Episode 166: Investigating the Plague (3)
The dark sorcerer’s eyes widened slightly at Damian’s words.
”…Damian Haxen?”
The sorcerer bowed his head, searching his memory.
“Damian Haxen… Damian Haxen… Ah, now I remember. You were the human they wanted captured alive.”
The sorcerer looked at Damian with a newfound interest.
“I always wondered why they were so interested in you… Now it makes sense. You possess incredible skills, don’t you?”
But Damian wasn’t paying attention to the sorcerer’s words. His gaze was fixed on Fenrir.
”…”
Damian didn’t know what had transpired between Fenrir and the sorcerer, but he could clearly feel Fenrir’s emotions.
An endless rage and a bottomless hatred were directed at the sorcerer. At the same time, there was a profound sense of helplessness, followed by despair, swelling like a flood.
”…Now I understand.”
He finally grasped why Fenrir had been so ferocious in his past life.
”…He lost something precious to that sorcerer.”
Muttering to himself, Damian turned back to the sorcerer.
“What’s your name?”
“Me? Ah, I suppose you wouldn’t know.”
The sorcerer nodded at Damian’s question.
“I’m Garot, a grand sorcerer of the Chimera School.”
Damian rolled the name Garot around in his mind. It didn’t ring any bells.
He didn’t know every dark sorcerer, but he was certain of one thing: any sorcerer he didn’t know was likely insignificant.
“How dreadful.”
Damian glanced behind Garot. Thousands of souls were bound to him, spewing dark magic.
“Though it’s annoying that you interfered between me and Fenrir… I won’t kill you. I’ve been asked to spare you.”
Garot formed a hand sign, and a large void opened, releasing a horde of monsters.
These weren’t ordinary monsters. They were all chimeras.
“That’s quite a lot.”
Damian pondered as he looked at the chimeras.
He could end this quickly with dark magic, but there was a technique he wanted to test.
Damian opened a void of his own and pulled out a travel bag.
“Hold on.”
Garot’s expression changed the moment he saw the bag.
“How do you have that…?”
As Damian opened the bag, a dark space unfolded.
“Come forth.”
From the darkness emerged countless skeletons, followed by the death knight, Dominico.
-At your service, my lord.
Dominico and the skeletons knelt in unison. Damian surveyed them, nodding in approval.
“Where’s Miya?”
No sooner had he spoken than Miya leapt from the shadows, swinging a fist at Damian.
Damian deflected Miya’s punch with one hand.
“Yap! Yap!”
Miya, frustrated, continued to swing her fists. Damian parried her attacks and asked Dominico,
“What’s gotten into her?”
-My lord, do you not remember?
“Remember what?”
-You instructed me to kill her if she lacked experience… or rather, you told me to kill her outright.
“Oh.”
Damian recalled the order he had given.
“Yap! Yapyap!”
Miya stopped her assault and protested vehemently. Damian, observing her, spoke with satisfaction.
“So that’s why your spirit has sharpened. My judgment wasn’t wrong after all.”
-Does that mean… you won’t rescind the order?
Damian looked at Dominico as if to say, “Of course not.” Miya’s face turned pale.
”…How could you!”
At that moment, Garot exclaimed in surprise.
“Undead? Undead, you say? They look like ordinary knights, yet how are you controlling them? How is this possible!”
Garot shouted in disbelief.
“Such noise.”
-I agree.
“Growl.”
Damian, Dominico, and Miya directed their killing intent at Garot, who seemed even more delighted.
“Ah… so you want to fight me? That’s great! My chimeras against your undead! I’m curious to see which is stronger!”
Ignoring Garot’s words, Damian asked Dominico,
“Dominico, have you made any progress in your training?”
-I apologize. My skills are lacking, and I haven’t achieved significant results.
Damian wasn’t disappointed. The time had been too short for meaningful progress.
-However, the former soldiers have all reached the level of junior knights.
Hearing this, Damian couldn’t help but smile.
“Excellent.”
Ordinary skeletons were one thing, but junior knights changed the game. With this level of power, they stood a fighting chance.
“Go. Destroy everything that moves.”
At Damian’s command, the skeletons drew their weapons.
“Feel free to go wild.”
Garot’s chimeras bared their teeth.
The undead and chimeras charged at each other.
