Chapter 187

“That’s what you call a plan?! No, no matter how much of a genius you are, how is that even possible?”

The things Chris had pulled off over the past two days were nothing short of astonishing.

First, his treatment of those on the brink of death.

It rivaled that of any renowned doctor.

No, was it even fair to compare him to a mere expert?

‘Even the elders of the Venomous Maga clan couldn’t have performed such treatments. This is on the level of a divine healer.’

And yet, there was something even more unbelievable.

‘How did he figure out a cure for the Malicious Blood Rot? There’s no antidote!’

Chris shrugged casually.

“Well, even without an antidote, if you understand the mechanism behind the symptoms, you can treat accordingly, right?”

“…”

“Your poison causes fluid buildup in the brain, so I adjusted the pressure to compensate.”

“That’s… utterly impossible.”

Chris spoke as if it were nothing, but it was an absurd claim.

He had even developed a medicine on the spot.

A drug that acted on the kidneys to regulate body fluid concentration.

‘According to the knowledge of the Uiseon family, water accumulated in the brain can be removed by adjusting fluid concentration.’

That was the very method the Uiseon family used to treat poisons.

Since it was impossible to develop antidotes for every toxin, they treated the symptoms caused by the poison instead.

Thanks to Ruina quickly sending over expensive herbs, Chris was able to mix and produce large quantities of the medicine with ease.

Along with precise intravenous fluid adjustments based on the Uiseon family’s knowledge.

Thanks to all this, the patients’ conditions stabilized rapidly.

And then, Chris accomplished something truly remarkable.

“I’ve figured out the nature of this poison.”

“What is it?”

“Marisa, it’s the poison you developed.”

“!!”

Marisa’s eyes flickered with shock.

“Th-That can’t be…!”

“Alchemical analysis confirmed the presence of the ‘Malicious Blood Rot’ crystals you created in every patient’s blood.”

“But only trace amounts were detected! At that concentration, these symptoms could never occur!”

Marisa denied it vehemently.

“That would be true if it were only your poison.”

“…What do you mean?”

“It’s a combined poison.”

“…What? No way.”

Marisa’s eyes widened.

Of course, she knew the term.

A poison that alone has no effect but, when combined with others, drastically amplifies their potency.

“Someone distributed a combined poison in this territory. So it mixed with your poison and caused this disaster.”

“Who on earth would do that?”

“Well, we’ll find out soon enough.”

Chris’s voice dropped low.

“We’ve already figured out how the poison was spread.”

Chris hadn’t just been treating patients.

He had gathered and compiled information from each one, finding a common thread.

“Mahou tea.”

“Mahou tea?”

A tea grown in the Venomous Maga territory, commonly consumed by the people in the western lands here.

Upon investigation, only those who drank Mahou tea distributed by a certain merchant guild showed symptoms.

It was tea cultivated in the lands controlled by the Marquis Goras faction.

Chris immediately stormed the guild’s headquarters.

“Wh-Who are you? Hah? Grand Duke Christian?”

“Do you want to die?”

“W-What? W-What?”

“How dare you distribute poisoned tea to the people of the main territory?”

“W-What are you talking about?”

The guild master was utterly shocked and collapsed flat on the floor.

“The Mahou tea you distributed was laced with poison. Your tea comes from the Venomous Maga’s Sesia region. Were you hired by the lord of Sesia?”

The lord of Sesia was a prominent member of the Marquis Goras faction.

“G-Gasp?! I have no idea what you’re talking about! This is unjust! Please believe me!”

The guild master trembled, begging.

“You claim ignorance?”

“Yes, truly! I have no knowledge of this!”

“Then swear an oath.”

“Huh?”

“Swear to tell the truth, then say again that you’re innocent.”

Did he sense something was off?

The guild master swallowed hard.

“Th-That’s…”

“Why? If you’re truly innocent, you shouldn’t hesitate to swear.”

Swish.

Christian’s sword pierced the guild master’s throat.

The man screamed in terror.

“I-I swear to tell the truth! I-I don’t know anything…!”

But then his words abruptly stopped.

“I d-don’t know… no, I do know…”

His voice trembled.

Chris smirked.

A dark magic circle appeared in his hand.

It was the ‘Seal of Binding’—a cursed black magic he had used several times before, forcing the target to act according to certain conditions.

“Didn’t you swear to tell the truth? Now speak.”

“I-I…”

The guild master’s tongue began moving against his will.

As the binding seal forced him to reveal the truth, something horrific happened.

“Guh, guhh?!”

His face turned pale.

“Kyaaaaaaaaah!!!”

With a blood-curdling scream, his body began melting alive.

Poison.

“It’s my family’s forbidden poison. The moment you tell the truth, it takes your life.”

Marisa said coldly.

“What do we do now?”

With the guild master dead, no one remained to testify whether the lord of Sesia had actually ordered the tea to be poisoned.

The trail was cut off.

But Chris said something unexpected.

“It’s fine. Actually, it’s better this way.”

“…Better?”

“At this point, it’s obvious who the culprit is.”

“…That’s true.”

The Mahou tea from the Marquis Goras faction’s lands was the cause, and the guild master had died from the forbidden poison.

