Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight

[Translator - Kie]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]

Chapter 348: The Hasken Family (4)

***

“Step back.”

Dorugo spoke with a voice full of murderous intent. However, Theta simply stood still.

"Do you really think I'll have to beat some sense into you?"

"If that's what you intend to do, Mother, I have no choice but to accept it."

Upon hearing this response, Dorugo's face twisted in anger.

Simultaneously, her demonic energy erupted from her body.

An immense energy whipped up a storm.

Theta also revealed her true form. Her body grew much larger, covered entirely in blue scales. Her ears transformed into fin-like appendages.

The demonic energy of the two collided. A chilling sound reverberated throughout the world.

"Wait!"

At that moment, Iota intervened between the two.

"Theta! What are you doing? Withdraw your energy right now! Mother, please calm down. You know Theta has a unique way of thinking. She's just having some strange thoughts for a moment!"

Despite Iota's attempts to stop them, neither of them withdrew their demonic energies.

"Iota, step aside."

Dorugo spoke in a chilling tone.

"It seems the adjustment has failed. I can't leave something like that alone. I'll have to readjust her."

"B-but Mother... if you readjust her... Theta will disappear..."

"So what?"

Dorugo replied coldly.

"Creations must obey their creator. Any creation that doesn't is a failure."

Iota couldn't help but be shocked by these words that treated them like mere objects.

"M-Mother... even so... p-please, not readjustment..."

"Are you thinking of defying me too?"

Dorugo turned to Iota and asked. Faced with those chilling eyes, Iota involuntarily lowered his head.

"N-no... that's not it, but..."

"Then stop talking and move aside."

Dorugo tried to push Iota away.

However, Iota didn't budge easily. He stood his ground.

"What do you think you're doing?"

As Dorugo questioned Iota, Iota also revealed his true form.

Dragon scales settled over his muscular body that looked ready to burst.

Iota threw a punch at Dorugo. A powerful fist that could easily crumble mountains struck Dorugo's face.

"Iota!"

"What are you doing?!"

As Epsilon and Lambda watched the situation unfold, they both cried out in shock.

But Iota's punch didn't cause Dorugo any harm at all.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Dorugo asked Iota with an unscathed face. Iota stepped back and said.

"What am I doing? I'm rebelling against you, Mother!"

"Have you gone mad like Theta?"

"I might not know about Theta, but I'm perfectly sane!"

Covering his face with both fists as if ready to throw another punch he said.

"If you readjust her... I'll never see Theta again! We've finally become close, I can't let that happen!"

Iota turned his head to look at Theta. Unlike usual, Theta was looking at Iota with a surprised expression.

"Kahahaha! So you can make that kind of expression too!"

He had never noticed before because Theta always treated him coldly.

"Iota, you idiot. What are you doing?"

"Is this the time to worry about that? We need to figure out how to survive from Mother’s wrath!"

Iota stood beside Theta. It would be more advantageous to fight Dorugo together rather than separately.

"...If that's what you two want, I have no choice."

Dorugo spoke in a calm tone. It was as if her anger from earlier had been a lie.

"Mother... we'll try to persuade them."

"We'll handle this. Mother, please calm down."

However, Epsilon and Lambda seemed even more terrified than before.

"You two stay put. Unless you want to end up like those two."

Dorugo spoke in a sharp tone. Epsilon and Lambda immediately shut their mouths.

"If you're going to defy me to the end... I have no choice. I'll have to disassemble you both and reassemble you."

Theta and Iota involuntarily swallowed.

At that moment, Dorugo's form disappeared. Theta quickly shouted.

"Mother's coming! From the left!"

Thanks to her power of insight, she was able to predict Dorugo's movement.

However, predicting and responding were two different matters.

Dorugo appeared from the left and plunged her fist into Iota's abdomen.

Iota's abdomen burst open and his spine shattered. Dorugo's fist protruded from Iota's back.

"Kuh!"

Even as he screamed, Iota tried to grab Dorugo.

But Dorugo had already shaken off Iota and approached Theta.

Theta swung her sword at Dorugo. Dorugo easily caught the longsword with two fingers.

"You're still using this thing? I told you to get rid of it."

