Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Homecoming (2)
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Demian shouted at the soldiers.
“Drop your luggage and get on your horses right now! We’re getting out of here!”
The soldiers, already startled by the sudden roar, hurriedly obeyed Demian’s command.
“You two, get on your horses as well.”
Demian said to the two knights. One of them hesitated and spoke up.
“Sir Demian, shouldn’t we go help Sir Sebastian even now...?”
Demian slapped the knight across the cheek. The knight stared at Demian with a dumbfounded expression.
“You think a low-class like you meddling in a duel between middle-class knights will help? You’ll just get in the way.”
“B-but...”
“Shut up and get on your horse. You planning to let all these soldiers die too?”
The soldiers were all gripped by fear. Seeing their faces, the knight nodded heavily.
“...Understood. Let’s go.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
At that moment, an unfamiliar voice rang out. The knights whipped their heads around in surprise.
A middle-aged man and woman stood a short distance away.
The man looked ordinary, but the woman possessed astonishing beauty.
However, the soldiers had no time to admire her appearance.
It was due to the inexplicable ominous aura emanating from the two.
“Who the hell are you?”
Demian demanded of them. The man grinned and replied.
“That’s a question I’d rather not answer. We’re people with a lot of secrets.”
The middle-aged man raised his voice.
“Our target is Demian Haksen. Leave him behind, and we won’t kill the rest.”
At those words, the knights shouted without a moment’s hesitation.
“Don’t talk nonsense! You think we’d listen to scum like you?”
“Sir Demian is the Duke’s family’s benefactor! You think we’d abandon our benefactor?”
The middle-aged man clicked his tongue at the knights’ response.
“This is why knights are... They only come to their senses when you show them the gap in strength.”
The middle-aged man spread both hands wide. Black mana poured out from his palms.
The black mana climbed up his forearms and enveloped his entire body. Black magic circles etched themselves onto the exposed skin.
Crack.
With a grotesque sound, the man’s body began to twist.
Bones and muscles started growing. His ordinary build swelled into a giant over three meters tall in an instant.
His skin turned a deep crimson. It resembled a monster’s hide rather than human flesh.
Most horrifying were the four tentacles sprouting from the man’s back. Thick as tree trunks, they were covered in scales.
The transformed man looked like a demon crawled up from hell.
“...Frenzy School.”
One of the knights muttered in terror.
The Frenzy School referred to those who used black magic through their own bodies as conduits.
The black magic of the Frenzy School went beyond mere physical enhancement—it induced transformation.
The transformed body could wield superhuman abilities. The combat power gained rivaled that of monsters.
That was why the Frenzy School was considered the pinnacle of combat prowess among black magic sects.
-Now do you feel the gap between us?
The more skilled the Frenzy sorcerer, the more extreme the transformation.
This middle-aged man had created entirely new body parts impossible for humans. Proof he was a high-ranking Frenzy sorcerer.
A high-ranking black mage was equivalent to a middle-class knight in strength.
Three low-class knights stood no chance against such a foe.
-I’ll make one final offer. Abandon Demian Haksen and go. I’ll let those who flee live.
The two knights’ faces drained of color. Their hands trembled on their sword hilts.
“...Sir Demian, we’ll fight with you.”
“Give us your orders, and we’ll follow.”
Even so, they did not flee. Instead, they steeled their resolve.
Demian Haksen spoke to them in a stern tone.
“Can’t you see? If we fight, we all die. At least you two escape.”
“It doesn’t matter. Losing honor is worse than death.”
“I feel the same.”
At their words, the middle-aged man let out a chuckling laugh.
-Fools. Well, I was going to kill you even if you ran, so it doesn’t matter.
The middle-aged man gestured behind him. The woman now held a black staff.
Black mana swirled around the staff. Seeing it, the knights muttered with venomous hatred.
“...So you planned to use black magic if we fled.”
“You vile, filthy bastards...!”
The middle-aged man merely laughed at the knights’ insults.
-You three won’t die easily. I’ll make you beg for death.
The middle-aged man began to move. The knights drew their weapons.
That was when it happened.
Suddenly, Demian Haksen struck the napes of the two knights with his hand blades.
Caught off guard, the two knights passed out instantly.
Not only the middle-aged man but even the trembling soldiers behind looked at Demian Haksen in shock.
“Take them and flee to the Duke’s family.”
Demian ordered the soldiers. When they hesitated, Demian Haksen bellowed.
“Now!”
Only then did the soldiers hoist the knights onto the horses and gallop away.
The horses carrying the soldiers vanished down the forest path.
