Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight

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Chapter 317: The Altar (1)

***

The Ruin he saw in person was so handsome that anyone would think he was a heartthrob.

But more than his appearance, Damien was drawn to Ruin\'s physique.

It was stronger than any knight he had ever fought against. Even the Imperial Supreme Sword, the Sword Saint, and the Cheongyeum seemed ordinary compared to Ruin.

As Damien examined Ruin\'s body, he realized one thing.

\'He was killed by a joint attack.\'

When he lifted the thin cloth slightly causing numerous wounds to be revealed.

They were wounds from being pierced and cut by various weapons such as swords, spears, and arrows.

\'He was first pierced in the back with a longsword. Then arrows were shot into his limbs. Soon after, a spear tore open his abdomen.\'

Damien retraced how Ruin died through the wounds.

\'Amazing. Despite such injuries, he didn\'t die immediately. He must have been alive for quite some time.\'

Damien recalled what Milene had told him.

Milene had said that the Salvation Squad had killed Ruin. If so, then these wounds must have been inflicted by the heroes of the Salvation Squad.

\'To withstand a joint attack by the Salvation Squad.\'

Having fought against the thoughtform of the first Holy Emperor, he knew very well how strong the heroes of the Salvation Squad were.

Ruin had endured being hacked and slashed by such monsters.

\'It\'s said that the stronger a knight becomes, the stronger their body becomes, but...this is beyond commonsense.\'

At that moment, something caught Damien\'s eye.

Ruin\'s two hands were tightly clutching something. Surprisingly, it was a shard of Erebos.

"Shard of Erebos?"

Damien was surprised that he spoke without realizing it.

It wasn\'t strange that Ruin had a shard of Erebos, as he was the one who created Erebos.

The problem was that it felt very artificial. It was obvious that someone had placed the shard there after Ruin\'s death.

"What am I going to do with this..."

Damien continued to ponder and look down at the shard of Erebos.

He wanted to take it, but he felt uncomfortable taking the belongings of the dead.

Moreover, Ruin had held it so preciously.

"Come to think of it, there\'s no use for the dead."

Damien pointed Erebos towards the shard. The shard turned into a liquid and was absorbed into Erebos.

Crackle!

As the shard disappeared, a strange sound came from Ruin\'s body.

It was as if seashells were being crushed one after another.

Soon, Ruin\'s body crumbled and disappeared.

Even Damien could not help but be surprised. Damien made an awkward expression.

"The shard was maintaining his corpse."

Without knowing it, Damien had destroyed the corpse of perhaps the greatest hero in history.

Suddenly, Damien felt dizzy.

It was as if there was an earthquake. He couldn\'t stand. The world spun around.

"Ugh."

Damien clutched his head with both hands and groaned.

And when the dizziness stopped, Damien was in a strange place.

It was hazy as if there was fog everywhere, and there was a shallow layer of water on the ground.

"This isn\'t reality. A hallucination? But it feels too real."

Damien looked around cautiously.

Then, he heard footsteps nearby.

Damien reflexively turned in the direction of the sound. And then he saw a man.

"Ruin...?"

Surprisingly, Ruin was alive and moving. He was even holding a sword.

"You must be angry because I coveted your things."

Damien chuckled and asked. But there was no answer.

"Hey?"

Even when Damien asked again, it was the same. Ruin just stared at Damien with hazy eyes.

Then he suddenly raised his sword.

"You want to try it?"

Damien gripped Erebos. And he prepared for the incoming attack.

"It\'s an honor to fight a legend."

Ruin took a stance. Damien analyzed Ruin\'s movements with calm eyes.

\'He\'s stepped forward with his left foot but his center of gravity is back. He\'s keeping his sword arm as close to his body as possible.\'

In a split second.

Damien could read countless pieces of information.

\'He\'s aiming for my torso.\'

The moment Damien reached that conclusion, Ruin moved. He jumped forward and swung his sword at Damien.

Damien reacted immediately. He tried to deflect Ruin\'s attack with Erebos and counterattack.

But Ruin\'s strike didn\'t come at the angle Damien had expected.

Neck.

The sharp attack severed Damien\'s neck.

***

"Ack...!"

Damien startled awake. He was back in reality.

Damien touched his neck. It was completely fine despite feeling like it had been cut.

"...I couldn\'t even block a single strike?"

Damien was utterly shocked.

While he had sometimes been outmatched in physical abilities or mana reserves, he had never been outmatched in terms of skills before.

"...This guy is really a monster among monsters."

A smile crept onto Damien\'s lips.

This was the first time since his regression that he had been so completely defeated. Damien felt a surge of competitiveness.

"How can I meet him again?"

As he pondered, Damien\'s gaze fell on Erebos.

With a glimmer of hope, he focused his mind on Erebos.

"...Ugh!"

A moment later, Damien let out a scream. He touched his face and muttered.

"My face is cut in half."

Again, Damien had failed to read Ruin\'s attack.

Damien focused his mind on Erebos again. The third time, he was killed just as helplessly.

But Damien didn\'t give up and continued to challenge.