As Dorugo applied force with her two fingers, the sword shattered. Then she swung her hand towards Theta's waist.

Theta's waist was cleanly severed. Theta fell to the ground with her body separated.

"Epsilon, Lambda. Hold these two. I plan to disassemble them later."

Saying this, Dorugo turned around.

At that moment, something caught her ankle. She looked down and saw Theta was grabbing her ankle.

"Please... let go... at least... his family..."

Dorugo looked down at Theta with an incredulous expression.

"Why are you going this far?"

Even Theta couldn't clearly answer that question.

Dorugo was an absolute existence to Theta. No matter how much she admired Damien Haksen, it was unthinkable to disobey her mother's orders.

Nevertheless, Theta was resisting Dorugo even at the risk of death.

-Damien, you don't know how long I've waited for the day I could talk to you.

Suddenly, she recalled the time when she was captured by the Empire.

All of Theta's words were sincere. She admired Damien Haksen.

She took up the sword, captivated by Damien's fighting style. She learned swordsmanship wanting to emulate him.

-Even now, when I close my eyes, I can vividly recall it. Your overwhelming presence as you slaughtered your enemies.

But Theta could never get close to Damien. Because he was a Death Knight. Because he had long lost his sense of self.

-On the battlefield, you were an absolute existence. All who challenged you lost their lives.

That's why she rejoiced when she regained her memories in this life. She could finally have a conversation with the Damien she had longed for.

-Damien, you were my idol.

But Damien was different from Theta.

Even when she sincerely expressed her admiration, he didn't accept it. He showed endless anger. He tried to kill Theta.

Theta could hardly understand this. Perhaps it had hurt her. Because she kept thinking about it.

"...I don't know."

She didn't know.

Why had Damien been so angry with her?

"...But I do know this."

If his family dies, Damien will hate her even more.

"That... I think... I wouldn't like that..."

Theta gripped Dorugo's ankle even more tightly. It was to hold on for even a moment longer.

"Seeing you still spouting nonsense, it's clear you really do need readjustment."

But Dorugo coldly shook off Theta's grip. And then she approached Louise again.

Dorugo spoke with irritation in her voice:

"Why are there so many interfering with me? It's starting to get annoying."

Veins bulged on Dorugo's forehead. Her barely contained anger was showing on the surface.

"This is going to be a very bad situation for you."

Dorugo looked down at Louise. Louise was looking up at Dorugo with tears in her eyes.

"Let's take a look at the child's face first, shall we?"

As Dorugo reached out towards Louise, she sensed something.

Only Dorugo, who possessed the Authority of Pride, could perceive it.

"This is...?"

Something was coming here.

It was forcibly approaching, twisting and breaking the space surrounding this place.

"This shouldn't be possible..."

It was unthinkable. The surrounding space had been completely distorted by Dorugo.

It was impossible for anyone to overcome that distortion and open a dimensional portal.

But Dorugo knew one person who had overcome the impossible time and time again.

"Could it be...?"

The moment Dorugo recalled a certain man's name, a line was drawn in the sky.

The space around the line shattered like glass. Someone leapt out through that gap.

Simultaneously, he swung his sword down at Dorugo.

Dorugo had no choice but to back away when she saw the chilling energy in that sword strike.

"Dorugo!"

The man who had burst through space shouted as he pointed his sword at Dorugo.

"I told you not to touch my family!"

* * *

"...I truly can't believe this."

Dorugo let out a hollow laugh as she looked at Damien standing before her.

"I twisted all the space so you could never escape... yet you break through and appear before me?"

Dorugo spoke as if disgusted. She wondered how many times this man would interfere with her plans before he was satisfied.

"But Damien Haksen... it seems you've pushed yourself too hard in your haste."

Damien's body was not in a normal state right now.

His entire body was torn apart as if it had been ground up. Red blood stained his whole body. He looked like he could barely stand, let alone fight.

It couldn't be helped.

Damien didn't have the technique to open dimensional portals on his own.

Moreover, the space around Mount Carion had been twisted by Dorugo, making it completely impossible to open a dimensional portal.

That's why Damien had no choice but to pour out all of his techniques.

He imitated Dorugo's methods of using her authorities, just like when he fought the Four Great Demon Kings.

