Karnak, Monarch of Death

The battle erupted on all sides. The living clashed against the dead, and followers of the goddess fought against servants of darkness, their cries and roars filling the air as spears and swords collided.

”Saisha, grant us your blessing! Lend us your sword!”

The priests chanted a unified prayer for blessings. The weapons of the temple soldiers began to shimmer faintly with holy light.

”Stay calm, everyone!”

”As long as the priests are with us, zombies aren’t hard to deal with!”

The soldiers courageously swung their blessed blades at the advancing swarm of zombies. With each slash, limbs flew from the undead bodies.

“Uuuuhhh...”

”Uuurrgh...”

Under normal circumstances, the zombies wouldn’t have been deterred by losing a limb. They would have kept attacking without hesitation. But the divine energy in the weapons suppressed the darkness within them, causing the zombies to falter for a few seconds after being struck. The soldiers seized this brief pause to unleash relentless attacks.

”Keep hitting them!”

”Don’t stop until they can’t rise again!”

The blessing didn’t mean that a mere graze from their blades would instantly kill a zombie, but it gave the soldiers a noticeable advantage. Elsewhere, soldiers armed with blunt weapons like battle hammers and maces were engaging the skeleton hordes.

”Take this, you bony bastards!”

“I’ll smash you all to pieces!”

While slicing through bones with a sword was no easy feat, smashing them with a hammer was far simpler. The soldiers crushed the skeletons’ skulls by swinging their holy hammers.

Thud! Crash! Boom!

The deafening sound of destruction echoed across the temple grounds. Amidst the cacophony, wraiths and banshees soared through the night sky, their ghostly wails piercing the air.

Aaahhhh!

Such spectral beings were difficult for soldiers to handle, even with blessed weapons. Not because they were incorporeal, but because they stayed airborne, out of reach. Thus, the priests stepped forward to intervene.

They threw talismans into the air, scattered holy water in all directions, and chanted to invoke sacred barriers.

”Let the goddess’s light shine upon my foes!”

The combined divine energy of the priests converged through the barriers, forming a single, radiant force. The sky lit up as the goddess’s light struck the wraiths and banshees rapidly.

Boom!

Screams erupted from the specters caught in the columns of light. ”Kyyaaaaah!”

Despite the sudden attack, the Saisha Order was holding its ground remarkably well against the undead onslaught. It was somewhat expected. After all, priests were the natural enemies of necromancers. And the Cult of the Black God was fully aware of this fact.

”Send in the monsters!”

Lehein ordered a second wave. Four subordinate necromancers focused their will and issued commands to monsters under their command. Beyond the undead horde, shadows with glowing red eyes charged forward.

Graaaah!

The new wave included bipedal monsters like orcs and gnolls, along with various feral beast-like monsters. The soldiers cursed under their breath.

”Damn it!”

”Monsters!”

Though fewer in number compared to the undead, the monsters held a distinct advantage. Unlike the undead, they weren’t vulnerable to divine power. With the monsters joining forces with the undead, the tide of battle quickly turned.

The zombies and skeletons served as sacrificial pawns. By sending the undead to the front lines to break the defensive formation, the monster army could then strike and deal devastating damage. It was an efficient tactic that made the situation incredibly difficult for the temple to manage. And unfortunately, the second wave wasn’t composed of just monsters.

”Tesranach has opened the way...”

”We follow with joyous hearts...”

Dozens of cultists, half-intoxicated, launched attacks across various parts of the temple. These were originally ordinary townsfolk, but they had been transformed. They were now enhanced by the necromancy unique to the cult, known as the Apostles of the Black God. Their physical abilities were heightened to the point of being comparable to most monsters.

”The dawn of a new world is upon us...”

”We shall be its vanguard!”

The temple’s defensive line wavered momentarily. It wasn’t just the strength of the cultists that caused the disruption, but also their identities.

”Wait, isn’t that Michael from the house behind mine?”

”Uncle Ryan?”

It turned out they were familiar faces—neighbors, acquaintances, even friends from the village. Even outsiders like Karnak’s group recognized some of them.

”Isn’t that our innkeeper?”

”Oh my, was he a cultist too?”

”Guess I’ll be packing my things at sunrise.”

The cultists’ chants echoed from all directions.

”Come, new world!”

”The grace of the Black God shall spread across all lands!”

Serati frowned as she smashed an approaching skeleton to pieces. ”Their dazed expressions... It’s like they’re on drugs.”

A young priest assisting Karnak’s group nodded. ”Distributing drugs to expand their influence is one of the cult’s specialties.”

The priest wasn’t an inquisitor, just an ordinary low-ranking priest. He couldn’t cast advanced divine spells, but he was still useful. Even creating a burst of holy light to briefly stall the advancing undead made a noticeable difference in the battle.

Varos knocked aside three zombies immobilized by the divine light and exclaimed in disbelief. ”What kind of person would believe in a religion that drugs its followers?”

Serati looked at him curiously.

—You’re speaking as if you’ve never done something equally questionable.

Karnak and Varos replied confidently.

—We never used drugs.

—It was just too expensive.

—We never needed to turn people into slaves with drugs, anyway.

—We just killed them and raised them again. Same result, no extra cost.

Serati sighed. She wasn’t surprised.

—Well, at least you didn’t use drugs. That’s... something.

Still, Varos wasn’t baffled by the cult’s evil acts but rather by how easily people seemed to fall for such obvious schemes. But apparently, the cultists had their twisted logic.

The Cult of the Black God didn’t deny worldly pleasures. They taught that using drugs to escape pain was an act of true submission to their god. Of course, drugs were dangerous. They might provide temporary pleasure but inevitably ruin lives.

But the cult posed a question:

Is your life worth preserving?

