Chapter 69
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
Chapter 69: The Hunt (1)
***
The Flesh Golems crumbled into pieces of meat and fell apart. The ground was stained red with blood and flesh.
Corpseplay looked at Damien with a face full of shock.
“…Impressive.”
He began to clap.
“You destroyed my dolls in an instant! I’ve never seen such incredible skill!”
Corpseplay wasn’t at all surprised by the sight of his dolls being destroyed.
“Such incredible talent! You will be the best material for my life!”
Material.
Damien’s mouth twisted. It was truly a disgusting word.
Especially from the perspective of Damien, who was turned into a Death Knight by Dorugo.
“Sir Damien… How did you get here…?”
At that moment, Agnes spoke with great effort, raising her head.
“Run… Please… That man… is too dangerous…”
Corpseplay heard Agnes’ voice with a very interested face.
“Are you two very close?”
Corpseplay flicked his finger.
Kite pressed Agnes’s head harder. Agnes groaned.
“His name is Damien? Well then, Damien, I want to ensure you are in the best possible condition when you become my material. So, let’s make a deal. If you wish to save this woman, surrender quietly.”
“Sir Damien… No… Run… quickly…”
Corpseplay flicked his finger again. Kite’s pressure became stronger. Agnes’s groans grew louder.
“I’ll tell you in advance. There’s one more hostage. Would you like to see over there?”
Corpseplay pointed to the side. Margata was being held by the Flesh Golems.
“You’re truly a piece of shit.”
Damien said with an uninteresting face.
“But it’s fortunate. Because you’re a trash that doesn’t exceed expectations.”
Damien raised his head and shouted upwards.
“You two save Margata. I’ll take care of Agnes.”
From the hole that Damien had opened, Gamal and Dionysius came down and moved quickly.
Gamal threw a spear emmating chilling aura. A chilling aura froze all the Flesh Golems.
Dionysius threw a spear next. The flying spear shattered the Flesh Golems into pieces.
The remaining Flesh Golems tried to attack Dionysius and Gamal.
At that moment, Margata, who was now free, summoned blue flames.
The flaming fist exploded the Flesh Golems. As soon as she swung her fist, Margata collapsed, vomiting blood.
“Margata!”
Gamal supported Margata. It seemed that she was injured. Margata kept vomiting blood from her mouth.
“Don’t touch my material!”
Corpseplay spat out in anger and tried to command the other Flesh Golems.
At that moment, Damien swung his holy sword.
The sword aura flew towards Corpseplay. Corpseplay shouted desperately.
“Kite!”
Kite, who was holding Agnes hostage, stepped in front of the Corpseplay.
The aura hit Kite’s body. But it disappeared without a single scratch.
“Kite! Secure the material!”
Kite pointed to Agnes. But it was already too late. Damien, as if he had anticipated Corpseplay’s actions, had already arrived next to Agnes.
“Sir Damien…”
Agnes looked up at Damien with a surprised face.
Even she, who had been raised to a higher level due to the Holy stigma, couldn’t keep up with Damien’s movement because it was so fast and stealthy.
“Dionysius, I entrust Miss Agnes to you.”
Damien said to Dionysius. Dionysius quickly ran over and supported Agnes.
“I’ll stop Corpseplay. The rest of you, get out of here.”
“Sir Damien… What are you talking about? Corpseplay is a dangerous opponent. I will fight with you.”
“She is right. I will help too.”
Agnes and Dionysius did not simply follow Damien’s words.
Damien turned to the two.
Damien’s eyes were overflowing with killing intent. The two closed their mouths without realizing it.
“Go.”
There was an irresistible force in the short word. The two left without a word.
“I can’t understand why you refuse to help… Do you think you can win alone?”
Corpseplay asked as if he found Damien’s actions odd.
“What you broke were dolls I made for practice. The ‘Masterpieces’ I made with all my heart is different.”
Corpseplay flicked his finger. Then the Flesh Golems, which had been standing behind like mannequins, began to move.
Each one emitted an enormous amount of dark mana.
“Calling rotten pieces of meat ‘Masterpieces’, as always.”
Damien said with a disdainful face.
During the Death Knight era.
Damien had worked with the Corpseplay on numerous missions under Dorugo’s command.
He’d seen enough to know better. He’d seen firsthand what a disgusting piece of shit the Corpseplay was.
If he wanted to know how human emotions affected doll making, he would do all sorts of terrible things to the war prisoners.
Once, he even killed a child in front of her mother, saying he wanted a corpse with maternal love. He repeated that act not once, but thousands of times.
