Chapter 277
There was a reason he learned the True Essence so easily.
‘Because destruction dark magic is a familiar field.’
It was different from when he had learned the completely unfamiliar Bloodline Arts. Destruction dark magic is one of the main fields practiced in the Dark Demonic House as well. If the Destruction Demonic House was the supreme master of destruction dark magic, the Dark Demonic House was a close second.
Although it was of a lower level, the Dark Demonic House also had a True Essence that could implement a phenomenon similar to ‘Annihilation’, so he was able to learn it easily just by hearing it once.
But there was something else that was even more surprising.
“Would you like to try it too, Lord Kashmir?”
“Yes, I’ll try. Is this how you do it?”
Fwoosh.
Similarly, the Annihilation phenomenon occurred!
Of course, the Annihilation that Kashmir produced was far more insignificant than Chris’s. It was so faint that it was barely visible without close observation. But the mere fact that he had succeeded was of enormous significance.
‘As expected, Kashmir is no ordinary man either.’
Kashmir was someone who had grown this strong by learning on his own, without anyone’s teachings. His talent was such that he was secretly called the greatest genius of the Destruction Demonic House. On top of that, his recent correspondence with Chris had helped him gain enlightenment, deepening his knowledge of destruction dark magic and allowing him to grasp the concept easily.
“…Hah. Hah. I-impossible.”
Schwar muttered, losing his senses.
Chris spoke nonchalantly to Schwar.
“Anyway, I’ll be needing your help with various things from now on, so I’ll be in your care.”
His words had a chilling undertone.
“…What? What do you mean by that?”
“We’re in the same boat now. We have to keep each other’s secrets, don’t we? If what happened today gets out, you’ll be in more trouble than I will, won’t you?”
Schwar’s face turned deathly white.
That was right.
Whatever the reason, he had leaked his family’s greatest secret art. If this fact became known, Schwar would not be able to get away unscathed. At the very least, he would be excommunicated. He would lose everything.
“You, you won’t get away unscathed either…”
“Really? What is your Destruction Demonic House going to do to me, the Grand Duke of the Dark Demonic House?”
“……”
“For me, I can just make up a suitable excuse.”
That was right.
It might have been a different story back when the Dark Demonic House was weak, but now, if he just made up an excuse and acted defiantly, there was no way the Destruction Demonic House could punish Chris.
In other words, with this incident, Schwar had given Chris a weakness to exploit.
Chris smirked and extended his hand.
“I’ll be counting on your full cooperation from now on, Schwar.”
It was a threat.
“Y-you… you devil.”
“What a hurtful thing to say. Where else would you find a nice Magus like me? Now, listen closely. I’ll tell you what you need to do.”
Chris brought his mouth to Schwar’s ear.
Schwar’s eyes widened as if they would tear upon hearing Chris’s ‘instructions’.
“Th-that? But why?”
“You don’t need to know the details. It’s all for the sake of your Destruction Demonic House.”
It was the moment confusion filled Schwar’s eyes.
Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed out.
Rumble-rumble.
“!!”
Everyone’s face hardened.
“Brother, is this?”
Chris nodded his head.
“It’s the second eruption.”
The operation was entering its final phase.
* * *
Fortunately, no major disaster occurred. Grand Duke Vessian and the other senior members of the Destruction Demonic House had managed to narrowly suppress the volcano’s eruption.
‘The second stage is just a warm-up. The real thing is the third stage.’
The problem was that even the second eruption was not to be taken lightly.
‘The Destruction Demonic House must be at their limit by now.’
He took Schwar and headed toward the crater where the sealing formation was located. Grand Duke Vessian and the other senior members of the Destruction Demonic House were scattered here and there, their faces pale. They looked completely exhausted from overexerting their power.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
“!!”
At his characteristically grating voice, the faces of the Destruction Demonic House’s magi contorted.
“What are you doing here again?”
“Ah, I’m here on an errand. I came at the request of Grand Duke Schwar.”
As he was pointed out, Schwar glared at Chris as if he wanted to kill him, but when Chris gave him a slick smile as if telling him to play along, he couldn't say a word.
“…That’s right. I called for Grand Duke Christian.”
“What? Why all of a sudden? By the way, where have you been until now, Grand Duke Schwar?”
Christian answered.
“We were tracking the trail of the thief we heard about a while ago. Isn’t that right, Grand Duke Schwar?”
“…That is correct. I asked Grand Duke Christian to catch the culprit.”
Schwar answered according to the pre-written script.
“Well, why would you ask Grand Duke Christian of the Dark Demonic House of all people?”
“…The truth is, I have secretly admired Grand Duke Christian for some time, so I asked him separately. I believed that if it was Grand Duke Christian, he would be able to catch the culprit.”
Whether from humiliation or shame, Schwar’s face flushed bright red.
‘Damn it. How dare he make me say such things! I’ll never forgive him.’
There was a reason Chris had orchestrated this performance. It was his intention to lay the groundwork for the ‘incident’ he was about to cause.
“Schwar, don’t you know this is no time for such nonsense? You idiot!”
Grand Duke Vessian raised his voice.
The moment Schwar’s face turned white from his father’s anger, Chris stepped forward.
“I didn’t come here simply because I was chasing a thief. While investigating the castle because of the thief, I found an important clue related to the eruption of the Flame of Ruin, and I came to report it.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“I have found the culprit behind this incident.”
“!!”
Everyone in the hall stared with wide eyes.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“How?”
