Death King Karnak Novel - Chapter 1

Death King Karnak

0. Prologue

He used to be the master of death.
He came to know that after a century had passed.
For someone to live like a normal human being, he mustn’t ever rule over others in that manner.

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It was a majestic and outstanding place.

The golden pillars were lined up in the endless path with a marble floor beneath it, marvelous paintings and decorative figures hanging on the wall, and finely crafted statues.

But that place had no human being who could respond.
No king, queen, prince, princess, or even one servant was present.
No, there was a king, honestly speaking. There were also servants present.
But the thing is, they weren’t human.

A large golden throne illuminated by the dim moonlight.
There, a skeleton in a black robe was sitting and muttering something.

“Why did I do that…………?”

He uttered those words and took a deep sigh.

“Haha, why the hell did I do that…?”

He sighed deeply as he dropped his head to the level of his shoulders and smiled in vain.
A skeleton’s smile and not that of a human.

“No, it’s not like I don’t know the reason. I didn’t have any choice.”
No one could listen as he continued to talk to himself, but the skeleton, Commander Karnak, then expressionlessly raised his hand.

“Whoa…….”

A blue energy formed over the bony bones, forming a human hand.
A hand that has the power to split the seas and shake the sky with just one swing.
A human figure began to rise above the skull as well.
A pale blue human face that sighed.

“Has it already been 70 years since I became like this? Wow, time really flies.”

The great King Karnak smiled in vain after he leaned back on the throne.

“But it seems to be flying filthy slow.”

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It was about 100 years ago that Karnak first encountered the most taboo of the taboos, necromancy.

He was born as an illegitimate son of a fallen aristocratic family and grew up being looked down upon. He reached out to the taboo and gained strength through luck to survive. He had yet to learn whether it was a good or bad thing.

In return, he strayed from the human path.

He lived the life of an evil necromancer, fighting against endless waves of enemies, sometimes striking first and killing innocents repeatedly. The world hated him even more as he became more like a demon.

The Lakenian Empire in the center, the Union of the Seven Kingdoms in the west, the Federation of Verus in the east, and the Church of the Seven Goddesses serving the seven great goddesses.
The whole continent was his enemy.

Despite having to face the whole world, Karnak did not back down. Using the mighty power of death, he made the enemies who attacked him undead and made them his subordinates, further expanding his authority.

The war only grew bigger and bigger.

A living hell in which the dead wandered the world of the living had spread across the whole continent. Before he knew it, he became the existence called the Death King. It was an absolute form of evil that humankind couldn’t ever tolerate.

Finally, even the last stronghold of humankind had collapsed.

Even the 4th King Mu, the strongest person in the world, and the three great wizards whose authority reached the sky were defeated and became the subordinates of the King of Death.

In the end, even the guardian of the world, the dragon emperor Grateria made its appearance.

The Dragon Emperor was truly strong.

To the extent that even Karnak, who committed all the taboos, could not find an answer. It was your usual scenario.

What can an insignificant human who used only evil means do to contend against the dragon emperor, the best among the most powerful dragons? He had no choice but to use the most terrible secret technique that he had saved for the last.

He changed into the ultimate transcendent body, ‘Astra Schnapp’, which goes beyond even the strongest undead, Death Knight and Arch Lich.

And Karnak completely let go of his humanity like that. Greater power always comes with a greater cost.

After three days of fighting, Grateria lost her status as the Dragon Emperor. Instead, she was reduced to only Grateria and became a faithful servant of the Death King.

Karnak had nothing special about him except that he was from a fallen aristocratic family.

A mere human who was not born with the bloodline of a hero or the power of a god rose to the highest position after overcoming the power of the chosen hero and the god.

He had become the master of the world.

“Yes. Everything is good. It’s a happy ending. Everything is good…”

Looking at his hands again, Karnak let out a deep sigh.

“What do I do with this body that only has bones left?”

Gold and silver treasures, graceful beauties, foreign songs, all the luxuries and pleasures humans can imagine.

Everything was meaningless.

All human senses have disappeared from this dead body of his.

“I want to feel…….”

He wanted to taste them.
He wanted to feel the warmth of people.
He wanted to feel the light breeze and the warm sunlight.
No, he would instead feel the pain.

Even the fragile skin pierced by blades causing terrible pain seemed better than this dry bone.

“……Ahh, the reality is nothing like that. But the numbness is better than the pain. I don’t know what kind of shitty aristocrat said those things.”

Karnak laughed after quickly rephrasing his words.

In any case, the truth was that he missed his senses.

