Death King Karnak Novel - Chapter 20

Death King Karnak

5. Darkness of the End (4)

Karnak scratched his head nervously, “Ah, if you think about it, there was a clue.”

As Astra Schnapp, his spiritual energy was so immense that he couldn’t even contain it properly. It was to the extent that even a finger would cause the object to explode.

Karnak attributed this phenomenon to the fact that the soul was not adequately submerged in the body.

Even when he tried to transfer the soul to another body, the test body couldn’t handle the spiritual energy released. That was the reason he created space-time regression magic.

A simple possession alone couldn’t remove the soul cleanly. The soul and the body have been together for so long that there were no signs of difference between them.
“But this body is my own self. The essence itself served as the index since it returned to the body where the soul was originally one with it, so it could be separated cleanly.”

In fact, it has been a success so far. His soul gave up all his commanding powers and settled in his current body without any problems, becoming a perfect human being.

“So I thought the remaining part of ​​Astra Schnapp was just abandoned at that time…….”

The root of the problem was that he had yet to consider that even if the soul itself, not just the spiritual energy, were too gigantic, the possession would fail.

What if Karnak’s commanding powers returned to this era together with the soul? Even so, his soul separated from the spiritual power and dwelled in the body of this age. The results themselves were the same.

“But in this case, the order is reversed.”

Not separation followed by space-time regression, but space-time regression followed by separation. The realm of Astra Schnapp and the authority of the King of the Dead will exist in the present, not in the future.

“That’s now the darkness of the apocalypse, and it’s spread all over the world. I think it’s maybe like this?”

Barros blinked his eyes. It was a little difficult to explain for Karnak, but Barros understood the situation after having stayed by his side for so many years. Still, it wasn’t something easy to understand.

“……So, you’re saying that the world will be destroyed because of the power you threw away?”

“Maybe?”

“No, no matter how strong the young master is, it’s not to the point of fearing that the world will be destroyed by the fight against the seven churches…….”

Barros closed his mouth without speaking.

It was Karnak who destroyed the Goddess Church.

“Ah, but there are so many powerful empires and kingdoms in the world…….”

“We destroyed the empire and the kingdom.”

“There are also dragons and fairies…… the 4 great kings and 3 great wizards…….”

“We killed all of them, turned them undead, and used them as subordinates.”

Was that all? Ultimately, even the seven goddesses lost their influence in the world. As the power of the Death King covered the whole world, the blessings of the goddess couldn’t reach it.

“Come to think of it, is it true that the world will be destroyed because of young master?”

Conquest for Karnak. From the point of view of the living, it was as if the end had come. But had he become the victim of that now?

“Wait a minute.”

Barros said that to object because he didn’t understand one thing.

“At that time, world domination was possible because the young master could wield that power, right?”

Right now, only authority remained and was scattered in all directions.

“It’s a force that hasn’t been gathered as one, but can anyone even handle that?”

Even if someone gathered some of that authority and became another Death King, it would definitely be weak compared to the real Karnak.

“Y-Yes. You are right.”

Karnak nodded.

“By the way, Barros.”

“Yes.”

“When was the last time I conquered the world? Exactly how many years after becoming Astra Schnapp did I conquer the world?”

“Eh, defeating the Dragon Emperor was the last battle…….”

After a rough calculation, Barros continued.

“It was about three years after becoming Astra Schnapp.”

“Right?”

Karnak laughed heartily as if he was stunned.

“And how many years later did we return to space-time?”

“About 70 years have passed… Kek!”

Only then did Barros realize the seriousness of the situation.

It was around his early 50s when Karnak conquered the world and became the Demon King. And he came to this timeline when he was about 120 years old. It could be said that he became even stronger after nearly 70 years of conquering the whole world.

“The me at the time of conquering the world. The me right before the return must be at least 5 to 6 times stronger.”

Barros’s complexion turned pale.

“Oh my god…….”

Imagining that, he realized it was indeed an insanely powerful force. Enough for the seven goddesses who protect the world to give an oracle all at once saying that the end has arrived. Immersed in thoughts, Barros hurriedly continued the question.

“Is there really no possibility that you’re not the culprit?”

Gone were the days of Karnak being the Death King. Rather than dealing with something that terrible, it would be a hundred times better to have this mysterious demon invade.

“Right! You said the time zone doesn’t match, right?”

Looking into it, it’s a bit strange. About a year ago, Karnak and Barros did a space-time regression. However, the darkness of the apocalypse had already been scattered throughout the world before that.

Moreover, if you look at the church’s announcement, it hasn’t even been made public yet. Over time, they were constantly trying to invade this world beyond time and space.

“The front and back don’t match! Can the young master not be the culprit in the first place?”

“I don’t know either.”

Nevertheless, there was such undeniable solid evidence.

“Do you remember the ‘Darkness of the End’ I got from Fred? Its properties were 100% in sync with mine.”

This was the reason Karnak was never suspected of the incident with Randolph or Fred. No matter how much Karnak spreads his evil energy, the church would only view it as the darkness of the end. That’s why there is no need to suspect him because the darkness of the end had already started spreading all over the continent.

“There’s no doubt. This is my strength. It’s just that I don’t know how it happened.”

“If it is the strength of the young master…… Can’t you get it back now?”

