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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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Chapter 204: Duel (3)
***
Liam Bluegreen’s sword severed Joshua’s neck.
Joshua’s head fell to the ground, followed by his headless body.
Liam collapsed to the floor. He was exhausted from the fierce battle. His breath came in ragged gasps. His mouth was filled with the taste of blood. blood.
“…I was lucky. Very lucky.”
If Joshua hadn’t stumbled at the last moment, the outcome could have been different.
Liam surveyed the other knights.
Most of the knights of the Dophlin Kingdom were either dead or subdued, all thanks to Michael and Veronica.
“Both of them are truly geniuses.”
Liam had already known that Michael was a genius, but he hadn’t realized Veronica was as well.
It wasn’t for nothing that Damien had recommended her as a participant. A genius like her was hard to find anywhere.
“My past self looks pathetic.”
Liam was lost in thought when he heard a voice call out to him.
“Sir Liam! You fought well!”
Michael rushed towards Liam, his armor stained with blood, but thankfully not his own.
“You fought well too, Sir Michael.”
“It was nothing. But we need to help my brother quickly…”
Michael’s steps slowed, and his eyes began to tremble violently.
“…Sir Liam, what is that?”
Liam reflexively turned around.
Joshua was rising to his feet, despite clearly having no head.
The crossguard of the longsword Joshua was holding swung open, revealing teeth and gums.
-What is this? The host is dead?
A strange voice came from within.
Liam and the other knights were frozen in shock by the sudden apparition.
-This is strange. Javier is here, but the host is dead? What on earth happened?
The headless body of Joshua bent down, picked up its head, and attached it to its neck.
Plop!
Muscles and skin began to knit together. The junction was a mess, like a hastily welded seam.
Joshua’s hair began to bleach white, and a third eye appeared on his forehead.
-I have to move myself to find that bastard. This is rather unpleasant.
Something spread out from Joshua, or rather, from the unrecognizable entity that had taken his place.
In that moment, Liam had an illusion of being swallowed by darkness.
No sky, no ground. Empty, devoid of even a speck of light.
He felt an overwhelming psychic pressure. A biting chill and fear gripped him. He felt like he would go mad if he stayed in this state any longer.
Liam desperately resisted. Then, the hallucination faded, and the real world came back into view.
“Phew, wheeze!”
Liam exhaled heavily. His heart pounded as if it would burst.
-What is this?
The ‘something’ before his eyes showed no interest in Liam at all. It muttered, rolling its third eye around.
-You’re dead? How did this happen? Did the guy next to you kill you? Just a High-Class? That can’t be right?
‘Something’ seemed to be greatly confused, though it was unclear what was going on.
This was a stroke of luck for Liam. While ‘something’ was distracted, Liam looked around at the other knights.
As expected, all the knights were unconscious, foaming at the mouth.
However, not all of them were. Michael and Veronica were barely hanging on.
“Ughh… .”
“Uhhh… .”
But they were still unable to escape the hallucination. Liam clenched his teeth and shouted.
“Michael! Veronica!”
The two came to their senses at the shout that was infused with mana.
Liam drew all his remaining mana and converted it into an aura.
“I’ll hold them off here! Escape, just the two of you!”
Liam unleashed the aura towards the something. A massive beam of light flew towards it.
It was dangerous to exert himself so much from the start. But Liam had no choice.
He couldn’t just leave that dangerous being and think about what to do next…
-Why are you getting so excited?
The aura was split in half. The longsword was also shattered. At the same time, blood spurted from Liam’s torso.
When? How?
With questions, Liam’s body collapsed to the ground.
“Sir Liam!”
Michael rushed over in a panic, but before he could take a few steps, blood also spurted from Michael’s body.
It wasn’t just Michael. Veronica’s body was also wounded. The two collapsed to the ground, bleeding profusely.
The moment he saw that, Liam realized what technique he had been hit with.
He had heard of it before. It was said that those who were among the strongest of the Master Class could inflict wounds on people with just their killing intent.
In that case, the identity of that thing must be…
“Ma, Master… .”
All hope vanished from Liam’s face.
-I won’t kill you if you stay still. You’re valuable bait, you see.
Bait?
