Chapter 192
“W-What…?!”
Count Seshia’s eyes widened as if they might tear.
It was a familiar light.
A light no one could mistake if they were a demon of the Venomous Demon Clan.
But it was a light that absolutely should never have appeared here.
“Ah, I told you. It’d be hard to beat me with just the power of a demon.”
A glow flickered again from Chris’s hand.
“But I didn’t just master the power of a demon.”
A sacred, pure light of healing.
The power of the Righteous Lineage—the natural enemy of the Venomous Demon Clan.
Righteous Qi.
Why Chris was so confident.
‘This was my plan from the start.’
Count Seshia’s mental poison, the ‘Wall of Enclosure,’ was a deadly attack—once trapped inside, escape was impossible.
But it had several weaknesses.
First, since it was a mental poison taking the form of a binding barrier, it was completely cut off from the outside.
Meaning, no one outside could see what was happening inside.
Chris could freely use his holy mana without worry.
‘Also, because it’s a barrier, the caster can’t easily retract the mental poison once it’s set.’
Count Seshia took an involuntary step back.
“W-How are you using Righteous Qi?”
His voice trembled.
It was understandable.
To the demons of the Venomous Demon Clan, Righteous Qi was a nightmare.
It wasn’t for nothing that the Righteous Lineage was called the ‘natural enemy’ of the Venomous Demon Clan.
“Ah, I’m just a genius. I learned it once.”
“That’s nonsense!!”
Count Seshia unleashed his full power.
“Even if that’s truly Righteous Qi, you won’t escape my fully charged mental poison! I’ll make you bleed through your veins!!”
Fwoosh!
Poison surged from the walls in all directions toward Christian.
His entire body was engulfed in the toxic storm.
But then, light flashed again.
Rustle, rustle.
The poison withered and crumbled like dried sand, losing all its strength and vanishing.
Count Seshia’s face twisted in disbelief.
“H-How? No matter how strong Righteous Qi is, to block mental poison this easily?”
Righteous Qi wasn’t invincible against poison.
To block mental poison, the Righteous Qi had to be of the same grade and imbued with mental power.
“Simple. The ‘Will to Save Lives’ embedded in my Righteous Qi is stronger than your mental poison. After all, mental power is the will manifesting at its limit. When it meets a stronger will, it’s natural for it to collapse.”
“Don’t spout nonsense! You can’t possibly possess such a ‘Will to Save Lives’!!”
The power of Righteous Qi depended on the caster’s will to save lives.
But that will could only be strengthened through experience treating and caring for patients.
That was why disciples of the Righteous Lineage went on pilgrimages to heal the sick—to strengthen that will.
‘I’ve treated so many patients, it’s almost ridiculous. No wonder they once called me the “Saint of the Mud.”’
Even at the Righteous Lineage’s main temple, few saints had saved as many patients as Chris had in his past life.
He had saved so many.
So Chris carried a will to save lives strong enough to easily overpower most mental powers.
“Th-This is impossible!! Die!!”
Count Seshia unleashed poison wildly, but it was useless.
Unless it was a 6-star upper-grade mental power on the verge of ‘Transformation,’ no mental poison could pierce Chris’s Righteous Qi.
Realizing his poison had no effect, Count Seshia’s face turned pale.
He decided to change tactics.
‘Anyway, he can’t harm me with just Righteous Qi. First, I’ll dismantle this mental poison, then expose his true form in front of everyone.’
Count Seshia prepared to retract the mental poison.
Since it was a barrier-type mental poison, it couldn’t be withdrawn instantly—it required some time.
“Trying to run away?”
“Shut up. The Dark Demon Clan’s Grand Duke using the power of those despicable allied scum? I’m curious to see what fate awaits you when the rumors spread.”
“Ah, that would be troublesome. But it’s fine. If I kill you here, no rumors will spread.”
Count Seshia sneered.
“Righteous Qi is a power of defense and healing. It alone can’t kill me…”
“Why do you think I can only use Righteous Qi?”
With a soft sound, Chris drew a new sword from his pocket of extra-dimensional space.
Count Seshia’s eyes widened again.
A brilliant blade.
Ernhilt.
The holy sword Olivia had gifted him before they parted ways at the Gold Cross.
“How do you have a holy sword?!”
“I can handle Righteous Qi, so what’s the problem with a holy sword?”
Chris pointed the blade.
Fwoooosh!!!
A radiant light filled the sword.
Among all types of holy mana, the highest power.
The ‘Radiant Mana’ granted only to heroes made the sword shine brilliantly.
“Th-This…!!”
Sensing danger, Count Seshia unleashed his full strength, but it was useless.
As a demon, Chris was still 5-star lower rank.
Though his power was hard to believe, his rank remained 5-star lower.
But his holy mana rank was different.
A full 5-star upper rank.
Thanks to the Absolute Strength he had gained earlier, his holy mana rank had soared.
Actually, he had surpassed even 5-star upper.
‘Maybe I can use mental power now.’
Chris narrowed his eyes.
As a demon, it was impossible.
Mental power was the ability to complete one’s own mental concept and challenge the limits of the laws with will.
Chris hadn’t yet completed his mental concept as a demon.
But as holy mana?
‘So many mental weapons I saw during the Age of Destruction.’
A flood of mental weapons used by allied knights flashed through his mind.
Among them, one stood out clearly.
The mental weapon used by hero Evan—the ‘Sword of Deathly Darkness.’
