Monarch of Death

CHAPTER 150

Dozens of winged monsters flew around inside the hall.

The sound of wings flapping echoed loudly from all directions.

Flap! Flap!

A horde of gargoyles circled the group like a flock of crows that had found a corpse.

“Kaaargh!”

Laven shouted while glaring at the incoming swarm of gargoyles.

“Be careful! Their skin is like stone!”

He yelled urgently, though their skin wasn’t literally stone—it was just hardened by a partial petrification, making it tough like rock.

If they were truly made of stone, it would be impossible for them to fly, even with wings.

But they were indeed that tough.

Laficel focused her mind and thrust her sword.

“Hah!”

Her sharp thrust aimed straight at the chest of an approaching gargoyle.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t powerful enough to pierce through the hardened skin.

At the moment her sword made contact, she twisted her wrist, altering the trajectory of her thrust.

At the same time, she dragged her blade along the monster’s skin, maximizing her energy, and slashed a long cut!

“Hah!”

The strike cut through like a saw. Even stone-like skin could not withstand it.

The gargoyle’s chest split open, and black blood poured out.

“Krrk!”

Laven’s eyes widened in surprise as he witnessed this.

‘Whoa, is that even a real technique?’

In truth, it wasn’t part of any formal swordsmanship; Laficel had simply swung instinctively. It just happened to fit swordsmanship perfectly.

Regardless, it was impressive to see such a small, young girl perform such high-level swordsmanship.

‘With that technique, we can definitely cut through gargoyles.’

The gargoyle that had been attacking Laven suffered the same fate, its chest split open as it fell.

Laven had imitated the sword technique Laficel used after watching her.

‘Our family’s swordsmanship relies too much on aura users, so it’s weak in areas like this.’

Serati, watching this, chuckled dryly.

He imitated a technique without even knowing how it was done?

‘That’s right, he is the future Martial King, after all.’

For a moment, she considered trying it herself.

‘Should I give it a shot?’

But then, she recognized her limits.

‘There’s no way I could mimic that on the first try.’

It was the kind of skill that would need to be practiced slowly over time.

For now, she focused on what she could do.

Vwoooom!

A red battle aura surrounded her sword. The intense aura granted her body powers beyond human limits.

Wrapping her entire body in aura, Serati lightly tapped the ground with her foot.

That alone was enough for her to dominate the airspace above the gargoyles.

Like a red meteor shower, her aura descended upon the swarm of gargoyles.

“Kraaaargh!”

“Kaaagh!”

“Aaaargh!”

With a series of pitiful screams, the surrounding gargoyles were swept away as if caught in a storm.

Laven and Laficel looked at Serati in awe.

‘Incredible power!’

‘As expected of you, unnie!’

With just one move, she had taken out more enemies than the two of them combined.

‘As expected of a genius who awakened her aura at such a young age.’

‘When will I ever become an aura user?’

Both future Martial Kings gazed at her with sparkling eyes full of admiration.

Serati, landing lightly, wore a rather dissatisfied expression.

‘No, no, you two shouldn’t be looking at me like that….’

The others were also dealing with the gargoyles without much trouble.

Each time Baros unleashed his chain sword, the gargoyles fell like sparrows.

Those monsters that aimed at the relatively weaker Edia were swiftly intercepted by Millia.

“Latiel, please bless your servant!”

Under the protection of a divine barrier, Karnak finished his spell.

“Fierce Flames!”

A chaos flame spell, combining the destructive power of a fireball with the homing ability of fox fire, accurately struck multiple gargoyles.

Explosions erupted from all directions.

Boom! Boom! Boom boom boom!

The number of gargoyles was rapidly decreasing.

Though they were quite strong, they weren’t enough to make Karnak’s group fear them.

The problem was that they had caused a commotion.

“We need to get out of here quickly!” Laven shouted to the group as he cut down the last gargoyle.

“If we waste any more time…”

Laven’s words trailed off.

The sound of wings flapping once again echoed from all directions.

Flap, flap, flap.

“There’s more of them?”

Another fierce battle began.

The newly arrived gargoyles weren’t particularly stronger than the previous ones. They could be dealt with quickly.

But then, the sound of wings flapping filled the air once more!

“There are still more?”

As they were halfway through taking down the next wave of gargoyles, something strange happened.

The remaining gargoyles suddenly backed off.

They folded their wings and spread out, standing guard near the exits like sentries.

Baros frowned.

“This isn’t good.”

Serati agreed.

“We’re too late.”

Laficel’s gaze shifted toward the passage on the opposite side of the hall.

“They’re coming.”

Laven, now bewildered, looked around.

“Huh? What’s coming now?”

Saaaah….

From every passageway, dark energy flowed in like a gathering storm.

Figures in black robes began to emerge one by one from the shadows.

“Cultists!”

They were necromancers of Tesranak.

“How dare you tread upon this sacred ground with your filthy feet?”

***

Five necromancers had appeared in total, all of them from the elite ranks, granted special powers by the Wellard branch.

‘This can’t be….’

Their leader, Hugot, glared at Karnak’s group, disbelief evident on his face.

‘How in the world did they manage to sneak in this deep?’