As mentioned before, the Destruction Demonic House had no clue who the culprit who had broken the sealing formation was. This was partly because Chris had used Ruina’s artifacts to ensure no traces of the Fanatic Order’s priests were left behind, but in truth, there was a more decisive reason.
“There were people within the Destruction Demonic House colluding with the culprit.”
“!!”
“The traitors intentionally created gaps in the deployment of the magi guarding the sealing formation, allowing the culprit to damage it.”
That was right.
This was the decisive reason. There had been a hole in the security guarding the Flame of Ruin from the very beginning.
The magi of the Destruction Demonic House raised their voices as if it were impossible.
“That can’t be! Who would dare?!”
“Here is the evidence.”
Shhhk. Chris took out several items. They were the items he had taken when he had robbed the main castle, and they were of various kinds: ledgers, writing tools, miscellaneous items, and so on.
“They may look like ordinary objects, but if you look closely, faint demonic energy patterns remain. They are the means by which the traitors communicated with the culprit. Here, have a look.”
Those who received the items from Chris tilted their heads. They couldn’t feel any traces at all.
But then it was the Vice-Head Yesika’s turn. Her eyes widened.
“No, what is this? Aren’t these the traces of remote-coded dark magic? Please have a look as well, Lord of the House.”
Grand Duke Vessian also checked the tools and his face hardened.
“As expected, the two of you can recognize it. Yes, that’s right. The culprit and the traitors communicated periodically through those tools.”
It was a method of transmitting codes and the like by imbuing pre-determined tools with demonic energy. It was used for secret communication, and the higher the level of the caster, the more perfectly the traces of demonic energy were hidden. The fact that an 8-Star dark magus like Yesika had to concentrate to barely notice it meant that the level of the one who cast this dark magic was incredibly high.
“The culprit used this dark magic to exchange codes with the traitors. When I deciphered it, the contents were about creating gaps in the security deployment of the Flame of Ruin.”
Chris handed over the contents of the code he had deciphered based on the demonic energy patterns extracted from the tools to Yesika and Grand Duke Vessian.
“Who on earth would do such a thing?”
“Well. We can find that out now by asking the traitors directly.”
Chris turned his gaze to several magi whose faces had turned deathly white.
They were the head butler of the Destruction Demonic House, Ashlet, and the captain of the Flame Knights who guarded the Flame of Ruin, Panica.
“These items came from your rooms. What do you two have to say about that?”
“!!”
The two men hurriedly denied it.
“W-we don’t know…!!”
But Yesika shouted in a rage.
“Force those two to their knees at once!!”
The magi of the Destruction Demonic House subdued the pair. The two frantically shook their heads.
“We’ve been framed!”
“It’s a scheme by that villainous Dark Demonic House bastard!”
The hall fell into confusion. The two had been loyal to the Destruction Demonic House for a long time. It was not easy to accept. There were even some who looked at Christian with suspicion.
Chris shrugged his shoulders and looked at Schwar.
“It seems there are some who don’t trust me. What do you think, Grand Duke Schwar?”
“…This Schwar swears on my position as Grand Duke that Grand Duke Christian is not telling any lies.”
When Schwar went so far as to guarantee it, the people’s gazes changed.
Yesika’s eyes sharpened.
“You bastards, will you not tell me at once who you were colluding with?! If you speak willingly, I will consider your past service and grant you a painless death!”
Crackle.
Forcing a confession through torture was Yesika’s specialty. Black lightning flickered.
But Chris stopped her midway.
“Wait, please stop. There is a high probability that a binding spell has been placed on them. If you force them to speak, you will ruin everything.”
Yesika’s expression darkened for an instant. It was highly likely, given the traces of demonic energy left on the tools. The opponent was clearly an existence whose level was no less than her own.
‘No, on the contrary, they might even be at a level that surpasses me. Who on earth?’
Dark magi of a higher level than her, a mid 8-Star dark magus, were not common even in the Magus Empire.
‘Perhaps even greater than the Lord of the House.’
For a moment, a single figure flashed through her mind, but Yesika forced herself to shake her head. She opened her mouth, hoping with all her might that her guess was wrong.
“Do you have a way?”
“No, even I have no way to undo a binding spell cast by a dark magus of this level.”
“Then?”
“Instead, I know someone who is skilled in such matters. Please, come out.”
Soon, a deep, baritone voice echoed throughout the hall.
“Leave it to me.”
Everyone had a surprised look on their face. It was a middle-aged man with the appearance of a calm scholar.
It was Duke Huam, the Head of the Venomous Demonic House!
“No, what is the Head of the Venomous Demonic House doing here?”
“Grand Duke Christian contacted me and asked me to come quickly. Grand Duke Christian is a benefactor of my Venomous Demonic House. And also.”
Duke Huam sent a sharp glare toward the two kneeling men.
“I could not stand by and do nothing after hearing that the culprit who made a fool of my house had also extended their evil hand to the Destruction Demonic House.”
“!!”
It was a famous story that the Venomous Demonic House had recently faced a crisis of annihilation due to the appearance of the Jinoksa. However, the exact details of the incident were not known. To think there was a mastermind behind it?
“What do you mean by that, Your Grace the Duke? Are you saying that the mastermind who released the Jinoksa of the Venomous Demonic House is the same person who caused the problem with the Flame of Ruin of our Destruction Demonic House?”
“Well, we’ll find out once we check, won’t we?”
Fwoosh.
An eerie green energy rose from Duke Huam’s hand.
“Please wait a moment. It won’t take long.”