WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Order
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◈ I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World ◈
Chapter 12: A Demonkin's Sudden Death (2)
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Morgina stared blankly at the Abyssal Domain that had suddenly been torn open, then shouted, “Hey, wait!” and chased after Kriel.
‘The Depth... isn’t that great.’
Morgina scolded him from behind for doing something crazy again, but Kriel ignored her. The Abyss spawn was likely trying to make them waste time conquering the Abyssal Domain properly. There was no need to play along.
[No. I think it really is crazy.]
“I just put an efficient way down into practice.”
Kriel recalled the structure of an Abyssal Domain. True to its name, the more deeply it had been corrupted by the Abyss, the deeper it became.
Its danger therefore depended on its Depth. As Kriel had expected, the Abyssal Domain spread through the monastery was relatively shallow.
“Hmm.”
“What is it?”
Kriel touched the wall of the Abyssal Domain. This stone wall, once part of the monastery, had been strangely warped and fused by the Abyss. It now looked like an architectural chimera, a chaotic mosaic of garden trees, bricks, and stained glass.
Morgina raised her holy mace. Red light illuminated the darkness.
“Two paths?”
“One leads to the Core of the Abyss. The other leads to the Seed’s main body.”
The Core and the Seed had been kept separately. Kriel guessed why the Servant of the Abyss had made that choice.
‘Ordinary priests can’t track the Abyss as well as I can.’
Kriel’s ability to sense the Abyss was abnormal. It was possible because a Dark Knight was naturally close to the Abyss. Perhaps it was easier to find something from the same faction.
If a Holy Knight with combat strength similar to Kriel’s had been sent here instead of him, they would likely still be wandering near the entrance of the Abyssal Domain.
Only someone sensitive to the Abyss, like a Dark Knight, could recognize weak points in an Abyssal Domain’s surface layer and precisely destroy them to create a shortcut into its depths.
“Splitting the paths must be meant to buy time to escape while we attack the Core of the Abyss.”
That meant the Seed’s main body was considered more valuable than the carefully cultivated Abyssal Domain. Kriel thought about the Seven Demon Weapons Morgina and Orisin had discussed.
‘Even I don’t know about this.’
The Seven Demon Weapons had not existed in Tirnanog RPG. According to stories Kriel had collected in case they offered a clue to returning home, the Demon King Valor had left them behind as a final insurance policy after sensing that he would lose to the Heroes.
A rumor accompanied the story, one that sounded suspiciously familiar. Gather all seven weapons, and the Demon King would be resurrected.
‘But judging by how even the Abyss isn’t trying to resurrect the Demon King and is instead using them for its own plans, they probably don’t have that kind of effect...’
Morgina’s voice pulled Kriel from his thoughts.
“What will we do? Split up?”
Of course, what mattered now was not the nature of the Seven Demon Weapons, but who would destroy what. Whatever they were, the weapons had to be deeply bound to the Abyss, so they were not something Kriel could use.
“I’ll go after the Seed and keep him occupied. Leave the Core to you.”
It was the obvious choice if he wanted to build up Nobility.
After all, executing those who had betrayed the world and thrown themselves into the Abyss increased Nobility.
* * *
Satranak let out a scream-like shout.
“How?!”
The Abyssal Domain’s Depth was not great, but it was still an Abyssal Domain. A world of chaos and darkness worthy of the name. A domain of the Abyss where warped space and fading senses threatened the mind.
Yet that person had appeared before him less than ten minutes after entering it.
“You catch on quickly.”
Kriel found that regrettable. Servants of the Abyss often failed to properly sense him. Whenever that happened, Kriel simply greeted them by gripping his greatsword and taking their heads off.
‘Is it because of the Mark of the Great Warrior?’
The mark Morgina had given him concealed his presence as a Dark Knight, but it also made Abyssal beings more wary of him. Kriel resolved to remove the mark the next time he fought the Abyss, then leveled his greatsword.
“Grikenkos’s Mist!”
Satranak’s attack began at once. Mist created from demonic power joined the darkness of the Abyssal Domain.
Darkness carried an instinctive sense of fear. Grikenkos’s Mist was magic that reflected that fear. It was an illusion spell that manifested the dreadful images one unconsciously imagined while staring into darkness, then tore the enemy apart.