A blade that delivered absolute death to beings of darkness.
Chris’s mental concept rose as if he had become Evan, but he shook his head.
‘This alone isn’t enough.’
His mental concept advanced further.
More fierce.
Not like a hero’s, but threatening as if it belonged to a demon.
But that wasn’t all.
Simple destructive power wasn’t the light’s true nature.
The will of judgment was embedded in his mental concept.
Like the will of a judge.
The will of light to annihilate all darkness was infused into the sword.
Chris’s first mental weapon—the ‘Sword of Annihilating Light.’
He had reached the 6-star advanced rank as holy mana.
Flash.
A streak of light cut through the air.
Was it because it carried the will of destruction?
The light was dark.
As if wrapped in shadows.
But at the same time, it held a brilliant aura—an invisible spiritual majesty.
Darker than darkness itself.
Yet more solemn and radiant than the most dazzling light, the sword of judgment majestically sliced through the void.
“Yeeaah…!! Kyaaaah!!”
Fwoooosh!!
The dark light pierced through Count Seshia’s body, and from the cut, a burst of radiance exploded.
The light burned Count Seshia’s body as if executing a criminal on a pyre.
With a terrible scream, he met his death.
Victory.
‘Even stronger than I expected.’
Chris looked slightly surprised.
Count Seshia specialized in wide-range poison attacks, so he was weak against focused mental weapons like this.
Still, he had taken down a 6-star upper-rank demon in one blow.
‘The power is great, so it consumes a lot of energy. I won’t be able to use it often, but it’ll be my trump card.’
No worries about leaving traces from using holy mana.
The Wall of Enclosure collapsed, and the remaining corpse of Count Seshia melted away completely.
“Grand Duke!! Are you alright?!”
Saneen rushed over to Christian.
“What about Count Seshia?”
“Handled.”
Saneen’s eyes widened in shock.
“How?”
“Ah, I’m a genius.”
“……”
“Anyway, Saneen, what about Count Kalia, who you were fighting?”
“I defeated him.”
In the distance, Count Kalia lay fallen, his throat slit.
Saneen had unexpectedly won as well.
“Not bad.”
“…Hearing that from the Grand Duke doesn’t feel great. I was determined to surpass you.”
“I told you, it’s impossible for you to beat me in your lifetime.”
“…I’ll never give up.”
Chris chuckled happily.
“Then how about another bet?”
“What is it?”
“Who reaches the top of the castle first.”
Right.
The fight wasn’t over yet.
They had to conquer the castle.
At that moment, a loud cheer echoed.
“Wooooah!! Long live the Dark Demon Clan!!”
“Long live Grand Duke Christian!!”
Melin, following Chris’s orders, had circled around and broken through the castle walls to open the gates.
There were defensive weapons using poison here and there, but Marisa had neutralized them.
Chris climbed onto his horse and shouted loudly.
“Take the castle as is! Plant the Dark Banner on the castle!”
And so, Chris defeated Count Seshia, a 6-star demon, and captured the castle.
Just as he had declared at the start, he had taken control of four territories.
An utterly shocking feat.
Once dawn came and the news spread properly, the Venomous Demon Clan would be thrown into chaos.
Not just the Venomous Demon Clan.
The Dark Demon Clan had also been unaware of Chris’s secret operation.
No, this was an event that would shake the entire Mage Empire to its core.
But as the siege of Seshia Castle was coming to an end, a figure was watching the castle from above.
It wasn’t Sherad.
A woman with ash-gray hair and a captivating presence.
The elder of the Four Kings Castle—the puppeteer, Märchen!
Not only Sherard, but Marchen had also been watching Christian all along.
To be precise, the one who had just appeared wasn’t Marchen herself.
It was the first doll created using Marchen’s twin sister.
Because it was made from her own blood-related twin, this doll possessed a power far beyond that of any other doll.
It could synchronize perfectly with the original, and despite being a doll, it wielded strength equivalent to a seven-star being.
There was only one reason Marchen had deployed this first-numbered doll, who rarely ever showed itself.
Just like Sherard.
She, too, had her sights set on Christian.
“Heh heh, as expected, he’s even more captivating than I imagined. How can someone be so alluring and beautiful?”
She had doubted it at first, but to actually see him take down a six-star demon was thrilling.
Marchen licked her lips with a look of excitement.
“I can’t hold back any longer. I have to kidnap him right now and turn him into my doll. And with all this chaos from the castle’s fall, the timing couldn’t be better.”
The current confusion was the perfect opportunity.
She could slip away unnoticed and abduct him.
“Oh, just imagine—making that beautiful prince my own doll. I even look forward to the expression of pain on his face when he’s transformed.”
Just as she spoke with such ecstatic delight, a cold voice cut through the air.
“Well, well, what a disgusting corpse fetishist, daring to entertain such arrogant desires. Or rather, since you like turning corpses into dolls, are you a taxidermy fetishist?”
Marchen’s face stiffened.
Turning to the side, she saw a man as striking as a silver-haired woman, his gaze icy and sharp.
“You are? Sherard, the mad first prince of the Dark Maga?”
“That’s right.”
“Why are you here?”
Sherard pushed back the strands of hair falling over his face.
A cold smile twisted his lips, and the scar Christian had left contorted eerily.
“Ah, Christian’s life belongs to me. There’s no way I’m handing him over to a doll-obsessed pervert like you.”