Chapter 283: In Search of the Archmage (2)
Karnak focused on the key section. He wanted to know how Harbert had controlled the angel, something even the former Monarch of Death couldn’t do? He scrutinized the ritual carefully, step by step. And soon, the truth began to reveal itself.
And with it, a faint look of disappointment spread across Karnak’s face. "So that’s all it was?"
The answer, in the end, was underwhelming. "He wasn’t controlling it at all."
There was no doubt. The Angel of Radiant Wings and its prototype, the Demon King of Chaos, were inherently uncontrollable. If they were summoned using a catalyst that wasn’t the summoner’s own body, they would rampage with no restraint.
Which meant, conversely, that once released, they would unleash destruction entirely of their own accord.
"So they just tossed the idea of control out the window," muttered Karnak.
Instead, Tesranach had woven in another technique. The biggest issue with the Angel of Radiant Wings or the Demon King of Chaos was that it couldn’t distinguish friend from foe when it ran wild. What could be more idiotic than getting killed by the thing you summoned?
So Tesranach’s modified ritual tampered with the summoned creature’s recognition field. It allowed the summoner alone to escape the angel’s perception. If they couldn’t see the summoner at all, they obviously wouldn’t perceive them as a threat.
"This guy..." Karnak stared at the dazed Harbert in disbelief. "So he wasn’t actually doing anything?"
All those shouts about destroying enemies and purging them had been just that—shouting.
The angel had been acting entirely on its own.
"No wonder there was a weird disconnect between his commands and the angel’s actions," said Karnak.
Still, the performance had been convincing. It had fooled even Karnak’s party. Though now that he thought about it... maybe it wasn’t even a performance. Harbert probably truly believed he was in control.
"Well, if this is all it amounts to, it’s not exactly useful." Now that Karnak understood the truth, he looked disappointed.
This ritual only allowed a single summoner to avoid the angel’s perception. In other words, all of their allies were still viable targets. It was only practical if Karnak was alone, with no one else to protect. And in that kind of situation, there were easier options than summoning an Angel of Radiant Wings.
He examined the ritual more closely, hoping perhaps it could be adapted to make the perception exclusion apply to multiple people. But that proved impossible. The technique simply wasn’t built for that kind of application.
And there was an even bigger issue. "No wonder it was weak."
Even an autonomous Angel of Radiant Wings needed some degree of directional input to fight effectively. That was how it operated in real battles. Since no one had actually been controlling it, it couldn’t battle properly.
It had randomly targeted Serati, then Varos, with no coherence at all. Something had felt off about its erratic attacks.
Though that’s not the only reason it was weak.
Another major factor was the difference in physical compatibility between Karnak and Milia. The Angel of Radiant Wings was influenced by the physical capabilities of the body it inhabited. And while Karnak wasn’t exactly peak athletic form for a man, he still wasn’t comparable to a teenage girl. Well, he once was, but he’d been working out lately.
That gap had carried over into the angel itself. In any case, it was a disappointing result for something he’d investigated with high hopes.
Karnak muttered flatly, "Guess the only real takeaway is Gellard’s whereabouts."
This Angel of Radiant Wings was undoubtedly derived from Karnak’s own necromantic magic. It hadn’t been a creation of Tesranach's own design, like a modified Demon King of Chaos. There was solid proof.
The ritual itself was structured around the image of Martial King Gellard. It matched exactly with the one Karnak had used back at Fortress Strauss.
That confirms Gellard’s soul ended up in Tesranach’s hands.
It didn’t give them any tangible advantage, but more information on the enemy was always a good thing. Karnak kept parsing the ritual’s structure. Most of his questions were already answered, and the only question he had left was how they’d managed to summon an Angel of Radiant Wings at all.
Harbert and the other necromancers were fairly skilled. But still, they were nowhere near the level needed to pull that off.
"Well, I wasn’t expecting much anyway..." he muttered under his breath.
He combed through the ritual, curious what kind of trick they’d used. His expression stiffened slightly. "Huh? This part’s actually impressive."
***
There wasn’t much to learn from Tesranach’s necromantic methods. He’d basically copied Karnak’s tricks to the letter. It was nothing sophisticated, and at times, even sloppy. But when it came to magic? That was an entirely different story.
Of course... he took my necromantic magic and modified it, so there’d be magic techniques layered in too.
And those were strange. The magical techniques were so intricate that even Karnak couldn’t decipher them at a glance.
Tesranach’s magical technique far exceeded Karnak’s current level. Well, I am just an eighth circle mage, after all...
And there was another realm where he couldn’t even dream of competing. So... divine magic was involved too.
The spellwork itself fell under the domain of magic, but the force it manipulated was divine power. It was a fusion of necromancy, magic, and divine arts. All three forces were woven seamlessly together.
So that’s how they managed to draw out such power with just a sacrificial ritual.
To summon the Angel of Radiant Wings, five powerful necromancers had offered up their lives—willingly, at that. Even so, the resulting power was beyond what one would expect.
Sacrificing oneself in a ritual was far stronger than offering an external sacrifice, yes, but even that wasn’t enough to call down an Angel of Radiant Wings. But the equation changed when divine magic was factored in.
Among all forms of sacrifice, the divine self-sacrificial rituals—those that belonged to the divine magic—were by far the strongest.
They converted a necromantic sacrificial ritual into a divine ceremony using magic to alter the framework... that’s how they met the conditions.
The image of the angel used as the summoning motif had come directly from Tesranach. The missing divine energy was supplied through the self-sacrifice of its casters. It all checked out. It was a complete and coherent system.
