Chapter 113

Chris grinned slyly.

A way to make Ruina come running without even contacting her.

It was simple.

Just clean out the casino.

"Go!"

"Queen of Spades Cross!"

"All in!"

Chris swept through the casino like a fish in water, and the people watching him were appalled.

"Young Lord Christian is that good at gambling?"

"Guess his wild past isn’t just for show, huh?"

"His eyes are completely fixated on gambling! It's like he’s trying to bankrupt the whole place!"

Chris shuffled the cards with an excited look on his face.

At first, it was just to get Ruina to show up, but before he knew it, he got really into it.

'How long has it been since I last had fun like this?'

Come to think of it, he hadn’t rested at all lately.

Since endless suffering awaited him ahead, he decided to make the most of the opportunity to really enjoy himself.

In short, he was going all out to actually bankrupt the casino.

‘Well, Ruina and I are pretty much tied together by fate, so her money is basically my money. It should be fine to clean her out.’

Thinking such an outrageous thing without a hint of guilt, Chris was in the middle of fully enjoying his game—

“…Please, stop already.”

A pale voice called out.

Ruina had arrived.

After hearing the urgent news that her casino was on the brink of collapse.

* * *

As always, the two of them went up to the hotel room connected to the casino.

Once they were alone, Ruina dropped her disguise as a man and returned to her original appearance.

"How much did you take this time?! Do you have some kind of grudge against my casino?!"

"Ahh, I had no other way to contact you. I figured you’d come if I started playing. I might’ve gone a little overboard, but you’re not mad, right?"

"A little overboard?"

At those infuriating words, a vein bulged on Ruina’s forehead.

"Ugh!! How long are you going to treat me like a pushover?!"

"Really? Sorry if you’re upset. I came to see you because I thought we were close. Maybe I misjudged. I guess I’ll drop the idea of telling the Burssen Kingdom to give your merchant guild the exclusive rights to the items you wanted."

"……"

Exclusive rights.

Ruina flinched.

Chris continued, teasing her.

"I thought we were somewhat close. Maybe that was just my misunderstanding."

"N-no! We are close! I'm your eternal loyal servant, Young Lord!"

"Weren’t you just saying not to treat you like a pushover?"

"Who said such nonsense?! What’s wrong with this mouth of mine? Ugh, smack, smack, I need to teach it a lesson!"

"Don’t overdo it.”

“…Yes.”

Ruina asked cautiously.

“Are you really planning to grant our merchant guild exclusive rights to the goods from the Burssen Kingdom?”

“That’s right. You did help in capturing the Little Count Roy, so you deserve a reward.”

Thanks to Ruina’s help, he had been able to kidnap Little Count Roy.

‘I do pride myself on being pretty calculated.’

It’s just that the formula was excessively tilted in his favor—but Chris wasn’t the type to only take without giving anything in return.

“Thank you!! Please, allow me to forever be your loyal sucker!”

Ruina bowed at a sharp 150-degree angle, overwhelmed with joy by the unexpected reward.

It felt a bit off to see her acting like that with such a calm, pretty face, but she had always been like this in her past life, too.

Like a sycophant rubbing its forelegs, Ruina flattered him with a sly voice.

“This Ruina, you cannot imagine how fortunate I am to have met you, Young Lord. You don’t know how deeply grateful I am to the heavens for forging this connection between us.”

“Don’t overdo it.”

“Ohoho, I mean it sincerely. Things are progressing exactly as you said in the Kingdom of Law. Thanks to your grace, just thinking of how much profit I’ll earn from this makes me so excited I can hardly sleep at night.”

Looking into Ruina’s eyes, full of dreams of a massive windfall, Chris fell silent for a moment.

‘…It’s not going to be the kind of jackpot she’s expecting, though.’

In the end, Ruina wasn’t entirely wrong to expect great profits.

There was indeed a lot of money to be made.

But there was something Ruina didn’t know.

Just how much hell he would have to go through in the process.

‘Well, nothing in this world comes for free. If you want the sweet fruit, you have to suffer for it.’

Thinking shamelessly, Chris finally spoke.

“You’re grateful to me, right?”

“Huh? Yes? Of course. This Ruina! Always wishes to serve the Young Lord loyally!”

“Then get me the items I asked for.”

“……”

Ruina’s face instantly stiffened.

“Ohoho, and what kind of items would those be?”

“Nothing much. Just a few mana stones, some artifacts, and maybe one relic?”

“……”

He told her the details, and of course, they were items with outrageous prices.

“This… this thieving… no, revered thief…”

“What? You don’t want to?”

“N-no! Of course not! Ohoho!”

Ruina frantically shook her head.

‘You devil! Once this job is over, I swear I’ll never deal with you again! We’re done! Finished!!’

Chris smirked at the look on Ruina’s face, her true feelings plain to see.

“I’m not taking it for free. I do have a conscience. I’ll compensate you reasonably.”

He was thinking of hunting beasts from Gehenna and giving her some of the valuable byproducts.

Compared to the remains of surface beasts, their parts were worth far more, so it would serve as a decent form of payment.

“Really?”

“Yeah, when have I ever taken anything from you for free?”

“…W-Well, I suppose.”

