Chapter 188

“We were furious too when we heard the bastards from the Venomous Demonic House pulled this stunt,” Leon said. “But from our position in the Dark Demon Army, we couldn’t exactly act on it, so we’ve been bottling up our anger. And now, you’ve given us the perfect excuse.”

The main duty of the Dark Demon Army was to guard against the Four Kings’ Castle.

Because that fortress could strike at any moment, their doctrine was to refrain from getting involved in other disputes—especially those between Gold Cross and the Venomous Demonic House.

But with Chris’s plan, it was different.

The objective was to launch a lightning strike while the enemy was off-guard—settling things swiftly so the army wouldn’t be away from its post for long.

Sanin added his own words.

“This time, I’ll show the Grand Duke just how strong I really am.”

His expression was still stiff, but it wasn’t out of resentment. If anything, it showed a renewed determination—like a rival eager to prove himself.

‘He’s clearly gotten stronger. Probably because he’s finally cast off that inner demon.’

During their duel, Sanin had been trapped in a Heart Demon born of inferiority.

Despite being at the level of a 6-star lower-tier master, he’d failed to show his true strength—ending up completely toyed with by Chris, who was then only 5-star.

Now, having acknowledged Chris and overcome his inner demon, Sanin’s power felt far more stable and refined.

‘If we fought again, I probably couldn’t beat him so easily this time.’

Chris opened his mouth to speak.

“I’m glad to see both of you. Let me explain the operation briefly.”

It was simple.

Strike swiftly and destroy the enemy before they had time to respond.

“The key is speed. Before the Venomous Demonic House’s main family can send reinforcements, we’ll overrun all four territories.”

And it was feasible.

Those four territories were closer to the Dark Demonic House’s border than to the Venomous Demonic House’s capital.

More importantly, from the perspective of the Venomous Demonic House, the border with the Dark Demonic House was a rear line, not a frontline—so few elite troops were stationed there.

‘Just like us, their primary enemies are the Four Kings’ Castle and the Gold Cross.’

The Venomous Demonic House, like the Dark Demonic House, bordered the Four Kings’ Castle and the Gold Cross on their northern and southern ends, respectively.

The difference was, because of geography, direct conflict with the Four Kings’ Castle was rare for them. Instead, they often clashed with Gold Cross.

‘Several militaristic powers within Gold Cross are clustered near the Venomous Demonic House’s border.’

If the Theocracy is the spiritual leader of Gold Cross, then its true strength lies in those powerful militaristic states.

And those nations didn’t always heed the Theocracy’s commands. In fact, they often acted independently, and many had territories bordering the Venomous Demonic House—so clashes were frequent.

As a result, the Venomous Demonic House had focused its strength elsewhere, leaving its border with the Dark Demonic House relatively unguarded.

‘Two of the lords ruling those four territories are said to only be 5-star class.’

Of course, 5-star wasn’t a low rank by any means—it qualified one as a high-ranking demon noble.

But against the elite Black Banner Unit of the Dark Demon Army, they wouldn’t be enough.

‘The remaining two territories are the real problem. Each is governed by a 6-star Master-Class demon.’

Still, it wasn’t too concerning.

This side had two 6-star Master-Class powerhouses as well.

As expected, Leon, one of the Three Captains, spoke with his usual carefree tone.

“Let’s get going, shall we? The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can grab a drink. Oh, right—didn’t the Grand Duke say he’s a lightweight?”

He showed not a trace of worry.

Suddenly, an unexpected voice cut in.

“W-Wait a second! Are you seriously planning to attack our Venomous Demonic House like this?!”

It was Marisa!

Chris tilted his head.

“You’re still here?”

“O-Of course I’m still here! More importantly, aren’t you underestimating our main house a bit too much? Do you even know why we haven’t stationed a large force near the border with the Dark Demonic House?”

Marisa spoke in a grave tone, issuing a warning.

“Each of our fortresses is protected by Poison Arrays.”

These were magic arrays crafted from poison—lethal formations unique to their house.

“Sure, you or those Five Captains over there might be able to get through them unharmed, but regular demons? If you’re careless, you’ll be annihilated in an instant.”

That was what made the Venomous Demonic House so terrifying.

Even when outmatched in military strength, they could reverse the entire situation in a blink with a properly deployed poison array.

Especially since poison only grew more lethal the weaker the victim was—making it a natural counter to the Dark Demonic House, which had a high proportion of average-level demons.

That was also the reason why even Nordian avoided direct conflict with the Venomous Demonic House.

Leon, one of the Three Captains, tilted his head.

“Didn’t the Grand Duke already say he had a plan for dealing with the poison arrays?”

The Five Captains weren’t unaware of the danger either.

But Chris had dispelled their concern in just one sentence:

“Leave the poison arrays to me.”

Everyone gave him curious looks, wondering what kind of countermeasure he had in mind, but Chris only shrugged.

“It’s nothing special. Poison arrays are just another type of formation in the end.”

“…What?”

“Hm… It’s a bit complicated to explain. You’ll understand when we get there.”

Vague, cryptic words.

The others tilted their heads in confusion, while Chris simply grinned and mounted his steed.

“Well then—march out!”

And with that, the battle began.

The first target was the territory of Balmont.

It was governed by a mid-tier 5-star demon.

Late at night, the air was suddenly torn apart by screams.

“GAAAHH!”

“W-What the—?! The Dark Demonic House! It’s an ambush! Everyone, wake up!! Khgh—!”

The sentries of the Venomous Demonic House shouted in panic, but it was already too late.

Other demons rushed out to fight, but it was useless.

