Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight

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Chapter 276: The Demon (2)

***

“Oh, this is remarkable.”

Vahel paused in generating demonic mana to express his admiration.

Dorugo was irritated and asked.

“What nonsense are you going to spout this time to halt the work?”

“One of the demons sent to them is on the verge of returning to Inferno.”

Dorugo couldn’t help but be surprised by those words.

There was only one reason a demon sent to the enemy would be re-summoned: suffering serious damage in battle.

“Impossible. Even though the Five Great Elders are powerful, they can’t take down a Count class demon this quickly.”

Despite the demon being possessed and unable to exert full strength, a Count class demon wasn’t to be underestimated. Dorugo believed even the Five Great Elders would struggle significantly.

“Oh, you’re mistaken. It’s not the Five Great Elders, it’s…”

A smile suddenly appeared on Vahel’s face.

“Oh… he might come here after all.”

“What? How could things get so out of hand…”

Vahel flicked his fingers, and a black sphere floating in the air flew into his hand.

As he held it, the demonic power emanating from Vahel was absorbed into the sphere.

“It’s complete. Take it.”

Vahel tossed the sphere to Dorugo. The moment Dorugo caught it, he was furious.

“If you could finish this so quickly, why drag it out until now!”

“I wanted to enjoy the surface air for a while.”

Vahel winked with one eye. Dorugo looked disgusted.

“Now that I’ve received what I wanted, will you leave? I’d like to welcome our guest alone.”

Vahel stretched, but Dorugo remained skeptical.

“You expect me to leave someone as dangerous as you here alone?”

“Haha, despite setting up a trap in the summoning circle to limit me, you’re still worried?”

Dorugo’s expression hardened slightly.

As Vahel said, Dorugo had arranged for the summoning circle to self-destruct after a certain period. It was a precautionary measure, as demons could never be trusted.

“Moreover, rampaging around in a host body isn’t limitless. You know that well, don’t you?”

“…”

“So please, indulge me. Since I’ve come to the surface, I’d like to make at least one fond memory.”

After contemplating for a while, Dorugo called out to Iota.

“Iota, open the gate. We’re leaving.”

-Understood!

Following Dorugo’s command, Iota opened the dimensional gate.

As Dorugo and Iota were about to step inside, Vahel spoke up.

“Oh, take this with you too.”

Vahel tossed a half-key towards Dorugo. It was the same object used earlier to possess the Count class demons.

“…Are you insane? You’re giving this to me?”

Dorugo asked and he was utterly bewildered.

To demons, the value of this key was immense. Vahel, despite being a Duke class demon, could be summoned to the surface thanks to this key.

“I think you’ll make better use of it than I will.”

“Me?”

“You have the other half, don’t you?”

Dorugo’s body stiffened at those words.

“What nonsense are you talking about…”

“There’s no use pretending. I know everything.”

Vahel said while shaking his head.

“When we escaped to Inferno, the King guarded the gate until the end. In the end, the King was killed by the Salvation squad, and the gate was destroyed. At that time, the key was split in two, with one half remaining in Inferno and the other on the surface. Who else could have taken it? I can’t think of anyone but you.”

Dorugo remained silent as if confirming Vahel’s suspicion.

“I have no intention of using this key.”

“Haha, that’s something we can’t be sure of. Things rarely go as planned.”

Dorugo squinted his eyes.

“…What do you know?”

“Who knows.”

Dorugo silently glared at Vahel, then picked up the key from the ground. He judged it was better for him to keep it rather than letting someone as dangerous as Vahel have it.

“See you later then.”

“That’s bullshit.”

Dorugo stepped into the dimensional gate with Iota. As the gate closed, Vahel muttered softly.

“Dorugo, since you’ve shed your physical form, you can’t see it. The fact that fate has been greatly distorted.”

Demons possessed numerous powers. As a Duke class demon, Vahel could somewhat read the flow of fate.

“From now on, no one knows what will happen. But it’s certain that the fate of the key is now tied to you.”

Vahel stretched and turned around.

“Now, let’s prepare to welcome our guest.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the air was torn apart. From the rift emerged a human man and a battered Resorve.

“I did ask you to bring the man, but I didn’t mean for you to bring him like this.”

Vahel said in a carefree tone.

***

“Vahel.”

Even though he was witnessing it with his own eyes, Damien couldn’t believe it.

There was no king in Inferno. Because of that, a Duke class demon was effectively ruling Inferno.

In other words, a Duke class demon was essentially the king of Inferno.

