Episode 293: Sita (2)

The hand that had pierced through Iota’s body was suddenly withdrawn.

Iota pressed his palm against the wound on his abdomen, but dark crimson blood continued to gush out between his fingers.

“Sita… what on earth are you doing?”

Iota asked, his face a mask of disbelief. Sita’s expression twisted in response.

“Why did you interfere in my battle? Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment? You’ve ruined everything!”

Her once flawless beauty vanished in an instant, replaced by a face that seemed to have stepped out of a nightmare.

“Sita! I saved you! Why are you angry with me? Your anger should be directed at Damian Haxen, not me!”

Iota’s eyes flared red with fury, but Sita ignored his protests.

“Who asked you to save me? I don’t want to hear it. Get lost, or I’ll kill you myself!”

“Sita! We’re like brothers, bound by soul! How can you say such things to me?”

As the emotions of the two undead intensified, the dark energy and killing intent they emitted grew stronger.

“The demon lords are clashing!”

“We have to get out of here! We’ll be caught in the crossfire and die!”

The dark sorcerers and knights within the fortress panicked and tried to flee.

Then, it happened.

A massive energy erupted from somewhere other than the two undead.

The sudden surge of power swept away the killing intent and dark energy of the undead.

Sita and Iota turned their heads in shock to see Damian, exuding an overwhelming aura.

“How dare you ignore me? You pathetic worms must have lost your minds.”

It had been a long time since Damian felt this displeased, and he made no effort to hide it.

The killing intent emanating from Damian grew stronger, causing nearby dark sorcerers and knights to foam at the mouth and faint.

Iota glared at Damian, his brow furrowed deeply.

“Damian Haxen, I’ve been wanting to meet you again. The spot where you hit me still aches like hell.”

Iota summoned the power of a dragon, his emaciated body swelling with muscle.

“I can’t believe I get the chance to take revenge on you so soon! I’ll kill you right here and now!”

Iota charged at Damian.

But in that instant, something struck Iota, sending him flying backward.

The impact was so powerful that the ground seemed to explode as he crashed into it.

“Ugh!”

The blow was severe enough that Iota coughed up blood.

“Iota, I told you not to interfere.”

Sita spoke coldly, a massive tail swaying behind her, large enough to encircle the fortress.

It was that tail that had just struck Iota.

“Sita! Are you insane? Do you really intend to fight me?”

“I could, but not now. There’s something more urgent, so keep quiet.”

Sita turned to Damian and knelt on one knee.

“Sita! How can you kneel to anyone other than our mother?”

Iota was aghast, but Sita didn’t respond.

“Damian Haxen, I apologize. But know this—I was genuinely ready to die by your hand.”

“Good. Then offer your neck right now.”

“That was my intention, but everything was ruined by interference. Ending it like this isn’t what I want.”

“Changed your mind, have you? How fickle.”

Sita bit her lip at Damian’s taunt.

She looked up at Damian, her eyes not those of someone resigned to death.

“Let’s settle this between us later.”

“Who says? I have no intention of letting either of you go.”

“Damian Haxen, I acknowledge your skill.”

Sita lowered her gaze slightly.

“But if we unleash our ‘true forms,’ it will be you who finds it troublesome. So, I ask you to step back for now…”

“Hahaha.”

Damian’s sudden laughter cut her off. Sita looked at him, puzzled.

The laughter abruptly stopped, and Damian glared at her with burning eyes.

“So, you were looking down on me.”

“That wasn’t my intention…”

“Then what was it? You implied that if you revealed your true forms, you could easily kill me, didn’t you?”

To think a mere imitation would dare to pity me.

Never did I imagine I’d hear such a dull joke in my life.

“So, were you planning to let me kill you because you thought you could kill me with your true form? I didn’t know you had such noble intentions.”

“No, I never thought that for a moment…”

Suddenly, Damian swung his sword, and a flash of light sliced through the air, nicking Sita’s ear.

