Record of a Thousand Lives - Chapter 81

Chapter 81
The village was burning. The women ran away with their children, while the men sacrificed themselves to secure an escape route for them. They all had tears in their eyes.

“Wait.” A large shadow blocked their path.

At that moment, the elves were about to scream, thinking it was an enemy. However, the shadow suddenly exclaimed, “Shh!”

Katz motioned toward the elves to keep quiet, putting his finger up to his lips. An elf who was holding her baby looked at him with a fear-stricken expression.

“You can’t go this way. The mummies have set up an encirclement over the hills. Run northeast. That’s the only place they haven’t surrounded yet,” Katz said.

“T-thank you! Thank you very much!” the elf exclaimed.

“Don’t mention it; just be careful not to wake the baby up,” Katz said.

The elf women bowed their heads and continued running away. Katz waved his hand before he turned around and looked at the burning elven village.

‘He has no mercy.’ Katz had not lived a ‘kind’ life as a graverobber, but he had never gotten any experience committing murder.

The air was filled with the stench of blood. Kartheon had set fire to the village, as if slaughtering all of its inhabitants was not enough.

Katz clenched his fist and thought, ‘He really intends to kill everything on the continent.’

He walked toward the village. The mummies in the village walked around like zombies from a low-budget film as they searched for any survivors. Meanwhile, Kartheon was looking down at the village from the highest vantage point.

“Aigoo, why is it so hard to take a dump in the desert?” Katz exclaimed as he scratched his butt.

Kartheon glanced at him and asked, “Why did you let them live?”

“What are you talking about, Your Majesty?” Katz replied, feigning ignorance.

Kartheon grabbed him by the neck and asked once again, “I asked you, why did you let those elves go?”

“Keheok! Keok! Because I pity them, Sire…” Katz replied.

It felt as if Kartheon’s dried, withered hand that was grabbing Katz by the neck had begun slowly draining his life force. Katz squirmed and tried to pry the hand away, but Kartheon’s hand did not budge an inch.

“A lowly graverobber like you dares to disturb the great cause?” Kartheon exclaimed.

“Keuuheoooook!” Katz screamed as his vision started to blur, but he suddenly felt enraged. He thought he should at least say whatever he wanted to say to the mummy if he was going to die anyway. He retorted, “T-then what about you…? Why aren’t you aware of the fact even a lowly graverobber like me is aware of…?”

“What are you talking about?” Kartheon asked.

“That… Kuheok…! You’re doing something… very stupid…!” Katz spluttered as he struggled to gasp for air.

Kartheon threw Katz away; Katz rolled across the sandy ground. His vision, which had begun to blur while he was being choked, slowly started to return.

“Try barking again,” Kartheon said.

“Why did you kill the elves…?” Katz asked.

“The elves are an excellent offering to gain temporal power,” Kartheon replied.

Kartheon gained more temporal power the stronger the creature he killed was or the longer they had lived; the elves, who had much longer lifespans than most creatures on the continent, were an excellent source of temporal power.

Katz retorted, “‘Everything will be gone once I regress so I can live however I want’. Is that what you’re thinking?”

“Is that not the case?” Kartheon responded with a shrug.

“It’s going to stay in your mind!” Katz retorted. He was actually racking his brains for anything he could think of at the moment as he continued, “Do you really think this world will disappear once you regress back in time? Not at all! This world will stay in your mind forever. It’ll come back to haunt you one day and make you paranoid!”

“Do not make me laugh with your illogical claims. Katz, have you ever experienced regressing?” Kartheon asked.

“T-that’s not what I meant…” Katz stuttered, as he could not find any response to Kartheon’s question.

Kartheon opened and closed his right hand that could absorb life from another and said, “Those kinds of words would only be convincing if they were said by someone who has experienced regressing. If someone who has actually experienced regression comes and tells me those things, perhaps I will consider it at least once. Of course, there is no way that could be possible.” He then mounted his camel. Katz hesitated for a moment before mounting his own camel as well and following behind the ancient king.

Kartheon smirked and asked, “Why are you still following me after experiencing that humiliation just now?”

“I can’t just stand around and watch as you destroy the continent,” Katz said.

