Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Archenemy (2)
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The pursuit team's numbers weren't that high.
In the case of the Undying Burners, there were a total of five: centered around the 1st-grade Holy Knight Paramount, with three 2nd-grade Holy Knights and Demian Haksen.
The Dazzling Pain side was similar. One 1st-grade Holy Knight and three 2nd-grade Holy Knights.
There were two reasons why the team was so small.
First, the pursuit team had been assembled in too much of a hurry. For a church perpetually short on manpower, deploying two 1st-grade Holy Knights was already a stroke of luck.
Second, they needed to move quickly. The more people, the more logistics to manage—it was an unavoidable choice.
And so, a total of nine headed toward the Mandarine Kingdom's central branch.
* * *
“…….”
Upon arriving at the Mandarine Kingdom's central branch, the pursuit team couldn't help but be shocked.
The central branch managed all church-related affairs arising in that country.
From distributing doctrine to expanding influence, tracking heretics, and more.
It was accordingly large in scale and well-defended against external attacks.
But now, only the desolate cawing of crows echoed through the silence.
Bloodstains covered the buildings everywhere, and chunks of flesh rotted on the ground.
What plunged the group even deeper into shock was the sight of the statue at the entrance.
The massive statue, crafted to symbolize the god's greatness, had dozens of corpses hanging from it by their necks.
Even in death, the corpses' eyes remained open. They had died filled with terror and agony.
‘This gruesome hobby was with them from the start.’
Demian looked at the corpses with a disgusted expression.
That was precisely why they would come to be known as the Hanger couple in the future.
-I bet you wouldn't get it, tin can, but black magic has a flavor to it!
-My love and I adore the black magic that wells up when we hang people the most!
They committed such horrors simply because it suited their tastes.
“Paramount, let's move now. We need to meet up with the Fettered Gale.”
The 1st-grade Holy Knight Serbo, leading the Dazzling Pain, spoke up. It snapped Paramount out of his shock.
“……Let's head inside.”
Paramount said in a heavy voice. The pursuit team moved toward the interior of the branch.
As they approached, they saw multiple Holy Knights dumping corpses into a pit.
“Move faster. No time to dawdle. We need to clean up the scene and track those bastards down quick.”
A man was directing them.
With his glasses, he looked less like a Holy Knight and more like a scholar. His features were soft, his gaze lacking intensity.
But a long scar over one eye shattered that impression entirely.
Sensing their presence, the man turned to the pursuit team. On his chest was the emblem symbolizing the Fettered Gale.
“Paramount, Serbo. You're both late.”
The man said to the two 1st-grade Holy Knights in a very stiff tone.
“We came as fast as we could.”
“The branch was annihilated. 'As fast as we could' isn't enough—you should've run like your lives depended on it.”
Paramount replied with his usual affable smile. But the man only frowned.
Demian asked Agnes.
“Who is he?”
“Nadine, disciple of Lord Greenwind and a 1st-grade Holy Knight of the Fettered Gale.”
It was a completely unfamiliar name. Even sifting through his memories of his past life, nothing came up.
“Are the only sects that came to support the Undying Burners and Dazzling Pain?”
“Yeah, looking forward to working with you.”
“His Holiness is meddling unnecessarily. The Fettered Gale alone would've sufficed.”
At those words, Paramount's smile faded. But the man paid it no mind.
“Doesn't seem like the considerate type?”
Demian whispered. Agnes gave a wry smile.
“Lord Nadine does lack a bit in that regard. He's called the strongest among 1st-grade Holy Knights.”
An intriguing evaluation.
“The strongest?”
“Yes. His talent is so exceptional, he's considered closest to platinum-grade.”
Platinum-grade.
In other words, he was expected to reach Master. His talent seemed genuine, at least.
“If you're here, lend a hand. We need to clean up before the dead rise as undead.”
Where the corpses were piled highest, undead were already swarming.
The grudges of the dead and the corpse poison from decay birthed them.
Paramount approached the pit, then tilted his head.
“No wounds on the corpses? What killed them?”
“No idea. Probably cooked up some new twisted black magic. Isn't that what heretics do?”
At that, Demian drew closer to the pit. There was one thing he needed to check.
Just as Paramount said, the bodies were pristine, without a single wound.
Their faces were simply contorted in torment.
‘……They used it after all.’
A faint trace of black magic emanated from the corpses. It matched perfectly some black magic Demian knew.
Nightmare Slaughter.
A black magic that stole lives or shattered minds by showing victims horrific visions.
Its casting speed was fast relative to its terrifying lethality, and its range was wide.
