Too forward, this beauty!
These European gals really don't care about propriety—so uninhibited it's hard to describe.
Well then, I won't be polite tonight.
Creak!
Damian turned the doorknob.
The woman in the red gown stood at the door.
She was tall and fairly robust, lips red as blood. She batted her eyes at Damian, striking seductive poses, looking like she needed the fire brigade to come put out the blaze.
"Sir, may I come in and take a hot shower?"
The beauty parted her red lips.
Smack!
Damian couldn't resist and slapped her—without the slightest hesitation.
He smacked her silly; she spun three hundred sixty degrees on the spot.
"Hey, what's your problem? Why did you hit me?"
The beauty clutched her cheek and demanded angrily.
"Hit you? Could you at least hide your Cosmo?"
Damian said it—and fought a wave of nausea.
The face had caved—eyes askew, mouth crooked, nose collapsed, skin slipped out of place.
The face was fake.
"What Cosmo?"
asked the woman in red.
Still pretending?
Without hesitation, Damian stepped in and kicked—square in the face.
Blood spurted from nose and mouth; her whole body jolted and slammed against the opposite bulkhead.
"Arachne of Tarantula—are you insane? Dressing as a woman in the middle of the night?"
Damian barked and hauled him into the room.
He'd already sensed something off—some unfamiliar Cosmo had boarded with him. He hadn't expected it to show up at his door.
But this getup was beyond the pale.
Look at Aphrodite—cross-dress and you're gorgeous. You in a dress insults women and cross-dressers alike.
Only Aph gets to wear the dress!
I swear I want to slap you dead.
"I… got recognized at a glance."
Arachne simply ripped off the dress and disguise, revealing the Tarantula Silver Cloth.
"By order of His Holiness—die, Damian."
"Psychic Energy Punch!"
Arachne threw a punch on the spot—sonic boom cracking.
Damian lifted a hand and caught it.
"So it was the Pope? But just you—think you can kill me?"
He smiled.
A single Silver Saint meant a death wish.
He wouldn't fear even if every Silver Saint showed up.
He'd thought the others would show up one by one—and this is what he got.
He was embarrassed to even use Titan Nova.
"Heh heh heh, gravekeeper—how's it feel catching my fist head-on?"
Arachne tittered.
Huh?
Damian suddenly felt a strange suction in that fist—as if it were drawing his strength.
It drew only a little—like a drop from an ocean—but it did draw strength from him. Even threads of Cosmo stirred and slipped away.
Damian shoved and sent Arachne—fist and all—flying.
The guy simply stuck to the ceiling like a spider, face full of shock.
"How—how can you so easily break free of Psychic Energy Punch's drain?"
"Try my Tarantula finisher—Wolf Spider Web Punch."
Arachne followed with a flurry—his kill move.
He didn't want to waste time.
With a violent punch, an invisible energy shot and blasted toward Damian.
In a blink, an unseen net wrapped Damian, binding his limbs in transparent webs and suspending him midair.
And his strength began draining faster; Cosmo was drawn out of his muscles. The speed was slow—barely a sip—but it was draining.
"Heh heh heh—well, Damian? I'll drain you dry!"
Arachne cackled.
His attack passes through matter to hit the body. On impact, the energy shot dissolves into countless energy webs, binding the foe and draining their Cosmo to fuel his own.
The guy was dead!
"Fantastic—you actually know this move. Strengthened, it'd be the Star-Absorbing Art."
Feeling the siphon tug at the Cosmo he'd hidden in his muscles, Damian was not alarmed—but pleased.
"Come on—pull harder. Why so slow?"
Damian asked him, "Can't you increase the suction?"
Arachne stared, dumbfounded. "Y-Your Cosmo's that strong?"
He felt that immense Cosmo surge along the web toward him.
Arachne felt his mind snap. On any day, he had a hard cap on what he could drain. This man had a vast ocean of Cosmo in his body.
And it was potent and pure—like a mighty, ceaseless current.
He felt… he felt like he'd burst!
"So that's it—your drain is weak. Especially against Cosmo."
"And because it's weak, the opponent can break free easily."
Damian analyzed the move and couldn't help a jab: "No wonder you're a second-rate Silver. That suction is too weak—can't pull a thing from someone with a mighty Cosmo."
"It's a waste to put such a quirky move in your hands."
Arachne goggled. "W-What are you even saying?"
He felt the other's Cosmo—this wasn't a Bronze Saint—not even a Silver Saint could hold that much Cosmo.
The gravekeeper's Cosmo was monstrous—beyond outrageous. He couldn't drain a thing from the man's body.
No!
Not just "couldn't drain"—his own energy was being sucked away.
Damian grinned wickedly as his muscles bulged and golden fire flared over him. The half‑transparent spiderweb shattered.
Without another word, he swung:
"Great Horn!"
Golden light cored through his chest—the Cloth exploded.
Tarantula's Silver Saint—dead!
.
The next morning, having gone by sea, Damian reached Greece ahead of the others.
He slung Arachne's corpse over his shoulder and strode into the Sanctuary gate.
The guards saw the gravekeeper with a body and asked no questions—waving him through at once.
No need to ask—the Silver Saint had surely fallen in the line of duty.
Carrying the body, Damian passed unimpeded. The Sanctuary patrols saw him with a corpse and stepped aside.
Out of respect for a fallen Saint.
After symbolically reporting "death in the line of duty" to Sanctuary leadership and handing in the damaged Silver Cloth, Damian hurried into the Sanctuary graveyard.
Now he would pour the divine blood on a headstone and see if it had any effect.
If it did, he could farm hidden skills from Gold Saints and gain more attribute boosts.
Powering himself up a tier.
Damian's sense of crisis was strong.
With Saga's psychosis, who knew when he'd come looking for trouble.
The Sanctuary was no longer so safe for him, but the Sanctuary graveyard had to be in his hands.
So long as he remained the Sanctuary's gravekeeper, he'd have capital to stand against Saga.
Damian saw it clearly.
In the face of absolute strength, the strongest Gold Saint Saga was a paper tiger.
So the only thing to do now was get stronger—and, ideally, pick up another Gold Cloth!
(End of Chapter)
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