Chapter 334
The Blood-Drenched Demon King staggered and drew up her power again.
She was shaking off Mefina's seal.
However, her power was markedly reduced compared to before.
‘I can't miss this chance!’
The time Mefina could bind her was fleeting.
He had to settle this within that time.
Paaaaaaah!
Chris's sword rushed toward the Blood-Drenched Demon King.
But the Blood-Drenched Demon King was not just taking it.
She raised her hand and blocked Chris’s sword. Tense, without a sign of being pushed back.
No, on the contrary, even with her power sealed, she was still overwhelming Christian.
Christian bit his lip and deployed his Domain of Dominion.
He intended to pressure the Blood-Drenched Demon King with the dominion of his Dark Demonic Energy.
But the Blood-Drenched Demon King deployed her own Domain of Dominion in response.
The two Domains of Dominion began a power struggle to seize the initiative.
Even in a situation where her power was sealed by Mefina, the energy of the Blood-Drenched Demon King’s Domain of Dominion overwhelmed Chris’s.
However, the true value of Chris's Domain of Dominion was the ‘meaning’ that resided within it.
The meaning of ‘dominion’ suppressed the ‘ruin’ of the Blood-Drenched Demon King, and little by little, the complexion of the Blood-Drenched Demon King turned pale.
On top of that, there were hands helping Christian.
“I, too, will lend my strength!!”
“I'm here, too! You devil! Engrave the greatness of this genius mage upon your eyes!!”
Evan and Ranya pressured the Blood-Drenched Demon King together.
‘We can do this.’
Paaaaaaah!
Chris put all his strength into his domain and pressured the Blood-Drenched Demon King.
His insides churned from the excessive use of energy, but he forcibly endured it.
Little by little.
But surely, the Blood-Drenched Demon King began to show signs of defeat.
‘This is the end.’
Christian aimed his holy sword.
The mana of brilliant radiance gathered.
It was the miracle technique that annihilates evil, the Evil Spirit Annihilation.
On top of that, the miracle technique that pierces the very essence of the opponent, Unified Pierce, was combined with it.
And on top of that, the Dominion of Seven Colors, which amplifies all kinds of power.
Kwaaaaaaaaaa!
An explosive power, containing all of his strength, rushed forward.
In the moment that bewilderment appeared on the face of the Blood-Drenched Demon King.
Tak.
Chris’s sword stopped.
Caught in the fingers of the Blood-Drenched Demon King.
“!!”
Chris’s eyes widened as if they would tear.
The Blood-Drenched Demon King gave a sneering smile.
[That was quite amusing. Did you have fun, too? Your antics, running wild without knowing your place, were so ridiculous that I decided to play along.]
Meaning that the appearance of her being pushed back was all an act to mock them.
‘…I can't feel Mefina's energy anymore.’
At some point, unable to withstand the power of the devil before them, she had disappeared.
[It was fun, but I suppose it’s about time to end this. There are many things to be done for the great work of our Gehenna.]
Crack!
As the Blood-Drenched Demon King clenched her fist, Chris’s sword broke in two.
It was a holy sword of at least an intermediate rank, but she had broken it as if snapping a twig.
Gwoooo!
A thick, evil energy descended, and the bodies of the three froze stiff.
‘Damn.’
Chris’s complexion turned pale.
It was the end.
[I can't just kill you plainly. Now, what kind of pain does each of you prefer? Speak your wishes. I can bestow upon you any and all kinds of pain.]
The Blood-Drenched Demon King smiled with Idrinne’s face.
A hair-raising smile.
[Idrinne, the one this child cherished the most was you, Christian. I shall bestow upon you an even greater, special grace. Even now, Idrinne is wailing from within me. Begging me to save you.]
A display of horrifically wicked taste.
It was clear that the reason the Blood-Drenched Demon King had horrifically slaughtered the Blood Sword Demonic House in his past life was also to give pain to Idrinne.
[For a start, shall I cut off your necks first? Ah, you don't need to worry about dying just because your neck is cut. As long as I do not permit it, you will not be able to find peace.]
The Blood-Drenched Demon King raised her sword.
As if to savor a banquet.
‘Damn it. I can't let it end like this.’
Chris clenched his fists tightly.
There was one.
One method he could try.
But there was a fatal problem.
‘I can't save Idrinne.’
Originally, he had planned to save Idrinne somehow.
If he used the method he was thinking of now, Idrinne would fall into Gehenna as she was.
But there was nothing more he could do.
‘Damn it.’
Paaaat!
The Blood-Drenched Demon King swung her sword down.
Precisely toward Christian’s neck.
It was as he gritted his teeth and was about to use the final means he had left.
An unexpected anomaly occurred.
The sword abruptly stopped in mid-air.
“??”
It was as everyone wore puzzled expressions.
The face of the Blood-Drenched Demon King flushed bright red.
The arm holding the sword trembled.
As if something were holding it by the hand.
[Y-you… what? How dare you?]
And then.
Something even more unbelievable happened.
Squish.
The Blood-Drenched Demon King stabbed the sword straight into her own chest!
“!!”
Drip-drip-drip.
Hot, fresh blood poured onto Christian's face.
‘What happened…?’
Chris wore a dazed expression for a moment.
The Blood-Drenched Demon King vomited a mouthful of blood and stammered.
“G-Grand Duke Christian.”
“!!”
It was Idrinne!
She had regained control of her body!
“Q-quickly… kill me.”
“You…?”
“Th-there’s no time. Quickly…!”
Idrinne’s eyes changed again.
Back to the Blood-Drenched Demon King.
[How… dare you… for a mere vessel to defy me….]
