[Megaman Tiga: I'm currently in Lyon's imperial capital. I just stepped out of the teleportation array...]

The moment Ambrose sent that message, the group chat exploded.

The first in line was Heki Stone.

This dwarven vampire was Ambrose's top hater in the Elegiac Society.

He had only just recovered from the shock of the Elven Queen practically throwing herself at Ambrose—only for such a message to pop up. His mood immediately soured.

[Human-Hater: You ******! What nonsense are you spouting now? The imperial capital of Lyon? An undead would be blasted into ash before even getting close.]

The second in line was Gareth, who had married into wealth. He probably had nothing to do all day; he never missed a single chat session.

[Dullahan's Crown: Bro, I'm siding with the dwarf this time. Even if you're just bragging, this is going too far. The imperial capital of Lyon? Even I wouldn't dare go near that place. With your tiny frame, the holy light would blast you so hard there wouldn't even be bone ash left.]

Ambrose read their replies, pondered briefly, then continued writing. [Megaman Tiga: Gentlemen, care to make a wager?]

[Human-Hater: A wager on whether you're actually in the City of Dawn? How are you even going to prove it?!]

[Megaman Tiga: Don't worry about how I'm going to prove it. Just tell me if you're in or not. My stake is fifty-three million gold.]

[Human-Hater: That's a pretty specific number. What's with the extra three million?]

[Megaman Tiga: A group of paladins just knelt in front of me, crying and begging me to take it. I might as well gamble with it.]

[Human-Hater: *******!]

Ambrose sighed inwardly. Why was it that no one ever believed him when he told the truth? He was a lich who conducted business with integrity. He always spoke honestly.

Heki Stone seemed too agitated to think about the bet anymore. He was furiously spamming "******" in the chat, as if he had forgotten about the wager entirely.

Ambrose made a mental note to tell a white lie next time. Can't have the poor sucker—no, his fellow undead—mentally breaking down.

Once Heki Stone calmed down, Gareth continued, [Dullahan's Crown: Bro, you serious? You're really in the City of Dawn?]

[Pale Little Skeleton: Impossible. How could undead enter the City of Dawn? Even if you were the Lord of Dawn's illegitimate son, as an undead, you'd still be burned to ash by the Holy Light.]

[Megaman Tiga: Why would I lie to you? I'll record my surroundings with a memory crystal right now.]

Ambrose pulled a memory crystal from his private space and recorded the towering white stone pillars surrounding the teleportation array. Each one bore statues of the Lord of Dawn. On the entire continent, only Lyon's imperial capital, the City of Dawn, possessed forty- to fifty-meter-tall statues of the Lord of Dawn in such numbers.

After filming the environment, Ambrose walked up to the stern-faced paladin overseeing them and leaned close. "Come on, cooperate a bit. Take off the helmet and give us a smile."

The paladin turned his head, glanced at Ambrose once, then resumed his rigid posture as if he'd heard nothing.

"Fine. Don't cooperate, then."

Ambrose captured all the guarding paladins in the frame and uploaded the footage into the Necromantic Codex.

Moments later, the group began to question their sanity.

[Human-Hater: How is this possible?! Is that really the City of Dawn? You didn't fake this in advance, did you?]

[Megaman Tiga: If you don't believe me, I'll write your name on a piece of paper and prepare another recording with it in frame.]

[Dullahan's Crown: Bro, how are you still alive? Where's the holy light? Why isn't it affecting you?!]

[Pale Little Skeleton: Don't tell me you really are the Lord of Dawn's illegitimate son?!]

......

Undead being allowed entry into Lyon was outrageous enough, but the City of Dawn? That was practically the Lord of Dawn's earthly palace, a place where divine miracles occurred more often than anywhere else.

The concentration of holy light there was so dense that even a bone dragon wouldn't last more than a few seconds. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

How could a lich like Ambrose possibly stand inside the City of Dawn unharmed? Had he mastered some method of resisting holy light?

If so, that would be the most shocking discovery in undead history.

The undead who cared most about Lyon, Black Rose, saw the messages late. After reading the chat log, she immediately sent Ambrose a private message. [Black Rose: How did you enter the City of Dawn? What exactly happened?]

Ambrose knew that Lyon was Black Rose's obsession. He didn't keep her waiting. He briefly recounted his encounter with the Silvermoon Knight in Sandshadow, saying only that he had requested passage toward the Emerald Dreamwood. He didn't mention anything about rescuing Harvey.

[Black Rose: You met Winston Light?]

Perhaps it was his imagination, but even through the Codex, Ambrose could sense the anger she was suppressing.

[Megaman Tiga: I did. I even extorted over fifty million gold from him on your behalf.]

There was a long silence before she replied, [Black Rose: Thank you. That's the best news I've heard in decades.]

Curious, Ambrose asked, [Megaman Tiga: Do you have a grudge against the Silvermoon Knight?]

[Black Rose: My mentor, Master Morgan, died to his blade. But he didn't come out unscathed either. His last disciple died in the Umbral Depths.]

