Chapter 265
“…The Destruction Demonic House, you say?”
“Yes.”
Everyone had a surprised expression at the unexpected name.
Chris turned his gaze.
To the east.
Toward the place where the Destruction Demonic House was located.
“The Constellations have revealed that a horrific evil is stirring within the Destruction Demonic House. Offer your lives to uproot the evil of the Destruction Demonic House.”
“!!”
An absurd demand.
Why was Chris saying such a preposterous thing?
Moreover, he did not stop there.
“Of course, I know that your strength alone is not enough. That is why the Constellations have revealed a specific method to me.”
“What is it?”
“The Flame of Ruin.”
In that moment, everyone in the hall flinched.
The source of the Destruction Demonic House.
At the same time, it was a place where the Demon King of Azure Flow’s hidden dagger was concealed, though no one knew it at present.
Chris twisted his lips and continued.
“Make the Flame of Ruin explode and incinerate the Destruction Demonic House.”
And so.
The operation to screw over both the Destruction Demonic House and the Demon King of Azure Flow at the same time had begun.
* * *
The Flame of Ruin.
It was one of the Three Primordial Wells and the holy land of the Destruction Demonic House.
However, the peculiar thing was that the Flame of Ruin was a giant volcano.
‘The Destruction Demonic House is situated on top of that volcano.’
In other words, making the Flame of Ruin explode meant making that volcano erupt.
‘Of course, it’s a task that borders on impossible.’
But Chris had a way.
‘I just have to reverse-engineer the scheme that the Demon King of Azure Flow has set in motion.’
The Demon King of Azure Flow had also extended her demonic clutches to the Destruction Demonic House.
And it was a horrific scheme, incomparable to what she had done to the Dark and Venomous Demonic Houses.
‘If I just leave it be, the Destruction Demonic House will suffer a blow close to annihilation.’
The problem was that the conspiracy had already progressed to an irreversible state.
There was only one way.
A drastic prescription was needed.
He had to cause an even bigger incident, one large enough to overwhelm the Demon King of Azure Flow’s conspiracy.
‘After this is over, the Destruction Demonic House will also kneel before our Dark Demonic House.’
The Destruction Demonic House was essential for the completion of the Dark Alliance.
There was another important reason why he had to succeed in this plan.
‘I have to obtain the Flame of Ruin.’
There was absolutely no chance that the prideful Destruction Demonic House would grant him the Flame of Ruin.
That’s why Chris planned to take the Flame of Ruin by taking advantage of the moment the Destruction Demonic House was in chaos.
‘With the priests of the Fanatic Order, who will stop at nothing, my plan should succeed.’
Chris recalled the reaction of the Fanatic Order’s priests.
-Our souls are stained with sin. We will offer our lives to carry out the command of the Constellations!
-We will be martyred for the Constellations!
The priests of the Fanatic Order, including Ektar, would carry out Chris’s operation at the cost of their lives.
‘That side is taken care of. Now I have to crush the Destruction Demonic House at the Dark Rite.’
Just then, a call came through the communication sphere. It was Count Khazar.
-Christian, where are you now?
“Just getting some fresh air. What is it?”
Count Khazar’s expression was dark. It seemed something else had happened.
-The Destruction Demonic House says they’re going to invite all the other great magical houses to the Dark Rite. They’re going to crush us in front of everyone.
It seemed they were really grinding their teeth for this.
But Chris just let out a smirk.
“That’s great. The more spectators, the better.”
At that confident answer, Count Khazar let out a soft sigh on the other side of the communication sphere.
-Are you going to be alright? Rumors are spreading that the Grand Duke of the Destruction Demonic House, Schwar, has it in for you.
He was a famous figure.
‘He was one of the Five New Stars of the Magus Empire.’
It refers to the five next-generation heirs of the great magical houses who are not lacking when compared to the existing powerhouses.
They were also called the Little Demons, and for reference, Idrinne of the Blood Sword Demonic House was also one of them.
‘Schwar was at the level of low 7-Star, wasn’t he? He is certainly a powerful enemy that would be difficult for me to face with my outwardly revealed achievements.’
Outwardly revealed. A meaningful expression.
“You don’t have to worry, Father.”
-…….
“And please keep this in mind.”
Chris said in a heavy voice.
“The fact that our Dark Demonic House is no longer as weak as it used to be.”
-!!
Yes.
Over the past few months, the magi of the Dark Demonic House had achieved enormous growth under Chris’s guidance.
It was such rapid growth that even they themselves were not fully aware of it.
‘Of course, they were still no match for the Destruction Demonic House, which belonged to the Five Powers.’
Chris continued his thoughts.
‘Still, the outcome of a battle isn’t necessarily decided by superiority in power alone.’
Depending on the strategy, it is more than possible to win against a stronger opponent.
Chris decided to lay some bait.
“Would you mind relaying this message to Grand Duke Schwar of the Destruction Demonic House? Tell him that it will be difficult for him to face me alone, so I would understand if he joins forces with other magi to attack me together.”
-…Are you serious?
“And that’s not all. Our Dark Demonic House is planning to send only five people to the deciding match, but it doesn’t matter if the Destruction Demonic House sends a few more.”
The Dark Rite, a struggle between houses, was traditionally held like this.
A duel between the Patriarchs.
A duel between the heirs, the Grand Dukes.
A series of duels between the house’s strongest magi, also called the Flagbearer Duels.
And finally, a group battle between mid-level magi.
For reference, the duel between Patriarchs accounted for over 40 percent of the weight, and since there was no guarantee that Nordian would recover by the time of the Rite, the Dark Demonic House had to win all the other duels to seize victory.
Count Khazar was silent for a moment, then asked again.
-Are you sure you want me to relay it like that?
