Chapter 202

‘It’s about time I win over the retainers too. I can’t keep putting this off.’

As stated before, the method was simple.

He had to prove it to everyone—

That he was no less than Marquis Langham.

‘And I have just the way to do it.’

Right then, someone approached him.

It was Nordian.

“You’ve come.”

“…Grandfather.”

Christian paused for a moment.

Nordian had come in person, in his true body.

He held a staff in one hand, and leaned on Merian for support with the other.

Compared to the last time Christian saw him, he looked significantly more frail.

It was undeniable proof—

Nordian’s time was truly running out.

“Why have you come out like this?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Kekeke…”

Nordian reached out and grasped Christian’s hand.

“You’ve done well. I’m proud of you. You’re my pride—and the most precious treasure of our House.”

Christian remained silent.

Looking at Nordian’s gaunt figure—

For some reason, it stirred something in his chest.

After everything they’d been through,

Even Christian had begun to feel some kind of affection for Nordian.

‘Well, what do you know. I’ve lived long enough to actually grow fond of the Head of House Nordian.’

Despite calling him grandfather, Nordian wasn’t his true blood relative.

More than that—Nordian wasn’t someone one could easily feel familial warmth toward.

He was a man who only ever prioritized the family line, treating even his own flesh and blood as mere tools.

The reason he had begun watching Christian in the first place was simply because Christian proved useful to the family.

And yet—Christian had realized something.

After everything that had happened, even Nordian had come to harbor a measure of genuine familial affection for him.

And Christian—unused to such warmth, was quite weak to it.

‘As a grandson, I suppose it wouldn’t be bad to give him a little gift.’

With that thought, he opened his mouth.

“I’d like to make a request of you, Head of House.”

“What is it? Say the word.”

“Please issue a summons to the entire House.”

“!!”

Nordian flinched.

It was a decree calling all major retainers to the main estate.

Such a summons was only issued when something critical or momentous was about to be announced.

“Why do you want it?”

“Because I have something important to declare. I believe it’s something you’ll be pleased to hear.”

Christian lifted the corners of his mouth.

He already knew what would be the greatest gift he could offer Nordian.

The glory of the Dark Demonic House.

“I’m going to announce the revival of the Dark Rite.”

Nordian’s eyes widened to the point of nearly splitting open.

Merian and Simon, who stood beside him, reacted no differently.

That’s how shocking Christian’s declaration had been.

“Christian… Do you even know what the Dark Rite is?”

Merian asked, her voice shaken with disbelief.

“Of course I do.”

“And yet you’re saying you want to revive it?”

“Why? Is there a problem?”

“Of course there is…!!”

A flustered response.

And understandably so.

The Dark Rite.

Also known as the Dark Tournament, it was a blood-soaked ritual in which the three great noble houses of the Southern Magic Nation once came together to pit their power against one another.

It was an event that had long since been buried in history.

But Christian simply raised the corner of his lips and declared:

“Through the Dark Rite, I will force the other two houses into submission and make it known that the Dark Demonic House stands above all.”

With that thunderous declaration—

The entire Dark Demonic House erupted into turmoil.

* * *

The Dark Rite.

As the name implied, it was a ceremonial tradition honoring the will of the former great alliance that once ruled the Southern Magic Nation—

The Dark Alliance.

But why would three families engage in battle during a supposed ceremony?

Because the Dark Rite was originally meant to determine the ruling house of the Dark Alliance.

Even after the Demon King of Annihilation disappeared, the alliance didn’t collapse right away.

For quite a while, it managed to survive.

However, the seat of leadership continued to shift.

Whoever was strongest was deemed most fit to lead—

And since full-blown war wasn’t sustainable every time a change in power was needed, they devised a formal method.

Every ten years, the three houses would battle in the Dark Rite, and the victor would claim the title of Alliance Leader.

But over time, as the Dark Alliance dissolved, the Dark Rite faded into obscurity along with it.

Now, Christian was saying he would revive it.

Naturally, the entire Dark Demonic House objected.

“Absolutely not!!”

“The Dark Rite must never return!”

The many retainers gathered at the main estate in response to the summons all shouted in unison against it.

It didn’t matter whether they normally supported Christian or not—

Even his own father, Count Khazar, was among those opposing it.

“Grand Duke, I advise you to reconsider.”

Count Khazar stepped forward as the representative voice of the gathered retainers.

Since this was an official occasion, he addressed Christian formally.

“The Dark Rite must never be revived.”

“And why not? The other houses won’t oppose it.”

If the Dark Rite was officially declared, the Destruction Demonic House would no doubt leap at the chance and immediately voice their support.

They had always hungered to become the dominant power of the Southern Magic Nation—

There was no way they’d pass up an opportunity like this.

“The Venomous Demonic House might be a bit tricky, but it doesn’t matter. Once the 'Verdant Ruin’ begins, they won’t even have the bandwidth to care about the Dark Rite.”

On the other hand, the retainers of the Dark Demonic House were vehemently opposed—

And their reasoning was simple.

If the three houses clashed, the one most likely to end up crushed at the bottom…

Was obviously the Dark Demonic House.

And it wouldn’t be a simple defeat.

It would be an utterly humiliating rout.

“The rules of the Dark Rite dictate consecutive duels between high-ranking demons.”

Each house selects five, ten, however many elite demons to represent them—

And those chosen warriors face off in a chain of one-on-one matches.

It was a format extremely unfavorable to the Dark Demonic House, which lacked enough high-tier demons.

The only outcome would be disgrace, so of course everyone opposed it.

In fact, some of the nobles who had always looked down on Christian openly scoffed.

