The castle fell into chaos with the consecutive, diverse, and mysterious attacks and assassinations.

The chaos peaked when the Cardinal fought the Arc Knights and declared a Holy Purge as he sensed great darkness in them.

Molibius went out in anger and began to take over the command and ordered the execution of several key individuals he was suspicious of.

These officials were a mix of those who were secretly supporting the Serpentari and allied with the King.

The upheaval in the castle was great, and the entire kingdom of Martsirt was all roused to take action.

But as that was happening, a group of people had successfully left the town through secret entrances and waited for the arrival of Dyne.

Soon, the bushes began to rustle, and everyone waited in expectation.

“Finally out of that Castle!” Dyne laughed.

“Master Dyne!”

“Lord Dyne!’

The group called out.

Chrone, Jaden, and Ardnula appeared.

Soon, the King emerged.

“I can’t believe we pulled this off…” An amazed Chad sighed.

“Alright, gang. I hope our horses are ready.” Dyne asked.

“We managed to secure several caravans. Ever since the rising factions, we have already prepared an escape plan for our group.” Ardnula explained.

“Good! All that’s left is to move out.”

“Master Dyne. How will we go back and use the portal to head towards that forest? Are we going to attack them?”

“No. It would be too suspicious if we attacked it. We still have to make it look like the enemy isn’t us! If we attack that portal, then the Serpentari might suspect the involvement of those allied to the King.”

“Then how are we going to pass by if we don’t attack it?” Ardnula frowned.

“He will attack it.” Dyne pointed to the King.

“What?!” Everyone was shocked.

“Relax. Not him personally. His army will.”

“My army?”

“Chrone… You said that all the knights are buried in that cemetery, correct?”

“The Catacombs of Heroes. Yes.”

“It’s clear that His Majesty Ciroel is a very charismatic and powerful King. But his majesty has not yet attained the full potential of his power.” Dyne smiled.

“Let’s go! I’ll explain along the way!”

Dyne was so excited that the group couldn’t understand why he was so perky and jumped from one place to the next.

Soon, Dyne explained his plan.

“What we need to do is attack that place with a powerful force full of great darkness that the Serpentari will think another Afarit has plotted to take over the land! Make no mistake! The Serpentari have been trying to minimize the casualties in their plot to overthrow your kingdom! They want the people, the knights, everything because they will soon be fighting another army of Afarits in a distant place!”

“Then you plan to have Emera attack them?” Ussylys asked.

“No. It would be dangerous for her to do so. She needs allies. Allies of darkness.” Dyne smiled.

“Then… could it be me?” Chrone asked. He could control the monstrous Ape form and could fight. With the two of them, it would have been possible for them to deceive the Serpentari.

“Against numerous knights?” Dyne challenged.

“I could join.” Ussylys offered.

“We could all join. And then we could also have Master Dyne control a group of zombies. I heard from the rest that you could do that?” Arya added. When she met up with Chrone and saved the King, the long trip leading out of the castle was mainly spent on Dyne explaining more of his abilities, as reported by Jaden. And so, the stories of how Dyne had summoned zombies.

“That would work and was actually my original plan. But the zombies I make are weak. I can’t control them as well as I want them to. Not to mention that base has a lot of mages and powerful warriors. We need more men that are strong enough to fight. Our goal isn’t just to sneak in, but we are to subdue the entire portal and make it ours. That way, the Serpentari won’t attack it.”

“Then where can we find more monsters and creatures that we can use to aid us in the fight?”

“There is such a place. And if all works well, we can gather an army!” Dyne laughed.

“Raise an undead army?!” Everyone was shocked.

“A Skeleton army.” Dyne corrected and then continued to explain more of the details.

Dyne had huge trust towards Basileus Basileon. With such precise arrangements, he naturally assumed those other elements of the games revealed to him would be the same.

And so, Dyne assumed one thing. King Ciroel is definitely King Leoric of the Diablo series. And in that game, he is a man of great potential and power. King Leoric of Diablo fell into madness when Lazarus kidnaped his son. But even though the mad King was crazily killing people, he still had many loyal men.

And if Dyne were right, a certain knight would be among those that Dyne could call to become one of his Einherjar!

