Desteran’s fervent, faithful cry roused the other pirates, who rallied their spirits.

"Goddess of Twilight!"

"In the name of chaos!"

"Watch over your worshippers!"

From a distance, Serati blinked in confusion. What are they even saying?

The captain and crew of the Osprey's Roar, who mainly sailed the western trade routes, could speak Isola. Since Isola was the common language of the empire’s western provinces and also the national tongue of the Eustil Kingdom, they were able to communicate with Serati.

But these pirates were speaking in the southern imperial dialect, which was virtually incomprehensible to her. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

She frowned. Am I imagining things, or did I hear something about Serakal just now...?

Of course, Varos understood every word. That was how they’d managed to talk this long in the first place.

Looking uneasy, he asked, "Um... are you guys by any chance from the Church of Twilight?"

Desteran didn’t answer. Instead, his eyes gleamed as he murmured a prayer. "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for Serakal is with me..."

Watching from afar, Karnak let out a hollow laugh. Yep. They’re from the Church of Twilight.

That half-baked prayer plagiarized from ancient scripture left no doubt. So this was the source of that nonsense about righteous necromancy...

Karnak shook his head. But it was from me.

With a fierce shout, Desteran threw himself forward. The other pirates summoned evil spirits in unison and launched an all-out assault. But it was merely their final outburst. Worn out and wounded as they were, they could no longer change the tide.

Muttering under his breath, Varos hurled himself into the fray. "Man, can we talk for once..."

He grabbed the charging Desteran by the collar and twisted him effortlessly. Varos was just as proficient in unarmed combat as he was with weapons. In the blink of an eye, Desteran lost his balance and slammed into the deck, buried from head to toe.

While Varos was subduing Desteran, Karnak was cleaning up even more efficiently. All it took was a single word to the evil spirits soaring in from across the sea. "Kneel."

The spirits slid into the ocean and sank with a glug, vanishing entirely.

"Gah!"

"That... that was it?"

The pirates, struck with despair, muttered in disbelief.

"The power of those cultists... it’s overwhelming!"

"O Serakal, please save this soul..."

Pinning Desteran down, Varos relayed a message to the other ship.

—There’s Church of Twilight in the empire too, young master?

Scratching his cheek, Karnak answered vaguely.

—I did hear that Maloka opened a branch there...

Maloka’s resourcefulness truly was astounding. Lately, the Church of Twilight had been expanding its influence throughout the empire as well. Even the combat footage from the Tower of Dawn had been leaked through the empire’s Twilight branch.

—But I haven’t heard the full details yet. I’ve been swamped on my end. I figured I’d get the whole report later.

—Still, if someone as prominent as Sir Desteran joined the church, there’s no way Maloka wouldn’t have reported it, right?

—Maybe even she hasn’t been informed yet?

It was entirely possible. Since Maloka often traveled between the empire and the Seven Kingdoms, there were sometimes months-long gaps in communication. Either way, if these people were truly members of the Church of Twilight, they couldn’t be killed just like that.

Shouting, Karnak rose into the air with magic. "Wait! We’re with the Church of Twilight too!"

Then he flew across the sea toward the pirate ship.

"If you are truly those who await the coming of dusk, you will recognize this!"

He held up an emblem before them. It was the token they normally used to prove their identity to other Twilight heralds. Sure enough, Desteran and the pirates did recognize the symbol. But they didn’t believe it.

"Hmph!"

"So now you’re pretending to be followers?"

"You think we’d fall for a cheap trick like that?"

And they had a reason to be skeptical.

"You clearly don’t even know what you’re faking, cultist scum!"

"That emblem belongs to high priest Varonak!"

"If you’re going to forge something, at least pick a realistic symbol!"

The veiled leader of the Church of Twilight, Varonak. Could anyone truly believe that this enigmatic figure, revered as a saint, was in reality a young man still in his twenties?

Varos wore a sour expression. Yeah... I wouldn’t believe it either.

Karnak, on the other hand, looked as though he had expected this reaction all along. "I get that it’s hard to believe. But think about this."

His voice turned cold as he stared down Desteran and the pirates, who watched with suspicion. "Do you really think we’d go through all this trouble, just to trick you with some cheap stunt?"

Now that they thought about it, he had a point. The outcome had already been decided. Their lives were completely in Karnak’s hands. There was no reason for him to try to earn their trust with tokens or proofs of allegiance.

"Th-that’s..." Just as Desteran’s killing intent began to fade, two more figures arrived from the other ship—Serati and Lapicel.

They had come over, concerned when Karnak flew over alone.

Landing quickly by his side, Serati asked, "What the heck are they saying?"

But the moment Desteran caught a glimpse of her face, his expression stiffened. "Ah?"

He hadn’t noticed earlier while she was on the Osprey's Roar, but now that she was up close, her face looked strangely familiar.

"Th-that face... how...?" he muttered.

The other pirates were no different.

"Go-Goddess?"

"Lady Serakal?"

"No, she’s just a human..."

"But how can she look exactly like Lady Serakal...?"

Even without understanding the words, it was impossible for Serati to miss how openly everyone was staring at her.

She leaned toward Lapicel and whispered, "What are they saying?"

Lapicel, flustered, replied, "They’re shocked. They say you look exactly like the Goddess of Twilight."

"What?"

At that moment, something clicked, and Karnak clapped his hands. "Oh, right! That would make sense!"

