The Lord Is Too Overbearing

Galvin looked up with a perplexed look. "What the heck is that abomination?" he couldn't help but mutter.

Clicking his tongue, he let go of Georgios' neck and distanced himself from the former Ninth Circle Mage. Its intention was unclear; he couldn't read anything from the abomination but he didn't want to take a risk. From the way it came and how it looked, it was obvious that it was not their aid.

Swish!

When the thing landed beside Georgios who was massaging his neck, Galvin took a good look at it. Only then could he tell for sure that it was indeed August who was reported to be dead slightly more than a week ago.

He wondered if the information was nothing but a lie to keep August's betrayal confidential, so he planned to ask the person himself. He soon abolished his plan, however, as he saw what was hidden underneath the robe that loosely adorned his body.

There was a long stitch mark running down his entire torso. His skin colour was sickly, heavily resembling a dead person's. Black small veins could be seen decorating almost every part of his body. Something sickening was rushing through them. Galvin wasn't an expert in the human body but he could tell August was by no means human anymore.

"Truly, what is this abomination?"

"It is something that hits harder than you do."

Galvin turned his eyes upwards the moment he got the reply that he didn't expect. A woman slowly came down from the sky and then graciously landed beside August. Galvin stared at the alluring woman from top to toe and couldn't help frowning. He wondered who she was. He didn't know Basil had her under him.

"Who are you?"

"The one who created this masterpiece. The first Golem created from flesh!"

"So, you are a Necromancer. I didn't expect that brat to have such a sick-minded person under him."

"Necromancy is inferior to what I do," the woman retorted, offended. "I am a creator and an innovator. I created this bad boy instead of forcing it to move with my Mana!"

"He has more lunatics under him than I thought, eh?" Galvin scoffed.

The alluring woman, Dantalion, frowned. She was by no means amused by the reaction of the simpleton before her. She was well aware that she wouldn't be able to fight him and win but that didn't become the reason why she had to be afraid of him. After all, her masterpiece could beat the simpleton for her.

No longer wanting to waste her breath on Galvin, Dantalion scoffed disdainfully. She patted August's shoulder and then flew to the part that had the most people fighting. Georgios blinked his eyes in bafflement at how carefree she was before turning to Galvin. He scratched his neck awkwardly and then cleaned his throat.

"I think I am going to go too. You can have fun with this…" Georgios looked at August and then patted his shoulder hesitantly. "…bad boy. Anyway, I hope you have a great time." Without waiting for a response, Georgios chased after Dantalion and joined the others.

Cursing under his breath, Galvin gazed at August tensely. The fact that he couldn't read anything from August irked him to no end. He had a similar feeling when he faced a Golem but he had never been this nervous. He could somehow tell August wouldn't function and behave like any other Golem.

"Well, why don't you—"

Boom!

Galvin was cut by the sudden Mana explosion that August caused. His eyes widened in utter bafflement as he watched the scene before him. August had materialized his nine Magic Circles. It was an unprecedented event. Golems never had a Magic Circle.

"Cripes!"

The strongest power one can have over one's enemy is information. Galvin didn't have any information about the Golem August before him, so he decided to back off. Immediately, the Golem chased after him. That caused him to curse under his breath but he was ready to take on what was coming.

Unfortunately, he forgot to take into account the fact that the Golem August was not the August that he knew.

Shatter!

His pupils constricted as he watched the Barrier that he had hastily erected shatter. August moved faster than he could anticipate. August didn't even need to cast a Spell to break his Barrier. It was flimsy, he concurred, yet raw usage of Mana wouldn't make it possible to break it. Especially, if the one who did it was not specialized in Mana Manipulation.

Only some people were good at Mana Manipulation and of them was a Battle Mage. August was not one, so it made him wonder how August could do what August had done. Certainly, he already knew the answer. August becoming a Golem must have to do with it.

Flash!

As troublesome as the situation had become, he didn't plan to back down—not until he was forced to do so. After teleporting himself, he took a glance at the soldiers. They were starting to get overwhelmed but they still had a chance of winning. No; they had a sure chance of winning as long as he managed to take August down.

Swish!

As he thought so, August appeared before him once again. His breath hitched as he looked into the eyes of the Golem. The eyes contained one thing: kill. Casting another [Teleportation], he was horrified to find it not working. The space had been sealed. The Golem August still could function like a proper Mage.

