Chapter 254
Chapter 254
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 254
Chapter Title: Blackmail (1)
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The Pope guided Demian to none other than the underground chamber of the Papal Palace.
In the basement stood a massive door made of thick iron.
The Pope placed his palm against the door and infused it with a bit of holy power. The door began to open slowly.
"Let's go in."
Demian followed the Pope inside the door. A vast space appeared before them.
It was a barren room with no decorations whatsoever. Instead, the walls were covered in various murals.
The most peculiar thing was that the entire room was filled with light, despite there being no visible light source.
"This is the sanctuary you requested."
Demian looked around the room with a fascinated expression.
According to legend, the first Pope had awakened to holy power inside a cave.
The Holy Church's headquarters had been built atop that cave. And this room was the result of endlessly expanding and reinforcing that very cave.
"I never expected you to ask to use the sanctuary."
The sanctuary was more than just a symbolic place.
For some reason, holy power ceaselessly emanated from it.
That made it a prized training ground for high-ranking Holy Knights.
Thanks to the holy power pouring from the sanctuary, the body recovered faster, and training yielded greater results.
"It's because I suffered severe internal injuries from the battle with Slara."
In truth, the real reason Demian wanted to borrow the sanctuary was something else.
He planned to attempt shedding his mortal body there.
Even Demian knew little about the process of shedding one's mortal body. It was that mysterious and secretive a phenomenon.
The fortunate part was that he had a rough idea of how to go about it.
'Holy power stimulates the human body. If I consume the elixir and then use the sanctuary's holy power...'
He might succeed in shedding his mortal body, just as he hoped.
That was why Demian had asked to use the sanctuary.
"I hope I haven't made an unreasonable request."
"It's fine. The sanctuary is important, but we're not letting you take it wholesale... And among those currently at headquarters, no one would object."
After expressing his gratitude to the Pope, Demian carefully examined the murals on the sanctuary's walls.
The murals depicted seven men and women fighting all sorts of monsters.
Demian soon realized the identities of the seven figures.
"These murals are all about the Salvation Corps, aren't they?"
"Correct. You've recognized them well."
Before the Empire and the Holy Church were founded, the continent was a land teeming with monsters and demons.
Back then, humanity was so insignificant that they hid in caves or forests, barely scraping by while being hunted by monsters.
It was seven heroes who rallied those humans and fought the monsters.
The Salvation Corps.
They slew the monsters and demons, reclaiming the continent. Only then did human history truly begin.
The leader of the Salvation Corps at the time was none other than the Empire's first emperor.
"As far as I know, these murals were painted when the headquarters was built."
"Then these must be incredibly ancient murals."
The Holy Church had been established around the same time as the Empire. These paintings were artifacts of immense value.
"Hm...?"
Then, suddenly, Demian noticed something odd. There were scratches on the wall beneath the Salvation Corps mural, as if someone had carved into it with a knife.
Demian bent down to examine the marks. Surprisingly, this wasn't mere graffiti. It depicted two men and women.
"Who carved this graffiti?"
"Ah, you're talking about that. No one knows."
"No one knows?"
The Pope gave a wry smile as he spoke.
"It's graffiti that's been there since time immemorial, so no one knows who drew it."
Demian couldn't easily tear his eyes away from the graffiti.
"Then I'll take my leave. I'll come find you again tomorrow morning."
The Pope said that and left the sanctuary. The iron door closed once more.
Left alone, Demian examined the graffiti again. More precisely, he looked at the greatsword held by the man among the two figures.
"Erebos."
Demian reached out into the air as he spoke. The tattoo on his wrist vanished, and Erebos appeared.
Thanks to absorbing the fragment given by the Empire's greatest swordsman, Erebos was now much longer than before.
Demian alternated his gaze between Erebos and the mural.
"...It kind of looks like Erebos."
The craftsmanship was crude, making it hard to tell, but Erebos's distinctive features appeared here and there.
Demian looked up at the Salvation Corps mural.
There were seven people depicted in the painting.
And below it, the two carved figures of a man and woman.
"For some reason, it feels like it's saying there were two more."
Demian transformed Erebos back into a tattoo.
It was intriguing, but it was just graffiti in the end. He couldn't afford to waste more time on it.
Demian retrieved a fragment of the Dragon Heart and an elixir from his interspatial storage.
He first consumed the elixir. It slid down his throat, thick and sticky.
