Chapter 98: Chapter 98

After his space-time regression, Baros struggled greatly because he couldn’t awaken his aura on his own.

It wasn’t just because he had no prior experience awakening aura.

If he had simply started over from the beginning, it might have been easier. After all, his mind was still full of martial arts manuals he had collected in his previous life.

But none of that was useful to him now.

He had gotten into the bad habit of always using other people’s power, other people’s battle aura. Even his soul had become significantly distorted.

While the way he operated his battle aura was like that of an aura user, the way he stored it inside his body was closer to that of a necromancer.

Given how distorted he had become, he needed a different method of awakening, but there was no martial arts manual that could help him with that.

That’s why he had told Karnak before, hadn’t he?

When you walk a path different from others, this becomes a problem. There’s nothing to refer to when something goes wrong.

“But it turns out,” Baros muttered, “there was such a case right in front of me.”

Baros looked at the collapsed Laficel.

Freed from the control of the cursed sword, she had perfectly transformed the dark battle aura into her own aura.

She had gone from relying on someone else’s battle aura to using her own.

It was precisely the method of operation that Baros wanted.

Serafi asked in surprise, “Can you imitate it just by watching it once?”

“Hey, even though I’m like this now, I used to be pretty famous back in the day, you know?” Baros shrugged.

“I can’t compare in terms of skill or precision, but I can grasp the essence, the core concept.”

An aura user who has reached a certain level can recreate techniques just by watching. And if they were at the level of the Martial King, it would be even easier.

Of course, as Baros said, his level of proficiency would be severely lacking, so it wouldn’t be fair to say he “stole” the technique. What mattered now was that he understood the method.

Once he had the direction, it was a matter of training and effort.

Looking down at Laficel with a newfound perspective, Baros clicked his tongue.

“Once you grasp the concept, it’s not that hard. But coming up with the idea in the first place… is this the difference between a genius and an ordinary person?”

Karnak nodded in agreement.

“Well, in any case, it’s a good thing. So, what’s your current level?”

“About this much?” Baros held up a finger. A red aura briefly flickered on his index finger before disappearing.

Karnak frowned.

“What? You can’t even manage Blue Knight level?”

“If I put in some effort, I could do it.”

Instantly, his finger flared with a blue light, only to return to red a moment later.

“Ah, it only lasted a second. Well, you’ll keep working on it.”

Serati grumbled, clearly confused.

“So, why does your level go up just because you put in effort? How is that even possible?”

“This isn’t something that can be explained with words.”

If Serati’s level increased, she would understand without needing an explanation, and if her level wasn’t high enough, no amount of talking would make her understand.

Looking tired, Baros released the aura he had gathered and continued speaking.

“Still, I’m better off than Dame Laficel in this regard. It looks like she’s completely exhausted.”

Strictly speaking, neither of them had awakened their aura on their own. They had merely converted the dark aura of the cursed sword.

However, Baros was able to store some of that aura for himself, thanks to the difference in their vessels.

If Laficel’s vessel was a beautiful and elegant crystal wine glass, Baros’ vessel was more like a clay pot.

Crude, thick, and clunky, but also sturdy and stable.

“Well, I guess I’ll take this as a foundation and work hard to build on it from here…”

Baros muttered as he looked around.

By now, night had fallen. Darkness covered the surroundings.

In the pitch black, dozens of King’s Order members lay scattered.

They were still unconscious, unable to wake up.

Baros asked, looking troubled, “By the way, what should we do about them?”

***

After leaving the valley, Karnak’s group returned to their original camp. They gently laid Laficel inside a tent.

When Serati suggested they should tie her up just in case, two of them opposed the idea.

“If my necromancy worked correctly, all her memories should be sealed. She won’t be able to use that power again.”

“If the young master’s necromancy didn’t work, then she’d just go berserk again. And what exactly could we tie her up with? She’d break any chains easily.”

Since either way, the outcome would be the same, they decided to let her rest comfortably.

“Maybe she’ll have a better impression of us when she wakes up this way.”

With Laficel tucked inside a sleeping bag, it was time to take care of the fallen King’s Order members.

Using telekinesis magic, Karnak moved Jiken and Trib and said, “Let’s lay these folks in the tents as well.”

Baros also slung a member of the King’s Order over his shoulder and started walking.

“If we leave them like this, they’ll catch a cold, won’t they?”

“Look at us, worrying about other people’s health!”

“I feel like a real human!”

Watching the two joke around, Serati rolled her eyes.

“…Truly noble of you.”

Of course, she was also busy carrying the unconscious members.

After a while, Serati began to wonder.

“How come none of them are waking up?”

It had been a considerable amount of time since they fainted.

“Are they really unconscious? Could something have gone seriously wrong…?”

In fact, it’s rare for a human to stay unconscious for this long. At least, not under normal circumstances.

Karnak and Baros responded as if it were obvious.

“Did you think we were joking when we said ‘anesthesia’?”

“It’s real anesthesia.”

As it turns out, Laficel hadn’t simply knocked them out with brute force.

