Chapter 248


    [Trantor – Kie]


    [Proofreader – Kawaii]


    —————–


    Chapter 248: Aftermath (1)


    ***


    Damien stared at ’s lifeless body.


    Thanks to his knowledge of dark magic, he could see how ’s soul had been extinguished with a horrific scream.


    No matter how strong a body’s regenerative abilities were, once the soul was destroyed, it was over.


    All that was left before him was an empty husk.


    “It’s over.”


    As the tension eased, a wave of pain washed over him. The aftereffects of the battle were finally catching up with him.


    He struggled to stand and copsed to the floor.


    Damien squeezed his eyes shut tightly. In the darkness, he mumbled softly.


    “Sister…”


    In his past life, Louise was the only one in his family who had taken care of him to the end.


    She had worried about him when he was exiled from his family, even giving him the money she had been saving up and wishing him happiness.


    But Damien was not able toplete his sister’sst request.


    By bing a Death Knight, he had brought misfortune upon himself and everyone else. He had even killed his family and allowed his sister’s soul to fall into ’s hands.


    His sister had suffered for a long time in ’s grasp.


    “Finally… I’ve killed her.”


    Of course, this was all just a story from his past life.


    His sister in this reality was living a happy married life.


    Even if he killed , his past life sister would not be saved. Only Damien would find satisfaction in it.


    But he had no intention of stopping.


    He would kill everyone who had tortured his family’s souls in his past life, the wretches who had sided with Dorugo and brought destruction to the world.


    If there was even a 1% chance that the same future awaited him as in his past life…


    He couldn’t let a single one of them live. He would kill them all and extinguish their very souls.


    “You did well too.”


    Damien looked down at Dawn. Then he suddenly noticed something. There was a chip on the de of the sword.


    It seemed that he hadn’t been able to fully withstand ’sst blow and the de had been chipped.


    “You pushed yourself too hard. I’m sorry.”


    Ziiing.


    Dawn hummed as if to say it was fine. But of course, it couldn’t possibly be fine.


    “I guess I’ll have to visit the Church again soon.”


    He had been thinking about doing it anyway. Holy swords of Dawn’s caliber grew stronger with each battle. And each time they grew, they needed to be reforged to maintain their full power.


    “Just rest for now.”


    Damien sheathed Dawn. Then he sensed a presence above him.


    Arge number of people poured down from a hole in the ceiling. One of them cried out.


    “Mr.Damien! You’re alive? Mr.Damien!”


    It was the academy Chancellor, Altman Bedepullity.


    Altman rushed towards Damien with the instructors, but then he stopped in shock when he saw ’s corpse.


    “W-what is this…?”


    ’s body was shriveled like a mummy. It was consequences of her soul being destroyed.


    However, since the main body was so huge, even the mummy was enormous.


    It was so overwhelming that even knowing it was a corpse, one couldn’t help but be overwhelmed.


    “It’s .”


    Damien said tly. Altman replied with a surprised face.


    “I-Is this really ?”


    “If you find it hard to believe, call in the investigators. You should already have a good understanding of the nature of ’s dark magic.”


    At these words, the eyes of the Chancellor and the other instructors wavered.


    With Damien acting so confidently, they couldn’t help but believe it, even if they didn’t want to.


    The fact that this was the corpse of , the Subus of Pandemonium.


    “…To have dealt with  alone.”


    “How many such skilled people can there be in the empire?”


    “There can’t be more than ten. That’s incredible.”


    The instructors all looked at Damien in awe.


    Damien didn’t care much about the instructors’ reactions.


    “I’m going to leave now.”


    “Well, wait a minute, where are you going?”


    The Chancellor asked in surprise. Damien looked at the Chancellor with a cold gaze and said.


    “Why? Do you think you’re going to stop me again like before?”


    Damien was still holding a grudge against the Chancellor for interfering with him.


    Damien’s re made the Chancellor unable to look up.


    “N-No, of course not.”


    “I’m tired and I want to rest. I’ll be in my room, so please call me if the investigators are dispatched.”


    Damien leaped over the ceiling. As he went outside, he saw the faces of other instructors.


    Two students were sandwiched between them.


    They were Oliver and Penelope.


    “Are you both okay?”


    Damien said this and approached the two, but they flinched and took a step back.


    “W-Well…”


    “T-That’s…”


    The two were clearly afraid of Damien.


    Damien didn’t take it personally. When he found , Damien couldn’t control his emotions.


    They felt his killing intent the first time so it was natural that the two would be scared.


    “I’m d you’re both safe. Get checked out and rest, just in case.”


    Damien turned and headed for his room.


    Oliver and Penelope watched Damien’s back with mixed expressions.


    ***


    Within a day, investigators were dispatched to the academy.


    The investigators extracted dark magic from ’s corpse and examined it.


    “…The pattern of the dark magic matches. It’s definitely .”


    “Is this really ? One of the strongest giant evils dies so easily?”


    “What can we do? There’s a dead body right in front of us. We have to believe it.”


    The investigators immediately wrote a report and submitted it to the imperial court.


