Monarch of Death

Letting out a sharp cry, Varos lunged at the golem in front of him with a body tackle.

It might have seemed like a brute-force move at first glance, but it was actually a very refined wrestling technique, deeply digging in with his shoulder to unbalance the golem.

No matter how tough the golem was, it still had a humanoid form, meaning its center of gravity was similar to that of a human. In an instant, the golem lost its balance, and its two feet lifted off the ground.

Not missing the opportunity, Varos thrust his sword into the golem’s torso.

“Eiit! Just break through already!”

The steel blade forced its way through the dark armor. Black blood gushed out from the wound.

“Did it work this time?”

The massive body of the golem slowly began to collapse.

Varos quickly withdrew and swung his sword left and right. The darkness clinging to the blade splattered in all directions.

“Ha, taking down just one of these things is a real pain…”

Serati was shocked as she watched the grumbling giant of a man.

He had just taken down something that even she, an Aura User, couldn’t handle—yet this knight, who hadn’t even awakened his battle energy, had done it?

And it wasn’t as if Varos’s sword was some kind of powerful magical weapon either. It was a well-crafted but ordinary steel sword, with no special magic infused into it.

“How did you do that?”

“Uh, well…”

Varos couldn’t finish his sentence.

Goooo-!

Other Chaotic Golems were charging at him again.

“Ugh!”

Varos hastily resumed the battle.

He dodged to the left to avoid an attacking golem, slashed at it, then quickly retrieved his sword and turned to strike at another one on the right.

Clang!

A loud metallic sound rang out as the golem, with its shoulder slashed, spurted black blood.

On the other hand, another golem that took a blade to the abdomen remained unscathed.

Serati realized something.

‘So that’s it!’

Not the entire body of those golems was strong enough to withstand a battle energy-infused sword. There were spots here and there that were weak enough for even a normal slash to break through!

She launched herself forward, targeting one of the golems with her battle energy-infused sword.

‘This is its weak spot!’

The red aura struck the Chaotic Golem’s shoulder—the same spot that Varos had aimed for.

It was an amazing display of precision, accurately targeting the same area with just a single observation.

…But it didn’t work.

Clang!

Her battle energy-infused sword bounced off again.

Feeling the tingling in her hand, Serati was bewildered.

‘I definitely aimed for the exact same spot!’

Meanwhile, Varos was still relentlessly fighting the golems.

He attacked and retreated in a flurry, slicing through the golems as he went.

Some fell with each strike, while others continued to move as if nothing had happened.

But there was no consistency in this process.

One golem was brought down by a slash to the waist, while another one, hit in the leg, remained perfectly fine.

It seemed logical to assume that the waist was a weak point, but that wasn’t always the case.

One golem had its leg cut clean off, while another, struck in the waist, remained unaffected.

Earlier, stabbing the chest had worked, but now the same strike to the chest was simply deflected.

‘What is going on?’

Serati was utterly confused.

‘Could it be that each golem has a different weak point?’

That seemed unlikely.

If that were the case, it would mean that Varos was somehow identifying the unique weak points of each of these countless golems.

‘How on earth is he doing that?’

* * *

Varos glanced at the panic-stricken Serati and inwardly clicked his tongue.

‘How should I even explain this?’

As the second-in-command of Necropia and the top confidant of the Conquering King of the world, Varos had many subordinates of darkness at his disposal. Among them was a legion composed of Chaotic Golems.

Thanks to this, he knew their weaknesses well.

Chaotic Golems didn’t operate independently. They were powered only within a certain barrier, moving only by the force provided within it.

Right now, the blood-soaked swamp surrounding them served as the medium injecting power into them. They were functioning by continuously receiving dark magic.

‘This was always their flaw.’

During the process of magic infusion, there inevitably came moments where the flow would falter.

When the magic flow was at its peak, they could even block the battle energy-infused swords of an Aura User. But when the flow faltered, even a normal sword could pierce through them.

Of course, this didn’t mean that Chaotic Golems were entirely useless.

The gap in the flow didn’t always appear in the same place. The flow of magic changed with the movement of the golem, and so the gap in their defenses shifted accordingly.

To exploit these weak points, one would need to analyze every single movement of the golem, memorize the ever-changing location of the gaps, and then strike at the precise moment in the correct spot. Only then could the golem’s weaknesses be effectively targeted.

