Chapter 217

Chris closed his eyes.

He could feel the darkness all around him.

The darkness was the spiritual essence of the elemental spirit.

And within that darkness, he sensed the chaos that was driving it toward annihilation.

‘So this is the miracle that Marquis Langham is causing.’

In truth, it’s impossible to concretely perceive a miracle—a conceptual phenomenon—as if it were something tangible.

But Chris’s intuition was so sharp that it could grasp even abstractions in a tangible form.

Because of that, he could analyze every detail of how Langham’s miracle operated, how it affected the laws of reality.

With that understanding, the rest was simple.

‘Cut off the source.’

Chris focused his gaze on the origin of the miracle Langham was manifesting.

Unexpectedly, the source was trembling wildly, unstable beyond measure.

‘He must have forcibly strengthened the miracle using forbidden sorcery. The power increased, but the stability of the miracle itself dropped drastically.’

Normally, this wouldn’t be a major problem.

But for Andril’s perfection, it was a fatal weakness.

Chris directed Andril’s power toward the unstable source of the miracle.

A sudden backlash surged through him, straining his core, but he forced himself to endure.

Crack!!

For a moment, it seemed as if everyone heard that sound.

Silence followed.

Then—

Shhhhk.

The swirling mist of darkness, as if ready to explode, suddenly froze in place and began to dissipate.

It was a success!

“Ugh!”

Marquis Langham coughed up blood violently.

Andril’s ‘perfection’ wasn’t just about quietly erasing imperfection.

It was more like crushing filthy dirt with brutal force.

Especially since Langham had paid a heavy price for using forbidden sorcery, the backlash hit him even harder.

Chris shouted,

“Just like I said!!”

Sherard smirked.

“Ah, truly impressive. As expected of Christian. You’re even more captivating than I imagined.”

“Shut up and hurry!!”

“Heh heh, alright.”

Sherard reached out toward the staggering Marquis Langham.

Fwoosh!

A blood-red net spread out, enveloping Langham like a cage.

It was Sherard’s spiritual weapon—the ‘Blood Cage.’

That crimson web wasn’t just ordinary blood magic.

It was infused with a powerful energy that suppressed the opponent’s movements, rendering anyone trapped inside utterly powerless.

Sherard’s sadistic blood magic, designed to capture prey and slowly deliver a cruel death on his own terms.

Of course, no matter how much Langham had been weakened, this alone wasn’t enough to fully restrain him.

Chris moved again.

‘Dark Dominion.’

He closed his eyes gently and recalled the overwhelming dark dominion the Nordians wielded against the demon tribes.

A total, oppressive control of the surroundings by darkness.

It was still a distant realm for Chris.

But—

‘If I use another power, it might be different.’

Chris looked at Sherard’s ‘Blood Cage.’

Blood magic and dark dominion were completely different.

But there was one similarity.

Both forcibly ‘dominated’ the opponent’s movements through a strong will embedded in blood or darkness.

‘If I use that nature to strengthen the dominion over Sherard’s spiritual weapon…’

Anyone else would think it madness.

The two powers were fundamentally different, sharing only the concept of forced control.

But Chris pressed on with his wild idea.

‘If I can reshape the will within Sherard’s spiritual weapon using the dominion of dark magic, it might work. Let’s try.’

Flash.

Small spheres of darkness blossomed from Chris’s hands and flew into various points of the Blood Cage.

Using those spheres as anchors, he began manifesting the power of dark magic.

Usually, managing more than four spheres would be too much, as each required mental focus.

But Chris summoned over thirty spheres.

The dark orbs densely embedded themselves throughout the Blood Cage, and Chris concentrated, sensing the will flowing within the spiritual weapon.

As expected, Sherard’s will was pure murderous intent.

No selfishness, just absolute killing intent—so pure it almost felt innocent.

‘I have to subdue this killing intent.’

The dark spheres embedded in the Blood Cage all emitted thick shadows at once.

Sherard, realizing what Chris was attempting, widened his eyes in surprise.

“Stay still!!”

Chris raised his voice, halting Sherard.

Then something astonishing happened.

The blood cage shifted from a deep crimson to a dark, almost black-red.

Chris’s dominion over dark magic had completely seized Sherard’s will.

Sherard’s murderous intent transformed into Chris’s own will to dominate, flooding the spiritual weapon.

Sherard’s heart pounded.

‘This is incredible.’

Who else in this world could pull off something like this?

‘I’m glad I decided not to kill him. He’s already this fascinating—imagine how much more he’ll drive me crazy in the future.’

Then, even more astonishingly—

Chris clenched his fist, and the dark spheres radiated their dominion all at once.

The will within the Blood Cage, now altered by Chris, also unleashed its controlling power.

As a result—

“!!”

Marquis Langham collapsed to his knees.

They had successfully sealed him!

“How dare you.”

Langham’s eyes flashed coldly.

