Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Homecoming (3)
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‘Impossible.’
Mustang Fury denied the emotions he was feeling.
‘I’m a 7th-rank black mage. I’m on a completely different level from some low-class nobody!’
Mages and black mages were divided into hierarchies.
There were twelve hierarchies in total.
To be called a high-rank mage, one had to reach the 7th hierarchy or above.
A mage’s combat prowess varied by school, so it couldn’t be neatly quantified.
Mustang Fury was a high-rank black mage of the Frenzy School, specialized in combat.
He possessed overwhelming power that allowed him even to look down on mid-class mages.
That was why he couldn’t understand it. Why he felt such terror toward Demian Haksen, a mere low-class mage.
‘What the hell are you!’
But denying it further was pointless. The killing intent emanating from Demian Haksen was far from ordinary.
It would be foolish to let his guard down after sensing something like that.
Knowing this well, Mustang Fury drew his black mana to its maximum.
Knights reinforced their bodies with mana to gain superhuman strength and speed. The Frenzy School could use black mana in a similar way.
His massive body, over three meters tall, suddenly vanished.
He reappeared behind Demian Haksen.
Mustang Fury clenched his fist. Black mana solidified densely around his mace-like enormous fist.
‘I’ll kill him in one blow.’
Mustang Fury swung his fist down.
A deafening roar erupted as the ground shattered. The shockwave alone toppled nearby trees.
Yet despite unleashing such destructive power, Mustang Fury’s scowl didn’t ease.
The destruction had only affected the surrounding earth—Demian Haksen was unharmed.
-You bastard… What trick did you just pull?
Just moments ago, Mustang Fury had seen it clearly.
As his fist was about to strike Demian Haksen, its trajectory suddenly veered off.
Because of that, his fist slammed into the ground instead of Demian Haksen.
“Since it’s hard to exercise patience, I’ll tell you upfront.”
Demian Haksen didn’t answer the question. He merely muttered something incomprehensible.
“Tell me about Dorgo. If you spill where he is, I’ll let you live.”
-Bullshit…
Before he could finish, Demian Haksen swung his Thousand-Li Sword.
The blade swept from below upward, slicing across Mustang Fury’s neck.
The clear sound of vertebrae snapping rang out.
-Kraaaagh!
Blood sprayed wildly from the severed neck. Mustang Fury clutched it and screamed.
“Looks like my warning didn’t sink in seriously enough?”
Demian Haksen glared at Mustang Fury with eyes full of murderous intent as he spoke.
“Then I’ll make you feel it down to your bones from now on.”
* * *
Mustang Fury desperately pressed his head to the wound. A grotesque phenomenon occurred.
His muscles melted like jelly, reconnecting the severed part.
The Frenzy School fought by mutating their bodies. The greatest advantage this provided wasn’t brute strength.
It was regeneration.
Frenzy School black mages could perfectly restore bodies that were slashed, torn, or crushed.
-Kuuh…
Finally reattaching his neck, Mustang Fury growled at Demian.
-I’ll kill you… I’ll rip you apart and kill you!
“Isn’t that the wrong thing for you to be saying?”
-Shut up!
Mustang Fury charged.
His massive body seemed to vanish, only to reappear right in front of Demian’s face. He thrust his fist straight at him.
Demian read Mustang Fury’s movements with indifferent eyes.
‘You think landing one hit will win it, huh?’
Right now, Mustang Fury wasn’t paying any attention to defense.
It was the Frenzy School’s signature fighting style. Relying on regeneration to focus solely on offense.
‘I’ll teach you now how wrong that thinking is.’
He blocked the incoming fist with his palm and shoved it aside.
The fist’s trajectory shifted, smashing into the ground instead of Demian.
-What?
Shock appeared on Mustang Fury’s face. The same phenomenon from before had happened again.
-That trick again!
Mustang Fury thrust his fist out once more.
His mutated body and vast black mana combined to make his attack flash like lightning.
But Demian casually deflected every one of Mustang Fury’s assaults.
