Chapter 155

Chapter 155
## Chapter 155

The Empire’s Turmoil (5)

[Oh, a wager? Hehehe— That’s interesting. Let’s hear it.]

The substance of what followed was…

That since he, the Saint, couldn’t give his undivided attention to the Immortal King if a massive war erupted across the Rohan Duchy, they ought to set the warfare aside and determine the victor through an alternate method.

[Ah— How boring. You didn’t think I would accept such a simple offer, did you?]

The Immortal King’s frigid reply was exactly what everyone, who had been listening to their dialogue in the thick of the conflict, had anticipated.

The basis of this proposal required a factor that would capture his curiosity; thus, if he could not offer an intriguing solution, the negotiation could progress no further.

Just as Heinrich prepared to speak once more…

[…No, wait, it doesn’t sound bad for a bit of amusement. Heh, I just had an interesting idea.]

And the intriguing concept he devised was…

A sort of strategic board game— utilizing the entire continent as the playing field.

The Immortal King would launch an assault on a designated location, and the hero would have to defend it.

If the protection failed, it would inherently result in humanity’s doom, and if it succeeded, they could eliminate the Immortal King’s troops that took part in the raid.

The champion’s condition for victory was to withstand the Immortal King’s unrelenting onslaughts, journey toward the demon king’s fortress, and slay him.

Defeat, naturally, meant the annihilation of the continent, which now served as the game board.

[Of course, since I’m accepting the offer, there should also be a penalty for you, right?]

Hans snickered maliciously, as though he had spotted a flaw to exploit, and deliberately added.

[First, there will be no notification about the time and place. I’m just going to destroy wherever I want, whenever I feel like it. As a Saint, you should be able to handle that much, right?]

“Ugh…!”

And regarding the duration of this ‘game’.

[Second, I’ll entertain you for three years. I don’t want to drag this boring wager on for too long! Hehehe, I’m looking forward to seeing if you can come and take my head within that time. The wait will be a different kind of amusement!]

Hans cackled, clearly intrigued by the novel distraction.

And so, the pact between the champion, who sought to avert a massive war and keep casualties to a minimum, and the malicious Immortal King, who only chased his own entertainment, was struck.

It was a term that could not possibly be more disadvantageous for mankind…

…Or so everyone presumed, lowering their vigilance.

[And third…]

His subsequent words followed—.

And his stare, as though it held the very abyss, shifted toward a remote section of the combat zone.

—

When the Fifth Princess and the Crown Prince united their units,

“It’s been a while, Riley. It seems like you’ve been living comfortably without me. You’ve gained a lot of weight.”

“Did you have a good trip to the summit, brother? I feel sorry for the Church. Every time you go somewhere, a disaster occurs, it’s like you’re cursed by the Main God.”

They exchanged pleasantries laced with smiles and malice.

The Crown Prince did not hold back from deploying all manner of underhanded tactics to suppress Fifth Princess Riley as she steadily grew more powerful and jeopardized his succession, and she was forced to become increasingly cold-blooded to withstand him…

Their bond was already shattered beyond redemption.

However, they refrained from open hostility due to the immediate peril and because unaligned personnel from the capital defense force were likewise on the scene.

It was the obligation of royalty to view even this crisis through a political lens.

And while they advanced toward the cathedral under an unstable ceasefire,

They were ultimately cornered by the undying legion, which appeared to have been lying in wait for them…

…And that brought about their confrontation with the Immortal King.

‘Should I have forced an escape with Riley regardless of the cost?’

Wooong—!

Arcane power radiated from Isea’s form.

It flowed ceaselessly without a pause…

Crack—!

And the immense pressure, structured according to a precise formula, at last materialized in the environment as a supreme ice spell.

[Kraaagh! You little human, how dare you!]

Crackle!

Arch-Lich Dwell, who barely deflected the strike, spat curses in irritation, his entire frame coated in rime.

He had been narrowly evading fatal blows, but he had already lost an immense number of undead to her unyielding spellcasting.

And those were all invaluable servants, elite undead!

‘She was merely struggling to buy time and acting defensive when she was alongside Karam, but now that I’m fighting her one-on-one, this is pure torment!’

That Karam was presently occupied holding off an ancient knight and could not spare an ounce of attention elsewhere.

The other commanders were similarly absorbed in their own duties.

The only entities acting leisurely on this battlefield were the Immortal King and the hero, who were casually conversing.

‘I must concede. That young girl surpasses me as a sorcerer.’

He sensed his self-esteem shattering, given her youthful look, but he could tolerate it solely because she was a once-in-a-century prodigy.

And what Dwell found most baffling was…

‘How can a mere human possess this volume of mana! She remains brimming with vitality even after casting so many high-tier incantations!’

Her magical reserves, which eclipsed even him, an ancient being, proved to be the ultimate obstacle.

And he was even obtaining passive reinforcement from abyssal mana via his loyalty to the Immortal King!

It defied his understanding.

“Whew.”

Isea exhaled softly, disregarding Dwell’s inner turmoil, and gathered the arcane reserves that were already restoring themselves within her body.

