Chapter 268
“Don’t you know? The Grand Duke is not a being that can be predicted with common sense.”
But even as he said that, Marquis Shupen was just as anxious.
He had heard the plan, but it just didn’t seem possible.
‘If it seems impossible, I’ll have to intervene, even if it’s midway through.’
Finally.
The lightning began to approach Christian.
In the life-or-death moment, Christian took out an unexpected weapon.
It was Andril.
But Andril’s appearance was strange.
It had shed its previous form of an ordinary, old iron sword and now held a heavy, black light.
It was because Chris had dismantled a part of its seal.
‘Besides Perfection, I’ve become able to use another authority.’
That was right.
The hidden card Chris had been concealing was Andril’s new authority.
‘Of course, it won’t be easy even with Andril’s authority.’
Yesika let out a sneer.
“Were you just trusting in the authority of a mere artifact? How foolish. The power of an artifact can never surpass the capabilities of its owner.”
It was an accurate point.
In truth, the authority Chris was about to use was not something grand.
Unlike Perfection, it was an authority that wasn’t particularly amazing even when compared to other ordinary magic swords.
However.
“On the contrary, if the owner has the capability, an artifact can sometimes produce unbelievable effects.”
Yes.
Even with the same authority, the results could vary wildly depending on who used it.
Chris planned to create a miracle with his own abilities.
“You’re all talk until the very end. That will be your last piece of nonsense, so prepare yourself!”
The torrent of lightning rushed toward him.
But Christian once again showed an incomprehensible reaction.
He didn’t put up a shield, nor did he dodge. And it wasn’t as if he swung Andril around in a desperate struggle, either.
On the contrary, he planted Andril into the floor, then closed his eyes, defenseless. As if he had given up.
The moment puzzlement appeared in the eyes of the onlookers, the unbelievable happened.
The lightning covered Christian’s body, but.
“W-what?”
“What is this?!”
It hadn’t inflicted any damage at all!
He hadn’t blocked it with demonic energy.
The lightning was clearly tearing through his body, yet he was taking no damage.
As if he were ignoring the lightning itself.
‘Mutability.’
It was Andril’s second authority.
Andril, the supreme magic sword, could contain the countless attributes of the world and bestow those attributes upon its owner.
That’s why Chris bestowed the attribute of lightning upon himself.
After all, lightning cannot harm lightning.
‘Of course, that alone isn’t enough to be safe from a thunderbolt like that.’
Naturally, being granted an attribute didn’t mean his body actually turned into lightning.
It merely took on some of its properties, an effect that only increased his resistance to a certain degree.
But the reason for this incomprehensible effect was none other than Chris’s insane talent.
First, he didn’t apply the bestowed lightning attribute to his entire body, but concentrated it in a narrow area.
So that he could take on the lightning attribute as strongly as possible.
Not stopping there, he manifested the power of his will.
‘The form of one’s existence is, in the end, influenced by will and mental image.’
With the power of his will and mental image, he made the part of him that was granted the lightning attribute actually possess the exact same properties as real lightning.
Of course, even for Chris, the part of his body he could do this with was extremely small.
So, Chris changed the properties of the part of his body where the thunderbolt was raging.
Lightning was different in nature from fire, earth, or wind.
It runs through the inside of the body like a sword, creating destruction.
He had manipulated the path of that rushing lightning, in that very instant, to continuously possess the same properties as lightning.
The power of will to change the properties of his body.
The computational power to calculate the direction of the surging lightning in real time.
An extreme feat, possible only with the sense to instantly manipulate the attributes according to those calculations.
And it wasn’t just for a brief moment.
He had to continue this insane feat until the attack was over.
Every single instant was a life-threatening crisis, but Chris continued the unbelievable miracle with extreme concentration.
“What kind of nonsense is this?!”
Yesika, realizing what Chris was accomplishing, cried out in astonishment.
“Do you think it will end like this?”
Crackle.
The properties of the lightning changed. It began to take on an even more intense attribute of ‘destruction’.
She hadn’t intended to take his life, but her pride had been wounded, causing her to cross the line.
But Chris once again showed an incomprehensible reaction.
“It’s over.”
“…What?”
“Surely you didn’t think I was just meekly taking the lightning all this time, did you? Now, it’s my turn to attack.”
He lifted Andril, which had been planted in the floor.
Fwoosh.
A fiercely blazing dark energy.
“What? The amount of energy?”
Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise.
It was because the energy Chris had manifested had far surpassed the level of 7-Star.
‘It’s thanks to using the Vampiric Ring.’
Just as he had used it during the duel at the Venomous Demonic House, the Vampiric Ring allowed him to utilize the energy that entered his body as his own.
While deflecting Yesika’s lightning, he had been continuously gathering its energy.
‘Of course, it doesn’t mean you can damage a magus of the absolute realm just because the amount of energy is large.’
Instead, Chris had a weapon.
Andril.
And the newly obtained miracle technique, One Point.
Ssshhh.
The radiance of Andril settled heavily.
It had begun to exert its Perfection.
Originally, it was an authority that was difficult to handle properly with Chris’s current abilities, but now it was different.
He used the power of the lightning absorbed from Yesika as fuel and manifested it through One Point.
One Point was a miracle technique modeled after the Mind Sword.
The Perfection of Andril clashed with Yesika’s will of destruction.
“!!”
