Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight

[Translator - Kie]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]

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Chapter 301: Diversion Tactic (2)

***

The Covenanters stared at Damien with trembling eyes.

They already knew Damien was powerful. After all, he had single-handedly slain Sla, one of the Pillars of Pandemonium.

Because of this, they believed they had been cautious enough of him. But…

The power Damien possessed far exceeded their expectations.

"Why is no one answering?"

Damien asked again. The Covenanters shuddered involuntarily.

"If you won't answer, then there's no need to keep you alive."

Damien slowly drew his sword. The chilling sound of the blade scraping against the scabbard echoed in the air.

The Covenanters only come to their senses after that. They immediately summoned all their dark mana.

"Damien Haksen! Do you dare look down on us?"

"For Lord Dorugo, we will kill you here and now!"

They knew that half-hearted effort would only lead to their deaths. They had to give it their all from the start.

Almost simultaneously, all the Covenanters launched their attacks at Damien.

Various deadly assaults erupted from the altered bodies that Dorugo had reshaped. Every single attack was full-packed with tremendous destructive power.

Just before the attacks reached him, Damien murmured quietly.

"Second Wheel."

Damien's presence surged in an instant, overwhelming the force of the Covenanters.

The sword in Damien's grip accelerated. It moved so quickly that it seemed to multiply into dozens of blades.

The sword sliced through the Covenanters' bodies in various places.

A vicious shaking began to occur throughout the Covenanters' bodies as they froze mid-attack.

Click!

Damien Haksen sheathed his sword. Only then did blood burst forth from every part of the Covenanters' bodies.

Their joints and tendons were all severed and their vital organs were torn apart. Most importantly, their necks were completely severed from the rest of their bodies.

The heads of the Covenanters fell to the ground one after another. And then, their bodies collapsed lifelessly.

Not a single Covenanter remained alive. They had all been turned into corpses.

"……"

"……"

The elves standing behind watching Damien with shocked expressions.

It is said that the Covenanters were so feared that they were called the nightmares of spirit mages because they were such terrifying monsters.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, they had lost their lives. They hadn’t even had time to resist, let alone react.

In this moment, the elves realized why the Imperial Supreme Sword had said they could trust Damien.

"Now, let's move."

Damien turned to the elves and spoke. The elves silently nodded in agreement.

***

"Ugh... Ugh..."

In a dark room.

Dorugo sat at her throne, clutching her head.

"It hurts... It feels like my head is going to explode..."

Recently, Dorugo had been suffering from relentless headaches that came at any time. Neither medicine nor dark magic could help. The headaches followed her like a curse.

-What are you doing? Why are you just sitting there? Kill him! I said kill him! If he's around, everything will fail!

A strange voice kept echoing in her head, and with every second that went by, her headache grew more intense.

-You fool! How can you not remember the most important thing? What good are eyes if you can't see the greatest danger?

Dorugo grabbed her head with both hands.

"Aaah... Aaaargh! Gahhh!"

Today, the pain was worse than ever. Dorugo banged her head against the wall, unable to endure the unbearable pain.

At that point, someone knocked, and a colossal figure entered. It was Epsilon, the oldest of the Four Great Demon Kings.

"Mother, we have an intruder."

Dorugo looked at Epsilon.

"An intruder? Has the Imperial Supreme Sword finally found this place?"

Dorugo showed none of the signs of worry despite the news of an intruder.

"All that tedious effort to leak information has paid off! I've finally lured him out of the castle! Now it's all coming together! Now it’s done!"

Epsilon shook his head and said.

"No, it's Damien Haksen."

"Damien Haksen? What about the Imperial Supreme Sword?"

"I was just about to explain that."

Epsilon approached a large mirror on one side of the room.

As he infused dark mana into the mirror, it reflected a scene from somewhere else.

In the scene, the Imperial Supreme Sword was fighting Hela and the Lord of Eternal Flame.

Dorugo stared at the Imperial Supreme Sword for a moment before murmuring.

"A diversion tactic, huh? The Imperial Supreme Sword is the bait, and meanwhile, Damien Haksen was sent to attack this place."

Dorugo laughed so hard her whole body started shaking.

"Fools. They still haven't figured out my true goal."

The fall of Alfheim was only a secondary objective. The true goal of Dorugo was to kill the Imperial Supreme Sword.

Dorugo thought the Imperial Supreme Sword was the threat that a mysterious voice had warned her about.

After all, there was no knight on the continent superior to the Imperial Supreme Sword.

In other words, once the Imperial Supreme Sword was dead, she could finally be free of these unbearable headaches.

