Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 555

We did a test run once in an alleyway, and Connor Lint was able to transport all three of us, including himself, at once.

“Alright, it looks like we can all move together.”

Though we only managed to travel a short distance, when we held hands and Connor Lint activated his ability, we were all transported instantly.

“How many people can you move at once?” Harriet asked, dumbfounded. She had never seen supernatural teleportation before.

“It’s not about the number of people, it’s about the weight. I’m not exactly sure, but excluding my own weight, probably a little over two hundred kilograms? Also, it can’t be too large. I can’t move something enormous, no matter how light it is. I once tried to move a balloon the size of a house, but it didn’t work.”

It seemed his ability was limited by mass and volume rather than the number of objects or people. If our combined weight exceeded 200 kilograms, we wouldn’t have been able to be transported together. If I were a human tank, I would have to be moved separately.

Harriet smiled slightly. “In a way, that’s a relief...”

Come to think of it, Harriet was more of a thinker than someone who engaged in physical activities.

Olivia, seeing Harriet sigh in relief, puffed out her chest.

“You’re still young now, but once you get older, your whole body will become flabby from lack of exercise,” she warned haughtily. “Be prepared.”

Of course, Olivia was someone who was very active and a specialist in close combat, and now she was almost like a necromancer. She was far from lacking exercise.

In other words, Olivia was quite impressive in many ways.

“What did you say, you old muscle-pig?” Harriet retorted.

“What?! I’m not old, and I’m certainly not a pig! Where on this firm body do you see a pig-like feature, you little brat!”

“Someday you’ll get old. And no matter what, you’ll always be five years older than me. I mean, you’re already sagging a little now, aren’t you?”

“I’m not sagging! I’m not sagging at all! My physical age is much younger compared to my actual age! You’re always hunched over with your nose in books, and you have a turtle’s neck!”

“What? No, I don’t! My neck isn’t long and bent!”

Connor Lint looked over at me as Olivia and Harriet bickered.

“Are they always like this?” he asked.

“Yes... As you can see, they act like this—even here, of all places.”

“Ah...”

We hadn’t infiltrated the imperial palace yet, and there were no people in the alley, so it didn’t matter if they bickered. But they fought whenever they were together, even in this place. It was embarrassing.

I couldn’t even manage the relationships of those within my own household. ‘No, well, calling it a household is a bit much... I guess it’s more like managing a country...?’

“It’s still a long way until night. Let them fight.”

“O-okay...?”

—Your neck is bent, you turtle brat! Your spine must be hunched as well!

—What? You old muscle-pig!

—I’m not old! I’m not old, I tell you! I’m still in my prime! And I’m not a pig!

—You said that three years ago, so now you are old!

—Ahh! I’m really going to kill you!

If you don’t let it go, you’d lose.

***

Now that we had secured Connor Lint’s full cooperation, we had secured a high-level pass that enabled us to infiltrate quietly, even all the way into the mausoleum itself. His ability was almost like a cheat when it came to infiltration, even more so than Sarkegar’s.

If Connor Lint’s combat power were comparable to Cliffman’s, or even just Erhi’s, history would change. Connor Lint’s lack of combat talent and poor skills were like a balance patch.

Of course, I was the one who had made it that way. Frankly, if Connor Lint had combat power like mine, who could stop him if he decided to become the emperor of the continent? No one.

In a way, because of the overwhelming power of his ability, I had to force many disadvantages onto him.

With Connor Lint’s help, we made it past the walls of the imperial palace. We teleported to a place just inside the outer wall of the imperial palace, in a shadowy area where no one could see us.

There might have been guards above us, near the wall, but there was no one patrolling this part of the grounds.

“It’s so easy it’s almost disappointing,” said Harriet.

It would have taken us an age to analyze and understand the imperial palace’s barrier to find a way over the wall, or to even determine if it was possible. With Connor Lint’s supernatural power, however, everything was over in an instant, leaving Harriet feeling strangely deflated.

“Alright. The next location is over there.”

“Got it.”

We moved cautiously, over short distances, keeping close to Connor Lint. We stuck to darkened areas and secluded corners where we would be difficult to spot. Although it wasn’t completely impossible that we might be discovered, the four of us were still wrapped in magic that disguised and concealed us.

