Chapter 179

But the Illusion Maga’s princess reacted sharply.

“Don’t spout nonsense when you don’t know anything! This isn’t just about being unable to ‘distinguish’ illusions at some basic level!”

“!!”

“T-This feels like it’s actually… real? But how could it be at the level of a 4-star?”

She was a 5-star illusionist.

Though her illusions could affect reality, there was no way she could create something of this caliber.

“Oh, that’s because I’m a genius. Breaking down the boundaries between reality and illusion to make it feel real? Of course I can do that.”

“!!”

“But that’s not the point, is it? Are you just going to stand there and take it?”

The Illusion Maga’s princess clenched her teeth.

‘No matter how advanced the illusion is, it’s only 4-star. There’s no way she could stand against a true 5-star master of illusions…!’

Flash!

A burst of light exploded forth.

The 5-star true master illusion: “Sinking Ecstasy.”

A horrifying illusion that dragged the opponent into a dark ecstasy and shattered their mind.

The corrupted light of ecstasy began to push back the darkness summoned by Chris.

But Chris shook his head.

‘Weak.’

Yes, it was weak.

Just as the power of a Black Strength Technique varies depending on who wields it, so too does the strength of a true master illusion.

This was just a shallow willpower, far weaker than Philip’s earlier.

Though Chris hadn’t reached 5-star in illusions, he could tear apart any so-called true master illusion with ease.

“What exactly did you learn at the Illusion Maga? Watch closely. This is what a proper illusion looks like.”

The darkness shifted.

With a tremor like an earthquake, something terrifying happened.

From beyond the shadows, a chilling gaze began to look down on the Illusion Maga’s princess.

“!!”

Her eyes widened as if they might tear.

Her body trembled uncontrollably with primal fear.

It was only natural.

The illusion Chris had created was the very gaze of the 4th-tier demon “Mistral” she had witnessed not long ago.

A distant being so terrifying that even Chris had trembled before it.

Of course, even Chris couldn’t perfectly recreate such a grand illusion.

‘But I can definitely recreate the fear I felt back then.’

To that, Chris added the “Truth” of the Curse Maga, recently mastered—a power that never missed even the slightest crack.

Through the gaps in the Illusion Maga princess’s mind, the fear plunged mercilessly.

She tried desperately to break free, but it was useless.

If only this weren’t an illusion duel, it might have been better.

She could have erected mental barriers to minimize the fear.

But as mentioned before, during an illusion duel, their minds were completely exposed.

In an instant, a terror like eternity consumed her mind.

“Ahhhhhhh!! S-Stop…!! Ughhhhhh!!!”

The Illusion Maga’s princess screamed in agony and collapsed.

Completely losing her sanity.

‘Exposed to the fear of a demon like that, she won’t be herself for a while.’

Those watching the duel swallowed hard, realizing what had just happened.

‘She subdued the Illusion Maga’s princess with an illusion duel?’

‘What? Are you crazy?’

Of course, Chris’s madness didn’t end there.

“What are you all doing? Get your heads in the game!”

“!!”

At Chris’s reprimand, the Blade Maga and Beast Maga snapped to attention.

The dark illusions surrounding them vanished without a trace.

Chris had, in his own way, shown them some mercy.

“You bastard…!!”

The Blade Maga drew his sword.

Flash!

Like a lightning strike, a swift slash.

But that wasn’t all.

The Sabre Wolf lunged from the side, snapping at limbs.

A wild assault, fearless as befits a beast controlled by conjuration magic.

Moreover, it was enhanced—far faster and tougher than a typical 4th-tier beast.

“Watch out…!!”

The Dark Maga’s minions cried out in alarm.

It looked like Chris might be splattered with blood any moment, but then another twist occurred.

No matter how many sword slashes the Blade Maga unleashed.

No matter how fiercely the Sabre Wolf attacked.

None of their strikes touched Chris.

They barely grazed him.

No, it wasn’t mere luck.

It was a calculated evasion.

“Aren’t your beast’s movements too predictable? Hey, mutt, is your conjuration magic that simple because you’re stupid?”

Even Chris found it difficult to predict the Blade Maga’s erratic swordsmanship.

But beasts were different.

Beasts’ movements were naturally simple, and they were under conjuration control.

By analyzing the flow of the controlling magic and the beasts’ preliminary moves, Chris could clearly foresee their next actions.

Of course, predicting the moves of eight beasts while facing the Blade Maga’s sword was nearly impossible for a normal mind.

But well…

Chris’s insane skills didn’t stop there.

“What’s that sword technique?”

The Blade Maga’s scion’s eyes widened.

The sword movements were familiar.

“How do you know our Blade Maga’s Soul-Severing Sword Technique?!”

That’s right.

What Chris was using now wasn’t the Dark Maga’s sword style, but the Blade Maga’s!

“You showed it off yesterday, didn’t you?”

“What?”

“At the duel arena yesterday, one of your Blade Maga minions was showing off, right?”

Yesterday’s banquet had been chaotic, with many minions gathering and fights breaking out.

One minion stood out, winning five duels in a row.

The sword technique that minion used was the very Soul-Severing Sword Technique Chris was now wielding.

“It looked fun, so I tried copying it to pass the time. It’s not that hard.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?!”

The Soul-Severing Sword Technique wasn’t a direct lineage technique of the Blade Maga.

It was a style learned by affiliated minions.

But that didn’t mean it was shallow.

Some Blade Maga minions spent their entire lives mastering just this technique.

And Chris had picked it up in a single day?

“Don’t lie! That’s impossible!”

