Chapter 258
“Hahp!”
Her sword flashed, a rain of blood spread out, and the dark spirits retreated, screaming.
It was an incomparably powerful display of the Bloodline Arts.
And that wasn’t all.
“Everyone, receive my blood and take strength!”
The blood Idrinne scattered spread to Marquis Shupen and the Five Captains.
“What are you doing?!”
He shouted, then abruptly shut his mouth.
As Idrinne’s blood seeped into their bodies, their vitality began to surge.
‘She imbued her blood with the energy of life. To think she can use it in actual combat like that.’
On top of that, there was another person playing an unexpectedly active role.
It was Mari.
[Ohoho, children? There are a lot of irritating flies here, won’t you tear their mouths apart?]
Originally, due to her contract, Mari could not directly help Chris with her own power.
Instead, she had the evil spirits she had subjugated from the Death Cube fight against Langham’s dark spirits.
‘She has used the ghosts under her command to help before.’
And these weren’t ordinary evil spirits, either.
[Under…stood, Lord.]
[We will… follow your command, Lord.]
Chris had a bewildered expression as he watched the evil spirits obeying Mari’s command.
‘Isn’t the level of the spirits she’s commanding too high? There’s even a 7th-circle evil spirit.’
A 6th-circle evil spirit, the Dullahan of the Four Swords; an Elder Death Knight; and even a highest-ranking 7th-circle evil spirit, a Death Lord, were all following Mari’s command.
And they were even afraid of her!
It was an utterly dumbfounding sight to see the highest-level evil spirits nervously watching a pure and innocent-looking beautiful banshee.
‘What on earth.’
Chris shook his head. This wasn’t the time to think about that.
‘My role is the most important.’
He wasn’t just barking orders from the rear.
The most crucial role, in the end, was Chris’s.
Fwoosh!
Chris watched Marquis Langham’s incoming attacks and unfolded his Blooming Realm.
Exploiting the gaps in a Devil’s power is no easy task.
Especially since Marquis Langham was a powerful, high-ranking magus to begin with.
It was on a completely different level from some pathetic magus just borrowing a Devil’s aura.
The gaps were also incredibly minute.
Even for Marquis Shupen and the Five Captains, it was impossible to strike those gaps every time.
‘But with the Blooming Realm, it’s possible.’
The Blooming Realm is a realm of infinite possibilities drawn in darkness. It made it possible to exert abilities tailored to the situation.
Healing Arts. Holy Radiance. Extreme Poison. The Bloodline Arts I obtained this time.
And with the authority of darkness that encompassed all of those, he created the right move for every situation and blocked Marquis Langham’s attacks.
“After begging a Devil, is this all you’ve got? A half-wit is still a half-wit even after selling his soul to a Devil.”
“I told you to shut up.”
“The only thing that’s going to be shut up is your soul when it falls into Gehenna. Instead of living like such a twisted papa’s boy, why didn’t you just cry and beg the Patriarch? Telling him, ‘I was born a cripple.’”
Marquis Shupen, who was listening, also added a cold remark.
“To be honest, Langham, I also thought you were a moron. A guy who doesn’t know his place and is only full of greed.”
“You bastards…!”
The moment Marquis Langham could finally take no more and raised his voice, something strange happened.
Trickle.
Black, dead blood flowed from his nose.
His body could no longer withstand the Devil’s energy, and his limit was starting to be reached!
“Hold on just a little longer! Victory is ours!”
As victory came into sight, the morale of his allies grew even fiercer, while on the other hand, Langham’s limbs began to feel heavy.
On top of that, Chris delivered the decisive command.
“Mari, block the dark spirits with your evil spirits! Lia, a binding spell with your Bloodline Arts! Marquis and the Five Captains, unleash the Demon-Slaying Blockade Formation with all your might to tie him down!”
“We won’t be able to hold it for long.”
“That’s fine! A moment is all we need!!”
