The vibrations intensified, the sound of the ground trembling growing increasingly violent. Ominous cracks echoed from the ceiling of the cavern, sending dirt trickling down through the gaps—a clear sign of impending collapse.“It’s coming down! They’re planning to bury us alive!”
“Take the stairs and move up! Quickly!”
“Wait! The corpse by the altar—it looks suspicious⋯⋯!!”
Creek. Creeeek.
Padadadadadat!
It looked like the red energy lingering around the altar was about to be absorbed by the corpses. With a groan, they started moving, creaking as they came back to life. Seeing that, the brothers shouted in unison.
“Is that… necromancy?!”
“Is that, a jiangshi by chance⋯⋯?!” `
“Both of you, stop saying the same thing!”
“⋯⋯This isn’t the time to get jealous over something strange! Jump, Kim Ru—Captain of the Capital Knight Order! We need to get out before this place collapses!”The members of the attack team started running with all their might. Time was running out, and they had to escape from the fourth basement floor to the surface as quickly as possible.
“I’ll cover the rear! Don’t worry about behind you—just go up!”
“I’ll help as well!”
“I shall also stay behind. I shall be of help!”
“I told you both to stop being synchronized! Besides, I can handle this on my ow⋯⋯!”
Guaaaaaa-!!
The corpses started to rise. At a glance, there were easily more than a hundred mummies scattered about. As they began, forming what looked like a wave, Kim Ruru clenched her fist tightly.
She could wipe out all of them in a single move.
Kiiinnng──!!
With just a single breath, a brilliant light began to form in her hand. Releasing it would turn every corpse to dust and destroy the underground facility in one sweep.
“⋯⋯Oops!”
That wouldn’t do. She couldn’t bring down the entire facility.
Kim Ruru quickly shook her hand, dispersing the Mana. Even the small fragments of Mana that flew off did enough to obliterate a few reanimated corpses.
If she lost control of her strength, she’d be the one responsible for burying them alive. Kim Ruru could easily dig her way out on her own, even if she was buried deep deep underground. All it would take was a massive Mana explosion to clear the debris, and she could slowly make her way to the surface.
But the others weren’t like that. They won’t be able to survive. She needed to restrain her power and fight carefully. but⋯⋯.
“Ah, hey── Stop grabbing me!”
It was slow.
Kim Ruru enveloped herself in flames made of Mana, incinerating every corpse within her reach. However, close combat alone, even with her imposing 3-meter frame, wasn’t enough to cover everything.
Corpses began slipping past the Capital Knight Order’s Captain, aiming for the main unit.
Kim Ruru admitted to herself.
“⋯⋯It’s not enough!!”
“I knew it! 『Ribbon Rope』!”
Pure Knight leaped in. From her rapier, dozens of Mana-woven bandages shot out. This time, the objective was to hinder movement rather than directly attack.
Crash!
The corpses stumbled over each other, becoming their own obstacles. Yet, even tangled and broken, they viciously crawled forward on their arms.
Above them, a blade gleamed.
“Hup!”
Namgung Zhao from the Namgung Family unleashed the Boundless Firmament Sword Technique at the approaching corpses. His strong yet fluid sword strokes cut through the air, severing their heads cleanly.
That was sufficient. The corpses weren’t particularly powerful. They were zombies revived through low-level black magic. They were fragile enough that their heads could be sliced off without the need to infuse the blade with Mana.
Since they were already dead, cutting off their heads didn’t stop their movement entirely, but it did slow them down enough to make a difference.
Pure Knight stopped them, and Envers quickly finished them off. Their years of working together combined without any awkwardness.
Even in the midst of danger, Envers spoke in a slightly excited tone.
“I think we make a better team that I expected⋯⋯ One day, I want to fight with Roderus Hyung-nim like this!”
“⋯⋯You’ll have the chance.”
Things were stable. The group had the strength, and the enemy’s interference was being swiftly dealt with.
If they could just finish this off and make their way to the surface quickly⋯⋯.
Hududuk. Tuduk.
Amidst the falling dirt, something heavy landed with a thud.
“Huh?!”
“⋯⋯Bones? Falling from above?”
Pure Knight glanced up at the ceiling. As the dirt clumps were falling from the widening cracks, clusters of bones began to fall, unearthed from the ground above.
