abcnovels
Chapter 122
Chapter 122
Chapter 122
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
Chapter 122: Nemesis (4)
***
The Incinerator and the Blinding Pain chose a nearby building.
Fortunately, most of the buildings were intact, so they could be quickly reused with a little repair.
“……”
Damien stood in the hallway and looked out the window. His face was expressionless, but his heart was not.
‘I was swayed in emotions earlier.’
He couldn’t keep his cool whenever he was involved with the dark mages.
‘It’s fortunate that I transferred to The Incinerator. If I had done something wrong, it could have turned into a big conflict.’
‘I’m still tied to them even after I regressed.’
That’s why he wanted to get stronger as soon as possible. Only by killing Dorgo would Damien be able to regain his peace.
“Sir Damien, were you here?”
A voice came from behind. Agnes was holding a steaming mug.
“I boiled this for you to have. It’s porridge made by boiling grain flour in water.”
Damien thanked her and took the mug. He took a sip of the porridge. The nutty flavor spread in his mouth.
Agnes also came and stood next to Damien. She sipped from her mug like him.
“Are you calm now?”
As the mug emptied, Agnes spoke to Damien.
“I’ve felt it before, but Sir Damien seems to hate the dark mage very much.”
“Is there anyone in this world who doesn’t hate that filth?”
Damien said jokingly. But Agnes’ expression didn’t change.
“That’s true, but… Sir Damien seems to be a little different.”
“What do you mean different?”
“That’s…”
Agnes trailed off. She seemed to be struggling to find the right words.
Just then, something caught Damien’s senses. Damien stared out the window.
“Lady Agnes.”
“Yes?”
“It’s an attack. Go and wake the paladins.”
Damien opened the window and jumped out.
At that moment, a countless number of dark bullets rained down from the front.
Damien drew out the Dawn and infused it with mana.
Aura instantly covered the Dawn. Damien couldn’t help but admire its speed.
The lower-grade holy sword he had used before also had an excellent mana conductivity rate. But compared to the Dawn, that sword was at the level of a turtle.
Damien swung the Dawn. The aura shot forward and erased all the bullets.
“Amazing,”
Damien said, looking down at the Dawn. The Dawn trembled.
Jiing!
As if to protest that it that do you just realize it now?
He wanted to praise the Dawn a little more, but it wasn’t the time for that.
Damien looked straight ahead. Something wearing a robe was looking back at Damien.
The identity of the attacker could not be determined. However, dark mana emanated from the hands pouring outside.
It was evidence of a dark mage.
“It’s an attack! Wake up quickly!”
“What? An attack?”
“My weapon, where is my weapon!”
The inside of the building became noisy. Soon after, two people landed next to Damien.
“What’s going on all of a sudden?”
“It’s a dark mage. It looks like he’s of a fairly high rank.”
It was Paramond and Serbo.
“Are they the ones who attacked the central branch?”
“There aren’t many dark mages who would surprise attack the central branches. It’s probably them.”
“I heard there were two of them. Where is the other one?”
Two people attacked the branch.
However, only the dark mage was visible, and the Dark Knight was nowhere to be seen.
“It seems like he’s hiding and waiting for an opportunity.”
“That’s a possibility. There is also a tactic of using a mage in the vanguard to make the opponent let their guard down.”
Originally, it was a principle that mages and dark mages were in charge of the rear.
However, there were occasionally those who tried to exploit the gaps by reversing such common sense.
“How foolish. To use such a strategy when there are two 1st-grade paladins?”
Such a strategy should be used depending on the opponent.
“Let’s kill that bastard first so he can’t use his tricks.”
“I agree.”
Paramon and Serbo activated their holy power. It was even more ferocious than when they confronted Nadine.
They needed to control their strength and emotions when dealing with Nadine, but they didn’t have to do that with an enemy.
The two of them charged towards the dark mage. Their speed was so fast that it looked like a flash of light.
Paramon threw a punch at the head. Serbo also swung his mace at the same spot.
It was at that moment.
Suddenly, a pair of hands emerged from the robe. A pair of swords were held in each hand.
“What?”
“Huh?”
The two were unable to respond to the sudden situation.
No, even if they tried to respond, it was useless. The distance was too close.
The hands holding the swords moved. The surface of the swords was covered in a dark aura.
