Ch.938History and Dark History

Maugis, Renault, Astolfo.

Three of the Great’s Twelve Knights resurrected through half-soul magic.

They were the greatest military strength that Feyrus currently possessed.

Long ago, just before he abandoned his position as a saint, massacred the upper echelons of the Holy State, and fled.

Instead of going through the main gate of the mausoleum where the remains of the Twelve Knights were buried, he dug a tunnel in the rear and secretly smuggled out two corpses and three thought entities.

Though time constraints limited him to only three, even that was already a more than sufficient harvest.

Feyrus forcibly captured the three thought entities and, after nearly a century of brainwashing, successfully transformed them into his loyal subordinates.

Afterward, he asked Astolfo’s thought entity, whose body wasn’t buried in the mausoleum, about the location of his corpse and managed to obtain it as well.

‘…That was my limit back then.’

Though Feyrus had obtained three sets of remains and three thought entities, he had no choice but to leave them dormant for a long time.

Since he too was subject to the constraints of Heaven’s Wall, he lacked the ability to do more at that time.

Moreover, even if he succeeded in resurrecting the Twelve Knights, they would be incomparably weaker than in their lifetime due to the Wall’s restrictions.

However, now that the fourth Holy Grail had been destroyed and the Wall was beginning to reach its limit, Feyrus finally gained the power to attempt their resurrection.

Not just power, but the knowledge required for it as well.

‘I have you to thank for that, Meiharin.’

The third apostle who betrayed him and was presumed dead after being eliminated by Haschal.

The leader of the eastern sorcerers with a lineage spanning over eight hundred years.

Through their exchanges and partial sharing of magical knowledge, Feyrus was finally able to complete the foundation of the ritual to resurrect the Twelve Knights.

Creating artificial bodies based on the remains of the Twelve Knights, summoning and invoking their souls using the remains as a medium, and overlaying their consciousness with the brainwashed thought entities to complete them—these three superhumans.

That was the true identity of the three knights standing before him now.

‘…It’s still difficult to call it a complete resurrection.’

The three resurrected knights possessed enough military might to easily eliminate a dragon between them, but even this was somewhat weakened compared to their lifetime.

During their lifetime, Heaven’s Wall had been thinner than it was now, so to truly recreate their prime strength, another layer of the Wall would need to be destroyed.

Additionally, their armaments were somewhat inferior compared to their lifetime.

Unlike in their lifetime when they fought with sacred objects including their Oath Swords, they were currently armed with weapons forged from dragon scales.

Except for Maugis, who needed his weapon restored after being bitten in half by a dragon.

Unlike Maugis, who was buried with his sword because he had no direct descendants, Renault had stated before his death that he had passed his weapon to his nephew. After that, he didn’t know what happened to it.

And as for Astolfo…

“My weapon? Don’t know! It was something big that stabbed well, is it this? Oh, or maybe this was my weapon?”

When asked where he had placed his weapon, he merely alternated between pointing at the spear Feyrus had given him and between his own thighs.

“…Forget it. My mistake for asking.”

“Mistake? I don’t know what it is, but I forgive you! Because you’re my lord? Something like that!”

Was it a mistake to have perfectly recreated his original personality to preserve his combat abilities?

Feyrus sighed deeply, feeling the same headache that assaulted him whenever he held apostle meetings.

As if scolding his three-hundred-year-old self for choosing someone like Astolfo of all people.

Of course, even back then, Feyrus had aimed for particularly powerful members of the Twelve Knights like Rotholandus or Olivier rather than Astolfo…

‘…I was in too much of a hurry then.’

It couldn’t be helped at the time. If he hadn’t acted quickly and escaped the Holy State, he would have been captured by the high paladins and burned at the stake.

That’s why the result of grabbing whatever he could was the three knights before him.

Maugis, who was cut in half while facing a dragon despite controlling a corrupted Oath Sword, and Renault, who ranked in the middle tier among the Twelve Knights.

“Ah, I think this really is my weapon after all. Want me to show you?”

“…No, that’s fine.”

And Astolfo, who might have been better off with his consciousness completely removed.

—-

“Hmm… if that’s the problem, we have no choice but to lure out this strong fellow who shouldn’t be killed.”

