The sun disappeared.
The light vanished, and only darkness covered the sky. Soon after, the stars fell, and red dots began to fill the heavens.
“What is that!”
Could it be some god’s mischief?
At the sight they were seeing for the first time in their lives, the people fell into confusion.
Was it the wretched smallness one felt before the vastness of nature?
Terrified, people looked at one another. And before long, they recalled a single fact they had forgotten.
“D-don’t tell me!”
The existence of the calamity that was said to have plunged the continent into terror hundreds of years ago.
They realized that the being once dismissed as legend with the passage of time had returned.
“Everyone, run!”
The fear engraved in their memories began to writhe.
Thrown into chaos, people were busy shoving one another as they fled.
Adults clutched tightly at their children’s hands, but they were already tangled among the crowd, turning everything into a pandemonium.
Amid all this, a child who had lost his mother’s hand cried sorrowfully.
But no one paid him any attention. Rather, the frantic sound of footsteps merely overlaid the children’s cries.
This phenomenon did not occur in just one city.
Chaos unfolded across the entire Eldorad Continent.
* * *
Meanwhile, before the abnormal phenomenon occurred.
Princess Irena had also swiftly completed the ritual.
Though she had offered one of her own fingers for the ritual, it did not feel like a waste at all when she thought of the great undertaking ahead.
Even so, she needed to stop the blood pouring out.
The princess brought her hand directly to the candle flame.
“Urgh….”
The fire seared the princess’s wound.
Pain surged in.
“Haa… haa.”
Her breathing quickened irregularly.
A brief spell of agony continued, and soon the wound was more or less cauterized.
Princess Irena quickly wrapped a bandage around her left hand. Then she hid it by putting on a glove of generous size.
At that moment, the space inside the room warped.
“……”
Having experienced it many times before, the princess remained unmoved.
A moment later, two beings appeared from the distorted space.
One was the shadow serving as Celia’s messenger.
The other was someone Princess Irena was seeing for the first time.
“Oh my, you had a guest?”
His overall appearance was unmistakably that of an adventurer.
However, his head was concealed beneath a helmet made of iron.
Wearing leather armor on his torso while equipping an iron helmet….
Even as a princess, she found that appearance incongruous.
Still, knowing that he had come to help her, she said nothing about it.
Instead, she quickly checked the note the shadow delivered.
“Your name is… Maru. Ah, I shall call you Sir Maru.”
His name was written on the note.
For some reason, it was a cute name.
In addition, she was able to confirm what abilities Maru possessed.
- Capable of using divine power.
With just that much, she could guess what kind of plan Celia had devised.
Now that she had met the messenger, it was Princess Irena’s turn to prepare.
Princess Irena armed herself in silver armor.
If she were arming herself formally, she would have needed the help of her maids, but right now, it was merely for show.
Thus, Irena roughly put on the silver armor that only looked splendid on the outside.
“What I am about to do is for the kingdom.”
Princess Irena murmured to herself before leaving the room.
Having finished all preparations, the princess took Maru with her and left the room.
“Your Highness, everything is ready!”
Outside, her escort knight Lennon was waiting. As soon as Princess Irena came out, he immediately reported.
“But who is that…?”
Then he asked while looking at Maru behind Princess Irena.
At Lennon’s question, Irena brought out the excuse she had prepared in advance.
“This is Sir Maru, who will be helping us. He is an adventurer now, but he once served as a paladin.”
Had he been a mere adventurer, it might have been different, but at the word that he had been a paladin, Lennon bowed his head.
He did not know why such a person was coming out of the princess’s room, but now was not the time to question it.
Moreover, if he had been a paladin, he would certainly be of great help in this matter.
Once the brief introduction was over, Princess Irena gave the order.
“Sir Lennon, let us go.”
Guided by Lennon, Princess Irena headed to the place where the knights had gathered.
All of the knights stood in formation, waiting for the princess’s orders.
Among them were as many as five royal mages.
The church was involved in this matter.
In preparation for any unforeseen situation, they had even brought royal mages along.
