Episode 285: The Four Demon Lords (3)
“Iota.”
The largest of the three men spoke, his square jaw leaving a lasting impression.
“I came because you hadn’t returned after the operation time had passed… I didn’t expect to find you in such a pitiful state.”
Iota protested from within the pit.
“Epsilon! Watch your mouth! And pitiful? Just watch, things are about to change!”
“You’re awfully chatty for someone who used dragon transformation against a mere human.”
“Shut up and watch! I’m going to crush that human right now!”
“Mother is very angry. She says you’re delaying the plan when time is of the essence.”
Iota fell silent immediately, clearly taken aback.
“Mother ordered me to bring you back immediately, but I can’t just leave the human who humiliated my brother.”
Epsilon turned to look at Damian as he spoke.
It wasn’t just Epsilon. The other three demon lords also shifted their gaze to Damian.
The three of them exuded an indescribable aura, like standing before a raging natural disaster.
“Hah.”
But Damian shook off the oppressive feeling in an instant.
“I had hoped it wasn’t true, but all four of you are complete.”
In truth, Damian had held onto a sliver of hope.
He thought perhaps, for some reason, Dorgo had focused all his efforts on Iota, leading to Iota’s premature completion.
But reality was harsh. The appearance of the other three mocked Damian’s expectations.
“Let me ask you one thing. My name is Damian Haxen. Have you heard my name from Dorgo?”
“How do you know Mother’s name?”
“I asked the question. Answer me. Have you heard my name?”
“It wasn’t Epsilon who answered.
The only female among the four demon lords, Sita, spoke up.
“Mother often mentioned wanting to capture and study the genius named Damian Haxen.”
Damian felt a wave of confusion at Sita’s words.
He wondered if Dorgo might have regained some memories of a past life.
Otherwise, how could the four demon lords have been completed?
But from what the demon lords said, Dorgo seemed to know nothing about Damian.
Was it a lie?
No, his instincts told him they were speaking the truth.
“I don’t know what’s going on.”
His mind was a jumble. Damian ran his hands over his face.
“At times like this, it’s best to keep things simple.”
Damian gripped his sword, Dawn, once more.
“To be safe, it’s best to eliminate all four of you here.”
A moment of silence passed.
All four demon lords stared at Damian with incredulous eyes.
“Humans often confuse ignorance with bravery.”
Epsilon broke the silence.
“Damian Haxen, you’ve never seen us before. That’s why you can act so boldly…”
“The one stuck in the pit is Iota, you’re Epsilon, and the other two are Lambda and Sita, aren’t they?”
Damian named them one by one. Epsilon blinked his large eyes repeatedly, as if asking how Damian knew about Lambda and Sita without them being mentioned.
“I don’t know when you were completed, but it can’t have been more than a year.”
Epsilon’s eyes widened even further, as if Damian’s guess was spot on.
“And you call me ignorant? You’re the fools. You don’t know who I am, so you dare to spout such nonsense.”
The anger that had subsided after beating Iota began to rise again.
The four demon lords were a sore spot for Damian. They were monsters created in his image, wreaking havoc on the world.
“That one. Strange.”
The remaining one, Lambda, pointed at Damian.
“Knows Mother’s name. Knows all our names. Clearly strange.”
Lambda spoke with a murderous intent.
“Recommend killing. Dangerous.”
“Lambda, don’t make hasty decisions. Mother desires that man. It’s better to capture him than to kill…”
Epsilon suddenly fell silent, his body reacting to the sudden surge of killing intent. His muscles tensed up.
Epsilon and the other demon lords slowly turned to look at Damian.
“You’re still under the illusion that you’re in control here. But the one holding the reins is me.”
Damian took a step forward, and the pressure and killing intent the demon lords felt intensified.
“I’ll make the decision for you. All of you will die here. Not a single one will leave alive.”
Damian wove his internal magic, creating two circles.
“Dual Circles.”
The two circles within Damian began to circulate, spreading immense power throughout his body.
Damian’s presence grew exponentially. The four demon lords couldn’t help but tense up at the overwhelming change.
“Epsilon, I’ll start by breaking that jaw of yours.”
Damian prepared to unleash the power of the Dual Circles and charge.
“What a troublesome situation.”
At that moment, a gentle voice interrupted, and someone leaped through a dimensional gate.
A woman with her black hair tied back landed in front of the four demon lords.
She was strikingly beautiful, but her eyes were lifeless, like those of a corpse.
“Dear, you’re quite agitated. Would you calm down a bit?”
The woman addressed Damian, but instead of calming him, her presence only heightened his wariness.
“Dear, could it be that you recognize me?”
The woman smiled faintly, and Damian furrowed his brow.
There were countless names for this woman in the world.
Trash.
Human debris.
The Crimson Butcher.
A demon born in human form.
But she was most commonly known as this:
“Why is the leader of Pandemonium here?”
Damian spoke with caution, and Hela Forlen gestured to the demon lords.
“I was asked to babysit these children. I had nothing better to do, so I accepted.”
“That’s quite an unfitting task for you.”
“I think so too.”
Even with the worst criminal in history before him, Damian conversed as if it were nothing.
