Chapter 167: Chapter 167

CHAPTER 167

After confirming the success of Laficel’s experiment, Tesranak sent the three vanguard members back into the past.

The designated space-time regression coordinate was this very moment.

It was the point when his master had been killed by Emile Strauss, and Tesranak inherited the powers, becoming the new necromancer.

It was the same case for Karnak.

Since they transcended space-time using necromantic power, the same contact point had to exist in the targeted past.

“But I heard the three vanguards ended up returning to very different times,” Demphis continued, shaking his head.

“In Laficel’s case, we can’t even figure out the situation, so we don’t know at which point in time they regressed.”

The departure times for the vanguards from the future were nearly simultaneous. However, the times they arrived in the past varied.

Archmage Elezar returned to five years ago from the present.

The fallen Pope of the Sun, Zedex Thieland, went back seven years.

And Dreltain Telix reportedly regressed over ten years into the past compared to the current timeline.

“Ten years?”

Baros, who had been listening, turned in surprise to Karnak.

“Is it possible to have such a large error?”

“In theory, it makes sense…”

Setting space-time regression coordinates could be compared to drawing a wide target board based on the moment one mastered necromancy.

“Shooting an arrow doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll hit dead center every time, does it?”

In reality, both Karnak and Baros had missed their exact target time slightly and returned two months later than intended.

Of course, ten years was excessive, but since Tesranak wasn’t sending himself, it made sense that the margin of error would be greater.

“It’s like using a crossbow bolt on a longbow string. Naturally, the accuracy would decrease,” Karnak explained.

Baros asked again, “So does that mean, young master, that you could have returned to a time before you mastered necromantic power?”

Karnak shook his head.

“That’s not the case.”

Since necromantic power was the anchor, his past self also had to possess it.

“But in this case, Tesranak wasn’t sending himself but others.”

In such cases, the margin of error between past and future could widen.

“For instance, you, Baros, only regressed because you were along for the ride with me, with no connection to necromantic power.”

“Oh, right.”

Demphis, sensing their hesitation, smoothly continued the explanation.

“I’ll continue then.”

***

Until the three vanguards gathered, Tesranak’s plan couldn’t proceed.

Moreover, Dreltain from ten years ago wasn’t the Martial King yet. Zedex, who would become the Pope of Latiel in the future, was still just an ordinary cleric at this point.

As seen in Baros’ case, even with the soul of someone possessing experience and prowess from the future, overcoming the limitations of the body takes time.

Both were preoccupied with gaining power and couldn’t make overt moves.

However, Elezar was different.

At the time of her return, she was already an archmage and the Imperial Mage of the Empire.

“Thus, the plan began to unfold five years ago.”

Elezar used her imperial authority to start her work behind the scenes.

The two who arrived earlier could only establish their forces after receiving her assistance.

The Church of the Dark God was founded, and the faith in Tesranak, the god of death, quietly spread across the continent.

Once all three vanguards had secured their positions, Tesranak moved on to the next phase of his plan.

He opened space-time and attempted to regress himself as well.

“However, he didn’t return directly to the past.”

While Karnak only sent his soul and abandoned his powers, which allowed him to travel to the past without issue, Tesranak wanted to retain all his power.

Unable to abandon Astra Spiritus’ power, Tesranak first settled in a void, scattering his power across the past world.

This was known as the “Event of the Darkness of Doom.”

As Tesranak’s powers spread throughout the world, the Church of the Dark God grew even stronger.

They collected the darkness of doom, bestowed it upon their followers, expanded their influence, and further shrouded the world in darkness.

“Naturally, the world didn’t just sit back and take it.”

A prophecy was delivered to the Church of the Seven Goddesses. The entire world united to fight against the coming doom.

But the wise god of death, Tesranak, had anticipated everything and prepared accordingly.

Before sending the three vanguards, he had already taught them how to fuse Astra Spiritus’ power with their existing powers.

Thanks to this, even powerful individuals who became followers of the Dark God could retain their aura, mana, or divine power while becoming necromancers.

This proved highly effective in expanding the cult’s influence.

No matter how powerful a mage, aura user, or even a cleric might be, few could remain indifferent in the face of pain and death.

Moreover, this wasn’t the only measure Tesranak had in place.

The three vanguards were just that—a vanguard.

This meant that there was still a main force and a follow-up force to come.

These were individuals who had once been the strongest among humanity but were now loyal subjects of Necropia, the empire of the dead.

Tesranak planned to regress them too, to help resist the opposition of the past.

“However, there remained a tricky problem.”

When regressing his followers, he couldn’t predict which point in time they would arrive at.

Without accurately pinpointing the timing, the plan could not proceed properly.

“To solve this, Tesranak bestowed further knowledge upon the three vanguards.”

When a ship is trying to reach a harbor but can’t find its way due to a storm, it must dock roughly near the shore. But if you want the ship to hit the mark, you need a lighthouse in front of the harbor to guide it.

The knowledge Tesranak provided was how to build a “space-time lighthouse” in that harbor called the past.

Demphis fished out something from his pocket.

“This is it.”

It was a shiny, pitch-black cube, swirling with dark patterns on its surface.

