Chapter 312: Let’s Be Nice When Doing Bad (1) |
Just because Diogres had regained his magical power didn’t mean he could make use of it immediately. As such, it was only common sense to check for any unforeseen side effects. While Diogres was reexamining his magic, Karnak used the time to plan his next steps.
The lord’s office at the Zestrad estate.
Varos and Serati came to see Karnak upon being summoned to the lord’s office at the Zestrad estate.
As she entered the room, Serati glanced around and asked, "Did you call only us? What about the others?"
"It’s hard to talk comfortably if I call everyone in," responded Karnak.
It went without saying for Desteran and Diogres, and he still had to choose his words carefully in front of Lapicel. In addition, Leven still hadn’t returned from the Strauss family. He could have called Milia, but he had decided to leave her with Lapicel.
"If I call Milia but not Lapicel, it would look strange to others, wouldn’t it?" he explained.
But if he left both of them out, it would simply look like the adults of the King’s Order were having an important discussion among themselves. "Anyway, I’m thinking it’s about time we properly go after the Cult of the Black God."
He had always known the best way to prevent Tesranach’s descent. He just needed to eliminate the three saints of the Cult of the Black God. "To be more precise, we need to take care of Elezar and Dreltein."
It was a reasonable assumption. When reviewing the activities of the Cult of the Black God, there was no doubt that Tesranach’s descent required the presence of all three. However, there was quite a difference in their relative importance.
Karnak continued, "Take Jedex, for example. He was replaced immediately, wasn’t he?"
They had already confirmed that a new Pope of Death had been appointed within the Cult of the Black God in his place. They didn’t know who it was yet, but it didn’t matter. It explained one thing. There were plenty of replacements available for the one responsible for handling divine power among the three saints.
Karnak shrugged. "Well, there were seven of them, after all."
On the other hand, replacing Elezar and Dreltein was nearly impossible. Their combat power was one thing, but more than that, the influence they had over the world was far too great. They were the strongest forces of the two factions that divided Lacania, the vast empire that spanned half the continent. In effect, the two of them had built and led the Cult of the Black God, preparing every aspect of Tesranach’s descent.
"In other words, if we take care of just those two, the Cult of the Black God will fall apart in an instant," said Karnak.
Serati nodded. "In that case, it will be much easier to deal with the remnants of the cult afterward."
Karnak agreed. "Exactly. Though that won’t be my job."
Serati was surprised. "You’re not going to do it?"
Karnak frowned. "You expect me to handle even that?"
It seemed clear that once Tesranach was stopped, he planned to wash his hands of everything and go off to enjoy good food.
Serati accepted it immediately. Well, that’s just how this man is.
Had Karnak been running around all this time to save the people of the world from Tesranach? No. From the beginning, he had never cared whether people suffered or not. There had only ever been one true reason.
—Someone else would do what I did, so I had to stop them no matter what!
As long as Tesranach disappeared, it didn’t matter to him if cultists tormented people or if people started warring among themselves afterward. That would just be another one of the peaceful turbulent eras that filled human history.
Serati pressed him. "Still, wouldn’t it be better, if you want to live like a decent person, to take care of it?"
"By that point, I don’t think I’d be living like a decent human being. I’d be getting played for a fool, don’t you think?" Karnak countered.
Karnak wasn’t foolish enough to fall for something like that.
But what if she rephrased it like this? "I’m not saying you should actually take full responsibility. Just go around saying that while you search for good restaurants. And if you run into cultists along the way, you can deal with them then."
The expressions on Karnak’s and Varos’ faces changed. This time, it sounded quite convincing!
Karnak seemed pleasantly surprised. "Oh, I hadn’t thought of that."
Varos mirrored his expression. "Exactly."
Karnak nodded. "Honestly, being stuck in the territory all the time is a bit boring."
Varos shrugged. "It’s a good excuse to travel."
Watching the two of them seriously consider going on a food tour, Serati smiled softly. As long as I can just get them moving.
They themselves might not care at all, but would the remnants of the cult really leave Karnak alone, after he defeated their leaders? Karnak and Varos would inevitably get involved, and unwillingly, they would end up hunting cultists.
Serati felt smug. I did pretty well with my words this time, didn’t I?
However, she regretted it immediately after hearing their next conversation.
"So, basically, you’re saying we can go around killing people while eating good food? I like it," said Varos.
"Right? As expected, people like Serati who have lived properly just think differently from us," agreed Karnak.
"Wait, no, that’s not what I meant…" muttered Serati.
Anyway, from the very beginning, Karnak had been targeting Elezar and Dreltein. But until now, he simply hadn’t possessed enough power, and there was nothing he could do about it. But now, Diogres Kolon had returned to being an archmage. Moreover, Karnak’s own group had also grown significantly stronger, and they had even gained a new force in Desteran.
Their power had grown to the point where, if they faced either Elezar or Dreltein alone, victory was almost guaranteed.
"Of course, if both of them came at us at once, it would still be a bit tricky, but isn’t avoiding that kind of situation what strategy is for?" said Karnak.
With the Tower of Dawn and Search Black now on their side, Karnak explained that as long as they planned carefully, they could easily take them down one at a time.
"I see." Serati nodded, then asked, "But if you want to make plans, shouldn’t you discuss it with more members? We should at least discuss this with Master Diogres or Sir Desteran…"
Karnak cut her off. "No, we don’t need to."
She was puzzled. "What?"
"I’ve already made all the plans. With Varos," explained Karnak.
Serati looked puzzled. It made sense that Varos was here, since the two of them had devised a plan together.
She asked, "Then why did you call me here?"
Karnak replied as if she had asked something obvious. "To check, of course. To see if I’m still acting like a decent person."
"Oh, right." Serati reflected on herself.