“Yes, you must relay it exactly as I said. Ah, and please add that if they’re not confident, we will accept their surrender in advance. Tell them to make a wise decision if they don’t want to be humiliated in front of the other houses. That’s all, I’m busy so I’m hanging up.”
-…You? You?
With Count Khazar left gaping, Chris cut off the communication.
It wasn’t a lie that he was busy.
‘I have to loot the Fanatic Order’s treasury.’
The place he was standing now was, surprisingly, the treasury of the Fanatic Order.
How did he get in?
‘I snuck in.’
Chris spoke to Ruina, who was standing beside him with her mouth agape.
“I promised you ten million rupees when the fight was over, didn’t I? Here, take ten million rupees’ worth of whatever you want.”
“Uwaaah. Why are you talking like it’s your own stuff? Looting the Fanatic Order’s treasury, are you sane?”
“You were excited enough to follow me here, and now you’re playing coy.”
Chris shrugged.
Ruina was trembling, but her greed seemed to get the better of her as she swallowed hard and surveyed the treasures in the treasury.
“Anyway, these guys are in such a mess right now, they won’t even notice if we loot the treasury.”
“Th-that’s true, isn’t it?”
“Yes, yes. The treasury here is managed only by the Archbishop, so besides the fake one who just died, no one knows exactly what treasures are here. It won’t be a problem if you just swap them out with some of the low-level artifacts you have and take them.”
“Ohoho, as expected of the Grand Duke I so admire. Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty!”
Only then did Ruina excitedly begin to rummage through the treasury, and Chris also shifted his gaze here and there.
There was an item he absolutely needed.
‘Not this one, not that one.’
Finally.
Chris’s steps halted in front of a single item.
‘Here it is.’
It was an old amulet from which he could feel no energy.
It was the accessory that the fake Archbishop who had recently died had been wearing.
“Why that? It seems it was moved to the treasury because the fake Archbishop was wearing it, but from my expert artifact appraiser’s point of view, it doesn’t seem to have any particular use?”
“No.”
Chris shook his head.
“Its function is just concealed.”
Chris channeled his demonic energy into the amulet.
There was no reaction, but he didn’t stop and moved the demonic energy in various directions as if manipulating a code, and a change occurred.
Ssshhh.
The amulet began to glow faintly.
“Is it an artifact with a concealment effect?”
“It’s a little different. Watch.”
Chris manifested his demonic energy from his hand while holding the amulet.
Then, the unbelievable happened.
Fwoooosh!
His demonic energy was converted and manifested as white Holy Radiance mana!
“Don’t tell me?”
“Yes.”
The name of this artifact is the Hypocrisy of Black and White.
It was an artifact that disguised the nature of the manifested energy as its opposite.
In other words, it disguised dark demonic energy as light-based mana, and conversely, light-based mana as dark demonic energy. The reason he had sought out this artifact was simple.
‘Because I have to use the power of light during the Dark Rite duel.’
Chris’s opponent in the duel, the Grand Duke of the Destruction Demonic House, Schwar, was a low 7-Star.
A powerful foe who would be difficult to face with Chris’s current achievement as a magus, which was 6-Star.
But there was something that no one knew.
Chris had currently reached 7-Star in his mastery of Holy Radiance.
* * *
The news of the house duel between the Dark Demonic House and the Destruction Demonic House spread throughout the Magus Empire.
“The Dark Demonic House has gone mad. How dare they, when they’re a disgrace to the name of a great magical house, challenge the Destruction Demonic House?”
“The face they’ve barely managed to maintain will be completely trampled this time.”
There was no one who predicted that the Dark Demonic House would win.
The only point of interest for the other great houses was this:
“How much blood do you think the Dark Demonic House will shed this time?”
“Since the Destruction Demonic House is grinding its teeth for this, it seems none of those who enter the duel will come out unscathed. Perhaps this will be the time they finally lose their qualification as a great magical house.”
In the long history of the Magus Empire, it was not a rare occurrence for a great magical house to disappear.
The majority of the Magus Empire believed that this duel would be the starting point of the Dark Demonic House’s fall.
However, there were those who thought differently.
It was the Four Kings’ Castle.
The Council of Elders.
[I don’t know what they’re plotting this time, the Dark Demonic House.]
[To be precise, it would be Grand Duke Christian. The intelligence reports say this is all his plan.]
[I wonder if he really calculates that he can win against the Destruction Demonic House.]
The Four Kings’ Castle had witnessed countless times what kind of miracles Christian had brought about.
Therefore, they could not dismiss this instance lightly either.
[It seems we need to be wary. It seems unlikely, but if the Dark Alliance that Grand Duke Christian spoke of is actually formed, it will have a great negative impact on the great work of our castle.]
The general atmosphere was one of agreement.
In fact, Christian had ruined the Four Kings’ Castle’s events on several occasions.
Especially recently, saving Idrinne was a critical blow.
Thanks to that, the Anax faction of the Four Kings’ Castle had failed to subjugate the Blood Sword Demonic House.
‘And that’s not all. Our progress in taking control of the Karn Empire’s royal family is also sluggish, and there are stories that this is also a scheme by Grand Duke Christian.’
The elders of the Four Kings’ Castle discussed seriously.
“We cannot just stand by and watch.”
“But is there any way for us to interfere in the affairs of the Dark and Destruction Demonic Houses?”
That was the problem.
Whatever scheme Christian was plotting, the Four Kings’ Castle had no choice but to stand by with their hands tied.
The gazes of the Four Kings’ Castle’s elders, who had reached a dead end, turned one by one toward the top of the dais.
At the highest seat of honor was a figure with a complexion as pale as a corpse.
An aura as if it contained death itself.
It was the Lord of the Four Kings’ Castle, ‘Plitnon, the Ruler of Death’.