Episode 318: The Altar (2)
As the sun began to set, Vahel made his way to the room where Dorgo was imprisoned.
Laria, the demon guarding the entrance, recognized Vahel and stood up from her chair.
“Oh, no need to get up. I’m just here to take a look at that guy’s face.”
Vahel gestured for Laria to sit back down and then entered the cell.
Inside, Dorgo lay collapsed, bound in chains. He looked like a skeleton brought to life.
“Hmm.”
Vahel crouched down in front of Dorgo and pulled a small glass vial from his pocket.
Inside the vial, a dark liquid swirled—a fresh dose of black magic.
Vahel poured the black magic over Dorgo’s head. The moment it touched him, it was absorbed, and a faint light flickered in Dorgo’s skull, indicating he had regained consciousness.
“Dorgo, I have something different to ask you today. Is that alright?”
Dorgo’s head moved slowly, and with great effort, he lifted his gaze to meet Vahel’s.
“It’s nothing major, just a question that’s been bothering me, something I can’t figure out no matter how much I delve into your memories.”
Vahel fixed his eyes on Dorgo’s and asked, “What kind of demon were you, really?”
The name Dorgo was infamous among demons. His betrayal had led to their imprisonment in hell. Yet, no one truly knew what kind of demon Dorgo had been.
“It’s strange. I remember seeing you when I was young. Not just me, but other demons too.”
Demons neither aged nor died unless an external force ended their lives, granting them an endless existence. Many demons had met Dorgo in person.
“But no one remembers your species or your powers. It’s like a blank.”
Vahel had only recently begun to feel this unease. After coming to the surface, working with Dorgo, and sifting through her memories, it suddenly struck him that he didn’t know what kind of demon Dorgo was.
And it wasn’t just Vahel. Other demons felt the same.
“The only thing we know is that you were a duke-level demon… but even that seems odd. How could the betrayal of a single duke-level demon lead to all demons being trapped in hell?”
In the past, there were many duke-level demons under the seven demon kings. Now, Vahel was the only one left.
“The strangest part is that no one questioned this until now. It’s as if we’ve all been hypnotized.”
Vahel lifted Dorgo’s head, which hung limply in his grasp.
“Dorgo, tell me. Who are you, really?”
Dorgo’s lips moved, as if he was about to speak, when—
“Your Excellency!”
A demon with the head of a bull, Asta, burst into the cell with urgency.
“What’s going on?”
“We’ve found the altar!”
Vahel’s eyes widened at the news. If it was true, there was no time to waste on Dorgo.
Vahel gently set Dorgo’s head down and stood up abruptly.
“That’s excellent news. Let’s move immediately. We need to break the pact and free our kin.”
A fierce smile spread across Vahel’s face. The time had finally come to fulfill the demons’ long-held desire. Even Vahel couldn’t help but feel excited.
“Your Excellency, I’m sorry, but there’s an issue we need to address first.”
“An issue?”
Asta hesitated before speaking.
“It would be best if you saw it for yourself.”
”…”
Vahel was at a loss for words as he arrived at the dimensional gate, just as Asta had suggested.
Beyond the gate stood Damian Haxen.
“So, it wasn’t us who found the altar, but Damian Haxen who told us about it?”
”…Yes.”
Vahel couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Is he insane…?”
He had allied with dragons, so he must have known the altar’s significance. Yet, he revealed its location to them?
“Could it be that he caused all this chaos just to draw us in?”
“It seems likely.”
Vahel let out a dry laugh.
“He’s sent us such a splendid invitation. We should accept it, don’t you think?”
Vahel turned to the demons gathered behind him.
“To whoever kills Damian Haxen, I will grant the most prosperous land on the surface!”
The demons erupted in cheers at Vahel’s proclamation.
In unison, they hurled themselves through the dimensional gate.
“This is madness.”
Watching the flood of demons, Valhard was filled with despair.
Despite their numbers, not a single one was a mere rabble. They were all count-level demons, with a few marquises among them.
Such a formidable force could easily sweep across the surface. Facing them with just the two of them was sheer insanity.
