Chapter 188: The Battle to Reclaim Zestrad (4)

Karnak gave orders to the knight leading the soldiers. "Evacuate the villagers to a safe location. We'll head straight for the estate."

"Understood."

The elite soldiers carefully made their way toward the castle village. Meanwhile, Karnak's group advanced toward the estate, moving swiftly along the darkened path.

Running ahead, Serati murmured quietly, "I hope everyone is safe."

She hadn't stayed in the Zestrad territory for long, but even in that short time, she had become familiar with many of the people there. Death was always sorrowful, but losing someone she knew made it feel even heavier.

Karnak reassured her, "I told you already. It’s more useful to keep them alive. Most of them should be fine."

Serati gave him a bitter smile. She had caught the nuance immediately. He hadn't said all of them, but

most

of them.

"And what about the knights of the barony?"

Karnak's expression hardened slightly. "They..."

From the cultists' perspective, there was no need to kill ordinary civilians. There was no benefit in it. But that also meant there was no reason to spare the knights. These men knew nothing but how to wield a sword. They weren’t even capable of baking a loaf of bread to sustain themselves. In other words, they would have been nothing but a burden as prisoners.

They had likely been killed immediately and turned into undead. The knights of Zestrad, the ones she had often sparred with, were no longer among the living.

"You've changed a lot, though," Serati remarked. "You even try to comfort people now."

Karnak averted his gaze awkwardly. "I know better than anyone it doesn't suit me."

A little further along, their destination finally came into view. Beneath the faint glow of the moon, the silhouette of the Zestrad estate emerged in the distance. There was no time to waste going around to the front gate.

Without hesitation, the group leaped over the walls. Immediately, a scene straight from hell unfolded before them. What should have been a beautiful garden had been transformed into a grotesque nightmare.

The once-pristine trees had mutated into monstrous forms, their twisted branches sagging under the weight of hanging, fleshy growths. The ground was stained deep red, with dark pools of blood-like liquid collecting in various spots. Strange, writhing tendrils—neither vine nor tentacle—slithered ominously in every direction.

Leven muttered in shock, "By the goddess... What is this?"

The others, however, were less surprised. Karnak and Varos had seen such horrors countless times before.

"Quite the bold choice for landscaping," Karnak commented.

"They really put effort into their gardening," Varos agreed.

Serati, having encountered plenty of necromantic domains in the past, observed the scene with a calculating gaze. "It looks similar to the ones Bishop Straph used."

Lapicel, however, blinked in mild confusion. "Why does this feel strangely familiar?"

Then, suddenly, from somewhere in the darkness, they heard barking. Glowing red eyes gleamed in the distance as a pack of hounds bared their fangs and charged toward them. Their ragged flesh barely clung to their bodies, with exposed bone showing through torn skin. They were unmistakably zombie hounds.

Varos unsheathed his longsword, shaking his head in disbelief. "Where did these damn dogs come from? We never kept any."

To be precise, the estate had once kept dogs, but they had been given away long ago.

Lapicel tilted her head and asked innocently, "Lord Karnak, do you not like dogs?"

"I hate the sound of barking," Karnak replied flatly. "Every time I hear it, something bad happens."

Serati gave him a look of understanding.

Yeah, makes sense.

After all, what kind of person constantly heard barking in bad situations? Only someone who had spent his life on the run. Of course, every time he heard it, disaster must have followed.

The zombie hounds surrounded them, snarling and growling. Judging by their appearance, most of them were strays. They had likely been killed and reanimated into undead creatures. Serati and Lapicel sighed as they drew their weapons.

"I actually like dogs," Serati commented.

"Me too," Lapicel agreed.

Still, neither had any intention of standing idly by just because they felt sorry for them. These dogs were already dead. The only thing left to do was grant them a proper rest.

"Sorry, puppies."

The moment Lapicel murmured her apology, the hounds lunged at them with their teeth bared. And just moments later...

