Chapter 217

Christian closed his eyes.

He could feel the darkness surrounding him—

the darkness born from the spirit’s astral body.

And within that darkness, he also sensed the chaos that was leading it toward annihilation.

‘That must be the forbidden art Marquis Langham is invoking.’

In truth, forbidden arts were conceptual in nature—abstract phenomena.

Sensing such a thing as if it had form should’ve been impossible.

But Christian’s intuition was unique—it could materialize abstraction and grasp its structure as if it were tangible.

Because of that, he could clearly see the mechanism of Langham’s forbidden art—how it operated and how it warped the natural laws.

Which meant there was only one thing left to do.

‘I just need to sever its source.’

Christian fixed his gaze on the origin point of the forbidden art Langham was manifesting.

To his surprise, its source was wildly unstable, flickering erratically.

‘It must be due to him forcefully amplifying the art with forbidden sorcery. The power is overwhelming—but in exchange, the stability of the structure is dangerously low.’

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t have mattered.

But to Andril’s “Perfection,” that kind of imperfection was a fatal weakness.

Christian directed Andril’s authority straight at the heart of the spell’s origin.

A fierce recoil surged through him, shaking his core, but he held firm.

Ssschhk!!

For a moment, everyone felt as though they could hear that sound in their ears.

Silence fell.

Then—

Crackle… crick-crack-crack.

The dark mist, which had seemed ready to erupt at any moment, suddenly froze in place—

and then, it began to dissolve, scattering into the air.

He did it.

“Guhk!”

Marquis Langham vomited blood.

Andril’s “Perfection” didn’t just passively erase imperfection.

It crushed it, like grinding filth beneath one’s heel.

Especially in Langham’s case—

Because he had invoked forbidden sorcery to power his spell, the backlash now hit him even harder.

Christian shouted,

“Just like I told you!!”

Sherad’s mouth curled up in a wide grin.

“Ahh, amazing. Truly, Christian… even more enthralling than I imagined.”

“Quit the crazy talk and move!”

“Kuhuhu, sure.”

Sherad extended his hand toward the staggering Marquis Langham.

FWOOOSH!

A net of blood spread out, wrapping around Langham like a birdcage.

This was Sherad’s psychic art—“Cage of Blood.”

But it wasn’t just some crimson aura infused with malevolence.

It held a suppressive force strong enough to paralyze whoever was caught inside—

rendering them completely immobile.

Sherad’s bloodcraft was a twisted display of his cruel tastes—capturing his prey and slowly guiding them toward a brutal death on his own terms. It was very much in line with Sherad’s nature.

Of course, even though Marquis Langham had taken damage, a technique like this alone wasn’t enough to fully bind him.

Christian moved to add another layer.

‘Dominion of Darkness.’

Closing his eyes, Christian recalled the Dominion of Darkness that Nordian had once used against the demons—a forceful subjugation that swallowed the surroundings in oppressive, absolute darkness.

It was still a realm far beyond Christian’s current reach.

However—

‘Things change when other powers are involved.’

Christian looked at Sherad’s Cage of Blood.

The Cage of Blood was a form of bloodcraft, completely different from Dominion of Darkness.

And yet, there was one key similarity.

It relied on overwhelming will infused in blood to forcefully dominate the target’s movements.

‘If I can channel that property to amplify the suppressive power of my dark energy…’

To most, this idea would have sounded like lunacy—

After all, just because two techniques involved “subjugation” didn’t mean they were compatible. The logic was irrational. The natures of the two powers were utterly different.

But Christian didn’t stop there.

‘If I manipulate the will embedded in Sherad’s psychic art using the dominance of dark energy… I can transform it. Let’s try it.’

Fwoom.

Tiny black orbs of darkness bloomed in Christian’s hand and shot toward various points of the blood cage.

Each orb became a catalyst for channeling dark energy.

Ordinarily, even maintaining four of them would’ve required extreme mental focus. But Christian created more than thirty.

They embedded themselves densely throughout the Cage of Blood.

Christian focused his mind and read the will flowing through Sherad’s psychic construct.

Just as he expected, Sherad’s will was filled with a pure, undiluted killing intent.

There wasn’t a trace of personal desire—it was so untainted, it almost felt… pure.

‘I need to make that killing intent submit.’

The black orbs embedded in the cage simultaneously released waves of heavy darkness.

Realizing what Christian was trying to do, Sherad’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“What are you—?!”

“Hold still!!”

Christian raised his voice, stopping Sherad in his tracks.

Then, something extraordinary happened.

The blood-red cage turned into a deep, blackish crimson.

Christian’s dominion over dark energy had completely overridden Sherad’s will.

Sherad’s murderous intent had been reshaped into Christian’s will to dominate, flooding the psychic structure with overwhelming force.

Sherad’s heart pounded in his chest.

‘Incredible… absolutely magnificent.’

Who else in the world could even think of doing something like this?

‘Good thing I decided not to kill him after all. He’s already this enthralling… how much more will he drive me insane in the future?’

But it didn’t stop there.

Christian clenched his fist—

The orbs of darkness erupted with suppressive force all at once, and the transformed will of the blood cage responded in kind, emanating domination in unison.

And then—

“!!”

Marquis Langham collapsed to his knees.

They had succeeded in restraining him!

“How dare you…”

Langham’s gaze grew cold and sharp.

He tried to muster his strength, as if to forcibly break free from the bindings—

but then—

“I wouldn’t move if I were you. Not unless you want your core shattered.”

“!!”

