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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kie]
[Proofreader - Kawaii]
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Chapter 319: The Altar (3)
***
Within a matter of seconds, all of the demons that had occupied the sky had vanished.
All that remained were the cracked earth from the impact of the club and the scattered body parts of demons.
Balhard stared in utter disbelief, his jaw hanging open as if frozen in shock.
He knew.
He knew that Damien could unleash such power thanks to his mana.
It was because he had consumed a massive amount of dragon magna that he could produce such output.
But in the end, mana was just fuel.
How that fuel was used and how efficiently it was used depended on the user.
Even Balhard, the original owner of that mana, wasn't sure if he could produce such power by consuming the same amount of mana.
"How long are you going to gawk?"
At that moment, Damien chided Balhard.
"Snap out of it. We're going to have a bloody fight now."
"Fight? Sir, Aren't all the demons dead?"
The honorifics slipped out involuntarily. Balhard asked as politely as possible.
"There are some who survived."
No sooner had Damien spoken than demons descended from the sky.
There were only three.
But as soon as Balhard faced the demons, he felt a chill run down his spine.
They were strong.
They exuded aura so menacing that even a dragon like him couldn't help but have a serious expression.
Moreover, they were completely unharmed despite the devastating blow they had just received. There were no visible wounds anywhere.
"Damien Haksen! I've been waiting for this day! I'll repay you for the humiliation you inflicted on me!"
The bull-headed demon roared. Damien tilted his head and asked.
"I've never seen you before. Have we met somewhere?"
"Y-You don’t remember me!"
The bull-headed demon raged. A fierce aura swept through the area.
"I am Asthar, and I've come to reclaim my honor after the disgrace you brought upon me!"
"Disgrace? Oh, now I remember. You're the one who was knocked out in one hit, aren't you?"
Damien sneered.
"So why are you showing your face again? Or do you have no sense of shame?"
Killing intent erupted from Asthar. Balhard asked with a pale face.
"Sir Damien! Isn't it dangerous to fight now?"
Balhard shouted in alarm.
Damien was in a state of greatly depleted mana and stamina after delivering that previous blow.
"It's suicidal to fight a demon like Asthar in my current state."
Before he could finish, a shockwave hit his head. A demon as large as Balhard had swung its fist.
"Haha! Let's play!"
Balhard steadied his swaying body. He immediately raised his fist towards the demon's abdomen and punched.
The demon's body swayed, but instead of showing pain, he wore a sinister grin.
"It's been a while since I've tasted dragon."
Balhard swallowed hard.
This demonic energy, this durability.
He was undoubtedly a Marquis class demon. Marquis class demons were so dangerous that even an adult dragon like Balhard would have to risk his life to defeat them.
"I'm Bas. What's your name?"
"Balhard. A Red Dragon."
Balhard had shown no intentions of retreating.
The arrogance that came with being born a dragon drove Balhard forward.
His dragon heart pumped wilding to produce mana. The mana he had just consumed was replenished in an instant.
"Haha! Today, I'm going to savor some dragon meat."
"You're getting too cocky, you little worm from hell."
Balhard lunged at the demon.
The two behemoths collided.
***
"Shall we begin?"
Damien said and looked at the two demons.
Both of them were far stronger than the demon Laetitia he had fought before.
Unless he used the Nameless mana art to summon the power of a death knight, he couldn't afford to underestimate either of them with his human body.
"You insolent brat! I'll split your head open!"
Asthar who had an axe in his one arm tried to attack Damien. But the demon next to him stopped him.
"Asthar, calm down. What if you rush in recklessly again and get knocked out like last time?"
"What? How dare you say that! Alter, shall I kill you first?"
"Calm down, you bullhead."
The demon with wings on its back raised both hands to stop Asthar.
"Your Highness also ordered us to work together, didn't he?"
"I can handle him alone!"
"Are you going to disobey His Highness's order?"
Asthar clamped his mouth shut at Alter's rebuke.
