Chapter 302

[Translator - Kie]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]

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Chapter 302: Diversion Tactic (3)

***

Damien Haksen lived a pitiful life.

- “Have you completely lost your mind? Causing trouble in a tavern and getting thrown out? Do you have any idea how much disgrace you've brought upon our family because of you?”

He squandered the family's wealth and wounded those closest to him. In the end, even his family cast him aside.

- “Leave. Never come back. If you dare to return, I'll kill you with my own hands!”

Wandering the back alleys, the only place that accepted Damien Haksen was Juan’s mercenary group.

- "Hey, young man, let's see what you've got."

- "Well, you have as sharp a skill as a knight, despite how you look."

- "Welcome to our mercenary group."

Juan wasn’t particularly strong, but he was a good person. The other members were the same.

- "Damien! You rascal! I never thought you'd actually beat a knight!"

- "Brother! I'll follow you wherever you go. I trust only in you!"

Those were truly happy days. For the first time in his life, Damien felt a sense of belonging.

That was until he met Dorugo.

- "Fresh corpses have walked right into my domain!"

It was supposed to be a simple task: hunt down monsters terrorizing a village.

But in the forest where they went to complete that task, Juan's mercenary group encountered the lich, Dorugo.

- "Aaargh! My arm! My arm is rotting away!"

- "Brother! Run! We can’t defeat that monster!"

- "Damien! Go! You have to escape!"

Dorugo slaughtered the entire mercenary group. She left only one person alive—Damien.

- "A human, with such immense talent? Even my 'Evil Eye' cannot fully comprehend it."

Damien's talent piqued Dorugo's interest.

- "But your talent is tragically underdeveloped. Your natural laziness has stunted it."

- "Don't worry. From now on, I'll make sure your talent fully blossoms."

His nightmarish life began at that moment.

Dorugo dissected Damien alive and injected strange concoctions into him.

Each time the drugs were injected, Damien felt an overwhelming sense of foreignness and excruciating pain.

- "Please... stop... Please... I’m begging you..."

Unable to endure it any longer, Damien desperately pleaded with Dorugo.

But Dorugo ignored Damien’s words entirely.

- "Your bones are too weak. Should I replace them with alloy?"

- "Are... are you even listening to me?"

- "What about your muscles? Should I enhance them naturally or replace them with artificial ones?"

- "It... it hurts so much... Please... I’m begging you..."

- "Let's start by replacing your organs. You'll need them to survive the upcoming experiments."

- "Aaaah! Stop! Stop it, you fucking monster!"

Contrary to his pleas, the horrific torment continued.

How much time had passed? Damien eventually became the undead creation Dorugo desired.

- "Finally, it's complete!"

Damien couldn’t help but feel relieved, thinking that it was over.

But the real hell was just about to begin.

- "...Where am I?"

Before he realized it, Damien found himself trapped in a dark space.

- "What is this? Why can't I move?"

His arms and legs were bound to a chair, making it impossible to move even an inch.

Even his head was fixed in place. He couldn’t turn it or move it up and down.

- "Is anyone... Is anyone there? Please help me!"

After shouting for what seemed like ages, a window appeared in front of Damien.

To his shock, Dorugo’s face appeared on the other side. She examined Damien through the window and spoke.

- "Hmm... Just as I hoped, your consciousness has been completely eradicated."

- "You were getting quite noisy, but now I’m pleased."

- "From now on, you are my knight. Death Knight Damien Haksen."

During the process of turning him into a Death Knight, Dorugo had wiped away Damien’s consciousness.

However, Damien hadn’t truly disappeared. Instead, he found himself trapped in this dark space.

With his entire body immobilized, there was nothing Damien could do.

The only freedom he had left was to stare through the small window in front of him.

- "Damien! My knight! Now, let’s show the world your true power!"

Dorugo soon began her War of Destruction. While the Giant Evils of Pandemonium wreaked havoc across the lands, she led Damien to the neighboring territories.

- "Go. Kill everything you see!"

Damien’s body faithfully carried out Dorugo’s orders.

He cleaved a farmer in half as he was plowing the field. He tore the head off a passing shepherd. He crushed a fleeing mother and daughter underfoot.

- "Stop... Please... stop...!"

Damien was still bound to the chair and could only watch helplessly as these horrors unfolded before him.

He wanted to look away, but he couldn’t. His head was fixed, and he couldn’t turn his gaze.

- "Aaaah! Mama! Maaaamaaa!"

- "God will never forgive such atrocities!"

Even when he closed his eyes, the screams echoed in his ears. But it wasn’t just the screams.

He could hear the sound of flesh being sliced, torn, and crushed.

