Chapter 48

A week later, the village of Karnak on the empire’s eastern border became a tense stage where two disparate great forces clashed.

From the village’s eastern gate advanced the ‘Blade of Judgment’ knights of the Holy Kingdom Artemis, banners of pristine white bearing the sun emblem held high. Their silver armor and the holy aura radiating from them resembled an army of angels descended upon this land of death. Following them were nuns of the Lumina Sisterhood, sprinkling holy water and beginning prayers to cleanse the tainted earth. At their head stood the paladin Commander Gerard, his gaze full of iron conviction.

A completely different scene unfolded at the west of the village. Under a blue banner bearing the crest of the royal magic tower, dozens of mages bustled about. They were setting up strange instruments like crystal orbs and mana meters, beginning to analyze the catastrophe scientifically. Combat mages from the ‘Blue Flame’ guarded the perimeter with icy gazes, and leading the research team was Lucas, an elite mage brimming with intellectual curiosity and the protégé of Archmage Velleius.

The two forces met in the center of the village.

“We are the kingdom’s knights come to purify this unholy ground by God’s power. Mages are dangerous; I advise you to stand back.”

Commander Gerard said in his characteristically arrogant voice. He regarded the mages as clumsy technicians merely imitating divine power.

Lucas snorted and adjusted his glasses.

“Commander, you should be careful not to recklessly pour out divine power and further provoke this unknown plague. Blind purification without analyzing the cause is like pouring oil on a burning house.”

From the start, there was friction. The kingdom saw this as an evil to be eradicated, while the mage tower saw it as a subject for analysis and understanding. Their fundamental difference in perspective created a tense stand-off.

All their actions were being recorded in real time by Argos’s ‘eyes’ scattered throughout the village. A woman feigning sorrow at a shabby window, an orphan boy huddled in a ruined market corner—these were all shadows of Rian.

Days of investigation brought no results. No matter how much divine power the paladins poured out, the corruption in the soil only briefly lessened before returning with an even fouler stench. The mages likewise could not locate the source of the plague. The malevolent aura spread over the village like a fog, making it impossible to pinpoint its origin.

The two giants were lost. It was the moment Rian had been waiting for.

The next afternoon, a young nun of the Lumina Sisterhood was handing out food and tending to the remaining survivors. Then a scruffy-looking young boy grabbed her sleeve with a terrified face.

“Si-sister… sob… I’m scared…”

The boy, stunned by the loss of his parents, stammered and began to cry. The gentle-hearted nun hugged him and comforted him.

“It’s all right, little one. God’s blessing will be with you now.”

“Th-there… before people got sick… near that old mine… I saw a strange man. He wore ragged clothes… and was drawing odd symbols on the ground…”

Trembling with fear, the boy pointed toward the abandoned mine behind the village, then dropped a small stone from his pocket.

“I-I picked this up there too…”

The nun casually picked up the stone. In that instant she flinched at the faint but intensely evil aura coming from it. She immediately took the boy and rushed to Commander Gerard.

Hearing the rumor, Lucas from the magic tower also hurried to the scene. He placed the boy’s stone on a mana-detection crystal. The crystal pulsed violently, emitting a dark red glow.

“This rock! It’s ‘shadow iron ore,’ found only in the deepest shaft of the abandoned Karnak mine! And this faint residual mana… it’s the same waveform as the plague’s source!”

Lucas shouted excitedly.

At last, a clear clue appeared. Commander Gerard and Lucas, who had been growling at one another, looked at each other for a moment. Their purposes differed, but there was one place they had to go.

“…Very well. Mages, this time I’ll trust your analysis. The ‘Blade of Judgment’ will move to the Karnak mine immediately!”

“Our ‘Blue Flame’ will accompany you as well, to secure the research team’s safety and collect onsite data.”

At last, the two giants took their first steps toward a single objective.

Argos’s shadow, who had watched the entire scene from afar, quietly turned and slipped back into the darkness. In his hand was a sealed scroll containing a brief report: ‘Mission Complete.’

Upon the path Rian had laid, the actors moved faithfully.