Though there was no concrete proof, it was clear the Marquis Goras faction was behind this.

“Now that we know who did it, there’s no need to waste time hunting for perfect evidence.”

Chris smiled like a villain.

“We’ve uncovered enough. The rest of the evidence can be fabricated and slapped on.”

Exactly.

Chris never intended to gather all the evidence.

‘There’s no time for that. Why give them a chance to prepare?’

‘It’s time to move on to the next phase.’

His real goal was never to uncover the truth.

He planned to use this incident as a pretext for a major upheaval.

“Come in.”

With a clap of his hands, a figure entered.

A beautiful woman with a stern expression.

Ruina.

“Are you ready?”

“…Yes.”

Ruina’s face twisted even further.

It was inevitable.

Chris had ordered her to fabricate evidence!

Using the guild’s influence, they would falsify proof that the Marquis Goras faction had distributed the poison.

Incidentally, the territory where Ruina forged the evidence included the Sesia region.

‘Ugh! You bastard! Am I a criminal now?! Sure, I run some illegal businesses, but I’m a decent merchant!’

“Are you sure this is okay?!”

Ruina asked anxiously, and Chris shrugged.

“Probably?”

“What kind of uncertain answer is that?”

“How can anyone be certain how the world works? I’m not the trusting type.”

“That makes me trust you even less!”

“Well, don’t worry too much. Once we raid those territories, the real evidence will come out. In the end, you won’t have lied.”

“Raid…?”

Ruina flinched at the strange word. Marisa did too.

“Oh, I haven’t told you my real plan yet?”

Just then, the door creaked open and a figure appeared.

Merlin, who had disappeared after receiving a secret order from Chris.

“I’ve completed the mission.”

“So? How did it go?”

“As you commanded, the elite Black Flag troops of the Dark Demon Army have covertly approached and are waiting in the Venomous Maga territory.”

Ruina and Marisa’s eyes widened in shock.

They finally realized what Chris was aiming for.

“Sesia, Valment, Rodrak, Kalia.”

Chris named them one by one.

The names of the Venomous Maga territories.

All lords loyal to the Marquis Goras faction.

“As the Grand Duke of the Dark Maga and deputy commander of the Dark Demon Army, I hereby declare—”

His voice was cold.

“For the treachery against the Dark Maga, I will punish these four territories.”

---

That’s right.

Chris’s true goal was to conquer these territories by force.

‘Just exposing the truth won’t solve anything.’

Even if they proved the Marquis Goras faction was responsible, could they make them pay?

It wouldn’t be easy.

Of course, even the Mage Empire would consider massacring civilians with poison a grave crime.

So the Marquis Goras faction would never admit guilt.

They’d deny the evidence, and since the Marquis Langham was allied with Goras, punishing them would be difficult.

‘In the end, the only way to make them pay is by force. But even that won’t be easy with the Marquis Goras.’

It was a different situation from when the Duke Huam was accused.

The Duke Huam was a minor faction within the Venomous Maga, so fighting him was less risky.

But attacking the Marquis Goras was tantamount to declaring all-out war on the Venomous Maga.

So there was only one way.

‘We have to strike first and win decisively before it escalates into full-scale war.’

That was why Chris had orchestrated all this.

‘No one would expect the Dark Demon Army, who are wary of the Demon King’s fortress, to move now.’

There was also additional help.

‘The Duke Huam agreed to delay the Marquis Goras’s movements.’

During a secret conversation through the communication channel, Chris had asked for this favor.

‘If we conquer these four territories, it will severely weaken the Marquis Goras’s power.’

Chris hadn’t randomly chosen these four territories.

He picked the ones that would deal the biggest blow to the Marquis Goras if cut off.

“Let’s hurry.”

Christian urged his horse forward, riding swiftly alongside Melin toward the waiting Black Banner troops.

Soon, a group of soldiers came into view.

Men clad in jet-black armor.

The elite cavalry unit of the Dark Demon Army—the Black Banner Corps.

Their numbers weren’t large.

About three hundred, maybe?

But the aura they radiated was unlike that of ordinary dark soldiers.

Each member seemed to possess at least a two-star, if not three-star, level of skill.

“At this caliber, they’d be considered elite even among most knight orders.”

And there were three hundred of them.

An incredible force.

What made them even more formidable was that they weren’t riding ordinary horses—they rode demonic beasts, granting them superior speed and endurance.

But the most striking sight was the two men at the front.

“Ah, Deputy Commander. It’s been a while. Since that night we drank together, if I recall correctly. Have you improved your tolerance since then?”

A man with a sly grin and a carefree air spoke.

This was Leon, the third of the five captains.

A powerful warrior ranked solidly at six stars.

But he wasn’t alone.

“…My lord Duke.”

A voice laced with displeasure.

The youngest of the five captains, Baron Saenin, who had once knelt before Christian, was here as well.

Two of the five captains had arrived.

“I’ve heard about Lady Melin’s report. Ah, as expected of our prince—no, now our duke. When I heard the plan, I couldn’t help but shiver with excitement.”

Leon smirked, lifting the corner of his mouth.