Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight

[Translator - Kie]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]

Chapter 336: The Demon Lord (2)

***

The body was slashed.

A diagonal cut ran from the left shoulder blade to the right hip. Hot blood spurted out as if cheering.

Epsilon stared in shock at the blood scattering through the air.

He didn't even see Damien approach, let alone swing his sword.

In fact, he only realized he'd been cut after the wound was already inflicted.

There was no time to tend to the injury. Damien was preparing for a second strike.

"Kuk!"

Epsilon hastily swung his axe towards Damien.

The horizontally swung axe aimed to chop at Damien's neck.

Just before being hit by the axe, Damien's afterimage stretched out and brushed past Epsilon's side.

Immediately after, blood burst forth. A deep gash had suddenly appeared on his flank.

"Urgh!"

Epsilon groaned and chased after Damien. But Damien had already vanished.

Epsilon couldn't help but be astonished.

Currently, Epsilon has not only obtained the Demon Lord's powers but also his physical body.

Of course, he hadn't gained the power of the Demon Lord in his prime. He had only absorbed the corpse, after all.

Even so, the Demon Lord was still the Demon Lord.

Long ago, the Demon Lord had commanded Duke class demons as his subordinates and was an absolute being without equal.

Despite obtaining the body of such a transcendent being, Epsilon was being overwhelmed by Damien.

"Indeed...!"

This was no easy opponent. He would have to go all out. Epsilon drew out all the power he had been hiding.

Demonic energy coursed through his blood vessels, spreading throughout his body. Immense power welled up. He could feel all his senses being honed to razor sharpness.

Thanks to his heightened senses, more information flooded in. He could distinctly feel the air touching his skin and even the vibrations of sound.

Side.

Epsilon turned his head. He saw Damien charging towards him.

Damien swung his sword at Epsilon. The horizontal slash was clearly visible.

Epsilon's limbs tensed. Demonic energy spread throughout his body and exploded.

Epsilon swung his axe down at Damien. The accelerated axe deflected Damien's slash.

Damien swung his sword again. This time too, Epsilon parried the slash with his axe.

"I've caught up!"

Epsilon rejoiced greatly as he raised his axe high.

This time, he would split the head open for sure.

Epsilon drew out even more Demonic energy. The muscles in his arms and legs withered.

He poured all that power into swinging down the axe.

The overwhelming force pushed away all the surrounding air. A strong gust blew away nearby objects.

The axe, falling like lightning, was about to crush Damien's head.

At that moment, Damien muttered briefly.

"Two Flowers."

The heat haze enveloping Damien's body grew even thicker.

The next moment, one of Epsilon's arms vanished.

It had been severed from the left shoulder. The severed left arm was flying high into the sky along with the axe.

"...?"

At first, Epsilon couldn't grasp the situation.

It took him a while to realize that Damien had cut off his arm at a speed far beyond what he could perceive.

"This... this is impossible..."

Epsilon stared at Damien with an incredulous expression.

Damien had already retrieved his swung sword and was poised in a stance.

He lowered his sword, bending at the waist. His heel was raised as if ready to spring forward at any moment.

An ominous premonition struck Epsilon's mind. Sure enough, that premonition became reality.

Once again, Damien's body disappeared. Immediately after, slashes rained down from all directions.

Parts of his body were being cut off. His body shook violently like a reed in a storm. Blood splattered incessantly on the ground.

Even amidst the pain, Epsilon desperately tried to capture Damien's movements.

But all Epsilon could see was a heat haze resembling flower petals.

He couldn't even keep up with the afterimages. As time passed, the wounds on his body only increased.

If this continues, he'll die.

The fear of death began to rise from the tips of his toes. Epsilon instinctively used the Authority of Gluttony.

As Epsilon spread out his remaining right arm, the symbol of Gluttony appeared on his palm. The symbol began to suck in the surrounding air.

The suction was so powerful that even clouds in the sky were being drawn in.

As soon as he judged that he had absorbed enough air, Epsilon released it again.

At that moment, a deafening explosion erupted.

As the air was expelled, it blew away everything in the vicinity. A huge crater formed as if a meteor had fallen.

"Huff, huff."

Epsilon breathed heavily. It was because he had consumed a lot of energy by hastily invoking Authority.

However, Epsilon couldn't rest easy. He looked around, searching for Damien.

Then he saw Damien standing unscathed in the distance.

"...How did you dodge that?"

He couldn't help but ask.

It had taken an extremely short time to absorb the air and explode it. There shouldn't have been enough time to dodge.

