Chapter 139
First, to keep Olivia steady, he spoke with a firm, unwavering gaze.
“Remember the essence of exorcism. Never forget the heart that cares for the souls.”
“!!”
Perhaps because the situation was so urgent, Chris didn’t think to use formal speech, and Olivia didn’t find it strange.
“Don’t think about anything else. Focus only on caring for those souls. Leave the rest to me.”
Olivia nodded resolutely and closed her eyes, as if silently praying for those pitiful souls.
Chris moved as well.
‘The nature of dark magic’s domination.’
His dark magic held dominion over other energies.
This dominance extended not only over dark energy but, to some extent, even over light energy.
Because his dark magic was pure darkness, superior to any other force.
Using that dominance, he succeeded in drawing a portion of Olivia’s energy—her star power—toward himself.
Then, he dispersed that star power into the air.
Thump. Whoosh.
Like droplets falling onto the surface of a still lake, the waves of star power rippled through the void.
And with them came sound.
A sound born from the waves of star power.
A single, sharp note.
But Chris didn’t stop there.
In an instant, he repeated the same action countless times.
Rhythmically.
With subtle variations.
The repeated waves formed a pattern, and the variations in that pattern became a rhythm.
What was once just a single sharp note transformed into a flowing melody—a grand musical score.
A requiem for the dead.
A performance crafted from star power to comfort the departed.
Chris’s insane mastery of magic combined with his musical genius created a breathtaking spectacle.
A performance imbued with the purest, most serene energy, touching the souls.
“Ahhh!!”
And so, Olivia’s heartfelt compassion for the souls, combined with the comforting melody woven from star power, created a miracle.
A brilliant light burst forth!
As if the heavens had opened, radiant light poured down upon the altar.
The result?
Crack.
The barrier imprisoning the souls atop the altar fractured, then shattered completely.
They did it!
“Gahhh!!!”
The souls wept tears of liberation, while Duke Vintz coughed up blood violently.
Weakened, Duke Vintz staggered back in terror.
“No, no!”
Evan and Jupien hurried forward.
Duke Vintz frantically shouted at the doll.
“P-please spare me! With your power, you could eliminate them all…!”
The doll smiled faintly beneath its mask, and Chris felt a chill run down his spine.
“No, stop it!”
Evan charged, but it was too late.
[Why should I help a loser like you?]
With a chilling murmur, the doll snapped its fingers.
Bang.
Duke Vintz’s head exploded.
His headless body wobbled, then collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud.
“…”
A tense silence filled the room.
Everyone stared at the doll with wary eyes.
[Now, now. No need to glare at me so fiercely. As I said before, I have no real desire to fight.]
“…How can we trust that? Isn’t your master, Märchen, the one who’s always itching to spill blood at the slightest chance?”
Chris asked coldly.
Märchen was notorious for his fickle and cruel nature; any promises made earlier meant nothing.
[Ah, that may be true, but my master has taken quite a liking to you, Prince Christian.]
“…What?”
The doll’s single eye on the mask fixed its gaze on Chris.
[Prince Christian, have you considered coming to the Four Kings’ Castle?]
“…”
Everyone fell silent.
This was an unexpected proposition.
“…I don’t know what kind of crazy talk this is. If it’s a joke, it’s a pretty dull one.”
[It’s no joke. I’m serious. And I don’t think it’s a bad offer.]
The doll smiled slyly.
[You know as well as I do that there’s no future for the Dark Mage Guild.]
“…”
[The Nordian family, the last bastion of the Dark Mage Guild, doesn’t have much time left. And once the internal conflicts within the Four Kings’ Castle end, the Dark Mage Guild is destined to be crushed.]
Chris couldn’t deny it.
‘He’s right.’
It wasn’t just the Dark Mage Guild.
The other families in the Southern Magic Empire—the Toxic Mage Guild and the Destruction Mage Guild—would all be trampled by the Four Kings’ Castle.
Barely escaping annihilation, they’d be reduced to mere dogs serving the Four Kings.
That was how powerful the Four Kings’ Castle was.
[If you join us, after the Four Kings’ Castle conquers the Dark Mage Guild, I will offer you the position of head of the Dark Mage Guild. Of course, by then, the Dark Mage Guild will be nothing more than a puppet of the Four Kings.]
Chris remained silent, neither accepting nor rejecting.
The doll stroked its chin thoughtfully.
[If that’s not enough… hmm. How about this? I’ll give you Idryne, the Grand Duchess of the Blood Sword Mage Guild.]
“…What?”
At the sudden mention of the Blood Mage King’s name, Chris’s expression hardened.
[Ah, Idryne is the most beautiful woman in the Four Kings’ Castle. Since we plan to kill her anyway, it’s a waste to just kill her outright. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to use her like this? Consider it a special gift for you, Prince.]
“…You’re insane.”
Chris looked pale.
Offering the Blood Mage King as a gift?
It was not only disgusting but utterly absurd.
‘…So Idryne hasn’t yet secured her dominance in the Four Kings’ Castle power struggle?’