Maugis, the white-bearded middle-aged man whose upper body was held in Renault’s hands, offered his own answer to Feyrus’s concerns.

His answer was to lure Haschal far away and then eliminate Demian as quickly as possible in the meantime.

In terms of difficulty, luring and killing Demian would be the easiest method, but as long as Haschal kept hovering around Demian, it would be impossible to lure him away separately.

“A common but correct opinion. Now, would you also teach me exactly how to lure only him out?”

Feyrus asked in a tone that suggested he was stating the obvious.

“Summon an army of demons to draw them out of the fortress, spread the army widely to divide them, and one of us will act as bait to lead him alone into pursuit.”

Maugis explained his detailed plan.

It sounded like an utterly ordinary strategy, but strategies are always fundamentally simple and straightforward, even if the detailed process is complex.

Even to Feyrus, it didn’t sound like the nonsensical ramblings of a hopeless dreamer.

“You make it sound so easy. Does this army of demons just fall from the sky when convenient?”

Except for the most important part—the explanation of how to summon the demon army was missing.

“It used to be that way. Not anymore. However, I happen to possess such a power, so there’s no problem. I’m a bit short on mana, so I’ll need your help, my lord.”

“…You possess the power to summon an army of demons?”

Feyrus’s expression twisted strangely.

A face that asked why he would have such a thing. For him, it was hard to believe that a member of the Twelve Knights would be involved with demons.

“That’s news to me as well. What’s this about, Maugis?”

“Hmm? Renault, you couldn’t have known, but even you who summoned us has such a reaction. I must have hidden it well.”

Maugis smiled sinisterly and chuckled.

“I lived quite a long time… and well, spending my later years in a weakened state, I began to doubt whether Elpinel was right. So, as a pastime, I researched demons and eventually crossed over to that side.”

“…What?”

“Good heavens…!”

A confession that he had fallen to become a demon follower in his later years. It was shocking for both Feyrus and Renault who were listening.

“Who was Elpinel again…? It sounds strangely familiar, like someone I embraced in bed once… Ah, that was Erphin! Then is this her sister?”

To the extent that they couldn’t even pay attention to Astolfo’s nonsensical remarks as usual.

“No, you did such things after I died?”

Renault was so surprised that he momentarily dropped Maugis’s upper body.

Even Renault, who had now become no different from a demon follower, couldn’t imagine that Maugis had become one in his later years, since his old memories remained intact.

“Such things? I didn’t do anything in particular. I died of old age before I could try anything. Quite disappointing.”

Maugis answered with an awkward smile.

He had fallen to become a demon follower while researching demons, but his lifespan ended before he could use any of the powers he gained, and he died without accomplishing anything.

It wasn’t something to be sorry about. In fact, thanks to his sudden death, his fall to becoming a demon follower was never discovered and was quietly buried.

That’s why he was enshrined in the mausoleum; if his fall had been discovered, he wouldn’t have been buried after dying of old age but would have gone straight to the stake.

And then he would have been an object of curses and insults for generations to come, or his records would have been completely erased.

“……”

A truth about one of the Twelve Knights that he hadn’t known even during his time as a saint of the Church of Elpinel.

Feyrus stared blankly at Maugis for a while, then nodded greatly with a face that suggested it was for the best.

Seeing that even one of the Twelve Knights had given himself to demons, he was convinced that his choice to abandon Elpinel was correct and justified.

“…Alright, I understand. I’ll need to verify the scale of this demon army… but I’ll keep it in mind as a viable strategy for now.”

After some deliberation, Feyrus decided to put Maugis’s proposal on hold. It was a natural decision for him.

If things went as smoothly as described, they might be able to eliminate the owner of Gram without issue, but if they failed, he could lose all three of his strongest cards at once.

—-

And ten days later.

Alvheim attacked the Holy State.

“These crazy elf bastards. What the hell are they…!”

“It’s the forest! A tidal wave of forest, a flood is charging in!”

As a tidal wave of giant trees swept across the borders of the Holy State.

It was a truly extraordinary surprise attack that even the knights of the Holy State who had been on guard against them couldn’t have predicted.