Emil Strauss had vanished. Whether he was dead or still alive, no one could say.

Karnak realized something. "No matter which it is, things are going to take a rather strange turn."

If Emil had died, then someone must have taken his corpse. The reason for that wasn’t hard to guess. While not as valuable as Martial King Gellard’s body, Emil Strauss’s corpse still held considerable potential. It could be resurrected as a death knight or, even if not that, turned into a powerful undead.

"Sure, there’s reason enough to take the body..." Karnak glanced around and raised a brow. "But in this situation?"

Everyone had been near, including Future Leven, Karnak, Varos, and the other powerful aura users.

Karnak posed a question. "Are we really supposed to believe someone slipped past all of us, snuck in here, and made off with an entire person, not some small object, without any of us noticing? Does that make any sense?"

Varos nodded as if it did. "Well, it was chaos. Honestly, none of us had the attention to spare to keep track of who was coming and going."

"True, we were so focused on the battle that we might’ve missed it," Karnak agreed.

Indeed, their lives had been hanging by a thread. None of them had the luxury to watch their surroundings. So perhaps it wasn’t impossible that someone had crept up unnoticed, like a rat in the shadows.

There was yet another question that lingered. Karnak voiced it. "Still, that would mean whoever took Emil’s body carried him out right in the middle of this bloody chaos. Since when did the Cult of the Black God have such bold and heroic agents?"

Varos agreed. "That part is strange, I admit."

Then could it be that Emil had survived, and simply left on his own?

"That’s odd too. It would mean Emil regained consciousness," Karnak said.

When someone tried to possess another’s body, the original owner’s soul typically ended up in one of three states. They were either banished from their body and turned into a wandering spirit, sealed inside the body and rendered unconscious, or, like Serati when she surrendered her body to Varos, conscious but unable to control their body.

If Emil had become a wandering spirit, then his body would have remained a corpse when Future Leven departed. But if it were the second or third case, Emil’s consciousness would have returned to his body once it was vacated.

Karnak wondered. "Then why would a conscious Emil deliberately run away from the people who saved him?"

Varos nodded. "That’s a good point."

Listening from the side, Serati carefully raised a question. "What about this possibility?"

"What possibility?" Karnak responded.

"That Emil’s body moved on its own to escape," Serati suggested.

In the past, it would have sounded absurd, but in these chaotic times, such cases weren’t entirely unheard of.

Karnak chuckled dryly. "No, I don’t think so."

"How can you be so sure?" Serati asked him.

"Because I’m me." Even now, he was once the famed Monarch of Death. For a corpse to move on its own would mean necromancy had been invoked, and when it came to necromancy, his senses could not be fooled.

Serati shot him a sidelong glance. "Are you really sure about that?"

Karnak frowned. "What are you trying to say?"

Serati reminded him. "You’ve said yourself, haven’t you? That whenever Tesranach is involved, all common sense goes out the window. Then isn’t it possible that necromancy could activate without you noticing?"

Karnak’s expression tightened. "Fair point."

Admitting it stung his pride a little, but she wasn’t wrong. Looks like I’ll need to set aside some time to dig deeper into this.

Either way, this wasn’t a mystery they could solve here and now. Besides, there were more immediate matters to deal with. Karnak turned his gaze beyond the fortress walls. Scattered unrest still flickered throughout the stronghold. They needed to bring the situation under control.

Karnak issued his command. "Varos, go and tell them. Tell them we’ve won and they should surrender."

Varos scratched his head awkwardly. "Uh... how exactly? We didn’t capture Sir Emil, after all."

What they had defeated wasn’t Emil Strauss, but Martial King Gellard.

Varos offered a suggestion. "Maybe we should carry Gellard’s head and shout it out? ‘Your leader has lost his head!’"

Karnak shook his head. "Hmm. Somehow, I don’t think carrying Gellard’s head around is going to end well."

The more they discussed, the darker Leven’s expression grew.

Unable to bear it any longer, Serati intervened. "Um, the fallen’s own family is standing right here, you know? Maybe watch what you say?"

Naturally, these two insensitive bastards had no idea what she meant.

"Huh? Why?"

"What did we say wrong?"

Serati was left speechless at their obliviousness.

With a sigh, Leven shook his head. "I’ll do it. Even without my brother Emil, they’ll listen if I speak." If Leven emerged alive and well after this chaos, it would be proof enough of their victory. "Would you mind tending to my father’s remains in the meantime, Sir Serati?"

Seeing Leven’s still-clouded expression, Serati nodded. "Of course. I don’t think these two will be of any help anyway."

Karnak and Varos, as always, had no idea why she was reacting this way.

"Wait, what did we do wrong, exactly?"

"Well, something, clearly. Do you really think she’s the one who’s mistaken? Obviously, it’s us."

"Yeah, fair point."

***

Once Leven took charge, the situation quickly settled. Upon learning of Martial King Gellard’s death, Kairon and the Strauss knights were consumed by fury, and naturally, their blades turned toward the Cult of the Black God.

Strauss family’s aura users joined forces with the four archliches and began their assault on the cult’s necromancers. The soldiers of the Strauss family, too, sided with the subjugation forces and fell upon the undead troops.