….

Watching everything ongoing through [Visualization], Basil hummed lightly in appreciation. So far, everything had gone according to plan. If Galvin remained stubborn, they would be able to take another Empire's Ninth Circle Mage down. If he didn't, it wouldn't matter since defending Padeitophys was the priority.

He knew what the Empire would do next if they failed to infiltrate Padeitophys—attack the Kingdoms that sided with him. They did fail in overtaking Grittenhein but the same might not be true for Frachtenhein. Especially, when a Ninth Circle Mage was involved. No matter how distasteful it was to admit it, Frachtenhein would be a lost cause should it happen.

Fortunately, Basil had a way to prevent that from happening. Commotion. At this point, causing an internal discord was close to impossible. He had roped in as many powerful humans as possible to his side. Those who stayed wouldn't join him unless something happened. Therefore, his next target was the civilian.

The scrolls that he gave to certain individuals about the truth behind the Pacifer massacre had caused so much stir that the majority of influential people in Braxtein had changed sides as easily as flipping a coin. None of them questioned the truth.

It proved that people still had doubts regarding what the Church preached. Even if what he gave them was the truth, they only needed a story that made everything click into places to change sides.

He had more to share and, this time, it was no longer for the influential people. The rumours about the Church's corruptness were popular amongst the civilians. None of them talked about it, of course, in fear of getting punished. Still, the seed of doubt had been planned. They needed the last push to stop believing and began questioning.

"Share it."

Thus, the order was given. The truth was shared with the civilians. Basil's Shadows from around the world distributed the scrolls of truth like they were newspapers. Some even went as far as preaching about it in front of the Church, uncaring of the ramifications.

A commotion happened. Many people called the Shadows crazy at first but they stopped doing so the moment they saw how the Executioners, the Priests that were allowed to kill, end the life of the Shadows. If peace and safety were the purposes of believing in the religion, why was violence needed? They began to question something that they never questioned.

The Church wasn't happy with the development. It only had two choices to handle the situation. First, it had to reassure the people until it got their trust back. Second, it could kill those who yapped about the truth which would reveal its true nature. The latter was more appealing in short term but it wouldn't do them any good long term.

Basil had done them dirty.

"Only those who bury something in their backyard are afraid to dig a hole there," Basil remarked, deactivating [Visualization]. He had been using it for three days straight.

"Something good happened?" Iliana, who walked beside him, asked. "You look more cheerful than you always are."

"I am glad that you have gotten rid of the cloud in your mind."

"Tsk. I don't still forgive you—that was a dick move."

"Just tell me what I should do to make you forgive me, I will do it."

Iliana hummed for a couple of seconds before slapping Basil's buttocks. Basil quirked an eyebrow and she merely grinned at that. Focusing their attention on the front, a solemn look adorned their faces. According to what Basil sensed, the Pacifer village was already nearby. They wouldn't sweat about it if they weren't close to an Obelisk.

There was no village in sight, which meant it was located behind the Obelisk Barrier. Basil didn't need to tell them about it—they figured it out by themselves. They wondered what happened and how the Pacifer were faring. Given the situation, of course, they couldn't help thinking of the worse situation.

A restrained grin crept up Basil's face as he stared at the Obelisk ahead. The First Obelisk, also known as the Obelisk of Bael. It was the last Obelisk he cleared before his death. Thinking about how Goliath, the Obelisk Master might treat the people related to him made his blood involuntarily boil.

Goliath was not a challenge for him in his past life. It wouldn't be different in this life. Should Goliath commit something that he shouldn't, he would make Goliath pay dearly. No one should mess with the people he held close.

"My Lord…this is the end of the way," Xander said, prompting everyone to stop in their tracks.

"Indeed. It is the end of the way," Basil remarked, looking at the Obelisk Barrier that separated them from the land behind. "It doesn't mean that we have to stop walking, though."

As his company's eyes widened, Basil extended his hand. His Pacifer Seal glowed brightly in gold. When his finger touched the Barrier, it wavered. It looked like water that rippled after someone dropped a stone on it. Their eyes widened even further when a gap that was big enough to let them through appeared on the Barrier.

On the other side of the Barrier, they could see a group of women looking at them with bewildered eyes. All of them were healthy but looked stressed.

"You are…Maya's child."

Those words made Basil sure that he had found his home.