Chapter 143
It was a one-sided battle.
Chris had the help of the Sacred Flame, but even so, the fight was excessively one-sided.
It was all thanks to Devourer.
‘What an incredible demonic sword.’
Chris fought by first incapacitating his enemies with the sacred sword Grunade, then finishing them off with Devourer.
Since he was absorbing life force from his opponents, he had no need to worry about exhausting his strength. Chris poured his full power into every single moment.
As a result, the knights were completely overpowered, unable to offer any resistance, and crushed in a thoroughly one-sided slaughter.
‘It especially pairs perfectly with the Emerald Tablet.’
Ordinarily, no matter how powerful Devourer was, it shouldn’t have been able to absorb such massive amounts of life force indefinitely.
The amount of life force that Devourer could drain depended on the opponent’s energy level.
Cutting down ordinary soldiers would barely provide enough to slightly recover stamina.
But now, these knights’ energy had been massively amplified by the Emerald Tablet.
Which meant Devourer could absorb an enormous amount of life force from them.
In effect, the Emerald Tablet’s energy was feeding Chris even more power.
‘Well, there’s no reason to feel guilty about it.’
Maybe if they were different people. But the knights before him had accepted the Emerald Tablet’s power even after learning its horrifying secret.
They weren’t worthy of any sympathy.
“Mo-Monster… Guaaah!!”
After the final knight collapsed, Chris let out a long breath.
He was about to move on to finish off Mieck when he was met with an unexpected sight.
“It’s finished over here, too.”
Mieck’s eyes were wide open as his neck was severed.
It was Evan’s victory!
‘…Evan really is a monster too.’
Chris shook his head with a weary expression.
Mieck’s raw energy alone exceeded 6-star level, but Evan had defeated him purely through swordsmanship.
‘He’s received the Sword Saint’s blessing, so he’ll only grow stronger from here on. When it comes to pure swordplay, I can’t confidently say I’ll win against that guy.’
Well, as his master, it was a good thing to see his servant grow stronger.
Meanwhile, now that things had settled, Evan and Olivia came to their senses and stared at Chris in disbelief.
“Just now, that mana…?”
“I told you, I’m a genius, so I know how to handle it. Mana was just something I picked up as a hobby. I’m still a demon, of course. That’s a secret, though.”
“…Alright.”
The two nodded, still a little dazed.
“So now we just have to head inside?”
“Yeah.”
It was time to bring the final showdown to a close.
The moment they turned their eyes toward the mansion within the garden—
Shwaaa—
Suddenly, a chilling sensation swept past their souls.
‘…What is this?’
It was a faint sensation.
But it wasn’t a mistake.
Once again, that same eerie feeling swept past.
This time, a little clearer.
“!!”
Olivia and Evan seemed to feel it as well.
“Something unusual seems to be happening inside.”
“We need to move in quickly. Let’s hurry.”
But then, Chris said something unexpected.
“…Both of you, fall back.”
“What?”
“Hurry up and run outside!!”
“!!”
Chris swallowed hard.
He recognized this sensation.
He knew exactly what this strange, chilling feeling was.
There was no way he could forget.
In the past, Chris had felt this exact same presence.
Back in the Age of Ruins—during a horrific event that took the lives of over a hundred thousand.
‘Damn it, don’t tell me they’re really doing something this insane? Lunatics.’
Chris gritted his teeth.
“What are you doing? Hurry, go!! If you stay here, you’ll die!!”
The ominous presence was growing stronger and stronger.
Now, just standing still made his skin tremble uncontrollably.
Everyone could feel it instinctively.
A dreadful catastrophe was descending.
But Evan and Olivia did not back down.
“Christian, what about you?”
“…I’m going to stop the Holy Emperor.”
“Stop him? By yourself? What nonsense are you spouting?”
Olivia stepped forward too.
“That’s right. Aren’t you my pact partner now? There’s no way I’ll let you die alone.”
“No, I can stop him. I have a way.”
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
Evan lowered his voice.
“…Are you planning to sacrifice yourself alone?”
Olivia bit her lip hard.
Her voice trembled, perhaps from some misunderstanding.
“That’s right! You’re saying you’ll stay behind alone. I won’t accept that. Stop acting all noble and just run with us! If you’re a demon, then act like one!”
Meanwhile, Chris looked completely baffled by their reactions.
‘That’s not what I meant at all?’
Staying behind alone.
It wasn’t about sacrifice at all.
“Seems like you’ve both got the wrong idea.”
Chris spoke in a crooked tone.
“I told you to disappear because you’d get in the way if you stayed.”
“!!”
“Didn’t I say it? I have a way. I will definitely resolve this situation. So stop worrying about useless things.”
Yes.
Chris had a way.
But the aftermath couldn’t be calculated.
If things went badly, the resulting shockwave could kill everyone nearby.
‘They’re all useful tools who need to work for me in the future. I can’t let anything happen to them.’
They were once comrades, and one was his sister—but setting aside any personal feelings, even professionally, they were valuable assets to him.
Ones he needed to make use of for as long as possible.
That’s why he was trying to protect them.
‘That heart again.’
Evan grit his teeth.
Evan possessed the Mind’s Eye.
He couldn’t read thoughts completely, but he could sense the general intent.
And right now, despite Christian’s annoying face, the Mind’s Eye was clearly showing just how much he genuinely cared for and was concerned about them.
