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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 63
So, he could have tampered with the antidote,
'...No way, that can't be.'
It was an absurd thought.
There was no way he would have done something like that.
"Well, it doesn't matter. I'll kill you all."
Clang!
The masked woman drew her weapon.
It was a bundle of long throwing needles.
She was about to annihilate the expedition using the assassination techniques unique to the Venomous Demonic House.
"I won't... go down so easily."
Jupien pointed her sword.
A dark shimmer of heat haze rose from her blade, distorting the view.
It was Illusion Swordsmanship.
Flash!
Thus began the fierce battle.
Unexpectedly, the fight was not easily decided.
First of all, Jupien’s skills were formidable.
Though she had been easily defeated by Chris before, she was still a princess of the Dark Demonic House.
She possessed power that far exceeded an ordinary three-star level.
Above all, the masked woman was unable to use even half of her true strength.
'What a bother. If I used my original assassination techniques, I could wipe them out instantly.'
But that would leave traces behind.
She had to use only the level of poison and assassination techniques that Marisa would typically employ.
However, the balance did not last long.
No matter how much she suppressed her strength, a five-star was still a five-star.
Even if a tiger pretended to be a cat, a cat could never defeat a tiger.
"Urgh!"
Boom!
The long needles tore through Jupien’s illusions with a sharp burst of sound.
Jupien vomited blood again.
"This power... you're not Marisa."
The masked woman smiled.
"What does it matter? You're all going to die here anyway."
Flash!
The long needles flew in again.
Jupien barely managed to evade, but the other expedition members were not so lucky.
The number of people collapsing to the ground rapidly increased.
A hopeless situation.
At this rate, the result was obvious. They would all be annihilated.
'I need to come up with a plan.'
Jupien’s eyes darkened.
Following her core, demonic energy began to surge.
Sensing the complex intertwining of her demonic energy, the masked woman's expression stiffened for a moment.
Her vision darkened completely.
In the pitch-black darkness where nothing could be seen,
Jupien’s sword split apart.
One blade, two blades... four blades, eight blades, sixteen blades.
The Dark Demonic House’s secret Illusion Swordsmanship, 'Splitting Blade.'
As one's level rose, the number of blades could be increased exponentially.
At Jupien’s current level, sixteen blades were her limit.
But that didn’t mean it could be taken lightly.
Those illusions could not be distinguished from the real one.
And if they could not be distinguished, none could be ignored. Every blade was equally threatening.
"Die."
Suppressing the turmoil in her body from forcibly drawing out her power, Jupien swung her sword.
Sixteen blades flew in simultaneously from sixteen different angles.
An unavoidable attack.
"!!"
The masked woman furrowed her brows.
She instinctively realized that with the strength of a three-star, she could not break through that attack.
In that case, there was only one option.
The masked woman's long needles were dyed black.
She manifested a Black Sword through her needles.
But it didn’t end there.
The nature of the Black Sword transformed.
It became harder, more brilliant.
It wasn’t simply forming a blade with demonic energy.
It was as if a steadfast pillar had been planted, infused with a will powerful enough to crush any resistance.
Sword Force.
In the Alliance, it was called Aura.
In the Demonic Path, it was called Black Steel Energy.
It was a destructive power that only true masters who had reached the five-star level or higher could wield.
The moment the Black Steel Energy was unleashed, everything was shattered.
The illusions of the sixteen swords.
The darkness that had consumed her vision.
And even Jupien’s sword.
Dropping her broken sword, Jupien coughed up blood and fell to her knees.
"Now, die already."
The masked woman said coldly.
The long needle cloaked in darkness pierced through the air.
Aimed precisely at Jupien’s forehead.
'Ah... no.'
There was no way to dodge.
In the face of impending death, Jupien’s vision darkened with terror.
'I... I don’t want to die.'
Pretending to be strong, but still a young girl. She couldn’t remain calm in front of death.
'Please... someone, save me....'
The moment she cried out into the meaningless wind,
an unbelievable miracle occurred.
Kwaang!!
With a roar like a bomb exploding, the long needle was blasted away.
Jupien's eyes widened in shock.
Standing before her was a boy.
A beautiful appearance.
And at the same time, an endlessly annoying impression.
It was Chris.
* * *
The hall fell silent.
Everyone stared at Chris in disbelief.
Chris shrugged his shoulders and spoke lightly.
"I’m late. The main character is supposed to arrive late, so I came slowly on purpose."
In truth, that wasn’t the reason.
He had been waiting for the masked woman to reveal her true power.
Why?
To use it as evidence.
So many people had witnessed the masked woman's Black Steel Energy; she wouldn’t be able to deny it.
Chris glanced around at the fallen Dark Demonic House members and chuckled.
"You guys got wrecked pretty badly. You should’ve trained harder instead of slacking off. Here, medicine. I happened to pick some up, so take it."
Chris snapped his fingers and threw medicine toward Jupien and the fallen members of the Dark Demonic House.
Jupien caught the medicine and once again looked astonished.
A mysterious, pure energy emanated from the medicine.
There was no doubt. It was from the Medical Saint Family.
It was really Chris who had switched the antidote!
"You... you're giving us the Medical Saint Family’s antidote?"
Chris nodded as if it were obvious.
"I figured the Venomous Demonic House would resort to underhanded tricks. So I secured medicine from the Medical Saint Family in advance at the Black Auction and swapped it out."
‘Well, technically, I just gathered the ingredients and made it myself.’
Jupien clamped her mouth shut.
