Chapter 253

“I will do my best, but I cannot make any guarantees.”

His words naturally became stiff.

“The result of the treatment depends entirely on Grand Duchess Idrinne.”

It wasn’t a lie, but the truth.

As mentioned before, the poison he had created was no simple poison.

‘I used the secret art from the Realm of the Medical Saint called the Severance of Good and Evil.’

The Severance of Good and Evil was a secret art that maximized the healing effect on a good person, and conversely, exerted a power of condemnation on an evil person.

‘Therefore, if it was a person with a righteous will, it would help them restore their broken will, and on the contrary, if it was a person with a twisted will, it would have the effect of shattering that will.’

And that wasn't all.

‘On top of that, since I used the Blooming Realm to mix in the properties of the Heavenly Poison, it can inflict an even more fatal blow on the Blood Drenched Demon King.’

“Hoo.”

Standing in front of the annex, Chris took a long, deep breath.

The Blood Drenched Demon King was inside.

Thump, thump.

The nightmare of his previous life resurfaced, and his heart began to pound like crazy.

He opened the barrier using the release formula Deborah had told him and slowly stepped inside.

“!!”

Seeing the scene inside, Chris’s eyes widened for a moment.

An entirely unexpected sight was spread out before him.

There was a girl with a pale complexion.

‘This girl is the Blood Drenched Demon King? Why does she look like this?’

She looked completely different from when he had seen her in his previous life!

Her physical appearance itself was similar.

A face so beautiful it took one’s breath away.

But the feeling she gave off was completely different.

In his previous life, the Blood Drenched Demon King had exuded an aura like an abyss, as if seeking to destroy everything in the world.

Like a devil that had descended to destroy the world, devoid of any emotion.

But the being before his eyes now gave no such impression at all.

She was unconscious, so he couldn’t see her exact expression, but the sight of her twitching her eyes and letting out moans was far from that of a devil.

It was simply the image of a wounded girl.

‘What is this? Is this also a mask?’

But right now, Idrinne was completely unconscious.

Meaning this wasn’t an act, but her true self.

‘Moreover, this appearance…?’

Chris swallowed hard.

Idrinne was bound in chains, with both her hands and feet pierced by stakes.

They weren’t simple chains. Sealing formulas were densely engraved upon them.

It was a seal that not only served to restrain her but also had the effect of scattering her power, one that was accompanied by horrific pain.

‘She sealed herself.’

There was only one reason she was in such a miserable state of her own accord.

-Our lady is enduring bone-cutting pain with the will to never bring harm to us.

She had put herself in such a state to prevent herself from losing her sanity and rampaging.

‘…What on earth.’

Chris shook his head.

The stories he had heard before from the people of the Blood Sword Demonic House, including Simon, came to mind, and his heart filled with confusion.

Just then, something strange happened.

Idrinne’s eyes fluttered open.

“!!”

Thump, his heart sank.

Chris still could not forget the memory of the time he had met the eyes of the Blood Drenched Demon King in his previous life.

A horrific feeling, as if death itself were staring into him. A feeling as if destruction had descended.

But Idrinne’s gaze now was completely different.

“Ugh.”

A moan escaped Idrinne’s lips.

There was no powerful aura, no intensity, just the stinging pain of someone suffering.

Finally, Idrinne opened her mouth.

Her voice trembled with pain.

“A-are you… Grand Duke Christian of the Dark Demonic House?”

It was a perfectly sane question, unimaginable from the Blood Drenched Demon King.

“…You know me?”

“O-of course… I know of you. Why are you here?”

“…I came to treat you.”

Chris couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

To think he was calmly exchanging words with the Blood Drenched Demon King!

It was something he had never even imagined.

“P-please don’t. Even for you, it is impossible. M-more importantly, please leave this place at once.”

“What?”

“H-hurry…!”

In that moment, the light in Idrinne’s eyes went out.

Along with a painful moan, an intense aura began to flow out.

Snap.

Her hand trembled violently, and the stake that had been piercing it and was embedded in the wall was pulled out and fell to the floor.

‘Berserk state!’

It was the effect of the Rending of Delusion, which made its victim lose their reason and rampage.

‘I have to stop it.’

As expected, it was an intensely powerful aura that made one’s skin tremble.

As he was searching for a way to respond, something unexpected happened again.

“No!”

CHOMP!

Idrinne bit her tongue to hold onto her sanity, then used her Bloodline Arts to lift the stake that had fallen at her feet into the air, and drove it through her own hand and back into the wall.

“!!”

Drip, drip.

Bright red blood dripped down.

Chris swallowed hard.

‘What?’

There was only one reason Idrinne had harmed herself like this.

It was so she wouldn’t hurt Chris.

“…It’s getting… harder and harder to hold onto my reason. H-hurry… and go back.”

“……”

“What are you doing?! Quickly! I don’t want to harm you with my own hands!”

It wasn’t a lie.

Idrinne was truly and sincerely struggling with all her might not to kill Chris.

Realizing that, Chris’s thoughts were thrown into a complete mess.

He had never once imagined seeing the Blood Drenched Demon King like this.

Chris asked in a confused tone.

“…If you eventually lose your reason and end up harming others, what will you do?”

“I will take my own life.”

Idrinne answered without a hint of hesitation.

“……”

Christian stared blankly at Idrinne for a moment.