    As soon as the report was received, the imperial court was turned upside down.


    “It’s confirmed that  died at the academy.”


    “What? Does that mean  was really hiding at the academy?”


    “It’s absurd… What kind of ce is the academy that a giant evil would…”


    “I think other organizations should be needed to investigate. Who knows if Pandemonium’s influence has reached them?”


    The imperial officials took this incident very seriously.


    The academy was the cradle that nurtured the future of the empire. Such a ce had been defiled by Pandemonium.


    There was no guarantee that other organizations were safe. They had tounch a full-scale investigation, even if it meant turning the empire upside down.


    “What about that knight, Damien Haksen? Did he really fight  alone?”


    “The testimonies of the students and instructors are the same. It’s certain.”


    “It’s absurd. Wasn’t  one of the most powerful beings in Pandemonium?”


    “How many knights died to ? Damien Haksen did that all alone…?”


    The officials originally had a very negative view of Damien.


    How could they like a person who broke the tradition of the academy?


    But if that knight had killed , that was a different story.


    “I feel relieved when I think about all the crap that bitch did.”


    “Over hundreds of thousands of imperial citizens were sacrificed to that Subus.”


    “How many knights died? How many talented people were taken away?”


    The harm  had inflicted on the empire was immeasurable.


    There was no one among the empire’s nobles who did not have a grudge against .


    “I heard he went to the academy to find .”


    “So we were wrong to insult Damien Haksen.”


    “Oh, well… I don’t know what to apologize for.”


    While the officials were busy discussing Damien and , the emperor was deep in thought.


    ‘To have defeated …’


    The emperor couldn’t help but be impressed.


    The empire had been chasing  for decades without even catching a glimpse of her.


    Not only had he found this monster on his own, but he had also defeated her alone.


    ‘He has achieved an extraordinary feat…’


    Such a feat was unheard of in the history of the empire.


    ‘Wait a minute.’


    The emperor suddenly realized something.


    ‘Now I can support him wholeheartedly now, can’t I?’


    ***


    While the investigation was ongoing, Damien rested in his room.


    ‘I need a week to recover.’


    He had to push the Combined Infinity Cycle and Art of Sacrificial Raging Demon Manifestation to the limit to keep up with ’s speed.


    Using these two mana cultivation techniques multiplied his physical abilities and mana output several times over, but they also put a great strain on his body.


    ‘I’m still not strong enough to face an opponent like .’


    Damien didn’t take this victory too optimistically.


    was still considered ‘rtively’ easy to defeat. This was because Damien had an advantage in terms ofpatibility.


    ’s most powerful weapon was her ability to emit pheromones.


    Most knights were enved by ’s pheromones. Even those who managed to resist were often hindered by the pheromones during battle.


    However, Damien waspletely unaffected by the pheromones. This was because Damien’s ability to control his body was so advanced.


    ‘Her physical abilities were overwhelming, but her movements were simple.’


    ’s speed and destructive power were unparalleled, but she couldn’t use a wide variety of attacks because she hadn’t learned any martial arts.


    As a result, Damien was able to read all of ’s movements and counter them in advance.


    ‘A Weapon Master won’t be that easy.’


    A Weapon Master was a Master ss knight who had already ovee numerous walls.


    He was also technically skilled and could use his demonic swords to create all sorts of variables.


    ‘I need to get stronger to face a Weapon Master.’


    Damien thought about the Dragon Heart in the subspace.


    It was a bit disappointing to rely on it alone. Damien needed an elixir that would further enhance his abilities.


    ‘If possible, I’d like to get another fragment of Erebos.’


    If the power of Erebos became stronger than it was now, he might be able to turn the tide of the battle against a Weapon Master.


    ‘Where else could I get another fragment…’


    Damien was lost in thought when he heard someone knocking at the door.


    Damien got up and opened the door. He was surprised to see who was there.


    It was Sword Saint standing at the door.


    Sword Saint immediately pulled Damien into a hug andughed out loud.


    “Haha! You crazy bastard! I never thought you’d kill !”


    Sword Saint hugged Damien tightly and then let him go after a while.


    “What brings you here, Sir?”


    “When I heard that  was dead, how could I sit still? I ran right away! There are so many things I want to ask you. No, I’m dying to ask you!”


    Sword Saint patted Damien’s back.


    “But who’s the man behind you?”


    Damien asked as he looked at the man standing behind Sword Saint. The man was hiding his head and face with a ck robe.


    “Oh, this guy…”


    A look of embarrassment crossed Sword Saint’s face for a moment.


    “Let me introduce myself.”


    The man said as he removed the robe that had been hiding his head.


    The first thing that caught Damien’s eye was his silver hair, which seemed to have been plucked from the moonlight itself.


    But it wasn’t just his hair that was unusual. The man’s skin was white, with no hint of color.


    “My name is Eos.”


    The man said and continued to stare at Damien with his blood-red eyes.


    “I am also known as the Imperial Supreme Sword.”


    ***


    [Trantor – Kie]


    [Proofreader – Kawaii]