Chapter 119
Bang.

At that very moment, a blood-red wave surged toward Chris from all directions.

It was a desperate situation—impossible to dodge or block.

Yet Chris’s gaze remained calm.

‘They really think they can underestimate me with an attack like this?’

He gripped his sword tightly.

Charging straight into the heart of the crimson wave, he swung his Aura Blade.

A secret technique of a swordsmanship master: the Four Seas Cleave.

A single, majestic beam of light sliced through the wicked, blood-colored flames, parting the wave to either side.

Wide-area attacks like this only look powerful on the surface; since the energy is spread out rather than concentrated, they have many vulnerabilities.

Chris wasn’t the kind to miss even the slightest blind spot.

‘He fights like he’s toying with his opponents—that’s his style.’

Sherard, even in his previous life as the Blood Shadow Demon Lord, rarely fought with full effort.

For him, combat and slaughter were mere playthings.

‘Anyway, this is my chance.’

Chris surged forward, closing the distance step by step in an instant.

A deep smile spread across Sherard’s lips, as if he were growing excited.

“Good. Come on then.”

“Shut up.”

Chris’s free hand, the one not holding the sword, formed a magic seal.

Crack!

Cold Volcano.

A surge of icy energy erupted from beneath Sherard’s feet, instantly freezing the ground around him—a white magic ice spell.

For reference, Chris had mastered all white magic disciplines to at least a four-star level.

As Sherard summoned his blood energy to dispel the cold,

Chris switched his magic.

He brought his finger to his mouth and bit down sharply.

Fwoosh.

Droplets of blood scattered into the air, dissolving into faint particles.

Chris clenched his fist tightly, causing the particles to vibrate.

At that moment, Sherard’s blood energy reacted, creating a resonance.

“!!”

A flicker of discomfort crossed Sherard’s face.

The resonance Chris triggered was weak—only a small fraction of Sherard’s vast blood energy was affected.

But crucially, it disrupted the core flow of that energy.

A miracle born from Chris’s insane perception and mastery of magic.

Of course, it couldn’t last long.

The moment Sherard realized the problem, the resonance vanished.

Still, that brief delay was unavoidable.

And in that split second, as Sherard’s efforts to dispel the cold slowed,

Chris unleashed a prepared spell.

Thunder Explosion.

A white magic spell that detonates lightning at a targeted point.

Because it detonates instantly upon casting, there was no chance to dodge.

Crackle!

Electricity surged through the frozen cold enveloping Sherard’s body.

The damage itself was minor.

The real problem was the movement restriction caused by the spell’s aftereffects.

Frozen cold.

Electricity flowing over the ice.

Sherard’s body was momentarily paralyzed.

‘Now!’

Chris gritted his teeth.

Thanks to Sherard’s momentary lapse, he seized the opportunity.

The Aura Blade exploded forward.

A streak of light descended toward Sherard’s head.

But Sherard smiled faintly.

A chilling smile.

“Very good.”

His hand moved.

Though trembling from the cold and electric shock, it soon moved with incredible speed.

Faster and stronger than before.

Chris realized what was happening.

‘Will!’

Another power of the six-star Master Class.

While lesser mages enhance their bodies with magic, six-star mages can temporarily surpass their physical limits through sheer force of will.

The tide turned in an instant.

At this rate, Sherard’s hand would reach Chris’s throat first.

But,

‘I expected this.’

Chris revealed a hidden card.

A low hum.

The Vampire Ring on his finger emitted a low growl.

The magic energy in Chris’s dantian—the outer core—was converted into light mana in the inner core, flooding his body with power.

Chris unleashed all his energy in a single burst.

The blade of light accelerated beyond its limits.

“!!”

Sherard’s eyes widened.

He hadn’t anticipated such a strike.

For the record, Chris had never used the Vampire Ring in front of Sherard, enduring countless life-or-death moments over the past month to keep its existence secret.

Sherard hastily leaned his head back but couldn’t fully evade.

The Aura Blade grazed diagonally across his face.

Drip, drip.

Though just a graze, the Aura Blade was still a blade.

A deep wound sliced from his left temple to the philtrum, then across his right cheek.

Blood instantly stained Sherard’s face.

That wound would leave a permanent scar.

“…”

A brief silence fell.

Chris, drained from the sudden exertion, gasped for breath.

Sherard, bloodied and pale, stared coldly at him.

The atmosphere was suffocating.

Then.

Clap. Clap.

Sherard smirked and began to applaud.

“Wow. Impressive. Better than I expected. That was truly chilling. I almost died just now. It’s been ages since I felt this kind of thrilling tension.”

“…”

“So what now? I’m starting to not want to kill you. You’re already this interesting, and if you grow any stronger, who knows how fascinating you’ll become.”

Sherard tilted his head, as if pondering.

His pale, blood-soaked face combined with that innocent expression created a grotesque aura.

“Let’s just call it quits.”

“…What?”

“I won’t kill you.”

“…”

“If I kill you today, I’ll regret it later. I’m scared of disobeying my father’s orders, but… you could just run far away or something.”

In other words,

He planned to kill Chris later, once he’d grown stronger.

Sherard grinned.

“How about it? You like that, don’t you? No need to thank me. This favor will be repaid when you die entertaining me later…”

“Shut up.”

“Huh?”

“Who said we’re stopping here?”

