Chapter 43: The Curse of Dawn (3)

The towering demon loomed over the group.

“Now that I have descended upon this land...”

Its dark eyes rolled in their sockets as the demon spoke in a voice dripping with arrogance.

“Struggle all you like, pathetic humans. It will be for nothing.”

Varos and Serati turned pale, their faces drawn tight under the crushing weight of the demon’s oppressive presence.

“Ugh...”

“A high-ranking demon...”

Even Karnak was beginning to sweat.

Why? Why didn’t the summoning portal close completely?

Though he had lost much of his power, Karnak was still the former Monarch of Death. His knowledge and wisdom remained intact. As such, it didn’t take long to figure out the problem.

Damn it, that’s what went wrong.

Originally, the summoning magic for demons was as intricate as necromantic barrier techniques. But the ritual Straph had used was a little different.

That fool only has a superficial grasp of necromancy. He didn’t perform the ritual properly!

Straph had only executed the key components of the summoning ritual, compensating for the missing parts by brute-forcing it with raw necrotic energy. The strength of necromancy lay in its adaptability—if one couldn’t complete the ritual properly, sheer power could force the result. As a result, the situation had become precarious.

It wasn’t completely simple, which meant Karnak could disrupt it to a degree. But it wasn’t complex enough for Karnak to completely cancel it. It hovered awkwardly in a state of incompletion. As a result, the cancellation had only worked partially.

Wait... how did I miss this?

He had confirmed that Straph was summoning a demon. That was why he had planned for it.

Ah!

Karnak realized the mistake he had made.

I never actually saw the summoning ritual!

He had only observed Straph’s actions remotely through his farsight while escaping under the cover of illusions. He hadn’t personally watched the demon being summoned. He had once mocked Straph for trying to manage things from a distance.

“What can you accomplish when you’re controlling things remotely?”

And now Karnak had made the same mistake. He’d seen the summoning happening and assumed it was the same demon-summoning magic he was familiar with.

Ugh, how could I make such a beginner’s mistake...?

Perhaps he had grown too complacent after enjoying the peace that had followed his return. Maz-nun roared, shaking the chamber with his power.

“I shall fulfill the contract!”

A strong gust of wind surged toward Karnak and his group. Varos and Serati moved, fighting back against the oppressive force. They dashed to the demon’s flanks, launching swift and coordinated attacks.

“Hah!”

“Take this!”

But it was useless.

Every strike bounced off the demon’s skin as if they were hitting a solid iron plate. The attacks didn’t even leave a scratch.

“Pitiful insects,” Maz-nun said with contempt, his tone unhurried.

He swung his massive sword in a simple arc. It was an unremarkable slash—easy enough for both Varos and Serati to dodge. But they couldn’t avoid the massive wave of energy that followed in its wake.

Crash!

A tide of darkness tore through the basement floor, sweeping the two away like leaves in a storm.

“Urgh!”

“Y-young master!”

Varos, battered and rolling across the floor, barely managed to get back on his feet.

“What do we do now?” he called out.

Karnak, gripping two fireballs in his hands, snapped back irritably. “What else? We fight!”

He hurled the fireballs at Maz-nun, aiming for the demon’s massive frame.

Maz-nun snorted derisively. “Hmph, such trifles don’t even warrant a defense.”

Boom!

With nothing more than a withering glare, Maz-nun caused the fireballs to explode harmlessly in midair. The sheer disparity in power made it impossible to even get close to the demon.

Varos groaned in despair and muttered under his breath. “Seriously... how are we supposed to deal with that...?”

***

Serati steadied her breathing. She honed her focus to the extreme and channeled every ounce of her aura into the tip of her blade. With her flaming sword ablaze, she launched herself at the demon.

“Hyaaah!”

Fiery red energy danced like a wild tempest, her agile form cutting through the space around her. Stone walls and the floor shattered under the force of her blows, reduced to dust and rubble.

