Karnak, Monarch of Death-Chapter 91: The Bloodthirsty Sword (5)

Ziken fired a flame spell into the sky.

Fweeeee! Bang!

The signal was clear. The operation to capture the demonic sword was complete, and the King’s Order members who had clocked out were to return. Meanwhile, Karnak was maintaining his grip on the demonic sword with his chains of magic, pouring his mana into them.

He called out to Ziken. "If you’re done over there, lend me a hand."

"Understood."

Dispelling the crystal prison spell, Ziken approached Karnak and added his own mana to the chains. The two mages would temporarily suppress the sword's power while waiting for Meiri and Milia to arrive. Once the priests were on the scene, they would seal the sword definitively with holy magic.

While the mages focused on the demonic sword, Triv and Harris approached Serati, who was tending to the gray-haired girl lying on the ground.

"What do we do with her?" Serati asked, glancing up at Triv.

"We’ll leave her to Meiri when she arrives," Triv replied calmly, his gaze softening as he looked at the girl. "Poor thing, having endured something like this at her age..."

Harris, too, examined her with a pang of pity. "Do you think she’ll wake up? Her body must’ve taken a beating."

Then Harris tilted his head, frowning slightly.

"This is strange."

"What do you mean?" Triv asked.

"Well, you’d expect her body to be in bad shape..."

It didn’t take long for Triv to understand Harris’s confusion.

"You’re right. That is odd."

As aura users, they could roughly assess someone’s physical condition with a glance. To their surprise, the gray-haired girl didn’t appear injured at all. She was filthy, covered in grime, but her body seemed entirely unscathed.

"Could being under the demonic sword’s control have some kind of healing effect?"

"That’s absurd. It’s not some kind of miracle tonic," Harris retorted.

As the three of them stared down at the girl, a faint energy began to seep from her body. Serati stiffened immediately.

What is this?

It was a potent power, one far beyond what any ordinary girl could possess. Alarmed, Triv glanced toward the demonic sword.

"Could the connection not have been severed?"

No. There was no sign of any lingering link between the sword and the girl. Then what was going on?

It doesn’t even feel like necromancy or anything similar either.

Before they could reach any conclusions, the girl’s eyes snapped open. The three aura users reacted instinctively, leaping backward like startled cats.

"Gah!"

"Whoa!"

"Ahhh!"

It wasn’t a murderous intent or killing aura that spooked them. It was the sheer overwhelming sensation, something so powerful that it triggered a reflexive reaction. Even Triv, a seasoned blue-tier aura user, found himself leaping back like a startled colt.

What the hell is this?

Before their disbelieving eyes, the gray-haired girl slowly rose to her feet. Her movements were unremarkable, simple and ordinary. Yet an inexplicable pressure seemed to bear down on their shoulders.

The reason became apparent moments later. A purple haze began to shimmer behind the girl, rising like heatwaves from her small frame. The devastating aura of destruction spread outward in all directions, manifesting as a misty violet glow. Triv and Harris exchanged shaken glances.

"...An aura user?"

"And a purple knight at that?"

***

She was, at most, a child of twelve or thirteen. Even if she had started training in martial arts as soon as she could walk, she would barely have mastered the basics by now. Of course, prodigies existed. Some were so gifted by the heavens that they awakened their aura at a shockingly young age. Even Serati was a genius who had awakened her aura in her early twenties.

The most powerful warriors of the age—the Four Martial Kings, the pinnacle of humanity—were said to have awakened in their mid-teens. But awakening was just that—awakening. Even prodigies didn’t achieve purple-tier at such a young age. This phenomenon had to be tied to the demonic sword Mareda, and yet...

There’s nothing!

There’s still no connection between her and the sword!

As Triv and Harris stood there, dumbfounded, the girl’s faint voice reached their ears.

"I must," she murmured, her voice barely audible, as she took a step forward. "I must save humans..."

The girl's form blurred, and she suddenly darted to Harris's left. Alarmed, Harris twisted his body, but the girl had already disappeared from his view. She reappeared at his blind spot on the right, moving as if she were flowing through the air itself.

Fa-fast!

With an effortless motion, her slender fingers curled into a tiny, almost playful fist. And then, with precision, she delivered a strike to his solar plexus.

"Guh!"

A violet ripple of energy surged through Harris’s body. With just that single blow, his vision swam, and his knees buckled beneath him.

"Sir Harris!"

Triv, now alarmed, drew his aura blade. This didn’t make sense. How could she possibly be stronger now than she had been while wielding the demonic sword?

"Ha!"

With a roar, Triv swung his sword with all his might. But the girl was already gone.

"Must save them..."

The faint murmur lingered in the air as she slipped into his guard. Beneath the filthy gray hair matted with blood, her vivid blue eyes glinted. With a graceful leap, she spun, delivering a high kick that cracked against Triv’s neck like a coiled whip.

Thwack!

There was no pain, only the strange sensation of his consciousness fading away as if snuffed out.

Wh-what is happening?

As both men crumpled to the ground, Serati stood frozen, staring in disbelief.

"This can’t be..."

They hadn’t even had a chance to fight back. The girl’s movements were overwhelming. Her gaze shifted to Serati, locking onto her.

"Vassal..."

The word sent a shiver down Serati’s spine. Why was her title different? And it wasn’t just the title.

