The Eight Houses Knights
It was almost absurd how hollow it all felt.
To think he would be stripped of the chance to “feed” two times in a row.
Even after preparing thoroughly to make up for his previous mistake, the result had been the same.
…How ridiculous.
It was so absurd he couldn’t even work up any anger.
But the result was crystal clear.
He had no choice but to accept the decision handed down by the Will of the Great Moon.
In that case, only one method remained.
That Orthodox is far too different from ours.
…Denial.
Of course, it wasn’t baseless denial.
The Golden Goat’s Orthodox was simply too different from the Orthodox they had contracted with.
Starting with the fact that it was a twelfth Orthodox that should not even exist.
And then there was the transformed form they had witnessed today.
That was less an Orthodox and more like a Death God that an Orthodox would summon.
Death Gods are the shadows of the Orthodox.
Beings like shadows that take on the dirty work. Hunting dogs and consumables.
Naturally, there was no reason for an Orthodox to take the form of a Death God.
In short—
It’s a fake. Not a real Orthodox.
An Orthodox that cannot summon a Death God is no Orthodox at all. It cannot be one.
They had been fooled before, but they would not be fooled again.
Everyone sent looks of agreement at Golden Mask’s words.
If it was not a true “Orthodox,” then it had made a fool of everyone present, and would naturally face the corresponding punishment.
If it was a real “Orthodox,” then of course it would be able to summon a Death God.
Go on, then. Try it.
Golden Mask’s eyes gleamed as he stared at the Golden Goat, as if daring it to try—if it could.
…That was when it happened.
—KWAAAAAAAAAANG!
A thunderous roar from outside. It sounded like a massive meteor slamming into the ground.
KRRRRRRRUMBLE!
The earth shook, and the entire imperial palace trembled.
“What was that sound?”
“Who dares attack the imperial palace?”
The guardians furrowed their brows.
Who would dare attack the Empire—the very heart of the Empire, the imperial palace?!
It was something that had never happened once since the founding of the Arhon Empire.
To begin with, countless checkpoints had to be passed just to enter the palace. If there were hostile attackers, they should have been detected long before reaching it.
If it wasn’t an external enemy, then what remained was—
“…From the inside?”
“No… no. It’s not an attack. This is…”
But the commotion soon died down. Instead, they all sensed the thick tension radiating from outside.
It wasn’t that someone had attacked—something had suddenly appeared. That a massive presence was being felt not far away.
Thud! Thud-thud-thud!
Before long, a knight came running from outside, bowing his head at a ninety-degree angle as he gasped out:
“I-I apologize for interrupting the banquet! But I believe this requires your immediate attention…!”
“What is all this racket?”
When Golden Mask asked, the knight in silver armor raised his head and shouted:
“A-a monster has appeared in the palace gardens!”
“A monster?”
“W-well…!”
“Stop stalling and speak. A monster has invaded the palace gardens?”
“N-no, sir! It suddenly rose up out of thin air, as if…”
“…What kind of monster is it?”
It had been summoned from thin air. The massive presence they were sensing was probably connected to the monster said to have appeared in the gardens.
But this was the Empire. The heart of the Empire—the imperial palace where the Emperor resided. A place packed with powerhouses who wouldn’t so much as blink even if some ordinary monster were summoned. And outside, their direct subordinates were standing by, weren’t they?
Unless a monster beyond all recognition has appeared.
Judging by the knight’s tense expression, it was no ordinary monster. The fact that he had interrupted the banquet—a crime in itself—to make this report was proof that a transcendent monster had appeared.
Had the White King or Black King themselves come charging in?
When Golden Mask asked, the knight took a deep breath and spoke. And at the words that followed, Golden Mask and every guardian present could not help but doubt their own ears.
“It’s ‘Baal’…! Baal has appeared!!”
The palace gardens.
A monster filled that vast space completely.
Every knight stood tense with swords drawn, and the subordinates of the Death God Religion executives—those wearing beast masks—also watched the monster’s every movement carefully from nearby.
Gulp!
But they all couldn’t help tensing up at the monster’s majesty and oppressive presence.
…Because every one of them knew what that monster was.
“Why is Baal here…!”
“Wasn’t it supposed to have died in the Abyss?”
The Four Calamities.
In the distant past, when the continent was whole, the four monstrous beasts that had driven the old empire to ruin. And one of them—Baal—stood before them.
…Yet it was incomprehensible.
Baal, which had been summoned at the Mountain of the Cultivator, had ultimately become “the one who is the Abyss itself,” only to be annihilated by some unknown cause—or so it was known. At least, that was how the Empire understood it.
So why was Baal, said to have been destroyed, standing before them now? And here, of all places—in the heart of the Empire!
“Why isn’t it moving?”
“Summoned creatures don’t move without their summoner’s command. That’s only natural.”
“…?”
That was when it happened.
Clack! Clack-clack!
A man appeared with the sound of horse hooves, answering in their place.
All eyes naturally turned to him, and every knight and soldier, upon confirming the man’s face, couldn’t help but freeze solid.
“Th-the Eight Houses Knights…!”
“Commander Raiga…!!”
Raiga, commander of the Eight Houses Knights—said to be the Empire’s strongest knight order! He had appeared with dozens of his knights.
Wearing armor embroidered with the character for Eight on the shoulder, arms crossed, he looked at Baal and said:
“Hmm. Arriving only to find something quite rare to look at.”
