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Chapter 242

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Chapter 242: Blanca Roche (1)

***

“You’re not surprised.”

Blanca said with a wry smile. True to her words, Damien’s expression remained unchanged.

“Did you think I was joking? What I said is true. Sla has been at the Academy for a long time. She’s been watching you all along…”

“I know.”

Damien said in a hard voice.

“In the first place, the reason I came to the Academy was to kill Sla.”

Sla could turn into anyone, and she could make anyone her ally. This was why Damien couldn’t able to find Sla.

“You came here to kill that monster? That’s ridiculous. It’s an unrealistic goal.”

“I was looking for who Sla was. I didn’t realize you had joined forces with her.”

“Unlike my words, you don’t look that shocked. Were you suspicious of me?”

“I wouldn’t say I suspected, I just didn’t trust anyone.”

From the moment he entered the Academy, Damien didn’t trust anyone he met. This was because he didn’t know who Sla was.

“Since when have you been on Sla’s side?”

“Long before I met you.”

“Then you must have approached me on Sla’s orders too.”

Blanca nodded slowly.

“It was my role to find out about your situation, actions, and goals.”

“Was it also your idea to kidnap Oliver and Penelope?”

Blanca nodded with a bitter smile. The veins in Damien’s head bulged.

“I could see that you had a special affection for those two children.”

“What did you do to those two?”

“Don’t worry. They’re both safe. For now.”

Damien suppressed the anger that was boiling up inside him.

It wasn’t difficult to let his anger out. But he still had a lot to ask Blanca.

“Why are you listening to Sla?”

“I don’t want to talk about that. It’s for personal reasons…”

“Is it because of your son?”

Whether he guessed right or was stung, Blanca kept her mouth shut.

“Did Sla promised you that she will save your son if you do her bidding? Sla is Grand Dark Mage, so she can easily cure an incurable disease like that.”

No, she could even create a whole new body.

It was a very easy task for a dark mage like Sla.

The problem was the number of people who would have to die for that act.

“Do you know how many people will die for Sla to use dark magic? You’re going to sacrifice others to save your son.”

“I don’t care.”

Blanca said without hesitation.

“I can bear the burden of that sin if it means saving Gael.”

“Bullshit.”

Damien said it with contempt.

“Bear the burden of sin? How? How will you take responsibility for the suffering of those sacrificed to Sla?”

Blanca’s expression hardened at Damien’s accusation.

“Don’t speak so rashly. You wouldn’t understand. You have no idea what it’s like to watch a child suffer like that every day…”

“The one speaking rashly is you!”

“Do you even know what happens to the souls of those who are controlled by dark mages?”

Dark mana was only created when a human soul withered in agony.

That’s why dark mages slaughtered countless people in order to obtain vast amounts of dark mana.

Those who were killed by dark mages found no peace even in death. They were doomed to spew out dark mana while being tortured by the dark mages until their souls were extinguished.

“The one you’ve been cooperating with is Sla! The gain evil of Pandemonium! Do you even know how many people have died or suffered because of that woman!”

Back in his days as a Death Knight, Damien was in a position where he couldn’t disobey Dorugo’s orders.

For Dorugo’s amusement, he forced Damien to kill his own family with his own hands.

The sight of Damien as a Death Knight shocked his family.

But Damien’s family didn’t find peace even in death.

The uniqueness of Damien’s family had attracted the greed of countless dark mages.

The dark mages demanded the souls of Damien’s family from Dorugo. And Sla was among them.

– Damien? Can you see this?

Sla took the soul of his sister, Louise. And then one day, she suddenly appeared and showed Louise to Damien.

“This is your older sister. I’ve been thinking a lot about what to do with this soul.”

A small glass bottle.

Inside it was Louise’s soul.

“I decided to keep her preserved like this. Isn’t it interesting? More interesting than I thought it would be.”

There wasn’t just Louise in the bottle. It was full of naked men.

Louise’s soul was surrounded by them, subjected to all sorts of horrific humiliations.

– It’s such a shame that you don’t have your will.

Louise’s dignity was being trampled on in the glass bottle.

The pride she had as a woman was being crushed.

She would have gone insane from the pain and committed suicide if she had been alive.

But a soul couldn’t commit suicide. Not unless it was extinguished by being tormented by a dark mage.

“You stupid woman. You just made the worst choice! To save your child? You’re going to lose your child because of this! Dark mages are all scum anyway!”

Damien shouted in anger.

But Damien’s anger didn’t reach Blanca at all.

“…It’s just going to hurt my mouth to talk to someone who isn’t even a parent.”

Blanca had her own reasons.

“Now decide. Will you follow Sla’s demands? If you refuse, I cannot guarantee the lives of the two students.”

Damien responded by drawing his Dawn.

“…You don’t care about the safety of those children?”

“Don’t waste my time on trash topics.”

Killing intent erupted from Damien’s entire body. It was on a different level from the killing intent he had emitted when threatening the students of Class 13.

“I can just kill you here and then go rescue the children.”

“You’re quite full of yourself. But even if you kill me, you won’t be able to find out where the children are.”

“Have you said everything? Then shut up. I can’t stand to listen to you anymore.”

Damien gathered his mana. The ground Damien was standing on cracked like a spider’s web.

“You’re too arrogant.”

Blanca opened a subspace and took out a spear from it.

The spearhead and shaft were both made of a single metal. The overall blue hue indicated that it was no ordinary spear.