“It seems the Grand Duke has no sense of reality.”

“Indeed. That must be why he spoke of resurrecting the Dark Alliance during his investiture. Utterly laughable.”

They were from the Marquis Langham faction—

And all of them were powerful 6-star Master-class demons.

Essentially the central axis of the House’s true power, and because of that, they showed no hesitation in mocking the Grand Duke even to his face.

Worse, they seemed to raise their voices deliberately, as if daring Christian to hear them.

“We acknowledge the Grand Duke is impressive in many ways, but he must develop some sense of realism—for the good of the House.”

“To summon us all here for such delusions... First the Dark Alliance, now this? It’s troubling that the Grand Duke sees House affairs as child’s play.”

Their brazen provocation made the others in the hall hold their breath.

For context, Nordian, the Head of House, wasn’t present at this meeting.

At Christian’s request, he had entrusted full authority over this matter to him.

Christian briefly recalled the conversation they’d had.

—“Why do you want to revive the Dark Rite? Do you think you can win the duels and claim the title of Dark Alliance Leader? That won’t be easy.”

Nordian had objected at first.

Christian had shaken his head at that question.

—“No. Winning a few matches won’t be enough to bring the other Houses to heel.”

If this were the past, when the Dark Rite still held prestige, that might’ve worked.

But now, even if they lost, there was no reason the others would honor the result.

—“Then why bother with something so pointless? And besides, you know as well as I do—our Dark Demonic House can’t win. We’re weak.”

To that bitter remark, Christian had offered an unexpected answer.

—“Exactly. It’s because we’re weak that we must revive the Rite.”

—“…What do you mean by that?”

—“Because if we don’t do this, the Dark Demonic House will never move forward.”

—“!!”

There had been a blaze in Christian’s eyes.

—“Through this Rite, I intend to rebirth the Dark Demonic House.”

That’s right.

Victory or defeat wasn’t what mattered most.

What mattered was transformation.

Christian intended to use the Dark Rite as the catalyst to reinvent the Dark Demonic House itself.

The reason Nordian accepted Christian’s proposal—

“Of course, we still have to win. And it’s possible.”

With that conviction, Christian took his first step.

He stared straight at the retainers who had mocked him.

“I’m well aware that the odds of our Dark Demonic House winning are slim.”

“And yet—!”

“But as long as there are pathetic dogs like you, soaked in defeatism, we’ll never win.”

“!!”

Their faces froze.

“What… did you just say?”

“I called you pathetic dogs.”

“Even as the Grand Duke, your words—!”

“Why? Am I wrong? You call yourselves demons, but before the battle’s even begun, all you think about is losing.”

Christian twisted his lips into a mocking smirk.

“Even nameless street-level demons don’t go into a fight thinking of defeat. But look at you—what are you doing now?”

“……”

“If this were a real war, being cautious would make sense. But this is just a ritual duel. And still, you’re so afraid of losing, you won’t even dare to fight—you’d rather just tuck your tails and cower? And you think you’re worthy of leading the great Dark Demonic House?”

Those who had just been mocking Christian now fell silent.

In fact, the entire hall fell into silence.

Because there was truth in his words—

And what they felt in that moment was shame.

Then, from the highest seat in the hall, Marquis Langham finally spoke.

“That’s nothing but lofty idealism.”

“!!”

“If we actually go through with this Rite, the Dark Demonic House will be utterly humiliated. Our name will be dragged through the mud. There’s nothing to gain from this.”

Several retainers nodded in agreement with his view.

But Christian answered in a calm, biting tone.

“It seems, Your Excellency, that you’re misunderstanding something. I’ve never said we would lose.”

“…What?”

“If we’re going to fight, then naturally—we must win.”

“That’s absurd.”

Marquis Langham shook his head.

“You seriously believe we can win with our current strength?”

“Not right now, no.”

“Then what nonsense are you—”

“Didn’t I just say, ‘not right now’?”

“!!”

“It’s not like we’re holding the Rite tomorrow, are we? By tradition, the Dark Rite is held when the Black Moon rises—so that gives us, what, around half a year? Depending on how we spend that time, the outcome can change completely.”

Marquis Langham gave a look of utter disbelief.

“And what do you think you can accomplish in just half a year? You think reaching new heights is that easy?”

“Of course it’s difficult. After all, even Your Excellency has been stuck at your current level for over a decade, haven’t you? Looking at you, I can certainly understand how hard it is to break through a wall.”

Marquis Langham’s face hardened completely.

Christian had openly mocked him.

“You…”

“Ah, my apologies. I guess I lack empathy—being a genius and all, I can’t really relate to those kinds of struggles.”

“!!”

Marquis Langham’s gaze turned razor-sharp.

Considering he rarely revealed his emotions, this was clear fury.

But Christian paid it no mind and continued speaking.

“Still, there is a way to rapidly raise one’s level of achievement. It’s simple—having someone guide you, right beside you. Someone to help you break through your wall.”

Everyone, including Marquis Langham, looked at him like he’d gone insane.

Someone guiding you to overcome your bottleneck?

It sounded absurd.

“The Hero’s party had the same reaction at first. Right up until they tried following my advice.”

In fact, he even remembered how annoyed he got later on when they wouldn’t stop asking for guidance.

Christian crossed his arms and spoke with full confidence.

“Do you all remember the promise from some time ago? That if I resolved the situation with the Venomous Demonic House, I’d be granted the authority of Grand Instructor.”

“You… You’re not saying—”

Marquis Langham’s eyes widened.

So did everyone else’s who had caught on to what Christian was about to say.

“I will, as Grand Instructor, personally train every single member of the House.”

“!!”