Chapter 164
Upon hearing the details of the plan, Marquis Shupen objected.
Because it was dangerous.
For whom?
For Chris.
“I absolutely cannot agree to this. If something goes wrong, you’ll die for sure!”
“It is a little dangerous, yes.”
“A little? You call that a little?!”
“But is there any way to win without sacrifices? Who knows how many of the Five Captains could die.”
“……”
Marquis Shupen went silent for a moment, then said something unexpected.
“Even if all Five Captains died, it wouldn’t equal your worth.”
He meant it.
For the future of the Dark Demonic House, Christian must never die.
That was what Marquis Shupen truly felt.
However—
“Why are you being so overprotective? Do you think I’m some young master of the alliance?”
“!!”
“More importantly, I’m the one who’s going to become the head of the Dark Demonic House. Do you really think I should be hiding behind others?”
If there were no chance of victory, Chris wouldn’t have stepped up like this.
It was risky, but worth trying.
In the end, Marquis Shupen had no choice but to nod.
“…But on one condition. If it looks like things aren’t going well, you have to retreat immediately.”
“Understood. Don’t worry.”
After that, preparations began to face the monster from the Mystic Demonic House.
First, they reinforced security.
So that any suspicious person could be identified right away.
They also made various other preparations.
“…Is it really possible for this kind of technique to work?”
“Yes, because I’m a genius.”
“…Unbelievable.”
They dug traps with the Five Captains.
“W-Wait, you really want me to do that?”
“It’s not that hard, so you can handle it, right?”
“I-It’s not hard, but I might die doing it!!”
“I think it sounds fun.”
Chris gave Alros and Jupien special missions.
“Don’t I have anything to do?”
To Melin’s question, Chris answered:
“Of course you do. Just wait. The materials will arrive soon.”
As he said, someone came looking for Chris.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“…Y-Yes, it has.”
A beautiful woman with a calm expression appeared before Christian, her face scrunched up like she’d just bitten into dung.
It was Ruina.
“Doesn’t seem like you’re that happy to see me?”
“N-No! I’m just so overwhelmed with joy that my face froze up, ohoho!!”
‘You damn demon bastard! Why would I be glad to see you?! I was enjoying some peace lately without having to deal with you.’
Even though she had ended up with great profit from the Gold Cross incident, the hell she went through because of Chris came flooding back, souring her mood.
To make it worse, they were meeting now because Christian had asked her to procure a particular item.
‘Does he think I’m some walking treasure vault?! Say the word and I just pop it out?!’
“You got the item, right?”
“Ohoho. Of course I did. However… it was extremely difficult to acquire.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I had to offer an outrageous bribe to the upper echelons of the Holy Empire just to barely smuggle it out….”
“So, and?”
As Chris feigned disinterest, Ruina snapped.
“I’m saying pay up! Including delivery fees, that’s 2 million Rupes! Not a coin less!”
What she brought this time wasn’t a relic.
But it was something strictly controlled by the Holy Empire, and just the bribes alone had cost over a million Rupes.
“Hmmm? That’s disappointing.”
“What do you mean disappointing…! A merchant asking for money is completely normal…!”
“To think you’d be satisfied with such pocket change. I was planning to offer you something much more valuable.”
Ruina flinched.
“…Something more valuable?”
“Yeah, there’s another big job coming up.”
Ruina swallowed hard.
She could see Chris grinning slyly.
She felt it in her gut.
She shouldn’t hear what came next.
It had to be the whisper of a terrible demon.
And yet—
“…W-What kind of job?”
There was no way a money-hungry bug like her could ignore a chance to make more.
‘I’ll just listen. Just hear him out.’
Resolute, Ruina braced herself as Chris leaned in and whispered low.
Playfully.
Like a demon luring its prey.
“How about we raid the Venomous Demonic House sometime soon?”
“!!”
Ruina’s face turned pale.
“W-What?”
