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Chapter 288: More Secrets (3)

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Damien immediately grabbed the hilt of the Dawn\'s Blade.

Since his regression, no one had recognized that he had returned from a previous life. It was a situation that naturally put him on guard.

"Please, calm down. "I harbor no ill will towards you, nor possess the means to harm."

Demonstrating her point, the elf attempted to grasp a pebble but her fingers passed through it.

"...An illusion."

"Yes, that\'s right. This form was created solely to meet you. My true self is in Alfheim."

Damien\'s mind raced. A voyage to Alfheim would consume several days by sea. To perceive him from such a distance and manifest such a lifelike illusion was extraordinary.

"Who exactly are you?"

"My name is Milene."

The name sent a shockwave through Damien.

"... Surely you are not the Milene of the Dreaming Flame, are you?"

"Apparently, I am known to you."

She said while resting one hand on her heart.

"Yes, I am Milene of the Dreaming Flame, a former member of the Salvation Squad."

* * *

Long ago, humans lived lives less significant than insects. The continent was dominated by demons and fearsome monsters. The Salvation Squad was formed to alter this grim reality.

Initially, it consisted only of humans, but over time, superhumans from other races joined the Order. Milene of the Dreaming Flame was one such member.

"...You claim to be Milene?"

Damien\'s skepticism was evident. The Salvation Squad had been established a thousand years ago. Even for an elf, such longevity seemed impossible.

"It\'s understandable that you don\'t believe me.."

Milene continued as she was able to read Damien\'s mind.

"A unique burden has extended my life far beyond that of ordinary elves."

Possessing the ability to conjure intricate illusions from distant Alfheim. With such powers, it wasn\'t entirely out of the question for her to have lived for a thousand years.

"...How did you know I traveled back in time?" Damien asked.

"Your hand revealed it. "Residual traces of the Seven authorities are evident."

Milene pointed to the back of Damien\'s hand.

"If you use all the authorities of the Ancient God, you can reverse time... I never thought her hypothesis would be correct."

"That\'s nonsense... I only awakened four of the authorities."

"Then it must be a mark from a previous life. I couldn\'t have seen it wrong. The traces left by the authorities are very unique. They only appear when an attempt to reverse time is made."

"No, that\'s impossible. I\'ve never used the method you\'re talking about."

After killing Dorugo, Damien committed suicide and then found himself back in the past. He had never used the method Milene was describing; he didn\'t even know about it.

"Then someone else might have used it."

"That\'s ridiculous..."

"Think carefully. Who was with you when you died?"

Just as Damien was about to insist it was impossible, Milene began to fade.

"We\'re out of time."

"Wait! I still have questions!"

"I\'m sorry. Things aren\'t going well on our side either. We\'re busy fending off the Pandemonium invasion."

Damien\'s eyes widened. It confirmed his suspicion—Dorugo was definitely in Alfheim.

"If you want to see me, come to Alfheim. The Pandemonium is resupplying through this port. If you find a ship owned by a dark mage, then..."

With those final words, Milene\'s image vanished completely.

* * *

As soon as Milene disappeared, Damien clenched his fist.

Dorugo was in Alfheim, and there was an elf who knew the secret of his return. He couldn\'t afford to miss this opportunity; he had to get to Alfheim as quickly as possible.

"Find a ship owned by a dark mage."

He repeated to himself.

The Pandemonium was using the port for resupply. Finding the supply ship would be his ticket to Alfheim.

It wasn\'t a difficult task. With his detection abilities, Damien could easily locate a dark mage.

As he was thinking this, he heard a cry.

"Please, help! Is anyone there?"

The boy was panting, but not stopping as he ran towards him.

"That little brat! If I catch you, you\'re dead!"

"Get him! Don\'t let him reach the crowded area!"

Two men who were presumably sailors based on their attire were chasing the boy.

"Someone, please help! Is anyone there?"

The boy was shouting desperately. But it was an isolated area, and the only person who heard him was Damien.

"Mister! Please, help me! Please... Aah!"

As the boy shouted towards Damien he tripped and fell. The two sailors quickly caught up with him.

"You little bastard, you always have the knack of causing trouble!"

"I told you you\'d be dead if you ran away!"

The two sailors kicked the boy repeatedly as he curled up to endure the blows.

