Chapter 341
‘My reason for going to the Keinper Training Center is also to make the Round Table and the Celestial Magic Tower submit.’
Submission.
It meant he was plotting something big again.
In any case, Chris planned to ‘complete’ his power of light during this trip to the Keinper Training Center.
“Heh heh, impressive. How absurd.”
The Magus Chancellor looked at him with amusement in his eyes.
“Still, it’s just as I expected. In fact, if you had said you would accept my help, I would have been a little disappointed. My own bloodline should be at least this ambitious.”
The Magus Chancellor said with a grin.
“The more I see of you, the more I like you.”
Chris slowly lifted his glass.
A sip of the smooth liquid went down his throat, and a heavenly sensation followed.
He wanted to drop everything and enjoy it by the crate, but this was no situation to be leisurely savoring the taste.
There was something he had to ask.
“…Have you, by any chance, recently taken a nine-tailed fox as your subordinate?”
It was about the Chatterbox of Darkness.
The Magus Chancellor stared at Chris for a moment, then nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
A short affirmation.
Chris had already guessed this much.
The dark magic the Chatterbox of Darkness had used was something impossible for anyone but the Magus Chancellor.
What he was really curious about was something else.
‘Should I ask?’
As he hesitated, the Magus Chancellor said with a smile.
“Is there something you’re curious about regarding that nine-tailed fox? You can ask if there is.”
“…Why did you make that nine-tailed fox your subordinate?”
The Magus Chancellor gave an unexpected answer.
“It wasn't my will.”
“…It wasn't your will, Your Excellency?”
“Yes, that nine-tailed fox came to me first, asking to be made my subordinate. I swear on His Majesty the Demon Emperor’s name, it’s true.”
Chris wore a look of disbelief.
Why would Lena do that?
“…By any chance, where is that nine-tailed fox now?”
“Well? I don't know about that.”
A lie.
Chris noticed, but the Magus Chancellor, as if he didn't want to continue the conversation, rose from his seat.
“Well, let's end our talk here. Shall we get up? There’s a place we need to go together. There is someone who wishes to see you.”
“Me, you say?”
“Yes.”
The Magus Chancellor smiled faintly and brought up an unexpected name.
“The Demon Empress wishes to see you.”
* * *
Chris’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘The Demon Empress? Why me?’
It was a name he had never expected.
No one in the Magus Empire knew what kind of being the Demon Empress was.
The title did not simply refer to the Demon Emperor’s consort.
The Demon Emperor was known to be a perfect being who stood alone, with no such thing as a consort.
Her origins.
What power she possessed.
The meaning behind the title ‘Empress’.
All were unknown.
Recently, there were even those who doubted the very existence of the Demon Empress.
“Go on in alone.”
A large door opened.
With a hardened expression, Chris stepped inside and came face to face with a being within.
“!!”
It was a girl of small stature.
She wore a mask that covered more than half of her face.
The delicate outline faintly visible below the mask gave her a youthful look.
‘That girl is the Demon Empress?’
Her appearance was unexpected.
Beyond just her fragile appearance, he could feel no pressure from her at all.
‘She’s not just suppressing her aura. I can’t feel her presence.’
It was incomprehensible.
Every Demon King he had met until now, without exception, possessed a powerful presence that pressed down on one's soul.
Whether they revealed their power or not, their very existence put pressure on others.
But the girl before him just seemed empty.
It wasn't that her presence was weak; he couldn't feel any presence from her at all.
He was clearly seeing her with his own eyes, yet it felt as if she wasn't actually there.
‘But why does she feel familiar?’
He felt an incomprehensible sense of déjà vu.
In that moment, Chris held his breath.
His eyes met the Demon Empress’s.
The feeling of déjà vu intensified. He had definitely seen those eyes before. Eyes that were familiar.
‘Impossible.’
Chris swallowed hard at the thought that had just crossed his mind.
But he couldn't easily accept it.
Because it was an impossible notion.
First, he knelt to pay his respects.
“I greet Your Majesty, the Demon Empress. I am Christian of the Dark Demonic House.”
[…….]
The eyes beneath the mask turned to Chris.
Empty.
They were completely different from the eyes of the person he had been reminded of.
But why?
Chris kept being reminded of one person.
“…I wish to receive Your Majesty the Demon Empress’s command. Please give me your orders.”
However, the Demon Empress showed an incomprehensible reaction.
Though she must have called him for a reason, she did not bring up any topic.
She just stared at Chris.
It was when Chris was narrowing his brow, unable to grasp her intentions.
Fwaat!
At the sudden surge of crisis, Chris instinctively twisted his body.
Slice.
The floor where he had been kneeling split apart.
Startled, he turned his gaze.
“Your Majesty the Demon Empress?”
He asked as if he couldn't understand, but the Demon Empress still did not answer.
Once again, a hair-raising feeling came over him, and as he tilted his head back, the hair on his forehead was cut away.
If he had been a little slower, his neck would have been severed.
“…Please tell me what sin I have committed to deserve this.”
Chris drew his sword.
[You have committed no sin.]
The Demon Empress finally opened her mouth.
It was a spiritual voice that resonated in his mind, its origin indistinguishable.
[Draw your sword. If you can cut even a single thread of my clothing, I will withdraw my attack.]
Chris frowned.
‘What is she trying to do?’
It was a situation he couldn't understand.
It didn't seem as if she truly intended to harm him.
If the Demon Empress had been serious about killing him, there was no way he could have endured it.
The attack she had just launched was also at a level perfectly suited for him.
‘Is she testing me?’
Chris aimed his sword.
