Episode 332: Parent and Child (3)
When Damien opened his eyes, he found himself in a strange place.
“Where am I?”
He looked around and saw a palace as red as blood.
“What kind of place is this?”
The palace’s size was even more bizarre. The ceiling soared so high it resembled a cliff, far too vast for any human to inhabit.
“Hey, what are you staring at?”
A familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. Damien turned to face the source.
There stood Vahel, looking perfectly intact, despite Damien having destroyed his physical form.
Damien scrutinized Vahel before speaking.
“You’re just a fragment of Vahel’s consciousness.”
Powerful beings often leave behind remnants of their thoughts. When Damien killed Vahel, a part of his consciousness had seeped through.
Vahel’s apparition shrugged, feigning disappointment.
“Figured it out so quickly, huh? Takes the fun out of it.”
“What’s your game, you leftover scrap?”
Damien’s voice carried a lethal edge. Vahel raised his hands in mock surrender.
“Calm down. You know I can disappear with just a thought from you.”
Even a consciousness left by a duke-level demon couldn’t affect a Grandmaster’s mind. Damien could erase him at any moment.
“I’ve set this up for you.”
“What nonsense is this?”
“Why don’t you sit down first?”
Vahel snapped his fingers, and a table and chairs appeared between them. He sat down casually, and after a moment’s hesitation, Damien followed suit.
“This might take a while. Care for something to eat?”
Another snap of Vahel’s fingers, and the table filled with food. Damien’s face twisted in disgust at the sight.
The dishes were grotesque: writhing entrails, a fish with seven eyes, and fruit shaped like animal heads. Just looking at them killed his appetite.
Unlike Damien, Vahel dug in without hesitation, each bite accompanied by horrific screams.
“Not hungry?”
“It’s not about hunger. How do you expect me to eat this?”
Damien tapped a plate with his fork. Vahel popped a large eyeball into his mouth, chewing with relish.
“This is a delicacy from hell, you know.”
“Just get to the point, or I’m leaving.”
“Impatient, aren’t you?”
Vahel wiped his mouth with a napkin, the blood vanishing instantly.
“Damien, watch out for Dorgo.”
A silence fell between them. Damien glared at Vahel.
“What are you talking about?”
“When we fought at Mount Karon, I left suddenly, remember? It was because I got word that Dorgo had escaped.”
Vahel continued quietly.
“I had my men trace the dimensional portal’s remnants. They said he went to the Empire. But when I got there, there was no sign of him.”
If Dorgo had come to the Empire, there should have been traces. Yet Vahel found none.
“He couldn’t have hidden his tracks so quickly. Which means he never came to the Empire. So why did my men think he did?”
As he spoke, Vahel shredded the food on his plate with his fork until it was unrecognizable.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? How did Dorgo escape? My men said they were caught off guard, but they’re not the type to be careless.”
Vahel’s hand stilled, and he looked at Damien intently.
“Damien, Dorgo is up to something. You need to be prepared to face her.”
Damien stared at Vahel, then slowly spoke.
“I think you got a word mixed up.”
“I did?”
“You said ‘her.’ Shouldn’t it be ‘him’?”
Vahel tilted his head, puzzled.
“I don’t understand.”
“We’re talking about Dorgo. Why did you say ‘her’?”
Vahel hesitated, then asked with a hint of disbelief.
”…You didn’t know Dorgo was a woman?”
Damien’s brow furrowed deeply.
“What nonsense are you spouting? Why would he be a woman?”
“She is. She was Ruin’s lover.”
”…Ruin’s lover?”
Damien felt his mind go blank.
That skeletal figure was a woman? And Ruin’s lover, no less?
”…You really didn’t know?”
Vahel asked, incredulous. Damien felt a twinge of injustice.
Dorgo’s skeletal form made it hard to determine gender. She always wore a drab robe, and her voice was as rough as stone.
”…I’ll think about this later.”
Damien decided to set aside his confusion for now, focusing on maintaining his composure.
“I’m not afraid of Dorgo anymore.”
In this life, Damien had gained power far beyond his past self. Dorgo was no longer a threat.
“She was originally a demon.”
Vahel’s words were brief.
“But I can’t remember which demon. I tried to uncover her secret but found nothing. She must be hiding something big.”
Damien recalled his past life.