In the center of the imperial city was Tetra.

To the north was the Spring Palace, where Charlotte had lived.

To the east was the Winter Palace, which had once been Vertus’s.

We had no business in the now-empty Winter and Spring Palaces.

To the south were the government institutions, which included the Autumn Palace.

To the west was the Summer Palace, where the rest of the imperial family resided.

Our target was a temple on the western side, where the imperial mausoleum was located.

We had two options to get there: either cover the distance through teleportation by a series of small hops, or walk around pretending to be palace officials. The imperial palace compound was vast, with many people inside, and there was no need to be unnecessarily bold.

Pop!

Harnessing Connor Lint’s power, we moved slowly and cautiously, sometimes sticking to blind spots on rooftops or other areas, moving forward little by little.

Now that I was experiencing it firsthand, Connor Lint’s ability was truly beyond cheating. If I hadn’t balanced it, his power alone might have been enough to end the Gate Incident.

Soon, we found ourselves behind a flowerbed in a garden just outside the imperial mausoleum. It was located inside a large temple structure, and as Harriet had mentioned, two guards were standing at the main entrance.

To enter through the main entrance, we would have needed to secure an opening spell and either hypnotize or subdue the two guards. Otherwise, we would have to disable the building’s alarm systems with magic, weave noise-canceling magic around the area to stop any noise from escaping, and then break into the building from a blind spot.

With Connor Lint, though, none of those plans were necessary.

“We’re going straight inside.”

“Okay.”

Pop!

We teleported directly inside the temple where the imperial mausoleum was located.

***

As expected, no one was inside the temple. However, the interior was still lit.

Just in case, all four of us crouched down and looked around. There were long vertical windows, so anyone could look inside the temple where the mausoleum was located.

In front of the large chapel of the temple were large statues of the Five Great Gods, and in the center of the statues, there was a wide staircase leading underground.

I hadn’t expected it to be overly ornate, and overall, the chapel was rather gray. It seemed almost too plain, but this simplicity evoked a solemn atmosphere.

Both the solemn atmosphere of this mausoleum and the simplicity of the central palace Tetra suggested that the empire wasn’t interested in flashy displays. The Temple had a grander atmosphere than this, even if the Temple was ultimately an academy owned by the empire.

“Let’s go down.”

Crouching to avoid being seen through the windows, we went down the staircase.

Now, we didn’t have to worry about being seen from outside.

No one was allowed into this mausoleum unless it was a special occasion, so there was no one inside. As we descended into the excessively quiet underground of the imperial temple, through, we couldn’t help but hold our breaths. It wasn’t so much the possibility of someone being there that worried us, but rather what we were about to do.

The underground area was also lit.

As we descended the long spiral staircase, we entered an underground space with a high ceiling.

Like the ground level, this underground m was gray-toned, more solemn and noble than ornate.

We hadn’t seen any coffins as we descended. Once we arrived in that large underground cavity, we were greeted by four corridors, extending in four different directions from the center.

At the entrance of each corridor were different stone carvings.

“By any chance, those aren’t gargoyles, are they?” I asked, pointing to the statues of guards in the catacomb underground.

“I don’t feel any magical energy coming from them. And if there were gargoyles, I would have mentioned it first,” Harriet replied.

“Really? You’d think they wouldn’t install something like a tomb guardian?” Olivia asked.

Harriet sighed. “Well, if there’s an intruder in the imperial mausoleum, that means the imperial palace itself has been breached. So there wouldn’t be a need to make such things, right? Well, of course, we did manage to get in somehow.”

“Hmm, I guess that’s true.”

“Besides, they probably wouldn’t expect someone with bad intentions to successfully infiltrate the imperial palace and just to come to the mausoleum. They’d probably expect them to go somewhere else.”

“That’s also true. Nobody expects us to come here.”

“That’s right.”

This place was relatively poorly guarded, since it would be impossible to anticipate the crazy antics we were up to.

If money was the goal, they’d rob the imperial treasury or treasure vaults.

If assassination was the goal, there’d be no need to come to a place filled only with corpses.

