While Maru and Necros were in the middle of their meeting, Liana, the vice-captain of the Holy Knights, was also busily on the move.
“Sa, save me!”
A noble came staggering out of a vast mansion. He was running without even being properly dressed.
As a noble, one might have expected him to value his honor, but Baron Traken was simply busy fleeing.
Several soldiers ran after the baron, escaping as well.
Seeing the noble and the soldiers flee, a holy knight spoke.
“Vice-Captain, is it all right to let them escape like this?”
The holy knight’s name was Veneric.
He was a direct subordinate of Vice-Captain Liana.
At Veneric’s words, Liana also looked at the back of the noble fleeing into the distance.
“Just leave them be. They won’t live long anyway.”
Liana answered as if it were no great matter.
The place where she stood was pandemonium itself.
The surrounding buildings were engulfed in flames and collapsing, and blood-soaked corpses were scattered all over the streets.
The streets were already filled with skeletons.
With the situation like this, how far could that noble possibly run?
Liana had already stopped caring about the noble who had fled.
“Then what should we do about the remaining family members and servants?”
Inside the mansion, the servants and the baron’s family were trembling in terror, but this time as well, Vice-Captain Liana was firm.
“We leave them be this time too.”
Skeleton monsters had appeared inside the noble’s mansion.
Under normal circumstances, it would have been right to take the people living in the mansion away and investigate them, but the kingdom’s current situation was at its worst.
On top of that, there were not that many holy knights, so dragging prisoners around with them would be madness.
For now, she simply gave up on them cleanly.
“We’ve already searched the baron’s mansion, so we move on to the next location!”
The holy knights assembled at Vice-Captain Liana’s command.
Their current mission was to investigate the mansions of the nobles in the royal capital.
But there was no asking for cooperation. It was closer to a sudden raid.
They had the authority to investigate the nobles.
After all, the Church’s delegation had visited the Sale Kingdom for the very purpose of carrying out an investigation.
Priests and holy knights who had been heading to the Sale Kingdom had gone missing one after another. In response, the Church’s leadership dispatched a delegation, saying they would investigate the Sale Kingdom.
All of Vice-Captain Liana’s investigations were legitimate actions.
It was possible because the Church’s power was immense.
“……”
Vice-Captain Liana looked over the mansion of Baron Traken, who had just fled.
There was nothing more to see here now.
‘To think they would be here too….’
But her heart grew heavy.
It was because she had discovered skeletons in the noble’s mansion she had just investigated.
And it was not as if she had merely found them. The skeletons had been disguised as knights. It would be more fitting to say they had infiltrated the place.
Not only in Baron Traken’s mansion, but in the mansions of most of the nobles she had investigated before, she had been able to find skeletons disguised as knights.
“Everything the messenger of the Goddess said was true.”
It was as Veneric said.
Everything was just as that person had said.
That person must have foreseen this and given them the mission.
Vice-Captain Liana had infiltrated the kingdom several days earlier than the Church’s delegation.
Thanks to that, during the investigation, she had encountered a new fateful connection.
It was the fateful connection known as the messenger of the Goddess, Lord Maru.
His appearance was that of a skeleton. But he carried divine power. An ordinary undead monster could never do such a thing.
It was surely a sight that could be called a miracle. And Liana and her subordinates had witnessed that miracle.
Such a miracle would be impossible unless he were the messenger of the Goddess.
Liana revered the messenger of the Goddess.
She did not know why he had descended upon the earth, but surely everything was the will of the Goddess.
At the time, Liana and the holy knights who witnessed the miracle swore loyalty to Maru, the messenger.
They would act only for the Goddess, only for Lord Maru, the proxy of the Goddess.
And one mission had been given to Liana.
—Investigate the nobles of the Sale Kingdom.
At the mission given by Lord Maru, Vice-Captain Liana and the holy knights had continued investigating the nobles.
“That is correct. Lord Maru foresaw this matter in advance. To think they would dare do such things! They have deceived the Church!”
This time, the voice belonged to Eric.
Eric, also a holy knight, shouted in a voice full of anger.
Eric was the only holy knight who could understand and convey Maru’s words. And conveying the words of Maru, the messenger of the Goddess, was the same as conveying the words of the Goddess.
That was why Liana listened closely to Eric’s words.
“Judging from these incidents alone, I suspect it may be a trap laid by the kingdom’s nobles to keep the royal family in check.”
Eric cautiously conveyed his opinion while gauging Liana’s reaction.
Of course, it was not actually his opinion.