A strong opponent meant there was much for Damien to learn.

Especially since his regression, Damien hadn\'t met many opponents worth learning from.

That\'s why he was so excited about the battle with Ruin.

"Huff, huff..."

After fighting countless times.

Even though he wasn\'t physically fighting, Damien felt his stamina greatly depleted.

"...I understand now why Milene was so wary of Ruin."

Damien muttered as he looked at Erebos.

As much as he wanted to continue fighting, he had other things to do now.

Damien put away Erebos and exited the crack.

And headed towards where Balhard was.

***

Balhard was jolted awake from his deep sleep by a sudden kick.

"Who is it? Who dares to disturb the sleep of Lord Balhard!"

He was furious when someone woke him up from his sleep.

Balhard suddenly got up and looked around angrily.

"It\'s me."

"S-Sir D-Da-Damien."

As soon as he realized it was Damien, he bowed his head.

"But why did you wake me up? Weren\'t we supposed to rest until tomorrow morning?"

"I found something interesting. I want you to see it."

"Yes?"

Balhard followed Damien with a puzzled expression.

And as soon as he saw the crack, his eyes widened in shock.

"W-what is this?"

"That\'s why I brought you here."

Balhard entered with Damien. And he couldn\'t help but be shocked once more.

"This is an artificial dimension!"

"Artificial dimension? Is it similar to the Otherworld?"

"No, It\'s completely different. The Otherworld is just a space borrowed from the mortal dimension! But this place...it\'s a completely new place!"

Balhard looked around with trembling eyes. Then his gaze stopped at the seven statues.

"..."

There was a dumbfounded look on Balhard\'s face as he stared at the statues. Damien approached Balhard and asked.

"Why are you so surprised by that?"

"T-those...are the remains of the Demon Lords!"

Balhard was so surprised that he forgot to be respectful.

"Ah, during the time when demons ruled the earth! The remains of the Lords that the demons worshiped! I never thought these would still exist in the world..."

Balhard was too young to know much about that era.

But he knew a lot about the stories of the Demon Lords from hearing them endlessly from the adults.

Monsters that even powerful dragons feared.

Beings so powerful that they were revered as ancient gods by humans.

"Damien! This is the Altar! I\'m sure of it! We found the Altar before the demons!"

"That\'s good."

"Of course it is! The Altar itself is a very useful place! And besides, there are the remains of the Demon Lords here!"

Balhard couldn\'t contain his excitement.

It was already a great feat to find the Altar but to have the remains of the Demon Lords as well.

"Are those remains really that great?"

"Of course they are! By absorbing these remains, you can obtain the power of the Demon Lords! The demons will do anything to get their hands on them!"

Of course, it was also of immense value to the dragons.

‘The remains of such a transcendent being as a Demon Lord could be used to create something incredible if processed a bit.’

‘I need to take these remains to the Otherworld immediately! The elders will know how to use them!’

Balhard\'s mind was filled with thoughts of using the Demon Lords\'s remains.

‘With just these, I won\'t need to continue working for Damien Haksen!’

Balhard was more excited about not having to work with Damien than about the accomplishment.

‘I\'ve suffered too much at his hands to just let him have it! I\'ll make the human pay for treating a dragon like a slave!’

Just as Balhard was full of anticipation, Damien spoke in a bored tone.

"It\'s a good thing the demons covet them. I was going to use them as bait anyway."

Balhard\'s body stiffened at those words.

"...What are you talking about?"

"Why are you asking stupid questions? I\'m going to use this Altar as bait to lure out the demons."

"Why would you do something so stupid? Surely you don\'t understand the value of this Altar?"

Damien replied to Balhard\'s question with a pathetic look.

"Because that\'s how I\'ll lure out Vahel and Dorugo."

"Why would you do something so foolish... You don\'t care what happens to this Altar, do you?"

“My purpose is to kill Vahel and Dorugo. I don\'t care what happens to the Altar.”

Damien said firmly. Realizing that those words were sincere, Balhard\'s face turned pale.

If he couldn\'t take the Demon Lords\'s remains to the Otherworld, Balhard would have no choice but to continue to be harassed by Damien.

Not only that, but if they stayed like this, they would have to fight the demons together. He absolutely did not want that.

"I won\'t allow it!"

"Oh? I didn\'t ask for your permission."

Damien took out Erebos. Seeing that Balhard shuddered and asked.

"W-what are you trying to do?"

"Something like this."

Damien swung Erebos towards the crack.

The aurablade released from Erebos cut through the crack and flew out.

As the crack was cut, the wall hiding the artificial dimension completely disappeared.

Thanks to that, Balhard could see.

He could see the aurablade that Damien had released flying high into the sky and causing a magnificent explosion.

"D-Damien! You, you crazy bastard! Do you know what you\'ve done?"

Balhard grabbed Damien by the collar and shouted. Damien looked outside and opened his mouth.

"Ah, here they come."

Damien said as he looked outside. Countless dimensional portals were opening in the night sky.

"Balhard, I\'ll forgive you for speaking rudely to me for this time."

Damien said straightening his collars.

"So get ready to fight now."

***