Chapter 189
Chapter 189
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: Death Knight (1)
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An invisible pressure crushed the entire field.
The surface shattered, and the ground itself sank. The whole field caved in as if hammered flat.
It was hard to believe this vast, eerie scene had come from just a single black magic spell.
But unlike the visible devastation, the actual damage wasn't that severe.
“Whew.”
A whistle echoed through the air.
Wingstone stood atop the pulverized field. He looked impressed as he spoke.
“Impressive. You're no ordinary black mage, are you?”
Wingstone neither dodged nor blocked 'Ebony'.
He simply stood there and endured it. He took the pressure that had crushed the entire field with his bare body.
Yet he wasn't hurt at all. He stood exactly as he had at the start.
'As expected, not to be taken lightly.'
Demian Haksen wasn't particularly surprised.
He knew full well what kind of monsters Master Class fighters were.
A mere Ebony couldn't kill a Master Class.
That was why grand black mages scoured endlessly for ways to surpass the Master Class.
“Sukle, my delicate kitten. Are you all right?”
Wingstone turned his gaze. There sat a massive fireball.
The flames receded, reverting to spirit form. Sukle's figure emerged.
“Hahk, hahk... Y-you bastard...”
Sukle knelt on the ground, gasping for breath.
“You trash... How dare you... Urk...”
Sukle vomited blood. Fragments of ruptured organs mixed in with it.
'Internal injuries.'
Sukle had used her spirit to block Ebony.
But she hadn't fully withstood the pressure and had taken internal damage.
“G-Glami...!”
Sukle cried out hoarsely. The fire spirit placed a hand on her back.
Pale flames enveloped Sukle's body. Her expression eased in an instant.
'This is why spirits are such a pain.'
Demian clicked his tongue inwardly.
Spirits could attack, defend, and heal.
They were all-purpose allies that could do it all. From an opponent's perspective, nothing was more annoying.
“I thought you'd completed your vision because you had a spirit... but that doesn't seem to be the case.”
A grand black mage who completed their vision gained combat power rivaling a Master Class.
But unlike Wingstone, Sukle hadn't fully blocked Ebony.
She had even suffered internal injuries severe enough to rupture her organs. It meant that, though a grand black mage, she hadn't reached that height.
If she hadn't completed her vision, she couldn't subjugate a spirit. In other words, the fire spirit Sukle possessed had been given to her by someone else.
“Who gave you that spirit? The Ruler of Eternal Flames, perhaps?”
Ruler of Eternal Flames.
One of Pandemonium's great evils.
A grand black mage of the Destruction School, he had subjugated countless fire spirits.
In his previous life, he had even succeeded in subjugating the Fire Spirit King.
“Damn it... Driving me insane... How dare a worm like you... to me... this trash...”
But Sukle was in no state to answer Demian's question.
“My delicate little kitten. Shall I help you?”
“Back off! If you butt in, I'll kill you too!”
Sukle rejected Wingstone's help once more.
Her rage had peaked, blinding her to all else.
“Glami!”
Sukle shouted loudly. Glami turned into blue flames and overlaid Sukle.
'She plans to merge with the spirit and maximize her black magic power.'
If Sukle was truly connected to the Ruler of Eternal Flames, then there was only one school she could belong to.
Destruction School.
Likely, even within Destruction, one specializing in flame-based black magic.
The Destruction School wielded the most destructive black magic among all schools.
What if a Destruction black mage merged with a mid-tier spirit?
It was impossible to gauge just how much her black magic power would amplify.
“Get ready. I won't let you die easy.”
Sukle pointed her index finger at Demian. She neither unleashed black magic power nor drew a magic circle.
Yet in that instant, an explosion erupted at Demian's feet.
A deafening roar accompanied crimson flames bursting forth. Demian's position was instantly engulfed in fire.
“Die! Die!”
Sukle screamed, swinging her arms repeatedly.
Each swing triggered a new explosion. They chained together relentlessly.
The ground where Demian stood was completely obliterated. Massive flames blanketed the world. They surged skyward, piercing the heavens.
“...”
Even after her all-out assault, Sukle's expression didn't brighten.
She merely stared at the flames with wary eyes.
Sure enough, as the flames died down, Demian emerged unscathed from within.
The shadow at his feet had formed a curtain, protecting him.
“Tch.”
Sukle clicked her tongue briefly. She hadn't expected him to die from that, but she hadn't thought he'd block it so easily either.
“Even so, blocking my black magic that effortlessly?”
Sukle's voice trembled faintly. Her pride shattered, her whole body shook.
“Let's see if you can withstand this.”
The flames burning around Demian all converged in one spot.
The fireball soon took the form of a giant. It was the mid-tier spirit Glami that Sukle had summoned.
“Glami! Finish him!”
The fire spirit swung its fist at Demian. The fireball itself smashed into him.
* * *
It was then.
The shadow beneath Demian Haksen's feet began to writhe.
Something burst out from within. It opened a massive maw and devoured Glami's upper body.
“Glami!”
Sukle cried out urgently.
With its upper body torn off, Glami staggered before reverting to flames. It returned to Sukle's side.
“Glami! Are you okay?”
Glami restored its original form. Despite the grievous wound, it was unharmed.