Eric’s true identity was a banshee controlling a holy knight.
He was merely relaying Celia’s orders exactly as given.
Above all, the reason the banshee controlling Eric could stand proudly before Vice-Captain Liana was all thanks to the great master’s enhancement.
Because the banshee also possessed divine power, Liana noticed nothing about Eric.
On the contrary, after hearing Eric’s words, Liana nodded.
It was certainly a plausible statement.
However, at the moment, even she could not fully understand how the situation was unfolding.
“That is indeed highly likely. For now, let us think broadly.”
Liana acknowledged it, but at the same time, it was true that she felt uneasy.
There were many questions about what was currently happening in the kingdom.
Why were there skeletons disguised as knights in the nobles’ mansions?
That was the most fundamental question.
Not only that, but the streets of the kingdom were also filled with skeletons.
‘Is it truly the nobles’ doing, as Sir Eric says?’
Perhaps they had tried to plot a rebellion using monsters. But that plan had been exposed.
Looking at the situation alone, that seemed highly likely.
After all, skeletons had been discovered in the nobles’ mansions.
Otherwise, why would they have tried to hide skeletons by going so far as to disguise them as knights?
But another question arose here.
‘Could they really have thought they wouldn’t be caught?’
The Church’s delegation had visited like this, and yet they openly brought in monsters?
In truth, the nobles had insisted on their innocence.
Of course, she had not taken their words at face value, but once the kingdom stabilized, she intended to investigate them separately.
‘…And the kingdom is collapsing this easily because of monsters?’
The street she was currently on was in the royal capital of the Sale Kingdom. In other words, it was the city where the royal palace was located.
It was strange that the city where the king resided could be breached so easily.
She did not want to believe it, but one thing that had happened earlier came to mind.
The sky had been swallowed by darkness.
And the sight of red dots rising into the sky was unmistakably an omen announcing the birth of a 7-star.
‘If that disaster is real….’
If the existence of that 7-star had manifested here in the Sale Kingdom?
Liana closed her eyes.
Her mind grew complicated.
For her, it was the worst possible assumption.
Because if a 7-star monster had truly appeared in the Sale Kingdom, then the current situation all made sense.
‘I would rather it had simply been a monster wave….’
The phenomenon of monsters endlessly pouring out of a dungeon—a monster wave.
In fact, the Sale Kingdom was located against a mountain range, so it would not have been strange for a monster wave to break out.
But the current situation was different.
There was something suspicious about calling it an ordinary monster wave.
After briefly organizing her thoughts, Liana decided on their next destination.
“For now, we head to the priest and the captain! We will join up with them first and then consider what to do next!”
Right now, it seemed safer to gather together than to remain scattered.
That was why they had to join Priest Titan and Captain Gerard.
If a 7-star monster was in the Sale Kingdom as she suspected, it would be a difficult battle.
But even so, she did not abandon hope.
‘In any case, that was a story from hundreds of years ago.’
She did not know about back then, but now the Church’s power had grown stronger.
The holy knights of the past and the holy knights of the present Church were different from the very beginning in terms of strength.
Therefore, she believed that even if a 7-star monster appeared, they would be able to put up a fight to some extent.
Vice-Captain Liana led the holy knights and moved out.
Since Priest Titan and Captain Gerard, whom she intended to join, were at Count Bearton’s mansion, their destination was naturally decided.
‘Please, let everyone be safe….’
A sudden worry came over her.
But the skills of Priest Titan and Captain Gerard could truly be called the best.
That was why she believed in them.
“Everyone, we move quickly!”
Before they knew it, the streets around them were surrounded by skeletons.
“Clack, clack!”
“Clack! Clack!”
The chilling sound of bones rang out.
“In the name of the Goddess, I shall judge these filthy monsters!”
Liana shouted with her sword in hand.
The sacred light bursting from her sword shattered the skeletons to pieces.
With a single strike, dozens of skeletons vanished without a trace.
With Liana’s attack as the beginning, the holy knights behind her charged toward the horde of skeletons.
Liana and the holy knights began advancing, pushing back the tide of skeletons with divine power as they surged toward them.
In terms of the battle itself, the holy knights clearly held an overwhelming advantage.
Skeletons were undead monsters, possessing an attribute directly opposed to the Church.
On top of that, skeletons were the lowest grade, 1-star monsters.
At this level, it was practically a free victory.
But the longer the battle continued, the worse the situation became for the holy knights instead.
It was good that they were reducing the number of skeletons, but even more skeletons kept pouring out to replace the number that had fallen.
