Chapter : 117
The day the necromancer, who had summoned the God of Death, chose to fulfill the empress’s wish was the day of Theo and Liriope’s wedding.
The God of Death could only regain its original power if the wish of the soul sacrificed for life was fulfilled. Therefore, the necromancer targeted the moment when Theo would be most defenseless.
It was also because he had realized too late that Theo, who could wield all three elemental magics, could not be easily killed. And he thought that, at that moment, he could also eliminate the bothersome Liriope.
However, the problem was Rosearin, who could see the invisible evil spirits—the most special power of dark magic.
The necromancer agonized over how to prevent Rosearin and everyone from the family from safely attending the wedding on the day of Theo and Liriope’s marriage.
After countless hours of planning, he decided to spread a plague across the Melzevian territory timed to the wedding.
A plague was a disaster that spread quickly in the shortest time, and the Melzevian family would rush to contain it, leaving no one free to attend the wedding.
So, the dawn of the wedding day arrived, and the necromancer began spreading the plague across the entire Melzevian territory using dark magic.
“Plague?”
Liriope’s eyes widened.
[Yes. I’ll clean it up as quickly as possible, but I might be a little late. I’m contacting you in advance because I thought you might be upset.]
Rosearin appeared on the communication device looking exhausted, probably from spending the morning purifying the plague.
[I’m really sorry.]
“What are you talking about? There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. I want to go there right now too, but as you know, the wedding will start soon…”
[What if Liri comes to the plague area? I’ll make sure to purify it as fast as I can so I won’t be late.]
“I’m fine, so don’t overwork yourself.”
[I want to see you. Liri, you look really beautiful today.]
Rosearin finally smiled brightly as she saw Liriope in her wedding attire.
Liriope smiled back and thanked her.
Rosearin, frustrated that she couldn’t see the wedding in person, promised to hurry and ended the call.
‘The necromancer…’
Liriope looked down at the darkened screen, her expression serious.
She had been complacent, thinking that the necromancer had fled to another country.
And of all days, he chose today to spread a plague—not just anywhere, but in the Melzevian territory. She couldn’t understand his reasoning.
‘If you’re spreading a plague, wouldn’t it make sense to do it somewhere the sacred-power-wielding Melzevian couldn’t get to quickly? No, why has he suddenly started acting again?’
Her unease did not easily fade.
Especially when she remembered the empress who had disappeared as soon as she heard the necromancer had spread the plague in Melzevian territory. It left a very uneasy feeling.
‘I can’t leave this. After the wedding, I need to ask Kadin to find the empress’s whereabouts.’
Unaware that the empress had sacrificed her life to dark magic, Liriope decided that the first step to prevent the original tragedy from occurring was to secure the safety of the missing empress.
As she wore a serious expression, Gemma quietly sent away the attendants who had been fussing over her attire.
Once the attendants bowed and left quickly, Gemma adjusted Liriope’s veil and spoke.
“Don’t worry too much, Liri. It’s Melzevian territory, after all. What great danger could there be?”
Liriope nodded slowly at Gemma’s words, and Gemma continued.
“Though it’s unfortunate that something like this happened on your blessed wedding day, you could also see it as fortunate, right?”
“……”
“Think about it—if the plague had spread somewhere other than Melzevian territory, many people might have been unable to attend the wedding. So I believe this too is God’s way of blessing your marriage.”
“……Yes. I’m fine, Gemma.”
Liriope smiled at Gemma, who was trying to lift her somber mood, and checked her reflection in the mirror.
‘Right, this is the wedding I’ve been waiting for. I should enjoy it.’
As she forced a smile and looked into the mirror, Gemma adjusted the transparent, glowing accessories and said:
“Today is a happy day, and Liri, you are the most beautiful woman in the world. So smile with joy.”
Liriope nodded at Gemma’s words.
At the same time, Theo also wore a serious expression as he looked in the mirror.
He adjusted his black tuxedo and wondered why the necromancer had spread the plague in Melzevian territory of all places.
