Monarch of Death

The Candy Golem grabbed the Chocolate Dragon by the scruff of its neck and slammed it down. It trampled on the Sugar Soldiers and crushed the Cake Monsters.

Loud crashes and noises echoed throughout the space.

The two main forces behind this grand dessert battle were none other than the Witch and Karnak.

The Witch continuously summoned candy monsters using the vast powers of darkness. Karnak, on the other hand, infiltrated her barrier with chaos power, causing confusion.

Dark currents and flows of mana intertwined, creating mayhem.

Karnak smiled, satisfied with the outcome.

“You fight well.”

Serati sent a message.

[Is this really okay?]

Even now, those trapped in cages were watching the battle unfold. It was a question about whether their gazes should be a concern.

[No problem.]

Karnak answered confidently.

[This is real magic. Not necromancy.]

The method was fundamentally no different from the necromancy he usually employed.

Layering barriers upon barriers, analyzing the flow of darkness, and then reversing it to steal control.

The method and power were identical.

There was only one difference.

He was using chaos power to achieve what he used to do with necromantic power.

[It means I can use it openly in front of people.]

In fact, if other mages asked about the technique, he could even teach it to them. He had essentially pioneered a new school of magic.

Although, in the beginning, he had borrowed some magic formulas from the Dark Cult.

[With this method, other mages could also disrupt an opponent’s necromantic barriers. Though, of course, they wouldn’t be able to handle it as freely as I do.]

Somehow, he had truly created a magic fitting of the word “chaos.”

Karnak boasted arrogantly.

[Don’t you think I came up with a pretty good name?]

Baros offered genuine admiration.

[Wow, you are truly impressive.]

And then, out of the blue, he asked.

[But how do you plan to explain how you mastered such a spell? There’s no way a mere 20-year-old novice could create such magic.]

The achievement of pioneering a new school of magic was something only a 9th-circle mage, usually an Archmage, could do. It was certainly not something a 6th-circle mage could accomplish.

Of course, Karnak had already thought of this.

[Well, I mastered it through the magic tome left to me by my great teacher!]

[Huh? Since when did you have a teacher, young master?]

[Why wouldn’t I have a teacher?]

The wicked Death King Karnak had no teacher, but the righteous Baron Karnak of the King’s Order had a teacher—a court mage named Dallas from 150 years ago. At least, according to his backstory.

[Are you using that guy as an excuse again?]

[Is there a better excuse than this?]

The final magic insights left behind by Court Mage Dallas were passed down to Karnak, transcending 150 years.

With his heaven-sent talent and supreme effort, he eventually mastered a unique technique specifically designed to counter necromancers!

[…That’s the story.]

[It does sound plausible.]

Baros, convinced, glanced up at the ceiling of the hall.

[Just like you planned, no one seems to have noticed.]

Inside those dozens of cages were Aura users, mages, clerics, and regular soldiers, all possessing various skills and abilities.

If he could deceive all of them, it would prove just how safe this chaos magic was.

Suddenly curious, Serati asked.

[What would you do if someone among them realized what you were doing?]

[I’d just manipulate their memory.]

[But what if they told their companions?]

[How would they? The sound is blocked.]

[Ah…]

[Look, I’m trying to resolve this without killing anyone and in a good way. Am I not living like a decent person?]

[Well, that’s true, but…]

There wasn’t anything wrong with what he said, but for some reason, Serati found it hard to admit it.

With a sulky expression, Serati glanced at one of the cages.

‘I wonder if Mr. Alius is okay. Surely he hasn’t caught on?’

***

Alius trembled.

‘I see…’

His fingertips quivered as he watched the scene before him.

‘So that’s what it was…’

This wasn’t magic that controlled darkness. It was magic that controlled necromancy.

A magic that, while following the righteous laws of the Goddess, governed those who practiced evil arts.

‘That’s how he found us so quickly.’

No matter how skilled a cleric was at detecting traces of darkness, they could never outdo a necromancer themselves.

