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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 56
Chris swallowed hard.
‘Wait, this mission…’
Only then did he recall what the Chatterbox of Darkness had told him.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t mentioned it.
It was such a massive event that he hadn’t thought to associate it with this mission.
—Chris, what do you think was the most important incident of the continental year 975?
975 is this year.
Five years before the start of the First Great War.
The “Chatterbox of Darkness,” a nine-tailed fox from the Obsidian Demonic House, had swayed her tail slyly as she spoke.
—Was it a premonition of the coming storm? All sorts of major events began erupting across the continent. The coup of the Bloodsword Demonic House, the Fall of the Star incident involving the Gold Cross, the downfall of the Crown Prince of the Carn Empire. But I think there was something even more important.
—What is it?
—If you want to know, pet my tail.
—…No. You were going to say it anyway.
—Mmm~ mmm~ still, pet me, pet me~! I love Chris’s touch!
Chris, with a reluctant expression, petted her tail, and the Chatterbox of Darkness giggled before speaking.
—The Demon’s Amulet Incident.
—…What’s that?
—A relic conflict between the Dark Demonic House and the Venomous Demonic House, not widely known to the public. Honestly, at the time, it wasn’t seen as a big deal.
Perhaps it was the comfort of Chris’s touch? The Chatterbox of Darkness yawned.
—During the relic expedition, the unit from the Dark Demonic House was annihilated, and the Venomous Demonic House paid a heavy price in blood as well, but that’s not the point. What matters is that this incident causes a major butterfly effect later on.
—What kind?
—A few years later, this incident leads to the death of the Dark Demonic House’s Lord. At the hands of his own son, Marquis Langham.
The Chatterbox of Darkness spoke with a drowsy face.
—If it weren’t for this incident… If Lord Nordion had survived, the Blood-Drenched Demon King wouldn’t have been able to take control of the Dark Demonic House so easily. As a result, the Age of Ruins arrived even faster.
“!!”
Chris’s eyes flashed wide open.
That was definitely the incident!
‘I have to stop it.’
This wasn’t just a simple relic skirmish.
It was Marquis Langham’s scheme.
Marquis Langham planned to use the sacrifice of Chris and the others as a pretext to achieve his own ends.
An end that would one day lead to catastrophic disaster.
‘What should I do?’
Chris pondered.
For now, he had to join the mission. Only by stepping into it himself could he foil the scheme.
‘The problem is… with my current strength, it’s not possible.’
He was still only at 3-star level.
An incredibly fast achievement, but to true powerhouses, it was still at the level of a child.
‘Still… it’s not like I don’t have a way.’
Chris’s gaze sank deeply.
Does Marquis Langham know?
Does he know what kind of ability Chris, the one he tried to use as a sacrificial pawn, possesses?
Chris began to form a plan.
‘First, I need to get ready. I have to get outside.’
He couldn’t make preparations within the Dark Demonic House.
‘But what excuse can I use to go outside?’
Chris hesitated.
Suddenly leaving the mansion without any reason—Marquis Langham would notice.
He absolutely couldn’t let his preparations be exposed.
‘I need to find a way to leave without drawing suspicion.’
Just then, a calm voice rang out.
“You.”
When he turned his head, he saw a familiar face.
A girl with a cold impression.
It was the second princess, Jupien!
“Did you call me?”
“…Yes.”
‘Why is she acting like she knows me?’ Chris was confused.
It wasn’t just that she called him.
She was glaring at Chris with eyes full of hostility.
‘What’s with that look? Ah, is it because of Royen?’
He had heard that Royen and Jupien were particularly close as siblings.
In the Sacred Darkness Ceremony, a direct descendant who failed to gain even a speck of dark mana would no longer be treated as a proper heir.
Since Chris had ruined her precious brother’s standing, her reaction made sense.
‘Hmph. But Royen wasn’t exactly innocent either.’
Wasn’t it Royen who picked a fight with Chris first?
Honestly, he got what he deserved.
Naturally, Chris’s tone wasn’t all that polite.
“What do you want?”
“…What do I want?”
Jupien’s eyes narrowed in a scowl.
“I don’t like you. I want to crush you right now.”
“……”
“But we’re on the same mission, so I’ll hold back for now. In exchange, you’ll follow my orders. From this moment on, I won’t tolerate disobedience.”
Chris smirked faintly.
‘Cute.’
Second princess Jupien looked young for her age.
Though she was in her late teens, she looked much younger.
Her expressionless face made her seem like a walking doll.
Maybe that’s why, even when she tried to act intimidating, it didn’t feel threatening at all.
‘Not that I mean she’s actually cute.’
Then, a good idea suddenly came to Chris.
“Follow your orders, huh. Nah, I don’t think I will.”
“…What?”
“Technically, Your Highness is my superior, but well—who knows.”
Chris gave a shrug.
Then he put on an incredibly irritating expression.
“I’m not sure if Your Highness even has the right to give me orders.”
“!!”
A chill settled over Princess Jupien’s face.
Her already expressionless, doll-like features became even colder.
“…You.”
But Chris didn’t stop provoking her there.
“Am I wrong? If you're the sister of that idiot Royen… I think I can already guess your level.”
“!!”
Jupien glared sharply at him.
Chaang!
She drew her sword.
“…Take that back. Now.”