If it’s done this way... I might actually be able to use the Angel of Radiant Wings in real combat too.
Karnak studied the spellwork with growing excitement. If this worked, he might no longer need to painstakingly draw the hexagram in real time to summon the angel. But as he examined the layers more deeply, his optimism began to fade.
Ugh... I don’t understand the divine portion at all.
Karnak had reached the pinnacle of necromancy. He was a master of magic as well. But divine magic? He knew nothing. More precisely, he couldn’t perceive them.
Sure, he could sense the divine power emitted by a priest, but that was after the power had already been reshaped and externalized as sacred light. It wasn’t the true essence of divinity.
I’ll have to analyze it indirectly through the magic structure.
This was something he’d need to sit with for a long time. There was no way around it for now.
I’ll need to research this thoroughly when I get the chance.
Regardless, it had been a worthwhile discovery.
"Didn’t expect to score a win like this in such a random place."
As for why Tesranach had used the Angel of Radiant Wings instead of the Demon King of Chaos, that remained a mystery. It was something that neither Harbert’s memories nor the ritual itself could reveal.
"Well, it’s Tesranach’s personal choice. There’s no way to guess his intention just by poking around here."
With that, Karnak had uncovered everything there was to know about the Angel of Radiant Wings for now. He was about to pull the needle out, then paused.
"Wait. Might as well check something else while I’m at it."
Harbert was still a follower of the Black God. Was it possible he had information about Diogres Kolon? Karnak didn’t expect much. The empire’s northern reaches, where the Tower of Dawn stood, were far from the Grental territory. And the Black God's Cult was infamous for its lack of internal communication.
Surprisingly, though, Harbert had heard something. He didn’t know the details, but he’d heard bits and pieces through a third party. And for Karnak, that information was quite significant.
"So Diogres had help escaping?"
***
When the interrogation ended, Karnak left Harbert behind and stepped out of the cave. There was no need to bring him along. The same went for the other cultists lying unconscious. They’d already decided to notify the Saisha temple, and the priests would come later to collect everyone.
"Dead or alive, makes no difference," Karnak said.
Varos immediately moved into action. "Guess I’d better tie them up, just in case, dead or alive."
Leaving the surviving cultists behind would be dangerous. If they escaped, they’d take corpses with them. After all, necromancers never fled alone. They always brought their dead.
Serati and Leven clicked their tongues.
"Living targets, fine. But corpses too?"
"Why do we have to worry about dead people running away?"
Even after all this time, they still had moments when the world’s shift hit them anew. The party got to work. They bound the limbs of every cultist, living or dead.
Milia stepped forward and invoked divine power. "O Latiel, veil their eyes and ears."
A holy light descended and blanketed the cultists, stealing their awareness.
Milia exhaled in relief. "Thank goodness. It actually worked..."
Lapicel, watching nearby, tilted her head. "Was that a difficult spell?"
Milia quickly composed herself. "Huh? Oh—no, not really. It’s just that..."
Still, deep down, she was genuinely happy. Even as Karnak’s vassal, she could still invoke divine spells without any problem.
Once the cleanup was finished, Karnak jerked his chin toward the base of the mountain. "Let’s head to the Saisha temple. Time to report these bastards."
***
The Saisha temple's Grental branch welcomed Karnak’s group with open arms.
"Oh! Who might this be?"
"Isn’t this Lord Karnak?"
"It’s been a while!"
It was impossible not to be pleased. The Saisha temple owed Karnak a great deal in many ways. And from the looks of it, they were about to owe him again.
"If you’re here, does that mean...?"
The high priest trailed off, prompting Karnak to nod.
"Yes. I’ve come to take care of Count Hudel’s successor."
Karnak didn’t even flinch, despite not knowing such a successor existed until recently. The priests of Saisha accepted it without hesitation.
"So, they’ve begun growing their influence again?"
"Poisonous fungi, the lot of them!"
In retrospect, it was only natural there would be a successor. Grental was located at the westernmost edge of the empire, which was a crucial gateway to the Alliance of the Seven Kingdoms.
If the Cult of the Black God, which mainly operated within the empire, wanted to expand their influence into the alliance, this territory was nonnegotiable.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Harbert’s successor pops up sometime in the future.
Thinking he might return someday to harvest more intel, Karnak shared the location of the cultists’ hideout. The priests, grateful yet ashamed, lowered their heads.
"This was our duty to fulfill..."
"To think you shed blood on our behalf, Lord Karnak..."
"We are truly ashamed."
Karnak waved off their concern. "This time as well, could you record it as your achievement? It wouldn’t be ideal for word to spread that a citizen of the Seven Kingdoms caused a stir within the empire."
The priests grew even more embarrassed.
"But we can’t keep accepting your help without repaying you."
"Is there anything you need?"
Karnak paused to consider. Something I need?
He almost said money out of habit, but hesitated. Just in case, he asked Serati through secret telepathy.
—Would I get scolded if I asked for money here?
—Not scolded, but their gazes might look a little different.
—How different?
—Let’s just say they wouldn’t be looking at you like you’re a hero anymore.
—Ah, so I shouldn’t turn goodwill into profit, huh?
—Wow, you actually understood that for once.
—Heh. I’m capable of learning, you know.
Karnak responded aloud, his voice refined and calm. "How could one expect compensation for performing the will of the goddess? A simple meal would suffice. I’ve heard temple food is quite delicious."
The priests were deeply moved. You could tell just by their eyes. They believed it. He truly asked for nothing more than a warm meal.
"Haha..."
"What a selfless man..."
Well, fair enough. He was being sincere.
Seriously, temple food is really good.
