The sky over the royal capital was covered in crimson flames and ash-gray smoke.
At first, it had been no more than a tiny spark, but in an instant it spread into a massive blaze.
The burning buildings were like the hellfire of the underworld.
People fleeing with screams, the rubble of collapsing buildings, and the monsters forcing their way out from between them—it was a nightmare made real.
Terrified people burst out into the streets, screaming.
But before long, they were torn apart and devoured by the monsters that swarmed in.
On the bloodstained streets of the kingdom, shrieks and wails never ceased.
If hell existed, would it not look like this?
The Seil Kingdom had fallen into such utter pandemonium that the thought naturally came to mind.
* * *
‘Help Princess Irena and make her queen.’
That was the content of the special mission.
In order to complete the mission, I dispatched numerous monsters to the Seil Kingdom.
Judging by my experiences so far, I thought this matter would be over quickly as well.
But one variable appeared.
- The monster “Death Knight (★★★★★)” has been continuously affected by the Demonic Sword.
“What?”
A notification appeared, saying that the Death Knight had been affected by the Demonic Sword. And that wasn’t the end of it.
- Due to the influence of the Demonic Sword, the Death Knight’s rank has temporarily increased.
- Death Knight (★★★★★) has temporarily evolved.
- Legendary Monster, Death Knight King (★★★★★★★)
The Death Knight, which had been five-star, had abruptly become a seven-star Death Knight King.
“Huh…”
What was this?
A seven-star monster, out of nowhere?
It was a rank I had never seen, not only on the Eldorad Continent, but even in the gacha. At most, I had only ever seen it in books or heard stories about it when I was on the Eldorad Continent.
‘Even Celia is six-star, and now a seven-star appears?’
If the Death Knight became stronger, that was definitely a benefit to me too.
But there was a reason I couldn’t simply rejoice.
First of all, the first reason was this.
- After 6 hours, the Death Knight King’s temporary evolution will be released.
- Once the temporary evolution is released, it will become incapacitated for a certain period of time.
The Death Knight’s evolution into seven-star was only temporary.
In other words, it wasn’t a complete evolution.
‘Well, if it evolved all the way to seven-star, that would be broken.’
It evolves just by being affected by the Demonic Sword?
I would have immediately gone around handing the Demonic Sword to every monster in my dungeon.
If that happened, it was only natural that the balance would collapse.
On top of that, I’d be able to manipulate the Eldorad Continent however I wanted.
But there was a time limit of six hours on how long the Death Knight could maintain seven-star status.
‘This makes it really awkward.’
Six hours was far too ambiguous.
And after six hours, it would become incapacitated?
“Huh.”
But just how strong was a seven-star existence?
Since I had never experienced one directly, it didn’t really feel real.
At the very least, one thing was certain.
The current Death Knight King would be capable of destroying a kingdom on the level of Seil several times over within the time limit.
The problem was that I hadn’t dispatched the monsters because I wanted the Seil Kingdom destroyed.
‘If the kingdom is destroyed, Princess Irena can’t become king, can she?’
The main goal of this mission was the princess, after all.
Wasn’t that why I had devised a plan of my own using Maru?
It was a plan to have Princess Irena ascend the throne as queen. Destroying the kingdom made no sense.
“It’s not like I can send it somewhere else, either.”
The monsters I summoned had a fixed range of action.
The only reason I could dispatch the monsters to the Seil Kingdom was because of the special mission. Under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible.
Most importantly, I couldn’t send the Death Knight King elsewhere.
- Actions that exceed the designated range of activity are impossible.
At most, I could send it back to my dungeon.
But then there would be no point.
For now, the Death Knight King had to be utilized as much as possible in the Seil Kingdom.
But that led to another problem.
Just how far should I make use of the Death Knight King?
If I had my way, I would have wanted to let the Death Knight King rampage to its heart’s content.
But reality was different.
‘There must have been an omen when the Death Knight evolved…’
If the records in the books were true, an omen announcing the birth of a seven-star must have appeared across the entire Eldorad Continent.
If it was the Church, they would surely have begun preparing for war immediately.
And aside from the Church, it was only natural that every nation on the continent would be watching closely.
The only fortunate thing was that only the omen had appeared, and they wouldn’t know where that existence was.
In this situation, actively using the Death Knight King would be no different from advertising that a seven-star existed in the Seil Kingdom.
‘Then even if the princess ascends the throne, it’ll be a problem.’
It was obvious.
Would the whole world leave the Seil Kingdom alone after a seven-star monster appeared there?
