[Trantor - Kie]


    [Proofreader - Kawaii]


    -----------------


    Chapter 328: Awakening (2)


    Vahel’s face lost all trace of its earlier amusement as he locked eyes with Damien Haksen.


    The moment he had mentioned Damien’s family, the atmosphere around him shifted drastically.


    No, it wasn’t just the atmosphere that changed. The ominous presence Damien now radiated had intensified.


    Instinct sounded an rm. His rational mind sent out a warning, urging him not to recklessly challenge the enemy before him.


    "...Hahahah!"


    But Vahel didn’t heed his instincts or reason. He chose a different emotion:


    Pleasure.


    His already intriguing ything had be even more entertaining. That realization brought him immense joy, almost too much to bear.


    “You seem to care a lot about your family. Well then, I should show some consideration too. I’ll make sure to kill them right in front of you. I’ll let you witness every moment of their deaths from start to finish.”


    Suddenly, Damien moved his arm and swung the Erebos in a wide arc.


    "Hm?"


    Vahel’s expression turned puzzled. The two of them were still far apart, so there was no way the sword could hit anything but empty air.


    “Why would you waste your energy on something so pointless...?”


    Without warning, the world split diagonally. Half of Vahel’s vision was engulfed in darkness.


    “...!”


    A sharp pain surged from one of his eyes, as if it had been scorched by a burning iron.


    Vahel stepped back while clutching his eye. His eyeball had been cut in half.


    When? How?


    His mind swirled with questions. But the most perplexing one was how Damien had managed to cut through his ''Power of Istion''.


    Vahel’s entire body was protected by this ''Power'', and his eyes were no exception. In fact, his eyes were among his most vulnerable spots, so the power of the ''Power of Istion'' was concentrated there.


    Yet Damien’s strike had sliced through the ''Power'' as if it were paper and cut his eye in two.


    Through his confusion, Vahel saw Damien lower his stance.


    It was clear he was about to charge. As soon as Vahel realized Damien’s intent, a shiver ran down his spine.


    Instinctively, Vahel unleashed his ''Power of Istion'' with all his might, pouring every ounce of his strength and focus into it.


    Up until now, the crystals Vahel had created using his ''Power'' always took the form of angr shapes. It was a method that allowed him to draw out fights and savor them longer.


    But this time was different. The image Vahel summoned in his mind was that of des.


    des are sharper and deadlier the thinner they are. But to maintain durability, des are usually made thicker.


    Vahel was different though. The des he forged from his ''Power of Istion'' were impossibly thin, yet they would never break or dull, no matter how fragile they seemed.


    des erupted from the ground beneath Damien’s feet. They were as thin as a dragonfly’s wing, razor-sharp, and harder than any metal known to this world.


    And it wasn’t just one or two des. Thousands upon thousands of des shot upward in the blink of an eye.


    The endless surge of des formed a mountain, and Vahel stared at the peak of that de mountain with his one remaining eye.


    Damien was standing atop the razor-sharp summit and lightly perched as if it were the most natural thing in the world.


    “...”


    Vahel’s eye trembled violently.


    The moment he had unleashed his ''Power'', Damien had already effortlessly ascended atop the des.


    Not a single one of the ‘Power of Istion''s’ des had even grazed the hem of Damien’s clothes.


    “Ha, this is seriously getting interesting.”


    Just as Vahel’s lips twisted into a grin, Damien leaned slightly forward.


    "Is he really going to charge at me with such an unstable stance?"


    Vahel''s ominous premonition quickly became reality as Damienunched himself off one of the des.


    The istion des bent significantly before snapping back into ce and sending Damien flying forward.


    Vahel erected walls of istion around himself in haste. He encased his entire body within thousands of protective barriers.


    "Second Wheel."


    Damien quietly muttered, simultaneously kicking off the air once more.


    As his body elerated, the istion walls Vahel created shattered like ss.