"Those preparations have become useless... but it doesn’t matter. That monstrous man has come out of hiding, and that's the main thing."

The thought of killing the Imperial Supreme Sword filled Dorugo with excitement. A bright smile spread across her face.

"Then, let's go take the life of the Imperial Supreme Sword."

She rose from her chair and grabbed her staff, then began walking.

"Oh, but before that, we need to deal with Damien Haksen. Inform the others to take care of him."

But there was no response.

Dorugo couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"What's the matter?"

"We have a problem. Damien is approaching this place far too quickly."

"What do you mean? The Covenanters are guarding the way, aren’t they?"

The Covenanters were warriors that Dorugo had carefully selected.

Recognizing their talents early on, Dorugo had invested heavily in them since their youth.

After they grew strong, he modified them, making them even more powerful.

Two Covenanters could kill an ordinary Giant Evil, and five could take on the Pillars of Pandemonium.

In fact, they had proven their worth by killing a spirit mage who commanded the Fire Spirit King.

"The Covenanters were all killed without lasting a single exchange."

Dorugo stared at Epsilon with a bewildered expression.

"...The Covenanters couldn’t hold out for even a moment?"

"That's correct."

If it had been anyone other than Epsilon reporting this, Dorugo would have scolded them for spouting nonsense.

But Epsilon wasn’t the type to lie, unlike the other Demon Kings.

"At present, Damien Haksen's strength is beyond measure. While it's true that if we unleash our true forms, we could kill him without much trouble..."

The issue was time.

"If Damien is stronger than we anticipated, the battle could drag on. We might miss the chance to confront the Imperial Supreme Sword."

Crackle.

Dorugo clenched her teeth without realizing it. The headache began to worsen again.

"Damien Haksen... That fucking brat... constantly getting in my way?"

Dorugo's face was filled with fierce anger.

Damien had always been like that, disrupting and ruining Dorugo's plans.

At first, Dorugo had been interested in him, thinking he might make a useful undead, but now, all she felt was endless hatred.

"Mother, what do you wish to do?"

Epsilon asked calmly.

In deep thought, Dorugo bit the bone on the tip of her thumb before making a decision.

"...We’ll avoid confronting Damien Haksen. Activate the dimensional portal and head to where the Imperial Supreme Sword is."

"Understood. I'll have preparations made immediately."

"But it would be a shame to just let Damien Haksen go."

A strange smile formed on Dorugo's lips.

"Prepare to activate that trap. It was designed for the Imperial Supreme Sword, so it should work on him too."

Elves made a mistake.

Although they had discovered Pandemonium's stronghold, they were missing a critical detail.

But what awaited them here wasn’t victory—only a gruesome death.

"Damien Haksen, I’ll show you true despair."

Dorugo muttered with a twisted smile as she stepped out of her laboratory.

* * *

Damien descended into the hole with the elves.

The cave spread out from the large central pit like an anthill.

"Kieeeek!"

"Kreeeek!"

Undead creatures leaped out, trying to stop the group, but it was pointless.

"Annoying pests."

With a single swing of Damien's sword, they all reverted to lifeless corpses.

"Aren't we the ones who should be fighting? Damien needs to conserve his strength, right?"

Mata asked Hata. Hata looked troubled.

"You're right... but it's not the right time to say anything."

Though Damien's face was expressionless, the elves instinctively sensed it.

Damien was deeply enraged.

Even though he was their ally, Damien exuded such a murderous aura that no one dared to speak to him.

"Besides, it doesn't look like he's wasting any strength."

To the two elves, Damien's movements appeared exceptionally precise and controlled.

Yet they were powerful. No matter how many undead there were, he cut them down with a single strike.

"Huh?"

Just then, Damien muttered something under his breath.

"We’ve reached the bottom. Prepare yourselves."

At those words, Mata and Hata stopped talking. The other elves also became serious.

When Damien emerged from the cave, a vast space appeared before them.

There was no ceiling—only the sky above. They had finally reached the bottom of the pit.

A giant magic circle was etched into the ground. It was identical to the one they had seen before at the Pandemonium fortress.

But Damien didn’t have time to focus on the magic circle.

A dimensional portal was open in the distance.

Through the gate, the Four Great Demon Kings were visible. However, Damien’s attention wasn’t on them.

Instead, he fixated on a smaller figure clad in a gray robe.

The moment Damien saw that gray robe, he shouted.

"Dorugo!"

The gray-robed figure turned its gaze toward Damien.

Two red lights glowed from inside the skull and locked onto Damien.

***

[Translator - Kie]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]