Chapter 165
“That’s not your concern. But if you follow my instructions, I’ll grant you your freedom.”
“…Freedom?”
“Yes, I’ll let you go. However, your core will be sealed. Whether you run off to the Alliance or not, that’s up to you.”
“!!”
It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“…And why should I believe you?”
“You seem to be misunderstanding something. I’m not the one in need here. Do you really think someone like you, with no value even as a prisoner, will be kept alive forever?”
The black mage swallowed hard.
In truth, he was in a position where he could be executed at any time.
“…So all I have to do is cast the spell?”
“Yes. But you’ll have to keep casting it—until I say it’s enough.”
The black mage shook his head.
‘I don’t get why he’s asking for this. Does he seriously believe he can just watch a spell once and learn it?’
He sneered to himself.
The signature spells of black magic noble houses were absolutely impossible for outsiders to replicate.
Not only were the formulas themselves strictly sealed, but from the very beginning of training, the spell structures were built using what was known as the “family’s fingerprint”—a unique pattern intrinsic to that house. Without it, the spell could not be manifested properly.
‘Well, whatever. It doesn’t matter to me.’
“…My specialization in curses is a type that penetrates the mind—Infiltration Branch. The Jin’gang-level curse I’ve mastered is Submersion of Sleep.”
At the 5-star level, even within the same curse type, branches of specialization begin to emerge.
The same applies to other black magic fields and even to the white magic of the Alliance.
“No need for the explanation. Just show me.”
A guard pushed in a cart that had been prepared in advance.
It was a cage holding small magic beasts.
Submersion of Sleep was a powerful curse that caused one’s actions during sleep to manifest physically, leading to death. It was far too dangerous to demonstrate on a human subject.
‘Actually, the specific nature of the curse doesn’t even matter.’
Chris wasn’t trying to steal the Curse Demonic House’s signature spell.
If he really wanted to, he could modify any spell to his liking. There was no need to go through the trouble of copying someone else’s.
What Chris aimed to steal was something entirely different.
‘I need to glimpse the true essence of the Jin’gang Curse.’
A concept within black magic equivalent to an epiphany.
The spells of the black magic noble houses weren’t powerful just because their structure or casting techniques were superior.
It was because of the truths—the unique, high-level insights held by each house.
These families possessed distinct realizations into the principles of black magic, insights that could never be accessed by ordinary black mages.
‘Just as the power of qi techniques differs based on the will behind them, the strength of black magic depends entirely on the nature of the truth one has realized.’
Of course, even within black magic noble houses, these truths branched in many directions.
Even when touching the same truth, the result varied greatly from person to person.
There was little chance that the black mage in front of him had mastered a high-tier truth passed down among the Curse Demonic House’s direct bloodline.
‘Doesn’t matter. All I need is a clue.’
Chris’s gaze turned cold and sharp.
The flow of the curse—
The malice contained within it—
How the will formed patterns and transformed into magical formulas—
Chris engraved every detail into his mind, one by one.
And within his mental landscape, a new truth began to emerge.
A truth entirely different from the one shown by the black mage—
A brand-new truth, unique to Chris alone.
With that, all preparations were complete.
And then, the moment arrived.
The monster of the Mystic Demonic House had been detected infiltrating Marquis Shupen’s territory.
* * *
Upon observing it covertly from a distance, traces of a devil’s presence were clearly lingering.
It was the telltale sign of Patera.
Unlike other devil contractors who were meticulous in erasing all traces of their devils, Patera was unable to completely conceal the lingering presence of hers.
“It’s definitely the monster from the Mystic Demonic House.”
“…I was hoping it wouldn’t be.”
Marquis Shupen let out a long sigh and spoke.
“Are you really going to go through with this? Your plan is too dangerous. It’s not too late to stop. That monster—leave it to me and the Five Captains.”
His voice still carried concern for Christian.
Because Christian’s plan was undeniably too reckless.
But Chris simply grinned.
“Seems you’re forgetting—I am one of the Five Captains.”
“……”
“Let’s begin the operation.”
Marquis Shupen gave a heavy nod.
If a battle broke out inside the stronghold, the damage could be devastating—
So the plan was to lure the monster outside first.
The method of baiting it was simple.
Chris walked out of the fortress himself.
‘Since Patera is targeting me, it’ll sense the presence of my soul and follow.’
Patera was a test subject.
A vessel that had been thoroughly modified to host a devil’s descent—
Its perception system was unlike that of a human.
It didn’t rely on the five senses—sight, smell, hearing, touch, or taste—
It tracked and moved based on spiritual perception.
And sure enough—
—Young Master, it has left the fortress. It’s moving precisely in the direction you’re heading.
Melin, who had been discreetly tailing the creature, reported through the remote communication orb.
“You don’t need to track it any further.”
—Understood.
“Proceed with the next order I gave you.”
Chris had entrusted Melin with a special detached unit operation.
—Understood. Please be careful.
Even Melin’s voice carried deep concern for Chris.
That was how dangerous this mission was.
But Chris responded calmly.
“Don’t worry. Just trust me. This is my chance to make my name known far and wide.”
And he meant it.
The Mystic Demonic House was considered an outlier even within the Magus Empire.
Therefore, if Chris succeeded in taking down the Mystic Demonic House’s monster, his name would resound throughout the entire empire.
That kind of reputation would greatly help him later, especially when he needed to exert influence beyond the Dark Demonic House.
