Chapter 220
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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Chapter 220: Famous (3)
***
Amidst the pandemonium where only the strong could belong, there existed the ‘Giant evils’ who had established their own power.
The power that a single giant evil possessed was comparable to that of a king of an entire kingdom.
“They have recently confirmed the location of the giant evil we’ve been tracking for a while now. All that’s left is to kill them, and just in time, this unfortunate incident has occurred, hasn’t it?”
He must be referring to the incident that took place during the Helian tournament.
“I cannot fathom how enraged His Majesty must have been. He declared that this humiliation must be avenged without fail.”
And so, it seemed that the Empire was planning to kill the giant evil this time.
Damien fell into a brief moment of contemplation.
The Extermination Squad was a top-secret military force made by the Empire. If they were going to be involved, it meant that this was a top-secret operation.
For them to so easily reveal such a mission to an outsider like himself…
“Do you trust me?”
“Half-half.”
Sword Saint said as he took a sip of his drink.
“Killing the scourge of Pandemonium was impressive, but that alone is not enough for me to trust you. It’s possible that they sacrificed the Dark Knight to plant a spy on our side.”
Considering the underhanded tactics of the dark mages, it wasn’t an unreasonable assumption. There were even cases where they had sacrificed their own families to infiltrate the Imperial Palace.
“So, I want to use this opportunity to confirm the other half. And to assess your skills as well.”
“What is the name of the giant evil?”
“It’s Vanexia of the Deadlock.”
Damien had never heard of this giant evil before. It seemed like a giant evil that had killed before the War of Destruction.
‘So, she must be one of the weaker giant evils.’
Not all giant evils were equal. They were divided into tiers based on their own strength and influence.
In the case of Sla and Weapon Master, they were one of the strongest giant evils among the rest.
“I will participate.”
“That’s good to hear. But why don’t you think about it a little more? This time, we’re dealing with a giant evil. You might lose your life.”
Sword Saint’s voice turned serious. It was hard to believe that he was drunk.
“It doesn’t matter. I won’t die anyway.”
“Hahahaha, what a cocky reply.”
A smile spread across Sword Saint’s face when he heard the answer.
“Alright. Come to the northern gate before sunrise tomorrow.”
“Yes, I understand… at dawn?”
“The operation is tomorrow. So, we need to depart as early as possible.”
Damien looked at Sword Saint with a somewhat dumbfounded expression.
“Isn’t that a bit too rushed?”
“That’s how things work in this world, isn’t it? Well, I’ll see you later.”
With that, Sword Saint left the room.
Even after Sword Saint had left, Damien continued to stare at the door with a bewildered expression.
***
Damien explained the situation to the people in the mansion.
When he said they had to leave immediately the next day, the people in the mansion were greatly shocked.
The activities of the Extermination Squad were top-secret, so they couldn’t tell them the whole truth. They had to mix in some lies.
After that, Damien headed to his room and took out the Emperor’s sword and armor he had brought from the palace.
He first examined the Emperor’s sword.
It was about 1.2 meters long and had a pointed shape towards the end.
The surface of the sword had a pattern made of rare metal. Small gems were embedded in the crossguard and hilt.
It was more of an art piece than a weapon. In reality, this sword wasn’t made for battle.
This Emperor’s sword symbolized the Emperor’s authority.
Originally, it was only for the Emperor’s use. Occasionally, it was lent to those who acted on the Emperor’s behalf.
“Why did they give me such an item? What’s the reason?”
If Damien were to abuse this sword, it could cause great chaos in the Empire.
And yet, the Emperor handed it over to Damien without hesitation.
“And why did you kneel to me? Why did you cry?”
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand.
Damien didn’t know much about the Emperor. He had only seen him twice, including in his past life.
“I saw him when Dorugo attacked the palace.”
After winning the War of Destruction, Dorugo attacked the palace and captured the Emperor. It was then that Damien first saw the Emperor.
At the time, Damien was busy taking back control of his body and exacting revenge on Dorugo, so he didn’t have time to pay attention to the Emperor.
After exacting his revenge, he immediately committed suicide and regressed, so he couldn’t remember the Emperor’s existence.
“Was it that grateful to have my help during the Helian tournament? Even so, it’s ridiculous to give me the Emperor’s sword.”
He thought about it for a while, but he couldn’t find an answer. Damien decided to put his thoughts aside and focus on what he had to do now.
Damien summoned Erebos and brought it close to the Emperor’s sword.
“Erebos, absorb it.”
Black droplets began to seep out of the sword’s surface. It was reacting to the fragments of Erebos hidden inside the sword.
The droplets stuck to Erebos like magnets.
The more it absorbed, the longer Erebos’s blade grew. It was now a little longer than the axe’s blade.
Damien swung it through the air. The slashing sensation had improved considerably.
“I guess I can use it as a weapon now.”
The length was a little disappointing, but it would work well enough as a sword.
Damien changed the Erebos back into a tattoo. Then he examined the Emperor’s sword.
“Weakened, indeed.”
The sword was much weaker than it had been before, thanks to the shards of Erebos it had spit out.
“Still, from the looks of it, no one can tell.”
Damien slid the sword back into subspace.
He might need to borrow the Emperor’s authority in the future, and he decided to save it for then.
Next, he examined his armor.
The sealed Hemaera was a breastplate in the form that could only cover the torso.
“First, I need to break the seal.”
Damien scraped out all the dark mana that remained inside the bracelet.
He hadn’t recharged his dark mana since the last time he used it. As a result, the amount of dark mana left on the bracelet was very small.
Fortunately, it didn’t take a massive amount of dark mana to wake Hemaera. It was enough to just stimulate it.
