Chapter 203
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
Chapter 203: Duel (2)
***
Those who saw ‘Eternal Darkness’ for the first time often mistook it for destructive dark magic.
However, contrary to appearances, Eternal Darkness was a curse-based dark magic.
What seemed like droplets were actually high-density curses.
The curse from Eternal Darkness could seep into the body upon contact, but even if it didn’t, it hardly mattered.
The moment it struck, it dispersed into the air and was absorbed through the respiratory system.
Once a certain amount of the curse accumulated, it would absorb large quantities of vitality and mana of a person, then transform into spikes that burst outwards.
The reason Eternal Darkness had such a complex structure was to kill high-level knights.
High-class knights have a technique called ‘Aura armor’ which uses mana to protect their bodies.
This aura armor was incredibly tough, most dark magics failed to penetrate it.
But Eternal Darkness was different; it infiltrated the body and wreaked havoc from within, bypassing the Aura armor entirely.
Eternal Darkness pretended to be a destructive spell to deceive knights into complacency, allowing the curse to penetrate as quickly as possible.
However, even Eternal Darkness didn’t work on Master-class knights.
Even if the curse accumulated within their bodies, the sheer force of a Master-class’s aura suppressed its effects, rendering it nearly useless.
That’s why Damien decided to amplify the Eternal Darkness with the Authority of Wrath.
However, The Authority of Wrath could only amplify things it came in contact with.
So Damien sought a chance to get close to Javier, aiming to amplify the curse with the Authority of Wrath.
“Cough… urgh!”
For the first time, Javier let out a groan full of pain.
The vitality and mana that had filled his body evaporated in an instant, and spikes erupted from deep within.
His insides, muscles, and bones were all pierced by these spikes. His entire body was impaled. His body was full of holes.
“Aaaaah!”
They were wounds that could easily have caused instant death. But the vitality of a Master-class refused to let him die.
However, even that was just a matter of time. Now, Javier’s innards were all torn apart, with dozens of holes piercing through him.
It was a fatal wound that even a Master-class knight couldn’t survive.
“You… you… damn you…!”
Javier’s eyes were filled with bloodshot rage.
Had he ever been humiliated like this since reaching the level of Master-class?
Rage boiled within Javier. He wanted to kill Damien immediately, but his body wouldn’t cooperate.
“You shouldn’t have let your guard down.”
Damien said, pulling out a sword from a spatial ring.
The blade of Dawn glistened with a menacing blue aura.
“What… what are you planning to do?”
Javier shouted.
Javier had no chance of survival. But Damien knew he had to finish him off for good; Javier was a Master-class knight, after all.
“P-please, spare me.”
Javier pleaded in a desperate voice.
“I’ll give you anything! My swordsmanship, my secrets, my wealth, my title—whatever you want!”
Damien didn’t even respond. He stood beside Javier and raised his Dawn.
“…Hah, hahahaha,” a grotesque laugh escaped Javier’s lips.
“Go ahead, kill me. But you won’t be bored for long. Your companions will be coming into hell with me.”
Damien’s hand stopped for a moment at those words.
“By now, my men have probably killed all your companions. We’ll all meet in the underworld together.”
Javier said with a twisted grin, his eyes filled with wicked glee.
“Dead?” Damien replied with a perplexed look.
“The knights of the Dophlin Kingdom are all Middle-class except for Joshua. Your friends can’t handle my men.”
Javier taunted.
But Damien trusted Michael and Veronica. No knight at their level could defeat those two.
“Sure, they’re Middle-class, but my subordinates aren’t just ordinary knights.”
Javier said, pride spreading across his face.
“They’ve been trained and handpicked by me personally.”
Damien looked at him quizzically.
“It still won’t make a difference.”
He said, confused by Javier’s confidence.
Had he not noticed how gifted Michael and Veronica were?
“I know who you’re counting on—the boy and that woman, right? Sure, they’re not ordinary.”
Javier scoffed.
“But even a genius has limits. It’s hard to fight dozens of skilled Middle-class knights at once.”