Katz forgot to properly address Kartheon as ‘Your Majesty’ in the heat of the moment, but Kartheon did not seem to mind it at all. In fact, he seemed to enjoy the situation, as he openly mocked Katz again. “Did the graverobber who only knew to steal from the dead suddenly end up filled with a sense of justice?”

Katz shut his mouth and swallowed his anger. He thought for a while before he said, “I’m a graverobber. It’s my job to steal the belongings of the dead. Do you think a guy like me won’t be able to change the mind of the dead?”

“You will not be able to,” Kartheon said sharply.

“…You’re really a cutthroat person,” Katz muttered.

“That is why I am a king, and I have the right to sit on the throne,” Kartheon replied.

The two men walked away with the burning village behind them; thousands of mummies trailed in their wake. Soon, the desert sky turned dark, but not a single star was in sight. The desert at night was quite silent and peaceful.

“It is going to take quite a while for us to reach the next village,” Kartheon grumbled.

Katz asked carefully, “Your Majesty can stop time while we travel, right?”

“Stopping time consumes my life force,” Kartheon replied.

“Really?” Katz asked.

Kartheon easily admitted it, saying,, “Stopping time for even one or two seconds has severe drawbacks.”

“Then, Your Majesty probably won’t be stopping time at all?” Katz continued.

“I have only stopped time twice in my entire life,” Kartheon said.

Katz thought he needed to change the atmosphere. He had already forgotten about his anger as he asked out of pure curiosity, “When were those two times you stopped time?”

“The first was when my body was about to be split in half by the jaws of the Dragon of Destruction,” Kartheon said.

“Dragon of Destruction?” Katz asked.

“It was a dragon from ancient times. It was strong enough to almost destroy the continent, and considering its long lifespan… It could still be alive…” Kartheon said.

Katz was stricken with fear at the mention of the word ‘dragon’. He could not fathom the stories of such powerful beings. He asked hesitantly, “Your Majesty fought against such a strong dragon…?”

“Correct. I almost died in the end, though. My life would have been over the moment that big jaw bit and tore me in half. I was nearly out of temporal power, and I had no choice but to stop time,” Kartheon said.

“What was it like?” Katz asked curiously.

“There was no time in which to experience anything. My body took so much damage that it was about to break apart while I stopped time, but I managed to narrowly escape from the dragon’s jaws thanks to that. However, I was bedridden for days afterward,” Kartheon explained.

It seemed stopping time was much more strenuous than Katz had initially thought. However, he asked, “Then when was the second time you stopped time, Your Majesty?”

“The second time was when I saw the most beautiful comet in the world,” Kartheon answered.

‘A comet?’ Katz thought. It was quite unexpected. He tilted his head in confusion as he asked, “A comet, Your Majesty?”

“Indeed, a comet,” Kartheon replied as he looked at the night sky. The desert sky had become filled with stars.

“I was walking in the plains alone one day, when the sun set and night came. I looked up to the sky and saw a comet passing by. I tried to make a wish, but it went by too fast. That was why I stopped time,” Kartheon explained.

“You used such a risky ability just for that…?” Katz asked. Kartheon glared at him, and Katz felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand up. He quickly shut his mouth.

The ancient king’s story continued. He said as he reminisced, “Everything stopped at that moment, down to the small cries of the bugs, and even the wind that tickled the tip of my nose. Only I was able to move in that moment when time stopped.”

Kartheon’s face was heavily withered, so it was hard to tell what kind of expression he was making, but Katz could tell that the ancient king was feeling nostalgic and greatly missed that moment.

“Although it was short, it was the most valuable experience of my life,” Kartheon said.

“Forgive me for asking, but what did Your Majesty wish for?” Katz asked carefully.

Kartheon let out a laugh and smiled as he said, “I wished to be a benevolent ruler.”

Katz wondered for a moment who Kartheon was confused about what a ‘benevolent ruler’ actually meant. A benevolent ruler was a ruler who treated their citizens and subjects with benevolence and mercy.

He could not hold back as his mouth moved by itself. He asked, “Then why did you, who wished to be a benevolent ruler, kill those elves?”

“Did you not say it yourself? Everything will disappear if I regress. My sins, their deaths, everything will be back to how it was before,” Kartheon nonchalantly said with a shrug. Katz felt goosebumps all over his body upon hearing the ancient king’s words.

Only after a long while of riding did Kartheon suddenly stop his camel. He got off it and said, “Let us rest for a bit.”

