Chapter 70


    [Trantor – Kie]


    [Proofreader – Kawaii]


    Chapter 70: The Hunt (2)


    ***


    The dark mana released by the bracelet spread in all directions and the entire area was filled with it.


    “The member of the crusade has dark mana?”


    Even Corpsey couldn’t help but be shaken by the sight.


    Damien was not an ordinary knight, but a helper of the church.


    Such a person has dark mana stored?


    Moreover, the amount of dark mana was extremely high. It was as much as three high-level dark magesbined.


    What was truly surprising was not just the quantity of dark mana, but the fact that Damien was able to control such a vast amount of dark mana all by himself.


    Dark mana is usually gained through negative things like death and pain. Since it could easily disperse with a slight mistake, it was much more difficult to handle than ordinary mana.


    However, Damien was controlling all that vast amount of dark mana.


    “You… What’s your identity?”


    For the first time, fear was felt in Corpsey’s voice.


    “My identity? You don’t need to know, trash like you.”


    Damien began to use the dark mana.


    The dark mana intertwined with each other and began to form a magic circle and an incantation.


    “He even uses dark magic…?”


    Not only dark mages use dark magic. There were also demons, bizarre monsters, and even some mages who were not dark mages who could use dark magic, although they were rare.


    The Corpsey naturally thought that Damien was a swordsman who used dark magic.


    But that was a mistake. Damien was more than that. He was a dark mage himself.


    He was even implementing a magic circle and an incantation with dark magic at the same time.


    It meant that he did not learn dark magic superficially.


    “This crazy…”


    Corpsey broke out in a cold sweat.


    Moreover, since it was the first time the Corpsey had seen a magic circle and an incantation together at the same time he could not know what Damien was preparing with dark magic.


    But he could instinctively feel that it was extremely dangerous.


    “Block him frompleting the dark magic!”


    The ‘Masterpieces’ rushed towards Damien.


    Generally, the most dangerous situation for a mage is when they are preparing arge-scale magic. This is because they cannot move because they are controlling their magic.


    And that was no exception for dark mages. Even if Damien was a great knight, he could not fight with dolls while preparing dark magic.


    The judgment of the Corpsey was shattered the next moment.


    Damien moved his left hand. The dark mana in the air gathered and created countless spears.


    Creating a spear itself was a simple dark magic. But the other dark magics attached to the spear were different.


    Three types of top-ss curses, decay, corrosion, and copse, were attached to the spear de. The air behind the spear began topress.


    All this dark magic waspleted in the blink of an eye.


    “Multiple projectiles…?”


    A trick that even the highest-level dark mages above the high-level dark mage could not easily do.


    The moment Corpsey recognized the level of dark magic, spears were shot toward the dolls.


    Thepressed air exploded and pushed the spear. The spears pierced the dolls.


    With a roar, the dolls pierced by the spear became a mess. Their whole bodies were shattered and could not move.


    Even the dolls that were in good shape were destroyed in an instant because of the curses attached to the spear de.


    “… Attack! Hurry up and stop Damien!”


    The Corpsey shouted evilly. The dolls made by bodies of dark mages had just unleashed their finished dark magic.


    The two dolls were originally from the Doom sect.


    Dark mages from the Doom sect are famous for using the most destructive dark magics among all practitioners of dark magic.


    Demon’s Breath.


    A dark magic that turns everything within a certain range into dust.


    As the dark mana gathered in the air, it rotated fiercely and created a sphere. It looked like a storm had beenpressed.


    The two dark magic dolls sent the sphere towards Damien.


    At the moment the sphere was about to collide with Damien, he raised his hand.


    A runic symbol began to shine on the back of his hand. Instantly, the sphere formed by high-level dark magic disintegrated and the dark mana scattered in all directions.


    Damien had dismantled all the dark magicing towards him.


    “….”


    The Corpsey thought he was dreaming. Otherwise, such a thing would not have happened.


    Even though they had been transformed into dolls and had lost most of their skills, they were still high-level dark mages.