The knights from the Apple Kingdom numbered fewer than ten, while those from the Dophlin Kingdom numbered over thirty.
“You’re all going to die! Not just those two lackeys you’re so proud of, but even the servants!” Javier shouted with confidence.
That’s when Damien realized what Javier was counting on the strength in numbers.
“Seriously?” Damien let out a small laugh. How could he think numbers would be enough to beat those two?
“Seems like you’re just a blind fool.”
He said with a smirk.
It wasn’t entirely Javier’s fault. He’d been basing his judgments on his own experience.
Back when he was Middle-class, he wouldn’t have been able to handle over thirty other Middle-class knights, so he assumed those two couldn’t either.
But Michael and Veronica were among the top ten most talented knights Damien had ever seen, in both his past and present lives.
In terms of sheer talent, they far surpassed Javier.
Trying to judge them with such a limited perspective was laughable.
Damien clicked his tongue with a look of disdain.
* * *
‘Piece of cake.’
Egg thought as he prepared for battle.
As Javier Silva’s right-hand man, he was confident.
The Dophlin Kingdom had over thirty knights on their side, while the other group had fewer than ten.
‘While Sir Joshua holds off Liam Bluegreen, we’ll clean up here.’
But as soon as the battle started, everything changed.
The Dophlin Kingdom’s knights had their heads chopped off in an instant. Within the blink of an eye, more than a dozen bodies lay strewn across the ground.
And it was all because of just one knight.
“Kyaa-hah! This feeling! I’ve been waiting for this!”
A crazy woman shouted with hands filled with blood. With each swing of her twin swords, blood sprayed and limbs were severed.
“Argh! Aaahhh!”
“R-run! The witch… the witch is coming!”
The swordsmanship of the woman sent the knights from the Dophlin Kingdom into a panic.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going? Get back here! I’ll let you live if you let me cut off an arm!”
As a result of being outmatched in skill, the morale of the Dophlin knights plummeted, leaving them at the mercy of the ruthless woman.
“Who is that woman…?”
“No time for chit-chat!”
A greatsword came down from above, and Egg barely parried it with his longsword.
A blond young man wielding the greatsword stood in front of him. Egg frowned and shouted.
“Kid! Get out of my way!”
Egg lunged at the young man. The greatsword and the longsword clashed in the air several times.
“You’re not bad for a rookie!”
Despite his words, Egg was getting desperate. He needed to deal with this youngster quickly and then help his fellow knights.
“This is annoying.”
The young man’s expression shifted.
“Who are you calling a rookie, old man?”
He said with disdain.
The greatsword’s movements changed.
It became much faster and much rougher, yet remarkably precise.
Egg quickly found himself on the back foot, retreating without even realizing it.
“Th-this rookie…”
“I told you not to call me that.”
The greatsword flashed, and in an instant, the arm holding Egg’s longsword was severed.
“Argh! Aaaaahhh!”
Egg clutched his shoulder and staggered backward.
“A monster like Damien Haksen… there’s another one?”
He exclaimed in pain.
“Another one?” Michael scoffed.
“Don’t compare my brother to someone like me.”
Without hesitation, Michael swung his greatsword.
Egg’s head flew off into the distance.
* * *
“Even if what you say is true… there’s still Joshua. Even Liam Bluegreen can’t do anything to him.”
Javier said with a smirk.
Damien nodded, which made Javier frown. It was strange how easily Damien agreed.
“Your son may not be particularly skilled, but he has an absurd amount of mana. Did you pump him full of potions?”
Damien asked nonchalantly.
‘Flying sword’ technique consumed an enormous amount of mana.
When two swordsmen faced off using the ‘Flying Sword’ technique, the one with the greater reserves of mana would often have held the advantage.
“That’s why I need to lend a hand.”
Damien said, drawing a magic circle in the air with his dark mana.
“What are you doing now?” J
Javier asked, his voice tense.
“Putting a curse on him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You can’t curse a High-class from this far away!”
