The son of the God-Emperor in Warhammer Fantasy

The situation gradually worsened, and Matthew Bardhan was drenched in sweat. He couldn't understand why Farah had dropped the ball at such a critical moment.

Why did a death-domain archmage appear at the banquet? In all of Britannia, the only spellcasters with Holy Domain power aside from the Lake Goddess Sorceress Morgiana were two Lake Prophetesses: one, Berthier's chief lady-in-waiting and mistress, and the other, the head of the Saint's Monastery in Kurona.

Holy Domain archmages are as rare as they are powerful. At this level, even the highest nobles would treat them as honored guests, allocating significant funds for them to build wizard towers and conduct magical research, because they can change the entire battlefield with their power.

Across the mountain in the empire, there are a few more Holy Domain archmages, but even there, the number doesn't exceed ten.

So why was there a death-domain Holy Domain archmage at today's banquet?

There was no time for Matthew Bardhan to ponder this further. Thanks to Arkhan's guidance, he immediately realized that after repeated failures to summon, the death-domain archmage would soon locate the necromancer.

After some thought, he solemnly told the necromancer, "Stay here. I'll check the situation outside. If it's bad, we retreat immediately."

"Yes." The necromancer nodded repeatedly, aware of the gravity of the situation.

Matthew Bardhan quickly exited the room, laughing coldly. He then crossed the garden and ran towards the turret on the other side of the banquet hall.

The plan had failed.

No matter, he had a plan B.

The court wizard was dead, and without the magical barrier protecting the castle, escaping unnoticed would not be difficult. As he thought of this, a moment of hesitation flashed across his strikingly handsome face.

Should he go find Fiona?

After a brief consideration, Matthew Bardhan changed direction and ran into the castle.

Sure enough, within minutes, the Grail Knights in the banquet hall had donned their armor. Death-domain archmage Elspeth pointed into the castle, "The necromancer is there!"

"Go! Knights, follow me!" Grail Knight Fedmond led a group of Sea God Knights in that direction. Ryan, with the help of Emilia and Sulia, put on his Grey Knight psychic power armor, hung the Goddess of Vengeance on his back, and raised the Hammer of Thor. "I'm ready!"

"Let's go!"

Duke Berthier and Duke Bodrick stayed behind to hold the fort, while Laon and Ryan led many noble knights to charge towards the necromancer's location.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the castle where the necromancer Farah had taken the place of the former Bordereau court wizard, he was still trying to summon the Black Grail Knights and waiting for Matthew Bardhan to confirm the situation outside. The necromancer was deep in thought, considering that Matthew Bardhan might not be Arkhan's ideal protege.

Farah knew that Arkhan had adopted this abandoned child while exploring Britannia for the "Staff of Nagash" and raised him. The Lich King's life wouldn't end, so he didn't need a successor, but Matthew Bardhan must have been given some mission by Arkhan and sent to Britannia.

The footsteps outside jolted Farah from his thoughts. The footsteps were dense and chaotic, alarming the necromancer, who stood up abruptly, sensing something amiss!

Several minutes had passed. What was Matthew Bardhan doing? Had the Black Grail Knights infiltrated?

"The necromancer is here! Knights, prepare for battle!" Instead of Matthew Bardhan, it was Grail Knight Fedmond leading a group of knights and soldiers.

I've been betrayed!

The necromancer suddenly realized he had been betrayed.

Matthew Bardhan had betrayed and fled!

"Oh no!" Fedmond spotted Farah, the necromancer, standing amid fallen guards, while the court wizard of Bordereau lay dead. "We're late, but it's never too late for vengeance! Pay the price, necromancer. May the Lady grant us victory!"

"May the Lady grant us victory!" The knights charged into the room, heading straight for Farah.

"You won't defeat me!" Knowing he had been betrayed, Farah let out a terrifying scream, raising his goat-bone staff towards Fedmond, "Nagash's Gaze!"

A beam of purple-black light shot from Farah's eyes towards Fedmond. The Grail Knight dodged, but a Sea God Knight behind him was hit, his flesh stripped away, bones necrotized, and armor corroded into molten metal.

The air burned with the power of the necromancer's spell, capable of stripping flesh from bones in one strike.

But the knights of Britannia were undeterred. The Lady's knights had long proven their loyalty and faith through their actions, ready to dye the battlefield with their blood. Fedmond swiftly closed in on Farah, his body radiating primal courage, vowing to offer the necromancer's head to the Lady of the Lake.

Blades clashed, and Farah retreated clumsily, drawing an undead bone sword to fight back.

Close combat was not Farah's strength. Within two moves, Fedmond had him on the defensive. The Sea God-blessed scimitar, stained with evil blood, was ready to continue its duty.

Farah barely held onto his uncontrollable bone sword when two weapons attacked from the side. One Sea God Knight roared, thrusting a trident at Farah's arm, while another's scimitar followed, the sound of wind slicing through the room reaching Farah's ears. Screaming, he dropped the bone sword and pulled out a scroll, tearing it open.

"Bone Shield Wall!"

A massive wall of bones filled the room, finally blocking Fedmond's attack. The necromancer barely had time to breathe before a deadly wind blew through the room, shattering the bone wall like crumbling sand.

Elspeth, the Black Lady of Nuln, appeared before the necromancer. Her scythe traced a crescent in the air, the deathly wind swirling. Farah's final attempt at self-destruction turned to naught. He barely fended off Fedmond's attack when a bear-like fist struck.

