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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 53
‘Arrogance is forbidden.’
Exceptional talent can sometimes become poison.
That happens when one becomes conceited.
Nordian resolved to ensure that such a thing would never happen to Christian.
He deliberately spoke in a cold tone.
[Now, we begin the full transmission of the Dark Demonic Arts. Do not grow arrogant, and follow my instructions precisely.]
“Yes, understood.”
At last, the long-awaited moment had arrived.
Christian focused.
[Listen well. This is the incantation for the Dark Demonic Arts.]
The outsider, Simon, discreetly disappeared.
Nordian began reciting the incantation.
It was just a recitation, yet the incantation was long and drawn-out, taking several hours.
“Have you memorized it?”
The incantation combined the flow of demonic energy in the bloodline and magical formulas, complex and arcane—and to think he memorized it after hearing it only once.
But Christian calmly replied,
“Yes, I have memorized it.”
Nordian nodded.
He had expected that.
After all, he himself had memorized the incantation in one go when he was a child.
But then—
Christian asked an unexpected question.
“Excuse me… may I ask just one thing? There’s a part of the incantation I don’t quite understand.”
[It’s your first time hearing the incantation, so it’s only natural you don’t understand it. Reflect on it yourself, and ask questions later—]
“No, that’s not it. There’s a part of the flow in the incantation that doesn’t match with the others, so I wanted to check if I misheard it.”
[!!]
Nordian’s face hardened.
‘How did he notice?’
One of his twisted habits—
Was deliberately giving part of the incantation incorrectly.
To make learning it even harder.
Why do such an eccentric thing?
‘It may be inefficient now, but struggling to control the Dark Demonic Energy helps lay a strong foundation.’
But Christian noticed the discrepancy after hearing it only once.
It was an eerie level of talent.
Nordian concealed his surprise and answered in a stiff tone.
[To build your foundation, I introduced some variations. I will reveal the perfect incantation once your basics are solidified.]
Nordian rose from his seat.
[Watch closely.]
He extended his hand.
From the small hand of the boy’s incarnation body, jet-black demonic energy began to rise.
It formed the ‘Black Sword’, a blade forged by emitting demonic energy externally.
A power that can be used starting from the level of 3 stars.
To Nordian, a demonic being of 8-star rank, it was a trivial power.
However, the Black Sword wielded by Nordian was fundamentally different from that of others.
It wasn’t just about the strength of his demonic energy.
There was something inexplicable, a subtle profundity that even Chris couldn’t yet comprehend.
[This is a single sword strike unleashed through the Dark Demonic Arts.]
Whoosh.
It was a light swing.
It didn’t carry any intense force.
In fact, it didn’t produce any noticeable effect.
It merely cut through the air.
And yet, Chris felt chills run down his spine.
It was a jarring sensation, like a star flickering out.
‘Just now…’
In that single swing, countless shades of darkness were contained.
Crimson, black, blood-red, yellow, blue, grey, and more.
Nordian’s one sword was destruction, death, curse, poison, illusion—and a vast darkness containing all those things.
The Dark Demonic Energy that ruled over all forms of darkness.
It was the power of the Dark Demonic Arts, which harnessed that energy.
Meanwhile, seeing the surprise on Christian’s face, Nordian was even more surprised himself.
‘Hah… He actually recognized it?’
One sees only as much as one knows.
How many within the Dark Demonic Family could perceive the true meaning behind the sword Nordian just showed?
Nordian reaffirmed his resolve.
‘The ordinary methods won’t work. He’ll need even harsher guidance.’
A tower built easily crumbles easily.
Only by overcoming adversity from the ground up can one truly attain greatness—this was Nordian’s philosophy on teaching.
‘First, he must come to understand the difficulty of the Dark Demonic Arts.’
Because one must wield countless kinds of darkness as if they were one’s own attribute, the difficulty of the Dark Demonic Arts surpasses imagination.
Usually, it is standard to teach each part side-by-side.
“I will give you one month. Based on the demonstration I just showed, refine the incantation on your own. In half a month, I’ll check how far you’ve progressed.”
And with that, he vanished without a trace.
Seeing Merian flustered beside him, it was clear this wasn’t the normal course of action.
However—
‘There must be a reason for this too.’
Chris thought again to himself.
He may seem unkind, but Nordian surely wouldn’t do something like this without a purpose.
Just like the task he had given in the beginning, there was bound to be some deeper meaning hidden in this as well.
…Though that wasn’t the case at all, Christian misunderstood and believed Nordian had another purpose in mind.
‘Let’s do this.’
For reference, there was one problem with Nordian’s approach.
Until now, Chris had always learned things mostly on his own.
He had almost never received guidance from anyone.
In other words, he was very used to situations like this.
No—more accurately, he had often learned things without even knowing the proper incantations, so this was actually an exceptionally kind setup.
Chris closed his eyes and delved into the incantations of the Dark Demonic Arts.
At the same time, he recalled the single sword strike that Nordian had shown earlier.
A true darkness that held all forms of darkness within.
Time passed in the blink of an eye.
* * *
A month had passed.
“It’s time.”
“…Yes, Lord.”
“By now, he should have realized how difficult the Dark Demonic Arts are.”
“……”
Merian stayed silent.
That much was certain.
The Dark Demonic Arts weren’t something one could learn without guidance.