“I’m so glad I get to kill you with my own hands.”
Unrestrained laughter intermittently burst out.
“I don’t know how happy I am to get a material like you.”
Corpseplay also smiled and raised his hand.
The ‘Masterpieces’ Corpseplay had put so much effort into creating rushes toward Damien.
Mid-class dolls were focused solely on killing Damien.
The fastest Masterpiece to reach attacked Damien.
It looked just like a human. But it had four thick arms like a pedestal behind it.
The arms contracted like rubber, attempting to seize him. It was as if four massive snake-like arms were trying to coil around him.
Damien narrowly avoided the hands trying to grab him. Then, in a moment, he pulled out his holy sword and swung it upwards.
The sword’s aura cut off all four hands at once. When the arms disappeared, Damien had a clear view.
Before the Masterpiece could react, Damien rushed towards it. He stabbed the holy sword into the Masterpiece’s body.
The divine power destroyed the core. The Masterpiece stopped moving.
Then, other Masterpieces attacked Damien. He avoided all the attacks like flowing water.
While avoiding the attacks, Damien accurately stabbed the Masterpieces’ bodies with his sword.
The deeply embedded sword destroyed the core. The Masterpieces’ functions stopped immediately.
“Stop! Back off!”
Corpseplay shouted desperately. The Masterpieces that were rushing forward backed off.
But it was a belated judgment. Already, more than half of the Masterpieces had been destroyed by Damien’s sword and were lying on the ground.
“…How, how could you, my dolls, my dolls…”
Corpseplay’s pupils shook greatly. Corpseplay shouted like a child.
“This can’t be! My Masterpieces, made with all my heart, can’t fall so easily! Tell me! What did you do!”
Corpseplay’s talent was so great that even Dorugo had to admit it.
The dolls he created with that talent also showed great performance.
When his talent was at its peak, he continued to mass-produce high-class dolls.
But the high-class dolls created by Corpseplay had never won against real high-class opponents.
The power of their bodies, the amount of dark mana they contained, and their bizarre features.
Looking at those things alone, it was clear that they were of high class. But there was one thing missing.
That was skill.
Corpseplay was an expert in flesh golem making, not an expert in skills.
If it were a high-class knight, he could easily see through the dolls’ movements.
A fake that only looks good on the outside.
That was Corpseplay’s doll.
From Damien’s perspective, the dolls made by Corpseplay were nothing more than stiff wooden dolls.
Such low-level attacks could be avoided even with closed eyes.
“I can’t accept this….”
Corpseplay, who was watching his beloved Masterpieces being cut down, muttered in a low voice.
“You’re no longer needed. I won’t use you as materials. Just die.”
Corpseplay raised his hand. Two dolls descended from the dark ceiling.
Surprisingly, the two dolls were floating in mid-air using dark magic.
“Adjustment isn’t complete yet, but it can’t be helped.”
The two dolls spread their hands. A magic circle made of dark magic appeared around them.
Damien looked at the magic circle and recognized the level of the dark mages.
Shockingly, the two dolls were manifesting high-level dark magic.
“Kite. I’ll need your help too.”
The doll that had been protecting Corpseplay stepped forward.
Plates shaped like scales began to wrap around Kite’s skin.
In no time, Kite’s whole body was wrapped in plates. Then, three blades each appeared on his forearms and calves.
Kite emitted dark mana. The mana emitted by Kite alone was much stronger than that of all the Masterpieces combined.
“Isn’t it cool? Kite is the best ‘masterpiece’ I’ve ever made. I prepared him to fight high-class opponents.”
Corpseplay’s face relaxed. He already seemed to be sure of his victory.
Corpseplay had the qualifications for that.
One Doll is his greatest masterpiece.
Two dolls were made by using the bodies of high-level dark mages.
In addition, five other Masterpieces that Corpseplay boasted about.
It was a tremendous force. The reason the crusade had been completely annihilated in their past life was not for nothing.
Perhaps even if there had been no betrayal of Blinding Pain, they still would have been killed.
“You’re having a hard time controlling all your toys.”
Of course, from Damien’s perspective, it was pathetic.
With Damien’s swordsmanship, he could sweep away Kite or anyone else.
But Damien didn’t have the peace of mind right now.
He wanted to suppress Corpseplay as quickly as possible and ask about Dorugo.
He wanted to find out where that skull-faced bastard who ruined his life was, and then he wanted to smash that body into pieces.
The desire for revenge burned within Damien.
“There’s no other way.”
Damien removed the bracelet he was wearing on his wrist.
The dark mana contained in the bracelet was released.
***
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]