Chapter 283
Chapter 283
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 283
Chapter Title: 4 Great Demon Kings (1)
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“Lord Demian! We’re under attack!”
Agnes, who had spotted the fortress, shouted urgently.
“Judging by the monster’s appearance, it’s definitely an undead! I’ll hurry back to report to the main unit, so you...”
Suddenly, Agnes realized something.
Demian Haksen wasn’t listening to her at all. He stood there like a statue, blankly glaring at the monster.
“...Lord Demian?”
Agnes asked cautiously. As expected, Demian showed no reaction.
Right now, all of Demian’s attention was fixed on that monster.
It couldn’t be helped. That monster wasn’t supposed to be here.
Iota.
One of the four great demon kings created by Dorgo.
The strongest undead, specialized in aerial combat.
According to the original history, this thing shouldn’t have been completed for another ten years—and yet here it was, right in front of him.
“...Lady Agnes, please take care of the wounded.”
“Lord Demian? Lord Demian!”
Leaving Agnes behind, Demian dashed toward the border fortress.
With one kick against the ground, he crossed the forest. With the second, he reached the fortress.
And with the third.
Demian soared high into the sky and swung his sword down at Iota.
* * *
-This is too easy.
Iota sighed deeply from high above in the sky.
Beneath his feet, the border fortress lay in ruins, engulfed in flames.
“Argh! My leg! My leg!”
“Jason! Pull yourself together, you idiot!”
The corpses and wounded were just icing on the cake.
More than half of the knights and soldiers guarding the fortress had lost their lives to Iota’s assault.
The survivors were all critically injured and dying.
-Easy... way too easy.
Iota flew through the sky, voicing his disappointment.
Iota was smashing the border fortress on Dorgo’s orders to sow chaos across the kingdoms.
When he’d asked why, Dorgo had said it was absolutely necessary to kill the Empire’s Greatest Swordsman.
-I can attack all the other kingdoms, but skip the Empire? So boring.
While the Empire overflowed with Master-class experts, most other kingdoms didn’t even have a single proper one.
The Apple Kingdom was no exception—it had zero Master-class fighters.
Given that, there was no way the border fortress could properly withstand Iota’s attack.
-Getting a bit peckish.
Iota looked down. His eyes caught a soldier pinned under a collapsed section of the wall.
“Ugh... ugh... ugh...”
The soldier was dying, blood trickling from his head.
Spotting that the soldier was still alive, Iota immediately descended.
He extended his elongated arm, grabbed the soldier, and brought him to his mouth.
“W-what... argh!”
The soldier, regaining consciousness, screamed. He thrashed about but couldn’t escape Iota’s grip.
Ignoring the resistance, Iota bit off the soldier’s head in one go.
-Mmm, the brains just melt in my mouth. Nice to eat fresh prey right away.
Iota tossed the soldier’s corpse aside. He chewed with his mouth working and took a step forward.
Then, suddenly, he spotted two humans hiding inside a half-collapsed house.
“Sniff... Mommy, I’m scared...”
“Shh, be quiet, sweetie.”
The wall blocked the view, but the mother and daughter’s voices rang clear. Iota’s hearing was exceptionally sharp.
It wasn’t just their voices. Iota’s eyes could clearly see the emotions pouring from the pair.
Fear, dread, foreboding.
Black magic power was born from human suffering.
Wrapped in all sorts of negative emotions, the mother and daughter were generating black magic power in real time.
To Iota, who fed on souls and black magic power, they looked like a feast sprinkled with plenty of spices.
But Iota had no intention of devouring them right then.
He knew a way to “cook” them even more deliciously.
Iota grabbed and tore away the wall. The mother and daughter’s forms were fully exposed.
“Argh!”
“Kyaa!”
They screamed the moment they saw Iota.
“Rita! Run! Hurry!”
The mother quickly shoved her daughter away. The daughter screamed as she tried to flee in the opposite direction.
-Tsk, such a disrespectful daughter.
Iota immediately reached out and snatched the daughter. With one arm gripped, she was hoisted high into the air.
“Mommy! Mommyyy!”
“Rita! No! Not Rita!”
The mother frantically stabbed at Iota’s calf with a kitchen knife lying nearby.
But a mere kitchen knife couldn’t pierce Iota’s body, which even an Aurablade couldn’t scratch.
The knife snapped instantly. Despair flooded the mother’s face.
“Mommy! Mommy!”
“Ri... Rita...! P-please let Rita go! E-eat me instead!”
The mother clung to Iota’s leg, wailing.
Driven to the brink, the mother and daughter’s souls emitted even deeper black magic power.
Ahh, perfect.
Drool dripped from Iota’s mouth. He could hold back no longer.
Iota opened his maw wide. He planned to eat the daughter first.
“No! Nooo! Nooooo!”
The mother spat blood as she screamed.
At that moment, enormous magic power surged from far away.
Iota snapped his mouth shut. The presence was too overwhelming to ignore.
-A Master-class? No, this is...
Someone shot high into the sky. They fell toward Iota, swinging a sword down.
Iota swiftly blocked with his forearm. The blow was far heavier than expected; he involuntarily dropped the child and was pushed back.
-Wow, impressive?
Iota stared ahead in admiration. There stood a man cradling the child.
