Karnak, Monarch of Death

While Karnak was locked in a magic battle with Demphis, Varos and Serati were engaged with the necromancers who had turned into monsters. There had originally been five, including Hugot. One had perished in the acid explosion, leaving four. Varos was handling two at once, while Serati fought Hugot one-on-one.

And the last one? Leven was keeping him occupied.

“Hup!” With a sharp breath, he swung both daggers in a cross motion.

The necromancer-turned-monster blocked the attack with the tentacles sprouting from its back. Despite wielding daggers, Leven’s swordsmanship showed no signs of being inferior. He had managed to break through his opponent’s defense multiple times, leaving shallow wounds on their torso.

And yet, Leven himself remained completely unharmed. There was not a single scratch on him. But it wasn’t because he was overwhelmingly stronger than his opponent.

This is... Leven inwardly clicked his tongue while trading blows once more. He’s holding back.

It had been obvious from the start. Even during the acid explosion, Leven had remained unscathed—not because of some miraculous evasion, but because the attack had never been aimed at him in the first place.

The attack had been carefully calculated to ensure he was never within its radius. The same applied now. His opponent wasn’t fighting to kill. He was simply restraining Leven. He was keeping him occupied but never truly harming him, even though Leven was clearly fighting to kill.

To Demphis, Leven was an invaluable vessel that must not be damaged. If Leven were to be caught up in the battle and accidentally injured, the entire ritual would be in jeopardy. To prevent that, Demphis had assigned one of his subordinates specifically to handle Leven.

—Even if you die, the vessel must remain untouched!

The necromancer was executing that command with absolute obedience. It wasn’t even a particularly difficult order to follow. After all, he had already died twice and been resurrected—his life was cheap enough to throw away without hesitation.

”Graaah!”

Leven should have felt humiliated. But instead, he smirked.

Not bad.

For him, humiliation was an old friend—one he had long grown used to, thanks to his father and older brother, who were leagues above him.

At least I’m holding my own.

He was no aura user, yet he was managing to keep one of these monsters at bay. That was enough for him to feel like he was contributing. In fact, he had more breathing room than expected.

His opponent could not kill him. Their objective was purely to restrain him. For them, the best possible outcome was subduing him without inflicting so much as a single wound. Of course, that didn’t mean he could just surrender and let himself be captured. But at the very least, this wasn’t a fight to the death. And that meant he had the opportunity to assess the situation.

Let’s think.

First, he needed to organize his thoughts. How was it that a King’s Order mage like Karnak could wield necromancy? Why had the cultists chosen him, a mere nobody, instead of targeting far more formidable aura users like Varos or Serati?

For now, those questions could wait. After all, he wouldn’t be granted any immediate answers. Right now, he needed to focus on what he could do.

Can I use this chance to rescue the others?

That would be impossible. Demphis had blocked all exits to prevent Karnak’s group from escaping, including the sealed entrance to the chamber where the others were imprisoned. Breaking through the obstruction would require overwhelming destructive force, and that was something Leven simply didn’t have. But Varos and Serati, both aura users, could do it.

In that case!

Leven’s gaze flickered toward Serati, and a faint smile crept onto his lips.

***

Varos and Serati continued their battle against the necromancer monsters. In terms of skill, the two of them had the upper hand. While neither of them had sustained any significant injuries, Hugot and the other necromancer abominations were bleeding profusely.

Yet, they refused to fall. Even in their tattered state, they relentlessly pressed forward, forcing the two warriors into a prolonged fight.

Varos clicked his tongue as he swung his chain blades. ”Ah, undead really are a pain in the ass.”

These creatures felt no fear of death. After all, they were already dead. Their broken bodies no longer registered pain. Even though his aura-infused strikes were slowing their regeneration, the sheer amount of necromantic energy saturating the battlefield allowed them to keep moving despite their ruined forms.

Serati, fighting Hugot, was equally frustrated. ”Damn it, why won’t you just go down?!”

”You think the blade of a pagan can harm me? Tesranach bestows his blessing upon this body!”

”Oh, shut up. My blade’s been working just fine. You’re practically falling apart!”

”And yet, even this ravaged body moves unhindered! What else could this be but the grace of Tesranach?!”

”That’s your big boast? What, is he the god of rags and scraps?”

Her sarcastic jab aside, the situation was undeniably frustrating. If she wanted to bring Hugot down for good, she needed to land a decisive blow. She would need to sever his head completely or cleave his body in half.

Inflicting minor injuries like slicing off a limb wouldn’t be enough. They would recover soon enough,. The real problem was that her enemy knew this. That was why he was guarding his head and torso with everything he had. An opponent who prioritized defense above all else was often the most difficult to deal with.

This isn’t working.

Their original plan was already falling apart. They had intended to keep Demphis restrained while sneaking Leven and the other captives out. But now that they were fully engaged in battle, their escape plan was halfway to ruin.

The only saving grace was that Karnak was holding out longer than expected. Serati glanced toward the other side of the chapel. Karnak was still locked in combat with the archlich, wielding both his flame spirit and necromantic magic. He had claimed that necromancy wouldn’t help against Demphis, yet he was fighting just fine.

