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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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Chapter 178: Rubia (3)
***
“Kardak’s… poison?” Rubia uttered in disbelief.
“Impossible… This can’t be… Kardak’s poison isn’t something just anyone can handle…!”
The poisons of the Venom sect were notoriously complex, requiring specialized knowledge and techniques to handle them effectively.
Using them carelessly could render the poison ineffective or even lead to unintentional self-infliction.
“Apparently, I’m not just anyone.”
Damien replied nonchalantly.
Damien’s mind was like an extensive repository of knowledge, including plenty of information on poisons.
“But… if it’s Kardak’s poison… why… why is it only showing symptoms now?”
“Because I modified it to do so.”
Damien did not use Kardak’s poison in its original form. He used his knowledge to alter its composition, delaying the onset of symptoms until after the battle.
“If I used it without modifying it, you would have detected it immediately and neutralized it.”
The Berserker sect adeptly manipulated their bodies, making them nearly invincible against poisons. If necessary, they could simply cut off the poisoned body part.
Damien thus delayed the poison’s effects until Rubia was at her most vulnerable and unable to resist it.
“Honestly, you were quite a formidable opponent.”
Rubia was a powerful opponent. During the War of Destruction, Both male and female disciples of Sla were feared as the nemesis of knights.
They certainly had a powerful ability to release pheromones that captivated people regardless of gender but it wasn’t their main strength.
The true power of Sla’s disciples had lain in their exceptional combat prowess.
Despite the belief that Berserker sect’s dark mages were inferior to knights, Sla’s disciples consistently outmatched them.
Among them, Rubia stood out as particularly skilled, one of the few disciples capable of facing off against Master Class knights.
Naturally, Rubia was far from posing a threat to the Master class at this point.
Despite her formidable abilities, Rubia’s regeneration power posed a significant challenge for Damien.
“Your regeneration ability was the most troublesome. While the aura could inflict fatal wounds but it was not sufficient to kill you.”
Damien’s primary concern in his battle against Rubia was her regenerative prowess.
Physical attributes like strength, agility, and stamina could be overpowered by Damien’s superior skills. However, countering regeneration was a very difficult task.
That’s when Kardak’s poison came into play, a gruesome yet effective tool to eliminate Rubia.
“Thanks to you, I’ve gained a lot.”
Damien had never fully unleashed his potential as a knight. It was difficult for him to determine his actual strength because most of his opponents in the past were weaker than him.
But the battle against Rubia provided him with a clear assessment of his capabilities.
“With my current strength, I can at least hold my own against a Master Class.”
Rubia didn’t hear Damien’s last words because the poison had already taken hold of her body and was quickly killing her.
“Impossible… this can’t be…”
With a final murmur, Rubia’s life came to an end. Her soul seemed to be released from the restrictions of this world as it rose from her rotting corpse.
“Ahhhhh…”
Rubia’s soul appeared to be filled with a sense of liberation now that she was free of her physical form. She turned to the sky and flew towards it with full of joy.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Naturally, Damien was not going to allow her to flee. He extended his hand and grasped Rubia’s soul.
“Huh? What the?”
Rubia’s face filled with confusion as she struggled to break free from Damien’s grip. But no matter how hard she tried, she was unable to escape his grasp.
“This is impossible… You’re… you’re a knight! How can you… my soul…!”
Damien felt no need to explain and proceeded to crush Rubia’s soul.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
With Rubia’s soul extinguished Damien made his way to the Mercenary king.
***
“Damn it! Why won’t it pierce?!”
Inside the vast cavern, a man roared in frustration.
“This awl is made of rare metal! It’s even coated with aura, so why is it bouncing off?!”
Fabio scowled as a pile of bent awls lay at his feet.
“Even for the Mercenary King, this is ridiculous!”
Fabio yelled at the figure lying on the stone slab.
A youthful appearance with startlingly white hair – a boyish figure entirely out of place in this harsh environment.
Anyone witnessing this scene would be astonished. After all, the young man on the slab was none other than the Mercenary King.
“Damn it! Let’s see if you can deflect this one too!”
Fabio pulled out a new awl. This one pulsed with a dark aura.
Without hesitation, Fabio thrust the awl towards the Mercenary King’s palm. But the moment it touched his skin, the awl shattered with a sharp clang.
“Dammit!”
Fabio cursed again. The Mercenary King was a Transcendent, a being far beyond the realm of even Master Class warriors. His body was so incredibly tough that even High Class aura couldn’t scratch him.
“I have to get some of his blood before he arrives…”
His face was etched with worry as he gnawed on his nails. Just then, the Mercenary King shifted on the slab. Fabio’s face turned pale in an instant.
