Chapter 163: CHAPTER 162
While Karnak was engaged in a magic duel with Demphis, Baros and Serati were facing off against the necromancers who had turned into monsters.
There had been five necromancer monsters, including Hugot.
One of them had fallen to the explosion of venom, leaving four. Baros was handling two of them at the same time, while Serati was locked in a one-on-one battle with Hugot.
And the last one?
Laven was handling it with all his might.
"Hup!"
With a sharp battle cry, Laven crossed his twin daggers and slashed at the enemy.
The necromancer monster used the tentacles on its back to parry the attack.
Clang! Clang, clang!
Despite using mere daggers, Laven's swordsmanship was far from lacking.
He managed to break through the enemy's defense several times, leaving wounds on the necromancer's torso.
Meanwhile, Laven remained unharmed. Not even a single hair was out of place.
It wasn't because his skills were superior to his opponent's.
'This is… frustrating.'
As the exchange of blows continued, Laven clicked his tongue internally.
'They're going easy on me.'
It had been like this from the start.
During the venom explosion, Laven had come out unscathed—not because he had miraculously dodged it, but because the venom hadn't even been aimed at him.
From the beginning, the range had been precisely adjusted so that Laven wouldn't be harmed.
And it is the same now.
Just like an adult fighting a child, the necromancer monster was only keeping Laven tied up, ensuring his safety. Even though Laven was trying to kill his opponent, they were holding back.
From Demphis's perspective, Laven was a precious vessel that must never be broken.
If Laven were to get caught in the chaos of battle and be harmed, it would be disastrous.
Thus, Demphis had assigned one subordinate solely to deal with Laven.
–Even if you die, you must never let harm come to the vessel!
The necromancer monster was following Demphis's orders to the letter.
And it wasn't a difficult task.
He had already died and been resurrected twice. His life was cheap, so he could throw his body into battle without hesitation.
"Graaaah!"
It might have been a cause for self-loathing, but Laven laughed instead.
'Not bad at all.'
Self-loathing had been an old companion of his. After all, he had grown up with a brilliant father and older brother.
'At least I'm pulling my weight.'
Even though he wasn't an aura user, he was managing to hold back a powerful monster. That was enough to call it a contribution.
In fact, he was handling it with relative ease.
His opponent couldn't harm him. Their objective was only to subdue him, not to kill.
The necromancer's best outcome was to tie him up without inflicting any wounds.
Of course, Laven wasn't just going to stand there and get caught, but at least it wasn't a life-or-death situation.
So he took this opportunity to assess the situation.
'Let's think.'
First, he calmly sorted through the immediate issues.
How could Karnak, a mage of the King's Order, use necromancy?
Why had the cultists chosen him, a no-name soldier, instead of skilled aura users like Baros or Serati?
These were questions for later. Right now, they had no answers and pondering them was pointless.
The real issue was figuring out what he could do now.
'Can I save my other companions during this?'
Impossible.
Demphis had blocked all the exits of the chapel to trap Karnak's group.
Among those blocked passages was the entrance to the stone chamber where his companions were imprisoned.
It would take significant physical power to break through those blocked passages, something Laven lacked.
However, it might be possible for aura users like Baros or Serati.
'In that case!'
Laven glanced at Serati and a small smile crept onto his lips.
***
Baros and Serati continued to fight the necromancer monsters.
In terms of raw skill, the two of them were superior.
In fact, both of them remained largely unscathed, while Hugot and the other necromancer monsters were bleeding profusely.
But they wouldn't fall. Even in their battered states, they relentlessly pressed the two warriors.
Swinging his chain sword, Baros clicked his tongue.
"Ah, undead are such a pain."
Being already dead, they didn't fear death, and their corpses felt no pain from injury.
Thanks to Baros's aura infiltration, their regeneration had slowed, but their bodies, overflowing with necromantic power, still moved freely despite being damaged.
Serati, battling Hugot, was also growing frustrated.
"Damn it, this guy just won't go down!"
"You think a heretic's blade could stop me? Lord Tesranak has blessed me!"
"It's definitely doing the job, look at you—you're in tatters!"
"And yet, even this tattered body moves! This is Lord Tesranak's grace! What else could it be?"
"Is that something to brag about? What are you, a follower of some god of rags?"
Though she mocked him, Hugot was indeed difficult to deal with.
To take him down for good, she would have to inflict a severe blow, like severing his head completely or splitting his body in half.
Simply cutting off limbs was insufficient as they regenerated quickly.
And the problem was that Hugot knew this, so he fiercely protected his head and torso.
It was always difficult to deal with an enemy who guarded their weak points so carefully.
'This isn't going to work.'
Their original plan had already collapsed.
They were supposed to tie up Demphis and escape with Laven and their companions.
But now that they were locked in direct combat, the plan was halfway to failure.
The only silver lining was that Karnak was holding out longer than expected.
Serati glanced toward the far side of the chapel.
Karnak was still holding his own in a one-on-one battle against the Arch Lich, using both fire spirits and necromancy.
