Chapter 144
Chris looked at the light radiating from the Emerald Tablet and thought.
On the surface, it appeared radiant, but vile malice churned within it.
Malice no less intense than that of the beings from Gehenna he had seen in his previous life.
For such dense malice to be seeping out through the seal of the Emerald Tablet—it meant the Pope’s soul was already inseparable from the Fallen Star.
The only fate left for the Pope was destruction.
‘How could someone remain so consistently vile and foolish?’
A scoff escaped his lips as he lifted the corner of his mouth in a mocking grin.
“You’ve really done something magnificent. The so-called ‘sublime’ Pope, revered as holiness itself.”
At that taunt, the Pope’s brows furrowed.
“You’re just a lowly insect, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to share my grand vision. It’s for the good of all.”
“…For the good of all?”
“Yes. The Gold Cross is hopelessly rotten. I shall gain power and eradicate its corruption, ushering in a new world.”
Hearing that absurd nonsense, Chris couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Shut up. It’s all just greed.”
“!!”
“You’re the most wretched and vile creature, filled with nothing but greed, spewing nonsense that not even a dog would believe.”
Hypocrisy? The Pope was far beyond what that word could describe.
The greed roiling in the Pope’s heart was so revolting that even demons would recoil.
Worse, the speech he just spouted was the same excuse he had once used to justify his crimes in the past.
“So, was it for the world’s sake that you framed the former Papal Queen as a servant of demons?”
“…What?”
“What did you say back then? That it was heartbreaking, but for the greater good, you had no choice but to execute the former Papal Queen? And not even a month later, you made your concubine the new Papal Queen?”
Chris remembered everything the Pope had said, even though it had happened when he was just a child.
The Pope’s face stiffened.
Chris smirked and asked coldly.
“Just answer me one thing. Did you ever feel sorry for the former Papal Queen—Princess Sistania?”
“…What nonsense are you suddenly spouting?”
The Pope replied with a deeply displeased expression.
“I don’t know why a demon like you is bringing that up. Eliminating a servant of demons was simply my duty as Pope.”
His voice made it clear that he felt no guilt whatsoever.
“Hah.”
Chris let out a laugh.
Seeing such unwavering vileness actually brought him a strange sense of relief.
‘It’s over now.’
“Alright. There’s nothing left to talk about. Continuing this conversation would only disgust me further—let’s end this quickly.”
“…I don’t know what nonsense you’re spouting. You’re the one who’s going to die.”
The Pope gestured with a look like he was about to squash an insect.
“Die.”
Fwoooosh.
A black mist rose before the Emerald Tablet.
A chilling malice emanated from the mist, yet strangely, clouds of radiant light swirled around it.
It was a sight that held both sanctity and horrific malice at once.
The energy of the Fallen Star had manifested into reality.
‘Is it something like an incarnation? The seal hasn’t been fully broken, so it couldn’t form a true avatar—only the energy has descended.’
Chris analyzed the nature of the energy.
It was swaying unstably, clearly lacking solidity, yet it was still the energy of a Celestial Throne made manifest.
Something that, at his current level, he absolutely could not confront.
Yet Chris made a strange move.
He pulled out something wrapped in cloth from his subspace pouch and said—
“Eat.”
A single word that felt entirely out of place in the current situation.
The moment the Pope’s face showed a flicker of confusion—
An unbelievable event unfolded.
—KIIIIIAAAAAAAHHH!!!
With a blood-curdling shriek, the mansion shook violently, both above and below.
Like an earthquake had struck, a thunderous roar and tremor echoed through the space.
The black mist was sucked toward Chris—no, toward the object in Chris’s hand—and vanished without a trace.
It had been completely annihilated.
“W-What…?!”
“Ah, you see… you weren’t the only one holding a joker.”
Rustle.
The cloth unraveled, revealing a single sword.
A plain iron blade, now infused with the energy of the Celestial Throne it had just consumed.
As if devouring it, the energy of the Celestial Throne surged wildly inside the sword, then completely vanished.
A chilling sight.
“This one’s favorite food just happens to be the souls of the Celestial Thrones.”
Andril.
It was the first time the Star-Slaying Sword, the blade that kills Celestial Thrones, revealed itself to the world.
* * *
Andril was the sword once wielded by the Blood-Drenched Demon King.
During the Age of Ruins, the Andril in his hands was tantamount to the descent of despair itself.
But why had the Dark Demonic House left such a supreme demonic sword to rot, without realizing its value?
Because the conditions to unseal it were near impossible.
‘The wielder must reach 9-star level. And there’s an additional condition.’
At least one Celestial Throne had to be sacrificed to Andril.
Only by devouring the soul of a Celestial Throne would Andril be reborn perfectly as the Star-Slaying Sword.
It was only possible because it had been wielded by the Blood-Drenched Demon King—otherwise, it was virtually unachievable.
‘But now… a perfect offering is right in front of me.’
To offer a Celestial Throne to Andril, its power first had to be weakened and sealed.
Just like the Fallen Star sealed within the Emerald Tablet.
‘If the seal on the Emerald Tablet had been in perfect condition, turning it into a sacrifice would’ve been nearly impossible.’
But thanks to the Pope’s meddling, the seal on the Emerald Tablet was already half-open.
That didn’t mean the power of the Fallen Star had fully returned—so from Andril’s perspective, it was nothing more than a conveniently unwrapped meal.
[Gwooooooh.]