Lately, she had found herself agreeing with Karnak’s actions far too often. She straightened her clothes, took a deep breath, and focused her mind. "I’m ready now. Please tell me the plan."
Karnak asked, "Is this really something you need to look that serious about?"
She responded almost immediately. "Of course!"
Feeling a bit awkward, Karnak began explaining. "So, um, the thing is…"
***
There was one condition that absolutely had to be met when fighting Elezar and Dreltein.
"We can’t fight them in the imperial capital," said Karnak.
The imperial capital of the Lacania empire, Thea Krahan, was considered the greatest city on the continent. Thus, the city was fortified with military defenses worthy of its title as the millennium capital.
The empire’s magic tower, led by Elezar, was considered one of the continent’s three great magical schools alongside Diogres Kolon’s Tower of Dawn and Giyen Ren’s Golden Branch Society. And both the Tower of Dawn and the empire’s magic tower were located in Thea Krahan. The mages affiliated with it were countless.
"At this point in time, there are probably three ninth-circle mages and about seven at the eighth-circle," said Karnak after a moment of thought.
As for those below that level, it was impossible to even estimate how many there were. The empire’s knight order, which protected the capital, was also a formidable force. No one on the continent doubted that this knight order was the strongest, and even in his past life, they had relentlessly hounded Karnak and Varos.
In addition, there was Dreltein’s personal force, the Kretas knight order. Though they were fewer in number than the empire’s knights, they prided themselves on being no less skilled.
"Combine those two forces, and there would be at least five silver knights, if not more. As for purple-tier and below, they’re a dime a dozen."
To make matters worse, these incredible forces were led by a martial king and an archmage. No matter how much Karnak’s forces had grown, a full-scale war would mean certain defeat.
"That’s why I haven’t been able to do anything about Elezar until now," said Karnak.
But when Karnak first heard that Diogres Kolon had been stripped of his magic, a thought had crossed his mind.
Wait a second, does that mean Elezar can’t use magic right now?
Of course, even without magical power, she was still a powerful necromancer. In terms of pure necromantic power, she was probably the strongest in the world. But regardless of how strong she was, Karnak always had a way to win against necromancers. He had even considered taking this opportunity to quietly take her out first.
But after assessing the situation, he gave up. Elezar never left Thea Krahan. She had publicly reconciled with Dreltein, and now, Dreltein stayed with her at the magic tower. That was yet another problem.
Karnak continued, "With a martial king always guarding her side, there was no way."
Well, it seemed that Dreltein wasn’t staying there to protect Elezar but simply because it made managing the cult’s affairs more convenient for him. In any case, was it viable to make an attempt to sneak into the capital to target Elezar or Dreltein in that situation?
There was almost no chance of it going well, and if they failed, the price would be too steep. And like most necromancers, Karnak was never the type to take risks on battles where there was no chance of victory.
"We have to lure them out of the capital somehow. We need to bring them to a place of our choosing to have a chance," explained Karnak.
So how could they get those two to leave the capital? "There’s a precedent for this."
The last time those two had left the capital was to attack the Tower of Dawn. "If Diogres takes back the Tower of Dawn and gathers his forces to barricade himself there, won’t both of them show up again to take him down?"
Serati nodded. "I see. Master Diogres would certainly be a target they couldn’t afford to ignore."
People might not know it, not even Diogres himself, but Karnak’s group knew exactly. They knew the real reason Elezar and Dreltein were after Diogres. The two of them needed to summon the future Diogres Kolon into his current body. As such, if Diogres Kolon acted as such, it was obvious they would drop everything and come running.
There was no way they would send subordinates in their place. Who would, when their opponent was an archmage? And Elezar’s presence was essential for them to carry out the summoning ritual.
"So, in other words…" Serati summarized what she had heard. "You plan to use the Tower of Dawn as the focal point to lure Elezar’s and Dreltein’s armies, then take advantage of the chaos to defeat them separately?"
Karnak nodded. "Yeah."
Serati was surprised. "How rare, for you to come up with such a proper plan, Lord Karnak."
It didn’t seem particularly inhumane, nor did it carry any evil intent, and it didn’t look like any innocents would be caught up unfairly. Of course, in a war, there was no such thing as a death without injustice, but at the very least, it didn’t look like it would escalate beyond what a normal war would be.
Karnak beamed. "Right? This time, it’s a perfectly reasonable and humane plan, isn’t it?"
Then, as if it were nothing, he continued, "Of course, even if we lure them to a location we want, it’s still hopeless if the full force of the empire comes crashing down. So before that happens, I plan to scatter their forces a bit. After that, if we can lure Elezar’s and Dreltein’s main forces into our trap…"
Serati quickly cut in. "Wait!"
Karnak frowned. "What?"
She asked, "You said you’re going to scatter their forces beforehand?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
She continued skeptically, "Don’t tell me your method for that is something like this. A plague breaks out in the capital, or the dead among the citizens rise up and cause a civil war…"
"Oh, how did you know?" Karnak let out a sound of admiration. "That’s the method I used to attack Thea Krahan in my previous life."
Serati glared. "Absolutely not!"
Surprisingly, Karnak didn’t look flustered. "Don’t worry. I’m not saying I’m going to use that method again. I told you, I’m trying to live like a decent person now."
Serati had told him repeatedly. If he wanted to live like a decent person, he should never have involved unrelated civilians.
Karnak fully agreed with those words. "So that means it’s fine to involve people who are related and not exactly ordinary, right?"
***
The Thelix family’s estate was located south of the capital, Thea Krahan.
Dreltein, who had returned home for the first time in a while, was staring at his butler with a bewildered expression. "What did you just say?"
"I can hardly believe it myself, but it’s true." After clearing his throat, the butler continued calmly, "His Highness, the Third Prince, Elliot, has been kidnapped."