Almost simultaneously, the convoy reacted.
"Light…!"
One of the knights shouted, his sword drawn and pointed at the surprise attackers.
"Not a chance."
As Law King who had attacked Jerea stretched out his hand the knight was caught in a glowing net and thrown to the ground.
In response, Stella unleashed her flames.
Holy Law
A barrier of fire, erected to keep enemy mages at bay. However, the chanting from beyond caused a rift to form, and──
The fire spell raised by Kingdom Knight Stella was scattered like a flash of light.
"What…!"
The Holy Law has been dismantled? Stella panicked. However, Law King only smiles smugly.
"Unless you're a Holy Knight or a Priest, your use of the Holy Law is not 'bending the law'. We've been studying your methods for a very long time."
"To probe the miracles of the gods…blasphemy!"
Stella indignantly protests, but the Law King only scoffs at the notion.
"That is why you fanatics are foolish. You don't progress because you cling to the old, to faith, to divinity. People like you rule the world, and that's why human progress is slow."
"You… divine independents!"
Stella was outraged by the heresy before her.
Divine Independents denied the miracles of the gods, rejected their teachings and codes, and valued human progress on its own terms.
She'd heard that such people were especially common in the Empire, not the Chosen Kingdom, but she'd never thought that Law King would be one of them!
"No way… did you create those horrible beasts too!"
The peculiar chimeras that swooped and chased the holy relic convoy were at first thought to be the work of the beast gods or some bizarre spell of the orcs, but when you think about it, they were far too functional.
"Pretty good, isn't it? A collaboration between the Life and Death schools."
The Law King confessing that the horrible blasphemous monster was their handiwork made Stella's face contort with rage.
"In the name of the Goddess, I will never forgive you──!"
It was then that a sharp flash came from behind Stella's back.
"Lord Stella!"
With a crack, the harpoon pierced Stella's shoulder and popped out. The flesh-cutting thing didn't come out easily, and Stella was dragged away by the harpooner's hand.
"These beasts…!"
A fellow knight cut the harpoon's cord and rescued her, but it was too late to staunch the gushing blood.
Orc hunters…and servants of the Beast Gods… Ahead, Imperial troops, one of them an Archmage, surrounded the convoy.
As if they were one in the same.
"Ugh… what the hell?!"
Ha-ri could not hide her bewilderment at the chaotic situation on the battlefield, even as she prepared to deploy the Holy Law at any moment. Koo Dae-sung, on the other hand, was stunned that his suspicions had been confirmed.
"From the beginning… the Empire and the orcs were on the same side… the Empire was behind this whole thing!"
With those words, the knights and riders were forced to recognize something they didn't want to admit.
The orcs and barbarians had joined hands with the Empire. No, the Empire was behind it.
But why?
Why had they joined forces with the green beasts, the enemies of mankind, they didn't have to ask.
"The holy relics…these scums would target the holy relics the gods have bestowed upon the kingdom!"
"Know thy enemy, know thyself, and thou shall prevail. The relic will help us decipher the gods."
Since the relic was discovered in the barbarian lands, the Empire has limited the size of Lionheart's search party.
A single Holy Knight and a group of only five hundred men for the important task of searching for the Relic and escorting it back to the Kingdom.
Since the task of searching for and transporting the Relic requires crossing the Empire's borders, Lionheart has been forced to reduce the size of its search party.
And it was a conspiracy involving the Empire… or at least three of its Prefects.
Let them find the Relic, use barbarians and orcs to follow them, and then have the Prefects and the Empire attack the convoy without the Holy Knight and take the Relic.
Such was the calculation in the Empire's mind.
"Why, the world is made up of the favor and grace of the gods, even if you are indulgent! Is this such a grave matter that you would attack your own kind!"
"Kind? Did you say kind?"
It was Wolfhard, the Imperial Prefect and division commander of the Imperial Guard, who was outraged by the words.
"You arrogant bastards, have you forgotten the atrocities you committed sixty years ago?"
The reason for the recent estrangement between the Empire and the Kingdom lay in a tragedy on the fringes of the Empire sixty years ago.
Warlocks summoned a Demon King and in the wake of this tragedy on the fringes of the Empire, the kingdom immediately launched the Night War.
A massive call to arms that must be answered by the provinces in which it was issued, no matter what duties they were performing, even if they were on a divine quest.
Many knights answered the call, including Leon, who was currently crushing the orcs in Wrangell.
The Prefects of the Empire were reluctant to accept the salvation of foreign troops, but they had no choice but to accept them, for they were both heresy-hunting spiritualists and paroxysmal fanatics of the devil.
Eventually, the knights succeeded in destroying the Demon King with the death of the king, Argent Majesty Lionheart, but the trouble came later.
"I was a knight of the Guard in those days," he said, "and I saw your atrocities firsthand."
Wolfhard still remembered the tragedy.
The warlocks who had summoned the Demon King… the Holy Knights who had been summoned to the Night War had turned their heads when it was revealed that it was one of their own.
To save his life, the Prelate sent two of his local Imperial Legions to stop them, with disastrous results.
There were seven terrible Holy Knights in a single legion.
The two Imperial legions were overrun in a single day, and the Prefect was dragged by the hair and burned alive by the current Lionheart King, Leon.
"His Majesty's actions were perfectly justified, how could he spare a demonic follower!"
"You have disregarded the laws and prestige of the Empire, and willingly trampled on allies in your quest for justice."
Of course, this was not without incident.
Each and every one of the Knights of the Lionheart is an Inquisitor.
They wander across the continent, seeking justice and spreading the righteousness of the faith.
It is not uncommon for them to punish corrupt foreign officials, barbarians, and citizens along the way.
What they didn't expect was for their swords to be pointed at the pinnacle of imperial power, the Emperor himself.
