Monarch of Death

Through the breach, a man shrouded in dark currents emerged.

Glaring inside, the necromancer, Detzras, wore a grim expression.

“…How did they know?”

On the other side of the hall, Baros, Serati, and Karnak stood calmly.

Despite the enormous explosion, they didn’t have a scratch on them. They had clearly avoided it by anticipating the danger.

It was impossible unless they had foreseen it in advance.

Detzras couldn’t understand.

“He was clearly using necromancy…”

While employing necromancy, the caster’s ability to detect is greatly diminished.

That’s why he had deliberately chosen to strike after the interrogation had begun, yet they noticed so easily?

Karnak smiled faintly.

“You timed it well.”

Indeed, during the interrogation, his detection abilities were significantly reduced.

The problem was that even with these diminished detection abilities, they were still far superior to those of any other necromancer who had fully concentrated. After all, wasn’t he once the Death King?

He could sense the gathering necromantic power on the other side of the hall as clearly as if he were seeing it with his own eyes, so it was nothing to prepare and dodge in advance.

Of course, there was no need to tell him this.

“I’ve always had a good sense for these things.”

Karnak brushed it off with a wave of his hand.

Baros and Serati drew their swords and stepped forward.

Suddenly, she glanced at the ruined hall with a regretful murmur.

“It would have been better if this had happened after the interrogation was over.”

Karnak looked puzzled.

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why? We haven’t gotten all the information yet.”

“So, why is that a problem?”

His gaze shifted toward the shattered debris.

“You think a ghost would die from being crushed by something like that?”

“…Oh, right.”

She had unconsciously been thinking about it as if it were a regular interrogation, but necromantic interrogations are different from normal ones.

Even if interrupted, it doesn’t really matter.

You just finish off the opponent and then leisurely continue the interrogation.

“Besides, that guy probably knows more, doesn’t he?”

Karnak squinted his eyes at Detzras.

The tone in his voice implied that having more ghosts to interrogate was a good thing, not a bad one.

Of course, this was the kind of confidence that could only come from someone who was sure they could turn their opponent into a ‘ghost.’

“Heh, you insolent brat…”

Anger flickered in Detzras’ eyes.

“You’re a cheeky little punk, aren’t you!”

But Karnak’s reaction was odd.

“Little punk?”

For a moment, his face looked puzzled, and then he suddenly burst out laughing.

“Oh, right! Are we kids now?”

“Of course! We’re fine young men.”

Even the burly swordsman next to him reacted similarly.

“Ah, the hard work is finally paying off.”

“You said it, young master.”

Detzras was bewildered.

He’d seen people brush off being called a brat before, but it was his first time seeing someone actually enjoy it.

“…I really don’t understand these guys.”

At this point, he was more cautious.

Growing serious, Detzras raised his hands. A vast amount of necromantic power began spreading in all directions.

“Shadow of the bitter cold! Descend here and unleash the night of Acheron!”

***

A white fog spread across the ground.

In an instant, everything froze. Sharp ice jagged edges and icicles began to fill the entire field of vision.

Amidst the biting northern wind, something rose with a ghastly noise.

“Grrrr…”

“Haaa…”

Monstrous beasts with hideous forms, twisted with darkness, blood, and ice.

They began to surround the group, exuding cold and malevolence from their entire beings.

Looking around, Serati tensed up.

‘This…’

What was once a simple slum now resembled an icy hell.

She had seen a similar phenomenon before.

‘It’s like that time.’

A powerful necromantic spell that could transform the very space around them.

It was the same dark miracle she had once witnessed from the most powerful necromancer she’d ever encountered, Bishop Shutraff.

Meanwhile, Karnak and Baros didn’t seem particularly surprised.

“Well, of course, he’d be capable of this. He’s in a similar position as that Shut-whatever bishop, right?”

“It does look a lot like that time.”

Karnak smiled as he surveyed the necromantic barrier that enveloped the area.

Mana and necromantic power were intricately intertwined. Much like how Shutraff had fused divine power with necromantic power.

“It’s just as obvious that you can’t do anything about it.”

Serati’s face hardened.

“…Doesn’t that mean we’re in danger?”

For her, that battle was still a terrifying memory that sometimes haunted her nightmares.

In fact, the reason she got involved with Karnak in the first place was because of that battle with Shutraff.

“Not really?”

Karnak replied nonchalantly, snapping his fingers lightly.

Snap!

At that moment, the surrounding chill began to dissipate at an alarming speed.

The ice vanished, the monsters melted away, and the warped space that had enveloped them was restored as if time had reversed.

Within seconds, the place where Detzras had been standing returned to the shattered hall.

Detzras’s face turned pale with shock.

“What in the…?”

The necromantic barrier had dissipated on its own!

“What is this? What the hell did you do?”

Baros smirked.

“He’s just another guy who likes watermelon rinds.”

‘Watermelon? Rinds?’

Detzras didn’t understand what he meant, but he knew he was being insulted.

However, he quickly calmed himself down.

Unlike Shutraff, Detzras had been wary of Karnak from the beginning.

“As I thought, you’re no ordinary opponent. But!”

He drew upon his necromantic power once again, focusing intensely.

“The power bestowed upon me by Tesranak is far from exhausted!”

Another powerful necromantic barrier unfurled.

This time, the space was filled with grotesque chunks of flesh and writhing tentacles.

Of course, the result was the same.

Snap!

“D-damn it! I still have spells left…”

Snap!

“It’s not over yet! This time for sure…”

Snap!

Every necromantic barrier he tried to summon crumbled immediately.

The barriers collapsed so quickly that it almost seemed staged.

Detzras ground his teeth in frustration.

“What is this? Why are all my necromantic barriers shattering just because you snap your fingers?”

