Chapter 31 - Calavera Knights
What if the world kept the thing that you most covet would never be in your possession? Unfair, isn't it? The feeling of never attaining the longing to fill the void of that one missing piece. Was this to be the fate of Emir Sarjace?
This is a tale of the desert prince who grew up on the edge of Hollow World in the eastern continent of Erebus. His family was originally a group of nomads, venturing to and from the great desert for resources or monster slaying. In time, the family of nomads grew into a mighty tribe of various families and elected the Sarjace Family as their ruler. Generations have passed, and The Legend of the Wargod, Emir Sarjace is widely talked about in the world of Soa.
Dating back thousands of years ago, there was an Emir who had a dream to conquer Hollow World and unify the great desert under the Sarjace Royal Tribe. It was an epic where sentient beings once lived in the great crimson desert. The Emir of the time, Sarjace, was a once-in-a-lifetime talent and the first-ever Sword Saint born in the desert. He unified the warring countries in his time and consolidated the southern region into one.
That was the beginning of the rise of Sarjace whose name was spreading outside of Hollow World. Known for his overpowering Force Arts, an ancient method of manipulating mana internally and externally by exploding the energy was something akin only to desert warriors or shamans. Not only that, Emir Sarjace is both the brawn and the brain, famed for his brilliant mind in matters of strategy and tactics. With all this said, it was not because of the innate talents of the Desert Sword Saint that made him special. No. Dario did not want his first personal Death Noble to be someone without substance. The reason why Emir Sarjace was chosen to be resurrected was that he could inspire people.
In other words, people chose to follow the prince of the desert out of their own will. There was something that sentient beings saw in the Desert Sword Saint that made them believe in following someone like him. That was what Dario had wanted.
Even so, Dario’s total number of familiars did not change whatsoever. So far, a total of 7 individuals have been revived by the Sith Lord.
Familiars (7/12)
Parsifal - Lvl. 99
Azad - Lvl. 100
Eldar Calamor - Lvl. 100
Quasar - Lvl. 118
Kensei - Lvl. 100
Emir Sarjace - Lvl. 94
The remaining spots vacant were something Dario was not intending to occupy anytime soon without figuring out how to increase his pool of familiars. Still, the essentials were practically fulfilled by the current members. To those who practice the forbidden arts of Necromancy, one can not be called a true Necromancer without having a warrior like a Death Knight to lead physical fighters and a Lich to lead the magic casters. With that model in mind, Dario had officially made Emir Sarjace his Death Noble, a physical warrior to lead the Undead fighters. But, the Omen Sect requires more forces and that's why Emir Sarjace is hastily looking for something in the great desert.
He was looking for his right-hand man, Legendary Valhalla Knight, Calavera, Commander of the 1st Royal Knighthood. If Emir Sarjace was going to begin his dream from the ground up, he would need the first man that had sworn allegiance to the Royal Sarjace Family.
“There it is,” the prince said. “Is this the grave of the Spear Saint?” Veda asked. Emir Sarjace stepped forward and bowed, “Indeed.” The prince ordered the Undead to dig up the grave and bring the corpse (bag of bones) out. They would proceed with the resurrection ritual by proxy. One of the boons of the Sith Lord class is that familiars can also revive the Undead in place of their resurrector. In other words, Dario does not have to be there to bring the dead back to life. How this would work is that the Spear Saint would officially be counted as a familiar for Emir Sarjace. This is a system that exists exclusively for Sith Lords, Necromancers don’t come close to having such an amazing ability. For the Spear Saint and Legendary Valhalla Knight, Calavera, it would take a particular mantra to be invoked by a worthy user. No ordinary Undead can attempt revival spells, a unique existence who brings about change like Emir Sarjace is the perfect candidate. And so, with the knowledge granted to him by Dario through telepathy as is the exclusive right of Sith Lords, the prince slit his finger with a knife and dropped a single tear of blood onto the corpse.
“To speak the ancient Sith Dialect that I’ve read in fables,” Emir Sarjace faltered for a second. Veda understood the feelings of the prince, who is known in history to be chivalric and honorable, “Your Majesty, why does thou doubt?” In a rare instance, Veda invokes Latin into his speech, making the butler’s soft voice a wave of reprieve to the cold, Undead. “Know that Sith Lords are masters of yin (light) and yang (dark) energy. They were people who found wisdom in darkness. So, place no worry in your heart.”
“Forgive me, I showed something shameful to you, sir Veda,” Emir Sarjace immediately found his resolve to do whatever it takes in this new life to fulfill the impossible dream, even if that meant breaking the warrior code of not conducting forbidden ritual spells. This was the culture of the early desert nomads who are akin to Vikings and their code of honor.