As the bones entered the influence of the altar, they too came back to life, turning into skeletons and joining the army of the undead. Kim Ruru shouted in frustration.
“⋯⋯You’re saying there were this many people buried here?! Why didn’t they just make a cemetery!”
“Judging by the marks on the bones, they’ve been here a long time!”
“Does that mean this facility has existed for a long long time?!”
“Probably!”
Was this an ancient ruin or a long-abandoned black wizard’s workshop they had found? It didn’t matter. No matter how many they destroyed, more reinforcements kept dropping from above. If this dragged on, they’d end up buried alive.
“⋯⋯The others, did they get out?!”
“I think there are quite a few still stuck! The power armor is too big⋯⋯!!”
The pathway was narrower than anticipated, and the collapse had created more obstacles along the way. The Capital Knight Orders’ power armors were broad and heavy, so getting stalled was inevitable.
To make matters worse, the corpses they had dealt with earlier were reanimating, attacking them once again.
The Capital Knight Order members used the engines in their armor to power heavy weapons, smashing through the undead to clear a path. Every strike took time, and it was like a noose was tightening around their necks.
Luce, the Purple Magic Tower’s Illusion Wizard, shed tears as she prepared to say her final goodbyes to her lover.
“My darling⋯⋯ It looks like this is the end.”
-My honey, don’t be afraid. I have a plan. I’ll lure the dead away⋯⋯ So even if it’s just you, survive.
“But my heart isn’t prepared to leave you behind⋯⋯!!”
“Please stop fucking around, and just do something , please!!”
Chet.
Luce clicked her tongue at the Defence Bureau agent’s comment, and began casting a spell.
How do reanimated corpses track the living? It’s definitely not through sight—eyes rot away too easily. Most necromancers rely on other sensory organs.
While high-level undead can detect residual Mana or life force, these low-tier ones mainly use their sense of smell. So, what her darling needed was a tempting, irresistible scent of flesh.
The obsession with olfactory senses was about to pay off.
“Goodbye, my darling.『Luce’s Body Odor Assignment』.”
-Goodbye, my honey⋯⋯.
Uuaaaaaagh-!!
Like rats chasing after the Pied Piper, the undead blocking their path turned and pursued the hologram exuding a disturbingly attractive smell.
The road in front of them cleared out soon, and their escape from the facility picked up momentum.
===============================================================
Basement Floor 4, Floor 3, and Floor 2
The three holding off the advancing hordes at the rear continued their defensive stand while steadily moving upward. It looked like everyone else had already made it .
Throughout all this, Kim Ruru remained unscathed, but⋯⋯.
“⋯⋯There’s no end.”
“And damn it, this place is going to collapse soon!”
The brothers were exhausted. The corpses weren’t their only concern; as the collapse reached its climax, huge chunks of debris and dirt began raining down from above.
Defending against this was a battle in itself. Pure Knight dodged quickly, and Envers deflected the falling rubble. But you cannot stop an avalanche with just your hands.
They knew time was running out. Pure Knight, who understood this logically, and Kim Ruru, who felt it instinctively. Both of them made several daring attempts to break through.
Yet—whether by fate or misfortune—
“『Blooming Umbrella』⋯⋯ Ugh?!”
“Dae-soo, are you okay?”
Every time they made a decisive move to break through, a strange misfortune befell them. If they were preparing an ultimate technique, rocks and bones would fall from above right in that moment, aimed precisely at their heads.
Whenever Kim Ruru tried to focus her firepower, a sudden threat would endanger Pure Knight—hidden traps or magic circles would activate at the worst possible moments, forcing Ruru to intervene to protect her.
An invisible lantern swayed.
Duke Redburn Maximus’ 『Lantern of Foresight (豫知燈籠)』 operated on two levels. The first, the planning stage, where strategies were crafted based on gathered intelligence. The second, the execution stage, where fate itself was manipulated in accordance with those plans.
The fewer gaps and uncertainties in the strategy, the harsher the manipulated fate became.
With his intricate web of informants, Duke Redburn had learned about 『Blue Rose’s』 attack methods and was well aware of the Capital Knight Order Captain’s poor control over her powers.
