Karnak, Monarch of Death

On a burning rooftop of a building in the southern part of Harthol City, a black-haired young mage shouted, amplifying his voice with magic. “Over here, you monster! I’m right here! Leave the citizens alone!”

The giant of light had been scouring the area for its target. It immediately turned its steps toward him. Right after his shouts, the young man leapt off the building, using wind magic to descend safely to the streets below. He sprinted through the gaps between buildings, and the giant of light thundered after him.

Explosions echoed throughout the streets. Watching the giant of light move away, the citizens let out sighs of relief.

“Ah...”

“W-we survived?”

“But what about Baron Karnak...?”

Tears welled in their eyes. That hero was risking his life to lure the terrifying monster away and protect them.

“Please, please be safe...”

All they could do now was pray for the safety of Karnak and his companions. Each offered a desperate prayer to their own goddess. Naturally, among the many prayers was one to the Goddess of the Sun.

“O Latiel, please grant your protection to that hero.”

“And let this dark night be illuminated by the rise of a new sun.”

Thanks to this, the priests of the Latiel Order wore awkward expressions.

“Um...”

“This feels a little strange...”

The light radiating from the giant was far too familiar.

“No, there’s no way...”

How could a vile heretic who consorted with demons wield the sacred power of Latiel?

Right, there’s no way...

The problem was that their lifelong-trained senses of divine power were screaming that this power was unmistakably their own.

“It must be our imagination, right?”

“We’re probably just exhausted and delirious.”

“Yes, of course.”

Brushing off their unease, the priests turned away.

“Come, let’s rescue the citizens! Move the wounded to safety and begin healing spells!”

“Yes, understood!”

***

The giant of light opened its mouth. Particles of radiance gathered into a massive sphere, then erupted in a flash that split the street in two.

As the destructive beam tore through the earth, Karnak flinched. “Not that again!”

He hurriedly darted alongside the buildings and pushed his movement magic to its limit. “Wind Walk Maximum!”

The acceleration from the wind spell propelled his body forward, and Karnak shot across to the far end of the street in an instant. He dodged the destructive beam by a hair’s breadth before thrusting out his right hand and unleashing a spell. “Fireball!”

Immediately, he crossed his hands and cast another spell. “Detonate, Explosion!”

A large sphere of flame shot toward the giant and exploded, followed by another massive blast. But it was useless. The giant of light continued its stride as if nothing had happened. It didn’t even flinch, let alone take damage.

As expected, this isn’t enough.

A mere fourth circle Fireball and fifth circle Explosion were nowhere near sufficient. The giant of light fired another beam of destruction with a loud roar.

A colossal pillar of light slammed into the ground, tearing apart the earth and sending buildings flying through the air, creating a spectacle of vast devastation.

Karnak desperately kept up his evasive flight, casting movement spells continuously. At least, compared to the tangled terrain of the forest, the burnt city had fewer obstacles, making it somewhat manageable even for his reflexes.

Catching his breath as he ducked into an alley, Karnak scowled. I need to use necromantic magic...

But there was no time. Necromantic magic, while powerful and capable of replicating higher-circle spells using lower-circle mana, had the downside of a longer casting time. He didn’t have time to use it in a situation like this, where a single mistake could mean death

And the quick-fire spells I used earlier aren’t doing anything, either.

Frustrated, Karnak snapped telepathically.

—Hey! Weren’t you all supposed to buy me some time? What are you doing?

Three exasperated replies shot back at once.

—We’re not just standing around here!

—We’re doing our best, you know!

—What do you want us to do? Our swords won’t even pierce it!

***

A small girl kicked off the ground while gripping her crimson aura blade. A shimmering flash of red trailed behind her, beautifully embroidering the darkness.

“Hyah!” With blinding speed and precision, Lapicel slashed at the giant’s left leg and dashed past. Everything about her technique was flawless, including her speed, timing, and force.

Leven soared through the air right after her. Leaving a long streak of crimson light, he cut in toward the giant’s right side. His aura blade, accelerated to its limit, unleashed a massive slash across the giant’s back.

—Delphiad Swordsmanship, Strike of the Thunder King!

Light and aura collided, exploding in a tremendous roar. The air shook and then burst violently, threatening to tear apart everyone’s eardrums. Immediately, Serati and Varos followed up with their assault.

A blue aura blade gleamed with a clear light like a lake and crashed against the giant’s massive fist. Their clash sent dazzling sparks flying, and for a moment, the giant’s movements faltered. Seizing the opening, four chains of aura shot forth.

The chains of aura wrapped around one of the giant’s arms and a leg. Varos launched a barrage of strikes after restraining the giant’s movements.

The purple aura blade cleaved down upon the giant’s neck and chest in succession. Varos had forced his level up to purple tier. Of course, the giant of light was not about to sit idly about.

It swung its hands again and again, trying to catch its attackers. But Varos moved faster and with greater precision. Using the tension of the aura chains to maintain the distance, he kept himself just out of reach while landing one lethal counterattack after another.

Thus, the four aura users coordinated seamlessly, unleashing a relentless offensive on the giant. It was a display of flawless teamwork. Even if the martial kings of this era had been present to judge them, they could not have found fault with their performance.

And yet, the result was...

“Damn it, not even a scratch?” Grinding her teeth, Serati glared at the giant of light.

