Chapter 407
Evan, Idrinne, and Ranya decided to be the only ones to accompany him to the Imperial Capital.
Many others, including Count Khazar, wished to join, but he shook his head.
‘The others won't be of any help, anyway.’
They had to be at least 9-Star.
Nordian and the Demon King of Silver Snow were unfortunately unable to join due to their severe injuries.
Still, Chris had given them first aid, so they would recover with time.
“Now, let’s get going.”
The Magus Chancellor urged with a faint smile.
Tta-ak.
When the Magus Chancellor flicked his fingers, a subspace opened. It appeared to be a portal leading to the vicinity of the Imperial Capital.
An ominous violet pillar was enveloping the Imperial Capital.
“What in the world is the identity of that pillar?”
“It is the Path to Ascension.”
It was an unexpected name.
“Do you know what ascension is?”
“…Isn’t it when beings of the 3rd and 4th realms become beings of a higher order?”
“Yes, that’s right. The Celestial Realm and Gehenna planned to use you as a sacrifice to bring about the ruin of the world and ascend in the new world. But with that method, we humans would only be side characters.”
The Magus Chancellor continued his explanation.
“So, the Magus Emperor plans to bring about the ruin of the world himself and become the protagonist of the ascension. Thanks to you, the schemes of Gehenna and the Celestial Realm have been shattered, so the Magus Emperor has all but achieved his goal.”
Chris frowned.
He had realized a single fact from the Magus Chancellor’s words.
“Was the Magus Emperor using me from the very beginning?”
“Rather than using you, it would be more accurate to say he bet on you. He judged that you would ultimately be victorious against the schemes of Gehenna and the Celestial Realm.”
The reason the Celestial Realm and Gehenna had made Chris regress was to make him the perfect sacrifice.
The Magus Emperor had seemed to be moving with the same goal as the Celestial Realm and Gehenna, but in truth, he had been hoping for Chris’s victory for his own ambitions.
“Of course, it wouldn’t have mattered if you had failed. Because the Magus Emperor’s true aim was not you.”
“…What does that mean?”
“You’ll know once you go inside.”
The Magus Chancellor gave a playful, yet somehow ominous smile.
“Now, go on in. True Hero.”
Paaaat!
A part of the pillar faded, and a passage was created.
Chris frowned, then stepped inside.
Evan, Idrinne, and Ranya followed behind him.
“What is this?”
Those who had entered wore bewildered expressions.
It had originally been a large city with a population of over a million, but there was not a single person walking around.
Upon closer inspection of the streets, they saw people who had lost consciousness lying collapsed inside the buildings.
“There is no physical damage; only their souls have left their bodies. It seems they have been captured as sacrifices for the Path to Ascension, just as the Magus Chancellor said.”
Chris clenched his fists tightly.
To offer the souls of a million humans as a sacrifice was a gruesome act.
Since his intention was to destroy this entire world from the start, he probably wouldn’t have hesitated in the slightest to sacrifice a million people.
‘I will not let him get away with this.’
Chris clenched his fists tightly.
“It will take time to digest this many souls as a sacrifice, so if we hurry, there might be some souls we can save.”
Everyone nodded at Ranya’s words.
“Let’s go to the Imperial Palace.”
They headed for the Imperial Palace that rose from the very center of the Imperial Capital.
[St…op.]
In the middle of their path, monsters blocked their way.
They were all monsters with power comparable to the highest-ranking demons. Some were monsters with power nearing that of a devil, but they were no match for Chris’s party.
“…Something feels unsettling.”
“Christian, I think you should be careful. I have a bad feeling about this.”
Chris agreed with Evan and Idrinne’s words.
The closer they got to the Imperial Palace, the more the ominous feeling intensified.
And so.
It was the moment they had crossed the walls of the Imperial Palace and arrived at the widely spread garden.
“!!”
The entire party came to a halt.
Silent.
In a stillness where even the air seemed to be holding its breath, a boy was sitting leisurely in the garden.
Emerald-green hair and sapphire eyes.
It was a familiar face.
‘How can this be?’
Chris swallowed hard.
It was a face he had seen countless times in his past life.
As if sensing the party’s presence, the boy turned his head.
His gaze was fixed squarely on Chris.
[So you are Christian? This is the first time I’ve seen you in person.]
Gooooo.
He had only uttered a single sentence, but an immense pressure crushed down on the party.
The complexions of the others, besides Chris, turned white.
An existence capable of pressuring even a party of 9-Stars.
“…Magus Emperor.”
The boy smiled faintly, as if in affirmation.
The strongest in the mortal realm.
He had finally met the existence that could be called the one who stood at the pinnacle of all humanity.
“…Why do you have that face?”
Chris growled in a low voice.
‘Why does the Magus Emperor have the same face as I did in my past life?’
It was identical to his face from his time as ‘Chris’, the prince of the Holy Nation, not ‘Christian’ of the Dark Demonic House.
The boy, the Magus Emperor, tilted his head.
[Why do I resemble you? It’s nothing special. You inherited my bloodline. My original name is Werner Argent. Have you heard of it?]
It was the name of the founder of the Holy Nation, Chris’s house from his past life.
[You heard that the Holy Nation was created due to the schemes of the Constellations and Gehenna, right? I provided my seed at that time, so you are, in a sense, my descendant. Though I never thought a being who resembled me this much would be born.]
It was an unexpected hidden story.
It wasn’t important now, but there was one thing that bothered him.
“You’re saying I resemble you?”