This trap—a collapsing structure combined with an army of the undead—was laid out after thoroughly studying their abilities. The goddess of fortune smiles upon the well-prepared.
Kururururu──!!
The entire facility groaned loudly. Kekegigigigi . The ominous noise was unmistakable—total destruction was coming.
“You guys, get out first!”
“⋯⋯What about you?!”
“I’m strong enough to make it on my own! I’ll hold them off, so hurry and go. Quickly!”
It made sense. Logically, it was the right choice. But⋯⋯.
The streak of misfortune that had been following them since the facility began crumbling made Pure Knight hesitate. Let’s say they ran as fast as they could while Kim Ruru covered them.
What if the unavoidable collapse started when they were too far away? Without Ruru’s protection, Pure Knight would be crushed to death for certain.
Yet staying near her wasn’t an option either. No matter how many undead they eliminated, more appeared like endless swarms of cockroaches.
In the end, Pure Knight realized the true issue was her own weakness. She bit her lip, frustrated. She was becoming a burden to Kim Ruru.
Was there no way out?
While the group was being cornered, Envers suddenly had an idea and spoke up.
“⋯⋯Capital Knight Order Captain! I think I might be able to immobilize the corpses!”
“It’s either you can or you can’t! Why is it ‘might’?!”
“Because I am not certain if my Metamorphosis will work on corpses or not!”
Would Emperor Sword Form even work on the dead? There was no way to know without testing it. That’s why he hadn’t tried it so far⋯⋯ But now, with no other options, he had to risk it.
If it stopped those corpses from moving, and they gained some time⋯⋯.
Pure Knight fended off the approaching skeletons with her rapier and stayed close to Ruru. Then she made her decision.
“Kim Ruru, lend me Mana! I’ll control it!”
“⋯⋯I thought your body couldn’t handle someone else’s Mana?! And you won’t be able to take it in!”
“We’re dead anyway if we don’t change something! Besides, I’m confident I can handle your Mana!”
“⋯⋯Uh, Uha. That sounds really weird, you know⋯⋯.”
To Ruru, who was feeling a vague lewdness by the phrasing, Pure Knight roared in frustration.
“Hey!!”
“I-I get it! Let’s do it⋯⋯!”
“Then, here I go! Metamorphosis,『Emperor Sword Form』──!!”
Envers reached for the sky.
Kuuoong⋯⋯!!
His power grasped the heavens and pressed them down. The commanding presence of an emperor, unseen but unmistakably felt, spread through the space.
It worked—even on the corpses. They sensed danger from all directions, and their movements slowed. And then.
Crack-!
Overloaded with information, the invisible lantern shattered.
Pure Knight felt a weight lift from her chest. The flames that had been guiding them down a doomed path were extinguished. In their place, the fire of hope ignited.
“⋯⋯Now!”
Kim Ruru extinguished the Mana flames surrounding her armor and extended the right arm of her power suit. With a series of clanks, pieces of the armor detached and fell away.
Then, she placed her small hand on Pure Knight’s back, carefully channeling Mana into her. It was only a very small percentage.
“⋯⋯⋯⋯!!”
It felt like molten lava coursing through her veins. As an overwhelming torrent of Mana surged into her body, Pure Knight trembled under the searing pain.
Taking in another person’s Mana was an incredibly dangerous act.
Had the『Lantern of Foresight(豫知燈籠)』that controlled fate still been active, this attempt would have surely led to disaster.
Pure Knight would have been consumed by the uncontrollable Mana, and Kim Ruru would have ended up killing the person she loved with her own hands. But the lantern’s influence had been nullified by the Emperor Sword Form . And the Magical Girl grasped something crucial.
After the initial pain, a feeling of limitless power washed over Pure Knight.
Holding this much Mana, even without finesse or refined technique, she felt absurdly powerful!
Barely managing to wrangle the colossal surge of Mana she had never controlled before, Pure Knight focused on her visualization. What she imagined was a drill. If they couldn’t escape before the facility collapsed, then the solution was simple—drill through the surface and break free.
“『Great Umbrella』!!”
A massive umbrella-shaped construct enveloped them and began spinning at an incredible speed. And then.
Kururu── Warurururu!!
