Chapter 191
Chapter 191
Chapter 191: Death Knight (3)
***
Perpetuo shouted cheerfully.
But Damien just looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
‘What a pain in the ass.’
Now he remembered. It was the same in his previous life. Perpetuo was a paladin who was so old-fashioned that he seemed to be lacking in some way.
‘Come to think of it, all ‘Bound winds’ I saw in my previous life all behave like that.’
In fact, it wasn’t that bad.
Because of this old-fashioned nature, the ‘Bound winds’ were trusted by the Church.
That’s why the ‘Bound winds’ were always assigned to important missions.
‘How am I going to deal with this guy?’
He was annoyed, but he couldn’t kill him.
It would be a waste of Perpetuo’s talents and he couldn’t kill a paladin of the Church because of such a misunderstanding.
‘My original plan was to stall for time until the Church arrived and then run away.’
But Perpetuo arrived late, which derailed the plan, and Damien had no choice but to open up his past.
‘Since it’s come to this, I might as well finish it myself.’
He’ll take Hedoniac’s life. Perpetuo…
‘I guess I’ll just beat him up a bit as a way to vent my anger and then send him away.’
He didn’t like the idea of just knocking him out.
Damien clenched his fist and looked at Perpetuo.
At that, Perpetuo started laughing out loud.
“Hahaha! You’re brave! You dare to fight me!”
“Didn’t you attack me first?”
“You’re an enemy, but I can’t help but admire your courage!”
Perpetuo didn’t seem to be listening to Damien.
“Brave heretic! In return, I will show you everything I have!”
Perpetuo raised his greatsword high into the air. Then, a wind began to blow from somewhere.
At first, it was a faint wind. It was only enough to ruffle his hair.
But it gradually grew stronger, until it was strong enough to sway the trees in the distance.
‘That’s impressive.’
This was not a natural wind. It was the wind that Perpetuo was creating.
The paladins of the ‘Bound winds’ sect had the power to turn their divine power into wind.
Perpetuo, the Master Class of the ‘Bound winds’, was creating a storm just by releasing his aura.
“Alright then… Let’s see if you can take this!”
Perpetuo swung his two greatswords simultaneously.
In that instant, a whirlwind erupted where the greatsword had swung.
The whirlwind stretched out like a snake. The ground was torn up and it covered Damien.
Damien raised his foot and slammed it down with all his might. The ground flipped over and turned into a barrier.
The whirlwind collided with the barrier. The barrier cracked and the whirlwind scattered.
In that instant, Perpetuo appeared behind Damien.
There was no sign or movement to be read. Perpetuo appeared as if he had teleported.
‘So he can use that tricky technique freely.’
Damien wasn’t too surprised by Perpetuo’s appearance.
The paladins of the ‘Bound winds’ had the power to turn their divine power into wind.
They could use the wind to blow away their enemies, as well as imbue their weapons and armor with the properties of wind.
Furthermore, they could even move by turning their bodies into wind, just like Perpetuo.
It was a very effective technique, but it was also very difficult to master.
Only 1st-grade or above paladins of the ‘Bound winds’ could use it.
Even then, they could only charge in a straight line.
On the other hand, Perpetuo, a Master Class, was using it so skillfully that he was able to move behind Damien.
“Hryaaah!”
Perpetuo swung both hands at Damien. The two greatswords were about to cut Damien down.
Damien twisted his body to dodge the greatswords. Perpetuo immediately followed up with another attack.
Despite being greatswords, Perpetuo’s attacks were not at all powerful.
On the contrary, they were soft. All his movements were as flexible and light as flowing water.
That’s why they were even more difficult.
Because all his attacks were soft and flexible, he could change their trajectory freely.
He could swing the greatswords down and then cut sideways. He could slash down diagonally and then slash up.
‘Truly worthy of the Bound winds.’
All the paladins of the ‘Bound winds’ wielded swords.
From the beginning of the sect to the present, they had never used any other weapon than a sword.
That’s why the swordsmanship of the ‘Bound winds’ was so outstanding that it was recognized even beyond the Church, in the empire.
But now Perpetuo’s opponent was Damien.
Damien could make any technique he saw his own. And he could improve it even further if he wanted to.
What’s more, Damien had already met Perpetuo in his previous life.
He had already understood Perpetuo’s swordsmanship to the bone.
Damien stepped back a little. Perpetuo’s attacks grazed the tips of Damien’s hair and missed.
At that, anger appeared on Perpetuo’s face.
“You heretic, you dare to dodge this holy judgment!”
Perpetuo’s attacks became even faster. The number of attacks increased. Slashings rained down from all directions, pressuring Damien.
But the result was the same. None of the attacks reached Damien.
“You’re even dodging this…?”
Amazement appeared on Perpetuo’s face.
“So you’re not a Grand Dark Mage, but a Master Class!”
If Damien had been in High Class, he would not have been able to dodge Perpetuo’s swordsmanship, even if he knew it.
Master Classes were beings like that.
They had transcended humanity, so they could see and feel more than High Classes ever could.
But now Damien had regained the realm of a Master Class by wielding dark mana.
Of course, it was not permanent. Once the dark mana was dispelled, he would return to High Class.
But even temporarily, a Master Class was a Master Class.
In the same position, Damien had never been defeated by any other knight.
“Are you all surprised? Then it’s my turn now.”
“You dare deceive me! This price is… Ugh!”
A scream erupted from Perpetuo’s mouth. Damien’s fist had landed in Perpetuo’s side in an instant.