If information was the goal, there’d be no need to come to a place filled with nothing but the silence of the dead.

In essence, this place held no value to anyone except the imperial family. We were a strange group of thieves who had come to the easiest place to rob, but would find nothing of value.

Then again, we had come to rob the remains of those who had left an indelible mark on human history, even if they held no value.

This mausoleum was a place with no value, but immense symbolic significance.

We stood at the intersection of the four corridors of the imperial mausoleum. Harriet stood still, examining the directions and symbols.

“North is the tomb of the imperial family. To the west lies the tomb of those who made great academic achievements. The eastern tomb is for artists, while the southern corridor leads to those who achieved military merit.”

What we needed were not those who were smart, artistically gifted, or of noble birth. We wanted those who had achieved military merit. We needed the remains of warriors who had achieved military merit equivalent to war heroes.

Connor Lint was holding onto my arm, seemingly nervous.

‘What’s with this guy?’

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I-I’m scared...”

Olivia was scary, and although Harriet had changed a bit, seeing her arguing with Olivia earlier had made him realize she was still prickly, so it seemed he’d decided to hold onto me instead.

‘People really don’t change as much as they seem to... But shouldn’t Connor technically be most afraid of me...? Ugh. Whatever. Damn it.’

“Why are you scared? We’re here to do something even scarier.”

“Th-that’s true... but still...!” Connor Lint whispered, even though there was no one else listening.

Even so, we were all subconsciously keeping our voices down, and our footsteps quiet, more because we were in a tomb rather than out of fear of being discovered.

It was somewhat amusing that those who had come to disturb the eternal rest of those buried here were unconsciously trying not to disturb the silence.

“Let’s go.”

Harriet took the lead, and we followed.

This was the imperial mausoleum, and not some labyrinth that expanded indiscriminately.

We walked down the corridor. After a while, it expanded, and we entered the mausoleum of heroes.

It was a wide-open space, with a long, straight walkway and stairs leading further down.

“This is the first floor of the mausoleum, and there are a total of five underground floors. I’ve heard four of the floors have actually been filled.”

This mausoleum housed heroes who would be remembered for their deeds.

The layout was quite straightforward. Stone coffins were sunk into the ground, leaving only the lids visible, and tombstones symbolizing the holy cross were placed in front of them.

The tombstones had inscriptions summarizing the achievements of the deceased and their brief biographies.

And behind those tombstones...

“There are even statues...”

Statues of the heroes, presumably sculpted in their likeness, stood behind each grave.

Some looked solemn, some dignified, and some were depicted in dynamic poses, wielding weapons.

The different styles of the statues were likely due to the different periods in which they were made.

[Rankruten, King of Frost.]

I wasn’t interested in the history of the empire, but history was a natural part of the Temple’s integrated curriculum. Thus, among these graves, I occasionally saw names of heroes from the empire’s history that I recognized, though I didn’t know much detail about them.

“There are some rather significant folks gathered here,” Olivia said with a grin. She recognized almost all the names on the statues and tombstones.

Each floor could hold about forty graves. Although there were five underground floors, only four were actually filled, but that still meant over a hundred graves in total.

Was that number small or large? It was hard to say.

“The hero party and the war heroes from the Gate incident are probably on the fourth underground floor... At least that’s what I heard.”

“Not all of them will be able to be reanimated. There’s a high chance that raising the really old remains won’t be successful.”

“So, we have to go underground?”

“That’s right.”

While we did not know if the burial practices of the empire would be able to preserve the remains, it was still likely that very old remains would be useless. We needed recently deceased bodies.

How many Death Knights could we reanimate from these tombs?

If we could reanimate them, and if the strength of a Death Knight depended on the strength and deeds of the fallen warrior, just how powerful could these Death Knights become?

We descended the stairs, going deeper and deeper underground.

We passed statues and gravestones of heroes, and finally reached the fourth level.

As soon as we arrived, we noticed the graves were different from those on the higher levels.

“Hmm, it looks like these five are definitely treated differently, huh?” Olivia remarked.

“They certainly are,” Harriot nodded in agreement.