Not a single fist reached him.
‘I’m reaping the full benefits of that potion.’
The Sword Saint realm of Universal Flow Insight allowed him to disrupt an attack’s flow and alter its trajectory.
However, the stronger the opponent’s attack, the more mana it consumed—a major drawback.
That was why Demian hadn’t been able to fully utilize Universal Flow Insight until now. His mana reserves had been too low.
But after consuming the mana crystal potion this time, he had resolved that issue to a significant degree.
-How long do you plan to keep dodging!
“Why? Bored? Then I’ll play along.”
Demian no longer just deflected the attacks.
He dodged while drawing his Thousand-Li Sword and slashed at the forearm. A long, deep gash appeared on Mustang Fury’s arm.
-Useless!
Mustang Fury channeled black mana, and the forearm wound regenerated in an instant.
Seeing this, Demian Haksen smiled with satisfaction.
“Good. I can chop you up as much as I want without issue.”
-What?
Demian Haksen dove into Mustang Fury’s embrace.
As he brushed past, he slashed the side.
The abdomen split open wide. No entrails spilled, but blood poured out.
-Kraaaagh!
Mustang Fury bellowed a monstrous cry and swung his fist.
Demian easily evaded and severed the elbow joint with a crisp slice. The forearm dangled like a broken tree branch.
-Demian Haksen!
Rage filled Mustang Fury’s voice. The four tentacles on his back lashed out at Demian.
Demian’s hand moved swiftly. The tentacles were sliced into dozens of pieces.
-You bastard!
New tentacles sprouted from Mustang Fury’s back. He tried to whip them at Demian Haksen immediately.
But Mustang Fury couldn’t swing them.
Demian Haksen had vanished. He was gone in an instant.
-Where did you…
“Right here.”
A voice came from the side.
The moment he turned, his thigh split open. Bundles of muscle severed all at once.
Mustang Fury’s body lurched heavily. Right after, another voice sounded.
“This time, here.”
Before he could turn, his knee was sliced.
Muscle, ligaments, and even the joint bone were cut. Mustang Fury’s massive frame tilted sideways.
-Kraaagh!
Mustang Fury immediately stabbed his tentacles into the ground to support himself.
He quickly regenerated the knee wound.
But before it fully healed, Demian Haksen slashed it again.
-Aaaagh!
The pain doubled from the repeated strike on the same spot. Mustang Fury screamed.
“Dull and slow.”
Demian Haksen relentlessly carved up Mustang Fury’s body without pause.
Blood sprayed and flesh tore with every voice. Finally, unable to endure, Mustang Fury collapsed to the ground.
He couldn’t even twitch.
To finish it, Demian appeared directly in front of Mustang Fury.
As he swung at the neck, Mustang Fury’s eyes gleamed.
He gaped his mouth wide at Demian Haksen. Black mana began condensing in his throat.
-Dodge this too!
Mustang Fury spewed black mana. It burst out in a radial pattern.
Just as the black mana was about to vaporize Demian, he thrust his Thousand-Li Sword forward.
The sword met the black mana. It vibrated fiercely, emitting a sword cry.
The released cry formed an invisible barrier.
The black mana battered the wall ceaselessly. But it couldn’t pierce it, scattering in all directions.
-…!
Even his trump card was blocked, and Mustang Fury’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Demonic Sword - Roaring Void.
One of the techniques the Sword Demon had used in his past life, it absorbed enemy attacks to form a protective shield.
Originally a defensive art, it could also serve as a counter depending on usage.
“I need to hear about Dorgo, so I won’t kill you.”
The longer it blocked the black mana, the louder the sword cry grew.
Demian flicked the blade with his fingertip.
The cry amplified several times over. A tidal wave of sound engulfed Mustang Fury.
* * *
Mustang Fury was swept away by the sword cry, flying far off. He tumbled across the ground repeatedly.
-Cough… Cough…
Mustang Fury lay face-down, vomiting blood.
The previous attack had inflicted severe internal injuries. His organs were ruptured, and his meridians torn.
