Karnak, Monarch of Death

Through the crumbled wall seeped a chilling aura of death energy, thick and oppressive. From the shadows emerged a man shrouded in swirling black currents. It was Detzras, the necromancer. His piercing gaze swept the interior of the hall before an awkward expression dawned on his face.

“...How did they know?”

Karnak, Varos, and Serati stood unharmed across the room. They were completely unscathed by the earlier explosion. Despite the magnitude of the blast, they were without a speck of dust on them. They had evaded it with precision, which would have been impossible unless they knew it was coming. Detzras couldn’t understand it.

“I was certain they were using soul summoning...” he muttered.

When channeling necromancy, a caster’s ability to detect external threats was significantly diminished. Detzras had deliberately timed his attack to coincide with their interrogation. Yet, they had somehow taken notice and reacted.

Karnak smiled faintly. “Your timing was good.”

In truth, Karnak’s sensory perception had indeed dulled during the interrogation. But even when his senses were dulled, Karnak possessed awareness far beyond most necromancers. As the former Monarch of Death, he could sense the concentration of necrotic energy gathering across the hall as if he were watching it with his own eyes. Evading and preparing for the attack had been no trouble at all. Of course, there was no need to share this with Detzras.

“I just have good instincts,” Karnak said, brushing it off with a shrug. He gave a casual wave of his hand, prompting Varos and Serati to unsheathe their swords and step forward.

Serati glanced over the ruined hall and sighed. Her voice was tinged with regret. “If only this had happened after we finished the interrogation.”

Karnak raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Why? We haven’t gotten all the information yet.”

Karnak tilted his head, genuinely unconcerned. “And that’s a problem because...?”

He gestured toward the shattered debris. “Do ghosts die from being buried under rubble?”

“...Ah, right,” Serati murmured, realizing her mistake.

She had momentarily thought of it as a standard interrogation. But necromantic interrogations were different. Even if interrupted, they could simply resume after eliminating the target.

“Besides,” Karnak added, his gaze narrowing as it locked onto Detzras, “this one probably knows even more.”

His tone was casual, as if the idea of turning Detzras into a ghost was already a foregone conclusion. This air of confidence would have been impossible without complete certainty in his ability to make it happen.

“Hah, unbelievable...”

Detzras’s eyes darkened with anger.

“You insolent brat! How dare you speak so arrogantly!”

But Karnak’s reaction was unexpected.

“Brat?” Karnak blinked, momentarily puzzled. Then, suddenly, he broke into a wide grin. “Oh, right! I am young again now!”

“Exactly! A splendid youth,” Varos chimed in.

Even the burly swordsman showed a similar reaction.

“Ah, moments like these make all the effort feel worthwhile.”

“Couldn’t agree more, young master,” Varos replied cheerfully.

Detzras was dumbfounded. He had encountered those who brushed off being called inexperienced, but this was the first time he’d seen anyone enjoy it.

“...What a baffling group. Truly incomprehensible,” he muttered, growing wary despite himself.

The realization stirred caution within him. Raising both hands, he began to summon his power. Necrotic energy surged outward and enveloped the hall in a suffocating wave.

“Shadows of the frozen void! Enshroud this place and awaken the night of Acheron!”

***

A blinding white mist poured across the ground. It spread like a flood. In an instant, everything was coated in frost. Jagged ice formations and razor-sharp icicles grew rapidly, consuming the entire space in their crystalline grip. The air turned frigid, a biting wind howling through the frozen wasteland as grotesque figures emerged from the mist.

“Grrr...”

“Haaaa...”

Horrific beasts, their forms a twisted amalgamation of darkness, blood, and ice, began to rise from the ground. Their entire bodies radiated cold and death energy as they moved to encircle Karnak and his group.

Serati glanced around, her expression tense.

This...

What had once been a simple slum building now resembled a frozen hellscape. She had seen something similar before.

It’s just like that time.

A powerful necromantic spell that altered the very fabric of space. It reminded Serati of Bishop Straph, the most formidable necromancer she had ever faced. In contrast, Karnak and Varos showed no signs of surprise.

