Lord Commander Karnak

Chapter 1 I was the one who ruled over death. It took me 100 years to realize. For a person to live like a human, one shouldn't dominate such things. *** It was a grand and magnificent palace. Endless rows of golden pillars and the marble hall beneath them, elegant paintings and decorations adorning every wall, and intricately crafted statues. However, the people who should have been here were absent. No king, no queen, no prince, no princess, not even a single courtier or servant. Well, to be precise, there was a king. There were courtiers and servants too. It's just that they weren't human. In the large golden throne illuminated by the faint moonlight, a skeleton draped in a black robe sat muttering to itself. "Why did I do that...?" A single utterance followed by a deep sigh. "Ah, why on earth did I do that...?" With another sigh, it slumped its shoulders and gave a hollow smile. Not a human smile, but that of a skeleton. "No, it's not that I don't know why. I had no choice, I suppose." Talking to himself incessantly despite having no audience, the skeleton, Death King Karnak, absently raised his hand to look at it. "Sigh..." A blue energy coalesced over the bare bones, forming the shape of a human hand. A hand imbued with the power to part seas and shake the heavens with a single swing. A pale blue human face began to form over the skull as well. The pallid face let out a lament. "Has it been 70 years since I became like this? Wow, time really flies." Leaning back on the throne, Death King Karnak continued with a hollow smile. "Though it also feels like it's crawling by at a snail's pace." *** It was about 100 years ago when Karnak first encountered necromancy, the forbidden art of all forbidden arts. Born as an illegitimate child of a fallen noble family, he grew up facing discrimination. To survive, he reached for the forbidden, and luck was on his side as he gained power. Whether it was fortune or misfortune, he's not sure. In exchange, he strayed from the path of humanity. He fought against endless waves of enemies, sometimes striking first, killing innocents over and over, living the life of an evil necromancer. The world hated him even more as he became akin to a devil. The Lakeania Empire in the center, the Seven Kingdoms Alliance in the west, the Berus Federation in the east, and even the Seven Goddesses Church that worshipped the seven great goddesses. The entire continent was his enemy. Even while facing the whole world, Karnak didn't back down. Using his powerful death magic, he turned those who dared to challenge him into undead, making them his subordinates and expanding his influence even further. The war kept growing. The living hell where the dead walked the world of the living spread across the entire continent. Before long, he became known as the Death King. He was the absolute evil that humanity could not tolerate. Finally, even humanity's last bastion fell. Even the four Warrior Kings, the strongest in the mortal realm, and the three archmages whose power was said to reach the heavens, were defeated and became the Death King's acolytes. In the end, even the Dragon Emperor Grateria, the guardian of the world, revealed himself. Indeed, the Dragon Emperor was strong. So strong that even Karnak, who had committed every forbidden act imaginable, couldn't see a way to victory. It was only natural. What could a mere human who only relied on underhanded methods do against the most exalted of the already exalted dragon race? He had no choice but to implement the worst dark art he had been putting off until the very end. He transformed himself into the Astra Schnapp, the ultimate transcendent being that surpasses even the strongest undead like Death Knights or Arch Liches. And so, Karnak completely abandoned his humanity. The price was as great as what he lost. After three days of battle, Grateria lost his status as the Dragon Emperor. Instead, he became the Undead Dragon Grateria, a faithful slave to the Death King. Karnak, who had been nothing special except for being from a minor noble family. A mere human, not born with the blood of heroes or the power of gods, had overcome special heroes and divine powers to reach the highest position. The world had become completely his. "Yeah, it's all good. A happy ending, right? It's all good, but..." Once again looking at his own hand, Karnak let out a deep, deep sigh. "What can I do with this body that's nothing but bones?" Gold and silver treasures, elegant beauties, fine wine and delicacies, all the luxuries and pleasures a human could imagine. They all became meaningless. All human sensations had disappeared from this dead body. "I want to feel..." He wanted to taste. He wanted to feel the warmth of a person. He wanted to feel the gentle breeze and the warm sunlight. No, he'd even welcome pain. Even the fragile skin that would bring excruciating pain when pierced by a blade would be better than these tasteless bones. "...Nah, honestly, that's not true. No matter what, numbness is better than pain. What am I saying, sounding like some pampered noble?" Quickly changing his words, Karnak