“We have no intention of stopping the play.”

The Death Knights spoke with blue flames blazing in their eyes.

Some let out uneasy sighs, while others murmured that this was exactly how things should be handled.

“If we yield to the filthy schemes of evil god worshippers and bow to a predetermined schedule, that would be far more disgraceful.”

The information the Death Knights had extracted from interrogating the demon worshipper was incomplete.

The cultists who worshipped Prahgal were targeting the palace. One of them, Madpre, had infiltrated ahead of time to watch for an opening and create a disturbance once the signal arrived.

Even Madpre himself did not know when or how the attack would begin. The cultists who had survived for years in the Empire’s shadows had prepared carefully enough that none of them knew the full extent of the others’ plans.

‘Calling off the play outright would cause problems... but letting the cultists escape would be even worse.’

The Death Knights intended to use this opportunity to lure the cultists out and eliminate them completely.

If the performance stopped now, the enemy would realize something had gone wrong and disappear back into hiding. And once that happened, there would be no telling when or where they might strike next.

“As expected of the Duke’s knights. They’re aggressive.”

Like Lee Han, Alshicle immediately grasped the Death Knights’ true intentions.

On the surface, they claimed they were protecting the dignity of the performance, but beneath that was their determination to capture the cultists no matter what.

Truly fitting for knights of the Imperial Mage Marshal.

“...Wait. Then what about the illusion magic we prepared?”

“We’ll have to cancel it. Are you seriously asking that right now?”

Lee Han answered in a low, serious voice.

When nobody knew when or how the cultists would infiltrate the palace, suddenly springing a surprise performance on the audience...

At best, they would panic the nobles. At worst, they might be mistaken for accomplices.

“We worked so hard on it...”

Alshicle looked like a penguin that had just lost every sardine it had spent all day catching.

Lee Han felt a little guilty seeing that expression, but there was no helping it.

“Forget about the play for now. Focus on the cultists.”

“...Then what about the escape?”

“We’ll probably have to postpone that too.”

Lee Han answered after a brief pause.

The theater club students would be devastated, but under the current circumstances, every plan had to be suspended.

With evil god worshippers hiding nearby, splitting up and escaping separately would be suicidal.

‘At least I can still leave if I want to.’

That was the one fortunate thing.

Even if the theater club students ended up trapped here, Lee Han himself could still get out whenever he needed to.

Given enough time, the theater club students would eventually realize they had joined the wrong club in the first place.

“Lord Nago. Lord Pengerine.”

“Yes.”

“Please identify any suspicious individuals among the guests who entered the palace.”

The Death Knights trusted Alshicle of House Pengerine’s abilities, and Stedal of House Nago had been the first to notice the abnormality in the soul.

If there were additional infiltrators, those two would find them.

“Leave it to us.”

“It’s an honor!”

“Lord Clevik. Could you ask the illusion mages to reinforce the palace’s magical defenses?”

“That’s certainly possible. Though the illusion mages gathered here aren’t particularly exceptional, so don’t expect too much.”

“Of course. Simply informing us of the spells you install will be enough for us knights to coordinate around them.”

‘How humble.’

Lee Han was honestly impressed.

These were mages who included Baldororn himself, yet they were speaking modestly.

“Einroguard’s students should divide responsibilities and respond flexibly.”

“We’ll prepare potions for any possible emergency situations.”

“We’ll secure evacuation routes in case the nobles need to be escorted out of the palace.”

“We’ll create hidden passages so important guests can be extracted discreetly if necessary.”

“...Students!”

The Death Knights were visibly moved.

When had Einroguard’s students matured this much?

The sight of students who normally complained about everything now moving without hesitation and coordinating perfectly stirred genuine emotion in them.

The students lowered their heads solemnly beneath the Death Knights’ praise.

At a glance, they truly looked like proud students of the Empire’s greatest magic academy, carrying out their responsibilities with dignity.

