Chapter 166

“I’ll merge my magic circle with the sealing array! Just hold on for a moment!”

The magic circle that Christian had activated in advance began to overlap with the sealing array cast by one of the Five Commanders.

More precisely, Christian’s magic circle began to meld into the sealing array.

The spell formula was being dismantled and restructured in real time as it seeped into the array.

Even seeing it with their own eyes, the knights found it hard to believe.

Yet the spell that permeated the sealing array didn’t disrupt it at all—on the contrary, it enhanced it with new effects.

“Is the preparation complete?”

At last, Marquis Shupen revealed himself.

As Marquis Shupen stretched out his hand, a phenomenon occurred.

Fwoooosh—

Darkness swallowed the surroundings.

He had activated the 8-Star Authority, Domain of Domination.

But the real surprise was just beginning.

The spell formula merged with the sealing array cast by the Five Commanders began to radiate brilliant light.

Then, the dark domain cast by Marquis Shupen overlapped with the sealing array and formed a black, semi-transparent seal!

A fusion of the sealing array and the Domain of Domination—achieved through sorcery.

“I was inspired after seeing the magic once used by the former Archmage, Lanya. She would often reshape the hero’s Domain of Domination with her own spells to unleash incredible power.”

Of course, the spell Lanya used back then and the one Christian was casting now were completely different.

Back then, Lanya’s spell involved manipulating another’s Domain of Domination as her own magic.

That was a realm far beyond what Christian could reach at present.

Instead, he had selectively referenced only the essential part.

Marquis Shupen’s Domain of Domination possessed the property of a “shield.”

Now, by merging it with the sealing array cast by the Five Commanders, it had been imbued with the essence of the ultimate shield.

Thanks to that, a perfect confinement technique—from which no one could escape—was completed.

Even the power of a devil could be restrained.

“KRRAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!”

Patera let out a monstrous roar.

A force like nothing anyone had ever experienced before began to surge wildly.

He had unleashed the power of a devil.

The transcendent force of the abyss had descended into reality.

An overwhelming, surreal energy—as if the bottomless pit of Gehenna had torn open.

The surroundings were on the brink of annihilation, not just scorched but seemingly about to be erased entirely.

Yet the sealing array held.

An astonishing feat.

But not without cost.

“Guh!”

“Marquis!!!”

Marquis Shupen suddenly coughed up blood.

He was currently sustaining a significant portion of the sealing array with his own strength.

So when the devil’s power rampaged, he suffered the backlash.

“…I’m still fine. But I doubt this sealing array will hold much longer. As expected from devil power… its might is far beyond prediction.”

Marquis Shupen spoke heavily.

“It would be better to change the plan.”

Originally, the plan was for Marquis Shupen and the Five Commanders to restrain Patera while Christian used a specific method to neutralize him.

“At most, we can hold for five minutes. No matter how skilled you are, Christian, it’s impossible to neutralize that monster in such a short time.”

If he failed, Christian would definitely die.

It would be wiser to switch to a different strategy.

“We’re going with the luring operation. Even if it means some casualties, it’s still the better option. Send the signal to the reserve forces.”

Marquis Shupen’s second plan involved scattering the forces and drawing the monster around in various directions while waiting for him to burn out.

That kind of transcendent power couldn’t last long. It was a solid countermeasure.

Troops had already been positioned in advance around the area to draw the monster’s attention.

‘There will be significant losses... but it can’t be helped.’

Better that others die than for Christian to die trying something reckless.

But then—

“No. I’ll do it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Didn’t I just say we won’t last even five minutes? No—now it’s less than four.”

“Don’t worry. That much time is more than enough.”

Christian began walking toward Patera, who was bound within the sealing array.

“You?! Stop right there!!”

But Marquis Shupen, who was pouring all his strength into keeping the monster restrained, couldn’t stop Christian.

“It’s alright. If it looks like I’ve failed… please proceed with the second plan then.”

There was one reason why Christian wouldn’t back down.

In his previous life, the Chatterbox of Darkness had once told Christian in detail how to neutralize Patera.

— …Why are you telling me this? I don’t have any kind of power to do that.

— Hehe. You never know, right?

Christian recalled that moment as he stood before Patera.

Patera, trapped within the sealing array, was howling like a wild beast.

The devil’s power that leaked beyond the array felt like it was crushing his soul, but Christian didn’t retreat.

He remembered the Chatterbox of Darkness smiling brightly.

— If you ever meet Patera again, save him. She’s a pitiful soul. And you’re a genius, so I know you can do it.

He had brushed it off as nonsense back then. There was no way he could do something like that.

And truly, back then, it would’ve been impossible for Christian with his abilities at the time.

The Chatterbox of Darkness probably hadn’t expected him to actually pull it off either.

She must have said it simply because she’d suffered similar pain—and wished someone could save Patera.

But now, things were different.

It had been impossible then—but the Christian of now could do it.

Christian stared directly at Patera.

That grotesque appearance…

Patera had never wanted to become this.

His very reason had been erased—he was now nothing more than a puppet dancing to a devil’s will.

And yet, Patera was still alive.

He had no free will, only obeying horrific commands, a being who had forgotten even how to think—yet he was suffering.

Christian knew it.

And he wasn't going to turn away.

That horrifying roar—perhaps it was the wailing of a tormented soul.

“Look at me.”

Christian spoke softly.

