Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight
Chapter 361: SS 9

[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]

Side Story Chapter 9: The Twilight Cult (2)

The goat-headed demon clutched his head with both hands and muttered.

"Shit, of all people, they had to mess with Damien Haksen's bloodline."

Not only that, but he screamed at the bald man.

"You crazy human bastard! What the hell were you thinking pulling this stunt? No, it's your freedom to do whatever, but why drag me into this!"

The bald man, who had suddenly been cursed at by the demon he served, looked extremely wronged.

"We... we only thought Lord Bethpoll would be pleased if we offered this country to you."

"Offer this country? Why the hell did you think of something so pointless!"

"We were going to sacrifice this country's people to bring Lord Bethpoll's true body down to earth..."

"This bastard has really lost his mind! Did I ever say even the first letter of 'descent'? I didn't! So why are you acting on your own and causing chaos!"

"Well, descending to earth has always been the common goal of all demons since ancient times. So naturally, we thought Lord Bethpoll would want that too..."

"That was back in the old days! Nobody wants that now! I guarantee you, there isn't a single demon who wants to go to earth! Why would anyone want to come to a place where there's a monster like Damien Haksen!"

When Bethpoll showed disgust, the bald man looked even more confused.

"Lord Bethpoll, why exactly do you fear Damien Haksen? You told us in the Twilight Cult that Damien Haksen was a fraud and not scary at all!"

"Of course that was a lie."

"A... a lie? But why would you do such a thing..."

"So you would offer human souls to me."

The bald man's face went blank.

Bethpoll clicked his tongue disdainfully and continued.

"Damien Haksen's infamy is so great that demon worshippers have dried up completely. But I wanted to eat human souls. So what was I supposed to do? I had to create a force that would follow me, even if it meant lying."

Now I understand.

Why the Twilight Cult members believed so firmly that Uncle was a fraud.

And why the demon told such lies.

"You... you lied to use us? You piece of trash!"

At this point, even the bald man couldn't hold back and cursed at the demon.

But Bethpoll didn't even blink and said this:

"It's your fault for believing a demon."

How can he be so shameless? A demon is truly a demon.

"Listen, Damien Haksen's nephew. Everything that happened today has nothing to do with me. It's all what those bastards did on their own."

"Bethpoll! Are you trying to pin all the blame on us!"

"I'll kill all those bastards with my own hands, so won't you forget about this incident? I'll even give you a treasure I cherish as a bonus."

At Bethpoll's words, the bald man screamed desperately.

"Do you think we'll just quietly let you get away with this!"

"Your arrogance pierces the heavens. A mere human, at that."

Bethpoll lifted one corner of his mouth and mocked the bald man.

"You would abandon us so easily after we devoted ourselves to you?"

"Shut up. I need to survive too."

While the two were bickering, it happened.

Swoosh.

Suddenly, the air split open and Uncle appeared!

Huh? How did Uncle get here? When you enter seclusion, you should be cut off from the outside world.

Seeing Uncle's face, I felt both joy and regret at the same time.

Because Uncle's body was exactly the same as before he entered seclusion.

It meant he had failed to return to being human again this time.

"Kyaaaaak!"

Before I could dwell on my regret, Bethpoll's scream reached my ears.

"He... he appeared! He appeared! It's... it's Damien Haksen!"

At Uncle's appearance, Bethpoll screamed like a child.

Uncle looked at Bethpoll and frowned even more.

"I crossed dimensions to check something out and... it's a demon? How dare filth from hell come up to earth without fear?"

"That... that's not it! No, that's not what happened!"

"What do you mean it's not? You bastards who don't know your place still think earth is your playground..."

Uncle gritted his teeth and walked toward Bethpoll.

Then he made eye contact with me.

I waved both arms and greeted Uncle.

"Uncle!"

"...Theo?"

Uncle looked at me with a dazed expression, then slowly turned to look at the demon.

"...This fucking bastard dared to touch my nephew?"

Ah.

At this rate, Uncle is going to lose his reason.

It would be troublesome if Uncle's transformation into a beast is seen by so many people.

"Lord Damien!"

At that moment, Bethpoll slammed his head to the ground.

He hit it so hard that the ground shattered and the cave shook.

Thanks to that, Uncle regained his reason just before losing it.

"Please don't misunderstand! I didn't do anything! My followers did this on their own! I just happened to be summoned as an avatar!"

Huh? Where is this demon lying?

I quickly shouted to Uncle.

"Uncle! That demon called you a fraud!"

"D-Damien Haksen's nephew! What are you saying!"

"That's not all! He said all of Uncle's reputation was lies and that he could win, so he gathered followers!"

"Lord Damien Haksen! Let me explain! That's not..."

"And he ate human souls from his followers! He's a really bad guy!"

The demon looked at Uncle while sweating profusely.

Sure enough, Uncle was glaring at the demon with very cold eyes.

"You called me a fraud?"

"That... that's..."

"You said you were stronger than me?"

"No, that's not it."

"You ate human souls?"

"Please just listen to what I'm saying..."

"I left hell alone because I was busy with earthly affairs... and bastards like this appear and muddy the waters."

Uncle tilted his head back and let out a long sigh.

I've watched Uncle for a long time, so I know.

That's what he does when he's really pissed off.

"I was thinking of disciplining you demon bastards someday anyway... I'll have to visit soon."

