Chapter 45: Doom is an Open Door (1)

Alius and Riltaine were unharmed. They hadn’t endured much hardship, either.

After

all, they had been captured in the early evening, while Karnak and his group took down Straph by the next dawn. There simply hadn’t been enough time for them to suffer.

After being rescued, the two were naturally curious about what had happened.

“What exactly went on here?”

The building had shaken, and deafening noises echoed throughout during their imprisonment. It was clear something major had unfolded during that time. However, surveying the scene after their rescue revealed that

something major

didn’t even begin to describe it.

The surroundings were littered with corpses, and traces of necromantic barriers were everywhere. The once-massive mansion was half-destroyed, and the entire city had plunged into chaos. How could just three people have caused all this?

“And how on earth did you defeat that man, Straph?”

Even Alius, a seasoned veteran of countless battles, had never encountered necromancy as powerful as what he had just witnessed.

While he was relieved to have been rescued, he couldn’t fathom how these few individuals could have possibly defeated Straph. If the necromancer had been that easy to overcome, Alius and Riltaine wouldn’t have been captured so quickly in the first place.

Karnak began to explain calmly. “We got lucky.”

Straph’s necromancy was indeed formidable. They had honestly thought they were done for.

“But it seemed he hadn’t completely mastered his craft. At some point, a part of the barrier collapsed.”

Taking advantage of the gap, they escaped the mansion. Of course, Straph tried to stop them with everything he had, but thanks to Serati’s abilities as an aura user, they narrowly managed to get away. While in hiding, they racked their brains for a plan to rescue Alius and Riltaine. Suddenly, an unexpected incident shook Trist City. An internal conflict erupted within Ranpelt’s faction.

“For reasons unknown, they started fighting amongst themselves,” Karnak said.

As the organization’s members turned their weapons on one another, the entire city descended into chaos.

“We returned to the mansion to assess the situation, only to witness a truly horrifying sight.”

A massive army of zombies was marching toward Ranpelt’s estate! The mansion’s necromantic barrier clashed against the zombie horde, making it clear this wasn’t Straph’s doing.

“Perhaps one of his subordinate necromancers turned against him?”

Alius nodded in agreement.

“Quite plausible. Necromancers are always eager to betray one another.”

After all, hadn’t everyone just witnessed Straph blowing the heads off his own subordinates? It was only natural for his followers to rebel.

Riltaine voiced a similar thought. “Straph must have left an opening while dealing with us, and another necromancer exploited that vulnerability.”

Karnak continued his explanation. “Taking advantage of the opportunity, we infiltrated the mansion.”

With the air thick with ominous energy, finding Straph’s hideout wasn’t difficult. They descended into the basement and discovered Straph preparing something at a grotesque altar.

“He summoned ghoul warriors and a demon to face us. However, he didn’t use the necromantic arts that could transform the entire space into a literal hell. Likely, he’d already exhausted much of his power fighting off the zombie horde.”

With Straph having drained so much of his necrotic energy, Karnak and his group managed to hold their ground. Though they faced death several times, they barely survived and, with Serati’s prowess as an aura user, dispatched the demon and ultimately severed Straph’s head.

“We deliberately left the body untouched. I planned to ask you, Alius, to perform a purification ritual after rescuing you.”

“I see...”

Neither Alius nor Riltaine could find any flaw in the account. And indeed, everything described had indeed happened.

The city had fallen into chaos. The factions had turned on one another. They had infiltrated during the commotion. Serati had fought and defeated a demon. Well, technically, it was Varos who had achieved the victory, but it had been Serati’s body, so the distinction didn’t matter much.

Since the events themselves were all true, the lingering traces left no room for doubt. All they could do was marvel at their fortune.

“Truly, we must credit the protection of Hatoba for this,” Alius said.

Of course, Serati, who knew the full truth, could only sigh in disbelief.

So this is why necromancers are so hard to catch.

By cleverly mixing truth with lies, Karnak had created a narrative so convincing that anyone unaware of the full story would have no choice but to believe it. Alius quickly set about dealing with the aftermath.

The first step was to extract the Shadow of Doom from Straph’s corpse. Alius clicked his tongue as he sealed the darkness with divine power.

“What an overwhelming force. The Shadow of Doom in this case is nearly ten times greater than what we’ve seen from any other necromancer we’ve captured.”

Varos, watching nearby, winced at the remark. Hadn’t Karnak claimed it was thirty times as much?

[Young master, didn’t you say you were just extracting the information and putting it back?]

[I set a little aside, just in case. You never know when it might come in handy.]

[I thought you said you weren’t going to live like before?]

[That’s why I left some of it. If this were the old days, I would’ve devoured it all.]

[That’s not the point! If you keep amassing power and someone finds out, what will you do then?]

[Don’t worry. Given time, I can break it all down into chaos mana.]

Karnak’s mindset hadn’t changed. He didn’t need the absolute power he once wielded. He only required enough strength to live in this new reality. The only difference was that his definition of

enough

had risen a bit. Instead of just maintaining his domain, he needed power sufficient to survive in this increasingly turbulent world.

