Chapter 289
Chapter 289
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 289
Chapter Title: Elfheim (1)
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Unfortunately, Demian's challenge ended in failure.
He kept infusing the power of lust and torturing him to weaken his mental strength, but it was all for nothing.
In the end, Demian couldn't brainwash Alterio. His soul was just too strong.
‘The power of lust is too weak compared to the other powers.’
Sometimes he even wondered if this was really a Demon King's power.
“Ugh... uuuugh... hugh...”
Just then, a bizarre noise came from below his feet. Demian snapped out of his thoughts and looked down.
There was Alterio, wearing a dumb expression with drool streaming from his mouth.
The prolonged torture and brainwashing attempts had completely shattered Alterio's sanity.
Demian didn't feel particularly sorry for him.
A villain like him must have committed countless sins on his path to becoming one.
Compared to his crimes, this was nothing.
“I hope you fall straight to hell.”
Demian swung Dawn and severed Alterio's neck. The great villain of Pandemonium met his end so pathetically.
After killing Alterio, Demian returned to the warehouse. The people stared at him with tense faces.
“There’s no need to be afraid. As I said earlier, I’m here to save you all.”
Only after Demian explained again did the people start to lower their guards one by one.
“K-Knight... th-thank you.”
“If you hadn’t been a knight, we’d have been... who knows what by now...!”
Relieved, perhaps, the people clung to Demian and poured out their emotions.
Demian clapped his hands. The sound snapped them back to attention.
“It’s too early to fully relax. There are still plenty of black mages’ underlings left at the harbor.”
In Pandemonium, they gathered people at the harbor and shipped them off to Elfheim regularly.
It was strange that no one had noticed a crime operation this massive.
The harbor's governor might even be in on it with Pandemonium.
“Th-then, Knight, will you help us?”
The people looked at Demian with hopeful faces. But he had to shake his head.
“I have my own duties to attend to.”
“Th-then what about us...”
“Don’t worry. There are people perfect for handling this right nearby.”
The people looked puzzled. They didn’t immediately grasp who he meant.
“Go straight to the Holy Church branch at the harbor. The Holy Knights there will protect you.”
If nothing else, the Holy Church was trustworthy. The wicked could never wield holy power.
“Kid, come here for a moment.”
Demian beckoned to the boy he’d rescued first. The boy hurried over and stood before him.
“When you get to the Church, show them this. They’ll do everything they can to help you.”
Demian handed over the token of his Honorary Holy Knight status, which he always carried. The boy clutched it tightly.
“Un... Uncle... thank you so much.”
The boy bowed deeply. Demian smiled warmly and ruffled his hair.
“But kid, you’ve been saying something really annoying since earlier.”
“Huh?”
Demian pressed down on the boy’s head firmly.
“Why do you keep calling me uncle?”
“B-but you’re an uncle...”
“Quiet. From now on, call me brother. Call me uncle one more time, and I’ll smack you.”
“......”
“Answer me.”
Demian held out his fist. The boy nodded vigorously.
* * *
After sending the people off, Demian immediately raided Alterio’s ship.
“Wh-what the hell is this guy?! Kill him now!”
“Intruder! Sound the alarm!”
The moment Demian boarded, sailors poured out. They all clutched black magic tools.
But they were no match for him. In the blink of an eye, Demian cut them all down.
As he finished off the sailors, a group radiating ominous auras appeared.
“Brat, do you even know whose ship this is? How dare you pull this crap?”
“You’ll pay for tugging the whiskers of a sleeping lion!”
They unleashed black magic, and crimson flames rained down.
It was extremely advanced black magic. They seemed to be Alterio’s close aides.
Demian swung Dawn, slicing the flames apart. With one strike, the black magic dispersed, leaving Alterio’s underlings in shock.
“H-how did you dispel our black magic...! Argh!”
“Lord Alterio... we need to call Lord Alterio...!”
Demian subdued them without killing any.
He needed sailors who could take him all the way to Elfheim.
“I have a request for you all. Take me to Elfheim.”
At Demian’s words, Alterio’s underlings spat curses in unison.
“Quit talking bullshit and kill us already!”
“Lord Alterio will burn you all to ash!”
“If you refuse, no choice. I’ll make you obey by force.”
Demian grabbed one underling by the head.
“Y-you bastard... what are you... Aaaargh!”
Demian activated the power of brainwashing.