In the past, the only group capable of such a feat was the Imperial Knights, known as the strongest on the continent. Having fought countless battles against Karnak’s Legion, they had gained enough experience to pull off such crazy tactics.

And Varos, who had endlessly fought against those Imperial Knights, could do the same.

Had he not seen them bring down Chaotic Golems countless times?

Having dealt with them so frequently, he couldn’t help but memorize the movements and weak points of the Chaotic Golems, whether he liked it or not.

That knowledge was now keeping him alive.

‘Who would’ve thought I’d find myself mimicking those Imperial Knight bastards I hated so much?’

Since this was a technique based entirely on experience, there was no way he could explain it to Serati.

He didn’t have the leisure to explain it to her anyway, and even if he tried, it would probably just confuse her more and mess up her movements.

Feeling her panicked gaze, Varos silently apologized.

‘I’m sorry. Do your best to survive. If we’re lucky, we might be able to escape together.’

In truth, Varos wasn’t in a comfortable situation either.

In his previous life, he had been the Death Knight Lord, but now, he was just a regular knight who hadn’t even awakened his battle energy. No matter how long he held out, he would eventually run out of stamina and be finished.

If he wanted any chance of escaping, he had to rely on Karnak…

‘What on earth is the Young Master doing?’

Panting heavily, Varos glanced at the former Conquering King.

Since earlier, he had been dealing with the Chaotic Golems using only chaos magic.

‘Shouldn’t he start using necromancy by now? This isn’t the time to worry about hiding his identity, is it?’

* * *

A massive golem charged head-on.

Goooooo!

In a calm tone, Karnak recited the activation words.

“Arcane Disc.”

A disc of magical energy flew forward, slicing through the golem’s leg with precision. The enormous figure staggered and crashed into the blood-soaked swamp.

*Boom!*

At the same time, a follow-up fire spell was cast.

“Fire Blade.”

The heart of another golem was pierced by a blade of fire. Two of the advancing golems were swiftly neutralized.

However, their numbers were still overwhelming. Despite their comrades being struck down, the golems kept mindlessly pressing forward.

Goooooo!

But Karnak wasn’t overwhelmed.

“Wind Walk.”

Using wind magic, he glided smoothly to a more advantageous position. Without missing a beat, he unleashed another attack.

“Mass Magic Arrow.”

*Kwakwakwakwang!*

A volley of magical arrows flew out, aiming for the heads of the Chaotic Golems.

These creatures, which had withstood a 6th-circle fire spell, had their heads blown apart by mere 1st-circle basic magic arrows.

*Kwakwakwakwang!*

Karnak effortlessly felled the golems, using only spells of the 4th circle or lower.

After all, if Varos could do it, there was no reason Karnak couldn’t.

Even though the flow of darkness had been disrupted by the contamination of light, he could still clearly see the weak points. Naturally, identifying their vulnerabilities wasn’t difficult.

The problem was that defeating these golems didn’t improve the situation.

As he continued casting spells, Karnak grew increasingly anxious.

‘Ah, this is troublesome…’

The Chaotic Golems kept drawing power from the blood swamp.

In other words, as long as the blood swamp remained intact, no matter how many golems were destroyed, they would just keep regenerating from within it.

He needed to destroy the main source…

‘…But it’s not working, is it?’

Contrary to Varos’s suspicion, Karnak had already been using necromancy. It simply hadn’t been visible on the surface.

Even during battle, he discreetly let necromantic energy flow through his feet, attempting to infiltrate the blood swamp and wrest control away with his necromantic power.

But he kept hitting obstacles.

The cursed contaminated holy power was mixed with the necromantic energy.

Though Karnak, as the Conquering King, had managed to find gaps in the barrier’s structure, he couldn’t seize control of it.

‘At this rate, we’re done for.’

Karnak’s expression grew increasingly grim.

‘I need to find another way….’

***

In the damp, dark space beneath the Ranpelt Mansion.

A black shadow loomed over the blood-red barrier.

A grotesque figure of a middle-aged man, twisted by dark tendrils that writhed through his entire body—it was the fallen priest, Shutraff.

“Mmm…”

He was puzzled.

‘What on earth did those guys do?’

In truth, he was just as bewildered as Serati.

‘Why are the Chaotic Golems falling so easily?’

Chaotic Golems were monsters that even Alius, the powerful priest, and neither a 6th Circle mage nor an aura user could handle. Their power was exactly as described in the necromancy book.