“I’m not lying. It only takes a day to learn a mediocre technique like this. Did it take you longer?”

Swoosh!

Chris’s sword traced a sharp line.

A movement embodying the essence of the Soul-Severing Sword Technique.

True to its name, it was a stunning, soul-draining motion.

The Blade Maga’s scion’s blood ran cold as he hurriedly dodged.

‘Damn it. I can’t lose!’

Flare!

Black strength energy bloomed from his sword.

The Blade Maga’s signature cold navy aura.

“I’ll show you the true sword art of the Blade Maga!”

A dazzling sword dance unfolded.

The Flower Demon Sword Technique, taught only to direct descendants.

A deadly style that stole lives with its brilliant movements.

It held an absolute advantage over the Soul-Severing Sword Technique.

But—

“What do you think you can do with that dance?”

Flash!

Blood splattered as Chris’s blade sliced across his shoulder.

“You’re mistaken about something.”

Chris’s sword whipped through the air.

“It’s not the technique that matters, but who wields it.”

Chris thought of one person.

Evan.

Though also a 5-star lower rank, his swordsmanship was in a completely different league.

When Chris saw Evan at the Gold Cross recently, his swordplay was nothing like this.

‘If my opponent were Evan, I wouldn’t be able to press this hard.’

This guy was different.

The gap in skill was enormous.

Flash!

“Gah!”

Blood sprayed with every flash of Chris’s blade.

The watching minions swallowed hard.

‘No way. To toy with a Blade Maga minion like that?’

‘And without using any magic—just swordsmanship.’

Chris had belittled his opponent, but that wasn’t the case.

The Blade Maga’s scion was strong enough by normal 5-star lower rank standards.

What was even more shocking was that Chris wasn’t fighting one-on-one.

He was dodging all the ranged magic attacks from the eight Sabre Wolves and the Beast Maga’s scion while forcing the Blade Maga’s scion to his knees.

Pure madness.

‘…Is that really a 5-star lower rank?’

A question flashed through everyone’s minds.

But no matter how they looked, they couldn’t sense any power beyond that.

Then another thought crossed their minds, and they swallowed hard.

‘…If he’s this strong as a 5-star lower rank, what happens when he rises further?’

Even at the same rank, skill varies wildly among minions.

This disparity only grows more extreme at higher ranks.

If Chris, already insanely strong, reached 6-star… no, 7-star or 8-star?

‘He might become a terrifying monster surpassing even the infamous Duke Nordian.’

As everyone swallowed hard, the duel reached its climax.

The Blade Maga’s scion finally fell to the Soul-Severing Sword Technique.

Only the Beast Maga’s scion remained.

“Only you’re left, mutt. Want to bark again? You were kinda cute yesterday.”

“You bastard…!!! I’ll kill you!!”

Mocked again for the humiliations of yesterday, the Beast Maga’s scion lost his mind.

His eyes bloodshot, he went berserk, unleashing a storm of attacks.

The beast tribe’s battle mode: “Rampage.”

But Chris reacted strangely again.

Instead of counterattacking properly, he just dodged here and there.

‘…What crazy stunt is he planning now?’

Even the spectators, who had been watching quietly, were starting to catch on to Chris’s pattern—and their expressions grew weary.

There was no doubt about it.

He was definitely scheming something!

And they were right.

Something utterly unbelievable happened.

—Grrrkk!

Suddenly, the saber wolves bit down hard on the Thigh of the Beastmaster Maga Gongja.

“?!”

It wasn’t just one.

All eight of them, as if driven mad, bared their teeth at their own master!

“What the—?!”

“He’s taken control of the beasts!!”

That’s right.

Chris had used his summoning magic to seize the saber wolves from Maga’s control and make them his own!

Another absurd turn of events.

By now, no one was even surprised.

‘My dark magic’s dominance over the beasts surpasses Maga’s yellow magic. That’s why this is possible. In a berserk state, control weakens, and Maga’s summoning skills are relatively amateur compared to a professional trainer like me.’

After that, the duel ended with the ridiculous sight of Maga Gongja kneeling, bitten by the very beasts he once commanded.

“…”

“…”

A deathly silence fell over the arena.

Winning alone would have been impressive, but to subdue all three opponents using their own signature strengths was beyond belief.

Everyone looked at Christian with stunned, slack-jawed faces.

Then, applause broke the silence.

It was Duke Sant, the proxy for the Demon King.

“That was magnificent. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a remarkable talent. If this keeps up, we might just witness the birth of a new king for our Mage Empire. Though, that’s a tale for the future.”

The proxy’s high praise left everyone in shock.

He was suggesting that Christian might become the Demon King.

No matter how incredible Christian’s performance today was, that was a hard pill to swallow.

The Demon King.

Reaching the ninth star transcendence was something no genius, no matter how prodigious, could guarantee.

But since it was the proxy of the central Demon King himself speaking, no one could dismiss it lightly.

Then Christian said something even more outrageous.

“Well, becoming the Demon King might not be as far off as you think.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m an impatient person. If I’m going to become one, I’d rather it happen quickly.”

“What? Ha ha! This guy’s confidence is something else! I like him!”

Duke Sant laughed heartily and scanned the crowd.

“Is there anyone here who opposes Christian de Barron inheriting the legacy of darkness?”

Of course, no one spoke up.

“Then let us conclude. Christian de Barron, I hereby command you to inherit the legacy of darkness. Speak now of your ambitions to all.”

The final stage.

The inauguration speech.

And the climax of the spectacle Christian had been building toward all along.

Yes.

All the incredible feats he had shown so far were just a prelude to what he was about to say in this speech.