Necromancer Of The Black Bible (179)

The Empire’s capital, Edelmund.

Illinas, having seized the imperial citadel, observed the situation from his newly arranged study.

The footage he watched was the view cast by the Ten Thousand Eyes.

The might of the army shown in the footage was tremendous.

At the front marched the Empire’s elite cavalry, clad in golden armor and armed with sturdy lances, numbering a full one hundred thousand.

One hundred thousand heavy cavalry was an enormous force no nation on the continent could easily rival.

Furthermore, tens of thousands of monsters followed behind them.

Powerful monsters such as orcs, ogres, and trolls.

Having served Illinas’s orders until now, these monsters could be considered elite among their kind.

With such forces, he was confident they could easily slay even an ordinary dragon.

Illinas looked at them with a satisfied expression and spoke.

“What about the goblins?”

The one who answered was Nemeria.

She served as the strategist among the Four Heavenly Kings.

Tall and skinny, she adjusted her monocle and rifled through the thick ledger in her hands as she replied.

“The supplies you ordered are being prepared.”

“Is the quantity sufficient?”

“Sufficient. There’s enough that even if we gave ten to each cavalryman, we’d have surplus.”

“Good.”

“However…”

Nemeria pushed up her monocle and continued.

“Will this be enough?”

A crease formed between Illinas’s brows.

He looked at Nemeria and asked back.

“Is something bothering you?”

“Well…”

Nemeria rifled through the ledger and checked a note she’d written in one place before speaking.

“We have too little information on the enemy. Fifty thousand undead, four enemy commanders, and their leader is a necromancer using Necromancy. There’s a lot lacking to devise a strategy based on only these facts.”

Illinas smiled broadly at Nemeria’s grumbling.

“That’s because you think too meticulously.”

Nemeria was originally that kind of person.

She relied strictly and meticulously on data alone.

Thus she always judged the state of war conservatively and offered advice accordingly.

A typical Demon King might have dismissed her as annoying, but Illinas did not.

He kept her close, took her counsel seriously, refined his tactics, and thus won most of the wars.

In the end, his ability to seize dominance over the demon realm was thanks in part to his effective use of her.

Illinas asked Nemeria.

“From your perspective, the greatest concern in the current situation is the lack of information, yes?”

“Yes. The effect we can expect from using the goblin bombs is merely to neutralize the undead legions. Whether they can neutralize the commanders is uncertain. You know how significant a commander’s capability can be on the battlefield without me saying it.”

Nemeria’s reasoning was flawless.

From start to finish, her words were correct.

Illinas slowly mulled over her words and then spoke.

“Use the Ten Thousand Eyes to locate the commanders.”

The moment the order was given, Graneum Castle appeared, and the image of a woman busily organizing troops materialized.

She appeared human, but the aura she emitted was different.

“Undead, then.”

Illinas nodded slowly at Nemeria’s observation.

Nemeria slowly read the profile of the woman revealed by the Ten Thousand Eyes.

“Natasha. A mage. She can use Necroturgy. Her direct undead unit is about ten thousand. She seems to act as the lord of Graneum Castle. I’ll observe this one further.”

A tinge of color flashed in Nemeria’s eyes.

When the violet, green, and yellow that had shone in her pupils returned to black, she spoke again.

“This one has no countermeasures. She has received no orders from above and only intends to advance.”

Illinas smiled with satisfaction.

But he did not stop there.

The most important matter remained.

“Look into Damian. See where he is and what he intends to do.”

Nemeria immediately activated the Ten Thousand Eyes.

The moment her pupils began to glow, that light suddenly vanished.

“Hm?”

Nemeria tilted her head.

She tried to activate the Ten Thousand Eyes again, but the same result occurred.

“I see nothing.”

“Try again.”

She activated them several times at Illinas’s command, but Damian’s form could not be seen.

It wasn’t only that.

Attempts to view other enemy commanders also failed; it was blank.

“How strange.”

Nemeria closed her eyes and tried to summon the Ten Thousand Eyes.

The Ten Thousand Eyes were originally connected to her, so by concentrating she could immediately check their status.

But this time, no matter how long she concentrated, she could not confirm them.

“What’s happening?”

Nemeria answered Illinas’s question with a serious expression.

“The Ten Thousand Eyes won’t summon.”

“Then call Shador.”

Illinas immediately called for Shador.

-Shador.

A psychic wave transmitted to those connected by the master-servant bond.

The bond was so strong that a simple call would be immediately detected by the other party.

But no matter how many times he called, Shador did not respond.

Not only did he not answer, it seemed the connection had been severed.

“Something’s going on up above, it seems.”

“That can’t be.”

Thinking perhaps, Illinas summoned Magnia, one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

But this time the response was similar to that with Shador.

Only Illinas’s own voice echoed; the others could not be felt at all.

Sensing something odd, Illinas rose from his seat.

At that moment, a door began to open before him.

A vertical rift opened, and a familiar figure emerged.

