Chapter 308
Chapter 308
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 308
Chapter Title: The Power of the Past (4)
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“You’re going to get rid of me first?”
Bahel swallowed the laughter bubbling up inside him.
A mere human, acting so bold toward him, a demon.
What made it amusing was that it didn’t feel like bravado at all.
The presence emanating from Demian Haksen right now was something even he, a duke-class demon, couldn’t easily dismiss.
That was why his subordinates were keeping silent.
Though they didn’t show it, they were all wary of Demian Haksen.
“As expected, what an interesting guy.”
Bahel had explored Hell for ages and spied on the surface world. He’d encountered countless demons and humans.
But someone as intriguing as Demian Haksen was a first.
“Asta, see? I told you not to let your guard down.”
Bahel shook his head slowly as he spoke.
“If you get it now, come back quietly.”
But there was no reply. Asta was still face-down on the ground.
“……Asta?”
Even after calling again, Asta didn’t respond. Only then did Bahel realize Asta had passed out.
A marquis-class demon knocked out in one blow?
At this utterly unexpected turn, Bahel felt a thrill spreading through his body.
He himself—not someone else, but he, a duke-class demon—had misjudged Demian Haksen’s strength.
“I had no idea you’d be this entertaining.”
The smile faded from Bahel’s face. In contrast, his eyes sparkled like a child’s.
What if he fought Demian Haksen right here? Bahel gauged the odds in his mind.
Qualitatively and quantitatively, Bahel had the edge. But Demian Haksen’s unpredictability held him back.
Moreover, the demons needed time to adapt to the surface. The pact was broken, but Hell and the surface were worlds apart.
“Demian Haksen, I lose this round.”
Bahel shrugged as he spoke.
“So we’ll call it here for today. Let’s meet again next time. You lot, gather up these strewn-about fools.”
It was then, as Bahel assigned his subordinates to handle Asta, Dorgo, and the rest of the undead and prepared to withdraw.
“That won’t do.”
Demian Haksen said firmly.
“Leave Dorgo here and get lost.”
“Don’t be so prickly. You’re worn out too, aren’t you? So it’s best for both sides if we part ways like this…….”
Demian Haksen unleashed his killing intent.
Sword marks etched densely into the ground. It was his materialized killing intent slicing through objects.
“I won’t say it twice. Hand over Dorgo.”
Demian Haksen spoke with a face suppressing his rage.
Bahel bristled at Demian Haksen’s attitude. Demons weren’t the type to listen to others in the first place.
“What if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll take Dorgo by force.”
“Hmm, but I don’t feel like fighting. What to do…….”
A playful smile crept onto Bahel’s lips.
“Migmag! Open a dimensional gate! We’re escaping from here!”
The demon beside Bahel struck the ground with his iron staff.
A dimensional gate opened beneath Asta and the Four Great Demon Kings.
Demian Haksen reflexively swung Erebos down. To sever Asta’s neck.
But Asta had already been sucked into the gate.
Not just Asta. The Four Great Demon Kings had vanished too.
A dimensional gate opened behind Bahel as well. His subordinates rushed inside one after another.
“Well then, Dorgo, shall we go?”
Bahel grabbed Dorgo by the scruff and stepped into the gate.
“I told you to leave him!”
Demian spat his fury and lunged toward the gate. At that moment, Bahel wagged a finger.
In an instant, a wall formed by the Authority of Isolation blocked Demian’s path.
“Bahel!”
Demian swung Erebos to shatter the wall, but it cost him precious seconds. By then, the gate was nearly closed.
“See you next time.”
From the narrowing gap, Bahel waved as he spoke. With that, the dimensional gate sealed shut completely.
“Whew, that was one scary guy. Right?”
Bahel turned to the demons and said.
“Migmag, that was brilliant just now. So quick it left me in awe.”
-You overpraise me. It was nothing special.
The hunched demon replied in a feeble voice.
“Hey now, too much humility can be annoying. In my eyes, that speed was…….”
At that moment, his instincts screamed a warning. Bahel whipped around reflexively.
In that instant, a slashing attack tore through the air.
Bahel instinctively raised his forearm to block. But it didn’t stop the slash at all.
The blow that severed his forearm continued straight to his neck.
His throat split open, blood spraying out.
* * *
Demian groped at the spot where the dimensional gate had closed. To reopen it with the Authority of Arrogance.
But unlike the Four Great Demon Kings’ gate, he couldn’t pinpoint the coordinates.
