CH 557

AL_Squad14-18 minutes

Chapter 557

The Tomb of the Saints was located beneath the headquarters of the Holy Knights.

Just like the majority of the allied forces, the Holy Knights and the Five Great Religions had also dedicated all their resources to this war.

Consequently, the Holy Knights' headquarters was operating with a minimum number of personnel.

Naturally, there were no defenses like those found at the Imperial Palace or the Temple at the Holy Knights' headquarters.

Besides, I wasn't an undead, so it wasn't impossible for me to enter.

Thus, compared to the Imperial Palace or the Temple, infiltrating the Holy Knights' headquarters was relatively easier.

The place we needed to go, the Tomb of the Saints, was bound to be an area with minimal human presence.

Initially, the infiltration was already easy, but with Kono Lint accompanying us with a "let's see this through to the end" attitude, entering the Tomb of the Saints was practically effortless.

"Damn, I really don't know what's right anymore."

When Kono Lint had to forcefully help us, he must have had doubts about whether it was the right thing to do.

But now that he knew the Empire was doing something like this first, his judgment of good and evil seemed utterly meaningless.

The one who does wrong first is the rightful owner of the deed.

And so, Kono Lint ultimately decided to help us create a Death Knight in the Tomb of the Saints for the third time.

"It's not as grand as the Royal Mausoleum, but this place is still quite impressive."

The Tomb of the Saints.

Located beneath the Holy Knights' headquarters, the tomb was not as vast as the Royal Mausoleum, but it was still filled with a dignified and solemn atmosphere.

The overall ambiance was different from the Royal Mausoleum.

On the giant walls of the tomb, the divine titles of the gods that the deceased saints had served were engraved at regular intervals, along with the names and brief histories of the deceased saints.

It was almost like a memorial hall.

The ashes of the deceased saints must be inside those walls.

It felt like a columbarium with coffins instead of urns.

The coffins within the walls were arranged in over ten vertical layers.

However, the spacing was quite wide, so the coffins at the very top were almost seven meters high.

The tombs of the great saints, however, were not on the walls but on the ground, with their tombstones erected and coffins buried behind them.

"The history of the Holy Knights is not very long. So there aren't many saintly ashes."

"Would there be more tombs in the Basilica of the Five Great Religions?"

"Yes, but except for the Basilica of Als in the Imperial Capital, the rest of them have likely been destroyed, so it's pointless."

The Holy Knights were created for the Great Demon War, and their history wasn't very long. Thus, there were more saintly ashes in the other Basilicas.

"Still, as the history is short, most of the saints admitted to the tomb were chosen for their military achievements, not their theological accomplishments. So, we can probably secure more Death Knights from here. I don't think we need to go to the Basilica of Als."

Those who died in the Great Demon War.

Those who died due to the Gate incidents.

In the end, their achievements were based on their combat, so most of the Holy Knights' saints would be priests or paladins.

Although the absolute number of saints was small, their ashes would be true to the purpose of creating Death Knights.

"Make sure you block the entrance well. It'll be a headache if someone comes in and sees us."

"Yes."

At the massive entrance to the underground tomb. Harriet takes on the role of guarding the door.

"Reinhardt, can you check? It'll be troublesome if there's no corpse this time either."

"Yes."

I head towards the shared wall and place my hand on the entrance to the sealed stone coffin.

The stone coffin has no handle because there's no reason to open it once it's been pushed into the wall.

If there's no corpse this time, the problem becomes much more complicated.

-Grrrr! Thud!

I break the stone coffin embedded in the wall with my bare hands and check inside.

"It's here."

"Good, that means the Holy Knights have never participated in this undead game."

It was quite strange that no one was surprised by me breaking the stone wall with my bare hands. Kono Lint was no exception.

Anyway.

The moment it was confirmed that the empire was the cause of the disappearing corpses, it was clear that the allied forces were not involved. Otherwise, the tombs of the saints would be empty.

What's happening now is the empire's unilateral action.

In the end, we confirmed that the corpse was still intact this time.

-Clang!

Olivia stands in the center and plunges the Demon Sword Tiamata into the ground.

"Alright, let's really get started."

-Woowoowooong!

The power of corruption begins to seep out from the Demon Sword.

There will be no failure this time.

------

Olivia had said from the beginning that it wouldn't take long.

It only took a while because we didn't know that there were no corpses in the royal tomb.

Still, it was not something that could be done in a short amount of time.

About 30 minutes after Olivia began the ritual.

-Thump thump

A heavy, pounding sound, as if something was striking the wall, could be heard.

