Chapter 72: Chapter 72

The souls of Kale and Olt, who had been captured, were completely absorbed into the darkness.

Watching Karnak harvest the two souls, Baros asked, “What should we do with these corpses, young master?”

Even though the souls had been extracted, the necromantic power still lingered in the bodies.

“Shall we drain the necromantic power and burn them as usual?”

“That’s the simplest approach, but…”

After a moment of contemplation, Karnak made a decision.

“Let’s take them with us.”

For a necromancer, corpses have many uses, especially those filled with an aura of malevolence.

“Because there’s still one enemy left,” he added.

According to Prince Lloyd, there were three cultists on Alford’s side: two men in their forties and one in his mid-fifties.

However, the man in his fifties was nowhere to be seen.

“I thought for sure he’d be lurking nearby, using these two as bait while observing the situation…”

Glancing around cautiously, Serati replied, “Maybe he missed his chance to intervene?”

The battle was already over. Any surprise attack now would be meaningless.

In this situation, it would be much more effective to wait until the enemy had completely let their guard down before striking.

“If I were in his position, that’s what I would do,” Karnak said, nodding toward the other side of the open space.

“Let’s move. We need to prepare for the interrogation and greet our guest properly.”

At his command, Baros and Serati each hoisted a corpse onto their shoulders.

They also took the Lantern of the Lost Souls with them.

Looking down at the lantern, Baros chuckled. “This will make the perfect piece of evidence to present to the King’s Order.”

***

On the rooftop of a building overlooking the open space:

“Damn it…”

Detzras crouched in the darkness with a troubled expression on his face.

“I never expected both of them to fall so quickly.”

He had been waiting for the right moment to counterattack, thinking that finally, the opportunity had come.

But before he could act, the situation had already ended with a few swift blows.

There was no time to do anything.

Of course, he had plenty of chances to intervene earlier, but he had only watched.

The reason was simple.

He, too, had been distracted by the broom and frying pan.

‘Tsk, no matter how skilled a necromancer, to resort to such lowly tricks…’

In the distance, he could see Karnak’s group collecting his fallen comrades’ bodies and leaving the open lot.

Detzras fell into deep thought.

‘What should I do now?’

If the enemy were weak, there would be no need to hesitate. He could just attack and finish them off now.

If the enemy were strong, the decision would be just as simple—flee without a second thought.

No matter how strict the order of the cult, survival comes first, doesn’t it?

‘But I can’t tell if that guy is weak or strong.’

He hadn’t shown much. He had subdued Kale and Olt through psychological tactics alone, leaving too little evidence to judge.

‘In any case, I can’t just let him go.’

Detzras slowly slid into the darkness.

***

Karnak and his group brought the corpses to an old hall in a building within the slums. It was another hideout, far from the place where Prince Lloyd was hiding.

As they placed the corpses inside the hall, Baros asked, “Is it safe to leave the prince alone?”

“We don’t have a choice. I can’t use necromancy in front of the prince.”

“But what if the remaining cultist targets the prince?”

There was still one cultist left.

Karnak responded calmly to Baros’s concern, “It’s fine. In fact, I left him alone on purpose for that very reason.”

In other words, Lloyd was a backup bait in case the plan didn’t go as intended.

“Anyway, we need to focus on our task.”

As Karnak summoned the darkness, the souls of Kale and Olt reappeared.

Looking at the two ghosts, who had taken on their full forms as they were in life, Serati muttered, “They look pretty healthy. Though I’m not sure if it makes sense to say a ghost looks healthy.”

“Well, it’s true that they’re in good condition.”

Since the souls were preserved immediately after their deaths, there was no chance for their memories to fade or deteriorate.

As he slowly exuded an aura of malevolence, Karnak began to speak in a chilling voice, “Alright, first, recite your personal details.”

It was a rather vague command.

But due to his mastery of necromancy, they responded immediately.

“My name is Kale Bowsen, under the direct command of Bishop Detzras…”

“I am Olt Gelperant, acting on the orders of Hudel…”

Thanks to this, Karnak gained considerable insight into the Cult of the Dark God that had infiltrated the Kingdom of Yustil.

The one in charge of the Kingdom of Yustil was Cardinal Hudel Grenthal, and those involved in this incident were his direct subordinates, including Bishop Detzras.

Detzras held a high rank within the cult and was connected to the upper echelons. This also meant that his abilities as a necromancer were formidable…

“So, he was also a mage?”

Unlike Kale and Olt, who had started as mere peasants before becoming necromancers, Detzras had risen to a high position quickly, possibly because he was a mage from the beginning.

“He uses both magic and necromancy. I’m curious about how that works.”

Karnak himself combined magic and necromancy using Chaos Power, so naturally, he was intrigued.

“But for now, there’s a more pressing question I need answered.”

In most cases, the most important concerns would be what the enemy’s plot was and how strong their forces were.

However, Karnak had a higher-priority issue.

“Tell me,” he demanded, his eyes gleaming as he infused the subdued souls with an aura of malevolence.

“How did you manage to swap the souls of the two princes?”

Soul Change Ring was a necromantic spell Karnak was well familiar with.

He knew it so well that he could recite over twenty different methods to perform the ritual on the spot.

But there was one thing he couldn’t understand.

“How did you manage to curse Prince Lloyd, who was protected deep within the royal palace?”

Gathering Lloyd and Alford in one place to swap their souls was easy. Karnak could do it right now if he wanted to.