“You are?”

Damian.

He looked exactly as he had when seen through the Ten Thousand Eyes before.

Illinas faced him and said with delight.

“Perfect timing. I’ve been looking for you.”

“Is that so?”

Damian also smiled.

There was composure in his smile.

Though much smaller in stature compared to Illinas, somehow the aura he emitted felt far heavier and grander.

Nemeria, who had been watching from nearby, instinctively stepped back.

Illinas also sensed that Damian was unusual, but he didn’t take it too seriously.

He resolved to subdue him in an instant.

“I’ve wanted to meet you too, Illinas.”

When Damian smiled again, a murderous glint appeared in Illinas’s eyes.

Sensing this, Damian continued.

“Are you displeased that I’ve come here?”

The moment the question fell, a spear flew toward him.

A spear of darkness thrown by Nemeria.

It was a deadly attack that could fell even formidable monsters with difficulty.

But the spear did not reach Damian.

It stopped dead a meter away.

Damian slowly raised a hand and spoke.

“You owe me a lot, Illinas. You gave me this chance.”

“Glad you acknowledge it.”

“But your price is far too great.”

Damian clenched his fist, and at that moment the halted spear of darkness flew toward Illinas.

It happened so fast that Illinas couldn’t dodge it easily.

Whoosh- crack!

With a brutal rush of wind, the spear grazed Illinas’s cheek and pierced through the throne behind him.

Illinas wiped the black blood flowing from his cheek.

Damian glanced back casually and then asked a question.

“Nice try. What’s your name?”

His voice was oddly clear and pure.

Perhaps because of that, Nemeria answered the question.

“Nemeria Rospon.”

“Pleased to meet you, Nemeria Rospon. That’s your true name, isn’t it?”

“…Yes.”

Illinas was aghast.

Because he realized what Damian was doing before his eyes.

‘How dare he attempt to cast a False Covenant spell on my subordinate!’

A spell that uses the power of true names to force a vow containing falsehoods.

If caught by it, one would immediately be compelled to obey the caster.

Illinas could not bear to see his longtime confidant submit to Damian.

Ziiing-

Illinas’s two horns darkened.

He extended a hand and unleashed mana.

“How dare you pull such a trick!!!”

The mana spewed from Illinas’s fingertips enveloped Nemeria’s entire body, like an eggshell.

Damian smiled faintly, glanced at Illinas, then looked back at Nemeria and said.

“Your master seems angry. But he doesn’t know something important. I cannot use 8th-Circle magic.”

Mana flowed from Damian’s fingertips.

A deep green mana.

It was a kind of mana Illinas had never seen before.

It didn’t feel as destructively dark as the dark mana he used, but it felt far more ominous.

Sure enough, the mana spreading from Damian’s fingertips reached even Illinas’s mana surrounding Nemeria.

Normally Illinas’s dark mana would scatter or absorb it, but Damian’s portentous green mana could not be dealt with that way.

Damian’s mana slowly seeped into Illinas’s mana barrier.

At first glance it seemed as if his mana was being absorbed by the barrier, but Illinas, the barrier’s master, knew otherwise.

His barrier was being eroded.

“You bastard!!!”

Illinas’s rage surged to the top of his head, but there was nothing he could do.

He had already poured all his strength into the barrier, so all he could do was gather as much mana as possible.

But no matter how hard he tried, the barrier continued to erode and was eventually penetrated.

Illinas kept pumping in mana, but he could not stop Damian’s green mana.

The two did not mix.

They repelled each other like oil and water, and the harder he forced it, the more fiercely it pushed back.

“Damn it…!!!”

As Illinas’s face contorted.

Damian’s mana reached Nemeria.

Damian whispered to her.

-I will free the bindings placed on you.

He had already examined Nemeria’s past entirely.

Therefore Damian could read the grudge lodged in her heart.

‘Freedom.’

A desire of the same kind as Alseira’s.

Coincidentally, other demonic beings Damian had met above also held the same desire in their hearts.

There was only one who lacked such a desire: Illinas.

The moment the bonds slipped and even the ties clinging to her heart were severed, Nemeria spoke.

-Who are you?

• I am….

Damian thought for a moment.

Who was he?

Was he simply a necromancer who raised the dead?

Would that be enough?

Or….

-I am a god.

-A god.

-A God of Darkness who will newly rule this world.

Damian liked the words he had spoken.

A God of Darkness.

That was his identity.

From first meeting Equinox, finding traces of Kallios, meeting Sanchez, encountering the past Balthazar, and now meeting Illinas again.

He realized.

Why power had been given to him.

Why he was granted the power to vanquish all creatures of this world and even the power to raise all the dead.

This power was originally a burden accompanied by responsibility.

And the problems of this world stemmed from the filthy desire to avoid that responsibility.

‘I want to set all of this right.’

Damian slowly looked at Illinas.

And Nemeria, who stood behind him, stared at Illinas with killing intent in her eyes.