Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Chapter 50: Who is the True Enemy? (1)
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The audience chamber door swung open, and the first thing that caught their eyes was a mountain of piled-up corpses. The floor of the chamber, emblazoned with the crest of the Edriger Kingdom, was soaked in blood.
"Your Majesty. The Royal Guard will take point here. Please grant us permission."
Marquis Blizzard of the Royal Guard approached and bowed his head. The entire audience chamber reeked of death, so he had decided the Royal Guard should lead for a secure escort.
"Granted, Marquis Blizzard."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Marquis Blizzard replied with polite deference and signaled his subordinate Royal Guards with hand gestures.
Marquis Tempest led six sword-wielding Royal Guards into the audience chamber first to confirm it was safe.
Since the Emperor's safety was at stake, they searched the chamber without a shred of negligence.
"No anomalies."
The chamber was filled with corpses, but no other presences could be felt. Marquis Tempest judged it safe and reported to Marquis Blizzard.
"Only corpses."
"Your Majesty, it appears safe to enter."
After final confirmation, Marquis Blizzard spoke.
Raymond nodded and stepped into the audience chamber. Just as Marquis Tempest had said, there were only corpses, and the floor was drenched in blood.
In the center of the chamber stood a blatant mound piled high with bodies, and at its peak sat King Calvern on a chair made of rotten wood.
"Your Majesty, there's an inscription on the wooden chair."
"Read it."
Marquis Blizzard spoke up. Raymond, who had been scanning the surroundings with narrowed eyes, looked upward.
He instructed it to be read in a calm voice, and Marquis Blizzard stared at the writing on the wooden chair before slowly opening his mouth.
"'Those sentenced to doom cannot escape it.'"
Marquis Blizzard's voice trembled faintly. It was merely reading the words, but the ominous aura infused in them seemed to choke the air.
"Herald of Doom...?"
Raymond murmured quietly, his eyes narrowed. He had a good idea who had left the message.
"Sir Cassias."
"Yes, Your Majesty. The Imperial Army awaits Your Imperial Majesty's command."
"Announce throughout the capital's central district that the King of Edriger has died and induce all hostilities to cease."
"Yes! Understood!"
Cassias departed the audience chamber with a few Imperial Army knights, and Raymond stared at King Calvern's corpse with eyes full of complex emotions.
News of King Calvern's death spread across the entire Edriger Kingdom, prompting most nobles to abandon resistance and declare surrender.
There were some who burned with the will for desperate last stands, but they were few in number. It seemed they would all be quelled soon enough.
Sword Saint Livingsman and Marquis Ridicro the Ashen Mage had fallen, and Edriger Kingdom was occupied.
Since Raymond had been deeply involved in all these events, he recovered an immense surge of dominance—far beyond anything before.
"The five lords who chose resistance have all been executed, and their territories fully disarmed."
Early one morning, Marquis Kreier visited the Emperor's office to report the past week's accomplishments. Suppression had been far swifter than the anticipated month of ongoing resistance.
"Well done, Marquis Kreier."
"All as per Your Majesty's will!"
A few days after executing the resisting lords, Count Denitz arrived at the occupation's governor's castle with a contingent of Imperial Cult forces.
Though the territories that had drawn swords against the Philius Empire had been subdued, he had come to thoroughly stamp out every last ember of resistance.
The Ishiria occupation zone had stabilized to a degree, allowing half of the Imperial Cult forces to redeploy.
"Count Denitz, how long until the occupation is fully stabilized?"
"It won't take long, Your Majesty."
Count Denitz brimmed with confidence. He had prior experience stabilizing Ishiria, and the accompanying Imperial Cult forces were specialists in rooting out factions defiant to the Emperor and Philius Empire.
He had every reason to be confident.
Only once Edriger was stabilized could they march on the Jaist Magic Kingdom.
Thus, Raymond ordered Count Denitz to put special emphasis on stabilizing the Edriger occupation.
"I receive Your Majesty's command."
Count Denitz bowed with a voice laced with loyalty. Once he withdrew, one of the Shade squad leaders emerged from the shadows.
"Your Majesty."
"You're here. How did the mission go?"
He cast a calm gaze toward the Shade squad leader. The Shades had been tasked with tracking Edriger's last remaining dark noble, Duke Aliphis.
"His whereabouts remain elusive. The Shades are still searching, but positive developments seem unlikely. My apologies, Your Majesty."
"Pursue him with all your effort."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
In the world's setting, Duke Aliphis was particularly renowned for his ability to act in utmost secrecy.
Raymond knew this, so he didn't blame the Shade squad leader. He had assigned them the task but hadn't held high expectations.
"You may withdraw."
At Raymond's quiet words, the Shade squad leader bowed and melted back into the shadows.
"Are you worried?"
Gestain, standing at his right, asked cautiously. To him, Raymond's expression seemed unusually grim.
"Duke Aliphis is a dark noble specialized in stealth to the point he's called the Shadow of Death. With his whereabouts unknown, it'd be strange if I wasn't worried."
Per the original world setting, Duke Aliphis had long been the shadow guardian of the Edriger royals.
That he had failed to protect King Calvern from Richard and vanished instead was circumstance enough to suspect ties to the Apocalypse Society.
"The Shades, masters of covert operations, are pursuing him at full strength, Your Majesty. Please rest easy."
Gestain did his utmost to reassure Raymond, but it had little effect. Raymond's face remained dark.
