As Seren Explained
"After drinking it, he transformed into a Deep Elf, and his abilities increased unnaturally," Seren said.
"Yogshot's blood. It is the blood of the Outer God Yogshot," Dellain replied.
"Wait, what does that mean?" Seren asked, shocked.
"Yes, when Yogshot was defeated 1700 years ago, although his vessel's body was destroyed, his heart survived.
For thousands of years, his followers have tried to revive him, but not with a vessel, instead in his true form.
When we found him, Yogshot's heart was nothing more than a giant pulsating sphere buried beneath the capital city of Neoth.
But now, some of his body's tissues have begun to form.
The Tremor Knights brought offerings to him—those considered Sacred People," Dellain explained.
"This is worse than I thought," Seren said.
"Think about my words carefully. They are already among us. I don't even know who I can trust in my kingdom.
When I came here, they were already waiting for me and my troops.
There were spies preparing for my arrival, and of course, they're preparing for yours," Dellain said.
Just then, the sound of footsteps from Paladins could be heard.
After exchanging glances, Dellain vanished like a shadow.
Golsiera and several guards quickly arrived at the scene.
"This just happened in the last few hours," one of the guards said.
"Martyr, I have received news from the troops you sent to inspect the cargo.
At first, when they checked, it was all just regular documents, but when one of the papers was blown by the wind, a magical circle pattern appeared on each of the papers," Golsiera explained.
"What!?" Seren exclaimed.
"Whatever is on those magical circles can only be seen under the light of the moon," Golsiera added.
"Golsiera, contact the Spear of Justice Paladins. Tell them we need a warrant to search the Merchant Community building, and inform the paladins to secure the papers," Seren instructed.
Quickly, Golsiera went to find Justiciar Krozekel.
Seren excused herself from the guards and led her troops to the Merchant Community building.
When they arrived, the remaining residents had already been secured.
Seren and her paladins prepared their equipment.
Soon, Krozekel arrived with his troops and Golsiera.
"Justiciar," Seren greeted.
"Martyr, I hope you have a good reason for this search," Krozekel said.
Seren explained her findings regarding Kaseph's cargo, emphasizing that the knife found lodged in Kaseph was no ordinary knife—it was a standard military knife of the Balrog Empire.
"I still don't see the connection between Kaseph and the Merchant Community building, Martyr. Kaseph never worked here," Justiciar Krozekel replied.
"The Nomadic People used this building as a meeting place with traders from outside, and for goods transiting through Myriad Port. However, even after it was closed a few years ago, when the Nomadic People left, many items were left behind. Kaseph could have gotten the papers from the leftover items in the Merchant Community building," Seren explained.
Before anyone could respond, a paladin came and whispered something to Krozekel.
His eyes widened.
He quickly handed Seren a warrant to conduct the search.
"Martyr, my paladins just informed me that they found the bodies of several Balrog Empire soldiers not far from where Kaseph was," Krozekel said.
Seren said nothing but nodded at Krozekel.
They immediately led the search.
Upon entering the large building, it looked more like a factory than a Merchant Community building.
Together with all the paladins accompanying them, they conducted a thorough search.
"Nothing was found here," said Golsiera.
"No. There are no physical clues, but I can sense the remnants of someone's presence," said Krozekel.
"What do you mean?" Seren asked.
"Forgive me, it's just my instinct. I used to be an investigator when I was younger. I can feel whether a place has someone's presence or not," Krozekel explained.
"Justiciar, Martyr!" shouted one of the paladins.
Golsiera, Seren, and Krozekel immediately rushed to the paladin.
"What is it?" the three of them asked in unison.
The paladin showed them a shard of emerald-colored stone.
"What is this?" Krozekel asked.
"This is an ArcsFall Stone. My father studied in the Krest Magic City. This stone is usually used to make magical inscriptions on catalysts like wands or tomes," the paladin explained.
At that moment, Seren realized,
"Those papers—they aren't magic scrolls. They are Magic Tome pages!" said Seren.
"Magic Tome? You mean they're weapons?" Krozekel asked, surprised to hear this.
"Yes, this is just like what happened in Numen. However, they didn't send the weapons intact; they sent them in pieces so they wouldn't be suspected," Seren explained.
"This is bad!" said one of the paladin captains accompanying Seren.
"What happened?" Seren asked.
"When we checked the cargo, the guards there said that Kaseph had often sent random items, like knitting threads, bolts, iron plates, and others," said the paladin.
"They've already made preparations, but for what?" said Seren.
"I agree, attacking Whiteford in this condition would be very risky," said Golsiera.
"I'm not as sure as you, Captain Golsiera," said Krozekel.