Even now, skeletons were appearing from every alleyway.
No matter how favorable the matchup was, no matter how superior they were in quality, there was no answer in the face of sheer numbers.
As the skeleton hordes continued to pour in endlessly no matter how many they killed, the holy knights were gradually growing exhausted as well.
“Vice-Captain, something is strange! There are far too many monsters!”
Veneric shouted as he swung his sword.
At his words, Liana also furrowed her brow.
No matter how many skeletons they killed, their numbers did not decrease. Instead, it was a bizarre sight in which they only seemed to increase.
There were too many. Far too many.
‘It seems there is an Arch Lich.’
As long as there were corpses, an Arch Lich could create skeletons endlessly.
It was already the worst possible situation, with a 7-star monster potentially in the kingdom. And now even a 5-star monster had appeared….
‘Surely there isn’t a 6-star monster as well?’
If that were the case, the situation would truly be the worst.
Hoping that such a situation would not come to pass, Vice-Captain Liana continued onward.
* * *
Baron Traken ran desperately, seized by terror.
After continuing to run through the dark, narrow alleyways, at some point his surroundings became quiet.
Fortunately, there were no damned skeletons in sight here.
“O-over there! We’ll hide in that building over there!”
Just then, an intact building that had not burned came into the baron’s sight.
Traken shouted to the soldiers who had followed him and ran.
If they went in there and hid, everything would be over.
The baron quickly entered the building with the soldiers.
“Block the door, quickly!”
Then they used the objects around them to barricade the door.
Only after the soldiers moved and completely sealed off the entrance did the baron finally feel relieved.
“Phew. I barely escaped with my life. Just what were those things?”
Baron Traken had fled from the holy knights.
He did not know why there had been skeletons in his mansion.
However, if he had been caught by the holy knights as he was, it was obvious he would have been branded a heretic, so he had simply run away.
It was not an action taken with any thought for what would come afterward.
He had run and run with only the thought that somehow, things would work out if he escaped first.
When he fled toward the outskirts of the royal capital, there were no skeletons visible around this area.
It was truly fortunate.
“All we have to do is survive here somehow, so everyone keep your heads on straight!”
The baron shouted to the soldiers.
It would have been better if a knight capable of using aura had followed him, but for now, he was grateful to have even soldiers with him.
Once his mind settled, the baron looked around the inside of the building.
“Huh?”
And in the center, he saw a stone statue.
“What is that?”
It was a statue in the shape of a winged demon.
Its appearance was grotesque beyond measure.
The baron led the soldiers and slowly approached the statue.
And then, at that moment, someone walked out from behind the statue.
“Wh-who are you!”
It was too dark to see clearly.
Even so, the other party’s figure looked human.
“Please do not be alarmed. I am a dhampir.”
It was a man’s voice.
“A dhampir?”
Fortunately, he did not seem hostile.
The baron relaxed his stiff expression and addressed the other party.
“I am Baron Traken. Things are rather chaotic outside at the moment, so I will be imposing on you for a while.”
The baron revealed his status.
This place seemed relatively safe.
He intended to stay here until the situation calmed down, so he had moved first to establish his position.
It never even occurred to him that anyone would dare drive out a noble like himself.
But the man’s words were different.
“Still, this is troublesome.”
Troublesome? What was?
Could he possibly be thinking of driving out a noble?
“I am waiting here under the orders of the master who took me in. And there must not be any humans here right now.”
Master? Humans?
What was any of that supposed to mean?
Of the man’s words, the baron managed to understand at least one thing.
“Master, you say? Who is this master you serve? A noble?”
But the man ignored the baron’s question.
“This is troublesome. Lord Necros’s plan was clearly to drive as many humans as possible toward the princess… For now, I will ask what should be done. Please wait a moment.”
The man was spouting nothing but incomprehensible words.
Only then did Baron Traken sense that something was wrong.
As the man continued muttering, one of the soldiers behind the baron approached him.
“Um… Baron?”
The soldier spoke in a low voice.
“Dhampir probably isn’t his name….”
“What do you mean, it isn’t his name? What are you talking about?”
The baron listened to the soldier.
“A dhampir is what you call a half-blood born between a vampire and a human.”
Hearing the soldier’s words, the baron frowned.
It was a word he had never heard before.
“Are you joking in a situation like this?”
“No! It’s true. Dhampirs are so rare that it’s understandable you wouldn’t know—”
But the soldier did not get to finish.
“Ah, an answer has finally arrived. According to the message delivered through the shadows….”
The man placed his hand on the statue.
