Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Damus Falls
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A darkness even thicker than Damus's armor swallowed him whole.
Silence descended upon the labyrinth's alley.
“…….”
Everyone watched the scene, swallowing hard.
At that moment.
Thud.
A small reverberation began.
Thud thud!
It grew louder and louder.
Boom!
It soon erupted into an explosion.
From within the darkness that had engulfed Damus.
A crimson sphere of darkness glowed red-hot.
And in the next instant.
Kwaaaa—!
The darkness that had swallowed Damus shattered, blacking out everyone's vision for a moment.
When they regained their sight.
“Guhk!”
There was Damus, clad in shattered armor, his body covered in wounds.
“I...”
A smile crept onto Damus's lips, though defeat seemed certain to anyone watching.
“...won.”
Sein staggered.
It looked as if Sein's Blessing had failed to overcome Damus's.
As if a Blessing manifested at the peak of emotion had triumphed over Sein's artificially invoked one.
Woooong!
Damus's armor glowed red-hot.
All the shock he had gathered just moments ago.
Whiiiing!
It was the moment it would all release in an instant.
“Idiot.”
Sein's voice.
Puk!
A crisp sound, like piercing tofu.
The Bastion in Sein's hand had pierced Damus's armor and reached his heart.
“……!”
Damus's defense, compressed to its maximum with every ounce of power poured into the Rebound Technique, was stronger than ever.
He had thought it could withstand even a dragon's claw.
Grrrind.
Yet Sein's Bastion twisted effortlessly, as if sharper than any dragon's talon, inflicting agony on Damus.
“Gaaaaah!”
“The scary thing about the Rebound Technique is that it has no weaknesses.”
The entire body becomes a shield, absorbing and redirecting shock.
It was truly a cheat ability.
But there were plenty of ways to counter it.
“And now, a new weakness has been added.”
Sein had countered the Rebound Technique in a completely unknown way.
“Corruption.”
The Blessing he had awakened.
Upon awakening, he had a rough grasp of its meaning and power, but information had been scarce.
Like a thick fog delivering only the knowledge fitting his level.
But now, he knew exactly what he had done.
“It must hurt like hell.”
Corruption.
Its other name.
“Since the rebound absorption has been reversed.”
Reversal.
“……!”
Damus, realizing what Sein meant, widened his eyes and thrashed.
But it was already too late.
Whiiiing!
Damus's armor glowed even redder.
And the condensed power within.
Thud!
Began exploding inside Damus.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Like the Big Bang said to have birthed the universe.
The tip of the sword Sein had thrust became a single point, detonating all the energy condensed in Damus's body.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Amid the explosions, Damus's eyes slowly rolled back.
And when only the whites remained.
Thud.
Damus collapsed, rolling across the ground.
That was the end.
“Wow, this thing's even more monstrous than Bastion. One wrong move, and I'd get sucked dry first.”
Did he not realize what he had just done?
The candidates stood frozen, mouths shut, as Sein muttered casually.
“What are you all doing?”
Or perhaps.
“The labyrinth's getting boring now. Let's wrap it up, get out, and grab some food.”
His capacity was so vast that he considered even this trivial.
Whatever the case.
Step.
Sein strode forward, and all the candidates followed behind.
*
*
*
Quite some time had passed since the candidates entered the labyrinth.
During that time, Alman and Rohan had been waiting in front of it.
Though they were busy people who rarely took to the front lines themselves.
“The candidate competition for this generation is finally coming to an end.”
They knew the Demorus candidate competition would conclude with this exchange match.
“Indeed.”
Alman and Rohan hadn't exchanged many words, but as the labyrinth conquest dragged on, their time together had lengthened.
“Who do you think is the frontrunner?”
It was possible because, rivals though they were, they shared the same roots.
Alman asked Rohan.
“Do you really think that fool Damus will become family head?”
Damus, the favorite backed by Dante's full investment and Rohan's high hopes.
“No way.”
But Rohan shook his head.
“Damus has excellent skill and potential, but...”
Rohan said.
“His vessel is too small.”
Rohan wasn't a fool.
He knew what happened at the main house.
The strong preying on the weak was the natural order of the world, so he understood.
But he didn't believe it was right.
“I just wanted to give him a chance.”
“A chance?”
“A chance to use that power for Demorus, even if it's misguided.”
That was it.