“Well, this is about what I’d expect. That bishop-whatever was probably at a similar level, right?” Varos remarked nonchalantly.

“Yeah, it does feel similar,” Karnak said, glancing at the necromantic domain that now surrounded them.

The fusion of mana and necromantic energy was seamless, much like Straph’s integration of divine and necromantic energies.

“And just like back then, you can see what’s happening, but there’s no way to stop it,” Karnak added with a faint smile.

Serati’s expression tightened. “...So, it’s dangerous, isn’t it?”

For her, that battle was a memory so terrifying it still sometimes haunted her dreams. After all, the reason she was even with Karnak was because Straph had cost her both arms during that fight.

“Not really,” Karnak replied dismissively. He snapped his fingers with an air of indifference. “We didn’t have any problems back then, did we?”

Snap!

In an instant, the freezing cold began to vanish at an alarming speed. The ice melted, the monstrous beasts dissolved, and the warped space reverted to its original state as though time itself had been rewound. Within seconds, the area where Detzras had been standing was no longer a frozen hellscape but the broken remains of the hall.

Detzras’s face went pale with shock. “What in the world?”

His necromantic domain had been dispelled entirely.

“What did you do? What kind of trick is this?” he demanded.

Varos gave a bitter smirk while shaking his head. “Another one of those melon-rind lovers.”

Melon rind? Detzras had no idea what the phrase meant, but he could tell it was meant to be an insult. Still, he calmed himself quickly. Unlike Straph, he had been wary of Karnak from the start.

“So, you’re not ordinary after all. But!”

Detzras gathered his necrotic energy once more.

“The power Tesranach’s bestowed me is far from exhausted!”

Another grotesque necromantic domain began enveloping the room, transforming the surroundings into a nightmare of writhing flesh and twitching tentacles. However, the result was no different.

Snap!

“Da-damn it! I still have more spells—”

Snap!

“I’m not done yet! This time, I’ll—”

Snap!

Every necromantic domain Detzras summoned collapsed almost immediately. The speed at which they fell was so absurd it seemed like a coordinated performance.

Grinding his teeth, Detzras growled. “What is this? How are you destroying my domains just by snapping your fingers?”

The truth was that Karnak’s snapping was merely for show. He had been layering simple, novice counter-domains through his feet all along. But there was no reason to share that detail.

Instead, Karnak fixed Detzras with a smug glare. “Out of tricks already?”

Detzras, now on edge, racked his brain. It was clear Karnak had a unique ability to neutralize necromantic domains. But that didn’t mean Detzras was out of options.

I’ll just attack another way.

Switching tactics, he delved into pure necromancy. Pouring his energy into a new spell, he summoned countless malevolent spirits from the void.

“Wandering souls of the abyss, obey your master of darkness!”

The ground split with a deafening roar as black, ghostly apparitions erupted in droves. Their anguished wails echoed as they filled the air, swirling ominously above the broken hall.

Varos watched, nodding as if unimpressed. “It failed, and now he’s falling back on the exact same trick as the other one. “

The problem was that this tactic was one even Karnak couldn’t dispel outright.

“Well, time to make a run for it?” Varos asked, shrugging as he hefted his sword.

After all, the situation mirrored their previous encounter with Straph. The solution then had been simple: retreat.

But Karnak narrowed his eyes before asking, “Why?”

“What do you mean, why? It’s the same as last time, isn’t it?” Varos replied, confused.

“Not exactly the same.”

Suddenly, dozens of glowing orbs of magical energy materialized behind Karnak. The blazing projectiles hovered for a brief moment before launching toward the ghostly apparitions.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions rippled through the air, scattering the spirits and forcing them back. It was a sixth-circle spell—Blazing Arcane Bolts—a powerful destructive magic.

A wry smile spread across Karnak’s face as he glanced at Varos. “We’re not quite the same as back then, are we?”

***

At the time of his battle with Bishop Straph, Karnak had been no more than a fourth circle mage, and his necromantic abilities were meager at best. But now?

“Blazing Arcane Bolts!”

