Episode 308: The Power of the Past (4)
“You think you can just get rid of me first?”
Vahel stifled a rising laugh. The idea that a mere human could act so boldly in front of a demon like him was amusing. Yet, what was truly intriguing was that this wasn’t mere bravado. The aura emanating from Damian Haxen was so formidable that even a duke-level demon like Vahel found it hard to dismiss. His subordinates remained silent for the same reason, all wary of Damian Haxen, though they didn’t show it.
“He’s quite the interesting fellow,” Vahel mused. Over the years, he had explored the depths of hell and glimpsed the surface world, meeting countless demons and humans. But never had he encountered someone as fascinating as Damian Haxen.
“See, Asta? I told you not to let your guard down,” Vahel said, shaking his head. “Now, why don’t you come back quietly?”
There was no response. Asta lay face down, unmoving. “Asta?” Vahel called again, but still, there was no reaction. It dawned on him that Asta had been knocked out cold. A marquis-level demon, felled in a single blow? The unexpected turn of events sent a thrill through Vahel’s entire being. He, a duke-level demon, had underestimated Damian Haxen’s power.
“I didn’t expect him to be this entertaining,” Vahel remarked, his smile fading but his eyes sparkling with childlike excitement. What would happen if he fought Damian Haxen now? Vahel weighed the odds in his mind. In terms of sheer power and numbers, he had the upper hand. Yet, the unpredictability Damian had shown was a wild card.
Moreover, demons needed to adapt to the surface world. The pact had been broken, but hell and the surface were vastly different realms. “Damian Haxen, I concede this time,” Vahel said with a shrug. “So, I’ll take my leave for today. Let’s meet again. Gather up those lying around here,” he instructed his subordinates, referring to Asta and the others.
“That’s not going to happen,” Damian Haxen said firmly. “Leave Dorgo here and get lost.”
“Don’t be so harsh. You’re exhausted too, aren’t you? It’s better for both of us to part ways for now…” Vahel began, but Damian’s killing intent exploded, carving deep marks into the ground. The tangible malice sliced through the air.
“I won’t say it again. Leave Dorgo,” Damian demanded, his face a mask of barely contained fury. Vahel felt a twinge of annoyance. Demons weren’t accustomed to taking orders from others.
“And if I refuse?” Vahel challenged.
“Then I’ll take Dorgo by force.”
“Hmm, I don’t really want to fight… What a dilemma,” Vahel said, a playful smile tugging at his lips. “Migmag! Open the dimensional gate! We’re getting out of here!”
The demon beside Vahel struck the ground with a metal staff, and a portal opened beneath Asta and the four demon lords. Damian instinctively swung Erebus, aiming to decapitate Asta, but Asta had already been sucked into the portal. Not just Asta, but the four demon lords had vanished as well.
A portal opened behind Vahel, and his subordinates rushed through it. “Well then, Dorgo, shall we?” Vahel grabbed Dorgo by the scruff and stepped into the portal.
“I told you to leave him!” Damian roared, charging toward the portal. But Vahel flicked his fingers, and a wall of isolation power blocked Damian’s path.
“Vahel!” Damian shattered the wall with Erebus, but precious seconds were lost. By then, the portal was nearly closed.
“See you next time,” Vahel waved through the narrowing gap, and with that, the portal sealed shut.
“Phew, that was a scary encounter, wasn’t it?” Vahel remarked to his demons. “Migmag, you were excellent just now. Your speed was impressive.”
The hunched demon replied in a raspy voice.
“Come on, don’t be so modest. At that speed, I think…” Vahel’s instincts suddenly screamed a warning. He spun around just in time to see a slash cutting through the air.
Vahel instinctively raised his arm to block, but the slash cleaved through his forearm and continued to slice into his neck. Blood spurted from the wound.
Damian felt around the spot where the portal had closed, trying to open it with the power of arrogance. But unlike the portal created by the four demon lords, he couldn’t find the coordinates. The demon had scrambled them the moment the portal closed, a testament to their superior skill.
