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Chapter 141

Chapter 141: Gathdal the Chosen (2)

***

The question arose, but there was no time to dwell on it. He had to get to the Duke’s castle as quickly as possible, as he didn’t know what Gathdal would do now that his identity had been revealed.

‘In the future, Gathdal killed and absorbed everyone who came to the ruins, including the soldiers and knights.’

In the worst case, the massacre might be repeated exactly as it happened in history.

“Miya, how’s your body?”

“Kyaa!”

Damien asked, looking back at Miya. She stood up abruptly as if nothing was wrong.

The wound that had been pierced by the Evil Spear had already disappeared cleanly.

Even for Miya, it would have been impossible to regenerate a wound caused by the Evil Spear so easily.

‘It must be thanks to the Phoenix’s blood.’

The way he had caused flames to erupt when fighting Gathdal, it seemed that she had absorbed all of the Phoenix’s abilities in that short time.

“We need to get to the Duke’s estate first.”

“Kyaa!”

Miya said, burning with determination. Damien looked at her with a what-are-you-talking-about expression.

“You can’t come with me, because we need to go outside.”

Saying this, Damien held out a travel bag. Miya’s shoulders slumped when she saw it.

***

Damien immediately ascended to the ground floor.

He left the artifacts he had found on the 6th floor as they were. After all, no one would be able to come down to the 6th floor without him.

The Duke’s castle was located close to the ruins. Damien headed for the castle without delay.

The gate of the castle was tightly shut. As Damien approached, the soldiers standing guard in front of the gate blocked his way.

“I have an urgent message for Princess Freize. It is a matter of the Country’s safety.”

At his words, the soldiers looked at Damien with dumbfounded expressions.

Even for Damien, he would have reacted the same way if he had come out of nowhere in the middle of the day and made such a claim.

“Mr. Victor? You’re Mr. Victor, right? I saw you defeating the knights of the Duplessis faction last time.”

One of the gatekeepers pretended to know him.

“However, Mr. Victor, you can’t meet Princess Freize with such a strange excuse. So please go back…….”

Just then.

The gate of the castle slowly began to rise, accompanied by the sound of it turning. The gatekeeper looked back at the gate with a surprised expression.

Dominico stood beyond the wide-open gate. He spoke to Damien with a stern expression.

“Victor. Come inside. Princess is calling for you.”

Damien passed by the gatekeepers and entered the castle. The gate then closed behind him.

As he entered, he saw a large number of knights and soldiers standing guard.

In the center of them stood a young girl.

A beautiful woman with long blonde hair and pale skin that stood out.

She was Princess Freize, the successor to the Duke’s territory.

“Mr. Victor? I’ve heard a lot from Dominico, but it’s my first time seeing you in person.”

This was also the first time Damien had met Freize properly.

Freize’s voice, which he heard directly, was very lively.

“You already knew that I was coming.”

Otherwise, the gate would not have opened without the soldiers even relaying the message.

At Damien’s words, Freize smiled quietly. It was a brilliant smile, but it felt somewhat dark.

“There is a dark mage hiding inside the Duke’s estate.”

Damien said to Freize.

Dark mage.

Beings that the Church is trying to kill with fire in their eyes.

Freize was not surprised at all to hear that he was hiding in the Duke’s estate.

Instead, she spoke with an indifferent expression.

“I know.”

***

There was a brief silence.

Given the circumstances, Damien wasn’t particularly surprised.

“Have you joined forces with the dark mage?”

Still, there was a need to confirm properly.

“That’s the case.”

“Then opening the ruins was also because of the dark mage, I suppose. The dark mage would have needed the souls of skilled warriors and knights.”

“That’s correct.”

“Was the declaration to marry the person who found the relic sword for the same reason?”

“Yes.”

“And the soldiers of Almond Country patrolling the ruins were to capture explorers for the dark mage’s research material.”

“You’re exactly right.”

Freize said with a curious expression. Damien asked with a sigh.

“Why did you join forces with the dark mage? You must know what would happen if this fact were to be known to the Church.”

“I’d rather not say that.”

Freize drew a line with a smiling face.

“That mage just asked me a favor. He asked me to kill you.”

Freize raised her hand. Dominico and the knights stepped forward.

“Dominico, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“I will fulfill the command.”