"What's going on, Justiciar?" asked Seren.
"Since King Zulf White passed away, Prince Zachary ascended the throne. He is the only son of King Zulf, but…" said Krozekel, sounding troubled.
"Yet, Zachary is still very young. Despite doing his best, the internal political situation is really weighing him down. The Noble faction and the Merchant faction are continuously pressuring him, while the Royal faction and the White family aren't fond of Zachary," continued Krozekel.
"Justiciar, what do you mean by that?" Seren asked, her face full of concern as she looked at Krozekel.
"Well... what I fear is that the Deep Elves already have ties with one of the factions in the Whiteford Kingdom. Forgive me, Martyr, I must report this to the Archive Knight," said Krozekel.
Krozekel then withdrew and left with his troops, while Seren continued her investigation.
After finding some magical items, Seren's eyes fixed on a shield, but before she could investigate further, a loud explosion shook everyone.
Seren quickly led her paladins towards the source of the explosion.
To her shock, Prince Dellain was seen running, injured. The paladins didn't seem to notice Dellain, who was running in the shadows.
Seren wanted to check on him, but another explosion rang out, and she had to focus on the issue at hand.
Upon reaching the source of the explosion, Seren was stunned to see a massive tentacle rising from the ground.
Hundreds of eyes could be seen all over the tentacle's surface. As the eyes began to glow red, invisible attacks started to fly towards them.
This reminded Seren of the incident that happened in Numen Kingdom a few years ago.
"Everyone, create a magic shield barrier. Watch the creature's eyes!" shouted Seren.
The paladins immediately surrounded the giant tentacle and created a barrier magic. After the tentacle's attack, the paladins began to strike, slowly slicing and destroying the tentacle.
Seren analyzed the situation around them. One by one, other tentacles emerged. Golsiera divided her team to isolate the tentacle attacks, and the Whiteford soldiers began arriving to assist the paladins.
"Captain Golsiera, I'll investigate the source. Can I leave this to you?" Seren asked.
"Leave it to me," Golsiera replied.
Seren ran to find Dellain.
Not long after, she heard Dellain's scream of pain.
"ARGH!!!! That... that bitch deceived me!" Dellain screamed.
Seren saw Dellain crawling in pain down a narrow alley.
"Prince Dellain!" Seren called as she approached him.
"Don't come closer!" Dellain shouted.
Seren was shocked to see Dellain's body covered in blood with burn marks all over his body.
"He's... He's the one who trapped us, Seren!!" Dellain said, blood continuously flowing from his mouth.
"Prince Dellain... calm down, I'll heal you," Seren said as she tried to approach and relieve Dellain's wounds.
However, a bone protruded from Dellain's back, followed by long arms and legs tearing through his skin. As he endured the pain, Dellain looked at Seren with agony in his eyes.
"T... D... He... S... Surorcula!!!" Dellain screamed.
Dellain's body transformed into a huge monster that resembled
A Giant Bat Monster in the shape of skeletal bones with Dellain's head on its chest.
The creature fought with a very different style. With a head resembling a serpent, the creature released a black energy ball from its mouth and shot it into the air. The energy ball exploded in midair, and its shards hit the entire surrounding area, causing tremendous damage.
Seren was thrown back by the explosion. Before she could stand, the creature was already in front of her and tried to stab her with the bone spear in its hand. Fortunately, Seren managed to block it with her sword.
From a distance, Golsiera and several paladins could be seen running toward Seren and the monster. However, the monster turned its head and attacked their group.
"Golsiera!!! Be careful!!" Seren shouted.
A black energy beam, shaped like a laser, shot toward the paladins. The explosion sent the paladins flying.
Golsiera managed to avoid the attack, and with her silver axe, she leapt toward the monster, striking its head. However, it seemed to have no effect. The monster counterattacked with its sharp bone wings.
Golsiera's shoulder was pierced, but she managed to grip the wing that had stabbed her.
Seizing the opportunity, Seren attacked the monster with her Holy Magic, Heretical Branding. The Light Spear knocked the monster back. The creature immediately tried to rise and attack the two paladins with another energy ball from its mouth.
"Basilica!!" shouted Justiciar Krozekel. A magical shield instantly formed to protect Seren and Golsiera.
"Are you okay?" Krozekel asked.
"Justiciar!" Seren stood up and approached him.
"It seems I'm not too late," Krozekel said. His spear emitted a silver light, and with his signature Justiciar armor, adorned in white and silver gold, he raised his shield.
"Ray of Genesis!" Krozekel shouted. A beam of light descended from the sky, striking the monster. However, the creature easily stood up as if unaffected.
"That's incredibly strong!" Golsiera exclaimed.