Chapter 232
That was why, during the war later incited by the Four Kings’ Castle, the Southern Demon Nation was trampled without even putting up proper resistance.
The reason Chris was now enduring hellish hardships within the Venomous Demonic House.
“I have to prevent every single catastrophe the Demon King of Blueflow will cause... then rebuild the Dark Alliance and unite the strength of the Southern Demon Nation. Only then can the Four Kings’ Citadel be stopped.”
And to do that, he had to complete the Heavenly Poison Body.
But that wasn’t all.
“I also need to obtain the Elixir.”
A surprising thought.
The Elixir was a legendary panacea passed down within the House of Medical Saint.
Chris was after the Elixir for one reason: Nordian.
Of course, even with the Elixir, it wasn’t guaranteed that Nordian could be saved.
His lifespan had already run out. He was only defying death through the forbidden technique of Reverse-Heaven Sorcery. Even a miraculous Elixir likely wouldn’t make much difference.
“Still, it might raise the odds of a miracle, even if only slightly.”
Chris hadn’t told anyone, but he had a plan for Nordian.
However, even for someone like him, the odds of failure were far greater.
“To succeed, it’ll take miracle upon miracle stacked on top of one another.”
Having the Elixir would at least raise that slim chance, however slightly.
“If I’m lucky, the Venomous Demonic House might actually have the Elixir. They compulsively collect any treasure related to the House of Medical Saint, after all.”
Just then, a knock came at the door, and someone stepped inside.
It was Marisa.
Clicking her tongue at the sight of Chris slouched on the bed, she set down a large bowl filled with a murky liquid.
“What’s this?”
“A hangover remedy.”
“…Out of nowhere?”
“What do you mean, ‘out of nowhere’? Look at yourself in the mirror. You’ve got the alcohol tolerance of a gnat, so why did you drink like that?”
Chris had no response.
“…I will build tolerance. I’m a genius, so it’s possible.”
“It’s not possible, actually. We’ve done research here in the Venomous Demonic House. You’re probably what we call a Non-Alcoholic Constitution. People like you can’t build tolerance no matter what.”
Honey-mead.
Apparently, this was a term coined by the Venomous Demonic House, referring to poor souls like Chris who were born with absolutely no ability to metabolize alcohol.
Coming from the house most advanced in the field of physiological research on the continent, hearing that sent a chill down his spine.
“No way… I’m not going to spend my whole life never knowing the taste of alcohol, right? No. That can’t be. I refuse to believe it!”
It was simply something he could not accept.
“…I don’t trust some so-called ‘research results’ from the Venomous Demonic House. I’ll find a way to overcome this myself.”
“Oh, sure. Go ahead and give it your best shot.”
Marisa let out a snort of laughter, and Chris, for the first time in a while, felt the sting of defeat.
“Anyway, you’d better be careful about drinking in front of others from now on.”
“Why?”
Marisa let out an annoyed “Hmph,” and replied.
“Why else? Someone might kidnap you. Guess you didn’t realize... but you’re kinda cute when you’re drunk.”
“…Cute? What nonsense is that supposed to be?”
“It’s true. When you’re drunk and asleep, that usual stuck-up expression disappears. Of course, the moment you wake up, you're back to looking infuriating again.”
Chris frowned in disgust, but Melin and the ghostly Mari, who had appeared out of nowhere, nodded in agreement.
“The Archduke looks quite adorable when he’s drunk.”
[Ohoho, seems everyone knows already. When the Young Master is drunk, he’s irresistibly lovable. Of course, no one should get any funny ideas. The Young Master and I are destined for eternity, so if anyone keeps looking at him with those lecherous eyes, I’ll go rawr and punish them all, understood?]
“If only we could fix that rotten expression he’s making right now, he’d be kinda cute.”
It wasn’t every day they got a chance to tease Chris, so everyone took the opportunity with glee.
If Jupien had been there, he probably would've chimed in, “Yeah, my little brother’s pretty cute, makes me want to punch him.”
