Chapter 231
That's right.
Chris’s Will-Infused Poison didn’t simply rob the target of their life.
It was a poison that, through the dominating force of Dark Demonic Energy, turned its victims into puppets bound to his will.
‘With some properties of Heavenly Poison mixed in, its dominion has become even more powerful. The only catch is… the conditions for activation are pretty strict.’
The target had to willingly drink the poison by mouth.
‘That’s why I proposed this Grail Duel in the first place.’
The reason Chris recklessly challenged over thirty people to this Grail Duel was all for this purpose.
To get Marquis Goras’s entire faction to ingest his Will-Infused Poison in one sweep.
In short, this duel had been a trap from the very beginning, Chris’s trap.
‘I came to the Venomous Demonic House ultimately to win their loyalty. And the first ones that needed to be brought to heel were those noisy pests in Marquis Goras’s faction.’
Of course, they didn’t take it lying down.
“…You bastard. How dare you…”
“Do you really think we’ll go down this easily?!”
Marquis Goras’s faction glared at him with hatred, grinding their teeth.
But....
“You don’t seem to understand your position yet. Want me to help clarify it? Everyone, heads to the floor.”
Bang!
All of them, still kneeling, slammed their foreheads to the ground.
Everyone in the hall swallowed hard at the sight.
No way. How could this even be possible?
Even if it’s a dominion-type poison, how could it force them to act like this?
It’s acting more like a miracle poison…
Poisons that could compel actions did exist.
They were called domination poisons.
But their effects were limited to causing pain, coercion through fear of death, or subtle mental influence. None had ever truly puppeteered a target like this.
There was a reason.
‘This one was created using Dark Demonic Energy. It can’t even be compared to those low-grade domination poisons. I also integrated the principles of binding curses from black magic and the framework of ritual-based control sorcery.’
Even so, the members of Marquis Goras’s faction weren’t so weak as to give in easily.
“Ghhh…!!”
“You think we’ll submit to a trick like this?!”
Gritting their teeth, they drew upon their poison energy with all their strength.
Several of the 6-Star poisoners tried to resist the dominion and force themselves to stand.
“I wouldn’t recommend that,” Chris warned flatly.
And right on cue....
“Gahhhk!!”
One of the strongest poisoners coughed up blood and collapsed.
“Count Janya?!”
“His core… it’s been destroyed?!”
If they tried to forcibly reject the dominion, their core would be shattered.
“Same goes for anyone trying to detoxify the poison. Feel free to try, if you’re ready to become a cripple.”
Chris smirked coldly.
“With your pitiful level of knowledge, do you really think you can neutralize my poison?”
“!!”
The faces of Marquis Goras’s faction turned pale.
They could feel it too now.
That, with their current level of skill, it was impossible to detoxify Chris’s poison.
“This is absurd. How can the structure of the poison be this intricate? Are you telling me he studied poisons for only a month and managed to craft something like this?”
“In terms of structural complexity alone, it’s not lacking compared to a Transcendent Poison.”
“Even if we force a detoxification attempt, the core will collapse before it succeeds.”
In other words, they were now in a position where they could never disobey Chris’s orders again.
And then, a cold voice cut through the tension.
“I can’t stand by and watch this any longer.”
It was Yohen, the 7-Star Supreme Poisoner and the second-in-command of Marquis Goras’s faction!
“If you don’t stop this immediately, I’ll turn you into a puddle of blood.”
His murky eyes glinted with murderous intent as they locked onto Chris.
But Chris merely shrugged.
“Stop? What exactly am I supposed to stop? This is a fair and sacred duel, isn’t it? Or are you so old that you’ve forgotten what a duel even is? Trying to interfere in a sanctified duel? Even senile old men should know their place.”
Yohen’s face flushed red with fury, but Chris didn’t stop.
“More importantly, it seems you still don’t understand who’s holding the reins here. Just one flick of my finger, and every last one of those guys becomes a cripple. You best not forget that.”
Yohen’s clenched fist trembled with rage, but he said nothing.
Because Chris was right.
“And you, don’t forget, you’ve still got a drink left.”
“…What?”
“Don’t tell me you forgot? You’re part of this Grail Duel too. Trying to slide out of it now? Tsk. Don’t be so shameless.”
