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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 1
The Great Extra.
That was my nickname when I was part of the Hero’s party.
I had many other nicknames as well.
With my insane talent, I had left behind countless great achievements during the Age of Ruin.
The Saint of the Mire, the Excavator of Light, the Lantern in the Darkness, and so on.
‘Honestly, I only did it to make money. But all I got was fame that didn’t pay.’
I coughed up blood and thought back to my wretched past.
When I was twenty years old—
After escaping from my miserable family, I was rolling around in the back alleys, dreaming of success.
Then, the Blood-Drenched Demon King of the Magus Empire invaded the Faction of Light.
The war began.
At the time, I thought to myself—
‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’ll make a huge contribution, and when the war ends, I’ll enjoy unimaginable wealth and glory!’
With that mindset, I went through all kinds of hell and accomplished countless feats, eventually even joining the Hero’s party—only to be left with nothing.
The Hero’s party lost, and the Faction of Light was annihilated at the hands of the Magus Empire led by the Demon King.
‘Ha… Life. If I had known it would turn out like this, I would never have gone through all that suffering.’
At the very least, I would’ve never gotten involved with the Hero’s party.
But regret came too late.
In my final moments, I heard various voices around me.
“So, this is how it ends.”
A voice that made my teeth grind just by hearing it.
…No, it was Evan, the Hero.
“Chris… You should have been the Hero, not me.”
Beside him, Archmage Rania nodded bitterly in agreement.
“That’s right. If Sir Chris had focused on swordsmanship and magic instead of all those miscellaneous skills, we wouldn’t have lost like this.”
It was something the Hero’s party had lamented countless times.
The reason I had been able to leave behind so many achievements during the Age of Ruin was because of my insane genius.
An extraordinary talent that allowed me to master anything instantly and with excellence.
Thanks to that talent, I could become a Divine Healer at times, a Guide who could see a thousand miles ahead at others, or even a Great Artisan, accomplishing all sorts of different feats.
But unfortunately, I had never properly learned swordsmanship or magic.
‘Though, just by watching the Hero’s party, I managed to reach a fairly high level.’
Four-Star Realm.
That was the level I had reached just from tagging along with the Hero’s party.
To put it into perspective, a Four-Star Prime Class was a realm that those without talent could never reach in their lifetime.
Yet, I had achieved that without proper training, without dedicated practice—just by observing.
And in both swordsmanship and magic, no less.
Considering that I had only joined the Hero’s party in the latter half of the Age of Ruin and had spent less than three years with them, it was a completely insane achievement.
And that was why—
People were filled with regret.
—Sir Chris should have mastered swordsmanship and magic instead of all those miscellaneous skills.
If I had done so, the outcome of the war would have been completely different.
They even went as far as to say—
"If we could turn back time, we would have chosen Sir Chris as the Hero."
I frowned deeply.
‘Yeah, no thanks. Me? A Hero? What a joke.’
I had suffered enough in this life.
If I ever got a second chance to live—
‘I’d rather be born as a rich family's son and enjoy a life of luxury….’
But I couldn't continue that thought.
Ragnarok had been completed.
The Blood-Drenched Demon King’s goal wasn’t just to rule the world but to bring about its true end—Ragnarok.
A black light engulfed the world, and everything was annihilated.
And yet, for some reason—
In my final moment, a thought crossed my mind.
‘Please, let me be reborn as a rich noble’s son….’
Maybe it was because of that desperate wish—
I regressed.
About fifteen years into the past.
Five years before the Age of Ruin would truly begin.
And not just in my original body—but exactly as I had wished, as the son of an immensely wealthy family.
However, there was a problem.
It was a noble family, yes.
But the family's name was The Dark Demonic House.
As the ominous name suggested, it was a prestigious family of the Magus Empire.
I, who had once been the last hope of the Faction of Light, had now become the young master of the very Dark Empire that had destroyed the world.
And to make matters worse—
This body—
Was a total delinquent.
‘Damn it. This is insane.’
I—Chris—gazed out the window with a bleak expression.
Beyond the glass, a breathtakingly extravagant mansion stretched out before me.
But then—
—Kraaah!
There were goblins in the garden.
They were meticulously tending to the hedges with delicate precision.
And that wasn’t all.
In the distant mountains, a troll let out a mighty roar as it chopped down trees with a massive axe.
A wyvern circled in the sky before swooping down, dropping a letter into my hands, then flying away.
"……."
Chris remained silent.
Monsters that should only exist in the Demonic Realm were peacefully working in the mansion.
There was a reason for it.
