Chapter 50 - Chronicles of Heavenly Demon VII, Serdian Civil War

“Your Holiness,” Jinn spoke to the golden-haired Fey who was kneeling in front of the Lord Vicegerent at Holy Manalum. “How long has it been?” What Jinn was really asking was how old Cross Linfey was.

“Somewhere around…4000,” Cross Linfey had a pretty good memory, however, he had seldom thought about his age since beings like him are ageless.

“Veda,” Jinn hastened to his trusted butler.

“At once, sire,” Veda acquiesced and found the Fey to be exactly this age. “His Holiness, Cross Linfey, also known as ‘Edea’s Son’ is biologically 4483 years old. A fully matured Fey equaling to a fully-fledged Ancient Dragon.”

“Indeed,” Jinn stood from his throne. Cross Linfey was in awe of meeting the ancient and divine-being, Vicegerent. Only a few figures in the world know the true origins of the world, and, the Edean Monarch is one of them.

Staring at the endless night, the world’s sky was painted with shiny stars, “But, shouldn’t you’re name be ‘Yggdrasil’s Son’ now?”

Cross Linfey had received the Divine Blessing of the newly found World Tree, “Yggdrasil’s Son,” alongside “Edea’s Son.” Effectively, this makes Cross exponentially more powerful as the two blessings resonated with each other and produced an extraordinary effect.

“It is as you say, O’ Exalted One,” Cross Linfey was of Royalty and spoke as such.

“Please rise your, Your Grace. Someone such as you is permitted to be in our circle,” Jinn gestured his hand out to the holy Fey. “The choice is yours.” The Lord Vicegerent had let it be known that all conquered beings are afforded autonomy.

Cross Linfey was apprehensive, “I have a condition.” It was something to be expected from a holy Fey. Such beings are permitted to act arrogantly towards their conquerors, given the fact that having someone like Cross is equivalent to gaining thousands of troops.

Jinn walked to his throne and sat, “I do not doubt that you have your wishes, however, leave such things to either my Disciple or Apprentice.” This reply indicated that Cross Linfey’s proposal was to be tasked to either Dario or Glenn, meaning, the condition can be met by either of the two. In this case, the scales were tilting heavily into Jinn’s side. This made Cross Linfey understand that having the favor of someone like Dario would be a tremendous boon. After all, he had personally met the Lord Disciple, and now, he is facing eye-to-eye with the ruler of the world.

“I accept,” Cross Linfey made his decision.

“I now bless thee, O’ holy Fey,” the Lord Vicegerent vibrated his voice that extenuated his words. “And, can I ask a favor of you?” Suddenly out of character, Jinn asked something of the Fey.

“Will you be one of the trusted ‘confidants’ of my successors? One of them talks to the dead too much and the other does not speak at all,” Jinn let it be known that he worries greatly for his successors.

“As you wish, my Lord,” Cross was humbled to be tasked with such, but, also held mixed feelings. However, the conquered people would soon hold such grievances and transform them into favor.

***

The resources harvested from the Great Steppe Valley and Yggdrasil Life Tree were undergoing the production of various alchemic reagents. In effect, many of the citizens were eager to hear about Dario’s newly public group, “The Hermetic Order,” who was responsible for being the pharmacists of the Omen Sect.

All fighting members were given specific “Elixirs” that drastically boost AP and MP and fully unlock Aura. No matter if the person had no experience manipulating mana and building a Dantian, they would all come to naturally utilize life’s essence. Dario had wanted this for every fighter and magician.

Anyhow, after the inception of the Yggdrasil Life Tree, the conquered nations were required to fully assimilate to the law and order of the Omen Sect. This would be the first line of business. Although it may sound all too strict, in actuality, every conquered nation will be afforded sovereign autonomy.

There would be no precedence at the time for further conquest in Ouroboros whilst Dario and Glenn were busy in their respective continental battles. The world was huge and required a great deal of money and support from world-class individuals. Fortunately, the current people including the Undead are fully capable of going to war against the entire world.

“Tiamat must be feeling nervous,” Dario said.

“What makes you say that?” Tenebrae replied in his usual cynical tone.

