Chapter 224: The Pinnacle (1)
From the shattered wall emerged Salik and Barche, both wearing expressions of disbelief.
“No matter how off guard we were… he managed to blow us both away?”
“I heard he only recently became a Master Class. Was our intel wrong?”
Originally, Damian had intended to keep his abilities under wraps for a while. Not for any grand reason—he simply wanted to avoid unnecessary suspicion. But with a chance to put a thorn in the side of Sla and the Weapon Master right in front of him, he couldn’t just stand by.
“This is really starting to get on my nerves,” Salik muttered.
“Salik, I never thought we’d be on the same page,” Barche replied, their eyes turning dangerously cold, as if they might pounce on Damian at any moment.
“Hold on.”
“Wait a second.”
They suddenly turned to glare at each other.
“I’m taking him down first, so just wait your turn.”
“You’re younger than me, so don’t start giving orders. You step back.”
Instead of focusing on Damian, Salik and Barche began growling at each other.
“Keep acting cocky, and I’ll kill you first.”
“That’s exactly what I was going to say.”
Watching the two of them on the verge of exploding, Damian couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Maybe I went too easy on them.”
It seemed neither of them had grasped the situation. It was an unwelcome development for Damian. After all, no one likes being underestimated by trash.
“Time to wake them up.”
Damian extended his sword, Dawn, to the side, a blue aura shimmering along its blade. As an intense energy radiated from him, Salik and Barche’s attention momentarily shifted back to Damian.
“Damian Haxen, stay put. Let me deal with this one first…”
But before Salik could finish, Damian vanished, reappearing right in front of him.
”…What?”
Damian swung Dawn down towards Salik’s head, a blue flash slicing through him.
Salik hastily blocked the attack with his greatsword. Though the sword was formed from an aura blade and had no physical form, it exerted real force. At the moment of impact, a sharp sound rang out, and Salik was pushed back.
“Is he insane?!”
The sudden assault ignited Salik’s fury, but before he could unleash it, Damian Haxen’s relentless attack began. His strikes were unnervingly precise, targeting Salik’s vital points. Salik barely managed to defend himself, and even then, not completely. Damian’s blade occasionally grazed Salik, tearing his clothes and skin, drawing blood.
“Barche!”
In the end, Salik had no choice but to swallow his pride and call for help.
“Are you just going to stand there and watch?!”
Barche snapped out of his daze. Until that moment, he had been in shock. Salik, who had given up his position as a great villain to become Sla’s lover, was a force to be reckoned with, comparable to any formidable foe. Yet here he was, unable to put up a proper fight. Even witnessing it firsthand, Barche found it hard to believe.
“What the hell is going on?!”
With a shout, Barche charged at Damian Haxen.
“Haaah!”
Barche swung a massive fist at Damian, who leaned back to dodge the attack. At the same time, he slashed at Barche, but only a scraping sound was heard as the aura blade failed to cut through.
“Do you think such a lukewarm attack can pierce my ‘Karkas’?”
As a disciple of the Weapon Master, Barche had been given a magical armor instead of a sword. While the armor alone wasn’t enough to block an aura blade, when infused with aura, it was a different story. With the armor’s enhanced performance, Barche was nearly invincible.
“Haaah!”
Barche launched a series of attacks, swinging fists and feet at Damian Haxen. Damian had no choice but to retreat to avoid Barche’s onslaught, giving Salik a brief respite from Damian’s attacks.
“Damn it! To think a mere brat like him…!”
With some breathing room, Salik’s anger flared up again. He clenched his other hand, forming a long axe from the gathered aura blade.
“I’ll kill him… I swear I’ll kill him!”
Salik charged at Damian, swinging both his greatsword and axe simultaneously. The aura blade weapons were weightless, making Salik’s attacks swift and light. Barche stayed close to Damian, throwing punches that burst the air with each swing.
The two launched a coordinated assault, but Damian Haxen’s eyes moved swiftly, blocking every attack with a single sword. The battle remained evenly matched, neither side gaining the upper hand.
“Damn it!”
“This is impossible!”
For Salik and Barche, it was a humiliating situation. They weren’t just any Master Class fighters; they were as strong as any great villain. Sla and the Weapon Master hadn’t sent them to punish the traitor Vanexia for nothing. The fact that they had to team up was already a blow to their pride, and yet they couldn’t even gain the upper hand.
“Let’s see if you can handle this!”
Salik threw the weapons in his hands. The greatsword and axe curved through the air like boomerangs towards Damian. Despite being engaged with Barche, Damian easily dodged the attack. But Salik’s barrage didn’t stop there. He continued to hurl weapons formed from aura blades.
Weapons rained down on Damian, each impact shaking the ground with a thunderous roar.
“Salik! Watch where you’re throwing! Can’t you see I’m here too?!”
“You’re wearing magical armor, so you’ll be fine!”
Thanks to this, Salik could attack Damian Haxen without worrying about Barche getting hurt.
“This is getting annoying.”
Damian Haxen muttered under his breath, but Salik heard him clearly.
“Annoying? Let’s see if you can say that when my axe is buried in your body!”