[Another like Straph might appear. At the very least, I need to build enough mana to handle someone of that caliber.]

[Well, I suppose you know best, young master. But right now, the important thing is to avoid raising Alius’s suspicions, isn’t it?]

[That’s not a problem.]

Alius had never encountered a high-ranking necromancer like Straph before. Without a basis for comparison, how could he know if the dark mana was unusually powerful or not?

“No wonder... With this level of darkness, of course he could wield such powerful necromancy...”

Suspicion required knowledge, and without it, Alius naturally accepted the explanation and moved on. Once their work was done, Karnak’s group left the mansion. Alius contacted the Flad family and the diocese of Trist City.

Though the Trist Diocese had been under Straph’s control, not all members had fallen to corruption. Alius carefully selected those who seemed trustworthy to handle the aftermath. Of course, those individuals would need to be interrogated later to discern their true loyalties, but for now, they were a necessary workforce.

There was little resistance. The previous night’s massacre had wiped out most of Ranpelt’s forces, leaving no one left to put up a fight. Trist City began stabilizing rapidly. During this time, Alius received surprising news.

“What? You’ve become a knight of the Zestrad Barony, Miss Serati?”

It wasn’t strange for a warrior to pledge themselves to a lord, but Serati was no ordinary swordsman. She was an aura user.

“How did that happen?”

Alius quickly wiped off the astonishment on his face. His words could be interpreted as,

‘Why would someone as exceptional as an aura user pledge themselves to such a backwater territory?’

It was highly disrespectful.

“I didn’t mean it that way...”

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Of course you did. That’s the only thing it could mean.

Serati thought, suppressing a bitter smile as she explained.

“After last night, I realized that Baron Karnak is a man worthy of my loyalty.”

She explained that she had received great help from Karnak, and his wisdom and character made him more than fit to serve as her lord... or something along those lines. It was... technically true.

Great help? Yes, that had happened.

Wisdom? As a necromancer, he was certainly brilliant.

Character? She hadn’t exactly said he was a good person, just that he was someone worth serving.

Technically, I didn’t lie. Right, no lies.

Once the aftermath of the incident was under control, Karnak’s group left Trist City. However, they didn’t accompany Alius and Riltaine to Derath City.

“Serving the goddess has brought me great joy, but now it’s time to return to my domain,” Karnak explained.

On the surface, the reason was Serati.

“I’ve taken her as my knight, but the ceremony was only a formality. To properly appoint her, I must return to my estate, don’t I?”

The real reason, of course, was that he had extracted all the Shadow of Doom he needed. There was no longer any need to hunt necromancers.

“I see. Thank you for your cooperation thus far.”

Though disappointed, Alius offered his farewell.

“All paths are connected for those who walk the earth. May Hatoba’s blessing guide your way.”

***

Serati also made her way to the Zestrad estate with her new lord, Karnak. Her mind was a tangled mess. The events of the previous night defied all logic and reason as she knew them. After crossing mountains and rivers for half a day, she could no longer hold it in.

“What exactly are you two?”

Her abrupt question didn’t surprise Karnak or Varos. They had expected this line of inquiry sooner or later. They decided to brush it off with vague answers at first.

“Me? I’m the Baron of Zestrad.”

“And I’m a knight of the Zestrad Barony.”

“Oh, and secretly dabbling in necromancy too.”

“Assisting the young master in his secret necromantic endeavors.”

Naturally, it didn’t work.

“You both know that’s not what I’m asking.”

Some things can only be explained with proof, and the abilities they had displayed were beyond what could be justified by simple words.

Karnak, who had single-handedly brought ruin to an entire city, raised an army of corpses, and conjured massive illusions. Despite not being an aura user, Varos demonstrated incredible swordsmanship, and more importantly, wielded aura after taking possession of her body as if it were second nature to him. He had even defeated Maz-nun, a high-ranking demon.

The explanation that they were merely dabbling in necromancy clearly wasn’t enough. The same was true of their absurd depth of knowledge and experience.

“The two of you can’t be more than in your early twenties. How does this even make sense?” she questioned.

Karnak and Varos shrugged.

“Honestly, it doesn’t.”

“It’d be a stretch to ask you to believe us.”

Karnak met Serati’s piercing gaze and held it. She was staring at him intently, clearly waiting for a real answer.

[What should we do, Varos? Should we tell her the truth?]

[Leaving her in the dark wouldn’t really cause any problems, would it?]

[She might jump to some wild conclusions and do something reckless. Besides, she’s already my vassal. She couldn’t betray us.]

[Do you think she’d even believe us if we told her?]

[That’s up to her.]

[Fair point.]

Having made up his mind, Karnak adopted a serious expression.

“Alright, I’ll tell you the truth.”

Serati’s face stiffened. Karnak and Varos, both solemn, began to speak.

“I conquered the world once.”

“And I helped the young master conquer the world.”

Her frozen expression twisted into something utterly baffled.

“...What nonsense are you spouting now?”

“There it is. That’s the normal reaction.”

With a bitter smile, Karnak continued.

“Just listen to the whole story.”