Skeletons, now capable of using aura, rushed at the ogre chimeras.
-Roar!
Of course, they were no match. Ogres were formidable monsters, even for low-class fighters.
And these weren’t ordinary ogres. With four arms, they were chimeras fused from two ogres.
Junior knight-level skeletons stood no chance against them.
But the skeletons had one unique advantage.
-Haha! My head’s been smashed!
-Hey! Your arm’s over here.
They couldn’t die.
As long as their master, Damian Haxen, lived, the skeletons were immortal. Even when shattered, they quickly regenerated.
The skeletons relentlessly attacked the ogres, indifferent to their own destruction.
Their reckless assault began to leave marks on the ogre chimeras.
As the saying goes, constant dripping wears away the stone. Eventually, the ogre chimeras, covered in wounds, fell.
-We did it!
-Who’s next!
The skeletons, having defeated the ogre chimeras, charged at the next chimera.
While the skeletons methodically took down the chimeras one by one, Dominico was slaughtering them.
-You dare challenge me, you beasts!
With each swing of Dominico’s greatsword, a chimera’s head flew off.
In life, he had been among the top high-class fighters.
He had also managed to absorb some insights from Damian.
The next standout was Miya.
“Yap!”
Miya lunged, biting into an ogre chimera’s neck.
She absorbed its blood, copying its strength, and tore off its head with ogre-like might.
As the chimeras began to falter, Garot marveled once more.
“Amazing… these aren’t ordinary undead.”
Garot’s attention was particularly drawn to Miya.
“Where did you find such a flash golem… She’s almost on par with Fenrir.”
Despite the chimeras being destroyed, Garot remained unfazed.
These chimeras weren’t painstakingly crafted. Their loss was no great setback.
“Bagder, it’s your turn.”
He had been reluctant to use Bagder, fearing it might accidentally kill Damian Haxen.
But the chimeras couldn’t hold Damian back, so Bagder had to be deployed.
“Kill everyone except that human male.”
As soon as the order was given, Bagder moved, charging at Miya with incredible speed.
“Yap?”
Miya couldn’t react in time. Bagder’s fist came crashing down on her.
In that instant, Damian Haxen appeared in front of Miya, blocking Bagder’s fist with his sword, Dawn.
He deflected the blow, redirecting Bagder’s fist into the ground.
Damian immediately swung his sword, unleashing an aura slash that cut into Bagder’s torso.
Bagder was pushed back, but that was all. The aura hadn’t even scratched its carapace.
“Impressive durability. You must have put a lot of effort into this chimera.”
Damian Haxen seemed intrigued by the sight.
“You should be on your guard. Bagder is comparable to a master-class fighter.”
Garot spoke with confidence, but Damian chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“It’s amusing, really. You think a bit of extra toughness makes it comparable to a master-class fighter.”
While acknowledging Bagder’s threat, Damian found the idea of it being master-class absurd.
”…Don’t boast when you couldn’t even scratch Bagder’s carapace.”
Garot’s tone was sharp, a stark contrast to his earlier nonchalance as his chimeras were slaughtered.
This was typical of the Chimera School. They tended to pour their affection into a single chimera.
So while he could overlook the loss of other chimeras, he couldn’t ignore the insult to Bagder.
“Well, that’s true.”
Damian conceded Garot’s point. Bagder’s carapace was indeed tough, even for his aura.
“Fortunately, I have a technique I’ve been saving for just such an occasion.”
Before arriving here, Damian had acquired a mana cultivation technique left behind by the greatest swordsman of the past empire.
He named this technique “Harmonious Infinite Circle.”
The Harmonious Infinite Circle was a method that formed rings of mana within the body, doubling the output of magical power.
Damian had created a total of three such rings.
He intended to use the Harmonious Infinite Circle right here and now.
“First Ring.”
One of the rings began to spin, and a low hum emanated from Damian’s body.
As the hum grew louder, Damian’s presence intensified, and the aura that enveloped the dawn became even more pronounced.
“Bagdar! Attack!”
Sensing something was amiss, Garot commanded Bagdar.
But before Bagdar could even move, Damian vanished.
“Where on earth…?”
Garot muttered in bewilderment, just as Damian’s afterimages surrounded Bagdar from all sides.
In unison, the afterimages swung their swords, and dozens of slashes engulfed Bagdar.