Karnak, Monarch of Death

Chapter 106: The Witch’s Forest (4)

Varos and Serati, standing nearby, were full of questions.

”Did you see everything, young master?”

”What happened?”

Karnak hesitated. How was he supposed to explain this? An insane old woman bundling up fully grown men like fish and dragging them off into the woods?

”Well, uh... hmm.”

Seeing Karnak hesitate, the two pressed harder.

”What kind of technique does she use? Black magic? Necromancy? Soul summoning? What are we dealing with?

”You need to explain it so we know what we’re facing.”

Karnak responded hesitantly, ”She just beat them up.”

”What?”

”She used her hands and feet to just... beat them.”

Varos and Serati’s expressions grew serious.

”Wait. She took down aura users, a high-ranking mage, and a first-class inquisitor... with her bare hands?”

”Is she some kind of martial artist?”

”Calling her a martial artist doesn’t seem quite right either...” Karnak sighed and gave up trying to articulate it. ”Ugh, I can’t explain. See for yourselves.”

With a flick of his hand, he used chaos magic to replay the memory projection for them. A few moments later, Varos and Serati wore the same dumbfounded expressions Karnak had earlier.

”What did we just witness?”

Karnak smirked, looking vindicated. ”See? One viewing is worth a hundred explanations.”

***

The witch wasn’t a master, nor even an adept. Her movements betrayed no martial skill, her punches and kicks were clumsy, and her body was riddled with openings. She fought like an ignorant brute flailing wildly in desperation.

Yet, she was absurdly strong. No matter what attack her opponents launched, she simply endured it with her body. If her target fled, she gave a relentless chase and grabbed them by the collar. If they retaliated, she beat them down mercilessly.

Varos couldn’t help but comment in disbelief. ”It’s pure physical power. That’s all there is to it.”

But that single attribute was so overwhelming that not even aura or magic could penetrate her defenses. She endured everything—even divine spells from a priest—using nothing but her raw physicality.

Serati turned to Karnak, her brows furrowed. ”Is there a necromantic spell that enhances physical strength to this extent?”

”There is.”

The spell placed on the demonic sword, Mareda, worked similarly. It injected human life force into the host’s body, strengthening them to a monstrous degree and driving them into a frenzy to absorb even more blood essence.

”But it couldn’t make someone this strong,” Karnak added. ”She’s too strong. Necromancy alone couldn’t achieve that.”

Serati fell silent, pondering. In the case of Mareda, the host, Lapicel, was already a monstrous existence. Perhaps...

”What if that old lady is secretly a Martial King?” she suggested, her eyes lighting up.

”What if she’s Lapicel’s master and has traveled back in time, just like us?”

Varos shook his head. ”We can rule out Beltia.”

In the present, Beltia was only about 40 years old. Even if her future soul had taken over her younger self and driven her mad, her physical appearance would still be that of a woman in her forties.

”And none of the other future powerhouses match her appearance either,” Varos continued.

Most of the major figures in the future were either killed or turned into undead. That was why they could say with certainty.

”There wasn’t anyone who looked as eccentric or unique as her.”

Indeed, if someone with her appearance had roamed the world, they’d be infamous beyond belief.

”What if it’s not her own body?” Serati proposed another theory. ”Couldn’t she have returned using a different vessel? Isn’t that possible?”

Karnak scratched his cheek, considering. ”Honestly, I’ve been wondering about that myself....”

Normally, a soul traveling back in time would return to its original body. That body acted as an anchor in the fabric of space-time, providing the coordinates for the journey.

”But I can’t say with absolute certainty that exceptions never happen,” he admitted.

Even Karnak hadn’t fully understood the time-reversal spell when he used it. And necromancy was rife with techniques for swapping souls or possessing other bodies. Serati’s suggestion wasn’t entirely out of the question.

”Still, it doesn’t feel like that’s the case here.”

”Why not?” Serati asked.

Karnak’s response was hesitant. ”Call it a gut feeling.”

”That’s all?”

”Yeah.”

Varos chuckled from the side. ”Oh, in that case, he’s probably right.”

”Excuse me?”

Varos smirked knowingly. ”When the young master relies on his instincts, his accuracy is surprisingly high. But whenever he tries to overthink things and act like he knows what’s going on, he’s wrong more often than not.”

Serati deliberated for a moment. Was that a compliment or an insult?

Karnak was deep in thought, his brow furrowed in concentration. ”This whole situation is bizarre, no matter how I look at it.”

The witch was undeniably strong, but he didn’t know why. The traces of death energy or malice she left behind were faint. Watching her fight, she didn’t appear to wield the powers of darkness. But if her strength wasn’t a result of dark magic, it was impossible to explain her abilities as innate.

”I suppose I’ll have to see her myself to figure it out.”

In any case, they needed to find the witch to resolve the situation, and because of Alius.

”Do you think Alius is okay? What if he’s already dead?” Serati asked, her voice heavy with concern.

Varos, however, answered nonchalantly, ”We still have to go after him, don’t we? We’ll have to check to know if he’s dead or alive.”

Standing up with a grumble, Karnak muttered, ”Does he think he’s some princess locked in a tower? Why do I keep having to go rescue him?”

***

After finishing his business, Karnak woke up the sleeping medic and the survivors. Thanks to the clean execution of the spell, none of them had any idea what had happened.

”These are the survivors. But you shouldn’t expect anything important. They’re out of their minds,” the medic explained.

”That seems to be the case,” Karnak replied.