Ruina replied with an awkward expression.

She always felt like she was getting shaken down, but thinking back, Christian did compensate her in his own way.

The thought of earning money made Ruina’s face light up, and she spoke in an overly friendly tone.

“Ohoho. Then I’ll trust only in you, Young Lord, and have everything prepared. Is there anything else you need besides what you mentioned?”

“There’s nothing more I need. Ah, how’s the situation with Gold Cross?”

“As you said, the ‘anomaly’ phenomenon is starting to show. We’ve even confirmed that someone from the Kingdom of Law is making suspicious moves.”

Chris nodded.

The catastrophe at Gold Cross was truly just around the corner.

‘It should be right after the Judgment Duel ends.’

It was going to be a pivotal event in the future.

How this disaster was handled would greatly alter the future.

‘This event also has a major impact on the Magus Empire.’

As a result of this incident, the Four Kings' Fortress would begin to stir.

In other words, it marked the beginning of the Age of Ruins.

And that wasn’t all.

Gold Cross—more precisely, the future of the Kingdom of Law—would also change drastically.

‘…Though I don’t care what happens to that country.’

Chris’s eyes suddenly turned cold.

So much so that Ruina flinched.

He couldn’t help it.

The Arhen Royal Family of the Kingdom of Law.

That was Chris’s original family.

The ones who had inflicted hellish suffering on him during his childhood in his previous life.

To be honest, Chris wished for the downfall of the Kingdom of Law.

There was only one exception.

Olivia.

His sister, the only one who gave him warmth amid that hellish pain.

If not for her, he wouldn’t give a damn about the country’s future.

‘…I wonder if she’s doing well.’

Chris was about to ask Ruina how Olivia was doing, but stopped himself.

‘She’s probably doing fine. Now that I’m gone.’

Olivia, who was revered as the Little Saint-King and a Saintess, had only one flaw—Chris’s existence.

The role of the Pontiff was to unite Gold Cross against the evil Magus Empire.

Yet she had embraced Chris, the one branded as a devil’s seed—how much of a political burden that must have been.

Now that ‘Chris’ was dead and gone, the obstacle in Olivia’s path had disappeared as well.

‘As long as this disaster is resolved well, her road will be smooth.’

To repay the grace she had shown him in his past life, Chris vowed to resolve the coming catastrophe perfectly.

‘To do that, I need to grow as strong as possible over the next month.’

With that firm resolution, he returned to the family estate.

When he arrived, Simon was waiting.

“The Family Head is summoning you.”

“Is this about using the Spot?”

“Yes.”

But Simon’s expression was odd.

A look that was both troubled and expectant.

Chris quickly picked up on the situation.

“Did the Family Head refuse?”

“Yes. The Spot isn’t meant to be used merely for training. More than anything, it’s too dangerous. However, he has set a condition.”

“A condition?”

“He says if you pass a test and prove your worth, he’ll permit it.”

“A test? What kind of test exactly?”

“A sparring match.”

“…What?”

Simon grinned widely.

As if he found the situation amusing and didn’t know how to contain himself.

“A one-on-one spar with the Family Head. He says you must prove your qualifications by defeating him.”

* * *

He headed to the secret training ground.

Count Khazar and Merian were already there, their expressions stiff. In the center of the arena, the body of a young boy—the avatar of Nordion—sat in a chair.

As Christian arrived, the boy’s eyes suddenly snapped open.

Nordion’s consciousness had descended.

“I greet the Family Head.”

[Did Simon explain things to you?]

Christian nodded, and Nordion spoke coldly.

[Do you know why I imposed this condition?]

“Because it’s dangerous, and you want to confirm whether I’m qualified?”

[Wrong.]

Nordion’s eyes flashed with pressure.

At the same time, an overwhelming aura surged like a tidal wave.

[It’s to correct that reckless boldness of yours.]

“!!”

[You dare ask to use the Forbidden Ground? Without even knowing your place?]

The truth was—

Despite the angry tone, Nordion wasn’t truly furious.

This kind of daring spirit from Christian was something he never saw in the other pitiful members of the family.

To be honest, he even felt a bit proud.

But everything had its limits.

‘He asked me to open the Spot? Just to use it for training?’

The Forbidden Ground of the Dark Demonic House.

The “Borderlands.”

As the name suggests, it was a boundary zone between Gehenna and the surface world.

Unless one crossed into Gehenna itself, no devils or hellspawns would appear—but in exchange, all kinds of dangerous magical beasts roamed there.

At the very least, one needed to be a 6-star Master-class to maintain basic safety in the Borderlands.

‘This child doesn’t know restraint. He’s far too reckless.’

Perhaps it was because of his genius talent.

He made risky, gamble-like decisions far too easily.

So far, he hadn’t failed—but luck wouldn’t always be on his side.

As the head of the family, Nordion had resolved to instill caution in Christian.

[I’ll use only 2-star class demonic energy, half of your capacity. If you can even touch the hem of my robe once in any way, I’ll consider it your victory and allow access to the Forbidden Ground.]

It was a shocking condition.

But no one would think it was easy.

Nordion was an 8-star Absolute-tier, “Almighty” class.

And he was already close to reaching 9 stars, the upper pinnacle.