Death King Karnak Novel - Chapter 14

Death King Karnak

4. The Harbinger of Destruction

After scoring a victory in the dueling trial, the Zestrad family was now the legit owner of the copper mine. Karnak, who saved the territory, was also able to solidify his position as the lord.

A feast was held. Cows and pigs were slaughtered, and numerous drinks and food were given to the villagers. What exceptionally stood out in this delightful banquet was the appearance of their ‘respectable new lord.’

“Barros!”

“Yes, Young Master!”

“It’s beef!”

“There’s even pork! Not sausage, but freshly cooked pork!”

“That greasy dripping!”

“The sauce is also applied!”

The two of them seemed to be absorbed in the meal with tears of emotion that the villagers were shocked to see their sincerity.

“Are you sure you’re feeling that happy?”

“Of course, beef is indeed precious food, but…”

For ordinary people, cows and pigs were foods that could only be eaten once or twice a year, on special occasions. And that was the story of only good years. So, they were also sufficiently moved in front of the taste of cow and pig that they hadn’t tasted in a long time. But their reaction was too extreme.

“Don’t nobles often eat meat?”

“But it’s like they’re eating it for the first time in decades…”

“Ah, how could that be? He’s a nobleman.”

Young people who did not know the truth had no choice but to think like this.

“How rigorous of training did he do that made him so happy about such a small thing?”

“It’s harsh. Didn’t he risk his life?”

“People really don’t know how to change.”

Everyone was looking at their new lord, Karnak, with respect. The once known to be an idiot had not only become a new person but also saved the land and protected the people’s future, so how could they not show him respect? Of course, Karnak just chewed on the meat without thinking much.

“Oh, it’s delicious. But why is everyone looking at me?”

“Maybe we ate too much? If we eat more, we might upset our stomach.”

“You have to be careful, for your body is too precious.”

Anyway, everything went well. He became the owner of a rich family and was respected and favored by the people. The family that hated him had died by themselves.

In other words, all the goals he wanted when he returned by using space-time magic were automatically achieved.

Karnak smiled while ringing the glasses.

“All that remains now is to enjoy this relaxed life. Hahaha.”

“You’re absolutely right, young master. Hehehe.” It was Barros who answered with a bright smile.

Three months after the dueling trial

A group of knights gathered at the gymnasium outside the Zestrad family and watched the sparring before them. It was a match between a knight in his mid-30s and a young man about 20 years old.

“Be careful!” A 30-year-old knight swung a slash after a verbal warning.

“Yes!”

The young man also carefully dodged the attack and counterattacked. A fierce sword fight ensued as blades clashed from side to side. Contrary to his youthful appearance, the young man’s skills were quite good. He wasn’t being pushed back even against regular knights. After a while, the knight withdrew his sword while catching his breath.

“Whoa, let’s do it here.”

The young man also withdrew his sword and bowed his head.

“Thank you for the guidance!”

The knight of Zestrad, Sir Balton, shook his head while wiping his sweat.

“You’re almost on par with me now.”

Everyone was dumbfounded when the young man in front of them, Barros, suddenly stepped out to become a knight.

They heard that he had trained with Karnak, who obtained Delphia’s swordsmanship techniques…

‘Doesn’t it mean anyone can become stronger just because they have excellent swordsmanship techniques?’

‘I can’t stop the misunderstandings of outsiders.’

At first, it was so ridiculous that he didn’t even think of laughing at it. It was just pitiful.

‘If you get beat up enough, you’ll figure out the reality right away.’

But in just a few months, his skills had grown remarkably.

The senior knight, Torres, who was also watching from the side, finally stuck out his tongue, “Barros, I never thought you would have this much talent.”

His skill acquisition was extremely fast, his sense of battle was impeccable, and his physical abilities were improving with each passing day because he was still in his growing phase. He was a great genius. He was too talented to be buried in the countryside like that.

‘This guy wouldn’t be able to handle me soon in a real fight.’

However, he might become arrogant if he praised it openly, so Sir Torres continued with a solemn intention.

“But don’t be conceited. It’s not uncommon for gifted warriors to suffer calamity through lack of experience.”

Barros meekly lowered his head.

“I’ll keep this in mind, Sir Torres.” Of course, he was still hiding most of his skills. If he fought seriously, he would be able to slice through 5 knights of Zestrad within 1 minute by himself.

Weren’t these rural knights the ones who couldn’t handle even one Randolph in the first place? But that’s no reason to laugh at them.

‘The truth is that I’m not a huge genius.’

The reason why he was developing so quickly was because of the tremendous combat experience he had accumulated in the past. Barros knew very well that it wasn’t because of some talent given to him by the heavens. In fact, before he became a Death Knight, he was at best a second-rate knight, a level where he hadn’t even awakened battle aura.

‘I don’t know if I’ll be able to master battle aura on my own without receiving help from the young master. Well, since I know all the theories, I think I will definitely do better than before.’

Anyway, it is an undeniable fact that the expectations from Barros experienced a massive increase. The knights began to say one word at a time with eyes full of goodwill.

“Anyway, that’s great.”

“You’re this good at your age…”

“Even with this talent, why have you been doing such crazy things?”

“No, I might be because of those crazy things you learned this much fighting sense.”

In the meantime, Karnak and Barros had been criticized a lot for their stupidity, but in fact, it wasn’t such a serious issue. It was all about sneaking out to a nearby town, drinking, gambling, and fighting in back alleys. They didn’t have money, so they couldn’t even reveal their real identity.

That was something regular knights would often do themselves and if those guys were already playing ‘adult games’ and living without thinking about it while in their teens, then they were just bullies.

