Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight-Chapter 381: SS 29
[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
Side Story Chapter 29: Death Knight (2)
I could not see his face because of the helmet, but I was certain. This voice was my uncle’s.
<Move! Why aren’t you moving! It’s my body!>
It was not a voice coming from the mouth.
It came from deep within the body.
My uncle’s voice was filled with pain.
I realized that something unusual had happened to my uncle.
“Uncle! It’s me! It’s Theo!”
I ran towards my uncle.
But my body just passed through him like an illusion.
I turned back to my uncle with a surprised face.
My uncle was screaming, not even noticing my existence.
<It’s suffocating! I can’t breathe! Someone, please help me!>
W-What should I do? How can I help my uncle?
I was just panicking and running around in confusion.
“Huhuhut, the prey is walking right to me.”
A voice I had never heard before rang out.
It was a voice that seemed to be a mix of a woman’s and a man’s.
A skeleton in a black robe had appeared behind my uncle at some point.
“Damien. Today is your first sortie. We can’t let this monumental day pass by boringly, can we?”
The skeleton gripped my uncle’s shoulder and pointed at the soldiers.
“Kill them. Leave not a single one alive.”
The moment the command was given, a red light gleamed from within the helmet.
My uncle gripped the greatsword on his back and began to run across the field.
<What? Why is it moving? What is it trying to do?>
My uncle was greatly flustered. Even so, his body continued to run.
<What are you trying to doooo!>
When my uncle started moving, the soldiers’ faces froze stiff.
But not a single person broke formation.
“Dammit! The undead is coming!”
“Everyone, hold the line! Don’t be scared!”
As soon as the distance to the soldiers closed, my uncle immediately swung his greatsword.
Blood splattered as the upper bodies of the soldiers in the front rank were sent flying all at once.
Despite wearing armor and blocking with shields, the soldiers could not hold on for even a moment.
“They can’t get through! Block them!”
“Heavy shield soldiers! Forward! Forward!”
The soldiers reacted quickly.
The problem was that my uncle was far stronger than they had anticipated.
Every time my uncle swung his greatsword, three or four men died.
Their bodies were split in half, sent flying diagonally, their waists severed.
“Aaargh! Kkeuaaaak!”
“My arm! Find my arm!”
The green field was instantly stained with blood.
It was covered with the dead and the dying.
Even so, my uncle did not stop.
<N-No! Stop! Don’t kill! I said stop!>
To be precise, he could not stop.
My uncle’s body was moving against the will of its master.
“You baaaastard!”
Just then, a thunderous roar was heard.
The knight who had been leading the soldiers from the center kicked off the ground and swung his sword at my uncle.
My uncle immediately stopped killing the soldiers and blocked the knight’s attack.
With a tremendous sound, my uncle’s body was pushed back.
The knight, on the other hand, was not pushed back and stood his ground.
“A mere walking corpse dares to harm the living! Know your place!”
The knight’s face was filled with rage. It meant he was that furious about the deaths of his soldiers.
“I am Zenice Wingcut! A High Class of the Glacia Kingdom! I will give you the opportunity to state your name as well!”
Despite the knight’s cry, my uncle said nothing. To be precise, he could not speak.
“Have you forgotten even your pride as a knight!”
When no answer came, the knight immediately swung his sword.
The knight was strong.
He cornered my uncle with fast and powerful attacks.
My uncle could not even counterattack.
In the blink of an eye, his body was cut in various places.
His armor split open, and black, sticky blood flowed out.
“Huuuumm.”
The skeleton next to me was watching the scene with a dissatisfied look.
“Strange. With that one’s talent, he should be able to catch up to a High Class in no time.”
High Class refers to the stage right before Sword Master.
They are not called superhumans like Sword Masters, but they are very strong.
But he is no match for my uncle. Because my uncle is incomparably stronger than him.
But right now, my uncle was being beaten helplessly by a High Class.
Only now could I understand. Where I am now. What I am seeing.
I am seeing my uncle’s past.
My uncle before he became a Transcendent, in his weaker days.
If that is the case, then it is obvious who the skeleton next to me is.
Dorugo.
The demon who ruined my uncle’s life.
The arch-nemesis my uncle has hated her entire life.
“Haaap!”
My train of thought was cut off by the knight’s war cry.
I hastily looked at my uncle.
My uncle was being pushed back, his left arm severed.
“I’ll end it with this!”
The knight did not stop. Riding the momentum, he tried to cut off my uncle’s neck as well.
In that moment, I could hear it.
<I don’t want to…>
My uncle’s desperate cry.
<I don’t want to die! I want to live!>
The light in my uncle’s eyes grew even stronger.
Immediately after, his movements changed.
He raised his shoulder to block the knight’s sword.
Moving forward, he rotated his body.
He swung his greatsword and struck the knight’s shoulder.