The other members were the same.
From his debauched behavior back at Baron Castle before the mission, to all the reckless acts he had shown until now—
they realized it had all been part of a deep plan to thwart the Venomous Demonic House’s conspiracy.
Having misunderstood and cursed Chris all this time, no one in the hall could find any words to say.
At that moment, the masked woman spoke coldly.
"...So you're the Dark Demonic House’s fool. You did think a little, but you're just a clever idiot."
Chaang!
This time, she drew a dagger.
"If you saw the Black Steel Energy, you should have run. I’ll kill you here as well."
Once again, thick darkness enveloped her.
A destructive power on a completely different level from the Black Sword.
'It's true that I have no chance against a five-star martial artist.'
Whether martial artist or mage, every rise in star level brought explosive growth in power.
However, from 1-star to 4-star, the change wasn’t very significant.
1-star was the accumulation of demonic energy.
2-star was the manifestation of demonic energy.
3-star was the Black Sword.
4-star was the transformation of the Black Sword.
That was the difference.
But starting from 5-star, a dramatic transformation occurred, as if shedding one's skin.
5-star, "Steel Energy."
6-star, "Will Manifestation."
7-star, "Dominance."
8-star, "Absolute."
9-star, "Transcendence."
At this point, the realms were so different that a lower realm could hardly even contend against a higher one.
No matter how outstanding Chris was, it was an insurmountable gap.
Yet Chris still spoke with a calm face.
"Stupid idiot."
"...What?"
"Well, with a brain like yours, I guess it makes sense you'd resort to cheap tricks. You think a great genius like me would ever step into a fight without a chance of winning?"
Chris never fought battles he couldn’t win.
No—more accurately, turning impossible battles into victories was his specialty.
"Take a look."
And then.
From the opposite side of the canyon, a group appeared.
They were members of the Venomous Demonic House!
- Chris!
Leading them was Marisa, a young girl who shouted his name furiously.
'Perfect timing.'
Chris whistled inwardly.
He had deliberately arranged for the Venomous Demonic House members to rescue Marisa and lure them to this spot.
Thanks to the signal magic device he had stolen from Marisa, it was easy.
"Chris, I won’t let you get away with this...!!"
Marisa, usually so composed and intelligent, charged forward like an enraged bull, her usual calm nowhere to be seen—then abruptly stopped.
The situation unfolding before her was strange.
"This... What is this? My poison?"
Marisa looked around in confusion.
The members of the Dark Demonic House were collapsed, and the lingering scent of the "Blue Flower" poison she had personally developed filled the air.
And that masked woman?
"......"
At Marisa’s gaze, the masked woman brought a hand to her face with a troubled expression.
The worst situation had unfolded.
The last people she should have encountered here were members of the Venomous Demonic House—especially Marisa.
That’s why she had deliberately operated near the Dark Demonic House’s territory.
"...Who are you?"
Marisa asked in a low voice.
“They must be from the Venomous Demonic House. State your name and affiliation.”
“......”
The masked woman, of course, couldn’t provide any answer.
Marisa’s face grew colder.
At that moment, Chris mocked her.
“What are you asking for? You must be a traitor from that family.”
“!!”
“Your objective... It’s probably obvious.”
Marisa immediately deduced the situation.
‘They’re trying to steal the artifact. And they wanted to frame me for it.’
It was a guess very close to the truth.
Marisa clenched her teeth and gave an order.
“Everyone, subdue that one and make her kneel!”
“Understood!”
The Venomous Demonic House members rushed at the masked woman.
‘This is bad.’
The masked woman faced them with a troubled look.
She didn’t seem as confident as she did when fighting the Dark Demonic House members.
It wasn’t that she was reluctant to use force because they were from the same family.
Members of the magical families didn’t have such sentimental ties.
‘I can’t reveal my true identity by using my unique poisons or the Black Sword.’
The masked woman gritted her teeth.
When fighting the Dark Demonic House members, she had subtly incorporated her own skills and hidden techniques.
She had mimicked the power of 3-star, but the actual power was closer to 5-star.
However, the Venomous Demonic House members would recognize her right away.
She couldn’t let any trace of her identity be revealed, so it was almost like fighting while binding one hand and one foot.
It was just as Chris had planned.
And Chris, using the sort of dirty weapon that any demon would detest, made his move.
A broken holy sword.
Clang!
The masked woman couldn’t afford to underestimate it, quickly retreating to avoid the holy sword.
At that moment, Marisa and Chris’s eyes met.
“…You.”
“What? Want me to apologize again?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Marisa seemed to have something to say but hesitated, then pressed her lips together with a complicated look in her eyes.
“…Never mind.”
“How childish. Cover me. I’ll subdue her.”
Subdue a 5-star demon.
Even if her claws were tied, a tiger was still a tiger—this was an absurd notion.
But Chris intended to make it happen.
‘It’s possible.’
Everything was going according to his plan.
If it continued like this, it was achievable.
Chris pressed the masked woman with overwhelming force.
Indeed, the holy sword was a cheat weapon.
The masked woman couldn’t even face the holy sword, frantic in trying to dodge.
And it didn’t stop there; Marisa’s hidden techniques supported Chris.
With the right timing, darts and needles were thrown.
‘Damn it.’
The masked woman started to feel increasingly uneasy.
‘By rank, she’s only 3-star at best, so what’s with these movements?’
It wasn’t just the holy sword that was tricky.
Chris was predicting all the movements of the masked woman and acting accordingly.
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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