He didn’t know how precious things like sleep were, and their loss saddened him now.

“There’s a reason why others don’t do it. For some reason, everyone despised necromancy and said it was forbidden or taboo or there was no pleasure in living like that.”

There is no driving force to continue to live.

But he loathed the act of suicide.

“I’m still afraid to die.”

He thought that if he became numb, he wouldn’t even feel the fear of death, but that wasn’t the case. He wanted to be happy while living and not forget the pain when of death.

It was only a sigh that came out.

“Is that the only thing you can trust?”

Karnak glanced behind the throne.
A large, blood-colored tombstone was flickering a strange light.
His eyes lit up

“If that succeeds……”

To be precise, it didn’t make his eyes shine. It had been a long time since his eyes had rotten away.
It’s just that the pupils made of aura flashed through the holes in the skull.

“…There must be hope left.”

A long corridor covered in gloomy darkness with no sunlight. A tall knight 2 meters tall was walking down the aisle. It resembled a human at first glance, but it wasn’t human.

There was no warmth in the pale skin covering the thick muscles. Breathing was also unnecessary, and even the eyes didn’t blink. It was clear evidence showing that he was not a living person.

The second-in-command of Necropia, the kingdom of the dead.

A soldier and commander-in-chief of the Death Corps, who rose to the position of the strongest on earth by defeating as many as 3 of the 4 martial kings.

The best confidante of the Death King, who was a faithful servant even before Karnak, was still a human who hadn’t encountered necromancy yet.

The Death Knight, Lord Barros, suddenly looked back.
Another death knight, who was strong but relatively skinny compared to him, was following him.

Barros asked, “Why did that man call me out of the blue, Lord Levon?”

Death Knight Levon responded politely, “I can’t possibly what’s on his mind, Lord Barros.”

Barros smiled bitterly.

“It’s always the same lines. I also looked up to you when you were still alive.”

Levon Strauss, who was 1 of the past 4 martial kings and the apex of all swordsmen, bowed his head with respect once again.

“Everything is done according to His will.”

“Well, since you’re not the old you, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Barros continued walking, leaving Levon behind. His feet finally reached the entrance of the great hall. Walking into the hall and kneeling, Barros politely opened his mouth.

“Lord of all the dead, ruler of life and death, conqueror of the continent, behold His Majesty Karnak, the mighty king of the dead…”
The skeleton on the throne immediately waved his hand.

“Ah, that’s all right.”

“Huh? Is there a need to be this polite?”

The puzzled Barros raised his head.
Karnak clenched his chin and grumbled.

“What do I do if I dress up? Who will look at me funny if I don’t?”

A person with absolute power is insensitive to manners. Even if you don’t have to be skewered, you can inject etiquette on the spot.

Even so, Barros was formal because even the undead of Necropia, who obeyed Karnak, were influenced to some extent by the customs of their lives.

Even though he had the power to instill manners on the spot, wouldn’t it be more comfortable not to invent it at all?

‘But you’re telling me not to address you formally anymore?’

This meant that there was no need to dominate the undead anymore.

“Uh, can’t you?”
Barros brought out the old title he had called Karnak since his usual, that is, human days, “Did you succeed, Young Master?”

Karnak shrugged triumphantly, “Well, it worked out.”

“Oh, my god.”

Barros’s gaze moved to the back of the throne. Looking at the large blood-colored tombstone, he asked doubtfully.

“It’s really working, right? You’ve been failing the whole time.”

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From the beginning, it wasn’t that Karnak regretted the lost body. Conquest of the world, putting everything in the world under one’s control. The pleasure of being a ruler was quite great.

The problem was that it only lasted for a few years.

What’s the point if you can’t enjoy the pleasure even if you get the world with absolute power?

So high-ranking troops like the Liches had a habit of being extremely sadistic. The reason was to magnify and torture others and obtain vicarious satisfaction through their suffering.

Unfortunately, Karnak did not have such a sadistic personality.

“When someone else is sick, it’s just that other people are sick. Why is that something I enjoy? I’m not that kind of antisocial psychopath.”

Barros hit the candle.

“Did you say no? Despite that, the things you’ve been doing all this time…”

“Ah, was it because I was just struggling to live?”

“It will be really comforting for those whom the young master has killed to hear that.”

“····· Silence.”

Anyway, for that reason, Karnak also tried various tricks. The first thing he tried was body possession. He didn’t have to live in a living body for an entire day.

Isn’t it just enough to feel the senses when you need them and only as much as you need them? So, he tried to capture many living human slaves, erase their souls, and take their bodies instead.

