Episode 305: The Power of the Past (1)

If magic was as pure as water, then dark magic was akin to blood.

Its density was thicker, more viscous, and when it coursed through one’s body, it left an unsettling sensation.

Damian despised that feeling.

No matter how much time passed, he never grew accustomed to it. In fact, the more his powers grew, the more acutely he felt it.

Eventually, Damian began to sense something beyond mere discomfort in the dark magic.

“There’s a child waiting for me at home! Without me, they’ll starve!”

“Mother…! Please, spare my mother! I beg you!”

“You devilish fiends! You’re not human! The gods won’t let you go unpunished!”

He could feel the lingering thoughts of those who had perished because of the dark magic.

This was why Damian loathed it. He wished to avoid absorbing this power into his body whenever possible.

But now was not the time for stubbornness. To defeat a formidable foe, he needed the very power he detested.

Thus, Damian did not halt his nameless technique. He allowed the flow of dark magic to continue.

As he channeled the technique, his once flesh-colored skin turned ashen, like gray dust. The blue glow in his eyes shifted to a deep red.

Darkness spread from Damian, enveloping the ground around him. It ignited like a fire.

A low hum resonated…

At that moment, the sound of a sword vibrating reached his ears. Damian glanced down to see the holy sword, Dawn, trembling weakly.

To Dawn, a sacred sword, dark magic was akin to poison. Damian swiftly stored it in a pocket dimension.

He reached out into the air and spoke.

“Erebus, come forth.”

The dormant Erebus, marked by a sigil, emerged into reality. Damian grasped its hilt firmly.

Hela Forn watched Damian with a rigid expression.

She had been shivering from the aura emanating from him.

“Dorgo, we should leave this place,” she said, retreating with Dorgo in tow, vanishing at the speed of light.

Damian moved to pursue Hela Forn immediately.

“Stop right there!”

A colossal shadow loomed over Damian and the ground.

A giant, as large as a mountain, stood behind him.

The giant’s body was composed of various metals.

“As long as I’m here, you won’t lay a finger on my mother!”

The giant—no, Epsilon—shouted loudly.

Damian wasn’t surprised by Epsilon’s transformation. He already knew his true nature.

In the past, giants capable of creating metal existed on the continent.

Epsilon was crafted using the body of one such giant, inheriting its abilities.

Epsilon’s core was made from the now-extinct giant.

“I’ll crush you right now!”

Metal began to grow from Epsilon’s hands, merging into a massive hammer.

Epsilon swung the hammer at Damian, its size akin to a mountain peak.

Yet Damian neither dodged nor attempted to block it.

The hammer struck Damian, triggering an explosion that obliterated everything around him.

But Damian remained unscathed. He hadn’t even budged from his spot.

Instead, it was the hammer that shattered, falling apart like a broken glass vessel.

“Why… why are you unharmed?”

Epsilon muttered in disbelief.

Epsilon couldn’t know the life Damian had lived in his past incarnation.

As a Death Knight, Damian had undergone modifications by Dorgo, gaining a powerful body.

But with every gain, there is a loss.

Damian’s modified body was incredibly heavy, forcing him to fight defensively rather than evasively.

He focused on protecting his body with magic.

As a result, he developed a defense so impenetrable it was deemed invincible.

“Then… I’ll keep swinging until I break you!”

Epsilon forged another hammer, even larger than before.

Just as Epsilon was about to swing, Damian extended his hand.

The darkness on the ground responded to Damian’s will, spreading and wrapping around Epsilon’s limbs.

“Argh!”

Epsilon roared, struggling, but no amount of force could shake off the darkness.

Damian opened his palm, gathering dark magic into a black sphere.

He hurled the sphere at Epsilon.

The sphere flew swiftly, striking Epsilon’s torso.

In an instant, his abdomen vanished.

A gaping hole appeared in Epsilon’s body, large enough to obliterate his abdomen and lower chest.

The metal encasing his body offered no protection.

Epsilon’s form began to collapse, unable to even scream.

“Damian Haxen!”

A voice thundered from above.

Damian looked up to see a black dragon covering the sky.

He recognized the dragon’s identity.

Iota.

His body was crafted from the remains of the evil dragon Bahamut, which once ruled part of the continent.

This was why Iota could wield the dragon’s magic.

“You dare harm Epsilon! I will see you dead!”

Iota opened his jaws wide, unleashing a torrent of blue flames.

The flames engulfed the ground where Damian stood, incinerating everything in their path.