Was he just complaining for no reason?

If they could finish off the monsters quickly and turn their focus on Demphis, they might actually have a chance at winning.

If only I had a way to shake them up for a moment...

It was then that she saw Leven abruptly spin around and charge toward her.

Without hesitation, he flung his daggers straight at Hugot’s back. ”Take this!”

Serati frowned. That won’t work.

It was an obvious trick—meant to distract Hugot and create an opening for her. Hugot, of course, saw through it immediately. Instead of reacting, he simply let the daggers hit him. For an undead like him, a few daggers lodged in his back were no more than a mild irritation.

Even if he’s a future martial king, right now he’s just an amateur.

Hugot sneered and kept his focus on Serati. And that was when his body suddenly lurched.

”Urgh?!”

Leven, now unarmed, had slid low to the ground and hooked his leg around Hugot’s ankle.

He’s resorting to wrestling all of a sudden?

The three-meter-tall monster lost his balance. Even an undead creature couldn’t defy physics. The moment one of his legs was pulled out from under it, his body naturally followed.

And where did Hugot’s head land? Right at Serati’s feet. It was perfectly aligned within striking range of her glowing red aura blade.

”A-ah, wait—!”

Hugot barely had time to cry out before his head was severed clean from his shoulders. As his head rolled away, Serati couldn’t help but admire the execution.

Damn, that was quick thinking.

If Leven had gone for a takedown immediately, Hugot would’ve reacted and dodged. But by first throwing the daggers, he planted the idea that he was weak and harmless. Only after luring Hugot into ignoring him did he execute the trip.

Of course, Leven still had a problem. He had turned his back on his own opponent. The necromancer-monster he had been fighting lashed out, its tentacles wrapping tightly around his limbs.

Leven was caught completely defenseless. But there was no problem at all. After all, Serati was now free to act.

”Now it’s your turn to save me!” he shouted.

”Of course!”

Grinning, Serati swung her aura blade.

The necromancer holding Leven froze in shock.

What?

His mission was to subdue Leven. There was no way he could let go of his target, but at the same time, there was a glowing aura blade coming straight for him. The necromancer’s head was severed and sent flying through the air.

The remaining necromancers, already struggling against Varos, cried out in alarm.

”Lord Hugot!”

”Mitchell!”

The problem was that they had barely been holding their ground against Varos this whole time.

”Do you really have the time to be worrying about them?”

Once the balance had been broken, the rest collapsed like dominos. Varos’s chain blades lashed out, striking at their openings, while Serati’s aura blade slashed in from behind.

”Guaaah!”

It took only a few seconds for the remaining two necromancers to be reduced to little more than mangled corpses.

Sheathing his weapons, Varos let out a genuine sigh of admiration. ”As expected of you, Sir Leven. That was a brilliant tactic.”

Leven scratched his cheek, feeling somewhat embarrassed. ”I couldn’t just stand around doing nothing.”

It sounded like a compliment, so he accepted it, but he still didn’t quite understand.

As expected? He talks like he’s known me for a long time.

Regardless, with this, both Varos and Serati were now free.

Leven quickly pointed toward a section of the chapel. ”The others are locked up over there! We need to free them first!”

***

Demphis let out a breath of disbelief, half laughing. Just moments ago, his subordinates had been holding their ground. But now, in the blink of an eye, they were gone.

Well, he could always resurrect them later. It wasn’t like this was the first or second time they had died. As long as their corpses were intact, he could reanimate them again. Of course, they wouldn’t come back in perfect condition.

But for now, they were out of commission. And that meant he had just lost his entire force. This wasn’t his subordinates’ fault. They had done their part, holding off the enemy for as long as they could.

The problem is me.

The real issue was that he had yet to deal with Karnak, even though he held a massive advantage in skill and power.

Why? Why do I feel so distracted?

It was as if he had been caught in a necromantic trance. But without knowing the cause, he had no solution.

No, I’m asking the wrong question.

The real question wasn’t why he was feeling like this now.

Why didn’t I feel this way when I first fought him?

Back then, he hadn’t intended to let Karnak live. He had simply planned to kill them all and be done with it.

That’s it. Back then, I was purely focused on murder.

He steeled his mind. He abandoned all curiosity and focused entirely on one emotion. The flickering contract sigil embedded within him finally began to settle.

The archlich raised his golden staff and pointed it toward the battlefield. “Fall!”

A storm of overwhelming mana descended upon the fire spirit, El Ragnatia. This was on an entirely different level from any of his previous spells.

The fire spirit was already drained from its fight against the ice golem. It stood helpless against the onslaught of raw magical force. With a single strike, El Ragnatia was utterly annihilated, its form vanishing into embers.

So that was the answer.

The golden staff shifted its aim. This time, it was aimed directly at Karnak.

”Die, human.” Demphis deliberately spoke his words aloud.

It was a declaration to himself more than anything. “I do not need anything from you.”

A suffocating wave of killing intent spread over the ruined chapel.

”Leave behind neither body nor soul. Simply cease to exist.”