[Translator - Kie]
[Proofreader - Kawaii]
Chapter 351: Death Knight (3)
***
Cough!
Dorugo coughed up blood and looked down at her chest.
A familiar blade had stabbed her in the back.
Dorugo gritted her teeth and turned around and saw Damien's face.
"Damien Haksen...!"
Dorugo shouted with hatred. But Damien's eyes weren't focused on her.
"Ruin, as you requested, I arranged a meeting with Dorugo. But this is as far as it goes."
Damien added in a cold tone.
"I won't allow any closer approach or further contact beyond this point."
Despair washed over Dorugo's face. She cried out desperately while grabbing the blade.
"No... you can't...!"
Dorugo gripped the blade and tried to push it out, attempting to remove it from her body.
Her fingers were cut and bleeding, but she paid no attention to it.
"Ruin...! I'm right here! Ruin!"
The blade began to slowly pull out of her body.
That's when Damien twisted the blade. Blood gushed from Dorugo's mouth.
"Stop your futile resistance."
Damien growled while grabbing Dorugo's head.
"I'm going to kill you like this. I won't allow you to reunite with Ruin or return to the cycle of reincarnation."
Crimson flames began to consume Dorugo's body. She felt her existence fading away.
"Ah, no!"
But that fact wasn't important to Dorugo.
"Just give me... give me just a little more time...!"
All that mattered was that her beloved was right before her eyes.
"I finally met Ruin! Even just one minute would be enough! Please let me talk to Ruin..."
"No."
However, Damien flatly refused Dorugo's plea.
"Silently pay for your sins."
The flames completely consumed Dorugo.
No trace remained where Dorugo had been.
* * *
After Dorugo was completely wiped from existence, Damien planted his sword in the ground. Then he looked at Ruin and asked.
"Was that really you, not just a thoughtform?"
If it had been just a thoughtform, Dorugo wouldn't have failed to recognize it.
After all, as a dark mage, Dorugo was far superior to Damien.
"Why did you hide that fact from me?"
"It wouldn't have made much difference."
Ruin said with an awkward expression.
"When I was killed by my companions, I was shattered into pieces. The fragment containing ‘Ruin's’ existence seeped into Erebos, but most pieces were scattered."
Ruin continued speaking calmly.
"Some of those pieces dwelled within humans as what they called divine power. And the remaining pieces slowly merged back together over a long time and were reborn as a human."
There was no need to ask who that reborn human was.
He was standing right in front of Ruin.
"What exactly are you?"
"Well, I've never thought deeply about it, so I'm not sure."
Ruin avoided giving a direct answer and quietly stared at where Dorugo had disappeared. He looked on the verge of tears.
"Do you resent me?"
"It would be a lie to say no."
Despite the words, Ruin's eyes held no emotion.
"I wanted... to be... helpful..."
Damien looked down at Theta with a puzzled expression.
He couldn't understand why she, one of the Four Demon Kings would help him.
"Was I... helpful?"
Theta asked carefully. Her eyes were filled with anxiety.
Damien fell into thought. After a moment of internal conflict, he spoke.
-Yes, thank you.
Only after hearing those words did Theta smile brightly.
"That's... enough then... please... end it..."
Damien swung Erebos and beheaded Theta.
Theta's headless body collapsed. Soon after, crimson flames consumed both head and body.
Damien lowered Erebos and slowly exhaled.
Suddenly, intense fatigue washed over him. But Damien's tasks weren't finished yet.
Damien slowly turned around. He saw his family standing some distance away.
"..."
His father, mother, sister, and younger brother.
All were staring at Damien with stiff expressions.
During his time as the Death Knight, humans always looked at Damien with such faces.
Unfamiliarity, dread, terror.
Eyes mixed with other indescribable emotions.
From Damien's perspective, these were very familiar gazes.
But for some reason, now he wanted to hide somewhere.
Even though he was wearing thick armor.
Then, his father approached Damien. The rest of the family followed.
Damien froze at the sight. He could barely breathe as his father drew near.
His father reached out and removed his helmet.
The gray-tinged skin and eyes replaced with magical implements were exposed to the world again.
"..."
His father gently caressed Damien's cheek. Both hands were trembling.
His father's touch stopped at Damien's nape. The nape was covered in dense marks that looked like they were made by large needles.
These were scars from when Dorugo had injected numerous drugs to rapidly grow Damien's body.
"Just..."
His father couldn't continue speaking. Only after swallowing a sob did he manage to speak.
"Just how much pain... did you have to endure."
At those words, Damien felt something welling up inside him.
During his time as the Death Knight, no one had ever comforted him. No one had understood his pain.
So this was essentially the first time. The first time someone had acknowledged his wounds.
He wanted to cry but couldn't. His body was modified into a Death Knight so he had long lost most human physiological functions.
-I'm fine.
At those words, his father finally burst into tears. The rest of the family did the same.
-Really, I'm fine.
This wasn't just said to comfort his family, it was sincere.
Right now, Damien wasn't just fine. He was happy. He was overjoyed.
Because unlike his previous life, he had protected his family.
That alone made Damien feel compensated for all his hardships.
"Damien!"
"Brother!"
All his family members clung to Damien.
Damien embraced his family.
Thanks to his large build, he could hold all of them at once.
***
[Translator - Kie]
[Proofreader - Kawaii]