What was so wrong about forgetting pain with drugs? What was so wrong about ending one’s own life? Why was clinging to a hopeless future considered the right path?

Their life wouldn’t change. The pain they felt today would repeat tomorrow, the next day, and every day until death. But if they embraced Tesranach, they’d be freed from this painful existence and granted a new life beyond death.

With a new life awaiting, why cling to this one?

And if you have no attachment to your current life, why not spend your remaining time in pleasure instead of pain?

”That seems to be their reasoning,” the priest concluded.

At the young priest’s explanation, Karnak clicked his tongue. ”By that logic, shouldn’t they just kill themselves quickly?”

”They say Tesranach doesn’t grant a new life to those who commit suicide. One must accumulate good deeds in this world first.”

”What a conveniently self-serving doctrine,” Karnak scoffed, sending another volley of blazing magic projectiles into the fray.

With each strike, monsters fell, bleeding or disintegrating into ash. The others weren’t standing idle, either. Varos, Serati, and even Lapicel devastated the battlefield with overwhelming power, reducing everything around them to rubble.

”Were there such powerful fighters left in the temple?”

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Lehein directed even more undead toward Karnak’s group. As a result, the density of the undead around their position grew significantly compared to other areas of the battlefield. Karnak calmly raised his staff while observing the chaos.

It’s about time.

Enough undead had gathered at the optimal range and distance. It was the perfect moment to maximize his spell’s effectiveness.

Tapping the ground with his staff, he began chanting. ”With the power of righteous law, I bring judgment and bind it to my will...”

Faint ripples of light spread out from him, seeping into the ground. An intricate web of finely tuned magic expanded silently, covering the battlefield.

Raising his staff to the sky, Karnak uttered the final command. ”I shall become the one to atone for the sins of darkness. Redeemer of Necromancy!”

***

The night sky split open, and a brilliant light poured through the crack, flooding the battlefield below.

Swoosh!

The powerful light surged outward in rippling waves, engulfing the hordes of zombies and skeletons. Wherever the massive concentric circles passed, radiant magical chains shot up from the ground.

Dozens of chains wrapped around the necks of zombies. Dozens more coiled tightly around the skeletons. The bound undead began to exude an eerie aura as the pure power of magic intertwined with their dark forms. Under Karnak’s spell, the subdued undead turned on their comrades and attacked the remaining undead with ferocity.

“Graaaah!”

”Raaaagh!”

The battlefield devolved into chaos as countless undead began tearing, smashing, and clawing at each other. The temple soldiers, stunned by the sight, exchanged bewildered looks.

”What... what’s happening?”

”What kind of sorcery is this?”

The priests, however, quickly grasped the situation.

”Could he have... taken control of the enemy’s undead through magic?”

”How is something like this even possible?”

The necromancers on the opposite side were equally stunned.

”What the hell is that?”

”Is he a necromancer too?”

”No, that’s pure magic...!”

Karnak allowed himself a subtle smile as he noticed the reactions around him.

Looks like they’ve figured it out easily enough.

He had already tested this spell during a witch hunt at the border checkpoint, so there was no need to worry about its effectiveness. It was chaos magic, and the spell was designed to seize control of enemy necromancy and turn it against them.

Karnak had perfected the technique after much refinement. It was a unique and original spell. The large-scale necromancy domination spell was aptly named Redeemer of Necromancy.

”Go forth, my servants! Strike down my enemies as commanded!”

Following Karnak’s orders, the chained zombies and undead pressed their assault on the cultists. The tide of battle began to shift. The temple soldiers, whose defenses had nearly crumbled, regained their footing, while the cultist army began to falter and scatter.

Lehein, growing desperate, unleashed necromantic spells in a frenzied attempt to regain control. ”Do-don’t retreat! Tesranach will protect us!”

A swarm of evil spirits danced through the air, their presence a chaotic display of dark energy. Karnak’s eyes glinted as he observed the scene.

That one must be the leader.

He considered the prospect of secretly extracting the leader’s soul for interrogation. The thought made his mouth water.

Boom!

An explosion erupted from the opposite side of the temple.

Frowning, Karnak turned his head toward the commotion. ”What’s this? A diversionary force?”

It seemed that Sephedes, the deputy diocesan of the cult, had split off part of their troops to launch a flanking maneuver. After all, the cult’s primary goal was to retrieve Rimaik and the others. Strictly speaking, Sephedes wasn’t planning to rescue them but to quietly eliminate them.

If they manage to take the prisoners, this will become a real headache.

But with his Redeemer of Necromancy spell already deployed, Karnak couldn’t afford to abandon his position.

”Varos, you go. Take Serati with you.”

”Will you be alright on your own, young master?”

Karnak gestured toward the gray-haired girl beside him. ”Lapicel’s here, isn’t she?”

Varos and Serati exchanged glances before nodding and turning to leave.

Before departing, Serati addressed Lapicel. ”Lapicel, take care of Sir Karnak.”

”Yes, sister!” Lapicel replied enthusiastically, immediately stepping closer to Karnak.

Inwardly, she was thrilled.

Ah! Sir Karnak trusts me this much!

Of course, Karnak’s actual thoughts were far from her assumptions.

If she keeps fighting undead, her memories from the past might resurface. I need to stay close to ensure I can prevent that from happening.

Fixing her gaze on the undead horde, Lapicel spoke with determination. ”Don’t worry, Sir Karnak! I’ll protect you with my life!”

”Uh... sure...”

Her eyes shone with innocence and sincerity, brimming with trust in him. Karnak couldn’t help but clutch his chest again, feeling an inexplicable tightness.

Must’ve been something I ate at dinner. Why do I suddenly feel so weighed down?