The group used all their strength to bind Langham’s movements, and Chris raised his hand.
A giant magic circle began to be drawn in the surrounding area.
It was the blockade formation he had set up in another location to catch Langham in the first place!
Seeing Langham’s aura falter, he had seized the opportunity to deploy it anew.
Fwaaaaaah!
The holy relic and the magical artifact each spewed out a brilliant light and a pitch-black darkness, and the blockade formation that weakened the Devil’s energy was unleashed.
“!!”
Langham’s face turned white and he staggered.
Furthermore, the effect of this blockade formation did not end with simply weakening the Devil’s energy.
Through the magical artifact, it enhanced the power of pure demonic energy.
In other words, a magic circle created by magi to fight against Devils.
The group gained an even more intense aura and pressed Langham.
It was the moment the scales of the battle were tipping further and further toward Chris’s side.
“How dare you…! I’ll kill you all!!”
Fwaaaah!!!
The Devil’s energy fluctuated violently.
His intention was to pour out a powerful burst of energy all at once and reverse the tide of battle.
Perhaps because it was too much of a strain, black blood trickled from his nose, ears, and mouth, but Langham didn’t stop.
“I’ll turn you all into puddles of blood.”
It was the moment everyone’s expression hardened.
Suddenly, something strange happened.
Whoosh. Thwump!
A pitch-black spear suddenly shot up from Langham’s shadow and pierced straight through his chest.
“!!”
Langham’s eyes shot wide open.
“…What?”
Ssshh.
A figure emerged from the shadow.
It was Yulian!
She had used Spirit Assimilation, a secret art of the elves, to transform into a shadow spirit and had been waiting for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack.
“Die. You devil.”
Fwaaah!
The spear that pierced Langham’s chest was Yulian’s spirit, weaponized.
Fire, ice, and lightning energy raged inside Langham’s body all at once.
“Kuaaaaargh!!!”
Langham screamed, and in the next moment, Marquis Shupen and the Five Captains moved.
“Unleash the Fetter of Pitch-Black Darkness!!”
Fwoooosh!!!
It was another secret art of the Dark Demonic Legion, meant for facing an absolute enemy.
The demonic energies of the Five Captains formed a formation centered on Marquis Shupen’s, then descended upon Marquis Langham.
Marquis Langham, unable to recover from Yulian’s blow, was helplessly bound by the fetter.
“Y-you…!”
Marquis Langham belatedly tried to draw upon his demonic energy to escape the fetter, but it was too late.
“It’s over.”
Darkness settled upon Christian’s sword.
It wasn’t a simple Black Steel Aura.
It was a sword imbued with an Evil-Slaying Will.
In that moment, fear appeared in Marquis Langham’s eyes.
Fwoosh! Thwump!
Christian’s sword pierced Langham’s chest.
“Th-this can’t be….”
Was it a lingering attachment to his unfulfilled greed?
Langham’s eyes shot wide open, but it was too late.
The light slowly began to fade.
He was dead.
He was once a giant who had reigned as the second-in-command of the Dark Demonic House, but it was a death so futile it was unsightly.
‘It’s over.’
Chris sighed and looked at the group.
“Everyone, you’ve worked hard. Let’s first treat those who are injured….”
It was the moment he said that. Chris’s expression hardened.
A cold, ominous feeling flashed through him.
It was an instinctual gut feeling.
“What is it, Your Grace?”
Marquis Shupen and the Five Captains had puzzled expressions. It seemed they hadn’t noticed the strange turn of events yet.
It seemed that because the level of Chris’s soul was higher than the others, he alone felt the sense of crisis.
Following him, the face of Idrinne, who had the second-highest spiritual level, hardened.
“This is…?”
Chris’s and her eyes met.
The horrifying, ominous feeling grew as if it would engulf their very souls.
“Everyone, we have to get back…!”
But it was too late.
Flash.
The light returned to Langham’s dying eyes.