He tried to force his way out of the bindings, gathering strength.

“You’d better stay still. Unless you want your core shattered.”

“!!”

Chris focused his dominion on Langham’s core.

Langham’s core had already been damaged by the earlier collapse of his miracle.

If he pushed too hard now, it could be fatal.

“Heh heh, I’m impressed. I never thought you’d pull this off.”

Sherard laughed repeatedly, clearly enjoying himself.

“Now, Sherard, you just have to keep Langham restrained. But be careful. If you slip up, he’ll break free immediately. It’s already a close call.”

Though badly wounded, Langham was still a dangerous opponent.

They had to keep him bound.

For that, Sherard had to maintain the Blood Cage with all his strength.

“Such a shame. I wanted to kill my father with my own power, but this is the best I can do. Oh well. For now, I’ll be satisfied with saving you, Chris.”

Sherard licked his lips.

“Go on, then. It’s a pity to part like this. I had fun.”

He smiled slyly.

“I’ll be looking forward to the next time we meet. Make it even more thrilling.”

“No, there won’t be a next time.”

“Hmm? I’ll be coming back for you.”

At that moment—

Chris did something no one expected.

With a sudden motion, he drew a dagger from his side and stabbed Sherard in the back.

“!!”

Sherard, fully focused on maintaining the Blood Cage, was caught completely off guard.

His eyes widened.

“What…?”

“Oh, it’s nothing special. Just a curse to weaken your power.”

As he said it, Sherard’s strength began to drain away.

But something was off.

He was weakened, yes, but not completely drained.

Just enough to keep the seal on Langham intact.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Wait and see. This isn’t over.”

Thrust!

Another dagger pierced Sherard’s heart.

“I’m not about to genuinely ally with a disgusting bastard like you. Using you and then discarding you is one thing, but never truly joining forces.”

Sherard looked utterly confused.

“…If I die now, my father will be freed, and you’ll be in trouble too.”

Chris smirked.

“Don’t worry. I put a special curse on the daggers.”

The curse was ‘Impending Death.’

It didn’t kill immediately after the heart was pierced, but after a set time.

Perfect for the current situation.

“You’ll have about thirty minutes to live, so you can do your part before you die. Make sure you hold on as long as you can.”

“…What?”

Sherard’s face went blank.

He’d been completely blindsided.

But he couldn’t let go of his strength.

If Langham was freed, Sherard wouldn’t be left alone.

Normally, Sherard might have tried to flee, but thanks to the initial curse Chris placed, he was already weakened.

He’d be torn apart and killed instantly.

“If you want to live even a little longer, hold Langham down with all you’ve got.”

But instead of anger, Sherard burst into loud laughter.

“How do you always manage to exceed my expectations? You’re truly the best. You make my heart race like this. Heh heh.”

“Shut up.”

Chris pulled out another dagger to make sure.

He stabbed Sherard’s heart again.

And again.

Three daggers were now embedded in Sherard’s heart.

He had layered the death curse threefold.

Not only that, but Chris had sealed the curse with multiple layers of protective spells.

The three daggers formed a triangle, creating a powerful enchantment.

At this level, even Sherard wouldn’t be able to escape death.

“Heh heh.”

Sherard coughed up blood, his laughter chilling to the bone.

Chris frowned, unsettled to the very end, but there was no time left to waste.

“It’s too late. I have to stop Yurian now.”

His stomach churned from the strain of overusing dark magic and the backlash from Andril, but there was no time to rest.

Hurriedly, Chris took to the air with his light-footed technique, finally reaching his destination.

The outskirts of Baron Castle.

A spire overlooking the entire city.

And there, at the top, stood Yurian.

*    *    *

“Why here?”

Chris wondered.

If Yurian’s goal was to hide, the spire was the worst possible place to do so.

“Better check it out.”

Just then, a heavy voice stopped him in his tracks.

[Stop right there.]

A voice that seemed to seep from the abyss itself.

It was Mephina!

Her appearance was rare these days.

“What is it? I don’t have time to entertain your pathetic temptations.”

Mephina’s requests were always the same.

She’d use any excuse to try and claim Chris’s soul as her servant.

But this time, her answer was unexpected.

[No, this time it’s not about that.]

“Then what?”

[I’m only here to warn you. Don’t go any further up. Something irreversible will happen.]

Chris scowled.

“What do you mean?”

[Even with my power, I can’t help you this time. The moment you step forward, your fate is sealed.]

It was a grave warning.

Until now, whenever Mephina warned him, she’d offer a clue.

If he wanted, she’d help him.

But this time was different.

Considering that during the Patera incident, Mephina had even stood against a great being of the Fourth Realm, this was unbelievable.

“Are you saying the demon Yurian contracted with is even a Third Realm entity?”

The thought was shocking.

‘A Third Realm being? That’s impossible.’

Chris swallowed hard.