Yelp! Yip yip!

The zombie hounds collapsed just as quickly as they had attacked. What use was sharp fangs or a vicious temperament? At the end of the day, they were still just dogs. Meanwhile, their opponents were warriors capable of uprooting trees with their bare hands and slicing through boulders with their swords. It took mere seconds to wipe them out completely.

Since they had caused a commotion, it had naturally attracted attention. Two men burst out of the Zestrad mansion.

"Who are you?!"

"Do you even know where you are?!"

They were necromancers, clad in stiff, meticulously starched black robes that covered them from head to toe.

Karnak, observing them, couldn't help but admire their appearance for a moment. "Oh, those robes fit quite nicely. Not bad."

Beside him, Varos clicked his tongue. "Young master, I swear, I'll never understand your fashion sense, even after a hundred years. Do necromancers really care about that?"

"Mages do too, you know?"

As Karnak grumbled, the necromancers' expressions stiffened.

"

Ah!

That man..."

"Baron Karnak!"

***

Inside the Zestrad estate, the servants and maids peered out the windows. Their eyes were wide with excitement. For an entire month, they had lived side by side with death.

Every morning, they woke to the sight of skeletons roaming the halls. Every time they turned their heads, zombies shuffled past them. It had truly been a waking nightmare. They had been forced to serve damned necromancers, spending each day in constant fear, walking on the thinnest ice.

And now, finally, salvation had arrived. And not just any salvation. It was the lord himself, the very man who had risked his life for his people!

"It's Lord Karnak!"

"Sir Varos is here!"

Watching Karnak's commanding figure, old man Tafel let out heavy tears. "Ah... If only the late lord could see this moment... how proud he would be..."

***

It was their first time seeing him in person, but they had already memorized his likeness through enchanted portraits crafted with flame magic. There was no doubt about it.

This was Baron Karnak of Zestrad. And alongside him, his knights, Sir Varos and Sir Serati. They weren't sure who the young man and the silver-haired girl standing behind them were, but that hardly mattered.

"How did he get here...?"

"But Lord Maloka went to capture him himself..."

Even without strong deductive skills, it wasn't difficult to figure out what had happened.

"I see."

"So it was a feint."

Though briefly shaken, the necromancers quickly regained their composure. After a moment of thought, they concluded that this wasn’t a bad situation to be in. Their opponents included a seventh circle mage and formidable aura users, who would normally be far beyond their ability to handle.

But here? Things were different. The estate was crawling with the powerful necromantic domains set up by archlich Maloka himself. Here, they were gods.

"This works out perfectly!"

"We'll capture you all and offer you to Lord Tesranach!"

Excited, the necromancers drew in the power of darkness.

"Rise, servants of the abyss!"

The grotesque trees scattered throughout the estate trembled, releasing waves of crimson energy.

"Descend upon this land and unleash your unholy might!"

The monstrous trees burst open, spilling masses of raw, quivering flesh. The stench of blood filled the air as the scattered chunks of flesh slithered and twisted into writhing tendrils, creeping toward Karnak's group.

They coiled and swayed like a swarm of colossal sea worms, intertwining and pulsing as they advanced. For the weak-hearted, just seeing such a sight would have been enough to make them faint. But Karnak's party? They looked utterly bored.

"

Ugh

, how typical."

"Serati, you're finally talking like this too?"

"Well, I have seen quite a bit by now."

Varos and Serati unsheathed their swords, the glow of red and blue aura slicing through the air. Leven and Lapicel, though lacking aura, responded calmly as well. They moved in sync, delivering each strike with precision and calculation.

The so-called

tentacles of the abyss

were no different from overgrown weeds in the backyard. They were easily cut down, one after another. The necromancers' faces paled.

What... are these people?

Never mind their skill. Their reactions were incomprehensible. Even they had been nauseated when they first started working with these creatures. Yet these people? They weren't even flinching. No—actually, there was one person reacting quite intensely.