“…Are you saying you’re not an antisocial psychopath?”

“Shut up, Barros.”

Sadly, the attempt failed.

The spiritual energy of Karnak, who had attained the ultimate transcendent body, Astra Schnapp, was too great. Let alone possessed; even if the fingertips of the soul entered, the body would simply be smashed.

‘Is it impossible to temporarily take over someone else’s body?’

That’s why his goal shifted to reincarnation this time.

Gather carefully selected babies from the beginning, choose the body that best suits your soul, and then occupy it. The result was better than possessing. At least a whole leg went in. Compared to only fingers, it was a significant improvement.

Of course, that was the limit of that method.

In addition to that, he had tried several other things. He found many ways to steal the senses of others or seek pleasure as an undead.

It was all to no avail.

A race that derives pleasure from absorbing souls, like a vampire that derives pleasure from vampirism.

What these undead have in common is that pleasure is a side effect. There is a part that is lacking in oneself, so you get pleasure in the process of making up for that part.

Karnak wasn’t lacking anything because he had become the ultimate transcendent body. Since there was no shortage, there was nothing to fill. There was nothing to fill, so there was no pleasure.

He was desperate.

Would he live like this for eternity?
Can there be no fun living this way?
While he was wasting his time on thoughts like that, an idea suddenly came to mind.

He was unable to enjoy human pleasure because he wasn’t a human. He wasn’t human because he had now become the ultimate transcendental being.

“Then, I just don’t have to be Astra Schnapp anymore, right?”

He continued his research to get rid of the powers he possessed. And he finally found the answer.

‘I just have to go back to the time when I was human.’

When he was still a human.
A time when he was not the enemy of the world and the object of the hatred of all the living.
Back then, when he was still an illegitimate child of a lower nobleman, with only vague resentments toward the world.

‘I’ll turn back time!’

The option was the bloody tombstone behind the throne, the manifestation of darkness transcending time and space.

Karnak said triumphantly, “The strongest necromancer in human history has devoted himself to research with more earnest aspirations than anyone else. If he fails even after doing this, it must mean that no one can do it!”

Barros snorted as if he was waiting for that moment, “Isn’t it because Young Master is the only proper necromancer since human history was recorded? You have to have a target of comparison to be the strongest…”

Necromancy was a secret technique left by an unidentified ancient race that existed in ancient times, that is, before humans invented letters.
Since then, it has been considered a taboo among taboos, and no one has properly practiced it. Only third-class people had practiced it and had their heads cut off in their clumsy pursuit of power.

Of course, in human history, Karnak had to be the strongest.

“Oh, that’s not entirely wrong…….”

The skeleton sitting on the throne crackled its jaw joint.

“Barros, if you weren’t the henchman who grew up with me since childhood, you’d have been beheaded long ago.”

“Despite knowing all that, I still keep attacking you like this. And do you think you will feel comfortable while hitting my neck?”

“Hmph, only your mouth is alive.”

Karnak rose from his throne. Approaching the bloody tombstone as he murmured.

“Let’s proceed anyway, Barros.”

Barros also approached the tombstone. Then he asked, examining the dark red surface here and there.

“If this is successful, to which time will we go back? Are we going to start over when we were babies?”

“It can’t be like that. There has to be at least something in common.”

As it was a twisting space-time with the magic of darkness, there must be the same point of contact in space-time to reach. Karnak continued as if he was missing something.

“It was when I took my first step as a necromancer. It was also the moment I first took up the magic of darkness.”

“Then, will I return to the moment I became a Death Knight? What if the time zone isn’t right?”

“You’re just piggybacking on me, aren’t you? We’ll be back at the same time.”

“Oh, I see.”

Barros was still examining the tombstone with suspicion and suddenly asked after that.

“What if you do something wrong and it ends in a failure?”

“We will perish.”
“I don’t think extinction is something that can be said as easily as others say, doesn’t it?”

“Why? Do you have any regrets in life right now?”

Barros laughed in vain. The second-in-command of the great empire that rules the world. An immortal body with superhuman powers.

“Are you obsessed with all of this?”

“No.”

It was also the case with him since he also had no pleasure in life.

“I’m the one paying for this, so there’s nothing to lose.”

With a relaxed face, Barros put his hand on the tombstone, “Let’s go. Master.”

“Okay.”

Karnak also placed his bony palm on the tombstone.
The blood-colored monument started emitting great darkness.

“Let’s head back to the days when we lived as human beings.”

[To be continued.]