Karnak, Monarch of Death

In the southern central empire lay Jedos County, located in the Ilfeta region. This land, once famed for its beauty, was now stained by the chaos of battle.

“Fire the flaming arrows!”

“Don’t let them get close!”

“Kill them all!”

“They’re already dead!”

“Then kill them again!”

Knights and soldiers fought desperately from the fortress walls. The oncoming undead were continually burned, shattered, and fell.

“You’ve got no chance, you cultist bastards!” One of the count’s knights shouted boldly, “You think this is the first or second day we’ve been fighting undead?”

Morale was high as the siege continued. There were currently about 3,000 soldiers protecting the Jedos County. This included the knights, troops gathered from nearby regions, and reinforcements from the southern imperial army.

In contrast, the enemy—the southern army of the Cult of the Black God—was not an overwhelmingly formidable force. Unlike Giyen Ren’s army, filled with all manner of powerful monsters, the forces of Leoslav and Relfiana consisted mostly of undead and cultists. They did not have the aid of transcendent forces like dragons.

However, the undead alone numbered nearly ten thousand, and their sheer number made counterattack impossible. Even so, they were successfully repelling the enemy and defending the fortress. If they could just endure, and if Batalok’s subjugation force arrived with reinforcements, victory was within reach!

Because of this, the expressions on Leoslav and Relfiana’s faces as they looked down at the fortress from their headquarters were far from pleasant.

Staring at the fortress defenders, Leoslav scowled. “Why the hell are they so strong?”

Then, glancing at the continuous wave of undead cult forces moving forward, he sighed. “And why the hell are these guys so weak?”

He had come from an era dominated by Tesranach’s legion of necromancers just a short while ago. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed by the poor quality of the undead in this era.

Relfiana clicked her tongue. “It can’t be helped. We’ll have to step in ourselves.”

A woman in her twenties addressing a man in his thirties informally could have seemed awkward in normal circumstances, but neither of them cared in the slightest. After living around a hundred years in a dead body, slight age differences meant nothing. Whether they spoke formally or informally was simply a habit.

Leoslav questioned her decision. “Is it really time for us to step in already?”

Relfiana shrugged. “Isn’t completing our mission the priority?”

Leoslav nodded in understanding. “Well, that’s true.”

“There’s no need for you to step in, Leoslav. I can handle this alone.” Relfiana stepped out among the undead army. Nearby cultists bowed low to her as she passed.

Relfiana clasped her hands together, gazing toward the fortress still locked in battle in the distance. “O light, burn this body and let your authority descend...”

Light enveloped her entire body, and within the dazzling radiance, her devout voice resounded. “Incarnation of Divinity, Black Moon.”

***

After essentially a massacre at the Jedos County, the forces of Relfiana and Leoslav pushed onward, swelling to over 30,000 strong as they advanced into the Levenwood Viscounty.

This was the terrifying aspect of necromancy. Normal armies would lose numbers the more battles they fought. Although it was possible to take enemy prisoners and use them as arrow fodders, it had limited uses.

On the other hand, necromancers could grow their forces with each they slaughtered. Within a week of their uprising, the armies of the two fallen popes had conquered the southern city of Astlin, turning the entire region into territory under the cult’s control.

***

Dark clouds covered the sky. It was an unnatural darkness, summoned by necromancers to sustain their undead armies. Because of it, everything was shrouded in gloom even in the middle of the day.

Zombies and skeletons moved slowly between countless ruined houses shattered by brutal battles and tall towers burned down to ash.

The city of Astlin, now occupied by the Cult of the Black God, was a place filled with death. Blood and flesh littered the streets. Corpses hung from various spots, adding to the horror. The most terrifying part was that even those hanging corpses would eventually begin to move again.

Knights who had once earned the respect of the people, soldiers who had protected the city and its citizens, and priests of the goddesses who had comforted hearts and guided the righteous path—all of them now wandered the streets as moving corpses.

It was truly a living hell descended upon the world. The powerless citizens could only tremble in fear while not daring to look up. Yet, contrary to the atmosphere, the citizens did not suffer as much as one might expect. Surprisingly, the Cult of the Black God did not treat ordinary citizens with particular cruelty.

Of course, those who resisted met a gruesome end. The cult never showed mercy to its enemies. However, their targets were mostly confined to the high-ranking members of the empire, including nobles, knights, mages, and priests of the goddesses.

They showed no mercy to such figures. No matter how much they wept and begged for their lives, they were cut down without hesitation. The cultists would simply laugh at their face and make the same comment each time.

—Begging for your life?

—Very well, in the name of Tesranach, we shall let you live again.

And so, they were turned into undead and absorbed into their ever-growing army. On the other hand, the cult did not subject ordinary citizens to such cruel fate. They weren’t granted leniency to signs of resistance. Rather, citizens who resisted were certainly punished. However, if people submitted quietly, they were often left alone.

Moreover, the punishments were within the realm of reason, not much different from what one might receive under the imperial nobles. In some cases, the situation was even better.

The Cult of the Black God distributed portions of the wealth taken from the nobles, mages, and priests they killed back to the citizens. They were especially generous with food, and the reason was understandable. Undead armies did not need to eat.

For the destitute, who had worried about their next meal every day, life under the cult’s occupation sometimes meant better food on the table than before the occupation. What was even more bewildering was that the cult did not even force faith in Tesranach upon the people.

