Monarch of Death

The sword of darkness extended, piercing both the floor and ceiling, slicing through the entire building.

Before the overwhelming force, the two-story wooden structure crumbled like it was made of straw.

Boom!

Amidst the billowing smoke and collapsing debris, three shadows swiftly escaped.

Serati, gripping her aura-infused sword, gritted her teeth.

“Damn it!”

She had struck the Golem Knight several times already, but the most she had accomplished was inflicting a few scratches.

Its toughness was so extreme that even a direct hit barely damaged it, and it didn’t even take the blows head-on.

The swordsmanship of the warrior residing within the Death Armor blocked or deflected all of her attacks.

‘There’s no way out of this!’

It was overwhelmingly tougher and faster than her, and even more skilled in technique.

Serati couldn’t find a single advantage in this fight.

It felt like she was up against a far superior aura user.

“Hahaha!”

Detzras laughed triumphantly.

“Have you witnessed the true power of the god?”

Dodging the relentless assault of the Golem Knight, Serati ground her teeth.

“What power of god? It’s just some high-level Purple aura user!”

Honestly, while the Golem Knight was indeed strong, any knight commander from the various kingdoms could handle it.

Claiming the power of god with something like this was embarrassing to witness.

But Detzras remained confident.

“Foolish and blind. You stand before the truth and still fail to recognize it?”

In truth, any priest or mage would indeed be shocked.

The combat power of the Golem Knight wasn’t the issue.

The mere fact that magic and necromancy could be fused was an impossibility—a wicked miracle that transcended the laws of the goddesses.

It was worthy of being called the power of God.

But Serati had no way of knowing that.

“He’s just bragging about something only he understands, isn’t he?”

Grumbling, she sent a magical message to Baros.

[What do we do now?]

[Well, I’m not sure?]

Baros was on the opposite side, still looking for an opening.

Anyway, his sword was useless against the Golem Knight.

Even if the Golem Knight stood still and took hits, it would take dozens of minutes to cut off an arm.

So he had been targeting Detzras from the beginning.

It’s common sense to aim for the summoner when facing a summoned creature.

The problem is that it’s also common sense for a summoner to protect themselves.

‘I can’t find an opening.’

He had tried to approach Detzras several times, but it was in vain.

Each time, the Golem Knight would unleash its dark greatsword, forcing Baros to retreat.

This, in turn, would create an opening for Serati to strike, but…

Clang!

Even when Serati landed a perfect aura-infused strike in that brief opening, the Golem Knight’s body was so tough that it didn’t cause any significant damage.

‘Damn it!’

‘What do we do now?’

They were truly stuck on all sides.

Naturally, both of their gazes turned to the one person they could rely on—the once-great Death King, Karnak.

[Young master?]

[Lord Karnak?]

Karnak had been watching the battle with no intention of fighting from the start.

“Wow, so that works.”

“Wow, they can do that too.”

“Who designed this spell? Their understanding of magic must be incredibly deep.”

He muttered to himself continuously, watching with great interest, which was infuriating to those who were risking their lives in the fight.

‘What is he doing?’

Irritated, Serati raised her voice.

[If you have any trump card, could you use it before we die?]

Just in case, Baros quickly chimed in.

[If you’re counting on Plan P, forget it! That’s not something I can handle just because I take over Serati’s body!]

Karnak smirked.

“I’d like to observe a bit more, but I suppose I should take care of this first. I’ll ask about the rest later.”

Seeing Karnak remain so calm, Baros was puzzled.

No matter how he looked at it, Karnak seemed to be confident in something, but Baros had no idea what that could be.

Given the nature of the Golem Knight, it couldn’t be dealt with by skill alone. Powerful physical force, magic, or necromantic power was essential.

Just as a warrior could be defeated with skill, but breaking their shield required sheer strength.

Baros knew all too well that the current Karnak didn’t possess that kind of power.

[What are you so confident about? You said you didn’t foresee this situation!]

[Yeah, I didn’t foresee this.]

