Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight

Chapter 223

—————–

Chapter 223: The Extermination Squad (3)

Numerically, the Extermination Squad had the advantage, but still, Vanexia had the upper hand.

“Come on! You pigs of the empire!”

As Vanexia chanted a spell, more than ten dark magic spells were simultaneously activated.

A fierce cold rushed in like a storm, and ice blades poured down incessantly. Sharp spikes erupted from the ground.

Damien recognized all the dark magic spells that Vanexia had used.

‘They’re all 10th-tier dark magic spells.’

A single cast of any of these high-tier dark magic spells could kill thousands.

Moreover, with the help of the magic circle pre-installed in the dungeon, Vanexia’s dark magic had become even more powerful.

However, Rayne and Wilhelm were no pushovers either. As their hands blurred and the countless slashes were unleashed.

All the dark magic spells were sliced apart by these slashes. Vanexia’s brow furrowed as he watched this scene.

“Ugh…”

Roger watched the two with a nervous expression. On the other hand, Damien observed the battle with a calm face.

‘Both of them are incredibly skilled.’

Even in a battle against a giant evil, Damien hadn’t stepped in because he wanted to assess their abilities.

These two were raised by the Sword Saint and were strong enough to be ranked 3rd and 4th in the Extermination Squad.

It was impossible not to be curious.

‘To think they died before the War of Destruction with such skills?’

No matter how strong one is, if they’re unlucky, they can die suddenly—that’s the way of the world.

In Damien’s view, these two were too talented to die so early.

“You’re fighting well for a bunch of piglets!”

Vanexia shouted and struck the ground with his staff. Then, with a heavy snowfall, a blizzard began to rage.

A single snowflake brushed Rayne’s cheek and her cheek split open and caused blood to spill out.

“What…?”

Rayne looked up at the ceiling in shock. The snow falling from the sky wasn’t just ordinary ice crystals.

Each flake was a lethal weapon sharp enough to cut through aura armor.

“You seem surprised? This is my ‘Vision’. I make it snow with extreme sharpness.”

Vanexia raised his staff high into the sky. The storm gathered all the snowflakes.

“I’ll kill you without leaving your bodies intact.”

Vanexia pointed his staff at the two. The white blizzard surged towards them.

“Brother! Sister!”

Roger shouted in panic. A single snowflake had already cut through their aura armor.

Such a blizzard was about to engulf the two of them.

“Wilhelm, it seems we need to put in some effort.”

At Rayne’s words, Wilhelm nodded.

At that moment, their eyes changed. They stared at the blizzard without even blinking.

Just before the blizzard reached them, they both swung their swords simultaneously. An unusual phenomenon occurred.

The storm split to the left and right, avoiding them and flying in other directions.

‘Impressive. To alter the flow of the wind with the Sword Saint’s realm.’

The realm of the Sword Saint, Ten Thousand Flow Perception, was a realm that could read and change the flow.

The two of them used Ten Thousand Flow Perception to change the flow of the storm and escape the dark magic.

“The Sword Saint, that drunkard, truly raised a monster!”

Even Vanexia couldn’t help but be shocked at how easily his vision was blocked.

This became the deciding factor of the fight.

Rayne seized the opening and swung her sword. An aurablade flew towards Vanexia.

“Kraaah!”

The aurablade slashed at Vanexia’s shoulder. The same one that held the staff.

Blood splattered as his arm was severed. Vanexia grabbed his shoulder in agony.

“Wilhelm!”

Rayne and Wilhelm rushed towards Vanexia to finish him off.

Rayne immediately tried to stab Vanexia’s heart with her sword.

At that moment, Damien noticed something.

An immense amount of dark mana started emanating from the blood Vanexia had shed on the ground.

“Watch your feet, both of you!”

Damien shouted instantly. In the next moment, ice spikes erupted from the bloodstains.

The ice blades slashed through both of them, reaching up to the ceiling.

“Ugh!”

“…!”

Blood spurted from various parts of their bodies. The bleeding was severe, indicating deep cuts.

However, thanks to Damien’s warning, they managed to avoid fatal injuries.

“…!”

With a bit more leeway, Wilhelm endured the pain and swung his sword at Vanexia.

A sky-blue aura blade severed Vanexia’s neck. But Wilhelm’s attack didn’t stop there.

He sliced through his face, splitting his body into multiple pieces. Only then did he stop his attack.

Vanexia the Deadlock.

The giant evil of Pandemonium died without even leaving a dying scream.

“Hah… Huff…”

As soon as they cut down Vanexia, both of them collapsed to the floor, clutching their wounds in pain.

“Sister! Brother!”

***

“Sister! Brother!”