If Karnak could use magic like that, it made sense that his detection abilities surpassed even those of a cleric.

‘No wonder he’s been so particularly strong against necromancers…’

That magic was essentially the bane of necromancy.

And for such magic to emerge in this dark time, when the darkness of doom was spreading across the world?

“Truly, it must be the guidance of the Goddess.”

Deeply moved, Alius made the sign of the cross.

His greatest strength and weakness was that once he believed in someone, he trusted them completely.

***

Serati carefully observed Alius inside the cage. Then, she felt relieved.

‘Okay, no problem.’

Having known him for a while, she could roughly read his expressions.

A very blatant glimmer of trust was shining in both of his eyes.

‘Mr. Alius is a good person, but he’s way too naive.’

Still, it was a relief.

They were going to travel together through the Empire for a while, and she didn’t want to witness him suffering, thrashing about with a needle in his head every night.

She shifted her gaze back to the hall.

‘Once we deal with that, it’ll all be over, right?’

The Witch was wreaking havoc against the approaching Candy Golems.

“Goooooo!”

She let out a metallic, soulless sound, swinging her limbs repeatedly.

With every swing, the Golems shattered, scattering cookie crumbs everywhere. The Witch herself was also falling apart, leaking darkness.

Her arms would break, then regenerate. Her legs would break, and then regenerate again.

Destruction and regeneration repeated endlessly.

[It’s her final struggle,] Baros said, gripping his sword tightly.

[Shall we end it?]

[No, I’ll do it. Since we’ve got the opportunity, I might as well experiment with everything I can.]

[What do you have in mind?]

Instead of answering, Karnak posed a question in return.

[Why do you think the Witch has been able to last this long?]

The two swordsmen exchanged looks as if to say, “How would we know?”

Chuckling, Karnak continued.

[It’s because this place is a twisted hell.]

This place had been warped by the Witch’s powerful imagery.

It was a distorted fairy tale, drawn from the well of her subconscious—a universal, stereotypical, yet messy and chaotic image.

The stronger that image, the weaker reality becomes.

That’s why real swords and magic were greatly weakened against the Witch, but the Golems made of her sweets were easily able to crush her monsters.

[Since the twisted fairy tale is the Witch’s reality, a weapon from within that fairy tale should be able to fatally wound her without any interference, right?]

And so, he pulled it out.

The image of a powerful weapon hidden within the Witch’s fairy tale.

Gripping his wand, Karnak summoned forth chaos power.

“Come forth, a piece of the abyss slumbering in the deepest depths.”

Summoning circles appeared all around the hall, and round, wheel-shaped objects emerged.

At the sight of it, Baros and Serati’s expressions turned peculiar.

‘Huh?’

‘That’s…’

It was something everyone recognized.

[It’s a spinning wheel?]

Dozens of spinning wheels, the kind you could find in any farmhouse, were scattered around the hall.

Baffled, Serati asked, [Why is a spinning wheel a weapon?]

This time, even Karnak looked slightly taken aback.

[Well, uh, who knows?]

He hadn’t summoned it knowing what kind of weapon it would be. He just pulled up whatever was buried deep in the abyss of the image.

But now that it had been summoned, there was no doubt it was one of the weapons from the fairy tale.

The problem was he had no idea how this could be considered a weapon…

After a moment’s thought, Karnak waved his wand.

[Oh well, from here on, I’ll rely on every boy’s childhood dream.]

When in doubt, it’s always best to go with what’s familiar. He had learned that through long experience.

And besides, the image of the fairy tale didn’t belong solely to the Witch.

“Rise, soul of the abyss!”

Each of the dozens of spinning wheels transformed into strange shapes.

Huge arms, huge legs, torsos, heads, and hands—all morphed and then flew up, merging together in the air!

“Gooooooo!”

The enormous spinning-wheel golem raised its arms and let out a mighty roar.

And then, without warning, it hurled a long sword at the witch.

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, the Witch was flung over 10 meters away. Baros’s eyes widened in shock.