“Rose and her family are handling it as fast as possible, so it won’t spread elsewhere,” Kadin said calmly, standing behind him with his arms crossed, watching Theo’s reflection.
Theo glanced at Kadin through the mirror and then returned to straightening his attire.
“Have you found your mother?”
“I’m looking. Since she disappeared with the guard following her like a shadow, we’ll find her soon.”
All the empire’s knights received identification badges, which they primarily used in daily life.
So Kadin was confident that the guard who disappeared with the empress would eventually use their badge, allowing them to locate her precisely.
Unaware that the empress had already decided to sacrifice her life to the necromancer and had sent all her assets abroad with the guard.
“Find out as soon as possible. Something feels off.”
“The feeling of unease is just your imagination. Melzevian territory will be sorted out quickly, so don’t worry and focus on your wedding with Liri, the one singing happily.”
Theo, still serious, glanced again at Kadin through the mirror.
“Can’t I skip visiting the countess’s lady?”
Kadin immediately shook his head and frowned.
“Don’t even mention it. She said if you don’t attend Liri’s wedding, she’ll never forgive you.”
“Haha.”
A lazy laugh escaped Theo, though his face didn’t smile.
“But I might sound rude saying this…”
“You’re always rude,” Kadin replied, and Theo answered as if it were obvious. Kadin’s eyes narrowed.
“Wouldn’t you be the same?”
“So what?”
“…I just thought, if something like this happened at your wedding, I can be reassured about mine,” Kadin admitted, rubbing his nose awkwardly.
Theo scoffed at Kadin.
“Selfish, but at least since the bad luck has been used up, nothing worse should happen, right?”
“Shut up and go take your place before His Majesty the Emperor arrives.”
“I’m going.”
Kadin frowned and turned toward the door but glanced back at Theo.
Through the mirror, Theo raised an eyebrow at Kadin, clearly asking, ‘Well, why?’ Kadin chuckled softly.
“You look pretty good today.”
Theo’s eyes widened slightly at the compliment, and Kadin spun toward the door, continuing:
“Of course, if I put on my wedding attire, I’d turn you into a Tazne in one hit.”
Tazne was the name of a particularly ugly plant with large leaves.
The necromancer poured most of his dark power into the lying, blindfolded God of Death.
Although he needed to reserve enough dark power to control the invisible evil spirits and the God of Death, he was born with a dark power stronger than any other necromancer, so he had more than enough to pour into the God of Death.
He worried briefly whether using the souls of non-human monsters would cause a problem.
But since there was no other way, he placed the monster souls into the corpse that the God of Death would inhabit.
He had little expectation of success, but as soon as the number of souls needed was filled, the monster corpse containing the God of Death began to transform into the God of Death’s true form.
The necromancer silently rejoiced.
With the noble soul of the empress, the dead souls, and a sturdy body, more than half the work was already done.
Not much remained.
‘Now, I just need to fulfill the empress’s wish.’
Once Theo was dead, and the God of Death regained its full power, the long-awaited revival of dark magic would begin.
The God of Death, restored to its original strength, would fulfill the necromancer’s wish by killing all nobles in the empire with elemental powers.
‘Soon, a world ruled by dark magic will come.’
Those with dark power, long despised and forced to hide beneath the surface of the empire for decades, would finally rise to the center of the empire.
The strongest among the necromancers believed he was born for this.
His father, who had researched dark magic in the underground without seeing the light, and his companions had believed the same:
Through your power, a world where dark magic is respected will finally come.
They had lived for this.
And now, the moment to reap that fruit had arrived.
The necromancer gazed down at the God of Death, slowly opening its eyes, exhilarated to the point of goosebumps.
The God of Death, strikingly human in appearance, had horns on both sides of its forehead.
It looked more like a demon than a god.
“Grrrrr.”
A breath, like the growl of a beast, escaped from the opening eyes of the God of Death.
The necromancer bowed slightly to the God of Death, which slowly rose to a seated position, and said:
“Welcome to the Empire of Gardeia, Lord God of Death.”