Sir Torres murmured like he had developed something new, “It’s such a pleasure. I never thought you’d also grow up like that…”

There were many who doubted Karnak but had changed over the years. No matter how much of a lord would become and change himself, he could never change the fact he was a scoundrel.

But that doubt had also long since disappeared like melting snow. He had seen everyone so moved by a glass of alcohol.

That intense emotion that seemed to quiver to the soul was surely an expression that a drunkard could only get by abstaining from alcohol for at least several years.

“He definitely refrained from drinking and only drank half an accompaniment. Perhaps thanks to that, the young master, no, the lord, got better too.”

Barros grumbled in his heart after hearing those words from Sir Torres.

‘That’s right.’

Unlike before, Karnak was paying attention to the physical side as well. It wasn’t like he was going to be a knight or anything like that.

He had just realized the importance of being healthy. Hadn’t he been dead for decades? After giving up everything he had, didn’t he finally regain this body by regressing back to this place?

It was really a ‘precious body’ not in an idiom but also in a practical sense. Health always comes first! Let’s do well while we’re young! If you get older and take care of yourself, it’s already too late!

Both of them were engrossed in preserving and refining their precious bodies by eating healthy foods, living a regular life, and exercising hard.

“I didn’t know people could change like that.”

“I see. You’re also absorbed in reading, right?”

“Unlike before, I heard that the lord spends most of his free time in the study.”

‘When the former baron passed away, I only saw the darkness before my eyes…’

Recalling the new lord, Karnak, the knights made ambiguous faces. Ah, now the future of the Zestrad Territory will shine brightly! Only Barros had a dry smile in his heart.

‘It’s true that he has been living in the study. But he might not be as obsessed with reading as you might imagine, but…’

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆ 

After returning, Karnak’s original plan was to secure a solid position by collecting treasures from all over the continent, predicting the future, and earning money from doing business.

This guy’s house was in such a state of ruin that there was no answer at all. However, the existence of the copper mine solved the money problem. At the same time, he had no practical reason to roam the continent.

In the first place, the plan itself was to become a moderately powerful local aristocrat, to live a peaceful life that was neither too showy nor too low-key.

But he had already been doing that, so why run out of the territory and suffer? An adventurous spirit? The passion of youth? Curiosity to see the world?

Hadn’t he traveled the world five or six times already? And while doing so, he had seen everything you wanted to see and couldn’t see before. But he had no intention of just being lazy and playing around.

As for the matter of owning the copper mine, there was a possibility that other guys like Viscount Deventer might appear again.

No, it had to be taken care of. There is no driving force to move humans like greed. He needed to have at least some level of strength to protect the territory.

However, since he couldn’t use necromancy, he needed an ability that he could freely reveal to the world.

A large library was located on the second floor of the Zestrad Mansion. Karnak was sitting on the floor in meditation while the moonlight shining through the window.

“Haa…”

Take a deep breath and concentrate your mind to gather energy from all directions. The darkness of the deep night, the negative energy of the moonlight, and the faint energy of negativity were gathered and reused by him.

Karnak opened his eyes after some time.

“Okay, I’ve gathered it to some extent.”

He raised his finger. A small flame rose from his fingertips.

Barros, who was watching from the side, showed curiosity.

“Huh? Why aren’t you giving off that feeling unique to a necromancer?”

The aura of death that emanates when necromancy is activated makes even an ordinary human, no, even a living creature feel ominous. Priests can only detect it particularly sensitively.

However, he didn’t feel that aura from the flames that Karnak had condensed at that moment. It seemed like he was just looking at normal magic.

“It’s also red. Doesn’t it look like a normal fire?”

“I guess so.”

Karnak nodded.

“It originated from necromancy, but it’s no longer necromancy.”

For him now, necromancy was no longer an attractive power. Because no matter how he tried, he knew what the final outcome would be. But now, he could not start a new life as a knight, wizard, or priest.

“Originally, once you learn necromancy, you can’t go back.”

“I know that. Not only necromancy but other things as well.”

There were four ways in the world to transcend beyond human power. The battle aura of a knight that deals with vitality. The magician’s mana that deals with natural forces. The holy power of a priest who follows light and providence. Finally, the power to deal with the powers of death and darkness that is called necromancy or black magic.

What these methods had in common was that they accumulated the energy of the world inside the body and turned it into power. And in the process, the caster’s soul and body were automatically adjusted for the method they chose.

In other words, it was game over once you chose it. Could a wizard who handled mana also learn martial arts? Anything was possible. There’s no reason why he couldn’t wield a spear or a sword when he had limbs. But mastering battle aura was impossible.

Since his soul and body were already stained with the attributes of mana, no matter how hard he tried, the world’s energy would only accumulate as mana.

The same was for necromancy. A soul once dyed black couldn’t become white again.

“Well, to be precise, it’s discoloration. The discoloration itself.”

The problem was that the memories he had and even his personality were discolored. In the first place, the act of changing that energy into power was the same as renewing one’s own soul and body.

It was also the reason for the failure of battle aura users, wizards, and priests who had mastered necromancy. Because of that, they would lose their existing powers and become a completely different person because even their personality would change.

For Karnak to start anew, he had to go back to space-time before he learned necromancy. But that was impossible.

The only way was to use the returning spell to set the common point in space-time where he hadn’t yet learned necromancy. However, he could only return at the time of having learned the necromancy.

“Since it’s you, you would’ve thought it was possible by returning before becoming a Death Knight because you were betting on me.”

Karnak had been aware of this problem since his time as the Death King. So, in order to make a fresh start after returning, he had thought of way earlier to deal with it.

“This is the end result.”

He smiled proudly while waving the flames at his fingertips.

“I named it Chaos Magic.”

[To be continued.]