Chapter 13

Chapter 13. 3. Duel Trial (3)

Two streaks of sword light tore through the air.

A terrifying light rushed toward Randolph, drawing the shape of two crescent moons.

“...Gah!”

Randolph twisted his body in fright. This time, he was truly caught off guard.

And then...

“Ah!”

The crowd let out a sigh.

Randolph’s chest was slightly torn. Red droplets of blood seeped out, staining his clothes.

It had missed.

And by quite a bit.

The priests who were watching shook their heads.

“How unfortunate...”

“Such a shame.”

It was a strike aimed with all his might, targeting a crucial opening. It was a remarkable technique, worthy of being called a master stroke.

But the skill was far too unrefined. Any regular knight could have unconsciously avoided it.

One of the Zestrad knights murmured in dismay.

“As expected, there’s no such thing as a miracle...”

Karnak had tried.

From early morning, he had thrown himself into training, sweating blood all day long, to the point where it was hard to believe he was the same scoundrel they once knew. He had put in repeated effort after effort.

Even those who had no favorable feelings toward him began to harbor hope, seeing how he gave his all within the given time.

But the result was no more than a shallow cut, like that of a cat’s scratch.

“Hah, haha...”

Randolph chuckled bitterly as he raised his sword.

“Not bad. For someone of your level, you’ve done your best.”

The knights turned their heads away.

This was reality.

No matter how hard one tries, before overwhelming skill, there was nothing one could do.

“The world is truly...”

One of the knights murmured sorrowfully.

“...brutally unfair.”

***

Varos was quite satisfied.

‘Lucky.’

He was incredibly lucky.

‘It’s not easy for things to go exactly as expected like this.’

Unfair? In what way?

Karnak had tried his best for a month, but any regular knight puts in that much effort. And they do it for decades.

Moreover, his opponent was Sir Randolph, the strongest knight in Deventor.

A man born with talent, who had risen to his position through rigorous training since childhood.

If someone like him were to lose his life to a hastily learned skill, it would only prove that effort was meaningless.

‘Indeed, it wouldn’t be right to call something like that unfair.’

Varos faintly smiled.

‘The real unfairness starts now.’

* * *

“Ah, this is just...”

Randolph was dumbfounded.

“They say even a cornered rat will bite a cat. To think I’d end up in this situation.”

He had allowed Karnak, someone he considered beneath him, to land a strike. Moreover, he had even drawn a bit of blood.

While it wasn’t a big deal, it was enough to irritate Randolph. He could already imagine his fellow knights mocking him over drinks for days to come.

“I’m going to be the butt of jokes for a while. Damn it.”

He was just about to finish things off.

Karnak, with his head lowered, spoke in a small, almost whispering voice.

“Your opponent put his life on the line, and you’re only worried about being mocked? I’m glad I don’t have to feel guilty.”

“Hmm?”

For a moment, Randolph was puzzled.

“Guilty? Who would feel guilty toward whom?”

Karnak grinned.

“To be honest, I don’t really know what that feeling is either.”

Suddenly, something surged from Randolph’s entire body.

*Fwoosh!*

Startled, he looked down at himself. From the slight tear in his clothes, a dark shadow erupted.

The darkness quickly spread, forming a massive shape that engulfed the surroundings.

“W-What is this?”

Seizing the opportunity, Karnak thrust his sword forward.

“Taaah!”

Of course, he was immediately kicked away.

No matter how panicked his opponent was, there was no way he could overcome a trained knight.

*Thud!*

The problem was that Karnak was sent flying more than five meters away by that kick.

“Hah!”

The entire audience gasped in shock.

A judge, forcing himself to remain composed, raised his right hand and began to declare.

“The duelist from Deventor has committed an unforgivable sin by bringing such foul evil into this sacred Duel Trial! This is a heinous affront to the Goddess herself!”

The priest’s voice echoed throughout the arena.

“I hereby declare Baron Karnak of Zestrad the victor!”

There was no cheering.

Only a heavy silence hung in the air.

Everyone stood in fearful awe, silently staring at the corpse in the arena.

***

The Viscount’s family of Deventor was in an uproar.

A knight of their house had been linked to necromancy—concerns about the copper mine were now the least of their worries.

The main temple of the Church of Alium sent priests directly to the Viscount’s estate to conduct a thorough investigation, searching for any further traces of necromancy.

In Randolph’s quarters, they discovered a handkerchief with necromantic symbols, undergarments stitched with sinister charms—clear evidence that he had consorted with the dark forces.

