Episode 165

“That’s none of your concern. But if you follow my terms, I’ll grant you freedom.”

“…Freedom?”

“Yeah. I’ll let you go. But the core will be sealed. Whether you run off to the Union or not, that’s your problem.”

“!!”

It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“…How am I supposed to believe that?”

“You must be mistaken. You’re the one who should be worried. Don’t think I’ll keep you alive forever when you’re worthless as a prisoner.”

The dark mage swallowed hard.

In truth, he was in a position where he could be killed at any moment.

“…So I just have to cast the spell?”

“That’s right. But you have to keep casting it repeatedly until I say you’re done.”

The dark mage shook his head.

‘Why on earth is he making me do this? Does he really think I can learn it just by watching?’

He sneered.

The unique spells of a noble dark magic family were impossible for outsiders to replicate.

Not only were the incantations strictly guarded secrets, but from the moment one learned dark magic, the spell’s layers had to be built using the family’s unique pattern—called the “family fingerprint”—or else it wouldn’t manifest properly.

‘Well, it doesn’t concern me anyway.’

“…My specialty in curses is the erosion type, which invades the opponent’s mind. The advanced curse I’ve mastered is called ‘Sinking into Sleep.’”

At around a five-star level, even within the same curse category, practitioners specialized in different branches.

The same applied to other dark magic fields and even the white magic of the Union.

“Enough explanation. Just cast it already.”

A guard dragged a cart prepared in advance into the prison.

It was a storage room where small magical beasts were kept locked up.

‘“Sinking into Sleep” is a powerful curse that causes death by reflecting what happens during sleep onto the body. It’s too dangerous to have a human cast it.’

‘Actually, the exact type of curse doesn’t matter.’

Chris wasn’t trying to steal the dark mage’s unique spell.

He could improve any spell as he wished, so there was no need to bother stealing someone else’s.

What Chris wanted was something else.

‘I need to glimpse the true meaning behind the advanced curse.’

A concept in dark magic akin to enlightenment.

The power of spells from noble dark magic families wasn’t just because the incantations themselves were excellent.

It was because of the unique “true meaning” each family held.

These noble families possessed a high-level understanding of the truths of dark magic, and this insight was completely inaccessible to outside dark mages.

‘Just as the strength of a magical weapon varies depending on the wielder’s will, the power of dark magic varies wildly depending on the true meaning one attains.’

Of course, even within noble families, the true meaning branched into many paths.

Even if two people accessed the same true meaning, the results differed greatly.

The dark mage before him was unlikely to have mastered the higher-level true meaning passed down directly in the curse mage’s bloodline.

‘Doesn’t matter. I just need a clue.’

Chris’s eyes darkened.

The flow of the curse.

The malice contained within.

How the will formed patterns and formulas—all of it etched itself into Chris’s mind.

Within his imagination, a new true meaning began to emerge.

Completely different from the one the dark mage had shown—a new true meaning unique to Chris.

With all preparations complete, the moment arrived.

A monster from the Mystic Mage’s faction had infiltrated the Duchy of Shupen.

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From a distance, they confirmed the presence of a faint demonic aura.

It was the hallmark of Patera.

Unlike other demon contractors who thoroughly erased all traces of their demons, Patera couldn’t completely hide the demonic residue.

“It’s definitely a monster from the Mystic Mage faction.”

“I hoped it wasn’t.”

The Duke of Shupen sighed deeply before speaking.

“Are you really going to go through with this? Your plan is too dangerous. It’s not too late. The monster and I, along with the five commanders, will handle it.”

His voice still laced with concern for Christian.

Chris’s plan was indeed reckless.

But Chris grinned.

“You seem to have forgotten—I’m one of the five commanders too.”

“…….”

“Let’s begin the operation.”

The Duke nodded gravely.

Since fighting inside the castle could cause unknown damage, the plan was to lure the monster outside.

The method was simple.

Chris stepped out of the castle.

‘Since I’m the target, Patera will sense my soul’s presence and follow me.’

Patera was an experimental subject.

Thoroughly modified to serve as a vessel for summoning demons, its perception system differed from humans.

It didn’t rely on the five senses—eyes, nose, mouth—but on spiritual senses to track and pursue.

Sure enough.

“Master, it has left the castle. It’s heading exactly in the direction you went.”

Merlin, secretly spying on the monster, reported through a remote communication device.

“It’s fine now. Stop tracking it further.”

“Understood.”

“Carry out the next orders I gave you.”

Chris assigned Merlin a special task, like a separate squad.

“Understood. Please be careful.”

Merlin’s voice betrayed concern for Chris.

It was an extremely dangerous operation.

But Chris answered calmly.

“Don’t worry. Trust me. This is actually a chance to spread my reputation far and wide.”

He wasn’t just saying that.

The Mystic Mage faction was considered an outlier in the Magic Empire.

