Chapter 394: Guardian of the World (3)

In his anguish, Grateria once again attempted time regression. To protect this world, he had to do whatever it took. Even if it meant endlessly repeating the same acts. There was no other path left for him.

Once again, the dragon emperor of the past accepted the soul of his future self. But this time, he posed a different question: Must you truly stop him?

To the future Grateria who had endured hell, Karnak the Monarch of Death was an unforgivable embodiment of absolute evil. But to the present-day dragon emperor, who had seen nothing yet, he was merely a young human man who had committed no crimes.

What if we simply let him live as a human? Perhaps, if he were allowed a normal life, he might meet a normal death as well.

It wasn't a bad suggestion. Grateria, now part of the past dragon emperor's consciousness, watched over Karnak. He waited to see if he would live as a mere human.

Ten years. It only took ten years. Only ten years for Karnak, returned to humanity, to kill his parents, slay his brother, burn the neighboring lands, bring down a kingdom, and earn the hatred of all.

—Fuck this world! I'll burn it all and start over!

At his scream, the Void opened once more. Astra Shunaph descended onto the land again. As the world's guardian, Grateria stood in his way, and once more, he was defeated, returned to the Age of Destruction.

This time, he resolved to handle Karnak with greater precision. To him, the world has always been a place filled with misery.

What if this world had been beautiful to him, a place filled with happiness? Would that not change something? First, he tried giving him the wealth and power that humans desired.

He subtly influenced the will of the king to elevate Karnak's household to a powerful noble family. If Karnak could gain wealth and prestige without relying on necromancy, would he be satisfied?

He was not. The family turned on one another in their struggle for power, the nobles waged countless feuds, and in the end, Karnak returned to necromancy all the same. And with it, the same conclusion.

—Fuck this world! I'll burn it all and start over!

That's when he came to truly understand. Karnak's misery was self-inflicted. It wasn't the world's fault at all. Karnak was simply born a vile man. He was destined to fall this far.

Trying to force him into human relationships only backfired. He needed to be led into a peaceful life in a more natural way.

Let's start by improving his family relationships.

From Grateria's perspective, the problem with the Zestrad Barony was poverty. As the saying goes, kindness flows from a full storehouse. He believed that their harsh treatment of one another stemmed from their lack of money.

So first, he tried to ensure their family had wealth. As the dragon emperor with many powers, he could see deep into the earth. He discovered a copper vein near the Zestrad lands and quietly leaked the information.

The barony, eager for profit, developed the mine and soon became quite wealthy. And then, they started shedding blood over who would control the family fortune.

"Why do those bastards always end up like this?!"

In the end, he had no choice but to admit it. The problem had been the family itself. So then, what was the solution? Should he quietly eliminate Karnak's family without anyone knowing?

Until now, he hadn't been able to bring himself to even consider killing Karnak's parents or siblings. To sacrifice innocent lives for the happiness of a sinful man was an act so heinous that the dragon emperor found it difficult to even conceive. But after so many repeated failures, Grateria too began to compromise with reality.

He instigated a territorial conflict by involving a neighboring domain, and through it, Karnak's parents and siblings were all killed. Thanks to that, Karnak naturally inherited the title of lord. He became the lord of a wealthy family that possessed a copper vein.

After that, Grateria stepped back. Further interference was too dangerous. That sharp-eyed human had grown sensitive to anyone tampering with his fate. He had also become extremely wary about the future.

At the slightest hint of suspicion, his first instinct was always to turn to necromancy. After Grateria's several attempts, Karnak finally began to live what could be called a natural life. He never married. He wasn't the type to build a family. Even so, he aged peacefully, more or less.

When his time came and death drew near, the elderly Karnak smiled contentedly.

—Looking back, it wasn't such a bad life after all.

And then, without hesitation, he tore open the Void. The World Tree of Darkness, Astra Shunaph, pushed its roots into the material realm.

—Time to live again.

In the end, he succeeded in making a being who had lived for thousands of years, Grateria the dragon emperor, curse like a back-alley thug. "Gaaah! Karnak, that goddamned bastard!"

***

Grateria admitted his own foolishness. Most people who live ordinary lives don't die peacefully because they want to. They do so because they have no choice, and they simply accept it.

Only a very few can truly face death on their own terms, and such were the few worthy of being called heroes or sages. How could he expect such wisdom from someone with a temperament not even fit to be called average? How could that possibly work?

Demanding repentance from an unchanging evil was inherently unreasonable. Karnak bringing ruin to the world was a fate that could not be avoided.

So what then was to be done? Suddenly, something sparked in Grateria's mind. There was no way to defeat Karnak once he had claimed Astra Shunaph. That much was clear.

But what if there were a way to keep him from regaining that power in the first place? What if, for example, Grateria himself were to seize the power of death instead?

Until now, he had never thought along those lines. To him, the existence of Astra Shunaph had always been utterly intolerable. It was a taboo among taboos, a force that had to be destroyed.

But after so many failures, Grateria had already compromised with reality countless times. For him, nothing was taboo anymore. He began to consider it naturally. How could he seize that darkness for himself?