“No, I can’t do anything too dangerous.”
Damien admitted.
Even he couldn’t place a high-level curse on a High-class without proper preparation.
But he didn’t need anything too elaborate. Just a minor curse would suffice.
A minor misstep was all it took to tip the balance in a battle between High-classes.
“Done.”
Damien said as light burst from the dark magic circle.
* * *
Spikes made of aura fell from the sky.
Liam Bluegreen swung his sword twice toward the sky, creating two giant slashes in the air that formed ‘X’ and the spikes vanished.
Huff! Huff!
Liam panted heavily after expending a large amount of mana with that move.
“You’ve lasted longer than I expected.”
Joshua said while touching down on the ground. His casual demeanor elicited a grimace from Liam.
A kid barely out of diapers showing such disrespect. Compared to him, even Damien Haksen had more manners… but Liam shook his head. That wasn’t quite right.
“Sir Liam, it’s best you give up now. There’s no point in fighting any longer.”
Joshua said.
Both of them were using ‘Flying sword’ technique.
In a battle between such swordsmen, the amount of mana one had was crucial.
However much he tried to reduce the wastage of his mana, Joshua had nearly twice the mana of Liam.
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Liam said, knowing he was responsible for everyone on this journey. He had an obligation to protect the other knights, and he couldn’t shirk his duty just because his life was at risk.
“If you really want to die, then I suppose there’s nothing I can do.”
Joshua said, raising his sword as mana swirled around the blade.
The amount of mana was overwhelming, almost unbelievable.
Even the overgrown weeds on the ground were flattened by the sheer force of it.
Joshua stepped forward and swung his sword down.
But at that moment, Joshua’s ankle twisted.
“Huh…?”
“Eh…?”
He had stepped into a slight dip in the ground, causing him to stumble and lose his balance.
Unable to swing his sword, the gathered mana dispersed into the air.
Liam didn’t miss that moment.
“Wait, wait!”
Joshua cried in desperation, but it was too late.
Liam’s sword sliced through Joshua’s neck.
* * *
“We’ve been talking too long.”
Damien gathered his remaining dark mana from the air.
All that was left was a mere handful; the rest had been used up during the fight with Javier.
With the remaining dark mana, Damien dug a deep hole in the ground.
Javier frowned at the sight of it.
“What’s that for?”
“I have my reasons to keep my power hidden.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I never defeated you. You disappeared while chasing me, and I never saw your body.”
Javier’s eyes widened as he understood Damien’s intention. He was planning to bury him and act like he was never there.
Dawn swung through the air, and Javier’s head fell into the hole. His body soon followed.
Damien filled the hole with the remaining dark mana.
“Now all that’s left is to make up a story.”
Just then, a massive explosion erupted from where his companions were.
A loud roar shook the ground, and a towering black pillar rose into the sky.
No, it wasn’t a pillar; it was a mass of dark mana that only looked like one.
Not many people could control that much dark mana.
Damien’s expression hardened.
* * *
Damien rushed back to the scene.
It was a horrific sight. All the knights from the Apple Kingdom lay on the ground, mortally wounded. Among them were Veronica and Michael.
Their bodies continued to bleed heavily, but Damien couldn’t rush to help them.
A presence standing before him prevented him from moving.
The face was identical to Joshua Silva, but something was off.
A third eye protruded from his forehead, and his hair had turned stark white, like an old man’s.
Most unsettling was his right arm, merged with a demonic sword.
“I came here because my host was in danger…… and I see an unexpected guest?”
The golden eyes twisted like an upside-down crescent moon.
It wasn’t Joshua’s voice. It sounded much older, far more ancient.
“Damien Haksen! The man who messed up the plan of Sla! I never thought I’d see someone like you here!”
Damien felt the same way. He never expected to encounter this person, and definitely not like this.
The giant evil of Pandemonium.
The master of demonic swords.
The lord of all weapons.
The one who took his father’s soul in a past life.
The Weapon Master had possessed Joshua Silva’s body and descended upon this place.
***
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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