‘Why is this bastard always like this?’
This wasn’t the first time.
From their first meeting until now, Christian had consistently shown a selfless concern for others.
Despite being a demon, he was a true virtuous man, the kind Evan had never even seen among the so-called righteous swordsmen families.
Perhaps sensing the same, Olivia clenched her fist tightly.
Just as she was about to say something—
“As your master, I’m giving you a ‘command.’ Leave. Now.”
“!!”
Evan’s body froze in place.
It was black magic, activated based on the servant relationship.
‘I can’t control him completely at will, but…’
Still, Chris’s black magic had grown strong enough to temporarily enforce simple commands.
“Princess Olivia, you too. As your pact partner, I order you to prioritize your safety. Leave immediately.”
“!!”
Of course, Olivia and Chris were not in a master-servant relationship, but black magic didn’t always require that dynamic to compel someone.
He invoked the magic under the justification of protecting her as her pact partner.
Crack.
The two began moving against their will.
“Urgh…!!”
“No, don’t!”
As the two tried to resist the black magic, Chris spoke flatly.
“Don’t even think about resisting. This black magic is linked to my spirit, so if you forcefully resist, I’ll be the one seriously hurt.”
With no other choice, the two’s movements came to a halt.
“W-Wait a moment. There’s something I have to do before I leave.”
“??”
Olivia hurriedly approached Chris, grabbed both his hands, and pulled them toward her chest.
More precisely, toward her heart.
In that moment, Chris realized what Olivia was trying to do, and his eyes widened.
Fwaaash!!
A brilliant light burst from Olivia’s clasped hands and infused itself into Chris’s body.
“It’s a [Blessing] Authority.”
Chris’s expression stiffened.
It was literally a power that protected the target with holy energy.
“…This isn’t just an ordinary blessing, is it? Why would you give me the [Blessing of the Heart]?”
If a normal [Blessing] simply enhanced defense, the [Blessing of the Heart] was on an entirely different level.
It granted overwhelming defense beyond comparison with any normal blessing, and it allowed recovery from any injury.
It was essentially the equivalent of granting an extra life, and it was the ultimate blessing Olivia could bestow.
However, this blessing also came with a heavy penalty for Olivia.
As long as the blessing holds, there’s no problem.
But if it’s shattered by a force that exceeds its limit, the backlash would fall on Olivia, who cast it.
She would suffer a severe shock to her heart, and in the worst-case scenario, she could die along with it.
That’s why it’s called the Blessing of the “Heart.”
“You said you could do it, right? You sounded so confident, so I believe you won’t die. As long as you don’t die and the blessing doesn’t shatter, I won’t take much damage either.”
Chris nodded.
He had no intention of dying, of course.
As he turned and took a step forward, Evan spoke heavily.
“Don’t die.”
Chris gave a faint smirk.
“Got it, so quit whining and get lost already. As far away as possible. That’s an order.”
The black magic command once again forced the two into motion, and soon, their figures disappeared.
Feeling their presence move further away along with Jupien outside, Chris let out a long sigh.
His expression hardened as he faced the mansion.
Fear?
No.
He had already prepared countermeasures.
The reason he appeared so tense was for something else.
Creak—
The door opened.
What appeared inside was nothing like an ordinary mansion.
There wasn’t a single piece of furniture, not even any rooms.
Though it was indoors, a vast, colorless, and empty space stretched out without any decoration.
One figure stood in the center of it all.
Chris’s gaze grew icily cold.
A man surrounded by a holy, radiant light.
Pope Pentagel III.
He had finally come face to face with the father from his previous life.
* * *
“…….”
Surprisingly, no anger welled up within him.
His heart simply sank endlessly.
‘Disgusting.’
The Pope was surrounded by radiant light.
That sight overlapped with his hypocritical self from the past.
At that moment, the Pope turned to Chris with an indifferent gaze.
“Are you the prince from the Dark Demonic House? I should’ve dealt with you earlier. To think a single worm could ruin the sacred feast.”
“…….”
“But it doesn’t matter. Perhaps this is for the better. Thanks to this, I was able to make a grand decision.”
The Pope’s eyes were dyed with a black glow.
His pupils, devoured entirely by darkness without even the whites, were horrifying to behold.
Chris realized—the “Descent” had already begun.
A mysterious crystal floated before the Pope, radiating a dazzling light, and that same eerie chill he felt outside crawled up his spine once again.
The Pope spoke of the purpose behind his actions.
“As of today, I shall be reborn as a greater being. One with the Celestial Throne sealed within this Emerald Tablet.”
That’s right.
The Emerald Tablet was not merely a relic to manifest the powers of the Celestial Thrones.
It was a seal that imprisoned a Celestial Throne itself.
More precisely, it was used to seal a Fallen Celestial Star (陀天星)—a celestial being tainted by sin and cast down.
‘In the original history, the Pope also broke the seal of the Emerald Tablet in his final moments and accepted the Fallen Star into his body.’
It was a horrific event.
The Fallen Star was practically no different from a demon.
Eventually, the Pope’s soul was consumed by the Fallen Star, and in its rampage, the Holy Kingdom was turned into hell.
The death toll from the disaster back then had far exceeded a hundred thousand.
It was also the first incident that cracked the boundary between the Middle Realm, Gehenna, and the Celestial Realm.
‘His soul is already completely tainted by the Fallen Star’s power.’