‘There’s no way they figured it out, right?’

‘No. Probably not...’

‘Wait. The cultists aren’t ruining the escape plan too, are they? We’re still escaping afterward, right?’

‘No. Didn’t you hear? It’s postponed.’

‘...I’m killing them if they show up.’

***

“I don’t sense anyone suspicious.”

“Same here.”

Alshicle lightly swung the pendulum hanging from an ice crystal.

While he couldn’t examine souls in as much detail as Lee Han, this cold-air divination spell was highly sensitive to malice and hidden intent.

Knowing full well how complicated and restrictive divination magic could be, Lee Han asked with genuine curiosity,

“Could I learn that fortune-telling method too?”

“This? Sure. You probably could.”

Just to be safe, Alshicle asked what types of divination Lee Han had already learned.

Lee Han Wardanaz was talented enough to be called a monster even among mages, but divination magic was notorious for ruining gifted people faster than any other school of magic.

Especially talented mages.

The deeper they indulged in peering into the future, the harsher the price they paid and the more severe the backlash became.

In truth, what great divination mages needed most was not talent, but restraint.

“I’ve learned things like crystal spinning-top divination, Spirit Gold Coin Divination, and Five Devils Divination.”

“That should be fine, then.”

Alshicle nodded.

If Lee Han had practiced those safely, then he must have been using divination responsibly.

“Wait. Doesn’t crystal spinning-top divination consume mana as its price?”

“That’s right.”

“...You cheating bastard.”

“!?”

Watching his junior display absurd talent even in divination magic, Alshicle grumbled before continuing his explanation.

“This pendulum divination requires teardrop-cut diamonds as the offering.”

“...”

Lee Han stared at him in disbelief.

Alshicle, however, remained oblivious and kept talking.

“If you sublimate the gem with cold air and offer it as a sacrifice, it temporarily creates an ice-crystal pendulum like this one. The pendulum then bears the burden of peering into the future in your place... Why are you making that face?”

“I’m shocked that the price is so insane.”

“What are you talking about? This is cheap. Be grateful you’re not sacrificing hands or feet.”

Alshicle looked genuinely baffled.

Compared to many other forms of divination magic, sacrificing gemstones was considered relatively harmless.

‘No wonder he’s always broke.’

Lee Han thought to himself.

In any case, the two of them had already checked everyone inside the palace.

No one gave off any abnormalities in their soul, nor had the pendulum reacted even once.

“There probably aren’t any others. It would’ve been difficult for multiple cultists to infiltrate at once.”

“Then ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) let’s head up above the stage.”

The upper section of the theater was ideal for observing the surroundings and responding quickly if something happened during the performance.

Alshicle spoke with lingering regret still obvious in his voice.

“Do we really have to waste the illusion magic we prepared?”

“I told you already. We’re not using it. Just take it home.”

“What am I supposed to do with this at home!? It’ll terrify the children!”

As they walked, Lee Han noticed Baldororn groaning near the palace staircase while muttering to himself in frustration.

“Is that Elastic Labyrinth magic?”

“Yeah. It’s about halfway complete.”

Both Lee Han and Alshicle recognized the spell immediately.

The 3rd-circle spell <Summon Elastic Labyrinth> created a defensive illusion maze specialized in trapping intruders through overwhelming physical resistance.

It wasn’t an especially easy spell, but neither of them considered it difficult enough to struggle with.

“Then why’s he having such a hard time?”

“He’s probably dissatisfied because the spell itself is too mundane and inefficient. But if he starts using high-circle magic by himself, the balance with the other illusion mages falls apart, and he’d burn through the reagents too quickly.”

Lee Han nodded as though he understood completely.

Since this was a group effort, Baldororn couldn’t simply replace the entire framework with his own preferred methods.

He had to maintain balance with the rest of the mages involved.

Which meant Baldororn was likely trying to optimize the spell while remaining within those restrictions.