At the grand solar of The Duchy of Basilisk, Azad, Kensei, and Calamor completed their tasks and relayed some surprising news for the main characters. “When Castle Lancelot, Fortress City Mordred, and Port City Tristan were near recovery, ‘they’ showed themselves.”

“They?” Tenebrae was curious to see who would show up this time.

“Galahad, Merlin, and Zeromus,” Dario stated this point clearly.

“Oh?” King Albion sat up from the sofa and veered towards the window overlooking his marvelous Duchy. “The Archduke of the Luxembourg Family, Tower Master of the Epiphany Sky, and the Margrave of the Somnus Estate…”

“Azad, Kensei, and Calamor had met their acquaintance,” Dario was now about to talk about the details regarding the recent battles on the Serdio Continent.

The Arishok had received orders to recover Fortress City Mordred with a retinue of elite fighters. Azad led the mighty force of Ebony-clad Knights and Mages through a frontal assault on one of the best-defended castles in the world.

Of course, with Azad at the frontline, the Imperial Forces and a few Arcadian spies were smashed as the raging bull sliced and rammed through the enemies, albeit, keeping the collateral damage to a minimum. The main opponents were further in the fortified fortress in an elite group of Master Knights and a 6th Class Archmage with a Circle of Mages.

Their names mattered not in the face of Azad, The Legendary Midnight Soldier, known worldwide as the slayer of the Fey. With a swing from either that greataxe or from the double-bladed katana, it mattered not, they fell all the same. It looked to be a seamless battle, however, Judge Zeromus from the Arcadian Empire revealed himself.

“The Arishok tells me that the Judge appeared out of the blue, wanting an honorable duel between the two,” Dario pointed this sequence out.

“Oh? Looks like they were trying to get their feet wet,” King Albion replied with a parable. In other words, Arcadia was trying to poke the enemy to get an actual gauge of things.

“The battle is the most exciting part,” Dario continued with the debrief.

The encounter between Azad and Judge Zeromus was relatively short. The Arishok initiated the duel with his overpowering combos while Judge Zeromus parried the strikes with his dual-play, wielding the Legendary Artifacts, Chirijiraden, and the Dagger Fan.

In response to Azad’s demigod-like force, Judge Zeromus replied with an even greater softness in conjunction with the Dagger Fan. However, the Arishok also had his weapons, Fall Smasher and Zan Shinto Ou, both rated at the level of Mythical. Steadily, Judge Zeromus would lose half a step even with his techniques containing great softness to combat extreme force.

The difference met its end when Aura began to be imbued within the weapons of the two and all hell broke loose, “The inner castle walls had been demolished at that time.” Dario had expressed the reason why the stone walls had been destroyed was because of the short instance sparked between the Judge and Grandmaster.

“I see,” King Albion had a good grasp of what the conclusion would look like. “Did the Arishok have anything to say about the Margrave?”

“Not entirely,” the Lord Disciple had poured a cup of the finest wine into the gold cups. Pour. Pour. “Only that the title of ‘Gravity Master’ suited the Margrave quite well.”

“Kuku,” Tenebrae scoffed. “Of course, the Margrave would have had to play that card against someone like the Arishok.” King Albion had read some literature about the extinct race, The Ronso.

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“When it was about to get serious, Zeromus escaped and relayed how much a pleasure it had been facing off against someone similar to him,” Dario continued with the events.

“Kah!” Tenebrae was amused. “That sounds just like him. Good to see that the Margrave had kept that ‘part’ of himself.” The King remembers Judge Zeromus, the 2nd Judge of the Arcadian Empire, Commander of the Northern Fleet, “Left-hand of Empress Celene.”

“Azad had an anti-climatic end with Judge Zeromus similarly with Galahad and Merlin,” Dario was leading on to an even better story.

“There’s more?” Tenebrae sounded interested.

“There are more war stories to tell, Your Grace,” Dario would come to tell The Battle of Castle Lancelot and The Battle of Port City Tristan.

***

Calamor, or more precisely, Deluc had entered Port City Tristan in a relatively grand fashion. His ‘Right-hand,’ Overlord Exion had been dispatched.