"And if you win, it's still a problem. If I let you fight alone, I'll be the one scolded by His Highness."
"Damn it, do as you please! But if you hold me back, I'll kill you first!"
"I'll have to be careful not to die then."
After their discussion, the two demons turned to Damien.
Feeling the menacing aura emanating from the demons, Damien responded with a sneer.
"How long are you going to just chatter? Come on."
Damien showed his middle finger to Asthar causing his face to turn red with anger.
"Alright! I'll crush that insolent mouth of yours right now!"
Asthar swung his massive axe at Damien. As a Marquis class demon, the speed and power behind the axe was extraordinary.
Damien focused on dodging Asthar's attacks. At the same time, he analyzed Asthar's movements.
"Damien Haksen! What's wrong with you? You're much slower than before!"
Asthar taunted Damien with a sneer.
"Killing you in such a weakling state would just be a waste of time! Hurry up and use your dark magic!"
"I'm not stupid enough to use a battle axe to kill a chicken."
But as soon as Damien mocked him, Asthar's face turned beet red.
At that moment, Damien's eyes changed.
He had sensed the brief opening created by the emotional disturbance.
Damien immediately swung Dawn towards Asthar's neck.
The aurablade emitted from Dawn created a giant blade.
Gigantification.
The realm of the First Holy Emperor Bartholomeo unfolded. A sword large enough to split a mountain struck Asthar's neck.
The giant sword slammed Asthar into the ground. The impact cracked the ground.
But Asthar's neck was still intact. No, it was more than that; it was completely unharmed.
Fragments of light were protecting Asthar's neck.
"Damn it..."
Asthar rose and the giant sword was pushed back. It hadn't even managed to cut through the armor.
"Is that all you've got?"
Asthar grasped the giant sword with both hands. Fragments of light gathered on Asthar's hands as well.
Asthar exerted force, and the giant sword shattered. Despite being condensed from an aurablade, it couldn't withstand it.
"My power is 'invulnerability'. Nothing in this world can harm my body."
The armor covering his neck began to expand. Soon, it enveloped Asthar's entire body.
"Damien Haksen, your sword won't even scratch me."
Asthar discarded his axe and charged towards Damien. He swung his empowered fist.
It was too dangerous to block. Damien retreated to avoid the attack.
Asthar's fist plunged into the ground. The ground turned to dust with a loud crash.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Asthar shouted and continued to chase after Damien. Damien twisted his lips and said.
"Don't worry. I have no intention of running."
He had already anticipated Asthar's movements.
Damien narrowly dodged Asthar's attacks and swung Dawn.
Numerous slashes rained down, targeting Asthar's joints. But only the sound of metal scraping could be heard; Asthar's body was unharmed.
"I told you it was useless!"
Asthar laughed loudly and became more aggressive.
'This is troublesome.'
Asthar was totally an abomination with unbreakable armor and tremendous speed and also solely focused on attacking.
'But his movements are monotonous. I can easily avoid attacks like these...'
At that moment, Damien's vision changed. Suddenly, the sky and the ground were flipped.
Damien was taken aback. He couldn't avoid Asthar's attack in time.
"I'll shatter every bone in your body!"
Asthar's empowered fist struck towards Damien.
It was too late to dodge. Damien tried to deflect Asthar's attack.
But his body moved contrary to his intention. Instead of his right hand holding Dawn, his left arm moved.
Asthar's fist struck Damien's abdomen. Damien was sent flying backward.
"You're still alive."
Asthar said regretfully.
Unbeknownst to Asthar, armor had already covered Damien's body.
Hemaera.
The demonic armor that Damien had obtained earlier had moved on its own to protect its master.
"Ugh."
Damien spat out blood. Thanks to Hemaera, his body wasn't crushed, but his internal injuries were in a bad state.
'What's going on?'
Damien moved his body around.
"When I try to move my head, my eyes close. When I try to move my arm, my waist bends."
Damien's senses and body were moving completely differently.
"Surprised? Strange, isn't it?"