Since their memories had been seamlessly altered, the medic assumed he had been awake the entire time. Although about ten minutes of memory had been erased, there was no clock in the room, so he would never notice.

”Well then, we’ll be on our way.”

As Karnak’s group exited the room, Baronet Demetas came looking for them.

”You’re going to look for your comrade, I presume?”

”Of course,” Karnak replied.

”The temple has assured me they will dispatch an inquisitor as quickly as possible. The Brigade of Purification will also send reinforcements.”

Unlike Karnak, Demetas had been unable to extract any useful information from the survivors. He had no idea about the extent of the witch’s power but was certain the situation was severe. The situation had escalated from when an ordinary group of guards went missing. Two aura users and a high-ranking mage had been defeated as well. This was now classified as a top-tier incident involving the dark forces.

”The reinforcements should be here soon. Please wait for four days.”

In any case, it would be nearly impossible to track the witch without an inquisitor. Naturally, Demetas assumed Karnak’s group would wait at the fortress as well.

”We’ll form the search party as soon as the inquisitor arrives. I trust you’ll lend your strength?”

”Of course. This is not just someone else’s problem,” Karnak assured him.

Once the conversation ended, the group left the main fortress.

As they walked outside, Serati spoke up. ”We’re not really going to wait, are we?”

”Of course not,” Karnak replied.

With his mastery of necromancy, Karnak could trace the remnants of dark energy far more effectively than any inquisitor. He didn’t need their assistance to find the witch.

”Besides, it’s easier to move around without people watching us,” Serati added.

”Well, it’s not like I care that much about prying eyes anymore,” Karnak muttered.

Since the Prince Lloyd incident, Karnak had been refining his techniques, combining magic and necromancy to avoid detection.

”There’s no way I’m waiting four days. Who knows what might happen to Alius in the meantime.”

They quickened their pace, heading back to the inn to prepare for the search.

As they walked, Varos voiced a concern. ”What about Lapicel? What do we do with her?”

Under normal circumstances, they would’ve brought her along, but the current situation was too dangerous. The witch was not an opponent they could protect a non-combatant against. Lapicel, with her sealed memories, couldn’t fight effectively yet.

Of course, if her memories were unsealed, she would be a great asset—but then she’d likely turn on them, which would be an entirely different problem.

”Would it be safe to leave her alone at the inn?”

Serati shrugged. ”I think it’ll be fine. Nothing bad is likely to happen.”

Even without her full combat abilities, Lapicel wasn’t weak enough to fall victim to an ordinary threat.

Back at the inn, they sat Lapicel down and gave her strict instructions. ”Be good and wait here.”

”Yes, Sister!” she chirped.

”And if anyone tries to do something bad, what do you do?”

”I’ll make them like a leaf!”

Karnak and Varos exchanged puzzled looks.

”A leaf? What does that mean?”

”I have no idea.”

With their preparations complete, they left the inn. Karnak glanced around and asked, ”Now, where exactly is this so-called witch’s forest?”

***

The Witch’s Forest itself wasn’t hard to locate. It was just an ordinary forest near the Swindler Fortress, only earning the ominous name after the witch appeared. There was no mystery about where it was. The real issue was figuring out where the witch might be in the vast expanse of trees.

”These traces are incredibly faint,” Karnak muttered, standing amidst the dense conifer forest with a frown. ”At this level, it’s like half the strength of a low-tier lord of darkness.”

Serati, having grown accustomed to Karnak’s peculiar expressions, quickly caught on. ”You’re saying it’s someone who hasn’t even properly mastered the basics of necromancy?”

”That’s what the traces suggest.”

This faint aura was exactly why the Swindler Fortress border guard and the Brigade operative, Leocolt, had been so confident in their mission. Judging by the traces left behind, the witch appeared to be utterly insignificant, just some nobody who accidentally absorbed a sliver of the Shadow of Doom and went on a rampage.

”But in reality, she’s absurdly strong, isn’t she?” Serati pointed out.

”That’s what makes it so strange.”

Even for Karnak, tracing such faint remnants was no easy task. Any ordinary inquisitor would likely be unable to find anything at all.

Varos clicked his tongue. ”Alius sure was lucky to track the witch down in the first place, huh?”

”I have an idea of what happened,” Karnak replied.

Alius aside, Felix, the second class inquisitor who had accompanied the border guard, was unlikely to have been capable of tracking these traces.

”It’s more likely that the witch found them, not the other way around.”

The remnants were so weak and scattered that even a few days of effort wouldn’t be enough to track the witch’s movements effectively. Karnak was considering whether to try another approach when something caught his eye.

”Hm?”

Among the undergrowth, faint traces of energy floated atop the bushes. It wasn’t dark energy, but it was something just as distinct—something any necromancer would immediately recognize.

”Divine energy?”

Curious, Karnak examined it closely. There, hidden among the foliage, was a small shard of divine resonance, no bigger than a fingernail.

Varos nodded knowingly. ”Must be from Alius.”

Alius hadn’t gone quietly. As he was being taken, he had chipped away at his inquisitor’s token, a sacred item of the Hatoba Church, and infused the pieces with divine energy before scattering them on the ground. He must have hoped that someone would find the traces and come to rescue them. The trail was faint enough that even the witch seemed not to have noticed it.

Serati let out a relieved sigh, a smile breaking across her face. ”That means Alius was still alive at this point.”

Karnak began moving forward. ”Let’s follow it and see where it leads.”