“She used aura like needles to paralyze their nervous system.”

Serati blinked, feeling like she had just heard something ridiculous.

“…Is that something a person can actually do?”

“Actually, I can do it too,” Baros replied.

It turns out that the other three Martial Kings could imitate it as well.

First, you enhance your opponent’s body to assess their physical condition, then detect the flow of energy within their body to determine the appropriate amount of aura to use. You then measure the strength of their nervous system to gauge how much aura is needed to paralyze them. Finally, you strike at the exact moment, inserting just the right amount of aura into the precise spot to achieve the paralysis.

“…It works if you do it like that,” Baros concluded.

Serati, who had been listening in disbelief, retorted, “For that to work, wouldn’t the opponent need to be lying perfectly still from the start?”

Even the slightest movement would change all those variables in real-time. How could someone possibly process all that information in an instant?

“That’s why only Dame Laficel uses it in actual combat.”

In truth, such extreme measures weren’t even necessary.

“Breaking their arms and legs would stop them from moving just as well, so why bother…?”

“Then why did she go to such lengths?” Serati asked.

Karnak answered for her.

“Because breaking arms and legs doesn’t stop people under mind control.”

People controlled by necromancy are like zombies in some ways. Even if their bodies are destroyed, they continue to move.

Laficel had developed this extraordinary technique as a way to safely subdue people under mind control without causing permanent harm.

“So, this is your fault again, Lord Karnak?”

“Well, yeah. Looking back, I do feel a little guilty.”

“A little guilty? That’s it?”

As they continued to chat, they eventually finished carrying all the unconscious members of the King’s Order into the tent.

Looking at the sleeping individuals, Serati asked, “So how do we wake them up?”

“We could remove the aura embedded in their bodies, and they’d wake up…”

Karnak turned to Baros.

“But there’s no real need, is there?”

“Let’s just let them rest. It’s probably good for them.”

These people had been worn out. Letting them sleep deeply would only help them wake up refreshed the next morning.

They also collected the cursed sword Mareda.

Inspecting the blade, Baros commented, “It’s no longer a cursed sword.”

The eerie aura that had once emanated from it was completely gone, thanks to the evil spirit that had fled from the blade.

“What do we do? Won’t people find it suspicious?”

“True, it is a bit too clean.”

The solution wasn’t too difficult.

If the problem was that it looked too clean, they could simply make it look dirty again. That was something Karnak was particularly good at.

“I can’t restore the cursed sword’s power, but I can make it look like a sword that’s been drained of its power.”

He gathered some malevolent energy from around the area and smeared it onto the blade.

“It’s like the difference between plain water and flat soda.”

Serati tilted her head.

“Isn’t flat soda just plain water?”

“You’d be surprised how different they taste once you try.”

With the cleanup done, Karnak’s group gathered around a campfire they had set up at the edge of the camp.

“Now, all that’s left is to wait for them to wake up naturally.”

As they gauged the time by the position of the stars, Serati asked, “So what do we do until then?”

There was still quite some time before dawn. Baros’s eyes gleamed.

“Let’s eat!”

Serati clicked her tongue in disbelief.

“…How are you always thinking about food?”

“Well, you’re supposed to eat every day!” Karnak retorted confidently as he started gathering utensils.

***

Unlike the heavily “anesthetized” King’s Order members, Laficel had simply collapsed in a normal state. Naturally, she regained consciousness before the others.

“Ugh…”

Letting out a faint groan, she opened her eyes.

Three people were looking down at her.

A handsome oppa with black hair, a gentle-looking oppa with blonde hair, and an incredibly beautiful unnie.

The handsome oppa with black hair cautiously asked, “Are you awake?”

His voice was gentle, making her heart flutter for some reason.

Laficel calmly sat up and stared at the man in front of her.

“…Who are you?”

Her tone was youthful and childlike. Karnak smirked.

“That’s what I want to ask.”

He then returned the question, “Who are you?”

Who am I?

Laficel blinked.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t remember anything?”

“No, I don’t.”

Karnak felt a sense of relief.

‘Phew, the memory seal worked well.’

Her memories were gone, and all the aura she had absorbed from the cursed sword had been completely used up.

She had fully returned to being an ordinary girl of this era, meaning she was no longer a threat.

“In that case, I suppose you don’t remember your name either. It’ll be difficult to call you without one, so…”

Just as he was about to give her a new name, Laficel interrupted.

“Laficel.”

“Huh?”

“I remember being called Laficel. I remember that much.”

Karnak, doing his best to hide his surprise, quickly thought it over.

‘Why does she remember her name? Could it be because it’s tied to her core identity?’

Or perhaps something went wrong with the seal. Either way, he needed to investigate further.

“Well, that’s a relief. At least you remember your name…”

Just as Karnak was about to continue speaking, he noticed something strange.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Laficel was staring directly at him.

After a long moment of silence, she cautiously spoke.

“…Do you know me by any chance?”

“What?”

The girl’s eyes gleamed.

“I feel like I know you.”