Dozens of magical projectiles streaked toward the advancing spirits, each hitting its mark with explosive precision. One by one, the spirits erupted in bursts of shadowy energy. Now Karnak stood as a sixth-circle mage, a bona fide high-ranking mage. The power of his spells had increased exponentially compared to when he was at the fourth circle. And magic wasn’t the only thing that had changed.

“Come forth, Nemesis Ghosts. By your master’s will, annihilate these foes.”

At Karnak’s soft chant, pale spectral figures began materializing around him. They were specters of the same rank as the spirits summoned by Detzras. Soon, the black spirits and white specters clashed in midair, grappling and colliding violently.

Shrieeek!

Grooaar!

Waves of force rippled out from the clashes, accompanied by piercing ghostly wails. Despite the immense power infused into Detzras’s spirits, Karnak’s specters matched them blow for blow, holding the line without faltering.

“My necrotic power has grown quite a bit since then, too,” Karnak murmured with a sly grin.

He had pushed himself relentlessly, significantly increasing his necromantic strength. In sheer quantity, it had increased at least twentyfold compared to before.

“Now I’m at the level of a random guy who’s picked up the Shadow of Doom on the roadside!” he quipped.

Of course, he still fell short compared to Detzras. In fact, he was likely weaker even than Kayle or Olt, whom they had just subdued. But his efficiency, understanding, and control of necromancy were leaps and bounds ahead, allowing him to wield his power far more effectively.

“And unlike last time, I’ve got one more ally,” he said, glancing to his side.

The red-haired beauty, Serati, was standing guard over him, tirelessly cutting down the spirits that came too close.

“Haah!”

While Karnak had enchanted her blade with necromantic energy to allow it to damage the spirits, the strikes weren’t strong enough to completely destroy them. The disintegrated spirits would reassemble shortly after.

“Serati,” Karnak called.

“Yes?”

“There’s no need to hold back anymore. Our friend here has already revealed himself.”

Serati had been suppressing her true strength to keep Detzras from becoming too cautious.

“Understood!” she replied eagerly.

With a burst of power, Serati unleashed her full strength. A crimson aura surged around her blade, cutting through the encroaching darkness with terrifying intensity.

Whooom!

“A-an aura user?” Detzras stammered in disbelief. “No, why would an aura user serve a necromancer?”

The sheer absurdity of the situation momentarily shook him, making him think not as a necromancer, but as a mage questioning the logic of it all.

“You have the room to question it, when you were a mage and became a necromancer?” Serati retorted with a smirk before charging in. “Take this!”

Now fully utilizing her aura, Serati tore through the spirits with ruthless efficiency. Each swing of her blade sent rippling crimson energy outward, obliterating the spirits entirely. Unlike before, there was no recovery. The spirits dissolved into nothingness upon contact.

Kyaaaah!

Grooooaaaar!

Aaaaargh!

Karnak, too, wasn’t idle.

“Roar, Thunder’s Roar!”

A whip of lightning lashed out, scattering spirits with devastating strikes.

“Strike down, Power Strike!”

Blazing Arcane Bolts pierced and shattered the spirits without pause. The fragmented spirits were then drawn toward Karnak, who reassembled them with necromancy.

“Rise, my servants. Serve your new master’s will!”

The reconstituted spirits, now bound to Karnak, turned on their former comrades with vicious shrieks.

Kyaaaah!

Between Serati and Karnak, they handled Detzras’s necromancy without much difficulty. Compared to their desperate fight against Straph, both had come a long way. Well, except for Varos.

“Hyah! Take this! Hah!”

The burly knight was still enthusiastically swinging his sword.

Karnak sighed as he glanced over at Varos. “Some things haven’t changed, I guess.”

Varos was, as ever, just Varos. He was a swordsman with more experience than anyone else, but also entirely ordinary. There was no real progress to speak of either.

“When are you going to learn aura?” Karnak asked.

“You think I don’t want to? It’s not for lack of trying, you know!” Varos shot back.

Still, even back then, Varos had held his own just fine. Naturally, he was doing so now, too. As time passed, the tide of battle began to turn further against Detzras.

“Damn it...” he growled, his glare fixed on Karnak.

Just who is this guy? he thought, his frustration mounting.