The demon had scattered them the moment the gate shut. Proof that this demon’s skill far surpassed the Four Great Demon Kings.
“Bahel! You son of a bitch I’d love to devour whole!”
Rage turned his vision blood-red. Veins bulged across his body.
Interrupted again. Failed to kill Dorgo again. His emotions surged so wildly he felt like he’d lose his mind.
But Demian suppressed it all. This wasn’t the time to let feelings run loose.
“You think I’ll let you escape like this……!”
Demian channeled black mana into Erebos. A pitch-black Aurablade enveloped the blade.
Late in the War of Ruin.
Single-mindedly determined to kill Dorgo, Demian had forged a new realm.
Dorgo, being a lich, had stored his soul in a vessel called a life vessel, hidden away somewhere.
But Demian, under Dorgo’s control, had no way to find it.
So he fused every realm he’d stolen into a new one.
Sword God.
The Sword God’s ability was simple compared to other realms.
It severed.
Anything at all. No matter if it had no form, or wasn’t even here—it would sever it without fail.
The Sword God realm was Demian’s alone, born from his sole obsession to slay Dorgo.
Demian gripped Erebos’s hilt with both hands. The Aurablade coating it vibrated menacingly.
He swung Erebos toward empty air.
The blade pierced through the walls of dimensions.
* * *
His throat deeply gashed, blood gushing out. A clear fatal wound, yet Bahel didn’t staunch it.
Because of Demian Haksen’s figure visible in the split.
Demian Haksen glared at him with a look like he’d go mad any second.
The gap closed instantly. Still, Bahel couldn’t tear his eyes from the empty air.
-Lord Bahel! The wound is deep!
-We’ll treat it right now!
His subordinates rushed over in panic, but Bahel held up a hand to stop them.
“Hahahaha!”
Then he laughed loudly while clutching the wound.
“It’s been forever since this body took a wound!”
Demian Haksen had severed his forearm and slashed his throat.
A little deeper, and he surely would’ve died. That’s how threatening the attack was.
“Fun. So much fun.”
Bahel lifted Dorgo to eye level.
“Dorgo, what the hell is that guy? What makes him so damn entertaining to me!”
“……None of your business.”
“Oh, not gonna spill easily? Then I’ll have to get rough.”
Bahel beckoned. A demon with a mosquito-like elongated proboscis approached.
The moment Dorgo saw it, his eyes shook violently.
“Bahel, you mad bastard!”
“Laria, scrape out all of Dorgo’s memories. Don’t care if he ends up a vegetable.”
-Understood.
“Oh, but don’t kill him. Need him as bait to lure out Demian Haksen.”
Bahel tossed Dorgo to the demon. It seized him with its four arms.
“N-No! Stop! Not this one!”
Dorgo screamed in horror. But Bahel turned away coldly.
“Bahel! I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything…… Ack!”
The demon plunged its proboscis into Dorgo’s head.
A scream like a death rattle echoed on and on.
* * *
Boom.
Demian slammed his fist into the ground.
Once wasn’t enough to vent his anger. He kept pounding.
“Damn it……!”
The sensation felt off. He’d failed to fully sever Bahel’s neck.
He’d let Dorgo slip away, eyes blazing red with fury. That fact enraged Demian.
“Demian…….”
Then a low voice called. Demian turned. The Empire’s Greatest Swordsman lay collapsed on the ground.
His wounds were so severe he seemed on the verge of death.
Demian held back his anger. He couldn’t let emotions overwhelm him before a dying man.
“I’ll treat your wounds right now.”
Demian pulled potions and Dawn from his subspace. But the Empire’s Greatest Swordsman shook his head.
“No, there’s something more important.”
The Empire’s Greatest Swordsman pointed to the sky with a finger. Demian looked up.
The World Tree’s branches covering the sky were turning gray.
Not just the branches. The distant trunk was blackening too.
The World Tree’s energy filling the island was rapidly fading.
Demian stared at the sight in horror. The World Tree was dying right now.
“Why? We already stopped the Authority, didn’t we?”
“So it was you who halted the demons’ Authority after all.”
The Empire’s Greatest Swordsman gazed sadly at the World Tree as he spoke.
“It’s not your fault. The damage from the first activation was too great. It couldn’t recover and now it’s dying.”
The Empire’s Greatest Swordsman struggled to rise as he said.
“Demian, I have a favor to ask. Take me to the World Tree.”