So if Chris defeated a monster from the Mystic Mage faction, his fame would echo throughout the entire Magic Empire.

Such renown would be a huge advantage when he exerted influence outside the Dark Mage faction in the future.

‘But for that, the plan has to succeed.’

Chris’s gaze darkened.

Though he appeared confident, he was just as nervous.

But failure wasn’t an option.

Whoosh!

He activated lightness technique.

Since Patera tracked the soul’s presence, any attempt to block tracking was useless.

He headed straight toward his destination.

A desolate mountain valley far from the territory.

A chilling wind blew.

After steadying his breath, a figure soon appeared.

‘Patera!’

At first glance, it looked ordinary.

No, could this be called ordinary?

Perhaps due to human experimentation, its face and body were covered in deep wrinkles and horrific scars, making it impossible to guess its gender or age.

That wasn’t all.

Its eyes were empty, as if blind.

Drool dripped from its slack mouth.

It reached out trembling toward Chris, as if drugged.

“Uh… uh… are you… Christian? Judging by the soul’s presence… I think you are.”

Patera stammered, looking toward Chris.

Chris crossed his arms.

The operation had begun.

“No, I’m not.”

“…No… you’re not…?”

“That’s right. I’m not Christian.”

As you can see, Patera’s humanity had been erased, and its mind was unstable.

It only retained the low intelligence to follow orders, so it reacted with confusion.

“No, no… I’m sure… this soul trace… belongs to Christian…”

Patera tilted its head repeatedly, then let out a sound.

“Lies… you are… Christian.”

“No.”

“Don’t lie!!”

Bang!!

With a scream of agony, a tremendous force surged.

The surrounding trees shook as if about to be uprooted, and Chris gathered his energy to avoid injury.

‘That was just an emotional outburst, and it had this much power?’

Chris clicked his tongue.

He couldn’t imagine how strong it would be if it unleashed its full power.

Patera began to approach.

“I… have to kill you… I don’t really want to… sorry… but I have orders… to kill you…”

“I’m not Christian.”

“Lying again…”

“Look over there.”

Chris pointed in a direction.

A figure appeared unexpectedly—Alos.

Alos shouted with a pale face.

“I-I am Christian! You monster!!”

It was absurd.

Alos was doing this ridiculous act on Chris’s orders.

“Ahhh! Scary!! Save me!! That Christian is a bad guy, a demon!!”

But something strange happened.

Patera looked back and forth between Alos and Chris, confused.

“…Why are there two souls of Christian?”

Chris had used the hidden artifact, the Crest of the Constellation, on Alos!

The Crest didn’t just mimic appearance; it disguised the very essence.

In other words, it could even disguise the soul.

Since Patera identified targets through spiritual senses, it couldn’t make a clear judgment.

This only added to its confusion.

“I’m Christian too, you monster.”

Jupien appeared.

She was disguised as well, dressed similarly to Chris in male attire.

“Look at me. See this miserable expression? I’m the most annoying Christian in the world.”

Jupien forced a scowl, trying to imitate Chris’s usual grimace.

Though her disguise and acting were terrible, Patera was even more bewildered.

“Three souls of Christian…?”

Jupien had also been given the Crest of the Constellation.

Of course, using the Crest on multiple people was extremely taxing.

It wouldn’t last long, but that didn’t matter.

Chris only needed a short amount of time.

“Who… who’s the real one?”

“I’m not the real one. That sly-looking guy over there is the real deal.”

Chris pointed at Alos.

“No, I’m not! That nasty guy… no, Buni is the real one!”

“No, I’m the real one. I worked hard on my disguise.”

As they all shouted over each other in confusion, Patera found himself in complete turmoil.

“…Wait… are you all really the real ones? Or… all fakes? Then… who am I supposed to kill?”

Patera muttered, utterly bewildered.

“Ah… ah… I guess… I just have to kill them all.”

A chilling voice.

But it was too late.

Chris spread his hands wide.

Fwoooosh!!

A magic circle flared up, centered on Patera.

That was the point.

Chris had used two people to confuse Patera, buying time to activate this magic circle.

“Now!”

At that moment, five figures who had been hiding sprang forward.

The Five Captains.

“Next, it’s our turn!”

“Deploy the Cham-ma Barrier Formation!!”

The Dark Demon Army’s strength came from their combined techniques.

Individually, their soldiers weren’t strong.

So they developed combined formations to take down powerful foes.

The formation the Five Captains unleashed now was a spiritual combined formation designed to restrain top-tier demons of seven stars or higher!

‘It’s a formation meant to trap opponents that are otherwise difficult to confront.’

Its power was such that even the highest-level seven-star demons couldn’t easily break free.

The problem was, Patera wasn’t an ordinary demon.

The moment he unleashed his demonic power, this formation would shatter instantly.

But it didn’t matter.

They had a countermeasure ready.