Serati looked back at him and gave a smile.

—Um... Lord Karnak? What did you do this time?

—Ah, it’s nothing really...

***

It had been during the height of Maloka’s campaign to expand the Church of Twilight’s reach.

"To inspire faith in believers, we need a visible symbol," she said.

Telling people to worship the Goddess of Twilight, Serakal, meant they had to know what she looked like. They needed at least something to visualize. In other words, Maloka had insisted on finding a suitable model to serve as an idol.

"You mean Serati?" Karnak had asked.

"Yes," she answered.

"Because the name Serakal came from Serati?" he continued.

"Not exactly." The reason was much simpler. "Out of all the women I know, Lady Serati is the prettiest."

Karnak frowned. "That’s the only reason?"

"This is actually a very important consideration, you know?" Maloka responded.

After all, humans are creatures easily swayed by appearances. And when it came to goddesses, people naturally expected otherworldly beauty.

"That’s why we had to present someone striking enough to match the role," explained Maloka.

Karnak was curious. "Is Serati that much of a beauty?"

"Lady Serati could stand her ground anywhere," responded Maloka. Besides, she was only meant to be the model. "I’ll just borrow her face. I plan to enhance it as much as possible before distributing it in icons and sacred images."

And so, Serati’s portrait—heavily beautified—had ended up adorning churches all across the Church of Twilight as the official image of the goddess.

***

Karnak explained it to her.

—Is what Maloka said.

Serati fell silent for a moment. So you’re telling me... they took my face and started spreading it all over the place as the face of the Goddess of Twilight?

She was too dumbfounded to react right away. Her outrage kicked in a beat too late.

—How is this okay?! What about my portrait rights?!

—Strictly speaking, I own those.

—It’s my face!

—And I’m your master.

—Urgh...

Serati felt a headache coming on. She’d braced herself for all kinds of worst-case scenarios when she agreed to become a servant of a wicked necromancer... But I never imagined this.

Just picturing those rugged-looking pirates praying to her face and calling her their goddess sent shivers down her spine.

Karnak seemed to take issue with her words.

—Wow. Are you discriminating based on looks now?

For all anyone knew, those pirates could’ve been good fathers, good husbands, to someone.

Serati countered.

—They’re pirates!

Pirates who raided ships and killed people couldn’t possibly be good in any meaningful sense. Still, she now understood why Desteran had reacted the way he did upon seeing her.

—But what are we supposed to say if they ask why I look just like the goddess?

—Beats me.

Even Karnak didn’t have an answer ready this time. Then it happened.

"In that case..." Desteran, still subdued, looked up at Serati with reverent eyes and asked cautiously, "Are you the Saintess of Twilight?"

Varos and Serati turned to Karnak with a look that practically screamed: Explain. Now.

—The Saintess of Twilight?

Karnak seemed to be at a loss.

—Yeah, I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean either.

He had no clue where this saintess title had come from. There was no such figure in the Church of Twilight in the Eustil Kingdom. He wondered.

—Did Maloka just... make something up on her own again?

So Karnak improvised. "It’s true that she bears the face of the goddess."

Strictly speaking, that wasn’t a lie. And for these people, that alone was enough.

"Ooooh!"

"So she truly is the Saintess!"

"We offer our respects to the Saintess of Twilight!"

The pirates dropped to their knees one after another, their posture that of priests bowing before a divine presence.

Even Desteran turned to Karnak and nodded in apparent understanding. "Then you must be high priest Varonak."

Despite acknowledging Karnak’s status, his tone wasn’t exactly respectful. "You’ve crossed the sea to attend the saintess yourself?"

Karnak scratched his head. What kind of twisted version of the Church of Twilight doctrine has been spreading in the empire for them to end up like this?

Still, at least they could finally have a real conversation. Let’s start asking questions. I need to understand what’s going on.

Varos helped Desteran back to his feet, and Karnak calmly began his inquiry. "Sir Desteran, weren’t you the head of Search Black?"

"I was," Desteran answered.

"Then how did someone like you end up joining the Church of Twilight?" Karnak asked him.

"Well..."

***

Search Black was an underground criminal organization that ruled over the shadows of the imperial capital. Naturally, their activities overlapped with those of the Cult of the Black God, as both operated outside the reach of the ruling class.

As a result, the two sides clashed constantly. The Cult of the Black God had tried to recruit Desteran many times. In truth, there had been a time when he was tempted by their teachings. They promised eternal life through darkness, which was one of his most long-held dreams.

"Had things not shifted midway, I might very well have become one of their followers," admitted Desteran.

Then came the Church of Twilight. It was a new cult that also practiced necromancy and promised eternal life through darkness. At first, he had only gone to check it out out of idle curiosity.

He’d already investigated the Cult of the Black God, so he figured he might as well gather some intel on the Church of Twilight too. But the church’s teachings were far more convincing. At least, they were to Desteran. Some of their doctrines felt like they had been pulled directly from his own thoughts.

"It was like having a lifelong question answered. Like lightning struck my mind," said Desteran.

Desteran found himself increasingly drawn to the Church of Twilight after encountering the truth. And before he realized it, he had become one of the most devout believers in the empire’s branch. Then, he had been waiting for an opportunity to serve the church and its goddess.

"That’s when I heard the news. That wretched Elezar and Dreltein were targeting Diogres Kolon," explained Desteran.