Was it just coincidence?

Patera’s eyes met his.

Christian spoke again.

“I’ll save you.”

“!!”

Even with his mind annihilated, had he instinctively sensed the sincerity in Christian’s voice?

Patera’s vacant, unfocused eyes trembled faintly.

Christian didn’t let that moment slip by.

—Erosion of Dreams.

A spell of the mind.

Specifically, a curse-type black magic that invades the dream buried deep within the unconscious.

Right now, Patera’s original consciousness is practically half-asleep in a dream-like state.

Halfway in, the spell struck a barrier that wrapped tightly around Patera’s mind—blocking the curse.

But Christian didn’t stop.

Back then… the black magician of the Mystic Demonic House showed me the true essence of curse magic.

The curse-wielder he had seen in the Thought Prison had unleashed an erosion-type black magic so relentless it could crush any mental defense—an obsession born from pure malice.

The essence behind Christian’s spell now was similar, yet fundamentally different.

The obsession was still there.

In fact—it was even stronger.

No matter what kind of wall stood in his way, he wouldn’t stop.

Like a droplet of water carving its way through stone, his spell pressed on with unrelenting persistence.

At the same time—it was cunning.

It struck at every microscopic weakness it could find.

Every mental barrier has a flaw somewhere. Especially in minds broken by brainwashing like this.

This particular mental barrier had been constructed by the Mystic Demonic House.

But its purpose wasn’t to protect Patera’s mind from outside intrusion—it was the opposite.

It was built to suppress the human part of Patera, to ensure that the consciousness from when he was still human would never awaken.

Which meant that even now, deep within his unconscious, Patera’s mind was still resisting that imprisonment.

It may have been a futile struggle—like the twitch of a crushed insect—but it was a resistance that had endured for a long time.

And over that time, tiny cracks had begun to form in the barrier.

Christian didn’t miss a single one.

He pressed in—relentlessly.

And then, one of the cracks split open into a small hole. A fracture began to spread.

Christian drove in the wedge.

‘Break!’

A forceful will to tear through everything in his way.

That will infused the curse.

Like shattering glass, a large hole burst open in Patera’s mental barrier—and in the blink of an eye, a new landscape unfolded before him.

Christian had successfully entered the dream within Patera’s unconscious.

Was this… the hometown where Patera had lived back when he was still human?

A snowy winter.

A secluded cabin nestled on the mountainside served as the backdrop.

It was a peaceful scene—but tainted by an utterly horrifying presence.

[Insolent brat. How dare you trespass into the vessel I inhabit.]

The form was that of a small boy.

A grotesque figure, his mouth torn from ear to ear.

[I’ll devour your soul along with his.]

It was the devil possessing Patera.

* * *

It wasn’t a bluff.

A chilling, demonic pressure surged forth.

This devil before Christian—was a real, actual being.

This is exactly why no one among the hero’s party ever dared to try the method the Chatterbox of Darkness had shared.

The devil had parasitized Patera’s dreamscape—nesting deep within her consciousness.

Thus, the method passed down to Christian was simple in theory, yet near-impossible in practice:

Enter Patera’s dream and annihilate the devil residing within.

A feat considered impossible.

From the looks of it… it doesn’t seem to be a high-ranking devil, at least.

Devils, too, had their own hierarchy.

First came the 1st and 2nd ranks—the conceptual devils.

They were akin to universal laws, existing only as abstract forces that shaped the world’s foundation.

Then came the 3rd and 4th ranks, the so-called “Great Devils.”

These were the ones recognized as true devils.

Though they were real, they still bore abstract qualities—embodiments of hatred, murder, greed, gluttony, lust, and so on.

Each symbolized a specific attribute, and they ruled over Gehenna as its sovereigns.

The ones feared and worshipped as transcendent beings by humans on the surface—those were typically 3rd or 4th-rank devils.

Finally, the 5th and 6th ranks—the common noble devils.

Unlike the conceptual devils, these were entirely real beings.

They served the Great Devils, corrupted human souls, and tormented the damned who fell into Gehenna.

The noble devils aren’t fully transcendent. Some can be resisted by humans. Especially the lowest among the 6th-rank devils.

Of course, that wasn’t to say they were weak.

Even low-ranked devils were still immortals.

To merely stand a chance against the weakest devil, one had to be at least 8-Star, in the realm of absolute mastery.

To truly battle a devil, one had to reach beyond human limits—into the 9-Star Transcendent Realm.

And even then, that’s only against the lowest of the 6th rank devils—the bottom layer of Gehenna. Devils of higher ranks are genuine transcendent beings.

A devil of the 5th rank, even one of baronial or marquis rank, was already far beyond anything humans could oppose.

For reference, the devil Mefina, who kept showing an interest in Christian, belonged to the 7th rank—a separate class altogether.

That rank was composed of fallen constellations from the Celestial Realm or Great Devils of the 3rd and 4th ranks who, for some reason, had been displaced from their original status.

Now that I think about it… I still don’t know exactly what level Mefina’s original rank was. I’m guessing she’s quite high.

But that wasn’t the issue right now.

Christian had a devil standing in front of him—this one was the problem.

“How high is your rank?”

[...What did you say?]

Christian smirked slightly.

A hint of provocation in his tone.

“Judging by the fact that you descended into this kind of vessel, you're clearly not from the upper ranks.”