TWEM Vol. 6 Chapter 13 Part 1
Chapter 13 – Black Nightmare
I took a step back, away from the countless tentacles and held my sword at the ready.
“Don’t tell me you’re trying to cut magic?”
“Nothing’s impossible.”
At my words, Damnatio scoffed and said, “It’s impossible.”
Certainly, that magic could not be destroyed –by no one but me.
The sword I held, the black sword Benizakura, had the absolute cutting ability.
I could do something like this if I combined it with space-time magic.
“—What?”
The countless tentacles were all cut off by my sword.
Just like this, even space could be cut.
Damnatio was so surprised that his magic had been broken that he was left speechless.
“How does it feel to have the magic you were so proud of broken easily?”
“What the hell did you do!”
“Nothing much. I just slashed through space.”
I said that as if it was nothing.
Damnatio then shouted in a furious manner,
“—Rampage, my followers! Eat up everything!”
At that moment, the sky of the capital was filled with darkness.
It was as if night had suddenly fallen.
Immediately, screams began to emanate from everywhere in the capital.
“What are you doing—”
When I looked at him to ask Damnatio, he was wearing something black all over his body.
It was not a sudden increase in magical power, but I still could not help but have a bad feeling that made all my hair stand at the end.
Damnatio looked at me surprised and smiled happily.
“You can hear it, can’t you? The screams of fear. The magic I used earlier is to summon my followers. The fear of the attacked humans becomes my power. Now that the Imperial City is filled with fear, I have obtained the power to defeat you. If I obtain the jewel now, I will become the Demon King…”
“…Can’t you even fight if you don’t talk?”
Actually, I wasn’t worried about the Imperial City.
Because I had my friends and the tournament contestants I could rely on.
Damnatio was clearly angry at my words.
“—Kill this guy, my followers!”
At that moment, countless black wyverns appeared in the air and attacked me.
I took a deep breath and crouched down as I sheathed my sword.
“—Disordered Cherry Blossom.”
While the crimson magic was falling like a cherry blossom blizzard, numerous lines ran across the bodies of the wyverns that were approaching me.
At the same time as a resounding click was heard, the wyverns were chopped into pieces in an instant and disappeared into dust.
“My followers are gone instantly!? Then, with this…”
I immediately approached Damnatio, who was about to do something.
Damnatio noticed and fired an extremely large Breath at me, but—
“What? Gone?”
I used Ground Shrink to move out of the range of his Breath.
Then, I dived right under Damnatio and leapt up and threw a kick to his face.
It was not just a regular roundhouse kick. It was a highly destructive blow enhanced with Physical Boost, Leg Vigor, and Gravity Magic. In addition, it was also enhanced with the light attribute.
“Gah!?”
Even a dragon would not go unhurt from such a blow.
Damnatio was blown away with such force that it appeared as if he had burst into flames and slammed into the wall, engulfing the spectator’s seats.
Damnatio’s transformation was undone and he reverted from the dragon to his original knight form, and the magic sword that had fused with him separated and pierced the ground.
At the same time, the black wyverns that were flying around the imperial city disappeared as the magic that summoned them was canceled.
“Gaha!”
Blood splattered from the gap in Damnatio’s helm.
Damnatio’s true face was revealed as he took off his helm, as if he had been in great pain.
His ears were slightly pointed, though not as much as an elf’s, and his skin was slightly darker. He probably looked like he was in his late twenties, however, as with elves, age and appearance did not match for the demon tribe.
Then, Damnatio slowly stood up using the demon sword for support.
He could still stand up after receiving that blow…?
The arm that was slashed when he was in dragon form seemed not to have regenerated, and blood was dripping from his shoulder.
Damnatio used some kind of magic to stop the bleeding from the wound, and then turned his hateful, angry eyes toward me.
He looked as if he wanted to say it was my fault, but did he forget that it was him who started the fight in the first place?
“D-Damn you! How dare you…!”
Damnatio grabbed the demon sword with his remaining arm and charged at me.
And before I knew it, he was right in front of me, brandishing a demon sword wrapped in darkness.
“So fast?”
I took a half step back, wrapped my sword in light attribute magic, and blocked the demonic sword that was swung down to me.
A heavy blow struck me, a blow that seemed to resonate through the marrow of my bones, but I held on tight.
I clenched my free hand, activated my Arm Vigor skill, and punched his exposed abdomen with all my might.
“Gohaah!”
Damnatio was punched in the abdomen and flew up horizontally, spitting blood out of his mouth.
He then slammed into the wall behind him and fell to the ground.
“Ga-ha…!!”
He was already dying.
I slowly walked up to Damnatio, who was lying on the ground, to finish him off.
I had no intention of sparing him, even if he begged for his life.
He had caused too much havoc. I didn’t know if there were any deaths, but there must have been at least a lot of injuries.
I knew it myself, but right now I must have extremely cold eyes.
Damnatio looked up at me as I stopped in front of him.
His face was smiling.
“Ha, ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”
Then I put my sword to Damnatio’s throat, who was laughing like a madman.
“…What’s so funny?”
“I’m going to die. I can see it in your eyes. Oh, I’m not going to beg for my life. It wouldn’t do you any good if I did.”
Correct. But what exactly was he trying to say?
“But from now on, many people will die with their faces twisted in fear!”
“What do you mean—”
“Now, let’s begin the final banquet — Supper of Madness!”
I heard a heartbeat coming from somewhere.
The sound gradually became louder and louder.
I had no idea what was happening.
No, I could tell that this heartbeat belonged to this guy, Damnatio, but there was no other information.
I thought he might turn into a dragon like before, but I didn’t think he had that much magical power left.
“What did you do…?”
“Hehehe, this is a forbidden curse that comes at the price of my life.”
A large magic circle, about a dozen meters in diameter, appeared at Damnatio’s feet.
“The madness is about to begin. Try your best to survive.”
After saying that, Damnatio disappeared as if absorbed by the magic circle.
His demon sword also disappeared, turning to dust at the same time Damnatio disappeared.
I didn’t know how it works, but that demon sword Dimios was probably Damnatio’s exclusive weapon. When the master died, the demon sword also disappeared. Probably, but that’s how I felt.
After both Damnatio and the sword disappeared completely, a pitch-black sphere appeared from the magic circle as if it swallowed everything.
The sphere burst in mid-air, spreading a stain on the ground, and the next moment, something unusual happened.
The stain on the ground gradually spread, and an unknown black creature crawled out of the stain.
My own intuition, not my skills, warned me that this was a dangerous situation.