The System Awakens: Rise of the Champion - Chapter 88

Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Catching Up to Past Sins – 3
Damian looked at the newly arrived Awakeners who had come to “save the day,” an amused smile on his face, but the vein on his forehead told another story. “Look at you, came to save the day, didn’t you?”

“Who do you think you are? You think you can do whatever you want? You’re asking for death, aren’t you?” one of them asked, pointing his sword at Damian.

“You think you’re some big shot just because you managed to take down the castle? And even that was a surprise attack! Do you even have the balls to fight without childish tricks?” another one snorted.

Damian narrowed his eyes, looking at the newly arrived group of people.

There were at least around 100 Awakeners, members of the [Lord’s Disciple] faction.

These people had been scattered across different locations, engaged in various activities, when they noticed their territory under attack.

And not just by anyone, but by the same monster who had mercilessly crushed their leaders in the ranking battle.

When the notification appeared announcing that Infinity, the leader of the [Circle of Ouroboros], had declared war on the [Lord’s Disciple] faction, many of them wasted no time in rushing over to defend their territory.

Like any faction, no matter how degenerate or heinous, the [Lord’s Disciple] still had loyal Awakeners willing to fight for it.

“And who the hell are you?” Damian asked, narrowing his gaze at the men.

“We are the members of the faction you’re trying to annihilate,” one of them replied with a snort.

“Just because you managed to get first place in the power ranking, you think you can come here and wage war on our faction? Are you really that stupid?”

“You… why can’t you just leave us alone?”

A weak voice came from the rubble of the broken-down castle.

Damian turned his gaze and immediately recognized the wounded man standing there, his body covered in burn wounds, his clothes torn and tattered.

It wasn’t just anyone. It was a very familiar face.

One of the people responsible for handling affairs related to NGOs that managed orphanages, old-age homes, and similar organizations within a certain jurisdiction.

The same jurisdiction where Damian had lived in an orphanage until he was kicked out at the age of fourteen.

This man was none other than Benedetto Marco Giuliani, one of the Seven Cardinals of the Vatican and now one of its seven faction leaders.

Many might not consider it a big deal to be kicked out of an orphanage at fourteen.

But the orphanages under the control of these bastards didn’t just kick out one or two kids when they turned fourteen.

They expelled many children all at once, including those who hadn’t turned fourteen.

Even if one could argue that fourteen was old enough to fend for oneself, Damian was an exception.

His body had developed abnormally slowly due to mysterious reasons.

He hadn’t even gained the ability to speak until he turned fourteen, and his eyesight was so poor that he needed thick, specially made glasses just to see properly.

But as an orphan with no money, he couldn’t afford them until he got his first entry-level job.

And yet, Damian wasn’t even the most vulnerable child at the orphanage.

Others were in far worse condition, unable to fend for themselves.

Who knows how many of them died because of these people’s actions?

How many orphanages and old-age homes were abandoned, left to rot?

How many children were abused and exploited?

How many people were defrauded in the name of God?

But more than anything, what fueled Damian’s rage was the audacity of this bastard.

The sheer nerve to stand there and ask, “Why can’t you just leave us alone?”

Damian felt his fury flare up.

“Why, you ask…?”

A dense, oppressive aura seeped from his body, his long hair rising as if defying gravity.

Everyone present felt their skin go cold as an overwhelming, predatory killing intent painted the entire area in malice.

For a moment, Damian felt like losing control, like letting his rage explode and tearing Benedetto Marco Giuliani apart right then and there.

But he didn’t.

He forced himself to remain sane, even as his glowing neon-blue eyes locked onto the man he was dying to kill.

“Do you think you deserve to live after everything you’ve done?” Damian asked, his voice razor-sharp.

“After all those helpless kids you abandoned? After leaving them to die in agony?”

Benedetto Marco Giuliani’s throat went dry.

He couldn’t breathe under the weight of those abyss-like eyes.

“We… we…” he stammered.

“‘We, we’ what?” Damian mocked. “Are you going to say you did it because you had to? Because you needed the money?”

He chuckled bitterly, already regretting the idea of seeking any explanation from scum like this.

“It’s money, isn’t it?” Damian scoffed.

“It’s always about money for people like you. People with power and status, always looking to exploit those beneath you.”

His voice darkened.

“And you, the Vatican, are the worst of them all. People come to you seeking salvation, seeking God. But instead, they find you.”

With pure disgust, Damian spat on the ground.

He felt filthy just speaking to them.

“I shouldn’t even be talking to you… It’s a sin for me to even let you breathe after everything you’ve done,” Damian said, taking a step forward.

“Don’t.”

Just as Damian took a single step forward, the Awakeners, who had now come to defend the faction, moved to stop whatever he was about to do.

But before they could even reach him, Damian was already in front of Benedetto Marco Giuliani, his fist buried deep in his gut.

As soon as Damian’s fist connected, Benedetto was sent flying backward, blood dripping from his mouth as he crashed into a broken wall.

Yet somehow, he was still alive.

Damian didn’t care that he had survived because he didn’t want him to.

“Stop… We won’t let you do as you please.”