Roger ran towards them and he opened his bag and took out potions to treat their wounds.

“Here, drink this quickly! I didn’t expect your injuries to be this severe…!”

In the meantime, their wounds were freezing over. The cold had penetrated to their organs, making the potions ineffective.

“Da-Damien Haksen…”

Rayne spoke to Damien as she suppressed her pain.

“Tha-thanks for earlier. If it weren’t for you, we would both be dead.”

Victory was within sight, and their vision had narrowed momentarily.

Vanexia had laid a trap during that lapse. The two almost fell for it.

“I owed you at least that much for the great show you put on.”

“Haha, I guess we’ve already paid the price with our lives. Today, we’re lucky.”

Rayne burst into laughter, but she was sweating from the pain.

Suddenly, Wilhelm grabbed Damien’s collar.

Damien turned to look at him, puzzled. Wilhelm quietly gave him a thumbs-up.

Since he couldn’t speak, it seemed this was his way of expressing gratitude.

“Sister! Brother! We don’t have time for this! We need to find a priest quickly! Potions can’t heal these wounds!”

Roger cried out. Rayne patted his back and said it was alright.

At that moment, footsteps echoed from the entrance where the four had come in. Roger and Rayne fell silent instinctively.

As time passed, the footsteps grew louder, increasing the group’s sense of foreboding.

Eventually, someone appeared in the corridor.

It was a burly woman. But the group couldn’t be sure at first if she was a woman.

Judging by her beautiful face, she was indeed a woman. However, she was incredibly large and muscular.

Her muscles were so massive that they looked like they had been carved out of stone.

“Hmm? What’s going on here?”

Seeing the scene inside, the woman tilted her head in confusion.

“I was asked to teach Vanexia a lesson… but she’s already dead? And there are Imperial knights here? What is this situation?”

The woman kept tilting her head in bewilderment.

Rayne scrutinized the woman’s face. Suddenly, her expression hardened.

“…Salik the Fallen.”

“Hmm? You know me?”

“A dark knight who was bewitched by the Succubus Sla and abandoned her position of giant evil… Why are you here?”

Rayne’s voice was filled with shock and fear simultaneously.

“Sla asked me to. She told me to teach Vanexia a lesson for being arrogant. But since he’s already dead, what should I do?”

Salik scratched her head as she spoke.

Unlike her relaxed demeanor, the group was far from calm.

Their strongest members, Rayne and Wilhelm, were already in tatters from the battle with Vanexia.

In this condition, they couldn’t possibly fight Salik.

“Ah… I won’t get my reward from Sla now… I had the chance to spend a night with her…”

Salik sighed deeply in disappointment.

“But I can’t lie. Instead, I’ll take your heads as proof.”

At her words, the group’s faces stiffened.

However, there was one exception: Damien Haksen. From the moment Salik entered, Damien had been staring at her intently.

His gaze irritated Salik.

“Why are you so calm? It’s annoying, so I’ll kill you first…”

At that moment, Salik’s expression went blank.

“You’re… Damien Haksen?”

“You’ve recognized me correctly.”

“Ha… Damien Haksen… I didn’t expect such a fortuitous encounter.”

[PR/N- Fortuitous encounter with Death.]

Salik slapped her forehead in delight.

“You’ll have to come with me. Sla desperately wants you. She’ll be thrilled if I bring you to her.”

Salik’s presence surged. Just that caused the ground beneath her to shatter. The entire cavern shook violently.

Her presence alone was comparable to that of Rayne and Wilhelm combined. This meant that Salik alone was equivalent to two master-class warriors.

“You’d better come quietly. Otherwise, you’ll face some rough treatment…”

At that moment, a powerful presence was felt from the ceiling. Everyone looked up.

The stone ceiling rippled like waves. Soon, a boy’s head popped out.

“Ah, I finally found it.”

The boy shook his head vigorously, causing dirt to fall.

When he looked down, his face went blank.

“…Eh? What? What’s going on?”

The boy descended from the ceiling and spoke with a bewildered expression.

“Vanexia is dead… Imperial knights? And Salik? What on earth is going on?”

“Barche? What are you doing here, kid?”

“I told you, I’m not a kid. I’m older than you… Ugh, never mind. I’m here on my master’s orders.”

The boy sighed and continued speaking.

“My master told me to put Vanexia in his place… but it seems that won’t be necessary?”

Rayne, who had been staring at the boy, shouted in shock once more.

“Barche of the Crimson Blade… Even the first disciple of the Weapon Master shows up?”

“You seem to know me?”

“Of course I do. You’ve killed numerous Imperial knights.”

Rayne spoke with a voice full of murderous intent. Barche laughed awkwardly and replied.