‘They won’t leave a potential danger alone.’
It was clear without even looking.
The Church would be the first to move.
The Church’s entire military strength would march on the Seil Kingdom and search every corner like they were combing for lice.
Of course, due to the six-hour time limit, the Death Knight King would no longer be there, but the Church would not stop.
They might even designate the entire Seil Kingdom as heretics.
‘The Church are exactly the kind of bastards who would do that.’
And the biggest problem was that it wouldn’t end there.
Other nations would surely send troops after the Church as well.
All the nations and the Church might join hands and try to erase the Seil Kingdom from the continent.
If it ended there, that would actually be fortunate.
It would be a shame, but I could just cut the Seil Kingdom loose.
But after the Seil Kingdom, they would investigate the surrounding area.
The surrounding area would be the mountain range.
And in that mountain range was my dungeon.
‘There’s a risk my dungeon will be exposed too.’
Even if I hide it, if every nation on the continent begins investigating, its location being discovered would only be a matter of time.
And under the pretext of purification, they would try to subjugate every dungeon they found immediately.
‘Can I even stop all of them?’
The answer was no.
I shook my head.
I might stop them the first few times.
After all, my dungeon had Celia and five-star monsters, as well as various other monsters.
On top of that, if I summoned monsters in real time, defending it wouldn’t be difficult.
But that was only true for the first few times. I wouldn’t be able to stop the endless flood of numbers forever.
‘In the end, the dungeon will be subjugated.’
And if my dungeon was subjugated?
I would die along with it.
There was only one course of action I could take now.
The existence of the Death Knight King must never be revealed.
The right choice was to have it stay quiet for six hours and wait for the evolution to wear off.
‘It’s regrettable, but there’s nothing I can do.’
It wasn’t as if I didn’t want to see the Death Knight in action.
If I could have sent the Death Knight King to another nation, I wouldn’t have had to worry like this.
Reluctantly, I immediately touched the screen.
I moved my hand to give Celia an order.
- Hide the Death Knight King’s identity.
For now, reducing variables was the best option.
“Still, I learned something about the Demonic Sword, so I’ll be satisfied with that.”
Through this special mission, I had learned part of how the Demonic Sword could be used.
If a monster was continuously affected by the Demonic Sword, it would evolve.
Thanks to that, I came up with a few strategies using the Demonic Sword.
‘Well, for now, let’s finish the mission first.’
I hoped this special mission would end safely.
* * *
Celia looked out at the burning kingdom with a faint smile on her lips.
As she watched leisurely, someone appeared behind her.
“U-um… the tea is r-ready…”
It was a human woman dressed as a maid.
The maid came carrying a tray in trembling hands. Her hands shook so violently that the sound of the cup on the tray rang out loudly.
“P-please enjoy…”
The maid’s voice trembled terribly, and tears had even gathered at the corners of her eyes.
The fear carved into her pale face made it clear just how terrified she was of Celia.
The maid glanced at Celia’s expression, then quickly averted her eyes.
Celia looked at the tea the maid had brought.
The silver tea leaves floating atop the teacup were striking. Perhaps because the leaves themselves were silver, the brewed tea also held a silvery hue.
“Mm, it smells nice.”
It was a scent like flowers mingled with sweet fruit.
Celia placed her lips against the teacup.
The fragrant tea entered her mouth smoothly.
The aroma had certainly been sweet, but when she drank it, there was no sweet taste. Instead, a deep, mellow flavor greeted Celia.
“What is the name of this tea?”
Celia seemed to like the tea and asked the maid its name.
But the maid was so consumed by fear that she was in no state to answer the question.
“P-please spare me!”
Instead, she even dropped to her knees and begged for her life.
It was only natural.
She had been an ordinary maid working at a noble’s mansion. Until just a moment ago, that is.
But then, that horned woman had suddenly appeared.
When she appeared, the mansion became a scene of hell.
From the maid’s perspective, it would be correct to say the people had suddenly gone mad.
The knights and soldiers stabbed themselves in the necks with their weapons and committed suicide.
The others were the same.
The noble the maid served hanged himself, and his wife kept smashing her head against a stone in the garden.
It was truly a terrifying and grotesque thing.
And now, in this mansion, only the maid remained alive.
“Oh dear. I asked you a question, didn’t I? What is the name of this tea?”
Celia grabbed the head of the crying, pleading maid.
Then she looked into her eyes.
“Please spare…”
The focus vanished from the maid’s eyes.
It was as if her soul had left her body.