“……”
Princess Irena swept her gaze over the knights once.
As expected of knights belonging to the royal family, there was no need to worry about their skill.
She could feel the resolve in all of their eyes.
Above all, the royal knights were the king’s direct troops.
They could be called a unit that acted and pledged loyalty solely for the royal family.
Princess Irena raised her sword high.
“We will surely be victorious! I will not forget your courage and loyalty!”
Her intention was to raise the knights’ morale before setting out.
“Our first destination is Count Beerton’s mansion. We depart at once.”
Their destination had been decided from the beginning.
It was the mansion owned by Count Beerton.
Princess Irena mounted the white horse prepared for her.
“March!”
With the knights’ shout, they left the royal palace.
As soon as the knight order emerged from the palace, they surrounded the princess and guarded her.
In the first place, the princess was not there for combat, so there was no need for her to stand at the vanguard.
Aside from the mages and a small number of knights, everyone moved on foot.
‘As expected, it is inconvenient without a finger.’
However, from the princess’s point of view, it would almost have been more comfortable to walk instead. Since she was missing one little finger, riding a horse was uncomfortable.
But she had to endure it.
For the sake of the greater cause, pain of this degree was nothing.
Amid the moving procession, Lennon approached Maru.
“Sir Maru. There is no need for you to walk like this.”
Lennon offered Maru a horse.
It was a measure taken because, rather than an ordinary adventurer, Maru was a high-level asset with a background as a paladin.
But Maru refused Lennon’s offer.
Maru had never ridden a horse before.
If he rode one for no reason and showed an awkward side of himself?
The claim that he had once been a paladin might be exposed as a lie.
Thus, he shook his head and expressed his refusal.
“Understood. If you tell me at any time, I will make arrangements.”
Lennon did not press him further and bowed his head.
Instead, his evaluation of Maru rose even higher.
‘That man is truly a real knight.’
It would have been comfortable to ride a horse, yet he did not.
At the sight of him silently focusing on his duty, Lennon was deeply impressed.
The procession of the knight order was peaceful.
Everyone simply walked forward, eyes ahead.
Even as they moved, Princess Irena sorted through her thoughts.
‘They said the Titan priest is there.’
Through the shadows, she had been able to hear Celia’s messages and news.
And Celia had said she obtained the information through the count family’s head butler.
As a result, the church delegation with whom the count had clashed currently included the Titan priest and Commander Gerard.
A Titan priest formerly of the Inquisition. And even Commander Gerard, who led the Paladin Order, the sword of the church.
‘It seems we should hurry.’
She only thought it inwardly and did not actually give the order.
Even now, it was difficult for her to hold the reins.
Instead, while maintaining their current pace, she pondered what to do once they met the church delegation.
What mattered was how she would proceed from here.
First, as the first hurdle, she had to talk with the Titan priest and Commander Gerard.
Since they were practically the real powers of the delegation, resolving the issue through those two was the priority.
It would be best if Count Beerton’s matter ended with the count himself.
If the Titan priest held the royal family responsible as well, things would become troublesome.
Princess Irena hoped that the count would stall for time until she arrived.
Well, even if he did not, she was not especially worried.
On the contrary, she was relaxed.
‘By now, the vice-commander must be moving separately as well, right?’
Riana, the vice-commander of the Paladin Order whom Celia had brought over to their side.
Vice-Commander Riana would likewise be raiding the mansions of the nobles.
Since skeletons had also been infiltrated into the mansions of nobles belonging to the noble faction, it would be easy to frame them as heretics.
Of course, they had not laid traps in every noble’s mansion.
The longer the tail, the easier it was to step on.
Rather, the number was smaller than the skeletons they had infiltrated into Count Beerton’s place.
That was not all.
Princess Irena had used the same method on some nobles belonging to the royalist faction as well.
If every point of contact led only to nobles of the noble faction?
Someone might become suspicious.
Even a cornered rat would bite a cat.
If someone learned of this, they might denounce it as cruel.
But Irena had made her decision for the sake of the kingdom that would be born anew.
