“Snap! Tap-tap-tap!”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying... Silvia, do you understand it?”
“No. How could I understand that?”
“Snap! Tap-tap-tap!!!”

The skeleton soldiers were banging on their ribcages in frustration, trying to communicate.
I was about to start wondering what the heck they were saying when, in the distance beyond the hill, Yuria appeared.
She was carrying a Dark Elf over one shoulder.

“I’ve brought the Dark Elf you mentioned. It wasn’t far from the palace, and when I searched the hill that overlooks the whole palace, I found him hiding in a hut.”
“You made sure to subdue him, right?”
“Yes. I placed magic restraints on him, so now he can’t use any mana.”
“...”

Thud.
Yuria threw Sephiroth in front of me without much thought, casually letting him land on the ground.
However, Sephiroth’s condition was strange.
His body was stiff, almost as if he were unconscious, and he was muttering something in a barely audible voice.

When I leaned in closer to listen,
he kept repeating, “Vermont will destroy the world...”
He was babbling nonsense.

“Sigh... Let's handle this chaos first. Assess the injured.”
“Yes, Count.”

The once-grand palace had now turned into a battlefield.
Walls were crumbled everywhere, and the nobles who had come as guests were all knocked out cold.
The soldiers and guards were scattered around, some with minor injuries, others severely wounded, all laying on the ground.

“What in the world happened...?”
“How did the palace end up like this?”

The legion soldiers were on the ground, groaning from mana exhaustion.
They all looked bewildered, glancing around in shock.
From the looks in their eyes, they were definitely freed from the spell.

“Ughh...”
“...”

Amidst all this, Reinhardt was soundly asleep, snoring.
Perhaps it was because he had taken the full brunt of the necromancy’s energy, causing his mana to drop sharply and knocking him out cold.

“Hukhukh! Are you okay!?”
“Tap-tap!”
“Ah! Ah! There are so many broken bones?”
Most of the skeleton soldiers were unharmed.
Sure, there were some skeletons with broken bones, but bones could always be reattached.
So the losses were practically nonexistent.

‘It’s a perfect victory.’

Five years.
Five years of Sephiroth scheming within the 4th Legion, preparing for this strike.
Yet, in one night, I managed to thwart all of his plans and wrap things up without a single casualty.

I wanted to shout in triumph, but I held myself back.
If I said something like, “Did we finish it?” it would probably bring the dead back to life.

“Phew. Finally, is it over?”
“Hey!!!”

“Ah! What are you...?”

At that moment, Silvia had jinxed us.
The ground shook with a loud rumble.
Could there still be remnants left?

From the underground passage, animal corpses suddenly began tumbling out, one after another.
They piled up and merged together, forming a huge black jelly-like mass.

“What the hell is that, Sephiroth?”
“Ha ha ha! You finally woke up! Give up! That thing is a chimera, created from the collective resentment of the countless dead from all over the Elven Kingdom! It’s a monster born from the unjust deaths of millions!”

“...!”

Suddenly, Sephiroth regained his composure and gave a triumphant smile.
The black mass began to swell rapidly, growing larger by the moment, and soon it was almost as big as the palace.

Every time the mass took a step forward, the earth shook, and the buildings crumbled as if they were made of paper.

‘Now that is true necromancy. Why am I the one who gets the bad reputation?’

What? A chimera created from the vengeful spirits of the wronged dead and the bodies of animals?
Why should I, a necromancer who controls undead soldiers and wields a somewhat ugly-looking holy sword, be branded as a dark magician when something like that exists?

It was absurd and infuriating, and for a moment, I felt a tightness in my chest.

“Silvia. Charlotte. Yuria. Fall back. I’ll take the lead.”

Facing the approaching massive chimera, I prepared the skill once again.
Perhaps because I had used the broad Necromancy spell earlier, I was now more accustomed to its manipulation, and I could make more precise adjustments to the range.

The range was aimed directly at the front.
I made sure to designate that those behind me would not be affected, and as soon as I launched the skill, black smoke billowed out, enveloping the chimera.

[“Grrraaargh!”]
“It seems to have no effect, Master.”
“No, wait! Look closely! It’s moving slower!”

At first, I thought the chimera was completely unaffected by the necromancy.
However, its once relentless advance slowed down drastically, almost as if it were moving in slow motion.

It seemed that, like any creature relying on mana, it too wasn’t immune to mana exhaustion.
But it was clear that it wasn’t simply the necromancy that had completely neutralized it.
The chimera was a separate entity, born from the magic that Sephiroth had created—it wasn’t just manipulated by it anymore.

“Everyone, get back! That thing’s ridiculously strong and incredibly dangerous!”

At that moment, Charlotte, with a highly excited expression, raised her mighty sword.
Yuria hurriedly began moving the injured soldiers out of the way, clearing the path.

Finally, everything in the way between Charlotte and the huge chimera was cleared, and Charlotte, chanting a spell, struck down with her sword.

“Rrraaargh!!!”

With a deafening crash, purple aura erupted from Charlotte’s sword, shooting toward the chimera like a mountain-splitting force.

The chimera was split in half with a single blow, as if it were soft tofu.
As Charlotte withdrew her aura, the chimera collapsed, and when the dust settled, what lay before us was a large crater with the chimera split in half.

“Is it finally over...?”
[“Grrrr...!”]

Just as Silvia chanted the finishing spell, the massive chimera, which had seemed dead, began to twitch and stir again.
The two halves of its body seamlessly rejoined, and before we knew it, the chimera was up and moving again as if nothing had happened.

“Ah...!”

