Death King Karnak Novel - Chapter 10

Death King Karnak

2. A Good Lord? Who? (5)

Every day, Barros beat and hit again.

Every day Karnak was beaten and beaten again.

“Oh Lord, I’m going to die…”

Today as well, sitting on the gymnasium floor, Karnak was crying. His whole body was sore with bruises. Every time he moved, his body muscles were screaming from pain. Since he was enthusiastic, wouldn’t his skills have improved a little?

It wasn’t like that.

He didn’t learn anything in the first place.

“Hey, shouldn’t you be teaching me something soon? I can’t learn anything if you keep hitting me…….”

His daily routine was just wearing armor and holding a sword, getting beaten up, and getting up like a tumbleweed.

“Do you think getting hit is an easy skill?”

Barros, whose body gradually improved, tapped his shoulder with a club.

“Only a month, no, only ten days left? Well, what can you possibly learn since you don’t have time?”

“Then, what’s the reason behind this training?”

“It’s a process to let you get used to pain.”

Excellent swordsmanship? Strong stamina? A body like steel? An unshakable spirit?

There was only one part he needed to master first instead of all of those if he wanted to survive in the middle of that arena.

“You have to get used to being beaten and having your life flash right before your eyes. That’s how you stay sane and you must stay sane to fight or escape.”

Usually, he wouldn’t have to go through this process separately. That’s because people could learn it independently during sparring matches. If you have talent, you get used to it quickly, and even if you are not talented, your body will eventually adapt if you give it some time.

“Since you don’t have the time or talent right now, the only possible choice is to do it like this.”

It was a plausible answer. But understanding didn’t mean the dissatisfaction would go away.

“Wouldn’t it become a serious issue if I were to develop a bone disease?”

Barros snorted.

“I didn’t hit as much as the bone soldiers, did I? I was only hitting the armor anyway.”

His tone was rude, but he was, without a doubt, one of Karnak’s henchmen loyal to him more than anyone else in the world. He did sincerely his best for his precious master.

“It’s because the young master puts up a wall with physical exertion. Actually, the training isn’t that harsh. That’s because I’m controlling my strength pretty much.”

“But can I just train like this without taking a day off? I heard that too much training is not good.”

“That’s after the body has been formed to some extent, and if one is at the current level of the young master, just sleeping soundly at night is enough for him to rest.”

No matter how hard he tried, his excuses didn’t work.

“He’s really good at talking back.”

Barros asked with a serious face.

“How would you feel if I told you about necromancy?”

“Wouldn’t it be infinitely ridiculous?”

“Yes, that’s how I feel right now.”

“…….”

“So shut up and get up. Aren’t we running out of time right now?”

Five days had passed since the thrashing training started. Only ten days were left until the duel, but Karnak finally learned some swordsmanship. However, it was only a basic cut and stab. With a burst of spirit, he continued the horizontal slash toward Barros before him.

“Haa!”

Bouncing lightly with a stick, Barros shouted.

“Your spirit isn’t loud!”

Karnak raised his voice as he tried to stab again.

“Hiya!”

Barros still didn’t seem to be satisfied.

“Shout out louder! I’m not putting in spirits to give you strength! It’s telling others to listen!”

Karnak tilted his head.

“Bursting with spirit to concentrate on strength. Isn’t that right?”

“I’m bursting with spirit to concentrate my strength, aren’t I?”

“It’s just as the young master said.”

At Karnak’s current level, whether he would burst out in spirit or shout out a lion’s roar, he could only land a feeble blow anyway. Whenever he would say that, it would serve as a means to show, ‘I’m still full of fighting spirit!’

“Kwagh!”

After kindly telling the story, Barros came swinging his club.

Karnak quickly raised his shield to block it, showing that his training had not been in vain. But the shield flew away.

“Gah!”

Bang Bang!

The attendant sincerely advised his precious owner, who was rolling on the floor.

“Don’t even think about holding out when a slash comes flying! You’ll only end up rolling on the ground unconditionally!”

“……It’s a bit embarrassing, but can’t I hold on?”

“Do you want to be sliced ​​with your guts and armor?”

“Yes, I’ll roll.”

The daily life continued with a sword cut, a shield blocking, and rolling on the floor to evade. The schedule was strict for Karnak, who had never worked his body to this extent his entire life.

“Damn…….”

Karnak let out a deep sigh while tapping his throbbing back.

“Ugh, I never thought I’d have a fight with an ignorant swordsman in my life.”

“Then why did you learn something like timidity as a hobby? You had been whining for 100 years while saying you were bored…….”

“A hobby is something fun! What’s the fun in fighting a sweaty guy close enough to where you can hear his breathing?”

Before becoming the necromancer, from the days when he was wandering while hiding his necromancer business, he thoroughly lived his life as a wizard. The tactics were the same. He was unconditionally widening the distance, widening more and more! Hence, why he disliked the situation itself in close combat.

“Originally, my tactic was to put up a meat shield and take advantage of that gap from behind.”

“You know, I was that meat shield.”

Despite grumbling over and over again, Karnak continued his training. As time passed, it finally bore some results. In the past, he was a clumsy little boy who coped in a small room, but wouldn’t it be right to call him a clumsy third-rate soldier?

He gained some confidence because of that.

“At this level, wouldn’t there be some chance for me? I think I worked pretty hard.”

Even Barros was willing to admit it, “You worked hard. You wouldn’t get killed right away.”

“I’ve suffered so much, but is that all?”

The day of the duel approached gradually.

Two days before the duel.

“At this point, I think I’m well prepared.”

Barros said seriously while holding a long sword rather than a club.

“We’re entering the final phase.”

