Necromancer Of The Black Bible (177)

[Charge.]

When the heavy, mana-laden voice swept through the area once.

A tremendous number of cavalry suddenly charged this way through the ranks of monsters.

They were all humans, but their attire was somewhat unusual.

They had something hanging on their chests.

At first it was unclear what it was, but soon it became obvious.

The cavalry charging the undead legion began to explode all at once.

KWAANG! KWA-KWA-KWAANG!

A chain of explosions.

They were detonating themselves as bait.

The explosions weren’t massive, but they were enough to shred the bodies of the undead soldiers.

Most undead destroyed by the blasts couldn’t immediately regenerate.

There were simply too many shards.

‘Sanchez’s prediction was right.’

The scene Damian was seeing was the near future.

A future fixed when, from the current point, there are no variables.

If the war proceeded like this, Damian would lose.

‘Just as I see it now.’

That was how devastating the suicide-bomber cavalry were.

They accomplished feats even 8th-Circle mages couldn’t manage.

The moment they collided with the undead soldiers they erupted gloriously, and each time the ranks evaporated.

Illinas’s stratagem was not limited to that.

He had even employed assassins, anticipating Damian’s movements.

The assassin shot at Damian from an unseen place, preventing him from moving freely.

Natasha, Kael, and Rietta Carmain fought hard, but their skills were strained just dealing with Illinas’s Four Heavenly Kings.

William shone for a moment, but against such overwhelming numbers he was like a precarious candle.

Meanwhile Illinas steadily completed his magic circle and soon used the ultimate spell.

[Return to the Void]

Darkness deeper than anything in the world fell in an instant, and that darkness swallowed everyone, including Damian.

He couldn’t see what came after, but he could sense what had happened.

‘This is my end.’

It was natural that the God of Darkness would return to the void.

Illinas had prepared a contingency Damian hadn’t even considered.

Damian stared at the blacked-out vision for a while.

Although it was the future the near-future vision had shown him, he felt no terror.

On the contrary, he felt at ease.

He also realized one important fact.

‘Illinas wasn’t trying to enslave me.’

That such an archdemon acted that way implied something significant.

‘That I’m stronger than him. To an unbearable degree.’

So he used the final secret art of banishing to the void.

‘Then… what if I do it like this?’

Damian rewound the timeline.

Back to before the war began.

He then methodically laid out a plan.

‘If I prevent the use of the bombs, how will the outcome change?’

There were many methods.

Damian tried the simplest option first.

‘What if I make Laerin bring rain?’

The moment he decided, rain began to fall in Damian’s vision.

The battlefield quickly became wet, and Laerin looked down from the distant clouds.

Damian watched the battlefield with an expectant look.

And then.

Whish-

With a sharp gust, an arrow pierced Laerin’s heart.

It was the work of the assassin who had constrained Damian in the earlier future he had seen.

‘Oh.’

It was astonishing.

To respond so quickly.

‘What if I make it so the assassin can’t detect us?’

Damian rewound time again.

This time he placed Laerin beside him and created a barrier.

‘How about this?’

It was a ward Damian set himself.

Sure enough, several sniper shots were thwarted this way.

But that was all.

Afterward something Damian hadn’t foreseen happened.

A golden bullet pierced through his barrier and struck Laerin’s temple.

Damian felt that something was amiss when he saw it.

‘Can they respond this fast?’

Not once, but three times.

Each time Damian devised a new countermeasure, Illinas produced an appropriate counter.

He hadn’t expected such nimble responses.

‘Then…’

He tried using another means instead of Laerin.

It was to use the river Sanchez had mentioned.

‘What if I have Kael block the river upstream and then break it?’

It’s a classical hydraulic tactic mentioned even in ancient war histories.

Although blocking the upstream is somewhat difficult, it’s correspondingly effective.

When the dam breaks, the rushing water will sweep away enemies crossing the river.

Even if they survive, they’ll all be soaked without a doubt.

Damian executed the plan concretely, then activated the future-sight.

Then another surprise occurred: Kael, who had gone out to work on it, was assassinated immediately.

It was the same even when he tried replacing him with someone else.

Attempts to build the dam failed repeatedly.

‘Something’s wrong…’

This can’t be.

Does this mean Illinas knows every scheme? Or…?

Then Nocturne’s voice was heard.

-It seems Master’s thoughts are being read.

-What does that mean?

This time Equinox spoke.

-Illinas possesses two divine artifacts.

-What?

-He even possesses the Ten Thousand Eyes and Cadenza.

-Cadenza? What’s that?

-It’s an assassination tool comparable to the Ten Thousand Eyes. It can survey distant objects and even attack directly. As long as he has both, future-sight strategies can be countered.

Having heard Equinox’s explanation, Damian nodded willingly.

‘Then this is a futile effort.’

If he possessed such artifacts, he might even be reading Damian’s thoughts as he used future-sight.