“K-Keueuk!”
The knight clutched his shoulder and collapsed.
Blood poured from his severed shoulder.
“You bastard… how did you read my movements…!”
The knight looked up at my uncle with bloodshot eyes.
My uncle was raising his greatsword high to finish the knight off.
“Dammit… I’ll be waiting for you in Hell.”
My uncle brought his greatsword down.
The descending greatsword split the knight’s body in half.
And so, the High Class knight ended up no different from the other soldiers.
<Uh…?>
Looking down at the knight, my uncle muttered blankly.
<No… I… I…>
My uncle muttered incomprehensible words in a daze.
Dorugo approached my uncle and laughed out loud.
“Huhuhut! As expected of the Death Knight I created! To kill a High Class so easily!”
Dorugo kicked the knight’s corpse with the tip of her foot, rolling it over.
It was an act that showed not a shred of respect for the dead.
“But you must not be satisfied with this. You must become stronger. Because you must bring down the Empire.”
Dorugo spread her arms and said.
“Don’t worry. There is plenty of prey. After you kill them all, no one will be able to stop you! No one!”
Dorugo chuckled and turned her body. She then pointed at the fleeing soldiers and said.
“But before that, we must clean up, right? Go after them and kill them all.”
My uncle moved again.
He ran toward the soldiers, greatsword in hand.
<No… stop… please…!>
My uncle’s weeping continued for a long time.
But it was buried by the screams of the soldiers.
After that, Dorugo took my uncle around and started numerous wars.
Dorugo did not discriminate in who she killed.
She killed not only soldiers, but also women, the elderly, and even children.
All using my uncle.
“Kyaaaak! Save me! Aaaak!”
“Daddy! Daddyyyyy!”
Screams were incessant wherever my uncle went.
“Damien Haksen… you demon-like bastard!”
“You will never die in peace! You filthy bastard!”
People hated and cursed my uncle.
Even so, my uncle did not stop.
No, he could not stop.
<I said stop! Stop killing! Why, why won’t you listen to me!>
In the beginning, my uncle tried to control his body somehow.
<Like this… I’ll beg you like this… just stop… stop it… please…>
Soon after, he began to beg earnestly.
<Stop… please… don’t…>
In the end, he gave up. He had even lost the will to resist.
<It’s all because of me…>
From this point on, my uncle only suffered.
<I should have… died back then… I shouldn’t have thought I wanted to live…>
He endlessly blamed himself and agonized.
<If I had died, no one would have died…>
I could only continue to watch that scene.
I could do nothing but watch my uncle break down.
“…Uncle.”
My voice did not reach my uncle. I could not offer him any words of comfort.
-Did you see?
I reflexively looked back.
The black ghost that had dragged me here was standing there.
-This is the past that Damien Haksen tried to hide from you.
The black ghost glided across the ground and approached my uncle.
-Have you never thought it strange? Why is Damien Haksen so concerned about the events of his past life? There are no longer any people who died or suffered because of him. Why does he feel so much guilt over something that has passed?
The black ghost slowly began to caress my uncle’s face.
-Damien Haksen was completed as a Death Knight, but because his soul and body were separated, he could not fully display his talent. Originally, it was his fate to die fighting the High Class that day.
The black ghost slowly continued.
-But the moment Damien Haksen earnestly wished to live, that connection was restored. It was thanks to that that he was able to overwhelm the High Class.
The black ghost looked at me. I looked at the black ghost as well.
“…I know who you are now.”
Someone who knows my uncle’s past in such detail, and who can drag me into the past.
There could be no other such being.
“You’re Dorugo, aren’t you?”
As if confirming the answer, the black ghost smiled faintly.
* * *
-The world praises Damien Haksen as a hero.
The moment I called her name, Dorugo’s form changed.
She changed from a black ghost to a skeleton. A robe covered her.
-Isn’t it funny? A bastard who killed everyone while saying he wanted to live is a hero.
Her voice also became clear. A distinct personality could be felt.
-You’ve seen it and you know. Everyone hated Damien Haksen. They resented and cursed him.
That’s right. They did.
My uncle was that terrifying a being. Many people died at his hands.
Anyone would have resented my uncle.
-Theodore Haksen! This is the true nature of the uncle you respected so much!
Dorugo’s voice was filled with glee.
As if she were immensely pleased to have shown me the truth.
-Now, tell me your thoughts! How do you feel, having realized the true nature of your uncle, so ugly and filthy! What do you want to say to your uncle!
“You’re a coward.”
-Yes! A perfect word! Damien Haksen is a coward! He only blamed me for what he himself brought about! In the first place, if he had just died that day, this would never have…
“I was talking to you.”
Dorugo shut her mouth and glared at me. I glared back at Dorugo and said.
“Dorugo, you are a true coward.”
[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
