Episode 327: Awakening (1)
Vahel charged at Damian Haxen, his hands enveloped in the power of isolation.
Opaque gauntlets formed around Vahel’s hands, crafted from the very essence of isolation.
“Hahaha!”
Vahel swung his fist at Damian Haxen, who met the attack head-on with his sword.
The gauntlet and the longsword clashed, sending both combatants skidding backward from the impact.
They immediately regained their footing, closing the distance once more to continue their assault.
Fists and sword collided repeatedly, neither side giving an inch.
“Why the sudden switch to fisticuffs?” Damian Haxen asked amidst their exchange. Vahel laughed heartily in response.
“I’m just so thrilled to see you! If I don’t let it out, I might just burst!”
“You’re spouting nonsense.”
“Come on, don’t be so cold! You’ll hurt my feelings!”
Suddenly, Vahel leaped into the air, swinging his leg in a wide arc.
A massive slash of energy erupted, but Damian deftly deflected it with his sword, altering its trajectory skyward.
“Impressive move,” Vahel remarked, genuinely surprised at how easily Damian countered his attack.
“Think you can dodge this too?”
Before he finished speaking, crystals of isolation formed around Damian, expanding rapidly to engulf him. Sharp spikes shattered the ground.
But Damian was no longer there. In an instant, he was right in front of Vahel.
“Oh?”
Vahel’s eyes gleamed with newfound intensity.
“You’re something else. I can’t afford to hold back against you.”
Vahel unleashed a flurry of punches, each one powerful enough to crack the air and split the earth.
But that wasn’t all.
Simultaneously, he wielded the power of isolation, summoning pillars from the ground and creating crystalline structures in midair.
Vahel’s fists attacked from the front, while the crystals assaulted Damian from all sides, leaving no room for escape. Every move was perfectly synchronized, like the gears of a well-oiled machine.
Yet, the truly astonishing one was Damian.
He deflected or evaded every attack, not allowing even a glancing blow. It was as if he could read Vahel’s mind.
‘Unbelievable.’
Vahel clicked his tongue in disbelief at how effortlessly Damian countered his onslaught.
Vahel had once been a lowly demon, scorned and treated like filth.
But he possessed a unique talent and an unparalleled thirst for battle.
To hone his skills, Vahel roamed countless battlefields.
Fortunately, the demons’ vile nature ensured that wars were never-ending in hell.
Through countless battles, Vahel developed his own combat style.
He combined bare-knuckle fighting with the power of isolation.
Vahel refined his techniques on the battlefield, growing stronger as his skills neared perfection.
Once he mastered his combat style, Vahel found no equal.
His techniques were the culmination of nearly a millennium of relentless honing.
Yet Damian Haxen saw through them with ease.
‘He was always a monster, but… he wasn’t this formidable before.’
Vahel recalled their previous encounters.
Damian had been impressive then, but not to this extent.
‘Could he have grown even stronger in such a short time?’
The thought sent a chill down Vahel’s spine.
Vahel was renowned for becoming a duke in record time. Yet even he couldn’t match Damian’s rate of growth.
“Damian! You’re as tough as ever!” Vahel shouted, his voice brimming with excitement.
“That’s why I like you! I’ve never met anyone who could fight me like this…”
In that moment, Damian vanished. A sword struck Vahel’s neck from the side.
Thanks to the power of isolation, his neck wasn’t severed. But Vahel was taken aback.
Despite his casual demeanor, Vahel had been fully focused on Damian.
How could he have missed Damian Haxen’s movements? Even after experiencing it firsthand, he couldn’t believe it.
Vahel summoned pillars from beneath his feet. Damian clicked his tongue and retreated.
“You used a similar technique before, but it’s more refined now,” Vahel commented, rubbing his neck. Damian rested his sword on his shoulder and replied.
“You talk too much.”
“I’m just having too much fun,” Vahel said sincerely.
Vahel had reached the pinnacle of hell too soon. His overwhelming strength left no one to challenge his authority.
As a result, he spent centuries in boredom.
Then he finally met someone who could fight him on equal terms.
How could he not be thrilled?
Of course, it wasn’t entirely equal. Vahel was holding back, not wanting to break his newfound toy too quickly.
‘If he’s grown this much in such a short time, things could get even more interesting.’
Vahel wanted to draw out Damian’s full potential. Not for any grand reason, but simply because it would be more entertaining.
“Oh, right.”
Suddenly, he remembered something he had learned from Dolgo.
“You have a family, don’t you?”
In that instant, Damian’s eyes widened.
Seeing Damian’s reaction, Vahel cheered inwardly.
“Your parents are alive, and you have a sister and a younger brother. They’re all in the western region of the Apple Kingdom.”