In truth, the finger-snapping was just a distraction; the real trick was overlaying a beginner’s barrier through his power. But there was no need to reveal that.

Karnak looked at Detzras with a smug expression.

“So, are you out of tricks?”

Detzras, tense, began to think.

It seemed this guy had some special technique for deconstructing necromantic barriers. If that was the case, there was no need to panic.

‘I’ll just attack in a different way.’

He abandoned the barrier technique and delved into the realm of necromancy.

Pouring all his necromantic power into the spell, he cast the wandering evil spirits into the shadow of his perception.

“Wandering evil spirits that roam the darkness, follow your master!”

With a thunderous noise, the ground cracked open, and black evil spirits began to spring up everywhere.

He had switched to a simple but undeniably powerful necromantic spell.

Uwoooo!

With a ghastly wail, the ghosts started floating in the air.

Baros watched and nodded.

“When nothing else works, they revert to the same old tricks.”

The problem was that this was something even Karnak couldn’t counter.

“So, should we start running now?”

Baros shrugged as he raised his sword, implying that since the situation was the same as before, they should respond the same way.

Karnak’s eyes narrowed.

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why? You said it’s just like last time.”

“It’s not exactly the same.”

Suddenly, dozens of magic projectiles materialized behind Karnak.

The blazing projectiles hovered in the air for a moment before being launched at the evil spirits.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With a series of explosions, the spirits were all pushed back.

It was a 6th-circle destructive spell, Scorching Magic Bullets.

A sly grin spread across Karnak’s face.

“We’re not the same as we were back then, are we?”

***

When Karnak fought Bishop Shutraff, he was merely a 4th-circle mage, with his necromantic power extremely weak.

But now?

“Scorching Magic Bullets!”

Dozens of magic projectiles struck the advancing evil spirits directly, causing them to explode one by one.

Now, Karnak was a 6th-circle mage, a fully-fledged high-level mage.

The power of the spells he could use now was vastly superior to what he had at the 4th circle.

And it wasn’t just his magic that had changed.

“Come forth, Nemesis Ghosts. By your master’s command, annihilate those enemies.”

With a low incantation, white ghosts began to materialize around Karnak.

They were undead spirits of the same rank as the evil spirits summoned by Detzras.

The black evil spirits and the white spirits clashed and tangled in the air.

Keaaaah!

Graaaah!

Shockwaves erupted, and wailing cries filled the air.

The two forces were evenly matched, and Karnak wasn’t pushed back at all, even against Detzras’s overwhelming dark evil spirits.

“My necromantic power has increased significantly since then as well.”

Karnak had been pushing himself hard to increase his necromantic power, which had grown almost twenty-fold in numerical terms.

“Now, I’m just about at the level of someone who casually stumbled upon the Darkness of Doom!”

Of course, he was still below Detzras.

In fact, he was probably much weaker than Kale or Olt, who he had just captured.

But even at this level, his necromancy was far more potent than most.

After all, his understanding, manipulation, and efficiency were leagues ahead.

“Moreover, unlike back then, I have an additional ally.”

Karnak glanced to his side.

A red-haired beauty was protecting him, fiercely fending off the approaching evil spirits.

“Haa!”

Although Karnak had infused her sword with necromantic power, which allowed it to cut through the spirits, the damage wasn’t severe enough to stop them from reforming.

“Serati.”

“Yes?”

“No need to hold back your strength anymore. Our friend here has already made his move, hasn’t he?”

She had been holding back only to keep Detzras from becoming too wary.

“Yes!”

As if she had been waiting for this moment, Serati unleashed her power.

With a loud roar, her red aura sword sliced through the darkness.

Vwoooom!

“Oh, an aura user?”

Detzras gasped in shock, his voice filled with disbelief.

“Why would an aura user be working under a necromancer?”

The situation was so absurd that, for a moment, his mind reverted to the perspective of a rational mage rather than a wicked necromancer.

“And who are you to talk, considering you were a mage before becoming a necromancer?”

Serati snickered and began to fully unleash her strength.

“Haaah!”

Once she started using her aura in earnest, her combat prowess was indeed terrifying.

Each time her aura sword passed by, the evil spirits were shattered and scattered.

Earlier, even if they were slashed, they would quickly recover, but not anymore.

Now, just brushing against them with her sword spread a red wave that incinerated all the darkness within the evil spirits.

Keaaaah!

Graah!

Aaaah!

Karnak wasn’t idle either.

“Cry out, Roar of Thunder.”

Whips of lightning lashed out in every direction.

“Strike down, Blow of Dominion.”

The Scorching Magic Bullets relentlessly pierced through and shattered the evil spirits.

The broken evil spirits were then reassembled by Karnak’s necromancy…

“Rise, my servants. Obey the command of your new master!”

Now turned into dark familiars, they howled and attacked the remaining spirits.

Keeaaah!

Both Serati and Karnak were handling Detzras’s necromancy without difficulty.

Compared to when they faced Shutraff, they had all made tremendous progress.

Ah, except for Baros.

“Ha! Chaah! Taah! Hiyaah!”

Watching the hulking knight flail his sword around energetically, Karnak let out a sigh.

“There are some things that haven’t changed at all since then.”

Back then, and even now, Baros was just Baros.

He was still just an ordinary swordsman with an abundance of experience. He hadn’t improved, but he hadn’t gotten worse either.

“When are you finally going to awaken your aura?”

“Do you think I haven’t tried? It’s not like I don’t want to learn it; it just doesn’t work, no matter how hard I try.”

Well, Baros was a capable fighter back then, too. Naturally, he was doing fine now as well.

As time passed, Detzras’s forces were increasingly being pushed back.

“Damn it…”

Groaning, Detzras glared at Karnak.

‘Just who the hell is this guy?’