Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Cleanup (1)
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Demian retracted the Jet-Black.
The darkness that had blanketed the sky vanished in an instant. The night sky returned to its original state.
Demian approached the pitch-black puddles left on the ground.
The power of Jet-Black was truly formidable.
Even the rank-7 black mages hadn't had a chance to resist before losing their lives.
Not only their bodies, but even the clothes they wore and the items they carried had all crumbled to dust.
Demian looked up at the empty air.
The black mana, left masterless by its owners' deaths, swirled wildly in the sky.
Both being high-rank rank-7 black mages, the amount of black mana was enormous.
Demian absorbed it all and stored it in his bracelet. An immense quantity of black mana was now saved there.
Roughly estimating, it seemed about five times the black mana he'd gained from killing Agito.
"Ah, I forgot to ask about Dorgo."
He'd acted without thinking ahead, with the lid already off.
In truth, it wasn't as if there were no way to learn about Dorgo just because they were dead.
On the contrary, there was even more information he could extract from them after death.
But Demian didn't want to use that method if at all possible.
"Well, no helping it."
Demian extended his hand toward the puddles. Something pale and indistinct was sucked out from both.
Two gray spheres, like clumps of smoke, slowly took form above Demian's palm.
-Kreeaak!
-Kyaaak!
The two spheres let out horrific screams.
These two lumps were none other than the souls of Mustang Fury and Rebecca.
Manipulating souls was one of the greatest atrocities committed by black mages.
Black mages often used the souls of living beings in various black magics.
Souls were originally meant to cycle through life and death, reincarnating.
But souls used in black magic were consumed of all their power and then obliterated.
It meant one human ceased to exist entirely.
That was why Demian hesitated to use this method.
Yet, once he actually pulled out the souls, he felt no particular guilt.
Probably because they were the souls of black mages who were unspeakably vile.
"You'll have to spit out everything you know."
Demian used black mana to forcibly extract the memories held by the two souls.
-Aaak! Uwaaaak!
-Kreeaaak! Kaaaak!
The two souls writhed in agony. But Demian didn't stop.
The memories from the two souls flowed into his mind.
-I am Archlich Dorgo.
And within them, Demian Haksen once again saw the face he loathed so much.
-You've probably heard of me at least once. Most of the black magic you practice passed through my hands.
Seeing Dorgo's face reignited his murderous intent. Demian forcibly suppressed it.
This wasn't the time to vent his rage. He needed information on Dorgo.
-I've been watching your exploits for a long time. Your skills are quite decent. So I have a task to entrust to you.
-I seek to build an empire for black mages. My goal is to provide a sanctuary and home for persecuted black mages.
Hearing that, Demian Haksen couldn't help but burst into laughter.
'An empire for black mages? The bastard's full of shit.'
Archlich Dorgo's true goal was the extermination of humanity. Black mages were no exception.
Dorgo used black mages and then slaughtered them all toward the end of the war.
-To achieve my goal, we must weaken the national powers. So go to the Apple Kingdom and sow chaos.
That was the end of Yulan's black mages' encounter with Dorgo.
It had been just a single meeting, but Mustang Fury and Rebecca faithfully carried out Dorgo's orders.
Targeting the Goldpixie Ducal Family had been for that very reason.
'No other information...'
Unfortunately, that was all the information these two knew.
There was nothing like a way to meet Dorgo, which Demian desperately wanted.
'Well, it was my mistake to expect even that much from small fry like these.'
Dorgo had moved in complete secrecy for thousands of years, without leaving a single trace.
There was no way he'd catch his tail so easily.
'I need to find that bastard as quickly as possible and kill him.'
Dorgo wandered the world to enact his plan to destroy it.
In his previous life, Demian had only encountered Dorgo by sheer coincidence.
Even if he went back to that place, there was no guarantee he'd meet Dorgo again.
'No other info?'
Still, Demian couldn't let go and rummaged through the souls a bit more.
Screams echoed each time the black mana tore into the souls.
'What's this?'
Then, a peculiar memory surfaced.
It was a memory of Yulan's executives gathered in a cave, moving something.
'Ah, the secret warehouse.'
Yulan had amassed a great deal of wealth while operating covertly in the Apple Kingdom.
But being hunted by the Church, they couldn't carry that wealth around freely.
So Yulan had built a dungeon deep in the mountains to store their items.
'I'll have to stop by there later.'
Having obtained all the necessary information, Demian stopped rummaging through the souls.
Freed from the pain, the two souls seemed to sigh in relief.
The souls, which had been thick gray at first, were now noticeably fainter.
They had been greatly weakened while abused by the black mana.
"Is Sir Sebastian still alive?"
As Demian muttered that, a massive explosion echoed from far away.