Karnak raised his hands confidently.

[But I had a feeling something like this might happen. I do learn, you know?]

In other words, he had anticipated that something unexpected might occur.

[So this time, I made sure to be well-prepared. No matter what happens, I’ll handle it.]

[And what exactly is that?]

Karnak lowered his raised hands.

Darkness flowed from his fingertips, seeping into the ground.

[These guys.]

From the darkness flowing across the ground, the dead began to rise again, standing tall.

A chilling voice seeped out from between dry, decayed throats.

“My lord…”

“Give us your command…”

Karnak, smiling broadly, pointed with his finger.

“My necromantic power might be insignificant.”

At the two corpses draped in pitch-black robes, emanating vast darkness in all directions.

“But these two have plenty to spare, don’t they?”

Detzras’s expression hardened.

“…Kale? Olt?”

That lunatic just raised his recently deceased subordinates as undead!

***

The pale, lifeless eyes of the corpses glared out from their bluish skin.

Darkness continuously flowed from the two bodies.

It wasn’t particularly surprising.

When a corpse is raised as a zombie, this sort of thing commonly happens.

Given that the dead were necromancers steeped in evil energy, it was only natural that a lot would seep out.

But what happened next was beyond Detzras’s comprehension.

In Kale’s hand, there was suddenly a small lantern. It was the eerie artifact, the Lantern of the Lost Souls, which Karnak had prepared earlier.

“Rise, cursed spirits of the fallen warriors…”

As the blue lantern flame ignited, countless evil spirits began to surge from all directions.

“Uuurgh…”

“Aaaah…”

Olt, too, transformed into a demonic form, his body swelling in size. It was his signature demonification spell.

“Power of the abyss, bestow upon my body the power of chaos!”

Detzras couldn’t believe his eyes.

Both of them were precisely using their specialty techniques from when they were alive.

‘Good grief!’

He was a high-ranking necromancer himself. He understood well how absurd this situation was.

‘Using necromancy to control the necromantic power of a dead necromancer and make them use necromancy?’

Even saying it out loud was enough to make one bite their tongue.

Is it even possible for a human to perform such a complex ritual?

But it was happening right before his eyes.

“Go, my minions…”

The zombie Kale spoke in a sinister voice.

“Strike down the enemies of your master at the command of darkness…”

The evil spirits swarmed the Golem Knight.

At the same time, the demonified Olt let out a roar and launched himself at the enemy.

“Raaaargh!”

Detzras quickly regained his composure and issued a new command.

‘Defeat those ones as well!’

The Golem Knight swung its dark greatsword and moved its massive frame.

Woaaah!

The ghost soldiers shattered into pieces and scattered with each slash of the sword.

The enormous demon was pushed back, repelled by the sheer force of the Golem.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The relentless explosions echoed as black waves spread in all directions.

Watching the Golem Knight grab the demon by the neck and slam it into the ground, Detzras sneered.

“Hmph! Nothing has changed!”

Even when those two were alive, they were weaker than him. So how could they be stronger after death?

Karnak might have been pulling off some unbelievable feats, but it wasn’t anything overwhelmingly powerful.

It was just an intriguing spectacle, nothing more.

“They’re still no match for me!”

Surprisingly, Karnak readily agreed.

“Oh, of course. But…”

Suddenly, a barrage of Scorching Magic Bullets struck the back of the Golem Knight’s head with immense force.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Thanks to the timely intervention, the ghost soldiers regrouped. The demonified Olt also managed to get back on his feet.

The attack had come at just the right moment.

“Do you think they’re the only ones here?”

Indeed. Just because those two joined the fight didn’t mean Karnak’s group would sit back and do nothing.

Baros and Serati, who had caught their breath, leaped into action with renewed vigor.

“Now things are!”

“Starting to go our way!”

With the two of them joining in, the battle quickly began to turn in their favor.

Kale’s ghost soldiers, in particular, proved to be extremely effective.

Karnak issued an order to Kale, who then relayed it to the Lantern of the Lost Souls.

