Karnak, Monarch of Death

Jedex’s summon, the Hellbeast of Barata had its body pierced through by holy swords. Karnak’s fusion elemental giant, El Ragna Terrastia, was forcibly weaved through chaos magic. Though they were fundamentally different beings, they both took the form of magma giants.

The two magma giants clashed in the middle of the street, scattering flames in every direction. Varos, Serati, Leven, and Lapicel all withdrew to avoid the searing heat. Flaming rocks entangled, hot winds swirled, and torrents of flame flowed as the brutal fight raged on.

Agonized screams erupted from both giants. One was a demon beast from hell, the other an otherworldly elemental. Yet in this moment, they were bound by the same fate. Both needed to destroy the other to lessen their own torment.

That... Watching from a distance, Lapicel grimaced. Something about this feels wrong...

She wanted to trust Karnak, but the sight unfolding before her eyes was too unsettling to ignore. Meanwhile, the magma giants fought desperately on, but the outcome was already decided.

Jedex’s beast had exhausted much of its strength fighting Karnak’s aura users, while the elemental was still fueled by the tremendous mana stored in the black cubes. In the end, victory fell to Karnak’s side.

The fusion elemental’s massive hands crushed the beast’s skull. Its body of fire and stone collapsed like a landslide, scattering debris everywhere.

”Da-damn it!” Cursing, Jedex hastily began preparing his next spell.

Varos watched him blandly and asked, ”How much longer do you think he’ll last, young master?”

”No need to hold back anymore.”

They had confirmed everything they needed, and there was nothing left to see. Besides, the summoned elemental giant still stood unscathed.

”Go, El Ragna Terrastia.”

With a roar of agony, the magma giant charged at Jedex. Its burning, stony fists pounded relentlessly at the shield encircling Jedex. The deafening roar of explosions continued without pause.

Naturally, the necromancy spell that Jedex had been painstakingly preparing was broken midway through. He was already hard-pressed just to maintain his defense, which meant there was no room left to cast necromancy or divine spells.

Jedex let out strained groans. At this point, the best he could manage was simply to endure, though even that would not last long. The light of divine protection gradually warped and began to fade.

The obsidian inverted cross that circled around him worked to fend off the elemental giant’s assault, but even that defense was cracking bit by bit.

”Jedex really was impressive in his own right...” Watching the spectacle, Karnak remarked in a leisurely tone, ”But he’s still a step below Elezar or Dreltein.”

At last, Veil of Darkness crumbled away. The giant’s massive fist smashed squarely into Jedex’s torso. ”Gah... urghhh!”

***

Only after dealing with Jedex did the elemental giant finally find rest. Once he dismissed the fusion elemental giant, Karnak signaled to Serati with a glance. ”Check on the citizens with Lapicel. I’ll finish things up with our friend here.”

At a glance, it seemed like he was worried about the people, but Serati instantly caught on to his real intent. He wanted her to take Lapicel away, so she wouldn’t notice when he rewrote Jedex’s soul contract.

”Understood. Come on, Lapicel.”

”Okay, sis!”

Serati and Lapicel hurried off to the far side of the plaza. Karnak approached the fallen Jedex with Varos and Leven.

Jedex’s entire body was burned, and he looked utterly ravaged. Yet his condition was not as dire as it appeared. His divine power still lingered, maintaining his life force. If he regained consciousness, he could very well rise to fight again.

I’d better hurry and rewrite his contract before that happens.

With the archliches, he had simply cracked open their rib cages and pulled out their contract scrolls. But he couldn’t do the same with a living person.

Instead, Karnak placed his right hand over Jedex’s chest and focused his mind. ”Rise, Mark of Contract.”

From the charred skin, black energy swirled up, taking shape like a parchment formed of smoke.

And at the end of that parchment, there it was. It was unmistakably the brand of Tesranach.

Now, if I just rewrite this...

Just as Karnak reached out to touch the brand, the shadowy parchment suddenly began to writhe.

”Huh?”

”Young master?”

Leven and Varos immediately stepped in front of Karnak, alarmed.

Karnak quickly pulled his hand away, clicking his tongue. ”Damn it! A double trap?”

It seemed Tesranach had anticipated this and laid a safeguard in advance. Or more precisely, he had bestowed the knowledge, and Jedex had prepared the trap himself, since Tesranach, still trapped beyond the void, could not yet act directly upon the mortal world.

”Well, this much is nothing!” Scoffing, Karnak swiftly channeled his chaos mana.

Had it been Tesranach himself, it would have been a different matter, but if it was a spell cast by Jedex, he was confident he could find a gap. But that was only if it was necromancy.

A brilliant burst of light exploded from Jedex’s body. Indeed, it wasn’t darkness. It was light.

Divine magic?

Varos and Karnak exchanged startled glances.

”Young master, isn’t this...?”

”Wha! He can do that?”

The light swelled larger and larger. As it grew, it completely engulfed Jedex’s body, then began to swallow the surroundings as well.

”O light, burn this body and cast your authority down upon the earth...” Within the dazzling brilliance, a devout voice rang out. ”Incarnation of Divinity, Black Sun.”

***

A pillar of light connected the heavens and the earth, and a colossal giant of light rose to its feet. The power of the goddess had descended upon the mortal realm.

