Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight

Chapter 71

[Translator – Kie]

[Proofreader – Kawaii]

Chapter 71: The Clean-up (1)

***

Spiritual space.

Thousands of spirits surrounded the Corpseplay.

-Don’t come any closer! Don’t touch me!

The soul of the Corpseplay, a high-level dark mage was huge.

The spirits were unable to approach due to the momentum of the Corpseplay.

But it was just for a moment. The spirits who seized the opportunity swarmed like fish in water and surrounded the soul of the Corpseplay.

-Stop! Don’t! Don’t do it!

The spirits were too weak and small, but Corpseplay’s spirit was large enough for them all to cling to.

Thousands of spirits began to tear apart the soul of the Corpseplay at the same time.

-Aaah! Aaah!

The pain of the soul being torn apart was several times more painful than the whole body being torn apart.

It was already long past the limit of pain that a person could endure.

-Please…… Stop…… Please kill me like…… Stop the pain……

The Corpseplay begged them earnestly. But spirits only laughed and started to tear it apart as they had deep resentment against him.

The spirits had no intention of easily destroying the soul of the Corpseplay. They intended to continue to suffer.

-Aaah! Aaah!

This is a spiritual space.

The concept of time was very different from reality here.

In this place, the Corpseplay suffered for what felt like an eternity.

***

Damien silently watched Corpseplay’s soul being tormented by the dead.

Corpseplay screamed for a while before finally closing his eyes and stopping breathing.

Only after confirming the death of the Corpseplay did Damien release the dark magic. The chains that sprang from the ground were all scattered.

The dolls that were bound in chains of darkness were also released. But the dolls just stayed still like corpses and didn’t move anymore.

With the death of Corpseplay, the person responsible for issuing orders to them, all functions came to a stop.

“The disposal of the Flesh Golems should be left to the Church.”

It was a win-win situation: Damien could raise his reputation within the Church, while the Church could conduct research on the Flesh Golems.

Next, Damien began to gather the dark mana in the cave.

All the Dark mana originally possessed by Damien, the dark mana released when the Flesh Golems were destroyed and the dark magna of the Corpseplay were all sucked into the bracelet.

“Now its capacity is almost full.”

Although a considerable amount of dark mana was consumed in the battle, he obtained more dark mana than that.

The capacity of the bracelet, which he thought was endless like a bottomless pit, was mostly filled.

“It would be nice to get another similar artifact.”

Damien also knew that it was impossible.

He had never seen such an artifact in his past life. It was impossible to get such a rare artifact again.

Then, Damien found a hole in the opposite wall.

It was a cave that was well-made so that people could come and go.

Out of curiosity, Damien headed for the cave. As he went in, a terrible sight caught his eye.

Dissections of various creatures were scattered everywhere, and various organs were stored in reagents. On one side, half-made Flesh Golems were laid out.

“…It was a Corpseplay’s research lab.”

He looked around the lab, wondering if there was anything useful.

There were many things, but most of them were used to make Flesh Golems. There was nothing that Damien could take.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, Damien found a map attached to the wall.

Looking at the map, Damien recalled that it was a familiar place.

“Ah, it was where Yulan’s secret warehouse was.”

It was a place he had seen through the memories of Yulan’s leader and vice-leader last time.

He had planned to visit once but had completely forgotten about it.

He thought he should go and see it this time, so he took the map with him.

Damien went deeper into the cave. Then a large mirror appeared.

It was a very large mirror, reaching up to the ceiling.

The moment he saw the mirror, Damien felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

It was inevitable. This was a magical tool made by Dourgo for communication with his subordinates.

“I can’t believe he had this…….”

With this magical tool, he could see Dorugo’s face and talk to him directly.

His heart began to beat faster.

Damien reached out to the mirror. But soon his face was filled with disappointment.

“He’s been out of touch for a long time.”

After investigating the magical tool, Damien realized that although the Corpseplay had requested contact many times, there had never been a response from Dorugo’s side.

“The Corpseplay was someone Dorugo considered important enough to appoint as a legion commander. But Dorugo stopped contacting him…?”

The first hypothesis that came to mind was that Dorugo felt a crisis due to Yulan’s downfall and cut-off contact.

As a result of Damien’s active actions, Yulan had fallen too quickly compared to his past life.

Dorugo might have thought that Yulan was hopeless and cut off contact.

“…No, that’s not it. Dorugo wouldn’t give up the Corpseplay for that reason.”

The Corpseplay imposed restrictions on itself to avoid revealing Dorugo’s identity.

Dorugo was not the kind of person to just abandon a loyal pawn like that. He was someone who would use them to the end and then discard them when they became irreparable.