When the city fell, the terrified citizens had burned the symbols of the goddesses they kept in their homes, certain that the cult would never forgive those who worshiped the Seven Goddesses. But that was not the case.

—What fault is there in the ignorance of foolish people who simply did not know and worshiped false gods? Is it not our fault for failing to spread the truth to them sooner?

They even turned away those who tried to convert to the cult.

—How absurd.

—Did you think just anyone could join the cult?

—Even if you prove your deep faith in Tesranach, there is no guarantee you will be accepted.

Some local thugs who tried to use the chaos to change their fortunes were left thoroughly bewildered. Wasn’t a cult supposed to force depraved faith upon people, push drugs, and revel in orgies?

—Huh? Drugs?

—Why would we ruin ourselves with such filth? Do you think we’re anything like those Twilight Church heretics?

—Go home and look after your wife. What madness are you spouting about orgies?

Aside from the fact that they dealt with corpses, what came out of their mouths was surprisingly sensible. Because of this, Astlin City stabilized much more quickly than expected. The markets reopened, and goods began to circulate again.

Of course, with undead roaming the streets, there was no such thing as liveliness. Instead, people conducted their necessary business and hurried back home to lock their doors and tremble in fear.

On one such deep night in Astlin City, under cult occupation, a group slipped quietly into the city through the southern wall.

***

On the west side of the city, in a residential district filled with ruined homes from the battles, seven shadows moved swiftly through the darkness across the streets. It was Karnak’s party, who had infiltrated the city by climbing over the walls.

Drel, who was carefully scanning the surroundings, pointed out a relatively intact two-story house. “This should serve as a decent hideout.”

There was no way an inn or restaurant would still be operating normally in a city overrun by cultists. In fact, even the mere appearance of outsiders would draw suspicion. Who would willingly walk into a city swarming with undead? Anyone would find that suspicious.

Thus, they simply chose an abandoned house as their shelter. With so many dead, there were plenty of empty homes. While many were ruined, a good number were still intact, and some were large enough to hide the entire party.

Normally, a stranger suddenly appearing would raise suspicions among neighbors, but that was no longer an issue. After all, there were no such neighbors to speak of. They were all dead.

The group entered the house, scanning the dark interior as Lapicel and Milia murmured.

“It’s filthy. We’ll need to clean it up a bit.”

“Still, it looks good enough to hide in temporarily.”

Even if someone discovered them, it would likely cause no issues. Most of the relatively intact abandoned houses in Astlin City were already occupied by vagrants. Others would just assume the same with them.

“Still, we shouldn’t let our guard down,” Karnak said, gesturing lightly toward various spots around the house.

A faint darkness seeped out and enveloped the entire building.

Drel frowned. What is that?

It was necromantic energy. Karnak was setting up a covert necromantic barrier around the house. Drel, having only recently become a vassal, could not help but flinch every time he witnessed this, even though he knew Karnak’s true nature.

The others, however, remained unfazed. They were long accustomed to such sights.

Only Lapicel tilted her head, puzzled. “Redeemer of Necromancy? Shouldn’t you use a magical barrier?”

“No,” Karnak replied, wagging his finger. “In a place crawling with necromancers, magic would stand out far more, wouldn’t it?”

However, it would be harder to detect them when disguised through necromancy like this. The entire city was steeped in the aura of darkness, and undead roamed the streets. “Hiding a tree is easiest in a forest.”

Lapicel nodded earnestly in understanding. “I see!”

It left Drel puzzled. That’s supposedly not necromancy?

He had reached the level of a silver knight, yet no matter how he looked at it, this was straight necromancy.

Drel whispered the question secretly.

—Is that really the Redeemer of Necromancy?

Leven snorted derisively.

—Do you really think it is?

Milia nodded as if it were obvious. Both of them now knew all too well what kind of person Karnak was.

But they were met with an unexpected response from Serati.

—That really is the Redeemer of Necromancy.

Varos, too, sent a message agreeing with her.

—Sir Serati is right. That’s not necromancy.

Not only Drel but Leven also asked in

—Not necromancy?

—How can you tell the difference?

No matter how much they focused, they could not distinguish between the Redeemer of Necromancy and necromancy. Yet these two claimed they could tell? It was reasonable that Varos could distinguish the two, given that he was once the strongest and most fearsome death knight lord. But how was Serati able to tell?

Varos let out a short laugh.

—Of course, I can’t tell just by sensing the energy. I imagine it’s the same for Sir Serati.

It was only by watching Karnak’s expression that he could tell. He had been a loyal servant for a hundred years.

Serati blinked dazedly.

—Oh, now that you mention it, his expression is different, isn’t it?

Then, Varos’s expression stiffened slightly.

—Wait a moment. You didn’t tell by looking at the young master’s expression?

She looked around, flustered.

—Well, can’t you just feel the difference when you look? I thought it was so obvious that even someone as dull as me could see it, so I assumed everyone else knew too...

Varos stared at her with wonder. Could it be that Serati could perceive the difference between the Redeemer of Necromancy and necromancy, even when he could not detect it?

Meanwhile, Karnak was busily moving around. Cleaning could wait. First, he approached the fireplace, threw in some logs, and started a fire. A warm heat slowly spread throughout the house.

Then, he called out to everyone. “The fire’s going! Let’s have a hot meal for once!”