[Yes, not just in appearance, but especially in talent and potential. Watching you grow, I thought I was seeing my former self. It didn’t even take me 10 years to reach 9-Star at first, either.]
“!!”
If the Magus Emperor’s words were true, then there was no chance of victory.
Because he was a terrible monster who had lived for an eternity with the same talent as Chris.
That was not all.
Something even more despairing occurred.
[I’ll let you see a familiar face. Now, come out.]
Sreureuk.
The figure of a girl appeared from the empty air.
A familiar appearance. It was the Magus Empress.
‘Don’t tell me?’
Chris clenched his fists tightly.
She was different from when he had met her in the Imperial Capital before.
At that time, the Magus Empress had felt a sense of emptiness, as if her soul were vacant.
But now, there was no such empty feeling, and she was exuding an intense pressure.
A feeling of having been reborn as a perfect being.
“…What happened to Marie?”
“Are you referring to the ‘soul’ of the Magus Empress? As you can see, she has returned to her original place and become one. The existence you know as ‘Marie’ is no more.”
Chris gritted his teeth.
It meant that Marie had been annihilated as she assimilated with the Magus Empress.
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
But there was no time to be consumed by anger.
“The Magus Empress is a weapon I have prepared over an eternity to slay the Great Beings. It would be good to test its performance today.”
As the Magus Emperor gestured, the Magus Empress stepped forward.
“Christian, be careful!!”
“Stand back!!”
Evan and Idrinne urgently stepped forward.
They mobilized their 9-Star power and took a defensive stance, but a shocking event occurred.
Wajangchang.
The moment the Magus Empress raised her hand, Evan and Idrinne’s energy shattered to pieces.
“What?!”
Evan and Idrinne wore expressions of incomprehension.
The power they had just manifested had contained the law of causality, yet it had collapsed without holding on for a moment.
It wasn’t as if it had been crushed by an irresistibly powerful force.
It had simply nullified their power as if erasing it with an eraser.
‘An authority that nullifies the law of causality.’
Chris let out a groan as he realized the identity of the attack the Magus Empress had just shown.
When he had met her before, the Magus Empress had used a power of unknown identity, but now that she had absorbed Marie and become complete, the identity of that power became clear.
‘It’s a power aimed at the Great Beings.’
Chris felt a chill.
It wasn't just the Great Beings.
No existence in this place could stand against the Magus Empress.
Because their power was also ultimately based on the law of causality.
—If you wish to stop the Magus Emperor’s will, then kill me.
The words the Magus Empress had spoken before.
She had wanted him to kill her, or to be precise, ‘Marie’.
It was a proposal that Chris could not follow.
‘Damn it, why did Marie get herself caught by the Magus Emperor?’
If only the Magus Empress hadn't become complete, there would have been a way, but he could see no answer.
‘…No. Something is strange.’
Did Marie not know that she would end up like this?
Chris recalled the last words Marie had left him.
—Ohoho. I shall prepare for a happy future with the young master.
Marie had definitely said ‘prepare’.
What was she preparing for?
He didn’t know.
However.
‘This situation is what Marie intended. There must be a solution that Marie prepared. I have to find it.’
Chris’s gaze sank low.
Was it just his imagination?
For a fleeting moment, an unidentifiable desperation flashed in the eyes of the Magus Empress as she looked at Chris.
And Chris had a flash of insight.
“Evan, Idrinne, Ranya. Hold the Magus Empress down for just a moment.”
It was an unreasonable request.
Against the Magus Empress, all the 9-Star authorities that used the law of causality would be sealed.
However, the one silver lining was that Evan, Idrinne, and Ranya were all possessors of such outstanding talent that it would be a shame to call them second-best on the continent.
It was possible for them to exert powerful force even with the authority of an 8-Star, which was one level lower.
Paaaat!
A domain of dominion, with the law of causality excluded, took control of the surroundings.
The Magus Empress nonchalantly tore apart that domain of dominion, but the three of them did not back down easily.
Sword, Blood Art, and white magic rushed in brilliantly, and for a moment, the Magus Empress’s hands and feet were tied.
‘Now!!’
Chris approached the Magus Empress and reached out his hand.
He wasn’t trying to attack.
His hand reached the area where her soul was located.
[…You bastard?]
The Magus Emperor, who had only been observing, wore a perplexed expression. He had noticed Chris’s true intention.
But it was too late.
‘Mental Access.’
It was a way to connect the opponent’s mental world with his own.
It was a common mental-type black magic, but if the opponent was an existence on the level of the Magus Empress, it would be absolutely impossible to access unless she released her mental barrier herself.
‘But I can.’
The reason was simple.
There was no way ‘Marie’ would reject him.
Just as he thought, the expression of the Magus Empress, no, ‘Marie’, slowly relaxed.
Paaaaaaaat!!
He entered Marie’s mental world.
However, there was a problem.
‘What is this?’
Chris wore a bewildered expression.
He had entered the mental worlds of others countless times in the past.
But Marie’s mental world was different from anyone else’s.
‘Why isn’t it just one?’
A person’s mental world is singular.
The surface of consciousness and the depths of the subconscious are connected in a vast expanse.
But Marie’s mental world was divided into countless rooms.
And they were not ordinary rooms.
—*Kuaaaaaaaak.*
—*Please, stop… stop…!!*
Every mental room was screaming in terrible agony.
Chris swallowed hard.
A single, horrifying conjecture came to his mind.
‘Could Marie’s true identity be?’