Episode 140 The Immortal King's Uprising (4)
Right after the Immortal King left the conference hall,
'It's unnatural.'
That was the impression of Viscount Audre, a high-ranking official in the Azeria Empire's intelligence agency, who was participating in the summit as an advisor to the Crown Prince.
'I don't know how he was able to infiltrate the cathedral, but the process couldn't have been easy. But to go through all that trouble and then suddenly leave like this, as if on a whim?'
He was the type who believed that there was a purpose behind every action in the world.
'It would make more sense to think that he had a goal, achieved it, and then leisurely left.'
Just as there was a reason for a baby's cry, even if it was the thought process of a madman, there was logic and reasoning behind it.
But the Immortal King's actions this time felt unnatural, even for a madman.
'Of course, the hero and the others weren't easy opponents, so they would have been able to drive him out if the fight had continued. The casualties would have been greater, but it was the cathedral, after all.'
If that had happened, it wouldn't have ended with just a dozen deaths.
Perhaps even the barrier that was set up in the back would have been destroyed, and the envoys, including himself, who were inside, would have been massacred.
It was fortunate for them.
But…
Rustle— Rustle—
Audre took out a document with information about various people and examined it again.
It contained the results of the investigation conducted by the Empire's intelligence agency after obtaining the list of summit participants.
'Count Cayenne Turkan from the Empire, His Highness the Crown Prince's right-hand man. Kanbul and Payton from the Mercenary Guild, the Mercenary King and his right-hand man. From the Sharotti Kingdom…'
And as he looked over the information about the deceased, he was finally able to connect the dots.
'They were all shady characters. There are those who survived the battle despite having similar conditions, but at least none of those who died were good people.'
Was it a coincidence?
…No, he didn't believe in coincidences.
There was a reason for everything, and it would be the same for this incident.
The problem was that he couldn't figure out the reason.
An Immortal King who only killed bad people, what kind of combination of words was that?
'To collect the negative energy contained in the souls of evil people? Then wouldn't it have been easier to kill everyone and then select from among them, rather than not killing others? Or was it a necessary process for some dark magic ritual? Or…'
All sorts of hypotheses and deductions filled his head, but he couldn't reach a clear conclusion.
Because of that, Audre couldn't help but rack his brains for days.
The reason why the Immortal King retreated so easily was also a mystery.
'…Am I too caught up in stereotypes? Well, the Immortal King can't be like ordinary madmen.'
He was a veteran investigator who had analyzed the behavioral patterns of countless madmen, including dark mages, but they were just humans.
They couldn't even compare to the Immortal King.
As he was inwardly giving up on analyzing the incident, he finally received news about the Rohan Duchy.
Naturally, only one being came to mind.
He closed his eyes tightly and muttered the name inwardly, amidst the increasingly complicated situation.
'…Immortal King, Hans.'
The name of the root of all evil.
____________________
"What's going on?! The Rohan Duchy is collapsing?"
"I heard they were holding out, how could things escalate so suddenly…"
"There must have been some warning signs. Then we could have at least received a message…"
The conference hall was in an uproar.
Everyone was visibly flustered by the news that came out of nowhere.
Even the non-human races, who didn't know much about the Ion Continent, were grasping the situation with serious expressions, having heard that a country had finally collapsed.
Clank—
And in the midst of the chaos,
The door to the conference hall opened, and the representatives of the Rohan Duchy, the Magic Tower, and the Church entered together.
The noisy space instantly fell silent, and everyone's gaze focused on them.
But Dennis and the others just sat down quietly with stiff expressions, and Cardinal Cordelia, who also had a serious expression, stepped forward.
She seemed to understand their questions and immediately got to the point.
"I'll tell you the conclusion first. The duchy hasn't been completely destroyed. But…"
The Rohan Duchy bordered the Northern Mountains on three sides, except for the south, so they had been focusing all their national power on defending their borders since the madness incident occurred.
And the Main God Church was also actively supporting them, dispatching not only the forces from the local temple but also reinforcements from the headquarters, including Paladins—.
"…While they were fighting the monsters, the defenses on all three sides suddenly collapsed for an unknown reason. And at the same time, suicide bombings occurred at major facilities in the duchy."
The headquarters of the knight order, the Main God Church's temple, the Magic Tower Alliance's magic tower…
Even the royal palace where the duke resided was attacked by an unidentified group.
The temple, which had sent most of its forces to support the border defense, leaving only a minimal number behind, suffered heavy losses in the sudden attack, and even the gate, the core of the Church's mobility, was destroyed.
Of course, the situation in the other attacked locations was no different.
"Even though they were short-staffed, to think they even destroyed the Main God Church's temple?"
"And that's not all, is it? How many places did they attack simultaneously?"
"Judging by the timing, they must have been the ones who caused the incident at the border. And there were even Church and Empire reinforcements there."
The envoys started chattering among themselves again at the additional information.
And very naturally, their thoughts converged on one point.
"This must also be the Immortal King Hans's doing, right?"
"Don't tell me…! He attacked this place to divert our attention before carrying out his plan?"
"His actions were a bit strange… but…"
"This is what happened in the end! He was just mocking us!"
It was a natural flow for them to point to the Immortal King as the culprit.
His notoriety was so great that even those who were initially skeptical eventually came to agree with the mainstream opinion.
And among those nodding seriously,
Heinrich, the Saint of the Main God Church and the hero who would oppose the Immortal King, was also included.
But his inner thoughts were quite different…
'No, what the hell is going on?'