"Kill!"

A ferocious killing intent erupted from the girl’s entire being, unlike anything she had displayed against Triv or Harris. Suddenly, a barrage of punches and kicks rained down on Serati like a storm. Dodging desperately, Serati gritted her teeth.

Why is she targeting me like this?

It felt utterly unfair. She had been the one to save the girl, after all! Yet, ironically, the overt killing intent worked in Serati’s favor. Against Triv and Harris, the girl had attacked with no warning, leaving them unable to defend themselves. But with Serati, her murderous intent was so palpable it telegraphed her moves. A real purple-tier aura user would never make such a mistake. Even so, the advantage only bought Serati a little more time.

"Ahhh!"

Just as Serati was about to collapse, a blazing stream of fire shot from behind, forcing the girl to retreat.

Boom!

The explosion filled the air, kicking up dust where the girl had been. Ziken had launched a spell to save Serati in the nick of time.

"Are you all right, Sir Serati?" he asked urgently.

The girl paused her assault, her gaze locking onto Ziken.

"Humans..." Once again, she muttered incomprehensible words. "Must save them..."

The killing intent vanished, replaced by an eerily elegant series of movements. The problem was that these movements were impossibly fast, giving no warning at all. Before Ziken could fully process what was happening, the girl closed the distance between them.

"Huh?"

In a flash, she delivered a precise elbow strike to Ziken’s chin, causing his head to twist. His vision blurred as his brain rattled, and his legs gave out.

Thud!

"Sir Ziken!"

Karnak arrived moments too late, staring in shock at the fallen mage.

"What’s going on, Serati?"

The girl turned her gaze to Karnak now, her expression twisting in fury.

Her voice rose, trembling with anger as she screamed, "Karnak!"

Wait, how does she know my name?

It occurred to him that, perhaps, she had overheard it during the commotion. But the next thing she said was something Karnak couldn’t make sense of.

"Accursed Monarch of Death!"

Karnak’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"What?"

***

The girl growled like a beast, her gaze fixed on Karnak. Underneath her tangled, ash-gray hair, her dirt-smeared face was visible. It was the same face of the child they had seen several times before.

Who is she? How does she know my past?

Karnak didn’t know. He rarely paid attention to others, and even if he had met her before, he wasn’t one to remember faces.

And yet, there’s something familiar about her.

Once more, a violet aura rose from the girl’s shoulders.

"Graaaahhhh!"

With a piercing shriek, she launched herself at Karnak. Her strike was simple, just a casual downward chop, yet it carried a terrifying force.

Boom!

A blade of violet energy ripped through the air, aimed to cleave Karnak in two. Serati threw herself in the way at the last moment.

"Sir Karnak!"

She swung her aura-coated sword to deflect the blow but was sent flying back from the overwhelming difference in power.

"Gah!"

As she tumbled backward, she was struck with disbelief.

Wh-what kind of ridiculous strength is this?

She had used all her energy, coating her blade with aura and swinging with everything she had, yet the girl’s casual, aura-laced hand had completely overpowered her. The disparity was staggering. The girl brushed past Serati, her hand forming a knife-like edge as she aimed for Karnak’s head. Panicked, Karnak instinctively activated necromancy.

"Shadows, shield me!"

There was no time for chaos magic. Only a necromantic spell as familiar as breathing—a reflex as natural as blinking—could be cast in time. The violet aura clashed with the shadow barrier, and a deafening explosion reverberated through the air.

Boom!

The barrier shattered, and Karnak was hurled backward.

"Urgh!"

He was moments away from having his head split open. His expression turned deathly pale as the girl closed in for the kill. Just then, a volley of arrows flew through the air.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The girl stopped, turning toward the incoming projectiles. Aura flared across her body, disintegrating every arrow mid-flight.

Pop! Pop-pop-pop!

Karnak, narrowly escaping death, spotted a group of reinforcements charging toward the scene from across the basin.

"Young master!"

"Sir Karnak!"

"Captain!"

It was the King’s Order’s First and Seventh Squads, led by Varos. They had returned after seeing Ziken’s earlier signal.

Milia cried out as she saw Karnak collapsed on the ground. "Be careful! She’s using necromancy!"

From a distance, she had mistaken Karnak’s shadow barrier as an attack from the girl. To Karnak, her misinterpretation was a blessing. It could’ve been disastrous if she’d figured out the truth. As the squad surrounded the girl, they assessed the situation.

"Where’s Captain Ziken?"

"And Sir Triv?"

Varos surveyed the fallen figures of his comrades and came to a grim conclusion.

"The operation failed. What about the demonic sword?"

Then, realizing something was amiss, his gaze shifted. The girl’s hands were empty.

"Huh? Where’s the sword?"

A few feet away, the massive dual-handed sword lay bound tightly in magical chains, its dark presence subdued. The soldiers murmured in confusion.

"The sword is over there..."

"Then why is she...?"

It was a scene of total bewilderment. Had the operation succeeded or failed? Meanwhile, the girl stood silently, her gaze sweeping over the King’s Order soldiers. She no longer pursued Karnak or Serati. Her focus seemed to have shifted, prioritizing the soldiers surrounding her.

"Humans..."

Her voice, low and somber, echoed again.

"Must save them..."