Alius and Riltein were unharmed. They hadn't gone through any significant hardship.
They had been captured in the early evening, and Karnak's group defeated Shutraff the following dawn. There simply hadn't been much time for them to suffer.
The two, once rescued, were curious about the situation.
"What on earth happened?"
Throughout their imprisonment, the building had shaken, and there had been explosions, so they had sensed something was wrong.
But after being rescued and looking around, they realized this was far beyond just "something went wrong."
Corpses were scattered everywhere, traces of necromantic barriers were all around, the once grand mansion was half-destroyed, and the entire city was in chaos.
How could only three people have caused such devastation?
"And how did you manage to defeat that Shutraff?"
Even Alius, who had been through many battles, had never seen such powerful necromancy.
Though they were grateful to be rescued, it was hard to believe that Karnak's group alone could have taken down Shutraff.
If the enemy had been that easy to deal with, Alius and Riltein wouldn't have been defeated so quickly in the first place.
Karnak began to explain calmly.
"We were fortunate."
Shutraff's necromancy was indeed powerful. They thought they were going to die right then and there.
"But it seemed he hadn't mastered the necromancy completely, as part of the barrier was released midway."
They used that gap to escape the mansion.
Of course, Shutraff tried to capture Karnak's group with all his might, but they barely managed to escape thanks to the strength of the aura user Serati.
While they were hiding and figuring out a way to rescue Alius and Riltein, a strange event occurred in Trist City.
An internal conflict broke out within the Lanfelt faction.
"For reasons unknown, they started fighting each other."
With the faction members attacking one another, the entire city fell into chaos.
"We returned to the mansion to assess the situation and witnessed a truly horrifying scene."
A massive army of zombies was marching toward the Lanfelt mansion!
The mansion's necromantic barriers were fighting against the zombie army, so it clearly wasn't Shutraff's doing.
"It seems that another necromancer under his command had rebelled."
Alius nodded in agreement.
"That's possible. Necromancers are notorious for being at each other's throats."
Hadn't they all witnessed Shutraff blowing off the heads of his subordinate necromancers? It was only natural for his underlings to rebel.
Riltein shared the same thought.
"Shutraff must have shown weakness while dealing with us, and another necromancer took advantage of that opening."
Karnak continued his explanation.
"Seeing an opportunity, we slipped back into the mansion."
With the foul energy radiating everywhere, it wasn't hard to find the hideout.
When they went down to the mansion's basement, Shutraff was setting up a bizarre altar, preparing something.
"He summoned ghoul warriors and demons to fight us. However, he didn't use the powerful necromancy that could turn the space into hell itself. Perhaps he had exhausted much of his necromantic power fighting the zombie army."
With Shutraff having spent so much necromantic power, Karnak's group was able to fight him off.
They narrowly survived several close calls, and with the help of the aura user Serati, they managed to defeat the demon and behead Shutraff.
"We deliberately didn't touch the corpse. After rescuing you, we planned to ask you to perform a purification ritual, Alius."
"I see..."
Neither Alius nor Riltein could find any flaws in the story.
After all, everything did indeed happen.
The city had genuinely descended into mayhem, the factions had indeed fought each other, they had indeed infiltrated the mansion during the disorder, and Serati had indeed fought the demon and won. Although it was Baros who won, the body was clearly Serati's.
The events were all real, and the traces were still there. There was no room for doubt.
They could only marvel at their luck.
"Truly, we have nothing to say except that it was by Hatoba's blessing."
Of course, for Serati, who knew the truth, it was utterly absurd.
'Wow, so this is why necromancers never get caught.'
The mixture of truth and lies was so skillful that without knowing the full context, one could easily be deceived.
Afterward, Alius quickly began to handle the aftermath.
First, he extracted the Darkness of Doom from Shutraff's corpse.
As he sealed the darkness with divine power, Alius clicked his tongue in astonishment.
"This is an incredible force. Compared to the necromancers we've captured so far, this Darkness of Doom is nearly ten times stronger."
Baros, watching from the side, was startled. Didn't Karnak say it was thirty times stronger?
[Young master? Didn't you just take the information and put it back?]
[I kept some just in case. You never know what might happen later.]
[Didn't you say you wouldn't live like you used to?]
[That's why I left some behind. If it were before, I would have devoured it all.]
[That's not the point! What if you keep increasing your necromantic power and get caught later?]
[Don't worry. Given some time, I can dissolve it all and convert it into Chaos Power.]
Karnak's mindset hadn't changed.
He no longer needed the absolute power he once had. He only needed enough strength to live in the new reality.
The only difference was that his definition of "enough" had become a bit more ambitious.
He had shifted from needing enough power to protect his territory to needing enough to survive comfortably in a corrupted world.
[You never know when someone like Shutraff might appear again. At the very least, I need to increase my power to be able to handle those kinds of enemies.]
