Karnak, Monarch of Death

From that day on, Hudel became one of Elezar’s direct subordinates. She didn’t take him on as an apprentice. After all, Hudel lacked any talent for magic. Instead, she appointed him as her secretary.

From then on, Hudel managed the administrative affairs of the magic tower while secretly learning necromancy from Elezar. Where she had obtained them, Hudel didn’t know, but she possessed a wealth of resources on necromancy.

Thanks to the Shadow of Doom, Hudel already had all the necromantic energy he needed. Within less than a year, he became a powerful necromancer. Once he proved himself competent, Elezar led him to the Church of the Black God.

It turned out that Elezar had another identity besides her role as the imperial court mage. She was the Saintess of Destruction, one of the three Saints of the Church of the Black God.

”Unbelievable. The imperial court mage is the Saintess of Destruction...”

Hearing the story, Serati clicked her tongue in disbelief. There were three Saints who led the cult dedicated to Tesranach, the Black God. They were the Pope of Death, the Hierophant of Darkness, and the Saintess of Destruction.

Of course, the church referred to them simply as demons. Karnak wasn’t surprised.

”Someone like Elezar wouldn’t be a low-ranking member. If she’s involved with the cult, of course, she’d be at the top.”

As for the other two Saints of the cult, Hudel had no information about their identities.

”I’ve never met them personally, nor has Lady Elezar ever mentioned them,” he admitted.

Still, the revelation of even one of the Saints’ true identities was monumental. If the empire or the church learned of this, the news would cause a massive uproar.

”Good thing we kept him alive,” Karnak remarked with a grin.

Handing Hudel over to the Brigade of Purification would also reveal Elezar’s identity to the empire.

”If they handle her, great. If not, at least things will be easier for us in the future.” He motioned to Hudel to continue. ”So, what happened next?”

***

Even after joining the Cult of the Black God, Hudel remained one of Elezar’s closest subordinates. Publicly, he was the secretary to the imperial court mage. Within the cult, he served the Saint of Destruction with absolute loyalty.

During this time, his necromantic power grew immensely, and his position within the cult rose to that of a cardinal. With his newfound strength and authority, he returned to his homeland, Grental territory, and resolved his long-held grievances. He wiped out his entire family and claimed the territory for himself.

”This part matches what we uncovered in our investigation,” Karnak noted.

With Elezar backing him, there were no obstacles to Hudel’s installation as the new lord. He became the undisputed master of Grental territory. From then on, his primary mission was to serve as a liaison between the cult’s operations in the Seven Kingdoms Alliance and the empire. He acted as a vanguard, expanding the cult’s influence into the western regions of the empire.

Varos nodded in understanding. ”If this guy is eliminated, it would likely destabilize the cult’s operations in the Seven Kingdoms.”

Karnak waved a hand dismissively. ”Come on, they must have other connections. He can’t be the only one.”

Another possibility emerged, one that Serati pointed out. ”It seems the cult’s main forces are concentrated in the empire.”

After all, if someone like Elezar existed within the Seven Kingdoms Alliance, they wouldn’t have needed Hudel to act as a vanguard.

“That would mean that the elites of the Seven Kingdoms can be trusted.”

”That’s good to hear,” Varos remarked with a grin.

Hudel had continued to travel between the capital and Grental territory, carrying out various tasks for Elezar. While most were unrelated to Karnak’s party, some incidents were closely tied to them.

”So, he was the one who sent Lapicel wandering around with that demonic sword?” Karnak asked.

Given how they’d tracked Hudel through the case involving the Eustil princes and their stolen souls, it was clear he had a hand in it. But to learn he was also behind the Mareda incident was surprising.

Seizing the opportunity, Karnak pressed Hudel for answers. ”Why did you give Lapicel that sword?”

Hudel’s response was unexpected. ”I didn’t.”