"

Blergh

!"

Leven, suppressing the urge to gag, cut down a tentacle flying toward him. The grotesque appearance of the tendrils was one thing, but the overwhelming stench of blood and rot was far worse. The nauseating odor alone was enough to make one retch.

Leven turned to the others and complained. "How are all of you so unfazed by this?"

"Experience."

"Effort."

"Fate, I guess?"

Karnak, Varos, and Serati answered in turn.

"Then what about Lapicel?"

It made sense for those three. They were powerful warriors who had faced necromancers before. But what about the small girl, who wasn't even fifteen yet? Why was she so unaffected?

"She's got a strong stomach, I suppose."

Karnak's response made both Leven and Lapicel pull strange expressions.

Even she had to admit. Her own indifference to this scene felt a little odd.

Is it really just something as simple as that?

In the end, the writhing mass of tendrils, called forth so confidently, was reduced to nothing but severed chunks. The flustered necromancers hastily activated stronger domains.

"Y-you have some skill, I'll admit!"

"But before the true power of darkness, nothing can stand!"

Dark formations gleamed across the garden as they summoned a new wave of undead. This time, they weren't mere foot soldiers. Skeleton knights emerged clad in armour and helmets. They were one of the strongest necromantic summons among skeletal undead.

Karnak grinned. "Oh, nice."

The moment Redeemer of Necromancy activated, half of the skeleton knights were ensnared by radiant chains. With hollow clatters, the knights turned against one another, hacking away at their own allies. The necromancers gritted their teeth.

"Come to think of it..."

"They did say he uses bizarre magic..."

They had heard rumors of Karnak's ability to turn necromancy against itself. But they had never imagined it would be this effective.

"In that case!"

"There's only one thing we can do!"

They had no choice. They activated every remaining necromantic domain in the estate and began preparing their most powerful spell.

"Demon of the abyss, descend upon this land!"

The entire estate shook as if struck by an earthquake. At the same time, a massive wave of darkness surged from the ground like a volcanic eruption. The sheer intensity of the miasma and foul energy made Karnak click his tongue.

"Redeemer of Necromancy isn't going to work on that one."

It was an extremely intricate and complex necromantic ritual. He lacked the magical prowess to break it down through spellwork alone.

Guess I'll just have to use necromancy.

Spreading his right foot over the swirling energy, Karnak snapped his fingers. The result was a deafening thunderclap that echoed through the estate as the necromantic domains unraveled at terrifying speed. The necromancers stood frozen in shock.

"What is this?!"

"What's happening?!"

Varos, Serati, and Leven exchanged glances, looking equally exasperated.

Wow.

He's not even trying to hide it anymore.

Are we really just going with this?

Lapicel, on the other hand, simply marveled.

Lord Karnak has truly reached the pinnacle of Redeemer of Necromancy! I can't sense his mana at all!

Meanwhile, the servants and maids peeking through the mansion's windows had no idea what was happening.

"What's going on out there?"

"Is our lord winning?"

"It's too dark to tell..."

With nightfall and the air already saturated with necromantic energy, there was no way for an ordinary person to distinguish anything. At last, every necromantic domain had been completely annihilated.

Karnak slowly stepped toward the exhausted necromancers. "You're out of tricks now, aren't you?"

The terror-stricken necromancers could only stare at him in horror. The black-haired young man smiled gently. "Now, just die."

It was then. Varos and Serati whipped around at the same time.

"

Tch

!"

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"This presence!"

From beyond the night sky, a massive surge of mana erupted. Everyone instinctively turned toward it.

A trembling groan escaped Karnak's lips. "Damn it..."

Above the darkened sky, a towering skeletal figure, clad in a black robe and wielding a golden staff, gazed down upon them.

Blue flames flickered within the voids of its eye sockets. "You've made quite the mess, you bastards..."

It was archlich Maloka.