-I didn’t expect you to sacrifice yourself.
The middle-aged man sneered.
-But I told you it’s pointless. My subordinate behind me will curse them. They’ll all die before they escape the forest...
“Sacrifice? You’re badly mistaken.”
Demian cut in abruptly.
“I just got rid of them because they’d be in the way.”
-In the way?
“Yeah. I can’t fight properly with spectators around.”
With that, Demian Haksen began stretching his body casually.
The middle-aged man wore an incredulous expression at the relaxed display.
-I knew you were arrogant, but I didn’t know you were an idiot. Do you even know who I am? You’re not someone who can oppose me.
“I know. You’re a black mage from Yulan.”
The middle-aged man’s eyes widened in shock.
-You... how do you...
“I’ve got a rough idea of your goal too. You originally planned to swallow up the Duke’s family using Chelsea Goldpixie, right? It failed because of me.”
The middle-aged man’s eyes shook violently.
Not only had his identity been exposed, but his specific objective as well, shaking him to his core.
“Ernst Horwitz talked about killing the Duke and all that, but it was obviously a lie. You have no intention of killing the Duke.”
Demian continued, stretching his interlocked hands upward.
“Because the Duke’s family is too massive. Sure, if you were scheming to control it from the shadows, but attempting assassination? You couldn’t handle the fallout. So why are you here? Your real target is me.”
Demian tilted his head side to side, loosening his neck.
“I killed your executive and ruined your plans. There’s no way you’d let your archenemy like me walk free.”
That was why they had dragged Ernst Horwitz into killing Demian Haksen.
From Yulan’s perspective, Ernst Horwitz was nothing more than a useful pawn.
Proof was the black magic active in Ernst Horwitz’s body.
Like Guillaume Blackwing, Ernst Horwitz had gained great power at the cost of his life force.
But Ernst Horwitz was burning through his life force far faster than Guillaume Blackwing.
He was certain to die before the day ended.
-...Why did you hide knowing our identity?
“No point telling you—you’d all just run. So I kept quiet on purpose. That way, you’d come to kill me.”
The middle-aged man added with a face that couldn’t comprehend.
-Why lure us out? What’s your angle?
“No angle. I just wanted to kill you with my own hands.”
Demian Haksen despised black mages.
Whenever one entered his sight, he couldn’t rest until he’d eliminated it.
Moreover, Yulan was the group to which the black mage who targeted Viscount Haksen’s family belonged.
“If you’ve got all your questions answered, let’s get started. I need to kill you lot quick and go save Sebastian.”
By Demian’s calculations, Sebastian Vincenzo wouldn’t die easily.
Even so, he couldn’t afford to let his guard down. Unexpected mishaps could occur mid-battle.
-...I can see you’re completely insane.
The middle-aged man said with a look of utter disbelief.
-In any case, my decision to kill you was right. We can’t leave someone who knows our identity alive.
A cruel smile crept onto the middle-aged man’s lips.
-Allow me a proper introduction. I’m Mustang Fury, leader of Yulan. That’s Rebecca, my vice-leader.
Demian’s eyes flickered slightly.
He had known they were from Yulan, but not that they were the leader and vice-leader.
Thinking about it, for a dangerous plot to devour the Goldpixie Duke’s family, it made sense for the top brass to step in.
-To eliminate a threat like this in advance. This must be the grace of the great Archlich.
Demian Haksen’s body stiffened. Demian reflexively asked.
“Archlich? Dorgo?”
At that name, Mustang Fury’s eyes widened this time.
“How do you know his name...?”
Clack. His mouth shut.
No hand had touched it, yet his muscles contracted on their own, sealing his lips.
-...?
He tried to open his mouth, but it wouldn’t obey.
Mustang Fury had no choice but to panic.
His own body was defying his will and moving of its own accord.
“Ah, what’s this.”
Hearing the voice, Mustang Fury looked at Demian.
Only then did he understand why his mouth had closed.
The atmosphere had changed.
Until moments ago, Demian Haksen had acted with consistent leisure and nonchalance.
But now, it was different.
Beyond the eyes staring at Mustang Fury poured a venomous killing intent.
So thick was its density that it was hard to meet head-on.
It felt like thrusting one’s face into a massive inferno.
Mustang Fury unwittingly gasped for breath.
Every muscle in his body went rigid. Unless he consciously breathed, it felt like his respiration would stop.
“You, Dorgo’s subordinate?”
Demian Haksen’s lips curved.
Amid the colossal killing intent bloomed a savage glee.