"M-Mister... Mister..."

The boy looked desperately at Damien. It was a situation he couldn\'t ignore. Damien spoke to the sailors.

"Stop."

The sailors turned their attention to Damien as if they were irritated.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Mind your own business, go and fuck yourself!"

Judging from their tone, it seemed they were in not the mood to listen. Just as Damien was about to subdue the two sailors, he sensed dark mana emanating from them. He focused on the daggers at their waists.

He wasn\'t mistaken. The daggers were emitting a faint dark aura.

Damien pointed at daggers and asked.

"What\'s your connection with a dark mage?"

The sailors froze after listening the words. Their faces showed surprise.

"It would be best if you didn\'t try to play dumb..."

The sailors immediately drew their daggers, the dark mana from the blades intensifying.

\'A curse of Incineration is placed on them. Not an ordinary piece of work.\'

Even a mere scratch from those blades could turn someone to ashes.

It wasn\'t common for dark mages to create such powerful artifacts. They must have been crafted by a dark mage from Pandemonium.

"Is this guy... from the Church?"

"Let\'s kill him right here!"

The sailors charged at Damien with their daggers. But before they could get close, Damien released his aura. The pressure coming from him was overwhelming for any ordinary person to withstand.

"Ku... urgh..."

"Ga... aaah..."

The two men trembled violently before collapsing, frothing at the mouth. Their hearts had stopped beating by the time they hit the ground.

"W-What...?"

Their bodies racked with violent tremors, the two men collapsed to the ground, their mouths agape as white foam spilled over their lips. By the time they hit the ground, their hearts were still.

"You seem to need some help."

Damien said while smiling gently.

The boy nodded slowly and he was still in shock. Damien pressed on.

"Good. I need your help as well. Can you show me where you escaped from?"

***

"This is the place."

The boy said as he led Damien to a large warehouse located in a secluded part of the harbor.

The warehouse door was secured with thick iron chains, clearly indicating that no one was allowed entry without permission.

"Everyone, my family and others, are locked up inside..."

The boy explained in a trembling voice.

"The place is tightly sealed. How did you manage to escape?"

"There was a small hole... I\'m the smallest, so they sent me to get help."

"You were lucky."

Tears started streaming down the boy\'s face.

"We were all kidnapped... We never did anything wrong... These strange people... They just kidnapped us... and brought us here..."

Damien realized what Milene had meant by \'supplies.\' For dark mages, food and weapons were of little significance. What they needed most were human souls—sources of dark mana.

They could have used the elves of Alfheim, but elves were not only few in number, but also individually powerful. It was much easier to bring humans from the mainland.

"Disgusting scum."

He strode towards the door, gripping the chains with both hands. With a powerful twist, the chains snapped like brittle clay. Damien flung the door open wide.

Inside, over a hundred people were crammed together. Their eyes were dark and filled with the kind of despair only those who have tasted profound hopelessness could show.

"Who are you?" One of the captives asked Damien.

"I\'m here to save you." Damien replied calmly.

His words brought a glimmer of hope to their faces.

"Everyone, come out. You are now safe..."

"Who said anything about being safe?"

A strange voice interrupted, causing the crowd\'s faces to freeze in fear. Damien turned to see a group of ten approaching. They were not ordinary people; all of them radiated a strong dark mana.

\'Nine High class dark knights. And that one...\'

Damien\'s eyes focused on the man at the back. He had a large build, but his head was disproportionately big, making his shoulders look narrow.

\'This one\'s not ordinary.\'

Damien thought, feeling a tingling sensation. The man was undoubtedly a powerful dark mage, possibly even beyond that level.

"Hmm."

The man with the large head muttered, glancing at the broken chains.

"Impressive strength. What knightly order do you belong to?"

"That\'s none of your concern."

"Did you leave your manners behind in your mother\'s womb when you were born? What\'s with that mouth of yours?"

Damien\'s eye twitched. Insulting him was one thing, but insulting his mother?

"You must be quite confident in your abilities. Unfortunately, you\'ve picked the wrong opponent."

Damien said with his low and menacing voice.

The large-headed man spread his arms, causing dark magic circles to materialize around him.

"My name is Alterio. People fear me as Alterio the Arsonist."

