[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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Chapter 265: Stubbornness (3)
***
Kilo’s shoulders shook intermittently. Eventually, he couldn’t hold back his tears.
Damien’s voice cut through the despair.
“Do you hate them? Do you want revenge?”
“I initially planned to knock you all out until the job was done. But I’ve changed my mind.”
His tear-streaked face was filled with confusion as he looked up.
He seemed to want to ask why Damien intended to knock them out.
“If you swear a vow of silence, to keep everything you witness here a secret until your dying breath, I’ll let you stay. You’ll get to see those two pieces of trash die.”
Damien pointed to Weaponmaster and Achilles. Weaponmaster burst out laughing.
“Kill me? That’s hilarious! I actually had a bit of a misunderstanding about you. I thought you were some newbie Dark mage trying to impress me”
His laughter gradually subsided, but a gleeful smile remained plastered on his face.
“But now that I’ve met you in person, I understand. You’ve come to really kill me.”
“It took you this long to realize? You’re slower than I thought.”
“Everyone who challenged me before followed Pandemonium’s proper procedures for a duel. You’re the first to act so recklessly.”
“Procedures? Preposterous! Why should scum like you deserve such formalities?”
“Haha, you’re a Dark mage yourself, aren’t you?”
At this, Damien twisted one corner of his mouth in silence.
“Come out, all of you.”
Damien spoke quietly. Shadows at his feet rippled, and the remaining undead emerged.
Weaponmaster briefly marveled at the armor the undead were wearing.
“Green Void Steel? How did you convince the Hammerfell dwarves to part with such a treasure?”
The undead clad in the Green Void Steel armor radiated an intimidating aura, yet the Weapon Master remained unfazed. In fact, he seemed increasingly exhilarated.
“This is interesting. Very interesting. But disappointing. Do you really think you can kill me with just this level of force?”
Damien didn’t answer Weaponmaster’s question. Instead, he gave an order to the undead.
“Dominico.”
-Yes, my lord.
“Seal off the city. No one enters, no one leaves.”
Dominico bowed again and vanished into the shadows, taking the rest of the undead with him.
“What? You’re dismissing all your soldiers? Planning to fight me alone?”
“You’re slow to grasp the situation. If you understand, prepare to fight.”
The Weapon Master’s laughter roared through the air.
“Reckless indeed… perhaps overconfident? But interesting nonetheless!”
Weaponmaster reached behind him and grabbed a spear from among the dozens of weapons on his back.
As soon as he grasped the spear, a red current surged, enveloping the entire weapon in crimson lightning.
Then, a crimson light engulfed the entire city, as if holding lightning in one’s hand.
“Vi-Victor! That’s dangerous! Run away from here right now!”
Seeing this, Kilo shouted urgently.
Weaponmaster possessed a staggering number of Demonic weapons.
Not all of his weapons were famous, but a select few were widely renowned.
The spear he gripped now belonged to that special category.
“The Demon Spear Jenewer! Its destructive power is so immense it can change the terrain with a single throw! Even a graze would make your entire body evaporate!”
Despite Kilo’s desperate cries, Damien stood still, showing no intention of dodging.
“Victor!”
Kilo shouted again. Damien remained silent as Weaponmaster prepared to throw the spear.
“If you can block this, I’ll acknowledge you.”
With a casual flick of his wrist, the Weapon Master launched the Demon Spear like tossing toy. The spear tore through the air, a crimson thunderbolt in its wake.
“Aaah…!”
Just as Kilo was about to close his eyes, Damien did something strange.
He opened a subspace and reached inside.
Just before the lightning could reach him, Damien pulled his hand.
A sword came out with Damien’s hand. The sword and the lightning clashed.
Kilo thought the energy would explode at that moment.
But the situation unfolded differently.
The course of the lightning shifted, deflected by the precise movement of the sword.
Then, with a shocking twist, the lightning reversed its path and rocketed back towards the Weapon Master.
The lightning retraced its path and struck Weaponmaster.
“What?”
Weaponmaster was so shocked that he didn’t even think to draw another weapon. He blocked the lightning with his bare hands.
The ground was obliterated by crimson lightning’s thunderous explosion.
“Ah… Aaaah!”
Weaponmaster screamed in the midst of it. The arm he used to block the lightning was completely burned.
“Victor…! You little..! What in the world was that?! How can a Dark mage…! A Dark mage!”
Weaponmaster yelled at Damien in rage.
“A disciple of the Sword Saint? No! That technique! I’ve seen it before! You are…!”
Damien grabbed his mask. He took off the mask he had been wearing all along.
The Weapon Master’s eyes bulged with bloodshot fury as he recognized the face beneath.
“Damien Haksen!”
***
“Feels good to take that off.”
Taking a deep breath, Damien tossed the mask aside. The cool air felt invigorating against his exposed skin.
Damien looked up at the hearth.
His mastery of dark magic allowed him to perceive the suffering souls trapped within – the dwarves bound to the hearth.
– Ahhh!
– Please kill me! I beg you!
– It hurts! It hurts!
The dwarves were crying out in agony, shedding tears of blood.
But they could never be free. That hearth was their body.
A soul detached from its body weakens with pain and eventually vanishes.
But the hearth was made from the forcibly connected muscles, nerves, and organs of tens of thousands of dwarves.
Such a forced amalgamation could never be without problems.
The forcibly connected nerves delivered constant pain to them in real-time.
Kilo, his voice trembling, broke the silence.
