Episode 283: The Four Demon Lords (1)
“Lord Damian! We’re under attack!”
Agnes shouted urgently as she spotted the fortress.
“Judging by the appearance of the creature, it must be an undead! I’ll contact the main unit immediately, so Sir Damian, you should…”
Suddenly, Agnes realized something.
Damian Haxen wasn’t listening to her at all. He stood there, staring blankly at the creature as if he were a statue.
“Lord Damian?” Agnes asked cautiously. Still, there was no response from Damian.
His entire focus was on the creature before him.
And for good reason. That creature was a monster that shouldn’t exist here.
Iota.
One of the Four Demon Lords created by Dorgo.
The ultimate undead, specializing in aerial combat.
According to the original timeline, it wasn’t supposed to be completed for another ten years, yet here it was.
“Agnes, take care of the wounded.”
“Lord Damian? Lord Damian!”
Ignoring Agnes, Damian sprinted toward the border fortress.
With one powerful leap, he cleared the forest, and with a second, he reached the fortress.
On the third leap, Damian soared into the sky, sword aimed at Iota.
-This is too easy.
Iota sighed deeply from above.
Below him, the border fortress lay in ruins, engulfed in flames.
“My leg! My leg!”
“Jason! Get a grip, you fool!”
Corpses and the wounded were strewn about.
More than half of the knights and soldiers defending the fortress had perished in Iota’s assault.
The few survivors were gravely injured and on the brink of death.
-Too easy, indeed.
Iota lamented as he flew through the sky.
His mission to destroy the border fortress was a direct order from Dorgo, meant to sow chaos among the kingdoms.
When asked why, Dorgo had said it was essential to kill the Empire’s greatest swordsman.
-I’m allowed to attack all the other kingdoms, but not the Empire? How dull.
The Empire was teeming with master-class warriors, while other kingdoms often struggled to have even one.
The Apple Kingdom, for instance, had none.
Given the circumstances, the border fortress stood no chance against Iota’s onslaught.
-I’m getting a bit peckish.
Iota glanced down, spotting a soldier trapped under the collapsed wall.
“Ugh… ugh…”
The soldier was bleeding from the head, barely clinging to life.
Seeing the soldier still alive, Iota descended swiftly.
He reached out with a long hand, grabbed the soldier, and brought him to his mouth.
“What… what are you… Aaaah!”
The soldier, regaining consciousness, screamed and struggled, but he couldn’t escape Iota’s grip.
Ignoring the soldier’s resistance, Iota bit into his head.
-Mmm, the brain has a nice texture. I do enjoy fresh prey.
Iota tossed the soldier’s body aside and continued walking, chewing thoughtfully.
Then he noticed two humans hiding in a half-collapsed house.
“M-Mom… I’m scared…”
“Shh, be quiet, dear.”
Though a wall separated them, their voices were clear to Iota’s keen ears.
It wasn’t just their voices. Iota could see the emotions radiating from the mother and daughter.
Fear, dread, foreboding.
Dark magic is born from human suffering.
Engulfed in negative emotions, the mother and daughter were generating dark magic in real-time.
To Iota, who fed on souls and dark magic, they were a feast seasoned to perfection.
But he wasn’t planning to devour them just yet.
He knew how to ‘prepare’ them for a more delicious meal.
Iota tore down the wall, revealing the mother and daughter.
“Aaaah!”
“Kyah!”
They screamed at the sight of Iota.
“Rita! Run! Quickly!”
The mother pushed her daughter away, urging her to flee in the opposite direction.
-Oh, what a disobedient child.
Iota immediately reached out and snatched the daughter, lifting her high into the air.
“Mom! Mom!”
“Rita! No! Not Rita!”
The mother frantically stabbed Iota’s calf with a kitchen knife.
But a mere kitchen knife couldn’t pierce Iota’s body, which even an aura blade couldn’t scratch.
The knife broke quickly, and despair washed over the mother’s face.
“Mom! Mom!”
“R-Rita…! Please, let Rita go! Take me instead!”
The mother clung to Iota’s leg, pleading desperately.
Driven to the brink, the mother and daughter’s souls emitted even more potent dark magic.
Ah, this is delightful.
Iota drooled, struggling to hold back.
He opened his mouth wide, intending to devour the daughter first.
“No! No! Nooo!”
The mother screamed, blood pouring from her mouth.
At that moment, a massive surge of power was felt from afar.
Iota snapped his mouth shut. The presence was too overwhelming to ignore.
-A master-class? No, this is…
Someone soared into the sky, descending toward Iota with a sword.
Iota quickly blocked the sword with his forearm. The unexpected weight of the blow made him release the child and stagger backward.
-Wow, impressive.
Iota looked ahead in admiration, seeing a man holding the child.
-Not only did you land a hit on me, but you also saved the child? I’m impressed.
The man didn’t respond to Iota’s words.
Instead, he set the child down and spoke to the mother.
“Run as far as you can. Don’t stop until the fortress is out of sight.”