As soon as the large-headed man revealed his name, the people inside the warehouse screamed in terror.

"Al-Alterio the Arsonist? This can\'t be real!"

"We\'re all dead... Aah... Nooo!"

Damien looked around, surprised at the people\'s reactions. Even the boy he had saved was trembling in fear.

"S-Sir Knight, this is really bad... I\'m so sorry... It\'s all my fault... I\'m sorry..."

"Who is this guy, anyway?"

Damien finally broke his silence. Alterio\'s face twisted with anger.

"Do you seriously not know who I am?"

"Should I?"

Alterio let out a bitter laugh.

"You\'re an ignorant knight, huh? Allow me to reintroduce myself. I\'m Alterio the Arsonist, a Giant Evil of Pandemonium."

He spoke with confidence. He was clearly expecting Damien to be terrified by his reputation.

"Pandemonium\'s Giant Evil?"

Damien repeated giving a puzzled look.

"Strange, I\'ve never heard of an Alterio among the Giant Evils I know of."

Damien had knowledge of all the notorious murderers from the War of Destruction. If he didn\'t know Alterio, it meant the man had likely died before the war.

"If I don\'t know you, you must not be very powerful."

Damien said dismissively.

Alterio\'s face contorted in rage.

"Let\'s see if you can still talk like that when your legs are reduced to ashes!"

Alterio unleashed his dark magic and flames erupted from the ground beneath Damien. But Damien simply lifted his foot and stomped down, snuffing out the fire with sheer force.

"What...?" Alterio was taken aback.

Had the flames conjured by one of Pandemonium\'s Giant Evils been extinguished so easily?

"So, that\'s why you\'re so confident!"

Alterio shouted and attempted to cast another spell. But before he could, Damien\'s hands moved in a blur.

The dark knights around Alterio were slammed into the ground, their heads crushed as if struck by an enormous hammer.

Alterio\'s jaw dropped in astonishment.

Clearly, the enemies had been standing still. But in the blink of an eye, they were all dead, their heads smashed into the ground.

Alterio couldn\'t comprehend what had just happened.

"What... what did you just do...?"

Alterio\'s angry shouts trailed off as a look of confusion crossed his face.

"Wait a minute, when did you draw your sword?"

Just a moment ago, Damien hadn\'t been holding anything. Suddenly, he held a large sword in the time it took him to blink.

Naturally, Alterio had seen neither the drawing nor the unsheathing of the sword.

"What kind of trick did you use... ugh!"

Blood suddenly burst from Alterio\'s neck. His throat was slit, and blood poured out from the gaping wound.

Alterio tried to clutch his neck with his hands, but his arms wouldn\'t move properly.

"…!"

A closer look revealed that his forearms had been cleanly severed at the joints. The stumps were not just missing their hands but had also been sliced through with such precision that the severed ligaments and tendons were laid bare.

To make matters worse, his legs were giving out. His knees also had been severed.

Alterio lay on the ground and continued to scream in agony.

"This... this can\'t be happening... I am a Giant Evil... Alterio the Arsonist... Ugh!"

Damien approached and drove the Dawn into Alterio\'s chest.

"I\'m going to ask you a few things now. I hope you\'ll cooperate."

Damien said to Alterio.

Alterio gritted his teeth and spat out.

"Go to hell!"

Damien chose not to respond to the insult. Instead, he released the divine power contained in the Dawn.

"Arrgh! Aaaah!"

The divine power radiating from the Dawn began to burn Alterio\'s body.

"You bastard...! Do your worst! I\'ll never surrender!"

"You\'re quite a formidable opponent. But there are ways to deal with you."

Damien rolled up his sleeve and grabbed Alterio\'s head.

"I was hoping to try brainwashing a Giant Evil one day... I didn’t expect the opportunity to come like this."

The \'Authority of Lust\' on Damien\'s hand glowed ominously.

"What... what are you doing... Stop... Stop it! I said stop! Aaaaah!"

An unknown force invaded Alterio\'s mind, unleashing an agonizing torrent of pain as if his brain were being mercilessly scrambled.

His consciousness was assaulted by a relentless, searing agony that tore through his thoughts. The excruciating torment drove him to scream continuously, each cries a raw, visceral sound of unending suffering as he grappled with the relentless invasion.

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