Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

"What... what is this?!"

"Could this be the next wave?!"

"No, it's coming from the Lord!"

Despite being crushed by the pressure, the Pioneers slowly moved closer to Justin. Zachary and the other leaders considered ordering them to stay back, but then they all fell silent.

Justin, who had been standing motionless, seemed to finally regain consciousness. He lifted his head.

"Lord?!"

"Brother!"

"Sir!"

Justin blinked as he heard the voices calling out to him from all directions. His expression was like someone who had just woken from a deep sleep. But as he noticed the black aura still radiating from his body, he frowned and reached for his staff.

With a loud clang, the aura resonated through the air.

"...!"

With a sharp strike from the end of his staff, concentric circles spread outward, dissipating the black aura. The waves of energy swept past the Pioneers like a powerful gust of wind. This power wasn't just magic—it was something much more profound, something that could only be called authority. The Pioneers were left stunned.

"Hm."

Justin looked around at the bewildered Pioneers and smiled.

"Rejoice!" he shouted loudly, as everyone continued to look at him in confusion.

"I, too, have returned even stronger, just like the other two who completed their second advancements!"

"Man, he was trying to boost the mood, but there wasn't much of a response," Justin muttered, scratching his cheek as he sat in the meeting room. He had shouted as grandly as he could, but the response had been underwhelming. At best, there had been a smattering of half-hearted applause. In the end, he had to awkwardly announce, "Return!" and head back to the castle.

"Well, that's only natural."

Ethan, hearing Justin's complaint in the meeting room, shook his head, sounding exasperated.

"No one knows what just happened, so how could they react? You should be glad you even got some applause."

"Even that applause was only half-genuine."

"Given how confused they were, you should praise them for even reacting at all."

"Tch."

Ethan was right, of course. Justin had all the context, but to the other Pioneers, it must have seemed like he had randomly passed out and then woken up, completely out of nowhere. Unlike the two who had completed their second advancement, Justin didn't have anyone by his side to explain what had happened.

"Anyway, how's the mood now?" Justin asked. Stay connected with empire

"Not bad at all," Zachary replied with a smile.

"There weren't any casualties, and a lot of civilians became Pioneers during this wave. Some of them are even celebrating."

"It's too early for a celebration."

"True. We still have two more waves to go."

A bitter smile spread across everyone's faces. For those who had become Pioneers, especially those who had reached level 3 and completed their first advancement, it must have felt like they were already on top of the world. After all, they were practically nobles now.

But that was only if they survived the next two waves.

"Some of them might end up as corpses just as they become nobles."

"After experiencing the first wave, they probably think they can handle it. And honestly, I think we can handle it too."

"Isn't it a bit overconfident to be saying that after just one wave?"

"With two Pioneers who've completed their second advancement, and with you as our Lord, it's not overconfidence."

Zachary said this with a hint of flattery, and Justin couldn't help but grin. He didn't deny it because, frankly, he was half-thinking the same thing.

"By the way, what happened exactly? You said you've gotten stronger?"

"You mean you've finally completed your second advancement?"

"But you're still far from level 30. How did you manage that?"

"The skill you used earlier—is that an advanced class skill? What does it do?"

Questions came from all directions, and Justin shrugged.

"It's a long story, but let's just say I got a trial version of an advanced class."

"A trial version?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Yeah, a trial version. It's still incomplete."

As the Apostle of Eternity, Justin was supposed to receive four skills from the Grand Dukes. However, this time, he had only received skills from three of them—everyone except Kargaron. And even those skills were weaker, degraded versions of the originals. When he had complained about it, the other Dukes had offered excuses.

"It can't be helped. To give you the full power, you'd need to become the Apostle of Eternity.""And we haven't granted you that position yet.""Honestly, though, without the appropriate level, we can't give you more than three skills.""Then why is my authority missing while the others are included?!""Because with your current level, three is the limit! There's no room for more!""Then why don't you replace one of the others with mine!""Shut up! You're the one who tried to jump ahead, and now look where we are!"

And so, the argument had continued. It was clear they didn't get along well. Still, thanks to Kargaron's incompetence, Justin had managed to walk away with just the trial version.

'One thing is clear now,' Justin thought. 'Between me and the Four Lords, the ones at a disadvantage are them.'

The Four Lords desperately wanted an apostle, and not just any apostle—they wanted someone with real skill. It wasn't just because of their roles as class instructors. If they failed to secure an apostle now, they would almost certainly face significant losses. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for them to summon Justin at level 27 using a compulsory summoning.

'I was prepared to go through the official trial to become the Apostle of Eternity if they refused, but that won't be necessary,' Justin mused.

All the Pioneers on the frontlines had likely completed their second advancement by now. None of them, however, had stayed with the Warlock class. The only ones left were either weaker Pioneers or those on the fringes. If the Dukes wanted a top-tier Pioneer, they would have no choice but to cling to Justin. At this rate, if he took his time leveling up, they'd eventually offer him the position of Apostle of Eternity, even if they had to do so reluctantly.

"A trial version? What does that even mean?"

"Does that mean you won't be able to use it after a certain time?"

The voices of his companions pulled Justin out of his thoughts. He pushed his musings aside and responded.

"No, it just means that the power is weaker compared to the full version."

"Weaker? Does that mean it's not as strong as other advanced classes?"

"No."

Justin smiled at Nathan, who had a disappointed look on his face.

"It means it's a little stronger than other advanced classes."