But it seemed she had not regained full control, as the body trembled, unable to move.
Then, for an instant, control returned to Idrinne.
“Q-quickly… please, I beg you.”
Idrinne looked at Christian with desperate eyes.
As if to say that she was fine.
At that gaze, Christian bit his lip hard.
He could easily kill the Blood-Drenched Demon King now.
And that was the right path.
However.
‘Damn it.’
Chris made a difficult choice.
“No, I will not kill you.”
He had decided to free Idrinne!
“W-what are you saying? Don't get any strange ideas and just kill me…! I don't want to harm you, my friend, with my own hands!”
Idrinne shouted desperately, but.
“Shut up! I will never let go of a sucker that has fallen into my hands!”
Yes.
This wasn't just because of pity.
‘To face the coming apocalypse, I need Idrinne.’
Soon.
The Mystic Demonic House will make its move.
The boundary of the Three Realms will collapse, and the entire continent will be engulfed in hellfire.
It would be impossible for Chris to stop that apocalypse alone.
He needed a sucker like Idrinne.
Of course, he knew it was a foolish gamble.
But it was fine.
‘I can do it. No, I will do it.’
Yes.
If he couldn't even accomplish something like this, he didn't deserve to be called a genius.
Chris’s hand covered Idrinne’s head.
Paaaaaaah!
He delved straight into Idrinne’s mind.
Idrinne’s mental world was covered in a suffocating evil energy.
Idrinne’s consciousness, without even a proper form remaining, flickered.
[W-what are you doing? Get back at once! At this rate, your mind will be devoured by the devil as well!!]
Delving into an opponent's mind meant that one's own mind would be completely exposed as well.
Of course, Chris’s mind possessed a vessel on a different dimension from a mortal’s, but his opponent was of a Great Rank.
There was no way he could win.
But Chris said something incomprehensible.
“There's no time, so I'll make this brief. Offer your soul to me.”
[What did you say…?]
“Swear it, right now! That you will offer your soul to me.”
It was nonsense.
She had already offered her soul to a devil of a Great Rank.
It was a story that should have been impossible to even establish, but.
“I'll take care of the rest. You just trust me and make the oath!”
[!!]
At his voice, filled with conviction, Idrinne’s consciousness trembled.
[I swear, I will offer my soul to you.]
Paaaaaaah!
A part of Idrinne’s mental world was dyed in Chris’s unique darkness.
But it was only a part.
Her entire consciousness was still under the devil’s heel.
It seemed that the part Chris’s darkness had delved into would soon be covered again by the devil’s energy.
[You are doing something foolish.]
The devil’s voice was heard like thunder.
[Do you think such a petty trick would work on me, the ruler of the 4th Circle, 'Encroaching Pain'?]
Chris just quietly shook his head.
“Of course, it would be impossible to free Idrinne from your grasp with a simple trick like this.”
[You know that well.]
“But I can shatter that great work of your Gehenna that you're so proud of.”
[…What did you say?]
An unexpected statement.
Chris suddenly brought out an unexpected weapon.
It was Andril!
Thanks to its authority called the 'Soul-Devouring Property', which allows it to directly delve into an opponent's mind and swallow their soul, he was able to manifest it even in this mental world.
[…Don't tell me, you bastard?]
“Yes, you must know what kind of weapon this is as well.”
Chris gave a smirk.
“With this soul-eating demonic sword, I will devour Idrinne's soul and annihilate it.”
[!!]
That's right.
The reason Chris had told Idrinne to offer her soul was precisely to feed her soul to Andril.
The soul and the body are not separate.
If the soul is annihilated, the body cannot remain intact, which would also put an end to her being used as a vessel.
[You bastard… do you think you will be unscathed after doing such a thing?]
“I don't care.”
Chris continued with a sneer.
“After I annihilate Idrinne, I, too, will offer my soul to Andril and make sure to land a blow on you somehow.”
[!!]
“Believe it or not, this is a soul that has transcended the rank of a mortal, so if I offer my soul to Andril, I should be able to deal you a considerable amount of damage.”
He could feel the devil hesitate.
It was a threat that not even a Great Rank could ignore.
Above all.
‘If I do this, Gehenna will lose all of its vessels.’
The Mystic Demonic House, or to be precise, Gehenna, had been targeting two vessels for its ‘great work’.
Chris and Idrinne.
However, if Chris were to annihilate Idrinne and then annihilate his own soul as well, Gehenna's plan would be completely warped.
Because there would not be another vessel like Chris and Idrinne in the world.
‘Of course, I don't want to die either.’
It was a bluff.
The reason he had not been certain of the success of this endeavor.
Depending on what choice that devil made, he could lose his life in vain.
However, Chris thought his gamble would work.
Because from Gehenna's perspective, the two of them were cards they could absolutely not afford to lose.
But then, the being let out a low laugh.
The mental world echoed as if with thunder.
[How dare you… try to mock me. Do you think I don't know your true intentions? It's useless to put up a bluff.]
“You're the one who's bluffing.”
[!!]
“The one in the difficult position right now isn't me. It's your side, Gehenna.”
There was one other reason Chris thought he had a chance of winning this gamble.
‘I have never lost a gamble before.’
Gambling is not a game of luck and probability.
It is a psychological battle.
And Chris possessed an ability more excellent than anyone at making his opponent move according to his will.
“Let's see, shall we?”
Chris suddenly swung Andril with a whoosh.
Toward Idrinne’s soul.
Crack!
Idrinne's soul split, and her spiritual form began to scatter.
It was a serious injury that could lead to her annihilation if left alone.