Blood trickled from the cut as Sita stared at her ear in shock.

She hadn’t seen it.

She hadn’t seen Damian swing his sword, nor the attack coming at her.

What if the strike had aimed for her neck? Or her eyes?

“To think there’s still someone in this world who looks down on me.”

Damian’s lips twisted into a sinister smile, and a chilling killing intent radiated from him.

Exposed to it, Sita and Iota instinctively assumed combat stances.

Their bodies moved on instinct, beyond reason.

“I’ll cut off your heads right now to correct your delusions.”

Just as Damian was about to charge at the two undead, a deafening roar erupted from the pit at the center of the fortress.

Simultaneously, a black energy surged from the pit, like a massive waterfall flowing in reverse.

Damian turned to the pit in surprise, as did Sita and Iota.

”…Impossible. The magic circle is backfiring? Mother’s magic circle should have been perfect.”

Sita murmured in disbelief, and Damian frowned at her words.

He was about to question her when screams erupted from behind.

“Ugh…!”

“Aaah…!”

The elves Damian had brought were clutching their throats in agony.

The dark sorcerers and knights were unaffected, but the elves were suffering.

“I can’t… breathe…!”

“The spirits… the spirits are leaving…!”

The elves writhed on the ground, their cries echoing.

Faced with their plight, Damian hesitated.

If he fought Sita and Iota now, the elves would die. But if he saved the elves, he would lose the chance to capture Sita and Iota.

Sita quickly read Damian’s hesitation.

“Iota, open the gate.”

“Sita! Why are we running? We can take him down with our own hands…”

Sita pointed her sword at Iota’s neck and repeated her command.

“Open it.”

Iota fell silent and complied, opening a dimensional gate.

Even as the gate appeared, Damian couldn’t move against them. The elves were his priority.

“Damian Haxen, we’ll be leaving now.”

Before the gate closed, Sita addressed Damian.

“I look forward to our next meeting.”

With those words, the gate shut. Damian sighed and rushed to the elves.

“Hold on a little longer!”

To save the elves, he needed to stop the energy pouring from the pit.

Damian leaped into the pit. Despite falling for a long time, the bottom was nowhere in sight.

The deeper he descended, the stronger the energy became. Finally, he landed at the bottom.

Damian surveyed his surroundings. Though the light was dim, it posed no problem.

A Sword Master’s heightened senses could pierce through darkness.

“A magic circle?”

A large magic circle was etched into the ground. It wasn’t an ordinary one. Lines had been drawn and sealed with molten metal.

Around the circle’s perimeter were several large glass tubes. Unfortunately, they were empty, revealing nothing about their contents.

“That…”

Damian’s gaze fell on the center of the magic circle, where a massive root protruded from the wall and burrowed into the ground. The circle was drawn around it.

Damian quickly recognized the root’s identity.

It was the root of the World Tree, growing at the heart of Elfheim.

“What were they trying to do to the World Tree’s root?”

Damian examined the magic circle more closely, soon uncovering its purpose.

”…They intended to inject something into the root.”

What could they have been trying to inject? And why the World Tree’s root?

Questions arose, but there was no time to ponder.

Even now, the magic circle was emitting a malevolent energy.

To save the elves, he needed to stop this energy.

“I’ll have to destroy the magic circle.”

Damian raised his sword high. At that moment, a light shone on the back of his hand.

“Huh?”

The energy from the magic circle was being completely absorbed into the markings on the back of his hand.

As more of the energy was absorbed, he could feel the ancient god’s power growing stronger.

There was only one type of energy that could enhance the power of the ancient god.

”…Demonic essence? Where on earth did you find so much of it?”

Unless it was from the depths of hell, acquiring this much essence on the surface was nearly impossible.

“Dorgo, what on earth are you plotting?”

As Damian muttered with a tense expression, a new symbol began to glow on his hand.

Thanks to the influx of essence, a new power had awakened.

Pride.

It was the power to manipulate space.