“But it’s true Royen’s a brainless idiot, so what exactly am I supposed to take back? Ah, maybe you’re too blinded by sibling affection to notice? He cried like a baby when I beat him down. Shouldn’t it be you, Your Highness, who owes me an apology for raising him so poorly?”
The air around Jupien dropped to freezing.
“…You’ll regret this.”
“Oh? Really?”
“…Be ready.”
Dark energy began to rise from the sword she gripped.
It was a stabilized manifestation of dark mana.
A clear sign that her level was at least mid 3-star or higher.
Fwoosh! The Black Sword flew straight at Chris.
But—
Chris raised his hand.
Toward the oncoming Black Sword.
“!!”
Jupien furrowed her brow.
‘What is he doing?’
This wasn’t just a normal sword—it was a blade materialized from dark mana.
The moment it touched him, it wouldn’t just cut. His entire palm would be torn apart.
But she didn’t hesitate.
Despite her doll-like appearance, she too was a Maginite.
If he got hurt from doing something that foolish, it was Chris’s responsibility. There was no reason to hold back.
But then Chris did something she couldn’t have imagined.
“As expected, must be the idiot’s sister—you’re really nothing special.”
His palm brushed the side of her blade.
It didn’t touch.
A hair’s breadth apart, a dangerously close distance.
Just barely slipping past—Chris’s hand grazed the blade as it passed.
And in that moment, something unbelievable happened.
“!!”
Jupien’s Black Sword, which had been firmly materialized, trembled slightly!
As if it were trying to revert to its original form of dark mana.
Chris had exerted control over the dark mana and disrupted her magic!
‘So it can be used this way too?’
Chris cheered inwardly.
He had tried it, thinking it might work—and it worked perfectly.
Chris moved again.
Jupien froze for a moment, startled by the sudden turbulence in her mana core, and in that brief pause, Chris reached out toward her still-intact Black Sword.
He exerted his control over it again,
Fwoosh!
And the Black Sword completely disassembled!
Of course, he hadn’t used just control alone.
Jupien’s attainment was higher than Chris’s. So there were limits to what he could do with control alone.
Instead, Chris had targeted the structural weakness of the Black Sword.
To manifest mana as a solid Black Sword, it required core-like pillars throughout. Chris had pinpointed those supporting points and interfered with them through his control.
It was like a feat of pure skill.
“…How?”
Jupien’s face went pale.
She wasn’t on Chris’s level, but she was still an exceptional talent in dark magic.
She understood what kind of insane thing Chris had just pulled off.
‘This is unreal.’
But it wasn’t the time to be stunned.
Chris launched a counterattack.
His hand moved toward her neck.
She tried to dodge back—but her body suddenly froze.
Chris had cast a dark binding spell.
‘How dare you.’
Dark magic wasn’t something only Chris could use.
Jupien had studied dark magic just as deeply as swordsmanship.
She unleashed not one, but three dark spells in rapid succession.
‘Curse Release’ to free herself from Chris’s dark magic.
‘Instant Paralysis’ to halt Chris’s movements.
And finally, the destructive dark magic ‘Corroded Skin’ to rot away his hand on contact.
Even a professional dark mage would’ve been impressed by the seamless spell chain.
But—
Just before her spells could fully materialize and take effect in reality—
Fwoosh!
All three were canceled at once.
Because of Chris.
Chris had interfered with her spells.
And this wasn’t through control.
He had used counter-dark magic to cancel her spells right at the point of manifestation.
Only a specialized mage with a vastly superior understanding of magic and lightning-fast calculation speed could pull off such a feat.
And he did it while physically exchanging blows?
‘Well, interfering with a mere magic swordsman’s sloppy spells is easy enough.’
By classification, Jupien was a magic swordsman who had trained in both swordsmanship and magic.
No matter how advanced her dark magic was, her depth of magical knowledge couldn’t match that of a professional dark mage.
In contrast, Chris had no such limitations.
He could master both swordsmanship and magic at the highest level.
Tap.
Chris’s hand touched the back of her neck.
That was it—she had lost.
Completely unexpected.
“You… you…”
Jupien’s eyes widened to the point of tearing.
For someone usually expressionless, it was a shockingly strong reaction. That’s how surprised she was.
And she wasn’t the only one. The demons watching the fight around them also stared in disbelief.
That Chris had defeated Princess Jupien in a head-on duel?
Chris gave a deliberately smug smirk.
“To be this weak… I don’t think I need to listen to anything you say, Your Highness.”
“!!”
Jupien’s face turned red.
But she couldn’t say a word.
Because she lost.
Of course, Jupien had her excuses.
She hadn’t gone all out. She was caught off guard before she could even try anything.
She hadn’t even used her specialty, the illusion sword technique—phantom swordsmanship, which combined illusion magic and swordplay.
If she had fought seriously from the start, she wouldn’t have gone down so easily.
But a loss is still a loss.
“I’ll handle the mission on my own, so don’t try to interfere with me again. And don’t bother trying to look for me either. I’ll be out of the castle for a few days.”
“…The castle? For what?”
Chris replied casually.
“I’m going out to have some fun.”
“!!”
“I’ll suffer enough during the mission, so I should enjoy myself while I still can.”
It was the excuse Chris had come up with to leave.
Total playboy behavior.
But since he was originally a playboy, it suited him perfectly.
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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