The power burrowed into the man’s mind, scrambling his brain.
“Ah... aaah... aaaaaah...”
Soon, the man’s emotions shifted from agony to ecstasy.
When the brainwashing finished, he prostrated himself at Demian’s feet without hesitation.
“L-Lord Demian... my master... p-please, give me your orders...! I’ll fulfill them even if it costs my soul!”
Alterio’s underlings were horrified at the sight. Demian wore a similar expression.
‘A guy doing this is kinda gross.’
It was repulsive, but he couldn’t stop now. Demian seized another underling’s head.
“W-wait...! Sp-spare... Aaaargh!”
It took quite a while to brainwash them all.
“O-oh... Lord Demian... please, give us your orders...!”
“Please...! I beg you! Make me your slave!”
The brainwashed underlings pledged blind loyalty to Demian.
Wincing in disgust, Demian issued his command.
“Set sail for Elfheim immediately. Shorten the voyage time however you can. Got it?”
“Trust only us!”
The underlings sprang into action.
Moments later, the ship carrying Demian set off for Elfheim.
* * *
Demian’s ship sailed steadily southeast.
But a day passed, then two, and no matter how much time went by, only the endless ocean stretched out.
Demian didn’t grow impatient, though. He knew Elfheim’s secret.
“Lord Demian, we’ll open the illusion barrier now.”
One of Alterio’s underlings spoke to Demian respectfully.
Excluding Demian, he was the most skilled black mage among the crew.
The underling pulled out a large stone tablet and split it in half. Black mana poured from it, seeping into the air.
Soon, black marks spread across the sky.
The marks expanded until they were large enough to swallow the ship.
“Row! We’re going in!”
The ship’s oars moved in unison. The vessel surged forward through the black marks.
Only then could Demian see it.
Not an empty ocean, but an enormous island stretching beyond sight.
Thus, Elfheim was protected by an illusion barrier.
That was why most ships couldn’t reach it.
But Dorgo knew how to open the illusion.
In his previous life, Elfheim’s barrier hadn’t stopped Pandemonium’s invasion.
“Bring the ship close.”
“Understood.”
The sailors maneuvered toward the shoreline. Fortunately, the waters were deep enough to get very close.
“Hm?”
Then, something odd caught Demian’s eye.
A battle was raging on the beach, right by the forest.
“Uwahaha! They’re valuable catches! Don’t let a single one escape!”
“They’re exhausted already! Push harder!”
Black mages and dark knights formed a unit.
And fighting them were...
“Elves?”
The elves wielded spirits and bows against the humans.
But the black mages and dark knights were too strong, and the elves were steadily being pushed back.
‘They’ll be wiped out if I don’t help.’
Just as Demian prepared to intervene for the elves...
“What are you lot doing?”
He turned to the sailors. They had already gathered on deck, weapons in hand.
“We’re waiting to assist you, Lord Demian!”
“Me?”
“Yes!”
Demian pondered briefly.
Originally, he’d planned to make them all kill themselves the moment he arrived at Elfheim.
But using them to fight Pandemonium didn’t seem like a bad idea.
Plus, he could dump all the tedious work on them.
“Everyone, charge! Save the elves!”
At Demian’s order, the sailors leaped from the deck.
* * *
“What a windfall. A real windfall.”
Dark knight Bantadi of Pandemonium grinned ear to ear at the resisting elves.
Elves were creatures with no part to waste.
Flesh, blood, bones, and even souls.
No lifeform was as useful to black mages.
To capture not one, but over twenty of them?
“You’re all mine! I’ll catch you all and offer you to Him!”
That was when it happened.
“C-Captain!”
A subordinate called out to Bantadi. He snapped irritably.
“What?”
“I-it’s allies! Allies have arrived!”
Bantadi looked where the subordinate pointed. Sure enough, a group of humans was charging in.
The only humans in Elfheim were Pandemonium’s own.
“Why are those bastards sticking their noses in someone else’s business?”
Even with allies appearing, Bantadi’s mood soured.
In this situation, they weren’t allies. They were just parasites trying to steal his credit.
“You bastards! Get lost already!”
Bantadi yelled at them. But they didn’t stop.
“Have these guys lost their minds... Wh-what the hell are they doing?”
The ones he’d thought were allies unleashed black magic in unison.
Immediately after, crimson flames engulfed Bantadi’s unit.