chuckled. Either way, it's true that he misses sensations. It's funny how you don't realize how precious something is until you lose it. "This is why they say there's a reason people tell you not to do certain things. No wonder everyone despised necromancy, calling it taboo and forbidden." There's no joy in living. No driving force to continue life. But he doesn't want to commit suicide either. "I'm still afraid of dying." He thought he wouldn't feel the fear of death after becoming numb, but that wasn't quite true. He wants to enjoy life, not forget his suffering in death. All he could do was sigh. "Is that the only thing I can rely on now?" Karnak glanced behind the throne. A large, blood-red stone pillar stood there, emitting a strange light. His eyes lit up. "If that succeeds..." To be precise, it wasn't his eyes that lit up. His eyeballs had long since rotted away. It was just the eyes made of spiritual energy that flickered between the empty skull sockets. "...There might be hope." *** In a long corridor where no sunlight reached, shrouded in gloomy darkness. A large knight, standing at 2 meters tall, was walking down the hallway. At first glance, he might look human, but he wasn't. There was no warmth in the pale skin covering his thick muscles. He had no need to breathe, and his eyes didn't even blink. It was clear evidence that he was not among the living. The second-in-command of Necrophia, the empire of the dead. The commander-in-chief of the army of death, a warrior who had risen to the position of the strongest on earth by defeating three of the four Warrior Kings. The Death King's most loyal servant, who had been a faithful attendant since Karnak was still human, even before he encountered necromancy. Death Knight Lord Baros suddenly turned around. Another Death Knight, sturdy but relatively lean compared to him, was following behind. Baros asked. "Why did he suddenly call for me, Lord Reven?" Death Knight Reven responded politely. "How could I possibly fathom His deep intentions, Lord Baros?" Baros gave a bitter smile. "Always with similar lines. I preferred you when you were alive." Reven Strauss, once one of the four Warrior Kings and the pinnacle of all swordsmen, bowed his head politely once more. "Everything happens according to His will." "Well, I suppose it can't be helped since you're no longer your former self." Baros continued walking, leaving Reven behind. Finally, his steps reached the entrance of a massive hall. Walking into the hall and kneeling, Baros began to speak respectfully. "I come before the lord of all the dead, the master of life and death, the conqueror of the continent, the great Death King Karnak, Your Majesty..." The skeleton on the throne waved its hand dismissively. "Ah, enough." "Huh? You don't want me to be formal?" Baros raised his head in confusion. Karnak grumbled, resting his chin on his hand. "What's the point? Who's going to look down on me if you're not formal?" Those with absolute power tend to be insensitive to etiquette. They can instantly instill manners if they really want to. The reason Baros maintained formalities was that even the undead of Necrophia, who obey Karnak, are still somewhat influenced by their living habits. Isn't it more convenient to avoid creating such situations in the first place, even if you have the power to instantly instill manners? 'But now he's saying to stop being formal?' This means there's no longer a need to rule over the undead. "Oh, could it be?" Baros used the old form of address he had been using for Karnak since long ago, that is, since the time when Karnak was human. "Did you succeed, young master?" Karnak shrugged his shoulders proudly. "Yeah, I think it worked." "Good heavens." Baros's gaze shifted to the back of the throne. Looking at the large blood-red stone pillar, he asked skeptically. "Are you sure it's working properly? You've been failing all this time, haven't you?" *** It wasn't that Karnak had been regretting his lost living body from the beginning. World domination, bringing everything under his control. The thrill of being that ruler was quite significant. The problem was that it didn't last for more than a few years. What's the point of gaining absolute power and the world if you can't enjoy the pleasures? That's why high-level undead like liches tend to become extremely sadistic. They torture others and find vicarious satisfaction through their pain. Unfortunately - or, for the world at large, fortunately - Karnak didn't have such a sadistic personality. "Why should I enjoy someone else's pain? It's just someone else's pain, why would that make me happy? I'm not some antisocial psychopath." Baros snorted. "You're not? For someone who's not, the things you've done so far..." "Ah, I just did what I had to do to survive, okay?" "I'm sure all those who died by your hand would find great comfort in hearing that." "...Shut up." Anyway, for reasons like this, Karnak tried various methods. The first thing he attempted was possession. Honestly, there's no need to live in a living body all day long. Isn't it enough to just feel sensations when needed, as much as needed? So he captured a bunch of living human slaves and tried to erase their souls and take over their bodies instead. "...And you still claim you're not an antisocial psychopath?" "Will you shut up for a moment, Baros?" Sadly, the attempt failed. The spiritual energy of Karnak, who had become the ultimate transcendent being, Astra Schnapp, was too great. Forget possession, just the tip of his soul's finger entering would shatter the body. 