"Uh... Uh..."

Kono Lint shudders and slowly clings to me.

Yeah, it was a moment that would make anyone nervous.

As if something was starting this time, strange vibrations continued from the wall of the saints' tomb.

A sound like something was hitting it.

-Thud thud

Gray dust mixed with stone powder rises from the wall, and the vibrations are felt even on the shared ceiling.

The stone statues and symbols of the gods tremble.

-Thump! Thump!

The vibrations from the wall begin to intensify.

The slow tremors gradually become faster.

-Thump! Thump! Thump! Crack!

And the stone coffin embedded in the wall, the square tombstone, and the lid simultaneously begin to crack.

-Bang!

With a burst of dust and dirt, a lid flies off, and something crawls out from the wall.

The bones of the saint, who had been resting in peace while embedded in the wall, emerge.

-Grrrr

With pitch-black darkness oozing from its hollow eye sockets and all over its body, the bones squeeze out of the narrow room and fall to the ground.

-Thump!

The body, which was nothing more than bones, crashes to the ground and slowly gets up.

One corpse has been resurrected, and the skeletal saint, with black energy flowing from its body, stands still.

-Grrrrrrrr

The skeleton, growling in a strange voice, wakes up and slowly walks towards Olivia.

The pitch-black energy flowing from its body soon becomes a cloak of darkness, covering the skeleton from head to toe.

A skeleton clad in darkness.

The most powerful undead.

The resurrected saint, now a Death Knight, kneels before Olivia.

"Good..."

-Thump thump

-Thump!

Like a bird trying to break out of its egg, the sound of beings awakening from slumber and striking the stone coffins filled the tomb.

------

The ritual took an hour and a half to complete.

Seventy-five in total.

Now, seventy-five Death Knights had been resurrected.

There were certainly some that didn't rise.

However, the corrupted bones of the saints who had become Death Knights were clearly before our eyes.

The underground tomb was hazy with the stone dust rising from the shattered coffins.

Thanks to Harriet's noise-canceling, no priests had detected the disturbance and come to investigate.

There was no intention of restoring anything.

After all, we were to leave this place and never return.

The Holy Knights would surely be furious when they discovered that nearly half of the saints' tombs had been destroyed, but it was none of our concern since we had already achieved our goal.

This wouldn't be enough.

But securing a sufficient number of Death Knights was impossible from the start. In this war, a sufficient number of forces was an unreachable figure to begin with.

Death Knights essentially took the form of skeletons.

Scars from their lives, or missing parts, had been reconstructed by the power of corruption.

-Grrrrrr

Death Knights, emitting strange low rumblings, had no sense of self from their previous lives.

They were merely empty shells.

Olivia approached one of the numerous Death Knights.

We all watched the scene in silence.

One of the seventy-five Death Knights. Behind it was the tomb of Riverrier Lanze.

Olivia placed her hand on the cheekbone of the Death Knight, which was dripping with the dark energy of corruption.

"You've suffered a lot."

We looked on, appalled, as the corners of Olivia's mouth twisted into a creepy smile.

The Death Knight, being nothing but a shell, was not Riverrier Lanze.

It was merely what had once been Riverrier Lanze.

The one who had been close to immortal, met his end by my hand, pierced by the Demonic Sword Tiamata.

And now, he had been brought back from death by his daughter's Demonic Sword Tiamata.

Olivia, wearing a sinister smile, stared intently at the dark, smoky tears streaming from the empty eye sockets of the Death Knight.

------

When she had said that we needed more Death Knights, it was clear that Olivia had intended to resurrect Riverrier Lanze.

The resurrected Death Knights melded into the smoke and were absorbed into the Demonic Sword, and we escaped the saints' tomb.

"Is this… the end?"

"It seems like we could go to the Basilica of Als, but I don't think there's much meaning to it. There will only be ancient, useless bones."

As if there was no need to do more work just to secure one or two more Death Knights, Olivia shook her head at Kono Lint's question.

Our business in the Imperial Capital was finished.

"…Can we leave now?"

"How about it? Shall I take you to the Allied Forces camp?"

"No, I can find my way back on my own."

He had been forced to help with something that he would never have experienced in his life, being entangled with the Demon King people.

However, Kono Lint carried a larger doubt than witnessing the grotesque process of creating Death Knights.

The suspicion that the Empire itself might be doing something like this, or even worse.

Everything had become unclear.

"Just so you know, don't try to dig too deep into this matter."

"…"

It seemed that I had hit the mark, as Kono Lint couldn't respond to my words.