‘I just don’t understand.’

The image of the girl before him and the image of the archdevil who had turned the world into a living hell in his previous life flashed alternately through his mind.

Wondering if the image before him now was truly not hypocrisy.

And if it wasn’t hypocrisy, then what was the image from his previous life?

‘…Still, I can’t back down here.’

That’s right.

Chris thought firmly.

If his opponent had been someone other than the Blood Drenched Demon King, he might have paused and tried to find out the full story.

But this was the Blood Drenched Demon King who had destroyed the world.

When he thought of the countless lives that had been lost in his previous life, he had no room to be considerate of the Blood Drenched Demon King’s hidden circumstances.

‘If what I know about the Blood Drenched Demon King is truly wrong, then giving her this medicine will reveal the truth.’

He made up his mind and opened his mouth.

“…I came here to treat you.”

“It’s imposs…ible.”

“No, I can do it. However, the Rending of Delusion is a curse that affects the mind. To treat it, I must use a ‘Conceptual Medicine’ that works directly on the mind, so can you open your mind to me?”

“!!”

It was an act as dangerous as opening one’s core.

Something one would never allow unless they completely trusted the other person.

‘If she refuses, I’ll have to forcibly pry open a gap in her mind. It should be possible since she’s been afflicted with the Rending of Delusion.’

But Idrinne nodded with almost anticlimactic ease.

“I understand. I will open my mind to you.”

“…Really?”

“I will trust you.”

At that spotlessly clear answer, Chris’s expression once again became uncomfortable.

“I will begin.”

Chris reached out his hand to Idrinne’s forehead.

To think he had to touch the Blood Drenched Demon King.

It was a hateful act, like touching a repulsive snake.

But why was that? Surprisingly, when he actually touched her, he didn’t feel any particular repulsion. That fact made Chris even more uncomfortable.

Fwoosh!

The ‘Conceptual Poison’ was not a poison with a physical form, but one that acted on the mind, much like a curse.

Into Idrinne’s wide-open mind, Chris administered his Conceptual Poison.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that moment.

Idrinne blankly felt Christian’s touch.

Within her consciousness, Christian’s energy was spreading.

‘An energy like a warm light.’

To be precise, it was a ‘Conceptual Poison,’ but Idrinne didn’t think of it that way at all.

This was because, for a poison, it was too righteous and held a warm energy.

This was thanks to the effect of the Severance of Good and Evil that Chris had mixed into the poison.

‘It’s not just warm. Within the warmth, there is also an intense sharpness.’

It was the sharpness of the Severance of Good and Evil, meant to condemn wrongdoings.

However, contrary to Chris’s expectations, that sharpness did not harm Idrinne at all.

Unbelievably, this meant that there was not a single bit of wrongness in Idrinne’s heart.

On the contrary, the energy of the Severance of Good and Evil turned its blade on the Rending of Delusion that was trying to shatter her mind.

Within Christian’s energy, Idrinne felt a comforting warmth, as if she were being protected.

‘Grand Duke Christian, for my sake, made such a remarkable medicine.’

Was it because her heart had weakened in the face of death?

Idrinne’s heart was deeply shaken.

The moment she saw that energy, she knew at once.

Just how incredible that Conceptual Medicine was.

Christian must have created that medicine with all his strength to save her.

‘And that’s not all. He came all the way to the main castle’s territory for me.’

For the Grand Duke of the Dark Demonic House to come this far meant that he had risked his life.

For her, with whom he had no relationship.

Idrinne couldn’t help but feel an immeasurable gratitude for Christian’s grace.

‘Ahh, as expected, my eyes were not mistaken.’

How could he be so incredible, and how could he possess such a noble character?

‘There can’t be anyone else in the world like Grand Duke Christian.’

Just then, horrifying whispers that seemed to tear at her mind could be heard.

[You… are finished. The only fate left for you… is an eternity of pain.]

[You… in the deepest part of Gehenna… will suffer the greatest pain since the dawn of creation.]

Idrinne bit her lip hard.

It was the echo of the curse she had been afflicted with, the ‘Rending of Delusion’.

The Rending of Delusion was a curse that endlessly dug into the weakest point of a target’s consciousness, causing their mind to collapse.

No matter how strong a will a person possessed, there was no one who didn't have a weak point in their mind.

Because it persistently dug into that gap, anyone would eventually have their mind broken.

The weakness in Idrinne’s subconscious was the ruin she was fated to meet in the future.

‘In exchange for my contract with the Devil, I will eventually meet a horrific end.’

In truth.

Idrinne had never wanted to make a contract with a Devil.

But if she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have been able to protect the retainers of the Blood Sword Demonic House, so she had no choice but to extend her hand to a Devil.

[Good. I will give you power.]

She still remembered it.

The horrific voice of the Devil directed at her that day.

[However, you will meet the ruin you desire the least. And it will be by your own hand.]

A prophecy of the ruin she would meet in the future.

The original reason Devils make contracts with humans is to bring about the ruin of the contractor.

This was why Devils were indifferent to those full of greed, and preferred those with shining souls.

Because destroying a shining soul was the greatest pleasure for a Devil.

Thanks to that, Idrinne gained the power to protect the Blood Sword Demonic House, but she was now in a position where she had to fear the coming ruin day by day.

‘I want to run away.’