But that alone wasn't enough to perfectly open a dimensional portal.

So he mobilized everything he had.

He cut through dimensions with his 'Sword God' realm. He advanced forward, breaking through the twisted coordinates with Erebos.

Unlike what it sounds, it wasn't an easy method. Forcing through twisted dimensions was like piercing through a mountain of blades.

As a result, Damien's body couldn't help but be cut, torn and scraped away.

It wasn't just surface damage. Due to using the Soulflower of Tranquility, Damien was in a state of severe internal injury.

"Cough."

Damien staggered and coughed up blood. Louise, who was beside him, supported him in panic.

"Damien!"

Louise embraced Damien. Her clothes were instantly stained with blood.

At that sight, Louise's face turned pale.

"Why... why are you so injured?"

Damien forced a smile and pulled away from his sister. Then he saw his family running from afar.

"Damien!"

His father, who arrived first embraced Damien. He shed tears looking at Damien's injured body.

"You... you foolish child... I told you repeatedly not to get hurt..."

"Damien! What... what are these wounds? Come to your senses!"

"Brother! What on earth happened to you!"

Damien looked at his family with bitter eyes. They all looked like they were about to cry.

On the day he returned to the past, Damien had made a vow. That he would definitely make his family happy.

But in the end, Damien had failed. Because he had made his family suffer like this.

"This wasn't in the plan... but it's not bad."

At that moment, Dorugo's voice was heard. Turning his head, Damien saw Dorugo looking this way with a sneer.

"Since it's come to this, I'll show you directly. What kind of hell your precious family will go through."

He couldn't let that happen. Even at the cost of his life, he had to stop Dorugo.

Damien staggered forward. His father grabbed him.

"Damien! What are you thinking! You're not planning to fight in that condition, are you? You can't!"

His father shouted firmly.

"Run... Run away! Leave us behind and save yourself!"

"I can't do that."

Damien shook his head without a moment's hesitation.

His father's face turned bright red.

"Just listen to me for once!"

His father shouted angrily. Damien was momentarily speechless.

"Please... I'm telling you to run away. At least you should live!"

Damien chuckled and said.

"Father, don't say such foolish things."

"W-What?"

"Do you think she'll let me go? She'll never let me go."

Damien lifted his head and looked up at the sky. It was this bright on the day he was driven out of the family too.

"Father, do you know something? I'm a terribly bad person."

Count Haksen's face went blank. There was a look on his face as if he didn't understand what Damien was saying.

"Because of me, many people died. So many that it's hard to count... so very many died."

In his past life, Damien alone had toppled kingdoms and trampled the Empire.

In that process, the number of humans he killed directly with his own hands exceeded billions.

And the number of people killed by the dark mages who took over the fallen kingdoms was even greater than that.

"They were truly terrible days."

All the sensations felt by the body were transmitted to Damien as well.

How helplessly human flesh was cut away. How noisily bones shattered. How easily heads burst.

It felt like he would go mad. He wanted to die, but he couldn't. He wanted to resist, but it was impossible.

Because Damien's mind was trapped in that body.

"Maybe that's why I hesitated."

Damien desperately needed a body strong enough to withstand his talents.

But even though he already knew how to obtain that body, he kept hesitating to execute it.

Because returning to that time was so frightening and nauseating to the point of vomiting.

"I'm sorry. Because I hesitated, we've come to this situation."

Damien rolled up his sleeve. Seven symbols engraved on the back of his hand glowed.

The moment she saw that, Dorugo's eyes widened.

"It can't be..."

Cracks appeared in Dorugo's composure.

"Anything but that!"

Dorugo stomped on the ground. She reached out to stop Damien.

Just before that, the scenery Damien saw changed.

A dark space.

Something like tree roots stretched out before his eyes.

What looked like tree roots was Damien's life.

The life that started from infancy went through boyhood, and youth and then split into two.

One was the present.

Right now, when his life was being threatened by Dorugo who had returned as a Demon Lord.

And the other one was...

Death Knight.

The fate of the time when he was committing sins as Dorugo's slave.

"So this moment has finally come."

After a brief lament, Damien chose the fate of the Death Knight.

***

[Translator - Kie]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]

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