Damien infused Hemaera with dark mana. At first, nothing happened. But after a while, Hemaera turned red.
-Ah… ah…
A voice came from Hemaera.
-Soul… offer…
Unlike other demonic swords and armors, Hemaera couldn’t speak properly. This was due to Hemaera’s past.
The demon who created Hemaera was no less than a Duke-class demon. Excluding the ‘King’, it was the most powerful demon in hell.
However, the Duke-class demon was killed as soon as he created Hemaera.
Right before he died, the demon poured all of his power and soul into Hemaera.
In other words, Hemaera was the Duke-class demon itself.
-You… soul… offer…
The problem was that its soul was severely damaged when it was killed. As a result, Hemaera’s intelligence was no better than that of a beast.
The problem arose there.
Like demonic swords, demonic armors were also avatars created by demons to exert their influence on the continent.
That was why demonic swords and demonic armors didn’t destroy their users immediately and tried to keep them alive for as long as possible.
However, Hemaera lacked the intelligence to make such judgments.
In order to become the owner of Hemaera, one had to offer their soul. However, Hemaera, who had lost its intelligence, couldn’t exercise restraint.
Unlike other demonic armors, it didn’t spare its followers and absorbed all of their souls.
That was why Dorugo couldn’t properly utilize Hemaera even after acquiring it. He who wore it would lose his life on the spot.
“First, I need to subdue it.”
The method to subdue Hemaera was very simple.
Damien spread his mana to cover the room. This was to hide the uproar that was about to happen.
“Hemaera, I will be your master from now on.”
-Soul… offer…
Damien raised his fist. After gathering all his mana, he slammed down on the armor.
With a loud bang, Hemaera crumpled. The mana that Damien had spread beforehand absorbed all the noise.
-…Ugh.
Unable to withstand the shock, Hemaera groaned in pain. Damien clenched his fist again and said.
“I will be your master from now on.”
-Ah… it… hurts…
Damien slammed Hemaera again. With the second bang, the armor crumpled again.
“I am your master.”
-Ye, soul… soul has…
Damien slammed his fist down again. This time, he didn’t stop at one.
He kept pounding until Hemaera became scrap metal.
-Ma… master! Master!
In the end, Hemaera surrendered first. Even its awkward pronunciation was completely corrected.
-Master! I acknowledge! Master!
The moment it was recognized as the master, Hemaera’s appearance changed. It turned into a necklace and fell to the ground.
Damien put the necklace around his neck and said with a satisfied face.
“As expected, you have to beat humans and demons when they don’t listen.”
***
The Emperor stood before the window, gazing up at the night sky.
There was no better way to calm his troubled mind.
‘What on earth made me do such a thing?’
The one who was currently troubling the Emperor’s mind was none other than Damien Haksen.
Today, the Emperor had knelt down before a knight from another kingdom named Damien Haksen. Not only that, he had even shed tears.
He didn’t know why he had done it.
Unlike when he had seen him at the Colosseum, the moment he came face to face with him, a flood of emotions surged through his chest.
Unable to withstand the torrent of emotions, he ended up kneeling down. Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.
When Damien stepped back, the Emperor could only be shocked by his own actions.
It wasn’t just the Emperor who was shocked.
The imperial doctors, mages, and priests all swarmed around the Emperor to examine him.
They were worried that Damien might have cast some sort of mental magic on the Emperor.
The conclusion was that there was nothing wrong. That’s why the Emperor was even more confused.
“Your Majesty, are you alright?”
The knight asked with a worried expression. The Emperor slowly nodded his head.
“It’s not too late. Why don’t you send someone to retrieve the sword?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“But Your Majesty, that sword is a symbol of your authority. If Damien were to misuse that sword…”
The value of the sword was immense.
Even if Damien were to kill a high-ranking noble with that sword, he would not be punished. That was how powerful the sword was.
“Alright. Just leave it.”
Despite knowing this, the Emperor didn’t feel like taking the sword back from Damien.
It was because he didn’t care.
He didn’t care if Damien misused the sword.
In fact, the Emperor wanted to give Damien even more.
He wanted to give him anything. He wanted to take out the most precious things from the imperial treasury and give them to him in a heap.
No, even beyond that, he had a desire to give up the empire itself.
‘I’m crazy. I’m crazy.’
To feel this way towards a knight he had never seen before in his life. It must be because he was going senile.
‘All the more reason to clear my head.’
The Emperor was in a position to lead the empire. He couldn’t be swayed by such unknown emotions.
“Your Majesty, there are ominous rumors circulating in the streets right now.”
“Rumors?”
“That Damien Haksen may be… Your Majesty’s illegitimate child…”
At those words, the Emperor burst into loud laughter. No matter how absurd it was, an illegitimate child?
He swore to the heavens that he had never had an illegitimate child. He had only had one empress.
“…Wait a minute.”
The rumor of an illegitimate child was ridiculous.
However… there was a possibility that their blood was somehow connected.
Could it be that the blood of one of the previous emperors or of the collateral imperial family had been passed down to Damien Haksen?
If that were the case… if that were really the case…
“Let’s have it investigated.”
At those words, the knight guard’s eyes widened.
“N-no way… C-could it be true… that he’s really an illegitimate child…”
“What are you talking about?”
Emperor’s eyes narrowed in response and said.
“I’m telling you to investigate whether or not Count Haksen has imperial blood.”
“Oh, I understand.”
The Emperor looked back up at the night sky.
What if Damien really did have imperial blood? Then what?
“…Maybe I should adopt him.”
He was startled by his own careless muttering.
***
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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