Chapter 251
Langham had a horrifying look in his eyes, as if he had guessed the intention behind Chris’s visit.
Just then, Mari, who had followed Chris, spoke as if tattling.
[Ohoho, Young Master. There’s an old soldier over there giving you a nasty look, you know?]
“!!”
Everyone gasped as Mari smiled and pointed at Langham.
[How dare you look at the Young Master whom I love. Shall I gouge out those impudent eyeballs of yours? Shall I turn you into a middle-aged blood juice?]
As expected of Mari.
Even with Langham as her target, she was relentless in her taunting.
Chris shook his head.
“That’s enough. He’s a hopeless case anyway. What kind of manners can you expect from a man who doesn’t even care what happens to his own house?”
“!!”
Langham bit his lip hard.
Chris let out a sneer, then strode directly toward Langham.
“It’s been a while. You’re working hard.”
“……”
“How is it? Finding it manageable?”
It was the tone used for treating someone as a complete subordinate.
Langham’s face turned white with humiliation.
“No answer. Are you perhaps dissatisfied?”
“…I am not.”
“Looking at your face, I’d say that’s not true. You look full of dissatisfaction. I don’t know with what audacity you’re holding your head so high.”
“!!”
Langham bit his lip hard in humiliation.
But Chris didn’t stop there.
“It seems you don’t understand my words. Or perhaps you’ve forgotten what crime you committed to end up here?”
“…I have not.”
“Then how dare a sinner like you show such an impudent attitude toward the Grand Duke? If you’re a sinner, then show the proper respect befitting a sinner.”
The attitude a sinner should take.
He was telling him to kneel.
Grind.
Langham gritted his teeth. His entire body trembled with rage.
The surrounding soldiers also held their breath in tension.
But Chris did not retract his words.
“You still don’t seem to understand. Or should I take this attitude of yours as proof that you are harboring treason in your heart?”
In the end, Langham had no choice but to obey.
An unbearable killing intent raged in the eyes of Langham, who was kneeling with his head bowed.
But his ordeal did not end there.
[Ohoho, I can see him glaring~ Young Master, this one isn’t reflecting on his actions at all, is he?]
Whoosh, Mari brought her face right up to the kneeling Langham’s and tattled.
Chris sighed as if he couldn’t help it, then spoke to Sanin, who had followed him.
“Such an impure attitude. As expected, his loyalty to the main house is questionable. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s right, Your Grace. He is a problem soldier that our legion has been keeping a close eye on as it is.”
Sanin readily played along.
“When a soldier is suspected of harboring ulterior motives, how does the Dark Demonic Legion handle it?”
“We confine them in the Thunder Prison and confirm whether they have been colluding with enemy forces. After a thorough interrogation confirms there are no issues, they are returned to the barracks.”
“Then I know how we should handle this problem soldier.”
Baron Sanin nodded firmly.
“Take this soldier to the Thunder Prison.”
“!!”
The unit commanders exchanged glances, then approached Langham.
Langham clenched his fists tightly.
But he couldn’t resist.
After leaving one last murderous glare for Christian, he was dragged off to the Thunder Prison.
After Langham disappeared, Sanin asked.
“I did as you ordered, but will this be alright? He certainly won’t stay quiet.”
There was no way Langham would endure such a humiliation.
“Of course not. It’s fine. In fact, it’s what I’m hoping for.”
That’s right, Chris had deliberately provoked Langham just now.
“What do you mean by that?”
“There’s something I need the Dark Demonic Legion to prepare.”
Chris lowered his voice, and Sanin, after a moment of bewilderment, grinned.
And just like that.
The trap to strike at Langham had been set.
* * *
Afterward, they crossed the barrier and headed for the villa where the Blood Drenched Demon King was.
Not only could they not use a warp gate, but they also had to avoid being seen by the other forces of the Four Kings’ Castle, so it was not an easy journey.
The one fortunate thing was that one of Chris’s professions in his previous life had been a guide.
Moving without being detected by others was something he was better at than anyone else.
“Incredible. Have you perhaps been to the main castle’s territory before?”
‘This isn’t my first time,’ Chris thought to himself.
He had indeed come to raid the Four Kings’ Castle with the Hero’s party.
Though the results weren’t good.
“In any case, thank you so much. Our Blood Sword Demonic House will never forget your grace, Your Grace.”
“…Don’t mention it.”
He answered curtly, not wanting to engage in a long conversation, and fortunately, they were able to arrive at their destination safely.
“This is our house’s villa.”
Deep in a forest covered with black trees, a small manor could be seen.
‘Is the Blood Drenched Demon King in there?’
The memory of the bloodbath caused by the Blood Drenched Demon King in his previous life came to mind.
Thinking that the horrific archdevil was just beyond, a cold feeling sank into his chest.
‘Calm down. What comes next is important.’
Soon, with a creak, the gate opened and a group of people appeared.
They were vampires.
‘They’re all of the True Blood Tribe. A powerful force.’
Their numbers were not large. But perhaps because they were here to guard the Grand Duchess, every one of them was a powerful warrior.
At least 4-Star and above. 5-Stars and 6-Stars were not uncommon, and from the middle-aged woman standing at the head of the group, in particular, he could feel an aura that made his skin crawl.
‘At least high 7-Star or above. Who is she?’
A person of that level should be someone he had definitely heard of, but he had no memory of seeing her face in his previous life.
Baltrak whispered to him.