"I just put some distance between us and then came back."

As Damien spoke as if it were nothing, Epsilon couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.

"More importantly, how are you able to use the Authority of Gluttony?"

Damien asked in an unpleasant tone.

It was an understandable situation. Originally, the Authority of Gluttony belonged to Damien.

"Didn't I tell you? I've absorbed all the Authority and abilities of this Demon Lord."

"Don't spout nonsense. I possess all Demon Lords' authorities."

"The authorities Mother implanted in you are only in fractions. Most of them remained in the Demon Lords' corpses."

Epsilon had inherited more part of authority than Damien.

When it came to abilities, Epsilon was far superior to Damien.

This applied to both the output of the authority and their versatility.

"So it's best not to expect that you can do everything I show you."

"You're talking pretty big for someone who's about to die."

Damien spoke mockingly.

Right now, Epsilon was in tatters. Not only was his entire body slashed up, but he had also lost an arm.

"I can heal injuries of this level quickly."

Epsilon placed his remaining arm on the ground. He once again manifested the Authority of Gluttony and began to absorb the soil.

Suddenly, the ground level lowered.

It wasn't an illusion. The entire field where the capital stood was gradually sinking.

Soon after, Epsilon's body began to regenerate instantly, and even his severed arm grew back quickly. In the blink of an eye, he returned to his unscathed state.

Watching this scene, Damien spoke with interest.

"So you can use not only the Demon Lord's authority but also your original abilities?"

Originally, Epsilon was created using the corpse of a giant that had gone extinct long ago.

That giant had the ability to freely manipulate minerals.

Just now, Epsilon had absorbed a large amount of soil, converted it into metal, and used it to repair his body.

"As long as there's earth, I'm practically immortal."

Epsilon said with a voice full of confidence. It was an attempt to put even a little pressure on Damien.

"Oh really? Then this time I'll cut off your head in one stroke. So you won't be able to regenerate."

But Damien wasn't intimidated by this fact at all. Instead, he revealed an even more intense killing intent.

"..."

Instead, it was Epsilon who felt intimidated.

Even after absorbing the Demon Lord’s corpse, he wasn't confident he could win against Damien.

Suddenly, he remembered his mother's advice:

- Try to avoid combat if possible. Your goal is to rescue Theta, nothing more.

Dorugo had earnestly urged Epsilon and Iota to avoid engagement.

"That monster gets stronger with each battle. If we don't finish him off for sure, we'll be the ones dying next time."

Mother was right.

Damien wasn't someone to be trifled with. They should only fight him when fully prepared and certain of a killing blow.

"Thinking of other things right in front of me. You've got some nerve."

Damien's killing intent grew even sharper. Epsilon felt chills run down his spine.

"Kahahahaha! I've detected it! I've found it!"

At that moment.

Iota's laughter erupted from the sky above.

Simultaneously, Iota fell from the sky. He dove towards the imperial palace.

With a thunderous sound, the palace was smashed to pieces. The sound of the ground layers shattering followed in succession.

Soon after, Iota shot high into the sky again. In Iota's arms was Theta.

"Epsilon! I've rescued Theta!"

Iota shouted with an excited voice.

"Shall we go back now? But isn't that too much of a waste?"

Iota looked down at Damien from the sky. Damien glared back at Iota.

"Let's just capture Damien right here! That would solve mother's worries too!"

Epsilon's heart stirred slightly at those words.

He hadn't revealed all his cards yet. If Iota joined in, they might have a chance.

Just as Epsilon was calculating in his mind...

"So there was indeed one more."

Damien muttered in a low voice. Hearing this, Epsilon felt a chill.

Epsilon had spread his demonic energy all around to hide Iota's presence.

However, Damien had already noticed Iota's existence.

The fact that he still engaged in battle with Epsilon meant he was confident he could win against both of them.

"...Iota! Retreat right now!"

Epsilon pulled out a fist-sized crystal from his pocket.

He threw the crystal to the ground with all his might. As the crystal shattered, a purple beam of light shot high into the sky.

Soon after, the sky began to distort.

The distortion quickly turned into a vortex. The center of the vortex turned black.

Someone walked out from within it.

The person was completely covered in a robe, making it impossible to identify. Even hands were hidden by long sleeves.

Darkness pooled inside the robe. Within that darkness, two glowing eyes burned.

As soon as he saw the mysterious figure, Damien's lips twisted.

"This saves me the trouble of having to go look for you."

Damien muttered with a sneer.

"Dorugo, it's disgustingly good to see you again."

***

[Translator - Kie]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]

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