The mother hurriedly grabbed her child and fled. Iota watched them go with a look of regret.
-Ah… they were perfectly seasoned. Isn’t this a bit much? Even a dog isn’t disturbed while eating.
Iota complained, but the man only glared at him silently.
-Well, I’ll let it slide. A strong soul like yours is tastier than any ordinary human’s.
Iota licked his lips, then suddenly recognized the man’s face.
-Wait a minute, you’re Damian Haxen? What a coincidence! I never expected to find you here!
Damian Haxen was the human Dorgo had recently taken a keen interest in.
As a result, Iota knew all about Damian Haxen’s history and even his face.
-My mother wanted to study you. So why don’t you come with me? We’ll treat you well.
“How were you completed?”
-Huh? What do you mean?
“You shouldn’t be complete yet. It’s impossible. So why are you here?”
-What nonsense are you…
“Are you the only one completed? Or are the other three finished too?”
At that moment, Iota froze.
Dorgo had created four Demon Lords.
Only Dorgo’s closest aides knew this.
Yet here was Damian Haxen, an outsider, mentioning the Four Demon Lords.
-…Is there a traitor among us? This can’t be overlooked.
Iota’s expression turned serious.
He couldn’t tolerate anything that threatened his mother’s plans.
-Damian Haxen, you’d better explain how you know about us. In detail.
Iota swung his hands, releasing aura blades from his twelve claws.
The dozen aura blades rushed at Damian Haxen, but he deflected them all with his sword.
-Wow, I didn’t expect you to fend them off so easily. I guess the rumors weren’t exaggerated.
As if tired of listening, Damian Haxen launched himself forward. Iota laughed loudly.
-Wow, scary! Then I’ll raise my power to match you!
Iota drew more dark magic, his presence doubling as if the previous attack had been mere child’s play.
He swung his arms rapidly, moving so fast it seemed like they multiplied.
A barrage of aura blades rained down, aiming to tear Damian Haxen apart.
But Damian Haxen did nothing but run forward.
-Huh? Why is he acting so recklessly…
As the aura blades reached him, Damian’s body dissipated like smoke.
The buildings and fortresses behind him crumbled, but Damian remained unscathed.
-…What?
Iota’s face showed confusion. It was an unbelievable sight.
‘Phantom Step’
A technique used by Phantom, known as the sky of assassins.
During his time as a Death Knight, Phantom had attempted to assassinate Damian Haxen but was killed instead.
In the midst of the battle, Demian absorbed every technique and skill of the Phantom.
Originally, the art of Guiyeong was meant to blend one’s body and magic to erase one’s presence or slip through narrow spaces.
But Demian had a different approach. He wielded it as a weapon.
Just like now.
Each time an aura blade came crashing down, Demian evaded it effortlessly with Guiyeong.
“Ha! You’ve got quite a few tricks up your sleeve, don’t you?”
Despite failing to even graze Demian’s clothes, Iota didn’t seem flustered. Instead, he watched Demian’s movements with a calm, calculating gaze.
“But you know, there’s a pattern to it.”
As Demian dissolved into smoke once more, ready to reappear, Iota shouted, “Gotcha!”
Iota’s arm shot out, extending unnaturally, aiming to pierce Demian’s face.
He had already figured out that Demian couldn’t use Guiyeong consecutively. So this attack was…
At that moment, Demian Haxen lifted his foot and stomped on Iota’s hand.
Iota’s hand was driven into the ground with a thunderous crash, shattering the earth.
“What?”
In Iota’s moment of surprise, Demian Haxen murmured softly, “Three Rings.”
With a resonant hum, Demian Haxen vanished.
Just as Iota realized what had happened, Demian reappeared directly in front of him, swinging his sword.
A blue flash sliced toward Iota’s neck.
Yet, the blade of Dawn failed to sever Iota’s neck.
As it made contact, countless scales erupted from Iota’s nape.
Even with the aura blade enhancing it, Dawn couldn’t cut through the scales.
With a dull thud, Iota was pushed back, his face a mask of shock as he clutched his neck.
“As expected, it’s tough.”
Demian wasn’t surprised. He knew exactly what Iota was.
Iota was an undead creation, crafted by Dorgo using a dragon’s corpse.
His unnaturally long limbs were reinforced with dragon muscles and bones.
And that wasn’t all. His bat-like wings and even his internal organs were made from dragon parts.
No, saying they were made from them wasn’t quite right.
Iota’s body was essentially a dragon compressed into human form.
“Unbelievable, isn’t it? A mere human dared to touch my neck?”
Iota removed his hand from his neck, the dragon scales already lying flat once more.
“What should I do? My pride can’t let this slide.”
Thud.
A heavy sound resonated from within Iota’s body.
“I am the ultimate being, crafted by Mother. I can’t be bested by a human.”
No, it wasn’t a drumbeat.
It was the sound of the dragon heart within Iota’s body pounding fiercely.
“Demian Haxen, from now on, I’ll take you seriously.”
Iota unfurled his wings.
With a surge of dark magic, the power of the dragon erupted.