But extracting a soul from a distance, especially from someone protected by magic and divine power, was impossible even for Karnak in his prime as the Death King.

“Technically, it’s possible. You could just shatter all the protective barriers and force the curse in.”

But that wasn’t the method the Cult of the Dark God used.

They had succeeded in secretly and seamlessly swapping the souls of the two princes.

This meant they had used necromancy that even the Death King did not know.

“Hmm, now that I think about it, this feels oddly familiar. Déjà vu, maybe?”

Karnak remembered hearing something similar during his past battle with Bishop Shutraff.

With a wry smile, Karnak urged them to continue. “Speak. What method did you use?”

Kale responded in a dazed voice, “We placed a curse on the prince.”

“Yes, I know that. But what kind of curse allowed you to succeed from such a long distance?”

Olt, with a vacant expression, added, “We did not place the curse from a distance. We had the prince sit within a designated barrier and then used a catalyst to cast the curse.”

“…You kidnapped Prince Lloyd? There was no mention of that,” Karnak said, puzzled.

Kale and Olt continued, “It wasn’t Prince Lloyd.”

“The target of our curse was Prince Alford.”

As it turned out, this was how it worked.

The spell they cast was ‘a curse to switch bodies between bloodlines’.

They had placed this curse on Prince Alford.

In other words, Alford played the role of the curse’s victim.

And because of the nature of the curse, it required all sorts of complex barriers, catalysts, and rituals to be applied to the victim.

In contrast, Prince Lloyd was the beneficiary of the curse.

Since the curse was cast on him, the process required was relatively simpler compared to the victim.

“Ah, so that’s how you matched the conditions?” Karnak clicked his tongue in realization.

Lloyd, with his frail body that seemed ready to collapse at any moment and his constant envy of Prince Alford’s healthy physique, was an ideal candidate to benefit from the curse.

“There was no need to kidnap the prince himself.”

“Just obtaining Prince Lloyd’s blood was enough.”

Baros raised a question, “But getting the prince’s blood wouldn’t have been easy, would it? You’d have to infiltrate the palace to do that.”

For an ordinary royal, his statement would be correct.

“But Prince Lloyd’s situation was different.”

“He had such a weak body that even the slightest exertion would cause him to have nosebleeds. Because of this, bloodstained handkerchiefs and clothes were a daily occurrence.”

“It was so common that the palace didn’t pay much attention to managing it.”

Karnak frowned as he listened to the explanation.

“That sounds plausible enough, but…”

There was still something that didn’t add up.

“Even if he’s the beneficiary, at the very least, the curse should reflect his will. But Prince Lloyd had no knowledge of this at all. How do you explain that?”

Kale and Olt took turns answering.

“We resolved it with Detzras’ magic.”

“He is someone who uses both magic and necromancy simultaneously.”

“He used a magic mirror to project Prince Lloyd and created a soul link state with the person under the curse.”

“And then the curse was placed on Prince Alford. A fake persona was created, making it seem like it was Prince Lloyd’s own will.”

Karnak blinked in surprise. “Magic?”

When he thought about it, it made sense.

What’s impossible with necromancy might be achievable with magic. Conversely, what magic cannot do, necromancy might.

So, if necromancy and magic were used to complement each other to complete the curse…

“Huh? That actually makes sense?”

Upon hearing the explanation, Karnak realized that even he could use such a method.

He could also wield both magic and necromancy simultaneously using Chaos Power, couldn’t he? He just hadn’t thought of it.

“Indeed, when magic and necromancy coexist, you can pull off something as absurd as this.”

Now he understood why they had gone through the trouble of reflecting the prince’s image in a mirror to confirm the truth.

“Since Prince Lloyd is the one at the core of the curse, it makes sense that he had to be the one to complete the ritual. Yes, it all makes sense now.”

Having resolved his curiosity, Karnak stroked his chin.

The reason such a convoluted curse was possible wasn’t solely because of the fusion with magic.

The more fundamental reason was that Lloyd had always envied Prince Alford’s body, even subconsciously. The curse was only possible because Lloyd harbored the unconscious desire to switch bodies, despite knowing as a prince he shouldn’t.

The curse worked because the body swap would only benefit Lloyd.

In fact, Karnak had discussed something similar with the prince.

***

“If the culprit had been Prince Lloyd, it would have been easier to understand,” Karnak had mused, to which Lloyd nodded seriously.

“That’s true. To be honest, I don’t really feel like a victim in all of this.”

The prince continued, seemingly unable to comprehend the situation.

“Alford takes over my body and seizes the throne? With that worn-out body? For what reason?”

If Prince Alford had been far removed from the throne, with little to no chance of ascending, perhaps that would have made sense. Greed for power can often cloud rational judgment, and humans tend to value what they don’t have more than what they do.

“If that’s really the case, Alford must be deeply regretting it by now…” Lloyd said, but quickly dismissed the idea.

“There’s no way. If Alford had simply killed me, he could have had everything he wanted, without having to give up his naturally healthy body.”

***

‘Indeed, Prince Alford had no reason to swap bodies with Prince Lloyd.’

The gap between them was so vast that even reversing their positions didn’t make the curse work in Alford’s favor.

‘And yet, he deliberately went through with it?’

Having solved his first curiosity, Karnak moved on to the second issue.

“Speak.”

Karnak resumed his interrogation.

“Then why did Prince Alford swap bodies with Prince Lloyd? What benefit did he stand to gain?”

At that moment, the hall suddenly shook as one side collapsed with a thunderous roar.

Boom!