It had felt cold in the bottle, but upon drinking it, it burned like a lump of fire.
'It feels like drinking molten gold.'
The elixir converted into vitality the moment it hit his stomach. At that instant, Demian felt the illusion of his body swelling and exploding.
'What tremendous vitality.'
Demian calmly suppressed the elixir's energy. Then he placed the Dragon Heart fragment in his mouth.
A mere one-twentieth fragment.
But the moment he ingested the Dragon Heart, vast mana surged forth. It was like plunging into an ocean made of mana.
The elixir's vitality and the Dragon Heart's mana.
The two forces rampaged inside his body. It felt like he'd swallowed a living wild beast whole.
Demian desperately clung to his sanity. This was where the real trial began.
'I'll absorb the surrounding holy power.'
While suppressing the two energies, Demian absorbed the holy power filling the sanctuary.
Now there were three energies. The burden on Demian grew even greater.
'Once I open all mana pathways with the Face-Opening Golden Needle, I'll fully absorb the three energies with the Hundred Stars Earthly Light Pill.'
The reason Demian could attempt shedding his mortal body was thanks to these two mana cultivation methods.
The Face-Opening Golden Needle could manipulate mana pathways, while the Hundred Stars Earthly Light Pill activated the body.
Demian ceaselessly operated both mana cultivation methods.
Crack.
A grotesque sound came from Demian's body. At the same time, massive bursts of energy exploded several times.
How much time passed like that? Demian slowly opened his eyes.
"Hoo..."
Demian rose to his feet. Something flaked off his entire body.
Things like eggshells piled up thick on the floor. Demian looked down at them and smiled in satisfaction.
"It worked more easily than I thought."
* * *
Demian continued to stay at headquarters afterward. He needed time until Dawn was completed.
"Demian Haksen! He's heading that way!"
"Sir Demian! I've admired you for so long! Please, just give me something to commemorate you with..."
"Sir Demian! Say a few words at today's prayer meeting!"
"Oooh! Hero! Our hero!"
Staying at headquarters turned out to be far more grueling than expected. He was hounded by countless Holy Knights and priests.
As a result, Demian had to hide all day every day while staying there.
Even on the day he left headquarters, he slipped out at dawn to avoid people's eyes.
"You didn't need to see me off..."
Demian said, looking at the Pope. The Pope smiled as he replied.
"How could I, as host, not see off such a precious guest?"
"Thank you."
"Others wanted to come too, but the timing worked out awkwardly."
Radiance and Black Snow were away on new missions, so they weren't at headquarters.
Green Wind had stayed behind but disliked Demian, so she wasn't present.
"Sir Demian..."
Agnes stood beside the Pope, wearing a regretful expression.
"Where do you plan to go after leaving headquarters?"
"There's a place I want to visit briefly. My whereabouts might go dark for a while."
"Are you heading somewhere dangerous?"
"Isn't everywhere in the world dangerous?"
He couldn't say he was going to hunt the Weapon Master, so Demian brushed it off vaguely.
"Sir Demian, may I ask one favor?"
"Go ahead."
"If you come across any information about Woodchopper Victor during your travels, please contact headquarters. We'd be grateful."
"Woodchopper Victor?"
"Yes. He's a black mage we've recently been paying attention to at headquarters... but we haven't gotten any intel, so tracking him has been difficult."
Demian made a strange expression.
And understandably so, for Woodchopper Victor was none other than Demian himself.
Whenever he had to use black magic in front of others, Demian used the name Victor to hide his identity.
'I never imagined the Church had been pursuing me this whole time.'
To think the man himself was being asked to investigate himself.
Demian couldn't help but feel a peculiar sensation.
"That much isn't hard."
"Thank you. If you get any information, just visit a local church branch. All branches have ways to contact headquarters."
Demian nodded to show he understood.
"In exchange, may I ask one favor?"
"Of course."
"Please let my family in the Apple Kingdom know I'm doing fine."
To protect his family, he needed to kill the Weapon Master as soon as possible. He had no time to stop by the Apple Kingdom.
But since he hadn't contacted them in a long time already, he wanted to get word to them this way.
"Leave it to me."
Agnes said with a confident face. Demian expressed brief thanks.
"Lord Molta."
Demian turned his gaze to the side. Molta stood there with a sullen expression.
"I need to get going, so hand it over."
Demian extended his hand to Molta. Molta muttered with a displeased face.