Lionheart's ruthless hunt for heretics has left the Imperial Prefects feeling very vulnerable.
They wanted to have the power to stand up to these crazed fanatics who would kill anyone, prefect or emperor.
"We will interpret the holy relics and analyze the power of the gods. That is what we seek."
To do this, they would work with barbarians and orcs alike. The Imperial Prefect reached out as imperial troops and orc pursuers, beast gods and chimeras were ready to attack.
The disparity in power was obvious but the Prefects knew it, and they were proud of it.
"By the way, do you know why we've been so kind to explain things to you?"
Law King twisted the corners of his mouth wryly.
"Because unlike the dogs of the gods, magic that is purely human power takes a while to cast."
The next moment, behind Law King and Wolfhard, the Archmage, who had remained silent until now, unleashed a massive burst of magic.
The entire area began to shake as the light from the staff of Dean Staudt, the head of the Imperial School of Celestial Observation, scattered in all directions.
He was one of the best archmages in the Empire, who senses the movements of the heavenly bodies and changes in the climate, among other things.
He rejected the Order of Ultima, the god of the sky and thunder, and sought to manipulate the phenomenon of climate using only human power, and his magic began to defy the laws of nature.
It was a series of spells that were mere precursors to the real thing, comparable to some of the most devastating spells, but Staudt had managed to weave them all together and compute them into one.
"In my hands I hold the reason of the heavens."
Great Magic
-Kaah!
First, the clouds churn.
The dry sky transforms into dark clouds, exploding and expanding, amplified by magic, into a massive thundercloud that shakes the heavens and earth.
"Damn it…charge!"
The knights who have witnessed this are horrified and begin to charge at the Imperials, but Law King does not allow them to approach.
Archmagic
A massive web of light engulfs the convoy. Their charge was halted and they were pinned down. In the next moment, Koo Dae-sung saw the thunderclouds in the sky churning──
Mega Magic
A bolt of lightning struck down over their heads.
* * * * *
When asked to name the most powerful magic of the four major elemental schools, every mage in the Empire would point to the Celestial School.
The casting time, the time it takes to activate, the speed beyond human perception, the unstoppable destructive power of thunder.
"Ohhhh…."
"It's the Archmage…!"
The light poured into the thundercloud, destroying the ground and illuminating the world.
Even with such a powerful force in front of them, everyone can't help but be mesmerized.
A moment of human praise, accomplished not with the help of the gods, but with human power alone.
It was enough to enrage those who claimed independence from the divine.
Behold, this is human power.
The power of Mother Nature, limited as it is, can be twisted and manipulated by human hands to create transmigration.
Man's power to replace God. No wonder they grew arrogant.
But──
"...."
Staudt was puzzled that the power of the magic was weaker than he had expected. Normally, a thunderbolt would have destroyed the ground and raised a thick cloud of dust.
But what he saw before him was more of a 'mist' than dust.
"Hooo...."
The knights of the kingdom soon appeared. They could see that something had blocked the thunderbolt.
"Whoa, we're in trouble."
The heavy seawater spread out over the knights' heads. It blocked the thunderbolt.
"A priest…no, not quite."
Certainly a holy law user of a level beyond that of a kingdom knight.
Ha-ri unleashed a vortex of fire with her blade and the divine flames swooped down on the warriors like waves.
With the blessing of two gods, the divine maiden's holy sword swung with such ferocity that it threatened to overwhelm the imperial army.
At the same time, Law King unleashed his magical baptism.
The vortex of fire is disintegrated by the Law King's hand. However, he was only able to disintegrate one of the two attributes.
The 'vortex' of the 'flame' dissolves, and the flames scatter, raining down on him.
"Hmph…Dual Laws."
Even though the Holy Law of the Vortex was gone, the Divine Flame was a powerful Holy Law in its own right. It could incinerate an archmage or anything else.
"The power to defy nature is not just yours."
The next moment, Law King's circlet glowed.
Pure Concept
"Huh?"
Ha-ri was baffled by the sparks that immediately dispersed upon contact with the barrier. Conceptual power woven into the Holy Law was so easily dispersed?
Ha-ri, who had always thought of the Holy Law as an invincible force, could only be baffled.
"Stay away."
The Prefects did not miss Ha-ri's moment of panic as Staudt manipulated the thunderclouds still echoing in the sky, and thunderbolts fell in quick succession.
"Ugh…!"
Ha-ri quickly materialized what a thick barrier of water that blocked any electric current.
-Clang!
-Thud!
A powerful thunderbolt pounded against the water barrier in midair. The sound was dizzying just by looking at it.
"Ugh…! The power…!
Ha-ri sensed that her barrier was gradually dispersing. Unlike the Holy Knights, who represented the power of the gods, Ha-ri could only borrow the power of the gods.
The incomplete Holy Law was gradually evaporated, scattered, and poured out by the successive thunderbolts.
And finally, just as a hole opens up in the water barrier, and the thunderbolts are about to fall towards it──
Great Magic
At that moment, the thunderbolt that was about to fall disappeared into thin air.
"What…?!"
For the first time, the Prefects expressions cracked. Their overwhelmingly favorable calculations had been upset, and a variable had appeared.
"Who is it…?"
Their gazes turn to the center of the magic wave. Above the canyon, a giant black eagle that must've been under the control of a beast god was carrying a woman with a strange aura.
"I came here because I thought you might be in danger… but you're not far off."
The one who severed the connection between the gods and the servants and made them obey her absolutely.
The one who made the preemptive strike of the Archmage disappear like a bubble.
Most of all, the deadly colors that shone through her cotton cloak.
"Greetings, gentlemen."
The Magician Queen of the Kingdom of Spero.
Beatrice Alighieri Spero.
The most powerful archmage of this century smiled bewitchingly at the Imperial army.