Karnak, Monarch of Death

The decade-long power struggle within the Eustil royal family had finally ended in victory for Prince Lloyd. With Prince Alford assassinated by the cultists, his maternal relatives and supporting faction were left adrift. Of course, they didn’t go out without a fight. While they initially clamored for a thorough investigation into Alford’s death, their efforts soon fizzled out.

The deeper the investigation went, the clearer Alford’s ties to the cult became. Although the cult had severed ties to obscure the details, evidence of Alford and his inner circle’s involvement with the Cult of the Black God continued to surface. Even those who weren’t his confidants had some inkling of what was going on.

Anyone with half a brain could have figured out that the prince had been scheming behind the scenes. They had simply chosen to look the other way. Eventually, the narrative solidified. The vile cultists had deceived Alford and stabbed him in the back!

Why?

Because with the ambitious and capable Alford gone and the frail Lloyd as king, the cult could more easily seize control of the kingdom. Prince Lloyd opted not to reveal the entire truth. He kept the body-swapping incident hidden, presenting himself as nothing more than a reclusive scholar unaware of the grander schemes around him. This was on Karnak’s advice.

“Keep the body-swapping a secret? Why?”

“Because admitting it would mean acknowledging that your soul was manipulated by necromancy. It’s best to avoid unnecessary suspicion.”

“But I have no ties to the cultists.”

“What does that matter? The mere association with necromancy will make people view you with distrust.”

“Still, doesn’t that make me look like a weakling, the kind of prince the cult would choose to manipulate?”

“And is that a problem? Are there any other princes I should know about?”

“...Fair point.”

With Alford gone, Lloyd was the kingdom’s sole heir. Frail or not, there was no one to replace him.

“So, by doing nothing, everything will resolve itself. I understand, Sir Karnak.”

Lloyd owed much to Karnak and his companions, and he wanted to express his gratitude in any way he could.

“Are you certain there’s nothing you desire? If it’s within my power, I’ll do my utmost.”

Karnak replied indifferently, “Just help us with cleaning up the next time we deal with cultists. Cases involving nobles or royalty are always a headache.”

It was a remarkably selfless request.

“Very well, then I’ll give you what you desire,” Lloyd said, pulling a golden seal from his robes.

“What’s this?”

“It’s proof that you’re my representative and act under my authority. It should make your work against the cultists easier.”

It was an understatement. Lloyd’s gift was a symbol of power that could essentially allow Karnak to wield Lloyd’s authority unchecked. It wasn’t something to be handed over easily.

“Are you sure it’s fine to hand this over so easily?”

“I’ve seen enough to know you’d never abuse it.”

He couldn’t be more wrong, but at the same time, the statement was oddly fitting. Karnak accepted the seal with little enthusiasm.

“Well, I suppose it’ll come in handy.”

Lloyd raised an eyebrow at his nonchalant attitude.

“Aren’t you a bit too indifferent about this? Then again, that’s why I can trust you.”

***

The contributions of Karnak and his companions to the recent events were monumental. Not only had they saved Prince Lloyd, but they had also brought an end to the royal family’s long-standing feud and stabilized the kingdom.

“The unfortunate part is that your efforts can’t be publicly acknowledged,” said Commander Erantel.

“True,” Karnak replied with a shrug. “Officially, I was merely acting under Prince Lloyd’s orders to stop a deranged Alford.”

“Is there anything you want in return?” Erantel asked.

“Just let me take some overdue vacation.”

“Vacation? You?”

Erantel was surprised. Among the King’s Order, Karnak was renowned for his relentless pursuit of cultists. Since joining, he had barely rested, taking on mission after mission. It was to the degree that those around him urged him to take a break reminding him that even the most dedicated members of the 7th Squad needed rest.

“If you wish, take as much time as you need. But what’s prompted this?”

“This last mission was quite draining. I could use some time to regroup.”

“Of course. It seems you’re human, after all.”

Erantel signed the leave request with a smile and looked warmly at Karnak’s group.

“Then take all the time you need to rest.”

As they exited the office, Karnak and Varos were grinning ear to ear.

“Hey, we were called human!”

“Right? I guess we really have changed!”

Naturally, Serati could only stare at them in disbelief.

“...I’m pretty sure that’s not what he meant.”

Regardless, it was true that they needed some time to reorganize. The cultists’ souls they had captured held an overwhelming amount of information. It would take time to carefully extract and analyze it all.

Karnak had rented a secluded cabin in the forest on the outskirts of the capital for this purpose. It was a hunting lodge, typically used by nobles during the season, and thus rarely visited. It was perfect for such secretive work.

“Let’s go. Time to hunker down somewhere remote and dig through everything.”

***

Upon arriving at the cabin, Karnak’s team got to work. Varos busied himself cleaning and preparing the cabin for an extended stay, while Serati joined Karnak in the basement. They cleared out the cellar, which was originally used to store provisions, then set up a necromantic domain to prepare for the soul summoning.

“The preparations are taking longer this time around. Why is that, Lord Karnak?” Serati asked curiously. “Usually, you just summon the souls right away.”

“I could still summon the souls easily if I wanted,” Karnak replied.

He had completely subdued the souls of Detzras, Kayle, and Ult. They were safely stored in the Lantern of Lost Souls, and he could summon them whenever needed.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“This time, there’s a lot of information to sort through.”

As with all things, soul summoning and necromantic interrogation came with its own advantages and disadvantages.

First, there were the side effects of soul summoning. Summoning the dead for questioning inherently corrupted the caster’s soul. Without care, even the summoner could fall into madness. Of course, this didn’t apply to Karnak. If anything, it was the spirits that would lose their sanity when staring into his soul.

