Chapter 163

Chapter 163

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[Translator – Clara]

[Proofreader – Lucky]

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Chapter 163 Sins and Punishment (Part 2)

Title: ‘The Ninth Corpse,’ Dantalian

Danger Level: S+

Size: Unknown

Discovery Location: Unknown

Also known as ‘The Ninth Corpse.’

One of the ten calamities, known as the enemy of humanity, the Unsolvable and Unkillable.

“It shall be filled with sores due to the disease.”

Book of Ten Commandments 10:1 –

Thud, thud, thud!

The human disguise shattered, revealing the true form of a demon. Vikir watched it all with a calm demeanor.

“...It has finally emerged.”

Dantalian, the Ninth Corpse, one of the ten supreme demons. An evil being with thirty-six different heads and faces, capable of changing into various identities, from old men to young women, from beggars to nobles.

Each of the thirty-six heads had a violet tongue that could extend far beyond their mouths, sharper than any blade. Although their appearances varied, the grotesque bodies of this demon were unforgettable, invoking a sense of eeriness.

‘A thousand-faced’ Dantalian. The one who had killed most of Vikir’s comrades before his regression.

Dantalian possessed the ability to steal the faces of those he killed, be their mothers, fathers, siblings, friends, mentors, or lovers. Anyone who hesitated or wavered in the face of Dantalian’s ever-changing identities would inevitably meet their end at his razor-sharp tongues.

Vikir, having lost many comrades to Dantalian before, couldn’t help but evaluate him as such.

“An demon to eliminate from the outset, regardless of his strength.”

Given that he was destined to inflict the most harm on the united human forces in the future, it would be wise to dispose of him early on.

At that moment,

Tsst, tsst, tsst...

A foul odor, reminiscent of decaying flesh, began to permeate the air, accompanied by a noxious energy.

Vikir quickly stepped back. Dantalian was not only known for having multiple faces but also for spreading diseases wherever he went.

He could both unleash and control plagues, all while maintaining a gentle facade to pass as a fake priest.

But this time, there was a stroke of luck. Dolores stood behind Vikir.

“Paah!”

Dolores emitted a divine light that blocked Dantalian’s plague miasma. She questioned him with a stern expression.

“What’s the reason for this?”

[Dedede- Reason? What reason?]

Dantalian retorted, causing veins to bulge on Dolores’s neck.

“Why would you come to the human realm and do this? Why engage in such acts at an orphanage of all places...!”

In response, all thirty-six faces looking down at Dolores simultaneously broke into mocking smiles.

[It’s a kind of ‘farm’ management, you see.]

“What?”

When Dolores asked, Dantalian replied with a taunting tone.

[See this?]

He held up a golden necklace in his hand, which some of the orphanage children wore around their necks. Dolores frowned but remained silent.

[This is a ‘breeding stock,’ so to speak.]

“...!”

Dantalian’s words further hardened Dolores’s expression.

[We demons capture and consume humans, just as you humans hunt and eat animals. So, I thought, why not change the perspective? Rather than the hassle of hunting humans every time, let’s raise them like livestock. Like dogs or pigs.]

“What... what the hell are you saying?”

[Inside here, they breed, increase the population, manage the quality of their flesh, and when they reach a certain age, they get devoured. How efficient is that? It’s a win-win strategy, isn’t it?]

“Madness! How can that be a win-win situation!?”

[It is a win-win situation. These orphans in this orphanage were originally destined to be stillborn, die shortly after birth, or end up as beggars on the streets. Thanks to me, they could live relatively safe and comfortable lives until their late teens. Of course, we have to eat them before they get too old, or their meat becomes tough and tasteless. Hohoho!]

“Ugh...! How dare you do such a thing behind the name of piety! You will face divine retribution, you demon!”

Dolores shouted in anger.

However, when Dantalian heard the word ‘divine retribution,’ he opened his eyes wide as if he didn’t understand it.

[Hohoho – Divine retribution? But I haven’t done anything wrong, have I? According to your faith’s standards.]

It was quite ironic that a demon who had captured and devoured innocent children claimed to be innocent. Even a passing dog would laugh at that.

But Dantalian genuinely seemed to think so because:

[I have these certificates.]

However, the guy in front of him remained as emotionless as ever, without a hint of hesitation or sympathy.

“You heartless fiend! Are you saying I’m more human than you?”

“....”

Vikir ignored Dantalian’s words and swung his blade once more.

...Splut!

Foul, greenish blood sprayed, and Dantalian staggered backward, looking disoriented.

Though new faces could regenerate, Vikir’s speed in destroying them was much faster than their regeneration.

‘Even before my reincarnation, I found this annoying.’

Dantalian’s imitated faces and voices were just that—imitations.

In his previous life, Vikir had realized this fact after losing many comrades.

So at this moment, he had no time for guilt or remorse.

“Let’s just cut his throat.”

Vikir, cleaning the repugnant, dark-green blood from his blade, walked forward.

At that moment, Dantalian’s remaining faces all displayed sly smiles.

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[Translator – Clara]

[Proofreader – Lucky]

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[Hohoho! You’re not interested in others, are you? Then how about this?]

Gradually, Dantalian’s face began to change.

They transformed into the faces of boys and girls under the age of thirteen.

These were the faces of the orphanage’s children.

Vikir, with a dry voice, replied, “I’ve slashed the faces of children before. Do you think that will affect me now?”

[Hohoho! Of course, it won’t affect you.]

“....!”

That statement momentarily made Vikir pause.

Yes.

Right now, Dantalian was not affecting Vikir; instead, he was shaking Dolores’s mental state from behind.

Saint Dolores had been volunteering and taking care of many children in this place for several years.

Among them were children who had formed deep bonds with each other and those who had become so sick that they could no longer be adopted into better homes. But not a single one of those children had left this place. The reason was simple; they were all right here.

“Ugh, big sis! I missed you!”

“Sister! Save me, please! It hurts too much!”

“Big sis! Big sis! Big sis! Can you get me out of here?”

“It hurts, sis! Ugh... Sob... I didn’t mean to do anything wrong!”

Numerous faces blossomed above Dantalian’s body like a vase of flowers. They were the children from the orphanage whom Dolores had been meeting every weekend, from the time she entered the academy as a freshman to when she became the student council president in her third year.

Vikir, hearing their simultaneous cries of pain and agony, briefly shut his mouth. He was confident that he wouldn’t fall for such emotional manipulation, but Dolores? The saintess of Quovadis, the beacon of hope for all the unfortunate neighbors?

Vikir felt a slight unease and turned his body. And then, he saw it.

“....”

The slits of Vikir’s eyes, hidden beneath his mask, widened slightly. A dry voice then scraped against his throat.

“....Indeed. A hero is always different.”

At the same time...

Kaboom!

An intense, blinding white flash erupted, searing Vikir’s eyes.

“Wha...?”

Dantalian staggered back, his whole body feeling as if it were on fire. A burning black smoke billowed from his exposed body.

Then, amidst the blinding white light, Dolores’s voice resounded, appearing calm on the surface but concealing a seething rage underneath.

“...You’ve touched what you shouldn’t have.”

That was the tone of her voice. Her words conveyed the idea that something was about to change drastically.

And in that moment...

Shiver.

Vikir felt a slight shiver. Memories of the time before his reincarnation, the battlefield where everything had crumbled and fallen into despair, returned to him. Amid overwhelming despair that felt irreversible, a glimmer of hope had appeared, just like a last-minute miracle, in the form of Dolores, the “Steel Maiden.”

Even if it was for a very brief moment, he was reminded of that feeling.

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[Translator – Clara]

[Proofreader – Lucky]

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