Chapter 182 (2/2)

It would’ve been miraculous to dodge the attack by a hair’s breadth .

After that single blow, the knight paused for a moment and gave Thanatos a chance to retreat with transfer magic .

He managed to avoid the knight’s gaze by hiding among his undead .

Realizing that he was dealing with a tricky opponent, Thanatos took advantage of the ensuing confusion and fled back to Rione .

The best way to defeat a large army with few numbers was to dismantle the enemy’s chain of command, and that was what the knight intended to do .

Thanatos was impressed by their boldness and outside the box thinking .

Using transfer magic to catch the commander off guard and unleash a flurry of physical attacks… the knight was also specced out as a magic warrior… it must’ve been an effective anti-mage build .

Unless he wanted to get caught in the knight’s pace, he needed to stay out of sight .

Short range transfer magic was limited by one’s field of vision, and a large number of the undead should’ve prevented the knight from grasping his location .

The enemy would either give up or be overwhelmed by the undead…… he just needed to wait it out .

……He’d been overly optimistic .

The battle hadn’t unfolded the way Thanatos had predicted it would .

The demon he’d expended a large amount of mana to summon struggled considerably against the dragon . The dragon gradually gained the upper hand before soundly defeating the demon with ease .

Of the seven cardinals Thanatos had created, Tismo Gala Temperantia was the strongest, but the two demi-humans warriors had him on his back foot with their combined skill and coordination .

He’d assumed that the two women would have comparable strength to a spirit knight, yet not even Thanatos’ direct subordinates could match them .

And the knight, the other player character was the most remarkable one of the bunch .

At first, it seemed as if he were fleeing from the hundreds of thousand undead pursuing him, but after he put enough distance between them and himself, he created a massive magic formation .

Magic-based builds were known for specializing in area of effect spells at the cost of physical power, there was no way that a half-baked magic swordsmen should’ve been able to summon the spectacularly flashy angel the knight brought out .

And that wasn’t all .

After it was summoned, the angel proceeded to unleash a meteor shower upon his undead army . Then it unleashed an terrain altering meteorite that wiped out the hundreds of thousands undead he’d painstakingly created in a single blow .

Thanatos had speechlessly watched the chaos unfold from the safety of Rione’s city walls .

“What the fuck…”

No one was there to answer his question .

There was no way such a powerful unit or player character could exist .

A unit that gave a player the power to destroy an army didn’t just break the game balance, it killed the foundation of strategy games .

Player…… if you could destroy an army on your own what was the point building one for yourself .

Furthermore, all of their subordinate units were highly capable, and it was strange that they could overcome his pieces with such ease .

If things were happening as intended, the administrators were incompetent .

However, assuming that things weren’t operating as they should… The heel of Thanatos’ staff struck the ground in anger at the thought of the knight player hacking the game .

Incorporating the magic swordsman into the game wasn’t something an illegal mod could do…… Most likely the other player had hacked into the code and raised the skill values beyond their proper limits .

As Thanatos watched his army crumble before his eyes, he took out a transfer stone from his breast pocket .

The beautiful stone looked like a palm-sized purple crystal which shined with a faint magical light .

Transfer stones…… they were magical tools that enabled instantaneous teleportation to the coordinate inscribed in them, they allowed for super long distance travel that was impossible for the visual-based transfer magic .

However, such a valuable consumable item required rare materials to create .

Thanatos tossed the item to his feet and was adsorbed by the swirl of magic that it released upon shattering .

The transfer stone allowed Thanatos to escape the chaotic wreckage of Rione and return to the silent Arthus Central Cathedral . Even as his skeletal face peeked out from behind his vale, Thanatos quickly ran towards his private chambers .

Once he reached a specific cabinet, he took out another transfer stone, only stopping to take note of how few of them remained .

“This invasion has cost me a lot of these, I’m gonna have to craft more of them soon . ”

Thanatos flung the stone to the ground as he muttered to himself .

The extravagance and glamor of the cathedral were replaced with old and dim surroundings…… the workshop he was in carried some history within its walls .

