< 68. Behold, the dragon soars once more over the plains. (Final free episode!) >
*
In most cases, the boundaries between territories rely on natural features like rivers, hills, or mountain ranges. Even then, the lines are often ambiguous.
Yet, Altberth, despite being a vast territory encompassing hills, fertile plains, forests, and mountain ranges, had a clear territorial boundary.
-Groooan…
At the edge of the forest, a corpse emerged from the ground. Staggering, it stood for a moment before heading into the forest.
-Crunch.
The corpse climbed over a broken boundary stone. The stones, weathered and destroyed by time, stood scattered along the forest’s edge, leaving only stumps.
The guardian stones of Bert Hill. Long ago, High Magus Tristia of King Dane had placed these stones to ward off undead and evil creatures. Like all relics pulled from the realm of legend, they now left only faint traces.
Altberth’s birth marked the death of the hill giant, but its true completion came when King Knight Dane defeated the Death Knights and the Church of the Underground Burial faded into history.
Another corpse rose from the ground. They mocked Bert’s guardian stones as they passed. In this era, where legends are treated as old fairy tales, no one paid attention to these stones, now mere scenery.
To the city of knights.
Corpses were rising. Along the forest’s edge, more and more. Some were armed, others mere rotten flesh and decayed bones. They formed ranks, marching toward the forest, the plains beyond, and the hills within.
To the city of knights.
A legion of five thousand corpses, influenced by Necropolis, began their advance toward the city.
*
‘My body feels light!’
Kirhas felt a strange dissonance and an overwhelming exhilaration as she watched herself leap over rooftops. The oppressive presence above her head felt faint. Feeling like she could do anything, she laughed lightly.
-Tat!
Her turquoise eyes glowed in the darkness. Like a hawk soaring through the sky, the scenery around her blurred past. Kirhas laughed as she ran along the edge of the roof.
A deep blue path stretched before her. The black sky and rain-slicked surfaces had no effect on her. She raced through the rain without losing her balance once.
-Tat!
The inner city wall was suddenly right in front of her. The gate leading to the royal castle was close. She had traversed more than half of the large city in that short moment.
‘Is this what Your Excellency sees every day?’
Fernandez possessed Diemonica’s body. Despite his extraordinary mind, his physical abilities were nearly superhuman—enhanced vision, endurance, and instantaneous strength.
Now, the deep blue path Kirhas saw likely mirrored the path Fernandez had taken. Though there was no evidence, and it was a highly superstitious thought, she believed it. To her, Fernandez was half a myth.
Thus, the path she saw wasn’t just a physical route but Fernandez’s footsteps. Kirhas felt her heart grow hotter as she followed his trail.
‘People?’
People were gathered, bowing toward the royal castle. Kirhas quickly adjusted her trajectory mid-air and landed in front of them.
“Wouldn’t it be better to go home and hide?”
With dark green souls floating in the night sky and screams echoing from all directions, even the dullest would sense something was wrong. Kirhas nudged an old man staring blankly at the palace.
“What are you doing here?”
The old man roughly slapped her hand away. Without a word, he bowed deeply toward the castle. It was a sincere and devout prayer. Kirhas shrugged and turned toward the royal castle. Madmen are everywhere.
“…?”
She soon stopped, spotting a corpse on the ground. The aftermath of a fierce battle had destroyed the polished Avenue of the Sovereign. In the midst of the battle traces lay a knight in black armor.
“…Sir Baimeer.”
Kirhas flinched momentarily, then wore a sad expression. A deep wound marked the knight’s neck. The depth and shape suggested a dagger and immense strength. Only one person could have done this.
Baimeer’s youthful face and the horrific design on his armor told Kirhas what had happened. He hadn’t rested peacefully. She closed her eyes, looking at his smiling face.
“May you find peace there.”
Wherever that may be—whether in Shield’s hall or the corridors of the Temple of the Gods, where no one answers now—she wished this honorable knight peace. Kirhas picked up the sword lying beside him.
Fernandez’s trail was close. Kirhas steadied herself and entered the castle. She had followed him for a long time, but she wouldn’t stay behind any longer.
The blue path crossed the dark castle.
Even if this was her illusion or delusion, she was certain Fernandez would be at the end of this path. Kirhas moved forward without hesitation. Her turquoise eyes sparkled.
Fernandez would no longer walk alone. She would make sure of that. Baimeer’s sword was heavy, like his will and honor. Kirhas gripped the hilt tightly and whispered.
“I am Kirhas. Daughter of Clan Kalani. Kirhas Hearttaker. Kirhas Kalani. Kalani Hearttaker.”
Though she couldn’t fathom the scenery Fernandez saw or the grand picture he envisioned, she hoped to walk toward the same goal with him.
“I won’t be a burden anymore.”
*
-Crunch.
Fernandez felt the weight of the sword tearing through his armor. It was an excellent sword. He had lived…
Even in terms of swordsmanship, he wasn’t exactly a top-tier figure.
He preferred to push forward, armed with strength, reflexes, and all sorts of blessings. As long as the sword could withstand his movements, he was perfectly satisfied with it.
-*Snap*.
Eventually, the hilt of the sword broke off. Fernandez glanced at the hilt with a hint of regret before tossing it to the ground. Behind him, Vicente’s sigh echoed.
“The defendant’s plea is dismissed.”
[That fool is not my last minion, you foolish mortal. I have traveled through time you cannot even fathom to be here. Do you think the death I’ve consumed was limited to just that one?]
