Evan furrowed his brows in frustration. Once again, another scheme had fallen through.
Demon Knight Gradias, Archlich.
The Arachne threads that Noah had woven for Evan to manipulate with his fingers only passed through its ‘flesh’, which was even more incorporeal than a usual Lich. Not one to give up with just that, Evan, Elara and Seraphina attempted to set up a magical trap, but of course the Archlich, an existence at the peak of magic on the Calysta continent, was not one to fall for such tricks. The three might’ve still managed to subdue the Archlich if they really wished to, but that came at the cost of sacrificing stealth, and they had no way to predict how the black dragon would respond if it were exposed that enemies were prancing around their back lines.
In any human army, the assassination of key figures before any large movements would inevitably be noticed and action would be taken. Operation Spiderweb depended on the psychology of the demons, where most demons on the Calysta continent were inherently fanatically loyal to the Demon Lord, and were synchronized in their cognitive processes due to influence by the subconsciousness of the Demon Lord from its demiplane. Essentially, the demons all shared certain similar cognitive traits, and as a result, reached similar conclusions about issues that would usually spark heated debate without discussion, and the concept of roll-call was nonexistent among them. When it was time to make a move, they moved out, period.
This system came with a host of advantages for them, but also allowed for Evan to do what he was doing right now, Operation Spiderweb, where significant figures could be assassinated one by one without too much of a fuss being kicked up, as long as stealth was maintained. Of the four demon knights, three had already been eliminated.
Demon Knight Gradias, much like most lichs, spent most of its time in its own tomb in the demonic forest. To eliminate a lich meant to destroy its deeply hidden phylactery before overwhelming its defenses, primarily magical in nature. To do this while maintaining the element of stealth, an assault on the lich had to occur right after the destruction of the phylactery, which would alert the lich. And when it came to an Archlich, a being beyond even a lich, there was no telling what magical failsafes had been accumulated.
To be honest, Evan, Elara and Seraphina were not the most ideal team to assassinate an Archlich. Plotting to use magic to overwhelm a being that could be said to be at the peak of it was practically asking for failure. After three attempts, they simply had to withdraw. The Archlich was also beginning to harbor suspicions at this point.
Yet, there was no reason they had to walk away empty-handed.
Zooming across the sky tinged with orange as dusk neared, now safely away from the detection range of the Archlich were the three, with a dense black ball the size of a mere tennis ball in Evan’s palm. He brought up his palm to take another look at the ball for the eleventh time.
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‘It’s not as good as eliminating the Archlich, but oughta be enough.’
-
King Lazarus was now through with another exhausting day. Ever since one of the former heroes had begun to aggressively expand the economy and military of his barony with a budget crossing what all of Haldor could afford for its budget, nobles would begin to kick up a fuss, and it was only natural. Usually, nobles would use petty schemes and underhanded plots to undermine rising stars to keep each other in check, but King Lazarus had stepped in to strictly prohibit it. He had even gone so far as to send a few nobles to the gallows.
And it wasn't like he wanted to do this. As much as he appreciated that the large Odir territory was finally seeing the success it should have, he disliked the feeling of placing one retainer above the rest, for more reasons than just personal emotions. Although most nobles had a greedy side to them, the competition they had with each other was usually of benefit to the country, and it was implicitly understood that the king would turn a blind eye to underhanded schemes to a certain extent. A noble was not necessarily corrupt just because they wished to restrain the growth of another one of their own.
Yet, these circumstances were special, and he had been pushed to take a more aggressive stance, which some of them did not see coming. It was not merely the fact that Noah was a former hero. It was something much more significant.
“Good work today too, Laz!”
“...Your Eminence, I beseech you to refrain from addressing me in that manner. The days of my childhood are long gone, after all.”
“Hehe! You're little Laz who used to chase after me, going ‘miss pretty sparkles!’ no matter how old you get!”
From above King Lazarus, mana condensed a face that could only have been described as one sculpted by the gods, followed by the rest of her body, one that oozed mature and young appeal simultaneously. She was currently floating upside down, but gravity dared not exert its influence on her or her clothes, which was a long blue gown that sparked like a radiant sea that emphasized her captivating figure. As she swam in the air with just her thoughts in front of King Lazarus, she sported a mischievous and cheery grin.
The Spirit Queen.
“Anyway, that boy Noah, is he doing well?”
She swam around the throne room as she spoke, seemingly enjoying herself.
“As per your request, Your Eminence, I have politically protected him. However, this is only a short-term arrangement. As his letter he had sent stated, a demonic invasion is merely two weeks away, and the aristocracy will pipe down while they wait for the former hero Noah who they believe would undoubtedly tank this for them, after which point they will jump on him like piranhas, and I will be unable to do much about it.”
“That's okay! I can sort that out. I guess I'll just continue to observe him and his friends for now.”
“...If I may be so bold, why have you shown so much interest in them, Your Eminence?”
“You're always too stiff, Laz! Hmm, they caught my eye when I noticed that Aeloria noticed him. Ah, you wouldn't know her significance, but she’s quite the big shot. A slightly annoying one.”
Her face adopted a cute pout as she remembered an old friend, before she went back to her usual cheerful expression when she spoke about her piqued interest.
“So, I wondered what could catch that hag’s attention, and I happened to understand once I properly looked at the situation on the continent. Especially Zenith and Noah, those two are deeply intertwined in their causality, so I thought I'd help! Though none of that matters if they don't make it through the coming invasion.”