Tales of the Old World Demon Lord

Chapter 49 – From ashes, desperation

[Eternum Calendar 1972]

“Hmm~ this ought to be enough, though taking into consideration that overgrown child’s absurd physical capabilities, it would not surprise me if he somehow managed to withstand everything with no so much as a single scratch.”

Taking advantage of this brief moment of respite given to him, Errick commented to himself as he calmly surveyed the battlefield before him. Cold and disdainful winds brushed past him as they centered themselves about to a specific location of the forest. Howling ominously, forcing Errick’s focus towards the distance he could see that something was about to come.

He had to prepare himself for the second strike.

…

“Guh?! Tch, that skill again!”

Dagda roared furiously with unbridled rage. His veins almost popped out from his forehead through his iron colored carapace-like skin. In his tantrum he casually blew away several trees that were innocently standing beside him.

“Dammit!”

He took a hold of his own head, trying to force himself to calm down and regain composure by apply pressure. Yet with his orientation severely disrupted from Errick Rommel’s previous attack he couldn’t even manage to stand straight. He tried but quickly fell back to the dirt floor, vomiting out whatever was in his mouth. Every inch of his body was in pain but most of all his head pounded excruciatingly as though it had been struck down by continuous lightning bolts.

Even his sight wasn’t spared; nothing seemed coherent- up was down and left was right, the world began to spin around inside his head as though trying to fight him. Unable to do anything he knelt down to the floor and stared at the dirt beneath him. Beads of sweat dripped down past his forehead, ‘one hundred years…’ he reminded himself with a painful grimace.

‘Nothing’s changed since then!’ through his pain he was forced to remember back to when he had first faced off against Errick Rommel. It was no different from how it was now; at the time he had so severely underestimated his opponent that he was thoroughly destroyed. Just skittering that memory filled his mouth full blood.

“As if I’d lose like this! Not again!”

Dagda slammed the floor with his large fist, as a result the entire floor caved in around him. When the dust and debris finally settle down so too did his frustration.

He took a deep breath then breathed out, he continued to repeat these actions to clear his mind and refocus on what was truly needed to be done. Giving himself a brief moment of respite to get his orientation back in order, slowly but surely the world returned to a state of normalcy and order. He now had one goal before him: defeat Errick Rommel, but to achieve this was not such an easy feat.

Something else was necessary. More power… more strength, more speed, more defense, more skill more insight… the list was endless, even after he had slaved away the past one hundred years in arduous training. ‘No, this is how it should be!’ slowly getting back up to his feet he reorganized his thought and came up with a conclusion.

‘There is still one more way,’ though he did not particularly like using this method because he wasn’t quite adept at controlling it. However even if it was a power that would easily go berserk it was still his power so if it could defeat the enemy then it was the same as him finally taking down Errick Rommel. With those thoughts he closed his eyes and focused everything he had into the deepest recesses of his very soul.

A blinding like flashed through the forest, so intense that it had briefly drained everything of color. Dyed with a bright white, it had somewhat subsided but the light continued to exist as though painted onto Dagda’s two arms. They crawled from his hands up to his elbows before forming into a more solid shape.

‘To overcome an entity that dwarfs gods, heh~’ it should not have been a sentence that should have even been pondered but reality was cruel. He tightened his fists as the light died down a little more, turning themselves into a pair of silver white gauntlets that encompassed his arms. Yet their distinct purposes weren’t for defense but to attack.

[Spirit Weapon]- A living weapon that was forged from a portion of the user’s own soul. Not only were they many magnitudes greater than regular weapons, but since they were connected to the user’s soul they would also grow more powerful alongside with the user.

Exhibiting no less than a suffocating divine aura, the pair of silver white gauntlets let out a howling screech. Just with the act of wearing them Dagda felt the weight of his own power starting to multiply and even take on physical phenomena. The nearby trees and plants withered and died as they were suppressed by the sheer pressure. Seeing this he could no longer hold back his blood curdling laughter, ‘this is it!’ he thought as he drew a haunting grin.

“Hahaha!”

Even the simple echoes of his voice could create miniature earthquakes through the forest. A surge of adrenaline rushed through his entire body, everything was screaming at him to finally ‘take revenge’.