The Lich King shouted roughly, swinging his arm. Even without that, Fernandez had been reading his gestures, mantras, and the magical energy swirling through the audience hall. The magic of Necropolis was familiar to him.
“Establish, rise, return, form, hatred, night. And reinforce the central mana circulation system of the third independent clause.”
[···!!]
Fernandez took another step closer to the sphere floating in the center of the hall. It was a familiar spell—a summoning and spatial school incantation.
A short-range spatial leap technique. Due to its horrifically unstable spirit maintenance function, it couldn’t transport living beings, but corpses could endure some spirit loss, which was why necromancers often favored it.
-*Rumble*.
Fernandez sensed the squirming presences within and deciphered the structure of the magical formation emanating from the leap spell.
“If it were me, I would’ve added a tertiary compensation node in the second clause. Wouldn’t that make the mana circulation more stable?”
[···You’re a mage scholar, aren’t you?]
He almost said, “From the perspective of modern magecraft,” but Fernandez chuckled. What he considered modern magecraft referred to academic trends at least seventy years in the future. By his standards, this was still early modern magecraft, and Necropolis’s mana structure even fell into ancient magecraft.
Mages are those who deal with mysteries and secrets. The more widely known they become, the more vulnerable they are. Unless you plan to mass-produce mages like factories in the Empire’s magical academies, or overwhelm with sheer numbers even if secrets are leaked.
“Your words are getting tiresome, Parfett. You’re not the first to say that, and those who did are barely alive.”
-Isn’t that right?
‘Wasn’t it?’
Surely he hadn’t killed all those fools. Fernandez groaned briefly at Faijashi’s words. The Lich King, trembling with rage, pointed at Fernandez and shouted.
[If you’re a mage scholar, you know what this spell means! You and your gods are too late again!]
The Lich King arrogantly roared.
[My army has already arrived. You’re too late! This city will be offered to my master!]
“An army? A militia of walkers, rags, and vagabonds—that’s your army?”
He knew a large-scale necromancy spell had been activated. He also knew the Lich King was buying time with this childish display. Fernandez narrowed his eyes. But unarmed undead were no different from troublesome militias.
[Death is coming, Inquisition Officer. The Legion of the Dead will soon cross the city’s borders. No! Even the deaths occurring in this city will be beyond your control!]
“That’s impossible!!”
Vicente shouted in panic.
“This city doesn’t bury its dead underground! There are no corpses to raise!”
[Hahaha, is that what you want to believe? You should know better, shouldn’t you?]
The plains of Altberth had no burial facilities. Given the city’s extreme aversion to undead, Altberth’s funeral customs always involved cremation. However, there were wraiths in the city’s underground, their remains fully preserved.
Vicente’s face turned pale in an instant.
-*Rumble*!!
Soon, a deafening roar and violent tremors shook the royal castle. Fernandez steadied himself on the shaking floor and glared at the sphere floating in the center of the audience hall. A spatial leap spell. Its effective range was no more than 300 meters.
The core magical formation powering this spell and Necropolis’s mana was somewhere inside. The heart of the necromancers supplying corpses to this place was within.
And inside, there was probably…
[Behold, the legends of your era are returning!]
The Lich King let out a sinister laugh. Fernandez clicked his tongue. That guy’s way of speaking was too clichéd for such an ancient soul.
-*Rumble*!!
Beyond the windows of the audience hall, a cloud of dust rose from a corner of the city. Vicente and the knights groaned in despair as they watched.
Amid the dust, faint moonlight flickered, casting a massive shadow.
A hand the size of a building. A pale hand arrogantly reaching toward the sky, shaking as if scattering clouds. Like the legendary pillars holding up the heavens.
-*Crash*!!!
Soon, a massive earthquake swept through the city. The wreckage of destroyed buildings became vividly clear. Vicente groaned as he watched an entire section of the city obliterated by a single, simple movement—not even an attack.
“The hill… the giant…”
[Yes. The bastard child of a god has returned. Mortals, who dares oppose such a being after the death of King Dain?]
The Lich King sneered. Fernandez silently gazed at the ceiling, at the colorful, aged murals filling it.
The carvings of dragons and knights.
-*Crack*!!
Perhaps due to the giant’s earthquake, a massive crack began to form in the ceiling, threatening to collapse. Fernandez smiled slowly and deeply as he watched.
-*Rumble*!!
A beast’s claw, covered in crimson scales, tore off the roof, and rainwater cascaded like a waterfall into the audience hall.
[What?!!!]
The Lich King stared in shock at the now-open sky. The roof had been ripped away, revealing a massive claw. Thick, sturdy talons and marble-like muscles covered in crimson scales.
[What…? What? No! This can’t be! I don’t remember reviving that!!]
“Uh… uh?!”
Vicente and the Lich King screamed. Fernandez simply stood there, drenched in rainwater, looking up at the sky. Amid the black fog, a pair of blue eyes burned like fire.
[So this is where you were. The situation got too strange, so I couldn’t wait any longer.]
“You arrived just in time.”
-*Clink*.
A black chain descended from Abelesas’s neck, wrapping around Fernandez’s left arm. Through the Control Spell, her mana seeped into him. Shield’s blessing and the Blood of Diemonica rejected magic.
But for that very reason, this method of securing mana would only consume his life. Fernandez laughed as he watched the swaying chain, following Abelesas’s movements.
This body’s lifespan had less than ten minutes left anyway.
“Let’s deal with them one by one.”
He gazed at the mural depicting a red dragon flying over the plains. Between the pillars of the audience hall, among the murals and paintings, Abelesas’s feet came into view.
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