“It is a fragment of the Transcendent Space-Time Monolith, a temporal beacon that designates a specific point in the space-time coordinates, reverse temporal transcendent device.”

Karnak and his companions all froze at the sight.

“Huh?”

“That thing…”

They had all seen it before.

Karnak also took out an identical black cube from his pocket.

“This, right?”

Now it was Demphis’ turn to be shocked.

“How does Lord Karnak have that? Did you make it yourself?”

“No, not really…”

Karnak pondered briefly.

How should he explain this? A strange witch had been rampaging around, so he dealt with her, and this appeared?

“Give it to me for now.”

Despite the sudden request, Demphis obediently complied, handing it over without hesitation.

“Here you go.”

Karnak alternated between looking at the two cubes, letting out a sigh.

“You’re telling me this has something to do with the space-time monolith?”

Even though he had reached the pinnacle of necromancy and personally crafted the space-time monolith, he had no clue about the origin of this cube.

No matter how skilled a watchmaker one might be, they’d still have to open the watch to examine its insides, right?

The darkness was compressed too tightly to unravel and examine properly.

‘But with a second sample…’

Baros quietly asked from beside him.

“Did you figure something out, young master?”

“Let’s hear the rest of the story first. I need to organize this information.”

***

With the knowledge of the reverse temporal transcendent device, the three vanguards, now saints of the cult of the Dark God, were able to guide Tesranak’s main force from the future.

However, creating the reverse temporal transcendent device came with its own issues.

It was something no living being could create.

“That makes sense.”

Karnak, listening to the story, nodded as if it were obvious.

“If it’s a regression ritual related to the space-time monolith, living beings shouldn’t be able to interact with it. That’s the logical theory.”

Demphis continued.

“But the three vanguards couldn’t abandon their living bodies.”

As the top leadership of the cult of the Dark God, they were tasked with spreading the faith across the continent. To do so, they had to maintain their outward identities.

“It wouldn’t do for Archmage Elezar to suddenly appear as a zombie, would it?”

Instead, they needed someone capable of creating the reverse temporal transcendent device—someone undead.

Unfortunately, in the current era, no such individual existed.

“But in the future, they did.”

Demphis pointed to himself.

“That would be us.”

The four governors of the Necropia Empire.

East: Malloca, West: Calaf, South: Demphis, and North: Tirapat.

Tesranak regressed these four Arch Liches from the future to the past.

Their mission was to gather the darkness of the current era, create the reverse temporal transcendent device, and summon the remaining Martial Kings and Archmages to this time.

“Once all the Martial Kings and Archmages return to this land, their overwhelming power will surely allow the cult of the Dark God to dominate the world.”

The conditions for Tesranak to descend with all his powers were simple.

As long as his faith was the most widespread in the present world, it would be enough.

They didn’t need to conquer the entire world. They didn’t need to become the sole religion.

“To put it bluntly, as long as the cult of the Dark God is even a little larger than the church of Seven Goddesses, the condition is met?”

“Exactly. Once Tesranak descends, there’s no need to worry anymore.”

Demphis’ mission was to summon the future’s Martial King, Laven Strauss, to this land.

“I’ve been preparing in secret for years and was about to perform the Descent Ritual when I happened to run into Lord Karnak, and it all ended in failure.”

***

With that, Demphis’ explanation came to a close.

Karnak was lost in thought for a moment. Then he suddenly asked.

“So…”

He lifted one of the black cubes in his hand, the one Demphis had given him.

“You made this, right, Demphis?”

“Yes. I just did as instructed, though I still don’t fully understand the principle behind it.”

Demphis’ voice grew a bit smaller.

Even though he was a master of 9th-circle magic, it seemed embarrassing to admit that he didn’t understand something.

“In that case…”

Karnak now raised the other cube, the one created by the mysterious witch.

“Who made this one?”

“I’m curious about that too…”

“Do you not know either?”

“I don’t. It’s not like whoever made it left their name on it.”

“I guess that’s true.”

Karnak put both cubes back into his pocket and asked.

“But still, it was one of the governors who made it, right?”

Demphis shook his head.

“Not necessarily. None of the other governors have arrived in this time yet.”

Serati, who had been listening, chimed in.

“Oh, but didn’t you all set off together?”

“As I mentioned earlier, just because we set off together doesn’t mean we’ll arrive together.”

Demphis spoke respectfully to Serati as well.

While Baros had been Karnak’s loyal servant since a previous life, Serati was merely a regular servant. There was no need to be this polite.

But…

‘Considering how close Lord Karnak seems to be with her, it’s better to be cautious,’ Demphis thought.

He continued his explanation respectfully.

“We returned to this time without a reverse temporal transcendent device, just like the three vanguards. That’s why I was the first to arrive.”

Of course, there was always the option of acquiring another exceptional mage, converting them into an undead, and having them create it.

Or perhaps another governor had already arrived without his knowledge.

“Though I haven’t heard any such reports…”

Demphis’ voice trailed off, lacking confidence.

“Communication within the cult is so poor that I can’t say for sure it hasn’t happened.”

“I see…”

Karnak muttered quietly, rubbing his temple.

“So this is… another world of sorts?”