    To dismantle the dark magic that high-level dark mages had carefully prepared so easily? Not only that, but he could also move while controlling the dark mana.


    “….That’s why the world is so interesting.”


    The Corpsey was grateful.


    To himself who continued to look for excellent materials.


    To himself who continued to hone his doll-making skills.


    Thus, to himself who finallypleted the masterpiece called Kite.


    “Kite, it’s your turn. Finish it.”


    Suddenly, Kite had moved towards the ceiling.


    Kite clung to the ceiling like a lizard, while simultaneously swinging the de of his elbow downwards towards Damien.


    It was the moment when a thunderbolt-like blow was about to hit Damien’s forehead.


    Damien flicked his finger. Shadows surged and arge shield was created.


    The de was blocked by the shield. Kite put strength into his arm, but it was useless.


    The next moment, the surface of the shield rumbled and an identical de emerged, just like Kite’s.


    The de cut Kite’s body. Kite’s body was thrown far away.


    “….Shadow Shield?”


    The dark magic Damien used had a unique ability: after defending its caster from an attack, it could reflect an identical attack back toward the original attacker.


    It was a dark magic that was so difficult that even high-level dark mages required a high level of concentration but Damien used it in an instant.


    “It’s impressive, but you can’t stop Kite with that level of dark magic.”


    Kite, who had been thrown far away, got up without any problems. However, the steel tes that protected his torso fell off.


    Damien cast dark magic again. Countless dark spears were created in the air. Thebination magic that destroyed the dolls in an instant was shot.


    Dark mana began to gather on the de of Kite’s forearm.


    The de, which absorbed the dark mana, turned red. When Kite swung the de, an intangible de was released.


    Several des all cut through the dark spears.


    Aura.


    Surprisingly, the doll named Kite was using a skill that was only used by knights.


    “How is it? This is my ‘masterpiece’.”


    Even though it was in the middle of a battle, the Corpsey felt proud.


    A flesh golem that could use Aura. It was a function worthy of a ‘masterpiece’.


    “Kite, kill him.”


    As soon as the order was given, Kite rushed towards Damien.


    “Help the Kite!”


    The Corpsey ordered the dark mage dolls. The dark mage dolls flew towards Damien.


    The dark mage dolls attacked Damien with dark magic.


    The dark magic of the Doom sect poured down on Damien. But none of them reached Damien.


    It was because they turned into dark mana and disappeared as soon as they got close to Damien.


    But it was enough to attract Damien’s attention. While the dark mages were attacking, Kite approached him.


    Kite took a stance and swung his de. A huge Aura flew towards Damien.


    The Corpsey was sure of victory. Aura was the strongest weapon humanity possessed.


    No creature’s body could entirely block Aura. Neither the tough hide of an ogre nor the formidable teeth of a drake could withstand the force of Aura.


    And that was no exception for dark magic.


    No matter how strong a shield you made with dark magic, it was just a piece of paper in front of Aura.


    At that moment, the magic circle that was cast by Damien and had been spread out above his head waspleted.


    His shadow burst into mes and covered the entire floor of the cave.


    Then, chains sprang out of the shadow and shattered the de of Aura into pieces.


    “What is that…!”


    As the Corpsey let out a startled cry, a cluster of chains suddenly erupted from beneath Kite’s feet.


    They pierced through Kite’s body and were pinned to the ceiling. The steel tes surrounding Kite’s body did not stop the chains at all.


    Next, even the dark mage dolls were pierced by the chains.


    “Cough…!”


    The Corpsey was no exception. Chains sprouting from the ground pierced his abdomen, chest, and limbs.


    “Move…Move!”


    The Corpsey shouted at the dolls. Although the dolls heard the owner’smand, they did not move a finger.


    Chains of Darkness.


    One of the ancient dark magics that Archlich Dorugo kept to himself.


    It summons chains that block the movement of everything within range.


    Anyone pierced by the chains cannot move, and all powers such as mana and divine power are sealed.


