Necromancer Of The Black Bible (148)

Deep in the night.

A single horse sliced through the silence and ran.

Clop, clop, clop-

The horse was in poor condition.

A broken arrow was lodged near its rump, and red bloodstains from scratches covered it here and there.

And on its back sat a person precariously.

He was barely keeping his balance, looking like he could fall at any moment.

Yet the light had not left his eyes.

‘I can’t die here. I have to tell everyone about this.’

He was one of the knights dispatched to Viscount Grovebern’s domain.

Rietta Carmain.

He was a Swordmaster famed for wielding twin swords.

But his swordsmanship was of no use in this battle.

He somehow managed to block Kael’s spear, but was struck by the sword of the ghost knight that attacked afterward.

In a single exchange both of his swords snapped, and he fell from his horse.

That fall was the reason Rietta had been able to keep his life until now.

If he had not fallen there, like his other comrades and subordinates, he would have been felled by the rain of swords and axes that poured from the sky.

‘Damn it…’

The hand gripping the reins trembled.

He had never felt such helplessness and fear in his life.

Undead soldiers who rose again and charged no matter how often they were cut, and ghost knights with transcendent martial arts.

And on top of that, his fellow knight Kael, who rose after death and fought on.

Kael’s martial skill as an undead was unlike anything he’d seen before.

Originally Kael had been about two ranks below Rietta, but when they faced him this time his momentum was different.

The spear’s movement had become lighter and its power had doubled.

And his gaze was….

Rietta squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

He did not want to fall into despair again.

It was a moonless night, so the surroundings were hard to make out.

But since he could see the main road below, he quickly knew where he was.

‘Near Valbern.’

The Marquessate of Valbern was the granary region of the southeast.

It was a region on the route to Viscount Grovebern’s domain to the south.

He looked up and saw a castle.

Graneum Castle.

Upon seeing it, Rietta gave a relieved smile.

‘I’ve finally arrived.’

Graneum Castle was built of deep reddish-brown bricks.

With abundant grain and a huge market, it boasted the largest scale in the Empire aside from the capital.

If he reached the castle, he could plan what to do next.

Rietta held on to the horse with all the strength he had left.

When he arrived in front of the city gate.

He lost consciousness.

News that Swordmaster Rietta Carmain, who had been dispatched to Viscount Grovebern’s domain, had arrived reached the Imperial Capital Edelmund two days later.

A mage who learned the news through the imperial courier hurried into action.

He went straight to Clara, the Tower’s Head of Administration.

After reading the note, Clara immediately requested an audience with the Emperor and the next morning she was the first to enter the Imperial Palace.

The current Emperor, Sigmund VIII.

Known for being meticulous since his days as Crown Prince, he began his work at four in the morning, personally handling the Empire’s reports and accounts.

For that reason he had decided to receive this report directly from Clara as well.

The middle-aged Emperor smoothed his neat mustache as he took the note from Clara.

“Annihilation of the forces dispatched to Viscount Grovebern’s domain. Only one survivor identified, a Swordmaster? Is this true?”

“I found that suspicious as well, so I communicated with the mage of Graneum Castle. He said that this information came from Rietta Carmain himself.”

“Rietta? Rietta…”

The Emperor remembered the name.

He kept track of the names of the Empire’s Swordmasters, after all.

“He was a knight skilled with twin swords. He once placed runner-up in a martial tournament—such a capable knight—and he made this sort of report?”

“Yes. He is now in a deep coma from his injuries.”

A crease formed between the Emperor’s neat brows.

If one of the Empire’s foremost knights had fallen into a coma, it meant the injuries were that severe.

If he reported it in that state, it’s likely to be true.

“So the Deputy Towermaster’s concern was right. Viscount Grovebern’s domain has fallen to the Necroturgy practitioners.”

“But there is not yet evidence that this is the work of Necroturgy practitioners.”

“If not Necroturgy practitioners, then what sort of force could have annihilated our army?”

Clara fell silent.

She wanted to deny it, but the Emperor’s question hit the mark.

Viscount Grovebern’s forces numbered about five thousand.

Conquering them would be within the capability of an ordinary kingdom’s regular army. But the army that recently marched consisted of fifteen thousand elite troops.

It included five mages and ten Swordmasters.

It was a force capable of conquering a fair-sized nation.

That such a force was annihilated made it more persuasive to assume an unknown power, previously unknown to them, had intervened.

The Emperor stroked his chin and continued.

“If it’s not just anyone but our own knight saying this, we cannot let it pass.”

At that moment, Dolman, the court’s representative mage, spoke.

“Everything has its order. First, we must ascertain the situation. After that, it is right to establish measures.”

The Emperor replied.

“The force we sent this time was originally a scouting party. It was a force sent to investigate what happened in Viscount Grovebern’s domain. You say that scouting party was annihilated—are you proposing to send another investigation team?”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Dolman continued calmly.