This time, it wasn’t just the Awakeners who arrived to save the day.

Seven leaders of the faction stood up, one of them raising his hand, glowing with thick green energy.

That energy spread to the other injured leaders, healing their wounds from Damian’s surprise attack with the [Flame Tempest] spell.

“Oh, so you have the ability to heal others, huh?” Damian sneered.

“But just because you’ve healed your wounds, you think you can stop me? Or is it that you’re confident now that your little helpers have come to your rescue? Do you think numbers will make a difference?”

Damian raised an eyebrow as he lifted Benedetto Marco Giuliani by the neck.

The man’s body was completely broken, bones shattered, blood flowing from his mouth and nose.

“All of this is meaningless before absolute strength,” Damian said, smiling sadistically.

He slightly twisted the hand gripping Benedetto’s neck, and the sickening sound of something snapping echoed in the air.

Benedetto’s body went limp, lifeless, before falling helplessly to the ground.

“You…”

“You… monster…”

“Monster? Coming from you, that’s rich.” Damian snorted, seeing the horror in the Awakeners’ eyes.

“Just like this piece of trash, you’re all dead.”

As he spoke, an intense heat began to seep from his body, the pressure growing to mountainous heights.

“No, you won’t… We won’t let you!”

Suppressing their fear, the remaining faction leaders gritted their teeth, drew their weapons, and charged at Damian along with the reinforcements that had come to defend their faction.

Damian smirked at their retaliation. “Useless efforts.”

Within seconds, he was surrounded by Awakeners attacking from all sides, weapons drawn and powers glowing.

In response, Damian’s body was covered in thick flames as he swung his spear, enveloped in dense Spear Qi.

He spun, unleashing a spiraling wave of Qi that shot outward.

Before the Awakeners could react, the swirling Spear Qi struck them, exploding on impact and sending them crashing in all directions.

“If you want a fight… I’ll give you one,” Damian said coldly.

His eyes suddenly turned the color of flames as the [Fire Essence] within him surged wildly.

Raising his hand above his head, a small, compressed sphere of fire began to manifest.

The fire essence condensed into a growing ball of flame, expanding larger and larger until it resembled a miniature sun.

“Try to survive this.”

Damian leaped into the air and hurled the fiery sphere downward.

The mini-sun descended like a shooting star, and the moment it touched the ground, it exploded.

The sheer force of the explosion was far greater than his [Flame Tempest] spell.

Everything was swept away.

Even the chunks of the broken castle disintegrated as the flames expanded in all directions, forming a rapidly growing dome of fire.

“Pour in everything you have and stop this!” Antonio Romano, one of the seven leaders, screamed at the top of his lungs as he and the other Awakeners poured out all their energy.

A massive energy barrier manifested in front of them as they desperately tried to stop the dome of fire from reducing them to ashes.

The flames were relentless, pressing against the barrier with such intensity that it drained their energy rapidly.

Despite their best efforts, after several agonizing seconds, the barrier was unable to withstand the sheer force of the flames and shattered.

The fire exploded outward due to the sudden release of tension, blasting the Awakeners away.

A dozen of them, unable to endure the impact, died instantly.

Fortunately for Damian, the six remaining leaders had survived the attack.

This meant he could now kill them in far more creative ways.

His figure vanished and reappeared in front of Stefano Barone.

In an instant, he stomped on Stefano’s leg joint, crushing his bones with a sickening crack.

A deafening scream of a pain-filled man painted the atmosphere as Damian didn’t stop and used his full strength to stomp on his other leg.

With a sickening sound, along with the ugly scream, his other leg’s joint was crushed.

“AAAHHHHHH….” Stefano Barone screamed, unable to withstand the pain, but even that didn’t last long as Damian grabbed him tightly by the neck and forced him to kneel on the ground on his crushed knees.

“Let’s see… I’ve always wondered what would happen if you inhale too much air… Why don’t we find out?”

A sadistic grin formed on his face as he forced the man to open his mouth before covering it with his palm and tightly enclosing his nose and mouth.

Then Damian began to pour out his [Wind Essence] as the energy flowed through his hand to his palm, which was covering Stefano’s mouth, before transforming into wind.

Stefano Barone didn’t know what was happening, or to be more precise, he wasn’t in a condition to understand anything happening.

The wind Damian was generating began to enter Stefano Barone’s lungs, unable to escape, as more and more air filled his lungs.

Stefano Barone’s eyes widened as he felt something filling his stomach, but he couldn’t do anything because his arms were twisted in unnatural directions, and his leg joints were crushed to a crisp.

As more and more air poured in, Stefano Barone’s eyes rolled back, his pupils began to dilate, veins popped, and his chest expanded continuously.

His stomach puffed up like an overinflated balloon, and his skin began to stretch, turning blood red as if the blood inside was rushing to escape.

His breathing had already stopped, and he had already died, but Damian didn’t stop pouring air into him.

Finally, his lungs burst like a balloon, his stomach lining tore, and his entire body ripped apart before bursting, releasing the compressed air.

Only then did Damian finally let go of the body.