“This is the moment I’ve been waiting for! Errick Rommel!”

Tearing up the terrain behind him, Dagda rushed full speed with no regard for anything. Leaving behind a trail of complete destruction, the only thing that existed in his eyes was the grand enemy before him, Errick Rommel. In just few short seconds he had returned to the primary battlefield and seeing that deathly black metal body he could feel every muscle in his body tingle with excitement.

Dagda briefly sensed the shift in the mood and looking at the opponent’s hand there was something. He didn’t exactly understand what that ‘something’ was but he knew enough to know that it wasn’t just him that had decided to step up the game. ‘That’s fine, I’ll trash you either way!’ the second round had just begun.

The physical embodiment of destruction and chaos, Dagda charged straight for his opponent. Winding back his fists in order to prepare the most devastating attack he had ever unleashed in his entire life, he shouted.

“Errick Rommel!”

“Hmph, so you’ve decided to come back after all, child.”

His opponent scoffed at him, having already caught onto what Dagda’s next plan of attack was going to be, yet that didn’t matter. Dagda was never one to come up with convoluted plans in the first place, for him the most direct approach was the most fitting. Overwhelming and unflinching power, that was how he had overpowered every competition up until now and it wasn’t going to change. This was the kind of ‘God’ that he was- the wrath of the heavens themselves!

The weapon in Errick’s hand started to rapidly twist and rotate, for a brief moment even Dagda was left confused as to what it would actually do. It didn’t resemble any melee or ranged weapon he knew but despite this, smashing through his hesitation he resolved to continue on his unstoppable rampage. Or so that was how Dagda was supposed to have operated but from the very depths of his subconscious everything screamed at him, warning him to avoid direct confrontation with that weapon at all costs.

A small flash of light shot forth from Errick’s weapon and accompanying a loud bang something came whizzing at Dagda’s face with unparalleled speed. If he had chosen to disregard his instincts or had been a second late, then there was no doubt a small hole would’ve drilled through his skull. ‘Wha…!’ he couldn’t even see what it was that was propelled from those barrels but there was no more time to think because the opponent’s assault was far from over.

It had just begun! A storm of small ‘something’ came flying at him at a speed that he didn’t even know existed. All he had time to think about was his next direct actions as he tried his best to strafe side to side in order to avoid the flurry of miniature chaos.

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The speed of those small pellets were so incredibly fast that even as Dagda dodged to all sides he was still eventually hit by a few of them. They effortlessly penetrated his iron plated skin leaving a small dark hole through to the other side, smoking and even burning a little inside. Following the gush of blood, the pain was intense, unlike anything he’d ever felt before in his life but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t endure.

The destructive capability of a single one of those small pellets weren’t anything particularly noteworthy, but the main problem was their seemingly infinite numbers and the absurdly high speed they were being launched. He couldn’t avoid all of them and if things continued he would eventually be riddled with holes.

There was only one saving grace.

“Tch, your regenerative capabilities are as annoying as ever.”

Errick commented calmly, not letting up even a moment of rest for the enemy. Looking down at his own body, as Errick had said, he hyper regenerative powers were kicking in. Those small holes in his body was sealing up almost as fast as the bullets were penetrating them. Yet it was also undeniable that he was being damaged faster than he was regenerating, so even he couldn’t afford to face the flurry head on.

“The annoying thing is your damned weapon!”

Even if it was slight, a ‘fair’ weapon was one that gave the opportunity to counterattack. It was through the wielder’s and the opponent’s skill that wove between these small vulnerabilities that a fight could truly flourish in to a magnificent choreography. That was how battles were supposed to have been conducted but this weapon was completely one sided. It fired continuously without tiring, without rewinding and without reloading. The time between pellets to react was smaller than microseconds and even then it was impossible to dodge all of them.

It was only barely thanks Dagda’s near infinite stamina that he was able to run across the entirety of the battle field multiple times without tiring. Through perseverance and determination, a brief miracle was given to him in the form of a temporarily cease. Errick’s weapon burnt up, beet red as it let off steam from the six connected barrels. ‘A cooldown time!’ as he had expected even this absurdly unfair weapon had a weakness.