[Well, young master, you always know what you're doing. But right now, the important thing is not to arouse Alius's suspicion.]
[That's fine.]
Alius had never encountered a high-level necromancer like Shutraff before. Without a point of comparison, how could he know whether the power of darkness was large or small?
"Indeed… With such a level of darkness, it's no wonder he could use such powerful necromancy."
You can only be suspicious if you have some knowledge. Alius naturally accepted it without further question.
After finishing their task, Karnak's group left the mansion.
Alius then contacted the Pulad family and the Hatoba diocese in Trist City.
Although Shutraff had controlled the Trist diocese, not all the clerics were corrupt. Alius selected those who didn't seem suspicious and entrusted them with handling the aftermath.
Of course, they would still need to be interrogated later to determine their true allegiance, but for now, they were necessary hands.
There was little resistance. So many members of the Lanfelt family had died the previous night that there was no one left to defy them.
Thus, Trist City quickly began to regain its stability.
During this process, Alius received some surprising news.
"What? Serati has become a knight of Jestarad Barony?"
It wouldn't be strange for a warrior to find a lord to serve, but Serati wasn't just an ordinary swordsman. She was an aura user.
"How did that happen?"
Though surprised, Alius quickly changed his expression.
What he really meant was, "Why would someone as powerful as an aura user become a knight for such a rural estate?" which would be highly disrespectful.
"I didn't mean it that way, but…"
'Of course, that's exactly what you meant.'
Serati, with a wry smile, explained the situation.
"After last night's events, I realized that Baron Karnak is more than worthy of my loyalty."
Serati explained that she had received great help from Karnak and found his wisdom and character sufficient to serve as her lord, so she pledged her loyalty.
That was the gist of it.
It wasn't entirely untrue.
Great help? She had received it.
Wisdom? Well, Karnak certainly had immense knowledge as a necromancer.
Character? Serati never said it was good, just that it was worthy of serving.
'I didn't lie, I didn't.'
Once the aftermath was mostly handled, Karnak's group left Trist City.
However, they did not head to Derat City with Alius and Riltein.
"For a long time, I've found great joy in performing the sacred duties of the goddess. But now, it's time to return to my estate."
The official reason was because of Serati.
"I've taken her as my knight, but it was only informal. To officially knight her, I need to return to my estate, don't I?"
The real reason, however, was that he had extracted as much Darkness of Doom as he needed, so there was no longer any need to hunt necromancers.
"I see. Thank you for your cooperation thus far."
Though somewhat disappointed, Alius bid them farewell.
"To those who walk the earth, all roads are connected. May Hatoba's blessing be with you on your journey."
***
Following Karnak, who had become her lord, Serati headed to the Jestarad estate.
Her mind was in turmoil. The events of the previous night were full of things that defied her understanding.
They crossed mountains and rivers, traveling for another half-day.
In the end, Serati could no longer hold back.
"Just who are you people, really?"
Despite the abruptness of her question, Karnak and Baros were not surprised. They had expected such a question sooner or later.
They initially tried to deflect with vague answers.
"I'm Baron of the Jestarad family."
"And I'm a knight of Baron Jestarad."
"Oh, and I secretly practice necromancy."
"And I secretly help the young master when he uses necromancy."
Of course, this didn't work.
"You know that's not what I'm asking."
Sometimes, you need to show enough skill for people to believe you.
Karnak, who had practically destroyed an entire city, raised countless corpses, and created massive illusions.
Baros, who despite not having mastered battle aura, displayed incredible swordsmanship and experience, took over someone else's body effortlessly, wielded battle aura as if it were natural, and even defeated a high-ranking demon like Maz-nun.
This wasn't something that could be explained away as just "secretly learning necromancy."
Even their vast knowledge and expertise were unbelievable.
"Both of you barely look like you're in your early twenties. How does any of this make sense?"
Karnak and Baros shrugged.
"Honestly, it doesn't make sense, does it?"
"It's a lot to ask you to believe."
Karnak looked intently at Serati.
She was glaring back at him, waiting for an answer.
[What do you think, Baros? Should we just tell her the truth?]
[Would it really be a problem to just leave her in the dark?]
[She might start making wild assumptions and cause trouble. Besides, she's already become my subordinate, so there's no risk of betrayal.]
[Do you think she'll even believe us if we tell her the truth?]
[Whether she believes it or not is up to her.]
[That's true.]
Having made up his mind, Karnak adopted a serious expression.
"Alright, I'll tell you the truth."
Serati's expression hardened as Karnak and Baros spoke seriously.
"I once conquered the world."
"And I helped the young master conquer the world."
Her tense expression twisted into a strange grimace.
"…What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"
"Yeah, that's the normal reaction."
Karnak continued with a wry smile.
"Just listen for a moment."
[T/L: Please support me: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]