Like everywhere else in the Magic Empire, the Four Kings’ Castle was riddled with internal strife.
If the Crusade Alliance’s problem was internal rot, the Magic Empire’s was endless infighting.
‘Idryne reportedly shed a tremendous amount of blood to seize control of the Four Kings’ Castle.’
Either way, it was a conversation not worth entertaining.
“Shut up.”
[Heh heh. You’re as charming as ever. Ah, the more I see you, the more I want you.]
The doll muttered softly.
[Maybe I should just kill you here and turn you into a doll?]
“!!”
At that moment, Evan unleashed an Aura Blade.
A sudden, lightning-fast strike.
But the doll didn’t flinch, instead stretching its mouth into a wide grin.
[Heh. A master swordsman, huh? You’d make a fine doll too. Prepare yourself…]
Then, suddenly, the doll froze.
As if a string had been cut.
Though brief, that moment felt like an eternity to a knight like Evan.
Screech.
The doll’s neck was severed.
But that wasn’t all.
Flash.
Evan’s blade whipped through the air like a storm.
Wrists, arms, legs, torso—pieces of the doll’s body were sliced apart.
He deliberately cut it into pieces to prevent regeneration.
[W-what?! How?!]
The doll’s head rolled on the floor, disbelief evident in its voice.
“You saw it, didn’t you? I’m a genius.”
Chris stepped forward, placing the heel of his shoe on the doll’s mask.
Right on the single eye—the doll’s ‘core.’
“After exposing your ‘string’ for so long against a genius like me, you really thought you’d be fine? You seriously underestimated me.”
[!!]
The string.
The core of doll magic—a dark magical link connecting master and doll.
Cutting that string disables the doll, so Chris had been searching for it from the moment he first saw the doll.
Usually, the string is hidden meticulously to prevent such sabotage.
‘No matter how powerful Märchen is as a seven-star dark mage, it’s impossible to perfectly hide the string when controlling a doll from over 2,000 kilometers away.’
Still, it was only a tiny crack that no one else dared exploit, but Chris seized that faint opening to temporarily neutralize the doll.
‘Märchen will prepare countermeasures next time, so I probably can’t use this trick again.’
Bang!
The mask shattered, and the doll’s dismembered body turned into a black liquid like a dead monster’s corpse, then vanished.
“…It’s over.”
Evan spoke, but Chris shook his head.
“No, this is just the beginning.”
“!!”
Chris looked down at the altar, still marked with traces of dark magic.
“It’s time to uncover the truth.”
The moment had come to face the true mastermind behind this horrific incident.
They took care of the aftermath first.
Since the fight had happened in secret, no one was confused by Duke Vintz’s disappearance.
Viscount Roy and Olivia made up a rough excuse to explain his absence, while Chris examined the evidence.
‘Not easy. Just as expected from those cursed mage families.’
Duke Vintz was not the true mastermind.
He was merely a pawn.
Chris checked the dark magical evidence for any trace of the real culprit but found nothing.
Only the marks of Duke Vintz, the mere henchman, remained.
‘But there’s always a way.’
Chris didn’t just sift through the dark magical evidence; he combed through all of Duke Vintz’s official documents.
Normally, outsiders wouldn’t have access, but under the circumstances, it didn’t matter.
Of course, Duke Vintz wouldn’t have left any incriminating evidence in official records.
“Bingo.”
“…Did you find something?”
Olivia asked, her expression tense for some reason.
“Looking through the documents, I found some suspicious details.”
“……”
“I believe we can now identify who’s behind this.”
Olivia swallowed hard.
A tense shadow flickered in her sapphire-blue eyes.
Chris slid a stack of documents across the table.
“These records detail the flow of goods and budget expenditures in the Principality of Vintz over the past year. If you examine them closely, you can trace how the items used in the recent curse were smuggled in under false pretenses.”
“…”
“Because it was such a large-scale curse, a great many materials were needed. Most of these are banned items, so they had to be brought in through all sorts of covert channels. This couldn’t have been done by the Vintz principality alone. There must have been accomplices. But who could possibly orchestrate something like this?”
Given the fragmented nature of the Gold Cross, very few have the means to pull off such a scheme.
Even monarchs only wield power within their own territories.
— It would be best to hear the full details directly from the Pontiff.
The words the Prince of Vintz had once spoken flashed through Olivia’s mind, draining the color from her face.
Still, she forced herself to shake her head.
“…H-However, this is all just speculation, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. But take a look at this as well.”
Chris handed her a letter.
“It’s from Ruina.”
“Dear Guild… you mean the group accused of causing the recent plague outbreak?”
“Yes. It was a false accusation. But who would go so far as to frame them?”
“…”
Again, very few within the Gold Cross could pull off such a thing.
Chris unfolded the letter.
“Fortunately, Ruina, the guild leader, is quite resourceful and well-connected with many key figures within the Gold Cross. According to them, the downfall of the Dear Guild was influenced by the will of someone very high up.”