Yohen let out a cold laugh.
“You dare challenge me to a poison duel? Me, the ‘Venom Lord’ of the Venomous Demonic House?”
“Why not? And more importantly…”
Chris snapped his fingers.
“I feel like I could make even a so-called ‘Venom Lord’ kneel if I wanted to.”
“!!”
Yohen’s face flushed so red it looked like it might burst.
“…Fine. Show me what you’ve got. I’ll make sure you remember where you stand.”
Shfff.
Chris calmly converted his Dark Demonic Energy into poison and poured it into a cup before sending it floating toward Yohen.
But this time, it wasn’t the same Will-Infused Poison he’d used against Marquis Goras’s faction.
“…A True Steel Poison? That’s it?”
When a 6-Star Will-Infused Poison wouldn’t even be enough, he served a 5-Star True Steel Poison instead?
“Go ahead, drink it. But let me be clear, this is a duel. So whatever happens to you afterward, I’m not responsible.”
Yohen frowned as he stared at the poison-filled cup.
Hard to read.
Whatever technique Chris had used to layer concealment spells, he couldn’t discern what type of poison it was or what properties it held.
An eerie, inexplicable sense of dread hung over it, but since he’d accepted the duel, there was no backing out.
“Trying to trick me with some petty True Steel Poison?”
He raised the cup, and downed it in one gulp.
The poison slid down his throat, flowed into his stomach, and then began to spread throughout his entire body.
‘I’ll crush it in one blow.’
Fwoosh, Yohen summoned his toxic energy, surging it to its peak.
He was trying to overwhelm and erase the aura of Chris’s Jin'gang Poison with even more potent venom.
But something unexpected happened.
‘What… is this energy?’
Yohen’s expression hardened.
A massive surge of power exploded from Chris’s poison.
This wasn’t the level of an ordinary Jin'gang Poison. It was far beyond that, containing power greater than even Will-infused Poison, reaching into the realm of Transfer Poisons, something that should have been impossible.
Chris smirked inwardly.
‘I dumped all the energy I’ve gathered through the Vampirelic Ring into this one shot.’
He didn’t need to explain how immense that energy was, it was obvious.
But Yohen wasn’t one to back down so easily.
‘You dare!’
Whoooosh!!
A fierce, blue-hued poison erupted from Yohen’s entire body.
He was unleashing his full might to suppress Chris’s Jin'gang Poison.
‘I don’t know how you managed to infuse this much energy into poison, but you’ve picked the wrong opponent. That won’t work on me.’
Yohen was known even among 7-star peak Poison Masters for his overwhelming venom.
When it came to sheer poison pressure, there was no one in the Venomous Demonic House who could surpass him.
It seemed like the tide of the duel was turning back in Yohen’s favor.
But....
‘Sorry, but I’m not out of tricks yet.’
Chris's hidden card revealed itself.
Within the layers of toxic energy, something began to shine: radiant mana.
To be precise, it was Healing Line Energy Arts.
‘…What?’
Yohen’s eyes shot wide open.
He couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
Suddenly, from within the poison, of all things, Healing Line Energy Arts emerged. It was no wonder he was caught off guard.
At that moment, Chris’s eyes met Yohen’s.
With a grin, Chris sent a silent message into Yohen’s mind.
....I’ve tried using Healing Line Energy Arts, too.
Yohen’s face turned ghostly pale.
“You bastard…!!”
But he couldn’t say another word.
There wasn’t much Healing Line Energy infused within the poison.
But it was enough.
Enough to be a dagger.
Especially since Healing Line Energy, with its life-affirming nature, was a natural nemesis to poison, and it had exploded inside him.
He couldn’t defend against it.
Shhk.
Like a blade, the Healing Line Energy sliced through Yohen’s barrier of venom.
And of all places, it struck his most vital point, his Core.
“Guh....!”
Yohen violently coughed up blood.
It didn’t end there.
Fwoooosh!!
The energy sealed within Chris’s poison surged toward the breach created by the Healing Line Energy Arts.
It struck directly, at the core.
A terrifying torrent of power broke through the gap in Yohen’s barrier and slammed into his core.
“N-No...! KRAAAHHH!!!”