Up until now, the gravestones and statues had lined the walls on both sides as we descended the stairs. As we stepped off the stairs on this floor, though, the five graves and their statues were placed directly in front of us.

And in the center of them all stood a statue of a man holding Alsbringer high, its blade pointed towards the sky.

The face was familiar, yet different.

[Savior of Humanity and Seeker of Justice, Champion of Alse.]

[The One and Eternal Hero]

[Ragan Artorius]

[May he rest in peace.]

In the center stood the statue of Ragan Artorius, flanked on either side by two statues of the hero party who fought alongside him:

Mellerun, the Mage.

Seizaria, the Priest.

Ragdna Olfi, the Ranger.

Shaydin, the Magic Swordsman.

These five, who achieved the greatest feat in human history by slaying the Demon King, were given the most special place even within this Imperial Mausoleum, the Hall of Heroes.

While the hero party’s tombs were placed right in front of us, there were still other tombs laid out along the sides.

Harriet checked as she looked around the corridor. “Based on the years, two of these graves were added after the Gate Incident...”

I saw the names as well, but did not recognize them. Though I didn’t know them, from the empire’s perspective, they had achieved enough merit to be here.

“Are you going to resurrect Ragan Artorius and the hero party as Death Knights...?” Connor Lint asked hesitantly, his face pale.

Everything else aside, Ragan Artorius was Ellen’s brother. Wasn’t it wrong to do that?

‘Aren’t you the last one who should be doing this?’ his eyes said. But technically, wouldn’t it be most fitting for me to do it? I was the Demon King’s son, after all.

“I know what you’re thinking, but Ragan Artorius’s body isn’t here.”

“Why?”

“Nothing of his body remained in the first place.”

It was an understandable question, since he didn’t know that both the Demon King and Ragan Artorius’s bodies had vanished in mutual destruction.

What if they had been there, though? If Ragan Artorius’s remains were here, would I have agreed to raising him as a Death Knight, or would I have opposed it? Olivia would probably have wanted to do it, and Harriet would have opposed it.

As for me... I was honestly not sure. Just as we decided not to resurrect Loyar and Mr. Effenhauser, I probably wouldn’t have turned Ragan Artorius into something like that.

But if the remains had been there, turning Ragan Artorius into a Death Knight might have been a very malicious and satisfying form of revenge for someone whose father had been killed by him. Not that I had any intention of doing that.

“We don’t have time to chat. Let’s proceed with the ritual. I don’t know how many we can resurrect, but let’s see.”

Swoosh.

The cursed sword Tiamata appeared in Olivia’s right hand.

There was no time for sentimentality, and there was no need to worry about the nonexistent remains of Ragan Artorius.

We were about to resurrect the greatest heroes in human history. Even if they were just shells, those shells would undoubtedly be imbued with great power.

Connor Lint’s eyes widened as he watched the ominous aura emanating from Tiamata.

“Now... shall we begin?” Olivia flashed a wicked smile.

The desecration of this century’s heroes by this century’s villains was about to begin.

***

It was nighttime, but no one was going to enter the mausoleum, and since it was deep underground, no one outside would notice our ritual.

Someone might sense the energy from afar, but Harriet was likely taking care of that, since she had told us not to worry about it. She seemed to have prepared some sort of plan for it.

Olivia stood in the center of the fourth underground floor, the cursed sword Tiamata planted in the ground in front of her, muttering something.

The dark energy from Tiamata seeped out and began to permeate each grave. It was clear that ominous energy was being infused into them.

Harriet, Connor Lint, and I sat at the edge of the stairs leading up to the third basement floor, quietly watching the ritual.

“But... Wasn’t that senior a priestess of Ouen? What’s going on...? And what’s with that sword...?” Connor asked.

Come to think of it, Connor Lint had followed us without knowing the details, so he had no idea how Olivia Lanche was wielding such a sinister power.

“It’s Tiamata.”

“Tiamata? But Tiamata is a holy relic, isn’t it...? Not something... as ominous as that.”

“I’ll explain it briefly: the Great Gods and the Demon Gods are actually the same beings.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“That’s still Tiamata.”

“Huh? No, wait! Explain it properly! What are you talking about?!”

“I’ll explain,” Harriet said, pulling Connor Lint aside.

