Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: High Class (1)
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It was terrifying.
The Hanger couple found themselves harboring that thought without realizing it.
The man's killing intent was so overwhelming that they couldn't breathe properly. Even swallowing felt hesitant.
They had never experienced such vicious killing intent before.
Not even among the black mages, who were gatherings of crazed murderers.
Was he even human?
The question suddenly arose. No matter how they thought about it, he didn't seem human. It was as if a monster was wearing human skin.
If they just tugged at that skin slightly, it would peel right off, revealing something horrific.
But the Hanger couple had their pride too.
Before becoming test subjects, the couple had been high-class and top-tier black mages. They had never lost to anyone in their lives.
After the modification, they had lived with the pride of being chosen by "Him."
Their bodies were embedded with numerous black magics and magic tools that "He" was researching.
Thanks to "His" grace, the couple was twice as strong as they had been as humans.
That's right.
We are bodies chosen by "Him." There's no way we'd lose to some mere human.
With that thought, the Hanger couple escaped their fear. Their minds cleared.
Then, things they hadn't noticed before came into view.
"...This is the first time I've seen such a ridiculous bastard."
The "husband" side twisted his lips. He sneered at the man.
"You're young, but you've got some decent killing intent... but in the end, you're just middle-class."
The "husband" side had been a high-class powerhouse even before becoming a test subject, so he could see it clearly.
The fact that the amount of mana Demian possessed fell short of high-class.
"Did you think you'd fool me by bluffing with killing intent? Don't be ridiculous. We're not some run-of-the-mill amateurs."
The man's killing intent was ultimately just a bluff. Like a hedgehog puffing up its spines.
It might look threatening, but when you examined the substance, it was nothing.
"Dear, let's show this middle-class nobody what a true powerhouse looks like."
The Hanger couple concentrated black mana into their burst arm. The wound regenerated, swiftly returning to its original state.
It was one of the abilities "He" had bestowed upon them. The couple could heal any wound in an instant.
The Hanger couple unleashed their black mana. The black mana flowed to the floor like a sticky, rotten swamp.
The couple's presence overwhelmed the man's killing intent. His killing intent shrank rapidly.
"It's been a while since we've been in full battle readiness like this, hasn't it?"
"You're right, dear! I've missed this sense of liberation!"
The Hanger couple spoke in highly excited voices.
"...Yes, this body still isn't weak."
At that moment, the man spoke. His voice was heavily suppressed.
"I want to kill you bastards myself with this body... but since I can't, this is such dogshit luck."
The man brought his opposite hand to his mouth. He bit the bracelet locked on his wrist with his teeth and undid it.
Immediately after, black mana erupted from the bracelet. Black smoke enveloped the surroundings.
At that sight, the Hanger couple's eyes widened as if they might pop out.
"You bastard..."
Black mana. The property of corrupting the surroundings.
If they weren't seeing things, that was definitely...
"How do you have black mana!"
The man wasn't a Holy Knight, but he was acting alongside the Church.
For such a person to possess black mana.
And it was far denser than the black mana the Hanger couple was emitting. Yet the quantity was vastly greater.
What was even more shocking came next. All that black mana was sucked entirely into the man's body.
His flesh-toned skin turned gray. The whites of his eyes blackened, and red glows burst from his pupils.
The sharp blue aura turned black. He had formed aura using black mana.
"This is impossible..."
Mana and black mana were completely different powers. Thus, the ways to wield them were different too.
A knight who had only handled mana couldn't use black mana. The reverse was also true.
"Was he not a regular knight, but a dark knight...?"
No, that wasn't it. Clearly, at first, he had manifested aura using mana.
"...Disgusting."
The man murmured lowly. Revulsion seeped thickly from his tone.
"...Black mana always feels filthy no matter when I use it. Like smearing filth on my body. Taking it into me drives me insane."
The man's red eyes turned toward the Hanger couple.
"Brace yourselves. I won't let you die easily."
The Hanger couple felt chills run down their spines. But they forcibly suppressed the emotion.
"I don't know what the hell your true identity is, but..."
The "husband" decided to set aside the questions for now. They could interrogate him in detail after taking him down.
"Even so, you can't do anything to us, who received "His" grace!"
The Hanger couple charged at the man. Thanks to unleashing their black mana, their bodies felt as light as feathers.
As they ran, they gripped their twin swords firmly. Black aura gathered on the blades of the twin swords.
The "husband" swung the twin swords wildly. The twin swords traced complex trajectories, trying to slice into the man's body.
No, trying to slice.
