Night deepened, and Karnak’s group continued following the trail of dark energy until they finally arrived near a secluded cabin deep within the mountains.

Glancing around, Karnak muttered to himself, "This place again."

Varos nodded. "Yep, this is the one."

It was a familiar location. Specifically, it was a place they had visited before. Everyone except for Leven, that is.

"Where is this?" Leven asked.

"It’s where that necromancer lived. The one who used to dig up wild roots," Karnak answered him.

"Sorry, what?" Leven blinked, not quite understanding.

Was that supposed to be a joke?

It wasn’t. It was just a simple, literal truth.

Serati carefully inspected the cabin cloaked in darkness. Last time, there had only been the cabin, but now several tents had been erected around it. It appeared that quite a few cultists were using the area as a base.

They’re still using this place as a hideout even after it was exposed?

It seemed odd at first, but on second thought, it wasn’t so strange. No matter how vast a mountain may be, habitable areas were scarce. Good ground and access to water were precious commodities.

Using his aura senses, Leven gauged the enemy’s numbers. "Five inside the cabin. Ten in the vicinity. Can’t tell what’s deeper inside the cave."

Karnak quickly added, "They’ve also laid down a necromantic domain nearby. It’ll activate the moment combat breaks out."

It was a formidable force, but not one that posed a real threat to their group.

Serati narrowed her gaze toward the cave and asked, "What should we do? Infiltrate and locate Milia first?"

"No time," Karnak replied, scowling as he looked up toward the sky above the cabin.

Though the others couldn’t sense it, he could see it clearly. Faint traces of darkness were gathering from all directions. It was a clear sign they were preparing something. The cultists were planning to do something with a priest, and it certainly wouldn’t be anything good for Milia.

"We’ll rescue her before anything happens," Karnak declared.

***

The Cult of the Black God had been expanding at a terrifying pace. They had already established bases across the empire and were beginning to undermine the influence of the Church of the Goddesses.

While their expansion in the Seven Kingdoms Alliance had slowed due to interference from the strange Twilight Cult, they still retained considerable power. With the age of doom dragging on, not a corner of the continent remained untouched by death energy.

Even the priests, who once easily exposed heretics, now struggled to detect them. However, though the cult appeared to be thriving, they too faced internal struggles they couldn’t publicly admit. Necromancy, the very foundation of their strength, was becoming less effective.

The power of necromancy didn’t lie solely in its ease of learning or rapid growth. It thrived in the unknown. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated, so the saying went.

Necromancy had long remained a mysterious force. Meanwhile, aura, magic, and divine magic were widely studied and practiced. Even powerful mages and aura users were often caught off-guard by unfamiliar necromantic techniques and defeated by mere third-rate necromancers.

But the world had changed. The long years of shadows had produced many necromancers, and even more warriors who had fought them. Naturally, methods to counter necromancy had spread across the continent.

Necromancy was no longer a mystery. It had become as familiar to everyone as aura or divine magic. And so, the great God of Death bestowed a new gift upon his followers. If necromancy could no longer remain hidden, the answer was simple: bestow an entirely new form of sorcery. This was the very ritual Harbert was performing now.

"Del lat phalas kri r’tar..."

"Raph veit phala drar..."

Five necromancers surrounded the altar and chanted incantations. With every word, darkness surged inward from all directions, converging on the center of the ritual space. This was the sacred wisdom of death passed down by Tesranach through the Saint Elezar.

The power came at a steep cost, but its might was said to be overwhelming. According to Elezar, if performed correctly, the ritual would grant power equal to that of a martial king.

Or so she said. But we should take that with a grain of salt.

After all, whenever someone handed down secret techniques like this, they always came packaged with grandiose claims. It would be heaven-shaking, earth-shattering, and the like.

No way it’s really on par with a martial king, Harbert thought with a hint of skepticism.

He was nothing if not a realist. Still, it would undoubtedly provide them with a powerful force. Just then, a commotion erupted from outside the cave.

A man burst in, shouting, "Lord Harbert!"

There was no need to ask what was going on. He already knew.

And sure enough, what followed were words he had already expected. "They’re here! The hounds of the goddesses!"

Harbert gripped his skull-topped staff with even more force as he drew in even more darkness. "There’s no time! Accelerate the ritual!"

***

A fierce aura erupted from beyond the forest as the intruders finally revealed themselves. It was Karnak’s group. But the cultists were not surprised. They had expected an assault from the beginning.

"So they’ve come at last!"

"The hounds of the goddesses!"

They summoned dark aura, activated defensive wards, and called forth monsters. The clearing around the otherwise unremarkable cabin was instantly transformed into a hellscape.

And yet, even that hellish sight was powerless to stop them. The cultists here were far from weak, likely on par with those who had once served Count Hudel. The problem was that Karnak’s group was no longer at the same level as they had been back then.

"We go in fast!"

"Roger!"

At Karnak’s command, Varos threw himself into the defensive perimeter surrounding the cabin and lashed out with chains of blue aura. Though he had reached the level of silver aura, he deliberately held back, using only blue-tier power. There was no need to waste his strength on opponents like these.

