Karnak, Monarch of Death

The southern library of the Saisha Order was under siege. A swarm of monsters poured into the building, growling and snarling as they advanced. This was Sephedes’ diversionary force, sent to infiltrate the underground prison while the main cultist force attacked the temple’s western side.

However, the group never made it to their target. They were stopped on the first floor of the temple, thanks to the desperate resistance of two priests. The expansive sanctuary, where dozens of worshippers had once gathered for mass, was now overrun by scores of monsters. Their goal was clear: the small door leading to the underground prison.

But the path was far from easy. The corridor leading to the door was narrow, and Alius and Belton held their ground with everything they had.

”You won’t get past us!”

Belton roared as he swung his mace relentlessly. The heavy weapon, imbued with a divine smiting spell, smashed into the skull of an approaching orc.

Crack!

Behind the orc, a gnoll charged forward with a sword raised. Belton raised his shield, forcing the gnoll off balance, then followed with another crushing blow.

”Take this!”

Like most priests, Belton was well-versed in combat techniques. Although the situation had been too urgent for him to don armor, he skillfully wielded his mace and shield to fend off the oncoming monsters.

Alius, meanwhile, fought with both a longsword and a staff, locked in a fierce struggle. He swung his sword at an advancing wolf-like beast, forcing it back. Then, raising his staff, he began chanting a holy spell. ”Let the Sacred Spear of Hatoba purify this land!”

A glowing blue spear materialized in midair and drove itself into the ground. A radiant vortex of divine light erupted, forcing the wolf monsters to retreat, bleeding from the force of the attack.

”Kyaaaah!”

”Grrr...”

Alius’s expression darkened.

Tsk. That’s the best I can manage.

While he had successfully driven the monsters back, none had been killed. The spell would have reduced them to ashes. But because these were living monsters, the spell’s effectiveness was diminished.

Belton, glaring at the swarming beasts, muttered in frustration, ”What in the goddess’s name is this...?”

The two had been in the underground prison, discussing their plans, when they’d noticed the sudden commotion outside. They rushed to the surface, only to find the guards dead and the monsters breaching the temple.

Grabbing weapons from the fallen guards, they managed to push the monsters back and barricaded the narrow entry to the underground prison.

”Hah... hah...”

Though only a few minutes had passed since the battle began, both men struggled to catch their breath.

A necromancer from the cult sneered at them, noticing their heavy breathing. ”Foolish mutts of your goddess. How long can you hold out with just the two of you?”

Unfortunately, the taunt wasn’t entirely wrong. Alius’s mind raced.

”Damn it, how can we send for help...?”

The guards were all dead, and they were effectively trapped inside the building. So how could they get a message to Karnak and the others? Then it struck him.

That’s it!

Alius raised his staff toward the ceiling of the temple.

”Hatoba, grant us your radiance!”

Boom!

The ceiling exploded, but the blast was weak. Only a few windows shattered, leaving the rest of the structure largely intact.

”Alius, what are you doing?”

Belton, the priest, looked incredulous as he watched Alius smash the temple windows.

”This should be loud enough for them to hear outside, don’t you think?” Alius said with a slight grin.

Belton’s expression brightened as well. ”Windows might be expensive, but they’re cheaper than lives!”

With that, Belton began casting divine spells of his own, targeting the stained glass windows on the upper levels of the temple.

Crash!

The sound of breaking glass echoed repeatedly as shards rained down. Realizing their plan, Sephedes hastily commanded the monsters. ”Go, servants of darkness! Slaughter them all!”

***

They fought. Desperately. But the sheer number of monsters was overwhelming, leaving them no room for rest.

Thunk!

Eventually, Belton lost his grip on his mace. His strength was completely spent.

The necromancer sneered. ”I told you, didn’t I? You wouldn’t last long.”

It felt like they had been fighting for an eternity, but in truth, less than five minutes had passed.

”Damn it...”

Cursing under his breath, Alius tried to muster the last of his strength.

Clang!

Suddenly, a loud noise rang out as shards of glass fell onto the monsters below. Something—or someone—was crashing through the temple’s stained glass ceiling.

”Ha!”

A short battle cry accompanied a flash of red light slicing through the air. Five orcs were dismembered in an instant, and a towering knight landed gracefully among the chaos.

Alius’s face lit up with recognition. ”Sir Varos!”

Moments later, a red-haired woman also descended, her blade weaving brilliant arcs of light and tearing the monsters apart as she landed. She cleared the surrounding monsters with a single motion, carving out space for the group to regroup.

Once she secured the area, Serati turned and asked, ”Are you both unharmed?”

Priest Belton exhaled a deep sigh of relief. ”Thanks to you, Lady Serati.”

”And the underground prison?”

”It’s still secure for now.”

”Good. Then we just need to deal with this lot.”

The monsters hesitated, instinctively retreating as they sensed the overwhelming aura radiating from the pair’s aura-imbued blades. Taking advantage of the pause, Alius helped Belton to a safer spot inside the entryway and then stood up, gripping his staff tightly.

”Take a moment to catch your breath, Priest Belton. We’ll handle things from here.”

While priests alone were not the strongest in combat, they could unleash their full potential when supported by reliable warriors.

”Hatoba, grant your blessings to your children!”

Divine energy enveloped Varos and Serati, amplifying their power. The two warriors immediately launched into action, leaping into the fray. Everywhere they went, showers of blood erupted, and monstrous cries filled the air.

“Kraaaaah!”

”Aaaagh!”

