Chapter 169: The Counterattack of Chaos (1)

The darkness that had engulfed the entire chapel vanished. The blockages in the passageways were all restored to their original state.

Having completed his mission, Demphis bowed his head. "I will hide myself now."

There was no way Milia could be allowed to find out that he had become Karnak's subordinate.

"But does this need to be kept a secret from Lapicel as well?"

Karnak responded as if the answer was obvious. "Of course. What Tesranach did was what I did.”

Demphis immediately understood. "It must be hidden at all costs."

Fortunately, since Leven had ended up becoming a vassal, there was no longer a need to keep it from him.

"Well, that's a relief.”

"Right? In Leven's case, he already saw everything anyway."

After listening to Serati and Varos's exchange, Leven blinked in confusion. "If I hadn't become a vassal... what exactly would have happened to me?"

The two of them deliberately avoided his gaze. Leven's face grew even more uneasy. “Hey...?"

In any case, to the outside world, it had to appear as though Karnak had defeated the archlich and other necromancers and rescued his companions. For that reason, Demphis would move separately after Karnak's party escaped. He had already been given a few instructions in preparation.

"Then, I will carry out your orders.”

"Report back as planned.”

"Yes."

With that, Demphis quickly left the chapel.

Once he was gone, Karnak turned toward the stone chamber. "Now then, time to rescue the others... No, there's something to do first."

Since Leven was now a vassal, he needed to be included in their secret magical communication. After a brief moment of preparation, Karnak sent out a transmission.

—Alright, alright! Can you hear me, Leven?

"

Gah!

What is this?"

Immediately after, Varos and Serati's voices echoed in his head.

—It's a little spell we use to talk amongst ourselves.

—We tend to say a lot of things that shouldn't be overheard.

Panicking, Leven looked around wildly.

Karnak gave Serati a look. "Serati."

"You're really putting me to work today, huh?” she answered.

Despite her grumbling, she dutifully taught Leven how to use the spell. The method itself wasn't difficult, and Leven picked it up quickly.

—Like this? It's much faster than talking.

—Very useful in battle.

With that, they had finished all the necessary preparations.

"Alright, now we can really go rescue them."

***

The captives were unharmed. Thanks to the sleep spell that had kept them unconscious, they were a little drained, but they had no trouble moving.

Once freed, Milia gasped in astonishment. "My goodness, you actually defeated an archlich?"

Edia, unaware of how monstrous an archlich truly was. She simply marveled at how incredible the King's Order was. But for those with even a little knowledge of the undead, it was a statement too shocking to take lightly. Karnak and Varos waved their hands dismissively.

"We just got lucky.”

"There's no way we'd get this lucky a second time."

They weren't just being modest either. It really had been sheer luck. Had Serati not awakened, even Karnak wouldn't have had a way to handle the situation.

Lapicel was equally amazed. "Wow! Sister Serati, you became a blue knight?"

It was truly impressive. She was still in her mid-twenties, yet she had already reached the blue-tier!

As expected of sis! I need to train even harder!

Seeing her admiration, Serati was dumbfounded.

How did she figure that out just by looking?

No one had mentioned that she had reached the blue rank. Yet Lapicel had instantly recognized it and expressed her awe. Serati had been fortunate to reach a high tier earlier than most, but standing before a true genius like this, she felt an overwhelming sense of urgency.

If I don't want to fall behind, I need to work even harder.

With the situation explained, Karnak hurried the group along.

"We've taken down their leaders, but we don't know when the remnants will come after us. Let's get out of here.”

***

Escape was effortless. But that was only natural. Demphis had diligently cleared the way in the shadows, ensuring they could travel without trouble.

They left the Maleficus Dungeon without any issues and set out for Wellad. Along the way, they didn't forget to retrieve the necromancer they had buried in the forest. As expected, Milia was truly kind-hearted.

It had been about four days since they had buried him, so he was already halfway to becoming a corpse. His mind seemed severely damaged as well, but technically speaking, they had saved him before he died.

And what happened after that? He was put on trial and beheaded, of course. He was a necromancer, after all.

After safely arriving in Wellad City, they handed over all the information on the cultists to the Ethriel King's Order. It was now up to them to send a subjugation force. However, they couldn't return to the Eustil Kingdom right away. There was an issue that needed to be dealt with first.

Leven had discovered Karnak's true identity. He had even become his vassal. No matter how good a person was, it was difficult to let someone roam freely when they held a secret that could determine one's survival. And Karnak wasn't exactly a good person.

He stated it bluntly. "Follow me."

Naturally, Leven had questions. "What about the Ethriel King's Order?"

He received an obvious answer. "You have to quit."

"Understood."

Surprisingly, Leven accepted his fate without resistance.

After all, as someone who had become the vassal of a necromancer, he couldn't, in good conscience, remain in an order that specialized in hunting cultists.

"So, should I just follow you from now on, Lord Karnak?"

"That would look a bit unnatural, wouldn't it? I'll appoint you as a knight of the Zestrad family, like Serati."

Serati looked troubled as she interjected. "Then... wouldn't that mean Leven would be abandoning the Ethriel Kingdom and defecting to Eustil? Isn't this an international issue?"