Sherard looked puzzled.

“If we keep fighting, you’ll die.”

“Is that so?”

Chris smirked.

“Looks like you’re the one who doesn’t understand the situation.”

He stretched out his hand.

And began to activate his secret weapon.

Flash!

A faint red inverted cross began to appear on Sherard’s forehead.

A cursed black magic mark called the ‘Mark of Devouring’—a target for evil entities.

Sherard’s expression turned incredulous.

“What do you think you’ll accomplish with such a low-level curse? This pathetic curse is nothing.”

He summoned his blood energy to forcibly dispel the curse.

“!!”

But the mark on his forehead didn’t budge; instead, it deepened.

“This is a modified version created by a genius like me. Even you won’t be able to dispel it quickly.”

Originally, the Mark of Devouring was a three-star curse, nothing more than a trivial mark that made mindless beasts or evil spirits targets.

But Chris had enhanced the curse’s incantation.

Now, even higher-level evil beings would feel the temptation to devour the marked target.

He also embedded security spells to make it difficult to remove.

Especially since Chris’s dark magic purity was absolute, the curse’s power was stronger than usual.

Even Sherard would struggle to dispel it.

“Hmm. Still don’t get it. What’s my interesting little brother’s scheme? The beasts near this border are only about five-star level at most. You don’t really think they can threaten me, do you?”

“Of course not. The beasts here can’t harm you.”

“Hmm? Then?”

“But if I send you somewhere else, somewhere truly terrifying, that changes everything.”

“…What?”

Chris pulled out another item, and Sherard’s expression stiffened, unlike before.

“That can’t be…”

“You recognize it. Lenin’s Scissors. You know what it’s for, right?”

An artifact from the Great Mage Lenin, capable of slicing through space.

It can’t pinpoint exact coordinates, so it’s not very practical.

‘But if I’m just sending him away, no need for precision. I’ll send him to Gehenna.’

This place was a border.

A pocket dimension connected to a lower region of Gehenna.

Chris had spent the past month calculating coordinates.

Though he couldn’t specify an exact spot, he could send Sherard toward Gehenna.

‘Once he’s sent to Gehenna, no matter where he lands, it’ll be hell for him. He’s as good as dead.’

But Sherard soon relaxed.

“Hmm. Clever idea, but do you really think I’d fall for that? I can just dodge Lenin’s Scissors.”

“You won’t be able to dodge it.”

Chris grinned.

He pulled out his final tool for the plan.

A cursed doll.

“You know what this doll is better than anyone.”

“!!”

Chris smeared Sherard’s blood from the sword onto the doll.

“Using blood magic, when the doll is stained with blood, the doll and the blood’s owner become linked.”

In other words…

The curse worked on a similar principle to sticking a needle into a doll—whatever pain the doll felt, the target would feel the same.

“If I send this doll flying through the rift, you’ll be dragged along with it.”

Normally, this technique wasn’t easy at all.

You had to analyze every complex, unique pattern of the target to link the doll to them through their blood.

And since you had to be in close contact with the target to do this analysis, the conditions were extremely strict.

But—

‘I’ve already mapped out all of his unique patterns.’

During those three hours earlier, while regaining his strength, Chris had also analyzed Sherard’s traits, who had been standing nearby.

Everything was set.

“Heh heh. Impressive. Really impressive.”

“Don’t bother pretending you’re calm. You’re finished.”

Sure enough, the usual confidence on Sherard’s face slowly faded.

He realized he was caught in a perfect trap.

There was no way out.

“Alright, I lost. I admit it. Heh heh. Well done. I never imagined you’d exceed my expectations from start to finish like this.”

Sherard’s eyes gleamed with a chilling madness as he stared directly at Chris.

“You’re so fascinating it gives me goosebumps.”

“…”

Chris frowned.

In other words, Sherard wanted to kill him in a frenzy.

“Cut the crap.”

Chris swung Lenin’s scissors.

The coordinates he had meticulously calculated over the past month were set in the rift, and a portal to Gehenna snapped open.

Chris tossed the cursed doll into the rift.

Whatever happened to the doll would happen to its blood owner as well.

No sooner had the doll disappeared into the rift—

“Heh heh heh. Hahaha!!!”

Sherard was sucked in too, laughing maniacally as if this was the best thing ever.

In his final moment, Sherard’s blood-red pupils locked onto Chris with a terrifying glare.

Then—

Silence.

It was over.

“Haah.”

Chris exhaled deeply, the tension finally leaving his body.

‘Is it really over?’

Sherard had been such a monstrous foe that it hardly felt real to have dealt with him so easily.

‘No matter how tough he was, falling into Gehenna means there’s no way he’ll survive.’

The lower realms of Gehenna, where Sherard had fallen, were crawling with demons. He would die in agonizing torment.

And after death, his soul would be trapped in Gehenna, forever suffering.

Chris shook his head and looked away.

Far off, a bright light was streaming down from a hole in the ashen sky.

The spot had reopened after a month.

It was time to go back.

“…But I hope I’m not too late.”

He hadn’t noticed while grappling with Sherard, but quite some time had passed since the spot opened.

Chris did the math.

‘Luckily, I’m not late. I’ll arrive just in time for the scheduled judgment duel.’

Chris launched himself toward the spot.

Next up was Eshed’s turn.