Damien managed to lift his head with difficulty. Far away, the demon with bird wings was grinning grotesquely.
"That's my power 'Distortion'. All your senses are messed up now. You won't be able to move, let alone fight."
Only then did Damien realize what had happened to him.
"By the way, I can also do this with my power."
Alter, the bird-winged demon reached out into the void. Then, the demon's hand disappeared.
Immediately afterward, the demon's blade hand emerged from beneath Damien's neck.
Damien turned his head to avoid the demon's attack.
"I distorted space. It's fun... wait."
Alter looked puzzled and asked.
"How did you just dodge that?"
Damien stood up. He relaxed his shoulders and stretched leisurely.
Alter was once again taken aback by the sight.
"You couldn't have possibly undone my power..."
"Thanks to you talking, I've pretty much figured it out."
Alter's power was still acting on Damien's body.
That was why Damien was moving his body despite his messed-up senses.
"What nonsense are you spouting? That's impossible!"
Alter shouted.
To understand the complexly twisted senses in such a short time and move his body skillfully?
Even after using the 'Distortion' power for many years, he had never seen such a case.
"I'm just a bit of a genius."
Damien said casually. Alter looked dumbfounded.
"Alter! How long are you going to chatter?"
Asthar shouted, charging towards Damien. He swung both fists at once.
Damien immediately gave his body an order. He jumped off the ground to avoid Asthar's attack.
"It's impossible, impossible..."
Alter was even more shocked when Damien not only stood up but also dodged the attack.
"Alter! Don't just stand there! Attack him!"
Asthar shouted. Alter finally came to his senses.
"Alright, alright. Let's kill him first."
Alter spread his wings, and feathers shot out in all directions.
Alter immediately distorted the space. The feathers disappeared and then poured down on Damien.
Damien swung Dawn to cut the feathers. The feathers exploded immediately.
"Damien Haksen!"
Asthar emerged from the explosion. Damien narrowly dodged Asthar's fist, barely avoiding it by a hair’s breadth.
'I can't hold on much longer.'
In truth, Damien's situation wasn't that good. With his messed-up senses, he could only barely dodge attacks.
'As expected, there's a limit to my current abilities.'
A Marquis class demon was a powerful being comparable to a grandmaster.
Damien hadn't yet reached the realm of a grandmaster.
'It can't be helped. I'll use it one more time.'
Damien manifested the Authority of Envy.
The mana flowing through his body was transformed into a dark mana. Damien immediately activated the Nameless mana art.
Damien's eyes turned blood red. At the same time, darkness began to ignite beneath his feet.
"Ha! So you're finally going to use that!"
Asthar was overjoyed when Damien activated the Nameless mana art.
"Good! Now I'll give it to you good! I'll crush you right..."
At that moment, darkness spread out from Damien. The darkness covered the feet of Asthar and Alter.
Damien stepped into the darkness. Immediately, spears shot up from the darkness.
Countless spears pierced Asthar and Alter.
"Aahhhhh!"
Alter screamed. His head drooped as his entire body was impaled by spears.
"Alter!"
On the other hand, Asthar was unharmed. It was thanks to the power of invulnerability that had blocked the spears.
"Damien Haksen! I'll kill you!"
Asthar broke the spears and charged towards Damien.
When he broke all the spears, Damien's figure appeared.
Damien held a sword made of an aurablade and attacked Asthar.
"I told you it was useless!"
However, Asthar didn't dodge. He trusted in the power of invulnerability.
But Damien wasn't just swinging his sword blindly.
Sword God.
Damien swung his sword down. The black aurablade fell on Asthar's head.
The strike that cut through everything severed Asthar's body.
"..."
Asthar couldn't even scream. By the time he realized his fate, his body had already been split in two.
Despite defeating two powerful enemies, Damien didn't seem happy at all.
It was because the real threat was yet to come.
"Vahel."
Damien stared at the dimensional portal floating in the sky and said.,
"Now it's your turn. Come out."
***
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kie]
[Proofreader - Kawaii]
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