“The Imperial knights can’t help but dislike me. But showing such blatant hostility… is quite unpleasant.”

Barche clenched his fist, and iron armor extended from his shoulders to cover it.

“You’ll have to pay the price for looking at me like that.”

A terrifying killing intent emanated from Barche. At that moment, Salik shouted.

“Barche. Are you planning to act on your own in front of me?”

“Why should I care about you?”

“It seems like you’re ignoring me.”

“You still have a habit of talking nonsense.”

The two glared at each other and growled. It was clear they had a bad relationship.

“…Wait.”

Then Barche noticed Damien.

“Is that Damien Haksen? What’s he doing here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Wow, what luck! If I take him, my master might reward me with another set of armor!”

Barche started to run towards Damien. At that moment, Salik swung her hand.

A line was drawn at Barche’s feet with a sound of slicing air. Barche’s expression turned fierce.

“Salik, what are you doing?”

“Damien Haxen is mine. You back off.”

“That’s nonsense. I’m taking him.”

“I knew you wouldn’t back down easily.”

The two glared at each other and emitted killing intent.

“…Damien.”

Meanwhile, Rayne whispered to Damien.

“We’ll hold them off. You take the opportunity to escape.”

Damien was puzzled by the unexpected words.

“What are you talking about?”

“We’re prepared to give our lives to kill the giant evils of Pandemonium as members of the Extermination Squad. But you’re not a member yet, right? You don’t need to die here.”

Rayne looked at Wilhelm and Roger.

“So it’s right for us to sacrifice ourselves. Don’t you both agree?”

Without hesitation, they nodded.

“You heard sister. We’ll hold them off, so you escape and seek refuge with the master.”

At this moment, Damien was overwhelmed with indescribable emotions.

The Extermination Squad.

The Extermination Squad was composed of those who had lost their families to Pandemonium.

Thus, their ideology was simple.

To ensure no one else suffers because of Pandemonium.

In his past life, it was the same. The Extermination Squad never hesitated to sacrifice their lives. They willingly gave their lives for the fleeing refugees.

Damien had slaughtered these noble and beautiful people with his own hands.

Even then, the Extermination Squad tried their best to hold Damien back to save as many retreating soldiers as possible.

“…It should be the other way around.”

Damien spoke in a deeply subdued voice as he struggled to suppress his emotions.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll deal with those two. You guys find a way to escape.”

At his words, the three burst into laughter simultaneously. Damien’s words were so absurd that they laughed even in this dire situation.

“Damien, those two are as strong as the giant evils. You can’t face them alone…”

Damien scratched his head. It seemed they wouldn’t listen to reason.

“I’ve changed my mind. Just take a deep breath and sleep.”

“Huh?”

Damien’s body disappeared. He reappeared behind the three and tapped their necks. They let out short cries before losing consciousness.

“Hmm? What are you doing?”

“Are you planning to betray them?”

Even Salik and Barche asked in surprise.

“I figured talking wouldn’t work.”

Damien stretched his neck from side to side as he approached the two. Their expressions showed disbelief.

“Are you seriously thinking about fighting us both?”

“Why not just surrender quietly?”

Suddenly, Salik looked at Damien with a puzzled expression.

“Why… are you smiling?”

As Damien stood before them, a clear smile was etched on his face.

“How could I not be happy?”

Sla had tortured his sister’s soul in the most horrific way imaginable.

The Weapon Master had desecrated his father’s soul by placing it in a decaying animal carcass.

They had taken pleasure in showing these atrocities to Damien. Being trapped within his own body, he could only watch helplessly.

No one could understand the depth of Damien’s rage and guilt at that time.

“Meeting Sla’s lover and the Weapon Master’s top disciple—how could I not be thrilled?”

Even if the Extermination Squad hadn’t been willing to sacrifice themselves, Damien had planned to kill these two with his own hands. As Sla’s lover and the Weapon Master’s top disciple, they surely held a special place in their masters’ hearts.

“Killing you two will make Sla and the Weapon Master suffer, even if just a little.”

The thought filled him with joy. He could barely contain his laughter.

“This guy’s seriously crazy.”

“I really hate being disrespected like this.”

Salik grasped the air and created a massive greatsword with her aura blade.

Barche clenched his fist and iron armor enveloped his entire body from the void.

In that instant, Damien’s body vanished. He reappeared between the two.

“What…?”

“Huh…?”

Damien extended his arms and struck them both. Simultaneously, he unleashed his aura.

Two were sent flying into the walls and embedded deeply with explosive force with a deafening crash.

“It seems you still don’t understand the situation.”

Damien muttered quietly.

“Come at me with everything you’ve got. Only then will it be satisfying to crush you.”

***