Originally, Exion was one of the first subjects who had a name that Parsifal revived. When Deluc had been defeated and subsequently resurrected, Exion was requested to be The First Apprentice of the great Necromancer for the sake of growing more powerful. And now, Exion had ascended to the heights of an Overlord, the apex existence of the entire Undead species.

Overlord Exion had been granted the position of Overseer of Hollow World, culling the monster infestation alongside Elder Saru. Not only that, the development and viability of the Great Desert was solely managed by Overlord Exion, until, Emir Sarjace returned from The Great Orc Invasion. By then, Overlord Exion could let internal matters be handled by the Desert Sword Saint.

In effect, Overlord Exion approached Tristan with a legion of high-tier Undead. Wanting to show what he had been creating all this time, a contingent of Royal Death Knights clad in full-body gold-plated armor and a red cape with the Omen Sect insignia marked on the back. This specific Undead can be classified as a new form of evolution, a breakthrough discovery in the world of Necromancy.

Overlord Exion had outdone himself and bolted through Tristan’s enchanted steel gates with his mighty 8th Class spells. The Royal Death Knights did the rest as each of them was a high-tier Master and cleared the area of Imperial Forces. During all this time, Deluc was being brought about in his platform seated on a throne made out of Dragon Bones. His expression was that of boredom and melancholy, until, Merlin blasted a few Magic Missiles his way.

“Oh?” Deluc sounded surprised as he expressed a nonchalant swipe of his hand that produced Dark Energy.

Unlike Doom Lord, Claudio Valeth, Deluc discovered Negative Energy, or, Dark Energy through Necromancy. With the constant experience of improving and evolving one’s retinue of Undead, Dark Energy is also increased, albeit, in a different method besides the explosiveness displayed by the Doom Lord and Doom Knight. No, Deluc exemplifies Dark Energy through the quality of his Overlord.

“Exion, greet the Sky Master,” Deluc arrogantly waved the presence of someone like the Archmage Merlin to his right-hand Overseer.

!!

“How dare you, Deluc,” Merlin, the wizened old sage with a long grey beard.

“You’ve gotten old, kuku,” Deluc replied and observed the image of Merlin. “Exion, show the Archmage just how far I’ve come in this world,” words declaring his rise to power, Deluc delegated the duty to his Apprentice.

“By your will, O’ Necromancer,” Overlord Exion was a green-haired gentleman clothed in an elegant dark suit tailored with gold trimmings and a decadent dark-violet ascot tie. Exion was amongst the very first who remembered their past. Spanning thousands of years ago, Exion was an aspiring Mage in the 4th Class, a prodigy in wide-area Destruction Magic. He belonged to the Tower of Epsilon known for creating the 8th Class Spells, “Meteor” and “Comet.”

The battle against an Overlord and a 7th Class Archmage was a big difference. Merlin was famed for having 10,000 Spells under his repertoire, whereas, Overlord Exion had an almost limitless supply of mana. One casted Destruction Magic equaling to the 8th Class while the other countered such power with intricate Spells in the 7th Class.

“Oh? How interesting. You combine two into one, no?” Overlord Exion had a youthful face, making his statement wise beyond his years. With the Spells presented by the 8th Class Archmagus, Merlin, Exion had instantly deduced how such a person had reached the ultimate level of Magic usage.

“You! How in the world do you have ‘those’ Spells?!” Merlin countered the questioning with another astute observation. To Cast a miniature Comet is impossible!

“Kuku!” Overlord Exion had a playful smile. His lingering attachments to this world and toward Mana had made his spirit dwell as a measly Lesser Undead after his natural lifespan. In his previous life, it was nigh impossible to ever dream of achieving the 8th Class, being, the first ever 7th Class Archmage produced by the Tower of Epsilon. “To reply to a question with a question? Very well!” Overlord Exion welcomed the exchange with someone similar to him.

In this battle between Archmages, the two were very careful not to blow the environment around them, therefore, Overlord Exion played more on the defensive side. Merlin seized the opportunity and embellished his Spells for an A.O.E. attack.

“Quite cunning!!” Overlord Exion instantly grasped Merlin’s intentions and prepared for a defensive mindset, however, it was all a ploy. Merlin had teleported with a unique Spell and fled the battlefield. Another anti-climatic ending.