“My servant, target that man!”

As Karnak intended, the ghost soldiers ignored the Golem Knight and instead flew towards Detzras from all directions.

Of course, Detzras didn’t just stand by.

“Damn! Protect your master!”

He commanded the Golem Knight to sweep away the approaching ghost soldiers.

The sword of darkness was so powerful that even a mere graze, or the shockwave it generated, sent dozens of wraiths flying.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

And with each attack, as before, the Golem Knight exposed a brief opening…

“Hiyaah!”

With a shout, Serati slashed at the Golem Knight’s armor with her aura-infused sword.

Crackle!

As expected, the armor only sustained minor cracks. She still didn’t have enough power to destroy the Death Armor in one blow.

“But this time, it’s different.”

On top of that, Olt, in his demonified form, delivered a powerful strike with his claws!

Boom!

Repeated strikes finally began to break even Death Armor’s tough exterior.

Detzras furrowed his brow.

“Damn…”

It seemed he couldn’t rely solely on the Golem Knight for defense. He quickly prepared another tactic.

“Awaken, O dead ones, and stretch forth your hands of chaos!”

He unleashed the Necromantic Barrier, the Sinking Swamp of the Dead.

Immediately, a blood-red darkness spread, and countless hands of the damned emerged.

But why hadn’t he used the necromantic barrier until now?

Snap!

As soon as Karnak snapped his fingers, the emerging hands were sucked back into the ground.

‘Damn it! He has this kind of ability.’

That’s why he hadn’t used the necromantic barrier until now, but in his urgency, he had momentarily forgotten.

Regretting his mistake, Detzras refocused his attention on the Golem Knight.

‘This spell is all I can rely on.’

Meanwhile, the Golem Knight’s armor continued to break.

Earlier, it was only Serati, but now Olt, in his demonified form, had joined the fray.

With the two of them attacking together, their combined power was effectively doubled.

Moreover, they had far more opportunities to strike than before.

“Oh, they’re doing well over there. In that case, I’ll…”

Baros cautiously circled around Detzras, constantly watching for an opportunity.

He deftly weaved in and out among Kale’s ghost soldiers, executing hit-and-run attacks. Each time, the self-preserving Detzras would command the Golem Knight to protect him.

“Protect me!”

Then, the focus would shift back to Serati and Olt.

“It’s our chance! Attack the Golem!”

But Detzras had no choice but to order the Golem Knight to defend again…

“Take them out first!”

And then, once more, they would slyly target Detzras.

“It’s our chance! Attack him!”

“Protect me!”

“It’s our chance! Attack the Golem!”

“Argh! You damned bastards!”

This was, without a doubt, the pinnacle of a rotation strategy that had nothing to do with chivalry.

Serati clicked her tongue.

‘Ugh, anyone watching would think we’re the villains here.’

Come to think of it, she wasn’t wrong.

They were using necromancy, controlling corpses and evil spirits, and ganging up on a single opponent. If that wasn’t villainous, what was?

“Damn it!”

Detzras gritted his teeth and continued to draw on his mana and necromantic power.

“Like this!”

Ignoring the searing pain in his brain, he infused more mana and necromantic power into the Golem Knight.

“Do you think the power granted by Tesranak will be broken?”

Thanks to his near-desperate efforts, the Golem Knight, though battered and torn, was still standing strong.

Karnak clicked his tongue.

“Wow, that thing is really tough.”

Baros quickly sent a message.

[What do we do? We’re still lacking in destructive power.]

[If we’re short on destructive power…]

Karnak smiled broadly.

There was a method that could create a powerful destructive force even with their current means.

[Then let’s do this.]

He sent a mental command.

“Go, my servants.”

Suddenly, Kale and Olt charged toward the Golem Knight, throwing themselves at it.

Of course, the Golem Knight responded by unleashing its dark blade, impaling both necromancers at that very moment.

“Corpse Explosion.”

A tremendous explosion rocked the entire slum district.

KABOOM!