Chapter 182 (1/2)

Volume 2

CH 16

Volume 08 Chapter 16

「Pope Thanatos Shirubiwes Hiruku」

The sanctuary of the Hiruku religion had been built halfway up Mt . Arthus .

At some point in history, a section of the mountain had been flattened into an open plateau .

In the center of said plateau plain sat a massive cathedral……

Arthus Central Cathedral .

It was the place Pope Thanatos had made his home as he ruled over Hiruku .

The white marble floors were polished to a mirror shine, the arched ceiling was covered entirely in religious murals, and a luxurious chandelier hung in the main room .

All of the furnishings were gorgeous works of art that reflected the prosperity and long history of the Hiruku Theocracy .

Somewhere in the back of the cathedral .

In a place where the average believer never set foot…… the shadow of a clergyman suddenly blinked into existence .

The figure was adorned in luxurious robes, the church’s holy seal hung from his neck, and he held an extravagant staff in his hand…… The lord of this place and Hiruku’s current leader, pope Thanatos let out a relieved sigh as he clung to his staff .

However, there was no haggard expression to accompany his panting .

There was no skin or flesh on his body, only a skeleton could be found underneath his clothing .

Under the veil…… two shining red lights eerily floated in the pope’s empty eye sockets .

“What the fuck was that!?”

Despite looking like one of the undead which roamed the world, a string of curses were vomited from his mouth .

The pope’s rough voice resonated throughout the empty cathedral .

Earlier that day, Pope Thanatos had been in a newly conquered city…… he’d been busy converting the residents of Delfuento’s capital city into undead soldiers .

The task of binding spirits to magic stones to create the undead nucleus had been monotonous as usual .

Even though it was troublesome to create the ordinary soldiers one by one, he still felt a sense of fulfillment at the end of the day when he looked upon his undead army .

Because of that, even though the work was simple, it was substantial enough to keep Thanantos going .

Moreover, the pope had begun to incorporate a quota into his routine as a means of further alleviating his boredom .

It was something he’d grow accustomed to doing after falling into this inescapable virtual world…… in the early days it’d been difficult to adjust, but after acquiring a certain level of status and realizing that there weren’t any enemies that could challenge him, the days began blurring together .

All of that changed when one of the seven cardinals, his direct subordinates, was slain in one of his territories .

A being strong enough to kill one of his cardinals…… Thanatos rejoiced at that revelation because it meant that he’d finally made contact with another player .

However, the player proceeded to crush another one of his subordinates and halted a strategic advance, so he decided to welcome the challenger that encroached on his territory .

Up till now, he’d attributed the fact that no enemy players had come in decades to being trapped within the game, so when a player presented themselves before him, he decided to play the game as intended .

Compared to the repetitive work of building up his forces, the pope felt genuine excitement after the long combat hiatus .

Everything began when that dragon suddenly appeared in Rione and interrupted his undead conversion efforts .

It’d been a long time since he last saw a dragon, but during the beta there had been players that made dragons their pets .

Dragons weren’t cheap monsters like the undead he created: their firepower wasn’t anything to scoff at, and they were quite popular within the community even though there was a considerable cost to maintain them .

Seeing the people holding onto the dragon’s legs made it clear that it wasn’t a wild monster .

The enemy dragon circled the Rione several times, perhaps scouting the area in the process, and eventually landed near on the western side of the city .

The enemy must have advanced on this place without realizing that this was Delfuento Kingdom .

Thanatos quietly smiled at the thought .

He quickly gathered the scattered forces within the city, only leaving the bare minimum line of defense in the area the enemy landed .

Even if the opponent brought out a powerful dragon unit, hundreds of thousand undead soldiers and spirit knights could deal with it without issue .

Moreover, he had one of the Cardinals, Tismo, with him .

Fighting the dragon would undoubtedly result in some losses, but with the options at his disposal, there shouldn’t have been any chance of them failing .

Even if he had to resort to a demon summoning to fend off the dragon, the knights should be able to finish it off after it exhausted itself .

The war would have some exciting developments if he stripped them of a valuable war asset .

Thanatos thought up plans even as he and Tismo walked on top of the rubble of Rione’s collapsed wall .

Since the opponent had gone out of their way to summon a dragon, it was common courtesy to meet them in kind .

A few undead soldiers and knights had been left outside to keep watch, but they’d already been wiped out .

That was to be expected, but Thanatos hadn’t expected to see the unit near the dragon .

There were three of them, the two females were a beastman and an elf, both races from outside Hiruku, respectively…… the gender of the one wearing luxurious armor was unknown .

His subordinates had reported that “a knight clad in shimmering silver” had defeated his cardinal, so perhaps the opponent had come to the frontlines .

With their exquisite armor covered in blue and white inlays, beautifully crafted mantle, and pristine sword and shield, they looked like a knight from legends .

Even without a face, Thanatos felt as if his expression had relaxed a little at the knowledge that it wasn’t a mere unit of subordinates who confronted with .

He hadn’t expected to encounter a player so early in the engagement .

Thanatos became slightly excited when the opponents looked towards him .

Since the other party didn’t start attacking immediately, he decided to start a conversation at a safe distance .

“……I never imagined you’d try to capture the city with such a small force . ”

Thanatos beamed beneath his vail when he felt the surprised gaze of the unknown knight landing on him .

After one-sidedly carrying on the conversation for a few minutes, he set out to remove the most significant obstacle .

“Come forth denizen of the underworld, 【Skeletal Balaam]!”

The opponent was a warrior, and he was a mage…… there was no way to defeat him in direct combat, but his two subordinates were no match for his numbers .

It was fortunate that he had been near a base at the start of things .

The upper hand depended on one factor…… who would fall first, the dragon or the undead cardinal?

That was the reason he made the preemptive strike .

Things had gone well at first: the summoned demon and dragon engaged each other in combat, while his undead cardinal was ordered to eliminate the enemy’s subordinates .

Only the silver knight player remained, but the thousands of undead soldiers and knights assured his victory .

He even used 【Necro Resonance]to give the undead a good boost .

Instead of directly controlling your forces, the support magic drastically increased their attack power, and given their numbers, no matter what level the player was, he had no chance of winning .

Defeating the enemy player would’ve prevented him from continuing the conversation, but a skilled player would use a transference stone to retreat back to their stronghold .

The board had been tilted in the Pope’s favor, the opponent’s only hope was to turn things around with a home-field advantage .

A regular player would’ve checked the battle interface, accept their losses, and pull back after grasping the situation .

If Thanatos could access that screen, he would’ve been able to contact the game masters and inform them of his situation .

With that thought in mind, Thanatos had closed in to deliver the finishing blow . He’d been sure of his victory as he watched the knight futilely attempt to fight off thousands of undead .

However, a transfer magic formation suddenly appeared under the knight’s feet and the next thing Thanatos knew, the knight was suddenly bearing down on him .

Although he didn’t know what was happening, Thanatos’ body reflexively tried to block the attack, but there was no way a mage could block a warrior’s attack, and he was blown back for his efforts .

Before Thanatos had been trapped in this world, all the classes had been split into magical and physical archetypes, the magic warrior classes had been implemented yet .

The fact that a new class archetype had been implemented caused him to let out a surprised shout .

Afterward, he used the 【Evil Thorne] curse to search out any weak point in the opponent’s defenses and resistances .

He planned to change his strategy depending on the reaction the 【Evil Thorne] produced . The knight turned his massive light sword on the thorns and swept them away with a single slash .