Andril let out a low growl. It sounded like it was urging to be fed already.
Chris felt his soul tremble. He was merely holding it, yet his insides churned violently.
Andril was still not something he could control.
‘Just wait. I’ll finish this soon.’
Chris clenched his teeth and stepped forward.
“W-What trick did you pull?!”
The Pope belatedly raised his guard, but it was pointless.
He manifested the energy of the Celestial Throne again, but the result was the same.
That incomplete, leftover power was nothing more than a snack for Andril.
[Krrrrrrrr.]
Andril began to growl savagely.
As if to say such paltry energy would never satisfy it.
The pressure that crushed souls turned toward the Emerald Tablet and the Pope’s soul, where the Fallen Star had begun descending, and the Pope’s face paled under Andril’s killing intent.
Tremble.
The Pope’s hand began to shake like a leaf.
A pitiful sight, unbefitting the man once revered as the spiritual pillar of the Gold Cross.
But this wasn’t because his will was weak.
Andril’s killing aura, which crushed souls, was something no human could endure.
Besides, without the power of the Emerald Tablet, the Pope himself was completely powerless.
The closer Chris drew, the more the Pope backed away—until he stumbled and fell backward.
A dark shadow loomed overhead.
With a cold gaze, Christian looked down at the Pope.
It was time to end it.
This vile incident.
And the filthy connection between him and the Pope.
Perhaps because he thought this was the final moment—
These unexpected words slipped out.
“Should I spare you?”
“…W-What?”
“Bow your head and apologize to Princess Sistania, the former Papess. Then I’ll let you live.”
The Pope’s pupils trembled like waves crashing into a shore.
“W-What… why, all of a sudden?”
“To give you a chance to atone.”
Chris shrugged casually.
“Don’t want to? Then just die. By the way, you know if you die like this, you’re headed straight for Gehenna, right? Guess you could atone there instead. I’ll count to three, so do what you want.”
He didn’t even need to count to two.
The Pope hastily bowed his head.
“I-I will apologize to her.”
“……”
“I-I mean it… so p-please…”
Chris looked down at the Pope with a blank expression.
“That was a lie.”
“…W-What?”
“I’m a demon, remember? Lying’s practically a virtue for us. Besides, didn’t you lie too, when you promised the former Papess you'd spare her?”
Chris tilted his head.
“What was it you said back then? That if she just confessed her sins, you’d use your authority as Pope to make sure she could live with the child? You didn’t even blink when you said it—liar.”
The Pope’s eyes widened to the point of tearing.
“H-How do you know that?”
What Chris had just said was a secret deal known only to the Pope and the former Papess.
Tricked by the Pope, the Papess confessed and was easily dragged to the stake.
But how could he possibly know?
“Oh, how do I know about that? Good question. How do I know?”
Suddenly—
A ridiculous thought flashed through the Pope’s mind.
It wasn’t just the Pope and the Papess who heard that conversation.
There had also been a child in her arms who heard it.
Only then did the Pope recall Chris’s strange words and actions today.
“N-No way… You, you’re—?”
Chris asked quietly.
“Let me ask again. Are you really sorry?”
“…Are you really Chris? I-I’m sorry…!! I mean it! I-I—!!”
“Yeah. Got it. I heard you loud and clear, so the rest… you can atone for in Gehenna.”
Chris raised Andril.
“W-Wait…!! No!!”
“I did make a promise, so I won’t kill you myself. Not that it’ll make any difference.”
If the Fallen Star was destroyed, the Pope, whose soul had been devoured, wouldn’t survive either.
And finally—
“I’m not your son.”
Chris stabbed the Emerald Tablet.
The iron blade pierced the transparent monument.
At the same time—
Gwoooooooooh.
A tremor shook the world as a terrible scream rang out from the abyss.
It was the scream of the Fallen Star being devoured by Andril.
‘The backlash is even worse than I expected.’
Chris swallowed the blood that surged up from the recoil of devouring a Celestial Throne.
‘I have to endure this.’
He gritted his teeth and defended himself with every means at his disposal.
He unleashed both the power of holy radiance and the power of a devil simultaneously. Normally, drawing on one side would suppress the other due to the strain on his bloodline, but this wasn’t the time to care.
Just as he finished preparing—
Light burst out, flashing and exploding.
A blinding light that seemed to annihilate everything around it.
The mansion where Chris had stood crumbled to dust, and Chris clenched his jaw.
The only relief was that he was safer than the surroundings being swept away, thanks to holding Andril.
While Andril devoured the Celestial Throne, it activated a protective function to shield Chris.
Even in its sealed state, Andril was displaying such power for one simple reason.
‘If I die and collapse, the process of devouring the Throne would stop midway. When the Blood-Drenched Demon King first offered a Celestial Throne as a sacrifice, this reaction reportedly occurred too.’
So it was to protect its feast—not to protect its wielder, Chris.
‘Still hurts though.’
His insides churned, and he swallowed a mouthful of blood.
Even with Andril’s protection, it was nearly unbearable.
As he barely held on to consciousness, a chilling voice whispered in his ear.
[Interesting…]
“!!”
[Are you… ■■■…?]
Chris realized the voice had come from Andril.
He couldn’t make out the word in the middle.
Strangely, he had clearly heard it, but it dissolved in his mind as though erased.
“What did you just say?”
But Andril didn’t respond.
Instead, it spoke again.
An even more cryptic message.