The moment Liam questioned that word, something fell from the sky.
-Oh?
An exclamation of surprise burst from the something’s mouth.
-Damien Haksen! The man who messed up the plan of Sla! I never thought I’d see someone like you here!”
***
Damien stared silently at the Weapon Master.
The giant evil of Pandemonium, the ruler of the demonic swords. And the man who had tortured his father’s soul.
The reason why the Weapon Master had tortured his father’s soul was because of Damien.
The Weapon Master had the ability to control any demonic sword.
However, there was one exception.
Erebos was the only one that the Weapon Master could not control. On the contrary, whenever the Weapon Master tried to touch it, Erebos resisted and even inflicted fatal wounds on him.
In the end, the Weapon Master was forced to give up Erebos, his pride severely wounded.
After that, when Erebos chose Damien, the Weapon Master went berserk with anger.
-All demonic swords are mine! I’m not going to hand them over to a mindless fool like you!
He had even gone so far as to disobey Dorugo’s orders and attack Damien.
However, at that time, Damien was not someone that the Weapon Master could handle.
The Weapon Master was driven to the brink of death by Damien’s self-defense function.
If Dorugo hadn’t stopped him, the Weapon Master would have lost his life right there.
-This… this damn bastard… how dare… how dare he… to my body…!
And not long after that, the Weapon Master came to see Damien again.
He brought with him a rotting undead dog.
-See? This is your father.
The Weapon Master had forcibly stuffed Damien’s father’s soul into the body of a dog.
Inside, his father was tormented by the horrific pain of his body rotting and maggots eating his flesh.
Crack!
Just thinking about it made his teeth grind together. Damien suppressed the rising killing intent.
It was no use to be angry. What was before him was not real.
It was just Joshua’s body being controlled through the demonic sword.
-I should have seen that bastard’s face myself! Not being able to do that is the regret of my life!
Unlike the angry Damien, the Weapon Master spoke in an excited voice.
-It’s such a waste to leave a guy like you alone! Come under me! I’ll make you have all the power in the world!
The Weapon Master stretched out his hand. Damien stared at the hand blankly and said.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
-What? Why? Are you not a dark knight? Don’t worry. There are many ordinary knights and mages in Pandemonium who have joined us to destroy the empire.
“How on earth can a supposed ‘man’ stoop to the level of associating with lowly dog like you? I refuse to degrade myself by even considering such a ludicrous proposition!”
The Weapon Master’s face contorted slightly at Damien’s refusal.
-Oh, I see. You were a servant of the church, weren’t you? I’m rescinding my recruitment offer.
The Weapon Master calmly retracted his offer.
-Instead, I will rip your head and spine ripped out. There are plenty of dark mages who covet you. You’ll be a very expensive commodity.
Dark mana was supplied from the demonic sword. As he absorbed the dark magic, the Weapon Master’s aura grew even stronger.
“Brother… .”
Michael, who was lying on the ground, raised his head with difficulty.
“You must… escape… .”
Michael was right. The situation was too bad right now.
He had used up all his dark mana fighting Javier. Damien had no dark mana or way to use his past peak state.
Right now, Damien had no way to fight the Weapon Master.
“I feel it every time, but you guys are really like cockroaches.”
Even so, Damien didn’t seem to be in a hurry.
“You’re invisible when I’m looking for you on purpose. But that doesn’t mean you’re not there. You’re just hiding in dirty places like sewers and garbage cans, hatching your eggs.”
He just continued speaking with a tired expression.
“That’s why I’m always prepared for the worst. I never know when, where, or how I’ll meet you guys.”
Damien muttered as he stretched his hand into the air.
“Erebos.”
A long pole appeared. Erebos was tied to the end of the pole with wire.
-…….
The moment Erebos appeared, the Weapon Master’s body froze.
-……What is that?
Damien pulled out Erebos, which was attached to the end of the pole.
The blade was very short because he hadn’t been able to collect many pieces.
-I’ve never seen a demonic sword like that… What… What is that?
The Weapon Master couldn’t take his eyes off Erebos.
As an expert in weapons, he quickly realized what Erebos was worth.
-Give it to me… Give it to me… Give it to me…
“Shut up.”