***

The power of Astra Shunaph wandered the Void, waiting for its master's call. Through repeated failures, Grateria had begun to study the power of death. Eventually, he reached a conclusion.

If I become the master of death in his place, it's possible.

Once he gained the proper qualifications, even the power would yield. Having found the method, he acted immediately. He returned to the future and started anew.

This time, he chose his era of destruction carefully. He chose the very first moment, the very beginning when Karnak first began to plunge the world into chaos. Once more, he headed toward the blood-red monolith. But this time, he focused on a detail he had never considered before.

If he was to become the new master of death, he would need to steal what belonged to Karnak. Though the Monarch of Death's soul had vanished beyond time and space, his body should have remained in the material world. If Grateria could claim it, that might be enough to secure a portion of the qualifications.

But the plan fell apart from the very beginning. The Monarch of Death's body was nowhere to be found. Why?

He was momentarily flustered, but soon found the answer.

As Astra Shunaph, Karnak had possessed a body made of spirit energy. That body had time-regressed with him and had fused with the discarded Astra Shunaph.

"Damn..." In his frustration, Grateria's eyes fell on another body, the discarded corpse of Death Knight Lord Varos, who had returned in time with Karnak. That could work too.

Varos had been the Monarch of Death's most loyal servant, the only one Karnak had ever truly trusted. If Grateria could usurp Varos's destiny, he could at least fulfill part of the requirements.

Grateria abandoned his draconic body and entered the corpse with gray skin. And thus, he became Death Knight Lord Varos.

Of course, it still wasn't enough. It wasn't even close. There was no way Astra Shunaph would recognize him as its master for merely this much.

So he altered the world itself. He imposed laws upon the very world he had long protected—and would continue to protect. The true name of the Monarch of Death, etched deeply into the fabric of this world, began to change.

From Karnak of Zestrad, to Zestranak, to Testranak, then to Teslanak—and finally, to Tesranach. Grateria, the dragon emperor, abandoned his fate and became Tesranach. He wore the body of the one closest to the Monarch of Death, and he claimed the name closest to that of the Monarch of Death.

To usurp a name was to usurp a destiny. The fates of all the dead now rested in his hands. He had become the Monarch of Death of this era. He was no longer the dragon emperor and no longer Grateria. Tesranach sat upon the golden throne of Necropolis and addressed all the undead of the world:

—By the name of Tesranach, the Monarch of Death, I command you. Serve your master.

It worked. All the undead of the Necropian empire fell under his dominion, including the Three Martial Kings, the Three Archmages, the Seven Fallen Popes, and even the Four Grand Governors.

As the world was rewritten, so too were the histories of all who lived in it. Tesranach was now the true Monarch of Death, and everything he had achieved was the very hell that now comprised the present.

All that remained was to claim the power of Astra Shunaph. To become the god of death, travel to the past, erase Karnak's existence, and create a new future. If the cause vanished, so too would the effect. With no Karnak to punch a hole in spacetime, the world would no longer collapse.

Even if it remained a dead world overrun with undead, it could still persist. Tesranach, believing at last that he had succeeded, headed for the Void where Astra Shunaph resided. His heart brimmed with anticipation. And he declared.

—Death, return to your master!

He died again. Astra Shunaph did not acknowledge him. The overwhelming power of death was not something that could be contained by merely usurping the Monarch of Death's destiny.

And thus, once more, he woke in the Age of Destruction. Tesranach awoke within the body of Lord Varos and screamed in frustration. "What the hell! What went wrong this time?!"

***

Karnak's group let out a long string of groans as they watched the memories projected by the hatchling.

"Wow..."

"Good grief..."

"Unbelievable..."

It was... not at all what they'd expected. But oddly enough, it still made a strange kind of sense.

"So, in the end..." Serati shot Karnak a sideways glance. "It was your fault again, wasn't it?"

Beside her, Varos nodded vigorously. "As expected of our young master. Everything he does, he does in spectacular fashion."

Shrinking back a little, Karnak muttered a weak defense. "I mean, I didn't think it'd go that far..."

His voice trailed off faintly. Evidently, even he felt a little guilty. Lapicel simply stared at him. LordKarnak is from the future. The Monarch of Death...

Strangely, it wasn't that surprising. In fact, it made a kind of sense. There had been a lot of suspicious situations up until now.

He had openly used necromantic spells without restraint. Given everything she'd seen, his true identity wasn't all that shocking. What bothered her was the other voice ringing in her head.

How could he have changed? Only that voice unsettled her. Was he ever truly capable of change?

Lapicel shook her head. Whatever had happened in the past, the Karnak she had seen acted for the sake of the world. Of course, that was her personal impression. The rest of the party, meanwhile, looked at Karnak like he was the root cause of everything.

Trying to avoid the glaring stares coming at him from all directions, Karnak turned to the hatchling dragon. "Anyway... so now I get why Grateria became Tesranach..."

He faltered as he spoke. Wasn't the soul inside this dragon none other than Grateria himself? "So then, why is that guy raising hell like this again?"

Through Floke's body, the dragon emperor continued projecting his memories. "Watch the rest."