Episode 321: The Devil Duke (2)
When the seven powers are combined, time can be reversed.
Damian had no idea how this was possible; he only knew how to use it.
“So, in the end, I have to make this choice myself.”
Damian grimaced, clutching the fate of the Death Knight in his hands.
As a Death Knight, Damian had been a slave to Dorogo, committing unspeakable atrocities.
He had killed his own family and massacred hundreds of thousands of soldiers, plunging the world into grief and despair.
Now, Damian was about to return to that time.
It was a necessary evil, but it was far from pleasant. It felt like diving into a pit of rotting filth.
No, it was worse than that—disgusting and revolting. A wave of revulsion surged through him.
But he had no choice. Vahel was a formidable foe.
“I’ll make you pay tenfold for making me feel this way.”
Damian activated all the powers.
The seven powers merged into one.
“Damian, why are you just standing there? This isn’t fun.”
Vahel sounded disappointed when Damian suddenly fell silent.
“Whatever’s going on, a good hit should snap you out of it.”
He thought he could enjoy the battle as before and took a step forward.
At that moment, a foreboding sensation brushed the back of Vahel’s neck.
It was brief but intense enough to wipe the smile off his face.
Vahel stopped in his tracks, staring at Damian.
Nothing seemed different, yet his instincts screamed a warning. Don’t act rashly.
It could have been a simple illusion, but Vahel never ignored his instincts.
“I need to check this out.”
Suddenly, Vahel’s eyes changed.
The red hue in his eyes began to split, transforming into compound eyes like a dragonfly’s.
With the transformation, his vision altered.
He saw something beyond reality—a black void filled with countless orbs of light, as beautiful as the Milky Way.
But Vahel wasn’t entranced by the beauty. He glared at it as if facing a sworn enemy.
“Show me.”
As a duke-level demon, Vahel possessed the power to see fate.
But the flow of fate had been tangled for a long time, beyond anyone’s clear sight.
That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
A tangled fate meant unpredictability.
Thanks to that, Vahel had managed to coax Dorogo into bringing him to the surface.
Originally, this wasn’t a fate allowed to Vahel.
After a long gaze into the threads of fate, Vahel muttered in a hard tone.
”…I can’t see my fate.”
Normally, Vahel could clearly observe his own fate.
Even if the flow of fate was tangled, his own fate shone brightly.
It meant that no matter what happened, Vahel would remain unscathed. That’s why he always lived with confidence.
But now, it was different. Even his fate was obscured.
Which meant Vahel might die.
His face lost all expression. The excitement of battle that had heated his heart moments ago had completely cooled. Vahel no longer found any joy in being here.
“This is dangerous.”
Not seeing one’s fate didn’t guarantee death. Vahel’s actions could change the outcome.
Especially since Vahel was a duke-level demon. There was no one on earth or in hell who could match him.
But Vahel had no intention of gambling with his life.
Even if the odds were heavily in his favor.
His eyes returned to normal, and he saw Damian Haxen standing there.
“I don’t know how a mere human can affect my fate…”
Vahel reached out toward Damian Haxen.
With his life on the line, the game was over. Vahel intended to end Damian Haxen’s life immediately.
But as he tried to unleash his power, the sense of foreboding intensified.
Vahel couldn’t bring himself to use his power. He had no idea how this choice might affect his fate.
Then, something reached Vahel’s mind.
“Your Grace, there’s trouble.”
It was Laria, speaking from afar, left behind in the Illusionary Realm.
“What is it?”
“Dorogo has escaped.”
Vahel’s expression twisted in anger.
“How did you let him slip away? Dorogo shouldn’t have the ability to escape.”
“His offspring helped him break free.”
Vahel gritted his teeth.
Dorogo was no easy opponent. It was sheer luck that they had captured him so easily.
“Laria, didn’t I tell you to guard him well?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry won’t cut it! I told you not to let Dorogo escape!”
“I have no excuse.”
“Damn it, I’m coming right now.”
Vahel cut off the communication with Laria and looked at Damian, torn.
