Chapter 359
[How dare you! If you commit such an act, do you think our Four Kings' Castle will stand by and watch?]
“You weren't planning on standing by in the first place, were you? Even if I acted meekly, you were planning to kill me anyway.”
That was right.
The reason Chris was being so reckless was because he knew the Four Kings' Castle would not leave him alone anyway, so he was making a preemptive strike.
‘I have to set the stage to my advantage.’
Right.
The reason he was committing these acts now was to set the stage as he wanted.
He had to take the lead in every situation, from beginning to end.
Only then could he bring down the Four Kings' Castle.
“And don't worry. If I kill all of you, there won't be any evidence, right? You'll just be recorded as having been killed by another unknown assailant.”
[Ha. How amusing. No matter how great you are, it is impossible for you to face all of us.]
Present at this place were two 7-Star liches and a not-insignificant number of 5 to 6-Star high-ranking magi.
It was an enormous force.
“It seems you still don't know. That I am not the Demonic Radiance I once was.”
Paat.
A gray energy covered the surroundings.
It was an ash-gray demonic energy, replicated with his Dark Demonic Energy.
[!!]
The liches flinched at the unusual energy, and Chris declared in a chilling voice.
“Go on to hell ahead of me. I'll be sending lots of your friends there soon.”
* * *
The fight did not take long.
Just as he had said, he was not the Chris he once was.
Now, unless they were of the same 8-Star, they could not be Chris’s opponent.
Although he had won an overwhelming victory, the expressions of his companions were not good.
Even for causing trouble, he had gone way too far.
One could say that the secret raids on the forces of the Four Kings' Castle until now could be overlooked, but this time, he had crossed the line by a long shot.
Alros just gaped, and the complexions of Marisa and Kashmir had turned white as a sheet.
“…A-are you in your right mind?”
“I told you, it’s fine.”
“Fine?! You’ve done something like this, how can it be fine!”
“That’s right, Grand Duke. Now that it’s come to this, how about we return to the Dark Alliance? If those bastards from the Four Kings' Castle chase us, I will block them, even if I have to sacrifice my life!”
“Aaargh! I don’t want to die like this!”
While everyone was making a fuss, a sudden, out-of-the-blue sound of applause was heard.
“As expected of my closest friend! How gallant!! Well done! I feel so refreshed.”
He turned his head, and a breathtakingly beautiful girl with blood-red hair had appeared.
It was Idrinne!
“…Grand Duchess of the Blood Sword Demonic House. What do you mean by that?”
“Weren't these whelps all enemies anyway? So, it’s only natural to kill them all when you have the chance. The war has already as good as begun; it is the fault of these whelps for being careless.”
A cold story, unlike when she was acting like a friend-fool.
Idrinne, too, was one of the absolute magi who reigned over the Four Kings' Castle, a hell on earth.
“However, I feel that you have acted a bit hastily. The whelps of the Curse and Necromancy Demonic Houses were already not planning to leave you alone, but now they will come at you even more openly.”
“That's what I was aiming for.”
“Hmm?”
Idrinne tilted her head, then her eyes soon widened.
“Don’t tell me, you? You’re deliberately trying to anger the Curse and Necromancy Demonic Houses?”
Chris nodded as if to say, that’s right.
“Yes. Because that's how a bigger bait will be caught.”
Chris continued with a surprising story.
“Now is the chance, while they are underestimating me. I plan to inflict the greatest possible wound on them.”
That was right.
Right now, the Four Kings' Castle was being careless.
They were only thinking of stomping on and killing Chris, and had not at all considered that they, in turn, could be the ones to be taken down.
‘But that won't last for long.’
Before that, he planned to provoke them and deal as fatal a blow as possible.
Chris stated his specific objective.
“The Four Kings' Castle will no longer be able to use the titles of the Four Kings and the Three Abysses.”
The 8-Star highest-ranking magi of the Four Kings' Castle.
It was a story that declared their deaths.
* * *
Perhaps because the Four Kings' Castle’s side had deliberately pulled back their forces, he arrived at the Four Kings' Castle without any further clashes.
The gates of the vast, desolate castle of death opened, and as he went inside, a deep silence greeted his party.
“Why is there no one?”
Kashmir frowned.
Whatever their inner thoughts, he had come as the representative of the Dark Alliance, carrying out the Demon Emperor’s command, and yet there was no one to greet them.
Only cold stares were piercing them from here and there on the streets.
“Well, it seems they don’t really want to welcome us. It doesn't matter.”
It was as if they were warning them.
That you will soon meet your deaths.
As expected, as they walked through the castle, a suffocating killing intent pressed down on his party.
It was as if the entire castle were hostile to them.
To say nothing of Alros, the complexions of Kashmir and Marisa also hardened.
The only ones who were fine were Christian and Idrinne.
“It’s alright. Don’t worry too much. If a dangerous situation arises, I will protect you, even if I have to sacrifice my life! Friends sacrifice their lives for each other. For the sake of friendship, even my life is not a waste!”
“…Stop with the stories that sound like they're from elementary school. For now, I’d like to go to the base we’ve been assigned.”
Both the Dark Alliance and the Four Kings' Castle had agreed to allow each other a certain area as a base and to establish a branch family.
The base was situated deep inside the Four Kings' Castle.
‘The perfect center. I can't even dream of escaping.’
It didn't matter.
The moment he had set foot in the Four Kings' Castle, there were only two options left: either die, or bring down the Four Kings' Castle.
‘Still, they’ve prepared a decent mansion. Good.’
Chris gave a grin.
“Idrinne, may I ask you for one favor?”
“Ask me anything!! I am prepared for whatever it is!”