    The instant Damien closed the distance, he brought his sword down in a vertical sh.


    Vahel instinctively concentrated his ''Power of Istion'' into his forearms, crossing them to block the strike.


    However, Damien''s de met Vahel’s forearms and sliced through them effortlessly.


    There was no booming sound, no ng of steel—just the smooth, soundless severing of flesh, as if cutting through cream with a sharp knife. Vahel''s arms were neatly sliced off.


    "Aaaaaa!"


    For the first time, a scream burst from Vahel’s mouth.


    Ever since his ''Power of Istion'' had fully matured, Vahel had never sustained a serious injury.


    In the hundreds of years he’d lived, not a single demon had managed to leave a mark on him.


    Yet now, both his arms had been severed. The sudden and overwhelming pain made his head feel like it was about to explode.


    But there was no time to dwell on the agony, as Damien’s next sword strike was alreadying at him.


    "Grrr!"


    Vahel quickly invoked his ''Power of Istion'' once again.


    A flower bloomed between two. It was not a real flower, but a mass of shattered fragments forged from istion power.


    The ‘flower’ exploded, sending off sharp shards that shot toward Damien at terrifying speed.


    In that instant, countless lines were drawn through the air, slicing through the iing shards as if they were nothing.


    "You insane bastard!"


    Vahel couldn’t stop himself from shouting.


    The number of shards he had unleashed was easily in the tens of thousands.


    And Damien had cut down every single one of them? How was that even possible?


    "Fine! I’ll admit it! You’re no ordinary opponent! You’re a true adversary, worthy of my full power!"


    Vahel gathered all his remaining strength. His body began to mutate once more.


    His frame grewrger, his muscles bulged, and his teeth sharpened into those of a wild beast.


    Rough fur sprouted all over his body, and his legs bent backward like a mountain goat’s.


    In no time, his severed arms and his injured eye hadpletely regenerated.


    With his newly grown arm, Vahel reached for a rusty key. It was a key forged by Ruin to break his pact.


    "I will free myself from this ursed oath."


    Vahel turned the key in the air, and suddenly, the binding oath with the first emperor—one that had haunted Vahel for so long—was broken.


    His weakened powers surged back, and his presence became even more terrifying.


    "I’ll crush you!"


    Vahel stretched his arms toward Damien. Enormous des start to descend toward Damien’s head.


    Not just one or two, but several massive des. They wererge enough to split mountains and seas.


    What was truly shocking was their speed. Despite their immense size, they moved faster than the wind. Birds flying in the sky were instantly sliced in half before they could escape.


    At that moment, Damien spoke once more.


    "Third Wheel."


    Damien gripped his Erebos with both hands. A colorless aurade began to spin.


    He swung the spinning aurade wide. It unleashed a storm of force that collided with the istion des.


    One by one, Vahel’s des start to shatter and their fragments scatter to the ground.


    "..."


    For a moment, Vahel was left in a daze. How could someone destroy his ''Power'' that he unleashed at full strength, so effortlessly?


    "Fourth Wheel."


    Damien disappeared from sight. In the next instant, he reappeared behind Vahel.


    Before Vahel could even react, Damien swung his sword. The aurade shot out and sliced through Vahel’s forearm.


    "Graaaah!"


    Vahel screamed again and stumbled back, trying to use the ''Power of Istion'' to block Damien''s advance.


    But before he could fully activate it, Damienunched himself forward once more, kicking Vahel square in the stomach.


    The protective barrier created by the ''Power of Istion'' shattered into pieces, and Damien’s foot tore through Vahel’s insides.


    "Kghaaaaa!"


    Vahel screamed and his body flung backward. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to steady his stance.


    This was a battle—he couldn’t afford to lose focus just because of the pain...


    The moment he lifted his head, Damien was already in front of him. This scene left Vahel stunned.


    "When did you— aaah!"


    Damien swung Erebos again, slicing off Vahel’s other arm.