From the moment they acted against royal authority, it was only right that they be executed for treason.
And yet look at the actions of the noble faction. They were openly mocking the royal family.
Irena could not help but be angered by that attitude.
It was necessary to seize this opportunity and reduce the nobles’ power.
The nobles, apart from their own territories, each owned mansions in the royal capital.
The land in the royal capital belonged to the royal family, so ownership of land was not permitted, but they could own mansions.
Irena found that fact unsettling.
Of course, there was nothing strange about that alone.
In other kingdoms and empires as well, nobles owned mansions in the royal capital.
If something happened, it was necessary so that the nobles could swiftly enter the palace.
But the current Seil Kingdom’s situation was different.
The distance from the royal capital to the palace was short.
What if the nobles decided to raise a rebellion?
The nobles’ mansions in the capital would surely become blades aimed at the royal family.
‘I must reduce the nobles’ power with this opportunity.’
As she thought of the nobles, Princess Irena’s expression hardened.
If this matter concluded well, the next step would be a large-scale purge of the nobles.
The nobles’ territories would lose their masters, and most would come under the possession of the royal family.
Or perhaps they would be bestowed upon those who rendered great merit in this affair.
‘I should leave it at that for now.’
Princess Irena pulled herself out of her thoughts and looked around.
Quite some time had passed since they left the royal palace.
Indeed, as they grew farther from the palace, the atmosphere of the streets changed.
Instead of being neatly organized, it looked like a chaotic mess, as if monsters had swept through.
“Aaaah!”
Just then, from far away, a man ran toward them screaming.
At the sudden situation, every member of the knight order had no choice but to stop.
“Halt!”
A royal knight shouted at the man running toward them.
The princess was in this procession.
For the princess’s safety, they had to find out why he was running this way.
“State your identity!”
Even though the knight went so far as to draw his sword, the man’s steps showed no sign of stopping.
Rather, the number of people running behind the man increased.
All of them were running toward them, screaming.
No, that sight was not simply them running toward them.
“W-we’re saved! It’s the knights!”
“Please save us!”
They were in the middle of fleeing.
“What in the world….”
Just who were they being chased by?
Behind the running people, the forms of monsters came into view.
They were countless skeletons.
As the fleeing people passed by the knight order, Lennon shouted.
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
Though he was the princess’s escort knight, he had been granted temporary command, so he could give orders.
Only then did the knight order grasp the situation, and every one of them raised their swords.
“The knight order will stop the monsters with all its might! The mages will support from behind!”
Lennon also drew his sword.
“We must protect Her Highness at all costs!”
He did not know why skeletons had appeared in the royal capital. But they had to protect Princess Irena.
The knights in the front drew their swords.
Those in the rear took up their bows and assumed positions to draw their strings.
The mages, too, were gathering mana and chanting spells.
A moment later, the knight order and the horde of skeletons collided.
* * *
“Clack clack clack!”
(We move to the next place!)
The first one to invade the Seil Kingdom was Necros.
Holding a thick notebook, he walked at a leisurely pace.
“……”
Behind him followed the Dullahan “Werther” and the rest of the skeletons without a word.
The monsters first assigned to Necros had consisted of only one Dullahan and fifteen skeleton knights. However, his current group far exceeded the number in that formation.
It was thanks to one of Necros’s skills, “Corpse Revival.”
If a 4-star lich could do nothing more than Corpse Explosion, a 5-star archlich possessed the skill to use corpses and turn them into skeletons.
Though they were low-grade skeletons, it was excellent for increasing the size of the horde.
“Clack, clack.”
(There are humans over there.)
Just then, more humans came into view.
At Necros’s command, the skeletons charged toward the humans.
“Kyaaah!”
Chief Administrator Celia had said they would save the kingdom. And there was the ultimate goal of spreading the will of the Master.
But in the current Sale Kingdom, the Order had already taken root.
There was no avoiding the Order.
In the end, to fight against the Order, the monsters assigned to them alone felt somewhat insufficient.
And so Necros killed humans and turned them into skeletons.
