NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 10
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s male Disciple]
[Quality Checker – Kawaii]
Chapter 10: The Dark Mage (3)
As the dark mage removed his bracelet, the entire cave was engulfed in dark magic.
The floor, the ceiling, the walls—all turned pitch black. It felt like being wrapped in the night sky.
“Damn it.”
Even after releasing such dark magic, the dark mage wore an uneasy expression.
“It was supposed to be the secret weapon against the Church.”
With a glint, the mage sharpened their gaze at Damien.
“Now that it’s come to this, don’t think of dying gracefully! I’ll make you beg for death!”
Damien paid little heed to the mage’s warning.
The mage’s focus was entirely on the bracelet they had removed.
“To hold such a vast amount of dark magic, and I didn’t notice.”
Storing magic in large quantities makes it hard to conceal.
The more it accumulates, the stronger its presence becomes. The same applied to dark magic.
However, that bracelet concealed its magic so perfectly that not even Damien could sense it.
“Could it be an artifact?”
An artifact, from the distant, obscure remnants of ancient civilizations, said to possess extraordinary abilities due to technology far beyond the present.
“Carrying something like that, you’re no ordinary dark mage. Who in the world are you?”
“I have nothing to say to someone who won’t even reveal their identity.”
Once again, the dark mage refused to answer.
“…I’d like to say that, but I’m not a rude stranger like you.”
The mage gestured to their wrist.
A white flower was tattooed on their forearm.
“I’m known as Yulan’s executive, Akitora.”
***
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s male Disciple]
[Quality Checker – Kawaii]
Dark mages are despised everywhere they go.
They use dark magic to corrupt people’s souls and bodies, turning them into slaves, because of this they are deemed as heretics.
In order to hunt these mages deemed heretics, the Holy Church conducts ‘purification’ operations several times a year.
However, the mages did not sit idly by
The dark mages formed different organisations in order to counter the attacks of the Holy Church, these organisations exchanged information with each other and also provided mutual assistance against the Church, Over the time these organisations gained considerable notoriety and grew to a size that made it difficult for the Church to eliminate them.
“Yulan’s executive?”
‘Yulan’ was one of those dark mage organizations, it was famous enough that even a countryside noble like Damien knew about it.
Yulan is a relatively new organization, it primarily focused on contract killings using dark magic. Despite it being implicated in numerous incidents, the Church hadn’t been able to hunt them yet, which is thanks to the exceptionally high combat capabilities of their members.
Given the formidable nature of the orginsation, there was no need to gauge the abilities of this dark mage, Akitora.
“Why would someone like you agree to be hired by a small gang like the Black Serpents?”
“I just wanted to lay low for a while. I wasn’t hired by anyone!”
‘Lay low…? Ah, Is it because of the Church?’
When a figure as significant as an executive Yulan had to conceal himself so discreetly, it signaled the movement of the Holy Church.
“I heard the rumors that the Holy Church is hunting dark mages as of recently, is that the reason why you were pretending to be a third-rate mage.”
Akitora sharpened his gaze after listening to Damien.
“Yes, you’re right. Damn it, of all the gigs to make money, I end up meeting someone like you.”
Akitora spat out curses and questioned, “You know my name, yet you persist in hiding your identity?”
“I’ve never hidden it.”
“Hah, you still see me as an idiot, huh?”
Anger flashed across Akitora’s face. His emotions stirred the dark magic.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t listen now.”
Despite not constructing an incantation, the dark magic took shape.
Thick tentacles emerged from the ground, coiling around Damien.
[QC/N: Dirty Mind Activated]
[PR/N: Focus on work you horny mf]
The sheer force of the tentacles were squeezing Damien.
“You damn bastard. Regret it in the afterlife.”
Despite his victory, Akitora wasn’t particularly elated.
Victory was expected from the moment he, a Yulan executive, displayed his true prowess. Yulan might not rival the colossal dark mage organization like the Abyss which is rumored to be lurking within the walls empire, but it was quite impressive in its own right…
At that moment,
Cracks began to surface on the tentacles, rapidly spreading all over it.
With the sound of a shattering glass, the tentacles shattered into pieces.
As the dark magic dissipated, scattered dark mana began to swirl like a tempest.
“I thought it was some impressive dark magic.”
In the midst of it all, Damien spoke in a solemn voice.
“But it’s not as impressive as I thought.”