“That is Dame Deborah, the commander of our house’s strongest military force, the Order of the Blood Cross Knights.”
“!!”
As expected, she was a famous figure.
‘One of the representative powerhouses of the Blood Sword Demonic House.’
However, Deborah was famous for a different reason than the power she possessed.
‘She was one of the people who met a particularly cruel death at the hands of the Blood Drenched Demon King.’
In the not-too-distant future, Idrinne, after betraying the Blood Sword Demonic House and siding with the Necromancy and Curse factions, would cause a horrific bloodbath in her own family’s house.
She inflicted particularly cruel deaths on those who were close to her, and Deborah was one of those victims.
‘Wasn’t she said to be Idrinne’s childhood nanny? A tragic figure.’
While he was clicking his tongue inwardly, Deborah approached Christian.
“Are you Grand Duke Christian of the Dark Demonic House?”
“I am.”
Deborah stared at Christian for a moment with firm, unwavering eyes.
Then.
She suddenly knelt and bowed her head!
“Thank you so much for coming here. Please, save our young lady!!”
It wasn’t just Deborah.
All the True Blood vampires standing behind her also knelt toward Christian and shouted in one voice.
“Please, save our Grand Duchess!!”
Chris frowned at their desperate cries.
He asked, partly to dig up some information about the Blood Drenched Demon King.
“I will do my best. By the way, your loyalty to the Grand Duchess is quite remarkable. I’m a little surprised.”
The members of the Blood Sword Demonic House exchanged glances for a moment, then nodded.
“It is because the Grand Duchess is our benefactor.”
“…A benefactor, you say?”
“Yes, among those present here, there is not a single one who has not received the Grand Duchess’s help at least once. The Grand Duchess is the pillar of our Blood Sword Demonic House, our hope, and the benefactor of us all.”
In other words.
Originally, the Blood Sword Demonic House was divided into several factions and was engaged in horrific internecine conflict.
It was during that process that Head Butler Simon had to kill his own clansmen and defect to the Dark Demonic House.
‘And Idrinne was the one who quelled that chaos?’
And that wasn't all.
There was no way she could receive this kind of respect just by seizing power.
While bringing the opposing factions to their knees, Idrinne made it her principle to shed as little blood as possible.
Of course, she decisively punished those who committed unforgivable crimes, but otherwise, she showed mercy and won their hearts instead.
Afterward, while reigning as the Vampire Princess of the Blood Sword Demonic House, it is said that she looked after the circumstances of each and every one of her retainers and gave them her aid.
She had acted just like a benevolent ruler.
‘…What kind of nonsense is this.’
Chris had an uncomfortable expression.
He could see that the vampires’ eyes were filled with respect for Idrinne.
Chris felt a sense of confusion at this completely unexpected story about the Blood Drenched Demon King.
In particular, there was one thing that bothered him.
‘The look in the eyes of her close aide, Deborah.’
No matter how much one could feign virtue to the public, it was not easy to completely hide one’s true nature, even from close aides.
But both her older brother, Simon, and her nanny, Deborah, seemed completely unaware of Idrinne’s hypocrisy.
In that case, there were two possibilities.
Either she was putting on a perfect act of hypocrisy even to those close to her.
‘…Or it wasn’t hypocrisy.’
Just in case, a one-in-a-million chance.
It was also possible that she had been transformed for some reason.
‘If I make her take my poison, I’ll be able to find out what the truth is.’
He shook off his confusion and brought up another topic.
“I will be able to receive my reward for certain, right?”
“Of course. If you cure the Grand Duchess, we will give you our house’s Secret Art, the ‘Blood Cross,’ and our treasure, the ‘True Blood Serum.’”
Chris nodded.
“Then, please guide me to Grand Duchess Idrinne.”
“This way.”
But in that moment, something strange suddenly happened.
[Wait… everyone, stop.]
“!!”
Everyone flinched.
Suddenly, a damp, sinister aura filled the area.
An aura colder than ice. A feeling that was unpleasant and sent shivers down one’s spine.
Chris realized the identity of the aura and swallowed hard.
‘Death Energy!’
It wasn’t the Evil Energy of Gehenna.
It was the unique aura of those who deal with death.
When he turned his head, a strange figure stood there, emitting a murky, white demonic aura of death.
[It seems a rat has crept into the territory of the main castle. May I have a look?]
The figure of a skeleton in a robe.
It was a Lich from the Necromancy Demonic House.
* * *
Lich.
It refers to the highest-ranking necromancers of the Necromancy Demonic House who have rejected death and turned themselves into undead.
By immersing their souls in the river of death, they become able to command the power of death more strongly than when they were alive.
‘This is the biggest reason why the Necromancy Demonic House was able to reign as one of the two strongest families in the Magus Empire, the Heaven Above Heavens.’
Originally, the Necromancy Demonic House was not particularly prominent. This was because while their power to control spirits and the undead was strong, its limitations were also clear.
Although they held an overwhelming advantage on large-scale battlefields, they were at a great disadvantage in small-scale battles between high-ranking magi.
But about 150 years ago, the story changed with the perfection of the secret art of the Lich.
As the highest-ranking magi no longer died and instead continuously became undead, accumulating as military power, the Necromancy Demonic House experienced explosive growth.
In the present day, they possess the strongest military power after the Mystic Demonic House, a force so great that they alone are capable of overwhelming the most powerful nation in the Alliance, the Karn Empire.