Chapter 114
Chapter 114
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Chapter 38: Black Mountains Bloodbath (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Long time no see, Fire Spirit King."
Raymond grinned and greeted him first. The Fire Spirit King glanced back and forth between Raymond and Ord before letting out a short sigh and shaking his head.
"I have a rough idea of the situation."
He spoke in a calm voice as he sheathed the crimson-flame sword that burned with enough intensity to incinerate everything. It was clear to anyone watching that he had no intention of fighting, leaving Ord utterly dumbfounded.
"Fire Spirit King! That vile enemy over there is defying the will of the spirits...!"
"Silence. I have no intention of opposing the current emperor of the Philius Empire."
"Pardon...?"
The situation made no sense. Ord's eyes widened in confusion. He wanted desperately to press further, but he held his tongue, figuring the Fire Spirit King's response would be the same anyway.
He was dying to shout about the contract violation, but in their contractual relationship, the Spirit King held absolute dominance, leaving him no room to complain.
"Fire Spirit King! How can you do this?!"
All he could do was plead earnestly. He prayed fervently that the Fire Spirit King would change his mind, but no such luck.
Ord was at a loss. He was a high elf acting as the proxy for the Spirit King's will.
He wanted to protest more vehemently, but the Spirit King was far beyond his control. He'd used a loophole from the Apocalypse Society to form a contract with the Spirit King, and until now, the spirits had never once refused his commands or requests.
"I am the proxy for fire, water, earth, and wind!"
"Proxy, I know exactly what you're trying to say. But I cannot oppose him."
"What do you mean by that, Fire Spirit King?!"
Ord wailed desperately. Even as he begged the Fire Spirit King, the black shadows of the Philius imperial Shades were closing in bit by bit. Without spirits, Ord—who had no combat ability of his own—felt immense pressure.
"How could I, a Spirit King, turn against the benefactor who saved the spirit realm? Proxy, if one of us must be abandoned, it won't be him—it's you."
Ord was speechless at the sharp rebuke. The Fire Spirit King turned his back, and even the high spirits who had aided in burning his clan's village and slaughtering fellow elves now asserted their own will and returned to the spirit realm.
With the Apocalypse Society's combatants all reduced to corpses, Ord felt utter despair, unsure whom to rely on. Without spirits, he was pathetically weak.
"Sorry, but the contract ends here."
"N-No...!"
Ord despaired. The contract with the Spirit King had been incomplete from the start, thanks to the Apocalypse Society's loophole. The Spirit King could overturn it by accepting a minor penalty. Until now, there'd been no reason to pay that price, but with his benefactor right in front of him, the situation had changed.
The Fire Spirit King tore the red paper from his bosom. Ord felt a portion of the spirit power filling his body drain away.
"Proxy, I wish you luck."
With those cold words, the Fire Spirit King slowly turned toward the dimensional gate.
The Apocalypse Society had corrupted the spirit realm, and Ord had exploited the Spirit King—whose consciousness was tainted—through a so-called contract.
That vile act was finally over. The Shades approached, daggers raised, and Ord's fate was sealed.
"D-Damn it all!"
The Shades had already surrounded Ord. He spat curses as he drew the short sword from his waist.
He had no intention of going down without a fight. Even without spirits, his physical abilities had dropped drastically, but he still possessed swordsmanship on par with an advanced knight.
The problem was that as a spiritist, his swordsmanship was only at an advanced level—he couldn't use mana sword. Ord aimed the tip of his blade at the Shades.
His nonstop cursing seemed like an attempt to suppress his mounting anxiety.
"Your Majesty. Shall we execute him at once?"
"Capture him alive."
Raymond intended to take him prisoner for interrogation. The Apocalypse Society was one of the few underdeveloped elements in the world of the novel [Empire of the Dead], making it unknown territory even for him.
The Shades preferred execution, but imperial command was absolute. They swiftly formed a capture formation.
Unfortunately, Ord had no plans to surrender meekly. As one Shade lunged to prevent suicide, Ord had already swallowed the poison hidden in his mouth.
"No!"
Desia Heli, guarding the emperor's side, moved urgently. Using Blink to close the distance in an instant, she reached out toward Ord and summoned mana.
She tried to halt the poison's spread with magic, but soon looked darkly at the emperor she'd sworn loyalty to and shook her head.
"Too late?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. The poison has already reached his brain and heart. It's too far progressed for me to do anything."
It was an extreme toxin that spread too quickly even for a high mage like Desia Heli. Raymond nodded slowly. He'd anticipated capture might be difficult, but the disappointment lingered.
"What a shame."
Sylvia said in a flat voice. Raymond didn't mind much.
Ord was a high-ranking officer in the Apocalypse Society. He surely hadn't skipped training to endure torture in preparation for capture.
He'd ordered capture anyway, but hadn't held high hopes, so the regret was minimal. His primary goal had been to eliminate the spirit proxy using diversionary tactics—not capture from the start.
"Let's head back. With the spirit proxy dead, the soldiers can rest easy tonight."
Raymond turned from Ord's corpse first. As he moved, the others followed.
"The spirit proxy is dead."