[It’s… strong!]

[Of course it is.]

Karnak puffed out his chest proudly.

[Is there a boy in the world who doesn’t love a good transformation and combination scene?]

***

The enormous spinning-wheel golem relentlessly pushed the small hag back with brute force.

“Gooooooo!”

It attacked over and over without rest.

Golem punch, golem kick, golem headbutt.

The Witch fought back fiercely, slashing at the spinning wheel with her claws, kicking with both feet, and flailing her arms wildly.

Crash! Boom! Bang, bang, bang!

The two of them continued to pummel and be pummeled in a repetitive clash.

In such a brutal contest, where both were swinging their limbs wildly, the bigger one was bound to win. Gradually, the Witch was being pushed back.

The entire hall began to shake.

Smash! Bam! Thud!

Each time the Witch was hit, the candy hall started to disappear, replaced by walls of flesh. The surroundings shifted, as though a giant illusion was being peeled away, revealing something far more grotesque.

The humans inside the cages screamed in terror at the sight of the hall, now covered in hideous tentacles and flesh.

“Ugh, ughhh!”

“What is this?!”

The most repulsive part was realizing that the colorful candy just moments ago had transformed into disgusting chunks of flesh, and the sweet juice was now rancid, bloody fluid.

“Blergh!”

“Ughhh!”

Some of them even feared that they might have eaten some of it.

Everyone was shivering with disgust, gagging at the thought.

Meanwhile, the first team of the Witch’s search party, who had already consumed the grotesque substances, sat blank-faced in the cages, still dazed.

The golem continued to crush the Witch over and over again.

“Gooooooo!”

It broke her arms, shattered her legs, and smashed her head.

The Witch’s regeneration was growing slower and slower. Now, she seemed almost ghostly, weakly releasing darkness from her entire body as she drifted aimlessly.

“Well then, shall we finish this?”

Karnak snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, fierce flames began to surge from the entire body of the spinning-wheel golem.

Whoooosh!

Serati was puzzled.

‘Huh? Why is he suddenly setting the golem on fire?’

Just then, Karnak’s voice reached her ears.

[Dame Serati, you mentioned something earlier, didn’t you?]

[What about?]

[How the Witch dies in that fairy tale with the candy house.]

[…What?]

Confused for a moment, Serati looked at Karnak.

He was wearing a meaningful smile, nodding toward the Witch with his chin.

The Witch, and the burning spinning-wheel giant.

[Aha!]

Serati moved, realizing Karnak’s intention. She had figured out what he meant.

The Witch was continuously retreating, trying to avoid the flaming golem.

Serati stealthily moved behind her.

Once she was close enough…

“Take this!”

She simply kicked the Witch square in the back!

Thud!

This was the same Witch who had shrugged off attacks from Serati’s aura-infused sword. Normally, a mere kick should have done no real damage.

But to everyone’s surprise, the Witch fell over pathetically easily.

“Kehek!”

Falling into the burning golem’s embrace, the Witch let out a gut-wrenching scream.

The flames blazed even fiercer, and the Witch’s entire body began turning to ash, scattering into the air.

“Kwaaah!”

Both Baros and Karnak winced at the horrifying sight.

[Wow, seeing it in person is pretty brutal.]

[Yeah, is this really the kind of fairy tale you’d tell kids?]

The screams slowly faded, and the Witch’s form shrank more and more.

In the end, both the golem and the Witch burned away and vanished.

As Karnak watched the last of the Witch’s ashes scatter into the air, he grinned.

[I knew it would end like this.]

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t Serati who finished off the Witch. It was the final scene of the twisted fairy tale the Witch had distorted.

[In necromancy, if you can’t trick your opponent, you’ll end up being tricked yourself. That’s the essence of it.]

With that, the Witch was dealt with cleanly.

Now all that was left were the people in the cages, helplessly flapping their mouths in silence.

“Baros, Serati.”

Karnak gestured into the air.

“Free the people.”