Chapter 276
Chris looked bewildered.
With two idiots gathered, it was surprisingly noisy.
“By the way, Lord Kashmir, are you really alright with this?”
“Of course. Setting aside the favor I owe you from before, Your Grace, I believe that the reason you want our house’s treasures is for the sake of our Destruction Demonic House.”
Chris nodded his head.
‘Well, everything I’m doing now is for the Destruction Demonic House.’
Of course, there was the minor issue that this crisis itself was Christian’s fault, but that wasn’t important.
Afterward, they went through various parts of the main castle, thoroughly robbing it of its many treasures and artifacts.
However, there was one curious point. Chris wasn't just taking treasures to counter the Flame of Ruin.
“Your Grace? This is the head butler’s office, but why are we here?”
“There’s something I need to pick up.”
After looking around the room, Chris’s gaze stopped at a certain spot.
‘Bingo.’
Next, he visited the offices of several key executives in succession, repeating a similar process.
Soon, he had also taken the family heirloom, the Seven-Colored Treasure, and the last step was to obtain the highest True Essence of the Destruction Demonic House.
“The highest True Essence of our house is the ‘Void of Emptiness’. However, since it is a True Essence passed down only orally to the heir, there’s no way to obtain it…”
Kashmir trailed off, but Chris shook his head.
“No, there is a way.”
“Pardon?”
“We just have to ask Grand Duke Schwar.”
“…There’s no way my eldest brother would tell us.”
“If he won’t tell us willingly, we’ll just have to force him to open his mouth.”
“…How?”
Chris crossed his arms and then said something unexpected.
“Lord Kashmir, how about taking this opportunity to land a refreshing blow on that bastard?”
“…What?”
“You have a lot of pent-up resentment towards him, don’t you?”
“!!”
Kashmir’s eyes wavered.
As an illegitimate son, Kashmir had been severely bullied by the direct members of the family. The one who had persecuted Kashmir the most cruelly was none other than Grand Duke Schwar. Schwar relieved the mental pressure he received as the Grand Duke by persecuting Kashmir.
Though not visible on the outside, underneath Kashmir’s clothes were several scars from Schwar’s abuse.
‘A piece of trash.’
Chris clicked his tongue.
Schwar’s behavior had continued even until recently. In fact, not long ago, after all the servants had evacuated, Schwar had forced Kashmir to act as his personal attendant. Even though Kashmir was an illegitimate son, it was an extremely humiliating treatment for a fellow lord.
“I have a way to obtain the highest True Essence of the Destruction Demonic House and land a blow on that bastard at the same time.”
Chris began to explain in a low voice, and Kashmir’s eyes widened.
* * *
The Destruction Demonic House was in an uproar.
The reason was that, while the castle was empty, all sorts of treasures had been stolen.
“Find the culprit at once!!”
But there was no way they would be caught. Chris was an expert at thievery. He had left no traces, and thanks to using Alros as a double, his alibi was perfect.
Of course, under normal circumstances, the Destruction Demonic House might have been able to find a way to track him, but it was impossible in the current state of chaos.
Thanks to this, the main castle of the Destruction Demonic House, which was already in a state of disarray, fell into even greater confusion because of the theft. This, in turn, made something else possible.
THUD!!
In a remote location, far from the main castle of the Destruction Demonic House, a figure, tightly bound in ropes, was thrown to the ground.
Surprisingly, it was Grand Duke Schwar!
He had been kidnapped!
“Mmph, mmph!!”
The reason a Grand Duke of a great house was captured so helplessly was simple.
He had been struck by Christian’s poison.
‘I had Kashmir mix poison into his food.’
As mentioned earlier, Kashmir was currently acting as Schwar’s attendant. It was a deed meant to humiliate Kashmir, but thanks to that, it had backfired on Schwar like this.
“Hey, nice to see you.”
“*Pfft-hah!* What is the meaning of this?! How dare you!! Do you want to die?”
“I think you’re the one who’s being daring. Hearing you raise your voice like that, it seems you don’t quite grasp what situation you’re in, do you?”
Shing.
A cold blade was pressed against Schwar’s neck.
Schwar’s body froze for an instant.
“You bastard…”
“Shh. If you keep struggling like that, I might accidentally slit your throat. Will you please stay still? Oops, I cut you a little. Does it hurt?”
Drip.
As the blade pressed into his neck threateningly, drawing blood, Schwar’s face turned pale.
‘I felt it during our duel, but he definitely doesn’t have a strong backbone. Then again, a pathetic guy like him would naturally live his life hurting others.’
Still, even a hothouse flower was a Grand Duke. Schwar hid any sign of fear and growled.
“Do you think you’ll get away with this! If you don’t release me at once, I’ll turn not just you, but the entire Dark Demonic House to ash.”
“You guys will? Pfft. Do you have amnesia? I guess you’ve already forgotten about kneeling to our Dark Demonic House not long ago. Besides, what kind of revenge are you talking about when your entire house is about to be turned to ash?”
Schwar ground his teeth.
Chris shrugged his shoulders.
“I didn’t bring you here to talk nonsense. I have a reason.”
“What is it?”
“Won’t you tell me the highest True Essence of the Destruction Demonic House, the ‘Void of Emptiness’?”
“You madman! What kind of nonsense are you spouting?!”
It was a True Essence that must never be revealed, even if a sword was at his throat.
“Ah, of course, I’m not asking you to tell me for free. I’ll tell you the True Essence of the Dark Demonic Arts in return. It’s a win-win trade.”