He was also flustered by the reality of his careless words coming back to bite him.
He frowned and carefully reviewed the information that had been relayed so far.
'I can feel the malice, the determination to destroy Rohan at any cost. They broke through the defenses while they were fighting the monsters and attacked the Church and the Magic Tower to cut off reinforcements.'
It was something that couldn't be achieved with the capabilities of an ordinary organization, and it was even more impossible to do with just a short preparation period.
It would take at least years of effort.
And Heinrich knew one group that could pull off something like this.
'Oath of Heaven's Defiance… Did they do it?'
He had the impression that they were nothing special because they had been beaten up by him so many times, but they were definitely not to be underestimated.
Above all, everything could be explained by the fact that they were the culprits behind opening the abyss and releasing 'madness'.
If they put their minds to it, it would be easy for them to overturn a single country.
'I didn't hear anything about this from Old Man. This is the problem with being a cell organization.'
Old Man, the Tulk Kingdom branch manager of Oath of Heaven's Defiance, whom Banshee Queen Olivia had captured after obtaining information.
She had expressed difficulty in extracting information from him because of an unknown restriction engraved on his heart, but there was no way it would work on Hans, who had reached the pinnacle of magic.
'Of course, it was a bit troublesome because it was practically a self-destruct code.'
It was a restriction that limited the soul to prevent information leakage, without regard for the target's well-being.
According to "Forbidden Knowledge", it was high-level dark magic that humans couldn't even dream of using, something only demons could use…
'But I might have missed something, so I should check on him again.'
The matter was too big to just ignore.
Monsters consumed by madness were relentlessly pouring in from the broken defenses, and there was no way to quickly send reinforcements because the temple's gate and even the magic tower had collapsed.
Of course, there were rear defense lines, but how long could they hold out when the front lines, where they had poured all their power, had been breached?
It wasn't just a matter of deteriorating public order, it was literally a national crisis.
"Cardinal Pirei from Jeron Cathedral in the Empire has decided to personally intervene. He'll gather the Church's elites in the Empire and move to the temple closest to the Rohan Duchy, and they'll try to rescue as many people as possible."
Cardinal Cordelia's voice continued calmly.
But no one missed the burning anger hidden beneath her composed voice.
The continent had already suffered considerable damage, but she couldn't help but feel heavy-hearted thinking about the refugees that would be created by the collapse of a country.
The following discussions focused on responding to the Rohan Duchy situation.
The Main God Church and the Azeria Empire, which could provide immediate support, were taking the lead, but it was a matter that the continental allied force couldn't ignore either.
And as the discussion was actively progressing,
Heinrich was quietly lost in thought, observing the situation.
____________________
"Mulo, is there any new information about the Rohan Duchy?"
"Yes, Lord. They're currently holding back the monsters at the second defense line after the border completely collapsed, but it's not enough to properly stop them."
Heinz's efforts to create a global information network had been steadily continuing.
Naturally, vampires from the clan were also dispatched to the Rohan Duchy, and Mulo was able to receive real-time information from them.
'He's truly talented. This is only possible because we have Mulo, who has mastered blood magic.'
He had become even stronger with "Refined Blood Essence" and now had the ability to communicate with his subordinate vampires in real time if he wanted to.
It was an essential ability for the leader of a continental-scale information network.
And his report continued while Heinz was inwardly looking at him with satisfaction.
The hastily constructed second defense line was full of holes, and many monsters were slipping through, so it was only slightly better than nothing.
But the situation wouldn't even allow for that…
"They say the second defense line won't last long either. So they're preparing a third defense line in front of the duchy's capital, but…"
Mulo trailed off and shook his head quietly.
There was no need to say more.
"Hmm…"
Heinz closed his eyes and fell into thought.
Of course, he wasn't going to lead the vampire clan and go help the Rohan Duchy because it was in danger.
There was no reason to do that, and the conditions weren't right.
Even the Ufersh Clan's Blood Gate, which could travel long distances, was a spell that consumed a considerable amount of time and resources, and it was still too early for them to come out into the open.
"It seems like there's only one option."
"What? Do you have any orders?"
"No. Anyway, how's Theodore's work going?"
"Yes. It'll take some time because the clan members are scattered all over the world, but there's no problem gathering them here."
The Talia Kingdom, located at the western end of the continent.
Heinz the Second was planning to use this place as his territory and gradually expand the vampire clan's influence.
He was even considering coming out into the open once the preparations were complete.
Then, the next thing he needed was—.
'…It's about time for Hans to have a base too.'
It was inefficient to keep the immortal army in Hans's subspace like this.
They needed a base to properly operate the army, and considering their characteristics, a remote and uninhabited place was suitable.
The west was already Heinz the Second's territory, the center had the Empire and the holy land, and the east had the Republic and the island nation, the Magic Kingdom.
The southern desert was sparsely populated, but they would inevitably clash with the tribal federation located at the southernmost point.
In the end, there was only one place left.
'A demon king's castle should be in a place like that.'
The largest demonic realm on the continent, with harsh environments, rough terrain, and all sorts of ferocious monsters.
A high-level field that beginners couldn't even approach.
The Northern Mountains.
That was the perfect place.
'But if he hides too deep, he won't be able to properly show off the might of the immortal army. It's difficult, but a location that can be reached after a struggle is suitable.'
And they had a suitable place, didn't they?
Yes, for example…
'…The mountains in the north of the Rohan Duchy would be perfect.'
And if that happened, naturally…
The existing residents would have to change their allegiance, even if it was by force.
From 'madness'.
To 'death'.