Episode 153
Chris tapped Saenin’s shoulder lightly, and Saenin ground his teeth, storming ahead.
It seemed he had earned outright hatred, but Chris didn’t care.
‘They’ll all be kneeling before me soon enough.’
In truth, the position of the Fifth Commander was never his concern. Nor was the Vice Commander role.
Chris’s real goal was to secure the loyalty of Marquis Shupen.
‘To do that, first I have to make sure Marquis Shupen doesn’t die.’
Whatever was about to happen, he didn’t know.
Or rather, because he didn’t know.
He had to become as strong as possible in these two months.
After being shown to his quarters, Chris took a brief rest to loosen up before starting serious training. Just then, his companions arrived.
[“Oh ho ho, I have missed you terribly. My heart aches from longing. Will you grant me the honor of a reunion kiss?”]
“…Missed me? We only parted a few days ago. How did you catch up so fast?”
It wasn’t just Mari who had followed him.
Merlin stepped forward.
“I hurried to serve you as soon as possible, my lord.”
“…Not because you wanted to be close to me sooner?”
“Heh, as expected of my lord. You know my heart well. Let’s have a match right away.”
Merlin smiled fiercely.
Her aura was far stronger than before.
In the time they hadn’t seen each other, she had reached the rank of 5-star.
Alos was there too.
“I-I…!! Sniff, I also came to serve you loyally, my lord…!!”
‘I didn’t want to come, so why did I end up following?’ Chris thought, realizing Merlin had dragged him along.
‘This place’s barrier is dangerous! What if I get caught by those Undead from the Demon King’s Castle?’
Alos’s face grew wistful as he recalled his close friend beyond borders, Count Roy, whom he had met at the Gold Cross.
Before parting, Count Roy had looked at Alos with eyes full of pity.
‘How are you doing, Sir Roy? I’m still trapped by that demon… Sniff. Maybe I should just seek asylum at the Gold Cross.’
There was yet another who had followed.
“…Why on earth did you come?”
“Me? I was bored.”
Jupien, the quiet, four-dimensional doll-faced girl who had been quietly doing push-ups in the corner, said flatly.
“This place looks fun.”
“…Right.”
Chris shook his head.
‘Well, since it’s come to this, it wouldn’t hurt if we all got stronger together.’
At that moment, Merlin asked with concern.
“But my lord, are you sure you’re okay? I heard you plan to duel one of the Fifth Commanders in two months.”
The rumor had already spread widely, even though only a day had passed.
Chris didn’t mind.
“I’m fine.”
“But… all the Fifth Commanders are 6-star level beings.”
Merlin’s expression remained serious.
Of course, she believed in Chris.
She trusted that given enough time, he could break through to 6-star.
But two months was hardly enough.
“No matter how great you are, you can’t reach 6-star in just two months.”
“That’s true.”
Even Chris could only reach 5-star within two months at best.
Though ‘only’ was hardly the right word—reaching 5-star, classified as a ‘high-level being,’ in less than two years after reincarnation was unprecedented.
“Even if you become 5-star, you can’t beat a Fifth Commander.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s 5-star versus 6-star.”
Merlin answered as if it were obvious.
Just as the gap between 4-star and 5-star was like heaven and earth, so too was the difference between 5-star and 6-star.
If 5-star beings manifest their will into reality, 6-star beings challenge the very limits of reality itself through their will.
It was common knowledge that 5-star couldn’t defeat 6-star.
“So who decided that?”
“!!”
“Have you already forgotten why you swore loyalty to me?”
Merlin fell silent.
In the past, Chris, then only 1-star, had defeated Merlin, who was 4-star.
“…You’re planning something else ridiculous again, aren’t you?”
Indeed.
Chris had a plan.
‘I just need to gain power that can overcome the limits of will.’
An absurd thought.
Willpower was the force that had reached the limits of reality—how could he possibly overcome that?
But.
‘I can do it.’
Chris grinned and stood up.
He was about to begin serious training.
“What kind of training will you do? Something extraordinary like last time?”
Merlin asked eagerly, recalling how Chris had gone to the border of Gehenna to perfect his will.
But Chris replied,
“No, the training grounds.”
“Oh? Sounds like you have some amazing method. I’ll arrange a secret training ground for you.”
“No need. I’ll use the training grounds the regular soldiers use.”
“Regular soldiers?”
Merlin looked puzzled, but Chris nodded and explained his plan.
“Yeah, I’m going to work on physical conditioning.”
His secret to gaining power beyond will?
Physical training.
The beginning of extreme endurance training.
The Dark Demon Army was an impressive force.
