Chapter 328

But no matter how much they pondered, they couldn’t figure out what was really going on. No matter what tactics they tried, turning the tide of battle at this point was impossible.

‘It’s strange that the Triangular Alliance’s forces aren’t visible anywhere. Where did they go?’

Suppressing their unease, the commanders of the Four Kings Fortress shouted orders.

“Everyone, give it your all!”

“They won’t hold out much longer anyway!”

And so, the battle grew fiercer.

Meanwhile, at that moment—

On a low hill overlooking the entire plain—

Christian stood with his arms crossed.

He had already arrived at the designated turning point.

“Brother.”

Tern and Kashmir, standing beside him, wore anxious expressions as they watched the Dark Alliance falter.

But Christian shook his head.

“Not yet.”

They had to wait a little longer.

Until his plan could yield a perfect result.

Time passed slowly, little by little.

Below, the fierce fighting continued relentlessly.

The Dark Alliance’s troops, desperately holding their ground, were visibly weakening.

It was a heart-wrenching sight.

So far, the casualties weren’t severe.

But if their formation collapsed, a merciless slaughter would follow.

Then, just as the Dark Alliance’s forces reached their limit—

“Tern, contact Father. Order the center of the formation to pull back.”

Tern’s eyes widened.

If they did that, the formation would completely fall apart.

But without question, Tern relayed the command.

Soon, the formation began to shift.

Though the order was baffling, even Count Kazar trusted Christian and followed it.

The Four Kings Fortress’s forces surged into the center, and the Dark Alliance’s formation started to crumble.

At that moment, Christian’s eyes flashed sharply.

‘Now.’

The time had come.

“Kashmir, signal.”

“Yes, understood!”

Kashmir unleashed the full force of the blazing flame energy into the air, and the battlefield’s movements suddenly froze.

“It’s the Crown Prince!!”

[Christian!! Foolish brat! Showing up now won’t change anything.]

The two sides’ reactions were starkly different.

The Dark Alliance erupted in cheers, seeing hope.

But the Four Kings Fortress’s demons sneered.

The fight was essentially over.

Yet—

“Tern, Kashmir. Begin.”

Twelve coffins were arranged around Christian.

As they opened, the skeletal remains of the Twelve Star Saints were revealed.

From afar, the commanders of the Four Kings Fortress frowned.

“What is he trying to do with those?”

“Could it be…?”

Some narrowed their eyes, sensing Christian’s intent.

“Impossible… Is he trying to recreate the miracle the Twelve Star Saints once performed?”

Long ago, the Twelve Star Saints had wrought a miracle that halted the advance of the Four Kings Fortress.

But they quickly shook their heads.

“That miracle was only possible if the Twelve Star Saints returned alive.”

“What can you do with bones long dead?”

Those who had secretly feared Christian’s arrival now let out relieved, mocking laughs.

Yes, this time Christian was wrong.

It was absurd.

“Don’t waste time. Kill those Dark Alliance vermin!”

“Bring Christian here alive!”

But then, something astonishing happened.

A low hum.

Dark magic flickered from Christian’s hand, and one by one, the skeletal remains of the Twelve Star Saints rose from their coffins.

Necromancy.

[!!]

As the Twelve Star Saints gathered around Christian, the demons of the Four Kings Fortress murmured uneasily.

“No, don’t worry. Necromancy and the power of light are opposites! Moving bones left behind as undead won’t accomplish anything!”

They were right.

Even if holy knights or saints were raised as undead, they couldn’t wield the power of light they had in life.

But—

“My power is different from your inferior energies.”

Christian smirked.

At the same time, his domain of dark dominion spread around him.

But this time, it looked different.

Within the deep, impenetrable darkness, stars of various colors appeared.

Deep green, crimson, violet, gold, ash gray—

Each color symbolized a different kind of dark power.

All forms of darkness shone as if worshipping the void.

Not only that.

A brilliant star of light also rose within the darkness.

Light, too, was paying homage to the dark.

A majestic spectacle.

Christian’s unique domain, the “Seven-Colored Sovereignty,” was finally revealed to the world.

A domain that placed everything—light itself—beneath his feet.

It also meant Christian had finally reached the eighth star rank.

“Unbelievable…”

“What kind of domain is that?”

Everyone on the battlefield swallowed hard.

Christian’s domain wasn’t large in scale.

After all, he had just barely reached the eighth star rank.

But size didn’t matter.

What mattered was the ‘meaning’ contained within.

It was extraordinary at a glance.

Simply witnessing it stirred an overwhelming awe that made resistance impossible.

“Bow down. Submit to me.”

With a gesture, the Twelve Star Saints knelt before Christian.

At the same time, the stars of light within the Seven-Colored Sovereignty radiated dazzling brilliance.

As if worshipping a king.

Then, an unbelievable miracle unfolded.

A brilliant light began to surge from the bodies of the Twelve Star Saints.

The power of light that still lingered in their bones!

The shock didn’t end there.

The darkness deepened.

As if, receiving the worship of light, the authority of darkness grew stronger.

Within the suffocating darkness, the power of light also intensified.

This was the ability of the Seven-Colored Sovereignty.

To amplify the powers under his command through darkness.