However, there was a clear reason as to why Merlin had left in such a disgraceful way, “He withstood that longer than I expected.” Overlord Exion deduced that Merlin was unaware of the consequence of matching with someone of the Overlord species.

There is a unique trait that the apex of the Lich variant, Overlord, that when faced in combat, the natural life essence of the opponent would be slowly drained as if their soul was being sucked. In addition, Overlord Exion automatically drains the MP or AP of any character by physical or magical attacks. In other words, Merlin was simply outclassed with this kind of Archmage. Although the Ephiphany Tower Master was someone of a world figure, Overlord Exion had displayed far greater prowess in the 8th Class.

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap…

Deluc was lazily clapping his hands at the performance shown, “Marvelous performance.”

Overlord Exion bowed to his Master, “Glory to the Omen Sect.”

***

Kensei was from the era of Lord Gloriano and was one of his few friends. There are a handful of people who know of the identity of The Legendary Guardian from the time of Lord Gloriano and his conquest of The Devildom, Soulplane.

It is a place often referred to as the “Death City” of the world, located at a certain region in the great sand sea of Hollow World. It is said that Lord Gloriano had wanted to harness the power of death to turn back time, and, the young Vicegerent was in the company of his trusted friends. Kensei was one of them.

Auron.

That was his true name during ‘The Poetic Edda,’ 14,082 Gloriano Era. Kensei was the very first Sword Saint ever produced during the inception of the Omen Nation. However, even before such an illustrious title as the first ever Sword Saind, his original Job Class was a Legendary Guardian.

He was reminiscing about the time he had spent with Jinn, the current Lord Vicegerent and ruling seneschal of the entire world. Unbeknownst to Kensei, he did not know his true name for remaining in the spirit world for too long. His sense of time was jaded to the point where his memories had left him as well.

“Who goes there?!!” A guard from Castle Lancelot yelled atop the palisades.

Kensei walked by himself to the decadent fortress that is talked about in the West and its governing Commander, Regis di Lancelot, the “Right-hand of the King of Serdio.” Unfortunately, there was news regarding the capture of his lordship, and is being kept hostage by Judge Galahad who had teleported unprompted and easily subdued Lancelot and the First Royal Knight Order.

Looking at the extravagant gates towering high in the skies, Kensei unsheathed the newly reforged, Sumihomura. Shhhiiing. The subtle sounds of the infamous blade whilst being unsheathed gave a satisfying feeling to the Bushido Sword Saint.

“Doomsday Slash,” with a swing from the Sumihomura that had been cut by Dario’s ‘World Splitting Slash,’ unveiled its durability with its rich crimson sheen repaired by the Lord Disciple himself. In effect, the once Legendary Grade katana was now the grade highest, the Mythical rank.

A world of jet-black darkness surrounding the atmosphere like a miasma then instantly condensed into Blade Energy and cut the gates like it had never existed. No need to waste time. Kensei had always been a silent character who seldom spoke nor smiled.

“W-What the hell?!!” A Master Knight appeared in his heavily clad armor.

Heavenly Eclipse. The Bushido Sword Saint instantly drew his katana back into his sheath while simultaneously performing an Aura Wave attack that displayed a black center and a red trimming.

Before anything else could be said by the nameless Master Knight, his head had already reached the ground. This is taking too long. Kensei decided to finish the rest of the thousands of soldiers with pure internal force.

“God’s Hand,” a force of pure mana manifested itself with blue energy as big as Mt. Tian and rammed the enemy in the shape of a finger.

“KUAGHHHHH!!!” “N-No!!” “Help me!!!!”

Screams of desperation were heard as the attack was a deceitful one in that it did no environmental damage, but only, inflicted spiritual damage to the Imperial and Arcadian forces.

Looks like they're not hiding it now. Kensei stated the blatant disregard for secrecy and openly showed themselves cooperating. No matter, a great culling is needed. The Bushido Sword Saint began to massacre the enemies all with a single perfect attack.

Overlord Exion Lvl. 190 Species: High-tier Heteromorphic Class: 8th Circle Archmage Main Job: Overlord Eclipse

Titles: Overseer of Hollow World (passive)

Disaster Archmage (passive)

Night King (equipped)

The Necromancer’s Apprentice (passive)