The epitome of Dorgo's genius and malice combined into a destructive spell.
‘Damn it.’
It was the first time since his regression that he'd encountered Dorgo's black magic.
Something welled up inside him. His head grew hot, like stew simmering for hours.
Memories of the past flooded relentlessly. The days of being remodeled by Dorgo, the days killing on his orders, and finally……
-How did it feel to kill your own family with your own hands, the ones who cast you out? I prepared it especially for you.
Dorgo's voice echoed from when Demian had killed his family.
-Hahaha, of course, you felt nothing. But I had a grand old time. Quite the show.
That voice, those eyes, that laugh—they resurfaced vividly.
His sanity nearly snapped. Demian barely clung to it. By a hair's breadth.
“Lord Demian!”
Agnes grabbed his hand and channeled holy power.
The infused holy power spread through his body. Agnes's holy power was warm and serene.
“Are you really okay? Your expression just now…….”
“It's nothing.”
Demian pulled his hand away. He couldn't worry Agnes any further. One wrong move, and they might send him to the rear for mental health reasons.
He couldn't bear that. Demian had to kill the Hanger couple here, no matter what.
Otherwise, he doubted he could keep his sanity.
“Wait, who's that guy?”
Then, Nadine noticed Demian.
“I don't sense any holy power from him?”
“Ah, well, about that.”
Paramount stepped in to explain, blocking Nadine. But Nadine shoved him aside and glared at Demian.
“He's not a Holy Knight? Paramount, what the hell is this?”
“Lord Demian is a regular knight. But no need to worry. He's extremely devout…….”
“You're insane.”
Nadine spat out curtly.
“Bringing in an outsider? You've lost your mind completely.”
“Nadine, watch your words. The one who approved Lord Demian's participation is our master.”
“Then you should've stopped it. You just stood by and watched?”
Nadine glared at Paramount firmly.
“I won't allow an outsider's participation. Send that man back immediately.”
“Can't do that.”
Paramount said flatly. Nadine's face grew fierce.
“I'm not your subordinate. And as I said earlier, Lord Demian's participation was approved by Lord Cyanflame.”
“If you don't expel that man, the Fettered Gale will carry out the mission alone.”
Paramount's eyes widened slightly at Nadine's words. After a moment's thought, he replied.
“No helping it then. Let's each do our best.”
Paramount didn't budge under Nadine's warning. The two stared each other down.
“……Tarbulla!”
Then, Nadine raised his voice. One of the Fettered Gale Holy Knights standing behind stepped forward.
“Yes, senior brother.”
“Go restrain that man yourself. You're authorized to use force against any who interfere. Just don't kill them.”
“Understood.”
The Holy Knight approached Demian. Paramount glared at Nadine.
“You're really going to do this?”
“If you'd opposed master's decision from the start, this wouldn't have happened.”
Paramount narrowed his eyes.
“Agnes! Protect Lord Demian by any means necessary!”
Agnes blocked Tarbulla's path. Tarbulla looked at her with a mocking expression.
“I heard you just became a 2nd-grade Holy Knight…… You think that piddly skill can stop me?”
“You talk too much. If you don't want to see blood, you'd best back off.”
“Then try stopping me.”
Tarbulla moved. A gust whipped up, and in an instant, he was behind Agnes.
“Guh!”
Agnes spun around in panic. At that moment, Tarbulla drew his sword from his waist and swung.
A fierce wind howled. It battered Agnes's body from all sides.
“Guh!”
The wind carried weight. It felt like invisible fists pounding her.
Agnes's body flew back. She slammed her hand into the ground to halt herself.
“Lord Demian!”
She cried out urgently, looking ahead. But Tarbulla had already reached Demian.
“Outsider, if you don't want to get seriously hurt, come quietly.”
Tarbulla pressed his blade to Demian's nape. The skin parted slightly, blood trickling.
In that instant, disgust surged. The boiling emotions slipped Demian's control.
Snap.
He vividly heard something break.
* * *
It was right after Tarbulla placed his blade on Demian's shoulder.
Demian Haksen ducked low and lunged inward. At the same time, he seized Tarbulla's wrist.
“Resisting after all? I'll chop off every finger!”
Tarbulla tried to swing his blade even with his wrist gripped.
In that moment, mana surged from Demian Haksen's hand. A stinging pain hit, and strength drained from Tarbulla's body.
“……?!”
By the time he regained his senses, his knees were on the ground.
“What the…….”
He tried to stand, but no strength entered his body. His mana and holy power seemed sealed.
Demian Haksen placed a hand on Tarbulla's crown. Immediately after, his head slammed into the dirt.