Monarch of Death

She smashed through various parts of the hall, recklessly charging with brute force.

“You bad children!”

However, Baros and Serati easily handled her. The witch’s attacks were so chaotic that it worked in their favor.

Her punches and kicks were so obvious that dodging and counterattacking became easy.

In addition, Karnak’s well-timed magic was helping a lot.

“Force Rope!”

A rope made of magic flew and wrapped around the witch’s arms and legs.

Though it broke almost instantly, it slowed her down for a brief moment.

During that short moment, a net of lightning was cast, blocking her retreat…

“Lightning Stun!”

The ground transformed into a giant hand, grabbing the witch.

“Fist of the Ground!”

In this case, it was more like a hand made of candy rather than earth.

Rather than using offensive magic, the spells were aimed at hindering the witch’s movements, providing advantageous opportunities for Baros and Serati.

As they weaved through the witch’s sweet hall, Karnak’s group relentlessly pushed the witch back. It was clear they were gaining the upper hand.

But the witch wasn’t going down easily.

Despite being continuously slashed and struck by magic, she simply wouldn’t fall.

“Let me see your hands! I want to check how much you’ve gained!”

“It’s nonsense, but hearing it enough is getting on my nerves.”

Grumbling, Serati dodged a downward kick from the witch and raised her aura sword to slash the witch.

Once again, she used a counterattack that took advantage of the opponent’s strength.

It wasn’t hard to wound the witch this time, either.

The problem was that the witch recovered from her injuries just as easily.

“Let me see your arms! Show me those arms!”

In no time, she was completely healed and reached out with both claws again.

Clicking his tongue, Baros stepped back.

“…That doesn’t sound like a line from a fairy tale.”

The battle continued in the same manner.

Although they were clearly pressuring her, they couldn’t land a fatal blow.

The witch’s attacks were certainly messy, but her movements were unpredictable.

She wasn’t just fast; it was impossible to predict her next move.

Suddenly, Baros felt a strange realization.

‘Why are her attacks so obvious, but her movements unpredictable?’

No matter how fast an opponent is, if their moves are this apparent, it should be possible to predict them. Especially for someone with Baros’ level of experience.

‘Could it be…?’

Baros began to focus on the witch’s extremities, paying close attention to her hands and feet rather than her overall movements.

The witch pushed off the ground with both feet and leaped into the air.

‘What the… her actions and the actual flow of power don’t match?’

She was just pretending to jump, but in reality, she was gliding through the air, like a ghost.

‘That explains why others fell to her so easily.’

Once he figured out the cause, finding a solution was no problem.

Baros moved behind the witch. The witch turned and slid, as if moving on air.

To be precise, she was sliding as if she was moving.

‘Sorry, but I’m pretty used to dealing with movements like this.’

He had seen plenty of opponents who moved like ghosts. Following her with ease, Baros brought down his aura sword.

Boom!

This time, he landed a direct hit to the witch’s side. She didn’t have time to dodge.

She let out a bizarre laugh and dark blood spurted from her body as she wildly flailed her claws.

“Khehehe!”

Baros calmly rotated the tip of his sword.

Serati had to strike, retreat, and weave in, aiming for gaps in the witch’s attacks to land a counter. She would use the witch’s own strength to amplify her attacks.

But Baros didn’t need to do that.

“Hup!”

In an instant, Baros’ aura sword turned blue.

The witch’s onslaught, which came flying at him, slid off in all directions as if it had hit an invisible shield.

Then, he switched to a red aura sword and unleashed a series of strikes.

The red aura signified the Stage of Strong Ability , while the blue aura indicated the Stage of Skill Over Strength.

Though he hadn’t yet reached the Stage of Perfect Unity of Strength and Skill like the Purple Knights, by switching his aura momentarily, he could produce a similar effect.

Additionally, he could conserve his aura as well by deliberately moving between stages. This was a common tactic once a warrior mastered the Silver Sword stage.

“Taaaah!”

A barrage of slashes rained down on the witch’s body. Her robe was shredded to pieces, and darkness erupted in all directions like a fountain.

Flash!

As the furious witch prepared to lash out even more violently, Baros’ eyes gleamed for a moment.

‘Now!’

He stepped forward, twisted his body, and delivered a long horizontal slash.

At the same time, his aura sword flickered between red and blue!

Boom!

With a thunderous sound, the witch’s entire right arm shattered.

Baros grinned in satisfaction and muttered to himself,

“I haven’t rusted yet either.”

***

The witch, having lost her arm, raised her head with a blank expression.

Darkness swirled around her, and her severed arm regrew.

Baros wasn’t surprised.

“It’s not uncommon for a monster using necromancy to grow limbs, right?”

The “necromantic monster with newly regrown arms” turned toward him with a disgruntled expression.

[…You weren’t saying that for me to hear, were you?]

[I used to be in the same situation, you know?]

With a wry smile, he shared the witch’s secret with Serati.

[So, if you think of her as a ghost and analyze her movements that way, you’ll be able to predict her next actions.]

[I’m not sure if I can manage that.]

Though Baros spoke as if it was obvious, Serati couldn’t tell if it was meant as trust or if Baros was being overly confident.

‘Well, he told me, so I’ll give it a try.’

Focusing his mind, Serati stared intently at the witch.

The witch still stood with an indifferent face.

She seemed puzzled.

‘Why isn’t she moving?’

There were no more strange remarks or bursts of laughter. She looked almost like a doll.

