Monarch of Death

She coated her blade with a blunt aura, turning it into a club, and knocked them out just enough without overdoing it. At this point, it was closer to anesthesia than simply knocking them out.

By now, more than half of the 1st and 7th battalions were sprawled across the ground.

Only about 10 remained standing.

‘Damn it…’

‘How long is this going to go on?’

‘What the hell is Captain Karnak doing?’

Even if the opponent showed no intent to kill, continuing to fight against such a stark difference in skill wasn’t easy.

The fact that they held out this long proved just how elite the King’s Order truly was.

The members began to slowly step back, and some even discreetly opened gaps in their encirclement.

It was a blatant gesture.

‘Look, we’ve done our part, now go to Captain Karnak!’

However, the girl, Laficel’s demeanor suddenly changed.

“Humans…”

She muttered while glancing between those who had fallen and those who remained standing.

“I have to save them…”

Then, she launched herself toward those who had retreated.

The members widened their eyes in shock.

“What the?”

“Isn’t she going after the captain?”

The girl, who had only been passively countering their attacks, was now proactively attacking the King’s Order.

It was merciful, but from the perspective of those being hit, it was merciless. The storm of blunt aura strikes rained down on the remaining members.

“Urgh!”

“T-this…!”

None of them could properly resist and helplessly collapsed to the ground.

They couldn’t even run away properly.

Human psychology is often governed by inertia.

With the subconscious belief that retreating was not an option, they couldn’t switch to escape mode quickly enough.

In the end, even the last person fell unconscious from Laficel’s blow.

“Ugh…”

With that, every member of the King’s Order present was rendered incapable of fighting.

Laficel looked around.

“Humans…”

And then, a faint smile spread across her face.

“I saved them…”

Though the fallen members would certainly disagree, it seemed to be a satisfying outcome for her.

Having extinguished the immediate threat, it was now time to focus on the real target.

A purple light gleamed from Laficel’s eyes. She glared across the canyon and growled.

“…Death King!”

***

Within the cracks of a massive rock near the canyon.

Karnak hid in the shadows, nervously biting his nails.

‘Did they all fall?’

In the distance, the girl was slowly making her way toward him.

‘I thought they could hold out a bit longer…’

Serati checked on the fallen comrades and asked,

[Are they going to be okay?]

Although they looked perfectly fine on the surface, as if they were simply sleeping, it was clear they wouldn’t wake up anytime soon. They likely wouldn’t regain consciousness for at least half a day.

[They’ll be fine. There shouldn’t be any major problems,] Karnak shook his head.

[Laficel has a lot of experience knocking humans unconscious,] he added.

Apparently, she was quite skilled at knocking people out without any lasting aftereffects.

[Why does she have so much experience with that?] Serati asked.

[Uh, well, that’s… uh…] Karnak averted his gaze once again, and Serati quickly realized the reason.

Why indeed?

It was likely because that wicked Death King often used mind control to manipulate innocent people, forcing Laficel to knock them out to free them.

Sigh…

While Serati felt disheartened by the situation, Laficel continued to wander around the basin.

“Karnak…”

She called out his name in a low, ominous voice, filled with anger.

“Karnak…”

Karnak and Serati shrank back even further into the shadows of the rocks.

[She’s coming this way,] Serati whispered.

[Don’t move. We’ll get caught.]

Thanks to the concealment spell, they hadn’t been discovered yet, but with her sharp senses, Laficel would likely detect them the moment they made any movement.

[We just need to hold out until Baros returns…]

But then, suddenly, Laficel changed direction.

She retraced her steps and began heading back toward the inner part of the basin.

‘Huh?’

Karnak was taken aback.

‘Where is she going?’

While it was certainly a relief that the enemy was moving away, the problem was the direction.

If Laficel continued in that direction, she would cross paths with Baros, who was stealthily moving under a concealment spell. As mentioned before, with her keen senses, Laficel would detect him the moment he moved, regardless of the concealment spell.

Though she hadn’t noticed yet due to the distance, once they got closer, even Baros’s careful movements would give him away, and they’d lose their last remaining chance of victory.

Karnak realized he had no choice but to draw her attention back to their side.

And there was only one way to do it.

‘No other choice. We’ll have to risk our lives!’

Both Karnak and Serati jumped out from behind the rocks.

Drawing her battle aura-infused sword, Serati let out a sharp shout.

“Over here!”

Laficel turned her head.

“Huh?”

Narrowing her eyes, she bloomed into a bright, flower-like smile.

“…Found you.”

***

Laficel’s gray hair swayed in the wind, and her blue eyes glinted.

The battle aura-infused sword in her right hand began to change.

Woooong!

The calm blue aura transformed into a blazing purple light.

The once blunt weapon sharpened into a deadly blade.

There was no more intention to knock them out—her intent to slice and kill was now unmistakably clear.

Serati grimaced slightly.

‘Of course, she’s going all out…’

Thankfully, Laficel’s gaze was locked solely on Karnak.

It seemed that a “lowly subject” like Serati was of no concern to her.

“Death King!”

With a burst of aura, Laficel launched herself forward.

“I’ll kill you!”

At the same time, Karnak activated Chaos Magic.

“Rise, spirits of the earth!”

Countless piles of dirt erupted from all around. They rapidly transformed into massive earth golems.

He summoned a total of 20 golems and chanted the command phrase.

“Strike down my enemies at my command!”

The golems charged at Laficel en masse.

In midair, she twisted her body and unleashed waves of purple sword aura.

“Take this!”

The blade of her aura cut through the golems mercilessly, weaving destruction through their ranks.

Each time the light flashed, chunks of rock were sliced cleanly away.

