Karnak, Monarch of Death

Leoslav coughed up blood as he rolled across the floor. He immediately deployed a shield while gasping for air. A divine barrier unfolded, and the sword was forced out from his chest. But the assault did not stop there. Three streaks of lightning magic struck the shield in quick succession.

These attackers were vicious. Ordinarily, one would assume the job was done once a sword had been driven into their target's chest. But they did not let down their guard and continued their relentless attack. Their intent to kill was clear and absolute.

Leoslav struggled to maintain the shield while gritting his teeth. He had barely managed to deflect the lightning spells when attacks of purple aura came slicing toward him.

Damn it!

There was no way his battered shield could withstand the aura of a purple knight. He needed to find another way. Leoslav reached into his robes, feeling the edges of a hexagonal object against his fingertips. Forgive me, Tesranach!

The Anti-Time-Space Transcender unleashed its vast power. The shield surrounding him flared with dark light infused with divine might. Only after he was fully protected did Leoslav let out a sigh of relief. At least he had managed to survive for now. However, the price had been steep.

I shouldn't have used this here...

But there had been no other choice. He had come within a hair's breadth of death. No, in fact, part of his body had actually died. He could feel the area around his chest being invaded by necromantic power as he turned undead.

Leoslav glared across the dust-filled office. It hasn't even been a few days since I regained a living body...

Leoslav felt a burning tightness in his chest. Through the drifting smoke, the shadows of three figures slowly came into view.

A black-haired young man clicked his tongue as he looked at Leoslav. "Wow, you survived that?"

A blond man let out a wry chuckle as he chimed in. "Seriously, in the old days, that first strike would've finished it."

Varos gestured into the air while shaking his head. The longsword Leoslav had just extracted from his chest rose into the air and flew into Varos's waiting hand.

Karnak muttered to himself while looking over Leoslav's barrier. "So it's possible to pull off stunts like that when you wield both divine power and necromancy."

If one could deploy a shield that strong, attempting to press Leoslav further could invite a counterstrike.

Karnak thought to himself. I need to decipher his spells first.

Meanwhile, Leoslav was analyzing the situation. There was no sign of any necromantic domain being triggered. The undead hadn't been mobilized either. That means these bastards infiltrated here undetected and came straight for me...

He could see another plume of smoke rising beyond the shattered wall. The angle prevented him from getting a clear picture, but he had an idea where the smoke was coming from. It was one of the rooms on the third floor where Relfiana had been staying.

She's under attack too.

It made no sense. Out of habit, they had changed their sleeping quarters daily and had been careful to ensure that no outsider learned of it. So how had the attackers targeted them with pinpoint accuracy?

"How did we know your exact location?" Karnak grinned. "That's why you shouldn't have stayed up late working."

Most cultists had originally been simple farmers. Few of them could even read, let alone understand strategy and tactics. As a result, nearly all the complicated paperwork had fallen to the two fallen popes, and the workload was considerable to say the least. With a battle looming the next day, the two fallen popes had been forced to stay up late. They had been working by lamplight.

Karnak asked a rhetorical question. "If only two rooms in the entire government building have lights on, what do you think that means?"

Simply lifting one's head to glance at the building was enough to pinpoint the location of the two fallen popes. That was why Karnak had split his group in two.

He had designated himself, Varos, and Leven to take on Leoslav, while letting Drel, Milia, Serati, and Lapicel go after Relfiana. It had been a division made with careful consideration of each member's strengths and capabilities.

Of course, he had made sure to secretly put Lapicel in the other group, even pairing her with Serati to keep an eye on things.

After hearing Karnak's casual explanation, Leoslav's expression twisted into a grimace. "I see."

He had heard rumors from the cultists about a black-haired young man who persistently interfered with Tesranach's plans. "So, you're Karnak."

***

Relfiana had been staying on the third floor of the central government building. And Relfiana, like Leoslav, was ambushed at the same moment. However, she faced a much harsher outcome. She had lost her head. Even so, Relfiana did not fall.

The instant she was attacked, she extended chains of darkness from her head to her torso to reattach her head.

Normally, even an undead would lose control of its body if the head were severed, since consciousness resided in the head. But she had managed to reestablish control over her body using the chains as a medium.

It was only possible because, like Leoslav, she could wield the power of the Anti-Time-Space Transcender. Having barely reattached her head, Relfiana screamed in fury. "You dare!"

Drel, witnessing the scene, shuddered. "Dear gods, she's alive even after being decapitated? What foul sorcery defies the laws of the world like this?"

Serati found herself feeling oddly conflicted. Was it really appropriate for him to say such a thing? After all, he had been resurrected by stitching together corpses sprinkled with dragon powder. But since she couldn't exactly scold her ally, she kept her mouth shut.

Shield deployed, Relfiana unleashed her necromancy. "O pale disaster, extend the hands of nightmare and strike down my enemies!"

Dozens of black arms shot out around her, their clawed fingers tearing through the surroundings as they threatened to tear apart her enemies. Serati's team drew their aura blades to counter the attack.

Silver, purple, and blue auras slashed through the incoming black arms, cutting, breaking, and destroying them. In the brief moment it bought, Relfiana leapt out of the building.

Serati was alarmed. Is she trying to flee?!

