Chapter 106
Christian gave a sly smile.
“Then I’ll be going. Just do as I said.”
“…Yeah.”
Just as Christian leapt up onto the window ledge—
“Wait. I have something to say.”
“What?”
Roy hesitated, then spoke.
“…Thank you.”
Chris looked a bit surprised, then smirked.
“Didn’t quite catch that. Say it again—with a little more heartfelt respect, if you will?”
“…I said thank you! You damn devil bastard. You’re my benefactor.”
Chris chuckled quietly.
“We’ll be seeing each other again soon.”
“…What?”
Roy’s expression stiffened.
Again? Why?
Wasn’t everything already over?
“Something big’s going to happen in Gold Cross soon.”
“W-Wait, what do you mean? What’s going to happen now?”
“Yeah. Compared to that, this last incident will seem like nothing. So brace yourself.”
A disaster was looming over Gold Cross.
And when it came, Chris planned to use Roy again.
“Well then, see you.”
“W-Wait?!”
Fwoosh!
Roy stared blankly out the window where Chris had vanished.
“Damn it… What the hell.”
The Burssen Kingdom incident had already been a huge ordeal, but now something even bigger was coming?
One thing was clear—it wasn’t going to be anything ordinary.
Roy could feel it in his gut.
He had to stay out of it.
“…Well, I should be fine. It’s a Gold Cross matter, so there’s no reason I have to get involved. I should just focus on my duties as Young Count in the Hundred Kingdoms…”
But then—
Roy suddenly stopped.
He remembered something he had forgotten.
“…Wait, now that I think about it… my soul?”
Roy’s face turned pale.
He instinctively realized—
His soul still belonged to Christian.
In other words, like it or not, Roy was bound to obey Christian’s commands.
Cold sweat ran down his back as he recalled Christian’s final words.
— See you again.
It felt like a forewarning of the grim future awaiting Roy.
* * *
Chris rode his horse at full speed without rest.
It didn’t take long before he crossed the border and arrived at his destination.
It was the Khazar County.
“Young master?!”
The demons of the county, seeing Chris for the first time in a while, cried out in surprise.
“Where’s Father?”
“I’m right here.”
A deep voice he hadn’t heard in a long time.
A middle-aged man with features similar to Christian’s parted through the demons and stepped forward.
It was Count Khazar, his father.
But there was something strange about Count Khazar’s face.
It looked hollowed out—like only half of him was there.
‘Did the recent events cause him that much distress? He didn’t seem like the weak-hearted type…’
While Chris was puzzled, Count Khazar explained the reason.
“What in the world happened? I heard you went missing.”
“Huh?”
A demon next to him added,
“The Count believed you had died, young master. He was preparing to take revenge on Prince Ashid of the main family and the Ribery Count’s house.”
“Ah.”
Chris understood the situation.
He had intentionally concealed his whereabouts.
Count Khazar must have misunderstood, thinking Chris had been ambushed and gone missing.
‘Considering I did clash with Ashid’s trackers, that misunderstanding makes sense. Sorry about that.’
Count Khazar looked over Chris’s body, then let out a deep sigh of relief.
Chris could feel just how much his father had worried about him, and his face turned slightly awkward.
He wasn’t used to someone genuinely worrying about him.
In his past life, most people around him had wished for his death and disappearance.
“I’m sorry. The truth is, I had matters to attend to, so I hid myself.”
“Matters?”
“Well…”
Chris briefly explained what had happened in the Bursen Kingdom.
That he had uncovered Baron Bord’s collusion with the Ribery Count’s house.
“How on earth?”
Count Khazar looked completely stunned.
To have achieved all that in just a few days?
“…I was lucky.”
Since it was hard to explain things like possession, he glossed over the details, and Count Khazar clicked his tongue.
He realized his son, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, had become an even more formidable monster.
‘As expected of my son.’
Suppressing the surge of pride, Count Khazar asked,
“Then why didn’t you reveal the truth to the main family right away?”
“Because that wouldn’t deal a proper blow to them.”
“!!”
“Even if the truth is revealed, Ashid and the Ribery Count’s house will just use their influence to sweep everything under the rug.”
It was a precise assessment.
“…Then, don’t tell me you—”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Chris firmly nodded.
“The Blood Retribution of Demons.”
“!!”
“I plan to make them pay in blood myself.”
He meant to strike the Ribery Count’s house.
‘Ha.’
Count Khazar clenched his fist tightly.
He had already heard about it from Alros, the messenger Chris had sent.
— Prince Christian said to prepare to strike the Ribery Count’s house.
To be honest, he hadn’t understood it at all.
How could they possibly go after the Ribery Count’s house?
It wasn’t a matter of strength.
It was a matter of justification.
If they attacked the Ribery Count’s house without reason, the main house of the Dark Demonic House would never stay silent. They would be treated as traitors.
But thanks to what Chris had accomplished in the Burssen Kingdom, the situation had changed.
They now had a just cause.
“The Ribery Count’s house not only colluded with the enemy alliance but also framed our Khazar family. We have the evidence, so even if we enact a blood retribution, no one can say anything.”
On top of that, Chris had employed an extra trick.
He concealed the fact that the truth had been uncovered, keeping the Ribery Count’s house in the dark.
