Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight

-----------------

Chapter 306: The Power Of The Past (2)

***

A moment ago, Hela had carried Dorugo over her shoulder.

Her lightning speed allowed her to reach the edge of the island in the blink of an eye.

“Dorugo, where did that monster come from?”

Hela asked in a panicked voice as she set Dorugo down on the ground.

Dorugo clutched her severed shoulder.

“He is ...... the best and strongest of the undead I\'ve ever created. Thanks to him, I was able to wipe out all the humans.”

“I don\'t understand what you\'re talking about.

Hela said with an incredulous look.

Damien Haksen may have used dark magic, but he was human, not undead.

Besides, what was the point of destroying humans when the Empire and all kingdoms were still standing?

“You stay here and recover, and I will go and stop Damien Haksen.”

Though surprised by Damien Haksen\'s strength, Hela was one of only a handful of Grandmasters on the continent, and her pride wouldn\'t allow her to back down.

No matter how strong Damien Haksen was, he didn\'t know how he would fare in a real battle.

“Hela, take me with you.”

Hela stared at Dorugo in bewilderment.

“What do you mean, take you with me?”

“Right now, Damien Haksen is in a human body. He\'s not a Death Knight, and he\'s much weaker than he was in his previous life, so this is your chance.”

“Explain that to me so I can understand.”

“I mean now is the only chance, while Damien Haksen is still weak, and I must capture him alive so I can fulfill my Great Plan!”

Dorugo shouted with a bright gleam in her eyes.

“No matter what, it\'s too dangerous to take you with me.”

“Don\'t argue with me, take me, now!”

Dorugo shouted with a look of obsession and madness in her eyes.

Hela sighed.

Her behavior made no sense to her.

But the Dorugo she knew was not the kind of person who would make such an unrealistic claim.

“...... Are you sure you can defeat Damien Haksen if I take you with me?”

“Yes! Trust me!”

“Good, then I\'ll take you.”

Hela picked up Dorugo and returned to the scene.

And she and Damien Haksen clashed swords.

***

“Projection Sword.”

Damien spoke to the shocked Hela.

“Your realm allows you to manifest your mental image into your physical body, doesn\'t it?”

It was a realm similar to that of the Imperial Supreme Sword.

However, while the Imperial Supreme Sword could project their mental image into a sword strike, Hela could project her mental image directly into her body.

In other words, she could move as fast as she could imagine.

“How do you know my realm in such detail…?”

“I copied your trifling realm.”

During his time as a Death Knight, Damien’s talents had rapidly evolved with each battle.

At first, he could only spot the weaknesses of his enemies.

But then, he began to decipher their techniques.

Eventually, he reached a point where he could copy their techniques and realms just by observing them.

Any knight who displayed their skills in front of Damien even once would have everything they possessed taken from them.

And this was no exception for the dark knights of Pandemonium.

During the War of Destruction, Damien had fought alongside numerous dark knights. He observed closely how they fought.

Among the dark knights he had seen was Hela.

As a Grandmaster, her techniques were not easy for even Damien to analyze.

But it was only a matter of time. Damien was progressing in real-time, and he had plenty of opportunities to observe Hela.

In the end, Damien successfully copied even her realm.

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

Anger slowly began to surface on Hela’s face.

“You claim to have copied my realm? Don’t be ridiculous. Do you think this is some street performer’s trick?”

Realm is the culmination of a knight’s lifelong dedication to honing their skills.

It is a knight\'s pride and everything they stand for.

To say it was ‘copied’ left Hela baffled.

No, it was beyond that. She was infuriated.

“My dear, I don\'t know what kind of trick you pulled, but don’t get cocky just because you’ve clumsily imitated me once.”

Hela’s eyes gleamed coldly.

“Theta, stand back. If you get caught up in our fight, I’m afraid you might even die.”

Theta immediately stepped away. Only after she disappeared did Hela ready herself.

“Damien, you’d better stay sharp. If not, your head and body will already be separated.”

Hela’s body vanished. Instantly, a flurry of slashes poured down.

Neck, heart, forearm, hamstring.

A total of six strikes targeted Damien’s vital points.

Even though they were consecutive strikes, there was no gap between them. It was as if she had swung her sword all at once.

Even for Damien, this was a dangerous situation. No matter how solid his defensive aura was, it couldn’t fully block a Grandmaster’s aurablade.

He knew this well from his past life experiences.