The facility completely collapsed
===============================================================
“⋯⋯Did the captain make it out?!”
“It’s not the time to worry about the captain.『Blue Rose』and another collaborator who went with them⋯⋯.”
“Wait a minute, the ground is shaking⋯⋯ We need to get farther away! Run!”
“Why are you telling us to move back? This distance should be safe enoug──”
Booooom──!!
A flash of bright blue light erupted as the ground exploded beneath them.
Hudududuk. Hududuk.
Soil rained down from the sky, striking the ground like heavy droplets. Three figures crawled out of the massive crater left behind, their bodies caked with dirt.
“⋯⋯We survived.”
“⋯⋯W-we survived. Lucky that worked.”
They were alive.
Pure Knight lay on the ground, gasping for air, her body aching. Relief washed over her, but an unsettling concern gnawed at the back of her mind.
What was Duke Redburn planning?
There’s a stark difference between merely turning a blind eye and not even pretending.
The fact that clear signs of traps and black magic were found in areas where the Redburn family’s magic reagents had been distributed was a serious enough offense to bring political consequences against the Duke.
Still, this wasn’t a plan meant to wipe everyone out. Even if things had gone disastrously wrong, Kim Ruru, having reached the Sublimation stage, would have certainly survived.
Which meant the information would inevitably make its way to the Capital Knight Order.
There were only two possibilities.
Either the Duke lacked sufficient resources, or⋯⋯.
He simply didn’t care what happened next.
===============================================================
The chessboard lay shattered. The black knights were split in half, scattered in disarray, while the white queen stood tall and alone.
The Duke clenched his fist, reducing the queen to dust.
“⋯⋯Does this mean you have failed?”
“Yes, Mr. Noose.”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
Duke Maximus Redburn frowned, though he quickly forced his expression to relax. There was clearly an unexpected variable at play.
While it was immensely frustrating that things hadn’t gone according to plan, discovering a new variable in the process gave even this failure some value. And it wasn’t a catastrophic defeat, either.
His preparations were already in place.
He turned his gaze toward a sculpture made of pitch-black metal. It felt ominous yet it exuded an unsettling sense of reverence. This was indeed the idol of the black wizard.
“──The completion of Despairing Evil God’s Sculpture is near.”
Schemes, politics—it was all futile.
In a world where humans could transcend their own limits, only power remained constant.
The four black wizards each pursued their own twisted ideals, earning their nicknames through those dark philosophies.
『Noose Engraving Despair』Maximus Redburn was like a farmer. He carved the brand of slavery onto both the body and soul, keeping his victims under complete control. He craved their endless screams of despair—unchanging, eternal.
It never shifts. Tomorrow is neither better nor worse. Just eternal drowning in dispair.
That was why he created environments that encouraged hypnosis, collecting sculptures to lure victims and extract their souls for Mana. For him, the value of 『Domination』was everything.
The Evil God Sculpture—an artifact of unspeakable darkness, born from the agony of countless souls—was the ultimate goal pursued by the four black wizards.
Its power could even reach the Sublimation stage.
If the Evil God sculpture was completed, Duke Redburn’s abilities would evolve to a new level. Even with just his current Metamorphosis, he already had the power to control the fate of others—what authority would he gain once the sculpture was finished?
The Duke chuckled softly. When the time came, he would become omnipotent.
“⋯⋯『Corpse Flower』reported a problem, 『Lamb』 also said they needed more time until completion. So, aside from me, was『Virgin』the closest to finishing?”
“Yes, Mr. Noose. That seems to be the case.”
“I hope those pieces of trash hurried up and finished. It is not easy to wait.”
The Duke tapped his fingers impatiently on the armrest.
The other three black wizards were also constructing their own Evil God Sculptures. When all their preparations were complete, the Empire would face destruction on an unprecedented scale.
How could they possibly stand against it?
As long as no major unforeseen factor arose ⋯⋯ They would be the ones laughing in the end.
===============================================================
“Pink-Haired Lesbian, you busy?”
“No, Mr.Crazy Wizard. What is the matter?”
“Well, nothing too major⋯⋯ I’ve got a Succubus trapped in my mental barrier. Not a big one, just a small fry. Wanna go see?”
“I would love to. I shall quickly go bring some popcorn.”