“Or is he researching something?”

Since Dorugo was a dark mage by birth, he had a tendency to block external contact and lock himself in the lab when he had something to research.

Maybe that’s why they haven’t been in touch for so long.

“That’s much more likely.”

Damien licked his lips with regret.

Once Dorugo locked himself in the lab, he didn’t come out for at least a year.

Placing his hopes on this mirror was useless.

Damien turned his back on the mirror and headed deeper into the lab.

There, he found something strange again.

It was a small human tied up in chains.

It had a neutral appearance that made it impossible to tell its gender.

“…A person?”

At first, Damien thought it was a person. Unlike the Flesh Golems, it didn’t have any stitches on its body.

But it was too bizarre to call it a human.

After examining it closely, Damien realized that it was not a human but a Flesh Golem.

“It’s strange. A Flesh Golem that looks exactly like a human.”

The ‘Masterpiece’ flesh golems created by the Corpseplay were sometimes similar in shape to humans, but it was easy for anyone to recognize them as Flesh Golems.

Stitches all over the body, different skin colors, and an appearance that didn’t match anywhere.

Above all, the fact that they turned into monsters when their true nature was revealed was the reason.

However, this Flesh Golem was so similar to a human that Damien briefly mistook it for one.

As Damien examined the Flesh Golem, he discovered a magic circle drawn on the floor that blocked dark mana.

The magic circle was designed to be able to activate and deactivate.

“It seems that this orb can deactivate it.”

Damien grabbed the orb attached to the wall. When he sent dark mana into the orb, the magic circle stopped working.

As the magic circle was deactivated, the eyes of the Flesh Golem flashed open.

Immediately, the Flesh Golem rushed towards Damien.

But it couldn’t touch Damien because its hands and feet were tightly shackled by chains.

Every time the Flesh Golem twisted its body, the entire lab shook.

Without using dark magic, it was shaking the lab purely with its monstrous strength.

-#%@$#%@!

A scream burst from the mouth of the Flesh Golem. It was a cry filled with pure hatred and resentment.

“It’s strange. A Flesh Golem that has awakened its ego.”

Flesh Golems are created using the bodies of living beings.

Therefore, it was inevitable that the consciousness of the creatures used as materials would be mixed in.

This wasn’t a big problem in itself. But occasionally, a self would emerge from the tangled consciousness.

This Flesh Golem was such a case.

“Moreover, it’s a Flesh Golem that hates dark mages.”

The emotion that the Flesh Golem had awakened was hatred.

In a way, it was natural. The consciousness that gave birth to this Flesh Golem was mixed with the resentment of the people who were victims of Copseplay.

The reason the Corpseplay tied up this golem was probably because he couldn’t control the hatred of the Flesh Golem.

-%@#$#@$!

The Flesh Golem went on a rampage even more fiercely. The flesh on its wrists was torn apart by the chains.

But the next moment, the torn flesh began to regenerate in an instant.

Damien’s eyes widened.

The Flesh Golem was already an undead creature made by connecting dead bodies. He had never heard of an undead creature with regenerative abilities.

“Is it because this regeneration ability caused the stitches to disappear?”

Not only was it a formidable force to be reckoned with, but it also had this kind of regeneration ability. It was a Flesh Golem that was so terrifyingly powerful.

“I guess he couldn’t get rid of its hatred after all.”

In my past life, he never used a Flesh Golem with this kind of performance.

Perhaps it was ultimately disposed of because he couldn’t find a way to erase the hatred.

-@##@%@#$!

The Flesh Golem exerted all its strength to tear Damien apart.

Perhaps it was because of the traces of dark mana felt from Damien.

When you use dark magic, dark mana is consumed. At this time, the remnants are left on the soul or body.

The weaker the dark mage, the stronger the remnants are left.

If it were Damien, there would be no remnants. Even if there were, they would disappear cleanly after a little time.

The Flesh Golem detects the faint remnants and causes a ruckus.

“I use dark magic, but I’m not a dark mage.”

The Flesh Golem stopped at those words.

-@$@#$@!

The Flesh Golem roared as if to say not to talk nonsense.

“I’ve never dug up a grave to get dark magic, nor have I tormented a human soul. You should know my words are true.”

If Damien had done such a thing, he would have been followed by the resentment of the dead who hated him.

This Flesh Golem was born from the consciousness of the dead who hated dark mages, so it was impossible not to feel resentment.

-……

The Flesh Golem fell silent. It seemed to acknowledge Damien’s words as true.

“More than anything, I hate dark mages. I killed the Corpseplay that made you like this.”