“Oh, seems like something’s about to blow up between us and the Venomous Demonic House.”
It might look calm now—
—but before long, a major incident would break out between the two families.
The Dark Demonic House and the Venomous Demonic House.
Shortened: the Venom-Dark Conflict.
‘It wasn’t supposed to become such a big deal, but thanks to the schemes of the Demon King of Azure Flow, it ends up exploding into a massive conflict. It narrowly avoids an all-out war, but both houses suffer enormous losses.’
Chris planned to use this conflict for his own gain.
‘My goal isn’t just to become the head of the Dark Demonic House. It’s about time I started laying the groundwork to bring the Southern Magus Nation under my feet.’
A thought that would make others question their ears if they heard it.
But he was serious.
‘And to do that, I need to set a trap.’
He needed outside help, and Ruina was the perfect candidate.
“Th-That… the Venomous Demonic House, you say? Our merchant guild hasn’t even been able to make inroads with them.”
The Venomous Demonic House was nothing like the Dark Demonic House.
As one would expect from those who dealt in poison, their family atmosphere was grim and extremely closed off.
“Which is why this is an even better opportunity, isn’t it? Use this chance to pioneer the Venomous Demonic House.”
“……”
“Just imagine. If you could distribute the medicines from the Venomous Demonic House, how much profit could you make?”
Ruina swallowed involuntarily.
Just the thought of it gave her a dizzying sense of ecstasy.
“B-But… you’re not going to make me do anything weird again, are you?”
“Don’t worry. Nothing like last time will ever happen again.”
“…Really?”
“Come now, have I always tricked you? I swear on a Magus’s honor.”
Ruina still felt something was off, but she nodded.
The reward was just too sweet to refuse.
‘Good, she took the bait.’
Chris inwardly celebrated.
For the record, even though he swore on a Magus’s honor, Chris believed the true virtues of a Magus were lying and backstabbing.
‘Well, I’m not going to make her do the same thing as last time, so it’s not a lie.’
In any case, the matter with the Venomous Demonic House would have to wait until after they dealt with the monster from the Mystic Demonic House.
After sending Ruina off, Chris moved on.
He had one more thing to do.
The final measure for this operation—
It was time to refine the secret weapon that would pierce the heart of the Mystic Demonic House’s monster.
* * *
Christian’s destination was the Sayeonok — the Wicked Refining Prison.
A prison where the Mystic Castle’s captives were held.
A dark and dismal place.
Seeing the prison’s exterior, Chris shook his head.
It was no surprise — this was where they locked up enemies. There was no way it would be a pleasant place.
‘I need to gain the power to neutralize the Mystic Demonic House’s monster here.’
As he stepped forward, an unexpected voice echoed out.
[You're entertaining a reckless thought.]
“!!”
Chris flinched.
A voice that chilled the spine, layered with the sound of a strange, disharmonious instrument—
It was Mefina, the devil from Gehenna!
‘What’s going on now?’
[A warning. That’s why I came to you.]
A chilling voice echoed.
[I know exactly what you're daring to scheme right now.]
“……”
Chris stayed silent.
[I understand you're not a typical mortal. But arrogance has its limits. You will die. No—worse. You may find yourself in a state where you can neither live nor die.]
Chris let out a faint scoff.
‘Shut up.’
[…What?]
‘What’s with the act, pretending to be concerned when you're just a filthy devil? In the end, you’re going to say you’ll help me if I offer you my soul, right?’
[…]
‘Disgusting. Get lost. Even if I die, I won’t ever make a deal with filth like you.’
A moment of silence followed.
From the other side of Gehenna, Chris could feel Mefina’s fury swell.
A horrifying killing intent surged across the dimensional boundary and pressed down on Chris’s soul.
But—
‘So what if you're angry? It’s not like you can actually do anything.’
Christian remained indifferent.
But then, Mefina said something that carried a tone unlike before.