It was as if an explosion had erupted from within his core.
Normally, no matter how potent the energy infused into a poison might be, it shouldn’t have been enough to harm a 7-star Poison Master.
But Chris had precisely detonated that energy inside the core itself.
Even someone at the 7-star level couldn’t withstand an internal blast of that scale.
With a massive gush of blood, Yohen collapsed to the ground.
“L-Lord Poison Master!!”
“Hurry, get him to a stretcher!”
The Poison Masters of the Venomous Demonic House scrambled to carry Yohen away in a panic.
But he would never recover.
‘His core’s completely shattered. Even if he survives, he won’t be able to lift a finger or utter a single word.’
The core wasn’t just a vessel that stored magical energy. It was intimately linked to every part of the body, if it was destroyed like this, the person was left a cripple.
“……”
“……”
Silence blanketed the hall like death.
Not only had Chris forced over thirty high-ranking demons to kneel, but he had now even defeated the highest-ranking Poison Master, a 7-star.
The demons of the Venomous Demonic House, even after witnessing it with their own eyes, were so stunned by the outcome that they couldn’t speak a word.
Chris let out a faint chuckle and spoke.
“I think… it’s safe to say this is my victory.”
“!!”
He turned his gaze toward Marquis Goras’s faction.
“Well then… I look forward to working with you.”
Their faces went pale.
Losing a duel, thirty of them at once, was shocking enough.
But the true nightmare was just beginning.
From this moment on, Goras’s entire faction was leashed under Christian’s control.
In other words, with this single duel, Chris had brought half the Venomous Demonic House to heel.
And in the minds of everyone present, the name Christian was now engraved as something monstrous.
* * *
The next morning, Chris awoke in his bedroom with a vacant, desolate expression, as if he’d lost a country.
But why? After all, he had just secured a tremendous victory.
‘This is ridiculous. Even after achieving Poison Immunity… I still can’t drink?!’
The previous night, Chris and his group had thrown a modest celebration party.
It was meant to commemorate his victory in the duel, but in truth, it was because Chris really just wanted to drink.
He downed glass after glass… but not a single drop got him drunk.
At first, it felt like a blessing.
But soon...
‘The alcohol’s energy just vanishes into thin air! It’s no different than drinking juice at this point!’
His detoxification ability was simply too effective. That was the problem.
Since his body neutralized the alcohol the moment it entered, drinking had become completely pointless.
In the end, Chris restricted his power to suppress the effects of Poison Immunity from the Heavenly Poison Body...
“I passed out after less than one drink. Dammit. Why is there no in-between?!”
There was nothing he could do.
The Poison Immunity granted by the Heavenly Poison Body wasn’t something that could be finely tuned.
He either had to fully suppress it, making himself a lightweight who couldn’t handle even a sip, or let it work at full capacity, turning him into someone who could never get drunk no matter how much he drank.
“Ughhh, what the hell! No matter how good the liquor is, it’s basically just non-alcoholic booze now! And that’s not alcohol! It’s just weird-tasting juice!”
Chris clutched at his head in frustration.
“No. I can’t give up. Before I leave the Venomous Demonic House, I will find a way to drink properly again.”
With a deep sigh, Chris began reviewing his plans going forward.
“At least it’s a relief that I succeeded in subduing the Goras faction.”
Everything had gone exactly as he’d envisioned.
Had it not been under the special circumstances of a Holy Grail Duel, even someone like Chris would’ve struggled to achieve what he did yesterday.
Especially against Yohen, who was a powerhouse Chris could never have beaten in a head-on fight.
“This is only the beginning.”
Chris shifted his focus to his next objective.
“I need to obtain the Poison Authority and fully complete the Heavenly Poison Body.”
This was necessary to stop the Jinrok Incident, which was looming on the horizon.
“The Demon King of Blueflow will definitely bring chaos to the Venomous Demonic House.”
Just like before, the Jinrok Incident was orchestrated from the shadows by the Demon King of Blueflow.
“No doubt, it’s to obtain the Poison Authority, just like he did with the Dark Demonic House.”
And it wasn’t just this one time.
Because of the monstrous disasters the Demon King of Blueflow incited to satisfy his own greed, the Southern Demon Nation would soon pay a terrible price in blood.