Hudel admitted that his involvement in the incident was limited to supplying the demonic sword, Mareda. He hadn’t sent Lapicel. The necromancer in Grental territory who received the sword had conducted experiments, using orphans as test subjects. They selected the girl most compatible with the sword and sent her to the Eustil Kingdom. By sheer coincidence, that girl had been Lapicel.

”So, it was just an accident?” Serati asked skeptically.

Karnak scratched his cheek, looking unconvinced. ”It’s not impossible, but...”

Out of all the potential candidates, the fact that Lapicel had been chosen as the host for the demonic sword felt like more than mere coincidence. It was an utterly implausible coincidence.

But what if Lapicel had been chosen because she had been particularly skilled with a sword among the orphans? That wasn’t an impossible scenario.

”Come to think of it, Lapicel was originally from the western part of the empire, wasn’t she?” Karnak asked.

Varos shrugged. ”I assumed she was from the Eustil Kingdom since the language is the same.”

The Baracant Mountains was located in the central-western region of the continent. This area, encompassing the Eustil Kingdom, the Atringen Kingdom, and the western territories of the Lacania Empire, shared a common language: Isola.

Although politically divided, the region formed a single cultural sphere. This was why Karnak and his party had experienced no language barriers when crossing the border into the Empire.

Normally, crossing into a different nation meant dealing with an entirely new language. However, historical circumstances had created a unique situation in the central-western continent.

Two centuries ago, what was now the Eustil and Atringen Kingdom were governed as two marquisates of the Lacania Empire. They were known as the Eustil Marquisate and the Atringen Marquisate, respectively.

At that time, the Seven Kingdoms Alliance had been merely a Five Kingdoms Alliance. But with the massive Baracant Mountains acting as a natural divide, the empire’s influence waned in the region.

The two frontier territories developed independently, and friction with Lacania increased over time. Eventually, they declared independence and formed separate nations. However, though they were divided administratively, they retained significant similarities in language, culture, and social structure.

”I’ve heard stories about Beltia wandering the empire before naming Lapicel as her successor. That must have happened here,” Varos said.

”So, is it really just a coincidence?” Karnak clicked his tongue and turned his gaze to Hudel.

”This guy also claims not to know Lapicel.”

At that moment, Hudel gave another surprising response. ”I wouldn’t say I don’t know her.”

”What?”

”I’ve heard of the name Lapicel before.”

”What’s that supposed to mean?”

***

It had happened just before Hudel returned to Grental Territory, after completing a mission assigned by Elezar.

”This is the demonic sword Mareda, Lady Elezar,” Hudel said.

”Well done,” she replied, taking the sword into her hands.

For a moment, she closed her eyes, gripping the stolen blade tightly.

”Ah, so that’s how it is,” she murmured.

”Have you discovered the reason behind it?” Hudel asked.

Ignoring his question, Elezar smiled faintly. ”So the host happened to be Lapicel? In that case, it’s not so strange after all.”

***

”Wait, Elezar knows Lapicel?” Karnak exclaimed.

”She definitely mentioned her,” Hudel replied with a dazed expression.

Karnak’s face lit up. This confirmed it. Elezar had also traveled back in time.

Now I can safely seek her out.

With Elezar in his grasp, Karnak could finally uncover why the world had ended up in its current state. Perhaps she could even be persuaded to reverse everything.

”This is going to make things much easier,” he said, clearly pleased.

Just then, Hudel spoke again, interrupting Karnak’s thoughts. ”Afterward, Lady Elezar asked me a question.”

***

”How is Lapicel doing now?”

”One of the captains of the King’s Order took her in,” Hudel replied.

”Really? Who?”

”Baron Karnak of the Zestrad family. He’s a sixth circle mage and commands the Seventh Squad of the King’s Order.”

Hudel then briefly reported on Varos and Serati as well.

Hearing the names, Elezar murmured quietly, ”Karnak, Varos, and Serati, you say?”