“Let’s go. No point bothering him.”

“Right.”

As the two passed by without stopping, Baldororn grumbled inwardly.

‘If they’re such great mages, couldn’t they at least offer some advice...!?’

He had heard both of them were extraordinary mages, yet neither had said a single thing about the problem tormenting him.

They were all working together on the palace defenses. Couldn’t they at least throw a struggling junior mage one useful suggestion?

As expected, all exceptional mages were horribly eccentric.

***

“Something feels off.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Doesn’t the atmosphere around the palace feel sharper than before?”

“Perhaps. But it changes nothing.”

The Priest with Beetle Marking muttered quietly.

The minds of evil god worshippers were fundamentally twisted.

Ordinary believers or collaborators could still pass as normal people, but once someone reached the rank of priest, even if they still resembled humans on the outside, their minds had already become something entirely alien.

Creatures whose thoughts could not be understood through ordinary logic.

The Priest with Beetle Marking was one such being.

Long ago, even his name had been offered to the evil god, leaving behind only the carved marking upon his body.

The Priest with Tree Marking and the Priest with Sun Marking were no different.

“The Blasphemer shall descend, and Lord Prahgal shall rejoice.”

“The Blasphemer shall descend, and Lord Prahgal shall rejoice!” 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

As the ominous chant echoed out, the priests’ bodies began to shrink.

Even after becoming smaller than children, the process continued.

Eventually, the priests transformed into tiny masses of flesh before vanishing with soft popping sounds.

No one noticed the ritual quietly unfolding upon the distant hill overlooking the palace.

But the air above the palace noticed.

The being within the Undead Realm accepted the sacrifice with delight and began fulfilling the contract.

“Danger!”

“How!?”

The Death Knights reacted instantly.

They had expected the cultists to attempt infiltration somehow, but a direct summoning from the sky?

‘Impossible. They summoned something that powerful without any preparation?’

Even while reacting, the Death Knights were shaken.

Their master might have been a knight, but because he was their master, the Death Knights themselves possessed considerable magical knowledge as well.

Magic was never omnipotent.

It was a brutal discipline governed by absolute laws and equally absolute prices.

And the presence emerging above them belonged to a being of terrifying power.

To summon something like that without elaborate preparation—

“Don’t tell me they sacrificed themselves? Those lunatics love doing that!”

“That’s impossible. Even if they used human sacrifices, summoning something on this level would require several high-ranking priests to—”

The Death Knight abruptly fell silent.

Under normal logic, sacrificing multiple high-ranking priests merely to attack a palace hosting a theatrical performance would have been absurd.

But evil god worshippers did not think rationally.

They worshipped incomprehensible “grand designs” that existed only within their own madness.

They truly might sacrifice several high-ranking priests for a scheme only they understood.

“What in the world are they trying to accomplish?”

“I don’t care what those lunatics are thinking! Prepare for battle! Evacuate everyone below!”

The Death Knight clicked his tongue sharply.

He had expected infiltration or sabotage.

Instead, this was sheer brute-force terrorism.

Who could have guessed that evacuation would matter more than delicate countermeasures?

KWAJIJIJIK—!

Chains overflowing with negative energy wrapped around the dimensional gate while the siege weapons deployed by the Death Knights unleashed a relentless bombardment.

A storm of attacks poured into the dimensional rift hanging in the sky.

But the undead summoning continued regardless.

The Death Knights cursed at the revolting stench spilling from the gate.

“It’s the Blasphemer! Of all things, it had to be one of the tougher ones!”

“Buy time! If that thing notices the people below, we’re finished!”

Heeheeheehee—

As the undead creature commanding legions of decay and corruption began crawling out from the dimensional gate, the Death Knights tightened their grips on their weapons.

At that moment, a gigantic dragon burst upward from below the palace.

“!!!?!”

“A, dra, gon?!”

Even the Blasphemer recoiled in shock and hastily retreated.