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Chapter 102: Chapter 101

This hypothesis required one assumption.

"Are you saying there are others besides you who can manipulate space-time?"

Even the ultimate necromancer, Karnak, had failed countless times with the Space-Time Reversal Spell.

Astra Spiritus, a being said to be comparable to a god, struggled for decades before finally succeeding.

"If such a powerful mage or necromancer existed, we would have known about it from the beginning."

Even the three Archmages, considered the strongest of humanity, could not venture into the realm of manipulating space-time.

If they were truly at such a high level, they wouldn\'t have been defeated by Karnak in the first place.

As for the Four Martial Kings, they were Aura users, so they didn\'t count.

If the Dragon Emperor Grateria, who once protected the world, had been in his prime, perhaps it would have been possible...

"But we know better than anyone that he\'s far from okay."

Karnak nodded.

"Right, no one could have created a space-time reversal spell from scratch like I did."

But what if someone tampered with something someone else created?

"Do you remember the Monument of Transcending Space-Time?"

"Eh, that blood-colored slab we used to come to this era?"

"Yes, that one."

Karnak\'s expression darkened.

"After using the Monument of Transcendence, I didn\'t think much about what happened afterward."

He had thought that by returning to the past, all futures would disappear.

He believed that everything he had done would cease to exist, that all history would vanish into nothingness, and that a new history would be written.

But what if that wasn\'t the case?

What if the future still remained, even after Karnak and Baros left for this time?

"That means the Monument of Transcendence still exists."

At the same time, it meant that the undead of Necropia, once ruled by the Death King, still existed.

Including the Lich Dragon Grateria, the three Archmages, the Four Martial Kings, and all the countless other monsters.

What would happen if Karnak\'s control over them disappeared?

Grateria had completely lost his reason. Even without Karnak\'s control, he would become nothing more than a mindless beast.

Even Karnak, for all his power, could not bring himself to control the terrifying Dragon Emperor as a Lich Dragon with its reason intact.

On the other hand, the three Archmages and the other Martial Kings, except for Laficel, retained their intelligence.

Simply engraving loyalty upon them was enough to control them.

Besides, due to the nature of magic and aura, they were useless if they lost their intellect.

But what if they regained their sense of self?

And what if they discovered the Monument of Transcending Space-Time behind the empty throne?

"A 10th Circle pursuer might be able to study the remaining monument and learn the Space-Time Reversal Spell..."

Seeing Karnak\'s seriousness, Baros nodded solemnly.

"I see."

Then, with an even more serious expression, he asked:

"So in the end, it\'s all the young master\'s fault again?"

"Shut up."

Pouting, Karnak fell deep into thought.

This hypothesis explained a lot.

If someone had experimented by sending Laficel into this era before crossing over themselves, it made sense.

"The problem is... how do we confirm this?"

***

After the incident with the cursed sword Mareda, Karnak\'s group was granted another break.

It hadn\'t been long since their last break, but there was no issue. They still had a lot of unused vacation days.

With this free time, Baros devoted himself to diligently training his aura.

In fact, he didn\'t need to learn anything more about battle aura.

All he needed was to increase his aura reserves. He already knew everything else.

Still, he went back to basics, carefully honing his fundamentals.

"Review is important, review."

Moreover, it was his first time handling his own aura, so he had to be prepared for unforeseen problems.

"Hah! Urah! Hiyah!"

He swung his sword daily in new backyard, adjusting to his new sense of balance.

Laficel began learning the fundamentals of swordsmanship from Serati.

She intentionally taught her techniques for overall physical training rather than practical sword combat.

"If you push your body too hard before you\'ve fully grown, you\'ll end up getting injured."

Laficel had talent and followed instructions well.

However, she wasn\'t growing at an extraordinary pace.

Now that the cursed energy had been fully drained from the cursed sword, Laficel was just an ordinary child.

No matter how much of a future Martial King she might be, without the proper physical foundation, she couldn\'t demonstrate her abilities as in the case of Baros.

As a result, whenever Serati demonstrated even a simple downward slash, Laficel\'s eyes would sparkle in awe.

"Wow!"

"Amazing, unnie!"

"When will I be able to wield a sword like you, unnie?"

Laficel, following Serati around like a little chick, was so adorable that Serati couldn\'t help but dote on her.

Although she did sometimes show a slightly chilling side.

"Serati unnie!"

"Hmm?"

"I did it! I sliced a leaf in half just like you told me to!"

Serati looked at the two intact leaves and tilted her head in confusion.

"What exactly did you slice?"

"You told me to cut it in two, right?"

It finally dawned on her that the two leaves were unusually thin.

\'Wait, was this originally one leaf?\'

Instead of cutting it in half, Laficel had peeled the leaf into two thin layers as if she had split it from both sides—in mid-air!

\'Wow, how in the world did she do that?\'

Serati was in awe of the impressive skill she couldn\'t even hope to mimic.

"Well... very well done."

"Hehe!"

Laficel beamed with a joyful smile, filled with the belief that there was no greater teacher in the world than Serati.

"I want to become strong like you soon, unnie!"

Only then did Serati begin to understand how Karnak and Baros felt.

\'Ugh! The guilt...\'

***

In Serati\'s bedroom on the second floor.

Once again, she was undergoing a soul cleansing by Karnak.

Using the Wailing Armor of Gehenna had considerably tainted Serati\'s soul, and it had to be purified.

"I honestly didn\'t feel anything, though."

