeleton, at least he had teeth. This one is truly formidable.

He had come to a realization after exchanging several blows. Kairon had the upper hand against him. It wasn’t merely because Kairon was stronger. Rather, the difference stemmed largely from their respective natures.

Being a silver knight and a ninth circle mage were generally considered equivalent ranks, but the actual outcome varied greatly depending on the situation. In large-scale battlefields, mages held the advantage. But in one-on-one combat, aura users had the upper hand.

In fact, the very fact that Tirafar, a mage, could stand his ground against Kairon, an aura user, was proof of his exceptional combat prowess. After all, Tirafar possessed the greatest combat capability among the four elders.

All of them were ninth circle masters, and they had failed to cross the wall of the tenth circle before becoming archliches. However, each had their own specialty.

In magical understanding, Demphis reigned supreme. In raw mana reserves, Kalaf led the way. Maloka, while poor in combat, excelled in non-combat fields. Tirafar, on the other hand, was unparalleled in combat application. In actual battle, he was the strongest among the four.

Even so, it was still a stretch for Tirafar to endure this long against the silver knight. Their compatibility was simply too unfavorable. However, the fight had not yet reached a conclusion because Kairon was not fighting at full strength.

It wasn’t that he was holding back on purpose. He was certainly fighting with effort. But fighting earnestly and fighting at full power were not necessarily the same thing.

As they fought, Kairon let slip a curse under his breath. "You wicked archlich!"

But the moment he said it, a flicker of hesitation crossed his mind. What was this wicked archlich even doing here? He had come to sweep away the darkness that had seized the Strauss family and to rescue martial king Gellard, hadn’t he?

Undead though he was, his purpose was clearly one of justice. Then why, Kairon thought, was he fighting here? Sure, Martial King Gellard had been taken hostage, but Kairon himself was fighting to protect cultists who worshipped the God of Death and commanded undead.

How could he possibly fight with true conviction in such circumstances? He couldn’t simply let himself be killed, so he fought hard enough to survive. But he had no desire to win.

Rather, in Kairon’s view, the best outcome would be for the intruders to kill Emil and rescue Gellard amid the chaos. Then he could surrender happily and be done with it. And so, with their purposes strangely aligned, the two of them found themselves locked in a prolonged battle.

In the midst of this drawn-out fight, suddenly, an overwhelming surge of darkness erupted from the center of Strauss Fortress. Tirafar and Kairon muttered at the same time.

"Is it Lord Karnak?"

"Is it Young Master Emil?"

Then they looked at each other, as if surprised by the other's words. Both had assumed that this phenomenon had been caused not by their opponent, but by their own master. Regardless, it was a power so overwhelming it was enough to make anyone recoil in shock. Naturally, doubts arose.

Just where did something like that come from?

***

Future Leven frantically looked around. What in the world...?

The entire inner fortress was being swallowed by darkness, and there was an immense surge of death energy coming from all sides. Despite having lived for decades, then many more decades in death, he had encountered only one person capable of wielding power of this magnitude.

When Tesranach had still reigned as the Monarch of Death, he had commanded the powers of darkness in just this way.

Panicked, Future Leven glared at Karnak. Could it be him?

No, that was impossible. It was true that Karnak had displayed many strange and extraordinary feats until now. But in the end, he was merely a living human, one who still possessed mortal flesh. How could a mere mortal radiate the overwhelming presence of the God of Death?

But the power of doom within the darkness is without a doubt...

Future Leven stared at Karnak in confusion. Karnak gritted his teeth and suddenly shouted, "To think you were hiding such wicked sorcery!"

Future Leven blinked dazedly. Huh?

Wearing an openly bewildered expression, Karnak also shouted to his companions. "Everyone, defend yourselves against the darkness!"

He truly appeared flustered. His face was earnest and his voice was filled with genuine urgency.

For a moment, Future Leven hesitated. Could it really not be him?

If that was acting, then this man was a master who had devoted decades to his craft. But how could a youth barely in his twenties have such experience?

Future Leven’s mind raced. Could it be another cultist in hiding?

Perhaps a necromancer of the Black God had come as reinforcements without his knowledge. It wouldn’t be surprising, considering how poor the communication within their own cult tended to be.