They had known in advance that the group was heading for the Wellard branch. They even had a rough idea of when they would arrive.

That’s why they had set up special defenses throughout the dungeon, taking extra precautions.

They had been puzzled when the group’s arrival was delayed.

But to think they had already made it to the very depths of the dungeon without being detected?

‘How did they pull this off?’

It was impossible that they had entered through the non-residential section.

Even as a necromancer, Hugot himself couldn’t easily traverse that area. The monsters there were one thing, but the evil spirits that roamed were incredibly powerful.

There was no way the dungeon’s evil spirits would have let intruders pass unnoticed. Entering through the residential area was far easier than trying to break through the non-residential section.

‘I really don’t understand.’

In any case, the fact that these intruders stood before them was undeniable.

Hugot lowered his voice ominously.

“You rats, how dare you make it this far….”

His voice rumbled slowly through the hall.

“But it’s useless. The great Tesranak has been watching over everything, aware of your presence all alo—”

“Awareness, my foot.”

Karnak cut him off.

“You just woke up, didn’t you?”

Baros chimed in.

“You still have eye boogers.”

“Your hair’s a mess too.”

“You rushed over here, huh? Why not catch your breath before finishing your little speech?”

That’s right.

Despite the necromancers’ attempts to appear intimidating, they had actually just woken up and rushed out of bed in a hurry.

“Looks like you were having a nice nap when the alarm suddenly went off. You panicked, threw on your robes, and came running.”

“And right before entering the hall, you probably fixed your clothes, spread out some black smoke, and tried to make a dramatic entrance, huh?”

The necromancers were silent.

They were eerily spot-on.

‘How could they know this?’

‘Were they watching us?’

Of course, they hadn’t been watched. There was no need for that.

‘It’s not like it’s our first time dealing with necromancers.’

‘They all do the same thing.’

As Karnak and Baros exchanged taunts, Hugot’s temper flared.

“S-Shut up!”

If he let them continue, he’d end up getting swept into their pace.

He raised his skull wand high and shouted.

“Servants of Tesranak, in the name of darkness, capture them all!”

The necromancers raised their skull staffs in unison.

“Come forth, hounds of darkness….”

“Hell, open your mouth and release the void….”

A thick aura of malevolence spread out like fog, enveloping Karnak’s group.

A vast aura of malice began to cover the entire hall.

Laven and Millia trembled.

“Gah!”

“Such evil energy…!”

Hell itself seemed to open before their eyes.

High-level specters, the most powerful of wraiths, hovered above, letting out ghostly wails.

Aaaaaaaa!

The gates of hell opened, and demons with mouths full of flames appeared.

“Grrr….”

Dark skeleton soldiers, clad in black and reinforced beyond steel by power of darkness, emerged from the necromantic summoning circles.

The group was now completely surrounded by monsters.

Serati clicked her tongue as she assessed the enemies.

“They’re on a completely different level than the gargoyles we just fought.”

Even the weakest of them, the dark skeleton soldiers, were undead enhanced with power of darkness to be stronger than steel. Even aura couldn’t easily cut through their bones.

Each one of them was a formidable monster.

Edia, trembling in fear, muttered a prayer.

“G-Goddess, please….”

And then, a strange sound interrupted her.

“…Huh?”

Clap, clap, clap.

Karnak was applauding.

“Impressive. Very impressive necromancy.”

He kicked at the fallen gargoyle corpses.

“These things were just okay, honestly. The trap activation method was decent, but the magic was too simple.”

His gaze shifted toward the newly summoned monsters.

“But you all? Your level is really something. Such a delicate, intricate, and refined necromancy!”

He spoke in an exaggerated, theatrical voice.

“You didn’t just gain the power of darkness and wield it like a blunt club. This is an art. Truly, you must have worked hard to achieve this.”

The necromancers’ faces darkened.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

When someone on the verge of death starts clapping nonchalantly, it’s a bad omen.

It means they’re confident in something.

Hugot, drawing more power of darkness, spoke.

“…What are you trying to say, heretic?”

“Oh, nothing much.”

Karnak smirked.

“Just wanted to say thanks for making your necromancy so complicated.”

All the while, he had been pretending to compliment them while secretly analyzing the pattern of their necromantic power.

As he continued to heap praise on them, he also completed his own spell.

Now, the only thing left was to activate it!

Raising his wand high, Karnak shouted the activation phrase.

“I shall be the one who atones for the sins of darkness, the Redeemer of Necromancy!”

An invisible force swept through the hall, washing over the specters, demons, and undead one after another.

Chains of light formed around the monsters’ necks. All at once, they turned their heads.

Clank!

Countless pairs of eyes focused on the necromancers on the other side of the hall.

“W-What?!”

A horrified Hugot barked out another command.

“In the name of darkness, I command you! Obey me!”

The other necromancers followed suit.

“Attack!”

“Kill them!”

It was useless.

The monsters in the hall stood silently in place.

“Well, then….”

With a gentle smile, Karnak snapped his fingers.

Snap!

“Go bite them.”

The monsters moved at once.

Soon, the necromancers’ screams filled the hall.

“Aaaaagh!”