"That\'s because you\'re my subordinate."

For a necromancer\'s subordinate, it was less about contamination and more about adaptation.

The real issue was what exactly one was adapting to.

"You don\'t want to adapt to the air of hell, do you?"

"Please cleanse me as quickly as possible."

Karnak chuckled softly as he drew a magic circle on the floor.

Since it wasn\'t necromancy but chaos magic, there was no need for secrecy. He could openly perform it at home.

After setting up the ritual, Karnak gestured.

"Alright, sit still and behave."

"How long will it take?"

"About 10 minutes?"

Serati sat cross-legged in the center of the magic circle, while Karnak pulled up a chair and sat down.

Just sitting there felt boring.

Karnak glanced out the window. He saw a small gray-haired girl diligently swinging a sword in the backyard.

"How\'s Laficel?"

Serati sighed.

"I feel like I\'m committing a sin."

Laficel was originally supposed to be the disciple of the Martial King, Beltia.

"I keep wondering if I\'m blocking her future....."

"Laficel will become a Martial King anyway."

She is the \'future Martial King.\' It\'s not that she\'s destined to become one in the future—she is the future Martial King.

It wasn\'t that she hadn\'t learned; she had simply forgotten what she\'d been taught.

"Her title will just change. She won\'t be the Martial King of Syphras, but the Martial King of Jestarad."

"Who knows, maybe another Martial King from Syphras will emerge under Beltia."

"Then the Four Martial Kings will simply become the Five Martial Kings."

The titles of Martial King and Archmage aren\'t given based on rankings.

It\'s not like the world keeps a tally of the strongest, second, third, and fourth Martial Kings, while anyone ranked fifth or below is just considered a regular swordsman.

Humans don\'t remain static. They can become stronger or weaker, so how could you consistently rank them?

The titles of Archmage and Martial King are honors that recognize those who have reached a certain pinnacle.

Those who attain the ultimate mastery of Aura, the golden aura, are called Martial Kings, and those who reach the 10th Circle of magic mastery are called Archmages.

Naturally, the number of Martial Kings and Archmages has fluctuated throughout history.

There were times when there was only one Archmage and three Martial Kings, or when there were two Archmages and six Martial Kings. There were even periods when there were no Martial Kings or Archmages at all.

"There was even a brief time when there were five Martial Kings."

"When was that?"

"About 20 years from now?"

Though Karnak spoke in the past tense, it was actually a future event.

After training under Beltia and emerging into the world, Laficel eventually mastered the golden aura and became the new Martial King, while Beltia was still active.

"But it quickly returned to four Martial Kings."

Nothing lasts forever, and no matter how powerful one\'s body and mind, they eventually weaken with age.

Even those who have reached the peak of martial arts usually retire around the age of 60 or 70.

In the present day, the Four Martial Kings were Gallard, Beltia, Dreltain, and Batalok.

Gallard and Beltia each trained successors—Laven and Laficel, respectively—who would become the new Martial Kings upon their retirement.

"Dreltain was still active at that time."

As for Batalok, he was a case of failing to raise a successor.

Though a genius himself, he lacked the talent for teaching. Despite taking on several disciples, he failed to produce a single Martial King—or even a Silver Knight.

"Oh, so the new Martial King had nothing to do with Batalok?"

"That\'s right."

One of the new Four Martial Kings, Malikan Tun, was an example of someone rising from humble origins.

Though his master was only a Purple Knight, through extreme effort, Malikan reached the pinnacle of golden aura mastery.

"Well, not that it mattered—they were all defeated by Baros in the end."

Only the experienced veteran swordsman, Dreltain, managed to surpass the Death Knight Lord. But even he eventually knelt before the power of the Death King.

"I see..."

Serati listened as if entranced by Karnak\'s story.

Knowing the future is fascinating to anyone—no wonder fortune tellers are so popular.

Of course, the future Karnak knew had already been twisted, so things might not turn out that way. Still, Karnak\'s predictions were probably more accurate than any fortune teller\'s.

"What about the three Archmages? Did any new Archmages emerge among them?"

Karnak shook his head.

"No, that remained unchanged."

Unlike Aura users, mages have a relatively longer prime.

Magic is a discipline of the mind, so even with age, a mage doesn\'t decline as rapidly as an Aura user.

Once someone becomes an Archmage, they can use their immense power to retain some degree of youth.

However, the number of mages who reach the 10th Circle is exceedingly small.

Having three Archmages in one era was a rare occurrence, something that happens only once every few hundred years. Typically, there were only one or two at most.

"Whether in my time or now, the three Archmages haven\'t changed."

The three Archmages of this era were:

Diogres Colon, Lord of the Tower of Dawn.

Giyen Ren, the chief guardian of the fairy race.

Elezar de Reflacion, the Imperial Court Mage.

These were the Archmages of this era, and they would eventually fall under the command of the Death King several decades later.

Serati\'s expression darkened slightly.

"So, one of them could be the one who came back to this time and caused all of this, like Lord Karnak did?"

"That\'s right. Whether only one came or more, I can\'t say."

If the hypothesis was correct, whoever returned was likely closely connected with the cult of the Dark God.

"The good news is, we now have a clue."

The Dark Cardinal, Hudel Grenthal. He was the highest-ranking figure among the cult members they had identified so far.

"Up until now, they\'ve hidden so well that we\'ve been left chasing after them..."

A smile spread across Karnak\'s face.

"But now, it\'s our turn to strike first."

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