[Fine. This time, you’ll truly experience hopeless despair.]
“……”
[To think a mere mortal would dare challenge a devil.]
Her voice was filled with certainty that Chris would fail.
And she had reason to believe so.
To stop the monster from the Mystic Demonic House, Chris would, just as Mefina said, have to confront a devil directly through some extraordinary means.
‘I didn’t tell Marquis Shupen about this part. He would’ve absolutely forbidden it if he knew.’
[In the depths of despair, you’ll beg for my salvation. I’ll be waiting with pleasure for the moment you scream out and call my name.]
With that, Mefina vanished.
It was a terrifying warning, but Christian shook his head.
‘I’m not entertaining the idea of failure.’
Of course, it was an incredibly difficult task.
Because it involved going up against a devil.
Not just difficult—under normal circumstances, it should have been absolutely impossible.
But Christian was determined to pull it off.
He had a plan.
Chris stepped into the prison.
“We greet Lord Christian!!”
The guard bowed deeply.
“Yes. You’ve been told why I’ve come, haven’t you? Lead me to him.”
“Y-Yes, understood!”
As they walked down the pitch-black underground corridor, the guard asked carefully—
"Um… may I ask, why are you trying to meet him? He’s someone abandoned by the Mystic Castle, not exactly someone a noble like you should be interested in."
The man Chris was here to meet wasn’t anyone special.
A 5-star black mage from the Curse Demonic House.
Normally, captured individuals would be exchanged as hostages, but the Mystic Castle had outright refused to negotiate for this one.
Whether he backed the wrong faction or simply became useless, he had been cast aside.
‘He’s not anything great, but he happens to have exactly what I need.’
"Ah, nothing major. Just looking to steal something he knows."
"Eh? Wait, what? Even if he’s been disowned, there’s no way he’d willingly reveal a secret technique—?"
Noble households of magic fall into two broad categories:
Martial Magic-based, and Black Magic-based.
‘The Dark Demonic House would be classified under Martial Magic.’
Black Magic-based noble families use far more advanced spell systems.
Even if it's the same type of spell, when cast by black mages from those elite families, the effect is vastly stronger and far more sinister than that of an average black mage from outside.
Take a curse, for example: even if it’s the same “Misfortune” spell, the version cast by someone from the Curse Demonic House is far more insidious and powerful.
That’s because such spells have been refined over generations.
In short, the general black magic available to the outside world and the black magic techniques from those prestigious lineages are technically the same type—but they function as entirely different spells.
‘The publicly available ones are downgraded versions. The noble family’s proprietary ones are the advanced versions, you could say.’
Naturally, all of this was strictly confidential.
"Well, it’s not like he’ll give up anything easily. I’ll handle it. You don’t need to worry."
“Y-Yes, understood.”
Once they reached the foul-smelling depths of the prison, they found a gaunt man bound in chains.
A black mage of the Curse Demonic House.
“…What is it?”
“I’m Chris, heir to the Dark Demonic House. I’ve come to make a deal with you.”
“A deal? I’m a discarded man. I have nothing to offer. Don’t tell me—you’re after my family’s spells?”
Christian nodded.
“That’s right.”
The black mage let out a dry laugh.
“Guess you really are a noble if you’re that clueless. Us mages of the Curse Demonic House are forbidden from revealing our family’s secrets. There’s a geas placed on us—if we even try to speak of it, we’ll die in agonizing pain.”
This was a standard measure taken by Black Magic families to prevent information from leaking out.
“I’m not interested in the detailed spell formulas.”
“Then what?”
“I want you to cast the 5-star Jin’gang Curse you’ve mastered. Right in front of me.”
This referred to a black magic spell on par with high-grade qi techniques—magic that manifests willpower directly through spells.
“That’s a strange request. Don’t tell me—you actually think you can copy a spell just by watching it once?”
For the record, this black mage had been locked in prison for over five years.
He had no idea who Christian truly was.