Christian had also taken an additional step—secretly sharing the power of the constellations embedded in his soul with the Twelve Star Saints.

Thanks to this, the Twelve Star Saints could, for a brief moment, wield power rivaling that of their living days.

Christian extended his hand.

“Clear out those filthy things.”

A veil of darkness enveloped the Twelve Star Saints.

Under the blessing of darkness, their bones shone with overwhelming light.

They unleashed the miracle once granted by the constellations—the “Flood of Light.”

A brilliant flood of light burst forth, sweeping over the armies below the mountain.

[Kyaaaaaaah!!!]

[Kiyaaah!!!]

The Flood of Light was a purifying power that cleansed unholy beings that should not exist in this world.

It was deadly to spirits, undead, and the like.

The unholy creatures caught in its path screamed in agony.

Of course, high-ranking spirits and undead were not severely affected.

But the lower-tier spirits and undead were all either destroyed or forcibly recalled.

Mid-level beings weren’t destroyed but suffered significant damage.

In a large-scale war, that was a critical blow.

Moreover, the Flood of Light didn’t just harm the spirit legions.

“Guhhhk!!!”

“Aaahhh!!!”

Here and there, the Four Kings Fortress’s sorcerers coughed up blood in pain.

They were those who had made pacts with demons.

‘The Flood of Light also harms demon contractors.’

It was like fire meeting water.

The Gehenna energy dwelling within the demon contractors flared wildly.

Though not fatal.

The damage was enough to require some time to recover.

The problem was, the battle was at its peak.

And as mentioned before, the Four Kings Fortress had many demon worshippers.

Having so many of them temporarily unable to fight was a devastating loss.

The tide of battle flipped in an instant.

“Th-This can’t be…!”

“Summoning sorcerers, fall back and regroup! Combat sorcerers, move forward!”

“The combat sorcerers are exhausted too!”

“!!”

It was thanks to Christian’s deliberate delay.

The sorcerers who had used offensive magic to break the Dark Alliance’s defensive formation had already depleted their strength, leaving the Four Kings Fortress helpless.

“Everyone, retreat!”

“Fall back and reorganize the lines!”

But it wasn’t easy.

Before making his move, Christian had intentionally ordered the center of the formation to pull back.

Because of that, the Four Kings Fortress’s forces had penetrated deep into the Dark Alliance’s center and were now surrounded on both flanks.

Above all, Christian had no intention of letting the Four Kings Fortress go quietly.

He had a trick up his sleeve.

‘It’s about time they arrive.’

Just then, a loud sound echoed beyond the horizon.

Something was rapidly approaching.

The demons of the Four Kings Fortress widened their eyes as if their eyes would tear.

“Beasts! The Triangular Alliance!”

The beasts were ridden by the demons of the Beast Magic faction.

On their backs rode demons from the Sword Magic and Illusion Magic factions.

The Triangular Alliance’s forces charged into the already chaotic flank of the Four Kings Fortress.

“Kyaaaah!”

They weren’t alone.

Screeches filled the sky as flying beasts appeared, also carrying demons from the Sword Magic and Illusion Magic factions.

As the flying beasts attacked the center of the Four Kings Fortress’s formation, the lines completely collapsed.

“Don’t let them escape!”

“Kill them all!”

“Kyaaaah!!!”

The demons of the Four Kings Fortress resisted, but with their formation broken, they were no match.

Massive casualties began to mount.

“How dare…”

Lord Pliton of the fortress roared in fury, his eyes blazing with a terrifying light.

A Nordian sneered.

“That’s the power of my grandson.”

[!!]

“See? You should’ve raised a proper grandson. But then again, your kids were nothing but bastards. When the seed’s rotten, what can you expect? You’re a dog, so your children are dogs too.”

[That bastard…]

A chilling aura of death surged forward, but was blocked by a wave of darkness.

Nordian’s eyes gleamed with a terrifying light.

“You still don’t get it. Unless you resort to cowardly power-ups, you can’t beat me.”

[!!]

KRAAAASH!!

The darkness Nordian unleashed pushed back Lord Pliton’s white death realm.

“Waaaaah!!”

“Long live Lord Nordian!!!”

Seeing Nordian like that, the morale of the Dark Alliance’s demons soared, and they pressed the assault on the Demon King’s fortress with even greater ferocity.

And then, the final blow came.

Christian joined the battle.

“Christian!!”

Count Kazar shouted.

“Thank you for your efforts, Father.”

“Hmph.”

Count Kazar’s face tightened with emotion.

How much heartache had this mad son caused him all this time?

There were countless things he wanted to say, but all that came out was this one line.

“…Glad you came back safe.”

Yes.

He was a father.

More than the failure of the mission, what worried him most was his son’s safety.

Christian felt a familiar warmth in his chest and smiled faintly.

“Leave it to me now.”

He raised his sword.

“I won’t waste time with words.”

In that instant, all eyes turned to Christian.

“This is the moment of victory. Kill them all.”

“Waaaaah!!”

“Long live the Grand Prince!!!”

And with that, everything was decided.

The Demon King’s fortress was utterly defeated and forced to retreat, the blood spilled by its demons turning the plains a deep, crimson red.