They couldn't let her get away. The group immediately gave chase. Three floors wasn't much more than a set of stairs for aura users. It wasn't high enough to pose a danger even to a priest capable of surrounding themselves with a full-body shield.

Both Relfiana and Serati's group landed easily in the courtyard of the government building. The moment her feet touched the ground, Relfiana unleashed another spell. "Awaken, guardians of the veil!"

She had never intended to flee in the first place. There was no particular advantage in fighting inside the building, but the courtyard was filled with necromantic domains she had set in place beforehand.

She didn't know why they hadn't activated when these intruders stormed in, but that didn't matter. I can just activate them now!

At her command, the domains immediately sprang to life. All around the courtyard, blood-red tendrils and vines shot up, lashing out toward Serati's group.

Drel frowned as he cut down the incoming tendrils. Their movements are unnatural.

It wasn't a matter of being overpowered. Rather, the technique itself was unlike anything he had seen before, making it feel unfamiliar and difficult to counter. Are the others doing alright?

If it was proving troublesome even for him as a silver knight, it would surely be even harder for Serati or Lapicel, who were at lower levels. Worry creased Drel's face as he glanced toward his companions.

"Hah! This is nothing!"

"I'm so sick of seeing this crap!"

Serati, Lapicel, and even Milia were handling the tendrils with practiced ease. Their expressions were so calm that it looked as if they were simply training in a practice yard.

He was bewildered. What...? Why are they all so used to this?

Noticing his expression, Serati sent him a private message.

—You were in a coma for nearly ten years, Sir Drel. People these days are all used to necromancy at this level.

—Hah, the world really has changed.

The domains fell apart rapidly under Serati and Lapicel's blades. But Relfiana did not panic. She hadn't jumped into the courtyard solely to utilize the domains. With the explosion, the other cultists in the government building would all have been awakened.

If the battle continued inside, they would have had trouble joining the fight, needing to locate the skirmish and navigate around obstacles. But in the wide-open courtyard?

"Lady Relfiana!"

"Who dares?!"

"Who would dare attack us?!"

All they had to do was look out the window to grasp the situation immediately. The startled cultists were already rushing out from various parts of the building toward Serati's group.

Watching them, Serati muttered inwardly. I knew it would turn out like this.

They had expected this once they failed to take Relfiana down in the initial strike. Serati turned toward the others.

—I leave this place to you, Sir Drel, Miss Milia.

Drel was a silver knight, and was best suited to ensure that Relfiana wa dealt with. Since his stamina was a concern, Milia, as a priest, would support him.

Meanwhile, Serati and Lapicel, though of lower rank, were well-accustomed to battling necromancers.

—We'll take care of these others.

Leaping forward, Serati released her aura. "Let's go, Lapicel!"

"Yes, sister!"

***

Leoslav had made the same decision as Relfiana, moving the battlefield to the government building's courtyard. Karnak's response mirrored what was happening on Serati's side. Varos took on Leoslav, while Karnak and Leven faced the cultists.

A pack of elder ghouls and vampires, bodies enhanced beyond human limits, lunged forward with their fangs bared. And in the next instant, they were torn apart, reduced to pieces by the purple aura Leven wove through the air. The horrified expressions of undead flickered amid the spray of mangled flesh.

"Is that a purple knight?!"

"Why are there monsters like that in the city?!"

Elsewhere, the necromancers of the Black God were zealously casting their dark powers.

"O accursed crimson flames!"

"Birth the despair of the wasteland and call forth the storm!"

To Karnak, though, they all looked the same. "You're all so low-level."

There was no need to counter with his own necromancy. Chaos magic alone was more than enough. Under Karnak's blazing flame spells, the cultists fell in droves. After realizing how quickly they were being defeated, some of the necromancers changed tactics.

"This isn't enough!"

"Use the power granted by Lord Tesranach!"

Far thicker darkness than before surged from the cultists. It was a formidable form of necromancy, enough to make even the empire's regular army kneel before them.

Karnak let out a low whistle. "Oh, now that's more like it." Then, he activated Redeemer of Necromancy. Once again, cultists fell like cut grass.

They were caught in a truly hopeless situation. If they used low-level necromancy, they didn't have enough power, and they would be overwhelmed. But if they used high-level necromancy, it would simply be stolen away from them entirely.

There was only one way left for the cultist. They would use a flood of sheer numbers. But even that was not a viable option under the circumstances.

Leoslav furrowed his brows as he assessed the situation. We don't have enough troops.

Even an undead army had no reason to abandon the safety of the walls and fight outside without good reason. That was why half of the cult's forces had been stationed along the ramparts, planning to rotate with those inside the city to maintain the battle.

The problem was that, despite the chaos, those forces on the walls would not be coming to support them. It was because Leoslav himself had given strict orders against it. He had been wary of diversionary tactics.

Did these bastards plan for this?

Still, there was hope. The cult's forces within the city were divided into three locations, and the explosion at the central government building would have been visible from the two other locations.

Leoslav turned his hopeful gaze toward the Drmental mansion and the Targel merchant guild. If I can just hold out a little longer, reinforcements will come!

Suddenly, twin pillars of flame roared into the sky from both estates simultaneously. The explosions were so massive that they were clearly visible even from a great distance.

Leoslav's face twisted violently. "What the hell is that now?!"