The arms that should have swung the swords suddenly vanished. Both left and right.
Looking down, he saw his own hands, still gripping the swords, fallen to the ground.
Why is my arm there? What just happened?
Countless questions flooded in. But there was no time to seek answers.
With both arms gone, his torso was fully exposed. The man closed the distance without hesitation.
The man swung the sword in his hand wildly. The barrage of slashes indiscriminately tore into his body, slicing the torso.
Muscles shredded, chunks of flesh rained down.
"Arrrgh!"
The husband screamed. But it changed nothing. The man's sword strikes didn't stop.
"Don't touch my husband!"
The "wife" hurriedly activated black magic. Corrosive curse mist spewed toward the man.
At that instant, the man swung his sword widely.
A single line of light cut through the wife's wrists and vanished. Immediately after, the mist cut off, and her wrists fell to the ground.
"Kyaaah!"
In the wife's scream, the "husband" realized.
It wasn't that his arms had disappeared at first. It was just an illusion because the man's slashes were too fast.
His arms had been severed at a speed beyond his perception, making them seem gone.
The next moment, the man thrust his blade deep into the abdomen. Then he twisted the blade and slashed outward.
The abdomen split open from the inside. Experiencing agony he'd never felt before, the "husband" let out a beastly howl.
"S-Stop! Stop it, I said!"
He flailed his severed arms wildly. But no more slashes came.
Lifting his head, he saw the man had somehow retreated far away.
"Wh-Why..."
There was no way the man had felt threatened by that action and backed off.
"Dear! Are you okay?"
In the meantime, the "wife" concentrated black mana on the wounds. To regenerate them.
Being two in one had its advantages. The other side took care of what one missed.
"Huh? Wh-What?"
But the wife's reaction was strange. Panic was clear in her voice.
"Th-The wounds aren't regenerating! S-Something's blocking the regeneration."
"What nonsense..."
As he was about to question her, a sharp pain suddenly stabbed from the wound area.
The sharp pain split like lightning, burrowing into the wound.
As the pain dug in, the muscles twisted. Black mana rampaged wildly, destroying the body's meridians.
"Arrrgh! Aaaah!"
"Kyaaah! Kiiieek!"
Originally, only the husband would feel the pain. The wife had to use black magic.
But this pain was different. Both sides felt it. The excruciating pain scrambled their brains.
"What the hell is this... What's happening..."
The abnormality didn't end there. Suddenly, the wound areas began to swell.
The mutilated body swelled up. The pain intensified accordingly.
"Wh-What the hell did you do to our body..."
"Dear! Save me! Deeeear!"
With screams, the Hanger couple's bodies exploded.
Blood and flesh sprayed. The surrounding ground was dyed bright red.
* * *
Cotton Within Hidden Needle (綿裏禁針).
A mana circulation method capable of manipulating meridians using mana.
Demian had injected mana into the wounds simultaneously with slicing the Hanger couple's bodies.
Then, by activating the injected mana all at once, he stimulated their meridians and burst their muscles.
He could have killed them more easily. But he used this method to inflict greater pain.
"Ugh... Uh... Uhhh..."
"Ah... Ahhh..."
The Hanger couple, left with only bones and bits of flesh, let out agonized sounds.
Demian looked down at them and spoke in a cold tone.
"What are you doing? Hurry up and regenerate your bodies."
His emotions were still boiling. The frustration hadn't eased. He felt like slashing them hundreds more times to feel better.
"If you're creations of Dorgo, you should be able to heal wounds like this in no time."
Despite Demian's words, the Hanger couple only groaned.
Their brains seemed broken from pain exceeding their limits.
At that pathetic sight, Demian ground his teeth.
"I told you to get up!"
Spewing rage, he swung his sword. The Hanger couple's heads were severed, rolling on the ground.
The headless bodies twitched, then something slithered up from the torsos.
-Uhhh...
-Huuuh...
The Hanger couple's souls rose into the air. Demian seized those souls.
-Kaaaah!
-Kieeee!
The couple screamed. The pain of souls was different in texture from physical pain.
Demian gripped the souls tightly. The pain amplified hundreds of times, and the couple's souls dissipated.
Demian breathed heavily. Far from easing, his rage boiled over even more.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Demian roared in fury-filled rage. He clutched his face with both hands as if to tear it off.
"Not yet... Not yet..."
He couldn't end it like this. If he didn't vent all his rage, something inside him would break.
Demian turned his staggering head.
Far away, the "other side" Hanger couple was fighting the entangled Holy Knights.