A chill in the air began to swirl the surrounding area. It was that Sarjace began speaking an old, forbidden tongue that is now lost in time. “Gintekazueska… zukar… schiptoska… gintekazueska… zukar… schiptoska… jastunjedi… jasjenjedi!”
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What sounded like an enthralling mantra was words being spoken to the corpse. It was this reason why the Sith Lords were feared a long time ago, they could revive any soul by “spelling.”
Suddenly, the bag of bones received the mana of the prince and light blue particles formed a silhouette of a human being. Gradually, the bones were creating the anatomical system with mana as the catalyst while blood, muscle, skin, and all organs formed. The complete revival of Calavera was a success as the ancient Spear Saint opened his eyes.
Calavera Lvl. 99 Class: Peak of Transcendence Realm Species: Death Noble (Natural Martial Body)
Main Job: Legendary Valhalla Knight
Sub job: Spear Saint
Titles: The Ultimate Sacrifice (passive)
Heaven’s Respected 10 (Ancient/formerly)
Force Master (passive)
King of Day/Sunshine King (equipped)
Looking at his hands, “What has become of me?” The newly created Death Noble asked himself. Chuckle. Chuckle. The Emir laughed at the sight of his old friend. “You have returned to the physical world, Calavera.” Placing his hands down, the appearance of a tanned, man with shoulder-length black hair equipped with a sovereign set of royal armor. By all means, Sarjace is handsome like an ornate tome with an equally attractive aloofness, the prince was blessed as such.
(Author’s note: for those with no imagination, you can picture Sarjace to be a handsome Arabic prince.)
"M-My prince…" Calavera's words darted off.
Chuckle. The prince chuckled nobly, "I suspect you have questions, old friend. Come, let us speak with our actions."
What the Emir was communicating was that the best way to remember who you were which was what Calavera was having a hard time coping with, is to fight monsters.
***
Wriggling around with its monstrous tentacles, a Marlboro was busy doing what a Marlboro does best - poisoning and consuming anything possible. Unaware until it fights instinctively, such monsters are dumb virtually if you are not in their sight. It didn’t matter for Calavera as he thrust his Mythical spear, Messiah. Similar to Dario’s Stinger technique, the only difference is that the tip of the spear explodes force (aura) like a homing missile.
(Author’s note: “force” and “aura” are interchangeable terms.)
Messiah Type: Spear Rank: Mythical
-A spear that can pierce anything. It is made of unknown divine metal that does not exist in the world anymore.
-Inflicts Instant Death.
Aura Techniques: [Skill - Doom Burst] Rank: EX Proficiency: 128%
-An extreme speed thrust attack that launches a hypersonic wave of condensed Force concentrated into a fine point. Breaks guard or parry.
-Calavera’s signature skill that’s been practiced beyond perfection.
KABOOM! A circular hole disintegrated between Marlboro’s eyes. The attack was loud due to the impact of the condensed force piercing into one point. “I never thought I would be happy to see those disgusting creatures,” Calavera said, reminiscing about the past. “Hmph!” The prince snickered at the statement, “Our first dream, we wanted to slay the poisonous creature, Marlboro. How did our small dream end up becoming the unification of Hollow World?”
Calavera cracked his first smile in his new vessel. “Looking back, these wriggly monsters were really hard to kill for me and you.”
“Kaha! Their poison was the hardest thing about them, without it, they're just a bunch of plant tentacles.”
“A lot has changed. Now, where’s that Marlboro King? I remember they have a crown on their heads.”
“Can’t you see the one you killed?” Emir Sarjace told his friend to take a closer look at the giant monster.
“A-A King? But how? This one has no crown on its head,” Calavera questioned, such things like the monster species hardly ever change with the passage of time.
“As you said, a lot has changed. This Marlboro King is an ‘Area Guardian,’ one of Quasar’s tamed monsters. It's probably a variant of a Great Marlboro that became as strong as a King, otherwise, a Monarch of this species naturally grows their own crowns made of precious metal.”
Mission Complete!
Emir Sarjcace telepathically messaged a subordinate Lich in Hollow Bastion to open a portal, “We’ve discussed many things and what is needed of us.” Glenn Courtwell and Veda did well to inform and educate the desert prince about current events. “When we were alive, we lacked a force like today to fully realize our dreams. Now we do.”
Stepping into the portal to another location, Calavera ended the scene with a few last words, “Are you sure we’re really Undead, my prince? I feel life and this overwhelming sense of peace. Don’t Undead feel nothing but emptiness?”
And so, they would go and assist the Lord Apprentice with the mission of hunting the Hollow Kings, the original inhabitants of the greatest desert in the world.