They likely believed the Khazar family was still busy dealing with the Burssen Kingdom, letting their guard down—only to be struck by lightning out of nowhere.
“…You really are something.”
Count Khazar spoke again in a voice full of amazement.
There was nothing about his son that didn’t inspire admiration.
He felt like shouting to the world that this remarkable young man was his own son.
“When you said you would become the heir of the main family, I was worried. But it was a needless concern. There is no one more suited to lead the Dark Demonic House than you.”
Chris grinned.
“But… will it be alright?”
“What do you mean?”
“There will be bloodshed. If Father doesn’t wish for that, I can handle it another way.”
“You rascal.”
Count Khazar let out a quiet chuckle and ruffled Christian’s hair.
“What do you take me for? I am the Count of Khazar. Do you know how many heads of alliance scum I’ve already cut down?”
“……”
“More than anything, they’re the ones who tried to kill you. They are our sworn enemies.”
“!!”
Count Khazar’s gaze turned cold.
“After you went missing, you have no idea how many times I agonized over whether I should just go and cut their heads off. I only held back because I wasn’t certain what had happened to you. But if you had shown up even a little later, I would’ve gone after them without hesitation.”
Chris stayed silent.
That concern for him.
Affection.
He wasn’t used to it.
He awkwardly touched the spot where Count Khazar’s hand had ruffled his hair.
Feeling a wave of needless sentiment, Chris turned his head to the side.
“Then let’s depart right away. I assume preparations are complete?”
“Yes, everything’s fully ready. Everyone mount up! The target is the Ribery Count’s house!”
“Waaah!!”
The devils of the Black Swamp Knight Order under the Khazar family let out a thunderous cheer.
Chris was about to mount his horse when someone approached him hesitantly.
It was his younger brother, Teren.
“…Brother.”
“Title.”
“…Honorable King Emperor Majesty Brother.”
“Good. What is it?”
“……”
Teren hesitated, then spoke in a small voice.
“I’m glad you came back safely.”
Chris looked at Teren with a faintly surprised expression.
Teren must have been deeply troubled by Chris’s disappearance—his face looked half its usual size.
Teren stammered, as if embarrassed.
“N-not that I was worried or anything! It’s just… if something happened to you, there’d be no one to help with my curse magic! That’s all—I said it with a purely calculated and selfish mindset.”
“Yeah? Then why are your eyes red? Don’t tell me you cried worrying about your big brother?”
“Absolutely not!”
Huh?
His reaction really did seem like he had cried.
The image of Teren staring at the moon outside the window, weeping while thinking of him, popped into Chris’s mind, and he was left a little bewildered.
“…Thanks for worrying about me.”
“I told you I wasn’t—!”
“In return, how about we have a spar next time?”
“…I’ll have to decline.”
Maybe remembering their last spar before parting, Teren’s face turned ghostly pale.
Back then, Teren had been beaten to a pulp by Chris and was bedridden for quite a while.
“What? I thought you liked getting beat up by your big brother? I’m stronger now, so I can really give it to you properly.”
“Ugh, come on!”
As Teren turned away in frustration and disappeared, Chris let out a quiet chuckle.
It was a clearer, more genuine laugh than usual.
Chris admitted it in his heart.
They called them their own family.
* * *
Late at night.
The outer fortress of the Ribery Count’s house.
The low-ranking devils kept yawning repeatedly.
“This is boring. Should we play some cards or something?”
“Are you serious?”
“Well, it doesn’t matter. No one’s going to attack us here anyway.”
“True.”
The Ribery Count’s house was located near the border with the Gold Cross, just like the Khazar family’s territory.
Since it was the border area with the Union—enemies of the Magus Empire—it should have been tense, but the opposite was true.
It had been a long time since a major war with the Union.
At most, only minor skirmishes happened along the border, and enemies coming all the way to this fortress was something from a distant past.
‘Honestly, the border near the Five Kings’ fortress is much more dangerous.’
It was laughable, but true.
The tensest border among the Magus Empire’s frontlines was the one with the Five Kings’ fortress, within the same empire.
The border near Gold Cross was so peaceful that everyone had let their guard down.
“Since it’s already late and boring, how about we have a little fun?”
“Yeah, I even brought some alcohol.”
“Heh, isn’t that a bit too serious?”
Just as they were joking around,
Thud.
Suddenly, one of the devils collapsed forward.
“What’s wrong with you… ugh.”
It was an ambush!
“!!”
Two fell instantly, and only one devil remained, trying to sound the alarm—but it was too late.
Thrust!
A sword pierced through the last devil’s heart.
In the darkness, a captivating woman’s face appeared.
It was Melin!
She had infiltrated the Ribery Count’s fortress under Chris’s orders and had made her move!
Her body was covered in blood, showing this was not her first fight.
“Filthy bastards. Even such scum are devils of the Dark Demonic House.”
Melin cast a contemptuous look before swiftly leaping down below the fortress wall.
Toward the gate behind the fortress.
The devils guarding the locked gate were shocked and shouted,
“W-who’s there?!”
“Who do you think? The enemy, of course. Is that even a question?”
Flash!
A storm of blood swept through.
Melin was a 4-star upper-rank devil, soon expected to reach the 5-star level.
There was no way ordinary gatekeeper devils could stand against her.
The guards shouted urgently,
“Enemy! It’s an ambush!!”