Boooom!

Her movements and destructive power were beyond human limits.

“Die, you demon!”

Maz-nun, however, dismissed her efforts with disdain.

“You are slow. And weak.”

Though Serati’s strikes were swift, Maz-nun was swifter. Though her aura blade was mighty, the demon was mightier still.

The strength of an red-tier aura user like Serati lay in surpassing the physical limitations of the human body to deliver devastating, rapid attacks. But against a foe that was faster and stronger, such advantages turned into glaring weaknesses. There was nothing she could do.

“Da-damn it!”

Still, Serati managed to hold her ground. But it was not because of any skill or power on her part.

“This woman was to be captured as per the contract, right?” Maz-nun mused, swatting away her attacks like an adult playing with a child.

For now, he merely shoved or kicked her aside, holding back to avoid killing her outright. Varos, on the other hand, was not afforded such mercy.

“While I don’t have to do the same for the man.”

A barrage of fireballs, magical blades, crushing roars, and dozens of energy missiles rained down on him without end.

“Ugh! Aghhh!”

Varos could only run, roll, and sometimes crawl to avoid being obliterated. He flailed desperately, dodging everything Maz-nun hurled at him.

“Aaaaaah!”

What was remarkable was that, despite the overwhelming onslaught, he managed to evade every single attack. Before an attack could even be launched, Varos would already be in the perfect position to dodge it. He avoided invisible strikes, leapt clear of impact zones before the explosions landed, and sidestepped the rain of projectiles.

Maz-nun was visibly taken aback.

Does this man have some kind of ability to predict the future?

Even so, he posed no real threat. Occasionally, he managed to exploit a fleeting opening, delivering a sharp counterattack that struck at Maz-nun’s weak points.

“Hyaaah!”

But not a single scratch appeared on the demon. Maz-nun’s defenses were far too impenetrable for anything less than an aura-infused blade to make a dent.

Grinding his teeth, Varos muttered under his breath, “I can’t believe I’m struggling against a measly, damned Maz-nun....”

At the forefront, Serati and Varos fought valiantly. From the rear, Karnak unleashed spell after spell. Together, they waged a desperate battle against the demon. But all three knew they couldn’t keep it up much longer. Maz-nun did not rush.

“Humans scurry about like rats, always so quick to flee.”

He endured every assault with ease, gradually pressing the group further into a corner.

“I cannot allow you to escape.”

Serati’s breathing grew labored.

Varos’s movements slowed.

Karnak’s mana reserves dwindled.

If the demon had fought recklessly, Karnak might have found an opening to weave a powerful illusion. But Maz-nun’s measured approach offered no such opportunity. Moreover, he couldn’t afford enough mana to force a powerful spell to create such an opportunity.

If only they could do something...

Frustrated, Karnak glanced at Serati and Varos. Though both fought courageously, the situation was dire. Serati’s sword strikes were too straightforward, unable to land a hit on the swift demon.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Damn, he’s too fast!

Varos’s strikes, while accurate, lacked the power to break through the demon’s defenses.

Ah, his skin is tough!

Clicking his tongue in frustration, Karnak muttered to himself. “If only I could combine the two of them, that would make this so much easier...”

He froze mid-sentence. On second thought, he was a necromancer. The idea wasn’t entirely absurd.

Karnak’s expression shifted, and he abruptly called out.

“Varos!”

“Yes?”

“Plan P!”

Varos’s eyes lit up in understanding.

“Ah! Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?”

He sprinted toward Karnak, dropping into a crouch as he approached.

Karnak placed his hand firmly on Varos’s head.

“My vassal...!”

Darkness coiled around Varos’s head, wrapping him in an ominous shroud. Serati was stunned.

Didn’t he say Sir Varos isn’t a vassal?

But Karnak’s command wasn’t directed at Varos.

“Open your mind and accept this! It is your master’s will!”