    Vahel tried to regenerate both of his arms immediately, but Damien was faster and punched into Vahel’s face.


    The bones in Vahel’s skull shattered, sending him flying backward. He fought through the pain, attempting to use his ''Power'' again.


    But this time, no des or barriers of istion formed.


    Instead, the ''Power'' began affecting Damien internally.


    "I''ll iste your vision first!"


    Damien’s eyes turnedpletely ck, and his movements came to a sudden stop.


    The true weapon of the ''Power of Istion'' was not just in creating objects—it was the ability to stop and sever anything. That was the real power of istion.


    "I’ll iste your hearing and smell!"


    "I’ll iste your heartbeat!"


    "I’ll iste your blood flow!"


    "I’ll iste your mana!"


    Vahel systematically paralyzed Damien’s senses and bodily functions, one by one.


    "And finally, I’ll iste your arms and legs."


    Just as Vahel was about to unleash the final part of his power, Damien suddenly swung his sword into the air. A sharp sound rang out as if the de had struck something.


    "...What?"


    Vahel immediately realized what Damien had done.


    He had cut through the ''Power'' itself.


    But that was impossible. How could someone cut through the very power of istion, not just the objects it created, but the ''Power'' itself?


    "What kind of nonsense is this...?"


    Damien swung his sword a few more times, and each time, the sharp sound echoed again.


    With every swing of Damien’s sword, Vahel’s expression grew paler.


    The powers he had ced on Damien were vanishing, one by one.


    Vahel couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams...


    That the realm Damien had mastered in his past life ‘Sword God’ granted him the ability to cut through anything no matter what it was.


    Until now, Damien hadn’t reached the level of a Grandmaster and couldn’t fully utilize that ability.


    But things were different now.


    As both a human and a Death Knight, Damien had reached the level of a Grandmaster. He had regained his full realm from his previous life.


    After slicing through the final ''Power'', Damien turned his gaze to Vahel. The killing intent radiating from his darkened eyes froze Vahel’s face.


    This time, he knew he was truly going to die.


    Vahel had exhausted all his tricks, and his techniques had been shattered. He could sense death approaching.


    Damien kicked off the ground, closing the distance between them in an instant. In the blink of an eye, Damien was right in front of him and his de was shing forward.


    At the moment of death, Vahel''s senses sharpened to an extreme. He could suddenly see the precise movements of Damien—movements he hadn’t noticed before.


    But even though he could see it, he couldn’t dodge. His body was far too slow.


    "Damn it."


    Vahel cursed under his breath.


    "To think that I—the ruler of the Inferno—would be forced to use ‘this’!"


    His eyes took on a resolute gleam as he lowered his voice.


    "Stop."


    In that instant, the entire world came to a halt.


    Damien froze mid-motion. The clouds in the sky, the falling leaves in the wind—everything stopped.


    "Ku... Kuaaaah!"


    In the frozen world, Vahel let out a pained groan.


    Suddenly, the horns on his forehead began to ignite with mes.


    "Fuck it... I can’t believe I’m wasting a thousand years’ worth of power like this."


    The three horns growing from Vahel’s forehead were not ordinary. They were reservoirs of the power he had gathered and condensed over millennia.


    To iste time flow itself, Vahel was forced to use everyst drop of his umted power.


    "The cost for this is enormous."


    He grumbled in dissatisfaction as he approached Damien.


    "I’ll take it out on your family for this."


    Just as Vahel prepared to tear out Damien’s head—


    Thump.


    A sound echoed.


    Thump.


    At first, Vahel thought he had misheard it.


    Thump.


    But the sound didn’t stop; it grew louder and faster. The intervals shortened.


    And then, Vahel realized with horror—it was Damien’s heartbeat.


    "This... this is impossible…."


    As Vahel muttered in disbelief, Damien’s body moved.


    The de of Erebos pierced Vahel’s heart.


    ***


    [Trantor - Kie]


    [Proofreader - Kawaii]