It meant Sebastian Vincenzo was still alive.
"Oh, he's still hanging on."
Demian brightened and injected black mana into the two souls.
The two souls screamed anew.
"When you performed the ritual on Ernst Horwitz, you imprinted a mark of obedience, didn't you? Send a signal to Ernst Horwitz and make his black magic go berserk."
The two souls immediately obeyed Demian's command.
They used the black mana Demian had injected to send a signal to Ernst Horwitz.
The distant explosions fell silent. Proof that the command had been delivered.
"Good work. As a reward, I'll set you free."
Demian gripped the two souls tightly. They let out death rattles as they dissipated.
Demian shook his palms as if brushing off filth.
The battle was over, but Demian's tasks were not yet finished.
* * *
"Hah, hah, heuk."
Sebastian Vincenzo gasped for breath.
His body was covered in wounds. Blood had soaked his clothes red.
"You look exhausted, Sir Sebastian."
Ernst Horwitz sneered.
Unlike his leisurely attitude, his body also bore wounds.
They were from the occasional counterattacks Sebastian Vincenzo had landed.
But he was far better off than Sebastian, who seemed on the verge of collapse.
"I didn't expect you to hold out this long against me. Truly admirable."
"Admirable... To me, it's humiliating."
"You can afford to be confident. I'm strong enough to scare myself right now."
Sebastian Horwitz scoffed at those words.
"Being pushed back by a brute with nothing but raw strength and mana... It's the height of shame."
A knight's strength wasn't just from speed or power.
It came from mastering techniques.
Sword, spear, axe, and so on.
They honed weapons to their limits and comprehended the truths beyond.
A knight who grasped those truths could cleave seas and split mountains with their sword.
That was why knights were feared.
What about Ernst Horwitz?
No technical growth at all. Just enhanced physical abilities and increased mana.
That was why he hadn't killed Sebastian Vincenzo yet.
"Still haven't come to your senses?"
Ernst Horwitz's face twisted viciously.
Ernst Horwitz assumed a stance. Red aura gathered at the spear's tip.
Seeing that aura, Sebastian Vincenzo steeled his resolve.
He was fine dying here. But if he died, he'd take Ernst Horwitz with him.
Sebastian Vincenzo gathered his aura.
He poured all his insights and techniques into a single sword.
In the darkness, Sebastian Vincenzo's aura shone vividly.
"Futile efforts. Won't make a difference."
Ernst Horwitz smirked.
That was when it happened.
"...Guh!"
Suddenly, Ernst Horwitz made a choking sound.
"Kuhuk! Guk! Kuheuk!"
He even started convulsing.
Ernst Horwitz dropped his spear and clawed at his body frantically.
"Uwaaaak!"
Black smoke began pouring from the hole in his face.
Sebastian Vincenzo recognized it immediately.
It was black mana.
"No...! No!"
As the black mana escaped, Ernst Horwitz's muscles withered, and his hair turned white.
In an instant, he became an old man and collapsed to the ground.
"Huuuuk, heuuuuk."
Sebastian Vincenzo blinked repeatedly as he watched Ernst Horwitz struggle for breath.
"...D-Did I... survive?"
* * *
By dawn, reinforcements from the ducal family arrived.
Two mid-class knights and five low-class ones, no less.
They were speechless at the sight of the utterly devastated forest.
Even more astonishing was that no one had died in the attack.
Sebastian Vincenzo's injuries were severe, but not life-threatening.
Demian Haksen was unscathed. He'd even killed two black mages.
"How on earth did you kill those two? The other knights said they weren't pushovers."
Two mid-class knights approached the resting Demian and asked.
Demian replied nonchalantly.
"I just dodged appropriately and beheaded them."
At Demian's answer, the knights glanced at the shattered forest.
Dodged that kind of massive black magic appropriately?
"The destructive power was strong, but their skill was abysmal. They probably used some trick to boost the power."
The two mid-class knights nodded.
Black mages often amplified black magic through dubious means.
But such power always came with flaws.
Slow casting speed or low activation rate, things like that.
"No bodies from the black mages, huh."
"See those two puddles over there? That's them. After I beheaded them, the bodies suddenly melted."
Black mages had many secrets, so they often concealed themselves this way.
Still, one mid-class knight seemed unconvinced.
"I know you're skilled, but... how did you dodge such large-scale black magic?"
"Ah, do you only believe what you see with your own eyes?"
Demian vanished from sight and reappeared behind the knight.
It was so fast even a mid-class knight had to focus to track the movement.
Seeing it, the knight accepted Demian's explanation.
"Impressive. How does someone your age possess such skill?"
To the knight's question, Demian replied casually.
"Because I'm a genius."
The knight glared at Demian Haksen with an annoyed look.