Aura users, regardless of their individual strength, were considered strategic assets at the national level. Furthermore, Leven belonged to none other than the prestigious Strauss family. Although he had always been overshadowed by Emil, no one considered him incompetent. He might not have been expected to become a martial king, but it was only natural that he would, at the very least, be an aura user of considerable skill.

"To the Ethriel Kingdom, it'll look like Eustil is snatching up a promising asset without lifting a finger," she pointed out.

At her words, Karnak also looked troubled. "Is that so? But it's not like we can just kill him."

Leven paled and quickly asked, "Wait, if I don't follow you, I die? Are those my only options?"

"I just said we can't kill you. Why are you freaking out?"

Serati chuckled and patted Karnak's shoulder. “Now, Lord Karnak.”

"Hm? What?"

"You need to work on your phrasing."

"This doesn't fly?"

"No."

Another line was added to the ever-growing list of “Things to Avoid Saying When Trying to Live Like a Decent Human.”

After a brief moment of reflection, Karnak asked seriously, "Then what do we do?"

"We ask,” came the answer.

The real issue wasn't the Kingdom of Ethriel. Everyone knew that the Strauss family held more power than the royal family itself.

Turning to Leven, Serati suggested, "Contact your family first and explain the situation. If your father flies into a rage, you can just use knightly training as an excuse to follow Lord Karnak."

As a member of the Strauss family, it would be suspicious for him to suddenly follow a nobody like Karnak in the name of knightly training. But what if it was after angering Gellard? Then he'd simply be a rebellious son defying his overbearing father. It was a very common scenario.

"This way, there's nothing suspicious."

It was a convincing argument. Even Karnak was impressed.

"Wow, Serati. You've really gotten good at lying."

Serati fell into silence and felt despair. Leven sent a messenger to his family, and a few days later, he received Gellard's response.

—Do as you please.

It was the exact same response he had received when he joined the Ethriel King's Order. Karnak and Varos clicked their tongues.

"Wow, that's cold.”

"Does he not care about what his son does at all?"

It was a rather remarkable comment coming from the pair.

"I told you, didn't I? My father only ever looks at Emil.” Leven let out a self-deprecating chuckle. "Still, for him to react like this when his second son is about to become a knight for some no-name rural noble house..."

Hearing this, Serati suddenly bristled. "Hold on! Aren't you looking down on our family a bit too much?"

After all, she was also a knight of the Zestrad barony. Ironically, the native-born Zestrads remained indifferent.

"To be honest, compared to the Strauss family, we deserve to be looked down on.

"Exactly. How could a mere Zestrad even think of comparing itself to the Strauss family?"

Serati stared at them in surprise. "I didn't expect you two to have so little pride in this."

And so, Leven Strauss officially became a knight of the Zestrad family.

***

All their business in the Kingdom of Ethriel was finally settled. Karnak and his group returned to the Eustil Kingdom with Edia in tow. Once back in the capital, Drunta, Edia wasted no time reclaiming control over the Altas merchant guild.

The Drunta branch of the Tecas merchant guild, the very culprit behind the whole ordeal, couldn't do a thing to stop her. They had been under relentless investigation by the Church of the Goddess the entire time. If anything, Edia was able to use the opportunity to encroach on Tecas's territory.

"So, what I'm saying is, why don't you invest a little more, Baron Karnak?"

"Hey! You swore your loyalty to me, and now you're trying to take more money?"

“I’m telling you. This is the perfect chance to make money! We can't miss this opportunity!"

Watching them, Serati had a sudden realization.

Ah, so this is what it means when they say loyalty and grievances are two separate things.

Though he grumbled a bit, Karnak readily handed over additional investment funds. Because of the lingering effects of his enchantment spell, Edia was genuinely devoted to him. Everything she did was ultimately for his benefit.

Besides, with her talent in business, she would likely return much more than whatever he invested. More importantly, she had the backing of the Church of the Goddesses. The other merchant guilds reacted similarly upon seeing what happened to the Tecas merchant guild in Drunta.

—Did you hear? Someone named Karnak invested in a merchant guild, and the moment Tecas started meddling with it, their Drunta branch went into decline.

—Something about this feels ominous. Let's not mess with him.

The keen instincts of merchants couldn't be ignored, and thanks to that, most things proceeded smoothly. Meanwhile, the rest of the party took the chance to return home and rest after a long journey.

Milia went back to her house, and Lapicel happily continued her sword training under Serati, who had now awakened as a blue knight. Leven, on the other hand, finally got to hear the full story about his future, which had only been briefly mentioned before.

"So, the one who tried to take over my body was actually my future self... and I even ascended to become a martial king?” Leven clicked his tongue at Karnak's explanation. "But to me, the more shocking part is that Emil dies."

Honestly, he couldn't even process this as his own future. It felt more like a story about a different world, a different person.

"Emil sure dies a lot in various timelines."

In Demphis's future, Emil was killed by Tesranach. In this one, he died at Karnak's hands.

Then, a thought struck him, and he asked, ”Then what happened to the soul of the martial king who traveled back in time? Couldn't he return again?"

But Karnak's response was unexpected. "Who said he went back to the future?"

"What? Who else would I be talking about? The martial king's soul."

"Nope. He should still be lingering in this time period."