All kinds of horrible noises assaulted his eardrums and burrowed into his mind.

- "What are you doing to my people? Cease this madness at once!"

Before long, a knight appeared, leading a group of soldiers.

"Damn it!"

Damien clenched his eyes shut and turned away, running toward the elves.

In the meantime, the dimensional gate fully closed, and Dorugo’s presence vanished completely.

"D-Damien... Haksen..."

"Yes, I'm here."

Damien quickly opened his subspace and pulled out potions for the elves. He also used the divine power of Dawn to try and heal them.

"Guh..."

"Cough!"

However, the elves showed no signs of improvement.

They were still dying, moment by moment.

"What... is this...?"

Damien channeled his mana into their bodies to assess their condition.

"...The connection to the World Tree is severed?"

Elves derive their life force and spirit energy from the World Tree. That connection had suddenly been severed, and now the elves were dying as a result.

"...No way."

Damien extended his senses further. It was only then that he realized it—the energy of the World Tree, which had once surrounded the entire island, had vanished. Something catastrophic had occurred.

He examined the magic circle on the ground.

Earlier, in his rage, he hadn't noticed.

This magic circle was similar to the one he had seen in the fortress, but not totally identical.

The magic circle in the fortress was designed to inject the demon's energy into the roots of the World Tree.

But this magic circle...

"This one is activating a demonic energy inside it."

Finally, Damien understood what Dorugo had done to the island.

She had injected demonic energy into the roots of the World Tree and then activated a powerful demonic ability.

"If it's a power strong enough to affect the World Tree..."

It would require at least the power of a Marquess Class demon.

And recently, Damien had encountered a demon even stronger than that.

Vahel.

A Duke Class demon who wielded the power of ‘Isolation’.

"So that’s why she summoned the demon... To kill the World Tree...!"

At that moment, an explosion suddenly erupted from the walls.

The explosions happened all at once, causing the entire cavern to collapse.

Tons of dirt and rubble buried Damien and the elves underneath.

***

"Why did you close the dimensional portal so quickly?" Dorugo asked in a displeased tone. Lambda calmly explained.

"Damien Haksen. Capable of crossing the portal. Risk of gate intrusion."

"You could have just stopped him."

"There is always the possibility."

Despite the explanation, Dorugo's mood didn’t improve. The mention of Damien somehow continued to bother her.

"I didn’t even get a good look at his face."

Dorugo sighed with a hint of regret and turned around.

"Imperial Supreme Sword, how are you?"

Dorugo’s gaze now focused on the scene where the Imperial Supreme Sword was locked in battle with Hela and the Lord of Eternal Flame.

Surprisingly, the battle seemed totally one-sided. Hela and the Lord of Eternal Flame bore numerous injuries, while the Imperial Supreme Sword remained unscathed.

"..."

There was no expression on the Imperial Supreme Sword's face. He was staring blankly at something far in the distance.

"...The World Tree is dying."

At the center of the island, the World Tree was darkening, falling to dust as its branches crumbled.

"What have you done?"

The Imperial Supreme Sword's face flared with anger for a moment, but then it returned to its calm demeanor.

"Answer me! I’m asking you what you've—"

"Why are you so calm? I can't understand it at all."

Dorugo spread her arms, and the Four Great Demon Kings stepped forward.

"You no longer have the support of the World Tree. Meanwhile, I’ve arrived with reinforcements."

The leader of Pandemonium, the Lord of Eternal Flame, and now the Four Great Demon Kings stood against him.

"Was that supposed to be a joke?"

Even in the face of such odds, the Imperial Supreme Sword didn’t falter.

"Sorry I realized it too late. I couldn’t laugh with you."

On the contrary, his aura grew even stronger. The Imperial Supreme Sword still hadn’t shown his true power.

"So... it’s you. You’re the one. The greatest threat that must be eliminated. If I kill you, I’ll finally be free."

Dorugo spoke to the Lord of Eternal Flame.

"Leo, use it."

Leo immediately pulled something from his cloak—a pitch black dagger.

The sight of it made the Imperial Supreme Sword furrow his brow.

"...A dagger infused with demonic energy? Leo, why do you have that?"

Leo didn’t respond. Instead, he smiled and stabbed the dagger into his own heart.

"Leo?"

In that moment, the Imperial Supreme Sword felt a violent shock.

"Guh...!"

His mana flow stilled. His blood stopped circulating. Even as he breathed, no air filled his lungs.

It wasn’t poison. It wasn’t a curse. This was...

"He used blood as a medium, manifested the power of a Duke class demon into your body."

Dorugo laughed as she explained.

"No matter how hard you try, you are unable to deal with this."

***

[Translator - Kie]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]