Karnak, Monarch of Death

Originally, Karnak's plan had been this: Head to the imperial capital, Thea Krahan, meet Diogres Kolon, and deliver the information he had gathered so far. Although the Black God's forces were formidable, the empire still had the martial king and the archmage. If Karnak's party joined in, the odds would be in their favor.

He would maneuver the imperial army into striking at the cult, seize the opening, and deliver a clean blow to the back of Giyen Ren's head! But Diogres Kolon had betrayed them. In the end, it was Karnak who had received a delicious strike to the back of his own head.

"Well, technically, it's not exactly betrayal," muttered Karnak.

Diogres now was likely a future version of himself. Although Karnak hadn't confirmed it directly, there was no other reason for Diogres to have betrayed them under those circumstances. Serati and Lapicel exchanged gloomy looks.

"Oh no..."

"Grandpa Diogres..."

Though they hadn't known him for long, he was undoubtedly a comrade who had once fought at their side, risking his life. The death of a comrade was never easy to accept—though it was hard to say if this truly counted as death.

With a sigh, Karnak sank into thought. "So what now?"

With this, the Cult of the Black God now possessed every living martial king and archmage. They had Diogres Kolon and Giyen Ren, as well as Beltia and Batalok.

And there were the fallen popes as well: Valeria of Atima, Rigail of Saisha, and Splendia of Katera. Beneville of Hatoba's status remained unclear, but the other three were already leading armies to ravage the empire.

Varos nodded. "I think we can still handle the fallen popes."

They had already defeated Leoslav and Relfiana without much trouble. Given the right circumstances, it had been proven that they could take down two fallen popes without sustaining heavy damage.

"And as for the martial kings and archmages, well, if they're alone, we might manage."

When Karnak had fought Elezar and Dreltein, the Hand of Repentance he had used had proven overwhelmingly powerful. If he could seize the chance to use necromancy, he believed they had a fair shot.

Incidentally, the Hand of Repentance was the name Karnak had given to the technique of breaking down the Anti-Time-Space Transcenders and fusing them onto his own hand.

—Repentance? Who's repenting?

—Me.

—Are you serious?

—Why? I'm living a repentant life now, aren't I?

—Ah, so by your standards, this is what living in repentance looks like.

—It's not entirely wrong, though.

—Huh? Serati, you've been unusually lenient with him lately.

—I'm merely following the wise words of the ancients, 'Stretch your legs according to where you lie.'

In this way, Karnak's party had determined that the enemies' forces were still within a realistically manageable range. But now, the martial kings and archmages had suddenly doubled in number. With this, their chances of victory vanished.

Leven asked with a serious expression, "Isn't there any other way?"

Karnak scratched his head. "Well, a few things do come to mind..."

The first idea was this. "We strike first and steal the Shadow of Doom sealed in the capital."

The main temples of Parnel, Atima, and Katera were located in Thea Krahan. Currently, the cult's objective was to use the Shadow of Doom sealed in these three temples as the foundation to manifest Astra Shunaph in the present world.

Karnak suggested. "If we take the soil, they can't plant their tree, can they?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Everyone looked at him as if it wasn't a bad idea, even Lapicel. She had already witnessed Karnak openly absorbing the malice and foul energies in Astlin City, so she saw no reason to find it strange. However, it was a plan they could not actually carry out.

Karnak spoke after a moment of thought. "There's simply too much Shadow of Doom to take and run."

There was a limit to what could be charged into the Anti-Time-Space Transcenders. It was impossible to absorb all of that immense darkness. It was precisely because of its vast quantity that the three temples were jointly storing it.

"In the first place if it were something that could be stolen so easily, the cult wouldn't be going through all this trouble," said Karnak.

If they hadn't rebelled openly, the fact that Giyen Ren's soul had been replaced by a future self would never have been exposed. They could have simply pretended nothing was wrong, stayed overnight at the temple, and slipped away with the Shadow of Doom. Karnak himself had done just that once before.

"Well, I suppose if I really pushed it, I could manage it somehow. The price would be that I'd turn into an undead, though," said Karnak.

"That can't happen!" Lapicel hurriedly stopped him. "No matter how much it's for the world, there's no need for you to sacrifice yourself, Lord Karnak!"

Everyone else tried to stop him as well.

"Absolutely not."

"Yes, that's impossible."

Their reasons were a little different, though. If that man, who had regained a living body, were to lose it again—would he really leave this world alone? Honestly, a world with Tesranach's descent might be a happier place!

Karnak let out a small laugh. "I was just saying it. Of course, I have no intention of actually doing it."

If he was going to burn himself for the sake of the world, he would rather burn the world down and take it with him. That had always been his creed.

He continued, "The second method is to absorb as much as I can and then just scatter the remaining Shadow of Doom everywhere."

Serati blinked. "And what happens if you do that?"

"I'd be able to disperse the darkness, but the price would be turning the entire empire into a hell crawling with undead."

To release in an instant the immense Shadow of Doom that had been gathered over years was a horrible thought. No one could even begin to imagine how horrific the outcome would be.

Karnak shrugged. "Still, isn't it better to have swarms of moving corpses rampaging about than to have the God of Death descend?"

"Th-that's true, but..."

Normally, Serati would have stopped him without hesitation, but this time she stuttered, unable to deny reality so easily.

It was Karnak who now wore a displeased expression. "The problem is, this is nothing more than a stopgap. Even if the Shadow of Doom is scattered, they can just gather it up again."