Spirits' true natures were ambiguous, so it wouldn't die from this.
But Sukle could feel it. Glami's power had greatly weakened.
Just now, when bitten by the wolf, it had lost a huge chunk of its essence.
Sukle looked up at Demian again.
Beside him stood a massive wolf. It looked carved from pure darkness.
Each breath it exhaled carried an ominous dread.
“You...”
Sukle asked, her face full of wariness.
“Where did you get a monster like that...!”
She could tell just by looking.
The immense black magic power radiating from that wolf.
“Good job, Munchi.”
Demian reached out and stroked Munchi's leg. Munchi panted happily, tongue lolling.
“Lend me a bit more power. Time to end this.”
The wolf melted back into the shadow. Immediately after, darkness blanketed the entire field.
The darkness began to undulate. It was like gazing at a stormy sea.
At that overwhelming sight, Sukle felt goosebumps rise all over her body.
Her instincts screamed a warning. Staying put was dangerous.
“...Kkh!”
Sukle immediately drew out all her black magic power.
The released power turned entirely to flames. Flames surged behind her back.
The wall of fire was tall and thick. Like a fortress battlement.
“Glami! Devour it all!”
At Sukle's command, the fire spirit opened its mouth. All the flames she had conjured were sucked into it.
The spirit's size swelled instantly.
It grew beyond house-sized to rival the battlement itself.
The enormous Glami clasped its hands before its chest. Flames began compressing between its palms.
The compressed flames blazed with dazzling light. The dark world brightened to broad daylight. Like staring at the sun.
“Burn it all!”
Sukle bellowed.
The fire giant hoisted the sun overhead. It prepared to hurl it at Demian.
But in this moment, Sukle failed to notice.
The shadow at her feet hadn't vanished.
The wolf burst from the shadow.
Far larger than before. It swallowed the giant Glami in one gulp.
Even the sun Glami had created slid down the wolf's throat.
The daylight-bright world darkened once more.
“Huh...?”
Sukle looked up at the sky in confusion.
Just now, the sun Glami had made was Sukle's most powerful black magic.
Properly unleashed, it could turn the entire region into a sea of fire.
And that... swallowed so easily?
“N-No way...”
The moment Sukle denied reality, the wolf lowered its head.
It devoured Sukle and the ground she stood on whole.
* * *
“Not on my watch.”
Suddenly, the black wolf's body burst apart. It vanished without a trace.
A man stood before Sukle, fist clenched. None other than Wingstone.
“Hah, hahk...”
Sukle collapsed to the ground, breathing raggedly.
“My little kitten, you okay?”
Even to Wingstone's question, Sukle said nothing.
She merely trembled, face frozen in terror.
“I didn't expect you to push our cute kitten this far.”
Wingstone turned to Demian. By now, the black wolf had reappeared beside him.
But unlike when it attacked Sukle, its size was noticeably smaller. And it looked utterly exhausted.
Wingstone's single punch had dealt it massive damage.
“Victor, was it? Tormenting our little kitten is a grave sin.”
Wingstone slowly drew his sword as he spoke.
“So now, it's time for a proper scolding, don't you think?”
* * *
The moment Wingstone appeared, killing intent filled the entire area.
It felt like sand had replaced the air. Each breath scraped the bronchi and lungs like sand invading them.
'Incredible.'
Even Demian struggled to endure a Master Class's killing intent.
That was how stark the gap was between Master Class and High Class.
'When will the Church arrive?'
No matter how much he extended his senses, nothing registered. They hadn't even reached the vicinity.
'Trouble.'
Right now, Demian was merely High Class, unable to face a Master Class as a swordsman.
Even using black magic yielded the same result. No matter how capable Demian was, confronting a Master Class as a black mage required extensive preparation.
“No choice.”
Demian spoke. Wingstone reacted.
“What exactly do you have no choice about?”
Demian didn't answer. Instead, he suppressed all the mana flowing through his body.
He absorbed the black magic power drifting in the air.
Black magic power began filling the void left by the departing mana.
“Victor, you rotten friend?”
Wingstone immediately noticed Demian's change.
“Why is a black mage mimicking a dark knight?”
Wingstone was right.
Demian wasn't about to use black magic. He was circulating black magic power like a dark knight.
Mana and black magic power were fundamentally different forces.
Thus, the sensations they produced in the body differed as well.
Mana was like clean water. Save for turbulent flows, it imposed no burden.
Black magic power was the opposite.
It felt like thousands of insects crawling inside. Like they slithered up through the organs.
It wasn't just unpleasant. It was repulsive, grotesque.
'This is why I hated using this method if at all possible.'
Black magic spells didn't require absorbing black magic power. But dark knights were different. They had to absorb it and circulate it.
“I have no idea what nonsense you're up to.”
Wingstone tilted his head.
It was the natural reaction. A grand black mage suddenly operating black magic power like a dark knight.
But Demian's case was different.
Demian had a past as a dark knight.
A past where he had reached the pinnacle as a Death Knight.
“Hoo.”
He took a deep breath to shake off the disgust. It didn't help much.
“Fucking disgusting.”
Demian ignited the absorbed black magic power.
In that instant, an overwhelming aura erupted from him.