The power that a Duke class demon possessed was immense. Once summoned, it was enough to bring about the destruction of the world.

To summon a Duke class demon, the scale needed to be more than three times larger than it was now.

“How is there a Duke class demon here?”

“Oh, you recognized me right away? Impressive.”

Vahel laughed. It was clear that he was enjoying it.

“I knew from the moment you blocked my beam that you weren’t an ordinary human. This is really interesting.”

Vahel’s eyes sparkled like a child’s. He seemed intent on toying with Damien.

“Huh.”

Damien let out a hollow laugh.

From the moment he was attacked with the beam, he had felt it. That demon was blatantly underestimating him.

Obviously, he wasn’t happy about it. It was utterly revolting.

“I don’t know why a Duke class demon is here, but…”

Damien drew his mana.

“I’ll make you pay for looking down on me.”

Damien’s body vanished. The next moment, he appeared at Vahel’s side.

Damien swung Dawn. But Dawn didn’t cut Vahel’s neck.

It was blocked by an invisible wall that appeared in mid-air.

Dawn struck the wall. The wall shook violently but didn’t break or shatter.

“Isn’t it fascinating? This is my power, Isolation.”

Vahel kindly explained his ability.

“It’s nothing special. It’s just a box that traps a certain area. Are you curious if it can be broken? Maybe it can, but I’ve never seen it happen.”

Damien’s mouth twisted involuntarily. This was the first time he had been so thoroughly underestimated.

“And do you see that?”

Vahel pointed behind him. There was a cubic box.

It was opaque, so he couldn’t see inside.

“Inside there are the paladins sent by the Church. They’re very strong humans, so I trapped them for a while.”

“You talk too much.”

“Try to understand. I’ve been bored just working here…”

Damien kicked off the ground. He appeared behind Vahel, avoiding the wall.

But again, he was blocked by the wall Vahel created. Vahel smiled and said,

“You’re pretty fast. Can you dodge this too?”

Vahel raised his hand. Then countless rectangular pillars formed in the air. They were as thick as if they had been pulled from buildings.

“You won’t be able to block this, so you’d better avoid it if you can.”

Vahel lowered his hand, and the pillars shot towards Damien.

The pillars, which had seemed small suddenly grew rapidly. They flew at incredible speed, aiming to pierce Damien.

Damien moved swiftly to dodge the pillars.

Every time a pillar hit the ground, it created a large hole with a heavy thud.

He could feel it. Just a graze would be enough to tear his body apart.

“Oh, you’re dodging well.”

Vahel created even more pillars. Dozens of them poured out in rapid succession.

Damien read the trajectory of the pillars and moved accordingly. The pillars all missed him.

“As expected, you’re amazing! The more I watch, the more interesting you become! Just what I’d expect from a human I’ve taken an interest in!”

Vahel was delighted by Damien’s performance.

“Then how about this?”

Vahel raised his other hand. In an instant, pillars appeared around Damien.

Not just on all sides, but blocking the sky as well. A look of intense curiosity appeared on Vahel’s face.

“Can you dodge this too?”

The pillars came down simultaneously, leaving no room to escape.

“Third Ring.”

Damien murmured softly. The resonance sound amplified.

He swung Dawn towards the incoming pillars.

As Dawn brushed against the pillars, their trajectories shifted. The pillars flew towards the sky or the ground instead of Damien.

“Oh?”

Vahel’s mouth formed a round shape in surprise. At that moment, Damien kicked off the ground.

Damien was charging in a straight line and reached right in front of Vahel. He swung Dawn towards Vahel.

“You got faster? Impressive.”

A wall formed in front of Vahel. At that moment, Damien’s body vanished once more.

“…What?”

Vahel’s face briefly went blank. He lost track of Damien’s movements. The next moment, Damien appeared behind Vahel.

Vahel sensed Damien’s presence and turned around in a panic. He tried to create a wall, but it was already too late.

Dawn already reached Vahel’s neck.

The aurablade on Dawn tried to slice through Vahel’s neck, but only a chilling sound of metal grinding was heard. The neck wasn’t cut.

Vahel’s body was that sturdy.

“Oh… truly impressive. To think you’d bring a blade to my body…”

Damien withdrew Dawn. He spun his body around and adjusted Dawn.

Grasping the hilt with both hands, he pointed the blade’s tip at Vahel.

He stepped forward and thrust the blade. At the same time, he used the realm of Cheongyeum.

Annihilation.

A strike that can destroy everything hitted Vahel’s chest.

***