Fabio’s face filled with terror as he stared at the Mercenary King. Time seemed to crawl by. When the Mercenary King showed no further signs of waking, Fabio finally exhaled a shaky breath of relief.
“Phew… Whew, that was close. I thought he was waking up.”
The young man glanced at the lamp resting beside the slab. The child-sized lamp was intricately crafted in the shape of a dragon’s head.
There was a continuous flow of pink smoke from the lamp, curling into the Mercenary King’s nostrils like a living creature.
“There you go.” the young man chuckled. “Still working perfectly. How could he possibly wake up now?”
His amusement was short-lived. A grating screech echoed as the stone door of the cave entrance began to grind open.
The young man turned towards the sound, a smirk playing on his lips. Few knew of this hidden location.
“Surely it’s Rubia. A solo visit at such an hour would be quite inconvenient.”
Fabio’s grin morphed into something sinister. But his expression quickly contorted into a frown.
The figure emerging from the shadows wasn’t Rubia. It was a tall, well-built young man.
“Sorry, not Rubia.” the newcomer said with a shrug.
“Who are you?”
“No idea. Where’s the Mercenary King? Ah, there he is.”
The young man took a tentative step forward. Fabio reacted instantly, drawing his sword and pointing it menacingly.
“Don’t take another step or I’ll cleave your head in two.”
The young man remained unfazed, continuing his slow advance.
Fabio unleashed his dark mana, and a dark aura covered the blade of his sword.
“Foolish boy! Do you dare defy my warning?”
With his dark magic and Dark Knight abilities, Fabio stood at the pinnacle of the High Class. Dark Knights had a significant advantage over ordinary knights due to their dark magic and raw strength.
“Do you even know who I am? I’m Fabio, they call me…”
“Doesn’t matter.”
The young man interrupted, casually slinging his sword over his shoulder.
Fabio’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What did you just say?”
The young man shrugged dismissively.
“I said I don’t care who you are. You’re nothing to me.”
Fabio stared, bewildered.
“When did you…”
His sentence died in his throat as a blade flashed. Blood erupted from a gaping wound in his neck.
Fabio grasped at his throat, the life draining from his eyes.
“Impossible…”
He choked out before his eyes rolled back and his body crumpled to the ground.
“You’re being a pain in the ass.”
After putting away the dawn, Damien approached the Mercenary King.
The Mercenary King was fast asleep, so soundly that anyone could pick him up and carry him away.
“Someone suffered a lot because of you, and you’re sleeping so comfortably.”
He thought about hitting him, but he held back. It would only hurt Damien’s fist.
“What the hell happened? How did this monster not even budge?”
While observing the surroundings, Damien discovered a large lamp placed next to the bed.
It was a lamp shaped like a dragon’s head.
Damien’s eyes widened as soon as he saw it.
“…Isn’t that a Dragon Slayer’s relic?”
In modern times, dragons were creatures that only appeared in legends.
However, it was different in the distant past. Dragons could be seen from time to time, though not often.
Therefore, among ancient relics, there were those that were created to hunt dragons.
This lamp was one of them.
It was a relic that induced a dragon’s sleep and rendered it powerless.
It was a great item, but it wasn’t very useful. It was too difficult to use.
First, the dragon had to be exposed to the fragrance emitted by this lamp for a long time.
“Even if you put it to sleep with great difficulty, it will wake up as soon as it feels its life is in danger.”
The reason Damien knew so much about this relic was because he had watched Dorugo, study it during his time as a Death Knight.
“I think I know why you were so easily defeated by Rubia.”
Since Rubia was the Mercenary King’s favorite woman, she would have had plenty of opportunities to come into contact with him.
Rubia could have gathered the fragrance of the lamp and filled the room with it whenever the Mercenary King came to visit her.
Damien turned off the lamp’s light. As a result, no more smoke was emitted from the lamp.
Even so, the Mercenary King did not wake up. He was still sound asleep.
“It must take some time to get out of the relic’s influence.”
Thinking that it might be useful someday, Damien put the lamp into his subspace.
Then, he picked up the sleeping Mercenary King and walked out of the cave.
And then he couldn’t help but stop in his tracks. Someone was standing outside.
It was a man with a withered body.
His skin was stretched tightly over his facial bones. His bare upper body revealed his ribs clearly.
Thick iron chains were wrapped around his emaciated arms and legs.
“Where are you going in such a hurry~?”
The man asked Damien. Looking at the man, Damien clicked his tongue.
“I must have bad luck.”
Damien could tell who the man was.
A lunatic affiliated with Pandemonium.
A criminal being pursued by the Imperial Archduke.
One of the lovers of the great evil Sla.
A dark knight who had ascended to Master Class.
The Iron Spider, Valentino Michele, was standing before him.
***
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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