‘But for that to happen, the plan must succeed.’
Chris’s eyes grew sharp and focused.
He might’ve worn a confident expression, but he felt the tension just the same.
Still, he didn’t even entertain the idea of failure.
Fwoosh!
He activated his lightfoot technique.
Patera tracked spiritual traces, not physical ones. Any stealth technique meant to obscure movement would be useless.
So he raced in a straight line toward his destination.
A desolate, uninhabited mountain ravine far from the territory.
A chilling wind swept through.
As he steadied his breath, a presence soon appeared.
‘Patera!’
At a glance, the figure seemed somewhat human.
But was it even fair to call that normal?
Due to the inhumane experiments done on them, the figure’s face and entire body were covered in grotesque wrinkles and scars, making it impossible to guess the gender or age.
And that wasn’t all.
The eyes were hollow, as though blinded.
From the gaping, vacant mouth, drool trickled uncontrollably.
Patera stretched out a trembling hand toward Chris, like a drugged-out soul barely functioning.
“Uhh… ah… y-you… you’re… Christian, aren’t you? Judging by the feel of your soul… you must be…”
Patera mumbled incoherently, gazing in Chris’s direction.
Chris crossed his arms.
This was the start of the operation.
“I’m not.”
“…N-not…?”
“That’s right. I’m not Christian.”
As was evident, Patera had lost all sense of humanity.
Only the bare minimum of intelligence remained—just enough to obey commands, resulting in a confused reaction.
“No… that’s not right… this soul’s trace… it’s definitely… Christian’s…”
Patera tilted their head back and forth, then suddenly let out a breathy sound.
“You’re… lying. You are Christian.”
“I’m not.”
“Don’t… lie to me!!”
Boom!!
With a final screech, a terrifying force erupted outward.
The surrounding trees bent and shook as if they would be torn from the ground.
Chris had to summon his energy quickly to avoid internal injury.
‘That was just an emotional outburst… and it was this powerful?’
Chris clicked his tongue.
He couldn’t even imagine the scale of power Patera could unleash if they were truly serious.
Step.
Patera began approaching.
“I… I have to kill you… I don’t really want to… sorry… but I was ordered to… so I have to kill you…”
“I’m not Christian.”
“Another lie…”
“Look over there.”
Chris pointed in a direction—where a figure appeared.
It was an unexpected person: Alros.
With a face pale as a ghost, Alros shouted,
“I-I’m Christian! You monster!!”
An absolutely ridiculous claim.
Alros would never do something so absurd—unless Chris himself had ordered it.
‘Aaah! I’m scared!! Save me!! That bastard Christian, that devil!!’
But then something bizarre happened.
Patera looked back and forth between Alros and Christian in clear confusion.
“…Wh-why are there two Christians’ souls?”
This was thanks to the artifact of concealment Chris had given Alros—the Veil of the Constellation!
The Veil didn’t just disguise one’s appearance—it masked their very essence.
Even one’s soul could be made to resemble someone else’s.
And since Patera operated on spiritual perception rather than physical senses, it was now unable to determine who was the real Christian.
And then, to throw things into further chaos—
“I’m also Christian, you freak.”
Jupien appeared.
She was disguised in male clothing, styled to resemble Christian.
“Look at me. Don’t you see this punchable expression? I’m the most insufferable Christian in the world.”
She forced a smirk in an attempt to mimic Christian’s signature annoying expression.
Of course, her imitation didn’t quite live up to the original’s level of obnoxiousness.
Her disguise was poor. Her acting, worse.
But even so, Patera grew even more confused.
“Three… Christian souls…?”
Jupien was also equipped with the Veil of the Constellation.
Naturally, using the Veil on multiple people was extremely taxing.
It wouldn’t last long—but that didn’t matter.
Chris didn’t need much time.
“W-who… who’s the real one?”
“Not me. That shady-looking guy over there probably is.”
Chris pointed at Alros.
“It’s not me! That evil bastard—no, I mean she’s the real one!”
“No, I’m the real one. I worked hard on this disguise.”
With everyone yelling nonsense, Patera was thrown into complete disarray.
“…Are… they all real? Or… all fake…? Then… who am I supposed to kill…?”
Completely overwhelmed, Patera muttered in a daze.
“…Ah… ah… I guess… I’ll just… kill all of them…”
The voice was cold and chilling.
But it was too late.
Chris spread his hand wide.
Fwoooosh!!
A magic circle activated beneath Patera.
That was the real purpose behind using the others to confuse Patera—
To buy enough time for Chris to complete this spell formation.
“Now!”
Five figures who had been lying in wait burst out of hiding.
The Five Captains.
“It’s our turn now!”
“Deploy the True Demon Sealing Array!!”
The Dark Ghost Unit’s strength lay in cooperative spell formations.
Each individual soldier in the Dark Army wasn’t particularly powerful.
That’s why they developed formations designed for overwhelming stronger enemies through teamwork.
The formation now deployed by the Five Captains was an Ideation Formation—one designed to bind even 7-star and higher-ranked elite demons.
‘It’s a trap formation meant to immobilize overwhelmingly powerful enemies.’
Its strength was such that even a top-tier demon of 7-star class or higher would struggle to break free.
The problem was—Patera wasn’t an ordinary demon.
The moment she invoked the power of the devil she hosted, the formation would collapse in an instant.
But that was fine.
Chris had already prepared for that.