-Not only landing a hit on me, but saving the kid too? Impressive.
The man gave no reply to Iota’s words.
Instead, he set the child down and said to the mother,
“Run as far as you can. Don’t stop until the fortress is out of sight.”
The mother hurriedly scooped up her child and fled. Iota watched them go with a regretful expression.
-Ahh... they’d ripened so nicely. Isn’t this too much? They say even dogs don’t touch food.
Iota spoke reproachfully. The man silently glared at him.
-Well, fine. A powerful human soul like yours tastes better than some civilians anyway.
Iota smacked his lips. Then, he suddenly recognized the man’s face.
-Huh? Wait, you’re Demian Haksen? What a coincidence! Who’d have thought Demian Haksen was nearby!
Recently, Dorgo had been most focused on one human: Demian Haksen.
Thus, Iota knew not just his history, but his face as well.
-Mom was just saying she wanted to study you. So come with me. I’ll treat you well.
“How are you already complete?”
Suddenly, Demian Haksen spoke.
-Huh? Complete what?
“You shouldn’t be complete yet. You can’t be. So why are you standing in front of me?”
-What nonsense all of a sudden...
“Are you the only one complete? Or are the other three done too?”
In that instant, Iota’s body stiffened.
Dorgo had created four great demon kings in total.
Only Dorgo’s inner circle knew that fact.
Yet here was an outsider, Demian Haksen, mentioning the four great demon kings.
-...Huh? A traitor? Can’t let this slide.
Iota’s expression turned serious.
Anything harmful to Mother’s plan was unforgivable.
-Demian Haksen, how do you know of our existence? You’d better explain in detail.
Iota swung both arms. Aurablades erupted from his twelve claws.
The twelve Aurablades bore down on Demian Haksen. He swung his longsword, batting them all away.
-Wow, knocking them away so easily? The rumors aren’t exaggerated.
As if he’d heard enough, Demian Haksen kicked off the ground. Iota laughed loudly at the sight.
-Wow, scary! Fine, I’ll crank up my output too!
Iota drew up even more black magic power. As if the previous attack had been a joke, his presence doubled in intensity.
Iota wildly swung his arms. His speed was so great that his arms seemed to split into multiples.
Dozens of Aurablades poured down relentlessly, trying to tear Demian Haksen apart.
Yet Demian took no evasive action. He simply charged forward.
-Huh? Why’s he suddenly acting crazy...
The moment the barrage of Aurablades hit, Demian’s body scattered like smoke.
The buildings and fortress walls behind him crumbled entirely. But Demian emerged unscathed.
-...Huh?
Disbelief crossed Iota’s face. It was an unbelievable sight.
‘Ghost Shadow’
The realm used by Phantom, called the assassins’ heaven.
During his Death Knight days, Phantom had tried to assassinate Demian Haksen but was killed instead.
In that process, Demian had absorbed all of Phantom’s techniques and realm.
Originally, Ghost Shadow assimilated body and magic power to erase presence or slip through narrow gaps.
But Demian didn’t use it that way. He used it more combatively.
Just like now.
Each time Aurablades rained down, Demian dodged with Ghost Shadow.
-Kyahahat? So many tricks up your sleeve?
Even though not a hem of Demian’s clothes was touched, Iota didn’t seem impatient.
Instead, he coldly observed Demian’s movements.
-But looking closely, it’s awfully patterned?
Demian scattered into smoke again. The moment he was about to reappear, Iota shouted,
-Got you!
Iota thrust his hand out. His arm extended straight, piercing Demian’s face.
He’d already figured consecutive Ghost Shadows weren’t possible. So this attack was...
At that moment, Demian Haksen stepped on the back of Iota’s hand.
Iota’s hand slammed into the ground. An explosion shattered the earth completely.
-Huh?
In Iota’s moment of confusion, Demian Haksen murmured softly,
“Triple Ring.”
With a resonance, Demian Haksen vanished.
Before Iota could process it, Demian reappeared in front of him and swung his sword.
A blue flash sliced across Iota’s neck.
* * *
But Dawn failed to sever Iota’s neck.
The instant Dawn touched, countless scales sprouted on Iota’s nape.
Even coated in Aurablade, Dawn couldn’t cut through the scales.
A dull clang rang out as Iota was pushed back. He touched his neck in horror.
‘As expected, tough.’
Demian wasn’t particularly surprised. He knew exactly what Iota was.
Iota was an undead Dorgo had made using a dragon’s corpse.
His abnormally elongated limbs incorporated the dragon’s muscles and bones.
That wasn’t all. The bat-like wings and internal organs were also from the dragon.
No, “made using” wasn’t quite right.
An entire dragon had been compressed into Iota’s body.
-Can’t believe it? A mere human daring to touch my neck?
Iota removed his hand from his neck. The dragon scales had already flattened again.
-What to do? My pride won’t allow this.
Thud.
Suddenly, a heavy sound echoed from within Iota’s body.
-I’m the strongest being Mother created. I can’t lose to a human.
No, it wasn’t a drum.
It was the dragon heart inside Iota throbbing.
-Demian Haksen, now I’ll get serious.
Iota spread his wings.
Black magic power exploded alongside draconic mana.