Dozens of aura chains lashed outward, tearing through the cultists and monsters caught in their paths without mercy.

Leven, Serati, and Lapicel followed immediately after, their aura-blades flashing with radiant light, accompanied by blood, flesh, and screams. Without hesitation, Karnak’s group carved their way through the cultists and pushed into the cave’s interior.

Milia’s safety was at stake, and they couldn’t afford to waste time. Deeper inside, they entered a massive chamber. At the center stood a grotesque altar, surrounded by black-robed men performing a ritual.

A middle-aged man with a skull-topped staff turned to see them and gnashed his teeth. "Damn it, already...?"

"That’s a funny thing to say, considering how pathetic your guards were." With a smirk, Karnak glanced toward the altar.

Milia was nowhere in sight. Only five necromancers encircled the altar, chanting.

Weren’t they planning to use her as a sacrifice? Karnak thought. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Puzzled, Karnak pulled a wand from his robes. "Alright, alright! That’s enough. I don’t know what you’re up to, but maybe wrap it up, yeah?"

As usual, Serati asked privately through telepathic link.

—Do you have any idea what this ritual is for?

Surprisingly, she wasn’t immediately given an answer.

—I’m not sure just by looking at the altar. I need to see more of the ritual to figure it out.

It wasn’t a setup Karnak recognized. It had been heavily modified, and he couldn’t deduce much from this distance. He gave a suggestion.

—Let’s just beat them down first and take a closer look later.

The group slowly began to fan out to the altar’s flanks.

Watching them, Harbert suddenly smiled, "Your reputation was well-earned after all, Karnak Zestrad. I didn’t expect you to find us so quickly."

Then, as if genuinely baffled, he asked, "How did you find us? We went to such great lengths to remain hidden."

The group, internally, was thrown off.

Uh... actually...

We had no idea...

Had the cultists not made their move first, Karnak and his team would have left town the next morning, content after a good meal.

Still, Karnak couldn’t let that show. "Hmph! No matter how stealthy you may be, you cannot deceive these eyes of mine!"

Harbert hadn’t really expected an answer. "Well, I figured as much. You wouldn’t just tell me."

But his question had only been a way to buy a little more time.

"But it’s a pity for you!" He’d already gotten what he wanted.

Raising his skull staff, Harbert shouted, "You’re too late! The ritual is complete!"

At that moment, the other four necromancers simultaneously drew daggers from their robes.

"O Tesranach!"

"We return to your embrace!"

"Grant us your presence!"

"Open a new sky upon this world!"

With fervent cries, they slit their own throats. Scarlet blood sprayed forth and soaked the altar. The dark currents that had been gathering from all around intensified and spiraled violently.

Karnak scowled. Damn it.

He had assumed it was a standard sacrificial ritual. But it turned out to be a self-sacrifice rite. It was a ritual that fed off the lives of the necromancers themselves, which meant it had progressed far faster than expected.

From the center of the altar, a radiant being began to emerge, and a beautiful voice rang out like music as dazzling light spread through the cavern.

***

The entire cave shook as a thunderous roar erupted. With a blast of wind, five figures shot out from the entrance. It was Karnak and four aura users propelled by Wind Walk.

Turning to look back at the cave, Serati spoke in a trembling voice. "Um... Lord Karnak?"

Leven wore the same expression. "That... isn’t that that?"

A moment later, a being emerged from within the cave. It was a celestial figure clad head to toe in radiant armor of light. The figure leveled a gleaming spear made of pure light, and behind it stretched a glorious pair of luminous wings.

It was a form they knew all too well. Wasn’t that the Angel of Radiant Wings, the spirit conjured through Karnak’s necromantic magic during his battle with future Leven?

Varos’s voice rang out in urgent confusion.

—What’s going on, young master? Why are they the ones using that thing?

Karnak, however, had no clear answer.

—I, I don’t know?

He was just as baffled. Even he had never been able to summon the Angel of Radiant Wings properly in the middle of a battle. The conditions for its manifestation were so strict that it had only worked once, and purely by chance during the fight with future Leven.

And it wasn’t something that could be controlled like a normal summon. Karnak had only managed to wield it by channeling it directly into his own body, effectively fusing with the entity to exercise control. But Elezar’s subordinates had managed to do it? Just regular cultists? Moreover, they hadn’t just summoned it, but were controlling it as if it were some common familiar?

How the hell did they pull that off?

But there was a more immediate problem at hand.

Leven, his face pale, pointed it out. "That... wasn’t that said to rival a martial king?"

It was true. When Karnak had used it, he’d managed to hold even with Martial King Gellard, or more precisely, with future Leven, who had taken over Gellard’s body.

"Hahahahaha!" A triumphant cackle rang out. It was Harbert. "Behold! This is the power newly bestowed upon us by our god!"

His bloodshot eyes flared with mania as he roared to the heavens. "O angel of death! Smite our enemies!"

And once again, the angel’s voice rose in song. A beautiful, divine melody that blanketed the forest like a spell.