Under the immense force, Farah felt his vision spin, thinking he had been flung away, hoping to escape by luck.

But the necromancer soon realized his body was still standing.

Ah, so my head flew off.

After his head was knocked off, Theodore Bruckner, the High Judge of Nuln, disdainfully glanced at the Sea God Knights and Grail Knight Fedmond. The Bretonnian knights glared at Theodore's "kill-stealing," but could do nothing.

Fedmond's face reddened. The necromancer was his prey! The Grail Knight felt deeply humiliated but had no grounds to blame Theodore's actions. This was Bordereau, and it was his and his family's failure to secure the banquet.

This was the way of the Grail Knights: they might have emotions, but they approached human conflicts rationally, neutrally, and objectively, striving for solutions everyone could accept and listening to all opinions.

Except for serfs.

"So… is the problem solved?" Theodore crushed the necromancer's head underfoot. Without Holy Domain power or being a vampire, the necromancer was truly dead, with Elspeth sealing his escape route.

"The problem is not solved." Ryan entered from outside. "I checked the guards' bodies. A necromancer couldn't have killed two fully armed guards in close combat. There must be an inside man among the guests!"

Ryan had observed the fight, deeming the opponent unworthy of his intervention and respecting the hosts of Bordereau. It wasn't his place to interfere.

"I've ordered the castle gates closed and all guards to search the guests." Fedmond issued the command.

"Yes, sir!" The guards dispersed.

"The castle gates are closed. The infiltrator has nowhere to run."

"Damn, the gates are closed."

A young couple ran towards the castle gate, only to see it closing slowly, with guards led by Sea God Knights searching guests.

"What do we do, Dominic? How do we get out?" Fiona was now in a panic, having never faced such a situation before. Her fear made Matthew Bardhan sigh, "Don't act like this, Fiona. Anyone can see your panic and get suspicious."

"Then what should I do?" The girl suddenly lashed out, grabbing his collar and shaking him, her pretty face twisted in anger. "It's all your fault! You insisted on attending this banquet, and now I'm in trouble! You're a fugitive! It's all your fault!"

"Shut up, Fiona, unless you want to attract the guards!" Matthew Bardhan's words silenced her, though she remained displeased.

Earlier, guards had spotted them leaving the corridor, but Fiona's angry rebuke had deterred them. As a lady from the Barleyon duchy, she enjoyed privileges, and without orders from the king or the Lake Goddess Sorceress, no one dared offend her.

This woman was still useful, Matthew Bardhan thought.

"Thank you, Fiona." The young knight softened his tone, his face full of affection.

"Huh? What are you saying?" Fiona was confused.

"Thank you for following a fugitive like me and being willing to do so much for me. I don't know how to repay you. You're like a star in the sky, a beacon in the sea, bringing a ray of light into my dark life. You're my sun." Matthew Bardhan held her hand, speaking passionately.

"Y-you! Why are you saying such strange things?" Fiona's face turned bright red as Matthew Bardhan spoke, her previous arrogance vanished. She backed away nervously until she was against the castle wall. "Don't come any closer!"

"I didn't mean it like that, dear Fiona." Matthew Bardhan inwardly chuckled. His godfather Arkhan, a legendary seducer in life, had taught him tricks that worked perfectly on a girl like Fiona. "To escape, we might need a little trickery. Fiona, do you see those two guards at the turret door?"

"Yes." Fiona nodded.

"You need to distract them and lead them away. I'll go first, and we'll meet at the Peacock Tavern outside the castle!" Matthew Bardhan whispered.

"Alright... alright."

A few minutes later, Fiona approached the two guards, asking for help to find her missing companion. Successfully diverting them, Matthew Bardhan slipped into the corner, climbed through the turret window, and dove into the castle's moat.

"Splash!"

The moment Matthew Bardhan hit the water, Elspeth sensed someone leaving the castle. She gripped her massive scythe, a purple magic circle flashed, and threads of deathly wind marked Matthew Bardhan's escape. "Someone has fled the castle. I've marked him!"

"Excellent! Knights, follow me!" Duke Bodrick, now fully armored, raised his Sea God trident. "Forward, for Bordereau!"

"For Bordereau!" The mechanism turned, and a group of knights on horseback charged out of the castle.

Matthew Bardhan had just climbed out of the cold moat when the Sea God's horn sounded. A large group of knights, led by Grail Knight Fedmond, charged out of the castle towards him.

"The enemy is by the moat!"

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"

"By Mannan!"

Damn it, they've found me!

Matthew Bardhan, soaked to the skin, instinctively reached for his sword but quickly realized he couldn't face such a formidable enemy alone. Apart from over a hundred Sea God Knights, there were Duke Laon of Connet, Duke Bodrick of Bordereau, and Count Ryan of Glamorgan!

There was no way he could take on such powerful opponents alone.

He had to sacrifice something.

The Duke of Mousillon silently took out a golden skull from his cloak, chanting ancient, profound incantations.

Darkness descended, and black mist surrounded him. When the pursuers arrived, three figures in black heavy armor, wearing dragon-winged helmets and wielding lances and shields, riding undead warhorses, emerged.

Their armor and shields bore the cursed symbol of the black grail, infused with terrible necromantic energy. The once-noble souls of these soldiers were desecrated, yet their former strength was now even greater.

In one clash, four or five Sea God Knights were killed instantly.

Duke Laon of Connet, who had accompanied the pursuers, saw the three black figures and shouted urgently.

"Black Grail Knights!"

...

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