Considering Damian’s potential threat, he couldn’t just leave him be. But there were too many uncertainties to act rashly.
And right now, Dorogo was the more pressing issue. Who knew what might happen if he was left unchecked?
”…There’s no need to touch something dangerous with my own hands.”
Vahel activated his power. A barrier formed around Damian Haxen, creating a rectangular space.
It was an isolated space crafted with Vahel’s full strength. No demon could break it.
“Damian, I’ll deal with you next time.”
With that, Vahel turned and dashed toward the Illusionary Realm.
Watching Vahel flee into the distance, Damian was left bewildered.
“You think I’ll just let you go?”
The preparations to reverse time were complete. Damian activated all seven powers simultaneously.
Immediately, wounds appeared all over his body.
Torso, limbs, face.
His flesh split open indiscriminately, and blood gushed out.
”…!”
The pain was so intense he couldn’t even scream. Damian fell to his knees.
But the agony didn’t stop.
The wounds kept multiplying, deepening until they reached his organs.
In a panic, Damian halted the activation of his powers. The wounds ceased to spread.
“Cough, cough.”
Kneeling, Damian coughed up blood.
Fragments of his organs spilled out with the blood, indicating the wounds had reached his insides.
Damian opened a subspace to retrieve a healing potion and the Dawn.
The Dawn sensed Damian’s condition and unleashed its divine power, but the wounds were too severe to heal easily.
Damian gulped down the healing potion repeatedly, using the World Tree’s sapling to boost his recovery.
”…I understand.”
As his wounds began to heal, Damian realized what they signified.
“These are the places Dorogo tampered with during the procedures.”
Dorogo had performed numerous procedures to transform Damian into a Death Knight.
He had carved out muscles to replace them with others, extracted organs to swap them, and inserted all sorts of magical devices. He had injected bizarre concoctions.
“Simply activating the powers isn’t enough.”
To recreate the Death Knight’s body.
He had to endure the same procedures he had undergone.
In other words, he had to withstand the pain and despair he had felt back then.
“The price is steep.”
Damian let out a bitter laugh.
But despite the smile on his lips, his eyes were dark and somber.
Vahel returned to the Illusionary Realm in the blink of an eye.
The first thing he saw upon entering was the shattered castle, with Laria standing at its center.
“Laria, you’ve made quite a mess.”
“I’m sorry.”
In a flash of anger, Vahel kicked Laria reflexively.
Her massive form crashed into the wall. Vahel growled.
“Back to your position.”
Laria immediately returned to her original spot. Vahel gritted his teeth and asked.
“Did Dorogo’s offspring cause this chaos?”
“Yes.”
“What were you doing? Did you actually lose to those pathetic undead?”
“I have no excuse.”
Just as Vahel was about to strike Laria again, Migmag appeared through the open dimensional gate.
Behind Migmag floated the unconscious forms of Alter and Asta.
“Your Grace, what’s going on?”
“Dorogo has escaped. Track down where they disappeared to immediately.”
Migmag’s eyes widened in shock.
Though clearly surprised, Migmag promptly followed Vahel’s orders.
He tapped the ground with the end of his iron staff, sending invisible waves rippling outward.
“Your Grace, I’ve found them.”
“Where did they go?”
Vahel asked in a thorny tone. Migmag quickly replied.
“They’ve gone to the Imperial Capital.”
Vahel couldn’t help but frown at Migmag’s words.
“The Empire? The Empire, really?”
It was an incomprehensible choice.
Which only made Vahel more cautious.
The Dorogo he knew would never make such a move without reason.
“Are they trying to pit us against the Empire?”
“Your Grace, what will you do?”
Vahel fell into deep thought.
Initially, Vahel had no intention of revealing his true identity. He wasn’t afraid of humans, but there was always the possibility of unforeseen circumstances.
He had no idea what might happen if he ended up fighting against all of humanity. To be fully prepared, he had been moving as stealthily as possible.
“We’re heading to the Empire.”
However, Dorgo was too dangerous. Leaving him unchecked was not an option.
“Migmag, open the dimensional gate. From now on, we’re going to the Empire.”