With those words, Freize turned and disappeared.

Thus, only Damien, Dominico, and Almond Country’s knights and soldiers remained.

“I never expected it would end like this with you.”

Dominico smirked.

“I shouldn’t say this in such a situation… but I quite liked you. That’s why it’s even more regrettable.”

Dominico closed his eyes tightly. After a while, he said with a touch of embarrassment.

“…Why did I get so deeply involved?”

Damien said firmly to Dominico.

“Step aside.”

“I can’t do that. Lady Freize has given orders.”

As Dominico gestured, a soldier came forward with a nod, holding a weapon.

It was a Zweihänder.

Long and heavy, it required both hands to wield, but Dominico held it lightly with one hand as if it were a dagger.

“Above all, to fulfill Lady Freize’s wish, that dark mage is absolutely necessary. We can’t afford to lose him like this.”

As Dominico raised the weapon, some knights approached and spoke to him.

“Sir Dominico, we’ll handle that person.”

“No, I have to face him.”

Dominico said firmly.

“He’s not an ordinary mid-class. You stand no chance against him.”

Dominico gathered his mana. A fierce aura burst forth.

Among the high classes Damien had encountered, no one had such a powerful aura.

This kind of energy wasn’t something an ordinary high-class could possess.

Master class.

There was no doubt that he was just one step away from the realm of a superhuman.

It was truly remarkable talent. He hadn’t gained notoriety as Gathdal’s commander in his previous life for nothing.

But Damien had no time to admire Dominico’s talent. He was filled with rising anger and disgust.

“Joining forces with a dark mage? What a foolish decision.”

At Damien’s words, Dominico’s expression hardened.

“Don’t speak so recklessly without knowing the circumstances…”

“Whatever reasons you have, it doesn’t matter! By believing the words of dark mages, you’ve become nothing but idiots beyond redemption!”

In his past life, Damien’s involvement with dark mages led to everything falling apart.

He ruined his own life, and his family’s lives. He even brought about the destruction of the world.

“Do you even know what you’ve gotten yourself into? You’ve invited hell upon yourselves! When you’re tearing your hearts apart with regret, it’ll be too late for everything!”

And yet, here were these idiots willing to walk into that very hell willingly.

It was infuriating to the point of being unbearable. So much so that it was difficult to suppress the rising emotions.

“…Shut up.”

“It’s you who should shut up! Why didn’t you stop it? When your master was doing despicable things, you should’ve intervened! Or were you too brainless to fall for the nonsense spewed by dark mages just like them!”

With successive insults, Dominico’s face hardened. He gritted his teeth and raised his weapon.

“…It’s becoming increasingly difficult to listen to you. Shut your mouth right now.”

Dominico slammed the ground. Closing the distance in an instant, he swung the Zweihänder.

At that moment, the entire castle shook with a tremendous vibration.

***

High class, No existence who is one step away from becoming a master class.

Such an existence unleashed a blow that split the ground and shook the world with its power.

However, what he was aiming for could not be broken. Dominico’s attack was stopped by the dawn that Damien was holding and could not go any further.

“You can stop this!”

Dominico said in disbelief at the sight.

“Ha! You’re not a middle class, you’re a high class! I can’t believe I didn’t notice!”

Since entering Almond Country, Damien has been pretending to be a middle class.

Even Cheongyeum, one of the Five Great Elders, did not realize Damien’s true strength.

No matter how close he was to the master class, it was impossible for Dominico to notice.

“If you’re a high class, then it’s even better. I can wield my sword without hesitation!”

Dominico swung his Zweihänder in succession. The air was torn apart with a vivid sound every time he swung the long and heavy sword.

Damien swung the dawn to block Dominico’s attacks.

Compared to the Zweihänder, the dawn looked too thin and flimsy.

However, even after repeated clashes, the dawn did not bend or break. On the contrary, the blade of the Zweihänder began to chip.

“What a great sword. Even so, this sword is made of an alloy from the ruins.”

Dominico said his face hardening.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a fair fight.”

As Dominico infused his Zweihänder with mana, a red aura dyed the blade. Damien also covered the dawn with a blue aura.

The two men swung their weapons at each other, filled with aura. Blue and red intertwined in a complex manner.

“Sir Dominico! Kill him!”