It wasn't a bad proposition.
As it happened, there was something he wanted to do.
‘I will cut that mask off.’
He had to see the face under that mask.
Since she told him to try and cut her clothes, it should be fine to cut her mask as well.
Another attack flew at him.
Chris relied on his instincts and twisted his body.
Slice. The floor, walls, and pillars were mercilessly cut apart.
It was a strange attack.
It wasn't demonic energy.
‘Is this… spiritual power?’
Chris wore a surprised expression, having identified the nature of the attack the Demon Empress was launching.
The power of the soul.
It was the power used by devils and constellations.
‘How can a mortal wield spiritual power?’
It was not simply a matter of the soul’s rank.
The very size of the soul one was born with was different, so no matter how much a mortal raised their soul’s rank, it was difficult to use spiritual power itself as a weapon.
The same went for Chris, but the Demon Empress before him was using the power of her soul as if it were her own limbs, as if a devil or a constellation had descended.
‘Is it possible for a pure human to use spiritual power like this?’
Chris raised Andril to block the Demon Empress’s attack.
No other sword could block her spiritual power. Even defending with Dark Demonic Energy, it would just be cut through like paper.
He was able to evade, thanks to the Demon Empress holding back, but that, too, soon became overwhelming.
Fwoooosh!
The level of her attacks was gradually rising.
In each and every fleeting moment, a dizzying crisis assailed him.
‘I can't last long. I have to end this quickly.’
Sizzle.
Chris, in response, drew up his own ‘spiritual power’.
A pure power of the soul, different from demonic energy and mana.
It was insignificant compared to the spiritual power of the Demon Empress, which was reminiscent of a devil or a constellation, but this was the only way to block her attacks.
Clang!!
The Demon Empress’s spiritual power cut Chris’s spiritual power.
In an instant, a crack formed as if glass were shattering, and he felt his soul reel, but Chris endured it.
‘Just a moment is all I need.’
Fwaat!
Chris’s body disappeared, then reappeared before the Demon Empress, having crossed the space between them.
As he got close enough to touch, his heart pounded, and the sense of déjà vu amplified like crazy.
It was the feeling of ‘her’, whom he knew.
He had to confirm it.
But the Demon Empress did not stand still.
As she glanced at him from within her mask, a storm of spiritual power rushed toward Chris.
It was clear that if he didn't retreat at once, his very soul would be torn to shreds, but Chris did not back down.
He gritted his teeth and deployed his Dark Demonic Energy.
The Dominion of Seven Colors, a domain of dominion that amplifies all powers, unfolded, and Chris’s spiritual power was also momentarily strengthened.
‘I only have one chance.’
He raised Andril and swung it down, but the moment the Demon Empress raised her hand, an invisible barrier blocked Andril.
It was blocked in vain, but he had expected this.
Chris clenched his fists and drew up all his strength.
He even used the Vampiric Ring.
As his state had risen, the effect of the Vampiric Ring had also been enhanced, and he could now even absorb the stray energy of others in his surroundings.
Of course, using the absorbed energy of others in this way put an enormous strain on his vessel, so it was a method that should only be used in a moment of life and death, but this was no time to be picky.
An immense energy was concentrated in Andril.
Paaaaaaah!
Like water parting, the barrier the Demon Empress had deployed split apart.
But that was all.
Tak.
The moment the Demon Empress raised her hand, Andril was easily blocked.
It was over.
And yet, something unexpected happened.
Crack.
A crack began to form on the mask the Demon Empress was wearing.
Unified Pierce.
He had secretly unleashed a miracle technique hidden within Andril's attack, one that unconditionally hits its target, and it had landed!
‘No, it didn’t just land. The Demon Empress didn't block it.’
The moment he had unleashed Unified Pierce, Chris had sensed his failure.
If the Demon Empress had wanted to block it, there was no way she couldn't have.
But, incomprehensibly, the Demon Empress did not block the attack.
As if she wanted him to take off her mask.
The mask cracked and split.
‘Could it be?’
Chris swallowed hard.
And then.
Thud, the moment the mask fell, a shock as if his heart had stopped washed over him.
It was the face he had expected.
It was the girl he had seen a short while ago.
The one with the exact same face as Marie.
“…Why?”
Chris said blankly.
The girl with the same face as Marie, the Demon Empress, said nothing and just stared at him.
With unfamiliar, yet familiar eyes.
Chris said in a suppressed voice.
“…What is your relationship with Marie?”
The Demon Empress tilted her head.
[Who is Marie? Is that the girl you mentioned a while ago, the one who looks like me? I am not her.]
A curious voice, as if she truly did not know.
Chris bit his lip hard.
The Demon Empress sent a quizzical look toward Chris, then casually opened her mouth.
[I called you because there is something I wish to say.]
“…What is it?”
[Kill me.]
“!!”
Chris flinched.
“…What do you mean by that?”
The Demon Empress’s eyes were still indifferent.
[Are you not trying to stop the Demon Emperor’s will?]
Chris recalled the sight of the ‘Garden in a Painting’.
He realized that the Demon Empress had deliberately shown him the Garden in a Painting.
[There is not much time to talk. If you wish to stop the Demon Emperor’s will, there is only one way.]
The Demon Empress continued with empty eyes.
[You must kill me. No matter what method you use.]
* * *
Before he could ask anything more, the Demon Empress disappeared.
He came outside in a daze, and the Magus Chancellor approached him with a grin.
“Well, did the audience go well? Was there nothing special said?”
“……”
Chris kept his mouth firmly shut and observed the Magus Chancellor’s expression.
It was a face with an unreadable smile.