"Even if your abilities are optimized for infiltration, there's no need to take unnecessary risks. And besides, there's nothing you can do about it even if you find out."

"...You're right."

This was the kind of matter that should not be known.

If he tried to figure out what was happening on his own and got caught by the Empire, even stranger things might occur.

"Anyway, you've worked hard."

If it weren't for Kono Lint, things would have been much more complicated, but they progressed smoothly and quickly.

It was fortunate that everything ended swiftly and neatly without any conflicts with the wrong people.

Kono Lint remained silent for a moment, then cautiously opened his mouth.

It seemed like he was debating whether to say it or not, but finally decided to share the story.

"Do you know about the kids in our class?"

"I have a rough idea."

"..."

The people who died in this battle and the injured Ludwig.

Although it was like informing me that he was scouting the Allied Forces, there was no reason to pretend I didn't know. I would have known that he was gathering information on the Allied Forces from the beginning.

Seeing that sorrow, Kono Lint might have thought that he had to prevent someone else from dying in this war, even if it meant relying on an unjust power.

But was it right to use the deaths of those killed in the war? It would be complicated to determine if the Empire itself should be doing this.

To prevent someone's death, they created Death Knights, but they also turned someone who was already dead into a Death Knight.

"...It's enough that you know."

Kono Lint didn't speak explicitly about that sadness and regret.

We didn't really have a conversation either.

It was simply a sad, horrible, and cruel topic.

Now it was time to go back.

However, Kono Lint didn't leave, and his complexion paled as if he realized something while looking at me.

"Hey, but you... it seems like you'll keep calling me like this whenever you need me... Is that my imagination?"

"You know it well."

"Why! I hate this! I'm with the Allied Forces!"

"Weren't you already on our side?"

You're already an accomplice! There's no way out!

At my forceful statement, his complexion grew even paler.

"Get lost! I won't help you anymore, even if someone asks me to! I won't fall for it again!"

Pop!

Kono Lint disappeared with a resentful expression, teleporting away. With his abilities, he could quickly travel from here to the far-off Allied Forces' base.

If Kono Lint loses his humanity, it will be all my fault.

"...Will we need Lint again next time?"

Harriet tilts her head.

"Well, I don't know. But I'm sure he'll fall for the same pattern again. Definitely."

"Come on, no way. He'll suspect that it's just Uncle Sarkegaar."

Olivia tilted her head as if to say that Kono Lint couldn't be that foolish.

"Really? I think he'll follow us even if he knows it's Sarkegaar."

"Ah."

"Ah."

Seeing how resigned he was, he might follow us later, thinking that it wouldn't be so bad if he could become a pretty girl.

He might be getting used to the idea that it might not be so bad after all since he's been fooled so many times!

I'm sorry, Lint.

It seems like I've ruined you.

"By the way, wouldn't it be good to check what's happening in the Empire?"

"True. Although it might not be dangerous for us, we should still know what they're up to."

Harriet and Olivia's opinions were reasonable.

Although I told Kono Lint not to investigate on his own, our situation was a bit different.

We don't necessarily need to interfere in the Empire's affairs, nor do we intend to.

However, we need to know what they're doing.

"We'll find out eventually."

With Sarkegaar and me present, we will gather information and find out what they're up to.

As early as tomorrow, the headquarters of the Holy Knights Order will be in chaos.

Our work in the Imperial Capital is finished.

"Speaking of which, I had a thought..."

When Olivia tried to secure a Death Knight from the tomb in the basement of the Holy Knights Order's headquarters, I thought of a potential location.

"Wouldn't there be a cemetery or something similar in the Demon King's Castle?"

The very Demon King's Castle.

Like the Imperial Palace, wouldn't there be a tomb or something similar for past heroes or high-ranking demons in the Demon King's Castle?

"Why are you asking us... Oh right, you don't have any memories."

Harriet reacted as if wondering why the Demon King would ask us about it.

"It's worth checking out."

"…But Reinhardt, you accused me of doing strange things, yet you're thinking the same way, aren't you?"

Right?

When I think about it, Olivia revived her foster father as a Death Knight, but I'm even worse, aren't I?

What if I resurrect the ancient Demon Kings as undead, using them for my own purposes?

I had such a despicable thought.

We headed to the Demon King's Castle in Darkland for the last time.

However, there was no tomb for the past Demon Kings in the Demon King's Castle.

Whether there had been tombs that were already destroyed, or if there were no tombs at all from the beginning, we couldn't tell.

Fortunately or unfortunately, in the end, we couldn't secure a Death Knight from the Demon King's Castle.