Damian opened his eyes.

Perhaps from using such intense concentration after a long time, he felt fatigued.

But he couldn’t rest.

There was something he absolutely had to do.

Damian asked the black dog Dikrea beside him.

“Hey, who has the Cadenza?”

Damian faintly smiled upon hearing Dikrea’s answer.

It was the moment the clue to this war came into view.

The Demon King army slowly crossed the northern gate.

The Empire watched them without offering any resistance.

An enormous number of monsters.

Where they had passed, ominous flames and ashes remained and terror swept in, but the imperial forces observed silently.

Because it was none other than the Emperor’s order.

-Do not stop the Demon King army. They are our allies.

Since they were confronting the Necromancer legion, some understood the situation, but many did not.

“Does it make sense to ally with the Demon King?”

“Even if the Demon King defeats the necromancers, will they leave us be? Will they retreat peacefully?”

“The Emperor’s gone mad. This makes no sense.”

But at this moment, there was nothing they could do.

The same was true for the Emperor.

‘The Demon King has truly arrived at the capital.’

The actual majesty of the Demon King army before them was tremendous.

The size and number of the monsters, and the overwhelming aura they exuded.

Just watching it was suffocating.

But he could not lose his composure here.

At least as Emperor, he had to properly handle the current situation.

‘Stay calm. We’ll use the blade called the Demon King army to defeat the enemy called the Necromancer. This is all a plan. A plan to protect this Empire.’

The Emperor repeated this to himself several times, then rose from the throne.

He took a deep breath and waited for the Demon King.

Before long the Demon King entered the Imperial Palace and slowly stepped into the hall where the Emperor stood.

Each step made his head swim with a foul aura, but seeing Crown Prince Eric following behind the Demon King, he barely endured.

‘If the Crown Prince carries out his duty so steadfastly, I cannot act like this.’

Clenching his teeth, the Emperor knelt before the Demon King.

“I bow before Demon King Illinas.”

The Emperor bowed his head.

All within the Palace also lowered their heads to the floor.

Illinas looked at them with a faint smile.

The Emperor spread his palms toward the throne and added.

“Please take a seat here.”

Illinas strode to the throne and plopped down.

Where once there had been abundant space on either side when the Emperor sat, with him seated it fit almost exactly.

Illinas stroked the throne’s armrest and spoke.

“It feels small to me.”

“I will fetch a new throne.”

“Very well.”

Illinas smirked and continued.

“I did not come here to settle down. I came to accomplish a great work.”

The Emperor swallowed dryly.

He was glad the Demon King declared his purpose in person, but an inexplicable unease tightened his heart.

The Demon King looked down at him and continued speaking.

“You wish to eliminate the Necromancer?”

“Yes.”

“Indeed. It pleases me to eradicate those who plague this world and to directly rule the upper Demonic Realm while overseeing the surface. I am glad you will be the foundation for achieving all this.”

“…What?”

The Emperor lifted his head.

His gaze met Illinas’s.

A strange smile tugged at Illinas’s lips, and at that moment the Emperor sensed something wrong.

“Do you mean you will rule this world yourself?”

“Ah, I should clarify that part.”

Illinas laughed darkly, seemed to ponder briefly, then spoke again.

“I will rule the upper Demonic Realm. As for the surface, I intend to govern it through a proxy.”

The Emperor’s pupils trembled.

He had prepared to some extent, but accepting it as reality was difficult.

Yet, considering the safety of all his people, he could not refuse Illinas’s proposal.

The Emperor bowed his head again and replied.

“I will fulfill the duties granted by the Demon King.”

Illinas chuckled.

The Demon King army that had followed him began to laugh along.

Though he couldn’t discern the meaning of that laughter, the Emperor believed it was over.

But the next moment Illinas spoke again.

“I don’t recall asking you to be my proxy yet?”

“…!!!”

The Emperor jerked his head up, and Illinas continued.

“This Empire came into my hands because of one outstanding meritorious man. I intend to grant him the title of proxy.”

“…Who on earth is that…?”

Before the Emperor finished asking, someone whispered in his ear.

“Father. It is I.”

Crown Prince Eric.

Once the Emperor saw his face, he immediately understood what had transpired.

“How dare you do such a thing…”

Buuk!

Eric did not allow the Emperor to question him.

He drew his sword and plunged it into the Emperor’s back.

“Guh!”

The Emperor screamed and collapsed to the floor, and Eric pulled out the sword and thrust it several more times.

Each thrust sent blood splattering everywhere.

Eric stopped only after the Emperor no longer moved.

Eric looked down at the Emperor sprawled on the floor, then knelt toward Illinas and said,

“I will wholeheartedly carry out the mission granted by My Lord.”

Thus the Empire was utterly felled to the Demon King.

Only one person died in the process.

It was only Emperor Sigmund VIII.