Second, the clarity of information depended on the questions asked. When interrogating the living, even the harshest torture wouldn’t guarantee truth. Strong-willed individuals could endure any agony and still lie to their interrogators.

By contrast, the dead could never lie. They would answer truthfully and follow orders with absolute fidelity.

“Because they have no will of their own,” Karnak explained.

But this lack of will wasn’t always an advantage.

“In cases where you need broad information, keeping someone alive and torturing them might actually work better.”

With the living, you could demand, “Tell me everything you know!” under torture. The subject might blurt out both true and false information, which could be sorted to and used as valuable insights. And because they were speaking of their own volition, their responses would often be organized and coherent, even providing useful summaries.

“Meanwhile, a summoned soul will faithfully follow orders.”

Ask it to recount everything it knows, and it would literally spill everything—often in disorganized fragments.

“You’ve seen how evil spirits babble during your time as a shadow hunter, haven’t you?” Karnak said to Serati.

“Oh, I see. That kind of problem.”

Spirits might start with irrelevant observations like, The sky is blue, or The sun is red, clogging the interrogation with unnecessary details. That was why asking precise, targeted questions was essential when interrogating the dead. To do that, the interrogator needed extensive prior knowledge to frame their inquiries.

Karnak hadn’t been meticulously observing Detzras’ unique fusion of magic and necromancy with his golems for no reason.

“Having solid preliminary information makes it easier to extract additional details later,” he explained.

Selecting questions, organizing them, and extracting relevant answers took time.

“With everything we need to uncover about the cult, this is going to take days,” Karnak said.

As he finished explaining, he reached for the Lantern of Lost Souls.

“Well, let’s get started.”

A thick miasma filled the air, and Karnak’s ominous voice echoed through the cellar.

“Rise, my servant, Detzras...”

Dark energy swirled, and a pale, ghostly figure appeared, bowing deeply.

“I await your command, my master...”

***

Five days passed into their retreat to the secluded forest cabin. Karnak diligently continued his necromantic rituals, interrogating the souls of Detzras and his followers. It seemed Detzras had been higher up in the cult. The efforts bore fruit, yielding significant intelligence about the Cult of the Black God.

“Archbishop of Darkness, Hudel Grental...” Karnak muttered.

The title archbishop was of little consequence. It was just a superficial title borrowed from the seven goddesses’ churches to make the cult appear like a legitimate religious group. What mattered was that this information brought him closer to the cult’s inner circle.

“A man in his twenties, strikingly handsome, from the empire, and operating in the western border region, you say?”

While this wasn’t enough to pinpoint Hudel’s exact location, it greatly narrowed the search.

“I’ll have to follow up on this when I return to the King’s Order.”

Beyond identifying Hudel, Karnak gleaned valuable insights into the cult’s methods, particularly the unprecedented fusion of magic and necromantic power that Detzras had employed.

“So, this was a different way than my chaos mana of harmonizing necrotic power,” Karnak mused.

Karnak’s chosen method, chaos mana, involved purging necromantic energy of its malice and death energy, transforming it into a unique force. The cult’s approach was the reverse. They infused mana with malice and death energy to create a power that closely resembled necrotic energy. It wasn’t quite necrotic energy, yet it was almost indistinguishable from it. It was a third type of mana.

It made it possible to perform both necromancy and traditional magic. Karnak marveled at the intricacy of the technique.

“This is incredibly advanced magic. I wonder who developed it?”

Karnak had reached the pinnacle of necromancy in the past. Thus, he could transform necromancy into chaos magic through his mastery and knowledge. Similarly, he recognized that this technique could only have been created by someone who had reached the pinnacle of magical mastery. They had used that knowledge to transform magic into necromancy.

“There aren’t many mages alive today who could achieve this,” Karnak noted.

Only tenth-circle aspirants, the Three Archmages, or their disciples could potentially perform such a feat.

Varos, who was assisting nearby, interjected with skepticism, “Doesn’t make sense, does it? Why would someone like that stoop to necromancy?”

Karnak shrugged. “In theory, you’re right. But...”

This phenomenon wasn’t limited to magic. Karnak had encountered similar fusions involving necromantic energy with aura and even divine power. They were all connected to the Cult of the Black God.

To achieve such fusion, one prerequisite was necessary: a master practitioner who had reached the pinnacle of their discipline—whether as an aura user, a priest, or a mage—and then embraced necromancy. In other words, those on the level of the popes of the seven churches, the Four Martial Kings, or the Three Mages had to have become necromancers and joined the cult.

“At a glance, it sounds like a massive stretch. But if that’s the case, what about two undead who conquered the world, yet abandoned their powers to travel back in time? Doesn’t that sound absurd?”

“...Fair point.”

Anything was possible in a world as unpredictable as theirs. The undeniable complexity of the spellcraft before them made even the most implausible theories worth considering.

“I hope it’s just a stretch,” Varos muttered. “I don’t like the idea of facing off against those people again...”

“I agree,” Karnak replied. “But just in case, we need to continue to grow our power.”

He silently raised the standards he had already set. He would need more strength to at least protect himself in the worst situation.

He muttered under his breath, “I just want to live quietly, like an ordinary man. Why does it never go that way?”

“Familiar with the saying, you reap what you sow?” Serati quipped.

“Quiet, you,” Karnak shot back.

Regardless, the study of the technique was proving fruitful. Particularly, the practical applications were intriguing. Raising both hands, Karnak conjured a shimmer of chaotic magic in one hand and necrotic energy in the other.

“With this method, I can integrate necromantic arts into my magic.”