“Damian Haxen! If you want to die, do it alone! Why drag me into this?”
“Why so scared, dragon? This is the time to charge in and handle it all yourself.”
“Is this really the time for jokes?”
Valhard shouted, his voice rising in frustration. Damian’s eyes turned sharp.
“You’re getting too familiar. Should I kill you first?”
The killing intent made Valhard flinch. He quickly adjusted his tone.
“Y-You’re not wrong, but how can we face so many monsters with just the two of us?”
“There are a lot of them.”
Damian said, watching the demons flying towards them.
Valhard had to suppress the urge to punch him.
“Then let’s reduce their numbers.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“Of course. First, give me your magic.”
”…What?”
Valhard looked at Damian in disbelief. Magic? Hand over his magic?
“You’re a dragon, so you must have plenty of magic. Just give it all to me.”
“In case you’ve forgotten… I’m a dragon.”
“Who doesn’t know that?”
Damian replied, sounding exasperated. Valhard felt a surge of irritation.
“Dragon magic is dense and wild. Humans can’t handle it!”
Unless it was absorbed over a long period, fresh dragon magic was impossible for a human to control.
“Just give it to me. We need to finish this before they get any closer.”
“You don’t seem to understand.”
Damian pulled a club from his dimensional space. Seeing it, Valhard panicked and shouted.
“I-I’ll give it to you! I’ll give it to you!”
Valhard immediately released his polymorph, reverting to his dragon form. It was much easier to handle magic in his true body.
He activated his dragon heart, drawing out his magic. The surrounding temperature rose sharply as a result.
-I’m sending it now.
“Alright.”
Valhard felt another wave of anger at Damian’s insufferable attitude.
‘Don’t blame me if you end up a wreck!’
Valhard poured out his magic, sending it to Damian Haxen.
The magic surged from Valhard’s true form and flowed into Damian.
‘As expected of a dragon.’
Absorbing Valhard’s magic, Damian Haxen couldn’t help but be impressed by its quantity and quality.
Though Damian often dismissed dragons as mere bipedal lizards, they were undeniably the mightiest creatures.
‘Now to unify this magic.’
Damian activated the Five Rings Harmony Technique.
As Valhard had said, the dragon’s magic resisted fiercely, unwilling to submit to a mere human.
But Damian’s control was stronger than the dragon’s resistance.
His magic, combined with the spirit power from the World Tree’s sapling and the dragon’s magic, formed a single circle.
Unity.
The three forces merged into one. Damian raised his club high into the sky.
The unified magic gathered above Damian’s head, condensing and taking shape.
-Can a human really handle dragon magic so skillfully?
Valhard muttered in disbelief, watching from the side.
As a dragon, he could tell. Damian hadn’t wasted a single drop of the magic he had given him.
-What is he planning to create?
The magic finally took a complete form. Valhard’s face went blank with shock.
-A club…?
A club as massive as a mountain peak hovered above Damian’s head.
The first Holy Emperor, Bartolomeo.
Damian had once fought against the remnants of his will and learned his techniques and mastery.
Bartolomeo’s grandmaster-level mastery was ‘enlargement.’
The ability of enlargement was simple.
The larger the aura blade, the harder and stronger it became.
“Let’s see how this works.”
Damian swung the club he had raised high.
The colossal club, large enough to block out the sky, plummeted towards the ground.
-Hey, something’s falling!
At first, the demons couldn’t grasp the situation.
-What is that? It feels like immense magic!
-It’s just a mass of magic, isn’t it?
-Then just ignore it and break through!
Even after realizing the situation, they didn’t think much of it.
Magic needed density to be powerful. Simply enlarging it was useless.
-Kill Damian Haxen!
-Kill the dragon too!
Moreover, the demons were in a state of high excitement.
-The speed is unusual…
-This feels ominous…
However, a few among them sensed that something was amiss.
“We should probably get out of here…”
But it was already too late.
A massive club came crashing down on the horde of demons.
Those soaring through the sky and those racing across the ground were all struck by the club.
Dozens of demons were crushed in an instant.