But Damian was the exception.

The darkness beneath his feet shielded him from the flames. The fire couldn’t penetrate the darkness.

Iota’s face twisted in disbelief, but his eyes soon sharpened.

“Not enough heat, is it? I’ll turn up the fire until you can’t withstand it!”

Iota drew more of the dragon’s magic, intensifying the blue flames.

Damian calmly raised Erebus. The darkness gathered around Erebus, effortlessly pushing back the flames.

The moment the flames of the dragon, which once scorched half the continent, seemed feeble.

Iota shouted in shock.

“You monster…!”

Damian swung Erebus. The slash extended, cleaving the sky.

The aura blade sliced through Iota’s body, continuing upward.

It looked as if a black wall had split the sky.

“Gah…!”

Iota’s body was cleaved from his left shoulder to his right side.

He plummeted to the ground without uttering a final cry.

Confirming Iota’s fall, Damian lowered Erebus.

Then, suddenly, the ground beneath him began to glow red.

A crimson circle appeared, crackling ominously with red currents.

Damian turned his head. In the distance, a massive jellyfish floated.

“Damian Haxen. Danger. Must be eliminated.”

Lambda.

His body was crafted from the flesh of a marquis-level demon.

This demon was renowned for its exceptional intelligence among demons.

Thus, the dark magic Lambda wielded was far superior in speed and power to that of other dark mages.

“Annihilation dark magic circle. Damian Haxen. Your body will be disintegrated.”

The magic circle glowed brighter, the red currents increasing in intensity.

At that moment, Damian pointed a finger at the magic circle.

His dark magic seeped into the circle. Lambda scoffed.

“Trying to dispel the circle? Foolish. My dark magic is perfect. There’s no way to infiltrate…”

Before he could finish, the magic circle shattered. Damian’s dark magic had overloaded it from within.

Though Lambda’s face was gone in his transformed state, his surprise was palpable.

Damian pointed at Lambda next. Instantly, black spikes erupted through Lambda’s body.

“Ugh!”

Lambda’s form fell to the ground, purple blood oozing from the holes.

“A curse…? How…? A curse on my body…? Impossible…”

Damian raised Erebus to finish him off.

But he couldn’t bring it down. A translucent sphere suddenly blocked his path.

Damian surveyed his surroundings. Hundreds of spheres encircled him.

“Please, don’t harm my brothers any further.”

Amidst the spheres, Sita appeared.

Her lower body had transformed into that of a snake, her upper half a blend of human and reptile.

Like Epsilon, she was created using an ancient race.

Elder Naga.

A race that once ruled the seas.

They were said to stir the oceans with their voices, bringing storms in their wake.

“I know I can’t defeat you. But…”

Sita clapped her hands.

The spheres exploded simultaneously. The released sound waves pulverized everything around them.

Yet even these could not penetrate Demian’s protective aura.

Demian stood before Sita, cutting through the storm of sound. Sita wore an expression of resignation.

“Demian Haxen, I…”

Demian swung Erebus, aiming to sever Sita’s neck.

And then it happened.

A flash of light erupted from afar, striking Demian with force.

Demian blocked the light with Erebus, but the impact sent him skidding backward with a deafening roar.

“Sita, I’m sorry I’m late.”

Hela Forn said, lowering her sword.

“I had to get Dorgo to safety. But…”

Hela Forn looked at the four demon lords with disbelief.

”…I knew they wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t expect them all to fall in such a short time.”

She spoke with a bitter edge.

“But it’s alright now. I’m here…”

“How amusing.”

A cold, emotionless voice cut through Hela Forn’s words.

“I don’t know what confidence brought you back here. You should have fled while you had the chance.”

“Child, I know you’re strong, but don’t underestimate me.”

Hela Forn summoned her dark magic, a powerful aura radiating in all directions, rivaling even Demian’s.

“I am the leader of all villains under the sky, a knight who has reached the rank of Grandmaster, a swordsman who wields the light.”

Her sword glowed with an aura blade.

“Let your guard down, and you might lose your head.”

Hela Forn launched herself off the ground, aiming a lightning-fast strike at Demian’s neck.

At that moment, a long sword sliced through the air.

Startled, Hela Forn blocked it, but the force sent her flying backward.

As she regained her footing, she stared in disbelief at the figure standing where she had been moments before.

Demian Haxen stood there. The strike just now had been his doing.

“You…”

Hela Forn’s voice trembled.

“How did you… How are you using the light blade, my own technique?”