The System Awakens: Rise of the Champion - Chapter 89

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: There Is No Saving Them
Everyone watched as Damian killed Stefano Barone.

His body swelled grotesquely from the inside before rapidly tearing apart, his skin, muscles, and tissues shredding under the immense pressure of the air forcibly expanding within him.

But Stefano had died long before his body burst.

His lungs collapsed, his organs failed, his stomach ruptured, and his nervous system shut down.

He was dead before the worst could even happen.

Damian had overestimated him.

He hadn’t expected Stefano to die so soon.

“Hmm… well, that wasn’t quite what I expected,” Damian muttered.

For some reason, he had imagined Stefano swelling up like a balloon, expanding comically before popping, much like a certain cat from an old cartoon.

That thought had crossed his mind for a fleeting moment, but he knew reality didn’t work like that.

The actual result of his experiment was far less amusing.

When Damian used his [Wind Essence] to force air into Stefano’s body, it didn’t behave like an overinflated balloon.

Instead, his organs ruptured, his tissues tore apart, and his circulatory system failed under the intense pressure.

Embolism.

Brain damage.

And finally, death.

If the air pressure hadn’t stopped even then, it would have sought an exit, tearing through the lungs, stomach, or any other weak point before finally escaping through the shredded remains of his body.

The conclusion of this experiment?

Not as exciting as he’d hoped.

But at least one thing was certain.

Stefano Barone was dead.

Damian glanced at the broken, mangled corpse before flicking his finger.

A magic circle appeared beneath the body, and within seconds, it was engulfed in flames.

“You…”

“This is unforgivable…”

“Why… why are you doing this?”

The voices trembled with a mix of horror and fury.

There were seven cardinals of the Vatican responsible for everything, the leaders of the faction known as [Lord’s Disciples].

Their names: Benedetto Marco Giuliani, Stefano Barone, Matteo Bianchi, Antonio Romano, Teresa Lombardi, Elisabetta Ferrara, and Caterina Mancini.

And now, two of them were dead.

Benedetto Marco Giuliani and Stefano Barone had both perished by Damian’s hands.

Five more remained.

Damian could feel the sorrow and rage radiating from the surviving members as they stared at their fallen comrade’s remains.

“I bet you never showed such expressions when your exploitations hurt children, did you?” Damian smirked, relishing their despair.

Seeing one of their own die in such a gruesome way, the other members of [Lord’s Disciples] struggled to comprehend the reality before them.

They knew they were in extreme danger, imminent, unavoidable death looming over them.

But what terrified them more was the sheer helplessness of their situation.

Not a single one of them could resist him.

The attack they had just witnessed made it clear.

There was no escaping this.

No force within this Tower Realm could stop him.

He was ranked as the strongest Awakener, a title he had rightfully earned.

He had already defeated the two most powerful beings in the First Tower Realm, the noble vampire Aeron Brenlith and the alpha werewolf Silas.

And now, the newly arrived reinforcements, those who had foolishly believed they could overwhelm him with numbers, were feeling the crushing weight of reality.

They had come to fight him. To defeat him.

But after witnessing a single attack, they realized the truth.

They had gravely underestimated him.

This was never a battle.

It was a massacre.

The seven leaders had already sealed their fate the moment this monster declared war on their faction.

Regret seeped into the minds of the reinforcements.

They regretted coming here.

They regretted joining this faction.

They should never have gotten involved.

They should never have come to the same place as this monster.

And if the subordinates felt this level of dread, then what of the remaining leaders?

The weight on their shoulders was a thousand times heavier.

They had done unspeakable things in life, things that had made them powerful, untouchable.

But now, all that power meant nothing.

Because the monster standing before them had a score to settle.

And there was no hope left.

Even the strongest among them had lost all will to fight.

There was no saving them.

Damian narrowed his gaze as a grin formed on his face before turning his attention to the Awakeners, excluding the five remaining leaders of their faction.

“I will tell you this only once… leave,” Damian said, his expression intense.

“My problem is with them. As much as I don’t mind killing you all, I don’t like shedding unnecessary blood. But if you refuse to leave like stubborn children, trust me, it won’t even take me a single minute to turn you all into ashes alive.”

A more sarcastic smile formed on his face. “Believe me, I want you to give me a reason to kill you. You guys are very precious experience points for me.”

The Awakeners felt as if they were being judged by a predatory monster.

They didn’t want to find out what he would do if they refused his order and continued defending the [Lord’s Disciple] faction.

At the same time, they felt conflicted.

Some were from different worlds similar to Earth, all sharing the same faith, and some were even from Damian’s own world.

They had no idea what their faction leaders, who had promised them power and fame, had done.

Should they believe this monster’s words?