“Humans who move contrary to the plan are to be killed.”
At that moment, a red light flashed in the eyes of the stone statue.
“Aaaargh!”
What happened next occurred in an instant.
The statue moved, and in the blink of an eye, it was tearing into one soldier’s neck with its teeth.
“When did it—?!”
The statue that had been in front of them had suddenly approached and bitten into the soldier. Even more astonishing was the fact that the stone statue could move freely.
Startled by the sudden event, the baron fell to the floor.
Bright red blood gushed from the soldier’s neck, a sight grotesque beyond words.
If he wanted to survive, he had to do anything he could.
“There’s only that one bastard over there! If we break through him, we can escape!”
Baron Traken shoved the backs of his terrified soldiers.
Left with no choice, the soldiers raised their weapons and slowly approached the man.
If what the soldier had said earlier was true, then that man was definitely not human.
At least he was alone.
If they did it right, might they not be able to defeat him?
The soldiers advanced slowly with their weapons raised.
“Agh!”
But this time, it was Baron Traken who screamed.
Something had bitten his leg.
When the baron looked down at the floor, a small creature was writhing there.
It was a snake.
But it was a snake with three heads.
Before he could even think about what it was, excruciating pain climbed up his leg.
It was as if his leg were melting.
“Ah, that is the hydra my master took in. Fortunately, it isn’t an adult, so you won’t die.”
The hydra bit the legs of the other soldiers as well.
All they could do was scream on the floor.
“S-spare me! Please!”
The baron desperately begged for his life.
But the man did not even pretend to listen.
“Lord Gargoyle, I do not have a weapon, so please take care of the rest as well. Lady Celia’s order was to leave none alive who deviate from the plan.”
The storm of blood inside the building subsided.
The people who had been here were torn apart so badly they were unrecognizable.
Blood stained the floor crimson.
The gargoyle that had been ripping apart humans just moments before slowly returned to its place and hardened once more like a stone statue.
As if nothing had happened.
But its mouth was thickly smeared with fresh blood.
“I will eat the rest.”
Finally, the dhampir moved while smacking his lips.
Silence enveloped the inside of the building once more.
* * *
“Hehe, that way is the direction of the royal palace!”
Count Beerton was walking down the street with a pickaxe in hand. Behind him followed the Death Knight King.
The area was filled with skeletons, but they paid no attention to Count Beerton.
Rather, they simply passed him by as if he were not there at all.
‘A-as expected!’
At the sight, the count inwardly cheered in triumph.
‘Swearing loyalty to the monster was the right choice!’
The surrounding monsters likely were not attacking because he had sworn loyalty to the monster.
Thinking so, Beerton continued walking in the direction of the royal palace.
He did not know why the streets were filled with skeletons.
But all of this was no different from an opportunity.
‘All I have to do is charge into the royal palace like this!’
If he borrowed the power of the monster behind him, he would be able to do anything.
Even becoming king was no longer an empty dream.
The count dreamed of a glorious future.
‘Hehehe. As long as I have that monster’s power, I can rule the entire continent!’
He was certain he could seize not only this kingdom, but every nation on the continent.
Count Beerton strode forward with confident steps.
How long had he walked?
In the distance, a procession was approaching.
“Are those… holy knights?”
The first to react was Count Beerton.
At the head of the procession, he saw someone he knew well.
“Why, if it isn’t Vice-Captain Liana!”
Count Beerton spread both arms wide with a vile smile.
And his gaze met that of the holy knights led by Vice-Captain Liana.
Liana also confirmed that it was Count Beerton and immediately pointed her sword at him.
At the same time, a question arose in her mind.
Why was Count Beerton here?
‘Was he not with the priest!’
More than anything, the dark being standing behind him bothered her even more.
“What on earth have you done, Count?”
A slight tremor arose in Liana’s voice.
At the strange power emanating from the being behind the count, her entire body was trembling.
“Hehehe. This person will make me king!”
The count laughed madly at Liana’s question.
“Kahahahaha!”
That laughter, filled with madness, sent a chill down Liana’s spine.
“You’ve completely lost your mind, Count.”
She remained wary of her surroundings and gave an order to the holy knights.
“Everyone, gather the light! The count is not in his right mind! Be especially careful of that monster behind him!”
She had a bad feeling.
Liana quickly wrapped her whole body in divine power.
The holy knights all aimed their weapons at once.
However, they too were seized by fear when they saw the form standing behind the count.
It looked as though darkness itself had been condensed into one shape. Grotesque and chilling.