“If the opponent is a practitioner of Necroturgy, sending an army is extremely dangerous. Necroturgy is a forbidden magic that raises the dead. Those ensnared by their arts become undead who never truly die. A single undead is weak, but if there are thousands or tens of thousands, it would be impossible to handle. Therefore, our court mages will take charge of this investigation.”

“Is that so?”

The Emperor’s eyes narrowed.

That was understandable; the court mages had acted independently.

An autonomous group that did not obey either the Emperor’s orders or those of the Towermaster.

It was odd that such an independent group would mobilize.

The Emperor propped his chin and looked at Dolman with a suspicious expression.

“It seems there is something about this matter that interests you.”

“There is nothing of that sort. We intend to act to identify enemies that threaten the Empire.”

“Is that so?”

A faintly sharp smile formed at the Emperor’s lips.

He did not say it outright, but the Emperor clearly saw their intentions.

The forbidden art: Necroturgy.

The roughly fifteen thousand-strong army presumed to have been annihilated by that Necroturgy.

Surely, investigating this might yield clues.

They were exemplary talents of the Empire; with their traces alone they might be able to reconstruct Necroturgy.

‘And if that happens?’

Would the court mages truly remain loyal?

Until now Towermaster Leopold had kept them in check, but Leopold’s communications had been cut off for a long time.

Rumors openly circulated that he had been assassinated by an unidentified force.

At such a juncture, the court mages rising to power was not a good sign for maintaining Imperial authority.

The Emperor looked at Dolman and spoke.

“If I order you not to conduct reconnaissance, will you obey that command?”

Dolman did not answer.

Seeing the icy gleam in his eyes, his disposition seemed twisted.

But soon Dolman bowed his head and said.

“We are Your Majesty’s instruments. If you so command, we will not.”

“Very well. Then do not conduct reconnaissance…”

The Emperor looked down at Clara and said,

“Have the Mage Tower carry it out.”

Clara’s eyes widened in surprise, and the Emperor continued.

“Wasn’t Deputy Towermaster Hyro also part of this scouting party? Hyro is a great mage whose skill even Leopold acknowledged. I don’t think such a powerful mage would have died in vain. You will uncover the Deputy Towermaster’s whereabouts and the truth of this incident. Based on that, we will formulate countermeasures.”

Dolman’s expression hardened coldly, but Clara quickly bowed her head and replied.

“I will carry out your command!”

Afterward, Clara returned to the Mage Tower.

It was that afternoon that mages were dispatched from the Mage Tower to Viscount Grovebern’s domain.

Natasha was busy putting the castle in order.

Winter was fast approaching.

After the harvest and the end of the fighting, the villagers of Viscount Grovebern’s domain were noticeably more favorable toward the undead soldiers.

They realized that these soldiers followed only Natasha’s orders and did not engage in the misconduct common to other troops.

Thanks to that, Natasha’s work became much easier.

She could mobilize the villagers for winter preparation.

“We don’t know when the enemies might strike again. We need to construct defensive walls starting here.

“We plan to make plenty of padded garments for distribution. Gather those who can do this work.

“It’s best to stockpile all the firewood the village can provide in advance. Nothing would surprise me this winter.”

The Empire is vast.

Their forces are strong.

So no matter the winter, they could invade at any time.

That is why Natasha believed they must be fully prepared.

Brandstein City moved according to Natasha’s plans.

The village produced padded garments and sent the surplus to the castle.

They stored them in warehouses and distributed them to villages reporting shortages.

The same went for consumables like firewood.

Since simple labor like woodcutting could be assigned to the undead soldiers, they were able to secure ample firewood from the nearby forest.

Additionally, defensive works outside the gate were quickly constructed and deployed, and quite a number of convincing traps were installed.

By the time all planned installations were complete.

Natasha left the castle.

She carefully inspected every piece of equipment produced from the gate onward.

Then she crossed the wide plain where the past battle had taken place and climbed the hill to the north.

Bodies were still strewn there.

Corpses that had not been gathered on Damian’s orders.

Most of them had now turned into bleached skeletons.

Natasha looked at them and thought.

‘What is Master going to do with this?’

If it were up to her, she wanted to raise them using Necroturgy.

With that alone she could form a sufficiently powerful army.

As she was thinking that.

Suddenly light began to pour down from the sky.

“Huh?”

Natasha took a step back and looked up at the sky.

A deep green light pierced through the thick dark clouds Laerin had summoned.

The light shot down like a magical beam and struck the ground,

and soon its area began to expand.

And then.

By the time it shone upon all the skeletal corpses scattered on the hill.

Light began to pour down.

It was as if green light began to fall like a midsummer shower.

‘What is this?’

The moment Natasha asked that absentmindedly, Damian’s voice echoed in her mind.

-I will send you a new army.

Natasha immediately understood what those words meant.

After the shower of light, the skeletons began to rise one by one.

They had a different atmosphere from those previously raised by Necroturgy.

They began to exclaim in wonder as they gazed upon their own skeletons, reduced to little more than bones.