Randolph’s younger sister insisted that these were items she had purchased from an unknown traveling merchant and that they had nothing to do with Randolph, but this only heightened suspicion toward her.

Interrogations extended to her, the other knights, their families, and even the servants.

Though they were eventually cleared of suspicion, it was not without considerable suffering...

“I heard they went through quite an ordeal.”

Hearing Karnak’s explanation, Varos smiled wryly.

“I feel a bit sorry for Sir Randolph’s sister. She probably had no idea what was going on.”

He said he felt sorry, but his expression didn’t seem to reflect that at all.

Karnak tilted his head in curiosity.

“Is feeling sorry the normal human response in situations like this?”

“Probably. Most people seem to act that way.”

After having caused suffering for more than a dozen people, that was all he had to say.

It seemed these guys still had a long way to go before becoming truly human.

Nevertheless, Karnak laughed cheerfully.

“It turned out really well. I was terrified when I was told to risk my life the moment I got back.”

Using necromancy in front of the priests would inevitably get him caught. Even Karnak, who had mastered necromancy to the highest degree, had no immediate way to avoid detection.

So, he decided to change his approach.

‘If I’m going to get caught, I might as well use it! But let Randolph take the fall instead of me!’

It was, after all, a fight in a distant arena.

It was inevitable that sinister darkness would erupt from the tangled combat.

Given those circumstances, Karnak could covertly use necromancy and make it seem like Randolph was the one responsible.

“The problem was that the opponent had to bleed for the necromancy to be cast naturally, but it was worth the effort.”

Recalling the training he had undergone, Karnak felt a sense of satisfaction.

Varos suddenly asked.

“Won’t the church suspect anything? This can’t be the first time you’ve used this tactic, right? There have been necromancers before.”

“I’m probably the first.”

“Huh? Really?”

To make it look like someone else was using necromancy while hiding your own power in close quarters?

“Such a sophisticated maneuver is something only I, in my current state, can pull off. Most people couldn’t do it.”

Even the Karnak of the past wouldn’t have been capable of it.

It was only possible because he had reached the pinnacle of his craft, to the point of being called the Necromancer King.

“There’s no precedent for this, so it shouldn’t be an issue. However...”

As he spoke, Karnak’s expression subtly hardened.

“There’s something that doesn’t quite make sense.”

“What is it?”

“This whole thing went too smoothly.”

Objectively speaking, Randolph was someone who had no need to rely on necromancy. He was already recognized as a knight with a bright future ahead of him.

On the other hand, the one who benefited the most from this situation was, without a doubt, Karnak, who had narrowly escaped death.

“No matter how unprecedented this tactic is, this should have made me suspicious.”

Even if they didn’t openly accuse him, it would have been normal for them to at least conduct an investigation.

“So I deliberately suppressed my necromantic power and prepared myself for an interrogation...”

But the church didn’t suspect Karnak.

In fact, they didn’t even send anyone to the Zestrad family.

They were entirely focused on overturning the Viscount’s house in Deventor.

“It’s almost as if they accepted Sir Randolph’s involvement with necromancy as a given.”

Puzzled, Karnak tilted his head.

“Why? Why would someone like Sir Randolph, who had nothing to lose, resort to necromancy, and why isn’t anyone questioning it?”

***

The Gesselan Great Temple of the Church of Alium, responsible for the northern diocese of the Kingdom of Ustil.

A middle-aged priest was bowing deeply before an elderly man in his sixties. The elder wore ornate ceremonial robes adorned with gold embroidery.

The old man asked, “Have you confirmed it beyond doubt? This is a grave matter. Even the slightest mistake is unacceptable.”

Nodding, the middle-aged priest took out a small glass vial from his robes.

“I have served as an Inquisitor for three years now. I’ve gained much experience during that time. I can say this with absolute certainty.”

Inside the vial, a faint darkness briefly stirred.

It was an extremely weak force, but one that any devout follower of the Goddess would be unable to overlook.

“This is not the work of an ordinary necromancer. The attributes are an exact match.”

With conviction, the middle-aged priest continued to speak clearly.

“It is the fragment of the Transcendent, the death that will bring about the world’s destruction, as foretold by the Goddess.”

Holding up the vial containing the darkness extracted from the body of Randolph, the knight of Deventor, his expression hardened.

“There is no doubt—this is the Doom of Darkness.”

The archbishop, who took the vial, let out a deep sigh.

“The power of darkness has spread this far already...”