The Empire of the Dead, the second in command of Necropia. The strongest death knight on earth who defeated three of the four great kings. These were the titles bestowed onto Barros in the past.

“The truth is that I wasn’t a better fighter than the four great kings.”

They were superior in terms of military force, technology, mental strength, and experience. Even so, the reason he was able to win was mainly thanks to the overwhelming power of King Karnak.

“Heh, I was a little better.”

“Of course. You were so famous that you bought every skeleton under your spell, right?”

Barros continued to speak resentfully toward Karnak, who was boasting.

“Aren’t you a little less well-to-do? Then we’d have been drinking wine while cutting steak.”

“Otherwise, we would both be dead long ago.”

Anyway, Barros was clearly one step below the 4th king. However, there were parts where he was far superior to other martial kings.

“I’m the best at harassing the weak, humiliating them, and then killing them. I’ve lived like that all my life.”

“You look like a sly bastard.”

“Isn’t that what the Young Master told me to do! You told me you could only make a good undead if I killed the person after bringing out hatred and anger?”

Thanks to that, he could undoubtedly predict those things with great accuracy. He definitely knew how Randolph would play with Karnak and how to subdue him.

“It will come out like this.”

Barros wielded a longsword and pressed Karnak.

“At first, I’m going to make fun of you, step by step, like this.”

Frightened, Karnak rolled on the floor.

“Kek! Am I too fast?”

Even though he mockingly said his speed was slow, those invisible sword strikes continuously flew at him. As he continued to swing his sword, Barros spoke calmly.

“But you can avoid it now, right?”

Indeed, the training was not in vain. Karnak avoided getting hit even while rolling on the floor and being beaten over his armor.

“Heh! Hehe!”

Looking at Karnak, who struggled to stand up and aim his sword again despite being beaten and rolled, Barros smiled proudly.

“That’s a good move.”

“Uh. Am I really doing well?”

“Yes, your level is good to put up a fight.”

“…….”

“I really complimented you. It wasn’t easy to rise to that level, was it?”

In any case, Randolph would be satisfied with Karnak, who was eager to fight. It was a dueling trial only in name, and it was too troublesome, even if it seemed like the persecution of the weak went too far.

“I’ll try to see the end of this soon.”

Even so, he wouldn’t aim for his life right away.

“The most admirable scene would be the one that makes the opponent kneel and admit defeat. He could then leave the execution of the young master to the priests and still keep his status as an honorable knight.”

So, the part that Randolph will aim for is Karnak’s legs.

“Even if your arms are cut, you can stand with your guts, but if your legs are cut off, you don’t have guts anymore, right?

Barros’ movements suddenly changed. In an instant, his entire body blurs, and a flash of light flashes over Karnak’s lap.

“SHIT!”

He didn’t even have time to react. Barros smiled while looking at the hardened Karnak.

“I’ll cut off your leg like this.”

“……Do I have to stop this?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know if I can, though?”

“If you know what your enemy is aiming for in advance, you can avoid the strike at least once. Of course, you’ll practice it over and over again.”

That was the only way for a counterattack, so Barros continued.

“Of course, no matter how weak the opponent is, it’s not like they’re just swinging their swords.”

At that time, it was necessary to perform powerful swordsmanship techniques properly.

“Then…….”

Lowering his stance, Barros grabbed the long sword and put the sword on the floor. Thanks to this, it became a natural posture to defend both knees.

“This is the skill you must learn from now on.”

He raised his sword in a curious manner which seemed that he was lifting it up, and switched hands. After cutting the air in front of his eyes once, he changed the position of the sword from both hands to one and stuck out his shoulders to increase the distance. He simultaneously applied rotational force and cut it up once more!

Papat!

Suddenly, the sound of breaking the air rang out in succession.

“Two steps up, overkill.”

Barros muttered calmly to Karnak, who had his eyes opened wide.

“One of the arcane swordsmanship techniques of Leven Strauss, King of Delphia.”

“…….”

Karnak just blinked his eyes without saying a word. He might not have yet learned how great this technique was in the past. That’s because he had never wielded a sword his entire life. However, he knew it now because he had continuously swung the sword for the past few days. How advanced of a swordsmanship technique Barros just showed him?

“You want me to do that?”

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t you teach me this before? I only have two days left. How can I learn that?”

“One day is enough.” Barros was still unconcerned.

“It’s not about learning properly, but just copying.”

Learning a skill properly meant that the skill was fully embedded in the body through thousands of repetitions, and the body would move even before the head.

“I don’t even expect that level of proficiency. You just have to reasonably copy it in the required situation.”

“Is that okay?”

“Originally not.”

However, there was one particular problem with Karnak.

“Anyway, once this job is over, you won’t have to hold a knife. Rather, it’s more efficient to make sure to just cram all day long and forget about it after that.”

“Is that so?” Karnak gripped his sword even though he was worried.

“Okay, I’ll try.”

Putting the sword on the floor and raising the sword with your eyes shining! —Overkill!

The long sword flew far away and was lying discretely in the corner of the gymnasium. He seemed to have let go of the sword. Since the technique itself was a method of reshaping the posture several times, the fingers would surely be twisted.

“……Is this really something I can do?”

Barros still had a confident face.

“Do you need to worry? It’s a schedule that I made after considering the level of the young master.”

“What on earth did you set my level reference at?”

“A ten years old aristocratic boy who was only wasteful at home.”

“You shitty bastard…”

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

Even though he was babbling, Karnak faithfully practiced as instructed by Barros.

Two more days passed like that, and finally, the morning sun rose brightly.

The life and death of Baron Zestrad, the very day when the life of Karnak was at stake.

It was the day of Allium’s dueling trial.

[To be continued.]