The man in the silver mask reported into the communication orb. He was Graham, the Thousand-Mile Observer, one of the Apocalypse Society's executives.
Dispatched to the Black Mountains to monitor Philius Empire forces, he'd been diligently carrying out his mission when he detected the spirit proxy's aura vanishing. He urgently relayed the information to the two high-ranking executives in the Black Mountains.
-The spirit proxy? Lord Ord is dead?
It was Elpis. The other remained silent despite responding to the magical communication.
"Confirmed. I personally verified that Lord Ord's mana signature has completely vanished."
He hadn't witnessed the end with his own eyes, but a total mana disappearance meant survival was impossible.
-Who got him?
Graham slowly opened his mouth at Elpis's question.
"It seems the Philius Empire's emperor."
The circumstances pointed to that.
Graham, the Thousand-Mile Observer, had been sent to the Black Mountains for 'reconnaissance.' Thus, limited to that special region, he had access to a substantial amount of Apocalypse Society intel.
The last mission report he'd received for Ord was the assassination of the Philius Empire's emperor. Failure meant certain death.
-Is the Philius emperor really that strong? We may need to raise his threat level...
-We should discuss this at the next high executive meeting.
The other high executive, who had been silent, spoke up. Graham nodded as he listened to their brief exchange.
"I'll relay it to the superiors."
-Good. I've got things to do, so I'm signing off.
The magical communication with the unnamed high executive cut off first. Now only Elpis and Graham remained.
-You have orders for me, don't you?
Elpis said with a grin. Graham nodded in surprise—there were indeed orders for her.
"The Society wants Lady Elpis to take over Lord Ord's mission."
-Me?
"There are currently two high executives in the Black Mountains. But the other is on a critical secret mission and can't move immediately."
-I've got a lot on my plate too...
"Are you exercising your veto?"
Graham asked. The Apocalypse Society's will was absolute, but high executives could exercise a limited veto.
-No. I doubt they'd accept a veto this time.
An accurate judgment.
"Lady Elpis, you may pause your current mission of clearing a path south for the Free Isiria Kingdom Army. If you accept, head south immediately to harass the Philius Empire's main force."
The Society expected Elpis to move quickly. The pressure reached even Graham, who served as messenger.
Fearing rejection, his voice trembled, but contrary to expectations, Elpis nodded readily.
-Sure, I'll move out right away.
The magical communication ended.
Elpis, who had been aiding the Free Isiria Kingdom Army's southward advance, was reassigned to disrupt the Philius Empire's main force.
She used forbidden magic to dominate the Black Mountains' monsters—especially the orcs, the most ferocious and pack-oriented—and soon set them loose to harass the Philius Empire forces day and night.
"We've faced 10 raids in the three days since leaving the Forward Fortress. All by monsters, but they showed excessive intelligence and tactical coordination."
Early one morning, Count Denitz entered the emperor's tent with a grim face to report.
Three days prior, the 10,000-strong Imperial Army, led by Raymond, had begun marching north.
Monster raids had started the day after leaving the Forward Fortress, mirroring Free Isiria Kingdom Army tactics so closely that Count Denitz couldn't shake his suspicions.
"Your Majesty, it seems a mage wielding the domination forbidden magic you mentioned has targeted us."
"How large are the monster groups used in these raids?"
"Not huge per attack, but enough to demoralize our troops and build fatigue. If this continues, we won't be at full strength when we encounter the Free Isiria main force."
Over the past three days, the Philius Empire forces had accumulated significant battle fatigue. The raids knew no time of day, making exhaustion inevitable.
Raymond nodded gravely at Count Denitz's report. He fell silent, organizing his thoughts, and the tent grew quiet.
"Count Potas."
"Yes, Your Majesty. The Central Intelligence Agency awaits your command."
Count Potas, with his mustache and red uniform, stepped forward and responded vigorously.
Fortified by gold from imperial direct territories, the Central Intelligence Agency—and his confidence—had grown immensely.
"Mobilize your agents fully to track the domination forbidden mage, Elpis."
"The Central Intelligence Agency obeys!"
"And Count Denitz."
Raymond's gaze shifted to Count Denitz.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Mobilize your empire army scouts to the maximum to pursue Elpis. Pinpoint her region—that will suffice."
Raymond said. He had a plan, and for it, exact coordinates weren't necessary.
That night, the Central Intelligence Agency mobilized on imperial orders. Over 100 agents left camp to pursue Elpis, and 500 scouts under Count Denitz prepared for reconnaissance.
Though Thousand-Mile Observer Graham shadowed Elpis, the mass deployment of Central Intelligence Agency agents succeeded in roughly locating her within three days.
"Your Majesty! We've pinpointed the approximate location of the domination forbidden mage, Elpis! With a bit more time, we can confirm her exact position!"
Count Potas reported confidently. Raymond was surprised at the agency's efficiency, exceeding expectations.
Count Potas was certain more time would yield precision, but Raymond thought differently.
He shook his head slowly and turned to Crimson Tower Lord Berenus Kyle standing at his left.
"Crimson Tower Lord."
"The Crimson Tower awaits your command."
"Go wipe her out."
If the exact position was uncertain, just obliterate the entire area.