"So, how're we gonna break-in?" Felis peered around the corridors of the Kingdom. The group had found themselves inside the Palace and right in front of the room where the King usually held an audience. As Ivan mentioned about eighty percent of the Kingdom's forces were to stand on guard here possibly under Eri's orders.
That meant sneaking in through the front door was nigh impossible if they didn't want to arouse suspicion. If Eri refused to undo her necromancy then they'd have a ton of zombies to deal with, and if killing her doesn't undo the spell either then they had chaos on their hands.
"We're sneaking in. The windows are guarded against the outside and there are no back doors either. I bet there's a secret passage for royalty that'd lead directly to the King's bed-chamber. but we don't have the time or knowledge to look for it. The best thing to do in this scenario is to sneak in and take care of Nakamura Eri. I don't know how her necromancy works, if she's able to command her army without words then we'd have no choice but to blast a hole in the Kingdom to break out…"
Ivan was a bit doubtful if she was capable of commanding her army without words, as unless she had Mana Manipulation then it shouldn't be possible to activate spells with just her thoughts. But there were always exceptions, and she was a hero.
'Her necromancy is unusual in the first place…' Necromancy was of course frowned upon by the Holy Church, records of necromancers did not go far as they were usually killed before being allowed to advance.
All that was written was that necromancers can manipulate the bodies of the dead. And yet every zombie Eri had made seemed to possess a level of consciousness, albeit very low. Such as that knight Ivan presented to the students, at first he seemed like any other person, groaning in pain and rubbing where he had been hurt. But when his cover was blown he regressed.
Why Ivan cuffed the knight with mana restricting cuffs, that was because other than magic the zombies were capable of using skills. It was one oddity after another, some of which Ivan believed should have been documented back in the old days if they existed then.
If he had to guess the necromancy Eri had used was similar to the Spirit Magic he and his group just obtained.
'Hmm, I suppose I'll save the questions for her.' The sun had fallen and most residents of the city below had fallen asleep. It was the perfect time to cause chaos as knights who hadn't been infected with the cursed magic had already gone home to see their families.
"Ready?" Ivan turned around to signal the three that had been behind him. For this mission, it'd only require a group of four. Any more and the odds of being discovered would increase. Claire for her wind blades, Felis for her copy magic, and Ari if for some reason they needed her chains.
Everyone else was incapable of pulling off magic that wouldn't destroy everything and cause a ruckus. Apart from Canis, who wasn't brought up because having to charge her momentum on a time-sensitive mission wasn't exactly easy to do.
Of course, since they were connected through the mask receivers the group would have no trouble communicating despite being separated. Everyone that wasn't a part of the stealth mission sat near the palace on standby. With a single word from Ivan, all they had to do was bombard where the bedchamber was located with their highest level spells.
"Are you sure it's the room on the left?" Ivan whispered to Claire. The only basis they had on where the King's bed-chamber was located was from the guesses of the former Kingdom maid next to them.
"Y-Yes." Unfortunately, it seemed their guide wasn't so confident. "At least that's where my friends said it was…" So the only thing they had to go on was something Claire heard more than a year ago.
Seeing no other choice Ivan decided to put faith in that pseudo rumor that was likely just made up to stir some gossip.
"Two guards down the corridor, two more at the large doors into the auditorium. I'm guessing at least nine within judging from the format of the room when I first had an audience with the king and the time after to present my potions. The auditorium has a second level with more knights peering over a balcony that overlooks the entire interior. I'm guessing at least another six."
The diagram Ivan held was adjusted with Claire's memories of the layout. As it was now this would be the perfect map they could get of the room they were going to break into.
"The bedchamber is upstairs to our left, odds are knights are patrolling up and down the stairs as well. No entrance via the ceiling." It was a well-guarded area. The conditions he spoke of were things he believed to be the situation before Eri's takeover as well as before he caused a ruckus at the Holy Church headquarters.
He didn't know what the numbers could be now that she manipulated them. For all, he knew about a hundred slumbering knights were sitting beneath the throne. "Alright, we're going in." Ivan transmitted the message through the mask's receiver. Getting affirmation in response from the three who were on standby.
