Monarch of Death

Chapter 124

“They lost because they were stupid…”

Looking at the fallen Dark Knights, Sephedes let out a bitter laugh.

“I have nothing to say. We didn’t even get a chance to do anything.”

Seeing him calm down instead, Baros clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘Did I provoke him too much?’

Sephedes raised both of his arms.

Around him, necromantic power surged and spread in all directions.

“They couldn’t do anything, but…”

Black smoke began to seep out from the fallen Dark Knights.

It was the dark battle aura that had been the source of their power.

“…thanks to that, they haven’t even used up much of their dark aura!”

The dark battle aura gathered in midair and then flowed out of the broken chapel window.

Serati frowned.

‘What is he trying to do?’

Soon, black shadows began to rush into the chapel from all directions.

Breaking through the main gate and climbing over the shattered windows, they started to appear one by one.

“Death means being in the arms of Tesranak….”

“There is no reason to fear…”

“I shall offer my body to the true god!”

There were about 20 of them, seemingly ordinary cultists armed with spears, sickles, and other agricultural tools.

But what followed was anything but ordinary.

Woooom!

Dark battle aura erupted from the weapons of all of them.

Serati’s eyes widened in shock.

“Dark battle aura? That many of them?”

Each one of them had an aura comparable to that of a Red Knight. They were not inferior compared to the Dark Knights they had just defeated.

“Are you saying they are all Dark Knights?”

Alius muttered in a somber voice.

“They’re Black Servants.”

Dark Knights use dark battle aura, but the only difference between them and regular aura users is that they wield the aura more efficiently.

On the other hand, Black Servants inject the dark battle aura in an instant and consume it in a short time.

For a brief moment, they can exhibit power comparable to aura users, but once they exhaust the injected aura, that’s the end.

Furthermore, the user inevitably loses their life in the end.

Their bodies can’t endure the compression of all that power and end up collapsing.

In other words, they are disposable puppets that wield dark battle aura.

Alius continued with a bitter expression.

“So, they’re basically time-limited aura users.”

“How long do they last?”

“About 30 minutes?”

“That’s quite long…”

Even after demonstrating such a feat, Sephedes still wore a dissatisfied expression.

‘Damn it, because of those bastards, I’ve had to waste all the dark battle aura I’d gathered.’

Even to a necromancer who took human lives lightly, Black Servants weren’t a particularly attractive spell.

Who would want to waste precious dark energy, painstakingly collected, only to have it dissipate in half an hour?

Naturally, it was better to create Dark Knights and use them carefully for a long time.

However, despite the downside, the power was undeniable.

For at least 30 minutes, more than 20 aura users were now under his control.

“So, how do you feel about your little conversation?”

Sephedes sneered, and Baros grinned in response.

“I can’t say you’re stupid.”

There are plenty of people in the world who suffer greater losses because they hesitate over minor inconveniences.

Sephedes, on the other hand, had made a bold decision and changed the situation.

The Black Servants, radiating dark battle aura, began to tighten their encirclement.

“Tesranak…”

“Watch over us…”

Even if their battle aura was similar, it was impossible to compare them to real Dark Knights.

Originally, they were ordinary people, untrained in martial arts. And now, they were in a drug-induced daze.

In a one-on-one fight, a Dark Knight would easily win.

The problem was their numbers.

“No matter what, twenty is way too many.”

Baros nodded.

“Looks like rehab training ends here.”

Suddenly, a red flash flew straight at Sephedes. In the middle of speaking, Baros had thrown a battle aura-infused sword.

Just as the sword was about to pierce through Sephedes, one of the Black Servants swung dark battle aura and intercepted it.

Boom!

With a loud crash, the red battle aura sword was deflected into the air.

Startled, Sephedes shouted in frustration.

“Did you really think such a sneak attack would work? I was already prepar—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the head of a nearby Black Servant was suddenly sliced off.

“Kuhh!”

With a faint groan, blood sprayed out like a fountain.

The necromancers wore blank expressions.

‘Huh?’

‘What?’

‘Why did that guy die?’

Only Serati, watching from a distance, had grasped the situation.

The deflected battle aura sword suddenly changed direction in midair, drawing a large arc as it targeted the back of another Black Servant’s head.

The Black Servants failed to react in time as they focused solely on protecting Sephedes according to orders.

“One down.”

Baros flicked his wrist as he threw himself forward.

Clang!

The fallen longsword returned to him with a strange sound.

A chain of red light appeared between his wrist and the sword—an aura-formed chain.

At last, Serati grasped the situation.

‘He used that to change direction in midair.’

Gripping the sword again, Baros moved along the outskirts of the chapel. Three Black Servants pursued him.

Dark battle aura surged at him sequentially from both the front and sides.

Baros lowered his stance as if crawling along the ground and counterattacked.

He slipped through the enemy’s assault with a sharp thrust, delivering a swift counter!

“Gah!”

The Black Servant’s throat was pierced, and black smoke billowed from the wound.

Baros’s indifferent voice echoed faintly.

“Two.”

It wasn’t over yet.

Using his momentum, Baros twisted his body. As he passed by, the red battle aura sword suddenly shot upward into the air. The pursuing dark battle aura was also swept up and misdirected.

In that gap, a lightning-fast downward slash struck with force.

The red flash cleaved through the necks and chests of the remaining two enemies in sequence.

“Three, four.”

The two Black Servants fell, spilling blood and malice, screaming as they collapsed.

The necromancers were left speechless.

In just a moment, something flashed, and they had already lost four of their forces.

