Chapter 65

A Cleric’s Duty (1)

“Prepare for battle—! Prepare for battlllleee—!”

At the priest’s shrill screaming, the inquisitors stepped forward.

“Damn it! At this rate…!”

The necromancer hurriedly gathered his zombies into formation as well.

“No matter how powerful you are, we are apostles of God who wield divine power! How dare you—!”

I couldn’t bear listening to that fear-filled voice any longer.

“Fire.”

The crossbowmen positioned in the rear unleashed volleys of quarrels toward the priest.

Clang! Clang!

The bolts filled the sky before ricocheting off the inquisitors’ armor and weapons, though several embedded themselves into their bodies, leaving wounds behind.

‘Hard to tell who the undead are here.’

Even with arms torn off, the inquisitors simply brushed at the wounds and continued advancing toward me.

Bizarre faces with all their hair and eyebrows shaved clean.
And branded in the center of their foreheads was the symbol of the Sun Cross.
Just looking at them made me sick.

‘They were already unpleasant bastards 200 years ago, but they weren’t this insane.’

Necromancy that manipulates the dead is abhorrent.
Therefore, erase the personalities of the living and turn them into fighting machines for the Order.

I couldn’t even imagine what kind of idiot first came up with that logic.

“Report the damage.”

“Two damaged. Combat still possible.”

“The Imperial undead will handle the front line. Tie down the Death Knights.”

Exchanging those words among themselves, the inquisitors charged alongside the zombies.

“Charge.”

I gave my own undead the same command.
The heavily armored skeletons in dense formation received the enemy assault head-on.

BOOM—!

A grotesque clash of rotting flesh and spectral bodies.

KROOOAAAGH—!

A zombie lunged forward, spraying poison and filth while viciously biting into a skeleton’s shoulder.

Splatter! Splatter!

Rotten blood splashed across the skeletons’ helmets and armor.

Ssssss—!

A few drops that hit the ground blackened the grass with rising smoke.

‘Imperial necromancers… this is exactly why corpse-reanimation arts are so effective in war.’

The greatest threats on the battlefield aren’t just enemy blades and spears.

If trenches aren’t dug properly, stagnant water breeds insects.
Without sanitation officers, epidemics spread through military camps.
If preservation magic isn’t placed on supply wagons, food rots constantly.

Because of countless factors like these, necromancers possess extraordinary value in warfare.

What if plague-ridden zombies are secretly dumped into an enemy’s water supply?
What if corpses filled with mosquitoes are loaded into catapults and launched into enemy camps?
What if zombies carrying parasites and deadly toxins are released into enemy supply depots?

‘A necromancer’s true worth isn’t merely creating undead.’

It’s all the countless variables they can create using those undead.

A single necromancer who handles corpses can artificially bring about every one of these disasters.

That’s why the value of necromancers transcends imagination.

—Kiiiik!

And yet, watching those zombies stirred no unease within me.

“Honestly, it would’ve been easier if you’d brought the same number of knights instead. Don’t you think?”

I mocked the Imperial necromancer, who was now drenched in cold sweat.

“Damn it… damn it…!”

No matter how many poisonous fangs they sank in or acidic fluids they sprayed, my undead didn’t budge.
Watching that, the Imperial necromancer clenched his teeth.

Those bodies weren’t truly living flesh, but spiritual constructs.
Bodies made from mana weren’t affected by corrosion from corpse bites or toxins that withered blood.

“The most efficient way to deal with a necromancer is with another necromancer.”

I raised my hand and issued orders to the infantry locked in tight formation.

“Spread out and form an encirclement. Bind the enemy forces. Archers, begin sequential fire.”

Ratatatat—!

Whenever the enemy tried to widen the distance, crossbow bolts rained down.
Even if they fought at close range, my undead bodies were immune to poison and corrosion.
With their main weapons neutralized, my heavily armored skeletons held an overwhelming advantage.

KABOOOOOM—!

Just as I thought that, one section of the encirclement exploded apart, launching skeletons into the air.

“Ohh? Looks like they changed tactics already.”

One of the bloated zombies exploded on the spot.
Through the opening, an inquisitor forced his way inside and began smashing apart skeletons.

“Analysis complete.”

“We break through. Capture the young master.”

Ignoring the quarrels embedded all over their bodies, the inquisitors charged toward me.

‘While we’re distracted with the frontline zombies, they plan to take me out directly.’

Systematically moving zombies, perfectly coordinated with the inquisitors.

Compared to the fanatics who charged mindlessly without formations, this was a far more organized battle.

‘Still nowhere near enough.’

The moment the inquisitors broke through the encirclement and rushed at me—

“Raven.”

The instant I called his name, blue magical light swallowed their vision.

KIIIIIIING—!

An overwhelming strike unleashed horizontally.

The inquisitors, their bodies wrapped in divine power, were blown backward as though struck by a massive hammer.

“…!”

“You didn’t think I’d fail to anticipate your breakthrough, did you?”

A necromancer’s greatest weakness is the caster himself.
That’s why one must always watch their back.

—What is the target?

“Deal with the inquisitors that broke through the encirclement. I’ll handle the rest.”

—Understood.

Honestly, those inquisitors and this stone-faced knight weren’t much different.

While thinking that, my gaze shifted elsewhere across the battlefield.

‘I knew he’d try that.’

In the middle of the fighting, the priest was slowly sneaking away while clutching the leather chest.

While his allies remained locked in battle, he apparently intended to escape back to the castle with the most important item.

“Damn it, how could something this absurd happen…?!”