Since I was being too vague in my explanations, Harriet decided to explain things more thoroughly. She covered the misunderstandings surrounding the Great Gods and Demon Gods, the realization of this power, and how the holy relic’s nature allowed this power to change.

The ritual took a long time, which gave Harriet enough time to explain everything to Connor Lint. Of course, it was still a difficult thing to understand or accept, even with a calm and rational explanation.

“Th-that’s... impossible...”

“Humanity’s understanding has been wrong all along.”

“But it’s strange. There are no such things as Demon Gods, yet there is... Demon Gods’ power? How can that be... Is that... Divine Power? Not dark magic...?”

“Think of it simply, Lint. The gods are just different from what we believed. The names given to the Great Gods are just names given to them by mortals. They might not even be the Great Gods we think they are.”

“That can’t be... That’s... impossible...”

Connor Lint didn’t have a particularly strong faith in the gods, but no one denied that the gods were supreme beings.

The Great Gods existed, and the Demon God Cult emerged in opposition. But in reality, even that might not be true, and the name ‘Great Gods’ might just be a name given to some absolute power. It might not be correct even to call them ‘Great Gods’.

In Rijaiera, I learned that vampires were a result of the gods. The gods were unknowable beings, just as I was.

I didn’t know if they had a will, and if they did, when and how it manifested. So, discussing the nature of the gods might be a pointless endeavor. However, one thing was clear—power existed, and it could be drawn out and manifested.

Wooong...

Connor Lint stared blankly at Tiamata, which was exuding ominous darkness.

There was no need for words like “impossible” or “that can’t be.” Such things were possible because they were happening.

What one sees is all there is.

“That’s... impossible...”

The pure power of the gods was being manifested in an opposite form.

Olivia was still muttering, completely still and focused on her task.

She had been that way for a long time. About two hours had passed since Olivia started the ritual.

“Ugh... ha... ugh...” Connor Lint yawned but then closed his mouth, perhaps thinking it wasn’t the right situation to yawn.

Well, a yawn wasn’t a big deal. I almost yawned, too.

“Does it usually take this long?” Connor asked as he inclined his head.

“Well, rituals are usually like that.”

I had never raised a Death Knight myself, nor had I seen Olivia raise one, but Olivia had taken all night to purify the corrupted Tiamata last time.

“Hmm... It might be fine over here, but if it takes this long, it might be difficult to perform this ritual at the national cemetery...” Harriet commented.

I considered her statement for a moment. “That’s true.” 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

I didn’t expect it to be easy, but if it really took this long, we might have to drastically revise our plans.

Here, no one would see us, but at the national cemetery, anyone could see what we were doing at any time, even at night. If someone noticed us, it would be rather troublesome.

—No.

Olivia shook her head, as if she had heard our conversation.

—It doesn’t usually take this long.

Pop!

Olivia pulled Tiamata from the stone floor of the mausoleum. Her brow was furrowed.

“Is it over now?” I asked as the three of us descended the stairs.

Had the Death Knight transformation ritual been completed, and had she absorbed them into the cursed sword?

Olivia shook her head. “It’s not over; it hasn’t even started.”

“What?”

“There’s no reaction at all. No matter how much Divine Power I pour in, nothing happens.”

Olivia stared silently at the unresponsive graves.

“Could they have done something to them? Did they purify or consecrate the remains with pure Divine Power to prevent them from reacting to such energies...?”

Olivia hummed, crossing her arms. “I’m not sure...”

“Could it be because too much time has passed since they died?” Harriet asked, and Olivia shook her head.

“I’ve heard from the demon god cultists that they managed to raise Death Knights from mummified remains, even if these reanimated remains were not as strong as other Death Knights. Honestly, with my level of Divine Power, I should be able to scrape together the remains in these tombs, no matter how little of them are left, and forcefully raise them,” Olivia replied.

Even if the remains had decayed and were on the verge of disappearing, Olivia was strong, and she had enough power to make it work. However, nothing was happening.

Harriet looked puzzled. “Did they prepare for such a possibility in advance? I didn’t hear anything like that from Charlotte.”

