Chapter 173: The Counterattack of Chaos (5)

For the past two months, the Church of Twilight wasn't the only thing occupying Karnak's attention. First, he had to confirm whether the Dragon Emperor Grateria actually existed in this world. To do that, he needed to cross-check ancient legends and myths, one by one. And this was not something the King's Order Intelligence Division specialized in.

They were experts in current affairs, not archaeologists. He needed someone capable of digging through ancient texts, either a high-ranking mage or a senior priest. Fortunately, Karnak had strong connections in both circles. He first sought out Deltros, the royal court mage of Eustil.

"The Dragon Emperor? What's that?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself..."

He fabricated a plausible excuse on the spot, claiming that during his exploration of Maleficus Dungeon, he overheard cultists mentioning the name. While he didn't know exactly what it was, they seemed to treat it as something extremely important. That alone was enough of a reason to investigate.

Though researching ancient records would be a tedious task, Deltros agreed without hesitation. "Cultists, huh? Alright, I'll look into it."

After all, he wasn't going to be the one doing the work. His apprentices would be the ones suffering. Besides, mages were naturally drawn to mysteries, and the concept of a Dragon Emperor was intriguing enough.

After that, Karnak sent a similar letter to Alius. A few days later, he received a reply almost identical to Deltros's.

—Understood. I will have people investigate.

It was yet another delegation of work. Alius had risen in rank, and tasks like these were now beneath him. With the Dragon Emperor issue delegated, Karnak moved on to his next priority, tracking down Edia. He needed information on Tecas merchant guild.

***

"You want me to investigate Tecas?” Edia frowned at Karnak's request. "Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?"

Unlike Altas merchant guild, which was just starting to spread its wings, Tecas merchant guild was the largest in the Kingdom of Eustil, with considerable influence abroad. It was not an entity one could meddle with lightly.

"If we provoke them unnecessarily, we could be inviting trouble..."

Naturally, Karnak had considered that. That was precisely why he had chosen Edia for the task.

"It doesn't matter. They were the ones who struck first."

Altas merchant guild had already clashed with Tecas. Investigating an enemy who had attacked you was a perfectly reasonable response. Of course, being reasonable didn't mean it was safe.

"Which is why I'm giving you this, just in case.” Karnak pulled a small insignia from inside his coat and handed it to her.

Edia's eyes widened in shock. "My god. This is...!"

It was the golden insignia given to him by Prince Lloyd.

"Are you sure you should be handing this over to me?"

A royal insignia was not something one could just give away. In the worst-case scenario, it could technically be considered an act of treason.

“I mean, you should treasure it and keep it safe.” Karnak nodded solemnly. "But I’m part of the King's Order. I have to be constantly on the move across the kingdoms hunting cultists.”

It was a gift personally given to him by a prince. Wouldn’t it be irresponsible for me to carry around such a precious royal gift?

He crossed his arms and spoke with conviction. "So naturally, I should entrust it to the person I trust the most, who can keep it in the safest place possible, as a true act of loyalty to the prince."

In other words, he was entrusting it to Edia to safely lock it away in her vault. She blinked. Technically, he had just loaned her the insignia. But the way he phrased it made it sound like he was a devoted, loyal subject.

"When you put it like that, I suppose there's nothing wrong with it."

After handing over the insignia, Karnak gave his final instructions. "Start your investigation, step by step."

The first target was the copper mine in Zestrad's territory.It was the most natural point of entry, and they could investigate without drawing too much suspicion.

"If anything happens, use the insignia. That's what power is for."

"What if Tecas merchant guild cuts off all deals in retaliation? Doesn't your copper mine rely entirely on Tecas?”

Karnak shrugged. "And? It's not like Altas merchant guild can't dig mines."

“I guess that's true."

The hardest part of mining operations was the initial development. But the Zestrad copper mine had already been fully developed and was in active operation. Even if Tecas withdrew their workers and equipment, the Altas merchant guild could easily replace them.

Edia's eyes suddenly sparkled. "Actually, it might be better if they cut ties first."

Taking control of a profitable copper mine without any initial investment and securing steady income? From Altas merchant guild's perspective, there was zero downside.

"Wait, but don't you cut ties first," Karnak hurriedly warned, trying to rein in her greed.

With that, most of the delegated tasks were taken care of. But there were still things he had to handle personally.

"Is spring coming soon?” Calculating the dates, Karnak murmured, "Time to start preparing for another trip to the Empire."

***

Once again, Erantel sat at his desk at the King’s Order headquarters in Drunta. Once again, he was glaring at the dark-haired man before him.

"So, let me get this straight. You want another solo mission.”

“Yes." Karnak nodded and slid a document across the desk. "These are classified records I obtained from the Maleficus Dungeon."

It was a document made from human skin.

"This is...” Erantel frowned. Even just flipping through the pages, he could feel a sinister aura seeping from the parchment, making his skin crawl. "No doubt about it. This is cultist material."