"Damn it, having to let go of Dawn like this again..."
"I said hand it over."
Molta squeezed his eyes shut. Then he handed Dawn to Demian.
Dawn had changed in every way from before. Even the hilt and scabbard.
"Try drawing it."
Demian gripped the hilt and slowly drew it. The moment the blade emerged, dazzling light poured out.
When Demian fully unsheathed Dawn, the surroundings brightened. Demian looked at Dawn with a surprised expression.
Originally, Dawn had been forged from star iron ore.
Because of that, its surface had been rough and uneven, never properly melting before. But now Dawn was different.
Its surface was smooth as a mirror. Wave-like patterns densely covered the entire blade.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Molta said with an excited face.
"I mixed in divine iron and rare metals with Dawn. Cutting power, durability, elasticity—it's vastly improved in every aspect."
Molta enthusiastically explained Dawn.
"Holy swords with divine iron have all gone down in history without exception. I guarantee Dawn will too. No, it won't just be recorded—it'll be known as the greatest holy sword."
Molta explained fervently, but it barely registered in Demian's ears.
All his senses were focused on Dawn.
"...It's truly impressive."
"Right?"
"I thought you only had a weird personality, but your skills are exceptional too."
"Uhaha, of course, who do you think I— Wait, what did you just say?"
Demian sheathed Dawn back into its scabbard.
Then he bid farewell to the three and left headquarters.
* * *
Demian headed west after leaving headquarters.
—I don't know exactly where Bittsal Mangchi City is.
—But I know the region.
—It's in the Herkmak Mountains.
The Herkmak Mountains were infamous for their treacherous terrain.
A vast land the size of a small kingdom was entirely composed of mountain ranges.
Moreover, dangerous monsters inhabited it in droves, so few people ever approached.
Demian made his way toward the Herkmak Mountains.
The sun had already risen high in the sky. The bluish dawn air had completely vanished. Headquarters was now out of sight, far behind.
Suddenly, Demian stopped walking. Then he shouted into the air.
"Come out now."
Demian said toward the empty air. But no reply came.
"I said come out."
Only then did a man step out from nearby bushes.
"What, you already noticed? That takes the fun out of it."
The man grumbled briefly. Demian stared at him impassively and asked.
"What business does the Weapon Master's disciple have with me?"
The man tilted his head.
"Huh? How'd you figure that out too? Amazing."
"You're carrying a demon sword so openly; how could I not know?"
Demian said, eyeing the greatsword strapped to the man's back.
"Hah... You can even recognize a dormant demon sword? You're a real ghost of a man. As expected of the one who killed Slara."
The man stuck out his tongue in admiration.
"Since you've seen through me, let me introduce myself properly. I'm Jeremy Dram. I learned swordsmanship from the Weapon Master. I'm acknowledged as one of his prized disciples..."
"Who asked who you are? Just answer why you've been tailing me."
Demian cut him off sharply. Jeremy's facial muscles twitched slightly.
"You're short-tempered. I'm here to deliver my master's message. You're so famous that tracking your movements was easy..."
"Answer."
Jeremy's expression twitched more noticeably.
"My master wants to see you. Come with me."
At those words, Demian fell into brief contemplation.
Proposals from Pandemonium's villains were usually traps.
Even if it was a trap, meeting the Weapon Master would be a gain.
"I'll accept that proposal—"
"Though, you'd be wise not to refuse."
Jeremy interjected abruptly.
"You're from the Apple Kingdom, right? Your family is there too?"
Demian's expression hardened. Conversely, a smile formed on Jeremy's face.
"Don't misunderstand. We haven't sent anyone to your family yet. But if you don't come with me, who knows what might happen then..."
At that moment, black waves emanated from Demian's entire body.
Overwhelming killing intent poured toward Jeremy. At the sight, Jeremy's expression hardened.
Soon, Jeremy twisted his lips into a smile.
"So this is your reverse scale after all. If you value your family's safety, it would be best if you—"
In that instant, Demian kicked off the ground. His body shot forward. Without hesitation, he drove a kick into Jeremy's abdomen.
With a bang, Jeremy's body flew backward, smashing through trees in succession before crashing into the ground.
"Sorry. I lost my temper for a moment and didn't hear what you said."
Demian stared in the direction Jeremy had flown.
"So what did you just spout? Care to repeat it once more?"
Killing intent overflowed from the eyes visible between his strands of hair.