“This… this is impossible!”
Akitora shouted in agony.
“This magic, I’ve developed it all my life! It’s something only I can use in this world! How… how could you…!”
As long as Damien had the Authority of Greed, no matter what dark magic Akitora tried to use, it was futile.
“All your life? Seems quite rudimentary for something like that. You should strive harder.”
Of course, Damien didn’t reveal this fact; instead, he provoked Akitora.
“You… I won’t spare you, not in a million years. I’ll make sure you…!”
Shame and rage surfaced simultaneously on Akitora’s face.
Akitora began absorbing all the unleashed dark mana from the bracelet.
An immense amount of dark mana was injected into his body.
“Ugh, ugh.”
It seemed quite taxing as Akitora’s complexion turned pallid, as if he might vomit at any moment.
“If it’s too much, you can always stop.”
Akitora didn’t respond. No, it seemed he had no strength to respond.
Dark lines began etching themselves on the skin exposed beyond the robe.
“Is that….magic circle?”
Damien immediately recognized the nature of those lines.
Using the dark energy, Akitora was drawing a magic circle on his own body.
But Akitora didn’t stop there. He retrieved a dagger from his bosom.
“Damn it, I didn’t expect to use this magic here!”
Akitora slashed his own wrist with the dagger. The blood coming out of it turned to ash upon hitting the ground.
Right after that, a green flame emerged above Akitora’s head.
The green flames extended like serpents, swirling around Akitora.
Damien immediately discerned the nature of these flames.
“You’ve borrowed power from a demon.”
Skillful dark mages could harness power from demons by sacrifices.
Akitora had summoned these demon flames by sacrificing his blood and dark magic.
“Yes! This is the power of a demon! Hell’s flames!”
The green flames were unprecedented. Merely touching caused the ground to melt, transforming into flowing streams like lava.
“This is something you can’t dispel! This isn’t just dark magic, it’s the power of a demon!”
Akitora extended his hand towards Damien.
“Go! Incinerate him!”
The demon’s flames engulfed Damien.
It felt more like a surging wave than mere flames.
‘He’s seriously mistaken something.’
Contrary to Akitora’s thoughts, the authority of greed could disintegrate even the power of a demon.
At the moment Damien attempted to exert his authority towards the flames, a thought occurred to him.
“…I don’t necessarily have to use the authority.”
Despite having the power of authority in addition to dark magic, Damien was originally a swordsman.
Even during his time as a Death Knight, he always wielded a sword when facing formidable adversaries.
“With this much dark magic, I can use the sword technique from my Death Knight days.”
In his past life, Damien had amalgamated techniques acquired from battling strong opponents, creating a single sword technique.
Infusing his aspirations into this technique, he named it the ‘Soul Severing Sword’
It was only thanks to the soul severing sword technique, that Damien could attain the realm of the ‘Divine Sword.’
However, in this current life, he had to give up on the soul severing sword technique because It was a technique which used dark magic as its basis, which his current body lacked.
‘I can’t use the Soul Severing Sword without dark magic in my body.’
Dark mana and natural mana were fundamentally different and couldn’t substitute for each other.
Yet, he didn’t contemplate gathering dark mana to use the Soul Severing Sword.
Dark magic could only be obtained through corpses. The dark mages didn’t commit horrifying crimes without any reason.
Damien had no intention of acting like a dark mage.
“I’m curious. How far can I materialize the Soul Severing Sword using a human body?”
Damien absorbed the dark magic into his body.
The dark magic smoothly integrated, as if it had entered its own home.
Pitch Black aura surged from the longsword’s blade.
Akitora’s face stiffened upon seeing the aura.
“Aura? You… you are not a dark mage?”
The smoky, fiery aura began converging around the blade.
Gradually, the aura took a complete form. A jet-black blade formed as if it would absorb all light.
Aura blade.
A technique only wielded by those who’ve reached the swordmaster’s level.
An invincible weapon capable of slaying even the pinnacle of creatures like dragons.
That absolute power now materialized in Damien’s hands.
“Wait a moment!”
Damien raised the sword.
The air around the aura blade started to distort.
“S-Stop! I-I surrender!”
Damien swung the sword horizontally.
A single black line that looked like it could have even divided the world in half, was shot at Akitora.
Green flames were embedded into the line.
In an instant, not a single spark light remained in the cave.