But seeing how their leaders didn’t deny anything, they were forced to believe him.

Morally, some of them wanted to support the monster in eliminating these leaders.

But out of loyalty, they didn’t want to abandon their faction.

Who were they kidding?

There was no faction anymore.

Looking around, the territory had been completely demolished, reduced to nothing but chunks of rock.

Hundreds of their faction members had already died in the crossfire.

This was no longer a faction.

It was a graveyard.

After some sane thinking, they realized they didn’t want to throw away their lives meaninglessly.

Their survival came before their loyalty.

Damian smirked as he watched the Awakeners, who had come to save the day, retreat to wherever they came from.

He also felt a tinge of disappointment, losing out on valuable experience points.

Once they left, only Damian and the five remaining bastards of the Vatican remained: Matteo Bianchi, Antonio Romano, Teresa Lombardi, Elisabetta Ferrara, and Caterina Mancini.

There was no point in even mentioning their names.

They were about to die anyway.

“Let’s make you dead, shall we?” Damian grinned, switching the stream from public to private.

He didn’t want the Awakeners, who had nothing to do with this, witnessing what he was about to do.

He still planned to grow his faction, and if potential recruits saw him torturing enemies, they might hesitate to join.

He was already second-guessing his decision to leave the stream public in the first place.

Now that he thought about it clearly, what if the Awakeners of the Solarta faction saw him being so cruel?

Even if his victims were enemies, would that deter them from joining his cause?

What would he do then?

“Fuck it. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there,” Damian muttered as he turned off the stream.

But just as he did, he sensed multiple presences arriving at his location.

And these weren’t the ones who had just left after his threat.

No, these felt different.

Surely, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to come back and defend these bastards, right?

Damian was right.

They weren’t that stupid.

The newcomers weren’t the ones who had previously tried to save the faction.

And yet, they seemed familiar to him.

“Hmm… you’re the Italian Association head’s son, aren’t you?” Damian tilted his head in surprise.

“Yes… I’m the Italian Association head now. My father is dead,” the man replied.

“Heh? Dead or killed by you?” Damian chuckled, as if he found it amusing.

The man’s eyes widened in shock. “How does he know? No one knows I killed him… but this… this monster… how did he find out?”

“Are you wondering how I knew you were the one who killed your father?” Damian smirked.

“I’m not really in the mood to explain it to you, and honestly, I don’t care. So why don’t you just state the reason you came here and leave so I can get on with my business?” His irritation was evident.

“And please, don’t tell me you came here to save them from me. Because if that’s your reason, you will fail. No matter who the fuck comes, they are dying today.” Damian’s grin stretched from ear to ear.

“We…” The man hesitated, his throat suddenly dry.

Yes, he had come here to try and persuade this monster, but now, standing before him, he found himself unable to speak.

Just what is this human?

Is he even human?

A cold sensation gripped him, as if his head had been shoved inside a refrigerator.

He felt frozen under those predatory eyes.

Seeing him not saying anything Damian rolled his eyes before continuing his thing.

He wasn’t the only one who arrived; there was another person whom Damian also managed to recognize.

It was none other than Eric Walcrown, who had come to greet the Great Master, the same man who was now about to kill the last remaining bastard of the [Lord’s Disciple] Faction.

But as soon as he arrived at this place, all his excitement died out completely.

He couldn’t even think straight; he just stood there, watching him do his thing.

Not because he didn’t know what to say or do, but because he was frozen by the pressure he was feeling.

The killing intent in the air was so intense that he and the others couldn’t even move from their spots.

It was truly unnerving, yet at the same time, they had never been more impressed with his power.

[Mud Bind: Spell Activated]

They watched as Damian snapped his fingers, and magic circles appeared beneath Matteo Bianchi, Antonio Romano, Teresa Lombardi, Elisabetta Ferrara, and Caterina Mancini.

The ground beneath them turned into mud before vines made of earth sprouted out, wrapping tightly around each of the targets.

Damian did this so that when he burned them alive, they wouldn’t be able to run.

Until now, he had been using his sheer pressure to keep them in place, preventing them from even thinking about escape.

That was also why even the newly arrived Awakeners felt the immense pressure, despite it not being directed at them.

“Please…”

“Forgive us…”

“We have sinned…”

Damian looked at them one last time, but their pleas felt like trash in his ears.

Without a word, he conjured a massive amount of [Fire Essence] in his hand, forming it into a blazing sphere.

He didn’t speak. He didn’t show any expression.

He simply raised his palm, and the flames shot from his hand, landing on them.

The fire began to burn them slowly and painfully.

The agonizing screams echoed through the area for several minutes, painting the scene with grim horror.

And as the day came to an end, so did their lives.