Kartheon’s stamina was as feeble as his skinny, withered appearance implied. The whole mummy army stopped as well whenever Kartheon stopped to rest, burying themselves in the sand. A nearby stone mountain looked like an excellent spot for them to spend the night and camp.

“I’ll light the fire, Your Majesty,” Katz said.

In truth, while Katz had been volunteering to stand watch while they camped ever since the first night, he had been looking for an opportunity to kill Kartheon while he slept. However, Kartheon always closed his eyes and rested, but he never fell asleep.

“I was assassinated in my previous life while I was asleep,” Kartheon said as if he could read what was on Katz’s mind.

Katz flinched for a moment and tried to remain calm as he put a piece of dried camel dung into the fire. Camel’s dung was an excellent material to burn in the desert, where firewood was precious and hard to come by.

“At the hands of that guy, Sirian?” Katz asked.

“Correct,” Kartheon replied.

Katz felt he had heard about the man called ‘Sirian’ before. Had he heard the name from the Continentals? He could not clearly remember, because he did not interact much with Continentals.

“The fire is burning pretty well today,” Katz said, trying to lighten the mood. He wanted to stop Kartheon’s evil deeds, and he needed to be much closer to the ancient king if he wanted to achieve that.

“I see,” Kartheon muttered.

The campfire blazed as it shone brightly beneath the stone mountain. It had become even more visible in the pitch-black night.

Kartheon suddenly asked, “That graverobber I killed. Was he your friend?”

Katz tried to jog his memories before asking, “Ah, you mean Hudderson?”

“Yes, that graverobber who woke me up together with you at the burial site,” Kartheon replied.

“I worked with him, but we weren’t that close. It’s not that strange in our line of work,” Katz replied as he recalled the death of his comrade.

Hudderson’s death had left a bitter taste in his mouth. They had felt that they hit the jackpot and could live without any worries when they found the pile of gems at the burial site.

Katz suddenly decided to ask the ancient king, “Why? Did Your Majesty suddenly feel pity for me?”

“No, I am just amazed when I look at you,” Kartheon replied.

“What do you mean, Your Majesty?” Katz asked.

“You seem to forget about death quite easily,” Kartheon said.

“Being a graverobber is a job that’s always at death’s doorstep. Ah, can you guess what my job was back in my world, Your Majesty?” Katz asked. Kartheon shook his head.

“I was a petty thief. I was really dirt poor. I stole other people’s food because I felt I would die of hunger. People would leave the favorite foods of their deceased loved ones at the tombs in the country I came from back in my world, and I had no qualms stealing that food as well,” Katz explained.

“I see that your habit of stealing from the dead has not changed even in this world,” Kartheon said.

“Oh… I guess so, now that you mention it, Your Majesty,” Katz replied. He scratched his head in embarrassment.

Time quickly flew by as they chatted. Soon, Katz covered himself with a blanket and slowly nodded off to sleep.

‘The stars have changed,’ Kartheon said to himself as he gazed at the night sky. Everything was different from his memories. That was why he needed to go back.

‘I should go to the Rock Desert as soon as the sun rises to wake up the sleeping giant,’ he thought.

Suddenly…

Shhhhh… Ping!

Something lodged itself in the back of Kartheon’s right hand—it was a burning bolt. The ancient king was not fazed at all. He smirked as he thought, ‘I did not sense it at all. It is a skilled assassin for sure.’

Kartheon stood up as he tried to pull the bolt out of his right hand. However, another bolt flew toward his temple. He quickly ducked and avoided the bolt.

‘Someone is after me,’ he thought. He lowered his posture and looked around his surroundings. There was nothing but the silent darkness; perhaps it was because the assassin was quite skilled at camouflage.

He thought with some annoyance, ‘If only my level had not decreased because of the resurrection. This kind of assassination attempt would have meant nothing.’

He then suddenly felt something hot approaching him from behind.

Pukeok!

A bolt lodged itself in the back of Kartheon’s head, and he stumbled. His skull broke open, and the heat from the bolt melted his skin.

‘I have to see who was after me,’ the ancient king thought. He was at death’s door, but he seemed to be quite composed. No matter how perilous the situation was for him, all he had to do was turn back time.

Thus, Kartheon turned back time.