Having spent the majority of his life in fights, Dagda had come to realize that all weapons had at least one method of counter. Even this weapon that he had only seen for the first time in his life was not an exception. Without wasting the opportunity given to him Dagda instantly leapt in for the engage.

In a split second’s decision, Dagda charged and appeared right before Errick who helplessly held onto his useless weapon. Dagda attacked before Errick could even retaliate, throwing his fists to the opponent’s face, hoping it would end his suffering in a single move. However something wasn’t right, Errick did not show any signs of panic, instead he calmly pulled out something from his pocket. A small pencil-like object with a red tip and the moment it was pressed everything before Dagda faded into complete white.

…

‘Your attack patterns are too easy to read, child,’ Errick thought to himself as he took out a small switch from his pocket. Even with Dagda’s physical prowess having a major upgrade from the addition of his new toy, it was no use. If he couldn’t properly land a hit then it was the same as not having anything at all; no different from before. Be it speed, power or skill, what truly mattered above all else was the ability to understand the flow of battle.

When the enemy would run, when they would defend, when they would attack and when they would engage. If all of these points were predicted beforehand then it was a simple matter of moving in opposition to counter them. Everything was already set up before Dagda had even returned to the fight; Errick had summoned more than just his minigun- the entire field was littered with [Landmines].

The battlefield erupted into a grand pyre of explosions then into a tower of sand and dust clouds. The once bright blue skies were pained in the color of darkness with the rising smog. Having burnt nearly all of the oxygen along with the immolating smog, it would not have been odd for anyone to have choked to death long ago. However the two that were caught up in the epicenter of it all were a special exception to this.

With the artificial night descending upon the battlefield seeing became a challenge. However being equipped with inbuilt [nightvision] capabilities, Errick was easily able to navigate his way through and out of the dust clouds. Though his clothes had become a little dirtied it was a cheap price to pay for immobilizing the strongest god known to this world.

Unfortunately even for his high tech body, the smog caused small interferences with his sensors and thus made it hard to detect Dagda. All that was left was simply to wait for the results of the explosion; was the enemy dead? ‘Not likely, but it should have at least highly immobilized…’

As Errick was in the midst of thinking to himself he felt a small change in the air pressure. ‘Tch, he survived?’ Errick aimed his minigun once more into the blackened dust cloud and hailed randomly through it. From the sounds coming from within the smoke it appeared that at least something was hit but being unsure he continued to fire into it.

Yet in a sudden turn of events the dust clouds were blown away, what appeared instead was Dagda’s hulking frame, but it had changed. All of the iron colored carapace had disappeared, replaced entirely by equally bulging snow grey skin marked with ominous black patterns. Behind him were two large, death colored wings, flapping as it blew the dust away. There were signs that bullet had penetrated through his skin but they were already almost done healing themselves in just a fraction of second.

‘His hyper regeneration was improved?’ Errick took a step back. Gazing into the enemy’s eyes it no longer reflected any signs of controlled consciousness but the vicious instincts of a berserker beast. With those two enormous wings he flew straight for Errick at a speed much faster than before. In just a split second he covered a range of a few dozen meters, appearing instantly and managing to catch Errick off guard.

In a single punch he burst through the metallic plating on Errick’s chest to the other side.

“Kuh… y- you think that would b-be enough to stop me?”

It wasn’t that Errick was stuttering as he spoke but his vocal processors had been damaged. Still with Dagda’s arm in his chest Errick grabbed onto it and with one fell snap tore it clean off the enemy’s shoulders. Dagda screamed in unholy pain as he backed off and fell to his knees.

Dagda fell to his knees as his neck was cleanly exposed for the taking. Errick didn’t want to waste this chance and decided to finish the battle by decapitating him with his minigun. He raised the cumbersome weapon to the sky and swung down as if it were a sword for Dagda’s neck, however it was surprisingly intercepted.

Dagda’s severed right arm had rapidly formed out of his shoulders to stop the minigun. Dagda pulled it down, dragging Errick along with it as he was temporarily knocked off his balanced. Thus taking this advantage Dagda threw the strongest punch he could muster with his unoccupied left hand. With an empowered fist, the strength was enough to puncture through the thick titanium helmet, destroying the single red eye at the center.

Then silence…