“……”
Celia smiled brightly and asked once more.
“What is the name of this tea?”
“Yes, it is a tea called ‘Moonlight’s Breath.’ It is named so because these tea leaves can only be harvested once every hundred years, on a night when the blue moon rises.”
The maid answered Celia’s question with an expressionless face.
Her voice no longer trembled as it had before.
“I see. Bring me all the ‘Moonlight’s Breath’ in the mansion.”
At Celia’s order, the maid immediately left.
Celia finished drinking the remaining tea. Then—
“Master has given me an order.”
She received another command from the great one.
At Celia’s words, shadows revealed themselves.
“Tell Mr. Death Knight—no, Mr. Death Knight King—to stay quiet for six hours.”
Master had said to conceal the Death Knight King’s form.
What could those words mean?
Celia understood.
‘As expected of Master.’
He must have judged that there was no need to reveal every card in his hand. Celia nodded and gave another order to the shadow.
“Master does not wish for Mr. Death Knight King to be revealed to the world. So tell him that if there are any witnesses who saw Mr. Death Knight King, he should deal with them all.”
Even if his identity was discovered, all that had to be done was eliminate the witnesses.
Master probably wanted this as well.
At Celia’s command, one shadow disappeared.
Then she gave orders to the remaining shadows as well.
“Mr. Necros’s strategy was very good. He is doing wonderfully.”
Necros had used the skeletons to drive humans toward the place where Princess Irena was.
Then, showing himself to Princess Irena’s knight order and Maru, he put on a performance of being subjugated.
Thanks to that, Princess Irena was receiving overwhelming support from the people.
“Tell Mr. Necros to continue doing exactly that.”
When Celia finished speaking, another shadow disappeared.
“Mr. Beter is doing well, so he can be left alone.”
Beter, the lieutenant of the dungeon managed by Azmo.
His race was slime, but he was known as a master of transformation.
In truth, Beter was moving about very busily.
- Her Highness the Princess is leading the knight order and subjugating monsters! Everyone, gather around Her Highness!
- Her Highness the Princess has subjugated an Arch Lich!
Transformed into a human, Beter gathered people together. His mission was to spread word of the princess’s achievements to as many people as possible.
And that was not all.
Beter raided money from nearby shops and used that money to hire humans to act as agitators.
- The kingdom’s nobles made contracts with demons and caused this disaster!
- Everyone, lend your strength to the princess!!
Thanks to that, he easily incited the crowd.
The effect of the agitation appeared immediately.
Enraged by the current situation, people were gathering at the mansions of nobles, carrying crude weapons and sticks.
Even now, at this very moment, Princess Irena’s standing continued to rise.
Celia was satisfied with the way they were growing closer and closer to their goal.
“A new kingdom for Master is not far off.”
* * *
The march of the knight order led by Princess Irena came to a halt.
Then one knight shouted loudly.
“An Arch Lich has appeared ahead!”
A five-star monster, an Arch Lich, had appeared.
But there was no fear to be found on the knights’ faces.
They had already subjugated an Arch Lich twice, so they were confident they would win this time as well.
“Knights, form ranks! Mages, prepare shields!”
And Maru, who was beside the princess, was also given a role to play.
“Sir Maru! We leave it to you again.”
The knight requested politely.
The knights showed respect toward Maru.
From their perspective, Maru was already an existence who had subjugated an Arch Lich twice.
And with a single blow at that.
The knights were sincerely impressed by Maru’s power.
‘As expected of a former paladin.’
Thanks to that, the story that Maru had once been a paladin had spread throughout the entire knight order.
Since the Arch Lich had evaporated without leaving a trace after a single burst of divine power, there was not a single person who doubted Maru.
Amid the knights’ support, Maru drew his sword.
He advanced, emitting divine power.
At that moment, the Arch Lich ahead began shouting loudly.
“Clack clack clack clack!”
The Arch Lich’s sudden action.
Could it be trying to cast a spell?
The knight order grew urgent.
“The Arch Lich is trying to use magic! Cast shields at once!”
But Maru could hear the Arch Lich’s words.
- This time, I wore a brown robe!
This was Maru and Necros’s third meeting.
“Clack clack clack!”
(Next time, I will appear wearing a red robe!)
And he had just promised their fourth meeting.
“Clack clack clack.”
(The time after that, I’ll send a Dullahan.)
He even promised their fifth meeting.
“What are the mages doing?! Cast the shields already!”
Because this Arch Lich’s black magic incantation was quite long, the knight order trembled in fear.