All 10,000 troops were beings who had mastered demonic energy.
Most were 1-star level, but that was nothing to scoff at.
Even 1-star or 2-star beings could live confidently anywhere.
‘In the Union, even 2-star beings can become official knights.’
Conversely, for ordinary people without talent, even reaching 1-star was no easy feat.
Yet the Dark Demon Army’s entire force was at least 1-star.
It was impossible for all 10,000 soldiers to be naturally talented.
Their training system had to be exceptional.
It could bring even the untalented to at least 1-star.
‘The training grounds must be excellent too.’
Chris went to the training grounds behind Marquis Shupen’s territory.
This was where the soldiers trained.
From equipment for physical conditioning to basic weapon skills and tools to help control demonic energy.
Everything a beginner needed to learn demonic energy was here.
The problem was, this place was strictly for beginners.
It was completely unsuitable for someone like Chris, who was on the threshold of a high-level being.
“Prince Christian, may I ask your business here?”
A training instructor asked cautiously.
“I’m here for physical training.”
“But this place is—”
“I know. It’s where beginners learn the basics of demonic energy. I thought I’d join in on the basics too.”
“B-basics?”
“Yes. The basics are always the most important, aren’t they?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll train quietly in the corner by myself. You don’t need to worry about me.”
The instructor looked flustered.
He wasn’t sure if Chris was serious.
Regardless, Chris truly intended to start with basic training.
The first was long-distance running.
Chris strapped on a clacking bracelet.
It was a seal that suppressed demonic energy.
He planned to train relying solely on his physical abilities, without any demonic energy.
‘This is exactly what I need right now.’
To be honest.
He could reach 5-star today if he wanted.
He already had more than enough enlightenment.
But Chris was deliberately holding back on increasing his rank.
‘I’m severely unbalanced right now. To be precise, I have too many weaknesses.’
It was hard to believe.
How could someone who overwhelmed 5-star beings at 4-star level have so many shortcomings?
But it was true.
‘Physical strength, other bodily conditioning, the vessel for demonic energy, the absolute amount of demonic energy, the maturity of my demonic energy—all of it is lacking.’
Compared to Jupien, who was also 4-star.
If they quantified their physical stats, Chris would lose in every category.
Strength, stamina, agility—across the board.
‘My demonic energy is better, at least.’
But even his demonic energy wasn’t perfect.
His control and operation of demonic energy were flawless—an innate talent.
But the vessel itself—the sturdiness, the absolute quantity, the solidity gained from long-term training—those ‘basics’ were missing.
It was inevitable.
He simply hadn’t trained long enough.
His genius had hidden these flaws until now.
‘Until now, it wasn’t a big problem. Even with my weaknesses, I could perform far more efficiently than others.’
But from now on, it would be different.
This imbalance would eventually trip him up.
In fact, it already was.
‘My aura blade is at 5-star level, but its power is lacking.’
A surprising admission.
His aura blade contained perfect will, making it far stronger than typical elder-class weapons.
Yet Chris shook his head in dissatisfaction.
‘It should be on a completely different level from now. But my aura blade is only at a “strong” level.’
The reason was simple.
A weapon is both a manifestation of will and a vessel to contain it.
The will inside was perfect, but the vessel—the weapon itself—was imperfect.
‘Because of my imbalance.’
The weapon’s perfection depends not only on will but on many factors.
That’s why it was lacking.
To be honest.
It wasn’t just lacking. By Chris’s standards, his weapon’s vessel was terrible.
The will was perfect, so at least it could produce this much power.
But conversely,
‘If my weapon’s vessel becomes perfect, my weapon will become perfect too.’
Perfect will, combined with a perfect vessel.
At that moment, his energy could truly be called absolute energy.
“If I can obtain this ‘absolute energy,’ then standing against the ‘willpower’ won’t be such a far-fetched idea.”
That was Chris’s goal this time.
“I have to completely fix the imbalance I have.”
Just balancing things out halfway wouldn’t be enough.
Especially since the purity of his dark magic was absolute—ten out of ten. Compared to other magics, it was incredibly difficult to control.
To create a perfect vessel of energy with such dark magic, he would need an unshakable, flawless balance.
“The problem is time.”
Considering that others spent at least a decade or more building their foundational abilities, Chris was at least ten years behind.
And he had to catch up in just two months.
It was absurd.
“I can do it.”
As always, the reason was simple.
“Because I’m a genius.”
And so, Chris began his training regimen as a ‘genius.’
Chris’s physical training caused quite a stir within the Dark Magic Army.
Everyone was surprised.
“Prince Christian from the main family is dedicating himself to basic physical training? Why on earth?”