“We can’t let the one who is interfering with Princess Freize’s life!”

The knights and soldiers who were watching the scene cheered and cheered for Dominico.

Since the blade of the Zweihänder was much longer, the red area was larger even when they swung their weapons equally.

So at first glance, it seemed that Dominico was overwhelming his opponent.

That’s why the knights and soldiers of Almond Country cheered even more.

That was when it happened.

The blue cut through the red.

The blade of the Zweihänder was split in half. At the same time, Dominico’s body was split open.

Dominico groaned and backed away. Blood was flowing incessantly from the long sword wound that ran diagonally across his torso.

“D, Sir Dominico?”

“W, what the hell is going on…”

Damien swung the dawn in the air. The blood on the blade splattered on the ground.

Dominico looked at Damien with a face of despair.

“T, this is ridiculous… How did you… see through all of my swordsmanship…?”

Damien wiped the blood off the dawn and said.

“It’s a difference in skill.”

“Skill… difference…!”

Although they had only clashed once, Dominico realized it to the bone.

The absolute gap between him and Damien.

“It’s time to pay the price for your atrocities.”

The knights and soldiers of Almond Country did not just cover up the existence of Gathdal.

Under the pretext of patrolling, they also roamed the ruins, kidnapping explorers and sending them to Gathdal.

And the person in charge of managing the knights and soldiers was Dominico. In other words, it could be said that the act of offering explorers as research materials for Gathdal was carried out under Dominico’s leadership.

There was no way he could let a man who had committed such a crime live. Just as Damien was about to cut off Dominico’s head.

“Eek!”

The knights rushed in with a yell.

***

The knights cried out as they charged towards Damien.

Damien swung his sword towards the knights. The onslaught of his aura slashed through them.

The knights tried to defend themselves by imbuing their weapons with aura to block the attacks.

“Argh!”

“Ahh!”

However, the knights’ auras couldn’t withstand Damien’s assault. Their weapons and bodies were cleaved apart.

“Argh! Protect Sir Dominico!”

“Don’t run away! Push him back!”

Yet, the knights didn’t stop. Fueled by the death of their comrades, they rushed at Damien again.

In the end, Damien was pushed back by the knights’ momentum.

In the meantime, the knights supported Dominico, applying potions to his wounds.

“Sir Dominico! Please, retreat!”

“We will handle this man!”

Dominico looked at them with a puzzled expression.

“What are you talking about? If You’re going to fight, we should fight together!”

“Sir Dominico, we also have eyes! He’s not an opponent we can defeat by confronting him alone!”

To the knights of Almond Country, Dominico was like a deity.

Dominico, who hadn’t even had a chance to fight properly, suffered critical injuries. It meant that there was a significant gap between them.

“While we hold him off, please escort Princess Freize to safety!”

At those words, Dominico snapped out of it.

The knights were right. Even if everyone here fought together, there was no guarantee they could stop him.

If they couldn’t stop him, Damien would undoubtedly kill Freize and the dark mage.

“…I’m sorry, everyone!”

Dominico dashed towards where Freize was, leaving the others behind.

The knights bid farewell to Dominico with bitter smiles.

“What a foolish thing to do.”

Damien said in a chilling tone.

“Your master has allied with a dark mage. If we don’t stop the dark mage right now, there will be a heavy price to pay.”

“I don’t know what nonsense you’re talking about…”

The knights gripped their weapons tighter, channeling all their aura.

“You will never get inside!”

All the knights rushed towards Damien. Watching them, Damien briefly licked his lips.

“Very well. I’ll gladly oblige. After all, you’re all deserving of death.”

Victor raised his sword.

Soon after, the knights’ blood scattered.

***

Dominico ran to the annex of the castle.

That was where Gathdal’s research lab was located, and where Freize’s wish was being fulfilled.

Freize always spent his time there outside of work hours. So he thought he would be there this time too.

“Princess Freize! You have to escape!”

Dominico shouted as he opened the door to the annex. At that moment, his body froze stiffly.

Freize was lying on the floor with a hole in the middle of his chest. His eyes were lifeless, suggesting that he was already dead.

“Hmm? Are you coming now?”

Gathdal asked, looking back at Dominico. Gathdal’s hands were stained red.

The moment he saw the heart resting on that hand, Dominico lost his sanity.

***