“Sto—Ah! Plea—Please spare me! Spare me!”
Akitora tried to turn and flee, despite Damien blocking the only exit.
Then, all of a sudden his upper body slipped and fell on to the ground.
Startled, Akitora looked back.
His two legs were standing on the ground, severed without him even realizing.
“Agh! Noo! Aaaaaaah!”
Clutching the severed thighs, Akitora screamed in agony.
“Too noisy.”
Damien, now close to Akitora, slapped his face.
The scream abruptly halted.
“M-My… my legs… my legs…”
“The shock must’ve been significant. But now’s not the time to worry about that.”
Damien pressed the longsword’s blade against Akitora’s neck which caused color to drain from Akitora’s face.
“P-Please spare me. I-I don’t want to die.”
“Do you want to live?”
Damien chuckled.
“Then you’ll have to pay something other than your life.”
“These, these are all the belongings that I have.”
Akitora laid out all his possessions in front of Damien.
With eyes tinged with irritation, Damien examined the items.
“Is this really all you have?”
A book inscribed with curse type dark magic,
The bracelet worn by Akitora and,
And a pouch containing gold coins.
The materials Akitora obtained from the Black Serpent were all destroyed during the battle.
“You are supposed to be a high-ranking member of Yulan? Yet you are so poor?”
“I was fleeing from the Church…”
“Useless, you should have brought more.”
Damien lightly tapped Akitora’s head with the longsword.
Akitora’s face reddened with panic and fear.
There was nothing noteworthy in the dark magic book so Damien immediately picked up the bracelet.
In truth, this single bracelet alone held tremendous value.
“What’s the identity of this bracelet? Is it an artifact?”
“Th-that’s right.”
As Damien anticipated, the bracelet was no ordinary item.
“What exact abilities does it have?”
“I-it can contain any kind of energy within it. Whether it’s natural mana or dark mana, it doesn’t matter. Plus, it has a concealment function, so the contents stored inside it will never be revealed.”
“Are you sure?”
“Th-the fact that I’ve managed to survive until now is enough proof.”
With a satisfied expression, Damien re-examined the bracelet.
Its functionality might have been straightforward, but it was really useful to him.
“I could store dark mana in here and use dark magic.”
As proven today, using dark magic could help him replicate the sword techniques he learned in the past, although they won’t be as powerful as before, but it was enough of a trump card against powerful opponents.
However, dark magic was a perilous force that could lead to being chased by the Holy Church if exposed.
With this bracelet, he could be free from such concerns.
“With some skill, I might be able to reach the realm of the ‘Divine Sword’ again.”
After battling with many formidable opponents, Damien Hasken absorbed their skills and techniques
Using them as a basis, he reached the realm of the Divine Sword.
He was able to slay Dorugo in his past life only after reaching the realm of the Divine Sword.
“But seriously, is this the end? Do you have nothing more?”
“N-no, I don’t. Really! Please, put that sword down!”
Damien said as he raised the longsword.
“No, there has to be something. Squeeze it out.”
“How can I squeeze out something that doesn’t exist…”
Then, a glimmer of hope appeared on Akitora’s face.
He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a notebook.
“What’s this?”
“Th-that’s a piece of paper where the Black Serpent boss wrote down the records of items I wanted to purchase! If you visit the stores written here, you’ll be able to confirm it!”
“Oh?”
Damien opened the notebook and checked its contents.
The trade records of materials were meticulously written.
“If-if that’s there, it could prove that the transactions did take place. You know, dealing with such transactions is a major crime, right? If we play this right, we can associate both the organization and the Black Serpent with each other!”
“Then I can wipe out the Black Serpent without lifting a finger.”
“Given how quickly you understood, you’re quite smart.”
The two laughed loudly. Akitora cautiously asked,
“Now, you’ll spare my life, right?”
“No.”
Damien swung the longsword and beheaded Akitora.
“I don’t forgive those who harm my family.”
Damien grabbed Akitora’s head and placed it in a suitable pouch nearby.
“And I need compelling evidence.”
What good was just a notebook?
He needed concrete evidence linking to the involvement of a real dark mage.
However, keeping Akitora alive would pose a risk to Damien.
“Now, shall we go and teach the Black Serpents a lesson?”
Saying this, Damien exited the cave.
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s male Disciple]
[Quality Checker – Kawaii]