Episode 101
Chris looked slightly surprised.
“Well, Jupien has always been a righteous person. She even rebelled against the Bloodthirsty Demon King and died for it.”
He felt grateful.
“She even spoke up for me during the meeting. I’ve gotten a lot of help from her in one way or another.”
With a sense of thanks, he said,
“It’s fine.”
“…Fine?”
“To be precise, you’re not much help right now. You’re too weak.”
“!!”
Jupien’s face flushed bright red.
But it was true.
A three-star rank.
For someone in her late teens, it was an incredibly fast achievement, but it wasn’t enough to be of real help to Chris.
Still, hearing this bluntly wasn’t exactly pleasant.
Just as Jupien was about to scowl,
“Don’t force the fusion of illusion magic and swordsmanship too much.”
“!!”
She flinched.
It was advice meant for her.
Chris continued with a serious expression.
“If the sword and illusion magic each have their own life, they’ll eventually come together naturally.”
To reach the fourth star in Illusion Swordsmanship, which Jupien was training in, she needed to be able to transform the Black Sword into an illusion.
The two had to be unified.
This was the wall Jupien had hit, the point where many illusion swordsmen had faced frustration.
“How do you know what I’m struggling with?”
“I saw you practicing recently. It was obvious. You know, I’m a genius.”
Chris grinned.
“Here, watch.”
He raised his sword.
The Black Sword flashed upward.
At the same time, it transformed.
It was a Black Cloud of Darkness, but unlike any ordinary black cloud.
It looked like an illusion spell had been cast.
A thick, massive cloud of darkness spread out.
He had demonstrated the fusion of illusion and Black Sword at the fourth-star level.
It was impossible to tell where the Black Sword ended and the illusion began—making it a deadly illusion Black Sword.
“…When did you get that good at Illusion Swordsmanship?”
“I never trained separately. I just copied what you were doing last time. Seems to work well.”
“…You’re seriously annoying.”
Chris glanced to see if she was hurt in her pride, but no.
Jupien’s eyes were fixed on the illusion Chris had created.
As if she didn’t want to miss a single detail.
Chris shrugged.
“You get what I’m saying, right? The key to fusion is the Black Sword. If your Black Sword is fully alive, it can transform into an illusion. Now that you’ve seen it, you can do it, right?”
Jupien didn’t answer, but she looked like she understood.
Chris hadn’t just thrown together a quick demonstration.
He had carefully controlled the Black Sword’s operation to be genuinely helpful, following the proper process of fusion with the illusion.
Since Jupien had been struggling with this very process, she immediately realized what she was missing.
Jupien was a prodigy in her own right, just not quite on Chris’s level.
“I’m not going to say thank you.”
“Yeah, no need. Instead, repay me with work. I’ll make you suffer several times over for what I teach you.”
“……”
“Now go train hard and become someone who can help me.”
Jupien frowned and turned her back.
“If you need anything, just say so. I owe you a favor.”
With that, she vanished in a flash, and Chris chuckled softly.
At that moment, Melin shook her head beside him.
“Lord Gongja, you really are something.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re so tempting. When will I get to spar with you properly?”
Melin’s voice was fired up, probably excited by Chris’s sword display.
“I think it’s about time I gave it my all in a life-or-death duel.”
“If we do that, you’ll be the one in danger.”
“Even better! The moments when your life is on the line in battle are the most thrilling.”
Chris gave Melin a sidelong look, as if staring at a pervert, then cleared his throat.
“I’ll let you have a proper duel after this is all over. But Melin, I have something for you to do.”
“Anything you say.”
“Go infiltrate the Liberi Count’s castle.”
“The Liberi Count’s castle?”
“Yes. Don’t get caught. Stay hidden. I’ll contact you when the time comes.”
It was a strange order.
“And Alos?”
“What should I do? If there’s nothing for me, I’ll just stay with the Tiramyn Count’s family… though I probably won’t be much help.”
Alos asked timidly.
“You’re going to the Kazar Count’s family.”
“Wha—? Me? I won’t be of any use in the war!”
Alos was shocked.
Chris shook his head.
“There won’t be a big fight with the Bursen Duchy. I’ll take care of that first.”
“Then?”
“You’ll deliver a message to my father. Make sure no one else hears it.”
Because it was top secret, it couldn’t be sent by letter or messenger.
Chris lowered his voice to a whisper.
“Tell him to prepare to strike the Liberi Count’s family.”
“…No way.”
Melin and Alos’s eyes widened.
They realized what Chris was planning, including the earlier order to Melin.
“You guessed right.”
Chris nodded with a dark gaze.
That’s right.
Chris’s goal wasn’t just to clear his name.
He planned to annihilate the Liberi Count’s family and cut off the wings of Eshid.