What’s worse, since Black Servants are disposable, once they fall, the dark battle aura they wield can’t be reused.

Shaking with anger, Sephedes shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Surround them! Attack all at once!”

***

The Black Servants rushed in all at once.

The necromancers standing behind them began to channel their dark energy.

“So, this is where the fun from ambushes ends?”

Baros clicked his tongue but didn’t seem particularly tense.

“You two, guard the entrance to the basement.”

Serati and Alius shouted in surprise.

“You’re going to face all those enemies alone?”

“That’s impossible!”

Baros made an embarrassed face.

“Ah, actually…”

He smiled warmly and turned his right hand.

“It’s not that impossible.”

Clang!

Once again, a chain of red aura stretched out from him.

Sephedes flinched and stepped back in shock. The Black Servants blocked his way.

Immediately, the chain sword danced, drawing intricate arcs through the air. In the same instant, one person exploded.

Boom!

Flesh scattered in every direction.

The victim wasn’t Sephedes, nor were they one of the Black Servants.

It was another necromancer, watching the situation from the sidelines, who had been struck down without even imagining that he would be targeted.

“There’s one thing about people who hide behind others and shoot stuff.”

Baros spun the chain sword with a cold smile.

“They always think it’s not their problem just because they’re a step back. Why do they think the ones in front will be the first to die?”

Sephedes’s face turned pale.

‘He’s a guy who’s seasoned in fighting necromancers!’

When the sword pierced the necromancer’s heart, the necromancer had already died instantly.

However, Baros deliberately exploded the aura, shattering even the corpse.

Leaving a body behind would only allow the necromancers to reuse.

“Alright, here we go again!”

With a shout, Baros threw himself forward.

He extended his chain sword, aiming for the leading Black Servant. The opponent blocked the attack with dark battle aura.

He manipulates the chainsword that bounces off the air and instead rams it into the ceiling. Then, with a pull, he hoisted himself into the air within the chapel!

“Hah!”

Being suspended in midair is generally not a favorable position in battle.

But when one moves freely in midair, the situation changes entirely.

The chain sword relentlessly assaulted the Black Servants.

Like a snake, it lashed out in all directions, coiling, striking, and crushing them.

The metallic clangs echoed like the warning rattles of a viper.

Clang!

The Black Servants tried desperately to fend off the storm of violence with their dark battle aura.

Their power was certainly not something to be taken lightly. Even a glancing blow could deal a fatal wound to Baros.

That is, if they could land a blow.

“They can’t hit me.”

No matter how they swung and stabbed with their dark battle aura-infused swords, Baros slipped away like an illusion…

“Hup!”

Exploiting their openings, he delivered fatal strikes!

“Aaah!”

“Ugh!”

Baros weaved through their screams like water, smiling contentedly.

“Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve used this technique.”

The Desteran Style Chain Sword.

It was the signature swordsmanship of Silver Knight Desteran, the leader of Sorch Black, the most powerful criminal organization that once ruled the darkness of the Lacaenia Empire, and an aura user who had reached the peak of silver sword aura.

It was also a technique that Baros, as a Dark Knight, used frequently before he became a Death Knight.

Until now, he hadn’t had enough aura to perform it, but he could finally execute it once again.

Seeing Baros completely dominate the situation, Sephedes muttered in disbelief.

“Were you not even fighting seriously until now?”

Baros chuckled.

“Come on, of course I’ve been fighting seriously. Do you think I’d mess around when my life’s on the line?”

He wasn’t lying. He had been serious.

Serious about gauging his opponents’ abilities, and serious about fighting them.

“But now…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Baros pushed off the ground and launched himself again.

“…I’m seriously killing you.”

***

Baros, the Death Knight Lord and greatest subject of the Death King Karnak.

In his previous life, he was undoubtedly one of the strongest warriors in the world.

But before that, he had also been one of the world’s worst killers.

A being so corrupted, having killed and killed again, that even the fragments of his soul were steeped in the stench of blood.

The chains of aura bloomed like the flowers of hell, spraying dark red blood in every direction. Red flashes from the sword scattered all around.

Baros himself was barely visible. It was as if the chain sword had come to life on its own, dancing freely.

Clang!

He simply moved the sword as his heart willed.

Even without deliberate effort, his slaughter never deviated from its deadly purpose.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Relentless explosions echoed through the merciless screams.

“Aaah!”

“Uuuggh!”

And yet, neither Serati nor Alius, watching this unfold, felt any sense of unease.

The ones Baros was killing now were the evil cultists and necromancers, after all.

Depending on one’s perspective, the same actions can be perceived entirely differently.

Alius clicked his tongue in amazement.

“I had no idea Sir Baros was this strong. He’s gotten unbelievably powerful since the last time I saw him.”

Serati wore a helpless expression.

“I’ve been with him this whole time, and even I didn’t know he was this strong…”

Amid the shock from both allies and enemies, Baros continued to steadily reduce the number of Black Servants.

Growing desperate, Sephedes summoned all of his remaining necromantic power.

“Come forth, suffering souls of the abyss!”

The two surviving necromancers also called upon their powers.

“Rise, deceive death, and walk again on your own feet…”

Wraiths began floating through the air inside the chapel, and dead monsters rose again as undead.

Baros frowned slightly.

‘Is this their final desperate act?’

There’s a saying that a cornered rat will bite a cat.

Of course, even if the rat bites the cat, it will still end up being eaten. But that doesn’t mean the cat won’t feel the pain of the bite.

Retracting his chain sword, Baros calmly sent out a message.

[Dame Serati!]