‘But what meaning does that even have…’
Merian thought to herself.
Nordian’s philosophy of education—that only by experiencing hardship and repeated frustration could one ultimately achieve great mastery.
It couldn’t have felt more outdated.
Christian had clearly wasted an entire month.
“Merian, are you saying you disagree with my method?”
“…No, sir.”
“Ha! Don’t deny it. I can read your thoughts as clear as day. But for Christian, that boy, this is a necessary process.”
Nordian continued his explanation.
“He’s absorbed over ninety percent of the Sacred Darkness. With each rise in star level, he’ll face tremendous walls. That’s why building a solid foundation now is crucial—so he doesn’t collapse later on.”
“……”
“What’s important for him isn’t speed. Even if it’s slow, he must climb step by step, one level at a time.”
Merian spoke carefully.
“Christian is currently taking the Young Lord Examination. To qualify, he must reach 3-star level within three months.”
“That’s impossible. Reaching 3 stars in three months? Considering the purity of his Dark Demonic Energy, that’s completely unrealistic.”
Nordian answered flatly.
Christian’s current progress was at upper 2-star level.
No matter how much of a genius he was, since he had absorbed over ninety percent of the Sacred Darkness, Nordian estimated it would take at least two more years to reach 3 stars.
And above all, what was some Young Lord Examination, anyway?
Laying a firm foundation was far more important than something like that.
“Let’s head out.”
Nordian once again descended into the young boy’s incarnation.
He leapt through space and entered the training grounds where Christian was.
[!!]
“!!”
Nordian and Merian couldn’t help but widen their eyes, stunned to the point of shock.
It was completely unexpected.
They had witnessed an unbelievable sight.
Christian was swinging his sword in midair—his blade engulfed in pitch-black demonic energy.
It was the Black Sword.
A power only those at 3-star demonic rank could wield.
“You… Christian? Just now? Don’t tell me you’ve reached 3-star level?”
Merian asked in a shocked tone, and Christian turned his head and spoke to Nordian with a bright expression.
“Thank you, Lord.”
[…Thank you?]
“Thanks to you, I was able to break through the 3-star wall faster than expected.”
[…What?]
Chris's voice was filled with genuine gratitude.
“You deliberately taught me the wrong incantations to awaken me, didn’t you?”
[…]
Nordian went silent.
He couldn’t understand what the boy was talking about.
Christian’s nonsense(?) didn’t end there.
“It wasn’t just the incantations. That single sword strike you demonstrated—wasn’t that meant to show me the realization needed to reach 3-star?”
No.
The demonstration Nordian had shown at that time had nothing to do with the enlightenment of reaching 3-star level.
What did forging a Black Sword have to do with condensing all attributes of darkness into one sword?
Yet Chris continued rambling on with things that made no sense to Nordian.
“As you said, the wall to 3-star was incredibly high. But through the guidance you gave me, I was able to find the answer and surpass it faster than expected.”
Then again, what guidance had Nordian supposedly given?
Chris recalled the past month.
At first, it wasn’t easy.
As expected of a top-tier demonic art, learning it alone wasn’t simple.
Especially since the incorrect incantations mixed in here and there interfered with the process.
Incantations that seemed like they were thrown in just to mess with him.
But Chris focused on those very incantations.
‘There’s no way those incantations were put in without purpose. They must’ve been meant to help me in some way.’
The incantations Nordian had mixed in disrupted the flow of dark demonic energy.
Why would he do that?
With what intention?
Chris recalled the demonstration Nordian had shown.
A single sword that contained all attributes of darkness.
And then, the answer began to take shape.
‘What matters isn’t the efficiency of controlling dark demonic energy. Even if it’s slower, the process of embracing every type of darkness as my own is what’s important.’
Like floating a leaf in a cup to prevent choking while drinking water.
It wasn’t just about hastily mastering the use of dark demonic energy—Lord Nordian’s message was to focus on accepting the darkness itself.
Christian followed Lord Nordian’s intent.
Dark demonic arts, in the end, are about mastering various attributes of darkness.
He recited the incantations, focusing on the meaning behind each one.
How many times had he repeated them?
Suddenly, a flash of realization pierced through his mind.
A thought, as if all forms of darkness were aligning onto a single trajectory.
Of course, he hadn’t yet reached the point of condensing all darkness into a single sword like Nordian.
It was merely a vague insight he sensed.
But in that moment, Chris’s level advanced by one stage.
1-star is the stage where demonic energy is accumulated within the body.
2-star is the stage where demonic energy is projected outside the body.
3-star is the stage where demonic energy is given tangible form externally.
Thus, each stage required a different kind of realization.
3-star demonic energy must transform an intangible force into something with physical form outside the body.
It’s like fixing a wave of light into a solid shape.
In other words, something impossible by normal means.
To achieve this, one must break existing concepts of demonic energy, reestablish their understanding, and approach demonic energy from a completely different perspective.
However, this becomes significantly harder as the purity of dark demonic energy increases—since pure darkness is that much harder to control.
Most people can manage to forge a Black Sword with only a faint realization, but if the dark demonic energy is highly pure, then a much more complete redefinition of perception is required.
In Chris’s case, with 100% purity, it went without saying.
But the moment he gained enlightenment from the clue Nordian had left him, his understanding of demonic energy was completely redefined.
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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