Varos’s eyes lost focus, his movements becoming mechanical. He stood beside Karnak, holding his sword in a rigid stance, almost like a puppet. At the same time, Serati’s movements changed entirely.

“Hup!”

With a sharp cry, she pushed off the ground and leaped into the air. Her flaming red aura blade cut sharply through the space between her and the demon, weaving expertly through Maz-nun’s attacks.

Her swordsmanship had transformed completely. Though she was still slower than the demon, her strikes now pre-empted his movements, slipping through the tiniest gaps in his defenses with perfect precision.

“...What?”

Maz-nun staggered back, blood spurting from his chest in a brilliant red arc.

This movement...

Serati adjusted her stance, a sly smile playing on her lips. From the delicate mouth of the elegant woman came a coarse, unfamiliar voice.

“Man, it’s been ages since I moved someone else’s body.”

***

Plan P. It stood for something simple. The

P

stood for

possession.

Karnak had overlaid Varos’s soul onto Serati’s body. Serati panicked, trapped within her own mind.

Wh-what’s happening...?

Normally, possession wasn’t so easily accomplished. A human soul was fortified by natural spiritual defenses, requiring advanced necromancy to breach. But Serati’s case was different.

As Karnak’s vassal, her soul was already laid bare to him. If Karnak willed it, he could take control of her body at any time. Varos, on the other hand, wasn’t his vassal and could have resisted—but he had no reason to.

Is this what it truly means to become... a necromancer’s vassal?

Dread washed over her. Had she made an irrevocable mistake?

Varos, now in Serati’s body, spoke with an awkward tone. “Sorry about this, Miss Serati. It’s a matter of life and death, you see....”

The familiar clumsiness of his voice soothed her fraying nerves, albeit slightly. She realized there was no other choice. The moment she had chosen to involve herself with filthy necromancy, she should have prepared for this level of compromise.

Fine, it’s for survival... it can’t be helped.

Even so, Serati couldn’t make sense of it. She knew Varos was more experienced and skilled with a sword than she was, but what difference would that make?

How does putting Mister Varos in my body change anything?

Maz-nun shared her confusion.

“What are you fools trying to accomplish?”

The demon, perceptive as ever, had already grasped the situation but couldn’t understand the reasoning.

“What’s the point of having a non-aura user possess an aura user’s body?”

Serati’s superhuman abilities came from her mastery of aura. Without that, her body was just an ordinary vessel. Varos had greater physical strength in his own body—larger stature, male musculature—but none of that would translate here. In other words, there was no point in any of this if Varos couldn’t manifest aura.

“And how does someone incapable of wielding their own aura plan to handle someone else’s?”

The scene that followed left the demon utterly speechless.

“Who said I couldn’t use it?”

Vwooom!

The red aura burst from the sword. Its brilliance was unmistakable. It was the aura of a red knight. Maz-nun, despite his vast knowledge and wisdom, was baffled.

“H-how?”

If someone could not manifest aura, it meant they had never wielded it. Yet, he was wielding someone else’s aura right away? So naturally? Varos aimed the aura blade squarely at Maz-nun and shrugged.

“You see, using other people’s aura is kind of my specialty.”

Even during his days as a death knight, the dark aura he wielded wasn’t his own—it had been bestowed upon him by Karnak. Before that, he frequently possessed others or absorbed their aura to fight.

Honestly, I don’t even know how to use aura that’s actually mine.

Now, with a viable counterattack finally in play, Karnak grinned.

“Alright, Varos... Or wait.”

He paused, considering.

Technically, this wasn’t just Varos—it was Serati and Varos combined. Proper naming conventions were important.

“Go get him, SeraVaros!”

“Could you

not

mash our names together like that?” Varos grumbled, his tone exasperated.

Despite his complaint, SeraVaros charged forward with explosive force.

With a sharp battle cry, the aura blade erupted in a devastating slash.

“Hyaaah!”