“A chance for that stubbornness and obstinacy to hold nothing but Demorus in that tiny vessel.”
Demorus was all that filled Rohan's mind.
“But that's not an answer to my question.”
Alman had already seen through that much.
What he truly wanted to ask was.
“Who has the highest chance. That's the question.”
The candidate with the greatest likelihood of becoming family head.
“The ones from the main house who didn't even enter the competition have high chances too.”
They were recognized enough not to need such a contest.
“But the highest probability is...”
Rohan's gaze grew serious.
“‘That one,’ of course.”
“That one?”
“Don't play dumb. You think so too, Alman.”
Rohan and Alman locked eyes.
“You mean Cain's candidate.”
“Yeah.”
Rohan looked out toward the camp.
The rippling labyrinth.
Whoever emerged victorious from within would be decided.
“What that one awakened was the founder's Blessing.”
“…….”
“You get what that means, right?”
But it would be only a temporary victory.
In the end, they would face a greater wall.
“Cains's grueling candidate competition ended in less than a year. A monster. An absolute monster.”
Even Rohan, who rarely praised anyone, spoke this highly.
Alman nodded, having heard the news.
“That one is the most likely to be the next family head.”
It was the moment Rohan finished answering.
“I see it differently.”
Alman said, curling his lips into a smirk.
“You say that because you don't know what kind of madman he is.”
“Madman?”
“I'm going to test it. That madness.”
“…….”
Alman no longer resembled his old self as Rasiel's master.
He was the friend from the past who had vowed together to lead Demorus.
“Hard to believe, right? I felt the same.”
As if on cue, both rose from their seats simultaneously.
“You should rethink it after seeing the results.”
The labyrinth.
Woooong!
The labyrinth's entrance began to hum.
It meant the victor had finally been decided.
*
*
*
The once-blue gates of the labyrinth began to turn black.
A sign that the labyrinth had been conquered.
Gulp.
It meant the victor inside had been decided.
Rasiel's and Dante's organization members had gathered upon hearing the news.
“…….”
No one had emerged from the labyrinth gates yet.
But looking back at history, who the victor was seemed obvious.
“H-He's coming out!”
The first to emerge.
“Who is it!”
“Who's coming out!”
The survivors were the true victors of history.
“……!”
As all eyes focused, a shadow slowly revealed itself.
“Da...”
The one closest shouted upon seeing it.
“It's Dante!”
Clank.
Shattered armor, face smeared with blood and grime from battle.
But they were unmistakably.
“Dante's coming out!”
Dante's candidates.
Kimo, Vita.
Dante's candidates, led by the two masters, stepping out of the labyrinth.
“Waaaaah—!”
Cheers erupted from Dante's organization members.
At first hesitant, but only Dante's candidates were walking out.
Proof of victory.
“Looks like we won this time, Alman.”
Rohan said to Alman beside him.
“What a shame.”
He conveyed regret but was genuinely pleased.
“I thought you'd grown up completely. But you still haven't shaken off that crybaby habit from back then.”
“……?”
“Better to watch till the end. Unless you want to relive that time you burst into tears.”
At that moment.
“…….”
Silence fell.
Something impossible was unfolding before their eyes.
“Ra... Rasiel?”
Rasiel's candidates emerging after Dante.
“It's Rasiel!”
Rasiel's candidates, thought to have been wiped out by Dante, were appearing.
But even more striking was.
Compared to Dante's candidates.
“What the hell happened?”
They looked far too pristine.
Equipment shining despite some damage.
In a labyrinth where food should be scarce, faces and hair gleamed with luster.
Smirk.
Smiles filled their faces.
It was different from before, but no less certain.
“It's Rasiel.”
Conviction.
“Rasiel won—!”
Someone's shout started it.
“Waaaaah—!”
“Rasiel won! Rasiel won!”
“Look at that! Fuck! Rasiel won!”
Rasiel's organization members shouted, unable to contain their excitement.
And that excitement erupted like a volcano at the end.
The candidates emerging one by one.
The last one.
“Waaaaaaaah—!”
Sein Demorus.
His emergence, as if escorted by all.
Even Dante bowing his head and stepping back.
“Whoa. My eardrums are gonna burst.”
It was as good as confirming total victory.
“Yeah, we won.”
Sein's straightforward words.
With that, the exchange match came to an end.