Salik shouted confidently, throwing two axes in a straight line. Damian leaned back to dodge Barche’s attack and swung his sword at the incoming axes. Then, something strange happened. The axes, flying in a straight line, suddenly veered off course and shot into the air.
”…What?”
Salik’s face was filled with confusion. Throwing was her specialty, a skill she had honed her entire life. She could split cliffs with her throws. The title “Force” was given by those who were awed by her overwhelming power. And yet, Damian had deflected her weapons so easily?
It was a feat impossible with ordinary skill. Salik knew only one person capable of such a feat.
“Are you a disciple of the Sword Saint?!”
Salik shouted, but Damian Haxen didn’t respond, continuing to face Barche.
“Damn it! A brat like him using my technique…!”
Having her signature move so easily countered was a blow to Salik’s pride. She gathered dark energy in her hands, merging them to form a massive axe from the aura blade.
“Let’s see if you can deflect this with the Sword Saint’s technique!”
Salik twisted her body, hurling the axe with all her might. The axe flew at terrifying speed, breaking through the air’s resistance.
“You won’t block this one!”
Just as the Empire investigated Pandemonium, Pandemonium also kept tabs on the Empire. The Sword Saint’s ability to twist all flows was powerful, but it had its limits. It couldn’t deflect attacks that were too powerful.
The axe closed in, and Damian Haxen angled his sword to meet it. As the axe and sword connected, Damian swung his sword, causing the axe to follow its trajectory.
“What?”
Damian swung his sword towards Barche, and the axe flew at him. The axe struck Barche’s back. Thanks to the aura-infused armor, Barche’s body wasn’t cut.
“Ugh!”
But the impact couldn’t be stopped. Barche coughed up blood, crashing to the ground.
“Kid!”
Salik shouted in panic, and Damian Haxen seized the opening. He swung his sword wide, releasing a burst of aura blade. There was no time to dodge or block. The aura blade sliced through Salik’s neck and embedded in the wall.
“Ugh…”
The spray of blood drowned out Salik’s scream. As Salik’s head was severed, Barche, who had been lying on the ground, let out a guttural cry and struggled to rise.
“Varche! I told you to be careful when you throw—”
Damian Haxen swung his longsword with a powerful arc. The blade clashed against the armor with a resounding impact.
“It’s useless—”
Before Varche could finish his warning, Damian’s sword pierced through the armor, severing Varche’s neck in one swift motion. Blood gushed from the gap in the shattered armor.
Even a master-class warrior couldn’t survive a beheading. At this point, the victor seemed clear.
That is, if these two were ordinary master-class fighters.
“Ugh, ugh…”
Salik pressed his hand to his head. Moving with a severed neck was far from normal.
But the truly bizarre part was yet to come. Suddenly, the wound began to swell as if it were rotting, and then the flesh started to knit itself back together. In an instant, the injury was healed.
“Kar, Kardas!”
Varche managed to utter a name with difficulty. At that moment, the armor around his neck began to flow like liquid, sealing the wound.
“Ha, I almost died there.”
“Ha, haha… Kardas, you’re the best.”
The two of them sighed in relief, their voices filled with gratitude.
Despite the grotesque scene, Damian didn’t seem particularly surprised. It was as if he had known all along that such wounds wouldn’t be enough to kill them.
“Damn it, this is insane… Where did these monsters come from…?”
“Our master… made a mistake… This isn’t normal…”
Even though they had escaped death, the two were still reeling from the shock. The recent exchange had made it clear what kind of beings they were facing and the hierarchy of power among the three.
“Damn it, I… I can’t accept this humiliation… I won’t stand for it!”
With a surge of fury, dark energy erupted from Salik’s body, far more intense than anything before.
“Let me show you my true power!”
The dark energy transformed into an aura blade, which then split into nine swords that floated freely in the air, as if alive.
”…The Sword of the Nine Heavens.”
Varche gazed at the nine swords with awe. He had heard of it. Salik, known for her formidable power, had reached the rare pinnacle of the Sword of the Nine Heavens.
In her days of infamy, no one could stand against the nine swords she conjured. Salik was a figure of terror, not just in Pandemonium but throughout the Empire.
“I can’t just stand by either.”
Varche summoned his own power, drawing on the mastery taught by his mentor.
The Armor of Kardas pulsed like a living creature, sprouting spikes and unleashing a torrent of dark energy.
“Impressive.”
Salik gave a brief nod of admiration at the sight. While the technique itself wasn’t extraordinary, combined with the armor, it exuded an overwhelming presence.
Confidence surged back into Salik and Varche. Surely, not even Damian Haxen could withstand this…
“What’s it called?”
Suddenly, Damian Haxen asked them a question. The unexpected inquiry left Salik and Varche puzzled.
“What do you mean, what’s it called…?”
“The technique you’re using. What’s its name?” Damian asked, looking directly at Salik. She responded, still bewildered.
”…It’s called the Azure Sky Flight.”
“Thanks for telling me. Otherwise, I would’ve had to come up with a name myself.”
Damian snapped his fingers, and in that instant, longswords made of aura blades materialized in the air.
Salik’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“This is my first time encountering a technique related to the Sword of the Nine Heavens. It’s a useful skill.”
Damian declared with a satisfied smile.
“Shall we begin again?”