Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight

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Chapter 274: The Demonic Followers (3)

***

Radiant Light tortured the apostle in various ways.

Even Damien, who had watched the dark mages every day during his time as a Death Knight, was impressed by her creative methods of torture.

“Hmph, as expected of a dog who sided with demons, you have a tight mouth.”

Radiant Light said while wiping the black blood off her face.

In that short time, the apostle had been reduced to a wretched state.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t find out the identity of the demon.”

It seemed the demon had taken preemptive measures, as that information was completely erased.

However, there were still some gains.

“According to them, the summoning circle is structured like this.”

Radiant Light drew a diagram on the ground with a twig.

Four auxiliary summoning circles surrounded the main summoning circle.

“The auxiliary summoning circles not only sustain the main circle but also serve as entrances for the sacrifices.”

The followers captured humans and sacrificed them at the auxiliary summoning circles.

The souls of the sacrificed humans flowed into the main summoning circle.

“Sir Damien, I think it’s best to destroy the auxiliary summoning circles first.”

“To weaken the demon?”

The demon summoned this time was no ordinary being. It had withstood Radiant Light’s power merely by merging with a few demonic followers.

Even though there were two of the Five Great Elders and Damien present, they could not afford to be careless.

“That too, but… I want to save the people.”

The auxiliary summoning circles held citizens of the Tartarus Kingdom, captured by the demonic followers to be sacrificed.

These people were trembling in fear, waiting to be offered as sacrifices.

Damien looked at Radiant Light with a face that said he found this surprising.

The Radiant Light he remembered was a zealot who would burn her entire body to kill dark mages.

Hearing her say she wanted to save people felt somewhat strange.

“It seems you’re thinking something disrespectful.”

“Not at all.”

Damien feigned innocence. Radiant Light looked at him suspiciously.

“I agree with you, but if we’re not careful, we might just end up giving the demon more time.”

“So, we need to split our forces.”

Radiant Light pointed to the farthest auxiliary summoning circle.

“Green Wind, who has the best mobility, will take care of two. The rest will be divided between Sir Damien and me.”

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous to split our forces with the demon already summoned?”

“A newly summoned demon cannot leave the summoning circle. We won’t be individually defeated just because we split up.”

“Pandemonium might send reinforcements.”

“Let them come. What’s there to fear?”

Radiant Light said nonchalantly.

It was a natural confidence. There were two of the Five Great Elders and Damien here.

“So, what should I do?”

Agnes asked Radiant Light.

Since parting ways with Damien, Agnes had put in a lot of effort and had reached the level of a High-Class.

However, the High-Class level was not enough to stop the demons.

“You assist Sir Damien. If it seems dangerous, evacuate in advance.”

“Understood.”

“Sir Damien, any questions?”

At Radiant Light’s question, Damien shook his head, indicating there were none.

“Good. Then let’s move. Let’s go and kill these filthy heretics.”

***

“Hoo, I didn’t expect that they would be able to take down a fusion and an apostle this quickly.”

A man spoke with a hint of amusement from the top of the tower.

“I don’t know about anything else, but their vitality should be close to immortality…It’s really amazing. Don’t you think so, Dorugo?”

The man asked as he looked back. There, a skeleton stood with a disgruntled expression.

“Of course. There are two of the Five Great Elders over there. Mere followers wouldn’t be able to even tie their shoelaces.”

“The Five Great Elders? They were the Five Great Elders? That’s impressive. But one of them didn’t use divine power. That guy…”

“I wish you’d focus on the work instead of paying attention to such things.”

Dorugo said and pointed towards the sky.

A black sphere was floating above the man’s head.

The black sphere was absorbing the surrounding mana in real-time. It was a sight that was dangerous to anyone who saw it.

“Don’t be so hasty. Do you think it’s easy to generate mana on the ground? And it’s not just ordinary mana, but mana imbued with demonic power.”

Demonic power is the power that demons wield.

…or so it is known, but in reality it was something much greater. Demonic power could be said to be the substance that makes up demons.

When demonic power was imbued into mana, it turned it into demonic mana and anyone could use demonic mana to use demonic power.

That wasn’t all. Depending on how the demonic mana was processed, demonic power could be used in a variety of ways.

It could be made into potions and consumed, or it could be refined into weapons.

In other words, what Dorugo wanted was not demonic mana, but demonic power that he could freely use.

“Why didn’t you keep a closer eye on the Weapon Master? If he were here, we wouldn’t have to be circling around like this.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Oh, you’re angry. Then I suppose I should shut my mouth obediently.”

The man shrugged. Dorugo’s expression crumpled as if he were out of luck.

“Hmm?”

Then, suddenly, the man’s expression changed.

The man lowered his hands. The darkness stopped growing and settled.

“Why are you stopping the work?”

“The intruders are moving towards the auxiliary summoning circle.”

Dorugo’s expression turned serious at the man’s words.

“Damn it, they’re aiming for there after all.”

“If this keeps up, they’ll reach the auxiliary summoning circle soon. What are you going to do?”

The man asked with a cheerful grin. Dorugo couldn’t help but scowl.

“What’s so funny? If we leave them be, I will be summoned back to Inferno.”