As a Death Knight, he had always been by Dorgo’s side. Yet he knew nothing about her true nature or past.
“Moreover, Dorgo is obsessed with you. She’ll stop at nothing to have you.”
Vahel’s voice turned ominous.
“She won’t leave you alone. She’ll do something unimaginably horrific.”
Vahel’s form began to burn from the fingertips, unable to maintain its presence any longer.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Hmm? It’s a matter of pride.”
Vahel smiled.
“I can’t stand the thought of the one who killed me being taken down by the likes of Dorgo.”
With those words, Vahel’s consciousness vanished completely.
As soon as Vahel’s apparition disappeared, Damien slowly opened his eyes.
“Why hasn’t he woken up after more than a week?”
The first thing Damien saw was the Emperor berating a wizard.
“I-I don’t know the cause…”
“All you do is repeat that you don’t know!”
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Enough. Go fetch the Heart of the Mountain and the Tears of the Sea!”
“But you used two just yesterday! We have so little left. These treasures have been gathered in minuscule amounts throughout the Empire’s history. To waste them like this…”
“Do you think those treasures matter when the Empire’s hero won’t wake up? Bring them now, unless you want to lose your head!”
“Y-Yes, Your Majesty!”
Damien rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, wondering if he was seeing things.
“Your Majesty?”
Damien called out cautiously. The Emperor turned to him with a start.
“Damien Haxen! You’re awake!”
A broad smile spread across the Emperor’s face.
“I was worried you wouldn’t wake up! Thank goodness! Truly, thank goodness!”
The Emperor’s eyes glistened with tears.
Damien looked at him with a mix of discomfort and disbelief. The Emperor’s affection was always overwhelming.
“Where am I?”
“This is a secret chamber in the palace. Only a select few are allowed here.”
That explained why only the Emperor and a single wizard were present.
Damien glanced around the space. For a secret chamber, it was quite spacious.
Then something caught his eye.
In the center of the chamber stood a sword, its blade smooth but its hilt crudely fashioned, as if carved from any old piece of wood.
It seemed unremarkable, yet Damien felt a shiver run through him.
The Divine Sword.
The ultimate weapon wielded by the Empire’s greatest swordsman during the War of Destruction was right before him.
But it made no sense. The Divine Sword was said to have fallen from the sky at the war’s end.
Why was it here, in the palace’s secret chamber?
”…Your Majesty, what is that?”
The Emperor looked troubled by Damien’s question.
It was surprising. The Emperor had never shown such an expression when dealing with Damien.
“I’m not sure how to explain… It’s the Empire’s most guarded secret.”
“A secret?”
“That sword belonged to the first Emperor.”
The first Emperor.
A member of the Salvation Group, renowned for his heroic deeds.
But Damien knew the truth about the first Emperor. He had betrayed Ruin and stolen his glory.
“The first Emperor ordered that the sword never be revealed to the outside world. So it’s been kept here for generations.”
”…Why did you bring me here?”
“I possess the ability to nullify that dark, harmful force.”
The Emperor continued his explanation.
“Those who have battled demons may carry lingering curses on their bodies. That’s why we’ve brought everyone who participated in this battle here for healing.”
A nullification ability.
Damian had encountered it in a past life. This meant the sacred sword was indeed the one he knew.
“May I take a closer look?”
“By all means.”
Despite it being an imperial treasure, the Emperor readily agreed.
Damian approached the sacred sword, reaching out to gently touch the hilt.
-Why are you hesitating?
In that moment, Damian could sense the thoughts embedded in the hilt.
-You feel like a burden? What are you talking about? You’re doing just fine.
-Remember last time? Thanks to you holding the flank, we won the battle.
-You can become even stronger. I promise you.
-Oh, I made this for you. This will be your sword from now on.
Within the thoughts, Damian heard Luin’s voice.
Startled, Damian looked at the sword.
The sacred sword was a weapon Luin had forged by splitting his own essence. It was akin to a sibling of Erebus.
Then, the memories shown by the thoughts shifted.
The smiling Luin vanished, replaced by a bloodied, weeping Luin.
-Why…?
-Please… just say something.
-Why did you do this to me…?
Damian slowly withdrew his hand from the hilt, murmuring in a trembling voice.
”…This is the disgrace the first Emperor sought to hide.”
When the Order of Salvation betrayed Luin, this was the very sword that first pierced his heart.