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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 42
“Ah, no!”
“Uwaaah! S-Save me!!”
Two people plummeted into the pitch-black darkness.
They probably didn’t actually die, but they were eliminated.
“Oh dear, we must hurry. Since we're behind schedule, I’ll increase the pace a bit more.”
The halfling butler said smugly.
The speed increased another notch.
The remaining participants' faces turned pale.
Eventually, another person couldn’t endure and was eliminated.
Five remained.
Among those left, excluding Chris, the one in the best condition—predictably—was Royen.
Royen was only slightly short of breath.
A testament to the saying that direct bloodlines and collateral ones are on a different level entirely.
From childhood, he had consumed countless elixirs.
Undergone physical enhancement.
Received blessings through dark magic.
Trained in martial arts exclusive to the direct line, and more.
Even among those with the same 2-star rank, the unequal starting line created an overwhelming gap between direct and collateral bloodlines.
Royen leisurely wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned toward Chris.
He was planning to sneer at the struggling Chris.
“!!”
Royen’s eyes widened.
Chris didn’t show the slightest sign of strain.
His breathing was steady, not a single bead of sweat on his forehead.
How?
Royen wasn’t the only one shocked.
The other participants looked at Chris with disbelief.
Royen growled, unwilling to accept it.
“What trick are you using?”
“Trick?”
“Yes, if it’s not a trick, there’s no way you’d be completely fine like this! Did you use some kind of artifact that boosts stamina?”
“Trick?”
Chris let out a soft laugh.
“You need an artifact for something as basic as this? If you just trained your body regularly, this would be nothing.”
“!!”
“If it were me, I’d be too embarrassed to speak. Oh wait—shame was never your strong suit, was it?”
Royen’s face turned bright red.
But he couldn’t say a word in rebuttal.
Chris hadn’t used a single artifact.
He was enduring this hellish race purely with his own strength.
Impossible. How is that delinquent trash doing this?
Everyone stared at Chris with eyes full of disbelief.
But this was something unfolding right before their eyes.
Royen ground his teeth.
His pride had been wounded.
Meanwhile, Chris quietly chuckled to himself at the reactions of his competitors.
‘Idiots. If you lack brains, your body has to suffer for it.’
There was, in fact, a secret behind Chris’s unbelievable performance.
No matter how talented Chris was, it would be impossible not to tire in a hellish race like this.
Of course, he wasn’t using any magical artifacts to cheat.
Instead, Chris had used another trick.
‘Just bend the illusion.’
This place wasn’t the real world.
Everything here was a virtual space created through illusion magic.
In that case—
He could intervene in the illusion and alter the rules of this fabricated world.
‘My level isn’t high enough to make major changes yet, but…’
There was no need to twist much.
Chris altered just one rule.
[I, Chris, will not lose stamina no matter how hard I push myself.]
That was the law Chris had twisted.
Impossible in reality.
But in this world of illusion, it was doable.
‘It’s not hard to apply altered rules to myself. It’s not like anyone’s interfering. Seriously, idiots. They know it’s an illusion and still choose to suffer physically?’
Chris looked at the pale-faced, sweat-drenched competitors and sneered.
But Chris’s thinking was mistaken.
It was something only he could do.
Normally, this kind of manipulation was only possible for illusionists specially trained in illusion magic—or someone like Chris.
The halfling butler, who understood this better than anyone, looked at Chris with wide, astonished eyes.
‘…So that’s Young Master Christian? Just as Head Steward Simon said, he really is remarkable.’
However—
Sebastian glanced sideways.
Royen was glaring at Christian with a flushed, burning face.
‘I wonder if he’ll make it through the Sacred Darkness Ceremony in one piece.’
He was a butler.
And he had a vague idea of what Royen had prepared for Christian during the Sacred Darkness Ceremony.
It was an act that would normally never be permitted.
But who could possibly stop him?
In this Dark Demonic House, no one dared defy the prestige of the direct bloodline.
‘No matter how brilliant a genius he is, he’s still only at 2-star. There’s no way he’ll withstand the trap Young Master Royen prepared. I just hope he doesn’t get too badly hurt…’
At that moment, the path finally ended.
A space of abyss-like darkness appeared.
The holy ground of the Dark Demonic House.
Where the Sacred Darkness Ceremony would take place.
* * *
The sanctuary was a bizarre space.
Though they stood on solid ground, no earth could be seen.
Only darkness existed.
A faint light, like starlight, barely illuminated the world.
[Greetings… young masters. I am Lihue, the caretaker of this sanctuary.]
From within the darkness, a ghostly figure floated forth.
It was a banshee, like Marie.
[As you all know, this place is the Yin Dimension.]
Yin Dimension.
It wasn’t a different realm like Gehenna or the Heavenly Realm.
This was the reverse side of the Middle Realm, a shadow world.
A place where the purest darkness surged and swirled.
[The Yin Dimension, being the backside of the world, is not a space originally permitted to existences from the Middle Realm. However, this place is different. It is a site where the purest darkness of the Yin Dimension erupts. Every time this darkness bursts forth, a passage connecting to the Middle Realm opens in its wake.]
That was the reason the Sacred Darkness Ceremony was held every two to three years.