“I Blanca Roche the Commander of the White Blood Knights, and once known as the Crimson Light.”

Blanca said as she took her stance.

“It is unfortunate that I have to face you like this.”

“Enough with your blabbering.”

With that, the two knights simultaneously stomped on the ground.

***

Their bodies seemed to vanish, and then they collided in mid-air. The sword and spearhead clashed.

With a sharp sound, the bodies of the two persons were flung backward. But only for a moment, then they clashed again.

The Dawn and the crimson spear clashed repeatedly in mid-air. With an earsplitting sound, sparks flew into the air.

‘This body doesn’t budge an inch. He’s quite skilled.’

Blanca couldn’t help but admire Damien every time their weapons clashed.

Reaction speed, agility, technique.

‘He was flawless in every aspect. He was fighting on an equal footing with me.’

‘Is this really the skill of a rookie?’

The fact that he was the winner of the Helian Tournament was certainly impressive.

However, the difference in experience could not be ignored. Blanca was a master class knight who was already looking over the second wall.

Even if he was the winner of the Helian Tournament, he was no match of Blanca.

‘What a shame. If it weren’t for this situation, I could have had a deep exchange as a knight…’

That’s what Blanca was thinking when.

“It seems you’re having vain and ill-fitting thoughts.”

Damien suddenly spoke up. His eyes were filled with strong contempt.

“Don’t look at me with that kind of look, you trash who sold your children to a dark mage. I’m going to puke.”

Damien’s angry words brought Blanca’s mood down to rock bottom.

He was right. Blanca had now abandoned both her pride as a knight and her duty as an adult in order to save her son.

“…You’re right. From now on, I will only think about defeating you.”

“No, you don’t have to. I’ve read it all now.”

“Read? What?”

The moment she questioned it, Damien’s movements changed.

He spun his body and dodged the spear Blanca had thrust. Then, he closed the distance in one breath.

“What?”

Blanca quickly retrieved her spear to counterattack. But before she could, Damien kicked her in the stomach.

A heavy blow hit her lower abdomen. Blanca spat out blood and flew backward.

Her back hit the wall. The wall shattered, and Blanca’s body was thrown out of the building.

Blanca rolled on the ground and quickly stood up. At that moment, she saw Damien standing right in front of her.

‘When did he catch up…?’

Damien swung his sword at Blanca. Blanca hurriedly raised her spearhead to block the sword.

The trajectory of the sword twisted slightly. The sword was pushed aside and grazed Blanca’s neck, and passed by.

“Haa!”

Blanca groaned in sharp pain. But she didn’t have the luxury of tending to her wound.

That’s because Damien started attacking again.

Numerous slashes came in at strange angles. Blanca barely managed to block them with her spear.

But she couldn’t block them all. Occasionally, attacks that found an opening cut through Blanca’s body.

The more the attack and defense continued, the more wounds accumulated on Blanca’s body. Her clothes were soon soaked red with blood.

‘Is this really the skill of a rookie…?’

The surprise Blanca felt at first had long since turned into astonishment.

Damien was completely overwhelming her. There was no room for a counterattack.

‘I’m going to lose at this rate…!’

As she thought that far, a sense of dread surged up.

If she lost to Damien, she would simply be executed as a traitor to the Empire.

No, that didn’t matter. What Blanca couldn’t bear more than anything else was the fact that she wouldn’t be able to save her son.

Blanca clenched her teeth. She couldn’t tolerate that. It was time to use all her power.

Blanca scraped the ground with her spearhead. Sparks flew as the spearhead scraped the floor.

The sparks soon turned into flames. The flames spread and formed a mass.

Damien stepped back to avoid the flames. And he looked at Blanca with a surprised face.

“…Special Lineage?”

“You’re quick to catch on.”

The flames Blanca had raised grew in size. The ground Blanca was standing on was completely covered in flames.

“My family has been born with fire-based magic for generations.”

As Blanca moved her spear, the flames rippled as if they were alive.

“I’ve been holding back so that I could take you in as intact as possible, but… it seems this isn’t a situation to worry about that.”

Blanca took her stance and said.

“Be careful. The Crimson Flame of the Roche family is very fierce.”

Blanca swung her spear at Damien.

The Crimson Flame that had been enveloping Blanca transformed into a huge beast and pounced on Damien.

***

Crimson Blaze

The flames conjured by the Roche family were far from ordinary.

Their innate pyrokinetic abilities, stemming from their special lineage, were amplified by their mana cultivation techniques.

This potent combination gave rise to Crimson Blaze, a fire so intense it could evaporate an entire lake in an instant.

Most foes were no match for Crimson Blaze. Their weapons would melt, and they would be reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye.

That’s why Blanca hesitated to unleash Crimson Blaze in fear of killing Damien.

But her apprehension was misplaced.

“First Ring”

Damien murmured softly.

A resonant hum emanated from his body, and he turned into multiple afterimages, each wielding a sword.

The flurry of dozens of strikes tore Crimson Blaze to shreds and obliterating it without a trace.

“….”

Blanca’s eyes widened. She had witnessed knights deflecting or cutting through Crimson Blaze’s flames, but never had she seen it completely extinguished.

“Indeed, I can see why Sla wants you…!”

Blanca exclaimed in admiration and struck the ground with her spear once more. Crimson Blaze roared back to life.

Just then,

“Second Ring.”

The resonance intensified, and Damien’s body vanished.

In the same instant, Blanca was stabbed and blood gushed from the wound.

***