    “Damien! Who are you? How you can cast such dark magic!”


    The Corpsey shouted at Demien. He took a step towards the Corpsey.


    As Damien approached, the corpse y’s face grew increasingly pale with each step he took.


    A look of sheer terror began to spread across his face.


    “Delrunt the Corpsey.”


    Damien opened his mouth. For a moment, the corpse y wondered if he had ever revealed his name.


    “Where is Dorugo?”


    However, the question was promptly overshadowed by the following words.


    “…How do you know his existence.”


    Archlich Dorugo.


    He was a savior who taught and set goals for Yn when they were just a group of ordinary dark mages.


    Dorugo thoroughly concealed his identity. Only a tiny fraction of dark mages knew that he even existed.


    Eventually, one hypothesis came to the Corpsey’s mind.


    “Could it be…are you also a person who received teachings from him?”


    If Damien was a covenantor, everything made sense.


    Even the swordsmanship skill at the mid-ss level and the dark magic skill beyond the highest rank.


    “Yes, a dark mage of this level is rare…But if you’re a covenantor, why did you attack me?”


    The Corpsey’s face was filled with confusion.


    “I am also a covenantor like you! Arade who promised to bring the era of dark mages with Dorugo on the day of the promised…”


    Damien flicked his finger. Another chain sprang out and pierced his body.


    “Aaah!”


    The Corpsey screamed in pain. He bowed his head in agony and gasped for breath.


    “Answer me. Where is Dorugo?”


    “Huh, huh…hehe…”


    The Corpsey let out a strangeughter.


    “Why covenantor like you betrayed him…I don’t know…But…I don’t think I’ll tell you even if I do.”


    “If not, I’ll kill you and ask your soul.”


    “Haha! That’s right. If you’re also a dark mage, you should do that! But, you see, my soul is already sealed!”


    Corpsey’s words made Damien’s eyebrows twitch.


    “I’ve sealed my soul so that I can’t reveal anything about him! If you ask me about him, my soul will be destroyed!”


    Damien stared at the Corpsey. Eventually, he licked his lips briefly.


    “Really. Crazy motherfucker. Sealing his own soul.”


    “Now do you understand? You can’t find out anything from me!”


    The Corpsey shouted loudly. Damien calmly looked at the Corpsey and said,


    “Then I’ll just have to kill you.”


    Even though death was imminent, there was no fear on the Corpsey’s face.


    Instead, it was filled with joy. Being able to die for him. It was truly the best situation.


    “You’re going to die anyway. Let the deceased have their revenge.”


    But the following words made the Corpsey unable to help but be confused.


    “The dead…? What are you talking about…”


    Damien raised his finger high. Then, the remaining dark mana began to react.


    The dark mana formed a symbol in the air. Soon, strange sounds began to burst out.


    -@#$@#%!


    -@#!$!!%@!


    It was an iprehensible sound for humans. Just hearing it made them shiver with cold and goosebumps.


    “Can you hear it? It’s the voices of the dead who hate you.”


    “Nonsense… There are no dead here!”


    “A dark mage like you couldn’t see it. You’re no different from a blind man.”


    Damien hadn’t witnessed the resentment of the dead on Corpsey, but he could still sense it. The grudges of the deceased surrounded him.


    Their numbers were in the thousands, but the dark mana of the Corpsey was too strong to have any effect on him.


    But now it was different. Damien was directly lending his strength to the dead.


    “No matter how you think about it, this method will bring the most terrible pain.”


    The pupils of the Corpsey widened. He tried to bite its tongue.


    But the chains that pierced his body did not allow it.


    “No… Don’t… Just kill me…!”


    The Corpsey pleaded with Damien.


    As a dark mage, he knew too well what the dead could do to someone they held a grudge against.


    “Please, just kill me!”


    Thousands of vengeful spirits entered the Corpsey’s body by chains.


    A scream full of despair and pain burst from the Corpsey’s mouth.


    ***


    [Trantor – Kie]


    [Proofreader – Kawaii]