The eruption cycle of the Yin Dimension’s pure darkness occurred every 2–3 years, and the ceremony was conducted accordingly.
[The pure darkness of the Yin Dimension. It is also called Dark Demonic Energy. The founder of the Dark Demonic House was the first to accept this Dark Demonic Energy and established our house. In the end, he became the third-ranked Demon King.]
The Dark Demonic House was a family that mastered the Dark Demonic Energy, the pure darkness of the Yin Dimension, as their specialty.
Because it originated from the Yin Dimension, Dark Demonic Energy was on an entirely different level compared to other types of demonic energy.
It was the highest-level elemental demonic energy, superior to any other type.
So pure, in fact, that it was sometimes called Sacred Darkness.
This was the power Chris had to obtain today.
[Today, you young masters will be granted that great darkness. But there is something you must remember.]
The banshee’s voice echoed with an eerie chill.
[The distribution of the Sacred Darkness is not fair. The amount of Sacred Darkness erupting today is not sufficient to be equally shared among all of you.]
This was why the Sacred Darkness Ceremony became a brutal competition of the strong devouring the weak.
The Sacred Darkness erupted only once every 2–3 years—and it was never enough.
Yet many bloodlines needed it.
So the ancestors of the Dark Demonic House established a rule:
The stronger and more exceptional one was, the more Sacred Darkness they would be allowed to seize.
[Now, each of you will proceed down a designated path to claim your Sacred Darkness. All paths are equal in distance and difficulty. The faster you overcome your trial and reach the sanctuary, the more Sacred Darkness you will be able to obtain.]
It was essentially a race under formalized rules.
The sooner one overcame the trial and arrived at the sanctuary, the longer and more fully they could absorb the Sacred Darkness.
Naturally, the most capable would gain the most.
But fall behind in the competition, and only pitiful scraps of the Sacred Darkness would remain. If others absorbed it all first, you might not get a single drop.
‘Christian, you won’t get even a grain of Sacred Darkness.’
Royen glared at Christian with ominous eyes.
He had already prepared everything.
The path Christian would walk was different from the others—a harsher trial awaited him, and he would surely fall behind.
And a member of the Dark Demonic House who failed to obtain even a drop of Sacred Darkness during the ceremony—
Would lose the right to bear the Baron's surname.
The Sacred Darkness was, in a way, the very symbol of the Dark Demonic House.
It would be a situation similar to being removed from the family registry.
‘Scum like you can’t be allowed to stain the name of the Dark Demonic House any longer. Prepare yourself.’
Feeling pleased by what was about to befall Christian, Royen grinned—only for Christian to ask something unexpected.
“There’s one thing I’d like to ask. If something unforeseen happens during the Sacred Darkness Ceremony, what happens? Would that mean disqualification?”
[Unforeseen… you say?]
“I mean, like getting into a fight with another competitor by accident.”
The banshee tilted her head in puzzlement.
[The paths are set in different directions, so you won’t encounter each other. Even if such a thing happens, it’s best to avoid conflict. Fighting would only benefit the other competitors.]
The Sacred Darkness Ceremony was a race to see who could reach the sacred darkness first. If one wasted time fighting others, it would only delay their steps and give the advantage to the rest. That’s why clashes between competitors were practically unheard of.
“So, in any case, it wouldn’t be a reason for disqualification?”
[There’s… no such rule, at least.]
The banshee looked at Chris, visibly unable to understand his line of questioning.
The other challengers also wore confused expressions.
Only one—Alros—took a sharp breath.
‘No way. That lunatic? No… even if he’s insane, he wouldn’t do something like that in the Sacred Darkness Ceremony…’
Alros forcibly calmed his growing unease.
[More importantly… you should worry about your own safety. Once the trial begins, no one will be there to help you. You could… lose your life.]
The banshee floated upward.
[Then… let us begin.]
Paaaah.
A magic circle formed in the darkness.
From beneath each of their feet, black lines stretched out in different directions.
[Just follow the lines. Though the directions are different… you will all face the same distance and trials before arriving at the same destination.]
The banshee glanced toward the unseen depths of the dark.
[Depending on the results you achieve in this Sacred Darkness Ceremony, your futures will change. Please give it your all. I wish you strength.]
And with that, the Sacred Darkness Ceremony began.
* * *
Royen moved forward with ease.
Even when demonic beasts and wraiths of the Shadow Dimension charged at him, they were instantly reduced to ash and scattered.
‘Mere pests.’
Every beast that appeared was only first or second rank.
Royen, on the other hand, was already at the upper level of 2-star. With another year of training, he might even reach 3-star. Beasts like these were trivial.
‘Christian must be having a miserable time right about now.’
Royen smiled confidently.
Originally, each competitor’s path was supposed to be identical in distance and difficulty.
But rules always crumbled in the face of power and influence.
Royen had secretly bribed the conjurer responsible for preparing the trials along Christian’s path.
Of course, the number and type of demonic beasts couldn’t be changed.
That would be too obvious.
Instead, the beasts were secretly enhanced to exhibit far greater power. Such minor adjustments were well within the conjurer’s abilities.
The beasts Christian would face would display strength equivalent to mid-level second-rank or higher.
‘There’s no way he can endure that.’
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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