Even now, Necros’s horde continued to grow larger.
And he wrote down every single step of the process in his notebook. Even after becoming the floor guardian, he continued his role as an inspector.
- Necros saved humans by turning them into skeletons. This is grounds for praise.
- Death Knight is nowhere to be seen. Tardiness is grounds for demerit points.
Necros nodded.
He intended to grow his forces a little more before facing the White Order.
That had certainly been his plan.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion rang out.
The skeletons that had gone on ahead were swallowed by the blast and vanished.
“Clack?”
What was going on?
Necros surveyed the battlefield.
Ahead, he could see knights.
“Clack!”
And he was able to confirm the existence standing among them.
Maru, standing amid the knights.
‘Clack, clack.’
(This was unexpected.)
Celia had said that Maru was the key to this matter. But they had ended up encountering Maru far too quickly.
“Clack, clack!”
(Everyone, fall back!)
Necros acted quickly.
For now, the priority was to leave this place.
At his command, the remaining skeletons began to retreat.
“Over there… the owner of the demonic sword is—”
When the Dullahan saw Necros looking at him, he clamped his mouth shut and withdrew.
- Displays a tendency to obsess over the demonic sword. This requires correction.
Even in a situation that might have been urgent, he did not stop recording in his notebook.
- Maru, as expected of a knight who serves the great Master at his side, is skilled at infiltration. This is grounds for praise.
- Death Knight still has not shown himself. This is a serious disqualification as a mid-boss.
As Necros was diligently recording in his notebook, the sky darkened.
A moment later, red dots filled the sky.
Necros could feel it.
Didn’t it feel similar to when he had become the floor guardian?
He could even sense the source of the power coming from the sky.
Necros nodded.
- Death Knight, as expected, does good work. This is grounds for praise.
* * *
“You filthy bastard! Have you truly betrayed humanity!”
The Titan priest glared at Count Beaton while clutching his wound.
“No, that’s not—”
“No excuses!”
The count wanted to say something, but the priest would not allow it.
“Priest! We must leave this place at once!”
Beside him, Captain Gerard urged the Titan priest on. But the Titan priest remained where he was.
Until just a moment ago, the situation had clearly been advantageous for the Order.
But now, things were entirely different.
Most of the Order’s holy knights had been slaughtered.
The same was true of Count Beaton’s knights.
At first, all that had happened was that the lights in the banquet hall went out.
But after that, darkness fell over the sky. The stars in the heavens dropped, and countless red dots took their place.
There was no way the Titan priest and Captain Gerard did not know what that omen meant.
No, everyone here knew.
The great calamity of the past had returned.
But by the time they grasped the situation, it was already over.
“Why…!”
The Titan priest lamented in a voice filled with anguish.
Then he confirmed the existence beside the count.
‘Dangerous… This is not something I can stand against.’
Beside the count stood a being from which death flowed.
The moment that being appeared, the holy knights collapsed.
Every one of them died instantly.
“Urgh…!”
Merely looking at that being made him feel as though he would go mad.
If he lost his mind here, he would taste death that very instant.
“To think you awakened a great calamity…”
A 7-star monster said to have driven the Eldorad Continent into terror hundreds of years ago.
The Empress of Darkness, Sallestra.
The being beside the count was probably not the Empress of Darkness, but it was certain that it was an existence on par with her.
How had the count known to do something like this?
No matter how much he racked his brain, no answer came.
“Goddess…”
What is this lost lamb to do?
The priest muttered blankly.
That dreadful being, so terrible it was difficult to put into words, was holding a pickaxe.
But that was not what mattered.
The single sword hanging on his back.
From that sword, a chilling power could be felt across every inch of his skin.
How much blood did it have to drink to possess such a horrifying aura?
Could the entire Order stand against it?
He shook his head.
He could not be certain.
Then the Titan priest’s gaze moved to the shield in the being’s other hand.
A maid outfit, the sort a maid might wear, was attached to the shield.
“Oh… Goddess…”
Have you truly abandoned us?
Even in this moment, the Titan priest worried for the future of humanity.