'Is it really impossible to temporarily take over someone else's body?' So this time, he aimed for reincarnation. From the beginning, he gathered selected babies, chose the body most suitable for his soul, and tried to dwell in it. The result was better than possession. At least he could get a leg in. It was a huge improvement compared to just a finger. Of course, that was still the limit. He tried various other methods as well. Stealing others' sensations or finding ways to pursue pleasure as an undead. It was useless. Wraiths that feel pleasure by absorbing souls, vampires that gain pleasure through blood-sucking. The common point of these undead is that their pleasure is actually a side effect. They have a lacking part, and they gain pleasure in the process of filling that part. Karnak, who had become the ultimate transcendent being, had no such lacking parts. With no lacking parts, there was nothing to fill. With nothing to fill, there was no pleasure. He despaired. Was he to live like this, unable to die? When there was no joy in living? As he was wasting time like this, a thought suddenly occurred to him. The reason he couldn't obtain human pleasures was because he wasn't human. The reason he wasn't human was because he had become the ultimate transcendent being. 'Then, if I'm no longer an Astra Schnapp, that should work, right?' He continued his research to lose the power he possessed. And finally, he found the answer. 'I just need to go back to when I was human.' The time when he was human. The time when he wasn't the enemy of the world and the object of hatred for all living beings. The time when he only had a vague resentment towards the world, when he was just an illegitimate child of a minor noble. 'I'll turn back time!' The result was that blood-red stone pillar behind the throne, the dark manifestation that transcends time and space. Karnak spoke triumphantly. "The strongest necromancer in human history devoted himself to research with the most desperate wish. If this fails, it means no one can do it!" As if he had been waiting for this, Baros snorted. "Isn't that because you're the only proper necromancer since humanity started recording history? There needs to be a basis for comparison to be called the strongest..." Necromancy is a dark art left behind by an unidentified ancient race that existed in prehistoric times, before humans even invented writing. Since then, it has been considered the taboo of all taboos, and no one has properly mastered it. There were only third-rate practitioners who clumsily sought power and got their heads chopped off. Naturally, Karnak would be the strongest in human history. "Ah, well, you're not wrong, but..." The skeleton sitting on the throne clacked its jaw. "Baros, if you weren't my confidant who grew up with me since childhood, I would have chopped off your head long ago." "That's exactly why I dare to speak to you like this. Do you think you'd feel any better if you chopped off my head?" "Ugh, all talk and no action." Karnak rose from his throne. As he approached the blood-red stone pillar, he muttered. "Anyway, let's go, Baros." Baros also approached the pillar. As he examined its dark red surface, he asked. "If this succeeds, when exactly are we going back to? Surely we're not starting over as babies?" "It can't be like that. There needs to be at least some common ground." Since they're twisting time and space with dark magic, there needs to be a common point in the time and space they're reaching. With a nostalgic tone, Karnak continued. "The moment I took my first step as a necromancer. The very instant I first acquired dark magic." "Then will I return to the moment I became a Death Knight? But the timelines won't match, will they?" "You're just piggybacking on me, aren't you? We'll go back to the same time period." "Ah, I see." Still looking skeptical, Baros continued to examine the pillar. Then he suddenly asked. "What happens if it fails?" "We'll cease to exist, I suppose." "You're talking about ceasing to exist as if it's someone else's problem. It doesn't seem like something to take lightly." "Why? Do you have any attachments to your current life?" Baros let out a hollow laugh. The second-in-command of an empire that rules the world. 'An immortal body with superhuman powers. Do I have any attachments to all of this?' "No, I don't." Indeed. He too found no pleasure in life. "We have nothing to lose, it's all upside." With a calm face, Baros placed his hand on the pillar. "Let's go, young master." "Alright." Karnak also placed his bony palm on the pillar. The blood-red stone began to emit a massive darkness. "Let's go back. To that time when we lived like humans."