“Well, then there’s nothing we can do.”

The man’s attitude was endlessly lighthearted. There was no sign of any sense of responsibility for the contract.

However, it was Dorugo who was feeling sorry for himself. Dorugo spoke into the air.

“Iota.”

“-Oh, did you call me?”

A monster with bat wings descended from the sky.

The man looked at Iota with a face full of interest.

“Splitting your own soul to create artificial souls… interesting. That’s very amusing.”

“I don’t want to hear compliments from you.”

Dorugo replied curtly and gave Iota an order.

“Iota, open the door.”

Iota grabbed the air with both hands. As he pulled his hands up and down, the air ripped open.

The space that opened up was shining in a variety of colors. Three men and women walked out of it.

As soon as they appeared, an eerie dark mana engulfed the surroundings.

It meant that all three were incredibly powerful beings.

“Lord Dorugo, did you call us?”

The three knelt before Dorugo.

“The paladins of the Church are trying to ruin the ceremony. Go and stop those hypocrites.”

“Understood.”

The three said loudly and then stood up. At that time, the man asked the three.

“You’re going to stop those three with such insignificant guys?”

At those words, the faces of the three contorted.

The vast majority of dark mages and dark knights did not particularly like demons.

Moreover, they were loyalists who served only Dorugo. So, naturally, they were not happy to be ridiculed out of the blue.

“I’m not sending you to stop them. I’m sending you to buy time.”

“Even buying time seems difficult.”

“You seem to be quite dissatisfied with my instructions?”

“Well, it would be a lie to say no. So, please help us out a bit.”

The man gestured to the three.

“Come here, you three.”

The three approached the man. The man clapped his hands with a satisfied look on his face.

“You’ve weakened, but you’re just right to use as pawns.”

A question arose on the faces of the three. The next moment, blood welled up from their chests.

“Huh?”

“Uh?”

The three looked down at their chests in bewilderment. The place where their hearts should have been was empty.

The life faded from the eyes of the three. They collapsed to the floor.

“Well then, shall we show our kin the surface of the world?”

The man took a key out of his pocket. Unusually, the key was split exactly in half.

The man turned the key in the air. A small hole opened up in the air.

Crimson energy began to pour out of the hole. The crimson energy flowed into the bodies of the three people.

The hearts where the hole had been began to fill with flesh. Soon, life returned to the eyes of the three.

“Wowww! It’s really the surface world!”

“I’ve never been here before!”

“Your Excellency! Your Excellency! You really kept your promise!”

The three people jumped around and rejoiced.

“How… how did you…”

In order to summon or possess a demon on the continent, a sacrifice was required.

However, the man was now completely ignoring this law.

The secret was the half-key that the man possessed.

“How did you get that key…!”

“Restored it, you ask? I put in some effort. I went through a lot of trouble.”

The man smiled cheerfully and spoke to the demons.

“Go and stop those guys. You can kill them if you want. But bring the man over there to me.”

***

“It looks like the auxiliary summoning circle is drawn inside there.”

Agnes said, pointing to the castle that stood against the forest.

The castle, which was originally used by the nobles, was occupied by the demonic followers.

“Mom! Mommyyyy!”

“Please, please spare my daughter! Please!”

Screams could be heard from inside.

The destruction of half of the castle walls allowed everyone to see the horrific acts being committed inside.

A large summoning circle was drawn in the center of the castle. The demonic followers were constantly throwing people into the summoning circle.

“S-S-Save me… ughhhhh!”

The human thrown into the summoning circle was compressed alive.

The summoning circle absorbed the humans who had turned into bugs imprinted on the palm of their hands. It seemed to be sending them to the main summoning circle.

“…How terrible.”

Agnes said softly. Damien nodded silently.

Just watching it made him feel uncomfortable. In particular, Damien was reminded of his past, which made him feel even worse.

“Lady Agnes, please stay here. I’ll go…”

“What are you going to do by yourself?”

At the sudden unfamiliar voice, Damien immediately looked up.

A middle-aged man was sticking out his upper body from the split space.

“Ho… As he said, you’re not an ordinary friend.”

Damien’s eyes widened at the sight of the man.

“Demon?”

At those words, the corners of the man’s mouth were torn all the way to the sides.

“Correct.”

The man jumped out of the gap in the space and swung his hand down at the same time.

The forest flew away as a whole along with the shockwave.

“Kyahahahahahat!”

The man laughed loudly from the ruins.

“To be able to smash everything I want as soon as I come to the surface! It feels great! It’s the first time I’ve had this much fun in hundreds of years…”

“That’s strange.”

The demon’s laughter stopped abruptly at the voice that suddenly came out.

A little further away, Damien stood unharmed.

“Human? How are you alive? I was going to kill you.”

The demon asked with a hint of amusement. But the one who should really be curious was Damien.

“How can a demon possess a human body so easily?”

He knew a lot about demons, so he knew how difficult it was for demons to possess humans.

“A demon summoned by Dorugo… there’s no way. He wouldn’t have caused this much trouble just to summon a mere demon.”

Damien said as he drew out Dawn.

“Looks like I have a lot to ask you.”

***