With the assistance of a high-ranking inquisitor, the two aura users unleashed devastating power. In their wake, paths of blood opened through the horde. Within moments, they had pushed the monsters back across the temple and beyond the corridor.

”Ugh...”

”I can’t believe warriors of this caliber were still in the temple...”

The necromancers controlling the monsters recoiled in fear, retreating further into the shadows. Then, three figures clad in light armor emerged from their ranks.

”Aura users?”

”Looks like it’s our turn to step in.”

Serati frowned. The enemies’ swords glowed with a dark, obsidian light, faint wisps of black smoke curling like heat waves from their edges.

”Dark aura...”

Varos allowed a faint smile to curl at his lips. The energy, the appearance—it was all too familiar.

”Dark Knights.”

***

Dark Knights. These were knights who had failed to awaken their aura naturally and instead harnessed a form of pseudo-aura through necromantic power. They were essentially the living counterpart of death knights. Varos himself had once walked that path in his earlier days. The dark knights pointed their obsidian aura-infused swords at the group with a cold smirk.

”Red knights, is it?”

”You seem skilled enough...”

”But you’re no match for those blessed by Tesranach’s grace.”

Their words weren’t mere bluster.

Dark aura, by its nature, concealed the user’s true power, but their presence alone was enough to provide a rough estimate. None of the three were weaker than Serati. At minimum, they were on par with red knights.

They’re formidable, she thought, flexing her fingers in preparation.

It was then that Varos broke the tense silence.

”So, you’re dark aura users, huh?” he said casually. ”Why didn’t you step in sooner?”

”What?”

The dark knights stared at him in confusion, caught off guard by the unexpected question.

Varos gestured toward the entrance to the underground prison. “I’m talking about over there, the prison. If you’d acted earlier, you could’ve completed your mission before we arrived.”

It was a valid point. If three dark knights had attacked from the beginning, the unarmored priests guarding the prison would’ve stood no chance.

”So why have you been sitting on the sidelines until now?”

After a moment of hesitation, one of the knights responded. ”We were protecting our comrades’ back in case something went wrong.”

”Yeah, right.” Varos snorted derisively. ”You just wanted to make a flashy entrance, didn’t you?”

He spoke with the certainty of someone who had been in their shoes before. As someone who had once been a dark knight himself, he understood all too well the mindset of those who gained power not through their efforts but through the abilities of others.

”You were waiting for an aura user to show up, so you could make your grand appearance and look cool, weren’t you?”

”Wh-what nonsense!”

One of the knights flushed red. His reaction betrayed the truth.

Even the nearby necromancers cast questioning glances at their supposed allies, as if silently asking, ”Was that really the plan?”

”It’s fine. I get it,” Varos continued, his tone mockingly sympathetic. ”You’ve been nobodies your whole lives. No one cared about you. No matter how much you trained, you couldn’t awaken aura and lived in mediocrity. Then, suddenly, you gained power. Of course, you’d want to show off. You’d want to swing your aura swords around and pretend you’re one of the big players, like someone who’s been great from the start. It’s natural. I totally understand.”

”Shut up!”

The faces of the dark knights burned with anger, and they lunged all at once. Their dark aura-infused blades slashed through the air, their strikes fueled by frustration and rage.

”You arrogant bastard!”

”We’ll cut off your limbs and make you beg for mercy!”

As the storm of dark energy closed in, Serati watched the scene unfold and silently marveled.

So that’s what this was about.

She had wondered why Varos had suddenly chosen to mock their enemies so openly. Now, it was clear. The dark knights had completely lost their composure. Their swords trembled like those of novices, and their strikes were erratic and unfocused.

With just a few words, the enemy’s composure had been thoroughly shaken. Serati ignited her aura from within and also surged forward. Her aura blade clashed with that of the dark knight’s mid-air. The strength of the dark knight’s aura blade was undeniably superior, yet Serati drove the momentum. Her opponent’s overwhelming agitation had left their aura control in disarray.

”Take this!”

Using the force of their downward swing against them, she redirected their blade and retaliated with a sharp counterstrike. Her sword carved a deep gash across her enemy’s chest.

”Arrghhh!”

As they collapsed, bleeding, the defeated knight spat out bitter words. ”Yo-you cursed heretic...”

Varos, meanwhile, handled his opponents with even greater ease. “Tsk, tsk. See? The one who loses their cool first always loses the fight.”

Two aura blades slashed at him from either side, but the flow of their aura was too erratic. Their movements were riddled with openings too glaring for a veteran like Varos to ignore. With a light flick of his blade, he deflected their strikes like a whip sweeping away debris.

Boom!

Their aura-infused blades collided with a resounding crash, vibrating with intense force. Varos had deliberately wrapped his aura around the dark aura of their weapons and reversed its flow.

For a regular aura user, this would cause no more than a brief disruption—perhaps a momentary difficulty in breathing. But it proved to be a monumental issue for the dark knights.

Honestly, dark aura isn’t exactly great for your health.

Both knights simultaneously coughed up thick, black blood.

”Ugh... urgh!”

”Guh... cough!”

As they staggered, Varos closed in and delivered a devastating slash.

Boom!

The blow sent both knights hurtling into the nearby wall with a thunderous impact. Though still alive, they slumped to the ground, clearly dazed and unable to continue.

The necromancers watching the battle gaped in disbelief. “The dark knights were beaten so easily?”

”That’s impossible! They’re supposed to rival aura users in strength!”

Varos turned to the necromancers, a faint smirk on his lips. ”They didn’t lose because they were weak. They lost because they were idiots.”

His expression darkened as his gaze turned cold. ”Now, I believe it’s time for a little chat with you lot.”