Damien opened a subspace. He took out two objects from it.
The moment he did, the temperature fluctuated. It rose rapidly like he had entered a lava field and then dropped to winter levels.
-Mithra Holy Water and Flower of Fire?
The Weapon Master’s eyes widened as he saw it.
He couldn’t help but react, even though he was completely focused on Erebos.
The two elixirs were that precious.
-You have some extravagant things? Are you seriously thinking of offering those to me and begging for your life?
Damien had knowledge and experience beyond that of a Master Class. But even so, Damien still couldn’t reach Master Class.
This was because of his physical abilities and mana he had not reached that level.
Less than a year had passed since his regression. He had become too strong in too short a time, and he couldn’t help but lack those two things.
“I was originally planning to reach Master Class in a safe way.”
Thanks to the Mithra Holy Water and Flower of Fire, his mana problem was solved.
All that remained was to train his body and consume the two elixirs.
Then Damien would finally be able to reach the Master Class he had so desired.
“I guess there’s no other way now.”
He had no choice but to forcibly raise his peak state, even if it meant taking some risks.
Damien put the two elixirs in his mouth. Elixirs with different auras went down his throat.
-What the hell is this crazy bastard doing!
The Weapon Master said with a bewildered expression.
-Swallowing elixirs with opposing auras at the same time? If you want to kill yourself, you should just hang yourself or something!
The elixirs reached his stomach.
The two elixirs dissolved instantly. It turned into pure mana.
Then the two mana collided and exploded.
A huge mana shock shook his whole body. It was as if his whole body was being torn apart.
No, it wasn’t ‘as if’.
Damien’s body was actually collapsing. Cracks spread throughout his bones. His muscles swelled to the point of bursting.
Endless pain struck him, and the fear of death enveloped his entire body.
Damien suppressed all of that. At the same time, he used three mana cultivation techniques.
Supreme Absorption Technique, Cotton-Lined Forbidden Needle, Art of Sacrificial Raging Demon Manifestation.
He absorbed all the aura with the Supreme Absorption Technique and made the flow of mana smoother in his blood vessels with Cotton-Lined Forbidden Needle.
And he used the Art of Sacrificial Raging Demon Manifestation to grow his muscles. His muscles, which were about to burst, instead absorbed magic power and grew rapidly.
His body, which was about to burst, instantly stabilized.
But he couldn’t relax yet. If he left it like this, his body would eventually burst from the expanding magic power.
To reach Master Class, he had to use the Art of Sacrificial Raging Demon Manifestation to its limits.
He needed a life-or-death battle. Art of Sacrificial Raging Demon Manifestation was a mana cultivation technique that grew stronger in battle.
Damien looked at the Weapon Master. The Weapon Master was staring at Damien with a hardened expression.
-What the hell is this crazy bastard doing now…
“Third Ring.”
Damien used his fourth mana cultivation technique.
Combined Infinity Cycle.
Three rings were activated simultaneously. The resonance sound shook the whole world.
Damien pushed off the ground with both feet.
The rapid increase in his physical abilities thanks to the Art of Sacrificial Raging Demon Manifestation and the increase in power of his mana due to the Combined Infinity Cycle were combined.
Damien’s body stretched out. He broke through the wall of air. A series of sonic booms echoed.
Damien appeared in front of the Weapon Master’s nose. In that moment, a look of bewilderment passed over the Weapon Master’s face.
-……Did I miss my move?
Damien immediately swung Erebos. Erebos sliced through the air and tried to cut off the Weapon Master’s body.
-A High Class dares…
The Weapon Master gathered dark mana into the demonic sword. A black and purple aurablade covered the demonic sword.
-To charge straight at this body!
No weapon was any different from a piece of paper in front of the aurablade.
So Damien’s choice to approach the Weapon Master was the worst possible choice.
-I’ll cut your waist in half!
The Weapon Master swung his demonic sword at Damien.
The aurablade drew a black and purple trajectory and collided with Erebos.
And then, in the next instant, Erebos pushed the aurablade back.
-What?
The demonic sword was knocked up. At the same time, Damien twisted his waist and swung a second slash.
Erebos cut through the Weapon Master’s torso.
***
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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