The dark slash cut through the bodies of the two.
***
Just before that, Damien pulled the two by their necks.
Their bodies flew back abruptly. Blades narrowly grazed their abdomens.
Cold sweat ran down their backs. If it weren’t for Damien, they would’ve surely lost their lives.
But instead of feeling grateful, doubts filled their minds.
Why did the person have an extra pair of arms?
“Ugh, it could’ve been an easy job.”
“Honey, it’s because of that guy. He save the paladins.”
Two voices emanated from the dark mage. They belonged to a man and a woman.
As the dark mage threw off the robe, a grotesque figure appeared.
Arms protruded from its shoulders, two on each side.
Surgeon marks covered its body. A fist-sized dark gemstone was embedded in the center of its chest.
The most weird part was its head. A man’s and a woman’s faces were attached back to back.
Paramon and Servo looked at the creepy couple with shocked faces.
On the other hand, Damien remained unfazed. He already knew.
The couple wasn’t human.
To be precise, they were once human but had been experimented on by Dorugo, turning them into abominations.
Originally, the couple consisted not of two but four individuals, a pair of twins each. The twin brothers were dark knights, and the twin sisters were high-level dark mages. Together, they wreaked havoc wherever they went.
The one who took notice of them was Dorugo. He was conducting some experiments at the time and brought them in as test subjects.
And what stood before them now was the result of those experiments, a monstrous aberration.
“Ah, we made a bet on who would finish first. We’re not going to lose, are we?”
“I also made a bet with ‘sis.’ If this takes too long… I don’t want to think about how she’ll tease me!”
From their conversation, it seemed the couple here was on the ‘sibling’ side.
“I don’t want to lose the bet, so should I give it my all?”
“Let’s just kill them and go back!”
Paramond and Servo looked incredulous at their conversation.
“Do they think so little of us?”
“Their heads may be two, but they don’t seem very smart.”
Paramond and Servo are filled with killing intent and hatred.
They had almost been caught off guard moments ago, but now there was no room for complacency.
Moreover, they weren’t the only ones here.
The remaining paladins poured out from the building. Both factions of paladins surrounded the monstrous couple.
There were two 1st-grade paladins and a whopping six 2nd-grade paladins. Additionally, there was the mid-class Damien Haksen.
It was clearly an uneven match against the monstrous couple. However, the couple’s attitude remained consistently relaxed.
“It seems like they’ve all gathered.”
“Shall we activate it?”
Suddenly, the gemstone embedded in the chest of the monstrous couple began to glow.
Black lines spread out from the gemstone, quickly covering their entire bodies.
“Block it!”
Paramond urgently shouted. It was a warning about the danger of accumulated experiences as a paladin.
But it was already too late.
As the monstrous couple opened their mouths wide, purple smoke spewed out.
The paladins had no chance to dodge as the smoke spread in all directions.
***
Paladins collapsed as soon as they touched the purple smoke. It was a smoke that caused fainting even if they held their breath.
Among those who passed out was Damien.
When he came to his senses, Damien was drawn into a dream.
It was a place filled with only darkness. How high was the ceiling? Are there walls? I couldn’t tell anything.
‘Anyway, they’re annoying guys. To be able to activate such magic instantly.’
The experiment that Dorugo conducted on the Hanger couple was to turn a person’s body into a magic tool.
The Hanger couple were no different from a whole body magic tool. It is a magic tool for activating the dark magic called Nightmare Slaughter.
That’s why the Nightmare Slaughter activated by the Hanger couple didn’t require casting time.
Of course, with Damien’s knowledge and skills, he could have dispelled the Nightmare Slaughter as soon as it was activated.
But then, Damien would be caught by the paladins if he used dark magic.
So Damien had no choice but to be obedient to the Nightmare Slaughter first.
‘It’s worked out well in some ways. Because I lost my sight.’
Nightmare Slaughter was a dark magic that even a 1st-grade paladin could not avoid. This is because it was created by Archlich Dorguo himself.
Instead, it was impossible to kill a 1st-grade paladin with Nightmare Slaughter alone. It couldn’t do any mental damage either. The duration of the Nightmare Slaughter was also relatively short.
The same was true for the 2nd-grade paladin. He would suffer more mental damage than a 1st-grade paladin, but it would not be enough to kill him.