Christian focused his authority directly onto Langham’s core.

Having already taken damage from the backlash of his disrupted forbidden art, Langham’s core was in a vulnerable state. Any reckless movement now could deal him a fatal wound.

“Kuhuhu… I’m touched,” Sherad laughed, clearly delighted. “I can’t believe you actually pulled it off.”

Christian quickly shifted the topic.

“Now, Sherad—you need to keep Langham bound. Be careful. If you leave even the slightest opening, he’ll break free in an instant. Even now, it’s barely holding.”

Though Langham had taken a severe blow, he was still dangerous. He had to remain sealed.

That meant Sherad had to maintain the Cage of Blood at full power with unwavering concentration.

“…A shame,” Sherad muttered, licking his lips. “I really wanted to kill my father with my own hands. But I suppose this is my limit for today. I’ll settle for having saved you, Christian.”

He clicked his tongue and smiled.

“Now go. It’s a pity to part ways like this… I quite enjoyed our time together.”

Sherad grinned wickedly.

“I’ll be looking forward to our next meeting. Be sure to make me even more delighted then.”

“…There won’t be a next time.”

“Hm? But I’ll be coming to find you again.”

And in that very moment—

Christian did something completely unexpected.

Shunk.

He drew a dagger from within his robes and plunged it straight into Sherad’s back.

“!!”

Sherad, who had been pouring every ounce of his strength into maintaining the Cage of Blood, couldn’t react in time and was struck cleanly.

His eyes flew open.

“W-What…?”

“Oh, nothing much. Just a curse to weaken your power.”

And just as Christian said, Sherad’s strength began to seep out of him.

But strangely… it wasn’t complete.

His power was weakened, yes—but just enough to maintain the seal on Marquis Langham.

“…Why are you doing this?”

“Ahh, wait. I’m not done yet.”

Shunk!

A second dagger pierced straight into Sherad’s heart.

“You seriously thought I’d actually team up with someone as disgusting as you? Maybe if I was just using you to get what I wanted, sure.”

Sherad blinked, clearly unable to comprehend what just happened.

“…But if I die now, my father will break free. That’ll be bad for you too, no?”

Christian let out a quiet, mocking laugh.

“Oh, don’t worry. The dagger is laced with a special curse.”

The curse Christian had used on Sherad was called “Creeping Death.”

It wasn’t the kind that killed instantly. Rather, after piercing the heart, it would trigger death only after a set amount of time had passed.

In other words—perfectly suited for the current situation.

“I gave you about thirty minutes. That should be more than enough to fulfill your role before you die. Try to hang in there till then, will you?”

“…What?”

Sherad looked utterly stunned.

He had been completely blindsided.

But that didn’t mean he could afford to release his power.

If Marquis Langham broke free now, Sherad would be the first to be torn apart.

If it had been the usual Sherad, he might’ve tried to flee, but unfortunately, the initial curse Christian cast had already sapped his strength.

If he let go of the seal now, he’d be shredded in an instant.

“If you want to live just a little longer, then hold Langham down for me.”

Surprisingly, Sherad didn’t get angry. Instead, he broke out into laughter.

“You… you never fail to exceed my expectations. Truly, you're the best. My heart's racing more than ever. Kuhuhu…”

“Shut up.”

To make sure it stuck, Christian pulled out another dagger and stabbed Sherad in the heart again.

And then—Thunk!

A third dagger was driven deep into his chest.

Three daggers.

Christian had stacked the death curse threefold, layering them one after another.

Not only that, but he had also overlapped powerful security spells so that the curse could never be dispelled.

The three daggers embedded in Sherad’s heart formed a perfect triangle, anchoring a sealing formation.

Even for someone like Sherad, there would be no escaping death this time.

“Kuhuhu…”

Sherad coughed up blood, but still let out that eerie, bone-chilling laugh.

Christian frowned at the disturbing sight, but he had no time left to waste.

‘I’m late. I have to stop Yulian.’

His insides were twisted from the overuse of dark energy and the backlash from Andril, but he couldn’t afford to rest now.

Christian launched into his movement technique and raced ahead—

Finally, he arrived at his destination.

The outskirts of Baron Castle.

Atop a tall spire that overlooked the city.

* * *

That’s where Yulian stood.

‘Why would he be in a place like this?’

Christian narrowed his eyes.

If Yulian was trying to hide, a tower like this was the worst possible location. It offered no concealment at all.

‘I’ll go up and see for myself.’

But then—

A low, heavy voice echoed out and stopped him.

[Stop right there.]

It was a voice like something leaking from the depths of the Abyss.

Mefina.

She hadn’t appeared in quite some time.

“What do you want now? I don’t have time to entertain your pathetic temptations.”

Mefina’s goal was always the same—

To lure Christian into becoming her servant under some pretense.

But this time, she gave an unexpected answer.

[No. That’s not my intention today.]

“Then what?”

[I came to stop you. Don’t go any higher. If you do, something irreversible will happen.]

Christian’s expression hardened.

“What are you talking about?”

[Not even my authority can help you this time. The moment you step forward, your fate will be sealed.]

A warning, and a serious one at that.

Until now, Mefina’s warnings always came with a caveat—

That if he wished, she could help him.

But this time was different.

Considering that Mefina had previously fought on equal terms with a being of the 4th Realm during the Patera incident, this was hard to believe.

“…Don’t tell me—the demon Yulian made a contract with is a being of the 3rd Realm?”

The thought was staggering.

‘A 3rd Realm demon? That’s insane…’

Christian swallowed hard.