Of course, it was. It was the real deal.

After all, it’s Demphis's handiwork.

The human-skin document contained critical intelligence regarding the Cult of the Black God. It revealed details about a dungeon within the empire. It was a dungeon that the cult guarded with the utmost secrecy.

"This isn't something we can overlook. It must be investigated."

Karnak's request was logical and aligned with their mission.

"You're right. We need to investigate this.” Yet, despite acknowledging the need, Erantel hesitated. "But do you have to be the one to go?"

Karnak blinked, taken aback. "If not us, then who?"

His team was the one who uncovered the information. It was standard procedure for the discoverers to handle the investigation, unless there was a major issue.

"Besides, who would be better suited for this than us?"

"Well, that's true...” Even so, Erantel still seemed reluctant.

Why is he acting weird today?

Karnak thought.

As if confirming Karnak's thoughts, Erantel straightened his posture and spoke seriously. "Listen, Sir Karnak."

"Yes?"

"At this point... do you even need to be leading the Seventh Squad of the King's Order? You’ve been operating independently for several months already.”

People were starting to talk. If Karnak was going to act independently anyway, he should be removed from his position and reassigned.

"Your performance is commendable, so no one is calling for punishment. But there is talk that it might be more effective to create a separate special task force for you."

"Isn't the King's Order itself already a special task force?"

"Well, yes."

“You’re going to create a special task force within a special task force?”

"Nothing says we can't."

Of course, there was still a problem. Karnak had a habit of picking his own missions rather than following standard command orders. This had begun to disrupt the chain of command, leading to complaints from the more conservative members of the Order.

"So, here's my proposal.” Erantel suddenly smiled. "Karnak, how about you become Vice Commander of the King's Order?"

"What?"

Karnak stared in shock. He had never placed much value on rank within the King's Order, but he certainly hadn't expected this.

"What about the other senior members?"

“All the mages are ranked lower than you now.”

"What about Sir Ziken?"

"You're seventh circle now, aren't you?"

On top of that, Serati had reached blue-tier in aura, putting her on equal footing with the strong houses of the First Squad, Ziken and Triv.

"This was actually their suggestion. Sir Ziken said he owes you a debt."

"Oh. That."

Back during the Demon Sword Mareda incident, Karnak had deliberately let Ziken take credit for the victory. Apparently, Ziken still felt indebted for that favor.

Huh. That really wasn't my intention...

Erantel let out a hearty laugh. "There's no need to feel pressured about the vice commander position. Frankly, there's no one more suited for it than you."

Karnak had solid backing from Prince Lloyd and Deltros, and on top of that, he was a prodigy mage. Reaching seventh circle at his age was nothing short of extraordinary. Not to mention, his track record was overwhelmingly impressive.

"If you want to keep working the way you do now, accepting this would be in your best interest."

Karnak calmly reflected on Erantel's advice.

So, I'm going to be the Vice Commander of the King's Order?

This position would give him the authority to mobilize up to half of the squads in times of crisis, but that wasn't particularly appealing. He was always moving around anyway, meaning he'd never be able to gather those forces efficiently.

But the other privileges were very attractive. As vice commander, he would be able to speak on behalf of Eustil's King's Order in diplomatic discussions with the empire and the Seven Kingdoms Alliance.

Now this... isn't bad.

The last time he visited the Lacania Empire, he had been just a squad captain. That meant he couldn’t even use his King's Order credentials and had to rely on Alius's connections instead. But as vice commander, he could negotiate as an equal.

"Alright. Fine. I'll take it."

"That's your reaction to a promotion?"

Erantel clicked his tongue in disbelief.

And then, he uttered a blasphemous statement—one that would have made Serati foam at the mouth if she had heard it. "You really are a man without greed, Sir Karnak."

***

When Karnak returned, he gathered everyone. "I got promoted to Vice Commander."

Leven and Lapicel were genuinely happy for him.

“Congratulations."

"Congrats, Lord Karnak!"

On the other hand, Serati immediately went on high alert, bristling like a cat sensing danger. She had suffered too much at his hands to take this lightly.

—What is this? Huh? What now? What are you plotting this time?!

It took a while to convince her that there was no hidden scheme behind it.

Once Serati finally calmed down, Varos tilted his head in curiosity. "So, what exactly do you have to do as vice commander?"

"I can now operate independently. I have the authority to choose my own missions and personally select my own team."

"How is that any different from what you were already doing?"

"My salary went up."

"Oh, well, that's good."

"Anyway, that's not the main point."

The real issue was that they were heading back to the Lacania Empire. Their team would include everyone here, as well as one additional priest, and their destination was a hidden dungeon in Mellard, a region in the empire's central territory.

"So, what exactly are we supposed to do there?"

At Lapicel's question, Karnak grinned.

"Steal a skeleton."