"Lord Damien! Please forgive me! If you spare my life, I'll serve you like a dog for the rest of my life!"

"A dog?"

Uncle reached out to the side.

Then a sword emerged from thin air.

"I don't need bastards like you."

"Uwaaaaak!"

Bethpoll opened a dimensional portal and threw his body through it.

But Uncle's sword was faster.

Uncle swung his sword and cut down Bethpoll.

A long wound crossed Bethpoll's body.

"Ah... ahhh... ahhhhak!"

The wound became a hole that sucked in Bethpoll's body.

Bethpoll screamed as he was sucked into the hole.

Uncle made the sword disappear and dusted off his hands.

Then he glared at the bald man.

"Hiiiek!"

The bald man collapsed on the spot.

Yellow liquid even soaked his pants.

"I... we were just... just deceived! It's all because that demon lied to us..."

"And you offered human souls to a demon. Vermin who sold out their own kind must receive appropriate punishment."

Uncle snapped his fingers.

Then black wind swirled from somewhere.

"Kiiiiiak!"

"Hihihik!"

No, this wasn't black wind but evil spirits.

Uncle isn't just an excellent swordsman but also a dark mage.

Ironic, isn't it? A person who hates dark mages being a dark mage himself.

But Uncle has never used dark magic to toy with the dead.

However, he doesn't hesitate to use dark magic when giving victims' grudges release like this.

"Uwaaaak! What is this!"

"Save me! Ahhhhak!"

The evil spirits surrounded the bald man and the Twilight Cult members.

Toward the screaming cultists, Uncle said in a cold voice.

"Those are the vengeful spirits of humans killed by you. You will pay the price directly to your victims."

The evil spirits grew thicker and thicker. So thick that the cultists couldn't be seen.

"Uwaaaak!"

"Ahhhhak!"

And when the spirits disappeared, there was nothing left in that spot.

Only red bloodstains remained.

"The situation is roughly cleaned up... Theo?"

Uncle looked at me.

Uh oh, he's really angry.

"Why are you here when you just got out of house arrest? Don't tell me you snuck out again without telling Mom?"

"No! I got Mom's permission to come!"

Uncle looked at me with an expression that said he didn't believe me at all.

Wow, this is so unfair.

"Skeleton uncles! Please say something!"

"Master, that's correct. There was permission from Madam."

"We guarantee it!"

Only after the skeleton uncles stepped forward did Uncle believe what I said.

I let out a sigh of relief.

"But what were you guys doing when I assigned you to protect Theo?"

"Well, even we can't beat a marquis-level demon."

"That bastard earlier was just an avatar, not the main body. And you outnumbered him."

"That... that may be true, but still a marquis-level demon..."

"This won't do. When we return to the main house, I'll have to retrain you from the beginning."

At Uncle's words, all the skeleton uncles' faces turned pale.

How can you tell with skeletons, you ask?

Actually, I just said that because it seemed like they would.

"But Theo, how did you end up captured by these bastards?"

"Well, you see."

I explained the whole story to Uncle.

After hearing my explanation, Uncle was greatly enraged.

"...Demon worshippers dare to run wild like this? I really need to beat down those demon bastards once. I'll make sure they can never pull this kind of shit again."

Uncle, who had been ruminating on his anger, looked at the noble children.

When they received Uncle's gaze, the children flinched.

"You all went through hardships. But you endured well."

At Uncle's praise, the children's expressions brightened after being terrified the whole time.

One of them approached Uncle and asked carefully.

"D-D-Da-Damien, Damien H-H-Haksen sir."

"You don't need to be so nervous. Speak comfortably."

Did Uncle's words break the ice?

The children swarmed over and surrounded Uncle.

"You're as cool as the rumors say!"

"I never thought I'd see Lord Damien's skills in person!"

"I've always admired you!"

Kids will be kids, I suppose.

They're so happy to have their idol in front of them, they don't know what to do.

Uncle didn't find them annoying and accepted it all.

Surprising, right?

Uncle used to find kids bothersome.

They say he's changed a lot because of me.

"I wanted to play with Uncle too."

Sigh.

It's disappointing, but it can't be helped.

I'll have to yield just for today.

Anyway, I can play with Uncle when I get home!

But didn't those guys earlier fall for the Twilight Cult's lies and think Uncle was a fraud?

Thinking about it makes me a bit angry.

While I was thinking that, something grabbed my wrist.

Looking to see who it was, it's Hazel.

"What's wrong?"

Even at my question, Hazel didn't answer.

She just kept her head down and looked at my feet.

"That... that is..."

"Are you hurt somewhere?"

"That's not it..."

Hazel hesitated and finally managed to say one thing.

"Th-thank you for today. I lived thanks to you."

"You don't need to thank me. Uncle solved everything."

"Still, you were the only one who stayed calm among all of us. You even fought the cultists."

"Well, that's just..."

It's because I'm used to being kidnapped, but I didn't bother to say that.

There's no need to reveal my weakness to Hazel.

"You were really cool. Big brother Theo."

After saying that, Hazel covered her face with both hands and ran toward where the kids were.

What? Big brother Theo?

What did that wicked girl just say?

I'm not joking, goosebumps spread all over my body.

It seems Hazel has found a new way to torment me.

I shuddered while rubbing my goosebump-covered forearms.

She's truly not a girl to be taken lightly.

[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]