Chapter 283

[Translator - Kie]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]

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Chapter 283: The Four Great Demon Kings (1)

***

"Sir Damien! We're under attack!"

Agnes shouted urgently upon discovering the fort.

"Judging by the creature's appearance, it must be an undead! I'll quickly contact the Church, and Sir Damien, you should..."

Suddenly, Agnes realized something.

Damien wasn't listening to her at all. He stood motionless, like a statue, staring intently at the creature.

"...Sir Damien?"

She asked cautiously. As expected, there was no response from Damien.

Right now, all of Damien's attention was focused on the creature.

And it was no wonder. That creature was a monster that shouldn't exist here.

Iota.

One of the Four Great Demon Kings created by Dorugo.

The most powerful undead, specializing in aerial combat.

According to the original timeline, it wasn't supposed to be completed for another ten years. Yet, there it was, standing before them.

"...Lady Agnes, please tend to the wounded."

"Sir Damien? Sir Damien!"

Ignoring Agnes, Damien dashed toward the border fort.

With one powerful leap, he crossed the forest. With the second, he reached the fort.

And on the third,

Damien soared high into the sky, bringing his sword down toward Iota.

***

"This is way too easy."

Iota sighed heavily from above.

Below him, the border fort lay shattered and ablaze.

"Aaah! My leg! My leg!"

"Jason! Get a grip, you idiot!"

Corpses and wounded soldiers were strewn about.

More than half of the knights and soldiers defending the fort had perished in Iota's attack.

The survivors were left with fatal wounds and were slowly dying.

"Just too easy."

Iota flew around the sky, expressing his disappointment.

He was destroying the border fort under Dorugo's orders to cause chaos in the kingdoms.

When asked why, Dorugo had explained it was necessary to kill the Empire's greatest swordsman.

"I can attack any other kingdom, but not the Empire? How boring."

While the Empire had an abundance of Master Class warriors, many other kingdoms didn't even have one.

The Kingdom of Apple was no exception, lacking any Master Class fighters.

In such a situation, the border fort stood no chance against Iota's onslaught.

"I'm feeling a bit peckish."

Iota looked down and spotted a soldier pinned under the collapsed wall.

"Ugh, ugh... Ugh..."

The soldier was bleeding from the head, barely clinging to life.

Iota immediately descended after noticing the still-living soldier.

He reached out with a long hand, grabbed the soldier, and brought him to his mouth.

"W-what... Aaaaagh!"

The soldier who was somehow able to regain consciousness started to scream in terror. He was struggling but he couldn't escape Iota's grip.

Ignoring the soldier's resistance, Iota bit into his head in one swift motion.

"Mmm, the brain has a nice texture. I like that I can eat fresh prey right away."

Iota tossed aside the soldier's lifeless body and continued walking, smacking his lips.

Then, he noticed two humans hiding in a partially collapsed house.

"M-mom... I'm scared..."

"Shh, stay quiet."

A wall separated them, but Iota could hear the mother and child's voices clearly, thanks to his keen sense of hearing.

It wasn't just their voices. Iota could also see the emotions radiating from the mother and child with his sharp eyes.

Fear, dread, foreboding.

The source of dark mana was the suffering of the human soul.

The mother and daughter generated dark mana as they were surrounded by all kinds of negative emotions.

Without a word, Damien launched himself off the ground. Iota laughed loudly.

"Wow, scary! Then I'll increase my power too!"

Iota drew upon more dark mana, his presence doubling as if the previous attack had been a mere jest.

He swung his hands wildly, moving so fast that it seemed his arms multiplied.

Dozens of aura blades poured down, aiming to tear Damien apart.

Yet, Damien took no defensive action; he just kept running forward.

"Huh? What kind of reckless..."

As the cluster of aurablades struck, Damien's body dissipated like smoke.

The buildings and fort behind him crumbled, but Damien remained unharmed.

"...What?"

Confusion spread across Iota's face. It was an unbelievable sight.

'Ghost Shadow.'

Realm of the Phantom, who was known as the pinnacle of assassins.

In his time as a Death Knight, Phantom had attempted to assassinate Damien but ended up being killed instead.

During that process, Damien absorbed all of Phantom's techniques and skills.

Originally, Ghost Shadow was used to blend the body and mana to erase one's presence or slip through tight spaces.

However, Damien used Ghost Shadow more aggressively.

Just like now.

Each time the aurablades rained down, Damien evaded them using Ghost Shadow.

"Ha! You have quite a few tricks, don't you?"

Despite not even grazing the hem of Damien's clothes, Iota did not seem impatient.

He observed Damien's movements with cold and calculating eyes.

"But, looking closely, it's quite predictable, isn't it?"

Damien dissolved into smoke again. As he reappeared, Iota shouted.

"Gotcha!"

Iota's arm stretched out, aiming to pierce Damien's face.

He had already realized that Ghost Shadow couldn't be used consecutively. So, this attack...

At that moment, Damien raised his foot and stepped on Iota's hand.

Iota's hand was pinned to the ground, causing a massive impact that shattered the earth.

"Huh?"

While Iota was momentarily startled, Damien muttered softly.

"Third Ring."

With a resonant sound, Damien's figure vanished.

Before Iota could fully comprehend this, Damien reappeared in front of him and swung his sword.

A blue flash sliced toward Iota's neck.

***

However, the Dawn did not sever Iota's neck.

As soon as it touched, numerous scales sprouted from Iota's neck.

Despite being cloaked in aurablade, the Dawn couldn't cut through the scales.

With a dull thud, Iota was pushed back, clutching his neck with a horrified expression.

‘As expected, it's tough.’

Damien wasn't particularly surprised. He knew what Iota was.

Iota was an undead created by Dorugo using a dragon's corpse.

The elongated limbs were infused with dragon muscles and bones.

Not just that. The bat-like wings and internal organs were also made from a dragon.

A whole dragon had been compressed into Iota's body.

"Unbelievable. A mere human dares to slash my neck?"

Iota removed his hand from his neck, where the dragon scales had already lain flat again.

"What should I do? My pride can't let this slide."

Thump.

A heavy sound resonated from within Iota's body.

"I am the ultimate creation of Mother. I can't be outdone by a human."

No, it wasn't a drumbeat.

It was the sound of the dragon heart inside Iota's body pounding.

"Be ready, I'll fight you seriously from now on."

Iota spread his wings wide.

Dark mana and dragon power erupted simultaneously.

***

[Translator - Kie]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]