But why were those two, who were weaker than the others, handling them so easily?

‘Does the Chaotic Golem have some kind of weakness?’

He didn’t know.

There was no mention of such a thing in the necromancy book he had read.

Shutraff’s knowledge of necromancy came entirely from books stored by the Hatoba Church.

Ironically, the place with the largest collection of necromancy books on the continent was the Church of the Seven Goddesses.

Knowing the enemy’s methods well was the best way to counter them. Every time they defeated necromancers, they stored the necromancy books the necromancers carried in the temple, just in case.

As a high-ranking priest, Shutraff secretly stole and learned from a few necromancy books, and as a result, he was able to wield dark powers nearly on par with top-tier necromancers.

However, since his knowledge wasn’t built up steadily from the basics, it lacked depth.

He could perform necromancy, but he didn’t understand the principles behind it.

He just followed the book’s instructions: set up a barrier, recite the incantation, and then it would work—this was all he knew.

‘Those guys seem to know something I don’t…’

In any case, one thing was clear.

The Chaotic Golem was not very efficient.

But it wasn’t much of a problem.

‘I’ll just change my approach.’

The necromancy that he had mastered didn’t just include the summoning of Chaotic Golems. There were plenty of dark beings that could be summoned using the Swamp of Blood.

Shutraff began to draw upon his necromantic power.

“It seems you were lucky enough to know how to deal with the Chaotic Golem…”

Dark energy began to flow through the tentacles and spread out through the stone walls.

“Then how about this? Hehehe…”

***

Just because Karnak and Varos were dealing with the Chaotic Golems easily, it didn’t mean Serati’s situation improved.

The golems weren’t just fighting them; they were still attacking her as well.

Although she barely escaped the immediate danger, that was all—Serati was still being pushed back.

“Huff, huff…!”

No matter how skilled an aura user was, their stamina wasn’t infinite. Especially when they were constantly using aura and expending energy in chunks like this.

The intervals where her aura flow was disrupted became increasingly frequent. She had reached her limit.

He anxiously looked back at Karnak.

They were weaker than her, but at this very moment, they were her lifeline.

“What… what should we do now?”

As she urgently shouted, the situation changed abruptly once more.

All the Chaotic Golems collapsed simultaneously, returning to the Swamp of Blood. At the same time, a crimson wave surged from the center of the swamp, engulfing the group.

Paaaaaat!

Serati was swept up by the shockwave and thrown backward.

There was no warning, leaving her no time to respond.

“Ugh!”

On the other hand, Karnak and Varos only staggered back a few steps but managed to hold their ground.

As if anticipating this situation, Karnak had deployed a shield to deflect the shockwave. Varos had also moved to that position beforehand.

“Truly fascinating fellows. I wonder where you acquired such knowledge.”

Shutraff’s mocking voice continued.

“But aren’t you neglecting your companion a bit too much?”

The recent shockwave had created a significant distance between Serati and Karnak’s group.

From the Swamp of Blood, blue specters soared up and rushed toward the now-isolated Serati.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

“Damn it!”

Varos hurriedly tried to save her, but it was too late. The specters reached Serati first.

As she fell, she forced herself to lift her sword and unleashed one final aura slash.

“Take this!”

As expected, the aura had no effect.

Like illusions, the specters passed right through the crimson sword light and slashed at Serati with their claws.

Slash!

Both of her arms were severed.

There was no blood. The cross-sections were charred black, emitting only a pungent smell.

“Aaaaaaah!”

Serati let out a desperate scream from the extreme pain.

Shutraff’s satisfied voice echoed.

“With this, we’ve secured an aura user as well.”

Just as the specters were about to snatch up the collapsing Serati.

With a triumphant smile, Karnak swung both arms.

“Finally showing a weakness, aren’t you, rookie necromancer!”

An immense darkness erupted from his entire body. The wave of darkness engulfed the specters and dissolved them in an instant.

“Kieeeeeeeek!”

Simultaneously, the entire space began to tremble violently.

Shutraff’s astonished voice resounded.

“Necromantic power? So you were a necromancer too!”

The shaking space collapsed with a series of explosive sounds.

Boom! Kwang! Kwaaaaang!

Beyond the collapsing space, the entrance of the mansion they had entered became clearly visible.

Karnak’s exhilarated laughter followed.

“It’s wide open! Hahaha!”