Yesika’s complexion turned pale.
It was a stalemate.
No, to be precise, Yesika’s energy was still superior.
Still, the mere fact that he had stood evenly against her destruction dealt a great shock to Yesika.
But it was too early to be surprised.
Chris moved the power of his will.
He stacked One Point.
Once, twice, three times.
With all his might.
The result.
“Keoheok!!”
“Your Grace!!”
Chris suddenly coughed up blood.
A sight of having suffered serious internal injuries.
However, compared to the miracle he had achieved, merely coughing up blood was nothing.
The arena fell silent.
Yesika’s lightning had died down.
“W-what?”
“He blocked an attack from the absolute realm?”
Strictly speaking, he hadn’t blocked it perfectly.
Because he had suffered serious internal injuries.
But who here could say that Christian had been defeated?
Yesika was frozen in shock and couldn’t say a word.
Chris wiped the blood with his sleeve, then bowed his head.
“Thank you for the good duel. I will accept this as my loss.”
“……”
“I won’t lose next time. Well then, I’ll be leaving.”
He won’t lose.
It was an insane declaration, but no one could take it lightly.
To the point where some even felt a sense of fear, wondering what kind of monster he would have grown into the next time they saw him.
Just then, a heavy voice that broke the silence was heard.
“There is no need to worry about the next time, Vice-Patriach.”
“!!”
“You will be defeated by me today.”
It was Marquis Shupen!
Since Yesika’s original opponent was Marquis Shupen, he had come up to the stage for the scheduled duel.
“It’s been a long time, Marquis. But did you say you would defeat me?”
“That is correct.”
“It seems you’ve made a great achievement in the time we haven’t seen each other, but it doesn’t seem like enough to be confident against me. Or have you also lost your mind, following that absurd Grand Duke?”
Yesika shook her head.
In truth, Marquis Shupen was still a low 8-Star.
He was no match for her.
“Marquis Shupen, I have always respected your devotion to your house. I will not give you a great humiliation. Let’s finish this quickly.”
Fwoooosh.
Yesika unfolded her Dominion again.
Unlike before, when she had held back to some extent, it seemed she was using her full power, as a much more powerful domain of lightning unfolded.
But it was as she was raising her aura.
Yesika’s expression suddenly hardened.
She had felt a sense of incongruity.
‘What is this?’
Just then, Marquis Shupen took a step forward.
Fwoosh!
At the same time, his guardian Dominion unfolded.
A scene as if trapped in a world of crystal glass began to push back the domain of lightning.
“No, how?”
Everyone reacted with incomprehension.
When those of the 8-Star absolute realm compete, the Dominion of the weaker one is suppressed by the Dominion of the stronger one and cannot exert its full power.
But the exact opposite phenomenon was occurring.
It was the moment Yesika tried to draw upon her power even more to crush Marquis Shupen’s Dominion.
Trickle.
Blood flowed from Yesika’s nose.
“!!”
Only then did Yesika realize the identity of the incongruity she had felt just now.
Something was wrong with her condition.
It wasn’t a problem with her core or her body.
It was a mental issue.
To be precise, a fine crack had formed in the ‘mental image’ that manifests dark magic.
‘Why?’
The manifestation of magic is a complex interaction of various factors.
The most basic elements are the combination of demonic energy and the magic formula.
As one rises to a higher level of mastery from there, the mental image that imbues the magic with a True Essence becomes more important.
Shouldn’t an outstanding magician possess a firm mental image and rarely suffer a blow to it?
“By any chance?”
Her eyes widened as she realized the reason, and Marquis Shupen nodded.
“You are mistaken in what you just said.”
Crackle.
His Dominion, gathering even more momentum.
“Did you call him an absurd Grand Duke? You are mistaken. The Grand Duke I know is a madman. One who can accomplish any impossible feat.”
“!!”
That was right.
The reason for the wound on Yesika’s mental image.
It was because of Christian.
‘I continuously struck her with Andril’s Perfection.’
Destruction dark magic is the crystallization of imperfection.
Given the nature of ‘destruction,’ that was only natural.
While withstanding Yesika’s lightning, Chris had delved into her mental image with Andril’s Perfection.
Stealthily.
Without her noticing, as if quietly dripping water onto a rock.
His miracle technique, One Point, had made it possible.
Chris had used One Point to continuously dig into one part of her mental image, and in the end, just as concentrated water drills through rock, he had succeeded in dealing a blow.
Fwoosh!
Marquis Shupen’s Dominion strengthened its momentum even further.
“!!”
Yesika’s face turned white.
Of course, the blow she had taken was not a large one. Just the level of a scratch.
But her opponent was not a good matchup.
Thanks to Chris’s help, Marquis Shupen had reached the peak of low 8-Star.
Although he was inferior to Yesika, who was a mid 8-Star, he was not an opponent she could easily defeat either. An uphill battle was expected even at her full strength, but now she had a wound on her mental image?
Furthermore, the matchup was also not in her favor.
Marquis Shupen’s Dominion was that of a guardian.
It possessed the properties of absolute defense.
Could Yesika’s wounded spear pierce that absolute defense?
“The Grand Duke has done this much for me; if I lose, I’ll have to abandon my family name in the Dark Demonic House.”
Yesika bit her lip hard, and the duel between the two absolute magi began, and once again, a strange turn of events started to unfold.