At that, the eyes of the Flesh Golem widened. It glared at Damien as if to say not to talk nonsense.

“If you don’t believe me, ask the dead. Since you were born from the consciousness of the dead, you should be able to hear the voices of the dead.”

The Flesh Golem remained silent for a while. Eventually, the eyes of the Flesh Golem widened.

“……Kya?”

Instead of a scream, a fox-like cry came out.

Damien nodded at the question of whether he really killed them.

“Yes, I killed the Corpseplay. To be precise, the dead killed them.”

The Flesh Golem sank to the floor. Since the target of hatred had disappeared, it had lost its reason for action.

“So go ahead and rest in peace.”

Damien took out the holy sword to break the core of the Flesh Golem.

At the moment when he tried to pierce the core of the Flesh Golem with the holy sword, the Flesh Golem grabbed the holy sword.

The divine power of the holy sword began to burn the flesh of the Flesh Golem. Nevertheless, the Flesh Golem did not let go.

“Why are you resisting?”

Damien asked as if he couldn’t understand.

“It may sound cruel, but you are undead. You shouldn’t stay in this world anymore.”

At Damien’s question, the eyes of the Flesh Golem turned fierce again.

It wasn’t directed at Damien. It was directed at the dark mage.

The target of this Flesh Golem’s hatred was not just the Corpseplay.

It was the dark mages.

“Do you want to stay in this world to kill the dark mages?”

The Flesh Golem nodded. Damien was lost in thought.

If this Flesh Golem had this level of performance, it would be a great help to Damien.

But Damien had been turned into a death knight and used by Dorugo in his past life.

But if he used this Flesh Golem? That would be no different from Dorugo.

“Kya! Kya!”

The Flesh Golem made a sharp cry. It seemed to be saying not to hesitate.

Upon reconsideration, in the case of Dorugo, one could view it as a forced master-slave relationship, but this is a cooperative or transactional relationship for mutual purposes.

Their goals are somewhat aligned, and this Flesh Golem is also refusing to face true death until it releases its resentment.

After a long deliberation, Damien swung the holy sword. The chains that bound the Flesh Golem were all cut off.

“Let’s treat each other well.”

Damien extended his hand. The Flesh Golem tilted its head. It seemed to be asking what the meaning of this action was.

Damien realized that he had overlooked the Flesh Golem’s situation.

Now that it had just developed a consciousness, it was natural that it didn’t know what a handshake was.

Damien shook hands with the Flesh Golem. The Flesh Golem’s pupils dilated.

“……But how do I take you with me?”

The surroundings of the dungeon were now filled with members of the crusade.

In such a situation, if Damien took an undead outside?

“Kya? Kya!”

The Flesh Golem headed somewhere. After rummaging through the lab, it brought something to Damien.

It was a leather travel bag.

It was very old, and the leather was a deep color.

“What’s this?”

The Flesh Golem opened the bag. The insides of the bag were full of darkness.

“Kya!”

As the Flesh Golem stepped into it and suddenly sucked into the bag.

“……Oh?”

Damien immediately took the bag. He soon understood what kind of magic was cast on the bag.

“It’s a spatial magic tool made to transport the undead.”

Unlike the spatial ring that Damien had, it could only store the undead.

Rather than being restricted in terms of type, it boasted a considerable capacity, capable of accommodating hundreds of Flesh Golems with ease.

Not only that. This bag could be put into another subspace.

Originally, spatial magic repelled each other, so it was impossible to store a space in another space.

This bag could only store the undead, but it only stores high-quality undead like Corpseplay’s masterpieces.

“Thanks to this the Flesh Golem has not been caught by the church so far.”

Damien opened the bag again. The Flesh Golem popped out of the darkness.

“Kya!”

The Flesh Golem made a proud expression. Damien said, as if impressed.

“Did you remember seeing the Corpseplay using the bag? You’re smart.”

“Kya!”

The Flesh Golem nodded its head with a proud face.

Suddenly, Damien confirmed that there was writing on the Flesh Golem’s leash.

“Nine?”

As Damien said that name, the Flesh Golem’s expression crumpled.

The Flesh Golem grabbed the leash and tore it off, then threw it to the ground. And Flesh Golem stomped on it several times.

It seemed that it was disgusting because it was a name made by the Corpseplay.

“You need a new name.”

At Damien’s words, the Flesh Golem’s expression swelled with anticipation. After much thought, Damien said.

“……Miya?”

The name seemed to please the Flesh Golem, as it nodded its head.

“From today, you’re Miya. Let’s kill all the dark mages together.”

Miya nodded its head at Damien’s words.

***

[Translator – Kie]

[Proofreader – Kawaii]