“…Could you all just shut up already? My head’s killing me as it is.”
Shaking his head, Chris turned to Marisa.
“Anyway, did you look into what I asked for?”
“You mean checking the inventory of medicinal ingredients stored in our clan’s secret vault? Do you have any idea how classified that kind of information is? Even for me, it wasn’t easy to get.”
“But you still got it, didn’t you?”
Marisa curled her lips in clear displeasure.
“Yeah, here. Be grateful. I went through a lot to get this.”
She handed him a stack of documents.
It was a compiled list of the medicinal ingredients kept in the vault of the Venomous Demonic House.
“But what do you even need this for? These ingredients are among our family’s most treasured possessions. You won’t be allowed to lay a finger on them.”
Chris shook his head.
‘I’ll just squeeze it out of Duke Huam. And if not... I’ll just steal it.’
He was naturally gifted at stealing, too.
If he already knew where the target was, stealing it would be as easy as pie.
‘Besides, it’s for the sake of the Venomous Demonic House. It’s necessary to complete the Heavenly Poison Body.’
He carefully examined the list.
As expected of the Venomous Demonic House, the vault was filled with all sorts of rare and precious ingredients.
It looked like most of what he needed was there.
However, there was a problem.
‘No Elixir. And no Raw Essence either.’
Chris frowned.
‘I really thought the Venomous Demonic House would at least have Raw Essence.’
Without the Elixir, the odds of success for his plan regarding Nordian would plummet.
It would be close to hopeless.
‘I need to get my hands on an Elixir no matter what. But how?’
If it wasn’t here, the only place it could be was the Noble House of Healing.
But just getting there was a challenge in itself, and even if he did, there was no way they’d just hand over an Elixir.
‘And I can’t exactly force them to give it up, either.’
The Noble House of Healing was a clan of Saints, revered and respected by all members of the Crusade Alliance.
Touching them with force would be the same as declaring war on the entire Crusade.
‘Is there no other way?’
As he wrestled with the thought…
The door suddenly burst open in urgency.
It was a mage from the Venomous Demonic House.
“Lady Marisa, urgent report!”
“What is it?” Marisa asked, frowning.
“Duke Huam has fallen into a trap set by the Alliance and is now in critical condition.”
“!!”
Marisa and Chris’s eyes widened simultaneously.
“What...? That can’t be. There’s no one in Gold Cross strong enough to harm my father!”
Marisa looked completely unconvinced.
Chris was thinking the same.
‘There are no 8-star knights or mages in Gold Cross. Even the so-called strongest knight of Gold Cross, the Lion King Maximus of the Kingdom of Kalburn, is only 7-star. How could they possibly take down Duke Huam?’
The mage who brought the news elaborated further.
“It was the Noble House of Healing. One of their Ten Saints joined the Kingdom of Kalburn and orchestrated a trap targeting the Lord!”
“!!”
The mage now turned to Chris and bowed his head.
“The Duke left a message for the Archduke. He asks that you request reinforcements from the Dark Demonic House to punish the Gold Cross.”
* * *
It was a shocking turn of events.
‘Why would the Noble House of Healing be involved?’
Chris wore a conflicted expression.
The Noble House of Healing had always abided by a strict non-intervention policy when it came to war.
Even when they sent disciples to battlefields, they never took sides. They treated all the wounded equally, regardless of faction.
That policy wasn’t just rooted in the house’s sacred and noble ideals.
‘It’s their way of protecting themselves. Once they get involved in war, they’ll inevitably get caught up in the chaos of the world.’
That’s why neutrality was their ironclad rule.
‘Whatever the case, this is no small issue.’
The Noble House of Healing was a natural enemy to the Venomous Demonic House.
If the Noble House of Healing neutralized their poisons, then the Venomous Demonic House would be helpless against the Gold Cross’s enemies.
There was only one solution:
Their allies, the Dark Demonic House, would need to intervene.
‘The problem is, if we escalate this, it’ll turn into a full-blown war. Both the Gold Cross and our side will suffer tremendous bloodshed.’