While the paladins were having Nightmare Slaughters, Damien planned to subdue the Hanger couple and then question Dorugo. And he was going to finish the revenge.
That’s when it happened.
Suddenly, there was a sound of wind blowing. Hundreds of arrows flew from afar.
The arrows pierced Damien’s body. His whole body turned into a hedgehog.
But Damien didn’t feel any pain.
‘This is my space.’
Nightmare Slaughter shows terrible sights, but after all, the owner of the dream is himself. If you just wake up your mind, it will have no effect.
Soon after, flames erupted from the ground. Next, a cold wind blew.
But none of that could bring pain to Damien.
‘There’s nothing more to see.’
It was the moment Damien was about to release the Nightmare Slaughter.
Suddenly, the scenery changed.
The space filled with darkness was gone. Instead, a field appeared.
The field, which should have been covered with green grass, was now covered in red blood. Corpses were lying here and there.
Damien froze on the spot.
He knew it right away. Where is this field, and what will happen here from now on.
“Damien!”
A familiar voice rang out. Damien slowly raised his head.
There was his father right in front of him.
He was looking at Damien with a much older face than now.
“Damien! Why are you with Archlich! What the hell is that look!”
At those words, Damien lowered his gaze.
Before he knew it, Damien was wearing dark armor. He was looking down at his father with a larger size.
His father slowly approached Damien.
Damien shouted not to come. But the words didn’t come out.
His mouth was now tightly shut.
“What happened in the meantime… Ugh!”
His father’s movement stopped abruptly. A greatsword pierced his father’s abdomen and protruded through his back.
Damien slowly followed the blade of the greatsword down. At the end of it was his own hand.
“Da…mien… .”
His father’s head slowly lowered. The light went out of his eyes.
‘Ah….’
The voice wouldn’t come out.
‘Oh….’
He couldn’t even open his mouth. He couldn’t even express his pain.
Because this body was not his own. Because he was trapped here and could only watch helplessly.
‘Ahhhh…!’
With a silent scream, his head turned white.
***
Looking down at them, the Hanger couple laughed lowly.
“Stupid, foolish, and insignificant things.”
The dark magic created by His Excellency was so great. Until now, there had been no one who could withstand this magic.
The Hanger couple trembled. Just thinking of His Excellency made reverence well up from the depths of their hearts.
“Then shall we hang them one by one?”
The couple moved their four hands and took out the ropes from their waists.
The ropes were long enough to hang all the Holy Knights here.
“Let’s first kill that unlucky man who interrupted us.”
“That’s a very good idea. We should give that guy special treatment.”
The Hanger couple approached Damien. They grabbed his neck and lifted him up, then started to put the rope around his neck.
That’s when it happened.
Damien’s eyes slowly opened. The Hanger couple couldn’t help but be surprised.
“What, how did you wake up so soon… .”
“I had a very unpleasant dream.”
Suddenly, the man opened his mouth. His tone was so languid that it was hard to believe he was the one being held by the neck.
“It was a dream where I killed my father with my own hands. It was a sight I never want to see again.”
Damien slowly looked up at the Hanger couple.
“That’s why I hate you guys. You’re like rats. Seeing you makes me feel dirty and irritated. But if you’re not killed, you will spread more disease and filth.”
The Hanger couple frowned at those words.
“What is this idiot babbling about now?”
“Honey, let’s just break his jaw?”
The Hanger couple immediately grabbed Damien’s jaw. They were about to twist his jaw off.
At that moment, Damien grabbed the Hanger couple’s wrists. He poured mana into their wrists.
The muscles in their forearms twisted. Blood and dark magic boiled simultaneously.
Bang.
With a small sound, the muscles in their forearms exploded. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere.
“Kwak!”
“Aaagh!”
The couple screamed and let go of Damien’s neck. They held onto their forearms, which were now just bones, and screamed in agony.
Damien drew out the Dawn. A blue aura covered the blade.
“Please, hold on for a long time.”
Damien’s face twisted like a demon, and his killing intent was at an unimaginable height.
At this much killing intent, all the living creatures in the forest held their breath. Even the sound of insects chirping could not be heard.
“It seems like I won’t be able to get rid of this dirty feeling if you die too easily.”
***
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]