“You… you’re not Victor, are you?”
A soft chuckle escaped Damien’s lips.
“We can discuss that later. First, there’s garbage to take out.”
Damien stepped forward, holding his sword, Dawn.
Meanwhile, Weaponmaster drew a dagger from his belt.
Darkness flowed from the dagger, and his arm, which had been burned by the lightning, was fully healed.
“Damien Haksen, how are you here? And more importantly, how are you wielding dark magic?!”
Weaponmaster’s face was full of confusion.
The undead under Damien’s command were unlike any he’d ever encountered.
Their prowess far surpassed the typical creations of even Grand Dark mages.
But Damien was a knight. Not just any knight, but a rising star revered across the continent.
A knight wielding dark magic, and with a skillset surpassing even esteemed Grand Dark mages?
“I guess I’m a bit of a genius.”
“Stop spouting nonsense and answer me! How are you using dark magic?”
“I don’t feel like explaining, so just deal with it.”
Weaponmaster gnashed his teeth at Damien’s words.
He was already seething with anger from being countered by his own lightning.
With his temper flaring, even minor taunts were unbearable.
“…Fine, you don’t want to answer, huh?”
Weaponmaster grabbed a warhammer from his back. Strangely, the head of the hammer was shaped like a skull.
The warhammer exuded a menacing aura, brimming with dark mana. It was undoubtedly another Demonic weapon.
“Let’s see how cocky you remain after I shatter your bones!”
The Weapon Master unleashed his dark energy, a crushing pressure descending upon the entire city.
“Ugh… Aah…”
Kilo looked as if he was about to pass out any second.
In contrast, Damien not only seemed unaffected but even wore a mocking smile.
“Quite a pressure worthy of your reputation.”
Weaponmaster moved, charging with his warhammer in hand.
“First, I’ll wipe that smile off your face!”
Weaponmaster swung his warhammer down. Damien countered it effortlessly with Dawn.
“You idiot!”
Weaponmaster shouted.
Logically, when a sword and a hammer collide, the sword should break.
The amount of metal used to forge each weapon differed, resulting in a significant difference in strength. Moreover, the warhammer Weaponmaster wielded was a Demonic weapon.
Additionally, while Weaponmaster held his warhammer with both hands, Damien wielded Dawn with just one hand.
By all appearances, Dawn should have shattered, and the warhammer should have crushed Damien.
But when the two weapons clashed, Weaponmaster’s expectations were shattered.
Dawn not only withstood the warhammer’s blow, it started to dug into it. Weaponmaster could only watch in astonishment as his Demonic weapon was sliced apart.
“This is impossible…”
At that moment, Damien put more strength into his arm.
After taking Dragonheart and Elysian elixir, Damien’s physique had completely changed.
Damien’s body was now several times stronger than when he had fought Sla.
Damien swung Dawn with enough force to send Weaponmaster back flying across the ruined city.
Disbelief clouded the Weapon Master’s face.
Weaponmaster had lived for nearly a century, making him an extraordinary warrior.
Yet, this formidable warrior was being overpowered by Damien. A sense of unbearable humiliation washed over him.
“You’re much lighter than your reputation suggests.”
Damien taunted as he placed Dawn on his shoulder.
Weaponmaster’s expression twisted in rage. “You are courting death!”
Weaponmaster lunged again, aiming to crush Damien’s skull with his warhammer.
Damien parried each of Weaponmaster’s attacks with Dawn.
With every clash, deep marks appeared on the surface of the warhammer.
“Where did you get such a monstrous weapon…!”
Weaponmaster put the warhammer away and instead grabbed he grasped a spear in one hand and a longsword in the other.
“Witness the true meaning of Weapon Master!”
Weaponmaster swung both weapons simultaneously, the trajectories of the spear and the sword converging on Damien.
However, Damien blocked all of Weaponmaster’s attacks. Weaponmaster’s mouth twisted into a grimace.
“This is just the beginning.”
Weaponmaster put away the two weapons and drew a scythe and a whip.
“I am Weaponmaster. There isn’t a weapon in this world that I can’t wield.”
It wasn’t an empty boast. Weaponmaster truly knew how to handle every weapon at a Master Class level.
The multitude of weapons on Weaponmaster’s back was no mere show.
Weaponmaster’s primary tactic was to relentlessly switch between dozens of weapons, overwhelming his opponent.
“Let’s see how many weapons you can withstand!”
Weaponmaster’s hands moved rapidly.
Swords, spears, whips, daggers, gauntlets, crossbows, and more.
A barrage of weapons rained down. It wasn’t just the weapons that changed; Weaponmaster’s techniques varied as well.
It was as if Damien was fighting dozens of master-class warriors simultaneously.
“I’ve always thought.”
Damien said while parrying Weaponmaster’s ferocious assault.
“You go on about being Weaponmaster… Isn’t that a fancy way of admitting you lack true mastery in any single weapon?”
Weaponmaster’s expression twisted into a ghastly snarl.
“You son of bitch, what nonsense are you spouting…!”
Suddenly, Damien seized an opportunity.
He pushed down on Weaponmaster’s spear with Dawn.
The spear that was about to be thrust was driven into the ground.
With a swift maneuver, he lunged forward, delivering a devastating kick that sent the Weapon Master flying through the air with his chest caved in from the impact.
“I told you.”
Damien lowered his leg, his voice laced with cold indifference.
“You’re just mediocre, at best.”
***
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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