What could the traitors of Strauss and the cultists of the Black God possibly do in the face of this? By dawn, most of the cultists had either been killed or captured. Once their thirst for revenge was sated, the Strauss knights voluntarily disarmed and surrendered.

Declaring themselves the worst of sinners, they knelt and awaited the Church’s judgment. Thus, the Siege of Strauss came to an end, leaving behind only devastation.

***

Taking care of the aftermath was always exhausting. Especially for Karnak, who, as the supreme commander of the subjugation force, had twice the number of tedious tasks as anyone else.

"Man, this whole thing is full of annoying little chores."

Only after dealing with the most urgent matters did he finally find a moment to rest. That was when it happened.

A voice came from outside the command tent. "May I come in, Lord Karnak?"

Alius? He should be up to his neck in work right now. What’s this about?

Priests were always among the busiest after battles. They had to tend to the wounded, handle the dead, and offer prayers for the fallen. And in these undead-ridden times, they even had to purify the battlefield.

Puzzled, Karnak spoke. "Come in."

Alius entered the tent, his expression unusually grim.

Growing slightly concerned, Karnak asked, "What’s wrong? Is it Lapicel...?"

After being knocked unconscious from the battle with Future Leven, Lapicel had been entrusted to Alius for healing. If Alius was showing such a dark expression, something must have happened to her. But that didn’t seem to be the case.

"Miss Lapicel is fine. With the healing I’ve provided, she should wake up in about half a day."

"That’s a relief." Karnak breathed a small sigh of relief, then frowned again in puzzlement.

Then what is this about?

Alius had the look of a man struggling with something deeply troubling. He seemed hesitant, as if he couldn’t quite bring himself to speak.

"Is there something you wish to say?" Karnak asked directly.

Only then did Alius finally open his mouth. "I wanted to believe I was mistaken... but the more I think about it, the more certain I become."

He locked eyes with Karnak.

"Lord Karnak," he said coldly, "are you a necromancer?"

A lesser man might have felt his heart drop at those words. But Karnak remained calm. A man as steeped in sin as he was had faced this kind of sudden suspicion hundreds of times in his life.

Karnak answered him. "Are you referring to Mediator of Necromancy? Surely you already know the answer to that."

Alius let out a deep sigh. "That’s what I thought. And I wanted to keep believing it."

That was why he had tried to dismiss the faint darkness he had felt from the Angel of Radiant Wings as something similar. But no matter how much he considered it, he couldn’t find a reason why Karnak would have used Mediator of Necromancy in that situation.

After all, Mediator of Necromancy was a tool meant to deceive necromancers. At least, that’s what Karnak had claimed. But what if served another purpose altogether...?

"Can you explain it to me?" Alius tightened his grip on his staff. "Explain why, in that moment, you had to invoke Mediator of Necromancy."

Depending on Karnak’s response, Alius would decide whether to call upon divine magic.

Under Alius’s cold gaze, Karnak let out a quiet chuckle. "An explanation, you say..."

His expression was as if he genuinely couldn’t understand how he had ended up in this misunderstanding. For a brief moment, Alius felt a flicker of relief. Surely, if he were truly guilty, he wouldn’t look so nonchalantly innocent.

Karnak shrugged lightly. "Very well. Let me explain."

And at that very moment, someone grabbed hold of Alius’s arms. What?

Startled, Alius tried to cry out, but his tongue wouldn’t move. An unseen flow of aura ran down his arms and spread through his entire body, paralyzing him. Before he knew it, a sturdy blond youth had seized his left arm, and a red-haired beauty his right.

Sir Varos, Sir Serati?!

When had they arrived? He was sure, just moments ago, there had only been Karnak in the tent. Karnak, raising his right hand, stepped toward Alius. Alius’s eyes quivered violently. From Karnak’s index finger rose a needle of unknown magical energy.

Without hesitation, Karnak plunged it straight into Alius’s crown. "Ex! Pla! Nation!"

Alius’s eyes rolled back as his whole body began to tremble violently. Indeed. Rather than give a half-baked explanation, Karnak had decided it would be better to simply stab him and alter his memory.

This had been his plan all along. It was why he had subtly drawn out the conversation earlier. He had to pretend to give an explanation, while secretly summoning Varos and Serati from outside the tent.

Varos, holding Alius down, glanced over and murmured in admiration. "Oh, he’s not even foaming at the mouth this time."

Karnak replied with full confidence, as if that were only natural. "Of course. It’s Alius, after all. Showing a little courtesy is the least I can do."

Serati frowned as she looked at Karnak, her expression uneasy. "Are you sure this is okay?"

"Don’t worry," Karnak replied cheerfully. "It’s Alius. Do you think I’d do a half-baked job with him?"

He intended to tamper with Alius’s memories with the utmost care, safely and thoroughly. "After everything he’s done for us? I’ve worked hard to make sure the procedure is smooth."

Serati let out a long sigh at Karnak’s utterly shameless attitude. "Well, I suppose... it’s better than having his head cut off."

To be honest, she too thought this was a fairly acceptable solution. Perhaps this was why people always said: You are the company you keep.

Good grief, just how much have I been corrupted at this point?