Chapter 408
Chris had never known what kind of being Marie was.
And it wasn't just Marie.
Until now, no one had known the true identity of the ‘Magus Empress’.
An existence of this magnitude should have had a past, but there were no such traces at all.
—The Magus Empress is an artificial soul created by His Majesty the Magus Emperor.
Created.
What did it mean, ‘what’ and ‘how’ was she created?
Seeing the countless divided and suffering mental worlds, he could guess.
‘Marie’s soul was created by extracting the grudges of people.’
He recalled the image of the Garden in the Painting, where the Magus Empress had led him when he had come to the Imperial Capital in the past.
Marie’s existence was created from the grudges of countless people who had been made to suffer for hundreds of years.
Just then, a familiar voice was heard.
—I truly wanted to be happy. Because that was the wish of everyone who gave birth to me.
It was Marie!
She was looking at Chris with a poignant expression, different from her usual self.
Chris, who had come to understand the reason why Marie had always repeated her desire to be happy, bit his lip hard.
—Is it… possible?
—…Of course.
Chris nodded firmly.
—Trust me. I will make you happy, no matter what.
Marie smiled faintly.
—Ohoho. Could I… take this as a proposal?
—No, that’s….
Chris shook his head with an awkward expression.
He had never even thought about marriage.
What was this talk of marriage when the world was on the verge of ruin?
‘Well, it’s not like Marie is being serious, either.’
There was only one thing Chris had to do for Marie right now.
To free her from that suffering.
Paaaaaaaat!!!
A brilliant light burst forth from Chris’s soul.
He imbued his feelings for Marie into the law of causality and shone it upon her mental world.
As if it were an ‘exorcism’.
—*Aaaaaaaah.*
The suffering minds shed tears.
Tears also fell from Marie’s eyes.
She had always shown a lighthearted demeanor, but in reality, she must have always been suffering in terrible agony.
At the first comfort she had ever received, her soul was purified, and the Magus Emperor’s curse that had bound her mental world was shaken to its very core.
—How dare you…!!
The Magus Emperor let out a voice filled with anger.
Chris shouted coldly.
—Get away from what’s mine!
Wajangchang!!
Chris’s power was no match for the Magus Emperor, but with Marie, the master of the mental world, cooperating fully with Chris, he was able to shatter the curse.
Chris exited the mental world and returned to reality.
He could see the Magus Emperor, having taken a blow, vomiting a mouthful of blood.
‘I can win.’
Chris’s eyes shone.
No matter how strong the Magus Emperor was, the breaking of a curse that had bound an existence on the level of the Magus Empress could not have been a small blow.
Now was his chance.
Sreureureuk.
An intense pressure flowed out from Chris.
He had revealed the true form of his soul that had reached the level of a Great Being.
A hole.
As if a powerful force were twisting the surroundings, the surrounding law of causality shook violently at the law of causality of Chris, who had revealed his form to the world.
“Disappear.”
Flash!
Light and darkness intersected.
The Magus Emperor tried to defend by drawing up his law of causality in response, but due to the shock he had just received, he could not do so perfectly.
He staggered from the impact, and Marie moved.
[I will not forgive anyone who gets in the way of my happiness with the young master!]
The source of Marie’s power was pain.
Although her power had greatly decreased as that pain was purified, the quality that her existence itself held had not disappeared.
In addition, Marie had been bound by the Magus Emperor for a long time.
Although the curse had been broken, the traces of that bond still remained, and she traced those traces back to inflict a direct blow on the Magus Emperor’s soul.
Marie’s causality cleaver shattered the Magus Emperor’s defense, and at the same time, Evan, Idrinne, and Ranya also stepped forward.
The sword that cleaves the world.
The Blood Art that toys with the origin of existence.
The white magic that pierces the origin of all phases.
The ultimate skills that the three of them had awakened upon reaching 9-Star raged.
It was a powerful attack that even the Magus Emperor could not have escaped unscathed.
However.
[Not bad. If it weren’t for ‘me’, this would have been a close call.]
Paaaat!
Marie’s causality cleaver was nullified and scattered to pieces.
The same went for Evan’s world-cleaving sword and Idrinne and Ranya’s ultimate skills.
He had not defended by drawing up his power.
He had analyzed the opponent’s attack in real time, then interfered with its origin at the unit level and dismantled it.
Just like Chris had often done.
[I told you. You and I are alike. Anything you can do, I can do as well.]
The Magus Emperor gave a faint smile.
His complexion was pale from the blow when Marie’s curse was broken and the damage he had sustained from Chris’s attack, but he was full of composure.
A face that did not think for a moment that he would lose.
‘…Can I win?’
Chris swallowed hard.
He had met countless powerful enemies so far.
But he felt a towering wall that he had never felt from any other powerful enemy.
[Chris, I will not kill you. Now that the Magus Empress is broken, I’ll have to make you into a new weapon.]
The Magus Emperor stretched out his hand and manifested his energy.
Gooooooooo.
10-Star.
The law of causality corresponding to a Great Being raged.
Chris and his party tried to defend with hardened expressions, but it was useless.
[I told you it’s meaningless to struggle, didn’t I?]
The moment the Magus Emperor’s gaze fell upon them, the energy they had drawn up scattered to pieces.
He had intervened in the law of causality and dismantled it again!
[Now, let’s end this.]
The Magus Emperor brandished his power at them, who were completely defenseless.
Gooooooooo.
A storm of the law of causality raged.
All the laws of the world submitted to the Magus Emperor’s authority.
The scenery of the world distorted, and space-time twisted.