Satranak knew that a Saint would not be overwhelmed by such a spell alone. Yet to dispel the darkness and see through the mist, he would inevitably have to expend Divine Power.
‘He must have already expended a considerable amount of Divine Power breaking through the Abyssal Domain. I’ll make him spend as much as possible, then wait for an opening...’
“A Demonkin.”
A calm murmur came from the darkness. There was no fear of his suddenly narrowed vision or the illusions rushing toward him, not even hostility toward the Abyss.
“That’s good.”
Satranak could not understand what was good about this. Instinctively, he prepared another spell. It was a spasmodic reaction, like a cornered rat biting a cat.
Even Satranak could not understand this response. The Saint was undoubtedly a tremendous threat, but if Satranak made proper use of the Abyssal Domain’s advantage and his own abilities, escaping this place should have been easy.
How long had it been since his emotions had surged like this after reaching the rank of Demonkin? At most, only when he had stood before an Archdemon─
The black knight leveled his greatsword.
Straight at Satranak’s heart.
Neither the Abyssal Domain’s darkness nor Grikenkos’s Mist seemed to mean anything to the black knight. The shadow cast by the Abyss was fundamentally different from ordinary darkness. It was a blackness that swallowed light. Ordinary light, not imbued with a supernatural ability, would only be devoured.
No Holy Knight could possibly see through the Abyss’s darkness so naturally without the light of Divine Power.
The moment Satranak realized that, Kriel’s blade filled his vision.
* * *
The red of Blood Energy, unlike the chilling white of Fighting Energy, clung to the greatsword’s blade. The red trails lingering in the darkness like afterimages steadily reduced Satranak’s chances of escape.
‘Sometimes Demonkin are easier to deal with than Demonic Beasts.’
Servants of the Abyss instinctively understood hierarchy. That was why Monsters obeyed Demonic Beasts, and Demonic Beasts obeyed Demonkin.
Demonkin, in turn, obeyed Demons. Which raised a question.
What rank did I belong to?
When this world had been a game, the answer would have been simple. It depended on level. Hierarchy applied differently according to one’s level and bonuses from skills.
But now that it had become reality?
The answer was that the Abyssal hierarchy did not apply to me.
As a player character, the Dark Knight possessed enough potential to defeat the Demon King and inherit his karma.
Separate from that potential, I did not properly belong within the Abyssal hierarchy. I would need to use Abyss-related skills to accumulate Demonic Nature and raise my rank, but unless I wanted to be admitted to a psychiatric ward, I had no reason to use Abyssal skills.
It was a situation like a bug. My potential was at the highest level, but I had not accumulated any Demonic Nature.
It seemed Demonkin could sense that potential.
It was a very useful trait for me.
Perhaps the wisdom of the Abyss was only bestowed upon those who reached the Demonkin stage, but Demonic Beasts could not even sense the Abyssal potential of the Dark Knight class.
They only saw an enemy and charged straight in. If I had actively used Abyss-related skills and accumulated Demonic Nature, they would have been tamed immediately.
Demonkin were different. As the saying went, you saw as much as you knew. Demonkin instinctively sensed the heights a Dark Knight could reach.
The moment I revealed my presence as a Dark Knight by using Bloodlust or Resentment, Demonkin felt the same pressure they felt from the Archdemons they served.
“Grikenkos─!”
This time, I was lucky as well. Grikenkos, whom that bastard kept invoking, was the Demon of deception and wealth.
In other words, an expert in mental magic.
And I had worked myself to death building up the Nobility stat to overcome Dark Knight skill debuffs.
A spell that could not even be properly completed under that pressure would not affect me.
* * *
The dead rose and walked the earth, while darkness given a voice whispered despair. Within the dreadful blackness loomed the majestic shadow of an Archdemon dwelling in the Abyss.
Condensed fire and lightning swept through the gaps in the illusion’s assault on the five senses. Amid the explosions and darkness, Satranak concealed himself again.
And all of it was meaningless. The red sword energy surrounding the greatsword simply dismantled the elemental magic and returned it to nothing.
The knight advanced toward Satranak, slowly but surely.
Satranak could not even dare guess the identity of the figure who advanced as if mocking an Archdemon’s authority.
“Who! Who sent you here? Kromnagha? Arhetet? Have you forgotten the Great Demon Pact?”
The knight did not answer.
Footnotes:
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