“You bastard!”
Perpetuo swung his greatsword down at Damien’s head.
Damien backhanded the side of the greatsword. The greatsword flew off weakly.
In the process, Perpetuo’s torso was pierced wide open. Damien immediately kicked the ground and lunged forward.
“Ugh!”
Damien’s outstretched fist struck Perpetuo in the jaw.
Struggling to breathe, Perpetuo doubled over and twisted his body. Just as Damien was about to punch him in the jaw to finish him off.
A wave of dark mana erupted from somewhere. Then, a massive amount of dark mana surged forth.
Damien looked in surprise at the direction from which the dark mana was pouring.
Even Perpetuo was so surprised that he forgot his pain and looked in the same direction.
Dark mana was erupting like a geyser. It was so dense that it looked like black oil rather than dark magic.
-Euahahahat!
There, a strangely shaped human was laughing.
He had a similar shape to a human, but his entire body was covered in fur.
He had thick horns like a bull on his head, and a smooth tail like a snake swayed around his buttocks.
In the monster’s hands were familiar faces.
Sucré and Winston.
They both died with their necks broken.
The monster threw the two bodies to the side. And he opened his mouth wide and rejoiced.
-I have finally descended into the present world!
***
“Ugh… ugh…”
While Damien and Perpetuo were fighting, Winston was barely able to regain his senses.
Until just now, he had been frozen stiff, overwhelmed by the killing aura that Damien was emitting.
“Ugh… ugh…”
Winston exhaled deeply. Even as a Master Class, he had been overwhelmed by the killing aura alone.
“M-monster… monster… We have to run away… we have to run away…”
But his legs wouldn’t move.
He instinctively realized that it was no use to run away.
It was like an ant trying to run out of a human’s sight.
He couldn’t escape. But he couldn’t just give up his life either.
Winston still had a lot he wanted to do. There were many desires he wanted to fulfill.
“Su, Sucré… Sucré!”
Winston looked for Sucré. She was still out of her mind.
“My little kitten… this isn’t the time to be fooling around…!
Winston took out a large needle from his pocket.
It was an object made by solidifying a stimulant. The drug would take effect as soon as it was inserted into a person’s body.
“My little kitten, forgive me for this.”
Winston immediately plunged the needle into Sucré’s neck.
As soon as the needle was inserted, Sucré’s body shook like a fish out of water.
“Ah, ahhhhaaaak!”
Sucré let out a long scream. Her trembling eyes darted around.
“W-who’s that wolf? That monster? I, I…
“Sucré, wake up. You’re fine. For now, that is.”
“Ah, for now…?”
Winston held Sucré’s head and turned her to look at Damien.
“My little kitten, do you see that? If we stay here, that monster will kill us both.”
Sucré’s eyes trembled. She had indeed almost been killed by Damien just now.
“Th-then let’s run away? We can just run away.”
“It’s not that easy. We’ll be caught in no time.”
“Th-then what…?”
“Now is the time to use that thing.”
Sucré’s face hardened instantly. She shook her head.
N-no… I can’t… That’s something I took without my master’s permission… If I use it recklessly, it might even kill me!”
“Oh, you silly little kitten… If we don’t use it, we’ll die right now. Do you think that monster will spare us?”
A myriad of conflicts flashed across Sucré’s face. And then, out of the blue, Sucré opened a subspace.
The object Sucré retrieved from the subspace was a leather-bound book.
It was extremely thin and so old that it looked like it would crumble at any moment.
“I-if I break the seal, w-we have to run away right away. A-ah, otherwise we’ll be killed by the demon too…”
Winston nodded with a tense face.
Sucré took out a dagger and cut her finger. Then, she dripped a few drops of blood onto the page of the book.
Immediately, complex symbols appeared on the surface of the page. The symbols were slowly erased from the outside.
“Let’s run!”
Sucré said to Winston. He immediately grabbed Sucré and started to run away from the scene.
– Where are you going?
At that moment, a voice in his head said.
Winston’s body stood still. So did Sucré.
The only parts of their bodies that could move were their eyes. They stared at the bookcase in horror.
– Opening a demonic book without following proper procedures?
The bookcase swung open. Two hands shot out of it.
The hands stretched out as if they were made of rubber and grabbed the two by the throat.
-I finally needed the ingredients for my alter ego. Thank you. You idiots.
Woof.
Their necks snapped at a grotesque angle.
Their souls, dark mana, and life force were sucked out of their arms.
Then something popped out of the bookcase.
***
-Sssssss.
The demon took a deep breath.
– It’s been a while since I’ve breathed the air of the present world.
The demon looked around at Damien and Perpetuo. Its eyes were slit vertically like a snake’s.
– I don’t need you. You smell disgusting.
In an instant, the demon disappeared.
The next moment, a fist slammed into Perpetuo’s face. He was thrown to the ground.
With a roar, the ground shattered. Perpetuo was buried deep in the ground.
– You smell like me.
The demon said, looking at Damien.
– You have a good face and you seem to be quite skilled… Good. I needed an errand boy.
Heehee.
The corners of the demon’s mouth stretched out long.
– Become my slave. Then I’ll spare your life.
Damien just stared at the demon blankly.
The demon, perhaps judging that Damien was scared, spoke in a soft voice.
– You don’t have to be afraid. I’m very generous to my slaves. But if you refuse my request, I’ll show you hell…
“I was wondering what kind of demon had descended.”
Damien said in a voice that sounded incredulous.
“It was just a useless leftover.”
***