Lord Commander Karnak

Chapter 433 Teslarnak entered the palace. Two attendants came out to greet him. It seemed the message had already been relayed through Maloka. "Her Majesty the Queen is waiting for you." "This way." The audience chamber was a surprisingly familiar place. It was the Hall of Audience in the Imperial Palace of the Lakeania Empire, where Teslarnak had once stayed. Since the essence of the afterlife was the reverse world, it had been inverted to serve as the palace. A beautiful woman with red hair cascading down to her waist, dressed in an elegant gown, was waiting for him. "You are..." The Queen of the Dead and the eighth goddess who presides over twilight and dawn, Serati Allen Seracal. She smiled at Teslarnak, seemingly pleased to see him. "You've finally awakened. But what should I call you? Lord Grateria? Lord Teslarnak?" Teslarnak's expression darkened. "I have no right to claim the title of guardian. The name Teslarnak itself is evidence of my sins." "Sins committed..." Serati tilted her head. "I don't think it's a big deal, is it? When it comes to sins, there's someone who can't even compare to you." "W-well, that's true, but..." Teslarnak stumbled over his words, taken aback by her unexpectedly casual response. She felt completely different from the one in his memories. Despite her playful tone, an inexplicable pressure weighed on his shoulders every time her voice resonated. "You've attained complete divinity." "Yes, it somehow turned out that way." "Don't you miss your human life?" "Whether I miss it or not..." Serati pointed at the air with an awkward expression. "I'm still living a human life, you know?" When she created the afterlife, she had been prepared to die. She had opened the world of the dead with the intention of ending her life completely. But something unexpected happened. It was thanks to the fusion of the grace of twilight and dawn at the last moment. Twilight, moving from light to darkness. Dawn, moving from darkness to light. Through the union of these two, she too was able to exist in both life and death. "So sometimes when I'm bored, I go up to the world of the living. I can't do it often because a goddess frequently walking on earth affects the balance of the world." Her tone was remarkably casual. Anyone listening might think she was just talking about popping next door for a moment. It was an attitude only someone who had escaped mortal fate could show. Thanks to this, Teslarnak realized anew. That she had truly ascended to the position of a goddess. And that the power of death he had feared so much was now firmly grasped in the hands of the new goddess. A laugh escaped him. "Hahaha..." He finally felt it. There was no longer any need to worry about the end of the world. The world would no longer rush towards destruction. The one who had tried to protect the world even at the cost of sacrificing himself, repeating time thousands of times, let out a deep sigh of relief. "It's finally over..." It was then that Teslarnak suddenly realized someone who should be here was missing. "Come to think of it, where is he?" He didn't mention a name, but it was obvious who he meant. Serati shrugged. "He's eating." "Eating?" Teslarnak blinked blankly. 'What food does a dead person need?' *** Teslarnak had taken the idea of a dead person eating as some kind of metaphor. But it wasn't. In a grand banquet hall where beautiful chandeliers sparkled from the ceiling and elegant candlesticks illuminated each pillar, a young man in a black robe was moving back and forth along a long table set in the center. The table was laden with all kinds of delicacies. All sorts of bread and various types of cheese, smoked fish dishes and uniquely prepared meat dishes, desserts so beautifully decorated that they whetted the appetite just by looking at them. The young man wore a happy expression as he savored the food. It was as if he was appreciating a work of art rather than merely indulging in simple curiosity. "Ah, delicious as always today." Watching the scene, Teslarnak let out a dumbfounded groan. "What in the..." The young man, Karnak, turned his head with a piece of cheese in his mouth. "Teslarnak?" He muttered, not seeming particularly surprised. "As calculated, I thought you'd return around this time." Teslarnak finally understood why those he met in the afterlife had accepted their reunion with him so naturally. They must have been informed in advance by Karnak. "What are all these?" "These?" Pointing at the food on the table, Karnak replied proudly. "A lot of offerings come through the Twilight Cult, you know." This is what the Twilight Cult teaches: The more diverse foods are offered to the Twilight Goddess, the more abundant the world after death becomes and the less hunger there will be, and this is the law of the afterlife. So many people offer these tributes, praying for abundance in the afterlife. In simple terms, it was ancestral food. "Thanks to that, I've been enjoying culinary delights these days." Every day, the finest delicacies prepared by chefs from all over the world gather in one place. Karnak just has to sit here and eat them up. "It's heaven, truly heaven." The dragon emperor's eyes twisted grotesquely. "...I thought you had sacrificed yourself." He had honestly been impressed watching the afterlife open and the dead find peace. He even thought that the unchanging evil had finally changed, atoning by giving up everything. But to think he'd find a way to keep eating even after death? "Really, you never lose out, even in death." It's confusing. Should this be considered paying the price for his sins? Even now, Karnak is shouldering an enormous duty to maintain the afterlife. That's why Serati became the queen of the afterlife to manage human souls. Karnak himself has no energy left as he's busy supporting the afterlife itself. It doesn't seem right to say he's not making sacrifices, but it also feels strange to say