“Vahel! You bastard!” Damian’s vision turned red with rage, veins bulging across his body. Once again, he had been thwarted. Once again, he had failed to kill Dorgo. The frustration was maddening, but Damian forced himself to suppress it. Now wasn’t the time to let his emotions take over.
“I won’t let you escape so easily…!” Damian concentrated his dark magic into Erebus. The pitch-black aura blade enveloped the sword.
At the end of the War of Destruction, Damian had created a new realm of power with a singular focus: to kill Dorgo. As a lich, Dorgo had hidden his soul in a life vessel, a gem stored elsewhere. But under Dorgo’s control, Damian had no way to find it. So he combined all the realms he had stolen to forge a new one.
Sword God.
The ability of the Sword God was simple compared to other realms: to cut. It didn’t matter what it was, even if it was formless or not present. It would be cut. This realm, born from Damian’s singular desire to kill Dorgo, was his own creation.
Damian gripped Erebus with both hands, the aura blade vibrating menacingly. He swung it toward the void, and the blade pierced the dimensional wall.
Blood gushed from Vahel’s deeply cut neck, a clear mortal wound, yet he didn’t try to stem the bleeding. It was because of the image of Damian Haxen he saw through the closing gap.
Damian Haxen glared at him with a look that suggested he was on the brink of madness. The gap closed, but Vahel couldn’t tear his gaze away from the empty space.
Lord Vahel! The wound is severe!
I’ll treat it immediately!
His subordinates rushed over, but Vahel raised a hand to stop them. “Ha ha ha!” He laughed loudly, touching his wound. “It’s been so long since I’ve been injured!”
Damian Haxen had severed his forearm and cut into his neck. A little deeper, and he would have been dead. It was a dangerously close call.
“Interesting. Truly interesting,” Vahel said, lifting Dorgo to eye level. “Dorgo, what is he? What makes him so entertaining?”
”…I have nothing to say.”
“Oh, you won’t talk? Then I’ll have to use more persuasive methods.” Vahel gestured, and a demon with a mosquito-like proboscis approached. Dorgo’s eyes widened in fear at the sight.
“Vahel, you madman!”
“Laria, extract all of Dorgo’s memories. I don’t care if he becomes a shell.”
“And don’t kill him. I need him as bait to draw out Damian Haxen.” Vahel tossed Dorgo to the demon, who caught him with four arms.
“No, stop! Not that one!” Dorgo screamed in terror, but Vahel turned away coldly.
“Vahel! I’ll tell you everything! Just… ugh!” The demon plunged its proboscis into Dorgo’s head, and his screams echoed long and loud.
Thud.
Damian slammed his fist into the ground. Once wasn’t enough to quell his anger. He pounded the earth repeatedly.
“Damn it…!” The impact felt unsatisfying. He had failed to completely sever Vahel’s neck. The realization that he had let Dorgo slip away again fueled his fury.
“Damian…” A soft voice called out. Damian turned to see the Empire’s greatest swordsman lying on the ground, gravely injured and on the brink of death.
Damian swallowed his rage. He couldn’t let his emotions take over in front of a dying man. “I’ll heal your wounds right away,” he said, retrieving a potion and a dawn from his spatial pocket. But the swordsman shook his head.
“No, there’s something more important,” he said, pointing a finger toward the sky. Damian looked up.
The branches of the World Tree, which stretched across the sky, were turning a dull gray.
It wasn’t just the branches. Even the distant trunk was darkening, taking on a blackened hue.
The energy that once filled the island, emanating from the World Tree, was rapidly waning.
Damian stared at the scene in shock. The World Tree was dying.
“Why? I thought the power had already been stopped.”
“So it was you who halted the demon’s power,” said the Empire’s greatest swordsman, looking at the World Tree with a sorrowful expression.
“It’s not your fault. When the power was first unleashed, the damage to the World Tree was too severe. It’s dying because it couldn’t recover.”
With great effort, the swordsman struggled to his feet.
“Damian, I have a favor to ask. Please, take me to the World Tree.”