“Count! Have you made a contract with a demon?!”
Liana shouted again in a voice full of anger. But the count merely laughed.
“Haha! A contract, you say? This person is my new master and my god!”
The count raised his hand and pointed at the monster.
“Now, my god! With your power, please kill those filthy holy knights!”
At that moment, a crimson glow flashed in the monster’s eyes.
Sensing danger, Liana shouted to her subordinates.
“Everyone, fall back! That is not an existence we can face!”
The holy knights hurriedly tried to retreat, but it was already too late.
From within the darkness, a massive shadow shot forward like an arrow and fell upon the holy knights.
Horrific screams rang out, and blood painted the air.
“Ah… no….”
Liana staggered backward.
The monster cut down her subordinates as if chopping them to pieces.
“What on earth is this….”
Though her entire body trembled, Liana raised her sword high.
But fear swallowed her mind.
In the end, the sword slipped from her hand.
“Ah… Goddess….”
At this rate, she would die.
She sensed her death.
Only now did she seem to understand.
That being was the Seven-Star Calamity.
The calamity had appeared in the Sail Kingdom.
And Priest Titan and Captain Gerard must have met their end at that monster’s hands as well.
The moment Liana squeezed her eyes shut.
“Stop! Servant of the devil!”
Another figure appeared.
It was Princess Irena, leading the knights.
* * *
The Death Knight King had been following Count Beerton without thinking much.
“Hehe, that way is the direction of the royal palace!”
For now, since he had been ordered to remain quiet, he was concealing his power as much as possible.
However, if his identity were discovered, he intended to eliminate the witnesses immediately, according to Chief Administrator Celia’s orders.
But he had left Count Beerton alive.
The reason was simple.
There were a few humans in this plan who were not to be killed, and Count Beerton was among them.
Since things had turned out that way, the Death Knight King had given Count Beerton a pickaxe.
All he had done was hand him a pickaxe, yet Count Beerton was smiling as if he had received some incredible gift.
“…….”
To be so delighted after receiving a pickaxe.
That count was surely a talent suited to field fortification work.
Thinking that, the Death Knight King began to feel favorable toward Count Beerton.
Originally, it would have been correct to remain still at the count’s mansion earlier.
But since the count had come out like this, he could not very well refuse to follow.
Because he intended to take the count to the dungeon after this incident was over, the Death Knight King followed him around so as not to lose him.
Then, at that moment.
“Why, if it isn’t Vice-Captain Liana?”
“…What on earth have you done, Count?”
A new group appeared ahead.
They were the holy knights of the Order.
The problem was that among that group was a human who must not be killed.
—Vice-Captain Liana.
The Death Knight King fell into thought.
In terms of priority, Vice-Captain Liana was clearly higher than Count Beerton.
But to lose Count Beerton, who seemed to possess outstanding talent in field fortification work?
There could be no greater loss.
Count Beerton was a being who would continue living and inherit his mantle.
“Now, my god! With your power, please kill those filthy holy knights!”
Count Beerton, who seemed talented in field fortification work, made a request.
“…….”
The Death Knight King’s hesitation was brief.
In that case, would it not be fine if he killed only the other holy knights?
The moment he thought it, he charged forward like a streak of light.
And he began by tearing apart the holy knights at the very rear.
If he eliminated too many, it would interfere with the plan, so he intended to rough them up only moderately before withdrawing.
And finally.
“Ah… Goddess….”
Vice-Captain Liana lost her will to fight.
Thinking this should be enough, the Death Knight King was about to leave the scene.
“Stop! Servant of the devil!”
A new uninvited guest appeared.
It was Princess Irena.
She was the key figure of this plan.
“…….”
What was going on?
At the sudden situation, the Death Knight King was flustered.
And then, at that moment.
Necros appeared from behind.
Necros looked at the Death Knight King and nodded.
Then he wrote in a notebook.
—Death Knight King, why are you here?
According to the original plan, the Death Knight King was not supposed to appear here.
Was even Maru, who was currently beside Princess Irena, not tilting his head in confusion?
Necros quickly tore out the page he had written on and handed it to the shadow behind him.
The shadow took the paper Necros handed over and disappeared from sight.
But the shadow soon reappeared and returned the paper to Necros.
Celia’s order was written on the paper.
—Plan revised. Tell Mr. Death Knight King to show as much of his power as possible and then pretend to be dead. Through this plan, we will make Princess Irena both queen and saintess.
Since things had turned out this way, Celia intended to use Princess Irena to build a connection with the Order as well.