he's atoning... It was then. Suddenly, Karnak wiped his cheese-covered hand on his robe. "Ah, right." He had belatedly remembered what Serati had told him to do. First, he tidied up his clothes, put on a serious expression, then bowed his head. "I'm sorry for everything." It took Teslarnak a moment to realize that this act was an 'apology'. "..." He was dumbfounded. In thousands of years of life, he had never seen such an insincere apology. What's more dumbfounding is that this was sincere as far as Karnak was concerned. "Well, I'm in no position to blame others now, either." With a dejected expression, Teslarnak accepted the apology. Karnak grinned broadly. "So, I was wondering, if you have nothing to do from now on, how about helping us out?" "Help you?" "You saw it on your way here, didn't you? That the afterlife isn't always safe." He was asking him to return as the guardian of the world. "As they say, practice makes perfect. I thought someone who's had experience protecting the world would do a good job." Since Dragon Emperor Grateria is protecting the world of the living, if Teslarnak becomes the guardian of the afterlife, this world will become even safer. A pure smile appeared on Teslarnak's lips. Are you asking me to return as my whole self again after long wandering? "Rather, I'd like to ask you, will you let me protect this world?" Karnak, looking pleased, picked up another piece of cheese and popped it into his mouth. "Great, that's one less thing for me to do." Watching the supreme king of the afterlife chewing cheese with his mouth full, Teslarnak couldn't help but sigh again. "Haa..." Everything seems to have turned out well, but why does he feel so uneasy just looking at that guy? He could understand why others had put aside their anger towards Karnak and were protecting the afterlife. 'I need to stay alert, or this newly created afterlife might be in danger!' It was then. A sharp voice rang out from outside the banquet hall. "Hey, Karnak!" It was Serati. "What?" "Are you still eating? I told you to get ready! We have to go now!" The reason she had been using polite speech all this time was because he was her subordinate. Now they both stand in equal positions. So there's no reason to be respectful. What part of this man deserves respect? "Right, that was today." Seeing him hurry, Teslarnak was puzzled. "Where are you going?" Karnak shrugged. "To meet friends." *** Seracal, the Goddess of Twilight and Dawn who defeated the Dark God Teslarnak. The goddess who saved humanity prepared a new resting place for the dead for the sake of the people. Using the body and soul of the Dark God as the foundation and scraping together evil and tainted energy to refine heaven and earth, this new world of the dead was named the afterlife. As the world of the living and the afterlife were clearly distinguished, the world changed. Evil and tainted energy no longer remained in the world of the living. As they belonged to the afterlife, they naturally disappeared from this world and flowed to that world, like water flowing from high to low. Necromancy, which had been bewitching people, also mostly vanished. This was because the evil and tainted energy that formed its foundation had disappeared, and necromancy could no longer exert its former influence. The existence of evil spirits became blurred. Demonic beasts lost their ferocity and became ordinary animals. Necromancers who had been disrupting the world using Doom's Darkness returned to being ordinary humans. A completely separated world where the living cannot interfere with the dead and the dead cannot interfere with the living. Now people could live their lives preparing for death with peace of mind. However, there was a side effect to this complete separation. For three days and nights from autumn to winter, the boundary between the world of the living and the afterlife becomes extremely blurred, and the two worlds overlap. As the dead came to visit the world of the living to experience memories of their former life and alleviate their longing, people called this period the Day of the Dead. At Ortus de Vespera, the headquarters of the Twilight Cult located in the center of the Jestrad Estate, a mass was being held to mark the Day of the Dead. "The God of Death descended upon this land in the form of a death dragon, and the Twilight Goddess also confronted him in the form of death." A blonde young man with a gentle appearance, dressed in purple vestments, continues in a serious voice. "She came to this land only in the form of bones, abandoning her beautiful appearance, for this is her teaching that even the most beautiful woman is ultimately made of bones and flesh." Baros, the Pope of Twilight, concluded the mass with a sermon reminding people of the futility and transience of obsession with appearance, and that the essence of a human lies not in their outward form but in their inner self, urging them to break free from attachment to the material and physical. Following this, the choir sang a beautiful hymn in loud voices. -Goddess, bestow your light and darkness upon us. -Let all the living and the dead be with him. As the hymn ended, the Saint of Twilight stood before everyone. It was Raphisel Allen, the new saint who succeeded Saint Serati, who had ascended to become a goddess. "I bless you in the name of the goddess." A soft twilight light gently descends on the heads of all the faithful. Everyone offers sincere prayers in awe. "Oh..." "Seracal..." Reven and Millia, watching the mass from behind, let out exclamations of admiration. "Lord Baros has become accustomed to his role as pope now." "Raphisel too, she's naturally playing the role of a saint, isn't she?" "It still seems like a pseudo-religion though." "At this point, can we even call it pseudo-religious? The whole world already acknowledges it." "I suppose you're right?" Reven chuckled as he stood up. "Anyway, let's get ready to go greet them."