The plan was simple, get in without being seen. Obviously, that wasn't going to be so easy, even with a small group of four. Teleporting wasn't an option. Without the exact coordinates, they could very well teleport inside a wall or something. There was also a possibility that they'd be teleporting in the middle of a trap set by Eri.
In hindsight going all-in might have been the best bet.
Disguises weren't going to work, it was late and no other guards were expected. If anything it would just arouse suspicion. Ivan activated his lightning clad in front of Felis, she was able to mimic it for a few seconds so right after he made his move.
Ivan jumped from around the corner and impaled the two closest guards with his lightning-infused fingers, piercing their necks to disrupt their vocals. Before the knights sitting at the door were able to respond, Felis used Ivan's back like a trampoline to lunge at them. Her lightning-clad claws sliced them up in a mere two seconds.
Eri likely sensed the death of four of her minions, but with the independence the zombies had Ivan guessed that she couldn't pinpoint which exactly had passed. Their bodies decayed like a normal person's so it was likely she'd shrug it off as one of her zombies outliving their usefulness. That's taking into account that she had hundreds of zombies piled up inside the auditorium as he guessed.
Ivan waited for a few seconds before judging that she didn't send anyone outside to check what happened. In fact, there were no audible footsteps from the other side of the door. With the guards dead Ivan turned to his left and entered the storage room that was planted right beside the auditorium.
His group followed behind him as he placed both hands on the ground. Slowly the floor molded into a tunnel beneath the auditorium. Any quicker and the shifting of the ground would've likely alerted some of the knights above.
So he dug deeper and slower. The impatience was killing Felis but out of fear of disrupting his work she stood silent. "Done." He muttered. Without another word he leaped into the tunnel he dug. After him were Felis, Ari, and then Claire.
Claire complained about getting her outfit dirty but other than that they slithered down the tunnel with quiet footsteps. There was still the matter of the bedchamber being upstairs. He hoped that they would reappear right below the staircase, all while not alerting the horde that might be waiting.
DINK!
Ivan held his arm up to stop the progress of everyone behind them, they nodded before Ivan pressed his hands to the ceiling of the tunnel. A little peephole appeared as Ivan stuck a small straw-like device through it.
He put his eye at the end of it that was available to him while the other end stuck through the floor of the auditorium like a periscope. That was because that's exactly what it is. A small periscope he made specifically for this mission.
Seeing as how it was one of the most basic things he ever had to make, its development was fairly easy. Making the glass was the most difficult part but after a few talks with the glaziers in Fuhren things became simple.
"We're good." All the knights were kneeling in front of the throne, likely put into a resting state to slow down the progress of their deterioration. Ivan tried to angle the periscope to view the situation on the next level but it was too high up. But seeing as how they were beneath a catwalk right beside the stairs they were unlikely to be seen.
"Eri isn't sitting on the throne. It's only the king. However, he seems just about out of it as all the zombies do." The King sat on the throne with his jaw open wide, eyes open but not a single spark of light within them. He was dead already.
"H-How creepy." Though Claire was unable to observe the situation, just the sound of Ivan's words was enough to send a shiver down her spine.
"Alright, let's go…" Ivan did another scope around the area before opening a hole large enough for him and his group to crawl through. He swiftly closed it behind him before climbing the stairs in a crouched position.
'Hide Presence' and 'Foresight' were activated at full blast before he pulled the leg of a night ascending the stairs. A thud resounded after the knight's jaw collided with one of the stairs. Ivan took the opportunity to twist the knight's head, confirming his kill.
That thud seemed to attract the attention of another knight up on the second floor, the knight only given a moment to peer around the corner before a blade-ended chain dug into his throat and cut his ability to speak.
A second later he was pulled forward onto the staircase to meet Ari's bladed heels, which resulted in him having his brain pierced. Ivan shivered a bit looking at the sight, simultaneously praising the girl for her brutality while at the same time making a reminder to himself not to piss her off.
The rest of the second-level guards were disposed of by Felis and Claire, both of whom didn't want to be outdone.
"Good, we move on to the bedchamber, get ready." Ivan telepathize those thoughts before putting his hand on the doorknob. He waited for a nod before gently opening the door.
And then—
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