Terrified out of his mind, the priest ran desperately.

But his footsteps didn’t last very long.

Crack—!

A black throwing spear flew from the battlefield and shattered the priest’s back as he desperately tried to flee.

“Guaaaargh…!”

The priest couldn’t even scream properly from the agony of his ribs being crushed entirely.
The box he had been carrying overturned, and the glass vials inside scattered across the ground.

“A-aaahhh…!”

“Where do you think you’re scurrying off to like a rat?”

The priest staggered after losing his balance and collapsing.
As if making one final desperate attempt, he crawled across the ground toward one of the fallen vials.

Slash!

But there was no way I’d allow that.
My sword descended and severed his wrist.

“GAAAAAH?!”

“Don’t even think about drinking it carelessly. You’ll regret it later.”

After saying that, I turned toward the battlefield where the noise was beginning to die down.

“Emergency! Emergency! The Seed of Archimond has once again—!”

Crunch!

The situation ended the moment Raven’s sword pierced through the staggering inquisitor’s skull.

“Whew!”

This was my first battle after absorbing the demonic energy stored inside the darkstone ring.

“Ah, shit…”

Feeling something strange, I quickly covered my face, only to find blood trickling out.

“If blood’s gonna come out, couldn’t it come from somewhere less embarrassing? Why the hell does it have to be a nosebleed…?”

I muttered while fumbling through my clothes for a handkerchief.
The amount of demonic energy was sufficient, but it seemed too much for the body of a fifteen-year-old.
In every possible way, it was ridiculously inconvenient.

‘Seventy undead lost, two Death Knights destroyed… not bad for something I improvised.’

The inquisitors wielded divine power, the natural enemy of undead.
Considering that I fought them head-on, the results were excellent.

While checking the active spells, I picked up one of the glass vials lying on the ground.

“Fuck, the purity’s gotten even higher.”

A transparent crimson liquid, as though melted rubies had been poured into the bottle.
It made it obvious why they called this substance “Holy Blood.”

“And this container…”

The glass vial looked like a luxurious antique art piece.
The moment I saw it, I immediately understood how much craftsmanship had gone into it.

“A bottle carved from mana crystal, with preservation spells maintaining constant temperature and humidity…”

The precision required to inject spells of this caliber without shattering the crystal.
And even the finishing touches throughout the entire design.

Very few places possessed the ability to handle crystal with such precision.

Most notably…

“Yes. The Holy Church, which infuses divine power into crystal to create stained glass.”

As I spoke, my gaze shifted toward the forest.

“Wouldn’t you agree? Church spy.”

The Banshee’s eyes were already floating high above the area.
The moment I said that, a calm unfamiliar voice emerged from the darkness of the trees.

“An impressive technique, wouldn’t you say?”

The same black robes as the priest from earlier.
But unlike the inquisitors or necromancer, this man was someone I couldn’t help but regard with even greater caution.

The red sash draped over his shoulders.
The galero resting atop his head.

The gold embroidery decorating them clearly signified his rank.

“A cardinal of the Church wandering around such a dangerous place? Isn’t that a bit reckless?”

The moment I recognized his attire and spoke, the smiling man removed his red hat.

Black hair reaching his shoulders.
A face so handsome it looked sculpted from marble.
The warm smile spread across his face made it nearly impossible to think of him as evil.

‘Reinforcements? No… there’s nobody else with him. But…’

Unlike the priests and inquisitors from earlier, a cardinal of the Church couldn’t be touched so casually.

Officially, the ones I killed were inquisitors who “didn’t exist” and priests involved in human trafficking.

If the Church raised objections, I could simply counter with accusations of my own.

‘But a cardinal is a completely different matter.’

The 120 clergymen who formed the core of the Holy Church.
Those who held the authority to elect the next Pope.

Killing one of them without justification would make things vastly more complicated.

“It is an honor to meet the famous young master of House Leinrant.”

The man bowed politely toward me.

“I am Palliman El, faithful servant of Lord Kersias.”

Palliman El.
After introducing himself, he looked toward the fallen priest and continued.

“There were rumors of suspicious movements within the Church, so I came personally to investigate.”

“Suspicious?”

At my question, Palliman nodded.

“A faction conducting unauthorized experiments to create dangerous objects—”

“Bullshit.”

Crunch—!

I slammed my sword into the priest’s skull and spat the words out viciously.

“There are thirty vials in this box alone. To produce this much, you’d need at least a hundred and twenty people.”

This Holy Blood…
It was a product born from my own madness in the past.
The crystallization of the obsession that once drove me to sweep across the continent in revenge.

Its manufacturing method, principles, usage—
every bit of it was inside my head.

“To secretly produce this amount, you’d need a massive refinement facility, advanced spellcraft, and concealment operations on at least the scale of a duchy.”

Then I glared directly at Cardinal Palliman and practically spat the words at him.

“The Empire and the Church worked together to create Holy Blood from living humans.”

At those words, Palliman’s smile slowly deepened.

“If you put it that way… things become rather troublesome.”

As he spoke, a book slowly emerged from within his sleeve.

BOOOOM—!

And at that instant, overwhelming divine power descended upon the battlefield like crushing pressure.

“In that case, wouldn’t I have no choice but to kill the young master I’ve only just met?”

A child who had found a new toy.
The cruel innocence of someone smiling while tearing apart insects.

Looking at Palliman’s face, which was filled completely with that expression, I finally spoke the words I’d been holding back.

“The situation’s already gone this far, so why don’t you stop hiding and come out already, you damned priest bastard?”