Despite earlier warnings that he had no way to counter necromancy, he seemed to be fighting surprisingly well.
'Maybe he was just exaggerating?'
If Baros and Serati could quickly deal with the necromancers and join forces against Demphis, victory might be within reach.
'If only something could shake them up for a moment…'
Just then, Laven suddenly turned his back on his opponent and sprinted toward Serati. He hurled his daggers at Hugot's back.
"Take this!"
Serati frowned.
'That's not going to work…'
It was an obvious move.
Laven was trying to create an opening by drawing Hugot's attention away so Serati could strike.
Of course, Hugot was aware of this. He ignored the daggers and let them hit his back.
Thunk! Thunk!
Being undead, such daggers barely even scratched him.
'Even if he is the future Martial King, right now he's just a rookie.'
Hugot scoffed and refocused on Serati.
But then, his body suddenly lurched.
"Ugh!"
Laven, now unarmed, had lunged and tackled Hugot's legs!
'Wrestling, now?'
The massive, three-meter-tall figure collapsed to the ground.
Even an undead creature wasn't immune to the laws of physics.
If you knock someone off balance, they'll fall.
And where did Hugot's head end up?
Right at Serati's feet, within striking range of her brilliantly glowing aura sword.
"A-ah!"
It was inevitable that Hugot's head was cleanly severed.
Shing!
With a simple slash, Serati decapitated him and couldn't help but be impressed.
'Wow, that was quick thinking.'
Had Laven tried to tackle Hugot from the start, Hugot would have dodged. But by throwing the daggers first, he'd tricked Hugot into thinking the attack was inconsequential, setting up the perfect trap for the tackle.
Of course, Laven still had his own necromancer to deal with.
Turning his back on an enemy was a risky move, and he was about to pay for it.
Whoosh!
Tentacles shot out, wrapping around Laven's limbs.
But it didn't matter.
Serati, now free, was there.
"Your turn to save me!"
"On it!"
Smiling, Serati swung her aura blade.
The necromancer restraining Laven hesitated.
'Huh?'
His mission was to subdue Laven, but now Serati's sword was coming right at him…
Shing!
The necromancer's head flew into the air, just like Hugot's.
The remaining necromancers shouted in panic.
"Lord Hugot!"
"Mitchell!"
But the real problem was that they had been barely holding off Baros.
"Is this really the time to worry about them?"
Once their balance was broken, it was a domino effect.
Baros's chain sword struck one of them, and Serati's aura blade cut through the other.
"Arrgh!"
In just a few moments, both necromancers were reduced to corpses.
Baros sheathed his sword and offered genuine praise.
"As expected of Sir Laven. That was an excellent strategy."
Laven, somewhat embarrassed, replied humbly.
"I couldn't just stand by and do nothing."
It felt like a compliment, so Laven gave a modest response, but Baros's words left him confused.
'As expected? He talks like he's known me for a long time.'
In any case, Baros and Serati were now free.
Laven quickly pointed to a part of the chapel.
"That's where our companions are trapped! Let's go save them!"
***
Demphis let out a bitter laugh, unable to believe what had just happened.
"Haha…"
Just a moment ago, everything had been going well. But in the blink of an eye, his forces had been wiped out?
Of course, it wasn't an irreparable situation. He could always bring them back later.
It wasn't like this was their first resurrection; as long as he patched up their corpses, they would more or less come back to life.
Though they wouldn't be in perfect condition.
Still, for now, they were useless. He had lost all of his forces.
And it wasn't their fault.
They had done their job well, holding off the others for this long.
'The problem lies with me.'
The real issue was that Demphis still hadn't been able to deal with Karnak.
Despite the overwhelming gap in skill.
'Why? Why is my mind so scattered like this?'
It felt as if he had fallen under the influence of some necromantic illusion.
Without knowing the cause, there was no solution.
'Ah, I've been asking the wrong question.'
The important thing wasn't why he was feeling like this now.
'Why didn't I feel this way when I first faced him?'
Back then, he hadn't intended to let Karnak live. He had planned to kill them all, without hesitation.
'That's it. Back then, my killing intent was my focus.'
He steeled his resolve.
He let go of all his curiosity and focused his mind on a single emotion.
The swirling instability from his contract band began to settle down once more.
The Arch Lich raised his golden wand into the air.
"Fall down!"
A vast storm of mana surged toward the fire spirit, El Ragnatia.
This spell was on an entirely different level from what he had used before.
BOOM!
Having already expended a great deal of energy fighting the Ice Golem, the fire spirit was overwhelmed by the deluge of mana and couldn't hold out any longer.
"Aaaagh!"
With a single strike, the fire spirit was forcibly unsummoned and vanished.
'Yes, this was the answer.'
The Arch Lich pointed his golden wand toward Karnak this time.
"Die, human."
He deliberately spoke aloud, as if to reaffirm his resolve.
"I want nothing from you."
As ashes swirled above the desecrated chapel, a colossal killing intent filled the air.
"Perish, leaving neither body nor soul behind."
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