“…No, I told you not to overdo it. Can you go get some alcohol?”
Everyone’s eyes widened.
Chris gave a grin.
“We’ve come a long way, so we should rest a bit. Everyone’s worked hard, so let’s have a drinking party for the first time in a while.”
And so.
The real operation to reel in the Four Kings' Castle began.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the Tower of the Four Kings, the center of the Four Kings' Castle.
Drenne, the Vice-Head of the Necromancy Demonic House, was listening to a report with low, sunken eyes.
“What is the whelp doing now?”
“…He is holding a drinking party.”
“…That bastard who deserves to be chewed to death.”
A chilling aura of death rose up from the enraged Drenne.
‘There’s a limit to how much he can look down on our Four Kings' Castle.’
They could not attack the whelp while he was staying at the base. It would be openly defying the Demon Emperor’s command.
The whelp knew that as well, which was why he was acting so brazenly.
‘There’s a limit to how much he can insult me.’
Currently, the Lord of the Four Kings' Castle and the Vengeful Spirit, the Head of the Curse Demonic House, were in seclusion as the internal injuries they had suffered in the war with the Dark Alliance had not yet healed.
Therefore, Drenne was currently leading the Four Kings' Castle, and every time Chris committed an insulting act, she felt as if he were smearing mud on her face.
‘There will be many chances to strike the whelp in the future. I will absolutely not let him die a peaceful death.’
“Monitor the whelp thoroughly. The moment he leaves the base, report at once.”
“As you command!!”
But it was in that moment.
Suddenly, an urgent voice was heard.
[Vice-Head, there is a big problem.]
Drenne wore a puzzled expression.
The one who had appeared was the 8-Star Archlich, Rockpelt.
One of the Four Kings.
[A crack has suddenly appeared in the underground seal!]
“What did you say?”
Drenne’s expression hardened.
He meant the seal that was binding the Demon King of Silver Snow.
‘Why?’
This was a problem that had nothing to do with the likes of Christian.
If the Demon King of Silver Snow were to be released, an enormous disaster would descend.
Drenne, who had urgently reached the sealing site, frowned.
“Why is the seal damaged?”
It was strange.
It was not a crack that had formed naturally.
Someone had made a move.
‘But who?’
A short while ago, after that whelp Christian had rummaged through the sealing site, the 8-Star Four Kings had been thoroughly guarding it in turns.
‘Don’t tell me?’
Drenne asked.
“By any chance, did that whelp Christian enter this place?”
[Absolutely not. I was guarding it with my own two eyes. Not even a single rat has entered.]
Drenne shut her mouth.
No matter who the whelp was, it was impossible for him to avoid the eyes of an 8-Star Archlich and pull a trick.
And above all, wasn't the whelp having a drinking party right now?
‘Then why is there a crack like this?’
Unable to find an answer, she returned to the Tower of the Four Kings.
“Monitor the whelp even more thoroughly!!”
“As you command!!”
The magi of the Four Kings' Castle packed the area around the base.
A thorough watch where not even a single bug could escape.
But Christian paid it no mind and just continued to hold his drinking parties.
“He’s holding a drinking party again today?”
“…To be precise, he is in a state where he has passed out after one sip. He is extremely weak to alcohol, so he passes out after just one sip every time. I do not know why he holds a drinking party if he’s going to be like that.”
Drenne’s face contorted into a deep frown.
She couldn't even begin to guess what the whelp was thinking.
Just then, another urgent voice was heard.
[…The seal has cracked again.]
“Again?”
Drenne’s expression hardened like a stone.
She headed for the sealing site in a single bound, and indeed, a new crack had formed.
‘It’s a more severe crack than before.’
The seal itself was still alright.
But if the same thing were to happen again, she could not be sure.
“Are you sure no one has entered? Are you truly guarding it properly?”
At the questioning voice, the Archlich Rockpelt answered with a displeased look.
[I am certain. Are you perhaps doubting my eyes?]
Drenne frowned.
No matter if she was the head of the Four Kings and the Vice-Head of the Necromancy Demonic House, she could not treat an Archlich carelessly.
‘Damn it. What on earth happened?’
It was in that moment.
The Demon King of Silver Snow, who had been trapped in a transparent coffin at the sealing site, showed a faint movement.
She opened her eyes and stared at Drenne.
“!!”
Drenne swallowed hard.
‘Why is she suddenly moving?’
The Demon King of Silver Snow had been in a comatose state for a long time, and yet she had suddenly opened her eyes.
That wasn't all.
Grin.
The Demon King of Silver Snow gave a faint smile toward Drenne.
Drenne swallowed hard.
A chilling shiver ran down her spine.
‘…The Smile of Death.’
It was the smile the Demon King of Silver Snow was said to show to her enemies.
A smile that not a single person had survived seeing.
As if her having opened her eyes had been a lie, she slowly closed them again and fell into a comatose state.
But Drenne could not calm her trembling hands.
-You will meet your death.
It was as if the Demon King of Silver Snow had said those words.
‘Damn it. I cannot leave this as it is any longer.’
It was ominous.
There was still some time left until the Lord of the Four Kings' Castle and the Vengeful Spirit would return.
It felt as if some disaster would occur before then.
Drenne, who had returned to the Tower of the Four Kings, commanded in a rough voice.
“We are going to the Dark Alliance’s base.”
“You yourself, ma’am?”
“Yes, I will go myself.”
Leaving her flustered subordinates behind, Drenne strode forward with rough steps.
‘I cannot just watch this any longer.’
The base was right next to the Tower of the Four Kings.
Drenne arrived at the base where Christian was.