She seemed momentarily puzzled but soon shook her head. ”It doesn’t sound like they know what they’ve gotten their hands on.”

Handing the demonic sword back to Hudel, she said, ”Well done, Hudel. Take some time to rest back home.”

”Yes, Lady Elezar,” he replied.

***

“Wait, what?” Karnak’s expression hardened like stone. ”Why does it sound like Elezar doesn’t know who I am?”

Varos was equally puzzled. ”She seems to be acting like she doesn’t know me either.”

”Could she not be a time-reverter after all?”

”Then how does she know Lapicel? That would only make sense if she were a time-reverter.”

”But if she is, why doesn’t she know us?”

It was a contradiction. It didn’t make sense at all. Frowning in confusion, Karnak rubbed his temples.

”What the hell is going on here?”

***

No matter how much they mulled it over, they couldn’t find an answer. At this point, there was far too little information to draw any meaningful conclusions.

”For now, all we can do is tread carefully,” Karnak said.

Since the topic had come up, he decided to interrogate Hudel about some other lingering questions. ”What exactly were you doing at the border gate?”

Hudel claimed to know nothing about the Candy Witch Incident.

Could it be that this wasn’t orchestrated by the Cult of the Black God? Or is it just that this guy was out of the loop while other cultists acted independently?

Still, they managed to extract a considerable amount of information about the cult’s operations scattered across the Seven Kingdoms Alliance. Even this roster alone was a major breakthrough.

”All that’s left now is to hand Hudel over to the Brigade of Purification and head back to the Eustil Kingdom,” Karnak said.

Serati posed a question. ”Shouldn’t we inform them that Elezar is one of the cult’s leaders?”

”We can’t be too obvious about it. If it looks like I was involved, it could raise questions,” Karnak explained.

While necromancy was one thing, the needle-assisted memory extraction was hardly an honorable practice. Up until now, Karnak had typically feigned simple interrogation before killing his targets and presenting post-mortem evidence. But treating someone like Hudel—a noble of the empire—that way was out of the question.

”We need to ensure the Brigade of Purification interrogates him themselves and handles it directly,” he said.

Karnak shrugged casually. ”Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan.”

***

Two days later, the Brigade of Purification finally arrived in Grental Territory. As seasoned veterans in dealing with the Cult of the Black God, they immediately began cleaning up the aftermath, relieving the Saisha priests of their burdens. However, their attitude toward Karnak and his party was far from welcoming.

Most members of the brigade were Imperial nobles who openly looked down on the people of the Seven Kingdoms.

”A Eustil Kingdom native?”

”Sure, they helped eliminate the cultists, but why did it have to be someone from the Seven Kingdoms?”

But the atmosphere shifted almost instantly. It turned out that the Brigade’s leadership was familiar with Karnak and his companions. Leocolt, Restein, and the mage Stronoff—men they had saved at the border gate—had recently returned from leave and were now leading the brigade.

”Lord Karnak!”

”Sir Varos! So this is where you’ve been!”

Leocolt, in particular, was infamous even within the brigade for his arrogance. When someone like him warmly greeted Karnak’s party, the rest of the brigade couldn’t help but soften their attitudes.

So that was them?

I heard they were incredibly powerful.

Thanks to this, everything proceeded without a hitch. It was a relief for Karnak and his group. They had been braced for a confrontation with the brigade.

Watching how things unfolded, Serati clicked her tongue. ”Wow, what a coincidence.”

Karnak shook his head.

—It’s not really a coincidence, though.

Varos, already expecting as much, nodded knowingly.

—I figured as much.

—Exactly.

From the start, Karnak had suspected that those three were part of the brigade’s western garrison. Given the immense size of the Lacania Empire, it was standard practice to assign troops from local regions to nearby posts.

Leocolt’s group had introduced themselves as returning from their vacation. Thus, it was clear they were natives of the area.

—They just came back from leave. When something happens, it would make sense for them to be the first assigned to handle it, wouldn’t it?