Anyone else witnessing this would have been dumbfounded.
“Dear, you just said you’d kill all these children.”
“And if I did?”
“As I said, I’m their guardian. I can’t just stand by and watch.”
Suddenly, Hela Forlen’s demeanor changed completely.
Damian felt as if the entire world had turned against him.
Even someone of Damian’s caliber was overwhelmed by the mere presence of her killing intent.
It was only natural. Hela Forlen was a Grandmaster.
“Dear, you might die by my hand. Do you still intend to fight these children?”
Damian hesitated for a moment.
On one side were the four demon lords and the leader of Pandemonium.
On the other side, there was only Damian.
The disparity in power was undeniable. Retreating was the only sensible option.
“I have no choice.”
“Are you going to quietly back down?”
“I’ll kill you all right here.”
Hela Forlen’s eyes twitched at his words.
“Dear, have you lost your mind from fear?”
“My mind is perfectly clear.”
“Then do you truly believe you can win against me and these children?”
“It’s possible.”
As a human, Damian Haxen couldn’t defeat Hela Forlen. Even Damian couldn’t match a Grandmaster from a Master-class position.
But as a Death Knight, Damian Haxen was different. He was confident he could kill Hela Forlen and the four demon lords here.
The problem was that there were too many eyes watching.
If he used dark magic here, someone would surely see.
If it became known that Damian used dark magic, the continent would be thrown into chaos. He might even be branded a heretic.
But if he could kill the leader of Pandemonium and the four demon lords here, he was willing to bear that stigma.
“Come at me. I’ll take all five of your heads.”
Damian spoke, his killing intent rising.
Hela Forlen watched him quietly before speaking.
“You’re as outrageous as the rumors say.”
“Shut up and draw your sword.”
“That’s difficult. I need to return quickly.”
“Do you think I’ll let you?”
“Dear, how about this?”
Hela Forlen pointed somewhere.
“There’s a city over there, isn’t there? If a battle starts, I’ll send these children to kill all the humans in that city.”
Damian frowned.
“Even if you’re confident in your skills, you can’t handle me and keep these children in check, can you?”
“What are you saying…”
“And there’s a large village over there too. The humans there won’t be safe either.”
Hela Forlen’s words were sincere.
She was someone who regarded human lives as insignificant as insects.
“Will you still refuse to let us go?”
Damian ground his teeth.
He wanted nothing more than to kill them all right here.
But he couldn’t drag innocent people into his revenge.
“Typical of Pandemonium’s scum, your actions are filthy.”
“Thank you for the compliment. So, what will you do?”
“Get out of here immediately.”
“Thank you for accepting my proposal,” Hella Poln said, turning to the four demon lords.
“Now, let’s head back, everyone.”
“Hella, what on earth is this…?”
“Just go back and ask later,” Hella urged, leaving the three with no choice but to step through the dimensional portal.
“Iota, you too. Hurry up.”
Iota shrank his enlarged arm back to its normal size and climbed out of the pit.
“Damn it, Damian Haxen! When I see you again, I’ll—”
“Don’t ruin what I’ve worked hard to achieve. Get in there,” Hella said, giving Iota a swift kick. He was forced through the portal.
Once the two of them had crossed, the portal closed immediately.
The forest scenery vanished, revealing the fortress once more.
“Damn it,” Damian cursed, unable to shake the feeling that Hella Poln had played him for a fool.
“Dorgo, what the hell is that bastard up to?”
The future had changed, and something unusual was happening with Dorgo as well.
“This is no time to relax. We need to chase him down immediately.”
The only silver lining was that they had a lead on Dorgo’s whereabouts.
The landscape shown by the portal.
If Damian’s memory served him right, it wasn’t just any ordinary forest.
Elpheim.
The home of the elves and the place where the World Tree took root.
That’s where Dorgo was.
“Hella, why did you let him go?” Epsilon shouted the moment Hella stepped through the portal.
“Sweetheart, what are you talking about? Let him go?”
“Then what do you call it if not letting him go?”
Hella was a Grandmaster. If she wanted, she could have easily crushed a hundred Damian Haxens.
Yet she had retreated without dealing with him. To Epsilon, it seemed as if she had let Damian Haxen go.
“Let him go… Yes, I suppose it might look that way.”
Hella thought of Damian Haxen.
He was as impressive as the rumors said. His control over magic was enough to make even Hella marvel.
But in the end, he was just a Master Class. If she wanted to, she could squash him like a bug.
Yet she couldn’t. Her instincts warned her.
To be cautious of him, that approaching recklessly would lead to her death.
A Grandmaster wary of a Master Class?
It was absurd, but Hella trusted her instincts.
“Forget about the trivial things.”
“How can you call that trivial…?”
“That’s not what’s important right now, is it? We need to support Dorgo’s plan.”
Unlike other villains of Pandemonium, Hella called Dorgo by name.
From the start, she considered herself an equal to Dorgo.
She wasn’t cooperating with Dorgo’s plan because of orders. It was because it would help her achieve what she wanted.
The head of the Empire’s greatest swordsman.
Hella was working with Dorgo to obtain that.