Then, suddenly, the witch opened her mouth. From her pitch-black mouth, a bizarre sound erupted.

“Groooo!”

It wasn’t a voice but a noise.

Completely devoid of anything human, it was a truly mechanical, inorganic sound.

“Groooooo!”

The entire candy hall began to shake as if hit by an earthquake.

The ceiling and walls distorted as candy protrusions started to sprout everywhere. Chocolate and sugar clumped together, and cookies and cakes stuck to one another in massive chunks.

Soon, the hall was filled with candy soldiers, candy tigers, and candy dragons.

It was hard to tell if they were cute or terrifying, but these creatures roared with fury.

“Kyakya-kya-kya!”

“Kraaaah!”

“Kaaooo!”

Looking around, Serati clicked her tongue.

“What the hell? Did she give up on hand-to-hand combat?”

Candy monsters swarmed from all sides.

Just because they were made of candy didn’t mean they were harmless. Their appearance may be sweet, but their actual toughness was comparable to steel.

Of course, an aura user’s sword could cut through steel, but there were simply too many of them. Facing them one by one would drain too much stamina.

“Kraaaah!”

As Baros slashed through the approaching candy monsters, he frowned.

[This is getting annoying.]

The witch had transformed the entire candy hall under her control, turning it into an army of minions. It was similar to when they faced the slimy monsters in the corridors earlier.

That means the solution should be the same.

[Can’t you do something, young master?]

[Not right now.]

Unlike before, there were others watching, so he couldn’t recklessly use necromancy. Only chaos magic could be safely used at the moment.

Serati signaled with her eyes toward the hall’s entrance.

[Should we change locations?]

[No, that won’t be necessary.]

Glancing toward the cage, Karnak’s eyes gleamed.

[This is a perfect opportunity. I might as well test the new magic I developed.]

***

Originally, the chaos magic Karnak had developed was merely a method of using ordinary magic through chaos power. The magic itself did not deviate much from traditional forms.

However, after absorbing the soul of Detzras, things changed slightly.

The Dark God’s cult had been using a method that fused necromancy and magic in a new way.

After stealing this technique, Karnak combined the strengths of necromancy and magic, transforming it into a new form of chaos magic.

Karnak aimed his wand at the incoming candy monsters.

[Fireball is a powerful spell, but it only flies in a straight line and explodes.]

Thus, it requires precise control and the ability to adjust the area of effect.

If fired recklessly, enemies can easily dodge it, and it might explode in the wrong place, wasting mana.

[On the other hand, fox fire is a necromantic spell that never misses, but its firepower is too low.]

Hitting the target with fox fire is extremely easy.

The necromancer doesn’t have to worry much as it flies straight to its target. It’s nearly impossible to dodge.

The problem is, while it’s hard to avoid, it’s just as easy to destroy in the air since its power is so weak.

But what if these two methods were combined?

Raising his wand, Karnak began chanting a spell.

“Blazing flames of the soul, guided by my will, strike my enemies!”

A giant fox fire materialized, radiating heat as it glided through the air. Then, it split into dozens of smaller fireballs as it raced through the hall.

Not a single one missed its mark, as the countless fire foxes struck the candy monsters that filled the hall!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The entire hall erupted into flames.

Black smoke billowed everywhere as a thunderous roar echoed. The cage hanging above was caught in the storm, shaking violently.

Satisfied, Karnak smiled.

“Good, the power’s impressive.”

It was clearly a modified 4th-circle Fireball spell, but the destructive force was at the level of a 6th or 7th-circle spell.

Baros, surveying the wreckage of the shattered monsters, expressed his admiration.

[Wow, that’s seriously strong.]

It had the accuracy that magic couldn’t achieve and the destructive power that necromancy alone couldn’t produce.

[But there are still plenty of them left, aren’t there?]

None of the fire foxes had missed. Dozens of flames hit their marks.

But the number of monsters the witch summoned was in the hundreds.

[Just wait a moment.]

Karnak grumbled as he tapped his wand on the hall’s floor.

[It’s not over yet.]

Thump, thump, thump!

Each time the tip of the staff struck the ground, faint ripples of light spread outward. These ripples soaked into the candy floor, causing it to tremble.

“Rise, spirits of the earth!”

From the floor made of candy, heaps of cookies rose. They transformed into dozens of giant beings made of sugar.

Baros and Serati looked shocked.

This wasn’t the usual golem summoning technique they were used to.

[Huh?]

[You can do that too?]

Both of them, being aura users, could sense the overall energy form.

Powerful mana surrounded the candy piles filled with necromantic power, transforming them into golems.

Without using necromancy, Karnak was influencing the witch’s domain using only chaos magic.

[It’s possible because it’s me, obviously.]

Smugly, Karnak continued his incantation.

“By the law of darkness, be governed by my hand…”

A black aura rose from the golems’ bodies.

“Go forth, my servants! By my command, strike down my enemies!”

With a thunderous roar, dozens of giant candy golems began charging forward.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

***

Stronoff watched the scene unfold in a daze.

“How is something like that even possible?”

He was a 6th-circle high-ranking mage and a member of the Evil Slaying Brigade who had fought numerous necromancers.

That’s why he could say this with certainty.

The candy golems were clearly emitting dark power, yet they were being controlled by mana.

This young mage had successfully stolen control of the witch’s necromancy using nothing but pure magic.

“…Could such magic truly exist in this world?”