The Venomous Demonic House’s greatest strength, of course, was poison.

Used correctly, it could overturn even hopeless battles in an instant.

Especially when deployed through traps or ambush tactics, its destructive power was terrifying.

But that also meant one thing:

In situations where they were the ones ambushed—they were extremely vulnerable.

And the Dark Demonic House had come thoroughly prepared for poison.

Thanks to Chris.

“…What is this medicine, anyway?”

“It’s the antidote the Grand Duke gave us to boost poison resistance… but the effect is just…”

The demons of the Black Banner Unit stared blankly at their own bodies in disbelief.

Before going to war with the Venomous Demonic House, they had all taken antidotes meant to enhance resistance to poison.

But the effect of such antidotes was usually very limited—just enough to delay the spread of toxins slightly.

However, the medicine Chris had handed out was on another level entirely.

Even low to mid-tier poisons seemed to have no effect at all.

‘Well, I made it myself, after all. Ugh, it cost me a fortune in secret funds to develop it without anyone noticing.’

Even for Chris, making a resistance elixir with that level of potency hadn’t been easy.

The main problem was money.

The better the herb, the more expensive it was.

And to get that level of efficacy, you had to pour in a fortune's worth of rare, high-grade herbs.

Honestly, it was too costly to supply such medicine to all 300 soldiers… but today, there was no helping it.

In any case, thanks to the potion, the battle was overwhelmingly one-sided.

The enemy garrison was subdued in no time.

The real issue, however, was the Poison Array.

“What’s the situation inside the inner citadel?”

Like most castles, Balmont’s fortress was split between an outer wall and an inner keep where the lord resided.

A black poisonous mist loomed thick around the inner keep.

“That’s the poison array,” Marisa said grimly. “If we enter that mist, we’ll get caught up in the formation.”

Poison Array—a complex formation constructed with deadly poison.

“Don’t take it lightly,” she warned. “The poison array at Balmont was set up by one of our former house elders—Groben—a master of formations.”

The Venomous Demonic House wasn’t merely a clan of poisoners.

They had developed various auxiliary disciplines to enhance the effectiveness of their poisons.

Magic engineering, shadowcraft, dark magic, mechanical arts—all of these had evolved to support their poison-based warfare. And formation arts were among them.

‘While they’re not as famous as the Illusion Demonic House, the allied tribes of ritual sorcerers, or the Sky Tower of Arcane Magic, they’ve still reached a considerable level of expertise in formations.’

Chris had even heard of this “Groben.”

The greatest formation master produced by the Venomous Demonic House in the last century.

‘I’ve heard he personally crafted every poison array guarding their key strategic locations.’

Marisa continued in a grave tone.

“This isn’t public knowledge outside the Venomous Demonic House, but… Groben paid special attention to Balmont’s poison array. He personally upgraded it to deal with surprise attacks like this.”

Leon, one of the Three Captains, frowned.

“What should we do, Vice Commander? That bastard lord is holed up inside the array, probably planning to wait until reinforcements arrive.”

But Chris said something unexpected.

“What’s there to worry about? We’ll just dismantle it.”

He spoke lightly, as if he were talking about breaking a toy.

“…It won’t be that easy,” Leon said awkwardly.

“Just like Lady Marisa said, the aura coming from that formation is way stronger than expected. I didn’t think it’d be reinforced to this level…”

“……”

“Even if Sanin and I work together, I’m not confident we can break through it.”

It was a startling statement.

By the time one reached the level of a 6-star Master-Class demon, most ordinary formations could be forcefully broken through.

But here they had two 6-stars present, and they still said it would be difficult.

That meant the poison array wasn’t just a high-level formation—it had likely entered the domain of a Deadlock Formation, a level where brute force no longer worked.

Marisa added gravely,

“If you go in recklessly, you’ll suffer a major blow. In the worst-case scenario, Chris, even you could lose your life.”

Everyone turned to Chris with tense, anxious expressions.

But then Chris gave an unexpected reply.

“Seems like you’ve all forgotten what I said before we departed. What did I say? I told you—just leave the formations to me, didn’t I?”

He gave a sly grin.

“It’s fine. I have a way.”

With that, Chris began walking forward step by step.

Leon, realizing Chris intended to confront the formation head-on, cried out in alarm.

“Then let me and Sanin accompany you!”

“No need. I’ll go alone.”

“G-Grand Duke?!”

The others were clearly shaken.

Especially Marisa, who knew all too well how terrifying this formation was. Her voice trembled in panic.

“Christian! Don’t do anything reckless!”

“Reckless?”

“Yes! I don’t care how brilliant you are—even you can’t possibly break through a formation created by Master Groben all by yourself! If you must go, then let us go together!”

“You’d just get in the way.”

“!!”

“Besides, the formation doesn’t look all that impressive anyway.”

“…What did you just say?”

Marisa blinked in disbelief.

What was this lunatic saying?

‘Wait… could it be—Christian can’t even read formations?’

That might be it.

If he had even a shred of understanding about formations, there was no way he’d dare say something like that.

No matter how much of a genius he was, he couldn’t possibly be good at everything.

“Anyway, we’ve wasted enough time. I’m going in. You all stay here and wait.”

“W-Wait…!!”

But before anyone could stop him, Christian’s figure slipped right into the formation and vanished without a trace.

“He’s trying to get himself killed!”

Marisa tried to rush in after him, but a hand stopped her.

It was Sanin.

“Please remain where you are.”

“What? Are you serious?! He’s your Grand Duke! And you’re just going to stand here and watch him die?!”