Holy Necromancer: Rebirth of the Strongest Mage

"What is the Knight Tournament then?" Gabriel asked Yuan.

He didn't know much about the Arecia Empire other than the fact that the Empire was stronger than the Yan Empire. Moreover, based on the name of the tournament, it really did sound like a battle tournament for knights. Was that not the case?

"You really aren't from around here, are you?" Yuan smiled wryly. "As I said before, the Knight Tournament is something in which everyone can take part in. Even mages who aren't Knights..."

"Is this for selection in the Sacred Knight Academy?" Gabriel inquired. If this wasn't a simple battle tournament, he could only guess that it was a selection exam for the Academy of Knights.

Just like the Lumen Empire had the Academy of Elements, the Arecia Empire had the Sacred Knight Academy, which trained Knights. Even though the Knight Academy was considered weaker than the Academy of Elements as a whole, it was still very powerful.

The Academy of Elements was the dream for people who awakened their elements. On the contrary, the Academy of Knights didn't differentiate between the people who awakened their elements and the ones who didn't.

They opened their doors for everyone as long as the person had enough talent since they didn't need an element to be a Knight.

"Academy Selection Exams like this? I wish," Yuan smiled. "Anyway, as I said, you should try participating. If you actually succeed, destiny's door will open for you."

"Destiny's Door?" Gabriel repeated, wondering if this was just a metaphor or something more. "Can you tell me directly? What is this Knight Tournament? What is the purpose of it?"

"Since you're not from here, I suppose you don't know about the Saint King either?" Yuan still didn't answer directly.

"Saint King?" Gabriel shook his head. He really didn't know any Saint King. Then again, his knowledge of this world was still in its initial stages.

"The Knight Tournament is related to him, so I think you should know about him first. That should help you understand what the Knight Tournament is," Yuan stated. "Do you at least know about the Era of Gods?"

Gabriel finally nodded. That was the thing he knew. It was the Era where Karyk and the other gods lived, along with the Demigods. It was the Era where all the Numens that exist in today's world came into existence...

"In the Era of Gods, there existed gods and demigods who could destroy cities with a flick of their fingers. However, at the same time, there also existed many ordinary humans. One of those ordinary humans was Lord Avalon."

"Since he didn't have any magical strength to stand against the Demigods, instead of accepting his fate of being weak, he decided to become strong based on his own hard effort. He started training his body in hellish conditions. Eventually, he even managed to break through the human limit, strengthening his body to such an extent."

"He was known as the first Knight, also addressed as the Saint Knight by the current generation."

Through Yuan's explanation, Gabriel was somewhat surprised. There was really a human who wanted to be as strong as the Demigods without possessing any magical strength?

"That person's willpower must've been quite strong," Gabriel commented.

"He certainly had a reason after all. Unfortunately, he was very unfortunate. He chased after this strength to win the heart of the woman he loved so he could protect her all his life. However, by the time he returned from his training, the woman he loved was already married," Yuan explained.

"What did he do then? Did he kill her husband?"

"He was an upright Knight. He would've never killed her husband. However, her husband did die from heart disease on his own after a few years," Yuan responded.

"Quite a coincidence," Gabriel muttered, slightly apprehensive of the story. Since it was an old story, it was quite obvious that some parts of the story could've been changed or exaggerated. There was no saying that Avalon wasn't involved in her husband's death.

"When that woman's husband died, she was troubled a lot. Their family went into a decline due to all the debt her husband had gathered, and eventually, things went sour as people kept targeting her. That's when the Saint Knight came and protected her. The Saint Knight protected the woman, fighting hundreds of people alone to protect the girl's dignity."

"According to the legends, the Saint Knight killed over a thousand people that day. It was a massacre that shook the entire city, even alerting the Demigods. It wasn't a small thing for an ordinary human to possess a strength like this after all."

"Shouldn't the Saint Knight be condemned for killing so many people?" Gabriel asked. Looking at the world's condition, he knew that an act like that would've been considered devilish, no matter how righteous it was. "Why would the Arecia Empire treat that person like an idol?"

"You're not wrong. The Saint Knight was condemned a lot for an act like that. The City of Gods even sent a Demigod to check the situation and deal with it accordingly," Yuan answered, taking another sip of his wine.

In the Arecia Empire, everyone knew of this story as it was very widespread. For many, it was like a myth or just an urban legend, but quite a few believed this story as well. This story was the foundation of this Empire after all.

Yuan continued with his story.

"So the Saint King trained to be able to stand against a Demigod without losing, and a Demigod had to come to exterminate him." Gabriel was quite interested in the story. "Even if the Saint King strengthened his body, I doubt he could've defeated a Demigod. The difference in Power isn't something that could be covered with training."

"You're not wrong. That was exactly what happened. The Saint King was defeated in the battle single-handedly. Even though he was strong, he was no match for a Demigod," Yuan agreed. "The difference in strength was just too much."

"So he was killed?" Gabriel asked. "Or did he run?"

"No. According to the legends, he wasn't killed. He didn't run away either. Instead, he stayed behind to delay the Demigod while giving the woman he loved an opportunity to escape first. That's when something happened..."

"What?" Gabriel asked, somewhat curious. Since the Saint King became a legend, he shouldn't have been killed so easily.

"An Army of Undead... Hundreds of Undead entered the City where the two were fighting."

"An army of Undead?" Gabriel frowned. "Why did it sound familiar...?