Ceiling-high bookshelves were packed to the brim with books, towers of tomes lined the floor of the room .

In the middle of the room sat a sturdy-looking man in his twenties who had deep bags under eyes .

Despite his stubbly beard and unkempt hair, he wore robes belonging to a high ranking church member .

The man tossed aside the book he’d been reading when Thanatos suddenly appeared in the room .

“Is something wrong, your holiness!?”

The master of this office, cardinal Marcos Invidia Humanitas, was puzzled by the pope’s unusual visit .

They were currently within Ferbio Arthurs, the holy city and capital of the Hiruku Theocracy that had been built south of Mt . Arthurs…… specifically, they were in a back room of the city’s central church .

The pope never wasted a transfer stone to come here on his visits, a fact which led Marcos to ask Thanatos the previous question .

When he noticed that the pope’s veil had been sliced in half Marco graciously offered him one of the spare veils he had on hand .

While he was attaching the new veil, Thanatos gave the cardinal his instructions .

“We’ll unleash Aamon and Mammon . Prepare every undead soldier and spirit knight we have on hand . ”

Marcos was left dumbstruck by Thanatos’ orders .

Aamon and Mammon were two undead Pope Thanatos created as their last line of defense, their power was said to dwarf even the seven cardinals .

Such powerful beings required special handling and were sealed beneath the city, a great deal of time and preparations were needed to unleash them .

Once they were released, there was no turning back .

If the pope was calling for the use of their final weapons, it meant that the Hiruku Theocracy faced an unprecedented crisis .

From what the other cardinals have been telling him, their invasion of the neighboring nations had been going well while Marcos, who’d been charged with protecting the holy city, was itching for a chance to show his power .

Before he could explain anything, Thanatos suddenly stopped in his tracks and unintentionally groaned .

After a moment, Thanatos raised his head and spoke forebodingly .

“August’s signal was lost…… did the invasion of Salma fail? No, Erin’s signal remains…… what does this mean?”

Although Thanatos was speaking to himself, Cardinal Marcus was utterly shocked at the news of his colleagues’ defeat .

Thanatos extended his spiritual connection throughout the world, but there was no response from Cardinal August . For some strange reason, Cardinal Erin was still alive despite being dispatched to Salma with him .

He couldn’t pinpoint Erin’s exact location, and the situation in the Salma Kingdom was unknown .

The knight was capable of overwhelming his cardinals, and Thanatos ground his molars at the thought of that guy killing his subordinates in Salma .

Since the enemy had altered the stat values there was little chance of him winning, but the years trapped in this game did give him an edge, and bringing the full brunt of his might against the knight would be rewarding in its own right .

“I’d like to gather the remaining cardinals ahead of time, but there’s no guarantee they won’t attack while I summon them…… With their dragon and small numbers, the enemy could show up tomorrow . Marcus, how confident are you in your strength?”

Marcus respectfully bowed his head when the pope shifted his veil enough to make the reds of his eyes visible .

Up till now, the cardinal had been chomping at the bit to demonstrate his combat prowess, but with the entirety of Hiruku at stake, the cardinal was conflicted as the pope glared at him .

After a few moments of contemplation Marcus offered a prayer of gratitude to god .

There’d be no escape once the two inhabitants were awakened .

He offered Thanatos another bow and set about completing the task he’d been given, summoning the undead to scattered throughout the city to this location .

After watching Marcus work for a while, Thanatos opened a window in the back of the room and took in the cityscape before his eyes .

The city was pristine and functional, with smiling faces as far as the eye could see .

A considerable amount of effort had gone into creating this precious atmosphere, and he felt an iota of regret for unleashing death gods designed to topple empires here .

However, it was an act bound to happen; eventually, the only thing that changed was the timing .

“Even if this is game over, there’s no way they can oppose the stronghold I’ve spent all these years building . Increasing the number of inhabitants of this city was worth the trouble . Allow me to give you a warm welcome my enemy…… Kahahaha . ”

After saying that with a slight chuckle, Thanatos turned away from the window and began his trek towards Aamon and Mammon’s resting place .