“Exactly. No matter how much she dislikes us, she wouldn’t make Reinhart go on a wild goose chase like this.”

Charlotte was a royal, so she would know something about the rituals around royal burials. If they had measures against such necromancy, she would have mentioned it.

“Maybe she didn’t mention it because it was too basic? That’s possible. Or maybe she trusted my ability too much. Honestly, even if the remains were consecrated and blessed, I should usually be able to raise them... Hmm... I actually managed to raise someone who had been cremated and turned to ash before... Maybe it’s because it’s the work of the empire? Maybe there’s something special I don’t know about....”

Olivia puffed her cheeks in frustration, as if her pride was hurt.

Watching her act cute while talking about raising undead made it seem as if Olivia had become something less than human.

Connor Lint’s face was turning paler and paler.

Whatever the case, this was a failure. We could not resurrect the remains in the Hall of Heroes.

“Well, these are special individuals, so maybe they did something special to their remains. It’s not the end, though. We can go somewhere else, right?” Harriet said, trying to comfort the unusually sullen Olivia.

Harriet was right; this wasn’t our only option. The national cemetery held a vast number of graves. It was a shame we couldn’t resurrect the heroes in the mausoleum, but there was no reason to remain there any longer.

“W-we’re going to another place...?” Connor Lint was overwhelmed by the idea that there was a second round of our heinous acts.

“Yeah, you don’t have to come along this time. We’d appreciate your help, though.”

“Ah, no... Well... What should I do...”

Connor Lint seemed unsure whether it was fortunate or unfortunate that our heinous act had failed.

We didn’t need Connor Lint for the national cemetery. Of course, his ability was the most useful one to have in case of an emergency, but Harriet could handle it since it wasn’t the imperial palace or the Temple.

Connor Lint seemed to be contemplating whether to continue participating in these acts.

We had attempted it but failed. We had not managed to desecrate the imperial mausoleum.

There was no need for him to be a direct participant in any further bad deeds if he didn’t have to.

Just as I was about to tell him that it was okay to back out...

“This is strange,” Olivia suddenly said.

“Strange? What’s strange?” I asked, and Olivia bit her lip.

“The fact that there’s no reaction at all. It’s definitely strange.”

Was it hard for her to accept failure? Indeed, Olivia had no rival when it came to wielding Divine Power. But if the empire had done something special or had set up special defensive measures, there was nothing we could do.

“This is really strange,” Olivia repeated as she suddenly walked over to one of the graves.

Harriet’s face turned pale. “Wh-what are you doing?”

Olivia crouched in front of a thick stone coffin and grabbed the lid with both hands.

Veins bulged on Olivia’s forehead.

“Ugh!”

Creak!

The massive stone coffin lid, which no ordinary person could move, began to move with the sound of stone scraping against stone.

‘What is she doing?’

“Ugh! Ha!”

Creak! Thud!

With a thud, the lid was moved aside. Olivia had forced open the closed coffin.

“I knew it...” Olivia’s lips curled into a chilling smile as she looked down into the coffin.

“It’s empty,” she said, turning to face us.

There was a moment of stunned silence.

“What?”

“Sorry?”

“Huh?”

“There’s nothing inside.”

I approached Olivia, wondering what she meant, and was dumbfounded.

The inside of the coffin was empty. Since it was a stone coffin, there should have been some traces left behind even if all the remains inside had decayed, but there was nothing at all.

Connor Lint and Harriet, who were also dumbfounded, hurried over and were equally stunned to see the empty coffin.

Was this like Ragan Artorius? An empty tomb to commemorate this particular hero, whose remains were unrecovered?

[Ludena Yen]

[The supreme hero who stood alone against the darkness of the Dark Land, protecting tens of thousands, rests here.]

I didn’t know who it was, but since the inscription said “rests here,” the remains should have been there.

Even as the three of us stood there in a daze, Olivia moved to the other coffins and began opening the thick stone lids one by one.

Creak!

Thud!

“Here as well.”

Thud!

“Here as well.”

Thud!

“Hmm.”

Thud!

Olivia’s expression hardened as she quickly opened the other five coffins.

“They’re all empty.”

It wasn’t that Olivia had failed. There were no remains inside in the first place.