That’s why Damien conjured a mental image. Visualizing how his body should move, and how he should deflect the slashes.

The moment Damien\'s mental image took form, Erebos moved at the same time.

The slashes that had flown at him at the speed of light were deflected at the same speed. The sound of the strikes being repelled only echoed afterward.

“You…!”

Hela was so startled that her tone changed.

“You deflected my slashes?”

“I told you.”

Damien replied nonchalantly.

“I copied it.”

Hela’s eyes flared with rage. She immediately scraped the ground and charged toward Damien.

Her lightning-fast cuts went after every inch of Damien\'s body.

But not a single strike reached him.

Each one was blocked by an identical slash coming at the same speed.

“This... this can’t be! How are you able to… how could you… copy my swordsmanship… my realm?”

The more her attacks were blocked, the more Hela’s fury grew.

But nothing changed. Her attacks didn’t even graze Damien.

“Aaaah!”

Hela screamed in frustration. Just then, Damien spoke.

“Moving too fast is also a problem. You’ve been slashed by me so many times… yet you’re still moving.”

“What… nonsense are you talking about…?”

Suddenly, blood spurted from various parts of Hela’s body.

“…What?”

Hela looked down at her body in disbelief.

Her entire body was covered in wounds. Blood flowed from the deep, razor-sharp cuts.

All the tendons in her body had been severed. She could barely stand, let alone lift her arms.

When did this happen?

Hela hadn’t noticed her condition at all, despite the numerous slashes she had endured.

“Dorugo… how could… you call this… weaker…?”

Hela struggled to turn her head, looking at the Imperial Supreme Sword, who stood some distance away.

The Imperial Supreme Sword always had a cold, emotionless expression like a puppet.

But now, it was different.

He was looking at her with eyes filled with sorrow.

“Fool… I was… trying to kill you…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Hela’s neck was split open and her head rolled to the ground.

Damien brushed the blood off his Erebos and turned his head.

“Dorugo, did you think you could escape my grasp?”

Damien expended his senses. A feral grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“You were closer than I thought.”

***

Dorugo returned to the battlefield and immediately approached the Four Great Demon Kings.

"Kids! I’m back! Are you all okay…?"

But as she saw their condition, she froze on the spot. They were far more devastated than she had anticipated.

-Mother!

A voice called out from behind. It was Theta and she was rushing toward Dorugo.

-Why did you come back? You should have fled!

"Is this the time to argue? Hurry, help me! We need to restore them!"

Dorugo hurried over to Epsilon first. Epsilon lay on the ground, with a massive hole in his body.

-Mother…

"Yes, Epsilon! I’m here!"

-I remember now…

Epsilon muttered weakly, looking like he was dying.

"What do you mean?"

-It wasn’t the first time… you created us…

Dorugo’s hand hesitated for a moment.

"Could it be… you remember too?"

It wasn’t impossible.

The Four Great Demon Kings were created using Dorugo’s soul. As a result, they were closely linked to her.

-I’m glad… we’ve met again…

"So am I. Now, focus on healing."

-I never imagined… I’d end up fighting Damien Haksen… and him…

Epsilon stared blankly up at the sky.

-When we fought together… it was like being with a god… there was nothing to fear… but as an enemy… there’s no one more terrifying… Now I understand… what his enemies must have felt…

"I get it. But stay focused. I’ll heal you all right away."

Dorugo’s hands moved swiftly. She needed the Four Great Demon Kings if they had any chance of facing Damien.

While Hela was buying time, she had to restore them quickly…

"Dorugo."

The voice from behind froze her in place.

Then Dorugo turned around slowly, and Damien was standing there menacingly, cloaked in darkness.

"Hela…? What happened to her?"

"She’s dead."

Damien’s reply was short, as if questioning why she’d even asked something so obvious.

"That can’t be… Hela was a Grandmaster… There’s no way a human like you—not even a Death Knight—could defeat her…"

"I didn’t come here to explain Hela’s death."

Heaven-shaking killing intent radiated from Damien. This caused Dorugo’s face to go rigid.

-Mother, run! I’ll handle this!

Theta stepped in front of Dorugo, trying to shield her, but it was futile.

Damien closed the distance in a blink of an eye and kicked Theta in the abdomen. She spat blood and was flung aside.

"T-Theta…! Ugh!"

Damien advanced toward Dorugo and thrust Erebos forward.

The tip of Erebos pierced through Dorugo’s armor, bursting out through her back.

***