In truth, there was no mysterious trick to her boundless mana.

It was simply the benefit of her innate talent, “Infinite Energy”.

Owing to that ability, which drastically elevated the volume of power she could manipulate, the pool of mana at her disposal was virtually boundless.

Furthermore, since she held the status of an Archmage, her output was not a limitation either; provided she had a brief window, she could execute advanced sorcery perpetually.

‘But because I allocated the majority of my Karma into that specific attribute to master spellcasting, the rank of my innate talent isn’t exceptionally high.’

Yet even at this current rank, she possessed a combat longevity that conventional sorcerers could never even conceptualize.

Naturally, such a benefit meant nothing against an entity like the Immortal King, but…

She shifted her gaze to analyze the battlefield while molding a new spell, remembering to bombard him with the magic she had already formed.

[KuoOoooooh—!]

[Kyaaaaaah—!]

Boom!

Rumble!

The initial sight she registered was a pair of Bone Dragons battering the royal castle’s warding shield in the distance, alongside the runic circle attempting to strike them down.

She assumed Marquis Lawrence’s arcane reinforcement had been severed, but judging by the shield’s flickering glow, it appeared he had pushed himself past his boundaries and could offer no further aid.

[Ignoring me…!]

She dismissed the shouting Arch-Lich before her and directed her attention toward the alternative combat sectors.

Slash—!

Clang!

[Kraaagh!]

“Ugh! You Ghoul!”

In one sector of the fray, Conwell, the commander of the Royal Knights, was driving back the Death Knight Lord who had been causing her immense trouble, while elsewhere, the commander of the Imperial Guard clashed with the Ghoul Lord, which rushed at him with its massive, yawning jaws.

“Hahaha! Face annihilation!”

Meanwhile, a colossal warrior, blanketed in crimson scales, whirled like a cyclone with a corpse gripped in each fist, tearing through the opposing lines…

Whoosh— Boom!

[Reaching your limit—? I can feel your fear—!]

“Nonsense!”

Isea gave a silent nod, visibly eased after spotting Count Garfield, who was holding his ground against the massive Dread Phantom.

The engagements between the Empire’s chivalric orders and the undying host were generally proceeding along a comparable path, indicating there was little cause for immediate panic.

‘There isn’t a single sector where we are being heavily overwhelmed, likely because the Immortal King hasn’t intervened directly. Though that area is a bit concerning.’

Her focus shifted back to Count Garfield’s position.

He was visibly drained, as the relentless skirmishes were extracting a heavy price, given his lack of specialized ability or attribute enhancements.

It was entirely predictable, seeing as he had been expending his magical reserves alongside her to stall the Death Knight Lord, a terrifying adversary.

However, the critical matter at this moment did not lie within those standard engagements.

Isea redirected her attention toward the most pivotal arena in this region.

The location where Immortal King Hans and Saint Heinrich stood.

Their dialogue, which had persisted for some time, was drawing to a close.

[…I’m looking forward to seeing if you can come. The wait will be a different kind of amusement!]

With an unpredicted turn of events that she… no, that nobody could have foreseen.

‘…What on earth is that? Is he truly insane?… No, he is absolutely unhinged.’

The Immortal King, who gladly converted the continent into a game board purely for self-entertainment, and the Saint, who conceded to it to avert far greater carnage.

‘No, hold on, was it the Saint who proposed it initially? Regardless, that is a relief. Affairs seem to be resolving simply because he is a lunatic… But they wouldn’t just slaughter each other right here after conducting that sort of dialogue, would they?’

She felt a wave of relief that she hadn’t behaved impulsively.

If she had abandoned the combat zone with Riley, as she had originally intended when the stakes grew grim, the Fifth Princess’s political authority would have been utterly devastated.

‘In truth, I couldn’t execute it because separating from the escorts would have made us easy targets for the undead commanders. But it’s fortunate the crisis is concluding favorably… Wait?’

Precisely as she permitted herself to relax,

[And third…]

Immortal King Hans muttered quietly,

And turned his gaze straight toward her.

An expression that seemed to mirror the void, paralyzing her spirit through mere eye contact.

And the realization that the facial mask piece upon his skull bore an undeniable resemblance to a Hahoe mask was entirely irrelevant at this moment.

Rumble—!

Crackle!

She was a moment too slow in processing the threat due to her fleeting distraction, but…

Scores of void serpents erupted from every direction in that identical heartbeat, met by an array of blade strikes that intercepted them all, while a colossal blade of radiance struck the Immortal King’s defensive barrier, all occurring in a single instant.

“Hannibal!”

[Ah— Calm down. It’s just a necessary procedure.]

A tremendous shockwave blasted the environment as the Immortal King and the champion abruptly traded blows, prompting everyone to heighten their alertness, bracing for any sudden peril.

Yet there was an individual who lacked the capacity to react in time…

“Gah!”

Count Garfield, who had been desperately countering the Dread Phantom despite his profound fatigue, spat out dark blood.