-Q-Quickly… Re-regenerate…
Mustang Fury tried to regenerate his body using black mana.
But no matter how much he channeled, the wounds remained unchanged.
Even the Frenzy School couldn’t regenerate wounds indefinitely.
Each regeneration consumed stamina and black mana, so there were limits.
-Da… Damn…
Footsteps approached.
Mustang Fury laboriously lifted his head. Demian Haksen was drawing near.
He was pristine, just as at the start. Not even a drop of sweat.
-De-Demian Haksen…
Mustang Fury stared at Demian with a face twisted in terror.
-Who… are you… How do you have such power…
“You think I spared you to hear that crap?”
Demian rested his Thousand-Li Sword on Mustang Fury’s shoulder.
“Speak. Where is Dorgo?”
-…You think I’ll tell you?
“Then you die.”
Demian raised his sword high. At that moment, Mustang Fury shouted.
-Rebecca! Now!
Mustang Fury bellowed.
From a distance, Rebecca unleashed her black magic.
She hadn’t just been watching. She had been preparing black magic for such an eventuality.
A black shadow appeared behind Demian Haksen.
A skeletal figure draped in a burlap sack pressed a scythe to Demian’s nape.
-It’s an instant-death curse from a 7th-rank curse mage!
Mustang Fury cried out in ecstasy.
-No one has survived that curse at this range!
Even with death imminent, Demian’s eyes remained unchanged.
“I wondered what that woman was preparing, and it was just this trash?”
Demian spoke as if bored. Mustang Fury ground his teeth.
-We’ll see if you say that after you’re dead! Rebecca! Kill him!
Rebecca formed hand seals. The skeleton swung its scythe at Demian’s neck.
In that instant, a pattern appeared on the back of Demian’s hand.
The pattern glowed red. The skeleton covered its bony face as if witnessing something horrific.
It let out a grotesque scream and shattered into pieces.
-…Huh?
The shocking sight left Mustang Fury dumbfounded.
Their knowledge likely couldn’t comprehend what they had just seen.
Gluttony.
One of the seven authorities Archlich Dorgo had implanted in Demian’s body in his past life.
An ability that decomposed and absorbed magic, black magic—all forms of power.
With this authority, Demian would never lose to a black mage.
-I-It’s impossible… This is black magic Yulan has researched for lifetimes…! With the right conditions, it can even kill high-class mages!
“Seriously? This crude black magic was your secret art?”
Just as knights had secret techniques, so did mages.
The meaning was slightly different. It referred to magic a mage researched and perfected over a lifetime.
Among mages’ secret arts, some were developed not by individuals but by specific groups.
“With this level of skill, you strutted around like you owned the place?”
Demian loathed black mages. They disgusted him to no end.
This time, their frog-in-a-well arrogance truly ignited his temper.
He couldn’t bear it without crushing them.
“Before sending you off, here’s a parting gift.”
Demian Haksen removed his bracelet.
It was the one he had obtained after killing Yulan’s executive Agito in the past.
An ancient relic that could store any kind of energy and perfectly conceal it.
Demian had stored black mana in this bracelet. For emergencies.
“I’ll show you what real black magic is.”
Demian raised his finger upward.
No magic circle, no incantation. He simply manipulated the black mana to cast black magic.
The night sky blackened in an instant.
Twinkling stars, the moon, the horizon-brightening sky.
All of it turned pitch black.
-This is…
Mustang Fury couldn’t recognize the black magic Demian was using.
He had no choice. This was black magic Dorgo kept only as his secret technique.
Pitch Black.
A black magic that unleashed physical force to crush everything in its range.
It was a top-tier 9th-rank black magic.
In his past life, Demian had once used it to shatter an entire castle overlaid with dozens of layers of protective magic.
Demian lowered his raised finger.
An invisible force crushed Mustang Fury and Rebecca.
They didn’t even have time to feel pain before their bodies were utterly pulverized.
Only pools of blood remained where they had stood.