Ambrose hadn't expected such history. Had he known, he would have extorted a few million more.

[Black Rose: That old man... he's probably close to death now.]

[Megaman Tiga: He looks like he could drop dead at any moment, but the holy light within him hasn't weakened in the slightest. If I really were to fight him, I might not be his match.]

[Black Rose: Do not fight him. His Sacred Slash can injure a lich's soul. Even if you return to your phylactery, residual holy light will invade it. My mentor died to that strike. Even after returning to his phylactery, he was eventually burned to ash by the lingering holy light.]

That startled Ambrose.

Was that old man truly that absurd?

A lich's soul returning to its phylactery was a fundamental law, unrelated to spatial magic or teleportation.

In theory, nothing except the soul itself could be conveyed during the process. Even curses were cleansed upon resurrection.

How strong did the Silvermoon Knight have to be to imbue holy light to his Sacred Slash in such concentration that it could seep into a lich's soul and even into its phylactery?

Ambrose couldn't even fathom the mechanism behind this sort of attack.

After several seconds of silence, he finally replied, [Megaman Tiga: Good thing he's almost dead.]

[Black Rose: Yes. Fortunately, he's nearly dead. And fortunately, he isn't of the imperial bloodline. Otherwise, I'd already be dead as well. It's a pity you're trapped at the teleportation array. If you could get into the City of Dawn proper, there are a few secret tunnels that lead straight to the palace. You might even be able to assassinate the emperor.]

Ambrose blinked. [Megaman Tiga: You even know about the Lyon capital's secret passageways?]

[Black Rose: Well, since I've already told you this much... I'm actually from Lyon. I grew up in the City of Dawn.]

[Megaman Tiga: I had my suspicions. You know Lyon too well. You must have been a local.]

Ambrose wasn't particularly surprised. He had long suspected she had deep ties to Lyon, especially given her access to reports on the city's defenses.

Why she had fled and become a lich wasn't surprising, either.

Many humans fled Lyon each year. Some committed crimes. Some found the Lord of Dawn's doctrine incompatible with their ideals. Others simply desired immortality.

Lyon forbade magical means of life extension. Even the Silvermoon Knight, the strongest paladin of the Empire, was aging. That alone proved how strict the ban was.

The instinct to live was fundamental. Undead were still beings. If given a choice, how many could calmly accept death?

But what Ambrose hadn't expected was this—

[Black Rose: In truth... I am of the imperial bloodline of Lyon. The current emperor is probably my cousin. It's been so long I barely remember.]

"What?!" Ambrose blurted aloud.

He was so shocked he had forgotten that the conversation was via text.

He quickly composed himself as she explained, [Black Rose: Strange? What does royalty matter? In the end, we're all slaves to faith. Lyon is a nation where everything can be sacrificed for belief. If you're not fanatical enough, you're a sinner. And I was such a sinner.]

[Megaman Tiga: You wanted immortality? To break Lyon's laws?]

[Black Rose: No. I was raised indoctrinated. I was willing to give everything for Lyon. But as I grew older, I realized that even if I could accept death calmly, there were things I could not accept. Do you know how rare the true imperial bloodline is? My father had over forty children. Only I could resonate with the Draconic Armaments.]

Ambrose thought to himself, "Just how many illegitimate children did the emperor have? Were those scandalous stories about goblins actually historical records?"

[Black Rose: The bloodline weakens with each generation. The founding emperor never sought to marry his relatives to concentrate the blood. After more than ten generations of dilution, the bloodline is far removed from its origin. Fewer and fewer can resonate with the Draconic Armaments. Every emperor's primary duty is to produce children—many children—until one appears who can do so. I thought that, after ascending the throne, I would become such a breeding machine. I was prepared to accept it as my duty. But I underestimated their madness.]

[Megaman Tiga: "They"? Your family?]

[Black Rose: Yes. My father. My mother. All of them. They devised a plan. If my first child did not inherit the bloodline, they would replace my husband. The imperial family has countless collateral branches from generations of such reproduction. Cousins, distant uncles—any male of the bloodline would become my husband. The goal was simple: to produce a child who would inherit the bloodline.]

Ambrose paused. [Megaman Tiga: They're insane.]

[Black Rose: Yes. They are. I overheard their plan before my coronation. There truly are things in this world more unbearable than death. So I ran. Before they could enact their plan, I fled Lyon. They hunted me relentlessly. I kept running, all the way to the Umbral Depths. There I met my teacher. With his help, I became a lich... And you know the rest.]

Ambrose didn't know how to comfort her. No wonder her hatred for Lyon cut so deep.

But Black Rose was hardly fragile. She quickly steadied herself and asked, [Black Rose: By the way, why are you going to the Emerald Dreamwood?]

[Megaman Tiga: The elves gave me the location of a buried divine artifact. I have to sail from the Emerald Dreamwood to reach it.]

[Black Rose: Sailing from the Emerald Dreamwood? Then you ought to talk to Mute. I spoke with her recently, and she seems to live in those waters.]

Ambrose stared at the message, baffled.

An undead living in the sea?

What kind of species was that?