“Originally, the plan to raid that place was to use Bishop Chrone’s monkey form aided by some cloaked stranger. But now, there is a chance that we can do this! Thanks to the dark, powerful artifacts that we got from that Abrellam. He has the powers of summoning and bestowing death upon people. With Jedo and my genius, I could use that and apply it to the bodies of these skeletons!” Dyne concluded.

“Me? Summon a Skeleton Army?!” Ciroel was bewildered.

“But summoning the dead will bring ghastly powerful creatures!” Ishreth argued. Although she believed that if Dyne brought this up, it would definitely be possible, her hesitation was placed on how to ensure the control of these dark creatures.

“That is right, Master Dyne! Playing with ghosts and ghouls aren’t things that we should meddle with!” Chrone added.

It was then that Emera’s head peaked out of Jedo. She had already returned and found Dyne through her connection.

Everyone was silent. The appearance of a Revenant made most of their arguments false.

“I can help Valkyrion in controlling any restless and rebellious spirits,” Emera promised.

“Right. Emera’s addition was the last part that convinced me to pursue this route. I was afraid of fighting an army of skeletons. But with someone who could tame any spirits by my side, it’ll be easy!” Dyne assured.

“You’re certain you can do this?” Ciroel asked again.

“I have a few weak souls in Jedo. Wait… Where are they? Ah… Emera, you turned them into your minions?”

“Yes. They are now my Wights.”

“Wights? They went down a level?” Dyne remembered that Wights was the un-upgraded form of Wraiths in Heroes 3.

“I dispersed the energy of my Wraiths and divided them to all souls. With their power, they can possess a corpse and have it fight too. This is all thanks to the help of Senior Apprentice Jedo.” Emera confirmed.

Jedo was quiet, but the pain of a distinguished Ra-Seru such as himself to be referred to as Senior Apprentice by a Revenant felt so weak that he wept once more.

Dyne wiped the water off the Ra-Seru, annoyed at Jedo’s strange hobbies.

“Well, at least he’s smart enough to teach you something. He’s supposed to be some master, but I thought him more than he thought me, honestly.

“Lord Tieg… Was I evil in my past life?” Jedo wept at Strafe.

“Actually, yes. You deserve this.”

“Please kill me and let me be reborn as a Lippian.” Jedo begged.

Ignoring the conversation that only Dyne could hear, Dyne then explained the rest of the plan.

“Once we manage to ally with them, we will have to make them march at a slow but noticeable rate. Martsirt must notice this. But since the castle is in chaos, they won’t attack but put up defensive measures. And this will allow our skeletons to ignore them and attack that location where the teleportation pad is.”

“But, erm… Master Dyne…” Ciroel was now uncertain how to call Dyne. If what Dyne claimed was true, he knew well that he shouldn’t disrespect Dyne if he could raise an army of undead skeletons.

“Everything you said was something involving you and these artifacts you said you acquired. But why did you say that it would be through me?” Ciroel asked.

“Because we aren’t going to follow the same tricks of resurrecting them and making them fall into my control, but yours. King Ciroel, I can see just how loyal your knights are. Serpentari’s betrayal is not caused by disgruntled countrymen of Martsirt but was seduced by the dark powers of the Afarit’s threatening this planet. Through my powers, I can summon their resting souls. And once that happens, you convince them to join you!” Dyne explained.

"Summon them?!"

“The horrors that have plagued this world are quite powerful! I have a way to show them and convince them of that. And most of all, the atrocities that plague the kingdom is full of betrayal and greed. The loyal knights who have made their vows will be enraged when they learn this. We have here Arya, Ussylys, and Emera, who are victims of the plots that yearned to smear the legacy of King Ciroel. Those knights will rise and follow you, O King!”

Ciroel was silent. Secretly he is horrified.

“My King. The time for kindness is not now. If you truly love your kingdom, you will pick up the sword. Or, in this case, the crown. Other kingdoms that are Paradise and Sanctuary level are corrupted by Afarits and other beings of horrifying might. Will you be the kind but weak King Ciroel of Martsirt? Or will you be a King of great power that will vow to protect his kingdom? Will you be the Skeleton King, Leoric, of Tristram?!” Dyne encouraged.

“Skeleton King, Leoric…!” The group was amazed at such a domineering name.

Meanwhile, Strafe was facepalming himself.

“What a weeb...”