Multiple void serpents that had burst from the earth had impaled his form, constricting around him and draining his life force from his throat.

“Count Garfield!”

“What is the meaning of this?!”

The Crown Prince and the royal paladins bellowed in disbelief, and Heinrich similarly grimaced, hoisting his sacred blade once more.

Yet in that exact moment,

Whoosh—!

A monumental pressure radiated from Immortal King Hans’s frame, blanketing the area.

A dread-inducing aura that ballooned exponentially in power, as though everything prior had been mere child’s play.

A dense, lethal void energy, saturated with the essence of demise rather than standard dark magic… began to corrode the capital’s defensive ward, painting the landscape in shadow.

Crackle—!

Flashes erupted along the perimeter where the two opposing forces collided.

Even the reanimated forces within that perimeter were liberated from the ward’s weakening effects, their metrics beginning to swell.

Mercifully, the corrupted aura had minimal impact on the mortals due to Heinrich, who extended his divine radiance to shield them.

However, while his focus was monopolized by the Immortal King’s overwhelming presence, leaving him unable to monitor every corner,

[There should be a prize for the wager.]

“Gah— Gah!”

By the time the collective consciousness recovered from the abrupt shift, the Crown Prince, who had been shielded by the dying Count Garfield, was already ensnared in the Immortal King’s grasp.

“Your Highness!”

“You wretched fiend, Immortal King!”

The area descended into immediate anarchy as the frantic royal knights clashed with the undead blockading their path, but…

Isea could not spare a single thought for that development.

It was not out of any animosity toward the Crown Prince.

The Immortal King, Hans, whose stare remained vacant, snapped his head toward her, sealing their gazes.

An icy dread washed over her spine the moment she looked into those hollow, abyssal sockets.

‘…Riley!’

Her cognition went into overdrive as her willpower spiked the instant she perceived the mortal threat.

In a hyper-slow perception of time, her gaze gradually shifted toward Riley, who stood beside her, and the mana saturating her body surged like an oncoming flood, instantaneously weaving the specific countermeasure she intended.

‘It is manageable. I established a protective barrier around Riley prior to the engagement, and I carry an enchanted relic, so if I can merely secure a few moments… ’

A rapid analysis of the environment, a formulation of a strategy, and an incantation hovering on the precipice of execution.

She resolved her course of action in a heartbeat.
To extract Riley from this location, even if it required overtaxing her own core.

However…

The moment her gaze locked onto the destination,

[Uhuhu… What a beautiful young lady… It reminds me of my younger days…]

“Gasp?”

Banshee Queen Olivia, who had manifested entirely without warning, was already embracing Princess Riley from behind.

“…No!”

Her internal mana fractured.

She violently disrupted the matrix of the spell that was nearly deployed within her vessel, altering its primary trajectory.

“Ugh—!”

Crimson fluid erupted from Isea’s nostrils and maw.

Yet this was acceptable. She retained the capacity to manipulate magic.

Consequently, an arcane array designed to wrench Riley away from the apparition materialized instantaneously around her—.

[Ugh—! How long are you going to ignore me, little human—!]

Crackle!

However, it suffered a momentary disruption due to the abrupt intrusion of corrupted mana.

“Ah?”

She only surrendered dominion over her arcane forces for a microsecond, but that brief window sufficed for Olivia to relocate to the Immortal King’s flank, carrying the princess along.

“Ugh!”

[Your Majesty… I have brought her…]

[Hmm— Yes, two is better than one.]

While Olivia delivered the princess, Hans, who had engaged in another brief clash with Heinrich, glided backward and gave a nod of approval.

Crown Prince Simon and Fifth Princess Riley, the primary heirs contesting the imperial throne, had been reduced to hostages of the Immortal King.

Isea, staring at them with a completely dazed expression, redirected her gaze, contorted with sheer fury, toward Dwell.

“You, you… you—!”

Her frame shuddered with rage, and “Infinite Energy” surged without restraint, triggering an immense discharge of raw mana.

She glared at Dwell for a fleeting heartbeat before shifting her gaze back to the princess, her features so drained of color she practically resembled a corpse.

Crimson fluid continued to drip from her nose and lips as a consequence of her reckless arcane manipulation…

Yet the sole anchor restraining her from throwing her life away was her rigid intellect, tempered to the standard of an Archmage.

Despite her fury and the disorienting chaos, a segment of her mind remained detached, methodically weighing the odds and regulating her movements.

She recognized that an impulsive assault would yield nothing.

“No! Duke Conwell! Conwell! Deliver me! No! I am… I am destined to rule this Empire… Ugh!”

“Whew, whew—”

Simon thrashed wildly until his mouth was forcibly clamped shut, whereas Riley quietly endeavored to preserve her dignity, taking measured, deep breaths.

[I’ll be content with these for now. Try your best. I’ll let you live for now, but I can’t guarantee how long you’ll last with those human bodies. Hehehe—.]

And with that, the two foremost contenders for the imperial crown—.

Fell entirely into the custody of Immortal King Hans.