For reference, unlike Chris, who was skilled in destruction dark magic, Schwar had no use for the True Essence of the Dark Demonic Arts even if he learned it.
“Shut up. Do you think I would agree to such a ridiculous trade? Threats are useless. Even if you kill me, I will never open my mouth.”
Schwar said with determination.
Chris nodded his head.
“Alright, negotiations have broken down. Then we’ll need a different kind of deal. Lord Kashmir.”
Kashmir approached with a stiffly hardened face.
“You bastard!! How dare you commit such a betrayal.”
“Betrayal, my ass. You should think about what you did to Kashmir. By the way, do you have any intention of apologizing to Lord Kashmir for the wrongs you’ve committed until now?”
“…What?”
“If you tell me the True Essence as a sign of your apology, Kashmir might just forgive you.”
Schwar looked dumbfounded.
What kind of utter nonsense was this?
But, as if it wasn't nonsense, Kashmir nodded his head.
“Brother, please tell Grand Duke Christian the True Essence. That is the only way to save our house. I will also forget all the wrongs you have done to me until now.”
“Enough of this nonsense!! Kashmir, I will never let you live in one piece!!”
It was the expected reaction.
“As I thought, you have no remorse. It seems you need some time to repent. Teren.”
This time, Teren stepped forward, an ominous gray energy flickering from his hand. It was the condensed energy of a curse.
“…What is that?”
“Ah, it’s a dark magic curse called the ‘Wheel of Karma’. In your mental world, you will have all the wrongs you’ve committed returned to you in kind. In other words, you will experience the pain you gave to Kashmir.”
“!!”
“For your information, my younger brother is a very delicate curse user, so he can reproduce the pain with nearly 100% synchronization. You have that to look forward to.”
At the praise directed at him, Teren’s shoulders puffed up with pride.
“It is all thanks to the teachings of my King Emperor Majesty Brother. After looking into Lord Kashmir’s memories, I found this bastard to be quite vicious. I put special effort into making the reenactment vivid, so this bastard is about to taste hell.”
Schwar’s face turned pale.
He had persecuted Kashmir for over ten years. It wasn’t on the level of simple bullying between brothers. He had used his power and strength to treat Kashmir like a toy. Not only was Kashmir seriously injured, but he had also faced a life-threatening crisis on more than one occasion.
‘Kashmir had to go through hell because of this bastard.’
Chris had been acquainted with Kashmir in his previous life as well, and at that time, a drunken Kashmir had confessed the suffering he had experienced because of Schwar. Back then, he had thought that if he ever got the chance, he wanted to at least smack Schwar once in the back of the head. Now, the opportunity to avenge that grudge had arrived.
“A 7-Star dark magus like me won’t fall for a curse like that…”
“Oh, you will. Here, have this first.”
Flick. Chris shoved a poison made from Dark Demonic Energy into Schwar’s mouth. It was a will-form poison that materialized his dominance, and it instantly dismantled Schwar’s mental barriers.
“Ah, no.”
Sensing the pain he was about to experience, Schwar struggled, but.
“Now, have a nice time repenting.”
Poof!
Teren’s curse burrowed into Schwar’s mind. Just before he lost consciousness, he heard these words.
“If you feel like apologizing, let me know at any time.”
* * *
‘It’s a good thing this guy is a villain.’
Chris thought to himself.
‘No matter how necessary it is, I couldn’t do this to someone who is innocent.’
As befitting a Grand Duke, Schwar did not give in immediately. But time was on Chris’s side.
‘Because the pain will be repeated endlessly.’
The perception of time in the mental world is different from reality. Just as one can dream a lifetime in a single afternoon nap, it was possible to make time flow much longer than in reality.
In the end, Schwar couldn’t endure it and decided to reveal the True Essence.
“Keok! I was wrong! Please, forgive me! I’ll tell you the True Essence, I’ll tell you everything.”
Chris shrugged his shoulders.
“Lord Kashmir, you should listen to this as well.”
“Me too?”
“Yes. This is an apology for the wrongs committed against you, so you should hear it too.”
There was a reason Kashmir had to listen.
‘It will help me if Kashmir grows stronger quickly.’
In his previous life, Kashmir had become a top-tier 7-Star magus. If Chris helped him, he could reach an even higher realm, much faster.
‘And I have a good opportunity this time.’
He would use the Flame of Ruin to make Kashmir stronger.
‘The more suckers who become my power, the closer my dream of wealth and glory will be.’
Meanwhile, Kashmir was moved and thought to himself.
‘Ah, just how many times have I been indebted to Grand Duke Christian? My life is as good as his.’
And so, Kashmir’s power as a sucker grew even stronger.
Afterward, Schwar revealed the entire True Essence. Of course, it wasn’t that Schwar had truly submitted in his heart. He had a secret plan.
‘Even if I tell him the True Essence, there’s no way he can learn it.’
However.
“Hmm. So, it’s like this?”
Fwoosh.
The flame of destruction that Chris conjured up burned a tree branch. But something was strange. It didn’t simply turn to ash; a part of the branch had vanished completely.
It was the ‘Annihilation’ phenomenon, the pinnacle of destruction dark magic. He had partially manifested the True Essence he had just heard, the ‘Void of Emptiness’!
“H-h-how?”
“You just taught me, didn’t you? Why are you acting so surprised after teaching me every single detail yourself?”
Chris let out a smirk.
“Thank you for the generous and kind lesson.”