As Chris took the necessary steps and left the Dark Maga,
there were those watching from above the main family’s mansion.
Eshid and Yurian.
They were drinking tea at a table on the balcony.
“How is it, Yurian? Isn’t it amusing to watch them flail like insects?”
“……”
Yurian, the first princess, took a quiet sip instead of answering.
Unlike her usual gentle expression, her gaze was cold and indifferent.
Somehow chilling.
But Eshid continued in a friendly tone.
“You can be honest with me. You’re just pretending to be kind, but it’s all an act.”
“……”
“My only beloved younger sister, Yurian. What kind of terrible monster hides beneath that hypocritical mask of yours? I’m curious.”
Yurian remained silent, only sipping her tea.
When Eshid gave up on her silence, he shrugged and left.
Yurian set down her teacup.
Clang!
“Disgusting.”
Her eyes filled with contempt.
Not just for Eshid.
For the entire Dark Maga.
Even for herself.
It was filthy and repulsive beyond words.
Something she wanted to burn and destroy completely.
She picked up a broken shard of glass and cut her arm.
Tearing flesh and blood flowed, but she didn’t stop.
With a blank expression, she continued to harm herself.
Her wrist soon became a ragged mess.
What was even more horrifying was that this self-harm wasn’t new.
Faint scars lay beneath the fresh wounds—countless repeated injuries.
Yurian looked at her own body indifferently and muttered again.
“Disgusting.”
Her cursed voice lingered in the air.
Fading away.
In a flash!
Chris moved swiftly.
‘Looks like I’ve shaken off the trackers Eshid sent.’
A large number of pursuers had followed, either to spy on what Chris was up to or to seize an opportunity to eliminate him.
But it was impossible to tail him properly.
After confirming he’d just lost the last tracker by leading them the wrong way, Chris exhaled.
He was about to head toward his destination in earnest.
Suddenly, a chilling voice echoed.
[Do you need help?]
‘Mephina!’ The demon from the Seventh Realm he’d met before.
[If you wish, I can help you uncover the truth. It’s no trouble.]
Chris looked surprised.
‘It would be easy to finish this with a demon’s help.’
The principle of human sacrifice was simple.
Offer the lives of the victims to the demon and receive a blessing in return.
It was similar to a demon contract.
The reason human sacrifices left no trace was similar.
The sacrificer asked the demon to grant a blessing of concealment.
Thanks to the demon’s power, no evidence of the sacrifice remained.
But conversely, the demon could play tricks whenever it wanted.
Eshid would be immediately accused as the culprit behind the human sacrifices.
“Why make such an offer?”
[Heh. Didn’t I say I’m interested in you? I’m just doing you a favor.]
“…A favor, huh.”
Chris snorted.
“Shut up.”
[!!]
“You demons always do the same thing.”
It was the classic trick demons used to tempt their targets.
They don’t ask for your soul outright.
They offer small favors bit by bit, then eventually take your soul in the end.
‘Besides, that alone won’t seriously hurt Eshid.’
If he exposed Eshid’s human sacrifices with demon power?
Would that be a fatal blow?
Maybe.
It could deal some damage.
But Eshid would use his power and influence to cover it up, and the matter would likely be settled at a moderate level.
Chris couldn’t let that happen.
‘Opportunities like this don’t come often. I need to deliver a decisive, crippling blow. Something that will utterly ruin Eshid’s standing.’
There was a way.
‘If I can catch proof that Eshid is colluding with the allied forces.’
One question.
How had Eshed and Count Libery managed to rescue so many people as sacrifices?
The border with Gold Cross was heavily guarded on both sides.
The answer was simple.
“There was someone within the Bursen County secretly colluding with Eshed’s side.”
An unforgivable crime for a mage.
Chris pulled something from his pocket.
It was a sacred relic he had obtained earlier—the Banner of the Constellation.
The Banner had various concealment effects, but its most crucial power was this:
It erased all traces of magic.
Whoosh!
The magical aura around Chris vanished as if washed away.
By any measure, he no longer looked like a mage.
[Could it be you?]
“Yes. I’m going to Bursen County.”
Chris nodded.
“All the answers lie there.”
He already had a strong suspicion about who was betraying Eshed’s side.
Baron Bord.
The true power behind Bursen County, effectively ruling in place of the count who was bedridden.
He had to be caught.
Gold Cross was a coalition of countless nations.
Bursen County was one of them.
As its name suggested, it was a small independent county—not large in size, but a strong, well-established country with solid foundations and formidable military power.
“We can’t just storm in blindly. First, we need to prepare.”
Fortunately, there was someone who could help him.
Ruina, a notorious miser.
They met in the back alleys of Bursen County.
“Good to see you. Been a while. It’s strange seeing you in the coalition.”
“Y-yeah, it is,” Ruina replied, her face twisted in a scowl.