As Vahel continued, Damian Haxen’s agitation grew.
“Damian, you’d better stop me here. Otherwise, I plan to kill your family.”
Vahel spoke to provoke Damian further.
“Have your siblings married? If so, I’ll find and kill their families too. I won’t let them die easily. I’ll make sure they suffer unbearable pain.”
Despite the provocation, Damian Haxen remained silent.
Vahel felt a bit deflated.
“Do you think I’m just bluffing to provoke you…”
Suddenly, his mouth snapped shut.
It wasn’t by his own will. It closed on its own.
Cold sweat began to trickle down his face. It felt as if a blade was pressed against his heart.
What was happening?
Vahel asked himself. But he didn’t need an answer.
“What did you just say?”
Vahel turned his gaze to Damian Haxen. In that moment, he felt a chill.
A terrifying killing intent emanated from Damian Haxen.
The tangible malice enveloped Damian, obscuring his face and body.
But his eyes were clearly visible.
They were cold and emotionless, like glass marbles.
“I’m asking you again.”
Damian spoke once more. Vahel felt as if a blade was pressing against his heart.
“What did you say you’d do to my family?”
‘He’s strong.’
As he exchanged blows with Vahel, Damian acutely felt the power of a duke-level demon.
Attacks came from all directions, so precise and swift that he had to focus intensely to evade them.
The unfair part was that Damian’s attacks had no effect on Vahel.
The power of isolation that Vahel wielded was impenetrable. No matter how sharp Damian honed his aura blade, it couldn’t cut through.
‘I need that technique.’
Damian recalled the aura blade that Ruin had created.
Ruin’s aura blade, crafted by combining magic, dark magic, and divine power, was terrifyingly sharp.
If he could replicate that aura blade, he could slice through Vahel’s power and even break his bones.
But even with Damian’s talent, mastering that technique quickly was difficult.
He had used it briefly while fighting Ruin’s simulacrum, but only for a moment.
‘I need to recall the sensation.’
Damian tried to remember the feeling from his battle with Ruin. But even that was no easy task.
-Damian, your talent is far greater.
Ruin’s words suddenly came to mind.
-Free yourself. Break free from your constraints.
It was easy to say, but hard to do.
Damian didn’t even understand what Ruin meant by “constraints.”
“Oh, right.”
Then, Vahel’s voice interrupted. At first, Damian tried to ignore it. But the words that followed made it impossible.
“You have a family, don’t you?”
The heat from the intense battle instantly cooled.
“Your parents are alive, and you have a sister and a younger brother. They’re all in the western region of the Apple Kingdom.”
All of Damian’s senses focused on Vahel. He even forgot to breathe.
“Damian, you’d better stop me here. Otherwise, I plan to kill your family.”
Those words triggered memories from his past life.
When he stabbed his father in the abdomen, the sensation was vivid. The image of his mother cursing him, his brother’s headless corpse, and his sister being torn apart by the undead all flashed through his mind.
“Have your siblings married? If so, I’ll hunt down their families too. I won’t let them die peacefully. I’ll make sure they perish in agony so severe no human could endure it.”
He thought of his nephew, whom he had never even seen. The child hadn’t even been given a name yet.
“Don’t think I’m just saying this to provoke you…”
Images of his pregnant sister and the joyful faces of his family surfaced one by one.
“What did you just say?”
A dark emotion seized Damien entirely.
“I’m asking you.”
His mind was engulfed in darkness, clearing away all distractions.
“What did you say you’d do to my family?”
In the blackened recesses of his mind, only one thought emerged.
Kill.
No matter what it takes, he would kill that bastard. He’d rip out his legs first to prevent any escape. Then he’d crush his arms to stop any resistance.
He’d grind his face to make him regret his actions, forcing him to crawl on the ground, repenting for his sins.
Damien opened a pocket dimension, retrieving all the mana potions stored within and smashed them to the ground.
As the potions shattered, mana spilled out. Damien absorbed it all.
Next, he seized and absorbed the divine energy surrounding the entire capital. The immense holy power was drawn into his body.
Mana, dark mana, divine energy.
The three forces threatened to clash, each trying to destroy the other.
Damien simultaneously employed the Five Rings Harmony Technique and the Nameless Qi Technique.
The two mana cultivation methods merged. A new technique emerged, demonstrating its power.
Soon, the three forces Damien absorbed fused together, harmonizing into an unknown, colossal power.
In that moment, a colorless aura blade enveloped Erebus, howling as if to tear the world apart.
At this moment, Damien reached the level he had long desired.
Grandmaster.
Human Damien Haxen had caught up to Death Knight Damien Haxen.