Charlotte, who had been exhausted from mana depletion, now looked pale with despair on her face.
It seemed like this was the real challenge.

[“Rrraaargh!!!”]
“Hukhukh!? Why have you returned?”
“It’s because I can’t let the ones who promised me chocolate cake die!!!”

[The Evil God, ‘Kali,’ cheers for the Great Spirit to keep going!]

With a loud crash, Hukhukh reappeared, charging at the chimera, and a wild scene unfolded as the two massive beings clashed.

At first, it seemed like Hukhukh was pushing the chimera back, but due to the size difference, Hukhukh began to be pushed back slowly.
It was impossible for Hukhukh to overpower such a creature by force alone.

The only way to defeat it would be to...

"Now that Hukhukh is holding it back, it’s up to me. If it won’t die after being slashed, then I’ll keep slashing until it does."

"That's an incredibly reckless thing to say... But this time, it seems like it's the right answer."

"I'll finish it quickly. Yuria, cover me."

"Yes, Master."

Slashing it again and again until it dies?
It sounded absurd, but it was the only option left.
There’s no such thing as unlimited power in this world, and likewise, a creature that regenerates infinitely doesn’t exist.

If we keep slashing until it dies, eventually, the chimera will reach the point where it can't regenerate anymore.
However, how long would that take? How many times would we have to slash it?

No one knew the answer.
But still, without hesitation, Silvia and Yuria gripped their swords and rushed forward.
They moved in perfect harmony, as if they had fought on the battlefield together for years.

"Yuria, wound the chimera’s body, and Silvia, strike the final blow before it heals!"

"Yes!"

Slash! Slash!

Yuria swiftly moved, each time slashing the chimera’s massive body, leaving deep cuts.
Before the wounds could heal, Silvia dashed in and thrust her sword into the cuts.

Boom!

With every chant, a loud explosion echoed, and bright flashes of light filled the chimera’s body.
It was as if we were trying to carve through it with magic-infused sword strikes.

It seemed that the chimera couldn’t withstand the continuous explosions from within.
As Hukhukh started to push back, it was finally weakened enough that it began to collapse.

[“Grrrr...”]
[“Kyaaah! This isn’t being pushed back! I’m just lying down because I’m tired!”]

The chimera bellowed, swelling its body once more, and with its defiant roar, it continued to advance slowly, crushing everything in its path.

"Haah, haah... Is this really not enough...?"

By now, Silvia had collapsed from mana exhaustion and was unable to get up.
Charlotte and Silvia were both exhausted, and even Hukhukh was out of commission.
It seemed like the end was near.
There was no way to stop the chimera now.

"Yuria."
"Yes, Master."
"Take Charlotte and Silvia and get them to the panic room. It’s the safest place in the palace, even if the palace crumbles."
"Yes, I understand. But what will you do?"
"There are still people left."
"...!?"

The guests in the banquet hall were all knocked out, scattered and lying unconscious on the floor.
If I were to leave them like this, they would inevitably be trampled by the chimera, dying without a doubt.
That would mean the Empire’s high-ranking officials would be wiped out, and Sephiroth’s plan would be a success.

I couldn’t let that happen.

"Fine, I’ll stay behind and save them! Please, Master, you go ahead!"
"How am I supposed to carry both Silvia and Charlotte by myself? Charlotte, maybe, but Silvia is too heavy for me. You’re the only one who can do it."
"Master, but..."
"There's no time! Go now!"
"..."

Yuria, who had been looking ready to protest, nodded and began to carry the unconscious Silvia and Charlotte toward the panic room.

Once they were safely out of sight, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Haah..."

But how could I save all of these people by myself?
It was impossible.
It was just an excuse to get Yuria away from here.
I had a secret weapon left, one that I could use only when no one was watching.

[“Grrrr!”]

While the huge chimera advanced, roaring, I slowly stepped toward it.

[The Evil God, ‘Kali,’ warns you: If you don’t stop now, you will die!]

[The Evil God, ‘Kali,’ strongly urges you to run away right now!]

[The Evil God, ‘Kali,’ is appalled by your decision to face death head-on!]

Kali had been nagging nonstop, but now it was clear—she knew that I wasn’t planning on stopping.
Even if I were to be crushed by the chimera, I wouldn’t stop.

‘Do something, Kali!’

Kali had never interfered in the real world much before.
But would she really sit idly by and do nothing while I was at risk of dying?

[Villain’s Constitution]
[Passive Skill]
[You are loved by Evil Gods and Demons without reason. You are easily noticed by them.]

I relied on the curse of Aslan’s accursed constitution.
I was someone loved by the Evil Gods.

If they truly cared for me,
if they didn’t want me to die,
Kali would have to step in herself.

I placed my trust in Kali and took a gamble with my life.

[The Evil God, ‘Kali,’ tears up and descends into the mortal realm...]

Boom!

Just as the thunderclap pierced my ears, a flash of blue light blazed before my eyes.
For a moment, I felt like I had been hit by a flashbang, and everything turned white.

When I regained my sight, the once massive chimera was completely shattered into pieces.

[“Grrrr...!”]

For a while, it seemed to struggle to regenerate, but eventually, the black mass of its body stopped moving.
It was thoroughly destroyed, not even the smallest trace left of it.
It couldn’t regenerate anymore.

Had Kali really intervened and come to the mortal realm?
I turned around to see her.

“Did you take advantage of my weakened state to violate my body, huh? How did it feel? I’ll give you a chance to leave your thoughts as your last words.”
“Ah...”

I was met with a chilling smile from the Emperor’s sister, holding up a blue electric sword, Tempest, as she looked at me.