To think he would come face-to-face with Baal the moment he arrived at the palace.
Something that shouldn’t exist had been created—so was it a fake? But it was far too elaborate to call a fake. Not just the form, but even the circuits of mana were similar.
Truly a “rare” situation in every sense. A fake that seemed real. A real that seemed fake. To the point where distinguishing them was meaningless.
“You’re late, Commander Raiga.”
Before long, figures appeared from afar, parting the crowd of knights. The executives of the Death God Religion.
When Golden Mask stepped forward and spoke, Raiga shrugged.
“Unlike you lot, I’m not in a position to leisurely enjoy banquets.”
Thud!
Raiga pulled something from his coat and tossed it onto the ground.
…A pitch-black little finger—someone’s pinky finger.
Seeing it, Golden Mask spoke in a low voice.
“…The third ‘Fragment’?”
“Indeed. The third ‘Fragment of Ruin.’ It was a pain to recover.”
The Fragment of Ruin. Like the Goddess’s Star, it could well be called the Star of Ruin.
Twitch! Twitch!
Even now, the pinky finger of Ruin was writhing and moving.
“Ugh…!”
“Don’t get close!”
Sensing the ominous aura, the knights hastily stepped back. Just being near it was enough to make them feel like vomiting.
Raiga smirked.
“You lot should be careful too. That pinky will slip into your mouth and turn you into a host the moment it gets the chance.”
He was openly looking at the Death God Religion executives and provoking them—a moment that showed the relationship between the Eight Houses Knights and the Death God Religion.
But Golden Mask paid it no mind, approaching and picking up the Fragment of Ruin.
“Appreciate the warning. …I’ll be taking this.”
“Sure. That’s your role, after all.”
Tsk tsk.
Raiga clicked his tongue as if bored. Then he turned his head, looked at the massive beast once more, and opened his mouth.
“By the way… whose work is that?”
“…”
Golden Mask did not answer. He couldn’t answer. He himself had no idea who had summoned Baal.
At that, Raiga grew quite interested and circled around Baal.
“It’s clearly not the real thing… yet its presence is so strong it wouldn’t be strange if it were. Looking at it, it seems to be moving on the summoner’s mana…”
Raiga tilted his head.
Since Baal was dead, that form had to be a fake. Yet even as a fake, it was far too elaborate—so identical one might wonder if it could look like that even if made with the real thing right beside it.
Moreover, while it was clearly a summoned creature, the mana he sensed was not ordinary. It was as if—
“Hmm, this isn’t mana… it’s Death God power. Is there an Orthodox who summoned Baal, by any chance?”
He recognized at once that what he sensed from Baal was Death God power. But an Orthodox can only summon a “Death God.”
When Raiga asked in puzzlement—
Could it be?
Golden Mask couldn’t help stiffening inwardly.
At the very least, when it came to reading mana and seeing its flow, Commander Raiga was superior to him. No—he was outstanding beyond anyone. If he said so, then it was fact.
If it was a summoned creature brought forth by Death God power, there was only one suspect.
As Golden Mask’s gaze fell on him, one by one the other guardians also looked toward the same target. Raiga did the same.
Commander Raiga looked at him with gleaming eyes of interest.
“…So you’re the ‘Twelfth’? The one who summoned that Baal?”
At the same time, he smiled faintly.
He already knew a twelfth guardian had appeared. He had been curious who it was—but to think they could even summon Baal.
“…Yes. Baal is the ‘Death God’ I summoned.”
…I slowly nodded and stepped forward.
The Eight Houses Knights.
The absolute elite gathered from the eight founding houses of the Arhon Empire. Their commander, Raiga, was a figure shrouded in mystery. He had almost never stepped into the open on the world stage.
But the moment I saw him, I knew.
…He’s a monster, plain and simple.
At a glance, he looked like the most ordinary of men. No mana, no scent of any kind. But that was synonymous with saying he had completely restrained every bit of his energy and physical ability.
A monster. The strongest human I had ever met. Perhaps… even on par with Wilhelm.
The Emperor’s true sword. That is Commander Raiga.
The knights of the Eight Houses Knights were all powerhouses in their own right. But the true powerhouse was that man—Commander Raiga.
He’s collecting Fragments of Ruin. Why?
Even more surprising was the fact that he was personally recovering the Fragments of Ruin. Calling it the third meant he had already recovered two.
But the only beings that harbored “Fragments of Ruin” were monsters like Demon Kings or Baal. In other words, the Eight Houses Knights and Commander Raiga had been hunting such monsters and had just returned to the imperial palace.
I absolutely cannot let him know that I possess a Fragment of Ruin.
…And if he knew where the Fragments of Ruin were and was collecting them, then I was currently in an extremely dangerous position.
Raiga had recognized at once that Baal had been summoned by an Orthodox. Proof that his eyes were extraordinary. He might similarly notice that I was harboring a Fragment of Ruin.
Still, he won’t be able to pierce Observation Block.
But I shook my head inwardly. No matter how exceptional his eyes, he wouldn’t be able to pierce through Observation Block and notice it. I certainly wouldn’t tell him myself, so as long as no one else informed him, it would never come to light.
But…
I looked past Commander Raiga. There was something I simply could not understand.
…Why are you there, Isabella?