But even that didn’t quite make sense. Would our cult even have a necromancer capable of wielding such power?

Even Elezar wasn’t capable of achieving such a feat. Besides, she was bound by Tesranach’s command and forbidden from leaving the empire.

Then Karnak shouted once more. "No matter how vast its power, it remains a force of evil! Darkness shall never triumph over light!"

His voice brimmed with unyielding resolve, the steadfast spirit of one who would not bow to a cruel fate.

Alius let out an admiring sigh while casting healing magic on the unconscious Lapicel. Ah... such a heroic figure.

Serati and Leven, however, wore different expressions of admiration.

Wow. I didn’t know...

Humans really can be that shameless, huh.

Who else could have done this? There was no one but Karnak. And yet, here he was, playing dumb with a straight face, as if he were innocent, as if it were Future Leven’s doing.

The ridiculous part was that Future Leven was having a similar thought himself. Could this be my doing?

The spell that had turned Gellard into a death knight had been bestowed upon him directly by Tesranach. Even the cult’s necromancers hadn’t fully understood the spell. They had merely copied it like apes imitating a master. There were many parts of the spell that even Future Leven himself did not fully comprehend.

So the thought inevitably crossed his mind. Could this be Tesranach’s design?

Future Leven was at a loss. If that was the case, what was he supposed to do about this darkness? Tesranach never told me anything about this...

While Future Leven was lost in confusion, Karnak completed the spell he had prepared. He had played the part of the Hero Leven just to buy enough time for this.

Now this is where it truly begins!

Raising his wand high, he unleashed his magic. "Necromantic magic, Angel of Radiant Wings!"

From the center of the dark hexagram, a pillar of light burst forth. Brilliant radiance spread outward, devouring the darkness as it went, and as the shadows receded, light took their place.

Serati let out a breath of awe. It was a truly divine sight. Of course, she knew full well it wasn’t genuinely sacred light. Since it was Karnak's doing, there was no doubt the truth behind it was something far more sinister.

Even so, the scene unfolding before her eyes was too overwhelming to deny. No matter who looked at it, it appeared as though the light was gloriously purifying a land steeped in darkness. In the end, the light completely consumed the darkness within the hexagram and began to converge upon Karnak.

A pair of radiant wings unfurled behind his back. The sight was truly dazzling, as if there were countless diamonds on his back reflecting the brilliant light. At the same time, armor of light encased his entire body.

In an instant, Karnak’s form vanished, and he was replaced by a celestial being. It was the figure of an angel—just as people believed a disciple of the goddess might appear. It was an angel of war, who fought in the name of the Seven Goddesses.

Future Leven clicked his tongue. Damn it, I don’t know what that is, but it looks like it failed.

He still believed this surge of darkness had been Tesranach’s design, and that Karnak had dispelled it because of his own ignorance. Admittedly, to an outsider, it did look exactly like that.

After transforming into the form of an angel, Karnak spread his wings and radiated light. "Traitor of Strauss! This time, I shall punish your sins!"

A pure white wave of energy spread out from him. Future Leven scowled. It was an immense force, one even he, as the martial king, could not take lightly. But that didn’t mean he was overwhelmed.

"Hmph! It may look impressive, but it’s useless before a true sword!" Gripping his golden aura blade, Future Leven stomped the ground.

Karnak, now the Angel of Radiant Wings, beat his wings and charged to meet him. From the trail of light he left behind, the sound of an angelic hymn rang out like music.

Aaaaaaaaaah!

***

Varos sat slumped against a wall of the fortress, covered in blood.'Good grief, I feel like I’m going to die...

He had managed to hold his ground by elevating his aura to silver-tier, but he was now paying the price. A wave of excruciating pain was ravaging his body. Indeed, pushing beyond one’s limits always came with consequences.

Still, at least I bought young master some time to pull off whatever he was planning.

Watching Karnak, now clad in the image of a beautiful angel, Varos let out a faint chuckle. An angel? As if.

Others might have been fooled, but he knew the truth. He knew Karnak originally possessed necromancy of a similar nature.

That’s Incarnation of Divinity, Demon King of Chaos. He just slapped an angelic shell over it.