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There was no room to wait, nor was there a reason to.
Upon reaching Kaiser’s Palace, Joshua knew exactly where he had to go next.
Kaiser was not the kind of person to flex his power by living on the top floor. His room was on the first floor. More importantly, it was connected to the basement, where the underground passageway was located.
‘Is this the corner?’
Joshua looked past the crowd of people who had gathered after hearing the news. In his past life, that wall had always been an open entrance.
It was only natural. He was Kaiser’s closest aide at that time. As such, this was the first time that Joshua came across the magic barrier that sealed the entrance.
However…
‘This is a magic barrier made by at least a Class 6 Mage, but there is something else. Ah, right… this familiar, disgusting energy…’
Joshua smiled.
‘Demonic power.’
It was so weak that some high-ranking priests wouldn’t notice it, but Joshua's senses weren't fooled. That made things clear: this barrier was conjured by Berber and Evergrant.
Joshua held his hand out towards the wall.
‘He must’ve thought that no matter how powerful you are as a knight, you can’t break a high-grade magic circle without using some type of black magic.’
Joshua, however, had Kaiser dancing in the palm of his hand. To date, the continent had never seen anyone who could be called a “magic swordsman,” someone who could use both a mana hall and a magic circle. It was the same as Joshua’s first life, when he had gained the moniker of being an unrivaled spear knight.
If someone tried to use mana from the lower abdomen with the magic circle from the heart at the same time, those two energies would always clash with each other.
But someone shattered that idea decades ago.
‘I should find time to find that being out. He might be a great help to my future plans.’
Being in his second life, Joshua knew that that being, despite being deeply involved with the Magic Tower, was not, in fact, human.
Joshua shook off his thoughts and clenched his fists for a moment.
Unlike other knights, Joshua didn’t use a mana hall; his mana came directly from the atmosphere. That made the Magic Spear Arts infinitely powerful and highly destructive.
‘If you think that I can’t detect the magic used here just because magic runs on different principles…”
Kaiser was fooling himself.
A loud sound of glass shattering startled the crowd, particularly the mages.
“What in the—”
“Is that a barrier? I didn’t feel any mana that suggested a barrier!”
“That must mean that it was made by a mage of at least a higher class than the mages here.”
“Must be Class 6, right? We didn’t even realize it. How could a knight find out?”
Joshua let their surprise and doubt wash over him.
“Are you coming with me?” he asked indifferently.
They were anything but reassured.
Knight Commander Rod glanced at Kaiser. The latter had on a stiff expression.
“Imperial Knights, don’t be afraid. A hidden space that only royalty know of are common in the palace. Don’t act rashly unless something actually appears. Be vigilant.” Knight Commander Rod commanded.
“Yes Sir!”
“Well, follow Reserve Battalion Commander Sanders in.”
Joshua watched the Imperial Knights marching after him and smiled.
“Your Highness—”
Knight Commander Rod looked around for Kaiser, but what he found shocked him.
A strange kind of atmosphere lingered in the area.
“A-Ah!”
Suddenly, a dark, swirling vortex was torn open in space. It sucked in everything in front of it. Even Joshua was caught off guard by what happened.
Someone managed to shout, “Oh heavens!” before they were all swallowed.
***
Joshua slowly opened his eyes as he felt an incredible amount of pressure weighing down on his body. He saw a world with nothing but impenetrable darkness. His nose stung from the metallic scent of blood.
Demonic power lingered in the dense air alongside the stench. The air felt ten times heavier than before, and the pressure continuously weighed him down.
It felt like a different world.
It felt like…
— It felt like the demon world has been moved here as it is?
Hearing Lugia’s voice in his head, Joshua's eyes widened.
— You should be careful. There seems to be something strange here.
It didn't take long for Joshua to make a decision. Joshua quickly but carefully gathered his mana, even though he couldn’t feel anything changing.
“Hap!” Joshua shouted.
The darkness scattered, letting light shine on the world. What it illuminated…
It was awful. It was like a scene from hell.
Mountain of Corpses—the name said it all. An ocean of blood and bodies piled high into the sky around a road that led to obvious doom. They cluttered the floor like some sort of red carpet. They were so grotesque that they seemed to repulse Joshua’s eyes, but the corpses were in pretty good shape. Half of the bodies were snapped in two, yet some of the figures still clung to their torturous existence.
Joshua examined the bodies and frowned.
“When—?”
All of them belonged to the Imperial Knights who had just died. Well over thirty knights were killed in moments.
Strangely, Joshua was glad to see any knights from 11th or the 12th Battalions there.
— You would have been like that if you had a normal human body.
“How do you know, and what else do you know?”
Joshua's gaze darkened.
— Is that what matters?
“Huh?”
— Incoming.
Joshua quickly straightened up and got into an attacking stance.
“Those—”
There was a wide space in front of him which could easily accommodate a thousand people and already contained a large number of what looked like “humans”.
There was a creature with bizarrely long fingernails. Another creature had molars sticking out of his mouth. Its hideous appearance really stood out. Although each of the had body parts that were different from a normal human, they had one thing in common. Every single one of them had dead gray eyes, and yet their whole body was bursting at the seams with energy.
In the near future, these existences would be recorded in history archives as “Bio-Ghouls”. They could tear apart a knight like wet tissue paper and were the worse nemesis of humans to ever exist. Right now, they numbered over five hundred.
That wasn’t the worst of it.
“Lich!”
Joshua’s face hardened when five figures with bones protruding from their robes came into view. These high level undead were made out of the body and soul of a high-ranking mage of at least Class 5. Their black magic made them much, much more powerful weapons than a mage.
“These monsters were hiding right under the Imperial Palace?”
— Isn’t it great?
“What?”
— You know what one of the most exciting things in the world is?
Joshua's face twisted in confusion as he pondered Lugia’s playful words.
— It is….
Lugia playfully trailed off before continuing.
—- Coveting someone else’s property.
“What?”
— Think carefully. Isn’t it great to eat from someone else’s table after they’ve spent a long time preparing the food? Isn’t it great? You can use these to make your army. Nothing but the troops of your enemy.
Lugia’s voice seemed to strum his instincts.
— I'll help you. Isn’t that exactly what you’ve been waiting for?
Joshua looked past the undead and his eyes went wide. He saw a stone gate that looked strangely familiar, even though he had never seen it before.
— They can’t even use it, even though they’ve been planning for a long time. The perfect plan that failed. Isn’t this a great prelude to your revenge?
Joshua's eyes slowly turned red.
— I can make that happen. Relax and give me your body.
Joshua stopped swinging the spear and watched the monsters slowly approach him.
A ray of light emerged from between his eyes.
— Worship.
A voice came from Joshua's mouth, but it was not his voice. It wasn’t even human.
— Obey.
The monster army’s steady advance suddenly stopped as if struck by lightning. Their bodies trembled like cornered prey.
— Kneel.
The first to give in to its instincts was a bio-ghoul. The other monsters were quick to follow. All that remained were the five liches, thanks to their powerful minds and coherent egos.
But every time Joshua stepped forward, the liches stepped back.
— Wha… What is this…
“Obey me,” Joshua's mouth said with a voice not his own.
Even the liches stopped moving at some point.
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“The demon god's power is my power. The existence you hold with such high esteem is nothing but an insect to me.”
Joshua’s eyes scanned the area.
“I am now your new master.”
The mark of obedience was written again, and even the liches were finally forced to their knees before him.