The smooth, sliced surfaces of the rocks slammed into the ground with a deafening crash.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Even slicing butter with a hot knife wouldn’t be as effortless as this.

Watching the golems being mercilessly cut down, Serati shouted urgently,

“It’s not working!”

“It wasn’t supposed to work!”

It was merely a stalling tactic.

Karnak had used up all of his chaos power to summon those 20 golems.

Even for Laficel, it would take some time to destroy all of them.

So, did they manage to buy… maybe 5 seconds?

“What’s the point of all this?”

“There is a point! It bought me time to use necromancy!”

With their current abilities, defeating Laficel was impossible.

Even Jiken, a mage more powerful than Karnak, and Trib, a more skilled aura user than Serati, had been defeated effortlessly and pathetically.

Magic and aura were no match for her.

Their only hope was necromancy!

Karnak, having drained himself of chaos power, immediately cloaked himself in a thick shroud of darkness.

“Come forth, my servants! I command you in the name of the King of the Dead!”

Black evil spirits rose from the shadows around them.

The spirits danced through the air, releasing malevolent waves as they howled.

Screeeech!

Serati’s face hardened as she watched the evil spirits fill the basin.

“Is it really okay to use necromancy?”

“As long as no one finds out, it’s fine!”

This was why they had waited for the rest of the King’s Order to fall before acting.

With no witnesses around, they could safely use necromancy.

Even if people woke up later and noticed traces of darkness, they could always blame it on Laficel.

Karnak gave orders, moving his fingertips as if conducting.

“Go forth, those summoned by the abyss. Face the light with your pain…”

The evil spirits rushed toward Laficel one after another.

Hissss! Screech!

At this point, Karnak had regained enough of his power of darkness.

With his full power in necromancy, even Laficel couldn’t deal with them as easily as before.

“Death King…”

Of course, while the situation was a bit better than with the golems, it was still only a stalling tactic.

“…I’ll kill you!”

Laficel swung her sword again, unleashing a merciless barrage of strikes against the oncoming spirits. One by one, the evil spirits began to melt away rapidly.

In that brief moment, Karnak prepared another necromancy spell.

“Servant, I now grant you a form!”

A red aura rose from Serati’s feet, enveloping her entire body. It then transformed into grotesque-looking full plate armor.

She gasped in surprise.

“What is this?”

“It’s the armor of the Blood Demon summoned from Gehenna! Now we stand a better chance!” Karnak shouted.

Serati felt a wave of unease.

Did that mean the evil power of hell now enveloped her entire body?

As a human, she should naturally be repulsed by such a thing.

‘So why does it feel so comfortable?’

It was as if she had never worn such a snug and fitting armor before in her life.

‘How corrupted has my soul become?’

She wanted to cry, but there wasn’t time to dwell on it.

Clad in the crimson armor, Serati leaped into action.

“Hyaah!”

The armor’s abilities were indeed impressive.

In an instant, she managed to get behind Laficel. Her physical abilities had improved dramatically.

Laficel’s expression shifted slightly.

“…A servant of hell!”

Earlier, she had dismissed Serati as a ‘lowly subject’ and focused solely on Karnak.

But now, Serati was brimming with the necromantic power of the Death King.

That made her the priority threat.

“I’ll kill you!”

A terrifying killing intent pierced straight into Serati’s mind.

She felt like a frog facing down a snake.

‘Ahhh…’

Yet, despite her fear, her body continued to move.

“Who said I’m just going to die?”

Her battle aura-infused sword slashed through the air in a brilliant arc.

The clash of red and purple lights filled the sky as they collided.

Boom! Bang!

Amazingly, Serati managed to block Laficel’s attacks three times in a row.

Considering the vast difference between red-class and purple-class, this was an incredible feat.

‘Wait, am I actually doing okay?’

Just as that thought crossed her mind…

“Hmph!”

With a disdainful snort, Laficel swung her battle aura sword upward in a long, sweeping motion.

Serati quickly twisted her body to evade the attack. She barely dodged the strike, the purple aura grazing the edge of her armor.

Or so she thought.

But then…

Boom!

Serati’s entire body was sent flying like a child hit by a runaway carriage, crashing dozens of meters away.

The impact was so intense that she bounced along the ground like a stone skipping on water.

“Ugh! Urgh!”

It turned out Laficel had been holding back all this time.

She had merely been testing her opponent’s strength, exchanging light blows to assess her abilities—a common habit among skilled warriors.

“Ugh… ugh…”

Serati groaned as she forced herself to her feet.

Fortunately, the armor of hell didn’t just enhance her physical abilities; it also provided incredible defense. Thanks to that, she could still move.

But if the fight continued like this, the outcome was clear.

Trembling, Serati anxiously glanced toward the other side of the basin.

‘When on earth is Sir Barros going to return?’

***

On the west side of the basin, where the darkness lay thick, Baros moved stealthily under the cover of night.

Even as he advanced, he kept glancing over his shoulder.

‘Things are really chaotic over there.’

Flashes of light erupted in the night sky, a clear sign that Karnak and Serati were in the middle of a fierce battle against Laficel.

‘I need to hurry…’

But he couldn’t move any faster. If he rushed, Karnak’s concealment spell would break.

As frustrating as it was, he had no choice but to maintain a steady pace, keeping his cool.

At last, he arrived at the desired location.

Amid the tall grass, he spotted the unconscious Jiken and Trib, both knocked out.

But they weren’t the reason he had come here.

‘Sorry, but I’ll have to save you two later.’

Baros continued forward, his true objective in sight.

Lying between them, was a large two-handed sword bound by mana chains.

It was the cursed sword Mareda.