It was something that absolutely had to be avoided.
“First, Melin, inform the main house.”
“Are we going to war?”
“No. We can’t afford that. We can’t let ourselves be dragged into a pointless conflict with the Gold Cross when the Four Kings’ Castle is still out there.”
“But? Are we just going to sit on our hands?”
Though the two houses constantly bickered and clashed, they were still allies.
Whenever a great threat arose, they had always stood side by side. Failing to send reinforcements was unthinkable.
“I’m not saying we’ll do nothing. I’ll handle this one myself.”
“!!”
Even Melin, as well as Alros and Marisa who were in the room, widened their eyes.
“What do you mean by that, Your Grace?”
“There’s a way.”
Chris nodded firmly as he thought to himself.
‘This crisis wasn’t orchestrated by the entire Gold Cross. It’s most likely a unilateral move by the Kingdom of Calbern, driven into a corner because of Olivia.’
In other words, if they could stop Calbern, the situation could be resolved.
He also had some guesses about the House of Medical Saint’s sudden change in behavior.
‘I remember. Something did happen within the House of Medical Saint around this time.’
It was something the previous head of the House of Medical Saint had told him in his past life, the same one who eventually handed over the position to him.
, If I had done better when Master passed, maybe I could have prevented the House from falling into corruption.
Those were the final words she had left him before passing away.
‘She failed, but I can succeed.’
In fact, this might just be an opportunity.
‘If I resolve this incident well, I’ll gain tremendous benefit.’
He would be hailed as a benefactor of the Venomous Demonic House.
He could also obtain the Elixir.
‘And, I’ll be able to bring down the Kingdom of Calbern, which has been Olivia’s greatest adversary. That’ll allow Olivia to take full control of the Gold Cross.’
Since Olivia was allied with him, that meant the entire Gold Cross would fall under his sphere of influence.
The only issue was the risk.
To accomplish this, he would have to charge straight into the heart of the alliance’s forces himself.
“That’s not acceptable. It’s too dangerous,” Melin said stiffly.
“You know who I am, don’t you?”
“...!!”
Chris looked her straight in the eye and said with unwavering resolve:
“Tell Father and the Lord Patriarch this, tell them to trust me.”
Then he added:
“I’m going to give those bastards in the alliance a proper beating, and become the Venomous Demonic House’s greatest benefactor. It won’t take long.”
* * *
It wasn’t just empty bravado.
Chris truly didn’t intend to drag things out.
‘I need to resolve this swiftly, before it escalates into a full-blown war.’
From what he’d heard, no other countries besides Calbern had officially mobilized troops yet.
But eventually, other states within the Gold Cross would rally under Calbern’s banner.
He moved quickly, and before long, reached his destination.
It was the border fortress where Duke Huam was recovering.
Using a warp gate, he had arrived in no time.
Duke Huam greeted him while seated on a bed.
“You’ve come.”
“Are you alright?”
“Ah, I wasn’t wounded. But I did suffer internal damage from the Medical Energy Technique. I didn’t expect the Ten Saints from the House of Medical Saint to set a trap.”
“How did this happen? Why would the House of Medical Saint take action?”
“I don’t know the exact details. But it seems some kind of division has formed within their ranks. Either way, I’m ashamed to have shown such weakness.”
Duke Huam let out a bitter smile.
“I appreciate you coming here personally. Will support from the Dark Demonic House arrive soon?”
“No. The Dark Demonic House won’t be sending reinforcements.”
“...!!”
Duke Huam’s face hardened.
“What are you saying?”
“If the Dark Demonic House dispatches reinforcements, this conflict will escalate into an all-out war with the Gold Cross. Given the current state of the Southern Magic Union, that’s something we must avoid at all costs.”
Duke Huam silently swallowed his frustration.
He couldn’t deny the truth of Chris’s words.
“But we can’t just let them run rampant either.”
“Of course not. I’m not saying we’ll sit idle.”
Chris spoke clearly, his tone resolute.
“I will handle this situation myself.”