The giant was no longer a human being. The entity began to stride through the streets. It opened its mouth and released a voice.

Woooooooom!

It no longer communicated in human language. The very air vibrated as it carried the eerie, resonant roar.

Varos grimaced deeply. ”This brings back some unpleasant memories...”

It wasn’t the first time they had seen that giant of light. They had once faced it in their previous life. And it had been through Jedex himself.

It was the final miracle wrought by Jedex Tieland, Pope of the Sun Goddess, Latiel. It was a divine incarnation ritual in which he sacrificed his entire being to manifest the authority of the goddess upon the earth, the Crimson Sun.

”We struggled like hell back then too...”

In contrast, Karnak wore a puzzled expression. He’s using that? With Jedex’s current divine power, it shouldn’t be possible.

In their previous life, Jedex had commanded the vast divine power befitting a pope, making it possible for him to unleash such a final secret art. But now, at best, Jedex’s power was on the level of a cardinal. He was considerably weaker than before.

No, wait... there’s something different.

Narrowing his eyes, Karnak traced the flow of power emanating from the giant of light, and the picture gradually came into focus. The act of burning himself away to unleash his final flame was similar to the Crimson Sun, but...

I see. He’s supplementing the deficiency with darkness.

That explained why it was called the Black Sun. In any magic, divine art, or necromancy, names played a crucial role. Names anchored phenomena to the world of the living. It was for this reason Karnak had deliberately given the name El Ragna Terrastia to the fusion elemental he had developed.

Tesranach’s better than me in this regard, Karnak admitted.

He had never thought of combining divine power with magic. He had only ever pursued necromancy alone. Tesranach, on the other hand, had dreamt of returning through time and space to command both light and darkness. And judging by the giant before him, it seemed that dream had borne fruit.

The tremors in the air grew more violent, gradually morphing into recognizable human speech.

”Kaaa... rr... naaak...”

Varos’s expression hardened. ”Even that part is the same as last time.”

To offer one’s everything meant burning away even intellect and personality. As the giant of light, Jedex no longer retained even a shred of self. All that remained was a single objective, set at the end of his transformation, and he charged toward it with blind fervor.

”The problem,” Karnak muttered with a scowl, ”is that I’m the target.”

The giant of light opened its mouth wide, and particles of light gathered and coalesced into a massive sphere of radiance. It began plummeting toward the earth.

Crossing his arms, Karnak urgently sent a telepathic message.

—Everyone, get clear!

A deafening explosion rocked Hartol City.

***

The resonance filled the streets, and a curtain of light swept over the ground. Each time the giant of light, towering over five meters, moved, waves of radiance rippled out in every direction.

Wherever those waves reached, the terrain shattered and crumbled. The giant rampaged about, ceaselessly spewing burning brilliance, and with every flicker of its radiance, explosions erupted one after another.

Amid the chaos, Karnak, Varos, and Leven scrambled desperately to dodge the onslaught. Thankfully, the open streets had fewer obstacles compared to the forest. It allowed Karnak maneuverability to some extent, despite being a mage.

Just as they turned a corner, narrowly avoiding the giant’s gaze once more, Serati and Lapicel came rushing over.

As soon as she arrived, Lapicel asked with a worried look, ”Are you all right, Lord Karnak?”

In contrast, Serati was already glaring, fire in her eyes. ”Seriously? I step away for a moment and you cause trouble again?”

Karnak protested indignantly. ”Hey! How is this my fault?”

To be fair, it really wasn’t Karnak’s doing this time. He had a right to feel wronged.

”My apologies. I misspoke,” Serati admitted frankly, then quickly got to the point. ”What happened here?”

Karnak wasted no time in answering. ”It was a double-layered trap. Even Jedex himself was caught in it.”

That alone was sufficient for now. Details about what kind of trap it was or how it worked could wait until later. What mattered right now was how to take that thing down.

”What’s its weakness?” Serati asked them.

Karnak and Varos exchanged troubled glances.

”Does it even have one?”

”Not really, no. It’s just purely strong.”

Leven switched to telepathic communication and asked.

—You said you’ve fought it before, right? How did you deal with it back then?

—Back then, we didn’t really need to find a weakness.

At the time, Karnak had already been known as the Monarch of Death, and Varos had earned a fearsome reputation as a Death Knight. Both had grown strong enough by then.

—We struggled, but we still managed to defeat it in the end.

The problem was that even after reaching that level of strength, it had still taken a great effort to bring it down. And now?

—Looks like our only option is to run until it burns itself out.

The technique burned everything at once, granting terrifying power in the moment, but it would eventually exhaust itself.

—Well, if you could call that a weakness, then sure.

But even running away wasn’t a simple solution.

Are we just going to abandon the citizens and escape by ourselves?

Lapicel, at the very least, would never agree to that. It was obvious. Karnak hesitated briefly, then found his answer.

If I put it this way, it’ll work.

In the end, it all came down to phrasing things the right way.

Looking at everyone, he issued his orders. ”If we fight here, the civilians will be in danger. We’ll lure that thing somewhere else!”

With resolve burning in her expression, Lapicel tightened her grip on her sword. ”Yes, sir!”