Glaring at the servant, who still couldn’t let go of his lingering feelings, Karnak threw a scolding.

“Do you think that makes sense?”

One day, a rich man comes with a bag of gold coins and scatters them all over the square. And shouted, ‘Golden coin, come back to me!’

Would the scattered gold coins fly by themselves and return to the rich man’s pocket, or would the passers-by pick them all up and take them home, claiming they earned a bonus?

When Karnak discarded it, he had already lost control over it.

“Now, I can no longer live carelessly.”

The issue is too big to just ignore like before. Even if the madman increased his strength, he became too strong. But that madman was Karnak himself.

Couldn’t he believe in the power of mankind and the power of the world and just ignore it? Was he the one who created the world as well as the human race?

“I can’t trust them! How can I trust them!”

Barros asked while calming the convulsive Karnak.

“So, what now?”

Karnak uttered the truth earnestly.

“I need to gather information first.”

He didn’t have much information right now. A plan can only be established after understanding the situation to some extent.

“Like when you absorbed the command power from him this time?”

“Yeah. I need to check the status of the command power that has been separated from me like that. This time, the amount was so small that what I inferred couldn’t be called information.”

The darkness of the end absorbed by Fred was too weak. Compared to the original Karnak’s authority, it was indeed nothing more than crumbs or a gob of water scooped out from the ocean, so there’s little information.

“We need to gather more data.”

“You mean, you’re saying we have to travel around collecting the darkness of the end from now on?”

“Yes.”

“Can you say goodbye to the comfortable life in the estate?”

“……yes.”

The two looked at each other and sighed deeply. It was a harsh fate for those two who thought that the one thing left for them to do was live like a human and enjoy life.

Karnak let out a lament, “Oh, I really wanted to live quietly this time, but the world won’t leave me alone!”

Barros threw a pin, “What does the world have to do with it? You brought it upon yourself.”

“Yeah, but…….”

“Seeing as you don’t even think about what you did and blame the world for it, you’re indeed my young master.”

“Oh, shut up, please.”

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆ 

The next morning, Karnak summoned the family vassals.

“I think I will be away for about three months.”

He had already come up with a plausible reason. He was diligently practicing magic through the magic book of Dallas, but there was a limit to self-study. So, he had to invite a high-level wizard or find a wizard guild to ask for guidance.

However, it would cost a lot of money to hire a high-level wizard that could guide him at his current level. No matter how rich the estate is, how could he waste money as a lord?

“That’s why I’ll go to the capital and gather magic knowledge and wisdom. One Barros will be enough as an escort.”

No Butler support was activated.

“A very wise decision.”

Currently, the Zestrad estate was running smoothly without any problems. Nothing big would happen if the lord was away for about three months.

And Karnak had been away for several months before, even at the time of the dueling trial. He had done that before, so there was nothing strange about doing it again.

Of course, at the time, everyone was against it.

Leaving the estate was not the problem, but the issue was that it was too dangerous for Karnak, who had no fighting skills, to leave the territory with only one attendant. Since Karnak insisted on it until the end, they had no choice but to accept it.

Whereas now?

Karnak had grown stronger as a mage, and Barros had also become the strongest knight in Zestrad Estate, so there was no big problem.

Besides, there were other reasons for No Butler’s support.

“It is the privilege of youth to see the world and increase your knowledge! It will be a really good experience!”

Apparently, they knew Karnak wanted to go on a journey out of youthful curiosity.

‘No, I’m tired of that kind of experience already…….’

Anyway, He was glad they misunderstood his intentions. Other vassals did not object.

“Please come back safely. We will surely protect the territory.”

“I will be happy to wait for the lord to grow and come back.”

On behalf of everyone, Deacon Noh politely greeted them.

“May the blessings of the seven goddesses dwell on the lord.”

From Karnak’s point of view, it was something he couldn’t help but laugh at.

‘Aren’t the goddesses themselves behind all this because they gave the oracle against this lord? They will protect me.’

After handing over the management of the estate during his absence, he returned to his room. Upon entering the room, he saw Barros busy packing his things.

The complexion was not very good. It seemed that he didn’t like the thought at all because he was leaving home with a tender back and a full stomach to wander around the world.

“Ugh, I didn’t expect the day to pack this stuff to come again.”

“Things are better than that time.”

Calming him, Karnak held up a money bag.

“We have a lot of money now. Don’t we even have gold coins?”

Barros’ expression brightened.

“Oh, so we can go around and eat the delicacies of each region? We can sleep well at the finest inn, right?”

“Of course, aren’t we free from pursuers also?”

In the past, when talking about traveling the world, he always had to hide and wander around the back alleys. Considering that he had committed a crime, even if he had a lot of money, he was not a person who would proudly reveal his identity.

At the same time, he had to be wary of the 7 Goddess Church’s pursuit, so it was a time when he couldn’t even sleep in peace.

“I tremble at the thought of the days when I was being chased, but things are different now.”

It seemed like nothing was wrong with thinking it was just a rich noble kid’s journey around the continent.

“If we’ve to work hard anyway, wouldn’t it be better to have fun also?”

“That’s right.”

Barros, fully loaded, slung his backpack over his shoulder and asked.

“So where are we headed? We’re not really going to the capital, are we?”

“Derat City. It’s where Fred first got his powers, so there must be some clues.”

[To be continued.]