They had slashed, struck, and pounded it relentlessly, and still, the giant of light stood completely unscathed. Forget defeating it. There wasn’t a single visible wound.

There had been a reason Karnak said it had no real weakness. The sheer total quantity of power it possessed was simply overwhelming. Leven and Lapicel’s attacks didn’t even register.

Serati’s blows, at least, made contact, but all they managed was to rattle it slightly at best. Varos could visibly damage it, but even that was temporary. The moment he caught his breath, the damage regenerated as if nothing had happened.

The giant of light now turned its head toward the aura users. Its mouth opened wide. Particles of light gathered, then erupted into hundreds of beams. Countless rays of light bombarded the four fighters.

“Gah!”

“Damn it!”

They all desperately flung themselves aside. There weren’t many options against such a downpour of destruction. All they could do was get out of range. The horrific explosions finally ceased after what felt like forever, and the giant turned its body once more.

It resumed its pursuit of Karnak. Behind the retreating figure of the giant, four soot-covered men and women emerged once again. Though covered in dust and grime, they were surprisingly unscathed for having just endured such a merciless barrage.

Leven spoke the obvious conclusion. “As expected, that thing’s top priority is Lord Karnak.”

It had been like this from the beginning. The giant of light focused all its attention on pursuing Karnak alone. Thanks to that, the aura users could relentlessly aim for its back. The problem was, their attacks weren’t having any effect.

Even just slowing it down proved difficult, and they were constantly sent flying by its counterattacks.

The only saving grace was that the giant’s murderous intent was directed solely at Karnak. It barely even tried to kill the aura users. Its intent was merely to brush aside any obstacles in its path.

—It’s definitely not aiming to kill us.

—Well, that’s at least a small relief...

At their words, Karnak’s eyes blazed. In other words, the safer they were, the worse things were for Karnak.

—Relief? You call this relief?! You’re not thinking of running, are you? You two are my vassals! If I die, you die with me!

Leven and Serati, exasperated, shot back.

—You don’t have to say it like that! We’d never abandon our comrade!

—We just meant it’s a relief that we’ve got more room to move! What do you take us for?

Varos, meanwhile, seemed more intrigued than anything.

—Huh? Wait a second. Young master, I’m not your vassal anymore, am I? So if you die, I don’t die too?

—Varos, you, you blasted, two-faced bastard...

His urgency must have scrambled his thoughts, because his transmission came out tangled. Varos soothed the flustered Karnak.

—It’s a joke. Just a joke.

Varos knew full well about Latiel’s Incarnation of Divinity. For now, its top priority was Karnak. But once Karnak fell, their next targets would be the aura users, and then the citizens of Harthol. Throwing Karnak to the wolves wouldn’t end this. It really had been a joke. But how could Karnak laugh?

—Save the jokes for when we’re not about to die!

Still, despite his words, Varos was the first to charge after the giant. He swung his battle-worn sword with all his might, launching his chain-blade to block the giant’s path. He fought desperately, doing everything he could to buy Karnak enough time to cast a spell.

But it was no use. No matter how many spells they unleashed, no matter how much aura they poured out, they couldn’t leave a single scratch.

Things were so dire that even Serati called out,

—Lord Karnak, what about Plan P?

—Huh? Plan P? If we do that, you’ll go mad!

—I’ll try to hold it together! We just need to survive this moment!

—B-but...”

As Karnak hesitated, Varos cut in.

—It’s no good.

—Why not?

—Because I’m at the same level as Sir Serati now.

—Oh, right.

Before, Serati’s aura mastery had far outstripped Varos’s. When Varos possessed her, he could draw out power beyond his own limits. But now, they were both at the same blue-tier. Furthermore, Varos was in his own male body. Possessing Serati would only make him weaker.

—That’s why I thought you weren’t even considering Plan P.

—No, I was just worried about Serati losing her mind...

Serati was a little surprised to hear his explanation.

Huh? For real?

It was oddly touching that Karnak would actually think of her like that, not that there was any time to feel moved.

—Keep running!

Serati urged. Karnak sprinted through the burning streets, pouring every ounce of his strength into widening the gap between himself and the giant of light. The giant chased him relentlessly, and behind it, Varos, Serati, and the other aura users followed.

Panting, Leven sent a message to Varos.

—How much time do we have left, Varos?

There had to be a limit to the giant’s duration, but it showed no signs of fading. Varos gritted his teeth.

—No idea!

—What? But you’ve fought it before!

—We finished it off before it got this far!

Last time, they’d faced the giant of light as the Monarch of Death Karnak and Death Knight Varos. They’d been strong enough to destroy it outright.

Then, a thought crossed Varos’s mind.

Wait a second... why didn’t we run back then? Why did we fight it head-on?

Now that he thought about it, there had been no real reason to bother with such a troublesome fight, even back when Karnak was the Monarch of Death. Why would they go out of their way to confront a creature that would destroy itself if left alone? Karnak had never been the type to care about honor in battle.

Suddenly, the giant’s body of light scattered in all directions, streaking across the sky. Dozens, hundreds of beams shot down ahead of Karnak’s escape route and then reformed into the giant once more.

Ah... Varos clicked his tongue. Now he remembered why they’d fought it head-on. Right. Because of that.

There was no escaping this thing. If they tried to put too much distance between them, it would just break apart into scattered beams of light and catch up instantly.

As the giant of light loomed before him, Karnak let out a groan. “This is insane...”