It would buy them time, but it was not a fundamental solution. "But there's nothing else that comes to mind..."

It was then, while Karnak was looking troubled, that Drel spoke up. "How about this?"

The Shadow of Doom gathered at the three main temples had originally been collected by priests from across the continent.

"Why not do the opposite?"

Have the priests of the three temples each seal away as much of the Shadow of Doom as they could handle, and then disperse themselves across the continent.

"This way, we can obstruct the cult's plans without spreading Darkness across the world, can we not?"

Karnak's eyes widened. "Huh?"

Now that he heard it, it made sense. So basically, instead of trying to pull a trick, we openly cooperate with the temples and deal with the Shadow of Doom properly, huh?

The three temples in the capital, befitting their status as the headquarters of their respective orders, had a large number of priests. If each priest only carried as much Shadow of Doom as they could manage, it shouldn't cause too much trouble.

Moreover, Karnak was currently renowned as the Evil-Slaying Mage. The temples wouldn't simply ignore his words. "It's doable, isn't it? Why didn't I think of this?"

From the side, Varos added a snide remark via telepathy.

—Why do you think? You've spent your entire life hitting people in the back of the head and lying through your teeth, so—

—Shut it.

In any case, Drel's suggestion was quite practical. It was well worth attempting. "This means we need to get to the capital even faster."

***

Karnak's party increased their speed. They rode their horses until they were exhausted, and switched to fresh ones at each relay village. In just two days, they managed to reach the central region of the empire.

Along the way, they dealt with matters they had postponed, specifically, the matter of the souls of Leoslav and Relfiana. In truth, Karnak had intended to overwrite the soul brands on the two fallen popes and turn them into his subordinates.

If he could secretly turn them into undead and throw them into the Twilight Church, they would serve as forces equivalent to the four elders. And with plenty of Shadow of Doom stored in the Anti-Time-Space Transcenders, it wouldn't even be that difficult.

Well, from the perspective of the four elders, it might be unsettling to have their former superiors return as their juniors, but that was hardly Karnak's concern.

However, upon inspecting the brands, he realized it would not be so easy. There's a binding spell I don't know of layered over them.

It was a unique spell of Tesranach's, infused with powerful authority. That was what kept them suppressed. If it were pure necromancy, Karnak could have undone it somehow, but the new brands mixed divine magic and magic in a cunning blend. It was clear they had been prepared specifically against him.

As a result, he could not make the two fallen popes his subordinates. But it was also dangerous to continue carrying their bound souls around. For now, it was fine, but if he were to run out of strength during a fierce battle, there was no telling what might happen.

Letting them go wasn't an option either, as they would immediately return to Tesranach and strengthen the enemy forces.

If they can't be mine, I can't let them belong to anyone else. And so, Karnak made up his mind. "I'll send them both to ascend!"

***

In a secluded mountain forest, a young girl stood with her hands clasped, offering a prayer to the goddess. "Lady Latiel..."

It was Milia, dressed neatly in her priestly robes. "Guide them with your light..."

Before her praying figure, a hazy form flickered. "Please take these pitiful souls into your embrace..."

It was the spirit of Leoslav, the Fallen Pope of the Star. She intended to purify and sanctify his soul, sending him back into the goddess's arms. It was the very definition of fulfilling a priest's duty.

That was why even Karnak, who usually went to great lengths to hide his necromancy, could stand before Lapicel without shame, at least for this matter. It was a good thing, wasn't it? A beautiful deed, even.

Though, somehow, the scene looked a bit off. "Aaaaaaaaagh!"

Each time the goddess's light struck, the spirit screamed. Black streams gushed from the spirit's entire body as if it were bleeding.

And each time, Karnak struck the spirit again and again with his staff of mana. "Still resisting, are you?"

"Aaaaaagh!"

"Just give up already and go to your blissful rest!"

"Waaaaaaaagh!"

Columns of light rained down upon the corrupted soul, tainted by darkness. The spirit desperately reached out, clutching onto the world of the living.

Well, this is... Lapicel watched the scene with a strange expression.

With her exceptional spiritual senses, she could clearly perceive what was happening to the spirit. Those screams were nothing more than the cries of the darkness within Leoslav. His true self, the part belonging to the light, was surely singing a song of joy!

However, she couldn't actually hear the said song of joy.

"Aaaaaaaaagh!" The spirit clung to the threshold of Heaven's gate, refusing to let go no matter what.

Karnak pushed it down with his hands and stepped on it with his foot, forcing it through. "Am I sending you to hell? I'm sending you to heaven, so why are you making such a fuss?"

The spirit fiercely resisted. "Aagh! Aaaaaagh!"

Serati clicked her tongue. "Ugh, it's supposed to be ascension, but why does it look so brutal?"

Throwing a living person into a fire pit would probably look less miserable than this.

Drel nodded solemnly. "The goddess once said that for a sinful soul to pass through heaven's gate is as difficult as a camel passing through the eye of a needle."

"Yeah, if you tried to shove a camel through a needle, I bet it would scream like that."

At last, Leoslav's spirit vanished beyond the other shore. He was freed not only from Tesranach but also from Karnak's grasp. It was true salvation.

"There, Leoslav has ascended now..." Karnak beamed, pleased at having done a good deed for once. "Now it's Relfiana's turn, isn't it?"

The spirit of the woman let out a scream of terror.