‘I can’t handle it.’
Chris bit his lip hard.
The power the Magus Emperor was showing right now was not lacking even when compared to a 3rd-realm being.
There was no way for Chris, who had not yet fully ascended to 10-Star, to stand against it.
‘How does the Magus Emperor have such power?’
The law of causality the Magus Emperor held was beyond reason.
In that moment, he recalled a story he had heard from Mefina before.
—However, you… are special. To have obtained the quality of a transcendent with solely your own power… you are likely the only one who has earned the right to a proper ascension.
According to what Mefina had said back then, the Magus Emperor had not obtained the quality of a transcendent through proper means.
The circumstances were easy to guess.
‘He must have obtained it by offering people as sacrifices.’
That immense power right now must have been obtained by offering the souls of the Imperial Capital as a sacrifice.
Chris let out a laugh.
“What Magus Emperor, what ‘similar to me’?”
[…What?]
“A pathetic fool who can’t even use his power properly without offering others as a sacrifice.”
[!!]
Chris twisted the corners of his mouth into a sneer.
“I’ll show you what a truly great being is.”
Evan, Idrinne, and Ranya, noticing that Chris was about to attempt something, stood in front of him as if to guard him.
They would not be able to hold out for long.
A few minutes at most.
He had to perform a miracle within that time.
Chris’s mindscape sank low.
‘I have to ascend to a perfect 10-Star.’
A single method came to mind.
To attempt that method, he first had to ascend to 10-Star.
‘The reason I cannot ascend to 10-Star is because I lack the authority corresponding to a Great Being.’
Great Devils and Great Stars possess this authority from birth.
On the other hand, Chris had acquired the law of causality through pure enlightenment and his own genius, so he did not possess this authority.
‘I can obtain it. Since even a fool like that obtained it.’
How could he obtain ‘authority’?
What was the ‘authority’ corresponding to a Great Being?
The answer came quickly.
The Great Devils possess authority as the masters of Gehenna, and the Great Stars possess authority as the masters of the Celestial Realm.
‘I must become the master of the surface.’
To be precise, he had to become the King of Men.
A vague task.
But Chris already possessed the qualifications.
‘I am already the king of this surface.’
The Magus Empire, led by the Dark Alliance.
The Golden Cross.
The Karn Empire.
The Holy Empire.
The entire continent was under his feet.
He was not talking about simple power.
Chris had saved the continent and humanity by overcoming all sorts of hardships and adversities over the past years.
If he, who had done so, did not have the right to become the master of humanity, then who in this world could have the qualifications?
‘At the very least, I am more suited to be the king of men than that fiend.’
Just one thing.
There were beings who had not granted Chris the right to become king.
They were the people of this Imperial Capital.
The pitiful ones who were being annihilated, soul and all, as a sacrifice for the Magus Emperor.
Chris stretched out his hand toward the violet pillar.
He declared to the souls who were still writhing in terrible agony.
“Serve me as your king. I will grant you salvation.”
[!!]
He could feel the souls that had been offered as sacrifices waver.
The Magus Emperor shouted in anger.
[How dare you! They are my property. The likes of you…!]
“Property?”
Chris sneered coldly.
“The likes of you have no right to be their king!”
The souls that had been offered as sacrifices raged, as if in agreement.
[Do you think I will let you have your way?]
The Magus Emperor gritted his teeth and took action.
He moved the law of causality to forcibly prevent them from submitting to Chris.
However.
“I told you, didn’t I? The likes of you cannot compare to me.”
Unlike what the Magus Emperor had said, the two were not alike.
Chris was incomparably superior to the likes of the Magus Emperor.
Chris began to interfere with the Magus Emperor’s law of causality.
In terms of the total amount of the law of causality, Chris was significantly lacking compared to the Magus Emperor.
But the ‘will’ contained within the law of causality that Chris held was incomparably superior to that of the Magus Emperor.
Furthermore, Chris was not alone.
—We acknowledge you as our king!!
—O great king!! Grant us salvation!
The souls of the Imperial Capital that had been offered as sacrifices revered Chris and added their strength to his.
They were not the only ones.
The entire continent.
Everyone he had saved so far was earnestly praying for Chris’s victory.
Paaaaaaaat!!!
Chris felt the quality of his soul changing.
He had obtained ‘authority’ and ascended to a perfect 10-Star.
And it was no ordinary 10-Star.
The master of the surface, the King of Men.
He had become the master of one of the three realms.
His quality would not be lacking even when compared to a 3rd-realm being.
[I-impossible…!! I cannot accept this!!]
Chris looked down at the Magus Emperor as if he were an insect.
“Die.”
A command was given.
Sasasak.
The Magus Emperor’s body and soul began to turn to dust and scatter.
[Th-this cannot be…!! Kraaaaaaaaaaak!!!!!]
He tried to resist, but it was useless.
The world annihilated the Magus Emperor’s existence.
He had won!!!
But Chris did not relax his tense expression.
The fight was not yet over.
“Come out.”
The worst of the worst.
He called the name of the being who had even toyed with the Magus Emperor.
“Magus Chancellor.”
Sareureureuk.
With a quiet wind, the remains of the Magus Emperor that had scattered into dust flowed somewhere.
At the end of that direction, the Magus Chancellor in a gentleman’s suit appeared.
“Excellent. To truly achieve victory. And to become the king of humanity, no less. It is a marvel.”
A clown-like voice.
Even though he must have known what state Chris had reached, his tone was not tense at all.
“First, I must offer my thanks. Thanks to you, I have been able to achieve my goal.”