This was the Magus Empire.
A dark empire where Demonkin, Dark Mages, Obsidian Elves, and Beasts of the Abyss roamed freely, and Demon Kings ruled supreme.
The very empire that would one day destroy the Faction of Light.
‘Why the hell did I regress as someone from the Magus Empire?! Aaaagh!’
He clutched his head in frustration.
‘All I wanted was to be an ordinary rich noble’s son!!’
But no matter how much he pulled at his hair, nothing would change.
Three days had passed since he regained his senses, and he had accepted reality.
‘I need to decide what to do from here on.’
Chris idly entertained a thought.
‘…Should I just ignore everything that’s going to happen and enjoy a life of luxury?’
It was certainly an option.
The Dark Demonic House was one of the most prestigious families on the continent—meaning it was unimaginably wealthy.
However—
‘Argh! There’s no way I can do that! If I sit back and let the Faction of Light fall, I won’t survive either!’
There was a reason for this.
‘Who would’ve thought the Blood-Drenched Demon King was that much of a lunatic?’
At first, when the Magus Empire invaded the Holy Empire, no one was overly alarmed.
Clashes between the Dark Faction, led by the Magus Empire, and the Crusade Union, the pillar of the Faction of Light, were nothing new.
However, toward the end of the war—
The Blood-Drenched Demon King, who led the Magus Empire’s army, revealed his true intentions.
He didn’t just seek to rule over the Faction of Light.
‘Ragnarok. His goal was the annihilation of the entire world.’
By the time people realized this, it was too late to stop him.
The Blood-Drenched Demon King massacred every human in the lands he conquered, using them as sacrifices to trigger Ragnarok.
It wasn’t just the Faction of Light—he destroyed everything.
So if things continued as they did before, Chris would be swept up in the world’s destruction and die as well.
‘Damn it, I have to stop this.’
Chris bit his lip.
‘The problem is that I regressed as someone from the Magus Empire. I have to find a way to save the world—as a Demonkin… Argh!’
If he had regressed as someone from the Faction of Light, things would have been much simpler.
But of all things, he had returned as a Demonkin.
It was beyond frustrating.
‘In that case, there’s only one solution.’
Chris gritted his teeth.
‘I have to rise to the top of the Magus Empire.’
Simply stopping the Blood-Drenched Demon King wasn’t enough.
He wasn’t the only one trying to bring about the world’s destruction.
Countless figures within the Magus Empire followed him.
‘That means I have to climb to the top of the Magus Empire and become powerful enough to stop them. In other words, I have to become one of the High Demon Kings.’
Chris formulated a concrete plan.
‘First, I’ll take control of this body’s family, the Dark Demonic House. Then, I’ll rise to the rank of High Demon King and rule the Magus Empire.’
There was another significant benefit to this approach.
‘The Magus Empire is the most powerful nation on the continent. If I reach its pinnacle, I’ll enjoy wealth and luxury beyond imagination.’
Even in this situation, he hadn’t abandoned his dream of living a life of opulence.
The Magus Empire, the nation of Demonkin, was universally recognized as the most powerful force in the world.
Becoming one of its Demon Kings would grant a level of prestige and luxury far beyond that of any ordinary noble-born elite.
Chris made a firm resolution.
‘First, I’ll become a Demon King and prevent the world’s destruction. After that, I’ll kick back, relax, and enjoy the greatest life of luxury without lifting a single finger!’
However, there was a problem.
The identity of the body he had possessed.
His status itself wasn’t an issue.
He was a bloodline member of the Dark Demonic House, one of the most prestigious families in the Magus Empire.
A status close to the empire’s core.
The problem was that this body belonged to a notorious delinquent.
‘Not just any delinquent, but an absolute disgrace.’
The body Chris now inhabited was infamous even within the Faction of Light—
And ultimately, he was doomed to meet a gruesome end.
—That piece of trash isn’t even fit to be dog food. If not for his family’s protection, I would’ve torn him apart myself.
—It won’t be long now. Even his own household is considering disowning him.
In short, this body was the worst of the worst.
A piece of garbage on the verge of being discarded.
And from that disgraceful state, he had to climb all the way to the pinnacle of the Magus Empire—an extreme challenge.
‘It’s possible. I can do it.’
Chris quickly reaffirmed the source of his confidence.
‘Because I’m a genius.’
The very foundation that had allowed him to leave behind a legendary legacy during the age of destruction—
An unparalleled talent.
In truth, even the word ‘genius’ was insufficient to describe his abilities.
Which meant—he could do this.
‘Let’s begin.’
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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