"Duke Aliphis poses no major threat. What truly concerns me is the Apocalypse Society."
Raymond spoke in a calm voice. With Edriger fallen and their vaunted Dark Nobles Assembly and Hashashin crumbled, even a dark noble like Duke Aliphis couldn't pose a significant threat to the Philius Empire on his own.
But if he was truly affiliated with the Apocalypse Society, that changed everything.
In the Empire of the Dead novel's world, the 'Apocalypse Society' was an unfinished element, so even Raymond knew little about them.
From his experiences so far, however, their influence had deeply infiltrated everywhere. If Duke Aliphis formally joined them to plot for the future, Raymond had no choice but to stay vigilant.
"Apocalypse Society... They must be eradicated."
Raymond's eyes grew ice-cold as he stared at his empty glass.
Aegis, leader of the Haipel Special Bureau's Internal Affairs Division 11th Squad, had been pursuing the Apocalypse Society under direct orders from the Haipel Empire's Emperor.
The Haipel Special Bureau boasted the West Continent's strongest intelligence network and covert operations capabilities, but the Apocalypse Society was no easy foe.
Even with the Internal Affairs' most secretive 11th Squad at full throttle, clues about the Apocalypse Society were scarce.
They had raided several bases, but ultimately captured no prisoners or vital intelligence.
As tracking their traces within Haipel proved difficult, Aegis enlisted aid from the foreign operations division to expand the net across the entire West Continent.
Forming such a vast tracking network consumed immense funds and manpower, but it was within the Haipel Special Bureau's capabilities. At this scale, however, secrecy had to be abandoned.
"Sir Aegis. It's Deverion."
Haipel Special Bureau 9th Squad Leader Deverion visited the 11th Squad's base where Aegis was stationed. The reception room door opened, and Aegis emerged to greet him.
"You're here."
"I've brought information you'll like."
Aegis's eyes lit up at Deverion's words.
"Sit first."
The two sat facing each other. Aegis poured drinks. Deverion downed his half-filled glass in one gulp.
"The official report will arrive soon, but since you're so eager, I'll relay verbally first."
"Appreciated."
"Heard anything about events beyond the Eternal Snow Mountains?"
Aegis nodded slowly at Deverion's question.
The 11th Squad was part of Internal Affairs, but they kept tabs on basic West Continent geopolitics.
"I've read reports on the war between Philius Empire and the Three Kingdoms Alliance."
"Recent investigations observed signs of the Apocalypse Society deeply entangled with the new Three Kingdoms Alliance member, the Jaist Magic Kingdom."
"Certain?"
"War's on, and Philius's Central Intelligence Bureau is running ops, so the Apocalypse Society couldn't erase every trace. Easier to follow than expected."
Deverion shrugged.
"Could you elaborate a bit more?"
"Not difficult. Simply put, it's no exaggeration to say the Jaist Magic Kingdom has been all but swallowed by the Apocalypse Society—king excepted."
"That deep?"
Aegis had read reports hinting at heavy Apocalypse involvement in the Three Kingdoms Alliance.
But he hadn't dreamed they'd outright consume an entire kingdom.
Deverion nodded slowly, seeing Aegis's shocked reaction.
"There was a massive purge of war opposition in Jaist recently. The 9th Squad suspects Apocalypse-linked nobles hunting down the rest."
Aegis's expression turned grave at Deverion's words.
"Sir Deverion."
"Speak."
"How many Haipel agents are operational in Jaist Magic Kingdom right now?"
"A portion of the 9th Squad—that's it."
"Can we connect magic communications with them?"
Aegis spoke calmly. Deverion paused, recalling their Jaist-deployed agents.
"There's one top-tier mage among the Jaist agents, so it's tough due to distance, but magic comms are feasible."
Mana burden would be heavy, but not impossible.
"Connect immediately."
"Planning to intervene in Jaist?"
Aegis nodded at Deverion's question before speaking.
"We must rescue the Jaist Magic Kingdom's king. This could be our first key to tracking the Apocalypse Society."
"Is rescuing the king truly necessary?"
"Haven't you considered the Jaist king as prime bait to lure out the Apocalypse Society, Sir Deverion?"
It held potential.
"But there's a problem, Sir Aegis. Our agents in Jaist can't feasibly pull off a king rescue."
"What about requesting aid from Philius Empire?"
"Diplomatic ties severed long ago. They're practically an enemy state—would they even accept?"
"But we share a common enemy: the Apocalypse Society. I suspect Philius's Emperor might just accept our proposal."
After no short debate, they concluded to request a magic comm link to Philius Empire.
"I'll request the connection now."
Deverion pulled a contact crystal from his bosom.
"You know Philius's public channel?"
"Of course. I'm not Internal Affairs."
Aegis chuckled at the light jest. Soon, Deverion tuned the crystal to Philius's public channel and infused it with mana. The distance was great, twisting his face in mana strain, but the connection linked through.
-Please state your identities.
A top-tier mage from Philius Empire appeared in the contact crystal and inquired politely.
Aegis and Deverion produced their Haipel Special Bureau insignias from their bosoms to show.
Aegis also displayed the Emperor's authorization document received alongside his orders.
"I am Aegis, 11th Squad Leader of the Haipel Special Bureau, granted authority by His Majesty the Emperor. Requesting magic communication with His Majesty the Emperor of the Philius Empire."