But it was a completely different light than before. His entire eyes, even the whites, were stained with an ominous darkness.
Chris realized the identity of the phenomenon occurring in Langham and was horrified.
‘Devil’s Corrosion!!’
It was the ultimate secret art of the Mystic Demonic House, one that went beyond simply accepting a Devil’s energy and allowed a Devil to devour a soul.
‘Did those bastards from the Mystic Demonic House have a hand in this?’
It seemed this had been the plan from the beginning. That when Langham lost his life, a Devil would devour his soul.
This was because the Devil’s Corrosion required the soul of a high-ranking magus capable of handling a Devil’s energy to be used as a vessel.
In the end, Langham had just been played as a sacrifice by those bastards from the Mystic Demonic House.
‘First, we have to escape.’
Of course, even if a Devil devoured a soul, it was subject to various restrictions, so it couldn’t properly exert its own true power.
One could think of the actual power it could exert as being at a level far inferior to the patera he had once faced.
‘But there’s still no chance of winning. With the patera, I could at least exploit its mental weaknesses, but in a case of being corroded by a Devil like this, that’s not possible.’
The only way was to hold out until the Devil could no longer withstand the restrictions of the Law of Causality and was reverse-summoned back to Gehenna.
But before he could take a step, Langham—no, the ‘Devil’—moved first.
Gwoooooooooh!!!
As it raised its hand, a ghostly wail that seemed to rise from the abyss echoed out.
As it turned its eyes, stained with darkness, toward them.
“!!”
Everyone’s body froze stiff.
Like mice meeting the eyes of a snake, they couldn’t even twitch a single finger.
Everyone gritted their teeth and tried to draw upon their demonic energy, but it was useless.
‘It’s not just suppressing the body with a powerful aura. It’s Spiritual Pressure.’
Chris swallowed grimly.
Not stopping there, the Devil manifested another power.
Kurururu.
With the sound of a rift opening somewhere, a pitch-black energy began to rise from the floor.
‘Crystallized demonic aura!’
The demonic aura that leaks out onto the surface world is of a relatively low purity.
The closer one gets to the center of Gehenna, the denser the concentration of the demonic aura becomes, to the point where it actually takes on a visible black light, and it had now summoned that horrific aura to this very spot.
“Everyone, protect your minds with your demonic energy!”
“Kuhk…!!”
Everyone let out pained groans at the horrific thoughts from the demonic aura that were piercing their mental barriers.
‘No. At this rate, everyone will die.’
Chris hurriedly checked on the group.
Marquis Shupen and the Five Captains were suppressed by the Spiritual Pressure and were in a state where they couldn't lend their strength.
‘Am I the only one who can move right now?’
The level of Chris’s soul was originally that of a half-demon. After absorbing the Venom Source, its level had risen even further, so it was relatively easier for him to withstand the Spiritual Pressure.
But it was impossible for Chris alone to defeat Langham, who had been corroded by the Devil.
But an unexpected voice was heard.
“I… am here too.”
“!!”
It was Lia—no, Idrinne.
The Devil that had corroded Langham was, at most, a low-ranking Devil of the Sixth Realm. Of course, no matter how low-ranking, a Devil was not a being that an ordinary mortal could face, but the Devil Idrinne had contracted with was a being equivalent to a ‘great being,’ so she was able to withstand the Spiritual Pressure.
Idrinne bit her lip hard.
‘If I use the authority I received from the Devil, I could probably defeat that Devil.’
But her contract restricted her to using the Devil’s power only to protect the Blood Sword Demonic House, so she could not use it now.
‘Still, I will lend my strength to Grand Duke Christian somehow. Because we’re friends!’
In addition to them, Yulian was also able to move.
Yulian’s current contractor was none other than Chris. It seemed she was influenced by the level of his soul.
However, she could only barely move; it seemed impossible for her to join the fight.
‘What should I do?’
Chris swallowed hard.
It was a life-or-death situation with no visible way out.